The Survivor - Thomas (The Maze Runner)

12

Thomas watched the flames explode outward before settling, completely engulfing Blair for a split second. His eyes widened, but before he could run to see if she was okay she exited the smoke with the same wild smile and jogged his way.

Gally rolled his eyes when she stopped in front of him and Thomas. "Show off," Gally accused and tosseled her hair.

But Blair didn't mind, in fact, she seemed to take this as praise. She turned to Thomas and asked hopefully, "do you like it?"

Thomas stared at the fire, it's flames licking the stars above, then down at Blair. Her eyes glinted with pride, and her smiled made his heart flip. He couldn't help but find her adorable, hair in a puffed mess from Gally's gesture.

When he realized he'd been staring, he looked down at the ground and gave a short, nervous laugh before looking back at the towering fire, "yeah, i-it's great."

Blair jumped up in the air joyously. "I'll be right back," she said to Gally, "we need some music." And with that, she bounded away.

"Music?" Brenda repeated, "how can anyone just sit by a fire and listen to music when the world is falling apart?"

"I know it doesn't make much sense at first," Gally began to explain, "but it gives people something to look forward to, something to enjoy."

Newt sighed as he looked into the fire, "I guess when everything else is unpredictable, having a system is enlightening...like our glade."

Everyone fell silent.

Thomas looked around. People were everywhere; sitting in the beds of broken down trucks, on the terraces of surrounding buildings, scattered all over the cold ground enjoying the night. The sound of a string instrument came within earshot, and he turned to see where it came from. He saw Blair encouraging a middle aged man to play his guitar.

Once he began, a few other came out with instruments of their own, all in just barely usable conditions. Within minutes the night was alive with song, and people began to dance and sing.

Blair jogged back over to the group, Maya now with her, too.

"Now, isn't that more like it?" Blair asked no one in particular. She was about to sit down and relax, but Maya stopped her.

"Blair, come on, you've got to come dance," Maya urged with an energetic tone.

With a sigh, and a crooked smile, Blair nodded. "Alright," she let Maya take her left hand, and held her right one out to the group of friends, "anyone else care to join?"

"I don't think any of us know how to dance," Newt responded with a chuckle.

"You don't have to dance, just come into the commotion, join the fun!" Blair insisted. But no one moved. So Maya and Blair skipped out to the crowd together.

As the night went on, Maya had eventually dragged Brenda out. Though she didn't dance, Brenda had managed to let her worries go and enjoy the event. Blair had even gotten the very annoyed Gally to join the fun, though he didn't seem to like it.

Newt, Thomas, and Fry laughed at the sight of their old glader friend being helplessly tortured into dancing with a persistent stranger.

And for that moment, WCKD didn't exist. For that moment there was no war, no Flare, no Scorch. For that moment, there was nothing but a group of happy people having a good time. No sickness, no death, no painful memories.

Ashes floated up into the sky like fireflies, dancing in the air until they burnt out and were taken by the breeze.

It wasn't until Thomas saw Blair sneak out into the night that he was snapped back to reality. So he told his friends he'd be back, and he chased after her.