Chapter Text
Freaks - Surf Curse
“Don't kill me just help me run away
From everyone I need a place to stay
Where I can cover up my face
Don't cry, I am just a freak”
Startled, the girl sat upright and awake. What is happening? Was one of the many questions floating around in her head- a jumbled mess. Whatever she was in was rising, from what she could tell, and rapidly. It was so dark she couldn’t make out what she was currently trapped in. With that, the girl started to rely on her sense of touch. She felt around her to see what she could determine. It was metal bars that were connected and surrounding her. I wonder if this is some box that functions as an elevator? She asked herself. But why am I in it?
This was all too confusing for her because the girl realized she couldn’t even remember her own name. Her head started to hurt from the constant gnawing questions in her mind searching for answers. The girl decided she should at least relax a bit, thinking that can help clear her head and help her think better.
That time devoted to clearing her mind was interrupted by a sudden jolt from the box leading to the contraption to stop completely. She gripped onto the bars next to her when she heard commotion from above her. There were many voices overlapping each other and speaking at the same time until the opening right above the box opened. Then it went pretty silent, just for a second, and then the commotion started again as many faces loomed over the top of her and the box she was in. Not just any faces though, they were boy’s faces. They all looked to be around the same age as her, teenagers.
A dark-skinned boy with buzzed hair, who looked possibly a bit older than the others, pushed through the crowd giving orders before looking down at her. His face was stern, the face of a leader.
“Well what have we got here? They sent a shucking girl into this crowd of boys?” Was what she assumed was the leader, had questioned. She backed into a corner, as to seeing all of these people at once just as she was trying to clear her mind did not help. It just raised so many more questions into her already crammed-with-questions mind.
“Who sent me?” She asked. At least she can get one question out.
“We don’t know what they call themselves, but we call them the Creators.” A boy directly to the left of the leader spoke up. He was much taller than the others, with his arms crossed and eyebrows that made him look annoyed. She wasn’t sure if they were always like that or if he was actually mad. “They are the ones that put us all here, but we have no clue for what reason.”
“Ah, well- um, what’s your name?” She didn’t really ask that to one specific person. It was aimed at mostly everyone. Oh, my name. She thought. I don’t remember it.
The dark skinned boy answered first. “Well, I’m Alby, first in command. Nice to meet ya, Greenie.” he pointed to the boy on his right. “This is Newt, my second in command.” He was a bit taller than Alby and had blonde hair that looked fluffy and he seemed to not put much pressure on one of his legs. He waved down at her.
“Hello, greenie.” He reached down to lift her out, lending out a hand for her to grab onto. Just as she was about to grab it, the tall one jumped into the box, looming over her.
“U-uh please don’t kill me.” She blurted out, half embarrassed and half scared as he looked her dead in the eyes. He then gave her a confused look.
“I rough people up but I won’t kill them. Harsh.” He explained. It sounded sarcastic but there was no smirk. “Day one, Greenie. Welcome to the Glade. I’m Gally.”
He scooped her up and placed her out of the box. She stood up and looked around her, trying to see what this “Glade” was. Unfortunately that was ruined by the many boys crowding her asking a million questions.
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking questions?” She asked Newt. “I just got here and don’t remember anything. My name, where I came from, why I am here, and why do you guys call me Greenie? I need some help.” She practically begged him.
“Woah chill out Greenie. That’s just what we call all the newbies who arrive ‘till they remember their name. Don’t worry- you should remember in a couple of days. As for the other two questions, I can't help you there. We don’t know where any of us come from or why we were put here. We just are.”
“Oh,” Was all she could muster out.
“Alright boys! Get back to work! You’ve seen enough.” Alby yelled at the crowd of boys. They soon deteriorated and scattered, with grumbles of annoyance, going back to work. Except for Newt and Alby.
“Newt here will give you the tour. Tomorrow you start job rotations. You help at a new job everyday to see what fits you best.” Alby explained before walking off to a building, not super large but it was larger than the others. “Good luck.” Newt turned to me and motioned his head to his right.
