Bad Dreams | Newt x Reader

Chapter 39-"Did you kidnap that child?"

I woke up in the backseat of a car. Pillows had been arranged so I could lay there comfortably, and a blanket covered me. I groaned and sat up,  was driving. He looked over his shoulder as I stretched.
“Morning,” I said, trying to stretch my stiff neck.
“Afternoon,” he replied as I climbed into the front seat.
“How long was I out?”
“Just a day, we didn’t leave until this morning. I needed sleep. I stole this car from a couple Wicked soldiers when I woke up.”
“Okay,” I pulled the blanket from the back of the car and draped  it over myself. I snapped my fingers, music began playing from the car’s speakers. I closed my eyes and leant against the window.
We drove the rest of the day until we reached the ruins of a large town. Darkness blanketed across the sky. Thankfully, the car was electric meaning I could simply recharge it when needed. Nikolai yawned, forcing his eyes wide open to keep himself awake.
“We should pull over and sleep,” I suggested, feeling guilty I hadn’t offered to drive earlier.
“We need food and water, I only managed to get a little while you were out.”
“Okay, I’ll do that,” I decided. Nikolai went to protest, “I’ve got more energy, stay here.”
Nikolai pulled over and handed me a torch. I raised an eyebrow, “I have my abilities back, you know?”
“Just in case,” he shrugged and paused, “Be careful.”
“Yep,” I replied and got out of the car.
I pulled my hood over my face and moved through the buildings. I could see light ahead, probably survivors. It was quiet as I slipped through the shadows.
I heard a growl and quickly threw up my hands to kill the Crank as it lunged at me. I stepped past the body and looked up in time to see several more Cranks lunge at me, I threw a couple of lightning bolts and killed them quickly. I combed through a couple of buildings looking for food and water, I only found Cranks. I killed the ones I found.
In the fourth building I searched, I finally found food and water but no people. Only Cranks. I concluded that anyone here must have already gotten sick with the Flare. I packed a bag I found with canned food and bottled water.
A faint sound echoed through the building. My hand slowly went to my knife and I stood up. I put the bag on my shoulder and turned around. There was no one there, no people or Cranks. I slowly moved through some of the other rooms. Footprints in the dust trailed off through the building. I started moving quieter and stuck to the dark of the room. 
A shadow moved and I quickly lunged and grabbed it. It shrieked, thrashing in my grip. I snapped my fingers, the light overhead turned on, revealing a little girl thrashing in my arms. She was very young, only about six or seven. More importantly, she wasn’t a Crank.
“Hey, hey it’s okay,” I let go of her. She scrambled back, her dark brown eyes wide. I pulled down my hood, letting her see I was human. “Hi there, I’m Y/n.”
The girl just stared at me.
“Is there anyone else alive?” I asked her softly, I knelt down to her level. The girl shook her head, her knotty black hair trailing down her shoulders and back. I took a chance to study her closer. She had warm brown skin, several cuts that looked infected but not with the flare.
“Do you wanna come with me?” I asked her. She looked hesitant.
“I’ll keep you safe,” I let white sparks float off my fingers. The girl just looked on. I dropped my hands slowly and held one out to her. “It’s okay,” I told her softly. She took a slow step forward and I gave her an encouraging smile. Movement in the doorway caught my eye a second before I heard the crank scream. It threw itself at us, arms out and mouth wide open. I moved quickly, grabbing her and shoving her behind me. A bolt of lightning slammed into it and sent it flying into the other room. The little girl clung to me, I looked at her before I slowly knelt down in front of her. I opened my arms, she slowly moved closer.
“What’s your name?” I asked her quietly.
“Aaliyah,” the girl whispered, the first word she had spoken since I met her.
“Well, Aaliyah, do you want to come with me and my brother?”
Aaliyah nodded and wrapped her arms around my neck. I slowly picked her up and stood up. She clung tightly to me as I navigated the way back to the car. Nikolai looked up when I came into view. He noticed the girl and frowned. He opened the door to the car and got out.
“That’s Nikolai,” I told her.
“Did you kidnap that child?” He asked.
“No, I didn’t. There’s no other survivors. She’s the last,” I told him.
“Okay, what’s her name?”
“Aaliyah,” I opened the back door and set her down. “I got food. We’ll need to cook it though. I’ll get some wood.”
Nikolai came over to talk to Aaliyah while I gathered wood and dumped it in a pile. When I collected enough, I found some paper to help start it.
“Hey, Nikolai, have you got any matches?” I asked him and he tossed me the pack.
I lit a fire and cooked dinner. The three of us sat around the fire as we ate. After we finished, I gave Aaliyah my blanket and she curled up in the backseat. I had a suspicion she was only pretending, she didn’t fully trust us yet. She had good instincts for a kid.
I sat with Nikolai on the top of the car. The stars twinkled overhead. Nikolai and I occasionally talked. It felt just like the old days, with Lillian asleep and us talking. That thought was too painful to dwell on it. I pushed it away and my mind wandered to my friends and Newt.
“I hope they’re okay,” I said, suddenly breaking the silence.
“They are, they’re smart enough. Plus, they are with the Right Arm. They’ll protect your friends,” Nikolai reassured me. “Besides, your boyfriend can’t die until I give him the big brother talk.”
I swatted him, “By seven minutes.”
He snorted and lightly pushed me back, “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

