STRANGERS ♱ yellowjackets

12. the dead deer

AS NATALIE AND TRAVIS are being sent away by Coach Scott, he insists that Bunny shows them her map.

Embarrassment coats the girl's demeanor as she hands her paper pile to the two hunters. Travis stares at the cabin behind them, not paying any attention to the girl or what she's showing to them. Natalie takes the notes into her hands, flipping through them carefully. Her brows are furrowed as she tries to make sense of what is written and drawn to the fliers.

"It's- uh, a map. Of the cabin and like 22 feet to every direction", Bunny says, eyeing Natalie with matched carefulness to the one the older girl carries, as she looks through the paper pile. Coach Scott goes to give the two more instructions with the gun and actually shooting an animal. "And, you should mark down what path you are using today. What area you are walking through, write down all the big landmarks you could later recognize. Susann-Rose is gonna draw it clean", Coach Scott goes to explain, signaling to Bunny to hand the two some paper and her only precious pen. Travis snorts as he finally turns to look at Bunny with a humorous expression, "Your real name is Susann-Rose?"

"Travis", Coach Scott warns the boy with a pointed look, before wishing the two good luck on their hunt. As Coach Scott limps away and the two teenagers are preparing to leave, Bunny tugs Natalie's hoodie sleeve gently.

"We're gonna be fine, you don't need to worry", Natalie says with a small teasing smile, slightly humored by how nervous the younger girl seems to be. But Bunny isn't humored, her eyes flicker to the boy again before she slightly leans in her hand grabbing Natalie's shoulder for support. Natalie's body freezes slightly as she feels the girl's hand grip her shoulder, keeping her eyes on the girl's face as she leans in. Bunny's lips almost brush the girl's ear as she whispers, "Please don't lose my pen..."

The request might have seemed stupid, silly even, to anyone else, but not to Natalie.

As Bunny leans back, her hand still squeezing the girl's shoulder, she gives the older girl a meaningful look, "Mom gave it to me", her voice is low enough for only Natalie to hear. Natalie's brows rise up a little only for a second before her face is back to its default expression. Natalie gives the girl a nod as she grabs the pen and paper from her hands.

Bunny stays outside for as long as she can see the backs of the two teenagers. As the two disappear to the woods, Bunny goes inside.

Jackie sits on the floor between Bunny's legs as the girl plays with her friend's hair. Every few minutes Jackie lets out a small sigh and that makes Bunny giggle like a child. Jackie in every way possible reminds Bunny of a Yorkshire terrier and it humors her greatly. Jackie shifts in her spot, looking over her shoulder up at the girl with a confused smile, "What's so funny?" Bunny only shakes her head, but after a few minutes when Jackie sighs again, Bunny bursts out laughing. Jackie looks at the girl surprised, a little taken aback, but can't help but to join in the girl's laugh. As the two girls laugh together to sweet nothings, a bang of melancholy hits both of their chests.

After a while their laughter dies, lingering in the room for a few moments before disappearing completely.

"I was thinking about becoming a vegetarian after nationals", Bunny sighs as she continues to play with Jackie's locks. Jackie cocks an eyebrow and lets out a chuckle, "Really?" Bunny lets out a small hum as a yes. "I thought it could be kinda funny, since my nickname is Bunny- Hey! That rhymed!", Bunny said with a grin, causing Jackie to burst out laughing again.

Later that day when the girls were cleaning different plants and herbs they had picked up Natalie and Travis returned, with a fucking deer. Bunny's eyes grew wide as she stood up from her chair, rushing towards the two hunters as they walked towards the cabin. The others came after her as well, just as surprised and relieved at the situation in front of them. Bunny took a good look at the dead animal. Her stomach twists a bit at the gnarly scene, but she knows they need the meat to survive. Still, it doesn't stop her from feeling sorry for the dead deer.

"Nice work, you two", Coach Scott says as he stands up from his log, eyeing the animal. To everyone's surprise, Travis opens his mouth and says, "It was all Natalie." Bunny's eyes flicker between the two as something unspoken lingers in the air between the hunters, it bothers her.

Silence takes over the yard and Natalie lifts her shoulders in a questioning manner, "So, what do we do with it now?"

"Well, first we gotta bleed it out", Coach Scott says, causing Bunny to frown slightly. As a kid she was one of those children whose parents had to lie about the origins of the meat on their kid's plate, just to make them eat. She still struggled to eat any food that wasn't made by her or her dad, since not knowing the hygienic habits of the cook in question made her anxious. Let alone if the food was prepared in a place like the cabin they were now stranded at.

Bunny looks around for anything to count, just to calm her down a bit. She didn't want to freak out, she knows it is the last thing the team needed right now - what she needs right now.

As Shauna volunteers to bleed out the deer, Bunny gives in. "Sorry", she quickly states and leaves towards the cabin as quickly as she possibly can. Bunny goes to the small table, her hand reaching for the notebook that is tugged in her shorts. The girl's fingers quickly count the papers on the map, laying them down on the table. Her eyes roam through the map, trying to distract her mind from spiraling by focusing on the things she could draw better in the future.

"Hey", Natalie's voice cuts through the sweet silence that fills the cabin. Bunny didn't even realize she was slightly holding her breath until the girl walked in. Natalie cocks her head, checking if the girl is okay.

"You seemed a bit uncomfortable back there", Nat says, her voice low but curious.

Bunny doesn't tear her eyes away from her map, "Yeah, I was", she confirms, biting down to her nail. Natalie nods and walks closer to the table, taking her place next to the girl. Nat glances at Bunny's profile. It seems completely unfair to Natalie and makes her a bit envious, that even in the middle of the woods Bunny manages to look like she just fell out of a painting.

"Here", Natalie says, suddenly remembering the reason why she followed the white rabbit into the cabin, she grabs the pen from her pocket alongside the poorly filled papers. Bunny's eyes are a bit wide as she accepts the gift, "You really filled them?", she asks, recalling back to Travis'. . . enthusiasm. Natalie makes a face before shrugging, "Well, I tried."

A small smile fights its way to Bunny's lips as she looks at the horribly drawn map. A chuckle escapes from her lips as she looks at the stick figures drawn next to the plane crash, assuming they represent where Natalie and Travis were when Natalie drew the map. Natalie slaps the girl's arm softly, a little embarrassed, but she doesn't let it show.

"You should stick to shooting", Bunny says with a small smirk, her eyes finding Natalie's once more. Natalie's face melts into a genuine smile as she shakes her head. "Yeah, well, good thing you're the map maker, right?", she says playfully, leaning against the table and looking at the paper in Bunny's hands. Bunny only grins and looks at her own map. The two grow quiet. Natalie enjoys watching Bunny focus on something the girl is excited about, it's almost like the blonde starts glowing as she's working on her little art project.

"I can't make any sense of where this is supposed to be at. I need to see it myself", Bunny sighs after a moment of silence. Natalie blinks a few times, realizing she's been staring she quickly pushes herself off the table and looks at the map, tilting her head as if she's pondering her options. The truth is, she drew the map as poorly as she could. Knowing Bunny, she knew that the girl would insist on redoing it by herself and Natalie would have to walk her around the woods. She needed some time alone with the strawberry-blonde. In some weird way, their odd relationship was the only grounding thing right now to the older girl, it made her feel normal - like she was back home.

"I could take you tomorrow?", the hunter suggests, earning a hum of agreement from Bunny. The two fall silent again as Bunny focuses on her fliers. Slowly the other girls walk into the cabin in small groups and chatter fills the space.

Natalie stays there, leaning against the table and watching Bunny go over and over again the small fliers until Ben calls the girls back outside to help with the dinner.