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- "If you ain't scared, you ain't human."
- — Alby in The Maze Runner film
Alby was the leader of the Gladers. He is named after Albert Einstein, the German theoretical physicist. It is mentioned in The Scorch Trials that he was one of the first Gladers.
Biography
In The Fever Code, Alby, who was around eight or nine, was friends with Newt and Minho. They often sneaked out of their dorm at night to goof off in a maintenance room. Eventually they became aware of Thomas and Teresa and the fact that the pair were kept in individual rooms instead of a dorm, and Alby and the others befriended them, having fun together for about a week. The five even sneaked outside the WICKED facility, but they were caught by WICKED. With the exception of Newt, who was not Immune, the kids were forced to venture into the Crank pits to teach them a lesson. While there, John Michael, the Flare-crazed former chancellor, appeared, writing "WICKED is good" on a small chalkboard. When Alby managed to anger him, Michael jumped on the boy and started hitting him, only to be pulled off by the guards. Then, at Michael's request, Randall Spilker shot him dead.
Alby was friends with Thomas right up until they entered the Maze. Then, like his other friends, he became suspicious of the fact that Thomas and Teresa were not coming along like they originally thought. He felt betrayed.
Once in the Maze, with their memories wiped, Alby and Newt seemed to become friends again. When George was stung by a Griever a few months into the Trials (nothing like that had ever happened before), Alby took charge of the situation, hiding George away in the Homestead for a time to prevent a general panic. When that would no longer work, he and Newt took him outside, but George was violent and tried to bite Alby, so Alby punched him repeatedly in the face. Newt stopped him. A crowd formed, with no one knowing what to do, until Frypan said that he had found a syringe of liquid labelled "serum" in a box of supplies recently. Alby yelled at him, telling him to go get it. They injected George with it, but he only went crazier, managing to jump on a random Glader and clawing at his eyes. To save the other boy, Alby grabbed a sharp stick, stabbing George through the neck and killing him almost instantly.
Later in the book, it is mentioned that Alby and Newt seemed to argue a lot with Nick, the self-appointed leader of the Glade and the friend of George.In The Maze Runner, Alby was first seen demanding the surrounding Gladers to be quiet after Thomas climbed out of the Box, causing Thomas to assume he was the leader of the group. He introduced himself to Thomas and informed him of his location in the Glade. He feels uneasy about this task, since Thomas is the first Greenbean since Nick's death, and Alby never had to introduce one before. As Thomas began to ask questions, Alby told him that he'd gradually get his answers and that he would give him the Tour of the Glade the next day. Thomas, nonetheless continued to ask questions, causing Alby to get angry with him. Alby proceeded to tell Thomas that he needed to accept his new life in the Glade. He reaffirmed that Thomas would get a tour of the Glade and left it to Newt to get him a bed and sleep before walking off.
Later that day, Alby was seen tending to Ben along with Newt. When Thomas came into the room, once again asking for answers, Alby jumped up and took Thomas out of the room. He proceeded to furiously ask why he had come up there and demanded for him to leave immediately and not to see him again till tomorrow.
The next morning, Alby sent Newt to show Thomas a Griever through a window. Later, Alby arrived to take Thomas on the Tour, but told Thomas to ask no questions until it was over. During the tour, he explained each section of the Glade and the purpose of each. He also explained that outside the Glade was the Maze and told Thomas that they have a rule that no one, except Runners, are allowed in it. Just as he was explaining what a Beetle Blade was to Thomas, the siren for a new person entering the Glade went off. Confused, he and Thomas both set off towards the Box.
Soon after, Alby and Minho went out into the Maze to check on Minho's sighting of a dead Griever; however, the Griever turned out to be playing dead, and Alby got stung. Minho tried to half-carry him back to the Glade. However, they arrived outside the doors just as they began to close for the night. As he saw them approach, Thomas slipped out just as the doors closed in an attempt to help them. Minho was very angry at him for this, saying he had no hope. Believing their chances were better if they split up, Minho ran off, leaving Thomas and the now unconscious Alby alone together.
Thomas, refusing to leave his friend behind, grabbed Alby and started running through the Maze. He eventually realized he was too tired to keep carrying Alby, but still wouldn't leave him, so he tied himself and Alby in vines that hung from the walls. As Grievers rolled up the wall toward Alby, Thomas redirected them towards himself, and when the Grievers had picked up too much speed to miss him, he moved aside, throwing the Griever past him.
