Day 1

Thomas POV

Thomas swung his ax and struck the bark of the tree.

It has been only one night since Thomas entered the Glade and so far he knew two things. One, no one remembered anything. No one. Apparently, according to Alby, the only thing "they" let them keep is their names. Their past lives and all their memories were stripped away from them. No one knew why they were put here, or why they were chosen. Not to mention the mystery behind who put them there in the first place and for whatever mysterious reason.

Two, Thomas observed that Glade contained only boys and no girls. And that the Glade was surrounded with concrete walls. It was like they were trapped like animals, and for some reason the boys in the Glade were very accepting of it. Even after he tried to check out what was outside those walls, they refused to let him exit those doors or even get near them. Apparently only runners could and there were certain rules that everyone had to abide by.

And yet, Thomas curiosity was not defused. So far he knew that the people of Glade have been here for at least three years. And whoever put them there (some of the boys called them the Creators), sent new supplies or new subjects to join their Glade. And throughout these three years, Alby and the other boys discovered that the only way out is through those walls. It was like a game. Finish the maze and be granted freedom, or stay put and see what happens.

Thomas has been here only for one night and he couldn't keep himself still. He wanted to know what was going on. Why he was put here, why they were all put here, and why they were all frightened to go out into the maze and find a way out from this caged place.

Coming here, Thomas found himself with more questions and not enough answers.

Alby attempted to explain things to him when he came here, but Thomas knew that the elder man was hiding things from him. So he tried to talk to one of the younger, friendlier boys.

He spotted a young boy who was sprawled on the grass, fiddling with an object in his hands.

"Hey Chuck!" He recalled the boy's name.

Chuck jerked his head up and met his eyes in surprise. Thomas wondered if the boy was frightened from him.

"Yes?"

Thomas threw his ax on the grass and looked around to make sure the other boys who were working with him didn't see him slack off. That boy named Newt with the British accent already yelled at him once for lazying about when he attempted to take a quick break.

He walked over to the boy. He tried not to frown to why Chuck didn't get yelled at for not helping, but he stuffed his protests. What he wanted now was not to start complaining, but to receive answers.

"Hey. Can I ask you something?" Thomas asked carefully. He bent down and sat next to him. His eyes flitted toward the blond, British boy and noticed he was still distracted chopping wood.

The other boys teased him and called him "Greenie". He knew that they won't give him the answers he wanted with their bullying. What he needed right now was to make a friend, gain someone's trust.

Chuck stuck the piece of (wood?) in his pocket and gave him a curious glance.

"Sure. Shoot."

"H-How...How come only runners can go through the walls?" Thomas shook his head in confusion. "I mean, wouldn't it be better if more went out and tried to find a way out of the maze?"

"Look, man." Chuck held a hand up and gave a short chuckle. "I understand your new here and all, but that's not how things go here. Not-"

"And everyone just follows the rules with no questions?" He interrupted incredulously. "I would think more would want to go out and help."

Chuck gave him an impatient look. "Do you even know why not all of us want to go out there? There isn't just walls out there you know, newbie."

"And what is out there?" Thomas pressed.

A distant howl and burst of wind suddenly answered his question. Thomas twisted to look at the walls, toward where the sound came from. Even from where they sat, he could feel vibrations from the ground. As if something was moving and jerking, sending vibrations and sound waves. Whatever it was, it was huge.

"W-What was that?" He looked back at the walls with a horrified look. He silently stood up.

Chuck echoed his movements and grabbed his sleeve with his chubby hands.

"Those are the walls in the maze moving. Changing. And that howl?" Chuck let go of his arm and gave a slight shiver. Thomas looked down at him. "Those are called Grievers. They're big as hell and are monstrous. Like I told you, there aren't just walls out there. The maze can't be solved easily and only those who have the experience and running talent can go out there. That's why runners can go only. They leave at dawn when the doors open, and come back before they close at sunset."

"What happens if they don't come back in time?" Thomas asked even though he already knew the answer.

Before Chuck could reply, a twig snaps behind them and interrupts them.

Newt stood behind them, with a slightly irritated look. He brushed the sweat from his forehead and points his axe at Thomas.

"What are doing, shank?" Newt exclaims. "We need wood for the bonfire tonight and you're sitting here and having a chat?"

"Sorry." Thomas mumbles and waves at Chuck before turning and following Newt.

