Aife could feel chills run down her arms as they watched the beasts limp toward them, releasing inhumane growls. Their eyes were wide as they panted heavily, and they slowly began to back away from the car that laid upside-down.

"Guys, we gotta go!"

At that, they turned around and broke into a sprint. Gunshots rang out through the tunnels as Frypan continued to pull the trigger at the Cranks in an attempt to kill them, just as he had done with the previous one.

"Frypan, come on!" The dark-skinned boy listened to Aife's orders, turning around and running along with them as he finally came to terms with the fact that there were to many to fight off. Their arms swung by their sides, and their feet smacked against the rubble.

"Keep going!"

And so the did, for as far as they could before they were forced to come to a stop.

"Whoa, whoa," Thomas muttered, holding his arm out to slow down his friends. Not far off into the distance, they could see the figures of even more Cranks headed toward them. Now, they were trapped.

"Fry, you got em'?" Thomas questioned the boy, to which he nodded and began to fire his shot gun at the monsters. The brunette boy didn't question him.

"This way!" Thomas shouted. He turned around to come face to face with more Cranks, "Other way, other way!" He changed his mind as he rambled over and over. Frypan felt his heard drop to his stomach as he could no longer fire the shotgun.

"Im out!"

Newt groaned as he tried to come up with a solution, and Thomas cursed loudly and wet his dry lips. They formed a tight circle as they stood in place, as if almost ready to accept their fate, but before the Cranks could get a hold of them, an engine was heard.

Headlights of a vehicle came into view as the tires kicked up dust whilst speeding forward, causing the Cranks to get knocked out of the way as they got rammed from behind. The car came to a stop directly in front of them, and in the drivers seat was Jorge.

Brenda was in the passengers. She stood on top of her seat, her torso now sticking out of the open roof, "Come on, get in!" She shouted, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she turned and aimed her pistol at the Cranks, then began to fire.

Aife and the boys moved into action quickly, pulling themselves up into the car without hesitation and watching as Brenda shouted at Jorge to stomp on the pedal once again. The man complied, speeding through the herd of Cranks and out to safety.

Aife's chest rose and fell, sweat glistening across her skin as she pushed her tongue against her cheek. She was seated in between Thomas and Newt, and Frypan was in the back.

When they exited the tunnel, Jorge pursed his lips before a somewhat amused smile fell across his lips, "Im impressed. You kids almost lasted the whole day."

Thomas had finally settled in his heat, his breath fanning over Aife's face as he looked at her, "You okay?" He asked, to which she nodded. His gaze traveled to Newt, and the dirty blond boy immediately nodded as well.

Brenda turned around in her seat, her eyes narrowed as she looked at Thomas.

The boy already knew what she would say.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't wanna bring you guys into this." He let out what sounded like a scoff as tried to excuse his recent actions. Brenda rolled her eyes, gnawing on her bottom lip before she glanced over to Jorge, who was peering at them through the rearview mirror.

"Hey," Frypan spoke, leaning forward and placing his head on Aife's shoulder, "I think what he's trying to say is 'Thank you'." He grinned before leaning back.

Thomas opened his mouth, though nothing came out. A small, and uncomfortable grin tugged on his lips.

"Your welcome," Brenda said before turning around, glancing out of the window and looking at the view of the scorch. 

"And don't get your hopes up, the checkpoint back there, that was the city's last defense. If that was overrun? Chances are, the city is too." He declared, his fingers still gripping the steering wheel.

Aife's jaw clenched as she gritted her teeth together. Newt had captured their attention as he spoke, leaning his elbow on his open window and scrunching his face up due to the sun beaming down on them.

"Yeah, unless they figured out some other way to keep the Cranks out." Aife lifted her head, and her eyes widened as they looked at their view. Jorge aggressively stomped on the breaks, causing Aife to nearly bang her head on the seat in front of her. Newt got out of the car first, and since there weren't any doors, they had to climb out. When his feet touched the floor, he turned to help Aife. The girl gripped his hand before jumping out of the vehicle. He knew she didn't need help. She didn't need help with anything, but he offered anyway.

Jorge and Brenda got out of the car with no problem.

"Thanks." Aife mumbled.

"Of course," He whispered back.

The city they were staring at was unreal, and it looked almost futuristic.

The sun glistened off of the buildings, slightly blinding them, even though they stood so far away. There were large walls that protected the city from whatever was outside, which caused Aife to frown.

There were old, worn down buildings just on the outside of the walls. The Cranks must have gotten a hold of that area.

"Funny, we spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out. And now we wanna. . . break back in." Newt deadpanned.

"Yeah, its hilarious." Frypans tone was flat.

Aife nearly scoffed.

"Jorge," Thomas said, "How do we get in?"

"Don't look at me, Hermano," The man shook his head as he waved off the boy, "Those walls are new. I guess thats WCKED's answer for everything."

Jorge shrugged as he began to take off his gloves.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here." Aife countered, pressing her lips together to form a thin line.

"She's right," Brenda spoke, "Lets go!" At that, they began to move, making their way back to the vehicle and climbing back in.

Thomas remained in his spot, and Aife moved to stand next to him, Newt doing the same.

"Do you really think he's in there?" Newt asked hesitantly, his hands on his hips as they looked at the isolated city.

"He has to be." Aife said confidently to the boys. It sounded as though she had yet to convince herself that Minho was in the facility. Knowing WCKED, they could've killed him already.

Thomas blinked, inhaling a deep breath before glancing over at them "I guess we'll find out."

"That means she's gonna be there too," Newt almost grimaced at his own words. Aife had to bite her tongue to keep her mouth shut. The thought of that girl, that traitor, made her sick to her stomach. The fact that she had accepted her so easily, just because she had came up through the box, just like the rest of them.

That alone disgusted Aife.

She knew that somewhere, Thomas did have feelings for Teresa, which made her feel odd. Suddenly, Aife didn't wanna be in the conversation any longer.

"Lets go, we've got places to be."

And so they got in the old jeep, and drove away from the city.

_________________________

hellooooooo, how are you guys?