I Know Places [Thomas The Maze Runner]

[19: The Escape]

That evening, Elle and Thomas waited patiently for Gally and the Gladers who followed him to banish them. It was daunting to look outside the Pit and only see the burning remains of the Glade. Even though the sun would set soon, the doors of the Maze were still completely open. Elle wasn't sure what Gally and his followers thought would happen when they banished her and Thomas. Elle doubted the doors would close at sunset, which meant the Grievers would return to the Glade regardless of Elle and Thomas's punishment.

"Hey, are you okay?" Thomas asked, noticing how zoned out and distracted Elle was.

"It's almost time," she said, looking up at the setting sun. Elle had restless energy coursing through her veins, worried about the unknown parts of their plan. She trusted Minho, Newt, and the others with her life, but she didn't like not knowing how things were going to proceed. "I wanted to thank you," Elle declared after a beat of silence.

"Thank me?" Thomas echoed. "What for?"

"Not listening to me when I encouraged you to follow the rules," she replied, smiling to herself. "Not caring when the others said that you were breaking the rules and endangering us. They were wrong about you, and I was wrong to agree with them."

"Elle," Thomas sighed, swivelling around to face the girl. "I have never, not even once, thought that you weren't on my side or disagreed with me. You have only ever pointed out the things I forget and reminded me that I can't just do everything my way. And you've kept me out of trouble a couple of times, too. I should be the one thanking you, not the other way around," he insisted.

Elle nodded. "Alright. How about this? When you get us out of here, we'll call it even. I protected you in here, you got us out. Once we're free, we don't have to worry about anything anymore," she suggested.

Thomas squeezed her hands. "Sounds perfect," he agreed.

When the sun was almost gone, Thomas laid back on the floor and pretended to be unconscious when Gally arrived. Thomas hoped that the element of surprise would be more helpful than trying to reason with Gally. There was nothing Thomas or Elle could say that would convince Gally they were trying to help the Gladers, so he didn't want to bother. When the Gladers came to fetch Elle and Thomas, they pointed at the boy with a frown.

"He alright?" one of the Builders who Elle recognised asked.

"I don't know," Elle replied. She tried her best to look scared and confused. "What are you doing here?"

"We're taking you to Gally," he explained, crouching to untie the gate. "Then you'll probably be banished."

"Banished," Elle repeated, letting the Builder pull her out of the Pit and hold her arms behind her back. "You really think that's fair? We haven't done anything wrong."

"Just come with us."

The two other Gladers lifted Thomas and hauled him out of the Pit, holding the taller boy up by wrapping his arms around their shoulders. His feet dragged on the grass as they marched towards the Maze walls, where Gally was already waiting. Some of the other Gladers and Keepers stood near him, waiting for Elle and Thomas to arrive. When they were close enough, Elle met Newt's eyes and tried to see how he was doing. Despite feeling nervous, his eyes were oddly clear of doubt. When they arrived, the Gladers dropped Thomas to the floor face-first.

"Hey!" Elle protested, gasping at their rough treatment. "Be careful!"

"They're not hurting him," Gally retorted, rolling his eyes. "This is such a waste," he declared.

Elle watched the boy as he stood solemnly before them. There was something concerning about how calm he was. She wondered if having a position of authority made him feel better, even if he was in the wrong. It was sad to see what the tragedies the Gladers faced had done to him. Gally had been kind to Elle the whole time she was in the Glade; several times Elle even backed him up over Thomas when she felt he was right. Above all, Gally was somebody who cared for others, and that made her want to understand his point of view. Gally had shown Elle genuine care and kindness when Thomas ran into the Maze for the first time, and he continued to do so until last night.