Gosh, I do not like the Crank Palace scene. My heart always bleeds for Newt.
Question of the Chapter: if I wrote another fanfic after this, would you read it?
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They sit in the shade, waiting anxiously for the guard to return.
"So, are you going to talk to anyone yet?" Minho asks.
Lori shrugs.
The boy chuckles, "They're literally finding him now, so talk to me. Come on, I know you can't stay quiet that long. It's not in your nature"
Lori laughs. "Thank you for being such a good friend," she says, her voice coming out a hoarse whisper.
"You're welcome. Same to you I guess," he chuckles. He looks away, his eyes drifting to Clara.
The strawberry blonde smiles. "You know, I know it doesn't seem like it, but you shouldn't let this whole save-the-world thing get in the way of you following your feelings."
Minho's cheek flame red, "I have no idea what you're talking about, shank."
"Oh, I'm sure," she nods, before leaning towards him. "She likes you too by the way."
Minho immediately attempts to cover a smile. He's about to say something, when two Cranks walk up to their group; a man and a woman holding hands.
"When did you get here?" the woman inquires.
Brenda decides to save the day, "We came in with the last group. We're actually looking for our friend who was with us. His name's Newt - blond hair, has a limp. Have you seen him?"
The couple look at each other, before returning the gaze to Brenda. The man answers as if the girl was an imbecile. "Lots of people with blond hair around here - how're we supposed to tell who's who? What kind of name is Newt anyway?"
Lori feels her blood begin to boil, but Thomas rests a hand on her arm, calming her, reminding her why they're there.
A loud noise erupts from the center of town, causing the couple to run off in worry, retreating to a house a few doors down.
"They look about as happy t be here as we are," Thomas points out.
Jorge grumbles. "Real friendly. I think I'll come back to visit."
"They don't look like they've been here all that long," Lori says quietly, shocking everyone that she has actually spoken. "I must be pretty scary finding out you're sick, then being sent here."
No one responds, the thought to grim for anyone to want to dwell on the topic.
"Where are those guard?" Minho asks. "How long does it take to find someone and tell 'em their friends are here?"
Another ten minutes and the guards are back. But they have not brought Newt.
Lori is on her feet in seconds. "Well, where is here? What did you find?"
The tall man answers the question again, "Took through some looking around, but I think I found your guy. Looks just like you described and he turned toward us when we called his name. But . . ." He looks to his partner, a strange look on both of their faces.
"'But'?" Lori echoes. "But what."
The guard sighs. "He said - very pointedly, I might add - to tell you guys to get lost."
Lori can feel her heart crumbling, her head fuzzy with thoughts. Why would he say that?
"Show us where he is," Minho demands, jaw clenched.
The guard gives a confused look, holding up his hands to the group. "Did you not hear what I just said?"
Thomas shakes his head, "Your jobs not done. Not yet."
The shorter guard scoffs at them all, "No way. You asked us to find your friend and we did. Give us our money."
"No," Lori spits out. "I have had it. We have been through too much to get here and be told that he doesn't want to see us. We asked to see him, and that was the deal. He isn't in front of us, I can't see him; therefore, you're job isn't done. And you aren't getting one damn cent, until I see him, because I am just done with all of this!" She takes a few breaths, composing herself as the wide eyes of her friends stare at her.
Jorge nods, holding up the cash card, "You heard her, muchachos."
The guards don't look happy, as they begin to have a hushed conversation together.
"Hey!" Minho yells, breaking up their heated conversation. "If you want that money, let's go!"
"Fine," The hairy guard grunts. "Follow us."
They do as they're told, and follow the two guards deeper into the city. Not much seems different as they travel further. The buildings are just as wrecked, and the whole place is just as dirty.
They pass two Cranks who have gotten in to a fight, and Thomas begins to slow, before he is scolded by a guard.
"Don't even think about it. Keep moving."
Thomas' brows knit together, "But isn't it your job to -"
The tall guard doesn't allow him to finish his sentence. "Shut up and let us handle things. If we meddled in every squabble and catfight we saw, we'd never be done. We'd probably be dead. Those two can sort out their own problems.
"Just get us to Newt," Minho instructs, sounding much calmer than usual.
After much more walking, they finally reach a large archway decorated with large led lights that spell out 'The Central Zone'.
They number of people they can see inside the building is somewhat unnerving, but Lori knows it's worth it if they can get newt out of there.
The guards both halt below the archway, examining the six carefully. "I'm only going to ask once," The mustached man says. "Are you sure you want to go in here."
"Yes," Lori says so fast, the others didn't even have enough time to actually comprehend the question. "Where is he?"
"Okay, then. Your friend is at the bowling alley. As soon as we point him out, I want our money."
"Let's just get moving," Jorge grinds out, his voice not hiding how irritated his is that he has to give away his money to a pair of greedy guards.
They lead the group through the archway and in the Central Zone, which is almost wall-to-wall packed with Cranks. The people look awful, patches of hair missing, rashes, dirty, coughing.
Lori tries not to take much notice, because she doesn't want to think that this is how they might find Newt.
