-1996-
the sky was beautiful out there. there was no buildings casting large shadows. just trees. the wind made it cold in the mornings but the sun beaming down on everything made it warmer. cheryl thought that the air smelt nicer than back home, no smoke or large factory's for thousands of miles.
cheryl assumed her friends would be waking up soon so she snuck back into the cabin behind her. when she walked in she only saw laura lee was awake. she had a book in one had and the other rubbing her chin as she paced. taissa had told cherry that laura lee had suggested flying the old guys plane to find help. taissa convinced her not to of course.
'hi, lee.' she whispered. laura lee looked worried about somthing. 'laura lee?' she repeated, slowly sitting back by vanessa's side.
'morning cherry.. where were you? you didn't come back last night?' laura lee mumbled, her pacing had come to a stop. laura lee noticed cherry had gone. she thought it was very sweet.
'i was just sat on the porch for a few hours before everyone got up.. are you okay?' cheryl flashed her a small smile while she awaited an answer.
'i really need to say somthing... to everyone. i'm waiting for them to get up.' laura lee quivered. cheryl eyed the room of sleeping teens. laura lee sounded like she had been awake forever. she cleared her throat and began. 'i have an announcement.' while her attempted words were enough to stir a few girls, they where useless.
laura lee huffed and walked over to the front to a grabbed the spare axe. 'woah what are you doing?' cheryl whispered as she walked back to her original position. lee grabbed the chair of which she was sat on all night and began hitting it with the dull end of the blade, causing quiet the ruckus.
'hello?! hi?! good morning?!' she said raising her voice over the banging. sure enough her actions has woken the whole cabin within a few seconds. groans and swears were muttered as she threw the axe down on the ground next to her. 'thank you.in light on the expedition ending how it did.. i have decided i'm going to take the dead guys plane and fly south. i'm going to get us out of here.' her eyes full of determination and hope.
'wait your gonna fly?' lottie asked, fixing her think hair out of her face.
'you don't even know how.' natalie pointed out, emerging from the same covers as lottie and resting on her elbows.
'i've been studying the flight manual for weeks and i've check the tank it's full!' laura lee pleaded. trying to convince the girls it was the best shot they had. 'i used to watch my grandpa fly and he even let me steer dozens of times, i know what i'm doing. i can do it please.'
'your not serious?' jackie scoffed, pulling the blanket back over herself.
'deadly.' laura lee persisted.
'lee.. jax is right. did u ever stop to think of why dead guy didn't use the plane to leave himself? somthing has to be wrong with it.' cheryl added. van had woken up fully and sat with her head resting in cheryl's arm.
'trust me i've check that plane a hundred times nothings wrong!'
'cheryl's right! it's suicide.' mari added shaking her head. cheryl glanced over to allie who seemed awfully keen on laura lees plan.
'it's not the worst idea.' allie mumbled.
'no.. i actually think it's the worst idea.' tai piped up.
'you can't deny that van it's serious medical treatment! she might look fine now but infection could begin at any time!' laura lee made her final point. lottie looked at laura lee with such trust, loyalty. cheryl wondered if anyone looked at her like that.
'she's not the only one.' jackie declared with a smirk, making all the other girls stare at her. cheryl could feel shauna's heart miss a beat, did she tell jackie? taissa and cherry shared the same confused look and turned to shauna. 'shauna tell them.'
'i-i really don't know-' shauna stuttered. taissa was stuck between stepping in and stopping jackie or letting the two crack on. shauna needed to tell somebody. cheryl told her it was becoming noticeable.
'tell them.' jackie repeated. with a glimmer of pride in her eyes, as if she had just ruined shauna's life. 'or i will.'
'tell us what?' allie quizzed will her pillow in her lap.
whispers echoed the room.
'i'm..' shauna started. cheryl felt angry when shauna couldn't. 'i'm pregnant.' she admitted with a large huff.
cheryl creased her brows, cringing at everyone reactions. misty shot up and skipped over to shauna, who was stood in the door way to the attic. 'you were having sex?' mari almost sounded like she was laughing.
'gross.' javi spat from the corner. travis gave him a glance as if to say "shut the fuck up".
'how far along are you?' misty asked exited, while placing her hand on shauna's belly. she swatted her away.
'did you get knocked up here?' allie asked, turning to shauna. with that statement everyone turned to travis as he was the only man who was age appropriate in this cabin.
'allison!' cheryl hissed.
'what no!' shauna said, offended that allie even thought that she would go there.
'it dosent matter how it happened!' jackie's voice cut in again, almost threatening. 'all that matters is that we get them help!'
'alright can everyone just...' coach ben started, grabbing his crutches and standing up. he looked disappointed in laura lee for wanting to fly out. 'laura lee. you can't do this,it's not even close to safe!'
'there is no 'safe' anymore, coach.' she reminded. 'if i don't do this... we are all gonna fucking starve.' everyone's breath hitched when she swore. is this what it had come to?
'okay..' coach sighed. 'still i can't let you go out and do this.'
