Elisabeth was sent to work with the Cooks the next day. By the time lunch rolled around, she was sure that there was no way she was going to be a Cook.

She was just passing the gardens when she spotted Thomas sitting by a tree. For some reason he looked terrified.

"What's up with you, mate?" She asked but he didn't seem to have heard her as he stared at the Homestead in complete horror. Whatever he had seen in there had traumatised him.

"You going to tell me what's wrong?" She asked, touching his shoulder gently and he broke out of his reverie.

"It's that Ben kid," Thomas confided in her. "He looks like a monster. Gally tricked me into seeing him."

Elisabeth frowned. Why were the Gladers being so harsh on Thomas?
It was only making the situation worse. Yes, Thomas was a little curious and asked a lot of questions one after another but he was a nice bloke.

"Let's hope Gally steps on water with socks on." She said. It was an attempt to take his mind off Ben.

And it worked as Thomas laughed.

"Well I-"

Though, before he had the chance to finish his speech, the familiar wailing sound came from all everywhere at once, echoing off the stone walls.

Elisabeth knew that sound.

A sound that wasn't supposed to be heard for another month.

It was the Greenie alarm.

But Greenies only came up once a month. Her brown eyes darted across the Glade, lips parted in the slightest.

Was the alarm malfunctioning?

"What's wrong?" Thomas asked but she didn't seem to hear him.

Elisabeth slowly made her way to the Box as the siren clanged through the air. She could see that dozens of boys were running around the courtyard.

The Gladers looked like lost chickens thrown off the coop but Elisabeth didn't feel nearly as panicked or frightened as her instincts told her she ought to be.

It was just another Greenie.

What could possibly go wrong?

A small crowd was gathered around the Box, awaiting the arrival of the newest Newbie.

"Newt, what's going on?" Thomas yelled over the noise, confusion flickering over his features with a hint of fear.

Newt glanced over at him, strangely calm in the middle of the chaos. He nodded toward the Box. "Means another Newbie's comin' up in the Box. Right now. "

"So?" Thomas asked, sounding more and more confused with each passing second.

"So?" Newt repeated, his jaw dropping slightly. "Greenie, we've never had three Greenies show up in the same month."

And without another word he ran off towards the Homestead.

The alarm finally stopped wailing after a minute. Elisabeth shook her head trying to get rid of the awful ringing it left.

A metallic grinding could be heard just beneath the thick metal doors.

Elisabeth could remember when she was in the trembling metal Box two days ago. The rising elevator that rose upward relentlessly.
But anything before that was a blur.

Lost forever.

Everything from her past life had been wiped. Just like the rest of the Gladers.

She felt sorry for the new boy. Or girl. Whoever they were they didn't deserve such a fate.

None of them did.

Elisabeth found herself hoping it was another girl. The boys were nice but she needed female companionship.

"If they keep coming up like that, this place will be crowded." She turned her head as she heard Edwards's voice, only to find the brunet standing beside William.

"Maybe whoever's in charge realised that Thomas was nothing but a big mistake, sent someone to replace him." Chuck butted in.

Thomas shot him a glare. "You're annoying. Seriously." But he was only joking, for a small had appeared on his lips.

"Yeah, but we're all buddies now, right?" Chuck asked, laughing, a squeaky sort of snort.

"Looks like you're not giving us much choice on that one."

"Thomas, look." Elisabeth pointed at Gally who was pushing through the crowd and glaring daggers at Thomas. "There's your bestie." She grinned.

"Shuck it," Chuck said. "He does not like you, man."

"Yeah," Thomas muttered. "Figured that out already."

" I won't be surprised if he starts an Anti Thomas Campaign." Elisabeth said.

"Well, you guys could start an Anti Gally Campaign." William suggested.

"Yeah, you're smarter. And I bet you're quicker. You could take him and all his buddies."

One of the boys standing in front of them looked back over his shoulder, brows furrowed with irritation.

Must be one of Gally's cronies.

A muffled boom echoed around the courtyard, signalling that the Box had arrived beneath the thick metal doors.

The boys pushed through the crowd, trying to make their way to the front.
Edward grabbed Elisabeth's hand and pulled her to stand in front of him in a protective manner.

The slight chatter died down. The air like a vaccume around her. Elisabeth watched in anticipation as Newt and Alby positioned themselves on either side of the Box. Hook-handles were attached on both sides, and together they yanked them apart. With a metallic clang the doors were opened, dust particles rose from the surrounding stone into the air.

Newt leaned over to get a better look into the Box. Then he pushed himself back into an upright position, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Holy...," He breathed, looking around at nothing in particular. Poor bloke looked spooked, to heck.

Alby had gotten a good look as well, with a similar reaction. "No way,"

The crowd erupted into a chorus of questions. Elisabeth followed Edward towards the opening of the Box, for she was too curious to see what could have been contained in the Box.

