The Maze Runner Series Complete Collection (20 page)

The comment hurt Thomas’s feelings, even though he couldn’t disagree. He looked to Minho for his reaction.

The Keeper didn’t seem surprised, but argued all the same. “Why? He’s the best we have—I swear it. The best should be the Keeper.”

“Fine,” Newt responded. “If that’s true, we’ll make the change later. Give it a month and see if he proves himself.”

Minho shrugged. “Good that.”

Thomas quietly sighed in relief. He still wanted to be a Runner—which surprised him, considering what he’d just gone through out in the Maze—but becoming the Keeper right away sounded ridiculous.

Newt glanced around the room. “Okay, we had several recommendations, so let’s give it a go-round—”

“Oh, come on,” Frypan said. “Just vote. I vote for yours.”

“Me too,” Minho said.

Everyone else chimed in their approval, filling Thomas with relief and a sense of pride. Winston was the only one to say no.

Newt looked at him. “We don’t need your vote, but tell us what’s bonkin’ around your brain.”

Winston gazed at Thomas carefully, then back to Newt. “It’s fine with me, but we shouldn’t totally ignore what Gally said. Something about it—I don’t think he just made it up. And it’s true that ever since Thomas got here, everything’s been shucked and screwy.”

“Fair enough,” Newt said. “Everyone put some thought into it—maybe when we get right nice and bored we can have another Gathering to talk about it. Good that?”

Winston nodded.

Thomas groaned at how invisible he’d become. “I love how you guys are just talking about me like I’m not here.”

“Look, Tommy,” Newt said. “We just elected you as a buggin’ Runner. Quit your cryin’ and get out of here. Minho has a lot of training to give you.”

It hadn’t really hit Thomas until then. He was going to be a
Runner
,
explore the Maze. Despite everything, he felt a shiver of excitement; he was sure they could avoid getting trapped out there at night again. Maybe he’d had his one and only turn of bad luck. “What about my punishment?”

“Tomorrow,” Newt answered. “The wake-up till sunset.”

One day
, Thomas thought.
That won’t be so bad
.

The meeting was dismissed and everyone except Newt and Minho left the room in a hurry. Newt hadn’t moved from his chair, where he sat jotting notes. “Well, that was good times,” he murmured.

Minho walked over and playfully punched Thomas in the arm. “It’s all this shank’s fault.”

Thomas punched him back. “Keeper? You want me to be Keeper? You’re nuttier than Gally by a long shot.”

Minho faked an evil grin. “Worked, didn’t it? Aim high, hit low. Thank me later.”

Thomas couldn’t help smiling at the Keeper’s clever ways. A knock on the opened door grabbed his attention—he turned to see who it was. Chuck stood there, looking like he’d just been chased by a Griever. Thomas felt the grin fade from his face.

“What’s wrong?” Newt asked, standing up. The tone of his voice only heightened Thomas’s concern.

Chuck was wringing his hands. “Med-jacks sent me.”

“Why?”

“I guess Alby’s thrashing around and acting all crazy, telling them he needs to talk to somebody.”

Newt made for the door, but Chuck held up his hand. “Um … he doesn’t want you.”

“What do you mean?”

Chuck pointed at Thomas. “He keeps asking for him.”

For the second time that day, Thomas was shocked into silence.

“Well, come on,” Newt said to Thomas as he grabbed his arm. “No way I’m not going with ya.”

Thomas followed him, with Chuck right behind, as they left the Council room and went down the hall toward a narrow, spiraling staircase that he hadn’t noticed before. Newt took the first step, then gave Chuck a cold glare. “You. Stay.”

For once, Chuck simply nodded and said nothing. Thomas figured that something about Alby’s behavior had the kid’s nerves on edge.

“Lighten up,” Thomas said to Chuck as Newt headed up the staircase. “They just elected me a Runner, so you’re buddies with a stud now.” He was trying to make a joke, trying to deny that he was terrified to see Alby. What if he made accusations like Ben had? Or worse?

“Yeah, right,” Chuck whispered, staring at the wooden steps in a daze.

With a shrug Thomas began climbing the stairs. Sweat slicked his palms, and he felt a drop trickle down his temple. He did
not
want to go up there.

Newt, all grim and solemn, was waiting for Thomas at the top of the stairwell. They stood at the opposite end of the long, dark hallway from the usual staircase, the one Thomas had climbed on his very first day to see Ben. The memory made him queasy; he hoped Alby was completely healed from the ordeal so he didn’t have to witness something like that
again—the sickly skin, the veins, the thrashing. But he expected the worst, and braced himself.

