Limping through the forest you had to stop to take a breath while you kept an eye on SCP-049 staring down at the dirt. Following obscure hoof tracks you hoped was from the creature. You bit your cheek as you maneuvered down the winding trails. Your exposed leg felt chilled against the cold wind. The longer you three traveled the colder it was, and you were far from dressed for cold weather, and with the sun setting soon it would only get worse. You reached your uninjured arm down to your bandaged leg. The one good thing the cold did for you was somewhat soothe your burning wounds.

Heavy, gurgled breathing sent chills down your spine as SCP-049-2 stopped next to you. You tried to ignore its dead stare, keeping your eyes glued on your bandaged leg. The zombie had been following close behind the two of you this whole time. Though, this was no surprise. What was strange was the fact that it liked to stop next to you. Nearly breathing down your neck. Not to attack you as you had originally assumed. It never seemed to want to hurt you, all it did was linger near you. Even if SCP-049 was far ahead. A cold breath grazed your neck making your hair stand on end and an uncontrollable shiver rippled down your spine. You side stepped away in hopes to get some space from the living corpse. And with a small shuffle beside you, it was back again. You cringed a little when it took another ghastly breath from its mouth. You straightened up again, ignoring the zombie and continued on your way towards SCP-049. Your leg and shoulder ached, but the SCP standing too close for comfort kept you going at a decent pace.

Eventually you caught up to him and his current attempt at tracking. Following the only trail of hoof prints you had seen so far, until it disappeared into another patch of grass. You glared down at the bright grass, untainted by any footprints as if the beast had teleported somehow. Still, you kept on in hopes that you'd find a new trail. The pressure on your leg only got worse the further you traveled, leaving you struggling yet again to keep up with SCP-049's persistent steps. Your stomach growled leading your eyes to shift their glare to your frail body. Slow and painful, you were holding him back, only able to catch up when he stopped to find the trail again.

You ignored your body; you didn't have time for rest and there was no food in here that you had seen. Not that you would have trusted it though, you weren't hungry enough to risk your life on possibly dangerous or poisonous food from a strange forest.

Up ahead SCP-049 had nearly disappeared. Your leg trembled, threatening to send you falling over on the grass and dirt below. Scrambling to the nearest tree you caught yourself before you could fall.

You took a deep breath collecting yourself and finding what strength you had left to push forwards again. You clenched your teeth when you stepped too hard on your bandaged right leg. Though now looking back up, you were relieved in a way. Thankfully you didn't have to travel too far after noticing SCP-049 react. Your heart began to race again.

Finally, ahead of you SCP-049 stopped and slipped behind a tree. Peaking back out to stare at something. You made your way closer as silent as you could, avoiding sticks and rocks that threatened to tell on you. After a little you were close enough to see what he could.

The horse-like beast stood over the riverside, sticking its muzzle underwater. You glanced back over at SCP-049 but he only stood there as if waiting for something. Slipping his hand into his bag he pulled out a small rope. In a different circumstance you might have wanted to laugh at the amount of seemingly random items he could pull out of that bag.

Silently, SCP-049 disappeared into the bushes. Creeping closer to the horse. You held your breath. He got pretty close before the horse's ear twitched, forcing him to freeze. Disappearing into a large tree's shadow.

It lifted it's head up glancing around, obviously missing SCP-049 as it scanned the small clearing. After only a few seconds it stuck it's head back into the water. Beside you there was a surprisingly quiet breath, SCP-049-2 was usually a little noisy, but it was now silent. Standing as still as possible. Sneaking back out again SCP-049 approached the horse until he was only a foot away. He crept up to it's neck, reaching his hand out for the key. Noticing him, the horse riled back stomping against the ground in an attempt to get away from him.

