They had switched watch thrice more, Newt and Rachel taking a nap while Thomas drove before Newt took over; by the time they reached what had once been a tunnel on a major highway, Frypan was once again back in the driver's seat while Newt and Rachel rested in the back.

Neither was sleeping anymore, both too anxious to sleep more than the few hours they had managed to squeeze in. But despite this, the group was quiet as Frypan slowed their borrowed jeep down to carefully approach the dark, creepy remaining structure from civilizations of old. In front of the tunnel were barbed wires, fences and metal roadblocks that had long ago been torn aside by (Rachel assumed) frenzied, mindless Cranks. It left a pretty straight path for their car to pass through, but in all honesty none of them really felt the inclination to do so.

Frypan drew the jeep down to a stop a few feet away from the tunnel's mouth, and the group slowly clambered out of the jeep to peer into the darkened tunnel more than a little warily.

"You want us to go in there?" Newt checked, his tone heavy with skepticism as he glanced at Thomas where the boy was also staring at the tunnel glumly.

Thomas reopened the map, checking their path and then triple-checking, while the others peered at the tunnel once more. Rachel could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rising with fear just from staring into the black pit and she could feel Frypan equally tense beside her.

Newt was more resigned - possibly as he was already too used to Thomas and his divergence from conformity - but he couldn't help himself from adding sarcastically, "I don't want to come across as too negative, but if I was a Crank that's exactly where I would be."

Rachel grimaced at the mental image of a Crank dragging it's feet a little as it paced mindlessly to and fro inside the tunnel while Frypan glanced over. Thomas's glum expression only increased as he finally looked up from his map and he admitted with a sigh, "I don't think we have much of a choice."

The dark-haired boy glanced at his friends warily, clearly anticipating an argument. Frypan just hung his head while Newt sighed as he looked back at the tunnel with one hand on his hip. But it was Rachel who spoke up as she looked at the boys.

"Well, then. What are we waiting for?"

All three boys looked at Rachel curiously, wondering what she meant. She gave a wry smile in return before she turned back toward the jeep.

"I'm driving." Rachel announced as she started to walk back toward the driver's seat, her decision having been made once Thomas confirmed the direction. If they had to go through the tunnel to get to Minho, they would just have to do it. Otherwise, their entire journey so far would have been for nothing.

Thomas stared after her while Frypan chuckled lightly in almost incredulity, and his smile widened at Newt's words when the blond boy followed the dark-haired girl.

"All right, then I get shotgun."

Thomas was grateful then for his friends and their unyielding support even in the face of uncertainty. They were all alike in that respect, he reflected. All of them, even Minho, had very different personalities but they all shared at least one thing: once they made their decision (whether impulsively like Thomas or after long, hard thought like Newt), they would see their choice through to the end.

His gratitude aside, however, he couldn't stop the wary anticipation that crept into his stomach as Rachel took them off slowly toward the tunnel. Newt wasn't wrong in his assessment of the tunnel - far from it. Their only hope was the either that any Cranks who had been around would have moved on from the deserted area or that they would be able to get through without disturbing any who might still be lingering in the shadows.

As they entered into the darkness, Rachel touched the headlights… and hesitated.

"We're gonna need some light, love." Newt pointed out, silently soothing her anxiety.

Rachel exhaled deeply but she nodded; and with that, the headlights of the jeep flickered on at the lowest setting. This meant that they couldn't see more than a few feet ahead at most in the dim light but no-one argued. The potential alternative was far worse. And they all seemed to exhale and relax infinitesimally when there was no initial reaction to the lights or the soft rumble of the jeep's engines.

"Uh oh." Thomas muttered as he leant forward from his seat behind Rachel.

They could see a faint outline of some kind of obstacle up ahead, and both Thomas and Newt exchanged looks before they pulled out their flashlights. Each pointed their own out the window of their respective sides of the jeep, shedding just a little bit more extra light on their surroundings to reveal a whole line of backed up vehicles, some crashed into each other or to the tunnel walls from where they had clearly been attacked a very long time ago.

