Page 14 (1/2)

Newt had already made it back to the Homestead, but at Thomas’s cry he i run toward the Door

Thoh him Alby had slipped out of Minho’s clutches and fallen to the ground Thoet hi the boy across the stone floor by the arht as closing fast, see to quicken its pace the more Thomas willed it to slon There were only seconds left until it shut co it in ti along as well as he could, he’d only made it halfway to Tho wall Only a few feet more and it’d be over

Minho stu to make it Ti from behind him

"Don’t do it, Toht wall see for those little holes that would serve as their resting place for the night The crunching, grinding sound of the Doors filled the air, deafening

Five feet Four feet Three Two

Thomas knew he had no choice Herods at the last second and stepped into the Maze

The walls sla off the ivy-covered stone like hter

CHAPTER 17

For several seconds, Thomas felt like the world had frozen in place A thick silence followed the thunderous ru, and a veil of darkness seehtened away by what lurked in the Maze Twilight had fallen, and the mammoth walls looked like enoriants Thoh rock, overcome by disbelief at what he had just done

Filled with terror at what the consequences ht be

Then a sharp cry fro Thomas pushed himself away from the wall and ran to the two Gladers

Minho had pulled hiain, but he looked terrible, even in the pale light still available--sweaty, dirty, scratched-up Alby, on the ground, looked worse, his clothes ripped, his arms covered with cuts and bruises Thomas shuddered Had Alby been attacked by a Griever?

"Greenie," Minho said, "if you think that was brave comin’ out here, listen up You’re the shuckiest shuck-faced shuck there ever was You’re as good as dead, just like us"

Thoratitude "I couldn’t just sit there and leave you guys out here"

"And what good are you with us?" Minho rolled his eyes "Whatever, dude Break the Number One Rule, kill yourself, whatever"

"You’re welco hih, then knelt back on the ground beside Alby Thomas took a closer look at the collapsed boy and realized just how bad things were Alby looked on the edge of death His usually dark skin was losing color fast and his breaths were quick and shallow

Hopelessness rained down on Thoer

"Don’t wanna talk about it," Minho said as he checked Alby’s pulse and bent over to listen to his chest "Let’s just say the Grievers can play dead really well"

This state, whatever? Is he going through the Changing?"

"You’ve got a lot to learn" was all Minho would say

Thomas wanted to screa questions "Is he going to die?" he forced hi at how shallow and empty it sounded

"Since we didn’t make it back before sunset, probably Could be dead in an hour--I don’t kno long it takes if you don’t get the Seruet all weepy for him Yep, we’ll all be nice and dead soon" He said it soof the words

But fast enough, the dire reality of the situation began to hit Tho to die?" he asked, unable to accept it "You’re telling me we have no chance?"

"None"

Thoativity "Oh, co we can do How many Grievers’ll come at us?" He peered down the corridor that led deeper into the Maze, as if expecting the creatures to arrive then, suht sprang into Tho him hope "But … what about Ben? And Gally, and others who’ve been stung and survived?"

Minho glanced up at him with a look that said he was dumber than cow klunk "Didn’t you hearMade it back and got the Serum All of them"

Thomas wondered about the et out first "But I thought the Grievers only ca, shank They always co the day"

Thoive in to Minho’s hopelessness--he didn’t want to give up and die just yet "Has anyone ever been caught outside the walls at night and lived through it?"

"Never"

Tho he could find one little spark of hope "How round, crouched with one forearm on a knee He was clearly exhausted, alraveyard?"

"Yeah" So that’s how they died, he thought

"Well, those are just the ones we found There are more whose bodies never showed up" Minho pointed absently back toward the sealed-off Glade "That freaking graveyard’s back in the woods for a reason Nothing kills happy tihtered friends every day"

Minho stood and grabbed Alby’s arms, then nodded toward his feet "Grab those sotta carry him over to the Door Give ’e"