Burn; TMR ➵ Thomas

Three | ✓

"You're doing better than I did. I klunked my pants thrice before they got me out of the pit," told Chuck as he prepared Thomas's hammock.

Chuck was a short, pudgy boy who had brown curly hair and brown eyes. He was probably the youngest - possibly he was thirteen, maybe even twelve. He was annoying in Thomas's opinion, but he could be his only friend in wherever he was.

The place was gigantic. Grass was spread everywhere. There was a dark forest by one of the edges. The rest of the space was taken up by farms and buildings.

Thomas was barely paying any attention to what the young Glader was saying. He was busy staring at a large opening in between enormous walls. They were probably made out of cement and covered in spots with thick ivy. As Chuck continued to talk, Thomas already walked away without being noticed. By the time Chuck had realised he was gone, he was close to the large opening.

"Thomas! Where are you going?" the small Glader managed to catch up in time.

"I just wanna see," Thomas spoke. Chuck sighed. "You can look around all you want, but you can't go out there.".

Thomas furrowed his brows and asked more questions. His curiosity grew even more.

"I don't know, I just know what I'm told. I'm not supposed to leave." The two boys soon spotted a buff, Asian Glader coming out.

"Hey, Chuck! New Greenie, huh? How does it feel to be promoted?" he asked as he ran past them.

"I thought no one's allowed to leave," Thomas inquired. Chuck corrected him, saying that they were not allowed to leave - only the other Glader, who was a Runner, and a couple others were allowed to leave the Glade into the Maze.

"Maze? You just said maze," Chuck's eyes wandered as if he doesn't know what to say. Thomas walked closer to where the Glader had come from, Chuck tried his best to stop him from doing so.

"No one leaves, especially not now. It's not safe," Chuck told him. As Thomas got closer, someone pushed him down to the ground. The Glader who towered over him had brown hair and green-ish eyes.

"Get off me!" Thomas stood up and started to shout and panic, grabbing the attention of other Gladers nearby, one of them so happened to be Amelia.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys!"

"Hey, just calm down all right? We're just trying to protect you" she explained, she spotted Newt and Alby soon arriving at the scene. She raised a hand - trying to prevent him from doing anything rash.

"Why are you guts keeping me here?!"

"We can't let you leave—"

"Why not?!"

As if on cue, a cold wind came out of the maze and the doors started to close. Soon, they closed with a boom. The Glader who pushed Thomas to the ground came closer to him.

"Next time, I'm gonna let you leave," he spat before stomping away. Thomas continued to stand there, shocked of what had just happened. He stared at the concrete wall. Amelia almost felt bad for him, she knew how he felt when she first got to the Glade.

"You'll get used to it, Greenie."

✿✿✿

"LIGHT 'EM UP!"

All the Gladers cheered as the Bonfire begun. Thomas managed to slip away from the crowd and leant against a log. Newt spotted him being alone and sat beside him.

"Heck of a first day, Greenie," he said in his British accent. Thomas stayed silent and shrugged.

"Here, put some hair on your chest," the blond handed Thomas a jar with some kind of liquid in it. He took it out of Newt's hands without questioning what was it and took a sip, spitting it out almost instantly.

"Oh my god, what is that?" Thomas coughed out. Newt chuckled. "I don't even know, it's Gally's recipe. It's a trade secret."

Thomas glanced at Gally for a second. He recalled their encounter earlier in the day when he pushed him to the ground. He had learnt Gally's name from Chuck.

"Yeah, well. He's still an asshole," Thomas told him.

"So, why's Amelia the only girl here?" he asked. He looked over at the girl, who sat and laughed with the Asian Glader he had seen earlier. Newt followed his gaze before answering.

"No one knows, not even Amelia herself. She was the first Glader to ever come up. She knows more about everything than any of us. She's a secretive shank, only told us half of what she knew," Newt explained. Thomas furrowed his brows, he wondered if she was the first Glader, shouldn't she be the leader? It was like Newt knew what Thomas was thinking about and answered.

"She was originally the leader, not Alby. But she stepped down after something traumatic happened to her and she became second-in-command like me. After she gave Alby her role, she allowed him to change the rules. Which is why we're not allowed to tell ya anythin' until the next day."

Thomas questioned about her more, such as what does she do as a job. Newt explained that she was originally a Runner. But as a leader, they were unable afford to lose her. Therefore, she quit and gave someone else her role, which was understandable. Now, she works as a cook like Frypan, who was the Keeper of that job. Apparently, Frypan usually lets her off early to help others.

"And if you're wondering, she's off-limits. It was neither her's or Alby's rule, she just rejects everyone."

Well, there goes that plan, Thomas thought.

"She's like the flame of a candle. When I first met her, the flame was strong. Then the incident happened and someone put her out, I guess. Then you came along, something changed, like someone lit her up again," Newt said, in deep thought.

"Amelia really symbolises the flame on the candle. She's dangerous but can be put out in a single blow." Thomas looked at him, completely confused by what he meant but shrugged it off.

Another high-pitched scream ripped through the air from the Homestead. Everyone was silent for a moment, but continued whatever they were doing.

"We're trapped here, aren't we?" He asked as he heard noises coming out of the maze.

"For the moment, but," Newt turned and pointed at the Glader who Amelia was with. Newt clarified his name was Minho, the Keeper of the Runners and started to tell him what they do daily.

"How long have they been looking for an exit?" Thomas asked.

"Three years," Newt told him bluntly. "Listen," the British referred to the noises coming out of the Maze, told the Greenie that it changes every night. He said if the Runners don't make it back in time, then they're stuck out in the maze, gone on to tell about what they called 'Grievers'.

"I wasn't supposed to tell ya those things 'till tomorrow, guess I'm too used to Amelia's rules. Anyway, enough questions for the night, come on, let me introduce you to everyone."