The Girl In The Last City

Part Thirty-Three: With You Till The End

You drove down the rocky road, the Last City now completely out of sight but the smoke still covered the sky. There was no looking back now, you had to get back before that ship left. Everyone thought you were dead, you thought you were dead, but your not. Now you have Gage as well and he deserved a life where he got to be a normal kid. And you, you deserved a life with your friends, with your family. With Newt.
The sun had risen about and hour ago and you still had a lot of driving left to do. You made an estimate that'd you'd get there around midday. You glanced at Gage through the rearview mirror and smiled as you watched him look at the world. He admired every little thing that he saw, probably never seeing these things before in his life.
"(Y/N)!" Gage called and you laughed.
"What is it Gage?" You asked and he pointed out the window to what looked like a bird.
"That thing over there, what is it?" He asked.
"That would be another bird buddy." You told him and he sat back in his seat.
"How many birds are there?!" He asked amazed and you laughed again even though it hurt your throat. You didn't know how he didn't know what a bird was but you answered his question anyway.
"Well more than the twenty we've already seen." You told him and you watched as his mouth fell open. Then he looked back out the window in awe. You loved his curiosity of the world and his energy. You felt bad that he was born into a world like this, that he was so used to the danger that he slept peacefully. The poor kid was never going to see his mother again and who knows where is father was.
"Where did you get that scar?" Gage asked, touching a cut on the back of your neck that was visible cause you had tied your hair up into a messy bun.
"Glass." You said and he sighed.
"Is that where all you'r cuts come from?" He asked and you sighed with a laugh.
"No, only the ones you can see." In truth, you had bruises covering your body from your many fights. You had a deep cut in your arm from a bullet, a bruised eye from being punched to the face, a bruised jawline, bruised stomach and probably a broken rib, your face was still dirty and stained with smoke. You had a deep gash on your forehead and you felt weak everywhere. The glass scars you had were only scratching the surface.
"Tell me a story." Gage asked, changing the subject, and you sighed.
"Again?"
"Yeah, tell me a cool one, like in the graze!" Again you laughed at the boy and his enthusiasm.
"Maze, it's Maze, and I have so many that it'd blow you pretty little mind." You told him and he giggled.
"Then tell me one, one about one of your friends."
"I don't know if you'll like em." You teased but he giggled again.
"Yes I will!"
"Are you sure they won't scare you?" You asked and he thought about it.
"Nope." He then replied and you laughed, looking at him through the rearview mirror and then back to the road.
"Alright then, how about I tell you about when I first ran into the Maze."
"Yay!" Gage cried, sitting comfortably in his seat, ready for the story.
"Well, my brother being the dumb shank that he is, ran into the Maze so my best friend Minho went in to go find him." You told the boy and you watched in the corner of your eye as he poked his head between the passenger seat and the drivers seat. "Anyway, Minho hadn't gotten back and so we all waited for him. Then, the doors began to close. Suddenly, Minho ran around the corner, dragging my brother across the ground!"
"What happened to him?!" Gage asked, invested in the story.
"Minho hit him with a rock." You replied.
"Why?"
"Uh... cause he's Minho, he didn't have an explanation for anything he does." You told him and then got back to the story. "Anyway, the door are closing, right, and Minho's screaming, the other Gladers are screaming. It was crazy! So right as the doors were about to close, I ran in to help him. I got in huge trouble."
"What did Minho say when you ran in?"
"If I remember correctly..." you said, then you deepened your voice and tensed your boys up to look like Minho. "Good job, you just killed yourself." You said and Gage laughed again, going back to his seat and sitting back again. He put his head against the window and stared out.
"Hey (Y/n)?"
"What's up?"
"What is that?"
"That would be a sign." You said flatly, looking at the giant rusting post that held a huge board.
"What does it say?" The boy asked and you took a deep breath, exhaling loudly.
"Mandatory Infection check - 2 Miles Ahead."