'what are you gonna do to stop me?' laura lee took a few steps closer, her chin held high. a while ago laura lee would have quivered in her shadow if coach ben ordered her around. now she was powerful. everyone sat around just staring. shocked.
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it was now coming up to midday.. the girls had tried numerous times to get laura lee to stay but there was no getting through to her. she was already packed and prepared to save them all.
van was too weak to walk so she couldn't sent laura lee off at the plane site, she had given her a hug and goodbye in the cabin. cheryl had offered to stay but can insisted that she went.
while she was walking to the plane. cheryl lagged behind a little bit. to take some space from the other bickering, when she noticed a strange craving in the tree. she knew allison and javi carved a lot of neat stuff out of wood so she assumed it was one of the two. it was oddly creepy. in the middle of nowhere.
cheryl watched as each person said there goodbyes, then it was her. 'i still think this is stupid.' she said, pulling laura lee into a tight hug.
'i know..' laura lee replied, cheryl couldn't make out her face. was she sad? was she ready? was she scared?
'it's not too late to change your mind...' cheryl pleaded.
'goodbye, cherry.' laura lee broke apart the hug and gave her a small smile, moving onto lottie. all was good until allison came skipping through the trees with a bag packed.
'i'm coming with you!' she said in a chirpy tone. laura lee pulled away from lottie and edged her eyes towards cheryl. a few other girls laughed at her statement.
'erm? no your not?' cheryl said shaking her head.
'why not! there's two seats.' allie protested. 'laura lee tell her it's okay.'
'i-' laura lee stuttered.
'laura lee. stop.' cheryl said. 'cause i said so. your not going so...'
'this is bullshit..' she moaned. allie dropped her bag and took a seat next to javi crisscross and her face in her hands.
'hey!' cheryl warned.
laura lee gave everyone one last smile before lottie helped her climb in the cockpit and passed her bag. as she went to close the door, coach bens crutch got in the way has he hopped over. 'laura lee.. you don't have to do this.' he practically begged the girl.
'yes i do.' was the last thing anyone had heard her say before the door slammed shut. they all took a few steps back. waiting for her to switch the engine on.
when she did everyone jumped. the leaves on the ground scattered as it shook as the plane slowly crept forward. its speed increasing every second.
the plane sped across the runway with the girls standing in awe behind it as it started to ascend.
'oh my god! she's doing it!' jackie exclaimed. all of the girls started to run after the plane while cheering. she was really going to save them all.
cheryl wished van was here to see this. the plane rose higher and and over the lake. everyone ran onto shore, waving there hands above their heads.
'what's that?' allie nudged akilah who was stood next to her hugging her teammates. akilah turned to look at what allie was suggesting.
'is that smoke?' jackie exclaimed. each one of them turned to look at the plane, which was leaving a large trail of black smoke behind it.
'what the fuc-!'
boom
cheryl's loud announcement was cut off by the plan exploding into a fiery cloud. a few girls had loud out startled yelps but everyone was stood wide eyed as large scraps of metal fell from the sky.
it was over. their last change of getting rescued, gone. laura lee, gone. she had only wanted to help and she died for it.
tears fell from everyone's eyes. some silent, some straight up sobs. lottie was distraught. sobbing and stumbling into the shallow water and dropping to her knees. cheryl took action and dragged herself over, dropping into the water herself and wrapping her arms around lotties upper body. nuzzling her chin into her neck as they both sadly sobbed. she took a small look around and saw everyone else doing the same thing. everyone was crying, but allie.
allie stood with sad bambi eyes, not shifting them off of the ground. cheryl was really glad she didn't let allison on the plane, if she had died cheryl could loose herself completely. javi saw the depressing girl and shuffled over, placing an arm around her offering a comforting hug.
moments went by. it was getting colder, especially in the water. they couldn't mourn on the sand forever. they had to go back and break the news the vanessa, who would have heard the explosion from a mile away. 'lottie..' cheryl said through dry cries. 'lot. we have to go.' cheryl rubbed her hands on lotties shoulders, pulling her up. they all solemnly walked back to the cabin.
stacking onto the cabins grounds with one less person than they had left with. one person that they would never see again. van had clearly heard the bang and was waiting on the porch, gripping onto the post to keep herself stable. she straightened her stance when she saw her friends emerging from the tree line. joy turned to dread once she read the expressions on there faces. especially cherry.
no words were spoken. there was no thought behind the situation at all. cheryl dragged her feet through the dirt, up the rotting stairs and fell into vans arms. tears staining the collar of her shirt. eventually taissa joined them, and then allison and natalie. everyone was hugging everyone again.
the sun set earlier than normal. food was becoming scarce and it was no longer 'shorts and lakes' weather. everyone sat in silence. cheryl sat by the fireplace, allie asleep with her head in her lap. and misty braiding her hair. the girls were desperate for some sort of comfort in this moment.
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i miss laura lee sm <\3
i'm trying to make cheryl interact with everyone as much as possible.
i'm also going to ask again can you guys please vote and comment! season two is coming up and i don't think you'll wanna miss it.
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