>☆<

The shadows from the walls had lengthened considerably, already creeping up the sides of the ivy-covered stone faces on the other side.

Elisabeth walked towards the Deadheads, her long, dark shadow rippled over the grass behind her like a cloak. A light breeze ruffled her hair as she moved toward the edge of the forest, darkness falling slightly around her.

The forest wasn't that big, maybe a couple of acres. The trees were tall and skeletal, their branches meeting high above like fingertips touching. A thick bed of leaves and fallen twigs crunched under her feet.

She let her thoughts drift back to her past, as they frequently did. She wondered if she had a family.

Do I have siblings?

Maybe you do.

Elisabeth flinched. She looked around and stilled her breathing, listening. But there was no one there, except her. She was alone.

But she was sure she had heard someone speak. It was a male voice.
Or maybe a very manly girl. She thought. Maybe I'm imagining things. She dismissed it.

But then Elisabeth felt a soft buzz at the back of her head. Then came a ticking noise like there was a clock inside her head.

Her eyes widened with fear. But the most concerning out of all was the presence. She could sense someone's presence like someone was there with her but no physically.

Then a rediculous thought occurred to her. She felt the urge to snicker, it seemed too rediculous to be true.

Hello?

She said stupidly, picturing the words in her mind, concentrating hard.

Hello!

She mentally threw the words in some way she could never have explained.

Hello.

This time she was sure she'd heard it. It was a male voice. This seemed impossible. But then again she lived in the middle of a Maze with deadly monster guards, she reminded herself.

Elisabeth focused hard on the next few words. She was getting a headache from the amount of mental effort it took.

Who are you? Do I know you?

The stranger only answered the latter.

You do. Or at least you used to.

Elisabeth was about to say something else when a metallic, clicking sound and leaves crunching grabbed her attention. She turned to her left to see the new boy. Her eyes drifted to where he was staring intently, at the top of a tree. She heard the metallic clicking again and a flash of silver and red light caught her eyes.

"That was one of them beetle blades,"

They both turned to see a young boy standing nearby, maybe twelve or thirteen years old. He was the youngest Elisabeth had seen among the Gladers so far. His curly chestnut hair fell across his forehead. The eyes that stared at her were blue. He was short and chubby.

"A beetle what?" The Greenie asked.

"Beetle blade," The pudgy boy said, pointing to the top of the tree. "Won't hurt ya unless you're stupid enough to touch one of them," He paused. "Shank." He added hesitantly. It seemed like he wasn't used to the Gladers slang yet.

A nerve-racking scream tore through the air. High and shrill, the animalistic shried echoed across the Glade. It sounded like a starving animal being tortured. Elisabeth jumped and she felt her blood turn to icy slush. The fear was like icy dew on her skin.

"What's going on over there?" The Greenie asked, pointing at the Homestead. The scream must've came from there.

"Don't know," The pudgy boy replied. "Ben's in there, sicker than a dog. They got him."

"Who are they?" Elisabeth asked.

"Better hope you never find out," The boy replied. He seemed far too comfortable with the situation as if he was used to it. "My name's Chuck. I was the Greenbean before Elisabeth showed up. He held out his hand which the new boy and Elisabeth shook.

The Greenie's eyebrows knitted together with confusion. Elisabeth waited for him to ask the next quest-

"Why is everyone calling me Greenbean?" He asked.

"Because you're the newest Newbie." Chuck pointed at the boy and laughed. Another scream came from the Homestead, rippling through the air and ringing viciously off the walls.

"Ben will be okay," Chuck said like this was an everyday thing. "No one does if they make it back in time to get the Serum. It's all or nothing. Dead or not dead. Just hurts a lot, gettin' stung by the Grievers."

Elisabeth's chest clenched and her shoulders tensed at the mention of the monsters that would probably haunt her nightmares forever.

"Grievers?" The Greenie said, quietly. Chuck shrugged, rolling his eyes. Elisabeth gazed away too. She didn't feel like explaining what Grievers are at the moment.

"Looks like you barely know more than I do." The boy said.

"Yeah, I just arrived yesterday, mate." She said, awkwardly patting the Greenie on the back.

"How old do you think I am?" The boy asked, radiating pure anxiety.

"I'd say you're sixteen." Elisabeth told the boy, examining him. "You have brown hair and brown eyes. Maybe five feet nine."

"And ugly as fried liver on a stick." Chuck added, snorting a laugh.
Elisabeth tried hard to keep a straight face.

But the Greenie didn't seem to hear the last part. "How...."

"Don't worry. You'll be all whacked for a few days, but then you'll get used to this place. I have. We live here, this is it. Better than living in a pile of Klunk." Chuck said.

There was the weird vocabulary again. "What's a Klunk?"

"Klunk's another word for poo." Chuck answered. "Poo makes a Klunk sound when it falls into our pee pots."

The Greenie frowned, his nose scrunched up. "That's nice."

Elisabeth however, laughed. "I never asked for the details. That's too much information, Chuck."

The boy started walking toward the Homestead. Elisabeth and Chuck followed. She had a feeling the curious boy was going to get himself into trouble.

"What's your name?" She asked. "Or do we just have to call you Greenie?"

"What?" The boy seemed too distracted studying the Homestead.

"Your name?" Chuck said. "You still haven't told us-I think you remember that much."

"Thomas. My name is Thomas."

"Nice to meet you, Thomas," Chuck said. "Don't you worry, I'll take care of you. I'll take care of both of you. I've been here for a while month, and I know the place inside and out. You can count on Chuck, okay?"

This boy will grow on me.

"Thank you, Chuck." She smiled warmly at the boy. "I'll take care of you too."

