Disclaimer:

Thomas: I wasn't that drunk last night

Newt: You were flirting with Minho

Thomas: So? He's my boyfriend

Newt: You asked him if he was single

Newt: And cried when he said he wasn't

-✼-

Minho pointed his gun at the ceiling and fired without a change of emotion. His face was blank, impassiveness plastered over whatever real feelings he was burying inside. Thomas jumped at the sudden noise. I was too shocked by the lady's words to feel much surprise. The crowd, however, lapsed into complete silence, which was what Minho wanted.

The lady continued. "It's crazy out there. It's all happened really quickly. Like they've been hiding and waiting for a signal or something. This morning, the police were overpowered and the gates were open. Some Cranks from the Palace joined them. They're everywhere now." She paused, daring to look a few of us in the eye. "I promise you don't want to go out there. And I promise that we're the good guys. I don't know what the Right Arm has planned, but I do know that part of it includes getting us all out of Denver."

"Then why are you treating us like prisoners?" Flo demanded, her usual sneer back on her face. I had almost forgotten she was there. She and the remaining members of Group B were huddled in one area.

"I'm just doing what I was hired to do," the woman responded coolly, repeating the phrase she'd said countless times thus far. She turned to Thomas. I think it's a stupid idea to leave this place, but like I said, if you're going to, you can't take more than a couple of people. Those Cranks spot a big group of fresh meat walking around and it's all over. Weapons or no weapons. And the boss might not like it if a crowd shows up – our guards see a van full of strangers and they might start shooting."

"Brenda and I will go," Thomas announced automatically. A flash of hurt crossed my face as I turned to him, wrinkling my brow.

"No way," Minho protested, clearly upset by the decision as well. "The three of us."

I tried not to let it affect me that Thomas didn't want us coming along on that mission, that he'd chosen Brenda so quickly and without giving us a say in the matter. Brenda, whom he'd known barely more than a month or so. I didn't have anything against the girl, but...

"Me and her," Thomas said, sounding surer of himself now. "We did pretty well for ourselves back in the Scorch. We can do it."

"You asked for Asprin the second we untied you and Brenda looked like she'd fallen down five flights of stairs," I deadpanned without a single blink. A guilty expression formed on my brother's face at my words. "Don't be stupid."

"All of us should go— it'll be safer," Minho pressed. I could've sworn that he appeared offended as well, a crease between his eyebrows and mouth pinched in a frown.

Thomas sighed as he mulled it over. He ran a hand down his face and kept it there for a few seconds before letting it fall to his side with a slap.

"Okay," he conceded. "Dylan, you're going. Minho, we need someone back here to watch over things. You and Garret can keep an eye on things here with Jorge. Plus, I hate to admit it, but what if something does happen to us? Stay behind and make sure our plans don't die. They've got Frypan, Minho. Who knows who else. You said once that I should be Keeper of the Runners. Well, let me do it today. Trust me. Like the lady said, the fewer we are, the better our chance of being unnoticed."

Minho was silent for a long moment. "Fine. But if you die, I will not be happy."

Thomas nodded, appearing relieved. The tension in his shoulders lessened. "Good that."

Minho turned to me and opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but didn't know what. His lips stayed parted without sound for about five seconds before he ultimately decided on, "I could use another butt-kicking buddy around, so try not to get yourself killed."

It was as close to a heartfelt goodbye as I was going to get. A tight smile pulled up my lips. "I'll do my best."

I didn't get to say anything to Garret or Jorge before we were off. Lawrence, the man who told us he'd be our guide, stuck to his word. He handed Thomas and I each a pistol while Brenda got to keep her beloved Launcher. As he started to unlock the door, I dared one last glance at my remaining friends. Teresa, who was staring from the back of the room with a crestfallen expression on her face. Aris, who turned away like he didn't want to look. Jorge gave a supportive thumbs up. Garret had a half-smile, but Minho's face was blank.

The door opened with a screech of rusting metal as Lawrence pulled it open. I sucked in a slow breath before walking through it and into the open.

That time, I could actually see the long corridor we'd been led down. The walls were completely sparse and covered in chipping paint, illuminated only by the uncovered light bulbs above. They shined dully on us.

"Okay," Lawrence began with detectable anxiety, "we have to make a decision. If we go on foot, it'll take a couple of hours, but we have a lot better chance of getting through the streets. We can hide on foot easier than if we take the van. The van would get us there faster, but we'd be spotted for sure."

"Speed versus stealth," Thomas pondered aloud. He glanced at Brenda and I. "What do you think?"

I thought about the vehicle that had managed to fit nine people in it mere hours ago. Lawrence was right- something like that would no doubt attract the attention of Cranks. But outrunning them would be much harder if we were on foot, and if we'd made it here without any interference...