After his conversation with Chuck, Thomas finally realized a possible reason why they were put here. Whoever put them here, they were obviously playing a game with them. There was no other explanation he could think of. The men of the Glade lived together and created a system in order to stay alive and to survive. They worked together. And they sent out the most capable to try to find a way out for them.

But this has been going on for three years and they were still here.

"Hey Newt..." He asked the boy in front of him who swung the axe over one of his shoulder and walked with a limp. Thomas wondered why he was limping but decided he'll ask for that story some other time.

"What is it?" He threw a glance over his shoulders and continued limping. They stopped in front of a rotting tree. Newt leaned against the tree and waited.

Thomas eyes the blond boy and mustered up courage to ask him the question weighing on his mind.

"How does one become a runner?"

Newt furrows his eyebrows and then smirks knowingly.

"Curious to what's out there?" He nudges his chin toward the walls behind them.

"Yes. Isn't everyone?"

"Well..." He pushed himself from the tree and resumed swinging his ax. "Sure, but not everyone has a death wish."

For a skinny boy, his swings were aggressive enough to break through large chunks of the tree. Splinters of bark cracked with each swing. "Alby decides who gets to go out there. Not all of us can become runners. You need to be fast. And I mean bloody fast as hell. Not to mention, you need to be a quick thinker." He jabs a finger to his forehead for emphasis.

"And-"

"Look, mate." Newt intercepts. "You've been here for one day. How about you help out with the firewood for now, alright?"

Thomas yields after noticing the boy's expression, knowing that was all the answers he was going to get for now.

Day 1: Night

Thomas strolls with Chuck at his side, watching the rest of the Glade scream and howl in laughter. For a group who were trapped and surrounded by walls, they still managed to find ways to make their situation a bit better. After spending half the day chopping wood with Newt and the others, the bonfire came out a success. Thomas tried to remember a time where he had a bonfire, but then realized he couldn't remember anything.

"Do you guys do this every night?" Thomas asked Chuck, who was stuffing goat meat in his cheeks.

He eyed the food with distaste. Even though he could hear his stomach rumble in pain from hunger, he couldn't make himself to eat anything. He was still confused, lost, and unsure. He felt like he was trapped in a horrible dream. While the rest of the Glade were chowing and having a good time, Thomas just wanted to spend his time trying to make sense of everything.

"Yeah. It's the only thing we look forward to each night." Chuck answered, swallowing.

They were sitting at one of the wooden tables, watching a group of the older boys form a circle. In the middle stood a boy named Gally, who Thomas remembered to be one fo the boys who called him "Greenie" and constantly teased him. From the start, Thomas knew he wasn't going to get along with him.

"What are they doing?" Thomas stared at one of the boys who entered the circle and tried to tackle Gally. Gally pushed him out of the circle as quick as he entered it. The rest burst out laughing and Gally dared someone to enter.

"It's a game." Chuck explained. "You try to last as long as you can in the circle. You win by pushing Gally out."

"Oh." Thomas nodded. "Why don't you play with them?"

Thomas knew that he was still new here, and that it would take time for him to "fit in". But ever since he got here, he noticed Chuck kept to himself just as much as he did. Thomas just assumed that because he was young, they all treated him like a baby brother and let him do whatever he wanted.

"No way man." Chuck shot him an "are you crazy" look and almost ran away. Thomas watched him in half-amusement.

After Gally continued to try to rattle some of the boys to enter the ring, his arrogant eyes landed on him. Thomas tensed.

"Yo, Greenie. How about you?" He called and all the boys turned to him. Thomas could see Alby and Newt, who were standing on the sides watching him. "Care to try to beat me?"

"I'm good." Thomas declined but Gally seemed to not hear him.

"Show us what you got, Greenie!" He sneered, and a couple of boys scrambled toward him. They pulled him by his shoulders and practically threw him in the circle.

Thomas quickly stood up and his eyes roamed around until they landed on Gally in front of him.

"Look-" He began, but Gally shot toward him and tackled him. Thomas fell in the arms of someone who shoved him back in.

Having no choice, Thomas focused on the boy who looked like he was enjoying this way too much. The boy shot toward him again, but this time Thomas was prepared for him. Quickly, he swept one of his legs beneath the boys feet and he flipped and flopped onto the sand with a thud. The rest of the Glade cheered, while others gave him shocked looks. Before he could celebrate, Gally recovered and shoved him out the ring.

