"Shit! My leg!" Dennis hissed as quietly as he could manage. The pain began to scream through his nerves from his ankle up to his knee. He stumbled forward but somehow managed to stay up on his feet.

"What are you doing?" Bette snapped, coming to a stop so she could glare back at him.

"My leg! It got stuck in a ditch! I think I twisted it!" Dennis hissed, wincing as he struggled to hobble after her.

"Well ignore it!" Bette growled, showing no sympathy for his pain. Why should she? Her own legs were aching as if covered in bruises, she had a permanent stitch in her side, her throat was painfully dry and she had an uncountable number of minor scratches and cuts all along her arms an shoulders but she refused to complain. She was just turning to continue to stomp through the heavily weeded and muddy ground when another branch scratched at her knuckles, drawing blood as if to torment her further but she still barely made a sound anymore.

"I can't." He moaned, coming to a stop after a minute of trying to scramble along in order to keep up with her, he turned to lean against a thin tree, panting heavily from the effort he had been making.

Bette glared at him, once again coming to a stop. She had been here for a few years now - or maybe it was just a few days. It was hard to keep up track of time - and so far she had survived all the horrors it had to hold for her but then she had been on her own back then. She only had to look out for herself when suddenly Dennis had been dropped into her lap (quite literally as he had fallen out of a tree on top of her) and somehow he had clung on to her from then on-wards.

The two of them then ended up depending on each other. It had worked out occasionally. When they found places to rest they would take turns keeping an eye out, though neither needed to sleep for long, they still needed to rest for just a few minutes after days of running. They were there for one another to give a line when they couldn't reach something and help with the worst of their injuries but normally that just meant a particularly painfully bleeding scrape on their legs. They had yet to break or seriously hurt anything that would actually slow them down, at least until now.

"You have to at least try!" Bette whispered, feeling the tension building with every step they did not take.

The smart thing would be to leave Dennis and continue to run on her own but she couldn't do it. Not now after all the time they had spent with one another, getting to know each other and helping each other. Plus, Bette wasn't ready to go back to being alone again. Bette had been alone for so long she had almost forgotten about other humans and how they felt the same as her, but now she was reminded of it she cursed it! It was weakness and it would get her killed! But being alone was also frightening and cold and she was just too weak to be alone anymore.

She hesitated and glanced around the heavy area, silently cursing her problems, when her eyes were drawn to a strong thick looking tree not too far to her right. "Okay, do you think you can climb at least?"

"Maybe..." Dennis mumbled, not looking very sure as he limped over to her.

"Try. And quickly." Bette snapped.

Dennis moved slowly to the nearest tree to him. It was weak and frail looking like it might come out of the ground if he so much as touched it but it had the lowest branches. Bette sighed and grabbed his arm, dragging him over to the stronger looking one that might actually hold his weight. He was smaller than her, even though he was technically older, and she easily dragged him along behind her. Dennis stared up at the tree and slowly moved towards the lowest branch that seemed to slope down slightly. But it was still out of reach. With his hand stretched up, his finger tips barely scraped the bark when he was standing on his toes. Bette moved without being told, grabbing the back of Dennis' legs and lifting him up onto her shoulders with a loud grunt of effort. Dennis squeaked slightly in shock and glanced down at her.

"Quickly!" Bette growled, straining slightly as she pushed his feet up. He hesitated just a moment longer before he reached up and wrapped an arm around the trunk, standing on Bette's shoulders and jumping up, throwing his body around the branch and nearly kicking Bette in her face.

Dennis wasn't exactly heavy but he wasn't light. Bette could feel more strength leaving her and she wasn't sure she would be able to climb up even if she did get help from Dennis. As soon as Dennis was sitting on the trees extra arm, Dennis lied down on his stomach as flat as he could make himself and reached down, grabbing Bette's hand to pull her up after him. She had to jump on already weak legs to reach his hand but she was sweating and her fingers slipped easily from his hand causing her to drop down, hitting the ground hard.

"Owch!" Bette gasped, rubbing her back where her tail bone hit the ground. The earth was soft but still painful to fall back on.

"You okay?" Dennis blinked, feeling his own nerves building so tightly he was worried he might throw up on her.

"No! I feel-! Damn it!" Bette snapped, standing and wiping the sweat off her hand and onto her dark blue denim shorts, staining them with the mud and blood that had been building over the last few nights since they had left the river side.