He followed Newt to the second door on the right and watched as the older boy knocked lightly; a moan sounded in reply. Newt pushed open the door, the slight creak once again reminding Thomas of some vague childhood memory of haunted-house movies. There it was again—the smallest glimpse at his past. He could remember movies, but not the actors’ faces or with whom he’d watched them. He could remember theaters, but not what any specific one
looked
like. It was impossible to explain how that felt, even to himself.

Newt had stepped into the room and was motioning for Thomas to follow. As he entered, he prepared himself for the horror that might await. But when his eyes lifted, all he saw was a very weak-looking teenage boy lying in his bed, eyes closed.

“Is he asleep?” Thomas whispered, trying to avoid the real question that had popped in his mind:
He’s not
dead,
is he?

“I don’t know,” Newt said quietly. He walked over and sat in a wooden chair next to the bed. Thomas took a seat on the other side.

“Alby,” Newt whispered. Then more loudly: “Alby. Chuck said you wanted to talk to Tommy.”

Alby’s eyes fluttered open—bloodshot orbs that glistened in the light. He looked at Newt, then across at Thomas. With a groan he shifted in the bed and sat up, his back against the headboard. “Yeah,” he muttered, a scratchy croak.

“Chuck said you were thrashin’ around, acting like a loonie.” Newt leaned forward. “What’s wrong? You still sick?”

Alby’s next words came out in a wheeze, as if every one of them would take a week off his life. “Everything’s … gonna change…. The girl … Thomas … I saw them …” His eyelids flickered closed, then
open again; he sank back to a flat position on the bed, stared at the ceiling. “Don’t feel so good.”

“What do you mean, you saw—” Newt began.

“I wanted Thomas!” Alby yelled, with a sudden burst of energy that Thomas would’ve thought impossible a few seconds earlier. “I didn’t ask for you, Newt! Thomas! I asked for freaking Thomas!”

Newt looked up, questioned Thomas with a raising of his eyebrows. Thomas shrugged, feeling sicker by the second. What did Alby want
him
for?

“Fine, ya grouchy shuck,” Newt said. “He’s right here—talk to him.”

“Leave,” Alby said, his eyes closed, his breathing heavy.

“No way—I wanna hear.”

“Newt.” A pause. “Leave. Now.” Thomas felt incredibly awkward, worried about what Newt was thinking and dreading what Alby wanted to say to him.

“But—” Newt protested.

“Out!”
Alby sat up as he yelled, his voice cracking with the strain of it. He scooted himself back to lean against the headboard again. “Get out!”

Newt’s face sank in obvious hurt—Thomas was surprised to see no anger there. Then, after a long, tense moment, Newt stood from his chair and walked over to the door, opened it.
He’s really going to leave?
Thomas thought.

“Don’t expect me to kiss your butt when you come sayin’ sorry,” he said, then stepped into the hallway.

“Close the door!” Alby shouted, one final insult. Newt obeyed, slamming it shut.

Thomas’s heart rate quickened—he was now alone with a guy
who’d had a bad temper
before
getting attacked by a Griever and going through the Changing. He hoped Alby would say what he wanted and be done with it. A long pause stretched into several minutes, and Thomas’s hands shook with fear.

“I know who you are,” Alby said finally, breaking the silence.

Thomas couldn’t find words to reply. He tried; nothing came out but an incoherent mumble. He was utterly confused. And scared.

“I know who you are,” Alby repeated slowly. “Seen it. Seen everything. Where we came from, who you are. Who the
girl
is. I remember the Flare.”

The Flare?
Thomas forced himself to talk. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What did you see? I’d love to know who I am.”

“It ain’t pretty,” Alby answered, and for the first time since Newt had left, Alby looked up, straight at Thomas. His eyes were deep pockets of sorrow, sunken, dark. “It’s horrible, ya know. Why would those shucks want us to remember? Why can’t we just live here and be happy?”

“Alby …” Thomas wished he could take a peek in the boy’s mind, see what he’d seen. “The Changing,” he pressed, “what happened? What came back? You’re not making sense.”

“You—” Alby started, then suddenly grabbed his own throat, making gurgly choking sounds. His legs kicked out and he rolled onto his side, thrashing back and forth as if someone
else
were trying to strangle him. His tongue stuck out of his mouth; he bit it over and over.

