HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER SIXTY TWO !

WITH LITTLE TO DO, Nola quietly busied herself with tidying up the hut she shared with Shauna. Folding blankets and gathering them up in the corner, collecting the strayed leaves that had managed to sweep inside during that big gust of wind that settled over the village the night prior, seeping into their bones and at last beginning their preparations into spending another winter living amongst the trees.

            As she finished up her relatively meaningless task, her senses were suddenly overloaded by the sound on stomping feet and a meek little call of, "Shauna, wait."

            "What's going on?" She then asked as soon as the assaults of her senses came storming into the hut, her brows furrowed with concern at why Shauna looked so mad and Melissa seemed so timid.

            Now was a time for being happy, not angry or scared. They were staying back after all, finally allowing themselves to truly give themselves over to the Wilderness to thank It for having kept them alive for so long.

Shauna paid Nola's question no mind. She couldn't stop herself from being consumed with anger. What she had seen, heard, it made her sick. Melissa had following Nola around like a love sick puppy for quite some time now, hanging on to every word that jumped from her tongue, prophetic or not, and yet there she was, chatting so casually with that stranger. Laughing!

"What were you two giggling about?" The Shipman girl sneered as she threw the jab over her shoulder, refusing to look at the blonde.

Melissa awkwardly fiddled with the dirtied pink hat sat atop her head, her nails scratching at her scalp as her shoulders shrugged. "Nothing. Stupid stuff. Why?" She asked, sharing a glance with Nola.

"You and that woman?" Nola inquired cautiously, hoping that the girl wasn't allowing herself to be sucked into whatever falsehoods that stranger offered her. She lowly sighed, disappointment gracing her face as she breathed out, "Melissa."

Shauna spun on her heel suddenly, her eyes wide, jaw tight as irritation began to ooze its way into her very being. "Don't you know how dumb it is to get close to her? She's just using you to try to escape."

"And what?" Melissa retorted with a breathy chuckle. "You think she makes a joke and I'm like 'you're hilarious. Here's your freedom'?"

Concern caused the crease between Nola's brows to deepen even further. Her lips were twisted into a frown, the girl unable to shake the belief that Melissa had been converted, morphed into someone willing to leave the Wilderness.

Her arms crossed over her chest, her hands seeking warmth from under her arms as she asked, "What'd she say to you?"

Melissa appeared hesitant. "Nothing." Her usually forthcoming voice faltered briefly before she muttered, "It just...she has a kid. Back home."

A laugh of disbelief filled the cosy little hut. "Don't tell me you actually believe that." Nola stared over at the blonde like she had grown a second head. Surely not. Surely Melissa wasn't that gullible.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Shauna was quick to answer for Nola. "She just wants you to feel bad for her, she's manipulating you."

Melissa frowned at the pair. Her head shook as she carried on speaking. "I don't think that she is. And yeah, I do feel kinda bad." She quite boldly admitted. A sadness overtook her as she then sympathetically uttered, "She must really miss her."

The Shipman girl scoffed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I'm glad you have so much sympathy for her." She sneered.

She was already on the fence with Melissa, forcing herself to ignore how sudden her interest in following Nola had appeared, but now she was really pissed off. She was acting like a fucking idiot, allowing herself to feel sorry for someone who was probably playing her from the moment she stepped foot inside the animal pen.

"This isn't a competition, Shauna."

"I know. I just—" Shauna laughed, she actually laughed at the blonde. "Well, I didn't think you were this fucking stupid."

That appeared to be the last straw for the blonde whose jaw tightened at Shauna's hurtful words. Instead of staying around and allowing herself to be further insulted, Melissa spared neither girl a single glance as she spun on her heel and made for the exit, brushing back the animal pelt used as a makeshift door as she went.

            "Hey, Melissa!" Shauna bellowed as she raced after the fleeing blonde, her feet stomping against the ground that was beginning to harden as winter approached. Her eyes were ablaze with fury as she snapped, "We're not done talking to you."

"See how much I care?" Melissa called behind her shoulder, refusing to glance back and give either another moment of her time.

            By now, as Nola slowly inched her way outside the hut, the rifle in hand, the growing altercation had roused up a crowd. Anyone already outside was gawking on at the fight while others rushed from their own huts, eager to lay eyes on the commotion.

            With bared teeth, like that of a wolf defending itself against a bigger predator, the Shipman girl snarled at Melissa. "You think you're important? No one gave a shit about you before her." Anger had been furiously stitched into each word that punched past her cracked lips.

            Melissa's feet came to a stop. The leaves beneath her feet crunched loudly, echoing in the heavy silence, tension so thick that it pressed against each and every single throat, rendering them unable to speak as they watched on while Melissa was accosted.

            Like the long hand of a clock, Melissa slowly turned until she faced the person whose words still echoed in the wind. Her voice croaked as she quietly asked, "Why can't you just be a nice person?"

            A sick feeling overcame Nola as she became forced to understand what had been going on. In just a few short minutes Hannah had managed to get into Melissa's head, convinced her that going back home was still an option, and now they were close to losing someone thanks to that strangers interference. She slowly stepped forward, careful not to apply too much weight on her still healing leg, an expression of what could only be described as caring, as kind and warm, etched to her face.

