Fic: Fall at your Feet - Chapter 2/?
Title: Fall at your Feet
Author: missnumbat
Word count: ~2800
Disclaimer: I don’t own it
Summary: High School AU - Don't go into the Woods Halloween trope.
Author’s Note: This is second part of my Halloween fic. It's based on the Don't go into the Woods trope. A huge thank you to my wonderful beta courtknees1 and to the always amazing beetsbearsbsg for her creative input.
Part 1
Ben and Leslie whipped their heads around as the noise was followed by a scream of agony. They both leapt up and ran towards the sound, grabbing their torches as they went.
They passed by Mr Swanson’s shelter just as he emerged with a shotgun in his hands. Together they ran to the site of the screaming to find a dark grey shape sitting on top of a human-shaped canvas lump, tearing great chunks out of the canvas with every swipe of its sharp claws.
“Drop bear,” Mr Swanson growled, taking aim at the creature with his foot and kicking it off of its prey. The drop bear rounded on Mr Swanson, its red eyes gleaming, its mouth and claws wet with blood. Mr Swanson, without hesitation, took aim with his shotgun and shot the drop bear in the head; its body was thrown backwards by the force of the shot.
In the ringing silence that followed the gunshot, another ominous thump was heard in the distance.
“EVERYONE TO ME,” Mr Swanson yelled, before bending over the prone figure on the ground and peeling back the canvas sheet to reveal the feebly stirring form of Jean-Ralphio.
Ann was the next person to arrive on the scene, bearing a first aid kit.She immediately knelt down beside Jean-Ralphio, pulled up his shirt and began to apply pressure to a small wound on his stomach, which glistened red in the light from the fire. Leslie shook herself out of her shock and bent down to help Ann.
As everyone came running from their tents to gather around Jean-Ralphio, asking panicked questions about what was happening and exclaiming in shock when they caught sight of Jean-Ralphio’s wounds, Mr Swanson's voice rose over the crowd.
“Did anyone pass Jerry on the way here?”
“He headed out into the bush a while ago,” April said with a deadpan expression. “He walked into my shelter and almost knocked it over. He was mumbling something about his bowels playing up.”
“Okay, first things first,” Mr Swanson said. “Ann, since you have done work experience at the hospital and a first aid course, I am making you our medic. You are to stay here with Donna and try to dress Jean-Ralphio’s wounds as best you can.”
“Leslie, you can handle a shotgun right? Well take this one. I want you and Ben to stand guard over Ann, Donna and Jean-Ralphio and remember to keep your eyes on the trees above you. Drop bears rarely attack at ground level; they are called drop bears for a reason.”
Leslie looked at Ben and nodded grimly.
The crowd of teenagers around Mr Swanson looked frightened and bewildered by this turn of events.
“April and Andy, I want you to scout amongst the shelters and gather all of our essential supplies and bring them back here. April, you do the gathering, Andy, you are to keep watch. Shine a torch into the trees above. Drop bears like the element of surprise and they are less likely to drop if they think you have seen them.”
Mr Swanson surveyed the teenagers looking serious.
“Stay on your toes kids. You don’t often get a second chance with a drop bear.”
Ron gave the group one last sweeping glance before turning his attention to Chris.
“Chris, you and I are going to go and look for Jerry. Keep within my line of sight at all times and be vigilant."
Tom looked up from where he was crumpled on the ground next to Jean-Ralphio and said, between sobs, “What do you want me to do?”
“Son, you talk to Jean-Ralphio. Try to keep him conscious.”
Mr Swanson and Chris set off purposefully, with Chris shining his light into the trees and Mr Swanson stooping to pick up the axe he had used to chop wood earlier.
April darted amongst the shelters, grabbing anything that looked useful, while Andy struggled to keep up with her and look up into the trees at the same time.
Leslie stood nervously holding the shotgun in her hands while Ben shone the torch up into the trees, his head darting around like a bird.
Leslie cast a quick look down at Jean-Ralphio as Ann cut the leg of his pants off and had to fight the urge to vomit.
Jean-Ralphio had huge chunks of flesh ripped from his leg and there was blood everywhere. Ann and Donna exclaimed in shock and Ann hurriedly pulled out a large piece of gauze and pressed it on to the gaping wound.
