Escape to the Hills // Newt x Reader

27

Walking. Trudging. Crawling. It barely looked like you were making progress. The heat was blistering, the sun was almost too bright to keep your eyes open. The wind had picked up at some point and was blowing sand into all the open areas it could. You could have made a sand castle large enough for you and two other people with just the sand that was in your shoes.

You were irritated. The night before had been mystical, mysterious even. So calm and relaxing. Why you suddenly did a 180 from that baffled you. There were a few suggestions that might explain it:

- Not enough sleep

- Newt was still ignoring you

- Just the whole situation you were in

- You were probably past the breaking point when it came to how mentally tired a human could be

- Gabi was still around

But the group as a whole was grouchy. Gally and Thomas almost got into it earlier that morning while packing up to leave. Minho had been unusually quiet and his eye bags had eye bags. Gabi was emitting an aura of pure hate. Teresa wouldn't get close to anyone (which seemed to greatly pain Thomas). Fry, Jeff, and Winston all seemed to be fine, which was good so they took up the job of looking after River and keeping an eye on Chuck. Alby - much like Gabi - was oozing anger and annoyance. Newt stuck close to Minho and Thomas, looking tired but okay.

It annoyed you how Newt was ignoring you. What happened? Did you do something? Questions like those swirled through your mind but they only annoyed you more. You pushed them out of your mind, deciding they weren't worth your time. You focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

Gally at some point fell back to save you from wallowing in your misery. "Damn, you look happy."

You sent a look that could curdle milk his way.

"Okay, won't comment on that." He looked forwards and squinted at the intensity of the sun. "It's fucking hot."

"Yeah we know, shuckface, thanks for sharing." Minho called from farther up in the group.

You let a small ray of happiness lighten up just a small part of your misery when Gally threatened to go up there and give Minho a beating. To which Minho replied "Come and get some, girly."

As much as you could tell Gally hated being called "girly" he resisted the urge to act upon the temptation. If fighting started among the group, you might as well all walk into a Crank infested building. Getting separated was the last thing you wanted.

River happily bound over to you from where she had been walking with Frypan. She excitedly showed you a piece of something she had picked off the ground. It looked suspiciously like a tooth, but it might have also been a rock. Maybe some sort of mummified candy. Whatever it was, you were definitely told River to put it down somewhere.

"But I like it!" The five year old complained. "It's small and funny looking and cute..."

"River, please go put it down."

"Why can't she have it, (Y/N)? It's just a rock." Gally commented. You resisted the urge to punch him.

Shaking your head, you asked "Where did you find that, anyway?"

"Oh! It fell on my head."

"What do you mean 'fell on your head'?"

"It fell on my head. Like it fell off of something."

You squinted in confusion and looked up. Your heart sank. Above you stood a long broken bridge. You had seen it from a distance, but up close you didn't expect it to be just as big as it was. Your group walked in the shade from a broken side of the bridge, which gave you a nice angle to see what was on top. A car had spun into the median, a few cars piled behind it. In front of the cars, as if inspecting the damage, stood two men in black uniforms. Their guns were held against their chests, ready to be aimed and fired at a moments notice. One pressed their finger to their ear, listening to a tiny radio.

The sound squeezed itself through your throat made Gally glance at you worriedly. You ushered him on quickly along with the others. River clutched tightly to her rock.

The confused looks you got were only answered in head shaking and dismissive waves and gestures telling them to be quiet. They listened to you well, barely making a sound as you shoved Gally along by his back and herded the others in close. When you finally found a decent place to hide, you shoved the others into it. They kept quiet and low with their eyes peeled.

Thomas was the first to ask "What happened?"

"Two WICKED officers were on the bridge." You whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Minho asked, also whispering.

"Voices carry and I'm not about to let them know we're here."

You glanced up to check your position in the WICKED agents vision only to find the two looking right back at you. The others spotted the armed men and pulled the group in tighter.

"Are there more of them?" Thomas asked while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"I didn't see any more." You admitted.

"How are weapons looking?" Alby asked in his sergeant voice.

You all looked around and took into account every last knife, machete, and gun you possessed. At the moment, there were more of you than there were of them. You could have definitely at least held your own in a fight against them. Hell, you thought you could have even won.

"Against the two of them?" Frypan asked, making the same assumption as you. "We look okay. More than three? Not so good."

"Could we just shoot them from here and move on?" Winston asked. He fanned himself with a piece of wood he had found somewhere. "It's hot."

"No," You said. "Bad idea. They probably already signaled for backup. They're also trained and, with a good shot, bring us all down with one pull of the trigger each. Plus, if we miss, they come down here guns blazing."

"I'm really not in the mood for this." Minho complained. He ran his hand through his perfect hair. This was starting to become unacceptable. It just never looked bad.

"We could split up and head in different directions, forcing them to split up, and easily over power them." Gally suggested.

"Or we could just run." Gabi suggested. You all collectively decided to ignore her.

"There's eleven of us, not including Chuck and River." Thomas analyzed. "I'm not allowing them any part in this."

"I'll stay back with them." You suggested. "That leaves two even groups of five."

"Before we do this, does anyone have any better suggestions?" Thomas asked.

"There has to be at least one hundred different ways to do this that are better and safer, but I can't think of any." Newt said in an undertone. So it talks.

"I can fight!" Chuck pushed. "I'll be fine!"

Thomas smiled like his baby brother just finished singing a song, a warm smile full of fondness. "No, bud. You need to take care of River and (Y/N)."

Chuck didn't look like he had the energy to argue or. He just nodded reluctantly.

"Alright!" Alby turned everyone's attention to him. "Pick your partners, we're killing these shuckers."