Trials Together (Book One): The Maze Runner

Chapter 19

Thomas was shocked to silence, they would be completely unprotected from the Grievers, at the creatures' mercy.

The four leaders outside were engaged in an intense conversation and Thomas forced himself to focus on that to prevent panic.

"Maybe we should kill them. The newbies, they started this." Sonya said it so calmly that Thomas had to go over the words in his mind to realise she had said them.

"That's a little extreme, don't ya think?" Newt gave her a strange look but Thomas could see that he and Alby were actually considering it.

"Alright, nobody is killing anyone." Harriet took charge.

"The Slammer." Alby suggested, the fact that he was accepting that Harriet was in charge seemed entirely against his character.

"We didn't mean to do anything if that helps." Aris interjected, matching Sonya's resulting glare.

"Exactly, now let's focus on the bigger issue here." Harriet continued. "What the shuck are we going to do?"

The Glade erupted into chaos, Thomas was stood watching, with Rachel, Teresa and Aris, not knowing what to do. He had looked for Chuck and Flo but couldn't see them. The Builders were erecting pitiful barricades under Beth's direction, the Cooks moving all food into the Homestead, weapons and torches distributed.

"Those aren't going to do anything against Grievers." Rachel gestured towards a pile of sacks being shoved into gaps in one of the barricades.

"I'd say they're just trying to prevent people from panicking." Thomas replied, not knowing what he should do.

"Should we help?" Teresa asked vaguely, but none of them moved. They had been told to stay out of the way, and for good reason: half of the Gladers disliked Thomas and all of them distrusted Aris and Teresa, Rachel had been tarred with the same brush. Staying away from the panicked mass of armed people who hated them seemed to be the most sensible option.

"If you're just going to stand there get your butts inside." Minho called as he passed them, carrying an armful of sticks, Thomas couldn't guess their function. The four of them turned and followed him, a good amount of the Gladers had already entered.

Someone absently gave Rachel a large pile of blankets.

"You and Aris find somewhere for us to sleep." Thomas told her. "Teresa, you're with me, we need to talk to Alby and Harriet."

After everyone was settled in the Homestead and it had been barricaded as best they could, Thomas found himself in a small upstairs room with Alby, Harriet, Newt, Sonya and Minho, he wasn't sure where Miyoko was. Teresa hadn't been allowed to enter so had gone back to Aris and Rachel.

"Closest I've come so far," Newt was saying, "to hangin' it all up. Shuck it all and kiss a Griever goodnight. Supplies cut, bloody gray skies, walls not closing. But we can't give up, and we all know it. The buggers who sent us here either want us dead or they're givin' us a spur. This or that, we gotta work our arses off till we're dead or not dead."

Alby looked up, surprise crossing his face as if he hadn't known that anyone else was in the room. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Good that. But you've seen what happens at night. Just because Greenie the freaking superboy made it doesn't mean the rest of us can."

Harriet nudged him, Thomas was getting a feeling that she was really in charge, for all Alby's bravado, or at least she was after Alby's Changing.

"I'm with Thomas and Newt. We gotta quit boohooing and feeling sorry for ourselves." Minho rubbed his hands together and sat forward in his chair. "Tomorrow morning, first thing, you guys can assign teams to study the Maps full-time while the Runners go out. We'll pack our stuff shuck-full so we can stay out there a few days."

"I'll go with ya." Sonya must have noticed Thomas's surprise because her next words were addressed directly to him. "Me and Newt used to run, till he hurt his leg." There was a sadness there, as if she hadn't wanted to give it up.

Alby protested that no one would stay in the Maze for days, but Harriet was all for the idea, agreeing with everyone else that they couldn't just hide forever, the Grievers would eventually overpower them.

"Put me in charge of the maps, I'll go study them now." Alby was suddenly close to his old self, even having only known him for days, Thomas could tell that the Changing was aptly named.

Newt shook his head. "Forget that, Alby. Already heard the bloody Grievers moaning out there. We can wait till the wake-up."

Alby leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Hey, you shucks are the ones giving me all the pep talks. Don't start whining when I actually listen. If I'm gonna do this, I gotta do it, be the old me. I need something to dive into."

Relief flooded Thomas. He'd grown sick of all the contention.

Alby stood up. "Seriously, I need this." He moved toward the door of the room as if he really meant to leave.

"You can't be serious," Newt said. "You can't go out there now!" The others didn't try to dissuade him, not even Harriet.

"I'm going, and that's that." Alby took his ring of keys from his pocket and rattled them mockingly—Thomas couldn't believe the sudden bravery. "See you shucks in the morning."

And then he walked out.

Leaving, Thomas saw that everyone was turning in to sleep. He found Teresa, Aris and Rachel on the second floor, having made a sort of sleeping area with blankets and the fact that everyone was avoiding them. Chuck and Flo were asleep nearby, curled innocently close to each other.

The room soon filled up with other Gladers, almost body to body, the bed went to Newt, Sonya lying by the side of it. Thomas was between Rachel and Teresa, Aris on Rachel's other side, he wasn't uncomfortable but knew there was no way he'd be able to sleep.

I hate this, waiting for something to happen. Thomas could somehow tell Rachel's message had been heard by everyone else.

Agreed, now get your elbow out of my ribs. Aris grumbled back at her. Thomas agreed too, hardly anyone was asleep but everyone was at least pretending.

Something's going to happen, and it won't be good. Teresa's observation was just as accurate. Thomas noticed that these telepathic conversations made his head hurt but they hadn't when it was only him and Rachel, maybe four people put extra strain on the system.

Quiet, you're giving me a headache. Thomas turned over, hoping that would signal that he was out of the conversation, he didn't know how to make it so he couldn't hear them.

Goodnight, Mr Sunshine. Thomas did not appreciate Teresa's sarcasm, it was going to be a long night.