control ⇢ the maze runner / thomas [1] ✓

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"We never met, but I swear that you know who I am."
—NF, Therapy Session

CONTROL,
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"THIS IS YOUR fault", Ruby grumbled with a pout, staring out the tiny little window. The Slammer rested between the Homestead and the northern Glade wall behind a bunch of untrimmed, thorny bushes. It was a giant clock of wood with one tiny little window and a wooden door with a rusty lock. Ruby was well acquainted with it by now.

Newt had come and opened it with his key, told them they placed an extra chair inside, and then ushered them inside. The chairs looked uncomfortable, but Ruby wasted no time in snatching up the best one. Thomas shot her a dirty look, to which she only smiled at him. "Have fun", Newt had chuckled as he locked them in. "Nice reward TGIF breaking the rules. Ya saved some lives, but you still need to learn—"

"Yeah, order, we know", Thomas had grumbled.

"You're not half bad", Newt grinned. "But, friends, or not, I've gotta run things properly, keep us buggers alive. Especially while Alby's out. You two should think about that while ya sit here and stare at the bloody walls." And then he had left. Like the child she was, Ruby had stuck her tongue out at him behind his retreating his back. She noticed that she did that a lot, and wondered if if had always been a habit of hers or if she only just picked that one up here in the Glade. She had no memories of doing it before. Must've been new.

The first hour had passed by now. Boredom was starting to settle in on the both of them. "No one told you to follow me in here", Thomas pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah", Ruby grumbled.

Thomas took a seat on his rickety chair, which had one leg shorter than the rest. "Can you tell me about us? I mean, not us us... Just whatever you remember that could be helpful", he asked.

Ruby leaned back, the front legs of her chair lifting off the ground for a brief moment. Well, if they were going to be locked up all day together, they may as well talk about something, right? It would certainly help the time pass faster than sitting around in silence all day, right?

Ruby rapped her fingers against her thighs for a second. Eventually, she nodded. "Sure. I can't tell you much about this place though", she shrugged. "Me, you, and Teresa, and..." She furrowed her brows. Why was that fourth name escaping her? "Someone else were smarter than the rest. I don't know how smart, but it must have been a pretty big deal, because they treated us like gold. They made us do this. Teresa always had a higher appreciation than we did though, I think it's because she saw her mom go through The Flare."

"Hold on, The Flare? What's that?"

Ruby shrugged. "No idea. Some kind of disease. Anyway, it must be pretty traumatizing. But you and Teresa, you were insanely special. Can't explain it. Guess I don't remember that much, but I think you had a different way of communicating— you have to be close though, at least in the same area. The three of us and some other people designed the Maze, buuut my mother must have known we were getting close because suddenly she pulled me from the project. My job was then to work on the Grievers, and that was it. We tried keeping things a secret then." Ruby didn't say anything more, drawing her knees up to her chest.