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.
18.
Gabriella ran out of the cabin door. She knew that 'Joe' was right behind her and was certain that he would chase her until she was caught. However, by the time she had reached the steps of the porch, she heard the door slam shut behind her. She glanced back to see that her follower was nowhere in sight. But this didn't slow her down. She continued to run wildly through the grassy clearing in desperate search for her friends.
There was a thump as she collided with something with such a force that she ended up on her back. She sat up to see her best friend sitting opposite her, rubbing her sore chest.
"Gabriella!" Taylor said breathlessly. She was clearly and understandably surprised to have been run into by her friend.
Gabriella looked back at the cabin behind her. Taylor followed her gaze. They were both thinking the same thing.
"Where are the others?" Came Sharpay's voice from somewhere above them.
Gabriella wasn't sure, but a disturbing image entered her imagination. She remembered Chad's corpselike body as he lay completely still with blood pouring from the gash in his head. She remembered seeing Troy sink to the floor, clutching his stomach with agony painted on his face.
Taylor clambered to her feet and held her hand out to Gabriella. "What happened, Gabi?" She asked as Gabriella took her hand and she helped her to her feet. Taylor could feel Gabriella trembling in her grip.
Gabriella looked at the expectant faces in front of her and was at a loss as to what to say to them. Ryan stood wearily with his arm draped around Sharpay's shoulders and head hanging loosely. Sharpay did her best to support him but was clearly weak and shaking under his weight. Taylor was biting down hard on her bottom lip with anxiety and paranoia. Her brow was wrinkled with a deep frown and her eyes were red and sore.
With despair, she looked again at the cabin. She hoped desperately that she would see Troy and Chad emerge triumphantly. But Chad was…. And who knew what was happening to Troy?
"Where… are Troy… and Ch-." Ryan mumbled before breaking out into a fit of coughs.
Sharpay rubbed her brother's back. "Where are they?" She repeated. It was obvious that, as they weren't here, they were still in the cabin. Question was; why and would they be coming out alive?
Gabriella raised her hands to her face and shook her head as she slowly rubbed her eyes. She could feel tears forming and a lump growing in her throat.
Taylor placed a gentle, supportive hand on Gabriella's shoulder and stroked her friends arm tenderly. Gabriella gazed into Taylor's warm eyes and was sure that her following words would break the girl's heart.
"Taylor," Gabriella said. Her voice came out in a choked whisper. "Chad…he-…." She started to sob. "I'm sorry."
Taylor took some steps backwards. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What Gabriella was implying. Chad was dead. She could see it in Gabriella's eyes. And she couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. Her head was spinning. Her thoughts were a mess.
No. Gabriella was wrong. Chad was okay. He had to be. He was her hero. He was untouchable. And she was going to find him.
She turned and started on her short walk back to the cabin. She wasn't sure how yet, but somehow, she was going to get in there and end all of this. There had been too much pain already. Too much loss. Loss of lives. Of hope. It had to end once and for all. Even if that meant one more life would have to be lost in the process.
"Where are you going?!" Sharpay called after Taylor's retreating back.
Taylor didn't turn to Sharpay's voice but called over her shoulder; "To kill that son of a bitch!" She stopped walking a second and whirled around to face her group of friends. "Anyone care to join me?" She asked. She was displaying the enthusiasm of someone who had completely lost the plot. She had lost the will to live. And her mind. Now, it was just a case of fighting to the very end. She wasn't going to run away any more. This man had pushed her into the river, he'd almost drowned her, he'd set out traps that had taken the life of one of her friends, he had taken their things and left them stranded in the middle of nowhere, and when waiting for them to starve to death got boring, he kidnapped her boyfriend. So no, she wasn't cowering away anymore. No, she wasn't going to sit back and let any more of this nonsense happen. No.
If Ryan wasn't in such poor physical condition, he would have joined Taylor without hesitation. It was about time they took a stand together. But the injuries he had sustained from his run-in with Joe had set him back a little. His head was a mess of jumbled thoughts as if the heavy blow he had sustained had literally rattled his brain. He was almost certain that he was bleeding internally. His skull felt as if it was filling with blood with very beat of his heart. Plus, at least three of his ribs were undoubtedly broken after his collision with the wall. If it wasn't for all of this, however, he would be right at Taylor's side.
