Promise Me ➵ Newt [3]

THREE | the crank tunnel

▬Frypan drove for what seemed like hours.

I quickly grew bored and uncomfortable under the back seats - but I couldn't do anything except stare at Newt's shoes or the underside of the seats unless I wanted to get caught. And I didn't. At some point during the ride, I fell asleep, and when I woke up with a jolt, I realized that the inside of the truck was filled with light; it must be daytime now.

A few more hours passed and my limbs were numb now. I heard Frypan cracking some jokes in the driver's seat, slightly munching on some snacks at the same time. Newt chatted with him, his voice full of ease and amusement while Thomas remained silent; I assumed he was staring out the window at the scenery outside.

Finally - finally - the truck slowed to a stop and my friends got out of the vehicle, slamming the doors shut behind them. I waited for a few moments before crawling out from under the back seats and immediately started to stretch.

Oh man, it felt so good to be able to move again.

Very carefully, I peeked out from behind the front seats and squinted, trying to make sense of my surroundings. We had stopped in the middle of a dusty junkyard littered with broken-down cars and motorbikes, facing a dark cave-like tunnel under a stone archway in the side of a hill. Everything about the tunnel seemed to scream bad news as I stared at it - it just seemed to radiate danger.

Newt, Frypan and Thomas faced the tunnel, their backs to me, and regarded the path. Thomas' head was bent, looking down at a map.

"You want us to go in there?" Newt asked, squinting against the bright sunlight as he nodded towards the dark tunnel.

When Thomas didn't answer, Newt said, "I don't wanna come off as too negative, but if I was a Crank, that's exactly where I would be."

Thomas finally looked up from his map; he regarded the tunnel uncertainly.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," he said. "According to this map, this is one of the city's defences or something. We have to go through here to get to the Last City."

Newt raised his eyebrows at the tunnel, then at Thomas.

"Alright, I get shotgun."

He turned around to the truck and I quickly ducked from view. I crawled back under the back seats just in time before a shadow slipped across the inside of the truck and Newt got into the shotgun seat. Frypan and Thomas climbed in after him, this time with Thomas at the back. Frypan started the truck and there was a low rumble as the engines ignited to life. The truck trundled along, its tyres crushing gravel and sand underneath. I heard the soft splashing of water beneath us as we entered the tunnel.

There were no lights in here, and though my friends had turned on their flashlights, I couldn't see anything as I was still hiding under the back seats. Irritation bubbled in me, but there was nothing I could do about it.

A cloud of anticipation and dread hung over me and my friends as we drove. Newt's words about Cranks hiding in the tunnel echoed through my mind eeriely, haunting me.

"Just take it slow," I heard him say to Frypan. A few moments passed before I heard him say in a slight panic, "Whoa, whoa, stop."

The truck halted, and I strained my ears, trying to listen to what was going on.

And then I heard the faint gargle and shrieks of a Crank.

I tensed up immediately, and my hand moved to the gun in my pocket, fingers wrapping around the handle.

"It's okay," Thomas whispered into the silence. "It's just one Crank, so... just take it slow. Go round. We'll be fine."

He sounded like he was trying to reassure himself.