            "Melissa, don't do this. Don't let yourself be manipulated. Do you honestly think she—" her hand rose up to point over at the woman who was the cause of all this bother, who stood observing them all as discord began to be sewn. "actually wants to be your friend?"

            A slight shake of her head followed. Her voice was saccharine sweet as she carried on speaking, "You can't save her, Melissa. You can't save anyone."

            'No one needed saving' went without saying for Nola.

            Melissa scoffed at her words, at herself for ever having listened to a single thing the Rilke girl had said. Her eyes darted around to the onlookers, to the faces of Natalie, of Taissa and Van, to the JV squad and Mari. They all stared intensely at the back and forth, soaking up the sight and internally wondering if Melissa would fall back in line.

            "You guys are right. They're both fucking nuts." The blonde called out of the others, echoing the previous words uttered by the group when Nola and Shauna had prevented them all from seeking rescue.

             Shauna didn't even have to use her strength to wrench the rifle from Nola's grip. It was as if she wanted Shauna to seize the weapon. In the blink of an eye, the gun had found a home in Shauna's grip, her ferocious gaze staring down the barrel as she practically begged for Melissa to cross her again. "Say that again."

"Come on, Shauna." Taissa sighed in annoyance. She didn't believe that Shauna truly had it in her to pull that trigger, thus her annoyance at the situation. It was all just one big song and dance, a display of high strung emotion that was getting out of hand.

Natalie, though she refused to step forward lest she find herself on the receiving end of the gun she once wielded like a pro, didn't hesitate to at least angrily yell, "Put the gun down!"

"Nola, for fuck sake, stop her!" Van cried out, her teeth chattering from panic as she pleaded for Nola to be a leader and reign in her girlfriend before someone got hurt.

Melissa's face hardened. Her stomach was in knots, twisting and turning and keeping pacing with her racing heart. She refused to show fear though. Instead she steadied herself and uttered, "I fucking dare you."

In a way, Nola found herself in two minds. On one hand, they had all been practically tripping over their feet to leave the Wilderness behind despite all It had done for them, ready to leave the lives they had built, the people they had grown into out there. And part of her was angry at them for it. She hated how blind they had all become and selfish they all acted.

To take from the Wilderness and not expect It to want something in return was astounding.

They had all been warned before. They'd seen what would happen if they dared to leave before It was ready to let them go. Van had been mauled to death before almost being set alight as air still filled her lungs. Laura Lee had went up in a fiery explosion when she tried to flee using the cabin guys plane.

But now they wanted her to help, despite the looks they had sent her way, the words of anger and hatred whispered under their breathes as if she were deaf to their voices. She'd done her part, she'd played along when Natalie had been leader. Not once did she step out of line and now that was all she asked of them. Simply respect the authority that she had been gifted by the Wilderness.

And though she felt the tug of conflicting feelings deep within her gut, she ultimately chose to follow where It led her.

"Shauna." She quietly spoke, her gentle but firm gaze imploring the brunette to set aside her anger as their eyes met.

The tip of Shauna's index finger caressed along the trigger as her tongue darted out and moistened her weathered lips. She too felt conflicted. The desire to right someone who had wronged her, wronged Nola, was quickly blossoming inside of her. For too long the others had been oscillating back and forth between being a true believer and calling out the ridiculousness that was whatever Lottie and Nola spoke of.

And although she wasn't didn't have the strongest faith in The Wilderness, she did have faith in Nola, in what she could do. After all, how many times had she been right about what she'd been able to hear?

            There was a blink and you'll miss it moment, but just as Shauna pulled the trigger and the gun ricocheted back, the brunette had actually listened to her girlfriend and veered the rifle's barrel away from the posturing blonde, sending the firing bullet gliding past Melissa and into the trunk of a tree not to far behind her. The shot rang out, loudly reverberating in the trees, ripping gasps of shock and terror from the girls that surrounded them, and forcing tears to well up on Melissa's eyes.

            The bravado she once possessed leached from her body like a vacuum, leaving behind a wobbly kneed, snivelling Melissa who was too paralysed with terror to feel the warmth of urine trailing down her leg and soaking the legs of her pants. It wasn't until Van came rushing over and grabbed hold of the jacket in Melissa's grip to help block off the sight, did the blonde finally realise what had happened to her.

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THE CHILL OF NIGHT seeped into everyone's bones, staved off only by the warmth that came from the blankets they had saved way back when the cabin, their home, had been caught up in a dangerous storm of fiery embers, ash being all that was left behind in it's wake. The sun was fading from the sky faster every day. Undeniably proof that winter was closing in.

Shauna had found herself unable to sleep. The once cozy sound of Nola's faint breaths as she slept no longer lulled the Shipman girl into her own slumber. Instead she simply just lay there, burrowed under the blankets, her legs tangled up with Nola's as the girl's face was pressed against her girlfriends neck. The gentle thrum of Shauna's pulse had been all she needed to successfully fall asleep, unaware she was leaving a restless Shauna behind.