Rachel's hands tightened around the wheel of the jump until her knuckles were white as she observed the cracked glass and crushed metal of the cars which were all now covered in a thick layer of dust.

"Easy, Rach." Newt murmured while Frypan muttered, "Here we go."

"Just take it nice and slow." Newt agreed as he his light out the window while Rachel drove them at walking speed around the first car to their left, circling around it to avoid hitting a truck that was crashed just a little ahead on their right.

After the initial blockade, the path was a bit clearer, with the line of cars sitting mostly to the left and right of the tunnel and leaving a path just wide enough for their jeep to almost make a straight line through.

Still, Rachel didn't dare speed up despite the hairs rising on the back of her neck telling her to just bolt it out of there; they couldn't afford to accidentally wake up a sleeping army now. Not when they had made pretty good progress so far.

As though to contradict her errant thought, a shadow moved right ahead in the middle of their path.

"Woha, whoa, whoa." Newt muttered in warning, one hand reaching over to touch Rachel's knee just as she hit the brakes. The jeep skid to a halt, not quite screeching given the low speed they'd been driving at but still creating more noise than any of them would have liked.

Thankfully, the Crank didn't seem to notice as it continued to just sway from side to side where it stood. But it was still standing right in their path.

Rachel glanced at Newt before they both glanced back to where Frypan was already staring at Thomas. All of them had the same question in their eyes, the same hesitation; Thomas swallowed but gave a firm and reassuring nod.

"It's okay." He said in a quiet voice, trying to convince himself as much as the others. "It's just one, so we'll take it slow, go around him."

Rachel wasn't very reassured but Thomas repeated more determinedly even though he kept his voice low, "We'll be fine."

"Right." Rachel muttered with only a hint of sarcasm.

"Be careful, Rach." Newt murmured as he switched off his light and wound up the window while Rachel took a deep breath before as she watched the Crank ahead.

The Crank had shuffled a little over to the side, creating a path for them and Rachel was just about to lift her foot off the brake when Thomas let out a strange grunt, sounding very much like a quickly swallowed scream, while he backed up right against Frypan.

The entire group whipped around to see a Crank standing pressed right up against Thomas's window, and Rachel almost bit her tongue out in her attempt to prevent herself from screaming. Newt had also flinched back before he grasped Rachel's shoulder tightly as though ready to pull her back if the Crank somehow broke through the window, but the woman showed no signs of aggression as she stared with wide and strangely focused eyes at them.

"Please."

Rachel flinched when the woman spoke, and her skin crawled as the woman began tugging on Thomas's door.

"Please. Help me. Please." The woman continued to beg frantically, glancing from the Crank ahead to the group in the car, her actions and voice growing more and more agitated.

Rachel let out a high-pitched but quiet noise as she bit back a scream when there was another thud, this time on Frypan's window. They all whirled around to see a man, clearly further gone than the woman was but still coherent as he also begged, "Please. Let me in."

"Rach, we gotta go." Thomas said in a low voice as the two almost-Cranks on either side of their car began to pound on the glass and the doors while their cries became screams.

"Please! Open the door! Now!"

Rachel turned forward, intending to go, but she let out a shriek as a Crank rammed itself into her door next before another pounded on Newt's.

"Oh, sh*t!" Newt gasped while Thomas cried, "Rach, go!"

A Crank flung itself in front of the jeep, hitting the car hood and making Rachel hesitate for a fraction of a second.

"Open the door!" The female screamed as she was bit into by another Crank and Thomas yelled, abandoning all pretense of calm.

"Just floor it! Floor it!"

Rachel didn't even hear him in her panic but she did exactly as he said; her foot hit the accelerator as all need for quiet disappeared. The jeep screeched and the tires squealed against the floor as it shot forward, straining to reach full speed as Rachel was insisting from it.

But they hadn't even fully started off when she let out another blood-curling scream when a Crank launched itself onto the car bonnet, blocking her view of the road while it snarled and slammed itself headfirst into the windshield in an attempt to get at them.