Thomas landed outside the ring. Shaking the sand from his hair, he slowly got up. He could feel Gally's eyes on him for a second, until he went back to daring someone to enter the ring.

He walked back to one of the tables, this time everyone was looking at him with almost respect. Apparently his surprise move against Gally changed everyone's opinion of him. He didn't know what he was supposed to feel about that.

Changing his mind, Thomas moved away from the rest of the Glade and sat on the ground behind a fallen tree. He laid his head behind on the bark and stared at the dark sky.

"No stars..."He whispered.

He didn't know how long he sat there. The sounds of chatter slowly began to decrease. Thomas thought he heard Alby instructing everyone that the party was over, but he couldn't be sure. Eventually his eyes began to close when a large thump beside his left ear startled him. Jerking up, he glanced at the jar filled with some liquid planted on the bark near where his head was before.

"It's either that, or water. That's all we got around here." Newt gave him the jar. Some of his blond hair fell over his eyes, but Thomas could see his eyes dancing as if he was holding in a grin.

"What is it?" Thomas reached for the jar. Newt slid next to him, taking a gulp from his own drink.

"I have no idea." Newt smirked at him, taking another gulp. He swirled the liquid in his jar and shrugged. "It's not so bad."

Thomas eyed the drink worriedly. He remembered that he skipped out on dinner tonight.

He took a tentative sip.

And then just as quickly he spit the entire thing out.

"W-What the hell is this?!" He coughed and belched.

Newt laughed, throwing his head back. "Like I said, no idea."

"You did that on purpose." Thomas shook his head humorously.

"Maybe." Newt joked.

They sat in a comfortable silence. In the distance, Thomas could hear a shrieking sound of the walls moving.

"The maze is changing again." Newt commented, stating the obvious.

"This happens every night?" Thomas asked.

"Every night." Newt repeated with a nod.

Another silence crept between them. Thomas was about to get up and call it a night when Newt's next words stopped him.

"I heard you wanted to become a runner."

"How did you-?"

"I overheard you talking with Chuck earlier today." He explained, not one hint of shame in his voice for eavesdropping.

Thomas twisted to look at the blond boy. He gave him a hesitant look.

"Ease up, I'm not going to yell at you." Newt smirked and Thomas relaxed.

"Um.."

"I used to be runner, you know." Newt looked at him thoughtfully. "I was just like you. So bloody eager to know what's behind the walls. I had to earn Alby's trust first of course. And when I finally proved it to everyone that I could become a runner, they let me in."

"You were runner?" Thomas gaped. "But your limp..."He quickly shut his mouth, hoping he didn't offend the boy.

"Yeah..."He laughed shortly. He gave him a sad smile and Thomas looked uncomfortable for a second. "I was so bloody excited for becoming a runner, I couldn't wait to see what's out there. But I soon began to understand why everyone was frightened to go out there. Out there, you never know whether or not you'll come back alive."

Thomas listened to his story intently, watching the wave of emotions flashing through the boy's face. Thoughtful. Distant.

He continued. "Then one day, I screwed up. I didn't listen to the rest of the runners in one of our runs, and got caught up in a fight with one of the Grievers. Thankfully, I managed to get away in the end. I survived, but ended up with a limping leg."

"What happened...afterwards?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Alby felt bad for me, so he made me second-in-command. He knew with my limp I can't run again. Probably felt mad for me, that bloke." He rolled his eyes.

"I don't think so." Thomas argued, pitying the boy. "Surely he gave you that position because of your leadership skills."

"Leadership skills?"

"Ah yeah, I mean I see how you order everyone and they all listen to you. Even that stubborn Gally guy, they all listen to you. Even though you can't run anymore, you're still important. Everyone can see how Alby trusts you to take care of things, like with making sure everyone is in line. Everyone respects you..." Thomas sensed that they he was going overboard with his praises because something unexpectedly happened that made him pause.

Newt was blushing.

"Really?" He looked away.

Thomas nodded. Newt took another large gulp of his drink, drowning the entire drink. Thomas stared at him with incredulity.

"What?"

"Why the hell do you drink that?"

Newt burst out laughing and Thomas beamed.

"You get used to it, mate. Trust me. Like I said before, it's either this or water."

"Then I'd take water any day."

They shared a grin.

End Day One