Purge (Larry Stylinson au)

Chapter 7

They've been driving through the forest for 2 days when the jeep finally sputters to a stop. 

"Out of gas," Liam sighs, checking the gauge. "It wasn't very full to begin with."

"Guess we'll have to go on foot then," Zayn says, opening his door and climbing out. The rest of the lads follow and look around at the trees surrounding them. It doesn't look any different than the scenery they've been engulfed by since they left the base. 

Of course, now that the car has stopped moving, Darcy chooses that moment to wake up and cry. Niall, who's holding her, looks terrified and starts to bounce her in his arms, trying to calm her. Harry watches, smirking slightly as nothing Niall does seems to help. 

"What do I do?" Niall asks frantically, looking up at Harry with panic in his eyes. 

Harry grins. "She's probably just hungry. Here." He pulls off his t-shirt and holds out his arms for his daughter. Niall gratefully hands her over. 

Sure enough, as soon as she's in her papa's arms, Darcy begins mouthing at his chest, clearly wanting to be fed. Harry helps guide her head until she latches on to him, which she's gotten better at in the past two days, and she immediately quiets as she begins to feed. 

"Good girl," Harry says softly, watching as her eyes close happily and she continues to suck. Her tiny hands ball into fists and she unconsciously waves them about as she drinks, bumping her fingers against Harry's chest a few times. 

Harry giggles a little, happy that she's having a good time. "Love you, baby girl," he mutters. 

While he feeds Darcy, the other boys start digging through the car, pulling out all of the supplies they have. They come out with a few water bottles, some blankets, two jackets, some ammo and grenades, and the radios. Along with that, they have all the food and weapons and supplies they've stowed in their backpacks before they left the base, and the contents of the utility belts around each of their waists. 

"That's it," Niall says dejectedly. "That's all we have."

"It's not that bad," Zayn says, trying to stay optimistic.

Liam shakes his head. "Niall's right, it's not going to last long."

"So we find a town soon," Harry protests. "It'll be fine, we can't be far from one now."

"Knock on wood!" Niall cries, wide eyed as he runs to the nearest tree and frantically raps his fist against the trunk.

"Really Nialler?" Liam asks, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration. 

Niall looks at them all seriously. "Don't jinx us. You can never be too careful."

Zayn rolls his eyes. "Whatever, we just need to keep moving. Harry are you done feeding her?"

Harry looks down at his daughter. Her drinking has slowed and she's only sucking halfheartedly now, with long pauses in between. He pulls her away from his chest and when she doesn't protest, he concludes that she's had her fill. 

"Yeah, we're good," he says, holding his baby against his shoulder to burp her. When he's done with that, he takes a blanket from Liam and quickly wraps it around himself and Darcy to make a baby carrier. When he's sure she's secure, he slings his backpack on and nods at his friends, indicating they can begin moving. 

With that, they set off through the forest, unsure how far they'll have to go before finding somewhere safe to stop.  

----

It's been two weeks of walking through the forest before they finally find a town. 

They found a small stream in the woods and have been following it upstream, as it's their only source of water now. They've drank everything from the bottles they took from the jeep, and they've eaten all the rations in their backpacks, surviving off small squirrels and birds that they find in the woods.