Here's another chapter because I owe you guys very much. This is much longer but like +1000 words, I know I said I was gonna make it longer, I just didn't feel like rushing, but sometimes I get impatient so here. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 3: Thomas

"What's happening?" Scott asked Frypan with a look. "What's out there?"

"What's happening is that whenever the sun comes up, the doors open. Out there is the Maze, no one has ever survived a night in the Maze except the new Greenie before you, his name is Thomas. You guys weren't supposed to show up until the next month or so but everything changed when Thomas came. Right now, we're all hoping that our friends make it out alive." Jeff replied, "our second in command, Newt, if he is alive, he'll show you around the Maze, teach you about the different jobs around the Glades."

"Why are you guys so afraid of going into the…. Maze?" Lydia asked, "I know that you mentioned that no one has survived out there but one, why are you afraid?"

Winston shared a look with Frypan, "they're called Grievers. Every night when the doors close, the Grievers come out at night. Two people had been stung by them, one of their name was Ben, he was stung in the day which doesn't happen often, he completely lost his mind. We call it the Changing. He attacked Thomas, wanting to kill him, almost did kill him. So, he was banished."

"And there's a rule in the Glades that we all follow." Zart tells them. "Never hurt a fellow Glader."

"Ben broke that rule," Allison finished. "Where is he now?"

"Don't know. He belongs to the Maze, nothing else." Frypan answered.

"I see them!" One of the Gladers shout pointing at the multiple figures appearing from around the corner. "They're alive!"

Every one of the Gladers cheered, and curiosity spiked up their interest. "You shanks scared us," Frypan smiles. "Scared the klunk out of me actually."

"Yo, where's Thomas?" Zart asked looking for the missing Glader. "don't tell me – he's not…"

"No," the Asian guy said, "he's coming."

As one cue, a guy ran out from the Maze and jogged towards them. "I couldn't find the dead Griever, it looked like it vanished from sight. I remember it being in section eight but when I got there, nothing." A very familiar scratchy, but rough and hoarse, voice told them and the Pack froze.

Scott looked at the boy, who had the face of Stiles, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the moles, the freckles, but what was different was that his friend had much longer hair than the last time he saw him. "Stiles?"

Before the doors opens….

"Where did you kill the Griever?" Newt asked as he walked by Thomas' side, Minho on the other, "you bloody shanks never told me."

"Somewhere in section 8." Minho answered for Thomas.

"Seriously? Why don't we just go and find the bloody thing? It'll probably be our next clue or the next step out of this piece of klunk." Newt said. Something in him bubbled as he walked with Thomas and Minho, the others trailing behind talking amongst themselves. The feeling of happiness was weird, he hasn't felt happiness in over three years. Is this how it felt like? He bonded with Thomas on his first night there when they were sitting on the grass as they leaned on the log and drank Gally's secret recipe drink. He knows that he should've been annoyed with Tommy asking a lot of questions but he knew the boy was just curious. Weren't they all? Thomas was brave, he wasn't afraid to ask questions that would likely get him in trouble or banished, but somehow, Thomas was meant to be the Runner. Hell, him and Minho wanted to promote him Keeper of the Runners.

Thomas snorts, "Never had time, I guess." The Runner shrugs, "Minho and I were busy finding a new passageway to escape through. No one wanted to come with me, except you and Minho, into the Maze so I didn't go."

"You could always go alone," Minho pointed out, "but what trouble is worth having you being eaten by Grievers. You're a ticket way out of here."

They didn't see Thomas frown when Minho mentioned that. "Is that why you're friends with me?" He asked as he keeps his tone calm and collected. "So, you guys can use me to escape?"

Minho and Newt's eyes widened as they shook their head vigorously. "No, you shank." Minho replied quickly, "I didn't mean it like that. Right Newt?" The blonde nodded with a small, but guilty, smile. "I meant that, we actually have a chance to escape, thanks to you. But that's not why we're friends with you."

The Greenie nodded. "Oh," and silence took over.

They turned corners, right, left, left, right, before they reached Section 6. The ivy vines spiraled to the top of the walls, their thick roots clinging onto the floor beneath them. Smells of gasoline and rubber filled their noses making some of the Gladers gag or purge out their breakfast. "Its almost day," Gally pointed out, looking at the sky, "let's head back to the doors. It's gonna open soon."

"You guys go, I'll be there later." Thomas said.

"Suit yourself," Gally grunts and walked away, the other Gladers following right behind him. The footsteps fade away and Thomas nods his head at Gally's way telling Minho and Newt to go with him while he checks something out. The Asian and the blonde wanted to stay, looking unsure whether to leave him alone in the Maze, but they nodded anyways, hesitating to lift a foot up and walk away from him.