“Donna, I’m not going to be able to stop putting pressure on this wound for some time. It’s bleeding heavily and J-R is losing a lot of blood from it, maybe too much.” Ann’s voice shook slightly, but she pulled herself together. “I will need you to wipe away as much of the blood as you can from the wound on his side. It doesn't look too bad, but we need to see how deep it is.
Just then a rustle in the trees above them caused them all to glance up. Leslie thought she saw a dark shape darting away from the beam of light as Ben swung the torch in the direction of the noise.
Leslie pointed the shotgun in the direction of the shape but it had moved so fast she couldn’t get a shot off.
There was another thump and a shout of pain from the direction of Donna and April’s shelter. Ben, Leslie and Donna turned around to stare, with worried expressions on their faces. Ann was too focussed on Jean-Ralphio to look up and Tom was still a sobbing mess on the ground.
April’s yells filled the air and Leslie started in the direction of the sound. Just then, a noise from above them made her whip her head up as the light from Ben’s torch illuminated another dark shape moving around above them.
Leslie didn’t know what to do. Should she go and help Andy and April or should she stay here to protect the gravely injured Jean-Ralphio, not to mention her best friend who she knew wouldn’t leave J-R’s side?
As Leslie’s internal monologue continued, there came the sounds of something metal crunching repeatedly in to flesh and a triumphant yell from April. Seconds later, Leslie could see the light from a torch bobbing slowly towards her.
As the light moved closer, Leslie could see that April was walking towards them with Andy. One of Andy’s hands was holding tightly to Aprils, but the other was bloody and pressed against his neck.
“What happened?” Leslie exclaimed, taking a couple of steps towards Andy and looking up at his neck.
“Drop bear,” April said succinctly.
“It landed on my neck and took a big bite, almost like a vampire,” Andy said somewhat shakily, looking pale in the firelight. “It was a lot smaller than that one.” He pointed to the mangled carcass of the drop bear that had attacked Jean-Ralphio. “April hit it a heap of times with Donna’s model Mercedes and killed it.”
“With my WHAT?” Donna’s last word ended in a shriek.
“It’s just dinted and covered in blood,” Andy said consolingly. “I’m sure you can get it fixed.”
“Michael,” Donna moaned. “You are paying for him to be fixed.” She shot a glare at April.
“We have more important things to worry about right now,” Ann said commandingly. “April, I want you to come here and take over from me. Keep applying pressure to his leg. We need to stop the bleeding.”
April looked startled for a moment and then moved to stand next to Ann. This surprised Leslie because April normally didn’t pay any attention to Ann. Clearly desperate times called for desperate measures.
April crouched down and Ann quickly removed her hands from the gauze as April placed hers down.
Ann got up and grabbed another bag of gauze from the first aid kit and a half-empty bottle of water from amidst the ruins of the shelter.
She approached Andy and turned him so that the firelight was falling on the injured side of this neck.
“I’m going to get you to take your hand away, and then I’m going to wipe away the blood from your neck to get a good look at your wound.” Ann’s voice was gentle and calming. “It is going to hurt a bit but probably no more than when you tried to jump over your desk at school wearing rollerblades and didn’t quite make it.”
Ann poured a bit of water on to the gauze and looked up at Andy.
“That didn’t hurt that much. Plus it was super fun.” Andy said as he lowered his hand from his neck.
Leslie got a quick look at two small, deep looking wounds before Ann started wiping away the blood.
As Leslie shot anxious looks between Andy, Jean-Ralphio and the trees, she couldn’t help but notice that the rustling in the trees was getting more frequent, as were Ben’s sharp intakes of breath. She followed his gaze and saw shapes moving in the light of his torch.
Leslie looked at Ben and noticed that he was so tense that he was completely rigid. His mouth was pursed and his eyes were darting around the trees unceasingly.
Leslie shifted her grip on the gun so she was holding it in just one hand and gripped Ben’s arm.
He jumped, startled, and looked at her quickly before returning his gaze to the trees.
“You are doing such a great job,” Leslie said and even at a moment like this she couldn’t help but notice what cute profile he had. “Keeping us safe.”
