Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Memory Puzzle

They came to the "big house," Chuck called it for the leaning wood and window structure, and went to the back, in the shadows between the log cabin and the stone walls. "Where are we going?" Thomas asked.He was still shocked by those closed high walls, and he was still thinking about the maze in his heart, with confusion and fear.He told himself that he couldn't go on like this, or he would drive himself crazy.He tried hard to get himself back to normal, so he tried to make a pale joke: "If you want to get a goodnight kiss, forget it." Chuck replied immediately, "Shut up and keep up."

Thomas took a long breath, shrugged, and walked behind the cabin with the boy.On tiptoe they came to a little dusty window.A soft light shone through the glass on the stone walls and ivy, and Thomas heard someone moving inside the house. "Bathroom," Chuck whispered. "So what?" Thomas felt his skin tingle with tension. "I love doing it, it brings me endless joy before bedtime." "What?" Thomas faintly felt that what Chuck was going to do was not a good thing, "Maybe I should..." "Just shut up and watch me." Chuck quietly stepped onto a large wooden box under the window sill, lying low, and the position of his head was just so that no one in the room could see him.Then he raised one hand and tapped lightly on the glass.

"That's silly," Thomas whispered.This could never be a worse time for a prank—Newt or Alby might be in the room. "I don't want to get in trouble, I just got here!" Chuck put his hands over his mouth and suppressed a smile.He ignored Thomas, reached out and knocked on the window again. A shadow flickered in the light, and the window slid open.Thomas quickly hid, keeping his body as close as possible to the base of the wall.He couldn't believe that he was involved in a prank on someone.The angle of the window kept him out of sight for a while, but he knew that if anyone in the house poked their heads out to see what was going on, he and Chuck would be spotted immediately.

"Who's there?" the boy in the bathroom called, his voice hoarse and angry.Thomas couldn't help but hold his breath because he knew it was Gary - he could hear the voice. Without warning, Chuck suddenly stuck his head to the window and screamed with all his might.Ding-ding-dong-dong sounds from the bathroom suggested that the prank had worked—and the string of expletives that followed suggested that Gary was extremely upset about it.Thomas' feelings at this moment were complicated and weird, mixed with fear and embarrassment. "I'm going to kill you, idiot!" Gary yelled, but Chuck had jumped out of the crate and was running toward the middle of the glade.Thomas heard Gary open the inner door and rush out of the bathroom.He froze.

Thomas finally recovered from his bewilderment and ran with his new friend - and only friend - all the way.But no sooner had he turned the corner than Gary rushed out of the big room screaming like a wild animal breaking loose. He pointed at Thomas. "Come here!" he yelled. Thomas's heart sank, and he had almost surrendered.All indications were that he might get a punch in the face. "I didn't do it, I swear," he said.Standing where he was, he made a quick judgment on the boy in front of him, realizing that he shouldn't be afraid to be like that.Gary wasn't as big as he thought - Thomas was more than capable of handling him if necessary.

"Not you?" Gary snarled, and he strode slowly up to Thomas, stopping. "Then how do you know you didn't do something?" Thomas didn't say a word. He was sick, but he didn't look like he was scared to death. "I'm not a fool, rookie," Gary said angrily, "I just saw Chuck's fat face in the window." He pointed again, this time pointing directly at Thomas's chest, "but you better decide now, Who's your friend and who's your enemy, hear me? Play one more prank like this, I don't care if it's your sissy idea - I'll leave you bloody. Got it, rookie ?” Before Thomas could react, Gary had turned around and strode away.

Thomas just wanted this to be over quickly. "I'm sorry." He muttered, and he felt that this sentence was too stupid. "I know you," Gary said without looking back. "I saw you when I was in pain. I'll find out who you are." Thomas watched the big man disappear into the big house.He couldn't remember much, but something told him he had never felt such a strong hatred for anyone.It surprised him that he really hated the guy, he really hated him.He turned around and saw Chuck standing there, looking at the ground with an embarrassed look on his face. "Thank you very much, man."

