Sara couldn't move as her limbs felt stiff. She wanted to open her eyes but couldn't, no matter how much she tried or simply wished for it. She felt like she was in a trance. Only flashes of different scenarios were hovering over her head, but she couldn't make out the majority of them.

The image before her suddenly focused on a woman. She was probably in her late thirties or early forties. She had brown hair, only a shade lighter than Sara's. When the woman turned around, Sara couldn't see her face—only a blur. The woman rushed out of a house, and the scene changed.

She was standing before a door. It swung open, and the dark silhouette of a man emerged from the inside. Sara could see how they both entered the somber darkness of the house, and the door slammed shut behind them.

"The streets aren't safe anymore thanks to you," said the woman. Then the disappointment in her voice turned to absolute fury. "You heartless bastard—where's my sister?"

The silhouette stood in silence, seemingly staring back at her. She let out a horrified gasp.

"No..." she whispered. She backed away until she hit another doorknob, and she quickly turned it to enter the room.

Upon laying her eyes on the scene before her, she let out a piercing scream as she scrambled to find the exit. She tried to flee the house, but the man grabbed her by the arm before she could even make it to the front door.

"No! Let me go, please!" she screamed.

The man gritted his teeth. "Only if you give me what I want."

"What do you want? Tell me!" she shouted in panic.

"I want... her," he said, implying she knew exactly what he meant. She shook her head violently.

"You can go to hell then. I'm not doing that," she spat at him. This cost her a stinging blow across the face before he forced her to kneel in front of him.

"In that case..." He pulled out his gun from under his coat and pointed it at her forehead. "You're of no use to me. I'm going to find her either way, and your husband can join you too if he doesn't cooperate," he threatened with an incredibly disturbing tone.

Without another word, he pulled the trigger.

❀❀❀

"No!" Sara screamed her lungs out as she sat up abruptly.

Her head was spinning, and her mind struggled to clear up from everything that had happened from the Maze to the nightmare.

"Hey—whoa, whoa, whoa," she heard a boy's gruff voice to her right.

"Take it easy, you almost died out there," she heard a different voice add.

After blinking several times and squinting her eyes, she was able to see who was talking to her. A dark-skinned boy stared back at her, and another boy with curly hair stood beside him.

"Who are you? And where am I?" Sara tried scooting away from them. When she took a good look around, Sara noticed that she was in some kind of hut—poorly built—she realized.

"My name's Jeff, and this shank here is Clint." The dark-skinned boy pointed to the boy next to him. "And you're in the Glade." As Sara tried reading their expressions, she noticed they were skeptical; it was something Rebecca had warned her about.

I've heard about the Glade.

But there they were again... words that she'd never heard before until she saw Newt again. It was like she'd traveled to a different country.

"Runners found you and Newt out there in the Maze," Jeff continued as the earlier events came rushing back to Sara's memory.

Newt! Is he okay? She wondered, being careful with her facial expressions so she wouldn't arise any suspicions about knowing Newt's identity.

"Seems like you're okay. Can't really know if that's the case with Newt," Clint told her. They both moved out of the way to reveal Newt lying unconscious, two beds from Sara's. Her mouth parted slightly as she looked at his leg all wrapped up.

She saw him fall.

Sara didn't know he was suffering that much. And she felt guilty—she should've been there sooner. Maybe she could've helped him somehow.

The boys must've noticed the way she was staring at him because they both gave each other an odd look.

"Clint—uh... why don't you go get Alby for me? Tell him the girl's awake," Jeff ordered, and Clint nodded before heading out the door.

"Do you know him?" Jeff asked, gesturing toward Newt.

"Huh? No—no I don't," she stuttered. She had to stop looking at Newt. But she couldn't help noticing the bloody gauze wrapped around his right ankle. All the blood seeping right through it. It wasn't easy acting indifferent over something like that.

What she witnessed through the camera back at the lab, and in the Maze, was a sign of something that'd been going on for at least a couple of months. Sara knew he was emotionally struggling before the memory wiping—the Swipe—but she would've never thought that it could get worse, especially after he wouldn't remember all the bad things that happened to him. It wasn't fair.

She tried looking down to conceal the tears that were fighting their way back to her eyes.

I can't do this, the words resonated in her head for as much as she wanted to ignore them.

"Who are you?" Jeff asked. "Do you have a name?"

"I—I don't... know," Sara lied. Again.

Jeff wasn't fully convinced. "You're the first person we ever find in the Maze—the first girl for that matter. You sure you don't know any—"

"Leave it to me, Jeff," Sara heard a booming voice from the entrance.

"Hey, Alby," Jeff greeted him.

