Little (T.S.T) + (T.D.C)

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Chapter 22:
>Isn't that a nice surprise?<
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"I'm impressed. You guys almost lasted a whole day," said Jorge.

Brenda turned around from the front seat to shoot them a 'what the hell?' kind of look.

"I'm sorry, I didn't wanna bring you guys into this," Thomas said sincerely.

"Hey, I think what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us," said Fry.

He sat next to Darcy in the back. Thomas and Newt were in front of them. Brenda rode shotgun and Jorge was driving.

The rest of them sounded quite cheery for almost dying, yet Darcy felt anything but cheery. She was still shaken from being frozen and her arm still ached, although it wasn't nearly as painful as it was only a few minutes previously.

"You're welcome," said Brenda, smiling before she turned back around.

"Hey, don't get your hopes up. That checkpoint back there, that was the city's final defense. If that was overrun, chances are the city is, too," Jorge told them.

"Yeah, unless they figured out some other way to keep the cranks out," stated Newt, who was looking out the window.

Jorge brought the truck to a halt. Everyone got out, bar Darcy, who just turned her head to see what was going on.

The city was still standing. A wall surrounded it, obviously in order to keep cranks out. Tall buildings stood, not looking that menacing from where they were, but would tower over them if they were beside them. The buildings looked odd being surrounded by the scorched land. They looked seriously out of place.

Everyone else seemed really intrigued by it. Darcy wasn't. She just thought of it as another challenge they would have to face. Maybe this one would result in her death, who knew? She felt no emotion as she stared out at the city.

"Funny. We spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out and now we wanna break back in," said Newt.

"Yeah, it's hilarious," said Fry, voice laced with sarcasm.

"Jorge, how do we get in?" asked Thomas. Unlike the others, he had no humour in his tone, only urgency.

"Don't look at me, hermano. Those walls over there, I guess that's W.I.C.K.E.D's answer for everything."

"Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here," said Brenda.

Jorge turned to look at Darcy, who still sat in the back. She was staring out at the city with sad eyes, a slight frown on her face. He walked over to her.

"You're being unusually quiet, hermana."

She didn't say anything, just continued to stare.

"Are you alright?"

Once again, silence.

"Darcy?" He waved a hand in front of her face. Brenda's attention was now drawn to them.

Darcy blinked before turning to look at Jorge.

"What's the matter, hermana?"