Jennifer is ready for action

Something crashed in the distance, and Jennifer shot up from the bed. She reached for her alarm clock on her nightstand for the time, but stumble when she realized it didn't exist. Neither did the nightstand. Or her room.

And she was naked as a jaybird.

The fuck? Sparks of memory flickered in the thick fog of his brain, but nothing coherent made itself known. What she did know was that, god damn, did she hurt. Shuffling back, her knees bent at the bed and she tugged the blanket to cover herself.

The blanket wouldn't give. She yanked it free, eliciting an annoyed groan from the bedspread.

"Ash, stop it, you always hog the blanket." With his scowling eyes scrunched closed, Brandon rolled away from Jennifer.

Her eyes grew wider than dinner plates.

Last night instantly crystallized for her, from finding Zack going at it, again, with another girl, to this guy sliding up behind her, to... Jesus ever-loving Christ, my clothes are outside.

Hoping that no loose floorboards were in this cabin, she ever so quietly tiptoed to the closet. Please don't let this be Heather or Chloe's room, nothing will fit.

Sadly, the loose red blouse she first slipped on confirmed her frustrations, but at least the jeans fit. She wasn't about to steal underwear, so commando it was. She promised to wash whose ever these clothes were before returning them.

Unfortunately that meant explaining why she had the clothes in the first place. Fuck, she grumbled. Okay, look, one thing at a time.

Attempting to ignore the delirious clarity of last night, she probed further, trying to find anything else she could hang her sanity on. She arrived here on her motorcycle, still propped up against the side of the cabin, adamant to be here as quickly as possible. Her brain couldn't real why, other than a... twisted sense of responsibility over Heather and her friends.

"Twisted" was the word, definitely. Jennifer had a sisterly affection for Heather ever since rescuing her from being lost in the depth of the park all those years ago, and so that extended to everyone else she considered close, but it was as if something jammed itself into her head and fiddled with the basic components of that relationship. She had been compelled to be here as fast as she could, like she was drawn to this cabin and nothing else mattered aside from that feeling.

Rubbing her temples, she rewound time further. The sudden eruption of those wildflowers around the station had been bizarre to say the least, and so maybe there really was something to whatever that Dr. Jefferson person had been rambling on about in that letter Colin read to--

Wait, wait, wait a sec. Jennifer came to a screeching halt.

"Sudden zoonotic erotophilia," Colin croaked.

"Excuse me?" Jennifer replied.

"Exactly what I said. I called the lead researcher, woman named... Jefferson. Anyway, he said that the Silver Lake Park was in the middle of some kind of cycle, something that happens every few thousand years or so. The ecosystem here undergoes a rapid growth in populations, all at once. Bears, deer, wolves, trees, insects, flowers, all of it."

Jennifer gulped. Shit, how could I forget? Brandon snored. Oh, oh right.

"And what causes that?"

"Well..." Colin trailed off, and Jennifer eyed him with icy expectancy. He coughed, then uttered, "Lots of sex."

She blinked. "Wait... what?"

Present Jennifer had the same reaction, though infused with regretful irritation. Damnit, I hope she's coming soon. A vein pulsed in her forehead. And that Colin didn't... ugh, well, you know.

The door creaked more audibly than she desired, but Brandon being the dead log he was, barely shifted. Breaking the seal also unleashed new sounds, rather animated but muffled speech. Clearly, some other people were awake, and Jennifer cursed again.

Everything should be out back, toward the lake. Jennifer slinked down the hall. So if I can make my way to the back door... She slipped through the empty living room, rounding the corner past the kitchen. Then, maybe, no one will... hey wait, why is there coffee on the--

"Jennifer?"

She froze in mid-crouch. Heather stared at her with anxious eyes through the door while the big lug Kurt behind her had a comforting hand on her shoulder. Gavin was pale, unfocused on anything, and looked completely mortified by something. God knows what, but it couldn't be any definition of good.

"Hi, Heather," she grumbled and stood.

"Should I... ask?"

"Don't. Not yet anyway, but... look, you'll probably guess soon anyway."

She and her cousin shared a look. Gavin still didn't move.

"And should I ask why you're wearing Chloe's soccer sweatshirt?"

Jennifer darted down to her borrowed clothes. Block letter proclaimed "CHLOE McROSE AZURE ROCKS HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER TEAM" next to the graduating class. She set her jaw.

"Well," the ranger began. "That's part of what I don't want to talk about right now."

"Zack had sex with his sister!" Gavin vomited. "And I fucked Vicky!" He collapsed into a convulsing mass of sobs, falling against the fridge. Kurt immediately ran to his side, and nodded to Heather as he carted him out.

Jennifer blinked. "What... what the hell was that?"

Heather scratched the back of her head. "You didn't look in the living room, did you?"

Jennifer peaked her head out and looked at the couch. Her brow went high upon seeing a naked Zack, again, in the arms of what had to be the fifth girl she had seen him with in about as many encounters. Only, well, they did resemble each other. Same hair, same eyes, same...

"Oh sweet merciful god." Jennifer's stomach churned unhappily.

Heather appeared oddly resigned as she sidled up to her. "And... that's not everything," she sighed. "Still, probably the biggest shocker of the morning."

"The hell else happened!"

"Kurt."

"What?"

Heather just proffered a weak smile and a shrug. Jennifer detonated.

"Radio. I need my radio. Now." She bolted to the deck. "I need my fucking pants."

Heather quickly followed. "Hey, do you know something?"

"No." The grass hid her uniform badly. Thankfully, her radio was still attached to her belt. "But I think I know someone who might." She clicked the send button, and the unit crackled with static. "Colin, come in. Come in now damnit!"