It was when Phoebe let out that bloodcurdling scream loud enough for the devil to hear, Arnold wished more than ever that his ears had the power to shrivel up. His heart beating furiously, Arnold clamped a firm hand on her mouth before she could do it again.
His mind was blank; he hadn't been in a situation that looked this bad since the third grade - and at least then there was always a frizzy haired teacher to save them at the last moment. Arnold seriously doubted they would be that lucky this time.
Help.
The word ran through his head over and over again. It was all he could do besides looking hopelessly for any possibly means of escape.
The object of Phoebe's scream was now standing a mere ten feet away from them. Just as alarmed by the sudden noise as Arnold had been, the mother black bear had turned menacingly towards the two of them, in front of her cub. It had briefly lifted itself up by just it's enormous back two feet, which was what had alarmed Phoebe so terribly, but now it was standing securely on all fours. Phoebe was quiet now, his hand pulled back from her mouth, and she pressed her cheek into his side.
"What do we do," she mumbled helplessly.
Arnold's breathing was very uneven as he looked around himself wildly for anything that could help them. You couldn't run from a bear, that much he knew, but then what was your other option? Backing away slowly? He swallowed and managed to back up an inch or so before he hit the rock. Now what?
Wait. The rock...
Carefully, and very aware their time was limited by the way the black bear seemed to be glaring at them, it's ears folded back, Arnold reached out with the hand that wasn't around Phoebe and hit the smooth rock face with his palm.
He looked down between his feet and saw something that made his heart soar and his breath even slightly. "Phoebe," he said softly, not entirely sure why he was whispering. "Phoebe, look behind you. At the base of the rock."
Phoebe's eyes were locked on the bear, terrified. It was turning it's head from one side to another. Arnold had no idea what that meant and wished he had asked Dorothy Ann what she knew about bear body language before they had split up. Figuring their time was limited, Phoebe green eyes moved to where he was pointing and widened. She had seen what he'd seen.
There was a thin opening at the base of the rock, just big enough for the two of them to squeeze through. Phoebe crouched down slowly, not taking her eyes off the bear while she did, and peered through the crooked hole.
"Is it hollow enough?" Arnold asked, still in a whisper, eyes darting back and forth between the bear and Phoebe. "Get in, quickly!"
"Yes! It's just like a beaver dam, Arnold!" Phoebe said breathlessly, grabbing onto his hand and pulling him down. The bear moved slightly at the rapid movement and Phoebe shrieked again. Legs first, she slipped through the little crack and tugged on Arnold's sleeve so he would do the same. Arnold needed no such encouragement. He crawled into the hole as fast as he could and made it in before the bear could do any damage.
Heads bent uncomfortably, Phoebe and Arnold slid backwards as far as they could until they felt the inside of the rock hit their backs. Arnold saw the bear poke it's nose through the crack, but it was too big to fit. Phoebe let out a deep breath of relief next to him, but still kept a firm grip on his arm, her nails were digging into his skin but that was the least of Arnold's worries right now.
"Go away!" Phoebe cried to the bear. "We didn't hurt your baby, honest! We wouldn't!"
"Phoebe," Arnold said tensely, "You're talking to a bear."
She didn't say anything else, and merely replied by burying her head into his chest. Arnold placed a hand on her auburn hair and stroked it slowly. Comforting her seemed to put him at ease somehow. He chose to look down at her instead of the the bear, still waiting just outside the crack. Arnold hoped it would just give up soon and leave.
xxx
After barreling through three more prickle bushes(the blackberry variety), splashing through two rivers, and tripping over four rocks each, Carlos and Dorothy Ann had given up their search, and bitterly excepted defeat.
Panting heavily, her head swimming madly, Dorothy Ann collapsed on the dirt ground. She felt very dizzy, not used to straining herself this much; she had been trying to find the source of the noise fast and catch up to Carlos all in one. Feeling this woozy, she was now starting to think she had imagined the noise as Phoebe. It really could have been anything. A bird even.
