Chapter Text
I found myself on a concrete pier that opened up to a beautiful blue ocean. Nothing could be seen on the horizon, only the blue sky meeting the deeper blue of the ocean. The pier ran long into the sea, but only had one ferry docked, the one that had brought us to the island. I stood under the sun, shifting my weight from one leg to the other as I glanced around, squinting at the brightness. The sun was hot, a bit too hot for my taste as I could feel the sweat on my forehead, but the ocean breeze brought some relief. It made me regret my choice of clothes, though. Black sweatpants in tropical weather? Not my brightest moment. But at least the cropped t-shirt was more appropriated.
I didn’t know what to expect of Jurassic World, but it certainly wasn’t an almost deserted dock in the middle of the jungle. When my mom told me, scratch that, ordered me to come to this summer camp kinda deal they had going on here, I admit, I was pretty mad from being away from my friends and my training, but part of me was excited to see some big, scary dinosaurs in the flesh. But I’ll never let her know or I’d never hear the end of it. Just because my mother works on creating dinos, doesn’t mean I will.
The sound of waves crashing against the concrete brought me back to the moment. There were five other kids with me on the pier, and all of us had wide-eye gaze, taking in all the details around us, from the ocean to the dense jungle beyond the docks.
They seemed to be all younger than me, but I couldn’t be sure as I had mostly kept to myself on the trip over. There was this very thin girl right next to me, she was on the shorter side and had bright pink hair, a jacket to match and ripped blue jeans. The girl had a really high pitched voice and talked so much my ears hurt, she spent the whole trip vlogging on her phone. How she managed to keep her phone, I’d never know; the first thing they did when we stepped into the ferry was to take away our phones.
‘Which is borderline criminal, if you ask me.’ I sighed quietly. Something about Camp Cretaceous being too exclusive for kids running around with cameras. Then why the hell did they let the pink-haired girl vlog?
There was this girl that seemed to be closer to my age and almost as tall as me. She had a very stern look on her face that screamed ‘Don’t talk to me!’. She had an athletic build and was wearing gray and purple workout clothes. Her brunette hair was secured in a ponytail, which was a pity, cause that girl had really pretty long hair, which made me a bit over conscious of my own. I’ve been wanting to grow my black hair for ages, but it just never looked pretty, so I had to settle for a shoulder length.
The next girl over seemed to be my height and had a thick Texan accent. She had dark hair in a bob and was wearing cowboy boots, jeans and a leather jacket with a floral blouse underneath. I grimaced at how hot it must be under all that leather, I guess there’s always someone that had it worse. Cowgirl was one of those overly excited extroverts, she tried to make friends with me but I avoided her on the ferry, so she spent her time mostly around the two boys of the group.
The youngest boy had those googly eyes, looking around very excitedly. He had short black hair and was wearing simple jeans and white t-shirt with a yellow hoodie on top. He had this really cool tooth necklace, it looked something like a croc’s teeth, but I was no expert. The other boy seemed just a bit younger than me and was of mid-height, but you wouldn’t be able to tell it by how hunch over he was. He was propped on the edge of the pier, emptying the contents of his stomach. He mostly kept to himself and seemed very skittish; he was wearing cargo shorts and a blue polo, with a pouch hanging around his waist.
I noticed a tall man walking fast toward us. He had a friendly smile plastered on his face and he must’ve been a park employee, because he was wearing beige shorts and a red t-shirt with the Jurassic World logo in yellow.
“Welcome to Isla Nublar, campers!” The male employee cheerfully greeted us. “You are the chosen few, the first kids in the entire world to ever experience the awesomeness that is Camp Cretaceous.” Some of the kids were taken aback from the sudden burst of excitement and some cheering back at the same level. I just kept a blank face and waited for him to continue. “I know that the trip from the mainland was rough on some. Hello, Ben.” The staff nodded at the kid vomiting. “But ya made it! I’m Dave, head counselor. You hear that correctly, head honcho, big shot-”
A pick-up Jeep pulled up behind us, screeching its tires. A woman stepped out, wearing the same outfit as Dave’s. “Ah, so sorry I’m late. Welcome, campers! I’m Roxie, head counselor of Camp Cretaceous.” Roxie said with a British accent. She was shorter than Dave, and had long wavy hair secured safely in a ponytail.
We all just looked at Dave, suspicious. He chuckled, scratching his head. “Well, it’s sort of a co-head counselor sort of situation.”
“Is it?” Roxie asked with an amused smile.
“Anyway, some of you won a contest to be here...” I stopped paying attention since the pink-haired girl had her phone out, filming us. The kids started to make poses to the camera, the track girl deadass ran from it, though. When the phone focused on me, I just smiled uncomfortably.
“As our first campers we’ve lined up exclusive behind the scenes tours of Jurassic World.” Roxie stated, which resulted in animated cheers from us, well, except from Ben. “As well as kayaking, rock climbing, obstacle courses, and of course-”
“Dinosaurs?” The small dude exclaimed.
“Yes, Darius, plenty of dinosaurs.” Roxie continued. “So, ready for an adventure?”
“Absolutely!” Pink-haired girl exclaimed. “But I’m gonna need that speech a little shorter, and really try to lean into the majesty of this place.”
‘The audacity of this one.’ I thought and snorted with laughter, making her give me the side eye.
Dave chuckled. “Okay, we’re going now. Let’s get the seven of you to camp.”
Ben raised his hand, hesitantly. “Uh, there are six of us.”
“Wait- dino-kid, track-star, rocky, internet-girl, barfy, Texas.” Dave counted us. ‘Not even the right sport, dude.’ I frowned at my nickname. “He’s right, where is seven?”
As if on cue, a helicopter landed in the helipad, blowing dust into the air with the deafening sound of the chopping blades. The door swung open and a guy came out. He was obviously a kid and the missing camper. He was taller than me and a bit buff, with neatly styled black hair and wearing khaki shorts and a blue long sleeved t-shirt.
“Greetings my dudes, Kenji is here, so let the party commence!” He announced. This Kenji guy oozed an egocentric personality and looked to be even more annoying than the girl that shoved her phone in our faces.
“Okay, let’s go.” Roxie said without giving this Kenji guy a second glance.
…
Dave and Roxie had all of us on the back of the pickup Jeep, taking us through the dirt roads of Isla Nublar.
“What’s good Brooklanders?” Pink-haired girl exclaimed, filming herself. “It’s your girl Brooklynn, coming at you from the best place ever: Camp Cretaceous. Like and subscribe to join me as I unbox Jurassic World!”
I cringed. ‘A kid youtuber then?’ Now I get why she gets to keep her phone, but she’s so high energy, it’s annoying.
She turned to us. “Okay, I need you all to say who you are and a little bit about yourself.” She pointed the phone to Darius. “And… action!”
“Oh! Um –I beat this awesome VR dinosaur game.” He stumbled on his words. “I’m Darius by the-”
“I’m sorry.” Cowgirl interrupted. “I just can’t believe… you’re Brooklynn!” She fangirled. “I’m Sammy Gutierrez, total Brooklander! Kapow!” She made finger guns. “Oh, also my family supplies all the beef for the park, and that’s how I got here.” She finished it all in one breath.
“Great to meet you, Sammy.” Brooklyn replied with a smile.
“What’s a Brooklander?” Darius and I spoke together.
“Oh, that’s just what my online followers call themselves.” Brooklynn explained.
“Uh, all 27 million of us!” Sammy exclaimed.
“Yep. That’s why she’s the only one who gets to keep her cellphone. She’s famous.” Track girl said, her voice hoarse.
“Hold on. Rich?” Kenji pointed at himself. “And famous?” He pointed at Brooklynn. “Oh, meant to be!” He grabbed her phone, taking a selfie with her. By the looks on her face, it was the wrong move. She opened her mouth to say something when a shadow ran across the road and the Jeep came to a screeching halt.
“What was that for?” I glared at Roxie through the back window of the Jeep.
“Yeah, uh… Dave, what’s going on?” Ben asked, apprehensively.
“Nothing you need to worry about.” Dave stated, getting out of the Jeep. “But you should all stay in your seats.” He grabbed a metal rod, which let out sparks from the end.
“Is that a giant taser? Cool…” I commented.
“Oh, god.” Ben whined, while Dave and Roxie crept into the woods. Naturally, we all leaned in our seats trying to get a better look.
“Uh, guys?” Darius called. The bushes behind us rustled. “Guys?” He said more intensely this time. Suddenly, a green shadow jumped from the bushes, tackling Darius to the ground. We all jumped out of our seats, screaming. There was a tiny dinosaur on his chest. Darius looked at it with amazement; that thing looked a lot like a very malnourished, green pigeon, but with teeth.
The dinosaur jumped off and was caught in a blanket by Roxie and put into a cat carrier. “Crisis averted.” She simply said. “These things are always getting out of their enclosures.”
“Does that happen with the big ones too?” I chuckled.
“Oh, I assure you-”
“Please say it doesn’t!” Ben cried, which made me laugh.
“Guys, is a real live Compsognathus!” Darius exclaimed.
“Oh, please.” Kenji said, smugly. “It took a blanket and a cat carrier to catch it. Boring.”
“Scared you pretty good.” Darius smirked, making Kenji shrink in his seat. Brooklyn took a picture of his face while we all laughed.
The ride took a few more minutes and then we saw a large gate before us. It was made of wood and stone; in red and yellow letters, it read ‘Jurassic World’ on the top, and in the gate itself, read ‘Camp Cretaceous’.
“Whoa.” We all echoed in awe.
“Welcome to Camp Cretaceous!” Dave said, while the gate opened for us.
…
What they called camp was an enormous treehouse. The tree itself was as tall as a building, with an elevator that led to the treehouse at the top, with wooden pathways linking the surrounding trees with other, smaller, treehouses. On the ground, the trees opened up to a clearing where the dirt road led, with a little wooden fence around a garden with red grass and rocks.
“Hey, Brooklanders! Check this place out.” Brooklynn went back to vlogging. “Is this not the most amazing place you have ever seen?”
“If you think this is cool, you should see my dad’s penthouse in the main park.” Kenji cut in.
She gave the camera a bored look and moved on. “Yasmina! Hey girl. So, as an elite athlete, how pumped are you to camp?” Brooklynn chirped.
Yasmina hid her face from the camera. “Not a huge fan of being on camera… or people.” She ran off.
Brooklynn turned the camera to me. “And you are… what’s your deal again? Love that hair, though.”
“Thanks.” I smiled, capturing one lock of my hair between my fingers, I had the edges painted blue this time. “I’m Hayden. My mom works at Masrani Global, she got me a spot on this thing .” I noticed Brooklynn zooming the camera at my hands, where I had bruises on my knuckles. I smiled nervously, feeling the need to explain. “It’s from Muay Thai.”
“Oh, you should totally be in my channel after this! I’ve been wanting to do one unboxing in self-defense.” She said cheerfully.
“Sure, Brooke! That’d be amazing.” I gave her a fake smile, saying her name wrong on purpose. She was dreaming if she thought I was doing that. I was already here against my will, I was not doing a video for some kid’s Youtube channel.
“It’s Brooklynn.” She emphasized.
“This place is almost as big as my family’s ranch back home!” Sammy exclaimed.
“That’s because when we are up and running, the camp will house 500 kids and 150 staff.” Roxie explained.
“Listen up!” Dave shouted, making us all gather around them. “Announcement time from your co-head counselors.”
“Still not a thing.” Roxie whispered. “Okay, everyone, there’s some ground rules to cover. Curfew is at 8 pm and lights out at 9 pm sharp.”
“What?” Brooklynn whined.
“Come on, not everyone here is 10 years old.” I groaned.
“Yeah, lame.” Kenji agreed. “Back in my place, I don’t even have a curfew.”
“This is for your safety.” Roxie went on. “We are in a dinosaur-filled jungle. You must always keep your distance, or you could be seriously hurt, if not worse.”
“Define worse.” Ben asked.
“Bunks are up that a-way.” Dave pointed up, totally ignoring Ben.
“First one there gets the top bunk!” Yasmina dashed to the door and everybody, but me and Darius followed. He looked at me puzzled.
“What? I prefer the bottom bunk.” I shrugged. “How about you?”
“I really gotta see that Compy! Come on!” He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me towards Roxie, who was putting the cat carrier in another Jeep. Little guy was so obsessed with dinosaurs that it was funny, so I went along. Just as we reached Roxie, the car with the dino took off. “Oh, man, I really wanted to get a closer look at that Compy.” He complained.
“I like your enthusiasm, Darius, but right now it’s claiming bunk’s time. So, you now go claim a bunk.” Dave said.
“Yeah, Darius, don’t worry about the pigeon dinosaur.” I said.
“But it’s the first dinosaur I’ve ever seen in person.” He whined. “And I mean, we’re here to see dinosaurs, so-”
All of the sudden, we felt the earth shake, causing ripples in a puddle on the ground.
“Oh, the day is not over, buddy.” Dave grinned, mysteriously.
“Come on, dude.” I punched his shoulder lightly. “It’s claiming bunk time.”
“What do you think did that?” He asked in awe.
“It had to be massive… maybe a… what’s its name…Brontosaurus?” I suggested.
“Nah, they don’t have those here.” He said nonchalantly.
“So what then, dino-nerd?” I chuckled. 'Of course, he knows every dinosaur on this island.'
“Probably a Brachiosaurus, but maybe…”
…
The elevator opened up to a large room with two huge sofas facing each other in the center, and behind it, there was a majestic T-Rex fossil. On the corner, there was a makeshift bar with some stools and a wall with a bunch of jars filled with gumballs and other sweets. Also, there was a Ping-Pong table, a small rock-climbing wall and a foosball table in the corner!
Besides the elevator, there were two other doors in the room; one, that opened up to a hallway that led to the lodging area and another leading outside, where there was a wooden deck with a few benches and a fire pit.
The bunks were on the other side of the compound, boys to the left, and girls to the right. Apparently, all girls would be staying together, because there were four bunk beds in the same room. Like the rest of the camp, our room was made out of wood and stone with huge windows that honestly, didn’t do much for privacy.
“Hayden, hi!” Sammy came out of nowhere. “We didn’t get to know each other on the way here, but you’re an athlete just like Yaz, right?” She asked.
“I’m not on her level, but I dabble in fighting.” I glanced over at Yasmina, she was at the top bunk on the left. She looked at me with a pity look, as if she knew what was to be interrogated by Sammy.
“That’s awesome! So, you go like Pow! Pow, Pow!” She threw punches in the air.
I laughed at her. “Uh… kinda, yeah.”
“You know, my cousin one time said he had to fight a cougar!” She beamed. “Of course we all thought he was lying, but he has this picture, you know-”
“Hey, Sammy.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “I bet that that’s a sick story, but I really need to get settled.”
“Oh, ‘course. I’m staying with Yaz.” She pointed at the bunk bed on the left. “You can bunk with Brooklynn.” She pointed to the next bed; Brooklyn was already settled for the top bunk, and was too busy with her pink phone to even acknowledge me.
“Sure.” Instead, I put my bag on the bottom bunk of the next bed over, staying by myself. Yasmina looked at me with envy in her eyes, so I just smiled back. Sammy ignored me ignoring her suggestion, or she was just too wired to even process.
I was used to sharing rooms when I had competitions, but at least with those girls I had one thing in common. Here we couldn’t be any more different. Sammy and Brooklynn were from completely different worlds. Yasmina seemed cool, but was even more shy and introverted than me.
“Y’all! This is gonna be so much fun! Like a sleepover every day!” Sammy said enthusiastically. Needless to say, her statement was followed by silence.
…
At sundown, Dave and Roxie guided us to an observation tower a few minutes away. In the jungle in front of us, there were patches of grasslands. In the one closest to us, several dinosaurs from different species were herding. There were big dinosaurs, similar to a mix of elephant and giraffe on steroids, which I was guessing was the Brachiosaurus. The ground shook when they walked. But there were also some that looked like a big armadillo, others similar to a rhino with a crown, one with several plaques down its spine and another with a crest on its head, like a really stylish haircut.
“Whoa.” We all echoed.
“There’s Brachiosaurus.” Darius giggled. “Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus!” He was in awe.
“Wow, you really do know your stuff, dino-nerd.” Brooklynn said.
“Check out the… Brontosaurus.” Kenji said, clearly trying to get Brooklynn's attention.
“Actually, they don’t have that here, a common mistake.” I corrected him, winking at Darius, who laughed.
Darius gasped. “Are those Sinoceratops? When did you get those?”
“They are cooking up all kinds of new dinos in that lab.” Roxie said.
“Whoa. Where are they herding ‘em to?” Sammy asked. She was right; there were park employees on quad bikes guiding the dinosaurs somewhere.
“They are herding them back to their night time enclosures.” Roxie explained.
“Enough banter! It’s zip line party time!” Dave led us to a zip line that went across the clearing to another tower in the jungle. Ben was the one closest to him, so Dave started to hook him up on the equipment. It was a yellow metal pole with a little seat and seatbelt, and it was hooked onto the cable by a pulley on top.
“Me? Maybe Yasmina should go first, or… Hayden?” Ben begged. “Uh, or anyone, I really don’t-” Dave yeeted a screaming Ben out of the zip line platform.
We all follow suit, dangling in the zip line, gliding only a few meters from the top of a Brachiosaurus’ head.
…
At 9 pm we had to turn the lights off; I spent almost an hour in bed trying to sleep, but it was just too damn early for me. So, I tiptoed to the door, wanting to check out the rest of the camp I hadn’t seen yet.
“Can’t sleep?” Someone behind me said.
I jumped. “Jesus, Brooklynn.” I had my hand on my chest.
“Where are you off to?” She asked, climbing down her bunk bed.
“Going to grab a snack.”
“I’ll come with you.” She stated.
“Uh-” I looked at her, hesitantly.
“Oh, come on. Let’s go, before they wake up.” She insisted. I was really looking forward to some alone time. But before I could argue, she was already in the hallway waiting for me.
“Whatever.” I mumbled and followed her.
“Wait, are you really getting some snacks? Or something else… are you meeting with one of the boys?” She teased me.
“What? Wanna watch?” I raised my brow, smirking at her.
“Eww.” She recoiled.
“I’m kidding.” I laughed. “Damn, how old are you? Twelve?”
“I’m thirteen.” She stated, annoyed.
“Isn’t it past your bedtime, though?” I asked.
“We have the same bed time, idiot.” She punched in the arm, playfully.
“Well, you punch like a twelve-year-old.” I chuckled and she gave me an annoyed look.
We heard voices coming from the room ahead of us. It didn’t seem to be Dave or Roxie, so I guess we were not the only ones breaking curfew.
“Friends tell each other stuff, for instance, what they’re doing out of bed, after curfew, what do you think?” I think that was Kenji.
“I think, you better get your arm off me, friend.” Darius said, not amused with Kenji. They seemed to be having a moment, with Kenji’s arm around Darius’ shoulder.
“Oh, well, why don’t you make me, friend ?” Kenji asked back.
“So that’s what toxic masculinity looks like.” Brooklynn interrupted them, taking their photo while I cough to hide my laugh.
“Sorry we woke you.” Darius said. “We were-”
“ He was sneaking out, but I set him straight, I try to look out for the younger kids, it’s kind of who I am.” He went over to stand by Brooklynn, smugly.
“You guys don’t understand, I have been waiting for this my whole life and I’m gonna make the most of it.” He pointed to the jungle outside, where lights shone through the trees. “Those lights have got to be coming from the Compy pen, I’ve got to check it out.”
“Sneaking out to see dinosaurs in the dead of night.” Brooklynn started. “Mad danger of getting caught.” She smiled. “Great mood lighting. I guess that means; we’re going rogue, Kapow!”
“You guys serious?” Darius opened a big smile, staring back and forth between Brooklynn and me. “You coming with me?”
Brooklynn aimed the camera at me. “Come on, Hayden, what do you say?”
I smirked. “I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.” Excited to have some real fun.
Kenji groaned. “Clearly I am the more sane person here, so I’ll go along with you to look out for my dear young campers.”
“I don’t know who you are calling young, Kenji. I‘m clearly the oldest here.” I stated.
He shook his head. “Nah ah, I’m turning sixteen in a couple months and I’ve been told-”
“Sorry to disappoint, youngling, I’m already sixteen.” I smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you the way.” I messed with his hair like one would do with a little kid, which made Kenji practically hiss and pull away.
…
The Compy pen was a massive building in hexagonal shape, made out of concrete with a metal gate. On the sides, there were stairs leading to a catwalk on the top. We hid behind a Jeep parked near the gate.
“I think this is it, the truck Hayden and I saw definitely headed this direction.” Darius whispered.
“Yeah, it did, but doesn’t this place look a bit overkill only for Compies.” I pointed out.
“Of course this is the place.” Kenji said loudly. “Why else would they have-” Brooklynn covered his mouth with her hand.
“Shh, you’ll get us in trouble.” She hastily whispered at him.
We kept hidden for a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear. We swiftly made our way up the stairs. We walked around in the catwalk; there were lights aimed to the center of the pen, but they were turned off. Even though it was night, the moonlight made it possible to see inside, there were a few trees, bushes and some boulders, but no dinosaurs in sight.
“Hey, Brooklynn.” Kenji called. “You can get a good shot from over here.” Brooklynn walked over to him. “Allow me.” Kenji tried to take her phone.
“No, thanks. I can-” They began to fight over the device. “Hey, come on!” She gasped as the phone went flying over the fence and into the pen. “Thanks, Kenji. Real smooth.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Relax, I’ll get it.” Kenji said, climbing over the fence.
“Wait. What the hell are you doing, Kenji?” I exclaimed. ‘Is he really going inside the dinosaurs’ pen?’
“I got it.” Kenji proceeded to climb down into the pen.
There was a space between the walls of the building and the actual cage for the dinosaurs. That was exactly where the phone had landed. Kenji climbed through the metal bars and landed safely outside the pen.
“See?” Kenji picked it up and turned it on. “Ha! Good as new!”
“Great, now just climb back up and gently hand it to me.” Brooklynn said through clenched teeth.
“Sure, sure. Right after I get a sweet dino-pic for your followers.” Kenji said. “No need to thank me.”
“Uh, guys?” Darius whispered. “This isn’t the Compy pen.”
“What?” I asked, alarmed.
“Quiet, junior! The grown-ups are talking.” Kenji approached the cage. “Ah, your followers are going to love this.” He slipped his hand through the metal bars. “Here Compy-Compy-Compy.”
“This isn’t the Compy pen!” Darius and I yelled. Despite the darkness, we could see a dinosaur emerging from the bushes. Even I recognized this one: a Velociraptor. It crept closer to Kenji, walking on its back legs as its sharp claws twitched slightly. Its body was lean, with a long tail and long snout, with a row of sharp teeth eager to meet flesh.
“What are you babbling on about?” Kenji asked. “What the-” He had noticed it too, but he also had the brilliant idea of taking a picture of it, with the flash on.
With the sudden flash of light, the Raptor roared and charged. Kenji fell backwards, thankfully with his arm still intact. The dinosaur was clawing onto the bars trying to get to him, while Kenji ran towards the gate that led outside, but it was closed.
“Come on!” Brooklynn shouted, running towards a control panel atop of the gate, on the catwalk.
The raptor started to make the sound a Velociraptor does when calling its pack, which means it had friends.
“Kenji, stay there, they can’t get to you!” I yelled.
“Ah, open the gate! Open the gate!” He was desperately banging on the metal.
On our side, the control panel had a bunch of colorful buttons with no labels on it.
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Brooklynn.” Darius commented.
“I gotta try something.” She reached for the panel.
“Don’t-” I tried to say, but Brooklynn pressed the orange button and, immediately, red flashing lights illuminated the pen as an alarm went off. The gate that separated the Raptors from Kenji opened. “Shit.” I breathed out. “You two! Go get help!” I ordered Brooklynn and Darius, while jumping the catwalk fence onto a pipe on the wall that immediately broke, sending steam towards the Raptor. I managed to hold on to the railing and then jumped into the pen, between the Raptors and Kenji.
“Please tell me you have a plan!” Kenji whimpered. Well, I didn’t have a plan, but there had to be something here we could do. There was a thump behind me, I looked back and Darius was there.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I exclaimed dumbfounded.
“Let’s move!” Darius ignored me. “The steam should keep him busy.”
Before we could do anything, the steam from the pipe had ceased and now there were four Velociraptors staring at us.
“Oh, crud.” Darius said.
Notes:
English is not my first language, so if there’s anything that you think came out weird, any mistakes and typos, feel free to point them out.
june/24 - fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 2: Secrets
Summary:
What’s better than cleaning a pile of dino poo?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
All four Raptors were closing in on us. Three of them were following the lead of one with blue stripes, which was clearly the leader. They were smiling at us, showing a row of incredible sharp teeth. The sound of the gravel being crushed under them got mixed with their snarls, as they inched closer.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Darius kept assuring himself. “Those bones, check for a raptor skull.”
“What?” Kenji whimpered.
“In the video game I-”
“You wanna talk about video games now?” Kenji yelled.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I said, dumbfounded.
The pack of Raptors led out a loud roar, which made us back up. Darius stumbled in bones on the ground and fell on his ass.
“Get up.” I pulled him back up, grabbing a huge bone while at it. “Guys, grab a bone or rock, anything to use as a weapon!”
I clenched my fists over the white bone, it had scratches on its surface, surely it was going to be our future if we didn’t do something. We retreated to the gate, which Kenji was still trying to forcefully pry open. I put myself between them and the Raptors, waving the bone in front of me to keep them at a distance. My heart was pounding on my chest as I felt the adrenaline coursing through my veins, my muscles ready to act with the slightest movement from the dinosaurs. Suddenly, bright lights flooded the pen, blinding the dinosaurs and us altogether.
“Hey! Come and get it!” I recognized Roxie’s voice. She had dropped raw meat in the center of the pen. “Get out of there!” Three of the Raptors went straight for the bait, while the leader charged at us.
I raised the bone and heard the gate opening behind us, while the cage in front of us started to close. I threw the bone towards the charging Raptor and I sprinted toward the boys. Dave pulled Darius and Kenji to safety and I followed suit just in time for the cage to close with the Raptor inside.
“Ha! We’re alive!” Kenji hugged himself. “And you-” He turned towards me. “Straight at the raptors face! Ha!” He laughed.
“That was pretty cool, right?” I admitted, catching my breath as my heart started to calm down.
“You’re kidding-” Kenji was interrupted by Dave puking.
“Dave? You okay?” Darius asked. “That was- thank you so much!”
Dave gave us the thumbs up. “Oh, that’s…” Dave whipped his mouth. “…that’s standard procedure, Darius. I do that kind of stuff all the time.”
“Is everyone all right?” Roxie came rushing in, with Brooklyn right behind her. Kenji tried to sneak past her, but she noticed him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you think you’re going? You lot are in big trouble!”
“I- He was-” Darius stumbled on his words.
“Save it. We’ll decide what to do with you later. If you even get to remain here after a stunt like this.” She said, disappointed.
‘I’m totally getting kicked out of camp on day one, and it’s Kenji’s fault on top of it all.’ I facepalmed. ‘I’m never going to hear the end of this back home.’
…
Back at camp, Kenji, Darius and I were sitting on the couch while Roxie and Dave talked with Brooklynn in another room. Kenji was being his annoying self, making popping sounds with his mouth on and on.
“How could you do something so stupid?” Darius snapped.
“I do a lot of stupid things so you’ll have to be a little more specific.” He said, nonchalantly. “Girls love a grand gesture, junior. You’ll understand when you’re older.”
I threw a couch cushion to his face. “No, we don’t! Not like that at least, that was plain stupid. We could have died.” I totally wanted to punch him, but I held myself back.
“Okay, maybe it wasn’t my best idea.” He toned it down. “Look, I don’t wanna get kicked out either. When my dad-” He paused, glancing down at his hands. “My whole life, I’ve been trying to make him proud. If he finds out that I messed up again, he might finally give up on me for good.” His voice was small.
I could totally relate with being a screw up to my parents, as that is one of the reasons I was here. My mom was a geneticist that worked cloning dinosaurs, and she always tried to push that stuff on me. I guess she always wanted me to be like her, but I knew I didn’t have much of an academic future since what I really liked was sports, mainly those involving punching something. I guess sending me to this park was her last desperate attempt, well, it didn’t really help that I used to get in a lot of fights in school.
“Don’t worry.” I stared at Kenji. I didn’t believe that I was going to stand up for Kenji of all people. “He won’t.” I finished off, deciding I was going to take the blame. I never wanted to come to this camp anyway.
The door opened, Dave, and Roxie stepped in. “We gave Brooklyn a warning for sneaking out.” For the first time, Dave sounded serious. “But what you three chuckleheads did-”
“Especially you, Kenji!” Roxie interrupted. “Your recklessness put yours, Darius’, Hayden’s and Dave’s lives in danger. We should call your parents-”
“It was my fault!” Darius shouted. Everybody stared confusedly at him; he had beat me to it. “I jumped into the pit. Hayden and Kenji were… trying to save me.” He finished with a sigh.
“Yeah, that’s it.” Kenji hooked one arm around Darius. “We…” He did the same to me. “…were saving the poor, confused little kid.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “You know how Darius gets around ‘em dinos.” I tried to sound convincing, but Darius was the least likely kid to pull a stunt like that.
“I’m sorry.” Roxie said in disbelief. “So, Darius, the dino-genius was saved by- well, Hayden I believe, but by Kenji, the kid who thinks dinosaurs went extinct because, and I quote, ‘their farts turned the air trashy’?”
“Prove me wrong, bro.” Kenji smugly said.
“Yeah, it’s just that Brooklynn’s account is quite different from yours.” Roxie stated.
“Oh, Brooklynn! Look, it was dark, she was confused, she needs glasses.” He chuckled. “Vanity, am I right? What’s more important is that I’ll keep looking out for the kid here. You’re welcome.”
Roxie stared intensively at us for a moment. I really thought our story was ridiculous and we were done for.
“No harm, no foul.” Dave shrugged. “Let’s chalk the whole thing up to experience. Lessons, friendships… this is what camp’s about! Who’s with me?”
“Fine.” Roxie gave up. I held in a smile. “But one more misstep…” She threatened.
“I-” Darius gestured at us. “We won’t let you down.”
“Aight!” Dave clapped. “Now off to bed you three! We have a full day tomorrow.” Dave walked off.
“What are we doing tomorrow?” Darius asked.
“It’s a surprise.” Roxie smirked, following Dave.
We walked together towards the bunks, still in disbelief.
“I don’t believe that worked.” I laughed.
“Yeah, junior, I owe you one.” Kenji playfully punched him in the shoulder.
“It’s fine.” Darius shrugged, uncomfortable with the attention. We had reached the part where I had to turn right to my dorm.
“Hey Kenji.” I called, already distancing myself from them. “I’m totally telling Brooklynn you said she needs glasses.” I chuckled.
He widened his eyes. Hay-”
“Goodnight!” I said quickly, running down the hall with a smile on my face.
Back in the girls’ dorm, Sammy and Yasmina were still sleeping soundly, and Brooklynn was sitting on my bed, waiting for me.
“So?” She stared at me. “Are you guys out of camp?”
“Nope.” I sat down next to her. “We’re staying. Apparently, Kenji and I are so brave that we had to save poor dino-nerd that only wanted to take a closer look at the Raptors.”
“No way they fell for that!” She exclaimed, glancing warily at the two girls sleeping.
“Trust me, I don’t get it either.” I yawned; facing dinosaurs was exhausting. “And thanks for getting help back there.”
“It was the least I could do after putting Kenji in danger in the first place.” She looked down.
“Hey.” I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Kenji is an idiot, that’s not your fault.”
“Yeah, but you said to not push the button, but I did it anyways.” She sighed. I'll be damned if this kid starts crying right now.
“Well, shit happens; we just gotta do better next time.” I repeated what my coach used to say.
She laughed nervously. “I hope there’s no next time.”
“That’s not what I meant.” I frowned. “It’s like a saying… people, uh- say that.”
She laughed at my awkwardness. “I know.” She got up and climbed her bunk bed. “G’night.”
“Night.” I replied, and I swear I was asleep seconds after my head touched the pillow.
…
Next morning, Dave and Roxie led us into the jungle to a massive poop pile. Roxie tossed Kenji, Darius and me a shovel. “Enjoy cleaning this one, guys.” The rest of the girls were all pinching their noses in disgust and Ben looked like he was going to throw up. “We’re going to the genetics lab.”
Dave tossed a glass vial to Darius. “Cologne.” He explained. “That will help with the smell and the ladies. What-what?” He joked. “But mostly the smell. The stench of dinosaur poo can really linger.”
“What? But uh-” Darius stuttered as the group drove off in the Jeep, leaving us with the dung pile and flies.
“Ugh, gross.” Kenji was shaking some poo out of his shoe.
“This bites!” Darius groaned.
“Yeah, no shit.” I glared at Kenji.
“What?” He said, innocently.
“If not for your ‘grand gesture’, we wouldn’t be here.” I drove my shovel into the dinosaur poop.
“What, jealous?” He smirked.
“Careful now.” I raised the shovel, menacingly. “You wouldn’t want to get dirty… I’ve been told the stench of dino-shit can really linger.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Kenji took a step back, raising his hands in surrender.
“Yeah, thanks to you, I’m shoveling poop instead of watching a live dinosaur birth.” Darius angrily shoved the dung into the trash bucket. “That’s only been my dream since, uh- I don’t know… forever!”
“Dude, that’s not a dream. A dream it’s when you save a bunch of mermaids from a shark.” Kenji said.
“Ugh!” Darius grunted. “Figures you wouldn’t understand.”
“Well Darius, if you had stayed with Brooklynn as I told ya, maybe you’ll be at the lab right now.” I said. I felt Kenji’s eyes on me, but I ignored it and kept shoveling. I swear, one more thing from this guy and he’s getting buried in dinosaur’s shit.
“Whatever! This is unfair!” Darius exclaimed. “The recreation of dinosaurs it’s just the most amazing thing to ever happen. The scientists are heroes, they recreated the T-rex! A T-rex !” He kept angrily shoveling the poop. “Do you know what takes to do that?”
“Is not that big of a deal, Darius.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s just a bunch of eggs.”
“Right…” Darius said, sarcastically. “A bunch of dinosaur eggs, something the world hasn’t seen in thousands of years, no biggie.”
“My mom works with this stuff, and trust me, it’s boring.” I stated, shoveling the poop. ‘Still, better than what we’re doing right now, though.’
“No way you can convince me that a live dinosaur birth is boring.” He shook his head.
“It’s cute you’re excited about some dumb lab. Noobs like you don’t know half of what’s in this place.” Kenji leaned onto his shovel, grinning.
“Like what?” Darius said curiously, but quickly changed his mind. “You’re all talk.”
“I’ve been to this park, like, 50 kajilion times. I’m in the know, junior.” Kenji’s grin grew and Darius was falling for it. “And since, you guys helped me out earlier. I might be willing to show you the good stuff.”
“Yeah, right.” I scoffed.
Darius thought for a second, and then shook his head harder. “No. No way. I cannot get into more trouble.”
Kenji shrugged. “Eh, suit yourself. You’ve only been waiting a lifetime to see dinosaurs. Just thought you’d be interested in seeing one they stopped showing to the public. But… whatevs.” A smile crept into Darius’s face. “It’s only a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Kenji whispered.
Once again, I could see that Darius was falling for it. “Fine.” He gave in. “As long as we get back here before anyone notices.” I mentally face palmed, of course Kenji would drag us into something shady. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t mind seeing a cool dino instead of shoveling poo, I just didn’t like to rely on Kenji’s information.
“No problemo.” Kenji smiled. “How about you, Hayden? Want to check out an exclusive dino?” He raised his brows.
“Pass.”
“Come on, Hay-hay.” Kenji smiled and I narrowed my gaze at him. “Hadie.” I felt my eye twitching slightly. “Hays?”
“It’s Hayden.” I said through a clenched jaw.
“Do you prefer to shovel dino dung all day?” Darius cut in. “We might never get an opportunity like this again.”
I let out a heavy sigh and looked back at Kenji. “You like, actually know the way? Have you been there before?”
“Yeah, chill.” He took the shovel out of my hand. “I’ve been there before.”
“I’m totally gonna regret this.” I sighed again. “But I’m in.” Somebody had to look out for these two idiots.
“Alright, this way.” Kenji threw our shovels to the grass and entered deeper into the jungle. He lifted a suspicious looking rock only to reveal a tunnel underneath. “Ka-ching!” He cheered.
“Whoa, where does this tunnel go?” I asked, actually surprised by the reveal.
“This tunnel is part of an underground network connecting the whole island.” He started to climb down the ladder. “This is how the big dogs get around. You’re actually looking at a Jurassic World VIP.” Kenji disappeared into the darkness.
Darius and I glanced at each other, uncertain. Eventually I shrugged. “Maybe he’s actually onto something.” I followed Kenji down the tunnel. Darius came in right after me; it was pitch black down there.
“Kenji?” Darius called.
Kenji flipped a switch and slowly, fluorescent lights turned on to reveal a long tunnel with huge pipes on the wall.
Kenji was leaning back against a wall, with a smirk on his face. “You still bummed about that genetics lab?” He asked.
“This is actually pretty cool.” Darius commented, looking around.
“Where does this lead to?” I asked.
“Patience.” He hooked his arm around me, but I smacked his hand off in a second. “Trust me, this is gonna be awesome.” Kenji guided us deep into those tunnels.
“For real though, where are we going? Are we seeing a secret T-rex? Or a rare sauropod?” Darius asked, excited.
“Kid, Kenji has something better than a rare sauropod. We’re headed to where they quarantine the dinos that are too aggro.” He stopped in front of a ladder. “The last one I saw here was some kind of carna- carno- something.”
“Carnotaurus?” Darius shrieked, his voice going even higher than normal. “That’s like, one of my top five favorite dinos!”
“Sweet, right? The park board actually offered to name it after me but I was like ‘Nah, I’ll hold out for something cooler’.” He bragged.
“Damn, a dino named Kenji, super scary.” I joked.
Kenji rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I figured you guys would like it, you know… as a thanks, which what this is for, uh, you know, for not being a narc when-”
“So, there’s like, a Carnotaurus right up there?” Darius asked.
“Obviously. Like my boy Masrani always says, ‘When Kenji promises, Kenji delivers’.” He pressed a button in an electric panel at the wall, nothing happened; he kept pressing buttons until there was a ‘click’ and the hatch above us opened. Kenji let out a sigh of relief. “Let’s go melt your nerd-brain, junior.”
We all went up the ladder. The jungle looked really similar to where we had entered the tunnels in the first place. Kenji was looking around, appearing lost.
“Uh, you know where we’re going, right?” I asked.
“Trust me, I got this on lock. The pen is, uh- that way.” Kenji said, not very convincing. I walked side by side with Kenji, while Darius walked a few steps back, checking out different trees for whatever reason.
“So, uh- you actually know what you’re doing, right Kenji?” I asked again, quietly enough so Darius wouldn’t listen.
“Chill-ax. I know this park as the back of my hand.” He smugly said.
I rolled my eyes. “So you’ve been saying-”
“Look, I’m trying to do a nice thing here, no need to harsh the mellow.”
“I’m not, I’m just skeptic.” I elbowed him. “Idiot.”
“Ow.” He complained, rubbing his side.
We walked in silence for a while, but of course it didn’t last long since I was sharing oxygen with Mr. VIP, Kenji himself.
“Hey, Hayden?”
“Huh?”
“Back at the dung pile, what did you mean by that Darius could be at the lab if he had listened to you?” He asked.
“Oh… uh-” I ran my fingers through my hair. “At the Raptors paddock, when somebody had to go save your ass-” Kenji’s cheek turned red and he glanced away. “-so, I told Darius and Brooklynn to go call for help while I jumped in with you, but for some unholy reason fucking Darius followed me in, just so he could fall on his ass.” I huffed, remembering last night.
“Oh.” Kenji was staring blankly at me. “I didn’t know that.”
“I mean, you were there.”
“Yeah, but I was a bit busy at the moment.” He smiled, grabbing a stick on the floor. “But what I do remember was you throwing that bone straight into the raptors face! No fear! Just Pow!” He imitated it with the stick.
I cracked a laugh. “Yeah, that was pretty sick.”
“Thanks, by the way.” He said, all serious, but without looking me on the face. “For last night.”
“No worries, Kenji.” I replied.
We kept walking in silence for a while, until Darius sped up to walk beside me, and once again someone broke the silence. Why was it so hard just to walk in silence?
“Hayden, you said your mom works in the lab, right?” Darius fidgeted with his necklace. “You think she could… I don’t know, give us special passes to check it out.”
I sighed. “She works in a lab, not this lab.” I clarified. “She’s always traveling, so maybe she comes to work on the island sometimes? I wouldn’t know.”
“Oh…” Darius said, scratching his head with a clear look of disappointment. “And what does she do again?”
“She’s a geneticist, working with cloning the dinosaurs.” I explained.
“That is awesome!” Darius’ face lit up. “Does she work with Dr. Wu?”
“Not really.” I shrugged. “Mom got an invite to work on his team, but she declined, saying Wu’s style wasn’t what she was looking for or something.”
“Uh, shade.” Kenji laughed.
“But Dr. Wu’s work is amazing! He’s actually creating the dinosaurs for the park.” Darius said in awe.
“Hey, my mom helped too! Or do you think Wu does everything?” I felt the urge to defend her. “If I remember correctly, her bigger project was those flying ones.”
“Oh, Pteranodon? The Dimorphodon?” Darius shrieked.
I shrugged, but with a smile on my face. “Yeah, some others too.” She always talked about her work and which dinosaurs she was working on, I never paid much attention, but I do remember her talking about those.
…
After a few minutes walking, we reached some tall grass, Kenji ended up walking into a swarm of bugs; he tripped and fell trying to get away, which made Darius and I laugh for a solid minute.
“Where’s that stupid fence?” He groaned, frustrated.
“Kenji, maybe we should head back.” Darius helped him up. “We don’t wanna get caught and cause trouble with your dad.”
“What does my dad have to do with anything?” Kenji asked. “Dude’s barely around. He’s not worrying about me!”
“What?” Darius and I halted in place.
“Then what was all of that back in camp?” I asked, clenching my fist.
“Yeah, all the ‘my whole life I’ve been trying to make my dad proud, junior’.” Darius imitated Kenji.
“Oh, right. I was… lying. Cause of the whole not wanting to get sent home thing.” Kenji turned around just to see Darius and I stared at him, pissed. “Forgive me for not wanting to spend another summer alone. In fact, when you really think about it, this is on you for being so gullible.” He crossed his arms.
“I can’t believe this.” Darius scoffed.
“Bo-ho, next time when you’re moping around in your mansion, thinking why you’re all alone, maybe think about all the shitty things you do to people.” I spit back. My blood was boiling at this point. “Next time don’t fucking lie and use the people that just wanted to help you.” Kenji actually looked at me with regret in his eyes, and that was the only thing keeping me from punching him square in the face.
“I could be watching a live dinosaur birth!” Darius whined. “I bet there is no Carnotaurus, is there?”
“Hey, I keep it honest.” Kenji replied, making Darius and I roll our eyes. “Except this morning. And, like, a bunch of other times today. But I’m telling the truth about this!”
“Yeah, right.” I scoffed.
“Great!” Darius yelled. “We’re out here for no reason. Hayden and I will probably be sent home, and it’s all because I believed you!”
“Fine, whatever. Last time I try to do something nice.” Kenji threw a rock in frustration. There was a loud ‘clank’, as if the rock had hit something metal.
The three of us exchanged a glance and decided to investigate the noise, only to discover a fence a few meters away from where we were arguing.
“Kenji delivers.” He said, proudly.
Both of them went to check out the fence, while I stood back by the tree line, I had a weird feeling. The fence seemed to be at least 10 meters tall, going around the perimeter. It was angled inwards, probably to prevent dinosaurs from climbing over.
“Come on Hayden, check it out, maybe we can get a peek at the carno-dino.” Kenji called.
“Uh, guys? Are we sure we are on the right side of the fence?” I pointed at the fence, as it was angled toward us, as if keeping something in. The boys looked at the fence and then glanced at me with eyes wide open in realization.
All of the sudden, heavy footsteps could be heard coming in from our right. My heart skipped a beat when I glanced to my right. There stood a red dinosaur; it walked on its back legs like a T. rex, but it was smaller and with two spiky horns. Everybody stood frozen in place, staring at the predator. It roared so loud my ears hurt and then it charged at us. We took off on a sprint, Darius and I hid behind a fallen tree, but Kenji slipped and fell.
“Don’t leave me, man!” Kenji pleaded.
“Oh, come on!” I went back and pulled him up.
We started running again, while the Carnotaurus easily destroyed the tree we were hiding behind moments ago.
“Dude’s gaining!” Kenji yelled.
“We can’t outrun it!” I agreed.
“It’s fast, but not on turns!” Darius pointed out. “Zig-zag, on my count! One, two, three!” We all made a sharp turn to the left, while the dinosaur went straight ahead, incapable of turning with us.
“Up ahead!” Darius pointed at a feeding opening in the fence, small enough for one person to crawl through.
Kenji went through first, then Darius, when it was my turn the opening gate closed in on me with a clang.
“Fuck.” I grunted, trying to force the gate open, but it was jammed. Behind me, the Carnotaurus had recovered from the zig-zags and was running full speed at me. “Guys!” I screamed, just to notice Kenji was nowhere in sight. “Are you kidding me, Kenji?” I yelled in a high pitched voice.
“It won’t budge!” Darius cried, while trying to help me. My breathing started to get out of hand as I watched the horned dinosaurs charging at me
Right then, Kenji arrived with a tree branch. “Come on!” He grunted, using the branch as a crowbar to bust the gate open. The boys pulled me out just in time for the dinosaur to crash onto the feeding opening, destroying it and hurting its snout in the process.
Kenji started to jump around, laughing. “Diddums da the big dino hurt widdle nose?” He mocked, while the Carnotaurus growled at us. “You think you’re slick, Toro? You got nothing!” I was still sprawled out on the ground, trying to control my breathing as my heart was beating so fast it felt like it would explode. “Toro, cause- cause of the horns.” Kenji explained.
“Yeah, I get it. Hey, Toro, your arms are- pretty much vestigial at his point! Ha!” Darius made his attempt at mockery.
“Yeah boy! That’s what’s up! That’s what-” Toro rammed his head against the fence, making us jump in fear and Darius and Kenji to fall down next to me.
I got up, dusting my pants and glancing at the angry dinosaur behind the fence. “Two close calls in less than 24 hours! That’s Camp Cretaceous for ya!” I joked, trying to not sound winded from almost dying.
“Uh, what time are they supposed to get back from the lab?” Darius asked.
After realizing we were probably going to be late, we took off running back to the shit pile. We got there just in time, because we were still panting as the Jeep arrived.
“Why are you so out of breath?” Roxie asked.
“Just doing the job we’re told.” Darius said, in between breaths.
“How was the day at the lab?” I asked, already recovered from the run.
“Oh well, um, you know Ben fell in love with a dinosaur, and Super Star here got us booted from the lab.” Yasmina said.
“That is not what happen-” Brooklynn started.
“How’d poop patrol go?” Sammy interrupted.
“Awesome!” Kenji said. “You all should’ve seen how I owned-”
“This valuable experience!” Darius cut in. “Um, learned a lot about ourselves and, uh- yep.”
“A great bonding experience! 2 out of 10, would recommend it.” I put on a smile. Even though Kenji had saved me from Toro, I was still pissed that he had lied and well, put us inside Toro’s fence in the first place!
“Oh! Well, then, hit the showers. And maybe stay there for a while?” Roxie said, while driving away.
“Use soap, lots of soap.” Ben yelled while still in earshot.
“Way to go there, Kenji.” I huffed.
“What?” He asked.
“Like Hayden said, two-near death experiences in two days? We can’t tell anyone about Toro or we’re definitely getting sent home.” Darius said.
Kenji sighed. “I can’t believe no one will know I saved your life.” He glanced at me.
“After you put it in risk in the first place.” I said dryly.
“How was I supposed to know we were inside the fence?” He asked.
“Oh, I don’t know, Mr. VIP-” I raised my voice. “Don’t you know this park like the back of your hand?”
“Guys, guys, calm down.” Darius got between us. “We are alive and, most important; we’re not going home so soon, so let’s just head to camp and relax.”
“Yeah, great news, right, Kenji? You don’t get to be alone at your daddy’s mansion this summer.”
“Look, I’m sorry I lied to you guys, but-” Kenji tried to say.
“Whatever.” I interrupted. “I’m out of here.” I turned my back on the two of them and started to jog back to camp.
“How can she still even run?” Kenji sighed, while I distanced myself. “Girls… ya know, junior…”
Notes:
june/24 - fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 3: Bonding Exercises
Summary:
Campers race against each other in an obstacle course.
Notes:
Sorry for being late. My weekend was hectic, but in a good way.
I hope yours was good too... anyway here it is
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘Why are these hallway chairs so damn uncomfortable?’ I groaned, switching positions. I was the only one sitting on the long hallway outside of the principal’s office. I glanced down at the reason I was there, my red and swollen knuckles.
Fast approaching footsteps made me look up to see Jess running at me, with her red hair flying like crazy behind her.
“Hey, Hays! Josh sent you a present.” She tossed me an ice pack.
I smiled, resting my hand on the ice. “Thanks.”
“So, when are you breaking the poor man’s heart?” She asked with her brow raised.
“Don’t say it like that.” I whined, sliding down on the chair.
“What? The guy drools over you. You had to see him when he found out about your little endeavor. The puppy eyes… ugh.” Jess groaned. “The more you prolong this the worst it will be.”
“Stop with the lecture, will ya?” I sighed. “I’m about to go into the principal’s office and my mom- Oh, she’ll kill me.”
“You did break Tate’s nose.” She pointed out.
I sat up straight. “Only because he was talking shit about you, again.”
“Oh, so this is what this is all about?” She tapped her chin with her pink nail. “I didn’t see that part on the video.”
“There’s a video!?” I exasperated, my eyes going wide.
Jess shrugged. “It’s really short, I’m surprised you held back.”
“Well, I hope his nose gets crooked.”
“He does have a good nose, and a good face…” She commented, which made me glare at her. “Did! Did have a good nose, okay? There will be no relapses, I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Good.”
“So now, you can stop punching him whenever you see him.” She smiled.
“It’s on him, really.” I grinned. “His face is so damn punchable.”
“I mean it.” Her voice turned serious. “I don’t wanna see you expelled just because a fuckhead can’t take being dumped.”
“He was blabbing about how you cheated.” I explained.
“He what!?” Jess jumped to her feet. “Oh, I’m killing him.”
I pulled her by the arm, forcing her to get back on the chair. “Get your ass down, you are not breaking into a hospital to kick his sorry ass.”
She crossed her arms, pouting like a kid. “But I really want to.”
“You’ll have to keep rewatching the video instead, then.” I chuckled.
“That would make me feel better…”
“Hayden Simmons?” This old looking lady peeked her head out the office’s door. “The principal will see you now.”
I reluctantly got up, slouching my shoulders. “Wish me luck.” I gave Jess a weak smile.
“Break a leg-” Her smile turned into wide eyes. “Wait, don’t, please don’t.”
…
“A suspension, really?” My mom slammed the car’s door. We had just parked the car in our building and I thought I’d have a little more time to come up with an excuse, instead I was being yelled at in a parking lot.
“I’m sorry.” I mumbled, trying with all my might to turn invisible.
“I can’t keep being pulled out from work because of this. Fighting in school? What were you thinking?” The redness on her face had been building up all the way over from school, but I think it reached its limit now.
“I-”
“You’re lucky the kid’s parents didn’t press charges.” She pointed her finger accusatorily at me. “What did I say it would happen if you got in trouble again?”
My heart dropped. “Please don’t take me out from Muay Thai!” I pleaded.
Mom had her hand on her waist as she stared at me down. Even if she was smaller than me, she was the scariest lady I’ve ever met. “Well, you didn’t leave me much choice did you, Hayden?”
“The guy was talking sh-” Her gaze went deadly. “-he was spreading rumors about my friend. I couldn’t let him do that!”
“And your first instinct is to throw punches?” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s not how we raised you. It was my fault for letting you go on with this madness.”
My eyes widened. “It’s not madness! It’s- I promise I won’t do it again, but please mom-”
“That’s what you said last time, young lady.” Her tone harsh.
“That was different, we weren’t at school and-”
“Does it even matter where you were!?” She raised her voice again.
“No.” I mumbled, defeated.
“You have no idea how patient me and your dad have been. All the arguing and the brawling… it all started with that fighting thing of yours.”
“Please don’t pull me from that!” I clasped my hands together. “I promise I’ll never do that again.”
“You made your choice.” Mom shook her head, determined. “You’ll apologize to that boy and no more fighting, I don’t care if it’s a sport or not.”
“But-”
“No buts.” Her tone was decisive.
…
The sun had long disappeared and now, only the streetlamp drew shadows in my white walls. I laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling. No phone, no TV, no Muay Thai. ‘ I can’t believe she’s really doing this.’ I threw my pillow across the room. ‘It’s not fucking fair.’ It had nothing to do with the fact that someone had to shut that guy up for spreading rumors. I warmed him to stop, he literally had it coming. ‘Not my fault he couldn’t dodge.’
A knock made me look away from the ceiling. “Come in.”
My dad entered the room, his head almost touching the doorway since he was so tall. I guess I got that from him, cause my mom was so short that my younger sister, Lizzy, was almost at her height.
Dad turned on the light, making me squint at the sudden brightness, so I sat up to face him. Instead of my mom, he wasn’t red and exploding on me, he quietly sat next to me. Honestly, I didn’t know what was worse.
He cleared his throat before speaking. “I’ve talked to your mother, you can stay in Muay Thai.”
I gasped. “Thanks, dad!” I went in for a hug, but he raised a finger in the air, stopping me.
“But, we’re very disappointed in you.” He added. “Your mom and I decided that I’d be best if you spend some time away from your friends, we don’t think they’re the best company.”
I blinked slowly. “My friends?”
“Yes, so for this summer we are thinking about sending you to a summer camp they have in Jurassic World.”
“Wait, what?” I shook my head. “Are you serious? Summer camp?”
“Yes.” He simply said.
“That has ‘mom’ written all over.”
“It’ll be a fun opportunity for you to make friends…” He calmly said, but irritation was pooling inside me. ‘I already have friends.’ I wanted to scream. “…get to know her job better and maybe you’ll come to appreciate the sacrifices she makes for this family.”
“Sacrifices?” I scoffed. “She spends more time with her dinosaurs than with this family.”
“Don’t talk about your mother like that, she tries.” His eyes were stern through the round glasses, but there was a hint of sadness behind them.
“What she’s trying to do is to push her agenda down my throat.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Her agenda?” He chuckled. “What is she? A dictator?”
“You know what I mean.” I rolled my eyes with a smile growing in my face. “I don’t wanna work in a lab like her.”
“But you’ll have to decide soon… what university you want to go to, what you’ll do with your future…”
“I know.” I groaned, glancing away. This subject always brought my mood down. How come everyone knew what they wanted to do but me? If it was up to my mom, I’d sure be a geneticist like her. But how was I going to convince her otherwise if I didn’t even know what I liked to do?
“Just keep that in mind.” Dad patted me on the back. “But camp…”
“Can’t I get another punishment?”
“Come on, Haydie.” He always called that nickname when he wanted me to do something I really didn’t want to. And it worked every fucking time. “It’s just camp. You never know, it could be fun.”
I let out a harsh sigh, giving up. “What was the camp’s name again?”
“Camp Cretaceous.”
…
It was still dark when I woke up. The moonlight made shadows out of trees in the walls, slowly moving with the wind. The clock was showing 5:40 a.m., which was perfect for a morning workout before breakfast. I noticed I wasn’t the only one up, Yasmina’s bed was empty and the bathroom’s light was on.
“’Morning.” I said, entering the bathroom, where Yasmina was washing her face on the sink.
“Hey.” She replied, splashing water everywhere. I guess she didn’t expect for anyone else to be up this early. I went into one of the stalls to quickly change clothes. When I got off, she was already brushing her teeth.
“Going for a morning run?” I asked. She hummed in response, toothbrush still in her mouth. “Care if I join?” I said hesitantly, she really looked like she despised being around people, but I was willing to bet even she needed a workout buddy sometimes.
She spit out and finally turned to look at me. “I like to train alone.”
“I promise you won’t even notice me.” I pleaded.
“Can you keep up?” She asked, bluntly, but with a smirk on her face.
“Oof.” I dramatically put my hand to my chest. “That hurt! You think that little of me!” I paused. We stared at each other for a second and broke out laughing. “I think I’ll try.”
…
The trail around the park was beautiful; it cut between the trees, not enough for us to be deep inside the jungle, but far enough for the camp to be out of sight. The path led us alongside a river, which we continued running until we found a bridge crossing it.
“Whoa.” Yasmina said, stopping at the bridge. The sun was coming up and the water below us reflected the light with specks of gold.
“This is amazing!” I said in awe. “Way better than running in the city.” I was out of breath, but I didn’t want her to notice.
“You run in the city?” She asked, astonished.
“Yeah, I mean, I used to. Back where I’m from we don’t have many parks or anything.” I sighed.
“That’s like- torture or something.” She shook her head.
“I know what you mean, nothing compares to running in nature.” I returned my gaze to the river.
She hummed in accordance. “I- uh- didn’t really know you fighters ran like this.” She fixed her ponytail, which looked more like a nervous tic. We had run for a couple miles, and even I surprised myself, keeping up with Yasmina.
“Is that a compliment?” I laughed.
“I mean- uh-” She widened her eyes.
“Jeez, relax.” I laughed it off. “Well, I need to keep my cardio in check, otherwise I wouldn’t last a minute on the mat.” I explained.
“Oh, right, makes sense.” Yasmina nodded.
“You wanna head back?” I asked.
“Sure, wouldn’t wanna miss out on breakfast.”
I let Yasmina take the lead and we turned back the way we came. This time she sped up the pace, as if testing me. At the final meters to camp, she took off in a full blow sprint.
“Not fair!” I yelled, trying to keep up. Obviously, I failed miserably. She was waiting for me at the elevator door. I had my hands on my knees, panting. “Damn, track-star, a little warning next time.” Which made her laugh at me.
“Hey, um- this was cool.” She stumbled on her words. “Maybe you wanna- eh- perhaps-”
“Oh, you bet we’ll do this again tomorrow! I need my pride back.” I said in between breaths.
“That’ll be a bit hard, you know… I think you left it back at the bridge.” She chuckled.
“Oh- It’s on!” I said seriously. “But you’ll have to promise to come with me to the gym sometime! I gotta show what an actual training session looks like!” She widened her eyes. “Oh, chill girl, I’m not fighting you or anything.” I made it clear. “That is… if you‘re down.”
“Fine by me.” She smiled.
…
The breakfast at Camp Cretaceous was almost an all you can eat buffet. Fruits, breads, eggs, sausages, bacon, pancakes… They had really exotic fruits I’ve never heard of, so I grabbed one of each.
Yasmina and I were the first ones at the table so we sat next to each other. Naturally, Sammy joined us sitting next to Yasmina, trying to start a conversation. I felt pity for the girl, I really did, but I kept quiet for most of the breakfast and let Yasmina keep Sammy busy.
After everybody finished eating, Dave and Roxie joined us. “Gather ‘round, announcement time!” Dave called us.
“Alright campers, so as your official second day here at Camp Cretaceous, today we have prepared several activities to show you that camp experience!” Roxie said.
“It’s bonding time!” Dave cheered. This announcement was met with several groans and complaints around the group.
“Yay!” Sammy jumped on the news, the only one excited.
“But what about dinosaurs?” Darius asked, his eyes wide.
“Don’t worry kiddo, we’ll have time for them.” Dave consoled him.
Dave and Roxie drove us to a clearing the size of a football camp. In the middle of the field, there were several obstacles made out of wood and rope.
“It’s an obstacle course!” I thought aloud. I couldn’t help but smile. ‘I’m going to crush this.’. The only real opponent would be Yasmina, but some obstacles needed real strength, like rope and wall climbing, so I was sure of myself.
“Right on!” Dave said.
“Yes!” Yasmina said.
“This is gonna be easy!” Kenji laughed.
“There goes my white shoes.” Brooklynn sighed.
“That’s right, today we'll be doing an obstacle course.” Roxie said. “We’ll divide you in two teams and the first one to complete the course wins!”
“Do we get to choose our teams?” Sammy asked.
“What do we win?” I asked.
“Uh, no, and you win the title of uh- best team.” Dave said.
“Lame.” Kenji scoffed.
“And you get to choose the dinner for today! Huh? How does that sound?” Dave glanced at Roxie, as if asking for permission. She just shrugged.
“First team is Yasmina, Darius and Brooklynn, and the other is Kenji, Ben, Hayden and Sammy.” Roxie announced. “Now, this is all about teamwork! The whole team needs to cross the finishing line. We’ll give you some time to test the obstacle course and to choose your team’s name.”
Now, that didn’t look fair to me. Some obstacles had a clear advantage the taller you were, and Darius and Brooklynn were the smallest of the campers. That was a clear disadvantage, but to be honest so was Ben… he could really slow us down.
Actually, this whole team assembled looked more like another punishment for the Raptors accident. Darius was clearly miserable with Yasmina and Brooklynn, and I’d have to deal with Kenji again… I’m highly considering taping his mouth shut. ‘ He doesn’t need that to run, does he? ’
“This is gonna be so fun!” Sammy was practically jumping up and down.
“More like boring.” Brooklynn sighed. “My viewers want something exciting; they want dinosaurs, not some…ugh!” She stomped her feet.
“You’re going down, track-star.” I playfully said to Yasmina.
“Oh, in your dreams, rocky!” She said it back, before walking towards her team.
We all grouped up and headed for the obstacle course. The first obstacle was to crawl below some wires; they were the normal kind, tough, not barbed wires or something like that. Next up were monkey bars and then we had to jump over some wooden fences about waist height. After that, we had to climb a 2.5 meters tall wooden wall, go down a ramp on the other side and swing on a rope across a puddle of mud. Lastly was the rope climbing and a final sprint to the finish line. All of the obstacles were doubled so two teams could run the course at the same time.
“Team Kenji has got this!” Kenji shouted, throwing one fist in the air.
“Nope, we’re not naming yourselves that.” I shut him down.
“They always say slow and steady wins the race, so how about Team Slow and Steady?” Ben suggested. We all stared at him, unimpressed. “Oh, oh! I have a better one, how about Safety First? Do you get it? First…?”
“Trust me; we get it man, just… no.” Kenji facepalmed. “Let’s see… team Raptors? Toro? Tyran? Rex?...”
I raised my hand. “I vote team Toro!” I smirked at Kenji and he smiled back at our inside joke, but I quickly stopped smiling as I reminded myself that I was mad at Kenji. ‘ Fucking liar. ’
Sammy also raised her hand. “I like Toro, it reminds me of my family's ranch back in Texas; we had a really pretty bull with that name.”
“Oh, I really like mine more.” Ben whined.
“3 to 1! Let’s go, baby!” Kenji high-fived Sammy and me.
“Alright, team Toro!” I got their attention. “Let’s talk strategy; obviously Kenji and I are uh-”
“The best? The strongest?” Kenji bragged. “The absolute-”
“They get it, Kenji.” I sighed, not really liking how he was so blunt about it. I knew it was clear that we were the best assets of the team, but Kenji didn’t need to rub it in their faces.
“That’s alright, I reckon Ben and I are the weakest members from the herd.” Sammy stated.
“Hey!” Ben protested.
“Can everybody rope climb?” I asked, heading that way. This was the obstacle I was more worried about, as we needed to do it individually. In the others, we could probably help each other out.
“Is it too late to say I’m afraid of heights? And germs?” Ben took his hand sanitizer from his pouch, and rubbed his hands, nervously. “There’s an awful lot of mud in the course.”
“Is there something you’re not afraid of, dude?” Kenji rolled his eyes.
“It’s been a while since I last rope climbed.” Sammy said, quietly.
“Allow me.” Kenji grabbed the rope and started to climb, locking his feet. “And that’s how it’s done.” He slid down.
“Aw, that was cute.” I teased, for all the bragging he took his sweet time.
“Do it better then.” He huffed.
“Maybe later.” I gave him a dismissive wave. “Your turn, Sammy.”
“Ok…” She grabbed the rope, apprehensive. Sammy was actually better than I expected; she was just slipping a bit.
“Here, you just need to keep your feet firm.” I repositioned her feet on the rope. “Try like this.”
“Whoa, that’s way better! Thanks, Hayden!” She slid down to the mat.
“I actually like to do rope climbing for my training, so no biggie.” I shrugged.
“You’re up, Ben.” Sammy passed him the rope.
“Guys, PE is my worst class!” Ben complained.
“You’ve got this!” Sammy cheered him on.
Ben started his climb. His technique was pretty bad, so I spent a lot of time trying to teach him how to properly lock the rope with his feet and how to use the legs so your arms wouldn’t give out.
“This is hard.” Ben commented, gripping at the rope so hard his knuckles turned white.
“This is boring.” Kenji complained.
“You're doing great, Ben.” I ignored Kenji. “Now, try that again…” After a few more tries, Ben was starting to get it. I didn’t know when Dave and Roxie were starting the race, and since we spent a lot of time teaching Ben, we really needed to check out the rest of the course. Ben plopped down to the mat, already reaching for his hand sanitizers. “I think you’ve got the hang of it, Ben.” I said, playfully punching him in the shoulder.
“Thanks.” He smiled shyly.
“We should really move on to another obstacle, though.” I looked around. “Most of them are pretty straightforward, maybe we should test climbing that wall, what do you think?”
“Sounds good to me.” Sammy said.
The wall looked a bit more intimidating up close; 2.5 meters seemed a bit too tall for the smaller kids.
“Wow, that’s tall.” Sammy said, glancing up.
“I wanna give it a try.” I said, backing up. I did a small run and jumped, stepping on the wall and holding onto the edge, after that, a pull up got me to the top.
“Wow, you make it look easy!” Sammy exclaimed.
“I’m next.” Kenji copied me; he was struggling a bit in the final part, so I helped him pull himself up. “Hey, I had it.” He complained, smacking my hands away.
“We’re supposed to help each other out, remember.” I rolled my eyes in annoyance.
“Right…” He averted my gaze, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
“Sammy, try to reach my hand.” I leaned forward at the edge of the wall and offered my hand.
She jumped, but couldn’t quite reach it. “I can’t.” She sighed.
“Here, I’ve got an idea.” I jumped back down. “I thought, maybe Kenji goes up first, to help pull you guys up the wall and stuff, and I go last and help from the bottom.”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” Kenji saluted me.
“Yes, ma’am!” Sammy joined in.
“That seems logical.” Ben agreed.
“Time’s up, campers!” Dave shouted. “Come on now, everybody to the start line!”
“Oh, great, we didn’t even get a chance to try all the obstacles.” Kenji grunted. “We’re totally losing this.”
“We need to keep our spirits up!” Sammy clapped her hands together.
“We’ve got the hardest obstacles down, so we’ll do just fine.” I assured them.
“I’m certain you have your team’s name ready by now, right?” Roxie said as we all met up at the start line.
“Uh, yeah, we are Team Raptors.” Darius said.
“More like team Compy.” Kenji whispered, clearly referring to the other team’s height. I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“And what about you guys?” Dave asked us.
“Go on, captain.” Sammy nudged me.
“Team Toro!” I exclaimed and saw Darius glancing at us with a bit of jealousy in his eyes.
“Oh, yeah!” Kenji cheered.
“Boo-ya!” Sammy accompanied him.
“Alright! Team Raptors! Team Toro!” Roxie called. “To your positions-” We positioned ourselves in the start line. “And remember, teamwork!”
“Get ready! Set! Go!” Dave yelled and both teams took off running.
Going in for the first obstacle Ben was crawling really slowly in front of me.
“Come on, Ben!” I nudged him forwards.
“The mud, it’s getting everywhere!” He whined.
The space below the wires was wide enough for me to get beside him and practically pull him the rest of the way. Fortunately, we were still tied to Yasmina’s team. Next up, were the monkey bars. Ben and Sammy were surprisingly good at those, so we went through without a problem. However, Darius and Brooklynn were having difficulties reaching the bars.
After we passed the wooden fences, we had to face the wall. Unfortunately, our team didn’t get to test run it before this.
Kenji went on ahead and climbed the wall without help.
“Can someone give me a leg up?” Sammy asked.
“Here.” I put my hands together so she could step into them.
“Thanks.” She successfully lifted herself up.
“Kenji! Help her up!” I said.
“I can’t reach her!”
“Sammy, step on my shoulders.” I said. That would get her high enough so Kenji could reach her.
“Are you sure?” Sammy asked, hesitantly.
“It’s fine, come on!” I egged her on. I was already covered in mud from the crawling obstacle, I didn’t mind some more. She did as I asked and sure enough, she was up the wall with Kenji. “Ben, your turn.” He hesitated.
“I’ll pull you up dude, hurry!” Kenji called.
“You can do it, Ben!” Sammy cheered him on.
Finally, Ben accepted to go up the wall, and just like Sammy, he made it through. I climbed up after him; even though it was an easy climb, Kenji pulled me up the last part. I thanked him and we went down the ramp.
As before, Kenji was crossing the obstacles first, he jumped onto the rope with confidence and swiftly landed on the other side. Kenji threw the rope back to our side; I caught it and handed it over to Ben.
“Go, go, go!” I didn’t give him time to think.
He screamed while swinging, but made it through.
Kenji returned us the rope. “Sammy, you’re up!”
“Oh, boy.” She took a deep breath and jumped. She almost fell at the end, but Kenji caught her on time.
“Let’s go, Captain!” Kenji threw the rope to me and I made it through.
Now was the obstacle I was the most worried about, the rope climb. Fortunately, we were ahead of the race, so we had a little extra time. Kenji started climbing first and reached the goal easily. Sammy was up next. Yasmina’s team was finishing the obstacle behind us just now.
Again, Sammy was slipping a bit on the rope. “Lock it with your feet!” I instructed.
“I’m trying!” She shouted back, breathing heavily.
“You’ve got this!” Slowly she got to the mark and slid down.
“Alright, Ben! Let’s show ‘em what team Toro is all about!” Kenji yelled.
“Here goes nothing.” Ben said, trying to hold onto the rope. Yasmina had already done her rope climb and Darius was starting his. I was getting really stressed out, team Raptors were passing us, and I was going to lose to Yasmina for the second time in a day.
“It’s ok, slow and steady, you can do it!” Sammy cheered him on.
“You’re halfway up already! Keep going!” I said.
“It’s too high.” Ben said. Darius had completed his turn and Brooklynn had started climbing.
“Come on, faster.” I said under my breath. We were losing.
“Hurry up, dude!” Kenji’s voice raised one octave when he noticed we were behind.
“Just reach with your hand and you’re done!” Sammy pointed out.
“Kenji, when he’s done, run to the finish line already!” I said.
“Got it.” He nodded.
“That’s it, Ben!” Sammy yelled and Ben landed on the mat. Kenji grabbed both of them and sprinted to the finish line. Yasmina and Darius had the same idea; they were also running, as Brooklynn was climbing the rope.
I didn’t miss a second, I jumped and grabbed the rope halfway already. The rest of the way up I did legless style. This was pretty easy compared to what I used to train on back home, so I reached the top in seconds. I didn’t bother sliding down, I just dropped from the top and landed on the mat. By then, Brooklynn had just started running, so I also started my sprint, but my feet got caught up on the mat and I almost tripped. I regained my balance and kept on running. Both teams were cheering us on, but I managed to catch up with Brooklynn and after that, it was easy.
“And team Toro is the winner!” Dave announced, as I finally made it to the finish line.
“Congratulations to the winners, indeed, but both teams did great!” Roxie said.
“Team Toro for the win!” Kenji exclaimed.
“Holy cow! We did it!” Sammy engulfed all team Toro in a group hug.
“Ugh.” I grunted, with my arms stuck in the hug.
“Too tight-” Ben complained and Sammy finally let us go.
“Phew.” Kenji breathed out.
“Nice job, guys.” I congratulated them.
“That was tight, congratulations.” Darius came up to us.
“All thanks to our amazing captain.” Sammy hugged me once again and I awkwardly patted her on the back.
“You guys elected a captain?” Yasmina asked, surprised.
“It’s just a joke really.” I laughed it off.
“No way! We totally won because of you, girl!” Sammy said.
“Yeah, I would never have been able to climb that rope otherwise.” Ben pointed out.
“Thanks.” I mumbled, feeling my face turning a bit hot.
“And that rope climb!” Kenji exclaimed. “Total boss move!”
“That was so freaking cool.” Yasmina agreed. “I gotta learn that sometime.”
“For sure!” Kenji nodded.
“Bet. I’m down for teaching you guys.” I smiled.
“Yes!” Brooklynn exclaimed. We all stared at her, while she was looking down at her phone. “Oh.” She finally looked up, noticing all eyes on her. “My video actually turned out ok.”
“Right…” Yasmina narrowed her gaze.
“So, team Toro, as the winner, what do you want for dinner?” Roxie asked.
“Uh, oh, broiled lobster tails!” Kenji suggested.
“We can do uh- sushi… maybe.” Roxie said, unsure.
“I like pizza!” Sammy manifested.
“Me too.” Ben agreed.
“Same here.” I said.
“I guess it’s settled then, pizza it is.” Roxie concluded.
…
We spent the rest of the morning messing around at the obstacle course. Yasmina, Kenji and I trained a bit of rope climbing. Kenji actually managed to do it legless at the end. After that, Yasmina challenged me to a one-on-one obstacle race, which I won. She clearly was a great runner, but when the thing is strength, I had the lead. Darius eventually joined us, while Brooklynn was filming everything. Ben was the only one sitting on a corner trying to get rid of the mud.
We were all pretty muddy by the time heavy rain started to pour. Dave and Roxie took us back to camp for a shower and late lunch.
“Hey, fam, so the rain turned out to be a full-blown storm.” Dave scratched the back of his head, nervously. “So instead of checking out Main Street, we get to stay in and get to know each other better. Fun, right?” We all groaned in frustration.
“Oh, cheer up y’all! What is better than hanging out with friends?” Sammy smiled.
“That’s the spirit!” Dave cheered.
We ended up spending the afternoon chilling in the common area, playing Ping-Pong and foosball. Later that night, when the rain had ceased, we gathered around the fire at the balcony, telling horror stories.
“We thought it’d be fun, we thought we’d be safe, but we didn’t realize the… horror waiting for us on the island.” Darius narrated. “Claws… Teeth… Screaming… So much screaming.”
“How much screaming?” Ben asked, while holding onto Kenji for dear life.
“Shh! He’s getting to the good part.” Kenji complained. Sammy was sitting by my side, hugging her legs to her chest. Brooklynn was on my other side, recording everything on her phone. Yasmina was the only one not participating; she was busy with her notebook by the balcony’s railing, in fact, she had spent all afternoon scribbling on that notebook, I wondered what she was doing…
“The T. rex stalked closer. Her jaws opened wide.” –CLICK! Darius was interrupted by the flash of Brooklynn’s phone.
“For the vlog.” She explained, while we all stared at her, confused. “Keep telling your little story.”
Darius sighed in frustration and pulled his hood up for dramatic effect. “The T. rex stalked closer-”
“Dang!” Brooklynn exclaimed, killing the mood once again.
“Ugh!” Kenji groaned.
“Out of space. Wait, I’m sorry, hold on. I just don’t wanna delete my selfie on Everest, you know?” Brooklynn showed Sammy and me the picture.
“Ooh.” Sammy awed. It was actually a great selfie, but I wasn’t admitting to that .
“Maybe I should start over.” Darius sighed.
“No!” Ben shouted. “In fact, you can just stop.”
“Dude, chill. He’s not even telling the story right now. And how is your grip so strong?” Kenji tried to disentangle from Ben.
“So, the T. rex stalked-”
“Shouldn’t we call Yasmina over?” Sammy pondered. “I bet she’d love this story.”
At this point, Darius just gave up and lied on the bench with a groan.
“Uh, maybe she just wants some alone time.” I offered.
Sammy just looked at me, puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
“You know how sometimes people just wanna be left alone?” Kenji tried to help.
“Yeah, some people need to recharge from all of the social interactions.” I commented, feeling a bit drained myself.
Sammy broke out laughing. “Y’all are hilarious! I think she’s just shy and doesn’t know how to make camp friends.”
Suddenly, lightning struck, followed by the return of the rain.
“Maybe we should go inside.” Sammy said.
“Way ahead of you!” Ben replied, already at the door.
“Ah, man!” Kenji complained before following Ben inside.
“Oh, it’s coming down fast.” Sammy commented.
“Well, that was a waste of time.” Brooklynn said while running in.
Darius scoffed, slowly getting up. “Thanks, Brooklynn.”
I offered my hand for him to get up. “Don’t mind her. Her head is so deep on that phone that she can’t read the room.”
“Yeah.” He smiled at my comment. Yasmina passed us, running inside so we followed her in.
Ben was saying something about Darius' story not being that scary; and Kenji was trying to borrow Brooklynn’s phone, which he failed successfully at.
Yasmina went over to the couch to check on her notebook. “Oh, my pages got wet.” She complained, fanning the pages.
I sat on the other side of the couch while Sammy sat glued to Yasmina. “You need a friend!” Sammy exclaimed, clearly invading Yasmina’s personal space.
Yasmina yelped, jumping back, clutching her notebook. “What?”
“I’m such a ding-dong! You’re alone, and when I feel alone, having a friend around sure is nice. I could use a friend, and you probably could, too. So, I thought, ‘Yasmima needs someone to make the first friendship move’, so here I am!” Sammy said.
“Uh- I lost you around ‘ding-dong’.” Yasmina said.
Sammy gasped. “Is that a scrapbook? I love scrapbooking. We can make one together. Pull you out of your shell.”
“I’m pretty happy in my shell.” Yasmina simply said, clutching the notebook to her chest.
“No one likes the shell. It stops people from getting to know you.” Sammy said as if it was the most obvious thing.
“Bingo!” Yasmina got up.
“I know you’re just shy!” Sammy said.
“Can’t hear you in my shell!” She yelled back, halfway to the door.
Sammy glanced at me, shoulders slouched down, looking defeated.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be so in her face about it.” I suggested.
“I really wasn’t!” Sammy protested. “She just needs a friend.”
“What about shells?” Kenji slumped on the couch, tossing me a bag of chips. “I got you one extra, Captain.” He said, while I looked at him puzzled.
“I was just saying we need to break Yasmina out of her shell.” Sammy explained, while ogling my new bag of chips.
“And I was just saying to leave the girl be.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, gotta respect ‘em shells, yo.” Kenji nodded along, mouth full of chips.
“But she’s lonely.” Sammy whined.
“Being alone is not the same as being lonely.” I pointed out.
“I don’t see the difference.” She stared at me, with a frown.
‘Of course, she doesn't.’ I took a deep breath. “Like we said before, some people don’t like hanging around others much.”
“No way, I don’t believe that.” She crossed her arms, refusing to listen.
“Ugh, it's like talking to a wall.” Kenji threw his arm up in frustration.
“Said the guy that believes dinos were extinct by farts.” I scoffed.
“Prove me wrong, bro.” He smirked, chewing loudly on a chip.
“Oh, you gotta see the irony in this!” I dropped my hands against the couch cushion, while his smirk grew.
After a while I got up. “Anyway, I’m turning in for the night.” I gave Sammy the unopened bag of chips, and she jumped in excitement.
“Thanks, Hayden!” Sammy beamed, opening the package.
Kenji looked a bit hurt at me dismissing his bag of chips. “You still mad at me? I thought we were cool.” He looked up at me.
“I’m just not a big fan of chips, but thanks.” I said before walking away. I didn’t understand why he was so worked up about it; it’s not like it was a big deal, he just grabbed the free snack from the cabinet. Also, I had the total right of being mad at him, not even for Toro, but for manipulating Darius, and secretly me, into taking the blame for the Raptors. ‘Maybe he's right and it's on me for being so gullible… nope.’ I mentally shook myself. I’m not getting gaslit like that.
I took a deep breath to calm my thoughts and went over to the snack’s cabinet. I grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookies just to prove my point and I headed to the girls’ bedroom.
Notes:
june/24 - fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 4: Cattle Drive
Summary:
When the grown-ups leave the kids alone with gyrospheres and dinosaurs… what could possibly go wrong?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Like yesterday, I started the day going on a run with Yasmina, but this time I stopped by the gym for a short session of weightlifting after; I didn’t get her to join me, but she promised sometime this week she would. ‘Runners… what can I say…’
I was halfway through a set when a loud ringing alarm came out of the speakers, which meant it was 8:00 a.m. and time for breakfast. I took a quick shower, but I was late either way. Everybody had already finished eating, well, everybody but Kenji who had a pile of pancakes still on his plate. ‘How the hell does he look fit without even trying?’ I huffed. ‘Boys…’ I quickly grabbed a toast, scramble eggs and a blueberry muffin, hoping I’d have time to eat before-
“Alright, campers! Listen up! Today is the day you get to see amazing dinos up close! What-what!” Dave cheered.
“So, let’s move! We’ve got a whole day ahead of us!” Roxie announced, coaxing everyone to the elevator.
“Oh, man.” I groaned, glancing down at my plate one last time before grabbing a muffing to go. Yasmina offered me a small smile in sympathy while we went down on the elevator.
Roxie and Dave drove us to an open grassland where there were four gyrospheres ready for us. Like yesterday, the sky was gray, but every now and then, the sun managed to shine through, lighting up the open field in front of us. In the distance, a herd of dinosaurs, probably the same from day one, was being guided by park’s staff.
“Yes!” Darius jumped off the Jeep. “We get to drive gyrospheres? Cool!”
“This is gonna be so much fun!” Sammy joined in.
“Settle up dudes and dudettes!” Dave said, going around the group delivering earpieces. “We’re going on a cattle drive, but… with dinosaurs! It’s a dino drive!”
“And just to be clear, all these dinosaurs are herbivores, right?” Ben asked, cautiously.
“Well, they only chewed on the last kid a little, so we’re like 99% sure they’re cool.” Roxie joked, while Ben looked like he was going to puke. “Park personnel are moving a group of dinosaurs to fresh grazing lands across the island and we get to ride along behind the herd.”
“Are you kidding me?” Darius jumped in excitement. “Dinosaur migration patterns are my jam!”
“You may wanna consider a new jam, bro.” Kenji suggested. “So, uh, you sure these things are waterproof?” Kenji walked towards Dave and Roxie, pointing at the dark sky. “Looking pretty grim out here and hair this awesome does not come easy.” Kenji fixed his perfectly styled hair, to which I had to cough to disguise a scoff.
“Your hair is gonna be fine, Kenji.” Dave sighed. “Storm has already moved up the coast from us.”
“Cool! Time to show these fools what a gyrosphere master can do.” Kenji bragged.
“No way! You are riding with Ben… as a passenger.” Roxie turned Kenji around, nudging him towards Ben.
Kenji threw his arms up. “Seriously? But he’s so, uh-”
Ben had already settled in his gyrosphere, but he bumped into the controls, making the thing jolt forward and he hit his head on the glass.
“Live it up, tough guy.” Roxie said. So, Kenji and Ben were riding together, Brooklynn was by herself and I saw Sammy joining Yasmina’s gyrosphere… poor girl.
“Everyone, seat belts at all times.” Dave turned to me and Darius, the only ones that hadn’t moved. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
“So, Darius, who’s driving?” I asked and he smiled at me.
“Uh- there are-” Dave counted. “Seven of you, and four gyrospheres, one’s gonna go solo.”
“Hayden.” Roxie called, making me look at her. “I think it would be better for you to be riding alone this time. Are you alright with that?”
“I don’t mind riding with Hayden!” Darius intervened.
“Darius, you need to expand your social circle my man, bond, live the camp life, share your story.” Dave said.
“Yeah, I tried last night, but not everyone was on board.” He sighed.
“I really don’t mind riding with him!” I smiled.
“Eh- right, think of this as a push for leaving your comfort zone, Kenji gets to ride with Ben, Darius with Brooklynn, and Hayden with um… well everybody else is already grouped up.” Dave said.
“Oh, right, just like shoveling poo was out of our comfort zone.” I scoffed. They wouldn’t let the Raptors incident go.
“You get the spirit!” Roxie smiled.
“Okay, okay! I’m solo then.” I said, not really minding the ‘punishment’. I glanced down with pity at Darius, who didn’t look at all excited to share a gyrosphere with Brooklynn.
“Darius, you need to get out there and show those kids what you got.” Dave tried to cheer him up.
“Be yourself, Darius. Teenagers can be very accepting if you just give them half a chance.” Roxie nudged him towards Brooklynn.
“Do they not have teenagers in England?” Dave asked Roxie. I cracked a laugh out loud, which made Roxie glare at me with the same judgmental stare she gave Dave, and to be honest It made cower of how similar it was to my mom’s deadly gaze.
I tipped-toed out of there and got in my very own hamster ball, fastening the seat belt. There was a joystick to control the gyrosphere’s movements and a button to open and close doors.
“This is going to be so much fun.” I smiled to myself. ‘A whole gyrosphere only for me… oh, I love this punishment.’
“All righty, campers!” Dave said through the earpiece.
“The headsets are for emergencies. You can always reach us on channel six.” Roxie said.
“Let the herding begin!” Dave yelled.
After he said that, I immediately pushed the joystick forward. The gyrosphere moved very smoothly for a giant hamster ball. I accelerated, riding past Kenji and Ben, who were going at turtle speed. Ben was the one in control and Kenji had the most bored look on his face, which made me smile. ‘Sucks to be him.’
I kept accelerating until I reached the rest of the campers, already near the herd. Looking up, the sky seemed to be getting darker and lightning was happening more frequently, even though there was no rain yet.
We were at the back of the herd, sometimes there were openings that we could adventure through. It felt really awesome having a gyrosphere all for myself, I could move freely between the dinosaurs. I was riding alongside a Brachiosaurus, its legs were thicker than the hamster ball I was in… ‘Oh, I don’t want to find out if this glass could withstand being stepped on.’ I glanced warily at the glass around me, when Dave and Roxie cut us all off, parking the Jeep in front of us.
“Hey, gang, new plan.” He jumped out of the Jeep, while we all got out of our gyrospheres. “Storm’s getting worse, so we’re all going back to camp like yesterday.”
“Aw, man!” Darius complained.
“Are you serious?” Sammy joined in.
“Don’t blame me. Blame the storm.” He explained, and as if on cue, lightning struck.
“I blame them both.” Roxie side-eyed Dave.
“We’re not gonna let a little rain stop us, are we?” Darius pleaded. “When else will we get the chance to ride alongside a herd of dinosaurs?”
“Sorry, can’t risk it.” Dave said.
“But Dave.” Darius insisted. “I’m sure under you and Roxie’s capable leadership, we’ll-”
“This is not up for discussion.” Roxie’s voice was stern. But she was distracted by some static coming from her radio. “Hello, hello, Roxie here.” She talked back to the radio. “Can you hear me? Anyone?” There was a voice coming from it, but I couldn’t make out what it said.
“Okay, new, new plan. Storm’s interfering with the radio, so Rox and I will drive ahead and tell the others we’re pulling out. We’ll be right back. Stay together and stay behind the herd.” With a final stern look, they drove uphill to where the park personnel were.
We all went back into our gyrospheres. I couldn’t believe they had just left us; this was going to be so much fun! However, lightning struck again, threatening to rain. One dinosaur got scared and separated from the herd; it was a young Sinoceratops if I remember correctly the name. It looked like a fat green rhino with one huge horn on the snout and a crest as a forehead, curling forwards with lots of little horns around it.
I looked away for one second and next thing I noticed was Darius and Brooklyn’s gyrosphere was on the move after the young dinosaur.
“After the lost dino, then.” I said to myself, following Darius.
“Wait, are you guys going after her?” Sammy asked on the earpiece. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ve seen cattle spook before, and-”
“Uh-huh, let’s go!” Yasmina said, as their gyrosphere took off after us, followed by Kenji’s.
The young Sinoceratop made a sharp turn, which made Darius collide with a rock and bump into my gyrosphere, sending me spinning. I gripped at the joystick and spun a few more times before I recovered control.
“Whoa! Watch it!” I complained into the earpiece.
“Sorry!” Darius replied.
“Um, let’s just everybody settle down a bit.” Sammy said. “We don’t wanna get too close or-”
“Ben! You almost hit us!” Yasmina yelled and I glanced back to the two gyrospheres way to close together.
“It wasn’t me!” Ben said back.
‘Oh, so Kenji stole the controls?’
“Someone flanks her on the other side and we can lead her back to the herd!” Darius said.
“Wait, you’ll scare her.” Sammy complained.
“Let the big dogs handle this, cowgirl.” Kenji cut her off.
“Too slow!” I said, already positioning myself to the dino’s right while Darius flanked her on the left. “I’m already on it!”
“I’ll cut her off. It’ll be fine Sammy!” Darius sped up, staying ahead of the dino.
“No, he’s gonna make her bolt!” Sammy groaned.
Darius stopped his gyrosphere, which made the Sinoceratop turn to the left, back to the herd.
“Listen up, y’all. We gotta get her before she goes and spooks the whole herd. Stay to the outside or-” Sammy was interrupted by Kenji.
“We’ve got this.” We all sped up to catch up with the dinosaur.
“Relax, Darius knows dinosaurs.” Yasmina commented.
Darius cut the Sinoceratop off, once again.
“Yeah, Sammy, don’t-” I started to say, but the dinosaur let out a loud roar and charged at Darius and Brooklynn, sending them to the middle of the herd, spooking the dinosaurs, and a stampede ensued. “Shit.” I breathed out.
It was chaos after that. The dinosaurs took off in random directions bumping into our gyrospheres, making the group bounce all over like a pinball game. Everybody was screaming all at once into the earpiece. I finally stopped spinning, by pushing the joystick to its limit, straight ahead.
“Guys! Try to go the same direction as the dinos!” I said into my earpiece.
“This thing is not going fast enough.” I heard Yasmina complain.
“Ah! I wanna go home!” Ben yelled next.
I managed to get a bit ahead of the herd, but they were leading me straight for the trees. I noticed the other gyrospheres heading the same direction, but I didn’t get to pay enough attention to discern who is who. I successfully dodged all the trees but a dinosaur was on my tail; it bumped into me, throwing me against a rock.
I was airborne for a second, my stomach dropping as the glass hit the dirt. Green, brown and grey were swirling around me and I had to close my eyes to try and not get dizzy. In the end I was unsuccessful and with one hard slam, I landed on a ditch, unharmed thanks to the seatbelt.
After getting my breathing under control, I tried the joystick. The gyrosphere was still working, but it was stalled in the mud. The sky above continued to worsen, but, surprisingly, still no rain.
“Great, stuck in the mud.” I mumbled out loud.
“Help! Can- hear us?” a choppy voice came out of the earpiece; it was Brooklynn. “We’re stuck- sinking!”
“Brooklynn? Brooklynn, can you hear me? Where are you?” Sammy’s voice came through.
“Sammy is that you?” I asked.
“Hayden?” Yasmina said back.
“Yeah, I’m kinda stuck, where are you guys?” I said.
“We’re stuck too! I- I think Brooklynn and Darius are in trouble.” Sammy’s voice was full of concern.
I looked around; there were some rocks and branches I could use to get out of the mud. “I may be able to get free! I’ll find you guys.”
“Wait, Yasmina thought of something too!” Sammy commented. “We need to get to them.”
“We’ll find them!” I reassured her.
I started to gather all the sticks and branches I could find and pile them up at the base of the gyrosphere for traction. It took a few tries, but sure enough, the gyrosphere powered through and I was out of the mud.
I made my way to where I thought Yasmina and Sammy were, based on our positions entering the jungle. I found them in their gyrosphere on a dirt road, and in front of them, Ben and Kenji were a mess of limbs on the floor, looking like they were seconds away from being run over by a giant hamster ball.
“Hayden, you made it!” Sammy cheered.
Kenji got up with Ben still attached to him. “Oh, man.” He tried to push him off, unsuccessfully.
“Guys, come on, we gotta go.” Yasmina pressed.
“I’m with Hayden!” Ben shouted, running inside my gyrosphere and buckling up. I welcomed Ben with a smile and Kenji came to join us. “No way!” Ben raised his hand up, keeping him from entering. “I am not exceeding the maximum occupancy in this vehicle.” He closed the door on Kenji’s face. I just waved at Kenji, who had a pretty frustrated frown on his face.
“It’s fine, you can join us, Kenji.” Sammy offered.
“Whatever.” Kenji mumbled, getting in their gyrosphere and awkwardly sharing a seat with Sammy. Yasmina took the lead and I followed.
“Can you go any slower?” Ben asked.
“Sorry, Ben, no can do.” I was actually sorry for the guy; he was clutching his seatbelt in fear.
“I lost them. It’s just static.” Sammy said, checking her earpiece. We stopped to listen for any noise.
I couldn’t hear anything with the lightning and thunder, but Kenji yelled. “I hear them! They’re over there!”
I didn’t know where Kenji had pointed at, but I just followed Yasmina as we made a sharp turn and, just past some bushes we saw their gyrosphere halfway sinking in a mudhole. Darius and Brooklynn were inside, trying desperately to get out.
“Help!” Both of them yelled.
“Get us out of here!” Brooklynn pleaded.
Both, Kenji and Yasmina, ran straight for the puddle of mud, jumping in and trying to pull the gyrosphere with their bare hands. There was a huge hole in the glass at the top of the gyrosphere, with a shape that matched a Sinoceratop’s horn.
“Roxie! Dave! We’ve got a real emergency here!” Ben tried the earpiece.
“I can’t grab a hold of it!” Yasmina complained.
“It’s too heavy!” Kenji grunted.
“It’s gonna pull you under!” Ben yelled at them. Yasmina and Kenji jumped away from the gyrosphere into solid ground. “Uh, guys?” Ben said.
We turned around to see the young Sinoceratops approaching. Sammy and Ben fell to the ground, while I went back in the gyrosphere. ‘Maybe I canget its attention and lure it away from the group...’ I thought, turning on the vehicle.
“What if…” Sammy whispered. “I’ve got an idea.” She got up and grabbed a branch full of green leaves.
“What are you doing?” Yasmina asked as Sammy approached the dinosaur.
“What? Wait!” Ben shrieked.
Sammy slowly walked toward the dinosaur, with the branch in front of her. It growled, looking a second away from charging. “Hey, I get it. It’s hard to trust strangers.” She said in a soothing voice. “It’s a scary world out there, but… I’ll trust you if you trust me. I’m not gonna hurt you.” She slowly reached for its nuzzle, we all tensed up watching Sammy doing her magic. Eventually, the dinosaur let her pet her, taking a bite out of the branch and a collective sigh was heard.
“Guys?” Darius returned our attention back to the sinking gyrosphere.
“Real touching and all, but we’re still gonna die!” Brooklynn yelled.
The plan was brilliant, really. We used a vine as a rope; and a tree as a pulley. Through the hole on the glass, Darius tied the vine to their seats and, on the other side, Sammy tied the vine to the Sinoceratop. Using the branch to guide the dinosaur, we managed to pull the gyrosphere out just as it had completely disappeared in mud. As soon as the gyrosphere got on solid ground, Yasmina and I used a big branch to force the door open.
“Hey.” Darius smiled, as soon as the doors popped open and we all cheered with our success.
“All right! All right!” Sammy did a little dance.
“Cowgirl for the win!” Kenji high-fived Sammy.
“Hey, look! It’s Dave and Roxie!” Sammy yelled, while a red Jeep approached us. “Hey!” She waved.
Dave got out of the Jeep with his mouth hanging open and wide eyes in astonishment, which was understandable due to the circumstances.
…
“You could have been killed! What were you thinking?” Roxie rushed us inside the elevator.
“That we found a lost dinosaur… and Darius and Brooklynn.” Sammy simply said.
“Don’t ask me how I did it… but I did it.” Kenji bragged.
“What?” I laughed.
“That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.” Brooklynn joined in the laughter.
“Now stay in your bunks, you hear me?” Roxie said, firmly, while the elevator door closed and it started to ascend.
“Weren’t you crying at one point?” Sammy pondered, glancing at Kenji.
“Your eyes were closed.” Yasmina mentioned.
“Hey, I helped!” Kenji protested.
“Oh my gosh, he’s serious.” Brooklynn said, shaking her head.
…
‘Fuck, I’m hungry. It was already night time and I hadn’t eaten all day. I made myself a sandwich and sat down at the table, my stomach growling at me. Sammy and Yasmina were chatting on the balcony; Kenji was devouring snacks at the snack’s bar. Ben, Darius and Brooklynn were already at their bunks, not surprising, after the day we all had, even I was exhausted, but most of all, I was hungry. Halfway through my sandwich, Kenji dropped a chocolate chip cookie bag at the table in front of me.
I looked up, startled. “G’night.” He said in a hurry and disappeared into the hallway.
“Thanks!” I finally said, but he was already gone.
Before I could even process the snack in front of me, Sammy sat next to me. “So… you guys are cool now?” She said.
“Uh- what?” I asked, confused.
“You guys had a fight after the Toro thing, right? So, is that over?” She clarified.
“Wait? What? How did you-” I was even more confused.
“What? Knew about Toro?” Yasmina joined us at the table. “Do you really think Kenji would’ve kept quiet?” She laughed.
“Yeah, you’ve got a point there.” I mumbled, taking a bite of my sandwich.
“So… are you?” Sammy looked at me intensely.
“What?” I frowned. I wasn’t keeping up with the conversation.
“Still mad at him.”
“Oh, uh- I guess I was at the beginning, but now I’m just … indifferent. I don’t know. I mean it’s Kenji, I should have seen that coming.” I played with my food, not that hungry anymore. I really didn’t feel comfortable with this kind of conversation.
“But he saved your life with Toro! That’s like super-duper romantic.” Sammy raised her arms in excitement.
“First of… eww!” I scoffed, shaking my head. “Using the word ‘romantic’ about Kenji? That’s pushing it.” Thinking about Kenji as something other than a friend was almost vomit inducing, well, even the word ‘friend’ was a stretch with him. I didn’t really hang around smug rich kids who only think about themselves. “And that didn’t count; he was the one who led us inside of Toro’s paddock in the first place.” I added.
“Oh, that was an accident!” Sammy excused him. “He didn’t mean to do that.”
“I know… I’m not mad about that.” I sighed, not really wanting to explain. “He kinda lied about something important.” I shrugged. “So, it’s just whatevs, I don’t really care anymore.”
Sammy gave a puzzled look. “But yesterday-”
“Sammy, you need to stop reading too much into stuff.” Yasmina stated, placing one hand at the girl’s shoulder.
“Yes! Thank you!” I nodded. “I just got out of a relationship, not looking for another.” Sammy’s smile grew wide and I mentally facepalmed. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’ So, I just took another bite of my sandwich to keep busy.
“What!” Sammy literally jumped on her seat. “Now you gotta tell us more! Who was he? Was he good looking?... or her, we don’t judge.” She quickly added.
“Yeah no, I’m not talking about that.” I said a bit too hastily. That was the last thing I wanted to think about right now. I shook myself mentally, forcing myself to think about something else. Ironically, the first thing that came up in my mind was Kenji and his weird ass apology snack. I still preferred a verbal one, but whatever. But I didn’t know why Sammy cared… I guess she did like to pry into other people's lives. See Yasmina for example… which suddenly seemed very friendly with Sammy. ‘I guess, she made it through her shell.’ I chuckled to myself. ‘That was fast.’
“Hey, Hayden?” Yasmina kicked me from across the table.
“Huh?” I blinked, focusing back on the conversation.
“So, you gonna eat that?” She asked, pointing to the chocolate chip cookies bag.
“Yeah…” I narrowed my eyes and she smirked. “Oh my god! You’re the worst!” My voice pitched up and I laughed while throwing a piece of lettuce at her.
She dodged it. “Gross.”
“What? What did I miss?” Sammy asked, confused.
“Nothing.” I said a bit too fast, making Yasmina laugh at me. I guess I didn’t expect her to be making such comments, so it caught me by surprise. ‘Nothing wrong on accepting those free cookies.’ I told myself as I placed the snack next to my plate.
“Guys, it’s almost our curfew.” Sammy pointed out.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll turn in for the night.” Yasmina got up holding her notebook close to her.
“You coming, Hayden?” Sammy asked, following Yasmina.
“In a second, just finishing up eating.” I replied.
“M’kay, good night!” Both of them disappeared into the hallway.
“Night, weirdoes.” I commented aloud and took another bite of my sandwich.
“I heard that.” Yasmina said back from the hallway and I choked on my sandwich.
Notes:
june/24 - fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 5: Things Fall Apart
Summary:
"A big, scary dinosaur? Of course there’s a big scary dinosaur, there’s always a big scary dinosaur!"
Notes:
Warning: mentions of violence, a little bit of blood and death.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder lightly, Yasmina was there, ready for our morning run, but I was just too beat to join her. Instead, I just went to do my usual weightlifting training at the gym. Dave and Roxie must have decided to let us sleep in after yesterday’s fiasco, because the morning alarm didn’t blast through the speakers today.
Hanging out in the common area, everybody was doing their own thing. Ben was drawing something with crayons, of all things; and Kenji was sitting at those office chairs with wheels, spinning in place. Yasmina was showing Sammy her notebook, which I discovered to be her drawing notebook after taking a peek; she was actually really good at it. I was sitting at the ping-pong table, bouncing the little ball in the air with the racket, since nobody wanted to play with me.
Even though it was not raining anymore, Dave and Roxie had left us, once again, to die of boredom in camp.
The door flung open. “What up, Camp Cretaceous? Woo-ho!” Darius yelled.
“Not in a ‘woo-ho’ mood this morning, Darius.” Kenji said, leaning back in his chair. “Not after yesterday. Trekking through a rainstorm will do that.”
Ben took a loud sip from his juice box. “We only had to walk because you crashed our gyrosphere.”
“But today is a new day! Kayak day!” Darius walked around the room, trying to cheer us up. “Who doesn’t like to paddle alongside dinosaurs, real dinosaurs? It’s gonna be awesome, right?” He paused, looking around to finally realize we were alone. “Wait, where’s Dave and Roxie?”
“The babysitters took off early and left this.” Kenji slid on his chair over to Darius and gave him Dave and Roxie’s note.
“BRB, gotta go. Boss-talk. BB later. Smiley face.” Darius read the note aloud. “Is there a dinosaur emoji with a thumbs up?” He frowned.
“It’s Dave’s speak.” Kenji parked his chair next to me.
“Just flip it over, Roxie translated on the back.” I said without taking my eyes from the ping-pong ball going up and down.
Darius flipped the note and resumed reading. “We have to go talk to our boss. Stay inside until we return. Draw, bond, whatever. The radio’s set for channel six in case you need us. Stay inside, stay inside. Do not leave, Kenji, looking at you.” Darius chuckled at Roxie’s last comment. “Sorry for the kids’ menus, it’s all Dave had.” Darius glanced at the box of crayons left on the table.
“Do they understand how old we are?” Kenji grabbed the little ball mid-air.
“Hey!” I complained and tried to snatch it back, but he was already out of my reach.
Kenji slid across the room on his chair. “I mean, when was the last time you even saw a crayon?” He tossed the ball back to me, aggressively, which I caught with an angry frown.
In response to Kenji’s remark, Ben showed us his drawing of him and a little fat and round dinosaur playing chess, probably the one Ben had fallen in love with back at the genetics lab.
“Hmm, I have notes.” Yasmina commented on Ben's drawing skills.
“Yasmina!” Sammy laughed, shoving her lightly.
For the second time today, the door flung open, and all eyes turned to see a very pissed off looking Brooklynn on the doorway.
“Brooklynn. What’s new on the Internet, superstar?” Yasmina rolled her eyes at her dramatics.
“I wouldn’t know.” She hastily said. “Because when I went to get my phone off its charger, it wasn’t there, someone stole my phone!” She yelled.
“Brooklynn, who hasn’t had your phone?” Yasmina shook her head.
“I had to check the weather last night…” Ben said, hesitantly.
“Dr. Sattler posted a new column on microfossils yesterday.” Darius explained.
“The lighting was too good to miss the selfie opp, but I haven’t used it since then, I swear.” Kenji said, raising his arms in surrender.
Brooklynn sighed in frustration with everybody’s answers. Then, she glanced at me, narrowing her gaze.
“Hey, don’t look at me, I haven’t touched it.” I raised my arms like Kenji. Satisfied with my answer, she moved on to Sammy.
“I…uh, haven’t seen it either.” Sammy stuttered, cowering from Brooklynn.
“Oh, really?” Brooklynn scoffed, crossing her arms at Sammy.
“Hey, hey, it’s ok!” Darius interjected. “Since we’re not kayaking till later, we’ll have plenty of time to look for the phone.”
“Oh, I think I know exactly where to look.” Brooklynn stomped over to Sammy. “I also think that whoever took the phone might be trying to hide some of the things that are on it.” She stopped in front of the girl. “What do you think, Sammy?” Brooklynn inched forwards.
“Uh, what?” Sammy cowered on the couch.
“What is your deal? Sammy said she didn’t touch it!” Yasmina jumped up to stand between the two. “Ever think you might have just lost the stupid thing?” She raised her voice, throwing the room into a nervous silence as the two had a stare down.
‘Jesus, that escalated fast.’ I jumped from where I was chilling and got between the two of them, mostly facing Yasmina because she was getting real aggressive, real fast.
“Whoa, let’s pause it, okay? There’s no need to get so worked up.” I said in a soft tone. I didn’t believe I, of all people, was breaking up fights.
“Oh, so you’re on her side, now?” Yasmina raised her voice at me this time. “Not cool, Hayden.”
I blinked at the accusation. “What? I’m not taking sides, I’m just trying to prevent you from murdering the poor girl.” I laughed, trying to lighten up the situation.
“Poor girl? She can’t go around throwing accusations like that.” Yasmina glanced over my shoulder at Brooklynn.
“Well, then, let’s check her bags and test that theory out.” Brooklynn smugly said, starting to walk over to the dorms.
“No!” Yasmina cut her off, and I had to place myself between the two of them again. “You do not get to go through anyone’s stuff. I don’t care how famous you think you are!”
“Yeah, Brooklynn, even if Sammy is looking a bit sus right now, you don’t get that right.” I annoyingly glanced down at Brooklynn.
“What?” Yasmina shirked, looking at me with widened eyes, as I realized what I had sounded like. “How could you say that?” This girl was one-step away from punching someone, and I was the closest target.
“Look-” I took a deep breath and glanced at Yasmina. “It doesn’t matter who has the phone, right now, let’s just calm down before somebody does something they’ll regret.” I said in a low voice. I was actually starting to like Yasmina and didn’t really want to whoop her ass, but the girl was totally overreacting. Yesterday she hated Sammy and today she’s willing to fight for the girl?
“Brooklynn, I did not-” Sammy tried to say.
“Guys, come on!” Darius was jumping up and down, flapping papers in the air to get our attention. Surprisingly, Brooklynn and Yasmina stopped bickering to listen. “We can’t be this upset over phones. Let’s make the most of the incredible opportunity! This is Jurassic World! It’s- it’s-”
An incredibly loud roar interrupted Darius and we all froze in place.
“What was that?” Brooklynn asked, her eyes darting left and right.
“Um, a T. rex?” Kenji guessed.
Darius shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Then what sort of dinosaur did it sound like?” Ben asked, hugging himself tightly. “Friend-ish? Foe-ish?”
The seven of us exchanged glances and walked over to the balcony to get a better look.
“That kinda sounded like a predator, and a big one.” I pondered, glancing over at Darius, who nodded in affirmation.
“Where’s it coming from?” Sammy’s voice was wavering a bit.
“Can’t see anything from here. The trees are blocking our view.” Yasmina pointed out.
“Maybe they’re moving a new dino from the lab to another enclosure. We could probably see it from the observation tower! Could be cool!” Darius smiled.
“Wow, that’s a great idea, Darius!” Sammy opened an excited smile, clutching at Darius’ arm. “What are we waiting for?” She ran over to the elevator, pulling Darius with her and Yasmina followed close behind.
“Hey, we’re not done talking about this yet!” Brooklynn followed them to the elevator.
“But, guys, it’s indoor arts and crafts day!” Ben whined, still seated with his crayons. “We should stay and wait for Dave and Roxie, right, Hayden?” He looked at me with puppy eyes.
“Sorry, bud, new awesome dino wins!” I said, joining the others. Anything to distract Brooklynn and Yasmina from the phone situation…
“Yeah, if you wanna stay here and draw you and your dino-crush, go for it.” Kenji jumped over the couch and patted Ben on the shoulder. “I’m gonna se me a T. rex or a girl fight. Either way, I win. Ka-ching!” Kenji made his way to the elevator with an amused smile on his face. ‘Couldn’t he be more of an alpha male stereotype?’ I shook my head, noticing all the girls giving him annoyed glances.
“Fine, go on! I’ll just stay where we’re supposed to stay, wait for who we’re supposed to wait for and be right where we’re supposed to be.” Ben crossed his arms in defiance, but after one look around the big deserted room, he gave in. He jumped from his seat and ran after us. “Wait! Guys, I’m coming too!”
…
The observation tower Dave had taken us the other day was a few minutes’ walk from camp, it was surrounded by a metal fence with a locked gate. Yasmina and I tried to forcefully pry it open, and when that didn’t work, Kenji slammed into the gate with his shoulders.
“It’s locked.” Kenji blankly stated.
“Oh, wow. Guess we can’t get in.” Ben chuckled nervously. “We should all go back before someone comes along and we get in trouble.”
Kenji paused and analyzed our surroundings. “Wait, where is everybody? Uh, there’s usually someone around.”
“Yeah, it should be some park personnel around the tower.” I frowned.
“If we’re doing this…” Brooklynn pulled out a hairpin and started working on the gate’s lock. “…then we might as well do this. Ta-da!” She swung the gate open and smugly looked at us.
“Whoa, that was impressive, Brooklynn.” I said, while we all stared at her dumbfounded.
“What? You didn’t see my ‘Unboxing Kathmandu’ video, ‘Hack for when you lock yourself out of your hotel room’?” She shrugged as if that wasn’t a big deal and put the hairpin back.
“Last to the top is a rotten egg!” Sammy dared us, and ran to the stairs.
“Later, rotten egg.” Yasmina followed suit, with us close behind.
At the top of the tower, everybody but Yasmina and I were out of breath, which I not so subtly was proud of.
“Is anyone else hot?” Sammy panted, fanning herself. “It is hot.”
“No… more… stairs!” Kenji said in between breaths, climbing the last flight of stairs and collapsing on the floor. “There better be something good.”
I chuckled, cautiously steeping around Kenji to get to the top of the tower.
“How are you not tired?” He looked up from the wooden floor. I just shrugged, but when I was about to reply the ground shook with a loud rumble.
“Guys, what was that?” I whispered. The rumble continued with a certain rhythm, sounding a lot like some giant dinosaur’s footsteps.
“There’s something out there.” Brooklynn said. At this point, we were all leaning at the railings, trying to see over the tree line.
“Something big.” Darius whispered.
We stared at the jungle, as the rumble got closer. Footsteps? There was movement in the leaves and then a Brachiosaurus rose above the trees, happily munching on some foliage.
“It’s just a Brachiosaurus.” Yasmina let out a harsh breath.
“Oh! Mystery solved. Guess we should head back now.” Ben stood up from where he was cowering.
“But that doesn’t make any sense, Brachiosauruses don’t roar like that.” Darius stated, confused. “They’re more like…Woooo.” Darius proceeded to imitate a Brachio’s calling. I had to fake a cough to disguise my laugh.
“Didn’t quite catch that.” Kenji leaned back at the railing, with a grin. “Uh, one more time?”
Suddenly, faint voices drew our attention. Looking down at the ground, two park employees were frantically shouting at us, waving their arms and looking overall, very angry.
“What are they saying?” Darius asked.
“Oh, great! They look mad. I told you we’d get in trouble.” Ben said. The employees were getting more and more agitated, but we still couldn’t distinguish what they were saying.
“You’re gonna have to speak up!” Kenji yelled at them.
Suddenly, the Brachiosaurus let out a bloodcurdling growl and the earth shook and it fell to the ground, limp. A choked scream left my mouth, getting mixed with the yelps and screams from the other campers as we backed up from the railing.
A freakily huge dinosaur emerged from the trees. It looked an awful lot like the T. rex, its walk, the body proportion, the murderous gaze. But at the same time, it was so different, so much bigger… I wasn’t an expert in dinosaurs, but I haven’t ever seen something like that before. It had a grayish-white scaly skin, sunken in orange eyes with little crests above them and had spikes going down its spine. It stood on its back legs, but unlike the T. rex, it had long arms, with sharp claws the size of an adult person.
The dinosaur let out a deafening roar, the same one we had heard from camp. A roar that made our blood run cold. Screams drew our attention to the base of the tower, where the two employees were at. The monster of a dinosaur reached them in a few steps, snatching them whole as their screams suddenly stopped.
The seven of us remained frozen on the top of the observation tower as the white dinosaur roared loudly, exposing its overgrown, crocodile-like teeth, dripping in crimson blood.
‘What the fuck is that?’ I could only watch as the dinosaur sniffed the air, looking for its next meal. ‘What the fuck? What the fuck? What's going on? ’ My mind was spiraling. ‘There’s a bloodthirsty dinosaur on the loose!’
“What… is… that?” Yasmina asked, quivering in terror.
“It got him! It got him!” Ben screamed, clinging to my arm and pointing down at the albino dinosaur.
“Quiet.” I put my shaky hand over Ben’s mouth. My eyes darted down at the monster, but it had its back turned to us. ‘It hasn’t seen us.’ I sighed.
“Dr. Wu’s lab.” Brooklynn gasped. “There was a dinosaur. In-”
“Indominus rex.” Sammy whispered.
“How do you know that name?” Brooklynn turned to her. Ben had begun to hyperventilate under my hand, so I let him go, and with a squeal, he hid behind me.
Darius frowned. “But there’s no dinosaur named-”
“There’s no time. We need to leave.” Sammy backed up in fear. “Now, now, now! We have to go!”
“Up here is safe… down there isn’t.” Kenji said between ragged breaths.
“I hate to agree with Kenji, but up here is the safest place to be right now.” I said, trying to sound confident, but my voice betrayed me.
“Yeah, this high up, it’s not like whatever-rex can even see us.” Kenji’s voice went up an octave and he hid with Ben.
As if in cue, the dinosaur looked up with his glowing orange eyes and growled at us, blood dripping from its open mouth.
“It sees us!” Ben screamed, gripping my shirt.
The Indominus charged at our tower, destroying the fence with a clean swing. It was clawing its way through the support beams, trying to climb up. The observation tower shook with the loss of foundation and we all fell to the floor. The dinosaur continued its attack and the tower inched forward, making Sammy go over the railing with a desperate scream.
“Sammy!” Yasmina ran and grabbed her just in time.
I tried to get up and help, but Ben had a really strong grip that was keeping me on the floor. “Hold on!” I finally freed myself from Ben and ran to the railing.
Yasmina was struggling to pull Sammy up, who was screaming for her life, while the dinosaur kept its predatory gaze on her. I grabbed Sammy’s free arm and together with Yasmina, we hauled her back up. The three of us dropped to the floor, breathing heavily. Sammy was hugging Yasmina tightly, as if she was still hanging over the edge.
After everybody was somewhat safe, Darius yelled. “The zip line. Go, go, go!”
Ben was the first one to the zip line, but his hands were shaking, making him struggle with the seatbelt. “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!” He cried.
“Here!” Kenji buckled the seatbelt for him.
The tower was shaking even more precariously because of the Indominus attacks. Ben was paralyzed in fear so Kenji yeeted him down the zip line. Going next was Sammy, Brooklynn, Kenji and Yasmina. I was buckling up when the tower shook violently and everybody in the zip line halted in the middle of the way.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“It’s the emergency brakes!” Darius glanced at me. “Hold up, I have an idea.” He took a few steps backwards.
“Darius… what are you doing?” I asked, hesitantly.
“You’re strong, right? Like, really, really strong?” He asked, his brows knit together in determination.
“What are you onto here?” I pressed, not liking the look on his face.
He took a deep breath, readying himself. “Catch me!” He yelled, running full speed at me.
“What the fu- ugh.” He crashed into me, sending both of us down the zip line, fast . “I hate this plan!” I shouted while holding on tight.
We were going full speed at them. I was riding backwards so my back was the first thing that made contact with the stuck zip lines. I winced in pain but surely enough, our momentum kept everybody going.
“It’s working! It’s working!” Darius celebrated.
I was the only one going backwards in the zip line so I could see as the white dinosaur slammed into the tower once again, but this time, a huge metal beam fell off and the tower slowly began to tumble, bringing the zip line down along with it.
“We’re going down!” I yelled. The collapsing tower caused the cable to loosen up and the pulley in the zip line to detach. Gravity took over and we plummeted down to the ground. I screamed as I tried my best to hold on to Darius while we crashed into trees and then to the hard ground.
…
“Hayden? Hayden?” I woke up to an insistent high pitch voice calling my name. My back was flat against the ground, the grass prickling my skin and something cold poking at my waist. My eyes fluttered open, focusing on a floating head above mine. Darius was looking down at me with watery eyes.
“Huh?” I hummed and his face lit up in relief.
“I thought I killed you!” Darius hugged me.
‘What?’ I blinked a few times to clear out both my mind and my sight. Oh, right. The big scary dino, zip line, crash. I was still strapped to my zip line pulley, so that’s what was the cold thing against my skin.
“You ok?” I asked Darius, while scanning my surroundings. Everybody was standing in a semicircle, staring at me with concern. Kenji had lots of little cuts and bruises on his skin, probably from flying into the trees; Brooklynn was holding her head in her hands, wincing in pain; Ben had a red spot on his cheek; and Sammy and Yasmina seemed to be unscathed, Yasmina only had a ripped sleeve.
“Yeah.” Darius finally let me go, whipping his eyes with the back of his hand. “You broke my fall, so thanks for that.” He smiled. Darius didn’t even look like he just fell from the sky, I guess that was because of me then.
“Not a problem.” I grunted, trying to get up, but the metal pulley on top of me was limiting my movements. I felt my blood rushing to my cheeks, a bit too over conscious of how terrible I must be looking, since everybody kept staring at me like I just raised from the dead.
“Here.” Kenji freed me from the pulley and offered his hand. He pulled me up from the grass and I gasped, losing a bit my balance when a sharp pain shot up from my back. “Shit, sorry. Did I hurt you?” He held me in place as if I was a broken doll.
“It’s fine, just a little banged up.” I recomposed myself, but he still had his arms around me, unsure if I could stand on my own. “Really.” I insisted, my voice coming out more annoyed than I’d like.
Kenji hesitantly let me go and I took a few steps away from him. Even though the pain was still there every time I moved, it was bearable. Darius glanced worryingly at me as if asking if I was really okay. All this attention was beginning to spark anger inside me.
‘I’m not a delicate doll, drop it already.’ At least that's what I wanted to say, but instead I just counted to ten and nodded at him in reassurance. See? Progress… Dad would be proud.
“So, is everybody alright?” I asked, running my fingers through my hair and removing the rogue leaves from it. Before anyone could answer me, a loud roar echoed in the jungle, startling us.
“Where the hell is that thing?” Kenji asked, with a shaky voice.
“It’s coming!” Ben whimpered.
“Shh, it could be anywhere.” Yasmina silenced us.
“The observation tower was that way?” Brooklynn pointed to our right. “Or was it that way?” She pointed to her left, she sighed, shaking her head. “I-”
“Uh, ok, I’m sorry, but I-” Sammy was about to say something, but she stopped herself.
“What, Sammy?” Yasmina asked.
“My necklace.” Darius gasped. “I left it in my bunk!”
Another roar echoed in the jungle.
“We’ve got slightly bigger problems than-” Kenji was interrupted by yet another roar, closer this time.
“We have to run. Now!” Sammy said and we took off running in the direction we thought the camp was located.
We weren’t searching for long when we saw a tree top that resembled our camp.
“Everything will be fine when we get back to camp.” Darius stated. After a few minutes running in that direction, we finally reached the clearing we were looking for.
I moved a final bush out of the way. “Final-” I halted. My brain couldn’t even start to process the sight in front of me.
The treehouse that once stood proud atop of the tree was ripped from its place. The camp was destroyed. The only thing remaining was the elevator, that now led to nowhere, and some wooden beams that once were the camp skeleton. At the foot of the tree, gathered a huge pile of debris; the roof, walls, glass… it all had come down.
The seven of us stared speechless at what once was camp. There were huge footprints on the soft ground leaving the camp. The Indominus had come looking for us. ‘A dinosaur had done that?’
“Dave, Roxie, the other workers, they must’ve all gotten away.” Sammy said, clasping at the last bit of hope.
Ben inspected an overturned Jeep near the wreckage. “Not all of them.” He quickly backed up, tripping on his own feet and falling on the dirt ground.
Yasmina found a radio under some rubble. “Hello! Hello? Can anybody- Ugh! It’s useless.” She grunted.
“We’re on our own.” I said in realization and everybody’s face seemed to echo this feeling, because the seven of us lowered our heads in defeat. How could a dinosaur do all of this? This park was supposed to be safe. They let out a monster they couldn’t control and now we were going to die for it. What the hell even was that thing?
“Give. Me. My. Phone!” Brooklynn yelled at Sammy.
“What?” Sammy asked with a nervous smile.
“I don’t care about you sneaking into Dr. Wu’s lab.” Brooklynn stood in front of Sammy, fists clenched. “I don’t care about whatever you did with the skin samples you took from the Sinoceratops-”
“What?” I mumbled. ‘That’s new information.’
“What skin samples?” Yasmina asked.
“-I don’t even care that you stole it now.” Sammy was backing up, but Brooklynn kept pressing her. “All I wanna do is call for help! Where is it?”
“Uh, I- uh-” Sammy whimpered.
“Ugh! Sammy, now is not the time for this!” I finally lost my patience, staying beside Brooklynn. We were being chased by a monster dino; we needed a way to get help. “Just give Brooklynn her phone so we can get out of here!”
“I- I don’t know what y’all are talking about!” Sammy escaped Brooklynn and went over to Yasmina’s side. “Skin samples? Sneaking into labs? You made up some crazy thing in your own dang head!” She put her hands on her hips, as if asking us to defy her.
“Hey, back off!” Yasmina joined in Sammy’s support. “Not everything revolves around you and your phone, Brooklynn! It isn’t Sammy’s fault you lost it!”
“Would you guys please keep it down?” Ben tried to intervene. “There’s a big-”
“A big, scary dinosaur?” Now Kenji got into Ben’s face. “Of course there’s a big scary dinosaur, there’s always a big scary dinosaur!”