She was just getting ready to try again when she heard something that made her heart freeze in her chest and her bones turn cold in her skin. It was a low howling sound that rang through the air and bounced against the trees. It was horribly close and it echoed for what seemed like much longer than it actually was, surrounding Bette where she stood. She looked around but it was too dark, the trees too close and the sky too clouded for her to see any shapes that could be coming for her.

"Bette!" Dennis shrieked, forgetting the number one rule of being quiet. "Hurry!"

She jumped again and grabbed his hand but in their haste she slipped again and once again fell down to the ground hard landing on her hip. Bette let out a sob of terror and jumped up onto her feet, jumping and snatching for his hand once again. She slipped a third time, landing awkwardly on her leg and sending pain through her and the growls were growing louder and coming from every possible angle all around her like there were thousands of them purposely surrounding her before they pounced. Bette stood and jumped, reaching up for Dennis and bouncing on her feet, for a brief moment she was reminded of her nickname back before she came to this place; Bouncing Bette.

She tried twice more and twice more she slipped and fell to the ground. Dennis was leaning over so far it looked like he might fall off the tree as he tried to grab a hold of her with both hands to drag her up. Bette wanted to tell him to stop being stupid and not to fall for her but her fear made her selfish side rise and all she could think of was saving herself. She didn't want to die. At least not again.

The first of the creatures appeared from two large trees to her right just as Dennis managed to get a firm hold of her hand, squeezing so tight Bette briefly wondered if he might break her fingers. With a firm hold, he could only just bring her up high enough so she could grab the trunk with her free hand but even that was sliding under her palm. Bette's feet hung bellow her and the creature darted over to the tree, bellowing and snapping at her feet, jumping and almost catching onto her naked toes. Bette pulled her legs up, scratching her feet at the bark to find a place where she could grip and push herself up but her strength was failing her and she felt her fingers slipping through his fingers once again as well as on the bark. Dennis grabbed her arm around the elbow and pulled her with all his strength, the creature snapped sharply and Bette felt it scratch her heel and felt it draw blood.

"AH!" Bette shouted and tears began to flood her eyes. "Hurry up, Dennis!"

Dennis finally grabbed the waistband of her shorts, pulling and dragging her up onto the trunk. She lay on her stomach with her hands and feet still hanging bellow but now out of reach from the creatures, gasping and slowly sitting up. She had to move slowly because she couldn't move fast if she wanted to, she no longer had the strength to do anything fast. She was bleeding heavily from her heel now and the creature panted as they lapped up the blood thirstily that dripped down towards them.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Bette snapped, fighting to control her sobs, lifting her foot to cover the wound and stop the blood flow.

"You okay?" Dennis gasped.

"Yeah, but he got my blood." Bette gasped, more tears replacing the ones she had wiped away. "He has my taste. He has me."

"Don't worry, it will run dry eventually when it catches on someone else." Dennis shrugged.

"I hope so." Bette mumbled, staring down at the creature as it growled now she was no longer allowing her body to feed him. Then she realized what she had just said and let out another sob. She was literally hoping for someone else's death so that she might live.

They remained settled on the branch watching the creatures growling and snarling bellow them for a short while before they began to grow nervous about the possibility of the branch snapping under them. It wasn't really wheezing or tipping but they didn't want to take any chances that might have them drop down to the ground. After a moment of quiet arguing, Dennis moved carefully to a side by branch slightly higher and the two sat in silence once more.

They were lucky the creatures couldn't climb up after them. The only problem was that they couldn't rest much because there was a chance they would roll or slip and fall down to the ground at be at the creatures mercy. Instead they sat up, clinging onto the branches and watching the creature in silent as they waited for it to grow bored and leave them alone. It could take days but eventually it would find someone else to keep it interested and while Bette and Dennis would feel guilty they knew they would have no other choice unless they wanted to die as well.

While they waited Dennis reached into his pocket and pulled out some kind of torn handkerchief he had found some days earlier that had been caught on a thorn bush. They mostly used it to wash themselves when they were lucky to stumble across a lake, but Bette's heel was bleeding heavily now and so he handed it to her.

"Wrap your foot up." Dennis advised. She took the material and noticed how badly he was shaking but politely ignored it.

