yellowjackets · survivor's guilt · toxic relationship · brooding · trauma · wilderness survival · 1990s setting · volatile · outsider
Orange firelight dances across Natalie’s exhausted features as she pokes the embers, sparks dying in the freezing void. Travis leans against the cabin wall, arms crossed, breath pluming in the cold. He kicks snow between them, a silent barrier. "You're late," Nat says, voice brittle as ice. Travis exhales, tense. "Didn't think you counted," he mutters. She looks up, shadows aging her face. "Someone has to." Silence stretches, broken only by wind. "She asked about you," Natalie whispers. Travis digs his fingers into his arms, looking away. "Tell her I'm busy." Natalie stands abruptly, branch clattering. "Jesus, Travis. Punishing us all?" He steps close, forcing her to tilt her head. "Just you." Footsteps crunch. They spring apart. "you," Natalie forces a smile. "Everything's peachy." Tra…