To The Shucking End

Chapter 29

If she felt claustrophobic before, Gally was taking it to a whole new level when he redirected her into a hole in the brick wall that didn't have any water in it but was so small, they literally had to crawl through it.

"Hold up, Tan. This way," he'd said as he went through first, Tanya sighing heavily as she crawled in behind him with Thomas and Newt bringing up the rear.

"Gals, have I ever told you that you are out of your ever-shucking mind?!" she asked as he got to the end of the open tunnel, removing what looked like a vent cover as he peered out of the hole.

"Once or twice," he answered as he sat by the opening, waiting for something.

Something that ended up being a fucking train as it roared past them.

"Ok, we gotta be quick about this! We're not going to have a lotta time. Stay on me, ok?!" he instructed over the roar of the train.

Tanya didn't really have time for a response before the train passed and Gally was yelling at them to go, already jumping out of the hole as he reached in for Tanya and lifted her out, an unnecessary thing for her as she was capable of doing it but necessary for him who just needed to touch her and be close to her but didn't have the time.

Thomas and Newt jumped out as Gally put the vent back in place.

"Great. Tommy and Tan love trains, don't they?" Newt joked as Tanya gave him a dead look before letting out a surprised squeal as Gally grabbed her hand and pulled her into a sprint.

"You're about to see another one real soon!" he yelled as he did, leaving Thomas and Newt behind.

"You are so out of your fucking mind!" she screamed back as the boys chased after them.

Gally seemed to be struggling as they ran, his breathing shallow as if he wasn't able to get enough air before Tanya pushed in front of him and began pulling him along as they went.

"Gally, what the hell are we doing?!" Thomas shouted from somewhere behind them.

"Less talking, more running!" he replied, grateful for Tanya's help as they moved and annoyed that she'd gotten faster in the last year. Then again, she'd had to do a hell of a lot of running from WICKED.

And then she felt the train lines beneath her feet begin to rattle as the tunnel began to grow brighter.

"Gally!" Thomas called worriedly.

"We're almost there!" he bellowed back.

"Gally! You see the train heading straight for us, right?" Tanya asked him before he pointed at a ladder off to the side as she sprinted faster and tugged him to it, the boy unable to get enough oxygen to give her a verbal answer.

But what they didn't see was Thomas overtake Newt who tripped on the tracks and fell.

"Newt!" Tanya screamed in worry as she jumped down from the ladder, she and Thomas about to bolt to him but Gally pushed them back as he raced for the blonde. "Gally!" she cried out as Thomas pushed her flush against the wall as the train zoomed past them and they squeezed their eyes shut.

Tanya's heart was in her throat, her breath stopped in her lungs as she dared open her eyes after the train was gone to hear Gally and Newt groan from where Gally had flattened them both on the tracks, so the train went over them.

"Well, that was fun," Newt groaned as Tanya pushed herself off the wall and jogged over to them.

"You fucking shanks," she swore as Gally got up on his knees.

"Never were great runners, were we Newt?" Gally asked, a hand on his chest as he took deep breaths.

"I've only got one good leg," he retorted as he took Gally's hand, and the boy helped him up.