Days of Decay

Chapter Twenty Four

What happened on the church floor stayed on the church floor, and once the girls joined the others upstairs, their lips were completely sealed. It was their secret and Asha felt a certain sense of pride and accomplishment for both herself and Daisy. It was nice to see her smile, at least a little.

The group had split themselves up between the two rooms that Asha had set up. Max, Piper and the little girls seemed to have claimed one, and the boys had claimed the other. One room for the adults and children, and the other for the teenagers; surely a good plan. Daisy went straight to their designated room, but Asha went into the one with Max, wanting to talk to him.

He was unpacking some clothes and helping Piper prepare some snacks for the girls when Asha wandered into the room. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Nice job with all the blankets," he remarked.

"You have no idea how much trouble I went through to get them," Asha laughed lightly. She could laugh now.

"I can see that. Thank you though, this is pretty sweet," Max replied, his smile ever prominent.

"You think it will be a good place to stay until we head to Harbour?" She questioned, propping herself against a dark mahogany chest of drawers near him.

"Seems fine to me, we'll have to leave early tomorrow anyway. Make sure we leave with enough time," he said, handing a packet of crisps to Boe before turning his full attention to Asha.

"Even if we were late, they'd wait for us, right? I mean, they know we're coming..." Asha said, a hint of worry in her voice.

Max kissed his teeth and looked to the ceiling. "In theory yeah," he said returning his gaze to her. "If we were a few hours, or even a day late, they'd probably wait... But if we were later, they'd know somethin' happened. They wouldn't be able to wait forever. They wouldn't know where we were, we've got no means of communication. So really, we should be gettin' there early to avoid being left behind."

"Won't there be another boat? To pick up the other Finders?" Asha asked, piecing together all the possibilities, just in case.

"Yeah, you're right. That boat should come in two days after we get picked up. So, I guess that gives us extra days if we need it. But, shit, I wanna get there as soon as possible, don't you?" Max asked with a cocky grin.

Asha smiled her agreement and took that as her cue to leave. She felt unusually relaxed after seeing her group settling down and doing normal things like smiling and having snacks.

She turned the corner into the 'teen room' and filled with warmth when she saw Daisy sitting on one of the blanket beds, munching on the nuts she'd given her. Asha found herself feeling quite hungry too, so she quickly located the pile of food that had accumulated in the centre of the room and gazed over all the options. There were a couple of bags of crisps, a cereal bar, two bars of chocolate and a few bottles of different drinks.

"Oh my god, I'm spoilt for choice," Asha remarked, looking sarcastically to the food and then to the two boys who were sat surprisingly close to each other on neighbouring beds.

"Welcome to the Michelin star restaurant, 'The End of the Fucking World'. It's been getting pretty popular these past months," Kit smirked before chomping on a peanut bar.

"I can see why. Such a posh selection of food!" Asha laughed before reaching for a cereal bar and sitting herself in between them.

"How you feeling?" Finn asked her, his mouth was cradled in crumbs from the biscuits he was eating.