The four of them moved out early the next morning, Blake determined to get to the kingdom by sundown. Hatter took point, leading the group for a while, while Iris and Alice walked behind, still trying to wake up. A few hours later Alice let Iris walk with Blake as she caught up to Hatter both of them looking for a suitable place to break for lunch.
Hatter told her it was a little after noon when they finally sat down to eat. How he knew she wasn't sure but she didn't question. They ate in relative silence, mostly just wanting to move on.
Hatter heard it first. Alice watched as he stopped eating and looked out at the woods in front of him. Alice listened carefully and heard the noise a few seconds later. She sat her meal down and grabbed a hold of Hatters hand.
"We need to move." He said quietly. The noise was all around them now, loud stomping and the groan of something much larger than they were.
"What is that?" Iris asked, fear evident in her voice.
"It's a Jabberwock, we need to move now." Hatter said, packing up their small lunch as fast and quiet as he could.
By the time they were ready to move Hatter could tell the creature was only a few feet from them.
"Blake you stay with Iris." Hatter said, the four of them moving quickly away from the clearing.
"Alice." He grabbed her hand and she held on tight.
"Stay with me this time." He joked. She smiled and caught up to his pace.
He didn't want to run right off, that would make to much noise and alert the Jabberwock that they were around. There was a good chance it hadn't sensed them yet and they might be able to get away.
They walked as fast as they could through the dense forest but Alice could tell that they weren't getting away from it. The stomping continued and every now and then they could hear it groan.
"We have to run." Alice said finally. Hatter sighed and nodded.
"Run when I say alright?" He said, turning around to face Blake and Iris. They nodded and so he turned back around, taking a few deep breaths.
"Ready?" Alice nodded and gripped his hand tighter.
"Now!" He shouted, and the four of them took off.
The Jabberwock was on them in an instant, Alice could hear it behind them, it's stomping getting closer. She dared a look behind her and gasped as she saw it race through the trees.
"Hatter." She warned. He looked back and cursed under his breath.
"Faster." He called. They sped up as fast as they could go, jumping over tree roots and fallen logs. It sounded like they were outrunning it, but then she heard Iris shout. She and Hatter both turned around to look and saw that Iris had tripped over a hidden tree root. Blake knelt at her side, picking her up as fast as he could, the Jabberwock still close behind.
"Come on!" Hatter screamed back at them.
They were up and running in seconds although they had lost a lot of time and most of their lead. Hatter wouldn't let Alice slow down, as much as she was trying.
"You stop for them and we all die." He shouted at her. She didn't have a choice; she shook her head and kept running.
"We need to get to higher ground." Hatter said, glancing up at the trees as he passed.
"We can't, we don't have enough time." Alice said her breathing heavy from to much running.
"By the time we slow down to climb it'll have caught up to us, we have to keep running." She told him. He turned his gaze back in front of him, knowing she was right, they didn't have a choice, they had to keep running, they couldn't stop.
Alice kept turning around, watching Blake and Iris's progress. They were catching up fast but Iris was losing her stamina. Alice could see tears falling down her face and she was grabbing onto her side. Alice felt the same pain in her own side, a sharp stitch from running to much for to long. Alice considered herself to be pretty athletic and if she was in pain right now, she could only imagine how Iris felt; who she knew didn't get a lot of exercise.
"Come on you can do it." Alice called, trying to take Iris's attention away from the pain.
"Focus." She shouted. Hatter squeezed her hand.
"You're wasting your breath, you focus." He said. Alice could feel a few tears of her own start to pool in her eyes. How long were they going to be running for?
The Jabberwock wasn't giving up chase, and with every ounce of stamina they lost, it gained speed.
"We have to stop." Alice finally shouted, trying her best to keep her legs from buckling underneath her.
"We can't stop." Hatter said back, she could tell he was in just as much pain as she was.
"Hatter ple-"
She was cut off as she screamed, falling face first into a pit.
They landed with a thud, and quickly rolled over, making room as Blake and Iris fell in beside them.
Hatter glanced at Alice and she nodded, both of them knowing what was going on.
Alice turned to look at Iris who was sobbing uncontrollably and trying to take in deep breaths.
"Iris you have to calm down. Stay very still; try not to breathe to hard." Alice said. Taking her own advice and slowing her breathing as best she should.
The Jabberwock poked its head into the pit a few seconds later and Iris cringed at the sight of it, a whimper making its way out of her throat.
Alice shushed her and grabbed hold of her hand, trying to comfort her.
They lay still for a few good minutes, watching quietly as the Jabberwock searched for where they had gone. Eventually it got bored and turned away, beginning the search for different food.
Hatter wouldn't let them move until he was sure it was gone but when he sighed and nodded to Alice, Iris began crying again.
Alice sat up and pulled her into a hug, telling her that everything was going to be alright, that it was gone.
She glanced over at Hatter who was kneeling next to Blake who had his head down and was breathing heavily. She heard him retch a few times but Hatter kept telling him he was going to be okay and eventually he calmed down enough to crawl over to Iris.
"Hey, you okay sis?" He asked. Iris sniffed a few times and nodded, leaning her head against Alice's shoulder.
Blake pulled her into a hug of his own and they both sighed, grateful that they were alive. Hatter came up behind Alice and wrapped his arm around her waist. She sighed and fell back into his embrace, exhaustion taking over.
"I really hate this forest." She mumbled. He laughed and kissed her forehead, pulling stray pieces of hair out of her face.
"Now what?" Blake asked a few minutes later.
"We wait." Alice said, glancing at Hatter who nodded.
"Wait for what?" Iris asked.
"Oh I've got you now you stupid oversized giraffe!" A voice called from above. Alice smiled.
"For that."
I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! I just want you all to know I love you all and thank you for the reviews!
