The Other Side - A Newt Fanfiction

Chapter Eighteen: A Sealed Fate

"Looks like no one has been here in a long time..." I mumble, furrowing my brows together as Fry slowly drives us through the gates of, what used to be, a health checkpoint. I can't help but shudder as I examine the old, faded, broken signs along the fences and warn down shelters, warning us of the dangers of the Flare, the symptoms, the ways to avoid it.
Looking ahead through the front window, I gulp as the jeep slowly approaches a dark tunnel. A sign that reads 'Do Not Enter Until Received Health Confirmation' dangles from the roof of the entrance by a single screw.
"Fry, stop the car..." Thomas whispers, putting a hand on Fry's shoulder.
Just as Thomas had ordered, Frypan slows the car to a stop. "Great..." He mumbles. "Pitch black tunnel that's broken down. That's a good sign." He says sarcastically, taking the key out of the ignition.
Thomas slowly opens his door, climbing out and taking his map with him.
I exchange a nervous glance with Newt before climbing out of the right door, stepping into the sand and staring at the path ahead, eyes trailing up the mountain face of which the cave goes into.
The four of us cautiously walk towards the cave entrance, looking around at our nerve-racking surroundings.
Newt, putting his hands on his hips, stares into the darkness ahead. "That's where you want us to go?" He asks.
Thomas, examining his map, nods. "It's the only way."
Newt examines the eerie path ahead. "I don't mean to be pessimistic or anything," he says, turning to Thomas, "but, if I were a Crank, that is definitely where I would bloody go."
I frown, looking at Newt as he averts his brown eyes to me before shifting them back to Thomas.
Thomas stares ahead, silent.
Squinting from the sun beating down on us, Newt licks his lips, exhaling deeply. "Alright, I get shotgun." He simply says, turning on his heels and walking back to the car.
Thomas and Frypan look to each other, Frypan snickering before he walks back to the vehicle.
I shake my head, folding my arms and putting my weight on my right leg, averting my eyes to the cave again. "If you were a Crank, that's where you'd be... That's real encouraging, Newt." I call back at him.
"I'm inspiring, I know." He calls back before closing the door behind him as he sits in shotgun.
I turn around to face the jeep, patting Thomas's shoulder as I walk past. "Looks like you're by me this time."
Thomas, nodding slightly, follows me to the car.
I climb in and close the door behind me as Frypan starts the vehicle back up, manually turning on the lights. "Newt, there's a handheld beam by your feet, could you hold that out the window, please?"
"Got it." Newt nods, picking up the handheld light and switching the bright beam on before sticking his arm out his side window.
"Here we go." Fry takes a deep breath before slowly driving into the heart of the abyss before us.
I squint my eyes as they adjust to the change of lighting, face falling as I make out the disaster ahead. "Woah..." I mumble, resting each hand on the back of Frypan's and Newt's seats and leaning forward to get a better look out the front window.
Countless abandoned cars are scattered about the tunnel, wrecked and broken down.
"What happened here?" I mumble.
"I don't know." Newt whispers, looking back at me. "But I don't think we'd want to know, either."
Thomas nods. "Good that. Just... Take your time, Fry."
Fry nods. "Yeah, I got it." He whispers, tightening his grasp on the steering wheel as he  drives at a painfully slow pace.
I sink back into my seat, shakily reaching into my pack to double check my ammo. I can't shake this feeling that something horrible is about to happen.
"Woah, woah, woah..." Newt mumbles suddenly under his breath, reaching a hand to Frypan's seat, tensing up.
As Fry stops the car, I peek over Newt's shoulder to see a lone Crank standing several yards ahead, twitching its body in disturbing, inhuman ways.
My heart stops. "Oh, shuck..."
Thomas stares at the creature ahead with wide eyes, his breath hitching in his throat. "Just, uh... keep going slow and steady, Fry." He whispers.
Taking in a deep, shaky breath, Frypan gives Thomas a hesitant look before slowly turning ahead. "Alright..." He mumbles. "Slow and steady, slow and steady..." He mutters over and over, clearly nervous.
Newt shuts off the handheld light beam, setting it down into his lap before grasping tightly to the window handle crank and rolling up his window.
However, before Fry can move his foot to the gas pedal, something slams into the window to my left, beside Thomas, with a loud thud, causing all of us to snap our heads in the direction of the sound.
