The Hours We Have

chapter thirty-six

I felt a small poke on my shoulder. 

I had been in the deepest sleep of my life and when I felt another poke, irritation bloomed in my veins. I mean, being as stubborn as I am, I refused to open my eyes. It wasn't the wisest decision I had ever made because the poking continued until the person trying to wake me shoved me between the shoulder blades. Hard. 

I almost fell off the bed.

My instinct kicked in while my eyes were still closed and I didn't know what happened until my fist lashed out at whoever was trying to wake me. It was like my hand suddenly had a mind of its own and I fully woke to the slight burn that radiated through my knuckles. 

"Ow, jesus, that hurt!" Roman groaned and I peeled my eyes open. He was rubbing his left eye with a frown on his lips. I didn't know what to say. When he saw I was awake, he grumbled, "That took you long enough, brat, why the hell would you punch me?" 

"I dunno," I was still kinda shocked I had done it, and half-asleep at that. "What do you want?" 

His expression shifted with seriousness, "Have you seen Finley?" 

I sat up, careful not to wake Julian who was close, "What? No, I haven't seen him since..." I trailed off as I realized. "Since last night before the power went out," I whispered. 

"Yeah, me either," Roman was concerned, "I checked the entire house this morning and I didn't find him. Although, I think the wind broke the back door latch because it swung open when I pushed it." 

"You mean Finley's loose?" I didn't care who I woke up this time, I sprung out of bed in alarm, "He's out there in the city on his own?"

 It was still early dawn because there was only faint sunlight trying to stream through my window and my heart began racing at the thought of Finley spending the night outside in that storm. He must have gotten scared and ran. 

"I don't know, he could be hiding out close by." 

"Did you call for him?" 

"Of course I did, do you think I'm stupid?" 

I hurriedly pulled on a pair of jeans and slipped into a sweatshirt. If anything happened to Finley, I would never forgive myself for making such a horrible mistake. We woke up the others and Mikeal looked at us with furrowed brows, "What's going on?" He asked. 

"Finley's missing," I said.

ꕥ

All of us had searched the house, the yard, and checked with the neighbors. 

Nobody had seen Finley. 

I was growing more and more frantic with every minute that passed and he remained missing. Was this how Finley had ended up on the streets, when I found him? He got scared and when everyone forgot about him, he tried to find another safe place. I hated myself for not thinking about him last night, he didn't like storms either. 

There was so much that could happen to him. The city was so big and it would be lively with morning traffic in a few hours. How far had he run? I hoped he was okay, I needed him to be okay. 

We decided to split up to search the streets. I went with Roman. Mikeal and Julian were taking the car to cover ground more efficiently. Ezra was heading out in the opposite direction of Roman and I. The sun hadn't even risen over the city yet and the streets were still soaked from the storm, a low fog skiffed in a lost fashion over varying surfaces.