“Oh, please, you really think that, Brooklynn, of all people, lost her precious phone?” I laughed at Yasmina. That phone was this girl’s life, not in a million years she would let it out of her sight.
“And you’re always a big-mouthed jerk!” Ben yelled back at Kenji.
“Give it back!” Brooklynn shouted at Sammy.
“Back off!” Yasmina warned.
“Yeah? Well, at least I don’t play with crayons!” Kenji sneered.
“What is your problem with me? I’m trying to get us, all of us, out of this mess!” Brooklynn groaned.
“I didn’t lie to you about it!” Sammy said.
“Jesus, really, Sammy? Toddlers lie better than you.” I shook my head.
“You need to check yourself, Hayden.” Yasmina pointed her finger accusatory at me.
“Money’s not gonna help any of us!” Ben whined.
I chuckled at Yasmina. “Oh, I’m sorry, that’s funny coming-”
“No one is getting out of here!” Ben yelled over us, making everybody stare at him. “We just saw people get eaten! We’re alone, we’re defenseless.” He was panting at this point, but before he had a panic attack or something, he took a deep breath and sat down, hugging his knees. “We’re dead.” His voice came out muffled.
We finally stood in silence, contemplating what Ben had said. He was right, we were fucked, but that’s why we needed that phone back. I couldn’t understand why Sammy was being so difficult about it. Clearly, she had stolen the phone and I couldn’t see how Yasmina didn’t see that. Honestly, I didn’t care what shady reason she had-
“We’re not giving up!” Darius interrupted our sulking moment. “I get it, it’s scary. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Things aren’t always gonna go your way.” Ben stood up and we walked closer to Darius. “Life is messy and sometimes… things fall apart. But that’s okay because when that happens, we pick up the pieces and keep going. And we never give up!” He concluded his speech.
“What about your necklace?” Brooklynn asked.
“It’s not important. I’ve got the memories right here.” He placed his hand on his chest.
“But what are we supposed to do?” Yasmina asked, her voice small.
“We should get to the main park, it’s south of here.” I suggested. “We’ll definitely find help there.”
“Or, you know, we don’t go back into the jungle, where the dinosaurs are.” Ben said.
“You can wait for the negligent babysitters-” Kenji pushed Ben aside, walking my way. “-but I’m with Hays.” He put his arm around my shoulder. I didn’t even have time to correct him or to smack his arm away, because with that new weight on my body, my back flared up in pain again. I sucked the air through my teeth, trying to get a grip and act normally. Luckily, Kenji kept talking. “There’s no way I survived a dinosaur attack-” a piece of wood fell right in the middle of our circle, making everybody jump back. I took that opportunity to escape Kenji’s arm and the missing weight made me sigh in relief. “-just to be taken out by cheap camp debris! Kenji ain’t going out like that!” He raised a fist up in the air.
“Hayden’s right.” Darius agreed. “And the only way we’ll make it is if we do it together. We’re a team or we’re nothing at all.”
“I’m in.” Brooklynn stated.
“We’re in too.” Yasmina wrapped her arm protectively around Sammy.
“Alright!” Kenji smiled, taking the lead down the path. “We’re going south.”
“Uh, guys?” Ben called, still standing where we had left him.
“Come on, Ben!” I yelled over my shoulder. In the end, he decided to join us, and the seven of us left what once was Camp Cretaceous behind.
Notes:
june/24 - fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 6: Happy Birthday, Eddie
Summary:
And here it begins the saga of adults failing the campers
Chapter Text
We had been walking in the jungle for a while, without a clock or a phone to tell the time, it could’ve been minutes or even hours going through bushes, tall grass and mud, but no park in sight. We walked in silence, tense and on the alert for any dinosaur, but none had showed itself. We jumped at any noise the jungle made, a sudden gust of wind, bugs- CRACK!
We all spun around with the loud noise. “Sorry, I stepped on a twig.” Ben cowered from our gazes.
“Ugh, come on, man!” I groaned.
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Sammy had her hands over her chest.
“I should step on you!” Kenji aggressively said.
“It’s ok, Ben.” Darius said. “We’re all on edge.”
“And lost.” Yasmina added.
I scoffed. “If we had stayed on the road like I said, we wouldn’t be lost!”
“We’ve been over this; it’s too out in the open.” Yasmina rolled her eyes at me.
“Well, I would know if we’re heading in the right direction if I still had my phone, because it has GPS, a compass app and is also a phone!” Brooklynn approached Sammy.
“Sammy didn’t steal your phone!” Yasmina got between the two, putting her hand on Brooklynn’s shoulder and raising her voice. “No one stole your phone. Can we please stop talking about the phone?”
“You guys! You guys, you guys, you guys.” Ben interrupted them, his voice was insistent but low at the same time. “Could you all yell at each other quieter, please?”
“My fellow campers, chill!” Kenji said loudly. “What we need here is someone who can make the hard call on what to do next.” He walked over to me and Darius. “Since I’m obviously leadership material… I’ll do this. And my first decree as leader is for everyone to stop talking and just listen to… Darius.” Kenji placed his arm around him.
I just looked at him dumbfounded. The 12-year-old dino-nerd as a leader? He was good with speeches, I’d give him that, but leading us through a dinosaur infested island? I didn’t think so.
“Huh?” Darius' eyes went wide.
“Just go with it, plus I can blame you if anybody gets eaten.” Kenji whispered in Darius' ear, and gave me a wink, which made me face-palm. Of course, that was his line of thinking. Never mind we were on a run from a deadly dinosaur, he only cared about his own skin and who was to blame. “So, which way, Darius?” Kenji finally asked, giving Darius space.
Darius blinked at us, confused. Someone had to step up. Darius was nice and all, but I wasn’t betting my life on a kid. I glared at Kenji, who had the brilliant idea in the first place… nope, I was not wasting my energy on the likes of him. I took this opportunity to look around at our surroundings, but in the jungle, everything looked the same. The patchy tall grass… the huge trees… some rocks here and there… a tree with its trunk bending like a spiral…
‘Wait, what?’ That looked oddly familiar. If I was not mistaken, we had passed this tree coming from Toro’s paddock the other day. I remembered this tree in particular because Darius had almost tripped on its exposed roots.
“Please, you’re just trying to cover up the fact that you’re lost, too Mr. VIP.” Brooklynn scoffed at Kenji. “None of us know where we are.”
I glanced at Darius and he looked at me, lost. “Maybe not entirely lost.” I chuckled and pointed at the tree, and his face lit up in realization.
“We’re by the Carnotaurus paddock!” Darius beamed and took off running. “I thought this place looked familiar.”
‘Oh, of course he does.’ I huffed.
“Am I an excellent leader or what?” Kenji bragged, as we followed Darius.
“I remember the fence.” Darius ran through the final bushes. “The broken… ripped-down fence.” He halted in place.
The fence in front of us had an enormous hole in it, like something had blasted through, but inspecting it closer, there were claw marks on the metal.
“That means… that means Toro is out here… with us.” Ben whimpered.
“Now we have to deal with the Indominus and Toro.” Darius lowered his head. “Hold up.” He jerked his head. “How do you know about Toro?”
“We all know. Kenji told us, like, the day after it happened.” Yasmina explained.
Darius glanced angrily at Kenji. “In my defense, me saving Hayden was super cool.” Kenji said, elbowing me playfully.
“Anyway.” I ignored them. “Maybe the Indominus, like, ate Toro or something, and we don’t need to worry about it.”
“Oh, I don’t wanna find out.” Ben hugged himself.
“We know this enclosure is north of the main park. So, if we keep going that way-” Darius pointed south. “-we’ll hit the visitors’ center. We’re sure to find Dave and Roxie or someone else there in charge.”
“Yes! Exactly what I was thinking, as a leader, which I am. Follow me!” Kenji smugly said, walking to the direction Darius had pointed at. We reluctantly followed Kenji while Darius and Ben had hung behind.
…
After walking for a while, the dense jungle gave way to more sparse trees; there was less mud and more grass, making it easier to travel through. Ben and Darius had caught up with us and Brooklynn walked past Sammy, purposefully brushing shoulders.
“Don’t let Brooklynn upset you. She’s just being… Brooklynn.” Yasmina said to Sammy.
Darius suddenly stopped walking, making me bump into him.
“Sorry.” I quickly apologized and then I looked at what was blocking our path. “Whoa.” There was an upside down gyrosphere, clearly broken as its doors were missing. Next to it, lied a lifeless dinosaur. It was built like a small tank. It, once, walked on four legs and had what seemed like plates of thick armor and spikes covering its greenish brown body, which kinda reminded me of an armadillo and rhino mix. It had a muscular tail with a club in the end of it and its head was triangular with a beak like a bird. If I remembered correctly, Darius had called that one an Ankylosaurus. Looking to the ground next to its head, there was a huge dinosaur’s footprint, the same we’ve been seeing all day, with its three claws scarring the dirt.
“The Indominus rex was here.” Brooklynn concluded.
“Predators don’t kill prey and then just leave without feeding.” Darius kneeled beside the Ankylosaurus. “This- this isn’t right.”
The seven of us jumped as a low growl came from a bush, so we went to hide behind the closest thing. For me, it was a tree. We peeked at the bush, waiting for whatever dinosaur to show itself as our hearts beat out of our chest. Finally, the bushes rustled as a small dinosaur jumped out of it. We gasped, but then realized it was just a baby Ankylosaurus.
“Bumpy!” Ben rushed over to hug the little creature.
“And drooly, and smelly. How do you even know that’s the same dinosaur?” Kenji asked.
“Her big head bump.” Ben explained. “Dr. Wu said she’s asymmetrical, but he’s wrong that it’s bad. And so what if she is asymmetrical? There’s nothing wrong with being different, or bumpy.”
“Aw, is that Ben’s dino-crush?” I asked, kneeling down to pet the baby Ankylo. She was the size of a dog, her skin was more green than brown, and just as Ben had said, one of her head bumps was way larger than the other. She looked at me with her big dark curious eyes, reminding me of a small puppy asking for a treat.
“As fun as this reunion is, shouldn’t we keep moving south?” Kenji said.
“I’m not spending another hour walking through the jungle, hoping that we don’t run into the Indominus. We need a new plan.” Brooklynn whined.
“Uh, yeah, obviously we need a new plan. So, I had Darius figure out a new one. Lay it on us, bro.” Kenji playfully punched Darius on the shoulder.
“We don’t need a new plan.” I got up, crossing my arm in annoyance. “Our safest bet is to head down to the main park, you know… where there’s people… that know what to do.” I stared at Darius, looking for some back up.
“So, uh… we could find somewhere safe close by.” Darius completely ignored me. “If camp is that way, and the park is that way-” He gasped. “Isn’t Dr. Wu’s field genetics lab near here? You guys went on the tour. Does this area look familiar?”
“Uh- yeah, yeah.” Sammy said, unsure. “I think it might be over that way.” She pointed to our right.
“That seems right.” Yasmina nodded.
“Great! That’s where we should go. There’s bound to be an adult there who can help or tell us what to do.” Darius concluded. A distant roar echoed through the jungle, making us all flinch.
“Fine, whatever! Let’s just go to the lab.” Brooklynn said.
Bumpy growled. “What about Bumpy?” Ben asked.
“She’s a dinosaur, bro. She belongs out here in the wild.” Kenji said.
“And she’ll just slow us down.” Yasmina added. “We gotta go now.” They started to walk towards the Lab.
“Sorry, Ben. They’re right.” I patted him in the shoulder.
“But- but she’s just a baby.” He looked up. “Look at her.” Bumpy was happily rolling in the grass, making happy baby dino noises. She was cute, I’d give her that.
“I know, but surely her family is around here somewhere, they’ll take care of her.” I tried to explain.
He glanced at the dead Ankylosaurus for a second. “We don’t know that! The Indominus could get to her first!” He crossed his arm.
“Yeah, or get to us first!” I turned my back on him and started walking. “Let’s go, Ben.”
After walking for a bit, I turned around to make sure Ben was following me. He was a little far back, trying to drag Bumpy along with him. He was going to get left behind if he kept this up.
I walked back to him, seeing that he wouldn’t give up. I sighed. “She’s gonna get us killed, ya know?” I kneeled down and hugged the dinosaur around her chest; with a grunt, I picked her up. Ben just stood there, looking at me astonished. “What? Help me dammit.” I spat. Bumpy was way too heavy for her size. Even though I could walk with her, my back started to bother me again, the pain flaring up as I felt all my back hot and throbbing.
“Oh, right.” Ben supported Bumpy’s back legs, which relieved some of the weight, so we proceeded to walk in a weird sync.
“You are a lot nicer than you look, Hayden.” He said with a goofy smile on his face.
“What about my looks?” I pretended to be offended and Ben widened his eyes.
“No, I meant like-” He rambled.
“I’m kidding.” I laughed and Bumpy gave me a lick on the cheek. “Ah, gross.” I tried to keep my face away from her.
“She’s saying thank you.” He smiled. Yasmina cleared her throat in front of us, making Ben and I halt. “Hey… How’s it hanging… dudes?” Ben awkwardly said. They all were staring at Bumpy, who made a happy growl. Oh, I’m sure she was happy alright, as she didn’t need to walk. “Oh, how did she get here?” Ben laughed, nervously.
“We don’t have time for this!” Yasmina yelled. “There are dinosaurs eating people out here, and Bumpy can’t keep up!”
“Trust me; I’ve already had this conversation with Ben.” I sighed, while yet again trying to dodge from the baby Ankylo’s drool.
“I’m sure we can move faster.” Ben looked at me, pleading. I didn’t respond, just sighed, I was doing the heavy lifting after all. “Besides, Ankylosauruses run fast. Right, Darius?”
“When they’re fully grown, maybe, but she’s just…” Darius was interrupted by Bumpy’s growling noises. She started to squirm in my arms, so I lowered her to the ground. She spun around two times, like a dog, and laid on the grass, snoring.
“Wow! Yeah, total speed demon.” Kenji said, sarcastically. “Say goodbye, Ben.”
“No!” Ben said firmly, raising his voice, making us all stare at him in surprise. “You say hello, because she is coming with us!”
“Ben, you’re not thinking this through. Bumpy will slow us down.” Brooklynn reasoned softly.
Ben glanced around, nervously. “Then… then we’ll put her in the van!”
Sammy scoffed. “What van?”
“That one!” Ben pointed to a black van on the side of a road that somehow, we had all missed.
Approaching the abandoned van, it was fairly intact. Kenji opened its back doors to show us its empty interior. “It’s an ACU transport!” He announced. “Asset containment unit. Got a tour of their HQ.” He climbed inside the van. “Super hardcore dino-trapping security dudes.”
“Then, where are they?” Darius asked.
“Is that a tablet?” Brooklynn pushed Darius out of the way, jumping inside the van and grabbing the equipment that was on the seat.
Darius and Sammy joined them and Sammy found a radio laying around. “What did they tell us? Oh, right, channel six.” She pushed a few buttons on the radio. “Dave, Roxie! Can y’all hear us?” But only static came through.
“And of course, this doesn’t have communication enabled.” Brooklynn grunted, holding the tablet. “Because you know what? Why would it? If I had my phone-”
“Enough already!” Darius snapped. “There are bigger things going on here than your phone!”
We all were startled at Darius’ sudden outburst. Brooklynn had a shameful look on her face and the tablet started to beep. “There’s a map program with little moving dots on it.” Brooklynn pointed out.
Yasmina went over to Brooklynn. “Is that a GPS system?”
“They chip all the dinosaurs electronically to track them.” Darius explained. “See, there’s us.” He pointed at the red glowing dot on the island map. “And there’s…” He clicked on several dots grouped together, and the label ‘Brachiosaurus’ popped out.
“Wait. Here’s the Brachiosaurus Grove on the map-” Kenji pointed at the map. “-so why are the Brachiosauruses way over there?” The dinosaur group on the map was way up north, instead of their normal site, more to the south.
“The fences must be down.” I concluded. “Hopefully not all of them, but…”
While all seven of us were bundled up around the tablet, Bumpy started to growl insistently outside the van.
“Easy, girl.” Ben got down, trying to calm her, just as a rumbling noise came from the jungle behind us. “Guys?” He called, apprehensively.
“Something is coming our way.” I said, getting down from the van and standing next to Ben.
“That’s weird, whatever that is, it isn’t showing up on the tablet.” Brooklynn pointed out.
“What kind of dinosaur wouldn’t have a transponder?” Darius asked.
“I am not in the mood to find out.” Kenji muttered.
Bumpy started to squeal even louder. “Ben, shut her up!” Yasmina complained, as a loud roar came from the trees, shaking us to the core.
“We gotta go, now.” Darius screeched.
I picked up Bumpy and put her inside the van as the seven of us buckled up on the back seats .
“Wait! Doesn’t anyone know how to drive a van?” Darius asked.
“I do!” Kenji shouted before I could do it myself and he jumped onto the driver’s seat. Thankfully, the keys were at the ignition. He started the engine and put his hand on the wheel. “Hands at ten and two-”
“Kenji, go!” We all screamed.
The van suddenly reversed. “Wrong way! Wrong way!” Ben yelled.
Kenji finally went in the right direction just as Indominus rex showed itself, roaring at us. From the back window, we could see the albino dinosaur emerging from the woods and charging at us.
“It’s gaining! Go faster!” Sammy shouted.
“I can’t!” Kenji said.
“You need to shift gears, for fuck’s sake!” I yelled.
“How do I do that?” He asked, panicked.
“Hit the clutch!” I instructed. “Left pedal! Left pedal and shift!”
“It’s not working!” Kenji yelled back.
The white dinosaur was right on our tail. “It’s coming! Step on that thing!” Sammy yelled.
“Zigzag!” Darius said.
“Are you signaling?” Brooklynn asked, dumbfounded.
“Shift gears, Kenji!” I shouted.
“Can everyone not yell at me while I’m saving our lives?” Kenji yelled back.
The Indominus was so close that I thought that its jaws were going to close around our van, but instead, its last roar got saliva on the back window.
“Drive!” Yasmina reached for the steering wheel, yanking it to the right. Making us dodge the dinosaur’s jaws, but also making us go off road, down a hill. The van hit a rock that made us go skidding down until we softly bumped into a tree.
We all stared at each other, panting. I put my hand over my chest, feeling like my heart was going to explode. Did we just escape that dinosaur in this van’ first gear? I made a double take on the window, no white dino in sight.
“At least we lost the Indominus.” Brooklynn said.
“But now, where do we go?” Yasmina asked.
“How about into the genetics lab?” Ben pointed to the building in front of us and we all looked at him in surprise. How did we miss that? “It’s a gift.” He smiled.
…
The genetics lab was a plain white building and it was deserted, papers scarred everywhere, tables overturned, it looked like the staff had left in a hurry. The place was also dark; the only lights that were on were the red emergency lights, which gave the place an eerie vibe.
We entered a room where its only source of light was candles on top of a birthday cake. I was about to comment on the weirdness of it all when a guy jumped from behind the table, he grunted and turned on a lamp, shining a light on us. We all screamed in fear, backing away.
“Not dinosaurs. You’re not dinosaurs.” He sighed. “This is the worst birthday ever!”
After we all calmed down, we introduced ourselves. The freaky guy in the lab coat was Eddie and he worked for Dr. Wu. I guess that with a monster dino on the loose, everybody went crazy and left Eddie here, on his birthday.
We all made ourselves comfortable in the room, Kenji went straight for the cake and cut himself a slice; Darius and I also grabbed one. Eddie wasn’t going to eat the whole thing, right? Besides, we just spent hours running from a dinosaur, I was starving.
“Again, we are so happy we found you.” Darius said. “Things are crazy! There’s a giant albino dinosaur out there. Also, regular dinosaurs. We’ve been hoping to find someone to-”
“You’re sure you closed the door behind you, right?” Eddie asked, looking wearily at the dark hallway we came in from.
“Uh, I think so.” Darius said, uncertain.
“You think, or you know?” Eddie turned to Darius with a demanding tone.
Kenji was going for the second cake slice and let out a loud burp. “Sorry.” Kenji said and Eddie glanced angrily at him. “Did you want it back?” He offered his slice.
“You know what? Doesn’t matter. The dinosaurs got out and no one bothered to tell me; they just ran!” Eddie said. “So, why not? Knock yourself out.”
Brooklynn tried the phone connected to a landline. “Ugh! There’s no dial tone!” She slumped back to her chair.
“The landlines are down. So is the radio, and cell phone service keeps cutting out.” Eddie explained. How the hell are all the communications down? It was impossible only for a dinosaur to do all that, even if it was a giant psychotic one.
“But the park has to have a plan, right?” I asked.
Eddie looked at me with crazy eyes. “You’re asking me?” He broke out laughing maniacally, which made everyone take a step back from him. “Asking me?” Eddie bent over from laughing too much.
“Is that, like, a good freaky laugh?” Sammy asked.
“Do you not get it? We’re doomed.” He stated, walking closer to us, making us all tense up. “No one is coming to help!”
“But what about Dr. Wu, or-” Kenji tried.
“Wu?” Eddie snapped at him. “Who do you think is to blame? Wu got greedy, and instead of dinosaurs, he built monsters!” Eddie finally walked away from us, going near a dino-egg incubator. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. This Eddie guy didn’t seem the most stable person…but he went on talking “Masrani. Dearing. They’re all clueless about what’s really going on here. And after everything I did for the other guys-”
Brooklynn furrowed her brows. “Other guys? What other-”
“It doesn’t matter, does it? Jurassic World isn’t a park. It’s a fucking powder keg, and it is detonating all around us!” Eddie raised his voice, making us jump and Kenji to drop his plate. “We’re all going down. End of story!”
“No, you have to know what to do. You’re an adult!” Darius pleaded.
“Don’t look at me.” Eddie raised his hands. “I was just hiding until you all barged in.”
‘What? He’s an adult… he works in the park… he has to know what to do.’ I felt my blood start to boil. ‘Is this fucking coward for real?’ I took one step closer to the crazy guy, my fists clenched. “Look, we drove all the way here just to-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You have a vehicle?” Eddie grabbed me by the shoulders.
“Dude!” I pushed him off, making him trip and fall to the ground. Without even sparing us a second glance, he got up and sprinted out the door.
“Guys, I left the keys in the van.” Kenji said. And just like that, we all realized our mistake.
We all took off after him. Outside the building, we paused the pursuit to look out for the albino dinosaur, and when we deemed it safe, we resumed the pursuit.
“Stop! What are you doing?” Darius yelled at Eddie.
“Getting out of here alive!” Eddie reached the van. The seven of us resumed running after him, with Yasmina and me on the lead. However, Bumpy got in the way, making Yasmina trip and fall over.
“Dammit, Bumpy!” Yasmina grunted. I managed to jump past them and keep going for the van. I had my hand on the door handle, but before I could open it, Eddie accelerated past me.
I changed directions quickly to try to follow the vehicle, but with the sudden movement, a stabbing pain shot from my back, making me fall to my knees, clutching my back. Yasmina, who had recovered from her fall, continued the chase. My eyes darted to some odd movement in the trees, where some foliage was moving in a weird way.
“Yaz! Wait!” I yelled, trying to get her attention. The weird green shadow moving across the trees was changing colors, looking a lighter and lighter shade of green every time. ‘What the actual fuck? The Indominus can change colors? It can camouflage?’ I stared at it, mouth hanging open.
The dinosaur bolted out of the jungle, knocking the van out of the road. Yasmina skid to a stop, falling to the ground, she desperately got up and ran back to us. Fortunately, the dinosaur was more interested in Eddie. It roared loudly before bumping into the car and spinning the vehicle around. We could only watch as Eddie got off the van and froze in fear, head-to-head with the Indominus. With one final roar, it lunged at Eddie. Its huge claws picked the man up easily, bringing him to its opened mouth. Its jaws closed around Eddie's upper body, the sound of crunching bones joining his agonizing screams. Blood oozed out from the Indominus’ mouth, coloring its ragged teeth and making the screams stop. The albino dinosaur chewed one more time, throwing its head back to take hold of the dangling legs, making it also disappear into its mouth. The sound of breaking bones filled the air, now tattooed on our brains.
We did the only thing we could, we ran away in panic. Fear and terror was what was fueling our legs as we dashed across the road, only to come across a fence.
“Come on, are you kidding me?” Darius whimpered.
“Perfect! The park’s only intact fence!” Kenji groaned.
The Indominus roared again; I guess it was done with its snack. It was too late to go back to the genetics lab, so we settled to use some shipping containers near us for cover.
“I told you she’d get on the way!” Yasmina angrily whispered to Ben.
“So not the time, Yasmina.” I muttered back, but she wouldn’t let go.
“Why couldn’t you just leave her behind?” She complained, louder.
“Because I won’t abandon her like we were!” Ben admitted, hugging Bumpy tight.
“Ben’s right.” Darius had his head hung low. “We’re on our own.”
A roar shook the ground one more time, as the albino dino searched for us in the maze made out of containers. Darius peeked out from behind our hiding space, seeing that the coast was clear, he started to move. Ben stopped him, laying a hand on his shoulder.
“Trust me.” Darius said, and Ben let him go. We all swiftly followed Darius to the next container over. We were about to move again but the Indominus appeared in the maze. It must've sensed us, because it came right to our hiding spot. Luckily, we moved just in time to frustrate the dinosaur; Ben and Kenji hid behind some barrels while the rest of us were safely behind a container. The white dino was sniffing the ground we were just in, getting closer to Ben and Kenji. Thinking fast, I threw a rock all the way to the other side of the container yard, luring the dinosaur away so that Ben and Kenji could join us. From here, we could see a clear path to the van, so we took the chance, quietly running that way.
Brooklynn tripped, dropping the tablet, which started beeping loudly. We all froze as the Indominus roared at the sound, making us gasp in fear and bolt to the van, but Brooklynn was still on the ground.
“Brooklynn!” Sammy and I went back for her, pulling her up to her feet. The white dinosaur stood between us and the van, so we ran the other way. It chased us three between the containers’ maze, gaining on us fast.
“This way!” I spotted a narrow corridor between the containers, so I pulled Sammy and Brooklynn with me, just in time for us to dodge the dinosaur’s jaws. It tried to force its way through the containers, but the space was just too narrow, not even its head could squeeze in. We continued to the end of the corridor, and collapsed on the ground; it had no way out. I grinded my teeth in frustration.
With the Indominus brute force, the containers started to move a bit, making more room for it to fit in the corridor. I was kneeling with my hands on the dirt as I tried to steady my breathing, my back flaring up with every movement, making me wince. ‘Think!’ The sunken orange eyes were locked on us, the Indominus jaw snapping in the air, spitting saliva like a rabid animal. Sammy and Brooklynn were crouched down just like me, breathing heavily as they watched the dinosaur opening its way to us. ‘Come on, you got them in this mess, think of something!’
“Maybe… we could climb it?” I said, glancing up. These containers piled up were way taller than a mere wooden wall.
We heard some banging on metal and the Indominus backed away from us to chase the sound. The three of us instantly sighed in relief seeing that we were alone. And after all the effort from the dinosaur trying to squeeze through the containers, some had shifted, making a small gap between them where we could escape through. We left our hiding spot and dashed for the van.
“We gotta go!” Yasmina yelled from the driver’s seat.
“Where’s Darius?” I asked, reaching the van. Everybody was accounted for, but him.
“He was distracting the scary dino!” Kenji explained.
“Get on, now!” Yasmina yelled once again, and we obeyed, strapping in.
“Help!” Ben called, still outside trying to get the baby Ankylo into the van. I grunted in annoyance, taking out my seatbelt and grabbing the little dino. I practically yeeted Bumpy inside the van when Darius appeared from between the containers, still being chased by the white monster.
Darius jumped in the van and I closed the doors behind him. Yasmina took off as the Indominus roared at us in frustration. Darius was panting loudly as we watched the dinosaur disappear in the back window. The panting turned into a giggle that had everyone laughing in relief.
“Uh, Yasmina? I get that we are running from an evil dinosaur, but you really should wear a seatbelt.” Ben said, seeing that she was the only one without one.
“Seatbelts are only suggestions.” Yasmina glanced at him from the rear-view mirror, seeming overly confident since our escape from the Indominus.
Ben shook his head. “They’re mandatory.”
“Mandatory suggestions.” She shrugged, but Ben crossed his arms like a judgmental old man he was. “Fine.” She grunted, strapping in. “Happy, Ben?”
“Certainly.” He nodded, pleased.
“Great, now can we-”
“Kids?” Roxie’s voice suddenly came out from the forgotten radio. “Come on, pick up! There’s something going on. Stay at camp. We’re heading to you.”
Darius grabbed the radio. “No, we’re heading to you!”
“Darius! Wait, why are you-”
“We’re fine but we had to leave camp.” He explained.
“What?” Both Dave and Roxie said at the same time, shocked.
“Long story.” Darius said.
I took the radio from Darius “Short story: a terrifying, camouflaged dinosaur destroyed camp.”
Kenji grabbed the radio. “Shorter story: epic leader Kenji somehow got everyone out safely.”
Ben had the radio now. “And then we found a van and Bumpy!” The little Ankylo squealed.
“We’re cutting through the jungle and heading to the main park.” Darius got the radio back. “Should be there soon.”
“Roger, we’ll try to meet up halfway!” Roxie said.
“We’re getting out of here!” Brooklynn cheered and we all celebrated with her.
“Yeah! You hear that, Bumpy?” Ben said.
“Whoo! Driver en route.” Yasmina said.
“Wait, Hayden.” Darius got serious all of the sudden. “What do you mean the Indominus can camouflage?”
“You guys didn’t see it?” I asked and all of them shook their heads. “Before, it uh- got to creepy Eddie, the Indominus totally changed colors! He was hiding in the trees and his skin was, like, green-ish just like the leaves and just like that-” I snapped my fingers, making Sammy yelp. “-it was back to white.”
“Are you sure? Dinosaurs can’t do that!” Darius said, his gaze drifting far away.
“It’s not like this new monster dino is a normal dinosaur.” I argued.
“Did your mom ever tell you about it?” Darius asked.
I shook my head. “No, she didn’t know, she would never work on something like that.” I looked away from Darius. ‘She couldn’t have known, right?’ I know she refused to work with Wu, but was this the reason? No… I refuse to believe she would send me to an island knowing it had a monster like that.
“But she did work with Dr. Wu, right?” Brooklynn pressed.
“She didn’t. Just because she’s also a geneticist in the same company, doesn’t mean they worked together.” I crossed my arms, glaring at Brooklynn’s questioning.
“Wu is their lead geneticist.” Darius pointed out to my annoyance. I didn’t want Wu having any relation with my mom… or me. Whoever created this particular dinosaur must have some serious moral issues.
“Masrani has a bunch of other labs, my mom didn’t work with Wu, and she didn’t help create a monster.” I raised my voice.
Brooklynn had a frown. “But-”
“Great!” Kenji clapped, drawing our attention. “The monster dino likes to destroy camps, hunt people and now it can camouflage… there’s another thing we didn’t need in our lives.” Kenji glanced at me, and I mouthed him a ‘thank you’ at his not-so-subtle way of changing the subject.
“Oh, no we don’t! Cause we’re going home!” Ben lifted our spirits once again.
“Yeah.” Kenji leaned back on his seat. “Good job not getting me eaten, bro.” He said to Darius.
“Thanks, ‘brah’.” Darius said back awkwardly.
“Oh, no, you…” Kenji shook his head in disgust. “…you made that sound weird. No more bro-talk for you.”
We were all with goofy smile plastered on our faces. With the high of adrenaline gone, I leaned back on my seat and hugged myself. With all the running, the dull pain in my back had returned, incessantly, but I wasn’t letting that bring me down; this was finally gonna be over and we were going home. I could already imagine, a warm bath and a comfy bed… all I needed right now.
Brooklynn offered her hand to Sammy, a high five as a peace offering. Sammy looked at it, hesitantly, but then she cracked a smile, about to reciprocate the high five. “We did it Camp Fam! And not a moment too-” The van went over some rocks that shook the whole vehicle. A pink phone jumped out of Sammy’s pocket and landed at our feet.
Brooklynn’s phone. With the screen cracked. Broken.
“My phone.” Brooklynn said, astonished. We looked at Sammy, whose face was pale and eyes were wide open. “I knew it!”
“Huh?” Yasmina looked back at Sammy from the driver’s seat. “S- Sammy?”
“Look out!” I yelled as the van was going straight to a huge rock.
Notes:
june/24 - still fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 7: Welcome to Jurassic World
Summary:
Meet Mosa, the Mosasaurus.
Notes:
Warnings: injuries, negative thoughts, self-blaming.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The momentum launched us forward, the seatbelts digging into our skin as we came to a total stop. A silence settled as everybody realized what had just happened. I scanned my body for injuries, my back pain was still there, but it hadn’t gotten any worse, so that was a plus. Kenji was complaining about his shoulder and Darius, his neck. Although a bit shaken up, we all seemed to be fine.
“Is everyone okay?” Darius asked.
“Is everyone-” Yasmina chuckled, her voice full of venom. She jumped off the van and slammed the door shut.
“Yaz! Wait!” Sammy went after her. “Wait! Yasmina!”
We followed them outside. The van was leaning against a rock on the side of the road; it had its hazard lights on and a thick black smoke was coming out of the engine.
‘And… we are stranded again.’ The road we had stopped by was on top of a hill that opened up to a valley to our right. We were surrounded by palm trees with a glass dome building down the valley.
“I bet Yasmina is very happy that I got her to wear the seatbelt.” Ben whispered.
“She doesn’t look too happy right now.” I muttered as we watched her pacing around.
“We’re not ok!” Yasmina finally stopped dead in her tracks.
Sammy quivered. “Yaz-”
But Yasmina was losing it. “We’re in the middle of a jungle with a monster dinosaur out there, and you…” Yasmina had a crazy look, wide eyes and her lips curled up almost in a snarl. Sammy flinched at the sight, taking a few steps back. “You…”
“Destroyed our only way to get help and lied about it!” Brooklynn interrupted. “I told you guys!” She crossed her arms. Sammy turned to face away from the group, with a slouched posture, looking broken.
“So, you did take Brooklynn’s phone.” Darius asked. “Why? What were you doing?”
“Probably trying to erase my video of her taking those samples from the Sinoceratops.” Brooklynn suggested, walking closer to Sammy. “And you knew about the Indominus Rex, because you were snooping around Dr. Wu’s office when I ran into you. I knew it!”
“I didn’t mean to destroy the phone.” Sammy admitted, sounded defeated. “I fell on it when the zipline came down and-”
“But you did steal it?” Ben asked from where he was crouched down by Bumpy. “You had it that whole time and didn’t tell us?”
“Hold up.” Darius turned to Brooklynn. “What were you doing in Dr. Wu’s office, Brooklynn?”
“I- uh-” She hesitated with the attention suddenly turning on her.
I shook my head and stared at Sammy, who cowered. “Obviously trying to get some content for her channel. Don’t change the subject. Why did you steal her phone, Sammy?” I went to stand next to Brooklynn.
“Yeah.” Brooklynn went on. “You ruined our only chance to call for help! You-”
“I’m here to spy!” Sammy yelled, silencing us. She hugged herself, looking down shamefully. “For a company called Mantah Corp.”
“Mantah Corp?” Darius frowned. “They’re a bioengineering company, big rivals with Masrani. They tried to make dinosaurs too, but Wu beat them to it.”
“You doomed us all for some lousy company?” Ben shrieked, getting up.
“I don’t- I don’t understand. Why?” I asked, trying to remain calm. She must have a good reason, right?
“Our ranch was in trouble, so my folks had to borrow a lot of money from some shady people.” She faced away from us, incapable of looking us in the eye. “We didn’t know they were frontin’ for Mantah Corp.” She paced around, fidgeting with her fingers and her Texan accent getting thicker by the second. “They said we’d lose everythin’ unless I spied for them. Use the behind-the-scenes access I’d get at camp to gather info from Wu’s lab, and DNA from dinos, and whatever else they needed. But then Brooklynn caught on, and I got scared, and then everything went wrong.”
I was taken aback at her explanation. To be blackmailed into spying for a multimillion-dollar company… that was not what I was expecting, at all . Yes, she had stolen the phone, but she broke it by accident. Well, at least that was what she said… I’m sure if it was intact, she would have told us about it and we would be able to call for help sooner, right? After all, her life was on the line too. She wouldn’t lie in a situation like this, would she? I really hope that was the truth.
Sammy turned to Yasmina, tearing up. “This is the last thing I wanted to happen.”
“Oh.” Yasmina scoffed. “To be next to a broken van on Killer Dinosaur Island? Hey! Me too! What are the odds?” She finished it off drily. I flinched at Yasmina’s reaction, the situation was already terrible, there wasn’t a need to be cruel about it!
“Yaz, I-” Sammy’s eyes were sparkling from the tears.
“Was it all a lie, wanting to be friends?” Yasmina went on as tears finally started to roll down Sammy’s face. “Pretending you cared about- You just needed someone to hide what you were doing. Tell me you’re wrong.” Sammy didn’t answer, she just quietly sobbed. “I’m such an idiot.” Yasmina turned her back on Sammy.
“You are wrong!” Sammy finally spoke up, running after Yasmina. “I just didn’t know how to say it, how to explain it to you. Just because I spied, it doesn’t change who I am.” Sammy placed one hand on Yasmina's shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!” Yasmina spun around and Sammy’s hand fell limp to her side. “Go away, Sammy.” She coldly said, narrowing her gaze.
Sammy gasped and ran off, crying. Yasmina slowly walked back to the group as we quietly watched the argument between the two. Bumpy welcomed Yasmina back, squealing and jumping at her.
“Not now, Bumpy.” She grunted.
Ben fidgeted before speaking. “Look, I know that situation we’re in is suboptimal-”
“It’s trash. Just say it’s trash, Ben.” Brooklynn cut him off.
“Yes, but despite the obvious trashitude, we-” Bumpy interrupted Ben by jumping up and down, grunting at him. “-we need to-” But Bumpy was insistent. “Bumpy, what are you-”
Several loud crashes came from the jungle, making us spin around on our heels to come face to face with the Indominus charging through the trees, knocking them down one by one. We screamed in panic, eyes wide at the dinosaur coming right at us.
“This is trash! This is trash!” Ben shouted while we bolted for cover by the van, including Sammy.
However, the Indominus simply ignored us and kept on running past us.
“What the hell?” I commented watching as it ran down the hill. The sound of flapping blades cutting air drew our attention to the sky above, where a blue helicopter appeared, flying low after the white dinosaur. It had a machine gun propped on the side and with the sound of the spinning barrels, the steady rat-a-tat-tat echoed in the valley, leaving behind a ringing in my ears.
“Masrani’s helicopter! That’s his call sign on the tail!” Kenji yelled, running after the action, which made everybody follow along.
“Why are we running towards the monster dino?” I yelled over the distancing noise, but they all ignored me. If this was the park’s plan to deal with the Indominus, we had to get out of the way.
The Indominus fled toward a glass dome structure on the bottom of the valley, with the helicopter following suit. A loud cracking sound reached our ears, different from the gunshots or the helicopter.
“What was that?” Brooklynn asked.
“Yeah! Kick its butt, Masrani!” Kenji cheered. “We’re saved! Yeah, baby!” Kenji playfully hit Brooklynn on the shoulder. “Ah! I told you, they’ve got it totally under-” Kenji’s mouth hung open in shock as huge bird-like dinosaurs emerged from the dome. I almost punched myself for not recognizing it sooner, the glass dome was clearly the Aviary, my mom’s pride and joy.
The previous crashing sound most likely was the aviary glass walls being shattered by good ol’ Indominus. The flying dinosaurs were blurs in the air, swarming the helicopter like bees. The helicopter hovered precariously in the air, with a swerve, smoke started to come out of the tail rotor as the helicopter spiraled towards the ground. With a thundering crash, the chopper exploded in a huge smoke cloud, making the seven of us gasp out loud and take a step back. The crash had blown open a hole on the dome, and hundreds of Pteranodons came flying through, like a dark cloud in the sky.
“With those Pteranodons loose, we’re sitting ducks!” Darius said. “We gotta take cover!”
Kenji gasped in realization and snatched the tablet from Brooklynn. “The kayak river! The entrance is near here. It goes underground, beneath the ridge. If we follow it, it’ll take us right to the main park.” He suggested.
“What are we waiting for?” I glanced at the approaching flock of dinosaurs. “Let’s go!”
With Ben’s help, I picked up Bumpy and started running after Kenji. He led us to a narrow road through the jungle, but the Pteranodons were right on our tail. One flew right above us, making us kiss the grass. Its orange wings stretched to the size of a bus, while its long beak was almost as big as its dark slim body, screeching madly at us.
“Hurry up!” Yasmina yelled, stealing the tablet from Kenji and leading the group.
Ben and I struggled to keep up as Bumpy’s weight slowed us down. I was determined to ignore my back protesting at me while we tried to run, but I couldn’t get a firm grip on Bumpy, so eventually she slipped and we fell down.
“There it is!” Brooklynn said. In front of us, there was a rocky cave with the sign ‘River Adventure’ in white.
“Bumpy! Come on, we need to go in!” Ben tried to coax the baby Ankylo to move.
A Pteranodon came flying down at us, screeching with its beak wide open. We screamed and ran to the entrance; Bumpy followed us in, without the need of any more convincing.
The entrance of the ride was a singular chamber with a metal door on the other side, where everybody was eagerly waiting for us. Ben and I rushed for it and Yasmina managed to close the doors behind us as a loud clang was heard when the Pteranodon slammed into the door.
“That was close.” I rested my hands on my knees, panting.
“Jurassic World River Adventures.” An automated voice announced from the speakers. “Prepare yourselves for the wonder of the underground river.” This secondary chamber opened up for a river with a little deck. There were several kayaks stored on racks to the side, but only three were floating on the water, ready for us. “Two adventures per kayak. Life vest must be worn at all times. Adults, please fasten your own life vest before helping little adventures.” Each of us grabbed a life vest and a paddle. “Remain seated at all times. Your journey begins now.”
“Hayden and I call the CKK!” Kenji called out.
“CKK?” I frowned at him.
“Cool kids’ kayak.” He pulled out some aviator’s sunglass and settled for the front seat of the kayak.
“Ben and Bumpy can go in this one.” Darius pointed to another kayak close by.
“I’ll go with them.” Yasmina quickly volunteered, avoiding eye contact with Sammy. “Let’s go, dude.” She guided Ben to their kayak.
“Come on, Sammy, let’s get out of here.” Darius said, claiming their own vessel.
“Wait, um…” I glanced around, but all the kayaks were taken. Kenji was already settled on the front seat on the ‘CKK’ and was waving me over. I noticed that Brooklynn was glancing around the room looking quite lost; there wasn’t a kayak for her on the water. “Hey Brooklynn, you can ride with us.” I offered.
“Thanks!” She smiled at me and rushed over, but before we could discuss who would seat where, she was already settling for the back seat.
“Oh, okay.” I scoffed at the lack of courtesy.
The kayak was kinda big, but not that big to accommodate three people comfortably. I saw that Ben had put Bumpy in the front, so I copied them and sat awkwardly in front of Kenji.
“Seems like we’re going kayaking after all.” Darius commented. “Alright, everybody ready?”
…
“Watch it!” Yasmina complained, as our kayak bumped into hers.
“CKK has right of way.” Kenji bragged. “Sorry, I don’t make the rules.”
“Where did you get the shades from?” I turned to Kenji, curious. Like, of all things?
“Kenji always comes prepared.” He smirked.
“Hey, the cave’s getting bigger.” Brooklynn pointed out. “And brighter?”
The cave opened up to a huge chamber, with a beautiful waterfall to our left. The walls of the cave were glowing neon pink, purple and blue, because of bioluminescent algae that was everywhere, illuminating the place with a fairy tale glow. We stopped paddling and let the weak current take us while we admired the cave. I sat facing Kenji since it was the most comfortable way of enjoying the ride. I lowered my hand to reach the water, making ripples as we passed through.
“Even with the glowy stuff, it’s really dark in here.” Kenji mentioned.
I took his sunglasses off him, and put on myself. “You’re right.” I chuckled, waving my hands in front of my face.
Kenji grabbed the glasses back. “Ha-ha.” He glared.
“I could have used my phone as a flashlight if Sammy hadn’t broken it.” Brooklynn said. “Of course, if we had my phone, we wouldn’t be here at all.”
“Hey, will you stop harshing the mellow of the CKK?” Kenji glanced over at Brooklynn.
“How many times are you gonna say CKK?” She rolled her eyes.
“CKK? Why? Would you like me to stop saying ‘CKK’?” Kenji annoyingly said. “CKK, CKK, CKK.” To shut him up I ‘accidently’ splashed some water on him, he wined and returned my splash. I just laughed at that, not in the mood for being soaked today.
“You’re acting like this doesn’t affect you, too. We’re here because of her.” Brooklynn said, glancing at Sammy.
‘Jeez, drop the phone deal already.’ I caught myself sighing out loud. Did Sammy do a bad thing? Yeah, but had a good reason and now it was too late anyways.
“We don’t know that, Brooklynn.” I ended up saying, resting my chin on my knees.
“What? Like a minute ago you were agreeing with me.” She protested.
“Yeah, but if you actually think about it, your phone was busted from pretty much the beginning.” I explained my reasoning. “There wasn’t anything we could’ve done.”
“But if she-”
“Look, I- I know you're mad at Sammy, but getting mad doesn’t get us out of here. It just makes more people mad, you know?” Kenji said. “Put yourself in her shoes. At this point, is there anything you could say that would make Sammy feel worse than she already does? Take it from someone who has ample experience in rubbing people the wrong way.” Kenji resumed paddling, while Brooklynn stood still, a bit stunned by his words. Truthfully, I was surprised at Kenji actually saying something wise. However, at the same time, the last time he said something like this… it turned out to be a lie.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about it, so I tried a more lighthearted path. “Oh, you bet, this guy saved my life and I was still mad at him.” I crack a laugh.
Kenji grinned. “So, you’re not mad anymore, Captain?”
“Nah, we chill.” I smiled at the nickname. “Just don’t pull that shit again.” I warned, in a more serious tone.
He gulped. “Yes, ma’am.” He jokingly saluted me and I just smiled, pleased.
As we moved on from the waterfall, the cave grew darker. There was still algae in the walls but nothing compared with the waterfall chamber. The river had a small rocky shore where the lights appeared to be moving.
“You guys?” Sammy called. “Should the algae be moving?”
Kenji gasped as we got closer. The algae wasn't algae at all, it was dinosaurs and they were glowing. These dinosaurs walked on their back legs, dragging their tails behind them. They also had a huge single crest on its head like a cockatoo, but it glowed with neon lights. In the dark, its body seemed to be a dark brown, with glowing stripes going down its spine.
“Don’t panic, guys. They’re herbivores!” Darius said. “Unbelievable! Dr. Wu must have put the bioluminescent gene into these Parasaurolophuses.” The dinosaurs were standing tall, staring at us.
“They’re beautiful.” I watched as the colors moved.
Over at Ben’s kayak, Bumpy was squeaking loudly. The Parasaurolophuses groaned and went in their direction, entering the river. They emerged from the water, close to the kayaks, studying us.
“Yeah, cool.” Kenji tapped the snout of one that was getting too close to us.
One of the dinosaurs let out a loud bellow, and suddenly we were surrounded by Parasaurolophuses. They started to bump into our boats, rocking us side to side. I yelped when a particular large dino collided with our kayak and I almost fell in the water. Then they pinned our kayak against the walls of the cave.
“Great, we’re being manhandled by glowing dinos!” I grunted while we tried to push them off.
And just as sudden as it had started, they stopped, staring at the darkness up ahead on the river. With a loud bellow, all of them retreated, leaving us in darkness. We drifted with the current, leading us towards the darkness.
“Uh, cool kids to nerds, where are you?” Kenji called.
“Over here!” Darius said, somewhere behind us. “I think something scared the Parasaurolophuses.”
Wind was brushing against my face, blowing my hair in the air. Was it a gust of wind? Or were we just moving faster? The water around us was splashing, so maybe not the wind?
“Guys! The current is getting real strong!” I said while our kayak picked up speed, without us even paddling.
“The current is pulling us into a different tunnel! Paddle!” Darius yelled. My eyes finally adapted back to the darkness and I could see that he was right, and we were being dragged into a small opening off to the left of the main path.
I paddled backwards with all my strength, but to no avail, instead of the main river to the right, all the water was being drained through this small tunnel-pipe opening.
“No! Guys!” Darius screamed as our kayaks were swallowed by the pipe.
The pipe dropped us suddenly, just like going down a waterfall or a roller coaster, but without any seatbelt. The acceleration threw me backwards to Kenji, who hugged me in place as I fumbled with my paddle. The pipe continued for a few minutes like a ride in a water park, our kayak was rocking sideways with the turns and accelerating downhill with the drops.
Finally, we smoothly drifted through the final part and we could see sunlight again. I squinted at the sudden brightness and after a moment to adjust, I noticed that the drain had led us to an enormous lake. To our far right, a building stood tall over the trees, the Innovation Center at Main Street.
“We’re okay, we’re okay.” Bens sighed.
I disentangled myself from Kenji and returned to my place on the front. “And we made it!” I pointed to the conical shaped building.
“Whoo-ho!” Sammy cheered and we started laughing in relief.
Kenji gasped. “What?”. I glanced back at him, whose eyes were darting all around, his breathing shallow.
“Why did you gasp?” Ben asked. “It didn’t sound like a good gasp!”
“Cause I know exactly where we are, guys.” Kenji gulped. “We’re in the Jurassic World Lagoon. And so is the Mosasaurus.” He whispered in terror.
We gasped and looked around; the lagoon was surrounded by a metal fence, much like that of the Carnotaurus. Beyond the fence, there were bleachers on one side and the other was circled by Main Street. The monorail tracks crossed the lagoon high up in the air, disappearing into the trees.
“I assume the Mosasaurus is some kind of giant fish dinosaur that’s gonna try and eat us.” Ben said, his voice quivering.
Darius gasped and we followed his gaze. A giant serpent-like creature, with a spiked tail surfaced behind us for a second and went back to the depths of the lagoon.
“Over there!” Yasmina pointed. The monster appeared again at the other side of the lagoon, this time, all of its huge back was out of the water; it had ragged spikes and scales like a crocodile.
“It’s circling, testing us.” Brooklynn whispered.
“It’s stalking us, like a shark stalks its prey.” I pointed out, as the Mosasaurus swam in circles around us.
“We’re intruders in its domain, so it’s investigating us.” Brooklynn said. “Before it gets confident and decides to-” The Mosasaurus snarled loudly, making us all flinch. “This is bad.”
“We have to get out now!” Kenji exclaimed.
“There’s a ladder by the spectator stands.” Darius pointed it. The stands were on the opposite side of the lagoon, which was hundreds of meters wide.
“How are we gonna-”
“Y’all?” Sammy whimpered, looking down at the water. A low growl was heard as the Mosasaurus swam underneath us.
“Paddle! Go, go, go!” Darius yelled.
We paddled full speed ahead. Our kayak had the lead, then Ben’s, then Darius’.
“This is not how Kenji wanted to go out!” Kenji complained.
“This isn’t on my to-do list either!” Yasmina yelled, behind us.
With three people in the kayak, it seemed I had to do more effort with every swing of the paddle. Yet, we were still so far away from the stands. What were they doing back there? This wasn’t a leisure ride!
With every swing of my arms, I felt my back screaming at me, like a hot blazing sword piercing my ribs. I let out a low cry from the pain and almost dropped my paddle.
“What? What’s wrong?” Kenji asked.
“Keep paddling!” Brooklynn yelled.
I didn’t trust my voice to answer Kenji right now, so I just did what Brooklynn said. I just pushed through the pain and kept paddling.
“Almost there!” Kenji reassured us.
We heard a loud splash of water behind us. “Don’t look back!” Brooklynn ordered.
I shut my eyes, lowering my head as I tried to forget about the shooting pain, instead I focused on keeping the rhythm of the paddles. One. Two. One. Two. I drew ragged breaths between my teeth, fighting the urge to crawl into a ball.
‘We had to be close, right? How long-’
Our kayak hit the concrete of the deck below the stands and we jumped to safety. I didn’t even bother going up the stairs to the balcony, I just found the closest solid wall and collapsed right there. I had my head buried on my knees, breathing rapid and shallow, trying to calm the piercing throb on my ribs.
“Are you okay?” Kenji’s voice was hesitant, but full of concern.
‘Shit.’ I had totally forgotten there were people around. ‘I can’t afford to be this weak, dammit. Get a grip, Hayden.’
“Fine… just give me a minute.” I muttered between ragged breaths. But with every breath, every time my chest expanded, I could feel my back stretching with it, almost like it was going to rip open.
“What is she doing?” Brooklynn mumbled.
I raised my head to see what she was referring to. Yasmina was standing on a metal pillar in the middle of the lagoon. Ben, now paddling alone, was already reaching the stands, but Darius and Sammy were in trouble; they were way behind and the Mosasaurus was clearly targeting them. The spiked spine cut through the water in their direction.
“Hey! Over here!” Yasmina screamed on the top of her lungs and started to hit on the metal with her paddle. The spiked spine made a sharp turn to the clanking noise, leaving Darius and Sammy to paddle safely.
“It worked! Ha-ha!” Kenji cheered.
“But she’s trapped!” Brooklynn pointed out.
“Oh- I know what to do!” Kenji exclaimed, excited. He climbed up the ladder to the stands, disappearing into the balcony above. Brooklynn followed Kenji just as Ben had arrived.
“Where are they going?” Ben pulled Bumpy out of the kayak.
I took a deep breath, ignoring the stabbing pain and getting up. “To help Yasmina. Let’s go.” I followed them up the balcony. I wasn’t going to let a mere back pain side line me. I would deal with it when we escaped this hellhole.
Darius and Sammy had also reached the concrete deck, and were joining us at the balcony. Kenji was hunched over some sort of control panel, pressing buttons and turning switches.
“Grab the chain!” He yelled at Yasmina.
There was a metal cable connecting the stands to the metal pillar Yasmina was standing on. On the cable, there was a pulley system with a hanging chain with a hook, probably used to feed the Mosasaurus. Yasmina jumped, grabbing the chain and thus, dangling in the air.
“Go, go, go!” Brooklynn yelled. Kenji punched a button and the chain’s mechanisms came to live, starting to move our way.
“Come on, Yaz!” Sammy shouted. The Mosasaurus was stalking closer and closer to Yasmina, picking up speed. She started to swing back and forth on the chain. “Oh, no…”
“She’s not gonna make it.” Kenji breathed out.
It all happened so fast we didn’t even have time to react. The Mosasaurus leaped out of the water, its wide-open mouth closed with a snap, missing Yasmina by a threat, but snapping the metal cable in two. The tablet, which Yasmina had grabbed from Kenji before, slipped from under her life jacket and fell in the water, gone.
With the cable coming down, Yasmina swung towards us and when she was close to the stands, she let go of the chain, plummeting towards the concrete, feet first. She cried in pain and collapsed to the ground, clutching her ankle.
“Yasmina!” Sammy yelled and we rushed to the girl.
“I’m okay.” She tried to touch her ankle but flinched from the pain. “I think.” She sighed. Well, she didn’t look okay at all, shallow breathing and shut eyes as she hugged her leg, almost if trying not to cry.
“Uh, also, where’d everyone go?” Ben asked quietly, glancing around.
He was right. This place was deserted. The stands of the Jurassic World Lagoon were empty, safe from the trash people had left behind. Popcorn buckets, bottles, toys and even hats were scattered on the bleachers.
My eyes focused on Main Street. I’ve never been here before, but from what I’d seen in pictures, it was always crowded with people. From the little I could see from across the lagoon, it was chaos. Overturned tables, broken windows, food stands destroyed, trash all around… but no one in sight. Not a single person.
We searched the stands for something useful, maybe someone had forgotten a phone or something; but no luck. I finally gave up and sat down on the bleachers.
It was my idea to come to the main park for help, and look how that had turned out. We almost got eaten… again, Yasmina was hurt, and we hadn’t found anyone to help us. It was like everybody had got up and left the park without us. Dave and Roxie said they were coming, but that was before we had lost the van and the tablet. Who knows where they were at this point.
Ben sat next to me, with Bumpy licking my hand. I patted her without paying much attention as I let my mind wonder.
“So… how are you doing?” Ben asked, trying to fill the awkward silence.
I sighed. “I’m not really in the mood for talking, Ben.” I regretted being so blunt, but I really didn’t want to talk right now.
He looked a bit sad with my reply, but nodded and turned his attention to Bumpy. He laid on the bench, using Bumpy as a pillow. And, in seconds, low snores were coming from the two of them.
‘ They make a good pair .’ I smiled at the two, hugging my knees to my chest.
Everybody was doing their own thing, Yasmina was sitting alone until Sammy went over there to talk to her; I was too far to hear anything, but from their faces it wasn’t good. Yasmina was still mad at Sammy, which was understandable, but wouldn’t help us right now. With an angry face, Yasmina got up and limped away from Sammy.
Now, Brooklynn reached out to Sammy, which made me groan. ‘I swear to god, if the little brat starts another fight, I'll throw her over to the Mosasaurus myself. ’ But surprisingly, they appeared to be making peace. I smiled at the sight; the little pink haired girl was following Kenji’s advice after all.
I let my gaze wander away from the girls. The sky had started to turn orange; it was kinda pretty if it wasn’t for this whole situation.
By this time back home, I’d be finishing with training. I’d always stop by my favorite ice cream shop with my friends. The owners were really nice, and if the cashier was the old lady, she’d always give me a few extra toppings. Honestly, sometimes I’d spend hours there, just hanging out so I didn’t have to go home. It’s not like I had a bad relationship with my parents, but the constant snarky remarks about me not having my whole future figured out was rather annoying. Nothing I did seemed good enough; it didn’t matter that I had placed first in whatever fighting championship, they never cared about that.
Someone cleared his throat next to me. I looked up to see Kenji, offering me popcorn someone had left behind.
“Pass.” I sighed, annoyed at the interruption.
Even though I was glaring at him with a clear ‘leave me alone’ look, he sat next to me, eating his popcorn loudly. With every loud crunch, I had to take a deep breath. It was like he was doing this on purpose, well at least he wasn’t talking-
“So…” He began. ‘Oh, I had spoken too soon.’ “Your back is still hurting?” He looked at me with a frown.
Lying did cross my mind for an instance, but I settled for the truth, there was no point denying the obvious and I was too tired to even attempt to lie. “Yeah.” I shrugged.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Kenji glared at me, judgmental.
‘Was he angry with me?’ I blinked in confusion. “Because… I don’t know… there was nothing we could do about it? Why should I?”
‘I thought it was obvious… and none of his business, actually.’ But I wasn’t that tired that I was going to tell him that, it would only make him unnecessarily more annoying.
“Well, because- ” He whined, but didn’t give any solid reason. “Ugh.” He gave up.
“Why do you even care?” I scoffed, shaking my head.
“What if you broke something? You should’ve told us!” He complained, making my blood start to boil.
‘You should've told us… Oh, please…’ I felt a headache starting to form.
“Why exactly?” I had to take a deep breath to control my voice not to wake up Ben and Bumpy. “Like honestly, why? It wouldn’t have changed a damn thing and we were kinda busy running from a psycho dinosaur.”
“You’re so…ugh.” He groaned.
“’Right’, the word you’re looking for is ‘right’.”
“You should at least ice it or some-” I raised a brow at him, cynically. ‘Like, really Kenji, where are we getting ice right now?’ “Right… yeah.” His voice turned sad and he lowered his head, realizing his mistake.
I was sure I had a nasty bruise on my back, I could feel it hot and throbbing since the zip line. It had gotten worse with the kayaking, though. But there were more pressing matters at hand, like getting home or dealing with Yasmina’s ankle, which kept her from walking properly… and running. It would be difficult to go around with her like that.
So, when compared to her, a little pain on my back wasn’t that worrisome. I had broken my ribs before, but that just wasn’t it. It hurt, yeah, but not enough for it to be broken. Maybe I just pulled a muscle or something. But if I was wrong… well, there was nothing I could do about it right now.
I felt Kenji’s judgmental glare still burning against my skull, so I just looked away from him, shaking my head, just adding to my annoyance and growing headache. Why was he even here? I made a point of having my ‘leave me alone’ face on.
‘Damn rich dude that can’t read social cues.’ I rolled my eyes.
I was about to excuse myself to actually be alone when Darius slumped down next to Kenji with a loud sigh. He was the last one to give up searching the stands, and he did so with a defeated look on his face.
“So, uh… Operation Find People to Help Us is, heh, clearly a bust.” Kenji said.
With a groan, I hugged my legs close to my chest, my chin resting on my knee. Of course, it was a bust, maybe if we had stayed at camp like Ben had said, Dave and Roxie would have found us by now. It was my idea to come to the park in the first place, and I had clearly wasted everyone’s time and chance of getting help.
‘Fucking idiot.’ I clenched my jaw. ‘Thanks to you, Hayden, we were all fucked.’
“My dad talked about coming here for years.” Darius said, gloomy. “And here we are.”
“Yep.” Kenji opened his arms wide. “Welcome to Jurassic World.”
We looked at the lagoon in front of us. The sun was setting behind the mountains, the orange reflected in the shimmering water as a flock of Pteranodons flew over Main Street. Ironically, it looked beautiful, peaceful even.
But the peace didn’t last long as an alarm blasted from the speakers. We all jumped up, startled by the abrupt noise.
A male voice started announcing. “ Attention. All park-goers must report to the South Ferry Dock for immediate evacuation. Last ferry departs in two hours.”
Notes:
june/24 - fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 8: Last Day of Camp
Summary:
Monorail, what-what!
Chapter Text
“Attention. All park-goers must report to the South Ferry Dock for immediate evacuation. Last ferry departs in two hours.”
We were all scattered throughout the stands, but as soon as the announcement ended, we rushed to regroup by the balcony.
“That’s it? No explanations?” Brooklynn let out, frustrated. “That’s all we get?”
“We have to move. The only way we’re gonna make it is if we run.” Darius said.
“Um…” Sammy glanced over to Yasmina limping over to us. “Are we sure that’s the best way to get there?”
“I’m fine.” Yasmina finally joined us. “I’ve competed with a torn ACL. We should be way more worried about Ben and Bumpy.”
“What we should all be worried about is catching a boat out of here.” Ben opened his pouch and pulled out a piece of paper. “And, naturally, we have a problem.” Ben laid the paper flat on a bench. It was a map of the park! “We’re here.” He pointed at the lagoon on the map. “The docks are on the southern tip of the island. Even if we ran at peak Yaz speed, there’s no way we’d make the last boat out.”
“You don’t know that!” Sammy commented.
“Yes, yes, I do. I memorized the evacuation plan on the ferry ride over.” Ben said, which caused a collective groan, our last hope going down the drain.
“Okay, so we need another way.” Darius said. “Uh, can we use those somehow?” He pointed at the kayaks. “Or send someone to tell the ferry people to wait? Or-”
“Or make a few jetpacks real quick?” Brooklynn cut him off. “Oh! We should befriend a unicorn!” She exasperated. “Face it. It’s hopeless.” She dropped her face in her hands.
We couldn’t run, our van was busted, we needed something… another vehicle? I paced around trying to come up with a plan and my eyes kept averting back to the Innovation Center.
“We should check out Main Street, there should be a vehicle around or something we could use.” I suggested.
Darius snapped his head at me, with a glint of hope back in his eyes. “Definitely! We should-”
A different automated voice spoke. “We will be arriving at Main Street, your destination for fine dining-”
“Is that-” All our eyes followed a bright light that was approaching us.
“-and shopping at Jurassic World.” The voice was coming from a monorail approaching us from the other side of the lagoon. “Followed by stops at the Jurassic World Lagoon and the South Ferry Dock.” We watched as the monorail rode the tracks that crossed over the lagoon and disappeared into Main Street.
“Monorail, what-what!” Kenji threw his arms up in the air.
“Nicely played, Universe.” Brooklynn grinned.
“Now that looks like a plan.” I commented.
“Hurry!” Darius exclaimed.
We rushed up the stairs, to the exit that had a sign pointing to the monorail’s station. Brooklynn, Sammy, Kenji and I ran up ahead, while Darius stood back to help Yasmina and Ben.
The four of us ran out of the stadium first. Outside, a tall staircase led to the monorail station. However, the image of Toro standing right at the feet of the stairs caused us all to gasp and stop in our tracks.
“Toro is alive, Toro is alive!” I muttered as we hid behind the wall. Luckily, the dinosaur had his back turned and didn’t notice us. Darius came running with the loudest footsteps ever, but Brooklynn held him in place, shushing him. He peeked around the corner and then jerked back behind the wall, his eyes wide. “Is it too bad that I hoped the Indominus had eaten him?” I asked no one in particular.
Yasmina and Ben had just joined us when Darius took another peek.
“Now. Move.” He hastily whispered at us and sprinted towards the stairs. I was waiting for Brooklynn and Kenji to move since they were in front of me, but they hesitated.
Hiding behind the staircase, Darius waved his hands, calling us. We slowly crept up out in the open while keeping an eye on Toro. The dinosaur had its back to us and was busy with a barrel, but as soon as it motioned to turn, we rushed backwards for cover.
The heavy footsteps were approaching us. Toro was going to find us! But then, we saw Darius throwing something far away, it landed on the barrels Toro was inspecting before, making a strident sound of metal being hit. Then the footsteps became distant again.
Peeking out, Toro was back at the barrels, unaware of our presence. We took that chance and sprinted quietly to the stairs. We ducked behind the solid concrete railing and crawled our way up the stairs so Toro wouldn’t see us. Ben and Yasmina were at the back, struggling to keep up, while Bumpy happily ran past everybody, reaching the top in seconds.
‘Oh, now you can run.’ I angrily crawled up the stairs.
Brooklynn and Kenji were in front of me, and with one miscalculated movement, Brooklynn knocked over a cup. We froze as the cup practically fell in slow-motion. This would for sure alert Toro and we’d be done for. But at the last second, Brooklynn reached out, securing the cup before it could make a sound. I let out a silent sigh, which I was sure was echoed by the rest of the campers. Toro was still distracted, so our group slowly started to make our way up. Kenji and Brooklynn were the first to meet up with Bumpy.
“Mon-” Kenji tried to cheer, but Brooklynn slapped her hands over his mouth, shushing him.
Brooklynn’s eyes were wide, so all our heads turned towards what she was staring at. Toro was standing on the base of the stairs, sniffing the air with his back to us. My breath hitched on my throat. Any noise could give us up… if Toro turned around… if Bumpy decided to act out… if-
The monorail reached the station, the train smoothly gliding against the tracks. The automatic glass door opened and- “Welcome to Jurassic World Lagoon. Next stop, Ferry Landing!” The loud automated voice announced.
Toro’s head snapped at the sound and he roared loudly, his eyes locking on us.
“Run!” Darius yelled. I got up and ran the rest of the steps, followed by Darius and Sammy.
Brooklynn, Kenji and Bumpy were already inside the monorail, but glancing back, Ben and Yasmina were still struggling on the stairs.
Toro was slowly climbing up the stairs, but because of his size, he kept slipping and falling on his face. The force of a dinosaur that size dropping to the ground shook the whole staircase, and miraculously, the cement held strong. The same couldn’t be said for Yasmina, who tripped and fell.
Fortunately, Ben had reached the top just in time.
“Go, go, go, go!” Brooklynn called as Ben reached the top. Sammy and Ben ran inside the monorail, while Darius and I hesitated.
I could see he was thinking the same as me. ‘ Yasmina needs help. ’ She was inches away from being snatched by Toro’s jaws.
“Please, stand clear of the closing doors.” The automated voice said, while the glass doors began closing. Kenji jumped in between them, keeping them open.
“Hurry!” He grunted; his arms stretched out.
“Out of the way!” Darius pushed me aside and rushed back down the stairs.
I looked around frantically for something I could use. A metal trash can drew my attention. ‘That’ll have to do it.’ I emptied it out and followed Darius to face the dino. Yasmina was crawling up the stairs, while trying not to get eaten by the dinosaur. Toro’s jaws snapped at the air, missing Yasmina because he couldn’t keep his balance.
“Darius, grab her and go!” I yelled, raising the trashcan over my head, the adrenaline taking over my body as I stood face to face with Toro’s sharp teeth.
Toro opened its jaws to bite Yasmina, but Darius pulled her out just in time. The dinosaur inched forward again for a second bite, but I dropped the trashcan down at his face with all my strength. Toro growled in pain, shaking his head. He slipped again; his feet too big for the stairs. The staircase shook again, and I had to hold onto the railing not to fall.
“Go!” I yelled at the two. Darius hooked his arms around Yasmina and pulled her up the stairs.
Toro roared at me, hurting my ears, so I slammed the trashcan again against its snout, still hurt from our first encounter. The Carnotaurus managed to squirm his body up the stairs and get up.
“Hayden! Come on!” Darius called from the top of the stairs.
I went up a few steps and threw the bent trash can at Toro, but he snatched it with his teeth, biting it in half.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit.” I mumbled while sprinting up the stairs, two steps at a time. Kenji was keeping the doors open for me, so I ducked under his arms, finally entering the monorail.
“Doors closing.” The voice announced. The doors closed without a problem and the monorail started to move away from the station. Looking out the glass walls, Toro was sprawled on the ground, he had seemingly slipped and fallen through the stairs’ railing.
“Phew, that was close!” I slumped down in a chair. My hands were shaking from the dinosaur encounter, I never want to be that close to those teeth ever again. I forced myself to breathe normally as the adrenaline left my body.
“No way!” Kenji said, looking back at Toro as the monorail accelerated and the station disappeared from view. “Something bad always happens when we think we’re safe. Watch. The doors are gonna open.” He paused, staring at the doors, but nothing happened. “Oh, ok then- then the train’s gonna stop because that’s how this works.” Again, nothing happened.
“I’m pretty sure we’re safe now.” Brooklynn said.
“Well, we were until you said that.” He grunted, crossing his arms.
…
We had been riding the monorail for a few minutes now and the sun had already set. There was a full moon in the sky tonight, illuminating the valley below us. The lights from the monorail caused a glare on the glass that made it hard to see outside. However, if I got close enough to the glass, I could clearly see the trees, a river, and now and then, something moving down in the jungle.
We were all in silence, maybe we were just waiting for the other shoe to drop, just like Kenji had said. But after several minutes of a smooth monorail ride, the term ‘going home’ was slowly becoming a possibility again. I leaned back on my seat, enjoying the cold air from the air conditioner.
A smile grew on my face. ‘It’s finally over.’ We were all alive and mostly unscathed.
“It’s over.” Darius turned to us, as if reading my mind. “Guys, we did it. We’re going home.”
We stood in silence for a second, exchanging glances as we took in his words. We were actually done with running for our lives, done with this island, and soon we’d be back in civilization.
“Whoo-hoo!” Sammy jumped off her seat.
“Yeah! Whoo!” Darius joined in.
We were all jumping and celebrating, except for Kenji, who was still sulking on the corner, skeptic about the situation.
Darius went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s cool, man. We’re good. We’ll be at the main dock soon.” With a smile, Kenji finally let himself relax and joined us.
“This calls for a celebration.” Brooklynn grinned.
“I might be able to help with that.” Ben pulled seven chocolate bars and juice boxes out of his pouch. “Stashed a few treats for the road.”
“Oh, you’re the best, Ben!” I said and Ben opened a huge smile, passing us the sweets.
“I’m starving.” Brooklynn commented.
“Our little Ben is useful.” Kenji chuckled.
The last thing I had eaten was Eddie’s birthday cake, and that was ages ago; I was starving. I opened the little package and took a big bite out of the chocolate. It tasted old and dry, and well, was not chocolatey at all. I forced myself to swallow the whole thing, fighting the urge to throw up in my mouth.
“This is nasty!” Sammy complained, her face twisted in disgust.
“Get it off! Get it off!” Kenji was trying to remove all traces of the ‘chocolate’ from his mouth.
“Ben, someone stole your candy bars and put dirt in ‘em.” Sammy said.
“They’re carob bars.” Ben explained. “They pair perfectly with-”
“Carob juice.” Darius looked down at his juice box. “Awesome.” He said with a disappointed face.
“Carob is nature’s chocolate. Just as delicious, with none of the sugar or caffeine.” Ben said.
“What’s wrong with sugar and caffeine?” Brooklynn asked.
“But I love sugar and caffeine.” I said at the same time.
Brooklynn unceremoniously dropped her carob bar on the floor. “First thing I’m gonna do when I get home is hug my espresso machine.” She hugged her seat instead. “I may never let go.”
“You know.” Kenji cleared his throat and got up, puffing his chest and standing tall. “I’ve often described myself as a tall, hot drink.”
“Ah, eww.” I groaned, which was echoed by the rest of the group.
“Come on, man.” Darius shook his head.
“Gross.” Yasmina said.
“You could never be coffee.” Brooklynn pointed accusingly at Kenji.
He scoffed, sitting back down. “I could be coffee.” He muttered under his breath.
“I cannot wait to be home.” Yasmina smiled. “Once my ankle’s better, it’s back to training.”
“It’s gonna be weird for things to be normal again.” Darius said. “Like, are video games gonna seem boring now?” He chuckled. “How ‘bout you? What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get home?” Darius asked Kenji.
“Depends on which wing of our mansion you’re talking about.” Kenji bragged. “East wing is usually off limits, but Dad and Candy are away on business, so I guess I’ll go downstairs to our bowling alley.” He chuckled, bitter. “Staff always lets me win. Life of a VIP.” Kenji concluded, on a sad note. So, I guess Kenji really didn’t want to spend the summer alone at home… And who the hell is named Candy? Really, talk about a red flag...
“So, what have you missed, Hayden?” Sammy said, shifting the focus from Kenji.
“Ice cream.” I deadpanned, without skipping a beat.
“That’s it?” Kenji asked, while staring at me incredulously.
“What? I have simple needs.” I shrugged.
“And you Ben? What do you want to do?” Sammy asked.
“Oh, let me guess, you can’t wait to get home to your closet of dork pouches.” Kenji suggested.
Sammy and Brooklynn chuckled at Kenji’s remark, but Ben was not looking very amused. “Ha-ha.” Ben laughed sarcastically. “Very funny.”
“Seriously, Ben, you’ve had juice boxes for days!” Darius said. “How much stuff can you fit in that thing?”
Ben raised one finger in the air, proud of his pouch. “One, lots, and two, obviously the first thing I’m gonna do when I get back is restock it.” He chuckled, making us all laugh with him.
Leaving his carob bar behind, Kenji stood up and went to check out the back of the monorail car. He opened a compartment that had several flashlights in it.
“Check it out!” He turned on the flashlight, imitating lightsaber noises. “I found the first thing in Jurassic World that works!” He threw the flashlight to the air, flipping to catch it back, but dropped it instead. He chuckled, his cheeks turning pink while picking it up and turning it on. “Still works.”
“I still can’t believe how much went wrong.” Brooklynn chuckled. “Like that time we almost got eaten?”
“Which time?” Yasmina joked. “How was there more than one time?”
Darius got up. “Let’s all raise our carob juice. A toast! To not getting eaten!”
“To not getting eaten!” We cheered, taking a sip of the juice. ‘Why did I think the juice would be any different from the chocolate?’
“To no more running away!” Brooklynn raised her juice box.
“To no more running away!” We echoed. This time, we all averted from drinking it again, except for Ben.
I poured some of my juice on the floor for Bumpy to drink. I petted her on the head while she enjoyed the carob juice. ‘Of course, she has the same weird ass taste as Ben.’ I thought, chuckling to myself.
“To the return of a low-level gnawing dread rather than an all-encompassing impending doom!” Ben cheered.
“Why not!” Darius said, joining him.
“To that!” I cheered with a smile plastered on my face.
“Bad doom versus normal doom!” Kenji said.
“I got one.” Sammy jumped up, but she didn’t have time to cheer as an explosion shook the monorail, sending our asses back to our seats. “What was that?” She whimpered.
“It sounded like an explosion.” Yasmina said. I glued my eyes close to the glass, trying to see something out there. My heart was already racing in a fight or flight state.
“Ugh! Not again!” Brooklynn cried.
“I don’t see anything.” I commented. The jungle seemed normal outside. Dark. Nothing to explain the explosion we heard.
“I don’t think it was near us.” Darius tried to calm us down. “We’re okay. We’re still okay.” He reiterated.
We slowly calm down, trying to trust Darius' words.
“I know camp wasn’t what we thought it was gonna be.” Sammy said. “But after everythin' we went through, at least we’re leavin' this place with six new friends! To the seven of us, being best friends for life!” She raised her carob juice. “Clink!”
An intense silence fell upon the monorail car. Nobody had the guts to look Sammy at her face. I busied myself by trying to take off the dry mud from my pants. Did she really think we were friends? We met like a couple days ago.
“No added sugars… wow.” Darius said, reading the back of the juice box.
“Guys? Hello?” Sammy’s face saddened when nobody joined her. “Wait, do you guys not see us as friends?”
“I mean...” Brooklynn was the first to say something about it. “Doesn’t it usually take more than a few days to become friends with someone?”
“We were thrown together at random. We have nothing in common.” Yasmina stated. I just nodded along with the arguments, without really saying anything.
“That’s not true!” Sammy was taken aback. “We’ve been through more together than most friends have in a lifetime.”
“And now that it’s over, what are the odds that we’ll ever see each other again?” Ben said and the mood went back to the depressing silence that we were all beginning to get used to.
“Coming up on the right, you’ll see our world renowned 18-hole, dinosaur themed golf course.” The automated voice announced on the speakers. “It’s one of the many wonders that makes this park so very Jurassic.”
Brooklynn chuckled. “What does that even mean?”
“I thought I knew.” Darius said from his corner. “My whole life, I had this idea of Jurassic World. My dad used to say this place was ‘all-osaurus and a bag of chips’. He was so corny.” Darius sighed and suddenly, the cold air of the monorail turned tense with silence.
“Um, was?” Ben asked, hesitantly. “So, your dad is…”
“I’m so sorry, Darius.” Sammy started to say, but soon regretted it. “Ugh, ‘sorry’. Nice one, Sammy, ya ding-dong! Like ‘sorry’ could begin to-”
“It’s okay.” Darius interrupted.
“Hey, at least your dad never saw what a dumpster-fire this place turned out to be, huh?” Kenji tactless said. Everybody glared at him and Yasmina punched him on the shoulder. “Ow, what?” He rubbed his shoulder. “I meant it’s cool that Darius and his dad were so close. I could count on one hand the number of times me and my dad have done… anything.” He concluded.
“Kenji, that’s just real sad.” Sammy commented.
“Yeah.” Kenji shrugged. “Did I mention I have a bowling alley?”
“Dang it!” Ben suddenly exclaimed. “Come on, it’s gotta be here somewhere.” He was slouched over, searching for something in his pouch. “Ha, here it is!” He pulled out a hand sanitizer. “Bumpy stepped in something icky and I’m low on sanitizer.” He explained, applying some of it on Bumpy.
“Ben, why are you here?” Kenji blurred out.
“Kenji!” I exclaimed, going to stand next to Ben, glaring at Kenji. ‘ That was rude as fuck! ’
Darius cleared his throat. “What he meant is- eh, well you’re scared of dinosaurs, the outdoors, and sometimes the indoors, and germs.”
“Whipped cream for some reason?” Sammy commented.
“The way it moves.” Ben shuddered.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. What’s the deal?” Kenji pressed.
“My mom works for Mr. Masrani. She got me into camp.” Ben explained. “Said it would be a great way for me to ‘face my fears’.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s been a nightmare! I’m sick of being scared all the time. And of running, and of almost getting eaten, and… and of holding everyone back. I just can’t do… this.” He sighed, his head down.
“You don’t hold us back, Ben.” I tried to make him feel better, but he just looked at me with eyes full of sadness. I glanced at the other campers for some back up, but they only averted my gaze. ‘Real helpful.’ I rolled my eyes at them. Bumpy moved around and Ben petted her, mindlessly. “Besides, if you hadn’t come, you never would’ve met Bumpy.” I tried again.
Ben finally cracked a smile, looking down at the baby Ankylo. “You’re right, maybe it isn’t all bad.”
A sudden crash shook the monorail, making me fall to the ground and the others to hold tightly onto their seats. Darius took off running to the back car, while a second crash hit us. Ben offered a hand to lift me up and we followed Darius to the back. The last car was just like the rest, fully surrounded by glass, but it had a control panel of sorts at the back, showing our speed and route. However, Darius went straight to the windshields.
“Guys, we gotta turn off the lights!” Darius yelled, after seeing something through the window. He grabbed one of the flashlights Kenji had found and began to frantically smash the light bulbs with it.
We all looked at him as if he was crazy, but as soon as the inside lights turned off and the glare on the glass decreased, we could see the outside better. Where a flock of Pteranodons chased our monorail.
Darius grunted as he smashed the lights. “Flying reptiles are basically-”
“Seabirds!” I exclaimed, remembering how my mom used to go on for hours about them.
“Exactly.” Darius nodded. “They’re attracted to shiny, moving objects, and with all these lights on-”
“We’re a shiny, moving object!” Sammy finished his sentence.
We screamed when one of the flying dinosaurs slammed onto the back windshields, cracking the glass. So, we got into action, running to grab a flashlight each.
“What should I do?” Ben asked when Brooklynn snatched the last flashlight.
“Just keep out of the way!” Brooklynn said back.
We hurried to smash all of the lights while the dinosaurs continued the attack on the monorail. They were slamming their bodies against the car, and although the glass cracked, it held in place. We finished with the back car and were ready to move on to the next.
“Brooklynn, you’re with Yaz and Sammy.” Darius ordered. “Hayden, help Ben and Bumpy across! Kenji, let’s go to the next car.”
Everybody spurred into action. Ben was whimpering on the corner, holding onto Bumpy for dear life.
“Let’s go, Ben.” I said gently, laying out my hand. He hesitantly took it and then we were on the move.
The girls were working on the lights of the second car, while the boys moved on to the next one over. I guided Ben and Bumpy to the latter, but when we got there, Ben tripped and crawled to the corner with Bumpy.
“You okay?” I kneeled next to him, who had tears starting to form on his eyes.
“Ye- yeah.” He stuttered. “Don’t worry about me, go help them.”
I was about to go do just that when I took one glance out the window. The trail had a curve up ahead and another monorail was blocking the tracks. It was broken and on fire, sitting right on a rail fork.
“Shit.” I breathed out. “Guys!” I called loudly, pointing at the broken monorail.
“We have a problem!” Brooklynn said as the girls came in, done with their car.
“We know.” I said. “If we don’t switch tracks or stop the car right now, we’re gonna hit that thing, full speed!”
“At least now we know what that boom was earlier.” Sammy commented.
“The front car, there’s control panels there!” Kenji said, pointing to the next car. “VIP Tour, I was eight, they let me drive.”
Darius rushed to the door, but it was locked. “No, no, no!” He grunted. We even tried to break the glass door with the flashlight, but to no avail. Darius suddenly gave up on the door and ran to the back of the car.
“I’m gonna get to the control car through there.” He pointed up to an emergency exit on the ceiling.
“You’re gonna what?” Sammy exclaimed.
“You can’t go out there!” That’s where the flying whatevers are!” Kenji said, incredulously.
“That’s suicide, Darius!” I pleaded.
“We don’t have a choice! Me and-” Darius glanced down at Ben trembling at the corner and shook his head. “I ’m the only one who can fit.” He concluded.
The emergency hatch was really small. Yet another thing this damn park had designed poorly. Small enough that only a petite kid could go through. Darius and Ben could fit for sure, and maybe Brooklynn… The monorail took a heavy hit from the dinosaurs and we all fell on our knees.
“Distract the flock while I crawl over the top to the control car.” Darius said, getting back up. “Use the flashlights, keep them away from-”
The sound of the hatch opening brought our attention to the ceiling, where Ben was already climbing out of the car.
“Ben!” I called, pushing past Darius. I stepped on a seat and peeked through the hatch. “Ben, what are you doing? Come back!” He was already out of reach, crawling towards the front of the monorail. “You don’t need to prove yourself!” I pleaded and he finally turned to face me. This boy was going to get himself killed just because he felt bad for holding us back!
He had his brows knit in determination, the same look to when he had stood up for Bumpy, and right then, I knew he would do this, no matter what I said.
“I can do this! Just distract them!” He yelled. I reluctantly nodded while he turned his back to me. I got down from the hatch, almost stepping on the pouch Ben had left on the ground.
“We have to keep them away from Ben.” I said.
“Come on, we can use our flashlights.” Darius turned his flashlight on and ran to the back of the monorail, waving it to lure the dinosaurs. We followed his lead.
The plan was working, the Pteranodons were going haywire with the lightshow. Attacking the back of the monorail with double the strength. Hopefully, giving Ben the opening he needed.
We were rapidly approaching the crashed monorail and I didn’t think the glass windows back here could hold for much longer. The monorail swerved suddenly, scraping the side of the crashed one and producing sparks from the contact. We were still in one piece. We didn’t crash! We changed tracks in time!
I gasped. “He did it. Ben actually did it.” I really had my doubts, but turns out this guy was more stubborn than a flock of deranged Pteranodons.
There was a huge explosion behind us. The other monorail had fallen from the tracks all the way to ground, exploding in a ball of fire. I grimaced at the thought of how easily that could’ve been us. Turning away from the fireball, we reached the front car, just as Ben opened the door to the control car.
“Whoo-hoo!” Sammy cheered.
“Yeah!” Brooklynn yelled.
“Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben!” We chanted.
Bumpy growled happily and went over to Ben, who had a bright smile plastered on his face.
“You saved us, Ben. I didn’t know you had it in you.” Darius said.
“Hell yeah, Ben! That was amazing!” I enthusiastically raised my hand for a high-five. He blushed at our compliments and high-fived me back. But before we could lower our hands, the sound of shattering glass filled the air. A Pteranodon flew through the window behind Ben, snatching him by the waist and exiting through the other window.
“No!” Instinctively, I reached for him and grabbed his wrist. I was yanked forward, but managed to hold onto the grab bars of the monorail with my other hand. The Pteranodon was trying to fly away with Ben, but I wouldn’t let it. The dinosaur was holding Ben upwards, his body totally out of the monorail while I tried to pull him back with all my strength.
“Come on!” I grunted, pulling as I felt my arms being stretched to the limit.
The dinosaur gave up on Ben, dropping him. The sudden change forces made Ben fall straight down and me to lose my balance. Ben’s weight pulled me down to the open window. My chest hit the floor and I felt as a piece of shattered glass, which was still lodged at the window’s edge, pierced my left arm.
I screamed in pain as electricity traveled through my arm, almost losing my grip on Ben, who was dangling in the air.
“Help!” Ben was tearing up.
“Hang on, Ben!” I grunted, trying to pull him up, but I was losing my strength. The wind was swinging Ben back and forth, making it difficult to hold on. I watched as Ben's eyes grew wider than ever, tears falling down his face as he locked eyes with me. I could feel the warm blood trickling down my arm. It reached our clutched hands and Ben started to slip.
“No, no, Hayden!” Ben painfully cried.
“Someone, help!” I pleaded, desperation in my voice while his hands slipped even more. Now, I was holding him just by the tip of my fingers. I held my breath as I tried to hold on, but he was slipping. “Ben!” I cried, letting go of the seat I was holding onto and securing Ben with both my arms. ‘Please, no.’
With a growl, I managed to pull Ben a few inches up, getting on my knees for a better stance and removing my arm from the broken glass in the process. We locked eyes again, but this time with a slight smile on our faces. ‘It’s working!’
I felt someone kneeling besides me, his hands reaching out for Ben as well.
‘Finally.’ I thought as Darius leaned towards Ben. I was too focused on the sudden appearance of help to notice the shadow in the night rushing past Ben, slamming against his body and making him escape my grip.
“HAYDEN!” Ben shrieked.
Darius was too slow, so I reached for him with my hurt arm, leaning precariously on the edge of the monorail as our slippery hands met again. Darius’ arms wrapped around me to keep me steady, but I felt Ben slipping.
‘Come on, please, please, please. Just a little more…’ I tried to use both my hands, but I just couldn’t get a grip. The blood was coating our hands and because of that, Ben slipped through my finger once again.
“NO!” I screamed, but it was like the night had turned silent and the only thing I could hear was my own heart beating in my ears.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Ben was getting further and further away, his mouth opened in a silent scream; eyes wide and never leaving me as he disappeared into the darkness. It was like the whole world shifted under me and the wind picked up, helping me to reach further down for him, pulling my body towards him and suddenly, I was falling.
Notes:
Edit: june/24 - fixing some grammatical stuff
Chapter 9: End of the Line
Summary:
The ferry wouldn’t leave without the kids, right? Right??
Notes:
Warning: injuries, mention of blood, negative thoughts, self-blaming.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
My body inched forward, desperately trying to reach for his hand, but Ben had already disappeared into the night, with Pteranodons diving right after him. His name died on my lips as my eyes darted everywhere, looking for any sign of him, but the monorail was just too fast. But I couldn’t stop. I kept reaching for him, feeling gravity pulling me towards him, until I started to fall too.
Hands wrapped around my waist and hauled me back inside. ‘He’s gone… Ben is gone…’ The hands let go of me and I backed up until my back hit something solid. Something cold.
I could only stare at the shattered window, the wind rushing by, the Pteranodons going in and out of view. Then, my eyes lowered to my hands, just a second earlier, I was holding onto Ben’s; and now he was gone. I had let him slip. Now, the only thing there was left was the crimson imprint of a desperate hand against my own, staining my skin with bright red blood.
Bumpy approached the opened window and looked down, searching for Ben. She groaned in sadness when she didn’t find him. The baby Ankylo walked over to me, looking at me with her big sad eyes. I tried to speak, to comfort the little dino somehow, but the words got caught on my throat and the only thing I could do was pull her closer for a hug.
“He’s gone. He’s… gone.” Yasmina whispered.
“I won’t believe it!” Sammy shouted. She rushed to the window, with tears rolling down her face.
“Sammy!” Yasmina stopped her from getting too close.
I was still holding onto Bumpy when I noticed my face wet. I didn’t even realize I was crying. I angrily wiped them with the back of my hand, for sure leaving a red smudge there too. It was my fault he was gone; I didn’t get the luxury to cry right now. I should’ve fallen with him, maybe then I would be able to help him somehow.
Kenji fell on his knees next to me. “Shit! Your arm, Hays!”
‘Oh, right. My arm.’ So, that’s where all the blood had come from. Weirdly, I didn’t feel it at all. I could only feel my arm wet from the blood, which now started to stain my clothes too. It was the blood that didn’t let me hold on. That led to Ben falling….
‘So stupid.’ I rubbed my palms against my shirt. ‘Get off!’ But the sticky red blood wouldn’t leave my skin, with more of it trickling down my arm by the moment.
“I saw a first aid kit somewhere in the back car!” Brooklynn disappeared through the door.
“Hays-” Kenji said softly, placing his hand on my shoulder. I know that hand was meant to comfort me, but I didn’t deserve that.
“It’s Hayden.” I slapped his hand off me and hastily stood up. “And I don’t give a fuck about my arm! Ben is gone!” I yelled at them, not even bothering to hide my tears anymore. “And you guys just- just stood there, while…” while Ben slipped from my grip… my hands…
Darius and Yasmina looked down in shame, while Kenji just stood, mouth hanging open in shock.
“It all just happened too fast.” Sammy sobbed. She was a mess; face all red, bawling her eyes out. I was sure I looked even worse, but I didn’t care anymore.
I grunted in frustration, punching the closest wall and leaving behind a dent and a bloody fist mark.
‘This isn’t their fault.’ I shook my lowered head. ‘I’m the one who failed him.’ Even if Ben had survived the fall, and that was a big ‘if’, he still had dinosaurs chasing him.
‘He is dead because of me.’
Kenji took a few steps toward me. “Hayden, we-”
“Don’t.” I cut him off, glaring. Something tapped lightly at my leg, drawing my attention to the little Ankylo whimpering lightly. I kneeled down to pet Bumpy, letting out a harsh sigh, forcing myself to calm down. She didn’t deserve to listen to me like this, she just lost Ben too…
“I got it, I got it, I got it!” Brooklynn stormed in, holding a small white box with a red cross on it, but she stopped on her tracks when she noticed the tears and shocked expressions.
“We’re going back.” Darius suddenly muttered, looking out the window. “The monorail is going back!” He shouted.
We all just blankly stared at him. “What do you mean ‘going back’?” Brooklynn asked.
“When we switched tracks, we ended up on one headed north. We’re not going to the south dock, we’re going back to Main Street!” He explained, running over to the control panel, trying the buttons. “Doesn’t anything here work?” He grunted, turning back to us. “We gotta get off this monorail, now!”
‘This couldn’t be happening- this couldn’t- first Ben… now this?’ I balled my hands into a fist, granted my left hand didn’t respond that well. But that didn’t matter, we needed to get to the south docks and get home… for Ben.
Brooklynn glanced out the window. “Oh! T-The tracks dip down up ahead! We can jump there!” She pointed to the tracks.
“J- jump?” Sammy stuttered.
“We can’t! It’s too far to jump!” Yasmina argued.
“What?” Kenji exclaimed. “What about Hayden? Her arm… she-”
“We’ll deal with that later.” I cut him off, holding my arm tightly to put some pressure on it, but the crimson continued to flow through my fingers. “Right now, we’re getting farther and farther away from the South Dock.”
“Yeah, it’s the only way!” Darius agreed and I nodded along, eager for a distraction.
We hesitantly readied ourselves by the open window. Kenji picked up Ben’s pouch that he had left behind. I kneeled beside Bumpy, readying myself to lift her.
“I got it.” Kenji offered.
“I can do it.” I scowled at him.
“No, you can’t, you’re hurt.” He said firmly. “You’re like double hurt.” I just gave him a death stare. I carried Bumpy with Ben all the way here; I did that. I could do this one last thing for him. “I know you don’t want to, but let me help.” He hesitantly placed a hand on my shoulder.
My eyes locked on his hands, but this time, though, I didn’t push him away, cause maybe he was right. I couldn’t feel much of the cut on my arm, but there was so much blood… maybe- maybe I shouldn’t push my luck. But Bumpy was my responsibility now, with Ben… gone, I-
“Fine.” I caught myself saying and with a sigh, I went to stand by the window with the others. Kenji nodded, picking Bumpy up with a grunt and staying by my side.
Darius looked each of us in the eye and took a deep breath. “One… two… three… now!”
We jumped out the window, being engulfed by the wind as soon as we leaped. Then, the gravity took over.
‘I wonder if Ben felt this light in the air, this-’ I didn’t have time to finish my thought because I hit the ground hard and immediately began to roll down a hill, limbs everywhere as I tried to curl myself into a ball. I only stopped when my back hit a tree. I gasped with the impact, all the air got expelled from my lungs and my back exploded in pain once again.
“Is everyone all right?” Darius asked, wincing as he got up. He seemed okay overall, he had torn his shirt at the collar and he had scraped his knees, ripping his jeans.
“Ish.” Brooklynn mumbled. Just like Darius, she had ripped her jeans, with bruises and cuts all over. “Are you?”
“Bumpy. Where’s Bumpy?” Kenji was on his feet frantically looking around, his face twisted in panic. “I lost her when I hit the ground. She’s gotta be here!”
“You did what! ?” I jumped up, which I instantly regretted as a wave of dizziness hit me. I had to back up and lean on the tree for support. I didn’t remember hitting my head when we jumped, or maybe it was just because of the blood loss?
‘I don’t have time for this.’ I shook my head, but that made the dizziness worse. ‘We need to find Bumpy.’
Kenji motioned to help me, but I held my hand out, stopping him.
“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it.” He cried, glancing at the trees. “Bumpy? Bumpy?” He called.
“Bumpy? Come here girl!” I joined him. This couldn’t be happening… first Ben, now Bumpy. Tears started to form again in my eyes, but I angrily kept them at bay. “Bumpy!”
“Shh.” Brooklynn came over to us. “There are still dinosaurs out here, including Toro and-”
“Bumpy!?” I called frantically, ignoring Brooklynn. I only cared about one dinosaur.
“We gotta look for her, don’t we?” Sammy said, holding her arm and wincing in pain. “And Ben! He might still be-”
“How? We don’t even know where they are!” Yasmina argued. She tried to walk over to us, but instantly collapsed on her leg, it seemed like our crash had worsened it.
We fell in silence once again; nobody knew what to do with the situation. I scanned our surroundings for any movement, Bumpy could be hiding in a bush for all I knew. I needed to find her. I needed her to be okay.
“Come out, Bumpy.” I felt my breathing shallow and I had to keep leaning against the tree for support. “Where are you?” My voice came out with such desperation not even I recognized it.
“What’s wrong with your arm, Sammy?” Darius asked.
“I, uh- might’ve dislocated it.” Sammy said, wincing.
“Oh, this might help.” Brooklynn raised the first aid kit.
“I think Hayden might be needin’ that more than me.” Sammy glanced over to me with a sad smile. “And besides, once, this happened with my cousin and I remember how they fixed him. I think I- I can do it… if someone helped me out.”
“I’ll help.” Darius volunteered, walking over to Sammy.
“That leaves us girls.” Brooklynn smiled at me.
‘And Kenji.’ I thought. He was standing a bit far from us, but I could feel his gaze burning at my skull. I appreciated him not coming over, because honestly, I would punch him in the face with my good arm. He had one job! One job! How could he lose Bumpy like that?
My eyes darted around the darkness, looking for the little dinosaur. I could feel my breathing speeding up by the second. I slid down the tree until I hit the ground. In. Out. In. Out. ‘Come on, don't lose it, Hayden.’ I sighed in relief as I felt my breathing normalizing, but I could still feel my heart pounding on my head.
“How is your arm? Does it hurt?” Brooklynn was kneeling next to me, staring at the bloody thing.
‘Right...’ The whole left side of my shirt was soaked in blood, the damp fabric sticking to my skin uncomfortably. The blood left a trail down my arm all the way to my hand, where it was really a mess, I could barely see the color of my skin underneath all that red. And there was so much red… that couldn’t be good…
“Not really.” I ended up saying cause it was the truth, my arm was just… numb. But she only glanced at me, skeptical.
“Come on, let me help.” She said, making me snort.
‘The last time someone helped, it turned out to be a disaster.’ I glared at Kenji, who cowered in a corner.
Even with my stubbornness, Brooklynn coaxed me to let her take hold of my arm. I just stared blankly at a tree in front of me. My tears had dried out and I tried to remain as neutral as possible. I still felt Kenji’s eyes on me, and Brooklynn’s now, waiting for me to explode again.
“Damn, it's dark here.” Brooklynn complained as if to fill the awkward silence. Even though it was a full moon night, all the trees around us were casting a shadow.
That made it difficult to see my arm properly, but there was a deep gash in the interior of my arm, it was big, ugly and irregular. It had caught my biceps, because every time I tried to move it, my whole arm sized up in protest. It was still bleeding, though I wasn’t feeling any sort of pain. It was weird, to see the gash and not feel the pain that should accompany it. The wound just seemed out of place… wrong… a deep red staining everything.
“Okay, this is gonna hurt.” Brooklynn had an alcohol pad on her hand.
“Just do it.” I hurried her. She shrugged and went for it, holding the pad against the cut. I inhaled sharply, as it burned in contact. “Oh, I felt that.” I shut my eyes, ignoring the stinging sensation… then the agonizing rough tissue rubbing against my open wound… then the pressure of the bandages being wrapped around my arm.
“It doesn’t look that bad.” Brooklynn had finished dressing the wound.
“Don’t need to lie, Brooklynn. It’s pretty big.” I let out a harsh breath.
“Well, it does need stitches but it didn’t hit anything important, because you’re like… alive, you know?” She cracked a smile.
“If you consider that a good thing...” I muttered, half-joking and she smacked me on my head. “Ow, I’m injured here.” I whined.
“Do not joke about that, idiot.” She frowned.
We heard Sammy crying out in pain, followed by a loud sigh. “Good as new, y’all!” She gave us a thumbs up from where she was laying down.
“You’re all done too.” Brooklynn said.
“Thanks.” I mumbled, the cut still stung a bit because of the alcohol and the bandage was a bit too tight, but I really was thankful for her.
The bleeding seemed to be under control, but the blood on my hands and clothes remained. I wonder if Brooklynn couldn’t do anything about that, just looking at it reminded me of Ben and how I had failed him. No, maybe it was better left like this… I needed a reminder…
“Anytime.” She smiled.
Suddenly, a voice sounded from afar. “Attention. All park-goers must report to the south ferry dock for immediate evacuation. Last ferry departs in 60 minutes.”
“No chance we could get there in an hour! It’s way too far!” Yasmina said.
“Not if we leave right now!” Brooklynn said, getting up and offering me a hand.
“But Bumpy, and Ben...” Sammy pleaded.
“We can’t go back for Ben!” Brooklynn yelled, drawing our attention to her.
Even if we did go back… it would be pointless. I was not ready to see that. Or maybe there was nothing left and the Pteranodons did their thing. I shook myself mentally, pushing these thoughts away.
I took a deep breath and got up, straightening my back. “She’s right… Ben’s- he’s gone.” They all stared at me, shocked by my sudden change of demeanor. “And Bumpy, we don’t know where she is…” I sighed, glaring at Kenji, who looked away.
Even though the thing I wanted the most was to go looking for Bumpy, I had to face it, our priority was getting home. Nonetheless, that left a bitter taste on my mouth, like I was betraying Ben. Letting him down for not going after Bumpy…
“There’s just not enough time to look for-” Darius sighed. “We can make it to the ferry, but only if we go now.”
“Last ferry departs in 60 minutes.” The automated voice reminded us.
Darius clenched his hands into fist. “We have to go!” He stated, determined.
…
So, we needed to get to the South Dock as fast as possible, cutting through the jungle proved to be impossible. The rough terrain looked all the same, but Darius reminded us of the tunnels connecting the whole island, so now we were searching for a hatch.
“Guys!” Brooklynn called us, making us all stop and glance back at them. Yasmina was on the ground, she had fallen because of her ankle again. Secretly, I was glad for the break. I had been having trouble keeping up, my body simply didn’t respond as fast as I wanted it to. My back ached all over and my arm was like it had gone numb, making my sight fuzzy with it. 60 minutes… that didn’t sound like enough time.
Sammy rushed over to her, even though she had her arm locked near her body because of her shoulder. Sammy offered Yasmina a hand. “Are you all-”
“Fine.” Yasmina ignored Sammy's hand to accept Brooklynn’s.
“How are you even walking?” Brooklynn asked, astonished.
“I’m highly motivated.” Yasmina grunted while getting up. “I’ve got this.” She tried to take another step but collapsed again.
“She can’t keep up like this. What do we do?” Sammy looked at the rest of us, her eyes wide.
“We can’t stop, so, we’ll make a stretcher, maybe?” Darius suggested.
“The tunnels have to be close by, right?” I turned to Kenji, but his gaze was far away. “Kenji? Right?” I shook him by the arm and he blinked back to reality. “The tunnels. Does something here look familiar?”
“I- uh-” He glanced around, uncertain. “This way.” He signaled us to follow him.
I took a deep breath and followed him through the jungle, focusing on keeping one foot after the other. After a few minutes, we found the hatch disguised as a rock, which opened smoothly. I had to use only one arm to climb down the ladder, I didn’t want to risk it and start bleeding again. Yasmina was the last one down, but she slipped on the last step. Luckily, Brooklynn was there to catch her.
“This’ll get us to the dock in half the time.” Kenji took off running, guiding us in the maze of tunnels. Different from the other day we were here, only the red emergency lights were on, which gave off an eerie vibe.
“Are we sure Mr. VIP knows what he’s doing?” Brooklynn scorned.
“Kenji took Hayden and me down here before.” Darius defended Kenji. “Just trust him. We’ll be outta here in no… time.” We turned a corner and halted in place. A metal gate blocked our path and all our eyes focused on Kenji.
“Everything looks different with the lights all freaky like this, okay?” Kenji complained. “This way!” He ran into another tunnel, only to grunt and come back around and try another one. We followed him around, but all of the tunnels seemed to be blocked. “This wasn’t here before!” He grunted.
“Why are there so many security gates?” Yasmina asked.
“The park must be in lockdown because of the dinosaurs.” I suggested.
“Oh, we have to go ‘round!” Kenji huffed. “This way!”
Kenji led us to yet another gate. This tunnel was a bit wider with doors and lockers on the side. Kenji was trying the doors while the rest of us tried the lockers. Brooklynn opened one of them and a metal rod fell out.
She picked it up. “Oh! We can use this for-”
Kenji snatched the rod from Brooklynn’s hands, switching it on by accident. He tried to forcibly open the door with it, but since the door was made of metal, he ended up shocking himself and falling to the ground.
Brooklynn picked it up and turned it off. “A walking stick.” She shook her head and gave it to Yasmina. Kenji got up and banged his fists against the metal gate, in frustration. “Unbelievable.” Brooklynn groaned.
“You said-”
“All park-goers must report to the south ferry dock for immediate evacuation. Last ferry departs in 30 minutes.” A voice sounded on the speakers.
“Not helping!” Kenji yelled.
I let out a harsh breath, the room had started to spin a bit, so I leaned on the wall for support. I guess adrenaline could only do so much with the blood loss and lack of sleep. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on the cold wall. Hoping that the coldness would help to clear my mind. We needed to get to the docks… we needed a solution… now… a solution that actually worked, one that didn’t end up with us being left behind… or dead…
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Sammy by my side, full of concern in her eyes.
“You alright there?” She whispered, as the rest of them went on complaining about the gate.
I stood up straight. “I’m okay.” I nodded. I didn’t want their pity nor their help.
“It’s okay if you aren’t.” She said softly.
“I said ‘I’m okay’.” I replied through a clenched jaw, taking a step away from Sammy and letting her hand fall. She looked a bit hurt by my words and went back to hugging her right arm, I guess it must be worse than she was letting on. But still, here she was, worried about me. I confess that that made me regret pushing her away, but I didn’t have the luxury of being weak right now. 60 minutes, we had only 60- no, 30 minutes! Dammit! We needed to hurry.
Our attention was drawn back to the rest of the campers as a thud echoed in the tunnels. Kenji had kicked the gate.
“Just try to remember.” Darius said to Kenji.
“What do you think I’m doing?” Kenji snapped back at him. “Coming down here was your idea Darius, so just back off.”
“Uh, Kenji, Darius?” Sammy interrupted. “The way we came from… where does that tunnel end?”
“It opens up into the park, I guess.” Kenji said. “Why do you-”
He was interrupted by a snarl echoing in the tunnels. Behind us, the red lights casted a shadow of a dinosaur on the walls.
We backed up at the sight, which made Yasmina fall and drop the rod. Kenji picked it up and pointed at the approaching shadow, shaking a bit. The dinosaur turned the corner, only to reveal itself as a small Compy and we all grunted with the revelation.
“It’s just a Compy.” Darius said. Kenji switched the stun rod on, which scared the dinosaur away.
“It’s like a foot tall.” I rolled my eyes at Kenji.
“And uh- not alone.” Yasmina pointed to the hallway in front of us, where multiple Compies had gathered.
“We need to go.” Darius said. “In a group, Compies can-”
“Not really the time for a lesson, dino-nerd!” Kenji cut him off. A Compy jumped onto Kenji’s shoulder, only to be smacked down to the floor.
“Why not?” Brooklynn shot back. “It’s not like you’ve gotten us anywhere close to the dock, Mr. VIP!”
“Oh! Yeah, I’m sorry. Don’t you have some sort of ‘unboxing being a brat all the time’ video to be shooting?” Kenji scorned.
I shook my head at their bickering. ‘How do they even have energy for that?’ I usually wasn’t one to complain, but I was exhausted, my clothes were sticking to my skin because of all the sweat, mud and blood, and my whole body hurt. I just sighed and leaned back on the wall, choosing not to get involved in their argument.
Brooklynn scoffed at Kenji’s remarks and Sammy got between them. “Hey! Calm yourselves! You’re scaring the itty-bitty Compy family.”
“Scaring the- Are you for real?” Kenji asked, astonished. “After everything, you’re defending the dinosaurs?”
“It’s not her fault you got us lost!” Brooklynn yelled.
Yasmina scoffed. “It’s definitely her fault for some of this.”
“Let it go, Yaz! It’s just a phone!”
“Wait, what?” Yasmina stared at Brooklynn, dumbfounded. “I don’t even know what’s going on anymore.”
“Guys, just stop-”
A loud roar echoed again, making my whole body tense up. This time, most definitely it wasn’t a Compy. At the end of the hallway, Toro came into view, growling at us. All the Compies screeched in fear and ran from the dinosaur. Kenji returned the rod to Yasmina and we took off running as Toro charged, adrenaline pumping back into my veins.
“Guys, zig-zag!” I yelled, remembering that Toro didn’t do good in turns. We made one turn after another, until we reached a gate. We rolled to the side and Toro slammed at the metal bars, face first. We made another turn, losing him from sight momentarily.
“In here!” Yasmina pointed to a vent. She used her rod to quickly open it and we crawled inside, just in time for us to hear the heavy footsteps right outside the vent. Toro ran past the hallway we were just in, roaring in frustration when he didn’t find us.
‘Shit, I hope Toro can’t smell blood, ‘cause I’m still covered in it.’ The thought crossed my mind, but Toro didn’t indicate to be coming back.
“We can’t stay here! The ferry-” Sammy started to say.
“Yeah, tell that to Toro.” I cut her off.
“Shh.” Kenji shushed us and pointed to the other side of the vent, maybe this led to somewhere… we crawled for a bit and we found another vent exit. Yasmina and Darius were in the lead, so they used the metal rod to open the vent grade, which made a loud clanging sound that echoed throughout the tunnels. Certainly, Toro had heard it.
This next tunnel was different from the rest; it was wider, with no pipes on the walls and no red lights. Instead, it was dark with railway tracks on a lower level of the ground, probably to move heavy cargo of sorts. In the wall, there was a sign that we could barely read: ‘Exit to dock, 1000 ft.’, with an arrow pointed left.
We cheered and ran to the direction the sign indicated. The tunnel got brighter and brighter the closer we got to the end, but instead of the tunnel opening to the docks, it opened to a wide and well-lit chamber. It had wooden crates and containers spread out on platforms on the side, and a huge concrete wall where the door should be.
“No! No, no, no, no!” Kenji ran to the wall. “There’s gotta be a door or…”
“Spread out!” I grunted. We searched the whole place, behind crates, in the tracks, but nothing… no door and nothing electronic that opened anything.
“There’s no way out.” Brooklynn dropped her head onto her hands. “They must’ve sealed it off after the park was finished.”
“Ugh! Can’t anyone in this park make just one good decision?” Yasmina groaned. A loud roar was heard from the tunnel behind us and we backed up to the farthest corner.
“Darius, what do we do now?” Kenji asked, with his voice shaking. And all our eyes fell on Darius.
“I don’t know.” He said, glancing over at me, but I just shrugged and lowered my head. We had no way out and Toro was coming right at us. I didn’t know what to do. Darius held his head in his hands and started to shake desperately. “I don’t know.” He muttered.
“But you always know.” Sammy said.
“I don’t know!” He yelled. “I didn’t know what to do back at the raptors paddock… when camp got destroyed… or when the Indominus attacked.” At every sentence, he took a step closer to me, eyes pleading, but I just averted my gaze.
He had tears in his eyes. “Hayden, you were the one-”
“I don’t have any answers, Darius.” I leaned back on the concrete wall, staring down at my hands covered in dry blood. Everything I’ve done since the Indominus got out ended up being a bad decision. My ‘Operation Find People to Help Us’ was a bust. And because of me, Bumpy was lost and Ben… he was gone. Gone . I didn’t know what this guy was getting onto, but I wasn’t what he was insinuating. I couldn’t bear if a decision that I made ended up putting us in danger, or worse if I got someone killed again.
Darius slumped down to the ground and buried his head on his knees. “I can’t get us to the ferry. I should’ve never left home. I’m a dino-nerd who played a video game, and I’m no good at this!” The tears started to roll down his cheeks.
“But you are .” Kenji stated. “Good at this… I mean, like, I’m sure you’re fine at video games, too, not downplaying that, but -but because you didn’t give up, we didn’t give up either, Darius.”
“You kept us going, no matter what some of us have done.” Sammy said.
“You made us feel like we were in this together.” Yasmina sat next to Sammy. “So, we are. We’re a team. We’re your team.”
“Things fall apart.” Brooklynn quoted. “And that’s okay, because when that happens…”
“We pick up the pieces and we keep going.” Darius finished the sentence with a half-smile. Kenji laid out his hand, which he took it and let himself be pulled up.
Toro’s roar was heard again. “He’s getting closer.” Brooklynn whispered.
“Let’s see what’s in these crates.” Darius said, in a sudden confidence burst.
We all spread out in the room, each of us opening a different crate. I found one near some containers, but the lid seemed to be nailed shut. I had to use just one hand, digging it with my nails only for it not to move.
“Fucking useless.” I kicked the crate.
“Want some help?” Kenji came to join me with a crowbar in hand.
“No, thanks.” I spat out, without even sparing him a glance. ‘To think I’d ever accept help from him again.’
“Are you-”
“Peachy.”
“Um… I know you’re mad at me. I- I would totally be too… this is all so fucked up and now Bumpy is…” He was stumbling on his words. “I guess… I’m sorry?” He finally said.
“Is that a question?” I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘Jeez, doesn’t this guy get the hint I’m not in the mood for talking?’
Kenji shook his head emphatically. “What? No- I-”
“Let’s just get this done.” I said, fumbling with the crate.
“I’m sorry I let go of her, okay?” He had his head hung low. “I should’ve-”
“Forget about it, Kenji.” I let out a harsh sigh and turned my gaze back to him. He had the most broken expression, he looked me in the eyes for a second before averting his gaze, but that was enough for me to see the tears threatening to fall. Maybe I wasn’t the only one hurting for Bumpy. It was my fault for letting him jump with Bumpy in the first place. She was my responsibility and I passed her over without a second thought. She was Ben’s best friend and I failed him… again. I shook my head, pushing these thoughts away. “I’m sure she’s alright.” I said, the words coming out stiff.
“You really think so?” He mumbled, his eyes big and gloomy.
“She’s a dinosaur, she belongs here on the island.” I said, trying to comfort him and myself. “She’s okay.” I stated, more confidently this time.
“I hope you’re right.” He looked up. “And you know what happened to Ben was not your fault, right?” He quietly added, as if bracing himself for me to lash out again.
I thought about doing just that or giving him some snarky remark, but I just looked down at my hands instead. My dirty red hands, still covered in the dry coppery stains. My hands. A painful reminder of what happened.
“It feels like it, though.” I felt my eyes burning, so I turned my attention to scrapping some of the dry blood off with my nails, determined not to cry. “He slipped through my fingers, Kenji. You don’t know what that’s like.”
“I kinda do, you trusted me with Bumpy and I- I failed you.”
A scoff left my lips. “It’s not the same thing, Bumpy is still out there, she’s just… lost.” I gestured with my hands, trying to make him understand. “She’ll be okay. And maybe it was for the best, she wouldn’t be able to come with us on the ferry anyway.”
Kenji nodded along, but suddenly he shook his head. “You’re missing the point. What happened with Ben was an accident. The flying dinos are to blame, not you.”
I exhaled loudly, tired of all of this. “Whatever you say, Kenji.” I dismissed him with a shrug. “Let’s just get back to these crates and get to the ferry.”
He sighed, frustrated with my response. “Fine.” He grunted, opening the crate’s lid with too much force, then he frowned. “Medical supplies?” Kenji asked, looking down. The crate was full of oxygen tanks and tape.
Darius walked over to us. “We had these around the house after my dad got sick.” He picked up one oxygen tank. “Super compressed air, sensitive to pressure and heat!”
“That’ll work.” I smirked, already thinking of blowing up a hole on the wall.
“And might be able to scare Toro off.” Brooklynn pointed out.
“Or distract him long enough for us to find another exit.” Darius suggested. “Kenji, Brooklynn, let’s get this crate loaded on that cart.” He pointed to a metal cart behind him. “Sammy, use those bandages and tape to make a fuse. We’re gonna need something to light it with.”
Yasmina switched on the stun rod, making a crackling sound.
“That will do.” Darius smiled.
Toro’s roar scared us again, so we quickly got on with the plan. After some struggle, the crate was on the cart and Sammy had made a long fuse connecting to one of the oxygen tanks.
We heard the rumbling sound of Toro’s footsteps and we hid behind the loaded cart. The red dinosaur had entered the room and he climbed onto our platform, standing right in front of the cart as he sniffed the air for us.
“Light it up.” Darius whispered.
Yasmina turned on the stun rod, touching the fuse, but it didn’t ignite.
“Yaz?” Brooklynn asked, uncertain.
“I’m trying! It won’t light!” She angrily whispered.
“Wait! Hand sanitizer!” Kenji pulled a bottle out of Ben’s pouch and poured the liquid onto the fuse. “This stuff will burn.”
Third time's the charm, and Yasmina finally managed to light it up.
“Thanks Ben.” Brooklynn whispered.
“Now!” Darius yelled.
We pushed the cart towards Toro, while the flame traveled up the fuse. But, instead of exploding, Toro head-butted the crate, sending its contents and burning wood flying across the room. Toro roared at us as he recovered from the blow, locking his piercing eyes onto us and charging.
We rolled out the way at the last second and he collided with a container. We hid behind some crates, only for Toro to whip his tail, destroying them too. The six of us scattered across the hangar. Toro went for Kenji, who jumped in the tracks for cover; the dino, then, moved on to Sammy and Brooklynn on the corner, but they got away after he slipped and fell.
Toro got up and had Yasmina in his sight; she was still on the platform, slowly limping away. He charged at her, but Darius and I threw pieces of wood to distract him. It worked, because it charged at us instead. We ran between the wooden crates, which did nothing to deter Toro, as he smashed through them. We dodged Toro’ jaws and jumped on the tracks.
“Darius!” I yelled, pointing at Yasmina’s stun rod, which now lay abandoned in the middle of the tracks.
He swiftly picked it up as we continued running. We reached the concrete wall at the end of the tracks. The wall that separated us from salvation. No way out.
Toro charged at us once again and we rolled out the way and he hit the wall instead. Darius went left and I went right. On the other side I saw Kenji helping Darius up the platform right away, while Toro began to get up, kicking one of the oxygen tanks in the process. That area of the tracks had multiple of these tanks piled up on the corner and the one damaged by Toro started to leak.
Darius had a determined look on his face, eyes locked on the tanks. He raised the stun rod over his head like a spear, lighting it up and backing away. He was going to blow Toro up, and I was at range! I couldn’t climb the platform from where I was at, so I just stumbled my way back on the tracks.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I mumbled under my breath as I took cover behind a crate.
A huge explosion shook the room. I could feel the heat from it through the wooden crate. Smoke filled the air and the light dimmed as most of the lamps on the ceiling burst with the force of the explosion.
After the smoke had cleared a bit, I peeked out from behind the crate. The whole room was a mess, the crates closer to the explosion were in pieces and there was a big pile of debris where Toro once was.
“Hayden!” Darius called.
“Here!” I yelled back, coughing because of the smoke. I climbed onto the platform they were on and went to join them. “Is everyone okay?”
“Uh, surprisingly, yeah.” Brooklynn answered, eyes wide. The explosion had covered us in a thin layer of ashes and dirt, but everybody seemed alright.
“Whoo-hoo!” Kenji cheered. “We did it, we beat-”
We heard something moving under the debris. We backed up as Toro came out of the pile, growling at us. Then, the smell of burning flesh hit us. Toro took a wobbly step in our direction and fell down. He was too injured to keep attacking us; besides his scar in the snout, he now had burns all over his body.
He got up, once again, and turned to face us. Unlike his usual scary roar, he was snarling and whining in pain. We stared him right in the eye, not backing up and ready for his attack. But after a while, Toro growled and retreated back to the tunnel. As soon as the dinosaur disappeared in the darkness, the six of us sighed in relief.
“Yeah! That’s what you get!” Darius jumped up, cheering.
“Take that, Toro!” I slumped on the ground, with what was left of the adrenaline leaving my body.
“Whoo-hoo, that’s right.” Sammy did a little dance.
“Yes!” Kenji collapsed on the floor. “I thought we were goners! Oh, that was scary!”
“Doesn’t get better than that.” Darius said.
“Wanna bet?” Yasmina said with a grin on her face and pointed to the wall. The explosion had blasted a small hole in the concrete, where sunlight was shining through.
The six of us exchanged a smile and squeezed through the hole. It opened up to a dirt road that led to the docks. With what was left of our strength, we sprinted down the hill and the trees opened up to reveal the South Dock.
We stopped dead on our tracks at the sight, it was incredibly bigger and more equipped than the one we had arrived in Isla Nublar all those days ago. There were multiple concrete piers, but they were empty. No ferries. No one was around. The only evidence that people were ever here was the trash they had left behind.
“They’re gone.” Darius echoed our thoughts. “They are all gone.”
My heart dropped to my stomach. ‘It all had been for nothing.’ We rushed our way here just to be left behind. I squinted at the sun shining bright against the blue ocean, a calm surface with no indication that boats had ever sailed here.
“They’ll be back for us, won’t they?” Sammy quivered.
“Of course, they will.” Darius stood confident. “And until then, we’ve got each other. Right, Mr. VIP?” He playfully punched Kenji on the shoulder.
“Absolutely, Dino-nerd.” Kenji chuckled.
“Hey, don’t forget superstar.” Brooklynn squeezed between them both.
“Barf.” Yasmina jokingly said.
I could only clench my fists as I observed the lazy waves hitting the dock, the ocean breeze hitting us with its salty smell, reminding us that we were on an island. An isolated island infested with dinosaurs that wanted to kill us.
‘Well, shit.’
Notes:
That concludes season one, it was fun writing these last chapters, a lot happened in so little time. This season pretty much happens in a span of a few days, so I didn’t get many opportunities to fit extra chapters like I would’ve liked. I guess, look forward to those so you’ll get to see how the relationship between the campers develops. What can I say… Hayden needs a hug. Desperately. Maybe that should be a tag cause you can expect more of that.
See you next week!
june/24 - I'm still here editing lol (but i'm done with season 1, be back for season 2)
Chapter 10: Beacon of Hope
Summary:
Campers search for a way to call for help… and food… and shelter… everything really.