"Check the cell phone," Carlos said anxiously, crouching down next to her, not nearly as out of breath as she was. Dorothy Ann flopped down on her back, hardly feeling the dull pain hitting the rocks on the ground caused, and pointed to her pack soundlessly.
Carlos found it immediately and pulled it out. "Hey!" he slapped DA on the shoulder. Dorothy Ann groaned. "Hey, DA we have a connection!"
Dorothy Ann suddenly felt very alert. She sat up quickly and said hurriedly to Carlos, "Call Phoebe's phone! Hurry!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm dialing!" Carlos did so and held the phone up to his ear, plugging the other ear with his finger. "It's really fuzzy... I - Phoebe?!" He turned to Dorothy Ann excitedly. "It's Phoebe, she's alive!" He looked back away, onto the ground. "Hey, Phoebe? What? Phoebe I can't hear you? Phoebe? Phoebe?!" He took the phone away from his ear. "Crap, we lost it again."
"But she's okay!" Dorothy Ann smiled and felt like throwing her arms around Carlos in relief - she restrained herself though. "She's alive! And now we can get back to - " She looked around at her surrounding and her grin faltered. "Uh oh..."
"Crap..." Carlos said again, now thinking along the same lines as Dorothy Ann. "We lost the trail..."
Dorothy Ann bit her lip. Her heart rate finally beginning to slow down, she took a deep breath and soaked in her surroundings. Where they were, she had absolutely no clue. All she knew was that they were definitely not in the meadow anymore.
She curled her fingers subconsciously on the ground below and felt the dirty rocks underneath her skin. She wasn't sitting on a path, merely a cluster of pebbles in the middle of a tightly packed gathering of trees. An enormous blackberry bush grew on her left side.
Dorothy Ann could hear a river raging on some distance away, and the normal twitter of nearby birds. She reached up and tightened the band around her blond hair just so she could do something with her fidgeting handswhile she thought. Carlos pocketed the cell phone and turned to her.
"What now?"
xxx
"Wanda," Keesha said angrily as the two of them made their way slowly down the cliff of rocks. "You said we'd be in the town in two hours! It's been nearly five!"
"I told you I have no idea where I'm going didn't I?" Wanda snapped as she jumped back onto the solid ground below. "Not one measly little clue!"
"You could have told us before we left!" Keesha hollered back. She joined her fuming companion on the ground and looked up at the sky with a sinking heart. It was already three shades darker blue. Keesha huffed and turned to Wanda. "Now it's dark! We'll never find our way!"
"I know!" Wanda slumped down on a pile of rocks near the bottom of the hill they had just cleared and put her chin in her hands. "I know. I'm really sorry Keesha," and she meant it. She sighed miserably and said "Honestly. I didn't know we'd get into such a mess."
She really did look so sorry that Keesha felt her anger ebb away and she joined her friend on the rocks and put an arm around her. "It's okay... I know you didn't mean to get us into this mess. Sorry I yelled."
"Sorry I yelled back..." Wanda said glumly. She rubbed her bare arms. "So what do we do now?"
Keesha thought for a moment. Her stomach rumbled. "A fire?" she suggested to Wanda. "And dinner."
Wanda nodded and said, "I'll get the firewood, you can see what we can have for dinner from our packs... maybe I'll pick up a few berries on the way." And she got up without another word and starting heading into the trees.
"Don't go too far!" Keesha called after her. She heard Wanda shout 'duh!' as a reply. Keesha sighed and started searching through her backpack for something she hadn't eaten at lunchtime.
xxx
"I'm f-f-f-freezing!" Ralphie shivered, rubbing the sides of his bare arms furiously in an attempt to warm up.
Tim, who was just as cold although slightly better equipt with a wooly jacket, asked, "D-don't you have a jacket? I-in your duffle bag?"
"T - t- too c-cold to g-get it!"