"I'll ask the questions from here," the new voice, which Jeff had hinted it belonged to 'Alby,' came from a taller, dark-skinned boy who walked into the hut and took a seat on the chair beside Sara's bed.

She was surprised she didn't recognize any of the three boys she'd just encountered. She knew she must've seen them at some point before they were sent up, but obviously these were boys she'd never gotten close with.

Clint and two more boys made their way into the hut.

Wow, fame is wonderful.

At the moment, all she wanted was sleep and no further visits. And hopefully, no more nightmares—if that wasn't too much to ask her subconscious for.

Before she could make known her desire to be alone, she realized that the last two that entered were an older Gally and Minho. Puberty had hit them like a train.

"Whoa, you look like klunk." Minho snickered while earning a glare from Alby.

"Excuse me?" Sara asked, clueless about what he meant; it didn't sound pretty. And it honestly wasn't surprising coming from Minho despite him not remembering her.

Ignoring them both, Alby asked, "Jeff, how's Newt doin'? Anything new?"

Jeff inhaled sharply. "I don't know, man. Busted his ankle pretty badly, and I don't know how long it'll take to heal. We just need to wait until he wakes up 'cause we can't do anything else for him right now."

"Alright," Alby replied with disappointment written all over his face. Despite the worry for Newt's condition, he turned to Sara and managed at least a smile. "Greenie, can ya tell me anything about yourself? Anything ya might know?" he asked. Sara shook her head.

"What's a Greenie?" she wondered, finding it fascinating what the Swipe did to their memories and their speech. Because that's the first thing someone should do when they get amnesia: make up a new vocabulary system.

Minho and Gally shared a look of distrust. Gally seemed the least happy to see Sara there, which meant their personalities remained almost unchanged despite the brain reset.

"Alby, you sure she's really a Greenie?" asked Gally. "I mean, the Runners found her in the Maze. Something's not right. She's probably a spy for the creators—an intruder, not a Greenie," he argued. "And why would we get a shucking girl this time?"

"Do you know your name at all, shank?" Minho asked, completely ignoring Gally's questions with his own. Again, perhaps only some things changed.

"No," she replied with annoyance in her voice, "I don't remember anything."

She hated all of the questioning. She knew the answers, but she had to fake oblivion, and it was killing her. Rebecca would have to forgive her, just in case, because she didn't know if she'd be able to keep the truth all to herself for too long.

"I don't believe that," Gally said, crossing his arms over his chest. "How are you alive coming from the Maze? No one ever just... emerges from it—much less survives it."

Impatience was consuming her at that point. "Yeah, I barely survived! I got attacked by some kind of Maze creatures. What the heck are those things?" she asked; the horror was genuine as she remembered their horrid appearance.

"The Grievers," Alby replied.

"That's what you call them?" Sara asked in mock disbelief, furrowing her eyebrows.

Gally scoffed. "Yeah, how did they not kill you? You look so shucking weak that—"

"Alright Gally, slim it," Alby put an end to the frenzy of questions. "The box hasn't come up yet, but we're supposed to get a new Greenie this month anyway, and well... she showed up." He gestured to Sara. "She's this month's newbie. I need all the Keepers present for a Gathering in an hour though," he told Minho and Gally. Then he turned to Sara. "I'll give you a quick tour of the Glade, Greenie. But I don't have much time. Think you can walk?"

She gave him an 'are you serious' look, moving her eyes to her thigh, then staring back at him. "Does it look like I can walk right now?" She could see Minho out of the corner of her eyes, who was suppressing a smirk as he raised his eyebrows.

Sara's concentration shifted to her injury once again. Clint and Jeff had to cut up her pants high enough to be able to treat the cut. Now that she acknowledged it for real, she felt embarrassed and reached over for the blanket folded on the edge of her bed to cover herself.

Alby, Gally, and Minho huddled closer together, quite the opposite of discreetly talking about her, which was getting really annoying.

"I say we get rid of her," she heard Gally whisper.

"Great," Sara muttered, flopping back onto the bed.

Before Alby could respond, a blaring alarm-like noise erupted in the air, scaring the living daylights out of Sara. The boys all glanced at each other in confusion before rushing out of the hut, leaving Jeff and Sara alone.

❀❀❀

Her slumber was interrupted by the creaking sound of the wooden door as it opened. She saw Alby poke his head inside as Jeff and Clint were cleaning up the hut after changing Newt's bandages and gauze.

"Wake up, Greenbean!" Alby shouted. "The Council voted, and we decided we're gonna keep ya."

Sara was barely even awake, but her eyes snapped open at his words.

