The Ravaging

Chapter Seventeen

"I think I have an idea of where we can go," I whisper, looking up at Finn from where I have my face resting on his chest.

"Hm?" He is almost asleep, has to be completely exhausted. He had just crawled in here a couple of minutes ago from being on watch, and I have to say that I am glad he joined me. The sleeping bag is just big enough to fit all of us, me cuddled up to Finn and Viola fast asleep on his chest.

"My family owns a beach house down in Half Moon Bay. It's in Northern California." Scooting closer to him, I try to absorb some of the heat that he is radiating. "My grandparents were big believers in saving the environment, so the house is powered by this small wave power generator my grandpa helped design. Plus, there aren't too many people around, since it's kind of a small town."

Finn blinks open his eyes, but they are still half-lidded. "It sounds like the perfect place, but how are we supposed to get there?"

Shaking my head, I look back down at Viola, who is sucking on her pacifier contentedly in her sleep.

"We are just wandering around here aimlessly anyways, might as well have a destination," I say.

Finn stays quiet for a few minutes. Just when I fear that he may have accidentally fallen asleep during our conversation, he breaks the silence.

"Alright," he says, letting out a wide yawn. "We'll leave tomorrow, once everyone gets some rest."

I am a little surprised with how quickly he agreed to my plan. With Finn, he likes to think every little thing over, weighing out every single pro and con, which can sometimes take hours. But when I peek up at him again, I see that Finn is completely asleep.

He didn't have hours to deliberate, it seems, being too exhausted to stay awake any longer. His chest rises rhythmically, and it makes a part of me unwind. I had maybe gotten a couple of hours before Finn had come in to join me, subsequently waking Viola who decided she needed to eat and have a diaper change. Now, though, it is quiet again, the only sounds coming from the crackling of the fire outside the tent. My exhaustion is catching up with me, and soon enough my eye lids are becoming too heavy to keep open.

Finn is warm and comfortable, so snuggling closer, I revel in his heat, allowing myself to once again fall asleep.

It is only when someone begins to shake my shoulder that I wake up. Squinting my eyes, I see that Jacob is crouching over me, hand on my arm as he watches me wipe the sleep from my eyes.

"I'm about to pass out," he says, already sitting back on his own sleeping back. "Can you be on guard now?"

"Sure," I mumble, forcing myself away from the warmth that is Finn.

Viola seems to be awake now, too, so once I wiggle out of the sleeping bag and into a somewhat clean pair of clothes, I pick her and her baby bag up. Danny gives me a mumbled good night before completely falling asleep, laying next to his already passed out brother.

The sun is just starting to rise, meaning that it is still pretty chilly outside. I must have gotten nearly eight hours of sleep, and I have to say that I feel much better than I did before. But as they say, sleep is the best type of medicine.

Viola gurgles against my chest, and I hold her a little tighter. By the fire, there seems to be a fallen log with a towel over the top of it. Seems like someone had rolled it over here from the forest further up the bank, giving us someplace to sit other than the ground.

There is even a rope tied between two trees, damp clothes hanging from the line. So someone must have done laundry during the time that I was asleep.