“Let's start over there, shall we?” I nodded and followed him over to what looked like a large garden. “This is the garden. This is where we get our fruits and vegetables. I am the keeper for the Gardeners and this is where we work, of course.”
The girl just looked around at the fruits, and doing that just caused her stomach to growl. She hadn’t eaten since… well she can’t remember when. Newt reached down and plucked some strawberries from a small bush.
“Here you go, you can eat these till dinner. I reckon you are pretty hungry.” He said before leading her to another place. This looked like a forest. “This is the Deadheads. We only call it that because in the back is where we bury the lost. We don’t really have anywhere else to put them- and I don’t think anyone wants them in the open, you know?”
She nodded, eating her strawberries in silence. He then led her to the right. He pointed at some small openings in the ground with wooden bars over them. these were behind a building larger than the others. “That is what we call the Slammer. It’s where we put people as punishment for something they did wrong. Like breaking the rules.” He then pointed to the left of the slammers and the large building to a small hut. “That place- you will learn about later. Only runners are allowed in there.” She gave him a confused look.
“Runners?” She asked.
“Yeah I'll tell you more at the bonfire tonight.” He said. “Bonfires are celebrations we do when a new greenie arrives.”
“Sounds nice.” She comments. She couldn’t wait for dinner, as she had already finished her strawberries. He turns around and she follows as he points to a building near the Gardens.
“That’s the Bloodhouse. It’s where Winston and his crew slices up the animals for food. Next to that is where we keep the animals beforehand.” She scrunched her nose. Yes, the meat was good. She just probably couldn’t deal with slaughtering them. He then turned back around and pointed to the building that Alby walked in. “That’s the Homestead. It’s where some of us sleep and have gatherings with all the Keepers. The keepers are the leaders of each job. Some people prefer to sleep outside instead of in the Homestead. Sometimes there just isn't room.”
“You’re the keeper of the Gardeners, right? Like you said earlier?” She asked. She thought that he had said that but wasn’t fully sure she hadn’t forgotten.
“Yep, that's me.” He then pointed to an area in Homestead. It jutted out of the side and looked about the size of a small room. “That’s where the medjacks keep the sick and injured, and their supplies.” Then he focused on an area to the other side of the Homestead, it was larger than the other. "Thats the kitchen where Frypan makes food. Don't sneak food, or mess with his kitchen he gets real angry." He pointed to an area to the right of that. It seemed to be the start of a building, and a lot of guys were working on it. She spotted someone familiar among them. Gally. He seemed to be working hard, his focus on pounding a nail somewhere. He started shouting instructions to another guy near him. Newt huffed.
“That’s supposed to be a new hut, for you. Since you are a girl, we can’t really have you sleeping with the guys, you know.” She nodded.
“So who are all the Keepers?” She asked, genuinely confused. She needed to know who’s who, after all.
“Well, you remember Gally right? He’s the keeper of the builders, and they are working on your hut. Alby is just the leader in general. I’m his second in command. But you already knew that, and that I work in the gardens. Frypan is the keeper of the cooks, and…” He looked around the Glade. “Well you haven’t seen the rest of the keepers so i’ll just introduce you at the bonfire.”
“Okay.” She looked around and spotted Gally again. She didn’t really know why but he intrigued her. He was almost familiar somehow, but she couldn’t place it due to the lost memories.
“I guess that’s it for the tour. Come get me if you have any questions. This is your first free day so take advantage of it.” He gave her a handshake. She guesses he saw her observing her hut, because he then told her some advice about it. “Before you go and try to ask when your hut will be done, just fair warning, Gally doesn’t really like being distracted. He also has a temper, so be careful.”
“Ah, okay. I will.” She answered as Newt walked away to the gardens with a wave. Then she turned to her unfinished hut. Couldn’t hurt to ask when it would be done, would it? Or maybe make some conversation? She knew he didn’t like being distracted from what Newt said, but she needed to talk to this Gally guy. Why was he so familiar?
She just had to know.