"Oh for crying out loud. Well then stop complaining..."
"H - how about we s-stop and make a f-f-f-fire!"
Tim stopped on the trail and turned to Ralphie, "That is the best idea I've heard all day." Tim frowned, putting his hands on his hips. "Who would have guessed it would have come from you..."
"Hey! I've been known to come up with a few brilliant ideas in the past," Ralphie said proudly, pointing to his chest. When he saw the completely unimpressed look on Tim's face, he stopped. Ralphie then dropped his duffle bag and began rummaging through it. His jacket had been stuffed into the very bottom so he emptied almost the entire pack before extracting it. Ralphie pulled on his coat and grumbled the whole time he was cramming everything else back in.
"I guess we're going to camp out here then..." Tim said slowly, looking around doubtfully at the trees. "It's getting so dark I can't see the trail anymore - hey! Where are you going?!"
"To g-get firewood!" Ralphie called back, out of Tim's sight. "I'll be back soon!" he added, crawling over a large rock at the base of a tree. He winced as he stubbed a toe on a root.
The forest was very dark now and Ralphie could hardly tell where he was going. He made sure not to move too far away from Tim and walked very carefully, picking up the small sticks littering the ground.
The forest at night was a truly terrifying place. A rapids-broken stream could be heard somewhere off in the distance, an owl hooted somewhere nearby... Ralphie breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down and think logically. His nose burned with cold and his fingers were numb, he could hardly feel the sticks he was holding.
The wind was playing with the branches hanging off the trees - or was it the wind? Maybe it was a bear, or two bears... a wolf? A werewolf, Vampires...?!
Ralphie shook his head. He would not let his imagination go into overdrive right now. Or else Tim might find him cowering under a bush brandishing a twig at anyone who dared get close.
His rare moment of rationality disappeared the moment he thought it. Or, to be more precise, the moment he heard the crack of a twig that had most definitely not been caused by his own two feet.
Ralphie whirled at the sound of the snap, and almost tripped over another root in the process. He froze. He held in his breath and wanted nothing more than to be able to calm his furiously beating heart. Whatever had stepped on and broken the stick was coming closer - he could hear it brushing past the branches - and whatever is was, it was going to get him.
Wait. Ralphie tightened his grip on the pile of sticks, prepared to use them as weapons if worst came to worst. It was probably Tim; Tim coming to scare him. Right, well Ralphie wasn't going to stand for that. Ralphie's grasp hardened and he shifted his glance to the dim outlines of the trees in front of him.
"Alright Tim!" he said loudly, forgetting he was supposed to stay as silent as the grave. "Come out, I know it's you. It's not going to work!"
The rustling stopped, and Ralphie could have sworn he had heard a sharp intake of breath. "What?"
One of the sticks broke in Ralphie's tight grip. That wasn't Tim... But - it was familiar. Ralphie cleared his tight throat. "W - Wanda?"
"Ralphie?!" The rustling of the trees got louder and more violent. Ralphie dropped the pile of wood and stumbled throught the brambles and bushes towards her voice.
"Wanda?!"
"Ralphie! Ralphie, where are you!"
"I'm - " Ralphie was brought to a sudden stop. He had just found Wanda - ran into her actually. The wind was nearly knocked out of him when she threw her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. "Here.." Ralphie finished. He cleared his throat, Wanda wasn't letting go. And suddenly, he rose in a panicky dismay that had nothing to do with being in a cold, dark forest at night. Why wasn't she letting go...?!
Although he couldn't help notice she was very warm.. Ralphie put his arms around her in return, so that he was at least doing something.
"Oh thank God!" Wanda mumbled into his chest. "I thought I'd never see any of you again!" She tightened her grip. "I'm so sorry I got us all into this mess! I don't know what to do! Keesha and I can't even build a stupid fire!"
