Um. What else could they have called this book?
Okay, seriously. We want you to think of some alternate titles to this book. Go ahead, don't be shy.
…
Done? All right, it's time to talk about why The Kill Order is the name of this book… and why it is really the only possible name for this book.
When it comes down to it, this prequel to The Maze Runner series focuses on what happened before the whole Maze experiment. How did the Gladers get there? How did WICKED form? Why all the fuss?
Turns out that the sun-flares were indeed a natural catastrophe; however, it was what happened after the sun-flares that prompted the creation of WICKED (and therefore the Maze experiment). It all revolves around the "Kill Order" that the government—The Post-Flare Coalition—put out to wipe out half of the population.
If it weren't for this kill order, there wouldn't be a Flare virus, there wouldn't be impending doom on the human race, and there wouldn't be crazy people trying to steal noses from other people.
But again, the government didn't just release the Flare for funsies. In fact, the people who released the Flare are the same people who created WICKED… to find a cure for the Flare. It just so happens that they didn't think the Flare would mutate and start to kill everyone.
It was a botched plan—one that would result in the end of civilization—and it all started with the kill order sent out by Chancellor John Michael. And the rest, as we know, is Maze Runner history.