The Maze Runner (Thomas)

Chapter 20:

(Ale'x POV)

Thomas stood up ''they agreed to go?"

"Not all of them," Newt said, and I could see the frustration in his eyes. "Some say they'll stay and take their chances with Gally now that he has taken command''

''That's stupid. Those shanks've seen what happens at night with those Doors open.'' I said.

"Wait what? What about Alby?" Thomas asked confusion written in his face.

''He's dead, Tommy.'' I said.

''What?''

"Look, Thomas'' Newt sighed. "There's nothing we can do''

''What happened?''

Newt took in a deep breath, steadying his emotions. ''He's gone, he's dead! He went after the griever who tried to take Chuck!''

''Here's a backpack, watter bottles, lunch packs, and other stuff'' Minho said as he entered the room.

As soon as he entered the room, it all went quiet.

''What?''

I could feel the tension in the room.

''we're going to need weapons. Lots of. Minho, Thomas'' I cleared my throat, trying to break the tension in the room.

...

We followed Minho into a small room and watched as he pulled a few boxes away from the back wall. Underneath laid a small trapdoor. Minho lifted it to reveal a set of wooden stairs leading into blackness. Minho went first. The stairs creaked with every shift of weight as they descended the dozen or so steps.

Shelves lined the walls and there were several blocky wooden tabled; everything in sight was covered with all manner of junk. Wooden poles, metal spikes, large pieces of mesh, rolls of barbed wire, saws , knives, swords. One entire wall was dedicated to archery; wooden bows, arrows, spare things. I automatically went to the archery area.

...

The bow I picked was a flexible arc with the ends tightly connected by a linen string coated in beeswax.

''He's dead... I can't believe it...''

''Thomas?'' I asked as I drew the string back and gently let it back forward, testing the string.

''Yes?''

''Slim it! There's nothing we can do but to move on. He sacrificed his life just to save Chuck and we should be grateful for that. And as you can see, is still a sensitive subject for Newt. He was the one who found out the body''

I moved to a table where the arrows were straight pieces of wood, and tipped with sharp bits of metal. The arrows' ends fletched with goose feathers to help keep them straight in flight.

After a couple of minutes I had my bow and arrows and knifes stocked and ready to go.