Notes:
Starting season two with a long one 😊
Warnings: mention of violence, blood, negative thoughts, self-blaming.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
With little food and sleep, all of us were functioning automatically by now. After we discovered that we were left behind in this hell of an island, we had encountered a Parasaurolophus in the jungle; it had come a long way from the River Adventure. Then, we discovered the reason why: Rexy, the T. rex, was hunting it. The apex predator had the usual carnivore build. She traveled in her muscular back legs, with her massive head balanced by a huge tail. The arms were hilariously small, but the sharp teeth made up for it. The Tyrannosaurus chased the Parasaurolophus vigorously, the earth shaking with every step. Rexy was a dull gray and brown with faded stripes on her back, she easily reached two stories tall and at least double in length, a bit smaller than the Indominus, but just as scary. She had several scars marking her body; some already healed, others new, but most distinctively, she had claw marks going down her thick neck. And to think that a dinosaur that size would be easy to spot in the jungle… we had been running for a while now and the T. rex had vanished from our sights.
“Is the Parasaurolophus still there?” Brooklynn asked; she and Sammy were helping out Yasmina, practically carrying the girl as we ran. Just as we turned to look, Rexy reappeared from the trees, chasing off the herbivore.
“Not anymore!” Kenji yelled.
“Over there! Cover!” Darius pointed to a huge fallen tree. We ran over to it and ducked behind the log. Luckily, Rexy was too busy with the Parasaurolophus to pay any attention to us. The T. rex let out a loud roar while the herbivore squealed in pain. We could hear the Tyrannosaurus’ jaws snapping shut, crushing bones along with it. I winced at the sound and peeked over the tree. Rexy was dragging the dead dinosaur away by its head.
I kept my eyes glued onto the dinosaur until it disappeared into the thick jungle, only leaving a crimson trail behind.
“I think we’re in the clear.” I whispered and slumped back to the ground. Everybody sighed in relief and relaxed in their crouched positions. I shut my eyes and rested my head on the log for a bit. I felt the adrenaline that was pumping in my veins leaving me. The pain started to set in yet again, the throbbing in my back and now my arm had begun to sting a bit. The headache was new, though. But what could I expect? I always had migraines when dehydrated, and I didn’t even remember when was the last time water touched my lips. That or the fact that we hadn’t had any rest since camp got destroyed.
“Why are there so many dinosaurs around?” Kenji grunted, laying on the grass.
“Well, it’s either your boyish charm or all the fences on the island are down.” Brooklynn suggested.
“No offense, but it’s definitely option two.” Sammy said.
“I don’t even care.” Yasmina sighed. “Right now, I just want a sandwich. We haven’t eaten since we had those awful carob bars that Ben-” She stopped herself mid-sentence. “I-I…” She glanced over to me before looking down at the grass.
I tugged on my arm’s bandage, which was soaked in fresh blood. It opened up again at the brawl with Toro. Now, it was only a reminder of the monorail incident. Before I could delve much in thought, a distant roar caught our attention.
The six of us groaned and stood up. “We’re not safe here.” I stated the obvious, my legs a bit shaky from the absence of adrenaline to keep me up.
“We need to eat and rest.” Sammy said. “I can’t keep running like this.”
Darius ran ahead and peeked out from behind a tree. “We don’t have to.” He pointed to the conical shaped building that rose from atop the tree line. “There’s bound to be a way to call for help on Main Street, and food and everything else. Come on!” He smiled brightly and motioned for us to follow him.
…
Yesterday, we saw a part of Main Street from the stands of the Jurassic World Lagoon; however, it was nothing compared to actually walking through it. The place was chaotic. It looked like a stampede of dinosaurs passed through here, which considering where we were, it was not that far off of a possibility. There was trash all over the place, overturned tables and chairs, shattered windows and destroyed food stands. I stepped on something that crunched under my foot; it was a piece of glass smudged with blood. I didn’t know how I hadn’t noticed it before, but beside the destruction, there was blood spattered all over. No bodies, though. Hopefully, that was a good sign.
“What happened here?” Kenji asked, as we approached the part of the street that opened up to the lagoon. We stopped in front of a building that was completely destroyed, only a few concrete walls and metal beams were left of it.
“Uh, I’m thinking dinosaurs.” Yasmina said.
“It’s more than that.” Darius examined the place. There were markings on the walls of the buildings, at least two stories up. “Some kind of fight took place. From the height, it looks like maybe the T. rex and… something bigger?”
“The Indominus rex.” Brooklynn said, looking over to the lagoon. Both the concrete railing and the metal fence were torn down, as if something big went through it and took a dive. That definitely wasn’t there before. “I don’t think we have to worry about it anymore, or what’s left of it.” She leaned over the railing, face twisted in disgust.
“Ugh!” Darius stepped back.
“Or Mosa being hungry for a while.” I commented. There was a trail of blood leading over the edge, clearly, something big had been devoured by the Mosasaurus, most likely the Indominus, since we just saw Rexy minutes ago.
“Getting close to the Mosasaurus, are we?” Brooklynn chuckled.
“I mean, it did try to kill us. That’s as close as it gets.” I backed up from the edge.
“Well then… we’ll need a nickname for every dinosaur on the island.” She commented, which made me crack a smile. “Rexy, Mosa…”
“Guys!” Sammy excitedly rushed over to us. “You have to see this!” She led us to a shop nearby.
In the entrance of the shop stood a cardboard cutout of a certain pink-haired girl, wearing the cleaner version of the same exact outfit she was on right now and holding some product from the store. The air filled with laughter at that sight.
“Wow, I totally forgot I agreed to that.” Brooklynn chuckled.
“Do you only own one outfit?” Darius asked.
“What? It’s my signature look.” Brooklyyn protested, but still had a smile on her face.
Kenji grabbed one of the store’s products and kneeled before Brooklynn. “Please, autograph my phone charger, oh queen of the Brooklanders!” He was wheezing from all the laughter.
Sammy stood next to the cardboard Brooklynn, admiring it. “Well, I think it’s cool. When we get rescued, I’m taking it with us.”
“Tbh, this does kind of remind me of home. I haven’t posted in days.” Brooklynn sighed. “I bet my followers are worried sick about me.”
“And your parents?” Sammy asked.
“Oh, uh, right, obvi. Them, too.” Brooklynn mumbled, not sounding convincing at all.
“Okay, let’s start looking for a way to communicate with the mainland.” Darius entered the store. “There’s gotta be a phone or something, right?”
We joined him in the search for the phone. The store was in overall good shape, only a couple shelves were knocked down. They sold several park souvenirs: toys, hats, bags… the whole ordeal. However, the only piece of tech they had in the store were the phone chargers and some toy walkie-talkies.
Darius headed straight to the lost and found section, but he was unlucky. “Really? No one lost their cell phone?” He complained, holding several pairs of sunglasses.
“Well, whatever phones are here… aren’t working.” Yasmina tried the landline. “The power is out. There’s not even walkie-talkies.”
“Oh, yeah? Then what do you call these bad boys?” Kenji pulled out two toy walkies in the form of green Triceratops.
Yasmina grabbed one of them and pushed a button. The toy emitted a staticky dinosaur roar. “Definitely not ‘bad boys’.” She rolled her eyes.
“Hey, at least they work.” He clicked another button on the walkie-talkie. “They even have a robot mode.” Kenji said through the toy, which gave him a robotic voice.
“Oh!” Sammy yelped in surprise and we all turned to her.
“You found something?” Darius said, excited.
“An Insider’s Guide to Jurassic World!” She held a book, awkwardly flipping the pages one with one hand, trying to spare her hurt arm. “It’s got all kinds of details about the park. Did you know there’s hidden dinos carved into the buildings? Or that aircraft aren’t allowed to fly over the island?”
“Uh, great.” I grunted, sitting on the chair by the front desk. “I guess we’re not supposed to expect rescue from the air then.”
“Sorry, that last one’s a bummer.” Sammy quickly said.
“Hey!” Brooklynn called out.
“Is it a phone?” Darius asked.
“It’s a camera! And it works!” Brooklynn jumped in excitement and turned on the camera. “Now I can document all the crazy stuff we’ve seen! Our rescue will be a Brooklynn Exclusive! That’ll get my follower count back up to where it belongs.”
“And how is that helpful?” I groaned.
“Uh, because when we get home, this will also make you famous?” Brooklynn pointed the camera toward us.
“Hey!” Kenji yelled.
“Please, tell me you found a phone.” Darius said, stretching out the words.
“Uh, no, but I could be in the video.” Kenji posed for the camera, putting on some sunglasses from the lost and found.
Sammy suddenly gasped. “Phone?” Darius sighed.
“Nope. It’s better than that.” Sammy said, looking at the book. “It’s an EDB. Emergency Distress Beacon! After the first park went down, Mr. Masrani installed one in Main Street. It’s battery powered and can send an SOS signal 150 miles in all directions!” She finished reading off the book. “We’re saved!”
“Does it say where it is?” Yasmina asked.
“Uh, no.” Sammy flipped the page. “The rest of the chapter is just glamor shots of Dr. Wu wearing turtlenecks.”
“Of course, why would Jurassic World make things easy?” I got up, gripping the desk for support.
“Everybody spread out.” Darius ordered. “There’s a way to communicate with the outside world on Main Street. We find this thing and we go home.”
“Affirmative, human.” Kenji said through the walkie-talkie in a robotic voice.
The six of us went on to search for the beacon, well, at least some of us did. Kenji was filming Brooklynn for her ‘exclusive’.
“What’s up, Brooklanders?” She over excitedly said to the camera. “You wanted exclusive footage? Well, here it is! And there’s nobody better than me to show it to you. Ka-pow!”
“You do know ‘Brooklanders’ is a weird name, right?” Kenji commented.
“Okay, I was ten when I came up with it, and-” She grunted. “Just, start over!”
“If you say so…” Kenji adjusted the camera.
“What’s up, Brooklanders?...”
I rolled my eyes at them and went back to looking for the beacon. How could they say that there’s a beacon but not inform us where it was? I bet Ben would have known where to look; he had all this safety stuff memorized.
I sighed and shook myself mentally, focusing back on the beacon. I passed a coffee shop and a restaurant. The park wouldn’t have kept the EDB there, right? Maybe in a more public place, like the actual street or the Innovation Center?
I looked below benches, in trash cans, alleyways, but nothing. I looked inside a restaurant’s kitchen that had a shattered window and I immediately flinched back.
“What? Found something?” Brooklynn rushed over with her camera.
“Nothing you’d want to show on camera.” I blocked the camera’s view.
She peeked over to the kitchen and also flinched back “Ew.”
“Told ya.” I scrunched up my nose. There was a charred body of a raptor laying on top of the stove. The stench of burned flesh could be smelled all the way from here.
“Uh, oh! A Starbucks!” Brooklynn quickly shifted the focus from the dinosaur and ran over to the store at the end of the street, leaving me alone with the dead raptor.
The dinosaur’s upper body was burned almost to the bone. I gazed into the raptor’s empty eye socket for a long second, wondering how the hell did that happen. Finally, with a sigh, I moved on from the kitchen. I noticed a public bathroom next to the Starbucks, so I headed over there.
After going to the bathroom, I used the small sink to wash all the blood and dirt off me. I guess the gash on my arm was reminder enough, I didn’t need the gross dry blood everywhere. I took off my cropped shirt to clean all the blood on my skin. Turning on the faucet, I let the cold water run through my fingers, watching as the pink water swirled down the drain. I just stared at my hands, they didn’t seem my own anymore, they were clean, only with some coppery dirt under the nails, but clean. After wasting a lot of water, I moved over to my arm, then my torso, where the blood had dampened my shirt. I dipped my once upon a time white shirt under the faucet, but the water only seemed to spread the stain, coloring the entire thing in pink. I even put tons of soap, but to no avail. I sighed and looked at the mirror in front of me. I could barely recognize myself. Yeah, I could see the well-defined muscles I had fought so much to get, the fat that still bothered me, never seeming to go away and the black and blue disheveled hair. But on top of all that I looked sick, I was pale with huge bags under my eyes.
‘This island will do that to ya.’ I averted my gaze from my reflection and returned my attention to my shirt.
“That’s not coming off.” Brooklynn suddenly said, leaning against the bathroom door and with the camera pointed to the ground.
“Yeah.” I sighed, looking down at the wet shirt in my hands.
Her face lit up. “Don’t move, I have an idea.” She stormed out of the bathroom in a rush.
“Okay…” I mumbled to myself. I took a few sips from the faucet, then I washed my face and tried to fix my hair until the bathroom door opened again.
“I didn’t know your size, so I brought a bunch.” Brooklynn came in holding a couple t-shirts with the park’s logo on it.
“Black.” I smirked. “My favorite color.”
“Yeah, not too difficult to figure that out.” She laughed, looking me up and down.
“I’ll take a large one, please.” I said in a fake British accent.
“There you go, madam.” She handed the shirt with a bow, imitating the accent.
“And this is trash.” I threw my old wet and bloodied shirt in the trash can. I put on the oversized shirt, tucking the front on my sweatpants.
“I think they say rubbish.” She commented. “You look way better without all the blood and stuff.” She added with a smile.
“Thanks.” I smiled back. Yeah, all the black made me look ever paler, but I was satisfied with the final result, I felt clean, so that had to be enough. I fixed the hair once more at the mirror and we exited the bathroom to resume the search for the beacon. “No luck at Starbucks?”
“Nah, couldn’t find any good coffee left.” She sighed.
I chuckled; of course, she was looking for coffee and not the EDB. “Want to check out the Innovation Center?”
“Definitely!” She adjusted the camera to have both of us in frame. “What do you think, Brooklanders? Ready to explore the abandoned Innovation Center with Hayden and me?”
“My turn!” Kenji, with a toy dinosaur in hand, rushed over to us and stole the camera. “I’ll give it back to you in a minute!” He left riding a scooter.
“Hey! I was in the middle of something!” Brooklynn protested, but Kenji was already long gone.
“We can check the Innovation Center later.” I yawned, and she hummed in response. I was tired of searching mindlessly for the beacon anyway. I was sore, my body seemed to be made out from lead by the speed I was moving and, at moments, my sight turned fuzzy. All clear signs I was pushing too hard. On top of that we hadn’t eaten or slept for over 24 hours, they wouldn’t mind if I took a break, right? My feet were already leading me back to the souvenir store. “Hey, you know that ‘Brooklander’ really is kind of a weird name, right?” I remembered Kenji’s comment.
Brooklynn sighed in defeat. “I know.”
I chuckled at her and kept walking. “So, uh- you and Sammy are cool now?” I asked, remembering their conversation yesterday at the lagoon’s stands.
“Yeah, I decided to listen to Kenji.” She shook her head. “Ugh, I can believe I’m saying that out loud.”
I laughed. “Oh, I wish I had that on camera.”
“Speaking of it.” We spotted Kenji annoying Darius and his toy dino. “Gotta go!” Brooklynn went over to the boys.
I headed over to the souvenir store, where there were several stuffed dinosaurs on the shelves. Their bright colors reminded me of my little sister, Lizzy. She had asked me to bring her a souvenir back. How would I give it to her when I was stuck on this island.
‘Did my family even know what had happened?’ I couldn’t afford to go down in these thoughts, so I shook myself to rid my mind of them.
I spotted a green stuffed Ankylosaurus that reminded me of Bumpy, so I grabbed that one and went outside. Yasmina was sitting by herself at a table, so I decided to join her.
“Hey.” She greeted me.
“Sup.” I said back, yawning. I interlocked my fingers and stretched my arms above my head. I immediately regretted the action as pain shot from my back, accompanied by a sensation of tearing my skin open at my arm.
“How’s your arm?” Yasmina asked, clearly noticing my reaction.
“Fine.” I tugged on my gross bandages. “Just messy.”
“And your back?” She pressed. I raised my brows inquisitorially. The only person that knew that was Kenji. “I’m not blind.” She chuckled.
I grunted. I guess I wasn’t as stealthy as I wanted. “It’s fine.”
“Liar.” She stated, with a defiant stare.
I rolled my eyes. “Nothing broken, so all things considered… It's fine . How’s the leg?” I tried to switch the subject to her.
“It’s fine.” She raised her eyebrow.
I averted from rolling my eyes yet again. “You should elevate it or something.”
She nodded and put her feet on the table. “And you should change those gross ass bandages.”
“Yep. It’s on my to-do list.” I crossed my arms around the plushie and laid my head on it. Yasmina had a judgingly look on her face. Because of the bandages or my choice of pillow, I didn’t know. “What? I’m tired, okay?” I said defensively, but she just rolled her eyes at me.
I tried to ignore her piercing gaze, ‘cause this was the most comfortable I’d been in like two days and I couldn’t care less.
“Aw, that’s cute.” Brooklynn joined us, with her camera in hand.
“I want a plushie too.” Sammy followed suit.
“Don't knock it ‘till you try it.” I mumbled, not bothering to raise my head. “It’s actually a great pillow.”
“I’m sure it is.” Yasmina chuckled.
After a while, they gave up on picking on my plushie and the three of them started to mess around with the camera. I blocked all the noise out and felt my eyes fluttering close when Kenji arrived talking so damn loud, I wanted to punch him.
“Anybody order frozen pizza from the world’s dopest delivery boy?” He said in his robot voice. He approached us on his scooter with bags of frozen pizza hanging on the handlebars.
“Finally! Yes!” Brooklynn cheered.
“I’ll get napkins from the rock.” Sammy said.
My stomach growled at the news and, just like that, I was wide awake again. Each of us grabbed one slice of the pepperoni pizza and took a bite. It was still frozen solid, so we returned them to their packages and let the pizzas warm up in the sun.
“Hey Hayden, glad to see someone still has love for the park.” Kenji chuckled, glancing down at the giant park’s logo on my new t-shirt.
“They didn’t have many options on stock.” I shrugged.
“Looks good, right?” Brooklynn commented with a smile.
“Way better than ashes and blood, let me tell you that.” I chuckled bitterly as the air around the table grew awkward.
Sammy finally asked, “So, is the pizza thawed now?”
“I’ll check.” Kenji volunteered, but right when he approached the packages, several Compies came out of nowhere and surrounded us, going under the chairs and jumping on the tables. My head shot up from where it was resting on the table to find a Compy staring right back at me.
“Throw the pizzas! Throw the pizza!” Yasmina yelled.
“Ah, man! All of it?” Sammy complained.
“Just do it!” I screeched, the Compy came too close and I had to hit it with my plushie.
Kenji, Sammy and Darius rushed to the pizzas and threw them far away. With this, the Compies finally left us alone and ran after the food.
“I'm really starting to dislike ‘em Compies.” Sammy crossed her arms.
“They’re like the rats of the dino world. They’ll eat anything.” Brooklynn said.
“Yeah, but so will Kenji.” Yasmina commented.
“I object to that.” Kenji said, raising a slice of frozen pizza that had been in a Compy’s mouth a second ago.
I playfully shoved him and he almost dropped the rock solid pizza. “That just proves her point.” I laughed as he shoved me back.
The sun had begun to set and we decided to spend the night at the souvenir store. Darius had already fallen asleep by the wooden beams at the entrance, so Yasmina volunteered to take the first shift and we gladly accepted. Kenji took over the chair by the counter and Sammy and Brooklynn laid on the floor in front of it. I grabbed my plushie and laid on the floor close to the entrance, falling asleep in seconds.
…
I was sitting alone on the couch of the common area when lightning struck, immediately the thunder shook the ground. All the lights went out and I jumped to my feet, startled.
‘ What the hell? That was close.’ The distinct smell of ozone impregnated the air. Even with the storm brewing outside, some of the moonlight reached inside so I could still see my surroundings. The wood floor made a creak behind me and I spun around. Ben stood in front of me, and I stared at him with wide eyes.
“Ben?” I whispered, in disbelief. He was alive? How…?
A relieved smile grew on my face and I felt like a heavy weight had left my shoulders. I rushed forward to hug him, but he raised his hand to stop me. Lightning illuminated the room again and Ben was covered in blood, his clothes were torn into rags and there were deep gashes all over his body. A particular deep gash across his chest exposed his ribs, the white almost glowing against the mess of blood and dirt.
“This is your fault.” He said with a dry voice.
I took a step back. “W-what?” I mumbled, staring at his exposed ribs.
“You let me go.” Ben took a step towards me. “This is your fault, Hayden.”
I backed up until the back of my legs hit the couch and I slumped onto the cushion. “I-I’m sorry, Ben. I tried-”
“You should’ve tried harder!” He grunted.
“You can’t do anything right…” A voice whispered from behind me. I spun around, looking for the source, but my eyes met the rest of the campers. Lightning illuminated the room again. Darius, Kenji, Sammy, Yasmina and Brooklynn stood there in the same state as Ben, covered in blood, gashes.
The lightning had passed but I could still see every detail clearly; it was engraved in my mind. Every ripped fabric, every open wound, the glistening fresh blood… The white of bones poking out from where limbs were missing, something had bit a chunk from each of them. All had something missing. A leg… an arm… a hand. And the blood… it dripped onto the wooden floor, and at night, it looked more like black than red. The dark spot growing below them like a black hole.
A hole that threatened to swallow me whole. I hastily got up and backed away from them, and suddenly taking a full breath proved itself difficult.
“See what you did?” Ben said, motioning at them. “They needed you, but you weren’t there.”
“What? No, that’s not- that’s not true.” My voice faltered.
Lightning struck again, blinding me. I blinked to refocus my view and a new person stood in front of me. My own eyes were staring back at me. A mirror? No, that wasn’t it. She didn’t have bags under her eyes, her hair looked clean and combed through, I could even smell my favorite perfume.
“What the fuck?” I tried to step back but she grabbed me by the arm, digging her nails into my skin.
“This is your doing.” The other me said. “You can’t do anything right. Such a disappointment.” She said in snarl. I tried to move my arms to escape her grip, but I was frozen in place. I couldn’t move my arms, couldn’t make my legs work. The other me tightened her grip, digging her nails in the cut of my arm. I could feel the sharp pain and the warm blood flowing down like a river.
“Useless.” She grinned.
‘ Fight back, dammit!’ I clenched my fists. Yes! I could feel the blood slowly returning to my arms. I was finally able to move again. With my free hand I threw a right hook. My hand connected with her cheekbone and she fell back with a thud, holding her face.
“Ow.”
My eyes shot open and I looked around frantically. I was still on the floor of the souvenir store. Behind me, Sammy, Brooklynn and Kenji were still sound asleep.
I sighed in relief. ‘A nightmare.’
“Ow.” Someone said next to me, so I snapped my head toward the sound, the dream still fresh in my mind. Darius was sitting on the floor holding the side of his face in his hands. Yasmina was kneeled beside him, staring at me with a ‘what the fuck’ look.
“Oh.” I realized I had actually punched Darius. “Shit. I’m sorry.” I quickly apologized, kneeling next to him.
“It’s fine.” He mumbled, clearly in pain.
“Looked like a real bad dream you were having.” Yasmina commented.
“What? Oh, yeah, yeah. It’s fine.” I stumble on my words.
“Right…” Yasmina narrowed her gaze. “You should really redo your bandages then.” She pointed to my arm.
“Oh, fuck.” I sighed. The bandages were all out of whack and it had started to bleed again. “Yeah, I’ll do that…”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Darius asked; he had a red spot starting to form on his cheek. Shit, that was going to leave a mark.
“Uh, maybe another time…” I declined with a smile.
“Great!” Yasmina got up. “Since you’re already awake, do you mind taking the next shift?”
“No problem.”
“Perfect! G’night.” She quickly said, getting comfortable next to the girls by the counter. “And…maybe do some push-ups while you’re up.” Yasmina suggested.
“Huh?” I mumbled. “What the hell does that’s supposed to mean?” I thought aloud, but Yasmina just laughed and turned away from me. I’ve been like one day away from the gym, I didn’t need to work out. Did I?
I gave up trying to figure out what Yasmina had meant with that and went to sit next to Darius. I grabbed a water bottle someone had borrowed from the café yesterday and the first aid kit Brooklynn had brought from the monorail.
“You can go to sleep, Darius.”
“I’m good. Yaz and I found a clue about the beacon.” He said excitedly.
“For real?” I asked, eyes wide. “What is it?”
“Camouflage.” He simply said.
“Camou-” I thought back to what Sammy had read in the Insider’s Guide to Jurassic World. “That’s brilliant.” I smiled.
“Whoa, you actually got it pretty fast.”
I shrugged. “By now, nothing surprises me at this crazy park.”
“I’ll tell everybody first thing in the morning.”
“Good idea, they need to rest.” I nodded.
“You do too, I’ll take the shift.” He said, while I grabbed the first aid kit and a bottle of water to redo my bandages. “Let me do it.” Darius offered practically snatching it from my hands. He used the water to wash up the excess of blood and the contents of the first aid kit to clean the wound and redressed it with new bandages. He was pretty skilled at that, maybe even better than Brooklynn, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that.
“Thanks.” I mumbled. “You’re pretty good at it.”
He shrugged. “I guess.”
Even in the dark I could see that his cheek was red and a bit swollen. “Sorry about the punch.”
“That’s okay.” He waved me off. “Nightmares can get really bad sometimes.”
“Yeah.” I looked up at the night sky, it was pretty cloudy but some stars were shining through.
“Hey, Hayden…” He whispered, so I glanced at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence. “Maybe- maybe you should be the one leading everybody, not me.”
I just blinked at him, dumbfounded. That was not what I was expecting at all. Hayden from two days ago would’ve jumped at the opportunity, but after everything that happened yesterday, I knew for certain that I wasn’t cut out for the job. I almost laughed at the irony, but Darius was looking at me with his huge eyes, expecting a response.
“They look up to you Darius.” I finally said. “Everything they said yesterday… all of that was true.”
“But you are the one who knows what to do. I was like, following your lead half of the time.” He said, becoming exasperated.
“You’re forgetting about who brought us to Main Street.” I went on, trying to convince him like everyone did last night. Honestly, I wasn’t all that convinced myself. He was only 12 years old after all. I wasn’t sure that I could expect that much from someone that young. “Who discovered the camouflaged beacon thing, who came up with a way of defeating Toro, who…
“That was a group thing.” He cut in.
“Well duh, but who led us through it? I could never do that, not after-” I shook myself. “But you did.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. “They look up to you.”
“Yeah.” His gaze dropped to the ground.
“Hey, I do too, we all do.” I corrected myself.
“It’s just too much.”
I sighed at myself. I was terrible at consoling people. “Look, I know it’s a lot on your shoulders, but you don’t need to think of everything and deal with stuff all alone, we have us, okay? And we’re here for you.”
Darius smiled at my words, but immediately his face fell. “Not all of us.”
“But that was not on you.” I quickly said.
“I basically stood there and did nothing.” His voice was shaky. A lump formed on my throat when it dawned on me. My own words that day… it had stuck with him. He was blaming himself for what I had said.
I ran my fingers through my hair to calm myself. “I know back at the monorail I kinda lost it on you guys, but- but I was wrong, okay? It all happened too fast… it was not your fault.” I sighed. “And besides, I was the one who let Ben go.” I was trying my best to take back words I said on the monorail. Trying to make him feel less guilty. He could blame me for all I cared; he should as a matter of fact.
“If that was not on me, it wasn’t on you either.” Darius half-smiled at me. “It was an accident.”
I stared at him for a long second, trying to see through his smile. ‘Did I convince him?’ I finally smiled back. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Luckily, Darius seemed happy with my answer and dropped the subject.
We spend a few minutes in silence, just staring at the sky, lost in thought. Before I knew it, I was starting to yawn and rub my eyes to keep awake.
“You can go to sleep, I’ll be on watch.”
“Nah, I’ll stay.” Against my will, I yawned again.
He just laughed at me. “Really, you can go.”
“If you say so.” I sighed, giving up. I got up and started to walk inside the store, but I turned back to Darius, who still seemed a little down. “Hey, D. just don’t- don’t forget that it’s okay to rely on others sometimes, ‘kay?” He promptly smiled at that like a puppy.
I cringed inside. ‘How hypocritical, saying stuff you can’t even do.’ I walked to the counter and laid next to Yasmina.
“If you punch me too, I’m totally punching you back.” Yasmina whispered to me.
“Noted.” I smiled and rested my head on my makeshift pillow. “So, did you listen to all that?” I had to ask.
“Couldn’t sleep with the pity party going on.” She jokingly said.
“Oh, shut up.” I groaned and turned to my side, away from her. I was a bit apprehensive of falling asleep because, one, I didn’t want to return to my nightmare, and two, I didn’t want to punch anyone else because of it. Despite everything, exhaustion took over and I closed my eyes.
…
First thing in the morning, Darius had us grouped up in the middle of Main Street to search for the beacon once again.
“Look, we already looked here.” Kenji complained.
“We looked, but we didn’t look.” Darius said.
“Well, that clears that up.” Brooklynn joked.
“It’s like Sammy was saying, things are disguised as other things.” Darius explained. “We never saw the beacon because it was camouflaged.”
We nodded in agreement and the six of us spurred into action. I closely looked at every rock, plant and decoration. I was about to give up and move on to the Innovation Center, which I wanted to check out since yesterday, when Yasmina tripped and bumped into a tree. CLANK! The sound echoed, as if she had hit metal.
“Ever hear a tree do that?” She grinned, raising her brow.
We rushed over to the tree and Sammy pulled a handle to discover a secret compartment. “There’s stuff inside!” She said in awe, but unfortunately it wasn’t the beacon.
“Find it again for the camera?” Brooklynn said, pointing the camera at Sammy.
Sammy closed and reopened the compartment. “Oh! There’s stuff inside!” She awkwardly repeated.
Once again, we spread around Main Street, opening every metal tree we saw.
“All aboard the fail-boat.” Kenji opened the last one. “The rest of these are all empty, broseph.”
“This one is missing.” Darius was standing over an empty vase, which looked like the tree had been ripped off from it.
“Look, trail marks.” I pointed at the ground, where several marks led towards an open gate and a pathway surrounded by huge concrete walls.
We heard metal scraping on the cement, followed by heavy footsteps coming our way. We hurried and hid inside the closest store. The dinosaur snarled as he passed through us, carrying a fake tree with its mouth.
“Over here.” Darius whispered, motioning to an emergency ladder that led us to the roof of the store.
The roof was very close with the giant concrete wall that made up the alleyway the T. rex had just entered. We looked over the edge of the wall and saw the dinosaur enter an enclosure and deposit the fake tree on top of a pile of rubble. Rexy scratched the ground like a dog would and roared.
“A T. rex lair!” Darius whispered. “They’ve found fossilized nests, but the T. rex never did this when the park was open. We’re witnessing new behavior. This is great!” He finished in awe. All of us stared at him in disbelief, this was anything but great. “This is terrible.” He corrected himself. “She built her lair right on top of Main Street.”
“And it’s about to get worse. Look.” Brooklynn zoomed-in with her camera, framing the fake tree in the T. rex nest. The tree had its secret compartment opened, and inside was the beacon.
“Well, we found the beacon.” Yasmina said.
“How are you supposed to get to it, now?” Kenji grunted.
“Don’t you mean ‘we’?” I asked.
“No!” Kenji shook his head. “Because I want to live, and living does not involve me walking into a T. rex lair!”
“So wait, does this mean we can’t signal folks and tell them we’re still here?” Sammy asked.
“Great. Try to spend a little time being normal kids and it still ends up biting us in the ass.” Kenji had his hands covering his face. “I- I just wanted 24 hours where we didn’t have to think about dinosaurs or being left behind, or, or… Ben.” He sighed.
“It was nice while it lasted.” Sammy said.
“Hey, we can’t give up now.” Darius said. “I know it seems hopeless but there’s always an answer. We just have to get out of our own heads to see it.” He and Yasmina exchanged smiles.
“Let’s get that beacon.” Yasmina raised her hand on a fist.
Rexy roared again and Darius took another peek over the wall. “Kenji, were there any more walkies in the gift shop?”
“Yeah, there were a bunch of them.” Kenji said.
“What’s the plan, Darius?” I asked, already seeing the gears turning inside his head.
“Well wait for the T. rex to leave and I’ll get the beacon, we just need someone to keep an eye out for her.” Darius explained.
“But, that’s crazy.” Sammy whined.
“Yeah, you’re crazy if you’re thinking of going in alone.” I smiled at Darius. “Rexy, spent the whole night away, I bet she’ll do it again.”
“That’s decided.” Darius said. “Hayden and I’ll go to the lair, but-”
“I’ll go instead.” Kenji said, looking weirdly at me.
“What?” I scoffed. ‘Does Mr. VIP thinks he could do the job better than me?’
“I’ll go instead.” He repeated himself, glancing down at my arm. “Since… you know…”
“Oh, right…” Darius seemed to be reconsidering it.
“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes in annoyance. “It’s just a graze, and besides, since Yaz is hurt, I’m like the fastest here.”
“I can still beat you.” Yasmina whined.
“Maybe it’s for the best if you stayed back this time.” Sammy placed a hand on my shoulder.
I didn’t push her off, instead I just glared at her, which had the same effect. “Not. Happening.” I crossed my arms in defiance, staring down at the boys too. I wouldn’t get side-lined when I knew I could help get us home. Besides, I was feeling way better than yesterday. Who knew some food, water and an almost good night of sleep was all that I needed? No more dizziness, no more headache, no more crippling pain. Just the usual pain, back and arm, just two little things that I could easily ignore.
“Great. Yeah, sure. The tree of us can go.” Darius laughed nervously, averting my gaze. “But we still need someone to follow Rexy and report back.”
“I’ll do it.” Sammy volunteered.
…
After we had decided on what everyone’s job was, we returned to the souvenir store and grabbed more walkie-talkies, so that every group would have one. Sammy was going to stay at the end of Main Street and wait to follow Rexy. Brooklynn and Yasmina were going to stay by the wall and watch from above; and Darius, Kenji and I were going inside the nest.
After a few hours of waiting, Rexy was finally on the move. “Heading your way, Sammy.” Yasmina said into the walkie.
A few minutes later, Sammy answered through the toy. “Listen up. She just passed by. Coast is clear. Go for it!”
Darius, Kenji and I exited the store and entered the alleyway. Even though the T. rex was far away, we tip-toed to the entrance of the closure.
“I hate this.” Kenji complained. “Ugh, I hate this.”
“You kinda volunteered.” I ran past him, shoving him with my shoulder.
The T. rex nest was filled with pieces of wood, rocks and bones. And it reeked, it smelled like a big rotting corpse was mixed up with dinosaur shit. We had to pinch our noses to keep going, but honestly, breathing through the mouth was worse, it was like we could taste all of that.
“There!” Darius pointed at the fake tree on the top of a huge pile of debris.
We carefully climbed the pile of loose material; we had to dodge some rotting bones and some sharp pieces of wood. I pulled myself up on the pile and I felt my injured arm give out, losing my balance momentarily. I managed to get a hold of a secured branch with my good arm and even though I didn’t really need it, Kenji motioned to help me, which I gladly dismissed.
“You okay?” Darius glanced down at me.
“Fine.” I resumed climbing as if nothing had happened.
We reached the top and Darius tried to remove the beacon from the tree. “It’s stuck.” He grunted. Kenji joined him and both of them pulled on the beacon, but it wouldn’t budge.
“The T. rex must have damaged the housing. It won’t move.” Kenji said.
“We don’t need to get it out.” Darius said. “We just have to activate it.” He tried to open the beacon’s lid, but it also was stuck. “Help me get this open.”
While they tried to use their hands, I looked for something to use as a lever. “Let me try this.” I grabbed what it looked like to be a raptor’s skull and jammed it into the small opening of the lid. I put my whole body weight on it, but it still didn’t move. The boys joined and after some struggle, the lid popped open. Since all our weight was on it, the sudden movement made the three of us tumble backwards, down the pile of junk.
I grunted as I rolled down, but managed to hold onto a piece of debris to steady myself.
“Ow!” Kenji complained, sprawled on the ground.
“We did it!” Darius laughed, looking at the exposed beacon on the top of the pile.
Kenji and I were about to celebrate too when we heard a distant stomping sound. Footsteps.
“She’s coming back!” I shrieked.
“Hide!” Kenji ran and hid behind a bush. Darius took cover behind a plank of wood and I settled for a rock. The heavy footsteps were getting closer. We didn’t dare to look, but if I were to guess the T. rex was entering the enclosure.
‘Why didn’t the girls warn us Rexy was coming back!?’
“What’s up, Brooklanders?” Brooklynn’s voice sounded from far away, it sounded a bit weird, clearly was one of hers pre recorded vlogs. Rexy growled and turned around towards the noise, leaving the nest.
“Come on!” I hastily whispered. Darius was closer to the beacon, so he swiftly climbed to the top of the pile and flipped a switch. The device made a beep and emitted a green light.
“Ha! Signal sent!” Darius cheered, joining Kenji and me at the ground.
“Whoo-hoo!” Kenji jumped up.
“Nice!” I fist-bumped Darius.
Before Rexy could be back, we ran out of the enclosure and locked eyes with Yasmina, still at the top of the wall.
“We activated the beacon! The SOS signal went out!” Darius said, raising both thumbs up in the air.
We found Brooklynn right outside the alleyway and then, Yasmina climbed down from the roof to meet us. Apparently, Kenji’s walkie had run out of battery and they had to improvise. The T. rex was busy on the other side of Main Street, trying to bite the cardboard cut-out of Brooklynn and stomping on the camera. After making sure Rexy had returned to her nest, we grabbed a few bags and filled it with some frozen pizza and water bottles. We regrouped with Sammy in the jungle, right outside of Main Street.
We slumped to the ground and exchanged glances, bursting in laughter.
“We’re gonna be saved!” Yasmina yelled.
“We did it!” Brooklynn cheered.
“Hell yeah!” I laughed.
“Yeehaw!” Sammy jumped in. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
“Sorry you had to give up your camera.” Darius said to Brooklynn.
“Eh, it was old and janky anyhow.” She waved him off. “My followers deserve way better picture quality than that.”
“Where to now, Darius?” Sammy asked.
“Obviously, we can’t hang out on Main Street.” I chuckled; way too happy with the fact that the beacon was activated to care that we no longer had shelter.
“Now we have to find a place to hole up until help arrives.” Darius said confidently. “And rescue will be coming. We just gotta stay alive until they do.”
Notes:
ago/2024 - again with the grammatical stuff
Chapter 11: The Cursed River
Summary:
The campers have no rest. I repeat, NO rest.
Notes:
This chapter started as a random oneshot I wrote after I was already finished with this fic. But I thought it would fit in here, so the writing style might be a little different from the season two chapters… I think. I’m not sure about this one.
Warning: dinosaur violence, blood and injuries.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Give us a rest!” Kenji groaned as we ran. “What did we even do to you?” He glanced angrily over his shoulder.
“I don’t think dinosaurs speak english, Kenji.” Brooklynn commented as we jumped over a big log.
After escaping the T. rex on Main Street, we’ve been traveling northeast. We stayed away from the aviary and we had the idea of going back to the River Adventure to wait for the rescue to come. It was a cave that literally sat upon a source of water, it would be perfect except for the very territorial Parasaurolophuses. They had been chasing us for a few minutes now, pushing us to go even more to the north, closer to the ridge of mountains that scarred Isla Nublar’s eastern shores. We came across a river flowing south, and had to find a safe place to cross it while being chased by angry herbivores. The Parasaurolophuses growled, reminding us to pick up the pace. Kenji and Darius were on the lead, while Yasmina was being helped by Brooklynn and Sammy, and I hung on the back with them. I did my best to push my legs to work, to run faster only to come across a clearing a minute later, and having to halt in place.
“No way.” I looked up at the rocky formation that stood in front of us.
“Dead end.” Brooklynn mumbled.
“We gotta climb it, guys! No time to waste.” Yasmina pressed, looking back at the fast-approaching dinosaurs.
“Let’s go!” Kenji was the first one to climb up, followed by Darius and Sammy.
I clenched my hands into fists only to notice how weaker my left arm was… still stinging with pain every time I flexed it. I glanced at the cliff in front of me, there were lots of crevices and cracks on the rock. It was doable, but it was going to be hard.
“Just like a camp activity, y’all.” Sammy said, as if to comfort herself. “It’s just like Camp C.”
“That’s right.” Darius' voice was a bit shaky. “Think of it like something we would’ve done in camp, just an easy rock-climbing adventure.”
“Yep, just another boring camp activity.” Yasmina nodded as we helped her up.
“Dave and Roxie would’ve been down below, urging us to climb.” Brooklynn said, with a smile on her face as she climbed.
“No, they would’ve been urging Ben to move, he is afraid of heights.” Kenji mocked, only for him to quickly realize what he had said and freeze in place with a sad expression.
“Was afraid of heights.” I corrected him, glancing down at the ground, where I’d imagine Ben would’ve been stuck, trembling at the thought of rock climbing. But there was no Ben, just the Parasaurolophuses bellowing madly as they tried to reach us.
“Right... maybe we should, eh…” Darius trailed off, and after a minute, he finally spoke again. “We should keep climbing, the Parasaurolophuses will give up eventually.”
And that’s what we did. Truth was, we were in no shape to go rock climbing. Starving, sleep deprived and injured. I had no idea how Yasmina could even keep going with an ankle like that, because I was barely keeping up with my arm as it was. Every time I put my weight on my left arm, it seized up with pain and I had to shift my weight from one arm to the other, awkwardly advancing up the wall; mostly relying on my legs. I didn’t know rock climbing exerted this much from muscles I didn’t even know existed, or was I just feeling it now ‘cause everything hurt? Not to mention my back was still acting off throbbing as I tried to keep my balance, but I could only deal with one thing at a time. And that was escaping dinosaurs.
We kept going slowly, and we managed to climb only a few meters until the first slip up happened. With a yelp, Yasmina’s feet missed a crevice.
“Yaz!” Sammy yelled.
Yasmina’s feet came down to the next solid thing, me. Her right foot made contact with my shoulder, and the new weight made pain shot up my injured arm and I lost the grip of that hand, luckily, my other hand was safely gripping the rock. Thank god for all these years of training, otherwise I would’ve gone down.
“Ow.” I grunted, while hanging short of one hand.
“Sorry.” She apologized, but it took her a while to get her bearings and remove her feet from me.
“Guys, maybe climbing wasn’t such a good idea.” Sammy commented, looking warily at Yasmina and me, which was met with a double eye roll. ‘ Like we had any other option. ’
“Come on guys, we can do this!” Darius encouraged us.
“Better than the dinos down there.” Kenji looked down.
“But not better than the dinos up there!” Brooklynn gasped, pointing to the sky.
The blue sky was now stained with several shadows, plummeting towards us. These shadows grew larger by the second, with huge orange wings and sharp beaks.
“Pteranodons!” My breath hitched on my throat.
“Get down!”
It was pitch black the last time I had seen these dinosaurs, but the memory was tattooed on my brain. Other than myself, there was only one thing I blamed for Ben, and that was Pteranodons. They screeched in the sky, just like that night, drawn to us.
“Hayden! Move!” Something nudged my arm and I blinked to see Yasmina trying to climb down.
“Right, yeah.” I mumbled under my breath, starting to make my way down.
The way down was easier than going up. Was it actually the case? Or was it because of the pressuring doom of the approaching Pteranodons? That, I didn’t know. I had forgotten how big they were, their body was bigger than most grown adults, and the wingspan was easily bigger than a bus. Their screeches were what let us know they were getting closer, then it was the wind.
One shadow rushed through us, its wind ruffling our hair and making us hug the wall. The flying dinosaurs went past us and attacked the Parasaurolophuses, who reared like horses and tried to hit the Pteranodons with their forelegs.
Most of them attacked the Parasaurolophuses, but some noticed the easy targets climbing down the wall. One flew close to us, as if analyzing the tasty humans, then a second tried to snatch at us with its beak.
It went for Darius, but he dodged it with a scream and the beak collided with solid rock, sending gravel down to our eyes. The next one targeted Brooklynn, this time it had its talons outstretched.
“Brooklynn!” Kenji gasped.
“Jump!” Yasmina yelled.
Without hesitation, Brooklynn let go with a panicked scream. The shadow of the wigs blocked out the sun for a second, while the Pteranodon’s talons closed around thin air. I looked down, it was around a 3 meter drop and Brooklynn did it flawlessly, rolling with the impact. I decided to follow, as it was a faster way down. As soon as I touched the ground, I let myself roll over to my right shoulder, now standing right in the middle of the Pteranodons vs. Parasaurolophuses brawl. I ignored my back protesting at me and backed up as close to the rocky cliff as possible, waiting for the rest of them to come down. Next up was Sammy, and with our help, Yasmina joined us. A loud and painful bellow made us all look at a Parasaurolophus, who was being clawed at by a Pteranodon. Another herbivore tried to help, headbutting the flying dinosaur to the ground. The Parasaurolophuses proceeded to stomp it incessantly. The powerful feet made contact with wings, the body and its head, and the sound of cracking bones made us all gasp as the coppery smell impregnated the air. That Pteranodon was reduced to a pool of blood and organs spewing out of every possible orifice, the natural ones and the ones newly made. I quickly averted my gaze from the scene as nausea started to set in.
The flying dinosaurs had the numbers, though. One flew straight for a lone herbivore and dug its talons on its back, raising it in the air while the dinosaur protested painfully, its legs kicking, useless.
“No.” A faint whisper came from my left. Sammy had her hand covering her mouth and teary eyes as she watched the dinosaurs fighting.
The Pteranodon was having a difficult time carrying the heavy load, but another came to its help, grabbing hold of the Parasaurolophus as well. At that point, there was blood dripping from the sky and the two flying dinosaurs didn’t look to be helping each other out anymore, they were fighting for food. The Parasaurolophus dropped from the sky with a thud. And with a thud, someone landed in front of me. I flinched back, but it was just Darius and then Kenji. We all exchanged glances and nods so as not to make any sound, we didn’t need no more attention drawn to us. We fled the scene in a crouched down position; Brooklynn, Sammy and me on the lead, while the boys helped Yasmina on the back.
We left the desperate bellows and screeches behind, running deeper into the jungle. The trees provided us shelter from the flying attackers, and they provided us a distraction from the herbivores. We didn’t stop running until we reached the river, collapsing onto the riverbed in a panting and sweaty mess. I laid on the grass, hand over my heart as I tried to calm my irregular breathing. I looked up and felt relief when I didn’t see the sky, the trees were so dense here that we wouldn’t need to worry about the Pteranodons. But the scene we came across moments ago was seared into my mind, the blood, breaking bones, desperate cries… new fuel to my nightmares. Not that I needed, because lately my brain had been pretty busy with Ben.
“We can’t stay here.” Brooklynn was the first one to break the silence.
“But where do we go?” Kenji was kneeled by the river, drinking the water.
“Anywhere is better than here.” I groaned.
Then all eyes turned to Darius, our kinda elected leader. He had a lost and defeated look on his face, it pretty much summed it up what we were all feeling.
“Keep following the river?” His suggestion came out more like a question.
“We’re bound to find something, right?” Sammy smiled shyly.
“Maybe help will find us first and we won’t need to worry about that anymore.” Darius' voice was more confident now.
…
We’ve been walking for a while now, and it seemed like the jungle had become even more hot and stuffy. Our clothes were sticking to our skin and our shoes were covered in mud. It turns out, near the river, there are several mud puddles disguised under the vegetation.
“Guys, I think this river is the one from the Cretaceous Cruise!” Darius chirped, studying the map. There was one bag left from Main Street, we had a few unfrozen pizzas left and water bottles that we refilled with the river water.
“And that helps us how?” Kenji groaned, waving off some mosquitos.
“It’s just nice to know where we are.” Darius shrugged, slumping his shoulders.
“What’s the Cretaceous Cruise?” Sammy asked, noticing how excited Darius looked initially.
“It’s one of the main attractions of the park!” He started. “We paddle down the river passing through several dinosaurs’ biomes, there’s even one path that goes through the Aviary!”
“We already had our fair share of Pteranodons.” I sighed. “No, thank you.”
“We should be getting to the start of the attraction very soon.” Darius pondered. “There are supposed to be dinosaurs around, Parasaurolophuses, Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus…”
“Any carnivore?” Sammy’s voice cautiously scared.
“A few...”
“Is that one on the list?” Brooklynn whispered, holding her hand out to stop us from moving forward.
We were going upstream with the river on our left, and on our right, a big shadow moved through the trees. We saw it before it saw us, it had the typical bipedal body, more like the size of Toro than the T. rex. It had a single horn protruding from its snout and the skin was full on a gray color. It made it blend in with the darkness of the jungle. Although its size, its steps didn’t make a sound, I’m surprised how Brooklynn had spotted it in the first place.
Darius motioned us to duck behind a huge log, and that was what we did. Crouching in the wet grass and moss, Darius took a peek, only to quickly duck again.
“It stopped.” He mouthed, without making a sound.
The silence of the jungle was deafening, there were no stomping footsteps, no growls, we couldn’t tell where it was. The thought of the predator slowly stalking us made my heart race and the sweat trickle down my neck, my back and even down my arms. Had it spotted us? Was it creeping in closer? Or was it leaving? We couldn’t tell.
And so, we waited. I had my hand over my mouth, trying to calm my breathing; Yasmina was next to me in a crouched position, ready to sprint away; Kenji had his eyes closed, looking like he was praying; Brooklynn was gripping my knee with one hand, while other was clasped around Sammy’s; Darius was about to take another peek when we heard the first sound it. A loud huff. Almost directly above our heads. Then a sniff. It made us freeze in place. I didn’t dare to breathe, Brooklynn’s hand squeezed my knee even more, and then she shook it, which made me look at her.
Her eyes darted from my own eyes to my arm, and looking down I noticed the red staining my skin. I hadn’t felt anything wrong with my arm, but there was blood, mixed with sweat, trickling down, all the way to my hand. The bandages were a mess with blood and dirt, damped and oozing out.
‘What perfect timing.’ I put my hand around the bandages, trying to stop the flow.
And then was when I felt it. Another huff, and this one blew my hair at my face. I looked up to see a wet snout above a row of sharp teeth poking out of a very close dinosaur mouth.
There were yelps and gasps at the sight, and one single scream. “Run.”
We were on our feet in a millisecond. Yasmina was being helped by Kenji and Sammy, while the rest of us ran ahead. A loud roar made a shiver run down my spine and my knees turned to jelly, but I pushed past it and kept on running. A loud cracking sound let us know that the log we had taken shelter was no more, and the dinosaur was on pursuit. The jungle passed us like a blur as another roar ravaged our ears, followed by a below. This one came from the trees in front of us.
‘In front of us?’
“Down!” Darius yelled.
I threw myself at the grass, rolling into a stop as a spiked tail dislodged the air right above my head. The wet sound of the spikes penetrating flesh was short, followed by the dying cries of the dinosaur. There were two Stegosaurus, a four-legged dinosaur the size of an elephant with moss green skin. There were kite-shaped plaques going down their spines and, on the tail, there were four long spikes, two on each side.
The closer Stegosaur had swung its tail over our heads, impaling the carnivore pursuing us on the neck. We quickly backed away from under the dinosaurs, crawling backwards as we watched the predator’s body spasm and make gurgling sounds as it tried to breathe, the blood pooling on the ground, staining the green.
Our eyes were locked on the scene, as if in a trance. “Go, go, go!” I caught myself yelling.
We stumbled and tripped while getting up, as the Stegosaurus wiped its tail again, bellowing as it tried to dislodge the unmoving dinosaur from its spikes. Only a nuisance to it.
We ran, leaving yet another bloodshed behind. And we didn’t stop running, not when our legs begged for it, not when our lungs burned, or when Yasmina’s stumbles had us slowing down, but never stopping. No, we just needed to get far away from all the dinosaurs. Carnivores or herbivores, turned out both were deadly in this hellish island.
…
We found ourselves standing in front of a huge lake, there was a waterfall on the far side of it and the lake was surrounded by a rocky shore with patchy tall grass. And there was where we all collapsed.
I fell to my knees close to the water, splashing it on my face. Kenji and Brooklynn joined me, while the rest sprawled out on the rocks. For a while, our labored breaths were all we could hear, then nervous giggles filled the air until we were out of breath again. We had survived, not one, not two, but three different dinosaur encounters in less than an hour. Did the Stegosaurus count? ‘Cause that made it four.
“I can’t believe it.” Darius breathed out. “It got thagomized.” He laughed nervously; his eyes wide.
“What?” We all looked at him, confused.
“Thagomeister?” Kenji frowned.
“The spikes on the Stego tail are called thagomizer.” He was shaking his head, eye wide and panicky. “It’s a funny story actually…”
“How is that funny?” Sammy looked to be on the verge of crying. “The unicorn dino just got…”
“Ceratosaurus.” Darius corrected her.
“Well, whatever it was called, it was trying to eat us.” I let out a snort, letting myself lay on the rocky shore.
“But it didn’t deserve to die!” She exasperated. “That was awful.” Her statement was followed by agreeing hums from us. It made us think how easily dinosaurs drew blood. Creatures that size could afford to fight with other dinosaurs, but us… with one scratch from them, we’d probably be dead.
“It was all so sudden.” Brooklynn mumbled.
“Well, both the Ceratosaurus and Stegosaurus lived in the late Jurassic and in the same habitat.” Darius had his nerd voice on, what I only know realized was a way of distancing himself from the gruesome day we were having. No real emotion behind his words, just facts. “If you think about it… it was natural. It must’ve had happened all the time.”
There were a few frowns at his sudden dino nerd moment, mostly from Sammy and Brooklynn. But it was understandable wanting to focus on the facts other than all the blood and gore we had just witnessed, not to mention the fact we kept on almost dying.
“I thought it was called the Cretaceous Cruise.” I grinned, also trying to distract my mind.
“Eh, Jurassic World was never good with getting the periods right.” He smiled at me.
Suddenly, a loud bellow had us all on edge again, crouching and ready to run.
“What now?” Yasmina groaned.
We all looked to the other side of the lake where three huge dinosaurs, with their necks as tall as buildings, entered the water.
“Oh, it’s the Brachio-cuties.” Sammy smiled, all the desperation from our previous encounters gone from her face.
“Mystery solved.” Kenji dismissed it.
I sat back down on the comfy rock, with a sad smile on my face. ‘What a déjà vu.’ This got me thinking back on the observation tower, when the Brachiosaurus appeared. Well, that meant that the Indominus was supposed to come up pretty soon, which sucked, but I kept my ears sharp for it.
“I’m not sure…” Darius frowned at the dinosaurs. “They look small.”
“Baby Brachio-cuties.” Sammy’s smile grew.
“Their tail is kinda too long… and their legs…”
“Jeez, dino-nerd, why don’t you go there and ask for a picture.” Kenji snickered.
Darius gasped. “They’re Apatosauruses! I’m sure of it.”
“As long as they aren’t carnivores and don’t come near me.” Kenji laid down, sprawling his arms wide. “I don’t care.”
“I knew they were on this attraction!” Darius was in awe, watching as the dinosaurs lowered their heads by the waterfall, playing with the water. Darius was right, if we looked closely, we could see some differences. These Apatosaurus had more of a green skin tone, compared with the brown Brachiosaurus, a lower stature and their tail was elongated like a whip.
“At least someone is having fun.” Brooklynn chuckled at the dinosaurs.
“It makes me want to take a dip on the lake.” Sammy sighed. “This seems like a good spot, no?” She pondered. “There’s water for us to drink-”
“Nope.” I popped the ‘p’.
“Nah-ah.” Brooklynn shook her head.
“I’d rather be pecked to death by woodpeckers.” Yasmina commented.
“That’s oddly specific.” I chuckled.
“We almost died for the thousandth time today.” Kenji jolted up. “This river is cursed.”
“This island is cursed.” Brooklynn muttered.
“I just wanna get the hell out of here.” Kenji grabbed a rock and threw it in the lake, making a splash.
“Well, give us an idea then, Mr. VIP.” Yasmina rolled her eyes.
But he only responded with a grunt, throwing a flat rock on the water, making it skip over a floating log. Silence followed that. And we stood there watching as the family of Apatosauruses played in the water and Kenji threw his stones, trying to make them skip as many times as possible.
Nobody knew what to do, where to go, where was safe. I felt my stomach growling, but we had to ration our food, so I settled for drinking water instead. I sat by the water and refilled my bottle, using the time to clean the blood that had started to dry on my skin. It seemed like I would never get rid of it. The blood. Always there as a constant reminder of what I had let happen. And what almost happened again today. The Ceratosaurus had most definitely sniffed out the blood on me, that’s why it had found us. I couldn’t bear if someone else got hurt because of me. ‘It better be me next time, not them.’
“We still have some bandages left.” Brooklynn was suddenly sitting next to me.
“It’s fine.” I dismissed her.
“It really looks like you could use some clean bandages.” She pressed, glancing down at my arm.
“I said it’s fine.” I tried again, this time my voice came out more annoyed. I get that she was trying to help, but I wasn’t exactly interested in it or the small talk that was bound to happen. I wasn’t even interested in socializing with my own damn self. Brooklynn nodded and left me alone to clean my own wounds. The cool cold water against my skin felt good, but didn’t placate any of it. The memories of my dream were still fresh in my mind, but I couldn’t let it come to life. I wouldn’t.
A gasp brought me back from my thoughts, all eyes focusing on Kenji as he stood with his mouth agape.
“The penthouse! My dad’s penthouse! It’s super exclusive, right in the north of the island.” He opened a huge smile. “It has food, water, everything!”
“A phone?” Brooklynn chirped and at that the mood started to shift.
“Yeah, maybe…”
“And you’re telling us this just now?” Yasmina groaned, already getting to her feet, balancing in one leg.
“I forgot, okay?” He crossed his arms, defensive.
“That settles it.” Darius got up with a confident smile. “We’re going to find shelter!”
“But there’s one tiny little problem…” Kenji mumbled.
“There’s always a ‘but’.” I groaned, pushing myself up.
“Dad may have mentioned something about changing the locks if…” He paused. “…I failed algebra and I did, but maybe he forgot and we’re good to go.” Kenji’s voice was rushed, so much so we had trouble understanding it.
“What?”
“I can’t even count how many times I’ve failed algebra, okay? It’s hard!” He threw a rock at the water, more forcibly this time. It didn’t skip, it only made a big splash.
“Not as hard as getting locked out from the only safe place on this island, dingus!” Yasmina threw him a death stare.
“Let’s not be too harsh on Kenji, guys.” Sammy grabbed hold of Kenji’s arm.
He sighed in relief, as hers were the only kind eyes on him at the moment. “Thanks, Sammy.”
“Maybe your dad forgot to change it.” Sammy suggested with a half-smile.
Darius dusted off his pants. “We should go check it out either way.”
“It can’t hurt.” Brooklynn nodded along.
“I can’t wait to show you the penthouse, I’ll give you the grand tour, you’ll meet Horatio-”
“You have a pet?” Sammy’s smile grew fondly.
“Something like that.” Kenji laughed it off.
Then Sammy’s face fell. “You left your pet locked up all this time!?”
“It’s not really-” He groaned, facepalming. “You’ll see.”
“Let’s hope your dad didn’t keep his word, then.” I commented, rolling my eyes at him.
“Right, that.” Kenji’s lips did a nervous twitch and he threw one last rock before we left, this one skipped the water until it hit the log. “Bullseye.”
“Alright, where to, Kenji?” Darius had his confident voice on.
“Yeah, so…” He turned on his heels, looking at the trees, when a snarl made us all freeze.
“Where-”
“Shh.”
There it was again, the snarl. We scanned our surroundings… no shadows on the trees… no shape hiding in the tall grass… there was nothing. Yet, the snarl seemed to be right on top of us. The snarl turned into a low menacing growl. The kind that made our blood run cold.
“The water!” I gasped as I saw the floating log making its way to us. Slowly approaching as a shadow underneath became apparent, then two eyes appeared on the log, yellow eyes with slits fixated on us.
“Good, croc.” Kenji backed away slowly. “Good, croc.”
“Guys, that’s not a croc.” Darius’ voice was shaky.
“Not again.” Yasmina groaned.
“To the trees!” Brooklynn was the first one to run and we all followed suit.
We rushed to the closest tree, which luckily appeared to be the tallest one around. The tree kinda contorted on itself, making climbing it very easy. Without exchanging words, we used the same strategy from the obstacle course. Brooklynn and Kenji went first, then Yasmina followed by Darius while Sammy and I helped from the ground.
While they climbed, we got a good view of the once-upon-a-time floating log emerging from the lake. The dinosaur had a dark brown colored skin, with some lighter stripes. Its snout was the longest I’ve ever seen, the exact shape of a crocodile’s, its sharp jagged teeth showing. And it was tall, with arms with powerful claws, and some sort of sail with spikes going down its spine. By the time Kenji and I made our way up the tree, the dinosaur had reached it, walking on its back legs. It was tall and when it jumped, seemed to be even taller. We had to climb as high as an Apatosaurus’ head reached, even so, the constant growls, the claws scraping the bark and some low branches breaking made us doubt our decision of going up a tree. We were trapped.
“What the hell is that thing?” Yasmina had wide eyes.
“It was a dinosaur trying way too hard to be a crocodile.” I stared at its attempts to climb. “That’s what it is.”
“It’s a Spinosaurus, isn’t it?” Kenji’s face was twisted in terror. “That’s it, we’re dead.”
“Think smaller.” Darius let out a chuckle, making us all stare at him in disbelief.
“How are you laughing in a situation like this?” Kenji deadpanned.
“It’s a Suchomimus, it can’t climb.” Darius explained.
“Lucky us.” I gritted my teeth, doing my best to ignore the dinosaur trying to claw its way up.
“Why did you have to go and throw rocks at a dinosaur?” Yasmina turned hastily at Kenji.
“I didn’t know!” His voice came out in a high pitch.
“Well, there are at least five ways this could have gone better.” Her stare turned deadly. “Literally, I’m counting them right now, dingus.”
“It was not my fault!”
“Yeah, yeah it was.”
“There’s no point going around pointing fingers, y’all.” Sammy said in a more soothing voice.
“Yeah, what happened, happened.” Darius nodded along.
“Maybe the river really is cursed.” Brooklynn muttered.
“I’m telling you.” Kenji exasperated.
“We just need to wait till it gets bored and we’ll be on our way to Kenji’s penthouse.” Darius finished with a smile.
That seemed to calm everybody’s nerves, because there was no more yelling. Well, Yasmina was still throwing daggers at Kenji, but she was doing it in silence. To be fair, it did look like a log. Luckily, its claws didn’t seem fit to climb trees, otherwise we’d be on its stomach by now.
We had chosen a good tree, though. It was one of the tallest in the area, its canopy reaching farthest than the surrounding tree, giving us a view of the whole valley. Behind us, we could see the conical shape of the Visitors Center in the distance, and close to it, the dome that was the aviary. To the east, there was the mountain ridge we had gotten close to before; if I squinted, little bird-like shapes could be seen flying close to the top. Who the hell had the idea to bring thousands of enormous birds back from extinction? Oh, right, my mom! Fucking Pteranodons. Those shapes up in the mountains made a shiver run down my spine. So, I moved on from them.
To the west there were some smaller cliffs, which met infinite grasslands, where a few herds of herbivores could be seen. Well, I guessed they were herbivores, ‘cause from here they looked like ants. At last, the lake stood before us, the Apatosaurus remained by the waterfall unbothered by the Suchomimus. The river continued top of the waterfall, being engulfed by the dense jungle, where a lone mountain could be seen further north, the highest peak of the island.
“I’ve been thinking…” Kenji broke the silence, glancing at the trees below. “…what if we just jump to the other tree, is not that far.” He pointed at a nearby tree, whose branches touched the one’s from our tree.
I snorted. “Okay, Tarzan.”
“I doubt the fake croc can follow us.” He pressed. Looking down, the Suchomimus had given up on climbing our tree, but it was still there laying on the grass with its piercing yellow eyes locked on us.
“Oh, he’s serious.” Yasmina let out a chuckle.
“Of course I am, it’s a good plan!”
“Yeah, no.” Brooklynn shook her head.
“I don’t wanna break my neck, thank you.” Yasmina massaged it as if in pain.
“We’re not jumping.” Darius replied, his voice firm.
“We can totally make it.” Kenji readjusted himself on the branch, scooting over to the edge, where it began to grow thin. He took one glance down and gulped, quickly returning to his spot by the trunk. “Well, maybe not.” He let out a nervous chuckle.
“So where is the penthouse, again?” I asked.
“North-ish.” He squinted his eyes, trying to remember.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, totes.” He laughed it off. “I remember always seeing that ugly mountain from my bedroom.” With his chin he pointed at the lone mountain up north.
“What’s that?” Sammy’s hand shot up, pointing far into the jungle.
“What?” We had to squint our eyes to see.
“Is that a building?” Brooklynn had her hands like binoculars, as if it would be any help.
“I can’t see anything.” Kenji mumbled.
“That’s definitely a building!” Darius grabbed actual binoculars from our bag. “We can’t check it out on our way to Kenji’s penthouse.”
“Sure.” I muttered, still not quite seeing said building in the middle of the jungle.
…
A few hours later, the Suchomimus finally got bored, returning to the lake where we lost sight of it. We cautiously got down from the tree and ran away from the lake. Sure, we weren’t being chased, but we ran nonetheless. Then, it was just jungle in front of us, a dark and dense jungle, keeping most of the sun from reaching the ground. The jungle around Camp Cretaceous was never like this, it had trees sparse from one another, a little wind to cool us and the sunshine was always making its way through the tree’s canopies.
There was nothing we could do, other than regret our decision of coming this way. It was an eerie walk, but the shadows turned out to be only shadows. We finally got a break from the dinosaurs, but another problem had arisen from the long day running from teeth and claws. The dark jungle had become even darker, which meant night was coming soon. Darius was confident we would find that building before the sunset, but honestly, I wasn’t sure that it even existed. So, we walked for what it seemed forever, in the north-ish direction. Not a term that evoked confidence, but that was what we got.
To my surprise, we reached a clearing. A relief to see the blue sky after hours under the trees. But the sky wasn’t everything that brought relief. In front of us stood a white building of hexagonal shape, its walls grew tall, at least double the size of the Raptor’s paddock.
“I knew we’d find it, y’all.” Sammy smiled, exchanging a high-five with Darius.
“I didn’t doubt for a second.” I half-smiled looking at the building. There were construction materials scattered all over the place, planks of wood stacked together, metal pipes and bags of cement. We were standing next to a crane, propped on top of a truck, which, unfortunately, didn’t have a key.
We walked around the crane to explore the place, only to come to a halt. Gasps were heard, but nobody said a word. There was a white pickup truck overturned in the middle of the dirt road. Behind it, there was the metal gate entering the paddock, it was all bent outwards, hanging precariously from its hinges. And the concrete walls next to it weren’t in the best shape either, there were cracks all over and pieces of it had fallen on the ground.
“Guys?” Sammy’s voice quivered.
“Yeah?” Kenji breathed out.
“What did this?” Brooklynn’s eyes were wide.
“Something big.” I glanced up at how high the damage went on the wall, at least two stories up.
“Over here.” Darius called; nobody had noticed him walking away from our group. “Does this look familiar?” He was kneeling next to a huge footprint, the same one that we found in Camp Cretaceous.
“It can’t be.” Sammy took a few steps back.
“I think this is where they kept it.” Darius' eyes grew dark.
“The Indominus.” Brooklynn whispered, sending a cold shiver down my spine.
“The thing is dead.” Kenji didn’t sound that sure of himself.
“Yeah, it is.” I replied, even though he didn’t ask a question. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Right.”
We left the footprint behind, going towards the gate. After passing a dark stain on the dirt, one that we told ourselves was just motor oil, we stood before the broken gate. What we could see in the interior of the paddock, it was much alike the jungle outside, trees and big bushes, with the occasional animal carcass laying on the ground. Totally like the jungle.
“Guys, do we really need to get in?” Sammy was lagging behind.
“Holy- look at that!” I gasped at the wall next to the gate, where there were claw marks going all the way to the top.
“Jeez.” Kenji breathed out.
Darius ran his hand across one marking, one single claw was as thick as his hand. “That’s… whoa.”
“This place gives me the heebie-jeebies.” Sammy was standing outside, fidgeting with her hands.
“Okay, yeah.” I had to agree with her on this one. “We don’t need to stay here.”
“But we need somewhere to sleep.” Darius pointed out, looking up at the sky that had begun to darken.
“Not inside the paddock where they kept the Indominus, please.” Brooklynn said through a clenched jaw. “I’m with Sammy.”
Reflecting on some glass drew my attention, on the side, there was a viewing area pretty high up. “Maybe we could spend the night in there.” I pointed.
With anxious nods in agreement, we exited the paddock, making our way around it until we found a set of stairs leading to a door.
“Let me.” Brooklynn already had her hairpin out.
“It’s open, superstar.” Yasmina pushed the door open.
“Empty.” A collective sigh of relief was heard.
The room was small, on one side it was made purely of glass, which gave us a view of the enclosure. And the other wall was covered in computer screens. We tried the light switch, the computers and a landline we saw on the side. All useless.
“Well, get comfy.” I sighed, finding my spot by the desk.
“At least we got a roof.” Darius smiled, optimistic.
“I feel like I’m in a fish tank.” Sammy shied away from the glass.
“We got a door.” I shrugged. “Better than most fishes have.”
“Is a hamburger too much to ask?” Kenji sat on the office chair, spinning around.
“I don’t think they deliver this far.” Brooklynn chuckled.
He grabbed the dead phone. “Hello, McDonalds? I’d like 30 Big Macs with large fries.”
“And a really ice-cold coke.” Brooklynn slid down the wall with a smile on her face.
“And coke, lots of it.” Kenji repeated into the phone.
“Oh, I wanna extra cheese on mine!” Sammy chirped.
“I want chicken nuggets.” Darius joined.
“A sundae!” I asked, already imagining the cold ice cream in my hands.
“Uh-hum, uh-hum.” Kenji mumbled. “Oh, got it.” He turned to me. “Their ice cream machine is broken.”
“I can’t believe it. Not my ice cream!” I crossed my arms, pouting exaggeratedly until a laugh escaped my lips. It was good to laugh after a day like this. “I’m switching to a DQ.”
Kenji cocked his head for a second. “Our order will be here in 40 minutes if the delivery guy doesn’t get eaten on the way.”
“Not the delivery guy!” Brooklynn cracked a laugh.
“They always die in horror movies.” Yasmina nodded approvingly. “Too bad, I’m hungry.”
“You’re paying, Mr VIP.” I grinned at Kenji.
“I’ll put it on my dad’s tab.” He shrugged.
“Your dad has a tab on McDonalds?” Sammy looked at him in disbelief.
“Do they keep tabs there?” Darius frowned.
“They don’t even have working ice cream machines, no chance they keep tabs.” I shook my head.
“It’s not a bar.” Brooklynn said.
“What do you know about bars?” I chuckled.
“What do you know about bars?” She shot back.
“Eh…” I shrugged. “Fair point.”
“It’s not McDonalds, but we could share a slice of unfrozen pizza.” Sammy said, opening up the bag she was carrying.
“The superior food!” Kenji spun like mad on his chair.
“Now, you’re talking.” Brooklynn grinned, as we sat in a circle sharing the pizza.
We couldn’t go all out, because we still needed to eat tomorrow, but it was something. Something to get our minds off of all we had been through today. Well, having shelter for the night was a plus, but I doubt anyone would like to spend one more second on the old Indominus’ lair. If Kenji’s penthouse turned out not to be a bust, it’d be perfect. At least while we waited for someone to receive the beacon’s signal and come and get us. It shouldn’t be long.
Notes:
This is a ’felt cute, might delete it later’ kinda chapter. Kidding, I won’t delete it. I still don’t know how to feel about it. What do you think?
Inspired by this pic
ago/2024 - editing editing editing
Chapter 12: Art of Chill
Summary:
The one where Hayden hates babysitters.
Chapter Text
Turned out, Kenji really was terrible at math. And his dad was a man of his word after all. After we left the Indominus’ enclosure, we followed Kenji’s instructions to his penthouse. He said he always went there by helicopter, so his sense of direction was just as shitty as his memory. But, after a day’s walk, we finally found the luxury building towering over the trees. The locking system was battery powered, but we didn’t have the password.
We slept by the building’s doorstep, with someone always on the lookout for dinosaurs, but the last memorable encounter was back at the lake. And when morning came, we had two objectives, find water and shelter. The first one was easy, there were lots of rivers and streams around the island. But the second one was trickier. We left the building behind since we didn’t find a way in and a simple doorstep didn’t provide us too much security. We went over to an area of the jungle where the trees were sparser, slowly giving way to a grassland full of hills and herds of herbivores. There was a particular large herd of Sinoceratops that got us on edge since the Ceratosaurus and the decision was made to keep the fuck away from horned herbivores.
So, we’ve been walking all over the island mindlessly, always looking out for potential danger and for shelter. The initial excitement from getting the beacon to work was slowly fading. It had been days and nothing. The only thing that seemed to find us on this island was trouble, it didn’t matter if it was a carnivore type of trouble, or an herbivore one, or lack of food, or mosquitos…
Right now, we were back in the jungle and it was Darius’ turn to go up a tree to search for a dino-free zone with the binoculars we had borrowed from the souvenir store. I was sprawled in the grass waiting for him to come down and tell us the usual bad news. My eyes were burning, begging for a good night’s sleep, but the way my stomach was growling made it impossible. So, I just stared at the blue sky above me, focusing on the noises of the jungle… the wind… birds… bugs… but nothing else, no stomping, growls or huffs.
Kenji was sitting next to me, again, throwing rocks. This time, the target was the tree the rest of the girls were leaning on. Yasmina flinched at every rock Kenji threw, growing more annoyed each time. Finally, she turned around, grabbed a rock midair and glared at him with her deadly eyes. She was about to say something when Darius climbed down the tree.
“Good news?” Sammy asked, approaching him. I didn’t even bother to move; it was never good news.
“The Pteranodons are still nesting on the eastern mountains, so that’s out.” Darius commented.
“Ugh, bad news.” Sammy grunted.
“So, we can’t stay on Main Street because of dinosaurs.” Brooklynn’s voice grew annoyed. “The mountains, grasslands, and jungle are out because of dinosaurs.”
“Don’t forget the River Adventure, those Parasaurolophuses really hate us.” I mentioned, sitting up with a groan. “And the other river.”
“And Kenji’s penthouse is out because he’s bad at math.” Yasmina chipped in.
“Hey, I didn’t think my dad was serious about changing the locks if I failed algebra.” Kenji complained. “That is not my fault.”
“That is utterly and completely your fault.” Yasmina groaned.
“Okay, well, whatever.” Kenji said. “The whole island is full of dinosaurs. We’re screwed.”
“We can’t give up yet.” Sammy said, optimistic. “We set off the emergency beacon. We just need to find somewhere safe to hole up until rescue arrives.” She repeated Darius' words from days ago.
“Where, Sammy? We’ve tried everything.” I sighed.
“Yeah, we’re out of options.” Yasmina agreed.
“Actually, there’s one place we haven’t tried.” Darius said. “But I’m not sure you’re gonna like it.” We all gave him a puzzled look.
…
“Camp?” I deadpanned. “Are you serious?” We all had skeptical looks on our faces.
Darius had guided us back to camp, the first place we had to abandon because of dinosaurs.
“Didn’t we specifically run away from here?” Kenji said.
“Just hear me out.” Darius pleaded. “There’s a stream for fresh water.” He pointed to the river on the side, the same one next to the trail that Yasmina and I liked to jog in the morning. “We’ve got trees and mountains to protect us from weather and dinosaur attacks.” Brooklynn cleared her throat and pointed to the wreck of what was left of camp. “Okay, not all dinosaur attacks. But if you were coming to rescue a bunch of campers, wouldn’t be camp the first place you looked? And we’ve even got supplies to build a shelter right here. They’re, uh, broken supplies, but we could do it! Right, Brooklynn?” Darius gave her a hopeful look.
‘That could actually work.’ The thought crept up on my mind, slowly picturing the place fixed up. We’ve been running for days and camp was the only place that seemed dinosaur free; at least for now. And he was probably right, we should be near for when rescue comes.
“What?” Brooklynn crossed her arms.
“I mean, you must’ve made one video about building a shelter, right?” Darius said.
“Right. All you do is videos.” Kenji snickered.
“Excuse me. I do lots of things other than videos. I have a whole life of other things!” She waved her arms, exasperated. “But, yes, okay. I did help raise that barn for ‘Unboxing Amish Country’. Just saying, so…”
“Oh, I love that one!” Sammy fangirled.
“There you go.” Kenji commented.
“What are we waiting for?” Yasmina slowly limped over to the pile of debris. “Let’s clear that stuff!”
“Hey, Yaz, maybe it’s best if you sat this one out?” Darius suggested, a bit apprehensive.
“What? No, I’m totally-” She put too much weight on her bad ankle and collapsed to the floor. “It’s nothing. I’m fine. I wanted to be on the ground now.” She winced in pain.
“This isn’t nothing!” Sammy kneeled next to her. “Your ankle is still hurt. All that running over the past few days didn’t help any.”
“Rocky here should step down too.” Brooklynn pointed at me. “She almost got us killed by that Ceratosaurus ‘cause she started bleeding again .”
I flinched at that, of course, she was right, but… “That’s totally unfair, I didn’t know they had that good sense of smell.” I protested either way.
Darius pulled out the map from the bag. “Based on this symbol, there might be some clinic nearby.”
“Good idea, we do need some supplies.” Brooklynn opened the first aid kid and turned upside down, proving her point when nothing fell out of it. “We used our last bandages last night.”
“We’ll see if we can find anything useful. Just rest here you two.” Darius said.
“No way!” Yasmina and I said together, while the rest of them nodded in agreement with Darius.
“This is ridiculous. You can’t bench me just because of this.” I pointed to my arm. “It’s just a supply run.”
“Damn straight, I’m not sitting around while you go back out there.” Yasmina said. “I can pull my own weight.” I emphatically nodded along.
“Rest.” Sammy laid her hand on Yasmina’s shoulder. “You’ll need that ankle to win gold medals when we get off this island, okay?”
It was four against two, and by the look on their faces, they weren’t kidding. I slumped my shoulders, accepting defeat. Well, if I wasn’t going on the supply run, at least I could do something useful with the wreckage.
“And I’ll stay behind to make sure both of them rest.” Kenji said, puffing his chest.
“Can it be someone else?” Yasmina quickly asked. “Literally anyone else?”
“Please?” I pleaded.
“Okay, great plan!” Darius said. “Kenji, while Yaz and Hayden rest, start sorting through the broken stuff and find anything we can use.”
“A hundred percent… maybe.” Kenji mumbled.
Brooklynn grabbed three sturdy pieces of wood and gave one to each Darius and Sammy, who swung it like baseball bats.
“See y’all in a bit.” Sammy said while they entered the jungle, leaving us behind.
…
With them gone, we started to sort out the wreck pile. I was separating some useful pieces of wood with my one good arm while Yasmina tried to pull on a heavy wooden beam. She grunted with the effort and eventually lost her balance, falling backwards.
Kenji laughed at her and cracked his knuckles. “Okay, task one: pick through camp garbage for useful garbage...” He kicked a plank of wood. “Complete!” He let out a loud sigh and went to lay against a tree.
Yasmina and I exchanged glances and rolled our eyes simultaneously.
“That’s it?” Yasmina complained. “Dude, you didn’t even try.”
“Shh.” Kenji leaned back. “And join me at my resting tree.”
I scoffed. “Resting tree?”
“It’s a tree where you rest. The name kind of covers it.”
“That’s not-” I grunted. “Oh, why do I even try…?” I face-palmed.
“Okay, Darius said to sort through the debris.” Yasmina sighed. “If you don’t do it and we can’t do it, who will do it?”
“Everyone else.” Kenji explained. “The best things in life are things you make other people do for you. Example: I’ve never cleaned my room. I just wait for it to get messy enough that my dad’s assistant caves and he makes one of the maids do it for me. Win-win.”
“Unbelievable.” I rolled my eyes. “And you’re proud of this?”
“Obvi, otherwise I wouldn’t have told you about it.” He gloated.
“You really think the world revolves around you, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t it?” He smirked. “Now stop talking and start relaxing.”
“But-” Yasmina was shushed by Kenji. He patted the grass next to him, inviting us to join him. Yasmina and I reluctantly gave in, sitting by each side of Kenji.
“Man, I really needed this, you know?” Kenji sighed, closing his eyes.
After a few minutes, Yasmina looked over at me and motioned for us to get the hell out of there. I smiled and happily obliged. We quietly got up and walked away from Kenji.
“We should find something to help us move the debris.” She whispered. “Coming in I saw something that might help.” I just nodded and followed her.
“Do you need some help to walk?” I offered, noticing how she winced at every hop.
“Thanks, but I’m good.” She declined and I decided not to press it further. I understood very well how it was not wanting to depend on others. After all, the fact that both of us practiced individual sports wasn’t a coincidence.
I picked up a big enough branch from the ground and gave it to her. “Fine, at least use this.” She smiled and accepted it.
We walked past a few trees and then she stopped next to a very old one. “Here, help me get these vines.”
The trees around here had some really thick vines that we could use as rope to help us with the debris. We had already collected quite a few of them when Kenji found us.
“Ha! There you guys are!” He sighed, holding up a butter knife. “What’s that?”
“To move camp debris.” Yasmina tossed one vine at him. “We use the sticks as levers, toss the vines over a branch and use them to haul the rest of the broken planks away.”
“Really ingenious, actually.” I grinned, tossing the rest of the vines at him and we moved on to the next tree.
“This looks like the exact opposite of what you two are supposed to be doing, which is nothing.” Kenji dropped everything to the ground. We promptly ignored him and kept gathering the vine. “Can you please just give the macho-woman act a rest, already?” He suddenly yelled.
‘Oh, he did not just say that.’ I turned around on my heels, but Yasmina beat me to it.
“Three-time state track champ, four times placing at nationals, twice in the International World Track Competition.” She hopped over to him. “I’ve competed in rain, sleet, snow, and each time, I’ve medaled. What does that say?”
Kenji scoffed. “That you’re crazy, because running is hard, and why would you do that?”
“Because we don’t give up when there’s something at stake.” I interjected. “Differently from you, that never took anything seriously in your life.” Kenji took a step back, looking hurt by my words. “If you’re not going to help, at least don’t stand in our way, Kenji.” Yasmina and I turned our back to him and went back to the tree.
‘How did he not understand that shelter was a priority?’ In like every documentary ever they say you’d die without shelter, we needed a place to feel safe at, for both our physical and mental health. I didn’t know how much more time I’d be able to take running around, without a steady source of water, food or a bed.
“We’re going back and you two are resting, whether you like it or not!” He grabbed Yasmina’s walking stick, making her turn around, annoyed. “Say you’re coming with and I’ll give it back.”
She scoffed. “No fucking way. I’ll get the stuff myself.” She took a step, but tripped on a vine. She yelped in pain and fell to the ground, clutching her ankle.
“Yaz!” I rushed to her side.
“It’s worse. I think I- I think I hurt it worse.” She cried out in a way I’ve never expected of her, which meant it was hurting ten times what she was letting on. “What do we do now?” She looked up at me, fear showing in her eyes.
“I’m sure they’ll find something useful in their supply run.” I tried to cheer her up. I took a second to look at her ankle. I had never paid much attention to it since she always acted ‘fine’ overall. But it was red and swollen. Very swollen. ‘How the hell was she walking on that thing?’ I shook my head at the sight. She should’ve taken off her sneakers and elevated that thing. “We should get you back to camp. Can you stand?” I held out my hand.
“I think so.” Yasmina winced at the effort and put all her body weight on me. We tried to take one step but my back simply wasn’t used to that much new weight, so she almost brought both of us down. “Sorry.” She mumbled.
“It’s okay.” I sighed, thinking for a minute. ‘It isn’t the best idea, but…’ “Maybe it’s best if you climb onto my back.”
“I’m not that desperate.” Yasmina mumbled.
“You can’t even take a step, so yeah, I’d call that desperate.” I chuckled, crouching down for her to climb on. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“Maybe I should do it.” Kenji offered, hesitantly.
“This again?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “You think I can’t do it?”
“I know you can, I just don’t think you should.” He explained, his voice small.
I clutched my hands into fists and stood up straight. “What the hell is up with you, Kenji? You didn’t want me to carry Bumpy…” I sighed, thinking back at the little Ankylo. “…then you don’t want me going into the T. rex nest, now you don’t want me clearing camp junk or helping Yaz out. I don’t need a fucking babysitter!” I yelled the last part in frustration.
Kenji recoiled. “I’m not babysitting you. I’m just trying to help.”
“Well don’t, ‘cause you’re not really good at it, are you?” I snickered, taking one step towards him. “Last time-” I stopped myself mid-sentence, as all the anger left me, replaced by regret. I was about to say a really shitty thing. By Kenji’s hurt look, he knew exactly what I was about to say. I took a deep breath and started over. “It’s just a cut, stop making a big deal out of it.”
“It’s not only that and you know it.” He stomped his feet. “Besides, it is a big deal. What if it gets infected or something? We don’t have anything to treat your arm if it does.”
I rolled my eyes, of course he had a point, but I was cleaning the damn thing regularly! Or almost… as much as our supplies let me.
“He’s kinda right.” Yasmina chipped in. “Every time your cut reopens, you’re like a dino magnet.”
“That was one fucking time.” I groaned, turning to face her. “And who are you to say? How many times have you slowed us down?” I said in a dry manner. She flinched at my tone. But, what did she expect? I thought she had my back on this. But no, she had to go and rub in my face the Ceratosaurus situation.
“Oh, you did not just say that.” Yasmina glared at me.
“I sure did.”
“Hey, ladies.” Kenji got in between us. “As much as I like a girl fight, we really should be getting back to camp.” He turned his back to Yasmina. “Hop on.”
“You know what.” I scoffed. “Clearly, you don’t need me, so you two go do whatever.” I turned my back on them and stormed off to camp, my blood boiling.
I wasn’t going to stay there, getting ganged up by the two of them. I mean, if Kenji was so annoyingly worried about me, fine; I could deal with that. However, I thought Yasmina would be the last one to back me into a corner like that. Why bother trying to help her when she’s just gonna turn on me?
“Fuck!” I grunted, punching a tree. Here I was, trying to help and get stuff done, and all they did was bench me. I really couldn’t deal with another monorail situation, and if we didn’t find shelter soon, it was bound to happen. And I couldn’t let it!
How did they not see that we needed to get a move on things? With all the help we had available, which included Yasmina and me! I didn’t care if my arm hurt a bit, we needed shelter. They always said to get shelter or you’d most definitely die in the wild. And no one was dying on my watch.
“Never again.” I punched the tree another time. My breathing was more labored than I cared to admit, so I just stayed staring at the tree bark while I counted to ten. When my heart returned to a normal rhythm, Kenji’s hurt face flashed through my mind.
I didn’t mean to make Kenji feel guilty about Bumpy again, though. I didn’t really think he was responsible. With Ben gone, Bumpy was supposed to be my responsibility, I vouched for the little dino and now she was gone too.
‘They needed you, but you weren’t there.' Ben’s voice echoed in my head, bringing with it the nightmare scene of everybody dead in front of me. The clouded dead eyes staring right at my soul, the glistening fresh blood dripping from the claw marks… the open fractures… “See what you did?”
The memory made my heart skip a beat and my breath hitch. “Shit.” I turned back to where I’d left Kenji and Yasmina. They were also my responsibility.
‘What was I thinking leaving them like that? The jungle is filled with dinosaurs!’
I picked up the pace, imagining the worst, but all my worries disappeared when I found them halfway back. Kenji was giving Yasmina a piggy-back ride. It would be comical if I wasn’t still pissed off. They seemed alright enough so I snuck past them without being noticed. I headed back to where we initially were and gathered all the vines left behind. At least all of this shitshow wasn’t going to be for nothing.
Half of my way back, I found Kenij and Yasmina sitting on the grass. I thought about going to them to make sure they were okay, but refrained from doing so. I wasn’t in the mood for another argument. So, I just stayed back and watched out for any dinosaur in the area.
They seemed to be having a really intense conversation, but after a while they finally got up, so I hurried up to follow them.
Back at camp, Yasmina was sitting by the ‘resting tree’ and Kenji was, surprisingly, sorting out the debris. I dropped the vines next to Yasmina without saying a word and moved on to sit by another tree by myself, accepting that I was going to sit this one out. At least Kenji was actually doing something, not much, but it was a start. Logically, I knew they were right. I was indeed hurt and needed to rest. I could feel my body begging for it. But I hated feeling this way: useless. I felt terrible from yelling, terrible for using the Bumpy against Kenji, and well, not so terrible about lashing out at Yasmina, ‘cause she had that coming. But mostly I was upset at myself, not at them.
“Fuck.” I breathed out, burying my head on my knees. ‘Why do I always do that?’
‘Think on the bright side.’ A voice in my head said. ‘You didn’t punch anyone.’
I chuckled at that. ‘Progress.’ But that I’d never admit to my mom, she’d only gloat and say ‘I told you so.’
Shit, I wonder what they must be thinking right now. With all that had happened I haven’t even thought about my family, about how they must be feeling. It all happened so fast, I barely had time to process it all, let alone worry about how people back home were doing. By now they must think I’m dead, right? Is that what the park administration told everyone? That’s probably it, otherwise there already would be a search party going on. They really abandoned us. They really think who didn’t make it back to the mainland got eaten by dinosaurs.
Would there be a funeral for us? Just an empty casket and our families would be left with no closure.
I couldn’t bear the image of my family in all black standing by a small gravestone with my name on it. Here lies Hayden Simmons: the useless one.
Couldn’t save her friend…
Couldn’t keep a pet dinosaur safe…
Couldn’t lead…
Couldn’t get home…
Couldn’t do anything right.
…
Kenji was building a miniature campfire while Yasmina took a nap by the resting tree. Even though I was tired from all the running the days prior, the thoughts in my head didn’t let me sleep. So, I tried to keep busy with more practical stuff.
Rebuilding camp was a great idea by Darius; it solved the shelter issue and it even had a water supply nearby. Hopefully, they’d find some medical supply and we’d have that sorted out, but finding food was still an issue. It’s a tropical island, there had to be some fruit trees somewhere, right? There were a lot of rivers… maybe some fish. How were we even going to go fishing?
Scratch that, the park had to have a storage with food somewhere. Maybe we needed to return to Main Street and look for some more food. Rexy seemed fairly easy to avoid. We just needed a lookout with a walkie that worked.
“Welcome to Camp Kenji!” Kenji announced, standing proudly by the little campfire.
Suddenly, the ground shook and we heard loud stomping sounds coming from behind us. Darius, Brooklynn and Sammy were sprinting, full speed at us, being chased by three dinosaurs. One Sinoceratops, an adult version of the one we had ‘saved’ back at the gyrosphere riding; and two Stegosaurus. All herbivores, but the sight of three elephant-sized animals charging at you at full speed was terrifying. The memory of how deadly herbivores could be was still fresh in my mind.
“Up the trees, quick!” Brooklynn yelled.
I climbed my tree and Kenji helped Yasmina up the resting tree followed by the rest of them. Mindless to us, the dinosaurs charged through, destroying Kenji’s campfire in the process.
“No, no, no!” He wailed at the sight. “This is exactly why you should never work on anything, ever!”
We watched as the dinosaurs disappeared into the trees.
“I guess this is why they built Camp C. up in the trees.” Sammy said while they climbed down. I jumped off my tree and walked to theirs.
“Hey, maybe our new shelter should be kind of like a tree house.” Darius suggested.
Yasmina pulled out a paper and pen out of the souvenir bag and started drawing. “Maybe something like…” Everybody was looking attentively at her drawing. “This?” She drew a simple treehouse with bunk beds, tables and a ladder to access it.
“It’s great!” Darius exclaimed. “But we definitely need a lookout tower.”
“And an awesome girl’s bunk!” Brooklynn chipped in. “The boys can have whatever.”
“A place for storing food, so the dinos don’t get it.” Sammy said.
“Let’s get to it then!” Darius cheered.
By sundown we had it all organized. Sammy and Kenji were moving the big wooden beams with the vine while Brooklynn and Darius took care of the smaller debris. Yasmina was still sketching our new camp, so I decided to sort out whatever supplies they had brought in the bags. Some compression bandage and… canned fruit! I’ve never been so happy with the sight of overly sugared fruit. I ripped a piece of the compression bandage and used it to dress my wound. It was a bit rough, but it was the best I could do with that material. The cut had reopened several times along these days, it was all red and hot, but still nothing too worrisome. I grabbed the rest of the compression bandage and headed over to Yasmina. She was resting against a tree with her leg propped on a boulder. She was in a good mood, excitedly moving the pen on the paper, drawing the new features of our camp.
“Here.” I offered her the bandages.
“Thanks.” She smiled at me like the argument from before had never happened. I just stared at her, puzzled by her demeanor. She went from dark and gloomy to happy and hopeful in hours. ‘What the fuck?’
I tried to hold on to the anger and annoyance from before, but I simply was too tired to do that. “Sorry ‘bout before.” I eventually said.
“It’s fine.” She looked up from her drawing.
I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have left.”
“Kenji brought me back alright.” She huffed. “He’s actually- um, not that bad.”
I raised a brow. “Are we talking about the same Kenji?”
“Don’t let him hear this, but talking to him… it helped.” Yasmina said it quietly.
“Mr. VIP?” I scorned, but then remembered how mature he had been about that phone situation. I guess he had his moments. Rare ones. But he was still annoying as fuck.
“I know, right?” She chuckled. “It sounds weird coming from my mouth.”
I glanced at Kenji by the wreck. Not building a miniature campfire, but actually helping. “I guess I’ll take your word for it.” I laughed, sitting down by her side. “How’s the design going?”
“It’s great! Here are our bunks and over here we can put a storage area.” She passionately explained her drawing. “Kenji said he wanted a slide for us to go down on, but he’s crazy to think it would work, because…”
I just sat there listening to Yasmina going on about the camp project while everybody else sorted out the debris. A whole day and we hadn’t had any dinosaur attack on camp, at least not a carnivore one... Maybe, this was going to be a good location after all.
Notes:
ago/2024 - editing
Chapter 13: Supply Run
Summary:
Gotta find ways to be useful when you’re benched.
Notes:
Warnings: mention of dinosaur death, negative thoughts.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“No, no, help!” Blood curdling screams filled the night. “Hayden!” Ben called my name, his hand reaching out.
“Ben!” I tried to hold onto him.
A shadow crossed my view and with a blink of an eye, he was gone. Ben was gone.
“Ben!” I choked; arms outstretched in the darkness.
“Hayden! Hayden, please help!” He called for me, but I couldn’t find him. I couldn’t reach him.
My eyes shot open to see Sammy standing there, tapping on my shoulder to wake me up.
“It’s your turn.” She said with a tired voice.
“M’kay.” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the memory of my latest dream. But I could still see Ben reaching desperately for me. The image was still fresh from my nightmare. The desperate screams that I couldn’t get out of my head, calling my name over and over again.
I mentally shook myself and sat up, looking around. Sammy was already fast asleep next to me and the rest of the campers were sprawled out in the grass. I noticed the fire was dying down so I tossed a few dry branches to keep it going.
Rebuilding camp was taking way longer than I thought it would. Several days had passed and we we’re still working on the base of the structure. Our first attempt had collapsed, but what we had going on now seemed stable enough. It was surprising what we had found in good conditions in the wreck. An entire couch, the T. rex skeleton, cupboards, mattresses and pillows, even the ping-pong table was in one piece. I really was hoping for our luggage, but no such luck. Although Darius did find his necklace in the middle of all the debris, it turned out it was a Velociraptor tooth. Pretty cool.
I was bored doing nothing all day, but because I was finally able to rest properly, my back pain had scaled down to ‘just annoying’ and the cut on my arm was looking way better. It didn’t reopen; it was finally beginning to heal and the pain was practically nonexistent if I didn’t move it too much. Yasmina was also looking a lot better; she could even walk on her ankle again. And all the food from the Dinosaur Healing Station was a god send. Although it was hard to open canned food without proper utensils, we made it work, using rocks and Kenji’s butter knife. But our stock of frozen pizza and canned fruit decreased fast, so after a lot of persuasion, I got to do some supply runs close by. I had dried out the nearby Healing Station, so I mapped our surroundings. The jungle went on forever to the east and north, and I didn’t dare to enter where the jungle turned denser, but if we headed south, there was Main Street right after some grasslands.
I had adventured down there by myself a few times without them knowing, but I only observed Rexy from afar. Her routine had become more regular than the last time we had seen her. She usually left in the morning and returned by sundown. Luckily, she liked to hunt on the south of the island, away from us. Although I was supposed to be scouting for food, I couldn’t help but search in bushes and behind every tree, looking for a certain little green dino. I hadn’t seen any trace of Bumpy, or any other Ankylosaurus for that matter; they must’ve been herding far away from camp. Hopefully, she had joined the others of her kind and wasn’t all alone.
…
The sky was showing some shades of light blue and orange. The sun was coming up. I let the fire die down and when the sun started to get high up in the sky, then I went around waking everybody up.
Darius woke up quickly.
“5 more minutes.” Kenji mumbled, without moving.
Brooklynn sat up and said something unintelligible, still drowsy.
After a while, we all sat around the embers that once were the campfire.
“Cheer up guys!” Darius said. “We’ll finish building camp in a couple of days then we can relax.”
It had been a week and still no word. No one came to rescue us; no signal from the mainland. The morale was diminishing as fast as our food supply. Without being able to help, I had a lot of free time. It didn’t do much for the guilty thoughts that invaded my mind, but I was getting better and better at pushing them away. Turns out ignoring stuff was what I was proficient in.
Without much to do, my attention turned toward the campers. Darius wasn’t as confident as before, sure, he still gave us a speech now and then, but I noticed him stirring in his sleep, jolting awake and clutching his necklace. Sammy had a sad look on her face whenever she thought no one was looking. Brooklynn seemed to be overly focused on building the camp, and so was Yasmina, always drawing new versions of camp. Kenji was actually helping and not slacking too much, he seemed to be doing okay from his melt down by the T. rex lair, always cracking jokes and being silly.
“Who wants fruit for breakfast?” Sammy pulled out a can of pineapple and tried to open the lid with Kenji’s butter knife. The can went flying and I had to duck not to get hit.
“Again?” Kenji groaned and laid back down.
“Ugh, I’m tired of eating only fruit.” Brooklynn grunted. “This canned stuff all tastes the same.”
“I didn’t find anything else around here.” I said, hugging my knees.
“We just need to hang on a little longer, I’m sure help is on the way.” Darius reassured us.
“I think I got it!” Sammy cheered, finally opening the can.
“At least it’s not figs.” Yasmina shivered. “I hate figs.”
“Hear, hear.” I lifted my imaginary glass, quivering at the thought of the disgusting fruit.
“Come on guys.” Darius took his portion of the pineapple and stood up. “We have work to do.”
Slowly we got a move on. Everybody already knew what to do so it was easy to start the routine for the day. They still didn’t allow Yasmina or me to pull any weight so we helped with what goes where and how to secure the structure properly, although it was more trial and error than anything. By noon, the main structure was completed and they started on the furniture, which was half way done already.
‘It’s looking more like a proper camp now.’ The thought gave me hope, the first sliver of it since the beacon. ‘We could do this. Even if help doesn’t come… we could do this.’
I decided to take a break, a.k.a. Sammy scared me away with the promise of figs for dinner if I didn’t sit my ass down. I spotted Kenji laying by his tree, also on a break, so I sat next to him. He glanced at me but didn’t say a word. We hadn’t talked since I went off on him and wasn’t sure if he was still mad at me.
Even though I was good at pushing away my darkest thoughts, I couldn’t deny how lonely I’ve been feeling throughout this week. Yasmina was always with Sammy, and when she wasn’t with her, she was drawing. And I learned fast that when she was drawing personal stuff, she didn’t appreciate company. Darius was all focused on building camp, and there wasn’t much I could do on that end. And just like him, Brooklynn made herself overly busy with camp, she was practically the one in charge of it, since she had the experience. Besides, I didn’t have much in common with the little Youtuber to begin with. Also, I wasn’t desperate to hang out with Sammy, that girl talked so much it gave me a headache.
And then there was Kenji… we also didn’t have much in common besides our age, and well, we barely said a word to each other this past week. I’ll admit he wasn’t the type of guy I’d ever seen me being friends with, or maybe it was just a bias of mine against the Mr. VIPs of life… I guess that could be wrong of me, I never really gave him a chance.
‘But you did… and he lied to you.’ A small voice in my head reminded me.
‘He was just afraid of being alone.’ I argued back, remembering how he described his relationship with his dad.
‘Now you’re making excuses just because you feel guilty?’ The voice pointed out.
‘What I did was worse than lying. I just threw the Bumpy situation on his face like it was nothing.’ I cringed internally.
‘Guilty.’
‘Thanks conscience.’ I rolled my eyes internally.
I noticed I had been sitting next to Kenji for several minutes now, without saying a word, so I cleared my throat to break the silence.
“Hey, Kenji uh- so, how are you doing? You good?” I immediately cringed again. That was a terrible starter.
He glanced over at me. “Yup, just chilling.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Uh- the other day I said some things I didn’t mean. So…”
He slowly sat up. “So…”
“Well, technically I didn’t actually say it per se…” I tried to stall but he only narrowed his gaze. “And if this is about the whole babysitting thing, I don’t even care anymore…” Silence. “My bad, okay? You can even have my share of fruits if you want.” I offered, but didn’t get any reaction. “So… I’m sorry?” I chuckled a bit, but his face remained unmoving.
“Is that a question?” Kenji narrowed his eyes at me, the corner of his mouth almost curling up… in a smile?
“You’re having fun, aren’t you?” I deadpanned.
“My god, you’re so serious all the time!” He burst out laughing, falling back on the grass.
“It’s official, you’re dead.” I grabbed the pillow he was previously laying on and tried to choke him with it.
“Your face!” Kenji put both his arms up to stop me. “Priceless!”
I grunted, pretending to struggle with the pillow. “I’ll say it was an accident, you choked on your own VIP card.”
“That doesn’t even make sense!” He was wheezing from all the laughter, so I held back with the pillow.
“Just forget everything I said.” I sat back against the tree, crossing my arms hastily.
“So, you’re not sorry? And I don’t get to have your food?” He asked, still with a smile on his face.
“I am sorry.” I threw the pillow at him.
“Oof.” He complained, grabbing it back.
“Just forget everything I said before that.” I cringed.
“Not. A. Chance.” He grinned.
“You’re so annoying.” I mumbled. “Hope you step on a Lego.”
“Do you really wish that?” Kenji gasped, covering his mouth with his hand, dramatically.
“A 1 by 1 brick, barefoot in the middle of the night.” I nodded. “Yep, that’s your future.”
“Not the plastic urchin. That’s torture!” He cowered behind his pillow. An amused smile crept up on my lips. “You’re evil.”
And my smile only grew. “Thank you.”
…
We chilled at the resting tree for a while before my stomach started to growl. Surviving on canned fruit was going to be impossible and I was tired of doing nothing when I knew Main Street had perfectly good food, or almost perfect. I rummaged through our supply bag and grabbed two walkies.
“I think I’m going in for another supply run, wanna come?” I asked Kenji.
“Didn’t you do one yesterday?” He mumbled, head resting on the pillow.
“And I came back empty handed.” I chuckled.
“Shouldn’t you be resting then?”
“There’s one more place I want to check out.”
“Dude, just chill for a bit.” He laid back on the tree, closing his eyes. With a smile on my face, I poked him in the cheek with the walkie’s antenna until he peeked at me with one eye. “You’re just not gonna listen, are you?” He sighed.
“Oh, I want to… but no.” I grinned. “So, are you coming? I might need a look out.” I stood out and laid out my hand. “Or do you prefer to help with rebuilding camp?”
He grunted, but accepted my hand. “You’re so not chill.”
…
“We’re back at Main Street?” Kenji hastily whispered, ducking behind a tree and looking around frantically for the T. rex. “You crazy?”
“We can’t survive on canned fruit forever.” I simply said.
“It’s not forever, it’s just ‘till help arrives.” He reasoned.
“It’s been over a week already, who knows when they’ll come.” I tried to argue. “Our food supply is running low anyway.”
“I’m all for a greater variety of foods in our diet, but not enough to actually enter the T. rex’s meal plan.” Kenji gritted through his teeth.
“Relax…” I breathed out. “Rexy’s out.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I’ve been stalking Main Street for a while now.” I slowly said. “She’s-”
“You what?” He shrieked.
“Chill, Kenj. She’s always out in the daytime, and we have hours of sunlight left.” I pointed to the sky. “We’re good.”
“It’s a T. rex!” He crossed his arms defiantly. “We’re never good around a T. rex.”
“Wuss.” I muttered.
“I’m not a wuss!” Kenji puffed his chest. “I just don’t have a death wish like you.”
“She’s not even home!” I grunted. “I’ll show you if you don’t believe me.” I grabbed him by the arm and hurried him along the way. He protested for a bit, but finally came along.
I guided him to the old store we had hid from Rexy days ago, the one next to its paddock. We were hunched over on the roof, peeking at the empty T. rex nest.
“See? No dino in sight.” I motioned to the nest. “I’ve been observing her, and she always comes back near sunset.”
“Wow, that makes me feel real safe.” Kenji rolled his eyes.
“You don’t need to come with me.” I tossed him the walkie. “Just let me know if something comes up.”
“Need I repeat myself? You. Are. Crazy.” He said in the walkie’s robot voice. “Haven’t we already checked Main Street, though?”
“We were looking for the beacon, not food. There has to be something we can use in the pantries and stuff.” I said with confidence, hoping I was right. “You can stay up here, just keep an eye out.”
“Fine.” Kenji sighed. “Just be quick.”
With a confident smile, I hooked the walkie to the waist of my pants and rushed down the stairs, crossing the street as quietly as possible. ‘This was gonna be easy, in and out.’ I thought, really hoping the T. rex would stick to her schedule.
I headed to Starbucks first. The coffee shop was just as chaotic as the street outside, and the floor was covered in dark sticky stains. ‘Please be coffee.’ I hoped, crossing my fingers.
Next to the door, there were limited edition cloth bags with a pretty drawing of dinosaurs and the classic mermaid logo. I grabbed two of them and headed further inside.
The pastries on display were beginning to grow mold, so that was a no go. I turned my attention to the kitchen, there wasn’t much out, all the bread packages were opened and growing mold already; there was a balcony with the worst looking avocados I’ve ever seen, so I skipped those. On the back of the kitchen, there were a few unopened cans and a package full of plastic wrapped fruits.
“Oh, how I love plastic!” I grinned.
I shoved dozens of fine-looking bananas and apples down the bags. I checked the cans and smiled once again, canned tuna. On the back of the kitchen there was an emergency exit and another door that I imagined was the pantry, but it was locked. I searched everywhere for a key, but no luck. I accepted defeat and was about to head out, when something shiny caught my eye. There was a knife on the counter, a paring knife if I was not mistaken. I rolled it in the cleanest cloth I’d found and shoved in the bag.
Being done with the coffee shop, I exited it back onto Main Street, just to find Kenji sitting down by the stairs leading inside the coffee shop.
‘Aw, he got over his fear of Rexy.’ I chuckled.
He raised his head. “Any luck?”
“Fruit.” I smiled, but he groaned in response. “Actual fruit, I mean.” I clarified, giving him the almost full bag to carry. “I think we still have some time to check out a restaurant.”
“How confident are you that the T. rex is gonna be back by sundown?” Kenji asked, eyes darting up and down the street.
“Um… a solid 75%.” I said, already crossing the street.
“Seventy- Ugh! I can’t believe this.” He picked up the pace, practically running inside the Winston’s Steak House. This restaurant was the very same one that had a raptor barbecued in the kitchen, but overall, it seemed to be in a good state. Well, if you ignored the rotting food left on the tables.
“What are you so afraid of?” I laughed at Kenji fidgeting next to me. ‘I guess he hadn’t gotten over anything.’
“Why are you not afraid? It’s a dinosaur!” He exasperated.
“It’s a monster truck, we can see it coming from a mile away.” I shrugged.
He just glanced at me, skeptical. “Like last time, huh?”
“I’ll admit we’re running on a hypothesis here, but just think of the food.” I tried to coax him.
“Damn running hippos, man.” He slouched over.
“Think of the food.” I pressed, entering the kitchen on the back. Turns out they had two kitchens, one where they barbecued Raptors and a normal one in the back with the pantry, a big metal door with a key on the lock.
“Jackpot.” Kenji smiled as he pushed the door open.
The pantry was small, but had shelves full of food. Piles of canned tuna, corn and beans, some bread wrapped in plastic that didn’t seem moldy, and fruit and vegetables in giant boxes.
“I think we’ll need more bags.” I smiled wide at the full pantry.
“I’ve got it.” Kenji said, disappearing out the door.
I got to work and started to fill the bags I had. Some fruits and vegetables were going bad, so I picked the best-looking ones.
A few minutes later, I heard the sound of a soda can popping open. I turned around and Kenji was leaning against the door with a smirk plastered on his face.
“Guess what I found.” He threw me a can of coke and I grabbed it in the air.
“Ha! Is this actually-” I popped it open and took a sip of the highly sweet drink.
“They’ve got stacks of this beauty on the back.” He chuckled. “We might need to come back here.”
I gulped down the drink. “I don’t even mind that it’s warm.” I practically melted at the sweet bubbles in my mouth. “It’s so good.”
“Yeah, and by the way, don’t open the freezer.” Kenji shivered. “It’s gross.”
“Noted.” I mumbled, taking another sip.
“So, I also found this.” He pulled out a couple of backpacks.
“Perfect.” I nodded. “Help me gather everything, and we’re good to go.” He passed me a backpack and we got to work. I grabbed a can of tuna and tossed it inside, only to find a green Ankylosaurus plushie in the bottom of the backpack, the same one I had used as a pillow all those days ago. I smiled fondly at the plushie, the little miniature of Bumpy looking at me with his beady eyes.
“Hey.” I raised my head. “Thanks, Kenj.”
“No problemo, Hays.” His cheeks turning a soft shade of pink as he went back to filling the bags.
‘Damn, he took time to go back for that? Maybe he was really getting over his fear of the T. rex.’ I glanced one more time at the plushie. ‘I’m glad he did, though.’ I was still smiling as I went back to work.
We filled our bags to the brim, but there was still food in the pantry. We would need a second or third visit for sure, but for now this was enough. I couldn’t wait to see the others’ faces when they realized we didn’t have to eat canned fruit for dinner. And all in one day’s work.
…
We were making our way back to camp, but because of the heavy bags, we needed to take several rest stops. We were chilling under a tree’s shade when Kenji finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ugh! I’m tired, I’m dirty and I’m hot.” He groaned. “Why is our camp so far away?”
“What? You wanted to share a bed with Rexy?”
“What- No!” He protested. “This island is just so damn…” He smacked his neck, killing a mosquito. “…hot!”
“We are in the tropics, so…”
“How come the mosquitos aren’t trying to kill you too?” Kenji slapped his arm, fending off another bug.
“Maybe they like blue blood better.” I chuckled.
“Oh, keep laughing.” He slumped against the tree, arms crossed.
I rolled my eyes at him and got up. “We should get going.”
“Wait.” Kenji jolted up, staring at the distance. “If our camp is that way…” He pointed to our left. “…why are we going this way?”
“The path is just easier this way.” I shrugged. ‘Damn, I was really hoping he wouldn’t pick up on that.’
“If we cut through here-” He pointed left. “-we’ll get to camp faster.”
“Trust me, let’s just go back the way we came.” I took a few steps but he remained rooted in place.
“Why? Dinosaurs?”
I sighed. “Not exactly…”
“Then what’s the big deal? I’m not walking more just because.” Kenji started going down the path to our left.
With a loud groan I reluctantly followed him. Sure, it was a short cut, but I had gone down this path before, and the view wasn’t pretty.
After a few minutes walking in silence, the pungent smell hit us. The jungle opened up to a grass field and Kenji came to a halt in front of me. I counted six mounds the size of a bus across the field, all in a dark gray color, with some bones poking out, rotten flesh and the nauseating smell of a dinosaur carcass rotting under the sun. On the furthest mound, a Pteranodon had its beak deep in the flesh, sorting through the remains of the Brachiosauruses.
Kenji made noises of throwing up and covered his mouth with his hands. “What are those?” His voice was muffled.
I scrunched up my nose at the smell. “Still wanna come this way?”
“Was this the Indominus?” His eyes went wide and I nodded in reply. “I say we go around.” He quickly turned his back to the field of dead dinosaurs and rushed back to the jungle.
“Brilliant idea.” I held my breath and ran to keep up with him.
…
It was still sunny outside when we made our way back to camp. The rest of the campers were finishing the living room, with a couch, table and chairs.
“There you are!” Sammy came running to greet us.
“And we brought stuff.” Kenji announced.
“Food?” Sammy asked with wide-eyes. “I thought you said you looked everywhere. Where did you find it?” She turned to me.
“Um…Main Street.” I mumbled.
At that, everybody came to see what was going on. “What? Are you out of-” Brooklynn started to rant at us, but I interrupted her.
“Show them, Kenji.” I smugly said.
He pulled out a can of coke. “Ta-da.” Kenji raised the can in the air, and all their jaws dropped.
“There's much more where that came from.” I dropped the heavy bags on the floor.
“Caffeine!” Brooklynn cheered.
“You’re welcome.” Kenji bumped shoulders with me, smiling as the campers stood staring in awe.
Turns out they couldn’t be mad at us for returning to a place we’d almost died, when we came bringing back food. We had a chilled night by the fire, with lots of fresh food and soft drinks.
Next day, we made more incursions to Main Street, gathering all the food, and everything we could use: backpacks, mugs, pans and cutlery. We even found a drugstore near the hotel by the end of Main Street.
We ransacked all the hygiene rows of the drugstore, and finally we could take a dip into the river and feel clean again. Oh, how I missed toilet paper!
Obviously, we also paid the hotel a visit, but I couldn’t convince anyone we should move there… too close to the T. rex for their liking and the pool water wasn’t really drinkable. But now we had clean towels, sheets, pillows… and everything we needed. Things were looking up.
After days of work, we finally finished the new Camp C., with our very own shower, where you needed to go fill the gallon of water manually at the river, but at least we had privacy.There was a slide to get down faster, props to Kenji. In the center of camp, there was a table supported by a T. rex skull, surrounded by bunk beds for each of us. Finally, we could sleep under a ceiling, and high up from the ground, where dinosaurs couldn’t reach us. Unfortunately, the mosquitos could. And that was hell.
Notes:
I may be making shit up, but I’ve read it somewhere that the T. rex goes hunting during the daylight hours, so bear with me on this lol
ago/2024 - editing
Chapter 14: The Watering Hole
Summary:
A Stone-cold mystery!
Notes:
The power went out friday and I've been without wifi for 2 days 😭😭😭 One day late but I'm here with a new chapter
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The night was dark with no moon in the sky. I could barely see in front of me while a flock of Pteranodons chased me through the jungle. The dinosaurs were so close that their beaks were scratching my back every time they lunged. Blood dripped down my back from the burning cuts.
“Help!” Ben’s voice echoed from the jungle. I had been frantically following his voice. “Hayden! Help!” He cried just as he did that night.
My lungs were burning, begging for air, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to reach Ben.
“Yagh!” A scream jolted me awake. “Does this water ever get warm?” Kenji’s voice came from the shower. My Ankylo plushie was squashed under my cheek, so I sat up, rubbing my eyes and still reminiscing on the dream.
On the couch in front of my bed, I noticed that Darius was busy writing something in his notebook. He had his back to me so I stretched my neck to take a peek. There were some dinosaur drawings with descriptive texts next to it.
‘Of course, he is taking note of everything.’ I chuckled to myself. ‘Nerd.’
“Five more minutes.” Brooklynn mumbled from her bed upstairs.
“Come on, just open!” Sammy grunted, struggling to open a can of food. She slammed the can with an ice cream scoop so hard it went flying across the table and rolled until it hit Yasmina’s ankle. “Oh! Sorry, Yaz!” Sammy gasped. I wondered where the butterknife we’ve been using was, and took a mental note to look for it later.
“It’s cool.” Yasmina laughed it off. She had recovered pretty fast, all things considered. “And another one.” She raised a Raptor’s claw and scratched a line on the ping pong board we had propped up, marking another day on this god-forsaken island.
Suddenly, the water gallon Kenji was using for his shower flew across our ‘living room’, clearly empty.
“No mas agua. A little help?” Kenji called from the shower, where we could only see his hand waving atop the improvised shower curtain.
“I got you, Kenji.” Darius happily volunteered.
“If you keep doing that for him, he’ll never learn to do it for himself.” Yasmina pointed out.
Darius picked up the empty water gallon, shrugged and went down the slide to get more water.
“That was like, what? The third time already?” Brooklynn asked, getting up from her bed.
“More like the fifth.” Yasmina said.
“That’s just mean at this point.” I shook my head.
“It’s a bro thing.” Kenji slurred his words. “You girls wouldn’t get it.” He sighed.
“Uh, guys!” Darius called from the river. He sounded a bit alarmed so, while Kenji took his time changing clothes, the rest of us girls rushed over to meet him by the river… or at least, what once was the river…
“Where’d the water go?” Sammy asked. The river bed was dry, only a couple puddles were left.
“Why don’t we ask Mr. 45-Minute Shower?” Yasmina jokingly said.
“Hey, looking good is part of my brand.” Kenji finally joined us, fixing his hair. “And no way I drained the whole river.”
“That he got a point.” Sammy defended him.
Brooklyn crossed the dried river, examining the area.
“Guys, we better figure out what’s up or we're gonna run out of drinking water.” Darius said, but Brooklynn quickly shushed him.
“I hear that hum again!” She announced, which made us all groan in response. “The river must’ve been drowning it out. And if I follow that, I can find-”
“Frozen patch of flowers.” We all finished her sentence in unison.
“Oh, I mentioned it, huh?” She chuckled.
“The frozen flowers you saw once, but never found again?” Kenji rolled his eyes. “Yeah. A few hundred times.”
“Uh, I’m sorry for wanting to get to the bottom of all this weirdness on the island.” Brooklynn complained. “I came to unbox-”
“Unbox Jurassic World, and that’s what I’m gonna do.” We all finished the sentence for her again. Brooklynn just stared back at us with an unsurprised look on her face.
“If you’re gonna go look for the noise, I’ll come too.” Sammy jumped at that and went over to Brooklynn. “It’d be nice to have an adventure for a fun reason and not a ‘fleeing dinosaurs or facing imminent death’ reason.”
“I’ll go if Sammy is.” Yasmina eagerly announced, going over to the girls. “And uh- Brooklyn too.” She added awkwardly.
I glanced back and forth between the girls and the guys, undecided. But I couldn’t miss out on the adventure of the frozen flowers.
“Count me in.” I jogged to the other side of the river bed.
“Ooh, it’s a Camp Cretaceous girl adventure!” Sammy cheered.
“Great! And while you do that, Kenji and I will figure out why the river stopped.” Darius said.
“Sorry, Kenji do what, now?” Kenji asked, annoyed.
“You wanna keep up your shower habit, don’t cha? And, you know, also survive?” Darius explained. “Let’s go unbox the mystery of the missing water.”
“Fine, I’m in.” Kenji sighed. “It makes sense. I know this island like the-”
“The back of my VIP hand.” The rest of us finished his sentence in unison, just like we did for Brooklynn.
Kenji raised his brows. “We have been spending way too much time together.”
…
We separated from the boys and entered deeper into the jungle, the trees were a bit sparse from each other, so it was a nice walk on the grass. Yasmina and Sammy trailed behind, while Brooklynn and I were in the lead. Brooklynn had grabbed a baseball bat before we left camp, one of the few things we had recovered from the pile of debris.
“How do you get to keep the baseball bat?” I asked Brooklynn.
“’Cause you have your fists.” She simply stated.
“Against a dinosaur?” I laughed. “No, thank you.” I reached into my pocket to make sure the knife I had found the other day was still there. Not that it would be much use, but it was somewhat comforting to have it there.
“Finders, keepers.” She teased me, sticking out her tongue.
I rolled my eyes. “Do you even know how to use it?”
“It’s a bat. You swing it.” She deadpanned while demonstrating it, swinging at the air.
“You’re a real brat, you know that?” I chuckled and playfully shoved her.
“Oh, don’t-” She was interrupted by the girls behind us giggling loudly.
“Favorite place?” Yasmina asked Sammy.
“High school.” Sammy replied.
“Your favorite place in the world is high school?” Yasmina asked incredulously.
“Yeah! There’s lockers, dances, passing notes in class, getting detention for passing notes in class.”
“No!” Yasmina protested. “School is where you do a bunch of boring stuff before coming back the next day and doing it all over again.” But Sammy just stared at her, skeptical. “I may like square pizza day in the cafeteria.” She finally admitted.
“Oh please! Your favorite is orange, orange, orange.” Sammy said, which provoked a fit of laughter in both of them. They were clearly absorbed in their own conversation and inside jokes.
Brooklynn went over to them, laughing at their joke. “Oh, wow! Yeah! Pizza is orange. So funny, right?” She said awkwardly. Sammy and Yasmina just stared at her in confusion.
“Oh… no. It was kinda something Yaz said before.” Sammy tried to explain.
“Oh. Cool. Yeah, cool, cool, cool.” Brooklynn lowered her head, embarrassed, and returned to my side.
I just stared at the exchange feeling pity for Brooklynn. She looked like a lost puppy trying to make friends. Sammy must’ve also picked up on that, because she made a weird eye signal to Yasmina, who rolled her eyes in response.
“Hey.” Yasmina called. “What’s your favorite thing about school, Brooklynn?” It seemed that this question wasn’t what Sammy had in mind, because she elbowed Yasmina, making me crack a laugh at the two.
“Oh wow. How to pick just one?” Brooklynn turned around. “I mean- I really love the big food fights…? Big food fights.” She said more like a question than anything.
I glanced at her, confused. “Have you ever been to high school?”
“Uh- No. A hundred percent online tutors.” She admitted in a sad note, but quickly shifted to a more positive one. “Oh! But once I dropped a scone in front of the queen while making my ‘Unboxing Buckingham Palace’ video!’ Total food fight, right?”
Sammy, Yasmina and I exchanged glances, unsure what to say to that.
“Um- sorta.” Yasmina said.
“Yeah.” I mumbled.
“Sure.” Sammy said in a more affirmative tone.
“Um- We should keep moving.” Brooklynn turned around, trying to change the subject. She took a couple steps and- CRUNCH. She glanced down on what she had stepped on, removing her feet to reveal a frozen flower. “I think this is the place.” The grass had a few flower patches on it, with the ones in the center, frozen to a crisp.
A loud noise coming from the flowers made us all back away.
“The hum!” Sammy pointed out.
“I hear it.” Yasmina whispered.
“Holy shit, it’s real.” I said in bewilderment.
“I told you guys!” Brooklynn annoyance was clear. We kneeled next to the frozen flowers to examine it better. “It’s super cold air.” Brooklynn hover her hands on top of it. “And the ground’s vibrating?”
I pushed the flowers out of the way to reveal a metal air vent right on the ground.
“What?” Sammy said, in a rather prolonged and dramatic way.
