After Harriet walked away from me, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go next. I was still trying to take everything in, overwhelmed by what I was looking at. I was also trying to process all the information that Harriet told me about the Glen.

I looked over at the Walls that Harriet talked about. One thing that I didn't notice before was that the Walls were open. If Harriet didn't want anyone to go beyond the Walls, then why were they open, anyway?

Curious, I walked over towards the Walls. I was hoping that no one would stop me. After all, I wasn't planning on going beyond the Walls. I wasn't trying to get on Harriet's bad side on my first day.

When I got in front of the Walls, I stopped right in front of the entrance. I looked in the distance, wondering what could be in there.

"Hey!" I heard someone yell from behind me. I turned around and saw a blonde-headed girl running towards me. "You must be the Newbie," she added in a cheery tone.

"Yeah, I am," I replied.

"I'm Sonya," she said, sticking her hand out for me to shake. "When Harriet's not around, I'm in charge."

I reluctantly took her hand and shook it. "I'm Piper."

Sonya smiled. "Nice to meet you."

I nodded my head, then pointed at the Walls. "So, what's this? Harriet said to never go beyond the Walls."

Sonya looked at the Walls and nodded her head. "She's right. No one is allowed to go beyond the Walls. Unless you're a Runner, of course."

"A Runner?" I repeated.

"I'll explain it all later. But right now, you've got a lot to learn about the Glen. Let me show you around."

Sonya and I walked back to the center of the Glen. Neither of us exchanged words with each other while we were walking. Once we finally stopped, she turned to me and began to talk.

"So, right here is the Box. Harriet probably already told you about the Box, right?" I nodded my head. "Good. Over there, you have the Homebase. That's where we eat and sleep. The Slammer is right behind the Homebase. It's kind of like our jail. If you follow the rules, you won't have to worry about the Slammer."

I looked over at the Homebase. It was the biggest building in the Glen. Esther sure did a good job on it.

"Next, there's the Gardens. It's where we grow our crops. Planters are the ones who work in the Gardens. Then, there's the Blood House. That's where we raise the livestock and then slaughter them for us to cook and eat. The Cutters deal with the animals, and the Cooks...well, you know what they do."

The Blood House was a small house with animal pens beside it. Only a couple of livestock were enclosed in the pens.

"Finally, there's the Deadheads. That's where we bury Glenners."

"Bury them?" I asked. "You mean, you've had Glenners die?"

Sonya nodded her head in sadness. "Unfortunately. We don't like it, but it just happens sometimes. Come on, let's get your hammock set up."

Sonya led me to the Homebase, her braid bouncing with each step. She got all of the things I needed to help me set up where I was going to sleep at. I decided to set my hammock up right in front of the Walls. As we were tying the ropes to the poles, I spotted two girls running back in the Glen.

"Hey, Sonya, are those two girls Runners?" I asked, pointing at the two girls who stopped running. "You said no one's allowed to go beyond the Walls unless you're a Runner."

She looked over at the girls and nodded her head in response. "Yeah, they're Runners. See the girl with the ponytail? That's Maeve. She's the Keeper of the Runners."

"What exactly does a Runner do?" I questioned.

"I'll tell you more about it tonight," she replied. Then, she smiled. "We're gonna have a lot of fun tonight, Piper. Because tonight is all about you."

*******

There was a bonfire that night. They only had bonfires whenever a Newbie showed up. Like Sonya told me before, the bonfire was all about me, which I thought she was kidding about.

While everyone was talking and laughing and having a good time, I was walking around, observing the other Glenners. As I was just passing by people, I bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said to her. This girl had black hair with skin like Harriet. She was slightly shorter than me.

The girl just stared at me, not saying anything. After I shot her a confused look, Sonya walked up to us.

"I see you've met Lillie," Sonya said, smiling at me and Lillie. Lillie gave Sonya a weak smile, then walked away from us. Sonya looked back at me. "She's a Bagger. She works a lot in the Deadheads."

"Does she talk?" I asked.

Sonya shook her head. "She hasn't said a word ever since she arrived. Believe me, I've tried talking to her. I can't get a word out of her. Lillie was the Newbie before you showed up."

"How do you know her name?" I questioned.

"She carved it onto the Wall like the rest of us," Sonya replied. "No one has a problem with her. She does her job and doesn't cause any trouble."

I nodded my head. Sonya and I sat down on the ground with our backs against a log. I sighed and began to fidget with my hands.

"Here, try this. You need to loosen up a bit." Sonya handed me a jar filled with a yellow liquid.

I reluctantly took the jar from her hand and took a sip. Once I felt the burning sensation go down my throat, I made a sour face and began to cough.

"What is that stuff?" I asked Sonya.

She laughed. "I have no idea. It's Beth's recipe. She won't tell us what's in it."

"Are you sure she's not trying to poison me after slapping her across the face?" I retorted.

Sonya laughed again. "It's not like you did it on purpose."

I huffed a sigh and looked at the Walls. "So, are you gonna explain to me what's beyond the Walls?"

Sonya nodded her head, chewing her food. Once she swallowed the rest of it down, she began talking. "What you call the Walls we call the Doors. There's four of them. Each Door leads out to the Maze. They open up every morning and the Runners go inside the Maze and try to look for a way out. They map it out, memorize it every time they go in there. They have to come back here before the Doors close."

"What happens if they don't make it back in time?" I asked.

"Then they're stuck out there for the night. No one's ever survived a night in the Maze."

"How long have they been looking for a way out?"

Sonya sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Two years. The Maze changes every night. Maeve's been practically looking for a way out ever since she got here, and we arrived in the Box at the same time. She knows the Maze more than anyone else. She's also the fastest Runner, which is why she's the Keeper of the Runners."

I turned around and stared at Maeve. She was sitting by the fire with a drink in her hand.

"Now, enough questions. I need to go over the jobs with you again. Come on."

Sonya pulled me up from the ground and explained to me the jobs in the Glen. First, she told me about the Builders and Bricknicks, who did most of the building and repairing in the Glen.

Next, Sonya mentioned the Baggers, like Lillie, who dealt with the bodies of deceased Glenners and spent most of their time in the Deadheads.

Sonya then briefly went over the jobs of the Runners and the Map-makers, the Cooks, the Planters, and the Cutters again.

The next job was a Medic, who acted as the doctor of the Glen. Sonya told me about Gwyneth, who was the Keeper of the Medics. The way Sonya described her to me, Gwyneth sounded like a person that I didn't want to mess with.

"What's a Keeper?" I finally asked her since it was a work I had been hearing a lot of.

"A Keeper is the sub-leader of each job in the Glen. Whenever we have a Meeting, they have their own seat at the council," Sonya answered.

I nodded my head and let her get back to talking.

The last job she went over was a Slugger, which was the one job a Glenner was given because they were simply bad at every other job in the Glen. A Slugger did all the dirty tasks and housework.

"Well, I think I covered everything," Sonya said. "What do you think of all of this, Piper?"

"This is insane," I answered truthfully, which made me and Sonya chuckle a little.

Sonya smiled back, then turned around, facing the rest of the girls. "Everyone, let's welcome Piper to the Glen!" she announced.

Everyone began to cheer for me. They all surrounded me, cheering even louder, which made me smile.

But even with all of the screaming and shouting that was going on around me, I was still able to hear an unearthly sound that came from the Maze.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Ayyye, new chapter!

Because The Death Cure film came out today, I figured it was a good idea to go ahead and post the next chapter!

What do y'all think so far? I know it's slow so far, but I'm getting there, lol. Song above is Come with Me Now by KONGOS.

Comment vote, let me know what y'all think of the new movie!

-A