Wickeds Girl (A maze runner fanfic)

Chapter 7

They drove through the desert for what seemed like days yet was only hours, and the heat only seemed to make it worse.

No matter how many layers Natalie took off she was still sweating, it was as if she had jumped into a river.

The day quickly turned into night which seemed to make Natalie grow more anxious about spending the night out in the desert. She had met the cranks before and didn't like the feeling of meeting them again.

They were terrifying. Utterly terrifying.

There was different kinds of cranks which only made things more scary. You would rarely see a full blown crank up in the sand, they mostly roamed around in the dark, under the fallen cities.

You could also get cranks that were so bad they had taken out their own eyes while turning. The thought alone scared Natalie, she couldn't handle turning into one of those beasts and she knew it.

Just as the sky turned dark Vince pulled over in an abandoned city to camp for the night. They were pretty far from their original camp so attempting to drive back was risky.

The minute Natalie stepped foot out of the truck she got such a bad feeling....a feeling of being watched.

The 3 men that came with them all split up around different buildings of the city to search for things to use for a fire. John, Archie and Parker, all middle aged survivors of the flare.

Natalie seemed to be jealous of those men, jealous that they seemed to be immune...unlike her mother. The memories haunted her everyday, the image of the bullet emerging into her mother's skull always made her hate life.

Her mother was her best friend, the only one that held the family together. And now the family was broken, all in different places.

Natalie stayed with Harriet and Sonya while they searched the empty streets. They made sure to stay close to their camp sight just in case they bumped into any cranks.

"Do you think there's any survivors here?" Sonya asked as she pulled sheets and tarps from the ground.

Natalie shared a look with Harriet before her eyes averted and looked around at the place in front of her.

All the buildings were either broken or destroyed completely, not one having an unbroken window. Anyone to live here would be foolish, either that or they were already infected.

"I don't think so....there isn't really anywhere to live" Natalie replied pulling out a bag from a small sleeping area and searching through it.

There wasn't really anything useful in it, besides ripped clothes and personal belongings there was empty bottles that could potentially come in handy.

One of the personal belongings seemed to draw in Natalies attention. A small broken picture frame with a picture of a boy and girl-siblings-huddled together.

It brought a smile to Natalies face at the memories of her and Aris, but that quickly faded when she thought about never seeing him again.

"What happened to you" she mumbled brushing the broken glass from the picture to see it better.

Her head then shot up in the direction of the dark alleyway beside them as screams echoed through it. Terror poured over her like a flood as John ran towards them.

Glancing at Harriet and Sonya all three of the girls huddled together as figures frantically ran after the man. Cranks.

Natalie followed suit behind the girls and pulled her gun up to her face, immediately shooting at the cranks as they ran towards them.

"Run!" Harriet screamed her gun shaking nervously in her hand as she began to move backwards. Without hesitation Natalie followed her order and spun on her heel, heading straight for the truck.

The groans and screams of the beasts behind her rang through her head, making her stumble with fear. She was terrified of them. Any sane person would be.

Occasionally turning to shoot a bullet at them as she ran Natalie ended up splitting from the group. Leaving her alone in an unfamiliar place with flesh eating monsters on her tail.

Running through different streets Natalie refused to look back, the sound of them already told her they were gaining on her. And that terrified her.

Just as she turned down another alleyway a hand grasped hold of her, pulling her into a small doorway of a house. One hand on her stomach and the other over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

Natalies mind raced, she had no idea who it was that towered behind her, but she knew it had to be a human, a crank would have bitten her by now.

She watched in terror as the beasts ran right past her, some even so close that Natalie had to suck in her stomach so their fingertips wouldn't brush against her.

"Shhh stay quiet" a harsh voice whispered as they slowly removed their hand from her lips. The cold air immediately attacked the newly exposed place on her face causing a shiver to run through her body.

She recognised the voice as Parker, the youngest of the men, had to be around 23. At least he looked reasonably young.

Natalie slowly panned her head around to face the man, he stared straight at the blank wall in front of them as the last of the cranks ran past.

"T-thanks" Natalie stuttered still being shaken up by the near death experience.

"Don't mention it Nat, I'm sure you would do the same for me" he smiled placing a hand onto her head and pulling her head into his chest. They were both traumatised by everything that had just happened.

A smiled appeared onto Natalies face at the sudden contact, Parker reminded her of Aris...just a taller and older version.

Once making sure the coast was clear the pair slowly made their way back through the streets back towards their camp site.

The silent shrieks of the cranks still echoed through the city, it calmed Natalies nerves knowing that they were further away now.

They walked into the camp hand in hand, everyone's heads turned straight towards them as Vince let out a sigh of relief. He rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around the two of them, engulfing them into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad your both okay" he said pulling his head away to look at the pair in the eyes.

"Parker saved my life, without him I would've been dinner" Natalie chuckled, smiling at the tall man beside her.

"I suppose I owe you for saving my daughters life" Vince smiled gripping the mans shoulder slightly in gratitude.

A sudden cough broke the peaceful moment as John started spitting out blood into the sand. He looked terrible, his skin a shade of grey in the light of the fire.

Natalie shared a look with Vince before he left the pair and walked over to the poorly man on the ground.

Vince pulled up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a large bite mark, but not just one...two. Getting bitten once gave you some time but twice increased your chance of turning.

Parker wrapped Natalie in his arms once again, covering her ears and shielding her face from what was about to happen.

Knowing it would remind her of her mother Vince didn't want to put her through that again.

Natalie stood there confused about what exactly was happening until the muffled sound of a gun shot rang through her head.

They had killed him....