Thomas was wide awake with Evelyn fast asleep on his chest. He had been waiting for her to fall asleep so he could leave knowing full well she'd be mad. He had to save Minho and it wasn't an easy task so that meant leaving her here so she'd be safe.
He looked down at her peaceful sleeping state, slowly bringing his hand that was rubbing her arm to a stop. He carefully lifted her up and off his chest as he stood, laying her back down on the bed placing a kiss on her forehead.
Before he made it even a step he felt his hand being grabbed by another causing him to turn around his eyes then landing on Evelyns hand that had wrapped around his own. Her eyes were opened a crease as she looked up at Thomas, the boy silently and unnoticeably freaking out having been caught.
"What're you doing?" She asked with a yawn.
He sighed running through the options in his head on if he should tell her or not before kneeling down in front of her and rubbing his thumb along her cheek causing her to look at him funny.
"You okay?" She questioned.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just wanted something to eat. I'll be right back." He'd made his decision and could only imagine the wrath that was sure to fall upon him once she found out.
She nodded letting her head fall back into the pillow, her eyes facing down as she snuggled into the not-so-soft sheet.
"Okay. Don't be gone too long. You're my blanket." She said, her voice muffled by the pillow her grip loosening on his hand slightly as he stood again and her sleep started to take over her again.
He could tell she'd already fallen back to sleep as he let her hand down gently and pulled the actual blanket up to her chin before quickly and quietly putting on his boots and jacket. He sent her one last look before exiting the curtain covered room.
Thomas snuck through the back of the building and past a few hammocks containing his friends but he wouldn't dare let them get into the certain danger that was the Last City.
He let out a breath after finally making it out of the building, searching his back to make sure no one tried to follow him and then...
"Where do you think you're going then?" His head whipped in the direction of the familiar voice as Newt stood in front of the jeep before flicking on a lamp.
Thomas let his arms hang in defeat having not been as sneaky as he thought he was. "Newt."
"Don't be a twat about it." Newts lips tilted up a little as he walked towards Thomas taking his backpack from him. "I'm already in."
"No, no. Not this time." Thomas said urgently as Newt threw his backpack into the back of the jeep. "Look, even if we find Minho there's no guarantee we make it back from this."
"Well, you'll need all the help you can get then won't you?" Newt asked opening the driver door to reveal Fry leaning on the seat casually smiling back at Thomas.
The boy shook his head at the two knowing he wasn't going anywhere without them.
"We started this together. May as well end it that way too." Newt claimed crossing his arms and leaning against the jeep again as Fry nodded in agreement.
Thomas sighed now feeling especially guilty for leaving his girlfriend here when he takes his other two friends. She's gonna be downright pissed.
"Okay. Let's go get him back."
"Oh but first." Newt placed his hand on Thomas's chest stopping him from entering the car. "What about Ev?"
Thomas pursed his lips and looked between the two other boys. "I need her to be safe."
"I mean, I completely agree and I assure you I don't want anything to happen to her..." Fry started as Thomas walked around to the passenger side and hopped in as Newt climbed in the back. "But she's gonna be really mad and I prefer to not get blamed for it."
Thomas chuckled as Fry started up the vehicle. "All right. You guys can blame it on me if you want."
"We were already going to, mate." Newt patted his shoulder before Fry pulled out onto the road leaving a girl who when she woke up, they knew would be furious...
•|•|•
...And she was
At first she woke up with a small grin thinking she was going to leave today to go get her best friend back and then they'd all make it back in time to go to the Safe Haven and maybe get rid of Ava and Janson as a bonus. What she did not expect was the reality of waking up without Thomas at her side like she did every other morning, instead she was only cuddling with his pillow.
Her initial thoughts consisted of him probably having to use the restroom or maybe getting a head start on planning their little detour. She was wrong. So very wrong.
She was now sat in her cot tying her shoes, muttering a string of profanities aimed at the boy who had up and left her when she was sleeping.
Those curses became slightly louder as her anger grew, the girl throwing on her jacket aggressively as she tied up her unruly hair.
"...shank, slinthead, lying son of a bitch, mother-"
"What happened?" Her muttering was cut off by Brenda who had just stepped past the curtain threshold after hearing her speak so many colorful words in one sitting. "Where's Thomas?"
