to love too late

chapter 31 || crank central

My heart raced the further we went through the tunnel. It seemed to last forever, and we couldn't even see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Yeah, just take it nice and slow" Thomas ordered Fry from the back.

A Crank came into view as it stopped and stared straight at us like a deer in headlights. 

"Whoa!" Fry said aloud as he almost hit the Crank.

"It's okay, it's just one. We'll be fine, just go slow and around it" Thomas said. Fry nodded slightly as he made the car swerve away from the Crank.

We stopped the car, looking around at our surroundings from inside. A hand beat onto my window as a face of a blonde headed woman came into view. She looked like she had been a Crank for years. Her hair was sticking out in random places and her clothes were torn. her eyes looked multi colored as well.

"Please... Please.. Help me!" She cried as she tugged at the door beside me. I moved backwards, slamming into Thomas' body as I tried getting as far away from the woman as I could.

"Help me! Please! Let me in!" She begged. I could tell that she was trying to sound normal. 

"Okay, Fry, we gotta go" Thomas said to the boy as the woman kept trying to open the door. 

"Please! Open the door" She pleaded. I closed my eyes as she kept trying. 

"Why won't you open it?" She questioned, her voice growing darker. I wanted to scream. I needed to scream, but I couldn't. More Cranks began to bang at our doors and windows.

"Fry, just floor it!" Thomas yelled.

"Okay! Hold on!" Fry yelled to us.

He stepped on the gas as the Cranks began following our car. One of them even jumping onto the hood of it. The Crank began slamming his hands onto the window, cracking the glass infront of us.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Fry said aloud.

"Come on! Shake him!" I yelled at the boy.

"I'm trying!" Fry shouted back. "Hang on!"

Fry had almost slammed us into another car, inches away from it's side as it caught onto the Crank, making the Crank fall to the floor with a screech.

Debris and rubble lay on the floor infront of us, but we were too late to realize it. Before I knew it, our car was turned upside down. My head hit the top of the car roughly as I turned my body, groaning from the impact of landing on my head.

"God, Fry, I hope you didn't give me a concussion" I said with a slight laugh.

"Sorry, Y/N, I was trying to shake off the Crank" Fry said as he also let out a chuckle.

"Everyone okay?" Thomas asked us after letting out a cough.

"My hand" Fry groaned.

"Fry, cover your eyes" I heard Newt say from the front as a window shattered. 

Thomas began crawling out of the window first.

"Thomas, the door!" Fry yelled as he pounded at the door. The door was jammed into the floor.

I saw Newt open the passenger side door as he went flying out onto the hard floor.

"Newt, you okay?" Thomas asked the blond.

"Yeah I think so" He mumbled, inspecting his right arm as he held it in his left hand.

A loud scream was heard from the tunnel, sending a shiver down my spine. It was a blood curdling scream, like someone was in pain, screaming for help. One that I've heard in a dream before.

"Thomas! What was that!" I yelled at the boy from inside the car as I shimmied my way out.

"Oh shit" Newt said aloud, patting his belt for his gun.

A Crank came running full speed at us. Specifically the one that was slamming the hood of our car.

"Fry... I think we gotta move right now!" I said to the boy as he began trying to start the ignition. 

The Crank came at us, screaming. His head was busted open and I'm pretty sure he was missing an arm. He had blue veins on the top of his head that popped out, and his body moved in contorted ways that were for sure not humanly possible. He began running closer to us as Newt and Thomas pushed me behind them, Newt grabbing onto my arm to make sure I was with him.

"Fry! Now!" I yelled. 

The Crank was only inches away from our bodies. Fry held out a gun, shooting it twice as it fell to the floor. I let out a small sigh of relief as the body fell to the floor, still moving in strange ways.

"Nice shot, Fry" Thomas said to the boy out of breath.

"Thanks..." Fry responded, stunned by what he had just done.

More groans and screams came from the tunnel, making our attention turn to even more Cranks that came at us. They too were moving in weird ways as they screamed and groaned. 

"Go! Go!" Fry said to us as he began firing at them.

"Fry, come on!" I shouted at him. He began backing away slowly, still shooting at the Cranks before giving up and running with us.

We all sprinted for our lives, because our lives were on the line. But the Cranks had more speed than us. They weren't human, so it wasn't surprising. Thomas halted to a stop, making my body fly forward onto the floor. I looked up and saw silhouettes of Cranks standing infront of us. We were trapped, there was nowhere to go.

Fry began shooting at the ones behind us, then switching to the ones infront of us, changing after shooting a couple bullets each time

"I'm out!" Fry informed us after trying to cock the gun.

The Cranks began to close into us, letting out more and more groans.

"Shit!" Thomas and I shouted at the same time.

A car engine was heard from a side of the tunnel, making our head snap to the front.

"Hey, get in!" A girl popped out from the top. The girl being Brenda. 

We all quickly filed into the car as Brenda kept shooting at the Cranks.

"Go, Jorge! Go!" She ordered the older man as he stepped on the gas. 

"Hang on!" He shouted to us as he began to step on the gas. Our bodies were pushed against the car seats as he accelerated out of the tunnel.

"I'm impressed!" Jorge exclaimed as we drove through the other side of the tunnel. "You guys almost lasted a whole day!"

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

"I think what he's trying to say is, thank you for saving our asses" Fry spoke up, earning a laugh from all of us.

"You're welcome" Brenda said as she turned her head in the front seat to face us. I blew a kiss at her as she caught it, blowing me one too. It was something we got in the habit of doing.

published : jan 30, 2023

A/N : hey!!! this chapter was super fun to write, i wrote it like the night before.