𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐎 (𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒) *editing*

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐭🌞

"Oh fuck, that was close!"

Maeve swore under her breath. There were soldiers everywhere. Like ants, they were fucking everywhere! If that wasn't exaggerating, then she didn't know what was. They swarmed the place, especially when they found the soldiers Tess and TJ killed. Swarmed with a capital 's'. They weren't too keen on having one of their own killed so brutally.

Even down in the trenches, their flashlights grazed around them. Every time a beam would nearly graze their bodies, Maeve's heart would take a leap for her throat.

"Hurry up!" TJ hissed at her, nudging her forward as Joel crouched through a broken sewer pipe.

She glared back at him, but she tried to follow closely behind her sister and Tess. Fucking asshat. As if running from soldiers wasn't enough pressure. And with all the anxiety flowing through her, she thought she was being seen as slow. It wasn't easy crouching and trying to duck walk in the now heavy rain while sneaking around in an embankment.

The trenched they sneaked through were filled with water, enough for it to come up to their shins. Being below slabs of concrete that were probably a hundred percent unsound did not settle with her. She didn't feel safe knowing she'd be crushed if a soldier stepped wrong. They would be screwed and riddled with bullets. Well, if that was possible. Not even the soldiers could find a way around this broken concrete jungle. Their trucks and limited space to move slowed them down tremendously.

She hated every second she was in the trench. She absolutely hated soggy socks, soggy shoes.

"See anything up ahead?" Tess asked, whispering to Joel as quietly as she could.

"We're all good, there's a drop though."

A drop? Further into the earth they go...At least if they got shot by soldiers, they would have somewhat of a grave.

"Oof!" Gravity took hold of Maeve's body as she slipped off the broken road and fell more into the ground. She landed on the soles of her feet a little too roughly. A gasp broke out of her when the nerves in her calves exploded terribly, tingling up to her knees and ending abruptly.

Ugh. She knew she shouldn't have ditched her elite exercising class. Hardcore parkour, she called it, because the real name felt far advanced for her to fathom remembering. Her muscles were already screaming. Her brain too. They were in a maze of unkempt streets and sewer linings.

Tiny rocks embedded into her palms as she squatted down, though they were the least of her concerns. Her first concern was not being left behind by Ellie and their chivalrous smugglers. She grimaced at how morbid that sounded in her mind. Yeah. They were being smuggled. Totally not illegal.

"You're looking a bit winded there," Ellie smirked at Maeve while she stood tall. "It's like you're an old lady now."

"Och!" she scoffed and rose to tower over her sister's five foot one. "I'm only two years older than you, bullshitter!"

"Whatever," Ellie rolled her eyes. "Old lady."

"Okay, don't get ahead of yourself, fetus. Soon enough your hair will have the same amount of white as mine." Maeve reached over and tugged a few stray strands of Ellie's sloppy fringe.

She snorted and slapped her hand away, even flipping her off.

Their whole interaction didn't go unnoticed by their "escorts". Although they appeared confused, probably annoyed, but also amused. Maeve hoped they had been around a set of siblings before, because she and Ellie morbidly gave each other hell on the daily.