"SH*T!" Newt yelled as Rachel drove at full speed blind while Thomas and Frypan whipped their heads back and forth between the Cranks chasing after them and the Crank in front of them that was threatening to kill them before they could even be caught.

"Get it off, get it off!" Frypan yelled at Rachel and Newt yelled back for her, "How, genius?!"

"Shake him off!" Thomas yelled and Rachel screeched, "How, I'm already driving blind, we'll CRASH!"

She swerved as she spoke, just narrowly avoiding hitting a car that had been in their path and that she wouldn't have seen if the Crank hadn't reared up at that moment again to bash itself back down on the windshield.

"Up ahead, on our right!" Newt yelled as he spotted the butt of a truck sticking out in their path and Rachel swerved them to the left just as the Crank smashed it's head down on the glass again.

"There's got to be something we can do to get it off!" Frypan pointed out as though it weren't obvious to them and Newt shouted, "Any ideas are welcome!"

"JUST DO SOMETHING!" Thomas yelled as the Crank on their windshield bashed it's head down again and cracked the glass on their windshield.

Rachel suddenly stomped on the brakes, causing the jeep to come to an abrupt and screeching halt. The Crank, which had leant back before it started to bang back down, went flying off and rolling in front of them, and Rachel shoved her foot onto the gas pedal.

With a horrific shriek and too-clear crunch, the jeep drove right over the Crank. Rachel didn't let up on her speed as she raced them onward while the three boys sat in a moment of stunned silence while they digested what had just happened.

"Well," Newt spoke at last. "That was something."

Rachel almost smiled, as did Thomas. Frypan chuckled, but their moment's levity wore off almost instantly as Thomas yelled suddenly, "LOOK OUT!"

Rachel swore as she swerved suddenly, trying to avoid a traffic drum she hadn't been able to see in the relative darkness. The action was a little too late as the back of the jeep hit the drum, hard, causing the entire car to swivel. Rachel screamed while Newt and Thomas yelled and Frypan shrieked as the jeep's wheels locked and the car went spinning out of control before it hit another traffic drum and was sent crashing over on it's side and then upside down where it skid a little further forward before coming to a halt.

The teenagers inside groaned and coughed as smoke began to rise around the overturned jeep and they tried to regain their bearings after having been bumped about in the crash.

"Everyone okay?" Thomas checked, his voice gruff as he tried to stop his coughing.

The others' own hacking was the only response he got for a second before Rachel groaned.

"My head."

"Rach?" Newt's focus shifted to her instantly as Rachel shook her head, trying to clear it. He could barely see her in the sudden darkness, the jeep's lights having gone out after the crash. Only Thomas's flashlight saved them from being swallowed in darkness although it was currently swinging about a little wildly as Thomas tried to get right side up inside the overturned jeep.

"I think I'm fine." Rachel mumbled as she squinted against the light when Thomas accidentally flashed it right into her eyes.

"Sorry, Rachel." Thomas apologized when he noticed before he gestured to his window. "I'm gonna break this - close your eyes."

Rachel shifted over toward Newt's side where he covered her protectively just in case as Thomas smashed the glass of his car window. The shattered pieces spilled out on either side, falling where Rachel's head had been earlier, and Thomas twisted to kick out the remaining glass completely before he clambered out.

"Watch out for the glass!" Frypan warned as Thomas was forced to scurry out on his forearms, the window too small to allow him to get out any other way. His jacket kept him from getting cut immediately and Thomas crawled forwards, using his arms to keep his body off the ground and the sharp shards on the ground as he pulled himself out.

Frypan moved to follow Thomas out while Newt attempted to kick his door open. Once Thomas was able to pull his feet out the window, he allowed himself to fall in a heap, rolling toward Rachel's door. Unfortunately, her door was stuck as no amount of her kicking or Thomas's pulling would get it open.

"Rachel, it's stuck." He finally grunted as Frypan landed in a heap by his feet. "You're gonna have to go around."

Thomas pulled Frypan up as Rachel turned toward Newt, crawling toward where he was against his own car door while he tried to kick it open. The door finally crashed open and Newt tumbled out just as Thomas and Frypan circled around to his side of the car.

