Love in the Scorch (Newt x Reader)

7. Attacks

Then there was scraping, terrible scraping that caused the group to shudder. Shuffling was heard and a figure scuffled out of the darkness and into the light of the torches. Y/N almost gasped as she realised what it was, 'Crank...'. But, unfortunately, this wasn't a Crank like Brenda and Jorge. It was one of those Cranks that attacked the dorm a few weeks ago. The Crank in front of Y/N, Newt and Fry looked to be a man, in a torn T-shirt that showed a scarred chest and his head was bald. All over his body was green and blue with sickly veins and scabs. His entire body was horrid to look at, but Y/N and the boys continued watching the crazed man to make sure he wasn't about to do something.

"They're Cranks, get back to the group!", Aris called from the huddle of boys. All of them hummed in agreement, huddling even more.
"Not until Jorge says to", Newt called back, his torch never leaving the Crank. The Crank started to twitch and jitter about, as if he didn't move sooner he would explode.
"OK, amigos", Jorge called, but not too loudly, to everyone, "When I count to 3, start sprinting for the corridor to your left, our right. Sprint as fast as you can and don't stop, understand?". Nobody answered but Jorge knew everybody got the idea.
So he started counting down, "1...". Everyone took one step closer to the corridor, ready to sprint off when called to.
"2...", another step, but this time, Y/N saw more Cranks show up from behind the still twitching Crank, ready to pounce.
"3! Go, go, go!", and everyone, absolutely sprinted for the corridor. Nobody needed to look back to know that the poor lunatics were chasing them, their shrieks of rage were indications enough.

The group sprinted around corners, twisted turns, through the tunnels of pure darkness as the monsters continued chasing them.
"Follow us!", Brenda called as she and Jorge ran to the front, "We know the way". As Brenda and Jorge took the lead, Newt came up beside Y/N and grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him. She didn't question it, just let him drag her along. Maybe later she would ask him about it, but right now wasn't a great time to do so. Just as Y/N thought her legs had had enough, Jorge called saying, "We're here, hurry and climb!". The teenagers had reached a ladder that lead up to a hatch that was closed. Aris was the first to obey and climbed swiftly, already unlocking the latch and climbing out. The Cranks had just come around the corner and were heading for them.
"Y/N, here", said girl turned to catch a small pistol from Brenda, who was already firing at the lunatics, "Start shooting while everyone gets up". The H/C haired Glader got over the initial shock and loaded up, quickly aiming and pulling the trigger. The bullet hit a Crank right in the head, causing it to fall to the ground lifeless. And another one fell, and another one, and another, another, another... One after the other Brenda and Y/N took down most of the Cranks when all the boys had climbed up.

"Brenda, Y/N, come on! Climb up, now!", Minho shouted down to the girls, keeping the latch up.
"Go!", Y/N called to Brenda, taking another shot then reloading, "I'll cover you". The dark-haired girl nodded, taking one more shot then sprinting for the ladder then climbing hurriedly up it. 'Keep going, Y/N, keep going...', the tired girl kept telling herself as she shot another one down. The thought suddenly occurred to her: Why was she killing? Why? They were only children. Teenagers, yes, but children! They weren't meant to be killing at the age of 16/17, they were meant to be having fun and playing with friends and going to school... 'WICKED!!', Y/N was now filled with new anger, quickly shooting and reloading as she went.
"Alright, Y/N, quickly now, Love", Newt called from the hatch above. The E/C eyed girl heard and so started walking back towards the ladder while shooting. She went to click the trigger again but nothing happened. She went to her pocket but didn't find any bullets left so she grunted in frustration, shoved the gun in her back pocket and started climbing the ladder.

Halfway up, Y/N felt a sharp tug on her leg that caused her fall down a step or two. A Crank had gotten ahold of her ankle and had his jagged nails digging into her skin, drawing blood.
"Ah! Let go!", Y/N cried, trying to kick the monster with her free foot. But it was way stronger and so held it's grip on her throbbing ankle, pulling her down with him.
"Y/N, lean forward!", Y/N obeyed as Brenda shot at the Crank and it let go of Y/N and fell lifeless from the ladder, landing on a couple of his mates.
"Thanks!", was the reply Brenda got as Y/N scrambled up the ladder and onto the dry, hard earth. Once she was out, Minho and Jorge slammed the hatch shut, locking it tight with the valve on top. 'Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...', Y/N told herself, her chest heaving and her heart racing from the adrenaline.
"Are you OK?", Newt and Brenda both asked, coming over and kneeling down to her level.
"Y-Yeah, fine", she replied, looking at the hatch with wide eyes, "Thanks".
"No worries", Brenda responded, standing up and walking to Jorge.

"Where's the storm at?", she asked out of breath, crossing her arms over her chest and breathing heavily.
"It's close, real close...", Jorge trailed off as a strong wind picked up and blew in their faces. They all turned in the direction of the wind and their mouthes dropped. A big cloud of sand was coming right for them...and fast!
"Go! Hurry, to the building. Its coming!", everyone obeyed Minho's commands and sprinted for the nearest building. It was tall and looked like it used to have many floors, like an office place. It was a good few 500m or so, meaning that only the first would make it to the building safely before the storm hit. Newt had Y/N's hand within his own, holding it tightly as they both limped as fast they could towards the group. The winds had built up now, causing sand to fly everywhere, obscuring their visions.
"Hurry, shanks!", Frypan called as he reached the building, joining everyone inside it's sanctuary. The two didn't respond, only concentrating on running to the building.

The storm was on them, and Y/N and Newt were right in the middle of it. They were struggling to keep hold of each other as the wind so desperately tried separating them and the sand tried blinding them. But they held strong, pushing through the storm as if it was nothing. Newt reached out to grab a pillar that was holding up the remainders of the building and clung to it tightly. The blonde boy tried pulling his angel in but the wind was so strong it was basically impossible. Y/N saw this and felt like she was going through Dè ja vu. She was in the Maze and the boys were trying to pull her into the Glade while the Griever behind her was trying to pull her into the Maze. She remembered what happened last time, and she so didn't want to do it again. Last time she let go of Newt, she had wound up asleep for a year and didn't see him till months later.

Her legs were then ripped off the ground and into the air, also ripping one of her hands out of Newt's.
"Ah! Y/N! Don't let go!", Newt cried, not sure how long he could hold the both of them.
"I can't hold on, Newt!", Y/N cried back, her other hand slowly being pulled out of Newt's. Their eyes met, silently realising what was going to happen.
"No, Y/N! Don't let go!", Newt bellowed, his face a picture of pure fear. He had let go of her once and that had caused him to nearly kill himself after not seeing her for so long. He wasn't going to let her go ever, not again. But her tiny, sweaty hand was too slippery and so slid out fully. In a last call of help, the H/C haired Glader shouted, "Newt!", as she was flung around in the storm. The last thing she heard was Newt calling her name as she was swept up in the storm, sweeping her away from her friends and her Newt.