He couldn't think of one person he knew, or recall a single conversation. Images of people flashed across his mind, but there was no recognition, their faces replaced with haunted smears of color. He pictured snow on trees, running down a leaf-strewn road, eating a hamburger, the moon casting a pale glow on a grassy meadow, swimming in a lake, a busy city square with hundreds of people bustling about their business.Īnd yet he didn't know where he came from, or how he'd gotten inside the dark lift, or who his parents were. Knowledge flooded his thoughts, facts and images, memories and details of the world and how it works. His mind functioned without flaw, trying to calculate his surroundings and predicament. He didn't understand how this could be possible. that was the only thing he could remember about his life. He wanted to cry, but no tears came he could only sit there, alone, waiting. The lightless elevator swayed back and forth as it ascended, turning the boy's stomach sour with nausea a smell like burnt oil invaded his senses, making him feel worse. Harsh sounds of chains and pulleys, like the workings of an ancient steel factory, echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls with a hollow, tinny whine. With another jolt, the room jerked upward like an old lift in a mine shaft.

Sinking to the floor, he pulled his legs up tight against his body, hoping his eyes would soon adjust to the darkness. His back struck a hard metal wall he slid along it until he hit the corner of the room. He fell down at the sudden movement and shuffled backward on his hands and feet, drops of sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool air. Metal ground against metal a lurching shudder shook the floor beneath him. He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.

The maze runner by james dashner