In my Blood

CHAPTER 18 - The Cranks

"RUN!" Newt screams. Without a moment of hesitation, we all bolt over to an escalator, leading upwards towards the exit. We turn left, and go around a corner, beastly shrieks following us the whole time. We hear the sound of something falling over up ahead, and I see another Crank staggering around the bend. Aris grabs a long pole, and whacks the Crank with all of his might. The beast struggles around on the floor as we climb up another escalator.

"Keep going!" Thomas shouts. I am halfway up the escalator when I feel something tug on my leg, trying to pry my boot off.

"AH!" I yell, trying to kick the Crank away. However, it pursues, its rotting hands grabbing a hold of my ankle, then my shin, climbing higher up my leg. "SHUCK! Help!"

The others turn around, their faces falling as they lock eyes with me. I'm beyond terrified; the hideous creature looks as though it's ready to eat me alive. Then, it raises its head back, opening its mouth wide. Dark phlegm falls in strings down from its gaping mouth, its teeth dyed with black blood.

"(Y/N!)" the others shout, coming back down the escalator to help me. The Crank's head gets closer to my leg, mouth wide open, snarling like an animal.

It's going to bite me!

Minho finally reaches me, and with one swift motion, kicks the Crank in the middle of its face. However it doesn't let go of me, dragging me down the escalator, hitting each step with more impact than the last. I hear roaring and screeching coming from the other Cranks, running around the bend, getting closer by the second.

The Crank grabs a hold of my shoulders and climbs on top of me, my body breaking under its weight. The other Cranks are just metres away from us.

"No! Get off me!" I cry, wrestling the ravenous creature. Its eyes are drowning in black, darker than I'd ever imagine. Bloodthirsty.

Finally, the boys reach the bottom of the escalator, and Newt whacks the Crank's face with a hammer while the others fight off the incoming Cranks. The Crank falls off me, shrieking in agony. Newt grabs my hand and we scramble back up the escalator, the other boys behind us, Cranks pursuing us.

"We need to go!" he screams above the noise.

"You don't say?!"" I yell back sarcastically. We're further ahead than the Cranks now, almost at the top, while they're still only halfway, their legs buckling as they trip over each other in a furious rage to be the first to get to us. We finally get to the top and sprint along a long stretch of corridor, the lights flickering above our heads. Glass barriers line both sides of the corridor, and I see we must be about twenty feet in the air.

"We gotta find a way out of here!" Frypan shouts.

"Just go!" Thomas yells.

The Cranks burst up from the escalator, still rushing forward to reach us. I push my legs a little faster, urge them to go further forward, even though can feel my knee burning. I grit my teeth together and continue to sprint.

Suddenly, I hear the sound of glass shattering, and a Crank breaks through one of the glass panels, large shards of glass falling to the floor. We all scream, running faster, but this Crank is more spritely than the others. It reaches our group, and tackles Newt to the ground.

"NEWT!" we all scream in unison. I rush over to where they are, rolling around on the ground. The Crank holds Newt's throat with its putrid, bloody hands, and Newt gasps for air.

"Let him go, you shuckface!" I scream, kicking the Crank's stomach. It collapses to the side, and rolls through another window, falling into the darkness below. Newt looks back at me in surprise as I help him up, the others shouting at us to go.

"You good?" I yell over the sounds of the mob of angry Cranks behind.

"Y-Yeah," he gasps. "Thanks, (y/n)!"

"Come on, through this door!" Teresa calls, opening a door leading to a dark corridor. We all run along the corridor, our torches the only light, the muffled sounds of noisy Cranks behind us.

"Guys, where are we even going?" Newt shouts.

"Just... just keep going down here!" Thomas calls back. "Look, there's a door on the right!"

Minho approaches the door and tries to shove it open. "It's locked!"

"Then bloody force it open!" Newt replies. Everyone surrounds the door, kicking it, pounding their fists against it. That's when the sounds of the Cranks grow less muffled, and we see shadows appearing around the corner.

"They're coming!" I scream. Minho yells at everyone to get back, and takes a few steps backwards before charging at the door, throwing all of his weight against it. It bursts open, however only to reveal another room with three doors, all locked shut. We all rush over to each door, forcefully kicking and hitting it. Winston stands at the entrance door, aiming a gun towards the oncoming Cranks.

Thomas kicks the middle door, and it loosens a little. "This one!" he yells, continuing to kick it. Gunshots fire as Winston aims at the Cranks, followed by gurgled shrieks and the sound of bodies hitting the ground. Suddenly, Frypan throws himself towards the door, and it breaks open with a loud bang. We all pile through the door, Winston still shooting as he runs. But then I hear a scream, a piercing scream.

I turn around to see Winston on the ground, Cranks trying to drag him back through the door. The door painfully rams against his stomach, and he cries out in agony, the Cranks' hands wrapped around his legs.

"Winston!" everyone screams, grabbing a hold of his arms and pulling him back through the door. His face is twisted in pain, and as his body is pulled further out of the Cranks' reach, I can see his shirt stained with blood. His flesh is ripped and torn apart, blood oozing out from his stomach. It looks mangled and decayed, as if it could fall apart with one touch. I force myself to look away; I don't want to see my friend like this.

We bolt away from the door, Frypan and Aris supporting Winston's weight as they run. Me and Newt run alongside each other, while Thomas and Teresa follow behind, Minho at the front. The Cranks appear through the door in their dozens. I see pale moonlight shining through a smashed window at the end of the room, and head towards that. We climb over the window, and up a mountain of sand, rubble and litter, looking around for a place to run to or hide.

"This way!" Aris yells, diving down the mound of rubbish and heading towards a small opening in the side of the mountain, forming a small cave. We pile into the cave, barely breathing. Winston lets out small groans every once in a while, however other than that all I can hear is the sounds of bloodthirsty Cranks rummaging in the litter above us, making choked shrieks as they try to find any signs of living flesh in the wasteland.

In the dark, I can see the outlines of everyone's faces. Their scared faces. Some with their eyes closed, others looking around the small cave anxiously. I'm hunched over in the corner, knees brought up to my shaking body. I put a hand over my mouth to keep me from making any noise, the other hand on the ground for support, and squeeze my eyes shut. It reminds me of when we were hiding in the Homestead from the Grievers.

Suddenly, I feel someone else's hand press warmly against my own. I open my eyes and flinch, before seeing Newt's face next to mine in the dark, and breathe out a sigh of relief. He looks at me with worry, brown eyes filled with concern, as his thumb rubs comforting circles around the top of my hand. I smile, thankful for his touch, and lean my head against his shoulder. I listen to his breathing, deep and peaceful, and feel my body ease up as he puts his head on top of mine.

A huge weight smashes down on top of my head as an image fills every crevice of my mind. A woman, cradling me in her arms, rocking me like a baby. Telling me everything will be fine... daddy will be fine...

She's stroking my hair. I can smell her scent, wrapping comfortingly around my mind, and it smells like home. 

My mother.