The Maze Runner

Thomas arrives in a place known as the Glade, with no memories of his past life except of his
name. He meets other teenage boys calling themselves Gladers who have made a community in
which each is assigned to a task in different departments headed by a Keeper.
A gigantic maze surrounds the Glade and inside are mechanical creatures called Grievers that
roam it at night. Huge doors around the Glade leading into the maze close at sunset. Supplies
arrive every week and a new boy is sent once every month in an elevator called "the Box," It is
the same elevator Thomas arrived in. There are also Beetle Blades, a mechanical bug to spy on
the Gladers, on which the word "WICKED" is written.
The day after Thomas arrives in the Glade, a girl is sent carrying a note that reads, "This is the
last one EVER." Meanwhile, Thomas learns that the Gladers have unsuccessfully tried to solve
the Maze for at least two years and that the antidote to a Griever's painful sting can give slight
pieces of memory.
Thomas befriends a young Glader named Chuck and also the Gladers' second-in-command,
Newt. Gladers exploring the Maze are called "Runners." Minho, the Keeper of the Runners, and
Alby, the Gladers' leader, search for a dead Griever that Minho found while running the maze the
day before. However, the Griever is not dead and it stings Alby. Minho struggles to carry Alby
from the Maze and back to the Glade, but as the doors close on them, Thomas runs into the Maze
and joins them.
Hearing approaching Grievers, Minho leaves Thomas with an unconscious Alby. Thomas saves
Alby and finding Minho, tricks pursuing Grievers into falling off "the cliff" (an abyss within the
Maze). Minho and Thomas return to the Glade as the doors open the next morning.
As the acting leader, Newt calls a "Gathering" to decide Thomas's fate for entering the Maze
without permission. It is decided that Thomas be made a Runner after serving one day in "the
Slammer" (jail).
The day after his allotted jail time, Thomas joins Minho running the Maze. They quickly
discover a "Griever Hole" through a cliff, exposing the outside world. He also discovers words
covered in vines that said, "World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department", assuming
that WICKED is the acronym.
After returning to the Glade, Thomas is shocked to hear the girl speak telepathically to him. He
realizes her name is Teresa, and she says she has triggered an "Ending." Soon afterward, Teresa
awakes and befriends Thomas. The same day, the sky turns a dull gray, which Thomas attributes

to the Creators of the Glade. That night, the Maze's doors remain open, leaving the Gladers
unprotected from the Grievers. The Gladers soon learn that the Grievers only take one person a
night. Alby also burns down the map room, where all the maps were, but Minho and the other
Runners had moved them to a secret room. With the maps, the Gladers align them and spell out
words. The words have no relation to each other and the Gladers know it is a code.
Desperate to retrieve his lost memories, Thomas allows the Grievers to sting him. After
recovering, Thomas explains that he and Teresa were forced to help the Creators design the
Maze. He says he and Teresa shares a telepathic link. The way out of the Maze is over a cliff face
and that it is an illusion to trick them. This is where the Grievers enter and exit the Maze. By
following the Grievers, they can escape by punching the code words into a computer on the other
side. Thomas leads the Gladers into the Maze and they confront a small army of Grievers. About
half of the Gladers die in the fight, but Thomas, Teresa, and Chuck make their way down the
hole and punch in the code and shut down the Maze. A door opens nearby.
The 21 remaining Gladers descend down a spiraling slide that dumps them into a massive
underground bunker. There they meet the Creators: thin, pale, joyless adults who take copious
notes while observing them from behind glass. A woman greets the Gladers, telling them they
have done well. A young boy named Gally is with her. Gally draws a knife and throws it at
Thomas. Chuck steps in front of Thomas, sacrificing his life to save Thomas. Having promised
Chuck he would find a way out and return Chuck to his family, Thomas attacks Gally, nearly
beating him to death.
Suddenly, a group of gunmen storm the room and shoot the woman and the Creators. The
Gladers are taken out of this facility and put into a large bus. As they are boarding, a hideously
scarred woman grabs Thomas and tells him that he is here to save everyone from the Flare before
the driver runs her over. Thomas and Teresa learn from a rescuer that the world was ravaged after
solar flares slammed Earth, killing millions within days, leaving the world a wasteland. A disease
known as the Flare now threatens humanity. The group's goal is to stop the tests WICKED is
doing, and find the cure for the Flare.
After two hours, the bus stops at a dormitory-like building. Inside, the Gladers find bunk beds
with blankets, bathrooms, and food. They finally feel safe. Thomas drifts off to sleep feeling
there is hope for the future.
A memorandum email from Ava Paige to her associates reveals that this is simply the next stage
of the Glader's trials. The memo reveals that there are more children in this experiment. The goal
is to discover why these children are abnormally resistant to the Flare and save humanity by
using them to find a cure.