Alby did not want to go on with the escape attempt, he was terrified of it. Harriet was slightly ashamed of some of what she had said to make him come with them.
Well really she had only had to say that she wouldn't leave if he didn't.
His love for her must have been stronger than his terror.
Harriet loved Alby too, he had always been like a brother to her. The hand that helped her up on the first day, every time she fell he was there.
And every time he cried, which was more often than most thought, she would comfort him.
It wasn't the best system, but it worked for them.
After one last meal they gathered all the Gladers in front of the Doors. A pathetic army of teenagers with meager weapons, ready to face down a possibly equally large, and better equipped army of monsters they had no way to defeat.
Monsters that had killed dozens of them. George. Nick. Ximena. Someone had to remember them, that was one of Harriet's reasons to keep going.
She had taken the list of Gladers, stuck the pad of paper in her pocket. A tick mark by the name of each that was coming along, she hoped she wouldn't have to cross off too many names.
"There're seventy two of us." Newt announced, perhaps thirty had decided to stay in the Glade, but none had disagreed with their boxmate. Jane and Frypan had had quite the screaming match about it, but he had somehow managed to persuade her.
Harriet wrote that number on her pad, then shoved it deep in her pocket. Reaching out to take Alby's hand, he was shaking.
"Make sure you've got your weapons. Other than that, isn't a whole lot to buggin' say—you've all been told the plan. We're gonna fight our way through to the Griever Hole, and Tommy here's gonna punch in his little magic code and then we're gonna get payback on the Creators. Simple as that." Newt continued, glancing at Alby who was staring at the ground, fingering his bowstring.
"Shouldn't someone give a pep talk or something?" Minho asked.
"Go ahead," Newt replied.
Minho nodded and faced the crowd. "Be careful," he said dryly. "Don't die."
Harriet rolled her eyes at their stupid banter, but if it helped even one person, it was a godsend.
"Great. We're all bloody inspired," Newt answered, then pointed over his shoulder, toward the Maze. "You all know the plan. After two years of being treated like mice, tonight we're making a stand. Tonight we're taking the fight back to the Creators, no matter what we have to go through to get there. Tonight the Grievers better be scared."
"Should have waited until next week." Sonya quipped, this made many girls laugh and Harriet joined in, next week was shark week for all the girls. It was always interesting.
The Gladers cheered, the sound shaking the air.
Then, as one, they ran into the Maze.
it took an hour to reach the Cliff, stopping where if they peeked around the corner they could see where the Maze ended, the endless abyss that would be their salvation. If the Greenies were right.
Miyoko peeked around the edge of the wall, her face was pale when she returned.
"Grievers, at least a dozen, more than I've ever seen, just sitting there." Of course.
Minho opened his mouth to reply to her but was but off by the sounds of metal on stone, of Grievers moving.
The group Miyoko had spotted was coming towards them, stopping only a dozen feet away. Another was approaching from the other end of the long corridor, the Gladers were trapped, everyone backing into each other, a tight crowd.
"We shouldn't have come," Alby said. There was something odd in his voice, something Harriet had never heard before. It scared her, and not much did that.
Suddenly he grabbed her, squeezing her in a tight hug.
"What?" Harriet held on despite her confusion, she always initiated embraces, physical contact, never Alby.
"Get out of the way. Stay alive. Keep leading. Lead them out. Never give up." The instructions came rapidly, Harriet suddenly knew what he was going to do, opened her mouth to tell him no.
"And thanks for being my friend. Goodbye." Alby kissed the top of her head then let go of her, running towards the Grievers.
No. No. No. No. No. He was going to sacrifice himself, to save them, to save her.
Because he couldn't bear to return to the world he had seen in the changing.
"ALBY! Get back here!" Newt yelled, but the leader didn't respond. Harriet did nothing, it wouldn't help. She could feel hot tears silently making their way down her cheeks.
Alby didn't stop, now sprinting towards the creatures. Sonya and Minho had grabbed Newt, stopping him from following.
Five or six Grievers all went for Alby at once, attacking him in a blur of metal and skin, the boy didn't scream, his body disappearing before their eyes.
Harriet couldn't look away, couldn't scream.
Alby was gone. Dead. He had sacrificed himself for them all. For her.
Everyone who had seen what had happened was frozen in shock, those who hadn't clamoured to hear what the hold up was.
"We need to go now, maybe they've gone dormant." Rachel began, Harriet nodded, they couldn't waste this, she wouldn't allow it.
"How can you be so heartless." Newt whispered, Harriet turned on him, sudden anger igniting in her chest.
"You know as well as the rest of us what he did. Now let's not waste it." They had to use it, if even only one of them escaped, it would be worth it. Better to die now than die terrified, waiting for it to be your turn to be carried off by the monsters.
Harriet turned back to the Grievers and swallowed, still crying, they seemed to be feeding on Alby's body. A red stain of blood on the corridor and the creatures' bodies.
Minho turned and faced the huddled group of Gladers. "Listen up! Number one priority is to protect Thomas and Teresa. Get them to the Cliff and the Hole so—"
The sounds of the Grievers revving to life cut him off. The creatures on both sides of their group seemed to have noticed them again. Spikes were popping in and out of blubbery skin; their bodies shuddered and pulsed.
