FOUR
「let the
light in」
＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

   THE MAN LED Sylvia and Hayden back to an old, dilapidated building he told them he'd been staying in. Sylvia didn't know what to think of him. She didn't exactly want to follow a strange man they had just met to some building they'd never been to before, but they really had no choice. It was the best option in a sea of bad choices. If she didn't accept his offer for help, her and Hayden would still be on the streets being attacked by Cranks.

   The man told them his name was Neil Torres. He told her that he was running with a bigger group but he was out on a supply run at the moment, and that he'd take them back to the bigger group the next day, once the sun rose. Sylvia wasn't exactly ecstatic about the idea, but she didn't show any of her distaste towards him. She didn't want to make him angry and get them possibly kicked out. Or worse.

   As they settled down, the man eyed her arm, which was covered in blood. A gory, terrible bite mark marred her flesh, dried blood caking around the wound. It was still bleeding a bit as well, and it throbbed painfully. If she didn't have the Flare before, she sure as hell did now.

   "What's your name, kid?" He had asked her, digging in a pack he had brought with him.

   She debated with herself, wondering if she should tell him. When she took too long to answer, he turned around, staring at her expectantly. She found herself answering, "Sylvia."

   "Okay, Sylvia." Neil said. He stood to his full height, bandages and other medical supplies in hand. She eyed him warily. He moved towards her, and she took a step back. He stopped moving, staring at her with annoyance. "Look, you either let me help you, or that gets infected and you die sooner than you have to. Unless you're hiding some secret cure that I can't see." He gave a pointed look to their meager belongings of two sheets with food and water.

   Hayden watched the interaction carefully, staying quiet. Sylvia looked at the man guardedly, "You aren't going to put me down? I was bit by one of those...Cranks or whatever they're called. Isn't that bad?"

   "We've all got the virus out here." He explained shortly. "One little bite ain't gonna do much."

   "So, what? You admit you're a Crank?"

   Neil sighed. "Everyone out here is a Crank, niña. Let me see your arm."

   Sylvia begrudgingly dropped her shoulders a bit, letting Neil take her arm in his hand. Her body was tense as he examined the wound. He sighed, opening a bottle of what looked like alcohol and poured it over the wound. She hissed sharply, recoiling. He gave her a pointed look and she glared at him.

   He grabbed her arm again, wiping the dried blood with a damp cloth. As he went around the wound, Sylvia tried not to show the amount of pain she was in. She looked away from him, scrunching her features.

   "Don't look too deep." He muttered to himself, grabbing a roll of gauze. He wrapped it around her arm, and secured a tight knot when he was done.

   Before he could move away, Sylvia looked at him sharply. "Why are you helping us?"

   "Because I'm not heartless." He laughed, though it didn't sound exactly genuine.

   "Cut the bullshit." She spat. "You're not helping us out of the kindness of your heart. You want something."

   "You really don't beat around the bush, do you?" He asked, amused. She gave him a disinterested stare back. Neil sighed. "You know that bigger group I told you about? Well, we could use a little more help. And before you refuse, we're the best group you could find out here. The rest are close to being past the Gone."

   "It doesn't matter what you say." Sylvia said. "We're not staying here. We can't join your little group."

   Neil shot her an almost surprised look. "And why is that?"

   "We..." Sylvia trailed off, hesitating.

   "We're going to a Safe Haven." Hayden finished for her, finally speaking up. "We were promised a cure there. A cure for the Flare."

   Sylvia shot a deadly glare in his direction, silently cursing him and his blabbermouth.

   Neil raised his chin with interest. "A cure?"

   "Yes."

   "That's impossible," a simple statement, a fact. He said it as if there was no room for argument.

   "But it is." Hayden emphasized.

   "How?"

   "WICKED," Hayden offered. "WICKED told us. They sent us out here."

   Neil paused. He stared at the two of them, trying to gauge their reactions. He didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, he blew out a breath, "Okay." He lowered himself to the ground, getting comfortable. He positioned his bag beneath his head, shuffling around.

   Hayden gaped at him, bewildered. "'Okay'? That's all you have to say?"

   "I'm trying to decide whether your scrawny ass is lying or not. Give me the night." He spat.

   Sylvia and Hayden shot a dubious look toward the other. She hadn't expected him to react so calmly to information like that. After some hesitation, they settled down on the floor of the building, in one of the back rooms with fewer windows for Cranks to see through. As she laid down, she studied Neil from across the room. Sylvia noted that he had a bag of supplies with him, along with the bloodied crowbar. She tried not to think about the Crank he had killed in front of her.

