Chapter Text
Socrates once said, "Death may be the greatest of all human blessings". Jackie Taylor had never really listened in history class before, she had much-preferred doodling on Shauna's notebook, and it's a wonder this quote comes back to her as she's shivering under the bright, eye-blinding, snow falling around her and her small fire. Said fire that looks so close to passing out. The quote speaks to her, thinking of the last few hours of her day and actually, the whole predicament her team had found themselves in. Her team? She's not sure she can call them that anymore, as they much preferred following Lottie or Taissa over her these past days. Who could blame them? The captain had never been anything better than an extrovert soccer player. Her mom had raised her on how to mask unwanted emotions, how to make sure she always looks perfect, not how to hunt meat in the wilderness or how to survive a plane crash. She'd faced it ever since the weather had changed, faced the reality that maybe surviving this had never been her future. She'd just put off the inevitable.
She's hoping the door of the cabin will swing open, and one of the girls will come out and tell her to come back inside, will tell her this is all a sick joke they made because Jackie knows herself and she knows that coming back inside by herself isn't an option. No matter their situation, it never would've been. Once, when she was younger, she and Shauna had fought and they had spent three excruciating days without talking to each other. Jackie had been crying every night in her room, desperately looking at the brunette at school, searching for those big brown eyes, and every single time she'd get a look back, she'd look somewhere else, hardening her facial expression. Never had she been the one to apologize first, to come back crawling first. That would make her vulnerable to Shauna's hold, even if she was, but she didn't want her best friend to know that just yet. Not back then. Ten years after that fight Jackie still doesn't want to abandon. She'd been told to get out, so she'd stay out until Shauna caved like she always did. Besides, Jackie knows the brunette would never leave her here in the cold. She'd force her inside if she needed to. She knows Shauna.
Every second that passes without anyone coming out to get her is a pain, brutally knocking her heart around in her chest. She finds herself wishing she hadn't even told Shauna that she knew about her and Jeff, and by association the baby. She finds herself wishing to erase the last few hours, so she wouldn't have to be sitting in this cold weather with her fire running out. She looks around, her body shivering at the sight of the dark spaces between the trees line, and how creepy it would be if a figure came out of there. She doesn't know where Nat and Travis have gone, if Travis has found his brother yet or if Javi is still lost out there, but from how cold the environment around her is starting to be, she hopes they've found him. Even her fire isn't enough to warm her right now. The prospect of staying out here, of everyone else eating their words, is far better than the prospect of going back inside and having backed out, of going back inside and finding herself a little spot away from Shauna. Away from the girl she had never been away from willingly.
The sound of twigs snapping wakes Jackie ever so slightly from her slumber as she raises her eyes, her heartbeat starting to pick up a bit. Had one of the girls come out to come and get her back inside? Or was this something else? Was everything that Lottie had said about the wilderness real and was she about to learn the truth about it now, when the prospect of death is so close? She takes a deep breath, pulling the blankets around her more and she scans the tree line again, letting out a gentle chuckle as she spots familiar blonde hair.
"Jackie." Natalie seems to breathe quietly, walking closer to her. "Travis, come on, you've got to come help! She's freezing out here!" The teenager calls, glancing behind her to try and see if Travis has been following, pulling the blanket over Jackie a bit more. "What happened, Jackie?"
The girl's teeth clatter as she looks up at Natalie, trying her best to shrug in her direction. "I- I we-went outside. To sleep. Th-They sent me out. Sh- Shauna-"
Natalie cuts her off, gently rubbing her back. "Ok, Jackie, I think you can slow down. You can tell me inside, we can't stay out here with this snow." She explains, helping her up and staring back at the tree line again. Her heart aches, and she's almost sure Travis has gone back to look some more for Javi. She knows it's dangerous to go back, and she's not sure she wants to leave Jackie alone inside the house after hearing the girl say it was the others who left her out there, especially with the bad weather.
"T-Th-Thank you, Na-Natalie." She breathes, wincing at the cold air that seems to freeze her throat as soon as she inhales it.
"Let's go inside, before you and I freeze to death." The blonde orders, helping her captain up and supporting her weight, even though she weighs quite less than what Natalie would've thought. It comes back to her though, that Jackie had given all of her meals to Shauna, to help with the baby, and that the girl might've lost more weight than anyone else here. Especially if she still had problems with food from before, then Jackie might be weak enough to actually let herself freeze out there. Natalie doesn't dare think about that, not right as she brings her in, sitting her down next to the fire. She's forgotten all about the blanket still outside, forming a body shape resembling the one of Jackie, but she's sure that if she had noticed, she would've left it there, at least to teach a lesson to the girls about how crazy they have been acting. Maybe they'll get lucky and notice that she's not cuddling Travis but Jackie close to the fire, even though she wishes she wasn't because the girl is colder than her, and she wonders how long she had left outside all alone. It would've been an horrible death to have, especially for a social butterfly like Jackie, someone who thrived being in crowds and being the center of attention. Dying all alone, out in the cold, after a plane crash. Because her teammates would've kicked her out of their only shelter. Natalie is glad that she found Jackie before it was too late.