STRANGERS ♱ yellowjackets

36. i could be a good mother

"NO", BUNNY WHISPERS, as Shauna passes out, her hands immediately finding the girl's shoulders as she tries to shake her awake, "No, no, no", Bunny starts crying before she can even notice it. Shauna can't die, she just can't. Fear grips her, a silent predator lurking in the shadows of her mind. It coils around Bunny's thoughts, squeezing tighter with every passing second, a relentless serpent. Her chest tightens, breath is shallow and rapid as if the air itself is laced with dread.

"Nat- do something", Bunny cries as the older girl wraps her arm around the girl's chest and pulls her back, into her embrace as tears begin to fall down her cheeks. That's when Bunny sees the baby, all blue, like a clear sky on a cloudless day, and covered in blood. She feels her heart tighten like it's squeezed by someone into ashes. Bunny wishes it would be squeezed - so hard, it would explode and she could die.

The air thickens as her wide eyes stare at the lifeless babe, her mouth falling open as she tries to let out any noise, but nothing comes out. "Don't look", Natalie mumbles, her voice hoarse and filled with sadness as she lays her hand on the girl's head, pulling her close to her body. But the girl can't tear her eyes away from the blue boy who lies now in Misty's trembling arms. Even Natalie's comfort can't tear away the curtain of shadow that now falls upon the cabin.

After what feels like forever, Shauna startles awake, her eyes almost feral as she tries to push herself up from the bed, frantically chanting, "Where is he, what did you do?" Shauna is hushed by the team around her, trying their best to calm the girl down as she looks around in panic. Misty lifts the baby from the bed, he's wrapped in hide, but Bunny can still see his blue head peeking from the fur.

Another sob escapes from Bunny's lips as the baby is handed to Shauna, cold, but still coated in his mother's blood.

"He didn't make it, Shauna", Taissa says, tears running down her cheeks as she holds the baby in her arms for Shauna to see. A frown sets on Shauna's face as she looks around confusedly, "No, no", the girl breathes out, "No, he was alive, I held him!" Bunny brings her hand to her mouth as she tries to muffle the cries, her other hand gripping onto Natalie's forearm as she still holds the girl close to her chest. "I held him, Tai... He was alive! He was alive, and I held him! I even tried to feed him, and I finally fed him and he was crying", Shauna explains, her voice coated in panic as she looks around her crying friends. As nobody answers the girl, and Shauna's brows only travel deeper as her confusion grows, she finally moves the hide away from her baby's face.

Nobody in that room will ever forget the look that took over that girl's face, as she saw her dead child lying in her arms, cold and blue.

Bunny looks around the snow-covered yard, barely recognizable as the snow has eaten it. The bucket in her hands feels cold as she shovels the snow with the others. The storm had finally stopped, finally allowing them to flee from the nightmare-like energy that still floated in the cabin. As she throws the gathered snow, further into the snowdrift, she sees Natalie walk to her from the corner of her eye.

"Are you okay?", the older blonde asks as she reaches a distance that captures the two in their own private bubble. Bunny swallows lightly, before letting out a deep sigh, her shoulders dropping as she also drops the bucket on the ground. "I just watched as my friend gave birth to a dead baby", Bunny says, her tone flat as she brushes her hand across her face, "I don't think any of us are really okay." Natalie can't argue with that.

The two stay quiet for a while as they just stare at their feet.

"I've always wanted to be a mom", Bunny says quietly as she crouches to grab the handle of the bucket once again, "Shauna didn't. She actually hates kids...", the girl recalls as she begins to gather snow into the bucket, "But I think she could've been a great mother", Bunny says, her voice cracking slightly as she throws the snow away. "And it's not fair that- that she didn't even get to try--", the tears sting her eyes as she fills the bucket once more, her voice failing her completely as she glances over at Natalie. Natalie takes a step forward and wraps her arms around the girl, holding back her tears as she holds the girl close. Whatever tension that had lingered between the two after the lie of Javi's alleged death came to light was gone now - they were okay once more.