WITHIN THE FOG

We're already first year college students .. A little more days and we will finish the first year. I can't wait for it. "Taraki! What are you spacing out for?" Oh, it's Bimo my highschool friend. "Nothing, I just realized that time goes by so fast we didn't even notice it." I said with a chuckle. "Haha, I know right? I still remember those days when we are running to our room because the teacher was just behind us." He jokingly said while putting his arms in my shoulders. "Anyways, Let's go! I'm excited for this field trip!" "Hm, Are you sure you'll be fine in the forest?" "What do you think of me? A scaredy p***y? I'm a Wijaya! I don't back down on fights even in the face of death, those wild animals better be wary of me, because Im wilder than them. HAHAHAHA!" There he goes with dirty jokes again. "Quit it Bimo. Our adviser might hear you." "Don't worry about it, oh. The bus is here!" He points upfront, there goes the double decker bus that will take us to the camping site. "Students! Form a single line! Guys sit on the first floor and Ladies on the upper floor!" Said the teacher which is loud enough for our classmates in the back to hear. "YESS!~" We formed a single line and we got to sit on the bus first while the girls follow along. We sat on the back, I was near the window while Bimo is sitting besides me. "Behave guys! You can sleep all the way because this trip will take atleast 5 hours!" "Damn, 5 hours? Then we'll arrive at 2 pm. Since it's 10 am right now.." Bimo muttered and looked at my face. "Let me use your shoulders as pillow man." I slightly grinned. "You wish. You got some pillow like s**t there on your bag. Use it instead of relying on me dude." "Oh man.. You sure is stingy ain't you?" "Hey, my shoulder is not an item to be used as pillow bruh." "Yeah-Yeah." He looked away and sulkingly used his neck pillow. Ignoring him, I watched the scenery drift by as the bus set off. [4 hours later] "Taraki! Wake up dude!" I was woken up by Bimo who keeps shaking me up. "What is it man?" I said while clearing my vision. "We’re nearly there, man. Don't go zoning out on me when we arrive, or you'll be a laughingstock." Bimo says while giggling like a worm. "Oh shut up." I looked out and spotted a tunnel looming in the distance. "Where are we now?" "Ms. Saffi said we're going through the tunnel to get to the three-way junction." "Three-way junction?" "Yeah, it's a split where three roads lead to totally different destinations." "Ah..." "Anyway, this place is beautiful, right? You can see the ocean in the distance if you look out the window." He pointed out the window where the calm ocean and the gorgeous sunset can be seen. "Whoa, that's beautiful. Man, I'm gonna take a picture." I whipped out my phone and took a shot of the scenery. I made sure he got a good look at it. "See? I'm definitely posting this when we reach the campsite." "For sure, man." A few minutes later, we plunged into the tunnel. The darkness inside felt eerie. There were no lights to guide the way. Ms. Saffi stepped forward to speak with the driver, asking why the tunnel was so dark. “It’s supposed to be bright with lights,” she said, her voice tinged with concern. The driver simply shook his head and replied, “I don’t know either.” A little more and we finally got out of that dark tunnel. I saw the three way zone Bimo told me about. But there's something off.. "Uh.. Are we sure we entered the right tunnel? Because this place is gloomy as hell. There's fog everywhere and the trees are so tall like it's been planted by giants." "Damn dude.. I'm getting scared. What if a phantom appears and chase us?" "Dude stop imagining that, it's not like we are on School Bus Graveyard world." I may have said that.. But seeing how creepy this place is really reminds me of that webtoon. "Ma'am!" "Yes, Zain? Is there something wrong?" "Yes there is. It's only 1 pm so why is this place so dark?" "... We don't know either. Maybe because a strong hurricane is coming?" "Isn't it dangerous then?" "Don't worry dear, we'll get there before it appears." "Okay.. Thank you ma'am." I guess our classmates noticed as well and are also feeling this creepy s**t that surrounds us. Time passes, and the place grows quiet, perhaps out of fear. Just as we begin to drift into sleep, a massive tree, the entire trunk and branches — collapses onto the front of the double-decker bus. The impact was so fierce that the driver were killed instantly. The force of the collision lifts the opposite side of the bus briefly into the air before it slams back down hard onto the ground, injuring all of us. "W-What.." Everyone was shocked and injured by the impact, especially Ms. Saffi, who sat just behind the driver’s seat. Blood was everywhere, staining the seats and floor. Her daughter collapsed in shock, overwhelmed by the sudden horror unfolding around them. I reached up to my head, only to feel blood dripping down my forehead. "....." I looked at my friend, who was crying out after his leg struck the bus seat. "Argh!" He groaned in pain, tightly gripping his swollen leg. "Dude..." I tried to comfort him while looking around at the wreckage. Everyone was hurt. Some had minor scrapes, but others were severely injured. Out of the twenty guys on the lower deck of the bus, five were in critical condition and that included Bimo. The rest of us had gotten off easy with mild injuries like mine. "Bimo.. I'll be going out. The signal here is low so I can't call for 911. Wait here okay? I'll be back.. Hang in there dude." The bus door was underneath the tree. So we got no choice but to use the windows as the exit. But there is a problem. Since the bus is a double decker bus and the stairs are blocked by heavy baggages we piled up on the corner because the storage space are full, the girls upstairs will get injured when jumping out. "Girls!! We will stock every soft things for you to jump on! Don't be scared and jump one by one! Leave those who have severe injury! We'll come back after asking for help!" Our president says while shouting at the top of his lungs. After we stock all the soft things we saw, we let the girls jump on one by one. We got to be fast since this place is getting darker and darker. Our cellphones still don't have a connection and it makes things worse. "Hurry up!" Our president is getting a little more impatient as the fog became thicker. It's understable if you are in our situation. The feeling is so overwhelming