A sickly woman pounds on the window, staring at us with wide, crazed eyes. Dark veins bulge in her neck, and her mouth and the skin around her eyes are a disturbing, rotting black color, juxtaposing the rest of her pale flesh and her lifeless, light grey eyes.
I jump back against my door opposite of the one she stands beside, pulling the back of Thomas's coat to get him as far away as possible from grotesque creature
"HELP ME!" She cries frantically. "PLEASE! HELP ME!" She suddenly starts to cackle, though tears roll down her cheeks.
Suddenly, I feel the door I lean against jolt, a strange, gurgling, shrill scream coming from behind me.
I quickly jump towards the center seat in response, looking over my shoulder to see the rotting, fleshy face of a man growling and scratching at my window.
"Fry!" Thomas calls, leaning his back against mine as we both scramble away from the horrific monsters on opposite sides of the car. "We gotta go!"
"Oh, klunk!" Frypan suddenly shouts, jumping in fear as another Crank appears outside his door.
"Shuck!" Newt screams over the rest of us, leaning away from his window as a fourth monster snarls in the glass beside him. "We've got to get out of here right now!"
"FRYPAN, WE NEED TO GO! GO NOW! NOW!" Thomas demands. "JUST FLOOR IT, FRY!"
"HOLD ON!" Frypan orders before he slams his foot on the gas.
A Crank jumps from the remains of another car and onto the hood of ours.
"SHUCK, SHUCK, SHUCK!" I scream as the speeds of the car force me against my seat, and I watch the monsters on the sides of the car lose their grips and fly off.
However, the Crank at the front doesn't budge. In fact, it shrieks viciously before drawing back its fist and punching the front window so hard that it instantly cracks in a spiderweb-like pattern from one end of the window to the other.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Newt exclaims, gripping tightly onto the handle of the passenger door with one hand and the shoulder of Fry's seat with the other.
Speeding down the tunnel, Fry drives the car from side to side, trying to get the Crank to slip while also doing his best to avoid the ruins of other cars.
Thomas and I are thrown back and forth in the back seats, struggling to stay steady from the sudden turns and swerves.
"FRYPAN, SHAKE HIM OFF, MAN!" Thomas shouts.
"I'M TRYING!" He exclaims, turning the steering wheel back and forth frantically.
Getting thrown into Thomas, I shout at Fry, "COME ON! GET THAT SHUCKING THING OFF!"
We all continue to scream and shout at one another, the anxiety and adrenaline levels through the roof.
Finally, Fry makes a sharp turn to the right, and the Crank slips off of the hood to the left; however, it manages to get a grip on the driver's door, and it begins to punch at Fry's window with all of the strength it has.
"Fry, the window's going to bloody give way!" Newt shouts, eyes wide as he watches the side window begin to crack.
"HANG ON!" He shouts at us, suddenly driving the car over to the left, just close enough to a broken down car that the hideous creature is slammed into the remains and thrown off of our vehicle.
Although my heart pounds aggressively against my rib cage, I manage to let out a light laugh of relief, looking to Newt in disbelief, who stares back at me in shock, his chest heaving with forceful breaths.
Fry looks through the back window to watch the Crank toppling along the road behind us.
However, with his face falling, Thomas screams, "FRY, LOOK OUT!"
Just as the boy turns to look ahead, the left side of the car is lifted as the tires roll over wreckage in the dirt, flipping the car onto its side.
The four of us let out a cry in unison as the car rolls onto its roof, sending all of us flying into the ceiling of the car as it slows to a halt, our world flipped upside down.
I grunt in pain as my back is slammed into the ceiling, and I let out a weak groan as we try to gather our senses, coughing as the dust from the dirt road clouds up our vision and fills our lungs as we struggle to catch our breath.
"Shuck..." I cough out weakly.
Trying to get a clearer breath of air, Frypan wheezes heavily, taking the key out of the ignition and turning off the car lights.
As we attempt to get reoriented, Thomas takes out his flashlight from his pack and shines the light around the car, squinting in attempt to keep the dust out of his eyes. He examines our surroundings, shifting his beam towards the window to his side. "Fry, cover your eyes." With that, he kicks the window as hard as he can, shattering the glass into countless little pieces.
Letting out a weak grunt, Thomas rolls onto his hands and knees, quickly crawling out the window. "Can you get the door open?" He asks as he scrambles to his feet.
