There was a darkness around me. I felt a chill come over me, my breathing uneven. Looking around, I didn't see anyone, and it scared me.
"Hello?" I called out, but there was no answer. I looked around once more and spotted a familiar face behind what looked like a glass wall. "Aris?"
He ignored me as he was reading a file in his hand. I shook my head, trying hand motions to get his attention. I raced towards him in a frantic manner. I banged on the glass, but he never saw me. "Aris!" I shouted again. "Aris! Aris, it's me, Piper! I know you can hear me!"
"He can't hear you." I turned around and saw Teresa standing there.
"What have you done to him?" I asked, panting, my blood boiling.
Her expression never changed. "I've done the right thing."
"Piper!"
I opened my eyes wide, gasping, then squinting from the sunlight in my face. My heart was beating so fast as Aris' face disappeared from my mind. I looked over at Sonya, sighing in relief. "Sonya," I breathed out.
"Are you okay? You were having a nightmare. You've been out for hours, ever since we left, basically," Sonya stated.
I sat up, nodding my head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where are we?"
"Far away from camp, that's what," Maeve spoke up. "It'll still be awhile before we get to the city."
"At least we can plan some more before we get there," Gwyneth pointed out.
I looked out the window and stared at the ruins of the world, the sand blowing all over. Behind us was Thomas, Newt, and Frypan in their truck. We were the only ones out here, as everything looked abandoned. That was obviously a good thing, since the last thing we wanted was to get caught by WICKED or Cranks.
"Do you think Vince is pissed that we left?" I asked.
"We're probably less problems to deal with in his eyes," Harriet said.
"Yeah, less people to take to the Safe Haven," Maeve added.
"I feel bad that we left Jorge, Brenda, and Aurora behind," I admitted.
"Maybe it's for the best," Maeve responded. "We're already putting ourselves in danger. I don't think we need any more lives at risk."
We passed a billboard that stated a mandatory infection check in just a couple of miles. Judging by the rust and dirt, it was old, making me believe that we wouldn't get stopped. It didn't matter, because I was positive that all of us were fine.
When we arrived at a tunnel, we stopped out trucks and got out, taking a closer look. Newt turned towards Thomas. "You want us to go in there?" he questioned, pointing towards the dark abyss. Thomas didn't respond, his head down low at the map in his hands. "I don't wanna come across as too negative, but if I was a Crank, that's exactly where I would be."
"I don't think we have much of a choice," Thomas confesses, facing up at the tunnel.
"Then we might as well go in and get it over with," I said.
Newt gave a long look at the tunnel, then nodded his head, walking back to the truck. "All right. I get shotgun."
"And I'll drive," I added, taking the keys from Harriet.
"Um, no, because you're a terrible driver," Gwyneth retorted, handing them back to Harriet.
"She's right," Harriet muttered, smirking at me.
I rolled my eyes and got back in the backseat with Sonya and Maeve squished on both sides of me. Harriet started the truck and followed the boys in. As we entered the dark, the lights on our trucks lit up. We slowly drove in, our eyes scanning our surroundings. I already had a bad feeling about this, but we couldn't turn back now.
Harriet dodged the empty cars, taking deep breaths. "Nice and slow," she whispered.
When the boys stopped, we stopped almost beside them. There, we spotted a Crank not too far from us, twitching and standing in an unusual position.
"Should we go around it?" Sonya asked.
"Like Thomas said, we don't have much of a choice," Gwyneth reminded her. "Do it, Harriet."
Harriet nodded her head. "Okay." She went forward, passing the boys.
Looking behind me, I noticed the boys weren't moving. Then, I saw why. "Wait, the boys..."
"Whatever it is, let them take care of it," Harriet told me.
"No, Harriet--"
BAM!
On Maeve's side, a Crank appeared, panting and gagging, blood spilling from its mouth. "Harriet, go!"
Everyone got their guns out as we sped off, Harriet flooring it as hard as she could. More Cranks jumped out at us, shaking the truck and banging on the windows, attempting to break the glass. "Get rid of them!" Sonya yelled.
"That's easier said than done!" Harriet yelled back. "Hang on!"
As we went on, I turned to see the boys not too far behind us. Although, I could see them swerving all over, making tries to knock the Cranks off. Suddenly, their truck was tilting on one side until they flipped over completely. "Harriet, turn around! The boys tipped over!"
Harriet did a sharp turn, swinging any Cranks off the truck. We all hung on as she headed back and slammed on the brakes. All of us piled out of the truck in order to help the other three. We struggled to get any doors open, but I finally came through. Thomas and Newt fell out of the truck and into the dirt, then they jumped into our truck. Frypan eventually got out, but grabbed his gun before he joined us.
As we settled back in, our bodies pushed up against each other, more Cranks chased after us. Harriet floored it, running over as many as possible. But more piled up on the truck, the weight almost bringing all of down.
All of a sudden, another truck showed up. "Go faster!" the familiar voice of Aurora shouted as she used her gun to shoot off Cranks.
So Harriet obliged as she headed towards the light, which became our miracle, as we were on our way to safety for now.
Once we got far enough from the tunnel, everyone stopped to take a breather. We all got out of our trucks, with our newcomers staring at us. "I'm impressed! You guys almost lasted a whole day," Jorge commented.
Brenda just shook her head while Thomas scoffed. "I'm sorry. I didn't wanna bring you guys into this."
"I think what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us," Frypan spoke up.
"You're welcome," Brenda said.
All us girls got was a stern look from Aurora. "You're welcome, girls," she stated in a snarky tone.
"Well, you really didn't save us," I pointed out. "We were doing just fine."
"Oh, really? With all of those Cranks running after you?" she retorted.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head "Just stuff it," I mumbled.
"Hey, don't get your hopes up," Jorge told us before I could respond. "That checkpoint back there? That was the city's last defense. If that was overrun, chances are the city is, too."
"Yeah, unless they figured out another way to keep the Cranks out," Newt said, pointing away in the distance. We all looked at a giant wall that protected the city, tall enough to keep anything out. "Funny. Spent two years trapped behind walls, trying to break out, and now we wanna break back in."
"Yeah, it's hilarious," Frypan agreed in a sarcastic tone.
"So, how do we get in?" I inquired.
"Don't look at me, hermana. Those walls are new." Jorge paused, then went on. "I guess that's WICKED's answer for everything."
"Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here," Brenda stated.
Aurora shook her head. "This is a crazy idea."
"Hey, you chose to follow us here," I pointed out. "Feel free to stay behind."
"And miss the chance to fight more bad guys? Hell no," she retorted, heading back to Jorge's truck.
I sighed, staring at the city and its big buildings. All I could think about was Minho and Lillie in there, most likely suffering from whatever WICKED had for them, and Aris was doing whatever research with Teresa, if there was even anything to look for.
"Are you scared to face him?" Sonya asked me.
I turned to her and nodded my head. I felt a weight off my chest when I gave her an honest answer. "For sticking sure."
A/N: Yup, there's that!
I definitely want to include more of Group B in this (b/c they were cheated out of screen time in the movie) and I want to explore Aris' role with WICKED (which he was also cheated out of in the movie).
So, whatcha think? Song is Muttations by James Newton Howard.
Comment, vote, because the next chapter is different from the others. ;)
-A