Sharpay knew that Ryan needed her. He couldn't stand on his own and she could tell he was slowly deteriorating. She was too afraid to leave him. She admired Taylor's unexpected bravery and her fearlessness to go on what would only end up being a suicide mission. She wished she could be part of it. She wanted revenge. For all they had been through. For Zeke. But if it meant leaving Ryan then she just couldn't. Right now, her brother was her only priority.
She shook her head 'no' to Taylor's question but was grateful to find that Taylor completely understood.
Finally, Taylor looked to Gabriella.
Gabriella didn't have to think twice. She hadn't wanted to leave the cabin in the first place. She only did it for Troy. But now that the end was near and there was nothing left to lose, she knew she only had one choice. Bring it on, she thought. She wasn't scared anymore. After everything that had happened, nothing could scare her any more. Not even death. She'd seen more devastation in the past few days than she could have imagined in her entire life. She didn't care about going home any more. That was a hope that had long since died away. The reality of it was that they were never going home. They'd never see their families again. Their friends. They'd never do what they'd dreamed of doing. They'd never be what they'd hoped they'd be. But at least they wouldn't die as cowards.
"Let's do it." She said finally.
Taylor nodded and turned back to the cabin. Gabriella followed, taking her friends hand in her own. They glanced at each other for a second as they walked. Taylor had been the best friend Gabriella had ever had. Gabriella was the same for Taylor. It was right that it ended like this. It was right they were going down together.
Rather than climb the steps onto the porch, they circled the small building before disappearing around the back.
Sharpay and Ryan watched as Gabriella and Taylor stayed out of view for a few minutes before emerging with a new weapon in tow. Taylor's arms were weighed down with a heavy wood-cutting axe which she had pried from a tree stump. The two girls made their way to the front door. They hesitated only a moment and then entered.
The second the door was open, Gabriella put the quick plan she and Taylor had come up with into practice. She ran into the room as quickly as she could. She flung her entire weight at Joe who hung over Troy with his back to her. The force and sheer surprise of her actions knocked the much larger man clean off his feet.
Meanwhile, Taylor entered behind her. She momentarily glanced over at Chad before beginning her part of the plan. While Gabriella wrestled with the man on the floor, Taylor swung the axe at Joe. The flat cheek of the metal hit him square in the face with a clunk. "That's for Zeke!" She grunted as Joe yelled and toppled onto his back. "And this," she continued, glancing at Chad for a second before raising the axe. "Is for Chad!" Gabriella climbed out from under him just as Taylor sent the axe down again, this time, blade-first.
She aimed for the head but, seeing it coming, Joe turned away. The axe passed along the man's cheek and slid down the side of his face eventually catching his ear. By the time it had reached the floor beneath him, the point of the axe had impaled his ear and was currently pinning it to the wood. He was trapped.
Taylor looked down at him with triumph and pride. He grasped his bleeding ear with pain and tried to remove the axe but, in pure adrenalin-fuelled frenzy, Taylor had managed to sink the weapon inches deep into the wood. Joe's only chance of escape now would be for him to tear off his own ear.
Joe's agony turned to rage and his bloody hands lashed out at Taylor. He was lying down but managed to get a hold of her ankle. He pulled her leg from beneath her and she found herself tumbling unceremoniously onto her back.
Meanwhile, Gabriella was crouched beside Troy. What she saw when she looked at him was more nauseating than anything she could have imagined. Joe hadn't finished him off with a single blow to the head from the point of is hook. It looked like he had tortured Troy who, thankfully, was still breathing. It looked like he had been hit with the hook repeatedly.
His entire face was drenched in his own blood; swollen and beaten beyond recognition. He was wheezing and gurgling as the blood that gushed from his probably broken nose entered his mouth and throat. He had various gashes on his face and neck. He looked near-dead. But he was alive.
Gabriella cupped his head in her hands. His blood ran through her fingers. His dazed eyes found her and a tiny, almost unrecognisable smile crept onto his lips. "Gabi…" He groaned.
