"When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.
Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.
Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.
Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind."
My notes:
- Thomas feels a connection (that he cannot place) with the girl Teresa- who can speak into his head.
- Thomas feels drawn to become a Runner and upon seeing two Runners in trouble, leaves the glade, saves Alby, defeats the Greivers, and become a Runner.
- When Teresa comes out of the coma, she claims that she was "sent as a trigger", that they "can escape the trials", and that everything will end.
- The Maze stops moving every night and no more supplies arrive. Thomas recognizes that the maze must be a code. Teresa and friends discover the code while Thomas and Minho discover the griever hole.
- Gally declares that one Glader will die each night by the Grievers and then dies by a Greiver.
- Thomas purposefully stings himself with a Griever and recovers memories of him and Teresa creating the maze, and a solution for escape. He convinces most everyone to follow his plan.
- Thomas, Teresa, and Chuck escape through the griever hole, kill a couple of grievers, and turn off the maze. Mino, Newt, and others make it through the griever hole.
- The Gladers end up in a labratory. A lady from WICKED as she tries to explaint hings, Gally throws a knife at Thomas. Chuck jumps in front of the knife to save Thomas. Chuck dies.
- Grimey people break into the labratory, kills the woman from WICKED, and help the Gladers escape. The people later identify themselves as fighters against WICKED. A lady explains that the world have terribel solar flares which lead to terrible sickness called the Flare, wastelands, etc. She alludes to the Andes as having a cure to the Flare. She indicates that they live up norht and must crost the Scorth (thousands of miles of desert between the North and the Andes. She states that she hopes they will join them in their fight agains WICKED.
- The Gladers end up in a cheerful dormatory with lots of food, and smiles. The Gladers finally feel safe. Thomas hopes that it is as good as it seems.
- the book ends with a WICKED memo indicating that the Trails were a success and that the "resue" proved to be "valuable finale". The memo indicates that hopefully the subjects will eventually recall and understand the purpose of the hard things they were made to survive as a way to serve and preserve humanity.
