CHAPTER FOUR

"Thomas."

"Wicked is good."

"What did you do?"

"Don't make it easy on them."

"Wicked is good."

"What I had to do."

"This is gonna hurt a little."

"What's happening?"

"Thomas, you have to choose."

"Save the others."

     THOMAS startled awake, gasping silently. He let himself calm down, remembering where he was. He looked around his surroundings when he noticed something over by the gates. Suited up in Runner gear, Alex, Minho, and Alby were all waiting in front of the gates.

Zart seemed to be talking to the trio. His curiosity grew into confusion when the gates started to open and the Runners ran in, Alby running in along with them.

The sun had risen and sounds of the cicadas rattled in the early morning. Everyone in the Glade was up and working, starting on their day's activities. Thomas sat on a log next to Chuck. He stared off at the gates, pondering on the fact that Alby was somewhere out there.

"But why would Alby go into the maze? I mean, he's not a runner."

At Thomas's question Newt stopped hacking at the tree trunk and turned to answer.

"Things are different now. Alby went to retrace Ben's footsteps before sundown- are you gonna help?"

Newt motioned frustratedly at Thomas. The latter either didn't pick up on Newt's frustrations or simply didn't care and continued to nag at him. The curious boy was neglecting his duties and instead woke up and chose to be an annoying menace.

"So they're gonna go back to where Ben was just stung-"

"Alex and Alby know what they're doing, alright? They know better than the rest of us."

Newt intended to end the conversation there but sadly, that didn't pan out for him as it only raised more confusion in the brown haired boy. Chuck turned to look at Thomas, feeling the boy's frustration.

"What does that even mean?"

Newt inhaled deeply and pursed his lips. His frustration and patience with the newbie had reached its peak. He tightened his grip on the machete and rubbed the back of his neck. He looks back at Thomas and breathes out shakily, giving up.

"Alright, it's like you've heard... yeah? Every month, the Box sends up its new arrival. But someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade, alone."

Thomas listened intently to Newt's words. Finally gaining some answers.

"That was Alby."

Newt went back to work on the tree trunk but continued speaking.

"I mean, it can't have been easy. Then Alex showed up and things were a little easier. No girls had ever showed up in that box again... Alex was the only one."

Newt yanked his machete out of the trunk, it being stuck. He sniffled and leaned on the trunk, a little tired now.

"But when those other boys started coming up, one after another... They saw the truth. And they learned that the most important thing... is that we all have each other. Because we're all in this together."

By then Zart had stopped digging and listened to Newt's speech. His words struck Thomas, letting them sink in. Chuck and Thomas turned to look at each other, a sense of understanding and respect twinkled in their eyes. Thomas re-evaluated his decisions and finally got up from the log to help out.

A low rumbling echoed in the sky catching the Gladers' attention. Dark gloomy clouds seemed to cast a dark shadow over the Glade. Rain. Everyone started to wrap up what they were doing and headed over to any shelter to keep out of the rain.

Everyone gathered around to stare off into the maze. Awaiting for their Runners to come back. Thomas spoke up over the pouring rain.

"They should be back by now."

No one said anything. They just continued waiting in silence, hiding their building fear in the backs of their minds.

"What happens if they don't make it?"

"They're gonna make it."

Thomas drummed his fingers against the support log, looking back over at Newt. The brit's response deflected his question and that only built up more worry in the pit of his stomach. Pushing himself off of the log he walks back over to stand beside Newt.

"What happens if they don't?"

Newt remains undeterred. He replied with a tone of finality.

"They're gonna make it."

Though, as the words left Newt's mouth, he wondered if he really meant those words or if he was just trying to convince himself that it was true. The Gladers were all filled with anxiety as more and more time passed by.

The rain had finally come to a stop. Everyone gathered around the entrance to the maze. They waited and waited anxiously. Hope was dwindling on a thin thread.

Everyone glanced around at each other in fear as their anxiety spiked when the loud clanking sounded from the walls. Thomas was basically bouncing on the edge of his heels, having to wait anxiously for their return. His eyes kept darting around the pathway, waiting to see a familiar face.

"Come on, guys, can't we send someone after them?"

Newt just looked down, rubbed at his face in distress.

"That's against the rules. Either they make it back or they don't"

Gally answered the boy, he was in a squat position on the ground. His voice was dry and tense whilst his face was scrunched up. Newt sighed and looked over at Thomas. Chuck gulped back the fear rising in him and continued to search for his friends.

"We can't risk losing anyone else."

Just then, the large howling gust of wind blew at the Gladers. They all stood their ground but knew what this had meant. The gates creaked and began to close in on itself. Everyone's face fell, disturbed by what was happening as reality started to sink in.

