𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 {𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐭 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫}

twenty nine: the freedom we all wish for

A bird shrieked lowly in my ear as I kept my head securely on the ground, a makeshift pillow made from a jacket I stole earlier giving me slight comfort as I rolled my still shut eyes. I exhaled quietly, taking in the air around me as I watched the sunlight bob around on my eyelids. It was a warm morning, as I could already feel my clothes sticking to me, beads of sweat escaping onto my skin as it intertwined with the fabric covering my body.

The animal made a noise again as I heard a rustle of something in the distance. I picked my head off the ground to inspect, finding a crow shoving its beak into our remaining belongings. My sleep-stricken state couldn't will myself to usher it away, but luckily Thomas took it upon himself to scare it into flight.

"Hey! Hey! Shoo!" He stood up abruptly, bringing his hand up to intimidate the animal, as it took off on its hind legs, allowing itself to fly off into the sky.

I envied the creature. It was much freer than any of us, much more independent with no commitments or issues. No worries to speak of as it would live an simple life, free of confusion and emotion.

"Are they gone?" A voice spoke directly next to me as I spun my head round, meeting the presence of Newt, once again. He turned to look at me as he gave me an exhausted smile, turning his lips upwards slightly before looking back at Thomas.

"Yeah, I think we're safe for now." He sighed quietly at his own words. 'For now,' was not promising, as we all knew it could change almost immediately, rendering us powerless and frightened.

But now it seemed worse. Yes, we made it away from Wicked, but now we were alone. Alone in the world of things we couldn't remember, and from what I've seen so far, none of it seemed like something we would want to go back to.

Whatever those things back there were, they weren't human. Just like Ava had said, they were infected, nothing more than just a virus.

"Okay, we should get moving." Thomas helped Minho to his feet as the boy picked his bag off of the ground, placing it slowly on his back. "Let's pack it up."

I begin to gather my things as the others around me lift themselves off the floor, rubbing last night's experiences from their minds as they stretch out their limbs. I watch as Fry helps a whimpering Winston to his feet, as the boy clutches at his bandaged abdomen.

He definitely didn't look good. Blood was seeping through the white cloth as his face went paler and more discoloured. I worried for the boy, as things were not looking good for him. Sweat circled his forehead as Frypan looked back at him, fear striking his face before he adverted his gaze to me.

His eyes weren't at mine long, before he quickly turned his head away to grab his things also, almost as if to avoid leering. I furrowed my brows at his actions, coming to the conclusion that his manner was nothing more than him seeming wary. I started to frown at the idea; I knew I wasn't the most approachable, but the superfluous feeling erupting in my gut told me that maybe it was just in passing, and therefore wouldn't amount to much.

I sighed quietly before following the others out of the nook we had concealed ourselves in, as I laid my eyes on something I don't think I have ever seen.

A city. Or rather, lack thereof.

It was completely broken down. Buildings that once stood tall, now looked on the verge of collapsing entirely, as I noticed that some already had.

The floor was coated with sand, a light dusting, sure, but as we reached higher ground, stepping over concrete to get a better look, it was clear that everything surrounding us was desert.

A painfully quiet gasp escaped my throat as I embellished in the thought of us being completely and utterly alone, no one around for miles. At first the idea was exciting, freeing as we were no longer with those who wanted to keep us captive; but as time went on, even just a few seconds, the realisation become daunting.

We were alone. For miles. No one out there to help.

I felt a small nudge on my shoulder as I lifted my eyes from the floor to look at a grinning Newt. I tilted my head at him as I tried desperately to smile back. To no avail, I just walked forward with him as we reached a stretch of road surrounded by those same buildings I was gawking at not long before.

"What the hell happened to this place?" Newt asked no one in particular as I scanned through the surroundings. Everyone had their eyes glued to the broken-down lives around them, looking intently at what life used to look like. "I don't know. It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time." Thomas sighed in front of me as he kept his back towards the group.

Out of nowhere his head shot up and he turned around, pointing at me curtly. "But what about you? Janson seemed to think that maybe you've been here before, in the Scorch." I would have thought his tone would be more accusatory, but it wasn't. He pointed completely at me, not trying to hide the fact that he was circling me out to the rest of the group.

It was genuine confusion and concern, fear even.

The others crowded around behind me, as they waited for my answer. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't." I shrugged as his expression didn't change, I'm guessing he wasn't expecting much of a different answer.

He nodded slowly, but it didn't appear he was done. "So how did you know they were Wicked? You seemed to know as much, if not more, than the rest of us when you just suddenly appeared out of nowhere." Still, his voice was not angry, just confused. I knew they'd all have that question at some point, as Newt had already queried me about it, it was just a matter of time before the others began poking around.

I maintained eye contact with the boy as I sighed slightly, allowing my shoulders to relax. "I figured it was possible, and then when one of their precious officers hit me, I took it as fact." I rolled my eyes shortly as the boy tensed up in front of me. It seemed guilt had flooded into his system as his previous questions no longer seemed to be as important.

"Oh. I'm- I'm sorry Y/n, I didn't know." He said as he gave me an apologetic look. I didn't know why though, as he didn't do anything wrong. Just simply asked a question.

I shrugged it off as I looked back at him. "It's fine, you don't need to apologise." I said as I looked at him confused. He was about to say something as something else caught his attention. "Hang on, stop." His face resumed back to the concerned look he previously wore as his expression dropped entirely. "Do you hear that?"

At first, I had no clue what the boy was on about. But as the ground began to shake and the air was swept around haphazardly, I started to understand his panic. It was Wicked.

"Get down!" The boy yelled as we swiveled around to find shelter, taking cover under concrete slabs.

A large plane like machine flew through the sky as we watched it carefully. A knot grew in my stomach as I began to realise; they were never going to stop. Not until they had us back. 

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A/N; Afternoon, besties <33 pls remember that if you like this story to favourite, as it really helps me out. I hope you're enjoying it so far, and have a great day :))