Evelyns laugh was nothing short of unamused as she stuffed her things into her rucksack. "Oh he thought it would be fucking smart to go off alone to a place he knows is dangerous as fuck and doesn't even think to leave a fucking note." She angrily packed up her bag before throwing it on her shoulder and heading towards the exit.
"Newt and Fry are gone too. They must've gone with him." Brenda said following behind already planning on not letting her go alone.
"That bastard." She muttered again shaking her head before walking off.
Evelyn cared for the boy deeply but rest assured he's going to wish he didn't leave her.
"You're not going alone. Let me get the boys." Brenda chuckled sending Evelyn a look before walking back through the building.
Evelyn kept checking her watch and tapping her foot as she waited for the trio to come out in the sunny morning light. If they left last night then they've probably gotten fairly far.
"Thomas is an idiot." She lifted her head as Brenda, Miles and Jorge all walked out, Miles being the one to have spoke with a smile on his face. He was truly a breath of fresh air whenever she was upset always having a smile across his face and a silly twinkle in his eye like he was planning something making him all the more uplifting. "Not even a note?"
"Not a single note from any of them. You think it would be too harsh if I rip out all of their fingernails?" She asked as Jorge and Brenda got in the front with the other two in the back.
"Just a little bit." He scrunched up his face at the thought of what she was capable of, glad he wasn't on the other side of her enraged state.
•|•|•
The three boys had been traveling through rural and dirt roads since they started their trip hours ago. Frypans hands were tired from the grip on the steering wheel he'd held for the entirety of their so far journey, Newt was getting tired of sitting in the back only getting hotter as the day went on and the gust of wind wasn't helping one bit being that it also blew up dirt getting into his eyes and nose.
And Thomas was nervous. He just now let it settle in that he'd left his girlfriend without saying anything to her and though he must admit, he did miss her, he was scared for the next time he'd see her. She can be frightening when she wanted to be.
Thomas lifted his head from the map he had held in his hands as Fry brought the jeep to a halt in front of a dark tunnel entrance that had the yellow and black warning stripes marked above it.
"You want us to go in there?" Newt asked with one hand on his hip and the other pointing to the scary entrance that you could see about a centimeter into. "I don't want to come across as too negative but I mean, if I was a crank that's exactly where I'd be."
"I don't think we have much of a choice." Thomas responded looking from his map to the complete darkness only feet away.
Newt was hesitant and completely unsure but Thomas seemed fifty percent confident that this was in fact the best route so he went along with it. "Alright, I get shot gun."
They all took their spots back in the jeep only now Newt kept to his proclamation and stole the front from Thomas. It was only fair.
"Well here we go." Fry started it up and began venturing through the tunnel at a slow pace having to immediately turn on every single headlight that the car had equipped even having Newt and Thomas stick their flashlights out the window for that extra brightness.
"Just take it nice and slow." Newt stated taking in the surrounding sight of the cement walls and old dusty cars strewn around them.
A few of the lights lined down the walls were flickering only adding to the immense amount of frightening and unsure weight piled on their shoulders.
"Woah, woah, woah." Newt brought his hand up as to tell Fry to stop the car and he replied abruptly pressing his foot on the brake at the sight of a crank standing a few yards away.
Fry and Newt both looked back to Thomas in unison as the crank made the unnerving screeches and loud shrieks as it twitched in the light from the car.
"Okay, it's just one. Take it slow, go around him." Thomas instructed as Fry turned back to face the thing his hands gripping the wheel even tighter than before. "We'll be fine."
"Slow. Take it slow." Fry muttered under his nervous breath, the boy beside him turning off his light, setting it on the ground by his feet, and then promptly rolling the window back up.
Thomas leaned back as Fry silently tried to hype himself up, once his back hit the seat he jumped back a little as a woman with black veins and white as snow skin was standing right at his door.
"Please...Help me...Please." Through her breathy pauses she frantically tried to open the door but Fry had initially locked all the doors before and Thomas was never so thankful for the child safety feature. Though he had never used it before.
He then whipped to the right as another crank banged on the window. "Fry we gotta go."
"What am I supposed to do?" Fry's voice wavered as more and more cranks surrounded their car.
"Floor it Fry!" Thomas shouted as the jeep rocked back and forth from the cranks pushing against it. "Fry go!"
