Chapter Forty-Seven

We spend the next few hours delivering all the packages, Markus told Austin he had to follow the list in order which took us from one side of the town to the other! There was houses that were down the road from each other, but Markus made us go around the Wrekin! We had just delivered the last package after hours, I take a look at the clock to see it was nearly 2am! 'I know Markus said we had to go to see him after, but I think we should just head home, we've been out for hours now" Austin sighs rubbing his face, I knew he was probably much more tired than I was as he's the one driving and running up each house, while I was sat in the car. 'As much as I would love nothing more than to go home, it says at the bottom of the letter that we need to go back to Markus's house no matter what" I say pointing to the little note at the bottom of the letter, I was trying to make sense of the note and why we would have to do that, but like everything with Markus, there's no making sense! 'What the fuck is that man planning now?!" Austin exclaims angrily, I could see the more tired he was getting, the angrier he was too. 'I have no idea, but at least we have each other to get through it" I smile to help him calm down slightly, I didn't need him turning into an angry thug on me, even though I know that's something Austin wouldn't do. This does make Austin send me a smile, I wouldn't know what I would have done without him in this situation. But granted, I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for him but that's neither here or there at this point. 'I know one thing for sure, Roman is probably hating how long this is taking" he says breaking me from my thoughts, I nod my head thinking about what he could be doing right now. 'He's probably awake now worried that we aren't back yet, maybe I should send him a text to let him know that we're okay" I suggest looking for my phone which was in the glove box, but Austin shakes his head taking my phone and placing it in his pocket. 'If I were you, I wouldn't. You sending him a text out of the blue will only make him that much more suspicious, you're best bet is to just explain to him tomorrow" he says which at first did shock me, but I soon realise with the type of person that Roman is, it's probably the best bet to tell him in person. I nod my head agreeing with him, but now I wasn't focused on keeping us on the list and not missing a house, my body kept telling me how tired it was. I place my head on the window closing my eyes slightly, if we carry on driving like this I would probably fall to sleep. 'When we get there I'll make sure we don't stay long, I can see you're tired and sleeping in a car won't be very good for you" Austin's voice says waking me up slightly, I look over at him sitting up straight so I wouldn't fall asleep. Before too long, we were driving up to the gates of Markus's house. Once we stop, I spot Jacob and his partner walking over to the car. As like before, Jacob goes to my door while his partner goes to Austin's. I open my window as Jacob hands me the clipboard again, at the top was a different note telling me to give him the earpiece back. I nod my head with a smile signing my name, before I had time to move Jacob takes the earpiece out of my ear. I knew I couldn't really react but that was a lot! When I look over at him he just sends me a wink, did he really just do that?! The gates soon open where Austin drives straight in, I place my hand to my ear but I have to soon remove it when I spot Markus stood by the front door smiling. 'You wait here, I'll go talk to him" Austin says opening up the car door and climbing out, while I stay in the very silent car. I place my head on the car door again, I look over at the two men talking to see if I would be able to make out what was being said. But lip reading has never been a talent of mine, so I really didn't have any idea what was being said. After a few minutes, Austin runs back over to the car climbing in. 'How did it go?" I ask as he clips his seatbelt in turning the car on, it seemed to me that he was in some sort of rush for us to get out of this place. 'Markus was trying to make us stay the night at his, he kept telling me he really doesn't feel like us driving home at this time was a good idea. I kept telling him that you don't really like sleeping in locations that you aren't familiar with" he says turning the car around and heading towards the gates, as we pass I see that Jacob and his partner had been replaced with two other people. 'Definitely not in Markus's house" I say with a chuckle but thankful, that Austin kept to his guns and told Markus that we wouldn't be staying the night in his house. I probably wouldn't get any sleep over worry that something was going to happen! 'When he finally gave in and said we could go home, he kept telling me that I needed to make sure that we hurry home. I shouldn't take any stops on the way" he says which did confuse me, why wouldn't he want us making any stops which is something he made us continuously do for us to deliver the packages! We were halfway home, the tired feeling that I was feeling before became overpowering. My head was on the window once again, but this time I was actually starting to drift to sleep. But before I could fully drift off, the sound of a ground rumbling explosion fills her air. I open my eyes up terrified looking around, what the heck was that?! Austin looks over at me also terrified, but does make the car go faster as even more explosions sound around us. 'What's going on?" I ask on the verge of tears looking around, ash and smoke fill the air which was making it hard to see where we were going. 'I don't know but what I do know is, we need to get home" Austin says as we speed around he corner, the screech of the tires were drowned out by the explosions. I could hear my phone ringing in Austin's pocket, but I was much too terrified to even go to pull it out to talk on the phone. I look around as people start to run around screaming, I got the feeling that no one really knew what was going on! Before I knew it, Austin slams on the breaks throwing us forward, lucky we were both wearing a seatbelt. I stare ahead in front of us where I see a piece of what looked like a building, on fire blocking our way. 'What are we gonna do?!" I ask actually crying at this point, I didn't know what was going on and it seemed like our only way home was blocked. 'We can't stay here, get out of the car" Austin tells me ripping off his seatbelt, I do what I'm told and take my own off and jump out of the car with shaking hands. The sounds of the explosions were louder now, the smell of smoke and ash fill my senses as I meet Austin at the other side of the car. Austin takes me by the hand and begins to run, I didn't have time to question what was going on as we ran. People were crying running around screaming, there was even a guy being carried away that looked really injured. Austin led us through the back ways of town, he said the cover of the other buildings would be our safer option. We race to the end of the lane, the road ahead of us was full of emergency vehicles racing by heading towards wherever all these explosions were taking place. The once clear night sky was now yellow and orange from the fires, thick black smoke making it hard to see what was happening. 'What are you doing out here?!" A man's voice says from behind us, we both turn around to see the guy from the pizza place that Austin basically lives at standing there. 'It's too dangerous, get in here" he says moving aside slightly, Austin looks down at me pulling me over to the pizza place where he closes the door. This is when I realise the rest of his family was standing there, all in their pjs looking as though they had just woken up. But the loud explosion weren't as loud anymore, but that didn't mean I wasn't terrified at what was happening. 'What were you doing out there?" The guy asks as he locks the door walking over to us, I didn't actually know what to tell him because I was still so confused on what was happening. 'We had a fancy dinner that we were driving home from, but the road was blocked so we had to make a run for it" Austin explains while still holding tightly onto my hand, as we all looked outside the window at the chaos. But all of a sudden, the loud explosions stopped. You'd think this would be okay, but the level of anxiety that we were all feeling filled the air. I was still crying and shaking from fear, Austin looks over at me pulling me in for a hug where my head lay on his chest. 'You're safe with me Payton, don't worry" he whispers holding me so tightly in his arms, I nod my head continuing to cry as we watch the horrible scene in front of us.