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The Scorch Trials
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Read The Scorch Trials
The Maze Runner: Book 2

The Scorch Trials (2010) (edit title/settings)

by James Dashner (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.
In the Maze, life was easy. They had... read more

Summary edit see section history

The book starts in the middle of the night where Thomas wakes up and can't get back to sleep. He calls Teresa telepathically. After a while, Thomas finally falls asleep, having a dream about his past and his mom. Teresa calls out to him telepathically, but can't seem to get Thomas's attention.... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The book starts in the middle of the night where Thomas wakes up and can't get back to sleep. He calls Teresa telepathically. After a while, Thomas finally falls asleep, having a dream about his past and his mom. Teresa calls out to him telepathically, but can't seem to get Thomas's attention. He wakes up to seeing everyone panicking about Cranks, which are people infected with the Flare, outside their door. Thomas and the rest of the Gladers go around to investigate, finding that the common room where they'd eaten pizza with the people who rescued them was locked. They ram the door down and turn on the lights to find the rescuers dead bodies hanging from the ceiling. They enter Teresa's room, which is empty, except for a boy that just came out of the bathroom named Aris, who's from Group B. He can also talk telepathically, and even had a telepathy partner named Rachel, but she was killed just like Gally had killed Chuck in the first book. Outside of the room is a plaque that says "Teresa Agnes. Group A, Subject A1. The Betrayer." An alarm, similar to the one on the Glade, goes off, and the room door locks until the alarm stops. Thomas opens the door to find no dead bodies. Even the plaque is changed to "Aris Jones, Group B, Subject B1. The Partner."

The Gladers continue to starve as they cannot leave the building. Thomas continues to call out to her, until she tells him to get out of her head, claiming she doesn't know who Thomas is. He cries himself to sleep and has another "memory dream" about hearing fragments of people in green suits. He wakes up to Minho eating an apple, and gets one too. They go to the common room to find a pile of food in the center, followed by a man reading a book with an invisible wall around him, who Minho names "Rat Man" for his appearance. The man explains that Phase Two has started and the Gladers need to cross the Scorch, the hottest place in the globe at the moment, in two weeks and get to a safe haven. And as an incentive, they've all caught the Flare. Shortly after he leaves, the Gladers discover tattoos on the back of their necks. Newt's says he's "The Glue". Minho's says "The Leader". Thomas's says 'To be killed by Group B".

The Gladers enter a Flat Trans and wander through darkness for about an hour, when they hear strange whispers. Two boys get killed by molten steel balls that cover a persons head then decapitate them and roll away. Winston gets attacked too, but Thomas saves him. They enter the Scorch eventually come to a building, where they heard screaming from a long way away. Teresa exits the building. Thomas senses a trap and approaches her. Teresa is crying, still telling him to get away from her. She kisses him and tells him to tell the Gladers to get as far away from her as possible.

Thomas and the Gladers hike towards a city to stock back up on supplies, along the way, he has another "memory dream" where Teresa and Thomas practice talking telepathically. A storm soon hits, killing off seven boys, including Winston. They stay inside a building when a Crank named Jorge welcomes them into the Crank House. Minho insults him and Jorge kicks him twice in a place where he was burnt from getting struck by lightning. Minho attacks Jorge and all the Cranks from upstairs come down. Fortunately, Thomas negotiates a deal with Jorge, keeping the Gladers from getting killed. Thomas meets Brenda, who becomes very forward when he first meets her. They go downstairs and eat, when the roof collapses, separating Thomas and Brenda from the others.

The two of them walk through the Underneath and fight some Cranks. Eventually, they make it onto the surface and sleep in a cab. Thomas wakes up from a nightmare and goes back to sleep. He has another dream memory where he and Teresa are listening in on a conversation between WICKED employees. Thomas wakes up again and sees words printed on a brick saying "Thomas, you're the real leader."

They leave the car and are forced into a club by a few strangers. They dance to the music and are offered drinks that, of course, they're forced to take too, making them feel dizzy. Brenda tries to kiss Thomas, but he says "You're not...her." and "You could never be her."

They wake up in a dark room with the 3 strangers who took them to the club. The Gladers come to their rescue though, and knocked them out. A man that Thomas calls "Blondie" shoots Thomas in the left shoulder, giving him an infection. After the gladers fail to heal Thomas, WICKED goes down and gets him in a machine called a Berg. While being healed, he overhears one the worker's conversations in which a woman stated that he wasn't supposed to get shot. He's taken back to where he came from and he explains everything to the Gladers.

Later, Thomas hears Teresa's voice in his head, warning him that something terrible will happen, leaving him hurt and scared. And he had to trust her no matter what. She pauses and says that he won't hear from her for a while until they're back together. Newt and Thomas talk about how WICKED only made an exception for him and no one else. They see Teresa and Group B walking towards Group A with weapons. She hits Thomas multiple times with the butt of her spear for various reasons and take him back to their base, getting dragged across the ground for hours. Thomas is fed once they get there and falls asleep, having another memory dream. The next morning the girls decided not to kill him. Thomas and the girls get about 7 miles away from the "safe haven", when Teresa motions for Thomas to follow her.

Aris appears and holds a knife to Thomas's back and leads him into a cave. Thomas sees a glowing green door, which he thinks could mean that there is radioactive substance inside. Teresa reveals that she and Aris had a thing before and during the Maze and Scorch Trials, and had also manipulated Thomas to escape the Maze. They led him through the door, and into a gas chamber, but Thomas puts up one last fight, attacking Aris and Teresa, but fails. He gets dragged into the gas chamber and the gas released. Thomas passes out, feeling betrayed and sick from the gas, and has another dream memory about being sent into the Swipe, then into the Maze.

