doomsday. [ yellowjackets ]

vingt-quatre.

xxx.

chapter vingt-quatre.
twenty four.

xxx.

          The next morning, it was as if the air went stale. A new tension spread among the horizon— in the cabin, on the porch, and even across the woods to where the other girls were still knocked out cold. Tara didn't sleep that night, honestly she wasn't sure what she had done for the past eight or so hours, she just knew she didn't sleep. At the moment, she was just thinking; wondering what the actual hell had happened the night before, if everyone was poisoned or possessed, and if Shauna and the others really planned on killing Travis. No matter how much she tried to rack her brain for an even semi-reasonable explanation for that, she came up with nothing.

        It took the sun rising for her to finally leave the cabin. Only half of the group was there when she did; Jackie and Alex among them, as badly as she wanted to talk to them about last night, she chose to let them get their sleep. Misty, Sam, and Coach Scott, and the others were there too, and she had found Van and Taissa outside. She concluded that Shauna, Lottie, Mari, Dana, and Akilah were still at the fire pit, but the remainders were unaccounted for. Coach Scott said that Natalie had been there before they passed out, but as for Theo, Javi, and Travis, no one had seen them.

         So, when Tara got up before most of the others, she intended on looking for them. It didn't take long, though, because she ran into Natalie by their makeshift 'well', looking understandably frustrated, but the bleached blonde said nothing when she accidentally shouldered Tara as they passed each other. Tara turned and almost called out to her, but she was gone just as quickly as she had found her, and when she looked ahead again, she saw what must've actually made her upset.

         Travis stood near the water barrel, holding a washcloth to his throat with his head tilted to the sky, a sort of spaced out look on his face. Tara felt a bit of relief, at least one of the three were still nearby, but upon looking at his tense stature, she pressed her lips together. Tara wasn't stupid, she was actually rather smart all things considered, so she knew better than to try to talk to him of all people about last night, especially if he brushed Natalie off, likely for the same reason.

         But, something in Tara decided to be stupid that morning.

         " Have you always gotten up this early? Like, before the crash. " She asked suddenly, but he didn't seem phased by her presence, like he'd already known she was there and was waiting for her to say something. Maybe she didn't have the right approach though, because Travis just pulled the cloth away enough to lower his head to look at her through the corner of his eyes. " You don't..seem like an early riser. "

          He remained silent, but Tara didn't take that as a necessarily bad thing. He was letting her talk, not pushing her away, at least in the moment. She tried to think of how to keep talking then, her eyes shifting over his appearance. There was no point in trying to make small talk, but she also wasn't sure where to start; "hey, do you want to talk about how we had sex last night or about how everyone nearly gutted you like a deer after? " didn't seem like a great option.

          So, she didn't say anything at all. Tara reached out to take the cloth from him with the intent of cleaning his cut for him, but when Travis instinctively flinched back from her, she stood still. Tara closed her eyes briefly, blowing out a small breath before she looked up at him and held her other hand out, pale and slender, insisting, " I'm not going to hurt you, Travis. I just want to clean this for you. "