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Tho with the desire to ask questions I need soht

"We don’t know jack about the Box, you get ets here, who’s in charge The shanks that sent us here ain’t told us nothin’ We got all the electricity we need, grow and raise et clothes and such Tried to send a slinthead Greenie back in the Box one ti wouldn’t move till we took him out"

Thomas wondered what lay under the doors when the Box wasn’t there, but held his tongue He felt such a mixture of emotions--curiosity, frustration, wonder--all laced with the lingering horror of seeing the Griever thatto look Thomas in the eye "Glade’s cut into four sections" He held up his fingers as he counted off the next four words "Gardens, Blood House, Hoot that?"

Thomas hesitated, then shook his head, confused

Alby’s eyelids fluttered briefly as he continued; he looked like he could think of a thousand things he’d rather be doing right then He pointed to the northeast corner, where the fields and fruit trees were located "Gardens--where we grow the crops Water’s puround--always has been, or we’d have starved to death a long tio Never rains here Never" He pointed to the southeast corner, at the anihter ani quarters "Ho than when the first of us got here because we keep addin’ to it when they send us wood and klunk Ain’t pretty, but it works Most of us sleep outside anyway"

Thomas felt dizzy So many questions splintered his ht

Alby pointed to the southwest corner, the forest area fronted with several sickly trees and benches "Call that the Deadheads Graveyard’s back in that corner, in the thicker woods Ain’tout, whatever" He cleared his throat, as if wanting to change subjects "You’ll spend the next teeks working one day apiece for our different job Keepers--until we knohat you’re best at Slopper, Bricknick, Bagger, Track-hoe--somethin’ll stick, always does Come on"

Alby walked toward the South Door, located bethat he’d called the Deadheads and the Blood House Tho his nose up at the sudden s froraveyard in a place full of teenagers? That disturbed hi soer--that didn’t sound so good He ca Alby as he’d done so far, but willed his mouth shut

Frustrated, he turned his attention to the pens in the Blood House area

Several cows nibbled and chewed at a trough full of greenish hay Pigs lounged in a n they were alive Another pen held sheep, and there were chicken coops and turkey cages as well Workers bustled about the area, looking as if they’d spent their whole lives on a far about the--he knehat they were called, what they normally ate, what they looked like Why was stuff like that still lodged in his memory, but not where he’d seen ani in its coe barn in the back corner, its red paint long faded to a dull rust color "Back there’s where the Slicers work Nasty stuff, that Nasty If you like blood, you can be a Slicer"

Thoood at all As they kept walking, he focused his attention on the other side of the Glade, the section Alby had called the Deadheads The trees grew thicker and denser the farther back in the corner they went, more alive and full of leaves Dark shadows filled the depths of the wooded area, despite the ti to see that the sun was finally visible, though it looked odd--e than it should be It hit him that this was yet another example of the odd selective aze to the Deadheads, a glowing disk still floating in his vision Blinking to clear it away, he suddenly caught the red lights again, flickering and skittering about deep in the darkness of the woods What are those things? he wondered, irritated that Alby hadn’t answered hi

Alby stopped walking, and Thomas was surprised to see they’d reached the South Door; the talls bracketing the exit towered above theray stone were cracked and covered in ivy, as ancient as anything Thoine He craned his neck to see the top of the walls far above; hisdown, not up He staggered back a step, awed once again by the structure of his new home, then finally returned his attention to Alby, who had his back to the exit

"Out there’s the Maze" Alby jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, then paused Thoap in the walls that served as an exit from the Glade The corridors out there looked much the same as the ones he’d seen froht gave hi toward the what he was doing Calm down, he chided himself, embarrassed

Alby continued "Two years, I’ve been here Ain’t none been here longer The few before me are already dead" Thomas felt his eyes widen, his heart quicken "Two years we’ve tried to solve this thing, no luck Shuckin’ walls ht just as much as these here doors Mappin’ it out ain’t easy, ain’t easy nohow" He nodded toward the concrete-blocked building into which the Runners had disappeared the night before

Another stab of pain sliced through Thos to compute at once They’d been here two years? The walls moved out in the Maze? Howto see the Maze for himself, as if the ansere printed on the walls out there

Alby held out a hand and pushed Thooin’ out there, shank"

Thomas had to suppress his pride "Why not?"

"You think I sent Newt to ya before the wake-up just for kicks? Freak, that’s the Nuiven for breaking Ain’t nobody--nobody--allowed in the Maze except the Runners Break that rule, and if you ain’t killed by the Grievers, we’ll kill you ourselves, you getinside, sure that Alby was exaggerating Hoping that he was Either way, if he’d had any doubt about what he’d told Chuck the night before, it had now completely vanished He wanted to be a Runner He would be a Runner Deep inside he knew he had to go out there, into the Maze Despite everything he’d learned and witnessed firsthand, it called to hier or thirst

A ht his attention Startled, he reacted quickly, looking just in ti disappeared into it

Thomas pointed up at the wall "What was that?" he asked before he could be shut down again

Alby didn’t bother looking "No questions till the end, shank How h "Beetle blades--it’s how the Creators watch us You better not--"

He was cut off by a boo alarm that sounded from all directions Tho around as the siren blared, his heart about to thump its way out of his chest But when he focused back on Alby, he stopped

Alby wasn’t acting scared--he appeared … confused Surprised The alar on?" Thouide didn’t seem to think the world was about to end--but even so, Tho hit by waves of panic

"That’s weird" was all Alby said as he scanned the Glade, squinting Tho around, apparently just as confused One shouted to Alby, a short, skinny kid drenched into Thomas for some reason

"I don’t know," Alby murmured back in a distant voice

But Tho on?"