Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The wind would soon begin to whip her skin with harsh bursts of cold; winter was approaching again, and she could feel it while holding her weapon in search of food, even though she had already taken down a small rabbit.
But Natalie knew something big was in the forest—something that could change the destiny of everyone trapped there—and she would find whatever it was.
Alone. That’s how she was now. Her partner Travis, once someone very close, was now as distant as the sun from the moon due to recent events.

Natalie shook her head lightly, trying to chase these thoughts away. It wasn’t the time to dwell on that—she needed to gather more food to prevent, or at least delay as long as possible, her teammates from hunting and devouring one another like animals. Two had been enough already—Jackie, frozen to death outside the cabin whose remains were now only ashes, and Javi, sweet and small, dead while trying to help Natalie survive in a world that had taken his life through nature’s icy waters.

Natalie would never forget the moment she devoured them—her teeth tearing into Jackie’s warm, golden skin, her saliva dripping as if it were a feast… perhaps it truly was, compared to what they had been eating before. And how she ate Javi in silence, feeling the enormous weight of guilt on her back, swallowing the urge to cry with every small bite.

Coach Ben had been missing since the cabin fire—without a leg, it was hard to know if he could survive long, but Natalie knew how strong he was. The girls accused him of causing the fire—the same girls who once respected and listened to him now wanted him dead, especially Shauna, whose hatred had grown past reason toward him and certain teammates… well, really just one. Mari, with her sharp tongue and hunger for gossip, had now become Shauna’s target. Maybe she had asked for it, but it was dangerous. Shauna now had fits of rage because of everything that had happened—her best friend’s death, if one could even call them that after the fight and Jackie’s death, and the loss of her child, who never even opened his eyes.

Natalie and the others understood this, truly, but things were getting out of control. With Lottie leading the girls now with her delusions and visions, Shauna saw in her an opportunity to do whatever she pleased and get away with it. She certainly didn’t believe Lottie’s visions, but they gave her power, and she would encourage anything that benefited her. She merely took advantage of Lottie’s fragile state—and the blind faith of the others.
Night was close—too close. Natalie decided it was time to go back to camp; it was dangerous to stay out when snowfall could start at any moment. Everyone there knew that. If she died out here now, their sacrifice would be in vain.

Marching toward the camp, she could already see a large fire. She could also hear voices—well, more like screams filled with hatred.

As she got closer, she saw who was yelling at whom—Shauna and Mari again, certainly over another stupid reason. “She was staring at me.” “She stepped on my foot.” “She mocked me.” Stupid and stupid. Stupid girls, Natalie cursed mentally.

“Go fuck yourself, you lunatic!” Mari shouted while arguing with Shauna.

Shauna tried to lunge at her, her hand reaching for her knife. Tai and Van immediately intervened, grabbing Shauna by the arm and dragging her away. Would she really kill Mari over a simple argument? The thought haunted Natalie.

At that moment, Lottie stepped out of her tent, and everyone stopped and looked at her—after all, she was their priestess now. She looked directly at Natalie and smiled warmly, like they were old friends reunited after ages.
“We’re not fighting tonight. There are more important things to tend to. The wilderness awaits… and look, our huntress has returned.”

All eyes turned to Natalie—even Travis, whose presence she only noticed now.

They smiled when they saw what she carried: food. Little, but still food. Fruits and pine tea were boring everyone; meat was what they needed, and that’s what they would have.

With tempers calmer and everyone around the fire, a little rest wouldn’t hurt. But then a scream shattered the silence. A scream they were all tired of hearing, day after day.

“You spat in my food!” Mari screamed—certainly directed at Shauna, who only shrugged and smiled.

“It’s not a big deal, Mar. A little spit won’t hurt you. Now eat.” Shauna emphasized the last word—she wanted to humiliate the other girl in front of everyone. “Don’t waste anything—our huntress worked hard to get this food. And so did Lottie.” Mentioning Lottie was just courtesy; Shauna couldn’t care less about her.

“You miserable bitch!” Mari shouted, hitting Shauna’s bowl with all her strength. The other girls tried to break the fight. Melissa—once like the old Shauna but now just serving the new one, at least that’s how Natalie saw her—tried too, but fell when Shauna elbowed her without even glancing at her. Poor girl—at this rate, she’d get really hurt.

Tai and Van, fed up, only watched. Tai looked at Shauna with an indecipherable expression—perhaps pity, perhaps disgust.

“STOP, ALL OF YOU!” Lottie’s voice rose above all the noise, and it worked—another sign of her dangerous control over them.

