The Battles End (#wattys2016)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17: All....

All she knew was that she was in pain. And delivering a baby. The baby whose father was in a whole other state, who knew how many miles away. Sweat dripped down Sunny's face, before Alanna dabbed at it with a damp, cool cloth. Carl was supposed to be here, holding her hand, not Alanna. But then again Carl was supposed to know about the very fact she had been pregnant in the first place. Sunny shouted in pain when she pushed as another wave of the contractions hit.

That was when she heard the cries. Marry backed up, a little tiny form in her arms.
"Aahana, it's a boy." Mary smiled at the new mother. Sunny smiled too, before seeing that the baby boy had his father's eyes and same dark brown hair. "What will you name him?"
Sunny smiled sadly. "Car-" She didn't get to fully answer as another wave of pain hit. "Oh shiit!"
Alanna's happy face, much like Mary's turned to worry. "What's wrong?" Mary handed the baby to her. "What's happening?"
Mary quickly went back to her previous position. "There's another baby." Mary told swiftly.
"What?" Sunny demanded, still in pain.
The two women in the room with her looked up at the mother.
"Aahana," Mary calmy said. "You're going to have to start pushing again."

Night had come faster than the speed the grey roan traveled. But both horse and rider wouldn't slow down. The steed seemed to understand the urgency. Something very wrong was up, that much was clear to anyone. Hope held on tightly, the wind whipping at her face. The hoofbeats only echoed the remainder of how close they were to home. Of how serious things were about to get. If there was any walkers they were quickly left behind in Cobalt's dust.

I think she's goin to just get herself and us killed.

Lights shone in the distance. EastHaven slowly made its presence known in the darkness of the night. Aahana pressed herself into the saddle, going as limp as her body allowed without falling. She was covered in blood. Cobalt slowed to a nervous canter, throwing his head up. The two Saviors looked at each other seeing the 'dead body'. They considered just shooting the horse and then it's dead rider, but the soon decided against it. The grey horse was confused and scared, especially after one of the two pelted him with a rock. Then the unmistakable sound of gunfire lit up the night. This drove Cobalt to his breaking point as a bullet grazed his back leg. The horse started kicking, jolting to the side. Aahana tried to hold on, tried to calm the horse. Another bullet fired. This one hitting the pavement, inches from Cobalt's front hoof. The horse molded an odd direction. That was when Aahana's body slammed into the pavement. Cobalt jumped letting out a shrill scream. The terrified horse's feet stomping meters away from the young woman's head. Two more shots rang out only to be followed by the grey horse's cries and stumbles. One final shot silenced the night, before the large animal fell limp. The force of it's body falling pushed a large breeze into Aahana's face. Her eyes were wide as the night was filled with one last sound that would haunt her.

--

The little blond girl rocked back and forth. They had already been cooped up in here for two days. She was absentmindedly trying to calm herself. All the while the father son duo were trying to work at each other's bounds.
"My momma's gonna come. She's gonna get us out of here." Angel whispered. She was terrified of what was going to happen the next time that door opened. The one door to the room, that led both in, and out. "Momma's gonna come." Glenn paused his own attempts to cast a sad look to the little girl. He and Sasha shared a concerned look.
"What's she like?" Sasha asked. "Your mother, I mean. What's she like?" It was the best shot they had to get the girl's mind off of their constant punishment. One she wasn't even responsible for.
"U-um. She's nice a lot. Except to Ian. Momma's mean to him a lot. A lot of people like her." After being so freaked out, Angel was answering the question the best she could. "S-she's on what they call the council." The young girl had to pause, try to think of all of the other qualities her mother had. All the while she had calmed down. "She, uh, puts my brother and I before herself. She saves us from the dead a lot. But we've been staying with Keira. She watches us while she's gone."
"Is she gone a lot?" Glenn spoke up now. Angel slowly nodded. Carl let out a frustrated breath. It was useless without something sharp. He didn't like the thought that slowly crept into his mind. The Saviors had the power to kill them. It could be tonight. Tomorrow. The day after. As he and his father sat back to back, he couldn't stop the image of a copper haired girl and her dog to creep into his mind. He didn't know Angel's mom, but he silently hoped the girl was right. He silently hoped he could see that light in the silver blue eyes of the missing girl. That he could just hear her voice one more time.

Then. The door opened.

--

"Shh. Lower your voice damn it." A familiar voice cursed. A wet cloth was smoothed along the side of Aahana's face, cleaning the last of the blood.
"No. Shit! I'm pissed man. These people, these Saviors are getting worse each second we don't do anything." Rushed angry footsteps neared her. "You. You know what they are capable of. Don't you give me any of this bullshit." Aahana wanted to open her eyes faster, but it seemed as if they were glued shut. Especially after so long without sleep. "Do I need to list it all?"
"Don't, Ia-"
"They killed four of our council members within twenty four hours after they showed up and decided to take over. They dragged in what? Eleven prisoners from who knows where. What happened last night. They shot down the horse, Cobalt, and one of them laughed at it before yelling at us to drag the bodies away."
"Ian. Just shut up." The voice over her told. That was when her eyes opened. Now Aahana struggled to tell if what she was processing was real. Could she be dead? The man a over her got up, and walked toward Ian at the back of the room. It was -
"How in the hell can you just sit there and be so calm about this Luke?" Ian demanded as Luke stood in front of him. "It's because of them Hawna is-"
"Dead." Aahana interrupted as she sat up. The two men looked at her. She thought she would be more elated to see her step brother again. But she just felt. Nothing. Completely empty.
"Hawn-" both men walked over to her.
"Don't. Just don't." She hissed. "They killed Hawna, the Saviors did. And that part of me is never coming back." Luke's face when pale.
"Did... did they..." The Darren boy couldn't even finish his sentence. He new the answer before he could even fully consider his words. He looked away, then back to his step sister who was still sitting on the movable footrest of the chair.
"They tried." Her voice lacked emotion. It was dry, and cold. Most of all, guarded. The fading light from outside only answered the next question. Aahana had slept all day. She stood with more strength than she had the previous night.

Covered up that fire inside of you. Covered up your fight.
Wicker eventually burns.
That wicker basket placed over that fire that raged inside Aahana Dixon was starting to show signs of smoke.
Wicker burns.

Someone walked into the living room of Ian's house. He ran his hand over his dirty blond hair. His green eyes landing on his old friend. Thunder rolled from outside, ending the calm before the storm.
"Aahana.." Preston called, catching the threes attention. "They... They have Angel."

Wicker burns.

A/N

Sorry guys for now updating in a while. I've been busy, school and sports. Honestly I have mixed emotions about this chapter and the ones to come, and so many other plans I have for this and other stories. Yeah... Shits gonna go down..

So this chapter is gonna be linked (with the title) three other one, just pointing it out now.
Anyway, onto the questions!

How will Sunny get Angel out of there?
Will she finally be reunited with Carl and the group?
Could she possibly rescue them too?

Please remember to vote and comment..... And until the best chapter!