Say You Won't Let Go (Minho/OC)

Chapter 7

The girl's figure could be seen in the light from the doorway, the cranks were still screaming and lunging but the group had stopped, all heads facing towards the stranger. Rose instinctively held onto Minho's hand, worried for him, scared about what was going to happen to them, she just didn't want to let him go. 

Rose watched in shock, almost slightly impressed, as the girl walked between the small gap towards them. There was no fear in this girl, not even as the horrible things reached for her and snarled. The group was huddled together, flashlights trained on the cranks and the girl, preparing themselves for things to go wrong.

"Stay back, stay back!" Minho warned as the girl continued walking to them, eventually stopping not too far from them, an amused look on her face. There was something about the girl that Rose liked and she hoped that whatever this place was and whoever she was, it was good. They all watched in anticipation as the girl looked them up and down before speaking. 

"You guys look like shit," She commented, a small smile playing on her lips. Rose wanted to reply sarcastically, something she had picked up from Minho, of course, they looked like shit, they had been through shit. "Come on, follow me," The stranger encouraged, turning her body slightly in the direction she had come from. As no one immediately followed, she turned back to the teens, the amused look still on her face. "Unless you want to stay here with them."

No one answered but Rose watched as Newt and Thomas shared a cautious look before seemingly deciding something without speaking a single word. The rest of the group followed as Thomas took the first step after the girl. It was quiet as they walked single file through the cranks, Rose jumped and flinched as the creatures got close to her but not being able to reach her. Minho's hand pulled her along and it didn't take long for them to walk through the door and into a more open hallway. 

As soon as Rose was able to, she made her way to Minho's side. There was still a concern for the boy, Rose wondered if he was really okay, how had he gotten up so easily from basically being hit by lightning. Adrenaline was running through her veins still and there was part of her that was expecting Minho to just collapse once everything calmed down. 

"Are you okay?" Rose asked quietly as they walked down the stone hallway.

"Yeah," Minho replied, meeting eyes with Rose who still wasn't convinced. Minho squeezed her hand in reassurance and gave her a small smile. "I promise I'm fine," He assured and Rose took a deep breath as their focus turned back to where they were walking. 

The group walked into a more open area, stone pillars held the place up while people were sat around with fires going. Rose noticed how they watched them with a range of emotions, some were amused, some looked angry. She turned her attention back to her friends, not wanting to upset any of these people. 

"How do you catch them?" Thomas asked, obviously not able to keep his thoughts to himself. 

"Catch them?" The girl retorted, "You think we're stupid? We don't catch them, we just take precautions when people start to turn," She answered, looking back at Thomas and the others every now and then as they continued walking.

"Wait, those things back there are your friends? You just chained them up?" Teresa spoke up and Rose could tell that she didn't like how these people did things. Rose thought it was a good idea, it was good security at least. 

"No worse than cutting them loose to crank land," The girl replied quickly with barely any emotion in her voice. 

"What the hells crank land?" Frypan wondered. 

"You guys aren't from around here, are you?"

Before long, they had stopped as the girl pushed open a large sliding door. They all continued walking after her, not questioning anything. Rose looked around as she and Minho walked through the door. In front of them was a large warehouse, full of lights and people. It took her by surprise and she faltered slightly in her step.