Chapter 4 - there are some hints to what Kira looks like in this chapter. I would love to hear your thoughts on who you picture her as.
Flashback
Over the next 3 years, like clockwork, every month we would get a new Glader (or Greenie as Nick likes to call them. It was this big thing about green beans and them being new… I guess you had to be there?). Third to the team was Nick. Kinda lanky. Tried to run away. I got him. Next was George, then Newt, Siggy (Frypan –thusly named as he is an amazing cook), Hank, Gally, Minho, Jackson, Stephen, Clint, Jeff, Winston… you get the jist. I have been here for nearly 3 years and so far after 33 new Greenies am still the only girl. Not that that effects my leadership, oh no, Alby and I make a great team. He's the brawn, I'm the brain, good cop, bad cop… etc. etc.
'KIRA!' a voice from outside the homestead called. This wasn't a good shout, something was wrong. I ran outside.
'WHAT! WHAT'S HAPPENED?' I scream running out.
'It's Hank,' Newt says. 'He's been stung.' I stood shocked.
'Griever?' I say quietly. He nods. I nod. There is silence, then Hank's terrible screams breach that silence with the power of a gunshot. I wince at the sound looking at Newt as he does the same. Clint and Jeff (our med jacks) run over to him to try and help but we all know what happens when you get stung.
'I'll try to make him comfortable,' Clint says to me as we walk over.
'Thanks.' I say trying to seem strong when inside I feel like screaming. 'Newt, can you find Alby for me' I say walking back to the homestead. I sit on my hammock trying not to shout. Alby walks in with a surrendered look on his face. I look at him.
'Hanks the third.' I say to Alby. 'The third I'm going to have to bury because I let you lot convince me that going back into the maze was a good idea!' I say with a quiet fury boiling under my skin.
'It is a good idea. The runners are the best hope have of getting out of here!' Alby says calmly, used to my outbursts by now.
'NOT IF THEY'RE DEAD THEY'RE NOT!' I scream. I immediately feel guilty for shouting at him. It's not his fault, he is right. He looks at me sympathetically. 'Sorry, I know your right, I'm just so shuckin' fed up with burying our own you know. First George, then Jackson, now Hank. Then we have Stephen not coming back after getting stuck out there overnight.' I sit back down on my hammock putting my head in my hands.
'I know it's tough okay, but you're their leader. You have to stay strong for them. For us.' Alby looks at me. 'You can do this.' I sigh. Alby is the only one that can calm me down like this. He always has been able too.
FLASHBACK
'I don't want to talk about it Alby,' I shouted slamming the door to my hammock room. He was pestering me about what was behind the walls. He had been here for nearly a month now and hadn't let up. I could feel my anger bubbling up under the surface of my skin. I heard him come and sit outside my door.
'Your hair is brown,' he said. What? How is that related? I almost threw open the door and yelled at him until I thought about what he said. My hair is brown? I hadn't ever though to look at my appearance. There always seemed to be more important things to do. I sat down on my side of the door. 'What kind of brown?' I asked softly after a few minutes.
'Sort of dark, like the bark of the trees in the woods.' He responded.
'You don't have much hair.' I pointed out. 'It's very short and black, and feels funny when I touch it,' I laughed to myself. Alby didn't like people touching his hair.
'Your eyes are brown too, different though. Darker almost black when your angry but lighter when you're in a good mood.' Alby said quietly. I smiled, I wasn't angry often but when I was, I was really angry. I expect he would get used to that.
Your eyes are dark too, they match your skin in a way.' I said to him through the door.
'Hmm, I sound very handsome!' he joked through the door.
'Very!' I said sarcastically standing up and opening the door.
'I won't pester you in future' he said quietly.
'Yes you will,' I said with a smile.
We walked out of the homestead and straight into Newt.
'Everything okay Kira,' he said to us.
'Yeah everything's good Newt. You know how I get.' I uttered quietly so only he could hear me. Newt was different from the other Gladers. He didn't take everything I said at face value and made an effort to get to know me as Kira the person, as well as Kira the leader. Only two people ever saw the weaker side of me and that was Alby and Newt. Alby and I are best friends, have been from the very beginning. Newt though… we have more in common than even Alby knows.
FLASHBACK
'What happened' I asked Alby as I watched Clint and Jeff stretcher Newt in from the maze.
'He jumped.' Alby stated.
'What' I gasped.
'Off a wall in the maze. He climbed up the vines and jumped. Said he couldn't do it anymore.' And with that Alby left the Med Jacks cabin. I sat down beside Newt and told the med jacks to do everything they could for him. Newt woke up a few hours later. I asked Jeff and Clint to leave so I could talk to Newt in private. Newt sat on the bed, just looking at his legs.
