Summary: After one year of that fateful day, Noah and MC have to live on the cover as they’re being hunted down by the police all across the country.
Note: F!MC. This is my prize for the “300 followers giveaway”! I had this idea after playing the last chapter of ILITW and I was pretty pissed with that ending, so I (half) jokingly posted a headcanon I had for the finale, where Noah and MC were fugitives and fell into a life of crime, something like Bonnie and Clyde style. It turned out more popular than I have ever imagined lol and, apparently, people liked it, including the amazing and lovely @miragemeister who was the winner of this giveaway and asked for a fanfic with this headcanon! I hope you’ll enjoy it, Sabrina!!!! It turned out darker than I expected though! (To my IJWH and JIH readers, I’m really sorry I’m taking too much time to write them!!! Please, be patient with me)
Things didn’t end up well on that fateful day, when Noah, manipulated by Mr. Red/Jane, lured their friends into the ruins.
In fact, it ended up far from good.
Jane killed all of their friends. All of them.
Ava, Andy, Dan, Lily, Stacy and Thomas. They were all dead.
And Jane simply disappeared.
MC and Noah still didn’t know why she had let them live. Was it because they were the ones who mourned her death the most? Was it because they were the closest to her?
Was it a miracle? Or was it supposed to be some kind of a punishment?
Why they were allowed to live while the others were all dead? And why would they still have to live after everything? Having to live with the weight of their friends’ lives forever?
They had just came out from the ruins when a flashlight beamed through the trees, shouting voices approaching. It was the search party. MC tried to reach for them, but Noah held her arm and dragged her deeper into the woods.
“What are you doing?” – he whispered.
“Trying to get help?”
“Do you think it really is a good idea? They would never believe us.”
“What do you mean?”
“MC… they’re… they’re all dead. All of our friends. And we’re the ones alive. They’ll assume that it was us who killed them.”
“They can’t be so blind and stupid to not see those creepy things happening in town. All those animal attacks and then what happened during the homecoming… to Cora…”
“But they are, MC. Believe me. We’ll be imprisoned forever. If they don’t kill us for thinking that we murdered them. Or worse, if we tell them about Redfield and Cora and everything that happened, they’ll put us in a asylum. Forever. Are you sure this is a good idea?” – he asked, letting go of her arm.
Realisation came down to MC. Noah was right. There was no way they could live freely anymore. They would be stuck forever.
They would never go to university. Or have jobs. Or a family. They would never see their families anymore. Nor their friends.
“W-what do we do?” – she asked, feeling her eyes watering.
“We… we have to go.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know.” – he confessed. – “Anywhere. We have to disappear.”
Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching. Not thinking twice, they turned and ran.
They kept running long, long after.
One year has passed since that day.
And their lives turned upside down. They have been running since then. They were fugitives now.
Thankfully, Westchester was a small town, so the news didn’t spread too fast. Most people didn’t know that they were wanted. Sometimes they were able to spend a week in each place, before having to run again.
They didn’t know exactly where they were and how far they were from Westchester. All they knew is that they had to keep running.
They soon figured out that they were somewhat good in surviving. Sometimes they even could find jobs. There were a lot of people who simply didn’t care who you were. They just wanted you to mow their lawn or wash their dishes or walk their dogs out.
But other times it was not that easy. And they had to learn a few tricks. They became masters of pickpocketing and, in a shop, while one of them would distract the salesperson, the other would fill their bags with food and other useful things for their survival before they ran away.
Some days were worse than others. One of them would feel like giving up and turn themselves in. But the other would make their mind after some work. They kept each other sane.
MC knew that, logically, she should blame Noah. But she was unable to do so. Maybe it was because, after all, she could feel empathy towards him. All that he suffered after his sister’s death, growing up in a toxic environment with his mom verbally abusing him daily, without any kind of help.
She knew he had made some real poor choices, but, if she had the slightest hope to save Jane, she probably would had done the same thing as him.
She wished they could have saved Jane. And everyone else.
And she loved the boy. She never said it out loud, but she always had a crush on him. She admired how he was always looking after his sister when they were kids.
She couldn’t help but feel this urge to protect him forever. To be by his side.
Yes, they obvioulsy were a thing now. They were everything the other had, so it was natural to this happen, twisted and unhealthy as it may seen.
But they just couldn’t afford to lose each other.
“Refresh your coffee?” – the waitress suddenly talked to him.
“Oh. Sure. Thanks.” – Noah said. MC was in the restroom and he was thinking what would they do next. To where they would go.
They didn’t know exactly where they were. He thought it was somewhere in California, near Los Angeles. They’ve been there for almost a week now.
“Jane.”
