The Kill Order: Chapters 14–26

by James Dashner
After surviving a disaster that nearly wipes out humanity, Mark and Trina fight to save others from a threatening virus. This prequel tells the story of how the world of the Maze Runner series came to be.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 13, Chapters 14–26, Chapters 27–40, Chapters 41–54, Chapter 55–Epilogue

Here is a link to our lists for The Maze Runner by James Dashner.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. harassment
    the act of tormenting by persistent attacks and criticism
    Bad things are happening all around—theft, harassment, worse.
  2. tragedy
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    He feels a twinge of guilt that on some deep level, he’s thankful for whatever tragedy has occurred, because it’s forced them together.
  3. brood
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    As they sat and ate, still staying relatively quiet and doing their best to avoid touching each other or touching things that had been touched, Mark brooded.
  4. gaunt
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    He looked gaunt, and his eyes were moist and haunted.
  5. sporadic
    recurring in scattered or unpredictable instances
    The screams didn’t stop, just became more hitched and sporadic as he sucked in breaths and struggled to break free.
  6. vise
    a holding device attached to a workbench
    Their main symptom was intense pressure in their skulls—they acted like their heads were being squeezed in vises.
  7. lucid
    capable of thinking in a clear and consistent manner
    And the Toad was obviously not lucid last night.
  8. consistent
    the same throughout in structure or composition
    There’s something wrong with this virus. It’s not consistent. I’m not a scientist, but could it be mutating or something? Changing as it jumps from one person to the next?
  9. adapt
    conform oneself to new or different conditions
    Mutating, adapting, strengthening—who knows. But something. And it seems to take longer to kill you as it spreads, which—contrary to what you’d assume—actually means the virus is more effectively spreading.
  10. clarity
    the quality of being coherent and easily understood
    With way too much clarity, Mark recalled the sound of the boy beating his skull against the inside of the door.
  11. sanity
    normal or sound powers of mind
    They all had massive pain. And loss of sanity. Darnell was hallucinating—plain crazy.
  12. manifest
    reveal its presence or make an appearance
    “It’s just taking longer to manifest itself.”
  13. ransack
    search thoroughly
    “Part of me wants to ransack this place to look for supplies, food, but whatever is taking everyone down is probably camped up nice and cozy on every dirty inch of the place. Let’s get out of here.”
  14. isolated
    remote and separate physically or socially
    If it’s not an isolated incident, if it’s truly something as global as sun flares, then the little hope he held out for his family is gone.
  15. inflict
    impose something unpleasant
    The flares must have been devastating, inflicting catastrophic damage worldwide and unleashing the heat of hell itself.
  16. apocalyptic
    prophetic of devastation or ultimate doom
    Which meant a quick melting of the polar ice caps. Which meant sea levels rising at an alarming and apocalyptic rate. Which meant that the island of Manhattan would be a dozen feet underwater within a few hours.
  17. torment
    make suffer emotionally or mentally
    Back in the present, these thoughts tormented Mark for at least another hour—and he knew if he dreamed it would only get worse.
  18. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    At first Mark was wary of the people from Deedee’s village, still worried about the direction she’d pointed when they’d asked her where they went.
  19. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    There was just something ominous about the way Deedee had spoken of them.
  20. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    Alec and Lana were much more cautious during the next part of their journey, stopping every fifteen minutes or so to listen intently, looking for telltale signs of guards or traps, keeping more to the cover of the trees whenever possible.
  21. succumb
    be fatally overwhelmed
    Chills ran up his skin—it brought back the memory of Misty singing as she began to succumb to the illness.
  22. gyrate
    revolve quickly and repeatedly around an axis
    Five or six people were dancing and gyrating around the bonfire, throwing their arms up and bringing them down again, bowing toward the earth and then shuffling to the side, where they started all over again.
  23. caution
    judiciousness in avoiding harm or danger
    In this new world, strangers should be met with more caution.
  24. unstable
    suffering from severe mental illness
    Mark grimaced, thinking these two people were far too unpredictable—maybe even unstable—to risk being sarcastic or rude to them.
  25. monotone
    an unchanging intonation
    “Do not, I repeat, do not move again,” his captor said, once more using that flat monotone.
  26. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    The others are much more dangerous than we are—they attack without warning, kill without conscience.
  27. beset
    assail or attack on all sides
    The world is beset with evil in many forms.
  28. lax
    without rigor or strictness
    “Both times it came from the heavens—once from the sun, once from the ships. We think they may visit annually, to punish us for becoming lax and to remind us of what we need to become.”
  29. rigid
    having a form maintained by a stiff unyielding frame
    His arms were rigid, his elbows sticking straight out as he continued to hold his head in his hands.
  30. hysterical
    characterized by a state of violent mental agitation
    Then, more alarmingly, the noises spread in a circle around the clearing of the bonfire until it was completely surrounded by a chorus of caws and cuckoos and roars and hysterical laughter.
  31. seep
    pass gradually or leak or as if through small openings
    His body stilled, and blood began to seep from his nose and mouth.
  32. sever
    cut off from a whole
    It was as if Jed had been some kind of link they all shared, and now that it had been severed, his followers were confused and unable to function.
  33. engulf
    flow over or cover completely
    Engulfed and burning alive, they ran out into the woods, sure to set the whole forest on fire.
  34. pummel
    strike, usually with the fist
    Many of the attackers were actually pummeling each other—he saw a woman fall into the fire, her screams filling the air.
  35. reprieve
    a relief from harm or discomfort
    They had a slight reprieve, but one look showed that more people were coming their way.
Created on Thu Apr 28 10:31:02 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 10 16:54:15 EDT 2018)

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