'Is this the part when you tell me how bloody stupid I am.' I look at him.
'Hey don't knock the accent. You bloody well have the same one.' I say eyeing him. He cracked a small smile. 'No,' I say 'I'm not going to berate you about it.' I paused making a decision. 'You know I was the first Glader here right. That I spent the first month on my own.' I asked softly.
'Yeah, Ably told me,' he replied.
'Well did he also tell you that I forbid him to go into the maze?' Newt looked at me shocked, then curious. 'In that first month, I went out there, in the maze. One night I was running back to the Glade when I tripped on a vine. Twisted my ankle really badly. It was purple and swollen. Bit like your leg!' I looked at him to see if he was listening. He was looking down at his legs but still flicking his eyes to me. 'I was running out of time to get back to the Glade before the walls shut. I was moving as fast as I could. As I rounded a corner I saw a Griever at the end of the path. For a moment I seriously considered drawing attention to myself and letting it kill me.' Newt's head whirled around to face me. I couldn't look at him. I continued, 'Obviously at that time I had no idea what happened it got you but I knew that whoever put me here was keeping me safe from these creatures at night so they were surely dangerous. But then I thought, I'm on my own. The only person who is going to make life better for myself is me and I'm not going to do that by killing myself. So I waited for it to leave and returned to the Glade. But that experience left such a mark on me that I wouldn't let Alby go in. He was so tiny back then. Hadn't had his growth spurt that turned him into a bloody giant.' I laughed and continued, 'Then when more and more tall, muscular guys who could handle themselves came up in the box Alby convinced me to let them go back in the maze. But still to this day I have never gone back in.' I finally looked Newt in the eye. 'Don't be ashamed of what happened, just make sure that everything you do now will make your life and those around you better. And if you don't go back in the maze then you can help me round here whilst Alby runs it. You can be my second-in-command.' Newt looked at me shocked. Then he looked down at my hands red and raw from where I had writhed them together when telling him the story.
He grabbed them both and said, 'If I'm not going to be ashamed of what I did maybe it's time you let what you almost did go. I can see you still think about it.' My eyes dropped to the floor. We sat in silence hand in hand until the med jacks knocked on the door to see how Newt was feeling. I got up, squeezed Newt's hands and left the cabin.
'How's Hank,' I asked Newt.
'As comfortable as can be, I guess.' Newt responded.
'Does everyone know?' Alby asked.
'Yeah, they are saying they're goodbyes now. There is one thing though. Hank wants you to do it, Kira.' Newt said softly. I knew this was coming, he has always said if he ever got stung he wanted me to kill him before he hurt anyone. I nodded.
'Yeah I know. Alby can you go see if everyone had said their goodbyes.' I asked.
'Sure.' Alby walked away towards the med cabin. I looked at Newt.
'Do you have my knife,' I whispered not looking at him. He put his hand on my shoulder.
'You don't have to do this.' He said delicately.
'Yes I do.' I looked at him, tears prickling at my eyes. 'I owe him that.' He passed me a small sharp knife and I headed towards the med jack cabin.
'Everyone's done' Ably states. I look around at the surrounding Gladers faces. A mixture of tears, sadness and hard faces looked back at me. I walked into the cabin and gingerly shut the door.
Hank's breathing is laboured and he's crying. I kneel down next to the bed he is on.
'Hank, it's Kira. Listen to my voice Hank. You are a wonderful person and I am proud to have known you. All the guys will miss you desperately Hank, but you're going to a better place now. With your family and no walls, no grievers and no maze.' I hum a tune to him and it seems to calm him down. I'm not sure where the tune came from but I hummed it to George and Jackson as well. I slide the knife into the carotid artery in his neck as I carry on humming to him. A lone tear slips down my cheek and drops onto his face. I close his eyes and leave the cabin.
The baggers file in after I leave and we all head to the Deadheads. We watch as the baggers bury Hank and Gally puts down a wooden headstone. It reads: Here lies Hank, the smartest klunk around. We smile at the message. Hank was not especially bright but he had the right spirit. Gally would always say that he would always be smarter than a klunk. The boys who can speak take turns to say something they loved about Hank. By the end no-body had a tear left. We sombrely walked to the name wall and Gally carved a line through Hanks name. When the boys first arrived Alby would give them the tour and I would show them the wall of names and show them how to carve their own. This was the worst bit though. A permanent record of my failures. The ones I couldn't save. One by one the boys left the wall and went to bed. Hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.
A/N: I imagined the tune as Once upon a December from Anastasia but you can imagine it as whatever tune makes you most calm.
