I Know Places [Thomas The Maze Runner]

[09: The Closing Doors]

Elle was doing her best with the Builders. But after two hours of work, she had to admit that Building wasn't the right job for her. Gally and the other Builders had been nothing short of helpful, but it was clear from the very beginning that they weren't going to let her anywhere near the more dangerous tools. Despite her tall frame, Elle was one of the clumsiest people they had ever met. Even with a simple hammer, she kept accidentally hitting herself and causing more accidents than she contributed to building the addition to the Homestead they were working on.

"Why don't we take a break," Gally suggested, grabbing the tool from Elle, exhaustion in his eyes.

Elle's eyes jumped to the Keeper, frowning. "No," she argued stubbornly, shaking her head. "I think I'm finally getting the hang of things." Elle pointed to the uneven piece of wood she was cutting with a hand saw as evidence. The Builders were tasked with adding more rooms to the Homestead now that Elle needed her own space, and they were making her do busy work by having her cut up wood. Even that was a mistake, as none of the pieces she chopped were usable.

"It's no use," Gally mumbled. His eyes widened when he realised Elle gasped, overhearing his comment. "I meant because of the weather," he explained quickly, pointing up. "The sky's been grey all day long, I think we're going to have some rain. There's not enough space in the Homestead for us to continue our work, so everyone's going to have a short day."

It was all true enough. The Glade had been blanketed in dark shade courtesy of the looming clouds above. Elle couldn't help but be excited to hear the news about the rainfall. She did her best to clean up her work before being ushered to the Homestead by the other Builders. Even though she worked harder than any other Greenie had with the Builders, Elle wasn't doing them any favours by sticking around.

Minutes later, the Gladers all huddled under the roof of the hammocks just outside the Homestead to watch the rainfall. Most found a spot inside the Homestead, but Elle, Thomas, Chuck, Newt, and others willingly sat outside.

"Do you think it's real?" Elle asked, holding her hand out and allowing the raindrops to slowly fall onto her open palm. The raindrops were cold and heavy, coming down quickly and pattering onto the roof of the Homestead. "Or is it just another one of those things the people who put us here made?" she added, inspecting the silvery droplet as it ran down her palm and dripped to the floor.

Newt frowned. "I don't know. At this point nothing would surprise me anymore." He sighed.

"How would they even make fake rain?" Chuck pondered, staring up at the grey sky in fascination.

Elle grinned, pleased someone was entertaining her guesses, and shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"I think it's real," Chuck decided, glancing over his shoulder to meet Elle's eyes. "That way, it feels like wherever we are is still a part of something real."

Smiling sadly, Elle patted him gently on the head before moving to sit on the floor beside Thomas. Like always, he had that worried, concentrated expression on his face. His eyebrows were permanently pulled together as if his face was always as stressed as he was. The clouds blocked the sunlight all day, but Elle could feel her internal clock telling her that the sun would be setting soon. One look at Thomas's face told Elle he'd realised the same thing.

"So," Elle began, trying to come up with something to distract him. "What's your favourite colour? You know, since you've had about three days to think about it."

Thomas ignored her. "They should be back by now," he said. His fingers nervously drummed on the tree trunk he was leaning against as he turned to Newt. "What happens if they don't make it?"

Everyone looked at Newt, who was in charge in Alby's absence. His hair was damp from the rain, as he was one of the last people to make it to shelter, and his eyes were trained on the Maze opening. "They're gonna make it," Newt stated firmly, staring ahead intently. His unwavering gaze contrasted his confident tone, and Elle realised he wasn't sure he was telling the truth.