            That clump of hair that had ripped straight from Hannah's scalp and found its way into Shauna's possession now twirled between her fingers, weaving through her fingers while she shuffled about to get more comfortable, her eyes glazed over as she stared at the small cracks above in the hut's structure. The faintest glimmer of moonlight seeped in, filling the space with this pale glow.

            "Can't sleep?" Whispered a voice from beside her. Shauna jolted only a little, though not at the sound of Nola's voice but at the tickling sensation that travelled up her neck as her voice came out muffled, her lips pressed against her neck.

             Shauna sighed. "Not really." She admitted with a frown. With her free hand, she pushed herself up until her body slightly leaned over Nola's. "This shit with everyone else is so exhausting. Why can't it just be you and me?"

            "It'd get pretty lonely after a while." Nola replied back with a chuckle.

             Shauna could only shrug and quietly mutter, "I don't think so."

             She carried on twisting the hair, until before she knew it, she was flattening it out and laying it flat against Nola's torso as if trying to see something. An image was trying to take shape, trying to form within Shauna's brain as she lay the flowing lock of hair up against Nola's body.

The girl in question couldn't help but shoot her a grin, her voice on the verge of laughter as she asked, "What are you doing?"

No answer came. Shauna's hands fell away, tumbling into her own lap as she finally spoke her reason for not sleeping. "I've got this strange feeling. Something seems wrong." Her voice was low, her gaze shifty. Part of her felt like someone was going to try something, something that could ruin what they had going for them.

Her knuckles turned pale white as her hands clenched into fists, the hair tangling up in her cracking fingers.

            "Do you think those people might try something? Like they might try to escape?" Nola asked, half curious, half uneasy. She didn't trust those strangers, that wasn't a secret. But seeing Melissa so easily accept her lies lead Nola to become worried that the others might fall for the same trick.

Shauna didn't answer. She didn't have to. The two girls eyes met and they just knew. If they were both thinking it then surely there was some truth, some reason behind why they shared the same opinion. Wordlessly the pair got to their feet, the blankets falling into a pile on the bed, Nola grabbing hold of the rifle and off they went, pushing past the hanging fox pelt. A cursory look around wouldn't hurt, if only to put their worrying minds at ease.

They moved through the village, moving past everyone else's huts on their way to the animal pen, unaware that many of them lacked the girls who slept inside. The glow from the lit torches cascaded against the dirt, lighting up their path as they trudged forward.

Vindication swarmed their veins when they stepped up to the pen, their eyes falling upon Hannah and Kodi, both free from their roped confines and ready to make an escape.

            "I fucking knew it." Shauna grunted in success, glaring over at the pair as she grabbed hold of the rifle from Nola's grip and aimed.

  Neither missed the presence of the knife held tightly in Hannah's trembling hand. "Who gave you the knife?"

Hannah's entire body shook with fear. Her heart pounded like a stampede of elephants. Her voice got trapped in her throat, not that it mattered, she had no idea what to say. Did she risk telling the truth and hope she was left alive for her honesty or did she lie? Would Kodi take charge and tell the foreboding duo some half truth before she could find her voice?

"Tell us and we won't hurt you." Nola spoke up, ignoring Kodi entirely and only looking over at Hannah. Her voice was soft, gentle and kind as she very thinly threatened, "You wanna go home and see that kid of yours, don't you?"

Without a second thought, Hannah gestured behind her, her voice wavering and cracking as she lied and said, "It was Kodi. He got the knife."

Kodi's eyes narrowed into a rage filled glare. "You lying fucking cunt!" He sneered at the woman stood before him, spit jumping from his mouth as he enunciated each word, leaping like venom.

A sense of self preservation washed over Hannah. In this moment she realised it was either him or her, and no way in fucking hell was she going to die because of him or for him. In a snap decision, she whipped around, fist clenched tightly around the knife and slammed the blade right into his eye socket, shocking both Nola and Shauna at her sudden shift in attitude.

His body fell to the grassy floor with a resounding thud. The woman stepped towards him slowly, her body gradually leaning down to retrieve the knife. As her fingers wrapped around the handle once more, she gave a sharp, quick tug, ignoring the squelch that followed as Kodi's eyeball began to split in two and ooze out the flesh from within.

A desperate yearning for surviving ripped through the woman as she turned on her heel and stared over at the pair who stood observing her, trying to figure out her next move. Her hand was extended out, fingers flat and to the sky as the bloodied knife lay in her palm. An offering to the two girls, to the leader of whatever the fuck she had found herself in. Her voice was surprisingly strong as she uttered, "Please."

"I wanna be part of this."

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author's thoughts.
chapter sixty-two, not proofread
Hannah is officially playing the long game and trying to stay alive by being a follower of Nola and also Shauna in a way cause they rarely part. I'm going to be honest, I hate this fic now because nothing I'm writing fits the plot I wanted but anyway hope you enjoyed it and please don't be a ghost reader, I need interaction to live! also I like knowing peoples opinions lol