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.

4. Greasy Turkey Sandwich

They didn't know what they'd expected to find by following the river but, whatever it was, they hadn't found it. In fact, all they had achieved were sore feet, tired legs and a disappointing waste of time.

Yes, hope was fading. As was the light. And the chances of them being found before sundown. Those chances were now looking gravely slim.

Exhausted. Beyond speech. They trudged, silent but unfaltering; just thinking of a warm bed, a clean bath and a class full of students eager to hear of their day-long adventure.

The uneven terrain was tough to handle. They'd had their fair share of trips and stumbles within the few hours they'd been walking. And it was impossible to go in a straight line due to the many obstacles; trees, trees and more trees. The increasingly dimming light wasn't helping visibility either.

They found themselves following the sound of the trickling river, rather than the sight of it, as all they could now see beside them was the occasional glimmer as the water caught a ray of moonlight through the branches of the trees. The only other sound was of their rapid breathing and the crunch, crunch, crunch of their feet on the twigs and leaves on the ground.

"It's getting dark." Taylor said finally, breaking the long silence that had engulfed them.

Really, it was already dark. They'd all noticed. They could barely see each others silhouettes any more. The sky was black. The only light came from the moon which was hidden behind layer after layer of leafy branches. They'd all noticed.

They'd just been denying it. If it was dark, then it was night. If it was night, they'd have to settle, as they could barely see any more to walk. Settling meant sleeping. Shutting their eyes and leaving themselves vulnerable; alone in the middle of the forest. Vulnerable to what, they didn't know. But there was certainly something off about the forest, like the kind of quiet before a storm.

Taylor was about to repeat herself, thinking no-one must have heard her as they continued to walk seemingly unperturbed, when suddenly, Gabriella spoke.

"You think we should stop for the night?" she asked warily. Even as they spoke, they continued to walk, hoping that by some kind of miracle, they'd stumble upon the rest of the class.

The rest of the class. It was night now. They were probably on their way back to Albuquerque already. They were probably warm and safe on the mini-bus. Or even asleep in bed.

"I think we should." Zeke yawned. He'd never been so tired. "This spot here is relatively clear." He added, noticing that they were in a tiny area that was free of trees. He was the first to stop walking. The others hesitantly followed his lead.

"Lemme get this straight," Sharpay began. "You want me to lie out here on the dirt? Like some kind of-."

"Sharpay." Ryan cut her off, sternly. They were all suffering. She needed to realise that. He threw off his backpack onto the floor. "You can lie on my coat, okay?"

Troy also shook off his bag, then sank to the floor to sit on it. It was heavenly getting the weight off his feet and he sighed with satisfaction. Zeke did the same.

Chad looked up. "What if it rains?" He asked, laying his coat out on the floor and spreading his arms out to welcome Taylor to sit on it. She did so and he sat by her side.

"It won't." She told him. That, she was sure of. "The forest has a rain-free climate at this time of year."

Sharpay cautiously lowered herself to the floor where Ryan had set up a makeshift bed for her; his coat for a sheet and his backpack for a pillow. "Thanks." She said, genuinely grateful.

Troy scooted over on his bag and tapped the side of it, prompting Gabriella to join him. It wasn't spacious. It wasn't comfortable. But it would do.

They sat in a circle, unsure of what to do next. They were tired, so surely, they should sleep. But that idea seemed too daunting.

So they sat.

"What about food?" Zeke asked.

Chad raised his hand. "I have a couple Granola Bars." He said.

Troy nodded. "And I think some of my Gummy Bears are left over from the journey…. And, I have a bottle of water." He added eagerly.

"Me and Gabriella have some fruit between us." Said Taylor.

Sharpay scoffed. "Great." She said sarcastically. "So we'll be living off Granola Bars and Gummy Bears. Super!"

Zeke shrugged. "Just for a day… U-until they find us."

"If they find us." Ryan muttered. He hadn't meant to say it so loud, but the entire group heard.

The mood instantly dropped.

"You know…" Chad laughed uneasily, trying anything to break the uncomfortable silence. "We're gonna get in so much trouble for straying off course when they find us tomorrow." He smiled absently, trying to make himself believe his own words. "I bet they'll be searching all night, while we sleep."

"Yeah," Troy chuckled. He knew Chad was trying to lighten the mood and attempted to help out. "And can you imagine Mr. Feeny's face when he did the roll call and realised we weren't there?"

Taylor smiled, letting her mind wander. "He probably went all red, like he always does."

"Like the time Zeke and Troy rearranged the interactive map." Ryan recalled, grinning as he remembered. The girls laughed also relishing in the amusing memory.

"Hey," Zeke joked, raising his hands defensively. "I'm just saying; America looked a lot better right in the middle of the Indian Ocean."

Sharpay involuntarily snorted with laugher. "But did you really need to stick Greece in the middle of Turkey?" she asked him, giggling.

Zeke shrugged still smiling. "I wanted to make a greasy turkey sandwich." He punned.

This set him and the others off in a fit of hysterical laughter. For that moment in time, their fears were forgotten. They may as well have been jamming at home. They were comfortable. They were unafraid. They were carefree. And they were happy.

It couldn't last though. Eventually, their merriment died down and reality sank in again.

With a hint of a smile still on his face, Chad lay back, stretching his arms and yawning. "We should get some rest." He suggested.

