Chapter 25

When we reached the apartment we found the door open. I was worried for a moment before I remembered that I had kicked the door open.

Karen knocked on the door to get the attention of those inside. After a moment the pretty white blonde woman appeared in the doorway a moment later. "Oh! Are you leaving?" she asked.

"Yes, we have everything we need." Karen told her. "Did you decide what you are doing?" Karen asked.

The woman hesitated for a moment looking back into the apartment.

"Grace, are you alright?" Karen asked.

I hadn't heard the woman's name before, Karen had probably got it when the girls left to get her cleaned up.

Grace shook her head. "They don't want to leave." Grace told us. "We checked the news…" she said then stopped.

"There are more on the net." Megan warned her.

Grace nodded. "We checked there too." she told us then glanced back into the apartment. "Arnold and Sandra are worried about their families. They want to go check on them."

"What about yours?" Karen asked.

"My family is in Denver." Grace replied, her eyes watering up.

I grimaced. I hadn't thought much about my family. My father was an asshole, and while mom loved me, she had been a bit weird since the last divorce. I should still check up on them, but I also wasn't sure I wanted too. Mom lived in a small town up north so I was sure she would be fine. I had no idea where my father was, or how to reach him. He appeared and disappeared without warning.

"Grace?" the woman I now knew as Sandra called out from inside the apartment.

Grace turned her head. "They came up to check on us." Grace called back into the apartment.

"What do you want to do?" Karen asked Grace.

Grace looked back at Karen then at the rest of us uncertainly. Her gaze lingered on Micheal for a moment then moved on. When her eyes landed on me she stopped for a few moments before she seemed to come to a decision.

Sandra appeared behind her looking at us warily. "Hi." she said, giving us a bright smile. "We decided to go stay with our families." Sandra told us. I noticed her eyeing the additions to our group.

I nodded without saying anything.

"If that is what you want to do." Karen said.

I was a bit relieved by their decision.

"I am going with them." Grace spoke up.

"What?" Sandra asked, surprised.

"I am going with them." Grace repeated taking a step out of the apartment and turning around to face Sandra.

"Fine." Sandra said with a frown then sneered and closed the broken door without saying anything else.

"You sure?" Karen asked.

Grace nodded. "It was Jonathan who was friends with them. I just came along because he asked me too." Grace explained.

"Let's go then." I said. I didn't want to deal with Arnold coming out to try and convince Grace to stay. I wasn't sure he would, but with her being awakened I didn't want to chance it. I would have to ask her later what abilities she had received.

No one had any complaint so we headed down the hallway to the stairs. As I entered the stairway I glanced back but I didn't see anyone come out of the apartment. Maybe I had been overthinking it.

Once down the stairs we filled out of the apartment and headed for the cars.

"Are we each taking our own?" Micheal asked, looking at me.

I shrugged. "I don't think we need that many cars, and the more we take the easier it will be to get separated. Besides mine is an old piece of junk so I won't mind leaving it behind." I told him.

"Mine isn't all that great either." Heather said.

"Mine is a rental." Karen spoke up.

"I have the keys to Jonathan's SUV." Grace volunteered.

We all looked over at her.

"I just thought that it would be useful if we wanted to take fewer cars." she told us.

"I can fit me, Chewy, Courtney, Megan, Heather, and Bryan in my truck." Micheal said.

I nodded, Micheal had one of those big Fords with a crew cab. If they put Bryan's car seat in the middle of the back seat they would all fit, but it might be tight.

That just left me, Karen, and Grace.

"I can take the others in my car." Megan spoke up while staring at her cousin.

I wondered if the SUV would be a better idea then decided against it. The government hadn't fallen apart yet, and we didn't need to get caught in a dead man's car.

Micheal hesitated for a moment then relented. "Fine." Micheal said with a sigh. "Your car has the hands free, call me immediately so we can stay in constant contact."

Megan rolled her eyes. "Yes dad." she responded.

The group started to split up but Micheal stayed back and grabbed my arm. "Watch out for her." he told me seriously.

