The Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials

The Scorch Trials
Author	James Dashner
Cover artist	Dennis Louis
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Maze Runner series
Genre	Young adult, science fiction, post-apocalyptic
Publisher	Delacorte Press
Publication date	September 18, 2010
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book
Pages	361 pp.
ISBN
OCLC	502029786
LC Class	PZ7.D2587 Sc 2010
Preceded by	The Maze Runner
Followed by	The Death Cure

The Scorch Trials is a 2010 young adult post-apocalyptic dystopian science fiction novel written by American author James Dashner and the second book, fourth chronologically, in the The Maze Runner series. The novel was published on September 18, 2010 by Delacorte Press. It is preceded by The Maze Runner, and followed by The Death Cure. A film adaptation was released on September 18, 2015 by 20th Century Fox.

The book starts with Thomas and the other teenagers known as "Gladers", who had escaped from the maze in the previous book, sleeping in the dormitory they were brought to by a group of rescuers. Thomas is woken by a telepathic communication with Teresa, the only woman from the Glade, who is afraid. As he wakes up, he finds that the facility is being attacked by Cranks, aggressive zombie-like people that have been affected by a plague known as "the Flare." Cranks aren't crazy and zombie like when they first catch the flare. When they aren't past gone, when they aren't trying to kill everyone, they can act normal at first. He and the others escape into the facility's common area and discover that their rescuers are dead. They also find that Teresa is missing from her room, and in her place is a boy named Aris Jones. Aris explains that he escaped from a similar Maze experiment, dubbed "Group B," in which he was the only male. The boys discover tattoos on their necks assigning them specific roles.

The Gladers re-enter the common area and find the bodies of their rescuers have disappeared. They find someone, a scientist from WICKED, named Janson (described by the boys as "Rat Man"), who explains that WICKED has been studying them to try to find a cure for the Flare. He tells them they have been infected with the Flare and must in two weeks get through the Scorch, a burned out section of the land, to find a safe haven and get the cure.

The Gladers travel to the Scorch through a portal (called a Flat Trans) and find themselves in a tunnel filled with traps. They escape into the desert and find a building in which a girl is screaming. Thomas discovers that the screaming is artificial and enters the building to find Teresa, who kisses him and tells him that he needs to stay away from her.