Chapter 16: Wounded

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The crank kept staggering towards us until it broke into a run. It looked like someone trying to run with two broken legs. If the situation were not life or death I would have laughed.

"Minho, shoot!" Yelled Thomas.

A gunshot rang in the air and the crank fell hard to the ground and did not get back up. Minho looked up with a confused expression.

"I didn't shoot. Who did?" He asked.

Jemma still had her rifle raised. She smiled. "I did."

"You weren't wrong when you said she knew how to shoot a shuck gun." Muttered Minho to Daniel. Daniel grabbed Jemma's hand and smiled proudly.

"Great." Began Brenda. "Well, we better get out now before his friends decide- oh no." We followed her gaze and saw to our horror that cranks were crawling out of a nearby building. Shrieks began to fill the air. They dropped to the ground and began to run at us. "Run!" She cried.

We broke into a dead sprint and ran for the closest hill and started to climb. I looked back and wished I hadn't. The cranks were gaining with alarming speed. How could they run so fast? We almost made it to the top when we heard an ear splitting scream.

"Jemma!" Cried Daniel. I turned around to see a crank dragging Jemma by the ankle back down the hill. She thrashed and kicked but the crank held tight. 

"Someone shoot it!" She yelled.

"I don't want to hit you!" Said Daniel raising his gun.

"I don't care if you shoot my shuck foot off just shoot it!" She screamed in agony. Daniel raised his gun with a determined look and fired. The crank let go and fell back, taking out several others on his way down. Daniel ran down to her and gripped her shoulders, trying to pull her to her feet. She cried out in pain. Her ankle was bleeding horribly. 

"What do we do? She can't walk. Help me carry her!" Thomas and Minho rushed down and grabbed her legs and hauled her up.

We ran for an abandoned building in the distance and rushed inside. The cranks ran right past it, stupidly. We crouched in agonizing silence as we waited until the coast was officially clear. When we were absolutely sure the cranks were gone, they set Jemma down and went to inspect her foot. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming. Several gashes were apparent on her ankle.

"I'm no doctor but those look pretty deep." Said Brenda. "I'll just have to wrap it. I sure hope you're immune, kid." A strange look quickly flashed across Jemma's face before it disappeared back into her expression of pain. I didn't miss it. Daniel stayed by her side and held her hand as they wrapped up her foot. She didn't scream the whole time except for crying out when Brenda attempted to clean the wounds with water.

The sun was quickly setting and the temperature dropping with it. We pulled out our sleeping bags and spread them out across the floor. No one dared to start a fire for fear of alerting the cranks of our whereabouts. Newt put his next to mine and we laid on top of them. I shivered. Newt opened up his arms to me.

"C'mere." I quickly snuggled onto his chest and buried my face in his neck. I tried to stop my teeth from chattering. He wrapped his arms tightly around me. You could already hear snores from the others. Newt kissed the top of my head. "Goodnight, love."

I couldn't even manage a reply before I passed out.

...

I awoke to Newt gently shaking my shoulders. "Time to wake up, sunshine. We have to go. I rubbed my eyes and let them adjust to the blazing sun. I could already feel the temperature rising. I went over to check on Jemma and her foot. She looked horrible. Her face was pale and sweat beaded on her forehead. Her foot was so much worse today. It was several shades of purple and blue. I didn't miss the black veins growing from it before she quickly pulled her pants leg down to cover it. Almost everyone had left the building by now and were standing outside.

"Jemma-"

"I'm not immune, okay?" She said. I could tell she was trying not to cry. Jemma had become a close friend of mine and this news startled me. Tears built up in my eyes. I flung my arms around her and hugged her tight.

"I'm so sorry. What are you going to do? I don't want you to leave." I said, fighting back my tears.

"It's going to be fine, Kaya. I'll figure something out. Just...don't tell the others yet." I nodded and she put her arm around my shoulders to help her walk. She couldn't put much weight on her foot.

We stepped out of the building and into the now, familiar scorching heat.

"I got it from here." Said Daniel, transferring Jemma's arm to his shoulders.

"We're burning daylight. Let's go." Said Brenda. The mountains still seemed impossibly far out.

"Well, we've got a bloody long way to go." Sighed Newt.

"Right. We'd better pick up the pace if we have any hope of reaching the safe haven before we're gray and old. It's a rough journey ahead." Said Thomas. 


A / N: Thanks for reading!

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