Months went by. Much faster than I would've thought.
It was nearing the end of summer. Natalie had kept her promise. She got us through the winter. She kept us alive.
We never did find out who killed Ben, if anyone killed him. Instead, we were grateful that his body was able to get us through the last few months of winter.
We didn't freeze. Natalie found a way to insulate the cave with dead moss. We were all alive. For now.
Nat and I had been dating since I chose her, and it was the most beneficial decision I could have made. As always, Nat was right.
She would take me out on dates like she said she would. We went stargazing, she made up games using sticks and rocks. We told each other everything about our entire lives. She told me about her mom, what happened to her dad. She told me the good, the bad, the ugly, the devastating. And I did the same.
She took care of my stab wound which was now nearly healed. It was very visible, just as Van's scars were, but I felt so much better.
It was hard to be intimate with Nat in the winter, as we weren't able to bathe and clean ourselves as often. We all caught head ticks at one point in the spring.
But once the weather got warmer, we were able to use the lake again and Nat and I were finally able to be intimate. We would sneak off together and fuck in flower beds, on large rocks, anywhere we could. Once we were able to get clean, we couldn't keep our hands off each other.
But choosing Nat wasn't only good for me. It was good for the group. Nat was able to form her council. Nat and Tai worked really well together, surprisingly. If you told me that a year ago, I wouldn't have believed you.
Nat, Travis and Tai would hunt together and Tai would place markers in open areas, hoping that maybe we would find a family camping there or hunters. We never did.
Food was readily available now. We were eating good thanks to Nat and Travis. Travis and Tai were able to scavenge for berries and such, to switch up our all protein diet.
While they were gone, Van and I hung out. We became really close while our girlfriends and Travis were on hunting duties. We would make schedules for the girls to follow, doing chores, skinning the animals for clothes, etc. I noticed Van was getting colder though, she wasn't her usual happy-go-lucky self. But I did what I could to keep her entertained.
And of course, Nat kept her promise, Lottie was on the council.
We hadn't talked much in the last few months. When I first chose Nat, she wouldn't speak to me. I would hear her crying before she slept or whispering odd things to the Wilderness in french that I couldn't understand. She insisted to the council that we continue rituals with the animals so that the Wilderness continued to feed us and keep us alive.
Eventually, she would make eye contact with me during the rituals. She would offer me a smile every now and then.
She did her best to leave me alone, but she has came crying and panicking to me sometimes. I would hold her until she calmed down and she left me alone again. I would find her at the ashes of the cabin, on her knees whispering. I never interrupted her.
Shauna wasn't in the council. And she was angry.
But, of course, she couldn't hurt Nat without hurting me and backed off. She hasn't spoken to me since I chose Nat. She hasn't spoken much to anyone. She spent her time going on walks and skinning and cutting up the animals.
I'd been secretly reading her journals. She really missed me. She felt terrible. But mostly she was mad that Nat had me. She would beg to get pregnant again in her entries so that we could go back to how we were. In a few more entries she asked Jackie for help.
I hadn't seen visions of Jackie since Nat and I started dating.
After we had found a bigger cave when spring arrived, we were finally able to implement a plan for us all. The council would meet in the old cave every couple of days to update each other on everything happening and create schedules. At the end of each one, we'd perform a ritual by recutting a scar on all of our hands and letting it drip on the symbol Lottie carved in the ground.
The summer had brought us a lot of good, but also a lot of inconvenience. We had no sunscreen so all of our skin was peeling in burns. We would spend a lot of days in the lake cooling off. We were all sick from drinking so much water so that we wouldn't get dehydration. Our periods returned again. But we had food, we had a system, Nat and I had each other.
However, summer was ending. We could feel it in the air. It was becoming less humid, the wind was picking up, the leaves were browning, animals were starting to disappear again.
The sun was setting in hues of beautiful oranges and pinks. Nat and I were cuddled up on a cliff, watching the sun drown in the lake.
The sun's lights were golden on our faces. Nat's slate blue eyes glowed under the rays. I could see the peeling on the bridge of her nose and patches of burnt skin.
Her hair had almost completely turned back to its natural cocoa colour. She felt insecure about it, but I thought she was beautiful. The colour brought out her eyes, I told her.
"It's getting colder," Nat stated, her cheek pressed against the top of my head.
"I know," I told her, "but we did everything we could to prepare."
That was true. We had collected a lot of water to use to clean ourselves, saved a lot of meat and berries to eat when the snow came and made plenty of new clothes out of animal fur.
But it was coming up on a year since we've crashed. No one has come for us.
"I need us to survive another winter," she said.
"We will. You got us through the last one, you'll do it again," I assured her.
"We have to. I want us to get out of here so I can take you on a real date."
"What in your mind is a real date?"
"Taking you out to a stupid cheesy movie or to dinner or bowling or something. I'm getting sick of playing rock chess," she grinned.
"You seem like you'd suck at bowling," I giggled.
"What, you don't think I'm good with my wrist?" She smirked at me, lifting her head from where it was placed and kissed my hair.
"You asshole," I laughed and knocked her flat on her back, climbing on top of her.
The sun shone on her, her face golden in its luminescence. She gazed at me with adoring eyes. Natalie Scatorccio was heaven sent.
