"You came prepared," Thomas noted, pulling up to a stop behind Derek. When he crouched down, Thomas leaned over, bringing himself closer to Derek's shoulder and scanned the blackberry brambles. He hadn't seen those before and if he was going to be here for any amount of time, he wanted to know as much as he could. Knowledge was power. He'd find a way to use that to his benefit when he got back.

Thomas plucked the blackberries from Derek's hand and let them roll around in the palm of his hand for a second. "You spend a lot of time in forests before?"

It hadn't escaped Thomas's notice how comfortable Derek was here. It was something Thomas envied, being that at home somewhere. Maybe he'd felt it once, before the Maze, but he couldn't remember.