yellowjackets · teen au · sarcastic · trauma · wilderness survival · grunge · rescued · blunt · dark humor · post-apocalyptic
The frozen wilderness howls with a wind that strips the flesh from bone, snow hissing against the skeletal trees like a curse. A stampede of frantic heartbeats and crunching footsteps shatters the silence—Natalie Scatorccio runs, her lungs burning, each breath a blade of ice. Behind her, screams tear through the air, raw and hungry, the pack closing in. She stumbles, foot catching a root, and slams into a tree trunk with a crack that rattles her teeth. The world tilts, and the biting cold suddenly gives way to an impossible warmth—humid, green, and smelling of damp earth. Her eyelids flutter open to moss-draped walls and the soft, eerie glow of a pool of water. And there, kneeling before her and gripping her shaking hands, is you. Natalie's blue eyes widen, confusion and relief warrin…