Then, without warning he jumped onto the horse wrapping the rope around it's neck. You put your hands over your eyes as he fought the horse, trying to force the chain off of its neck. You peeked through your fingers when the horse cried out. Bucking him off of its back, you flinched when you heard a large splash in the river. Slowly taking your hands off of your face all you saw was a galloping horse disappear and a frustrated and drenched SCP-049 crawling out of the river.

Moving again you made your way over to the riverside ignoring the labored footsteps behind you. After a few wobbly steps of your own you finally reached close enough for him to hear you speak.

"Are you ok?" You asked cautiously stepping over a rock towards the riverbank. He finally stood, straightening out his back and brushing the water and dirt off his sleeves.

"I'm fine." His voice obviously held a touch of anger. Turning his back to you he wrung out his hood and cloak.

"I think we need a new plan,"

His eyes snapped towards you causing you to flinch.

"Obviously." He sat down on a nearby rock to empty his shoes of water.

Your left hand grabbed your right arm. As your eyes drifted away from his dripping mask and up to the thick forest the horse disappeared into. You stopped to think for a little while, as of now you knew very little about this horse. Maybe if you knew it's diet you could bribe it into a trap, or if you knew where it lived that would be helpful.

Water dripped slowly off of his mask as he stared at the same place you were.

"I have a plan," He said now apparently recovered from being thrown into a river. "Come."

He walked away his right hand grabbing his left wrist from behind as he continued on with a dripping cloak. Leaving wet footprints on the dirt. Wasting no more time you followed after him, keeping up the best you could.

_____

You pushed through yet another familiar bush as you followed SCP-049 on his mission. Unfortunately again the horse was nowhere to be seen. Only tracks that you picked up here and there. You did notice however the birds were chirping again, they had been quiet for most of your time here.

Your bit your cheek as you glared at another familiar tree, yet again the forest was sending you in circles. Endless loops with only a small hope found in arbitrary and long trails all headed into the same direction.

SCP-049 knelt next to layers of hoof prints. Sighing he rubbed the side of his head. You stepped over glancing over his shoulder at what he was looking at. There were trails of prints, all going in the same direction as if the horse had been retracing its steps over and over. They were deep at this point, some hoof prints overlapped one another.

"Maybe the horse is stuck in the loop too," you thought out loud.

"Perhaps, or we could just be following the wrong trail." He stood back up again studying the ground.

You scanned the trees ahead of you, the more you squinted your eyes the more you could make out the mountain the two of you stayed in.

"I think this place is smaller than we originally thought."

He silently nodded tracing the hem of his sleeve as he thought. "If you're right, and the creature is in a loop with us. Then it should be easy to find." He held his hands behind his back.

"All the tracks go in the same direction, so in theory all we have to do is wait."

_____

"I will be waiting for the horse over there," he explained pointing to a shadow between trees. "And I'll need you again." He gestured towards SCP-049-2.

"You will ensure the horse doesn't miss the trap." He explained stationing the zombie in a bush. "Here," he reached out his hand clenching a second rope. The rope was tied to a large tree branch. SCP-049-2 reached out to take it only for SCP-049 to grab its wrist stopping it in place.

"You will not let it escape."

His words were firm yet quiet, he slowly let go of the zombie's wrist. For a split second a flicker of life finally sparked back into SCP-040-2's eyes sending a chill down your spine. SCP-049 backed up turning towards the shadows he had claimed. Carefully stepping over another rope he placed in the middle of the horse's trail. Acting as a snare right above one of the horse's most consistent hoof prints.

"What do I need to do?"

His eyes snapped to you, "Ah, yes. Come this way," you hesitantly followed his motion. "You will be seated here," he pointed to a small, dark crevice perfect for you to squeeze into.

You gave him a sideways glance, your stomach pinched slightly.

"Are you su-" you started only to be interrupted.

"You're in no condition to help, doctor. I thought you were aware of this."

You opened your mouth to protest, but as if on cue your body screamed at you again. Reminding you of all that had gone wrong. Breaking eye contact you gave in squeezing yourself into the crevice and disappearing from sight.

