The Girl In The Last City

Part Five: The Tunnel

"Where do you think your going then?"
"Newt..."
"Don't be a twat about it, I'm already in. C'mon."
"No, not this time. Even if we find Minho there is no guarantee we make it back from this."
"Well, you'll need all the help you can get then."
You watched as Newt walked over to the drivers door and opened it wide. You smiled widely at Thomas and gave him a wave. Newt turned to the brunette and leant against the car with arms crossed.
"Hey Greenie." You said and Thomas looked back at you in shock.
"How did you gu-"
"We aren't stupid Thomas, we all knew you were gonna do it. I was coming anyway." You said and you saw Frypan poke his head up so that Thomas could see him.
"Hey Thomas." Fry smiled and you watched as Thomas's jaw hung open. He scoffed, but then smiled slightly.
"Well we started this together." Newt said. "May as well end it that way too."
"What if it gets dangerous? What if someone gets hurt or dies!?" Thomas asked and you
rolled your eyes.
"Thomas, trust me, at this point none of us are afraid of WICKED. I think WICKED is afraid of us." You said and the brunette sighed.
"I can't talk you guys out of this, can I?"
"Trust me, we are way past that point in this relationship." You told him which made the boy smile.
"Okay." Thomas said with a light nod. "Let's get him back."
"Good that, now let's get out of here before we get caught." You said, turning the key in the ignition. The car roared to life and you gripped onto the steering wheel.
"Wait, your driving?" Thomas asked, a sarcastic worried expression flashing over his face.
"What is wrong with all of you! I'm a great driver! Now get in before I leave you here." You said flatly and Thomas laughed, jumping in the back while Newt took the front seat next to you. You pushed down lightly on the gas pedal and the engine revved, but it didn't move. You looked down and laughed when you saw the car was still in park. You changed gears and then you pushed down on the pedal and it shot forward a little, taking everyone by surprise.
"Touchy." You said and then you heard the buckle of a seatbelt behind you.
You drove out of the garage area without hitting anything or revving the engine by accident. You pulled out of The Right Arm camp and began going down the highway.
"So do we know where we're going?" Fry asked and you looked over at Thomas.
"Thomas, give Newt the map please." You said and you watched through the rearview mirror as the boy searched through his bag.
"Here." He said, passing it up.
"Thanks Tommy." Newt responded as he took the map and unfolded it. "I'm going to assume we're going to the circled area."
"Yeah." You said.
"Take a u-turn, we went the wrong bloody way." Newt said with a laugh and so did everyone else in the car. Once you had turned the car around and went in the right direction, Thomas spoke up.
"Okay, now we can go save Minho."

You continued down the road of the never ending scorch. There were hills and huge mountains in the distance that looked beautiful against the sunrise. You looked through the rearview mirror and saw both Fry and Thomas passed out against their side of the car. You then glanced at Newt as he held his arm out the open window of the car.
He looked so relaxed, so happy, nothing could have ruined his mood. It was his positivity, the hope he always had, that you didn't understand. How he could constantly be able to hold a smile on his face was beyond your knowledge. All you knew was that he held you together.
He must have seen you looking cause he turned his head. You looked back at the road quickly and so Newt looked back out the window. You decided to play around with him and begin staring again. He whipped his head back but you just looked out to the lovely road once again. Newt began turning his head once more and so did you. The boy looked back at you again with confusion.
"What?" He asked but you shrugged.
"What do you mean what?"
"Your staring at me." He laughed but you shrugged again.
"I don't know what your talking about." You responded.
"Don't bloody lie, I saw it!" Newt laughed out but you shushed him.
"Shhh, your Glader babies are sleeping." You teased and Newt smiled with a confused expression.
"Glader babies?"
"Yeah, your the Mom. Mama Newt." You beamed and Newt scoffed with a laugh.
"And if I'm the mum, what does that make you?" He asked and you thought about it.
"The cool aunt." You said and Newt laughed again.
"You mean the crazy aunt." You heard Frypan mutter and both you and the blondie laughed.
"Go back to sleep!" You called back and Frypan muttered something you couldn't understand.
"So what does that make the others?" Newt asked and you thought about it.
"Fry is the mature older brother, Jorge is the fun but cranky grandpa, Brenda is the tough only sister, Aris is the little brother, Minho is the dad who couldn't give two shucks, and Thomas is that weird cousin that doesn't go away so he just becomes one with your family."
"Why am I the weird cousin?" Thomas complained.
"Because that's what you are, don't fight it, that only makes it worse." You said and the boy scoffed, then began trying to rest again.
"Hey, what's that?" Newt asked as he pointed to a giant sign that was hung up high. It was ripped and the steel rods holding it up were rusting.
"Mandatory Infection Check - 2 Miles Ahead." Newt read. "What are the chances that's still up and running?"
"I'd say slim." Thomas said in the back, rising up from his sleeping position and giving up on sleep altogether.
"I guess we'll find out." You responded, picking up speed on the empty desolate highway.

The place was a trash heap. There was no one there and there were rusting gates, signs, and cars littered everywhere. You drove into the gated area and continued forward.
Eventually, you stopped the truck right in front of a tunnel. A very dark and ominous tunnel that just radiated danger. You jumped out of the car, followed by Newt, Thomas, and Frypan. All four of you walked up to the front of the tunnel and just stared at it for a second.
You could tell this place had been abandoned long ago as nothing was kept in check. There was a huge water tower right next to the tunnel that, like everything else, was rusting away. There was a gate that lead into the tunnel that had been broken through.
"You want us to go in there?" Newt asked you as the you all stopped in front of the tunnel.
"If you have a better way in, be my guest." You responded.
"I mean, I don't want to come off as too negative but if I were a Crank, that's exactly where I'd be." Newt told you and you looked back to Thomas who held the map.
"We don't have much of a choice. It's the only way in." The brunette said.
"Running into emanate danger where we could all possibly die." You said flatly. "What else is new?"
"Alright, I get shot gun." Newt then said after a long silence and you followed after him back to the car. You jumped back in the drivers seat while Newt, like he said he would, took the front seat next to you. You shut the door hard and took a deep breath.
"Relax love, we've got this."
"I just hope we aren't in over our heads." You said as you took the car out of park once the other boys had jumped back in. You turned around to them. "We ready."
"No, but are we really ever?" Fry said.
"Nope." Thomas replied and then, you pressed on the gas, pushing the car forward into the dark tunnel.