nothing good starts in a getaway car;
❛ POISONOUS CURE ❜
❝ Good first day? ❞

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

People say that a person is not likely to remember the first four to five years of their life. The beginning of their lives is a blurry memory that barely holds any meaning to them.

Because they were barely people back then. They were babies, children, who could only crawl and speak. They had no complex emotions, only anger, sadness, and happiness. They held no opinions of their own and their undeveloped mind protected them from how terrifying the real "grown-up" world was.

The eighteen-year-old boy in the dark metal box did not remember the previous eighteen years of his life. He did not remember his late childhood, his parents, his friends...hell, he did not even remember his own name.

But he did remember one name.

Cleo.

His mind was blank and the only word there was that name. He did not know who it belonged to or who that person was to him. But he knew that his head spun when he opened his mouth to mutter the name.

"Cleo."

The boy was in a box that was traveling upward at a fast pace. His heart started beating when he looked around and realized that he was alone and had no idea where he was going.

His chest rose and fell as rapid and panicked breaths escaped his mouth. He was on his hands and knees, looking around with wide eyes.

He placed one of his hands on a box so he could stabilize himself while getting up. He stood on his feet like a deer on ice while the box slash elevator shook.

Then, there was a noise coming from the box next to him. His breath hitched and he got on his knees to look inside only to see an angry pig staring back at him. He gasped and pushed himself away from it, only to fall on his ass.

He got back on his feet and slammed his fists against the metal roof of the box. "Hey! Hey! Help me! Help!"

He was terrified. He had no idea who or where he was so he could not even help himself. The dark-haired boy threw himself back on the floor when he realized that the boy was reaching some sort of wall. At first, he was scared that there was where everything ended. He was proven wrong when a red light shined on him and the box stopped.

He panted and tried to catch his breath when the light turned off and the roof above him opened.

He was hit by broad daylight and the change in brightness caused his eyes to grow sensitive. He lifted his arm in the air to shield his eyes from the Sun.

The crowd of boys around him was blurry but he noticed that there were around thirty of them. A couple of boys laughed and whispered amongst each other while one boy jumped into the box, landing directly in front of him.

"Day one, Greenie." He announced with a solemn look on his face. "Rise and shine."

He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him up and out of the metal box. He did not expect to land on soft grass. The boys gathered around him, barely giving him any room to breathe and process what was happening. Through his panic, he lifted his gaze and saw a sandy-haired boy staring down at it. He was not looking at him mockingly or like he was an animal in a zoo like all the others. He looked curious and only slightly amused.

"He looks like a slopper to me." Somebody chuckled

A boy next to him shook his head and laughed. "I could use some help in the kitchen."

It was all too much for him. He pushed the boys away and made a run for it. He had no clue where he was headed but he knew that he wanted to get as far away from them. He felt sick to his stomach and his head hurt.

"Hey, we got a runner!" He heard somebody behind him yell over his rapid heartbeat.

His feet hurt but he barely noticed until he tripped over air and fell onto his face. He lifted his gaze. There was laughter and mocking all around him but he could only focus on the enormous stone wall in front of him. He rushed to get up and looked around himself.

He and the rest of the boys behind him were standing in a green field which was surrounded by four walls. In the middle of the wall in front of him was a passageway and he immediately wanted to know where it led.

He was having an amazing time looking around the unfamiliar place he was in when two boys grabbed him. He started struggling and then realized that there was no use. They were much stronger than him when he was in a state like that.

He was thrown into a cage which was dug into the ground. The wooden doors behind him closed and he was left all alone. Luckily, the doors had multiple holes in them so he got to his feet and looked outside.

There were not only boys there, there were animals too. A couple of small wooden houses were scattered across the landscape, all far away from the──

"Hey."

He jumped to the back of the cell, surprised by the figure that appeared on the other side of the door.

A man, who looked much older than the boys he saw earlier, crunched down so he could see his face.

"Hey there, Green Bean." He greeted him calmly, his sharp features looking non-threatening. He seemed like a patient man but he still found no reason to trust him. He was the one who got locked into a cell. "You're not gonna run again. Okay?" After receiving a short nod, he got up. "Good." The wooden doors opened and he leaned his head into the cell. "My name is Alby." Alby offered him a gentle smile then. He guessed that he noticed how scared he was. "Can you tell me anything about yourself? Who you are. Where you came from. Anything at all?"

