Song - Black Out Days (Phantogram)
Minho lifted the roller door to what seemed to be an old living space for people because makeshift beds lined each side. We spread out, admiring all the equipment that would be unbelievably valuable to us. Fry found an old LED lantern and turned it on, a steady white light illuminating the room. I swiped a torch off one of the benches and turned it on. Thomas lifted a jacket from the ground and shook the dust off it.
"Let's pack some of this stuff up. Anything you think you might need. We'll split up, see what else we can find. Minho and I'll have a look around," He instructed as he started to head out back into the corridor.
"Thomas," Newt said while throwing him a torch, "Be careful,"
Tom smiled slyly,
"I will be," he assured.
Minho rolled his eyes at the pair before heading out down one of the corridors. I watched Newt trail his eyes along the pair until they turned the corner.
I could tell him the truth now. Right now. But first I'll grab some stuff.
Winston and Aris also left to go the opposite way. Leaving just the four of us in the room.
I examined the space. Clothes, food, water containers, beds, and toys. I was drawn to a corner with a bed with what seemed to have women's clothes on top. Amongst the pile, I picked jeans, a grey T-shirt, and a greenish jacket. I popped behind a corner and quickly got changed. I knew only Fry, Teresa and Newt remained in the same room, so I wasn't worried. I removed my belongings -all three of them (my compass, lighter, and knife)- into my new jacket pockets. I found a backpack and emptied its contents. Among it, I found an empty water bottle, pocketknife, first aid kit, and a few other bits and pieces. I placed them all back into the bag neatly and strung it over my shoulder. As I made my way further into the room, a shiny object caught my eye under one of the beds.
I bent down and reached for it under the bed and grabbed what seemed to be cold metal. As I pulled it out, I almost dropped it in surprise. A knife. A beautiful, sharp, sleek knife. Very different to the one that was in my pocket right now. But although I knew that the knife I held would do some serious damage... some part of me couldn't part with the knife that... Gally had given me. I swallowed and placed the knife back onto the bed for someone else to grab. I knew it was dumb, but to me, it felt like betrayal. And I had already betrayed Gally in every other way. Instead, I found a heavy metal crowbar nearby and clutched that in my hand.
I slowly drifted down the room, further and further away from the boys. I felt Teresa's presence follow behind me. As I turned a corner, I jumped a mile when I was met with a group of old mannequins. I must have screamed loudly because Newt called out,
"You alright?"
"Yeah... yeah I'm good," I breathed as I shook my head at myself and kept moving forward. I used my torch to illuminate the objects around me. Just more beds and clothes. I stopped to admire a teddy bear sitting on one of the beds. Teresa kept walking until she came to a halt beside me.
"So... what's up with you?" she asked quietly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking back at her.
"Well, last time I saw you, you were frantically running around our lab, trying to explain that you had destroyed everything we had worked towards so you would be sent into the maze," She explained.
I chuckled in response but although there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, her eyes looked deathly serious, so I cleared my throat.
"Yeah, well that was a long time ago. And a lot of things have happened since then,"
"Tell me, we used to tell each other everything," She coaxed putting a hand on my shoulder.
I sighed,
"Well, you probably know this, but I went into the maze,"
"Yeah, with Tom. I watched you, even tried to convince them to bring you out... until they put me in," She muttered.
"What? They put you in?" I questioned.
"Yeah, a different maze... only girls though, well except Aris,"
"You know this kid Aris?"
"Yeah, but not for long, after I got my memories back, I figured out I was only put in a day after you. So wasn't in there for very long..."
"So, you just got your memories back... same as me?"
"Yeah," She murmured.
"It's fucking weird," I sighed.
"Yeah, it is a bit,"
"Like having forgotten everything... even who my own brother is,"
"How is Newt?"
I looked at her sheepishly. Her little smile immediately dropped.
"Wait... you haven't told him?" She whispered.
"Not yet... I haven't had the time and... I don't know how," I admitted.
She sighed.
"You'll figure it out... you always did, even when Tom was put in the maze you still..."
Her voice turned to a mere mutter by the end of her sentence until she trailed off with a hint of frustration. I looked at her in surprise. I knew she was always on the fence between our options, but I presumed after everything... she would understand what we had to do.
"Tess... you know we were doing the right thing... right?"
Her eyes widened and she just looked at her feet, opening and closing her mouth but no words forming. She grabbed my upper arm and guided me behind a wall a few meters away.
"Look, Eleanor, Wicked... they didn't just give us our memories back. They did something else-"
With a crack of electricity, the lights around us flicker on. The entire room was filled with a steady yellow light. We stopped for a moment before she continued,
"There's a reason why they need our blood. We were too naïve to see it before. Nothing we could ever do would stop them,"
A nearby screech of some sort of creature interrupted her and I stepped back, forgetting about the conversation with Teresa because... I recognized that noise. I had heard it before. When we were leaving the helicopter. Another screech echoed through the halls. Me and Teresa ran back to the main room where Newt, Frypan, Aris, and Winston had all gathered.
"What was that?" I squeaked while standing next to Newt.
"I don't know," He responded.
"Where's Thomas?" I breathed.
