Girl Who Ran the Maze • Thomas

04. Good things never last

Bonfire night was one of the funnest nights Sylvia had since being at the glade. They drink, there was loud music, they play games and get wasted.

The keepers, Sylvia, Newt, and Alby stood by the pile of logs waiting to be lit. They all held torches. "Light it up!" Sylvia yells. They all throw their torches into the pile of logs. The fire immediately spreading as everyone cheered.

"To the Gladers!" They all cheered their cups filled with Gallys intoxicated drink.

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{Thomas}

Thomas sat by Newt behind a log. "Here, put some hair on your chest." Newt passes over a jar of Gallys drink.

Thomas looked at it before drinking some. A burning sensation immediately spread through his throat as he coughed it out.

"Oh my god. What is that?" Thomas coughs out handing it back to Newt. "I don't even know. It's Gallys recipe. It's a trade secret."

Thomas looks back to see Gally wrestling. "Yeah well he's still an asshole."

"He saved your life today. Trust me the maze is a dangerous place."

"We're trapped here. Aren't we?"

"For the moment. But.." Newt turns around. "You see them. By the fire?" Newt points to the runners. Including Sylvia. "Those are the runners. And that guy in the middle. That's Minho. He's the keeper of the runners. Now every morning when those doors open... they run the maze. Mapping it. Memorizing it. Trying to find a way out."

"How long have they been looking?" Thomas asks staring at Sylvia as she laughs with Minho. "Three years"

"And they haven't found anything?"

"It's a lot easier said than done. Listen" Newt held up his finger. The sound of stone grinding. "Hear that? That's the maze. Changing. It changes every night."

"Hows that even possible?"

"You can ask the people who put us in here if you ever meet the bastards. Listen the truth is. The runners are the only ones that really know what's out there. They're the strongest and fastest of us all. And it's a good thing too because if they don't make it back before those doors close. They're stuck out there for the night. And no ones ever survived a night in the maze"

"What happens to them?"

"Well we call them grievers. Sylvia, my sister. About 2 years ago she got stuck in the maze. For the night. And she survived. She said the grievers were mechanical almost like robots."

"I thought you said no ones ever survived a night in the maze?"

"No one except her."

The two boys turned around to see Sylvia linking arms with a boy chugging down Gallys drink. She crushed the cup and smashed it on the floor. She cheered as everyone laughed. "Who is she anyway?" Thomas asks.

Newt chuckles. "Well, she's a lot of things. Queen of the Glade, first person at the glade, only person who survived a night in the maze, the only girl here, the fastest runner here, my sister, you choose" Newt listed proudly as they watch her laugh with the boys.