Frypan begins kicking at his door over and over, trying to pry it open.
I slowly sit up, holding my back as I hiss through clenched teeth.
"(y/n)," Newt whispers, "are you alright...?"
"Yeah..." I pant. "Yeah, I'm alright... You?"
"I'm fine..."
The driver's door does not budge.
"Here, I'm coming around, alright?" Thomas says, rushing to the passenger side of the car.
Newt, using all his might, slams his body against his door, causing it to swing open, and he rolls out onto the ground with a grunt.
"You okay?" Thomas asks worriedly as he pulls Newt to his feet.
Fry gestures towards the open door. "(y/n), go ahead."
"Thanks..." I mumble, cautiously crawling through the front seats and over the shattered glass on the ceiling of the car, making my way out of the passenger door.
Carefully reaching inside and pulling me out into the tunnel, Thomas helps me to my feet.
As Thomas waves for Fry to come through, I examine Newt as he rubs his right arm, clenching his jaw in pain.
"Is your arm okay?" I ask, concern laced in my voice.
He looks at me with his brows furrowed together, though he nods. "I'm fine..." He repeats.
Before I can question him further, there's a loud scream from several yards down the tunnel, causing me to jump with a start, yelping in shock.
Pointing his flashlight towards the source of the screams, Thomas gasps as the herd of Cranks is unveiled, sprinting towards us, laughing and shrieking and lashing.
"Fry, we've really got to go!" Thomas calls.
"Hang on!" Frypan calls from inside the car.
I stare at the monsters in horror as they get closer and closer to us. "Fry!" I snap frantically.
"I said hang on!" He repeats.
Newt reaches for his gun in the holster at his side, only to look down at it and discover that the weapon must have fallen out in the car. "Oh, sh-"
He's cut off by more shrieks.
"Fry, we need to go right now!" Newt shouts.
The Cranks are approximately a mere twenty yards away.
Nineteen yards.
Eighteen.
Seventeen.
"FRY!" I scream.
Sixteen.
Fifteen.
"GOT IT!" He exclaims, jumping out of the car and shooting at the Cranks as soon as he gets to his feet.
He hits three, sending them toppling to the floor with agonized cries of pain.
"LET'S GO, GO, GO!" Thomas shouts, turning on his heels and sprinting in the opposite direction of the Cranks.
Without a moment of hesitation, Newt and Fry follow after; however, panting heavily as the adrenaline pumps through my veins, I look out into the herd of cranks.
Fourteen yards.
Thirteen.
Averting my eyes towards the open door of the jeep, I suddenly dive inside.
Newt, as if by instinct, instantly turns back towards the car, stopping in his tracks. "(y/n)! What are you bloody doing?!"
Twelve.
"I need to get my gun!" I shout in return from inside the car, scrambling through the darkness as I attempt to feel for my gun. I squeeze my eyes shut, biting my lip and fighting back the urge to cry out in pain as the glass shards on the ceiling of the car slice up my hands.
Eleven.
Ten.
"(Y/N)!" I hear the boys shout in sync.
Nine.
I feel the cold steel of my pistol brush against the tips of my fingers. "I GOT IT!" I exclaim, taking it tightly into my hand as I scramble back to the open door of the car.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
I quickly crawl out of the car, turning my head in the direction of the Cranks as they sprint towards me; however, as I attempt to get my left leg though the window, the lace of my boot snags to the roof handle of the car, and I look back with wide eyes. "SHUCK!" I scream.
Five.
Four.
I look at the Cranks and back at my boot, yanking my leg away with all of my might, but it doesn't budge. "COME ON! COME ON!" I scream, trying to break the shucking boot free.
Three.
Two.
One.
Just as I look up at the creatures in utter terror, a pair of arms suddenly wrap around my waist from behind, and I am yanked upwards, my foot forcefully getting pulled out of my boot.
"YOU BLOODY SHANK; YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Newt exclaims, his angry panic making his accent thicker than normal as he rushes backwards, dragging me with him away from the hideous beasts.
I ignore him, cocking my pistol and aiming at the Cranks as Newt basically carries me. "Keep running!" I order, sticking the tip of my tongue out of the side of my mouth as I concentrate on my aim, shooting at the creatures and taking them down one-by-one.
