Toxic Wonderland.{Under construction!}

Chapter Ten.

The smell of death and decay make me open my eyes. At first I want to cry out in relief because Hatter, Bander and Caleb are so close I could touch them sitting together facing away from me probably discussing something, the kids are in a group not too far off with Chesh playing a game or something.

"Camilla, Dee, Dum."I call and not one of them stirs, I feel my eyebrows knit together in confusion” Caleb, Hatter, Bander!” Touching Bander and Hatters shoulders I feel only cold unresponsive flesh. Feeling frigid tears run down my face I reach to touch Caleb's shoulder, he doesn’t respond either. My breath comes in short quick puffs as grief starts to consume my body.

 I brush my fingers down Caleb’s still cheeks. I turn to check the kids but Caleb’s hand reaches out and snatches my wrist. I scream and slam my hands over my mouth as I stumble to my feet, jerking my wrist from his grasp. A caterpillar is erupting from Caleb’s body in a grotesque dance making me feel sick. It smiles at me, a mouth full of sharp teeth glistening in the pale light. As I take another step I run into a tree that wasn’t there before, the kids are singing on the other side.

The words are incomprehensible but their high voices echo eerily through the empty forest. The best moves at me but now I have nowhere to go.

"Goodnight Alice."It growls with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth as it lunges at me.Gasping I open my eyes clutching my chest.

'It was just a nightmare.' I tell myself while listening to the children's breathing. I can feel the warmth from their body's reassuring me this is real. Looking around I can see the tree's are starting to decompose, if the White Queen decides to break through them they won’t last long. In the distance one hollow bird whistle sounds, laughs of guards and the White Queens voice can be heard on the other side of the trees. I can feel something looming in the air; it’s like a thick fog of sickness.

"It’s time to wake up."I say gently shaking each of the kids until everyone is awake or at least standing up. I have goosebumps all over my arms and legs, the temperature is dropping quickly.  The hair on my arms and neck is raised and I don't trust the feel of the air, something sinister is lurking everywhere in the darkness of what was once the forest.

‘We obviously can’t climb over the tree trunks and tunneling beneath them is out of the question as well.’

I’m contemplating escape plans when a thud sound pulls me out of my mind, turning I see Camilla sprawled out on the ground.

"Are you okay?" I ask helping her off the forest floor; a long scratch runs from the outside corner of her eye down the bottom of her chin has begun to weep blood. I use the hem of my nightgown to dab it off, accidentally smearing some on her skin, tainting it with pink.

"I'm fine."She replies before pausing for a moment “Help me out of my dress please."

"Why do you need out of your dress?" I ask and she gives me a look that makes me feel as though I’m the child and she’s the adult.

"I can't run well in this, besides it doesn't blend in."

'She's right about that.' I think to myself looking at the dirty but still bright red dress, I move to unlace the outer corset.

I clumsily remove all the skirts and petticoats, leaving only her under corset and underwear. I feel bad because the temperature is plummeting and she’ll freeze before we get anywhere safe. Biting my lip I grab the top-most skirt from her dress I drape it over her shoulders until it falls like a cloak, covering her. Pulling one of the snaps off her dresses corset I pin the makeshift cloak shut.

"Thank you."She says pulling it even closer to her skin, I look over at the boys making sure they're dressed warm enough, the baggy clothes are made of wool so they should stay warm. My own attire isn’t going to keep me warm but it’ll do for now. I tie the hem of my dress so it fits like shorts around my legs, allowing me to move more freely.