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.

5. Rope

"This is very wrong."Ryan said, pacing nervously around the circle of their sparse snacks.

Since the discovery of their chilling 'gift', the entire gang had been in a panicked frenzy. Their thoughts were racing and tensions running high while they all spoke hurriedly and intensely over each other.

"Oh my god…" Gabriella repeated over and over, looking back and forth from the food to anything but the food.

Ryan was right. This was wrong. Someone, clearly a person, had taken their things. This person didn't wake them. And they were obviously not concerned by the fact that seven unaccompanied teenagers were sleeping out in the forest, since they did nothing to help them find a way back to safety. If anything, this person hindered their attempts to get home.

"Stop pacing." Sharpay said with agitation. Ryan was making her feel uneasy.

Of course, it could have been robbers. Maybe some backpackers in the woods saw the sleeping teens and took the opportunity to grab their belongings. But then there was the issue of the food. Because, surely, when you're robbing people, you don't bother to hang around for long. And you don't tend to leave stuff behind. The food was arranged with care and perfection. Why would any thief do that?

"Everyone just stay calm…" Attempted Troy. No-one was listening. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good-."

"Fuck that, Troy." Chad bit in. The situation was getting freakier and freakier. There was no way he was staying calm.

They had to get out of there. They weren't safe. They weren't alone. There was no other explanation. There was someone else out there amongst the trees. They could have been watching right then.

"It's like something out of the 'Blair Witch Project'." Zeke murmured quietly to himself.

He was past paranoia now. This was real. And there was no denying it. The mystery person had left their food but taken everything else. Why? To prevent them from starving to death? Or just to prolong their suffering?

"We need to move." Taylor thought aloud. She wasn't sure if any good would come of it, but she definitely didn't feel safe where she currently stood.

Sharpay shook her head furiously. "No way." She said. "Uh-uh. No. I'm not going back into that forest." She declared with certainty.

"It's not safe here." Taylor hissed, suspicious of her surroundings and unsure if she was being watched as she spoke.

"No, Taylor," Sharpay retorted. "It's not safe in there." She pointed out at the trees.

"What else do you suggest?" Troy directed at Sharpay, coming to Taylors defence. "Wait here until whoever's out there comes back?"

Gabriella shuddered. Whoever's out there.

"We're gonna die…" Zeke whispered to himself, shaking his head. "I knew I should've stayed home."

Ryan put a hand on Zeke's shoulder. "No-one's gonna die." He said, surprisingly calm. "If this person wanted us dead, we wouldn't've made it through the night. It's just a sick prank is all." He shrugged as if it was simple. "Probably campers, somewhere close."

He'd been thinking about it and it made a lot of sense. More sense than a forest stalker anyway. They were just the subjects of a practical joke. It wasn't funny. But it was a joke nonetheless. And only that.

Although none of them were fully convinced, the urgency of their mood did die down a bit. They all took in deep breaths, relaxing their thoughts and allowing themselves to get back to the real world.

Too many scary movies. That's all this was. The result of watching too many scary movies.

"So, we carry on then?" Troy asked. "Along the river."

The others shrugged.

"I think that's our best option." Taylor said.

It was their only option. Either that or go back, erasing the previous days efforts and making their journey deeper into the forest pointless.

"Alright then." He said as he picked up his water bottle timidly as if the circle of doom would swallow him whole. "Off we go."

He'd taken one step. He didn't notice the tree root that jutted awkwardly out of the ground until he had clipped his shoe on it. Stumbling and struggling to maintain his balance, he released the bottle from his hands, letting it fall to the floor.

Chad's reflexes were quick and he managed to steady his friend. The bottle landed on the floor, but not with the expected thud. There was a sound like thick ice cracking, then a snap as the metal jaws of a bear trap closed around the bottle.

Troy gasped and drew back as a mixture of water, broken plastic and leaves sprayed up at him.

The others stood in a stunned silence, watching while, as if in slow-motion, the bear trap swayed before falling back into its cushion of dead leaves.

"Dude….That was close." Chad smiled awkwardly, unsure of what else to say.

Troy nodded, mouth open. Speechless.

"From now on," Ryan said. "Tread carefully. Clearly, some hunters aren't aware of the laws in this area." He began to walk in the direction they'd been going in the day before, eyes fixated on the ground.

Gabriella put a gentle, trembling hand on his arm. "Are you serious?" She asked. "You still want to carry on?" She herself was terrified of the ground beneath her, knowing now that any step could be her last. And yet Ryan, the newly appointed voice of reason, seemed completely unfazed by the fact that Troy had just almost lost a leg.

"We have no choice." He said with finality.

Gabriella watched him wordlessly as he continued on his way. She became more surprised when Sharpay, Zeke, Taylor, Chad and even Troy followed. To her, it was ridiculous. Then again, she couldn't exactly stand on the spot forever. She inspected the ground and followed the path that Troy and the others had already taken and declared safe.