Thomas watched as they disappeared into the dark corner and soon, he spins on his heel and walks toward Section 8 where the dead Grievers lays dead on the stone floor. "What the hell?" Thomas asked himself when he approached the spot where the Griever should be dead, but instead… there was nothing. No yellow-greenish slimy goo, no stains, no body. It was completely gone. "God damn it," a flashing red light catches his attention on the corner of his eye and he looks at the small machinery.

Beetle blade.

Someone was watching him.

His eyes drift up towards the wall, huge white but old letters were printed on them. WORLD IN CATASTROPHE: KILLZONE EXPERIMENT DEPARTMENT. Then all the gears clicked.

When Teresa arrived in the box, the word 'WICKED' was written on her arm in black ink and now he knew. WICKED was an acronym for the words on the wall. But the question was; who's WICKED?

He shakes off the thought and runs back to the Glades, feeling the ground rumbled as the doors open. It took him a few minutes before he arrived to the Glades and spotted Minho, "I couldn't find the dead Griever, it looked like it vanished from sight. I remember it being in section eight but when I got there, nothing." He told Minho and Newt.

"Stiles?" A voice asked and he looked at the unfamiliar guy with the puppy face. "Stiles, you're alive!"

Thomas, being the confused one, looked behind him, and to the side of him until he realizes that the guy was talking to him. Only one thing came to his mind, "who the shuck are you?" He asked. "What the hell is a Stiles?"

The one with the brunette hair walked towards Thomas with a calculating and furious look. "Stiles, you already know us. We don't know what game you're playing but we don't like it. We have been worried for you, your father is worried sick!" Thomas looked like he had seen a ghost.

My father? Thomas thought before he shook his head and took a step back, accidentally bumping into Newt. "I don't know who you are! And what father? I don't know who's my father. I don't know who the hell you guys are, my name is Thomas, not Stiles, not anything. Just Thomas." He said angrily.

"Sti-,"

"No, uh. I need some air." Stiles/Thomas walks away abruptly.

Danny frowns, "why doesn't he know us?" Danny asked.

Alby stepped up and slipped his hands in his pocket. "I don't know how you guys know him but every time the box comes up, a new Greenie comes with no memories of himself, his name or his family. Or she, depending on who comes up the box. You guys are supposed to have your memories erased by the creators who put us here. For Thomas, he doesn't recognize you, he doesn't remember his family, like us. And you claiming that you know him and that he has a dad, he's going to klunk his pants."

"What did you do to him?" Scott growled, "did you brainwash him or something?"

"No." Alby states calmly, "remember this – I was the first one in this Glade, alone for a month, with no idea who I was, who my family was, and no memory of anything when I arrived in this Glade. The same thing happened to all of us. Don't blame us, blame the Creators."

"How long have you guys been here?" Derek asked, no emotion splashing across his face.

"Three years." Newt answered.

The Pack gawked, "if you've been here for three years, isn't your hair supposed to be long?" Erica asked.

"Every week, the Creators sends the stuff we need in the box like food, dishes, hammocks, animals, supplies, and scissors. Every time our hair gets long, we cut, okay?" Minho answered. "Where is that shank?" Minho asked.

"Right here," Thomas said appearing beside Minho, not giving a glance to the Pack. "I have an idea."

"What now, Greenie?" Gally groaned with his arms crossed. "We're not going back into the Maze."

"Who said you were coming?" Thomas asked and started to pitch out his idea. "Anyways, me and Minho will go back into the Maze tomorrow and try to find a new way to escape. There might be a secret passageway we hadn't find yet."

"Yeah? And what if you don't? There's no escape, Greenie, we can't escape. There's no exit!"

"Have you even tried to find a way out than actually stand here and say there's no way out. Unlike you, I actually found a clue in the last three years you decided to stay in the Glades."

"You have been here for three days! I have been here for three years. In fact, why don't we just banish you since you broke our number one rule when you ran into the Maze." Gally said shoving him back. "Because of you, everything is changing. These shanks claim to know who you are and the girl. How can we know if you're not one of them?"

Stiles Thomas stood face to face with Gally. Both of their faces were harden and their eyes held coldness to each other. "Stop," Minho said as he pushed them back by their chests. "Thomas is right. We have found our first clue in the last three years. So, me and him will go back into the Maze tomorrow and scout again to find a new passage."

"You're seriously siding with him?" Gally asked in disbelief and betrayal before he hid those emotions perfectly.

"I'm the Keeper of the Runners," Minho replied. "Its my job to find an exit."