survivors of the storm

hiding

It's Wyatt Berg, from my biology class. We aren't good friends, but we're friendly enough. His face relaxes a tiny bit as he recognizes me, and I put my knife away.

"Wyatt?" I ask.

"Sawyer? What are you doing here?" He answers in question.

"Long story, but we were hiding out here for a couple hours." I reply. "What are you doing here? Have you been here the whole time?" I ask.

"I've been here for two days so.." He's been here longer than us, and we're just now running into each other. I'm about to ask more questions when I hear Jax running towards us.

"People, here, hurry, leave," He says, panting. I look at Wyatt in question and it's only then does Jax realise that there's someone else with us. He jumps back, putting his fists up in defence. I don't know if Jax can or would actually fight, but I don't have the time to find out.

"Woah, it's okay Jax, I know him. This is Wyatt. He's been here since before we got here and that's who you heard walking." He doesn't looked convinced and spits out,

"Um, no. I just saw a girl but she took off and ran." He says. Confused, I look around, and the only thing I notice is who's not there.

"Where's Kate?" I ask. My answer steps out behind Jax, chewing her lip. I release a breath. How did I not notice her? I direct my attention back to Wyatt.

"Is there anyone else here with you?" I ask. His eyes dart around and he hesitates before answering,

"Uh yea. A girl, her name is Aspen." As if she heard her name, a girl with beautiful bronze skin and big green eyes walks over from around the corner of a bookshelf.

She must've been listening and watching, but I had no clue she was there at all. She walks over to Wyatt and stands beside him. For a minute we stand there shocked, how did we not hear them, and why did they not run us out?

"Sorry to crash your place, I guess." I say, almost questionably.

"No, no, no, it's okay. We were just planning on leaving, and maybe finding people to run with. It gets pretty intense with just the two of us." Wyatt looks pointedly at Aspen. What could she have done to get that look? She looks so quiet. "You can stay as long as you need to," Wyatt adds.

"Thank you, but we really need to leave. Like right now." Grayson says. I remind myself to thank Grayson for that later, I can never get out of conversations and he just saved us so much time.

"Okay, be safe." Wyatt says, "And it was good to see you, Sawyer."

"It was good to see you too," I say, forcing an extra bright smile. The pain in my arm is getting worse. We gather our backpacks, Jax offering to take mine. I let him, only because he practically begged me to.

If we walk now, at a steady pace, stopping only once or twice, we should make it there by midnight. It's only 9am, but it's gonna be a long day. I let myself think about seeing my parents again, their bright, smiling faces once they see me. It brings a smile to my face.