tovah & zaire, atlvntida.
. ✧ . * . ˚ TO PUT IT LIGHTLY, HE PANICKED. it wasn’t a question that he would have preferred to stay home. he fell out of the friend group after growing up and gaining a level of self respect , but another part of him wanted to come back just for reference. does that mean he doesn’t want to be somewhat masochistic ? maybe. though , something felt incredibly wrong ever since he got the invite to ohio ( yeah, yippie ) . he was always the mediator of the group , the guy who told everyone to grow the fuck up and get their shit together.
so when zaire feels his heart racing as he speeds down slopes of sleet , he is in full flight mode. nothing can stop him from running after that . he turned around to see that he was alone , then he felt as though he was being watched. then he felt as though he was being chased . zaire heard someone’s call for help and turned around to a loud screech before he fell down and lost his flashlight during the scramble to get back up. he knocked on the park ranger’s door with urgency , “ hey! hey! open up, please! hurry up! god, fuck — please !! ” he was panting as he rushed in , immediately looking over his shoulder and haphazardly explaining what little he could put together after hearing a terrifying C R U N C H of metal. “ look — something chased me down , my friend’s — I have no idea where the fuck he went and I just — something’s wrong. I heard someth— ”
while the ranger’s voice was calming , he couldn’t process what she was saying. back to town ? zaire furrowed his brows and shook his head in frustration. “ I’m sorry , you want me to what ? no , no you don’t understand. something was fucking chasing me and nobody at the house knows where we are. he screamed for help and then I got chased — that’s not something that can wait. ” he was eminent in explaining during his attempt to follow her as she got her shotgun and headed back outside. the adrenaline and panic set him apart from realizing that there was a gash on his side and cuts all over his cheeks and hands from falling and racing through rigid twigs. his hands shook and his spine was incredibly stiff , but when he saw what was left of the jeep — he completely froze .
for the first time in this entire interaction , zaire lowered his voice and let out the sound of a plea. “ please , please tell me you’re not the only ranger here. ”
the singular purpose of being the solitary park ranger of the crescent lake national park was for noting to happen. tovah genuinely preferred noting to anything else: the solemnity of the woods, the ambiance of sounds that people paid for apps to recreate just so they could call asleep at night, and the lack of people. she could predict what her days would be like and she could hide from the guilt she had about her brother or the guilt her parents buried deep down and only let out in gasping sobs when they thought they were alone in the house. the woods were lovely dark and deep; she would disappear into them forever if she thought she could’ve.
the urgency in the man’s voice gets her, but she’s also been fooled before. how many kids had disappeared in the area and just been sneaking off for a tryst? still, even if his friends were just fine, they could easily get lost in the woods. that was as deadly in some cases as whatever this guy was certain had happened to them and so that was enough for tovah to respond seriously. fighting off the urge to tell him to quiet down, she could feel her own heart quickening at the emotion of his words. he was tense and frightened and it was up to her to calm him down--something she was somewhat practiced in, but had not come naturally to her having been the misanthrope she was. “something chasing you?” she asked him dubiously, brows furrowed in contemplation. “like a bear or a cougar or something?” that was enough to get someone real frightened and--if it had attacked his group, that was not a good sign for his friends.
steadying her breath so as not to frighten her companion, tovah’s lips remained a thin, tight line and her exhalation through her nose was audible and sharp. they were so fucked if some animal had attacked this guy and his pals. she couldn’t help thinking of what happened to her brother and, though this was the work of some great animal and not some horrible man, she felt responsible for the camper. swallowing hard, she nodded and reached into the jeep to pull out some supplies: first aid pack, road flares, and a machete for cutting through brush, which she handed over--handle first--to the man. “i’m sorry we had to meet like this.” her voice is soft, deliberate and practiced. the kind of voice she used to comfort the frightened as well as pacify those who would yell at her over a five dollar parking pass. “and i’m more sorry to tell you that i’m the only one here, but if a cougar or something attacked you--well, we’ve gotta move if we’re gonna help your friends. you think you can remember where you were at so i can find our way back to them? i don’t wanna go the way you came.”