Taylor also lay back, resting her head on his arm as a pillow. Troy and Gabriella adopted the same position while Sharpay made room on her makeshift bed for Ryan. Zeke shivered feeling more than a little left out, then lay down himself, alone.

"Night everyone." Ryan said.

"G'night." They all replied.

But, it wasn't that easy. Most of them were too paranoid to keep their eyes shut for more than a few seconds. Silently, each one of them had decided to stay awake that night and let the others sleep. Something just didn't seem right.

Ultimately though, the events of the day took their toll. Eyelids grew heavy. Breathing grew deeper.

And sleep finally came for all of them.

The next morning, Gabriella was first to wake up. She always had been an early riser. Always the last person to fall asleep at a sleepover and first to wake up. The events of the day before returned to her memory slowly as she groggily looked around her. A small smile graced her face as her view caught Troy who lay beside her. He looked so peaceful in sleep. Even happy.

Her hand rose to his face to gently stroke his cheek. His eyes slowly opened.

"Morning, Wildcat." She greeted. He smiled into her warm hand and cupped it with one of his own.

"Morning." He replied, rolling onto his back. He frowned, letting his eyes trace his surroundings. Gabriella saw his face change the moment his memory returned. His smile sank. "We're still here." He said earnestly. His frown deepened as he sat up suddenly.

He looked around, his mouth forming a perfect 'o'. "W…wh…" He breathed, lost for words. Gabriella rolled onto her side to see what he was looking at.

Chad and Taylor lay peacefully snuggled together; Chad on his back with an arm around Taylor and Taylor with her head and an arm draped over his chest. Beside them, Sharpay lay clutching her brother's coat to her as a sort of blanket, while Ryan shivered coverless. They too both still slept. And near them, Zeke was curled into a ball, baby-like and fast asleep. Gabriella saw nothing wrong.

But something was clearly troubling Troy since he had now clambered to his feet and was looking frantically around them.

Gabriella was growing concerned. "Troy?" He ignored her and walked around his circle of friends, his eyes darting around fiercely. "Troy, what's wrong?" She asked.

In the meantime, Chad began to stir. He yawned and stretched, instantly noticing Troy pacing above him. Then, just as Troy had, he frowned and sat upright, accidently knocking Taylor off him and waking her as well.

"What the hell, dude?" Chad asked Troy, expecting an explanation from his friend. Troy simply shrugged, not having an answer to the question that Gabriella still didn't understand.

Taylor helped herself up off the ground. "Chad, do you mind not-." She stopped mid-sentence and looked around. This was wrong. "Where…?"

Troy shrugged again, still pacing. "It was like this when I woke up." He said.

By now, Ryan, Sharpay and Zeke were also waking. Gabriella hardly noticed.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" She begged, looking at Troy for an answer.

He stopped pacing. "There are leaves in your hair." He told her.

She narrowed her eyes, combing her fingers through her hair to get them out. "Well, we did sleep on the floor-." She began.

"No," Troy interrupted. "We didn't."

This was perplexing. It was way too early in the morning. Troy was talking in riddles and everyone was confused about different things. Gabriella was just confused about why people were so confused. "Yes," she said. "We did."

Taylor shook her head now. "We didn't, Gabi." She said, looking at the floor and taking a clump of leaves in her hand. Gabriella watched as Taylor held the leaves up and then released them, sprinkling them back onto the floor, watching each one drop with a mixture of anguish, suspicion and revulsion on her face. Taylor continued to stare bitterly at her discarded leaves for a second before staring straight into Gabriella's eyes. "We slept on our bags. We slept on our coats. We did not sleep on the floor."

Gabriella shrugged, still not getting it. "So?"

"So, they're gone." Sharpay spelled out for her impatiently; resentful having lost not only her shoes, but now her bag.

Now was Gabriella's turn to stand up with surprise. She looked around. She hadn't noticed it before. Other than the coats that they were currently wearing and the one Sharpay had used as a blanket, all their stuff was gone. Their bags had been taken literally from under them.

"But how?" Was all she could say.

Chad rubbed his brow with his hand and shook his head slowly. "Exactly…" He said pensively.

Ryan sighed. "Animals, I guess." He shrugged.

"No way." Taylor said. "There are no animals. Remember?"

Troy agreed. "And besides," he added. "What animal can take all our stuff without us noticing?"

"And what animal," Zeke said, slowly getting to his feet looking troubled. "Can do that?" He pointed to the centre of their circle where a small section of leaves had been neatly swept away to reveal the muddy ground beneath.

Troy hadn't noticed it before. None of them had. But upon taking a closer look, they realised why Zeke was so disturbed by it. Laid methodically in a row were two Granola Bars, a half empty packet of Gummy Bears, a bottle of water, an orange and an apple.

This definitely wasn't the work of an animal.

A/N: Special thanks to the last two chapters' reviewers; chaylorlover101, LadyKatyUltimateFan, Kt luvs., RissaIzDeBomb, zanessatroyella4evr620, ChaylorTwilightQueen10, ChocolatexChicaxCasey95, daydreamer299 and utmy123. I only have 3 exams left which is good and bad. Good; no more exams! Bad; probably won't be able to update so super-quickly!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I found it especially chilling…

xX M Xx