They got closer and closer and the atmosphere got colder and colder, the ground they stood on felt like mush and the air became thicker
"Hey... What's going on?" Caleb questioned
Alden shrugged "Maybe it's because we're going deeper and deeper into the forest?"
Caleb raised an eyebrow but nodded, he had a bad feeling about all this...
"Alden, I think we should turn back" he suggested
Alden scoffed "After I committed a crime? No! Why would I even go back??"
"Because I have a bad feeling about this forest... We got chased by... Creatures!" Caleb exclaimed
Alden rolled his eyes "We'll survive! I'm confident of that!"
"Whatever you say..." Caleb sighed out
They walked in silence, oblivious to the challenges they'll face
They got to the abandoned school Alden was talking about
They found it rundown and shabby, it was overgrown with weeds, overgrown with vines and plants, and a tree branch falling and putting a hole in the roof.
Caleb looked in disbelief "You mean... This is the place you've been talking about?" He asked carefully
Alden nodded, a grin on his face
"We'll make it work!" He said confidently
Caleb sighed heavily, watching as Alden led the way
But like a change, Alden's confident smile faded, his eyes widening and his face growing pale, he looked around him frantically, as if seeing something Caleb didn't
"Alden? What's wrong?" Caleb asked, his voice tinged with worry and concern
He stepped forward and felt like his soul was ripped out of his body yet maintained to stay conscious, his expression mirrored Alden's
He saw white figures, white short figures of children, laughing and playing like fragments of the past were playing before their eyes.
Time seemed to slow down and stop, the faded white figures of children started to clear out when they heard an ear-splitting screech from the inside of the abandoned school.
"Alden... What..." Caleb managed to utter but his lips closed shut when he saw what spilled out the front door of the school.
Dead bodies, each one having something missing. A head, an arm, a leg or just a big chunk of flesh looking like it was aggressively ripped off. The bodies of the faces were paper white. The eyes were wide open, the body's mouth was open, and they saw children, infants, adults, teenagers and the elderly. It looked like nobody was spared at all.
Alden stood frozen while Caleb was tugging at his arm, staring in shock
"What... What did you get us into...?" Caleb questioned panic and fear in his eyes.
Alden couldn't answer, he was in shock when
BANG
The windows slammed open, air blew out the windows, it wreaked of death. The rotting corpse smelled.
It snapped Alden out of his daze
Irritation and panic were obvious on Caleb's face, he scowled
"What did you get us into!?" Caleb yelled, overcome by emotion and shoving Alden away hard, he didn't want to die here. His anger and panic reigned over his love for Alden
Alden stuttered while trying to explain himself, he too didn't know what he got Caleb and himself into but it surely wasn't good "I-I didn't— I didn't know about this!"
"You idiot! We're like the fucking characters in horror movies! I shouldn't have come with you!" Caleb snapped, giving Alden a hard slap
Alden's head snapped to the side before slowly reaching up and touching his cheek. His cheek already had a red mark blooming from the force of Caleb's slap but he couldn't care less when the pain he felt was the aching in his chest. Alden slowly looked at Caleb in shock
He looked away before looking back at Caleb, his nose scrunched up and his gaze fierce and angry "I didn't know, Caleb! I didn't fucking know! If I knew I wouldn't have even run away with you! I thought it was just a normal forest and a normal school! I didn't know!" Alden snapped
Caleb's expression softened and a heavy sigh escaped his lips. He was still angry and panicked but Alden was still his best friend. His life partner that's never went away.
"Alright... Alright... Stop yelling, I got it, you didn't know. But what will we do now?" Caleb asked, his expression stern but also a tad bit soft.
Alden calmed down and looked down "I... I don't know..." Alden muttered
Caleb's anger flared again but kept a calm face. He looked around and his gaze landed at the corpses, the forests that stretched in for so long and back to Alden
"We need to get rid of the bodies before going in" Caleb cleared his throat
"You're... You're not angry?" Alden asked softly
Caleb scoffed "I love you but this is too much, of course, I'm angry..." Caleb trailed off before continuing "I love you as a friend of course..."
He had to purse his lips because of the words that came out of his mouth, he didn't love Alden as just a friend, he LOVED him. Not just 'as a friend' it's as more...
Alden looked at the dead bodies and winced at the smell, god it smelled bad.
He covered his nose and looked at Caleb "What's the plan?" He asked
Caleb shrugged and looked back at the woods "Let's hide and make some noise. The crawlers hate sound so they'll naturally come running. Let's feed the dead bodies to the crawlers" he explained
"Crawlers?" Alden looked at him questioningly
Caleb nodded confidently, a grin on his face "Yeah, crawlers. Let's call the things that almost killed us crawlers"
Alden sighed and nodded, he couldn't bring himself to smile when their friendship was starting to stretch thin. He also noticed the grin of Caleb. It didn't quite reach his eyes. It was hollow and it sent a shiver down Alden's spine.
"What if the so-called crawlers find us? What'll we do then? We need a backup plan, Caleb" Alden said
Caleb's expression turned thoughtful, as he was thinking about backup plans, Alden looked around the place. Searching for places to hide.
It was a wonder their argument earlier didn't attract crawlers. That would've been bad.
After a while, Caleb caught up to Alden.
"I have a backup plan but it's risky and..." He trailed off as he looked back at the pile of dead bodies that blocked the door "It's... Disgusting..." He finished
Alden's curiosity peaked and he leaned in closer "What is it?"
"If a crawler finds us we'll have to... Uh... Dive into the dead bodies and um... Wiggle our way into the school... The crawlers will eventually eat the dead bodies and we'll hide in the school to prevent being seen of course"
Alden's face scrunched up in disgust "Seriously? That's the backup plan? Ew, I'm not doing that! If we do we'll stink and we'll be covered in blood!" He protested "And what if there are more crawlers inside the school???" He asked.
Caleb sighed, he knew Alden would complain but he didn't exactly think about the possibility of more crawlers inside the school
"Alden... Dear... There's a saying that goes fuck around and find out" Caleb said sarcastically
Alden scoffed "How can you still be so much of a bastard in a situation like this? Unbelievable..." Alden muttered, "And don't call me dear!" He added
Caleb rolled his eyes "The backup plan had no choice. Only way. Or would you prefer trying to climb the building with the possibility the crawlers can climb too?"
"How do you crawlers can even climb?" Alden questioned
Caleb looked at him like he was an idiot "Because they practically live in trees?"
Alden paused and looked at him before running the back of his neck sheepishly "Right... But what about the possibility of more crawlers in the school?"
"Let's be reckless and try to fight them on, fuck around and find out right? Then let's gamble our lives in the line"
"Gamble Huh? I have a feeling there will be a lot of gambling to survive here"
"Why of course! Do you wanna go home?"
"... Yeah..."
"Well, we need to survive first. Let's go"
Caleb motioned for Alden to follow him as they looked for a hiding spot. They needed separate hiding spots but also close enough to communicate with hand signals discreetly
The plan was to yell and make noise at the same time and just hope that the crawlers would go for the dead bodies in sight and not them who were making the noise.
They just hoped the crawlers were hungry.