"Remind me not to buy any real estate here," Minho jokes, trying to alleviate some of the group's anxiety.
Lori taps the guard on the shoulder. "So, where's the bowling alley? Is it far?"
"Calm down, girl. It's over this way."
They go to the left, staying close to the wall to help make sure no one gets lost.
The Cranks milling around the Central Zone stop what they're doing to look at the newcomers. One particular female takes a livid interest in Thomas.
"I want to kiss you," she claims as she hold his chin. "What do you say, Munie?" She begins to laugh, and Thomas just looks freaked out. He pulls away, and they all continue to walk towards the bowling alley, trying to avoid any more interactions.
There are no doors on the entrance of the bowling alley, just a large archway like the Central Zone. By looking at the hinges though, Lori logically assumes that it did have doors, but they've obviously been taken down.
"He's in there," the guard says gruffly. "Now pay up."
They all step out of the way, allowing Jorge to stand before the man.
Minho is suddenly on the tips of his toes, looking over the masses of people. "I can see him in the back. It's dark in here, but it's definitely him."
"We want our money," the other guard demands impatiently.
Jorge looks like he couldn't care less as he looks at the two men. "You'll get double if you make sure we get back to our Berg safely."
The two guards take a moment to discuss what they are going to do. "Triple. And we want half of it now to make sure you're not blowing smoke out your butts."
"That's a deal, muchacho."
Once the money has been transferred, the guards look to them. "We'll wait right here."
"Come on," Minho says, walking into the bowling alley without waiting for anyone to respond to him.
Lori jogs to catch up with him, Clara by her side. "Minho, where is he?"
Said boy lifts a hand and points to where he had spotted their friend only a couple of minutes ago. Lori can feel her heartbeat begin to speed up. They found him. They actually did it.
As they make their way to Newt on the far side of the building, they are careful to step over all the sleeping bodies, not wanting to cause any trouble.
The building is fairly dark, and does not smell that great either. There are people everywhere, sleeping, talking, sitting around fires. Yes, fires; in a bowling arcade. On each lane where the bowling pins usually stand, sits a burning log fire, where some are sitting sound to stay warm.
Newt is at the one furthest from the entrance.
Lori can finally see him, spotting his blonde hair in the dimly lit room.
Thomas and Minho walk ahead of the rest of them, faster on their feet weaving through the hordes of sleeping people on the ground.
When they reach less than ten feet from Newt, the boy's voice shouts at them all, stopping them in their tracks. "I told you bloody shanks to get lost!"
Lori can see Minho's shoulders tense up, and Thomas squeezes Brenda's hand, who had walked up to stand beside him.
The strawberry blonde decides to stay behind Minho with Clara, waiting until Newt calms down.
"We need to talk to you," Minho says, moving closer to Newt by a few feet.
He shakes his head. "Don't come any closer." He sounds the same but different; there is a threatening edge to his tone of voice now. "Those thugs brought me here for a reason. They thought I was a bloody Immune holed up in that shuck Berg. Imagine their surprise when they could tell I had the Flare eating my brain. Said they were doing their civic duty when they dumped me in this rat hole."
Lori is on the brink of tears, hearing him talk like this. She felt awful. She didn't want to leave him in the Berg alone; he had told her it would be fine.
Thomas decides to take a turn at reasoning with him. "Why do you think we're here, Newt? I'm sorry you had to stay back and get caught. I'm sorry they brought you here. But we can break you out - it doesn't look like anyone gives a klunk who comes or goes."
Newt finally turns around to face them, but it's not such a pleasing sight. In his hands, the boy holds a Launcher. His hair is messy and he's covered in dirt, scratches and bruises.
Lori feels a couple of tears escape her eyes against her will.
"Whoa, there," Minho says, holding his hands up and taking a step back, barely avoiding stepping on a sleeping woman. "Slim it nice and calm. There's no need to point a shuck Launcher at my face while we talk. Where'd you get that thing, anyway"?
"I stole it," Newt says almost softly. "Took it from a guard who made me . . . unhappy." His whole body trembles as he stares at the Launcher, his finger dangerously close to the trigger.
"I'm . . . not well. Honestly, I appreciate you buggin' shanks coming for me. I mean it. But this is where it bloody ends. This is when you turn around and walk back out that door and head for your Berg and fly away. Do you understand me?"
At this, Lori finally pulls together the courage to step forward. He wouldn't shoot her.
Would he?
"Newt, I don't care what you say, we're not leaving here without you," she manages to get out without bursting into tears.
His eyes widen in shock and anger, turning to Minho and Thomas. "You brought her here? Are you trying to get her killed? This place is way too dangerous!"
Minho is about to respond, but Lori takes another step forward, past Thomas and Minho. "Newt," another couple of steps, "You know I'm not going to leave you here," more steps. "Do you remember what you promised me?" She takes a few more steps, and is now standing right in front of him.
He looks at her with sad eyes, the Launcher lowering slightly so he doesn't accidentally hit the trigger button. He nods lightly, but doesn't seem completely certain.
