Chapter 164
* * * *
Ash pushed through weeds and bushes. Dizzily, she forced herself onward. She saw a clump of tomato plants, a miracle, and fell on her knees. Her mouth watered as she picked a plump red tomato, but just before she put it in her mouth, she pictured the others left behind with nothing. She couldn’t eat it.
* * * *
Another evening and Ash had not returned. Dayna paced.
“What if she’s hurt?” Matt asked. “We have to look for her.”
Kevin was barely awake. Dayna knew he couldn’t handle any more walking.
“Ash is fine,” she said. “We’ll build a fire and maybe it will help guide her back.”
Dayna had never started a fire, but she’d seen Ash do it. Starting with a patch of bare ground, encircled by rocks from the creek, she added broken limbs, dry grass and leaves, and wads of paper sacking. Dayna lit a piece of brown paper bag with Ash’s lighter and pushed it into the kindling. To her surprise, they soon had a fire.
“Good job,” Jon-Allen said.