Thomas stood up quickly, stumbled backward, horrified—Alby struggled as if he was having a seizure, his legs kicking in every direction. The dark skin of his face, which had been oddly pale just a minute earlier, had turned purple, his eyes rolled up so far in their sockets they looked like glowing white marbles.

“Alby!” Thomas yelled, not daring to reach down and grab him.
“Newt!”
he screamed, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Newt, get in here!”

The door was flung open before he’d finished his last sentence.

Newt ran to Alby and grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing with his whole body to pin the convulsing boy to the bed. “Grab his legs!”

Thomas moved forward, but Alby’s legs kicked and flailed out, making it impossible to get any closer. His foot hit Thomas in the jaw; a lance of pain shot through his whole skull. He stumbled backward again, rubbing the sore spot.

“Just bloody do it!” Newt yelled.

Thomas steeled himself, then jumped on top of Alby’s body, grabbing both legs and pinning them to the bed. He wrapped his arms around the boy’s thighs and squeezed while Newt put a knee on one of Alby’s shoulders, then grabbed at Alby’s hands, still clasped around his own neck in a chokehold.

“Let go!” Newt yelled as he tugged. “You’re bloody killin’ yourself !”

Thomas could see the muscles in Newt’s arms flexing, veins popping out as he pulled at Alby’s hands, until finally, inch by inch, he was able to pry them away. He pushed them tightly against the struggling boy’s chest. Alby’s whole body jerked a couple of times, his midsection thrusting up and away from the bed. Then, slowly, he calmed, and a few seconds later he lay still, his breath evening; his eyes glazed over.

Thomas held firm to Alby’s legs, afraid to move and set the boy off again. Newt waited a full minute before he slowly let go of Alby’s hands. Then another minute before he pulled his knee back and stood up. Thomas took that as his cue to do the same, hoping the ordeal had truly ended.

Alby looked up, eyes droopy, as if he was on the edge of slipping into a deep sleep. “I’m sorry, Newt,” he whispered. “Don’t know what
happened. It was like … something was controlling my body. I’m sorry….”

Thomas took a deep breath, sure he’d never experience something so disturbing and uncomfortable again. He hoped.

“Sorries, nothin’,” Newt replied. “You were trying to bloody kill yourself.”

“Wasn’t me, I swear,” Alby murmured.

Newt threw his hands up. “What do you mean it wasn’t you?” he asked.

“I don’t know…. It … it wasn’t me.” Alby looked just as confused as Thomas felt.

But Newt seemed to think it wasn’t worth trying to figure out. At least at the moment. He grabbed the blankets that had fallen off the bed in Alby’s struggle and pulled them atop the sick boy. “Get your butt to sleep and we’ll talk about it later.” He patted him on the head, then added, “You’re messed up, shank.”

But Alby was already drifting off, nodding slightly as his eyes closed.

Newt caught Thomas’s gaze and gestured for the door. Thomas had no problem leaving that crazy house—he followed Newt out and into the hall. Then, just as they stepped through the doorway, Alby mumbled something from his bed.

Both boys stopped in their tracks. “What?” Newt asked.

Alby opened his eyes for a brief moment, then repeated what he’d said, a little more loudly. “Be careful with the girl.” Then his eyes slid shut.

There it was again—the girl. Somehow things always led back to the girl. Newt gave Thomas a questioning look, but Thomas could only return it with a shrug. He had no idea what was going on.

“Let’s go,” Newt whispered.

“And Newt?” Alby called again from the bed, not bothering to open his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Protect the Maps.” Alby rolled over, his back telling them he’d finally finished speaking.

Thomas didn’t think that sounded very good. Not good at all. He and Newt left the room and softly closed the door.

Thomas followed Newt as he hurried down the stairs and out of the Homestead into the bright light of midafternoon. Neither boy said a word for a while. For Thomas, things just seemed to be getting worse and worse.

“Hungry, Tommy?” Newt asked when they were outside.

Thomas couldn’t believe the question. “Hungry? I feel like puking after what I just saw—no, I’m not hungry.”

Newt only grinned. “Well, I am, ya shank. Let’s go look for some leftovers from lunch. We need to talk.”

“Somehow I knew you were going to say something like that.” No matter what he did, he was becoming more and more entwined in the dealings of the Glade. And he was growing to expect it.