Getting somewhat comfortable you glanced back out in time to see SCP-049 disappear into the shadows and silence filled the air.

_____

The sun was setting now, making the shadows around you darken and the sky turned purple and orange. Your head perked up when a light sound came clopping through.

Slowly but surely a light-yellow glow illuminated the shadows as the familiar horse trotted by. It's long purple mane partly covering it's right eye as it stepped through. It's hoofs landed perfectly into each track as it went. Your heart raced as it approached the semi buried trap. Reaching your hand up you lightly bit your knuckle as it's first hoof stepped over the loop.

Then the second...

And the third...

And then it paused its back leg hovering slightly over the loop. It's ears twitched something made it take a step back, missing the trap all together. It's ear twitched again, opening it's mouth it began to growl again. Blowing out whisps of fog that gradually grew into large clumps of white that drenched the ground beneath it in seconds.

It turned preparing to run somewhere when it let out a cry. You bit a little harder on your knuckle as now it was SCP-049-2 attempting to tackle the horse trying to push it off balance. In seconds SCP-049 was out of his hiding place heading straight for the key.

He grabbed it and moved to rip it off the creatures' neck. When that didn't work, he pulled the chain up, bringing the key over its head. He had to stand on his toes to be tall enough to reach the top of it's head. Your eyes widened as the horse lowered its head underneath SCP-049's reach and then immediately riled up on its hind legs headbutting SCP-049, you flinched at the loud knocking sound the collision made. Then it focused on bucking off SCP-049-2. Stumbling over from the hard hit, SCP-049 disappeared into the ever-growing fog.

The horse kicked and growled at SCP-049-2 but he wouldn't budge. The zombie gripped the horse holding on for dear life with the rope keeping it near the tree it was tied to.

Untangling your legs, you crawled out of your little hole and into the white abyss. Revealing yourself to the fighting horse. SCP-049 was still down somewhere in the fog. You cringed at the thought that the horse could trample him with all its panicked stomping and bucking. Unsure you watched the horse waiting for some sort of opening. You eyed the chain, SCP-049 brought it higher on the horse's neck. Looking a little past the horse an idea struck you.

You crept through the fog avoiding the raging horse and careful not to step on wherever SCP-049 was. Until you were next to a large tree, it's branches were low and close enough to the horse that you'd have a chance. Reaching out your hand you began to climb, up until you were just above the horse.

SCP-049-2 was just moments away from its hand slipping off the rope. The horse came closer towards you in its attempt to free itself. Holding the branch with one hand you reached out the other towards the chain. Finally, you were close enough to touch it. Avoiding the horse's limbs and head you finally grabbed the chain. Carefully pulling it up the horse's neck. Your heart pounded in your chest as you slowly pulled the chain up.

The horse growled again, slamming into the tree you sat in with all its might. Nearly sending you to the ground. Re-grabbing the branch you regained your balance, keeping your head up to keep yourself from looking down. Looking back at the horse you quickly rearranged yourself, the chain was right in front of you, ready to be grabbed. Without a second thought you reached your hand out for the chain again. Gripping it harder this time you pulled it up the creatures' long neck.

Then over its ears and finally off of its long nose. After the chain was off you brought it immediately to your chest. Holding it tight against yourself. It was heavier that you thought it was going to be and colder. You made your way down the tree, the chain making the descent harder with it nearly catching on a small branch and sending you down. You debated wearing it to make things easier but decided that you didn't want to take another chance. You never knew what anything could do to you, and you had already made the rash decision to walk through that stupid door. So, you opted to holding it tightly in your hand even while you crawled down the tree.

Finally, you landed in time for SCP-049-2 to finally be bucked off and disappear into the fog as well. The horse, finally free turned and galloped away disappearing in seconds. You slowly made your way out from behind the tree, squinting at the white fog in hopes that you would make out SCP-049. But it was too thick.

