Hannah braced for impact from the grizzly but didn't feel anything. She had covered her face with her arms and pulled them down to see what happened and moved her hands over her mouth, her body starting to shake. Guthrie was holding the bear back, his shoulder in the bear's mouth as it chomped on it mercilessly. His feet were starting to dig into the ground, making little trail marks where the thousand pound bear was pushing him backward. The bear suddenly bit down hard and Hannah could hear Guthrie's shoulder snap as he screamed in agony. She suddenly felt someone touch her arm and turned swiftly, finding Ferris there looking at her frantically.
"Come on!"
"G-Guthrie..."
"Go!" He yelled from his position at the bear. "I won't be able to hold this thing for much longer... Ferris, keep her safe! I'll kill you if I find out you haven't."
"Dude... you'll be dead..." Ferris said softly, watching his friend begin to falter with the bear.
"GO! GO, DAMN IT!" he screamed as the bear pressed into him and he fell to his knees.
With the opponent weakened, the bear let go of Guthrie's shoulder and pushed him back with its massive head. Guthrie grunted in pain as he put all his strength into trying to keep the massive bear from digging into his throat. He knew he wasn't going to make it. The bear was too heavy and too bloodthirsty, nothing seeming to keep its mind from the soft flesh that was underneath it. All it wanted to do was kill, just like everything else in this particular forest. The bear let out a roar and stood up on its hind legs again.
"Ooooh, shit..." Guthrie said, pinned to the ground between the bear's legs.
The bear came down full force and Guthrie felt his ribs break under the pressure. He screamed as blood rushed into his throat as well. He coughed, making things ten times worse and then the bear stood up again. I'm done for. Guthrie thought as the bear came down again.

*************************

Hannah grappled with Ferris as he tried to practically carry her away from the issue.
"Hannah, what the hell?! You can't save him! He put himself in the way of that friggin bear so that you could... get... AWAY!" he snarled, grabbing a firmer hold on his girlfriend before she ran off from him. "HANNAH!"
"He's gonna die!" she cried, tears in her eyes. "Ferris, Guthrie is going to die!"
Ferris pulled her into his chest as she sobbed. He rubbed her back gently when a loud scream filled the air. Hannah pushed Ferris away with unusual strength and ran away from him, back to where they were when the bear attacked. Ferris cursed and ran after her.
Hannah got back to where they were when she saw the bear come down on Guthrie the second time and she heard both his screams and the sound of his arms snapping in two as he tried to keep the bear from coming down on him. His arms may have 'softened' the blow, but the bear wasn't trying to just hurt him. With Guthrie's arms descemated, the bear went in for the kill and wrapped its jaws around Guthrie's neck. Hannah held her hands over her mouth, trying to keep herself from screaming as he let out a gurgle, blood oozing from the teeth marks like red icing from a tube. The bear didn't let go as Guthrie tried to get the bear to let go, helplessly flapping his broken arm at the bear's body. The bear bit down harder and Guthrie's neck broke, the deafening sound ringing in Hannah's ears.
With its foe defeated, the bear then proceeded to dig in; it's not like it had breakfast this morning.

*************************

Ferris had stayed away from the clearing so that the bear wouldn't be tempted to go after him and watched Hannah from where he was. He knew Guthrie was trying to fight but he couldn't really see him clearly from where he was. When the gurgling sound erupted, Ferris knew his friend was a goner. He walked closer to Hannah, ready to snatch her back when the sound of something breaking echoed in the air and he stopped, his arm out to grab hold of Hannah. He knew in his heart that it was a bone and he knew it wasn't one that could be fixed. It was fatal.
Guthrie was dead.
Hannah slumped to her knees and Ferris tried to move but he couldn't get his feet to comply. He had to get Hannah out of there; as a last request of his friend and for the safety of his girlfriend... but his legs were rock solid. He knew he had to get to Hannah before she broke. If she broke, she would attract the bear and then they would both be shit out of luck. Move, feet! Move! he growled in his head, willing his feet to move but they wouldn't. His brain kept flooding his mind with memories of his friend, his comrade, fellow drama geek... He'd said such horrible things to him before he willingly gave his life to save Hannah. He knew it was for Hanna but he had entrusted him to get her safe, putting aside his anger and jealousy to trust him... He had to save her!
"H-Hannah!" he whisper/yelled, his voice finally coming back.
Hannah didn't do anything and he growled, willing his legs to move. They finally complied and he tripped toward his girlfriend, landing on his knees beside her. He crawled over to look at her face and he could see she was about to lose it. He crawled around to face her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Hannah? Hannah, look at me." She continued to stare past him.
He looked behind him to see what she was staring at and almost vomited at the sight. He gathered the rest of his composure and shook his girlfriend.
"HANNAH!" She moved her eyes to him, although whether she registered his face as something Ferris wasn't sure of. "Hannah, we have to get up. He's gone, love... If we don't get out of here his sacrifice will be for nothing." He moved to a squatting position and put his back to her. "Here, I'll carry you. I know you're too traumatized to walk." He looked over his shoulder. "Hannah Lynn, move!"
As if on automatic, Hannah wrapped her arms around Ferris' neck and he scooped her up, moving as fast as he could to get her away.