He thought so hard his head started pounding even further. His hands shook and he stared at them with wide eyes as he tried to remember anything besides the name Cleo. He swallowed and shook his head, lowering his hands. "No."

"Can you tell me your name?" Alby asked. He did not look surprised that he did not remember anything.

"I, uh," The Greenie's voice shook. "I can't remember anything. Why can't I remember anything?"

Alby's soothing voice calmed him. "It's okay." His eyebrows furrowed when the Greenie's sharp and uncontrollable panting filled the cell. "Hey, relax. Relax. It's normal. It happens to us all. You'll get your name back in a day or two. It's the one thing they let us keep."

The Greenie looked up, not looking even slightly comforted by his explanation. "What is this place?"

Alby offered him his hand. "Let me show you."

He thought about it for a moment and then let himself be pulled out of the cell.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"We eat here. We sleep here. We grow our own food. We build our own shelter. Whatever we need, the Box provides. The rest is up to us." Alby explained as they walked along The Glade.

"The Box?"

"Yeah." Alby nodded. "It's sent up once a month with fresh supplies and a new Greenie. This month that's you. Congratulations."

The Greenie gave him a clueless look. "Sent up? By who, though? Who put us here?"

"That, we don't know." Alby told him solemnly. He seemed as if he already had a similar conversation with multiple people. Then, The Greenie wondered if he was the man in charge there or if he was just the welcoming committee.

"Hey, are you all right, Alby?" Called out a boy behind them.

Alby's face lit up and he smiled at the blond. He turned back to the Greenie and introduced them. "Green Bean, meet Newt. When I'm not around, he's in charge."

Newt chuckled and shook the Greenie's hand while joking with Alby. "It's a good thing you're always around then." He turned back to look at the Greenie. "That was some dash you made earlier. For a second, I thought you had the chops to be a runner... till you face-planted. That was great."

He would think he was being made fun of if Newt did not have a big smile on his face and if his eyes were not so soft and unharmful.

"Wait, a runner?" The Greenie repeated.

They both ignored his question and Alby turned to Newt. "Newt, do me a favor. Go find Cleo." He said.

Cleo.

"Cleo?" The Greenie asked loudly. In response, both of them gave him a strange look.

"Yeah, Cleo." Newt told him with narrowed eyes. "She's the only girl here. That means no funny business. She is the most cheerful one so she is the one who usually keeps the Greenies from having a bloody heart attack." He chuckled to himself and turned back to Alby. "Let's hope she doesn't have a tantrum again. She almost had my head this morning. Wasn't even in the mood to go over to the box when it came up."

Alby snorted and shook his head. "She always gets like that the week the box comes up. I don't think that's your fault."

"You won't be saying that when you cross my name off tonight." Newt laughed at his own joke. "I'll send her your way."

"Thanks." Alby nodded and Newt walked off to a small wooden box near the trees. Alby continued to walk and the Greenie took it as his cue to follow. "Look, I'm sorry to rush this. You came up a little late, and there's a lot to do. We got something special planned tonight." He realized that the Greenie kept looking at where Newt was going. He wanted to catch sight of Cleo before she caught him by surprise. Alby grabbed his shoulder to get him to focus back on him. "Yeah. You'll see."

He led him to a simple wooden building and started climbing the ladder while he watched with wide eyes.

"I hope you're not afraid of heights. Let's go. Come on."

Reluctantly, the Greenie followed him to the top of the small building. The two had the perfect view of The Glade from the top.

"This is all we got." Alby told him sternly. Now that the Greenie was calm, he could start being serious. "We've worked hard for it. If you respect this place... you and I will get along just fine."

The Greenie stared at the walls intently. He could not help but ask, "What's out there?"

"We only have three rules." Alby started. "First, do your part. No time for any freeloaders. Second, never harm another Glader. None of this works unless we have trust. Most importantly... never go beyond those walls." The Greenie's eyebrows furrowed and Alby could tell he wanted to push him on the rule. His tone was almost threatening when he asked, "Do you understand me, Greenie?"

He did not get a chance to respond because a girl yelled Alby's name.

"I have important things to do, Alby!" He guessed that the pissed-off girl was Cleo. "What do you want?"

The Greenie rushed to lean over the edge of the building to take a better look at her. Alby sighed and looked down at the blonde staring up at them expectantly.

"Hey, Cleo." He gave her a sheepish look. "Where have you been?"

"I was working." Cleo deadpanned. "I thought we agreed Chuck should help him set up."