Thomas wakes up and the gas chamber's door opens. Teresa apologizes, but Thomas still feels betrayed and cannot trust her. They run to catch up with the other group, as they only have a few hours until they must be at the safe haven. Teresa explains along the way that her telepathy with Thomas was "cut off" when WICKED came into her room and told her to tell Aris that they had to get Thomas to the point that he feels totally betrayed by them, and if they did anything against WICKED, Thomas dies. They kiss near a valley, but Thomas feels nothing.

They make it to the safe haven, but these monsters with bulbs all over their bodies appear for the Gladers to fight. Fortunately, only three people die. The Berg comes back and picks up the Gladers. A guard on it gets angry for them taking Jorge and Brenda with them, forcing Thomas to choose who to kill. He chooses Brenda, thinking it's a test, but he's wrong. He manages to keep both. They're fed and bathed and all fall asleep. Thomas has one more dream where Brenda speaks to him telepathically, saying things are about to get bad. He wakes up in a padded, white room. Teresa is telepathically speaking to him, saying the Flare was rooted too deeply in him, and they took him away. Thomas tells Teresa to go away. Teresa tells him WICKED is good and leaves.

Characters edit see section history

  • Thomas: The main character in the trilogy. He lead the escape from the maze, saving almost half of the boys. He has a psychic connection with the main female character, Teresa.
  • Teresa Agnes: The main female character. Has a psychic connection with Thomas. Together they helped develop the maze with the WICKED organization, but can't remember doing it. She was the last person to be sent into Group A's Maze. She was also sent with a message.
  • Mr. Minho: Keeper of the runners and one of Thomas' good friends from the Glade. He helped lead the escape from The Maze and is the chosen leader for the Scorch Trials. He is very helpful. Also known just as "Minho".
  • Newt: Another Keeper from the Glade. He was one of the first people Thomas met when entering the Glade and remains one of Thomas' closer friends throughout the Scorch Trials.
  • Brenda: A "Crank" that Thomas and the Gladers run into during the course of the book. She is not Gone yet and proves helpful on their journey. She is intelligent.
  • Jorge: A 'Crank', leader of a band of not-far-gone Cranks.
  • Aris Jones: A boy from Group B that was switched with Teresa before the Scorch Trials began.
  • Harriet: Co-leader of Group B.
  • Sonya: Newts equivalent in Group B.
  • Rachel: Aris' best friend from Group B.
  • Chuck: A Glader that became friends with Thomas right after his arrival in the Maze--he was funny, sarcastic, and loyal-great to be around. He gets stabbed at the end of The Maze Runner.
  • Gally: Betrayed the Gladers by killing Chuck under the influence of the creators. He was aiming for Thomas.
  • Blondie: A Crank.
  • David: Man from the Berg.
  • Rat Man: Assistant Director Janson. The man who tells groups A & B what their "task" is. Also known as man in white suit.
  • Shaniqua: Helps all the Gladers.
Show all 16 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “WICKED is good.”
    Teresa
  • “Hello, Noses!”
    a Crank
  • “Rose took my nose, I suppose, and that really blows.”
    a Crank
  • “Poor baby.”
    Thomas
  • “You didn't just say that to me, did you? Please tell me you didn't just speak to me like a dog. You have ten seconds to apologize.”
    Jorge
  • “You admit you're a crank? That you're freaking crazy?" "He just said he likes the taste of eyeballs. I think that qualifies as crazy.”
    Minoh and Frypan
  • “Didn't know you could measure distance so well with nothing but your bloody eyeballs”
    Newt
  • “I have dibs.”
    One of the gladers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

The Scorch
  • The Pass
  • The Underneath: Underground tunnels and passageways of the city that the Gladers escape into.
  • The Maze: An evil place where Thomas and the Gladers were put in Phase 1.

Organizations edit see section history

  • WICKED: World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department

First Sentence edit see section history

She spoke to him before the world fell apart.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Other books by this author
Title page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapters 1 - 65
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author

Glossary edit see section history

  • Klunk: Poop.
  • Gladers: The Gladers are the boys and Teresa who escaped the maze and live in the Glade.
  • Crank: A person that has caught the Flare.
  • Flare: A disease that turns a person into a flesh-craving zombie, and is one of the main reasons the Earth is in turmoil. Carried by insects from South America.
  • Flat Trans: A Shimmering gray wall, transports you, only avaliable to the rich
  • Berg: Airplane type aircraft
  • The Gone: Cranks who have gone completely insane. This is caused by the flare.
  • Greivers: Evil creatures that were from the maze, they make you remember past memories. They have many different ways of hurting you.
  • Shank: A sorry or pitiful person.
  • Shuck: A phrase used to make a point esp. when angry
  • WICKED: WICKED stands for: World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department. The people who took the gladers from their families and placed them in the trials; which they claim is for the good of the world.
Show all 11 glossary entries

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 4 in The Maze Runner. (standard series)

Preceded by The Maze Runner, and followed by The Death Cure.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. James Dashner (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Country: United States
Publication Date: October 12, 2010
ISBN: 0385738757
Page Count: 384

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PZ7.D2587Sc 2010
  • Dewey: FIC DAS

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

This book is really dark and gruesome. Not for those that are very sensitive. Age 13 and up. 12 if mature enough for blood,detailed descriptions of people (faces,etc),etc.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Maze Runner
  • The Hunger Games
  • Catching Fire
  • Mockingjay
  • Battle Royale
  • The Death Cure
  • The Scorch Trials
  • The Journal of Curious Letters
  • The Scorch Trials

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • The Kill Order
  • The Maze Runner

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