Fry finally got it moving, the entire car jolting forward and then the impact of a crank throwing itself at the windshield and punched the middle as a crack spread across it. The crank was blocking Fry's view of the path ahead, his control wavering and the car swerving.
"Come on Fry, shake it!" Thomas yelled through a grunt as he shifted back and forth across the seat.
The crank on the hood of the car crawled across to the side before banging its fist against Fry's window, causing the panic in his chest to escalate. It started to crack and the boy had had enough.
"Hang on!" His voice yet worried was still strong as he swerved the car to the left causing the crank to let go and plummet to the ground hard.
Thomas let out a breath of relief as he watched the crank try to get back up but the damage was quite clear. His breath got caught again as his head twisted back to see Fry had lost a little control but that's all the car needed to run into the side of the wall.
Once Fry got his grip back on the wheel, he turned it quickly again but it ended differently than last time being that it completely rolled upside down.
They all let out pained groans and coughs that were caused by the dirt they just ate from the fall. Thomas turned on his back, eyes squinted to keep the dust out of them as his feet were now pointed at his window. "Fry, cover your eyes."
He kicked the window and it shattered in one motion, the boy crawling out carefully as to avoid the sharp shards of broken glass surrounding him.
Fry was banging against his door but it was jammed with a rock in front of it, Thomas trying to pull it open but gave up feeling he'd have better luck on the other side. "Fry, go around."
He made it to the passenger side just as Newt had gotten the door pried open and rolled out himself, Thomas reaching a hand out to help in any way possible. "Newt, you okay?"
"Yeah." He groaned and patted the dust from his legs off grabbing at his lower right arm as he felt an uncomfortable pain there.
"Fry you good-" Thomas shot his eyes behind him as Newt got closer to him, a screech coming from the direction they just came, a crank revealing itself and started running at them. "Frypan, I think we need to leave now!"
"Fry now!" Newt shouted rapidly looking from the crank to the boy digging through the flipped over vehicle.
He kept struggling but eventually got his gun out from under the seat that had landed right on top of it, the boy standing up and shot at the crank from a couple feet away. It was way too close.
"Good shot Fry." Thomas breathed out.
"Thanks." He muttered his response looking sadly at the creature, though it was a deranged being he still felt kinda bad knowing it was once just like him.
His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the terrifying sound of cranks upon cranks piling into the tunnel and all heading straight for them.
"Oh no." Thomas said starting to back up as Frypan took a protective stance in front of the two as he shot a few bullets at them. "Fry, come on. Let's go!"
They ran through the tunnel but didn't make it far without another swarm of the attackers started towards them. They turned around as the previous cranks kept getting closer.
"Watch out." Thomas said warningly as Fry kept his gun up for defense but it was no match for the multitude of cranks now surrounding their every escape.
Fry held them off as long as he could but the space between the flare victims and the trio was slowly shrinking and his gun lost all ammo.
"I'm out!"
They glanced drastically in every direction but all they were met with was the same deformed faces of the zombie-like creatures.
Thomas's head tilted at the sound of an engine revving close by. He was surprised to say the least as a car came racing into the tunnel and past the cranks, a couple getting hit in its path.
His eyes went even wider as Evelyn popped her torso out from the sun roof window and started shooting at the cranks with a handgun. "Guys get in!"
They didn't have to be told twice as they hurriedly got into the car, Brenda and Miles also firing shots at the cranks from out their windows.
"Jorge go!" Evelyn called from the top sending a couple more shots before ducking back into the car and taking her seat next to Newt as Jorge drove off not caring to dodge any cranks standing in his way.
"I'm impressed." Jorge smirked looking through his rearview mirror at the boys. "You guys almost lasted the whole day."
"You good?" Thomas asked Newt and Fry to which they replied with nods and small 'yes's'.
Brenda turned in her seat to look at the boys like a mother would disappointedly at her child.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to bring you guys into this." Thomas replied looking at each of the four that had just saved his life, eyes landing on Evelyn and staying there as he held her terrifying glare as long as he could.
"Hey. I think is what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us." Fry said from the back sat next to Miles.
"You're welcome you idiots." Brenda chuckled.
____________________
Hey y'all!
This one was funny to me and the wrath of Evelyn will be shone...next chapter...
I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! Love you!