"Oh, no..."

Everyone squished against each other, trying to keep their eyes in the maze. All holding on to hope that the Runners would appear. In the far distance three figures emerged from a corner catching everyone's attention.

"There!"

Relief immediately overcame the Gladers. But celebration could not come yet when they all noticed that something wasn't right. Just as quick, their faces fell.

"Wait, no, something's wrong."

Minho and Alex's groans echoed down the path. They stumbled and wobbled to the sides as they carried a limp Alby over their shoulders. The Gladers were beginning to freak out.

"Come on Minho, Alex! you can do it!"

Chuck yelled at the duo and the others followed after him. They all yelled encouragements at the two, waving them over. The gates were closing fast.

Alex breathed out heavily as she tried to keep up her strength but her legs had given up on her. She fell to her knees, dragging Alby down with her as Minho lost his balance. She grunted at the impact, muffling a scream of pain.

"Minho, you have to go."

Minho leaned down and grabbed a hold of Alex's shoulders.

"No! I'm not leaving you. Both of you! Now come on!"

He helped lift Alex back up and together they each took one of Alby's legs and tried to drag him back to the Glade. Despite her pained ankle, she helped hoist up Alby's legs and pulled him towards her.

"They're not going to make it."

Newt deflated at his own words. He was about to watch three of his best friends get trapped in the maze, meeting their certain deaths. The Gladers continued to shout and yell at them.

Minho and Alex didn't listen to their yells to leave Alby behind, stubborn and unwilling. Minho yelled out painfully in frustration as they neared the closing gates. They weren't going to make it.

Alex just about gave up then and there. Her ankle collapsed on her and she fell once more in pain. She looked up at Minho and shook her head at him with a saddened look. The two exchanged hopeless looks as Alex just smiled woefully at him. The latter just bit his lips and yelled out in emotional pain once more as he continued to drag Alby with him, leaving Alex behind.

Thomas watched the exchange and felt his heart drop at the look on Alex's face. The dissipated hope and defeated look sparked something in him. So, he did the unthinkable.

Without a second thought, Thomas broke away from the crowd, taking everyone by surprise as he pushed himself between the crack of the gates to reach the trio on the other side. The Gladers all tried to stop him but were left unsuccessful.

Thomas falls through over to them and looks back at the now closed gates. Shocked by his own actions. He turned and crawled over to the others. Minho was knelt on the ground in front of the limp Alby. Alex in the distance with a disappointed look in her eyes.

"Good job. You just killed yourself."

"... what?"

Alex groaned and pushed herself up against the wall, ignoring the other two's exchange. She huffed as she brought her right knee up to her chest. She bit her lip harshly as she rolled up the fabric of her pants, eyes tearing up at the pain. Her ankle was bruised deeply, most likely strained and hopefully not fractured. She struggled as she ripped off a piece of her pants, using it as a sort of wrap for her ankle.

She threw her head back against the wall and tried her best to maintain her screams, instead clenching her jaw and puffing out heavy breaths of air. Thomas had made his way to her side just as she finished wrapping up.

"You're an idiot..."

Thomas ignored her and looked down at her ankle with furrowed brows.

"What happened to you?"

Alex looked over hazily at Thomas.

"Sprained my ankle... Ran 'way off to a slightly tall edge, landed wrong..."

Thomas nodded in understanding but he still looked at her with concern. He then looked back over to Alby's limp body and gulped.

"I did what I had to do..."

His head shot back over to look at Alex, her words sent a wave of deja vu over him.

"What did you do?"

"What I had to do."

A loud terrifying screech echoed down the maze, very close. Alex 's eyes shot wide open and adrenaline flowed through her veins. She pushed herself off of the wall and looked over to the boys.

"We have to get out of here."

Minho and Alex both move to stand, Thomas aiding Alex. The maze makes rumbling noises alerting Thomas. It was shifting.

"Okay. Okay, help me get him up."

Thomas lets go of Alex to lean down and help up Alby. Minho just walks past him and Alex stands her ground, torn on deciding what to do. Thomas looks exasperatedly over at the duo.

"Alex is right. We gotta go. The maze is already changing."

Minho gently takes a hold of Alex's hand and throws her arms over his shoulder. He turns to walk off but Thomas shouts at them, pausing them in their tracks.

"Hey Minho! We can't just leave him here."

Minho glanced over at Alex, looking for her insight. The girl just looked at him with pleading eyes and slid her arm off of his shoulder. He sighed heavily and turned around to look at Thomas.