It took a minute for the fog to begin to clear revealing hints of the forest floor. Your eyes widened when you finally noticed him, he had been so close. He lay face down with his head uncomfortably angled to the side underneath the tree you were sitting in just a moment ago.

"SCP-049?"

You carefully approached him in hopes he would respond or at least move. But he didn't, he stayed still. You heard movement as SCP-049-2 began to get up again. Your gut began to drop the closer you approached, there were dusty hoof prints covering his back and head. You hesitated as you got a little closer to his body.

You felt sick at his trampled form. Somehow, him laying down like this felt so wrong to you. Gripping on tighter to the key you glanced around, as if hoping to find the door nearby. Of course, there was nothing unless you walked away.

You sighed at the thought and with another hesitant step you knelt down beside him. He stayed still.

"SCP-049?" You asked, your fingers trembled as you held out your hand to his seemingly damaged form. Your hand was inches away from his shoulder when it closed again, pulling back and rethinking what you should do. Seeing no movement from SCP-049 you took the chance and lightly touched his shoulder.

The pit in your stomach relaxed slightly as you felt his shoulder barely move up and down as he breathed. Gently, you shook him in hopes you could wake him up. Your hand avoiding any obvious hoof marks.

He stirred slightly, dissolving your nerves further for a moment. Until another sound came from behind you and again you assumed it to be SCP-049-2 until it snarled at you.

Your heart raced as your head snapped back with fear evident in your eyes at the approaching beast. It's eyes glowed through the fog and the familiar dogs came out from seemingly everywhere.

With wide eyes your hand began to shake SCP-049 harder.

"SCP-049! Wake up, we have to go," your voice loud and wobbly as you continued to shake him. Your heart racing faster as the beasts approached.

"Please! Please wake up!" You got more desperate when you carefully turned him on his side.

On his side finally he moved opening his eyes to your panicked expression. "Come on!"

He seemed confused for a moment staring at you with his intense gaze. Until finally he noticed the approaching creatures. Pushing himself up until he was on his feet, standing easily as if he hadn't just been trampled and hit in the head hard enough to go unconscious.

Standing up with him you faced the approaching beasts. A second passed before one of them leaped out at SCP-049-2 barely missing his head. SCP-049 moved forward, leaving your side.

"I would start moving if I were you," he said heading straight towards the approaching beasts. Lifting his hand towards the beasts and touching them. As expected, the first dog died but the rest formed some sort of resilience to his touch. As for the rest he again began to kill them with his bare hands and various medical equipment he had inside of his bag.

SCP-049 bought both you and SCP-049-2 some time to run. Pushing your feet hard against the ground you took off. Fighting through the pain in your leg to get good distance between you and the fight behind you.

Your lungs burned the further you ran, and the fog began to clear completely when you escaped from the white abyss. It would have been a relief to you if you didn't hear one of those beasts narrowing in from behind.

Pumping your legs harder you ran straight for a small ledge, topped off by a large log. Your speed was dropping drastically by now and if you didn't stop somewhere your legs would give out leaving you all too vulnerable to the approaching dog. Hopefully you had enough distance between you and the dog that you could hide and get the chance to catch your breath.

Crawling over a large log you slowly dropped behind it, crawling slightly underneath the dying wood and squishing your back against the dirt. You froze. Holding your breath as you heard it stop running above you and begin to sniff around. The sniffs grew closer making you want to hold your breath as if that would mask your scent. Frantic, you looked around the log in hopes to find anything that could protect yourself. You wrapped the chain tightly around your hand as you scanned around yourself.

Looking to the right there was a large stick that had fallen on top of the log. It was thick, and sharp. Making your decision you slowly moved, carefully reaching out to grab the small branch. Finally, after a trembling reach the tips of your fingers touched the end of the stick and you quickly pulled it down under the log with you. You pushed yourself further against the ledge in hopes that somehow the dog would miss you.