“Tonight is special. Something important is about to happen—I can feel it.” Before anyone could speak, Lottie continued, then looked directly at Natalie, sending a chill down her spine. “And you will be the one to make it happen, my dear Natalie.” She pointed directly at her.

“Leave me out of your madness. I’ve told you over and over—I’m not part of this.”

“It’s not madness,” someone said—Melissa, Gen, maybe even Mari. It didn’t matter. “They’re gifts from the wilderness. You should be more grateful than any of us, since you're the one who goes out hunting every day. It’s dangerous.”

“Whatever. I just want to stay far away from all of this.”
Her words earned whispers and piercing stares—even Misty stood among them. Maybe she had finally found her group: a bunch of lunatics.

“It seems someone still doubts you, Lottie, after everything you’ve done for us,” Shauna said now, her eyes glazed as she stared at Natalie, her voice so fake it sickened even some of Lottie’s faithful followers.

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that the wilderness is pleased with us, and so it rewards us with food and shelter.”

That drove Natalie nearly insane. Before, she had Travis and Ben on her side—now she was alone, surrounded by girls who called themselves her friends. Was this how Jackie felt? She’d never know—not until she died.

“And now, a great blessing will fall upon us—the greatest in a long time.”

Natalie didn’t stay to hear the rest. She grabbed her food and went straight to her cabin—her sacred refuge, where no one could disturb her except her own

Another day had come, and with it, another hunt was necessary. The rabbit wouldn’t last long—it was already half gone.

Natalie stepped out of her tent and ran straight into Lottie and her followers, already awake and performing a ritual toward the trees. A shiver ran down her spine.

Noticing her, Lottie approached, taking her hands and mumbling words she claimed were sacred blessings.

“Go and find our reward,” Lottie whispered in a tone Natalie didn’t like at all. Then she lowered her head and kissed her forehead.

Rolling her eyes, Natalie walked away—not to hunt, not yet. First, she needed to talk to a few people.

Tai and Van were a bit apart from the others, lost in their own world.

“Hey, I need to talk to you two.” They turned at the same time.

“What do you want, Nat?” Van asked.

“I need a favor. Keep an eye on Shauna. Things are getting worse each day—the food is running out, and some are beginning to feel it. I don’t want them fighting over stupid reasons.”

“I can’t control what she does,” Tai said, her voice carrying a heavy sadness. “No one can… not even Jackie could.”
“I know. But at this rate, we’ll end up with one less… before it’s truly necessary.”

The last part came out bitter. The reality that they’d eventually have to devour another one of them hit her like a punch in the stomach.

Shauna exited her tent then, Melissa following right behind, jumping onto her back in a small hug. From afar, they could almost look like a happy couple… but Shauna had been unbearable with Melissa countless times.

“I bet she wears Jackie’s clothes when they hook up,” Van whispered, making the girls smile. “I’m serious—most people think so.”

Maybe Melissa overheard, because she stopped walking and stared at them, her smile faltering. But then she kept going. Shauna just walked off into the forest to isolate herself—another habit she had acquired.

“Okay, enough, you little comedian,” Tai said, giving Van a light slap on the arm before kissing her quickly. “Fine—I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Thank you. Really.”
“No need to thank us. We don’t want unnecessary deaths—there are too few of us left.”

With that, Natalie turned and headed into the forest. If she didn’t find anything, there would be a real fight at camp. She didn’t bother looking for Travis—he knew how to survive on his own.

Walking deeper into the forest, the thought of how they had ended up in this state wouldn’t leave her mind. Of course she knew why they were here—but she was sure it didn’t have to be like this. If they had been more stable, they might have survived winter’s hunger without devouring one another.

A divided, unstable group—full of internal fights that would almost certainly end in death. That’s what they had become.

Something big was near—she could feel it. Was Lottie right? No. That couldn’t happen. It must not happen.

The plane wreckage was nearby—Natalie knew that. She hadn’t gone near it since Jackie’s death. But today was different. Determined to check it out—since sometimes animals made nests there, something she and Travis had taken advantage of before (a family of rabbits, a feast for all)—she pressed on.

The closer she got, the more she noticed disturbed soil and broken branches. Something had been there—something big and heavy.

“What luck,” she whispered, smiling as she cocked her weapon. As soon as the animal appeared, it would die.
Then something surprising happened. Something moved in the wreckage, but it was strange—large and twisted, with a silhouette far too unusual for a rabbit or a deer.

A flash of blonde hair emerged from somewhere, and Natalie fired. A sharp scream echoed—the shot missed, but it scared the creature, which prepared to run.

Large, bulging eyes. Honey-blonde hair. Wearing nothing but rags.

Someone who should have been dead for almost a year. Someone devoured by those who once called her teammate and friend. Someone Natalie regretted not talking to more.

