pretty eyes ~ newt

chapter 13: crank attack #3

"i'm just thinking about you"
little freak, harry styles
—

"You shanks really do have horrible stamina."

I glare at Minho in annoyance as Aris and I struggle over the peak of another miserable dune, Minho peering down at us in amusement.

"You're not fucking helping Minho," I grunt,  offering Aris a hand as we finally get over the crest of the dune. We both immediately collapse on the sand alongside the others, and I gratefully accept a bottle of water from Fry.

"Just because you were a stupid runner doesn't mean we all have invincible stamina, you know." I huff, before taking a long gulp of water. Man, water's never tasted so damn good.

He shrugs. "I know, but everyone else here seems to be doing alright. You two never worked out in your maze? Especially you, Isa. You can easily take down three grown men with your bare hands, but you can't climb up a little sand dune?"

I cross my arms sourly, he's being particularly insufferable today. "No we never worked out, you idiot. Didn't I tell you all before? We were girls, not a group of stupid teenage boys. All we ever did was gossip and play checkers. And plus, I was the damn medic, not a runner."

Aris nods, rolling his eyes. "And I was in there for like four days, half of which I was unconscious during. So no, I didn't work out."

I smirk in amusement at his snark. I taught that kid well.

Newt raises an eyebrow, sprawled on the sand next to me. "Wait, how'd you learn to fight then Isa? There's no way you just picked it up."

"Oh yeah, I trained by myself in the maze. I had quite a bit of free time, especially with two other medics, so I made myself learn some self defense in case I would ever need it," I explain, remembering the countless hours spent training alone in the woods. "It came to me pretty naturally though, so I think I might've already known how to handle weapons before I was thrown in the maze."

He nods in understanding, and I heave a heavy sigh as I rub my wrists absentmindedly. "Looks like all that training did come in handy, after all."

Minho gives a quick laugh. "That's a hell of an understatement."

I grin in response. "True that."

Thomas shouts at us to hurry up, and we catch up to where he and Teresa have already started down another dune. We keep walking like that for another few hours, stopping every now and then for a quick water break.

The steps turn monotonous after a while, and we fall into a repetitive rhythm as we trudge across mile upon mile of blank white desert. But then, after roughly four hours of mindless walking, I see Aris stop in his tracks suddenly after sending an absentminded glance behind us.

"Oh shit..." I hear Aris croak, eyes wide as he points shakily to something several feet behind us. "Cranks."

I whip my head around, a gasp ripping out of my throat at the sight. Ten cranks, all well past the edge of sanity, carrying wickedly sharp knives.

Again? This is what, crank attack #3 already? These fucking cranks need to give us a damn break. I curse under my breath, grinding my teeth in frustration.

"RUN!" I hear Thomas let out a strangled scream, and without any further hesitation we all sprint as fast as our legs will carry us away from the hungry looking cranks. I glance over my shoulder every few seconds anxiously to make sure Aris is still keeping up, and thankfully he's not too far behind—Minho had lagged back to protect him as well.

But the cranks have taken up the chase, angrily gnashing their rotten teeth at us and growling as they run close behind. We keep sprinting as fast as we can, but most of us are running out of stamina, and soon enough I hear a blood-curdling scream of pain.