Then, in unison, the monsters moved forward, slowly, instrument-tipped appendages unfolding, pointed at the Gladers, ready to kill. Tightening their trap formation like a noose, the Grievers steadily charged toward them.
Alby's sacrifice had failed miserably.
Harriet had never hated the Creators more.
The battle was chaos. Harriet found herself fighting back to back with Sonya. Gladers were falling quickly, blood and screams.
But some screams came from the Grievers, some blood was yellow, like fuel, pouring from their disgusting bodies.
They could kill them, if they stabbed deep enough. Harriet screamed the information as loudly as she could, but doubted many heard her.
Alejandra used her axe to rip off a saw arm.
Minho and Newt teamed up to take down one of the monsters.
Out of the corner of her eye Harriet saw Thomas fall down the Griever Hole.
Miyoko yelled something about attacking the monsters from behind.
Blades and claws stabbed and scratched at Harriet's skin, blood, dirt and sweat covered her clothes.
Flo was cut in half by a swipe of a Griever's huge knife, a twelve year old girl. Dead. Harriet's resolve increased.
Then it all ended. The Grievers all shutting down. Harriet looked around.
Half Gladers who had made the run lay dead. Somehow, more girls than boys had survived.
The medis were checking the fallen. A few were still alive, hoisted up to be carried.
They weren't leaving behind anyone that was still breathing.
Minho was the first to jump down the Griever Hole, shouting that it was safe down there. Harriet waited at the back of the crowd, making sure no one got left behind.
Newt, Sonya, Miyoko, Mary, Frypan, Jane, Leo…
Twenty boys and thirty girls, if the four that had jumped down the Hole to shut off the creatures were still alive.
Harriet pushed Helen off the Cliff, waited ten seconds and followed.
The Hole was an icy line, passing over her body, she fell onto a slimy floor.
Newt pulled her to her feet, Alby wasn't there to do it any more.
Harriet's grief for her best friend, her partner, almost brother, was all consuming, but she pushed it down. The time for breaking down was later.
"You know what?" Minho was saying, releasing Miyoko from a bear hug. "Half might've died, but half of us shucking lived. And nobody got stung—just like Thomas thought. We've gotta get out of here."
"That we do." Harriet wanted to smile, but it just wouldn't come.
There was a slide at the end of the chamber, and it was a disgusting experience, falling out at the bottom wasn't exactly dignified either.
Again Harriet looked for Alby's hand, a habit built from more than two years of him always being there, a habit she would have to break.
They were faced with the Creators, Harriet didn't join those who hurled abuse at them, but she truly hated them.
They had killed Alby, she would never forgive them.
Beth and Gally appeared with a woman. Harriet hardly cared how or why, it was all crashing down on her. How many more names was she going to have to strike through? Could she bear to do it?
"Welcome back," the woman said after a long silence. "Over two years, and so few dead. Amazing." Harriet wanted to kill her.
"Over half of us just died back there. You call that few." She threw all her rage and hate into the words, thinking of Alby, his body consumed by the Grievers.
Ximena, dying of sepsis when they could so easily have sent the medicine to save her, had done just days after.
The woman stared at her. "Everything has gone according to plan, Miss Harriet. Although we expected a few more of you to give up along the way." If Harriet ever made a hit list, this bitch would be on the top.
There was screaming. Gally had thrown a knife, and it had hit Chuck in the chest. Thomas was holding him, begging for help as the boy's eyes closed.
Harriet thought of Flo's body, abandoned in two pieces. How she had seen Chuck looking for her, his despair when he saw that she wasn't coming.
How could human beings be so cruel? It was clear Beth and Gally were being controlled by the Creators, she was reminded of how Alby had attempted to strangle himself after the Changing.
Thomas suddenly attacked Gally, but Harriet didn't watch. Where had Beth's knife stuck, it had been aiming for Rachel.
But Rachel was safe, shaking as Aris held her.
What was this? They were all just pawns in some sick game.
Minho and Newt dragged Thomas away from Gally, who lay still but breathing.
Beth stood as if possessed, hardly reacting to the condition of her only friend, walking to join the body of Gladers. Harriet would welcome her back, as long as she could give some sort of explanation.
A sudden series of shouts and commotion began outside the entrance through which the woman had come. She visibly panicked, the blood draining from her face as she turned toward the door.
Several men and women dressed in grimy jeans and soaking-wet coats burst through the entrance with guns raised, yelling and screaming words over each other. It was impossible to understand what they were saying.
Two newcomers tackled the woman, shooting her in the head.
Guns swept left and right at the windows, the Creators falling, screams and blood.
A man addressed the Gladers. "We don't have time to explain. Just follow me and run like your life depends on it. Because it does."
Harriet didn't hesitate, she so badly wanted to get out of this place.
They were led into strange hot rain, onto a battered bus. Harriet threw herself down on a seat.
It all came crashing down on her.
Alby was dead, so many were dead.
She sobbed.
A/N: This will be my last exploration of the relationship between Harriet and Alby, I hope it wasn't too depressing.
