Trials Together (Book One): The Maze Runner

Chapter 4

Once they had eaten they went back outside, it was getting dark. Suddenly an incredibly loud noise split the air and the ground shook. The walls, on all four sides of the Glade were closing, sliding shut louder than anything Thomas had ever heard. It filled him with a sense of claustrophobia, trapped in a small area with no exit filled with people he hardly knew. Not an idea he liked all that much.

No one else seemed that bothered, Chuck had said this happened every night, after the runners got back. Hopefully it was possible to get used to it.

Thomas ended up sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag near one of the walls. There seemed to be a lot of people who slept outside. Chuck and Flo fell asleep quite quickly and Thomas assumed Rachel had too when he heard her voice.

"Psst, Thomas, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah why aren't you asleep?"

"Too many thoughts." That made Thomas laugh. It was exactly the reason he couldn't sleep either. The place seemed familiar to him now, although he somehow knew he had never been here before in his life. He knew somehow that things would be okay and he knew what he had to do here, but before he could say it Rachel spoke up again.

"I knew you before didn't I?" She said and Thomas realised somehow that the same things must be going on in her mind.
"We've been here before. I know we have, and I think I know what we need to do here."

"What?" Thomas asked then she said exactly what had been on his mind.
"We have to run the maze."
"We'll have to ask about that tomorrow, when they give us the Tour thing."
"Anything else?"

"No, we should go to sleep."

"Okay, goodnight." Rachel yawned, he heard her roll over nearby.
"Goodnight." Thomas replied. He was left to his thoughts. Pretty soon after that he fell asleep and didn't dream.