"Hey, Harriet."

Harriet, a tall seventeen-year-old was standing beside the Box with Sonya by her side. She had a head covered with dreadlocks and had a no-nonsense air about her that made you think twice about annoying her. Sonya, on the other hand, was a lot more easy-going and not as stern as Harriet.

Harriet nodded at me, then at Marie. Sonya waved at us and called, "New Blondie in half an hour! You going to wait or go see Jenny first?"

Right on cue, my stomach rumbled loud enough for her to hear. Sonya laughed and pointed toward the gardens. "I think Jenny's there, she ran out of asparagus last week." Sonya made a face and fake-gagged. "Shucking asparagus, dunno why she bothers to grow it anyway. It's not like we eat it or anything."

I laughed and started walking toward the gardens. Well, maybe hobbling would be a better word. The crutch threw off my balance and made me lean slightly to the left, and Marie's quick pace didn't help either.

"Wait up!" I called, an arm bent around the makeshift crutch. Marie, who was already a good ten feet in front of me, paused, turned around, and smirked at me. I took that time to catch up with her, but when I was four feet away from her, Marie turned back to the gardens and started sprinting.

"Marie!" I growled and started hobbling as fast as I could, but I was still only going half Marie's speed. She stopped at the gardens and started peering through the straight rows of greens, picking a bundle of small cherry tomatoes and tossing them up into the air with her mouth wide open to catch them. I almost hoped that she would miss, but Marie caught every. Single. One.

"Hey! HEY!" Marie turned to see a stout and slightly chubby girl of about fifteen years old waving a wooden spoon at her. "Marie! I needed those!"

Marie shrugged and popped another one into her mouth. Jenny huffed with frustration and started choosing tall asparagus stalks buried into the ground. With a loud snap, she bent the stalks over and they cracked easily.

"Jenny!" I called when I reached the two. Jenny raised her head and a wide smile split her face.

"Hi Neil! Finally out? S'pose you're hungry, right? Hey Ava" -she snapped her fingers at another girl- "Ava! Stop stealing the strawberries, those are for everyone!" Ava ducked her head, embarrassed, and dropped the strawberries into a basket. "Ava, can you bring Neil to the kitchens? I think there's an extra cucumber sandwich next to the pots."

Ava hurriedly passed the basket of berries to another girl working in the gardens and we went over to the kitchens. There was a sandwich wrapped in cling film under an assortment of pots and pans and I quickly snarfed it down, avoiding the stacks of sausages and meatballs. I hadn't eaten meat since my first day at the Glade after seeing how the animals were butchered.

"C'mon," said Ava, who had somehow sneaked a lettuce leaf from the garden and was now crunching on it. "The Blondie will be coming up any moment."

As soon as we got to the Box, Marie waved me over. "Another minute or so," she told me as we waited next to the edge of the Box.

We waited for a few minutes longer before the Box rushed up with a loud clanging sound. Harriet, Sonya and Andrea, another Mapper, pulled open the rusty iron doors, revealing a girl curled up in the corner.

"Rope," Sonya called, and when a coil of rope was passed over, Sonya offered one end to Harriet, who gripped it as Sonya carefully lowered herself down into the Box. Sonya bent down and smiled at the girl.

"Hello," she said kindly. "My name is Sonya. Do you know your name?"

The girl's face was cast into shadow, so only Sonya could see her face. Whimpering, the girl pressed herself against the Box wall. Sonya stayed where she was crouching and waited for an answer.

"R - Rachel, I think," Rachel said, her voice shaky and afraid. "Where am I?"

Sonya nodded. "Well, Rachel, you've arrived at the Glade. No one knows anything more than their name when they arrive, so don't worry too much about it. We," she gestured to all of us, "came the same way, every one of us. Would you like to come out?"

The people above the box couldn't see Rachel anymore, but we assumed that she had nodded because Sonya stood up and offered her hand to Rachel. A small hand reached out from the darkness and gripped Sonya's, pulling a small body up.

Sonya slowly coaxed Rachel out of the shadows and she stepped out into the light with her head still bowed. Based off Sonya's height, Rachel was probably about five-two with chocolate-colored hair that reached down to her elbows.

Sonya whispered something to Rachel, and Rachel shook her head.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, her voice hoarse and croaky. Rachel cleared her throat and tried again.

"Why are we in the Glade? Who sent us here? Can we get out?" Rachel's voice seemed to be getting higher and higher with every question.

Sonya smiled sadly and said, "No one knows, Blondie. At least, we don't know anyone specific. The Creators put us here, but that's about all we know about them. And if we knew how to get out, don't you think we would've already broken out?" Sonya's voice was slightly bitter, but she covered it up quickly with an encouraging smile. "Do you think you can come out?"

Rachel nodded and finally raised her head. I gasped and stumbled back.

It was her.

One of the girls from my memories.

"Neil!"

Marie rushed over to steady me and gave me a worried look. "What's wrong? Is it your head?"

"Um, yeah," I said loudly and tilted my head slightly, toward the Homestead. "Can you get me some painkillers?"

Thankfully, Marie got the message and nodded. She went over to excuse ourselves from the group and I made my way through the clump of Gladers, wobbling clumsily and bumping into other girls. I apologized at least a dozen times before I separated myself from group and shuffled over to the Homestead.

A few minutes later, Marie jogged over and I waved her into my room.

"What was that about?" she demanded as I sat onto my bed. "As soon as you saw the Blondie, you just kind of -" Marie waved her hands through the air vaguely, clearly not sure what had happened. I sighed.

"When I went through the Changing - why do you look so green? Geez - I saw a few. . . things," I said lamely, quickly explaining my last memory and what had happened with the new Rachel girl. I wasn't sure why, but my voice kinda. . . stopped when I got closer toward the end. I coughed, eyes wide, and started choking. What the heck? I fought the urge to throw up and cleared my throat, then tried again. Thankfully, my voice worked this time.

"And then she kinda bent over me and said 'WICKED is good' and then I woke up!" I decided to keep a few things to myself. I wasn't sure why, but sharing certain pieces of information felt strange.

Marie stared at me. I waited for her to say something, but she stayed silent.

"Well?" I asked impatiently. Marie frowned.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," she said carefully. "Are you sure it's-"

"Yes, Mar, I'm sure," I interrupted. "What do I do? Should I tell Harriet and Sonya? She seems like a nice girl, it's hard to believe that she could work for them."

The Creators. The people who stuck us in an impossible maze full of murderous creatures out for our blood. The people who had erased all of our memories except for our names. The people who had been completely okay will killing off innocent children.

"Neil?" Marie said softly, and I shook my head quickly to clear it. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I lied. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Marie gave me a dubious look but didn't say anything else. "C'mon, do you want to meet Rachel?" I took her outstretched hand and pulled myself up, wobbling a little on my crutch. We left the Homestead quickly and I made my way over to Rachel.

"Blondie, can I talk to you?"

***

WORD COUNT: 1472

***

From Wikipedia:

"Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad."