Hiraeth (n)
A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your path.
"Just one thing. In order to get the cure for you and your group, you must kill...
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Running. That's all she'd been doing for the past hour. Just days before, she was being told by a rat-like man that her and her friends had two weeks to find the safe haven. Now separated from the group, her hands traced the cold metal of the tunnels. She was only thankful for the fact that they didn't have to run through the scorch, only under it. That didn't change the fact that her legs burned with each step. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't stop running. If she stopped, there was a possibility the cranks would catch up. The one thing she was sure of was that she didn't want to be their next meal.
It had been silent for hours, but she didn't want to risk anything. So she kept running. She ran until an usual noises echoed down the tunnels in front of her. At first she believed it to be cranks, but with a second thought she decided to approach the situation. Two people; a boy and girl around her age. Their dark hair matched in color, but it was clear the two weren't related.
"Thomas! Kill it!" The girl yelled at the boy. Her face was full of frustration. The boy? He was hesitant. The pain in his eyes was evident.
Thomas? It can't be....
"I-" He started. A crank sat under him, clawing at his body.
She couldn't handle the anticipation of watching the boy try and kill the creature. After a moment of waiting, she revealed herself by stabbing her knife in the head of the monster. Its discolored blood splattered all over her and the boy. He sat in shock for a moment. The other mysterious girl looked down at her with a questioning look. Before the two could ask her questions, the sound of multiple crazed screams filled one side of the tunnel.
"Come." She stated. "I know a way out."
The group took a few turns and ran down a few tunnels before stumbling upon a ladder. One by one, they gripped the handles and climbed out into the streets of the city.
They were in no rush to get the pothole closed, but thought it would be better if the cranks didn't have access to where they were. The trio sat for a moment, heaving and trying to regain their energy. The girl with Thomas was the first to speak.
"Who the hell are you?" Her blade reflected the sun's rays, practically blinding the new girl.
Ignoring her question, the girl turned her head to Thomas. "You're welcome." Her words fell with sarcasm.
Thomas furrowed his brows in her direction. His mouth opened as if he had some sort of reply, but the girl with the knife cut him off. "He didn't need your help. Where are you from?"
"It didn't look like he had it handled."
"Can you just answer the damn questions before I cut one of your fingers off?" Her words sounded promising, yet they didn't scare her.
Either way, she wasn't there to play games with them. "I'm Nyla." She didn't answer the first question, mainly because she needed to think of a lie.
Before the other girl could reply, Thomas quickly jumped in. "I'm Thomas, this is Brenda." This caused Brenda to roll her eyes, she was obviously the less impulsive one.
Brenda's tongue trailed her teeth before repeating the questions. "Where are you from, and are you immune? Don't make me ask again."
Nyla let out a long breath, trying to stall an answer. "No, I'm not immune. I lived with my parents, but they were infected long before I was. I was running from them. Thought the tunnels would be safer. Apparently I was wrong." Her lie seemed to work. Brenda let her hand holding the knife fall.
The three sat, yet again in silence. Nyla's eyes traveled up to the sky. The heat around her was starting to die, and the sky was becoming an aurora or purples and pinks. It was breathtaking.
"Come on Thomas, we need to find some place to stay tonight." Brenda started off in the opposite direction, and Thomas scrambled up to follow after her, leaving Nyla. She too stood from her place, hoping that they'd turn back for her or else she'd have to ask to follow. And Thomas did. He slowed his pace. His eyes glanced back to meet hers.
"Brenda.." He grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him. "She helped us."
Brenda's resistance was clear. But Thomas seemed to be in charge. He looked back to Nyla, nodding his head in their direction. Before she ran to catch up with them, she twisted her neck until a series of cracks loosed her stiff back. Then she met up with them.
Brenda lead them to an alley. It was sketchy, no doubt, but was empty of any life. There were a few cars near the back that would be good enough to camp in.
"Thomas and I will sleep in this one." Brenda pointed to the red mini van. "You can have that one." She looked at the other car, then got into the red one. Brenda had a cold tone that displayed her disapproval of Nyla.
Thomas stood there for a second. The two looked at the cars. The only sound was the noise of a car door as Brenda got in to sleep.
"So," Nyla only had one question that broke their silence. "Did you know him?" Her question referred to the crank back in the tunnels. The one that Thomas couldn't kill.
"No. I didn't." And with that, Nyla walked to her car.
It was cold. Every night in the scorch was. She lacked the proper gear to stay warm, so she tried to think of anything else to distract herself from the chattering of her teeth.
Her mind wandered back to the maze. She thought about all of her old friends; Harriet, Sonya, and Aris. She remembered the warmth of the simulated sun on her face in the glade. She thought about everything from when she first came up in the box years ago, to when Beth killed Rachel. Nyla remembered the final order Jansen gave her group before sending them out into The Scorch. Although tears swelled in her eyes, she refused to cry. Her fingers pushed away the tears, then closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall asleep.
