In James Dashner’s The Maze Runner, the central living area where the boys live is called the Glade.
The Glade is a sizable open area enclosed by the Maze’s towering concrete walls. The boys who live there call themselves Gladers and have created a functioning settlement with sleeping quarters, a kitchen, gardens, animal pens, a map room, and places for work and recreation. The area is both a refuge and a prison: it provides food and shelter, but there is no known way out.
Four openings connect the Glade to the Maze. They remain open during the day and close at night, protecting the Gladers from the lethal creatures called Grievers. The Maze’s walls change configuration, so the Runners venture out each day to map its passages and search for an escape route.
Several other terms refer to nearby locations or objects. The Box is the elevator that delivers supplies and new arrivals. The Scorch is the devastated region explored later in the series. The Flat is not the boys’ settlement. The name “Glade” therefore identifies the central community at the heart of the first book’s deadly experiment.