"Newt, you okay?" Thomas checked and the Brit grunted, "Yeah, I think so."

He didn't even get up as he turned on his knees to reach into the car, helping Rachel as she crawled awkwardly along the car windshield to try and get to his side. They all froze for a second as an inhuman scream echoed toward them, reminding them of the Cranks that had been chasing them.

Thomas and Frypan whirled around to stare back the way they had come while Newt hastily reached in and attempted to pull Rachel out of the jeep.

"Wait!" Rachel gasped as she spotted his gun lying on the windshield, which she realized must have fallen out of it's holster during the crash.

"Rach, we gotta move, now!" Thomas yelled as a Crank appeared around the back of a car not a hundred yards from them while Frypan ran around the car and started to dig through the hole Thomas had made in the window.

"Love, leave it!" Newt snapped as he tugged on Rachel's arm, trying to pull her out of the car while she grappled for his gun. "Rachel!"

"Got it!" Rachel gasped as she grabbed hold of the gun before Newt roughly hauled her out. Her foot caught in the doorway as he did, causing her to trip and she collapsed on top of him.

"Come on!" Thomas yelled, grasping Rachel's arm and pulling her to her feet just as the Crank came within ten feet of them. "Rach! Newt!"

Rachel whirled around, raising her gun, when two shots rang out and the Crank collapsed, dead, about five feet away. The trio stared from it to Frypan where he stood on the other side of the overturned jeep, holding a rifle.

"Nice shot, Fry." Thomas finally gasped while Rachel helped Newt to his feet beside her.

"Thanks." Frypan answered as he joined them, and Rachel agreed, "Thanks, Frypan."

More shrieks had the four snapping their heads back up to the road and Thomas raised his flashlight to reveal another two Cranks coming at them and from the sounds behind them the rest of the Cranks weren't far behind.

"Go..." Frypan said slowly as the four slowly backed away before repeating more assertively, "Go!"

He cocked his rifle as Rachel cocked Newt's pistol, and they each fired off once, taking down two of the Cranks, before Newt pulled Rachel sharply.

"You can't stop them with that, run!" He ordered as he hauled her along beside him while Thomas yelled back at Frypan, "Frypan, come on, let's go!"

Frypan fired a couple more shots before he turned and raced after his friends.

"Go! GO!" He yelled.

Thomas - satisfied his friend was coming after them - sped up to outrun Newt and Rachel. She was close behind him, now being the one to tug Newt to run faster as her swift legs carried her like a deer across the paved floor. But she and Thomas screeched to a halt as they heard another shriek from up ahead and Thomas flashed his light up even as Newt slammed into Rachel and almost sent her tumbling.

His hand on hers kept her upright and he didn't even have time to apologise as they all saw the group of Cranks coming right at them from the other end of the tunnel, which they could now just see. However, the literal light at the end of the tunnel was far out of their reach as they whipped their heads back and forth from one group of incoming Cranks to the other.

"Watch out!" Frypan cried as he fired at a Crank that had gotten closer to them than was comfortable while Newt grabbed the gun from Rachel as he shoved her behind him protectively.

Newt fired on the other group of Cranks as they all tightened together, trying to figure out a way to escape as Newt and Frypan kept the Cranks barely at bay.

"This way-" Thomas began as he thought he saw an opening to one side of the Cranks but Rachel tugged him back sharply as she said, "No, wait, look!"

Thomas belatedly saw the group of Cranks that were just appearing from the shadows, having mistaken the movement as the shadows of the visible Cranks. Meanwhile, Frypan's gun clicked, and he yelled, "I'm out!"

Newt fired a shot and he said grimly, "Pretty sure I'm on my last shot, too."

He fired again, killing another Crank that had attempted to get closer to their group, and his pistol clicked.

"Sh*t." Thomas hissed as Newt and Frypan abandoned their positions as guards and tightened around their group even more. Rachel pushed Newt so that they were all back to back in a circle, refusing to be sheltered in the center and she grasped his free hand tightly as they faced off against the Cranks with pounding hearts.

Knowing they would lose.