survivors of the storm

daddy

Once we're back in the apartment we join the others, who are standing at the dining room table. Wyatt is on crutches, and honestly I'm not even going to ask where they found them.

"Okay, in all seriousness we need to plan. Where are we going, what are we going to do when we get there, how long is it gonna take us, etc" Grayson says.

"We're about four miles from the hospital, which is where I'm headed." I answer.

"Same. I want to see if I can track down my parents from there." Jax says.

"If Sawyer's parents are at the hospital, then mine are probably around too," Wyatt says, looking at me. I nod.

"Okay, so we're going to the hospital. We should get there by evening, right?" Grayson asks.

"I think so," Jax says.

"Alright kids," Grayson says, "let's go." We grab the backpacks, Grayson insisting on taking mine once again. I keep my knife in my sleeve though.

We leave the rest of our other stuff, maybe someone will come along and find it. As we head downstairs I look at the six of us; four random strangers, two of us hurt, a six year old, and we all really trusted that everyone wasn't an ax murderer.

We leave the apartment building, and for once in a while I feel good about the day. It's promising, I think.

We walk for twenty minutes, not seeing a single soul. I'm kicking at the rocks in my path when I hear the faint roar of a car engine. I snap my head up, looking to see if the others heard it too. They're all looking around, except for Kate who is spinning in circles.

"Guys, I think we should take a break." I say. "I hear a car." The closest non-destroyed building is a gas station. We speed walk over to it, the engine getting louder. Aspen in the front and Grayson in the back, we all hurdle through the door.

I motion for everyone to duck down, the aisles hiding us from being seen through the window. Wyatt and Aspen crawl around to another aisle so Wyatt can sit with his legs out. Grayson, Kate, Jax, and I are sitting with our backs to the wall, under the window.

It's not a big wall, so we're all squeezed together. It reminds me of the day I met them, when we hid from the scavengers in the alley. I glance beside me at Grayson, who has his eyes closed. I turn around and look over Kate's head at Jax.

"I'm going to look," he whispers. I hesitantly nod. He slowly turns around, still below the window. I turn around when I feel a warm hand on mine.

Grayson's eyes are open and he's looking down at me. I squeeze his hand and nod at him. He gives me a soft smile. The same smile I saw on the day we met.

I hear a gasp and jerk my head back over to look at Jax. His eyes are wide, and his mouth is shaped in an o. This can't be good. He squints his eyes, trying to see better I guess. Then he bolts by us and out the door.

"Wha-" I go to run after him when Grayson grabs me and pulls me back down.

"No, I'll go." he says as he slides off his backpack. I grab his shirt with my good arm, pulling him out of sight of the window.

"Wait," I say and I peer up through the window, arm still holding on to Grayson. I see an SUV with a man in the driver's seat. Jax is running towards the car, how stupid can he be? The guy in the car see's him, and I take in a sharp breath.

"What?" Grayson says below me. I can't answer, I just watch. The car door opens and the man gets out. He runs around his car, which Jax is still running to. When he tackles Jax I let go of Grayson and stand up.

I run out the door, hearing Grayson behind me. Jax and the man are rolling around on the ground. I slow as I see them clearer. They don't look hurt, and the man is smiling. I feel Grayson right behind me so I glance up at him. I'm even more confused when I see his worried look change to a grin. He slows down and grabs my good arm.

"Stop, he's not in danger." He says. I look at him with a very confused face. He nods at the man, "That's his dad."

"What?" is all I can say. I look back over to them, just now noticing how similar they look.

"I'd know that face anywhere, it's him." he says. I stare at him in disbelief. I should be happy for him, I am happy for him, but how is this going to affect our travels? We only have so much time, and we need to pick up the pace if we want to get anywhere.

I hear the gas station door open, and I turn to see Wyatt and Aspen walk out with Kate in between them.

"That's his dad." Grayson says as they walk up to us.

"No shit? That's awesome." Wyatt says with a big grin. Aspen just smiles while Kate is looking at them with a worried face. She looks up to me,

"Is he okay? He's crying." I look back over to Jax and his dad, who are standing up now.

"He's okay, those are happy tears I think." I answer. Once we see that their reunion is over, we walk over towards Jax and his dad. Jax's dad gives Grayson a crushing hug and a pat on the back.

"Hey Mr. T." Grayson says as if it's any other day.

"Hey boy," he replies.

"Guys, this is my dad. His name is David, but you can call him Mr. T, like Gray." Jax says proudly. We all introduce ourselves. All except Kate. I look down at her, confused.

"You okay?" I whisper so only she can hear me. She looks up at me.

"I don't like adults," she says. I have to agree with Kate, most adults are awful nowadays. All they want is power and money. Only one will really get you anywhere.

"It's okay, he's nice I think." I tell her. I don't mention that I'm pretty skeptical about him too. She just nods and scoots closer to me.

"Where y'all kids headed?" Jax's dad says, surveying all of us.

"The hospital," Grayson says. I almost stomp on his foot. I know he trusts this man, but how do I know he's not like everyone else?

"Do you want me to give you a lift? It'll only take a short bit to drive there." David asks. Jax looks at us, still smiling. While Grayson and Jax are fully on board and happy, the rest of us are still a little hesitant. I look over at Aspen and Wyatt who are glancing at each other. Wyatt notices me and he just shrugs. It would be a lot faster to drive, and I trust Jax. So I say,

"Yea, that would be great." David looks at me with a warm look in his eyes.

"Alrighty!" he says. We all pile into his truck. Jax and David in the front, Kate, Wyatt, and Grayson in the backseat, and me and Aspen in the bed of the truck. I voluntarily went in the back, seeing as it's the easiest to get out of. David tells us it'll only take a couple of minutes, so I sit back and close my eyes letting the soft breeze hit my face.

"So, how long have you and Grayson been a thing?" Aspen asks. My eyes pop open.

"Huh? We're not a thing." I say.

"Really? Have you seen the way he looks at you? And the snuggling situation?" she asks.

"Well no, and I'm not sure y'all aren't making that up. But we're just friends." I say. Does everyone think that? I mean I don't think we've acted like that, I met him like two days ago.

I look at him through the back window. He's smiling down at Kate, one hand out the window. The sunshine is making his dark hair look shiny, and he looks happy. I smile to myself.

"Yea, totally not a thing." Aspen says, grinning at me. I look back at her,

"And what about you and Wyatt hmm? You were gonna kill somebody if he died." I say. Her expression got dark for a second then returned to a bittersweet smile.

"We've been bestfriends since forever, of course I would kill anybody that hurt him." she says. If she's known Wyatt since before the Storm, maybe I've seen her around. I wasn't close with Wyatt, but we both went to football games and some of the same parties. I don't answer, I just close my eyes again.