The Scorch Trials

Thomas and the Gladers survived the Maze, but their rescue was a lie. WICKED isn't finished with them — it has only moved on to the next phase. Dropped into the Scorch, a blistered, sun-ravaged stretch of dead cities, the group is given a brutal ultimatum: cross the wasteland to a safe haven within a set number of days, or die trying.

The Scorch is worse than the Maze. Its ruins are overrun by Cranks — people driven violent and cannibalistic by the Flare, the disease ravaging what's left of humanity. WICKED promises a cure to those who make it, but every step tests the Gladers' loyalty, and Thomas begins to suspect that nothing about this trial is what it seems.

The Scorch Trials is the relentless second book in James Dashner's Maze Runner trilogy, raising the stakes with new dangers, shifting alliances, and a growing mystery about WICKED's true purpose.