***********************

When Ferris thought he had found a place far enough and safe enough away, he stopped moving and looked over his shoulder at Hannah. She hadn't said a word since the incident and she didn't break either. He was surprised that she didn't. He wondered if she went to sleep from the shock.
"Han?" he asked softly.
"Yeah?" she answered just as soft.
"Sweetie... Are you going to be okay?"
She didn't answer him and he tried to look at her but he obviously couldn't see her.
"Am I going to be okay?" she asked in a whisper. "That's all you have to ask of me?"
She squirmed and slid off of his back as he turned to her to talk to her.
"Hannah-"
"No! No, you... You just stay right there you asshole!" she growled, pointing at him angrily.
"What's going on? Why are you so angry at me? I'm not the one who ate him!"
"If you'd have let me go to him earlier-"
"What would you have done? Huh? What the fuck, Hannah?! What could you have done in that situation? Please, by all means tell me what the hell you think you could have done!!!!" he screamed. "I don't see a weapon, a gun, anything of use!" he seethed.
"I could have distracted the bear-"
"Hannah that's what he was doing!!!! He was the bait, the getaway car, the scapegoat! He was trying to help us get away from a freaky ass grizzly bear that was out for blood! How can you not see the sacrifice he made was to keep you safe? He didn't give a rat's ass about me; all he wanted was for you to be safe and he'd rather you be in the hands of the man he thinks stole you from him than to be in the mouth of that grizzly. He entrusted you to me from his heart to keep you safe. Do you know how hard that must have been for him? The grizzly bear was nothing compared to willingly giving you to me."
"He did that already. He was alright with us going out."
"Ugh!" he growled, wanting to pull his hair out. "Did you not hear our argument right before the bear came out? He's right; I screwed him over big time..."
"What do you mean?"
"He told me he wanted to ask you out and that he was going to try and get the courage to do it this year... He told me that in confidence. Well, this weird puberty cleanse-all came into play and I... I asked you out just to spite him. I mean, of course I liked you or I wouldn't have even tried, but I did it more to get ahead of Guthrie. Now look what's happened? Time and again he's proven how much of a better man he is than me and where am I? Here, alive, thanks to... to..."
Hannah touched his face softly as tears rolled down his face. He didn't realize he was the one breaking.
"I did such a horrible thing and then I... then I said such horrible things."
"Ferris..."
"I honestly thought you would be the one to break down but it backfired royally on me..."
Hannah hugged Ferris as he buried his face in her hair.
"If it's any consolation, I did break down... just quietly into your shirt for like an hour." Hannah whispered. "And whatever the reasons for asking me out, there's no point getting angry about them now. Negative issues don't need to be brought up in this crazy forest since we really never know when it could be our last time." She pulled away from him and looked at his tear-stained cheeks. "The fact that you're crying means you've been beating yourself up over it for a long, long time. Although I'm a bit peeved, there's nothing I can do now. Besides, I still like you."
"Well, of course I still like you too. Like I said I wouldn't have asked you out if I didn't like you in the first place... It's just that I put him through so much pain and then he just literally gave his life for us? I mean, like I said, I didn't matter that much but I still mattered..."
"Don't beat yourself up over it... He's... he's gone now... Like you said before, we need to make the best of his sacrifice and keep going."
He nodded and then pulled Hannah into a hug.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, Hannah. I'm so sorry you had to see that."
Hannah smiled a watery smile, her eyes all cried out. "I appreciate your sentiment and I'm sorry too."