“J-Jackie?” Natalie whispered.

The girl finally looked at her—and dear God, she smiled. The biggest smile anyone had ever given her.

Chapter Text

Contact
“I don’t even recognize you anymore.”

“Maybe you never really did.”

These words echoed in Jackie’s mind.

A terrible fight with the girl who claimed to be her best friend—a companion for life—had happened just an hour or two earlier. At the end of the argument, during which Jackie had stayed mostly silent and simply absorbed the harsh words coming from Shauna’s mouth, she left the cabin reluctantly to spend the night outside. Practically kicked out by her teammates—because they weren’t her friends, not really, just teammates, nothing more. How could they not support her, or at least defend her, or try to ease the situation? Couldn’t they see Shauna was the one who was wrong, at least in that moment? “Stay outside,” Lottie had said when Coach tried to intervene. And so Jackie left the cabin and spent the night in the cold.

She lay down in the snow and dreamed—dreamed of sweet words and delicious hot chocolate, surrounded by friends who claimed to love her now, and a Shauna who was kinder than she had ever been since the plane crash. Laura Lee was there too, gentler than Jackie remembered, accompanied by a stranger calling to her—but that didn’t matter in that moment of pure joy.

____________________________

Cold. And a crushing pressure over her body. That was all Jackie Taylor could feel. Fighting against whatever held her down, she finally emerged.

A blinding flash—the bright sunlight hit her eyes, sunlight she hadn’t seen in so long it temporarily blinded her. Then a fast, cold wind struck her body. Only then did she realize where she was.

Among the plane wreckage. The very same wreckage that had crashed so long ago—longer than she could clearly remember now. And to make everything worse, she was naked. Completely naked. Not even underwear. Naked and covered in dirt. What a wonderful situation.

Panic filled her chest; her heart pounded fast and hard.
How had she ended up here? Why was she without clothes? And most importantly—where was everyone?

She started trembling, sweating cold. Naked—but why? Had her teammates done this to her? A million thoughts raced through her mind as she curled into herself like a newborn child.

What would she do now? She didn’t know how to navigate the forest. She couldn’t take a single step without getting lost.

She cried until she had no tears left. Then, filled with anger and resentment, she decided to return to the cabin on her own. And when she found whoever had done this to her, she swore she would kill them.

All she needed was to find the lake. From there, she thought she could probably make her way back to the cabin.

At least, that’s what she believed.

________________________

Hours passed before she finally found the lake, guiding herself as best as her confused mind allowed.

But when she reached the cabin, all she found were ashes and burned wood. A desperate, piercing scream tore from the depths of her soul.

“N-no, this can’t be…” She looked around—everything was still, silent, lifeless. “Is anyone there?” Jackie shouted as loud as she could.

When no one answered, she collapsed onto the dry ground in tears. Had they all died in the fire? Or had they escaped unharmed and… Shauna—was she okay? Even after their fight, Jackie didn’t want her to die in such a horrible and painful way. And her baby, my God… what about her baby? Eventually, Jackie fainted from exhaustion.

________________________

When she regained consciousness, she prayed desperately for everything to be a nightmare—a terrible nightmare—that someone would come wake her so she could eat or take a bath.

But when she opened her eyes again, she realized the sad reality around her. It was all true. The cabin had burned down. No one was there anymore. The rescue must have come while she was gone—though she had no idea how she had ended up naked and buried under the plane wreckage. Buried? Oh God, someone had buried her.

Anger flared in her chest but faded quickly. What good was anger now? She was alone. Without anyone, she would die here—surely of hunger, because she didn’t even know how to catch a simple rat or kill it, nor how to make a proper fire.

Searching through the burned remains of the cabin, she found a few pieces of half-usable clothing—burned, but better than nothing. Her beautiful leather jacket was gone forever, probably.

Dressed in rags and barefoot, she decided to return to the wreckage. The others had escaped at least. No one else would die here—except her. Alone, freezing.

_____________________

And so the days passed for Jackie among the wreckage—in tears and sobs, eating tiny berries and drinking from the lake. But why even try if she would die in the end anyway? She simply gave up. For the second time, she gave up on everything and let herself fade.

The weather was changing. Snow would fall soon, and she would freeze to death—since starving would take too long. She could feel it deep in her soul.

Until one day, a shot was fired at her. At first she thought it was a hallucination—just her mind playing tricks on her. But when the shooter trembled and almost dropped the gun while stuttering her name, Jackie’s chest filled with joy. A smile formed on her now starving face.

_________________________

“J-Jackie?” Nat’s vision blurred, and the gun almost slipped from her hand.