Newt POV
The next morning

Alex sat away from the group. I watched him reread and burn the note that the girl had left him. She was still unconscious. We had spent the day travelling away from where the Right Arm had spent the night in a small rocky valley. Vince had chosen it as it offered some protection from the cold, windy nights and the cranks. Alex caught me watching him and gestured for me to come over. I did and sat next to him.
“Y/n’s alive,” Alex told me quietly. My head snapped up to look at him. Despite having good news, he looked worried.
“She is?” A weight felt like it had been lifted off me, “Where is she?”
“I’m not sure, but I know where they’re going.”
“‘They?’”
“Her and Nikolai,” Alex explained.
“But Nikolai’s possessed?”
“I think she must have found a way to free him,” Alex looked less worried as he said that. I couldn’t help but wonder between the bond between him and Nikolai.
“Why didn’t you say something sooner? We could have waited for them to catch up,” I demanded, anger burned through me.
“Y/n said that the Phoenix is after them for some reason,” Alex explained, “It’s too dangerous to go after them right now.”
“Where are they going?” I asked.
“Mexico City,” he told me quietly. “I’m not sure how I can convince my father that we need to go there.”
“Mexico City?”
“It’s a city that only fell to the Flare within the past couple of years. The place is overrun with Cranks and ruled over by Corrupt.”
“Corrupt? Janson said something before we ran away he said that if the Scorch didn’t kill us, the Cranks or Corrupt would. What's a Corrupt?”
“Not what, who. The Corrupt are Enhanced that have basically lost control of their ability and it takes control of them. They go insane from power and hear voices, stuff like that. Most kill their families and friends. Some end up wanting more power. It happens over the span of a couple of months usually. It’s usually easy to tell if someone is because they’re entire personality changes.”
“Oh,” was all I had to say.
“Anyway, it’s crazy that they want to meet there of all places,” Alex finished.
“How long would it take to get there?”
“With a group the size of ours on foot, maybe a couple weeks.”
“Weeks?” My voice broke. I couldn’t wait weeks to see her again.
“Don’t worry, I’ll convince my dad. We’ll find them,” Alex put his hand on my shoulder. “In the meantime don’t say anything about Y/n and Nikolai going there. In the unlikely event that there’s a spy with us, they could report to the Phoenix.”
“Okay,” I said.
“I’m going to go talk to my dad, wanna come?” Alex asked.
I nodded, he helped me up and together, we approached Vince.
“Hey dad, can we talk?” Alex asked him and he nodded. He led us away from the group.
“What is it?”
He seemed wary, as if he was always expecting bad news. Vince looked exhausted. He always did, but since his youngest son went missing, he had permettent dark marks under his eyes.
“I think we should go to Mexico City,” Alex stated. Vince stared at him.
“Have you lost your mind? Mexico City? That would get us all killed!” Vince stared at Alex as if he’d grown another head.
“We’re going to run out of food and water eventually, Mexico City will have supplies and Wicked won’t expect it if we go there,” Alex persuaded. “We’ll die without supplies, Mexico City should have plenty.”
Vince fell quiet, considering it and weighting the negatives and positives. After a moment, he spoke.
“What about Archie?” Vince demanded. Alex flinched but continued.
“There’s a fairly big Wicked compound on the way there. They could have him there. Besides, without supplies, we won’t be able to get him back,” Alex finished.
“Fine, we're going to Mexico City,” Vince walked away.