We weren't left with any choice but to follow him.
We were spotted and reported to Hunter for being cowards. I was furious. After we explained what happened, Hunter understood but I was embarrassed and so angry with Blane. I shouted at him, called him a liability, told him if he didn't toughen up it was just a matter of time before he got himself, or one of us, killed. I stormed out, left him standing there with tears streaming down his face and I went to bed and slept like a baby. I didn't even notice he was missing until the next day. There was a note left by his bed saying he was going out to the forest to prove how brave he was. Everyone searched the forest for weeks. Alicia and me kept it up for even longer. We never found any trace of him. I haven't slept properly since."
I took his hand in mine.
"How old were you?" I asked.
"What?" Coal frowned at me
"When it happened, how old were you?"
"I - nearly thirteen, I don't see what that has to do with anything." He narrowed his eyes at me.
"And how old was Blane?"
"Ten."
"You were children. Would you blame a boy for what happened if it happened now to someone else?"
“Yes."
“No, you wouldn't. You weren't responsible for him. Someone should have been, but it wasn't you. You shouldn't keep blaming yourself."
Coal didn't reply but he held my hand a little tighter as we moved on through the trees in silence.
My feet were numb and my legs were dead but eventually we pushed though one last swathe of vines and Hunter's truck was revealed. I practically wept with relief and only just managed to keep my feet beneath me as we stumbled forwards.
"Lucky!" Hunter said, raising himself from where he'd been sprawled on the hood of the truck, leaning against the windscreen. "I was just about to give you up for dead - again." He gave us that booming laugh.
"Where are the others?" Coal asked. They weren't anywhere in sight.
"They crashed out almost as soon as they arrived a few hours back." Hunter jerked a thumb towards the truck bed where I could make out two people-shaped lumps covered with blankets.
I moved nearer to see that Laurie and Alicia were snuggled up with a jumble of coats covering them, not blankets at all.
“Alicia moaned about being cold and fluttered her eyelashes at the boys. They were powerless to resist." Hunter laughed again.
I noticed that the rest of Hunter's group were looking pointedly anywhere but at Coal as they lounged around the clearing, all without coats on. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the truck, letting my eyes finally fall shut for a moment.
"I suppose the fact that I still had this helped give you incentive to wait," Coal said and I parted my lashes enough to see him waving the receiver at Hunter.
“It did, but do you really think I'd just leave you in the forest?" Hunter jumped down from the hood and snatched the receiver out of the air as Coal tossed it to him.
“Yes I do," Coal replied without hesitation. "And much as I'd love to kick your ass for it, I seem to be a little worse for wear at the moment..."
"You can give it a go when you're feeling better, baby," Hunter cooed.
I could hear scuffling and I opened my eyes again to see them engaged in some kind of struggle, Coal was pushing Hunter away as he tried to land a kiss on Coal's forehead.
“Ow, ow, ribs, ribs!" Coal protested and Hunter let him go with another laugh.
"Shall we head home then?" Hunter suggested. He seemed altogether too cheerful considering the shit storm we’d just survived.
"It's about time," Coal replied, swinging up into the truck bed with a grunt.
Alicia squealed and kicked out at him but shifted aside to give us room as I clambered up too. I didn't waste any time and snuggled into the donated coats next to the other girls, tossing my own bedraggled jacket aside and relishing the feeling of something dry.
Kaloo hopped up and curled by my feet, her light snores filling the silence quickly. Coal propped his back against the rear window of the truck. The bandage on his leg was saturated with blood so I pulled out the first aid kit and helped him tie another around it.