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BECAUSE OF THE GREENIE BONFIRE, THERE WOULD BE NO DINNER. Appetizers would be served that evening at the Greenie celebration, so Samson worked quickly in the Kitchen alongside Frypan and Brandon. They prepared hot dogs, bacon, and chestnuts to be roasted on the fire.

Samson's thoughts seemed to drown him as he worked. He had to admit, he was nervous to talk to Thomas, and he had no idea what he was going to say to him, especially if his memory had been wiped. Thomas arriving in the Glade couldn't have been good news. It meant that Samson needed to get stung sooner than he thought.

Once all of the food was almost ready, Frypan and Samson headed outside to set up tables around the fire. Samson caught himself scanning the Glade every once in a while in an attempt to locate Thomas, but he was nowhere to be found. Samson and Frypan finished setting up the last table, standing back to admire their work for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Samson found Thomas, leaning against the wall of the Homestead with Chuck. Samson stepped forward, keeping his eyes trained on Thomas.

"Hey, Fry? I'll be right back," without another word, Samson started towards the Homestead quickly, his heart rate quickening by the second. Chuck and Thomas both watched him come over, but the expression on Thomas's face was blank. He didn't recognize him. Still, Samson forced a smile.

"Chuck, how's it going, buddy?" he called to the younger boy, whose face lit up. Samson didn't talk to Chuck much, but he was a good kid. He turned to Thomas. "Thom-Greenie," he quickly covered up his slip-up with another smile. He needed to play it safe for the time being. If Thomas didn't have his memories or know his name, Samson would have a lot of explaining to do.

When Thomas didn't respond, Samson pressed on. "Do you remember your name? Or anything at all, for that matter?"

Thomas shook his head in shame. Samson sighed. "You don't?"

Chuck and Thomas both lifted their heads. "Don't worry, Greenie. Takes everyone a while to get their names." Chuck said.

Samson watched Thomas carefully, searching for any signs that he knew who he was. But that seemed to make him more uncomfortable.

"Why're you staring at me?" Thomas asked defensively.

Samson crossed his arms over his chest. He turned to Chuck again, motioning for him to leave. Chuck didn't seem to understand and stayed put. Samson stepped closer to him.

"Chuck, could you give Th-" he caught himself again. "The Greenie and I a minute, please?"

The boy groaned. "No, I'm helping him settle in. We were--oh no," Chuck's eyes widened in terror, staring directly behind Samson, who swallowed hard before turning towards whatever had caught Chuck's attention. Thomas was gone from his spot against the wall and was heading straight for the Maze. His actions made Samson's heart jump with fear and anticipation. A small part of him hoped he did have his memories and that maybe, he knew what he was doing.

Chuck sprinted after Thomas, yelling something to Samson that he couldn't make out. He took Thomas's spot on the Homestead wall, resting his head against it. He sighed loudly and shut his eyes to wallow in defeat.

"HEY!" someone screamed from behind him. Samson's eyes shot open and he stood up quickly, scanning the Glade in an attempt to put a face to the voice. His eyes landed on the Maze, where Chuck and Thomas were. Now, Thomas was on the ground and Gally hovered over him. Thomas kicked Gally away and Samson broke out into a run towards the scene.

"Calm, calm, calm, calm," Gally said as he tried to grab Thomas again. Thomas swatted him away, screaming at him to leave him alone.

By then, everyone in the Glade was running towards the Doors to watch the Greenie. Gally stepped back, hands on his hips. Newt and Alby ran to Thomas.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Thomas shouted.

"Just calm down, alright?" Newt said breathlessly.

Samson stood in between Clark and Jeff. He glanced over at Clark, who was smiling of all things. Samson caught his eye and his smile only grew wider. "That was funny, watching Gally push the Greenie around. Maybe he's got a concussion or something now, and we can treat him," Clark said quietly.

Jeff shot Clark a look. "You can't say stuff like that, you shank." Jeff punched Clark playfully.

"What can I say? I love my job," Clark whispered.

The familiar gut-wrenching sound of the Doors closing cut through the air. Thomas spun around, and a gust of wind hit him in the face. The Doors slowly slammed shut and the rumbling stopped. Thomas stepped back in astonishment, still watching the Maze.

