Welcome To The Glade
“It’s basically the same story for all of us. We wake up in the Box, Alby gives us the tour…then here we are. Don’t worry.” Chuck said, tightening the hammock rope, shudder in his voice. “You’re already doing better than I did. I klunked my pants three times before they got me out of the Pit.”
Thomas was still staring at the Maze Doors. Then, making sure no one was looking at him except for Chuck, he started walking towards them.
He could hear Chuck’s pants as he hurried after him probably going as fast as he could on his plump legs. “No, come on. Dude, where are you going?”
“I just wanna see.” Thomas said, feeling bad about brushing Chuck off but had steeled himself to do so anyways.
“You can look around all you want but you better not go out there.” Chuck warned, half his body in front of Thomas’ body.
Thomas steeled himself. “Why not? What’s through there?”
“I don’t know.” Chuck said pleadingly, patting down his sweaty and dirty clothes. “I just know what I’m told.”
Thomas saw Minho and Ben jog out of the Maze. Had Ben been stung yet? No. Probably not.
“Hey, Chucky-Boy.” Minho said, running. “New Greenie, huh?”
“How does it feel to be promoted?”
“Feels great, Ben.” Chuck grinned, waving a lazy two fingers.
Chucky-Boy. Wasn’t it just Chuck last time?
Thomas rounded on Chuck. “I thought no one was allowed to leave.”
Chuck shook his head, exasperated. “I said we’re not allowed to leave. They’re different, they’re runners. They know more about the Maze than anyone.”
Thomas did his best to seem surprised by the incoming flow of information. He was hearing “Wait, what?”
“What?” Chuck said, not quite comprehending it.
“You just said ‘Maze’.”
“I did?” Chuck said, attempting to bluff his way out of it. Too bad, Chuck, Thomas thought. I know you too well. He was too nervous for it to be pulled off as a truth, anyways.
“Yeah.”
Thomas began to head off towards the Maze again.
Chuck ran after him. “Where are you going? What are you doing?”
“I’m just gonna take a look.” Thomas said, shying away.
“I told you, you can’t.” Chuck said, facepalming. That was new. He was already changing things. “No one leaves, especially not now. It’s not safe.”
“Okay, all right.” Thomas reluctantly (or not so reluctantly) agreed.
Then he felt a sharp pain in his chest and he was thrown unceremoniously onto the ground.
Thomas resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Gally.
“Hey!”
Thomas did a double-take – was that – regret? – in Gally’s eyes?
Gally stood over him. “We gotta stop meeting like this, Greenie.”
“Get off me!’ Thomas yelled, wriggling up and standing.
“Calm, calm, calm.” Gally said, trying to grasp ahold of the situation.
Thomas fired his anger at WICKED into the words.
“Don’t touch me!’
“Woah, take it easy!”
“Just relax.”
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Thomas hissed both in anger and fear.
“Just calm down, alright?” Alby mysteriously appeared like he always did, ready to try and subdue the situation at hand.
“No, okay?” Thomas said, faking desperateness. “Why won’t you tell me what’s out there?”
He was quick to say. “We’re just trying to protect you. It’s for your own good.”
“You guys just can’t keep me here!’ Thomas yelled, wrenching himself free of the tight grip.
“I can’t let you leave.” Alby said, his calm showing cracks.
“Why not?” Thomas said defiantly, rounding on them as they surrounded him like a pack of dogs.
Then it happened.
The Doors started moving. They growled and shifted, roaring and rumbling as they finally eased themselves shut, slamming together with a loud bang.
“What the hell?” Thomas barely whispered the words, mouth tracing them. He could only stare in shock and wonder. It had been so long since he had seen the Doors and he was quite amazed by the genius of it all. He’d only seen them close about seven times – in fact, he hadn’t even been there for most of them. Running the Maze at night...
“Next time, I’m gonna let you leave.” Gally spat venomously. But was it just him, or did he hear the hint of an apology in the words? The hint of a ‘sorry’ that went unspoken?
Alby moved closer to him and said the words he would forever remember. The words he would never forget, no matter what WICKED could try to do.
“Welcome to the Glade.”
***
Thomas was sitting beside Newt. Their knees were touching – he hoped it was dark enough that Newt wouldn’t see the pink flush that must have been on his face at the feeling of Newt’s warm skin on his. Newt turned his face to him, the flames flickering across it, illuminating the brown eyes.
“Hell of a first day, Greenie.” He grabbed the amber liquid he knew was Gally’s recipe. “Here.”
Thomas grabbed it, waiting for the next line – put some hair on your chest - but it never came.
Huh. So he wasn’t the only one changing stuff today.
He sipped it. It was as revolting as before and he gagged but swallowed it. It burnt at his throat like a fire trying to break free of the confines and tears came to his eyes. Apparently, the stuff was made stronger in the Glade because in the Safe Haven, he could drink it without feeling like he was going to die. Or, feeling like he was dying. He waited until the burning sensation faded away.
Newt chuckled at the look of disgust on his face.
“What is that?” Thomas asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Trade secret.” They both turned in sync to go look over to Gally. Thomas already knew where he would be – with his little gang of boys. Teresa would come soon. He needed to prepare for that. It wouldn’t do to be completely unprepared. He would have to interrogate her, and try to persuade her WICKED was bad. An organisation that needs to say ‘I Am Good’ is probably not good. He didn’t care if she agreed – only if she wouldn’t betray them.
Then Newt said.
“Gally’s recipe.”