One Day Too Late

03

That night, after everyone was asleep, Thomas packed up his stuff. Lacey, who'd woken and heard faint moving, silently got up and followed.

Thomas quietly made his way up the stairs, unknowingly followed by Lacey, and Newt's voice rang out. "Where do you think you're going then? You do realize you're being followed, right?"

"Newt..." Thomas began.

"Don't be a twat about it. I'm already in. Lacey clearly is too." Newt took the bag from Thomas. "Come on."

Thomas shook his head. "No. No, not this time. Look, even if we find Minho, there's no guarantee we make it back from this."

"Well, you'll need all the help you can get then, won't you?" He opened the car door to reveal Frypan behind the wheel. "Well, we started this together. My as well end it that way, too."

Thomas gave a small nod. "Okay. Let's go get him back."

They climbed into the car and Frypan drove off.

Frypan rove through the desert and they passed a sign telling them of a MANDATORY INFECTION CHECK. When they got there, Frypan pulled in and stopped the car in front of a dark tunnel.

They got out of the car and Newt said, "You want us to go in there?" Thomas remained silent and he studied the map. "I don't wanna come across as too negative, but if I was a Crank, that's exactly where I would be."

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Thomas said.

"All right. I get shotgun," Newt decided.

They got back in the car and drove into the tunnel. Frypan was driving while the remaining three looked out with flashlights. "Well, here we go."

"Yeah, just take it nice and slow," Newt told the group.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Frypan said, seeing a Crank standing in the middle of the tunnel. Lacey gripped Thomas' arm out of fear and he said, "It's okay. It's just one, so take it slow, go around him. We'll be fine."

"Take it slow. Take it slow," Frypan repeated.

Newt rolled up his window. Thomas jumped when a woman banged on his window. "Please. Please. Help me. Please. Please! Let me in."

A man appeared outside the window next to Lacey, and soon, they were surrounded by Cranks. One Crank jumped on the front of the car and started banging the windshield. It started to crack.

Eventually, Frypan managed to shake the Crank, but the car flipped. Lacey groaned and slowly climbed out.  She winced slightly as she put pressure on her arm and looked down, instantly covering it with her shirt.

"Frypan, watch out," Thomas said, kicking the window out. "Everyone okay? Lacey, are you?"

Lacey nodded, holding her covered arm. "I'm good I think."

Thomas climbed out and tried to open Frypan's door, but it was stuck. He opened Newt's door and he tumbled out. "Newt, you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Newt replied.

Thomas asked, "Fry, you good?"

They heard a snarl and saw a Crank making its way towards them.

"Oh, shit," Newt and Lacey muttered.

"Frypan, I think we gotta move." Thomas said.

Frypan went back to the car and Thomas cried, "Come on, what are you doing? We gotta move! Come on!"

After ignoring his friends, Fry loaded a gun and shot the Crank.

"Nice shot, Fry," Thomas complimented.

"Thanks."

Unfortunately for them, the shot was loud, which meant more Cranks.

"Okay. We gotta go," Thomas told the others.

Cranks appeared from the darkness and the teens started running. Fry was shooting at them. They stopped, seeing a hoard of Cranks in front of them, and Thomas turned around. "Okay. This way, this way!"

Fry ran out of bullets and a car appeared. It ran over some of the Cranks and knocked several to the side. Brenda climbed to the top and said, "Hey, get in!" She shot at the Cranks and Jorge drove off.

"Go, Jorge, go!" Thomas yelled.

"Go!" Brenda cried.

"Hang on!" Jorge said. When all was safe, the steel windows were lowered, Jorge spoke again. "I'm impressed. You guys almost lasted a whole day."

Thomas situated himself so Lacey had more room. "You good?" he asked Newt and Lacey.

"Yeah," Newt and Lacey replied.

Brenda turned to Thomas and shook her head, silently telling him he was crazy.

"I'm sorry," Thomas apologized. "I didn't want to bring you guys into this."

"I think what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us," Frypan said.

"You're welcome," Brenda replied, turning around to the front.

"Hey, don't get your hopes up," Jorge told them. "That checkpoint back there, that was the city's last defense. If that was overrun, chance are the city is, too."

"Yeah, unless they figured out some other way to keep the Cranks out," Newt said, looking back.

Jorge glanced to where Newt was looking and the car skidded before stopping.

The six of them exited the car and looked out to the walled city. "Funny..." Newt began. "Spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out, and now we wanna break back in."

"Yeah, it's hilarious," Frypan said with a scoff.

"Quite ironic," Lacey stated.

"Jorge, how do we get in?" Thomas asked.

"Don't look at me, hermano," Jorge answered. "Those walls are new. I guess that's WICKED's answer for everything."

Brenda crossed her arms. "Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here. Let's go!"

Thomas, Newt and Lacey stepped closer to the ledge. After a moment, Newt asked, "You really think he's in there?"

"I guess we'll find out," Thomas replied.

"You know she's gonna be in there, too."