“You’re welcome,” he answered, ignoring her sarcasm. “Listen, I’ve been thinking.” He paused to gather his thoughts.
“More than I can say for that Alby schmuck,” she muttered.
Thomas agreed, but was anxious to say what he’d come to say. “There’s gotta be a way out of this place-we just have to push it, stay out in the Maze longer. And what you wrote on your arm, and what you said about a code, it all has to mean something, right?” It has to , he thought. He couldn’t help feeling some hope.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing. But first-can’t you get me out of here?” Her hands appeared, gripping the bars of the window. Thomas felt the ridiculous urge to reach out and touch them.
“Well, Newt said maybe tomorrow.” Thomas was just glad he’d gotten that much of a concession. “You’ll have to make it through the night in there. It might actually be the safest place in the Glade.”
“Thanks for asking him. Should be fun sleeping on this cold floor.” She motioned behind her with a thumb. “Though I guess a Griever can’t squeeze through this window, so I’ll be happy, right?”
The mention of Grievers surprised him-he didn’t remember talking about them to her yet. “Teresa, are you sure you’ve forgotten everything?”
She thought a second. “It’s weird-I guess I do remember some stuff. Unless I just heard people talking while I was in the coma.”
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter right now. I just wanted to see you before I went inside for the night.” But he didn’t want to leave; he almost wished he could get thrown in the Slammer with her. He grinned inside-he could only imagine Newt’s response to that request.
“Tom?” Teresa said.
Thomas realized he was staring off in a daze. “Oh, sorry. Yeah?”
Her hands slipped back inside, disappeared. All he could see were her eyes, the pale glow of her white skin. “I don’t know if I can do this-stay in this jail all night.”
Thomas felt an incredible sadness. He wanted to steal Newt’s keys and help her escape. But he knew that was a ridiculous idea. She’d just have to suffer and make do. He stared into those glowing eyes. “At least it won’t get completely dark-looks like we’re stuck with this twilight junk twenty-four hours a day now.”
“Yeah…” She looked past him at the Homestead, then focused on him again. “I’m a tough girl-I’ll be okay.”
Thomas felt horrible leaving her there, but he knew he had no choice. “I’ll make sure they let you out first thing tomorrow, okay?”
She smiled, making him feel better. “That’s a promise, right?”
“Promise.” Thomas tapped his right temple. “And if you get lonely, you can talk to me with your… trick all you want. I’ll try to answer back.” He’d accepted it now, almost wanted it. He just hoped he could figure out how to talk back, so they could have a conversation.
You’ll get it soon, Teresa said in his mind.
“I wish.” He stood there, really not wanting to leave. At all.
“You better go,” she said. “I don’t want your brutal murder on my conscience.”
Thomas managed his own smile at that. “All right. See you tomorrow.”
And before he could change his mind, he slipped away, heading around the corner toward the front door of the Homestead, just as the last couple of Gladers were entering, Newt shooing them in like errant chickens. Thomas stepped inside as well, followed by Newt, who closed the door behind him.
Just before it latched shut, Thomas thought he heard the first eerie moan of the Grievers, coming from somewhere deep in the Maze.
The night had begun.
CHAPTER 38
Most of them slept outside in normal times, so packing all those bodies into the Homestead made for a tight fit. The Keepers had organized and distributed the Gladers throughout the rooms, along with blankets and pillows. Despite the number of people and the chaos of such a change, a disturbing silence hung over the activities, as if no one wanted to draw attention to themselves.
When everyone was settled, Thomas found himself upstairs with Newt, Alby and Minho, and they were finally able to finish their discussion from earlier in the courtyard. Alby and Newt sat on the only bed in the room while Thomas and Minho sat next to them in chairs. The only other furniture was a crooked wooden dresser and a small table, on top of which rested a lamp providing what light they had. The gray darkness seemed to press on the window from outside, with promises of bad things to come.
“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.”
Thomas nodded, but didn’t say anything. He agreed completely but had no concrete ideas on what to do. If he could just make it to tomorrow, maybe he and Teresa could come up with something to help.
Thomas glanced over at Alby, who was staring at the floor, seemingly lost in his own gloomy thoughts. His face still wore the long, weary look of depression, his eyes sunken and hollow. The Changing had been aptly named, considering what it had done to him.
“Alby?” Newt asked. “Are you gonna pitch in?”
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.”
Thomas rolled his eyes ever so slightly at Minho-so tired of Alby’s attitude.
If Minho felt the same way, he did a good job of hiding it. “I’m with Thomas and Newt. We gotta quit boohooing and feeling sorry for ourselves.” He 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.”
“What?” Alby asked, his voice finally showing some emotion. “What do you mean, days?”
“I mean, days. With open Doors and no sunset, there’s no point in coming back here, anyway. Time to stay out there and see if anything opens up when the walls move. If they still move.”