Ben’s mouth relaxed a little at the compliment and he shot her an appreciative glance before continuing his vigilant watching of the tree tops.
“Your wounds aren’t too bad. They are deep though, so you should probably get stitches once we get near a hospital,” Ann told Andy as she wrapped a bandage around his neck.
“Are drop bears like werewolves?” Andy asked worriedly. “Am I going to turn into a drop bear at the full moon?”
No one answered Andy as they were all distracted by the sight of Mr Swanson and Chris returning to camp, carrying a make-shift stretcher between them. They stopped next to the fire and put the stretcher down before continuing on to the group of scared teenagers clustered around Jean-Ralphio.
As Chris and Mr Swanson approached, Leslie noticed that Chris was crying and Mr Swanson looked even more solemn than usual.
“Is that Jerry? Why did you leave him over there? Did he have another fart attack?” Andy asked, craning his neck to look at the dark shape on the stretcher.
“Jerry is dead. The drop bears got him.” Mr Swanson stated baldly. “We are going to have to get moving if we don’t want to end up the same way. We are sitting targets here and there are swarms of drop bears approaching. We will be harder to attack if we are on the move.”
Leslie was in complete shock over Jerry’s death, and it took a minute for Mr Swanson’s words to sink in.
“Where are we going to go?” she asked
“We’ll head for the ranger’s cabin,” Mr Swanson replied. “Is Jean-Ralphio fit to travel?” His question was directed at Ann, who had resumed her place at Jean-Ralphio’s side and was bandaging his stomach wound.
“I think he’s losing too much blood. His pulse is very weak and he is unconscious. His stomach wound isn’t so bad, but it’s the leg that’s the problem.” Ann’s voice shook slightly as she struggled to remain in control of her emotions. Doing a first aid course and volunteering in a hospital hadn’t prepared her to deal with a situation where she was watching a friend’s life drain from him.
Mr Swanson knelt down beside his injured student and lifted the gauze up to look at his leg wound. Grimacing, he picked up a bandage and began bandaging the wound as tightly as he could.
“This is all we can do for now. We’ll have to stretcher him to the ranger’s cabin,” Mr Swanson said grimly. “What happened to Andy, is he ok?”
“I’m fine Mr Swanson,” Andy replied. “April killed the drop bear that got me.” Mr Swanson looked at April, clearly impressed, as Andy continued. “Although is it a full moon tonight, and I’m worried I might turn into a drop bear, you know, now that I’ve been bitten.”
Mr Swanson shook his head, and then stood up and addressed Andy and Chris. “We don’t have time to make another stretcher or bury Jerry. I need you two to lift Jerry’s body off the stretcher and bring it here. We’ll need it to carry Jean-Ralphio.”
Mr Swanson turned his attention to April. “What supplies did you gather?”
“We have a few bottles of water, lots of graham crackers and marshmallows, two frypans, three knives and the small axe. We were attacked before we could make it to all of the shelters.”
As Andy and Chris rejoined the group and placed the stretcher on the ground next to Jean-Ralphio, Mr Swanson pulled out the map of the woods he had shown them on the bus. “I want you all to pay attention. This is very important,” He looked around to ensure that everyone, except Ben who maintained his vigilant watch of the tree tops, was looking at him.
“We are here.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “We are headed here.” He pointed to a spot a few inches away. “The rangers cabin is about 15 miles, due north of where we are. If we get separated at any point, head for the cabin. Given the darkness and rough terrain, it should take us about four hours to walk there, so we will probably arrive just before dawn.”
The silence was complete, save for the ominous rustling in the trees above, as the teenagers absorbed their teacher’s instructions.
“I want you to stay in your pairs. Even if you are separated from the main group, stay with your pair at all costs. You will need two sets of eyes to survive out here, one for the trees and one at ground level.”
Mr Swanson glanced up into the trees and began speaking again, his tone urgent.
“April and Andy, you can take the left flank. Make sure you are within my line of sight at all times. Andy, I want your eyes and torch light in the trees. April, you have already proved yourself capable of neutralising the drop bears. Take the small axe and keep up the good work.”
“Burt Macklin FBI on the case, sir,” Andy replied as April looked faintly pleased at Mr Swanson’s praise.
