You're Different From Everyone Else Here - Thomas - The Maze Runner

Troy

Everyone wakes up one by one. We all have an apple and a half for breakfast. It was a good amount of food. I get to work, sewing a bunch of bags together. Teresa and Chuck both come over and start helping me, catching on to my actions. Minho and Newt walk outside to talk with Alby. Thomas picks up Posey and takes him outside quickly before coming back and helping with the bags. We each get one bag done when we hear it. A griever. The entire glade goes silent, and Newt and Minho come in in seconds. Everyone gets along the inside wall, cowering together in the corner. Thomas gets me in the very corner and blocks me with his body. I pull him to me and nuzzle into his chest. If this griever was going to kill me, I was going to die hugging him. I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look to see Newt. I give him a small smile. Then, we hear screams up above. Everyone squeezes together tighter. I reach out and grab Chuck's hand. Newt moves over to let Chuck in between me and him. Teresa and Minho get closer together, before they start hugging. The screams and crashes from above us die down as the griever noises start getting fainter and fainter. I gently push Thomas away from me and stand up. Newt follows my actions.

"We'll be right back," I whisper. Chuck doesn't let go of my hand.

"It could still be up there," he says, in a housed voice. I kiss his head and ruffle his hair.

"I'll be fine. Stay here," I say, removing my hand from its grip and walking out into the hallway as Newt limps along beside me. I close the door to my room and we go next door, making sure everyone was alright. When everyone was, we left and moved on to the next room. This process repeated until we get to the room directly above mine. It was Alby's room, but he was staying in Newt's since it was easier to get in and he wasn't exactly in climbing shape when the first griever attacked. We slowly open the door. The window was busted, furniture had been moved around, and there were only 5 gladers in the room.

"Who'd it take....?" I say, my voice barely even a whisper.

"Troy. It took Troy," one of the boys says. I take a deep breath and nod. I have them arrange their beds close to the inside corner while Newt works on blocking the window. Only three beds were safe. I leave two cots and the one bed.

"You'll pair up tonight. Having five beds isn't safe. It makes you easier targets. We'll be back with a couple weapons so you can defend yourselves," I say. They all nod.

"Window's done. Syd. You go get the rest of the rooms to arrange themselves like that. I'll get everyone a few weapons," Newt says. I nod and move to the next room. I keep arranging their beds and every time as I'm finishing, Newt comes in with the weapons. This keeps repeating until we get to my room. I go with Newt to get the weapons and we walk in together. They all help me arrange the beds and we put the weapons at the foot of each one of them.

"So how are we sleeping tonight if we only have three beds?" Minho asks.

"In pairs. I was thinking Thomas and me, Chuck and Newt, You and Teresa,"

"Then who gets the safest bed?"

"Chuck and Newt. The gladers couldn't go on without you two. You get the safe bed," I say.

"No. Syd. The gladers couldn't go on without you. You're in the safe bed. You and Chuck," Newt says.

"Newt's right," Thomas says.

"The gladers look to you for calmness in situations like this. Not only that, but your the lead medjack and the second in command. You're the smart one here. You'll figure out how to get us out of here if anyone does. We need you and you need to be protected," Newt says.

"Third in command. Alby's still in charge, stung or not,"

"Okay. But you and Chuck sleep there. Teresa. Who do you want to sleep with and where?"

"I'll sleep on the outside. And... Minho," she says. He smiles softly.

"So then me and Tommy are in the middle. Tommy we can push the beds together and you can sleep closer to Syd," Newt says. We push the beds together and everyone counties to see bags together. By the time the sun's set, we have 10 backpacks and 2 duffle bags. We figured everyone would get a backpack and the keepers would all have a duffle bag, too. We had 26 more backpacks and 7 more duffle bags to make. We stop once to eat dinner and me and Newt hand it out to the other rooms. At the end of the day, Chucks the first one to stop sewing and climb in bed. Teresa and Minho both climb in bed next, they're backs pressed against each other, both of them pulling the blankets tighter. Newt climbs into bed next, propping his ankle on a pillow. They fall asleep soon, leaving Tom and I. He puts down the bag he had been working on, and opens his arms, wanting me to come to him. I smile and climb in his lap, cuddling up to him. His lips press agains my head.

"I love you Syd, but I'm tired," he says. I nod and climb out of his grip before climbing into bed. Tom reaches out and lightly scratches my back until he falls asleep.

"You awake, Syd...?" A whisper says from the room.

"Chucky...?" I ask.

"Yeah," I scoot closer to him as my eyes adjust to see his face.

"Are you okay, Chucky?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"I just want to get out of here already. I mean I'm the leader of the rejects here and I want to be more..."

"Chucky... You're a keeper. It doesn't matter what you're a keeper of. And that's not all you are. You're a little brother to everyone here in the glade. Even if the boys pick on you, you know they love you. Everyone here does. We'll get out when it's time. You can relax. Now get some sleep," He hugs me, laying his head on my chest. I ruffle his hair a bit and drape my arms over him.

"We're gonna die in here aren't we?" He whispers. I pull away.

"Chucky. You can't think like that..."

"But it's the only thought in my head. We're gonna die..."

"Just go to bed, Chucky," I pull him closer to me.

"Go to sleep," I say again.

"I don't want to die this young. I've barely done anything,"

"I know that feeling, Chucky. But you'll solve it. What's something you want to do?"

"I- I want my first kiss....." He say, barely in a whisper. I smile and ruffle his hair. I lean down and peck his lips.

"Will you go to sleep now?" I whisper. He nods. I smile again and kiss the top of his head.

"Then go to sleep, Chucky," I say, draping my arms back over him. He falls asleep and I finally allow myself to drift off, too.