“No way,” Alby said. “We have the Homestead to hide in-and if that ain’t workin’, the Map Room and the Slammer. We can’t freaking ask people to go out there and die, Minho! Who’d volunteer for that?”
“Me,” Minho said. “And Thomas.”
Everyone looked at Thomas; he simply nodded. Although it scared him to death, exploring the Maze-really exploring it-was something he’d wanted to do from the first time he’d learned about it.
“I will if I have to,” Newt said, surprising Thomas; though he’d never talk about it, the older boy’s limp was a constant reminder that something horrible had happened to him out in the Maze. “And I’m sure all the Runners’ll do it.”
“With your bum leg?” Alby asked, a harsh laugh escaping his lips.
Newt frowned, looked at the ground. “Well, I don’t feel good askin’ Gladers to do something if I’m not bloody willing to do it myself.”
Alby scooted back on the bed and propped his feet up. “Whatever. Do what you want.”
“Do what I want?” Newt asked, standing up. “What’s wrong with you, man? Are you tellin’ me we have a choice? Should we just sit around on our butts and wait to be snuffed by the Grievers?”
Thomas wanted to stand up and cheer, sure that Alby would finally snap out of his doldrums.
But their leader didn’t look in the least bit reprimanded or remorseful. “Well, it sounds better than running to them.”
Newt sat back down. “Alby. You gotta start talkin’ reason.”
As much as he hated to admit it, Thomas knew they needed Alby if they were going to accomplish anything. The Gladers looked up to him.
Alb
y finally took a deep breath, then looked at each of them in turn. “You guys know I’m all screwed up. Seriously, I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t be the stupid leader anymore.”
Thomas held his breath. He couldn’t believe Alby had just said that.
“Oh bloody-” Newt started.
“No!” Alby shouted, his face showing humility, surrender. “That’s not what I meant. Listen to me. I ain’t saying we should switch or any of that klunk. I’m just saying… I think I need to let you guys make the decisions. I don’t trust myself. So… yeah, I’ll do whatever.”
Thomas could see that both Minho and Newt were as surprised as he was.
“Uh… okay,” Newt said slowly. As if he was unsure. “We’ll make it work, I promise. You’ll see.”
“Yeah,” Alby muttered. After a long pause, he spoke up, a hint of odd excitement in his voice. “Hey, tell you what. Put me in charge of the Maps. I’ll freaking work every Glader to the bone studying those things.”
“Works for me,” Minho said. Thomas wanted to agree, but didn’t know if it was his place.
Alby put his feet back on the floor, sat up straighter. “Ya know, it was really stupid for us to sleep in here tonight. We should’ve been out in the Map Room, working.”
Thomas thought that was the smartest thing he’d heard Alby say in a long time.
Minho shrugged. “Probably right.”
“Well… I’ll go,” Alby said with a confident nod. “Right now.”
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!”
“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.
It was strange to know that the night grew later, that darkness should’ve swallowed the world around them, but to see only the pale gray light outside. It made Thomas feel off-kilter, as if the urge to sleep that grew steadily with every passing minute were somehow unnatural. Time slowed to an agonizing crawl; he felt as if the next day might never come.
The other Gladers settled themselves, turning in with their pillows and blankets for the impossible task of sleeping. No one said much, the mood somber and grim. All you could hear were quiet shuffles and whispers.
Thomas tried hard to force himself to sleep, knowing it would make the time pass faster, but after two hours he’d still had no luck. He lay on the floor in one of the upper rooms, on top of a thick blanket, several other Gladers crammed in there with him, almost body to body. The bed had gone to Newt.
Chuck had ended up in another room, and for some reason Thomas pictured him huddled in a dark corner, crying, squeezing his blankets to his chest like a teddy bear. The image saddened Thomas so deeply he tried to replace it, but to no avail.
Almost every person had a flashlight by their side in case of emergency. Otherwise, Newt had ordered all lights extinguished despite the pale, deathly glow of their new sky-no sense attracting any more attention than necessary. Anything that could be done on such short notice to prepare for a Griever attack had been done: windows boarded up, furniture moved in front of doors, knives handed out as weapons…
But none of that made Thomas feel safe.
The anticipation of what might happen was overpowering, a suffocating blanket of misery and fear that began to take on a life of its own. He almost wished the suckers would just come and get it over with. The waiting was unbearable.
The distant wails of the Grievers grew closer as the night stretched on, every minute seeming to last longer than the one before it.
Another hour passed. Then another. Sleep finally came, but in miserable fits. Thomas guessed it was about two in the morning when he turned from his back to his stomach for the millionth time that night. He put his hands under his chin and stared at the foot of the bed, almost a shadow in the dim light.
Then everything changed.
A mechanized surge of machinery sounded from outside, followed by the familiar rolling clicks of a Griever on the stony ground, as if someone had scattered a handful of nails. Thomas shot to his feet, as did most of the others.
