Chapter 46 Chapter 46 Wandering in Nothingness

For the rest of the day, Thomas refused to speak to anyone. Teresa tried several times, but he kept telling her that he didn't feel well, that he just wanted to be alone, to sleep in his old place in the woods, and maybe take a little more time to think, to discover what was hidden in his heart. , which may help them understand how to do it. In truth, however, he was mentally preparing himself for what he planned to do that night.He tried to convince himself that this was the right decision, the only way.Besides, he was terrified and didn't want anyone to notice. Later, when his watch showed evening, he went with the others to the big house.Frypan barely noticed his hunger until he ate his hastily prepared biscuits and tomato soup.

Then another sleepless night began. The builders had re-nailed the hole left by the monster when it took Gary and Adam away, and the end result looked to Thomas like the work of a few drunks, but it was solid.Newt and Alby finally regained their composure, looking around.Newt's head was still heavily bandaged, and he insisted on having people take turns at the sleeping quarters each night. Thomas ended up in the large living room on the ground floor of the big house with the same people he had been two days before.The room quickly fell silent, but he didn't know whether it was because everyone was really asleep, or just because they were afraid, praying silently for the Griever to stop visiting.Unlike two days earlier, Teresa was allowed to stay in the house with the other Glademen.She was very close to him, wrapped in two blankets.Somehow he sensed that she was asleep, really asleep.

Naturally, Thomas couldn't sleep, although he knew his body desperately needed it.He tried—trying to close his eyes and force himself to relax, but it never worked.As the night passed, a strong sense of anticipation weighed on his chest like a boulder. Then, as they had expected, the disturbing mechanical sound of the Griever came from outside the house, and the time came. Everyone is crowded together, away from the windows, making as little noise as possible.Thomas huddled in a corner, leaning against Teresa.He hugged his knees and stared at the window.The terrible decision he had made earlier was like a punch squeezing his heart.But he understands that maybe everything depends on his decision.

The tension in the room was increasing little by little, and the glademan was silent and motionless.The distant sound of machinery scraping against wood penetrated the house, and Thomas seemed to hear a Griever crawling up the back of the house, opposite their room.Seconds later, more noises were heard, coming from all directions, the nearest being just outside their window.The air in the room seemed frozen to ice, and Thomas pressed his fists to his eyes, the anticipation of the attack overwhelming him. From somewhere above there came a great crash of wood and glass, shaking the whole house.There were several screams, accompanied by the sound of panicked footsteps ding ding dong, and Thomas felt numb.After the noisy creaking and groaning, a group of glademen ran to the ground floor.

"It got Dave!" someone yelled, his voice an octave higher with fear. No one in Thomas' room dared to move. He knew that maybe everyone felt guilty for being relieved-at least he wasn't the one who was taken away, and maybe they could spend another night safely.For two consecutive nights, only one child was taken every day, and everyone began to believe that what Gary said might be true. There was a terrible crashing sound from the door on their right, with screams and wood splintering, as if an iron-jawed monster was eating the entire staircase, and Thomas jumped to his feet.A second later, there was another crack of wood—this time from the front door.The Griever passed through the house and was about to leave.

Fear flared up in Thomas, and there was no time to lose. He jumped up, rushed to the door, and pulled the door open.He heard Newt screaming, but he ignored it and ran down the corridor, jumping over countless shards of wood.He saw a jagged hole where the front door had been, revealing the pale night sky outside.He ran towards the door and into the clearing. Tom!Teresa screamed in his head, what are you doing? He ignored it and just ran as hard as he could. Griever catches Dave - Thomas never speaks to him.The Griever was spinning and moving towards the west gate, making churning and swishing noises.The other Griever had gathered in the middle of the courtyard, ready to follow their companions back into the maze.Thomas didn't hesitate -- he knew people would think he was committing suicide -- and sprinted in the direction of the monster, ending up standing in the middle of a group of monsters.The ghost fire beast was taken aback and froze.

Thomas jumped onto Dave's Griever, trying to pull him off, hoping the monster would fight back.Teresa screamed in his head, like a dagger piercing his skull. Three ghost fire beasts immediately surrounded him, with long pincers, tentacles and spikes flying from all directions.Thomas resisted on hands and feet, pushing away the terrifying metal arms and kicking at the griffin's throbbing soft body - he just wanted to be stung, not captured like Dave.As the monster's relentless attack intensified, Thomas felt pain bursting through every inch of his body—the pinprick sensation told him he had succeeded.Screaming, he kicked and punched, curling up in a ball, trying to shake them off.Struggling, the adrenaline in his body was surging, he finally found an open space, got up, and ran forward with all his strength.

As soon as he was out of range of the Griever, they abandoned him and disappeared into the maze.Thomas collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain. Newt was at his side in an instant, followed by Chuck, Teresa, and a few others.Newt grabbed him by the shoulders and picked him up, holding him under his arms. "Grab his feet!" he yelled.Thomas felt his surroundings shake, he was in a daze, and he was nauseous.Someone, he didn't know who, obeyed Newt's orders, and carried him across the courtyard, through the front door of the big house, down the broken corridors, into a room, and laid him on a sofa.The world keeps spinning and falling.

"What are you doing?" Newt yelled at him. "How can you be so stupid?" Thomas had to say what was on his mind before he passed out. "No...Newt...you don't understand..." "Shut up!" Newt yelled. "Don't waste your energy!" Thomas felt someone looking at his arms and legs, tearing off his clothes, examining his injuries.He heard Chuck's voice, and Thomas was relieved that he was safe.A medical worker said something, as if he had been stung dozens of times. Teresa stood at his feet, pinching his right ankle with her hand.why, tom?Why are you doing this?

Because...he had no strength, couldn't concentrate. Newt yells for someone to get the serum.A minute later, Thomas felt a prick in his arm.A warm current surged through his body from the place where he was pierced, calming him down and relieving the pain.However, the world is still collapsing, and he knows that in a few seconds, it will disappear from his eyes. The room is spinning, and countless colors are intertwined, shaking faster and faster.With all his might, he spoke the last word before darkness fell. "Don't worry," he said softly, hoping they could all hear, "I did it on purpose..."

Thomas lost all sense of time as he went through a period of physical pain. The feeling at first was much the same as when he woke up in the transport box—dark and cold.But this time he didn't feel anything touching his feet or his body.Staring at a certain point in the dark, let your thoughts wander in nothingness.He could see nothing, hear nothing, and smell nothing.It was as if someone had taken away his five senses and left him to fend for himself in a vacuum. Little by little, fear turned to curiosity and then boredom. Eventually, after an endless wait, things started to change. Though he couldn't feel it, Thomas heard a gust of wind blowing in the distance.Then a whirl of white mist appeared in the distance—the smoke swirled like a hurricane into a long-handled funnel, and the white whirlwind continued to stretch until Thomas could no longer see the end of it.Then he could feel the wind, and he was sucked into the whirlwind, and the wind passed through his back, tearing his clothes and hair like a banner torn by a storm. The giant tower of fog began to move in his direction—or he himself was gradually approaching the fog, he couldn't tell—moving at an alarming speed.One second he could just see a blurry outline, but the next second he could only see a vast expanse of whiteness. Immediately afterwards the mist took over his entire body, and he felt the mist controlling his thoughts, and memories flooded his brain like a flood. All other sensations turned into excruciating pain.