Kids in the Dark

Chapter 15

Ryder's P.O.V

"Where the hell have you been?" I asked as Marc tumbled through the rooms open window.

"I went for a run." He said innocently getting to his feet. Now stood where the light could reach him I saw how his shirt clung to his body with sweat and heard how heavy his breathing was.

"No funny business?" I questioned.

"No, just a run. I needed to blow off some steam." I gave him the 'I'm watching you' symbol making him laugh.

"Alright, get some rest, or tomorrow's likely to be hell," I muttered, wriggling down under the covers. Tank took his place beside me with a lick of my ear. I smiled and waited until Marc was ready on his makeshift bed. At the flick of the switch, the room was plunged into darkness. I closed my eyes and pulled Tank in close, letting sleep take me.

                                                                                    ***********

I awoke to the sounds of laughter the next morning. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes sat up to see Marc lying on the ground Tank on top of him.

"Who's a good boy?" Marc cooed and a baby voice making me chuckle. "Hey." He smiled over at me, sitting up and gently pushing Tank away. As Marc got to his feet I noticed he still wore the same clothes as the previous day.

I threw the duvet off my legs and hopped to my feet, scooping my bag up off the floor. I pulled out of it a pair of faded jean, so faded they looked almost gray. To go along with the jeans I took out a deep purple shirt with the Twin Atlantic logo upon it.

"Here," I said handing them to him. "Wear these, for now, I'll ask Theo if we can stop for a shopping trip soon."

"Thanks." Marc smiled pulling off his old shirt to reveal the body of someone who had seen better days. His frame was thin, but defined by muscle. He had the body of a runner. As he raised his arms I saw a splash of black ink on his skin, positioned so that it would be hidden if his arms were down.

"Nice Tattoo." I complimented changing into clothes of my own. "Does it mean anything?" I asked as I did up the flies of my jeans.

"Nah, not really," Marc said handing me his old clothes which I stuffed into my bag, zipping it up. "Just some good memories," When I raised my eyebrows in question he replied with, "Let's just go with, I didn't get it of my own free will." I laughed slightly slinging the bag over my back, along with my backpack and skateboard.

"Carry this," I told Marc handing him Tanks dog bed, before leading the way downstairs.

"Any time today," Theo called from the garage. I sighed placing my bag into the trunk. I heard a whistle from behind me.

"Damn," Marc exclaimed dropping the dog bed in the trunk. "Nice car." I chuckled and helped Theo load in the last of our stuff, and shutting the trunk.

"Well hop in, it's time to go," Theo said.

"What about breakfast?" I asked sliding a seat forwards to allow Marc and Tank hop in the back.

"Do you always think with your stomach?" Theo sighed, vanishing back inside, only to reappear moments later. "Here eat this.," He said throwing me a box of cinnamon toast crunch. "There's already a bowl of food for Tank. You can share that with Marc." He slammed his hand onto a switch and we slid into the car, garage door rising in front of us. With the rumbling of the engine beneath us, Theo drove the car out into the sun.

Marc sat in the back, Tank eating from the bowl perched on his lap, while I was riding shotgun, on map and food duty. After an hour of driving our food had run dry, and I sat licking the sugar off my fingers.

"Ryder, get out the map find the nearest rest stop. We can plan the rest of the route when we get there," I sighed and retrieved the map from beneath the seat. "Marc you can be in charge of music." I snorted.

"That is if he likes any of the music on your phone."

"Are you kidding?" Marc laughed scrolling through Theo's playlists. "You guys have great music taste." He began to play 'Go to hell for heaven's sake" by Bring Me The Horizon. We all began to sing along, with me pausing time to time to shout directions.

After about 3 hours in the car, we pulled to a stop just over the border into Alabama. "Here," Theo said handing me the keys as the 4 of us got out the car. "Grab the notepad, pen and Tank's longer leash, then meet us over there." Theo indicated a bench a few meters away, and we parted ways. I rounded the back of the car and opened up the trunk. It took a few minutes of digging but eventually, I found all the items I had been sent to find.

"Here you go." I smiled handing the notepad to Theo, then tanking Tank from Marc and clipped the lead to his collar. I tied it around the bench leg allowing the furball to wander around.

"Okay," Theo said opening up the notepad and clicking his pen into life. "What do we need?"

"Well, Clothes." Marc pointed out gesturing to my clothes he currently wore.

"I say a Hot Topic trip is in order," I said making Theo laugh

"Of course you do." He said jotting down the suggestion on the paper. "We're fine for food for about a month, two at the most," Theo paused for a second and continued. "Ryder, do you have the map?"

"Yep," I said, unfolding it on the table. "We are here," I stated indicating our small rest stop on the map. "I say we try around here. There's bound to be a cabin or something." I traced my finger around the circumference of a blue blob about 90 miles from our current location.

"Sounds like a plan," Marc said with a smirk. "Those things aren't usually alarmed."

"How would you know?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"I've done this a few times before." Marc smiled.

"Ryder, you're on map reading, the drive will only take about an hour," Theo said folding the map back up and handing it towards me. I called Tank back over and untied the leash, handing it to Marc. The 4 of us got back into the car and we began our drive.

I'm trying to make chapters slightly shorter, so it's easier for me to update more often. Please comment, vote and keep reading. I would love to hear your feedback. -Flo :)