"Hey. Hey, Piper. Wake up."

Piper opened my eyes and saw a girl with brown hair staring down at her. Frightened, she shot up from her hammock with wide eyes. "What the--"

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

Reluctantly, Piper got up from the hammock and followed Esther. They were walking toward the Walls, feeling the sun hit against her 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."

They stopped walking once they 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 Piper the knife that was in her hand.

Piper slowly took the knife from her and began to carve her name. Once she was done, she walked backwards and looked at her name and everyone else's. She 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 toward them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maeve stared at Piper 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 Piper 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, she would start off by being a Cutter.

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

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

Helen nodded her head in response. "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?"

Piper nodded her 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 they were done with the chickens, Piper set the meat aside and cleaned her 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."

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

"Esther is going to be mad," she 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. Piper 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 Piper.

She nodded her head and made her way outside of the Blood House to grab another chicken.

*******

Later that day, the girls 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 Piper on her first day, none of this worked unless everyone trusted each other.

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

Piper shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay. It's probably better than being a Slugger."

Helen chuckled. "Got that right."

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

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

"What happened?" Helen shouted, running toward her.

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

Helen looked down at her hand, then back up at Piper. "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." Piper nodded her head and turned around, making her way toward the Homebase.

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

Piper knocked on the door. "Gwyneth?"

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

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

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

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Piper 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." Piper 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."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Piper nodded her head. "Okay, thanks." She got up from the chair and began to walk out of the door.

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

Piper turned back around, shaking her 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 her a weak smile. "I'll see you later, Newbie."

With that, Piper 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