FOREVER. newt

three. you're immune

"I can't believe I'm still paired with you."

"I can't believe it either," I reply with the same snakiness in his tone. "Really would prefer it if Vince would pair me with Newt instead like we've been telling him. I'm not exactly fond of you."

It was a joke; I actually thought that it was really funny— but for a split second, I see something flash in Xio's eyes. Ever since the Maze, I wasn't really a good reader; I never understood people's emotions in the blink on an eye.

Till now, it's the same. So as Xio rushes forward after my comment, I shrug innocently, walking behind him.

Given the fact that on our last food hunt Xio forgot his switchblade in the humeroradial joint of an unfortunate Crank who was out long term and tried to munch on my bare forearm— the heroic action saved us some time, but I knew it caused him to get pissed at me.

Journeys to the what used to be a mall area weren't long, depending on how many times we had to stop and hide behind open car doors and rubbish bins until whatever or whoever we stumbled upon passed us by. The problems started after our bags were full, the two of us carrying more than we were physically capable of or worse: our bags were empty and bitter defeat weighed our shoulders down.

But the area we went to was usually loaded— so the latter wouldn't be a problem.

"We've had four raids in the past two days," Xio mumbles, suddenly shifting serious as we walked towards the large area. "The plan is tomorrow. Why do we need to keep on raiding?"

It was like he never listened to anything Vince had said. We we're planning on leaving in a boat after it's all cleaned up so we'd end up in the Safe Heaven— and in order for us to survive, we need all the resources we would need.

However, it didn't look like we'd be lacking them. Ever since Naomi came two months ago— she's been bringing these gadgets and tools. Now, what used to be my small medical room looked like a hospital.

And no one has gotten the Swipe yet— despite her persuading us to.

Once we both stepped in it what I assumed to be a grocery store, my jaw dropped. The grocery store was ravaged. Empty shelves were knocked over and crooked, with undesired foods left rotting to nothing on displays.

"It looks like people except for us have been taking food from here recently," Xio tells me, gesturing towards a gruesome image of an arrow stuck in a Crank's head, the blood trailing down its temple, thick, sludgy and most importantly of all, fresh. "Brenda told me that there were still a lot of food left."

I raise a brow. "You're talking about the food when there's a dead Crank in-front of us?"

"Well I discovered these things called Twinkies," Xio started, a smirk on his face. "They're delicious. I tried giving Brenda some after our last raid. She hated it."

Scrunching my eyebrow as I re route and avoid the dead Crank, I look at Xio. "The hell is a Twinkie?"

"It's a cake. But there's cream inside." Xio explains as if it was the most thing ever— but I'm still confused. Maybe I've never tasted a Twinkie before.

It's silent for a moment, me and Xio grabbing canned food and whatever we thought would be something worth trying, and the words come out of my mouth before thinking, "Did you ever hear something about WICKED sending children in Mazes?"

"No."

What, what?

Turning around, I raise a brow at the boy who was way taller than I was. "Are you sure?"