Newtmas: Til Death do us Part

Chapter Eight: Newt

An hour later, WICKED's building came into view. Pearl was still asleep, but Scarlett had woken up and looked anxious. As we reached it's doors, no one said a word. Roxxy stared straight ahead, a blank expression on her face. Pearl started to stir, and Roxxy leaned across the seat to whisper in my ear. "Can you stay in here with Pearl? Scarlett and I can handle things on our own." She said, slipping a mask onto her face. It was a different one than before, and it covered the bottom half of her face. I gave her a swift nod, and she opened the door. Scarlett followed her lead, but not before giving Pearl a tight hug.

"Stay safe." She said, touching Pearl gently on the cheek. Then, she ran after Roxxy with a backpack slung over her shoulder.

"So..." Pearl trailed off, "you're my babysitter?" she said, frowning.

"No, we're just watching out for each other." I said, and I wasn't lying. She has survived the apocalypse, hasn't contracted the Flare, escaped from WICKED, and found a cure. She might be my babysitter. But Pearl didn't see it that way, so she rolled her eyes. "I'm serious! You've done some crazy stuff, all I did was become a crank and let you guys cure me." A small smile appeared on her face, and she looked pleased.

"For the record, you didn't just let us. You were kicking and screaming!" She exclaimed, giggling. Just as I was about to defend myself, a scream split the air. "Roxxy and Scarlett!" She hissed, but I was already getting ready. I grabbed the rusted stick next to me, and opened my door.

"Stay in here. No matter what happens, do not get out of this car." I spoke quietly, and tried to ignore the look of fear on her face as I ran away. As I crossed the doorway, I could feel my stomach drop. The building was cool, and looked abandoned. Besides the wind, nothing moved. Flashes of faces slipped in and out of my mind, but one girl's face kept appearing. She looked like me, and it wasn't the first time I've seen her. My hand started to ache again, and I tightened my grip on the poll with my left hand. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, doors sprinkled throughout it. "Scarlett? Roxxy?" I shouted out, waiting for a response. The only voice I heard was my own, echoing throughout the empty building. "Guys?" I yelled again, and this time another shriek split the air. I ran to it, down the twisting hallways, until I found Scarlett and Roxxy. They were in the midst of battling a crank, and Roxxy was dancing around them trying not to get too close. Scarlett was taking big swings, and the crank was barely past gone. He could still move around, and was trying to grab at Roxxy. His skin was falling off in some places, but he still looked mostly human. I ran to her side, swinging my makeshift bat at his head. As it made contact, I heard a dull thump and the crank crumpled to the ground.

"Thanks." Roxxy said breathlessly, and Scarlett dropped to the ground to try and find a pulse. We all fell silent, waiting for her verdict.

"Still alive. For now." She murmured, standing up. "Newt, you need to go back to Pearl." I nodded, and told them to be careful. Just as I was about to leave, Scarlett swore under her breath. "Pearl!" She exclaimed, getting a stern glance from Roxxy. "We told you to stay in the car." She said quieter, moving in front of the cranks body. But Pearl's eyes had already started to mist over, and I just hoped that she didn't know him.

"Yeah, but a crank got in. I got all the supplies and got out." She said, dropping the bags at her feet. Roxxy rushed over to her, wrapping her in a big hug. "Is he dead?" Pearl asked, voice shaky.

"No." I assured her, picking up one of the bags at her feet. Scarlett grabbed the pink purse, and slung it over her shoulder. "But let's keep moving." I said, hoping one of them would have a plan. Roxxy held Pearl's hand, and pushed open a door. She led us down the twisting hallways, rooms, and staircases until we finally reached the place we were looking for. The whole time, she had Pearl's hand tightly in her grasp. I don't want to know what happened to these kids here, because it must have been horrific.

"Guard the doors." She said to Scarlett and I, and she reluctantly left Pearl's side. She pulled a chair that wasn't broken over to a computer, and cracked her knuckles. "This'll take around thirty minutes." Roxxy started to tap the screen, waiting for it to light up. As Scarlett positioned herself near the main entrance, I found myself looking around the room. Obviously, it had been wrecked by cranks. There were blood stains everywhere, and most electronics had been smashed. As the time ticked by, Scarlett focused on the hallway. Any movement, and her eyes would catch it. Pearl played with her hair, trying to braid it without a hair tie. "Five more minutes..." Roxxy mumbled to herself, as the clicking on the keyboard grew faster and faster. Just as the words left her lips, Scarlett's spine straightened.

"Shuck." She cursed, and I ran over to her side. Ava Paige was crawling towards us, one of her eyes completely clawed out. Scarlett picked up her weapon, and called out to Roxxy. "Hurry up in there!"

Getting up from the ground, "Scarlett?" She lurched forward, and I grabbed a big piece of glass from the broken computers. "And Newt..." She growled, using the wall to help herself stand up. "You're not a crank." Ava said, reaching out to me. "Too late..." she mumbled, looking at her bloody hands. "Too late too late too late-" She shrieked, throwing herself at me. She clawed at my eyes, causing scratches of pain to flare up around me.

"Get off of him!" Pearl yelled, and pushed her off of me.

"Pearl, stop!" I ran to her side, but it was too late. Ava had already scratched her, and was breathing heavily on her. Blood ran down her face, and she looked horrified. I grabbed her hand, and pulled her out from under Ava. But the crank was determined, and was about to launch herself at us when a loud bang echoed throughout the room. Blood began to seep from the back of Ava's head, and she fell to the ground. A large pool of scarlet began to form at her head, cold, dead eyes still open. Pearl began to shake in my arms, and began to weep. "It's okay. We just need to get to the munies, and then we'll get a cure. It'll be okay." I whispered to her, and her tears finally abated. I glanced at Scarlett, and she had already started fumbling with the gun she'd picked up.

"What's going on?" Roxxy exclaimed, running out of the room. When she saw Pearl's face, tears slipped down her face. She let out a small 'oh' and tried to wipe them away.

"I'll be okay!" Pearl said, but she didn't seem that convincing. "You need to stay away from me." She said, letting out a heartbreaking sob. "I'm...infected." She spat, saying the word like is was another disease of its own.

"You won't be for long." said Roxxy, who was still trying not to cry. "We just need to get to the island, to see if they made it. Speaking of which, I'm almost done." She gestured for us to follow her, and Scarlett followed her. Pearl looked up at me with big, watering eyes, but said nothing. She entered the room, but kept as far away from Roxxy as possible. "It went much better than expected, so I can completely disable the chips. You'll get all your memories back." Despite the dire circumstances, I couldn't help but smile. With one final worried look at Pearl, Roxxy tapped on the screen. "Ready?" She asked, and I gave her a quick nod. She pushed the button, and everyone's faces started to flood into my mind. Thomas, but he was much younger. My heart had raced whenever I was around him, and for years I didn't even realize that it was because I liked him. But Lizzie... I had met my sister, she was all grown up, and I hadn't talked to her. She was the strongest person I knew, and with her, I knew that they had survived.

Scarlett stepped towards us, and said"Let's keep moving. We still have a lot to do before we can leave this place."