The Sound of Silence - Yellowjackets

8. Thief

"You son of a bitch!" I spin around just in time to get a fist to the jaw. I fall backward onto my back.

Are those stars? Wait, my eyes are closed. How am I seeing anything? I groan as pain radiates from my jaw to my head and neck. I feel blood pooling in my mouth. Tastes like a penny.

"What the fuck!" A voice shouts. I can't see who it is, but I recognize the voice. Van? She better not be walking on that damn ankle. "You saw how she acted yesterday! That bitch is crazy! Travis was right! She probably made the plane crash! I bet she's the reason Laura Lee exploded-" the voice is cut off.

I hear a smash, a thump, and a groan. "Did you just-" I hear Jackie mutter. A pained groan interrupts her. "Ouch! Fuck that hurts!" I hear Shauna groan. "Holy shit, Shauna! I think you knocked her out!" I hear Van exclaim, awe in her voice.

Shauna groans again. "I shouldn't have punched her so hard. My hand fucking hurts!" Shauna exclaims. Suddenly, I feel arms wrap around me and lift me up. I wanna open my eyes and say I can walk, but the moment I think about talking a jolt of pain rushes through my jaw.

"Damn, Stormer. Your jaw looks like shit." A voice chuckles above me. Natalie. I try to laugh and give her a snarky reply but more pain shoots through my face and a pained groan comes out instead. "Move aside people! Where's the- Andi? Andi is the patient? What happened?" I hear Misty push through everyone.

She touches my jaw lightly, inspecting it. I'm glad I can't speak because of my jaw. I'd probably scare this poor girl away if I screamed 'fuck you' from all the pain.

"Set her down on the table." Misty commands. Natalie walks a few steps and I feel my body being gently laid on the hard wooden surface. "Her jaw isn't dislocated or anything. I doubt it's broken or fractured. Maybe a sprain? Hard to tell. Doesn't matter too much at the moment though. Her jaw needs some ice to get the swelling down and relieve some of the pain." She mutters to herself. She pauses for a moment.

"Right. We're stranded in the middle of the wilderness. There is no ice." She sighs. "Okay. Plan B." She mutters. She digs through my medicine bag and brings out a bottle of ibuprofen. She pours four into her hand.

"Andi, this is gonna hurt like hell but you need to open your mouth and take these." She tells me. I nod slightly, trying not to move so much. Ibuprofen. Smart. It's a common medicine and can be addictive if you take, like fifty, so I'm good. It'll help with both the pain and the swelling.

"Sorry about this," Misty tells me. She grabs my jaw gently and wrenches it open. The pain is too much and I succumb to darkness.

***---^^^---***

My eyes open slowly and I groan. I rub my eyes with my hands. My jaw doesn't hurt that much. How long was I asleep? I look to my right and see Van sitting in a chair with her arms crossed and her head leaned back, her eyes closed. Her crutches are propped up on either side of her chair. I smile.

Must have fallen asleep. I shift my gaze over to the window and groan when I realize it's nighttime. Looks like it's early morning. The sun will probably come out soon. I carefully stand up and make my way through the aisles of sleeping girls. I step outside and shiver. It's getting colder. Food is gonna become more scarce. Will we survive winter?

I grab the pack of smokes and the lighter I always keep in my pocket and lit one, then put it between my lips. "Smoking is bad for your lungs, you know." I turn to see Van approaching me on her crutches. I smile. "I know," I reply. "Then why do you do it?" She asks, leaning on the banister beside me. I shrug my shoulders.

"It's sort of a comfort thing, I guess." She nods. "Everything is kind of hazy. Who punched me?" I ask. "Elizabeth Vernon. She's a freshman on junior varsity alternate. The only reason she was on the flight was because she was the worst player and we needed someone who could make excuses for us while we went partying. Of course, that never ended up happening." She says, looking down with a sad look on her face. I shoulder bump her.

"Cheer up, mini Van. Things are bad out here. We may never get rescued. But you know what? That doesn't mean we have to stop living." I tell her. "You make it sound like surviving and living are two different things." She replies. I cock my brow. "Aren't they? Surviving is doing what you have to, what is necessary. Stuff like smoking cigarettes, going to parties, getting wasted; that's living." I say.

She thinks it over before a small smile appears on her face. "In that case, we might as well live before we get to the point where were hardly surviving, right?" She asks. I nod.

"Exactly," I reply. I bring my cigarette to my lips but she swipes it away and sticks it in her mouth, staring me in the eyes. A shiver runs down my spine. It's cold out here.

I cock my eyebrow again and after a moment, her poker face is interrupted by a fit of coughs. I laugh. "Damn thief. You got what you deserved." I tell her jokingly. I take the cigarette and place it back between my lips. "M-Maybe I'll just stick to alcohol." She mutters, her face red with embarrassment.

"That might be a good idea," I say with a smirk. We stand there, silent, looking off into the woods. She sighs. "So, there's this thing I want to talk to you about." She begins, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her shirt. I wait patiently for her to continue.

"I'm- well, I'm sorta- not sorta, I AM dating Taissa." She mutters. I blink a few times. "Yeah, I know. That was sort of obvious. Was there something else or...?" I ask, confused.

Are she and Taissa supposed to be a secret or something? She stares at me like a deer caught in headlights. "You... already knew?" She asks slowly. I nod. "Yeah, you two are so obvious, it would be hard not to notice. Are you two supposed to be a secret or something?" I ask. She nods.

"Ah," I reply, understanding. "Well, good luck. I'm sure you already know, but my half-sister is a real pain in the ass-" I say but am interrupted. "Someone talking about me?" Someone yawned. I look over to see Natalie standing there, looking tired as fuck.

Wonder why. Has she been getting enough sleep? "I heard someone say pain in the ass." She continues. I crack a smile. "We were talking about Taissa," I tell her. Nat scoffs. "That bitch? Oh yeah, total pain in the ass." She replies. I laugh and so does Van. Van yawns. "Van, you should head back to sleep," I tell her.

She hesitates before nodding and walking back inside the cabin. "Did we wake you?" I ask. Nat shakes her head and takes Van's place beside me. "Nah. I didn't mean to fall asleep anyway." She replies. I hand her a cigarette and take a good look at her.

"You look even more exhausted than Van," I tell her, laughing. She smirks. "Well, that's not too surprising. Van and I have been staying up to look over your ass and make sure that JV alt bitch doesn't try anything funny." Nat says. I smile.

"How about me, you, Shipman, and Van have a small party, just the four of us - tomorrow night?" I ask. Her eyes light up with excitement. "Hell yeah!" She replies. "Alright. I'll ask the others in the morning. We can go to that cliff we went to last time." I tell her. She nods.

Suddenly, I hear the bushes rattling. My gaze shifts away from Nat and I straighten my back, immediately on guard. Suddenly, a figure steps out, covered in dirt and blood. I scan her but don't see any wounds. Her hair has sticks and leaves sticking out.

"Lottie? What the hell happened to you?" Nat asks. Lottie doesn't say anything and just walks inside the cabin, seemingly in a trance. The air suddenly grows unbearably cold. "We both need sleep. We'll check up on Lottie in the morning. Goodnight, Nat." I say. She nods. We both walk into the cabin, unaware that two people are missing.

A/N: Sorry, sorry. I'm a bitch. I'll post more often, I promise! Get ready for the next chapter ya'll! Things are about to get wild!