“Okay. Ben, keep your eyes and torch in the trees and stick with Leslie. Leslie, you keep your gun ready to fire. You have the only long range weapon among us and need to be ready to act.” Ben nodded tersely, his eyes not leaving the trees as Leslie hefted her gun to show her readiness.
“Chris and I will carry Jean-Ralphio and I will navigate as well. Ann, I want you to stick close to us so that you can monitor Jean-Ralphio’s condition.”
Ann started hurriedly packed up the first aid kit as Mr. Swanson continued giving instructions.
“Tom and Donna, you will bring up the rear. Tom, son, you are going to need to man up and stop crying. I need you to keep an eye on the trees above Chris and I as we walk, as we will be the most vulnerable targets. Donna, take a frying pan and be ready to bash any drop bear you see on the head.”
“For Michael,” Donna said under her breath as she hefted a fry pan and gave a few experimental swings.
Tom stood up, eyes red and swollen, and took one last look at Jean-Ralphio before pulling his torch out of his jacket and shining it into the trees above them.
“Everyone who doesn’t have a weapon, grab a knife or the remaining saucepan and be prepared to use them.” Leslie picked up a knife and slid it into Ben’s free hand. He murmured his thanks without looking at her.
“Does everyone have a weapon?” There were nods all around as Mr Swanson continued. “Grab a bag of graham crackers and marshmallows each and a bottle of water if you can find one. We need to get going.”
As everyone was stuffing their jackets full of supplies, with Leslie taking enough for herself and Ben, Mr Swanson and Chris gently picked up Jean-Ralphio and laid him on the makeshift stretcher. He let out a feeble moan but didn’t regain consciousness.
“Right. Everyone into formation,” Mr Swanson ordered.
Leslie couldn’t help but glance anxiously into the trees as everyone milled around to take their appointed position. The rustling had been growing louder the longer Mr Swanson had spoken.
As she took her eyes off the trees to glance around at the group as they got into position, Leslie heard Ben give a shout and saw multiple dark shapes rain down from the trees.
She felt something heavy land on her head, felt a moment of pain as something sharp pierced her skin and then everything went black.
Author: missnumbat
Word count: ~2800
Disclaimer: I don’t own it
Summary: High School AU - Don't go into the Woods Halloween trope.
Author’s Note: This is second part of my Halloween fic. It's based on the Don't go into the Woods trope. A huge thank you to my wonderful beta courtknees1 and to the always amazing beetsbearsbsg for her creative input.
Part 1
Ben and Leslie whipped their heads around as the noise was followed by a scream of agony. They both leapt up and ran towards the sound, grabbing their torches as they went.
They passed by Mr Swanson’s shelter just as he emerged with a shotgun in his hands. Together they ran to the site of the screaming to find a dark grey shape sitting on top of a human-shaped canvas lump, tearing great chunks out of the canvas with every swipe of its sharp claws.
“Drop bear,” Mr Swanson growled, taking aim at the creature with his foot and kicking it off of its prey. The drop bear rounded on Mr Swanson, its red eyes gleaming, its mouth and claws wet with blood. Mr Swanson, without hesitation, took aim with his shotgun and shot the drop bear in the head; its body was thrown backwards by the force of the shot.
In the ringing silence that followed the gunshot, another ominous thump was heard in the distance.
“EVERYONE TO ME,” Mr Swanson yelled, before bending over the prone figure on the ground and peeling back the canvas sheet to reveal the feebly stirring form of Jean-Ralphio.
Ann was the next person to arrive on the scene, bearing a first aid kit.She immediately knelt down beside Jean-Ralphio, pulled up his shirt and began to apply pressure to a small wound on his stomach, which glistened red in the light from the fire. Leslie shook herself out of her shock and bent down to help Ann.
As everyone came running from their tents to gather around Jean-Ralphio, asking panicked questions about what was happening and exclaiming in shock when they caught sight of Jean-Ralphio’s wounds, Mr Swanson's voice rose over the crowd.
“Did anyone pass Jerry on the way here?”
“He headed out into the bush a while ago,” April said with a deadpan expression. “He walked into my shelter and almost knocked it over. He was mumbling something about his bowels playing up.”