*************************

With Guthrie's bloody and heroic demise fresh in their minds, the two of them weren't hungry in the least bit. Ferris hoped that going the way they were in a straight line would either get them to the high road where the bus was turned over, or to the lower road where maybe there aren't any carnivorous deer or ravaging grizzlies. Fearing the separation, both of them were either holding each other's hand, Hannah was on Ferris' back, or Ferris had his arm around Hannah for safe keeping. He made a mental vow to honor his friend and keep his girlfriend safe.
Soon, even though they really didn't want to, their stomachs began to growl and Ferris put his hand over his.
"Sorry."
"Don't be. I'm hungry too."
"I'm afraid to eat anything around here. It could all be cursed or whatever this forest is."
"I agree..." Her stomach grumbled loudly. "But we have to eat something."
Another gurgling sound let out but neither of them put their hands over their stomachs. Ferris noticed and looked at her.
"Wait, that wasn't your stomach?"
"Huh? No, I thought it was yours."
They stopped walking and listened, hearing the sounds of what sounded like churning stomachs in the forest. Hannah grabbed Ferris' hand.
"What is that noise?"
"I don't know... I don't want to find out."
"But it's all around us."
A loud squeal echoed and the two of them turned as a piglet ran out from the brush and across the pathway. Ferris narrowed his eyes at the direction from whence the piglet came.
"Hannah, get behind me."
"What?"
"I said get behind me."
Hannah did as he asked as he began to walk backwards.
"Slowly start walking backwards."
"Ferris,"
"I think something's coming."
Hannah decided not to argue and just did as he said when a twig broke behind Hannah and she turned. She bristled and tapped Ferris on the shoulder.
"What?" he asked.
"I think I found what was coming. It's behind us."
Ferris looked over her shoulder and cursed, throwing her behind his back again. Hannah swallowed.
"Ferris, they're surrounding us. There's another one back here."
Ferris looked and growled angrily.
"Shit..."
"What do we do?" She gasped and tugged on his shirt. "Ferris, don't you dare do what I think you're going to do."
"And what's that, sweetheart?"
Hannah realized that he had already resolved himself and she hit him angrily with her fist.
"No! No, I just lost Guthrie! I can't lose you too!"
"Hannah." Ferris looked behind him at her. "If it's between me or you, I will choose me every time. This has nothing to do with Guthrie and everything to do with me, your boyfriend. If I can't protect you then what good am I? You just be ready to-"
A large boar came out of nowhere and rammed Ferris in the stomach, sending him flying through the air and landing hard on the ground. Hannah screamed in surprise as the rest of the wild boar seemed to surround her. She wished she had some sort of weapon when Ferris slammed into the boar that was in front of her, clearing a path.
"RUN!" he screamed as the boar got itself back up.
It didn't take long for Ferris to realize that boars were not known for keeping to themselves.

*****************************

Hannah had climbed a tree, hoping boars couldn't figure out how to get up there as she watched Ferris get charged over and over again by the fighting boar. She just wanted to go home and wished this was all a dream. She pulled her legs up to her chest and sat in the boughs of the tree, trying to drown out the painful screams of her boyfriend and the sound of tramping hooves and the THUD! as the boar's tusks made contact with Ferris' body. The closed her eyes and tried to drown it out but then she felt guilty. Her two best friends were doing everything they could to keep her safe and yet here she was, hiding? But what could she do? She would have put them in more danger by staying around than by running.
The sound of hooves running away caught her attention and she looked down, finding Ferris on the ground and the boars gone. She slowly made her way from the tree and ran over to him. When she got there, it was clear that her boyfriend was dead. His stomach had been pierced beyond compare, looking like a slice of Swiss cheese and bruises of teeth marks from where they had bitten him all over his body. His face was also sliced up badly, blood everywhere where they had rammed their tusks into his body. She also realized he was laying weird and that during one of the charges, he must have landed in a twist, breaking his spine. That's probably what killed him... she thought as she tried to keep her composure.
Even though it was cruel, she prayed that Ferris had broken his spine and died on impact rather than feel the horrible attacks of the boars afterward. Unable to keep herself in check, Hannah's knees gave out and she sunk to the forest floor, putting her hands over her face and sobbing. She was alone now in a forest that seemed to show no mercy to anyone and was definitely out to kill every last one of them. With Guthrie attacked by a grizzly bear and Ferris by dueling boars, Hannah wondered what the forest had planned for her. 

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A/N: just to be clear, i know that bears and boars do not hunt like this. remember that this not a normal forest and the creatures here are only after bloodshed and other factors

🪦REST IN PEACE🪦

~ Guthrie Young

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Students: 23 - 1 = 22

Teachers: 5 - 0 = 5