HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR !

            WITH NICE, FULL BELLIES and the warmth that emitted from the fireplace, the group were able to relax knowing they'd live to see another day. Though feelings of guilt over Javi still lingered, causing many to choke back an apology each time they glanced Travis' way and caught a glimpse of his crestfallen face, they knew Javi had made the ultimate sacrifice and he had saved them all.

            They all lay together before the fire, heads pressed to their pillows while blankets were thrown over their bodies. Huddled together to keep the heat from departing their bodies.

            "Lottie!" They suddenly all heard Shauna exclaim.

            Joyous expressions graced their faces at the sight of Lottie as they all turned to face towards the door that led to the attic. Stood there was Lottie. A still heavily bruised, cut up and limping Lottie but she was walking by herself, not needing Mari or Misty by her side to move about. That was something to be happy about. She'd managed to make it all the way down the ladder by herself which was just short of a miracle since she'd been peeing up blood just days prior. Though she still had a ways to go before she'd be fully healed, there was no doubt The Wilderness had a hand in healing her.

           They all rushed to their double sock clad feet, moving towards her with relief. Many wrapped their arms around her, pulling her into an embrace to welcome her back down to them all while the rest just stood back and looked on at her in rapture of her miraculous recovery.

            Before long, they all found themselves gathered before the fire once again though now with Lottie by their side. The burning embers cracked and popped, filling the air with a mass of dancing flames. The groups mood was significantly higher than it had been that morning.

           "Hey, Van. Could you tell us a story?" Akilah asked all of a sudden, an innocent little grin upon her lips. "Maybe 'The truth about cats and dogs?"

           "Or 'While you were sleeping' again?" Gen suggested. This suggestion had those who had gone on the expedition to find salvation where Van would inevitably get attacked by wolves to harken to the moment the Palmer girl explained the entire plot to them. This brought a smile to Nola's face as she remembered it so clearly.

            Melissa shook her head. That's not want she wanted to hear. No, she wanted, "The Princess Bride." as she so desperately pleaded.

            Van, who sat comfortably in a chair next to the fire, allowed a smile grin to grace her lips. "What about something you haven't heard before?" She proposed to the group, leaving them all curious on what story she had up her sleeve.

            They all settled in, making sure they were wrapped up tight, all warm and toasty just as Van took a steady breath and began. "Once upon a time, there was a place called The Wilderness. It was beautiful and full of life. But it was also lonely and violent, and misunderstood. So one day, The Wilderness built a house."

           This story was the most familiar thing they'd heard. It was comforting the way in which she humanised The Wilderness. Explained its purpose and the meaning behind all that it was.

            "It waited. Summers came. Winters came—"

            Her compelling way with words was swiftly cut off. "I never wanted to be in charge." Lottie sounded so sad as she spoke. Her words caused everyone to glance her way, confusion sparking in their gaze. Lottie kept her own eyes trained on the floor as she continued, "It chose me, I think, because—"

She cut herself off as she brought her eyes up, looking across the room at Nola. Everyone else followed her gaze as Lottie began to speak once again. "Because I was the only one who was willing to listen. But I can't hear it anymore."

Her words seemed so sudden. So out of place. She had once taken being their leader in stride but now all of a sudden she hadn't wanted it? That didn't make sense. "I think that's because it doesn't need me anymore. You all learned how to feel it. Maybe what it wants from us now is a leader who can help us survive for the rest of the time we're out here. And that isn't me."

"Lottie, no." Van breathed out. She couldn't believe her ears. Surely not. Lottie had to keep leading them. She just had to. They needed her.

Mari nodded her head in agreement with Van's brief exclamation. "You're wrong. We need you." She uttered insistently.

"The Wilderness chose who fed us." Lottie continued on, ignoring the naysaying from the group who had grown shocked at her admission of no longer hearing The Wilderness. Without a second thought, the young, broken girl rose to her feet. "It's already chosen who should lead us."