When the other girl walked toward her, still smiling, Nat reflexively raised the gun again, frightening Jackie—if that really was her.

Jackie stepped back, and Nat immediately regretted pulling the gun, but it was necessary. She didn’t even know if the thing in front of her was human.

“Who are you?” Nat asked—too harshly, which only made Jackie recoil further.

Shaking like a leaf, Jackie spoke so quietly that Natalie almost didn’t hear her:
“It’s me, Nat. Jackie. Please lower the gun—you’re scaring me.”

Nat choked on her breath. The voice… the voice was exactly how she remembered it. Jackie had always been mumbling about something in the cabin—hard to forget that voice.

Still stunned, Natalie lowered the gun—though not completely. Just enough so it wasn’t pointed directly at Jackie, but with her finger still on the trigger.

“Alright, let’s try this one last time—and I’m serious.” Natalie took a deep breath. “Who the hell are you?”

“I told you, I’m Jackie. Where is everyone? And why was I buried? Where are my clothes?” A flood of desperate questions poured from Jackie’s mouth, leaving Natalie completely shocked.

This wasn’t possible. The dead don’t come back to life—especially not when all that was left of them were bones.

Jackie had been eaten. The thought rushed up Natalie’s throat like bile.

Seeing her distressed, Jackie ran to support her.

“NAT—HEY, NAT, WHAT’S WRONG?”

“Is it really you, Jackie?” Natalie asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Of course, Nat.” Tears filled Natalie’s eyes.

“Okay, okay… just give me a moment to process all this.”

_________________________

The minutes that followed felt like years. A long, heavy silence settled between them.

“Alright… Jackie, how long have you been back?” Natalie finally asked—only confusing Jackie more.

“Back? What do you mean? I only left the cabin because… well, you know why. And where is everyone? Why did they bury me? This joke isn’t funny. And where’s Shauna? I know we fought, but how could she let this happen?”

“Calm down, Jackie. One thing at a time, okay?”

Natalie breathed deeply. She needed to know where to start.

“So… the fight and you going outside—that’s the last thing you remember, right?”

Jackie nodded.

Natalie was still in disbelief. Had Misty drugged them again? If so, why hallucinate Jackie Taylor and not Javi or Coach Ben? She pinched Jackie—hard—and then pinched herself. She needed to be sure.

“Ow! That hurt, Natalie!” Jackie slapped her hand away.

“Forget it. Listen carefully to what I’m going to say, okay?”

Jackie nodded again, still rubbing her arm.

“You’re dead. Or… you were. And it’s been a long time—about a year. Maybe a little less.”

Jackie stared at her as if she were the crazy one.

“Nat, sweetheart… are you high? No—I woke up, I was alone for days, then you show up and the first thing you do is shoot at me, pinch me, and tell me I’ve been dead for almost a year.”

Natalie laughed a little—because the comment was so Jackie.

Natalie took a better look at her. She looked exactly as she remembered—honey blonde hair, big bug-like eyes, thin… but her skin was pale. Paler than usual.

“I’m serious. You really were dead.”

“B-but how?”

“Alright. I’ll tell you everything at once so we don’t waste time. It’s getting late.”

And so Natalie told her. She distorted some facts—like the part where they had eaten Jackie’s body. She said a large animal had been attracted to Jackie’s funeral pyre, and they killed it and ate it. She didn’t mention how Javi died, only that he was already dead when they found him. She told Jackie about the fire, about how the girls now hated Coach Ben, about Shauna losing her baby… but nothing about how Jackie remembered Shauna being a completely different person before. She also had to mention Shauna’s relationship with Melissa, which seemed to disturb Jackie more than expected.

“That’s basically what happened,” Natalie finished.

Jackie looked dazed, struggling to breathe.

Natalie approached her and tried to calm her down, telling her everything would be okay now.

“Listen… I can’t take you back to camp. Not like this. I can’t just show up with you out of nowhere—I don’t know how they’d react.”

Jackie just stood there, silent.

“I have to go now. It’s late—they’re probably worried. Take my jacket and this animal I hunted earlier. I’ll also light a fire for you.”

“Thank you, Natalie.” Jackie’s eyes were already full of tears.

“Don’t cry, Jackie. I promise I’ll figure something out.” Guilt still ate Natalie alive—over everything that had happened to Jackie.

She gave Jackie one last hug and left—without her jacket, without food.

______________________

Even though she had promised to fix everything, Natalie had no idea how to do it. Bringing Jackie back without explanation would only cause chaos—and Lottie would turn it into another one of her “visions.”

Near the camp, voices were already echoing. Another fight was happening—another mess waiting for her to break up.