[Off Path] | Oath of Lies ~ Newt²

[0.4] New Friends

[Two Months Later]

It's been two months with her new family. Isa's been out in the scorch only a few more times but she was starting to get the hang of it. Cranks, the cranks terrified her. Not for the sense that they could kill her but that she could become one if infected. Maya had become like a sister to Isa. Both of them being somewhat new, they latched on to each other. Natalie was like the older sister that treats them like her children, she did look older than them but it couldn't have been by much. Brenda and Jorge treated her like family from the beginning, Jorge was super protective and was like a father to her.

They had been in the scorch for a few days, making their way back to the warehouse when they heard a noise. Noises weren't unusual but this one was different, it sounded like snores. Isa held up her hand to signal for the others to stay quiet and follow her lead, slowly she walked to where the sound was coming from.

"Hello?" Her voice was small, not wanting to scare away whoever was snoring. The snores stopped signalling they had woken up. "Hello? You wanna come out, show yourself." She spoke with confidence and demand. From behind a large piece of metal, two people came out wrapped in blankets. Isa pointed her flashlight towards them trying to get a better look. One was a girl, she was small with long red hair, the other was a boy, he was taller, his hair a light brown. They both used their arms to block the light making it difficult for Isa to see anything else.

"Who are you?" The boy asked, he was scared, his voice showed it.

"We aren't going to hurt you alright, calm down. I'm Natalie, the one standing in front of you is Isa, and behind her is Maya. Mind telling us your names?" The boy slowly lowered his arm, standing in front of the girl as if to protect her.

"Casey, my name's Casey and this is Penelope." The girl behind him looked terrified, her body was visibly shaking and her gaze pointed down. Isa spoke to the girl directly.

"Can I call you Penny?" She nodded, still no words. "Alright, Penny, Casey, we were on our way back home if you'd like to come with us." They looked at each other but neither of them said anything. Casey finally spoke up.

"How do we know we can trust you? How do we know you're not from Wicked."

"You're from Wicked?" He nodded his head. "We were too, we escaped, probably just like you guys did. Derek?" His eyes widened.

"Yeah, how did you know that?"

"He helped us all. Come with us, I promise you're safe now." She held out her hand for them to take, slowly, Casey took it dragging Penny along with him. "Siblings?" He nodded, Isa assumed he was the older one from the way he tried to protect Penny, and that Penny couldn't have been older than fourteen. Natalie pitched into the conversation as they started walking.

"How do you know you're siblings?"

"They gave us our memories back, not all of them I think." Isa turned the conversation once again.

"Well, let's head home."

-/-/-

The group made it to the warehouse no problem, Jorge accepted the siblings as long as they went out into the scorch with them. They were starting to run low on supplies and needed more hands out searching. Isa volunteered to show them around, ending with where they'd be sleeping, Penny still hadn't said a word.

"This is all a little crazy don't you think." Casey had calmed down and seemed to be more comfortable.

"It is crazy."

"Why did they do this to us?" Penny finally spoke, only just above a whisper.

"They're sick sick people. They think they're doing good, finding a cure, they're willing to do anything for it. Hell they'd probably kill an entire generation to get their way." Isa left them to think about everything, it was a lot and she knew that. Brenda was sitting alone, staring out a large window. "Long day?" She turned and smiled at Isa.

"Isn't it always?"
"I guess so." She came and sat next to her, staring into the sky. "I like stars." Brenda looked over but waited for her to continue. "Everywhere I go, it's the one thing that stays the same. The night sky always has stars." She pointed at a random direction. "Look, there's a lion."

"And a scale." The two girls laughed, Brenda leaned her head on Isa's shoulder. "Do you think about them, your friends?"

"Every second of every day, there's not a time I'm not." Isa looked down at Brenda, realizing why she asked. "Your brother." She nodded, head still resting against Isa's shoulder. Isa wrapped her arm around her for comfort. Brenda was asleep by the time Jorge walked in.

"You both alright?" Isa nodded at him, resting her head against Brenda's.

"Just a long day Jorge." He nodded in understanding before walking away giving the two girls their privacy. It really had been a long day.