For a fleeting, blink and you'll miss it moment, Nola was sure Lottie was headed her way. Her feet were pointed directly at the brunette as though she was about to step towards her, which caused an uncontrollable smile to begin forming. However, Lottie apparently hadn't been charting a path towards her and instead veered away and towards—

            "Natalie."

            No.

            No, Lottie had been coming to her. She was sure of it. This didn't make sense. Why would she choose Natalie? What could The Wilderness possibly want with her? She was the one it had spoken to first. Nola had been the one to endure the pain. The headaches and the fear. Natalie had been adamant it hadn't even existed, why would it want her? What good would she do? She was blind to its ways, deaf to its voice.

She had been so completely wrapped up in her own gripes with the situation that she had completely missed the hopeful looks falling away from both Misty and Shauna's faces. Both of whom had believed themselves worth of the title of leader. Not in Lottie's book, that's for sure.

Everyone else looked on in absolute shock. Lottie paid them no mind as she moved another step closer to the dumbfounded blonde. "How else do we explain what happened out there?" She smiled an almost apologetic smile. "We tried to kill you and it wouldn't let us."

Deep down inside, Lottie knew. Nola wasn't fit to lead them yet. It had been her idea to leave their fate up to the cards and while a good idea in theory, she should have stopped them from allowing Javi to take Natalie's place. She should had led them down another path.

            To prove her newfound fealty to the blonde before her, Lottie reached out and gripped Natalie's hand in her own. With just a light tug, she managed to coax Natalie from her chair and to her feet. She looked incredibly choked up, clearly swallowing back a confused whimper as a tears welled up in her eyes. Lottie then proceeded to bow before Natalie, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand as a sign of respect and official recognition of Natalie's new role of leader.

            Natalie looked at her in utter disbelief, letting a shocked sigh trickle past her lips. As Lottie rose back up, she allowed only the briefest of smiles to grace her lips before it faded away, as did she. Once off to the side and out of the way, the others began to quickly follow in Lottie's footsteps.

            Slowly, one-by-one, each of them proceeded to walk towards her, each showing their own sign of loyalty to their newest leader. From a press of her forehead to the back of Natalie's hand from Gen to a tip of the head from Mari. From a curtsey from Akilah to the removal her hat from Melissa. There was a dramatic, chuckle inducing fall to her knees from Misty and there was gentle press of Natalie's hand to her cheek from Van.

            Taissa just held her hand, clutching it firmly to show her acceptance while Travis pressed the blondes hand to his chest, allowing her to feel the way in which his body now breathed for her. Stevie was different than the others and had offered up the wolves teeth she had pulled all those months ago, allowing Natalie to take them and pocket them for herself.

           Shauna stepped forward, second to last. It looked like it pained her to do this. Clearly unable to claim her own sign of respect, she chose to instead opt for the simply bow of the head, much like Mari's. When she looked back up however, the smallest of smiles, tight-lipped as ever formed as she met Natalie's eye.

           Nola was last. She'd taken much of the time to gather her thoughts. Though it bothered her greatly that Natalie had been chosen to lead for whatever reason, she knew expressing this opinion would do her no good. Everyone had already accepted Natalie as their new leader. Who knows how they'd react to her calling bullshit.

           Everyone watched on with invested interest as Nola reached out a hand and daintily brushed aside an errant strand of hair that had settled upon Natalie's forehead. Then without a second thought, she tipped herself forward until her lips gently pressed against the middle of the Scatorccio girl's forehead. She lingered for only a moment before pulling back but it was enough to prove that despite the betrayal she felt, she'd follow Natalie's command until she was no longer able to carry forward.

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THE TIME TO SLEEP had long since passed. Everyone else had quickly drifted off into a deep slumber, each of them exhausted from the days events. Nola however had waited until they'd all passed out before removing her blanket and heading for the attic.

"Nola." The sudden whisper of her name had the Rilke girl quickly glancing back only to see Shauna peeling back her own blanket and following behind.