"Really?" she asked, irritated, before rubbing her eyes. "What if they had voted against it? What were you gonna do, throw me back in the Maze?"

Alby only shrugged. "Dunno."

She sighed and asked, "What was that noise earlier?" Her voice came out really hoarse from sleep.

"The Box," Alby said, "New Greenie like you arrives along with supplies every—"

"Oh yeah, I know what the Box is," she blurted out without thinking, causing Alby to give her a questioning look.

Great. Just great.

Rebecca had warned her what a Greenie-less box arrival would imply, including having to keep a boy in HQ rather than sending him to the Glade. Luckily, Janson would give Rebecca enough liberty to handle an insertion herself, although it came with much despised persuasion from the woman.

Sara stuttered, trying to cover it up. "I—uh... heard some guys talking about it outside the hut."

Thankfully, Alby brushed it off quickly without putting much thought into it. "There was no Greenie though, which just confirms that you're it for this month," he concluded. After a few silent moments, he shook his head. "Okay, well... since you can't really walk today, I guess we'll do the tour tomorrow—"

"No, no, it's fine. Thanks," she interrupted him for the second time in less than a minute. "I'll just... find my way around here, you'll see."

Alby glanced at Clint and Jeff questioningly, but they only shrugged. "Well," he chuckled, "you're not the pant-klunking type of Greenie, are ya," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Sara was mortified, feeling ashamed of herself for screwing up so much already.

But then Alby just shook his head as if he were getting rid of a thought. "Either way, ya need to get to know our rules soon, and what we expect from you while you're here. We're having a bonfire tonight to celebrate your arrival. I know you can't really walk, but maybe Clint or Jeff can help ya take a seat next to the fire. Get out there. Talk to some shanks. Get to know 'em, 'cause we don't know how long we'll be here," he suggested with a small smile.

"Sweet, thanks." Sara smiled back at him as he turned to leave.

Clint then handed Sara a bagful of clothes he said he got from the box. Out of the bag, she selected a long-sleeved blue t-shirt, but refused to change her pants. When Clint questioned her about it, she simply cut the rest of her jeans up into shorts. It was still nice to change her shirt and wear something lighter, not to mention, her previous shirt had suffered a few tears and blood stains that miraculously didn't affect what she now wore as shorts.

❀❀❀

It was already dark outside, to her surprise; the day had gone by too quickly. 

After a while of Clint and Jeff trying to convince her to leave the hut, she finally agreed. Together, they each grabbed one of her arms to help her walk over to the bonfire Alby mentioned earlier.

Sara didn't want to exert too much pressure on her leg; she'd seen what happened when someone had an injury and there was a lack of proper medical supplies. Newt was in that situation at the moment. And she couldn't help but worry about how long it'd take for him to wake up. He already had to handle a lot of pain.

As she sat against a log, she saw that the boys had already lighted the fire. Some of them were talking to each other while Gally picked up a fight with a few other 'Gladers' —they called themselves.

It'd been an exhausting day even though she'd just been sitting or lying down since she arrived. Her body still ached from all the running and her injury on top of that.

Again, she wanted to be left alone to cherish the joys of sitting near the heat of the fire and no one to bother her. But that wasn't possible when someone actually sat down next to her. Especially when it came to this guy in particular.

"Hey, Greenie," Minho greeted her. She rolled her eyes at the strange nickname they used for the newest Gladers.

"Minho," she said, void of emotion. He looked at her as though she'd suddenly gone bald.

"I never told you my name," he hesitated, almost questioning himself. He must've been known for having good memory if such a minor fact deemed a major offense to him.

Sara's eyes widened.

"The—the boys—they... told me a few of your names," she said. Just lies and piles of lies, one after the other. She knew how dangerous that was, and how it could potentially lead her to contradict herself at some point.

It got quiet for a few awkward seconds before Minho spoke up. "Listen, shank, I'm kind of bad at this. Newt's usually the one who helps the Greenies out, but as you can see, I'm the backup. So... how was your first day?" He tried to sound interested but failed.

"Peachy," she replied, shrugging. "I can't walk, I have no memories, and I don't know what I'm doing here. So yeah... that pretty much sums it up." She really felt that, even if the majority of what she was saying wasn't true. Minho chuckled at her response.

"Alright," he said, with a look of approval. "I guess you and I are gonna get along just fine." He smirked at her, and Sara felt reluctant to continue the sarcasm, knowing full well that wasn't how she'd get him to go away. It had quite the opposite effect, actually.

"Oh joy," she muttered as she remembered how they always fought in HQ.

He proceeded to tell her all about the place, and she listened only to what she didn't already know. She knew the location of everything in the Glade and she knew the names of a couple of the Gladers at least.