that you feel like someone is choking you hard. At last, the least injured girl classmates of ours have successfully got down safe. They said 5 of them were to stay inside since their injuries are severe. Because we also have 5 guys that's also severely injured and our adviser with her child who's still unconscious.. There's a total of 12 people on the bus. "We should go towards the camping site immediately, it's getting dangerous here!" "What about the people inside the bus?" "We'll come back to them after asking for help." "You're not even sure if there's people on the camping site already! Let's just head back." "Head back? We are far away from the city! There's also a city up ahead. Don't be dumb!" "Dumb? There's better signal on the other side, and it's not that creepy unlike this damn place!" The argument of our male president and female vice president goes on and on. "Silence you two!" The chaos was stopped by our adviser, Ms. Saffi she yelled at us by the window. "You won't accomplish anything if you keep fighting each other! You should hurry up at deciding since the lives of your classmates are at risk! Does who wants to go back should go back, does who wants to go up ahead.. Go! Get moving already." We were silenced for a minute, but we got moving immediately. The girls as expected followed the vice president. While me and the guys follows the president. All of us have our cellphones in our pocket. We took it out in case we caught a signal that will help us call the emergency service. "Does anyone catch some signal atleast?" Our president asked, it seems like he's getting more anxious at our position. "Nah." I said casually followed by the rest saying, "nope, meh, no, eh" and so on. We continued walking forward, unsure whether we are near something or someone. [20 minutes later] "Isn't that fire?" "Yeah, it is! I think that's the camping site." Upon hearing those words, everyone rush towards that place. It has a cabin in the corner while the fire is at the middle. We entered the cabin while the others searched the site for signal and any marks of people. I saw an old telephone and used it. As expected, it's not working. "What should we do now? This place is empty. There's no signal or signs of people getting here." I sighed in frustration. "Calm down Taraki. There's a map here, it states that if we cross the shallow river, we will get to the nearby city." "Alright, let's inform the others then." We left the cabin and called everyone out. "GUYS!! GATHER UP!!" The guys rouped around the campfire, confusion all over their faces. "We have found a map of this place! it seems like there's a city nearby which will be a big help for us. But we must cross a wide river then walk for hours, because it'll be a long walk for us, the injured people on the bus is vulnerable and in a critical condition especially since it's night right now and the wild animals might come for them, they will panic because of that. So is there anyone that is willing to inform them that help is coming and they must wait in the bus?... You will also be their guards all night." Silence filled the atmosphere as the air chilled us all. The night makes it hard for us to see the path we will be taking, but if none of us are willing to go back on the bus.. Our classmates, teacher and her child will be in great danger. "I volunteer!" A sudden claim of our classmate snap us back to reality. "Hashim? Are you sure?" "My friend is on the bus, I'm more than willing to be with his side to protect him." That sentence made me think about going as well, I left Bimo on the bus while he is struggling with his injury. "... I'll go with him." "That's unusual for you taraki, is it because of bimo?" "Yeah.. I'm feeling guilty on leaving him suddenly when he's in great pain." "But you're afraid of the dark. You get scared easily when a sudden rustling sound is heard. Will you be fine?" "I'm already at the age to fight my fears you know? And im not alone, Hashim is with me." "Do what you want, but be quick. Wild animals tend to hunt on weaker and lesser prey." "We will, time is running already so we know that as well." "Alright, is there anyone who is willing to go with the two of them?.. No one??" "I think that settles it pres. We'll get going now." "Aight. Be careful." Hashim and I parted ways with the group to get back on the bus by then. Hashim were handed some weapons like sticks and pipes just in case something happened to us. While I carried some medkit found by Myco on their way earlier to find some signal. It was found on an abandoned tent nearby. The road was dark and filled with shadows that play tricks on your eyes. Nevertheless, I don't feel much terrified even in such situation. I guess that's because Hashim is the one leading the way, he's walking so fast like someone is chasing us. 'Dude, take it easy, I can't keep up with your pace.' Is what I wanted to say but I know that the cause to his strange behavior is because of his worries on his injured friend. So I kept my mouth shut and let him walk as fast as he want. It's simply a polite way to ignore a person when they don't want to be disturbed. There must be so much stuff going on in his mind right now and the only thing that will solve those concerns is getting there as quick as possible. As we navigate the path we are walking, I felt a strange undescribable fear of something. "Hashim, wait." I stopped him from walking any further. As this feeling seems to strangle my neck right off the bat. "What's wrong?" He asked with concern and confusion on his eyes. "Something's wrong, this fog.. Its thicker than before." "What? Maybe because of the time..? C'mon we need to be quick! Stop the drama and keep moving or else I'll leave you here." "Listen to me Hashim! Don't you feel it—" "Shut up! I don't care. The most important thing to me right now is to check my friend's condition. Don't you worry for your bestfriend too? If yes then suck it and walk." He firmly said and continued walking straight to the fog. My knees seems to have been frozen on spot, the fear and terror is making the hair on my skin rise up. I swallowed hard and picked up Hashim's pace, afraid that something within this gloomy forest will reveal itself and bite our heads off our body. I might be a little delusional but as we kept walking, I noticed some strange rustlings on the bushes, like someone is staring right through my soul. I sure hope its just the wind playing tricks on my eye...