FOREVER. newt

three. you're immune

"Yes," he hisses, this time, his tone more annoyed than ever. "About a year ago... there was this girl.... Estele. She came from the Scorch and went in as a refugee. Said she used to work at WICKED."

Judging from his expression, I only assume two things; either Estele was dead or she was a Crank.

"Jorge wouldn't let her in without gaining everything back— so she told him everything she had on WICKED. All their information. The plans. The things they did to the kids in the Mazes." he explains, jumping off a strange looking contraption on the floor. "I've heard a lot of things.... but she never said anything about children that were put insi—"

Suddenly, I felt some footsteps, pounding into the floor with enough force that they had to have been heard by some of the Cranks nearby. Xio must have heard this too, because he stopped mid sentence to grab me by the arm, leading me swiftly down one of the aisles, our shoes making no sound as it hit the ground— which was covered with sand.

"I thought this area was Crank-less?" Xio whispered harshly, peeking over the large cabinet to see if what we heard was really a Crank.

Pushing him over to the side, I get a peek myself. Pale skin, darkened veins and severe wounds that ought to be debilitating or fatal— there was a Crank in here.

"It's just one Crank. Don't worry." he says, cocking his gun before I could stop him. The bullet pierces the Crank through it's brain— and it dropped dead to the ground.

But I was far from happy. Xio had just put is in more trouble.

"You idiot. What the hell did you do?" I ask, hurriedly grabbing my bag while Xio only stared at me back in confusion. Sometimes, I wonder if he'd survive this long if it weren't for Brenda and Jorge, because oh boy he lacked so much common sense.

"The gunshot! The sound is gonna attract some Cranks!"

As if on cue, a few Cranks rounded in a corner in rush to the noise, a hoard following them. For a moment, the two of us stood dead in our tracks, until I grabbed Xio's arm and ran back towards the entrance and back into our car.

The chase was a frenzy. We ran through the aisles trying to avoid making more noise and lose the horde, while I continuously shoot the Cranks that would come near me.

My legs were burning wildly, and I was only a meter away from Xio as we retracted our directions back to the car.

Slightly turning my back towards the Cranks that were coming from where we came from, I shoot at them continuously in their brains, not missing a single thing.

Once I'm out of ammo, I reach into my pocket for another round, but my face falls down when I realize that I had no more bullets. The Cranks were coming closer— and I had no bullets.

"Fuck!" I scream in rage, running faster than before now that the Cranks on my trail somehow kept on increasing. "I'm all out, Xio!"

Xio looks behind me, firing a few shots, but suddenly, they stop. "I'm out too!"

Xio was out of bullets. I was out of bullets. If it weren't for the view of the car a few yards away from us— I would have thought that everything was going to be over.

My legs were aching. My feet were pounding— and I wanted to give up and stop running. Xio climbed in first, and I squinted my eyes as I ran faster than I already was. You're almost there. You're almost there.

Reaching for his arm, I thought that it was finally it. That I was going to be okay.

Until when I held his hand, a different hand suddenly clasps around my foot, yanking my leg back, causing me to fall down on the sandy ground from the immense force.