Matt and Mello walked through the woods.

It was around sunrise and they had finished setting up camp over two hours ago. They had decided to go for a walk in the woods. The two teens packed backpacks with things they might have needed, including weapons, which the sheriff had provided them shortly after they met him. Just before they decided to walk they were called and warned by the local sheriff (Aizawa) that there were numerous missing people in one area of the woods and that they were to stay away.

He had said that they would know when to stop and turn their butts around and go back to camp. The younger teen, Matt didn't pay much attention when Aizawa started to talk about ribbons and other weird stuff that started to sound like a lecture…and the elder teen, Mello stopped listening as soon as it did start to sound more like a lecture…or a threat rather than a friendly warning. Not that either of them ever really listened when someone older than them talked in a lecture kind of tone.

They came to stop at an oak that had a green ribbon tied around the center of the fat trunk Mello turned on his heel as he had listened to some of what Aizawa had said and therefore knew that the ribbon meant for them to go away. Matt grabbed his wrist giving him a small smile. "Where you going, Mels?" he asked curiously.

"Back that way." Mello replied pointing towards the direction they came. "The sheriff said once we see a ribbon to turn around and walk the other way, unless it's a red ribbon. He said if we saw a red ribbon then we should run, not walk. Run. And whatever has been making the people around here disappear…I don't want to meet it…ever."

"Aw, come on!" Matt whined. "Aren't ya the least bit curious about why we shouldn't keep going? I mean, really, why shouldn't we keep walking? Didn't he say that the disappearances occurred only during the nighttime?"

"Well, look!" he said pointing a hand upwards. "The sun is out and shining! It isn't nighttime it's daytime. Come on! Nothing bad should happen if the disappearances occurred during the nighttime hours. Please, Mels, just a little further!"

"Okay, okay, fine." Mello relented hanging his head in defeat, then gave Matt a sharp death glare and smirked. "But if the zombies come after us, I'm totally tripping you."

"Wha?" Matt gasped. "Hey, that's not nice, and besides how do you know the zombies would eat me? Huh? They might like guys who eat chocolate better. So, I'll just tell them the secret hide-out you'll run to and they'll get you!"

Mello had his hands on his hips when he shook his head as if saying 'no' and rolled his eyes. He followed his energetic, redheaded friend soon after he bolted off in the direction, which they were told not to go. And unknown to them a dark figure moved swiftly to the oak tree and removed the ribbon. Tying it around their arm along with numerous other multicolored ribbons. They watched as the two teens disappeared from their sight up ahead. Brown eyes staring in their direction hungrily.

Matt tripped as he ran.

Mello helped him up and asked if he wanted to go back.

But the redhead said 'no' with a capital N and a capital O. It frustrated the blonde when Matt acting immature when saying yes or no. And Mello honestly didn't feel safe out there. He felt like they were being watched, but shook the feeling off after like an hour or so of walking around. Matt seemed to wind down after a while, losing a great deal of his energy. That was when they stopped walking and sat down to rest. "Matt, have noticed anything strange, out here?" Mello asked staring at the ground.

"No, like what?"

"Like how there aren't anymore warning ribbons or whatever Aizawa wanted to call them. And how birds don't chirp around here. Then there is the creepy, scary movie feeling that someone is watching us even though I can't see anyone around except for you. Besides those facts combined, don't you think it's a little strange that we haven't seen another living thing this entire walk? It's like animals avoid this area for some reason. Don't you find any of that unusual…maybe even disturbing?"

"Look if you wanna turn around, then we can turn around and go back to camp."

"Yeah," Mello said grimly nodding briskly. "That's exactly what I want to do, it's really creepy out here."

"All right which way did we come from?" Matt asked standing.

He wiped dirt off the back of his jeans as he waited for his blonde friend to answer. Mello also stood and looked around for a moment. "We came from-" Mello stopped talking as he quickly realized he didn't know either. "I-I think we came from that way?" he pointed a finger in a random direction. Matt bit his lower lip as he shook his head. "Follow me." He said grabbing Mello's wrist. "I'm pretty sure I know where to go." He didn't sound very sure, but the blonde didn't argue with Matt for once.

He just wanted to get the hell out of there! As they walked they noticed that things got eerier and eerier. The silences were long and the plants seemed to have thinned out as they walked. Rocks and dirt seemed to become more noticeable and storm clouds were rolling in. They headed in at least a hundred random directions before they decided to just turn around and head the opposite direction from where they came. After a short while thunder begun to rumble in the distance.

Mello glared at Matt as they sat down to rest and rethink their strategy.

"We'll have to get to find shelter soon, Matty." Mello said staring at the angry gray clouds. "What do you think we should do?"

