The Silent Forest
Summary: A field trip becomes a nightmare when the gang is separated from the rest of the group in the middle of a vast forest. Things go from bad to worse when they discover that they are not alone.
Pairings: Chaylor, Troyella and some mild Zekepay. Ryan will also feature but with no pairing.
Disclaimer: Yep, I own it. *Keeps dreaming*
Warnings: Possible character death(s). Rated T for some language and quite a bit of violence/blood. Probable spelling and grammar mistakes due to my lack of beta.
3. The Jimmy Choo Shoe Farewell
The blue sky. That was the first thing Sharpay saw after she stopped rolling. Her head was throbbing. Her heart pounding faster than she thought it physically could. And she was so dizzy. Even lying still, she felt as if the word was spinning rapidly around her.
She turned her head to the side. The hill she had rolled down stared back at her, towering menacingly high. She turned to the other side. Zeke lay unmoving on his side with his back to her. Worry and bile rose in her throat.
"Zeke…" She said, slowly sitting up, regretting the dizzying movement instantly. He groaned and rolled over onto his back, his face twisted into a pained frown. His eyes met hers and the pain on his face eased. He gave her a bashful smile
Sharpay sighed, relieved that he was okay. Her relief was short lived however, when she spotted Ryan lying a few feet away. She clambered uneasily to her feet, remembering her broken heel, and limped over to her motionless brother.
Zeke sat up, groaning again as the world around him began swimming. He clutched his head with one hand, using the other to prop himself up. "Is… he okay?" He asked quietly, watching as Sharpay gently and timidly tapped her brothers back.
"Ry…" She said, not even hearing Zeke. Ryan didn't answer. He didn't move.
"Something's wrong." Taylor observed from the top of the hill. She and the others had been watching the whole thing, unsure of what they could do to help. There was certainly no safe way for them to get down there.
They watched as Zeke crawled to Ryan's side and rolled him over onto his back. They heard Sharpay call his name. Chad shook his head slowly, not wanting to watch, helpless.
"We have to get down there." Troy spoke his best-friend's thoughts.
Gabriella nodded. "But how? You saw what happened when Sharpay tried to run down."
A light bulb turned on in Taylor's head. "I have an idea." She said. Her friends looked at her expectantly. "But it could be dangerous." She added, not wanting to get their hopes up.
Chad nodded eagerly, just wanting to get down there and help. "Anything."
Taylor took a deep breath. "We could… slide?"
Troy frowned. Before he could speak, Taylor continued. "It's worth a try. We could just sit and slide." She did a sliding motion with her hands as if that would make it clearer.
"Sounds like our only chance of getting down there." Gabriella said, already starting to sit.
Taylor sat beside her, dangling her legs over the edge. She took a deep breath. Troy and Chad looked at each other. They didn't have to say anything. They knew what each other were thinking. Here goes… Troy shrugged and sat on the other side of his girlfriend and Chad beside his.
"Ready?" Troy said, giving Gabriella's hand an encouraging squeeze. She nodded. "Here we go then. Three, two… one!"
"Ryan…" Sharpay said again, her voice trembling. Now that Ryan was on his back, she could see his face. His eyes were shut. He was deathly still. "Ry, please." She begged. Tears were forming in her eyes. This was all her fault. If she hadn't gotten so close to the edge…
A moan came from below her. Ryan opened his eyes suddenly. "Ouch." He said, squinting against the light. He looked with confusion at Sharpay and then at Zeke who was getting to his feet.
"You're okay." Sharpay breathed with relief. "Oh, thank god! 'Cos I-."
There was a thud as Troy followed by Chad and finally Gabriella and Taylor ended up at the bottom of the hill, miraculously unhurt. They got to their feet and brushed themselves off just as Sharpay helped Ryan up to a standing position.
No words were spoken as they all stood in silent thought.
They were only a few hours into the day and they were already exhausted. Things were going very wrong and there was no sign of them getting better. They were relatively unhurt but now even further off track. And there was no way for them to go back the way they came as the hill was too steep and dangerous for them to attempt to climb back up.
"Guys, what are we gonna do?" Gabriella asked suddenly, breaking the others from their trance-like, contemplative states.
