She leapt for me and I jumped away, screaming and crying as my own mother chased me down like a rabid animal. I made a bolt for the stairs, thinking it would be a safe option. When your a kid, the room that makes you feel safest is your own. At least, that's how it was for me so that's where I found myself going.
As I ran up the stairs, feeling more scared then I ever have in my entire life, I felt a hand latch on to my leg and pull me down. My little head smashed against the concrete step and I felt the blood trickle down the side of my head. Before I could get up, I felt my mother grab me and turn me around so that I was facing her.
She screeched in my face, the liquid in her mouth spraying across my face. I cried hard as my mother raised a knife over my head, ready to lay it down on me. When she did, I moved my head out of the way just in time for her to miss my head but I felt the knife go through the side of my neck. I screamed as she pulled the knife out slowly, putting me through more pain.
While she was distracted, I took my foot and slammed it into the women's rib. She doubled over in pain while I got up, covering my rapidly bleeding neck, and climbing up the stairs. Once I made it to the top, I tried crossing the platform that lead to the other side. I thought I was going to make it until I felt my head being jerked back by the Crank who had grabbed hold of my hair.
She turned me around once again and wrapped her big hands around my tiny neck. When she started squeezing my airway shut, I started panicking, kicking and scratching but to no avail.
"Oh, you want me to let you go?" This was the first time I had heard my Crank mother speak and it was raspy and broken, it wasn't my real mother. "Fine." She said and I could feel her lift me off the ground.
Then, my mother threw me off of the platform.
The voices called to me, they beckoned for me to let them in, but I refused. I was making it, but only barely, my body weakening by the minute. Minho and Newt pulled me along while Gally and Thomas took the lead. Since the explosion of the wall, we had heard loud angry shouts in the distance, but they've been just that, distant, we just hoped it stayed that way.
"The tunnels are just up ahead." Gally said as he lead us through an ally between two buildings to the other side.
"You hear that?" Newt asked, trying to get me to respond but I didn't have the will to speak, having stayed quiet since the park. "We're almost there."
"Hold on for us (Y/n), your doing great, just keep going." Minho assured but I think my silence scared him more then anything as I tried so hard to keep my head up.
By now, the black veins had completely covered my neck to the point where I couldn't cover it anymore. My body was doused in sweat, my hair was matted and askew, and every part of my body screamed out in pain. But that didn't even come close to my head.
There was a constant buzzing like a thousand bees invading my brain. There was a pounding that wouldn't go away and wouldn't give me a break, not even once. And the voices, they were telling me to let go, telling me to give in while Minho told me to stay strong. I was conflicted, but ultimately chose to fight until I couldn't anymore.
Just as we had gotten to the other side of the ally, Gally swore under his breath as he ducked down. Confused, I looked to see a big group of soldiers waiting with their guns in hand and plenty of vehicles. We all joined Gally as he waved us forward.
"Stay low!" Gally whispered harshly as the boys rested me against a concrete slab that blocked us all from view.
Thomas turned around the corner to get a better look and I could hear the heavy footsteps of more soldiers and more cars pulling in with wailing sirens. Thomas turned back around, sitting next to me while Minho stayed in front of me, holding my hand tightly.
"GET READY!" A soldier screamed to the others and more heavy footsteps filled the now eerie silence.
"Damn it." Gally whispered underneath his breath as he looked at the rest of us. I saw how many soldiers there were, and there were a lot from what I could see, probably more where I couldn't. A lot of them had these big shields that covered their entire body, others had massive guns. Something serious was happening, and we were going to get caught right in the middle of it.
"What are they waiting for?" Minho asked but a sudden BANG disturbed the silence. The heat fell over the entire road and Thomas jumped back as a car behind him was hit by some kind of missile.
Then, that distant angry crowd roared as it ran into battle with the WICKED soldiers. Bullets rained down from both sides of the the battle but the ruined city rioters outnumbered the soldiers. More explosions came down and Thomas pushed us further while Minho covered me with his body.
I wanted to rip my ears off, maybe then I'd be free of the constant loud noises that rang through my brain. Thomas ordered us to stay down but I could barely hear him cause of the mix of gunshots, explosions, and screaming. So much was happening at one time and it irritated me badly. I wanted out.
Suddenly, another one of those missiles shot out and took down some of the cars that WICKED had parked. Screams of pain rang out as soldiers were flung across the roads and debris flew right over our heads.
"We gotta get out of here!" Gally exclaimed as more explosions came from every direction.
Minho and Thomas both picked my limp body off of the ground and pulled me along as we ran away from the explosions and war. We went back the way we came, hoping that maybe we'd be able to go around all the chaos. Unfortunately, we found ourselves running right back into it.