"Well," he said moving his goggles from his eyes to around his neck and wiped his forehead with the back of his black-gloved hand. "I think we should find a hollowed log or tree…or maybe someone who could help us, so we don't get totally drenched."

"Who'd be out here?" Mello demanded.

"I don't know-"

"Hey!" Mello said in both frustration and realization. "Aizawa gave us cell phones, remember, we first met him and he tossed us two cell phones? He said that if we run into trouble we could call him."

He started to look through his pack, until he found the phone. He was more than relieved to see the phone had three bars. He quickly dialed in the number for the police and watched as the three bars on the cell phone dropped to zero, then rise back to three. He gasped and dialed again. He heard ringing and then someone picked up the phone. There was some static, but he understood Aizawa's voice fine.

"Hello, who's this?" he said sounding real friendly.

"It me, Mello, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, you and your little redheaded friend went camping."

"Yeah, well, we're lost."

"What?" Aizawa's voice was a mixture of alarm and shock. "How'd you get lost? Didn't you pay attention to the warning markers? Stop at green and turn around if you see blue, then run when you see red, yellow or orange ribbons tied around trees."

"We went walking, but didn't see any ribbons and now we're lost." Mello replied bluntly.

"Mello," Aizawa said sternly. "I want you to listen to me, very carefully."

"Sure." The blonde shrugged. "I'm good at listening."

"I gave you and Matt guns and ammo."

"Yeah." Mello said with a scowl. "What about the guns and ammo?"

"If you see anyone who looks strange or acts odd, shoot to kill."

"Excuse me?" Mello choked out in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, it's a matter of life or death." Aizawa said sounding weary and suddenly faraway. "If you or your friend Matt see anyone, at all, who looks out of the ordinary or like they could be dangerous, then I want you to kill them, before they kill you."

"But-"

"I probably should have told you this, but I didn't want to-"

"What the hell should you have told us?" Mello snapped suddenly feeling hate and anger burn deep within him. "What didn't you tell us, sheriff?"

"Listen to me, Mello, people who went missing out there, a few have been found, dead. It appeared as though they'd been maimed to death or…or…I don't know…but their bodies were mutilated and recently…human bite marks were found on one of the victim's. A young man who survived an attack, he claimed that he saw his girlfriend's dissection while she was still alive and the ones who done it were-"

And that was when the phone went dead. Mello's eyes had widened and he felt himself break out in a cold sweat. Matt looked at him curiously, maybe appearing a bit worried. He watched as Mello put the phone back in his pack. The blonde seemed shaken and fearful. Mello really wanted to fall down, but he managed to stand up, yet he trembled. He was uncertain if it were from fear or anger towards the sheriff for not warning them sooner. If they'd known then perhaps they wouldn't be in that mess.

"What'd he say?"

"He said…if we saw…."

"What's wrong?"

"He said that if we see anyone who may look strange or dangerous, then we should shoot and kill them, without hesitation. The people, some who went missing, they were found, Matt. And…."

"Yeah?"

"They were mutilated." Mello said in a quiet, empty voice. "That stupid bastard didn't tell us. And after what…what happened to that girl…he didn't tell us anything, Matt! That lying ass didn't tell us anything!"

"Let's be mad at the bastard later, Mels, we need to get out of here!" Matt said glancing around nervously. "I really don't wanna stay around here, now."

Lighting flashed and they screamed as a shrill cry of pain echoed through the air. Rain began to fall. They ran blindly in a single direction, and tripped. They tumbled down a hill hitting rocks several times, earning them a couple good bruises. Once they stopped rolling they lay on the ground groaning in pain. Both of the teens looked around, but saw nobody, then another cry of agony made them scramble to their feet. They scanned the area, but saw not a soul. Another cry of pain echoed through the air, but this time….

It was closer….

Yes, it was much closer, but then it was gone. Slowly getting soaked Matt looked wide-eyed at Mello. "What now?" he asked in a low voice. Mello shook his head letting Matt know he had no clue what they should have done, but then Matt bolted forward into a thick bunch of trees. Mello watched wide-eyed, mouth opened slightly.

"Hey!" Matt yelled as he ran.

He seemed to have seen someone. And was chasing them, but the elder male was not sure if that was what happened with his friend or not. "Matt?" Mello croaked barely able to understand what had just happened. "Matt!" he called, starting to run after his friend. Mello felt worried and a bit angry. Wasn't the whole idea of surviving staying together? He stopped abruptly as he bumped into Matt and fell backwards.

"Matt what the hell is your…problem…."

He looked at what Matt was and couldn't help but feel chills roll down his spine.