According to Thomas’s watch, it is midmorning when they return through the West Door; the two boys were in the Maze for nearly twenty-four hours. Newt arrives and says that the Grievers came and took a boy named Adam, whom Thomas has never met. Minho becomes upset, shouting out that everything is over, before stomping off. Thomas thinks that if someone like Minho has given up, they have no hope left. The other Runners all return within the hour and no one else has found an exit or anything different. The workers have begun abandoning their daily jobs. Thomas speaks to Teresa telepathically again, excited that it works, and she says that with the help of three or four Gladers, she thinks they have the code all figured out, and invites him to come and see it. 

When Thomas arrives, Newt lets him in, though Minho is still nowhere to be found. Teresa eventually shows him the message, which none of them can figure out. When Thomas looks at it, he sees six words: FLOAT, CATCH, BLEED, DEATH, STIFF, and PUSH written in block letters.