Crunch.

My eyelids flew open.

How long was I asleep?

I rubbed my eyes and squinted through the leaves into the sun. It was still noon. I had probably been asleep for only about an hour. I rested back against the tree bark, almost dozing off again before I remembered what woke me in the first place --

Crunch.

My eyes darted, searching the forest floor. Where had that noise come from?

Crunch.

Louder. I whipped my head around. There. The sound, again... it was them.

I held my breath as I slung my bag across my back and started making my way down the tree.

A soft thud sounded my landing as I crouched behind the overgrowth. I spotted three or four of them about a hundred yards away. I was screwed.

I waited until none were looking at me, and then, I dashed.

Their yells faded behind me as I took off sprinting through the forest. I was definitely screwed, but I knew the forest well.

If only I can get past the brook, then I can lose them there, I thought.

My heart thudded as I dodged tree limbs and jumped over roots. The whole forest seemed to blur as I ran through. I knew I could gain distance on them. But as I carried myself down the hill, as did they, and I could hear them gaining on me.

Without thinking, I looked behind me. Big mistake. My foot snagged a root, and suddenly I was falling, falling... tumbling down.

I jolted back up. My brain fumbled to find my path, and the forest began to look foreign to me.

There was no way out of this.