The Walls Have Ears

Gerard's POV (Chapter 27)

It's been two days and were starving, smelly and sleep deprived.

Music has been playing for the whole two days straight, even at night. It's starting to feel more like torture.

"Seriously, Cillian, please just tell us how to get back," I whisper under my breath.

"Nope. You have to get to the checkpoint on your own."

"But we don't even know where it is! Or what we're supposed to be looking for," Y/N whines beside me.

"With minds like yours, maps are unnecessary,"

"See, if we were smart enough to do this on our own we would be done already,"

"Care to explain what you mean by that, Gerard?"

"He means that you're expecting too much from us. We don't even want to be here,"

She called out, raising her voice at the end to make sure he heard her over the music.

He goes silent for a long while, and I swear I could hear him breathing.

"Gerard..."

I turn over to her, to see her focusing on something on my shoulder.

I instinctively flick and shake my shoulder in a panic, then realising that something green with long ass legs has gripped onto my hand and isn't letting go.

I shriek and shake my hand violently, the bug falls to the ground, trying to scatter away but I grab a rock and bash it multiple times.

"Glad you realised you didn't have shoes on in time." Y/N nervously laughs next to me.

I chuckle, half embarrassed that I freaked out so much over a grasshopper.

We decide to forget that happened and walk on, not really knowing where to, but following the river on our right.

A butterfly flutters down. It's beautiful, one of those orange and black butterflies that you only see on National Geographic.

It decides to plant itself on Y/N's nose. She laughs, saying it tickles but is cut off.

"Children you really need to pay attention to your surroundings, I advise you to take a sharp left"

The sound was coming from the butterfly but it was Dr Murphy's voice.

"Are you INSIDE the butterfly?!"

"No you imbecile, I'm using the butterfly as my speaker because you destroyed my grasshopper."

Y/N laughs out loud at this, clutching her stomach at Dr Murphy's sudden informal insult.

She sighs, then asks when exactly we should be taking a left. We follow the butterflies directions until we reach a tree who's trunk is already open, welcoming.

We run through and for the first time I'm happy to see those cold white walls.

"Shower and clean up children, it's New Years,"