“Okay, first things first,” Mr Swanson said. “Ann, since you have done work experience at the hospital and a first aid course, I am making you our medic. You are to stay here with Donna and try to dress Jean-Ralphio’s wounds as best you can.”
“Leslie, you can handle a shotgun right? Well take this one. I want you and Ben to stand guard over Ann, Donna and Jean-Ralphio and remember to keep your eyes on the trees above you. Drop bears rarely attack at ground level; they are called drop bears for a reason.”
Leslie looked at Ben and nodded grimly.
The crowd of teenagers around Mr Swanson looked frightened and bewildered by this turn of events.
“April and Andy, I want you to scout amongst the shelters and gather all of our essential supplies and bring them back here. April, you do the gathering, Andy, you are to keep watch. Shine a torch into the trees above. Drop bears like the element of surprise and they are less likely to drop if they think you have seen them.”
Mr Swanson surveyed the teenagers looking serious.
“Stay on your toes kids. You don’t often get a second chance with a drop bear.”
Ron gave the group one last sweeping glance before turning his attention to Chris.
“Chris, you and I are going to go and look for Jerry. Keep within my line of sight at all times and be vigilant."
Tom looked up from where he was crumpled on the ground next to Jean-Ralphio and said, between sobs, “What do you want me to do?”
“Son, you talk to Jean-Ralphio. Try to keep him conscious.”
Mr Swanson and Chris set off purposefully, with Chris shining his light into the trees and Mr Swanson stooping to pick up the axe he had used to chop wood earlier.
April darted amongst the shelters, grabbing anything that looked useful, while Andy struggled to keep up with her and look up into the trees at the same time.
Leslie stood nervously holding the shotgun in her hands while Ben shone the torch up into the trees, his head darting around like a bird.
Leslie cast a quick look down at Jean-Ralphio as Ann cut the leg of his pants off and had to fight the urge to vomit.
Jean-Ralphio had huge chunks of flesh ripped from his leg and there was blood everywhere. Ann and Donna exclaimed in shock and Ann hurriedly pulled out a large piece of gauze and pressed it on to the gaping wound.
“Donna, I’m not going to be able to stop putting pressure on this wound for some time. It’s bleeding heavily and J-R is losing a lot of blood from it, maybe too much.” Ann’s voice shook slightly, but she pulled herself together. “I will need you to wipe away as much of the blood as you can from the wound on his side. It doesn't look too bad, but we need to see how deep it is.
Just then a rustle in the trees above them caused them all to glance up. Leslie thought she saw a dark shape darting away from the beam of light as Ben swung the torch in the direction of the noise.
Leslie pointed the shotgun in the direction of the shape but it had moved so fast she couldn’t get a shot off.
There was another thump and a shout of pain from the direction of Donna and April’s shelter. Ben, Leslie and Donna turned around to stare, with worried expressions on their faces. Ann was too focussed on Jean-Ralphio to look up and Tom was still a sobbing mess on the ground.
April’s yells filled the air and Leslie started in the direction of the sound. Just then, a noise from above them made her whip her head up as the light from Ben’s torch illuminated another dark shape moving around above them.
Leslie didn’t know what to do. Should she go and help Andy and April or should she stay here to protect the gravely injured Jean-Ralphio, not to mention her best friend who she knew wouldn’t leave J-R’s side?
As Leslie’s internal monologue continued, there came the sounds of something metal crunching repeatedly in to flesh and a triumphant yell from April. Seconds later, Leslie could see the light from a torch bobbing slowly towards her.
As the light moved closer, Leslie could see that April was walking towards them with Andy. One of Andy’s hands was holding tightly to Aprils, but the other was bloody and pressed against his neck.
“What happened?” Leslie exclaimed, taking a couple of steps towards Andy and looking up at his neck.
“Drop bear,” April said succinctly.
“It landed on my neck and took a big bite, almost like a vampire,” Andy said somewhat shakily, looking pale in the firelight. “It was a lot smaller than that one.” He pointed to the mangled carcass of the drop bear that had attacked Jean-Ralphio. “April hit it a heap of times with Donna’s model Mercedes and killed it.”
“With my WHAT?” Donna’s last word ended in a shriek.