Gally rolled his eyes. "Next time, I'm gonna let 'ya leave." he shook his head and all of the other Gladers followed him back to the Glade, Samson included.

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The Doors closing meant that the workday was officially over with. The sun was starting to set, which also meant that the bonfire would begin soon. Clark and Samson met up with Leo and the three of them went over to the trough where the bonfires were held. All of the Gladers immediately went over to the table that Frypan and Samson had set up with food, each of them grabbing a plate and finding a log to perch themselves.

While in line, Samson waited quietly. He watched Chuck and Thomas walk around the fire while Leo and Clark spoke with Zart behind him. Once it was his turn, Samson took the plate Frypan handed him, sending him a smile.

Gally sat alone on one of the logs, watching the Sloppers set up the fire. Samson took a deep breath before going over to sit down next to him. He turned to him almost immediately, his face softening.

"Hey, Sam."

"Hey," Sam offered him one of his dinner rolls and he took it without hesitation.

The two of them ate in silence, watching all of the other Gladers laugh and play around. Still, Samson managed to keep his eyes on Thomas. He was fully convinced that Thomas didn't have his memories and their plan was lost. Their only hope now was Teresa.

Gally finished his roll and cleared his throat. Samson had noticed that he'd been keeping his eye on Thomas, too.

"I don't like that new Greenie," Gally grumbled. Samson set his plate down on the ground and shifted slightly so he faced Gally. "He's too curious. And so eager,"

After a moment, he tore his eyes away from Thomas and turned to look at Samson once again. "Can I tell you something?" Samson nodded quickly and Gally sighed. "I know him. I've seen him before."

Samson's eyes widened and he exhaled loudly, smiling. "You know him?" he beamed.

Gally nodded, but he didn't seem to happy about it. It was then that Samson remembered that Gally had gone through the Changing. Still, the fact that Gally had seen Thomas before relieved him.

"I've seen him too," he said quietly.

It was Gally's turn to look surprised. "How? What-"

"I've been getting these dreams ever since I got here, and they're always of him. His name is Thomas and he's trying to help us escape. Or at least, he was. He knew the way out of the Maze and was going to help us. But he wasn't supposed to be sent up. I don't know why he's here,"

Gally frowned. "I don't either. But I know for a fact that he's not a good guy. He's a Creator. I saw him. He's one of the people who put us here."

Samson's smile fell. "No, Gally. He told me, he doesn't agree with what the Creators are doing to us. He was trying to help us."

"No, he wasn't. I know what I saw. I don't trust that guy one bit. He's a Creator, and I bet you he here's to kill us all or something. I don't know," Gally shut his eyes and turned his head so he faced the fire.

Samson rolled his eyes. "Gally, I swear. He's on our side. Listen, I'm gonna try and get through to him tomorrow. I wanna see if he knows anything. You've gotta trust me."   

Gally swallowed hard "Yeah. Okay,"

"Hey, Gally!" Winston called from across the bonfire, waving Gally over.

"I'll see you in a bit," Gally told him, standing and waving back to Winston and the other Gladers. They all cheered as he approached them. Samson figured they wanted Gally to participate in their little scrap fighting game. The two bonfires Samson attended had given him the impression that Gally was the champion of that game, which made sense. He was the biggest and strongest of all the boys, and he definitely had the confidence to win.

Samson watched them from afar. Winston was the first one to fight Gally. The Gladers cheered, some of them rooted for Winston; most of them cheered for Gally. Samson picked out Clark and Leo in the crowd. Clark was jumping and shouting while Leo stood next to him, grinning from ear to ear. Samson couldn't help but smile.

His eyes wandered back over to Thomas, who was sitting away from the rest of the crowd with Newt, their backs turned from the fire. Newt handed Thomas a mason jar of what he could only assume was Gally's recipe and watched Thomas spit it out everywhere, gagging. Newt laughed and Samson turned away for a moment, resting a hand on his chest as he held back a smile.

The two boys turned around and Samson kept his gaze low so they wouldn't catch him staring. From the corner of his eye, he watched Newt point to Minho, who was sitting across from him by the fire.