   Sylvia laid on her side, where she had a view of both Hayden and Neil. Bark laid at her feet, already fast asleep. Sylvia tried to sleep, she really did, but she was on edge and restless from the past twenty four hours, so the effort was futile.

   All she could think about was her friends. About Minho.

   IN THE MORNING, Neil woke them and suggested they get going before the streets were crowded with Cranks. Sylvia and Hayden quickly counted up their supplies and gathered their things before following Neil out into the streets. The blistering sun had hardly illuminated the sky yet, which she supposed was a good thing. The streets were desolate and littered with debris and garbage. The buildings abandoned and decrepit, most of the windows either shattered or boarded up.

   Sylvia couldn't stop herself from staring at Neil as they walked along the streets. He had to be hiding something, some ulterior motive. Sylvia just hadn't figured out what it was yet. She wasn't too sure about meeting this group of his. When Neil turned to meet her glare, raising a dark brow, she didn't look away.

   "Got something you want to say?" he grumbled.

   Sylvia raised her chin. "Just wondering why you're so willing to help."

   "Because," he said, his eyes trailing over to Hayden. "I've thought about what you've told me."

   "And?" Hayden asked.

   Neil took a few seconds before speaking. Sylvia's boots thudded on the concrete, her soles scraping over stray pieces of glass and debris.

   Neil stopped walking and turned to them. "Let's say we make a deal. I help you niños get to the safe haven, and I get the cure when we get there. How's that sound?"

   Hayden was about to speak, but seemed to hesitate. He shot a glance at Sylvia, whose brows were lowered over her eyes in thought and seeming suspicion. He looked back over at Neil, mouth shut.

   "How do we know we can trust you?" She asked in a low voice.

   "You don't." He said simply.

   Sylvia's hard expression eased, if only slightly. She accepted his answer as fair. "Okay."

   He nodded, and approached her. He put his hand out civilly. Sylvia took it and shook hands with him. "The deal is the deal."

   When they stepped back from each other, the tension surrounding the three of them seemed to somewhat dissipate. They began walking again, Neil at the front. Sylvia didn't trust him, not by a longshot, but she was willing to risk it if he could help them get to the safe haven—get back to her friends. If worse came to worse, she knew she could deal with him.

   The silence for the remaining walk was light. No one said a word and it was somewhat peaceful after the stressful last couple of days she's had. If Hayden was unhappy with the decision, he didn't say anything about it. Sylvia took that as contentment.

   Neil started to slow down when they got towards the end of one of the blocks before stopping completely. They had paused in front of a larger building that seemed to be in a bit of better shape than the rest. "This is it. Now when we go in, just do me a favor and keep your mouths shut," he threw a pointed look at Sylvia. "Let me do the talking. These people may not be past the Gone, but they're still Cranks. You don't want to make them angry."

   He said the words as if he wasn't a Crank himself. As if she and Hayden weren't Cranks. Sylvia rolled her eyes at him, but said nothing.

   As Neil was about to walk up to the building, an explosion rattled the ground. Sylvia stumbled back. To the right of the building, near what looked like an entrance to a basement or bunker underground, debris flew up in all directions. Dust floated in the air. Luckily, they weren't too close to the blast, though Sylvia's ears still rang.

   Neil must have been saying something because she only caught the last of his words, "—Puta madre! Goddamn it, Jorge."

   "Jorge?" Hayden questioned distractedly, eyes on the wreck. "Who's Jorge?"

   Neil ignored the question. He spun to the two of them frantically. "You said you want help getting to that Safe Haven? We're going. Now." Neil started to turn.

   Sylvia grabbed his arm to stop him. "Hold on! What the hell just happened? What about your group?"

   "They will be out here any minute to see what just happened!" He shouted, grabbing her and Hayden and forcing them away from the building. "We do not want to be here when they do." Then he muttered to himself, "Damn you, Jorge."

   Then he started running. Sylvia and Hayden shared a wary look before running after him. They had no other choice than to trust Neil. Sylvia ran after the old man, the familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through her body. Bark ran beside her.

   They turned street corners and into alleyways, jumping over strewn garbage and debris. Sylvia had no idea where they were going. They ran nonstop past worn down buildings, past ansty Cranks, past scouring rats.

