Trials Together (Book One): The Maze Runner

Chapter 7

The rest of the day was a blur to Thomas, Rachel wandered off somewhere and he found himself in the spot where they had slept the night before, he wasn't sure how long he stayed there.

Eventually Chuck found him and dragged him to get some dinner whilst giving him all the latest Glade gossip:

"It's not the first time someone who went through the changing went crazy and attacked someone, but two at once hasn't happened before. The arrow didn't kill Ben and he's going to get banished tonight, girl was dead though, baggers probably threw her in a hole some place. Minho and Miyoko, those are the Keepers of the runners by the way, well apparently, they found a dead Griever and they're going to check it out with Alby and Sonya first thing tomorrow. The boy and girl haven't woken up, they keep muttering random klunk. Medis can't figure out what half of it means."

They sat at a table with Rachel and Flo, Chuck still talking a mile a minute, but Thomas zoned out, a minute later he heard Rachel's voice:

You okay, with what happened earlier?

"Yeah sure." Thomas replied, her words had seemed perfectly normal, so he was surprised to see Chuck and Flo looking at him strangely.

"Er Thomas, no one said anything to you." Flo told him looking confused.

"Okay," Thomas said, "I must be hearing things, me and Rachel are going to talk outside." He grabbed Rachel by the arm and pulled her after him. This day had been weird enough and he needed answers.

"What the shuck happened in there? Did you like, talk in my head or something?" Thomas demanded, surely he couldn't be going crazy after just one day, but it had been a really weird day.

"I don't know how I did it, I just wanted to try, see if it worked. Don't ask how I knew it was possible but I think you can do it too." Rachel didn't sound annoyed with him at all.

"Do what?" Thomas asked, he was calmer now, but he still felt freaked out.

"Try say something," she lightly punched his arm when he opened his mouth. "Not like that, like this." She pointed to her head. Thomas tried to send her a message, he pictured reaching out with his mind to send his thoughts to her, it felt easy, like something he had known how to do before. it was probably related to their strange selective amnesia.

Can you hear me? Please say yes or I'll seem like a complete idiot. There was a momentary pause before she replied, but it wasn't out loud.

Thomas heard her voice in his mind, like he had inside:

Yes, I can. Are we going to keep this a secret too?

Yeah, these shanks already seem to think we're messed up, let's not give them more evidence.

Good that. Thomas sensed a laugh from her but couldn't possibly explain how.

Later that evening Ben was to be Banished, all the Gladers gathered by one set of doors to the Maze. Ben was dragged out of the Slammer, a huge bandage covering his face, begging for his life.

Newt retrieved a huge pole and a collar, the collar was placed around Ben's neck as Alby spoke to the assembly.

"Ben of the Builders, you are hereby Banished for your attempted murder of Thomas the Newbie." Thomas heard Ben's pleas, ducking behind a tree to be out of the boy's sight. Rachel stood nearby, gave him a weak smile.

Ten Keepers, all boys, likely because a boy was being Banished, took places on the Pole. Their female counterparts staring impassively at the scene.

Ben screamed and screamed, clawing at the collar, but the combined strength of the Keepers forced him into the Maze. The pole was loosened at the last second and pulled back into the Glade. The stone wall blocking out Ben's screams.

Thomas realised he was crying, he turned to Rachel and she smiled sadly again, beckoning him to follow her away from the awful scene.

A/N: Remembered I forgot to write the Banishing scene so here it is, please point it out if I do this I seem to have a knack for it.