Aris Jones X Reader One Shots

Crank Queen (Part 2)

After pulling together everything I owned, which wasn't much, there had essentially been a little nest of blankets and pillows. Seeing as a lot of people were already freezing I had also gathered any extra clothes I could find. Now everyone was snug and warm with their canned beans and all.

"So have you been here the entire time?"Aris asked, moving closer to me. I was about to answer when the Cranks started groaning again. They were especially riled up tonight.

"Give me one second,"I requested, grabbing my crowbar. Walking over to their cage I banged it against the metal and got their attention.

"Sleep,"I commanded. You have to talk to them like you're a caveman or they won't understand.

Apparently, that wasn't enough today though.

"All of you quiet! Not another peep until tomorrow!"I yelled, hitting their cage. Finally, they all stopped and stared at me. Well kind of. Some of them don't have eyes so they just guessed which direction the noise came from.

"That's better. Goodnight, and no fighting each other. That's loud too,"I reminded them. Right as I thought they would listen Rodney tried to bite Sam. Yes. I did name them. It gets lonely out here, okay?

"Bad Rodney! Bad!"I scolded. Like dogs they all stopped and scurried to their own places. Satisfied with this I bid them another goodnight and got back to the group.

"Sorry about that,"I apologized, setting down my crowbar and settling back in my spot.

"So what? You're some sort of Crank queen?"Minho asked.

"No. They don't respect me. They respect what I give them. These things can't truly be tamed. All you can do is bribe them,"I firmly explained.

"What do you give them?"Thomas asked.

"Scraps,"I vaguely answered.

"Scraps?"

"Yeah. Big ones too. Your friend probably would have made a nice one,"I remarked.

"Excuse me?"Minho asked, snapping his head up so quickly he seemed to have gotten whiplash.

"I need to feed them something,"I shrugged.

All at once the new group backed away from me. Rolling my eyes, I picked up and old keychain and started fiddling with it.

"It's just WCKD Workers. It's not someone who doesn't deserve it,"I pointed out.

"Yeah, but I mean you're still killing people,"Thomas mumbled.

"No. The Cranks do that,"I said through gritted teeth.

"But-"
"Listen. I have been out here all alone for months. I've done what I've had to do to live. You just got here so before you start judging me try doing things to survive. You probably would have turned on the lights, right?"I asked. He reluctantly nodded.

"You would have uncaged them and ended up dead. So how about you realize you're about to do some fucked up stuff before judging me?"I scowled.

"He wasn't thinking-"
"No. He wasn't,"I interrupted, turning over in my sleeping bag. One by one I heard them do the same.

Only when their breathing slowed did I cover my mouth and sob.