"The van," Brenda and I replied in sync. The two of us shared a look.

"Yeah," Thomas agreed with a nod. "The thought of us being out there on foot scares me to death. The van, definitely."

Lawrence cleared his throat. "Okay, then, the van it is. Now keep your mouths shut and those weapons ready. First thing we gotta do is get in the vehicle and lock the doors. It's right outside. Ready?"

I clenched the pistol tighter in my hands and rested a finger on the trigger. The safety was on, but with just a flick, I could easily turn it off and start shooting if necessary. I tried to swallow and get rid of the sudden dryness in my throat; it felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton. But even so, I nodded to show I was prepared for what was ahead.

As ready as I'd ever be.

Thomas' expression told me he was thinking the same thing. Brenda looked more put together than the two of us, her mouth twisted in a determined frown and eyes narrowed. I wished I could appear as collected as her, even in such a life-threatening situation.

Lawrence pulled a stack of key cards out of his pocket and unlocked the countless patches lining the wall. He clenched the cards tightly before leaning himself up against the door and cracking it open. A sliver of light from a street lamp found its way inside. I shuddered at the thought of what could happen if it went out.

The man poked his head outside and looked both ways. When no rabid Cranks attacked him, I let out a small exhale of relief in spite of myself.

"Seems clear," he reported in a whisper. "Let's go."

We slipped out, trying not to make too much noise with the door, and sprinted the twenty or so feet to the van. I felt the cold hand of fear beginning to curl its way down my back. My veins were heavy with adrenaline already, expecting a threat to pop up anywhere.

The sounds of the locks clicking informed me that they'd disengaged. I made my footsteps as soundless as I could as I reached the vehicle and yanked the side door open. Brenda and Thomas dove in before me, Lawrence climbing to the driver's seat. I swung myself inside before pulling the door closed and tried to force myself to relax. It was no use. Even as Lawrence immediately locked the doors once again, I couldn't tame the racing of my heartbeat and how heavily I was panting already.

Lawrence started the engine nanoseconds later. But just as he was about to take off, there was a loud pop from above, the van shaking. Silence. A muffled cough.

There was someone on the roof.

"Floor it!" I commanded shrilly without a second thought.

Lawrence did. The van lurched forward, sending me tumbling into the back from the inertia and sprawling into one of the bench seats. He gave somewhat of an apology as his white-knuckled hands gripped the top of the steering wheel. Thomas and Brenda glanced back at me to make sure I was alright. I sent them a feeble thumbs up.

I pushed myself to a sitting position and held onto the ripped leather seats for dear life. An ache was blossoming from the middle of my back, but I tried my best to ignore it.

Thomas' eyes swept from me to the back window. Just as he turned back around, a woman's face popped into view from the windshield, smiling crookedly at him while upside down. Her blonde hair was whipping in the wind as Lawrence tore down the alley as fast as he could. Thomas gave a surprised shout.

"What's she holding onto?" he asked in horror.

"Her sanity— barely!" I exclaimed.

The woman's eyes were still locked on Thomas as she brought a fist around and started pounding on the glass of the windshield. Thump. Thump. Thump. The streetlights provided a dull glow to her that made her appear all the more threatening, shadows lurking around her eyes.

"This woman is defying, like, every single law of physics right now," I said in a fearful jumble of words. If one Crank had already found us, how quickly would it take for more to arrive?

"Would you please get rid of her?" Brenda shouted in exasperation.

"Fine." Lawrence slammed on the breaks without warning. The woman flipped off the front of the van, but I tumbled out of the seat as well, clutching on the armrests between the two front seats in order to catch my fall. I winced at the pain and craned my neck up to glare at the man.

"Maybe next time with a little warning."

I pushed myself back to a kneeling position between the two seats and moved my short hair out of my face. To my surprise, the woman was already getting to her feet. Her legs wobbled like a newborn deer's until she finally regained her balance and stared at us.

The headlights provided a better look at her now that she was standing right in front of them. Her crazed smile had turned into a gut-churning snarl, a red wolf forming on the side of her face from her harsh landing on the pavement. Her blazing eyes continued to bore into Thomas'.

"Run her over or something!" Brenda cried when Lawrence hesitated. At her words, he shifted gears and gunned the engine once more.

I gasped as the woman crouched, looking ready to jump onto the vehicle somehow. She stepped aside and watched us go at the last second.

I let out a sigh of relief as we passed without trouble. My hands curled around the front of the armrests so I'd have something to balance myself with due to Lawrence's erratic driving. I didn't need to be tossed around like a rag doll again.

