Into The WICKED Maze | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

46. I'm Thomas

"What do you think, are we going to get another one of Chuck's kind today, or is there a runner?" asked Ben as we made our way back to the glade.
"I have no idea. But you guys should really stop badmouthing Chuck all the time. He's really trying, Ben."
I looked at him reprovingly and he tried for a guilty look, but didn't really succeed because he started laughing.
Minho laughed too, but not because he was laughing at the little boy, who was really getting more confident and helpful day by day, but because he thought it was funny the way we talked to each other, I knew that. He liked Chuck, just as I did. A few days ago, on our day off, we had helped him carve a little figurine to give to his parents when he got out of here. Even though Minho and I both knew he would probably never see them again, we wanted to give him his hope and made every effort to make sure the figurine turned out as pretty as he imagined.
"Man, am I hungry," Ben muttered now that we were only a few turns away from the glade.
"Well, take more with you tomorrow," I retorted, realising once again that I sounded like a mother. Probably that didn't stay away when you were the only girl.
We turned the last corner, reached the gate and ran out. Ben ran a bit ahead of us, straight towards the kitchen, Minho and I slowed down a bit and ran towards Chuck, who was standing a few metres from the gate talking to a boy.
He was looking at us with interest now and I eyed him more closely. He had to be today's newbie, that much was clear. Maybe my age, maybe a year older, I guessed as we jogged past him.
"Hey Chuck, new greenie, huh? How does it feel to be promoted?" exclaimed Ben.
"Feels great, Ben!" The boy sounded genuinely happy, after all he wasn't the greenbean now and Gally would probably stop teasing him - at least he had one less reason now.
I grinned at him and walked past him, Minho also just glanced at the greenie and together we really made our way to the kitchen now, Ben on our heels.
Suddenly I heard someone shouting and turned around, because I thought I recognised Gally's voice. Minho stopped too and we watched as Gally pushed the boy, who seemed to be about to run into the maze, a little too hard away from the gate and the two shouted at each other. Immediately Alby, Newt, Zart, Clint, Jeff, Winston, a few other gladers and even Fry Pan, who had apparently left the kitchen, came running and Alby seemed to be trying to calm the obviously upset greenie down when a loud, familiar noise rang out and the gates began to close.
The boy stood rooted to the spot and I could just imagine him looking until the gates were completely closed and the cluster of gladers dissipated. Fry Pan came over to us, Chuck in tow, and provided us with some bread before we had something proper to eat for the monthly feast.

When it was already dark and we had been to our cabin in the woods with Ben to change something on our model that we had set up wrong, we made our way to the campfire that the other gladers were lighting.
We ate, drank Gally's strange brew, danced and celebrated. The more gladers we had become, the more boisterous and bigger our celebrations had become and I had fun sitting there between Minho and Newt watching Jack doing flick flack and other gymnastic exercises over and over again. After not being there a month ago, it felt good to sit with everyone and just celebrate.
At some point, Newt got up and sat with the newbie, who was sitting alone leaning against a tree trunk and looking the other way as if we weren't there. I could see the two of them talking and Newt laughing. It looked like they were getting along quite well, which surprised me a little, because apart from Chuck, we had had very little to do with the newcomers. At the same time, I thought he looked nice and, above all, I thought about whether he could possibly become a runner, because he had the stature for it and, as it had looked earlier in the evening, also the necessary interest in the maze - and that on the very first day.
Suddenly Newt turned to us and the greenie did the same. My friend pointed first in our direction, where Ben, Alex, Jackson and Tim were sitting, and then at Minho and me. From the looks of it, he was just telling him about us runners. I smiled at Newt and he smiled back while telling the boy next to him about us.
He was probably explaining to him what we were doing in the maze.
Like every time, Gally was already dueling with other gladers and I watched him, lost in thought, as Newt and the other one walked past us. It looked like he was now explaining to him which of us had what task. I propped my elbows on my knees, put my chin in my hands and watched them. The longer I looked at the boy, the more I had the feeling that I knew him from somewhere. Then I remembered the dream I had had a fortnight ago. Could he have been the boy from that dream? I shook my head and dismissed the thought. It was complete nonsense to believe that, after all, I couldn't even remember the faces and besides, it had only been a dream. Or had it?
