The firing gun shot and we all scattered, I saw one person fall on their bottom and slide to the bottom of the rocks, they managed to get back up but two minutes later we heard a scream and Mia ran up to me talking about a tree branch going through the poor girls' head.
"Ouch" I say and Mia just smiles "one less to deal with, besides I kicked the tree. My fault she's dead" her smile slips for a moment before she grins wickedly and I have to shake the image from my mind.
"Come on we're nearly at the hut" I say and pick up my pace to a swift jog, Mia levels hers beside me and we continue towards the hut in silence.
It was haunting when we came across it, the hut stood alone in the middle of black and charred bushes where a fire had once destroyed it but the greenery never returned.
Mia and I glance at each other and both stop, pull out our knives and continue towards the hut. "If there's someone in there what do we do?" Mia whispers to me.
"I don't know" I whisper back "kill them?" I question "sure, sounds like fun" she replies.
I chuckle under my breath - Mia really is one unique girl.
Mia and I stalk towards the hut, knives in hand and hands on handles. Mia starts to talk "What-" "ssh" I say cutting her off and continuing around the hut towards a window.
As we get nearer I hear voices and I signal for Mia to stop, crouching beneath the windows view and pulling my gun to my chest. I pray they move away from the window and leave the house, going in the opposite direction.
The forest doesn't let opportunities slip away however, the voice gets closer and the window creaks until I feel the breath on the top of my hair.
Mia realises what happens and glances up, causing a sudden crunch beneath her feet and the person looks towards her. I inhale a sharp breath and notice a handsome boy about our age, leaning out the window in surprise.
I hear before I see, the boy screams in agony and then I see a knife drop from his hands onto the ground. Followed by a limp body, lifeless and bleeding.
"MIA HAS DRAWN FIRST BLOOD" comes the first announcement, a booming voice echoing around the forest and then I hear the second "JARRA IS THE FIRST ONE TO DIE" before everything falls silent.
Mia shrugs her shoulders and moves out of the way of the achievement package falling from above. "What do we have here?" She questions and I begin rambling "that's an aid package that will contain various items which may help or hinder you..." "I get it" Mia says, I can sense her tenseness though the curt words cut me like a knife. She's hesitant to open it, so am I.
"Let's just get inside" we say together and I pull myself up onto the window ledge and help Mia into the house. Pretty soon we've got the boy's body far enough away from the house to keep animals away.
Looking around in the package I find us a map each, three bottles of water, two cans of soup, gas masks, medical supplies and walkie talkies. "I think we got lucky" I say, openly speaking my mind. "Perhaps too lucky" Mia suggests and I nod with agreement but I continue to search the package but find nothing helpful.
Instead I turn my attention to the dead boy's bag and rummage through until it's all on the ground in front of us, four more cans of soup, four bottles of water, a compass and a stuffed bear.
The hut draws blanks no matter where we look, aside from a torch that barely works.
Despite the earlier struggle to get organised we decide to leave a trap here. We agree that if we were other tributes we'd search for easy shelter too and that this was the perfect location.
In the hut we left a very simple bear trap but very well hidden. Beneath the hut however, around the side hidden by bushes and a big mound we dug underneath the hut until we hit the edges and made a camp.
There we lay two sleeping bags, packed previously and hid our stuff in the level between the floorboards and lowest timber level. "I think this is good" I say, hoping it will hold up throughout the night.
"Yes but I think we need to conceal the entrance" Mia says and I pat her on the back, surprised at her genius comments and good survival instinct. Together we find a heap of dead bushes, push them over the top and bury them in a line around the house beneath the dirt in order to stop people from digging under from another area.
Mia nods her head in approval and takes out a leather book, a fountain pen and ink. She begins to write and I sit there, chewing on a cigarette with no particular reason or thought train.
"I just hope we survive the night" Mia says, watching for a response. "Yeah I guess so" I reply, suddenly losing hope and letting a tear roll down my cheeks.
"What is it Pheebs?" Mia questions and I look away, brushing the tear away, "nothing". She looks at me more determined this time and says "Phoebe, what is it?".
"I just...what if I never live past tonight and I never get to tell Frank I love him and I miss him...and how do I tell him he shouldn't date Sarah because I'm the one for him?" I say and then bite my lip, crawl over to the entrance and let the cold air whip at my face until I feel calm enough to turn back and smile.
Mia doesn't say anything, probably wise but she does point out the fact it's nearly sunset.
I see two people fighting in a clearing 30 meters from the hut and pick my knife up, ready to take up the winner as an opponent - Mia follows me, silently but supportively.
Then I crawl from under the hut, keep the knife in my hands and run head first towards the boy left standing.
YOU ARE READING
Run from the forest
HorrorIt's getting dark. Two friends head into the forest. They didn't realise it was out to get them. Trees falling, sinking mud, sharp traps, rabid animals and a bitch of a hard escape.. Will they escape? Will they make it out alive?