“An air vent.” I stated the obvious.
“I knew we’d find it!” Brooklynn cheered.
“But, wait.” I thought for a second. “If all the island is shut down, what’s powering this?”
“This place keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Brooklynn said.
Suddenly Sammy gasped loudly.
“What?” I spun around, already thinking she saw a dinosaur or something.
“Yaz, Yaz, Yaz.” Sammy pulled on Yasmina's arm every time she said her name. “This is like that episode where Esther follows that graffiti trail.” She said, excited. Brooklyn and I glanced over to the two. Sammy, then, turned to us. “Sorry, Yaz and I were talking about this show we love called…”
“Ester Stone: High School P.I.!” Brooklynn finished the sentence for her. “Episode 23, when she exposed a cryptocurrency ring. I’ve seen every episode 80 times!” She said enthusiastically.
“No way!” Sammy’s mouth hung open. “You watch Esther Stone?” She linked hands with Brooklynn.
“Huh. Famous people are just like us.” Yasmina commented.
“A K-pop group turned me onto it when I was touring Asia with them.” Brooklynn said.
“Ish. Like us-ish.” Yasmina corrected herself.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Sammy hugged both Brooklynn and Yasmina. “It’s time to investigate…”
“A Stone-cold mystery!” The three of them said in unison.
“Spread out!” Brooklynn ordered. “See if you can feel more vibrations.”
I just stood there, stunned by the whole ordeal. ‘Wow, I’m more invisible than I thought.’ I thought to myself. Sure, I had no idea what TV show that was but, ouch.
The three of them spread out across the area to find any other clue and I followed along, not really sure what to look for, though.
“Right, don’t mind me.” I mumbled to myself.
“Hey! I hear something.” Yasmina announced. We all rushed over and listened quietly for the noise. A faint humming could be heard from the jungle in front of us.
The girls smiled at each other. “Follow that hum!” Sammy said, and with that they took off running into the jungle, with me trailing close behind.
After a while, Brooklynn stopped and kneeled to the ground. “The vibrations are getting stronger.”
“We’re on the right track. This way!” Sammy took off running again. The three of them kept smiling and laughing the whole time. I felt a smile growing in my face as well, I guess it was nice to act like normal teenagers once again, to have ‘an adventure for a fun reason’ just like Sammy had said.
“Hey remember when Esther figured out the superintendent’s phone vibrating was actually Morse code?” Brooklynn said.
“And had that killer chase scene in the abandoned warehouse?” Yasmina continued.
“But still made it to prom in that amazing dress? So good!” Sammy finished.
“I love that episode when she finds the-” Brooklynn suddenly halted in place. “Genetics lab?”
“Yeah, but that was in season two.” Sammy leaned on a tree to catch her breath. “We don’t talk about season two.”
“Not that lab. That lab.” Brooklynn pointed at the building in front of us.
The genetics lab stood before us. The last time we’ve been here, creepy Eddie had tried to steal our van and the Indominus had tried to kill us. Not good memories. And by the looks on the girls’ faces, we were all thinking the same thing.
…
We entered the building on high alert. It was just like we’d left it, and surprisingly, the red emergency lights were still on. Perhaps Brooklynn was onto something. We went straight to where Brooklynn said it was Dr. Wu’s office, which wasn’t at all what I was expecting, just a couple computer screens in the wall and desks with lots of drawers. It was very different from my mom’s office, hers was more open with a lot of plants around. She used to take me to her work a few times when I was a child, and I remembered running around and hiding below her desk. But Wu’s office was so… cold, no personal items or any decoration whatsoever.
“Indominus rex, the hum, Mantah Corp?” Brooklynn thought aloud, entering the office.
“Mantah Corp?” Sammy asked apprehensively.
“Yeah, it all connects here.” Brooklynn said. “Dr. Wu was up to something big, something secret.” She looked under a table and tried some drawers.
Yasmina tried the light switch. “No power.”
“The emergency lights are still on, though.” I pointed out. “I didn’t know they ran for this long.”
“Something’s gotta be here.” Brooklynn got up and ran past us out the door.
The three of us just shrugged and followed her down the hallway. We entered the room where we had met Eddie and what was left of the birthday cake still on the table.
I grabbed a pen nearby and poked the cake. A moldy, old, rock-solid cake. “Gross.” I mumbled.
Next to me, Brooklynn stepped on a glass picture frame of Eddie and Dr. Wu, and kneeled down to inspect it. “That birthday guy! Of course!”
“Who?” Yasmina said, confused.
“The van-stealing birthday weirdo, remember?” Brooklynn exasperated.
“Eddie?” I frowned, just as confused as Yasmina. “What does he have to do with anything?
“He mentioned something about the ‘other guys’.” Brooklynn explained, looking through the scattered papers on the floor. “And no one knew what was really going on here. Could he have also been working for Mantah Corp?”
“I doubt he had anything to do with it, he was just crazy.” I dismissed her.
“I just need to find- urgh, something.” She ignored me and kept rummaging through the papers.
“Besides, if Eddie really did work for them, why did Mantah Corp ask Sammy here for DNA samples? Eddie could easily steal those.” I tried to make sense of Brooklynn’s new found obsession.
“Again! Nothing!” She grunted, throwing the papers in the air and sitting down, hugging her knees.
“Brooklynn, what did you expect to find?” Yasmina asked softly.
“I don’t know.” Brooklynn shook her head. “Something big. Something important. I came here to unbox Jurass-” She sighed mid-sentence and averted our gaze. “You know.”
A loud screech was heard from the hallway we had just been in. The four of us gasped and ran to hide behind an overturned table.
Two dinosaurs could be seen walking in the hallway, one of them entered our room, while the other kept going straight. The dinosaur had a medium size, more like the Suchomimus, actually it had a lot in common with the log dinosaur. It walked on its back legs, it had jagged teeth, big claws and a long snout just like a crocodile, but no sail like the Suchomimus. The one that entered the room had a blue-ish skin, it snarled, sniffing the air.
“It’s Chaos!” Sammy peeked over the table and quickly ducked again. “I named the Baryonyxes Chaos, Grim and Limbo.”
“After the hacker gang in episode 68?” Brooklynn asked.
‘What the hell were these two going on about?’ I was about to shush them but Yasmina beat me to it.
The Baryonyx got very close to our hiding spot, so close I could hear his snarls coming from atop of us. We didn’t dare to breathe. Chaos stood by the table for a few seconds but never looked down, finally, the dinosaur decided to investigate the other side of the room.
The moment Chaos turned her back to us, we crawled over to a new hiding spot further in the room. I was going last, but in front of me, Brooklynn was standing still for some reason. I egged her on and she complied, moving over to take cover behind another table. She had an envelope in her hands.
“E750?” She read it.
“Not the time.” I whispered.
“I know that number.” She insisted, but I just ignored it and signed her to move to Sammy and Yasmina’s hiding spot. “It was on Wu’s computer.”
Chaos snarled again and I shushed Brooklynn. Yasmina motioned us to move, so we did. Brooklynn gasped and stopped on her tracks, making me almost collide with her. The dinosaur screeched and Yasmina pulled Brooklynn by the arm to make her move.
We hid against a partition on the wall while Chaos sniffed our previous hiding spot. We heard the sharp claw scratching against the smooth floor, then we heard a bang of a metal table clattering to the ground, followed by something made of wood rolling on the floor.
I looked at Brooklynn, only to see her holding that envelope, nothing else. ‘Shit! Where was the bat?’
Yasmina motioned us to move again but Brooklynn tripped and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Immediately, Chaos growled loudly and came to investigate.
“Go, go, go!” Sammy yelled.
I hauled Brooklynn up and we ran. The Baryonyx roared when she spotted us. We jumped and dodged tables while the dinosaur just slammed past them. Any remotely heavy object we found on the ground; we threw at her. I threw a stapler right on her snout, which only made her roar, angry. She was gaining on us, but we spotted the door and sprinted towards it. Brooklynn grabbed her baseball bat from the floor and we ran out the room. However, the second Baryonyx, a red looking dino, was right on the corner. Yasmina and Sammy were on the lead, so they pulled us to the opposite side of the hallway, away from its jaws. The second dino was about to jump us when Chaos came rushing into the hallway, slamming hard into the other dinosaur. They were a mess of limbs and teeth on the floor, and they weren’t getting up so soon, so we took that opportunity to run as fast as possible.
Outside of the building, we dashed for the tree line, already breathing in relief when another Baryonyx emerged from the foliage. This one had green skin, but equally terrifying. We skidded to a stop and the green Baryonyx crept in closer, mouth slightly ajar as drool dripped from it.
“Grim!” Sammy screamed in fear.
“Bat!” I yelled at Brooklynn. She quickly gave it to me and I rushed to be in front of her, using the bat to keep the dinosaur at a distance. Yasmina stood by my side, fist up while Sammy was behind her.
The Baryonyx roared loudly, showing us all of her sharp crocodile teeth. We were so close that we could smell the stench coming from the dinosaur’s breath. Her eyes darted from me to the bat then to Yasmina, analyzing us as she snarled. I gripped the bat more tightly ready for the dinosaur to lunge at us, but suddenly, she stopped and snapped her head towards the genetics lab. Distant growls and screeches were heard coming from the building. While she was distracted, we took advantage to get the hell out of there. The Baryonyx snarled at us, but ran in the direction of her sisters. We ran as fast as we could, the dinosaurs could decide to come for us anytime, so we didn’t stop. When we started to recognize our surroundings, we knew it was safe to slow down. We were panting and gasping for air. Brooklynn was on her knees and Sammy was wheezing a bit, which was concerning.
After a while of silence, Yasmina let out a contagious giggle that made everyone laugh. Well, not everyone, because Brooklynn was leaning against a tree, looking down at her hands, defeated.
“What’s wrong?” Yasmina asked.
“It’s just-” She sighed. “I was so close to finding something. But I dropped the envelope.”
I grinned, pulling out the envelope from my back pocket. She had dropped it when she tripped at the lab, but I managed to get it when helping her up.
“You mean this one?” I chuckled, giving her the envelope.
“Hayden! You grabbed it?” She stared at me in awe.
“Well duh, you made it sound like it was important.” I rested the baseball bat on my shoulder since I didn’t know what to do with my hands. “So? What is it?”
She rushed to open the envelope. Inside, there were several white plastic cards with some writing on it.
“All right. A bunch of numbers, and letters… and this thing.” She said, raising a much smaller card, this one blank. “No answers. Just more questions.” Brooklynn sighed in defeat.
“That looks like a hotel room key thingy.” Sammy pointed out.
“Maybe it’s an ID card!” Yasmina said.
“That must open something, right?” I thought out loud.
“That’s it!” Brooklynn said, excited. “Maybe we should check-” A loud roar made us all jump, maybe we weren’t in the clear as we thought. “Or we should go.” Brooklynn ended up saying.
“Let’s not push our luck.” Sammy laughed nervously.
…
When we reached camp, the sky was beginning to change colors with the sunset. We had to cross the river at the bridge because the water was flowing again. So, I guessed the boys were successful.
Darius was sitting on the couch, writing on his notepad, and Kenji was getting out of yet another shower.
“Looks like someone solved the water sitch.” Brooklynn said.
“You’re welcome. All me.” Kenji bragged.
“Yeah! All right!” Sammy cheered.
“H2O, baby!” Yasmina punched the air.
“And…” I hit my tights like I would the drums in anticipation for Brooklynn.
“We found this!” Brooklynn showed off the plastic card, proudly.
“Was that something you were looking for?” Darius asked, unimpressed.
“Kinda.” Brooklynn smiled and high fived me.
“That’s right!” I celebrated.
“Okay, awesome!” Darius cheered unenthusiastically. “Have fun, whatever you’re using that for.”
“You know.” Sammy smiled. “If Esther Stone was here, she’d say-”
“Life is hard, so any day that goes somewhat right deserves to be celebrated with a party.” Kenji finished her sentence, and we all just looked at him dumbfounded.
“Oh, come on! Everyone knows the TV show but me?” I asked in a fake annoyance, but the girls were still shocked by Kenji.
“What? It’s a great show, okay?” Kenji said defensively, crossing his arms. “The relationship between Esther and her dad is really compelling.”
Sammy cleared her throat. “Uh, well, in the spirit of Esther Stone, let’s…”
“Party!” Kenji yelled, jumping off of the couch.
…
Everyone had a mug filled with warm coke in their hands. We raised our mugs and clicked it together on toast.
“Ch-ch-ch-check it out!” Kenji pulled out a tape recorder and pressed play.
“Oh, yeah! ” A familiar voice came out of the mixtape. “Feel the beat that I made. Are you ready, ready, ready? Dave Special!” An electronic beat had started.
“Is that?” I asked and Kenji just nodded. “No way!” I laughed.
“Music, music, music, music, music, music…”
“Nope. I’m out.” Yasmina simply got up and left.
“Kenji, what is this?” Sammy asked.
“Dave’s demos.” He explained. “Found it in what was left of his bunk and was waiting for the perfect time to show you- Hold up! Here’s the best part!”
“Dave, Dave, Da-Da-Da-Dave.” Roxie's distorted voice came through. “Get that thing out of my face.” Sammy started to dance to the ‘music’. “What are you even doing?”
“Making music, making music.” Darius got up to join Yasmina, while Sammy, Kenji and Brooklynn actually got up and started to dance. “Making music, making art. Order number one, order number two…”
“I think I need something other than coke to jam at Dave’s music.” I chuckled.
“Oh, come on!” Sammy pulled me up and I gave in, swaying my body to the beat.
The night was actually pretty beautiful on the island. We could see a bunch of stars, the camp was lit up by flashlights, we even had music, albeit Dave wasn’t the best singer. Overall, it was a good party, the first happy day here. We hadn’t have much to celebrate… no. ‘Let’s not get into that.’ I said to myself. ‘Not today.’
“Whoo, whoo.” Sammy spun around.
“Uh-huh.” Kenji waved his arms to the beat. Brooklynn and I just giggled at them.
“Darius! Yaz! Let’s go!” Brooklynn went over to the two. Dave’s lyrics had become mumble words and funky sounds at this point of the music.
“I’m gonna finish this first.” Yasmina said motioning to her notebook, as Brooklynn pulled Darius to our dance circle.
“Dave is actually pretty good.” Darius commented, nodding along to the beat. “Um-mm-hmm.”
“Whoa!” Sammy gasped in awe, looking up at the sky. “Look at that.” Everybody went over to the balcony.
We collectively gasped at the shooting stars flying across the night sky. Brooklynn was in the middle and she threw her arms around Darius and Sammy, who did the same with Yasmina, and Kenji with me. I hugged him back, holding onto his shirt while I looked up at the sky in awe.
The shooting stairs went on for a few minutes, lighting up the sky and the whole valley below. Lowering my gaze, I noticed an orange light with a smoke trail coming from far away in the jungle. It couldn’t be…
“What is that?” Yasmina asked, pointing at the orange light.
“A fire.” Brooklynn stated.
Sammy gasped. “A campfire!”
“Guys… we’re not alone.” Darius said.
Notes:
ago/2024 - editing
Chapter 15: Salvation
Summary:
The time when the campers were left at mercy of Brooklynn’s conspiracy theories.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Is that what I think it is?” My eyes were glued to the fire in the woods. Could it be? The fire was clearly man made, but who? My first thought was ‘Ben’, but how could he? There was no chance. Either way, I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of hope deep down.
“It can’t be.” Yasmina whispered.
“I’m seeing it too.” Brooklynn agreed.
“That is most def a bonfire.” Kenji said.
“People!” Sammy sighed, hugging Yasmina tight. Were there other survivors on the island? Maybe we weren’t the only ones left behind. Or…
“Someone got our SOS signal!” Kenji said in relief.
“So, what are we waiting for?” I smiled.
“Let’s go find them!” Darius threw his arms in the air. “It’s time to go home!”
We swiftly gathered our essentials and took off to the campfire. I grabbed my knife and put it in my pocket, Kenji had his butter knife and Brooklynn her baseball bat. Darius, Sammy and Yasmina, each grabbed pieces of wood that were laying around.
The part of the jungle where the campfire was located was really dense and we could easily get lost, so every now and then, one of us would climb up a tall tree to locate ourselves. Brooklynn went first, then Kenji, and Darius. When it was my turn, I easily climbed the tree until I was high enough, the cut on my arm didn’t bother me much anymore, nor did my back. Hey, turns out being benched wasn’t all that bad.
On the top of the tree, I glanced at the direction the campfire was supposed to be, but nothing… no light or smoke in sight. I did a 360 turn, carefully analyzing my surroundings.
“No, no, no, no, no.” I mumbled to myself. There was nothing! No sign of the campfire. I climbed down, jumping the last couple meters. “It’s gone.” I informed them, and then there was a collective gasp.
“What do you mean gone?” Yasmina asked.
“Maybe they put it out?” I suggested, still holding onto hope.
“What if they left?” Sammy quietly asked. “What if the people who came to save us gave up and we missed our chance?” After that statement, the mood went downhill fast.
“They can’t be far, right?” I tried to lift their spirits. “We just saw the fire a few minutes ago, let’s just keep going.” I glanced at Darius, silently asking for help.
“Hayden’s right, we can’t give up now!” Darius said with a confident voice. “We are in the right track, just keep going that-”
A loud roar echoed through the jungle. I jumped at the sudden sound and what it meant. The roar was way too loud and too close for comfort. The six of us formed a circle, with our backs to each other, weapons in hand, ready to fight.
“C-Could be a really big Compy, right?” Kenji shakingly said. “Darius, didn’t you say they were creepo skylarks?”
“I said they were crepuscular.” Darius corrected.
The foliage moved on my right and suddenly a dinosaur jumped out of it, scattering out our circle. It was a Ceratosaurus, but instead of a fully gray skin, this one had patches of red on its face. It roared at us, but it didn’t immediately attack so we took the opportunity to run for our lives.
We ran as fast as we possibly could in the darkness, dodging trees, rocks and logs. Maybe the dinosaur had problems seeing in the dark or maybe it just wasn’t as fast, because the distance between us grew. I took the lead with Darius, but suddenly I heard a grunt and a thud, as if someone had hit a tree. I looked back to see Kenji sprawled on the floor, with Sammy coming full speed behind him; she didn’t manage to avoid Kenji and tripped on his head, also falling to the ground.
“No!” Darius yelled, running back. He kneeled next to Sammy and I headed to Kenji while Brooklynn and Yasmina took defensive stances in front of us.
“Come on Kenji, get up.” I pleaded, watching the gray dinosaur approaching with its heavy footsteps, but Kenji didn’t move, he only groaned in response.
I tried to pull him up but he couldn’t even sit up straight. I put his arm around me and hoisted him up, inciting more pained groans to come from Kenji. I saw he was trying to help, to get his legs to work, but the Ceratosaurus was gaining on us. There was no way Kenji could run.
There were screams around me and the dinosaur was roaring at us, but the only thing I could focus on was my heart beating out of my chest. ‘Is this how it ends?’ We just managed to rebuild camp C., things were looking up. ‘Is this really it?’ I glanced at Darius helping Sammy up, Kenji hanging his head low, Yasmina’s eyes focused on Sammy while Brooklynn’s were locked at the Ceratosaurus.
“Okay! Come on!” Brooklynn yelled, breaking my trance. She planted her feet wide on the ground and raised her bat to face the predator.
I dropped Kenji with a thud and he moaned in pain. I took a mental note to apologize for that if we lived. With both my hands free, I imitated Brooklynn’s stance with my knife and noticed Yasmina and Darius doing the same.
“Let’s fucking go!” I shouted to gain confidence.
“This is it!” Yasmina grunted.
The dinosaur roared loudly, opening its mouth to show us every single one of its sharp teeth. We yelled at the Ceratosaurus as it got closer, but suddenly, right before the dinosaur attacked, the night turned red.
A red flare exploded in the air near the dinosaur’s head, blinding us and the animal. I felt someone shove me back and I fell on the grass.
“Get down!” An authoritarian male voice shouted. There were successive incredibly loud popping sounds of gunshots and someone shot another flare. The dinosaur roared and shook its head, finally giving up on us and running away. We all coughed, because of the smokescreen left behind by the flares.
In front of us, there were three silhouettes; when the smoke cleared, two men and a woman stood before us. Definitely not Ben and definitely not looking like tourists that got left behind while visiting the park.
“Oh, thank goodness. You’re okay.” The woman said. She had short blonde hair and was dressed like she was going to a safari, light clothes, a hat and a handkerchief around her neck.
We just stood in silence, panting to collect ourselves. Even though those three definitely saved our lives, part of me was still sad it wasn’t Ben; still hoping for the impossible.
“You are okay, aren’t you?” The man next to the woman said, with an unsure tone. He had the same tone of hair and was also dressed in similar clothes, a hat and a shirt with a few buttons open, showing off a necklace. In addition, this guy had a fancy camera hanging around his neck.
The third man stood behind them in silence. Different from the couple, he had a very stern look, military cut white hair, beard and a scar across the eyebrow. He was a big guy, wearing a black t-shirt and a hunting vest, but more importantly, he was holding a huge rifle and a machete strapped to his waist.
“Who… who are you?” Darius asked, astonished.
“Well, after all that, maybe you should call us your salvation.” The lady said with a kind smile on her face.
…
Their camp was close by so we happily got up and joined them. The silent guy was on the lead, opening a path with the machete, while we walked with the couple.
“You okay? How’s your head?” I whispered to Kenji. He still looked a bit out of it.
“What? That?” He chuckled to dismiss me. “It was nothing. Kenji don’t go down easy.” He flexed his muscles in a weird masculine display, but I noticed him walking a bit wobbly.
“Okay, macho. If you say so.” I gave up, but I still was going to keep a close eye on him. Contusions could be tricky little bastards.
Sammy laughed at something the couple had said and I turned my attention back to their conversation.
“We could not believe it when we saw your campfire.” Brooklynn said.
“Did you get left behind, too?” Yasmina asked.
“Not looking like that, they didn’t.” Kenji commented. Their clothes were really clean to be out in the jungle for weeks.
“Yeah. Are you, like, some super stylish rescue squad?” Sammy excitedly asked.
“Guys, take a breath.” Darius calmed them down. “We don’t even know your names.”
“I’m Mitch.” The man introduced himself. “And my better half here is Tiff.” He pointed at the woman. “We’re eco-tourist.”
“That’s a fancy way of saying we travel to exotic places and photograph rare animals.” Tiff softly said, smiling at Mitch.
“I know Simon Masrani.” Kenji said out of the blue, but quickly regretted it as his face fell. “Or knew.”
“When we heard what happened here, we were, like, zoop!” Mitch said.
“Zoop! Gotta get down here.” Tiff laughed. “I was fine taking snaps of lions and tigers, but-”
“Pics of dinosaurs in the wild? You don’t pass that up, do you, babe?” Mitch said, smiling fondly at Tiff.
“I guess you don’t, babe.” She returned the look.
I grimaced at the display of affection and Sammy started a fit of laughter for no reason, which made Mitch and Tiff glance at her with confused frowns.
“I travel, too!” Brooklynn joined the conversation. “Before we got stuck here, obvi. Hey, you’ve seen my videos, Brooklynn Unboxes the World?” She excitedly said, but was met with more confused faces from the two. “The Youtube channel?” She tried again.
“Coming to the island, did you receive any emergency signal by any chance?” I asked, curious if our efforts worked. Mitch and Tiff only looked at me puzzled until realization set in.
“Oh, yes, the signal!” Tiff exclaimed and a smile grew on my lips.
Darius jumped at that. “When we activated the emergency distress beacon, we hoped someone would get our signal.” He laughed. “I kind of can’t believe it worked.”
“Honey, remember when we got that?” Tiff leaned into Mitch. “It was right after the boat dropped us off.”
“On the island?” I frowned, thinking it was weird they only received it so close. I thought the EDB could send a signal hundreds of miles out or something.
“Yeah, we were so excited to see live dinosaurs that we almost missed it.” Mitch laughed.
The guy cutting down the leaves made loud grunts and noises with every swing of the machete, drawing our attention to him.
“That’s our tour guide, Hap. Came highly recommended.” Mitch introduced him. “Knows cameras and the outdoors like the back of his hand, but not much of a talker.” He explained to us. “Almost there, right Hap?” Mitch spoke loudly, but Hap ignored him and kept opening the way for us. We had been walking for so long that the sun had started to come up. Was the campfire we’d seen that far away?
“Where is ‘there’ exactly?” I asked, sounding a bit blunt so I tried to fix it with a smile. I was one thousand percent sure the EDB sends the SOS hundreds of miles in every direction. Was it getting low on battery? It had been a while since we got it to work.
“Our camp. It should be really close now.” Tiff answered, smiling back at me softly.
After another hill, Hap finally cut the last branches out of the way and we found ourselves in Mitch and Tiff’s camp.
“Our camp’s not much, but hopefully you’ll be okay roughing it with us.” Mitch said.
Our mouths hung agape; this place was amazing! In a clearing, there were four sand-colored tents in a circle, not even camping tents, they were more like luxurious yurts. There was a campfire with outdoor chairs around it and a big table for meals.
“Oh, my gosh!” Sammy gasped.
“Oh, is this a dream?” Yasmina said, rushing to see the campsite. “Out of my way! Out of my way!”
“Is this real?” Darius said in disbelief.
We ran around the camp, taking it all in.
“Oh, look at that! Over there!” Sammy pointed to a yurt and we followed to take a peek.
The yurt walls were made of a hanging sand-colored fabric, and inside, there was a king size bed with a huge mosquito net hanging from the ceiling, a dresser and a wood stove with an exhaust fan on the corner.
“Oh, wow!” Brooklynn said in awe.
“Even the mosquito net is luxurious!” Sammy commented.
“They even have a mosquito net.” I shudder, thinking back on the various mosquito bites I had from sleeping in the jungle. “I’d kill for one.”
“This is what I imagined Kenji’s penthouse would be like.” Yasmina said. “But better, because we aren’t locked out.”
“I see brand names!” Brooklynn tried to run inside the yurt, but Darius held her back laughing.
“It’s fine, I guess.” Kenji shrugged. “Personally, I’d have arranged the yurts in more of an A-line config.”
The others moved on from this yurt to explore the rest of the camp, leaving Kenji and me behind. Kenji waited for them to leave to drop the facade and belly flop onto the bed, his laugh muffled by the pillow. I did the same, landing next to him on the bed.
“Oh, this is so soft!” I grinned ear to ear as my body relaxed on the mattress.
“And it smells so good.” Kenji mumbled, still with his face buried on the pillows.
“Admit it. This is awesome.” I crossed my arms behind my head. Kenji mumbled something incoherent in response. “I can’t wait to sleep in a proper bed, without being eaten alive by mosquitos.” I sighed.
“I can wait to take a hot shower.” Kenji said, laying on his back and imitating my pose.
“Do you think they even have showers?” I asked, my face lit up at the thought.
“Of course, they do.” Kenji laughed. “They might not know how to camp Kon’s style, but they do alright.”
I sighed loudly, melting into the bed. Moments ago, we were running in the jungle, almost getting eaten by dinosaurs… and now we had clean sheets, a mosquito net and adults around to keep us safe.
With one more sigh, I broke the silence, remembering how exactly we almost got eaten by the Ceratosaurus. “You sure you’re okay, right?”
“What, that little bump?” He chuckled. “Don’t worry, my dad always said I have a thick skull.”
I grinned. “Why? You hit your head a lot when you were a kid? ‘Cause that would explain a lot.”
“No, it actually was because- Hey, wait a minute!” He sat up straight, outraged.
“What?” I raised my arms in surrender, but still with a smile on my face. “Just saying.” Laughter coming from the outside drew my attention. “Let’s go see what everybody is up to.” I suggested, already getting up.
“Five more minutes.” He complained, laying back down.
“Come on.” I grunted, pulling him up.
Kenji reluctantly followed me outside. Everybody was at the table, with smiles plastered on their faces. Pretty sure my face was the same, because after days living in the jungle with limited resources and no one around; the thought of a proper bed and a hot shower made my day, but what was really getting to me was the prospective of going home.
Sammy gasped loudly. “A can opener?” She grabbed the utensil and kneeled in front of Mitch and Tiff. “Do you know how long I spent trying to open those cans of fruit we found? It almost broke me.” She cried.
“My goodness, I can’t imagine how hungry you all must be.” Tiff said sympathetically. “Would you like some breakfast?”
At that question, our jaws dropped for the thousandth time today. The simple thought of hot food made my mouth water and my stomach growl.
After a few minutes of anticipation, the smells hit us. Eggs, bacon and toast were brought to the table. I filled my plate as fast as possible, not really caring if the adults thought bad of me, but everybody did the same so, I didn’t mind. Then, a new smell hit us.
“Is that coffee?” Brooklynn said with wide eyes, speaking with her mouth full. Our mugs were magically filled with coffee, orange juice or water, depending on our preferences. We filled our plates once again, eating in silence, well, apart from Darius, who had to tell all we’d been through to the couple of strangers.
“…after that, we escaped another dinosaur attack, and another one.” Darius went on. “Then we saw your bonfire-”
“This is like cooking back home.” Sammy said, biting down on bacon.
“-and you saved us from a dinosaur attack.” Darius continued.
“So. Many. Attacks.” Yasmina shivered.
“And here you are, after all you’ve been through.” Tiff looked at us with her warm and compassionate eyes. “Camp destroyed, being abandoned, losing your friend- oh.” She fanned herself with her hand.
I choked on my toast. Did she need to bring that up? I drank down all of my orange juice to clear my throat. Everybody immediately dropped the food and stared at the wooden table, not wanting to look at the adults in the face.
“Don’t be a downer, babe.” Mitch placed his hand on Tiff’s shoulder. “They’re with us now and they’re safe. And when our boat comes back in a couple of days-”
“After it refuels in Papagayo.” Tiff reminded him.
“After it refuels in Papagayo, we’ll get you back to the mainland.”
“We’re leaving in two days?” Darius shrieked.
“Is this really happening?” Sammy asked with tears in her eyes.
“It is, sweetie.” Tiff placed her hand on Sammy’s shoulder, comforting her. “You’re going home.”
“Woo-hoo!” Sammy jumped up.
“Yes! Home!” Kenji punched the air.
The six of us celebrated, laughing and hugging each other. ‘It’s real. We are going home.’ I couldn’t stop giggling.
“Hey, you wanna see some pics we took of big five animals in Botswana?” Mitch asked Darius, showing him his camera.
“Oh, these are so cool!” Darius said in awe at the pictures.
“The camera does the work for you.” Kenji scoffed. “I’ve also got a JC-1000.” But he was ignored by both of them. “Actually, I’ve got a JC-3000. Prototype, never been on the market-”
“Got any dinosaur shots?” Darius asked.
“Unfortunately, not yet.” Mitch sighed. “Personally, I had my sights set on the T. rex.”
“Hayden here knows everything about Rexy.” Kenji bragged and both Mitch and Darius glanced at me.
I elbowed Kenji, who groaned in pain. “All of us have encountered the T. rex a few times.” I laughed nervously at being put on the spot. “But really, Darius is the pro.”
“Oh boy, I can’t wait to see its cranialfacial biting behavior in action.” Mitch said, pointing his camera to an invisible T. rex. “Sorry, I can be a bit of a nerd about dinosaurs.” He chuckled.
“Caniofacial talk? I’ll bite.” Darius joked, but immediately cringed. “Sorry. That- that was terrible.”
“Looks like we both need muzzles.” Mitch joined in.
“I know, right?” Darius said, and the both of them had a fit of laughter.
Kenji only rolled his eyes and played with a bacon on his plate.
“Aw, you mad cause Darius made a new friend?” I teased him.
“Oh, shut up.” He threw the bacon at me. “This guy doesn’t even know the JC-3000. He’s not the real deal.”
“Uh-huh.” I laughed at him, but suddenly someone banged a plate against the table next to me.
“No more questions.” The Hap guy said hastily, staring down at Brooklynn, who backed up on her chair, scared. “Your food will get cold.” He said to her, toning it down.
I had totally forgotten about this guy, but who did he think he was to scream to a kid like that? I gave him a death stare, but he ignored me, or just plain didn’t notice me. I didn’t really know what was more insulting.
“All right. Why don’t you kids freshen up while we clear the table?” Tiff got up, drawing our attention. “It’s a little primitive, sorry.” She pointed to a yurt. “In the bathroom yurt you’ll find a solar powered shower and a heated toilet.”
Sammy quickly gulped down her drink. “I love you!” She said to Tiff. “It’s fine if you don’t say it back.” She ran to the bathroom, calling us all to follow.
Yasmina, Darius and Kenji, with his plate still in hand, went after Sammy. Brooklynn got up, but the ID card we’d discovered yesterday fell from her pocket and Hap picked it up.
“Hey, that’s mine.” She said, trying to take back the card, but he held onto it firmly. Hap was, once again staring at her, with a creepy look on his face.
“Give it back, old man, that doesn’t belong to you.” I said, mustering all my confidence and narrowing my gaze to match his. Hap finally acknowledged me, glancing down. He towered several inches over me, but I didn’t let that hinder my annoyance at this dude. I get it, it was Brooklynn… but who did he think he was?
After a second way too long, he grunted and let go of the card.
“Brooklynn, Hayden, come on!” Darius called us from the bathroom.
“Let’s go.” Brooklynn pulled me by the arm, leading me to the bathroom, but I kept my eyes on Hap all the way, who didn’t move a muscle.
We came into the bathroom to Sammy gushing about all of the different hygiene products. Different from the other yurt, this one had wooden walls and partitions, there was a huge sink with a mirror, a shower to the left and the toilet to the right, where Kenji was seated eating the rest of his breakfast.
“Please, this is all so basic.” Kenji said. “If you guys had seen my penthouse-”
“Shh. I can’t prove it yet, but I think…” Brooklynn started whispering, but stopped herself to take a peek outside.
“What are you on about?” Yasmina asked.
“Shh!” Brooklynn shushed her and hushed all of us to the toilet cabin. “There’s something going on with Hap. He dodged all my questions and was really weird about the key card I found in Wu’s lab. Mitch and Tiff are clueless. She’s too ‘golly goodness’ to notice anything…” She rolled her eyes, doing air quotes. “…and all he thinks about is dinosaurs.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Darius asked, seeming hurt by the comment.
“No, I…” She sighed. “I’m just saying Hap’s suspicious. He’s gruff, and unsmiling, and-”
“What’s wrong with that?” Yasmina asked with a blank stare.
“I don’t mean… Look, could Hap be involved with Mantah Corp?” Brooklynn finally asked what was on her mind. “Am I crazy?”
I stopped myself from saying ‘yes’ not to hurt her feelings, but I did roll my eyes. Not everything on this island had something to do with Mantah Corp.
“I mean, the Mantah Corp folks who sent me were like corporate spies, not action-man, secret-identity, pew-pew spies.” Sammy imitated guns with her finger.
“But- Hayden saw the way Hap was acting.” Brooklynn looked at me with pleading eyes. “Tell me that wasn’t suspicious.”
“Yeah, I’ll admit to that.” I sighed. “The guy gives me the creeps, but he gives off more like a serial killer vibe, you know? Not a spy.” I said honestly.
Sammy groaned. “That sounds worse.”
“Look, I know you’ve got conspiracy on the brain, Brooklynn, but forget Hap.” Darius said. “In two days, we’re going home. Let’s focus on that.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, B.” I paused, waiting for her to comment about the nickname, but she didn’t seem to mind. “These guys are our ticket out of here, let’s just keep our heads down and we’re good.”
“Fine.” She reluctantly said, dropping her shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Brooklynn.” Sammy smiled. “Just in case, we’ll keep our eyes open.”
…
Having a real camp with armed adults around had its perks. We got to relax, not worry about dinosaurs, getting food or the river drying up. For the rest of the morning, we got to soak in the sun. Tiff was offering massages and Sammy was the only bold enough to accept it. Darius was glued to Mitch and his camera, discussing more dinosaur facts. Kenji was eating his second breakfast of the day, and Brooklynn was sulking in the corner. Yasmina sat in a chair close to Sammy, and used another chair to elevate her leg, I copied her and ended up taking a nap under the sun. I didn’t even remember the last time I had slept like this, I basically passed out. Maybe it was because we hadn’t slept in 24 hours and the exhaustion took over, but I didn’t have any nightmares, just oblivion.
It didn’t last long, though. I was startled awake by the loudest alarm ever; I had to put my hands over my ears to try and smothered the sound.
“What is this?” Sammy yelled over the alarm.
“Is it dinosaurs?” Yasmina asked.
I looked around; the camp wasn’t that big and there were no dinosaurs in sight. However, we were alone, just Sammy, Yasmina and I were left in the camp.
“I don’t think so. Let’s find the others.” I shouted, motioning them to follow me. The alarm stopped as suddenly as it had started and I heard a voice yelling from behind a yurt. We followed the voice and found everybody. Hap was yelling at both Brooklynn and Kenji, while Darius, Mitch and Tiff stood dumbfounded.
“…these kids can’t go snooping into private spaces.” Hap got into Brooklynn’s face, who shot daggers with her eyes, only provoking him further.
“Now, now, Hap.” Tiff tried to calm him down, placing a hand on his arm. “I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?” He pointed to Brooklynn’s face. “Do yourself a favor and stay out of my yurt.”
“Let’s talk about this calmly, okay?” Tiff slowly made him back up and they left the group to go talk in private.
All the campers stared annoyed at Brooklynn, but she just stood there with a defiant stance. What the hell was she doing? She promised she wouldn’t do this.
“Sorry about that.” Mitch laughed awkwardly. “It’s our first time working with Hap, and he’s very protective of his yurt. Set it up himself, moved all the equipment in. Haven’t even allowed us in.”
“Ha! See? See?” Brooklynn said, sounding obsessed.
“Maybe we should postpone our trek. You’ve all been through a lot.” Mitch said to Darius, giving Brooklynn the side eye. “Especially that one… it seems.”
“No, it’s- it’s fine.” Darius said. “Brooklynn won’t touch the yurt, and we’ll all go to the place I wanted to show you.”
“Uh, Darius? I think maybe we should freshen up before we decide that.” Brooklynn said with a forced smile.
“We already freshened up.” Darius said it in the same forced tone.
“Can never be too fresh.” She pressed.
Mitch left us alone for us to decide what to do. So, Brooklynn rushed us to the bathroom and we crowded up the toilet cabin once again.
“Really? There isn’t anywhere else we can talk?” Yasmina grunted, trying to get comfortable in the tight space.
“Hap is hiding something!” Brooklynn whispered in a hushed tone. “Why put an alarm on a yurt?”
“Uh, so a dinosaur or you can’t sneak in and wreck his stuff?” Yasmina answered sarcastically.
“I was there, too, and that alarm was definitely crepuscing me out.” Kenji agreed with Brooklynn.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s weird. The point is, you shouldn’t be screwing up the people that are going to get us home!” I raised my voice a bit, annoyed.
“Yeah.” Darius scoffed. “Typical.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Brooklynn turned to Darius.
“You can’t just let this conspiracy stuff go, huh?” Darius said. “And for what? A new video to boost your followers?”
“Who said anything about followers?” She angrily whispered back. “You think I’m doing this to get attention?”
“Yes! That’s your whole deal.” He exasperated. “You’re mad Mitch and Tiff haven’t heard of you, and now you’re doing this.”
“And what’s your whole deal, Darius? Dinosaurs?” She scoffed, crossing her arms. “You care more about them than actual people.”
“That’s hilarious, you calling me selfish.” Darius hissed.
“You’re obsessed.” Brooklynn inched closer, getting on his face. “Just because Mitch is acting all ‘cool dad’ with you doesn’t-” She stopped herself mid-sentence, thinking about what she just said. Everybody held their breaths at that. Darius backed away, with tears starting to form in his eyes. “Oh… No, D-Darius, I didn’t-” Brooklynn tried to talk to him, but Darius just looked away, trying to hide his face and leaving the bathroom in a hurry.
“Way to go.” I hastily said, running after Darius.
“Not cool, Superstar.” Yasmina said as I left the bathroom.
“Darius, wait!” I called. He was halfway to the edge of the camp, where Mitch and Tiff were waiting for us.
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” He had his hands tight in fists.
“Uh, what about your other friend?” Tiff asked.
“Don’t worry about her.” He said. “She’s doing her own thing.”
Kenji and Brooklynn had stayed behind while the rest of the group entered the jungle with Darius as a guide. I had to powerwalk to catch up with him.
“Darius, hold up.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the group.
“I’m fine.” He spit back.
“Good, but I wasn’t going to ask that.” I clarified. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll stay back, ‘cause someone has to keep an eye on Brooklynn.”
He blinked a couple times. “Oh, right. That’s probably a good idea.” Darius said, calming down.
“Where are you taking them, by the way?”
“Uh, a couple places nearby, the grasslands… maybe to see some herbivore herd.” Darius scratched his chin.
“That’s a great idea, I bet they are going to get some sick pics.” I said, making him crack a smile.
“We’ll be back later in the evening, I think.” He pondered. “Maybe later.”
“Got it.” I nodded. “I won’t keep you then, be safe.”
“Later.” He said and I waved as I returned to Mitch and Tiff’s camp.
…
Back at the camp, I went straight for the bathroom, looking for Kenji and Brooklynn. However, the place was empty, as was the campfire area.
“Un- fucking -believable.” I grunted through a clenched jaw. There was only one other place Brooklynn could’ve been.
I headed for Hap’s yurt and just as I had predicted, there they were. My anger towards Brooklynn quickly shifted toward Hap, who had one hand on each of Kenji and Brooklyn’s shoulders.
Hap crouched to be at their eye level. “Let’s not make this any more unpleasant than it needs to be.” He said in a menacing voice, scrunching up their shirts.
“What’s going on?” I approached them, sizing up Hap. It doesn’t matter what either of them had done, Hap was way out of line.
“They tried to break into my yurt.” Hap simply said, letting go of them.
“Mind if we talk for a second?” I asked Hap, but he didn’t react. So, I glanced at Kenji and Brooklynn. “Alone.”
“You sure?” Kenji asked, gulping visibly, but I signaled them to get out. They hesitantly did what I asked and I returned my attention to Hap.
“Okay, what’s your deal, old man?” I asked, trying to get a reaction out of him. Anything would be better than this ominous stare.
“They tried to break into my yurt.”
“They’re just kids, you know? They are curious about stuff they shouldn’t be.” I paused, waiting for him to say something. Maybe to explain how he overreacted, but silence only got me more and more annoyed. I straighten my back. “And let’s be clear, that was the last time you laid hands on them. Or I will make it very unpleasant for you.” I tried my best to imitate his tone of voice.
“You don’t know who you are talking to, girl.” He said, just as stern.
“And I don’t fucking care.” I kept my gaze fixed on his.
After a long second, he sighed. “Just make sure they stay away from my yurt.”
I blinked. “I- I can do that.” I agreed, suddenly startled by him backing down. He nodded and entered his yurt.
I stood there staring at the sand-colored fabric. ‘What the hell was up with this guy?’ I thought, starting to believe in Brooklynn. He was acting way too sketchy to not be hiding something. I mentally shook myself. I couldn’t worry about that now, we just needed to get home.
I made my way back to the table, where Brooklynn and Kenji were sitting, and I sat across from them.
“So… you didn’t want to go with them?” Kenji nervously asked.
I scoffed. “I’m glad I didn’t. Somebody has to keep an eye on Brooklynn and on you too, apparently.” Kenji cowered, averting his gaze.
“But Hap is really up to something.” Brooklynn pleaded. “He was waiting for us, like a psychopath.”
“I’m not blind.” I rolled my eyes. “But what you don’t get is that what you’re doing might keep us from going home, so we’re staying put until everyone gets back, no more sneaking around.”
She scoffed. “I get that, mom. But he’s dangerous.”
“My point exactly.” I said annoyed. “Stop messing with him.”
We stared at each other in silence for a while, until she looked away, leaning back on her chair and crossing her arms across her chest. I interpreted it as a signal that she gave up, so I relaxed, but not entirely though, because the last time she said she wouldn’t do something, she did the exact opposite.
Kenji tried to chit-chat, but I turned him down. I was not in the mood for talking and honestly was also mad at him for joining her on her escapades. After a few minutes, Hap left his yurt and pulled a chair by the extinguished bonfire a few steps behind me. That got me on edge, Hap just sitting there right behind me, out of my sight. I tried to not show I was uncomfortable, because the guy actually scared me.
Things got boring fast, and Kenji was the first one to fall asleep. He had his head on Brooklynn's shoulder and was drooling a bit. That made it hard to keep a straight face, and Brooklynn's disgusted look only made it better. Then, Brooklynn started to yawn; she fought to stay awake, but eventually gave in. I managed to stay up, between the nap I took previously and the lingering presence behind me, I wouldn’t be falling asleep so soon.
“Come in, Hap. Hap, come in.” Tiff’s staticky voice came through Hap’s radio.
He stood up, with the radio in hand. “Stay there.” He grunted at me, walking over behind a yurt, where we wouldn’t be able to hear him.
Suddenly, Brooklynn jolted awake, waking Kenji up in the process.
“I- I’ll save you, mermaid.” Kenji mumbled, still drowsy.
“Do you only have one dream?” Brooklynn whispered in a rushed tone. “Come on. Now is our chance.” She pulled Kenji up and started dragging him with her.
“Brooklynn, what the hell are you doing?” I whispered through clenched teeth. I stumbled while getting up and tried to catch up to them. “Stop this.” I manage to grab Brooklynn by the arm.
“Shh.” She put her hand over my mouth, Hap was by the trees in front of us, with his back turned.
“No, you listen. I’m done.” Hap said into the radio. We gasped, and crouched behind a wall where he couldn’t see us.
“No, I don’t care what-” Hap laughed maniacally at something being said on the other end of the radio, which we could no longer listen to. “This isn’t a threat, this is a promise. Stay out of my way! I’ll take care of these kids myself!” Hap shouted, irate.
‘What the fuck is that about?’ I didn’t have time to even contemplate the meaning of that last statement, because Hap dropped the radio and was coming back.
“Run!” I whispered, and I didn’t have to say it twice.
We scurried out of the camp as quietly as possible, into the jungle. Anywhere was better than staying in camp with a psycho. Was he really talking about killing us? Where Mitch and Tiff in on it? We had to warn everybody, but first we needed to deal with Hap.
I looked back to see if he had spotted us. Hap was sprinting toward us with a stun rod.
“He’s onto us!” I yelled.
“Keep going!” Brooklynn said in between breaths.
We jumped over logs and ducked from hanging tree branches, but nothing seemed to deter him. He was ridiculously fast for a man that age.
Brooklynn screamed when Hap grabbed her by the arm, but she swung around, hitting him with the elbow, which made me proud. He grunted, letting her go. However, she lost her balance, falling over Kenji and bringing both of them to the ground.
“I told you to stay put!” Hap yelled.
I skidded to a stop and got between Hap and them. “Get the fuck back!” I raised my knife, my hand shaking.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with.” He pointed at me with the metal rod, turning it on.
Suddenly, with a loud thud, Hap dropped to the grass, unconscious. Behind him, a muddy figure stood proud with a branch resting on the shoulder. An Ankylosaurus ran to his side and roared.
It couldn’t be…
“Ben?”
Notes:
ago/2024 - editing
Chapter 16: Misguided
Summary:
The truth about the weirdly dressed couple unfolds and the campers need to fight alongside an old man against three very persistent Baryonyxes.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Ben?” My heart stopped at the boy standing in front of me.
The three of us stood there, mouths hanging open. Was this real? Was he really here, in front of us? Alive?
He looked terrible, but alive. His clothes were torn and muddy, he had his shorts on and a tank top that once upon a time was white. The blue shirt he usually used on top of that was reduced to shreds and now was tied around his forehead as a bandana.
Ben dropped the branch. “Uh… hey.” He sheepishly said.
My feet moved automatically and I rushed to hug him. He smiled and hugged me back tightly. After I was satisfied that he wasn’t a hallucination, I pulled back still holding onto his shoulders.
“You’re alive... H- how?” I stumbled on my words as my mouth couldn’t keep up with my brain. “How?” My sight was blurry from the tears, happy tears. ‘Ben is really here. He is alive.’ I chuckled.
Kenji shoved me aside and gave Ben a bear hug, followed by Brooklynn. Suddenly, something very green knocked me down and licked my face. The Ankylo was as big as a car and had one head bump bigger than the other.
“Bumpy? Is that you, girl?” I asked in disbelief, and she licked me again. “Ah, gross.” I laughed, but didn’t push her off. “She still likes me.”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t she?” Ben came over and helped me get up.
I wiped the drool off of my face with the hem of my t-shirt. “I just thought… never mind.” I mumbled and hugged Ben again. “I’m sorry I let you go.” I whispered into the hug.
“Hey.” He pushed me away, looking into my eyes. “That wasn’t on you.” Ben’s voice was unwavering and I could only nod at his resolution. “And I’ve been meaning to ask, how is the arm?” He said, with concern in his voice.
“It was nothing.” I absently rubbed the scabby scar on my arm and Ben just looked at me, skeptical. “Really, I’m all better now.” I tried to reassure him.
“It didn’t look like nothing.” He gave me a stern look and grabbed hold of my arm to inspect it. “You can’t overlook this kind of things, if it gets infected-”
“That’s what I said!” Kenji jumped in and I just rolled my eyes at him, letting Ben grab ahold of my arm.
“Did you disinfect it properly? Because-” Ben was cut off by Hap groaning on the ground. He was still unconscious, but by the looks of it, was about to wake up. “Oh, right. We should probably deal with that.” Ben looked down at Hap.
I don’t know how, but Ben quickly found some sturdy vine and started to tie him up while we stood watching, dumbfounded by his new demeanor. Not only that, he was so different from before, besides his appearance, he seemed to not even mind how dirty he was, on the contrary, he seemed comfortable and confident. Which only made me wonder what happened to him.
“So… I fell off the monorail, got savaged by Pteranodons, found Bumpy, survived in the jungle, defeated Toro, and then I overheard that fancy couple conspiring with this guy, Hap.” Ben got up, satisfied with his job tying up Hap. “So, I figured you guys need my help.” He said as if it was the simplest thing in the world, while the three of us just watched, dumbfounded.
“Oh, hey, I still have your dork pouch.” Kenji pointed at his waist, but there was nothing there. “What?”
“Oh, yeah.” Ben was the one wearing the pouch now. “I snatched it off of you earlier.” He grabbed a hand sanitizer from the pouch and cleaned his hands. He looked down and picked up Hap’s stun rod and waved it around with a big smile on his face. “Could have used this while fighting ol’ Toro, eh, Bumps?” I just smiled at seeing Ben so… lively.
“Ben, focus.” Brooklynn said harshly, making him almost drop the rod. “The couple, what exactly did they say?”
“Not too much, but they’re definitely up to something.” Ben shrugged. “Hap, too.”
“Darius, Sammy and Yaz are with Mitch and Tiff right now, we need to warn them.” I ran my fingers through my hair. If the couple was in on this, they were in danger and didn’t even know it. “We’ll deal with Hap later.”
“Or we could just feed him to the Mosasaurus or the T. rex.” Ben pondered.
“Or you could listen to me.” Hap sat up and we gasped.
“You’re awake?” Brooklynn asked.
“Of course, I’m awake.” Hap said, annoyed. “You think I’m gonna be taken out by a bunch of kids?”
“Challenge accepted.” Ben turned on the stun rod.
“Put that down, boy.” Hap grunted. “Before you get yourself hurt.”
“Someone’s getting hurt, old man, but it ain’t me.” Ben confidently inched closer. I got an itch to snatch the rod from Ben and face Hap myself. I had the most experience in facing other people and I didn’t want him to get hurt, again. But I stood still, the new Ben was so confident that it made me think he could handle it.
“Zap him, Ben!” Kenji laughed.
“With pleasure.” He had a smirk on his face. I chuckled at the sight; big scary Hap being handled by kids.
“Bring it!” Hap yelled.
“Everybody, chill!” Brooklynn jumped between Hap and Ben. “Lower the weapon, Ben.”
“You’re protecting this guy?” Ben raised his voice, but he shut the taser down. “Whose side are you on, Brooklynn?”
“I am on the ‘not electrocuting a human being’ side, Ben.”
“We don’t have time for this!” Hap shouted. “You kids have to trust me. I’m trying to save your lives.”
“Yeah, right.” I raised my knife, pointing it at Hap. “That’s funny coming from you, who was trying to kill us a minute ago.”
His eyes darted from the silver knife to my eyes. “If you let me explain-”
I scoffed. “You’re just stalling, waiting for your friends to come save your ass.”
“Yeah.” Ben turned the rod back on.
“Guys! Let’s hear him out!” Brooklynn pleaded.
“Come on, B.” I motioned her to move aside.
“No, I won’t let you do this.” She crossed her arms. “This is wrong.”
“Fine.” Ben planted the rod on the ground. “Do it your way, but the second he tries anything… Zap.” The electric crackling filled the air.
“Okay, start talking.” Brooklynn said to Hap in a serious voice. “Why were you-”
“Are these Windsor knots?” Hap asked, inspecting the vine trapping him. “Where’d you learn how to tie people up?”
“Hey! We’re asking the questions.” Brooklynn interjected.
“Yeah!” Kenji pointed at Ben. “Dude here has a dinosaur and he’s not afraid to use her.” Then he pointed at Bumpy, who was happily munching on some vegetation, so Hap just had an unimpressed look on his face.
“I got this.” Ben moved forward, looking down at Hap, who was kneeling in the grass. “Think you’re tough? You don’t know the meaning of tough.” He pointed at his arm. “See that? Leech bite.” There was a circular red-ish scar on his arm.
Hap moved his arm, so a large scar on his forearm would be visible. “Gator bite.” He simply said.
“Sun burned for three days straight.”
“Buried for a week in an avalanche!” Hap countered, raising his voice.
“Chased off a pack of Compies!” Ben shrieked.
“Wrestled a pack of-”
“Punched a hammerhead in Hawaii!” Brooklynn interrupted them. “We are all impressive!”
“I’m really wealthy.” Kenji pointed out, which made all the rest of us stare at him confused.
“Ugh, this is pointless.” I grunted. “We heard you on the radio saying you were going to ‘take care of us’.” I quoted. “So, stop lying.”
“And how exactly is chasing us through the jungle saving our lives?” Brooklynn asked.
“I’m trying to, by getting you home.” Hap said in the softer voice I’ve ever heard him speaking.
I snickered. “You’ll have to elaborate on that, old man.”
“Look, I’m no angel, but once they said they were gonna leave you all here to die, well I had to do something, didn’t I?” Hap confessed.
“Really?” Brooklynn sarcastically said with her hands on her waist.
“Look, what’s important is getting you out of here.” He insisted.
“I still don’t buy it.” Ben shook his head.
“Neither do I.” I grunted.
“Let’s tie him to a tree and be done with him.” Ben suggested.
“We have a boat moored at the northwest dock.” Hap admitted.
“What?” I said, blinking several times to try and make sense of that.
“There’s a way off the island?” Kenji shrieked.
“You all said it was refueling.” Brooklynn said, her voice small.
“We lied.” Hap lowered his head, looking at the grass.
“Wow, that’s supposed to make us believe you.” Brooklynn rolled her eyes.
“Listen!” Hap frustratedly yelled. “I scouted some kind of garage near here when we first landed. We can take a vehicle, get to the dock, and prove I’m telling the truth.” The four of us exchanged glances. “Please, believe me.” Hap pleaded.
“We-”
“We’re gonna discuss this for a second.” I interrupted Brooklynn, signaling for them to follow me to where Hap wouldn’t be able to hear us, but we could still keep an eye on him.
“He’s lying.” Ben said with certainty. “I can smell it on him.”
“Look, if he’s telling the truth, Darius, Sammy, and Yaz are in big trouble.” Kenji exasperated. “We have to trust him.”
“You know what kept me alive out there, city boy?” Ben said.
“City boy?” Kenji frowned.
“My instincts.” Ben pointed the rod towards Kenji, who backed away and raised his arms in surrender. “And they say ‘don’t trust Hap’.”
“Yeah, I’m not buying his story either.” I crossed my arms.
“Good.” Ben nodded. “I vote we go after our friends and leave him here.” He raised his hand.
“I also vote to go save our friends.” Brooklynn said. “But we should take him with us.”
“What? No!”
Brooklynn rolled her eyes. “It’s better if he comes with us.”
“Again … whose side are you on Brooklynn?” Ben narrowed his gaze.
“Oh, grow up, we are wasting time.” Brooklynn said. I mentally sighed, she was right, we were wasting precious time with this bickering.
“There’s no way I’m going anywhere with-”
But Brooklynn interrupted him. “It’s two against one, Ben.”
“And, what do you say, Captain?” Kenji asked, so all eyes were on me.
“I agree with Brooklynn, he’s coming with us.” I stated, nonchalantly.
“W-why?” Ben stomped his feet.
“If he’s lying, we need to keep an eye on him, and if he happens to be telling the truth, we can use him.” I reasoned, trying to put an end to the discussion. We needed to move.
“Sounds good to me.” Kenji chuckled, while Ben whined.
“Come on.” I walked back to Hap before they started bickering again. “Here’s what’s gonna happen.” I stared into his eyes. “You’re coming with us to help save our friends.”
“Then get these off me, and let’s go!” Hap said in a hurried manner.
“Not so fast.” I grabbed him by the vines and pulled him up to his feet. “Ben, do you have some more vine?”
“Yes, I do.” Ben smiled and went to grab some more.
“Brooklynn, did you ever do a video on knots?”
“I did learn a thing or two with the ‘Unboxing Amish Country’ video.” She side-eyed Hap.
“Good.” I grinned.
…
Brooklynn redid the knots tying Hap up and did a sort of a leash so we didn’t have to stay that close. We decided to go check out the alleged garage Hap talked about. We had no idea where Darius, Sammy and Yasmina were, and a vehicle would make things easier. That is, if Hap was actually telling the truth.
I was walking with Brooklynn, who had the ‘leash’, while Ben and Kenji hung in the back with Hap.
“Well, at least she knows how to tie a knot.” Hap commented, inspecting the vine.
“I’m curious…” I turned to Hap. “If , and that’s a big ‘if’, what you said was true and Mitch and Tiff lied about everything, does that mean they lied about receiving our SOS signal, too?”
“I know nothing about no SOS signal, kid.”
“Oh.” I groaned. I knew something about Mitch and Tiff’s story about getting the signal was suspicious, but I’d never imagine this. It looked like their boat was really our only way off this place.
“I wasn’t lying about the boat, though.” Hap looked at me with pity. “Or the garage.”
“Right.” Ben whispered angrily and sped up to join us in the front. “I’m telling you, he’s leading us to a trap.”
I sighed. “Maybe, but it’s worth the shot.”
He grunted, petting Bumpy and leading the way. “This way, Bumpy. Allegedly.”
“…and he’s talking to a dinosaur.” Kenji said, coming to walk by my side, while Brooklynn slowed down to be with Hap in the back. “I’m glad Bumpy is okay.” Kenji whispered so quietly that I thought I was imagining it for a second.
I nodded. “I’m glad Ben is okay.”
“Now you can stop with all the sulking.” Kenji shoved me lightly.
“I don’t sulk.”
“Yeah, you do. All the time.” He waved his arms around, and I frowned at that. “You doing it right now.” He laughed.
“Shut up.” I elbowed him, cracking a smile. I glanced over to where Ben was walking with Bumpy, making sure he was still with us. He was alive, not a hallucination, not a nightmare, no… Ben was really here. “He’s okay, right?”
Kenji followed my gaze. “What? Ben, the Jungle Boy? He seems alright.” He pushed aside some leaves that were in the way. “Ha! Look!”
There was a clearing with a dirt path and in the center, there was a tall white building with a hanger-like door.
“Believe me now?” Hap said.
“An empty garage in the middle of nowhere proves nothing.” Ben rolled his eyes.
“Maybe the vehicles are inside.” Kenji simply said, entering the clearing.
We were almost reaching the building when Bumpy started to bellow. Ben rushed to shush her, trying to calm her down.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Suddenly, a screeching sound came from the jungle and we ran to take cover by the garage’s wall. Brooklynn took a peek behind the wall and jerked back.
“This is bad.” She whispered. “It’s Chaos, Grim and Limbo.”
“Who?” Hap asked.
“Baryonyxes.” I explained, but he gave me a confused look. “Carnivores.” I rolled my eyes. “For a guide, you really know nothing about the island.” Hap just glared at me while Bumpy continued to bellow nonstop. Surely, the three Baryonyxes had heard her by now.
“Over here, there’s a door.” Kenji whispered, leading us to a side entrance. He grunted, trying to get it open, but it was locked.
“Untie me.” Hap raised his hands, with a hint of fear in his eyes.
“Not a chance.” I grunted, pulling him by the vine.
We backed up towards the door, and as soon as Brooklynn got near it, the lock glowed green and the door opened.
Kenji gasped. “H-how did you-”
Brooklynn pulled out the key card from her back pocket. “The key card I found in Wu’s lab!”
The Baryonyxes snarled from the other side of the building.
“Get inside. Now.” I ordered.
“Go, go, go.” Ben rushed Bumpy to follow us, luckily, the door was wide enough for Bumpy to squeeze through.
The door locked with a click, blocking the Baryonyxes from us. The inside of the garage was dark, with containers, crates and barrels filling the room. On the corner, there was an adjacent room with another locked door.
“Why would birthday guy have a key to this place?” Brooklynn asked, glancing at the card. “Unless, it’s a master key. It could open something in Wu’s lab.” She looked around and spotted the other locked door. “It could open everything!”
“Here we go again.” Kenji sighed, rolling his eyes.
“Quiet.” Hap hissed. “She’s the only one of you that has any sense at all.”
“Don’t encourage her.” I sighed.
“If I’m right, it should open this door, too.” Brooklynn stood by the locked door. The locked system glowed green with a beep and a loud screeching sound echoed through the garage. The hangar-like doors started to open.
“Brooklynn!” I shrieked.
“Shut the door!” Hap ordered.
Brooklynn tried incessantly to close the doors, but it didn’t respond. With the doors open, the Baryonyxes roared, noticing us.
“I’m getting major déjà vu right now.” Kenji cried.
“How do we get out of here?” Ben asked.
“There!” Hap shouted, pointing at a couple green motorcycles behind some crates, one of them with a sidecar. The room was too dark for us to notice them before.
“We’d need some kind of distraction.” Brooklynn climbed at the driver’s spot of the motorcycle with the sidecar.
“I’ve got it.” Ben said, turning on the stun rod.
I got onto the second motorcycle, hoping that I remembered how to drive one. I had ridden my friend’s dirt bike a couple times, it shouldn’t be too different, right?
Kenji sat behind me, while Hap sat on Brooklynn’s sidecar. Ben was next to some barrels doing something with the rod that I couldn’t really see.
“Everyone ready?” He called. “One… two…three!” He ran away from the barrels and climbed onto Bumpy. Brooklynn and I sped off with the bikes, and before I could wonder what Ben was up to, the barrels exploded behind us.
Similarly to the explosion we used against Toro, the air got really hot and I couldn’t breathe for a second. I held onto the bike and accelerated even more. Kenji hugged me tight at the waist, trying not to fall off.
The explosion blinded the Baryonyxes and they fell to the ground, so we managed to drive past them to a random direction. Anywhere was better than here.
“Hey, think fast.” Ben threw the stun rod to Kenji, who almost made us crash trying to catch it. “I’ll draw a couple this way.” Ben said, leading Bumpy away from us.
“No good.” Hap shouted, looking back at the dinos hunting us. “We’ve still got all three.”
“Remember the good old days…” Kenji yelled in my ear. “…when we’d only tick off one dinosaur at a time?”
“We’ll lose them in the tall grass!” Brooklynn said, pointing ahead. We swerved for the vegetation and drove through the grass; the leaves whipping at our faces with the speed. But it was over in an instant, and before us stood a grassland with huge boulders on the way.
“Any other ideas?” Kenji asked. We looked back at the dinosaur trio and they were still on our tail. “Look out!” Kenji screamed, pointing ahead of us.
I swerved left and right trying to dodge the rocks, and Brooklynn did the same. I tried to stay close to her but boulders got in the way most of the time. The path between the rocks was so narrow that our knees were almost getting caught on the rocks.
The motorcycle skidded through a sharp turn and I looked around for Brooklynn.
“Can you see them?” I yelled at Kenji.
“Chaos is right behind us! Go faster!” He yelled back, his hold on me tightening. I took another sharp turn, trying to lose the dinosaur. “They can’t do that!” Kenji cried, and I looked back through the bike’s mirror. Chaos was jumping from one rock to another, trying to catch us. “How’d they learn to do that?”
“Come on, how are they keeping up?” I grunted while switching gears. The path grew wider so I could accelerate more. I made another turn and suddenly, Brooklynn appeared beside me.
We were riding head-to-head with the three Baryonyxes still chasing us. One of them picked up speed, snapping its jaws at us, as it lunged. The dinosaur slammed into the back of our motorcycle, making me swerve like crazy to regain control. Behind me, Kenji whimpered and scooted more to the front to avoid the Baryonyx’s teeth.
To my side, Brooklynn was having the same difficulties. Hap had to turn around on his seat and kick the other Baryonyx on the snout.
“Untie me!” Hap yelled over the dinosaurs roaring. “I can help!”
I glanced over to Brooklynn and she was already looking at me, expectantly, so I nodded. This could be risky if Hap decided to turn on us. We had no reason to trust him, but the Baryonyxes were an imminent danger.
Brooklynn tried to reach over to the vines with one hand.
“Look out!” Kenji screamed.
She quickly had her hands back on the handlebars and we made another sharp turn.
“I can’t reach it!” Brooklynn yelled.
“Kenji, grab my knife.” I said to him.
“W-what?” He stumbled on his words.
“Left pocket!” I leaned on my right side to give him access.
After he clumsily opened the pocket buttons, he finally had the knife on his hands. “Got it!”
“Throw it over here!” Hap yelled, kicking a Baryonyx on the snout again.
“Are you sure?” Kenji hesitated on throwing a sharp knife.
“Just do it, Kenji!” Brooklynn and I shouted at the same time. I tried to stay as close to Brooklynn as possible, so Kenji wouldn’t miss, but the three dinosaurs were picking up speed and getting ballsy.
Kenji threw the knife, which landed at Hap’s feet. Hap quickly got into action, slicing the vine and freeing himself. Hap got up and snatched the stun rod from Kenji.
“Try and keep it steady.” He turned on the rod and hit a dinosaur that had tried to bite him.
The terrain got rougher, the grass changed to some gravel and even bigger stones. The bike drifted below us, trying to maintain the speed, but ultimately, we had to slow down not to fall. A Baryonyx got between the motorcycles and Hap zapped her. Another one bumped into the back of our bike and I had to fight not to crash. Kenji hugged me so tight, I could barely breathe, but I couldn’t worry about breathing right now, I had to keep us upright.
“This thing isn’t fast enough!” Brooklynn complained. “No way we’re gonna make it!”
“Not all of us.” Hap grunted, raising the stun rod above his head. I froze, sure he was going to hit Brooklynn, but when he lowered the rod, he hit the side of the motorcycle where the sidecar connected. “You kids live a good, long life!” The metal snapped and the sidecar disconnected.
“Hap!” Brooklynn screamed.
The sidecar tumbled over and Hap fell to the ground. Looking through the bike’s mirror I could see him getting up, surrounded by the Baryonyxes. Knife in one hand and the stun rod in the other.
“Come on!” Hap screamed. “The party is over here!” He waved his weapons around hitting the dinosaurs.
That was the last we saw of him before we made a turn and he disappeared behind us. Loud roars and screeching were heard from the Baryonyxes.
“Hap… he…” Kenji’s voice faltered.
“He took care of us… just like he said he would.” Brooklynn said quietly.
I remained in silence, not really believing someone would go to such lengths to protect some random kids they had just met. He… he was actually a good person and we doubted him the whole time…
…
The sun was starting to set, which meant we were running out of time. Darius had said they should be getting back around this time, so if they reached an empty campsite, Mitch and Tiff would know something was wrong. We needed to get there before they did.
We left the grasslands area and entered back into the jungle. We found a dirt road and we sped up in the direction of Mitch and Tiff’s campsite, but being chased off by the Baryonyxes had led us in a completely different direction; we had a lot of ground to cover. The sun had completely set by now and the bike’s headlight illuminated the way. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the darkness, right in the middle of the road. I pressed the breaks and the rear wheel skidded on the dirt, I swerved to the right and Brooklynn to the left, trying not to hit the person.
Kenji and I screamed as the bike tilted so much that we fell off to the grass. We weren’t hurt, so we quickly got up and searched for Brooklynn.
“Yaz?” Kenji called, confused.
Brooklynn’s bike lit up the road where Yasmina was sitting on the ground; she was the one we had almost hit.
“Yaz?” I kneeled beside her. “You’re not gonna believe what-”
“Mitch and Tiff have them.” Yasmina blurted out. “Darius is leading them to the watering hole so they can kill the dinosaurs there.” She finished off the sentence, breathless.
“T-they are going to kill the dinosaurs?” My mouth hung open.
“Darius would never do that.” Kenji said in disbelief.
Yasmina gasped and pulled out a crumpled up map of the island. “You’re right, he’s leading them here.” She pointed at the big red ‘x’ on top of Main Street.
As one, Kenji, Brooklynn and I blinked at the map, then, together, we breathed out. “Well, shit.”
Notes:
ago/2024 - editing
Chapter 17: Step One
Summary:
And the frozen flowers' path leads to…
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Uh, Yaz, you need to know-” Kenji tried to say.
“No time.” She said. “We need to figure out what Darius’ plan is.”
“What?” Brooklynn gasped, grabbing the map. “He’s taking Tiff and Mitch to Main Street?”
Loud footsteps came from the bushes next to us, and suddenly, Bumpy came into view, bellowing. Yasmina screamed and dropped to the ground, not realizing who that was.
“Bumpy?” She finally said, wide-eyed, recognizing the dinosaur.
Ben jumped down, holding a spear made out of a tree branch. “Hey.” Yasmina had her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Ben stood there uncomfortable and cleared his throat. “Yasmina.” She jumped up and rushed to hug him. “You’re a hugger now, Fadoula?” Ben laughed into the hug.
Yasmina pulled out with a smile on her face. “Still have mixed feelings about it, but I… you’re…” She hugged him again.
“Yeah, yeah, we’ve been trying to tell you about it.” Brooklynn interrupted the reunion. “But in more pressing news. Darius isn’t taking the hunters to the watering hole.” She showed the map to Ben.
“They’re hunters?” Ben glanced wary at Bumpy, petting her on the snout.
“More like poachers.” Yasmina said.
“But, why would he take them straight to the T. rex?” I thought out loud. “That would get them in even more danger.”
“Home court advantage.” Kenji pitched in. “Darius and Sammy know the terrain, and Tiff and Mitch don’t. It’ll be easier to lose them on Main Street than in the jungle.”
“And I bet he’s counting on big ol’ Rexy being a hell of a distraction.” A grin grew on my lips. His plan wasn’t that bad after all.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Yasmina pressured. “Let’s go help them!”
“Yes!” Ben raised his fist. “Bumpy and I are ready to roll.”
“Uh-uh. Big problemo.” Kenji crossed his arms. “There’s no way we’ll make it to Main Street before they do.”
“Well, if I’m not mistaken, we are near the South Docks…” Brooklynn said, but we just stared at her with confused faces. “And there is one obvious shortcut…”
“Down there? You must be kidding.” Kenji exasperated. “Not only is it super dark and creepy, but we nearly died! Nope. No go for Kenji.” He stomped his feet to the ground.
“Let’s call it a vote. So, who’s up for a drive down in the tunnels…” I raised my hand, followed by Brooklynn, Ben and Yasmina. “That settles it.” I smiled.
“No…” Kenji whined.
“It’s the fastest way, Kenj.” I walked over to our fallen bike and, after some effort, I hoisted it up. Brooklynn and Yasmina did the same with theirs and Ben readied himself on top of Bumpy. “Come on.” I offered my hand and Kenji hesitantly took it, sitting behind me.
“Wait a minute.” Ben called out, looking around suspiciously, clutching his spear. “Where is Hap?”
Brooklynn, Kenji and I exchanged glances.
“He, um…” I mumbled.
“Hap saved us from the Baryonyxes, but…” Brooklynn lowered her head. “…he didn’t make it out.”
“He did-” Ben stumbled on his words. “Oh.”
“Guys, I’d love to catch up, but we’re in a hurry right now.” Yasmina reminded us.
I shook my head. “Yaz is right, we gotta go.” I turned on the motorcycle.
We headed south to the docks, the entrance wasn’t big enough to fit our motorcycles and Bumpy. So, the Ankylo had to use the club on the end of her tail to make a bigger hole in the concrete wall, but with Ben coercing her, it was fast. I still couldn’t believe how much she had grown; she went from the size of a dog to the size of a car in a matter of a week.
Kenji was the one who knew the tunnels better, so we rode in the front. Ben and Bumpy were in the middle since they didn’t have any source of light, and Brooklynn and Yasmina were last.
The sound of the engines echoed through the narrow tunnels, making it hard for me to hear Kenji’s instructions.
“Left!” He yelled in my ear. I made a sharp turn, barely slowing down. “Now right! Right!” Kenji said, as the other turn approached fast. This time, the bike dangerously drifted on the turn. “Could you maybe take some of those turns a little less murdery?” He squeezed my shoulder.
I was about to yell back at him when I noticed the metal bars blocking the way. I hit the brakes and Kenji groaned in frustration, throwing himself to the ground.
Ben got down from Bumpy and pointed at the gate with his spear. “Let’s take this down, Bumps.” He said with a grin.
Bumpy took a few steps back and hammered the gate with its tail. The clunk sound echoed, but the metal didn’t budge. She tried again and again, even Ben tried to helplessly punch the bars, but nothing happened.
“Yeah, I don’t think Wild Child and his Amazing Dino are gonna be able to punch through that gate.” Yasmina said, leaning on the wall.
“Okay, maybe Bumpy just needs a little pep talk to bring it down.” Kenji said, kneeling down by Bumpy’s face and holding it in his hands. “You’re not gonna let some doors stand in your way, are you, Bumpy?” The Ankylo growled in response. “You break barriers, barriers don’t break you!” Bumpy growled and lightly pushed Kenji to the ground.
Ben was kicking and screaming at the gate. “It’s not budging!” He grunted, giving up.
“What do we do now?” Kenji asked, still on the floor.
“Maybe try your master keycard, B.” I nudged her.
She pulled out the card and searched around the gate. She sighed, slumping her shoulders. “There is no thingy to read the card.”
Suddenly, a clanging sound came from the tunnel behind us.
“What- what is that?” Ben asked, on edge.
“There it is again.” Brooklynn whispered. She gave up on the gate and stared at the tunnel’s darkness, as a low pulsing hum could be heard.
We followed her to the previous intersection, and to our right there was a red light by a door. The light was coming from the same lock mechanism we encountered in the garage.
Brooklynn put her ear close to the door and listened. “If there’s electricity down here, we could find a way to raise the gate.” She finally said. “We gotta follow that hum.” She put the keycard against the lock and it turned green.
She opened the door and a gust of cold air blew in our faces, making us recoil at the sudden change of temperature. The door opened to a hallway lit up by red emergency lights; the air was freezing cold, enough for us to see the condensation of our own breathing, so we hugged ourselves to keep warm. Bumpy had to stay behind as she was too big for the door. Ben wasn’t too keen on leaving her at the tunnel, but he came around when we reminded him that our friends’ lives were at stake.
“Whoa.” Ben exclaimed. “It’s cold enough in her to-”
“To freeze flowers.” Brooklynn said, leading us down the hall.
“Is that a thing people say now?” Ben asked in confusion.
“Hurry!” Brooklynn called, already at the end of the hallway, where she had her head close to another door. “It’s coming from here.” The hum had really gotten louder at his point. Brooklynn unlocked the door and pushed it open.
This new room was dark, the only source of light was the red lights from the hallway. It was like a control center, big screens on the wall and a huge control panel with multiple buttons and switches.
“What is all this?” Yasmina asked, looking around.
“Oh, snap!” Kenji exclaimed. “This must be, like, some kind of secret backup power center! My dad might not even know about this place.”
“More like Wu’s secret hideout.” I pondered.
“Focus!” Brooklynn called us out. “We gotta find a way to raise that gate and get to Sammy and Darius. Start looking!” She sat on the main chair and analyzed the buttons.
Yasmina and I sat on the remaining chairs by the panel and did the same, while Ben and Kenji searched on the back.
“We gotta get the power on!” Yasmina exasperated.
“None of these are the right buttons!” I grunted, flipping switches on and off.
“One of these has to be.” Brooklynn yelled. “I once helped a Dutch seamstress find an actual needle in an actual haystack. I can find this.”
Suddenly a loud hum was heard and the room lit up in the fluorescent lights. We gasped at the sight, as all the screens turned on.
At the back of the room, Kenji was standing proudly with his chest puffed, next to a circuit breaker we hadn’t noticed in the darkness.
“Way to go, Kenj.” I smiled at him.
“Natch!” Kenji cheered.
Ben joined us at the control panel, but Kenji stood by the breaker a while longer. We tried every button and switch that mentioned ‘lights’, ‘power’ or ‘gates’. I spotted one section mentioning ‘CCTV’ and I flipped all the switches. Then, the screens changed from the park’s logo to high-definition images of the island. The docks, dinosaurs’ paddocks, the lagoon, Main Street…
“Hey, guys! Look!” Yasmina pointed at a view of Main Street. “There they are!” In the screen, Sammy and Darius were seen running in the middle of Main Street, while carrying a big case.
“Yes!” Kenji cheered.
“Finally!” Brooklynn happily sighed.
I smiled wide as I saw them, but the celebration was short lived, as we collectively gasped when Mitch and Tiff appeared on the camera next to them, each holding a stun rod.
“Darius! Sammy! Behind you!” Brooklynn yelled at the microphone of the panel.
“Guys!” Kenji shouted.
“They can’t hear us.” Ben pointed out.
Sammy and Darius turned around and noticed Mitch and Tiff, they were now in the same screen frame. Both adults were creeping close to Sammy and Darius, with the rods ready to zap them.
“Where is the damn speaker button?” Brooklynn grunted, as we looked everywhere for it.
“Hey, wave if you can hear us!” Yasmina tried to talk with them again.
“We need to get there!” I clenched my fists. “How do we open the gates?”
Brooklynn suddenly gasped.
“What? What is it?” Kenji shrieked.
“Hayden, switch this camera.” Brooklynn pointed at the screen. I pressed a button and the next frame was the T. rex paddock. Rexy had just left, and she was going straight to Main Street. “Oh, crap.” She whispered.
Sammy, Darius and the couple were still in the middle of the street, right in front of the entrance to the T. rex nest. Rexy entered Main Street slowly watching carefuly for a second the ones that invaded her territory. Sammy and Darius did the smart thing and hid, while Mitch and Tiff stood still, like sitting ducks. The Tyrannosaur focused on the couple; she roared and moved to try and bite them, but they ran away, escaping her jaws.
While evading the T. rex, the adults spotted Sammy and Darius hiding. Mitch ran to them and grabbed the case, while Darius held on to it. Rexy noticed them too and attacked, but she missed and bit the case instead. Darius let go, while Mitch clutched it; this led to him being thrown around like a ragged doll in the air. Mitch finally dropped to the ground with the case; Tiff quickly helped him up and they ran again, only to be cornered by the T rex. Rexy got stuck between concrete pillars and the couple used the stun rods to zap her until she gave up and they could escape to the jungle. T. rex roared angrily and turned around, slowly going back to her nest.
In the control center, we held our breath when she passed the table where Sammy and Darius were hiding under. The dinosaur reached the end of the street, but at the last moment she turned around, seemingly sniffing the air. Rexy walked over to the two of them and stopped right on top of their hiding spot. She inspected the table for several seconds. We could only watch as the T. rex lowered her head and looked under it.
Sammy and Darius screamed as they dashed for cover. The T. rex charged at them, pinning them down at a dead-end alley that she was too big to go through.
“We need to do something.” I hissed, trying every button.
“What?” Yasmina yelled back.
“Anything!” I cried.
“There’s gotta be another way to help.” Brooklynn said.
“Fence control… power to retail shops… automatic advertising loop… hologram?” Kenji read every label.
“Hologram!” I shouted. “Hit that one!”
He did as I said, but only an automated voice came through. “Wednesdays are ‘Kids Eat Free’ days here at Jurassic World!” The T. rex raised her head, looking for the source of the voice. “All pastries are half off after 4:00 at Café Tricera-muffin-top. Located next to the lagoon.” The dinosaur roared when she didn’t find anyone. Kenji must’ve hit the wrong one, but it worked nonetheless.
We continued to play around with the panel, and all of the lights in Main Street began to flicker. The T. rex abandoned the alley and roared at the lights. Kenji pushed another button and a hologram of a full-grown T. rex appeared by the Innovation Center.
“Woo-hoo! Hologram!” Kenji cheered.
With all her focus on the hologram, Sammy and Darius managed to sneak past the dinosaur, and go back to the jungle.
Brooklynn sighed and dropped on her chair.
“Yeah, up high!” Kenji gave Ben and me did a triple high-five.
“Ha! I can’t believe it!” Yasmina laughed.
Kenji leaned over the panel, accidentally hitting a button, which caused a staticky sound to come out of the speakers.
He looked wide eye and cheered again. “Ha! The mic’s on!”
I smiled and started to switch the cameras on the screen. “We just need to find them.”
“There!” Ben pointed out the center screen, where Sammy and Darius were running through the jungle.
Kenji cleared his throat and hit the microphone button. “Testing… testing…” Sammy and Darius stopped running and looked around, confused. “Party people! What, what?” Kenji screamed into the mic. Sammy smiled and said something, but we couldn’t hear her. “Hello, humans. It is I, your leader.” Kenji said in his robotic voice.
I rolled my eyes at his antics and elbowed him on the ribs, pushing him away from the microphone. He complained like a baby, as Brooklynn took his place.
“We found a backup generator and turned the power on!” Brooklynn said into the mic. Sammy and Darius started to wave their arms and point to something. “We can’t hear you. What are you trying to say? What happened to Tiff and Mitch?”
Sammy and Darius waved their arms around, more exasperated this time.
“We still can’t hear you. Act it out.” Yasmina said to the speaker.
“Oh, I love this game.” Kenji excitedly said. “TV shows? Books? A song?”
Sammy and Darius starred at the camera, face palming.
“Are you for real?” I elbowed him the second time.
The two went back to the mimic. Darius made a circle with his arms while Sammy pretended to dive in it.
“A circle! Dirt!” Yasmina guessed.
“A pool? Diving?” I joined in, trying to make sense of their gestures. Sammy made a motion of drinking.
“They’re drinking… ugh…water!” Yasmina yelled.
We gasped. “The watering hole.” We all said in unison.
“They’re going to the watering hole?” Brooklynn asked into the mic. Sammy and Darius jumped and gave us thumbs up. Then, Darius made finger guns.
Yasmina sighed. “Mitch and Tiff know where it is.”
Notes:
ago/2024 - editing
Chapter 18: Chaos Theory
Summary:
Darius: It’s time for us to do what we do best.
Kenji: Cause chaos?
Yasmina: Get stuck in the middle of a lot of angry dinosaurs?
Ben: Defeat Toro again?
Notes:
Warnings: mention of violence, injuries, blood, self-blaming.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sammy and Darius, once again, tried to talk normally with us.
“We still can’t hear you!” Brooklynn reminded them.
“Search for the sound button.” I told them, and looked at the panel carefully. Next to Yasmina there were some switches with faded letters that looked an awful lot like ‘security gates’. “Yaz! Hit those!” I pointed to her.
She smiled and did what I said. “Buh-bye security gates.”
“I got the sound button.” Ben announced and hit a white button.
Just like that, we could hear their voices. “…reason Mitch and Tiff know about the watering hole is because I showed them. I’m the one who didn’t listen to Brooklynn. The dinosaurs are in danger because of me.” Darius hunched his shoulders. “I promised you all that I’d get you home. And we… we already lost Ben.” Darius choked on his words.
He was still blaming himself after all… he seemed fine after our last conversation, though. I mentally reprimanded myself for not paying more attention to Darius. He was blaming himself when he didn’t need to, what happened to Ben was clearly not his fault. I glanced over at Ben, to see his reaction, but he had a stoic look on his face, a bit sad perhaps?
Kenji reached over and unclutched my hand from the armrest, where my knuckles were turning white, and took hold of my hand on his own. That startled me for a second, but I didn’t move away. Instead, I raised a brow questionably at him, who was looking back at me with a serious look, which was a first for Kenji. Despite his serious demeanor, he squeezed my hand lightly and I gave him a half-smile in return, knowing he must’ve figured out what I was thinking.
I urged to tell Darius that Ben was alright, that he didn’t need to feel guilty anymore, but the words simply didn’t leave my mouth. Even with Ben standing right next to me, I didn’t feel like the guilt had disappeared; it was still there, crawling under my skin. Sure, he was alive, but what had him gone through because of me? If only I had held onto him…
I felt Kenji’s eyes still on me, his hand squeezing mine as if asking ‘Are you okay?’ So, I made sure to keep a blank expression. ‘All good here.’ I squeezed his hand back.
“Darius, that’s not your fault.” Sammy placed her hand on Darius’ shoulder.
‘Yep, it was mine.’ I sighed.
He shook his head, as if to clear his mind. “Mitch said their boat is at the northwest dock. Get everyone together and get off the island now while Mitch and Tiff are busy.”
“What about you?” Sammy asked.
“I have to make this right.” Darius said confidently.
“We got your back, Darius!” Ben finally said into the mic. “Forget the boat. Mitch and Tiff are going down!” He slammed his fist onto the panel.
“Ben?” Darius yelled at the camera, astonished.
“You’re alive?” Sammy's mouth hung open.
“Oh, right! You didn’t know. Yeah.” Ben said with a bored tone, but he had a faint smile on his lips. “Also, we found the sound button, so we can hear you.” He paused. “And I defeated Toro.” Ben proudly added. “I’m sure Bumpy would like to say hi, but she didn’t fit in the room.” Sammy and Darius stood frozen, mouths agape. “I think I broke them.” Ben laughed.
Yasmina pushed Ben out of the way. “Yeah, Ben’s alive, we’re happy about it.”
Now was Brooklynn’s time to fight over the mic. “Point is, we’re not going to let you do this alone. We’re in.”
“You don’t get it.” Darius argued. “You guys could get to the boat, save yourselves.”
I let go of Kenji’s hand to get closer to the mic, pushing the speaker button. “No, Darius, you don’t get it. You’re one of us, we’re a team, remember?”
“And we’re not going to let Mitch and Tiff get away with killing dinosaurs.” Brooklynn added. ‘Sure, that too.’ I thought. Yeah, saving dinosaurs was good and all, but Mitch and Tiff tried to kill Darius and Sammy; they were going to leave us here to rot; and Hap died to make sure that didn’t happen. ‘They have to pay.’ So, if not letting them get what they wanted, was saving the dinosaurs… fine by me.
“I never liked those two anyway.” Kenji joined in.
“It’s dino-saving time! Camp fam for life!” Sammy cheered.
“Okay, now that we’ve established lifelong camp family status.” Yasmina rolled her eyes, but had a smile on her face. “How do we stop them?”
“Feed both of them to the Mosasaurus!” Ben excitedly suggested.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” I hooked one arm around Ben’s shoulders. I was really starting to like this new personality of his. “They’re going down!”
Brooklynn, Kenji and Yasmina glanced at us perplexed.
“Really feels like we’re not getting the full use out of the Mosasaurus, guys.” Ben said, sad with the rejection.
“Mosa must be starving, it’s pretty cruel to pass on this opportunity if you think about it.” I tried again, not entirely kidding.
“You two have some twisted thoughts for your age, you know that right?” Yasmina gave us the side eye.
I let go of Ben and crossed my arms over my chest. “Thank you.” I gave her a pleased smile.
Brooklynn hit the mic button. “Wait, if they’re going to the watering hole to kill dinosaurs…”
“We just have to make sure there aren’t any dinosaurs there for them to kill!” Darius finished her thought. “It’s time for us to do what we do best.”
“Cause chaos?” Kenji pitched in.
“Get stuck in the middle of a lot of angry dinosaurs?” Yasmina said.
“Defeat Toro again?” Ben said.
“I mean, yeah?” Darius gave the camera a weirded out look. “Except the last two. Brooklynn, you’re gonna be our eyes and ears.” Darius said with a more authoritarian voice, and we leaned in to pay attention. “Kenji, grab a bike and pick up me and Sammy. Ben, Hayden and Yaz, get big and loud. I’ve got a plan.”
“Uh, not to complain… maybe someone else should be responsible for driving the bike.” I said into the mic, smiling at Kenji to make sure he wasn’t offended, but he just shrugged. “We could switch.” I offered.
“I need you on the dinosaurs, Hayden. They are the most important thing right now.” Darius said.
“Got it.” I smiled while giving Darius a salute, even though he couldn’t see me. “Stampede time!”
“Let’s roll!” Yasmina called out, already running for the door.
“Shotgun!” I yelled, following her.
“Not fair!” She complained.
“Hey, I don’t make the rules.” I smirked and we reached the bikes, with Ben and Kenji right behind us.
“How does this work again?” Kenji asked, standing uncomfortably next to a motorcycle.
“Here, I’ll show you.” I said, running over to him. “Climb up.” I nudged him and he hesitantly did as I said, but still didn’t dare to touch the bike. I took his hands and placed them over the handlebars. “So here is the brake.” I pointed out. “Here is the clutch… and you switch gears right here.” I finished explaining and looked up to catch him staring blankly at me. “Kenji?” I called. “Kenj?”
“Uh, what?” He blinked.
“You good?” I asked, narrowing my gaze. “You look like you ate something bad.”
“Yeah, yes… totes.” He was drawing out his speech.
I frowned. “Yes, you’re good or yes, you ate something bad?”
“Yes.” Kenji replied and I just stared at him until his cheeks turned pink. “The first one.” He finally clarified, looking away.
“Are you sure you’re okay to ride the bike?” I asked, the concern growing in my voice. I wasn’t ready to let ‘Kenji crashing the bike’ join the pile of things I was already guilty of.
“Are you kidding? This is gonna be so easy.” He chuckled nervously. “Only a smooth ride for Kenji.”
“You two done? We have some dinosaurs to save.” Yasmina ushered us. She was standing next to our bike, surprisingly, she was respecting the ancient rules of ‘shotgun’, and Ben was impatiently waiting on top of Bumpy.
I rolled my eyes at them. ‘To make sure that Kenji wouldn’t crash and die was kinda important for the plan.’
“Okay, you turn the bike on here.” I flipped the key and turned the switch for him and the motorcycle came to life. “Good luck.” I whispered and rushed over to my bike. Kenji seemed extra nervous in driving… maybe almost killing us with his driving skills last time made him lose confidence.
“Let’s go.” Yasmina rushed us again.
I turned on our motorcycle, and she climbed up behind me. Kenji accelerated and screamed when the bike jolted, making him almost fall over. I laughed at him and followed down the tunnels.
“Here, I’ll show you.” Yasmina said in my ear with a mocking tone.
I scoffed. “I do not sound like that!”
Yasmina laughed at me. “Here, Mr. VIP, let me-”
“Shut up.” I grunted, purposely swerving the bike.
“Ah!” Yasmina yelped, gripping my shoulders tightly not to lose balance. “Don’t do that!” She smacked my head, not so lightly.
“Ow.” I rubbed my head with one hand, but I couldn’t help but laugh at her.
“Will you two knock it off?” Ben said. “We’re on a mission here.”
“Aye, sir.” I mumbled, focusing on driving the bike.
…
When we reached the end of the tunnels, Kenji followed Brooklynn’s instructions to find Sammy and Darius, while Yasmina and I followed Ben. He said there was a garage not far from Main Street, where we could find some supplies to help disperse the dinosaurs.
After some minutes following a dirt road, we reached a garage not much different from the one Hap showed us, but this time the hangar doors were wide open. After cautiously inspecting the building for dinosaurs, we got on to what we’d come here to do. Just like the other garage, there were crates and containers scattered across the room. There were no motorcycles, but there was a big Jeep parked in the middle of the room.
“The Jeep is mine.” Yasmina called dibs and ran for the driver’s door.
“There must be something else we could use in here.” Ben grunted, while trying to open a crate.
I scanned the room, searching for anything that could help. Next to the side door, there was a crowbar on the ground.
“This will do it.” I smirked and picked it up. I walked over to Ben and helped him open the crate.
“Ah-ha!” Ben smiled, taking a flashlight from the crate. “Hey, Yaz! Look what we found.” He raised two flashlights to his face and turned them on, making funny faces.
“Perfect!” Yasmina jumped off the Jeep. “Let’s load ‘em up.”
I stashed a flashlight in my pocket. “We should be good to go, right?” I asked, tossing the remaining flashlights on the Jeep’s passenger seat.
“Yeah.” Ben shrugged, picking up two flashlights for him. “Between the flashlights and the vehicles, I’m sure we can scare the dinosaurs off easily.”
We nodded and everyone got to their respective vehicle/dinosaur. Yasmina with the Jeep, Ben with Bumpy and me with the motorcycle. Since we didn’t know what we would encounter, I thought it would be better if I brought the crowbar along with me, so I balanced it in the handlebars while I drove.
We found a road leading somewhat in the direction of the watering hole. We could easily cut through the woods to get there faster, however we couldn’t risk damaging the Jeep, after all, Yasmina vehicle would be the best at scaring the dinosaurs off.
“Guys!” Brooklynn's voice called us from a speaker on a tree. We skidded to stop, thinking she was going to tell us we were going the wrong way, or something worse… “Guys, you need to hurry!” She said, frantic.
“What’s wrong, B.?” I asked.
“It’s Darius, he- he went rogue.” She sighed. “He’s going after Mitch and Tiff alone.”
“What?” Ben shrieked.
“This again?” Yasmina grunted. “We had a plan.”
“Where is he?” I asked.
“He took the tunnels, so I don’t have eyes on him.”
“And Mitch and Tiff?” I pressed.
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “They are breaking all the cameras, but they must be close to the watering hole.”
“He’s in way over his head.” Yasmina said. “We need to follow up with our part of the plan, quickly. Then, we’ll go after him.”
“No, you and Ben go on and get the dinosaurs to safety, I’ll go after Darius.” I quickly climbed on my bike and turned it on, not giving them the chance to challenge me on this. But to my surprise, both of them nodded.
“I’m going too.” Brooklynn said through the speaker.
“No.” I said a bit too sternly. “We need you there, coordinating everything.”
“But-”
“I’ve got this, B.” I said with a softer tone, smiling at the camera.
“What’s the plan then? Because Darius sure as hell doesn’t have one.” Brooklynn said.
“Nothing too complicated. Get Darius, get out, while Yaz and Ben do the rest.”
“Foolproof, huh?” Yasmina narrowed her gaze.
“It’s the best I can do right now.” I sighed, gripping the handlebars harder.
“Hayden, they have a gun…” Brooklynn warned me.
“One more reason to get Darius out of there.” I pressed.
“Don’t do anything stupid.” Yasmina said quietly.
“Be safe.” Ben said.
“Don’t worry.” I smiled. And before anyone could say anything else, I accelerated into the jungle.
It was night time, and even though the motorcycle had a headlight, I got whipped in the face by branches and leaves I couldn’t see.
I gripped the crowbar tighter, making sure it wouldn’t fall. I knew exactly why Darius was going alone, if the roles were the opposite, I’d probably do the same.
‘Aren’t we in the same situation right now, though?’ A voice sounded in my head.
‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘The plan is to get him and get out. No noble gestures.’
I exited the tree line and spotted them right away. And, since the sun had begun to rise, I turned off the bike’s headlight not to draw attention to me, but even with little light, it was difficult to miss anything in the grassland.
Mitch and Tiff had one rifle each, hers was aiming at Darius and his were pointing at the ground while the three of them talked. They were on top of a hill, and luckily, hadn’t noticed me. I could see the dinosaurs still at the watering hole; Yasmina and Ben hadn’t arrived yet. I just needed to find a way to grab Darius without getting shot at.
If I just grabbed Darius and left, the dinosaurs would be defenseless. And while there was only one particular Ankylosaurus that mattered, everybody would give me hell if I let the others die. Tiff wasn’t looking the friendliest person with a gun’s barrel aimed at Darius and I wasn’t sure how long till she decided she was done talking. I needed a distraction, and since Yasmina and Ben weren’t here yet…
“I guess plan B it is.” I mumbled under my breath.
I lined the motorcycle up with the couple and accelerated up the hill. When I was almost there, I pressed hard on the rear brakes and swerved, skidding the bike into an angle. I let myself fall to the grass while the motorcycle went straight into the couple that had finally noticed me. They were frozen in place with wide-eyes, incapable of getting out of the way.
I heard screams and the bike’s engine going crazy as I rolled in the grass, grunting as I got up, holding my scraped elbow.
“Nice driving!” Darius said, while kicking a rifle far away, which one of the poachers had dropped when they got hit. “I-”
“What the fuck, Darius? We had a plan!”
“I couldn’t put you guys in more danger.” He explained. “This is my fault.”
“But it is not.” I grabbed him by the shoulders. “I get it, Darius. You know I do. And I don’t believe that I’m the one saying this, but this sacrifice thing is not the way.”
He lowered his head. “I did this, I told Mitch and Tiff where to find the dinosaurs. I-”
I shook his shoulders until he looked up at me. “We all trusted them, and you did nothing but try to get us home-”
“Hey!” A disheveled Tiff interrupted us. “Next time you two wanna have a touching moment, maybe kick the guns a bit further away.” She raised the rifle and I automatically pushed Darius behind me. “We’re armed, again.”
Mitch and Tiff were both standing in front of us, guns in hand. Mitch was bleeding from his nose and clutching his shoulder, while Tiff looked like she’d been electrocuted and had a big gash on her arm.
A faint music could be heard from the jungle. I glanced at Darius and discretely nodded. We needed to stall until the dinosaurs were safe.
“We’re armed too, with the power of friendship.” Darius stood by my side, with his fist over his chest.
“We’re totally not armed with that.” I picked up the crowbar that was lying on the grass.
“No, it’s like a cool guy thing to say.”
“You’ve been watching too much anime, dude.”
“So, you do know what I’m talking about!” Darius smiled.
“Yeah, and trust me, it’s not a ‘cool guy thing’ to say.” I shook my head.
Tiff groaned angrily and raised her gun. “You two little sh-”
“Calm down, babe.” Mitch tried to make her lower the rifle. “We’re here for the dinosaurs.”
“Look at what she did to us, babe!” Tiff readjusted the aim at me.
“Oh, man.” I looked at her up and down and put on my best smirk on, while tightening my grip on the crowbar. “I was hoping for some broken bones at least.”
“You’re gonna pay for that!” She yelled, with her finger on the trigger.
I backed up as my smirk left my face, thinking I had gone too far. But just as I was sure I was getting shot, honking sounded from far away. Darius got in front of me and crossed his arms defiantly. I was about to usher him to get behind me, when something else drew my attention.
“Babe!” Mitch raised his voice at Tiff. She slowly lowered her gun as a Jeep, a motorcycle and an Ankylosaurus entered the field. They had music playing, a light show and honking going on.
“Right on cue.” Darius grinned. “And yeah, you may be armed, but there are seven of us, two of you…”
My smirk returned. “And most importantly…”
“We were just stalling.” Darius finished.
Mitch and Tiff stood in disbelief as our friends made their way across the field, towards the watering hole. The peaceful dinosaurs jumped at the loud noise and the lights, quickly running away in a stampede.
The couple turned their backs on us and glared at their fleeting targets. And I didn’t waste any time, I grabbed Darius' arm and pulled him to the fallen motorcycle. We hoisted it up and climbed up; I switched the key and the bike’s engine turned on. At the noise, Mitch and Tiff snapped their heads around and I quickly accelerated the bike into the woods. A loud gunshot echoed, making me wince at the sound. Immediately the motorcycle started to shake and I gripped the handlebars firmly to try and keep it steady.
“You okay?” I shouted at Darius.
“She hit the tire!” He yelled back.
“Hold on!” I screamed and he hugged me tightly so as not to fall off. In this situation, the first thing I wanted to do was hit the brakes so we didn’t crash, but-
“Get back here!” Tiff yelled, somewhere behind us. That made me automatically give up on hitting the breaks and speed up instead.
The motorcycle shook like crazy as I tried to maintain control, and the uneven ground didn’t help. I veered to the right to avoid a tree and that’s when we heard a huge cracking noise. I felt the motorcycle give out and lean to the side.
I tumbled down the hill and stopped flat on my back. Luckily, we weren’t going that fast to begin with. I groaned as I sat up, massaging my still aching elbow.
“Darius?” I called out, not seeing him. I saw the bike, though; a few meters to my side and the rear wheel completely messed up.
“Here.” Darius grunted. He got up from behind a rock, limping with his left knee looking pretty bloodied.
“Shit, are you okay?” I ran up to him.
“Yeah.” He winced as he took another step. “Just a scrape.”
“Can you walk?” I asked.
“Kids!?” Tiff's voice startled us. She came out from behind a tree up the hill, gun drawn.
“Scratch that.” I put his left arm around my shoulder. “Run.” We turned around, but Mitch was blocking our path.
“Not so fast.” He said with a stern voice.
“I’ve been dragged across the jungle… I’ve played babysitter… and for what?” Tiff hissed, raising her rifle as she approached us. “I’m not returning empty-handed!”
“Um… babe?” Mitch whispered, while looking down at a tablet.
Loud stomping could be heard. A couple of trees came crashing down as dinosaurs rushed in. The stampede was coming our way!
Mitch and Tiff ran off, leaving Darius and I behind. “Come on!” I yelled, practically dragging Darius along with me. We ducked behind a huge rock, as the dinosaurs ran past us. A particular big Sinoceratop jumped over the rock we were hiding at and we had to glue our heads to the grass. It felt like we stayed in that position forever, ducking from the dinosaurs and breathing in the dust they raised in the air.
“Guys! Over here!” Brooklynn suddenly appeared in a gyrosphere, a few meters to the side. We got up, only to have to duck again, as the dinosaurs were still coming our way. “Wait… Now!” Brooklynn signaled an opening on the stampede and we took off running towards her.
Darius climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up, while I squeezed in next to him and shut the door. Brooklynn just stood with her hands on the controls, glaring at us.
“Right on time, Brooklynn!” Darius nervously laughed.
“What the heck are you two doing?” She grunted in response.
“Um… guys?” I glanced at the incoming dinosaurs behind us. “Maybe we do this later?”
They followed my gaze and gasped. Brooklynn pushed the joystick forwards and the gyrosphere moved smoothly. Quickly speeding away from the scared dinosaurs.
“Where are we going?” Darius asked, as Brooklynn made a sharp turn, escaping the stampede, but also distancing ourselves from our friends.
“To the northwest dock. We need to get there before Tiff and Mitch!” She said, accelerating even more. “I was totally right about them.” She mumbled.
“I’m sorry.” Darius looked down at his hands. “You were right to be suspicious of them. I- I should’ve listened.”
“I thought we were a team.” She glanced at him angrily, but suddenly she snapped over to me. “And you-” She whacked me in the head.
“Ow.” I rubbed my head. “What’s up with people hitting me on the head today?” I muttered, annoyed.
“You said you had a plan.” Brooklynn glared at me. “That was so dumb!”
“The plan changed.” I mumbled. “Besides, we got out, that’s what matters.” I smiled, unsure if I was gonna get smacked again.
“Yeah, thanks for the ride, Brooklynn.” Darius beamed.
Her shoulders finally relaxed and she cracked a smile, much to our relief. “Anytime.” Brooklynn turned her attention back to driving the gyrosphere.
We came across a road and after a few minutes following it, we reached a bifurcation. The sign on the right pointed to the northwest dock, while the one on the left pointed back to Main Street. Brooklynn followed the sign on the right and after a couple of turns, we caught sight of our destination.
Much different from the south dock, this one seemed to be where they moved supplies, because there were hundreds of containers spread nearby in the entrance. And around the whole thing, there was a tall face much similar to that of dinosaur’s paddocks.
There was a gate in the middle, where we spotted Tiff struggling to get it open. Brooklynn sped up, while Tiff opened the gate halfway, running towards the only boat docked on the pier.
“Hold on!” Brooklynn grunted, as she went straight for the gate, slamming past it. The gyrosphere spun around uncontrollably, and I had to latch onto Darius since I wasn’t wearing seat belts. The vehicle came to a stop and we jumped out of it, dizzy.
“She’s getting away!” I yelled, as we recovered and sprinted after Tiff.
However, she had a major lead on us and she quickly reached her boat, a white and dark blue, two-story yacht. She sped off as soon as we reached the dock, taking with her the dock’s metal cleat as she didn’t have time to untie it.
We reached where the boat used to be as the cleat fell into the water, dragging after the boat. I thought about jumping after the boat, but it was already too far away, no way I could make it. Perhaps, Yasmina could’ve if she was here…
“I am out of here!” Tiff screamed in a high pitch voice from the boat’s upper deck. “And you’re never getting off this hell of an island! In fact, I’m going back and I’m not telling anyone about you!” The boat kept a straight course without Tiff to steer it, and while she was screaming at us, the boat crashed into nearby rocks, causing her to lose balance and have to hold onto the railing. “You are gonna rot here, you fucking brats!” She shouted and turned her back to us, disappearing inside the boat.
“No!” I grunted, falling to my knees and punching the concrete in frustration.
Brooklynn placed her hand on my shoulder, while Darius slumped on the floor next to me.
“Our way out…” Darius whispered, head down.
“It’s okay. We are going to be okay.” Brooklynn reassured us.
Darius looked up to her and sighed. “Yeah, we will.” He quickly recovered from the loss and had a confident expression back on.
A loud honk sounded behind us and we spotted Kenji entering the docks on a motorcycle, followed by Bumpy carrying Ben, Sammy and Yasmina.
Brooklynn and Darius rushed to welcome them, while I took my time, cleaning off the little concrete gravel off of my knuckles. We had been way too close to going home, and again it had just slipped away. If we had been faster…
A loud slam drew my attention, Kenji had purposely crashed the motorcycle and was dramatically laying on the ground. Brooklynn and Darius helped him up, while everybody got down from Bumpy.
“Woo-hoo!” Sammy giggled, rushing to hug Brooklynn and Kenji, who were later joined by Yasmina.
Darius turned to Ben and I watched as he bear-hugged him. Everybody seemed happy and gleeful while I could only feel annoyance and frustration. The boat was gone and the distress beacon was probably a bust. We were stuck on this island and no one was coming to help. Again.
I watched as Brooklynn, Yasmina and Kenji joined Ben and Darius’ hug.
“Come on!” Sammy snatched me by the hand and pulled me into the hug, sandwiching me between her and Yasmina. “Camp fam!” Sammy cheered.
“Hugging… too…long.” Yasmina mumbled.
We all sighed in relief when the hug ended, as we could breathe again. Sammy started to giggle and soon after, we all followed.
‘Maybe it wasn’t all that bad.’ I thought as we laughed. ‘We were together.’
Sammy hugged Yasmina, who complained, but the smile on her face betrayed her. Ben petted Bumpy on the snout and Kenji hooked his arm around me. I threw a few fake punches to his stomach to get him off, he fought back with some ninja moves and I easily flicked him on the forehead. We laughed until we were out of breath, the boat slowly sailing away from my thoughts.
“So… what now?” Kenji finally asked the group. We stopped joking around and glanced over the horizon, where the boat had disappeared from sight. “Try to find another distress beacon?”
“No.” Darius said, and we all turned our attention to him. “We’re done waiting for someone to rescue us. It’s time we found our own way off the island.”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Yasmina cheered.
“Camp Fam!” Sammy pulled us to another hug. “We’ve got this, y’all!”
Notes:
ago/2024 - editing
Chapter 19: Rocky Start
Summary:
When plans to get home fail, punching things might be the solution.
Notes:
Okay, so this is not season three yet. The next 9 chapters (yes, nine, I went a bit overboard) will cover the time jump between season two and three. There’s a lot to unpack in the time jump since it is basically six freaking months… I’ll focus more on the characters and their relationships, with the appearance of a couple of new dinos as they attempt to go home… have fun!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Alright, camp fam!” Sammy excitedly jumped around the dock. “What’s the next step?”
“Sleep.” Kenji threw both of his arms in the air, which turned into a stretch. “I’m beat.”
“Yeah, we haven’t had any rest since we met Mitch and Tiff.” I pointed out.
“Wasn’t that yesterday?” Sammy asked.
“More like two days ago.” Brooklynn stated.
“Oh, man.” Yasmina yawned. “Seems like forever ago.”
“Then it’s settled.” Darius said. “We’ll go back to camp and tomorrow we’ll find a way to get off the island.”
“I call the bike!” Kenji raised his hand. “I’m not riding back on top of a dino.” He gave Bumpy the side-eye.
“Hey! You’ll hurt her feelings.” Ben complained, hugging Bumpy’s head.
“Aw, Bumpy ain’t that bad of a ride, it’s just a bit spiky on the bum, that’s all.” Sammy smiled.
“Pass.” Kenji mumbled, holding his behind.
“Where’s the car?” I frowned at Yasmina. “We had a car didn’t we?”
“We lost it.” She shrugged.
“How do you lose a car?”
“Turns out Jurassic World doesn’t have reliable vehicles, ‘cause why would they?”
“And there was the T. rex.” Ben nodded along.
“Uh, great… so I call shotgun on the bike.” I turned to Kenji. “I’m not trusting you with anything with wheels.”
“Hey! I got here just fine.” Kenji crossed his arms in defiance.
“At, like, 2 miles per hour.” Yasmina pinched in, making Kenji pout and everybody laugh at him.
After cracking up a laugh, Darius, Sammy and Yasmina ended up joining Ben with Bumpy, while Brooklynn, Kenji and I squeezed on top of the motorcycle.
I revved the engine just to show off and skid the tires on the dirt road, smiling as I accelerated.
“Try to keep up, slowpoke!” Brooklynn yelled as we passed Bumpy.
It was a good feeling being able to go this fast just for fun and not because we were running for our lives. The wind hitting my face, making me squint to keep my eyes open, and having company on the back wasn’t that bad either. I pushed the bike to go even faster, and Kenji tightened his grip on my waist, making me laugh out loud. ‘He was such a scaredy cat.’
“Whoa!” Brooklynn giggled as we passed a particularly big rise on the road, fast enough to make our stomachs drop as it did on rollercoasters.
“I can get used to this.” I thought out loud, feeling the wind in my face.
We were going so fast that it didn’t take even fifteen minutes for us to reach camp. I parked next to the slide and we jumped off the motorcycle.
“My bed!” Kenji quickly climbed up the stairs. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!”
Brooklynn and I just exchanged a glance and rolled our eyes, following him up there. We didn’t even wait for the rest of the campers to arrive; we each went straight to bed. Tomorrow we would worry about the whole ‘going home’ situation.
…
Being back at the tunnels wasn’t all that bad, besides Kenji constant complaining, things were going smooth. Ben had opted out of the idea because of Bumpy, so they stayed behind. Since the closest entrance to the tunnels was a hatch, it took us a couple hours to navigate without any vehicle, but there it was: the cold hallway.
“Something about this feels weird.” Brooklynn commented.
“Like being back in the tunnels we almost died?” Kenji waved his flashlight around.
“Isn’t this part supposed to be freezing cold?” She asked us, ignoring Kenji. Come to think of it, it was only a bit chilly, but not ‘freezing flowers’ kind of chilly.
“Maybe it's because you left the door open?” Sammy pondered.
“The emergency lights are off too.” I noticed, pointing my flashlight up.
“Come on.” Brooklynn rushed to the control room. “No, no, no…” She muttered, standing on the doorway.
The room was in complete darkness, everything was turned off, the screens, the lights, even the control panel. Kenji hurried to turn on the breaker as he did last time, but it didn’t respond.
“It’s dead.” He sighed, slouching against the wall.
“How did this happen?” Brooklynn groaned.
“There is your culprit.” Yasmina shone a light on the corner of the room, where a Compy was chewing on electrical cables.
“Shoo. You bastards!” Kenji tried to kick the dinosaur, but only succeeded in scaring it away, and the Compy ran out the door.
“What now?” Sammy asked.
“We should get back to camp and regroup.” Darius thought out loud.
“Thank you for wasting our time.” Yasmina said to Brooklynn in a dry tone, which made me frown at her. ‘Where was that coming from?’ Yasmina turned her back to us and left the room, followed by Sammy.
“It was a good plan, B.” I consoled Brooklynn. “With the power on, it would be easy to connect to wifi or something.”
“It has to be something around here we can use, right?” She frantically looked around. “A phone? Something…”
“It doesn’t look like people came around here much.” Kenji pointed out.
“There could be other control rooms like this one, right?” She glanced inquisitorial at Kenji.
“Don’t look at me.” He crossed his arms. “I didn’t even know this was here.”
“We can explore the rest of the tunnels.” Darius said. “I’m sure we’ll find something.”
We made our way out of the room, but on the end of the hallway, we could see beams of two flashlights waving around in the darkness.
“Are they having a party?” Kenji asked. “What, what!” He grabbed Darius’ flashlight and copied Sammy and Yasmina.
The beams got closer and we could hear the two girls panting.
“Dinosaurs… in… the tunnels.” Sammy said in between breaths. “There are dinosaurs in the tunnels!”
“We gotta get out of here.” Yasmina said, grabbing Sammy’s arms and running ahead.
“Does this even have an exit?” I asked, pointing at the unexplored part of the hallway. Suddenly, loud screeches came from the other side of the hallway, too close for comfort.
“I guess we’ll find out. Come on!” Darius said as we took off running deeper into the tunnels.
“Are we sure those aren’t more Compies?” Brooklynn asked.
“I’m not taking any chances.” Kenji grunted and pushed past Yasmina. “Out of my way.”
We made sharp turns after another, there were no gates since we had opened them all. Come to think, that was probably why this place was also infested with dinosaurs. The screeches were getting closer, and seemed to be coming for more than one animal.
“There!” Kenji pointed at a ladder on the corner that led to a hatch.
He quickly climbed it and opened the hatch, sunlight shining in the dark tunnel. Sammy, Yasmina and Kenji went up and there was only Darius, Brooklynn and me left at the tunnel when the dinosaurs turned the corner and came into view.
I had never seen this kind before, there were six of them; all the size of a big dog. I couldn’t see much of their color, but they had two weird bones in their head, not really horns, more like thin crests. They screech at us, showing their razor-sharp teeth, and suddenly a frill much like a flower popped out of their necks, making them appear bigger.
“Those are Dilophosaurus! Quickly!” Darius hushed Brooklynn up the ladder. “Don’t let their venom get to you!”
“Their what?” I shrieked, following Darius out of the tunnels. I exited the hatch just as the pack of dinosaurs reached the bottom of the ladder.
One Dilophosaur jumped high enough for his face to reach the hatch. It was a moss green face, with the frill surrounding it like a yellow and orange, deadly flower. Its mouth opened wide and a black goo shot our way.
“Down!” Darius ushered us, and we didn’t have to be told again. We ducked as the black goo flew past us and hit a tree. When the dinosaur disappeared, I threw myself on top of the hatch, closing it shut. We all let out a sigh of relief as the Dilophosaurus were sealed in the tunnels.
“Did the Dilo-whatever just spit at us?” Kenji’s face was twisted in disgust.
“Dilophosaurus.” Darius enunciated every syllable. “They hunt in packs and were genetically altered to spit venom. Just like the Compies, but with them it’s the saliva. Dilophosaurus’ venom is way stronger so we really need to watch out.”
“Oh, great.” Yasmina groaned. “A new monster dino that we have to worry about.”
“Yeah, yet another thing we have to thank Dr. Wu for.” Brooklynn rolled her eyes.
“They had those in the previous park, but they never listed it as an attraction in Jurassic World!” Darius said in awe.
“Jeez, I wonder why.” I groaned, getting up and cleaning the grass from my pants.
Darius' eyes gleamed even more. “We probably were the first ones to see-” We all stared at him with annoyance. “Oh, right.”
“We almost got killed in the tunnels, again.” Kenji threw his arms up.
“Yeah, thanks superstar.” Yasmina narrowed her gaze.
“What?” Brooklynn turned to face her, taken aback. “I was trying to get us home.”
“More like, getting us killed…”
“Oh, tell us your brilliant plan, then, Yaz.”
“I- ugh-” She stumbled on her words, and Brooklynn smirked. “When I have one, it will be a great plan.”
“There’s no need for fighting.” Sammy got between the two. “I’m sure the next plan will get us off the island.”
…
Oh, man. She was so wrong. Turns out gyrospheres don’t float. Darius gave the idea of using gyrospheres as boats, and since Brooklynn had found a garage full of then; there we went to the beach to try it out.
Yasmina volunteered as the test pilot and drove it into the waves. A few seconds after she entered the ocean, the gyrosphere started to sink in the wet sand, she opened the door to not get trapped and water rushed in. Safe to say that that gyrosphere wasn’t going anywhere.
We tried again, with more gyrospheres going faster this time, so we wouldn’t get trapped. Yasmina, Kenji and I were the pilots. We rushed through the sand, but when we got to a deeper depth, water rushed in through the cracks by the door and we had to abandon ship.
The seven of us stood on the beach, gloomy, watching as our plan sank with the waves.
“We can cross that one out.” Darius smiled nervously.
“That was doomed to begin with.” Kenji brushed it off. “But hear me out. Human catapult. We can build one-”
“What’s for dinner?” Yasmina asked, totally ignoring Kenji, and we started to walk back to camp, leaving him behind.
“I’m sure I can find some juicy bugs.” Ben said, serious.
“Not bugs.” I deadpanned. “We are not that desperate.”
“You should really try them out.” Ben tried to convince us. Our food storage was getting short by the day, but no way we were resorting to bugs, ugh.
“Not happening, Ben.” Brooklynn patted him on the back.
“Hey, wait for me!” Kenji finally caught up with us. “I really think it’s a killer idea.” He was still going on about a catapult.
“Yeah… maybe some other time.” Darius gave him a half-smile.
Sammy rushed to the front of the group, walking backwards to face us. “Well, it should be fun to build a catapult.”
“Yeah! And we can fly all the way to Costa Rica.” Kenji smiled smugly.
“And become a splatter on a beach.” Yasmina said.
“Don’t be like that!” Sammy waved her off. “I bet- Oh!” -Thud. She tripped and went down hard.
“Sammy!” Yasmina rushed to her side.
“It’s okay, I didn’t fall.” Sammy sat up. “The grass was just really lonely and needed a hug.” She cracked a smile.
“Take note Kenji, that’s what will happen with the catapult.” Brooklynn glared at him. “Just expect a lot more screaming.”
“…and blood.” I mumbled.
“You gotta be more careful.” Yasmina helped Sammy up.
“Who cares?” Kenji said to Brooklynn. “As long as it takes us to Costa Rica.”
“How exactly-”
I let them have their fun with the catapult topic while I picked up the pace to match with Ben’s, already way ahead of us. He gave me a small smile in acknowledgement, but didn’t say anything.
“So… did ya really eat bugs?”
“I had to, or else I’d starve.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Sorry you had to go through that.”
“It wasn’t all bad, Bumpy found me and she taught me how to survive.” He smiled. “She showed me some really delicious berries, too.”
“We had to raid Main Street for scraps.” I chuckled.
“Brilliant idea!” He asked. “I wish I had thought of that.”
“Yeah, but the T. rex called dibs on the place. They didn’t really want to take the risk, but come on, it was that or starve, so had to go behind their backs and sneak back to Main Street.”
Ben nodded. “Good thing you did, then. But there’s one thing I don’t understand.” His voice turned serious. “Is Darius, like, the leader now?”
“Pretty much.”
“Weird, always thought it was gonna be you.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Wow, I’m flattered, but that was never gonna happen.” I laughed it off.
“Why not?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “I remember back on the obstacle course, I wouldn’t be able to finish without you as our Captain.”
“Well, after, um… you- the monorail accident, I could never.” I shoved my hands in my pockets, fidgeting with the fabric.
“Oh.”
“I thought I killed you.” My voice got caught up on my throat.
“I thought I killed you too.” He admitted, his eyes locked on the ground. “There was so much blood that night and I thought you didn’t make it.”
“It didn’t hurt.”
Ben scoffed. “I heard you scream.”
“Oh, you were screaming way more.” I cracked a smile.
“I was dangling from the monorail in mortal danger, I think that is a perfectly excusable situation.” He crossed his arm over his chest.
“It sure was.” I chuckled as he sounded exactly like the old Ben. At least he hadn’t changed that much. “Glad to have you back, Ben.”
“Glad to be back.” He smiled. “But… I still vote for you as the leader, you guys voted, right?”
“Kinda, but Darius is a good-”
“He’s 12.” Ben deadpanned. “Do you really think he’s the best one to lead?”
“He’s the reason we’re alive.” I said, but a small part of me still agreed with Ben.
“If you say so, but my vote won’t change.” His eyebrows were knit together in determination.
“Thanks.” I shoved him lightly with my shoulder.
The rest of the walk we did in silence, at least Ben and I, because I swear the whole island could hear them bickering about the human catapult. It was getting dark when we reached camp. Kenji went straight for the shower to wash off the salt water, while we hung around the table waiting for our time.
“So, we have canned tuna.” Sammy pulled out a can out of a bag. “Or canned fruit.” We all collectively groaned.
“We ran out of the fresh stuff?” I asked, peeking inside the bag.
“That was weeks ago.” She explained.
“Oh, right.” I scratched my head. I was usually the one responsible for getting food as I was the most comfortable around Main Street, but being caught up with trying to get home, I had totally forgotten about it.
“No biggie.” Sammy smiled at me. “I’m sure we’ll find something.”
“It’s been months, all the fresh food is rotten by now.” Yasmina pointed out.
“Maybe we could grow a garden.” Sammy beamed.
“We don’t have any seeds, though.” Ben said.
“Maybe we can try with those berries you told me about.” I pondered and Ben’s eyes lit up.
“We’ll put that on our to-do list.” Darius wrote down ‘finding food’ on our ping-pong table, now blackboard. We had been keeping track of our attempts of leaving the island and the weeks that had gone by. It was difficult to believe that it had been a whole month since Mitch and Tiff…
“Guys!” Kenji called from the shower. “We’re out of water!”
Darius was about to volunteer to go grab some more, when Yasmina pulled him down. “That’s on you, Mr. VIP.” She rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on.” He groaned from the shower, and we all rolled our eyes in unison at him. “Do me a solid, bro.” He pleaded.
“Are you sure you want it solid, bruh?” Darius said with a grin on his face. “Might be a little dicey…”
Kenji’s groan was echoed by our own. “What did I say about the ‘bro’ talk?”