Carefully, Bette wrapped the handkerchief around her heel and tied it tightly into a triple knot above her foot. Then she wiped her hands once again on her denim to get rid of the heavy layer of blood. By now her shorts were stained so much it was impossible to tell what colour they had been originally. As it was her white top now looked black with occasion splashes of grey. Even her hair which had once been a sweet honey brown colour was lank, straw like with a mixture of mud and grease clogging it. She had given up on it after a while and cut it right down to her head in a boyish fashion. At least it was out of the way now.

Dennis wasn't much better than her. Bette looked over at him and realized with an almost laugh that his hair was longer then her's though just as filthy. The original bleach blond looked like something out of a swamp that had been left over time. His own white top had earned a great rip down the back and was barely hanging on now and his jeans were not much better. Bette had found him a vine from a old fallen tree that he now used as a belt to hold everything together but soon they might have to find some new clothes for him. Of course they had no shops around and that only left the corpses of those who had been unable to handle this place.

She hadn't met him back in the old days but he told her he used to be overweight but like most of the people left in that world, he lost the extra weight and more when the kids began to starve. Now he looked much more like a skeleton than a fourteen year old boy.

Bette shivered at the thought of that and found herself thinking back to her brother. Her poor brother. Alone in a world of starving children and killer freaks. She had never stopped thinking about her brother. Sometimes her thoughts went dark and she thought about what she should have done to save him from the horror of starving. The things she could have done to save them both long before the dangers of the FAYZ started. But then Bette thought of his sweet face and knew she could never really be able to do anything to Keith. Even if it meant saving him. Dennis didn't know if he was still alive, but Bette hoped he was, because if he wasn't then he might be stuck somewhere here like so many other people she had seen.

The tree they were sitting on was dark and damp, constantly throughout the day it was always damp, with thick leaves spread out along the branches that were equally as dark. Everything here seemed dark and it was impossible to tell when it was day or night, if there was a day or night that was. The sky was covered in a permanent dark grey clouds, with no sun or moon and yet there was always just enough unknown light for them to vaguely see what was around them. There were trees at every turn and it had seemed that way for as long as they had entered this place.

Bette and Dennis had been among the many others to run through the forest, searching for an end but unable to find it so far. They hadn't seen anyone yet but the two of them had each heard the others. They continued to search because they had no other choice. None of them knew why they were there, they just continued to struggle and search for a way out by running and running. It was better than just giving up and letting the horrific scenes happen to them. Even suicidal kids rather stabbed or hung themselves than face the creatures slow and painful death. If it was a death that is... Maybe it was just another torturous land that would constantly attack and hunt them for the rest of time.

Bette moved close to the tree and wrapped her arms around it, needing to hold onto something for both comfort and security, resting her head on its cool surface. She was tired and wanted to shut her eyes even if she would only sleep for a few minutes but she knew better than to try. Still it was hard. She glanced over and saw Dennis was in the same position, lying on the branch with his arms wrapped around it, blinking repeatedly and watching the creature in order to stay awake by watching its terrifying features.

It was hours after they had climbed the tree when they heard the screams. They happened almost every day or night or whatever it was. Someone was always screaming, either from fear, pain or pure hopelessness. The last one was the worst and sometimes it was hard to resist joining in. Everyone had let out that scream at least once since arriving in this strange place.

These screams were for fear and as they grew louder, Bette and Dennis could tell they were getting closer. Whoever was screaming was heading straight for them.

"Please go away..." Dennis whispered.

Bette shut her eyes, silently thinking the same thing. They would be unable to help them and so all they would be able to do is watch as they were killed or as they ran away to be caught and killed later on. It was too much to make Bette and Dennis watch. And maybe they would get away if they didn't run directly towards of the large pack of the creatures that were still circling the tree.

Their prayers were unanswered and the person, a boy, reached their tree. He saw them and screamed for help but the words were barely out of his mouth before the creatures that had been watching for Bette and Dennis had turned and pounced on him. Barely nine years old and he had a dozen creatures on him at once. Bette shook and her stomach clenched painfully but she blinked and refused to cry, even when she heard the tearing of flesh and when the last of the screams were choked out and ended only in bloody gurgles. She looked at Dennis who was openly sobbing and digging his broken nails into the bark of the trunk he was hugging but Bette refused to cry. She would cry enough for herself, it was pointless to waste tears on others.

No matter how much her heart cried, she wouldn't let the tears be shown to the rest of the God forsaken world.

This is a short chapter. I'm going to try and make them longer as I go on. This was just a bit of an intro really.

Next Chapter: The Breeze!