control ⇢ the maze runner / thomas [1] ✓

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"And you're standin on the edge, face up,
cause you're a natural — a beating heart
of stone. You've gotta be so cold to make
it in this world."
—Imagine Dragons, Natural

CONTROL,
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

MINHO DRAGGED RUBY out of bed before the crack of dawn, meaning she was not a happy camper. She also had to be extremely quiet so that she couldn't wake Leo up. Feeling around in the dark, she grabbed a rubber band and the shoes she'd been sent before following him out into the dark. Thomas had apparently been waiting with a flashlight.

Minho took the device back and walked down the stairs with the two of them in tow. Thomas seemed to be a lot more awake than Ruby was. There was an excited bounce in his step. Ruby was finding it hard to even walk in the first place. Once they were outside, they had to maneuver around the sleeping Gladers who rested on the lawn. The gain glow of early morning light lit up the glade. It was sort of peaceful. One of the roosters crowed from the Blood House. It made Ruby shudder, knowing what fate awaited the poor bird.

Minho took out his keys and opened the door of what looked like a storage closet. Ruby yawned as the boy went inside. "You have shoes, right, Ruby?", Minho asked quietly. No one was around, but he still tried to be respectful. "Cause I don't think any of these'll fit you."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah", she yawned once more. "I'm all set over here."

Minho nodded, glancing back at Thomas. "That's the number one supply we get. They send new ones up in the Box every so often. Good thing too. If we had had shoes, we'd have feet that look like freaking Mars." Ruby cringed at the thought. How gross. And painful. "What size you wear?"

"Size?", Thomas frowned. Poor baby was confused for again. He thought it over, but came up empty handed. "I... actually don't know."

"Eleven", Ruby said absentmindedly. Both boys looked at her then. Ruby flushed red in embarrassment. Of course it was weird for her to know that, right? "Your shoe size", she reiterated, nodding at Thomas. "It's eleven."

She sounded so sure of herself, but Thomas still wanted to check. He reached down and took off one of his shoes. Pursing his lips, he nodded. "She's right. It's eleven."

"Told ya", Ruby said proudly.

"That's freaky", Minho mumbled. "Geez, shank, you've got some big ass feet", Minho added, grabbing a pair in Thomas's size, handing him some silver shoes. "Looks like we've got some though. Man, we could go canoeing in these things."

Thomas was not amused. "Those are fancy", he said simply as he took them. Minho grabbed a few other things before following them out.

"Only Runners and Keepers get these", he announced, holding up two watches. He dropped one in Thomas's lap before handing one to Ruby.