I nodded. "Of course Micheal." I told him just as seriously.

Micheal stared at me for another second then let me go. "Watch out for yourself too." he added with a smile. "If you aren't careful Karen is going to have you wrapped around her finger."

"Just like you and Courtney?" I retorted back.

"Touche." He replied then jogged towards his truck to help Heather install the car seat.

As I turned to follow Megan and the others I found Chewy sitting in front of me watching me.

"You too?" I asked Chewy.

"Don't have any thoughts about the mistress." Chewy told me.

I frowned. "Courtney?" I asked uncertainly. Sure the woman was incredibly attractive, but she was Micheal's girl. She had been for a long time.

"Who else would I be talking about? I can smell your interest when you are near her." Chewy told me.

I sighed. "You still need to learn more about human practices. She's hot, but I would never betray Micheal like that." I told the dog.

Chewy seemed to consider that for a moment before he ran off without saying anything else.

I watched the dog go then shook my head. I seriously hoped Chewy didn't cause trouble.

I jogged towards Megan's car. It was another Ford, a Fusion if I remembered correctly. It was a comfortable car, with plenty of room for the four of us. Megan was driving while Grace was in the passenger seat.

"You are stuck with me in the back!" Karen told me with a wicked grin as I got into the back seat behind Megan.

"No funny business." Megan warned. "I don't want to get in a wreck because you two are distracting me."

Karen snorted while Grace glanced at Megan then back at me with a confused expression.

I wanted to say something but I had no idea what to say.

"She's just joking." Karen said leaning forward and putting a hand on Grace's shoulder.

"So you three aren't together?" Grace asked.

We were all quiet for a moment before Karen replied. "Let's just say we are still figuring that out." she told her.

Grace nodded, still looking uncertain.

"So what abilities did you get?" I asked once Megan started the car and started to back out of the parking spot.

"Abilities?" Grace asked looking back at me.

I nodded. "Yes, to save you I caused you to awaken. It should have caused some abilities to awaken inside of you."

"Given her condition at the time, she should have gotten a regenerative power or healing." Delilah commented from where she was sitting on the console between Megan and Grace.

"Oh! Healing would be good." Enya commented. She was standing on the seat between Karen and I.

I nodded. Especially since I couldn't get it.

A ringing tone interrupted our conversation.

"Hey Micheal." Megan said after touching a button on the steering wheel.

"Didn't I tell you to call me right away?" Micheal asked irritably through the car speakers.

"I was giving you a chance to get everyone in. You have to buckle the car seat in while we just had to hop in." Megan retorted.

"Told you." Courtney said from her side. "Seriously Micheal, did you think they were going to have a sexy foursome in the parking lot. Megan's car is way too small for that."

I was too stunned to even think of a response.

Megan on the other hand wasn't. "Seriously Micheal? For the record I prefer all my sexy foursomes to happen on a bed." she retorted. "And not one of those stupid uncomfortable fold outs."

Karen and Megan laughed while I just shook my head. I could hear Courtney and Heather laughing on their side too. I glanced at Grace to see her blushing a deep red.

"Alright, enough jokes. Which route did you want to take Micheal?" I asked.

"I figure we should just head north to the 202 then take it to the 87." Micheal replied.

I nodded to myself. "That should be fine." I told him

"Can we stop at Red Line Grill on the way?" Heather asked from the other side.

"Your sister?" I asked.

"Yeah." she replied.

"Can't you just call her?" Karen asked.

"She isn't answering." Heather replied, sounding a bit worried.

I frowned. Red Line Grill was a restaurant located on the other side of the 202 from us. It wasn't far from the zoo or the college so it was pretty popular. It wasn't on the way, but it wasn't far off the path Micheal wanted to take. If I remembered correctly it wasn't unusual for her sister to not answer while she was working. Waitresses weren't allowed to have their phones on them while they were serving. If we didn't swing by Heather might not be able to get a hold of her until after her shift was over.