"We have to get outta here." She told him, slowly lifting his head onto her lap. To her surprise, he was very responsive and managed to get himself into a sitting position. His gaze fell onto Chad who he had hoped would have woken up by now. Sadly, Chad hadn't moved at all.
Then, he looked around for Joe, confused as to how Gabriella had managed to get to him. He'd heard the commotion but was too enveloped in his own pain to have comprehended what was going on.
Taylor was engaged in a silent struggle with the beast. And although he was unable to move a lot, he still had the upper hand. She was lying on the floor beside the man; trying desperately to wriggle free of his strong hold on her. He had one hand around her neck while the other lashed and ripped at her face like the claw of an animal. She managed to dodge his sharp nails most times but his hand on her neck was slowly impairing her responses and Troy and Gabriella could see many scratches on her face.
"Get off her!" Troy demanded loudly. Unarmed, he could do nothing but beat at the man with only his hands. But with Gabriella's help, Joe eventually released Taylor. She rolled out of his reach before he could get a hold of her again.
She hurried over to Chad and rolled him onto his back. He didn't respond. "Chad!" She yelled, shaking him as forcefully as she could muster. He didn't move. He looked dead. But something, like a supernatural force, something was telling her that he was still alive. Barely. But alive. There was still colour left on his cheeks. And he was still bleeding. Dead people don't bleed. In her eyes, Chad wasn't dead. Not yet.
Joe was getting more and more desperate by the second. He was lashing and writhing uncontrollably. In one final kick of his legs he managed to knock the table with enough force to make one of its legs collapse. Whether it was intentional or just his luck, the gas lamp fell to the floor and smashed, instantly setting the dry wood of the floor alight.
A deep laugh escaped him as he watched the fire quickly spread over his highly flammable home. They would all die agonising deaths in this blazing prison.
It all happened so quickly that none of them had a chance to comprehend what was happening. Just a sudden heat and the sound of crackling, roaring flames. Get out, was their only thought.
"Help me get him out of here!" Taylor shouted over the roar of the inferno. She tucked her arms under Chad's armpits and tried to drag him with all her strength. Troy jumped through the growing wall of fire that separated him and Taylor and grabbed Chad around the waist. He leant his friend's limp body onto his and pulled him, with Gabriella and Taylor's help, toward the door.
He'd never known his friend to be so heavy. And the room was so hot they could barely breathe. And there was little space to stand without the sting of a hot flame licking across their skin. Black smoke was filling he air. They could barely see. Troy's head was pounding. His ears were ringing. His face was throbbing. Hope seemed lost. The wooden floor creaked. It was buckling. The whole place was going to collapse in a fiery explosion of glass and wood. They didn't have much time.
It was a miracle. Somehow they made it to the door. Somehow, against all odds, and against any laws of science, they made it onto the porch.
Ryan and Sharpay had just made it up the steps and met the others on the porch. Both of them had gotten fed up of waiting. They wanted in on the action. And when they saw the flames they knew they had to go and help.
There was a crack under all of their feet and they knew that the floor beneath them was about to give out. Pressure was building in the tiny house and the mixture of trapped air, sulphur and fire was about to result in a huge explosion.
They cast a final, curious glance through the doorway. Joe lay in the same spot staring back at them. Many emotions could be read on his face. The obvious; agony, terror, desperation. But hidden behind his eyes was something deeper. Disappointment, maybe. Regret.
Yellow flames danced over his flesh. His skin bubbled and blistered. His hair shrivelled and fried. He opened his mouth and released a monstrous and unnatural sound. An inhuman wail that echoed within the pits of their stomachs. A frantic final plea.
Then he was gone. Swallowed whole by the blaze. Gone. Forever.
The floor started to vibrate like a mini-earthquake and they knew they had to get out of there. They'd waited too long though. Before they could even make it to the steps, there was a deafening boom and then a sudden gust of white hot force that sent all six of them flying.
A/N: Thanks for all the crazy reviews! They put a smile on my face and are a perfect Christmas present! Especially Saynt Jimmy whose review actually made me laugh out loud- hope you get well soon!
xX M Xx