(27) DAYS
TILL THE NEXT GREENIE

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-New Person, Same Old Mistakes by Tame Impala-
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At first, there was nothing—just darkness welcoming me in, comforting me. I felt...

Safe...
Warm.

I jolted up erratically to the sound of screeching, metal on metal. Wherever I was shook violently. Blue-tinted light flooded my vision, my eyes taking in the cage I seemed to be trapped in.

Haphazardly, I pushed myself up, almost greeting the floor again before catching myself on a wooden crate.

"Wha-?" I looked up to see the cage-like elevator shooting up toward red lights and blaring alarms at what felt like a million miles per hour. I fell back on the ground, scooting myself into a corner surrounded by crates. Panic filled my chest and surprisingly an idea popped into my head. I tore off the top of a crate, rummaging through it with haste. After ripping out different useless objects, I cried out in frustration. "Come on, come on!"

Then suddenly a stroke of luck blessed me and a bright glint got caught in my peripheral.

Oh, fuck yes!
Fuck yeah!

I had found something.

A blade gleamed in the darkness, set neatly for me on one of the crates. In my panic, I brushed over the strange convenience of its placement and instead let out a long-held breath. Diving over to the wooden container, I snatched the knife up, holding it close to my heart.

Caught up in temporary relief, I failed to notice that everything around me had gone still, quiet, that's all there was. The noises had stopped.

Green-hued lights flashed and then there ceased to be any light at all. I crouched down keeping my eyes on the metallic flooring, breathing deeply in and then out to soothe my pounding heart.

SHWING

Pure Sunlight enveloped me. It peered down, exposing everything, making me naked and raw. Out of simple survival, I had become accustomed to the dark.  The rays that the elevator had lacked before took to attacking my eyes.

Shit that burns!

For a moment all there was was a blinding white stretching overhead where the sky ought to have been. My hand shot up to rub at my fast-blinking eyes. The hope was that it would soothe the pain and help me regain sight.

Once my blindness had subsided it was quickly replaced by sun spots peppering my vision. Still, through them, I was able to make out that the ceiling above me had been fashioned into a gate.

"I don't see anything." A deep voice grunted. I perked up instantly, my ears picking toward the owner that evaded my sight.

God?
Nah, no way.
Wait, then, who the fuuuck...?

"What do you mean you don't see anything, our supplies are right there, you shank." Another voice retorted, even heavier than the last. They both sounded very, well, how do I put this... "You blind or somethin'?" Male. Definitely male.

"Geez. I meant I don't see anyone" The first voice replied exasperatedly."

"What do you mean you don't see anyone?"

"I mean, I don't see anyone!"

They can't see me?
How can they not see me?

Taking a quick scan of the elevator, I caught the shadow darkening the wall behind me. Crates stacked in a protective fortress around me.

Was that intentional?

Despite their odd positioning, I remained pressed against them, taking solace in the protection they provided.

These crates can keep me safe from those invisible boneheads upstairs.
Y'know, just in case they wanna try something...

Although even as I couldn't seem to grasp where I was, I took the boys words as a lack of intelligence. Shouldn't they have had the advantage over me seeing as they had the bird's eye view? I was stuck crumpled in a corner, an easy victim.

Maybe that means they'll be easy to trick.
Maybe I can get out of this,
whatever the hell predicament I seem to be in.

"Alright calm down, we'll just take a look inside."

I held my breath, shrinking myself smaller in the corner.

THUD THUD THUD THUD

Jesus, I swear I could hear my own heart pounding against my rib cage in all of it's petulance, threatening to give me away. A roar of blood washed through my ears. My grip on my new knife's handle tightened. Fingers dug into the rough wood.

"Alright, Gally, you're always bragging about how you're the biggest in the bunch, so you better go down there." One of the boys dared from above. A pause hit the conversation before he added, "Unless you're a sissy shuck face." A flurry of snickers spawned from his buddies, along with teasing jeers directed toward the boy named Gally.

Ugh, men.
Gross.

Sympathy slipped from me, even in my fearful state. I had a feeling that I could relate to him, whoever he was, like I had felt similarly before. Well, that is until he snapped back at the original boy.

"Watch it, Shank." Replied the presumed Gally, his voice gruff and twinged with annoyance. He sounded just as male as the rest of them.

One thing that every girl innately knows is the danger of men and the horrors they had the potential of creating. It didn't fucking matter that I didn't know who I was, or even my own name. I knew that male meant trouble.

The gate creaked open, sending a seismic wave of sickness to radiate throughout my body. Then I heard the thud. My new home shook. I made sure my hand held fast, regaining a grip on my knife's handle. A more threatening grip.

I could feel every step this person took. My chest grew tighter with the closer he got. A hard lump formed in my throat, feeling like it was about to leap out. I took to rambling silent reassurances to myself.

It's okay,
it's okay,
it's okay.

As unrealistic as it was, I wanted to stay hidden forever. Shaking like a leaf, I persisted in standing up. And I did. In a turtle's pace, with my eyelids tightly screwed shut.

You're okay,
you're okay,
you're okay.

He had stopped moving. The noisy boys above had silenced themselves in anticipation. Forcing my eyes open, I caught a flash of the boy from between the crates.

Fuck!

His tall frame was bent over. He had his hands on his knees and his neck craned to peer into a large gap in my fortress. His eyes were dark blue with slate outer rings and they were widening remarkably upon locking with my own. We couldn't have been more than a foot away from each other.

