Escape to the Hills // Newt x Reader

5

Now we have: What's up with the guys?

While you and the girls struggled to keep going, the guys sat back in the Homestead chewing their nails and trying to keep River from crying too much.

"Where's (Y/N)!" River quite literally screeched for the fifth time trying to yank her lower body from Alby's grip. She winced at the pain that shot up from her leg but kept the act up by slamming her tiny hands on Alby's chest.

Okay, you see, Alby was trying his absolute hardest to keep his temper in check. His eye had already been twitching for the past three minutes and if this little girl made one move to pull his nose all the way to the other side of his head again, he was going to sit her outside with the Grievers.

"Okay!" Minho exclaimed, clapping his hands. "How about we switch up babysitting duty?" He reached out and pulled River out of Alby's arms and rested her on his hip.

Then she proceeded to slap Minho in the arm and yell the same question again.

"She'll be back" was Minho's answer, but River wasn't having it.

"You have to promise," She stated, her pigtails now swayed low on her shoulders. Minho set her on the closest object, which just happened to be Gally's back, and redid them higher on her head. The Builder couldn't even get mad, since it was River but he did throw a glare at Minho.

Minho smiled and picked her up again. "Promise," But he knew he couldn't. They could only hope.

Minho looked over to where Newt was pacing, at the base of the stairs, with Thomas watching him. He was chewing his nails again. Man, was it good to almost be back to the old days.

"Newt, you're gonna dig yourself a trench if you keep that up," Minho stated sarcastically and sat River down next to Thomas. She leaned into his side and sighed.

"Why did we send them out there on a whim like that?" Newt asked, finally stopping his nauseating routine. "I mean, they could get bloody lost! And how would we know?" He stuck his right pinky finger nail between his teeth and bit down. But he quickly ditched that when he threw his hands up and said "They could be in serious trouble right now!"

The most horrified look took over River's face and Jeff, (Who I forgot I even brought back, so sorry for his absence.) of all people, slapped a hand over Newt's mouth. A look of guilt passed over Newt's face and he pushed Jeff's hand away. "I'm sorry. It's just... This is just like the time you guys got stuck in the Maze and..." He trailed off and rubbed a hand over his face.

Now it was Minho, Thomas, and Alby's turn to feel guilty. They knew what it felt like to lose someone close to you. They didn't want Newt to go through that again. He's been through too much as it is.

Just as these thoughts ran through their heads, a loud boom echoed from somewhere in the Maze. River instinctively covered her ears. A loud screech was heard, along with the moans of Cranks.

All the guys felt a large portion of their blood seep into the ground.

"Bloody hell," Newt whispered.

"Shuck," Chuck said looking around at all the rest.

"Chuck," Alby whispered. "You take River and find the best hiding place upstairs as you can,"

Chuck stood there for a second, debating if he should leave them. But then again, it was Alby who was telling him to. So that made up his mind and moved as fast as he could, grabbed River's hand and helped her upstairs and into a closet.

"Board up the windows, barricade the doors,"

The group moved quietly, but hurriedly to put whatever they could find in front of the door and windows. By the time the boys backed away, three chairs stacked on each other to block the windows, a small table holding the door shut by the knob, and all the boys huddled by the stairs for a quick escape if needed.

At first, nothing happened. It was quiet. No one dared to breathe. Another thunderous sound made everyone jump. A horrific, terrified squawk filled the room from somewhere on the other side of the Homestead, then there was a light clank as something fell over.

"Thomas, what do we do?" Minho whispered. Alby's face twisted in confusion before Newt gave him a look that said "Listen now, ask later."

"Well, how many are there?" Winston asked, glancing out the window with a worried expression.

"Yeah," Thomas agreed. "Yes, that would be very helpful,"

No one made a move to even look out the window from where they were standing. At some point, Frypan slowly moved to look out. It gave a twinge of guilt to everyone else since they weren't the ones to volunteer, but they were grateful for Fry's courage.

The cook stood there for what seemed like a long while, but could have only been a few minutes. He looked like he was just about to say something when he slapped a hand over his mouth and stumbled as quickly as he could back over to the group.

Gally steadied him and grabbed him by the shoulders so they were facing each other. "Fry, what did you see?" He asked, almost panicked. Fry took a moment to collect his thoughts and run over what he just saw. He was taking a little too long for both Alby and Gally. Gally shook him and Alby called out "What did you see, you shank!"

"There's a Crank!" He said quickly when Gally stopped shaking him. "There's a Crank,"

" 'A' Crank?" Minho questioned.

Frypan nodded, then continued, "And a Griever. But neither one looks right,"

"What in bloody hell are you talking about?" Newt asked.

"Look, man. I'm only telling you what I saw. It's hard to explain. It almost saw me!"

Alby stood up straight and hurried over to the window. His eyebrows nit in confusion at what he was seeing. Like he couldn't tell if his eyes were playing tricks on him. "Shuck!" He whispered and moved behind the wall, as if to hide himself from what was out there.

He looked over at the group, nodding in confirmation. "Shank's right," he said. "They aren't your normal everyday hell on earth,"