doomsday. [ yellowjackets ]

vingt et un.

xxx.

chapter vingt et un.
twenty one.

xxx.

           The group made it back to the cabin before the sun could rise, and some might say that was a miracle in itself. They laid Van down on the kitchen table after shoving everything off of it, and amongst little scuffle or argument, Akilah had been decided as the one that would stitch and clean Van's wounds; apparently she had been an assistant at a veterinarian office before, by some insane coincidence.

          The others either stood around Van in a circle, a handful of them prepared to hold her in place once she inevitably began to thrash from the pain, or they were backed away to give them space. Or, a select few were as close to the other end of the room as possible to avoid seeing such a gruesome sight. It was already a pretty nasty one, just with the blood splotches that had fallen on the floor and the fearful whimpers coming from Van.

         " Hey, it's gonna be okay, " Taissa cooed softly as she held Van's face, trying to comfort her as much as she could as Akilah warmed the needle with a candle. " We're gonna get you fixed up, it's gonna be okay. "

         Akilah shared another look with the other girls as she looped the thread through the needle, trying to will her hand to stop trembling. Alex tried to give her a reassuring nod, and reached over to squeeze Taissa's forearm, watching the terrified look on her face. Alex had never seen Taissa so afraid, so uncertain about anything before, and it made her own gut drop a little.

         " Okay, so, make sure you're angled in— "

        " Misty, I think she's got it. " Shauna interrupted, pulling the blonde girl gently back as Akilah slid the needle into Van's cheek.

        The redhead tried to be strong, even in a situation like this that many would think unbearable, but the deeper the needle went, the harder it was until she eventually screamed out at a sudden move, jerking her body. Natalie and Alex had to hold her torso and legs down, the latter letting Van grasp her hand, squeezing it so tightly it would bruise. Tears spilled down the side of Van's face as Akilah looped the thread through, trying to move as quick as she could to end her at least a fraction of her suffering.

          Alex had to keep her head turned away from Van, unable to both watch and listen to her muffled screaming and the squelching of her wound. Behind the rest of the group, Theo stood near a seated Lottie and Jackie, who were winding every few seconds, and Tara and Dana looked on from the foot of the bed, the former holding the smaller girl close to her.

           In the corner of the room, near the fireplace, Sam sat on the floor, letting the flames light both her face and the playbook. She wasn't immune to the sounds happening around her, but there was nothing she could do to help Van or any of the others, so she didn't see a point in trying to be involved. Instead, she was staring at a page in the book, wondering what the hell it meant. She hadn't had any random drawings in a while, and she hadn't thought about the symbol until that night when she saw the tree.

        Yet now, there were so many scribbles on the page she could hardly decipher it. Even if she tried to put two and two together about the X's meaning something bad like she had drawn when Allie's leg got broken, it still didn't make sense. Van's number had been completely wiped from the play, no where to be seen on the field, while Laura Lee, who usually played second string, was written in the center of the field, right where the game would usually start.