“It’s just dinted and covered in blood,” Andy said consolingly. “I’m sure you can get it fixed.”
“Michael,” Donna moaned. “You are paying for him to be fixed.” She shot a glare at April.
“We have more important things to worry about right now,” Ann said commandingly. “April, I want you to come here and take over from me. Keep applying pressure to his leg. We need to stop the bleeding.”
April looked startled for a moment and then moved to stand next to Ann. This surprised Leslie because April normally didn’t pay any attention to Ann. Clearly desperate times called for desperate measures.
April crouched down and Ann quickly removed her hands from the gauze as April placed hers down.
Ann got up and grabbed another bag of gauze from the first aid kit and a half-empty bottle of water from amidst the ruins of the shelter.
She approached Andy and turned him so that the firelight was falling on the injured side of this neck.
“I’m going to get you to take your hand away, and then I’m going to wipe away the blood from your neck to get a good look at your wound.” Ann’s voice was gentle and calming. “It is going to hurt a bit but probably no more than when you tried to jump over your desk at school wearing rollerblades and didn’t quite make it.”
Ann poured a bit of water on to the gauze and looked up at Andy.
“That didn’t hurt that much. Plus it was super fun.” Andy said as he lowered his hand from his neck.
Leslie got a quick look at two small, deep looking wounds before Ann started wiping away the blood.
As Leslie shot anxious looks between Andy, Jean-Ralphio and the trees, she couldn’t help but notice that the rustling in the trees was getting more frequent, as were Ben’s sharp intakes of breath. She followed his gaze and saw shapes moving in the light of his torch.
Leslie looked at Ben and noticed that he was so tense that he was completely rigid. His mouth was pursed and his eyes were darting around the trees unceasingly.
Leslie shifted her grip on the gun so she was holding it in just one hand and gripped Ben’s arm.
He jumped, startled, and looked at her quickly before returning his gaze to the trees.
“You are doing such a great job,” Leslie said and even at a moment like this she couldn’t help but notice what cute profile he had. “Keeping us safe.”
Ben’s mouth relaxed a little at the compliment and he shot her an appreciative glance before continuing his vigilant watching of the tree tops.
“Your wounds aren’t too bad. They are deep though, so you should probably get stitches once we get near a hospital,” Ann told Andy as she wrapped a bandage around his neck.
“Are drop bears like werewolves?” Andy asked worriedly. “Am I going to turn into a drop bear at the full moon?”
No one answered Andy as they were all distracted by the sight of Mr Swanson and Chris returning to camp, carrying a make-shift stretcher between them. They stopped next to the fire and put the stretcher down before continuing on to the group of scared teenagers clustered around Jean-Ralphio.
As Chris and Mr Swanson approached, Leslie noticed that Chris was crying and Mr Swanson looked even more solemn than usual.
“Is that Jerry? Why did you leave him over there? Did he have another fart attack?” Andy asked, craning his neck to look at the dark shape on the stretcher.
“Jerry is dead. The drop bears got him.” Mr Swanson stated baldly. “We are going to have to get moving if we don’t want to end up the same way. We are sitting targets here and there are swarms of drop bears approaching. We will be harder to attack if we are on the move.”
Leslie was in complete shock over Jerry’s death, and it took a minute for Mr Swanson’s words to sink in.
“Where are we going to go?” she asked
“We’ll head for the ranger’s cabin,” Mr Swanson replied. “Is Jean-Ralphio fit to travel?” His question was directed at Ann, who had resumed her place at Jean-Ralphio’s side and was bandaging his stomach wound.
“I think he’s losing too much blood. His pulse is very weak and he is unconscious. His stomach wound isn’t so bad, but it’s the leg that’s the problem.” Ann’s voice shook slightly as she struggled to remain in control of her emotions. Doing a first aid course and volunteering in a hospital hadn’t prepared her to deal with a situation where she was watching a friend’s life drain from him.
Mr Swanson knelt down beside his injured student and lifted the gauze up to look at his leg wound. Grimacing, he picked up a bandage and began bandaging the wound as tightly as he could.
“This is all we can do for now. We’ll have to stretcher him to the ranger’s cabin,” Mr Swanson said grimly. “What happened to Andy, is he ok?”
