The Maze Runner, #1
The Maze Runner
by James Dashner
Contents
Chapter 60
Overview
In the aftermath of Chuck’s death, Thomas suppresses his grief as armed strangers storm the facility, kill a WICKED representative, and order the Gladers to flee. The group escapes through corridors into a bus amid a violent, unnatural rain, encountering a Flare-ravaged woman who is ultimately run over as they speed away.
The rescue reframes the conflict beyond the Maze, hinting at a wider devastated world, WICKED’s ruthlessness, and Thomas’s unwanted role in the fight against the Flare.
Summary
Thomas clings to Chuck’s body, confronting the collapse of his hopes for a normal life. He locks his grief away for Teresa, Newt, and Minho, then lets Teresa help him up. The Gladers stand in shock as the WICKED woman declares that everything has a purpose, drawing Thomas’s silent hatred.
Suddenly, armed men and women burst in, guns raised. They tackle the WICKED woman and shoot her dead, then shatter the observation windows as chaos erupts. Their leader tells the Gladers to follow him immediately or die. Thomas, holding Teresa’s hand, runs with the group, leaving Chuck’s body behind.
The rescuers drive the Gladers through dark corridors and stairwells that reek of electronics until they reach a torrential, hot rain outside and a battered bus. As Thomas and Teresa near the door, a diseased woman with oozing sores drags Thomas down, raving that he will save everyone from the Flare. A rescuer yanks her away and orders Thomas aboard.
Inside the bus, the leader takes the wheel while another rescuer watches the Gladers. The sore-covered woman sprints toward the front, screaming unheard in the storm. The driver accelerates and the bus runs her over without stopping. Thomas and Teresa, horrified and numb, huddle as the bus roars into the rain-swept night.
Who Appears
- ThomasGrief-stricken over Chuck; restrains emotion; follows armed rescuers; targeted by a Flare-ravaged woman as a supposed savior.
- TeresaSupports Thomas, communicates telepathically, flees with him onto the bus during the rescue.
- Rescuer leaderYoung-faced man who kills WICKED control, orders immediate flight, and drives the bus into the storm.
- Sore-covered womanFlare-infected stranger who grabs Thomas, proclaims he’ll save them, then is run over by the bus.
- WICKED womanClaims events have purpose; is tackled and executed by the rescuers during the raid.