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Newt took out a key and opened it up, then motioned for Thomas to enter "There’s only a chair in there and nothin’ at all for ya to do Enjoy yourself"
Thoroaned inwardly as he stepped inside and saw the one piece of furniture--an ugly, rickety chair with one leg obviously shorter than the rest, probably on purpose Didn’t even have a cushion
"Have fun," Newt said before closing the door Thomas turned back to his new home and heard the latch close and the lock click behind hilassless , looking through the bars, a smirk on his face "Nice reward for breakin’ the rules You saved some lives, Tommy, but ya still need to learn--"
"Yeah, I know Order"
Newt sotta run things properly, keep us buggers alive Think about that while ya sit here and stare at the bloody walls"
And then he was gone
The first hour passed, and Thomas felt boredom creep in like rats under the door By hour nuainst the wall Two hours after that he started to think having dinner with Gally and the Grievers would beat sitting inside that stupid Sla back memories, but every effort evaporated into obliviousfor Tho soh the , he took up his usual role of talking Tho back to normal," the boy announced "The Runners are out in the Maze, everyone’s working--n of Gally--Newt told the Runners to come back lickety-splickety if they found his body And, oh, yeah--Alby’s up and around See boss anymore"
The mention of Alby pulled Thomas’s attention fro around, choking himself the day before Then he remembered that no one else knehat Alby had said after Newt left the room--before the seizure But that didn’t mean Alby would keep it between the around
Chuck continued talking, taking a completely unexpected turn "Thomas, I’m kinda messed up, man It’s weird to feel sad and hoo back to, ya know? All I know is I don’t want to be here I want to go back to my family Whatever’s there, whatever I was taken from I wanna remember"
Thomas was a little surprised He’d never heard Chuck say so so deep and so true "I knohat you mean," he murmured
Chuck was too short for his eyes to reach where Thomas could see theined the with a bleak sadness, ht"
This hts of Alby leave Thomas’s mind "Yeah?"
"Like a pants-wettin’ baby Alot used to it, I guess This becaet out"
"I’ve only cried once since showing up, but that was after al eaten alive I’ht not have admitted it if Chuck hadn’t opened up
"You cried?" he heard Chuck say through the"Then?"
"Yeah When the last one finally fell over the Cliff, I broke down and sobbed till my throat and chest hurt" Tho crushed in on me at once SureEver"
"Kinda does make ya feel better, huh? Weird how that works"
A fewChuck wouldn’t leave
"Hey, Thomas?" Chuck asked
"Still here"
"Do you think I have parents? Real parents?"
Thoe of sadness the statement caused "Of course you do, shank You need me to explain the birds and bees?" Tho that lecture but not who’d given it to him
"That’s not what I meant," Chuck said, his voice completely devoid of cheer It was low and bleak, aling res they won’t even talk about, which ood back home So, I mean, you think it’s really possible I have aht?"
Thomas was completely shocked to realize his eyes had filled with tears Life had been so crazy since he’d arrived, he’d never really thought of the Gladers as real people with real fae, but he hadn’t even really thought of himself that way Only about what it all et out
For the first tiry he wanted to kill so with neighborhood kids He deserved to go hoht to a family who loved him, worried about him A mom who made him take a shower every day and a dad who helped him with homework
Thomas hated the people who’d taken this poor, innocent kid from his family He hated them with a passion he didn’t know a human could feel He wanted them dead, tortured, even He wanted Chuck to be happy
But happiness had been ripped from their lives Love had been ripped fro down assure his voice didn’t crack "I’m sure you have parents I know it Sounds terrible, but I bet youryour pillow, looking out at the world that stole you fro Hard Puffy-eyed, snotty-nosed crying The real deal"