Troy took her hand in his and pulled her close to him, gently wrapping an arm around her waist. "We'll be fine." He promised. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. Not if he could help it.
"Yeah," Chad added. "They're probably looking for us already." He looked optimistically at the top of the hill.
Taylor bit her lip. "Where's the map?"
During his fall, Ryan had let go of the map for obvious reasons. Now it lay on the bank of the river, wet and muddy. Ruined.
"Shit." Zeke muttered, spotting it. He walked slowly to retrieve it then brought the fragile, soaked paper back for the group to see.
"And… the compass?" Sharpay asked.
Zeke used his map-free hand to rummage into his pocket. To his surprise, the compass was there. He pulled it out and inspected it. It was clearly faulty as the pointer that was meant to remain on North was swinging back and forth. He shook his head. "Broken."
Ryan took a deep breath and sighed. "What are we gonna do?" He repeated Gabriella's original question. It was nearing evening. If they didn't find their way soon, they'd have to spend the night out in the wild. In the dark.
Taylor, usually so sure, was lost for solutions. What were they going to do? Out of all the lessons she'd learnt at school, this had never been one of them. She had no idea. When the situation really needed brains, she was of no use. Useless.
Ryan wasn't even thinking about what they were going to do. He was thinking about how they'd gotten into the situation in the first place. How he'd gotten them into the situation. The one responsibility he'd been given, not even a hard one, and he'd messed it all up. Failure.
Gabriella felt unnervingly exposed. She didn't know what she wanted to hide from, but she wanted to hide. She wanted to curl up into a ball and just disappear. They were alone. They had no idea what to do. They may never even see their families again. It sounded ridiculous, but it was true. They were only kids. Vulnerable.
Zeke told himself it wasn't his fault. He told himself they'd be safe soon. They wouldn't have to spend the night out there. He told himself there was nothing out there to hurt them. It was a legend after all, and only that. He was just being paranoid. Paranoid.
Sharpay was shivering. She couldn't stop. She thought Ryan was dead. What if he had been? He could easily have banged his head or broken bones during his fall. He could easily have died. They were in danger. Being out there wasn't safe. There were too many hazards, wherever they went. Scared. So scared.
Troy wasn't sure what was going to happen. He didn't know if they'd find their way today. Or the day after. Or ever. But he was sure he would do his best to get himself, his friends and Gabriella home. He wasn't going to give up. The day had only just begun. So they were a little off track. It wasn't the end of the world. They'd find their way. They had to. Determined.
"We'll follow the river." Chad suggested unexpectedly. The rest of them looked at him; both confused and intrigued. "I mean, it must lead somewhere right?" Of course, he wasn't sure. But it sounded pretty good in his head. He was being optimistic. Hopeful.
Where they stood, the river was nothing but a narrow, inch-deep stream of dirty water. It grew gradually thicker into the distance. Chad's idea had little logic but for the time being, it was something. And as long as they stayed by the river, they could find their way back to where they stood now if they needed to.
"Sounds good to me." Troy said.
Gabriella shrugged. Troy tightened his arm around her and leant over so his head was level with hers. Although he was behind her and her back was to him, she could sense the comforting warmth in his eyes and feel his breath tickle her ear when he spoke again.
"Everything's gonna be okay you know?" He whispered; quiet enough for only her to hear. He knew she was worried. She hid it well but he saw through it. She was too quiet. Too tense.
She nodded and turned her body around to face him carefully so his arm wouldn't slide off her waist. She looked deep into his eyes, seeking the truth in their pools of crystal blue. His certainty gave her some much needed encouragement as his definite gaze did not falter. "Everything's gonna be okay." She repeated his words and buried her head in his chest. He took his other arm from his side and wrapped it tightly around her.
"What do you think?" Chad asked Taylor as the two of them stood staring into the tree-obscured distance. The grassy area they were in was small. Where the river grew wider, the trees returned. They'd soon be walking out of the open, back into the crowded woodland. Something about that thought slightly disturbed them.
"Think of what?" Taylor asked.
"My plan." Chad told her. He sort of felt like he needed her approval. She was the smart one. She knew best. She was always correcting him. He needed that. "Like, will it work?"
Taylor didn't have a straight answer for him. "I hope so." She said. It was the truth. But no-one could be sure. For all they knew, venturing deeper into the forest could be the worst thing they could possibly do. They only way they could find out would be by trying.