“It’s just a matter of interpretation and some fluid sense of humor… get it?”
At that terrible last joke, Yasmina let Darius go to help Kenji.
…
We usually went to bed when it got dark so as not to waste our flashlights and got up when the sun was already high up in the sky. There was no use getting up earlier since we didn’t have much to do without a good plan.
Since I found out Ben was alive, my sleep schedule really improved, no more nightmares waking me up every night, at least nothing major, a few dinosaurs chasing me every now and then, but I was sure I could handle that.
Dinosaurs didn’t hang out around our camp much, and when they did, Bumpy would let us know. Well, except for Compies that is. Those little rats thought they could freely walk in our camp, causing mayhem and stealing our food. I even caught one chilling in my bunker! That little rat went flying, hopefully never to be back.
Darius spent most of his time at the watering hole, drawing in his field guide. Kenji slept a lot, sometimes joining Ben on exploring with Bumpy. Brooklynn went along sometimes, but mostly stayed on her own doing whatever. When Yasmina wasn’t with Sammy, she was running the trek around camp; sometimes I joined her, but it was getting really boring. I found a torn mattress in the debris pile and wrapped it around a tree with some vines. Not much of a punching bag, but it sufficed.
Most evenings I spent practicing punches and kicks on the thing. I would go crazy if I couldn’t let out some steam. We had been left on this island for I don’t know how many months, with no real plan to get out. The tunnels were a dead-end; the Gyrospheres were a bust; the only real idea was building a raft. We had built a solid base, but we hadn’t found a sail yet. Most of the fabric around camp was torn and didn’t catch the wind very well. On top of that, our food stock had been running low. We had dried most of Main Street and were starting to have to ration it. I could only grimace at the possibility of us resorting to bugs…
I punched the mattress hard with a right hook, which sent an electric shock up my arm. I groaned in pain, shaking my hand in the air until it subsided. The mattress was too thin and I didn’t have gloves to help, so I had to deal with that on a daily basis.
“Is that supposed to be a punching bag?” Kenji came over, laughing at me.
“What? You volunteering?” I smirked, raising my guard at him.
“Nah, sports aren’t really my thing.” He shrugged. “I’m more of a guy who sits back and enjoys as others do the sporting.”
“Have you ever tried it?” I let my hands fall on my side.
“Yeah, but you get all sweaty and you actually need to actually put effort on it.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Kenji don’t fly that way.”
I snorted and shook my head. “Have you ever even put effort into something?”
“Hey, I’ve built a sand castle once.” He crossed his arms. “Which was destroyed by a wave… And there was that campfire that was destroyed by dinosaurs… my point exactly, it’s never worth it. There’s always something that’ll crush all your hard work.”
“I could think of a reason or two that makes it worth it.” I gave him a half smile.
“Do go on”. He coked his head, smugly.
“Okay, so...” I straightened my back. “… like for Muay Thai, it requires real patience and time to master it, but when you do, and it’s just you and your opponent on the ring-”
“Beating yourselves up.” He chuckled.
“Sure, there’s that.” I cracked a smile. “But when you spend all your free time hidden away in the gym, and then, for only one day, you get to show your best. And you’re in the ring, all eyes on you, expecting you to be perfect, and you are … so, everything was worth it in the end.” There was a bright smile on my face at that point, but Kenji just stared at me with a puzzled expression. “Sorry, I got carried away.” I toned it down on the smile, running my fingers through my hair.
“Do your parents ever go see you?”
And the smile completely disappeared from my lips. “Dad says he can’t stand all the violence.” I sighed. “And my mom… well, she’s always busy with work.”
“Are you sure my dad and your mom aren’t the same person?” Kenji laughed, but I noticed a hint of sadness in his eyes.
“Maybe.” I said. “She’s always cooked up in her lab, with her important documents, making sure everything goes according to plan… one dinosaur after another.”
“Yep, sounds like him.” Kenji nodded. “Minus the dinosaur part.” He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Okay, don’t be mad, but your mom kinda seems like… well, you.”
I scoffed, crossing my arms. “Care to explain?”
“Just the ‘always trying to be perfect’ thing.” He raised his arms in surrender. “You’re always so intense. All. The. Time. It’s like I can see the vein popping out of your forehead, bro.” My hand shot up immediately. “Relax, it’s a pretty vein.” He chuckled.
“A pretty vein?” I frowned, touching my forehead. “I don’t have a vein.”
“Yeah, you do.” He snorted. “When you’re angry and your eyes are like daggers and-” He paused, gulping visibly. “Um, never mind.” He shook his head. “My point is, you never chill. I get that that’s your thing and all, but don’t you sacrifice too much for perfection?”
I blinked several times, trying to take in what he had said. Kenji was way too goofy of a guy, but somehow, he kept catching me off guard with a sudden wise comment. And maybe he was right…
“Yeah.” It came out barely a whisper, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “I guess I do, but when there’s people counting on you...” My gaze went automatically to camp, where everybody else was chilling by the table. “...you can’t afford to be nothing but perfect.”
He followed my gaze. “That sounds exhausting.” His hand rested on my arm, warm.
“Yeah, it is.” I admitted, letting out a harsh breath, and his hand squeezed my arm gently. “But turns out I’m wired that way.” I huffed. “Thanks mom.”
“Hey, I’m here if you um- ever want to chill… or anything.” He stumbled on his words.
“Thanks, Kenj.” I gave him a half smile, looking him in the eyes, but my mind was still back at our camp. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure we were safe here. We slept practically out in the open, sure, we were high from the ground, but we needed something more concrete, like a… fence. A smile grew on my face. ‘We needed a fence.’ That was perfect!
Kenji’s eyes went wide and he jerked his hand away from me like it was burning him. “Um… right, yeah.” He mumbled, taking a few steps back. “But what I still don’t get...” His voice turned loud, suddenly in a hyper cheerful mood. “...is how do you even enjoy ‘getting punched on the gut’ part?” He laughed.
“You get to punch back.” I stated with a smirk creeping up on my lips. “And that, dear Kenji...” With a narrow gaze, I mustered my most intense stare. “... is the best part.” I finished it off with a whisper.
His mouth hung open and he took a few steps back, making me laugh. “You scare me sometimes, you know?” His voice quivered.
“Good.” I just smiled, satisfied with his reaction. “I can teach you if you like.”
“What? Being scary?” He chuckled.
I crackled. “You? Scary?”
“I can be scary.” He stomped his feet.
“Nope, not to me.” I crossed my arms with a smug smile on my face.
“Oh, you’ll see, I bet I can- BOO!” He yelled, jumping with his arms in the air.
But I just looked at him, non-impressed. “So, you wanna learn how to pack a punch?” I raised my guard at him.
He sighed, defeated, but then he mirrored me, with a growing smile on his face. “You’re going down, rocky.”
“Let’s see, Kon.” I threw a jab at him, but instead of aiming for his face, I punched the air next to it. He flinched, raising his guard more, so I threw a hook at his ribs, punching it lightly. I giggled as he scrambled to defend himself, punch after punch. “Come on, you can do better.” I teased. “You can try and punch me back, ya know?”
“Well, I’m not going all out on you.” He said as if he was the one winning.
“Try me.” I said, genuinely wanting to know if he could do it.
“Nah, you’re a girl. I don’t want to hurt you.” He brushed it off.
“Don’t give me that crap.” I rolled my eyes. “Cause if you try that sexist thing on me, then I’ll swear I won’t hold back.”
“Got it, Captain.” He gulped, taking a few steps back. “But seriously, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Trust me, you won’t.” I grinned, lowering my guard. “Do your best.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He raised his arms without even getting on a proper stance and threw a weak jab.
I easily dodged it and frowned. “Come on, I’m bored here. Give me a real punch.” I egged him on. He groaned and punched again; a bit harder. “That’s it.” He jabbed the air. “Harder!” He tried a left hook and I slipped out of the way, raising my guard. “That was half decent.”
He threw a jab and I slapped his hand out of the way, then he tried a right cross, but he put too much of his body weight on it, losing his balance. I grabbed his right wrist with one hand and his shirt with the other, turning my body with his, and using his own momentum to throw him in the grass. But instead of the grass, he hit the punching bag with a thud.
My eyebrows shot up in realization of what I just did. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry!” I kept holding on to him, afraid that he might be hurt.
“You gotta teach me that.” He said with a smile and I let out a loud sigh in relief.
“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” I searched his eyes for any glint of pain.
“No, seriously, teach me that.” He genuinely said, looking back into my eyes.
“Um… okay.” I mumbled. Kenji’s eyes got really big when he was excited. I always thought his eyes were obsidian black like his hair, but from up close, they were more like a dark chocolate… Kenji blinked and the chocolatey eyes turned from excited to puzzled, staring back at me from inches away.
‘Jeez, Hayden, you’re staring. Stop staring.’ I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks, as I realized how close we were to each other. I was still holding on to his wrist and my other hand was against his chest, which was going up and down a bit too fast. I was practically pinning him against the tree to keep him up, which he obviously didn’t need me too. I noticed a faint blush on his cheeks as well, which only made my own face burn even hotter.
‘Stop making it awkward, dammit.’
I let him go, taking a few steps back, distancing myself from him and facing away, pretending to fix my hair so he wouldn’t notice the redness in my face.
‘Of course, he already saw that.’ A voice echoed in my head.
“Alright…” I turned back to him, who was still leaning against the punching bag with a weird expression on his face. “That wasn’t really Muay Thai, so let’s start with the basics. First thing, we gotta fix that stance, do it like this.” I got into a perfect stance and he mirrored me. “Wait, you’re right-handed, right?” I quickly asked and he nodded in agreement. “Cool…cool... So um…” God, why was I so awkward? “So, this is a jab.” I punched the air with my left hand. “And this…”
I went on the rest of the afternoon teaching him the basics, and by the time we were done for the day, we were sweaty and tired. An audience of our friends had formed to watch the class, clearly the only form of entertainment of the island. I wasn’t too used to being a teacher, but Kenji turned out to be a good student when he actually tried. Overall, it was a good day and it felt good training again.
Notes:
out/24 - doing a little touch ups with editing
Chapter 20: Compy Pen
Summary:
Note for future self: limbs are not chew toys for rats.
Notes:
I had waaaaaay too much fun writing this chapter, enjoy!
Warnings: mentions of blood, injuries and anxiety.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
I opened my eyes only to close them again, squinting at the sun shining bright at my face. I groaned, turning around, away from the light. I fixed the dino plushie under my head and hugged my actual pillow closer. I felt the slumber taking over again when someone spoke behind me.
“So, are you going to sleep forever?”
“Huh?” I turned around to find Kenji staring at me from the couch next to my bunker.
“It’s usually me who sleeps till noon.” He chuckled.
“Were you watching me sleep?” I frowned, rubbing my eyes.
“Wha- No, I-” He stuttered, his cheeks turning red.
“Look at you blushing.” I laughed, which turned into a yawn.
“Yeah?” Kenji scoffed. “Well, you snore, I was just trying to spare my own ears.”
“I do not.” I sat up straight.
He laughed at me. “And you sleep with your mouth open.”
“So, you were watching me.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Nah-ah.” He shook his head emphatically, his cheeks turning red again.
I was about to tell him he drools in his sleep, when I noticed we were alone. “Where is everybody?” I glanced around.
“They’re out doing their own thing, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “But since you’re awake, I need your help with something.” He had a devious smile on his face.
…
“A prank?” I deadpanned. “You dragged me over to Main Street for a prank?”
“Yeah, so, I thought about switching the shampoo for hair dye…” He chuckled to himself. “…or filling Darius' bunk with rubber ducks, or we could find a white sheet and pretend that we’re a ghost to scare Sammy.” He rubbed his hands together, manically. I just stared blankly at him. “Come on, it’s just a little prank…” He pleaded. “Don’t harsh the mellow now.”
‘It would be funny seeing their hair crazy colorful.’ A small smile grew on my face. His face lit up and he opened his mouth to say something, but I raised one finger in the air, stopping him. “And where exactly are we supposed to find stuff for all that?”
“I came up with the pranks.” Kenji lazily said. “That’s on you to figure the rest out.”
“Real classy.” I rolled my eyes.
“What? You’re my partner in crime.” He smiled. “I bet you can figure this out.”
“Fine.” I huffed. “There’s probably some hair dye on the drugstore and sheets on the hotel, but rubber ducks?” I shook my head. “That’ll be tough to find.”
“No problemo.” Kenji started walking, turning right on the lagoon. “To the drugstore!”
“Wrong way.”
“To the drugstore!” He repeated, turning left.
“Honestly, I don’t know how you even get by with your sense of direction.” I laughed, as we walked along the street.
“Who needs a sense of direction when I have you?” He smugly said.
I scoffed. “Flattery doesn’t work on me.”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” He shoved me with his shoulder.
“Not that I had much of a choice.” I mumbled.
The drugstore was on the end of the street around the lagoon, and behind it was the hotel. A tall white circular building with blue glass all over, and around it, there were several swimming pools with that nasty green water. It was an imposing building compared with the ones around it, but we ignored the hotel and headed straight to the drugstore near the entrance.
It was an impeccable clean drugstore, I guess nobody told it the park had imploded. The only messy parts were the shelves we had ransacked for our use, mainly the hygiene and first aid rows.
Kenji and I walked down each aisle, searching for the much-needed hair dye. I walked by some hair products, which reminded me immediately of Kenji, always fixing his hairdo. Honestly, I didn’t know how this guy managed to hair styled up in Nublar’s humidity. Mine was like a frizz ball all the damn time. I bet he had a stash of hair products hidden somewhere. I glanced around and found him with his back turned to me by the register, so I swiftly snatched a bottle that said anti-frizz and shoved it in my pocket. Not that I really cared about how my hair looked, after all, there were more important things… but it didn’t hurt to try.
Finally, in the back corner I spotted the colorful row of hair dyes.
“Found it!”
“Heads up!” Kenji exclaimed. I looked up from the shelves to see a pen flying through the air, luckily, I caught it in time.
“A permanent marker?” I glared at him, was he trying to poke my eye out or something?
“To draw in their faces.”
“Lame.” I chuckled, shoving the marker on my pocket either way.
“It’s not lame, it’s a classic.” He leaned against the counter.
“If you say so…” I shrugged. “So, what are we thinking? Black?” I raised a package of black hair dye. “Or something more colorful?” I smirked, raising an orange dye.
“Is that even a question?” He mirrored my smirk.
“Colorful it is.” I laughed, grabbing a package of every color available.
“Hey, shoo!” Kenji suddenly yelled, waving his hands in the air.
I frowned at him. “What are you-”
“Ow!” He hastily backed away from the counter, holding his left hand in pain. “It bit me.” He squealed, just as a Compy jumped on top of the register. “Stupid rats!” He grunted.
I spotted some movement behind Kenji and my eyes darted to the small green dinosaur on the floor. “Behind you!” I tried to warn him.
“Shi- Ow.” Kenji yelped as the Compy bit him on the left calf. He kicked it, sending it flying across the aisle, just as the first Compy moved again.
“Heads up!” I yelled, throwing a hair dye package at the dinosaur, making it fall off the counter.
And just like that, we were surrounded. There were Compies on the floor… on the shelves… everywhere. The Compies were closing in, and I had never seen that many in a single spot. Turns out barging in a closed space without checking it first was a terrible idea.
I let all of the packages fall from my hands as I sprinted to Kenji, who was kicking and screaming, trying to keep the dinosaurs away. I reached him just in time to slap away one that had jumped on his back.
“We gotta-” -THUMP!
My head whipped back as Kenji’s hand made contact with my face, accompanied by a sharp pain spreading from my nose. I held onto the counter not to fall over, but I already felt the thick and warm liquid running down my face.
“I’m so sorry!” His eyes went wide and he took one step towards me, but a Compy got in the way, screeching.
“The fuck, Kenji!?” I yelled, but my voice was muffled by my hand covering half of my face.
“We gotta get out of here!” He shouted, kicking a Compy.
“Just aim at the Compies, dammit!” I groaned, kicking one dinosaur in mid-air. It was useless, there were too many of them, so I grabbed Kenji’s good hand and pulled him with me as we sprinted out of that Compy’s nest.
I let go of him when we turned the corner on Main Street. Looking back, we could see a few stray dinosaurs chasing us. The running wasn’t helping the pounding on my head, I could feel the blood dripping from my chin and the metallic taste that wouldn’t leave my mouth.
“The souvenir store?” Kenji asked, panting next to me.
“Let’s go somewhere with doors.” I said, heading further down Main Street until we reached Starbucks.
We rushed in, and while Kenji dealt with the doors, I went to check for any dinosaurs on the back. Counter, check; kitchen, check; pantry, check. Back to the front, Kenji had stacked a few chairs against the doors, where Compies were gathering on the other side of the glass.
Done with the doors, Kenji slumped down on a chair, groaning with his head low, so I went to join him.
I scoffed. “So, what’s the plan now?” I asked him, since this was his brilliant idea in the first place.
“My plan is to follow your plan.” He leaned back on his chair, glancing at the Compies outside.
‘ Typical .’ I let out a harsh breath. “I don’t think we’ll manage to steal any hair dye from those Compies. So… take defeat and head back to camp?”
“Stupid Compies messing up my prank.” He mumbled under his breath as he glanced down at his injured hand.
“You had to offer your hand as a chew toy, didn't you?”
“Not on purpose!”
“Let me see.” I asked, and he raised his hand. I carefully held his wrist, turning his hand around. The bite mark was the exact shape of the jaws of the Compy, an arch made of puncture wounds where the teeth had sunken in. It was smudged with blood, with crimson droplets escaping each little wound. “Doesn’t seem that deep.” I concluded.
“Then why does it hurt so much?” He said through clenched teeth. “Stupid island rats.” He grunted and I noticed his eyes were red with tears threatening to fall down.
“Are you crying?” I chuckled and I felt as his heart rate picked up through his wrist.
“Nope.” He shook his head, blinking rapidly. “It’s eye allergies, turns out I’m allergic to dino rats.”
I laughed. “I’m the one that’s supposed to be crying, I think you broke my nose.” I scrunched up my nose only to feel that sharp pain again, with more blood trickling down my face.
“Um- Ahn… keep your head up.” Kenji suddenly was on his feet next to me, his hand gently raising my chin up. “I’m sure there’s some napkins somewhere.” He rushed to the counter. I noticed him limping on the leg he’d been bitten; we probably should get that cleaned up before it became infected.
I felt more blood trickling down my chin, and the urge to scratch the itching blood trail left behind led me to raise my hand, only to notice it was all covered in blood. My blood.
‘Dammit, this was worse than I thought.’
The fresh blood was glistening against the sun, glowing almost. I rubbed my thumb against my bloodied palm, revealing a bit of my skin underneath. A crimson drop fell on the back of my hand, staining my clean skin. I stared at it, incapable of looking away when a crushing feel of dread engulfed me, my breath hitching on my throat. The last time my hands were covered in blood, was the night when we had lost Ben. Well, when I had let him slip. My hands. The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming, almost crushing my lungs, keeping the oxygen from me. It was just like-
“I told you to keep your head up.” Kenji’s hand on my chin made me jump, forcing me to look up and away from the blood. He dumped a pile of napkins on our table, and brought his chair closer to me. “I’m sorry about your nose, I didn’t mean it.” He apologized and with one napkin he started to clean up my chin.
“It’s okay.” I mumbled; my eyes fixed on the white ceiling while I tried to calm my breathing.
“It doesn’t look okay.” His voice was full of worry, as the rough napkin rubbed against my skin.
“Not my first time.” I shrugged. “Don’t stress it.”
“Well, I can’t get all of this with napkins.” He grunted, turning my face to the side while he tried to clean it.
“There’s a sink in the kitchen.” I said, already getting up.
“Okay-” He stood up and immediately started to lean dangerously to his side.
“Whoa.” I steadied him. “What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice came out with a high-pitch.
“My leg fell asleep.” He tittered, shaking the leg like a dog, while gripping on my shoulders for support. I frowned at him as he glanced down at me, his eyes went wide for a second, then he hastily backed away, almost tripping on the chair behind him. “Sorry, all good.” Kenji sheepishly said.
He awkwardly limped to the kitchen and sat on top of the counter by the sink. So I grabbed a dish towel that was laying around and opened the faucet.
I snorted. “Jurassic World falls apart, but the water pressure never disappoints.” I dipped the cloth in the water. “So, we better deal with your injuries first so they won’t get infected.” I said, but Kenji snatched the dish towel from my hands.
“Get over here.” He motioned with his hand.
“I can-”
“It’s the least I can do after almost killing you.” He grabbed my arm, pulling to stand between his legs by the counter. That made me lose balance and my hands gripped his knees for support.
“Oh, you’ll need more than that to kill me.” The corners of my mouth curled to a slight grin. “Your stance is still shit by the way.”
Kenji snorted. “Tell that to your face.”
“Yeah, thanks, you ruined my chances to win a beauty pageant.” I snickered, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I don’t think it's broken.” He softly placed his hand on my chin, tilting my head from one side to the other while his eyes examined my nose closely, his breath tickling my skin.
‘ Needed he be this close? ’
“Good.” My voice came out as a whisper. Kenji started to rub the wet cloth against my skin, staring at the chin and making his way up. I fidgeted with my hands, not really knowing where to put them, so I settled for shoving them in my pockets.
‘Oh, great, now my pockets are clammy.’ I sighed.
Kenji was done with my chin and now had begun to wipe the corners of my mouth. The wet cloth caressing my lips softly as he surely was taking his sweet time there.
“Don’t need to rush there, Dash.” I mumbled.
“Shush, let me work.” I could feel Kenji’s breath on my skin, his breathing was labored, heavy. He must be in so much pain… and here he is, helping me. ‘ He’ll get his bites infected if he keeps this up. ’ He inched closer as the towel went over my lower lip, his thumb parting them slightly. That made my breath get caught on my throat, while his was warm, brushing against my skin, against my lips, making my cheeks burn hot. ‘ Nope, stop that. This is Kenji we’re talking about. ’ I told myself, taking a deep breath. ‘ Focus on something else… anything… ’
Kenji had his brows furrowed and his lips pressed in a thin line in concentration. I had never seen him that focused on something, or on anyone really. I guess he really must be feeling terrible for smacking me in the face. He looked like a cute little concerned kid, with a dimple showing on his chin, which I had never noticed before.
‘ Cute. ’ A choked giggle escaped my mouth.
“What?” Kenji asked, his cheeks turning a soft shade of pink.
“Nothing.” I glanced up at the ceiling to avoid staring at him.
He moved up to my nose and I couldn’t help but flinch at the sharp pain.
“Sorry.”
“I’m starting to regret teaching you how to throw a punch.” I said through a clenched jaw.
“Sorry.” He repeated, shrinking his shoulder.
“Just get over it, will ya?”
His work on my nose was way faster compared with the rest of my face, but he finally pulled away. “All done.” He tossed the bloodied dish towel on the ground. “I bet you’ll win that beauty pageant now.” Kenji smiled.
“I accept nothing less than first place.” I chuckled. “Your turn, gimme your hand.” I seized his hand with my own. “Does it hurt?”
“Not really.” He shrugged.
I tsked. “We better use the sink for this.” He turned around on top of the counter so he could face the sink. I opened the faucet and let the water run on the wound. He didn’t even flinch, not even once. “Nothing?” I asked and he shook his head, with a very different demeanor from when he was tearing up. I just shrugged and grabbed the detergent.
I washed my hands with the detergent first, averting my gaze as the red water went down the drain. I put some detergent on his injured hand, washing away the blood and the dirt under the water. I massaged the area where the teeth had penetrated, making sure that the soapy detergent would get everything. ‘Of course the rich kid that hasn’t done anything his whole life would have soft hands.’ The thought made me shake my head.
“Something wrong?” Kenji asked, moving closer to inspect his hand.
“Nothing.” I cringed. “It’s just pathetic, ya know. Death by Compies.” I laughed. ‘Nice save, dumbass.’
“I’m not pathetic!”
“You almost took me down with you.” I glared at him. “Let’s not tell this to anyone, okay? I have a reputation to maintain.”
“Whatever.” He pouted, showing that dimple again.
“Now give me your leg, so we can get this over with.” I said, and he plopped his feet on the sink, splattering water everywhere.
“Kenji!”
“Sorry!”
I cursed him under my breath as I propped his leg up and got the wound under the open faucet. The bite mark was the exact same from his hand, but his leg had more dirt that I needed to clean up. But surely, I got it done, and never throughout the process, Kenji complained once, which was really off brand for him.
We couldn’t exactly go back to the drugstore for bandages so I searched the kitchen for more clean dish towels. Luckily, there was a drawer full of them, smelling like they were recently washed. I wrapped the cloth around his hand and his leg, it was the best I could do with only kitchen supplies, but I was counting on our first aid kit back at camp.
I left Kenji in the kitchen and went to the front of the store, peeking outside for any green pigeon running around. They must’ve given up on us, because the coast was clear.
“Any sight of them?” Kenji had followed me.
“Nah, we good.” I said, turning to face him, who was leaning at the wall.
“We should get going then, wouldn’t want to say hello to Rexy today.”
“Are you sure you can walk?” I asked, watching as he limped towards the door.
He huffed. “Kenji won’t be taken down by the lamest dinosaur in existence.”
“Whatever you say Mr. VIP.” I started to take down the barricade of the door. “I’m not carrying you, though.”
We took the first steps out of the Starbucks with caution, watching for any movement, and when it was clear we were really alone, we started to make our way back to camp. I was already entering back into the jungle when I looked back to see Kenji lagging behind in the middle of Main Street.
I leaned against a tree, with my arms crossed waiting for him. “You said you could walk.” I glared.
“I can. Very slowly.” He finally reached me, looking away from my stare. “It’s not my fault my leg is still numb.”
I frowned. “Since before?” He nodded in response. “Why didn’t you say so?” I exasperated.
“I dunno, I thought it was normal.” He shrugged.
“Why would it be- urgh.” I smacked my own forehead. “And your hand?”
“Same.” Kenji shrugged and I felt a headache starting to form. “It’s fine, we just go turtle speed.”
“I’m not in the mood for spending the night in the jungle.” I groaned. ‘Why the hell were the Compy bites making him numb?’ The it dawned on me what Darius had said weeks ago. “Compies have venom on their bite!” I gasped.
“And I’m hearing about this now ?” Kenji shrieked. “Those rats are everywhere!”
“Well, if you had paid attention to Darius, you’d know that.”
“I’m gonna die?” His voice quivered in a way his lower lip stuck out. ‘Dammit, I wish I had a camera for future blackmail.’
“Always so dramatic.” I chuckled, rolling my eyes. “I think Darius said its pretty mild, so it should go away soon.”
“Okay, so what do we till it does?” He asked quietly.
I took a deep breath through my mouth and let all the air out. I put his left arm around my shoulder, and held him tightly by the waist.
“I can’t believe I’ll have to drag your ass back to camp.” I watched as his mouth turned into an ‘o’ shape and his cheeks blushed. “Don’t get used to this.” I mumbled, feeling my own cheeks growing hot.
…
We walked in silence for a long time, while I tried to match my pace to his weird hops. Kenji couldn’t really put much weight on that left leg as it would give out pretty quickly. Our silence was broken by a loud rumble, and this time, it didn’t come from a dinosaur. I glanced at Kenji, who had his good hand over his stomach.
“What? I’m hungry.” He pouted. “We didn’t bring any food.”
“If I remember correctly, that was on you.” I chuckled.
“Yeah, well, next time remind me.”
I scoffed and we fell in silence again until my curiosity peaked. “By the way, was that your first time punching someone?” He hummed in response. “Pretty good for an accident.” I gave him a half-smile.
He groaned. “I don’t think I’ll ever punch anyone ever again.”
“Did I traumatize you that much?” I laughed.
“That was worse than the Compies, bro.” His eyes widened.
“That bad, huh?” I smirked playfully, remembering how worried he had gotten.
Kenji’s face fell as he glanced down at me. “I had never hurt anyone, much less someone that I…” He trailed off.
“Eh, I bleed pretty easily.” I shrugged it off. “You should’ve seen me after my matches. One time I was spitting blood for days. Days.” I laughed. “My dad almost took me to the hospital.” Kenji’s face twisted in aversion. “Besides, you never know when you’ll have to punch someone…”
“That’s why there are people you can hire to do that for you.” He said it as if it was the most common thing in the world.
“You mean like a bodyguard? Or a hired goon?” I asked. “Cause all rich people have at least one of those.”
“A bodyguard!” He exclaimed. “I don’t have goons.”
“But are you sure your father doesn’t?” I did my best to hold in a laughter. “You never know.”
“Of course not!” Kenji protested, his face getting bright red.
“Right…”
“But he does walk around with a couple bodyguards.”
“If you ever need one, I’m applying.” I smiled.
A grin crept up on his face. “All of that only to stay close to me.” Kenji teased. “Hayden, you didn’t have to.”
“Dumbass.” I elbowed him on the ribs, making him breathe out harshly. “Is because, as your friend, I expect you to pay me double.”
“Nah-ah, I’d only pay half because I’d have to put up with you.” His grin grew.
I shook my head. “Stop lying, Kenj. I know you like me.” I gave him a huge smile, like a kid would.
But I couldn’t help but notice that Kenji’s eyes widened a bit before he spoke. “Um- s- sure, if I count the people on this island, you’d be right behind the drooling Bumpercar.” He finished the sentence with a half-smile, his eyes sparkling in mockery.
I narrowed my gaze, scoffing. “Is not smart to speak ill of the one person helping you out.”
“You’re the one who insisted on doing that.” Kenji shrugged. “I said I could walk.”
“That’s it.” I said, getting off from under him. “Consider your friend-privileges revoked.” I turned my back and started to walk away from him.
“Wha- no!” He called. “Hays, come back, I didn’t mean it.” I turned around to see him desperately hopping in one leg towards me. And that was when I lost it, crackling at the sight. “Give me my privileges back, please!” Kenji begged, as I took one step back for each of his hops.
“Nah, you gotta work for it.” I said, my stomach hurting from all the laughter.
“Come on, Hays… I’m injured here.” Kenji hoped closer, wobbling like a drunken man.
“Injures you can’t even feel.” I rolled my eyes.
“Hay-hay… Haze…Hayden Potaten.” He was babbling nonstop.
I cringed at the nicknames. “One more and-”
“Little Haydie-poo.” He hopped closer, arms outstretched.
“That’s it!” I turned around. “Bye.”
“Don’t be like that.” Ha grabbed me by my wrist.
“You brought this on yourself.” I grunted, trying to pull my arm while I kept walking backwards, but I only managed to pull Kenji with me.
“Hay-”
“Fine! Just shut up!” I gave in, letting him wrap his arm around my shoulder and lean on me. “To be clear, ‘Hays’ is the furthest I’ll go. Pull that shit again and I’ll leave you for the Compies to play with.”
“I knew you wouldn’t leave me behind, Hays .” He smiled brightly.
“Only because I’d have to cover up your death and that seems like a lot of effort.”
“Aw, you’re so sweet.” He hugged me close.
“Dude.” I pushed him off, but not enough to make him fall. “What the fuck? Has the Compy venom reached your brain?” I said with a straight voice, holding in a smile.
“Good thing I have you, Hays.” He glanced down at me with a smile.
“You’re so annoying.” I huffed, turning my face away from his so he would see how that made me blush. “Let’s go already.” I put a hand around his waist and pulled him with me.
…
A few more minutes of dragging Kenji alongside with me, and we finally spotted the clearing on the trees where our camp was located. We crossed over the bridge when Kenji let out a harsh breath next to me.
“I can’t believe we’re coming back empty handed.” His head hung low. “And all because of Compies.” He groaned. I kept silent, but a grin crept up on my lips. “What?” Kenji asked, glancing down at me.
“Maybe I kept the pen you gave me.” I smiled slightly.
“Ha! No way!” His face lit up like a little kid. “They won’t even see it coming!”
“Shh!” I elbowed him when I saw that the girls were coming our way.
“What happened?” Sammy asked, her voice full of concern to see Kenji.
“Nothing!” Kenji said, a bit too fast, making me glare at him.
“Is that blood?” Brooklynn asked, pointing at my shirt. I glanced down at the dry blood that I had forgotten to clean.
“No?” I mumbled.
“That’s not a question you’re supposed to answer with another question.” She crossed her arms and raised a brow.
“And why is he bleeding?” Yasmina pointed at Kenji with her chin, whose bandages were a bit smudged with blood.
“Because he’s an idiot.”
“And why were you bleeding?” She asked me.
“ Because he’s an idiot.” I glared at Kenji again.
“I said I was sorry!” Kenji whined.
“A sorry idiot.” I concluded. “Come on, we gotta get you real bandages.” I pulled him with me to camp, leaving behind three very confused girls.
I heard their footsteps following us while I helped Kenji up the slide. No way in hell I would admit I was almost knocked out by Kenji fucking Kon. Up in our treehouse, I let Kenji fall on the couch, where Darius and Ben stared at us, stunned.
“Dude, why didn’t you said that Compies had poison?” Kenji complained to Darius.
“They’re venomous, but-” Darius shook his head. “A Compy bit you?”
“Compies.” I corrected, while grabbing the first aid kit.
“I was like kapow… pow…” Kenji started to punch the air, reenacting the scene. “They were everywhere, and Hays was like zumm.” He mimicked the hair dye package flying through the air. “But then, one of those stupid rats got to me, and Hays was there so I-”
I slumped down next to Kenji. “We fled from an angry pack of Compies. The. End.” I glared at him. ‘Oh, he better not let it slip.’
“Right…” Kenji scratched his head, looking away from me. I opened the first aid kit, taking out some rubbing alcohol, gauze and the bandages.
“Here let me help.” Sammy appeared on my side.
“It’s fine.” I dismissed her, while placing Kenji’s hand on my lap.
“It’s weird that they were so aggressive. What were you doing when that happened?” Darius asked. ‘Of course, it was our fault that the wild dinosaurs attacked.’ A scoff escaped my mouth. I know he didn’t mean like that, but it sure as hell sounded like it.
“We were… um- we were at the- the…” Kenji stuttered, his eyes darting at me, nervous.
‘Dude, pull yourself together.’ I rolled my eyes. “We were at the drugstore to get some products, but I guess that’s their evil lair now.” I explain, while finishing with Kenji’s hand. I could feel Brooklynn and Yasmina’s gaze on me, skeptical.
“Right, yeah.” Kenji nodded emphatically, but his cheeks had started to blush. “There were a bajilion of them.” I tapped Kenji on the leg, and he scooted away, so his leg was on my lap now.
The girls' gaze continued intently on me, I knew they knew we were hiding something, but they could think whatever. I wasn’t opening my mouth. Kenji, on the other hand, was the problem. The guy was redder than a tomato, he was for sure going to crack with the pressure. How did I even consider him a good liar before?
“How long ago was this? And what are you feeling?” Darius continued with his interrogation. “I’ve read that the venom acts very fast, and they only have trace amounts on their bite, so I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”
“What? This?” Kenji said with a smug smile, motioning to his injuries. “This was nothing. You should’ve seen- Ow.” Kenji whimpered as I let my hand fall heavy on top of the bandages. ‘Oh, so now he could feel it...’
“Answering the question.” I glared at Kenji again, before facing Darius. “It was a couple hours ago and his whole arm and leg went numb, so I had to drag his ass all the way here.” I looked back at Kenji with a half-smile. “But I guess the numbness is wearing off.” I pushed Kenji’s leg off my lap, letting it fall unceremoniously on the wooden floor.
“Careful.” Kenji whined, rubbing his leg.
“Wow, hours? Okay, I didn’t know it lasted that long.” Darius pondered, already pulling out his field guide.
“Okay, dino-nerd, I’m glad you can get all the juicy facts, but why were they so aggressive?” Brooklynn asked.
“Dinos being dinos.” Kenji shrugged.
“Or maybe you two did something that set them off.” Yasmina raised a brow. “Grabbing something at a drugstore, huh?” She glanced at our empty hands. “What?”
I raised my hands in the air. “We got interrupted, obviously.”
“I bet you did.” Brooklynn grinned.
“And I bet you were loud as hell.” Yasmina smirked, eyes glinting deviously.
I let out a loud scoff. This whole conversation is making me want to roll my eyes until they pop out my socket. I don’t know what was worse… letting Kenji get the upper hand and punch me in the face or what Yasmina and Brooklynn were insinuating.
“Yeah, dinosaurs can be easily spooked by loud noises. Besides, Compies can be really scary in packs, and you did invade their home.” Darius' gaze fell on me and Kenji.
‘ Great, so he did think it was our fault. ’ I crossed my arms as I felt my blood starting to boil. Since when did the drugstore become ‘their home’, it was a drugstore! Freaking Darius standing up for Compies. What was next? He was going to make us share our food with the poor starving rats?
“So that means… no more soap?” Sammy’s eyes widened like a puppy. “No more shampoo?”
“Great.” Brooklynn groaned.
Kenji leaned in my ear, making me freeze for a millisecond with the proximity, then I had to control myself not to give him a matching bloody nose as he whispered. “Your vein is showing, Hays .”
I groaned, sliding down on the couch as my hand shot up to my forehead, trying to feel for it. ‘He was fucking with me, I don’t have a vein.’
“Come on guys, we don’t need soap.” Ben said.
“Yeah, we do.” Kenji huffed. “And I need my hair products.” I snapped my head at that. ‘Ha, I knew it.’
“I’m sure we can figure this out, y’all.” Sammy said in her high pitched voice.
“Um, not today, right?” Kenji asked.
“No, not today, Kenj.” Brooklynn sighed.
“Great, cause I’m starving!” Kenji smiled.
“Uh, oh, I've got the food!” Sammy jolted out of her chair and ran to our storage crates.
…
I poked Kenji’s cheek. “Wakey-wakey.” I whispered.
Kenji was laying on his bed, with his arms over his head, mouth slightly open and a sliver thread of drool was coming down the side of his mouth. I suppressed a laugh not to wake everybody up, and tried again.
“Wake up, Kenji.” I shook him by his shoulders.
He shifted in his sleep, his eyes fluttering open. “Mermaid?” He mumbled, his hand reaching for me.
“Not a mermaid.” I slapped his hand away. “Wake up already.”
“Huh? What?” He blinked, his eyes focusing on me. “It’s still dark.” He mumbled, turning to his side, eyes closing again.
‘Okay, plan B.’ I grabbed my plushie. “Wake up… wake up… wake up!” I hastily whispered and I hit him in the head with my dino plushie.
“What?” He sat up, glaring at me. “I’m up.”
“You drool in your sleep.” I grinned.
His face went bright red as he wiped the drool off his face. “Did you wake me just for that?”
“You totally forgot, didn’t ya?” I pulled out the permanent marker from my pocket.
His face lit up automatically, and all of the signs of sleepiness were gone. “Ka-ching.” Kenji whispered, with a glint of playfulness in his eyes.
The night was dark, I reckon a bit before the sun rise, since the darkness was giving out to some shades of purple on the horizon. So, we needed to act fast. Kenji and I tiptoed from bunker to bunker giving everyone their exclusive, one in a lifetime, awesome design. Granted we almost woke them up from our giggles alone, but we managed to get everyone as the sun started to peek behind the trees.
Kenji pulled out Dave’s tape recorder. “Wanna do the honors?” He asked, with the biggest grin on his face.
“Don’t mind if I do.” I smiled, pressing play.
“Oh, yeah!” Dave’s voice came out of the mixtape, on full volume. “Feel the beat that I made.”
“What the-” Yasmina shot up from her bed, with a unibrow, a curly mustache and goatee.
“What is going on?” Sammy mumbled, with her square glasses and full beard.
“Are you ready, ready, ready? Dave Special! ”
“It’s too early.” Darius groaned. Kenji had tried to draw a dinosaur, but Darius ended up looking more like a jack-o-lantern.
“Good morning, Camp Cretaceous!” Kenji yelled at the top of his lungs. “It’s another wonderful day here on Isla Nublar.”
“Oh my god.” Yasmina's eyes went wide when she laid eyes on Kenji.
Ben got out of his bed, glaring at us with his panda face. “What is wrong with you two?”
“What is wrong with your face?” Sammy giggled, pointing at Ben.
“Music, music, music, music, music, music…”
“What?” Darius touched his face.
“You did not.” Yasmina glared at Kenji and me.
“Huh?” Brooklynn finally showed herself, with her black nose, bunny teeth and whiskers.
“Good to see everyone up.” I beamed. “And to all of you, I wish you a very Jurassic Day!”
“Dave, Dave, Da-Da-Da-Dave. Get that thing out of my face.”
“Oh yeah.” Kenji raised one hand in the air and I high-fived him.
Kenji let out a crackle, hitting me in the arm as he bent down laughing. I fell on the couch, my cheeks hurting as I watched everybody trying to figure out what each had on their faces.
“It’s not coming out.” Brooklynn cried, rubbing her cheeks.
“You’re so cute.” Sammy giggled.
“This is not funny.” Grumpy panda, aka Ben, crossed his arms.
“This is hilarious!” Kenji wheezed. “The shapes, the shock, the-”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself there, Joker.” Yasmina gave Kenji a half smile. “You have a little something…” She scratched her own cheek. Kenji’s laugh died as he raised his hand to his face, his mouth hanging open. “You’re right, it is hilarious.” Yasmina chuckled.
Kenji slowly turned to face me, with his bottle glasses and joker smile drawn to his ears. “Hays…”
“What? Me?” I tried to keep a blank face. “I would never.” A wicked grin grew in my face.
“Where’s the pen?” He asked in a serious tone, but his joker smile made a small bubble of laughter escape me.
“It’s safe.” I said, backing away from him, but I saw Yasmina with the corner of my eye, also closing in.
“It’s with you, isn’t it?”
“As I said, safe.” My smug grin didn’t waver.
“Get her!” He yelled.
I darted out of the way, just in time to Kenji and Yasmina to crash together. I ran to the other side of our treehouse, only to come across Sammy and Brooklynn.
“Nowhere to run.” The little bunny smiled.
“Bye.” I turned back, jumping over the table, only for someone to tackle me to my own bed.
“Give up.” Kenji grunted, trying to reach for my pockets.
“Never!” I squirmed away, grabbing him by his good arm and twisting him around. Kenji plopped with his face to the mattress and I held his arm behind his back.
“Not fair!” His voice was muffled. He tried to get up so I sat on his back, straddling him. I laughed as I tried not to use much force on his arm, just enough to hold him in place.
But even though I had Kenji, I was outnumbered. Brooklynn hugged me tight, locking my arms; Ben and Sammy got my legs while Darius made me lay down over Kenji’s legs.
“Now… where is it?” I felt Yasmina rummaging through my pockets. “Jackpot.” She grinned, with the pen in hand.
“Guys… let bygones be bygones.” My smile faltered while I tried to wiggle myself out. “Right?”
“Let me do it!” Kenji pleaded, still below me.
“You don’t get a voice here, Kenji.” Brooklynn spat.
“I’ll do the glasses.” Sammy giggled, letting go of one of my legs. And that was my opening.
“Ow, that’s my face!” Kenji cried.
“Sorry.” I mumbled, and now Yasmina had a hold on my leg.
“And I, the mustache.” Yasmina’s grin grew.
“I wanna add the whiskers.” Brooklynn laughed.
“Stick with a theme, please.” I said feeling the pen touch my face. I disguised my laughter as a loud sigh, letting my body go limp and accepting my fate.
“Some vampire fangs would be nice.” Ben laughed deviously.
“Don’t forget a goatee.” Darius added.
The pen gliding against my skin tickled and this time I couldn’t hide a soft laughter. The air was filled with complaints to keep me still and remarks about what to draw next. I let everyone have a turn, well, not Kenji, who was still squirming under me.
I guess, I had never thought that I’d be able to feel a moment of pure joy in this place. The air, filled with sweet laughter, made my chest buzz. I didn’t mind that the sun was blinding my eye, that Kenji’s elbow was digging into my back, or that my face was, literally, being used as a canvas. At that moment, I could only feel my chest rumble with happiness.
Notes:
So what do you think? I don’t know what I enjoyed writing more, Kenji annoying the hell out of Hayden or the prank scene.
How are you liking the more original chapters so far?out/24 - editing
Chapter 21: Camp Fam
Summary:
Lazy day in the sun gets interrupted.
Notes:
I wanted a more fluff OT7 chapter that fixed one big continuity error named: fence.
Warnings: blood and violence (amongst dinos)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
I laid out a branch packed with tasty green leaves and with a happy bellow, Bumpy took a bite.
“Good morning, girl. Did ya sleep well?” I petted her on the snout. “Too bad we can’t get you a bed, sleeping on the ground is so uncomfortable.” Bumpy cocked her head while looking up at me. “Uhum, you’re right, when it’s hot, sleeping on the ground is cooler. But you’re a reptile, why do you care if it’s too hot, you like it that way.” I chuckled, offering more leaves.
It was funny how this became my morning routine, feeding Bumpy always brought me peace of mind, and taking naps with her in the shade was always more comfortable than my own bed, even if I was laying on the ground. She really became like an emotional support dino, cause I felt like she could understand everything I said. Luckily, Ben wasn’t the type to get jealous, he even said he liked how we had grown closer. Honestly, it was the best feeling in the world to be accepted by a dino. Dogs were overrated, get yourself a dinosaur!
Bumpy nuzzled up against my side. “I’m so happy that we have you, Bumps. Sorry for losing you all those months ago.” My voice turned sad, as my hand traveled mindlessly to the ragged scar in the interior on my arm. Bumpy must’ve noticed the sudden shift, ‘cause she bellowed incessantly until I looked down to meet her puppy eyes. “Yeah, I’m happy it all worked out too. Thanks for looking out for Ben.” She squealed happily at the name, making me glance at the tree Ben was leaning against, sharpening his spear.
The Ankylo licked my hand. “Hey, I don’t have any more snacks.” She poked me on the ribs. “I’m serious.” I laughed as she almost hoisted me in the air like a bull. “Whoa, girl, easy.” Bumpy then ‘gently’ threw me to the ground, where I stayed flat on my back watching as she walked away. “I love you too!” I said, my chest still rumbling with laughter as she joined Ben.
Footsteps on the grass made me look up to see an upside-down Kenji. “Hey.” I greeted him.
“Sup.” He had a smile on his face. “How’s the grass?”
“Comfy.”
“Want to… you know, do the thing?” Kenji threw rapid punches in the air.
“The thing?” I raised a brow.
“Yeah, our thing.” He let his arms fall to his side while his cheeks and neck grew a pink-ish color. He had never referred to our fighting classes as ‘our thing’, and that made a warmth spread in my chest, knowing that we were the kind of friends that had our own thing. “The thing where I look crazy strong and sharp while I throw a new kick ass move at a mattress tied to a tree.” He ended with a grin, the flush gone from his face.
“Oh, that thing.” I nodded, sitting up and Kenji went to stand in front of me. As much as I liked to… “You just got bit by itty bitty Compies, I don’t know if it’s the best idea.”
“Compies have nothing on Kenji.” He puffed his chest.
“How’s the hand?” I narrowed my gaze.
“All good.” Kenji gave me a thumbs up, hiding the bite mark. But I just motioned for him to show it to me, with a groan he laid out his hand. I took his hand on my own, analyzing the red arched scar. It marked both the palm and the back of his left hand.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, brushing my finger through the swollen scar on his palm. It had been a few days now and it was healing fine, but not enough to go around punching things.
“Only when you do that, ow!” He jerked his hand away.
I smiled. “Then, no punching for you, mister.”
“What about the thing where I pretend to punch you and you pretend to punch me back?”
“That thing?” I pondered for a second. “Yeah, I guess we could do that thing.”
“Great! Cause I’m extra bored today.” He got into a stance.
“But let’s keep it only with punches today, ‘kay?” I lazily got up. “I don’t wanna hit the bite on your leg by mistake.”
“Whatever you say, rocky.” Kenji smiled behind his fists.
Kenji had really improved with the little practice we did, his stance was wobbly sometimes and his footwork was practically nonexistent, but he got potential. But what really surprised me was that he actually was putting some effort, a big step for Mr. ‘too good for sports.’. It was fun to have a partner to shadow box, it really made me miss the training sessions back home, though.
Kenji wasn’t that fast so I could see his punches from a mile away, he also wasn’t that creative with his combos, so I had to give him pointers sometimes. We were only a few minutes in and the heat was killing us. Kenji took off his long-sleeved blue shirt to reveal a white tank top undershirt and I copied him, discarding my T-shirt and staying only in my sports bra. I really didn’t mind, seeing that it wasn’t that revealing, it was just so fucking hot. I was covered in sweat already.
“You two are going to get sunburn.” Ben commented, coming to seat closer to us.
“Want in?” I asked. “It’s not that hard.”
Ben scoffed. “I defeated Toro. This is child’s play for me.” He brushed me off.
I turned to Ben. “Unlike Toro, I have functioning arms and…” I wiggled my thumbs in the air. “…opposing thumbs, so…”
“I’m still here, Hays .” Kenji groaned, throwing a punch to my face. I had my guard down so, I just turned my face sideways and he hit wind, his brows furrowed in frustration. He had come to call me that with every opportunity he got. Not that I was opposed to nicknames, in fact ‘Hays’ had been my nickname since forever back home, but that was usually reserved for friends and family. I guess they really were my new family in a way. Camp fam was growing on me and so was Kenji, in a way.
“Check this out. I’m speed.” Kenji threw a jab, bringing me back to reality. “Left.” Cross. “Right.” Jab. “Left. Left again.” I did the bare minimum to dodge, which might have come across as him doing a good job. “Ka-ching! Total speed Demon!”
“People usually don’t call out their punches, Kenji. It’s totally contra productive.” Yasmina commented, head deep on her notebook. The rest of the campers had gathered around to watch our practice.
“Yeah?” I grinned at her. “Uppercut, cross, hook.” I announced, stepping into Kenji space. He raised his guard too much, leaving his body unprotected, so I aimed for that. I did the sequence I had called, nothing too hard, just enough since we didn’t have gloves on.
“What was that for?” Kenji complained, stumbling back.
“Just proving a point.” I smiled at Yaz.
“What I said obviously only applied to Kenji.” She rolled her eyes at me.
“Just say that I’m that good.” I got back in a proper stance, circling around Kenji.
“Your opponent is Kenji.” She deadpanned.
“Point taken.” I sighed. “Kenji, you need to do better.”
“Yeah? And how’s this for better?” He suddenly threw a high round kick at my face. My eyes widened for a second, not expecting that, but I blocked it with my arms nonetheless. I braced for the impact and his shin hit my forearms. Kenji let out a loud yelp and fell to the ground, hugging his leg. Yasmina and Brooklynn let out a crackle at his demise.
“And that’s why I said no kicks.” I sighed, shaking my head.
“You never said it was going to hurt this much.” He cried.
“What did you expect, genius? A fluffy pillow?” Brooklynn laughed.
“It was a good kick, pretty good stance actually, you just need to turn your feet on the ground. Like this.” I demonstrated, kicking the air at face height.
“You make it look easy.” Kenji groaned.
“Well, I just taught you this last week, I’d say you’re doing just fine.”
“Yeah, Kenji, you’re doing just fine on the ground.” Yasmina laughed.
“You try it then! You wouldn’t last a second with Hays.” He protested, making me crack a smile.
“She’s going easy on you, dingus.” Yasmina said, looking at me with a knowing grin. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to intrude on your thing .”
“Don’t listen to her, Kenj.” I laid out my hand for him. “She’s just too scared.”
“Scaredy cat.” Kenji mocked, letting me pull him upwards.
“I’m just not interested in burning the few calories I just ate.” She said nonchalantly.
“Says the trackstar.” I snickered, remembering how she frequently goes out running.
“She does have a point there, guys.” Darius commented.
“What are we supposed to do?” Kenji scoffed. “Die of boredom?”
“Better than starve…”
“I’ve told you guys, there’s nothing better than the taste of a crispy grub in the morning.” Ben laughed.
“You heathen.” Brooklynn twisted her face in disgust.
“I’m curious Ben, who ate bugs first, you or Bumpy?” Sammy asked.
“On purpose? Me .” Ben admitted, chuckling nervously.
“Wow… that’s wow.” Brooklynn blinked.
“They’re not that bad. When you get a really juicy one, they blow up in your mouth-”
“Ew.” Darius covered his mouth with his hands.
“Please, no more bug talk!” Kenji waved his arms in the air.
“I’m gonna throw up.” Brooklynn gagged.
“Yeah, no offense Ben, but we’ll stick with the berries and canned fruit.” Darius chuckled.
“Suit yourself.” Ben shrugged.
“If Ben liked them, they shouldn’t be that bad, right guys?” Sammy tried, making us all turn to her with disgusted faces.
“Come on, Hays.” Kenji pulled me by the arm. “Let’s leave those bug eating weirdoes with their weirdness.”
“Hays?” Brooklynn raised a brow at me.
‘ It was out of my hands now. ’ I sighed and shrugged. “Hays.”
Kenji threw a couple of jabs, which I blocked and threw a hook in return. Then, I kicked him lightly on the thigh.
“Hey!” He protested.
“What?” I put on my most innocent look.
“Oh, it’s on…” He grinned, throwing another kick.
This time, I didn’t block it. Instead, I grabbed onto his leg and clutched it close to my body so he would have to hop in place not to fall, which drew giggles from the crowd.
“You were saying…” I smiled brightly, taking Kenji for a spin. His face was like a tomato when he realized he couldn’t get away.
“Please make him fall on his butt.” Brooklynn laughed.
“This is not funny.” Kenji grunted, unsuccessfully trying to pull his leg free.
“But it is.” Yasmina chuckled. “Hold him in place so I can draw the look of embarrassment.”
“Oh, this is so good.” Sammy watched Yasmina draw.
“Too bad we don’t have those red crayons anymore.” Ben snickered.
“Ha ha.” Kenji glared at me. “You can drop it now.”
“Wait, I’m not done.” Yasmina said.
“I think he’s learned his lesson.” Darius said with an amused smile.
“Think so too.” I smiled, dropping Kenji’s leg.
“You’re too soft on him.” Brooklynn sighed.
“And with that we end this session of your morning entertainment.” I bowed dramatically.
“Amazing.” Sammy clapped.
“Great.” Kenji groaned, slumping down next to Brooklynn. “Now, we get to return to doing nothing.”
“When I’m bored, I like to keep replaying a movie in my head.” Sammy commented.
“What’s today’s movie?” Darius asked.
“Inside out.” She chippered. “I’m at the beginning where Riley refuses to eat broccoli.”
“Ugh, I’d kill for broccoli.” I said, laying on the grass.
“Or a double cheeseburger.” Yasmina sighed.
“A hot dog…” Darius groaned.
“Speaking of movies. Did you guys see Age of Ultron?” Brooklynn changed the food subject, which I honestly appreciated, it didn’t take much to make my stomach growl. “It came out earlier this year, or was it last year...”
“Did I see it?” Kenji scoffed. “Please, I went to the premier.”
“That movie is so cool.” Sammy smiled.
“I guess Marvel is okay... my mom doesn’t let me watch much of those films.” Ben commented.
“Any movie with Captain America is worth seeing.” Brooklynn said with heart eyes.
“Cap is so basic, Thor could wipe his ass easily.” I said, crossing my arms behind my head like a pillow. “His arms are huge, like bigger than my leg, and his perfect hair-”
“What does his hair have to do with winning a fight?” Darius frowned.
“I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Yasmina chuckled, going back to her drawings.
From his place on the grass, Kenji huffed. “Thor is a loser. If he was here, I’d take him down easily.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on him.” A smirk grew on my face. “Thor is so dreamy.”
Ben scratched his head. “Sure, he’s handsome, but-”
“No, he’s dreamy.” Sammy nodded emphatically.
“I don’t know what you see in the guy.” Kenji mumbled.
“Well, I like Tony Stark.” Darius announced.
“I like the tree.” Sammy beamed. “So cute.”
“Groot?” Yasmina raised her head.
“That’s Guardians of the Galaxy.” I pointed out.
“Yeah, I like that one.” Sammy said.
“That’s the one with Gamora, right?” Yasmina asked, which I nodded in response. “Oh, like that one too, she’s so badass.” She had a smile on her face.
“Okay.” Kenji clapped his hands loudly. “So, the green chick versus the Black Widow. Go!”
“Badass alien chick wins. Every. Time.” Yasmina grinned.
“Um, I don’t know, Black Widow is a Russian spy y’all, they can be tricky.” Sammy pondered, with a finger tapping her chin.
“Okay, picture this…” Brooklynn sat up straight. “On a desert planet, it’s Romanoff against Gamora…”
“Why are they on a desert planet?” Darius interrupted.
“Doesn’t matter.” Brooklynn shook her head. “It’s human against alien. The alien is stronger, but the human is smarter. Gamora towers over Romanoff, she thinks she’s gonna win, she gloats and that’s when Black Widow attacks with her cheap shots, taking the alien down for good.” She concluded with a satisfied smile.
“Gamora would never fall for that, she’s too good.” Yasmina argued.
“That’s what she thinks. That’s what Romanoff wants her to think.” Brooklynn smirked.
“Nah, I think the green chick has this one.” Kenji commented.
“Humans always win. That’s always the plot line.” She replied.
“That’s because humans are the ones writing the script.” Ben pointed out.
“Okay, how would an alien do it then?” Brooklynn narrowed her gaze.
“I don’t know, I’m best friends with a dinosaur, not an alien.” Ben petted the sleeping Bumpy.
“How is that a phrase?” Yasmina shook her head in disbelief.
“My point is: I’m right.” Brooklynn crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant ‘come prove me wrong’ way, which reminded me of how my little sister would get when we got into arguments. Her voice always went up a few octaves and I could hear her whining from across the apartment. It was a bittersweet memory, even if it brought warmth to my heart, it made me remember how much I missed them…
Yasmina scoffed. “No way you’re right.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Brooklynn suddenly turned to me, catching me staring.
“Nothing.” I blinked slowly. “You just remind me of someone.”
“It’s the face?” She smiled, fixing a lock of pink hair that was in her face.
I got up on my elbows, pretending to think. “Um… no. It’s more like the high pitch voice, the colorful clothes and obnoxiousness.” I smiled brightly.
She scoffed. “Well… you remind me of a- a Ronda Russey knockoff.”
My smile grew. “Pink Pikachu.”
“Tomboy.” There was a grin on her face now.
“Shortstack.” I snickered.
“I’m not that short!” She protested; her voice high pitched.
‘ A-ha, so there’s the weak spot. ’ I laughed at her. “You kidding, right?”
“Am not.” She pouted. “Darius is shorter. Darius, come here!” She got up to her feet.
“What?” Darius mumbled, taken aback from being brought in our conversation.
“I need to prove something, come here.” She ushered him.
He reluctantly did as she ordered and they both got back-to-back. I got up to do the measuring and although Darius' hair made him look a bit taller, if I squished it down with my hand...
“You guys are the same height.” I finally said.
“You measured it wrong, do it again.” Brooklynn ordered, grumpy.
“No, she’s right, you’re both short.” Kenji commented.
“Two little oompa loompas.” I grinned.
“You take that back right now!” Brooklynn pointed a finger at me, accusatorily. “You take that back!”
“Uh, maybe your mom has to take you back into her womb and cook you a bit longer so you’ll come out a little taller.” I said it all hurriedly under my breath, afraid she’d take the wrong way.
“Oh, burn.” Kenji laughed.
“Too far…” Brooklynn narrowed her gaze, but I could see a glint of playfulness behind it. “I’ll remember this… Imma take my bags and leave.”
Yasmina groaned; head glued to her notebook. “Ugh…I really wish more people were fluent in silence.”
“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.” Kenji said.
“She’s kidding y’all, Yaz here loves our little banters.” Sammy hooked an arm around Yazmina. “Right?”
“I do?” Yasmina glanced at her, her frown turning into a smile as she locked eyes with Sammy.
“Yeah, we are a family now, right camp fam?” Sammy beamed.
“Oh, yes. The family status.” Yasmina jerked her head away from Sammy, inching away from the girl hanging around her neck. And if I was correct, I caught her cheeks turning the softest shade of pink as her eyes darted anywhere other than Sammy. ‘Oh, she had it down bad!’ I grinned at Yasmina.
“What?” She glared at me.
“Nothing, just thinking about the family status.” I mumbled as an amused grin grew on my lips.
“Would you do something productive and put on a shirt?” Yasmina threw daggers with her eyes.
“Jealous much?” I grinned, flexing my abs.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” She averted her gaze.
“It’s hot and I’m sweaty.” I shoved my hands in my pockets, smiling innocently at her.
“I can see that, it’s gross.”
“I keep saying they’ll get a sunburn.” Ben sighed.
“I just thought of something.” Kenji announced.
“Not again.” Brooklynn groaned.
Kenji picked up both our shirts from the grass. “Do you know what ‘T-shirt’ stands for?” He asked, glancing around for replies. “Is actually short for Tyrannosaurus Shirt.” He said it with a smile. “…because of the tiny arms, get it?”
“Tiny arms…” Darius cracked a laugh.
“Oh, Kenji. You’re hilarious!” Sammy giggled.
Kenji smiled all proud of his joke while the rest of us just sighed and facepalmed.
“Dad jokes? That’s what we came down to?” Brooklynn asked.
“It was funny!” Kenji protested, tossing me my shirt. “Hey, Hays, you got grass all over.” He pointed out. “Here.” He started to brush the grass off of my stomach with his blue shirt.
“I got it.” I tried to take over but he slapped my hand away, so I just let him do his thing.
“Oh, the camp fam.” Yasmina mumbled, looking up at me with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes. ‘Real mature…’ Like, I wasn’t blind. Kenji was pretty… objectively speaking. But come on… I was about to tell her to shut up when Brooklynn gasped.
“Guys!” She pointed at our camp.
It was overrun by Compies. They were everywhere, on our beds, on the table, the shower… We had been too busy chit chatting under the sun to notice the little buggers sneaking past us.
Kenji and I put on our shirts and everybody rushed back to camp.
“Shoo! You retro iguanas!” Kenji kicked one dinosaur off of a chair.
“Don’t hurt ‘em Compies.” Sammy whined to Kenji.
“They are here to steal our food again.” Kenji complained, trying to hit a running Compy.
“We don’t have any more food for you to steal!” Yasmina chased off a couple of dinosaurs. What was left of our food was hidden away in the crates, which luckily the Compies hadn’t found.
“Maybe they are back for another piece of Kenji.” Brooklynn commented.
“Don’t even joke about that!” Kenji whined.
“Damn, rats.” I grunted as I spotted a lone Compy on my bed, so I grabbed a pillow and tried to hit it with it. The little dinosaur ran away with the rest of its family, finally leaving our camp dinosaurs free.
“First the drugstore, now this.” Kenji groaned as she slumped down on a chair.
“At least they didn’t eat our food.” I said, checking our storage.
“I know we are hungry, but I’m sure we’ll find some more food.” Darius said, also sitting down.
Ben’s face lit up and he was about to say something when Kenji beat him to it. “Not bugs!” He slammed his hand on the table, making Ben frown and cross his arms.
“What we need is a way to keep the Compies away.” Yasmina said.
“Maybe we could blow up their lair.” Ben suggested. “I don’t mind a little fire and destruction.”
Brooklynn scoffed. “Of course, you don’t.”
“We could build a fence.” I suggested.
“That’s… actually a better idea.” Ben slid back on his seat.
“That could work.” Darius nodded. “It might be difficult with the little material we have left, but I’m sure we can make this work.”
“Why build a fence? Why don’t just steal one?” Kenji asked.
“Right…” Yasmina huffed. “Let me just swing by Toro’s paddock and borrow his old fence.”
“Or we could get the fence from the observation tower. The one the Indominus knocked down already.” Kenji said, leaving us all speechless.
…
The observation tower, or what was left of it, was exactly how we had left it. A wreckage of broken wood planks and metal beams on the ground. The Indominus had really done a number on it, as the whole structure had collapsed.
“Remember when we fell from this thing?” Sammy asked, looking at the debris. “Good times.”
“Let’s just do what we came here to do and get back as quickly as possible.” Darius’ voice was a bit hesitant now that we were here.
‘Oh, so I wasn’t the only one being creeped out by this place?’ Good to know. This was our first encounter with the albino dinosaur, where it killed two park employees right in front of us and proceeded to try and kill us next. ‘Good memories.’ It made my stomach turn, just being here.
The fence Kenji had mentioned was almost completely ripped from the ground. All in one fell swoop from the Indominus. It made it easier for us to get what we needed, but turns out metal mesh fences were heavy, it didn’t matter the size.
“Ugh, who’s idea was to do this?” Kenji grunted, dragging one piece of the fence with him.
“Yours.” Brooklynn replied. “And Rocky's over here.”
“I take it back.” He mumbled.
“Come on, this will keep the Compies away, no more rats breaking in.” I reminded them.
We proceeded to gather all the pieces of fence that were laying around, some were buried under the wreckage, but most were free. We were half way done when a shrieking roar made us all freeze. I dropped the metal I was holding and glanced at the jungle behind me. The trees were shaking and the birds were all flying away.
“Hide!” Sammy yelped.
We all ducked behind the debris as another roar reached our ears. A gray bipedal dinosaur with a single horn on its snout emerged from the trees, stumbling to the ground.
“A Ceratosaurus!” Darius muttered. “But-”
“It’s not alone.” Ben narrowed his eyes as a red double horned dinosaur came out of the trees. “Toro.” He growled.
The Ceratosaurus got up, roaring as Toro charged. The red dinosaur tried a headbutt, but the Cerato dodged it, opening its neck for Toro to spin around and bite it. The gray dinosaur let out the most agonizing roar as Toro’s jaws closed around its neck.
“Um, Ben? What are you doing?” Sammy asked. We were too focused on the dinosaurs to notice Ben sneaking away with his spear.
“I-”
“Sit your ass back down.” I grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back.
“Are you for real, dude?” Kenji was staring at Ben, eyes wide.
“I defeated Toro, I can do it again.” Ben hastily said.
“That’s crazy.” Sammy shook her head.
“You really do have a death wish.” Yasmina commented.
A deafening roar made us forget about Ben. The Cerato was squirming under Toro’s jaws. Both dinosaurs had the same size, but while Toro had stubs for arms, the Cerato had functioning arms with sharp claws. The gray dinosaur was desperate to get away from the teeth, clawing at Toro’s neck. Toro roared in pain and let go, both of them backing up and staring each other down, blood dripping from their necks.
“Why are they so close to camp?” Darius frowned. “They never come this far northwest.”
“They look angry.” Sammy commented.
“I’d be too if there was someone trying to bite me.” I pointed out.
“This looks more like a territorial dispute.” Darius pondered. “But- but this isn’t their territory. What are they doing?”
“I don’t know, maybe they’re just hangry.” Kenji offered.
A roar drew our attention back to the fight. Even with the deep wounds to their necks, they were still standing. The Cerato pointed its single horn at Toro and charged, the red dinosaur did the same. Horns met flesh as fierce growls filled the air. The Cerato hit Toro on the side, while the double horns hit the gray dinosaur straight in the chest.
“One more reason for us to build this fence.” Brooklynn whispered, eyes locked on the massive dinosaurs colliding.
“Can we discuss this when we’re not almost the collateral of a dino fight?” Yasmina said through clenched teeth.
“Yeah, we should go.” I agreed as Toro threw the Cerato against a tree.
“No, wait!” Darius exclaimed. The gray dinosaur was hunched over, stumbling as it gave Toro one last snarl and ran away. “They're leaving.”
And by leaving, Darius meant that Toro was mercilessly chasing the Ceratosaurus away, trying to steal a few bites while at it. The two horned dinosaurs disappeared into the trees and their roars got fainter by the second. At one point the noise stopped. Now, had they just got too far away for us to hear? Or…
“That was…”
“Awesome!” Kenji cheered.
“Terrifying.” Sammy said at the same time.
“That Ceratosaurus is done for.” Ben commented.
“Yeah, the Carnotaurus has the largest caudofemoralis of all theropods.” Darius nodded while we all frowned at him.
“Translation?” Brooklynn asked.
“Toro is faster.” Darius explained.
“Ah.” We all nodded along.
“Still can’t make a turn, though.” I grinned, thinking back at it falling on its red face.
“Well, that’s because to stabilize its tail for all the running, its ribs lock the pelvis making it terrible when turning its body.” Darius' eyes glowed at the dino facts.
“So… Toro is a fast boi in a straight line?” Kenji concluded, which sounded more like a question. Darius nodded to him and Kenji opened a bright smile, proud of getting it right.
“Weren’t all the dinos, girls?” Sammy asked, scratching her head.
“I don’t even know anymore.” Brooklynn groaned.
Yasmina scoffed. “We should ask next time we see Toro.”
“Now, that’s sarcasm.” Sammy said to Kenji, who rolled his eyes.
…
It took a whole day to move all the material for the fence back to camp, and a couple of days to assemble it all. Luckily, in one of the garages we had found throughout our time on the island, there were a few shovels. We used that so the base of the fence was buried on the ground, making it more stable.
The mesh on the fence was tiny enough so a Compy wouldn’t be able to get through, and we hoped we did it sturdy enough so a bigger dinosaur wouldn’t get past it either. We even had a gate, granted it was a bit bent out of shape and it was a struggle to get it to close properly, but it was a gate. The only disadvantage was that Bumpy couldn’t get that close anymore, but she’d get used to it.
Sleeping in a fenced camp was indescribably better. Sure, it didn’t scare away the dinosaurs from my dreams, but it made us feel more secure. It made camp start to resemble more and more a home, so I guess the campers would be the family after all.
Notes:
Jeez, that was my second Cerato kill, I swear I don’t hate the dino! And I have no idea who would win in a real fight. What do you think? Carnotaurus or Ceratosaurus?
PS: they did get sunburn.
Chapter 22: Hidden Adventure
Summary:
Stinky Darius gets chased by a protective (and huge) momma dino as the campers follow the clues from a crazy man on a video.
Notes:
I thought it would be fun to do Hidden Adventure, so I wrote it based on my own choices (that didn’t kill any campers that is).
This is a long chapter, almost 10k lol, but HA is pretty much double a normal episode so…
Look forward for some long-time coming realizations 😏out/24 - edits
Chapter Text
The food shortage had become a real emergency, even more so than getting out of this place. We had begun to pick berries and fruits around camp, fortunately we could count on Ben to tell us which ones were edible. But even that wasn’t enough, which led us to explore further and farther away from camp each time. Today was no different, I went back to camp with a few fruits in my bag. Everybody, but Darius, were already there.
“Got anything?” Brooklynn greeted me.
“Not much.” I dumped the contents of my bag on the table. “Where’s Darius?” I asked, looking around.
“He isn’t back yet.” Yasmina said.
“It’s getting dark, should we go search for him?” Sammy asked, tapping her fingers on the table.
“I’m sure dino-nerd is alright.” Kenji said, leaning back on his chair.
“Um… I don’t know, these storm clouds aren’t looking good.” Sammy glanced wary at the sky. Over the span of just a few hours the sky had really darkened, not just because the night was approaching, but because a huge storm was brewing.
“Chill, Sammy. He’ll be fine.” Kenji brushed it off.
Except it wasn’t fine, later that evening the wind really picked up and we had to tie everything down with vines so as not to be blown away. It was pitch black when the rain started to fall and no news on Darius. We spent all night worrying about him, but we didn’t know where he went. We had no way of finding him. Was he hurt? Was he trapped? Or worse… On top of that, the wind was so strong that it blew the rain under our roof, soaking everything, the mattresses, the couch, us. We stayed awake the whole night, with the soundtrack of the blowing wind and the cracking sound of trees falling down.
…
As soon as the sun peeked through the mountains, we decided to go look for Darius. We went to the watering hole, the grasslands, and when we were by the mountains near the aviary, we heard a scream followed by a thud. We ran after the noise only to find Darius laying on the ground by a cliff, surrounded by vines.
Kenji, Brooklynn, Ben and I were the firsts to reach Darius while Sammy and Yasmina had fallen behind, looking at something.
“Dude, that did not sound good.” Kenji laid his hand out for Darius, who gasped, spooked by us.
“Are you okay?” I asked, as he gripped his side in pain.
“Guys! We found Darius!” Ben yelled at Sammy and Yasmina. “He’s over here-”
“Ben. Don’t.” Darius quickly shushed him. “Something’s up there.” He pointed at the rocky cliff.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Sammy said, as she and Yasmina reached us. “You’re alive!”
“Not for long if we don’t get outta here.” Darius hissed.
Yasmina just looked at him, puzzled. “Why-” A loud roar sounded from up the cliff, making us all flinch. “-do I even ask?”
“Let’s move.” I motioned them and we took off running to where we had come from. Darius did a quick double back to pick up something from the ground.
This part of the jungle really smelled funny, like a Brachiosaurus had taken a piss everywhere. I kept scrunching up my nose as the smell didn’t leave us, no matter how far we got from that cliff. ‘Was the smell following us?’ I glanced at Darius. ‘Oh, great.’
After we had distanced ourselves from whatever dinosaur that was, we finally could take a breath. The jungle around us was chaotic; it looked like a hurricane had ripped the trees from the ground, roots were exposed and trees were snapped in half.
“Look how busted this place is.” Kenji commented, as we walked past the storm’s aftermath. “That was one of the worst storms I’ve ever seen.”
“We were so worried about you.” Brooklynn said to Darius.
“Yeah, agree on no more wandering off alone, ‘kay?” I commented.
“You said you’d be right back, Darius, and then you just disappeared.” Brooklynn sighed.
“But you picked up a souvenir.” Yasmina commented on the object Darius was holding. “Nice.”
“I found it in the nest.” Darius said, showing us the object: an old camera.
“Um, ‘nest’? What the heck happened?” Sammy asked.
“While looking for food, I found a pretty high tree, but then this huge gust of wind knocked me off.” Darius explained. “Next thing I know, I’m waking up in the middle of a nest, surrounded by eggs. And I hear this strange clicking noise from whatever brought me there.”
“So, this clicky dino dragged you all the way to its nest, and didn’t eat you?” Sammy frowned.
“Yeah.” Darius sighed. “Me and a Monolophosaurus. It wasn’t as lucky as I was.”
“Do you think it kept you alive to feed you to its babies?” Brooklynn shivered.
“That would explain why I’m alive.” Darius nodded.
“Dark, dino nerd. But how do you explain the smell?” Kenji asked, and I immediately elbowed him.
“Wait, what?” Darius said, sniffing himself. “Do I smell?”
“Define smell?” Ben chuckled nervously.
“Not at all!” Sammy said in a high pitch voice, and we all stared at her, unimpressed.
“Really, really bad.” Yasmina admitted.
“Like a dirty lizard cage that’s been left under a heat lamp.” Kenji said. I laughed at that, cause, surprisingly, it was a great descriptor of Darius’ smell.
Darius chuckled. “That bad, huh? Don’t worry I’m sure it will fade away soon.”
“Yeah, with a shower.” I crackled.
“Dinosaurs.” Yasmina sighed. “Just, why?”
Ben fell behind while we kept on walking. “They are not all bad.” He peeked over a fallen log.
We all ran over to see what Ben was talking about. In the grass in front of us, a group of dinosaurs were eating some leaves and bugs. They looked a lot like ostriches, with a chunky light brown body with darker stripes and long and thin limbs.
“Which one are those, D.?” I asked, watching the dinos.
“Gallimimus!”He said excitedly. “I need to update my field guide on them.”
The closest dinosaur ate a bug and Ben smiled. “See. They know how to survive.”
“Not a chance, Ben.” Kenji deadpanned. “I’m hungry, but not ‘willing to eat bugs’ hungry.”
“We’ll go look for food…” Brooklynn glared at Darius. “…together.”
“We can’t wait too long. The storm wiped out everything.” Ben said.
Yasmina groaned. “I can’t believe we survived the Big Game hunters, only to be starved to death by a storm.”
“Don’t worry, Yaz, I’m sure we’ll find more food.” I said.
Suddenly, a screech came from above and a flock of Pteranodons dove from the sky, attacking the Gallimimus. We gasped and ducked as a flying dinosaur bumped against the log we were hiding behind. The herbivores bellowed in panic, while the Pteranodons used their talons and beaks to hurt them.
“They’re even hangrier than we are.” Yasmina grunted.
The commotion came to a halt and deadly silence followed. The seven of us exchanged alarmed glances.
“I don’t know if it’s safe to go.” Darius whispered. “We don’t wanna get caught in the middle of a food fight.”
“You wanna wait until it gets worse?” Kenji asked. “No thanks, we need to run.”
“Did you hear how quiet it got? We could be ambushed.” Sammy said. “We should stay hidden until we know what’s out there.”
“Agreed, silence is never good in the jungle.” I whispered.
“Something’s not right.” Brooklynn said.
“Yeah, let’s wait it out ‘till we figure it out what’s what.” Darius agreed, as he took a peek over the log. He gasped and jerked back as a different growl sounded behind us.
We held our breath when Chaos and Limbo jumped over the log, pursuing a couple of Pteranodons. They had their back to us, distracted by the flying dinosaurs.
“Guys, now!” Darius motioned for us to follow him, and we quietly got the hell out of there.
…
“My granddaddy had one of these.” Back at camp, Sammy held Darius’ camera, inspecting it. “I thought they stopped making ‘em.”
“Can anybody find an ‘on’ button?” Darius asked.
“Let me do it.” Brooklynn took over the camera. “I love retro tech.”
She flipped open a screen and pressed a button. A low-quality video started playing, where three little Raptors were fighting over a piece of meat.
“Remember them? Huh?” Kenji playfully elbowed me.
“Are those the same ones?” I asked, hovering Brooklynn’s shoulder to analyze the footage.
“Aw, baby Raptors!” Sammy smiled.
“Oh, check it out, she’s gonna do it again.” A male voice came from the camera as the video focused on a fourth Raptor to the side.
“Huh? What’s that blue one doing?” Sammy asked.
“Oh, I remember that one.” I mumbled.
“Just watch, she’s a smart one, too smart.” The guy said. The blue Raptor grabbed a small rock with its mouth and threw it in the middle of the other Raptors, drawing their attention. Blue threw another rock and the other dinosaurs dropped the piece of meat, focusing on the rock. Then, Blue stole the meat and ran away with it, eating in peace.
“And the others don’t catch on?” A second voice asked.
“They’ll never outsmart Blue. No wonder she’s Grady’s favorite.” The first guy replied.
“Hey! Hey!” A third voice said. The camera panned to show an old man running in the direction of the cameraman. They were at the catwalk of the Raptor’s paddock. “Where’s Owen? I need Owen Grady!” The old man said, out of breath. He had stylish clothes, white shoulder length hair and a full beard matching, also he had white sunglasses to complete the look.
“Yeah, he’s not here, Brimford.” The second guy replied.
“I don’t have much time. They’re coming for me.” Brimford pulled out an old piece of paper. “Give him this, would you? He’ll know what to do with it. Please, it’s important.” He pleaded. “Can I trust you to pass it on?”
“Sure thing.” The cameraman accepted the paper.
“Thanks.” Brimstone left in a hurry.
“You didn’t mean-” The first said something, but the video cut.
The cameraman scoffed. “’Course not. I doubt Grady even knows Brimford. The guy’s a total wild card. Did you hear he’s been stealing crates of food? Stockpiling them up somewhere.”
“Yeah, I bet the park found out and now he’s toast.” The guy laughed.
The cameraman chuckled and crumpled the paper into a ball. “There, we’ll let the ladies pass on the message.” He threw it inside the Raptor’s paddock. The video cut and the screen went dark.
“Did you hear that?” Brooklynn asked with a smile.
“About the old man stockpiling crates of food?” I beamed.
“What if they’re still out there?” She asked.
Sammy gasped. “That would be amazing!”
“If that note is still in the Raptor paddock, it could say where he hid the food.” Ben said.
“Or, it could say ‘Shoe, Tuesday, wing-ding’.” Kenji rolled his eyes. “That Brimford guy is totally suspect.”
“I don’t know.” Ben shrugged. “I kinda dug his energy.”
“And he knows Owen Grady.” Darius said, excited, as if the name should mean something.
But all of us just stared at him, confused. “Who’s that again?” I asked.
“Are you guys kidding?” His voice went up an octave. “He’s only, like, the most respected Raptor trainer in the world.”
“Even so, do we really wanna risk a Raptor pen for some note that’s probably not even there anymore?” Yasmina argued.
“Crates of food, Yaz.” Brooklynn enunciated every word. “And who knows what else. I’m getting tired of busting my butt for scraps.”
“Where is your sense of adventure, guys?” I hooked my arm around Kenji and Yasmina, but only got annoyed looks in return.
Yasmina glared at me, stepping away from under me. “We’re on an island with blood-thirsty dinosaurs, how much more adventure do you need?”
“Just like a little bit.” I mumbled and she crossed her arms. “What? I’m bored, okay? Let’s do this!”
“Raptor paddock it is. I’ll wake Bumpy.” Ben cheerfully said, walking away to the sleepy Ankylo.
…
The seven of us plus Bumpy, followed the road that led to the Raptor’s paddock, the same one we had sneaked by on the first day of camp. The main gate was wide open, just like the internal cage. The paddock looked exactly like it did that day, a gated area of rocks, bones and bushes with a catwalk going over everything.
We entered the paddock slowly, checking every angle for Raptors. When we were comfortable enough in there, Darius rushed to the catwalk, at the same position where the video was recorded.
“Where is it, D.?” I looked up to Darius.
“I think it’s a little to the left.” Darius said, checking on the camera. We walked to the bushes like he said. “A little more. Keep going.” We spread out, rummaging the vegetation. “Kenji, I think that’s-” Bumpy turned around, sweeping Kenji off his leg with her tail, sending him to the ground with a thud. “-the bush.” We chuckled at that and resumed our search.
“Found it!” Kenji yelled, still on the ground. We dropped everything to rush over to Kenji, who laid out the paper to us.
“Owen, they’re after me.” Sammy read from over his shoulder. “I got too close. I hope you stay safe. But if you ever feel like you aren’t, go to the Hidden Adventure. You’ll find everything you need.
“Hidden Adventure?” Brooklynn mumbled.
“There’s more.” I leaned over Kenji to read the rest. “Remember, only when we touch the sky can we truly see, and the way in is the beginning of the end. Your friend, HB.”
“Is that his signature?” Yasmina pointed at the ‘HB’ at the bottom of the note, which was decorated with the drawing of two Brachiosaurus.
“’Touching the sky?’, ‘The beginning of the end?’” Kenji exasperated. “It’s a bunch of nothing.”
“Or is it a clue?” Brooklynn took the note.
“I don’t know about Brimford, but the Hidden Adventure… is that like an attraction or something?” Darius asked.
“Oh! I know where we could find out.” Sammy pitched in. “Remember the book I had with all the secret park facts?”
“The insider’s guide? I bet it’s still where we left it.” I said.
“Then let’s get it, Main Street is close.” Darius said.
“Good ol’ Rexy should be doing her daily shenanigans.” Kenji commented.
I grinned. “Look at you, getting all buddy-buddy with her.”
“Well, that’s on you.” Kenji crossed his arms, almost pouting, which made a smile grow on my lips.
“Oh, I’ll own that.” I said, and meant it. He used to squirm every time we mentioned the T. rex.
As we were heading out, Bumpy fell behind, bellowing. The Ankylo sniffed the ground, and something small popped up in front of her.
“Bumpy?” Ben asked.
“Is that a rock?” I thought aloud, as the Ankylo followed another pebble.
“Guys…” Brooklynn said, alarmed.
A high pitch screech came from a bush nearby, and a Raptor popped out of it. Blue.
We all gasped as she charged at us. Our group scattered, Sammy, Yasmina and I ran for the exit, while Brooklynn, Darius and Kenji ran deep in the paddock. Ben went straight for Bumpy, who took notice of the Raptor.
Blue chased after Ben, who dodged her claws with a zig-zag. Ben reached Bumpy and climbed up her, just in time for the Ankylo to spin around and hit Blue on the face with her club.
The Raptor got up and growled at Bumpy, who roared in response. The six of us stood at the gate, without being able to do anything. Bumpy charged and the Raptor jumped out the way, and the Ankylo kept running past us, until she was out of the paddock.
We ran after her, distancing ourselves from Blue, who only screeched at us, but didn’t follow.
“That was close.” Darius panted.
“Yeah.” Ben breathed out, and Bumpy shook her head, walking away from us. “Where’re you going, Bumpster?” Ben jumped off of her and petted the Ankylo’s snout. “I think she wants to go back to camp. That’s enough excitement for one day, girl. I’ll bring you back something special, okay?” Ben said softly to Bumpy, who bellowed happily and walked away. “Let’s go.” Ben turned to us.
So, we walked through the jungle towards Main Street, dodging the many fallen trees on the way.
“What I don’t get is why Blue was alone.” Darius frowned. “Raptors are pack animals.”
“I did see a dead Raptor on Main Street.” I commented, as we walked.
“The barbecued one?” Brooklynn asked.
I nodded. “The Indominus must’ve killed it.”
“Guys, what if the rest of the Raptors are all dead too?” Darius turned to us, wide-eyed, as if it was a terrible thing.
“One less dino to eat us.” Kenji said, nonchalantly.
“Don’t say that, Kenji. She must be so lonely.” Sammy pouted. “Speaking of that, did you see if Grim was back there with the Baryonyxes?”
“Which one is Grim, again?” I frowned, trying to remember.
“The green one.” Sammy replied. “She wasn’t there…”
Kenji scoffed. “I wasn’t looking at their colors, I was too distracted by their teeth.”
“She would never leave her family.” Sammy protested.
“Maybe Mitch and Tiff…” Ben mimicked someone shooting with a rifle. “Bang!”
“No!” Sammy protested.
Yasmina patted Sammy on the back. “Ben’s just playing with you Sammy.” She gave Ben a death stare, while he laughed. “I’m sure Grim is alright.”
We went past a few bushes and the Innovation Center came into view.
“Let’s go find that book.” Yasmina said and took off running to the store.
We didn’t even bother to clear the area for the T. rex, we’ve been coming to Main Street for supply runs pretty regularly, and never had Rexy making an appearance during the daytime. The souvenir store was as chaotic as we had left it. I went directly to the shelves where Sammy had found the last book.
“There’s no book here.” I sighed.
“Check the boxes.” Darius commented.
“Found it!” Ben yelled from over the counter.
“You found the book?” Darius asked.
“No. I found the binoculars.” Ben was looking at us through the thing.
Yasmina groaned. “We weren’t looking for binoculars.”
“Maybe we weren’t. But nothing says a search like two small telescopes mounted together.” Ben smugly said.
“Ta-da!” Sammy exclaimed, as she pulled the Insider’s Guide of Jurassic World from a box.
“Way to go, Sammy.” Darius cheered.
Brooklynn laughed. “You actually found one?”
“Sure did. The last one, too.” Sammy smiled, flipping through the pages. “Hidden Adventure, where is it?”
Suddenly, we all froze when the ground shook, as a stomping sound came from Main Street’s entrance. A sound that we knew very well and it sent shivers down our spine. We gasped as a creature stood by the lagoon, staring at us.
“Never mind, the book can wait.” Sammy whispered.
The Tyrannosaurus roared so loud my ears hurt. We screamed and fled in panic as she charged at us.
“Why the hell is the T. rex here?” Kenji yelled.
“Don’t look at me, I’m as lost as you are.” I grunted, jumping over a fallen chair.
“It has to be the storm!” Brooklynn yelled. “The whole island is out of whack.”
“I don’t care why she’s here.” Yasmina groaned. “Run!”
“Follow me!” Darius shouted, making a turn and heading straight to the bleachers of the Jurassic World Lagoon.
We ran up the ramp and entered the stands with Rexy still behind us. Before she could make the turn to enter the spectators’ stands, we ducked behind the bleachers and stood still, heads glued to the concrete.
The T. rex slowly entered the stands. The benches were see-through, so there wasn’t much we could do besides stand still. My heart was beating so fast that there was no way the dinosaur couldn’t hear that. I held my breath as Rexy looked at our direction, but she quickly moved on when the Mosasaurus growled. She looked at the lagoon, losing interest in us, and with a snarl, she turned her back and returned to Main Street.
We let out a collective sigh and slowly got up.
“Did she just give up?” Yasmina asked, dumbfounded.
“She probably didn’t want to be near, you know…” Kenji motioned to the Mosasaurus.
In the middle of the lagoon, Mosa skimmed the surface of the water and suddenly jumped, showing half of her crocodile-like body.
“Let’s check out the book before something else tries to eat us.” Darius said.
We sat close to Sammy as she searched the book. “Found it!” She exclaimed. At the top of the page, ‘Hidden Adventure’ was written in yellow, followed by several pictures of a roller coaster.
“Whoa.” Yasmina said in awe. “It has a roller coaster?”
Sammy gasped. “The Hidden Adventure is an amusement park! How fun!” She cheered. “Don’t have to carry a big heavy book…” She ripped the page straight off. “…when all we need is this.”
A gust of wind appeared out of nowhere, snatching the page out of Sammy’s loose grip. We gasped and tried to recover the page mid-air, but the wind was too fast. It carried the page to the lagoon’s railing, where it got stuck.
“Did anyone see where the park was?” Brooklyn asked.
“I’m sorry y’all.” Sammy slumped her shoulders. “What do we do?”
“Just gotta grab it, I guess.” I sighed. The railing was a bit far out of the stands, where we couldn’t reach, and right below it was water.
“I’ll get it.” Darius stated, but I moved before Darius could, and jumped over the first set of railings, landing on the cement edge.
“Hays!” Darius gasped.
“Are you crazy?” Brooklynn exasperated.
“What about the Mosasaurus?” Kenji reminded me, making me look down to the lagoon’s water below me.
I gulped and tried to sound confident. “I got it.”
I carefully lowered myself to the lower part of the railing, balancing on the support beam that traveled all the way up to the second set of railings, which the page was stuck on. I hugged the metal, breathing heavily. The wind picked up, threatening to blow the page away.
“Just go slow.” Brooklynn pressed.
I slowly climbed up the beam and reached for the page. The Mosasaurus chose that very moment to swim below me, snarling. I glanced down and my feet slipped. I heard gasps behind me and I hugged the metal beam ever tighter.
“Don’t look down.” Kenji pleaded.
“Kind hard.” I said through clenched teeth. I climbed a bit higher and stretched to get the page. The Mosa skimmed the water below me once again, as if waiting for me to fall, but with one last effort, I hand closed around the paper.
“Yeah!” Ben jumped up.
“Wo!” Yasmina cheered.
They were jumping up and down as I climbed back up with a smile on my face, the map secured in my fist.
“That was insane.” Kenji laughed, practically dragging me over the railing.
“But we’ve got a map now.” Darius said, fist bumping me.
“We sure do.” I handed over the page to Sammy. On one side there was the map and the other had information about the amusement park.
“Oh, and fun facts.” Sammy said, looking down at the page. “Hidden Adventure was designed by Hal Brimford.” She read.
“That was the guy on the video!” Brooklynn commented.
“We’re on the right track, then.” I nodded.
“It says here.” Darius read. “The amusement park was supposed to open in 2015. Brimford wanted to commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of Jurassic World.”
Kenji took over the page. “Says the guy was good friends with John Hammond. Maybe that’s why they kept him around.”
“Or, because he designed a whole awesome-looking park.” Darius had his hand on his waist.
“Yeah, one you didn’t even know about, Mr. VIP.” Brooklynn chuckled, resting her arm on Darius’ shoulder, both of them mirroring the same defiant look.
“They have like a million things going on here.” Kenji got on the defensive. “Plus, if it was so cool, how come it didn’t open up last summer like it was supposed to?” He smugly asked.
“Remember the note?” Darius pointed out. “Maybe Brimford knew something bad was gonna happen.”
“So, he stopped building and started preparing for it.” Brooklynn guessed. “Like with the food and stuff.”
“Turns out he was right. Maybe he’s not so out there after all.” Yasmina crossed her arms, glancing at Kenji.
“It says all of Hal Brimford parks have his signature symbol hidden somewhere.” Darius read from the page.
“His signature? Like on the note?” I frowned.
“A mysterious symbol, an amusement park. What are we waiting for?” Sammy excitedly asked.
“Seriously?” Kenji groaned.
“Come on, Kenji.” Brooklynn chuckled. “Think of the food… the snacks… who knows what this Brimford guy has hidden.”
“Exactly, we don’t know.” Kenji rolled his eyes. “It could be a bust.”
“Or it could be exactly what we need to survive.” I grinned.
“Let’s go, guys, I know how to get there.” Darius smiled at us.
…
Darius led us to the garage where Brooklynn had found the gyrospheres. There were three gyrospheres left. Sammy and Yasmina ran ahead and claimed one; Ben and Darius went to the second one; while I got into the driver’s seat of the last one, Kenji sat beside me.
Brooklynn stood awkwardly outside of our gyrosphere. “I’m not riding with stinky Darius, so…”
“Here.” I scooted over. “You can sit with me.” She happily squeezed in the driver’s seat and I turned on the gyrosphere.
“This thing only has 20 percent battery left.” Kenji commented, as a low battery alert came on the screen.
“We might have enough to get there, though.” Brooklynn said.
“Let’s hope so.” I mumbled, as the other gyrospheres rolled out. Sammy was the one with the map, so we all followed her vehicle.
We turned on a dirt road and we found ourselves in the middle of a Brachiosaurus herd.
“Whoa.” Brooklynn said in awe, as we rode right next to the giant dinosaurs.
“This kinda gives me déjà vu.” I smiled, as I controlled the joystick, zig-zagging between Brachio's legs.
“Oh, man.” Kenji sighed. “Seems like forever ago.”
“When the worst thing we needed to worry about was getting grounded by Dave and Roxie.” Brroklynn laughed.
“Well, you and Darius did almost get swollen by a mudhole.” I chuckled.
“And we almost got eaten by Toro and the Raptors.” Kenji added, with a glint of amusement in his eyes.
“Yeah, we were the worst campers.” I laughed. “I don’t know how we weren’t kicked out.”
“Poor Dave and Roxie.” Brooklynn giggled.
Glancing back to the road, Darius’ gyrosphere collided with Sammy’s, sending both spinning uncontrollably.
I sighed, shaking my head. “Honestly, what are they doing?” I guided the gyrosphere to go check on them. The gyrospheres were parked next to each other, and Yasmina was seemingly yelling at the boys. I parked our vehicle on Darius’ side and he opened his door.
“Everybody okay?” He nervously asked. We just stared at him, unimpressed.
“I am now...” Ben took a deep breath. “… that I’ve got some fresh air to breathe.”
Darius rolled his eyes. “Hardy-har. I get it. I smell.” But suddenly, Darius gasped. “Huh?” He had his eyes locked on the trees on the side of the road, where eyes were staring back at us.
A huge dinosaur emerged from there, looking a lot like a leaner T. rex, but its skin was red with some black stripes along the body. It had a big crest on top of the eyes, which made it look like the dinosaur was frowning. The red T. rex made clicking noises as it crept up on us.
A nearby Brachiosaurus got spooked by the predator and reared up like a horse, sprinting away terrified. The other herbivores did the same and suddenly, we found ourselves in the middle of a-
“Stampede!” Darius yelled.
I pushed the joystick full on ahead and the gyrosphere jolted forward. Darius swerved to avoid hitting on a Brachiosaurus, but instead, he collided against us. We all yelled as our gyrospheres spun out of control. Since Brooklynn didn’t have a seatbelt on, I hugged her with one hand, and with the other I tried to control the vehicle.
“I’m gonna kill Darius!” Brooklynn screamed, as I lined up the gyrosphere back to the road.
In front of us, Sammy and Yasmina seemed to be having some problems because their gyrosphere stopped in the middle of the road, right in front of the fast-approaching dinosaurs.
“What are they doing?” Kenji shrieked.
Darius and Ben bumped a Brachiosaurus’ leg, which made it kick Sammy and Yasmina’s gyrosphere out of the way like a football. Unfortunately, that made the Brachiosaurus almost fall and crush Darius and Ben.
We cruised on the back until both of the gyrospheres came to a stop on the side of the road, letting the Brachiosaurus run by without crushing us. I parked next to them and opened the doors, just then, the control screen went black and our vehicle shut off.
“Hey, guys, we’re out of juice.” Sammy said, exiting their gyrosphere.
“Us, too.” Brooklynn said, jumping off.
“It’s that weird clicking T. rex’s fault.” Kenji groaned, stomping his feet. “Without that stampede, we’d be at the amusement park by now.”
“I’m pretty sure that was a Tarbosaurus.” Darius commented. “It’s a relative of the T. rex. Smaller, but with a really powerful jaw.”
“I do not want to get near that thing when it gets dark. Or ever.” Yasmina had her hand on her waist.
“If it’s all the same, I’d like for us to get out of this jungle soon.” Sammy said, shivering.
“Where even are we?” I glanced around, only now realizing the sky was turning pink as the sun was going down.
“Hey! Look.” Yasmina pointed at a small path leading inside the jungle. A tall wooden gate and a concrete fence was at the end of it. The gate had the Jurassic Park’s logo and the name of the amusement park in red.
“Hidden Adventure!” Sammy beamed.
“The gate is a nice touch.” Kenji chuckled.
Brooklynn gasped and walked over to the wall, where there was a small breaker. “I wonder if…” She flipped a switch and the amusement park came to life. We stood amazed as the lights illuminated the gate.
“Whoa.” Kenji said in awe. “How did you-”
“It’s wind powered.” Brooklynn shrugged, pointing at the huge wind turbines that could be seen over the wall. “Figured the storm might have charged it up.”
“Brilliant, B.” I smiled and pushed the gate open with my shoulder. The huge gate opened fairly easily for its size. It opened to a huge fenced area, there were souvenirs and food stands around a really old tree illuminated from below.
“Whoa!” Darius gasped.
“Look at that!” I beamed. In the background, there were the wind turbines and a huge roller coaster going over a lake.
“I haven’t been on rides in such a long time!” Sammy ran ahead to explore.
“This is insane.” Brooklynn said in awe.
Kenji closed the gate behind us and we all joined Sammy on exploring the new place. There were statues of dinosaurs decorating the square, some of them squirted a stinky water that almost got Sammy on the face.
“Hey, check this out!” Kenji chuckled, throwing his arm around a Raptor statue. “It’s not even close to the real thing.”
I raised my imaginary camera, and got Kenji into frame. “And… click.”
“Wait.” He fixed his already flawlessly styled hair. “Now I’m good.” Kenji smiled at the camera and I took another photo. He kept posing until he ran over to me. “We need a selfie.” He placed his arm around my waist and pulled me close, making me almost yelp in surprise.
I raised the imaginary camera to put us on frame, his body pressing against mine as we posed. He was just the right height so I could rest my head on his shoulder- not that I would. ‘Why would I do that?’
We were in a side hug, with his hand on my waist and my arm wrapping his shoulders. Kenji’s body fitted incredibly well against my own, so close that the warmth coming off of him almost made me want to melt into him. All thoughts left my mind as I could only focus on Kenji. Next to me. How tingles erupted from where he pressed against me, how-
‘Wait, what?’ My eyes went wide at the thoughts filling my brain. ‘No, no, no, no, no... You do not like Kenji, Hayden.’ There’s no way, it’s Kenji we’re talking about! He was smug and pretentious, lazy as hell and a funny guy that actually could read people very well, pretending not to pay attention only to come back with some wise ass advice out of the blue. And it was so easy to make him blush, his cheeks turning red as a tomato was the cutest thing. Well, not as cute as his adorable dimple- ‘Oh, I’m fucked.’ My breath hitched on my throat. ‘I’m completely and utterly fucked.’
My inner monologue got interrupted by the sensation of being watched. In my peripheral vision, Kenji’s eyes were on me instead of the camera. ‘He totally can hear my thoughts, right now.’ My cheeks burned hot.
“Look at the camera.” I mumbled, elbowing him, hoping that he didn’t see how my cheeks had turned red. He did as I said and to distract my mind, I tried to stealthily make bunny ears on him with my free hand.
“Hey!” Kenji protested, noticing it, but I just chuckled and ruffled with his hair instead. “Not my hair!” He whined, ducking away and I only laughed harder with this warm buzzing feeling filling my chest. “My turn.” He grabbed the imaginary camera from my hand and pointed at me.
“Oh, hell nah.” I blocked my face with my hands. “I’m not photogenic at all.”
Kenji scoffed. “Look at you, ’course you are. Too bad we can’t take a photo for real.”
‘Of course you are… what?’ I blinked at his reply. Did he just-
“Hey, Ben!” Darius suddenly yelled. “Did you know that Ankylosauruses like mangoes?”
“No, I did not! That is awesome!” Ben yelled back over at the huge tree in the center of the square, throwing a double thumbs up in the air. Darius laughed and reciprocated the thumbs up.
“Hey, maybe we can borrow Darius’ camera.” Kenji said with a smile plastered on his face.
“I don’t think-”
“Come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards Darius. I groaned on the walk over there, really hoping for the camera to be broken or something, but hyper aware of how Kenji’s hand felt on my own.
Darius and Brooklynn were by a stand with a small screen where images of the rollercoaster were on display.
“…Hit the double helix corkscrew at 5Gs.” A voice announced. “Rocket 300 feet into the sky, then fall into the jaws of a T. rex.”
Brooklynn glanced down at my and Kenji’s interlocked hands, and gave a very suggestive eyebrow raise. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, letting go of Kenji’s burning hand.
“Just beware, you may get splashed in the pool of dino drool.” The voice said. “Opening soon, here at Hidden Adventure.”
“Hey Darius, do you-” Kenji tried to ask, but Darius was too focused on the screen.
He pulled out the note from that Brimford guy and read it aloud. “Only when we touch the sky can we see the truth.” He gasped. “You think Brimford was talking about the rollercoaster?”
“Makes sense.” Brooklynn pointed out. “It’s high enough to see the whole park.”
“Guys! Brimford’s clue was talking about the roller coaster!” Darius yelled.
Everybody rushed to join us at the screen when a familiar clicking sound came from beyond the walls. My face instantly dropped and Sammy and Yasmina gasped next to me.
“How does it keep finding us?” Yasmina hissed.
“We gotta get out of here.” Kenji said. The Tarbosaurus growled loudly and we all gasped. “If we had a car, we could finally lose it for good.” Kenji pointed at a faded sign of a Jeep and an arrow.
“No way, we’ve come too close to give up now.” Brooklynn protested.
“We don’t even know if Brimford actually did what he said.” Ben argued.
“Brimford was a smart guy. He wouldn’t have told Owen about his food stash if he didn’t already have one.” Sammy said.
“We’ve already faced down a Mosasaurus and a T. rex to get here.” Yasmina exasperated.
“So?” Kenji scoffed. “That doesn’t mean we should try our luck with a third deadly dinosaur.”
The gate shook on its hinges as the dinosaur tried to get inside.
“He’s right, we shouldn’t push our luck.” I found myself agreeing with Kenji, glancing warily to the gate. “If there’s a stash of food, it lasted months… it can last a few more days.”
“We’re tied here.” Ben glanced at Darius. “What’s it gonna be?”
“Rollercoaster, obvi.” Brooklynn turned to him. “You’ve played it safe all day, Darius, and we still almost got eaten.”
“The food will still be here if we leave.” I pressed. “No way we can get the food and face the dino.”
“We’re gonna face dinos anyway, so we might as well find food while doing it.” Brooklynn had her hands on her waist. “No risk, no reward.”
“But we’ve survived. Isn’t that reward enough?” Kenji exasperated. “We should get in that car and leave.”
Darius glanced over at Brooklynn and took a deep breath. “Let’s head to the coaster.”
Kenji, Ben and I groaned at that. “So just to be clear, we’re literally betting our lives on Brimford?” Kenji scoffed.
“Well, not literally. Gambling’s not allowed in Jurassic World.” Sammy chuckled and Darius high-fived her. “But yeah, I think we’re going for it.”
“Not that I don’t believe the guy, but-” I flinched as the Tarbosaurus growled. “-we have a hungry dino literally knocking on our door.”
“Let’s hurry then.” Darius motioned for us to follow him.
We ran past the empty lines and rushed to our seats on the rollercoaster. The coaster had several double seat cars that were designed to look like a dinosaur. I wonder if they painted the cars white on purpose, because it was way too similar to a certain albino dino.
Brooklynn and Ben were in the first car, followed by Sammy and Yasmina, and Kenij and I. Darius went over to the control panel while we lowered the overhead safety harness and buckled up. Darius pressed a few buttons and ran to take his seat behind us.
“How do we even know this janky old coaster will even…” Kenji was interrupted by the train jolting forward and then slowly rolled up the tracks. Going up to the first peak, we could see the whole Hidden Adventure.
“See anything?” Darius yelled.
“Not me!” Sammy shouted in front of us, gripping her seat. “This thrill ride’s way too thrilling to keep my eyes open.”
“Not that it’ll help.” Yasmina chuckled when Sammy grasped her arms in fear. “We don’t even know what we’re looking for.”
“Yeah, I doubt even Brimford was crazy enough to leave a bunch of food laying out in the open.” Kenji said.
“He didn’t. But he did leave another clue.” Ben said, while leaning over the side of his cart and looking down with his binoculars. “He painted his symbol on one of the concession stands!”
We all glanced down, following Ben’s gaze to find one of the stands with Brimord’s signature on the roof, the same one from the note, his initials with two Brachiosauruses on each side.
“That’s gotta be it.” Brooklynn yelled.
“That’s awesome.” Yasmina laughed. “You were right, D.!”
“Holy- It really is there.” I stared at the stand.
“It just gets weirder and weirder.” Kenji mumbled.
We were too focused on the symbol to pay any attention to the ride. We had reached the top and suddenly came rushing down. We screamed with the sudden acceleration and I held onto my seat’s restraints.
Adrenaline took over and we laughed our way down, passing through a loop and banked turns. Going down a hill, our laughs turned into screams as the Tarbosaurus appeared. The dino roared, showing a row of sharp teeth. She snapped its jaws shut, trying to bite us, but the coaster was too fast for her and she missed.
The roller coaster led us down a spiral, where we could see the dinosaur waiting for us at the center. We screamed as we sped up uncontrollably, the Tarbo tried to bite us again, and her jaws snapped in the air where we were seconds ago. The dinosaur got left behind as the train slowed down and began to be pulled up to a second peak.
“What do we do?” Sammy cried. “It’ll be waiting for us.”
“We need to get out.” I grunted, struggling with the security harness.
“There!” Yasmina pointed at the trail ahead, where there was a railing on the side, with a ladder. “We can climb down.”
We reached the end of the climb and the train was on a flat trail for a moment before dropping again. I pulled on the harness and pushed it up, finally unlocking it with a click. “Guys, pull on the harness.” I said, already jumping off of the cart. Brooklynn and Ben did the same and followed me.
“Uh, you can’t do that! Can they do that?” Sammy whined.
“Whoever designed this must’ve designed the park’s other safety protocols, too.” Yasmina grunted as she freed herself and helped Sammy.
“Why is this thing so obsessed with us?” Kenji groaned, jumping out of the car.
The trail went down over a lake where there was a fake T. rex waiting for us. The Tarbo knocked over the T. rex and roared. I went down the ladder first and I was hoping that everybody would follow me, as the train went speeding down the steep trail.
“What the fuck are they doing?” I shrieked. The train wasn’t empty, instead, Kenji and Darius were on the last car, heading straight to the dinosaurs’ jaw. ‘I swear, if the dinosaur doesn’t kill them, I’m killing Kenji myself.’
“What?” Yasmina glanced at them, confused.
“No!” Brooklynn yelled.
We heard Kenji and Darius yelling and they jumped off of the coaster to the lake below. The Tarbosaurus knocked over the train and roared loudly.
We climbed down as fast as possible and hid behind one of the roller coaster’s pillars. The dinosaur roared once again and looked around, searching for us. When she couldn’t find us, she gave up and left.
We let out a collective sigh of relief when we saw that Kenji and Darius had survived, and were swimming out of the lake. We ran to join them.
Kenji chuckled. “Glad that worked.” He hugged Darius, sniffing him. “Mostly because that awful smell is gone.”
“I’m glad you’re not stinky anymore… but what were you two knuckleheads thinking?” Brooklynn crossed her arms.
“Yeah, almost getting killed on purpose?” I punched Kenji on the shoulder.
“Ow!”
“What was that about?” I had the sudden urge to punch Kenji in the face next. ‘What the hell was he thinking?’
“The Tarbosaurus has been tracking us because of me.” Darius explained. “I had the same scent of her eggs, so she must’ve thought I was a threat.”
“Yeah, yeah, everybody is happy that Darius doesn’t reek anymore… no offense.” Ben quickly glanced over to Darius, who shrugged. “But we have crates of food waiting for us, and I promised Bumpy I would bring her a snack.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Sammy smiled.
We made our way to the stand we had seen with the symbol. It was a normal concession stand made out of wood, there was a space to display food and some storage area, but it was all empty.
“Look!” Sammy pointed at the ground beneath the stand, where there was a metal hatch with Brimford’s signature on the lid.
“Here, help me move it.” I said, starting to push the stand, it had wheels below the structure so we could move it easily.
“Yes! I knew we’d find it.” Darius kneeled down by the hatch. “It must lead to some kind of hidden bunker.”
A clicking noise sounded once again. We gasped and hid behind the stand. I peeked over the counter and the Tarbosaurus was by the now broken-down gate, seemingly sniffing the air, searching for Darius. The dinosaur turned her head toward us and we froze in place, but I guess she didn’t catch on to any smell, because she moved on.
I sighed and slumped to the ground. “She really can’t smell you anymore, D.”
Brooklynn kneeled down to the hatch and opened a small panel with numbers on the lid. “Looks like we need a key code to get inside.”
“I’ve got an idea.” Kenji announced and typed something on the keypad. But as soon as he did, besides the hatch not opening, three loud beeps revealed our position. “Well, it’s not one, two, three, four.” Kenji shrugged.
“Seriously?” Yasmina deadpanned, while the rest of us groaned.
“What?” He said, apologetic. “I thought Brimford was keeping it simple.”
“At least now we know the code’s four digits long.” Sammy tried to see on the bright side.
The beeps must’ve been loud enough for the Tarbosaurus to catch on, because the clicking noise was back. The dinosaur stomped her way inside the square and we ducked behind the stand again.
“We have one more shot.” Yasmina whispered. “If we’re wrong, that alert will lead the Tarbo right to us.”
“So, what do we know about this place again?” I thought aloud.
“Sammy, what did the book say?” Brooklynn asked.
“Hm… the Hidden Adventure was supposed to open in…” She gasped. “2015! Ten years after Jurassic World opened.”
“In 2005. So what?” Kenji asked.
“So maybe one of the dates is the code.” Yasmina explained.
We suddenly flinched at loud crashing sounds, breaking glass and the Tarbosaurus stomping her way to us. I propped myself into a sprinting position, ready to run if we got noticed. The stomping sound moved over to our right and the dinosaur came into view. She was sniffing a trash can right in front of our stand, but she got annoyed and knocked it down.
The Tarbo walked past the opening of the stand, sniffing the air. We had our eyes locked on the dinosaurs and we didn’t dare to move a muscle. Her head stooped right above the left window and she inhaled loudly. If she glanced down, we would be done for.
But without looking down, she made her way to the other side of the square.
Ben peeked over the counter. “Guys, the booth number, 2974.” He pointed at the faded numbers on the corner of the stand. “Brimford could’ve used that as the code, so he wouldn’t forget.”
“And so Owen could find it too.” Darius said, excited.
“Wait, didn’t Brimford’s note say something about the ‘way in’ being ‘the beginning of the end’?” Yasmina pointed out.
“Yeah, but is the ‘beginning of the end’ when Jurassic World opened in 2005, or when Hidden Adventure would have opened in 2015?” Sammy frowned.
“Or did he mean this is the beginning of getting into the bunker, which is the end of our journey? 2974!” Ben punched the air.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so, the booth number has nothing to do with what Brimford wrote on the note.”
“Didn’t it say in the book that Brimford was friends with Hammond?” Kenji pondered, scratching his chin.
“Maybe the ‘beginning of the end’ is the incident of 1993.” Darius beamed, but quickly frowned. “Or when Jurassic Park was supposed to open in 94?” He groaned and hung his head. “I don’t know.”
“Guys, stop. We’re overthinking this.” I raised my voice and the Tarbo snarled. I tensed up and lowered my voice. “Owen had nothing to do with Jurassic Park. That was way before him. Brimford wouldn’t have made that the password. It has to be 2015 or 2005.”
Yasmina sighed. “We can’t get that wrong, if Tarbo-”
“We know.” Kenji interrupted her, rolling his eyes. “There’s a big scary dinosaur, as always.” He mumbled.
“Beginning of the end…” Brooklynn thought aloud. “But the end of what?”
“Brimford’s Hidden Adventure.” Sammy pitched in.
“But the Hidden Adventure never opened to begin with.” Brooklynn sighed.
“Guys, she’s coming back!” Ben hissed. The stomping sounds were getting closer.
“It has to be the end of Jurassic World.” I crawled over to the keypad. “2005.”
“Wait.” Yasmina held my wrist in place.
“Guys…” Ben ushered.
“We need to be sure.” Yasmina stared at me, but I held my gaze.
“I’m sure. 2005 is the only year that makes sense.” I glanced around our circle and everybody nodded in response.
“Go for it.” Darius said.
Yasmina let go of my hand and I held my breath as I typed in the year. The lights below the keypad glowed green. The whole hatch came up automatically and I jerked back to get out of the way.
“It’s open!” Darius cheered quietly.
“Was there any doubt?” I smirked, but inside I sighed in relief.
“Guys! She’s coming!” Ben yelled as the Tarbosaurus started to charge toward us. I ignored the ladder and I jumped inside the bunker. One after the other, everybody followed me in. Darius was the last one, and in the process of getting down, the dinosaur roared loudly, making Darius lose his footing and fall inside the bunker.
Brooklynn and Kenji rushed to help Darius up, while Tarbo's face appeared on the hatch, roaring and drooling.
“Close it!” Yasmina yelled and Sammy pressed a red button.
The hatch closed and we were engulfed by darkness. There was a click and light filled up the room.
“Whoa!” We glanced around with wide-eyes.
The bunker was a big and cozy room made out of dark wood, there was a couch with hanging lights on the ceiling, a table, a desk and shelves full of books. The whole room was decorated with multiple dinosaur miniatures, posters of dinos and of island facts, and even a miniature of a Pteranodon hanging from the ceiling.
“Check this place out.” Sammy whispered in awe. Yasmina grabbed a book and sat with Sammy on the couch.
“It must have its own power generator.” Ben said, as he touched the table and it flipped around to reveal a chess board.
I went over to a bookshelf and grabbed a big yellow book on how to survive in the jungle. “Sick.” I mumbled.
Brooklynn gasped and I turned around to see what was up. She was backing away from a bookshelf while a bed lowered itself down.
“Woo!” Kenji laughed as he belly-flopped on the bed.
On the other side of the room, Darius sat on the chair by the desk and a painting moved to reveal a TV screen.
“Guys!” He called, staring at the TV.
We all gathered around it, when the screen flickered and Hal Brimford appeared.
“Well, hello, friend.” He greeted us, sitting in the same place Darius was. “If you’re watching this, it means you’ve made it to my bunker. Which means you followed my clues. Thank you for believing in me.”
“He must’ve recorded it for Owen.” Darius said.
“Unfortunately, it also means that my worst fears have come true.” Brimford sighed. “The island belongs to the dinosaurs, and we have no one to blame but ourselves for giving them the abilities they shouldn’t possess.”
“He tried to warn people but they just wrote him off.” Brooklynn pointed out.
“I fear as long as the people who run this place fancy themselves Gods, our world is doomed to once again belong to the dinosaurs.” He interlocked his fingers on his lap. “But for now, please enjoy all that the bunker has to offer. In fact, I’m sure you must be hungry from your journey, so don’t be shy, the food pantry’s just there on the right.” He pointed to the left and chuckled. “Uh, sorry, your right, not mine. You’ll find it.” We glanced at a sliding door on our right and cheered excitedly. “Oh, and don’t you worry.” He pointed right at the camera, back at us. “You’ll make it off this island. I know you will. You’re smart and pure of heart.” Brimford turned off his camera and the screen went blue.
We all stood in front of the sliding door, anticipating what was on the other side. Yasmina opened it and we were welcomed with shelves and more shelves of food. There were protein bars, dry food,canned food, microwavable food, sodas, juice boxes and even a freezer filled with ice cream!
“Oh, yes!” Yasmina chuckled. “No way!”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Kenji raised his arms up in the air, celebrating.
“Check it out.” Ben grabbed a handful of packages. “Dried mango! Bumpy’s gonna love it.”
Darius opened a juice box and smiled. “I knew learning about dino diets would come in handy.”
I went straight for the freezer, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, cookies, caramel… they had everything. With a satisfied smile plastered on my face I grabbed a cookie flavored ice cream and went back to the other room. Everybody had their hands full of snacks.
I sat on the floor next to Kenji by the couch, where Sammy and Yasmina were sitting. Brooklynn and Darius sat on the bed, and Ben settled for a chair. Kenji bumped his knee against my own and I froze for a second, but he had a bright contagious smile on his face, eating away his chocolate ice cream.
“This place is choice!” Kenji raised his ice cream in the air at me so I clanked it with my own.
“So good.” I mumbled; my mouth full of pure deliciousness that was ice cream.
“Why don’t we just crash here from now on?” Kenji asked.
“I’m sure the Tarbo and all the other dinosaurs that know about this place now would love that.” Yasmina chuckled. “They’d get snacks too. Us.”
“Besides, this place is a little tight for all of us.” Ben was leaning back on the table. “And trust me, Bumpy does not like sharing her sleeping spot.”
“I bet Bumpy will help bring back all this food for a couple of dry mangoes, huh?” I smiled.
“She’ll be more than happy to.” Ben chuckled.
“And you guys heard Brimford, we’re getting off this island.” Darius said.
“But in the meantime…” Sammy raised one hand. “…could somebody please pass me a juice pack?”
Yasmina passed her one and we all raised our juices or snacks in cheers.
“We did it, Camp fam!” Darius laughed.
Chapter 23: I’m Okay
Summary:
Hayden needs a hug, Darius too, and also Brooklynn. Let’s just put everyone on the list.
Notes:
I have zero experiences with panic attacks, I just wanted to make that clear. I did some research and I really hope I got it right. So, bear with me.
Trigger warnings: blood and injuries, panic attack.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“What’s it gonna be, Yaz?” Sammy asked with a smirk.
“I’m thinking.” Yasmina frowned, glancing down at her hand.
“You can let her do this again.” Brooklynn pressed.
“Okay… let’s try this.” Yasmina tossed a red seven to the pile of cards.
Then, Sammy lowered a red card. “Uno!” She cheered, smiling.
“Oh, come on!” I groaned.
“It’s like you’re letting the girl win there, Yaz.” Kenji complained.
“I don’t have much to work on here.” Yasmina said, fidgeting with her cards.
“Is this what? The seventh time?” Ben played his hand.
“I’ve lost count.” I sighed.
“Yeah, Cowgirl is a real monster.” Kenji grunted, tossing a card into the pile. “Zero mercy.”
I looked down at my hand. I wasn’t dreaming of winning this game, I had around fifteen cards, and no good ones. I wouldn’t have mattered anyway, Darius, Brooklynn and Yasmina were between me and Sammy. I just sighed and played a random red card. “Your turn.” I said to Darius.
He played and then it was Brooklynn’s turn. “Let’s see if you have blue, Sammy.” She played a color changing card.
Yasmina scoffed. “Well, I don’t have blue.” She drew a card.
“Too bad y’all.” Sammy laughed, showing us the card on her hand, a plus four. We groaned for the seventh time this morning. We had been playing for hours and Sammy did most of the winning.
“Not again.” Kenji tossed all his cards on the table and crossed his arms.
“Are we still counting scores?” Ben asked.
“For what? Sammy is like 1000 points ahead.” Kenji said.
“There’s no hope.” I leaned back on my chair, starting to count my cards.
“Can we do something else?” Brooklynn pitched in. “We’ve played this all morning, and yesterday… and the day before yesterday…”
“How about board games?” Sammy beamed. “I love board games.”
“Not those again.” Yasmina whined. Just like Uno, we spend weeks going through Brimford’s entertainment section in the bunker, piles of board games and books. We had played every board game a few million times each.
“I’ve been wanting to check out the watering hole.” Darius quietly said.
“Again? What’s new? Dinosaurs, dinosaurs and more dinosaurs.” Kenji rolled his eyes.
“I’m still missing some for my field guide.” Darius said, defensive. “I know it because the park had them listed as attractions, but I haven’t managed to find any of them.”
“Okay, Pokemon master, as long as they don’t try and eat us, I’m in.” I smiled, happy to do anything that wasn’t playing games all day.
“Well, I still want to try my plan to fly us out of here.” Yasmina said.
“The helicopter?” I side eyed her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Why not?” Yasmina glanced at me, but quickly focused her attention on Kenji. “You said you knew where Mr. Masrani kept his choppers, right Kenji?”
“Oh, right…” He chuckled. “I totally do… for sure.” He smiled nervously under Yasmina’s intense gaze.
Brooklynn scoffed. “You really think we can learn how to fly?”
“There was a beginner’s guide on how to fly helicopters in the bunker.” Yasmina said, nonchalantly.
“Of all things.” Ben sighed.
“And you’ll be doing the flying?” Brooklynn raised an eyebrow.
“Who else, superstar?” Yasmina glared at her.
“I can help.” Sammy smiled, trying to draw Yasmina’s attention away from Brooklynn.
Yasmina’s hard gaze turned into a soft smile at Sammy. “Great, we can use the bike to-”
“It’s out of gas.” I quickly interjected. “We used it all to bring the food from the bunker.”
“I guess we’ll walk.” Yasmina shrugged and Kenji groaned, laying his head on the table.
“That’s great. So, Yasmina, Sammy and Kenji go check out the helicopter, while Hays and I go to the watering hole.” Darius glanced inquisitorial to Brooklynn and Ben.
“I’ll go with you, Darius.” Ben said.
“I guess me too, then.” Brooklynn sighed.
“But are you, like, going to fly off a building today, or just testing the waters?” I asked Yasmina. “It could be dangerous.”
“I-”
“We’ll just check the helicopter out.” Sammy interrupted Yasmina, placing her hand on Yasmina’s shoulder. “Right?”
“Yeah, sure.” Yasmina mumbled. She didn’t sound the most reassuring, but I trusted her not to be stupid, as did Darius, it seemed.
“Great, we can be all there for the real take off, then.” Darius smiled.
Yasmina nodded and smiled back, so Darius rushed to his bed to grab his field guide. While Yasmina, Sammy and Kenji prepared to leave, Brooklynn and I were waiting on Darius downstairs and Ben was trying to convince Bumpy to join us.