Alby rolled his eyes. "That kid clunked his pants three times before his tour even started. You can do this for one more month can't you, Cleo?"

"Sure." She rolled his eyes too. The Greenie could tell that there was no real heat between the two, just pointless bickering. It was then that her eyes finally settled on his. She paused for a moment before smiling up at him. He almost fell from the building because of how mesmerizing her smile was, even from afar. "Hey there, Greenie. Good first day?"

It was clear that she did not see him falling on his face in the first minute of him being out of the box.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"You're already doing better than the last Greenie." Cleo assured him as she started setting up his hammock amongst all of the others. "The poor guy clunked his pants six times during his first day."

Her back was turned to him so he took his opportunity to walk toward the passageway in the middle of the walls. He wanted to learn more about Cleo and why her name was tattooed in his brain. He remembered it before his own name so not even amnesia could not make him forget her. But, he was more curious about the bigger picture.

"Where the shuck are you going, Greenie?" Cleo's angry voice was heard directly behind him before he could even reach the walls.

He kept walking. "I just want to see."

"You have been here for less than a day and you already look like you want to break our most important rule." She did not sound so kind and reassuring anymore. She sounded angry and more fearful than he expected. "Look around all you want but I will drag you back here by your ear if you dare walk inside."

"Why not?" He was not too bothered by her anger. "What's through there?"

"You really don't want to know." She glared at him and grabbed his wrist to make him turn around and see just how serious she was being.

Her gaze was quickly drawn back to the doors but not out of fear or curiosity. When he looked at her, she had a smile on her face. He followed her gaze and saw two boys coming out of the doors and running into The Glade.

"Hey, Blondie." The dark-haired one greeted when he jogged past them. "See you at the bonfire."

"New Greenie, huh?" The blonde one asked. "I just hope he is calmer than the last one."

Cleo laughed. "We'll see about that." She turned back to him and her smile fell, her face becoming serious again but the blush on her cheeks not fading quiet yet. His eyes narrowed at how flustered she got at the sight of the two of them.

"I thought no one was allowed to leave." The Greenie asked, deciding to brush less off important things.

"We are not allowed to leave." Cleo corrected him. "They are. They're the runners so going in there is their job. We all have our roles to play."

He tilted his head. "What's yours?"

"I'm a med-jack." She said and narrowed her eyes when he started itching closer to the doors. "That is why I really don't want to be the one who breaks your nose."

He ignored her, something in his head telling him to go inside. Cleo blocked his way when he got too close and pushed him back by his chest.

The Greenie looked down at her with wide eyes when she did and had no time to say anything because somebody else was throwing him onto the ground.

He looked up to see the same guy who pulled him out of the box earlier. This time, he was glaring at him rather than helping him.

"We have to stop meeting like this, Greenie."

The Greenie kicked his legs and rushed to his feet. "Get off me!"

"Alright. Calm! Calm! Calm!"

"Don't touch me!"

"Gally!" Cleo exclaimed, sounding annoyed.

The Greenie turned to the boys who were slowly running up to them to see what was going on. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?" He yelled.

"Just calm down." Cleo slowly walked back toward him. "Gally is just being an asshole. He didn't mean to hurt you."

"Why won't you tell me what's out there?" He yelled, not at all comforted by her words.

Alby rushed to stand next to Cleo and said, "We're just trying to protect you."

"It's for your own good." Newt added.

"You guys can't just keep me in here." The Greenie shot back. Each step back that he took he was itching closer to the doors.

Alby was visibly getting angry. "I can't let you leave."

"Why not?"

A noise was heard behind him and everyone grew quiet. He could not even hear the sound of his own breathing.

Cleo looked up and he followed her gaze. His eyes widened in realization when the doors started to close right in front of his face.

"Next time, I'm gonna let you leave." Gally rolled his eyes and started walking away.

The Greenie turned around and saw Cleo shake her head before following after Gally. His eyebrows furrowed. That was a strange pairing.

Alby patted his shoulder and sarcastically whispered, "Welcome to The Glade."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

a/n: Cleo and Thomas are so Percabeth coded I'm gonna cry

Disclaimer that Thomas does not actually send Cleo into the maze when he was supposed to and that's all I'm going to say about that. So, Newt is in there almost a year longer than she is

I had a hard time writing this chapter from Cleo's perspective for some reason so I chose to write it in Thomas' perspective instead. The next chapter will be in Cleo's POV, though, but I will probably still write chapters from Thomas's POV sometimes.