The two girls softly climbed to the attic. Once there, not a word was uttered between the two. Instead they both chose to go to different corners, each seething from resentment. Each believing they should have been chosen. Shauna had procured her journal from wherever she had taken to hiding it after Jackie had found it and read it and Nola simply fell to the floor, legs crossed, furrowed brows and a frown on her face.

            Shauna's aggressive scratches of her pencil to paper filled the quiet that settled amongst them. Nola remained well and truly pissed off. She wished now that she'd said something. Protesting when Lottie claimed Natalie as her successor. A big part of her wished this but an even bigger part knew she'd done right in staying quiet.

            She knew to bide her time. To bite her tongue. Sooner or later they all would realise that if any of them should be leader, it was her. She would be the one to help guide them through the horrors that awaited them, not Natalie. They'd all see it once Natalie crumbled under the pressure.

            She'd been too focused on her own feelings she hadn't taken notice to the sudden lift of Shauna's head. The young girl set her pencil and journal to her lap as she curiously sniffed the air. Nola finally looked up once Shauna rushed to her feet, heading for the entrance to the attic and peered down.

            "Guys, wake up!" Shauna screamed.

            It was only then that Nola finally managed to smell it. Smoke. And it was growing fast, getting stronger by the second. She too jumped to her feet as Shauna began hastily looking around for things to grab and take with her to safety. She grabbed her journals, everything that was in her bag and even went back for Jackie's dress which she tossed over her shoulder.

            Nola headed down first, her feet pounding heavily on the ground as she rushed towards the group. She immediately shook their shoulders, rousing them violently from their sleep and forcing them to endure their very fiery reality. They all jumped up, panicked at the sight of flames growing bigger just outside the door. They stumbled about, fumbling for their shoes. Grabbing at their pillows and blankets. Pots and pans. All their weapons. Everything they needed to save from becoming engulfed in flames ran through their minds as the windows suddenly broke open with a bang, sending glass in at them.

           A mix of panicked screams and terrified cries filled the hot air. While the others continued to grab their stuff, Natalie headed for the door, pawing at the metal handle only to recoil back in agony. The metal had grown searing hot, burning her hand and causing her to hiss in pain. She quickly wrapped her sleeve around her hand before attempting to pull it open again. "It's stuck! Guys, it's stuck!" She bellowed. No matter how hard she pulled, it refused to give way.

            This caused Van to appear by her side. Without a second thought the redhead began kicking at the door, though the whacks of her food did little to move the door. Finally, as the realisation of both doors to the cabin refusing to open, Taissa grabbed hold of one of their axes and just began hitting the wood with all of her might. Bang after bang, the wood began to finally part, revealing the terror that was the snow they'd inevitably be stuck living in.

           Everyone quickly grabbed their blankets and tossed them over their heads. "Come on, let's go!" Van commanded of the group as she and Taissa began ushering them out of the flame engulfed cabin, one-by-one.

           They all now stood outside on that freezing cold night, their feet buried in the deep in the snow. With trembling breaths, they watched as flames consumed the cabin they had once called home. The fiery inferno flickered wildly in the air, heating their cheeks as tears cascaded down their ash smeared faces. Terror of a winter without shelter washed over them.

            They tried their best to remember the heat, savouring it for they knew it was not to last. Soon it would become an old, forgotten memory.

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jamielee's thoughts
chapter forty four, not proofread
lads final chapter of season 2! This is so insane to me. Forty four chapters and for only two seasons is wild. anyway yeah I think some people thought I'd made Nola the new leader instead of Natalie but honestly once Lottie found out that Nola had allowed the group to kill javi, she was never going to choose her even if the wilderness had chosen her.

So question, did anyone else believe that Lottie was lying when she said she couldn't heard it anymore? It just seemed like she hated being the leader and wanted to pass it off to someone else. If that is true, then did she purposely choose Natalie herself?

Anyway, please comment your theories for season 3 and I hope you enjoyed :)