"Sorry, I wouldn't have done it if I knew it was Gary, I swear." To his surprise, Thomas actually laughed.An hour ago he thought he would never laugh again. Chuck looked Thomas up and down, and then smiled anxiously: "What's wrong?" Thomas shook his head. "Don't worry, this... Shink deserves it, I don't even know what a Shink is, it's awesome." He felt better. Two hours later, in a meadow near the vegetable garden, Thomas was lying in a soft sleeping bag with Chuck beside him.This is a wide lawn that he hadn't noticed before. Many people choose this as a place to sleep, and Thomas finds it a bit strange.But it was obvious that there wasn't enough room for everyone in the big house, at least it was warm here.This reminded him of the question that he had asked countless times in his mind—where exactly are they.He is not good at mastering place names, regardless of countries and heads of state, or how the world is divided.None of the children in the Glade knew about it either—and if they did, they didn't show it.

For a long time he lay still, looking at the stars in the sky, and listening to the soft whispers of someone talking in the glade.Falling asleep wasn't easy, he couldn't escape the haunting desperation and helplessness - the fleeting joy of Chuck's prank on Gary had long since faded away, and it had been a long, strange day. It's all so... weird.He still remembers many little things about life—eating, dressing, studying, playing, the general appearance of the world, but all the details that would fill the picture and create a real and complete memory have all been erased, just It was as if looking at the image through a foot of muddy water.More than anything, he felt...sad.

Chuck interrupted his thoughts. "Hey rookie, you made it through the first day." "Barely." Not now, Chuck, he wanted to say, I'm not in the mood to talk to you. Chuck propped himself up on his elbows, watching Thomas. "In the next two days, you'll learn a lot and get used to it, okay?" "Uh, yeah, I guess it's okay. Where do all these weird words and phrases come from?" It seemed like they borrowed another language and fused it into their own. Chuck fell again with a thud. "I don't know—remember, I've only been here a month too."

Chuck makes Thomas wonder if he's hiding something on purpose.He was a special kid, hilarious and seemingly innocent, but who could tell?In truth, he was like everything in the glade, full of mystery. After a few minutes, the exhaustion of a long day finally hit Thomas, who was half asleep.However, it was as if a fist had pushed on his brain, and then let go.A thought suddenly popped up in his mind, a thought he didn't expect, and he didn't know where it came from. Suddenly, the glades, the walls, the labyrinth—it all seemed...familiar, familiar.A warm wave of calm surged through his chest, and for the first time since he found himself here, he didn't feel that the glade was the worst place in the world.He calmed down and found that his eyes were wide open and his breath was held for a long time.What just happened?He thought, has something changed?Ironically, however, the thought that things would be alright made him feel a little uneasy. Although he didn't know how to do it, he knew what he needed to do, and he couldn't figure it out.This feeling—this epiphany is so strange, so foreign and so familiar, but it feels...right. "I want to be one of them, go outside," he said aloud, wondering if Chuck was asleep, "into the maze." "Huh?" was Chuck's answer, and Thomas heard him sound slightly unhappy. "Walkers," Thomas said, wishing he could figure out where the idea came from, "whatever they're doing out there, I want to be a part of it." "You don't know what you're talking about," Chuck muttered and turned over, "Go to sleep." Thomas felt another surge of confidence in his chest, although he really didn't know what he was talking about. "I want to be a walker." Chuck turned around and propped himself up on his arms. "You can forget that little thought now." Thomas didn't know how Chuck would react, but he wasn't about to give up. "Don't even think about..." "Thomas, rookie, my new friend, forget it." "I'll talk to Alby tomorrow." A walker, Thomas thought, and I don't even know what that means yet.Am I completely crazy? Chuck laughed and lay down. "You're such an idiot, go to sleep." But Thomas pressed on. "There's something in it—I have a familiar feeling." "go to sleep now." That's when Thomas suddenly understood—he felt as if several pieces of a puzzle were being put together, and he didn't know what the final picture would be.What he said next seemed to come from another mouth: "Chuck, I... I think I've been there." He heard his friend sit up, he heard heavy breathing, but Thomas rolled over, refusing to say another word, worried that the courage he had just found would be destroyed, that he would lose the comfort that filled him now. calm. The coming of the god of sleep is much easier than he imagined.