"Hold on!" Alby yelled, silencing the group of boys. "Just hold on!"

"Well, what's wrong?" William yelled back.

Alby stood up. "Three Newbies in three days," He said in a whisper as if in a trance. "And now this." Then his eyes scanned around the crowd until he caught sight of Thomas and Elisabeth. "What's goin' on here, Greenies?"

"How the bloody hell are we supposed to know?" Elisabeth asked.

"Why don't you just tell us what the shuck is down there, Alby?" Gally called out.

"You Shanks shut up!" Alby shouted. "Tell 'em Newt."

"...it's another girl,"

An awkward silence lingered then the usual comments were displayed.
Elisabeth only caught pieces here and there.

"Another girl?"

"I got dibs on this one!"

"What's she look like?"

"How old is she?"

"Is she hot?"

That's what they care about?

Elisabeth hastily scampered across the grass and crouched down at the edge of the elevator.

At first, all she saw was the chained flooring.

Then her eyes landed on the girl sprawled eagle on the middle of the Box in a very uncomfortable position.
It was as if the creators had hastily thrown her in like a rag doll.

She was very pretty with coal black hair. She was small and skinny, probably a few inches shorter than Elisabeth and seemed to be about sixteen years old.

But there was something wrong.

The girl hadn't moved an inch and didn't look like she was breathing.

Elisabeth exchanged glances with Edward and knew he was thinking the same thing. "Do you think...?"

Edward nodded watching the girl carefully.

Newt shushed the Gladers again. "That's not bloody half of it," he said solemnly. "I think she's dead."

A couple of the stronger boys grabbed some ropes made from ivy and lowered Alby and Newt into the Box until their shoes touched the metal floor, so they could retrieve the girl's body.

A solemn silence hung over the Glade. It was as if a thick blanket had descended upon them, muffling any sound. Elisabeth felt a sort of detached sorrow for the nameless girl.

Why would they send a corpse?

What was the point?

After retrieving the girl's body they laid her down on the cracked stone floor. Newt and Alby scrambled out of the Box after her, then forced their way through to the girl's lifeless body, the crowd parting and re-parting after they had passed through. Only a few seconds later the group had parted again and Newt pointed straight at Thomas.

"Greenie, get over here," He ordered, not bothering to be polite in his demand.

Thomas made his way to where Elisabeth was standing beside the dead body. The Gladers Gladers surrounding the area glared at them.
It seemed like everyone blamed them for the unusual events that were taking place.

Elisabeth caught eyes with James and he offered her a small smile.

"You know this girl, Shanks?" Alby demanded harshly, looking at Elisabeth then at Thomas.

Why does he have to be such a jerk all the time?

Thomas looked at the leader incredulously. "Know her? Of course we don't know her. We don't know anyone except for you guys."

"That's not...," Alby started, then stopped with a frustrated sigh, looking beyond annoyed. "I meant does she look familiar at all? Any kind of feelin' you've seen her before?"

"No. Nothing." Thomas replied. She glanced at him curiously, something about his tone told her he was being untruthful.

"You sure?" Alby asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Yes." Elisabeth answered, looking at him dead in the eye. "Why?"

"Shuck it." Alby muttered looking down at the girl once more. "Can't be a coincidence. Three days, three Greenies. Two alive, one dead."

Sudden realization washed over Thomas's features. He exchanged a horrified glance with Elisabeth then turned back at Alby. "You don't think we..."

Oh, Thomas.

"Slim it, Greenie," Newt grumbled, sounding rather exasperated. "We're not sayin' you bloody killed the girl."

"But you implied to it." Elisabeth shot back.

Before anyone else could say anything the 'dead girl' shot up into a sitting position. Both Alby and Newt cried out and fell into backwards trying to put as much distance between them and the girl as possible as if she were some crazy zombie, going to kill every last one of them.

Elisabeth jumped back in fright, grabbing ahold of Edward's wrist.

The deranged girl sucked in a deep breath as her fierce blue eyes scanned over the crowd with hazy vision. She was muttering something inaudible over and over. Then she spoke in a hollow and haunted, but clear voice.

"Everything is going to change."

___________________________

A/N:

Alright so first of all I'm extremely sorry for such a late update!!

First I had writer's block.
I felt insecure about my writing.
Then I got food poisoning.

This chapter was rewritten three times in three different povs.

But I finally published it!!
And I'll try my best to update every week from now on.

And thank you so much for your beautiful comments!!
They motivate me to keep writing <3

The other day I took screenshots of your comments and showed them to my besties and we were all fangirling together.

DEDICATED TO: NewtPotter250 my bestie

I'm excited for the next chapter because it has a cute moment in the end.

Enjoy the cliffhanger
*cackles*

Have a nice day love~

-Zara