Chapter 14

When Amaris woke she was warm and laying on something soft. As she moved and rolled over she opened her eyes. She found herself looking up at the underside of a bunk bed. She was under a blanket on the lower bunk along a wall. It was not a dream she thought and tears began to stream down her face anew. Would she ever see Gran again? She turned her head and looked around the space, which she did not get a chance to do earlier, since they were running for their lives and then Gran locked them in and gave herself up.

It was a long room, but not very big with metal walls, floor, and ceiling. The walls were lined floor to ceiling with supplies except where there were two sets of bunk beds attached to the wall on either side. There was a small room at the back that Amaris was hoping was a bathroom. The shelves had everything from cans and boxes of food to blankets and clothing to first aid supplies.

Amaris rolled over and pulled the blanket off and sat up. Her feet touched the cold floor and she looked down at them. She did not remember taking her shoes and socks off nor climbing into bed. She looked around the room and saw no sign of Lyle. He could not have left. Then she saw the little room at the end that cut into the main one. She got up to explore thinking that he was probably in the bathroom, as she assumed it was. Amaris started walking in that direction and heard a voice behind her. She spun around to see Lyle in the bunk that was above the one she had been lying in.

“Good morning!” He says peering down at her.

He had that early morning tossed hair look and it made him look like a school boy. The sleepy look on his face made him sexy as hell. ‘Whoa. What is wrong with me’ Amaris thought. There are so many more important things going on right now than crushing on my teacher.

Amaris looked down quickly knowing that there would be a tell tale blush all over her face. “Good Morning” She mumbled. Lyle just chuckled and rolled off the side of the bunk and landed on the floor next to the bed.

“The bath room is over there complete with showers if you would like. I already took the liberty of putting in a fresh change of clothes and towels for you. I will get us some breakfast.”

“Lyle, how long do you expect us to be in here?” Amaris said as she headed toward the room at the back that he had pointed to.

“Not too much longer. A day at the most. I reached out to some of my guys and they said to lay low for a while and they will come and get us when the coast is clear.”

Amaris nodded her head and walked into the bathroom. It was bigger than she thought it would be. Set up more like a locker room than a private bath. There are multiple shower stalls and bathroom cubicles as well as a sink counter with multiple sinks, and lockers to store things in.

Amaris found the towels and clothes that Lyle left for her on the counter and took them to the first shower stall. It was so new looking that she was sure she was the first one to ever use it. She stripped down and turned the water on and was expecting to have to take a cold shower, but the water was hot right away. She stepped in and enjoyed the hot water. She let it wash off the grime of the last 24 hours. There were still so many questions as she went through everything that had happened the day before. She mourned the loss of Grover, and her friend Heather and of Mrs. Bass. None of them had deserved to die. They had so much more life left to live. She still did not even know why they had died. As she got dressed, she decided it was time to get the answers that she had been trying to get from Gran the night before, but instead she would get them from Lyle. He and Gran had been working together after all. He should be able to fill in what Gran did not have time to.

Amaris also wanted to know what Lyle was going to do about finding Gran and getting her back. Amaris was hoping with all her heart that she was safe.