Bad Dreams | Newt x Reader (Being Edited)

Chapter 56-He Knows

Warnings: mentions of murder and blood, Alex freaking out, nightmares

Y/n's POV

I woke up sweating from nightmares of Cranks. Nightmares where I was at home and they were breaking down the door and windows. Nightmares where they overran us. Nightmares where my brother and Alex became infected.

I tried to calm down, focusing on what I could hear. The soft voices of people. The gentle wind through the camp. The steady breathing of my brother. The rattling breaths of someone nearby.

It was odd enough that I summoned a ball of white light in my hand.

A scream tore from me as skeletal hands shot towards my throat.

I woke with a gasp, already sitting up. Blindly, I reached out until my hand collided with my brother's side. Stop, I ordered myself, Nik's exhausted and he doesn't need to comfort you over nightmares.

Gravel crunched right outside the tent, making me freeze.

"Nik," I whispered, abandoning my attempt at being an independent woman and shaking him. "Nik, there's something outside."

In my defence, I was only seventeen. Cranks surely wouldn't be able to get past the many people stationed around the camp, but it was better safe than sorry.

"What?" Nik slurred in response.

"There's something outside the tent."

We both listened for a long moment. The night remained stubbornly quiet.

"There's nothing out there, go back to sleep," Nik muttered and rolled back over.

I glared at the faint outline of his back and kicked off the blankets. Back to being independent. Cold air brushed against my back, making goosebumps run up my arms. I pulled on my boots and headed outside.

Shuck. Feeding myself to bloodthirsty Cranks suddenly became appealing.

Newt was sitting nearby with Tommy and Harriet. Vince was lounging next to them in a chair, head tilted back as he slept. A small fire burned in the middle of their group, chasing off the cool desert air.

The moon was full in the sky, providing more than enough light to see by. His hair gleamed in the moonlight, ruffling softly in the breeze.

"You okay?" Tommy asked and I realised I'd been staring.

"Yeah, just can't sleep," I replied, managing to keep my tone even. I stretched my arms. I hesitantly started towards them. "Have—"

My ankle moved out from under me and within a second I was on the ground. Stones dug into my hands and I blinked, dying of embarrassment inside. Laughing awkwardly, I got to my feet. The Cranks were definitely going to get a meal.

"Are you okay?" Tommy asked, having stood up. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I said, shaking my head and trying to brush it off. "I thought I heard something behind the tent. I'm going to have a look, stay here."

I snapped my fingers and summoned a bright ball of light. Ignoring the question of my name, I began making my way around the tent. The first sign was the footprints in the dust, right outside of where I had been sleeping.

I doubled the brightness of the light and raised it over my head. Several people groaned inside the tent at the intrusion of light.

A pair of beady black eyes glinted in the dark.

I drew my other hand up, ready to attack when the realisation hit me. Vines wrapped around the dead Crank, squeezing like the giant snakes I had seen in nature documentaries when I was a kid.