"You promised me that you would be there when I got back, and that we would work things out," She says softly.
A look of sadness washes over Newt's face as he looks at his feet. "But I wasn't there."
"Then you owe it to me to work things out," she pleads.
He looks as if he going to say yes, but then he takes a step away from her. "No, there's nothin' to work out. This is how it has to be."
"No, Newt, it isn't," Minho butts in. "We risked our necks to come to this place and you're our friend and we're taking you home. You wanna whine and cry while you go crazy, that's fine. But you're gonna do it with us, not these shuck Cranks."
Newt spins to face Minho so quickly, that Lori stumbles backwards, almost falling on top of a man sleeping on the floor. She carefully steps back to stand beside Minho, Newt's actions beginning to scare her.
"I am a Crank, Minho! I am a Crank! Why can't you get that through your bloody head? If you had the Flare and knew what you were about to go through, would you want your friends to stand around and watch? Huh? Would you want that?" Newt ended up shouting at them for the majority of what he said, his movements slowly becoming more and more unstable.
No one says anything, and that give Newt the time he needs to catch his breath before he continues, turning and pointing the Launcher at Thomas.
"And you, Tommy," His voice lowers, lower then Lori had ever heard it. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here and asking me to leave with you. A lot of bloody nerve. The sight of you makes me sick."
Lori looks over to Thomas, confused as to what he did to deserve such verbal abuse. Thomas himself looks absolutely horrified at what had been said to him. He also looks just as confused as the others, which leaves Lori lost on what he could've done.
"What're you talking about?" Thomas asks, voicing what everyone had been thinking.
Newt doesn't answer him, just continues to focus on aiming the Launcher at Thomas, trying to stabilize his trembling hands.
"Newt, I don't get it," Thomas continues in a calmer tone than his appearance. "Why are you saying all this?"
This catches Newt's attention, and he looks back up, the venomous look gone from his eyes. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry. But I need you to listen to me. I'm getting worse by the hour and I don't have many sane ones left. And I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise, Lori. But please, you all need to leave."
Thomas goes to say something, but Newt holds his hands up in a silencing motion. "No! No more talking from you. Just . . . please. Please leave. I'm begging you to do this one thing for me. As sincerely as I've ever asked for anything in my life, I want you to do this for me. There's a group I've met that are a lot like me and they're planning to break out and head to Denver later today. I'm going with them."
Everyone takes a moment to absorb what Newt was saying. Denver? Why could they possibly want to break out and go to Denver for?
"I don't expect you to understand," he continues. "But, I can't be with you guys anymore. It's gonna be hard enough for me now, and it'll make it worse if I know you have to witness it. Or worse of all, if I hurt you. So let's say our bloody goodbyes and then you can promise to remember me from the good old day."
"I can't do that," Minho replies, plain and simple.
Lori nods. "Me neither. I don't want to have to remember you, I want to be with you!"
"Shuck it!" Newt yells in frustration. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be calm right now? I said my piece and I'm done. Now get out of here! Do you understand me? Get out of here!"
Before anyone has the chance to say anything else to Newt, a male Crank comes up behind them and pokes Thomas. The man is tall, but not thin, and has awful, unwashed hair.
When Thomas turns to see who poked him, the man prods his finger right into the middle of the boy's chest. "I believe our new friend asked you people to leave him alone."
"Hey, back off," Lori says. "This is none of your business. He was with us before he came here."
He just laughs, running a hand through his disgusting hair. "That boy's a Crank now, and so are we. That makes him our business. Now leave him . . . alone."
Lori can hear her blood pounding in her ears, her anger rising.
Why won't Newt just come with them? He's always putting everyone before himself, and that needs to stop, because we're not going to leave him here.
Minho talks before anyone else can. "Hey, psycho, maybe your ears are clogged with the Flare. This is between us and Newt. You leave.
The man snarls at Minho, revealing his hand which had previously been behind his back. Gripped between the man's fingers, is a sharp blade of smashed glass, blood dripping off of the end as he squeezes it tightly.
"I was hoping you'd resist, I've been bored."
The man quickly swings his arm, lashing the glass towards Thomas' face. The boy ducks down and throws his hands up in order to defend himself against the weapon. However, right before the blade is about to attempt to slice his skin open, Brenda smacks the man's hand away, causing him to let go of the glass.
With his weapon gone, Minho takes the chance to pounce upon the man, toppling them both to the ground. They fall upon the woman who Minho had nearly stepped on beforehand as they were making their way across the room. Her scream rings out as she begins to thrash about, trying to escape from below the two. Next thing they know, she has joined in on the fight, slapping at Minho and the man.
"Stop it!" Newt shouts at them all, lifting the Launcher. "Stop it now!"
The rest of their group just stands, deciding on whether they will have the chance to help Minho. But they don't get the chance; Newt is already aiming the Launcher, his finger above the trigger.
"Stop or I'll start shooting and not give a buggin' piece of klunk who gets hit."
Lori looks at the face of the boy she loves, but does not see him. This boy has eyes alight with fury, hands shaking with sickness and words that leave her shocked.