All the streets were full of the rioters, they shot their guns and set off their bombs, destroying anything in sight just because they could. We ran past the people but they didn't give a damn about us, some of them even looked at me and smiled. Smiled. We kept trudging forward seen as that seemed to be the only way that we could go.
I could barely walk at this point, the boys were basically dragging me across the streets of the falling city. I wished I could have done more, wish I could have been more helpful, I was just a burden now. I knew they were never going to say it, but they had to leave me if they wanted to get out of this city alive.
We looked around but everywhere we turned there was something else bursting into flames.
"Hey, this way!" Newt yelled as he lead the rest of us inside some kind of restaurant. Minho sat me down while Thomas went looking for his radio, most likely wanting to call Brenda. I slumped my head back, the black liquid now beginning to trickle out the side of my mouth and down my chin. I stopped trying to hold it back because it was starting to choke me.
Minho rested his hand on my neck, holding my head up for me seen as I couldn't do it myself. If he told me to hold on or tell me that we were almost there and to stay strong one more freaking time I knew I was gonna rip his throat out.
The boy opened his mouth and I was ready for the same comments that I had been getting all night, but what came next surprised me.
"Hows my hair look?" The boy asked and I was taken aback.
"W-we're ab-bout to die and your worried about your hair?" I asked and the boy shrugged.
"Well duh."
"Your such an egotistical asshole." I said flatly.
"Yes, you two truly are the ideal couple to look up to." Gally commented and we both turned to look at him.
"Shut it Gally!" We said at the same time, Minho turning back and wiping the liquid off my chin with a soft smile.
"Your hair is beautiful." I told him and he laughed, kissing my cheek.
"I know." He said in return.
The ground of the building suddenly began to shake like an earthquake, chairs and tables falling, glass smashing, the walls cracking as one of the explosions hit our building. I latched on to Minho's hand and he squeezed it tightly.
"Everyone alright?" Gally shouted to us and I moaned from the zing of pain that shot through my body.
"That was a dumb question." Newt said as he wiped the glass off of him, taking off his jacket so that he was only wearing his grey long-sleeved shirt.
"Brenda?!" Thomas shouted through the radio and I looked over to him, for some reason thinking she were here. I wanted to see Brenda, wanted her to hug me. Even more, I wanted my dad as he always made me feel safe, made me feel comfortable. He was the only one who truly understood me, but he couldn't see this and neither could Brenda.
"Do you wanna take this off?" Minho asked, referring to my heavy jacket and I nodded vigorously. Slowly, Minho helped pull the jacket off of my body, the tank top I was wearing underneath showed my bare shoulders that the veins had completely covered. Minho tried to ignore them, but I know it worried him to see me this far along.
"Thomas, I'm here!" I heard Brenda's crackled voice come through the radio.
I began coughing heavily once again, the black liquid becoming thicker as more of it built up in my mouth, dripping down my chin. Another explosion hit the building, breaking some more glass right above Gally's head.
"We're not gonna make it." Thomas told her and Brenda was silent on the other end for a second.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Brenda questioned but I'm sure the background screaming and gunshots already told her the answer to that question.
"Just take the others, get everyone out while you still can." Thomas instructed and it made all of this real now. I was really going to die. We were all going to die in this damn city because of WICKED.
"No." Brenda said in return, but I wasn't surprised by that.
"Brenda..." Thomas tried but he was going to have to do a lot better then that to shoo her away.
"I'm not leaving you." Brenda told him and that made Thomas rest his head back for a second. "Okay? So forget it."
"Even though you should?" Thomas said, using Brenda's own sayings against her which left her speechless on the other end. There was a very long pause before the girl spoke again.
"Thomas!" She said after her pause. "Don't worry, we're coming to you!" She shouted back through the radio.
"What are you talking about?" The brunette questioned as more explosions shook the ground.
"Our rides here!" She shouted back, the loud sound of a berg in the background, but that couldn't be possible, could it? "Just look for us near the tunnels." The girl instructed before she hung up the line.
Thomas looked at us individually before he spoke.
"We can make it." He told us like he had been telling us all night.
"You can make it if you leave me behind." I told them but they all whipped their heads to look at me.
"That's not happening." Minho told me. "You didn't make it this far just to give up now."
"I'm just a dead weight, you leave me here, then you'll make it." I told them but they all disagreed.
"No, I refuse to accept that." Minho said as he and Newt put my arms over their shoulders once again, carrying me towards the door while Gally took the front and Thomas took the back.
"When I say go, we head for that clearing there, down the alley." Gally instructed, pointing in the direction we were heading in. "Ready? Go!" Gally yelled, marching forward with his launcher in hand, aiming it at anything that moved which was a lot of things.
I could barely keep my eyes opened but I was able to keep them open enough to see all the destruction caused by these people. There were bodies everywhere, people running around and shooting things, some were just looting and exploring the city itself. The concrete roads beneath our feet were cracked now, not the perfect smooth they used to be. The whole city was tinted orange from the flames that sucked up all the oxygen and I couldn't even see the upper half's of some of the buildings because of the thick smoke that it made it impossible.
