Subject B3 (newt x reader)

Chapter 7

"Looks like someone's been down here before." Newt observes as we look at the trail of footprints leading down into the darkness of the abandoned mall.

"Maybe they're still here." Minho replies quietly.

Maybe this is where the Cranks are.

"Shall we see where they lead?" Harriet says.

"I guess we don't have a choice." Frypan murmurs. "Anyone got a flashlight?"

"Actually, I do." Aris says, retrieving a torch from his back pocket and flicking it on. "I got it back at the facility before we left."

The boy hands the flashlight to Minho, who takes the lead of our group, scanning the torch this way and that as we walk along into the depths of the mall.

"God this place is bloody terrifying." Gzi laughs from beside me. "Imagine if a Crank comes out and just... RAAH!"

She jolts my shoulders in an act of "crank imitation" before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Shut up, Gzi." Natasha hisses from in front of us, turning around to glare at the girl. "Otherwise the Cranks really will come out and get us."

"What the hell even are Cranks?" Sonya asks.

"People taken over by the Flare." Teresa answers flatly. "When the virus consumes their entire body, they turn into some sort of zombie-like creature called a Crank. There's different levels of Crank as well. But hopefully, we won't have to encounter them anytime soon."

Yeah, hopefully.

I wrap my poor excuse for a coat tighter around my body as we enter a large storage room. It's filled with supplies such as backpacks, food, water and clothes, all covered in a thick blanket of dust, like they haven't been tampered with in years.

"Ok, everyone grab as much as you can from here." Thomas says, "we don't know when the next time food or water will be available, and the "Scorch" doesn't sound like it has a lot of water available."

"Thomas and I will explore the other rooms." Minho adds, hitting the boy's chest. "Cmon, let's go."

"Wait, we need a flashlight though." Ava says just as the two boys are about to leave the room.

"Don't worry, I've found one." I call, picking a dusty blue torch up off the floor. I click the button and immediately a dull white light casts across the room. It's not the brightest, but it will have to do.

"Ok, start gathering." Thomas says to us, before disappearing into the next room with Minho.

I follow the boy's order and start sorting through the supplies close to where I'm standing.

"I wonder why these people left all this stuff here." Frypan comments from the other side of the room. "It's pretty darn useful."

"Maybe they had no choice." Newt replies quietly from beside me, picking up a jacket from the rubble. "This will be handy."

I shift my eyes and watch him pull on the brown coat, brushing off the dust from the shoulders.

"That's a nice coat." I say to him, examining the fur-lined collar of the jacket. "It suits you."

He looks up at me and gives me a warm smile, illuminated by the dull torch light. "Thank you."

I return a smile before directing my attention back to the pile of supplies, sorting through the food that was unopened and fit to supply us.
I pack as much as I can into the backpack next to me, stuffing it to the very brim until I feel it about to burst.

"Hey." A voice comes from behind me, startling me. I turn around and see Teresa leaning over me, her dark hair pulled over one shoulder.

"Oh, hi." I say. "I'm Y/N, by the way. We haven't had much time to get introduced."

"I know." She laughs lightly. "I'm Teresa. There's some clothes in the back that I found, if you want some."

"Oh yeah, um, sure." I reply. "That would be great."

Placing my backpack down, I stand up and follow the girl to the back of the room behind a torn-up screen for privacy.

"Were you the only girl in your maze, then?" I ask, picking up a pair of khaki green trousers from the pile of clothes on the table and holding them up against my legs to see if they would fit.

"Yeah I was." Teresa replies, sliding on a jacket. "Granted I wasn't there for very long before we escaped."

"So you're kinda like the Aris of your group." I say. "You know, you show up and suddenly everything starts going wrong. No offence."

Teresa laughs slightly before picking up another item of clothing from the table. "None taken. Yeah, basically. I assume the same happen to you guys?"

"More or less." I sigh. "Aris came up in the box, and then a day later the maze walls wouldn't close and in came the grievers. They killed about 20 of us that night- it was horrific. The next day Gzi told us that we needed to get out of the Coremeum as soon as possible. Long story short we escaped the maze and were brought to that facility."

"The exact same happened to us." Teresa replies. "Here, this will come in handy out in the sun."

She hands me a dark purple woollen scarf. I pull it around my neck and twist it into a knot to secure it, adjusting it slightly to make it more comfortable.

"What?" I hear Frypan chuckle. I turn my head and see Newt with his hand on the boy's face, smirking as Frypan looks away in embarrassment.

Laughing quietly to myself, I exit from behind the screen and stuff the trousers into the top of my rucksack, barely making them fit in amongst the food and water.

"Ok I've got as much as I can carry." Harriet says, heaving her rucksack onto her back.

"Me too." Gzi calls out.

"Me three." Niamh adds on. "I think we should start-"

But the sound of Thomas's scream echoing from the other room stops her sentence. I whip my head around as Thomas and Minho run into our room, their eyes wide with fear.

"WE'VE GOTTA GO!" Minho yells. "GO GO GO!"

I'm about to question why, but another scream rings out from beyond the other room. But it sounded more inhumane than Thomas's- more like an animal who had been shot. Shivers instantly course over my skin at the sound of it, making me shudder.

"They've found us." Thomas pants frantically. "It's the Cranks."