After The Storm

Chapter 10: Escape!

Chapter 10:

*Louis' POV*

We were all shaken up. Majorly. After hearing Kim's explanation of why she is so scared for Audrina, we felt her terror too.

A temp of even 100 is pretty bad, and 105 and a half was definitely pushing it.

It's been about an hour since we had discovered poor Audi's temperature, making it just after six in the morning. We have been doing everything we possibly can to lower her temp, mainly just holding washcloths dunked in cold water to her forehead. It's been working, surprisingly, but she's still pretty warm. Her temperature is now around 104. Still bad. But not as bad as before.

She still hasn't woken up, and that fact is hard on all of us. We can all feel the tense atmosphere around us. It is also mixed with a hint of doubt, a huge handful of worry, and a whole bucket of fear. Fear for the willowy redhead.

We have also been trying to reach the world outside. We still have power off and on, and it's on right now. Which means we also have working lights and running water. Thank goodness for that, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to use the compresses on Audi.

We're using the radio to try and pick up a signal, to try and contact someone, anyone. We have no idea what's going on outside, the wall of snow are still covering the windows, but if we could contact someone they could hopefully call an ambulance and someone to dig us out.

Who do you call when your buried inside a coffee shop? I pondered this as me and Liam desperately fiddled with the radio, going from station to station. Silent station after silent station. I don't how long we sat there, but it was long enough that Zayn and Harry came over to take over. I nodded and sighed with relief, glad to be rid of the frantic feeling that overtook me as I surfed through the stations.

I went and sat down next to Kim in her seat by the window. She looked at me once I sat, fear in her eyes. It was the first time I've seen her truly vulnerable. Up until now she seemed to be unbreakable, not fazed by anyone or anything. She was the girl who was not afraid to have a laugh, the girl who was confident and sure of herself. Looking into her eyes now, all traces of that girl are gone. I can tell how much she really cares for her friend, though by the way I've seen them act together, they think of each other more like sisters.

Realizing this, I know exactly how she feels. Niall, Zayn, Liam, and Harry are like my brothers. If this happened to one of them, I would feel the same way, probably ten times worse. It's bad enough, this fear for Audrina, and I barely know her. I blinked back tears and put my arm around Kim's shoulders.

"Don't worry. We'll make sure she's okay. I promise, we'll do everything we can to take care of her." She looked at me again, a small spark of hope in her greyish eyes.

"Really?" She whispered.

"Really."

"Thanks, Lou." She had barely gotten the words out when a shout cut through the silence of the room.

"We got it!" Harry said, turning towards us. A strange look passed quickly over his face when he saw us, then vanished just as quickly.

Sure enough, I heard a voice on the radio. "Hello? Who's this?" It said. It was hard to hear as there was static in the background. I withdrew my arm from around Kim's shoulders and stood up, racing over to the small radio, followed by Kim. Liam and Niall also joined us.

"Hello?" The voice said again. It was a man.

"Yes! Um, hi! Me and my friends got trapped in a Tim Hortons because of the storm, and now one of them is really sick. She has a temperature of 104 degrees, and we think she needs hospital care." Kim said nervously, her voice shaking a bit.