She cupped my jaw with her hands and pulled me in to kiss me.
Her lips were warm and inviting. They moved against mine the way a calm wave did to a shoreline.
The first time Nat and I kissed was exhilarating, rough and dangerous. When I kissed her now, it was gentle, adoring and everything I needed right now.
It was the way Lottie used to kiss me.
I didn't feel guilty about choosing Nat.
But I did feel guilty that I didn't choose Lottie.
Nat continued to kiss me, her knee pushing itself between my legs.
"Someone's in a mood," I muttered through our kissing.
"Is that okay with you?" She asked, moving her lips to my neck.
I gasped as she sucked on my skin, I could already feel a bruise forming. Her tongue flickered against my neck, causing me to shudder on her leg.
I moved myself up and down on her leg, rubbing to feel the sensations that Nat was able to give me without even touching me.
"Fuck, Nat," I whispered.
She went back to kissing my mouth, her tongue sweeping across my bottom lip. She gently bit the skin of my lip which made me buck against her thigh.
I was already close.
Natalie exerted some sort of power over me that I was so easily susceptible to. When she touched me, my whole body reacted in ways that couldn't be described. Nat knew me better than anyone else, physically and emotionally.
She knew me now just as Lottie did.
"Please, Nat," I pleaded.
She pushed herself up to meet me and guided me so that I was now on my back. She ran her hand down my torso and under my sweatpants. Her hand traced me all around, teasing me until she was satisfied with my frustration.
Natalie tenderly glided her fingers in. She curled them quickly but delicately.
"I love you Taylor," she murmured into my mouth and I squeezed my legs around her, shuddering as I finished so quickly.
"That didn't take long," she said, smugly.
"I love to be loved by you," I smiled.
She wiped her hand off and laid her head on my chest. We turned our heads so that we could see the sun setting.
"Your heartbeat is beautiful," she hummed.
"You've gotten so soft," I whispered back.
"Fuck you. You did this to me," she muttered, hugging my waist.
"And I'd do it again," I kissed the top of her hair.
"C'mon, we're gonna be late for the council meeting," she sat up and dusted off her pants.
"We can miss it this once can't we?" I groaned, joining her as I got to my feet.
"You know we can't. We can't take a chance on the Wilderness if we miss one."
Everyone had finally converted to the idea of the Wilderness. Maybe it was real, maybe it wasn't, but it kept us all in line, it kept us hopeful, it kept us going, the way God does to man.
She intertwined her fingers with my own and kissed my cheek.
"Come on, Thompson, let's go."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
The Scatorccio girl kissed me once before entering the cave. We walked in holding hands to Van, Tai and Lottie sitting in a circle.
Lottie stared at Nat and I's hands that were locked together. I felt a twinge of sorrow.
The cave was set up so that our council meetings were significant to the Wilderness and our survival. The symbol was carved in the middle of the cave floor and we always sat in a circle around it. It was stained red with our blood now.
Lottie's antlers from doomcoming were placed leaning against the wall. The deer bone from the sick deer last year laid with it as well, along with the bear skull and one of Javi's teeth.
"Took you long enough," Van rolled her eyes.
"They were taking their sweet time I bet," Tai smirked.
Lottie's eyes glued themselves to the floor.
I didn't regret choosing Natalie. Of course I didn't.
But Lottie. I'd always regret not choosing her.
"Very funny, asshole. Let's begin," Nat commanded, sitting cross legged on the ground.
Van handed Natalie a sheet of paper from Shauna's journal. It was a list of tasks with the team's names next to the chores that they'd have to complete by the end of the week. We gave up on using the cards. They were too traumatic.
"I don't have to warn you all that winter is coming up again," Natalie announced, "We're prepared, but I want us to have a well thought out planned by the time the snow falls."
"We'll insulate the walls with fresh moss and grass," Tai said, "we collected enough dry firewood for a lifetime."
"And the meat shed?"
"Mari is still trying to figure out a way to insulate and seal it so that wolves or bears won't try to get at it," Van replied.
"Good. And weapons? We're running lower on bullets quicker than I would've liked," Nat muttered.
"Akilah and Shauna were making spears today."
I winced at Shauna's name.
"Good. We'll set traps when the leaves start falling," Nat stated, "No one else is gonna die this winter."
"I don't know," Lottie responded in a hushed voice.
I looked over at her. As did everyone else.
"What is it Lottie?" Van asked.
"The Wilderness... It's changing... It's been without sacrifice for a long time..."
"Don't. We've been doing everything we can," Nat retorted.
"You told us to be prepared for anything Nat," Lottie looked between both Nat and I, her stare hardening, "things are gonna change this winter. Be ready for when they do."
Nat didn't want to hear anything else. She took out the hunting knife from her pocket and gestured for everyone to take out their hand.
We all reopened the same wounds we've been inflicting upon ourselves and drew blood over the symbol.
"We hear the Wilderness and It hears us," we said in unison.
I watched Lottie skeptically. I could feel what she was trying to say. Something was going to change this winter.
And it had to do with Natalie.
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this chapter was a bit of a filler to get the story moving, but there will be more nat/lottie/shauna and taylor content<3 thank you guys for reading!!!