“What did you say?!” – his heart practically leaped out of his chest… but the waitress refilling his coffee cup didn’t seem to notice.
“Jane. It’s my name? I just figured we ought to get to know each other, considering this is the third time I’ve seen you this week.”
“Oh. Right. S-sure. Okay.” – he felt his heart beat slowing, though his body was still tense.
“Aaaand this is the part where you tell me your name?”
“Uh. Yeah. My name is N… Malcolm. It’s Malcolm.”
“Nice to meet you, Malcolm.” – the waitress smiled warmly at him.
“Yeah… Same…”
He saw MC walking out of the restroom, and he immediately felt himself relaxing. She had this calming effect over him.
But the girl didn’t return to their table. Instead, she decided to watch him and the waitress curiously from afar.
“What’s she doing?” – he thought to himself, while Jane the Waitress finished pouring his coffee… Then set the pot down and took a seat across the table, right in front of him. He felt his body tensing again.
“So, where you from?”
“I’m from Oregon.” – he managed to answer, glancing to where MC was. “Why is she there?”
“No kidding! That’s quite a hike!” – the waitress seemed surprised. – “…Your runnin’ from something?” – Jane winked. And he found himself laughing nervously. – “Sorry, I was just kidding. Am I being rude? I feel like I’m being rude.”
“N-no. Um. You’re fine. I’m just…”
Suddenly, MC approached them.
“Excuse me, but this is my seat.” – she said, pointing out to where Jane was. The waitress quickly stood up.
“Oh sorry! Would you like me to refresh your coffee?”
“Please.” – the girl said, while taking her seat back. Noah knew that something was off. MC was polite, but her voice was as cold as ice.
He took a sip of his fresh coffee while Jane finished refreshing MC’s.
“Well Malcolm, it was nice talking to you. Let’s do it again sometime.”
“Y-yeah…” – he nodded, and then she walked away to talk to other customers.
“I can’t believe it.” – MC said suddenly, her arms crossed.
“What?” – she kept staring at him, a both amused and annoyed expression in her face.
She rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her own coffee. – “Seriously, how oblivious can you be? It is almost… cute how naive you are. I seriously don’t know if I should laugh or punch you in the face.”
“Why? What do you mean?”
MC side glanced to where Jane the Waitress was.
“The waitress was clearly flirting with you.”
“Uh? No, she was just being nice.”
“She was overly nice. And then, when I came back, she deliberately ignored me, even though I’m right here. ‘Well Malcolm, it was nice talking to you. Let’s do it again sometime’. And that wink? She was flirting with you, Noah. Or should I say, Malcolm?”
“How do you know? Did you hear our chat?”
“It wasn’t necessary. I could read her body language.”
“Since when do you know about this?”
“It doesn’t matter. But she was flirting with you. If I didn’t know you better, I would have thought that you were flirting back.” – and she finished her cup.
“MC… Don’t tell me you’re jealous?” – he said with a smirk on his lips.
She rolled her eyes, but he could see her blushing behind her annoyance.
“What if I was? You’re my boyfriend after all.” – she said, crossing her arms again and looking away from his face.
It was stupid, MC knew it, but she couldn’t control the way she felt.
He chuckled before leaning in. Immediately, she kissed him back, his lips soft against hers.
“Don’t worry, MC. You know I’m yours.” – he whispered.
“Good.” – she answered, grinning back to him. And then, her eyes locked on the two new customers who had just arrived, a blonde woman and a guy in a suit… and their badges. – “Crap.” – she muttered.
“Uh? What?” – he looked above his shoulder. – “Oh shit.” – he saw them too.
“We have to go. Now.”
As Jane made her way toward the front of the restaurant, they hurriedly grabbed their things and quietly got up from the table and headed for the back door. Halfway there, a nagging thought leaped up from the back of the boy’s mind and dragged him to a stop.
“What are you doing?” – MC asked between clenched teeth.
“We didn’t tip her!”
“Oh my God, you can’t be serious right now!”
“But Jane was so nice…” – he glanced in the waitress direction, feeling conflicted.
“There’s no time, Malcolm! And I’m not risking our freedom to pay a waitress who flirted with you right in front of me!”
But these words came out too late from her mouth, since he hurried back to their table. Cursing his own stupidity, Noah tossed ten dollars onto the table, just in time to overhear the conversation in the front.
“Oh, do you mean Malcolm and the girl with him? Yeah, they’re right over—“
He quickly turned and they both started running before they ever heard the end of the sentence…
…But it was too late.
There were cops outside the back door of the restaurant. They were surrounded by them.
“Fuck!” – Noah yelled, seeing all those guns pointed out to them.
“Why did you have to go tip her?!” – MC angrily muttered to him.
