Run from the forest

Chapter 1

Phoebe's P.O.V

"It's nearly dark" "come on let's go" I said, pestering my best friend Mia. Mia only rolled her eyes and continued to pack the backpacks.

"We're going to be out there all night, that is the dare" Mia said to me before pushing another water bottle into my pack. Hers was already bulging and mine was nearly about to explode. "Come on Mia I want to get this over and done with" she sighs and opens a pack of gum, passing the first stick to me and another to herself, packs it in the front pocket and swings the backpack behind her onto her back.

"Grab yours and let's go" she says, pulling a smile onto her face. We were both terrified though. No one has ever survived a night in the forest of Carleburg before.

The legend had been going for hundreds of years and once a year 20 people were selected to go into the forest, if they survived they were given the promise of fame and fortune. Only 2 out of 20 people survived each round.

They could team up with another pair, possibly more but no more than ten people on a team.

Mia was stuck on the thought of her poor little sister Natasha. Anyone who survived the forest of Carleburg had their family automatically removed from the list of participants.

My eldest brother Joel went into the forest and he never came out. There's rumoured to be 500 different death traps and he died on the 1st.

He slipped on the rocks at the edge of the forest, fell down and got his head stuck in a bear trap. We watched it happen, me my parents, my little sister Amy and Mia was there for support.

The funeral was never held, anyone who died in the forest must remain in the forest forever.

Rules are rules.

With a heavy heart I say goodbye to my family and walk to the forests edge to meet our competition.

There we see Tins, the nerd that sits in a corner and cosplays in her free time. She won't last long, I hope her parents said their goodbyes.

Tanya sits there with her boyfriend bob and the PDA is overwhelmingly disgusting. I turn away and look at the graveyard. The one closest to me now is for Joel. My big brother who left and never saw the first trap.

Annabella licks the edge of a envelope and hands it to her parents. Probably a love letter for Robbie.

The other competitors are simply chatting with friends or crying with their loved ones.

Either way the chances of surviving are slim and your only weapon is a small knife made of a semi-alloy metal.

This is our last chance to see the parents and loved ones before we leave for the forest and may never return. I'm sad and I'm scared because Mia and I may die or one of us may die.

Mia and I walk towards our starting points and wait for the gun to signal the beginning.

I can already see several traps scattered below the starting rocks. Once I was allowed into the forest, after Joel died to search for his body. I memorised many traps and warned Mia to meet at a cabin that was just a mile or two from the starting point.

Together Mia and I recited our plan and waited until we ran.

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•boom•