STATIC → newt , tmr [EDITING ; VERY SLOW UPDATES]

chapter v

― ➶ ―

The trek to the city was long. The group almost ran out of water. Minho and Newt had sore shoulders from carrying Tiago the entire way, despite the older boy insisting he was fine and he could walk by himself. When they put him down the first time he asked, his leg crumpled under the pressure of his upper body. Newt caught him quickly, not trusting that he was okay at all. Tiago had rolled his eyes as he leaned against the blond, which made Newt smirk.

Now that they were in the city, Tiago couldn't help the hope rising in his chest. There was a chance that Brenda could be here. She knew Jorge was heading to the city, so if she and Thomas managed to get into the tunnels and past the Cranks, the city is definitely the first place they would've come to. Tiago couldn't help but do a quick sweep of the area when they entered the city, hoping a short brunette would catch his eye, but he had no such luck.

"Where is this Marcus guy, anyway?" the brunette girl, who Tiago had learned was named Teresa, asked Jorge.

Jorge shrugged. "He has a place. Not sure if he still lives there, but it's worth a shot."

Frypan frowned. "What if he doesn't live there?"

Jorge didn't answer. Tiago sighed, absentmindedly shifting more of his weight onto Newt's shoulders. Minho hadn't bothered helping anymore once he saw that Tiago could kind of hobble at a reasonable pace with Newt's assistance. Newt grunted slightly under the pressure of Tiago's weight, making Tiago shuffle away from him slightly.

"Sorry," he apologized quietly. Newt just shrugged, rolling his shoulders slightly, before holding Tiago's arm tighter around his shoulders. Tiago grumbled under his breath. There was nothing he hated more than being babied by people. Brenda was the worst, Jorge was a close second. Newt was beginning to be a third, and Tiago didn't even know him at all. He figured it might've been Newt's natural instincts. Some people just cared a lot about other people. 'Mother hens' was what his father had called them when he was young. "Your mother worries too much. Such a mother hen," he used to say. Tiago shook his head, shoving the thoughts of his family away. Why was he thinking about them all of a sudden?

"Sore?" Newt said quietly. Tiago looked at him questioningly, and Newt just gestured downwards. "Your leg."

"Oh," Tiago said, blinking, "no, it's fine, just―Nothing."

Newt raised a questioning eyebrow, but he didn't push further. Tiago was silently thankful. When Tiago looked back towards the city, he moved his head slightly too fast and felt dizziness. He swayed slightly in place, pressing a hand to his forehead. Newt gripped him tighter, glancing at him in concern. Tiago knew he needed to eat something, and he definitely needed more water. The group had run out of water just before they'd entered the city, and Jorge had promised he knew where a clean source was, but there was no doubt they were all incredibly thirsty.