   They didn't stop moving until midday, where they settled in an old building in an abandoned part of the city.

   Sylvia panted. She threw her things down on the ground and turned to Neil fiercely, "What the hell was that all about?"

   "Let's just say we weren't the most tight knit group." Neil said exasperatedly. He looked agitated, and on edge for that matter.

   "Didn't you have any friends back there?" Sylvia asked with doubt. She didn't trust him. "You're just leaving everything behind?"

   "Trust me, niña. There's nothing for us back there. Only a few of us were sane enough to run the place." Neil explained. "Let's go to this Safe Haven of yours. If you're lying to me and it's not there, I'll kill the both of you."

   Hayden shot Sylvia a distressed look, but she just subtly shook her head at him. She could handle Neil. If it came down to it, it was two against one. They could overpower him.

   Sylvia looked around the place they had settled in. Conveniently, it looked like an old clothing store. She wandered around the place, rummaging for anything that hadn't been trashed. She only found two jackets that seemed to be in good enough condition. She handed one to Hayden, and he thanked her.

   She took some food and water out from their packs and gave some to Bark. The dog looked tired from the non-stop running, and she almost felt bad for him. His life in the Glade had been easy. Now, he was out here in the Scorch with her, Hayden, and some strange man. She rubbed the back of his ears, thinking about Nick.

   Neil was looking out one of the broken windows, checking the streets. "We might have to wait here a while before we start movin' again." He informed them, walking away from the window. "Now let me ask you two something. You ever killed a Crank before?"

   Both Sylvia and Hayden shook their heads.

   "Well, you're gonna have to learn. It's kill or be killed out here." Neil grabbed his pack, pulling out a jagged dagger. "Come on, I'll show you."

   Warily, Syliva and Hayden watched as he explained. He told them to either go for the throat or the heart. He did some demonstrations with the dagger and Sylvia fought the urge to yawn. She had been using knives all of her remembered life. She knew what to do.

   She would do whatever it took to get back to her friends.

   ALMOST A FULL day had passed before they started moving again. Sylvia was restless. They didn't exactly have time to waste. Bark walked next to her, panting. The dog was moving along lazily.

   "So," Neil spoke up. "What's with the dog?"

   Sylvia glared half-heartedly at Bark. "Didn't really have a choice but to bring him."

   Neil all but laughed. "Why is that?"

   "He was..." Sylvia trailed off, wondering what she should say. "He belonged to a friend." At this, Hayden squinted at her. She hadn't told him that.

   Neil didn't ask about the friend. He must have assumed what that meant. Though, he did say, "I had a dog once. Long time ago."

   "Really? You seem more like a kitten kind of guy." Her voice was thick with sarcasm.

   "Hey!" Hayden called out, offense clear on his features. "What do you have against cats?"

   "I don't have anything against cats."

   Neil squinted down at her. "Seems like you do." She narrowed her eyes at him, unrelenting. He smirked, "What? Cat got your tongue?"

   It took Hayden all of three seconds to keel over laughing. Neil seemed awfully amused with himself. She walked ahead of the two, ignoring them. She glanced around at her surroundings, looking for anything interesting. When her eyes landed upon a worn down shop, she stopped short. Through the broken display window, she could see metal glinting off the sun. The faded sign above read 'Whitman's Tactical.'

   "Well, I've been shucked." She muttered to herself. She didn't think twice before jumping through the huge, broken window and into the store.

   Faintly, from behind her, she could hear Neil shout, "Now what the hell do you think you're doing!?"

   She didn't answer him. The inside of the store was dim, but there was enough light shining from the outside to see. Though most of the store had been ransacked, a couple assortments of weapons still littered the place. There were some small knives, daggers, a rusty machete, and an empty axe shelf. Her sight finally landed on what seemed to be someone's man made weapon.

   Half of it was covered with some debris, so Sylvia kicked the concrete and other remnants away. Beneath it lay a wooden baseball bat with nails driven through the barrel of it. She let out a disbelieving laugh as she picked it up.

   Neil shouted to her from outside, "Come out of there before the damn building caves in on you!"

   "Give me a minute, old man!" She yelled back.

   She blew the dust from the bat and held it up in her hands. She walked back over to the broken window, bat in hand. She jumped out of the building and turned to Hayden and Neil, an amused smile on her face.

   She held the bat up to them. "Look at this thing!" Sylvia exclaimed. She held it in her hands, pretending to swing at something.

