We get out of the car, and Ozzie checks the trunk. “Nothing,” he says.
I shiver.
“You’ll warm up as we walk,” Logan says as he takes my hand.
I stumble on the tree roots as we move. “How are you guys seeing so well?” The little bit of moonlight is blocked by the trees.
“You’ll get used to it,” Ozzie says.
And he’s right. A few more minutes and my eyes have adjusted better. And thankfully, I’ve warmed up, too.
Thunder crashes overhead.
“Dammit!” Brian says. “We better take cover.”
Lightning flashes, and rain begins to fall. We pick up our pace as Logan directs us deeper into the trees. There is a light ahead of us that he seems to be heading toward. He stops and turns.
“There is a house ahead with a shed next to it. We can hide out there, but we need to be silent. Got it?”
We all nod. Fortunately, the thunder and rain cover the sound of our footsteps. We get to the building, and there is a large padlock on it.
“So much for that plan,” Brian says.
“Over here,” Ozzie whisper yells. He’s pointing to a van with a flat tire.
“At least we know no one will try to use it anytime soon,” Logan says. He tries the door, and it opens. “Well, that’s lucky, at least.”
Lightning illuminates the sky again as we all get into the van. Logan rolls the door slowly so it doesn’t fully close. Fortunately, inside, it doesn’t smell, and the seats are all reasonably clean. There are three rows and the driver and passenger seats.
“Why don’t you all try to sleep, and I’ll keep first watch,” Ozzie offers.
My adrenaline has fully kicked in, and the idea of sleeping seems impossible.
“Sounds good. Wake me in a few, and I’ll take over,” Logan says.
Brian is already in the back seat, snoring. He’s just like Duke, I guess. Logan lies down and motions for me to join him. I snuggle close.
“How can you go to sleep after we were just running for our lives?”
He chuckles. “Because we know we might not get much sleep, so we grab some here and there when we can. Besides, until this storm passes, there isn’t much else we can do. It isn’t safe to stay out in the open.
“But what if they find us?”
He strokes my hair. “That’s why Ozzie is keeping watch. If he sees movement, we’ll go out the back or side and run to the path beside the house.”
I sit up. “What path?”
He grins. “There’s a dirt path. As we were walking over here, Ozzie and I scanned the area for all our escape routes.”
I snuggle back into his arms. “Were you always like this?”
“Like what?”
“On guard. Prepared. Alert.”
He sighs. “For as long as I can remember.” He strokes my back until I fall asleep.
“We should get going. You want to wake her?” Ozzie asks.