His hand that had been resting on a crate, left frozen from shock, twitched. I watched as it lifted, starting to stretch and reach. It was on route to touch me. Probably just my shoulder, but to a girl scared shitless, that didn't fucking matter, especially when his fingertips grazed the sleeve of my shirt.

That's when I pushed him, only I didn't mean to do it so hard. The boy fell back, caught off guard. Crates once protecting me, scattered around with him. I was left with nothing to hide me then. He toppled onto a tarp-covered box, or what I assumed to be a cage from the squeals that emitted from it after his spill.

"Oh, my god."

"Is that a...?"

"It's a girl!"

A flurry of voices erupted, some with curiosity, some with panic.

"No way."

"What do they look like?"

"Dibs!"

"Oi are they hot? Gally? Are they hot?"

The boy, Gally, had gotten up and brushed himself off, a bit ruffled but not at all discouraged. My push hadn't even pissed him off.

"Guys they got a knife!" One of the boys shrouding the elevator shaft from above warned, "Watch out!"

Gally's eyes met mine once more. He pushed his shoulders back, stretching to his full height and then started toward me. Instinctively, I flung the blade out wildly, matching the quickness of a rattlesnake.

"Get back!" My own voice startled me. It rang out, echoing on the metal walls. "Get back or...I'll like, fucking cut you or something!"

Speaking of my voice, it had lost its strength and was now akin to a pathetic croak. Gally's face softened, his eyebrows tilting in amusement. A corner of his lips quirked up. It was obvious I had lost my previous intimidation factor.

The hulking boy came toward me again, I stabbed my knife out, swishing it through the air. Only this time when the knife soared, it struck skin. The dome of boys from the surface gasped in shock.

"Ow!" Gally yelled, his hand grabbing at his upper arm. "Shuck! You crazy bitch!" He bit his lip to stifle back the pain, not trying to look like less of a man in front of all his friends. Whatever would they do if they saw that a girl had made him cry? What would he do to me?

"Ooooh!" Our audience echoed.

The knife I had clasped so dearly clattered on to the metal floor. I was frozen in place with fear. His expressive brows made sure to show me how fucking angry he was, arched and spiteful.

"Sorry," I squeaked, my voice cracking. Slick sweat stuck my baby hairs to my forehead. More pricked the nape of my neck.

The russet colored shirt he wore was rolled up to his forearms and now was torn on the right sleeve. Gally whipped his stare to his palm staunching the oozing blood. I cringed at the sight. It was a pretty nasty cut.

"You know what?" He squeezed his arm tightly, applying an unnnescary amount of pressure. "Fine." His knuckles had whitened. "You wanna be like that, go ahead. I don't have time for crazy chicks. Have fun getting out by yourself." Gally spat, shooting me one last glare before retreating and pulling himself out of the box.

"Gally, you okay?" A concerned voice floated from above.

"Shut up, Fry!"

Gally was gone as quick as he had come.

Oh, what the hell did I just do?

My mouth gaped from what had just occurred. Slowly, I lifted my head up to finally see the huge cluster of boys surrounding me. I hunched into myself, stepping back until I was pressed against one of the walls, looking down. Their eyes were burning into me like I was some animal at a zoo. I hated being gawked at.

"Hey." A British lilt piqued my interest. My eyes shot up to meet the boy it belonged to. Pale and gangly, he was sitting on one of the box's walls.

"We're not gonna hurt you alright, we already know you'll slice us if we do." He paused, looking down at me. His face looked genuine enough to slightly trust. "We just need to get you out and we'll answer any questions you have, okay? But we need to get you out now. Here I'll give you a hand."

He crouched and motioned for me to stand on the crates to reach him. I snatched up my knife that had fallen and stuffed it in the belt that seemed to be keeping my baggy pants up. They were about two sizes too large.

Cautiously, I moved over to him, giving him a leering look ever so often. Climbing up to the top crate, I took his hand. Then I was pulled forward into a field of jade bladed grass. Quickly pulling myself up, I flinched when someone tried helping me.

With all of the boys standing around me, I felt sort of like a piece at a museum. None of them seemed to have any manners, staring and rubbing their noses and whispering into each others ears. The wind whistled around us, sending ripples of air through their messy hair. They needed prompting and the British kid knew it.

He cleared his throat. "Well, what are you shanks doing? Bugger off. We've got work to do." The boy's brown eyes glanced around till they fell on another teenager with blond hair. His was all stuck up and messy from sweat. "Oh and Zart? Go find Alby and fill him in on everything now. Thanks."

The crowd around me dispersed muttering to each other until England himself and I were left. His eyes were kind but if you looked at them long enough it would freak normal person out. You could see the ghosts that had lived in them. He also had eyebags, tired purple ones.

You seem half-decent.

"Thank you." My hand left the handle on my knife, feeling comfortable enough to hang loose at my side. I had made up my mind. I liked him. "Really, thank you."

"No problem, Greenie." He nodded, his sandy hair catching the breeze and slightly lifting. "I guess I should introduce myself, huh?" Motioning toward himself, he said, "The name's Newt."

Like the reptile-
No.
Like the amphibian, a water creature.

The tension had left the air and I could finally breathe again. It turned out my lungs could actually work. Making sure to look him in the eyes, I quickly seized his palm. This took him by surprise but that didn't stop me.

"Nice to meet you." I shook his hand wildly and felt a smile creep up on my face.

He cocked his head to the side, sprouting a grin filled with simultaneous curiosity and confusion "Good that, Greenie. Here, follow me." Newt beckoned for me to follow and began walking. "I'm sure you got a lot of questions and I got about half the answers."