𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 {𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐭 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫}

thirty six: the explosion

For whatever reason, the explosion seemed to have a greater impact than I had anticipated. Although the blow was far away, off into the building we had just escaped, the screams spun into my mind and clouded my thoughts and hearing. It made whatever Newt was saying much harder to understand as everything he did moved slower, before finally I could once again feel his fingers on my face, brushing against my jaw line in an effort to get some sort of response out of me.

It was almost like a pop, as suddenly I jolted back into reality and I could hear and see everything clearly again. The first thing I saw however, was Newt clutching at my face, asking me repeatedly if I was alright, and eventually I mustered enough energy to tell him I was fine.

He looked so frightened, yet he barely even seemed to notice the explosion, as he refused to remove his hands from my face. But then again, I didn't stop him.

But then I remembered, and the warm and familiar feeling Newt's presence brought me drifted away as I looked over to see Jorge in an unbelievably hysterical state.

It didn't take long for Newt to realise that my attention was no longer on him as he slowly dropped his hands from my face and peered over to look at Jorge, frantically pacing and crying under his breath.

Brenda and Thomas were still inside.

I looked over at Teresa, who looked on the brink of tears, however, was just better at containing it than Jorge was. And then I drifted my gaze to the others, who honestly looked just like Teresa did; completely broken and upset that they might have just lost their friend, but have no way to tell.

It was then that I finally took in my surroundings and noticed that there was absolutely nothing special about where we had landed. Nothing at all. It was dark and cold, with no creatures in sight as we watched Jorge spiral uncontrollably.

I already assumed that Brenda and him were close, but I didn't realise the extent of it. I wonder if they're father and daughter. They look nothing a-like, but it was still possible. His reaction definitely showed his fear for her safety, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're related.

I was watching him intently, but I knew that Newt wasn't following my eyeline, as I could see him staring at me with concern from the corner of my eye.

But suddenly, the man snapped out of his hectic ramble and unstable muttering and stared forward. "The tunnels. Yes, that's it! They're okay!" A loud nervous laugh escaped his throat as a scary smile grew on his face. "The tunnels! Oh, smart girl! Oh, she's brilliant." His words were incoherent, as everything he said made absolutely no sense, but at least he was no longer pacing rapidly.

Minho stepped forward carefully, but Jorge didn't even let him get a word out. "Marcus. She's going to him. We need to go there. Now."

Confused glances were exchanged through the group before Jorge huffed and explained his reasoning. "If anyone knows where the Right Arm is, it's Marcus. And she of all people knows that. So, we have to find him, so we can find Brenda and Thomas."

The plan was simple, and made a lot of sense considering.

But there must be one problem. And, right I was.

"So, where's Marcus?" Newt asked, finally moving his gaze from mine to Jorge.

"I don't know."

"The fuck you mean, 'don't know'?" Minho spat, clearly so angry that he didn't care that this man was heavily armed and quite capable of hurting someone. But Jorge didn't retaliate as he just sighed.

"I don't know exactly." He began, perching himself slowly on an abandoned log set aside. "I know roughly, as he was there the last time I checked, however, I don't know about now."