Chapter six

When she woke up, Rowan's head was pounding.

And so was the rain outside.

A backpack had proven to be a not-so-great pillow for overnight stays in abandoned buildings.

Slowly rising up and looking around, Lauren was still fast asleep, but Griffin was up, looking through the contents of his bag.

"How long have you been up?"

Rowan softly asked.

Griffin looked up at her with tired eyes.

"About an hour. I've been up and down all night."

Rowan quietly moved passed Lauren, careful not to wake her up.

She'd really have to deal with her attitude then.

Settling next to Griffin, she gave him an awkward side hug.

She wasn't really used or into the whole affection thing.

Griffin lightly smiled at her.

"Maybe we should get Lauren up. The sun's not exactly up yet, but we need to get a head start on... wherever we're going," Rowan said.

Moving over to Lauren, Rowan tapped her shoulder about three times before she woke up.

Lauren slowly arose from her sleeping place and looked around.

"Wait, where am-"

Then she came to the realization.

"Oh."

Rowan picked her backpack up and slung it on her shoulders.

"We need to go now."

Lauren, who was obviously extremely tired, picked her stuff up along with Griffin and stood up.

"Where are we even going?"

Griffin and Rowan exchanged worrisome glances.

"We don't exactly know yet. All we know is that we need to get out of Los Angeles as soon as possible. We can't waste time," Rowan said.

Opening the window and studying the ladder in front of her, Rowan ushered Lauren and Griffin to follow her and step carefully on the ladder.

The ladder was slippery. Too slippery.

Before Rowan could even get to the third bar, her foot moved too far to the left, almost causing her to lose her balance.

"Rowan! Are you okay??" Griffin's voice called down.

"I'm fine! We have to go!"

With Lauren in front of her, Rowan could see her hands visibly shaking while climbing down.

Griffin's steady voice seemed to comfort the blonde-haired girl.

"It's okay, Lauren. If you fall, we'll catch you."

Lauren made a shaky sigh and went the rest of the way down the ladder.

Somehow, the temperature had dropped since yesterday, and it was colder than usual.

The rain wasn't exactly helping.

"Well, where to now?"

Lauren asked.

Rowan tried to make out the nearest exit from the road they were on, but everything was so cloudy and foggy that they couldn't see anything.

"I guess we just... follow our instincts."

The three teenagers exchanged glances.

Rowan turned around and took a deep breath.

She started walking.

With the rain pouring down on them, Lauren, Griffin and Rowan battled their way through the wind and rain, trying their best not to fall.

Finally, Rowan spotted it.

The bridge out of the city.

It was completely deserted.

Had everyone already left?

Despite everything that had happened, Rowan couldn't get her mind off of her grandmother.

She prayed in every moment that she had that she was safe.

All she could do was hope.

Looking back at Lauren and Griffin, Rowan gave a slight nod and headed towards the bridge.

It would all be over soon.

Maybe..