Darting my eyes towards our upside down jeep, my eyes fully adjusted to the dark now, I catch sight of the gasoline container on its side on the ceiling of the car. I scowl in concentration, quickly aiming my gun and shooting the container, busting a hole into it. With very careful aim, I shoot at the steal ceiling with just enough precision that the bullet ricochets, making a spark and igniting the spilling gas into flames instantly, some Cranks shrieking in agony as the car is suddenly engulfed by fire.
Newt manages to laugh between heavy breaths. "Bloody Glade, (y/n)!"
After a few more shots at the Cranks, I reach in my pocket and take out another clip, quickly reloading the gun; however, when I go to cock it, I cannot get a good enough grip to do so, my hands slipping from the blood. "Newt, I can't cock the gun!"
"What?" He calls over the screams of the Cranks.
"I cut up my hands in the glass, and my shucking blood is making my hands slippery!"
"Alright, switch!" Newt shouts, planting my feet on the ground before taking the gun from my hands. "You run! I'll shoot!" He shouts, shoving me ahead in the direction of Fry and Thomas before turning back to the cranks and wiping the blood onto his jacket. Cocking the gun, he discharges the weapon, sending bullets flying at the creatures.
"Newt, come on!" I shout over my shoulder, and the boy turns on his heels, sprinting after the three of us.
We all sprint as fast as we can, shouting at one another to keep up.
"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!" Thomas shouts, sliding to a stop and putting his arms out to stop the rest of us behind him. He flashes his light in the direction we were running, unveiling a second herd of Cranks charging at us from the other end of the tunnel.
"Oh, shuck..." I breathe out, exasperated.
Fry lifts his shotgun at the monsters from behind us. "Watch out!" He orders before cocking the gun and shooting at the Cranks.
I look to Newt, who's rubbing his arm that holds the pistol in pain, clenching his jaw.
"Hey, give me the gun!" I order, wiping my bloody hands on my pants.
"No, (y/n), I've got it." He protests.
"I'm not asking!" I retort, taking the gun out of his hand by force. "Get behind me!" I command, turning to the Cranks coming from the front end of the tunnel and shooting at them, scrunching up my face in rage.
Once I'm out of ammo, I reach into my pocket for another round, but my face falls when I realized that there isn't another magazine in my pocket. I switch the gun to my other hand, reaching into my other pocket, and my heart stops. "I'm all out!" I call, backing away from the monsters.
I hear Fry fire a few more shots from behind, but, suddenly, they stop. "I'm out, too!"
Eyes darting around us, I look back in Fry's direction and then to the Cranks in front of me.
"We're shucked!" I scream, huddling back-to-back with the guys in fear, looking around at the ocean of grotesque, rotting, vein-covered faces screeching at us from both ends of the tunnel.
This is it. This is where it ends.
However, before a single Crank can come close enough to do harm, the loud roar of a car engine echoes throughout the tunnel, and, suddenly, a truck drives through the herd of Cranks from behind us, taking out a few in the process before screeching to a sudden stop.
A familiar figure suddenly pops out of the sunroof: Brenda.
"Guys, get in!" She orders, shooting at the Cranks behind the truck.
I gape in shock, although I'm completely relieved to see Brenda and Jorge.
"Let's go!" Thomas orders, sprinting to the truck, Fry, Newt, and I following closely behind.
I wince as I run through the dirt, hobbling with one foot bootless.
Brenda shoots at the Cranks by the truck bed to make a clearing for us, and Thomas jumps into the back, Fry following behind and hopping into the back of the truck that has metal railing that works as a frame for the sides and ceiling of the truck, a tarp pulled over it to act as a roof, tied down at the four corners of the truck bed.
Carefully, making my way over the dead Cranks on the ground, I follow Newt as he climbs into the back, turning to offer me his hand.
Just as I reach for his hand, a completely different hand suddenly clasps around my bootless ankle, yanking my leg back, causing me to trip and basically faceplant into the hard ground with a cry of both fear and pain.
"(Y/N)!" Newt screams.
Suddenly, I'm dragged away from the truck and forcefully flipped onto my back to meet with the black, abyss-like eyes of a Crank, clumpy, black blood dropping onto me from a bullet wound in it's shoulder. It must've been on the ground from getting shot.
Or was it smart enough to play dead to catch it's prey?
"Get off of me!" I snap, struggling under the insanely strong creature as it attempts to claw at my eyes. I grip onto it's fleshy wrists, crying out in fear.
