I wake up and the first thing I notice is the feel of the sun on my back and the grass beneath me . Slowly my eyes flutter open, to see a boy lying beside me. His hair a coppery blonde and his features were soft and gentle.
He's kind of cute, I think to myself. Wait. Who is he? Who am I? Why can't I remember anything? Where am I?
I stand up quickly, and couldn't be more surprised at what awaited me.
I was in a glade, surrounded by four concrete walls, each with an opening down the middle leading out. On one end of the glade there's a group of densly packed together trees, not big enough to be called a forest, but it wasn't small either. In another there was a bunch of livestock lazily milling around and munching on the grass. I turned and noticed two small concrete buildings, one of which resemebled some sort of cell. But, if that wasn't odd enough, the boy and I were not alone. All around us there was a group of around maybe thirty boys spread around, still blissfully asleep, and surrounding something I hadn't noticed before. It looked to be a...a hole? A hole in the ground, with two metal doors covering it.
"Wh..where am I?"
I jump slightly not expecting the sudden noise, and turn to face the boy who had spoke. He was a tall African American boy, and seemed just as confused as I was.
"I don't know. Can you remember anything?"
He thought for a moment before answering," No. Do you?"
I shook my head. I looked around once more, then it hit me. "Eliza." I muttered.
"What?"
"My name. My name is Eliza." I say relief as well as the joy of having something familiar flow through me. The only thing from the past that I could or was allowed to hold onto.
"My names Alby."
I smile nodding, delighted to have made a friend in this place.
"What the bloody hell?"
We both turn to see the boy from earlier, now fully awake and his expression match both mine and Albys. He looks at us for a moment before speaking again.
"Who are you? Where are we? Shuck, who am I? Why can't I remember anything?" he says in a thick british accent. Now that he's awake, I can see that his eyes are a warm, soft shade of brown, and are every bit as gentle as his features.
"Look man, we both woke up just like you. We don't remember anything. We don't know where we are, why we're here, or who put us here. The only thing we remember is our names. It took a little while though, yours should come to you soon."
He nodded hesitantly knowing that what Alby was saying was true.
Slowly one by everyone started waking up, each boy just as confused as the last. Me, Alby, and the boy took it upon ourselves to calm everyone down and explain what we knew, which obviously wasn't much. Once everyone was awake and settled, a certain silence spread over the glade. I walk over to the boy as he looks up to meet my eyes, I give a small smile while sitting beside him. For a few minutes we sit there in comfortable silence before I hear him mutter something under his breath.
"What? " I say looking at him with curriosity.
"My name.. my name is Newt." He says a wide smile spreading across his cheeks.
I look back at him my face matching his out of happiness for my new friend.
All of a sudden a slow rumbling noise could be heard through out the glade, all of us immediately jumping up in search of the noise. Then just as quick as it started there was a loud definite bang, and then it was gone. Everyone immediately erupted into conversation all of them still searching for the source of the now phantom sound, and then it hit me. I walked over to the hole in the middle of the glade immediately lifting one of the doors concealing it. A boy came over noticing what I was doing, came over and lifted the second one revealing what seem to be some sort of elevator.
So, it's not a hole after all, but more of a box.
Inside that box, were crates. I quickly jumped in to take a closer look with Newt, Alby, and the Asian boy who helped me open box following close behind me. Inside the crates, were supplies. First aid kits, tools, hammocks, blankets, pillows, seeds, some food, etc., and printed on the side of every one was W.I.C.K.E.D.
"Wicked? What's that supposed to mean?" Says the confused british boy standing close behind me.
"Maybe it's the name of the people who sent us here." I turn to see people nodding in agreement.
"Well, we need to get this stuff out of here, who knows how long we have until it goes back down." says Alby.
He then turns to me, "Eliza you assign jobs to the shanks up there, send some of the stronger ones to help get out all of these boxes, and wood out. You can figure out what everyone else does."
I nod. I walk over to the edge over the box intending to climb out, but notice that I'm too short to reach the top. I turn around awkwardly looking around at the boys in front of me.
"I can't reach the top to climb out."
Alby walks over to the edge and reaches up, also falling short in reaching the top. He looks around in the boxes before finding what he needs, a rope. Tying a loop on one end he tosses the other up to one of the boys who catches it readily. Turning to me he says, "Step in the loop." I do as I'm told, and feel myself being lifted to the top. Once safely on the ground I turn and look at the boys around me, all quiet and looking at me expectantly, obviously hearing Albys orders.
"Alright. You guys help pull up the rope as they attach the boxes to them." I say pointing to about half of the boys they all nod and walk over the the box ready to have more rope thrown up to them, and some jumping in to help hoist them up.
"You guys help separate the supplies." I say gesturing to a group of about eight boys.
"You two try and get to work on a fire." I say noticing the sun just barely beginning to set.
"We don't know how cold it gets here at night." They both agree and head off into the trees to gather wood. Them being the last two, I walk over and help the boys separate the supplies.
After everything was out and sorted, and a fire was built we all took a minute, the sun still slowly setting, and sat around the fire. Everything was quiet, all of us breathing heavy and joints are from moving none stop for hours.
When suddenly Alby clears his throat.
"So, we have some food.. does anybody know how to cook?"
All eyes immediately turn to me.
"What just because I'm a girl you think I can cook? " I say before one boy stands up and says that he will cook for us, because it was painfully obvious that he was the only one who knew what he was doing.
Just as the smell of food could be smelt through out the glade, something happens that none of us could have ever imagined happening. The walls around the glade started moving.
How is this possible?
We all looked in awe at the seemingly impossible thing that was happening before us.
For the third time that day, the glade erupted into confused chatter as the walls slammed to a close. Eventually everything calmed again, thankfully starting to eat the food that had been prepared for them.
Once it was dark, Newt and I took it upon ourselves to distribute pillows and blankets to everyone, all agreeing that it had been a long day and that we could figure out more in the morning.
Soon, everyone was settled, and I lay down in the grass, the boy with kind eyes laying beside me, and slowly let myself drift off listening to the sound of the fire crackling into the night.