As I was still completely lost in thought, I looked over at the two who had meanwhile stopped between the group of slicers and Gally's dueling circle and were apparently arguing about something, Gally just pushed Rick out of the circle and full force into the greenie who was standing with his back to them. They both fell to the ground and suddenly there was silence as Gally asked, "What do you say, Greenie? Want to see what you're made of?"
One of the builders started shouting "Greenie! Greenie! Greenie! Greenie!" and more and more joined in. Our runners jumped up to get closer and see better, and even Minho, who usually had as little interest in the newbies as I did, sat up straight and became alert.
The gladers lined up in a circle around the two boys who were now facing each other and applauded. Only Minho and I remained seated and exchanged a quick glance.
I knew that the whole thing would probably be quite painful for the new boy now and somehow I felt sorry for him. Nevertheless, I watched intently as Gally began to explain to him how dueling worked.
"Alright, the rules are simple, Greenie. I try and push you out of the circle - you try and last more than five seconds."
"Take it easy on the Greenie, Gally!" shouted Rick, who had taken a good beating himself.
"Ready?" asked Gally, not waiting for the answer and lunging at the newcomer, pushing him out of the circle and into the crowd without much effort. Zart caught him and pushed him back into the circle, losing his balance and falling into the dirt.
I screwed up my face at the sight and really felt sorry for the boy who was now lying in the sand, visibly terrified.
"Get up, boy!" someone shouted and Gally said, "Come on, Greenie. We're not done yet" and pranced in front of him.
The boy stood up, patted his clothes off and said in a loud, calm voice, "Stop calling me Greenie."
Now Minho stood up, helped me up and pulled me closer to the circle of gladers. We slipped through a gap and stood with Ben and Newt, who put an arm around my shoulder as I squeezed between him and my runner.
"Stop calling you that? What do you want to be called? Shank?" Gally earned loud laughter for this question. "What do you think, boys? Does he look like a Shank?"
Now the newbie took a running start and lunged at Gally, who pushed him away from him and back into the sand. He hit the ground hard and a murmur went through the crowd. I winced and held on to Newt. Minho and I exchanged a look, he crossed his arms and I was sure he was thinking the same thing I was - enough was enough.
Again the boy got up and Gally said, "You know what? I think I've settled on Shank." You could literally see the new kid boiling inside.
"Come on, fight already!" shouted Rick.
"Gally, stop it, that's enough! You've had your fun!" I broke away from Newt and took a step into the circle, but was immediately pulled back by my boyfriend, because the new guy made no effort at all to stop.
He jumped at Gally one more time and I was beginning to wonder why he was so stupid when, after more scuffling, he suddenly pulled out from under his arms and Gally landed on the floor with a dull thud.
Loud applause went through the rows and I slapped a hand over my mouth. Although I couldn't see Gally's face, I was sure that he was about to really go for it now, with no fair rules.
And I was right. The boy had just knocked off some dirt and said, "Not bad for a Greenie, huh?" when Gally rolled over on his stomach and kicked his legs so hard that he hit the ground with a loud thud.
A horrified and resigned murmur went through the ranks and I looked over in horror at Minho, who just shook his head, while Newt put an arm around my shoulders again as if to protect me.
Gally was on his feet again and looked down triumphantly at the boy lying on the ground, who was now slowly raising his head and whispering something I couldn't understand.
He jumped up and shouted, "Thomas! Hey, Thomas!"
When we all looked at him in confusion, he added with a laugh, "I remember my name! I'm... I'm Thomas!"
There was silence for a moment, then Alby shouted, "Thomas!" and ran towards him, just like the rest of us gladers, cheering and calling his name. It was rare that someone remembered his name on the very first night and this had to be celebrated.
While the others were still congratulating him and he was expelling one of those concoctions which was handed out to him by Fry Pan with a "Welcome home, Thomay!", I watched Gally. At first it looked like he was just going to slip away once again, but then to my amazement he made his way through the crowd and held out his hand to Thomas.
