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"She wore a smile like a loaded gun." ________________________
The slight breeze lodged flakes of the dry sand into their face, causing them to squint their eyes as they walked around the worn down city. The buildings were falling apart, hanging on by a mere thread. There were smashed cars and piles of concrete and rubble that surrounded them.
The sound of their shoes scrapping against the floor could be heard. Aife, who, by the way, was exhausted, was panting as she leaned against Minho for support.
She had gone back to wearing her makeup, her hair hadn't been washed in days, causing it to appear seemingly greasy, and fall into twists.
Axel had been keeping an eye on Teresa, though, he would much rather watch over Aife, who didn't seem to be looking healthy. She had dark circles under her eyes, and they got more prominent as they walked. Her tan complexion was going slightly pale, and she was covered in a layer of sweat.
"What the hell happened here?" Frypan asked as they glanced around the broken city, his tone had confusion lacing it. Newt scrunched up his nose with a slight grimace, his arms swaying by his sides tiredly.
"I don't know, but it doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time."
"Yeah, who would've thought, huh?" Aife scowled sarcastically as she ticked her jaw, Minho smirked at the girl. Even though she was a pain, he was grateful she still had her humor.
Newt chuckled and glanced at the girl, but ended up doing a double take when he saw her condition. He slowed down his pace and stood next to her before placing the back side of his hand on her forehead, checking to see if anything was wrong with her.
The girl waved him off and pulled her eyebrows together, "I'm fine, don't worry about me."
"I hope the whole world is not like this," Aris frowned as he brought the topic back, causing everyone to nod in agreement.
"Woah woah, hang on, stop. Do you hear that?" Thomas said as he placed a hand on Aife's lower back to keep her steady, she looked at him confusedly as she tilted her head. She strained her ears so she could listen for any sign of danger, but her throat felt like she had been stabbed with needles a thousand times over, and her head was hurting as if her skull had been bashed in and her ears were ringing. Her breathing was getting shortened, like someone was wrapping their grimy fingers around her scarred throat and squeezing it, watching the life drain from her eyes.
They stood in silence as they glanced around, then, you could hear it. The propellers of the helicopters, coming from WICKED, "Get down," Thomas shouted, "Everybody, hide, hide!"
They scattered to hide under a broken bridge, and Aife made sure to get a spot next to Teresa, she clenched her jaw and narrowed her irises as she observed her and she cupped the girls cheek as she got close and looked deep into her eyes, she had a sweet smile on her face, one that made Teresa uneasy.
"I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, or if something has changed you, i truly don't. But if i found out that you are lying about anything, i will harm you in ways you couldn't even imagine." She spoke lowly, her voice even more raspy than usual, she then brushed her thumb softly against the girls cheekbone and placed a soft, lingering kiss to her cheek, pulling back slowly. Teresa met her gaze with wide eyes as she released a shaky breath, her mouth slightly agape as she nodded fearfully.
Though, Aife was not in the best condition, she would make sure her boys were, and she wouldn't want something to change that. She would not let anything get in the way, even if it meant confronting Teresa.
The two then turned away from each other, seeing that the helicopters have passed from over them, "They're never gonna stop looking for us, are they?" Minho asked disappointedly, though, it sounded like he already knew the answer. They would never be truly out of WICKEDs grasp.
The group exited their crouching positions, while doing so, Aife stumbled and grunted, her face twisting into a grimace as her palms scrapped the ground. Axel and Newt immediately fell to her side, checking over her for any injuries.
"Aife, when was the last time you drank water?" Axel said sternly as he looked at the girl worriedly, she only shrugged and shook her head as she began to heave.
"Here, take mine," Winston offered as he stood beside her, a flask of water was held out to her, she immediately shook her head and backed away.
"No, no, you need that. I'm okay, Win." She dismissed, he only urged her further, she eventually gave in and took multiple gulps, the feeling of the cool liquid flowing down her throat immediately brought her at ease. She then stood up with Newts help and they continued to walk up the mountain of dried rubble. Thomas made sure to have her in front of him so he could keep an eye on the girl.
"Everyone good?" Aife asked, receiving murmurs of 'yes' in response. Next was a large hill of sand, the steepness of it made it harder to walk, though, they continued, "Just a little further, guys."
"There's mountains, it's gotta be there." Frypan pointed at the dark shadows at the landscape.
"That's where we're going," Thomas panted as the others followed Frypans line of gaze.
"It's a long way off," Newt said as he glanced at Aife, he had refused to leave her side after she fell, though, she assured him that she was only dehydrated from giving out her water to others and not keeping any for herself.
"Well then, we better get moving." Aife said as she cocked up an eyebrow suggestively they took a single step forward, but shouted in worry when Winston fell flat on his stomach, directly into the sand.
"Winston, hey!"
The said boy was desperately gasping for air as his chest heaved deeply, his eyes were slightly rolling back and his lips were turning a black shade. Everyone knelt beside him as Aife ran a hand through his hair, "What do we do?" Teresa asked.
"Winston, can you hear me?" Newt asked as he looked at his fallen friend, receiving no answer, he grimaced with a sad glint in his eyes.
"I've got an idea," Axel spoke, his deep voice catching everyone's attention, even though they didn't fully trust him, they were desperate for help.
They created a stretcher using their bags and jackets and they dragged the unconscious boy through the desert, Axel and Frypan, specifically, since they were the ones who held more muscle than the rest. They reached the top of the mountain, once again, and they began walking down, this time slightly easier due to the angle.
Once they reached back to flat sand, the wind started to pick up again, and it was worse. The large mountain was flowing towards them, causing them to cover their mouths with cloths as they coughed uncontrollably, the sand drying their siliva. It was violently whipping them in their eyes, it felt as if they were bleeding.