“…not even mangoes.” Ben mumbled as he returned to us. “Bumpster is not coming today.” He announced.
“She must be tired from us helping with the food.” I glanced at the Ankylo, peacefully resting by the shade.
“I guess.” Ben shrugged, playing around with his spear.
Brooklynn glanced up at Darius sliding down. “Finally.” She smiled at him, with her baseball bat resting on her shoulder.
“Sorry for the wait.” Darius said. “Ready?”
We nodded and started to walk the path away from camp.
“Be safe guys!” Sammy yelled back from camp, where Yasmina was checking something on her book and Kenji had a bored look on his face.
“You too!” Brooklynn yelled back and we went on our way.
…
With Darius on the lead, we reached the watering hole pretty fast. Ben and Darius sat in the shade of a tree, discussing dinosaur facts. Brooklynn chose a tree a bit away from the boys, where she waved me over. I lazily walked to her and sat down, watching the dinosaurs down the valley. There weren’t many dinosaurs today, a few Brachios, Sinoceratops, and a Stegosaurus. There was even a Carnotaurus in the mix, not Toro, though.
“Want one?” Brooklynn offered me a protein bar.
“Thanks.” I accepted it.
“I really missed non-canned food.” She sighed as she took a bite. “Brimford really thought of everything.”
“Two words.” I mumbled with a mouth full. “Mosquito nets.”
“A way off the island would’ve been nice.” She pointed out.
“Yeah, well… you can’t have everything, I guess.” I sighed.
“Maybe Yaz will figure it out.” Brooklynn scorned. “Helicopters… honestly…”
I frowned. “What’s going on with you two?”
“I don’t know. She’s always…” She groaned. “…so annoying. She picks apart everything I do, like I purposefully put dinosaurs in the tunnels, Jeez.” She rolled her eyes. “But now, flying a helicopter is supposed to be a great idea…”
“For your credit, everyone knows going back to the tunnels was a way better idea.” I admitted.
“Thank you.” She exasperated.
“I mean, your plan made sense, but relying on a book to get us safely to Costa Rica.” I chuckled. “That’s beyond me.”
“Why didn’t you say so then? I could’ve used your opinion before.” She crossed her arms.
I shrugged. “I guess, everyone needs to keep busy. Isn’t that what we are doing?” I glanced over at Darius who was staring at the dinosaurs.
“Maybe.” Brooklynn mumbled.
“Have you tried just… I don’t know, talking to her?”
Brooklynn just raised an eyebrow at me. “It’s Yaz.”
“Right…” I chuckled. “Just don’t let her get under your skin, we’re all on edge as it is.”
“Yeah.” Brooklynn sighed. “That might be hard.”
“And if you ever want to take the edge off, I have a good punching tree.” I offered. “I could teach you, ya know?”
She laughed. “I’m sure Kenji would be sad to have to share his teacher.”
“He’ll be fine.” I took the final bite off of the protein bar. “I have plenty of time to spare, literally.”
“Are you sure?” She smirked. “He's always so giddy after your one-on-one classes.”
“Right?” I chipped, having totally noticed that too. “He’s been improving so fast, like actually putting in effort.”
“That’s obvi not what I meant.” She side-eyed me.
I just laughed at her like a clueless wall and laid down on the grass, making myself comfortable. The day was sunny with a lot of clouds. After the storm, the weather had given us a break with some chilly winds. It was nice to lay around in the sun, to feel the warmth in my skin.
“Does it help?” Brooklynn asked, and I just kept quiet, waiting for her to finish her thought. “Punching the tree?”
“It does.” I said, staring at the fluffy clouds.
“I might take you up on it someday.” I heard a smile on her voice so I just hummed in response.
I felt my eyes fluttering close, but every time I thought I would successfully take a nap, Brooklynn tossed and turned next to me, bringing me back. I sighed as she elbowed me and hastily got up.
“Any interesting dinosaurs, Darius?” Brooklynn asked.
“Nothing new.” Darius sighed.
“Maybe we should try a new spot.” Ben suggested.
“Do you know any?” Brooklynn asked.
“No, but we still have some daylight, we could explore a bit.” Ben said, getting up and cleaning the grass off of his shorts.
“If it’s all good with you, guys.” Darius glanced at us.
“Sure.” I yawned and Brooklynn nodded along.
…
“I really need new entries for my field guide.” Darius commented. “When we get out of here, this will be the first account on dinosaurs living in the wild.”
“We know, Darius.” Brooklynn sighed.
“And again… no, we’re not leaving you alone while chasing dinosaurs.” I said. We had been walking for almost an hour since we left the watering hole, and Darius had become really frustrated with our lack of luck. “Let’s not repeat what happened last time you wandered off alone.” I chuckled.
“Thanks.” He mumbled. “But sorry for the wild goose chase.”
“No worries, D.” Ben spun his spear in the air. “I needed the fresh air anyway.”
“How far are we from camp?” Darius asked, checking the map.
“Not too far.” Brooklynn grabbed the map from Darius. “I think we’re around here.” She pointed at a place south from the watering hole. “We should come up on the grasslands anytime.”
“What would we do without you?” I threw an arm around her.
“Well, I do have a great sense of direction since that video with the girl scouts.” Brooklynn smiled, pleased.
“Then, is that on the map?” Ben asked. He had stopped at a clearing, where there was a building in the middle of it.
“Whoa.” I dropped my arms to my side. The building was old, there was vine and grass growing over the cement. It looked like a prison, there was a small tower looking over a rectangular paddock. On the top of the paddock, there were metal beams inching inwards, with a thick fence surrounding it.
“Definitely not on the map.” Brooklynn mumbled.
“Let’s check it out.” Darius laughed, already heading towards the building.
Going up a flight of stairs, we came face to face to the fence. Inside the paddock there were so many palm trees and bushes we couldn’t see the ground below. On the other side of the tower there was a gate and, in the middle, there was a rusted crane going down the only opening of the paddock.
“This is so old.” Brooklynn glanced down.
“This has to be from the first park, right?” I brushed off the dirt from a sign that indicated an electric fence.
“What do you think they kept here?” Brooklynn inched forward.
“Whatever it was, it was dangerous.” Darius said in a serious tone. He was examining a broken part of the fence where the metal was bent outwards, as if something had escaped. “And it got out.” He gulped.
“This paddock is so small, no wonder it wanted to get out.” Ben commented.
“Well, it’s not like we need to worry about that right now.” I shrugged. “That’s old news.”
“The only good news of the day.” Darius sighed.
“Maybe not… look there!” Ben pointed at a distance, where some small and chunky dinosaurs were laying on the grass.
“Is that- Oh, my god!” Darius blared out, rushing down the stairs. “I’ve always wanted to see one up close.”
“What are those?” Brooklynn asked, glancing cautiously at the dinosaurs.
Darius halted in place, frowning. “There’re Sty… Stygo-” Darius groaned. “Stygimoloch.” He enunciated every syllable, smiling, proud for getting it right. “They’re pretty friendly herbivores.”
Darius ran towards the dinosaurs, so we followed. By getting this close it was possible to distinguish more details about them, they reached about chest high, and had a light brown colored skin. Their heads were the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in a dinosaur, it had a crown of horns around a dome on the forehead. The family of Stygimolochs raised their heads in unison, staring us down as we approached, so we all stopped in place.
“They don’t look that friendly.” Ben commented.
“They like to headbutt you when threatened.” Darius pulled out his field guide and started to draw. I glanced at Ben and Brooklynn, quietly asking if they thought that was a good idea. “We should be fine over here, though.” Darius added, noticing us nervous.
“If you say so, dino-nerd.” I sighed.
Darius sat by a tree while completing his guide, we sat around him, always facing the dinosaurs. I didn’t care how little those guys were, getting a surprise headbutt from them wasn’t on my to do list. They seemed to get used to us fairly quickly, because they stopped starring. One of the Stygimolochs got up and strolled toward us on her hind legs. She stopped right in front of Ben with a curious look on her eyes.
“Hey girl.” Ben smiled, laying out his hand to her. The Stygimoloch inched forward, sniffing him. Ben slowly petted her on the snout and she made a happy growl. “Oh, you like this, huh?”
“She must’ve smelled Bumpy on you.” I chuckled.
“Ben, the dinosaur whisperer.” Brooklynn laughed.
“This is awesome.” Darius stopped drawing to pay attention to the Stygimoloch melting at Ben’s touch. “I was really hoping to see a Pachy too.”
“Is that another friendly dino?” Brooklynn asked, petting the Stygimoloch’s back.
“Yeah, more like an older brother to this one.” Darius noted something down his guide. “They were on the same attraction, so I thought maybe they could still be hanging around. Oh man, I would kill to see some intra-specific combat in action.”
“I’ll pass on that.” I mumbled, resting my chin on my knees. “I’m not really up for any more dino action so soon.”
“Don’t worry, they only have females in the park.” Darius explained without even lifting his head from the notebook.
“Right… that totally makes sense.” I frowned, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.
“Not everyone here talks ‘nerd’, dino-nerd.” Brooklynn rolled her eyes.
“Oh, right.” He sheepishly said. “It’s like when the males start to-” The Stygimoloch suddenly tensed up and started to growl.
“What’s wrong, girl?” Ben asked, petting her again, but she didn’t react to him. The rest of the Stygimoloch family also got up and did the same, all of them staring at a big bush by the trees.
The bush rustled and a slim snout poked out of it, snarling and showing its teeth.
“Guys.” Brooklynn whispered and the Stygimolochs growled. We slowly got up, gathering our things and getting ready to run when the dinosaur in the bush showed itself completely. It was slim and it stood on its back legs. Its size was something between a Raptor and Baryonyx, with a gray-ish blue skin and crests for eyebrows. It roared loudly showing its serrated teeth and charged at the Stygimolochs.
The carnivore tried to bite one of the little dinos, but another one headbutted its flank, making it back away. But we didn’t care to watch them fight, while the dinosaur focused on the herbivores, we dashed to the jungle, leaving the Stygimoloch family behind.
“I guess that’s not a Pachy!” I said in between breaths.
“Nope. Allosaurus. Definitely a carnivore.” Darius said, jumping over a log. “Probably a juvenile by the size.”
“I’m glad you get to update your guide, but run!” Ben yelled, taking the lead. I looked over my shoulder to see the Allosaurus approaching fast, I guess it had lost interest in the Stygimolochs.
Our heavy breathing and my fast heartbeat were the only things I could hear as we ducked and dodged the low hanging branches while fleeing from the dinosaur. We tried to run back the direction of camp, but the dinosaur flanked us, keeping us going in a straight line. The Allosaurus snarled and sped up, it got too close to us and Brooklynn swung her bat at it. The dinosaur gave up on biting her and slowed down, running a few meters behind us.
“What the hell?” Brooklynn gasped.
“What is it doing?” I asked.
“It seems to be leading us somewhere!” Darius exclaimed.
“Guys!” Ben pointed at the clearing in front of us, and a sound of running water could be heard. The Allosaurus had led us to a waterfall.
We halted in place, facing the dinosaur with our backs to the waterfall; Ben and Brooklynn stood in front of us in a defensive stance, since they were the ones with weapons. The Allosaurus also stopped, it was snarling at us, with a calculating look.
“Can we jump?” Brooklynn looked down at the waterfall.
“It’s too high.” Darius squeaked.
“It's the only way!” I pressed, backing up to the rocky edge.
The Allosaurus smiled at us, showing its razor-sharp teeth as its jaws opened to bite us. It charged at Ben, who raised his spear. He screamed as he swung the spear at the dino, hitting its face. The Allosaurus snarled and backed away, with a cut on its snout.
“That’s what you get!” Ben yelled, swinging the spear in the air.
“Let’s go guys.” I was getting ready to jump. But before we could do anything, the dinosaur charged again, faster this time. It jumped towards Brooklynn, who backed up, tripping on a rock.
“No!” Darius jolted forward, shoving Brooklynn out of the way. However, Darius wasn’t so lucky. The Allosaurus went flying past him, dragging its claws across his raised arm.
“Darius!” Ben and I screamed.
We couldn’t even go check on him because the Allosaurus was back on its feet again, claws scratching the rock beneath as it lunged. I grabbed a rock from the ground and launched at it. The dinosaur growled as the rock hit its eye, making it dart away and start to circle us again.
I looked down at Darius, and my breath hitched on my throat. ‘No, no, no…’ Darius was breathing heavily, his face twisted in pain with tears streaming down his face while his shirt soaked in blood. Brooklynn left her forgotten baseball bat on the ground and had her hands all over Darius’s right arm, trying to stop the bleeding.
“We need to jump. Now!” I kneeled down next to them.
“But Darius, he-” Brooklynn cried.
“You get Darius and I’ll deal with the Allosaurus.” Ben stood with his spear on hand, eyes locked on the dinosaur.
I froze and glanced at him with apprehension, I couldn’t leave him. Not again. “Ben-”
“I’ll be right behind you!” He ushered us as the Allosaurus snarled. “Go!”
My instincts were to face the dinosaur for him, to be the one staying behind, but he had such a confident and determined look on his face, so I unwillingly nodded along. I had to trust him.
‘Please, let him be okay.’
I grabbed the baseball bat and shoved it into Brooklynn’s arms. “Ready?” I glanced down at Darius. He nodded slightly and I didn’t even give him time to try and get up by himself. I hooked my arms around his torso and legs, carrying him bridal style.
The Allosaurus charged at Ben, but I had to trust he could hold his own. I ran to the edge and jumped the furthest away from the rocks that I could; in my peripheral vision I saw Brooklynn doing the same. Darius squeezed me around the neck as we fell; we hit the water hard and there were bubbles everywhere. While still holding onto Darius, I kicked my legs to bring us to the surface.
As soon as I breathed air again, I yelled for the one who was supposed to be right behind us. “Ben!?” My mind went back to the monorail all those days ago. I shouldn’t have left him behind. ‘Not again, please.’ The sense of dread was overwhelming, like a fist closing around my heart. I shouldn’t have-
A high pitch scream drew my eyes upwards and Ben hit the water next to us, belly first. He emerged gasping for air.
“I’m okay. I’m okay.” He quickly reassured us and I sighed in relief. An angry roar sounded from the top of the waterfall, where the Allosaurus glared down at us, with bared teeth.
“Let’s get out of here.” I ignored how the water started to turn red and I started swimming to the rocky shore with Darius still attached to my neck. I sat him on a rock to better evaluate his injuries, he had his head down and his hand putting pressure on his arm. “Are you okay?” I asked softly.
Ben and Brooklynn joined us at the riverbank, glancing worried at Darius.
“Y- yeah…” He breathed out, still with tears in his eyes. “I think so.”
“Here, let me see.” I said softly and he lowered his hand.
‘Shit.’ There were three gashes going from his right shoulder to the middle of his upper arm. Two seemed superficial, with some white-ish edges where droplets of blood formed consistently, but the one on the center was gushing out a lot of blood, it had ragged dark red edges and it went deeper than the others, showing the deep crimson of muscles underneath.
“I’m sorry.” Brooklynn cried, slumping to the ground. “I tried to get out of the way, but-”
“It’s okay.” Darius comforted her, even though he was clearly in pain. “I’ll be okay.”
“You need stitches.” I sighed. “And we can’t have you bleed out on us.” I dug my nails on a hole of my shirt and ripped the lower part of it to tie around his arm, Darius glanced at it warily. “I mean, it’s wet, but better than nothing.” He nodded and I got to work, wrapping it tightly around what I could. After instants the blood oozed through the fabric and I pressed harder, staining my hands with his blood. Darius yelped at the pain and closed his eyes. “Sorry.” I mumbled, but kept pressing.
Ben cleared his throat behind me. “We should keep going, if the Allosaurus finds us again…” He didn’t need to complete his sentence, we all understood we were sitting ducks here.
“We’re not that far from camp. Can you walk?” I glanced down at Darius.
“I- I think I can.” He mumbled, slowly getting up from the rock. He took one wobbly step, and a second then he winced in pain, leaning precariously to his side. I supported him by his good arm and then he was standing straight again.
“Here.” Brooklynn shoved the bat in my hands and took over my place next to Darius.
We were on high alert on all of the way back. We didn’t know if the Allosaurus had given up on us altogether or it was just taking its sweet time getting down from the waterfall. I was also worried for Darius; he had a blank expression the whole time. I was ready to carry him the way back if needed, but even though his steps were shaky, with Brooklynn by his side he managed to walk just fine. I knew it must be hurting like hell, but luckily, the bleeding had lessened, and it didn’t seem that bad with the piece of cloth covering it. Or at least, that was what I kept telling myself.
‘It fine, he’ll be okay.’
“I’ve never seen a dinosaur do that.” Darius said to no one in particular, still leaning on Brooklynn. “It led us to that waterfall on purpose.”
“Kinda reminded me of Blue.” I ran my fingers through my hair. ‘We did not need another highly intelligent dinosaur.’
“Let’s not forget the Indominus.” Ben shivered.
“I wonder what DNA they mixed up in the lab to clone the Allosaurus.” Darius thought out loud.
“Better write that down.” I chuckled. If he was okay enough to talk like that about the dinosaur that almost got him killed, I guess he was really going to be okay.
He pulled out his field guide and raised it in front of his face. “Wet.” He chuckled lightly, trying to separate the pages.
We were laughing about his field guide as we approached camp. The sun had just started to set and Kenji, Sammy and Yasmina were back already. They were hanging on the couch and looked like they had just left the shower, but their clothes were covered in ashes. They were laughing and joking around, but when they took one look at Darius their faces fell.
“Dude!” Kenji’s mouth hung open.
“What happened?” Sammy shrieked, getting up in a flash.
“We had a run in with an Allosaurus.” Ben said nonchalantly, dropping down at a chair.
“Nasty thing.” I mumbled.
“I’ll grab the first aid kit.” Brooklynn ran off.
“Are you alright?” Yasmina asked cautiously.
Darius sat down on a chair before answering. “Guys, I’m okay.” We all just stared at him, skeptical. “Really, it could’ve been worse, but I’m okay.”
“Well, you don’t look okay.” Sammy said, concerned. He did look a little pale, or maybe it was the contrast with the blood trickling down his arm.
“Here. Here, I got it.” Brooklynn came rushing back with the first aid kit we had assembled.
Sammy and Brooklynn started right away to clean and dress his wound, using those fake stitches and a lot of gauze. He had to remove his t-shirt since the sleeve was on the way, speaking of it, it was ripped to shreds. Sammy reassured him that she could fix it. At this point it seemed easier to fix his shirt than his arm. Darius tried to maintain a blank face all throughout the process, but sometimes a whimper escaped him or an eye twitch. Obviously he was trying to remain tough so we wouldn’t worry. ‘What an idiot.’
“Good as new.” Sammy smiled, as she finished patching the wound.
“Thanks.” Darius smiled back.
“That’s gonna leave a sick scar. Chicks are gonna love it, bro.” Kenji smiled at Darius.
“Okay…” Darius frowned at that.
“Urgh, Allosaurus… one more to the list of dinos I hate.” Brooklynn crossed her arms.
“It’s not its fault, carnivores need to eat.” Darius shrugged with his good shoulder.
“You’re being way too chill about almost being a dino’s snack, bro.”
“Yeah, D. I know you like dinosaurs, but come on.” I said.
“It’s nature.” Darius stated.
“Well, I hate nature.” Brooklynn rolled her eyes.
“So, how was the helicopter plan?” He changed the subject.
“Ugh, I had to take two showers to get all the ashes off of me.” Kenji shuddered.
“Yeah, we kinda crashed it.” Yasmina chuckled nervously.
“I’m sorry, what?” Brooklynn choked.
“What happened to ‘waiting for us’?” I scoffed and Yasmina tried to disappear into the couch. My eyes darted towards Kenji, looking for any injury, but finding none. “You could’ve been seriously hurt!”
“Hey, it was an accident.” Sammy came to her defense. “We’re all okay. I mean, not the helicopter, that thing is totaled.” She let out a nervous laugh.
“Okay, so we’re not flying out of here.” Darius glanced at Yasmina. “But I’m sure we’ll figure it out, don’t need to beat yourself about it. There’s still a lot we don’t know about this island, we’re bound to find a way out.”
And just like that, Darius was back to his old self and his pep talks. Well, if he could be okay with almost losing an arm, who were we to stay upset with another failed plan? I found myself taking a deep breath, the first since the Allosaurus incident, glad of seeing Darius like this, he really did scare me for a moment.
“So, who’s up for some monopoly?” Sammy pulled out the game from the pile on the corner. “I’m the boot.”
“I’m the car.” Yasmina jumped in.
A discussion ensued on who would be what token, but I noticed that Brooklynn was oddly quiet. She was sitting with her legs up, knees to her chest and eyes distant. She had been like this since the waterfall. Was she still beating herself up?
“Hey.” Darius bumped lightly into her with his good shoulder. “It was not your fault.”
“But it happened because of me.” She whispered, glancing at his shoulder.
“We’re living on an island full of dinosaurs, it was bound to happen sometime.” He cracked a smile. “I’m okay.” He seemed sure.
Brooklynn took a deep breath and smiled back at him. “Okay.”
“Okay, then. You’re the thimble, Brooklynn.” Sammy tossed her the piece.
“Wait, what?” Brooklynn sat up straight, staring horrified at the token in front of her. “Why do I get this thing ?” Her voice was full of disgust.
I chuckled at the little metal doggie in front of me, at least I wasn’t the thimble. I played with it in my hands only to notice they were still stained with blood. It had dried by now, the flaky crust covering my palms.
Just like that night.
No, I wouldn’t think of that. I wouldn’t think of how I had lost Ben and Bumpy. I had failed them and today, it almost happened again. I had left him behind, even though I promised myself never to do it again.
‘No.’ I shook myself. I was at camp, safe, and so was he…
‘Where was he?’ I glanced around. My heart felt like it had stopped. ‘Ben?’ My eyes darted around as my chest grew heavy. ‘Where was he? He had to be here. He couldn’t-’ My breath hitched as a sharp pain from my hand made me look down. My knuckles had turned white. I slowly relaxed my fists to reveal little crescent shaped wounds on my palms and new blood accompanying it.
‘It was all my fault he was gone.’ I tried to make my hands stop shaking, I tightened my fists only to feel it wet with the warm blood.
“You okay?” Kenji whispered next to me, placing his hand on my arm. I flinched away immediately; his touch was too warm.
“Y-Yeah.” My voice barely came out.
I felt Kenji’s eyes on me, burning through my skull. I felt the sweat trickling down my neck, my breathing picking up as I tried to take in my share of oxygen from the air, but it wasn’t there. Someone had sucked all of the oxygen from the air and I couldn’t breathe. My chest went up and down but nothing helped my foggy mind. I tried to blink the fog away, trying to focus on finding Ben.
But Kenji was hovering next to me. Sucking all the oxygen away. “If-”
“Gonna get some air.” I jolted up. I clenched my teeth as I forced my feet to move as quickly as I could without breaking into a run. ‘He had to be here. He had to.’
“I’m taking your dog if you’re not playing!” I heard Brooklynn say behind me.
I went down the slide as the blood pumped inside my head.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
It was all I could hear. It wouldn’t let me think. Wouldn’t let me breathe. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t, there was no air in my lungs. I wanted to scream for Ben. To go back in time and let us switch places.
I frantically scanned my surroundings. ‘Ben had to be here. Where was he?’
I felt the sticky warm blood on my hand. ‘Get off.’ I pleaded as I forcibly rubbed my hands on my pants. ‘Why won’t it get off?’ My heart was beating as loud as my breathing. Yet, I couldn’t catch my breath. There wasn’t any oxygen here either.
I needed to get out of here. I needed oxygen. I needed to clean my hands. And I needed Ben to be alive… to be okay.
My feet moved on their own. ‘Get to the river. It’ll be okay.’ I tried to take a deep breath, but it only made me dizzier.
‘Get the blood off and it’ll be okay.’ I clenched my teeth as I took off on a full-blown sprint.
A body emerged from behind a tree and we collided. I fell back and all the air was expelled from my lungs.
“Ouch.” The body in front of me groaned. “A little warning next time, Hays.”
“Ben?” My voice came out barely a whisper.
He got up and glanced down at me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost there, are you okay?” He laid out his hand for me.
I just stared at his hand, without moving. “Okay. Y-yeah, I’m okay. You’re okay.” My voice came out shaky.
“Right…” He frowned, dropping his hand. “I’m going back to camp, then.” He gave me a quickly worried glance. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, fine.” I mumbled, holding my breath.
“Alright then, come on, Bumps.” He petted the dinosaur behind him and they both walked away.
When they got out of eyesight, I gasped for air and quickly backed up until I hit something solid.
“ He’s okay.” I stared blankly in front of me. Was my vision darkening? Or was it just a dark night?
‘He’s okay… but why wasn’t I?’
My breathing was under control again, but the world was still blurry. My only reassurance was the tree behind me, solid. So, I leaned on it, trying to get a hold of myself.
‘Ben’s okay, you can stop freaking out now.’
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
‘Please, stop freaking the fuck out!’
I buried my head in my hands. “Stop.” My voice came out weak and hoarse. ‘Was that even my voice?’
‘Get the blood off and it’ll be okay.’
‘Yeah, let’s do that.’
I stumbled to get up, using the tree for support. I slowly made my way to the river. ‘One foot after the other. One after the other-’ Left, right, left, right. ‘Why was this so hard?’ I collapsed at the river bank and dunked my hands on the cold water.
I shivered as the stream flowed through my fingers, carrying away the blood. ‘It was gonna be okay now, right?’ My face was wet. Had I begun to cry? There were tears rolling down my cheeks but they didn’t seem mine. Why was I crying?
I didn’t know how much time had passed. I looked at the water in front of me and wondered what I would see if the water were still. A disheveled girl, with dirty and ripped clothes, crying because of some blood?
‘What the hell was wrong with me?’
Notes:
I think I’ve never used so many okays in one chapter. Rest assured, no one’s okay.
out/24 - editing.
I think I'm done with the edits, the later chapters aren't that bad with typos and such.
Chapter 24: When
Summary:
A chill day, kinda.
Notes:
Perhaps some may think this as a filler chapter, but it’s more like a glimpse into the mind of a few of the campers.
Chapter Text
Jab, jab, slip, hook, step in uppercut, body hook, body kick. Kenji and I have been doing this combo for a while now. After he got the hang of it, I started to move around to put more pressure.
The sun was high in the sky, no clouds to give us a break, and even though we were training under the shade, the day was hot and humid. Like usual, our shirts were discarded on the ground and our body was covered in sweat.
Kenji got better with our daily sessions, and his skill wasn’t the only thing that improved, I swear his muscles were more defined by the day, the white tank top didn’t do much to cover him. But I kept my eyes on his hands coming my way, I didn’t get the luxury to be distracted while training, I used to train with boys all the time, it was never a problem. I wasn’t about to start it now ‘cause of Kenji.
However, he didn’t seem to think as I did, since he kept slacking off on the combo when he let his eyes wonder. I was quick to smack him in the head lightly, but I guess I’ll have to keep my shirt on next time. The thought brought a smile to my lips.
We got into a comfortable pace, running the punches and kicks until they were flawless. So, I changed the combo. Jab, dutch block from a body kick, cross, hook, low kick. I kept it pretty light not to hurt him, but Kenji being Kenji, couldn’t stop complaining how blocking a kick hurt.
“Well, of course it hurt.” I’d chuckle at him.
We were going so slow that I let my eyes wander to my surroundings. Ben and Bumpy were away, Darius was on his bed, writing something on his field guide. It had been a couple days since the Allosaurus incident and Sammy wouldn’t let the poor kid do anything other than stay in bed. Yasmina had just returned from a run and was chit chatting with Brooklynn and Sammy by the slide.
I could hear the birds chirping away and the eventual Pteranodon crossed the sky far away. There was no wind, which only made the hot day worse. The air was stuffy and my throat was begging for water.
A noise drew my attention, leaves rustled in a bush nearby. Knowing this island, it could only be one thing. I tensed up, lowering my stance to get ready to pounce at whatever was hiding in the bush, or run away, depending on the size of the dinosaur. Movement at my right took my eyes away from the bush. I quickly blocked whatever was coming at my face and swept with my leg.
“Ouch.” Kenji landed on his ass. “What the hell, Hays?”
“Shit, sorry!” I widened my eyes at Kenji sprawled on the ground and offered my hand.
“What was that for?” He groaned, accepting my hand.
“To keep you on your toes?” I smiled, apologetic. “I wasn’t paying attention, my bad.”
“Well, next time stick with the combo you came up with.”
“It wasn’t that bad of a fall.”
“My ass says otherwise.” He rubbed his behind.
I laughed. “Your ass complains too much.”
“Guys!” Sammy waved at us. “We’re going to the river!”
“Yes! It’s so hot, I’m melting.” Kenji beamed. “To the river!”
“You go ahead, I think I’ll keep Darius company.”
“Ha! No way, if I’m going, you’re going.” He pulled me by the arm, but I stayed put, not really wanting to spend the evening chit chatting.
“Seriously, I’ll meet you guys later.”
“That means ‘never’ and you know it.” He rolled his eyes while I gave him a sheepish smile. “Besides…” He lowered his voice. “I don’t want to be alone with the girls.”
“In case you haven’t noticed…” I pointed at myself.
His eyes followed my finger and he quickly averted his gaze. “I’ve noticed…”
“Afraid of what girls talk when we’re alone?” I grinned, raising my eyebrows suggestively.
“Gross.” He wrinkled his nose.
“Boys are grosser.”
Kenji pulled me towards the river anyway, where the girls were standing knee deep on the water. The river bed was made out of loose rocks and it wasn’t that deep, so as long as we didn’t slip and fall, it was pretty easy to chill in. Kenji and I were already barefoot so I just rolled my pants up and joined the girls. The water was cold, but very refreshing against my warm body.
“Hello, sweaty duo!” Brooklynn kicked water toward us, not soaking, just enough to make me jump at how cold the water was.
“Oh, it’s on!” Kenji motioned to take revenge, but I held onto his arm.
“I’m not getting my clothes wet.”
He pouted, but stood still. “Whatever, I would’ve won either way.”
“You wish, Kenj.” Brooklynn crossed her arms, smug.
“Aw, it's so good to be chillin’ with y’all.” Sammy opened her arms wide. “The sun is shinin’, the birds are chirpin’ and no dinosaur is chasin’ us!”
‘ Yet. ’ The thought crossed my mind.
“Yeah, definitely. I’m like… chill.” Brooklynn drew out the word, making us all stare at her for a prolonged time. That made me pay attention to Brooklynn for the first time today. Like real attention. There were heavy bags under her eyes, darker than usual; and today she let her pink hair loose, looking a bit disheveled, even though the day was hot and she usually had it tight on a bun.
“Girls’ chill time!” Sammy jumped, one fist in the air, splashing water everywhere.
Kenji cleared his throat and crossed his arms in protest.
“Plus, Kenji.” Yasmina chuckled.
“Okay, fam. If you could be anywhere right now, where’d you be?” Sammy asked. “Home doesn’t count.”
“That’s easy.” Yasmina smiled.
“Runnin’ track doesn’t count either!” Sammy was quick to say and Yasmina frowned, thinking about an answer.
“The ice cream shop near my house.” I said.
“Ha, that’s funny, ice cream.” Sammy laughed as if it was the most hilarious thing in the world.
“Oh, I got one. The movies.” Kenji beamed. “Remember that they were going to reprise Ester Stone season 1 in the movies? I was so excited to go, I had tickets and all.”
“Oh, my goodness, yes!”
“Remember the pilot, when she disarmed a bomb using hot sauce, while fighting the bad guy in her cheer uniform?” Yasmina said.
“And had to still serve detention even though she just saved her school from blowing up?” Kenji added.
“It was so good!”
I sat on a dry rock protruding from the river, only with my feet on the water while I watched Sammy, Yasmina and Kenji go at it with Ester Stone: High School P.I.. Yasmina and Brooklynn had the same idea as me. Brooklynn had her hand on the water, every now and then she would pick out a rock, analyze it for a while and then discard it. Yasmina was still participating in the conversation, but she sat on the rocky shore, legs crossed as she watched Sammy and Kenji, mostly Sammy. She had this soft smile on her face, the kind of smile she’d probably try to disguise if she caught me looking.
“I had this dream the other day.” Kenji suddenly said. I blinked, wondering how the subject went from Ester Stone to a dream. “Tom Cruise came to rescue us on a helicopter, he had this huge movie production with him. And we got to star in his new Mission Impossible movie: the Nublar Rescue.” He had this dreamy smile going on, making him look like a 10-year-old kid. “It was so dope, we got to go to the premier and it was a major success!” He chuckled. “With me in it, of course it was a success, am I right?”
Sammy laughed loudly. “There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of that happenin’.”
Kenji cracked a laugh. “That saying always makes me laugh.”
“Me too!” She beamed. “But I’ve never seen snow, it’s on my bucket list.”
“What else is on your bucket list, Sammy?” Yasmina asked.
“Visitin’ the World’s Largest Basket in Ohio.”
Brooklynn snorted. “Who puts that on their bucket list?”
“Are you kiddin’? I love picnics! They are like havin’ lunch on a blanket!”
“Picnics are fun.” Kenji nodded. “Especially if you have some Japanese strawberries, they are the best!”
“Yeah, but… Ohio?” Yasmina chuckled and everybody followed.
I was half listening to their conversation and half thinking about how normal and peaceful this evening was. It was never like this, not on Nublar. There was always a dinosaur creeping up on the bushes, some hurricane to make us seek shelter, the need to search for food or some other major danger to darken our day. I glanced around, the sun shone in between the treetops, bringing the jungle to life. I could see behind the bushes and behind those plants with big leaves, the little ants lining up and carrying pieces of leaves and the dragonflies flying close to the water. It didn’t seem to have any reptile eyes watching us, but it sure did feel like it. So, I kept my eyes on the shadows.
Even with the river. We use it to get water and to have a chill day, but the first thing that came to mind was dinosaurs that lived in the water. Suchomimus. We missed it until it was literally on top of us, disguising itself as a log. It had to be others, right? It dawned on me that I had no idea. No clue of what kinds of dinosaurs there are on Nublar. What potential dinosaur was going to try and eat us next. I had to ask Darius.
Didn’t he want to join us? I bet Sammy wouldn’t let him even if he did. But he was safer in camp either way. I glanced at it through the trees, I could only see parts of the camp, very much dinosaur free.
“Brooklynn, are you okay?” Sammy’s concerned voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
With that, I noticed Kenji’s eyes on me. He raised an eyebrow, questionably, as if asking the same question to me. I just shrugged, not really knowing the answer, but his eyes kept locked on mine, so I shook my head. ‘It’s nothing.’ Hoping he’d get the hint. I noticed a sting of pain from my hand and I looked down to the little crescent marks on my palms, I had been picking on the scabs again. I just sighed and dipped my hand in the water, letting it wash off the bit of blood.
“What? Yeah, yeah, I’m chill…” Brooklynn laughed it off.
“You sure? ‘Cause we just went on about how Ester Stone took down that animal traffickin’ ring and found shelter to all those cuties in season three and you didn’t say a word.”
“Oh, no, I love that episode.” She waved her hand in the air. “Season three is the best by far.”
“I didn’t want to say anything, but-”
“You look worse than Darius.” Yasmina cut Sammy off. “And the dude almost lost his arm.”
“Thanks?” Brooklynn frowned.
“No, no, no, you look great.” Sammy was quick to jump in. “What Yaz means is that you look kinda down, like Bessie when I have to separate her from the herd.”
Brooklynn paused and let off a heavy sigh. “I’m not really sleeping well. I keep having these nightmares. I thought that by now, we would’ve found a way of getting home, but…”
“You’re not alone.” Sammy stood next to her, with a hand on her shoulder. “I’ve been havin’ nightmares too. They’re usually about fire-breathin’ Compies, that can also read your mind.”
Yasmina nodded. “Once you’ve stared down a Dimorphodon, it’s hard to forget.”
Kenji chuckled drily. “My worst one is getting stuck with the middle seat on an airplane, and having to share the armrest with a Raptor.”
All eyes were on me. “Um…” I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to pick my least disturbing dream. “The Indominus, Pteranodons, Ceratosaurus... take your pick.” I chuckled. There were too many to go over them all. ‘When did my brain get that creative?’
“The Allosaurus?” Brooklynn’s voice was so small that I had the sudden urge to go and hug her.
“It’s on the list, yeah.” I gave her an acknowledging smile. “But I guess the worst is the one about the monorail.”
There were hums and nods, and I knew I didn’t have to say anything else. A heavy silence fell on us. I felt Kenji’s eyes on me again, but all my attention was on Brooklynn, who appeared on the verge of tears. I really wanted to go and give her a hug, but fear of how she’d react kept me in place. She wasn’t the touchiest person.
“Yaz… girl… what are you thinkin’ about right now?” Sammy asked, making me look at Yasmina, whose face wasn’t much better than Brooklynn’s. Well, with the conversation topic, none of us were doing much better.
Yasmina shrugged. “I’m just tired.” She fidgeted with her hair. It was clear that she wanted to say more, but nobody pressed her.
“I’m afraid what it will be like if we do get home someday.” Brooklynn wrapped her arms around herself.
“ When we get home.” I said in my most confident voice.
“All this time on this island... It feels like an ‘if’.” Kenji lowered his head.
“I miss my family so much.” Sammy sniffed. “My friends, my ranch, my cows.”
“I miss my mom.” Yasmina went to stand by Sammy, placing a comforting hand on her arm.
“I miss my dad and my sister.” I said, tanking a deep breath as their faces flashed through my mind. Smiley faces. Happy. Even my mom made an appearance. Kenji sat next to me, his arm pressing against my side. I only had my sports bra on, but it felt too comforting for me to be embarrassed about it. I cleared my throat. “But it’s because of them we can’t say ‘if’. We will go home to them, you’ll see. We can do this.” I kept my posture straight. The eyes in front of me changed from sad to determined.
“I love you Camp Fam. And I’ll love you even when we get home.” Sammy beamed. “I’ll need everyone’s contact so we can have a text group. And y’all’s addressees, so we can meet up!”
…
After a hug session initiated by Sammy, I met up with Darius on the couch; he had his field guide opened in front of him, but his eyes were distant. He had some dark bags under his eyes. It was funny how he insisted on keeping his t-shirt. The sleeve was a mess, but Sammy fixed it up with a sewing kit we found at the hotel. His white t-shirt turned out pretty cute with some sewing patterns in the shape of flowers. But underneath it, all of the cuts were wrapped under clean bandages and a sling to keep his arms still. Even though dino-nerd had a sling on his right arm, he managed to keep writing on his field guide.
“Hey there, D.”
“Hey, Hays. How was the river?”
“Emotional.” I chuckled.
Darius frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Eh, the yoozh. Nothing to worry about.” I waved my hand dismissively as I sat next to him. “What are you doing?”
“Working on my field guide. It’s a bit hard when I’m stuck on bed rest.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Sammy means well.” I smiled, sympathizing with the boredom it is being benched. “But since you’re free, I was wondering if you can help me with something.”
“Shoot.”
“What other aquatic dinosaurs are there on this island? There’s the Mosasaurus, the Suchomimus…”
“Technically, there are no marine dinosaurs. Mosasaurus is not a dinosaur, it’s more like a lizard, a reptile. And there’s the dinosaurs that mostly hunt near the water, usually eating fish, like the Suchomimus and Baryonyx.”
“No one introduced any fish to their diet.” I grimaced at the memory of them.
“Usually.” He chuckled. “There’s the Spinosaurus… think Suchomimus, but huge! It was the biggest carnivore to ever live! Bigger than the T. rex, bigger than the Giganotosaurus!”
“And that thing is here? In Nublar? With us?” Goosebumps traveled up my arm just thinking about it.
“It wasn’t ever listed as an attraction…”
“Neither was the Indominus.”
“I think it would’ve been one of the park’s main attractions, they wouldn’t not disclose it. It’s not like it was a hybrid.”
“Like a good and ol’ capitalist company Jurassic World is… you may be right.” I sighed. “So, what else?”
“I’m pretty sure they had some Deinosuchus, they are like crocodiles, but five times bigger.” Darius said. “And my dad always said they had a Plesiosaurus locked away somewhere, but come on, the only place big enough to hold it is the lagoon.” He laughed it off.
I nodded, taking in the new possible threat. “Big croc, got it.”
“What’s with the sudden interest?” Darius asked, glancing at me with those curious eyes of his.
“Gotta be ready, ya know.”
“Yeah.”
I shook my head. “Sorry, I didn’t even ask. How’s the arm?”
“It only hurts when I think about it, which is all the time since I can’t leave camp, so… annoying?”
“Yeah, injuries be that way.”
“But those old painkillers we got from the drugstore are helping.”
I nodded. “Do you mind?” I motioned to his field guide.
“All yours.”
I chuckled at the drawings. “You need to ask Yasmina for some help here, D.”
“It’s not that bad.” He whined.
“Could be better.” I chuckled.
We sat in silence as I went through the pages of the field guide. The pages were wrinkled and stiff from their dive on the river. Every page had one or two dinosaurs drawing with some descriptive text next to it.
Darius went to talk to Sammy, trying to get her to lay off of him, which I knew would be useless, but I just wished him good luck as I returned to the dinosaur pages.
Okay… Compsognathus… Velociraptors… Sinoceratops… It all appeared to be in order of our interaction with them.
Thump! Someone sat loudly on the chair in front of me, making me let out a heavy sigh for taking my concentration away from the dinosaurs.
“It’s too hot today.” Ben complained, drinking the whole content of a water bottle in seconds.
I just hummed in response and my eyes returned to the field guide. Pages and more pages of dinosaurs, all of which shared the island with us. And so many carnivores, why the hell were there so many carnivores? I flipped a page and landed on the Dilophosaurus, pack hunting carnivores that spit venom. Don’t let the frill-like flower deceive you. They would be small enough to hide in the bushes… in the shadows… we could be surrounded and wouldn’t even know.
It felt like all of my senses were working overtime, searching for the danger lurking in the shadows. A headache started to form behind my eyes and I let my fingers brush the rough crescents on my palms. I glanced at Ben. ‘How on earth did he do it?’ Spend all those days sleeping in the jungle with no shelter, no protection from the dinosaurs. I could never.
“Hey Ben.” I called and he raised his eyes to meet mine. “How did you even spend so much time alone in the jungle? Like, you don’t need to give me the details, but I don’t know how you slept with dinosaurs everywhere.”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t alone, I had Bumpy.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Bumpy always kept an eye out for me.” He smiled softly. “She can always feel when there’s danger nearby.”
“She sleeps half of the day.” I deadpanned.
“It’s weird, even when she’s sleeping, she can feel it. Dino instinct or something.” Ben glanced over to Bumpy. “And I trust her. You should too.”
I sat up straight. “I do trust her!”
“Okay then.”
“Okay.”
There was an awkward silence between us. I did trust Bumpy, but we relied too much on her. And she wasn’t always around.
I tried to focus back at the field guide, but the silence was too much for me.
“How was it out there today?” I asked.
Ben shrugged. “It was dinosaur free.”
“No sail?”
“Yeah, right, that also… no.” Ben averted his gaze, slouching on his chair.
I cracked a laugh. “You didn’t even look, right?”
“I didn’t. No. Sorry.” He scratched the back of his neck.
“You don’t have to be.” I waved him off. “We practically moped around all day. I get it, we need some chill moments and Bumpy is that for you.”
“I love that Bumpercar.” Ben smiled goofily.
“So… you’ve been in the jungle more than us, have you seen a dino that’s not in here?” I slid the field guide over to him.
“Let’s see.” He analyzed the pages. “Did Darius draw all of these?” I nodded. “It needs work.”
“I said the same!” I laughed. “But the descriptions are pretty detailed.”
Ben nodded. “Let’s see about Toro.” He proceeded to read Toro's page out loud.
Carnotaurus sastrei:
- Carnivore, theropod, bipedal.
- Red and black skin. Spiky scales down the spine as an armor. Two horns above the eyes. Short snout.
- Vestigial arms. Muscular neck helps to headbutt prey. Muscular hind limbs, legs, to run at great speeds (faster than the T. rex?)
- Vertebrae and pelvis are locked together, ability to make turns diminished.
- Prey: possibly Sinoceratops, Parasaurolophuses, smaller dinosaurs.
- Territory: Northeast, grasslands above Main Street, watering hole. Seeing fighting with a Ceratosaurus in the NW (why?)
Observation: when fleeing from it, run in zig-zag.
PS: holds a grudge, keep away.
Ben laughed. “Sounds about right.”
“Um. I expected more nerd talk, I can understand all he wrote.”
“I guess you’re spending too much time with Darius.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Don’t you dare.”
“Nerd.” He was trying to hold in a smile.
“Okay, you damn crayon nerd-lord.” I slammed my fist on the table. I was not gonna be called a ‘nerd’ by Ben. Ben ! “Go back to your vomit inducing, slimy and nasty slugs.”
He put his hand on his chest. “The term is grub. Nublar grub. And they are very nutritious.”
“I’d rather drink spoiled milk.” I said through a clenched jaw.
“Wait until you’re hungry enough.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
“Okay, Jesus. Such hostility.” He stood up, arms up in surrender, but had a grin on his face. “I'm going to check on Bumpy, she must be hungry.”
I just eyed him until he disappeared from view. Alas, I could focus on the important stuff again. But I didn’t have one second of peace when another voice interrupted my reading.
“Snooping dino-nerd’s diary?” Kenji’s voice made me want to throw the notebook on his face.
“It’s pretty detailed.” I didn’t even bother to raise my gaze.
“Lame.”
“I’m bored.” It wasn’t totally true, but I couldn’t be labeled ‘nerd’ again. By Ben of all people!
“We can play Uno.” Kenji offered and I looked up at him with a blank stare. “Or Monopoly.” My face remained unmoving. “How about some tunes? I’m pretty sure Dave’s demo still has battery…”
I smirked. “Wanna dance, Kon?”
“What? Dance?” He blushed. “You’re the one who said you were bored, I’m trying to be helpful.”
“Wow, you trying to be helpful?” I snickered a bit too dry. “On your own free will?”
“Yeah, well it happens sometimes.” He turned his back and motioned to go down the slide, sounding actually hurt?
“Hey, no, wait.” I was up in a heartbeat, grabbing his shoulder to keep him in place. “Sorry, I’m being an ass.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “Yeah, you are. Why?”
“I dunno.” I shrugged.
“Is that the monthly girl thing?” Kenji whispered, blushing lightly.
I laughed at his embarrassment. “It’s not.”
“Oh, so you don’t have an excuse.” He grinned. “Asshole.”
“Yup, you finally discovered the real me.”
“Self-deprecating much?”
“Oh, big words, huh?” I chuckled and he groaned in response, turning to the slide again. “Sorry!” I gripped his arm.
“Guys, we're goin’ to see the sunset at the beach!” Sammy yelled from where she was standing on the grass, next to Darius. “Let’s go!”
I glanced up at the sky, the sunset was a few minutes away and the beach was a small hike of a distance. We could get there in time for sure, but the way back… it would be night. We usually didn’t leave camp at night, for obvious reasons.
“Hays, why are you standing there for? Come on.” Brooklynn called me from where everybody was gathering. Kenji had already gone down the slide and was waiting for me at the bottom with a frown.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” I met up with Kenji and we walked to the center of the clearing.
“What? Do you prefer to spend your time going through Darius’ diary?” Kenji grinned. “I’ll have to cancel your CKK membership.”
“CKK would be so lame without me, don’t you dare.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Then keep up, nerd. ”
I gasped out loud. “Not you too!”
“I told you!” Ben shouted from where he was trying to get Bumpy to get up.
“And who are you calling a nerd?” I pointed an accusatory finger at Kenji. “You’re the one who went to every Marvel premiere and you have like every comic book ever published.”
“You can read?” Yasmina laughed.
“I told you that in confidence!” Kenji had a betrayed look on his face.
“Well, you shouldn’t have called me nerd, nerd.” I crossed my arms with a smirk.
“You’re done.” Kenji tackled me, but I put him on a choke hold.
“So, you do wanna dance…” I smiled as I spun him around by the neck.
“Can you two behave, you’re worse than toddlers.” Yasmina shook her head.
“I think it’s cute.” Sammy clasped her hands, smiling.
“I’m not cute! Take that back, Sammy!” Kenji tried to escape me and go at her.
I tightened the hold on him, just enough so I could hold him with one arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” With my free hand I started to ruffle his hair.
“Not the hair!” He whined.
I finally let go and Kenji frantically tried to style his hair back up.
“Come on, girl.” Ben tried to get Bumpy to get up and go with us to the beach.
Bumpy let out an annoyed bellow.
Ben crossed his arms. “Don’t ‘woo’ at me, we’re going to the beach.”
Another bellow.
“Just because of the attitude, you’ll have to carry Darius.” Ben huffed.
Bumpy snorted.
“Come on, get up. We’ll miss the sunset.” Ben groaned, but had a few berries on his hand. At that, Bumpy got up. “Food always does the trick.” Ben smiled proudly.
…
Bumpy carried Darius all the way to the beach, Sammy wouldn’t let him walk, which I thought was too much. He was doing just fine, yeah, he shouldn’t be running from dinosaurs with an arm like that but come on, the guy didn’t complain, not even once. Not about his injury that is, ‘cause he had plenty to say about being benched.
The sky was bright orange when we reached the beach. The sun was a yellow ball right above the horizon, reflecting its light on the wavy ocean. Even the white sand appeared orange with the light.
We sat on the dry sand, watching as the sun lowered itself to meet the ocean. The boys were all leaning into Bumpy, while Yasmina and Sammy were sitting next to each other, no space between them as they whispered softly. Brooklynn was sitting a bit far away from the group, on a dead piece of wood the sea had dragged in.
I sat next to her and she didn’t even acknowledge me, she just kept her eyes on the horizon. Or was it on Darius, who was right in front of us? Could’ve fooled me.
“You’re worried about him.” I said.
“Is it that obvious?” She looked at me with sad eyes.
“Only if you pay attention.” I bumped my shoulders into hers. “He’s gonna be okay.”
“I think he’s faking it.”
“Aren’t we all?”
“No?” Brooklynn looked at me, a bit alarmed. “At least I don’t think so…”
“Oh.” I laughed it off.
“How did you get over what happened to Ben?”She asked and I averted my gaze. “ I know it got to you.”
“Who says I got over it?” I chuckled drily, only for her to widen her eyes again. “It did help that he turned out to be alive.”
She nodded, eyes focusing in front of us. “Darius is alive.”
“He is. Very much so. And I think he’s handling this better than you, to be honest.” I glanced at Darius. “You should go talk to him.”
She scoffed. “All he’ll say is that it’s not my fault and that he’s okay. But that doesn’t help at all.”
I sighed. “I’m not gonna say it isn’t your fault. But what I do is I try to prevent new bad stuff from happening.”
“How do you do that?”
“I’m still working on that part.”
Brooklynn hugged her knees. “Let me know when you figure it out.” She looked straight ahead again, with furrowed brows as the sun almost disappeared into the sea.
“Hey B., do you need a hug?” I finally asked.
“A hug?” Her laugh was dry. “I’m not 5.”
“Still.” I opened my arms.
Brooklynn hesitated for a second before slowly wrapping her arms around me. I held her tightly until her tiny hands gripped on my clothes almost desperately. Her head fit perfectly under my chin, reminding me of all those nights that I had to hug my sister to sleep because she was afraid of storms.
We got a few glances, mostly from Kenji and Sammy, but with a motion of my hand, nobody came to bother us.
“Gosh, I don’t remember the last time I hugged someone. Like for real.” Brooklynn’s voice was muffled, but I heard the distinct sound of a sob. “I’m sorry.”
I hugged her more tightly. “No need to be sorry, just shut up and let me hug you.”
“…Okay.”
Chapter 25: Ketchup and Fries
Summary:
Third wheeling at its finest.
Notes:
So, is this another Kayden chapter? Pfff, of course not, no way, right? Who am I kidding? This is my favorite kind of chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The sun had begun to show itself atop the trees, illuminating the camp. Yasmina was out on a run; Ben was playing with Bumpy; and Kenji was rummaging through our food. Brooklynn and Sammy were still asleep and Darius was on his bed, head deep on his notebook. I was sitting on the couch with a pile of Uno cards in front of me. The table was too uneven for me to build a house of cards, so I gave up.
A sudden thump made me jump. “Good morning fellow campers!” Sammy sat down across from me with a bright smile. “Whatcha doing, Hays?” I just shrugged and motioned to the pile of cards. “Oh, do you wanna play?”
“Uno got boring wouldn’t you say?” I gave her a half smile.
“And what about some breakfast?” She turned to the one searching through our food. “What’s good, Kenji?”
“I’m trying to find- Aha!” He pulled some packages from the food crate and tossed into a bag, out of view.
“So, Yaz and I are planning to go and search for a sail. Wanna come?” Sammy leaned over on her elbows, expectantly. “I’m sure Brooklynn will come too and will be just us girls.”
I caught myself almost sighing at Sammy. It's not that I didn’t want to go, but I was just so tired these days. I couldn’t really get a good night’s sleep. It was so stupid, but I kept imagining the Allosaurus coming back to finish the job. That made me think back at Brooklynn, I really had to ask how she was doing.
“Maybe next time?” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I promised Bumpy to go search for berries with her.” Even though it was a lie, the prospect of spending some quality time with the Ankylo was appealing.
“Can I go?” Darius jumped at that, looking all hopeful at Sammy.
“How’s the arm?” Sammy eyed him.
“Um…”
“You should rest.” She said firmly. “It was a nasty thing that that dino did, you shouldn’t push yourself.”
“But-“
I left Darius to try and convince Sammy and I headed down to the grass, where Ben and Bumpy were chilling. I waved them hello, but didn’t stop to chat. I headed for my punching tree and started to stretch my hamstrings.
By the time I was done with the stretching, Yasmina had returned and the girls headed out in search of a sail. I was training my high kicks when I heard someone approaching. I was about to dismiss them when I realized it was Kenji coming towards me with a big smile and a bag hanging on his shoulder.
“Hey Kenj, what’s in the bag?” I smiled back.
“Hays! Just the girl I was looking for.” He threw one lazy arm around my shoulders. “How’d you like to help me with an important task today?”
I bluntly ignored his arm around me, but didn’t move away. “I’m kinda busy.” I motioned at the punching tree.
He chuckled. “Those are some sad kicks you’ve got going on today.”
“I’m just warming up.” I shrugged, knowing he was right. “Besides, I have a thing to do with Bumpy.”
“You mean the one drooly dino that just left with Jungle Boy?” He laughed and I peeked over his shoulder to where Ben and Bumpy were before, only to find the place empty. It was just Kenji and me, and Darius glancing expectantly at us from camp. “You’re coming with.” He promptly started to drag me along.
“Are you serious?” My voice showed my annoyance, but still, I didn’t fight him. “Since when do you wanna do anything outside of camp?”
“Since I need some time-off from all these kids.”
“Maybe I want the same, youngling.” I smirked.
Kenji rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up and come already.”
His tone was an attempt of sounding though, but ended up whiny. So much so that I couldn’t help but laugh. “It's not going to be like last time, right?”
“Last time?” His voice was in a high pitch as he removed his arm from around me and started to style his hair up, even though it was perfect already. “No, no, no, nothing like that!” He chuckled.
I narrowed my gaze seeing how his eyes darted all around the place, everywhere but at me. “You’re weird, why are you weird?”
“Weird?” He laughed nervously. “No, no weirdness here, I just want to show you something.”
I frowned. “Right… you want to show me something or you need my help with a ‘task’?”
“Both… neither… no, the first one…” Kenji’s cheek and ears turned the cutest shade of pink.
It was funny seeing him like this, all blushed and stuttering, even though there was zero reason for that. “Stop being weird.”
“Okay.” Kenji sighed, slouching his shoulders.
“Where are you guys going?” Darius appeared suddenly right next to us.
“Kenji said he wants to show me something… I think… I’m not really sure.”
“You’re going to see dinosaurs?” Darius had his eyes wide and hopeful.
“Nope, no dinosaurs. It’s a free dinosaur day.” Kenji exasperated.
“You’re gonna jinx it.” I muttered.
“Okay, so where are we going?” Darius pressed.
“We?” Kenji laughed. “Oh no junior-”
“Beats me, Mr. VIP here won’t tell.”
“It’s on a need-to-know basis, don’t worry about it.”
I sighed and turned to Darius. “He’s being all weird today, right?”
“A bit, yeah.” Darius looked intently at Kenji. “He’s all red, maybe he has a fever.”
“Maybe… but he blushes pretty easily, maybe it's a stomachache?” I tapped my nail on my chin.
“That’s a good hypothesis.”
“I’m right here!” Kenji stomped his feet.
I chuckled. “We can see that, Mr. Tomato Head.”
“Maybe you’re right. Stomachache.” Darius nodded.
“Can we leave my stomach out of this, bro?” Kenji facepalmed.
“Sure, where are we going?” Darius beamed.
“Ugh! Damn you two.” Kenji huffed, throwing his arms up in the air. “I give up!”
“So, we’re not going to this secret place?” I asked.
“Let’s go already.” Kenji stomped away without looking back, but Darius and I were quick to follow.
…
Darius and I hung back and let Kenji take the lead. I had no idea where he was taking us but it was somewhere in the direction of Main Street. At least if we got lost, I was confident I could find the way back.
Meanwhile, I got to watch Darius. He looked… okay for the most part.
“How’s the arm, D.?”
He shrugged with his good arm. “Not the best, it’s an odd feeling.”
“Just odd?”
“It hurts a bit, I’m not gonna lie.” He chuckled dryly.
“Are you sure it's fine to go walking around in the jungle with your arm like that?”
“It’s fine, Brooklynn made this sling so I won’t move much. And Sammy said that I’ll be okay to get the fake stitches out pretty soon.” Dairus sounded so optimistic it hurt.
“I thought Dr. Gutierrez told you to rest.” I grinned. “She’ll be pissed at me for letting you come along.”
He fidgeted with his necklace. “Honestly, I’m going to go crazy if I have to stay one more second at camp.”
“I get the feeling.” I laughed. “Just don’t push yourself, ‘cause I don’t wanna see Sammy mad. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that she would be scarier than the Indominus.”
He shivered at that. “I don’t want to even think about that, but we’ll be back before they know it.”
“That’ll depend on Kenji.” I mumbled, eyeing Kenji. He was walking at a steady pace and seemed to know where he was going. The way he held himself, in a straight posture gave out a determined look… or was it just the bag that was heavy? “Whacha have in the bag?”
Kenji did a double take to see if I was talking to him, but finally paced himself so the three of us would walk together. “I’ve learned from my mistakes, so I brought some supplies.” He tugged on the bag.
“You’ve learned something?” I suppressed my laugh.
“Ha ha.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s just food… in case we get hungry…”
“Good thinking!” Darius beamed. “I always end up starving after a day watching the dinosaurs.”
“Again, we’re not going on a dino watch, bro.”
“Well, you didn’t say anything really.” I shrugged. “It’s just like ‘hey, let me kidnap Hayden really quick.’.”
“I’m not kidnapping you!”
“I don’t know about that, last time you pulled something like this…my nose ended up not liking it very much.” I scrunched up my nose, feeling the fathom pain of that day.
“This is nothing like that!” Kenji exasperated, arms flailing everywhere. “Today there’s no rats, no dinosaurs, no bleeding all over.” I laughed at that, while Darius only glanced between us with a confused look.
“Good, ‘cause I don’t wanna to save your ass again.” I smirked.
He huffed. “What now? I save my own ass, thank you very much.”
I shrugged. “Sure, if that makes you feel better, princess.” Darius let out a choked laughter at that.
“Who are you calling princess!?” Kenji’s voice went up an octave. “I am a strong and independent man. I’m not a delicate princess that needs saving!”
“Your hands say otherwise.” I got a hold of his hand on my own, smirking at how soft they felt under my fingers. “So princess-like...” I teased.
His cheeks and ears turned that deep shade of red I was aiming for, leaving a warm feeling of accomplishment in my chest. Kenji took a few seconds to recover, but when he did, he snatched his hand back, letting out undistinguishable noises. “I- w- you- what?”
“Or do you like Mr. Tomato Head better? I haven’t decided yet.” I smiled innocently.
Kenji paused for a second, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I don’t know…Hayden Potaten.”
“Ugh, I walked right into that, didn’t I?” I wanted to facepalm right then and there.
“I do like the vegetable theme.” Darius said all of the sudden, reminding us that he was there too.
“Tomatoes are fruits.”
“Well, I like most of them, because tomatoes are all gooey inside.” Darius practically shivered. “My mom always makes me eat them, though.”
“Tomatoes are not that bad.” I frowned. “They go with everything… salad, pasta, pizza-”
“Potatoes?” Kenji chirped.
“Sure…” I let my gaze fall on him. “I’m sure there’s some recipe with the two.”
“Oh, ketchup and fries!” Darius pointed out.
“They are great together.” Kenji had a pleased smile on his face.
“Even better with some bacon and cheese.” Darius sighed.
I crossed my arms, my mouth watering. “Thanks, now I’m hungry.”
“Good thing I have this.” Kenji motioned at the bag hanging on his shoulder.
“So, are you going to tell us where we’re going?” Darius asked.
“Patience, junior, we’re almost there.” Kenji dismissed him with a wave.
We had passed the grasslands, Main Street and we had entered back into the jungle going to the southern part of the island. It had been uneventful this far, just a few herbivores in the distance and a couple Compies by Main Street. We had all the big carnivores mapped out. The majority of them hung out by the dense jungle in the east and north, the exceptions being the Baryonyxes in the Genetics Lab and Rexy in Main Street. But overall, it was easy to get around.
But there’s been a new thing I figured out. Fucking Kenji couldn’t walk on a straight line! He kept bumping into me like it was on purpose. Of course, I shoved him back every opportunity. Did it change anything? No. Was it annoying as hell? Yes. Did a damn bag shift his center of gravity or some shit?
I was about to offer to carry the bag when the trees made way to hills and more hills of what seemed to be freshly cut grass.
“Ta-da.” Kenji opened his arms wide. “We’re here!”
“So, you made us walk all this way for some grass?” I deadpanned.
“Look again.”
“The golf course?” Darius said.
“Come on.” Kenji simply darted up the hill with some new found energy.
Darius and I had no chance but to follow. We had come all this way… might as well see what the hype was all about. And it was huge. The golf course comprised of several soft hills of the greenest grass. There were patches of sand in random places and a lake near to us. The lake was not at all small, but when compared to the watering hole, it was just a puddle. It had boulders decorating its shore and palm trees, a lot of palm trees. They were the favorite decoration plant for the course as it seems, together with a few chubby bushes.
Also, there were a lot of dinosaurs. Fake dinosaurs, that is, Tyrannosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Carnotaurus, Raptors, Sinoceratops… All of the dinos were part of the decoration and obstacles for the golfers. But among the fake dinosaurs, there were some real ones. There was a herd of Ankylosaurus eating the grass on the far side of the course, close to a huge wooden cabin, and there was a solo dino by the lake.
“Oh my god!” Darius ran ahead, stopping at a safe distance from the big herbivore. “I’ve been wanting to see a Triceratops since forever!” He opened a huge smile, taking out his field guide. “It was one of my dad's favorite dinosaurs. Top Five!”
The Triceratops reminded me of the Sinoceratops, but bigger. Like the name suggests, it had three horns, one on top of the beaked snout and two, larger ones, on the forehead; and behind it, there was a sturdy frill protecting its neck. It was the size of a bus and the horns could easily impale us without much effort.
I grimaced at the thought, remembering how the Ceratosaurus ended up when facing a similar dinosaur. That seemed like forever ago and a reminder to stay the fuck away from the horned herbivores.
“Look how short the grass is. I bet the Ankylos have been here for a while.” Darius said. “Did you know that there’s been a debate whether Triceratops lived in herds or not? This confirms it! You have no idea-”
“Yeah, yeah, grass, rhino dino, fascinating.” Kenji cut him off. “This way.” With a hand on my back, he guided me towards the center of the golf course where several palm trees threw a shadow on the grass.
“Guys, do you mind if I- I mean is a Triceratops!” Darius practically shaking from excitement.
“All good, D.” I threw a thumbs up. “We’ll be close by.” Or so I hoped…
“You hungry?” Kenji asked, settling down to sit by the palm trees.
“Very.” I nodded. “Haven’t had breakfast yet.”
“Perfect.” He dumped all the contents of his bag on the ground. “I don’t have any strawberries, but I picked up some Nublar berries. Also, we have protein bars, dry apples, crackers and warm coke.”
“You didn’t have to do all this.” I chuckled, grabbing a few berries for myself while he chugged on the coke.
“Yeah, I did.” He simply said, looking down at the green hills of the golf course. I let my gaze follow his. The slow-moving Ankylosaurs in the background, Darius using a rock as a table as he excitedly wrote in his notebook about the Triceratops chilling by the water.
I rested my chin on my knees as I munched on my food. Kenji had moved on to the crackers, chewing loudly, but with a bright smile on his face.
“You’re not one of those who likes mayo with fries, right?” I caught myself asking.
“That’s gross, bro.” He talked with his mouth full.
“It is, isn’t it?” I chuckled lightly.
I let my eyes wander again. I was pretty sure the ocean was on the other side of the hills to the west. If I focused, I could hear soft waves crashing against the shore, but it was difficult to pay attention to that when birds would be flying around everywhere. So noisy.
To the north, I could see a few buildings from Main Street and to the east, the monorail crossed the sky above the jungle. The same one we’ve been on that day. There was a fork on the trails where it returned to Main Street while the other continued to the South Docks. The support beams in this part were charred black, indicating where that other monorail had crashed and burned. Where we almost did.
I bet a bit farther south was where Ben had fallen. ‘So high up.’ I still didn’t know how he survived that. Sure, he said the Pteranodons softened the fall by grabbing him, but that didn’t look much better.
“So, Hays… are you finally going to spit it out?” Kenji asked, making me focus on him instead of the monorail.
“What?”
“You’re acting weird.”
I chuckled. “You’re the one being weird all day.”
“Because you’ve been avoiding everybody the whole week.” He exasperated. ‘Had I done that? I guess a little bit.' “I had to kidnap you so you’d talk.”
“So, you admit to the kidnapping?” I gave him a half-smile.
“You’ve been like this since dino-nerd got hurt.” He was adamant on not letting that go.
I sighed. “Yeah, well. That was fucked.” I tried to keep it light, but his gaze was locked on me, unwavering. I couldn’t withstand his stare much longer so I glanced at Darius. “I thought he was a goner, okay?”
“Yeah, but that happens every day.”
“Not really, not like that.” I scoffed. “If we count how many encounters we had with dinos, we got away safely almost every time. What happened with Darius was… it shouldn’t have happened.”
“Dude, you’re doing that thing again…” Kenji had a piercing gaze on, so intense that I swear he could read my thoughts. ‘So fucking persistent.’ I could feel him in my peripheral vision, waiting for me to say something. Even though I knew exactly what he meant, I wasn’t in the mood of discussing it right now. “You’re blaming yourself.” He said it slowly and cautiously.
“I’m not, though.” I rolled my eyes, only to be met with a skeptical look.
“Hays…”
“It all just got me thinking… we’ve been so careless: going off on field trips after dinosaurs, entering places without checking first… take this for example, we’re totally out in the open.”
“Do you wanna leave?” He sounded almost hurt by the idea, he insisted on coming here after all…
I ran my fingers through my hair. “No, this is fine.” I was quick to reassure him.
“But you’re still blaming yourself, I can see it behind that look you always have going on.”
“What look?”
“It’s just like after the monorail.” Kenji glanced at me, almost anticipating me getting mad. But I couldn’t even do that. I just looked at him with a sudden tightness on my chest. I had become way too used to ignoring this stuff. What did he expect? Yes, that was on me? Yes, it still haunts me? How Ben went through so much, he was forced to adapt in the wilderness, alone. The monorail was right there, evermore ominous, begging for me to turn around and face it. Darius with his sling, forever scarred. Also, Kenji with his own bite marks. All there begging for me to look at it, but I could only lower my head and stare blankly at the grass. “Are you okay?” Kenji’s voice was a whisper.
I scoffed, almost laughed at it. “No, none of this is okay.” I spat, making him flinch slightly. “The Allosaurus thing had nothing to do with what happened on the monorail, yet-” I choked on my words, Kenji motioned to comfort me, but I only hugged my knees instead. My eyes burned from the tears that wanted to fall, but I only blinked them away. “It’s just that everybody keeps getting hurt around me and nothing that I do changes shit.”
“You really think the world revolves around you, don’t you?”
“Excuse me?” My voice went up a pitch. I was so fucking close to punch that pretty face of his.
He shrugged. “It’s just what one girl told me once, a really feisty and stubborn one.” He chuckled. “But it’s pretty selfish, no? To think everything is your fault?”
“Was your plan to make me feel worse?” I narrowed my eyes. “Cause it’s working.”
“It’s freaking Wu’s fault and… Masrani’s.” There was pain behind his eyes to admit that. “It was the Pteranodons’ fault and the Allosaurus’, not yours.” He raised his voice at every word. “And then, it was those rats’ fault and maybe a bit of my own, cause I’m dumb and wanted to have fun.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have fun, Kenji.” All the anger was gone from my voice.
“Then it was you who saved me from the Compies and helped me back to camp. You helped Darius and you did your best with Ben.”
“But you all still got hurt.” I hugged my knees even tighter.
“And we can deal with it.” He exasperated. “I know I can, Dino-Nerd didn’t even hesitate on going after dinosaurs again and Jungle-Boy…” He chuckled. “He’s like a bug eating beast.”
“Do you really think so?” I was almost begging. Begging for him to be right. Any other person I would never allow myself to be like this, but Kenji…
“I know so.” His voice sounded so confident that I wanted to believe him.
I mustered a half-smile. “Have you ever been told you have a way with words?”
“Never.”
I just hummed in response. Resting my head on my knees, in a way my eyes would be locked on Kenji as he smiled softly at me.
‘Should I tell him?’
‘No, he’ll think it’s stupid.’
‘Maybe he won’t.’
‘I think it’s stupid.’
After a few minutes to gain courage, I spoke. “I have a thing with blood.” I muttered, making Kenji frown at me. “I have a thing with blood, okay?” I said it louder, but he only glanced at me as if wanting me to explain. ‘I didn’t want to explain, dammit.’ “At least I think I do… I don’t know, ever since the monorail- like if my hands are covered in blood like that, I don’t know, I get all-” I sighed. “I probably need a therapist or some shit.”
He nodded as if he understood all that I said, even though I had no idea what just came out of my mouth. “We all do if we get home.”
“When.”
“Yeah, sure.” He shrugged, but his eyes never left me. It didn’t make me uncomfortable; it was just like he was processing what I had just said. “That day with Darius, your hands were bloody.”
“Uhum.”
His hand reached out hesitantly, grabbing hold of my own and squeezing it gently. “Sorry, I didn’t notice it before.”
“That’s the thing, nobody noticed it because I didn’t want that.” I shook my head. “I don’t want people thinking I’m-”
“It doesn’t make you weak.” He blurted out, squeezing my hand a bit too hard.
“Are you a mind reader or something?”
“Sorry.” He chuckled, not sorry at all. “But, um… thanks for telling me that.”
“Right…” I glanced down at our hands. It was weird, his hand was a bit sweaty, but it didn’t even bother me. I felt good… warm and comforting to be able to hold his hand.
He tugged on our hands, making me look up. “You’re not weak, you’re the least weak person here… Hays, you’re like the- the strongest.” He was this adorable mixture of proud and confused.
“Thanks.” My cheeks heated up at that, making me press it harder against my knee.
“Imma keep saying it until you believe me.”
‘Of course, he will.’ I laid with my back on the grass, staring at the blue sky with warmth spreading in my chest. “You’re so annoying.” I laughed.
He joined me on the grass, hands still intertwined as we watched the sky through the palm trees. I could feel the arched scar on his hand, it was all healed up by now. At least Kenji got lucky, I didn’t even want to imagine if he had decided to go on his own that day. It was a good prank, though. There actually were a few happy moments on this island, little moments that I’m sure will stay forever with us… that night with the shooting stars, finding the bunker filled with food, the lazy days under the sun. Just like right now, although holding hands usually didn’t accompany it.
I let my thumb caress the back of Kenji’s hand. “I wasn’t lying, ya know? You do have soft hands.”
“Hey.” He snatched his hand back.
“Oh, come on.” I got on my elbows to face him, scooting closer so I could capture his hand back on my own. “It’s not a bad thing, I’m just a bit jealous.”
“Oh.” He averted his gaze.
“All those hours in the gym aren’t that great on the hands.”
“Don’t you use gloves to crush the other guy?”
“You think that that’s all we do?” I laughed. “We also do weightlifting and sometimes my coach would have us hit stuff only with the wrappings. I always go home to find bruises that I didn’t even know I had. Not too different from here to be honest.”
Kenji glanced back at me. “That seems harsh.”
“Nah, it was fine… for conditioning or some shit. It’s harder on the shins, though.”
“Have I mentioned that you’re crazy?” He smiled.
“A few times.” I smiled back. “But I still wish I had softer hands.”
“Your hands are alright.” Kenji lowered his gaze to our hands, where I let my fingers explore his hand, his knuckles, slim fingers, his scar…
I felt him shiver under my touch and my hand froze. “Does it hurt?”
“No.” Kenji breathed out, his voice raspy.
My gaze stuck to his Adam’s Apple going up and down his neck. There were a few droplets of sweat, making his skin glisten in the sun. I had to grasp at Kenji’s hand, fighting the urge to reach out and brush my fingers down his neck. But all the skin disappeared into the T-shirt’s neck line. Who the hell used long sleeves in tropical weather? He looked way better on his tank top, it was tight on him, hugging his waist and showing off his broad shoulders…
‘Jesus fucking Christ, this boy will be the death of me.’ I swallowed hard, feeling my mouth dry.
“So…” I clear my throat, letting go of his hand. “What’s up with the picnic?”
His eyes lingered on his hand, now left alone, before answering. “This is my favorite place on Nublar.”
I frowned. “A golf course?”
“Why not?” Kenji laughed.
“Knowing you, I guess I’ve imagined the water park or some cool secret dinosaur place.”
“The only secret dinosaur place I knew was Toro’s.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that again.”
“It wasn’t that terrible.” Kenji whined.
“Yeah, yeah, it was.”
“My bad.” He lowered his head.
I just shook my head, laughing softly. “So… the golf course?”
Kenji sat up, crossing his legs, so I did the same not to strain my neck to look up at him. We were side by side, knees touching slightly. I kept my eyes on him as he watched the grass hills in front of us. His face softened at the sight, whatever he was thinking about… it seemed to take him a thousand miles away from here.
When Kenji finally spoke, there was a soft smile on his lips. “I used to come here with my dad. We barely did anything together, but when he was in a good mood, he’d bring me here.” He chuckled. “Did I mention that dad plays golf with the prez? And with Bill Murray, you know, the ghost guy?”
“The ghost guy?” I chuckled.
He frowned. “From that really old movie, what’s its name?”
“Ghostbusters.”
“Yeah, that one. I’ve met him once.” Kenji paused, looking to the side. “Anyway, what was I saying?...Oh, right. My dad is like a whole different person when golfing and he’s the best at it! I suck at golf, but he’d always wait for me.”
“That seems nice.” I smiled at the sight, an excited Kenji following his dad around with a golf club.
He nodded. “And then after it, we’d get some sushi down on Main Street.”
I let my gaze follow his; seeing the leaves wave with the wind, the sun reflecting on the lake, the slight ocean smell. “It is a nice place, even now.”
“It makes me miss how things were.”
“Before the dinosaurs took over?”
“Yeah, but this isn’t all bad.” Kenji sheepishly said. “Sometimes being on Nublar with you guys is better than being here alone, looking forward to when my dad was in a good enough mood so we could play some golf.”
I placed my hand on his knee, squeezing it softly. “You’re not too bad to be around either, Kenj.” He opened a smile, placing his hand on top of mine, such a simple gesture, but it filled my chest with a warm feeling again. “Sorry that I thought the life of a VIP was all mansions, fancy parties and caviar.”
He smirked. “Don’t tell anyone, we like to keep that image.”
“Will do.” I laughed.
“And caviar is overrated, it tastes like salt. These days we’re more into putting gold sheets on our food.”
“That’s so stupid.”
“Very.” He nodded. “It tastes like nothing, but it’s pretty. And rich people like pretty things.” He finished that in a low voice, looking deep into my eyes.
My lips curled in a small smile. “Us peasants like pretty things too.” I kept my voice as low as his, watching as his eyes widened slightly.
‘I’m not imagining this, right?’ This guy brought me all the way to his favorite place for a picnic, just to hold my hand and tell me, well, almost tell me I’m pretty. ‘Did he feel the same?’ Now I got what butterflies in the stomach felt like.
Kenji pressed his lips on a thin line, letting his dimple show. I wouldn’t have to move much to let my fingers draw his chin… it wouldn’t take much for me to lean in… but I decided to stay put. His beautiful chocolate eyes turned a bit cloudy, almost as if there was an internal battle going on inside his head, and that was something I’d have to let him figure out first, so I took the safest route.
“But apparently, we have a better taste in food. Fries and ketchup for example.” I chuckled.
He cleared his throat. “I- um I thought you liked ice cream better.”
“Have you ever tried to dip your fries on a sundae?” I grinned.
“Gross.” His face twisted in disgust, even though he still had a smile on.
“Don’t knock it till you try it.”
“Only if you try some of our food filled with gold.” He teased.
I chuckled, shaking my head slightly. “I’m not paying to eat gold.”
“I will.” Kenji deadpanned. “Pay for it, I mean… I can pay.”
‘I will.’ Only two words, but somehow it left me feeling fucking weak inside. “…Okay.” I breathed out.
I looked up to him, Kenji’s eyes weren’t locked on my own, they were a bit lower… on my lips?
And we were so close. Even closer than moments ago, for some reason. All I had to do was lean in. ‘Why are we so close so suddenly?’ I bit on my lower lip, fighting the urge to close the distance. Kenji gulped visibly, his Adam’s apple going up and down. But he didn’t make a move, he was just standing still, too still. ‘Was he even breathing?’ I bit my lip harder not to laugh. Kenji was making it very hard for me not to kiss him. Why did I decide on that again? That sounded like a stupid decision.
“Guys!” The most strident voice made us jump apart. “You won’t believe what I've found out!” Darius came running up the hill.
‘That’s it, I’m murdering a kid today.’ I breathed in and out. “Hey… Darius, what’s up?” I mustered a fake happy voice.
“Footprints, everywhere!” He beamed.
“Cool, cool, cool… footprints.” Kenji muttered, as red as a tomato again.
“Dino footprints! I don’t know how I haven’t noticed them before, but this lake must be a miniature of the watering hole! Who knows what kind of dinos hang around these parts. It could be a totally different community from the northern part of the island. Of course, the biomes are a bit different, so it is highly likely!”
‘How did this kid talk so damn fast?’ I shook my head.
“Tell you what, broseph.” Kenji got up and placed a hand on Darius’ good shoulder. “You go back to your footprints while me and Hays… we- um…” He glanced nervously at me.
“We should play some golf.” I offered.
“I suck at it.”
I snorted. “You can’t be worse than me.” But I was met with a hesitant look from Kenji. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
He shook his head. “I- no, it’s okay, l want to.”
“Great. I’ll hang here some more then!” Darius was already heading back to the lake. “Have fun!”
…
Kenji and I headed towards the building on the other side of the course. There was a wooden cabin, or at least that was what they tried to paint the building as. It was too big and fancy to be a simple cabin. The doors were massive and locked shut, but we found some bags and clubs on a golf cart that had long run out of battery.
Kenji guided me towards the top of a hill and I squinted my eyes at the little red flag in the distance.
“Why is that so far away?”
“I’d be really dope if you hit it with one try.” Kenji passed me an iron golf club. “On a grass like this, you should use a number 4.”
“Nah-ah, you go first.” I stepped aside. “I’ll copy you.” He shrugged and positioned himself next to the little white ball, aiming with the club. He twisted his body and swung, sending the ball to our right. I chuckled. “I thought you said to use number 4…”
“I also said that I suck, so….” He scratched the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly. “Your turn.” He gave me the golf club and put another ball on the grass.
“This is such a preppy hobby.” I laughed, positioning myself like he did.
“It is.” Kenji smiled.
I swung and the ball did a curve to the right as well, going further than Kenji’s and hitting a sand pit. “That was something…” I frowned.
“Good swing, though.” He grabbed the bag and started walking.
“That’s it?”
“We just keep going until we hit the hole.”
I jogged to keep up. “You know… there’s a joke in there somewhere.” I chuckled.
We kept on going for a while, but I seemed like we were distancing ourselves from the actual hole. Golfing was more difficult than I thought, most of our shots ended up taking half of the grass with it or out of bounds.
“This is harder than I remember.” Kenji commented as we stood on the top of a hill. “Let’s do this: whoever hits the sand pit gets 50 points, the lake is 100 points and any hole is 500 points.”
“I’ll have to warn you, I’m a bit competitive.” I swung and the ball went straight for the lake.
“I know, but you’re gonna lose either way.” Kenji smirked.
I tossed him the club. “You wish.”
We continued with a ball assault to the course. Kenji kept his distance and I didn’t press him, I was happy to chill and play some golf with him. Even though we both sucked. We never hit any hole, the score points kept climbing. Kenji 850, me 550.
Kenji positioned himself with the club. “Do you think I can hit stinky down there?”
I looked at the distance, where Darius was sketching the Triceratops. “Do you mean Darius or the dinosaur?”
“The dinosaur, but I like where your mind is at.” Kenji smirked. “1000 points if I hit it.”
I crossed my arms at him and tried to imitate my mom’s stern voice. “Kenji, don’t hit the dinosaur.”
Kenji didn’t hit the dinosaur. He tried, but missed. I was about to make my shot when Darius appeared right in the path of my ball and I ended up hitting the grass not to hit him.
“Dude!”
“Run!” Darius was flailing his arms as he ran towards us.
The ground shook as Darius made his way up the hill to meet us. From behind some trees, the Triceratops emerged with the Tyrannosaurus latched onto its frill by the teeth. The three of us ducked behind some rocks and watched the two massive beasts go at it.
Rexy towered over the Triceratops, but the herbivore seemed to be chunkier, with its body closer to the ground, it had a solid defense behind those horns. The herbivore seemed unbothered by the teeth holding onto its protective frill, with one whip of its head, the T. rex was forced to let go, growling loudly. Rexy charged again, making the ground shake as her jaws opened wide. The Triceratops turned its head and the T. rex closed her teeth around one of the larger horns.
“Cool, dino deathmatch.” Kenji chuckled. “My money is on the T. rex.”
“I mean… if Rexy got impaled, Main Street would be fair game.” I grinned at the opportunity.
“They do have the strongest bite, but I don’t know… the Triceratops have a real chance, did I mention they have three horns? Three!” Darius beamed. “Not to mention their defensive frill. No way the T. rex can get to its neck.”
A loud snap made our attention return to the fight. The Triceratops horn had been crushed under Rexy’s mighty jaw. But when it did, the other horn made contact with the T. rex underbelly, inciting a deafening roar from the carnivore.
“Make that two horns.” Kenji laughed to Darius’ horror. “And a glorified rhino has nothing on the king.”
“Queen.” I coughed.
“I don’t know, Rexy seems hurt.” Darius watched the dinosaur with caution, as it circled the herbivore. “The Trike has the best defense ever, it can literally go fencing with its horns due to its neck, did I mention that it has the most flex-”
“It’s just a fat rhino, you’ve got this Rexy!” Kenji cheered from the safety of our hiding spot.
“What’s with boys and their fascination with animal fighting?” I sighed, watching as the Triceratops got lower to the ground, readying itself for the next attack.
“It’s badass.” Kenji grinned. “And look who’s talking.”
“Aw, Kenji.” I smirked. “You think fighting is badass?”
“Dino fight. Dinosaurs.” Kenji turned away from the fight for the first time, blushing into a soft shade of pink. “You are just crazy.”
My laughing was interrupted by the Tyrannosaur roaring loudly, showing all its teeth to the Triceratops, who bellowed back from its hunch over position, horns pointed at the carnivore. Rexy circled the dinosaur, but every time it lunged, the Triceratops whipped its head around so fast, always keeping the horns between them both. Rexy was clearly getting impatient from the way she was stomping the ground and with a huff-like sound she started to walk away. Soon, she was running out of the golf course, leaving a small trail of blood behind.
“What?” Kenji stood up hastily. “No! Get back there and kick it’s ass.”
I just grinned at the dinosaur fleeing with its tail between its legs. “I remember you saying something about money… we’re rich, D.” I elbowed him lightly.
“No way!” Kenji had his hands on his head.
“The T. rex is pretty smart, I guess it figured the Trike wouldn’t be worth it.” Darius smiled at the herbivore, still standing on edge as if waiting for the predator to return.
“Lame.”
“Show’s over, boys.” I removed some of the grass stuck to my pants and started to walk away. “Let’s go.”
“Hey, Hays.” Kenji jogged to catch up, bumping into me in the process. “I won by the way.”
I shook my head. “Our game got interrupted, I was about to make a comeback.”
“Such a sore loser.”
“The game never ended.”
“The T. rex ended it.”
“Interrupted.” I grinded my teeth.
Kenji just laughed at me. “Loser.”
“That was so awesome!” Darius finally caught up. “It’s like I was there, 70 million years ago… we were witnesses to legit behavior. Do you know how rare that is?” The boy was shaking in excitement, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he had a sugar rush.
“Yeah, so cool, right?” I patted Darius on the back. “Let’s just hurry if Rexy decides to come back. You can tell us all the juicy facts on the way to camp.”
“I don’t think she will.” Darius pondered. “I get that this is her territory, but larger carnivores usually prey on the weak, maybe Rexy thought since the Trike was alone, it was going to be an easy fight. I bet she isn’t used to hunting…”
I nodded. “She was bred in captivity…”
“Right! And I bet she has never seen a Triceratops before.” He nodded emphatically. “Way back then, it would’ve happened all the time. Lots of fossils had Tyrannosaurus’ bite marks in them…”
“Why are you encouraging him, bro?” Kenji whispered in my ear.
I shrugged. “I don’t want another Compy situation in our hands.”
Kenji groaned. “Tell me about it.”
“Dino-nerd has the facts, you can’t deny it.”
“Most of them are useless.”
“Ya never know…”
“…I wonder if the horn will grow back.” Darius said.
“I don’t wanna be here that long.” Kenji muttered.
“Yeah, I guess not, but it’s funny cause the Triceratops use it to their defense, obviously, but also courting and thermoregulation! Like the Stegosaurus! At least it’s a hypothesis… I need to be back to observe them more…”
Notes:
Kenji is a Rexy fanboy and I really wanted to give her a win, but come on… it’s a Trike.
Chapter 26: Test Drive
Summary:
Bumpy is a big lap dog and sharks are fucking annoying.
Notes:
Long-time coming 😏 but oops
Chapter Text
“Jeez, Hays. I don’t know why you keep complaining. I’d die to get to go to an exclusive camp in Jurassic World.” My sister said in her annoying high pitch voice. “Mom, can’t I come too?”
“You’re welcome to switch places with me, Lizzy.” I mumbled, sinking in the back seat.
“Sorry, sweety. Maybe next time.” My mom answered without taking her eyes off the road.
“I could’ve taken an uber to the airport, ya know?” I said, watching as the cars drove past us.
“I’m not sending no daughter of mine to Costa Rica via uber.” Dad was quick to reply.
“You can simply not send me off at all.” I pointed out, hopeless.
“We’ve talked about this.” Mom’s serious eyes glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “I’ve pulled a lot of strings at work to make this happen. You’re going.”
“It’s Jurassic World.” Lizzy chirped besides me. “Think about how many dinosaurs you’ll see. You have to send me a picture of the Mosa!”
“Or maybe take a selfie on the aviary.” Dad added smiling at mom.
“Yay me.” I said with fake enthusiasm. Spending the summer away from my friends… losing practice… How was I supposed to train for the championship this fall?
“It’s just a few weeks.” Dad said as if reading my mind. “Don’t take this as a punishment, Haydie. Try to enjoy yourself.”
There wasn’t much traffic so we reached the airport fairly quickly, even with mom’s turtle speed. I grabbed my luggage from the trunk using a bit more force than needed.
“Easy there.” Dad chuckled, taking the luggage from my hands.
“I want a souvenir!” Lizzy exclaimed, jumping out of the car.
I sighed. “What do you want?”
“I don’t know, it has to be a surprise!” She had a bright smile plastered on her face.
Even though I was determined to remain cranky, that made me crack a smile. “Fine…”
“Do you have everything you need? Toothbrush… socks…” Dad started to list stuff.
“Yeah, yeah, all good, dad.” I mumbled.
“Okay, then. I guess off you go.” He gave me a sheepish smile and engulfed me in a hug.
“Too tight.” I groaned with my voice muffled.
“Have a safe flight.” He finally let me go.
“And remember my souvenir!” Lizzy hugged me too, her head reaching my chin.
“Sure will, shortstack.” I ruffled her hair.
“Hey, I’m growing!” She pouted. “Dad says maybe I’ll be as tall as him.”
“Keep dreaming.” I chuckled.
Mom cleaned her throat and I turned to face her, my face falling immediately. ‘Yep, still mad. ’ I concluded.
She gave me a quick hug and a pat on the back. “Try to keep an open mind.”
“No promises.”
“And behave.” She pressed.
“I will.” I said, clenching my fist.
My dad gave me my luggage and with a quick goodbye I left them by the car, joining the sea of people waiting for their flights.
…
I opened my eyes to a blue sky with some spotted white puffy clouds. I had my arms crossed on the back of my head as a pillow, which had gone numb with my nap, so I switched positions and brought them to my stomach. But, instead, my hands touched something laying on top of me.
I raised my head. “Oh, sorry girl. Forgot about you.” Bumpy had her head on my stomach, peacefully snoring as I lightly patted her on the snout. To think that a dinosaur that size would have a heavy head, but I didn’t mind.
“…and then he came roaring at us, but I had Bumpy and my spear. Toro didn’t count on that.” Ben had copied my position, sprawled out in the grass next to me. He was, once again, blabbing about defeating Toro.
“Who are you talking to?” I asked, blinking the drowsiness away.
“What? Weren’t you listening?” He looked at me dumbfounded.
“Sorry, I fell asleep.” I laughed awkwardly.
“Oh, great.” He sighed. “Now, I’ll need to start over.”
“No, no, I was kidding, I-” but he didn’t pay any attention to me.
“So, there I stood… me against Toro…” Ben went on his mighty adventure for the billionth time.
I started to play with the grass and zoned out. Today was a lazy day, even the mosquitos were giving us a rest, not that I was complaining. Running around the island looking for a way out had been exhausting to say the least. After some failed attempts we were set on building a raft, but it was much easier said than done, as finding a proper sail had proven to be difficult. If we had managed the food situation, I’m sure finding a sail wouldn’t be hard. Right?
I wonder what would happen when we finally got out. We probably would sail to Costa Rica and ask for help, that could be difficult, though. Did Sammy speak Spanish? I had to ask her. But then what? Would they call our parents? Would we be international news? The kids who survived Jurassic World! That sounded nice.
My mind went instantly to my dream. I wonder how my parents would react, my dad would cry for sure, my sister too, and my mom would try and act all tough for a while. Did they blame themselves?
‘I would.’ I sighed to myself. My mom did help create a few of the dinosaurs that caused us a lot of trouble… Pteranodons… Dimorphodons… she’d never let that go.
Did they move on with their lives or were trying to come to the island to save us? I wonder if they think I’m dead… they can’t, right? The image of a tombstone with my name on it flashed across my mind and my chest tightened at the thought. They had to know I’m okay, that I’m alive…
“Does that cloud look like a rocket?” Ben suddenly asked me, pointing at the sky. He had finished telling his story and was, now, sitting on the grass, which I hadn’t even noticed.
“Huh?” I hummed, as I rubbed my eyes, trying to wipe out the tears that were threatening to fall.
“Are you crying?” He asked, glancing down at me. “I know me defeating Toro was awesome, but not that much.”
“Do you think they know we’re alive?” I asked before I could stop myself. “Our parents, I mean.”
“Oh.” Ben laid back down.
“Sorry to ruin the mood.” I quickly blurted out. “It was such a nice day.”
“It is a nice day.” Ben said as we glanced at the clouds lazily passing through the sky. He stood in silence for so long, I thought he would ignore me. “I think they know we are alive. Parents just know this kind of stuff.” He finally said.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “They do, don’t they? It’s like a sixth sense, they be scary sometimes.”
“Like a superpower. One time…” He chuckled to himself. “…I bought some chocolate without my mom knowing and boom… just by looking, she figured me out.”
“Damn, that’s impressive.” I choked my laugh.
“She confiscated all my snacks.” He cried.
“Even the carob bars?” I asked, holding in another giggle.
“Ha ha. Very funny.” He pouted. “Don’t underestimate nature’s chocolate.”
“Well, last year.” I crossed my arms behind my head again, reminiscing. “I really wanted to go to this party so, I timed the hour my mom and dad went to bed, as one does…”
“Naturally.” Ben chuckled.
“But that had to be the night she changed her routine. Like she knew what I was thinking. I was in so much trouble…” I groaned. “Back then, that seemed like the end of the world for me.” I shook my head.
“I never got ‘parties’.” Ben turned to face me, laying on his elbows. “Just a bunch of people moving around.”
“Have you ever been to one?” I asked, legitimately curious, but kind of already knowing the answer.
“No… but I’ve seen movies.” He said in such a serious tone that I burst out laughing.
“Yeah, that figures.” Bumpy stirred awake in my lap and snorted. “Sorry, Bumps.” I laughed, petting her on the head. “When we get out of here, we are going to a party. I’m throwing one if I have to, my parents would kill me, but I swear I’ll do it.”
“I’ll do you one better; we can convince Kenji to throw a mega party at his dad's mansion!” Ben gave me a devious smile.
“Oh, that would be awesome! Dude has a bowling alley.” I laughed, already picturing it.
“Then, we could-”
“Camp meeting!” Darius called from somewhere in our treehouse.
“No...” I groaned.
But Ben was already on his feet, laying his hand out to help me up. “Come on.”
“I can’t. I’m a pillow right now.” I said serious, motioning to Bumpy on my lap.
“Darius is calling.” He grunted as he tried to hoist me up, but I slouched on the ground.
“Darius is calling.” I copied him in a whiny voice. “That’s a trend now. We never do anything in these meetings.”
“It’s his thing.” Ben gave up on me and tried to move Bumpy. “Come on, Bumps. Get up from the comfy pillow.” He tried to raise her head, and I smiled as he failed. “I’ll swear I’ll give you some delicious dry mangoes.” He coerced her.
At that, Bumpy bellowed happily and got up. I whined as I was relieved from my pillow duties, and Ben finally got me up, pulling me towards the camp meeting.
…
“Guys, we need to think of something.” Darius started the meeting. “How difficult could it be to find a fabric for a sail?” He sat down on the couch with a thump. It had been weeks from the waterfall incident and after a lot of rest, the bandages were finally off and there were only three ragged and very red scars still with some scabbing.
“There’s nothing we could use… the leaves just fall off.” Brooklynn said.
“The mattresses’ sheets don’t hold the wind.” Ben reminded us.
“Isn’t there something in Main Street we could use?” Sammy asked, glancing at me.
But Kenji answered instead. “We cleaned that place, all there’s left is the Mosasaurus.”
Then something clicked for me. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? “The Mosa! That’s it!”
“We are not riding the Mosasaurus to Costa Rica.” Brooklynn sighed, disappointed. “You’ve been spending too much time with Kenji.”
“Hey!” Kenji huffed.
“What? No, not that.” I shook my head, emphatically. “The kayaks. We could use those right?” They all just looked at me dumbfounded. “It’s not the best idea, but they float. Given that we can paddle ‘till mainland...”
“That is… a great idea.” Darius jumped up in excitement. “How haven’t we thought about it before?” He laughed.
“We’ve been busy with other stuff.” I cracked a smile.
“Woo! CKK is back, baby! Let’s go, people.” Kenji got up, ushering us from our seats.
“Oh, man. I hope those dang Parasaurolophuses aren’t around this time.” Sammy shivered.
“We shouldn’t be going too deep in their cave.” I patted her on the back.
“Do you really think we can paddle 120 miles to Costa Rica? Without getting lost?” Ben spoke up.
“Don’t harsh the mellow, Ben.” Kenji hooked his arm around Ben’s shoulders. “Let’s test it out.”
“Ben has a point, though.” Yasmina said.
“I think we should still try it, what do you think?” Darius turned to me.
“Let’s do a test drive on the beach.” I pondered. “If that’s too hard we can figure something else out.”
“Then let’s stop wasting time, fellow campers.” Kenji said, going down the slide. “Kayak time!” He yelled as he motioned for us to follow him to the jungle.
“What has gotten into him today?” Brooklynn sighed.
I just laughed as he was going the exact opposite direction. “You’re going the wrong way!” I yelled at Kenji.
“I knew that!” He threw a thumbs up in the air and turned around. “But what are you guys still doing there?”
…
We went back to the River Adventure, and luckily, the Parasaurolophuses weren’t near the entrance. The cave was just as we had left it, dark and humid, with several kayaks stored on racks to the side, and the rest of the equipment scattered around the deck.
We opted for taking only one kayak for the test; we grabbed a pair of lifejackets and paddles, and the seven of us alternated on who was carrying the kayak to the beach.
The more we thought about it, the worse the idea seemed. How would we be able to paddle all the way to the continent? Ben had said it was 120 miles, if we struggled to paddle on the lagoon, how were we supposed to make it to Costa Rica?
While looking at the kayak, I regretted giving the idea even more. Those things were tiny, only room for two people, what about water and food?
Even though everybody seemed to be on the same page, we went on with the plan. We arrived at the same location we had tested the gyrospheres, a sandy beach near the northwest dock. Kenji volunteered to go with me on the kayak so we borrowed swim suits from the souvenir store back at the park.
The weather today was way colder than the usual Isla Nublar’s eternal summer. The breeze of the ocean sent chills down my spine, suddenly reminding me that I was wearing just a bikini. A sky blue bikini, may I add, would not have been my first color of choice. I wondered if I looked weird in this color. Boys didn’t really have the best fashion sense, right?
‘He wouldn’t mind.’ The thought invaded my mind.
‘Not that I cared. I do not care how Kenji feels about my bikini.’ I silenced that voice.
I glanced at Kenji; he had his head down and his lips were pressed in a thin line looking at the sand. He looked a bit stressed… was it because of the kayaks? Our last experience wasn’t the best.
He did look good in his black board shorts, though. I got used to seeing him on his tank top, showing his lean arms, but it was nothing like seeing him without a shirt on. Showing his broad shoulders and defined pecs, and if the lighting was just right, I could see his slightly defined abdomen. There was a layer of sweat on his skin from the hike over, making it all almost glisten to the sun. I bet his skin would be soft like his hands, or even softer… I felt warmth invading my body as my eyes traveled up to his neck line, his parted lips and his chocolate eyes… staring back at me?
‘Oh, shit.’ My head jerked away, focusing on the ocean in front of us. All the blood rushing to my cheek and ears, burning hot. ‘Did he just catch me checking him out?’ I cringed, then it dawned on me. I was totally checking him out. ‘Oh, I’m never hearing the end of it.’ I took another peek at him, expecting him to have a smug smirk on his face, but instead he was… blushing?
‘Oh great, I’ve made him embarrassed.’ The thought immediately made me want to dig a hole and hide in it. But then I noticed the burning sensation of his eyes on me. ‘Was he checking me out?’ I took another peek. ‘Yep.’ A smile grew on my lips as I looked away, standing straighter, not afraid to admit that, yes, I was flexing my abs.
Yasmina cleared her throat behind us, sending Kenji into a fit of cough, thus making my smile grow even more, my cheeks hurting as I tried to suppress it. ‘He really was checking me out.’ The thought made my heart race.
“So… are we doing this?” Yasmina asked.
Kenji and I put on our life jackets as Ben and Darius placed the kayak on the water. Both of us glanced wary at the waves, as they were a lot bigger than the last time we were on this beach. Luckily, today we didn’t have to worry about dinosaurs. The only one that lived on the ocean was the Mosasaurus, and it was safely swimming in the lagoon, far away from us. I heard Darius’ voice in my head. ‘Not a dinosaur, just a reptile.’
“You’ve got this, y’all!” Sammy gave us a thumbs up and a nervous smile.
Without another minute of hesitation, we pushed the kayak until the water was deep enough so we could paddle, Kenji sat on the front and I on the back. I kept my eyes glued to my knees, not trusting that I wasn’t going to space out on how good his arms looked on that life jacket.
“We really picked the worst day for this!” Kenji yelled, as we pushed through a wave.
“Keep paddling. We’re almost out of the surf!” I paddled as hard as I could.
We finally reached deep enough, where the waves weren’t crashing on us anymore. We paddled far out the shore, drawing random patterns on the water. After minutes of constant paddling, with the waves and wind fighting against us, my muscles were screaming to stop.
“Argh! I give up.” Kenji stopped paddling. “I can’t do this anymore.”
I scoffed. “We’ll have to if we want to paddle to Costa Rica.”
“Yeah, that might be hard.”
“Not that much of a plan, huh.” I sighed. If we couldn’t take a few minutes of paddling in circles, imagine until the mainland.
“No, it was a great plan, but… 120 miles is a long way to go.”
“Why did you come along, then?” I asked, annoyance showing in my voice.
He chuckled. “It’s a hot day and kayaking on the beach seemed fun.” He dipped his feet on the water.
‘Hot? How was he not freezing?’ I was already soaked from all those waves that hit us and the constant wind didn’t help.
“If you say so.” I rested the paddles on my lap, and suddenly Kenji decided to dive into the sea, splashing water everywhere. “Oh, come on!” I wiped the cold water off of my face. “We should at least pretend to test the kayaks.” I glanced back at the shore, where our friends looked like little ants observing us.
“We’re fine.” He floated around the kayak. “But I do feel bad for them.” He pointed at the shore with his chin.
“Why is that?” I raised an eyebrow at him, as he came to float next to my seat.
Kenji suddenly gripped my wrist. “They're missing out on all the fun.”
“Don’t-” He pulled me overboard, the cold water making all my muscles tense up. My life jacket brought me back to the surface and I stared down the culprit, who was laughing his ass off. “You’re dead, Kon.” I declared, dunking his head underwater.
He bounced back up spitting water, but still laughing. Surely enough, a water fight ensued and we only stopped when we were too tired to even laugh. We ended up floating on our backs next to the kayak, going up and down as the waves passed through. If I didn’t know better, this day could pass as a happy vacation on the beach.
I chuckled. “Isla Nublar: a tropical paradise.” I thought out loud.
“Where you pay to be prey.” Kenji crackled.
“That should be their new slogan.”
“But enough of sandy beaches for me. If we get back home, I’m never leaving the city ever again!” He sighed. “Cooked food, my comfy bed, my TV…” He daydreamed.
“A bowling alley…” I chipped in, but I think it was the wrong thing to say, because his face dropped.
“Yeah… that too.” Kenji mumbled. We remained in silence for a long time, only this time the silence came with a bit of tension. I peeked at him to try and see his face. Was he mad at me? For mentioning the bowling alley? He did say that he always played alone or with the staff that let him win. Was that the wrong thing to say? Kenji interrupted my overthinking by finally speaking.
“After all this, do you think we’ll keep in touch?” He glanced at me and quickly averted his gaze. “I mean, all of us… we’ve been through so much, and-”
“I’d like that.” I said with honesty. “Camp fam, right?” I chuckled. “Of course, it would be hard since we live all far away, but we’ll make it work.”
“You guys are welcome anytime.” He commented. “It would be nice having company.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that your folks are always out, right?” I asked cautiously, and he nodded. “But what about friends?”
“None that would miss me much.” Kenji’s voice came out full of sadness, shoulders slumped down with his eyes away from me. “My dad is, like, super rich and he worked with Masrani. I don’t care how much it costs, if he wanted to, my dad would already be here to rescue me.” The sadness was joined by anger. “I don’t have anyone to miss or anyone that misses me.”
“Don’t say that.” I swam closer to him. Undecided whether I could touch him, but then I placed my hand on his arm to comfort him. “I’m sure they miss you; I know I would… we all would.”
“Thanks.” He sniffled. We stayed in silence, Kenji lost in thought as I drew circles on his arm with my thumb, scouring my mind for something to say.
“If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m literally not going anywhere.” I finally said.
He shook his head. “People never mean that.”
“Kenji.” I tugged on his arm, making him look at me. “You’re not alone, okay. You’ve got me, and the weirdos back at the beach and a drooling dinosaur.”
“That doesn’t make me feel much better.” The sadness on his eyes didn’t leave, but a shy smile crept up on his lips.
“Hey, I’m working with what I’ve got.” I gave him a half smile. Silence engulfed us again as Kenji’s smile disappeared and his eyes turned distant again, watching the mountains that surrounded the beach. My hand on his arm went down to meet his hand, relaxing his fist and intertwining our fingers. “Hey, talk to me.”
Kenji let out a harsh breath before answering. “It’s just that, do you think we’ll make it out of this place? Like actually?” My chest hurt at how lost and defeated he sounded.
“I do.” I said with no hesitation. “I stand by what I said. We will get out. If we can’t find a way out, I’m sure someone will come back to the island… eventually.”
“Yeah, but when?” He dropped his head, clutching my hand hard. “I just wanted a break, without dinosaurs, without having to worry about food, or-” He choked on his own words. “This is not fair.”
He was trembling slightly so I pulled him to a hug; he immediately put his arms around me and hugged me tightly. My chest felt heavy at seeing Kenji like this, he always seemed happy and relaxed. Always telling jokes and cheering up the group. Today he even seemed extra happy. Was that all a front?
‘I’m so damn stupid.’ How could I have not seen it before? The island… being left behind… having to fight to survive… it had got to all of us. Maybe Kenji was good at disguising his sadness, replacing it with humor. Way too good. I guess growing up alone in a mansion with a father like his would do that to you.
“We can do that, okay?” My voice cracked a bit because of the lump on my throat. “We could come to the beach and chill. Or we can go to the golf course and just lay on the grass while we have a picnic. No dinosaurs, just us.”
“Sounds nice.” He raised his head from my neck and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
He didn’t let go of me, even though we had life jackets on, he was holding on to me like he was afraid of drowning, and I let him. So, we just floated in the ocean together. His eyes were a bit red, was it because of the saltwater or the tears he was holding in? I didn’t know.
“It’s okay.” I smiled softly, nodding as my hand traveled up to his hair, stroking it gently, so he would know he could cry if he wanted.
The life jacket was digging into my arm, but I didn’t dare to move. Kenji had buried his head on the crook of my neck, whimpering ever so softly. His breath tickled my neck and I shivered slightly, making him hug me tighter, his hands gripping my life jacket. His legs brushed against my own and my breath hitched as another shiver traveled through my body. My very naked leg.
‘Nope! I’m not thinking about that. You’re here to comfort Kenji, that’s it.’ My hand caressed his wet hair, trying to focus on anything else than his thigh against my own, but I could feel the heat radiating from him. Or was it me?
‘Stop.’
Clouds… they were pretty. ‘Think about clouds. ’ My eyes scanned the sky, looking for a fluffy cloud that looked like something… anything. Okay, there was one that, if you squint, it looked like a cat… Oh wait, the tail just got severed, so not a cat. Another one, kinda reminded me of a fish swimming in the sky. Fish… maybe we should learn how to fish. A bunker full of food was great and all, but it was going to end eventually, so we needed a plan B. It should be easy enough to build a fishing rod. There was a literal bamboo jungle near the golf course, but finding the fishing line could be difficult. We even had grubs for bait…
I hadn’t noticed, but for a while now, Kenji had stopped crying and had raised his head from my shoulder creating a small gap between us, but enough for cold water to rush in. I fought the urge to pull him close, to feel warm again.
Kenji glanced at the beach. “Maybe we should-”
“We don’t need to go back right now if you don’t want to.” My voice came out a whisper as my hand kept caressing his hair gently. I doubt Kenji would like people to see his puffy and red eyes. For a moment I thought he was going to let go, but he kept his arms around me.
“Thanks, Hays.” His voice was breathy and hoarse. Him saying my name so intensively made me swoon. It made me want to hear more… Nope, clouds, focus on clouds. I swear I tried to look away, but his eyes were fixed on mine, locking me in place. Those beautiful chocolatey eyes were darker today, the pupils were wide as the sadness disappeared from it. Well, most of it anyways, it was replaced by a glint of something I had never seen on Kenji. Something new.
Kenji moved his body, hugging me closer, with that, his legs moved again, brushing against my skin in a way that sent shivers to all the right places. This time, I couldn’t help but think it was on purpose, and just like before, it left me breathless. I bit my lip, stopping myself from making any sound, but unintentionally, my hand gripped his short hair and Kenji tensed up around me.
Kenji’s gaze darted ever so slightly to my lips, but I caught onto that. I tasted the salt water in my mouth and I wondered what his would taste like. I watched as his lips parted and he breathed out, making my heart stop. My hand moved on its own, traveling down to the nape of his neck, pulling him in. Closer. I needed him closer.
I felt his breath on my lips when an odd shape caught my eye. In my peripheral vision, I saw a gray fin slicing across the water.
I grasped his shoulder. “Kenji.” I hastily whispered; eyes locked on the animal.
He followed my gaze and gasped. “Shark!”
“Go!” I broke our hug, shoving him off. We desperately swam towards the kayak; a few strokes and we had reached it. I helped him up while I frantically glanced around us, looking for the shark, but it was nowhere in sight.
Something bumped into me, hard, making me scream in panic. Kenji pulled me up by the lifejacket and we scrambled to grab our paddles. In a second, we were paddling on full power to get out of the ocean. I felt my right thigh burning, where the shark had bumped into me; I looked down and sighed in relief, it hadn’t bitten me, but my skin was red with some specks of blood, as if someone had rubbed sandpaper on it.
The shark slammed into the kayak, making both of us yelp in surprise. The kayak rocked sideways, almost taking us down, but we pushed through, paddling to the shore. The shark skimmed the water next to us again and Kenji hit it with the paddle, the shark snapped its jaws at the object, taking a large chunk of it.
“Oh, come on!” Kenji shrieked, glancing at his damaged paddle.
We refocused our energy on paddling. Near the beach, the waves remained huge, crashing down hard. We picked up speed fast, as a swell propelled us.
“Fuck.” I breathed out, as the kayak leaned dangerously with the wave.
“I can’t slow down!” Kenji yelled.
The wave tilted the kayak sideways and it capsized, throwing us in the water. I spun around with the wave, hitting my back on the sand; The lifejacket took me to the surface, but I couldn’t see anything, my hair was on my face and there was sand on my eyes. And when I realized I could breathe again, another wave was on top of me and I had to dive.
I resurfaced, gasping for air and looked back to the beach, the kayak was upside down almost at the sand; Kenji was close to it, and was motioning something to me, ushering me to swim. Afraid that he had seen the shark, I started to swim desperately to the shore, catching a wave to help me.
We ran from the ocean, our hearts racing as we collapsed in the sand by our friends, who were laughing at our failed kayaking experience.
“Argh, there’s sand in my mouth.” Kenji laid on his back.
“Guys, a kayak is not a surfboard.” Darius rolled his eyes, while the others laughed.
“We were too busy fleeing the shark to care about that.” I said through my clenched teeth.
They stopped laughing immediately. “The- the what?” Sammy stumbled on her words. “There was a shark?”
“It was huge!” Kenji opened up his arms to show the size. “It ate my paddle and tried to bite Hays.”
“It wasn’t that big.” I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration.
“Are you kidding, it was a Jaws worthy shark!”
“You’re bleeding.” Sammy shrieked, kneeling next to me.
I examined my leg, the whole right thigh had multiple thin scratches that were bleeding a bit. “Glad it didn’t bite me, though.” I frowned, that shit burned!
“Dinosaurs… killer sharks… anything else this island wants to throw at us?” Kenji hissed.
“Don’t jinx it.” Brooklynn mumbled.
“Come on guys, today was a bust, but at least we're all okay.” Darius glanced at me and I nodded.
“Good, can we get back to camp now? Bumpy isn’t a big fan of the beach.” Ben said, as he petted the big Ankylo, who didn’t seem that bothered.
Kenji and I cleaned off the sand on the water, but we didn’t dare to go too deep. I hissed as the salt water touched my leg again. Shit, I’d rather be stabbed by sharp glass.
“You okay?” Kenji asked, not looking me in the eyes.
“I just really hate sharks right now, ya know?” I said with a smile. He looked at me for a hot second, before his eyes glued to the water again. “Are you okay?”
“All good.”
“You know, if-”
“Ha!” Kenji cheered as his paddle came floating our way. He lifted it up with pride, walking away.
“You gonna hang it by your bed?” Yasmina chuckled.
“Hell yeah, I am. This is gonna show ‘em dinosaurs not to mess with us.” He proudly walked off with it on his shoulder.
I just sighed and followed them back to camp, wrapping my arms around myself, self-aware that I was only wearing the bikini, but I refused to get my clothes wet. It was a nightmare to wash clothes on the island, it involved a lot of soap and time wrapped in a towel.
“You guys sure did spend your sweet time on the water.” Yasmina shoved me lightly.
“Yeah, how was the test drive?” Brooklynn smirked. My cheeks burned hot as I recalled what had happened before the shark scare. They couldn’t possibly had seen that from the beach, right?
“Kayaking is exhausting, we were just taking a break.” I turned my face away from the two, inspecting the so very interesting trees. “Probs not the smartest way of getting out of this island.”
“Right…” Yasmina gave the side-eye.
“Yeah, so I gotta run before Kenji claims the shower first.” I picked up the pace before they could get any more ideas. I heard them both giggling behind me. Damn, I really needed to work on my poker face.
Chapter 27: Goodbye Blue
Summary:
“Why are you looking at me like you just ate a sour lemon?”
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Blood spattered across my face as the jaws closed around the person in front of me, who had pushed me out of the way. Pink hair flailed in the air and then was gone. Dragged into the darkness of the jungle as the sounds of breaking bones silenced the screams.
Someone grabbed my shoulders, shaking me and calling my name. But my legs didn’t work, they were as heavy as lead, impossible to move.
‘Move dammit. You gotta get up.’
A gnarly growl drew my attention and I got a glimpse of those teeth again, and behind them, those glowing orange eyes. My body remained frozen facing the dinosaur, who was charging at me, bloody teeth ready.
Its jaws sunk into flesh and blood squirted in the grass. But not my flesh. Not my blood. No. It was never me.
Kenji had his body shielding me. His arms outstretched in the air went limp as the jaws closed around his head. It was ripped from his neck and a snarl, almost like laughter, filled the air as the rest of his body fell on top of me. Warm blood, everywhere.
I woke up with my pillow smooshed under my grip. My skin was covered with a thin layer of sweat, but enough for my clothes to stick uncomfortably on my skin. My eyes panned out to the bunkers around me. It was still dark, but the mounds under the sheets were there, chest going up and down on a steady rhythm. This was enough for my breathing to calm down.
First, I thought this would stop when Ben came back, and it did, but sometimes I caught myself waking up to teeth and claws. More rarely, the campers would make an appearance in my nightmares, and it was always accompanied with a lot of blood. This was one of those nights.
‘My fault.’ The thought echoed in my brain. ‘It was always my fault.’
I took a minute to gather my thoughts, laying in my bed. ‘Just a nightmare, no need to get worked up about it.’ I tucked my chin over the Ankylo plushy and my thoughts traveled to Kenji for an instant, remembering how he went back for it. It made me smile into it, forgetting the nightmare for a while.
But then, the smile vanished. He had been avoiding me since the kayak test. It’s been a week and all that I got were averting gazes and silence. He wouldn’t talk to me unless there was someone else present and the topic was never the one I wanted to discuss. I get that he wanted space… but couldn’t he do that without shutting me out completely? ‘I missed my workout buddy, dammit.’ It wasn’t the same training alone.
I couldn’t help but wonder if I had misread the situation at the time. No… that wasn’t it. I remember how his eyes were locked on mine… how he leaned in too…
‘Had he regretted it?’ That thought made my heart sink. The only thing I had regretted was the shark appearing out of nowhere.
‘This wasn’t going to get me anywhere.’ I took a deep breath. It wasn’t worth it to think about this right now.
I shut my eyes and tried to make myself go back to sleep, but to no avail. I tossed and turned for some time before giving up. I listened for the steady breathing and light snoring around me for a second and then went over my morning routine as quietly as possible. It wasn’t really a routine; I just brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face.
Down on the grass, I found Bumpy right outside of the fence, curled up in a ball. I settled to use her as a backrest and petted her head, but she didn’t even move. So, my eyes darted towards the dark jungle that stood before me. If there were to be any threat, Bumpy would notice it, right? Even if she was asleep…
I wonder what would happen if we were attacked. The fence would probably keep the smaller dinosaurs away. Compies would never get in, same would go for those black goo spitting dinosaurs and the Raptor, at least I don’t think they could jump over the fence. The Baryonyxes would be a problem since they had the numbers and well, very sharp claws. Could it cut through metal? It dawned over me how I had zero notion of how strong a dinosaur really was. The fact that a Stegosaurus killed a Ceratosaurus without even trying was testament enough.
But I wasn’t much worried about the herbivores, they tended to stay away. The few encounters we had, made that clear. And it’s not like they would stampede straight into a huge tree. They could see , right?
The bigger carnivores would be trickier. If Rexy appeared, we would be dead, trapped inside our own fenced camp. Damn, she’d stomp over us if she wanted to. It didn’t matter if we were high up, a T. rex could probably reach us easily. The medium size carnivores like Toro and Ceratosaurus were doable… I think. We could run in zigzag while they tore everything down. And with Bumpy on our side, we could probably get away. Taking a Ankylo’s club to the body certainly would break a couple bones, even if the Ankylo in question wasn’t fully developed yet.
We relied way too much on Bumpy. Maybe, we should get some more weapons. It would be useful against the smaller dinos. My knife got lost with Hap. It’s not like I regret giving it to him, I just grew attached to it a bit. I needed a new one. And perhaps Ben could teach us to build one of his spears. Some range would be good.
I cringed to myself for not thinking about it earlier. We grew acclimated to our camp and how safe we felt in here. Yes, we’ve been going out daily searching for supplies for the raft, we were always careful. But at camp… it gave us a false sense of security since it had been dinosaur free for the most part. But somebody needed to keep an eye out, we didn’t sleep in shifts anymore… maybe that could be the cause of my nightmares? Well, in part, cause the fact that we were still on this island didn’t do wonders for my sleep schedule.
And as the great lookout that I was, I didn’t even hear the person approaching before she spoke.
“You’re up early.” Yasmina spoke behind me.
I jolted up at that, my hand clutching the shirt over my heart. “Jesus fucking Christ! Step on a twig or something.”
She just stood there with an amused smile. “How long have you been up?”
I glanced at the sky, now in a light blue color. “Not long.” I shrugged.
She started her pre run stretches so I let my eyes return to the jungle. Now I could see it more clearly. The trees, bushes and grass. No glowing eyes watching us. Nothing hiding in the shadows… at least nothing I could see…
“What’s up with you?” Yasmina asked, glancing down at me with a frown.
“Huh?”
“You’re weird.”
I chuckled. “I’m not, though.”
“Weirder than usual.” She rolled her eyes.
“I feel like I should be offended here.” I cracked a smile and she only grunted in my attempt of changing the subject. I sighed. “Just tired.”
“Can’t sleep?”
I ran my fingers through my head. “Eh, sometimes it’s hard to sleep on a dinosaur infested island.”
“You got that right.” She chuckled bitterly. “Still with the nightmares?”
“Yeah. You?” I looked up to her, who was now stretching her arms above her head.
“Sometimes.” She mumbled and I nodded in response, leaning more into Bumpy. I guess this island was haunting everybody’s dreams. “When I can’t sleep, I like to go on a run… to loosen up and free my mind.” Her voice was more cheerful all of the sudden, as she ran in place.
I had to laugh at that. “You go running a lot, you know that right?”
“Do I?” She smirked.
Maybe some exercise was exactly what I needed. Letting the muscles burn and my mind go numb.
“I guess I could stretch my legs…”
…
By the time we did the usual track around camp, the usual morning fog was starting to dissipate and the sun was high and bright up in the sky. My legs started to burn in a way that made me want to push harder. I was wondering if Yasmina was feeling the same when she stopped by the bridge over the river. The sun reflected on the water, painting the river with a golden color just like the first time we went running.
We took our time chilling a bit and taking sips of cold water from the river, when I noticed Yasmina giving me side glances.
“It’s cool if I call you Hays, right?”
I snorted. “After everything we’ve been through, you guys can call me whatever, Yaz.”
“Okay, Rocky.” She laughed.
“I get that you’re trying to be funny, but I kinda like ‘Rocky’ better than ‘Hays’.” I grinned. “It’s a compliment really.”
“Oh.” She raised both hands in the air, as if apologizing. “I wouldn’t want to inflate your ego.”
“I don’t have an ego, you do, Trackstar.”
“Yours is bigger.”
I smirked. “Oh, so you admit to it? You know that’s still a bad thing, right?”
“Yeah, but yours is bigger.” Yasmina shrugged. “I still won.”
“Just like you won back at the obstacle course?” My smile grew.
“Just like you won our race?”
“There’s an opening in my mourning class, you should apply so I can wipe the floor with you.” I put on my innocent voice, while trying not to laugh.
Yasmina scoffed. “Thanks, but I’m not a masochist.”
“Says the girl who competed with a torn ACL.”
“Hey, I medaled on that race.” She had her hands on her waist.
“Which means you got what?” I tapped on my chin with my finger, as if thinking. “Third?”
“Oh, you’ll see the third place.” She jumped into a sprinting stance. “Race you to the edge of the jungle?” She had a smug smile on her face.
“You’re on.” I copied her.
“3… 2… 1…”
“Go!” We both shouted, going out on a full-blown sprint.
Yasmina took the lead like I expected her to, but I wasn’t that far behind. She was faster, but I was more agile when we had to duck some branches or jump over a rock. We ran our usual path going to Main Street, so we were familiar with the dinosaurs that hung in these parts, no dangerous ones.
Even though I was losing the race, I smiled as the wind blew my hair back. Looking around on how the jungle looked like in the morning, with droplets of dew glowing with the sun. I had long forgotten to keep breathing properly, so Yasmina was way ahead. I could see the opening to the grasslands coming up, the finishing line. So, I pushed harder, my legs protesting and my lungs burning.
I passed the threshold seconds after Yasmina and suddenly, the day was ten times brighter without the trees to keep the sun away. I collapsed into the grass, my legs like jello. I didn’t care how wet the grass was, I actually liked how cool it was against my skin.
