DISCONTINUED - A Consoling Silence; Aris Jones

one step at a time - three

                    [Third Person POV]

      "OH SHIT." Newt ogled the zombie-like girl in horror, the group quickly pulled on their backpacks and fled from the fence. They went down the long stretch of hall desperately trying to evade the Cranks.
         "Go, go, GO! Get outta here!!" Minho hollered, pulling Thomas from the fence and running towards the rest of the group a bit ahead.
        "Hey! Watch where we're going, we gotta find an exit!" Frypan suggested, studying their surroundings.
       "Where do we go?" Teresa spoke to no one in particular, also looking around for an escape.
       "Let's go up here!" Winston lead, heading up an escalator. Most of the Cranks were on the main level, so the group didn't hesitate to climb up the stairs.
       "What are those things?" Aris whimpered, holding onto the escalator railing while running.
      "I don't know, just keep going!" Thomas answered, him and Minho catching up to the others.
     "What now?" Rosalina breathed once they reached the second floor. Minho made his way to the front and began directing everyone down the hall. Without warning; Rosalina, Newt, Thomas, and Teresa who had been falling behind steadily were sprayed with glass shards. A Crank tackled Newt, making him fall onto the floor.

    "Newt!" Teresa shouted.
       "Guys, help!" Rosalina added, catching the others attention.
        The two rolled around for a few seconds, the Crank attempting to scratch at Newts eyes. Thomas turned on his heel and kicked the Crank off Newt entirely, the zombie-figure rolling then falling off the second floor and hitting the ground below with a splat. Rosalina shivered and made a face, but continued running as Newt got up.
      "Newt you good?" Fry called, running a few feet ahead.
     "Yeah." he replied, then turned to Thomas, "Thanks, Tommy."

     "Keep moving!" Minho lead, but as they turned the corner a Crank stood, readying itself for action. Before it could attack, Aris stepped forward.
   "Aris, no!" Rosalina shouted, eyes wide. Reaching backwards into his backpack, Aris pulled out his baseball bat. The Crank started towards him and Aris met him halfway, then slammed his bat into the Cranks calves causing the creature to trip.
   "Go around!" Aris ordered, his eyebrows creased as if he questioned whether he really did that or not. Everyone ran for another minute until Winston stopped and pointed to a doorway, they went in. It was such a skinny passageway the group could only fit in a tight line, yet they pushed on.
     "Through here, through here!" Many different voices spoke, but Rosalina could only focus on the moans of the Cranks.
    "Come on they're coming!" Teresa grimaced, looking back to see hoards of creatures following.