He also explained the three most important rules:

1. Do your part,

2. Never harm another Glader,

And more importantly,

3. Don't go beyond the Maze walls.

"Alby's a chill dude until you break one of the big three," Minho said with a casual tone.

Once he started talking more, nothing seemed to stop him. He even introduced Sara to some of the other boys as they walked by. Of course, the majority of the greetings were merely a nod or a fake—almost forced—smile. Only a few actually gave her their own names, so Minho eventually stopped as he realized how awkward that was.

Switching topics, he said, "As soon as your leg gets better, you can choose a job. Normally, Alby just assigns you what you're good at, but I think he's making an exception with you."

"Oh really?" she asked curiously. It was strange that Alby even cared. "What are my options?"

"First, we have the Runners, of which I'm the Keeper, but forget it, shank," he said with a tone of superiority. "That's only for the elites. We run, we try to find a way out, we almost die, and then we run right back to map out where we ran. Easy." She side-glanced at him and shook her head.

She had to admit, they were very creative with names.

"What are Med-jacks?" she asked, remembering that she heard that one before.

He groaned, but Sara figured if he didn't want to talk about it, he would've already left. Curiosity was indeed an irresistible impediment.

"The docs," he replied. "They're the ones you look for when you have a booboo. You know, they... kiss it and everything," he said, maintaining a straight face.

Sara wasn't sure if he was serious or not but then felt foolish as soon as Minho burst out laughing.

"Anyway..." He cleared his throat after realizing Sara wasn't very amused. "Let me explain the other ones quickly so Alby doesn't kill me. Slicers kill the animals for food, Track-hoes take care of the crops, and Sloppers literally just pick up after everyone else. And Baggers..." he paused, "well, you'll learn what they do but later. I'm lazy."

"Wow. Well, when do I start?" asked Sara.

"Probably tomorrow."

It was impressive how a bunch of teenage boys managed to create an entire system with everyone doing a part and trying to figure out how to get out of this place.

Sara absolutely disapproved of those trials, but one thing was true for sure: WICKED chose the smartest kids they could find; they were perfect for the trials.

Reflecting on how her first day had been so far, she knew she was limited to talk to only a few of the boys. It'd be a long way until she could earn their trust, or else, the whole plan would simply fail.

At one point, Minho stood up to go get himself a strange drink the Gladers were serving, and some food for Sara.

Then a chubby, curly-haired kid, about twelve years old, later joined them.

"Hey, Greenie, I'm Chuck!" he introduced himself.

He was so adorable Sara almost blurted out her own name.

Not yet, she reminded herself.

"I­—um. I'll tell you my name when I remember it," she said instead, giving him a smile.

"You've been the talk of the Glade," said the boy, and Sara groaned—like that wasn't already another one of her many concerns.

Minho snorted. "That'll die soon."

When Sara was done eating, her hands began to get cold, so she stuck them inside the pockets of her shorts. Her fingers came into contact with two things she'd forgotten she still carried, and also the real reason she refused a new pair of pants.

Oh no.

She waited until Chuck left, and then she saw that Minho was close to getting wasted on that drink, having at least five empty jars already spread across the floor.

She snuck her hand in her left pocket and wrapped her hand around the tiny tracker, then quickly took her fist out and threw the device into the fire. Rebecca had told her to get rid of it as soon as she'd gotten there. In her defense, she was carried out of the Maze unconscious.

Minho looked over at her in his drunken state. "What was that?" he slurred with a raucous voice.

"Nothing, just a piece of trash I found in my pocket," she replied with an innocent smile spreading across her face. He seemed satisfied with her answer and didn't ask anything else.

Alby soon called it a night and dismissed everyone to bed.

Winston came and hoisted Minho up, wrapping the guy's arm around his own shoulder to help him walk to his hammock. Meanwhile, Clint and Jeff came by to help Sara stand and guide her to her own hammock. Alby promised she'd get her own hut for privacy, but she would have to wait for it to be built.

As she lay on the hammock, her thoughts drifted back to the nightmare she had while she was out.

The woman looked familiar, although Sara couldn't see her face clearly.

Too many unanswered questions switched her thoughts over to Newt. Her hand found its way to her right pocket, and her fingers touched the folded piece of paper she realized she still had earlier. Its texture was much softer now, indicating it got very wrinkled at some point.

She wondered if maybe she should just wait until Newt woke up so that she could give him the letter. But then she also considered getting rid of it instead. She didn't feel ready to let him know the truth yet, because even he didn't trust her when she saw him again in the Maze. Maybe he wouldn't understand.

Ugh. What should I do?