One of the cops said something to the walkie-talkie in her hands: “This is Officer McKenzie. We got them.”
A minute later, the woman and the man they saw inside the restaurant joined them.
“Calm down, kids. We won’t hurt you.” – the man in a suit said, approaching the scared teenagers with careful steps.
“Like hell you won’t!” – Noah screamed back. The blonde woman just rolled her eyes.
“Let’s just get this over already, Reyes.” – she said, with a heavy Texan accent. The man rolled his eyes and ingnored her:
“I am Detective David Reyes of the LAPD and this is my partner, US Marshal Samantha Massey. And we’re just trying to help you.”
“Help how?” – MC asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
“Well, for starters, trying to not let you both rot in jail.”
“Massey!” – the man looked angrily to his partner. – “She didn’t mean it.” – he said, turning back to them.
“Yeah? Well, it looks like she did.” – Noah answered, holding MC tight.
“No… We just want to talk… Noah? MC? Are these your names?”
They looked at each other. They knew that it was the end. There was no way they could escape from all those cops.
It was a dead end.
“…You won’t believe us.” – MC told the man in a suit.
“You could try convincing us.”
“You better be open-minded then. Like, really open-minded.” – the boy said.
“Well, now we’re talking. Can you both go with us?” – the teenagers glanced to each other once more.
“Fine… We’ll go with you… But you have to promise us… that we’ll be together.”
“Yeah.” – Noah held her tighter. – “We’re in this together.”
“Okay… I promise.” – the man nodded as the woman stepped up:
“This is cute and all… but I don’t care. Grab them.” – she ordered and, suddenly, each of them were being held by an officer.
MC and Noah immediately tried to reach one another, but the cops were too strong. The costumers and the staff of the restaurant – including Jane the Waitress – watched, with shock in their faces, the teenager lovers being dragged to two different police cars.
“You promised we would be together!” – Noah yelled to the detective holding the door of the car.
“Calm down, kid. It’s just the trip to the police station.” – Dave said, closing the door behind the boy.
But they both knew it was a lie.
Noah kicked the door as hard as he could, trying to free himself, but it was useless. He couldn’t do anything. Especially with those damn handcuffs.
He looked through the window, watching MC being forced to enter the other car, tears streaming down her face. She was crying.
“Hey, calm down. Breathe in and breathe out.” – Sam said to the girl, who couldn’t stop sobbing. She obeyed her. – “Yes, like this. Good.”
MC knew it was it. The end for them. They would never believe them. Never.
“Please… Tell my parents that I love and miss them.” – she pleaded to the US Marshal as she sat on the backseat.
Sam Massey nodded.
“I will.”
And then, the blonde woman closed the door.
Back in Westchester, the town was holding a memorial of the animal attacks and the deaths of Cora and their friends.
Mayor Green walked toward a podium set up in the stairs of the town’s library. A hush fell over the crowd as the woman spoke into the microphone:
“Good evening, everyone. It warms my heart to see you all gathered here today. As you know… today marks one year since wild animals attacked Westchester High, injuring dozens and killing Cora Pritchard. Later that same night, more lives were lost in a tragic cave collapse.”
“Those weren’t animals, and that cave didn’t just collapse. They were killed by monsters! Monsters that are still out there!” – Connor Green yelled, rising low murmurs from the gathered crowd. His mom nervously cleared her throat:
“I… that is… there are theories that these attacks were instigated by… persons unknown. I assure you, we are investigating all… possibilities. I’ve just been noticed that Noah Marshall and MC, persons of interest in this case, have been found near Los Angeles this afternoon.” – some people in the crowd started asking rushed questions, eager for answers. The woman calmly raised her hand and waited for them to be quiet again. – “I can’t say nothing else, but the police and my office are already working with this new information. All I can ask you is to be patient. Now, I’d like to call up my son, Connor, to say a few words about those who lost their lives in the tragedy last year…”
Connor was still shocked that they found MC’s and Noah’s whereabouts.
Maybe… maybe he could see them again. Could see her again. Maybe he could help them. If people listened to them…
Three people saying the same thing was more likely to be accepted as real than just one person, right? As insane as it may seen. Maybe he could help them… And they would finally have the normal lives they deserved.
It was not their fault.
He had decided. He would find a way to talk to MC. And to Noah. And he would do anything to free them. To prove their innocence. Hopefully, things would work and that damned city would realize that something sinister and obscure lived in the woods.
Just maybe.
It was madness. But he had to try.
…But it was of no use talking about it right now. He had a speech to make. The gang deserved it. His sister deserved it.
So, summoning all his strenght, he walked up to the podium, taking his mother’s place and started talking.