“You got better.” Yasmina appeared in my view with a smile on her face.
“My ego says thanks.” I grinned.
She chuckled, sitting next to me. “Okay, let’s agree that both of us may have an ego.”
“Not bigger than Mr. VIP.” I sat up.
“No, that would be impossible.”
We both fell into a fit of laughter, which eventually died down. But the smile on my lips remained, happy how my muscles burned from the exercise, how my breathing was still labored and the sweat covered my skin. It brought back a sense of normalcy I just didn’t get when I was running from dinosaurs.
I let out a heavy sigh. “I’ve missed this.”
“Yeah, my ankle is finally back to 100%.” Yasmina laughed softly. “How’s the arm?”
“Just an ugly scar.” I pulled the T-shirt sleeve to show the ragged red line in the interior of my arm.
“Does it hurt?” She looked down at it.
“It stings sometimes.” I covered it back up. “No biggie.” I shrugged, but she just hummed in response, eyes still on my arm. “I still could wipe the floor with you, don’t worry.”
She groaned. “Do you ever have an off button?”
“Nope!” I smiled brightly. “But hey, you’re the one who invited me.”
“An honest mistake.” She sighed. “Cause last time I checked, you said you’d keep quiet.”
“I don’t remember such a thing.” My mind went back to our first run.
“And you said you could keep up.”
“Didn’t you say I got better.” I pointed out with a smirk.
“Don’t let it get to your head.” Yasmina rolled her eyes.
“Maybe I’m just recovering for lost time, since my workout buddy left me.” I cringed at my choice of words. I was referring to Yasmina. Just Yasmina.
She scoffed. “We went on a run together like two times.”
“Not if you count that time when we ran from the Indominus… the T. rex… the-”
“Okay, okay…” She groaned. “But you replaced me with Kenji. Kenji!”
“What? Did you want to get punched instead of him?”
“I wouldn’t get punched.” She mumbled under her breath.
I crossed my arms. “I remember you refusing my invitation, multiple times…”
“What? Did you expect me to punch a dinosaur?” She laughed at the thought. “I’m better at running from them.”
“If you say so…” I got up, cleaning the grass from my clothes.
Yasmina started, yet again, stretching as she looked around. “Where are we again?” She frowned.
I looked at our surroundings. It was familiar, velvet green hills with little mounds that stood out. It wasn’t the usual path we took to Main Street. I guess we were too excited with our race and ended up off-track.
I sighed as my eyes locked on the mounds. “Oh, the Brachio hills.”
“The what?” She laughed.
“See that?” I pointed to the piles on the hills.
“The piles of rocks and branches?” She frowned. I guess from afar they did look like that.
“Bones.” I corrected her and her eyes went wide. “You should’ve seen it when they were- never mind.” I shook my head. “Nobody would’ve liked to see that. Or smell it.”
“So, you’ve been here before?”
“Uhum, with Kenji. Our best guess was the Indominus.”
“Damn… I know that it killed a Brachiosaurus right in front of us… but this many?” Her brows shot up, her gaze shifting from pile to pile… six on total. “That seems like… just impossible.”
“Guess not.” I walked to the closest pile of bones. They were yellow-ish, almost clean. Probably work of Compies and Pteranodons. ‘Fucking vultures.’ “I’ve never been this close. At least it doesn’t smell like death anymore.” Yasmina just kept silent next to me, her burrows frowned. “How long do you think it takes for that to happen?”
She didn’t even hesitate. “A couple months to a year, but with this weather… I’m going with a couple months.”
“Months…?” My jaw dropped. ‘Has it even been that long?’ But then it dawned on me what she had said… how- “How do you even know that!?”
“It’s just a hobby, I-”
“No!” I clasped my hands over my ears. “I don’t want to know. Let’s just get out of here before I become an accomplice to a serial killer.”
“I’m not a serial killer!” She exasperated, but then cocked her head with a small smile. “They need a pattern of three, at least.”
“Please be joking!” I grunted, taking a step away from her, while she remained unfazed, just a cold smile on her lips. “Ugh, I don’t know if you’re joking.” She opened her mouth to say something, but I was quick to cut her off. “Nope, I don’t wanna know.”
…
I thought she was joking. Like, I had 95% certainty she was joking, but that 5%... ugh. It didn’t help that I felt her eyes on me all the way back. I practically sighed in relief when I saw camp, Sammy and Brooklynn were sitting around the table. Oh, how I missed normal people.
“There y’all are!” Sammy greeted us, with a frown. “I was worried.”
“Morning run.” I mumbled, taking a seat on the other side of the table.
“We should’ve left a note, sorry Sammy.” Yasmina said, sitting next to her.
“You should be sorry to me, ‘cause I had to put up with her…” Brooklynn groaned. “Going on and on about Cookie.”
“Cookie is not that bad.” Yasmina came to her defense.
“Her- what now?” I cocked my head, thoughts running wild in my mind.
“Yaz even drew her.” Sammy nudged her. “Show them.” Yasmina promptly got up to get her notebook.
“I don’t think I wanna see your cookie, Sammy.” I had to hold in a laugh. ‘She couldn’t be serious.’ I shook my head. ‘I must be missing something. Please, God, let it be it.’
“Why not?” She whined. “She’s adorable.”
“Adorable?” I snorted. ‘Cookies are adorable now?’ “I don’t really get the appeal.”
“She’s all gentle and snuggly.” Sammy smiled, dreamy.
“Here.” Yasmina came back with her notebook, opening it up and showing it to us.
“Oh.” I stared at it. “Oh! It’s a cow!” I laughed. The drawing was of a smiling white cow with so many back dots it kinda looked like chocolate chips.
“Of course, she’s a cow.” Brooklynn scoffed. “What else would Cowgirl be talking about?”
“I named her when I was five.” Sammy said defensively. “It was cute.”
“Still is cute. Sammy, don't mind them.” Yasmina gave Brooklynn and me her deadly stare.
“Oh, no… it’s cute. It’s a cute cow.” I reassured Sammy, which made her smile return.
“Y’all have to meet her sometime… and Bessie, Gertie and Pearl. Bumpy reminds me of them.” She said softly. “I reckon Bumpy don’t like to snuggle with me… or eat from my hand… or-”
“Don’t worry, Sammy.” Yasmina placed a hand on her shoulder. “Bumpy may not be the smartest one out there, but I’m sure-”
“I’m sorry, but Bumpy practically understands English.” I grinned. “So, who’s not smart?”
Yasmina rolled her eyes. “Correction, she only understands jungle-boy. That doesn’t count as much.”
“She understands me.”
“Also doesn’t count as much.” She shrugged, making me narrow my eyes at her.
“Before you two kill each other…” Brooklynn slammed her hand on the table. “…can we at least have some breakfast?”
“Right, we’ve been waiting on y’all.” Sammy said.
“You have?” Yasmina blinked slowly at her.
“What about the boys?” I asked as they were clearly not around.
“Eh, they’re somewhere doing something.” Brooklynn shrugged.
“And don’t you forget you promised to cut my hair, Brooklynn.” Sammy beamed at her. “I’ll be the first Brooklander to get a hairdo from you!” She was practically shaking on her seat, while Brooklynn slid down on hers.
“Are you really sure about that?” Brooklynn groaned. “We don’t even know where the scissors are.”
“You go on and have breakfast and I’ll look for it.” Sammy was up in a flash.
I laughed at the two while I went to grab something to eat. After hours running, I had to admit I was starving. We had food stockpiled for months thanks to Brimford, so we didn’t need to worry about it right now. Each of us got their favorite, Yasmina and I had a protein bar, Brooklynn had some popcorn and Yasmina grabbed some dry fruits for Sammy.
Maybe a haircut wasn’t the worst option. We had been stuck on this island for so long… we had stopped counting, but the months were starting to show. Besides the mess that were our clothes, our hairs were longer, mine had passed the shoulder length that I liked, Brooklyn’s was showing her brunette roots and Kenji even started to grow a patchy beard, since our access to the drugstore got revoked.
“Found it!” Sammy raised a pair of scissors in the air. “I knew we hadn’t lost it.” She smiled brightly as she made her way back to the table. Brooklynn was anxiously tapping her fingers on her leg, Yasmina had her head buried on her notebook, while I was leaning back on my chair, munching on my breakfast.
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Brooklynn pressed, apprehensive.
“Might as well. We have nothing better to do.” Sammy shrugged as she passed the scissor to Brooklynn. “Besides, I need to touch up on my edges.” She waved her hair around.
“Fine.” Brooklynn sighed, accepting the scissor. “But don’t blame me if turns out terrible.”
“Didn’t you make a video about this?” Yasmina asked, without even lifting her head from the notebook she was drawing on.
“Yeah, and I ended up cutting my own hair. Live.” She face-palmed. “It was a disaster.”
“No way! That video was awesome, your hair turned out so pretty.” Sammy smiled brightly, getting in position for Brooklynn to do her thing. In response, Brooklynn only grimaced at Sammy’s comment.
“If Sammy’s turns out okay, I might consider doing it too.” I played with one lock of my hair, inspecting the blue edges.
“Yay!” Sammy raised her hand, which I high fived with a smile.
“Okay, are you ready?” Brooklynn asked, more to herself than to Sammy.
“Yes, ma’am!” Sammy smiled.
Brooklynn held her breath as she cut Sammy’s hair. “Please be straight.” She mumbled to herself. She was methodically and very slowly chopping off the edges of the dry hair.
Some chatter coming from the jungle drew my attention. The boys and Bumpy were walking back to camp. Ben and Bumpy hung behind while Kenji and Darius were discussing something passionately. Kenji caught me staring and quickly averted his gaze.
Not a surprise there. ‘He had to have regretted it, right?’ That’s why he was so weird. ‘Of course, he did.’ He broke down on me and I had to make it weird. Now he was embarrassed and couldn’t even look me in the eye.
‘Does he think I had taken advantage of him when he was vulnerable?’ I only wanted to make him feel better… ‘better’ as in not sad, to comfort him. Did he feel obligated- My head had begun to spiral right then.
‘Did he think that?’
‘Had I done that!?’
‘Ugh, when did I start to overthink things?’ I shook myself mentally. ‘I can’t think like that.’
Sammy’s high pitched voice brought me back to reality. “Is it that bad?” She cried, looking with wide eyes at me as I realized I had been staring at her the whole time.
“What? No, it’s fine!” I replied quickly, checking her hair out, it was not even an inch shorter, but at least it was even.
“Then why are you looking at me like you just ate a sour lemon?” She asked.
“Don’t worry, your hair it’s perfect.” I said in a chirpier manner.
“Yeah, Sammy.” Yasmina gave me the side-eye, before glancing at Sammy. “Your hair is great.”
“You’re actually a pretty decent hairdresser, B.” I smiled at Brooklynn.
“Right?” Brooklynn smiled. “And you’re up next, Hays. So, what is it gonna be?”
Sammy and I changed seats. “Chop off all the blue, please.”
“What? I love the blue hair.” Sammy whined.
“You sure?” Brooklynn frowned.
“Yeah, my hair is too long.” I shrugged. I was a bit attached to my blue edges, but the length of it was getting annoying.
“Okay, if you say so…” Brooklynn mumbled while raising the scissor to my hair. She took a deep breath and started to chop off the blue.
I caught myself glancing back at the boys. Ben was feeding Bumpy some leaves and I smiled at the sight. Sometimes my eyes wandered to him. Ben was really here. Alive. That always made me relax. The image of him slipping through my fingers that night was still branded into my brain, but yet here he was. I bet that he had gone through worse things than us, only with Bumpy for company. But he seemed happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen him in the few days we had spent together at the original Camp C. Maybe there was a silver lining in me letting him slip that night.
Brooklynn hissed and grabbed my head, holding it in position. “Stand still.”
I looked at my reflection through the broken piece of the mirror. It was weird seeing my hair back to full black, but Brooklynn was doing a good job.
“So, what do you think?” She finally asked, lowering the scissors.
“Pretty good.” I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling it lighter already. “Thanks.” I smiled brightly.
Brooklynn had her hands on her waist, proud of her skill. “So, Yaz? Your turn, girl?”
“Not a chance.” Yasmina said drily.
Brooklynn frowned at that and turned her attention to the boys hanging out in front of camp. “Guys, anyone wants a haircut?”
They just stared at her puzzled, and Kenji automatically fixed his hair up. “Only pros touch in my hair, bro.”
Brooklynn shrugged and sat on the table with us.
I had a feeling I was being watched so my eyes darted to Kenji; when he noticed me his eyes went wide and he quickly looked away, making me let out an audible sigh.
“What’s going on with you two?” Brooklynn asked, glancing between Kenji and me.
“Huh?” I mumbled, grabbing the mirror to keep my hands occupied.
“Don’t ‘huh’ me.” She crossed her arms.
“Oh, did ya fight again?” Sammy asked, leaning over the table.
“Again?” I scoffed. “We don’t fight.”
“There was that thing with Toro…” Sammy said.
“When he was making us rest…” Yasmina joined in.
“And that whole Bumpy thing, don’t think we didn’t notice that.” Brooklynn reminded me.
“And that time he got bit by ‘em Compies, we’re still not sure what that was all about.” Sammy finished.
“Well, all of that was justified.” I crossed my arms, but they all rolled their eyes in unison. A scary sight that made me gulp. “Kenji’s just being Kenji, that’s all.”
“What did he do?” Sammy asked.
“Nothing.” I dismissed her, brushing all the fallen hair off my clothes.
“Whatever he did I'm sure he didn’t mean it.” Sammy tried to make me feel better.
I frowned. “Right.” I said, afraid she was right.
“Oh, come on, spill the juicy facts.” Brooklynn smirked. “Nothing new happens on this island.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” I crossed my arms, leaning back on my chair.
“That’s not what I’ve heard.” Yasmina grinned.
“Has he said anything?” I mumbled, curiosity taking the best of me. I immediately regretted my words as her grin grew even wider.
“What? Would you want him to say anything?”
“No.” I scoffed, but my face betrayed me as I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks.
“I knew it!” Brooklynn shouted, making Sammy and Yasmina giggle.
“Shut up, B.” I groaned. “It’s not like that.”
“Oh, so you don’t wanna know what he said?” Yasmina teased me and I elbowed her on the ribs. “Alright, alright, no need for violence.” She chuckled, raising her arms in surrender.
“He may have commented on how awesome you are, like a bajilion of times.” Sammy smiled.
“Hays this… Hays that… It’s annoying, really.” Yasmina rolled her eyes.
‘That’s new.’ I couldn’t help but feel a warmth spreading in my chest, but I wouldn’t let them know that.
“Well, he’s not wrong there.” I chuckled, whipping my hair dramatically.
“Dumbass.” Brooklynn smacked me, not so lightly, in the head.
“Ow.” I rubbed my head, still smiling. “I’m kidding.”
“Uhum.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, he doesn’t say much else. I was hoping you’d tell us what’s up.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” I half-smiled at her. I was not ready to discuss boy problems with them.
“Oh, come on.” Brooklynn huffed.
“Really.” I pressed, which only made her glare at me, unconvinced. But I didn’t back down because there wasn’t really nothing to tell. Technically, nothing had happened. And that was kinda the problem. Brooklynn and Yasmina exchanged a glance that I decided to ignore, so I left them at the table and headed down to check on Ben and Bumpy.
I walked past Kenji and Darius without even a glance, but I had a stupid smile plastered in my face. I didn’t imagine that this news was going to affect me this much. ‘ He said I was awesome. ’ My smile grew.
“Hi.” Ben greeted me, and Bumpy bellowed.
“Sup.”
He did a double take on me and frowned. “No more blue hair?”
“I was up for a change.” I shrugged. “So, anything new?”
“Same as yesterday.” Ben shook his head, petting Bumpy.
I nodded, crunching down to grab a branch packed with tasty leaves, which Bumpy immediately bit a mouth full off. “You hungry, girl?” I chuckled. “I guess someone isn’t feeding you properly.”
“Hey!” Ben protested. “She just ate a whole pack of dry mangoes.”
“She needs her greens to grow fat like the other Ankylos.” I gave her more leaves.
“She’s not fat!” Ben’s voice pitched high.
“Oh, she’s fat.” I deadpanned. “But she’s our fat girl, aren’t you Bumps?” I talked to her like she was a puppy, which made her bellow happily and nudge me on my ribs for more goods. “Yeah, you are.” I laughed.
“Don’t call her fat!” Ben pouted and snatched the branch from my hands. “You’ve just lost your feeding rights.”
“Wha- you can’t do that!” I stomped my feet. “I’m calling the dino police.”
“Too bad, they said you this close…” He pinched his thumb and indicator together. “…to lose your visiting rights.”
I gasped dramatically and brought my hands to my chest. “This can’t be.”
“Believe me, they are no joke.” He crossed his arms. “They don’t take the word ‘fat’ lightly.” He paused, and I swear i tried to hold it in, but it was inevitable, I burst out laughing. “That’s it! Your visiting rights are no more!” He protested. “No more cuddles or naps with Bumpy.”
“No, wait-” I was wheezing so hard, tears started to form on my eyes. “There has to be something I can do…” He shook his head. “Let me at least say goodbye?” I pleaded, choking a laugh.
“Fine.” Ben groaned.
I kissed Bumpy in the snout and hugged her head. “Don’t worry girl, I’ll sneak you some mangoes later.” I whispered in her ear, to which she bellowed. I walked away, waving and pretending to hold in tears. “Good bye, Bumpy.”
‘Oh, how I loved that dino.’ I walked back to camp, with a lingering smile on my face. But my eyes gravitated towards the tall guy with chocolatey eyes frowning at me. I took one step in his direction but he turned his back to me, focusing on Darius. And at that, my smile disappeared.
I thought I was making myself very clear. Multiple times now, I made myself clear. What was his problem? He couldn't even look me in the eye.
‘Two can play this game.’ I marched away from him to grab my water bottle by the slide. But when I turned to make my way to the river, I came face to face with a very grumpy Brooklynn.
“Do not leave me alone with Miss Southern hospitality and her hype girl.” Brooklynn hissed.
“Sorry.” I chuckled. “Just grabbing some water.” I motioned to the water bottle, and we started walking to the river.
She groaned. “Those two together are worse than… what’s that goth movie?” She gasped. “The Addams Family! Yeah, they’re worse than Morticia and her husband.”
“Jealous?” I grinned.
She scoffed, looking away. “No.”
I gasped. “You are jealous.”
“Not the point.” She mumbled.
“Ha! I-” She smacked me in the head. “Ow! You really have to stop hitting me.” I held my head.
“But you are so punchable.” She smiled innocently as we reached by the river.
I sighed, shaking my head. “And the worst thing is… that’s not even my first time hearing that.”
“No, but seriously.” She said. “Yaz has Sammy, Ben has Bumpy, there’s you and Kenji, and I…”
“Darius?” I offered, choosing to ignore the fact that Kenji and I were put together. ‘Did we spend that much time together?’
“No, he has his dinosaurs.” She sighed.
“Well, we’re friends, aren’t we like hanging out right now?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You guess?” I gasped. “Do I mean that little to you?”
“Don’t make me smack you again.” Brooklynn smiled in a menacing way. “Anyway. I still don’t know how they became that close that fast.” She scoffed. “Remember how Yaz stood up for Sammy in that whole phone situation?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled. “Turns out Yaz actually wanted a friend after all, not that she would ever admit to it.”
She snickered. “Yeah, friends.”
“What do you mean?” I frowned, kneeling down to fill my bottle.
“My God, you’re blind.” She laughed. “Actually, is not that surprising.”
“That I’m blind or that they’re a thing?” My frown grew.
“So, you’re not blind?” She raised an eyebrow.
I shrugged. “I didn’t want to assume, but you said it first.”
“It’s not assuming when it’s obvious, they are together all the time… and the glances… ugh.” She groaned. “Just like you and Kenji.”
I let out a harsh breath. “And we’re back to that…”
“You blind about that too?” She snickered.
“I’m not blind.” I said the words carefully as I got up, leaving the full water bottle on the grass, not that thirsty anymore.
“What? Is he, like, your first boyfriend?”
“Not my boyfriend.” I said through my clenched teeth.
“Yet.” She pointed out with a smirk.
“You know.” I cracked my knuckles. “All of the sudden you’re becoming very punchable too, B.”
She took a step back raising her hands. “Just saying.”
I let my hands fall, shoving them into my pockets. “And what do you know about boyfriends? You’re 13.”
“I watch a lot of movies.”
“Right...” I grabbed the bottle from the ground and took a long sip. “But no, I’ve had boyfriends before. Actually, I broke things off with my ex just before coming to camp.”
“What happened?” She asked a bit too eager to know.
“We did the same sport… were in the same friend group… it just made sense.” I sighed. “But a few months in and I realized I didn’t actually like him.” I gave her a half shrug. “It was stupid.”
“Well, do you like Kenji?” She was practically leaning forward.
“I don’t know, I always have a hard time figuring that part out.” I said with my best poker face. “I just don’t want it to be weird since we’re all stuck on the same island.”
“News flash: it’s already weird.” She crackled.
“And that’s all on Kenji.” My hands returned to my pockets. He practically ran away every time I tried to talk to him.
“You know I need more details than that, come on tell me everything.” She pushed.
I took a deep breath already regretting what I was about to say. “Um… something almost happened, but then it didn’t and now he’s weird.”
Brooklynn gave me her best eye roll. “Can’t you be any less quizzical?”
“Nope, I’ve reached my sharing limit.”
"This has been weird ever since we went to the beach." She opened a huge smile. “So that’s what happened on that day? You almost kissed and now you’re avoiding each other?”
“Can’t confirm it nor deny it.” I mumbled. “And he’s the one avoiding me.”
“Just go talk to him.”
“That needs actual words to be exchanged, did you miss the part where he’s avoiding me?”
She had a mischievous smile on. “I could help with that.”
“No, I don’t need any help, just don’t- don’t do anything.” I pleaded while her smile grew.
“I even have the ship name ready, what do you-”
“That’s it! No more ‘me’ talk.” I blurted out. “How about you? Any boyfriends back home?”
“I’m 13.” She deadpanned.
“You never know.”
“I’m too busy for boyfriends anyway, my Youtube channel it’s a full-time job.”
“You know that even adults with full time jobs still get to have a life, right?”
“Not me.”
“Not even friends?” I pressed, already knowing the answer.
“Well, I did tour with a k-pop girl group a while back, it was awesome.” She sang the last word. “They tried to teach me some dance moves, but I’m really terrible at that. Then, they had this song featuring-”
“But, are you friends with them?” I interrupted.
“Eh, more like work buddies.” She shrugged. “Like I said, no time.”
“That’s sad, B.” I shook my head. “I don’t know how your parents let you live like that.”
“They are literally my managers, so it’s fine.” He gave me a dismissive hand wave.
“How come you don’t ever talk about them?”
We stood by the river in silence for a while, then she let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t really think much about them.” She admitted. “Is that terrible?” Her voice came out a whisper.
“No-”
“It’s just that sometimes I get the feeling that I’m not their daughter, they just manage me.” She paced in front of me. “Only talking about work, a new video coming out, a promo that I need to shoot…” She trailed off.
“That seems like a lonely life.” My eyes followed her as she went from one side to the other.
“Yeah, it can be, but it’s fine, I have my Brooklanders, all 27 million of them.” She stood in front of me with a bright smile that quickly turned into a frown. “I bet they all forgot about me by now.”
I opened my arms a bit and Brooklynn was quick to accept my invitation. She buried her head on my chest and I held her tight. This time, there were no tears, just the reassurance that I was here for her.
When she finally let go, I chuckled lightly. “Not to be morbid, but when Michael Jackson died, his album’s sales skyrocketed.” I tried to make light of the situation. “I bet your channel doubled on followers.”
She let out a high pitch squeal. “Oh my god, you’re so right!” She laughed. “I can only imagine when I come back with my Unboxing the Jurassic World exclusive.”
“That’s a video I’d watch.”
“Oh, you’d be in it. All of us would.” She threw her arms in the air.
“I’m not that big of a fan of being on camera.”
“Don’t worry I’ll make you look pretty.” She beamed; the video coming to life in her mind. “I’ll even let Ben tell his story about Toro and let Kenji brag about the stuff he didn’t do, dino-nerd with his dino-talk, and-” She groaned. “We just need to get out of this damn island first.”
“That we do.” I nodded. “You know, there’s been a place I’ve been meaning to check out for the sail.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see.” I grinned.
…
“You serious?” Brooklynn deadpanned.
“Yup.” I stared at the mess that it was the rest of Mitch and Tiff’s camp.
I couldn’t even call this a ‘camp’ anymore. There were several faded footprints in the mud, all in different sizes, meaning that a herd of herbivores had passed by. The picnic table was in pieces, same as the chairs; the rest yurts were almost invisible, camouflaging with the dirt and mud that they were reduced to.
“How is this supposed to be of any help?” Brooklynn asked, kicking a piece of wood.
“Oh man, even the bathroom is destroyed.” I walked over to where it was supposed to be.
“Everything is destroyed.” She groaned, kicking another piece of wood out of the way. “Well, not everything.” She chuckled, raising a can opener from the wreckage.
“At least Sammy will be happy.” I kneeled by where the door should be, pulling on the fabric and the whole thing moved. ‘It’s intact!’ I laughed. “How about this as a sail?” I grinned, raising part of it in the air.
“No way!” Brooklynn came rushing to check it out.
“You have raft experience, right? Will this do?” I pulled again, but it was knitted around the wooden beams.
“It should.” She nodded emphatically.
“Great, we just need to get this to camp.” I grunted. “Did Hap have any knives on his yurt? We need something to cut this loose.”
“I bet he did.” She ran to Hap’s yurt with a huge smile on her face.
I tugged some more and a cloud of dust raised in the air. The yurt was all covered in this fabric, the walls, door and ceiling. So, while Brooklynn went searching for knives, I went to check on the other yurts. The bedroom one was even messier, all broken wood and torn fabric; unfortunately, the other seemed to be in the same condition.
“Found anything?” I went over to Hap’s yurt, which also had huge tears in the fabric.
“Help me up here.” She groaned, lifting a big plank. I helped her lift the thing, throwing it away from the yurt. “So, do you want the big one or the baby one?” She smiled, holding two knives of different sizes.
“Big one, please!” I beamed.
We rushed back to the bathroom yurt, eager to get the fabric. Brooklynn held it while I cut, careful to only get the parts with no tears and that made up a big enough surface to catch wind on the raft. When we were finally satisfied, we rolled all the fabric, and I threw it over my shoulder, taking the trek back to camp.
We had reached the river that ran by Camp Cretaceous, but Brooklynn couldn’t wait.
“Come on? Can’t you walk faster?” She asked, practically jumping around in front of me.
“For the thousandth time, no.” I fixed the weight on my shoulder.
“Come on, athlete. We’re almost there.” She complained, going ahead. The camp was already in sight and Brooklynn simply sprinted towards it, with the knives in hand and leaving me behind.
“Fine, you can go on ahead and tell them the good news.” I mumbled as I walked alone the rest of the way.
“Guys, camp meeting!” She announced, and loud groans were heard. “A good one this time!” She added to shut up the complaints.
“What is it, Brooklynn?” Darius was the first to meet her.
We heard a loud thud and our eyes focused on Sammy sprawled on the floor near the slide, her hands over her forehead.
“Did you really bump your head on the slide?” Yasmina asked, with concern in her voice.
“Uhum.” Sammy hummed, still on the floor.
“How bad are you hurt?” She asked, hiding a laugh this time.
“Decently.” Sammy groaned.
“Yaz can kiss it so you’ll feel better later, Sammy.” Brooklynn said, which resulted in a frown from Yasmina. “Right now, we have good news!”
“Amazing news, really.” I pitched in, and all eyes turned to me, as if only noticing me now. “We found a sail!” I dumped the fabric on the ground.
Notes:
In my head Yasmina’s running playlist consists purely of true crime podcasts… sue me.
Season 3 starts next Saturday!
Chapter 28: View from the Top
Summary:
Let’s go for an uncomfortable way up Lookout Point and an even worse trip down.
Notes:
And here’s the official start of season 3! Have I mentioned it’s my favorite?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Isla Nublar was a majestic island that I couldn’t deny. Its mountains and valleys shaped the horizon behind us as we sailed away from the shore. We finally had found enough fabric for the sail and it was time to leave the nightmare behind.
Our raft, made from empty gallons of water and bamboo, glided through the calm sea, away from danger. Sammy giggled as we sailed away; Kenji splashed her with water, making her laugh even more and splash him back. Brooklynn and Yasmina were securing the crates with vine, which also held our raft together, while I held onto the mast next to Ben and Darius.
The sun was shining through the clouds and the wind was strong, splashing cold seawater on our faces.
“Goodbye, Jurassic World.” Darius said, having a last glance of the island.
The beach we had sailed off from was getting smaller at the distance, but it was still possible to see a green Ankylosaurus bellowing.
“Goodbye, Bumpy.” Ben said, slumping his shoulders. I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. My heart ached with sympathy. It was a bittersweet moment, even if this island gave us nightmares, there were still good times, and Bumpy was part of those. She was family and it felt weird leaving her behind. Of course, it was the only option, but the thought of never seeing Bumpy again broke my heart.
“Whoo-hoo!” Kenji jumped up, flipping off the island. “See ya never, stupid Dino Island! You thought you could eat us? No way! You thought you could stomp on us? Think again!”
“Yeah!” Sammy joined. “You thought you could crush our spirits? Impossible!” Sammy and Kenji cheered, high-fiving.
“To be fair, the island did crush my spirit.” Ben commented. “But then, I defeated Toro.” He said dramatically, which made me chuckle.
Yasmina groaned. “Not again.”
“Well, Bumpy likes it when I tell her.” Ben rubbed the back of his neck.
A sudden wave caught us off guard, rocking the raft. I gripped on the mast not to fall down, unfortunately Darius and Ben weren’t so lucky.
“Um... guys?” Brooklynn called, and we all followed her gaze.
A massive wave had formed ahead of us, at least twice the size of our raft.
“We’re gonna die.” Kenji screamed from the floor.
“Everyone, secure the vines.” Brooklynn yelled, picking up a loose vine.
“How?” Yasmina grunted.
“I don’t know, pull on them?” Brooklynn said, wide eyed.
“You said you had raft experience!” Yasmina protested, but did what Brooklynn said.
“I said some raft experience. Some!”
Yasmina scoffed. “Oh, so only some of us will die.”
“Maybe the wind can just power us through.” I said, more like a prayer, but like the universe was against us, the sail was ripped from the mast by the strong wind.
The wave was fast approaching, towering over us. We screamed as the wall of water crashed on us. The mast broke in two and the whole raft turned upside down, coming apart. The wave sent us tumbling to the water, back toward the shore.
…
The sky mimicked our mood, gloomy with sudden gray clouds. The walk back to camp was dreadful, no one dared to talk. No words were needed, though. Our defeated postures and loud sighs said everything.
We were soaked, dripping seawater, throughout the whole walk in the jungle. My socks were drenched and my feet slid inside my shoes. ‘I fucking hate wet socks.’
“Bumpy?” Ben yelled at the jungle. “Bumpy, we’re back!” The bushes rustled behind us and the Ankylo came rushing at Ben, tackling him to the ground and licking his face. “Sorry, Bumps. Missed you too.” I smiled at the two while we made our way to camp.
“Circle up, guys! Camp meeting!” Darius announced, and we all followed him up the stairs.
Kenji groaned. “Another one?” He slumped on the slide and lazily pushed himself up.
Darius stood in front of the blackboard/ping-pong table, where we were keeping track of our attempts of escaping the island. “Okay, on the plus side, still no sign of Compies around camp, so that’s good.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “On the minus side, raft escape attempt number one was…”
“Wet.” Kenji suggested.
“Bad.” Yasmina pitched in.
“Didn’t work.” Brooklynn said.
“Do we even call that an attempt?” I sighed.
“It wasn’t a total disaster.” Darius tried to remain optimistic.
“Um, we lost the raft and almost drowned. How was that not a disaster?” Sammy said.
“We didn’t get eaten by dinosaurs?” Darius chuckled nervously.
“Or sharks.” I ran my fingers through my wet hair.
“We’re out of options.” Brooklynn grabbed a chalk and went over to the blackboard. “We tried kayaks…” She crossed out the drawing of the attempt. “Gyrospheres… more gyrospheres… Yaz’s bad ‘find a helicopter and learn to fly it ourselves’ plan…” She double crossed that one.
“Oh, and what about…” Yasmina grabbed the chalk from her hand. “Brooklynn’s worse ‘let’s go back into the tunnels’ idea?” She crossed off that drawing and smugly handed over the chalk back to Brooklynn.
Brooklynn groaned. “Ugh, think! What haven’t we tried yet?”
“Oh!” Sammy jumped. “We could build a huge bonfire so-”
“Nublar is a no-flight zone, remember?” I said.
“God darn it, you’re right, but I really wish you weren’t.”
I sighed. “Yeah, me too.”
Kenji smirked. “Just gonna pitch it one more time-”
“We are not launching ourselves from a catapult.” I facepalmed.
“How do we know it can’t be done if we never tried?” He argued.
“Because…” I paused. How would I even start to explain how terrible of an idea that was?
“See?” He chuckled smugly.
“I think your idea sounds fun at least.” Sammy smiled.
“Thanks, Sammy.” Kenji ignored me. “And I always appreciate your optimism.”
“Aw, thanks, Kenji!” Sammy playfully punched him on the arm.
“I hear you, but I still think a boat is the way to go.” Darius said. “All we need is a better sail.”
“Not to be a downer, but it took us forever to find the last one.” Yasmina commented.
“And even if we do find a sail, what’s gonna save us from another killer wave?” Brooklynn asked.
“We could scout for a better beach, maybe one more protected from the waves?” I pondered.
“Great. Every problem always has a fix.” Darius smiled and turned his attention to Ben, who was silent on his corner, watching Bumpy from afar. “Ben, what do you think?” But he didn’t move a muscle. “Ben? Ben!”
“Yo, jungle boy!” Kenji yelled.
“Huh?” Ben turned around.
“What do you think?” Kenji asked.
“Uh… yeah, what you said.” Ben said, without giving much thought.
“Really?” Yasmina deadpanned. “You think a human catapult is the best idea?”
“Oh! No. That’s ridiculous.” Ben scoffed. “Darius is right, a raft is the way to go.”
“Thank you!” Darius exasperated, while Yasmina and Brooklynn, both groaned.
“Fine.” Brooklynn gave up. “Since there are no other options, raft it is.”
“Great.” I sat straight. “Now that we’ve decided on what was obvious…”
“…where can we scavenge a sail that we haven’t already looked?” Darius finished my thought.
“It’s a shame we can’t just go up to Lookout Point and hang glide all the way to Costa Rica.” Kenji sighed and crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back on the couch. “That would be so dope.”
“Wait, what’s Lookout Point?” Darius asked.
“It’s up in the mountains to the west. It’s like a whole deal. They’ve got hang gliders and everything.” Kenji explained. “I used to go there all the time.”
“Hang gliders!” Darius gasped. “As in pieces of material that are literally designed to catch the wind?”
We all glanced at each other and high-fived at the news, while Kenji stood unmoved on the couch.
“Hey! We could use that as a sail!” Kenji smiled brightly as he finally caught on.
“Brilliant, Kenji!” Brooklynn chuckled and he gave us a content look.
…
Kenji guided us to the mountains in the west of the island, close enough to the northwest dock that I wondered to myself why haven’t we crossed paths with this before? At the base of the mountain, there was a gondola station going all the way to the top.
Kenji stopped by the stairs and turned to us. “Welcome to Lookout Point!” He said, opening his arms wide. “Well, to be fair, Lookout Point is up there, but you get the gist.” He pointed at the top of the mountain, which we had to block the sun from our eyes to see.
“So, how do we get up there?” Darius asked.
“The sky gondola, usually. But with the power out, you’ll have to go on foot.” Kenji said, while Brooklynn went ahead to check the gondolas. “It shouldn’t be too bad. Prob’s just a one-to-five-day trek.”
Yasmina scoffed, already stretching. “That’ll take me an hour.”
“Great!” Brooklynn said from the gondolas’ control panel. “I’ll wait for you at the top.” She pressed a button and the whole thing came to life. “Ta-da” She smugly stood by the gondolas moving up the mountain.
We all stood with wide eyes and mouths hung agape at the sight, well, all of us but Yasmina, who crossed her arms, unimpressed.
“Solar panels. Sky gondola.” Kenji chuckled and Yasmina gave him a death stare. “Last one there’s the last one there!” He sprinted ahead to claim his place in a gondola.
He was already settling inside his gondola when I reached the doors, thinking that it would be a perfect opportunity for us to talk.
“Hey, Kenji, is that okay if I go up with you?”
His eyes went wide as he saw me standing there. “Yeah, so…ugh, su-”
“I call shotgun!” Sammy yelled, running past me and sitting next to Kenji. “Bleh!” She mocked me with a ‘L’ finger sign in her forehead, to which Kenji promptly smiled at, as the glass doors closed in my face.
“Real mature.” I sighed. ‘It's two steps forward, ten steps back with this boy. ’
Yasmina joined Brooklynn and me on the platform, only to have a clear disappointed expression on her face.
“Hey. Hays, Brooklynn…” She nervously said.
“I guess we’re gonna ride together.” Brooklyn said, just as nervous.
“Yep.” Yasmina said, popping the ‘p’. The two of them exchanged glances while I awkwardly stood in the middle. The air filled with tension as we waited in silence for the next gondola.
I didn’t want any part on this ride up the mountain. “I’ll check on why Ben and Darius are taking so long, you guys go on.” I blurted out, turning around to escape.
“Don’t!” The two of them exclaimed at the time, each grabbing one of my arms and pulling me backwards into the gondola.
‘What did I do to deserve this?’ I groaned to myself as the doors closed. Darius appeared on the platform, too late for me to beg him to exchange places.
Brooklynn and Yasmina sat on opposite sides, while I stood up, uncertain on where to seat. Both of them looked at me as if asking me to choose a side. ‘Why did they need to be like that?’ I let out an audible sign and sat next to Brooklynn. I ignored the daggers coming from Yasmina and stared blankly straight ahead.
This gondola ride was the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever experienced. Not because the gondolas had been unused and without maintenance for months, possibly about to fall any moment, but because of the cold war going on.
Brooklynn kept fidgeting with the rips on her pants, while trying not to look at Yasmina, who was drumming her fingers on the seat, while looking over to Sammy and Kenji’s gondola. Those two seemed to be having the time of their lives, playfully rocking their gondola back and forth.
“So…” Yasmina cleared her throat.
“So…” Brooklynn said back. “What do you like to do for fun back home, Hays?” She blurted out.
“For fun? Um, normal stuff.” I paused to think about it. “I do spend a lot of time in the gym, but when I’m free I like just to hang out with my friends. We usually hang out at an ice cream shop of all places.” I chuckled thinking back. “But my b- um, friend, he got a car, so we ride across town sometimes.”
“Nice, it must be fun.” Brooklynn smiled.
“Yeah.” I smiled back. “What about you, Yaz?”
She sighed. “I don’t have a lot of time for fun. I’m always competing and training.”
“Right, right. Totally relate.” Brooklynn nodded.
“Oh, you know what it’s like to spend five hours in the gym every day?” Yasmina narrowed her gaze.
“I wish my job only took five hours a day!” Brooklynn chuckled.
“Yeah.” Yasmina cocked her head. “I’m sure it’s really hard to get paid to go to cool places and record videos on your smartphone.”
“As a matter of fact, it is.” Brooklynn stood up for herself. “Ever tried to hold your phone steady while climbing a glacier in Greenland?”
“No! I was too busy running four-and-a-half-minute miles.” Yasmina crossed her arms across her chest. I gulped as my eyes darted back and forth between the two for the whole conversation, as if I was watching a tennis match. And I had zero desire to get in between the players.
“Well, you should try it sometime.” Brooklynn gave a bitter laugh. “It’s especially fun when you’re trying to appease sponsors and…
“Been there.” Yasmina commented.
“…sacrificing a normal childhood just to maintain good numbers.” She finished.
“Yep, Same here.” Yasmina said.
‘Kill me. Right now.’ I thought.
“Wow!” Brooklynn smiled. “We just have so much in common.” She said through clenched teeth.
“So nice.” Yasmina gave her a dry smile in response.
The gondola slowed down and the doors finally opened. I let out a harsh breath as we exited. Up in the Lookout Point, we met up with Sammy and Kenji, who were sightseeing at the balcony with the binoculars.
“Pretty cool, right?” Kenji laughed.
Yasmina crossed her arms. “Sure, we’ll get the hang gliders… You two can just keep looking at things.”
“Sounds good.” Kenji gave us a thumbs up.
“Why don’t you two stay here?” Brooklynn said in an overly friendly voice. “I unboxed hang gliding in Mozambique, so it’s probably best for me, the expert, to handle the hang gliders.” She started to walk over to the gliders parked at the other side of Lookout Point.
“That’s okay.” Yasmina caught up with her. “Those hang gliders look pretty big, so it’s probably best for me, the athlete, to do the heavy lifting.”
I just followed them, but always maintaining a safe distance from the not so passive, passive-aggressiveness. I pretended to not be offended by Yasmina totally forgetting who had won the obstacle course and was obviously stronger than her, but hey, that was better than getting pulled into whatever conversation was happening right now.
Brooklynn scoffed. “No, really. Please, I insist.”
“No, no, no. I insist.”
The two rushed over to the gliders and Brooklynn tried to move one of them, but the thing didn’t move an inch. Yasmina smugly cracked her knuckles and made her attempt, which had the same result.
As far as I knew, gliders weren’t that heavy, so I looked under it to check if there was something grounding it.
“They’re locked in place.” I sighed, looking at the chain and deadbolt.
“Relax, I can totally pick that lock.” Brooklynn said nonchalantly.
“That’ll take forever. All I need is a rock.” Yasmina said, going to search for it.
“’All I need is a rock’.” Brooklynn made a poor impression of Yasmina when she was out of earshot. I keeled next to Brooklynn, while she wiggled a hairpin inside the lock. “Aren’t you also going to find a rock and fix everything with brute force?” She said in a harsh tone.
“Rude.” I scoffed.
She sighed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean like that.” She mumbled.
I waved my hand dismissively. “And answering your question… yeah I normally would, but Yaz has it handled for today and I would much prefer to watch you unlock this before she comes back with the brute force.” I chuckled.
She let out a genuine smile. “Thanks.” And after a few tries, the lock clicked on her hand and the chains fell to the ground. “Ah-ha!” Brooklynn cheered and we celebrated with a high-five. “I’ll give Yaz the good news.”
“I bet you will.” I chuckled as Brooklynn took off running.
I started to unchain the hang gliders when I heard an animalistic screech. I jolted upright and my head hit the support metals with a clank and I groaned in annoyance, rubbing the bump forming in my head.
“Back to the gondolas!” Yasmina screamed from somewhere behind me. I got off from underneath the glider.
“We gotta get out of here!” Brooklynn yelled. She and Yasmina were on the bottom of the stairs, where a hunch over a bird-like dinosaur blocked the path going back to the balcony and gondolas.
I gasped. “Dimorphodon!” I remembered that creepy face from some pictures my mother had shown me from her work.
Contrary to the Pteranodons, the Dimorphodon had actual teeth, and lots of them. It was like a third of the size of its older cousin, almost like a bat the size of a large dog. It was a dark gray color with orange wings, their head was long and rounded with ragged teeth decorating its mouth. And if I was not mistaken, flying dinos never travel alone. There was another Dimorphodon crawling towards Kenji and Sammy, and suddenly both dinosaurs let out an obnoxious loud screech.
“Why is it doing that?” Yasmina asked, with her hands over her ears.
“It’s calling its friends.” I gasped in realization as dozens of shadows flew above us.
The Dimorphodon right in front of us climbed on top of the stairs’ railing and tried to bite Brooklynn, but she threw the deadbolt to its face and ran away with Yasmina. I was about to follow them when a third Dimorphodon landed right in front of me.
“Good bat… Stay.” I said, backing towards the stairs, luckily, the first dinosaur wasn’t there, instead it was chasing Brooklynn and Yasmina.
The Dimorphodon lunged at me and I bolted up the stairs, only to find Kenji and Sammy being cornered at the gondola by their Dimorphodon. They were inside it and the doors had closed on their chaser with half of its body, the biting side, towards them.
Kenji tried to kick it out of the gondola, but the dinosaur snapped its jaws at him every time. My breath hitched in my throat when I realized they were helpless at the glass cage. Forgetting that I was being chased by my own Dimorphodon, I grabbed a chair from the balcony and ran to their gondola, which was starting to make a turn back.
“Get off!” I grunted as I plunged the chair into the back of the dinosaur trapping Kenji and Sammy. I could hear their desperate screams from the inside while the dinosaur tried to bite them. I hit it with the chair even harder and the thing whimpered in pain, making an opening for Kenji to kick it in the face.
The Dimorphodon fell backwards, leaving the doors half open. I took my chance and dove through the doors, while Kenji and Sammy reached out, pulling me inside, just in time for the doors to close behind me.
We were a mess of limbs on the floor of the gondola, trying to catch our breaths when the dazed dinosaur got up and lunged at the closed glass door. We flinched at it and I felt hands around my waist pulling me closer. The gondola finally made the turn that led us away from Lookout Point and away from the dinosaurs.
I awkwardly cleared my throat, making Kenji look back at me. He realized he still had his arms around me and promptly let go like I was burning metal, mumbling something unintelligible.
I ignored him, I finally put two and two together “Brooklynn and Yaz!” I gasped, the Dimorphodon that was supposed to be chasing me wasn’t at the balcony, which meant it had gone after them.
“Look!” Sammy pointed at something plummeting down from Lookout Point. Brooklynn and Yasmina had jumped off with a hang glider to get away from the dinosaurs. We gasped as they fell to the ground, their screams muffled, but suddenly the glider pitched up and they smoothly glided through the sky.
“Woo!” Sammy giggled and bear hugged Kenji and me, awkwardly mushing us together. We quickly broke free from the hug, both going to opposite sides of the gondola, just as multiple Dimorphodons soared past us, chasing Brooklynn and Yasmina. Their glider disappeared in the clouds and we couldn’t do anything to help, we just stood helplessly inside the safety of our glass cage.
…
The ride down the mountain was the most dreadful thing ever, even more so than being trapped in a confined space with Brooklynn and Yasmina. The gondola wasn’t fast enough. We had watched as the Dimorphodons flew through the sky, but there was no sign of Brooklynn and Yasmina.
As soon as the doors opened, we sprinted towards where we thought the glider had landed. We heard faint laughs ahead of us, so we sped up. Brooklynn and Yasmina were safely on the ground, together with Darius, Ben and Bumpy.
“Oh, I love it when we’re all alive!” Sammy giggled, going out distributing hugs.
“Yeah! Take that, Dino Island!” Kenji cheered.
I looked up to the nearest tree, where the hang glider was trapped in between branches.
“It got a massive hole in the wing, will it work?” I thought aloud.
“Yeah, it’s a little torn, but we can fix it.” Darius said. “And it’s gonna be a perfect sail for our next boat.”
“Boat!” Sammy yelled. “Boat!” She shook Kenji by the arm until his face lit up as well.
“Boat!” Kenji laughed.
“Um… what are we talking about?” Darius asked.
“We saw Tiff and Mitch’s boat!” Kenji jumped up.
“It’s on some rocks not far offshore. We can totally get to it!” Sammy beamed.
…
Kenji and Sammy led us to a rocky shore that opened up to the ocean. A few meters ahead of us, Mitch and Tiff’s yacht sat on the water near some shallow rocks. From the shore, the boat didn’t seem to be damaged at all, it was only there. Floating in place.
Thousands of questions rushed to my mind. Where were Mitch and Tiff? Were they with us on the island still? I hadn’t seen Mitch going off with Tiff that day and I assumed the worst. But what if I was wrong and Tiff came back for him? How many dinosaurs did they manage to snatch under our noses?
My head spiraled with all these questions while the rest of the campers had smiles on their faces. Darius, Ben and Bumpy were by some bushes talking quietly, while Sammy and Kenji talked excitedly about something, even Brooklynn and Yasmina seemed to be getting along, which was odd after the whole gondola conversation, but surviving the Dimorphodons together seemed to have changed things.
My doubts gave way the opportunity unraveling before us. ‘A boat! We were getting out of here.’ I sat alone on a rock by the water with a smile plastered on my face, watching as the waves crashed below me.
Notes:
Is it just me or the Dimorphodons look like mini Scorpios with wings?
Chapter 29: Safe Harbor
Summary:
A very much deserved yacht party.
Chapter Text
The sun had begun to show itself in the night sky when we left camp. It was a long walk back to the yacht, but we were ready, swimsuits under our clothes to swim and weapons in hand if we encountered any dinosaur, or worse, Tiff.
Ben was the only one that chose not to wear a swimsuit, instead he just had his normal ragged clothes on. Kenji and Darius both had board shorts, while the girls had variations between bikinis and mayos. I had that same obnoxious blue bikini from the kayak test, doing my best to keep my eyes away from Kenji and his black board shorts.
We walked barefoot on the rocky shore, and the yacht was at the same place as yesterday. I shivered with the cold ocean breeze and wrapped my arms around myself.
“Stay sharp.” Darius said. “For all we know, Tiff is still in there.”
We nodded along and carefully entered the water. The sea was calm, not many waves to disturb our advance, however the water was freezing, making my chin quiver. We quietly boarded the yacht from the stern, leaving puddles of water on the luxurious wooden floor.
The boat was quiet, oddly quiet. We divided our group to search the yacht. I went with Brooklynn to check the main deck, while the others inspected the rest all while not making a sound.
Brooklynn and I walked through a hallway with big black glass windows, we tried to see inside, but it was too dark. I glanced at the floor and halted in place, grabbing Brooklynn’s arm. She stopped and frowned her brows at me, so I pointed at the claw marks on the wood. She gasped, widening her gaze. We carefully walked past the markings and into the main deck at the bow of the boat, only to find it… empty.
“No sign of anyone.” Ben commented from the other side of the deck.
“Or anything.” Brooklynn said.
“Looks like Tiff had some unwanted visitors, though.” I glanced back at the claw markings.
We made our way to the upper decks, and the closer we got to the central cockpit, the more claw marks we saw. The cockpit was in terrible condition, the glass surrounding it was all shattered, the control panel had exposed wires and broken monitors, with pieces of equipment scattered all over the floor. The place where the captain’s seat was supposed to be was empty, just the scraps of a structure were nailed to the floor.
However, that wasn’t the worst. With the claw marks, there was dry blood spattered everywhere, on the floor, on the walls and on the control panel. No sign of a body, though.
Darius and Sammy were already at the cockpit, inspecting the panel.
“It’s almost out of gas.” Darius said as we tip-toed around the stains of blood and glass.
“Are you sure?” Sammy asked. “Did you tap it? They always tap it.” She tapped at something on the panel and frowned. “Huh? Well, now we’re really sure.”
“So, we’ve got a boat. We just can’t use the boat.” Ben said.
“Okay.” Darius left the cockpit and we followed. “The northwest dock is just around that bend.” He pointed at the shore and we made our way back to the first floor. “If we can somehow make it there, maybe we can find more gas and whatever else we need to get us off the island.”
We found Yasmina waiting for us by the ladder, but Kenji was nowhere in sight. Suddenly the door handle that led to the inner quarters started to rattle, as if something was struggling to open. To get out.
Darius and Brooklynn gasped at the noise, backing away from the door. Yasmina elbowed me lightly and pointed at the door with her chin, smirking. I narrowed my gaze at the door, it was oddly suspicious that we had cleared the whole boat and Kenji had pulled a disappearing act now.
“Guys…?” Darius whispered, fear in his voice.
“Maybe, whatever ate Tiff is hungry again.” I said in the most menacing voice I could muster, and Yasmina coughed to disguise her laugh.
The door burst open with violence. “BOO!” Kenji jumped out, making Brooklynn and Darius almost have a heart attack and fall to the floor. “Gotcha!” Kenji had his hands on his knees from all the laughter. Yasmina and I quietly chuckled as Brooklynn and Darius realized what happened.
“Kenji!” Brooklynn whined, hiding behind the bench.
“Not funny, dude!” Darius complained, with his hand on his chest. “You scared-”
“I know. It was awesome!” Kenji fell on the floor in a fit of laughter. “You should’ve seen your faces! Priceless!”
“The height of comedy.” Ben commented with a bored expression. “I’m gonna head back to shore. Bumpy and I will meet you at the dock.”
“Guess the only question is, who’s driving the boat?” Yasmina asked.
“You mean, whose dad has a yacht club membership…” Kenji spun a captain hat on his finger. “…and just found this killer hat?”
“Have you ever piloted a boat?” Yasmina asked, skeptical.
“I can help if you want.” I offered. “How different can it be from a car, right?”
“Nah, I’ve got this.” Kenji said a bit too hastily, without even looking at me. He put on the hat and made an awkward salute. “Captain Kenji at your service.”
“Right… okay, then.” I mumbled as Kenji climbed the ladder, followed by Sammy.
We hung around at the stern waiting for Kenji to do his thing. The engine made some weird noises at the first try, but on the second, the engine purred as it was turned on. We exchanged smiles as the boat slowly moved in the water, so we climbed up to the cockpit to join Kenji and Sammy.
Kenji had this focused look on his face as he guided the boat. His brows were frowned but he had a proud smile and sometimes his cute dimple appeared. His shoulders were tensed up, flexing his back muscles. ‘Had he gotten more fit?’ My face grew hot when I realized I was staring, again. I shook myself and forcefully fixed my gaze on the horizon.
After a few minutes the dock was on sight, but we were approaching a bit fast. “Easy. Easy.” Yasmina leaned over the railing to check on the distance to the pier. “Hold up! Hold up! Hold up!” She yelled as the boat bumped into the cement and came into a stop.
“Not a bad parking job, if I do say so myself, and I will.” Kenji bragged.
Yasmina scoffed and crossed her arms. “You don’t ‘park’ a boat, dingus. You ‘dock’ it.”
“Sure, you wanna sass the captain? It’s a long swim home.” Kenji grinned.
Yasmina just rolled her eyes at him and walked downstairs. We all followed, Darius and Kenji were securing the boat to the pier, while the rest of us greeted Ben, who was arriving with Bumpy and a bag in hand.
Yasmina quickly rushed over and Ben passed her the bag. “Thanks.” She said, already rummaging the stuff inside, which I could see were our clothes.
“Hey, friends. How was your walk?” Sammy said gleefully.
“Great.” Ben jumped off of Bumpy. “Zero dinos. And even better, the dock’s surrounded by a fence. I locked it up after Bumpy and I came through.”
“Great thinking.” I smiled.
Bumpy walked forward in Sammy's direction. “Hi, Bumpy! Hey, girl.” Sammy tried to hug her head, but Bumpy ignored her and pushed her lightly out of the way. “Hey- Oh, okay.”
Bumpy, then walked over to me and nudged me with her head. “Hey, Bumps.” I smiled, scratching her chin. She licked my hand, making me chuckle. “Sorry, girl. I don’t have any snacks.” Sammy pouted while looking at me and Bumpy.
“It’s getting late. We should scavenge for gas and supplies.” Darius said, up in the main deck.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, pump the brakes, bro!” Kenji looked up at him. “Look around!” Kenji did a dramatic swirl and hooked each arm around Ben and Sammy. “We’ve got swimsuits, a few hours of sun, and a whole boat at our disposal! If that doesn’t scream ‘yacht party’, I don’t know what it does.”
The seven of us exchanged glances, our smiles growing at the idea. We did deserve a rest. Better yet, far away from dinosaurs in a shelter with actual walls.
…
Kenji turned on the boat’s stereo system, so we had music. Darius and Brooklynn had found sunglasses and were sunbathing at the main deck, Kenji and Sammy had disappeared inside the yacht, while I met up with Ben and Yasmina on the second floor.
“Here is what eight years of diving lessons looks like.” Yasmina smirked, standing on her tip-toes at the railing of the second floor. She opened her arms and jumped backwards, spinning in the air and hitting the water gracefully.
“Here’s what running from an Allosaurus, then tripping and falling off a waterfall looks like!” Ben took a few steps back and jumped off the boat, flapping his arms around and landing on his belly.
I climbed to the roof of the second floor, took a few steps to gain speed and jumped off. “Woo-hoo!” I screamed as I fell. I tucked myself into a cannonball and hit the water in a big splash.
Ben and Yasmina splashed water on me in retaliation, while I tried to protect my face. Ben and I stayed on the water and Yasmina went up the boat for a second jump, doing an even more impressive one. The water was cold, but I quickly grew used to it.
“Quickly, let’s see who can hold their breaths for longer!” Yasmina dared us. So, the three of us took a deep breath and dived. Ben was the first one to go back for air and I stayed until my lungs were burning, begging for air.
I broke the surface gasping for air. “Oh, man.” I sighed.
Yasmina surfaced last with a smirk on her face. “Loser.” She chanted at us.
She went for another jump while I tried to dive as deep as I could. I easily reached the bottom, so I grabbed a handful of sand and sneaked behind Ben, dumping the sand on his hair.
“Hey!” He protested, trying to remove the sand with his hands.
“Here, I’ll help.” I said innocently and splashed water on his face. He splashed back, and suddenly Yasmina hit the water near us, splashing tons of water on us.
We played in the water until our hands were wrinkled, so we all agreed to see what everybody was up to. I entered the inner quarters to see if there was a towel or something I could use. The inside of Mitch and Tiff’s yacht was exactly what I would’ve imagined for a couple of poachers. Everything was animal themed, there were pictures hanging everywhere, a pile of books on animal life, real animal fur rugs and cushions, even a huge elephant tusk on the wall. I didn’t even bother to check their bedroom; I went straight to the kitchen. I opened some cabinets and smiled brightly when I found what I was looking for. Snacks!
“Jackpot.” I mumbled as I picked up everything I could carry in my arms. Oreos, cookies, soda, potato chips, Doritos… they didn’t have any actual food, but they had the best snacks. I happily walked over to the main deck and dumped everything on the center table. “Did someone ask for delivery?” I announced and everyone stared with wide-eyes at the pile of snacks.
“Oh my-”
“Oreos!” Sammy grabbed one package and hugged it close.
“You’re welcome.” I beamed, pleased at myself.
I rolled myself in a towel Yasmina gave me and sat with them to eat. It was a chilled day, but my face had started to get hot from the sun. When we were done eating, I went inside and grabbed one random book to entertain myself. On the back of the boat, Yasmina had the same idea as me, because she was also resting in the shade. She nodded at me and I sat across from her, already opening the book.
But before I could finish the first chapter, I jolted upright when multiple loud popping sounds startled me. From the bow, there were screams and a distinct loud laughter.
‘So Kenji had pranked Brooklynn and Darius again?’ I chuckled and went back to my book.
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I did learn a lot of new animal facts. I looked up from my book to see Yasmina taking a nap. I stretched my stiff back and got up to go back to the main deck.
Over at the pier, Ben and Sammy were chatting. “Oh, yeah! Bumpy and I are having all the fun!” She smiled overly excited. Bumpy, who was laying on the ground, got up, bumping into Sammy as the Ankylo moved away.
The dinosaur walked closer to the boat, where I was standing. She glanced up at me with her big black eyes and growled happily. I couldn’t help but melt at her. I reached over the railing and petted her on the snout.
“Okay, sorry.” Sammy said. “But, Ben, you know how big animals are kind of my thing?” She fidgeted with her fingers. “Well, you ever think that Bumpy just isn’t that into me?”
“Bumpy’s a complicated woman.” Ben shrugged. “Who knows what’s going on inside that beautiful dino brain of hers?” He placed a hand on Sammy’s shoulder. “I wouldn't worry about it.” Ben walked away, but turned back suddenly. “’Course, you might just be losing your touch.” Ben teased Sammy. “Bye!” He quickly ran away with Bumpy at his toe.
“Cheer up, Sammy!” I said loudly, already walking away to the main deck. “I’m sure she’ll open up.”
“Challenge accepted.” She said to herself. “Bumpy, you will be mine.”
I chuckled at Sammy and made my way to the deck. I wondered if it was time for a second swim, but the color of the sky had begun to change with the sunset. The cold ocean breeze made me shiver. ‘I guess I’m done with the water.’ I wrapped the towel around me tighter.
I came across Kenji, still with his hat on, placing little white candles all over the deck. He had his back turned to me so he hadn’t noticed me yet.
“I know candles are supposed to be romantic, but this is a bit overkill, no?” I said, making him yelp and turn to look at me. “Never thought I’d see this side of you, Kenj.” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“What? I- what? No-” He stuttered and had that look like a deer caught in headlights.
“They can be too much of a fire hazard, though.” I picked up one candle to examine it, only to realize it was a plastic one. “Oh, these are fake.” I shrugged, returning the candle to its place. I glanced back at him again, whose face had turned a deep shade of red. ‘ Too soon? ’ I chuckled out loud. “Jeez, Kenji, I’m kidding.”
“Oh.” He exhaled loudly.
“Nice touch with the candles, though. It really is getting dark.” I glanced up at the sky.
“Just doing my captain duties, you know? Taking care of my crew.” He fixed his perfectly straight captain hat.
“I’ll help.” I didn’t ask this time; I just grabbed a bunch of candles from a box.
“It’s okay.” He gulped. “I’m almost done.”
“I insist.” I turned my back to him and started to line up the candles on top of the table.
We worked in silence, and the whole time I could feel Kenji’s eyes on me. I glanced over my shoulder and I saw Kenji dropping a candle on the floor. I really did want to talk to him about that day on the beach, but I didn’t know how to even bring it up. He wouldn’t even look me in the eyes.
So, we worked in silence. We had gone through all the candles in the box and the main deck looked like it was ready for Christmas.
“It’s pretty.” I admired our work.
“Uhum.” Kenji hummed. I caught his eyes on me again, this time his gaze lingered enough for me to realize he wasn’t looking at my eyes, but a bit lower. I had the towel loosely wrapping around my shoulders, leaving my legs and stomach mostly uncovered.
“So…” I shifted my weight from one leg to another with a smirk growing on my face.
He blushed deeply as he jerked his face away. “I- uh, I’m sorry. I gotta check something over here...” He left the deck with his head hung low.
I heard Kenji talking with Brooklynn and Darius nearby, but I didn’t pay attention, I just slowly sat down with a goofy smile on my face, my stomach fluttering with butterflies. ‘So, he did feel the same. I wasn’t imagining things…’
Suddenly, the whole boat shook with a loud clang and all the candles fell to the floor. I cursed under my breath as I hurriedly got up and went to the pier, where everybody was already gathering.
“Oh, no!” Sammy exclaimed and we all glanced at what she pointed at. There was a hole the size of a soccer ball on the hull of the boat.
“This won’t wait ‘til tomorrow.” Darius said. “We gotta patch this tonight before-”
“The boat sinks.” Kenji stated, puffing his chest and fixing his hat.
“Thanks for the clarification.” Yasmina rolled her eyes.
“There’s gotta be some tools or boating supplies we can scavenge.” Brooklynn glanced at the containers piled up around the dock.
“Let’s hurry. It’s getting dark and the fog’s rolling in.” Darius said.
I nodded along. “We should split up to do this faster.”
“Then let’s go!” Yasmina said.
By the time we had changed into our regular clothes, the sky had darkened and a thick fog covered the dock.
“I’m gonna look over there.” Ben said and walked off with Bumpy.
“Cool. We’ll head this way.” Yasmina joined them.
Darius and Brooklynn headed for the center, while Kenji and Sammy went for the opposite side. I walked over near the gate and checked on the containers for something useful. Most of them were locked, but the few I could open were empty, or with useless cargo, like park’s souvenirs or actual trash. The fog really rolled in quickly after dark, I shivered from the chill breeze as I walked along a narrow hallway. I crossed paths with a silhouette that resembled Yasmina, and a while later I’m pretty sure I saw Sammy near some vehicles. I sighed and I kept checking on the containers, nothing useful.
Then, I heard a faint growl from behind me. I turned around to face the noise. “Is that you, Bumps?” I raised my voice.
From a totally different direction, another growl echoed, followed by screams and clanking noises. Definitely not Bumpy.
I rushed to follow the screams, only to find Yasmina on top of two stacked containers being cornered by two dinosaurs. They were a bit smaller than a Stegosaurus and walked on their four legs, with a light color sail on their backs, their face was kinda flat with some blue spots and a snout similar to a duck. Both dinosaurs were aggressively bumping into the containers Yasmina was on, trying to knock her down.
I slammed my fist against a container making a loud clanking sound. “Hey, duck face!” I yelled. “Over here!” The two dinosaurs snapped their faces at me and roared, leaving Yasmina alone and charging at me.
“Hays!” Yasmina yelled.
“Later!” I shouted back, already disappearing into the nearest hallway.
The good news was that my plan had worked, but now I was being chased by two duck dinosaurs in a maze of containers filled with fog. I couldn’t see where I was going, I just hoped it wasn’t a dead end. I made sharp turns to try and get those two out my tail, but they were persistent.
I was running full speed ahead when I collided with something big and spiky that bellowed at me. I was knocked back and hit the ground with a groan.
“Bumpy!” I looked up, relieved. The Ankylo quickly walked around me and took a defensive stance, growling at my chasers. The duck dinosaurs got into their back legs, rearing like a horse, but Bumpy waved her tail at them.
Suddenly, arms hoisted me up. “Hays! Are you okay?” Sammy had a concern frown.
“Just fine.” I breathed heavily. “Thanks.”
One of the dinosaurs charged at us, but Bumpy body slammed it, making it fall down and slide on the ground in our direction. Sammy and I jumped out of the way and Bumpy roared at the remaining dinosaur, hitting it with its tail.
The dinosaur whimpered and ran away, limping, while the one on the ground snarled lightly, unmoving.
Bumpy bellowed at us and I kissed her on the snout. “What would I do with you?” I smiled as the Anlyko licked my cheek.
“Good girl!” Sammy hugged Bumpy. “Let’s go!” She walked off to one side of the hallway, while Bumpy growled and walked in the opposite direction. I chuckled, following Bumpy, while Sammy jogged to keep up. “That way works too!” She said it with a smile on her face.
“Have you seen anyone?”
“No one, just you.” Sammy sighed.
“I saw Yaz, but that was a while ago.” I narrowed my gaze, trying to see Bumpy through the thick fog. “I think we lost Bumps.”
“Bumpy?” Sammy called with her voice shaking.
“Don’t worry, I-” A loud screech startled us. We slowly backed up as the stomps got louder.
A hand covered my mouth and pulled me into a narrow gap between containers. I struggled against it until I remembered that dinosaurs didn’t have hands. I glanced back to see Kenji holding onto me and Yasmina doing the same to Sammy, while the rest of the campers glued their bodies to the side of the containers. We held our breaths as a duck dinosaur creeped past the exact spot we had just been in.
“Thanffs, buff yufan leh gou naur.” I tried to say, but my voice was muffled by Kenji’s hand. He finally let go of me and I could speak again. “This place is crawling with those duck things.” I whispered.
“Ouranosaurus.” Darius informed us.
“And they are not harmless.” Ben gave Darius a side eye.
I frowned. “That was really the best name they could come up with? Just look at them.”
“I don’t care how they named the Duckosaurus, let’s get out of here.” Kenji hurried us.
“We gotta get on that boat and cast off.” Darius whispered.
“What about the hole on the side?” Ben asked.
“Or the fuel. In case you didn’t notice, we don’t have any left.” I said.
“We’ll figure something out.” Darius simply stated.
“And then? Where do we go?” Kenji asked.
“Anywhere but here.” Brooklynn said, running off into the fog. “Come on, it’s this way.”
“No, it’s that way.” Yasmina pointed behind us.
“We just came from that way.” Ben corrected her.
Kenji gasped. “There!” He pointed at our right, where faint lights could be seen through the fog.
“The candles!” I cheered.
“Party yacht for the win.” Kenji threw his hand up at me. I was about to return the high-five when Kenji’s face froze and he removed his hand, going to fix his captain hat instead. I let my hand fall by my side, hoping no one had noticed the awkwardness between us. Luckily, everybody was more concerned with the loud snarls coming from behind us.
A nearby container shook as if something had hit it. We yelped at the sudden movement and ran toward the lights. The duck dinosaur followed us, growling. Kenji stopped mid-run and threw something at it, which made loud popping sounds startling the dinosaur.
His plan worked and we reached the yacht with a good advantage.
“Hurry!” Yasmina jumped onto the deck with Sammy.
“Come on Bumpy!” Ben guided the Ankylo onboard.
But Darius and Brooklynn were still on the pier. “We’ve got to patch this thing.” Darius pulled out duct tape from his pocket. “Can you do anything with this tape?” He asked Brooklynn.
“Only everything!” She smiled. “Quick, grab whatever you can to plug it up.”
“On it!” I nodded. “Kenji, get started on the engine and we’ll help Brooklynn.” I said, already searching for anything that would help.
“Roger.” Kenji saluted me and disappeared upstairs.
We were all over the place, running around and grabbing anything that could be useful before the dinosaurs got to us.
“Okay. What do I get?” Sammy mumbled, looking under tables.
“Here.” I grabbed a bunch of towels.
“Hand it to me.” Yasmina said and I tossed it to her.
“What about this?” Sammy had an inflatable ball in her hands.
“This too.” Ben gave Yasmina a leather cushion.
“Grab this.” Yasmina passed it all over to Darius down at the pier.
“Is that enough?” I leaned over the edge of the boat. Darius was stuffing the hole with the stuff we had given him.
“This won’t hold long, but it’s all we got.” Brooklynn said, taping it all shut.
One, no… two duck dinosaurs’ silhouettes were visible through the fog. Their growls were getting louder and louder.
“They’re coming!” Sammy yelled.
“Get us out of here!” Darius yelled at Kenji.
I stretched my hand out to Brooklynn and pulled her onboard. The engine protested as Kenji tried to turn it on, but it finally purred below us. The boat started to back away, but Darius still was down at the pier.
“Darius!” Sammy screamed and joined me at the edge. We reached for him and he ran after the moving boat. The dinosaurs creeped closer by the second. Finally, our hands met and we pulled him up to safety.
“That was close.” Darius was panting.
A loud thud rocked the boat, almost knocking us to the ground. We rushed to look over the railing and we stood dumbfounded, watching the two Ouranosaurus swimming side by side towards us.
“Oh, they can swim?” Sammy whimpered. They bumped against our boat, splashing water and knocking us to the floor.
“We can’t outrun them.” Darius stated.
“Then maybe we could scare them off!” Brooklynn said. Darius nodded at her and the two of them ran off to God knows where.
At the stern, Bumpy growled loudly and suddenly the whole weight of the boat shifted, tipping it backwards. This caused us to fall again and slide all the way to the back, where Bumpy was facing against the two Ouranosaurus. She hit one on the face, but they were relentless.
I finally got my bearings and stood up when Darius and Brooklynn jumped out of nowhere with fireworks on hand. Each of us got our own and we pointed them to the sky. The fireworks exploded in a show of colors and loud pops. The duck dinosaurs snarled; dazed by the fireworks, they returned to the water, swimming away from us.
Our fireworks finally wore off and the night turned dark again. We stood in silence, watching the water for the dinosaurs.
When we were sure that they wouldn’t be returning, Sammy was the first to celebrate. “Bye-bye, swimming dinos!”
“’Till never duck face.” I threw the empty firework canister in the air just to catch it with a smile.
…
We followed the coast line until we felt it was safe, far away from the northwest dock. I was hanging up on the second floor’s deck with Brooklynn and Darius, when the engine suddenly cut off and the yacht slowly came to a stop.
“I cut the engine to save whatever fuel’s left.” Kenji said as he joined us. “We are officially adrift.”
“It still doesn’t make sense.” Darius scratched his chin. “First, the Compies disappear from camp. Toro and the Cerato fighting for no reason. Then peaceful herbivores attack us and take over the dock?”
“Maybe our fence worked.” Sammy pondered.
“We should be glad the Compies finally gave up on us.” I commented. “And not every herbivore is nice, just ask those Parasaurolophus.”
“That was different, the Parasaurolophus were acting out because of the Indominus and because they are very territorial.” Darius reasoned. “But the dock is an area the Ouranosaurus shouldn’t even care about. Same goes to Toro and the Cerato. I don’t understand.”
“Things are definitely getting next-level weird.” Brooklynn crossed her arms.
“Yeah. ‘Dinos never go bonkers at Jurassic World’, said no one ever.” Kenji mocked.
We couldn’t dock because of dinosaurs, we were low on fuel, with a hole on the hull, and who knew what additional damage had those Ouranosaurus done.
“It’s more than that, it’s like the whole island’s out of balance somehow.” Darius' gaze drifted to the island. “But why?” We watched the shore covered in fog pass by. Two red dots among the trees drew my attention, like a predator’s gaze was locked on us. I blinked and did a double take. It had disappeared, which led me to believe I was imagining things.
Chapter 30: Casa de Kenji
Summary:
That time the campers really rooted for Bumpy to be constipated.
Notes:
Warnings: blood (just a tiny bit), injuries, anxiety.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Hurry up, Darius.” Kenji yelled from the cockpit. “With the engine off, we’re gonna be swept out to sea or smashed on the rocks!”
We’ve been drifting with the current the whole night, and when we caught the first glimpse of the sunlight, Darius volunteered to, with a rope, get down to the hole and patch it up again.
“Alright, pull me up.” Darius called. Yasmina and I pulled on the rope, slowly bringing Darius back to the deck. “Alright.” He crawled onboard. “We gotta fix that hole or the gas will be the least of our problems.”
“I thought having no GPS was the least of our problems.” Kenji said, appearing on deck.
Yasmina cleared her throat. “Yeah, and uh… not to add to the doom and gloom but…” The yacht rocked back and forth with the waves, sinking slightly. “…pretty sure we’re also sinking.”
“Nah.” Kenji dismissively waved his hand. “We’re just riding low in the water ‘cause of uh…” He cleared his throat while glancing at Bumpy.
Bumpy growled, impatient, and Ben tried to calm her down. “Do not listen to him.” He said soothingly to her. “You’re perfect the way you are.”
“Yet another reason why we need to find somewhere to dock.” I slumped down on a couch. “And fast.”
“Isn’t there some non-dino-infested dock we can get to?” Ben asked us.
“The closest one is on the other side of the island.” Brooklynn said, holding the map. “We’ll never make it.” She sighed, lowering head. “We’re doomed and gloomed.”
“Ha! Hold up!” Kenji’s face suddenly lit up. “There is another dock not far from here. A private dock that’s not on any map.” He stood on the railings and opened his arms wide. “The dock near the P-house.” He announced proudly.
“The um, P-house?” I coughed to hide a giggle.
“I went before we left.” Ben said.
“No, not the-” Kenji groaned, facepalming. “My dad’s penthouse! There’s a private pier and everything!” He explained.
Yasmina scoffed. “And you’re just now telling us this?”
“Okay, well, maybe I forgot.” Kenji shrugged. “But now we have Brooklynn's magic keycard to get inside!”
“That penthouse could have everything we need.” Darius beamed.
“Will have everything we need.” Kenji smiled. “My dad loves boats. He’s got all sorts of nautical junk.”
“Then it’s settled.” Darius chuckled. “To the P-house!”
“To the P-house!” We echoed.
…
The boat hit the pier and the metal screeched against the concrete until it came to a complete stop. We had reached the VIP’s dock, it was up North, passing up a large lone mountain and going further east. There was nothing fancy with this dock, it was a bit smaller but looked just as abandoned.
We didn’t see the docks last time we came here and hopefully the penthouse locking mechanism still had battery, otherwise we’d be locked outside, again.
“That’s it.” Darius said with a gloom expression, checking on the gas meter. “That’s the last of the gas.”
Kenji threw an arm around Darius and smirked. “Totally worth it ‘cause you’re about to see the most exclusive spot on the island.”
Ben and Bumpy were the firsts off the boat, the Ankylo was desperate to be back on land. Darius and Yasmina took care of securing the yacht, tying ropes around the pier’s cleat. Kenji went off ahead, like a child overly excited to show us around; he was waiting for us near some bright green hoverboard scooters, those that the shopping mall’s security guards were always cruising around on.
“At the penthouse, we travel in style.” Kenji grinned. Each of us jumped on their own hoverboard and followed Kenji down the dirt road, well, except for Ben, who chose to ride on Bumpy. “It’s only a short ride away. Cool, huh?” Kenji spun in front of us on his hoverboard, beaming in excitement. I smiled softly at him acting so happy; it was a rare sight on this hellish island. He really looked his best like this… not that I cared or anything. “Thanks to B’s magic card opening all doors on the island, I’ll finally get to show you guys my home away from home!”
Movement on the jungle on the side of the road drew our attention and we gasped, stopping dead on our tracks.
“Whoa!” Darius said.
We all glared at the green dinosaur standing still. It stood on its back legs, but had long arms with sharp claws. It was slim with a flat and rectangular head with a crest on top, and had a row of sharp teeth popping out of its mouth, like they overgrew. It was frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights, but I could see its eyes analyzing us, jumping from one person to another. I gripped tightly on the handlebars, ready to run out of there as soon as it moved.
“Uh, Darius?” Kenji whispered.
Darius sighed in relief. “It’s just a Monolophosaurus. They’re loners. Pretty much keep to themselves and prefer to hunt solitary prey.” He explained, shrugging and resuming the ride. “It won’t attack if we stay together.”
“Then onward! Paradise awaits!” Kenji cheered, pointing ahead and speeding off. We followed, but I didn’t help but to look over my shoulder a few times. I didn’t like how the dinosaur was glaring at us, unmoving.
We rode for a few more minutes down the road and made a turn; the trees opened up, revealing the freakishly tall building covered in glass that reflected the sunlight right to our faces. It seemed brighter than the last time we had seen it, or maybe it was just the lack of clouds in the sky. The building brought a dissonant clash of jungle with the modern world, but nevertheless, it was a shelter with everything we needed.
“Pretty cool, right?” Kenji smirked. “Wait till you see the inside.”
We parked next to the entrance and jumped off our vehicles.
“Looks pretty clear.” Darius said. I glanced back at the dirt road where we had come from, still tense from seeing that dinosaur. “We get in, get what we need, and get out.”
“We’re here girl.” Ben said to Bumpy, who lowered her head to check on the grass. “No offense, but it’s not really her kind of place.”
“No offense, but she’s an 800-pound dinosaur who will totally trash my pad, so yeah, totes not happening anyway.” Kenji said, leading us to the main entrance.
Since Kenji was terrible at math, we never got the chance to check out his penthouse, but now with Brooklynn’s keycard we would finally get that luxury. We waited around nervously for Brooklynn to pull out her card and press it against the lock. The mechanism glowed green and the door popped open.
“Hell yeah.” Kenji laughed.
…
Unfortunately, there was no power and we had to go all the way to the penthouse using the stairs. We were panting and sweaty by the time we had reached the last floor. Darius opened up the door that led us inside, and everybody dropped to the floor, trying to recover from the climb. Even Yasmina and I were winded.
“How… do we run… from dinosaurs every day… and we’re still… this winded… from taking the stairs?” Darius said in between ragged breaths.
“Sorry.” Kenji breathed out. “If the elevator was working… opens up right inside.”
We suddenly realized where we were, it was the fanciest place I’ve ever been to in my entire life! It was so… clean, untouched by the dinosaur madness. The room had tall white walls; the opposite wall from the entrance was pure glass, with a door that led to a balcony; even though there was no electricity, the windows allowed natural light to shine through. The white marble floor matched with the walls and the furniture that had details in gold. There were bookshelves full of expensive-looking books, and paintings of landscapes decorating the room. But the most impressive thing on the room was, without a doubt, a real-life size Sinoceratop skull made of gold.
“Oh, I’m not dressed for this.” Sammy said in awe, taking in the room.
“Welcome, friends, to casa de Kenji!” Kenji opened his arms wide. “Who’s up for a grand tour?” We all rushed past him to explore the room. “Or there’s the self-tour. That, too.” He chuckled.
Darius went straight to the Sinoceratop and I joined him, amazed by the gold.
“Whoa.” Darius’ eyes looked like it were about to pop out of their socket.
“Pretty sweet, eh?” Kenji chuckled, hooking one arm around Darius. “A gift from Masrani. I named… Horatio.”
“A replica of the 68-million-year-old Sinoceratop discovered in Southern China!” Darius gasped, examining the replica from up close.
“Uh, sure.” Kenji mumbled. “Also, it’s gold.”
“Horatio is so shiny.” I gazed at my reflection on the gold. “Jeez, you really are gross rich, Kenji.”
“Wow, this is amazing.” Brooklynn said from the other side of the room.
“C- careful!” He stuttered as he rushed to her, smacking her hand away from a small sculpture on a center table. “Dad doesn’t let me touch that. It’s one of his favorites. An original Gaddi.”
“Your daddy’s Gaddi?” Brooklynn chuckled.
“Obviously, it’s, uh- it’s, uh- expensive.” Kenji muttered. “That’s why it’s art, yo!”
“Oh, my gosh! Kenji, is that your dad?” Sammy asked, pointing at a picture on the wall. It was a middle-aged man in a fancy suit, standing proud in front of a building.
“Yeah. And that’s the first skyscraper he ever bought.” Kenji said.
“Is that him at the White House?” She asked, pointing to another picture of the man with white pillars as the background.
“What can I say? Dad plays golf with the prez.”
“Hey, how come there aren’t any pics of you-”
“If you like those, check these out.” Kenji quickly got hold of a photo book and handed it over to Sammy. “There’s even a pic of dad on the cover of Modern CEO magazine. Yeah, he owns the magazine, but, you know, still, huge honor.” He chuckled.
“Guys, snacks!” Yasmina rushed in from another room, with bags and bags of fancy snacks.
“Woo!” Darius cheered as Yasmina tossed him a package.
“Uh, imported snacks.” Kenji mumbled as he exited the room.
“Uh, oh, I call dibs on the cookies.” I smiled as Yasmina handed me a bag of what I asked for. I gave the package a weird glance, as it was in a language I didn’t recognize. I nibbled on one small cookie and my eyes immediately widened. “Oh, this is good!”
“I could eat only this all the time.” Brooklynn said with a mouth full of popcorn.
“Thirsty?” Kenji reappeared, carrying multiple water bottles.
“Mm-hmm.” Yasmina hummed; her mouth busy with potato chips.
Kenji laid out the bottle to her, but he pulled back at the last second. “Just so you know, it’s from a very exclusive artesian well in Paris, filtered with diamonds.” He finally handed her the water bottle.
Yasmina popped the cap open with a blank expression and took a sip. Her eyebrows shoot up. “That’s not water. That’s an experience.” She and Kenji clinked their water bottles, and he went around the room giving us one too.
“This gold is so shiny.” Brooklyn stared at the Sinoceratop’s head.
“May I introduce to you, Horatio, the Sinoceratop.” I motioned at the replica.
“Guys!” Darius protested. “He’s not just a Sinoceratop, he’s a 68-million-year-old-”
“Chinese dino, we know, D.” I interrupted him.
“A golden dino.” Sammy had her eyes fixed.
“Hello?” Ben raised his voice. “I thought we were supposed to be searching for gas? A patch for the boat? A GPS? Any of this ringing a bell?”
“Dude, chill. Have some water.” Kenji tossed Ben a bottle, which he picked up mid-air. He took a quick sip to shut Kenji up, but his face betrayed him. Next thing we knew, Ben was chugging the bottle.
“Oh, does this place have a hot tub?” Yasmina asked.
“Or a king size bed with a thousand thread Egyptian cotton?” Sammy asked.
“Even better.” Kenji smirked.
“Silk?” Sammy's eyes were glowing.
After the snack break, we continued to explore the penthouse. Ben was at the balcony, and Brooklynn and Yasmina were nowhere in sight. Sammy was on the couch still flipping through the photo album, and Kenji introduced Darius to a battery powered videogame, so the boys were entertained.
Darius was sitting on a chair playing video games, while Kenji hovered over his shoulders, watching. I tapped Kenji on the shoulder and he reluctantly took his eyes off the game.
“Hey, Kenj um… is the offer for the tour still up?” I asked as anxiety pooled on my stomach.
“Hayden… Hays… Hey.” He stuttered; his eyes widened at me. “Sure, when everyone is free I’ll show you guys around.”
‘I see I’ll have to spell it out for him…’ So, I tried again. “I mean, do you have a second so we can talk?”
“Oh.” His eyes darted everywhere in the room but me. “The thing is-”
A beeping sound drew our attention to Darius. “Man, I can’t believe you have one of these! I didn’t even think it was released yet.”
“Sweet, right?” Kenji said in a high pitch, totally turning his back on me. “Top-secret prototype. Took me all last summer to get that high score so…”
Another beeping. “Yes! High score.” Darius cheered, but glanced over at Kenji. “Sorry.”
“Well, whatever. It’s- it’s a kiddie game.” Kenji dismissed him with a chuckle, walking away from Darius.
‘Finally.’ I started to follow Kenji out of the living room. “So…” Kenji turned around on his heel so fast, it made me halt and almost hit him. I kept my voice down. “Look, I hate this, can we just talk already?”
He widened his eyes and clenched his fists to his side. His voice sounded much less excited than usual. “Since I’m the current man of the house, eh, penthouse. I need to go over there-” He pointed over his shoulder. “- to do some penthouse duties… alone.” He laughed nervously as he backed away to the hallway. “But we’ll talk later… yeah, definitely later.” He disappeared around the corner.
I stood a solid minute in the middle of the living room trying to make sense of all of that. ‘Did he- had he-’ I blinked. ‘Coward.’ The previous anxiety quickly made way for annoyance. Kenji fucking Kon! But I wouldn’t let that spoil my mood. We had a boat and we were getting home. Nothing else mattered.
I looked around to find Ben out on the balcony, glancing over the railing. I guess he didn’t like to lose time on snacks or chit chatting, or he just plain missed Bumpy, because he had hunched over shoulders and a gloomy expression.
“Hey, don’t worry, we’ll get everything we need.” I stopped next to him, bumping shoulders playfully.
“That’s not it- I mean, it is.” He shook his head. “But also, it’s Bumpy.”
I glanced over the railing to see the Ankylo down at the ground. She was slamming her tail on the ground inaccessibly, raising a cloud of dirt in the air.
“She seems agitated.” I commented.
“That’s what I was afraid of…” He trailed off. “Guys?” Ben raised his voice, calling everybody to the balcony. “Something’s up with Bumpy.” When the seven of us had the opportunity to check on Bumpy, Ben explained. “She only acts like that when she senses danger or when she’s constipated.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope it’s the second one.” Brooklynn said.
“With our luck?” I sighed.
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Kenji waved his hand.
“We can’t risk it.” Darius said. “You said your dad has a portable GPS up here?”
“Yeah, somewhere, but I didn’t even show you the hot tub yet.” Kenji's face lit up. “Sixty jets!”
“There’s no power, remember?” I said, rolling my eyes at him.
“I’ll go down to the garage.” Ben announced. “If there’s gas or something to patch the boat with, that’s where it’ll be.”
“We’re coming with.” Yasmina said, already at the door. “Sammy, you coming?”
“Oh, um yeah.” She seemed reluctant to drop down the photo book, but joined Yasmina and Ben.
The door shut and then, there was only Darius, Kenji, Brooklynn and me in the penthouse. And we didn’t waste any time searching every shelf and drawer for the GPS. Kenji helped for a while, but at the first chance he got, he sat on a white massage chair on the corner and turned the thing on.
He let out a loud breath. “I can feel the stress draining out of me.” He reclined the chair, sighing again. “You guys are missing out. Who’s got next?”
“We’re a little busy, Kenj.” Darius said, searching thoroughly between books.
“You have no idea where the GPS is?” Brooklynn asked.
“Dad’s not big on sharing details. Frees me up to not sweat the small stuff. Or any stuff, really.” Kenji said, making Brooklynn and I groan.
“Then where does he keep his nautical stuff?” Darius asked hastily, but Kenji didn’t seem to be getting the hint.
“You know, we can just take the batteries off that thing.” I pointed at his chair with my chin.
“Chill for a minute, will you?” He slurred his words as the chair vibrated.
“This is totally not the time for chilling.” I gritted my teeth.
“It never is with you.”
A scoff escaped my lips as I stood with my back straight. “I’m sorry, some of us would like to get things done.”
“I get things done!” Kenji protested, averting my gaze.
I chuckled bitterly. “Yeah, let me know when you decide to start.”
“Sometimes I just- I fuck up and I need to - I dunno.”
“Un- fucking -believable.” I said through my clenched jaw. “What else could you possibly need?”
“I’m sorry, okay?” He blurted out.
“Yeah? What exactly are you sorry for?” I narrowed my gaze. ‘After ignoring me for days, he couldn’t even say it.’
“About, you know…”
I groaned. “I’m the one who’s about to be fucking sorry.”
“I mean, I didn’t- it’s my fault.”
I was a bit taken aback from his words. ‘He really did regret it then.’ I wasn’t giving him the satisfaction, instead I let the anger spill through my tone. “Great, I already know you’re sorry, Kenji. You don’t need to repeat yourself.”
“I’m trying here.” His voice was almost pleading, desperate.
“Try finishing a sentence next time.” I let out a condescending chuckle. “Cause you’re failing miserably.”
Darius cleared his throat. “Can you try a little bit harder? We need that GPS.”
Brooklynn elbowed him. “Read the room, dino-nerd.”
“What?” Darius looked truly confused.
I crossed my arms as Kenji cowered from my gaze on his massage chair. “No, I totally agree, it’s time you try a little harder here.”
“So… the GPS.” Darius pressed.
Kenji glanced at me, apprehensive, before turning to Darius. “Okay… Jeez.” He got up. “Thataway, right past the 20-seat-” He pointed in a direction and that was all we needed. Darius and Brooklynn started walking even before he finished the sentence, and I followed without looking back. “-home theater.”
Was he for real? It’s been weeks since he's been acting like this. I tried everything, I gave him space, then I flat out tried to talk to him, nothing worked. But I couldn’t let him distract me, we had a mission. We had to find the GPS, fuel, something for the hole…
We went down a fancy hallway that led to an office. The walls were lined up with bookshelves and there was a huge wooden desk in the middle of the room, probably Mr. Kon’s workplace. On the corner of the room, there were armchairs around a center table, with a golden spyglass on top of it.
“Okay, getting warmer, maybe.” Brooklynn mumbled, picking up the spyglass.
Darius checked the stuff on top of the desk, while I rummaged through the drawers. There were only documents and fancy pens, no GPS.
“A compass!” Darius exclaimed, as he found the object buried on some papers. “It’s not a GPS, but it’ll do.”
“It’ll more than ‘do’.” Kenji was watching us from the door. “That’s an antique. Rumor has it, it used to belong to-”
“Someone super rich.” I hastily said, walking past him.
“And super famous.” Brooklynn rolled her eyes. “We know.”
We returned to the main living room just for Brooklynn to shush us. She had a spooked look on her face, enough for us to know it was real.
“What?” I whispered.
She pointed at the entrance door, which was ajar with a snout poking out of it. We froze as the dinosaur snarled quietly; it still hadn’t seen us.
“What is that?” Kenji suddenly said loudly, joining us.
At Kenji’s voice, the dinosaur screeched and his whole head was visible, it was a Monolophosaurus! We screamed in panic and rushed to push the door close, smashing the dinosaur’s head against the doorway. It was relentless, though; it took Kenji to slam at the door with all of his strength to safely shut the door with the dinosaur on the other side.
We glanced at each other and let out a long sigh, but before we could really relax, a loud bang made the wooden door shake on its hinges, and it began to crack in the middle. We leaned against the door again, still trying to keep the dinosaur from getting in.
“This door’s solid mahogany!” Kenji said, stupefied.
“We get it! You’re rich!” Darius grunted, pushing against the door. “Just keep the door shut so we can barricade it!”
Darius and Brooklynn ditched the door, while Kenji and I replaced them. My feet slid on the marble floor, as I pushed against it with all I had. Darius and Brooklynn brought a couch to block the door, which replaced Kenji and me. Kenji placed a big vase on top of the couch and grabbed his captain hat as we backed away from the entrance. But the dinosaur didn’t give up, even with the barricade, the door seemed like it was going to cave at any second.
“It’s not working!” Darius shrieked as the crack on the door grew.
“Kenji, is there another way out?” I asked, desperately scanning the room for one.
“The elevator!” Brooklynn exclaimed.
“That’s definitely not working!” Kenji said.
“We can climb down through the shaft!” Darius pointed out.
We ran to the elevator, digging our fingers in the crevices between the doors and pulling them apart. The elevator shaft was an endless dark pit with metal cables in the center.
“Go, go, go.” I pressed.
“Kenji, come on!” Darius yelled.
I looked back to see that Kenji hadn’t moved, he was frozen in place, with his eyes darting back and forward between us and something inside the room. The Monolophosaurus let out a growl when it locked eyes with us again; it had broken down part of the door and was about to get past the barricade.
“Kenji?” Darius called again, but Kenji gave us one last glance and ran inside the room.
‘Had him gone mad!?’
“I’ll keep it open, you two get out already.” I said to Brooklynn and Darius.
“But Kenji-”
“I know, just go!” I opened my arms wide, securing each door in place.
Against their will, both of them jumped in the pit and held tightly at the cables, screaming as they slid down a bit.
“Kenji! Get your ass back here!” I yelled.
I heard a loud crack and a growl. Kenji appeared on the corner, carrying the Gaddi sculpture. Behind him, the Monolophosaurus pushed the couch out of the way and was running after him. Kenji screamed as he ducked below my arms and leaped in the pit, I followed him without a second thought and gripped the cables. The elevator’s doors shut and a loud bang echoed when the dinosaur collided with the metal.
I hooked my legs around the cables and slid down, and since there were four people dangling at the same time, the cables were swaying wildly. The pit wasn’t pitch black as I expected, there were orange emergency lights alongside the walls.
‘Of course, the only place where things worked on the island was the rich people's place.’ I grunted.
I descended on the cables, but Kenji was blocking the way, while Brooklynn and Darius had covered much more ground. I could see the top of the elevator a few meters down, but we needed to hurry. If there were dinosaurs in the penthouse, the garage would be crawling with them.
“Speed up, Kenji.”
“Just let go of the sculpture!” Brooklynn yelled.
“No way! Think of Dad!” He protested, hugging the thing.
A snarl made us halt in place. I glanced up to where we had come from, but the penthouse was way too far up, the sound couldn’t possibly be coming from there. Another snarl echoed in the pit; it was coming from everywhere! My eyes darted around, but there was no dinosaur in sight.
Suddenly, the air vent to my right burst open and a Monolophosaurus tried to bite my arm off. The sudden head popping out startled me, making me loosen my grip on the cables and slide down, luckily that was what it took for me to escape its jaws.
I heard Darius screaming Brooklynn’s name, followed by a loud thud, but I didn’t have time to check on them. I was sliding right at Kenji, who was also being tormented by a dinosaur. To not bring him down with me, I spun my body around, pushing off of the cables. I locked eyes with a crevice on the pit and aimed for that, but I overshot it and suddenly I was in a free fall. Kenji screamed something unintelligible at me, but the only thing I could hear was my own heart beating in my ears.
‘That’s it. I’m gonna end up as a splat on an elevator pit.’ I thought as I fell, trying to grab anything in sight.
A dinosaur had his head out in a vent right in my path, I couldn’t do anything to avoid it, so I hit it straight in the head with my knee. I felt the pain right away, but it turned out the dinosaur had slowed me down enough so I could grab onto a door opening.
Ignoring the pain, I tried to find some support with my feet, but there was none, so I gripped even tighter at the crevices, until my knuckles turned white.
‘I’m alive.’ My eyes widened and I wanted to laugh, but screams below me drew my attention. Darius was in the same situation as me, but with a Monolophosaurus climbing on the cables after him. What worried me, though, was Brooklynn lying unconscious at the top of the elevator below us.
“Brooklynn!” I yelled, but she didn’t move.
The Mono at the cables jumped after Darius, who escaped by leaping to another elevator door. With the cables free, I let go of my safe crevice at the wall and reached for the cables. I slid down, hugging the metal cables. The friction burned my hands, so I squeezed tighter with my legs.
‘She has to be okay. She has to be okay.’ It was the only thing that crossed my mind, so I leapt the last meters landing at Brooklynn’s feet. My legs gave out with my landing, but I didn’t care, I crawled to check on Brooklynn. She was breathing, but she was pale and I noticed a thin sliver of blood trickling down her neck.
“Brook-”
“Watch out!” Darius shouted from above and I looked up. The Monolophosaurus was plummeting down right to us.
I wrapped my arms around Brooklynn and pulled her with all my strength. I fell backwards with her limp body on top of me, and right where we just were, the Mono landed with a clank that shook the whole elevator, making it drop a few feet.
The sinking of the elevator had revealed the upper part of a new set of doors. I spun Brooklynn around, laying her carefully next to it, but before I could try and open it, Darius came down screaming. He landed right on top of the Monolophosaurus, who whimpered.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I-” He was interrupted by the Mono snarling at us.
The dinosaur stumbled to get up and Darius and I backed up to the closed doors in a desperate attempt of opening it.
The dinosaur regained its balance and growled at us, but suddenly Kenji’s captain hat floated down, landing over the Mono’s eyes and disorientating it. We managed to get the elevator doors slowly to creep open, and while we were focused on the doors, we heard a sharp cracking sound behind us.
We jerked our head to the noise, only to find the Mono knocked out cold by the Gaddi, which was in pieces. Kenji came sliding down the cables and picked up his hat in one hand and a large piece of what was left of the Gaddi on the other.
He stared at them for a while, as if trying to decide between them, when the Monolophosaurus jolted awake, we flinched and Kenji screamed as he smashed the last piece of the Gaddi on the dinosaur’s head, putting it to sleep.
“Hold the door open.” I ordered, as I crawled through. I pulled Brooklynn to safety and held her in my arms. Darius and Kenji finally made it out and the doors closed on the Monolophosaurus.
The poorly lit hallway had a sign indicating that we were on the second floor. I laid Brooklynn right below the sign, carefully supporting her head. I cringed at myself, in a situation like this the worst I could do was move her head, but we were long past that.
“How is she?” Darius asked, hovering over my shoulder.
“It was a bad fall.” Kenji grimaced.
“She’ll wake up, don’t worry.” I said, reassuring myself.
But how did this happen? Where did the dinosaurs come from? Weren’t they supposed to be loners? Brooklynn was knocked out cold and it happened because we weren’t ready. And we weren’t ready because we thought Monolophosaurus were harmless. I glanced over at Darius, irritation rising in me. I guess the dino-nerd didn’t know all the facts. First the aggro herbivores, now this…
A faint snarl echoed in the dark corridor, making me jolt upright.
“We can’t stay here.” Darius sighed.
‘Yeah, duh.’ I rolled my eyes.
“There’s Monos everywhere.” I said with a clenched jaw. Darius stared at me with the innocent eyes of his and my blood started to boil. “I thought you said they were fucking loners!”
He flinched at my sudden outburst. “They are! I don’t know what happened, they’re not supposed to hang with a pack!”
“Inside voices, please.” Kenji whispered, glancing at the dark corridor.
I scoffed. “Clearly, you got your facts wrong, dino-nerd, again.”
Darius opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He had a defeated look when he finally spoke again. “We need to find the others. Let’s-”
“I’ll carry Brooklynn.” I interrupted him which I’ll admit, felt good. “Kenji, you guide us out of here.”
“Got it.” Kenji nodded and with no hesitation he walked to the nearest door. “This way.”
I awkwardly hunched over, pulling Brooklynn to my back. I was giving Brooklynn a piggyback ride, which was really difficult when the person in the back couldn’t hold on. I threw her arms around my neck, while I had my arms holding her legs tightly.
The door led to the stairs we had used to go up before. We went down two flights of stairs to the ground floor. Opening the door to the garage, we came across two silhouettes in the dark, the Monolophosaurus screeched, snapping its jaws.
“Run!” Darius yelled.
We didn’t need to be told again and headed out of the building. Darius and Kenji pushed open the doors while Brooklynn bounced on my back. She wasn’t heavy at all, but the awkwardness of having to carry someone limp was making up for it. I had to hunch over for her not to fall, and on top of that, my knee was burning hot with every step, slowing me down. The dinosaurs were right behind us, luckily, they got tangled on the hoverboards we had parked in the entrance, giving us a head start.
Someone was madly honking at us, so we looked over our shoulder to see Yasmina driving a black limousine. She matched our speed and Ben and Sammy opened the door for us. I picked up the pace and since I couldn’t use my hands, as soon as I dived into the limo, I fell face first to the car’s floor.
I heard Kenji and Darius following me, in a much more graceful manner, I bet. The door shut, followed by something heavy colliding with our pursuers.
“Let’s hit it, Bumpy.” I heard Ben yelling.
“Little help?” I groaned, with my face glued to the carpet.
“Oh my gosh, what happened?” Sammy yelped and I felt Brooklynn being lifted off of me.
“She hit her head.” Darius simply said.
I slowly got up, massaging my forehead. ‘No, we got cornered by ‘lone’ dinosaurs and fell down an elevator shaft!’ I wanted to scream, but refrained from it.
Sammy had laid Brooklynn on the back seat, and everybody stood silent, glancing down at the pale unconscious girl. I saw tears starting to form on Sammy’s eyes, and that made my throat tighten.
“She’s Brooklynn. She’ll be okay.” I finally stated, more to reassure myself.
“I hope you’re right.” Sammy sniffed.
“We’re here.” Yasmina pulled up near the pier.
First thing back on the boat, Sammy helped me carry Brooklynn to a bed.
We went to the main bedroom, the walls were from a dark type of wood lined up with paintings of the couple; Tiff on the beach; Mitch sitting on a throne with the wall behind him filled with their hunting trophies; the couple dressed as royalty, covered in a panther skin. It all made us gag so we figured it was best to find another room.
Entering a door that we initially thought was a bathroom, there was a much smaller guest room. It also had leather and fur covering the bed, but no creepy reminder of Mitch and Tiff, probably this was where Hap slept. And that was somewhat comforting. Sammy made sure to take off all that gross stuff from the bed, before placing Brooklynn on it. Both of us let out an audible sigh, and our gazes fell on Brooklynn laying on the mattress.
“What do we do?” Sammy’s voice was barely a whisper, she was slumped forward and fidgeting with her fingers.
“We wait. She’ll be up in no time, you’ll see.” I said with conviction, clenching my fists.
“We probably should get back with the others.”
“Just one second.”
Sammy gave me a sad smile and with a last concerned glance at Brooklynn, she left the room. I sat on the edge of the bed and glanced down. She looked peaceful. ‘Just sleeping.’ I said to myself. A lump grew on my throat. ‘Brooklynn couldn’t be hurt. Not her.’ The thought made my insides turn.
Notes:
Who doesn’t love a couple that can’t communicate even if their lives depended on it? …No? …Just me?
Chapter 31: Hell’s Garage
Summary:
Underground, in the dark, with dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?
Notes:
I had to complicate their life a little more, otherwise it wouldn't be fun.
Warnings: violence, blood, gore, anxiety.
Chapter Text
With one last glance at Brooklynn laying on the bed, I got up and went to join them on the deck.
“See the hat, junior?” Kenji fixed his captain hat. “That means I’m in charge.” Darius chuckled, rolling his eyes. “So, all aboard the meeting boat!”
“Good news is, we have fuel.” Darius said.
“Bad news, it’s not enough.” Yasmina sighed. “We only have what’s left on the limo, the Monos got in the way of the rest.”
Ben raised two fingers up. “Second good news, we also found sealant.”
“Bad bad news y’all, it’s in the garage along with the rest of the fuel.” Sammy had her hands on her head.
I nodded. “…and the dinosaurs.”
“We really tried to get it all, but-”
“Dinosaurs.” Kenji concluded.
“We almost didn’t make it out.” Yasmina sighed.
“We really need this stuff, guys.” Darius pressed.
“Not to mention the third bad news.” Sammy glanced inside the yacht.
“She’ll pull through.” Darius sounded confident.
I sighed. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it, she needs rest and we need to get our fuel and sealant.”
“We need a plan.” Darius paced around.
“We need a distraction.” I stated. “It’s the only way we get close to that garage.”
Darius suddenly halted in place, turning to face Ben. “Can you and Bumpy draw their attention away from the garage? The rest of us can sneak in and grab what we need.”
“Sure.” Ben nodded.
“That’s a good plan.” Kenji nodded.
I frowned. ‘That isn’t going to work at all.’
I crossed my arms at Darius. “Except that the Monos sneaked past Bumpy when she was guarding the door. They didn’t attack her, they avoided her. So, probably they are one of those dinos that go for the weakest of the herd, right, dino-nerd?” I didn’t really give him time to answer, I knew I was right. “Big Bumpercar here is too much of a threat for them, but they’ll follow us . So, two of us should be the distraction while the rest of us go for the garage. Oh, of course someone should stay back with Brooklynn.”
“That’s- that’s a better plan.” Kenji stuttered, glancing at Darius.
Darius crossed his arms back at me. “We don’t know that. Bumpy’s not even a full grown Ankylosaurus.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t underestimate her, the Monos for sure didn’t.” By now, all eyes were on Darius and me, watching us go back and forth.
‘Why is he being so difficult?’
“Hear that, Bumps?” Ben yelled at the dinosaur on the pier, who raised her head, curious. “You make those Monos cower in fear. You’re amazing, girl!”
Darius shook his head. “They were probably inside the building all along.”
I snickered. “Then how did we climb all the way to the penthouse without being attacked? We weren’t exactly discreet.”
“Yeah, we were as loud as a rooster sayin’ good mornin’.” Sammy said.
Yasmina looked up, where the sun was beginning its descent. “Guys, we’re losing daylight, if we’re doing something, we need to do it fast.”
“It’s safer if Bumpy comes along.” Darius pressed.
I sighed, frustrated. “The point here it’s to actually draw their attention out of the garage.”
“Well, count me in.” Ben smiled, puffing his chest. “I’ll make a heck of a distraction. I just need one flashlight and maybe some of that fuel.” His smile turned mischievous.
“I can help too.” Darius placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “We’ll keep Bumpy close.”
“But not too close.” I said through clenched teeth. “Right?” He didn’t respond.
“They won’t even know what hit them.” Ben grinned.
“Sammy, Yaz, you should come to the garage with me, you know where everything is.” I said.
Both of them nodded. “We saw some gallons we can use.” Yasmina added. “The sealant is on the locker, right Ben?”
“That’s right.”
“Perfect.” I turned to Kenji. “So… you stay with Brooklynn?”
“No way, Captain Kenji is coming with you.” Kenji fixed his hat. “I know that building like the back of my VIP hand.”
I glanced back at the girls. It would really be ideal to have both of them down there.
“I can stay with her.” Sammy quickly volunteered.
“Alright.” Kenji punched the air.
“Let’s go, I know where they keep some flashlights.” Yasmina rushed inside.
While they took care of that, I scoured the boat for something to use as a weapon. Big time hunters would have a bunch, right? Except that the only sharp thing I found was two kitchen knives. I guess all the good stuff was in their camp. I thought back at the knife I had snatched for myself, regretting leaving it behind.
‘This will have to do.’
I offered one to Yasmina, while keeping the other one to myself. There were three flashlights, two with our group and one with Ben and Darius. Too bad all the walkies were left back at camp.
Ben, Bumpy and Darius walked ahead, while we followed. Ben led Bumpy a bit into the jungle, hopefully Darius will listen to me and not drag her into this. Yasmina, Kenji and I hid behind some trees. The garage entrance looked like a dark cave going into the earth and for some unholy reason, all I could think of was an old quote ‘abandon all hope, ye who enters here.’ I’m pretty sure the author wasn’t talking about entering the land of happiness, unicorns and ice cream. Was it too much to ask?
Ben and Darius stood by the entrance, jumping in place and stretching in advance. There were no dinosaurs in sight, but we could hear them, the snarls and hissing coming from the dark garage.
A loud whistle echoed through the jungle. Ben and Darius froze while nothing happened, so Darius whistled again. That did the trick, several Monolophosaurus emerged from the open gates, claws scratching against pavement. Ben and Darius were out of there as soon as the dinosaurs laid eyes on them, which granted their pursuit.
It was our turn now, we hurried inside as quietly as possible. The garage was dark, only the darker shape of limousines was visible with the light coming from outside. With our flashlight on, it was possible to discern a ramp going down to another level of the parking garage; an entrance on the other side of the room, probably going to the elevator and stairs; and a couple lockers to the right.
“Over here.” Yasmina led us to the lockers.
Boring gray lockers that reminded me of my high school. Most of them were empty, but inside one of them there was duct tape, a sealant tube and its gun. On the floor next to them there were five red gas cans with some hoses, which we were going to use to get the gas out of the cars.
Having already discussed what we were going to do, we worked fast and silently. The limousine closest to the entrance was going to be our getaway car, so after making sure it had the key and fuel, we started stockpiling everything inside of it.
There were around 12 limousines in the parking garage, a lot more fuel than we could carry. It was fairly easy to take it out of the tank. We just needed to insert the hose into the tank and suck until we saw the liquid, then we let physics take over, emptying the tank into the gallon.
There were a few noises that made us jump and freeze in place. The first one was a snarl coming from outside, but after a few seconds, it was gone; the second was Kenji dropping his gallon. The third was something scraping against metal coming from inside of the building, so we rushed to close the door to the stairs.
We were moving fast, but not fast enough. I didn’t know how much gas there was in a limo’s tank, but it took what seemed like hours to fill the gas can.
We had finished the first three, Kenji was almost up with his second one and Yasmina was helping me with the last one. So far, Ben and Darius' distraction seemed to be working.
“So, what was that with Darius?” Yasmina asked out of the blue, her voice low not to draw any attention.
“What?” I raised my eyes from the gas can.
“You know what I’m talking about.”
I sighed. “I really don’t.” She just glared at me. “I just offered a better plan. This plan. Can we focus on it so we can get the hell out of here?”
She just rolled her eyes at me and walked away to help Kenji, taking the flashlight with her may I add. ‘Fucking hell.’
A few seconds after that, I heard the fourth sound. Claws scratching the garage’s pavement. Multiple claws.
The dim light from the flashlights vanished, having been turned off. I remained crouched down for a few seconds, listening. I couldn’t hear the claws anymore, just my heart beating. Taking a peek over the hood, I saw three silhouettes standing by the entrance. A soft sound came from my right, a car door closing. The three dinosaurs snapped their heads towards the sound.
‘Fuck.’ I crouched back down as the dinosaurs moved in. ‘Triple fuck.’
The gas can wasn’t full, but fuck it. I could hear the dinosaurs approaching. I grabbed the can with one hand and my knife with the other, entering the limo and closing the door with a soft click. The door didn’t lock fully, but it wasn’t like the dinosaurs could work handles.
If the Monos are here, it means our time ran out with the distraction, which means soon this place would be crawling with Monolophosaurus. We needed to get out of here before that happened and we needed all the fuel we could carry. I still wasn’t sure how the tree of us were going to do that, but I just hoped Ben and Darius were okay.
After making sure the dinosaurs were nowhere near my hiding place, I sneaked out, clutching my knife and holding the gas can close to my body. I saw Kenji and Yasmina’s shadow doing the same a couple cars away.
They were between one limo and the wall when it happened. A Monolophosaurus jumped on top of the limo, denting the hood and snarling at Kenji and Yasmina, who yelped and started running towards where I was at. They were cut off by the second Mono, who got in the way. They were cornered and a dinosaur stood between me and them, even though they probably didn’t know where I was.
I approached slowly, trying to be as stealthy as possible. I needed the element of surprise for this. The dinosaurs hadn’t noticed me. All I could hope for was for Yasmina to remember her knife and that the third dinosaur didn’t show up for the party.
Kenji and Yasmina were shoulder to shoulder, fumbling with something I couldn’t really make out in the dark.
“Now!” Yasmina yelled.
Both flashlights came on at once, aimed at the Mono’s face. While the dinosaurs got used to the sudden brightness, Kenji and Yasmina ran towards the only way they could, to the getaway car. With the dinosaurs dazed, I approached them and when I thought my help wouldn’t be needed, the third Monolophosaurus showed up, blocking their way.
The Mono snapped its jaw at them, who backed up until they had their backs against the wall. What are the chances of me getting the attention of all three of them? Not great. So, I did the next best thing.
I held the gas can tight, spinning around once, twice, then with a scream, throwing it Olympic style, hoping it would hit the mark. With the corner of my eye, I saw it hit the Mono on the top of the limo, straight in the head. It fell to the ground with a thud, but my eyes were now on the dinosaur between me and my friends.
The thing spun around to face me. It was so fast that it whipped its tail, hitting Kenji on the leg and sending him to the ground, half on top of Yasmina. The sound of a knife scattering to the floor was loud, then their voices were drowned out by the third Mono roaring. It echoed in the garage, being joined by the second Mono.
The third dinosaur in the far side charged at a helpless Yasmina, still on the floor. There was only enough time for her to raise the gas can over her face. Its teeth cut through it like butter and the strong smell of gas filled the air. The Monolophosaurus went mad, gas spilling from its mouth as it choked. Yamina yelled as the dinosaur moved around erratically, bumping against the wall, the limo and them.
Her scream along with the third dinosaur attack was enough for the second Mono to turn back to face my friends. Kenji scrambled to get up, but he was trying to keep the weight off his leg as he pulled Yasmina up at the same time.
Yasmina and Kenji looked at me, straight into my eyes. Terror. I was all I could feel. It was like all my nightmares were coming true. All the blood, teeth sinking into flesh, breaking bone. Kenji’s mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying over my heart pounding in my ears.
The dinosaur in front of me crunched down, ready to charge at my friends. It had its back turned to me, its tails going from one side to the other. I caught myself noticing the weirdest details. How this one was a lighter green than the others. How his underbelly was beige like the other dinosaurs, a softer skin. How its head looked too big for its body. Flexing its claws, it motioned to attack.
But I was faster. I had to be faster.
I was off my feet the next second, knife in hand as I landed on its back. I jabbed the knife deep into the dinosaur’s neck, right on the soft spot. I hoped dinosaur’s anatomy was similar to human’s, cause if they didn’t have a jugular, I was out of ideas.
In my head, the Mono was going to drop dead instantly. That was not what happened, for the next 30 seconds or so, it was like riding a mechanical bull. I was holding onto the knife for dear life. With every movement, I felt more warm blood soaking my hands and going down my arms. It squirted all over the wall, until the dinosaur calmed down and finally slumped to the floor.
My knife came out of the Mono’s neck with a suction sound. More blood squirted out of it, but it didn’t go very far, it just pooled around it. I was sure I looked like a deranged person, breathing heavily, eyes wide and covered in blood as I climbed off of the dead dinosaur. My friends looked at me with shocked expressions.
“Hays…”
But I looked past them, at the teeth.
“Move!” I yelled as I lunged forward and pushed them aside. I pulled the limo’s door open and the Monolophosaurus covered in gas slammed right into it, almost ripping the thing off its hinges. Its head went right through the window.
I brought my knife down. “Fucking… die… already!” With every stab, my knife hit the crest on its head. So, I went for the softest spot I could find. When the knife pierced its eye, the dinosaur squealed and cried loudly, trying to get away.
“Can you run?” I turned slightly to face my friends.
“We’re fine.” Yasmina grabbed the gas can that I had hit the Mono with.
“Hays, let’s go.” Kenji limped away.
I pulled the knife out of the eye, ignoring the sound it made. The second I did it, I dashed out of there. The Monolophosaurus got more desperate, so much that he ripped the door off its hinges, using it like a necklace. The three of us went around the car, jumping over the bloody Mono and the one knocked out by the gas can. I reached our getaway limo first, and the engine was on before Kenji and Yasmina could even enter it. When both of them were inside it, I hit the gas, screeching tires and leaving one angry Monolophosaurus behind. Out of the garage, the brightness blinded me for a second, then all I could see were teeth. A Mono came straight at me and I didn’t let off the gas. With a crash that made me wish I’d been wearing seatbelts, the windshield shattered, but I kept going. More dinosaurs gathered in the entrance, including Bumpy with Ben and Darius on her back. She was whipping her tail like crazy, but the Monos knew to keep away. As soon as Bumpy saw us, she followed us at full speed, leaving behind the Monolophosaurus in the rearview mirror.
…
The drive only took a few minutes to the dock and it was completely silent. No one uttered a word. They didn’t even tell me to slow down. I even left Bumpy to eat dust. I knew I was going too fast, but all I wanted was to be back at the yacht. Away from those dinosaurs. Perhaps, they felt the same. As soon as I parked next to the other limousine, the back door flew open. I didn’t even bother; my hands didn’t even leave the wheel as I tried to wrap my mind around what just happened. It was like the world turned quiet around me. Inside the bubble that was the limousine. There was no wind, so the sea was calm and the trees were still. The shadows were long and deformed as the sun was setting. We had a few minutes of daylight, at best.
A knock on my window went unanswered. So, next thing I knew, Yasmina was standing there with furrowed brows. Behind her, Kenji was fidgeting with something as he hovered.
“Hays?” Yasmina called softly, making me turn to look at her.
“Huh?”
Her eyes went from my own eyes to my hands and then back. My bloody hands were still clutching the knife. Somehow, I drove back to the dock without stabbing myself. I let it fall to the floor with a metallic clang. My hands were shaking, so I clenched them into fists, hoping she wouldn’t notice.
“Maybe shut off the engine?” She enunciated every word calmly.
“Good idea.” I flipped the key with my still shaking hands. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. “You smell of gas.” I scrunched up my nose.
“And you um…” Her eyes darted all over.
Copper. I smelled like copper.
There was blood on my hands, on the knife, on the wheel. Pretty much everywhere I touched I left a crimson imprint. I locked my gaze into hers, trying not to look at the bloody scene.
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for the help.” She crouched down to be at my eye level, but flinched, her hand going to grip her side.
Something snapped in me and it was like I could hear the world again. There were birds chirping, cicadas going crazy, heavy stomping sounds from behind us and quick footsteps from the pier. Yasmina hissed, her T-shirt was torn and bloody on her left side, over the waist. It was totally her blood, though.
“You’re hurt.” I got out of the car to support her, but she waved me off, dismissively.
“What, this?” She actually lifted her T-shirt a bit to reveal three red marks. “Just a scratch.” Miraculously, it really was just a scratch. A bit worse than those you get from your cat. Albeit this cat had huge three fingered paws.
Behind us, Bumpy showed up with a cloud of dust behind her. Ben and Darius jumped off and ran towards us, right as Sammy appeared on the pier.
“What happened?” Ben exclaimed.
“Did you get it?” Darius asked, not really noticing our deranged state, but when he did, he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Oh, my goodness! Are y’all alright?” Sammy ran straight to Yasmina, checking her cuts.
“I’m fine.” Yasmina reassured her.
“What happened?” Sammy came towards me next, but I inadvertently took a step back.
I chuckled, not really amused. “It was a total shitshow.”
“Not completely, we got the gas and the sealant.” Kenji showed them the goods. “We’re going home!”
“You are covered in blood.” Ben said, slowly coming to stand by my side. “Why are you covered in blood?”
I glanced beyond him. Bumpy wasn’t lying down lazily like she used to, nor was she munching on her leaves. Did she sense something? Had the Monolophosaurus followed us? I took another step back toward the limo, my knife was still there if I needed it.
Ben nudged me, looking at me inquisitorial. ‘Oh, right.’
“Don’t worry, it’s not mine.” I said.
“Whose is it?” Sammy exasperated, eyes darting from Yasmina to Kenji.
“No one’s.” I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. Not the best idea since I got a glimpse of all the still very wet blood. ‘Breathe.’ I told myself, taking a deep breath. They’re safe, you’re safe. Nothing’s wrong. Act like it! “It’s um… dinosaur blood. Monolophosaurus.” I clarified before she would think it was Bumpy’s.
“Okay… but what happened?” Darius pressed.
I groaned. ‘How do I explain I just went all ‘Kill Bill’ on a couple dinosaurs?’
‘A couple of dinosaurs that could easily follow us here.’ I dreaded the thought. I tried to keep my breathing in check as my finger twitched for the knife.
‘Keep breathing. Let’s not have a freak out like last time, Hayden. Not in front of them.’
“Oh no big deal…” Kenji said, all smug. “Hays here saved us. She single-handedly just took down three Monolophosaurus! You had to be there, it was-” He locked eyes with me and froze for some reason, his brows furrowing. His tone went from excited to serious in an instant. “Um…It doesn’t really matter.”
‘Why is he being weird? Did he see something?’ I glanced around, searching the shadows of the trees.
Kenji continued with a fake casual tone. “As your Captain, I pass my hat on to Darius so you guys can fix the yacht. I really need a shower.” Darius looked at him, expectantly. “It’s a metaphor, junior.” Kenji fixed the hat on his own head. “CKK out! Come on, Hays.”
‘Sorry, what?’ I was too dumbfounded to even resist being led to the boat.
“Wait for me.” Yasmina jogged to keep up.
“Sorry, Yaz! It’s CKK only.” Kenji said over his shoulder, smiling apologetically.
At that we left a confused Yasmina behind and the rest of Camp Fam.
“Alright, we need to fuel the boat and fix the hole asap. First, let’s…” Darius' voice faded out as we distanced ourselves.
“What are you doing?” I finally came to, halting in place before Kenji could lead me inside.
“Just come with me for a second.” He pressed, dragging me by the arm to the kitchen.
It was an open kitchen, with access to the back and main deck, the bedrooms and I could see part of the pier from here. A lot of exits, so not a bad place to get jumped, just not where I wanted to be right now.
I scoffed. “What? So, now you want to talk?” I clenched my fists. They were clammy, but I couldn’t deal with that right now. I couldn’t deal with Kenji’s bullshit right now. “It’s not the best time, we gotta fix the boat and I need to check on B.”
“Not looking like you just came from a John Wick movie, you’re not.” He spared me a glance before rummaging through the cupboards. “Just give me a second.”
“Great to see that you’ve recovered your speech ability. But why do you care?” My voice was icy cold.
Kenji seemed hurt by that, but he took a deep breath before speaking again. “Cause your hands are all bloody and I’m fixing that right now, let them worry about the boat.”
BANG! A loud metal bang got me jumping between the door and Kenji. Ragged breathing and fists up in guard.
“Sorry!” Sammy’s fainted yell echoed inside.
“Fuck!” I lowered my guard, realizing I had cursed out loud. The noise was just Sammy dropping a gas can, not dinosaurs.
“You gotta relax. Breathe. The danger has passed, we’re cool.” Kenji spoke softly.
“We’re not cool!” I snapped back, turning to face him. “From one side, we have the ocean, the other we have the fucking jungle filled with Monolophosaurus. The night is coming and we only have fake candles to deal with it in a yacht that the doors don’t even lock. So, excuse me if I’m not cool right now!” I raised my voice.
