MY SOUL TO KEEP - YELLOWJACKETS

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN — STILL GONE

Isabelle stared numbly at the floor as Shauna approached her with a plate of cooked grubs. "Here," she said, attempting to hand the sophomore the plate, but she didn't move. Shauna glanced behind her and sighed after setting the plate in front of Isabelle. "At least say something."

     "Come on," Melissa said, moving closer to the Davis girl. "Belle, you have to eat."

     "Why does she? Why does it even matter at this point?" Jackie voiced from her spot in front of the fire. She wasn't eating either, but at least she was talking. Isabelle glanced at her, still with the thousand-yard stare that creeped the team captain out.

      "You're not fucking helping, Jackie," Gen said, glaring at the team captain with a sort of hate that wasn't there before.

     "Okay, I can't do this anymore," Mari declared before Jackie could start arguing with Gen as the Perez girl placed her bowl of grubs on the floor and stood. She walked over to the pantry, grabbing a large mason jar of a red liquid.

     "What is that?" Coach Scott wondered.

     "It was some berries I was trying to save, but... I think it might've turned into booze?" she guessed as she opened it. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use a drink."

     "Do we think it's safe?" Taissa asked.

     "Do we care?" Coach said. If Isabelle was coherent, she would have laughed at his question or stared at him with an incredulous look. He was the adult. What the fuck was he saying?

     Then again, they all accepted that they would die soon. Coach Scott didn't have to care about what they did, and he obviously didn't. A soccer team of teenagers drunk off old berries was the least of his worries. Isabelle wondered if he thought about his death. Would he die of starvation or an animal attack like Van almost did?

     How would she die? Would she see her mother before her death or after?

     What was after death? Was it really Heaven or just... nothing? What did nothing even look like?

     "I have a few more," Mari added with a shrug.

     After a few seconds of silence, Jackie said, "If we have booze, let's have a party."

     "Yeah. 'Cause we've got so much to celebrate," Taissa agreed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

     "Do we need a reason?" The team captain smiled grimly. "We're gonna be dead in a few weeks."

     "There's gonna be a full moon tomorrow night," Misty voiced.

     "And it's almost homecoming," Akilah added.

     "We packed dresses, right?" Lottie asked. "For the awards dinner?"

     "There we go," Jackie said. "We have dresses, we have booze. We can decorate. Have a sort of... moon homecoming."

     "More like a doom homecoming," Taissa joked as Natalie chuckled. Van suddenly stood from her spot on the bed and quickly walked out of the cabin.

     "A doomcoming," Lottie suggested with a raise of her eyebrows. Isabelle quickly stood, grabbed her sketchbook and pencil, and walked outside, ignoring her friends' stares as she slammed the door.