Minho then returned, and seeing Thomas dodging the Grievers gave him an idea. They left Alby tied up and ran towards the the Cliff together. As they approached, they braced themselves and faced the Grievers that had pursued them. They then used Thomas's dodging idea to lead the Grievers over the Cliff, saving Alby and themselves. They then started back towards the Glade, grabbing Alby on the way.
After the doors opened, Alby was immediately taken into the Homestead and given the Grief Serum. Soon after, he went through the Changing.
After the Changing, Alby asked to see Thomas. He started to tell Thomas how he knew a lot now, such as who Thomas and Teresa were, and that he could remember what the outside world was like. But just as Alby was about to go into more detail, he had a seizure, induced by WICKED to prevent him from revealing too much information to Thomas.
When the Grievers started coming into the Glade to pick off one kid a night, Alby decided to go to the map room to "study" the maps more closely. But when a Griever took one of the boys, Winston went to check on Alby. He found him lying in the map room, stunned, with a cut across his forehead. The maps in the room were apparently burned by an unknown Glader; however, they turned out to be decoys, as the real ones had been moved. Alby later confessed that he burned what he thought were the maps and then slammed his head against the table to give himself an alibi. He then ranted about how they shouldn't try to escape the Maze because there was a terrible disease in the world that he would rather die than get.
After Alby had undergone the Changing, it appeared as if he feared the outside world due to his memories. He became distant and no longer trusted himself to make any decisions for the Gladers, leaving Newt in charge.
As the Gladers were attempting to escape the Maze, they were confronted by numerous Grievers. Afraid to return to the real world, and possibly believing that the death of one Glader would satisfy the Grievers, Alby did the unthinkable. He sacrificed himself to the Grievers, but unfortunately, his death was for nothing, as a bloody battle ensued in which many of the remaining Gladers were killed.In The Death Cure, Newt tells Thomas that after his botched suicide attempt, Alby was the one who found him in the Maze and dragged him back to the Glade just before the doors closed for the night.
Physical Appearance and Personality
Alby was described as being a dark-skinned boy with short-cropped hair and face clean-shaven. He also had a permanent scowl on his face.
Alby was short-tempered and rather harsh, though he cared about the Gladers and wanted to keep them safe. As a child, however, he was fun-loving and kind.
Film
Alby's death
Unlike his book counterpart, Alby is kind to Thomas when he arrives. He is happy to show Thomas around. After Thomas being attacked by Ben Alby and Minho explore the Maze to trace back Ben's steps to where he had been stung. Since there's no Grief Serum in the film, people stung by grievers suffer the Changing from just being stung, though the sting itself seems not to be lethal. Instead Teresa carries two syringes with unknown content. One of them is used to calm and heal Alby after he'd been stung by a griever. In the film Alby is one of the victims of the griever attack in the night the doors remained open. Alby's sacrifice in the book was worthless, but his sacrifice in the movie he saves Chuck from being killed, but seconds later was grabbed by the same Griever and was killed.
In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Alby's name is seen engraved on the rock along with all the names of the people killed in the war with W.C.K.D.
Trivia
- In The Death Cure it is mentioned that Alby was one of the first Gladers. However, in The Maze Runner film, it is stated that he was the first one to be sent into the Glade.
Quotes
"It's a long story, shank. Piece by piece, you'll learn - I'll be taking you on the Tour tomorrow. Till then... just don't break anything. Name's Alby." The Maze Runner
"Shuck it. Ain't no way to start these conversations, you get me? We don't kill shanks like you here, I promise. Just try and avoid being killed, survive, whatever." The Maze Runner
"Man, I ain't good at this - you're the first Greenbean since Nick was killed." The Maze Runner
"Get your runtcheeks down those stairs, right now. Chuck'll help you. If I see you again before tomorrow morning, you ain't reachin' another one alive. I'll throw you off the Cliff myself, you get me?" The Maze Runner
"Freak, that's the Number One Rule, the only one you'll never be forgiven for breaking. Ain't nobody - nobody - allowed in the Maze except Runners. Break that rule, and if you ain't killed by the Grievers, we'll kill you ourselves, you get me?" The Maze Runner
"And that means you, Newt. I don't wanna watch you go all Crank on me someday." The Fever Code
