"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.
Chapter Forty
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 bonnet 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." He 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 leant 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 bonnet and snatched the receiver out of the air as Coal tossed it to him.
"Yes I did," 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.
"Shall we head home then?" Hunter suggested. He seemed altogether too cheerful.
"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 feel 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. I pulled out the first aid kit and helped him tie another around it.
Coal reached out and ran his fingers through my hair as I worked.
"I'm gunna have to steal things from the city more often," he murmured.
I glanced up and caught his eye, my cheeks lighting with a faint blush, as the truck roared to life. I settled down next to him and sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder and falling asleep almost instantly.
I was rolling on a tide, rocking back and forth like I was in the little leaf boat again. I could sense grey light pushing against my eyelids trying to get me to open them, but I resisted.
Something gripped me under my legs and around my back. I rocked one way then the other and then back again as I felt my head lolling and my hair fanning out beneath me.
No, there was no water. But there was lots of swaying. I struggled towards consciousness and realised that I was being carried.
"Ready to rejoin the living?" Hunter's voice boomed out, the sound vibrating through his chest and into me where I was held tight against him. Hunter had a wonderful, rich voice that always sounded like he was nearly laughing, it made me smile.
"No," I muttered tucking my head against his shoulder. I didn't often wake up in a good mood.
"Do you want to skip the meeting then?" he asked, that laughter nearly escaping as though he found me very amusing.
"No." I felt very at peace with him.