And then Newt and Thomas were looking at him. Samson gulped, not sure what to do. Newt was beaming as he spoke, and Samson could see it was obvious he was talking about him. Without thinking, Samson waved to the two of them. Newt mirrored his actions before turning back around with Thomas. Samson swore he felt his heart jump out of his chest for a moment, but he wasn't sure why. He ran a hand through his hair reflexively, trying to shake the wave of nerves coursing through him. He couldn't help but wonder what Newt had said to Thomas.

His eyes flickered back over to the fire. After watching it for so long it slowly began to exhaust him. The bright flames made his eyes sore and wet. After his third yawn, Samson stood up.

He brought his plate back over to Frypan and stood over at his table next to Brandon. Frypan started telling them about tomorrow's menu, but without meaning to, Samson tuned him out, fixating his attention on Gally and Zart who were wrestling in the circle. Gally shoved Zart hard and he fell out of the circle, crashing into Thomas's back.

Thomas yelped and spun around. Gally stepped forward and grinned. "What do you say, Greenie? Wanna see what you're made of?"

The Gladers waited impatiently for Thomas to answer. Clark began to chant for him "Greenie! Greenie!" the other boys caught on, clapping and laughing. Thomas gulped, but stepped into the circle and nodded.

Gally stood across from him, massaging his wrist. "All right. The rules are simple, Greenie. I try and push you out of the circle," Gally glanced around the crowd and then back at Thomas. "You try and last more than five seconds."

Laughter erupted around the Glade. Samson smiled and clapped along, wanting to join in on the fun. He had to admit, he was nervous for Thomas, but he knew Gally would go easy on him since he was the new guy. Even if Gally didn't like Thomas, he wouldn't hurt him. It was Glader code, and Gally of all people would never break the rules.

"Ready?" Gally asked. Thomas nodded quickly, and Gally leaped forward and pushed Thomas down before he could even register what was happening. Thomas fell backward and a couple of Gladers grabbed him and pushed him back into the circle. Thomas tripped and fell into the sand, groaning.

The Gladers reacted with "Ooh's" and "Oh mans!" but Thomas got up quickly.

"Come on Greenie, we're not done yet," Gally smirked.

"Stop calling me Greenie," Thomas shot back and Gally cocked his head, still smiling.

"Stop calling you that? What do you wanna be called? Shank?" Gally circled around Thomas and all of the boys continued to laugh at Gally's comments. "What do you think, boys? Does he look like a shank?"

Thomas suddenly charged forward at Gally and tried to swing him to the ground, but Gally was fast. He and Thomas grabbed each other but Gally threw Thomas down again, stepping back and sighing proudly.

"You know what?" Gally spat. "I think I've settled on Shank,"

While Gally laughed with the other boys, Thomas lunged for him again. This time, he grabbed Gally around his waist and managed to shove him to the ground. Gally landed on his stomach and Samson gasped. Thomas laughed breathlessly.

"Not bad for a Greenie, huh?" he turned to the crowd and smiled.

But Gally was already sitting up. He brought his legs up and kicked Thomas down so they were both on the ground. Thomas hit his head hard on the ground and cried out. All of the Gladers gasped.

It went quiet. Thomas had his back to Samson and the others and he groaned in pain. After a minute, he lifted his head and muttered something to himself.

"Thomas..." he said and Samson's eyes widened. He knew his name. "Thomas! I remember my name, I'm Thomas!" he laughed.

Alby stepped forward and opened his arms. "Thomas!" he shouted and all of the Gladers cheered. Samson sighed happily and clapped alongside Brandon and Frypan. The Gladers ran to Thomas and congratulated him. Frypan handed him a drink.

In the midst of the celebration, Samson found Gally's eyes in the crowd and raised an eyebrow as if to say, I told you so. Gally merely shrugged, smiling back at him as he pushed forward to shake Thomas's hand.

Deciding it was the perfect time to call it a night, Samson slipped away so he could get a head start on some much-needed sleep.

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author's note!

this chapter is pretty cute imo :') kind of a filler but also some very good gally&sam moments and oooohh what do we think newt was saying about sam when he was talking to thomas???? perhaps we'll never know...

hope you enjoyed!

love always,
chloe