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 Maze Runner series.

[2] Thomas is sleeping in the dormitory with the other teenagers, known as the Gladers, who escaped from the Maze in the previous book and had been brought by a group of rescuers.

As Thomas wakes up, he finds that the facility is being attacked by Cranks, aggressive zombie-like people that have been infected by a plague known as the Flare.

To get into the Scorch, the Gladers go through a Flat Trans, which is a type of portal that closes five minutes after the set hour.

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.

They travel to a distant city, but are caught in a lightning storm that wipes out half of the group and kills Winston and Jack.

Thomas also convinces Jorge and his second-in-command, the teenage girl Brenda, to help the Gladers escape in exchange for some of the cure.

Thomas's wounds get worse, and WICKED takes him aboard a flying vehicle, called a Berg, to heal his infection.

Later, as they rest, Teresa communicates telepathically with Thomas, who awakens separated from his friends in a plain white room and after he was left in isolation for a long time.

The epilogue is in the form of an email from Chancellor Ava Paige, who writes that WICKED will soon tell the Gladers whether or not they are immune to the Flare.

On 25 July 2014 Ball announced at San Diego Comic-Con that they wanted to start shooting in Fall 2014 should its predecessor become a success when it hit the theaters in September 2014; also unveiling a concept image at the conference – which implied that he will be directing the sequel as well.

[3] However, two weeks prior to the film's release 20th Century Fox decided to move ahead with the sequel and pre-production as well as prepping the sets began in early September 2014 in New Mexico.

Director Wes Ball was set to return, as were actors Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario.

On 1 October 2014, it was announced that Rosa Salazar and Jacob Lofland had signed to play Brenda and Aris Jones, respectively.