   "Alright!" Neil yelled. "Stop it before you hit someone."

   "I'm totally taking this with me."

   Hayden just shook his head at her. "I am actually afraid of what would happen if we tried to stop you from taking it." She smirked at him and continued onward, pleased with her findings.

  At some point, Neil inquired about where they were supposed to be going. Sylvia and Hayden told him all they knew—they were supposed to go north for a hundred miles and at the end of it would be the so-called paradise. Luckily, Neil had a compass for show.

   As the heat of the day cooled and darkness settled over the city, the group of them hadn't made a ton of progress. They were maybe halfway through the city now. Hayden argued that they should stop to rest but Sylvia refused. She insisted that they keep going for a little while longer.

   Somehow, the streets were creepier in the darkness. It felt like anything could pop out of somewhere at any moment. It sort of felt like the unknowingness of the Maze at night. Sylvia didn't even want to think about Grievers for the rest of her life.

   Her and Hayden's food supplies were dwindling, and they didn't have much left. They'd eaten all the fruits before they could rot and they were only left with a couple packages of granola bars and crackers. Their water supply was becoming sparse as well. Sylvia didn't know where they would even be able to acquire more.

   They walked in silence now, the day's conversation having run out. Neil walked ahead of her and Hayden, scouting the way.

   Suddenly, Neil put a hand out for them to stop. Sylvia furrowed her brows at him. He asked the two of them, "You hear that?"

   "Yeah," Hayden answered breathlessly at the same time as Sylvia said, "No."

   The two of them shot her a look and she fought the urge to tell them, I'm deaf in one ear! She couldn't openly admit that. It was a weakness, and she would rather not willingly give them something they could use against her.

   "There was something rustling in that alleyway over there," Neil whispered, pointing up to the alley a few yards away.

   Then, something clanged in the alleyway they had already walked past, a couple yards behind them. This time, Sylvia heard it. Then again on the other side of the street. Sylvia looked at Neil frantically, trying to gauge something from his expression.

   "What's happening?" Hayden questioned aloud, voice swirling with panic.

   The sounds from the alleys surrounding them kept getting louder and louder. Metallic clanging, a terrible high-pitched scratching, a whoop and a growl. Before any of them could do something, Cranks filed out from all the alleyways, surrounding them.

   There had to be at least a dozen.

   "Castor..." One spoke, a man. He was older and balding, two large scars running over his right eye. "Where's...Castor? Where's Adam?"

   Neil slowly put his hands up, "We don't know any Castor or Adam. We're just passing through, not here to bother you."

   "Liar!" A blonde woman cackled beside the man. "Castor, Castor, Castor....Adam...Where are they?"

   "You've seen him before, haven't you?" The balding man smiled. His teeth were rotting and chipped.

   "Never heard of him before." Neil answered slowly.

   "Oh, but I think you have..." The man trailed off ominously.

   Sylvia began to feel something bad swarm in her gut, like a moth's wings beating against her insides. These Cranks didn't look friendly.

   The balding Crank was pretending to think. He stared right at Neil, smiling. "I think their heads are a little screwed up now though."

   The memory of Neil driving his crowbar through the Crank's head came back to her. The bite on her arm throbbed. The Cranks who attacked her and Hayden. That had to be what they were talking about. Sylvia's hand tightened around the handle of her bat.

   The balding Crank and the blonde one started moving towards them. The rest followed. Sylvia held her bat up. The blonde woman shrieked, "You killed them!"

   Then, all at once, the Cranks pounced on them. Sylvia swung her bat and it ripped into the side of a brown haired man. He screeched and fell to the floor. They all kept coming, attacking relentlessly. She didn't know what was happening to Neil or Hayden.

   Bark attacked one of them, mouth clamping down on their leg. Sylvia kept swinging. Each hit resulting in a screech, a splatter of blood. One of them tried to grab for her arm, their cruel fingers pressing down on the wound concealed by her jacket. She yelped, quickly wrenching her arm away and elbowing the Crank in the nose.

   As she knocked one off of her, another one took their place. They grabbed her from all places. Her arms, her hair, her ankles. Eventually she was overwhelmed. There were simply too many of them. One of them jumped on her and something hard connected with her temple.

   A dizzying blur of light danced across her vision before everything went dark.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

SORRY FOR FALLING OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. MERRY CHRISTMAS!