"I thought you were a vampire or something coming to get me!" Ralphie said, wildly looking for things to say. He was getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
Wanda finally let go and took one step back from him. From the dim light the moon was giving off in the sky above, he could see she now looked like she was trying not to roll her eyes.
"Ralphie! Don't be stu - "
"Where's Keesha?" Ralphie interrupted. He didn't need to hear how irrational he was sometimes right now.
"Back there," Wanda said, pointing. She took a hold of his hand, hers as ice cold as his. "Come on, let's get Tim and go back. You didn't run into any of the others did you?"
Ralphie shook his head, "No."
He heard Wanda take a deep breath. "Okay. Okay, just Tim then." And, hand still in hers, Ralphie took the lead as the two of them made their way through the trees to find Tim. Ralphie tried not to think about where the others were or how they were coping; or even if they were still alive...
xxx
Dorothy Ann shivered violently as she walked. Her bare legs burned like they were coated with ice. Her teeth chattered and she wished more than anything she had brought a thicker jacket. She turned jealously to Carlos. What were the chances of him coming better prepared than her?! She brings the map, the flashlight, the extra food, the book on animal wildlife, and he gets all the points for bringing the thick jacket! He wasn't even shivering! Dorothy Ann tried to grit her chattering teeth, and he wasn't even paying attention to her in her frozen state.
"C-can we p-please stop s-s-somewhere and b-build a fire?!" she chattered when she could stand it no more.
That's when he finally turned to look at her. Carlos frowned. "Is that the only jacket you brought?"
"Y-yes," Dorothy Ann chattered. Of course it was the only one! She wasn't some idiot who wore the thin jacket when the thick one was available to her. "Why else would I be wearing this thin one in this cold?!"
"Well why didn't you say anything?" Carlos asked. And Dorothy Ann felt her eyes widen as she saw him taking off his own. "Here," he said, tossing it at her. Dorothy Ann caught it with numb fingers.
"T- thanks..." she stuttered, quickly pulling it on before his warmth left it.
"Better?" Carlos asked, shining the flashlight into her face. Dorothy Ann held up her hands to protect her from the glare and nodded.
"Can we stop somewhere and build a fire?" she asked. "Like over - there!" she suddenly gasped and pointed. Carlos moved the flashlight from her face into the direction Dorothy Ann was pointing. "It's a cave!"
"Probably has bats or something," Carlos said, although he looked just as happy as Dorothy Ann at their discovery.
"I don't care. Just so long as it gets us out of this wind!" Dorothy Ann said, breaking into a jog towards the mouth.
Carlos jogged along side her, the flashlight bouncing in his grip. "Pick up as many sticks as you can find," he said. "So we can built a fire."
DA did what she was instructed and, by the time the two of them settled next to the mouth of the cave, they had two hefty armfuls of wood between them. Dorothy Ann dumped her pile on top of Carlos before digging through her bag for some matches and a pair of long pants. "What time is it?" she asked, not looking up from her rummaging.
Carlos illuminated his watch. "Five thirty... Man it gets dark soon..."
"And cold," Dorothy Ann added, pulling his jacket around herself tighter. She handed him the matches. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Keep the jacket," he said firmly. "I don't need you turning into a popsicle on top of everything else." He struck one of the matches and held it close to the kindling. "Hey, what do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?"
Dorothy Ann groaned. "Carlos, now is not the time or place - "
"Frostbite! Get it! I - okay I'll stop..." Carlos turned away from DA's icy glare and back to the kindling. "Geeze, just trying to lighten the mood."
"Could you do it with fewer stomach churning puns?" Dorothy Ann pulled her long pants over her shorts while he tended to the fire.
"You like them... You just don't want to admit it."
"Right.."
Just then, a gust of wind blew where they were settled and the little flame Carlos had produced went out. Dorothy Ann shivered again and hoped they would be able to get a warm fire going soon; or, wondered if they'd even be able to just make it through the night.
I'm planning on having the next chapter being mostly C/DA :) .
Reviews make me happy :)