SKIP TO CONTENT

The Kill Order: Chapters 27–40

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.
35 words 38 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Full list of words from this list:

  1. deranged
    driven insane
    The sound of pursuit still rang out from behind, but it had lessened, as if even their deranged pursuers understood it was crazy to head into a forest fire.
  2. sweltering
    excessively hot and humid; marked by sweating and faintness
    Intense heat pulsed across his body as he ran; sweltering wind from the left, cooler air from the right.
  3. ruthless
    without mercy or pity
    But the side of him that wanted to survive at all costs—that had become ruthless over the last year—knew it was the truth.
  4. circumstance
    the set of facts that surround a situation or event
    “Yes, you’re right, under normal circumstances they would’ve stayed here until we got back. But these circumstances aren’t normal. There’s a forest fire raging nearby and crazy people running through the woods making horror-movie noises. Would you just sit here and twiddle your thumbs?”
  5. dismay
    fear resulting from the awareness of danger
    With growing dismay Alec pointed out more spots of blood along the path.
  6. foreboding
    ominously prophetic
    Mark peeked around the tree and examined the tall, foreboding walls.
  7. descend
    move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
    Soon the earth and bushes were descending upside down and Mark could finally see what lay on the opposite side of the coin: a flat, gray, concrete-like surface with small grooves cut across it in perfectly straight lines.
  8. expendable
    suitable to be used up
    “Can you say expendable?”
  9. flare
    a sudden recurrence or worsening of symptoms
    “The Flare. He said they’ve started calling it the Flare. The virus.”
  10. hasty
    excessively quick
    “Patience, boy. Caution. A hasty soldier is a dead soldier.”
  11. frail
    physically weak
    The stranger was broad-shouldered and thick-chested, but his demeanor made him look frail and pathetic.
  12. visage
    the human face
    The man sat forward with elbows on knees, hands clenched together, his entire visage appearing as if it might melt and drip onto the floor.
  13. savage
    a cruel or vicious person
    “Oh, dear God, I didn’t want to. Not to those savages.”
  14. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    The man made a scoffing sound, then had a short bout of racking coughs.
  15. coalition
    an organization of people involved in a pact or treaty
    The Post-Flares Coalition in Alaska wanted something that spread fast, killed fast.
  16. hemorrhage
    the flow of blood from a ruptured blood vessel
    They say it shuts down the mind. Instant comas, they said, rendering the bodies useless but causing massive hemorrhaging that would spread it to those nearby.
  17. transmission
    an incident in which an infectious disease is carried
    Transmission is by blood, but it’s also airborne when the conditions are right.
  18. deplete
    use up, as resources or materials
    It didn’t work right on the test subjects over the last two months, but they went ahead with the plan anyway, saying what’s left of the planet’s resources is being depleted.
  19. antidote
    a remedy that stops or controls the effects of a poison
    Oh, there’s talk of an antidote there, but that’s a bunch of hooey.
  20. deluge
    the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto land
    The deluge of water from the streets above is washing over the landing and spilling into the wide groove of the tunnel, and it’s just a few dozen feet away.
  21. roiling
    (of a liquid) agitated vigorously; in a state of turbulence
    He’d never forget the feeling of looking over the railing, down at the roiling, dirty liquid as it slowly ascended, thinking that his life had almost ended in its depths.
  22. radiation
    energy transmitted in the form of rays or waves or particles
    The heat and radiation and rising waters were too much.
  23. linger
    remain present although waning or gradually dying
    But that feeling of terror he’d experienced in those last moments in the subtrans tunnel wouldn’t leave, lingering like the smoke from an extinguished fire.
  24. fiasco
    a complete failure or collapse
    They assigned us to take part in the worst civil rights fiasco since the War of 2020.
  25. deem
    judge or regard in a particular way
    They said it was to save what little resources we have, to be able to feed those people they deemed worthy to live. But who are they to decide who’s worthy?
  26. fanatical
    marked by excessive enthusiasm for a cause or idea
    The test subjects are getting more fanatical in their odd little religious cult by the day.
  27. faction
    a dissenting clique
    They can barely go a day without fighting each other, reorganizing factions, starting over until they battle again.
  28. spite
    meanness or nastiness
    “The Post- . . . Flares . . . Coalition.” Bruce pronounced every word with exaggerated diction and spite. “Who do these people think they are? Gods?
  29. exaggerated
    enlarged to an abnormal degree
    The urgency with which his followers were clamoring to get into the open aisle also seemed exaggerated somehow, like they were all hopped up on some kind of drug.
  30. rampage
    violently angry and destructive behavior
    Men and women yelling and growling like apes on a rampage.
  31. melee
    a noisy riotous fight
    A roar cut through the melee: a booming growl, a noise that might come out of a she-bear protecting a cub.
  32. fray
    a noisy fight
    The man had charged forward and leaped into the fray, taking down half the people trying to get to Mark.
  33. assailant
    someone who attacks
    He spun and kicked the assailant in the face, realizing at the last second that it was a woman.
  34. abyss
    a bottomless gulf or pit
    In the relative darkness, the whole thing looked like some alien vessel rising from the abyss of the ocean.
  35. fare
    proceed, get along, or succeed
    Which, of course, had been full of aliens that liked to eat humans. He hoped he and Alec fared better in this thing.
Created on Thu Apr 28 10:45:40 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 10 16:54:36 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.