This was definitely not what we signed up for.
Gally lead us through the ally he was talking about, resting his gun slightly as we took cover behind the walls of the buildings.
"Alright, (Y/n), we're almost there!" Gally called back to me as we continued forward.
"Just leave me here!" I groaned as talking hurt my lungs and throat.
Before the boys could say anything else, the giant POP of a gun went off, a car rolling across the road shortly after. Gally pushed us back as the car flew by, going up in flames as it hit another car in its way.
"Get back!" Gally instructed and soon after, a small group of raging people came running past us. They took shots from soldiers and they shot their shots, some of them had crowbars and others not having anything but their bare fists.
Suddenly, the loud sounds of a berg flying overhead echoed through the city and we looked up to see it for real. That was my dad, he came back, my father came back for us.
He came back. No. He came back. Damn it. He came back.
The four boys looked over and watched as the berg flew in the direction of the tunnels, exactly where we had to go. But I found that when Minho was right there, leaning over me with his neck out in the open, I could easily kill him. It wouldn't take that much, I just needed to hold it and squeeze until I heard it crack. I could do it, I could seriously do it, and I kinda wanted to.
Then, when I realized what just went through my head, I backed away from Minho. My eyes widened as tears streamed down my cheeks, trying my best to ignore the voices in my head that told me to do it, that told me to kill him. The voice was clear in my head, it whispered in my ear sweet nothings but I tried to ignore it.
Do it
No
It only takes a second
No
Think about how fun it'll be
Shut up
All you have to do is grab his neck...
No
...And squeeze...
Get out of my head
...Listen to his bones crush in your hands
Go away
Do it
Get out of my head
Kill him
Leave me alone
Kill him
Get out of my head
Kill them
I won't
Kill them all
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
When I returned back to reality, I shoved the voice in my head deep so that I couldn't hear it anymore. I looked over to the boys as they talked amongst each other, then they turned to me.
"Come on, that's them, we have to go." Thomas said as he tried lifting me up but the pain that shot through my body was unbearable.
"No!" I yelled at them. "Leave me! Please, get out of here now!" I told them but Minho shook his head.
"You're coming with us." He said, trying to pull me up but I screamed in pain, pushing the boy aggressively back with the strength I didn't know I had.
"Go, go now, before it's too late." I told them but Minho and the others all stared at me like I was crazy, which I was.
"No." Gally said matter a factly and I looked at him, the tears streaming down my cheeks and the black liquid spewing from my mouth.
"Gally, you promised." I said but the boy shook his head. "YOU PROMISED!" I yelled.
"I KNOW WHAT I PROMISED!" He screamed back at me, taking me off guard. "But I won't."
"Guys, can we talk over here?" Thomas said and all the boys nodded, but before Minho could go, I grabbed his arm.
"Minho..." I said and he looked at my irritated dilated eyes sympathetically. "You are the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time." I said struggling on my words as the liquid gurgled in my throat.
"Same applies to you." Minho said and he pressed his lips against my forehead.
"Thank you." I said, taking a pause to cough. "Thank you for letting me see the world." I said and then took one more pause. "Minho, I..."
"No, stop." He said and I did, feeling my heart completely shatter. "We're gonna get through this, just hold on for me." Was all he said as he walked over to the other boys, his hand sliding away from mine and leaving it to lay limp on the floor.
The saddest part about all of this hassle was that Thomas didn't even see me slip the gun out of his holster. I held the heavy machine in my shaking hand and took one good look at it, then looking over to the boys who were facing away from me.
Thomas, the leader. He always was there for me and he always believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself.
Newt, my best friend. If I needed the truth, if I needed an honest opinion or answer, he's who'd I go to. He always cared for me, even when I didn't want him to, he always did.
At least I get to say Newtmas was real. I hoped it stayed that way for the rest of their lives, they work well together. If you needed a role model for your relationship, look no further then Newt and Thomas, the two hopeless romantics.
Even though I just met Gally, I knew who he was, he was a good person with a dark past. Everyone has one, but it's what you choose to do with it that make you who you are. Gally, even though barely knows me, would be willing to protect me from anything or anyone.
And Minho. Minho was special, more special to me then anyone else in the world. Minho was, dare I say, my first love. My only love. What I would have given for Minho to hug me, to tell me to stop, but he didn't turn around, not like he knew what was going through my head right now. I just wished he'd let me finish, that he'd let me tell him that I loved him. Maybe he'd figure it out on his own.
With all the strength I still had left, I slowly pushed my weak and trembling body to a stand, gun in my hand. I looked back one more time to my people, my boys, before I turned a corner and never looked back again.