How It All Goes Down
- Thomas figures out the orientation of the Glade by observing shadows. Wooden building is in the northwest, trees in the southwest, farm in the northeast, and animals in the southeast. In the middle though, is a small concrete building with a steel wheel for a door handle, like a submarine.
- Chuck brings him a sandwich and apples for dinner, and continues to evade his questions. However, he justifies it by saying that it's so weird in the Glade that most people don't even know half of the answers. Okay.
- Thomas decides to look around despite Chuck's hesitance, who explains that he can't go outside the walls just yet because they're about to close.
- While peeking through the East Door, Thomas sees a kid running for his life through the ivy maze outside back into the Glade. There is a runner coming in each of the four doors, and they all look as if they were trying to outrun the zombie apocalypse.
- When they get inside the Glade, they all converge upon the weird building in the center, open the massive door, and slam it shut after they get inside. Thomas's curiosity is peaked. Admittedly, so is ours.
- Just then, the walls begin to shift even though Thomas had figured they were far too massive for that to be possible. They make a deafening grinding noise and shoot out sparks, and he wonders what the meaning of it is: Are they closing to keep the boys inside, or to keep something from the outside getting in? It's super spooky.
- Chuck, like a nervous nanny, urges Thomas to come with him and go to bed because "trust me, when nighttime strikes, you want to be in bed" (4.58).