little immune {the scorch trials} (request)

˜"*°• 4 •°*"˜

The man shoved the kids into a dark room, shouting. "Get inside! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Wait!" Thomas protested. "What's going on out there?"

"Nothing we can't handle," said the man. He shut the door, leaving the Gladers in total darkness.

Thomas pounded on the door. "Hey! Hey, let us out!"

Suddenly, the lights turned on, revealing a long table set with glorious mounds mounds of food. After spending three years stuck in a Maze with no memories, cut off from the rest of the world, this was the most luxurious thing the Gladers had experienced for as long as they could remember. For a moment, no one said a word. Then Frypan, the Glade's former cook, said, "Dibs on the rice!" and that's when everyone finally dug in.

It was heavenly. There were platters of chicken, bowls of salad, fruit, and veggies, potatoes, chocolate chip cookies, pitchers of fresh water, and of course, rice. And it was good. The Gladers ate as though they'd never eaten before in their lives.

"This is way better than Frypan's slob!" a boy named Winston said excitedly. The others laughed, and one person threw a pile of mashed potatoes at someone else, grinning stupidly. This resulted in an all-out food fight between the group.

Globs of food were thrown across the table, landing on the floor and people's clothes, but no one cared. Everyone laughed and smiled ("The rice! exclaimed Frypan. "The rice!), finally able to enjoy their well-deserved freedom. It was the happiest each Glader had been in a long time.

Thomas studied each of his friends. There was Newt, one of the first people he'd ever connected with, a tall boy with soft blond hair, pale skin, and chocolate brown eyes. Teresa, the only girl in the Glade, though she fit in with the others as if she'd always been there. Minho, who'd been a Runner with Thomas, where they spent days out in the Maze together, mapping out every twist and turn in attempt to find a way out. And Frypan, who he'd never exactly been close with, but that boy could never fail to raise everyone's spirits, no matter how bad the situation. Even the others Thomas didn't know as well, like Winston and Jack.

These guys were his family. And he was beyond grateful for them. His eyes shifted around the room, warming his heart at the sight of their smiles. Still, he felt like there was something missing. Some piece of his life from before the Maze that left him feeling incomplete.

A sudden crashing sound from the other side of the room startled the group. It seemed to come from an unlit area a few feet away from them, cluttered with old tables and furniture. Then, as if the situation couldn't get any weirder, a little girl tumbled from behind a stack of chairs, the stack falling with her. She would have been crushed if not for Thomas, who leaped over and pulled her out of the way just in time. The pair landed hard on the floor, Thomas's strong body shielding the little girl from taking the brunt of the fall. She pulled away from him quick as a mouse and scrambled behind an old table.

"Hey, wait!" Thomas said, standing up and brushing himself off from the fall. "We don't want to hurt you. Can we just talk?"

Nothing.

"Here, let me try." Teresa stepped away from the group and carefully edged toward the table. She crouched down a few feet away and began to speak in a soothing tone for the child.

"Hi. My name's Teresa. What's yours?"

No response. Teresa glanced uneasily at Thomas, but kept going.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell us yet. But Thomas is right. We're not here to hurt you. We're just kids, like you. You can trust us."

Finally, the girl moved out from behind the table and stared wide-eyed at the Gladers until her eyes settled on one. "T-Thomas?" Her voice was quiet and raspy, as though she hadn't spoken in a long time.

Thomas stepped forward. "That's me." He extended a hand and the girl let him pull her to her feet.

For a moment, she looked almost happy. Then her face fell and she took a step back. "Are you with WICKED?" she asked, dread clouding her features.

"What?!" Thomas was shocked. "Of course not. We're fighting against them. They trapped us in a maze, took our memories, and tortured us. We're trying to get away from them."

This seemed to satisfy the girl. "Good. WICKED took my family. They're bad people. I hate them."

"We do too," Thomas said. "I'm sorry about your family. WICKED took everything from us too. Shuck, none of us even know if we had family thanks to them. But ... now we've built a new family with each other. Now that you're here, do you want to stay with us and be part of our family?"

The little girl's mouth broke out in a grin. She nodded, then said, "Y/n."

"What?"

"My name. It's Y/n."

"Oh." Thomas smiled, something he wasn't sure he was capable of. "That's a pretty name."

He introduced her to the rest of the Gladers, and they all decided to sit among the old furniture and talk. Thomas and the others told Y/n stories of the Glade and the Maze, which she seemed to really enjoy. Frypan prepared her a plate of food (and another one for himself), which the girl wolfed down hungrily.

"I don't know who these guys are," said Frypan, "but they can cook."

"Who are they really, though?" Teresa wondered. "I mean, we don't know anything about 'em."

"Well, we know they're no friends of WICKED," Newt commented.

Minho sighed and sat up from where he'd been resting on top of a table. "That's good enough for me. You guys think too much. We're free. Enjoy it."

Thomas locked eyes with Newt. He knew they were both thinking the same thing: something about this place seemed off. But Minho was right, in some ways. Until they made any legitimate discoveries, they may as well try to enjoy their freedom. 

Y/n shook her head. "Not safe."

"What do you mean?" Thomas asked.

The girl suddenly looked frightened. This place ... it's not what you think. It's—"

She never got to say what it was, because the door creaked open and an old man with greying hair and rat-like features walked in. Y/n's eyes widened and she scrambled into the mess of furniture, concealing herself from view. Thomas wanted to go after her, but he had a feeling this Ratman would want to talk to him. Instead, he moved toward the door, the others following suit. 

"You kids doing all right?" Ratman asked. "Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm."

Thomas stepped right up to him. "Who are you?"

"I'm the reason you're all still alive," the man replied. "It's my intention to keep you that way. Now, come with me. We'll get you kids squared away."