"Still in there," He murmured quietly,
I sighed,
"I have a bad feeling about this-"
"HEY!" A voice screeched from the opposite end of the hall. We all spun and saw Minho and Thomas turning the corner. In full sprint. And then what followed them... my mouth opened at the sight. Zombies. A dozen zombies. Running at the same pace. Screeching and screaming like animals.
"Oh... shit!" Newt cursed.
"Fuck!" I yelled at the same time as I wrapped my backpack around both arms and turned in the opposite direction.
"HEY! GET OUTTA HERE!" Thomas bellowed at all of us.
"GO!" Minho screamed as the gap between us grew thinner.
"Come on!" Newt yelled at us, as we all bolted away from the creatures. We ran to the end of the corridor and were met with two escalators. We climbed up on either side listening to the screeches get louder and louder.
"Thomas! Minho! What the hell are those things!" Winston yelled at the pair as we climbed to the top.
"I don't know! Just keep going!" He hollered back.
"Move! Move!" Minho barked as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me by his side. Bringing me to the front of the group.
"Where do we go?" Winston cried.
We hurtled around a corner but came to an abrupt halt when we were met with another zombie a few meters in front of us. I screamed with terror at the sight of the thing. Bulging black veins cover the skin. Limbs and neck bent in every unnatural way. Its eyes ripped from its sockets.
Aris pulled me back and ran towards the creature, baseball bat in his hand.
"Aris! No!"
Aris skidded onto the ground and swung the bat along the creature's legs, bringing it to the ground just at our feet. We leaped to the sides, splitting up the group. Me and Thomas stood at the bottom of another escalator. The others stumbled back in the opposite direction. More creatures came snarling towards the others,
"Go! Go around!" Thomas screamed at the others as a zombie started to crawl up the escalator. I took a step back before tightening my grasp on the crowbar in my hand.
I lunged,
"Eleanor!" Thomas yelled.
And I smacked it square across the face. I stumbled back at the sock of the connection. Another jumped onto the railing and Tom kicked it down the steps so I had to jump to the side to avoid it trampling me.
"Come on!" Thomas yelled while grabbing my hand and pulling me up the last little bit of the stairs.
As we got to the top we collided with the others, joining together once more to sprint down another wide corridor.
"We gotta find a way out of here!" Frypan hollered over the growing screeches.
"No shit!" I yelled back from behind him.
A sudden crash, growl, and familiar scream came from behind. I spun and saw... Newt. On the ground wrestling with a zombie.
"Newt!" Me and Tom cried in unison. I sprinted to his side but Thomas pushed me to the side as he bolted and kicked the creature off Newt, sending it flying down the balcony.
Thomas heaved him up and grabbed the sides of his face,
"You okay?" He gasped, eyes searching Newt's.
"Thanks Tommy, I'm fine-"
Screeches erupted behind us. A wave of creatures bolting toward us.
"Come on you two, let's go!" I screamed while grabbing both of them by the shoulders and shoving them forward.
"Through here! Through here! Let's go!" Minho barked as he pushed us all down a tiny corridor. We sprinted down, Thomas checking every door we came across. All locked. The zombies reached the start of the corridor. Their screams echoed down the hall.
"Shit!" I screamed as we tried to open yet another door but it was locked. We sprinted further down until we reached a dead end, where two double doors sat.
"It's a dead end!" Minho bellowed.
Tom shook the door and noticed how it was slightly ajar. Locked from the opposite side.
"This one!" he hollered at the rest of us. He kicked the door with all his strength and the other boys followed suit. Winston reached into his pocket and grasped a gun, he loaded it.
"I'll hold them back!" he affirmed while spinning to face the hoard coming towards us. He shot a few times, the front ones falling to the ground. But the cranks kept moving and were closing the gap-
"Give it!" I barked while snatching the gun from his hands, resting it in my hands like muscle memory. No. Like I was taught all that time ago. I pushed down on the trigger again and again, sending them into the heads of the creatures.
"Since when could you-"
I heard a yell and crash as the door behind me swung open.
"Come on Ella!" Thomas screamed as the others ran through the door. Winston grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me through the door and as he followed behind me, the zombies got to his legs.
"Winston!" I screamed as the others grabbed his flailing arms. Minho and Tom held the door so only Wisnton's body could fit.
"Help me!" He screeched as the creatures dug their fingernails into his skin while trying to rip him back. He screamed in pain as the others hauled him through the door. Mihno and Tom shut the door behind them, but still, the creatures screamed while trying to push it open.
"Go! Go! Go!" Thomas ordered as Newt grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the door. We kept sprinting down a garage of sorts until we heard Minho and Thomas leave the door, the cranks being set free.
"Come on Tom!" I screamed back at him as he ran away from the growing cluster of cranks.
We sprinted further and further down this never-ending labyrinth, no end in sight.
We sat, huddled under a piece of concrete, fallen to make an alcove in the rubble. Newt pressed against one side of me, his arms around my shoulders, and Minho on the other. Thomas sat in front, catching his breath. I trembled in fear as we listened to the screeching of the zombies, no. Cranks. I remembered now. That's what they are called. Newt held me tighter as I leaned my head on his shoulder, trying to process what just happened.