Thomas was awake by the time Minho came to get him.
"Big day, Greenie, sure you're ready for this?" Minho said through the bars.
"Come on, man, get me out of here."
Minho took Thomas down to the Runner's hut. The two boys geared up while Minho explained the rules of being a Runner in the Maze.
"Now you may think you know the Maze, but there's more to it. If you're not careful, you can fall down a cliff. It's easy to get lost. So follow me, stay alert, and don't forget the most important thing: never stop running. Got it?"
"Got it," Thomas confirmed.
"Good," Minho said. "Today we're going to one of the gutter rims. We gotta be quick so that we make it back before the Doors close. Unless you want a repeat of last night's events."
"I think I'm all set."
"Alright then, let's go."
As the two Runners made their way out of the woods, they ran into Teresa.
"Hey," she greeted.
"Hey," Thomas said. "H-how's it going?"
Why was his heart rate going up? Why was Thomas finding it harder to form words?
"Good," Teresa said, quickly glancing down at her shoes.
"You two need a minute?" Minho chimed in.
The two teens looked at Minho awkwardly before he walked away in order to give them some privacy. Though not before shooting Thomas a look, clearly telling him not to be long.
"How's Alby doing?" Thomas asked after an awkward moment of silence.
"Still no change."
"Okay, good, just make sure that Gally doesn't get near him."
"Don't worry, Claire and I are keeping an eye on him," Teresa assured.
"Good...I guess I'll see you later."
"Be careful," Teresa said.
"I will."
Thomas jogged to catch up with Minho.
"First Newt and Claire, now you two," Minho said.
Thomas nearly stopped in his tracks.
"Wait...Newt and Claire?"
Minho shrugged. "I thought it was obvious."
**************
During lunch, Claire took a turn watching Alby. Teresa wanted to bring back food and just eat in the infirmary with Claire, but Claire convinced her to eat with the others, get to know them a little better.
Teresa was a really cool girl. Last night she had slept in Claire's treehouse. The two girls had stayed up talking until sleep overcame them. Teresa was someone Claire could easily talk to. She even opened up about how alienating she often felt in the Glade, being the only girl and all. Even the sense of hopelessness she sometimes felt, knowing the Glade was practically a prison and no one had a way out yet.
The one thing she never brought up was her feeling toward Newt. Claire could barely acknowledge to herself what was happening. She couldn't really understand it, much less explain it to anyone.
Claire needed some time alone to think. She also hoped that Teresa mingling with the other boys might make them warm up to her, be less suspicious. She also knew Frypan would be there, and he welcomed everyone, so Teresa would be in good hands.
"Claire," came a voice.
For a second Claire thought, or rather hoped, it was Newt.
"Hey, Jack," she greeted, smiling. "What's up?"
"Thought you might be hungry," he said, handing her a bowl of stew.
"Thank you." Claire began eating, not realizing how hungry she was until she had a few bites. "How's Teresa doing?"
"Alright I guess. Saw her talking to Zart and Frypan, they seem to get along okay."
"That's good."
"All anyone can really talk about is the Maze," Jack said. "They're all dying to see what Minho and Thomas find."
There was something off in Jack's voice. He didn't sound as upbeat as he normally did. Claire put her bowl down.
"Jack, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I...it's nothing."
"Jack."
"I said it's nothing." The boy was doing his best to hold back tears.
"Jack, listen, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Claire assured. "I know we haven't hung out or talked much recently, especially over the past few days. But You can come to me for anything, no matter what. And if you want it to stay between us it will."
Jack's eyes darted toward the door, making sure they were still alone, apart from Alby, who was still out of it and probably wouldn't hear anything.
"It's just, I know we need to leave," he said. "I know it's what we've been working toward for a long time. But some of the guys were talking and well...I don't know...I'm scared to leave."
Jack said the last part so quietly, Claire almost missed it. She pulled the young boy into a hug and felt his tears staining her shirt.
"We're all scared," Claire assured. "There's no shame in that. Even Thomas and Minho, running around in the Maze, they're scared right now. But all that matters is what we choose to do about it, whether we let our fear control us or not. What matters is to keep fighting and pushing forward no matter how terrified we are."
Claire took a moment to look over Jack. Back when they first met he was among her first friends, a scrawny kid who barely came up to her shoulder. Now he was as tall as her, his voice even occasionally cracked, showing signs of puberty.
Jack was growing up. He was growing up in a world that was harsh. A world where he had to work to survive, a life where he was trapped. He should be living under the care of two parents who would love and protect him, not in the Glade with teens not that much older than him who had no idea what they were doing. He should be living carefree and innocent. Jack had his childhood stolen from him.
They all had.
"Thank you, Claire."
"Anytime. I'll always be here for you."
"I better go, Zart will want us back to work any minute now."
Just before her left, Jack turned back to her.
"Claire, I promise I'm gonna escape the Maze. I'll come with you, and I'll look after you."
Claire caught herself about to cry. Here was this young boy, no more than thirteen and scared out of his mind, promising to take care of her.
"Jack...if I ever had a brother before...I hope he was like you."
**************
When Thomas and Minho returned there was a group of boys waiting at the Doors for them.
"What the hell's going on out here?" Newt asked.
"We found something," Thomas answered. "A new passage, we think it could be our way out."
There was an instant wave of chatter and excitement following the news.
"It's true," Minho said. "We opened a door, something I've never seen before."
"We think it's where the Grievers must go during the day," Thomas explained.
"Wait, you're saying you found the Griever's home," Chuck said, "and you want us to go in?"
"Their way in could be our way out, Chuck," Thomas said.
"Yeah, or there could be a dozen Grievers on the other side," Gally argued. "The truth is Thomas doesn't know what he's done, as usual."
"Yeah well at least I did something, Gally," Thomas fired back. "I mean, what have you done? Aside from hide behind these walls all the time."
"Let me tell you something, Greenie. You've been here three days, I've been here three years."
"Yeah, and you're still here," Thomas argued. "What does that tell you, man? Maybe you should start doing things a little differently."
"Guys!" came a new voice.
Thomas stopped what he was about to say and turned his attention to Teresa.
"It's Alby," she said. "He's awake."