"Hey. Hey, Piper. Wake up."

I opened my eyes and saw a girl with brown hair staring down at me. Frightened, I shot up from my hammock, my eyes widened. "What the--"

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you," she assured me. "I'm Esther, the Keeper of the Builders. Get up. I want to show you something."

Reluctantly, I got up from my hammock and followed Esther. We were walking towards the Walls. I felt the sun hitting against my skin.

"The Glen was not always like this," Esther spoke up. "We've had a few Glenners die in the last two years. We've worked very hard to get this far." She paused for a moment, then continued. "You're one of us now, Piper. I hope you know that."

We stopped walking once we got to the Walls. The names of the Glenners were carved into the stone. Some of the names were crossed out, which had to mean that they were deceased.

"It's your turn to put your name up here," Esther said, handing me the knife that was in her hand.

I slowly took the knife from her and began to carve my name. Once I was done, I walked backwards and looked at my name and everyone else's names. I was already beginning to feel like a Glenner.

All of a sudden, the Doors slowly began to open. Maeve and another Runner made their way towards us.

"Morning, Maeve. Morning, Claire," Esther greeted them.

"Morning, Esther," Claire greeted back. Then, she looked at me. "Morning, Newbie."

"Don't call her that, Claire," Esther said.

"What do you want me to call her, then? Stick?"

"It's Piper," I spoke up. "It shouldn't be that hard to remember."

Claire glared at me, then it became a smirk. "I think I'll settle on stick. See you later." With that, Claire ran inside the Maze.

Maeve stared at me and Esther, then followed Claire inside the Maze.

"Well, it's time to wake up the others," Esther announced. "You've got a big day today."

*******

Today was the day that I would start working in the Glen. The Newbies had to try out a different job each day to see which job they were good at. Today, I would start off by being a Cutter.

Helen, who was the Keeper of the Cutters, went over the basics with me when the other Glenners began doing their jobs.

"Does it ever rain?" I asked Helen while we were skinning a couple of chickens.

Helen nodded her head at me. "Sometimes. It doesn't rain that much. When it doesn't rain, like today, the water is pumped from underground. That's how we're able to grow any crops around here."

"How do you know that the water is pumped from underground?"

Helen shrugged her shoulders. "What other way can we get water when it's not raining?"

I nodded my head. "Well, at least whoever put us here gives us supplies and stuff for us once a week."

"Yeah, and a new stick once a month," Helen added. "When we get out of here, the Creators have a lot of explaining to do. That's what we call the people who put us here."

Once we were done with the chickens, I set the meat aside and cleaned my knife with a rag, huffing a sigh.

"Uh-oh," Helen said, her head turned towards the Homebase.

"What?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Beth is slacking on the job again," she replied. "Look at her."

I looked over to see Beth sitting on the grass, telling the other Builders what to do.

"Esther is going to be mad," I said.

The other Glenner nodded her head in agreement. "Beth thinks she's better than everyone else. She's always been like that ever since she got here."

All of a sudden, Esther walked up to Beth and stopped right in front of her. I couldn't hear the whole argument, but it wasn't until they started to raise their voices at each other that everyone stopped whatever they were doing and focused on them.

"Oh, stop it, Esther. You know that I should've stayed as Keeper of the Builders instead of you. You don't deserve this job."

"Why don't you just get up and do your job before I have to?" Esther retorted.

Beth shot Esther a glare and reluctantly stood up from the ground. Then, she stormed away from Esther and went back to work.

"Hey, Newbie, go get another chicken," a random Glenner said to me.

I nodded my head and made my way outside of the Blood House to grab another chicken.

*******

Later that day, we had lunch at the Homebase. With all of the food the Cooks prepared for the other Glenners, it was as if they never left the Kitchens. Of course, the Planters and Cutters helped the Cooks out. In fact, everyone around here had to help each other out, or there would be no trust. Like Harriet told me on my first day, none of this worked unless everyone trusted each other.

