STEEL || The Scorch Trials • Newt [2]

Chapter 13

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Apparently, Bertha was a car, not a person. It was a sky blue color and had two bull horns tied to the front, but we didn't care. We all piled in and hit the road. The windows were rolled down, letting in fresh air from outside. Jorge was behind the wheel, and he glanced back to check up on all of us. Minho glanced up at him, then he averted his eyes back onto the road. But only for a second before smiling towards Newt, who was sitting in shotgun.

I was behind Jorge, so I got to watch him. He was so happy sitting there with a big smile on his face. His eyes met mine, and I flashed a toothy grin at him. Watching him act like a child, being all happy made me happy. Just one simple look from him made it better. It meant that everything was going to be okay.

We drove down the quiet, dull road for a while, practically being in the middle of nowhere. There were some broken electric towers that still stood, but other than that, there was nothing. Nothing except for dry plants. Eventually, we went into the canyons, but we were all stunned to find a bunch of abandoned cars in front of us.

Jorge stopped the car and we got out. It was starting to get dark, but the canyons were probably messing with me. I glanced down at my broken watch, wishing that I knew what time it was. But if I had to guess, I'd say it was possibly 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon.

"Well, I guess we're on foot, then," Jorge said.

We all followed behind, squeezing our way through the cramped cars on the narrow road. Up ahead, there were boulders blocking the tunnel, so I didn't know how we were going to get around or through. It was silent, except for the crows cawing and the wind howling. It felt pretty chilly. Along the way, we were checking out the cars, finding that the windows have been shattered. Everything was quiet... Too quiet. Suddenly, a bullet from a rifle rickashayed off one of the cars where Thomas was.

"Get down!" He yelled.

"Take cover!" Newt also yelled.

Instantly, we all hid behind the cars and used them as shields from a storm of bullets firing at us. I hid behind a separate car, still close to Thomas and Jorge, lowering myself as much as possible so I wouldn't end up getting shot. The bullets stopped suddenly, now the recent sounds fading into an echo.

"Is everyone okay?" Thomas asked.

"We're fine," Teresa replied.

"Anyone know where those bloody shots came from?" Newt asked, almost angry.

Thomas moved and cautiously peeked behind the car he was at, trying to find the sniper. Three more shots fired at him, and Thomas retreated.

"What do we do?" He asked.

I couldn't hear what Jorge was saying because I was hiding behind a separate car, but he suddenly handed Thomas something. It looked like a homemade bomb. I widened my eyes. That seemed a little extreme, even though there was someone shooting at us. Jorge flipped a switch to the remote and it made a weird noise.