Imperium: Volume 3
Chapter 6.

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The sun had just set and darkness filled the sky as I made my way to Lingham. It was roughly 6:30 in the evening when I started trecking through the foot deep snow, with my hiking pack. I made sure to go on my night off of duties and during the day so Grayson couldn't pick up the sound of my foot ste. Everybody was still out and about doing their own thing while I was venturing off.

I couldn't stand idle while Sarah and Rowen went looking for June. The decision was of my own, and as they headed to the closest city on the map, I would be taking to the small towns just outside the interstate. I was going to make my way to the furthest destination on June's trail, and if I was able to go non stop it would take me about 5 days without stop for any over nighters.

I singled out one of the many parked cars in the parking lot of the mall yesterday. Alot of the cars were covered in foliage and moss from sitting abandoned over the years, however some of the recruits with mechanical backgrounds were able to get them running again. Which was handy, in case we ever needed to make a hasty get away.

The one I chose was slightly out of view from the watch tower that sat up top the mall and entrance. It was a small car, and I ended up picking a stick shift. I threw my bag in the back and took to the front seat. Before turning on the ignition, I adjusted my mirrors and took a look around before the passenger side door whipped open.

"Bowdie!?" I quickly looked around to make sure no one saw.

"And where do you think your going?" She asked.

"No, no no your brother is going to kill me." I told her while frantically looking for a way out of this.

"Forget about my brother....I'm going to kill you if you don't take me with you." She implied.

"Bowdie!"

"Oaken! If you do not take me with you by the power of Zues I will make a scene!" She pressed.

"Ugh your a royal pain in my ass! Did you even bring gear with you or extra clothes?" I asked.

"Of course, I'm not completely stupid." She said as she leaned out the door and pulled in a duffle bag. "Besides it wouldn't hurt to have some additional back up."

The thought had crossed my mind about bringing her with me, but what I was doing was already risky as is. Now add another person to the equation and we were asking for trouble. If we were going to get away with this we needed to act fast and make our way out of the lot. I turned the key and fired up the pistons, and slowly took off down the dirt road.

"Can you grab the map out of my bag please?" I asked while stripping the layers of my body.

We were about an hour into our drive while Bowdie went ahead and laid out our route. We were so far the only set of lights on the long dark stretch of road, and I had the window slightly cracked to hear the wind press up against the vehicle. She was talking to herself when we both suddenly heard a noise coming from the trunk.

What was that? I asked nervously.

"I dont know....She shrugged...... maybe you hit something." She stated.

Then we heard the thud again, and this time it was more conspicuous.

"Okay, now I know I'm not losing it." I looked to her. She seemed to be sharing the same look as me. Great! An hour down the road and we were already going to die. I pulled over to the side of the road and let the car sit in idle so we could pick up the sound again. We sat there silently waiting for the inevitable.

"Hello ladies."

We both screamed and felt our hearts jump out of our chests as we quickly came to realize Gunner appeared in the back seat. "What the fu- Gunner?" I practically screamed.

"Hey what's up?" He said unphased.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked. "Wer....were you in the trunk the whole time?"

"Yes." Was his answer.

"And you thought phasing into the back seat was the best thing to do." I stated.

"Hey, atleast I waited till you stopped." He said.

I just rolled my eyes and looked to Bowdie who seemed to be okay with our third wheel. She had already taken back to the map, and Gunner was strapping himself in. I turned back towards the steering wheel.

"Sure...why not." I said brimming with defeat.

I got us back onto the road and couldn't help but turn my gaze to the rear view mirror. Gunner was just.....sitting there. No questions, no snyde comments, absolutely nothing came from him, which was highly unusal.

"Alright! I can't take it anymore. You aren't going to say anything?" I eyed him down the rear view again. He just shrugged his shoulders. His lack of response infuriated me. Why I don't know.

"Gunner." Bowdie said calmly. "Do you know where we are heading?"

"I have an idea of the shit storm you two were about to get into. It's to do with June, right?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered. "Are we going to have a problem with that?"

The way she talked to him was almost like an instructor to his student. She just turned 18, but the way she was authoritative with him made her seem more mature. He just looked at her as she looked back to him and he nodded. I sensed something different about her that night. The Bowdie I knew who was always quick to flee from duties was replaced with a more serious yet confident young woman. So it was decided right then and there, the unlikely trio was going to look for June.

"Good." She said as she turned back around. "The first town we are going to hit is Tenouga. So If I've calculated it correctly we should be there by dawn."

"Alright." I said. "It's quite a drive so I suggest you two get some sleep and we can rotate the driver so I can rest during the day and I can drive during the night again."

"Sounds like a plan." Replied Bowdie.

