Howdy oh everyone! Alright here's the new chap (at last), thank you all for your reviews you rock!

Enjoy,

So ;)

ps: thank you scuby ;)

Chapter 7

"You want to take a break?" Sara asks me.

We've been walking for over three hours since we found the fire. I'm starting to be worn off, lack of food and proper sleep makes it harder for me to keep up. I know I'm in good shape for my age – not that I see myself as old, but I need to refill the battery properly, and it's been over two days since that last happened. I know I can walk on for at least another day or maybe two but certainly not at the pace we're having.

"Do you mind?" I answer with another question.

"Not at all Cath, let's stop for a moment," she smiles softly.

I sit on a rock and take a deep breath. The air is thick with tension, thunder has been rumbling non stop and rain has yet to come.

"Are you alright?"

"My energy is running out," I tell her honestly. To my surprise she kneels down at my level cups my cheek and delivers a sweet lingering kiss on my forehead. She pulls back and is about to stand up again but I take her hand and pull her to me kissing her softly on the lips before resting my forehead against her. I'm not going to try to find a motive behind my gesture or explain it, I just wanted to, plain and simple.

She doesn't say anything just stays there until I straighten up. She sits next to me and my hand finds hers, I entwine our fingers, lean my head on her shoulder and we stay in silence for the five minutes.

"I need to…" I trail off but she gets my point. "I'll be right back," she nods and I butterfly kiss her on the lips before engulfing myself in the forest.

I go far enough to be isolated but not too far. I still don't feel comfortable here but not to the point I'd have to ask Sara to stay near me in such a private moment.

I start to make my way back when I have the distinct feeling that someone is near me, and there's this nagging thought that it's not a good thing. "Sara?" I call in a shaky voice. I don't get any response so I conclude that my mind must be once again playing tricks on me – or at least I hope so.

I hurry my pace, seeking for the feeling of safety Sara's presence provides me. Something catches my eyes something glowing in a bush. I get closer and take a look. I gasp when I identify what it is. I turn around and run back to Sara as fast as I can. I stop dead in my track putting my hands in front of me in defence slipping on the ground with the abrupt halt. Sara was about to rip my head off with a big thick branch but stopped at the last moment.

My heart is thundering in my chest and had it been a few minutes ago I would have peed myself.

"Shit, Cath!" she breathes out with relief.

"You tried to kill me?" I ask her with disbelief.

"I thought…there's someone in the wood…someone was there, I called but it wasn't you… I'm sorry…I'm…" she keeps on rambling.

I stand up and try to gather my thoughts. "There's a hand…"

"What?" she stops talking with a frown.

"There's a hand…in the wood…there's a hand," I say breathless.

"You found a body and I'm sure that someone was here..."

"Not a body Sara," I correct her. "A hand and from the look of it, it was still on a body not so long ago."

"We have to get out of here, we…"

Thunder rumbles loudly and little drops start to fall on us. It takes less than a minute for the little drops to change into pouring rain. And here we thought we'd avoid it.

Lady Luck is laughing in our faces just like she's been doing from the very beginning of this nightmare almost three days ago. There's no reason to stay where we are since nature didn't provide us any shelter, and we need to get away from the potential danger around us.

"Let's get on the move Cath," Sara says firmly taking the lead once again, I just nod and follow her. Our pace is quick but we're not running, no real point there we're still lost and no matter what we'll be soaked to the bone, if I have to die of pneumonia I don't want to add a broken limb to the list.

Every time I leave her field vision Sara looks at me to be sure that I'm still here. She's a bit agitated since earlier and she's looking at our surrounding with great interest. The rain has lessened a little bit but is still pouring.

She turns to me "You're okay?" she asks me with concerned.

"Yeah…"

She's about to speak again when she snaps her head up and looks at something above my shoulder I turn around quickly but I don't see anything. I turn to her again and she's scrutinizing the wood "Sara…" I step closer to her.

"It's here…we're not alone."

"Don't mock me again Sara," I beg in desperation.

"I'm not Cath, someone is near us, I…"

I'm about to ask her what is it when something reaches my ears. A melody, a childish tune, the voice seems to come from all around us, we can't define the source of it though. I can feel goose bumps rising on my skin as cold sweat starts to drip along my spine.

"Ring around the rosy…" the voice is low and makes me feel like slugs were running under my skin. "…pocket full of poses…" there's laughter in the voice, I can picture a mean smile on the face of whoever is near us. "…ashes, ashes…we all fall down…"

Sara and I are looking at all direction trying to localise the source of the song but the wood amplifies everything and makes it resonated all over.

The rain becomes stronger, smothering the voice and covering any sound of movement. I see a furtive shadow moving on the wood but it disappears as fast as it appeared. Sara and I look at each other and as a silent agreement we start to run. We're running away from we don't know what or who and we have no idea of where we're going. It might be fear but I swear I can feel the shadow moving with us, like a danger coming on us at great speed.

The ground is slippery and irregular, several times Sara and I lose balance but we keep on running highly charged with adrenaline. My heart is pounding so loud that I can barely hear anything else.

Suddenly something snatches my ankle and I fall flat on my chest. My breath is cut short but I don't dwell on the pain and start trying to stand up again but a hand is firmly gripped on my ankle. I kick back and manage to free myself, but it's short lived less than two seconds later a arm surrounds me painfully blocking my arms along my body and I'm lift off the ground like a simple leaf before being pull backward and then down. "Sa…" is all I can scream as another hand covers my mouth firmly almost smothering me. "Shhh…" a hot breath burns my ear. I start to shake uncontrollably as fear slowly takes possession of my entire being.

"Cath!! Cath!!" I hear Sara's distant voice shouting. "Cath!" her voice is laced with worry and fear. I hear her getting closer and I trying to warn her but the more I move the more the grip on me tightens.

Sara's figure appears in my field of vision. I can see panic written all over her face. I want to scream or warn her of the danger but whoever is holding me is crushing me tightly preventing me to do anything.

Sara draws her gun out pointing it around. I crash my heel on a branch, the noise is load enough for Sara to hear it as she shifts in our direction immediately. I'm rewarded by being crushed a little more.

Sara starts to move in our direction with cautious steps, I feel a twinge of hope but suddenly another shadow rises up from behind Sara and I realise that my move might have doomed us for good.

This is the end of the nightmare and the beginning of Hell.

I know, I know, it's awfully short but I'm already working on the next chap which will be longer I promise. So please don't hate me ;)

Thanks for reading