Aris tapped his foot nervously as we all sat at the table. Jorge had given me one of the cash cards to use so we could buy ourselves some food if they didn't find Thomas before they got back in time for dinner but Ashoka, Aris and I were too nervous to eat.
"He's so stupid sometimes." Aris frowned after a while. I nod my head slowly. "I can't even talk to him anymore to see if he's alright." He continued, tapping the side of his head. I shrugged.
"I'm sure that idiots fine. He's pretty good at getting out of trouble."
"How are we supposed to know if the others need help?" Ashoka asked. "Maybe they haven't found him yet and need more people to help look.
"If they did, I'm sure they would have come back for us." I look out the window at the dying sunlight. I've always imagined the cities as these beautiful, lit up utopias. That's how my mom used to describe them anyways but despite learning pretty quickly that I shouldn't trust the Creator, I somehow always thought the cities did look who she described them. But electricity is a luxury some people can't afford. "It's best to just wait for them." As if on cue, the door to the room was opened by a key card. The three of us stood up and looked towards it as Minho, Thomas, Brenda and Jorge stepped in.
"Thank god." Aris said with a sigh. I glared at Thomas as he walked in.
"What the hell were you thinking?" I demanded. "Why'd you stick around to watch? You really have a death wish don't you?" I put my hands on my hips as Thomas laughed.
"Nice to see you guys too."
"You all better sit down, Thomas has a story to tell." Minho said, running one hand through his hair before flopping down onto one of the beds. We pulled up the chairs and sat down on the beds in a small huddle as Thomas slowly explained his encounter with Jansen. I cursed as soon as he said his name.
"That bastard. He always shows up. No matter what." Thomas smirked and shrugged a little before continuing. He explained to Aris, Ashoka and I how Jansen had mentioned Raven and Newt. It was kind of a no brainer. Of course he would know what was still happening with the two of them, they still had their implants in.
"Is Raven okay?" Ashoka asked worriedly. Thomas paused.
"I'm.. I'm not sure. He just mentioned that Newt's infection is progressing faster than what was normal." We were quiet, letting this information sink in. "I don't know if that means Raven's having the same problems but he didn't mention her so I'm not sure."
"Newt won't go full blown crazy and try to kill her right?" Aris asked. Nobody said anything.
"Newt wouldn't do that." Minho finally spoke up. Newt was so strong, so sure of himself. He was a great leader and a good friend. I couldn't imagine him hurting anyone, let alone a friend.
"I'm sure the two of them are fine." I said after a while.
"We should still check on them anyways." Thomas said with a sigh. "I wanted to go right now but Jorge said they don't let people in and out of the city at night."
"Which brings us to our next point. Did you guys notice something weird happening outside?" Brenda asks quizzically. Aris, Ashoka and I exchange confused looks.
"What do you mean?" Aris says.
"There was hardly anyone outside when we were coming home. It took us forever to just find a cab. Did something happen? Did you guys notice anything?" We all shake our heads.
"No, we didn't see anything." I say. Jorge huffed.
"Anyways, I don't like it. We should all get some rest and head out of this damn city in the morning. Alright muchachos?" He stands and ushers us girls out of the room. Ashoka, Brenda and I head to the room next door, leaving the boys to themselves. Brenda pulls out her keycard for the room.
"Do you think they're okay?" Ashoka asks no one in particular as Brenda pushes open the door.
"I'm sure they're fine." I told her. "Raven will probably tease us for being worried as soon as we see her tomorrow." Ashoka smiled and seemed to relax. Meanwhile, Brenda gave me a knowing look. Because knowing our luck, Raven and Newt were definitely not alright.
----
We woke early the next morning and checked out of the motel, the staff there seemed relieved that we were leaving and practically pushed us out the door as we gave them back our key cards. Our group started to walk around, searching for a cab but after walking several blocks, we hadn't come across a single car. We did see several pedestrians but they all kept their heads down, holding their rags or surgical masks to their faces
"This palace is creeping me out more and more." Minho grumbled as we turned down yet another deserted street.
"Let's head to the business district." Brenda said. "I'm sure we'll find more people and cabs there." We slowly moved along, coming to the end of the more crappier part to town and moving towards the buildings with the tall glass windows. As we turned a corner though, Thomas and Brenda paused up front. Everyone followed suit.