But Newt was up before anyone, waving his arms, then shushing the room by putting a finger to his lips. Favoring his bad leg, he tiptoed toward the lone window in the room, which was covered by three hastily nailed boards. Large cracks allowed for plenty of space to peek outside. Carefully, Newt leaned in to take a look, and Thomas crept over to join him.
He crouched below Newt against the lowest of the wooden boards, pressing his eye against a crack-it was terrifying being so close to the wall. But all he saw was the open Glade; he didn’t have enough space to look up or down or to the side, just straight ahead. After a minute or so, he gave up and turned to sit with his back against the wall. Newt walked over and sat back down on the bed.
A few minutes passed, various Griever sounds penetrating the walls every ten to twenty seconds. The squeal of small engines followed by a grinding spin of metal. The clicking of spikes against the hard stone. Things snapping and opening and snapping. Thomas winced in fear every time he heard something.
Sounded like three or four of them were just outside. At least.
He heard the twisted animal-machines come closer, so close, waiting on the stone blocks below. All hums and metallic clatter.
Thomas’s mouth dried up-he’d seen them face to face, remembered it all too well; he had to remind himself to breathe. The others in the room were still; no one made a sound. Fear seemed to hover in the air like a blizzard of black snow.
One of the Grievers sounded like it was moving toward the house. Then the clicking of its spikes against the stone suddenly turned into a deeper, hollower sound. Thomas could picture it all: the creature’s metal spikes digging into the wooden sides of the Homestead, the massive creature rolling its body, climbing up toward their room, defying gravity with its strength. Thomas heard the Grievers’ spikes shred the wood siding in their path as they tore out and rotated around to take hold once again. The whole building shuddered.
The crunching and groaning and snapping of the wood became the only sounds in the world to Thomas, horrifying. They grew louder, closer -the other boys had shuffled across the room and as far away from the window as possible. Thomas finally followed suit, Newt right beside him; everyone huddled against the far wall, staring at the window.
Just when it grew unbearable-just as Thomas realized the Griever was right outside the window-everything fell silent. Thomas could almost hear his own heart beating.
Lights flickered out there, casting odd beams through the cracks between the wooden boards. Then a thin shadow interrupted the light, moving back and forth. Thomas knew that the Griever’s probes and weapons had come out, searching for a feast. He imagined beetle blades out there, helping the creatures find their way. A few seconds later the shadow stopped; the light settled to a standstill, casting three unmoving planes of brightness into the room.
The tension in the air was thick; Thomas couldn’t hear anyone breathing. He thought much the same must be going on in the other rooms of the Homestead. Then he remembered Teresa in the Slammer.
He was just wishing she’d say something to him when the door from the hallway suddenly whipped open. Gasps and shouts exploded throughout the room. The Gladers had been expecting something from the window, not from behind them. Thomas turned to see who’d opene
d the door, expecting a frightened Chuck or maybe a reconsidering Alby. But when he saw who stood there, his skull seemed to contract, squeezing his brain in shock.
It was Gally.
CHAPTER 39
Gally’s eyes raged with lunacy; his clothes were torn and filthy. He dropped to his knees and stayed there, his chest heaving with deep, sucking breaths. He looked about the room like a rabid dog searching for someone to bite. No one said a word. It was as if they all believed as Thomas did-that Gally was only a figment of their imagination.
“They’ll kill you!” Gally screamed, spittle flying everywhere. “The Grievers will kill you all-one every night till it’s over!”
Thomas watched, speechless, as Gally staggered to his feet and walked forward, dragging his right leg with a heavy limp. No one in the room moved a muscle as they watched, obviously too stunned to do anything. Even Newt stood mouth agape. Thomas was almost more afraid of their surprise visitor than he was of the Grievers just outside the window.
Gally stopped, standing just a few feet in front of Thomas and Newt; he pointed at Thomas with a bloody finger. “You,” he said with a sneer so pronounced it went past comical to flat-out disturbing. “It’s all your fault!” Without warning he swung his left hand, forming it into a fist as it came around and crashed into Thomas’s ear. Crying out, Thomas crumpled to the ground, more taken by surprise than pain. He scrambled to his feet as soon as he’d hit the floor.
Newt had finally snapped out of his daze and pushed Gally away. Gally stumbled backward and crashed into the desk by the window. The lamp scooted off the side and broke into pieces on the ground. Thomas assumed Gally would retaliate, but he straightened instead, taking everyone in with his mad gaze.
“It can’t be solved,” he said, his voice now quiet and distant, spooky. “The shuck Maze’ll kill all you shanks… The Grievers’ll kill you… one every night till it’s over… I… It’s better this way…” His eyes fell to the floor. “They’ll only kill you one a night… their stupid Variables…”
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