Into the Maze (English Version)

27

Thomas and J waited until they were sure everyone else in the camp was asleep. Then they shouldered the backpacks, that they had previously filled with some provisions and weapons and crept to the vehicles. But before they could even choose one, a light turned on in one of the interior rooms of a car.

"Do you really think you're that hard to read?", Newt leaned against one of the cars with his arms crossed and Pan was already behind the steering wheel. The two grinned widely while J and Thomas looked at them uncertainly. J expected Newt to send her back to bed. But her brother surprised her.

"Well, finally get in. You won't do what I say anyway and the only alternative would be to tie you up," Newt sounded a little annoyed, but not angry, as he himself sat down in the passenger seat. So Thomas and J got in the back. Then Pan quietly started the engine.

The journey was initially more or less silent. J was sure the boys were also wondering if they had done the right thing. Maybe they would be better off with more reinforcements. But now it was too late anyway. They wouldn't go back.

Around midday, the sun was shining terribly hot above them, Pan stopped the car in front of a tunnel.

"There'll probably be hundreds of those Cranks in there," Newt muttered. They had gotten out of the vehicle, to look at the dark hole from a safe distance.

"Do you see another way?", but Thomas didn't seem enthusiastic either. Pan shrugged his shoulders. "I'll just ram those things out of the way."

"You know they used to be people?", Newt reminded him. Pan looked at his friend with mock shock. "Oh sorry, Mr. Moralizer."

Newt rolled his eyes, then went back to the car and opened the passenger door again. "Let's just get this over with."

"You've been sitting in the front the whole time," J gave Newt a pouting look as she sat back down next to Thomas in the back seat.

"You're lucky you're even allowed to be here," Newt replied, unimpressed.

"As if you could stop me." When Newt also got into the vehicle and their eyes met in the rearview mirror, she stuck her tongue out at him like a little kid.

"You're just not having any fun back there because Minho isn't here this time," Pan intervened as he climbed back in front of the steering wheel.

"If he'd be here, we wouldn't have to drive through this goddamn desert," Thomas noted.

As they drove into the tunnel, J started to feel a little uneasy. She looked out the window anxiously, waiting for the Cranks that Newt had predicted. And even though she was expecting it, she was almost frightened to death when the first zombie woman slammed against her window. With a screech, J jumped away from the window, but she didn't get far because Thomas had the exact same thing in mind on his side. So their backs crashed into each other in the middle of the row of seats.

"Damn Klunk! There are coming more and more of them," they heard Pan from the front. Shortly afterwards hundreds of fists began to pound against the car from all sides. Fingernails scraped across the paint and shouting >they should open their doors and help the sick< rang out. For a few seconds J felt pity for the infected, then the fear grew stronger again.

"Step on the gas!", Newt shouted and Pan didn't need to be asked twice. However, they didn't get far. J didn't see exactly what was happening. She only felt a violent impact, then the car rolled over. When the vehicle stood still again, they found themselves upside down.

Thomas gathered all his strength and actually managed to break a window so he could climb out. He then helped J, Newt and Pan. But their former chef crawled inside the car again. However, there was no time for that now. They had to get out of here. Because of course the Cranks were on their trail.

"Pan! Get out of there! Now!", J shouted at the boy before she realized what he was doing. But when she saw the rifle that he was now pulling out of the demolished car, she was a little relieved. And she became even more confident when Pan brought down some Cranks with the weapon.

But this euphoric feeling didn't last long. J could barely count to ten before the ammunition was already empty.

Frustrated, Pan threw the rifle away. Finally they started running. But the Cranks had already caught up too much.

Just when J expected that they had to fight, she heard a noise that didn't come from the infected. There was a... car! And it came straight at them, running over some of the Cranks.

"Brenda!", J shouted in a feeling between shock and immense happiness, as she recognized the short-haired girl and Jorge in the vehicle. The girl grinned out of the passenger window before turning around and firing a pistol at the remaining Cranks. "Do you need an extra invitation? Get your asses in here!"

They didn't need to be told twice. They quickly piled into the car, then Jorge hit the gas.

By the time they got out of the tunnel, J's heartbeat had not calmed down again. And the fact that Jorge stopped the car didn't help either. Because what they saw when they got out was truly intimidating.

"The last city," Jorge explained, pointing to the huge skyscrapers behind the massive walls.

"We'll get him out of there," Thomas nudged J encouragingly with his elbow. He probably saw how disturbing she found the sight. Or maybe he just felt the same feelings as she did right now. It was hard to hold on to hope. Those walls seemed unbreakable. Still, they had already defeated such walls once. So J tried to tell herself, if they had managed to get out of the maze, they'd be able to get in here too.

"Hmm," Newt said. He seemed to be thinking about something else. "Who knows who else we'll meet in there."

Because Newt now gave Thomas a meaningful look, J was sure that her brother was talking about Teresa. She had thought about that too already. Sure she was in there, where else would she be? But they couldn't let something like that unsettle them just yet. They weren't even in town yet.