Days of Decay

Chapter Twenty Two

A sudden, choked spluttering came from behind them, followed by sighs and shouts of relief. Asha jolted up from her mourning and closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting out a happy breath.

Finn sat up straight and peered over her shoulder; his smile told her everything she needed to know before she turned around herself.

Sunny was alive.

Kit was helping her to sit up, getting rid of all the water that had invaded her lungs. Piper was quietly praying to the sky with her hands together, and a thankful Max was rubbing his creased forehead with a heavy hand.

Asha's happiness was almost too much for her to handle. She needed to express it somehow and the first thing she looked to was Finn. She grinned widely and wiped away her tears before encasing him in a hard hug. When she pulled away, he smiled softly at her, his dimples coming out. At last, she thought, and her heart relaxed.

Now that all was somewhat clear, she could lend a helping hand. She jumped off Finn, grabbed her bag and ran over to the rest of the group, fishing out the remainder of her dry clothing, ready for the pair that needed them the most.

"Here, take these clothes," she instructed Max, taking more care in the future problems rather than embracing the beautiful moment of the problem they'd just solved.

Max took the random assortment of clothing from Asha and also searched his bag for extra things to wear. Piper was cradling Sunny who was now fully awake and sobbing, quite rightly. Daisy had reappeared with Boe balancing on her hip, she looked dark but relieved, and Boe just sat there staring, legs swinging lazily. Kit was sat there next to Sunny, his eyes wide, shaking hard. Asha went to him and helped him shrug off his shirt and his trousers, hurriedly replacing the swamped clothes with relatively dry ones.

"You did it!" Asha beamed at him.

He seemed in a daze. "I-I," he started to say but his shivering took control. He stared at Sunny, his eyes grateful and relieved. "I didn't think I'd be able to bring her back. I couldn't with you," he said sadly.

"You've done so much for us, Kit. Just shut up and get warm, okay?" Asha said lightly, pinching his cheek.

He frowned and pushed her off, but he looked to her again and smiled. "Thank you."

"No worries. I knew keeping spares would come in handy," she grinned, tugging at the jumper she'd thrown on him.

When Asha turned around, Sunny was completely covered in various layers of clothing and Piper was still holding her in a vice-like grip; like she was never going to let her go. Asha couldn't blame her of course; Sunny was one of them. She had colour to her face once again and she was breathing heavily, making up for lost oxygen.

Asha found herself smiling at the sight of the clearly distressed and injured child; but it was only because she was happy that she didn't have to prepare a pint-sized grave for her, not because she enjoyed her pain.

The screeching of tires fighting tarmac suddenly hooted through the trees, followed by an ear shattering crash, that was closely joined by the sound of something big and heavy dropping into water. Asha's sight shot to Max who was already staring at her. The Hunters had gone in just like they'd hoped. But that hope, Asha realised, was not something they should have banked on, because now the Hunters were on a direct route to them. They had to get away, quickly.

It was a matter of getting under the cover of the trees, which wasn't too much trouble seeing as though they were already at the tree line. Asha led the group to a secluded area of woods, where the air felt somehow warmer and sheltered. A good place to stay while they found a proper hideout, which the dark-haired girl already had her mind on.