The younger boy grinned up at her. She was liking him more and more every minute.

Thomas however turned to face Chuck. "You can't even tell me anything. I wouldn't call that taking care of me." He turned back toward the Homestead door.

Chuck shrugged. "Nothin' I say'll do you any good." He said, looking down at the stone floor.

"We're basically still Newbies, too" Elisabeth agreed.

"But I can be your friend-" Chuck suggested.

"I don't need friends," Thomas said harshly.

"Suit yourself, then." Elisabeth rolled her eyes.

Thomas walked inside the Homestead, the door swung shut behind him.

"Rude." She scoffed.

Chuck was staring at the door sadly.

"I can smack the newfound memories out of his bloody head." She rolled up her sleeves.

Chuck snorted a laugh that was adorable.

"I say we leave the Greenie," She advised. "We can be friends instead."

The younger boy nodded smiling.

But after a few minutes Thomas ran out of the Homestead, looking terrified, panting slightly.

"Get me away from these guys." Thomas told them.

Chuck opened his mouth to say something but Elisabeth cut him off. "You hear something Chuck?" She said. "Cause I don't."

Thomas frowned, turning slightly pink in the face.

"I remember someone telling us they didn't need any friends." She said.

Then she laughed, resting her arm on the boy's shoulder. "I'm just playing, mate. I'm not that petty. I think."

She held out her hand. Thomas smiled, shaking it.

"We'll get along alright." Elisabeth said. "I guess."

•★•

That evening every last Glader gathered around what looked like a pile of brushwood or dry sticks.

Alby stood beside Leo, Minho, Gally and a few other Keepers who were all holding burning torches of wood in their hands.

"On the count of three!" Alby called "One, two, three!"

They all dropped their torches together to set light to the massive pile of wood, which first crackled, and then blazed, and finally roared as a bonfire ought to do.

Everyone sat down in a wide circle round it. The warmth of the fire caressed their faces. Frypan and his Cooks were passing out plates full of roast beef and potatoes.

Elisabeth sat down with her friends. Minho told them an old story about a woman trapped in a Maze. She escaped by never taking her right hand off the walls of the maze, sliding it along as she walked. In doing so, she was forced to turn right at every turn, and eventually she found the exit.

The sunset had died away, and the stars had come out. The great fire, now hotter but less noisy, shone like a beacon in the darkness. She breathed in the smell of burning wood that was carried to her on the night breeze.

"Psst." Elisabeth turned round to see William. He waved her over and gestured for her to follow him. She saw Thomas and Chuck's outline in the distance and got up to follow.

They made their way behind the Homestead in the gathering twilight. The air was full of the smells of roast chicken, warm grass and wood smoke from the bonfire.

"Where are we going?" Thomas asked. "If you're looking for a goodnight kiss, forget it."

"Just shut up and stay close." Chuck said.

They tiptoed until they came upon a small dusty window, a soft beam of light shining through onto the gray stone floor. A sign beside it creaked a little, though there was no breeze.

They could hear someone moving around inside. William and Chuck crouched so that their heads were positioned right below where the person on the inside would be able to see them. Then Chuck reached out his hand and lightly tapped on the dust-frosted glass.

"This is stupid," Thomas whisper-yelled. "I don't wanna get in trouble-I just got here."

"You're one to talk!" William whispered back. "After what happened in the Homestead."

"We won't get in trouble if we don't get caught in the first place." Elisabeth said.

Whoever the unfortunate soul was inside was going to get a nasty surprise. She sniggered into the sleeve of her denim jacket as a giddy feeling tickled her chest.

A shadow crossed the light and their miserable victim slid open the dusty window. Thomas and Elisabeth jumped to hide, pressing themselves against the back of the building as hard as they could to conceal themselves. Unlucky, for their victim he couldn't see them from the angle of vision from the window. But if he was smart enough to poke his head outside to get a better look they would've been screwed.

"Who's that!" The boy yelled from the bathroom. His voice was scratchy and laced with anger. Thomas gasped, Elisabeth slapped her hand on his mouth.

Without warning, Chuck and William popped their head up toward the window, coming face to face with the victim. And screamed at the top of their lungs.

The prank had worked as they heard a loud crash and the sound of something heavy falling to the ground. Then came a burst of swearwords.

Elisabeth turned tail and ran, giggling like a five year old. Her inner child was released. William followed her. They came to a halt as they reached the other Gladers who were enjoying the bonfire.

All the food had been consumed and Edward was singing. He had an angelic voice. Some of the boys pranced around the bonfire with their arms held aloft like ballerinas. Edward was trying hard to suppress his laughter as he watched the boys dance goofishly.

Elisabeth spotted Leo and plopped down beside him. A bow and a quiver full of arrows lay on the ground beside him. She wondered what he did with that.

"What's your job?" She asked him.

"I'm Keeper of the Bricknicks but they don't have much to do." He answered. "And I'm also a part time Runner-"

"You go out into the Maze?" Elisabeth asked incredulously. "Out of all the jobs you could've chosen? You're a nutter."

She thought about the Grievers and fear swelled inside her like a venomous bubble, compressing her lungs and driving all other thoughts from her mind.

"Someone has to do it," He responded. "We need to find a way out of this place."

"You never found an exit in two years."

"A man can dream, love," Leo smiled.

*

A/N: Thank you so much for 1.66k reads!!!

I love this chapter. I hope you did too. Longest chapter I have written so far.

Q. Who do you think the guy in Elisabeth's head was?

Q. What do you think about Elisabeth's character so far?

I will dedicate this chapter to: lvndor
Whenever I publish a chapter she is always the first one to come and read/vote and it always makes me smile. And thank you so much for your support:)

Have a nice day:)

-Zara