"She was like a mix of sane and not sane," Thomas said quietly. He hadn't taken his eyes off the woman, watching her as she shrunk in his rearview mirror.

"Just be glad she was the only one," Lawrence muttered.

"For now," I added, not allowing him to jinx our luck.

Brenda squeezed my brother's arm comfortingly. "It's hard to look at. I know how it felt for you, Minho, and Garret to see what'd happened to Newt."

His name sent a spike of sadness through my heart; I hadn't been expecting it. But even so, I was glad I had chosen to stay behind while the others went to go see him. Minho told me that Newt had pointed a Launcher at his face; it was clear that whatever was left of the boy we all knew was quickly slipping away.

We reached the end of the alley. I braced myself that time as Lawrence swerved onto a larger street, one with small groups of people milling around. Some were fighting while others were picking trash out of discarded bins and eating it. The worst ones to see were those who simply stared at us with ghastly faces as we sped past.

I didn't know what the city had looked like before the Cranks took over, but it was probably a lot better than this. Unease was beginning to churn my stomach until I was starting to feel nauseous at the mere thought. Denver was one of the few places left that was deemed safe. If that was crossed off the list, how many more remained?

"I can't believe it happened so fast," Brenda said, shaking her head. "You think they were somehow planning to take over Denver? Could they really organize something like that?"

"Hard to know," Lawrence responded. "There were signs. Locals disappearing, reps from the government disappearing, more and more infecteds being discovered. But it looks like a huge number of them suckers hid out, waiting for the right time to make their move."

"This is an apocalypse," I breathed as we passed another group of Cranks on the side of the road. Those ones were shrieking loudly in some form of cackling.

The man nodded. "This place is a nightmare now." He slowed down in order to make a tight turn down another alleyway. "Almost there. We need to be more careful now."

He flicked off the headlights. As we drove deeper and deeper into the alley, the darkness increased as well as my heartbeat. I could feel a stifling sense of fear overcoming my senses. A short, hard exhale came out of my mouth.

Someone's hand gripped my arm comfortingly, though the unknown source made me jump. The shape was feminine. Brenda.

"Maybe you shouldn't have driven so fast," Thomas suggested in a slightly choked voice- he was afraid, too.

"We'll be fine," Lawrence assured him. "I've driven this route a thousand times. I know it like the back of my—"

I let out a squeal as the armrests jabbed into my sides so sharply that the air was suddenly knocked from my lungs. There was the distinct sound of Thomas snapping forward in his seat and being forced back by his seatbelt. The other two did the same. We'd run over something -probably metal, judging by the sound - and now it was stuck beneath the tires. The van bounced a few times before coming to a stop.

"What was that?" Brenda whispered.

"I don't know." Lawrence's voice was even quieter. "Probably a trash can or something. Scared the crap out of me."

He pressed his foot lightly on the gas to inch us forward. There was an ear-piercing screech that followed, along with another bump and a crash.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn't help to calm me down because it didn't make a difference. It was just as dark as when my eyes were open. So, I forced myself to blink and steady my erratic breathing as terror continued to flow through my veins.

"Got her loose," the guard muttered. He continued driving, but at half the previous speed. What had just happened scared us all.

"Maybe you should turn the lights back on?" Thomas' voice was at a slightly higher pitch. "I can't see a thing out there."

"Yeah," Brenda chimed in, her hand returning to my arm. "I'm pretty sure anyone out there heard that racket, anyway."

"I guess so." Lawrence reached over and flicked the headlights back on.

And this was why I had a fear of the dark.

The lights illuminated not only the rest of the alleyway, but an army of about thirty Cranks had emerged and packed together, blocking the road completely. Scratched faces leered at us. Their clothing was ripped and barely hung onto their frail bodies. Each of them stood still as statues, unfazed at the fact that we were headed right toward them.

Then, impossibly, they parted. Right down the middle. One by one, they stood to the side and made a hole big enough for us to pass through. A man even gestured for us to drive on by.

And although we'd escaped that time, who was to say we would be that lucky again?

gif is dylan talking with thomas and brenda

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hello guys, i'm hungry and i don't really have much to say

i'm trying to make the chapters a bit more spread out because i only have a quarter of it left and i'm only on the fourteenth chapter! i'm hoping to maybe push it to at least twenty. even that still seems short compared to how long Different was!

questions:

-what do you think dylan's reaction will be to seeing newt again?

-will he want to speak to her one last time, or keep her away?

-do you agree with thomas not taking minho and garret?

-who would you have taken out of the five? (dylan, brenda, garret, minho, jorge)

i think this is the book that i have the most inspiration for right now, so i'll be able to update soon!

-kristyn