𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦, thomas (tmr)

Chapter Twenty Seven

Clara then focused her glare on Gally. He shifted uncomfortably, but stared off across the Glade, pretending not to notice her fury.

"You know I'm more helpful to you out here rather than in the Slammer."

And Gally couldn't reply: because he simply knew it was true.

It was only a matter of hours later when Thomas had woken up. He and Teresa were locked up in the Slammer - with everyone else being told that they had to obey Gally or face the same fate.

Clara, Newt, Minho, and Chuck all decided it would be easier to save them if they were on the outside.

The girl was barely listening as her friends chatted amongst themselves. Teresa was also remaining relatively quiet, sitting close to where Thomas was sleeping soundly. Minho and Newt were discussing Gally and how insane he had become, with Teresa contributing to their mindless chatter a few times and Chuck throwing in his funny - yet slightly childish - insults ever so often. 

And then Thomas shifted in his sleep.

Their conversation immediately subsided and attention drew to the stirring boy as his eyes fluttered open for the first time in almost a day. The time in which he was passed out had never felt so long of a duration.

"Why the shuck would you Sting yourself?"

She didn't mean to speak so quickly and so harshly; it just slipped out. Less than a moment Thomas had been awake and Clara was already grilling him.

He sat up from his lying position, stretching to better wake himself up, and glancing guiltily to the girl. He shrugged lightly, but his eyes told her the same answer he said before he did it: 'I had to know.'

"Why are we in here?" He countered, not argumentatively but simply with curiosity.

The others may have been confused as to why he didn't answer Clara's question, but the girl could read his eyes easily enough. And he was far too preoccupied with the fact he ended up somewhere entirely different to where he passed out.

"Gally's in charge now. Chucked you both here: gave us a choice to stick with him, or get Banished with you."

"No one's going against that?" Thomas asked dumbfounded.

Clara shrugged sadly. She knew for a fact a large number of the boys weren't in agreement with Gally, but they simply weren't in a position where they could go against him and his intimidating Builders.

"Gally's a lot more convincing when you're not there to argue with him."

Teresa nodded at her sad words, adding that, "He's making everyone believe you're the reason this has all happened."

Thomas shifted in his place, a dark look in his eyes that no one could understand. "Well he's been right about it so far."

Clara felt her heart drop at the implications of his words, and then confusion swelled up inside her. How could he have caused any of this?

"What do you mean?" Minho asked, a little frustrated.

"The Glade, the Maze, everything, it's an experiment. When we were younger, we'd get these challenges to complete. They were doing tests on us."

"Who's they?" Clara asked quietly, finding herself struggling in processing everything already.

"The Creators. WCKD."

Clara could feel a lump forming in her throat. All of it was hitting her too hard and too quickly. The anticipation had only increased more and more over time. Now everything was being revealed, she felt overwhelmed.