They walked a long way beside the river. Hours. It was strange. The further they followed the river, the more it seemed to change. It got wider, now stretching over fifty yards across. Because of the volcanic activity below, it got steamier, a constant cloud of mist made it impossible to see to the other side. And due to the sulphur content it got cloudier, now looking much like watered-down milk.

They didn't know what time they'd set off but it was definitely a while back. They now hadn't eaten for at least twenty-four hours and it was taking its toll. They were already growing weak.

They stopped for lunch, sharing their little food between them. It wasn't much but it was something. And the sweets gave them a bit of a sugar rush.

Chad had a sharp eye. That's how he'd spotted the tree stump earlier and that's how, now, he discovered something new. He'd been munching ravenously on his chunk of Granola Bar when something on the ground beneath them caught his eye. He swallowed his mouthful, then got onto his hands and knees and began to brush away the leaves.

"Chad?" Troy asked, his mouth still full of food.

"Rope." Chad answered. He pulled up the end of a thick string of rope for the others to see. "It's leading somewhere." The rope was long and, buried under the leaves, it trailed into the forest, away from the river. "There must be people." He concluded.

This was it. They'd found their way. The rope looked new. Fresh. There had to be people close. People that could help them. They were finally going home.

They jumped up, swallowing down their last bit of lunch, and followed the rope eagerly away from the river. Their only thoughts were of how great it was going to be when they were found. So, it was fair to say, their minds were far from focused on their surroundings. The rope. Safety. That's all they cared about. They really should have paid more attention.

No-one was completely sure what happened next. Gabriella felt vibration under her feet as the floor beneath her crumbled. Next thing she knew, there was no floor beneath her. She was falling.

Troy had been walking close behind her. He too felt the ground vibrate, and then watched as Gabriella disappeared from in front of him. Confused, he looked down. Where Gabriella had been standing, was a large black hole, so deep and dark it seemed to have no bottom. A sudden panic caught his breath in his throat. Gabriella was down there.

The others, further ahead, hadn't witnessed any of this. They had their backs to Troy and Gabriella and continued on their rope-following quest, oblivious.

Snapping out of his state of shock, Troy fell to his hands and knees and gazed down into the darkness. He was surprised to see Gabriella's face staring back at him. She was breathing rapidly, sweat dripping down her face which was twisted into an expression of strain and intensity. She hadn't fallen. Yet. She was clinging onto the side for dear life.

"G...get…h-h-help…" She whispered, her nails digging deep into the soil.

Right now, Troy only had one priority. He wasn't leaving her.

He grabbed Gabriella's wrists with both hands and attempted to pull her up. Gabriella groaned with the pressure. She couldn't hold on much longer. Her hands were slipping. Her arms and shoulders ached. Under her, the undoubtedly fatal fall was calling.

Troy panted and pulled again. The mud under his knees was slippery. His legs slid from under him and suddenly, he was lying flat on his stomach. He gulped down a pained gasp of air. Gabriella slid further. Now her entire weight was in Troy's hands. Her life was in his hands.

And he was slipping. Now that he was lying on his stomach, he had nothing to anchor him into position. He was sliding. Slowly. But sliding. Into the hole after Gabriella.

Gabriella knew that Troy wouldn't be able to hold her for much longer. She also knew that she had a choice to make. A choice of whether she lived or died. If she chose to live, that would mean risking Troy's life as well as her own. She could fall anyway and bring Troy down with her. But that was not an option. No way.

"Let… let me … go." She gasped with the strain on her wrists taking its toll.

Troy didn't flinch. He said nothing. Just continued to pull.

"I… sai… I said-."

"I heard what you said Gabi!" Troy half groaned half shouted.

"Then... do it! Let me fall!" She struggled to keep her voice steady.

"No..." Troy spat out. "If...if we h-hang on f... for a little while ... for a little while longer...-"

"If we hang on… for a little while longer," Gabriella interrupted. "We'll both die!"

"I'm not going to drop you Gabriella!" Troy was shouting now; half to convince her that he was being truthful but mostly to motivate and convince himself that he could do this. But the odds weren't looking good. All of a sudden, to make matters worse, one of Gabriella's hands slid free of Troy's grip. She screamed as the pure force of it pulled Troy deeper still into the opening of the hole. There was a hollow pop as the pressure and weight that hung from Troy's single arm became too much for his body to handle and his shoulder popped out of its socket. He yelled out in agony. His free arm clasped around Gabriella's wrist.

The sweat on both of their hands was wettening the grip and making their hands slippery. The pain of the pressure on both of his arms and hers was becoming excruciatingly unbearable. Troy's eyes were locked on Gabriella's as he tried to muster his most encouraging smile. She was sobbing. Trembling fiercely. He was slipping.

The end, for both of them, was near.

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