You stopped just outside the tunnel, this time you didn't get out of the car. You knew exactly what was in there. You turned to Gage who seemed very confused as to why the car had stopped. Then he noticed the tunnel and he made a face.
"We're going in there?" He asked and you sighed, nodding your head.
"Yup."
"Thats dumb."
"Yup."
"It looks scary."
"It is."
"Your not helping." Gage said flatly and you looked at him seriously.
"Wasn't trying to." You told him and then looked back to the road, gripping the wheel and taking the car out of park. "Whatever you do, hold on tight and strap yourself in." You told him and you heard the click of a seatbelt.
"What are we gonna do if we see Cranks?" The boy asked and you smirked.
"I'm gonna ram 'em."
You then hit the gas hard and the vehicle shot forward and right into the tunnel. You turned on its headlights and manoeuvred your way around the debris. You passed your upside down car and ran over some of the already dead Cranks. So far, good start. Of course though, that wasn't the case.
Standing in front of you was a group of Cranks. There weren't many, maybe five or six; you knew you could take them. You looked back at Gage who was holding on to his seat for dear life. You gave him a slight smirk and then turned back to look out the windshield. You pushed on the gas more and the Jeep shot forward. The Cranks didn't even get time to react before you completely took them out. Some squealed as they flew over the roof of your car while others were just forced against the wall. The car shook from the force and you felt yourself go forward slightly, but you sat back down in your seat. You sighed with relief when you saw the the other side of the tunnel.
"See, it wasn't that bad was it?" You asked, turning to Gage who looked as pale as a ghost and was clutching to the seat so hard that he could have dug into the seats.
"No, that was scary, like super scary."
"Well don't worry kid, we're almost there." You told him as you exited the tunnel and got back on the road. "Next stop, the docks."

It was a long drive, an hour and a half had passed and you were still driving on rocky terrain. You looked to the sun, it was almost halfway up into the sky. You hoped your estimate had been right cause that would mean you were almost there. But you couldn't complain, this was a smooth car ride.
You looked back to Gage who again found himself sleeping across the car seats. He looked so peaceful that you envied him. But soon you'd be on a boat, heading to the Safe Haven where you could sleep without worry. Where you'd be reunited with everyone and you'd all celebrate your newfound freedom. Everything was looking good. You still weren't sure what you were going to do with the kid, but you knew one thing and that was you weren't going to let him out of your sight. Not until you were at the Safe Haven.
You had driven another half an hour and you had your arm hanging out of the car window. You felt the breeze run through your long thick hair that you had taken out of its un and watched as the seagulls soared across the sk-
Seagulls
Seagulls are sea birds. Sea meant ocean, ocean meant beach, beach meant docks, and docks meant Newt. It mean Minho and Thomas and Gally and Fry and Brenda and everyone! You were almost there. You pushed on the pedal and the car shot forward. You drove down that dirt road like your life depended on it. You felt the excitement pulse through you, bringing back your energy.
After another five minutes, you heard it, the crashing of waves. You then saw the concrete road that lead down to the docks. You skidded the car to a stop, grabbed the backpack and then jumped out of the Jeep. You walked over and opened the door for Gage and he hopped out, still gripping his teddy bear. You took his hand and the two of you ran down the road.
You passed the empty buildings and saw no people and empty rooms. Everything had been packed up. You began panicking.
"No, no, no, no, no!" You repeated, bolting over to the docks, but it was obvious what had had happened. There was nothing there, no one there.
"NEWT!" You cried out as you watched the ship in the distance drive away. "NEWT!!!"
There it went, everything you tried to get to, all the people you wanted to get back to. They all sailed away to the Safe Haven with you still sitting on the rickety old dock. They all thought you were dead, you had to tell them you weren't, that you survived.
The thing that hurt you most was that you missed your boat to your future. Your future with Newt. You wanted that house on the beach. You wanted those kids in ten years. You wanted to sit in the sand, listening to the waves crash and feel the salty breeze blow through your hair, all as you laid in Newt's arms. You wanted it all, but you missed it.
"What are we going to do?" Gage asked and you looked down to him and met his eyes. He looked so scarred and you weren't expecting it. You lifted him into your arms and held him tight.
"We have to get to the Safe Haven." You told him but he looked at you weirdly.
"How do we do that without the boat?"
"If I'm being honest," You told him, looking out at the boat again. "I have no idea, I just know that we're gonna get there."