The Hooded Girl

Chapter 15: Finding Thomas

MINHO'S POV
When we reach the main area to this Crank City place, I feel creeped out. There are humans here and Jorge says that they are Cranks who haven't passed the Gone yet. But nonetheless, they're creepy.

We're all sweating and feeling shucking hot that I have no idea how Rhea can still wear a jacket. It seems so stupid that every time I look at her, I feel pissed.

Newt and Teresa seem creeped out by the people as well.

"This is bloody shucked up man," Newt says, frowning at a bunch of people walking past.

"No kidding. Is it just me or am I getting really creeped out?" I say.

Sonya laughs. "Oh, Minho's getting scared."

I scowl. "I never said that."

Newt laughs now. "You were implying it."

Suddenly, Rhea and Jorge both stop walking. They're a distance away from us. Rhea says something to Jorge and he nods, then they start up a small talk between each other, which I find strange, since Rhea isn't particularly friendly with Jorge. Though she isn't really friendly with anyone except maybe Aris and Newt at the moment.

"Wow, looks like those two are talking," Harriet says sarcastically.

Quill moves to stand next to Newt. Everyone knows that she's got a crush on him, except Newt himself.

"Maybe they're thinking of a plan to kill us all," Quill states.

Aris scowls. "Would you just stop, Quill? I get that you're jealous of her and all but really, just stop."

Quill looks stunned. "Me? Jealous of her? Why would I be?"

Aris rolls his eyes. "Don't act dumb. We all know why. Except maybe Newt, of course."

Quill's cheeks redden and Newt is frowning, confused. I pat Newt on the shoulder and let out a long whistle.

"Ooooh," I say.

Harriet slaps my arm. "Shut. Up," She says through gritted teeth.

"There's no reason for me to get jealous," Quill says, her face so red right now.

"Then why are you?" Teresa asks savagely.

Before anyone can say anything, Jorge and Rhea walk towards us. They both stop a few feet away when they sense the awkward tension.

Rhea coughs uncomfortably and Jorge chuckles.

"Umm... What were you two talking about?" Sonya asks, trying to break the unbreakable awkwardness.

Sonya and Rhea seem to have this unspeakable bond, something like a secret bond that they don't show but have. They're close. Really close.

"Thanks Sonya. Really," Rhea says, voice slightly humoured. "We found them. And it isn't good."

"What do you mean?" Aris asks.

"Well they were just given some sort of drug. It'll knock 'em out," Jorge says. "We need to help them and talk to Marcus. Now."

"They give that drug to every person who walks in or just them?" Harriet asks.

"Not sure. We should be careful though. They might be extra cautious around us," Jorge replies. "After all, we're a big group."

"I've got a plan," Rhea claims.

Not surprised.

"We go in by the roof. They have those kind of windows up there. It'll lead to Marcus's personal room. We could break in and enter," Rhea says, observing the building not far away.

"How do you know that?" Quill asks harshly.

Rhea gestures to a woman knocked unconscious on the ground. "How do you think?"

Sonya lets out a burst of laughter. "You telling me we missed out on threatening a guy because we were too engrossed with Quill and her emotions?"

Jorge chuckled. "Exactly."

How had I not noticed that? Oh wait. It was a pretty interesting conversation we were having.

"And if the person was lying?" Harriet asks.

"She wasn't," Rhea says.

Sonya nods slowly, looking around at all of us. "So we just gonna burst in there with no problem?"

"Well, there'll be Guards for sure but it should be easy," Jorge says, glancing towards the building with squinted eyes.

"We've had worse odds," Newt says, looking at me for confirmation.

I shrug. "Why not?"

No one moves for a moment, all of us just looking toward the building and contemplating it. The sound of Frypan clearing his throat draws everyone's attention to him, and he raises an eyebrow. "So are we gonna do it or..."

"Yeah, let's go," Jorge says, and we dash.

~

Breaking in was easy. Basically, Rhea had single handedly kicked the glass with tons of force and it shattered, creating a hole big enough for someone to fit in.

She jumped in and the rest of us followed. Most of our landings were smooth, but not as smooth as Rhea's. She could've been a gymnast if she wanted to be. Like seriously, this girl maybe WICKED put her through some serious fighter training before the Maze.

"Shit!" Newt shouts, and then there's this stabbing sound followed by a gurgling sound.

Jorge and Rhea had both thrown a knife at a guard who was going after Newt with a knife. The man crumples in front of Newt and Rhea pulls out another knife and lunges at another one.

The other girls, excluding Teresa, charge after the rest, careful not to use guns. A guard comes at me and I swing a punch at its face. Newt comes over and swings his hand at the guys face once more and knocks him unconscious.

"Thanks," I say, brows furrowing as the man slumps to the ground in a heap.

Rhea has stabbed about four guys already, not actually killing them but hurting them pretty bad.

"Well, that was fun," Jorge says.

"We really need to work on your definition of fun," Rhea mutters, and Sonya laughs.

Strangely, Sonya's laugh sounds slightly like Newt's.

"Come on, I know where Marcus has them," Jorge says.

He kicks the door open and rushes out, down a corridor. I can hear loud music coming from downstairs and I hear people chattering. Jorge kicks open a door at the far end of the corridor and instantly, Rhea goes in and there's a crying sound and a thud.

We rush in to find that Rhea has judo flipped this guy and has her arm on his neck.

"Good job. Grab a chair and some rope," Jorge orders.

In no time, the girls have tied Marcus up. The room we're in is huge, a fireplace in the centre, furniture everywhere. Thomas lays asleep on a couch at one side and Brenda is slumped in a chair, also asleep. The place looks ancient though, torn curtains an broken glass.

We found them.