The Girl In The Last City

Part Eight: Outside The Walls

Jorge had parked the car just outside of the broken city. You all jumped out and it wasn't long for the smell of death to slap you in the face. It was just as horrid as the place itself. You looked at Newt and he looked at you nervously. It was clear that he was skittish as well. You then turned your attention to the others.
"We keep our heads down." You told them, taking your long hair out of the ponytail it was once in. "Try and blend in. Don't, and yes I am looking at you Thomas, draw attention to yourselves."
"Why is that aimed at me?" The boy asked. "Your always the one..." the boy went silent when he saw all the glares he was getting from the others. "Alright, I'm keeping my head down."
"Anything else hermana?" Jorge asked and you thought about it.
"Partner up. We split up and stay close, but not too close. We are wanted by WICKED and WICKED is just inside those walls. If we stay close together we might draw their attention and we don't want that."
"Good that. I'll stay with you then love." Newt said and you nodded.
"I'll go with Fry." Brenda called out and the boy nodded in agreement.
"I guess I'm with Jorge then." Thomas said as you all got with your partners.
"Let's move, and remember, heads down and lay low."
With that, you all entered the ruins of a once famous city. You and Newt matched strides as you walked forward into the massive crowd. You looked to your left and saw Brenda and Fry, then you looked to your right to see Jorge and Thomas. You then looked over at Newt but he didn't seem to notice as he kept walking forward.
The town was an absolute trash heap. Clothes were strung up high, the place was dirty and dusty, and the people didn't look too pleasant. It's not that you were intimidated by them, you more felt sympathy for them. They had to live the life of waking up and praying to god they weren't infected while WICKED locked them out of their perfect and sustained city. These people were forced into a life of fear and survival at the fittest while the people inside those walls were treated to luxury.
There were massive crowds of people going about their business as usual while your group walked in the opposite direction of them. No one even gave you and Newt a second glance. These people couldn't care less about who you were, they were just trying to get through the day. It was clear that some of these people had the flare, you could see it in there eyes and skin.
"We are the voice of the voiceless!" A crackled voice called over a megaphone.
"Did you hear that?" You asked and the boy glanced at you.
"It was hard not to."
"They hide behind their walls, thinking they can keep the cure to themselves." The voice said and you looked over to a truck that was slowing as it drove its way through the streets. There were people atop them with gas masks and heavy weaponry. They were very intimidating.
"While they watch the rest of us whither and rot!" The man called through the megaphone that got louder as it neared.
As the car came closer, your eyes locked with a man's eyes that were behind the red glass of his mask. You and the man kept hard eye contact and it gave you a weird sense of déjà vu, as if you had done this before. He never looked away, even as his protesting buddies drove away in their car. Eventually though, you were pulled away from the off encounter with the man.
"...And I say that we rise up and take what is ours!" The man screamed and his crowd went wild. You tried finding the man with the gas mask again but you lost him in the crowd.
"(Y/n)," Thomas said, tapping your shoulder. "There are drones up there." The boy said and you slightly lifted your eyesight up to the sky where drones hovered above. This worried you.
"Alright," You said, turning over to the group again. "We stick with our original plan. Heads down and keep moving with your partner."
"Good that." Fry said and you all branched off again, you and Newt taking the middle.
The two of you followed the car as it made its way through the path the people had made for it. Something told you that this isn't the first time these protests had occurred. You and Newt followed the protesters out into an open area in front of the massive walls that lead into the city. Of course, the walls were closed.
There were people with signs, some just shouted. Others were on different levels of a demolished building. These people were not happy, and they had the right to be angry, you would be too if this was how they treated you. WICKED couldn't care less.
"That's our way in." Thomas called from behind you as he sneakily found himself taking the lead.
"Oh yeah Thomas? And how do you expect to get in there, huh? How about we just go knocking and say 'hey its wanted subjects A8, A2, A5, and A10'?" You said but Thomas wasn't listening to reason. Jorge pushed through to be right next to the boy, but you couldn't hear him over the shouts.
"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Frypan asked and you were able to hear him because he was closer.
"I don't know, but something tells me that this isn't going to work out the way we want it to." You shouted back to them as you followed Thomas deeper into the crowd.
At this point, you and Newt were behind the others and you felt this strange feeling that you were being watched. Obviously Newt felt this as well because you could see his head spinning around. Newt suddenly gripped your hand tightly.
"Behind you." He said and you looked back and saw a man in a face mask. It was the same guy as before. He was staring at you from deeper into the crowd. It was hard to miss him as he was very tall. You turned back and watched as Newt looked to his right, making eye contact with another man in a gas mask that was following right beside you at a distance. It was obvious you were being followed, but it was also obvious that it wasn't WICKED.
Newt's grip on your hand tightened and he pulled you closer to him. In the corner of your eye you saw the man in that gas mask that you made eye contact with the first time seemed to tense up at the sight of Newt keeping you close. You didn't know who he was, you just knew that you don't want to find out.
You and Newt pushed through the crowd and finally made it to the others. Thomas and Jorge stood in the front of the entire protest group, trying to find the best way in.
"Guys!" Newt called, taking Thomas by the shoulder. "We gotta go, we gotta go now!"
Thomas and the others all turned to see the man in the gas mask pushing through the crowd to make it to you. He seemed very dead set on getting there.
Suddenly, a blaring siren came from WICKED's wall. All the protesters had stopped chanting to let them in. Everyone just went so quiet that the siren echoed through the world. You looked at the group and they looked at you.
Newt's grip on your hand tightened and the boy held you closer. You knew from experience that when a siren noise comes from a wall made from WICKED then something bad is going to happen. Then the sound of heavy machinery powering up filled the silence. You turned and watched as everyone ran away screaming while your group looked at the wall confused.
"Guys..." You said, looking up at the red glowing machines atop the wall. "I think it'd be in our best interest if we go!" You said and they all looked at you.
"Why?" Thomas asked but an answer was not needed.
Suddenly, shots rang out as giant bullets shot sand and dirt up from the ground. You pushed the group back as the machines shot perfect lines of destructive bullets. People flew up from the blasts while others were hit by its debris.
"Okay," Thomas yelled as you all ran away with the protesting crowd. "I get it now!"
Your group ran undercover and Newt still had your hand tightly gripped in his as the two of you ran from the open fire from the wall. You were suddenly shaken out of your flight mode from the cries of a child. You turned around quickly and saw a little boy on the floor, holding on tightly to his little teddy bear. You didn't even hesitate.
"(Y/N)!" Newt called as you released your hand from his and ran straight back into the battlefield. You looked over and watched as the perfect line of shots fired dirt clouds into the air. It was heading straight for the little four year old boy.
You quickly scooped the boy up and leapt out of the way of the blast that hit so close that it hurt your ears. You fell to the ground, taking a mouthful of dirt as you hit the floor. The boy cried safely in your arms, gripping your shirt tightly, not willing to let go.
You stood up, the little child still latched on to you. You knew there was not a chance this boy was going to let go. You ran off into the direction the others had gone in, only to run right into the man with the red glass gas mask. He grabbed you and dragged you to his van, shoving you and the little crying boy inside. You heard someone yelling your name, and based on the accent, it had to be Newt.
You sat on the side of the truck, right in between two face covered men. In front of you was Brenda and Thomas. The little boy had his head snuggled up against you and was holding on tightly to his teddy bear. You wrapped your arms around him and swayed him back and forth, shushing him in a soothing manner. You then looked up to the two in front of you.
"So this isn't exactly what I meant by 'let's try not to draw attention to ourselves'."