I looked to the back seat and Gunner already had his hood covering his face and was leaning against the window. I looked over to Bowdie. I grabbed her attention by tapping her leg and she looked over. I nodded my head towards Gunner to see what she thought of him tagging along with us. I couldn't talk outloud so I let the facial expressions do the talking.

I tried my best to convey my annoyance with the idea and she replied by pointing to him then drawing a heart with her fingers in the air. She lastly pointed to me and gave me a wink.

Scratch what I said before.....she's still an ass. I turned back towards the road and could feel her grinning next to me.

I dont know why he's tagging along or what made him. Not everyone decides to hide in the trunk of a car, and to know that he was following me the whole time seems a little.....weird. I guess it would be a bit better with the three of us. Two imperiums is better than one, and perhaps his ability will come in handy.

I got more comfortable in my seat and I turned off the head lights to let my eyes do the seeing. It didn't set in before, but now that the car was quite I suddenly felt the rush hit me. This was it.

Just hold off for a little while longer June.......we're coming.

.........................

Sarah and Rowen's P.O.V

It was still dark out when I opened my eyes. I looked over to the clock on the nightstand and saw the time was 4:30 am.

"Ugh. Why am I up?" I whispered to myself.

I looked over to my left and noticed the bed was empty beside me and a throw blanket was now laying across my legs. The door opening to the bathroom had my gaze turn towards the door as Rowen walked out. His hair was wet and had a towel resting around his neck and had nothing on but pants. He looked over to see me sitting up in the bed whiping the sleep from my eyes.

"Oh shit.....I didn't wake you did I?" He asked.

I yawned. "Nope." I looked at him. "Why are you up so early?"

"This is when I usually get up." He smiled.

Why? I gave him a disgusted look.

He chuckled. "Blame it on my inner alarm clock." He went to his bag and pulled out a shirt before slipping it on.

I got out from underneath the blanket and gave into another stretch and yawn. I figured I would get ready aswell and grabbed a few things from my bag before heading to the bathroom. Once I made my way in, I saw my reflection in the mirror and to my dismay I looked Horrendous! My hair was sticking up in places that made me look like I'd been hung over for days, and the bags under my eyes made me look 10 years older.

"Oh my god." I said.

"What? what's wrong?" Rowen asked from the living space.

I popped out of the room and looked at him. "I'm Gorgeous!" We both laughed as I made my way back into the bathroom and started up the shower.

I didn't even want to get out. It was an endless stream of hot water that never turned cold, and the soap smelled so good on my skin. After I got out I noticed a small bottle of lotion and applied some to my hands and arms. I made sure to grab them and take them with us in case we had to rest elsewhere that didn't provide these small delicacies.

I was all refreshed when I made my way out and Rowen had already set our things by the door.

"Better?" He asked with a smile.

"Oh ya". I placed my things in the bag and threw it over my shoulder.

"Ready?" I asked.

He opened the door. "After you."

We grabbed a to-go bag for our breakfast and made our way out to the car after we checked out. Rowen decided to do the morning drive again as he knew I was still tired, and I didn't complain. I grabbed the map and looked for our next destination as he drove out of the parking lot.

"Next stop is............Ugh." I threw my head back.

"I forgot to grab the chocolates off the table." I was so mad at myself. "A shame, I really -"I turned to Rowen, who happened to me holding it in his hand.

I nearly jumped for joy! "Yes! Oh my gosh thank you!"

I took it from him and we both had the biggest smile on our faces.

"I know, it probably looks silly. Someone freaking out over chocolate but it brings back memories." He smiled and grabbed a bottle of water from the to-go bag. "Do you think it's weird to eat chocolate for breakfast?" I asked with a grin.

"Heck no!...have at her." He replied while taking a gulp of water.

I carefully took the wrap off and smelled it before popping it in my mouth. I looked over to Rowen who was swigging some water.

•~ Hehe, let's see if I can make him laugh •~

"Hey Rowen, do I have something in my teeth?" I made sure to keep a piece of it on my teeth and made a funny face.

The next thing I saw was his mouth full of water spraying all over the windshield and dash. He was choking on the water while laughing at the same time.

"Ahaha oh no, it's everywhere!" I said.

Out of reaction he quickly put on the wipers, as if to think it would clean up the water......from the inside.

"Really Rowen?" I said laughing.

"Ahahaha. Okay okay.......where we heading?" He asked.

"We are going to Parkview Heights, so we just need to take a small highway off the interstate." I said while still chuckling.

Even though our mission was of a serious nature, I couldn't help myself from enjoying the fact that I got to have some one on one time with Rowen. He brought out the fun side of me, that I hadn't seen in such a long time.

It was.............euphoric.

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