"Good job... Thomas," he said and gave him a small smile. Our eyes met after that and I beamed at him, proud of him. He grinned back, but suddenly a loud screech interrupted the murmur around us and everyone looked towards the maze from where the sound had come. It echoed behind the walls, sounding even more terrifying than it already was. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and a cold shiver came over me, as it always did when I heard the scream of a Griever.
"What the hell was that?" asked Thomas, aghast.
After a short pause, Gally replied, "That, my friend, was a Griever. Don't worry, you're safe here with us. Nothing gets through those walls."
My heart warmed at his kindness to the boy, and that warmth somewhat displaced the shudder that still sat in my bones.
"Alright guys, let's tuck it in for the night. Come on, it was a good night."
Alby clapped his hands and a few of us joined in as the cluster of people slowly dispersed.
Newt took my hand and walked towards his cabin, but I wanted to talk to Gally for a minute before I went to sleep, so I told him I'd be right behind and turned around again. Then I saw Thomas still standing there, looking towards the walls from where the Griever's cry had come.
I didn't think twice and went over to him, standing silently beside him and looking over at the walls as well.
"Fascinating, isn't it? Once you've almost been caught by one of those things, it ceases to excite you."
He looked down at me and eyed me briefly before looking back over at the walls.
"You're Anna." A determination.
"Can you tell?", I asked.
"Newt told me that you and Minho are the keepers of the runners."
"Then I'm sure he also told you that you don't just become a runner."
Now he turned to me. "What do I have to do to get you to take me out there?"
"So you really want to go out there?", I asked, looking him straight in the eye. He shrugged his shoulders.
"What did you mean when you said it stops irritating you when you've almost been caught by one of them?"
"What I said. Now you might find it fascinating what's out there. I felt the same way three years ago. But once you've had to hide in the ivy, or your friend just barely saved your life before you almost ran into a Griever, you don't bother going out there."
"Has anything like that ever happened to you?"
"Not just once." I paused. "But I'm very lucky to have Minho."
With that, I turned and left him alone, still looking towards the walls. "So, think it over before you apply to us," I called over my shoulder.
He looked at me, I sensed, but I didn't turn around again, instead walking over to Gally's hut. Carefully I knocked and waited until he said "Come in" before I entered.
He had already lain on the bed, shirtless and in his pants, and stood up when he recognised me.
"Sorry if I'm disturbing you, I'll be gone in a minute. I just wanted to tell you how great I thought it was the way you reacted just now at the end."
"Did you think I was just going to run off like a Slinthead?" he asked, grinning at me as he came closer.
"I was hoping you wouldn't. And what you said to Thomas was really nice."
I looked up at him, for now he was standing inches away from me, still grinning.
"Still, you didn't have to be so hard on him," I admonished him, raising my index finger.
"I had to show him who was the strongest here, didn't I?"
"Well, he really did beat you up once."
I winked at him and punched him in the chest.
With one swift movement and before I could dodge, he grabbed me, put me in a headlock and whisked me through my hair.
"Still, I'm the strongest," he laughed, making me wriggle around before pulling me out of the headlock and into a hug. I returned it and laughed now, too.
Gally was probably the only person I didn't mind being half naked in front of me - apart from Newt, of course. I only realised now that he really wasn't wearing anything except his pants, but still I didn't detach myself from him, but enjoyed the embrace and only let go of him again when he let go, too.
"Well, off to bed then, lil' one, before you fall asleep running in the morning."
Again he winked mischievously at me and I had to laugh.
"Good night, big boy. Sleep tight."
"Good night."
With that, I left his hut and made my way to Newt's, who I was sure was already waiting for me. When I opened the door, his oil lamp was burning on the small table in the corner, but he himself was stretched out on the bed, already asleep.
I was sure it was because of the Gally stuff he had been drinking and had to laugh because I guess that was called being drunk. Quietly, I undressed and lay down next to him, having to push him aside a bit so I had enough room. He grumbled to himself, but then snuggled contentedly against me and went back to sleep.