Shadow of the Maze | Maze Runner [1]

TWENTY

Newt stood from his chair and made his way up to her, looking down into her eyes. "I don't care what you need. You're not a bloody Keeper. We have these rules for a reason."

"Whatever, Newt. You'll literally have to drag me out of here for me to leave."

The look on Newt's face told her that he was contemplating her proposal. But, like always, Minho stepped in before anything terrible could happen.

Her friend lodged himself between Newt and herself. He cast her a warning glare before turning towards Newt. "Listen, man. She knows the Maze and she's one of the smartest out of all of us. Whatever Thomas needs to say, we need her input on it." Minho paused, and when Newt looked unconvinced he continued. "Plus, technically she needs 24/7 supervision... according to your rules, of course."

Newt forcefully pulled himself away from Minho, grunting before speaking, "Fine, she can stay. How about next time we just allow any old idiot into the Gathering? See what they have to say, hm?"

Newt moved away from Electra, sitting down in an empty chair. Minho motioned for her to sit in a chair as well, but she pulled away from him and stood against the back wall. Minho suppressed a sigh before taking his own seat in the semi-circle of Keepers.

Thomas stood at the front of the room, fidgeting with his hands. "Alright then. We don't have time to go through it all, but I'll tell you the gist of it."

None of the Keepers uttered a word, so Thomas continued, "Ever since going through the Changing, I recovered some of my memories. I knew immediately after waking up that the Creators have been testing us. It's all been an experiment."

A few of the Keepers who hadn't already been aware gasped or blurted out questions, but Thomas ignored them. "Then, as time went on, more memories started coming back. It made me start to question everything. I even started questioning our own names, and I remembered that our names aren't even our birth names. The Creators took us when we were young, I don't remember exactly why, but I know they felt justified in their actions.

"And they gave us new names and educated us in these special schools since they somehow came to the conclusion that we all have above-average intelligence. Our names are just stupid nicknames... Newt for Isaac Newton, and me, Thomas, as in Edison."

Thomas looked at her as he mentioned the fact, and Electra met his gaze. She remembered him asking about her name while they were out running for 24 hours. He'd asked if Electra had been her remembered name. At that point, he knew all of the Gladers' names were simply nicknames, and Electra's name stood out like a sore thumb. Did he know she was lying to him? He must've.

"What are you saying?" a Keeper with dark skin blurted out. Electra thought she recognized him from the Kitchen. "That we're orphans raised by scientists?"

"Yes," Thomas said, his face falling into an obvious frown. "They're studying every move we make, analyzing us."

Electra remembered the beetle blades. The way the Creators watched them. The way they analyzed them.

"They're seeing who'd give up and who wouldn't. Seeing who'd survive it all."

"I believe this klunk about as much as I believe Frypan's food is good for you," another one of the Keepers grumbled on the left side of the room, earning himself a couple of laughs from the other Keepers.

Frypan. That must be the name of the boy she would see in the Kitchen.

Thomas groaned in frustration, "Why would I make this up? What do you think is the answer? That we're on an alien planet?"

Newt ignored Thomas' rhetorics. "Get to the point, Thomas."

"They're throwing crazy things at us to see how we'll react to them. To test our will. To see if we'll turn on each other. The Grievers, the Maze, the Ending. All of it. It's all just a test. All part of their plan."

Frypan stood up. "And killing people? That's part of their master plan?"

"Yes, Frypan. It is. The only reason the Grievers are doing it one by one is so we don't all die before it ends the way it's supposed to. Survival of the fittest. Only the best of us will escape."

Frypan looked at the ceiling. "And how do you know about all this?"

Thomas paused before simply speaking, "Because I used to work with the Creators."

Electra was anticipating the moment when Thomas would reveal himself to the rest of the Keepers. The ones who'd been previously unaware chaotically reacted to the news. One of the Keepers kept repeating 'what?' over and over, while Frypan shook his head in frustration.

Rather than focus on a confession she already knew, Electra started to focus on what Thomas had said right before revealing his past work with the Creators.

Survival of the fittest. All the deaths in the Maze had been planned, and the Creators were searching for the strongest and smartest of all the Gladers.

Electra was sure she was deserving of the title of strongest and smartest, considering her three years in the Maze. However, did the Creators agree with her assumption? Could she still die before escaping the Maze, even though she'd proved herself to be one of the fittest of them all?

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A/N: a bit of a shorter chapter today sorry about that!! also!! again a lot of the gathering dialogue was taken from the book :)

only like 6/7 more chapters left omgomgomg so exciting bros