Alex trailed behind the boys as they struggled to carry Alby down the paths. Her ankle shot needles of pain throughout her body each time she took a step. The weak girl's breathing was labored, her muscles were tensing and she's sure that pretty soon they'd give up again.

"Just sit him down. Sit him down."

Alex leaned on the opposite wall from them as they lowered Alby to the ground. They all panted in exhaustion. Another screech reverberated down the maze causing chills to run down their spines.

"This isn't gonna work. We gotta go."

Minho stands up in a panic and starts walking away at a fast pace.

"We gotta go!"

Alex pushed herself off of the wall with a groan as Thomas spoke up.

"Woah wait wait. What are you talking about? We gotta hide him."

Minho turns back around to Thomas, panic clear in his voice.

"Where?"

Alex glanced around her as the boys argued with one another. Her eyes found their way to the vines that covered the wall.

"Boys."

They two stop arguing one another and look over to Alex. She juts her chin over at the vines and realization covers Thomas's features. Minho glances over at Alex and she just shrugs her shoulders at him.

The three of them groan out as they try to lift Alby up the wall. Their voices echoing down the paths. Night had already fallen making it all the more dangerous. Fear clogs Alex's throat when she hears the metal clanking of a Griever nearby.

Minho freezes in fear as he glances over to where the noise was coming from and spots the Griever. He begins to panic making it harder for them to continue pulling the vine. Alex and him locked eyes and she could see the fear taking over them. She shakes her head at him but he only gives her a sorrowful look.

"I'm sorry, Lex..."

"Min please..."

They get pulled by the weight of the vine as Minho lets go. Alex yelled out to her running best friend as she continued to struggle with Thomas to help him keep the vine steady. The Griever's shriek sounded much closer and louder.

Alex glanced over the corner and felt her heart drop at the sight of the creature nearby. She glanced between Thomas and the creature. Thomas saw the conflict in her eyes and shook his head at her.

Alex hums indecisively as she continues to weigh her odds. Just as she was about to let go and make a run for it, Thomas wrapped an arm around her waist and pushed them under the small space beneath the wall. He kept a firm grip on the girl as she pushed herself further against his chest in fear.

He moves his hand to cover her mouth just as a gasp was ripped from her at the sight of the Griever's sharp mechanical legs. It's robotic noises sent a wave of terror right through the both of them. She gripped onto Thomas's arm tightly in fear. She flinched when the Griever growled out and ran away down the path.

They stayed in that position for a while longer, ensuring that it was safe to go back out. Thomas slowly uncovered his hand from her mouth and Alex breathed out heavily, nausea hit her like a brick as panic and anxiety took over her trembling form.

She pushed herself off of Thomas and crawled out of the space frantically. Thomas quickly tied the vines together and followed out after the distraught girl.

"Hey, hey, hey. Alex, calm down. You're okay."

The girl was breathing rapidly. She felt light headed and disoriented. Thomas took her trembling form into his hands, pausing her rapid movements. He cupped her face gently, wiping away the tears that unknowingly streamed down her face. Alex closed her eyes at the familiar contact and leaned into his touch, grabbing onto his forearms.

"I need you to breathe, Lexie. Can you do that for me? Just breathe."

She nodded her head rapidly. She hummed in fear as the Griever shrieked nearby. Thomas tried to change her focus to him and began to take deep breaths in and out, making Alex mimic his actions.

Once Alex somewhat gained back control of her breathing and calmed down a little, she reopened her eyes and stared back into Thomas's whiskey eyes, drowning in them. Finding herself again.

Their heads snapped in the direction of where the Griever sounds came from and suddenly Alex was being pulled back into Thomas's chest as he moved them to hide behind the wall on the corner. The clanking of the Griever's steps seemed to go distant, making Thomas look over to check if they were safe.

Double checking to see if Alby was good, Thomas took Alex's hand into his and dragged them down the path, away from the sounds of Grievers. The two managed to get away from the sounds and walked down in silence.

"Why... why do you call me that?"

Thomas stopped walking and glanced back at Alex in confusion. The girl stopped as well and rubbed her arm uncomfortably, now regretting asking.

"What?"

Alex huffed and looked up into Thomas's eyes.

"Lexie... You called me that twice."

Thomas blinked and thought back to all of his interactions with the girl. His brows furrowed in confusion when it hits him.

He did call her that.

"Oh... uh. Honestly, I don't know. It just... happens."

Thomas started walking again, making Alex follow after him. That wasn't a satisfactory answer for Alex. Her moment of awkwardness was gone as she furrowed her brows in confusion at the man.

"It just happens?"

Before Thomas could shoot back a retort, a squelch sounds from the bottom of Thomas's shoe as he steps on some gooey substance. He looks down at it in disgusted confusion when he feels Alex squeeze his hand tightly. A small gasp escaped her lips.