"BRENDA!" Newt snaps. "BLOODY SHOOT IT!"
She quickly aims the gun at the beast, squeezing one eye shut to get a good aim.
Seconds pass, and still no gunfire.
"WHAT ARE YOU BLOODY WAITING FOR?!"
Kicking as hard as I can and lashing in attempt to break free from the monster, I scream, "SHUCK, HELP ME! HELP!"
"BRENDA!" Newt exclaims in frantic rage.
"I CAN'T GET A GOOD SHOT AT IT WITHOUT HITTING (Y/N)!" She snaps.
I shove at the creature's arms frantically, attempting to get a swing at its face; however, the Crank gets ahold of my left wrist, and then, as I go in for the punch with my right, the monster grasps onto my right wrist as well, slamming them to the ground.
"GIVE ME THE BLOODY GUN, THEN!" Newt orders, but, before Brenda can respond, Thomas shouts from the other side of the truck bed, kicking a Crank in the face as it attempts to climb inside, and she quickly turns to shoot the monsters swarming around the truck.
The drool from the Crank that is pinning me down splats onto my face, and I cringe in utter disgust, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them again, I see the beast eyeing my bloodied hands, and it's lifeless, cold eyes seem to light up.
With such speed that it's movement seems to be a blur, the Crank suddenly releases my right wrist to clasp both of its rotting hands around my left, trying to pull my left hand towards  its face, opening its mouth wide.
Eyes widening, I swing my free fist at the Cranks face over and over again, but the blows do not even phase it.
"(Y/N)!" Newt screams, jumping out of the truck without hesitation.
I cry out as I use every muscle in my left arm to try to pull it away, but the Crank lets out a ferocious shriek, suddenly sinking it's teeth into the right side of my left hand when my arm muscles finally give.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a blood-curdling scream as I feel its rotting teeth break through my flesh and into the blood and muscles of my hand, kicking my legs out in agony.
Before the Crank can tear a chuck of my hand off with its teeth, Newt lets out an enraged cry, kicking the beast in the face so hard that its head snaps back, and it rolls back onto the ground.
Newt, scooping me up, rushes back to the truck, and passes me on to Fry, who helps me sit against the framing where the back window of the truck would be, and the blonde boy jumps in.
"Jorge, step on it!" Brenda orders, and, immediately, the car jolts to a start as it speedily takes off through the herd of Cranks ahead.
Within two minutes, we escape the Cranks and reach the other end of the tunnel, driving out into the blinding sunlight.
I grip the palm of my left hand tightly, squeezing my eyes shut as I let out a weak cry of pain. "Shuck!"
"(y/n)? (y/n), what's wrong?" Newt asks, panic rising in his voice.
I attempt to swallow down the lump in my throat, opening my eyes to meet with Newt's worried brown eyes. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." I pant before squeezing my eyes shut again and hissing through my clenched teeth in pain.
Newt stares at me in confusion before slowly trailing his eyes down to my left hand, the blood oozing through the fingers of my right as I cover the wound.
Face falling, he slowly grasps onto my right hand and gently pulls it away, eyes widening as he examines the bite on my left.
Fry gasps. "Oh, no... (y/n), you- you got bit?!"
The blood drains from Thomas's face, and he immediately gets to his feet, leaning over the roof of the truck and into the sunroof. "Jorge, we need bandages!"
I weakly open my eyes to look at Newt once again as he grasps my left wrist with a trembling hand to examine the wound. "Shuck, (y/n)..." He mumbles under his breath.
"I'm sorry... Newt, I'm so sorry..."
"Stop bloody apologizing; it's not your fault." He says.
He clenches his jaw, keeping a stone cold face, but then I see it: tears beginning to swell up in his eyes. It's the same pained look I've seen once before
The same look he had when we left Winston to die.
Thomas plops down beside Newt, passing him the bandaging.
As carefully as possible, Newt begins to wrap my hand, causing me to wince with every wrap around my palm.
"We were so careful..." Thomas mumbles, looking to Newt with concern.
"Yeah, we were." Newt mutters, lifting his scowl to the glassless back window of the truck, staring at the back of Brenda's head.
Thomas frowns. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what it bloody means, Tommy." He growls, looking to his friend.
"Newt..." I mumble, shaking my head. "Don't..."
Newt averts his eyes to mine, and they soften. He sighs heavily, looking down as he continues to wrap my hand.