A light breeze blew past them. It was only brief but it was enough to send a chill through them both. Taylor shivered and wrapped both her arms around one of Chad's. She nuzzled her head into his shoulder.
"Cold?" He asked, already preparing to remove his coat and give it to her.
She lifted a hand and put it on his to stop him from unzipping his jacket. "No." She said, rewrapping her arm around his strong bicep. "Just a little scared."
Chad nodded. He understood. But he wasn't ready to admit that he was scared too.
Sharpay watched the two couples feeling a twinge of jealously. She didn't want Troy. She didn't want Chad. She wanted the reassurance. She wanted to be held and told that things would be fine. She wanted to feel secure in someone's arms.
She was shocked by a tender hand on the small of her back. Jumping, she turned around to see Zeke at her side, his eyes affectionate with concern. "You, okay?" He asked raising his eyebrows.
She wondered why he was asking. Did he care? Or did she just look weak to him? She didn't want to appear fragile or scared, even if it was how she felt. The others would make a mockery of her. She'd never live it down. So, she straightened her back, purposely knocking his hand from its position and gave him one of her fiercest, most fearless looks. "I'm fine." She scoffed. "Jeez," she sighed flicking her hair out of her face and raising one eyebrow at him when the worry in his face didn't fade. "Was there something else?"
Zeke looked at the floor and shuffled his feet nervously. He hadn't expected her to be so bitter. He thought he'd heard distress in her voice before when she'd called out his name after they'd stopped rolling. Clearly, she couldn't care less. "Uh…" He started, lost for words. "I guess not."
Sharpay felt a hint of guilt as Zeke turned and walked away to stand observing the river with his back to her. Had she upset him? She shook her head. Whatever. So what if she had.
"You should be nicer to him." Ryan said appearing at her side. She jumped out of her skin with surprise for the second time in as many minutes.
Ignoring what he had said she scowled. "What is it with people creeping up on me today?" She asked, fed up.
"He was just being friendly." Ryan continued as if not even hearing her. He looked sympathetically at Zeke's back. "I think you crushed him, the guy worships you." Ryan saw his sister falter for a moment before regaining her careless composure.
"So he should." She said.
Not wanting to hear any more, secretly growing increasingly guilt-ridden, she started to walk away, almost collapsing again when she remembered her broken heel. Ryan hid his smile behind his hand.
Sharpay pursed her lips. "Humph!" Was all she could think of to say.
Her shoes were wrecked. She couldn't walk in them. Not far anyway. She couldn't wear them. And they didn't fit in her Prada tote. But they were too good to just leave there.
Fighting an internal emotional battle, Sharpay tried to decide which option in this dilemma she'd go with. Leave them? Wear them? Carry them? With dismay, she threw off the shoes, squirming at the feeling of the damp floor beneath her feet. "Ew, ew, ew…" She said, getting on her tiptoes and repeatedly shifting from one foot to another to lessen the amount of her feet getting muddy.
A chuckle escaped Ryan's lips as he watched his sister. She shot him one final hatful glare before walking a few paces away. He gazed up at the darkening sky. "Guys." He said, getting everyone's attention. Since Chad's suggestion, they had been putting off getting into action. Now, it was getting dark and they really needed to make a move. "We should get going." He said.
Chad nodded. Since it was his idea, he decided to take the lead. He walked by the river, back into the forest without looking back and with Taylor still clinging to his arm. Behind them, Zeke walked alone, eyes on the floor, thinking. Troy and Gabriella followed, Troy still with one arm around Gabriella's waist. Ryan went in soon after them.
"Come on, Shar." He called without looking back.
At the mouth of the forest entrance, Sharpay hesitated. She took one final mournful look at her no-longer-perfect Jimmy Choo's. So vulnerable on their own. Then turned away dramatically and followed the others.
A/N: Another quick update. I hope you likey. For anyone who cares, my exam was awful! But whatever, I'm dropping maths anyway. Tomorrow is English so we'll see how that goes.
I didn't kill anyone (yet.) I'm not that heartless. But please notice the warnings at the top of the page. Don't want peeps getting upset or offended now do I? Don't know when the next chapter will be up. Should be soon.
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