“I’m fine Mr Swanson,” Andy replied. “April killed the drop bear that got me.” Mr Swanson looked at April, clearly impressed, as Andy continued. “Although is it a full moon tonight, and I’m worried I might turn into a drop bear, you know, now that I’ve been bitten.”
Mr Swanson shook his head, and then stood up and addressed Andy and Chris. “We don’t have time to make another stretcher or bury Jerry. I need you two to lift Jerry’s body off the stretcher and bring it here. We’ll need it to carry Jean-Ralphio.”
Mr Swanson turned his attention to April. “What supplies did you gather?”
“We have a few bottles of water, lots of graham crackers and marshmallows, two frypans, three knives and the small axe. We were attacked before we could make it to all of the shelters.”
As Andy and Chris rejoined the group and placed the stretcher on the ground next to Jean-Ralphio, Mr Swanson pulled out the map of the woods he had shown them on the bus. “I want you all to pay attention. This is very important,” He looked around to ensure that everyone, except Ben who maintained his vigilant watch of the tree tops, was looking at him.
“We are here.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “We are headed here.” He pointed to a spot a few inches away. “The rangers cabin is about 15 miles, due north of where we are. If we get separated at any point, head for the cabin. Given the darkness and rough terrain, it should take us about four hours to walk there, so we will probably arrive just before dawn.”
The silence was complete, save for the ominous rustling in the trees above, as the teenagers absorbed their teacher’s instructions.
“I want you to stay in your pairs. Even if you are separated from the main group, stay with your pair at all costs. You will need two sets of eyes to survive out here, one for the trees and one at ground level.”
Mr Swanson glanced up into the trees and began speaking again, his tone urgent.
“April and Andy, you can take the left flank. Make sure you are within my line of sight at all times. Andy, I want your eyes and torch light in the trees. April, you have already proved yourself capable of neutralising the drop bears. Take the small axe and keep up the good work.”
“Burt Macklin FBI on the case, sir,” Andy replied as April looked faintly pleased at Mr Swanson’s praise.
“Okay. Ben, keep your eyes and torch in the trees and stick with Leslie. Leslie, you keep your gun ready to fire. You have the only long range weapon among us and need to be ready to act.” Ben nodded tersely, his eyes not leaving the trees as Leslie hefted her gun to show her readiness.
“Chris and I will carry Jean-Ralphio and I will navigate as well. Ann, I want you to stick close to us so that you can monitor Jean-Ralphio’s condition.”
Ann started hurriedly packed up the first aid kit as Mr. Swanson continued giving instructions.
“Tom and Donna, you will bring up the rear. Tom, son, you are going to need to man up and stop crying. I need you to keep an eye on the trees above Chris and I as we walk, as we will be the most vulnerable targets. Donna, take a frying pan and be ready to bash any drop bear you see on the head.”
“For Michael,” Donna said under her breath as she hefted a fry pan and gave a few experimental swings.
Tom stood up, eyes red and swollen, and took one last look at Jean-Ralphio before pulling his torch out of his jacket and shining it into the trees above them.
“Everyone who doesn’t have a weapon, grab a knife or the remaining saucepan and be prepared to use them.” Leslie picked up a knife and slid it into Ben’s free hand. He murmured his thanks without looking at her.
“Does everyone have a weapon?” There were nods all around as Mr Swanson continued. “Grab a bag of graham crackers and marshmallows each and a bottle of water if you can find one. We need to get going.”
As everyone was stuffing their jackets full of supplies, with Leslie taking enough for herself and Ben, Mr Swanson and Chris gently picked up Jean-Ralphio and laid him on the makeshift stretcher. He let out a feeble moan but didn’t regain consciousness.
“Right. Everyone into formation,” Mr Swanson ordered.
Leslie couldn’t help but glance anxiously into the trees as everyone milled around to take their appointed position. The rustling had been growing louder the longer Mr Swanson had spoken.
As she took her eyes off the trees to glance around at the group as they got into position, Leslie heard Ben give a shout and saw multiple dark shapes rain down from the trees.
She felt something heavy land on her head, felt a moment of pain as something sharp pierced her skin and then everything went black.