Chapter 27 ━━ The Haunted Tunnel

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The group is now standing in front of an abandoned tunnel after spending hours on the road.  

Newt squints his eyes and nods towards the dark tunnel. "You want us to go in there?" 

"It looks horrible for my taste." Katherine comments, her eyes not moving from the tunnel. Thomas's silence leads Newt to go ahead with his ideas. 

"I don't wanna come across as too negative, but if I was a Crank, that's exactly where I would be."  

Thomas finally looks at his map and sighs heavily. "I don't think we have much of a choice." 

Newt raises his eyebrow at the elder twin. "All right. I get shotgun." 

The group makes it back to the jeep before Frypan turns the engine on. 

"Well, here we go." 

"Yeah, just take it nice and slow." Newt advises, flashing his torch at the surroundings as Frypan drives through the haunted tunnel. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Thomas says as he notices a figure standing a fair amount of distance away from them. 

"Dear God, we're shucked." Katherine murmurs, not moving her eyes from the gone crank. "We may rest in peace." 

The jeep comes to a stop and Frypan turns to Thomas, expecting him to give a hint of their next move. 

"It's okay. It's just one, so take it slow, go around him. We'll be fine." Thomas assures the dark-skinned driver. 

Even though Frypan doesn't look convinced of his words at all, he reaches to bring the engine to life, muttering the same words to himself. "Take it slow. Take it slow." 

At the same time, a ghostly face appears on the window, making Thomas yelp and jump away to end up bumping into his sister. 

"Please. Please." The woman begs, jerking on the handle and pounding on the window. "Help me. Please! Let me in." 

Another Crank appears on Katherine's window, pounding the window wanting in. Its face is sickly ruined just like the previous woman. Both twins lean into each other in the middle, trying their best to keep their distance from the windows. 

"Okay. Fry, we gotta go." Thomas says as more gone cranks surround the truck, pounding the windows and trying to break in. "Just floor it, Fry!" 

Frypan presses the gas pedal and the jeep begins to move forward at the speed of light, breaking through the sea of Cranks. But the luck goes out as soon as a gone Crank jumps on the hood, screeching and shrieking as it slams its fist into the glass, repeatedly, forming a large crack on the window. 

Frypan begins to drive, shaking the vehicle to the sides, desperately wanting the Crank off and finally it loses its balance and falls off the jeep. 

As Katherine tries to release the breath she's holding all the way, she hears Thomas shouting. 

"Frypan, watch out!" 

With that, the old jeep hits something and launches in the air before landing upside down with the kids in it. 

Katherine groans in pain as her head hits hard before her heavy brother crashes on her. "Tommo, you're fucking heavy! Get off me!" 

Thomas shifts away, mumbling a sorry and coughs as the dust hits him. "Everyone okay?" 

"I think I'm dead." Katherine mutters as others cough and grunt in response. 

Thomas moves his flashlight around to find a way out and breaks the window, crawling out first. He then helps Katherine out before they move around as Newt kicks his door open, falling out into the dirt. 

Katherine helps him up, worriedly. "Newt, you okay?" 

He nods in response. "Yeah, I think so." 

Katherine grabs both of his hands in hers, squeezes. Then she rests her head on his shoulder, her nose nestles against his neck. Each breath from her sends a new wave of chills across his skin. Then She smiles, a sweet smile that shines through the grime on her face, and Newt longs for that moment they've in the darkness together. 

The beam of Thomas's flashlight shoots through the dust as he shines it this way and that, finally aiming it down the long tunnel, where he can see a faint light at the end. He then flashes his torch inside the jeep as Frypan crawls out of the vehicle. "Fry, you good?" 

A shriek echoes through the tunnel and Newt's hand instantly goes for his gun holster to find it empty. 

"Oh, shit." 

"Frypan, I think we gotta move!" Thomas urges as Frypan crawls back into the jeep, looking for something. "Now!" 

As the Crank is about to attack the group, Frypan pulls out a gun and shoots, killing it. 

"Nice shot, Fry." Thomas compliments. 

"Thanks." Frypan breathes out. 

Unfortunately, more shrieks fill in the air as more Cranks approach them. They turn around the other end of the tunnel to see a swarm of Cranks charging at them, trapping the group in between. 

Frypan shoots most of them even though Katherine knows that they're outnumbered. "I'm out!" 

"Shit!" 

Suddenly a roar of an engine gathers all the attention before a jeep pushes past the Cranks and halts in front of the group. 

"Hey, get in!" Brenda pops out, shooting at the gone cranks as the group hurries into the jeep. "Go, Jorge, go!" 

Brenda plops back into her seat and looks out of the window to notice the Cranks running after them. "Go!" 

Jorge drives out of the tunnel and into the daylight as the ugly shrieks fade away. 

"Oh, man. It was a life and death experience." Katherine sighs in relief, sliding into her seat. 

"I'm impressed!" Jorge glances back with a smirk on his face. "You guys almost lasted a whole day." 

Brenda turns around in her seat and looks at Thomas with a smile as she shakes her head. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't wanna bring you guys into this." Thomas apologizes before snorting a laugh. 

Frypan peeks his head over Thomas's shoulder. "I think what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us." 

"You're welcome." Brenda smiles. 

Jorge glances at the group through the rearview mirror. "Hey, don't get your hopes up. 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 some other way to keep the Cranks out." Newt says, eyeing the view outside. 

Katherine follows his gaze to catch the sight of a city with buildings and surrounded by tall walls. Jorge breaks the vehicle and the kids jump out to have a good look at the modern city. 

"Funny…" Newt trails off, sliding his arm around Katherine's waist, not moving his eyes away from the city. "Spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out, and now we wanna break back in." 

"Yeah. It's hilarious." Frypan snorts. 

"Jorge, how do we get in?" Thomas asks. 

"Don't look at me, hermano." Jorge shakes his head, taking off his gloves. "Those walls are new. I guess that's WICKED's answer for everything." 

"Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here." Brenda says, her arms crossed over her chest. She then turns back to the jeep. "Let's go!" 

Jorge and Frypan follow after Brenda and hop into the jeep. 

"You okay?" Newt asks the brunette, his eyes trailing to find any possible injury on her. 

"Yup." She nods. 

"It's bad that we had to leave your bag with midnight snacks behind in that tunnel. Isn't it, love?" Sarcasm is lacing his works, parallel to the smugness on his face. 

She squints her eyes to the sunlight as she looks up to face him. "You're not gonna let it go. Aren't you?" 

"Never." 

Katherine shakes her head with amusement and stands on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek before climbing back into the truck. 

Every hair on Newt's neck stands up straight and a chill tickles his back. Newt beams to himself as his eyes land on his friend who is examining the city longer than necessary. He moves forward to Thomas. "You really think he's in there?" 

"I guess we'll find out." Thomas mumbles. 

"You know she's gonna be there, too." Newt reminds him, patting on his shoulder before retreating back to the jeep.