"What's wrong?" Aris asked. Looking around Minho's broad shoulders, I caught a glimpse of a man on his hands and knees, digging through something on the ground. I could hear the sounds he was making from where we were standing. He sounded desperate and a little bit crazy. He wasn't wearing a shirt and had long jagged scars down his back. I shivered.
"He's sick." Ashoka hissed.
"Let's cross to the other side." Jorge murmured. Together, we all moved to the other side of the road and slowly began making our way up that side of the street. The man was too preoccupied with whatever was on the ground to notice us but as we drew closer, I saw what he was digging through. A dead body. I gasped and the sound was just loud enough for him to register. He turned wildly but couldn't seem to focus on us.
"Run." Thomas commanded. We all took off, turning down the street, everyone following closely on each other's heels. The man screamed and took off after us but we were a whole lot faster and whole lot more conscious of our actions. We lost him after a block or two but we didn't stop for another block or so. Panting and gasping for breath, we all leaned up against the brick walls of a crumbling building.
"What the hell was he doing in here! Some damn security system they got here." Aris shouted.
"I don't think that was a body. It could have been a stray dog." Brenda tried to say but Minho scoffed.
"Oh yeah, a stray dog, that big." He rolled his eyes. "We need to get out of this shucking city."
"We're not that far from the airfield now." Jorge interrupted. "We just need to find a cab or two and we can leave." After another five minutes of walking around, we finally managed to find two cabs. We separated ourselves again and told them to bring us to the airport.
Getting out was actually a whole lot easier than getting in. After checking our papers and testing to make sure we were all still immune, they let us go. The Berg was in the same place we left it, sitting in the middle of a now empty airfield. Where had the rest of the Bergs gone?
"Hurry up an open it." Minho said impatiently as Jorge rooted around for the calling card for the Berg in his pocket.
"The ramps not going to lower any faster." Jorge replied as he pressed a button and the hanger door began to lower. Minho sighed as we all waited for the ramp to lower enough for us to board.
"Something's not right." Thomas murmured.
"They would be out here if they saw us coming." Minho agreed. We climbed aboard the Berg.
"Well, the air and the lights are all still on so they should be here. Maybe they're resting. It gets pretty boring on these things." Brenda offered as we began to look around.
"I still don't like it." Aris murmured.
"Newt!" Thomas called off, moving towards the dorms.
"Raven!" I shouted, heading down the opposite hallway, Ashoka following close behind. She wasn't in the girls dorm or the medical bay so Ashoka and I just started checking every room. I could hear Thomas shouting in the distance and the sounds of someone running but I didn't know what they were saying. Ashoka and I finally came to the weapons room and found the door locked from the inside.
"Raven! Are you in there!" Ashoka shouted as the two of us knocked on the door.
"Go away Newt!" Came her shaky voice.
"It's Ashoka and Mallory, come out Raven. Where's Newt?" I asked her. Raven didn't respond. I knocked again on the metal door. Slowly, the door opened, exposing a very tired, very sweaty Raven. She was holding a gun in her hands, pointing it out at us through the crack in the door. Ashoka and I threw up our hands.
"Raven, its us. It's your friends." Ashoka murmured, surprisingly calm. Raven threw open the door, dropped the gun and launched herself at me. I thought she was going to try to strangle me but she started crying and I felt stupid for thinking she might try to hurt me.
"What happened?" I asked, hugging her back as she sobbed into my hair.
"Newt let them in! He's crazy! He tried to.." There was the sound of people running and Thomas, Minho, Aris and Brenda came around the corner, shocked to find Raven. I took her hands, surprised to find her veins blackened. The infection was spreading out but she still seemed pretty sane.
"She's still here." Thomas said, amazed.
"Of course she's still here. Where's Newt?" I asked. But I should have seen the looks on their faces. Minho looked like he was on the verge of tears, Thomas looked like he had already shed a couple of tears.
"That's what I was trying to say." Raven said, taking a deep breath and stepped back a little. "Newt let those damn Psychos into the ship."
"What?" Aris questioned. "Where did they come from?"
"I don't know! They just appeared and Newt has been acting weird ever since you guys left. I knew it was the disease but I didn't know it was affecting him that badly!" Raven exclaimed. "And when he saw those people outside, he opened the hanger doors and.." She chocked up. "Newts gone. He went with them."