"Thomas..."

The boy looks back up at Alex, hearing the tone of fear in her voice making him worry. The girl was frozen in fear, staring wide eyed above him. She began to back up slowly, pulling his arm as she did. He looks up and behind him when a Griever jumps down from the wall. Screeching out at them Alex dragged Thomas along with her as she took off in a sprint.

"Run!"

The duo tried to outrun the creature but it followed just behind them, Alex tried to push herself as much as she could. Trying to bear the pain radiating from her ankle. They turned a couple of corners but the Griever managed to cut them off. They were running a wild goose chase.

"Oh shit."

The couple found themselves cornered in a dead end. Alex looked around her surroundings as the Griever made its way towards them.

"Thomas come on!"

The girl jumped from the debris on the ground onto the wall of vines, climbing up. Thomas followed quickly behind, nearly avoiding the Griever's attack. Alex held her hand out for Thomas to take as she helped him up onto the top of the wall. The Griever's spider-like legs come into view as it starts to climb up as well.

"Let's go, we gotta go!"

Thomas pulls Alex along with him as they run off the edge of the wall to jump to the other side. The creature follows close behind. Alex nearly runs herself off of the edge of the next wall, thankfully Thomas quickly pulls her back up. They turn back around to run in the other direction but the Griever blocks their path.

"We gotta jump."

Alex whipped her head in his direction exasperatedly at his insane idea.

"Are you insane!"

Thomas turns the girl around and yells for her to jump. He gave himself a running start and proceeded to jump off the wall and grabbed a hold of the vines on the wall in front of them. Alex groaned out in annoyance, she glanced back at the Griever then back at the wall. She bounced on her feet and backed up to give herself a running head start before following right after him. She jumps all the way across but the vine she'd managed to grab onto snapped and she fell down the wall.

"LEXIE!"

The girl managed to grab hold of the vine a few feet below Thomas. She looks up at him with wide eyes and he lets out a breath of relief. He looked back over at the Griever and his eyes widened as it jumped as well.

"Shit!"

The Griever jumped just right above Alex, its legs cutting into the vines she was hanging on from. A yelp escaped her lips as one of it's legs managed to nick her. She fell once more, trying to grab onto the vines to, at the very least, lessen the impact of her fall. She landed harshly against the pavement, the air being knocked right out of her.

"Alex!"

Alex squinted her eyes and looked above at Thomas. Her eyes widened when she saw the Griever trying to go at him.

"Thomas!"

Thomas looked to his side and avoided the legs of the creature. His eyes widened at the sight of a large needle attached to it. The Griever tried to bite at him but instead took down the entire vine wall, dragging it and Thomas down with it.

"Oh fu-"

Alex quickly scrambled to her feet and jumped away from the falling Griever. She watched as it got itself tangled up in the vines and wanted to laugh in relief. She quickly crawled over to Thomas and helped him up. He took ahold of her hand again and dragged them back away from the Griever. Suddenly a body came crashing into them.

"Whoa!"

"Whoa!"

"SUNOVA-"

Alex leaned on her knees with a hand to her heart, she puffed out a breath of air. Minho grabbed onto the couple in relief.

"You- You're a crazy son of a bitch."

The Griever shrieked, causing the trio to look over at it with fear as it tried to get out from the vines.

"Come on, follow me!"

Minho dragged the two away with him.

"I'm not leaving you my ass!"

Minho ignored Alex's yells and continued to lead them down the sections. Alex looked up at the sound of rumbling.

"Okay, it's changing. Come on, come on!"

Alex followed just behind Minho as they came to a stop at a turn.

"This section is closing. Come on!"

The duo ran down the closing walls to the other side. Minho's words echoing.

"We can lose it down here!"

Alex stopped running once they reached the end of the section.

"Thomas!"

She snapped her neck around in Thomas's direction. Her eyes widened at the boy all the way on the other side of the closing path.

"What are you waiting for?!"

"Thomas, get out of there!"

Alex stepped forward but Minho held her back. She paused her movements and gulped down the anxiety coursing through her. They continued to shout over at Thomas to hurry over but he made no advancements, until the Griever turned around the corner. Thomas finally started running, the griever following.

"Don't look back!"

"Run damnit!"

Her voice was hoarse as she screamed out to the crazy boy. The walls were closing in on him and Alex swore she felt her heart stop.

"Move it, Thomas! Go on!"

"Move your stupid ass!"

The walls were too close to each other now but Thomas was so close. He was almost there, just a little bit more. Alex stepped closer to the walls and held her hand out.

"THOMAS!"