"So, how do you like being a Cutter?" Helen asked me as we were eating.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's okay. It's probably better than being a Slugger."

Helen chuckled. "Got that right."

When lunch was almost over, I headed back outside to do more work in the Blood House. A Glenner gave me the job to skin another chicken before she went outside. I grabbed the knife and the dead chicken, beginning to skin it. I looked out towards the Gardens to see Sonya and the other Planters gathering fruits and vegetables. Suddenly, I felt the blade of the knife go through my skin on the palm of my hand.

"OW!" I cried, dropping the knife and the chicken on the table. I looked down at my hand and saw the long cut and the blood running down my hand.

"What happened?" Helen shouted, running towards me.

"I cut my hand," I said, looking down at the wound again.

Helen looked down at my hand, then back up at me. "Go to the Homebase. Gwyneth will fix it for you. Just go upstairs and you'll be able to find her once you get up there."

"Okay." I nodded my head and turned around, making my way towards the Homebase.

Everyone was leaving the Homebase and going back to their jobs by the time I got there. I heard the Cooks yelling and laughing at each other in the Kitchens before I walked up the stairs. When I was on the next floor, I heard the sounds of someone moaning that came from the last room at the end of the hallway. I walked towards that room and stopped in front of the room when I heard Gwyneth talking.

"Awe, ickle baby gots a tummy ache?" she questioned the Glenner in a sarcastic and childish tone. "You should come to the Amputation Party later. We're sayin' goodbye to a Planter's pinky toe. But sure, let me make a cot for your tummy troubles."

The Glenner shot Gwyneth a glare and then huffed a sigh, getting up from the cot.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now get the hell outside." Gwyneth shook her head, then went back to work.

I knocked on the door. "Gwyneth?"

She looked up at me. "Oh, hey there. You're the Newbie, aren't you? Whatcha need? I'm about to--"

"Plan that Amputation Party?" I cut her off, raising my eyebrows, trying to make a joke.

She gave me a smirk. "You heard me talkin' to that stick, didn't you?"

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," I told her. "I just came by to see if you could fix my hand. I cut myself while working in the Blood House."

Gwyneth let out a sigh. "Not surprising. Come in and sit down." I obliged and sat down in a chair by the wall. "Cutters usually spend a lot of time over here. They're always hurtin' themselves one way or another."

I watched as Gwyneth grabbed some supplies before pulling up a chair and sitting down beside me. She took a wet rag and wiped the blood on my hand. Then, she took a bottle of cream and squeezed some on her finger.

"So, how do you like bein' a Cutter?" she asked me.

"Well, other than getting this bad cut, it's fine," I replied.

Gwyneth chuckled. "Well, wait until you get to be a Medic for a day. You'll have fun with me."

"Oh, Great." I wasn't sure if she was being serious or sarcastic. Once she was done with the cream, she wrapped a bandage around my hand and sighed in content.

"Well, you're free to go. Just try not to cut yourself again," she teased.

I nodded my head. "Okay, thanks." I got up from the chair and began to walk out of the door.

"Hold on," Gwyneth spoke up, stopping me before I was gone. "Why do you look like someone just died?"

I turned back around, shaking my head. "I guess I'm just ready for today to be over."

She nodded her head. "The first day of workin' is always the hardest," she said. "It gets better, you know. I mean, I don't remember much of the outside world, but what we have here...it works." She gave me a weak smile. "I'll see you later, Newbie."

With that, I left the room and headed back downstairs.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Heeey, new chapter!

I saw Maze Runner: The Death Cure last night and my heart was just TORN TO PIECES. I can't believe that it's all over. It was good, despite the things I didn't care for. But the movie has me pumped for this trilogy and I can't wait!

ANYWAY, thanks to harmonyrules and microwavedcoffee for making Esther and Gwyneth! You will know more about the other characters soon!

Song above is Everybody Loves Me by OneRepublic. I feel like the song describes Esther and Gwyneth in different ways, LOL.

Comment, vote, more to come!

-A