He remained unphased. “That’s like every day.”
“Cause we’re in danger every day! All. The. Fucking. Time.” I yelled the words at him. “And I’m the only one that seems worried about it.”
“That’s not fair.”
I didn’t care if it was fair. Fucking dinosaurs weren’t fair.
The blood pounded in my ears. My throat started to close in on me, but fuck it, I wasn’t going to cry. I clenched my hands into a fist, they were covered in crimson blood, but I didn’t dare to look. It never ended up well when I looked. So I settled for looking outside. Darius, Yasmina, Sammy and Ben were unloading the limo. The night approached as the shadows grew around them. Around us. The kitchen was too small, too stuffy. I’ve never been claustrophobic, but that was exactly how I felt at the moment.
I needed to get out. The Monolophosaurus could be on their way. I needed to get my knife back and needed to be on watch, not in a kitchen trying not to cry.
“Hey, where are you going?” Kenji was in front of me, out on the deck.
“To get my knife back.” I said, trying to get past him, but he held me in place.
“You don’t need it.”
“But I do.”
“No, you don’t.” He remained unphased as I tried to push him away. “Come here.”
He didn’t give me a chance to protest and dragged me towards the back of the boat. The world seemed to be darker at this point, like I was seeing all through fisheye lenses. In part it was the sun set, the horizon had swallowed up almost the entirety of the sun, but the other part was what I could only describe as adrenaline. It was like a high that hadn't gotten down since the garage. I focused on controlling my breathing as I followed Kenji’s instructions. But it was hard to listen to him while my body screamed at me to run away, to get the knife back and be on guard. But the little things made me listen, how he acted and how he talked, this wasn’t his usual laid back demeanor. So, if he was this serious, I listened.
He had me sit on the furthest back on the yacht, where we were closest to the water. With a bucket and a clean rag he had found in the kitchen, he started to clean the blood off of me without a word. I confess it helped. While he worked on my arm, I got to watch the lazy waves and somehow match my breathing with them. There were no walls around me, just the sky. The sun had completely set and the yacht was illuminated by a few fake candles here and there. The shadows were all over, but they weren’t as threatening as minutes ago.
The voices from our friends faded and now they were only whispers. There were footsteps behind us, but I didn’t turn around to see who it was, I just watched the waves in the moonlight.
The footsteps were gone and Kenji cleared his throat. “Whatever it’s going on inside your head, get that your plan worked, okay?” He finished with the blood, but didn’t raise his head. “It was an amazing plan and we all got away unscathed because of you. A little scratches and bruises don’t count. I think that and I bet Yaz thinks the same.”
“Today was close. Too close…” I shook my head slowly. “That can’t keep happening.”
“You think too much.” He chuckled. “It’s done, so stop overthinking it.”
“Why are you doing this?” I blurted out, finally looking at my clean arm.
“Consider a thank you for saving me back there.” He shrugged.
I scoffed. “I don’t need a thank you.”
“Then what do you need?” Kenji spoke softly.
“I don’t know.” I sighed harshly. “I just need you to stop being all nice all of the sudden.”
‘Especially after I yelled at you for trying to help me.’
“I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you.” He looked away.
I sighed. “Sorry I yelled at you.” I returned my glance to the waves, taking in the salty smell of the ocean. “How’s the leg?”
He chuckled. “Man… it’s the biggest bruise I’ve ever seen, but it’s fine. Yeah… no biggie.”
I frowned. ‘Playing off an injury? That isn’t like him. He’s usually all for the attention.’
I nodded. “You should stay off of it.”
He hummed and paused for a long minute before speaking again. “We can search for the keys.”
“What keys?”
“The ones from the yacht’s doors.” Kenji said. “But I think no Mono will come here with Bumpy on the lookout. You said it yourself, they don’t like her.”
“I guess I did.” I kept watching the ocean. ‘I forgot about that.’
“You have blood on your hair.” Kenji raised the rag, but he must’ve changed his mind, because he lowered it back down with an awkward smile.
I figured the dirty rag wouldn’t do much for my hair, I cleaned it directly on the ocean, almost dunking my head in. With my hair properly drenched, we stood in silence as water dripped.
“So, about that talk…”
I cracked a laugh. “Now? You want to do this right now?”
He shrugged. “You’re my friend…” I nodded along, no question there. “…and I miss you. Chillin by the shade of a tree and me kicking your ass, you know?” He laughed nervously.
I smirked. “You got your facts mixed up, Mr. VIP.”
He smiled, but his face turned sour the next instant. “Did I mess it up?” He sounded so lost.
I pursed my lips. “We’re friends, nothing’s gonna change that.”
He sighed. “That day I was a bit of a mess, I guess I’ve been a mess for a while.”
“Relatable.” I smiled softly, egging him to continue.
“And as a snotty mess, some might do things they shouldn’t. Do you catch my drift?” He fidgeted with his fingers on his lap.
I side eyed him, not wanting to admit how his words stung. I did catch his drift. He regretted it and I had scared him off. So that’s what he really wanted after all, I could do friends. I don’t think I’d survive without him in my life right now.
I cracked a smile. “You weren’t a snotty mess, but your eyes dude… they were so red the police would’ve stopped you for questioning.”
“Right.” He laughed, but it soon died down. He kept glancing at me expectantly.
“I miss you too… but I told you, we’re friends.” I bumped shoulders with him. “You’re not getting rid of me this easily.”
He opened a huge smile. “And if you’re not going to brag about it, I am. You just killed a freaking dinosaur, bro!”
‘I did.’ I grinned. ‘Holy shit, I actually did.’
Laughter escaped me. “Just 'cause you had to go and get yourself almost killed, again. We’re making a habit out of it.”
“I’d rather it be Compies than Monos, though.” He shivered at the thought. “But none of that, I’ll still repay you.”
“I’m not keeping score.”
“Oh, you’ll see. It’ll be the most awesome dino takedown.” He jumped up, offering me a hand, which I accepted.
“Like almost being eaten by the itty bitty Compies, huh?” I laughed.
“Oh, shut up.”
…
I was sitting in a chair next to Brooklynn’s bed, reading the same page of a book for 10 minutes now. She looked so small, so pale. Seeing her like this made my insides turn and that’s why I had been staring at the same book page forever. I gave up on reading as the letters seemed to go out of focus every time I tried.
“Why are you faking reading a book?” Brooklynn’s voice made me jump.
“Brooklynn! You’re awake!”
“Ish.” She frowned as she raised her hand to her head. “What happened?”
“You fell down the elevator shaft.” I explained. “Hurt ya head pretty bad.”
“That covers it.” She groaned, opening her eyes. “What about Darius, Kenji, and-” She tried to get up, but winced as she did so.
“Slow down. They’re fine, everybody’s fine.” I held her in place by the shoulder.
“What happened today?”
“The yoozh.” I shrugged.
Brooklynn frowned. “It doesn’t feel like the usual.”
“Nobody got hurt, that’s what matters.” She narrowed her eyes at me, making me sigh. “Badly, no one got hurt too badly.”
“Good.” She mumbled. “Cause I feel like I was stomped on the head by a Brachiosaurus.”
I chuckled. “Good to see you're making jokes already. I’ll try to find some painkillers for you.”
“Some caffeine would be good too.” She cracked a smile.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I gave her a bear hug before going off to find the first aid kit of the yacht.
…
Brooklynn was cranky that I hadn’t given her coffee, but after her being properly numbed with painkillers, she was all ready to get up and help around. I tried to keep her in bed rest, but honestly, this girl was more stubborn than me. She made her way to the deck without help, but I kept a close eye, ready to intervene the moment she stumbled.
My services weren’t needed, though, because she was back to her old self in no time. We entered the main deck and Darius’ voice was the first we heard.
“So, how are we gonna fix this thing?” Darius asked down at the pier, looking at the hole in the hull.
“No idea. I never got around to making a Brooklynn Unboxes Boat Repairs video.” Brooklynn said.
“Brooklynn!” Sammy widened her eyes and rushed for a big hug, which made Brooklynn stumble backwards. I threw daggers at Sammy, who cowered away from my gaze. “Sorry.” She mumbled, stepping back.
“Good to have you back, Brooklynn.” Yasmina simply nodded in her direction.
“Yo, B.! You’re up!” Kenji cheered from the cockpit’s deck.
“I’m glad you’re alright.” Ben said, and Bumpy bellowed in accordance.
“How are you?” Darius asked carefully.
“In need of caffeine, but my babysitter here won’t give it to me.” Brooklynn side eyed me.
“Doctor’s orders.” I huffed, crossing my arms, making her roll her eyes at me.
“All right, people.” Darius brought us back to the matter in hand. “We’re hot and fueled! Now we need to deal with this thing.” Darius glanced at the hole on the hull.
“We just need something to seal the hole with.” Yasmina thought out loud.
“We can make this work!” Sammy jumped up and down.
“Nails, boats, anything?” Brooklynn said.
“How about we worry about that tomorrow?” Kenji pitched in.
“Running from dinosaurs all day is really exhausting.” Sammy admitted.
“And… working on the boat with candlelight only, would be complicated to say the least.” I agreed. All the flashlights were either broken or left in the garage.
“Yeah, that might be a problem.” Darius nodded. “So, first thing in the morning, we fix the boat and finally go home!”
“What-what!” Kenji cheered, coming down to join us.
“Yeah!” Sammy and Yasmina high-fived.
“Alright!” Kenji rested one arm on Brooklynn’s shoulder. “Since Sleeping Beauty here missed all the action, I’ll do the recap.”
She shoved him off, frowning. “What action?”
“Oh, great.” I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help smiling.
“So, Hays, the Dinosaur Slayer here just…”
Chapter 32: Clever Girl
Summary:
Welcome to Jurassic Park! OR the time when learn about Yasmina’s totally normal hobby.
Chapter Text
I couldn’t really sleep. I laid in bed for hours trying to forget about the blood and teeth that haunted my dreams. Everybody else was asleep and I envied that. The boys were in the couches in the living area, while us girls settled for the bed in the guest bedroom. I say ‘guest’ bedroom because it wasn’t the one decorated with creepy Mitch and Tiff paintings, but it still was a huge bedroom with a king size bed. It fitted the four of us no problem.
My mind went to yesterday’s events and my last talk with Brooklynn as we were settling in to sleep.
“I slept all day, how can I be this tired?” She whispered not to wake up Yasmina and Sammy next to us.
“Unconsciousness is not the same as asleep.” I said on the same low volume.
“I guess you should know.”
“I’ve had my fair share of concussions, but I never went through what you did.” I sighed, lowering my voice even more. “You gave us a real scare.”
“I’m fine.” She turned to face me, but I remained looking at the ceiling. The room was illuminated by a single candle, it wasn’t like we could see much anyway.
“Yeah.”
“You don’t believe me.” Her tone didn’t indicate a question.
“I do, but I guess I’m used to expecting the worst.” I shrugged.
“This island sucks.”
“It’s like it’s alive somehow, out to get us.” I wrapped my blanket around myself. “We never know if a dinosaur will jump out of a bush or where the next attack will come from. There’s fucking eyes everywhere.”
“You’ll go crazy if you think like that.” I felt her intense gaze on me.
“I’m not crazy.”
“Of course not, Hays. But, like, don’t exhaust yourself thinking about the stuff you can’t control.” Brooklynn said, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
“What I don’t get is how are all of you guys so chill?”
“Chill?” She scoffed. “You mean the guy who catalogs all dinosaur’s behavior like his life depends on it, since it literally does? Or the one that can’t sleep unless his pet dino is ten feet away? Or Yaz, who can’t stay still and has to go on a run every hour, making sure there’s no evidence of dinosaurs close to camp? Or Cowgirl, who has a need to go search for food, making sure no one here starves and making sure everybody is okay, even if she clearly isn’t. Or Kenji trying to always brighten up our mood even if he’s having a terrible time. Let’s not mention you, who can’t spend a day without punching something. Nobody’s chill.” She gave me an annoyed laugh.
That was, well, a lot. Like a slap on the face how I’ve never noticed all those details. Brooklynn had a point, several actually. I always kept my attention on the threats from outside, so I didn’t really pay attention to how the others were doing.
‘Not fair.’ As Kenji had put it. I guess I wasn’t being fair with them.
“What about you?” My voice was small.
“What, me? I’m super relaxed, it’s so easy to fall asleep. I’m snoozing away right now.” Her tone was sarcastic. “Doesn’t matter how tired I am, sleep it’s just impossible.”
“I know, it’s impossible to sleep when dinosaurs are just around the corner.”
“I actually feel safe when the Camp Fam is around, that’s not the problem. I just can’t help the nightmares.”
“Ah.”
“It’s fine if you don’t feel safe with us, not all of us can be a martial artist or whatever.” She sounded upset.
“That’s not it, I feel safe with you guys…” I couldn’t help but feel personally attacked by that. I trusted them with my life. ‘Yet…’ I groaned. “It's not something I can control.”
Brooklynn sighed. “It’s okay, just don’t let it make you damn paranoid.”
‘Too late.’ I thought. I trusted them with my life, why didn’t I feel safe then? I should. ‘Fucking hell.’ I didn’t want them to feel like this, I wanted them to feel safe. All I did was to keep them safe. Yet, I couldn’t shield them from this island, from the nightmares.
‘I’m not enough… but I sure as hell will try to be.’
Sometimes I forget her actual age, but laying this close to Brooklynn… she was so small. So, it was easy to scooch closer and wrap one arm around her.
“You can wake me up, you know. If you have a bad dream, I’m here.” I reassured her.
She tensed up for a bit, but then relaxed, laying her head on my arm. “You too, and we might not be a Dinosaur Slayer, but we do have your back.”
“Oh, don’t start!” I exclaimed that a bit too loudly. “Kenji won’t let that go.”
“So, you’re on speaking terms again?” I could hear the smirk on her voice.
“Something like that.” I mumbled.
“Don’t make me ask for the details.”
“Maybe tomorrow.” I chuckled. “Just go to sleep, B.”
And now she was sound asleep next to me, a lazy arm around my stomach looking so peaceful. My arm under her head had long gone numb, but I didn’t care. She didn’t look like she had one nightmare the whole night, and I was keeping it that way.
What time was it? Three? Four a.m.? I could really grasp the time right now, nor could I get back to sleep. I heard soft snoring coming from the other side of the bed, either from Sammy or Yasmina.
But laying there in the dark, no notion of time was driving me crazy. So I carefully disentangled myself from Brooklynn and made my way outside. Darius was sleeping on a couch across from Kenji. Ben was sleeping on a couch outside to keep close to Bumpy, who was on the pier.
Kenji had found the key that locked the doors, so that was a plus. My thoughts invertedly went to Kenji and our conversation yesterday. I felt like so much happened in one day. We fought and made up, not exactly the way I wanted, but it was the way he wanted. Better than the weird glances and stiff exchange of words. I really missed our training sessions, sure we were focused on getting the boat to work right now, but I still missed it. And how we used to joke around together. If he wanted things to go back to the way they were, fine.
Now that the thought of getting home was slowly becoming reality, the issue of becoming separated from them also grew in my mind. We really grew to become a family in a way and I was not ready to let that go. Back at the beach Kenji asked if we’d keep in touch. Sure, that was what I wanted… but could we really make it happen? Maybe it was rash of me to jump into a relationship only for it to crumble in a few days when we got home. Was this why Kenji decided to take back our almost kiss? Maybe- maybe it was a good thing nothing really happened between us, maybe it was for the better if we just remained friends…
I sighed into the night. ‘Maybe he was right.’
My eyes wandered to the dark jungle covered in fog, the night was dark, all a blur. Yesterday’s events popped into my mind and I imagined the jungle before us filled with Monolophosaurus still lurking around. If they attacked, we’d be helpless, everybody was asleep, even Bumpy. I couldn’t help but pace around, imagining all of the worst-case scenarios. We were about to go home, things couldn’t go wrong now.
It was useless thinking like this, so not to spiral, I decided to do something with my time. I went down to the pier to train my handstands, in which I sucked by the way, but it was great to kill the time, and a good place to keep watch.
…
In the morning, we gathered by the hole on our boat, except for Ben, who was hanging out with Bumpy somewhere around the dock. Brooklynn was avoiding me, because I had been bombarding her with questions about how she was feeling. Which was totally unfair, because a head injury was a terrifying thing even with hospitals around. But I figured that if she was fine enough to bicker with me, she was okay.
“It ain’t pretty, but it should be water tight.” Brooklynn commented as I held a metal tray over the hole and Darius worked on the thing with the sealant gun, smudging the black substance over the edges.
After Darius was done, I carefully let go of the lunch tray, crossing my fingers so it would stick to the hull. After a few seconds of nothing happening, we relaxed and exhaled loudly.
“Done! Let’s leave already.” Kenji said.
“Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe it’s really happening.” Sammy grabbed hold of Kenji’s arm and shook him with excitement.
“Buh-bye, Isla Nublar!” Brooklynn waved her hand.
“Hey, hold up, guys.” Darius said, reading the label of the sealant. “It says here we have to wait 48 hours for it to set.” This news made us all groan out loud in unison.
“Really?” Sammy complained.
“Give us a break!” I ran my fingers through my hair.
“They have to say that for insurance and junk.” Kenji smugly said. “As your captain, I pronounce this vessel…” He knocked on the tray with his knuckles. “…seaworth-” And the tray fell on the floor. We all stared blankly at it, and then at Kenji, who had an apologetic smile on his face. He hesitantly picked up the tray and handed it over to Darius. “Um… I’ve got some captainy stuff to do over there.” He tip-toed out of the mess he made. “Carry on.”
Darius sighed. “One more time.” He held out the tray.
Brooklynn took upon herself to hold it in place as Darius sealed it. Yasmina gave up on watching us and left with Kenji, so it was just Sammy and I watching as Brooklynn and Darius worked.
“Hey Brooklynn, can I talk to you for a second?” Sammy asked.
Brooklynn frowned. “Uh, kinda busy right now, but-”
“I need your help with something… personal.” Sammy said hesitantly.
Brooklynn turned around, with her mouth hung agape. “Spill everything.” Completely disregarding the metal tray that clattered to the floor for the second time today. Brooklynn grabbed a hold of Sammy, and both of them went on their merry way.
Darius scoffed while holding his arms open. “Really?”
I picked up the tray and held it over the hole. “Let’s finish this.” Darius smudged the sticky black substance around the edges. “We should do a second coating.” I suggested.
“I don’t think it needs it.” Darius said, inspecting the work.
I shrugged. “It won’t hurt to be safe.”
“Alright, then.” He sighed and did what I asked. “Now we just need to wait two days.”
I yawned. “Two whole days…”
I looked up to where everybody had gone to, Sammy and Brooklynn were nowhere to be seen. I wondered where they had gone to, ‘cause I’d kill Brooklynn if she exerted too much after giving us a scare like that. Kenji and Yasmina were playing around with the compass we’d found in Mr. Kon’s office. Kenji placed the compass on top of some crates as a lone Compy showed up, staring at the two of them. Yasmina tried to kick it, but it wouldn’t go away, so Kenji threw a coin, which the Compy happily chased after. He seemed weird, different. More laid back laughing at Compies. Not like yesterday, yesterday was forced because of the penthouse. No, today was different in a way. Perhaps it was the prospect of going home.
“…Like my dad always says, ‘If you’ve got a problem, throw cash at it’.” Kenji shrugged.
“Uh, Kenji, not so sure that’s a good idea.” Darius said as we approached them. “You know what you get when you feed a pigeon.”
“A fat pigeon?” Kenji chuckled.
“More pigeons. You get more pigeons!” Yasmina punched Kenji on the chest and pointed at the ground, where the whole family of Compies had ganged up, screeching at us.
I chuckled. “I guess that solved the mystery of the missing Compies.”
“Good thing that I’m rich, then.” Kenji bragged, pulling out a bunch of quarters. “Here you go!” He tossed the shiny coins at the little dinosaur. “You, too. Money, money, money!” The Compies scoured after the coins.
“Dude, you are making it so much worse!” Yasmina complained.
“Fetch!” Kenji laughed, throwing another one. “Get the quarters!”
We heard a low hiss and clicks coming from our left, which made us turn to look. A Compy had a shiny object on its mouth, too big to be a coin.
“She’s got the compass!” Darius yelled. The dinosaur jumped from the crate and joined its family on the ground, glaring as if it was mocking us.
“So not good.” Yasmina groaned.
“Hey, give that back. Come on! I’ll give you two quarters for it.” Kenji threw two coins and all of the Compies chased it, but the one with the compass.
“I don’t think Compies can count, Kenji.” I shook my head.
“Just approach her slowly.” Darius whispered, but before we could do anything, the Compy got spooked and ran away.
As we chased after the little thief, we passed Ben and Bumpy coming back to the dock.
“Be back later, Ben! You’re in charge!” Kenji shouted as we ran past him. Yasmina took the lead as we ran, but it was almost impossible to see the little green dinosaur amongst all of the green background. “Go get her, Yaz!” Kenji cheered as Yasmina sped up even more.
“Don’t play with me, Compy!” She grunted. “You will not outrun me!”
I sighed as I ran, slacking back a bit. When I heard we still had 48 hours on the island, I thought it was going to be a chill day on the boat, no more running for our lives from dinosaurs. Certainly, I’ve never imagined I’d be running after one. At least that meant we had two entire days to recover the compass.
Yasmina reached for the Compy, almost grabbing it, but in the last second, it let go of the compass. The object rolled away and Yasmina skid to a stop, quickly changing directions, but another Compy appeared, picking the compass up and running off with it.
“Hey! That’s cheating!” Yasmina yelled.
The Compy ran straight to Darius and Kenji, but when they got lower to grab the dinosaur, they collided with each other, falling to the ground. After dodging the boys, the Compy ran to me, I dived to grab it, but the little devil jumped over me.
“Come on, quit slacking!” Yasmian reprimanded us.
“Man, I hate Compies.” Kenji groaned, getting up.
“Let’s go!” Darius got to his feet and went back into running.
Reluctantly, I followed them, yawning non stop due to a bad night’s sleep.
By this point, the Compy had a huge head start and all we could do was follow Yasmina, jumping over rocks, exposed tree roots and dodging low branches. We ran past a few bushes and found ourselves on a dirt road. On the side of it, there was a blue Jeep with the park’s logo on the door. The Jeep was parked precariously over a rock, leaning forward so much it was a miracle it stood still.
“Anyone see where it went?” Yasmina asked, glancing around. “You guys check over there…” She pointed at the trees nearby. “…while I’ll go down the road.”
While Kenji and I checked on the bushes and behind trees, Darius was searching under the Jeep and Yasmina had walked further down the road, but no sign of the little thief.
“Yaz is way too intense today.” I commented, glancing at her running up and down, searching for the compass.
“Eh, as intense as always.” Kenji said, looking carelessly at a bush. “We could really use Brooklynn and Sammy’s help with this.”
“Where did they say they were going again?”
“Something about investigating a mystery, the yoozh.” Kenji shrugged. Did that girl really had the brilliant idea of going off on an adventure one day after having a concussion? ‘Unbelievable.’ I sighed internally. At least she had Sammy as company, she’d know what to do in case of emergencies, right?
Kenji chuckled. “They’ll be fine.”
I frowned. “I didn’t say anything.”
“I can hear the wheels on your brain turning from over here.” He raised an eyebrow.
“Cannot.” I crossed my arms.
“Just like I know you couldn’t care less about the compass or you’d be over there with Yaz.” He motioned at Yasmina’s direction.
‘How did he…?’ I just stared at him, dumbfounded. “And I do care about the compass.”
“If you say so.” He shrugged, laughing to himself.
I smiled at the sound. He was acting a lot like his usual self and my heart ached at how much I’d missed this.
“How’s the leg, by the way?” I asked. I had noticed him limping slightly all the way here. “You shouldn’t be running on a leg like that.”
“Better than yesterday-”
“Darius?” We heard Yasmina calling.
We all rushed to her, thinking she had seen the Compy, but she stood in front of an old building, so old that the jungle had started to grow around it. The old Visitors’ Center. Most of the building was obscured by the overgrown trees and vines; a stairway led to huge double doors, which were ajar. The building was made of concrete, but around the entrance doors, there was a weird rock that seemed to have fossilized dinosaurs in it. The roof was round like a rotunda that grew tall, past the tree line.
“Guys, do you know where we are?” Darius gazed at the building in awe. “Welcome to Jurassic Park. This is where it all began.”
“Nope. No way.” Kenji cowered. “We shouldn’t be here. Everyone knows this place is haunted.”
“Haunted?” Darius asked.
“Yeah! Bad things happened here.” Kenji shivered.
“As opposed to the rest of this island?” Darius raised an eyebrow at Kenji.
“Exactly.” Kenji exhaled.
“I’ll take ghosts over dinos any time.” I muttered.
“We need that compass. Please talk some sense into him.” Darius glanced at me, but I just shrugged and looked at Yasmina.
“Darius is right. Jurassic Park isn’t haunted.” Yasmina stated. Darius’ face lit up, smiling at Kenji as if saying ‘told you so’. “It’s cursed.” She finished. I had to fake a cough to hold in my laugh.
Darius’ face fell. “What?” His voice went up one octave.
“Legend has it that the original park owner broke his ankle here and the was eaten alive by Compies!” Yasmina said dramatically. Kenji’s eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hand.
“That’s not true!” Darius protested. “John Hammond died of natural causes.”
“If you consider being mauled by your own creation… natural.” I grinned, making Kenji whimper.
“Where’d you even hear that?” Darius shook his head.
“Read it somewhere.” Yasmina shrugged. “I’m kinda of obsessed with theme park deaths.”
“You sure came to the right place.” Kenji mumbled. Suddenly, a Compy hissed from between our legs and ran inside the building.
“Maybe the others went in there, too.” Darius said, rushing in without a second though.
Yasmina followed suit, while Kenji stayed back. “Hope no one ends up reading about me after this.” He whispered.
“Come on, it’s just Compies.” I patted him in the back.
“Just Compies.” He echoed, rubbing the scars on his hand.
I couldn’t help but laugh at how scared he was acting. ‘Cute.’ The thought crossed my mind.
‘Nope, not cute!’ A voice replied.
‘Just a friendly amount of cute?’ I pressed and with that my consciousness remained silent.
The massive double doors opened to a just as huge interior; it was also taken over by the jungle. The doors closed behind us with a loud bang, making us all jump, and Kenji to tremble.
The lobby was well lit with natural light, there were windows all around on the top of the wall. I could see somewhat of a second floor, but there were no stairs to get to it, only rusted scaffolding lined up on the walls. There were paintings of dinosaurs decorating these walls, and in the overgrown grass on the floor, where there was a T. rex skeleton all broken up.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like this.” Kenji said, over and over again.
A loud clattering echoed in the lobby, making us all flinch as a shiny silver bolt fell in front of us. Our heads jerked up in unison, and among the vines and the contorted metal that was the second-floor railing, several Compies were there, watching us. A few of the dinosaurs were cruising with a shiny object in their mouth.
“Look!” Darius pointed at a Compy near the window on the opposite side of the room. The dinosaur deposited a bolt in a small nest made of sticks, and on top of the nest, laid the compass. “We gotta get up there.” He said in a confident voice.
“Well, the good news is it’s only, like, 30 feet in the air.” Yasmina said, glancing up. “Yeah. Easy.”
“Why do I get the impression that Compies like to fuck with us?” I groaned. “On purpose.”
“Weren’t these damn rats supposed to be living at the drugstore?” Kenji asked.
“I guess they found a better spot.” Darius commented.
The only way of getting up there was through the scaffolding, but the lower part of the structure was a bit lacking in metal poles where we could climb onto. I scanned the room in search of something to help, and in the corner of the room, hidden by vines, there was an old vending machine. It was the perfect height!
“Guys, over here.” I rushed to the vending machine and started to push, but the irregular floor, with grass and debris was making it hard.
“Oh, good idea.” Kenji pulled out a quarter and inserted it on the machine’s slot. Darius and Yasmina joined me in pushing it towards the scaffolding, but Kenji was still deluded that he could get some snacks. “Oh, come on.” Kenji slammed the machine. “Just a sec, guys. I’m useless till I carbo-load.” He inserted another quarter on the slot and selected the snack. “Come on J-4, come on J-4.” He cheered.
“Uh, dude, it’s not even plugged in.” Yasmina said.
“Ah, man. That was my last quarter.” Kenji slumped his shoulders and we continued to push the machine.
The four of us finally placed the machine as close to the scaffolding as possible, but there was still a big leap to the nearest metal pole. Yasmina motioned to climb the vending machine, but I beat her to it, pulling myself up on a swift motion.
“Try and keep up!” I smirked, glancing down at them.
‘I’ll show him, who cares about the damn compass.’ There was a vine between me and the scaffolding, so after I checked if it was secure, I swung on it just like I did on the rope of the obstacle course. I grabbed onto the metal poles and climbed it as if it was a ladder.
“Quit slacking you two.” Yasmina said. I glanced down to see her right below me, while the boys were still on the ground.
I got to the top of the structure, and the only way up was through the vines. I balanced myself on the highest pole and grabbed onto the vine, pulling on it hard. Since it hadn’t broken down, I was fairly positive it would support my weight.
“Just like the obstacle course, huh?” I chuckled, glancing down at Yasmina.
But she had a shocked expression. “Hays, watch out for the Compies!” She pointed at the pole. A Compy had walked on the slim metal and tried to bite my leg. I tried to kick the little bastard, only succeeding on spooking it away and losing my balance. I yelped as I fell backwards, gripping the vine with all my strength.
“Hays!” Kenji screamed from below.
“Fucking rats!” I cursed, dangling on the vine. After that spike of adrenaline, I tried to calm my breathing before beginning the climb.
“You okay?” Yasmina asked in concern.
“Peachy.” I grunted as I began to climb.
“Nasty little rats.” She mumbled.
I carefully climbed the vine, I didn’t want to make abrupt movements, afraid the vine wouldn’t hold. I was a few meters from the target when all the Compies on the second floor froze in place, staring down. Suddenly, they all scattered away from us.
“Cowards.” I grinned, thinking they were afraid of us.
We heard a screech coming from the ground, a Compy rushed in from a hole in the wall. It stood on the T. rex skull and hissed at something behind it. All of the sudden, a Raptor appeared from the same hole, chasing the Compy away.
The Raptor had a blue stripe going from her head to the tail, it was the same dinosaur that we had encountered on the Raptor’s paddock when we were investigating that Brimford guy, and the same Raptor we had faced on our first day of camp. Blue.
She stood on top of the skull, scanning the room for any movement. She didn’t look up and we didn’t dare to breathe, I hugged the vine tightly as my knuckles turned white. Yasmina was on the metal pole below me, while Kenji and Darius were midway through the scaffolding.
Kenji was trembling while holding onto a pole, and Darius held a finger in front of his mouth, silently shushing us. We could hear the Raptor’s heavy breathing as she circled the room. My heart raced as she walked below me, sniffing for a prey; if she looked up, I’d be done for it. I felt my hands shaking so I forced myself to look away from Blue; up on the second floor. Turned out not every Compy had cowered from the Raptor. Two Compies were at the nest, fighting over our compass.
The object fell off their mouth and landed on the edge of the nest, balanced by precariously placed sticks. One Compy flickered its tail, almost sending the compass down towards the Raptor. I couldn’t let that fall and alert Blue, so without making a sound, I resumed climbing.
Blue’s snarls made me look back to the ground, she was below Darius, tilting her head like a cop’s sniffer dog. Darius glanced at me and nodded, as if saying ‘You’ve got this.’; on the other hand, Kenji was shaking his head emphatically, ‘Don’t! We’re gonna get caught.’; Yasmina just stared at me intensely and nodded once, ‘Go!’.
‘That settles it.’ I turned away from them, sighing slightly. I pulled myself up the vine, closer to the nest. My hands were shaking, but I didn’t know if it was fear from alerting Blue or from being hanging on the vine for several minutes. Nevertheless, I reached for the compass. The nest was a bit far from the vine I was dangling so I leaned in the maximum I could. I felt my fingertips touching the cold metal and with a final stretch, the compass was at range. However, I slipped and the object tumbled down towards the ground. I tried to grab it in the air, but it was just too far away.
I watched as it fell, my eyes widened as I realized we were gonna get caught. Below me, Yasmina acted fast, leaning away from the scaffolding and grabbing the compass with one hand, while the other was holding onto a metal pole.
On the ground below us, Blue jerked her head, as if she had heard something. I smacked my hand over my mouth to prevent me from making any sound, Yasmina was frozen in place, holding the compass, while Kenji and Darius were hugging the scaffolding tight. Blue screeched and ran behind the vending machine, like a bullet. We could only see her tail in the air, as she had found something interesting on the ground. She finally emerged, with a bloodied Compy dead in her mouth. As if she had found what she was looking for, Blue rushed out of the room from a different hole on the wall.
The four of us stood frozen, staring at the hole for her to come back. When we were sure she wasn’t returning, we could finally breathe again. We quickly glanced at each other and started climbing down. I quickly slid down the vine and was the first one to touch the ground, I massaged my hands as blood slowly started to flow back and I could feel my fingertips again. I meet up with Darius and Kenji at the vending machine.
“That was Blue.” Darius said, glancing at the hole the Raptor had escaped in.
“Yeah. Don’t think I’ll be forgetting that face any time soon.” Kenji was trembling.
“Me neither.” I ran my hand through my hair, calming myself.
“She must be nesting here now.” Darius concluded.
Yasmina climbed down from the scaffolding and kneeled on top of the vending machine. “Love what it’s done with the place, but let’s get out before it comes back.” We nodded and started to walk away.
“I told you guys, bad things happen here.” Kenji said through clenched teeth.
I chuckled. “I was hoping for a ghost-” My eyes widened and a shiver traveled up my spine as a low and menacing growl sounded behind us.
We turned around slowly and there was a dinosaur silhouette in the shadows of the hole. She stepped out of the shadows and we could see the Raptor’s head in the light, she smiled at us, showing the row of razor-sharp teeth, glowing red from the recent kill.
“Clever guy.” Kenji recoiled.
“Girl.” Darius corrected him, his voice barely a whisper. “She’s a girl.”
Blue creeped closer, while we were still frozen in fear.
“Darius, remind me how we got away from her last time.” Kenji whispered.
“Bumpy saved us?” Darius said.
“Maybe the other time?” Kenji tried again.
“When Dave and Roxie saved us?” I reminded him.
“Oh, right.” Kenji breathed out. “Can’t you do what you did last time?” Kenji asked, hiding behind me.
I scanned the ground for something to use as a weapon, regretting not bringing my own. My eyes locked on the T. rex bones and I glanced back at Blue.
“I, um…” She had her eyes locked on me and snarled, dripping blood and drool from her mouth. I flinched. “I think she remembers me.” I quivered.
“So, what do we do now?” Kenji pulled on my shirt.
Without the need to talk any further, we sprinted out of the lobby with Blue growling, chasing after us. We quickly shut the door and heard a loud bang as the dinosaur smashed against the wood. We didn’t dare to look back and continued to run down the dirt road.
“Up there! The truck!” Darius pointed at the Jeep parked on the rocks. We rushed at the vehicle, as we heard Blue growling behind us again, she must’ve gotten past the door somehow. Darius opened the Jeep’s back door hastily and Yasmina and he dove inside. Kenji opened the driver’s door and I went after him.
“Move over!” I screamed and he clumsily jumped to the passenger side.
“Start the engine! Start the engine!” Darius yelled from the back seat.
I reached for the key, only to find an empty slot. “There’s no key! Look for the key!” I screamed, searching on the console while Kenji searched on the glove box.
“Hey, check out this tranquilizer rifle.” Darius said from the back. “Maybe we can-” Blue body slammed the Jeep, making the whole thing shake.
We screamed as she continued the attack, changing targets and slamming against my window instead. I cowered away from the window, where claw marks were visible on the glass.
‘Yep, she definitely held a grudge.’
Suddenly, the assault stopped. “Where’d she go?” Darius asked. I glanced out the window, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Maybe she gave up and went back to her lair.” Kenji suggested.
“Are we sure she’s alone?” I asked.
“If any Raptors of her pack were alive, they’d be here by now.” Darius glued his face at the window. “She’s alone.”
Bushes rustled behind the Jeep and all our heads snapped at the sound, waiting for Blue to pop out. But instead, the raptor jumped on the hood of the vehicle, banging against the windshield. We screamed as the dinosaurs gave up and walked on the roof, targeting the trunk.
Yasmina reached from the back seat and released the hand brake. The vehicle that was already dangerously leaning forward, jolted and started to move away from the Raptor. My hands immediately glued at the steering wheel and I guided the Jeep down a steep hill the best I could. Looking at the rearview mirror, Blue was on pursuit, keeping up with us; she jumped on top of the roof, making the whole vehicle shake.
I was basically going on a straight line, rushing past trees and rocks, when Blue stuck her face on the windshield, blocking my vision and growling at us. Struggling to see past the dinosaur, I leaned to my left which gave me a clear view of what was in front of us, a heap of huge rocks. I turned on the steering wheel and the vehicle followed the command, until I felt the wheel locking under my hands.
‘Shit!’ was the only thought that came to mind before we went over the rocks and the Jeep rolled over.
We landed upside-down and I raised my hands over my head to lessen the impact. Darius and I were the only ones without a seatbelt, so we were sprawled on the roof, while Kenji and Yasmina were hanging on their seats.
“Where is she? Do you see her?” Yasmian asked.
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Kenji grunted.
I had my back on the windshield and I slowly sat up, massaging my head. Luckily, we were not going that fast when the rollover happened. Darius seemed okay, he was kneeling on the back with the tranquilizer rifle in hands, a light blue gun that looked much like a toy.
The Jeep began to shake as we heard a faint growl, no, a whimper coming from the front. I glanced down and gasped, crawling away in shock; through the windshield I could see Blue laying under the car, she was alive and whimpering, but trapped under the hood.
“Come on.” Darius kicked his door open and crawled outside with the rifle, so we followed suit.
The only part of the Raptor that we could see was the head and one arm, all the rest was trapped. Blue gave us a weak snarl, trying to get up; her eyes were desperately darting between us. Then, a pack of Compies appeared on top of the rock, they hissed and approached the Raptor, circling it.
“Let’s go.” Kenji called, already starting to run. So, we ran away, leaving Blue with the Compies. I kinda felt bad, but kinda didn’t. It was survival of the fittest, and the dino did try to kill us moments ago.
Darius lagged behind and stopped dead on his track, glancing back at Blue, she was surrounded by Compies and could barely move her head.
“Darius, what are you doing? We gotta go.” I nudged him, but he was unmoving.
“They’ll kill her, eat her alive.”
“Not our problem, bro. Enemy of my enemy and all that.” Kenji pressed.
“But she wasn’t our enemy.” Yasmina stated. “We were trespassing in her home.”
More and more Compies started to appear in what it seemed like was thin air, circling the trapped Raptor, studying her.
“No way to tranq all of them.” Darius said, inspecting the gun.
“Okay, fine, dino whisperer. What do we do?” Kenji gave in.
“Are we really doing this?” I groaned. It was three against one.
“We gotta distract the Compies.” Darius said, cooking up a plan on that brain of his.
Yasmina picked up a branch and held it like a sword, while Kenji gasped and ran. We just stared at him disappearing into the jungle.
‘Did he have a plan or something?’ I thought. ‘It hopefully was better than sticks and stones.’
Yasmina scoffed. “Typical.”
“He’ll be back.” I side eyed her. ‘It had been months, didn’t she trust Kenji by now?’
“Let’s do this.” Darius said, running at the Jeep. “Shoo! Get back!” He swung the rifle at the Compies. I tried to kick them, while Yasmina used her branch. We formed a wall between the Compies and Blue, but their numbers far surpassed ours. They were closing in when something shiny flew across my face.
“You like that? More where that came from.” Kenji yelled as he threw quarters and more quarters at the dinosaurs. The Compies desperately ran after the shiny objects, leaving us and Blue alone.
“Hell yeah!” I shoved Kenji lightly, making him puff his chest and smile like a little kid. I raised my hand and he promptly returned my high-five, which made me practically swoon of how natural it felt. Like the tension between us was never there. I didn’t even care that we hadn't had ‘the talk’, maybe it was better if we just moved on like it never happened… I’m pretty sure that was what Kenji was hinting towards. And if that was what he wanted… sure, I could roll with that.
“Good thinking!” Darius patted Kenji on the shoulder. “Now lift, before they come back!”
The three of them got their hands below the Jeep and tried to pull, but the vehicle wasn’t budging.
“We let her go and then what? She’ll be free to eat us.” I glanced at the Raptor that was hissing at us.
“We’ll deal with that later.” Darius grunted. “Lift!”
I sighed and joined them. “Great plan.” I muttered under my breath, low enough so Darius wouldn’t hear me. Kenji gave me a weird look and I just shook my head. I helped them lift the Jeep, and slowly but surely it was moving. Blue snarled and squirmed underneath the hood.
“Come on! She’s almost out!” Darius said through clenched teeth. With one last effort, the Raptor wiggled her way out with the space we’d created, so we dropped the vehicle. Exhausted, we fell to our knees just to glance up and see the Raptor towering over us.
“What’s the plan now, genius?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. Blue had her eyes locked on us, then Darius slowly got up and faced the dinosaur.
“Dude, what are you doing?” Kenji whimpered.
Darius kicked the tranquilizer away from him, our only weapon. He got into almost a fighter stance and held one arm straight to the dinosaur, with the palm towards her, like a stop sign. Blue immediately changed her demeanor, tilting her head and staring at Darius’ hand.
“Trust me.” Darius whispered. ‘Was he talking to us or to the dinosaur?’ “Back up slowly.” He commanded and that was definitely at us. “And whatever you do, don’t turn your back.”
We got up and did what he said. Blue seemed to be in some sort of a trance, eyes locked on Darius’ hand. But then, a shiny quarter flew past us and hit the Raptor on the snout. Blue glanced at the quarter on the grass and we looked back at Kenji.
Witha nervous smile, he whispered. “Crap.”
“Never mind! Go!” Darius yelled as we took off running. The Raptor screeched as we distanced ourselves, weirdly it wasn’t chasing us, just like our last encounter.
‘The dinosaurs of this island had really gone crazy, then.’
…
We were out of breath by the time we reached the docks. Bumpy was taking a nap on the grass, while Ben was reading a book and using her as a pillow. He just gave us an acknowledgement nod and went back to his book.
I went straight for the kitchen and I gulped down a whole bottle of water as I cooled down. Luckily, Ben, or should I say Bumpy had found a stream near the docks, so at least we had that going on. Kenji was sitting on the counter, assaulting the snacks cabinet as Darius joined us.
“The sealant is looking good, and I just talked with Ben, Brooklynn and Sammy are still out.” Darius said.
“It’s getting late.” I pointed out.
“They’re fine.” Kenji waved his hand dismissively. “They took the gyrosphere.” He tossed me a bag of cookies I’d been eyeing.
‘Now he says that?’ That information would’ve been great before I had started to worry.
“I’m sure they’ll be back soon.” Darius grabbed a bottle of water. “We’re gonna be stuck here for at least one more day, we can go back to camp in the morning.”
“You know what that means…” Kenji smirked. “Yacht party!” He jumped off the counter and flailed his arms around.
“Yeah, great idea, you do that.” Darius awkwardly made finger guns at Kenji. “I need to check out something.” He tip-toed out of the kitchen.
“Um…” Kenji hesitantly glanced at me. “Yacht party?”
I failed to suppress a yawn. “Maybe next time, I’m beat.” I said, leaving with my bag of cookies.
“Fine.” He huffed behind me.
The sun was getting lower in the sky as the night approached. The nights were getting chillier on the island, which I didn’t think was possible for a tropical place. Walking to the bow of the boat, I found Yasmina sitting on the main deck, glancing at the jungle with furrowed brows, something I could recognize from a mile away.
“Worried about Sammy?” I asked, sitting next to her and offering some cookies.
“Um... no, I-” She led out a loud sigh and slumped her shoulders. “Yeah. They've been gone for a long time now.” She took one cookie and nibbled on it.
“You know how they get when they’re together.” I tried to reason, even though I was worried too. “I bet they found something juicy on their investigation and didn’t even see the time passing by.”
She laughed drily. “Yeah, I bet they’re having lots of fun together.”
I chuckled at her jealous tone. “I wouldn’t worry much.”
She mumbled something unintelligible and I yawned for the hundredth time today, causing Yasmina to do the same.
“See what you did?” She tried to suppress the yawn, leading me to laugh at her. We spent a long time in silence before she spoke again. “Yesterday was intense.” I hummed in response. That was one way to put it. “Look…” She straightened her back. “I’m not good at this, but are you okay?”
I glanced at her, not used to that from her. I considered giving her my usual response, but I felt like we grew past the lying about that particular question. But I also didn’t want to go too deep into the subject.
I sighed. “We got enough fuel to get out of here, and tomorrow we’ll do just that. When we get back home I’ll worry if I’m okay or not.”
She nodded. “Brooklynn was right, we’ve got your back. You know that, right?”
“Seriously, you need a sign saying if you're asleep or not!” I laughed softly, leaning back on my seat to look at the colorful sky above.
She shrugged with a smile on her face. “You guys are just too damn loud.”
“But… thank you.”
She nodded. “I think I’ll go for a run before it gets dark.” She stated, already getting up and stretching.
“Should I be worried?”
“I need to be back in shape for when we return home.”
“No one would blame you if you weren’t.” I tried to sound empathetic, but getting back in shape to fight was the least of my problems.
“Can’t be caught slacking off.” She insisted, waving goodbye as she jogged out of the boat.
I just shook my head as I watched her running down the pier. That girl didn’t know the meaning of ‘rest day’. That was what everyone needed, a rest from this hell of an island, and finally we were going to get it. We had our days counted for finally leaving, we’d sail back home and never have to see this place or dinosaur ever again.
Chapter 33: Eye of the Storm
Summary:
A new threat shows itself, and it’s ugly as hell.
Notes:
I really loved writing this one. By the way, check out 'Jurassic Park ASMR' on youtube. That is literally the soundtrack of this chapter.
Warning: injuries, violence, anxiety.
Chapter Text
I woke up tangled on a blanket. I rubbed my eyes to cast away the drowsiness and felt for the spot next to me. The bed was cold and empty.
‘Bed?’ I jolted upright. I remember falling asleep on the main deck. ‘How the hell did I get here?’
I was the only one in the bedroom, so Yasmina was already up. All the other couches, empty.
‘Am I the last one to get up?’ The doors were wide open and it was already bright outside. I got out to the deck, the sun was high in the sky, shining through clouds, and on the horizon, I could see even darker clouds approaching.
They weren’t on the outside either, but I saw Ben and Bumpy down on the docks.
I walked my way over there. “Hey Ben, where is everybody?”
“Morning to you too.” He said, feeding Bumpy a few leaves. “They went back to camp to sort out the supplies.”
I huffed. “Without me?”
“They said something about letting you sleep, you did look like a zombie yesterday.” Ben chuckled. “Kenji said he left a note on the fridge and not to be mad.”
“Why would I check the fridge?” I asked, baffled that they left me behind.
“Okay, so you are mad, but I stayed behind to keep you company.” Ben said all proud. “Oh, and Bumpy too.”
“Thanks.” I chuckled, grabbing a few leaves and feeding it to Bumpy. “Thanks to you too, girl. Any news on Brooklynn and Sammy?”
“Not yet.” Ben sighed. “But you know how it is out there, they probably slept on the gyrosphere and are making their way back right now.”
“I hope so.” But I couldn’t help but feel dreadful.
“Okay. So, climb on.” Ben said, settling on top of the Ankylo.
I glanced back to the limousine, where I left my knife. Dreading going into the jungle unarmed, but we had Bumpy and at camp I had the other knife.
I carefully worked my way around the spikes on her back and tried to sit comfortably. She started to walk, and just like riding a horse, I bobbed up and down on her back, with the spikes digging uncomfortably in my legs and butt.
“Hey Ben, you know I love Bumpy and all, but…” I trailed off.
“But…”
“She’s not a comfortable ride, man. My ass is sore.” I admitted, shifting my position.
“Rather walk?” He glanced over his shoulder.
“What? No, I’m just saying next time, bring a pillow.” I tried to laugh it off.
We rode in silence, it was way faster and easier than running around, but I didn’t think the rough seating situation was worth it. While Bumpy led us to camp, the sky had really begun to darken. Another heavy storm was rolling in, and a pretty angry looking one.
We were almost at camp when Ben broke the silence. “Hays, I’ve been thinking…” He trailed off. I hummed in response, encouraging him to say whatever was on his mind. “Do you think Bumpy will be happy?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will she be happy if she comes with us?”
“I’ve never thought about it like that.” I pondered. And I’ve never known there was an ‘if’, honestly Bumpy was just a part of this family as everyone. “She fits on the boat…” The thought of seeing Bumpy on the boat, traveling with us for miles. She hated the yacht. What if something went wrong? We could swim, but her… “But I don’t know.” Ben didn’t turn to look at me, but he had slumped over shoulder and was petting Bumpy mindlessly. “Will you be happy if she stays?”
“I guess I’d want for her to be happy with her family, run in the wild and live her life.” He sniffed quietly. “She’d never be able to do that in the city.”
“Then there you go.” I said, hoping it was the right thing to say. Maybe he was right. A dinosaur back in the mainland, I could see how things would be difficult for Bumpy.
“I just don’t know how to say goodbye.” He exhaled loudly.
“Yeah, you two were always like a whole package deal.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “But I think you’d be doing the right thing. She’s still a dinosaur at the end of the day.”
“She’s my dinosaur.” His voice was barely a whisper.
“That she is, Ben. And she’ll always be.” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder, he leaned into my touch but didn’t say anything else, so we just kept riding to camp.
…
Camp was just as we left it, but again there was no one in sight. Ben and I climbed up the ladder to find Kenji alone, dancing to himself.
“Kenji is in charge. Kenji is in charge.” He sang while dancing goofily with his back turned to us. “Kenji is in charge. Kenji is in charge.”
I elbowed Ben and tried to not burst out laughing, Ben just grinned at him and crossed his arms.
“What is going on?” Ben asked in a serious tone, but the corner of his mouth threatened to show a smile.
Kenji jumped, turning around. He cleared his throat and put his hands on his waist. “I need you to pack… toilet paper.”
“Toilet paper?” Ben cocked his head. “Seriously?”
“We’re gonna need it on the way to Costa Rica and I’m in charge.” Kenji explained, puffing his chest.
“The music performance was pretty self-explanatory.” I crackled.
“Toilet paper… sure.” Ben said, with a discrete wave at me, Ben went on to do what he asked.
As soon as Ben left our earshot, Kenji smiled and sang quietly. “Kenji is in charge. Ben is not in charge.”
I laughed. “You should feature on some of Dave’s music.”
He smiled. “What can I say? It’s a gift.” There were a bunch of empty bags sprawled on the table, so it seemed not much packing was going on.
I was determined to keep acting like none of the last few weeks ever happened, but at that moment, I remembered I was upset at Kenji.
“So, you guys left me behind on the boat.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not cool.”
“Oh right, that.” He gulped. “So, last night-”
“That too! How did I-”
“Get to your bed?” He cracked a laugh and I nodded. “It was too funny, you were like dead asleep on the main deck, Yaz was the only one that managed to wake you up. You mumbled curses at her all the way to your bed. Zombie Hays has some pretty creative curses. The best one was ‘I’ll whoop your ass, you damn Forrest Gump with T. rex arms’.” He tried to mimic my voice, but ended up falling backwards to the couch from the laughter.
I gasped, bringing my hand to my cheek. “I remember! She slapped me!”
“The only way… to… wake you up.” Kenji wheezed in between his laughs.
‘I'm getting back at her for that.’ I crossed my arms and finally looked around. “Where is she anyways?”
“She’s off on a run.”
“Typical.” I slumped down next to him.
“And Darius is off searching for a Galileo.” He said and I furrowed my brows at him, questionably. “I don’t know, a dream dino of his. But check this out.” He pulled out a dino walkie and pressed the speak button. “Captain Kenj to… Dariusaurus.”
“Go for Dariusaurus.” Darius’ voice came through.
“You’re sure that’s the call sign that you want?”
“Yes. The answer is still ‘yes’.”
Kenji interlaced his legs on top of the table and leaned back. “Don’t wanna give anything away, but I already did one thing, and it was flawless.”
“Very happy to hear that.” Darius said a bit too hastily.
“I will do you proud.”
“Kenji, you have to actually do the stuff and not just talk about it in order to do me proud.” Darius pointed out. Kenji sat up straight with a guilty smile on his face. “Kenji?”
“Right, yes.” Kenji chuckled. “Loud and clear. Talk time is over. 10-4.” He got up and started to grab a random bag off the table. “All right, we’ve got work to do.”
I got up to help him. “So, let me get this straight, Darius went after dinosaurs again and left you to deal with all the work?” I picked up a few cans of food.
“It was not like that…” Kenji mumbled. “You angry?”
“About what?” I tossed a can in the bag a bit too aggressively. For leaving me in the boat? For Darius going off alone after yet another dinosaur? ‘Cause that worked perfectly last time…
“For Darius putting me in charge.” Kenji sneaked a glance at me.
“He’s the leader, he can do whatevs.” I shrugged, but there was a bit of poison on my voice.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about, dude.” He smacked his hands on the table. “The vein in your forehead is, like, about to burst.”
“Will you stop about the vein?” I massaged my forehead.
“Fine. Then, as the one in charge, I declare that you are in charge.”
“Cute.” I chuckled, earning a soft blush from Kenji. “But request denied.”
“Seriously?” He beamed but just as quickly shook his head. “Okay, but what’s been going on with you and Darius, then? It’s like seeing mom and dad silently walking down the path of divorce.”
“Gross! You see me like your mom?” I asked, horrified.
“What? No!” He shrieked, motioning like crazy with his arms. “I didn’t- I don’t- I didn’t mean it like that! I don’t see you as my mom. We’re… we’re friends. Right?” He finished off the sentence with a nervous chuckle.
“Right…but still, I need to bleach that image out of my mind.” I shut my eyes. ‘Think of baby Ankylos, cute baby Ankylos.’
“Sorry.” He mumbled, going back to pack the food.
We went through two bags full of supplies, but his words kept spinning in my head. ‘We’re friends… friends…’ It still didn’t feel right, there was still tension between us. And I didn’t know if it was because I blew up on him the other day or because of the other thing.
“Hey, so, it’s cool, right? We’re cool?” I had to ask.
He tensed up for a second before answering. “Yeah, cool, cool, cool. We’re cool.”
I sighed with relief and disappointment at the same time. “Okay.”
“But um… you didn’t answer, what’s up with you and Darius?”
“I dunno.” I shrugged. “I can’t really put a finger on it, lately, Darius has been… I don’t know… reckless on his decisions?”
“I knew it, it is because I’m in charge.” He crossed his arms, pouting.
“Stop that!” I smacked him in the arm. “I don’t mind you.”
“Well, don’t worry, ‘cause everybody knows you’re like second in command.” Kenji massaged his arm.
“I guess I did that to myself.” I said a bit too bitterly.
He frowned. “But I thought you didn’t want to be the leader.”
“I might’ve jumped the gun.” I admitted, sitting back on the couch and losing all interest in packing, so Kenji joined me, leaving a good space between us. “Did you know that back on that first day on Main Street, Darius asked me to be leader instead?” I scoffed, shaking my head as I reminisced. “It was the day after we’d lost Ben, so I guess I was too stuck in my own head to actually be responsible for somebody else.”
“Hey, you did what was right for you at the time.” Kenji hesitantly reached out for my hand, but changed his mind, letting his hand fall in the space between us. I ignored his hand, but couldn’t help but roll my eyes at what he had said. At the time, that was not my thought process at all. “And don’t think we don’t see how much you worry.” He pressed.
I shrugged. “I’m the oldest, huh? I can’t help but feel responsible.” This time Kenji’s hand met my own, squeezing reassuringly.
I stared at our joined hands for a second. ‘Friends hold hands, right?’
“Don’t say it like that, because I’m the second oldest and I’m not ready for responsibilities.” Kenji's laugh came out a bit forced.
“I bet you’d do just fine.” I chuckled, raising my eyes to meet his.
“Thanks.” He smiled shyly.
People really didn’t give him the credit he deserved. He did things at his own pace, but he always pulled through. But then again, Darius also did pull through….
I let out a loud breath. “I guess, when we first got stranded here, we didn’t know how to survive and Darius got us through that, but now… now it feels like we’re taking unnecessary risks all the time.” I tried to explain. “It’s not that I want Darius’ spot, it’s just that he’s so naïve and optimistic. All of his decisions kinda fall on that.” I shook my head. “Freeing Blue… going off alone to chase dinosaurs…” I scoffed. “We all know what happened last time.”
“He is 12.” Kenji said. I was not sure if he meant it as a good thing or not. Kids pretty much cheat death sometimes, but they sure do the most stupid stuff imaginable.
“Yeah, but everything each of us do here affects the whole group.”
“It’s all about being a team player…” Kenji smiled and squeezed my hand again. “Do you wanna go after him to make sure he’s safe?”
‘Do I?’ I didn’t feel the need to go chasing Yasmina on her run, or Ben when he wanders off. I guess he was always with Bumpy so I knew he’d always be safe, and Yasmina, well, she was the toughest girl on this island… correction, second toughest. I was worried about Brooklynn and she was with Sammy, but who in their sane mind went off on a mission with a concussion? And then there was Darius…
“Yeah, I kinda do.” I admitted. ‘Shit was I that easy to read?’ I cringed at myself.
“Okay, so, since I’m in charge.” He let go of my hand and stood up. Before I could miss the warmth of his hand on mine, I was holding back a laugh. Kenji dramatically puffed his chest with one foot resting on the couch. “My second order is to send you off to be Darius’ bodyguard.”
I smiled, jolting upright. “Thanks, Kenj!” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before I lost courage. “You’re the best!” I turned my back on a tomato-red Kenji. I couldn’t help but feel sheepish. Friends, remember to keep it in ‘just friends’.
Without further hesitation, I grabbed my hunter’s knife and a walkie and went down the slide to find Darius.
…
‘So, Gallimimus? If I were Darius, where would I look for Gallimimus?’ I thought. The name wasn’t strange, I was sure I’d heard it before. It would be too embarrassing to radio back to Kenji to ask where Darius had gone to. But then it dawned on me, we had stumbled on a Gallimimus when we were searching for Darius after the last storm! And it wasn’t far from here!
I just needed to get to those mountains Darius had got lost previously. I hadn’t brought a map with me, but I was pretty sure that in that area, there was the symbol for the ostrich dinosaur. I also knew it wasn’t far, so a few minutes of a run would get me there quickly.
I had just run past the genetics lab when I heard the first signs of lightning. Even though it was far away, I picked up the pace. The day had almost turned completely dark because of the clouds, and I still needed to find Darius. Besides the jungle being engulfed in darkness, it was oddly quiet. I could only hear the lightning in the distance.
I crossed a river to finally get to the place I thought Darius was supposed to be. There were track marks everywhere, like a herd of dinosaurs had passed by, so I knew I was on the right spot. The jungle was denser here, with really old trees covered in vines. There were these weird trees I’ve never seen before; they had spikes all over their bark. Also, it was an eerie silence, no chirping birds and no insects to give life to the jungle. It all just added to the level of creepiness.
After minutes of searching for Darius, I finally gave up. ‘What if he was in a totally different place?’ I picked up the walkie to ask where he was, but practically punched myself on the face when I noticed the thing wasn’t on.
Flicking the switch, Darius was the first voice to come through. “We have to get out of here right now!” He sounded desperate and that was enough to get me on edge.
“What?” Kenji asked back. “What do you-”
“There’s another hybrid dinosaur!” Brooklynn's voice came through. Glad to know that she was okay, but what the fuck? Another hybrid? “Like the Indominus, but worse!”
“How? I don’t understand.” Yasmina said through the walkie.
“There’s no time!” Brooklynn pleaded.
“Okay, um- but just to check, is Hays with you?” Kenji asked, a bit of desperation coming through his voice.
“Why would she be with me?” Darius replied.
“Um- I sent her off to…” Kenji stuttered.
I pressed the button to talk. “I’m here.” I said, already turning on my heels and making my way back.
“Good.” Kenji breathed into the walkie.
“Great, so Kenji, grab the supplies and meet us at the boat!” Darius ordered.
“About the supplies…” Kenji hesitated.
“Kenji!” Darius yelled.
“I was too busy handling things.” He tried to justify himself.
“We need that stuff!” Darius groaned.
“I know! I got this!” He paused. “Yaz will go ahead to the boat and get it ready for launch. Ben and I will pack up the essentials, Hays, Darius, Sammy and Brooklynn swing by camp and help us carry everything.” Kenji finished, his voice full of a new found authority. I smiled at that, for someone who wasn’t ready for responsibilities, he was doing just fine.
“Copy that.” Darius said.
“On my way back right-” A strident roar interrupted me. It was a weird, hoarse roar that I’ve never heard before and it chilled me to my bone. That made me halt in place and glance around. There was no movement, no dinosaurs here. ‘What the hell? Was that on my end?’
“What’s that?” Darius quickly asked.
A snarl echoed this time, much closer. ‘That was definitely on my end!’
“Shhh.” I pressed the walkie against my body to muffle the sound. I ducked behind a tree and peeked at where I thought the sound had come from. At the sight, my breath hitched on my throat.
There was a dinosaur right in front of me, it had its sharp claws dug in the flesh of a Gallimimus and was dragging it somewhere with its long arms, a trail of blood behind them. It looked wrong… a perverse version of a dinosaur, straight out of a horror movie. This predator’s skin matched the darkness of the jungle; its eyes glowed red and I could see the dark slits all the way from here. Its body was deformed; it was a bit bigger than a Raptor and it walked on all fours, but the arms were shorter than the legs, so it looked like it was hunching over. Its snout was the smallest I’ve ever seen, like someone had punched it in at birth. The dinosaur roared loudly at the dead Gallimimus, showing the row of uneven, ragged teeth. There were some weird porcupine-like quills growing on the back of its head, elbows and tail. A shiver ran down my spine as it dawned on me: the trees didn’t have spikes naturally on their bark, it was from the monster, and I’ve been on its territory all along.
“Hays, what was that?” Kenji’s voice came through with a high pitch. The dark dinosaur jerked its head at me, making me jolt back behind the tree.
“Shit.” I breathed out. “I’ll meet you back at camp.” I whispered into the walkie and pushed the off button.
I pressed my back against the tree, hoping that the monster hadn’t seen me. My hand clutched the knife. But what could a knife do against that thing ? This has to be the hybrid Brooklynn was talking about, right? No doubt. What else would be so grotesque?
I heard its feet stomping on the grass, creeping in closer to where I was hiding. I could hear its loud breathing that comically sounded something like a pug with allergies. But I didn’t laugh. My mouth felt dry and it seemed like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. The dinosaur for sure could hear that.
The footsteps gave place to scraping sounds. ‘What the hell?’ Then I remembered the spikes on the trees, some had nails pretty far up. So, I tried to turn my head upward. There was like an invisible force keeping me in place. Like I knew that there was something there, but maybe if I didn’t look, it wouldn’t be real, it wouldn’t see me.
I forced myself to look up and red glowing eyes stared back at me. The labored breathing of the monster was everything I could hear. But I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place under the crimson gaze. I was pretty sure that I knew what that meant, those eyes examining me, ready to strike the moment I moved.
I was going to die here.
But then, lightning struck, so close it illuminated the whole jungle, bringing the smell of ozone with it. I could see the monster clearly now, but it wasn’t looking at me anymore, it had its gaze fixed on the lightning.
That was the only chance I’d get so I took it, sprinting as fast as I could away from the dinosaur. The jungle rushed past like a blur, even Yasmina would be proud of me right now. But my hope didn’t last long, because I could hear rustling in the trees to my right, as though the hybrid was in there, keeping up with me, stalking me like a prey. I could hear its loud footsteps and it’s breathing. I could hear it over the sound of my shoes scrapping the dirt and over my own heart beating in my ears.
I knew it could kill me at any time, but it chose not to. It was playing with me. Another lightning struck and I glanced back, catching another glimpse of sharp quills before the monster disappeared back into the darkness.
I felt my lungs begging for air, burning; my legs threatened to give out below me. I couldn’t give up now, if this monster wanted to play, I’d play. I’d keep running and stall long enough for me to come up with a plan.
‘Think!’ I forced myself. I couldn’t outrun it, but maybe I could find something to help. A Jeep? A gyrosphere? Then my eyes locked on the river that appeared in front of me. I guess it had already started raining up on the mountains, because the river had doubled its flow from the last time I had seen it. With a fast and powerful stream. Fast…
‘It's better to drown than to be eaten alive. ’ That was my last thought before I leaped into the river. I heard the hybrid screeching behind me and then everything went dark.
The water was freezing cold, but I tried to remain submerged the longest I could, hoping the dinosaur would not find me. But alas, my lungs were burning, screaming for me to breathe so I swam up, gasping for air. I glanced around while the current carried me down the river, there was no dinosaur in sight and no glowing red eyes, only the dark jungle.
I wasn’t an expert on the island’s topography, but I was fairly certain that this river was the same one that flowed next to camp. Two rabbits with one stone with this one.
I tried to keep afloat, but it was hard when I needed to dodge every boulder and log on my way. I swam hard, but I hit a rock so hard the current ripped the knife out of my hands. That actually made it easier to swim, but it didn’t make me feel much better. I kept my feet forward, just like I’d seen on TV, and tried to remain calm. I considered myself a good swimmer, but this river was taking the best out of me. My strength vanished with every twist and turn, with every time my head was forced under water, with every shiver from the cold water. But I couldn’t go down like this. I wouldn’t.
Finally, the river widened a bit and the flow slowed down. I took my chance and swam for the shore with what was left of my strength, grabbing on exposed roots and pulling me up to the grass. I laid on my back while breathing heavily. I gazed at the dark sky; you couldn’t even tell it was supposed to be day still. A lightning illuminated everything and I was alone, really alone.
“I did it!” I chuckled to myself, which turned into a full-blown laughter.
…
It was a while before I could gather my strength and walk back to camp, hopefully they hadn’t left for the boat yet. Incredibly, the walkie was still strapped on the waist of my pants, it didn’t survive the water though, so I discarded it. I followed the river down the stream and, in a few minutes, I was back at that familiar place.
A loud honk welcomed me back to camp.
“Sorry!” Brooklynn yelled from somewhere.
I found Brooklynn, Kenji and Darius twiddling with the overturned pick-up that had crashed near camp since day one.
“Whatcha doing?” I asked, leaning on the side of the Jeep.
“Wha- Hays!” Kenji jumped up and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the ground. I yelped from the unexpected hug, but before I could return it, he backed away, holding me by the shoulders and shaking me. “Don’t ever do that again!” He said it so intensely that I felt my face growing hot.
“Sorry.” I mumbled as a smile crept up on my face.
“And you're wet. Why are you wet?” He looked me up and down, still clutching to my shoulders. I was painfully aware of how his thumb missed my shirt and was pressed firmly against my collarbone. I swear that boy had a fever of how hot his hands felt. “Is not even raining yet.”
I felt both Brooklynn and Darius’ gaze on us, making my face grow as hot as Kenji’s hands on my skin. “Yeah, well… um, I had to take a dip on the river.” I fixed my hair that was sticking to my forehead, finally taking a step back from Kenji, who let his hands fall to his side.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Darius smiled at me.
“We were so freaking worried.” It was Brooklynn’s time to hug me. “There’s a new hybrid, and we wanted to go after you, but you said-”
“I’m glad you guys didn’t come looking for me.” I calmed her down. “I think I crossed paths with this new hybrid thing.” A shiver ran down my spine. “It was really nothing compared with the Indominus. I’m alive just because it didn’t know how to fucking swim.”
“Scorpios rex.” Brooklynn whispered the name, but it sounded more like a bad omen.
“Yeah.” I hugged myself. “A fitting name, actually.” A lightning struck, making us all jump.
“We need to hurry with the fence.” Darius said. “We don’t know when the Scorpios will show up.”
“Fence?” I frowned. “Thought we were heading for the boat.”
“I’ll catch you up to speed while the boys work on the battery.” Brooklynn hooked arms with me, leading me away from the Jeep. “So, we’re stuck here because the waves are too intense to leave with the boat because of the storm and all.” She said without taking a breath. “And there’s a wild hybrid loose on the island because Dr. Wu didn’t do what he was told-” she was wheezing. “It’s supposed to be terrifying and crazy and-”
“Breathe.” I interrupted her, worrying about the shade of red on her face.
She took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay, yeah, so Sammy and I found this underground lab and it turned out that the Scorpios rex was the original hybrid, way before the Indominus. But it was too crazy and Masrani ordered Dr. Wu to get rid of it, but he froze it instead.” She shook her head.
“And with the power outage…” I trailed off.
“Exactly what I was thinking!” She nodded. “If the Indominus was supposed to be the better hybrid, I wonder what the prototype looks like.”
“It’s not pretty, I’ll tell you that.” I shivered again. “It’s like someone stitched up together a bunch of different animals and hoped for the best.”
“They said it was venomous too, like it couldn’t get any fucking worse!” She groaned, she shook her head with her eyes closed. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?” She widened her eyes at me, scanning my body for injuries.
“Nah, it only chased me, which was weird.” I ran my fingers through my wet hair. “Like it was playing with its food.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “Oh, that sounds like a wonderful dino.”
“And you? Still with the headaches?”
“Never mind that. There’s a killer hybrid on the loose, my head will be fine.” She waved her hand dismissively, which meant it was still bothering her, but she was right, there were more pressing matters at hand.
“Okay, so what's the plan?” I glanced at our camp, Sammy and Yasmina were working on the fence, the two had their back to each other, working without exchanging a word. It was a weird sight, seeing Sammy and Yasmina together without talking, usually they’d be whispering to each other and Sammy’s laugh always filled the air. But not today, I guess the ominous discovery of the Scorpios rex was enough to weird everyone out. Take Bumpy for example, she was walking in circles, like she ate too many mangoes, while Ben tried to calm her down.
“Let’s see if they need any help.” Brooklynn walked over to Sammy and Yasmina, pulling me along. “Guys, Hays’s back!” She announced.
“Oh, my goodness!” Sammy beamed, rushing in for a hug.
“Hey.” I mumbled, patting her on the back.
Yasmina smiled at me. “Good to have you back, ‘cause we need help.”
“I’m happy to be of assistance.” I chuckled, doing a small bow down and sparing Bumpy another concern glance before helping them with the fence.
The plan was to electrify the fence with the car battery and reinforce it with whatever else we could find. They were stockpiling the debris from the original Camp Cretaceous: crates, pieces of wood and tires. Brooklynn helped me move a large wooden beam and rest it against the fence, digging the ground a bit to stabilize it. I wonder if it would be enough to deter the Scorpios, it could easily climb the fence.
‘Was electrifying it enough?’
From the time I had reached camp to now, the sky had gotten even darker, I didn’t even know that it was possible. The only source of light was the eventual lightning, because we refrained from using our flashlights since we didn’t know how the Scorpios acted.
Kenji and Darius had found wires to connect the battery to the fence, so now it was crackling with electricity. On the other side of the fence, Ben was trying to calm Bumpy, who seemed agitated with the storm. A really close lightning struck and Bumpy growled, jumping around and swinging its tail. She almost smashed Ben’s head in with her club, before panicking and running away. Ben tried to run after her, but to no avail.
Just as Bumpy disappeared on the tree line, a distant roar echoed in the jungle. That same hoarse roar that raised all the hairs on my arms. Everybody glanced at me for confirmation and I nodded. That was the Scorpios rex.
Everybody rushed back to camp, including Ben. Brooklynn had her baseball bat held close to her chest; Ben had his spear; Sammy a shovel and Kenji picked up his trophy paddle to use as a weapon and the rest of us each grabbed a large enough branch. We hid behind what we could, waiting for the Scorpios to show itself.
Lightning illuminated the jungle again, and now we could hear herbivores bellowing in the dark, followed by screeches I knew were from the Scorpios. One after the other, the dinosaurs were silenced, and now the only sound was the rain that had started to pour. My mind went immediately to Bumpy, she couldn’t be one of those herbivores, she was too smart for that; she had to be okay. She was okay.
The drops of water hitting the fence caused it to crackle in blue electric sparks. Then, the monster showed itself, circling our camp. I could only see its silhouette, but it was enough to make my heart go crazy with fear. It walked with its tail high in the air, showing all of the sharp quills. The hybrid snarled as another lightning hit.
“Maybe it won’t see us.” Sammy whispered, her voice shaking.
But we didn’t dare to look. We only heard as the Scorpios footsteps sounded closer and closer until a loud crackling noise made it growl. It had hit the fence. The dinosaur roared at the fence and headbutted it, making blue sparkles fly everywhere and us to scream. The fence held strong and the hybrid backed away.
But I knew we were screwed when the Scorpios glanced up at us, standing on its back legs and roaring. Its long arms gave it a humanoid figure when it stood up, a humanoid with red glowing eyes. The hybrid continued roaring for a long second, and we backed away all we could, away from the fence. A lightning cracked in the sky, blinding us. But when we opened our eyes again, it was gone. The hybrid disappeared.
“Where’d it go?” Darius hastily asked.
“I don’t see it!” Ben glanced around.
“Did anyone see where it went?” Sammy’s voice faltered.
“I don’t like hide-and-seek.” Yasmina’s grip on her weapon tightened.
I remembered how the Scorpios had cornered me on that tree, creeping in from above.
“Guys, it can climb!” I announced, trying to control my breathing.
“Oh, now you tell us!” Yasmina grunted.
All our faces were turned away from the fence and up to the roof as heavy breathing denounced the dinosaur’s position to our left. We screamed as we backed away, the red eyes were carefully watching us from the top of a nearby tree.
It roared and jumped inside our camp, right in front of us. We all stumbled backwards, but Darius, feet inches from the dinosaur’s sharp teeth. Luckily, the Scorpios was having trouble balancing on the railing, so I let go of the branch I was holding and pulled Darius to me, right on time for him to escape from the snapping jaws.
The dinosaur slammed its hand on the floor. Ben had to tumble back to dodge it, but he ended up going over the railing.
“No, Ben!” Darius called.
We heard a thud, but didn’t have time to worry about him because the hybrid was on the offensive. It tried to bite Yasmina and she had to dive off the railing towards the ground, going down like Ben had.
“Yaz!” Sammy screamed.
The Scorpios roared, making us flinch from the loud sound. Kenji fell backwards, dropping his weapon as the hybrid tried to bite him. He grabbed anything we could get his hands on, throwing it at the dinosaur’s face. The hybrid recoiled from Kenji’s assault and swung at some crates that flew at Kenji, making him go through the railing.
“Kenji!” I yelled as he fell to the ground. I grabbed Kenji’s paddle while Brooklynn swung her bat, keeping the monster away.
“Get back!” she shouted, but her voice cracked.
It snapped its jaw at us, but then lightning struck a palm tree, making it catch on fire. The Scorpios snapped its head towards the fire and lowered its claws, focusing on the fire instead of us, as if on some sort of a trance.
To not draw attention to us, we slowly backed away and went down the slide. Now on the ground, we were trapped, surrounded by the electrified fence, and the only thing we could do was to get as far away from the dinosaur as possible in the limited space we had. Kenji and Ben were already up so they joined us, but the fire suddenly died down and the hybrid came to life again, roaring angrily. It jumped down, swinging its tail at Sammy, who whimpered at the blow, landing near Yasmina.
“No!” Yasmina screamed.
“I’m okay!” Sammy reassured her.
Even though Sammy was the one hit, the Scorpios had all its attention on us. We were backed to a dead end, with only the fence around us. I raised Kenji’s paddle to keep the distance, while I kept everybody behind me.
We had nowhere to go, and the dinosaur knew that. My hands were shaking at the red eyes. ‘Don’t freeze.’ I commanded, gripping even tighter on the paddle. ‘Swing!’. The hybrid opened its mouth wide and I smacked the side of its face with the paddle. It shook its head, as if it was confused, but quickly recovered and roared again. ‘Again!’ I swung the paddle. This time, it had learned its lesson, though. It bit down on the paddle, finishing the shark’s job and leaving me just with the metal pole to show for.
Someone gripped on my shirt and pulled me back, but I held my ground. I only had a piece of metal, but I grinned at the Scorpios, it was now a sharp piece of metal because of it.
“Come on, you pug fucker!” I shouted as I gripped on the metal.
The dinosaur didn’t seem to mind me, because it was about to attack again, but suddenly it straightened its body, raising its head as if it had noticed something in the jungle. In the distance, faint dinosaur screeches could be heard. The Scorpios snarled and jumped the fence as if it was nothing, going after whatever dinosaur that was.
Lightning illuminated the jungle, showing that the Scorpios was long gone. Immediately all of us fell to our knees; I was hugging the metal pole, not believing that we were alive.
“Why did it leave?” Yasmina asked, joining us.
“Not sure.” Darius was panting hard. “Maybe it heard something it wanted more than us.”
“Pug fucker?” Brooklynn laughed, grabbing onto my arm.
“I don’t know.” I laughed at the insanity of the situation. “It just came out.”
“I did see some similarities…” Darius cracked a smile.
“Ha!” Kenji wheezed. “It does breathe like one.”
Sammy walked over to us. “That thing was-” She paused to rest with her hands on her knees.
“Sammy…” Yasmina’s voice faded and her eyes grew wide.
“Are you okay?” Darius asked carefully.
Sammy had three quills poking out of her stomach. “Whoa.” She glanced down. “I- I didn’t even notice ‘em. I’m fine, though.” But as soon as she said that, she stumbled on her feet. Yasmina and Darius were there to catch her, but she was struggling to keep her eyes open. “Really.” She insisted. “Just-” Her eyes rolled back and she went limp as we screamed her name.
Chapter 34: The Long Run
Summary:
A race against time to save Sammy’s life… and blow up some Dimorphodons while at it.
Chapter Text
“Sammy!” Yasmina called her name as she held the girl in her arms. “Sammy!”
“Somebody get some bandages!” Darius cried.
“Sammy, everything is gonna be okay.” Yasmina said. She guided Sammy under the camp structure, where she’d be protected from rain.
“Here, put this under her head.” Ben gave Yasmina a cloth to use as a pillow.
“Come on.” Brooklynn pulled me by the arm. We rushed upstairs and I watched as Brooklynn rummaged through our crates. “Here it is.” She tossed me rolls and rolls of bandages. We hurried back to Sammy, who was looking paler by the second.
“Sammy. Sammy, please wake up.” Yasmina pleaded.
“Yaz! The quills are poisonous. We gotta take them out of her.” Brooklynn kneeled by them.
Sammy was going in and out of consciousness, moaning in pain. Yasmina had her face twisted with worry, glancing down at her best friend.
“This is gonna hurt. I’m sorry.” Yasmina said with tears in her eyes.
“On my count.” Brooklynn readied herself, hovering her hands over the quills poking Sammy’s stomach. Yasmina nodded and did the same, while I ripped a big piece of the bandages. “One, two, three!” Brooklynn counted and they removed the quills in one swift motion. Sammy let out a blood curdling scream that made all of us wince.
“Hayden!” Brooklynn called.
“On it.” I pressed the bandages against her stomach, making Sammy moan again. “Sorry, Sammy.” I mumbled.
“Sammy? Sammy?” Yasmina hovered over Sammy’s face, trying to keep her awake. “Sammy!” She finally went limp again and her breathing eased up.
Brooklynn took over with the bandage, and it turned out there wasn’t much bleeding. But she still wasn’t waking up. Was it too late? Had the poison taken effect? There was nothing we could do but watch as she laid on the ground. Watch as Yasmina held her hand and cried softly. Watch as the rain fell, soaking us to the bone.
Sammy shivered and moaned in her state, letting us know that she was still alive. What was the point of us surviving our encounter with the Scorpios just so Sammy could die in the aftermath? Why did we survive, though? It didn’t make sense to me. Why would it give up on us and run away to chase shadows in the jungle? Nothing about this hybrid was logical. And that scared me even more.
Yasmina’s whimpers brought me back to the situation in hand. “Sammy, we’re here.” She softly stroked Sammy’s hair. “Everything is gonna be okay.” She said, tears rolling down her face.
“Taking out the quills wasn’t enough.” Darius mumbled. “The poison is already in her system. She needs an antidote.”
Kenji scoffed. “Oh, sure, yeah, and antidote. That’ll be easy to find, considering no one even knew this thing existed.” He wrapped his arms around himself.
“Maybe the medical supply station has something?” Ben pitched in.
“I doubt it.” I shook my head, too tired to say anything else.
“Kenji’s right.” Darius sighed. “The Scorpios rex wasn’t supposed to ever get out.”
Brooklynn gasped. “The video on Wu’s old lab! He was attacked by the Scorpios, and they were giving him this shot from a red vial.” She paced around. “I think they said antidote, I’m not-”
“Where is this lab?” Yasmina suddenly grabbed Brooklynn by the shoulders.
She pulled a map from her pocket and gave it to Yasmina. “Near the Raptor paddock.”
“Okay.” Yasmina took a deep breath and returned the map. “Take care of Sammy until I get back.” She ordered. We had already turned off the fence to save the battery, so she ran past the gate in a full sprint.
“Wait, Yaz!” I tried to stop her.
“The Scorpios went that way!” Darius yelled.
That made her turn around to face us. “I don’t care what’s out there. I’m fucking saving her!” Yasmina yelled before turning her back and disappearing into the darkness of the jungle.
“This is nuts!” Ben exasperated. “She can’t outrun that thing.”
“We have to figure out a way to help her somehow.” Brooklynn said.
“Okay, think. What do we know so far about this dinosaur?” Darius paced, fidgeting with his necklace.
“It’s straight up terrifying, it climbs, breathes like a pug with a cold, and it moves weird.” Kenji listed, imitating the Scorpios clawing the air.
“Also, it can’t swim, and likes lightning and fire for some reason.” I helped.
Brooklynn gazed at the burnt tree. “Yeah, when the lightning hit that tree-”
“It didn’t run from it, it went towards it, almost like it was hypnotized for a sec.” Darius thought aloud.
“Okay, so the franken-dino is half… moth?” Kenji frowned.
“Kinda, but not really.” Darius said. “It likes fire and that’s how we’ll clear a path for Yaz, only our explosion will be better, bigger, louder, fierier.”
“I’m in. I know the jungle better than anyone.” Ben stated, putting one arm around Darius. “Plus, bigger, louder, fierier… those are all my favorite words.” He was already out the gate.
“You do realize that this plan of yours is a complete long shot.” Kenji glanced at Darius.
“Yeah.” Darius slumped his shoulders.
“But we gotta try, right?” I placed my hand on Darius’ shoulder. “For Sammy and Yaz.”
“Right.” Darius nodded confidently, cracking a smile at me.
“Good luck.” Brooklynn said.
Darius was already flowing Ben, but I lingered a bit longer. “Turn the fence back on as soon as we leave.” I said to the two.
“Got it.” Brooklynn nodded.
“Be safe.” Kenji gave me a weak smile that didn’t really reach his eyes.
I gave them a last reassuring smile and turned my back, heading out to join Ben and Darius.
…
We were running on the opposite side from where Yasmina had gone to. The torrential rain had given us a break, replaced by a howling wind that had begun to blow the dark clouds away, giving us a glimpse of the full moon.
“So, what did you have in mind, Ben?” I asked. I was glad to finally be doing something, to have a plan of action, instead of sitting around waiting for Yasmina to return, hoping it wouldn’t be too late.
“I got the idea last time I had to be the distraction.” Ben smiled at me.
“Oh, that?” Darius frowned. “That didn’t really work the best last time.”
“Different dinos, different results.” He shrugged. “Now, I have some ideas for how this should go.” He said as we jumped over a fallen log. “One, you guys create a diversion while I blow something up. Two, I create a diversion while we blow something up. Three, forget the diversions altogether, I blow something up!”
“Yep, yep, yeah! I got it, thanks.” Darius said. “Whatever that something is, it’s gotta be big enough and high enough so that the Scorpios can’t miss it.”
“Forget the what, how are blowing something up? Do we have more fireworks?” I asked.
“We used it all up on the Ouranosaurus.” Darius sighed.
“I know just the thing!” Ben beamed and picked up the pace.
“How do you even know where you’re going?” Darius asked.
“Told you.” Ben pushed past a bush and finally stopped. “I spent a lot of time wandering this place with… Bumpy.” His face fell. “We gotta move faster. Sammy and Yaz are counting on us.”
“Lead the way.” I nodded.
Suddenly a shadow crossed the sky and a loud screech made Ben push us to the ground. A flock of Pteranodons crossed the sky and Ben crawled towards some trees with wide leaves, ripping out a few of them.
“Hold this above your head if you don’t wanna get snatched.” Ben handed one leaf to each of us.
He walked fearlessly through an open field, while the flying dinosaurs soared the sky above. Darius and I exchanged glances, but followed Ben in the end. Just like Ben had said, the leaves made us disappear in the grass and the Pteranodons didn’t attack.
Ben guided us through the jungle of what it seemed to be circles, checking trees left and right, looking for something.
“I know it’s here somewhere.” Ben mumbled to himself, as he examined another tree.
Darius had become entangled in a bush, so I had to pull him away from it. “Ben, are you sure-”
“Oh, there!” He exclaimed, rushing to a tree with a large ‘X’ carved into it. Ben rummaged through some bushes and pulled out a red gas can and a flare of the same color.
“Gasoline?” Darius deadpanned.
“You have a secret stash of gas?” My eyes widened at the sight. Why did he have that? Had he taken it from the penthouse?
“Dude, how much did you take?” Darius asked.
“Not much.” Ben shrugged. “I figured we had plenty to get to Costa Rica, so I stashed some away, you know, in case of a rainy day.” Even though it was a bit sketchy, he was right to do so after all.
“Ben, you beautiful, disturbed , beautiful boy.” Darius crackled.
“Our own little pyromaniac.” I chuckled, ruffling Ben’s hair, who blushed.
“Hey.” He protested, leaning away from me.
“Now that we handled the ‘how’ part, we need something to blow up.” Darius knitted his eyebrows, thinking hard.
“Lookout Point?” I pondered and Darius immediately smiled. “It’s high and if the gondolas are still working, it will be a fast climb to the top.”
“Maybe we don’t even need to go that far.” Ben smirked. “Come on.” He tossed me the gas can and started running again.
“That smile of his is terrifying.” Darius shivered.
We resumed running, this time towards a common target. Aside from that huge mountain on the north of the island, Lookout Point was the highest peak nearest camp. The Dimorphodons would be a problem, but I’d rather take them than the Scorpios. Ben said he had a plan around that, but he was still keeping us in the dark.
Unbeknownst to us, Ben had another trick up his sleeve that made his plan clearer. On our way to Lookout Point, we made a quick stop in yet another tree marked with an ‘X’, this time Ben pulled out an oxygen canister from the bushes.
‘When did this kid get all of this?’ Both Darius and I were perplexed, but we followed along nonetheless.
We sped up and quickly reached Lookout Point. Darius went over to the control panel, while I forced the doors of a gondola open. Ben pulled out tape from his pouch and started to tape the gas can and the oxygen canister together inside the gondola.
“Let’s go, Ben.” Darius pressed. “For all we know, the Scorpios has caught up to Yaz by now.”
“Almost ready.” Ben remained unfazed, calmly sticking everything together with a wide smile on his face. ‘Darius was right, it was terrifying.’ Ben lit up the flare and placed it on top of his makeshift bomb. “Hit it!”
Darius hit the button that turned the gondolas on, and the doors closed before us. We watched as the gondola lit up by the flare made its way up the mountain, just a spot of light in the night.
“Is it gonna be enough?” Darius asked.
“Oh, it will be.” Ben smirked.
“It has to be.” I crossed my fingers. If that didn’t work, Yasmina was going to be on her own against the Scorpios.
“You may wanna cover your ears.” Ben commented. “This should be a pretty big boom.”
We stared impatiently at the gondola, with our hands covering our ears. When we were about to give up, the gondola flashed red and orange, and a pop was heard as if someone’s tire had blown.
“But that- What?” Ben said, shaking his head and dropping his arms.
“We failed.” I slumped over the railing. Watching as the little fireball got further and further away. It was so small, there was no way it got the Scorpios. It was going to get to Yasmina and Sammy would never get the antidote because we failed.
“We have to do something!” Darius shrieked.
“Uh- I might have some more gas stashed a few clicks from here.” Ben said, his voice faltering.
“Yaz… Sammy… they were counting on us...” I shook my head.
“Clicks? What the hell are clicks?” Darius yelled. “Ben, we’re out of time!”
“I know, I’m-” -BOOM!
The night turned orange as a huge explosion shook us to the core, making our legs give out and sending us to the floor. The entirety of the Lookout Point exploded as soon as the gondola reached the top. It shot up a cloud of ashes and debris like a volcano.
The three of us just stared at the beautiful explosion, not believing our eyes. That would for sure gather the attention of a certain hybrid. But how did one oxygen cannister caused this massive of an explosion? I did not know, but I was fucking happy that it did.
A smile grew in my face as I watched the top of the mountain going up in flames. My own smile was reflected on Ben and Darius. A contagious laughter took over us and we were cheering a successful plan.
“Take that, island!” Ben yelled.
“Ka-boom!” Darius laughed.
“Fuck yeah!” I grinned, high-fiving the boys.
“Incoming!” Ben screamed, pointing at the sky.
We all ducked as a fireball came flying at our heads. It missed, scattering debris engulfed with fire all over the platform.
“We should-”
“Yeah!” Darius nodded emphatically.
…
I’ve never been so anxious to get back to camp as I was at that moment. Has our plan helped Yasmina? Had she found the antidote? Was Sammy okay? At the same time my brain was screaming these questions at me, I was afraid of the answers. We could be rushing into terrible news. All of the bad outcomes were playing in my head like a movie: Yasmina not getting the antidote, her getting mauled by the Scorpios, Sammy fading away in pain.
I forcibly shook my head and picked up the pace, distancing myself from the boys. I needed to get to camp, to make sure Yasmina and Sammy were okay.
The first thing I saw was the gate opened wide, and three people standing over Sammy: Brooklynn, Kenji and Yasmina! She made it back!
“Did you get it?” I panted, leaning over and resting my hands on my knees. Brooklynn and Kenji couldn’t even look at me, while Yasmina was crying as she held onto Sammy’s hand. I noticed an empty syringe on the ground near Sammy, so Yasmina did it, she got the antidote! My heart jumped on my chest. But why the long faces? Why wasn’t she waking up?
A few seconds later Ben and Darius came skidding to a stop next to me.
“We got back as soon as we-” Ben stopped as soon as he saw Sammy.
“Is she-” Not even Darius could find the words.
“Come on. Come on. Come on.” Yasmina repeated as a prayer, closing her eyes.
My eyes burned with the tears that threatened to fall down as I found myself unable to look away. I’ve never seen Yasmina ever shed a tear, and now, it was like a dam had burst. And Sammy…was she ever this pale before? She couldn’t be getting worse… she got the antidote. Was it too late? This couldn’t be happening. We’ve been through so much. We’d tried so hard… but in the end, it didn’t even matter. Everything was falling apart so fast. Our childish hope of surviving on this island. Our belief of being invincible. It was all so unreal that I’m surprised we got so far.
“Please, wake up.” Yasmina's voice cracked. “You have to. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Forget what I said. We’ll always be friends, no matter how far apart we are.” She lowered her head. “I might not be easy or perfect, but… please, wake up.” Yasmina pleaded, shaking and sobbing as she held Sammy’s limp hand.
The world seemed to be moving in slow motion, the wind disheveling my hair, the tears trickling down my cheek, Yamina struggling to breath as she sobbed away, and Sammy’s shallow breathing. Ben turned his face away, and hid behind his own hands. Brooklynn was trembling on the ground with tears falling silently, so Darius kneeled by her and hugged her gently, his face blank in shock. Kenji’s face was twisted in despair, breathing heavily; his fists closed around his own hair, gripping on it as if his life depended on it. So, I gripped on his shirt, like a little kid would, without strength to do anything else. He pulled me into a hug, his fingers digging on my back, but I didn’t mind. I shivered in his arms, as my tears blended in with his wet shirt from the rain.
Suddenly, a loud cough made us all look at Sammy, who was shaking in a fit of cough. We gasped and crowded around her as she finally opened her eyes, glancing up at Yasmina.
“Hey, Yaz.” Sammy’s voice came out barely a whisper.
“Hey, Sammy.” Yasmina cracked a smile amongst the tears.
Notes:
This was one of my shortest chapters so far, half of my usual word count. Sorry about that. I hope the next one makes up for it.
Oh and if you picked up on the Linkin Park reference, it was accidental, but I chose to keep it haha
Chapter 35: A Shock to the System
Summary:
“Anyone else see the irony?”
Notes:
I just did a 180 with my life and I’m feeling hella stressed, good thing that this chapter comes out today cause from now onwards it’s the best part of the fic in my opinion. Getting close to the end… getting close to the climax… things are heating up.
Anyways... did anyone see the new trailer for Chaos Theory?? Looking forward to it, the ideas are rolling free in my head right now. A little spoiler... I have plans for Hayden after this fic and it includes more dinosaurs...
Chapter warnings: blood, violence.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The wind finally blew away all the dark clouds, and the full moon shone its light on us. Our tears dried out, replaced by smiles as we gathered around Sammy.
“How are you feeling?” Yasmina placed her hand on Sammy’s shoulder.
“Like I got punched on the stomach by a porcupine.” Sammy groaned, still breathing irregularly. “So, you know… better.”
“Let’s get back to the boat while there’s a break in the storm.” Darius said, glancing up to the exposed moon.
“What about the Scorpios rex?” Brooklynn asked.
“What about Sammy?” I added, glancing at the girl, who even though was conscious, was still very pale and breathing with difficulty.
“I can do it.” She gave us a half smile.
“We have to risk it, we might not get another chance.” Darius sighed.
While Yasmina took care of Sammy, we all started to pack again. The Scorpios had really played a number on our camp, all of the railing was broken down, there were pieces of wood all over the place, and everything that we had packed was scattered on the ground. We went around picking up the cans of food, toilet paper, first aid material, bottles of water and everything we’d need for our trip on the boat.
I saw Darius picking up the two remaining walkies, since I’d lost one in the river, and I caught a glimpse of a flying canned carob, while Brooklynn smiled innocently. Darius tossed one walkie to Brooklynn and left saying something that made her laugh. Kenji was talking something about cows with Sammy, who was being held upright by Yasmina, so I just took care of gathering all the food I could find. I raised my head to search for the only one I hadn’t seen around camp, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. ‘Where is he?’
“Uh… Where’s Ben?” Brooklynn asked, also noticing him missing.
“Urgh, not again.” Kenji smacked his own forehead.
“I swear this kid is going to get us all killed.” Yasmina huffed.
Clearly, I was missing something, but there was a more pressing matter on hand. We piled up all our supplies in one corner and started to search for him in the jungle nearby.
“Ben?” Kenji called.
“Ben!” Brooklynn joined. “Bumpy ran off ‘cause of Scorpios rex. Ben’s probably going after her.” We all halted, not wanting to go deep in the jungle at night time, not when the Scorpios was lurking around.
“Then I’m going after him.” Darius announced, already walking away.
“Dude!” Kenji protested.
“Anyone else see the irony?” Yasmina commented.
“Fine, let’s go.” Brooklynn sighed. “The sooner we get Ben, the sooner we get out of here.”
Darius turned to look at us with an expression I knew very well by now. “Don’t, Darius.” I warned. “I mean it.”
“But we can’t risk all of us.” He argued. “The Scorpios is still out there. I’m going alone.”
“Again?” Brooklynn scoffed. “You don’t always have to do everything alone.”
“Get to the boat.” His voice grew confident. “If Ben and I aren’t there by sunrise, well, you know what that means.” He glanced down. “And you leave without us.”
“What?” Brooklynn exclaimed.
“Dude.” Kenji protested.
“No way!” Sammy cried.
“Stop that!” I shook my head. “We can all make it, just let us help.”
Darius’ eyes saddened and he looked away past us. He gasped loudly, pointing at something behind us. We all jerked around, eyes widened as we searched the jungle for those red glowing eyes.
However, it was all quiet and empty. No sign of dinosaurs or anything. I was beginning to think that whatever it was, it got spooked by us.
“I don’t see anything.” Kenji whispered. We turned back to ask Darius what he had seen, but he wasn’t there anymore. “Darius?” Kenji called. I just sighed, not really surprised.
Yasmina scoffed. “Total asshole move.”
“Okay, yeah.” Brooklynn rolled her eyes. “Picking up on that irony thing you were talking about.”
“What do we do now?” Sammy asked.
They all seemed lost at the chance of losing both Darius and Ben. Kenji shoved me lightly with the shoulder, motioning for me to say something.
I took a deep breath and straightened my back. “Darius and Ben can handle themselves.” I stated, hoping I was right. “But we… we are getting back to the boat.” They all nodded and we made our way back to camp. “Okay, so Yaz, you’re on Sammy duty, while we carry the supplies.”
“Already on it.” Yasmina hugged Sammy tighter, supporting her weight.
“Brooklynn, you’re better with the map so, can you get us to the docks?”
“You know I can.” She smirked and I smiled back at her.
“Great, let’s do this!” Kenji threw one fist up in the air.
…
We couldn’t rush our way back to the boat because Sammy couldn’t run and we were carrying precious cargo. On top of one bag, Kenji had a gallon of water strapped on his back with vines; Brooklynn was carrying one bag in each shoulder and her bat while guiding us through the jungle; I was with what was left of Kenji’s paddle, a backpack and one more bag filled to the brim.
Kenji dragged his feet, kicking a rock far away. “Stupid Darius thinking we’re gonna stupid leave without him on that stupid boat.” He groaned.
“Don’t worry. Kid’s got major FOMO.” Brooklynn said. “He’ll make it there by sunrise.”
“But will we?” Kenji halted in place, gazing at the scene in front of us.
The whole jungle was a war zone. It was unrecognizable. Some trees were snapped in half; others had been ripped from the ground, roots and all; but most were leaning precariously as if something big had a fight. Bushes and smaller trees had been stomped until they became flat, which further indicated something had passed through here. This was nothing compared with the last storm we had endured, and if I had to guess, it was the result of a Brachiosaurus versus the Scorpios.
“Everything’s been smashed, knocked down, or trampled.” Kenji paced in front of all the mess. “Stupid Scorpios messing up that stupid path to the stupid boat.” He groaned, kicking hard at a log, which made a big branch fall down. It hit the ground with a thud and Kenji had to jump back to avoid it.
“It’s okay.” Brooklynn said. “We just need to turn left at the bush that had the berry beard.” She glanced around. “Which was… maybe that one?” She pointed, totally not sure.
Sammy sighed. “I better sit.” She sat on a rock, while Yasmina kneeled next to her. “That Scorpios is gonna find us before we find the boat.”
“Nah, we’ll be okay.” Yasmina said, glancing at us. “You got this. Right, guys?”
“What?” Kenji mumbled.
“You guys got this.” She stared intensively at us. “I believe in you.” She winked.
“Okay… and?” Kenji asked, dumbfounded by Yasmina’s new demeanor. Was Yasmina being positive? Had she just winked at us? What the hell was going on?
“And what? I just really believe in you guys. Keep up the good work!” She gave us the thumbs up.
“Did she just encourage us?” Kenji whispered, his eyebrows almost touching his hair.
“I can’t tell.” Brooklynn sighed.
“We’re hallucinating, right?” I asked quietly, so Yasmina and Sammy wouldn’t hear me. “The Scorpios got to us and we’re all delirious with its venom, imagining a Yaz that’s nice and supportive and- Ow!” Without warning Kenji flickered me on the forehead.
“Nope, not hallucinating.” He simply stated.
“That only works on dreams.” I complained, massaging my forehead.
“Oh, whatever, okay.” He gave up. “Whenever we’re on our way to the boat, Darius is always like, ‘did you know that Stegosauruses pull bark off the trees to blah, blah, blah…’.” He gasped and his face lit up. “Because he always sees the tree with the missing bark!”
“That’s it!” Brooklynn cheered.
“If we find that, we find the boat.” Kenji concluded.
“Great job, you guys!” Yasmina encouraged us, her voice in a bright tone I didn’t think possible for her. “We’re gonna be out of here in no time.”
Kenji, Brooklynn and I exchanged glances. I expected my eyes to reflect on how weirded out I felt. ‘If I’m not hallucinating, explain that!’
“I’m so confused.” Kenji let out a harsh breath.
The next hour, we spent checking every single tree on our path. Kenji, Brooklynn and I searched for the one with the missing bark, while Yasmina and Sammy followed close behind. Sammy was looking a bit better, a little less pale, but she still relied on Yasmina to walk.
“Any luck?” Brooklynn asked.
“Nope.” Kenji replied.
“Same.” I said, inspecting the hundredth tree, they all started to look the same by now.
“Hey! Hey, guys?” Sammy called. “Can we take a water break? I’m feeling a little funny and my ears are playing tricks on me.” She looked puzzled at Yasmina.
“Sure.” Kenji said, walking back with the water.
Sammy sat down against a fallen log while we stood in a semi-circle around her. Kanji handed over a flask of water that she gulped down quickly, letting some trickle down her chin.
“Better?” Yasmina asked.
“I hope so.” Sammy mumbled, giving the flask back to Kenji.
“Way to be prepared.” Yasmina punched Kenji on the arm.
“Ow.” He rubbed his arm.
Then, Sammy lurched forward, snatching the flask from Kenji’s hand and gulping down on it again.
Kenji stepped back to where Brooklynn and I were standing, motioning for us to move a bit away from the two.
“If she keeps encouraging me, I’m gonna lose it.” He finally said.
“Me, too.” Brooklynn groaned. We all looked back at them, only to witness Yasmina cleaning Sammy’s mouth like she was a little kid. Brooklynn stared at me. “Are you gonna talk to her?”
“Why are you looking at me for?” I tried to make myself as small as possible. “You talk to her.”
“I don’t want to talk to her.” Brooklynn crossed her arms and glanced at Kenji.
“No way, José.” Kenji shook his head emphatically and then, whispered. “She scares me.”
Brooklynn groaned. “Fine. I’ll do it.” She turned to face Yasmina. “Yaz, could we chat for a minute?”
“Sure.” She replied and turned back to Sammy. “I’ll be right back.” She walked over to us, resting her arm on Kenji’s shoulder. “What’s up, Camp Fam?”
Kenji groaned at Brooklynn, while I elbowed her lightly, begging for her to say something.
Brooklynn took a deep breath. “Okay, I don’t know why you’re acting this way, but you have to stop.” Kenji and I nodded along.
“What are you talking about?” Yasmina seemed to be taken aback.
“Tone down the toxic positivity, dude.” I said.
“What?” She tilted her head, quizzically.
“Your kindness is killing us.” Kenji explained. “Killing!” He hissed.
“Look.” Yasmina lowered her voice. “Sammy really needs us to stay positive, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“Uh, hey, guys?” Sammy interrupted. “Uh, I don’t know why we do all these little side huddles, whisperin' and such, ‘cause I can hear every word.” She glanced at Yasmina. “Yaz, your kindness, it’s killin' me too.”
“What?” Yasmina’s voice had finally returned to normal.
“Killing!” Kenji hissed to her face.
Yasmina, nonchalantly, pushed Kenji’s face away and turned all her attention to Sammy. “But I was just trying to-”
“I know. I know.” Sammy said. “You’re just tryin' to help. But you’re freakin' us out, man! I thought I was hallucinatin' or somethin' the way you were actin'.”
“That makes two of us.” I nodded along.
“Wait. Maybe I am hallucinating.” Sammy stated.
Kenji raised his hand and I immediately smacked it away from Sammy. “Kenji!”
Sammy's eyes were locked on something behind us. “Are you guys seein' floatin' fairies, too?”
We all looked at what Sammy was referring to, deep in the woods, fluorescent lights of blue, pink and purple were dancing in the dark. They had a weird shape, something like elongated floating lanterns, and were getting bigger and bigger. Loud stomping accompanied the lanterns, which now resembled floating heads coming right at us.
“Wait a minute.” Brooklynn said. “Aren’t those-”
“The Parasaurolophuses from the caves!” Yasmina yelled.
Their bodies finally took shape and they bellowed as they charged towards us. We acted without a thought, jumping over the log, Sammy with Yamina and Kenji’s help, and we ducked, hugging each other as the Parasaurolophuses slammed against the log. A loud hoarse roar echoed in the jungle; it sent shivers down my spine. It couldn’t possibly be coming from the herbivores, it had to be from what they were running from. The Scorpios.
One Parasaurolophus jumped over us, but it tripped on the log, falling face first to the ground. It kicked the air, trying to get up; one powerful kick came right at our faces. We screamed as we scramble away from the kick, which hit the log behind us, almost snapping it in half. But we didn’t even have time to recover from that, because a pair of dinosaurs slammed at the tree in front of us, making a branch bigger than a person fall in our direction.
We stared at it as it fell, not fast enough to get out of its way, but Kenji managed to shove Yasmina, Sammy and Brooklynn out of the way, and while falling backwards, pushing me back. The branch fell right in the middle of us.
“Do your job and get us out of here, dammit!” Yasmina yelled at us.
The Parasaurolophuses, then, changed its direction, turning, instead of slamming at us.
“They’re making a path!” Kenji pointed out. “Follow the glowy dinos!”
Suddenly, we were all running alongside the dinosaurs. We couldn’t possibly match their speed though, because of everything we were carrying. Running around with unbalanced bags and backpacks bobbing up and down was quite the challenge, but at least the dinosaurs were keeping their space.
“Ha! I know where we are!” Kenji suddenly yelled. “The dock is that way!” He made a sharp turn, but somehow, the dinosaurs were turning with us. “Should be right… Whoa!”
A Parasaurolophus next to us suddenly fell down… no, was taken down. My eyes darted around, but there was no dark silhouette, no red glowing eyes, only darkness. But the unmistaken labored breathing could be heard over sounds of the desperate herbivores.
We all yelped, as another dinosaur was taken down close to us. This time we were sure, as we all saw the teeth of the Scorpios sink in the flesh, dragging it away.
“Run faster!” I yelled.
“What do you think we’re trying to do?” Yasmina snapped back.
The Scorpios leaped from the darkness, its claws outstretched for us, but we made a sharp right turn and it landed on a Parasaurolophus, slashing its throat open.
“Lose the bags!” Brooklynn shouted, as the Scorpios got back up. My breath got caught on my throat as I took a glimpse of the dinosaur, its claws covered in blood and its mouth dripping with the thick red liquid.
In a last attempt to escape, we did as she said. I dropped my bag and backpack, tightening the grip on the metal pole that I had as a weapon. It worked, because we could properly run now, well, not Sammy and Yasmina, though. The Scorpios charged, trying to bite them, but a Parasaurolophus was closer, so it got mauled instead. The Scorpios teeth closed around its neck, giving us enough time to get away.
Right when we had the lead, Sammy tripped, and we could hear the sounds of breaking bones and splashing blood as the Scorpios dragged the herbivore away. Yasmina was quick to help Sammy and we were on our way to the boat again. This time, the Scorpios didn’t follow, too busy with the Parasaurolophuses.
We kept running at full speed for as long as we could, but we had to stop as Sammy couldn’t keep up anymore.
“Come on.” I insisted. “The Scorpios can be that far behind.”
“I… really… need… water.” Sammy wheezed, falling to her knees.
Yasmina glared at me with an angry frown. “We can rest for a bit.” She quickly turned her attention to Sammy.
So, we ducked behind a big bush and took that opportunity to catch our breaths. Brooklynn had her hands resting on her knees, while Kenji slumped to the ground next to Sammy, giving her the flask of water. I kept my ears sharp for any noise coming from the jungle; I was soothed by the sound of insects and small animals making their way through the night, as opposed to the eerie silence whenever the Scorpios was around.
I took my time to make inventory, we had ditched everything. Besides our weapons, the gallon of water strapped onto Kenji’s back was the only thing left. That was basically nothing, and I considered going back to get it, but the chance of the Scorpios still being around was too great of a threat.
After a few minutes, I glanced at Sammy, who looked tired, but had her breathing under control.
“I’m good.” Sammy said, not sounding convincing at all, but we needed to get to the boat.
“Great. Let’s go, then. The boat shouldn’t be that far away.” Everybody started to get up and we ran a few steps before we had to stop again for Sammy.
“We should slow down.” Yasmina said, looking with concern at Sammy. “We can walk.”
I scoffed. “Like we don’t have a murderous dinosaur on our tail.”
“We always have a murderous dinosaur on our tail.” She crossed her arms. “And if it was really chasing us, it’d be here by now.”
“I’d rather not risk it.” I dismissed her. “Besides, Sammy said she’s good.”
“Y-yeah, sure…” Sammy stuttered.
“See.” I motioned to Sammy. “Let’s go.” I turned my back, ignoring Yasmina throwing daggers at me, ready to resume running.
But Kenji stopped me, hand grasping my forearm. “Honestly, I don’t think I can run anymore. Any of us really.” His eyes locked on mine. “Walking wouldn’t be the worst idea.”
I was intensely aware of his fingertips on my skin, how it sent shivers up my arm. His eyes lingered on mine in a way it made me regret us not being alone. The silence was loud as didn’t know how long I stood there just gazing back at those chocolatey eyes.
Finally, I took a deep breath, averting my gaze from his, glancing around; we really weren’t in the best shape. “Yeah, maybe not.” I gave in. “We’ll walk then, let’s walk fast.”
I was quick to take the lead, not wanting anyone to see the blush creeping into my cheeks against my will.
After a while walking, Brooklynn pulled out her walkie. “Darius?” She called, pushing the ‘talk’ button. “Darius, do you copy?” She repeated, but nothing came through. “If you can hear me, we just had a run-in with the Scorpios, but everyone’s okay. We’re headed to the boat now. Should be there any minute.” She explained. “We- we’ll meet you there.” She ended the transmission, stumbling on her words and slouching a bit.
“He probably just turned it off so we won’t bug him.” Kenji suggested. “Darius and Ben, they’ll be okay.”
Then, we all gasped when we brushed some leaves out of the way and came across with the ocean, and a little to the side, we could see our boat docked on the pier. Sammy laughed and was the first one to run to the docks, without Yasmina’s help this time. We followed, cheering as we sprinted down the concrete pier.
“And I thought findin' this boat the first time was the happiest I’d ever be to see it.” Sammy laughed as we boarded. “Would it be weird if I hugged it? That’d be weird, right? Ah, I’m gonna hug it.” She went ahead and hugged the white wall.
Brooklynn chuckled. “Sammy’s back, folks.” Then, Sammy chose that moment to empty out everything on her stomach. “Almost.” Brooklynn recoiled at the vomit.
“We made it and with time to spare.” Yasmina smiled, sitting down at the bench. And she was right, the night was still pretty dark, no signs of the sunrise yet.
“Yeah, but with basically zero supplies.” I dropped on the bench across from her.
“Sorry ‘bout that.” Brooklynn slumped her shoulder.
“Don’t say that, we wouldn’t be able to get away with all that weightin' us down.” Sammy comforted her, even though her face hinted that she was about to throw up again.
“She’s right, don’t stress it.” I said. Brooklynn smiled at me and Sammy, who rushed back to the boat’s railing to vomit.
But who was I fooling? How long were we going to last without food? A couple of days? What if we had an emergency on the trip? All of the stuff we needed had stayed laying on the grass with the Scorpios.
We all made our way around the boat, Kenji went to the cockpit, Yasmina was on Sammy’s watch and Brooklynn and I went to secure the water.
“I think I wanna go back.” Brooklynn suddenly said.
“Darius said to wait on the boat.” I mumbled, moving the gallon to the kitchen.
“I know, but I’m not an idiot, there’s not enough food.” She said hastily.
“Yeah, I know.” I admitted. “But the Scorpios is still out there.”
“Is it though?” She narrowed her gaze. “It didn’t chase after us. I could go back for the food, in and out.” I could see the gears turning inside her head, she had already thought about it and decided she was doing it. She just needed some validation and not in a million years I’d let her do this alone.
“You already made up your mind, right?” I sighed.
“I was just hoping that…”
“Of course, I’m coming with you.”
“I knew it.” She beamed.
“Okay.” I put one arm around her shoulder, guiding her to the deck with me. “Now to the difficult part.”
“Convincing everybody.” She groaned.
Kenji had come down and was chilling with Yasmina and Sammy on the main deck, all of them glancing intently at the woods, waiting for Darius and Ben. And overall, their reaction to our news was going as expected.
“That’s dumb.” Yasmina deadpanned.
“But- but we have food.” Sammy protested.
“Face it Sammy, it’s not enough, and there’s not just food on those bags.” Brooklynn shook her head. I glanced at Kenji, who was quiet at a corner with his arms crossed, not really saying anything.
“But, we’re safe, we’re on the boat, we just need to wait for Ben and Darius.” Sammy insisted.
“Look.” I interjected. “The facts are, we need those supplies and we still have some time before sunrise.”
“But the Scorpios…” Sammy mumbled.
“Either we get the food, or we end up distracting the Scorpios away from Ben and Darius, it’s a win either way.” I stated.
Kenji scoffed. “Look at what you’re saying.” He finally broke his silence. “It’s not a win if you don’t get back safely.” He got closer to us, knitting his eyebrows together.
“We will.” I mustered all the confidence I could.
“Stop doing that!” He yelled, which made me flinch at his sudden outburst. “You can’t know that for sure. Not against the Scorpios.”
“It’s a simple snatch and grab.” I tried to explain. “We’ll be careful.”
“This is stupid. And not simple at all!” He shouted, nostrils flaring. I just stared at him, taken aback and not knowing what to say. I had never seen him like this.
“We’ll try to make it back before sunrise.” Brooklynn said, placing a hand on my shoulder for support.
“And Kenji, at any sign of trouble you take off, okay?” I glanced back at him, whose face was twisted in anger. Without a word he turned his back, storming off. “I mean it.” I said loudly.
“Yeah, yeah…” He mumbled, turning the corner and not looking back.
“Good talk.” Brooklynn chuckled, glancing uncomfortably between me and where Kenji had disappeared into.
“You are seeing the irony in this, right?” Yasmina was just observing us with her arms crossed.
…
Brooklynn and I gathered our weapons and made our way to the jungle. As we ran through the pier, I felt eyes on the back of my head and I already knew who that was. But I didn’t get why he had blown up on me like that.
“So, Kenji’s mad.” I sighed. “I didn’t really expect that.”
“Should’ve have seen him when you hung up the walkie on his face.” Brooklynn chuckled. “When I got back to camp, he was going crazy.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Oh, I didn’t know about that.” I really had no idea. “I would’ve radioed back if I could, but that thing is not waterproof.”
“I know, but that’s not the point.” She sighed.
I frowned. “We do dangerous things all the time. It’s not like I chose to be chased by the Scorpios and I didn’t choose to be needing the supplies.”
“I get it, but when it’s about you, Kenji gets all…” She trailed off.
‘So, this is what’s all about.’
“Oh.” I ended up saying. I know that it shouldn’t, but that made me a little happy. That someone would be that worried about me. Not that I liked the ‘being screamed at’ part that just happened, but I didn’t see him acting like that with anybody else. So much for ‘friends’, I guess.
Brooklynn just raised an eyebrow at me, but from that point forward we didn’t speak because we had entered the jungle. It was easy to make our way back to where we had left our supplies, though they were all scattered across the grass. We kept quiet and kept our ears sharp for any sound, but it never came, maybe it really did leave. We gathered all the loose objects and threw them back inside the bags. I was tightening the straps of my backpacks, when I noticed that Brooklynn had hung all of the bags on her baseball bat by the straps.
“You know I can help, right?” I chuckled.
“You can have this one.” She said, tossing me one bag full of cans.
“Really?” I deadpanned.
She shrugged. “It was my idea to come.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but-”
“Besides, I’ll need you to do your kung fu if the Indominus knockoff shows up.” She grinned.
“You know very well that I don’t do kung fu.” I crossed my arms. “It’s Muay Thai.” I enunciated.
“Same thing.” She rested the bat, now loaded with the bags, on her shoulder.
She didn’t budge about the bags, so we started to make our way back. In the sky, we could see the black start to turn a shade of dark blue and purple, indicating that the sunrise was close, so we picked up the pace. I really hoped that Ben and Darius were back already, and that they were just waiting for us. I knew that Ben was sad about Bumpy, that he wanted to say goodbye, but I’d never imagine he would run off without telling us. Then my heart dropped. I hadn’t said goodbye either.
‘Dammit.’ It was too late to go back now, but I hoped she’d remember me. Did dinosaurs have a good memory? I had to ask Darius about that.
With the sunrise light creeping in little by little, the jungle wasn’t as menacing, and the shadows weren’t as dark. But we were half way back when we heard it -CRACK. All my blood ran cold at the sound of a twig breaking. Brooklynn and I halted, glancing at each other with a widened gaze. Of course, there was the possibility of that being Ben and Darius, but my gut told me otherwise. It was too quiet for that.
“It’s the Scorpios, right?” Brooklynn asked, without moving a muscle.
“Don’t give chase.” I said with a clenched jaw.
“It doesn’t behave like a normal dino, though.” She grunted.
And she was right, because the next thing I knew, there was a snarl and we took off on a sprint. Good thing we did, because the dinosaur landed where we had been seconds ago. I caught a glimpse of red eyes in the dark before speeding up even more. We could hear its breathing and the sound of its claws against the bark as it jumped from one tree to the next.
We skid to a stop when it appeared in front of us, so we took a sharp turn avoiding its spiky tail flailing at us. We ran on zig zag, always keeping in mind our path to the docks, but avoiding the sharp teeth, claws and quills.
It was like my heart was coming out through my mouth. I knew that my legs were being pushed to the maximum, but my brain didn’t compute like that. I needed to keep going. I turned hyper aware of every sound and movement around me. I could hear the Scorpios, so I knew where it was coming from and when, so we could dodge it accordingly. We were cutting close, though; every escape, the Scorpios got closer and closer.
Suddenly, it was as if it had gotten tired of playing with its food, because the next thing I knew, there were a set of teeth, smiling in front of me. I rolled to one side, while Brooklynn went for the other. The Scorpios snarled, crawling towards Brooklynn, who tried to raise her bat, but it was tangled in with the bags.
“Over here!” I yelled, getting up while the Scorpios snapped its head at me. “Yeah, look at me you ugly freak.” I backed away, hugging my bag with one hand and holding my weapon in front of me with the other. The dinosaur snarled, crawling at me. “B., get back to the boat and tell Kenji to take off.” I said, without breaking eye contact with the Scorpios.
“Are you crazy?” She hissed, also getting up. “What are you gonna do?” And the Scorpios turned its attention back to her. Its tails swung at me and I had to duck to avoid the quills.
“Something dumb.” I chuckled. The dinosaur motioned that it was gonna lunge at Brooklynn, so I swung the sharp metal pole at its back. “Hey, pug fucker!” I yelled. My attack didn’t do much more than anger it, but it did switch targets again. Its red eyes were locked on me, and I felt a whiff of its stinky breath as it snarled.
“I can’t-”
“Yeah, you do, just make sure Kenji does his thing.” I said, backing away. “I said over here!” I yelled while hitting the metal pole against a tree. “You really have a fucked up looking face, did your daddy told you that?” I taunted, making it screech and get even closer, which made me back away from Brooklynn.
“Hays.” She cried.
“Go!” And I ran, knowing that it was gonna follow.
And it did.
I didn’t have a plan, but I knew it would include keeping this thing as far away as possible from Brooklynn and the boat. So, I just kept running. I didn’t dare to look back, but I knew it was following me because of its loud breathing and because every time I zig-zagged past a tree I could hear its claws against the bark. But it didn’t matter how I ran, this hybrid was more agile than Toro or the T. rex, it could keep up with my sharp turns. I tried to use the trees as cover, but it could climb it. I didn’t have anything to start a fire, but I was close to the ocean, so I immediately turned back to the docks.
Hopefully, Brooklynn had already reached the yacht, and they had taken off. I just needed the boat to be far enough so that the Scorpios couldn’t jump onboard.
A sudden blow to my back sent me flying to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. I grunted as I pushed myself back up. The first thing I saw was a huge mouth propped open in front of me; I could see the sharp jagged teeth, the drool and the dark pit that was its throat. My arm shot up, swinging the pole at it, so instead of my face, the jaw closed around the aluminum, carving its teeth deep in the metal.
Instead of breaking with its bite, the paddle got stuck on its teeth, like a huge toothpick. So, forgetting about me, the Scorpios shook its head like a dog, opening and closing its mouth to try and dislodge it. I stumbled to get up, trying to dodge the claws and tail as the Scorpios went crazy with the paddle. I felt a burning sensation on my forearm, but didn’t have the time to check it, ‘cause I was too busy getting hell away from it.
I sprinted towards a break in the jungle, where I imagined the docks to be at. I ran past some bushes and the docks stood before me. And I sighed in relief when I noticed the yacht slowly sailing away. I saw Brooklynn waving at me from the main deck and the boat slowed down, stopping a hundred meters or so from the dock. The sky was getting more colorful, and it was possible to see the sun start to show itself on the horizon.
‘Just in time.’ I chuckled as I ran for my life.
I was running down the pier when I heard the Scorpios roaring, it jumped out of the jungle, free from the paddle. It was angrier than ever and it was done playing around, because it was running at full speed at me. Everybody on the boat was screaming unintelligibly, but my legs couldn’t go any faster, so I did the only thing I could think of: I leaped.
The Scorpios roared as it got closer. Something brushed past my head, so close that I could feel the air rushing through, but I didn’t have time to think about it, because the next thing I knew I was under water. There was no screaming, no angry roars and no labored breathing. Also, there was no secondary ‘splash’, which meant that the Scorpios hadn’t followed me in. I swam all that I could with only one breath, getting as far as possible from the pier. I had one hand around a bag of supplies and a backpack weighing me down, and I panicked when I couldn’t move up. I fought to get to the surface, and when I finally did, I gasped for air.
I glanced around, seawater burning my eyes as I tried to figure out my surroundings. I had reached farther away than I thought possible. As the sunlight illuminated the pier, I could see the Scorpios hunched over on the concrete, roaring at the boat than at me, drooling like a rabid animal. But it couldn’t get to me; it couldn’t get to any of us.
I smiled, taking a deep breath in, and one out. ‘Bad idea! Bad idea!’ I screamed in my head as I went under water, struggling to keep afloat with all the weight.
With one arm I hugged the bag of supplies close, while I did labored strokes with the other; I had barely any strength left, but I forced myself to kick. I was bobbing up and down in the water so I had to time my breaths, but surely the boat was getting bigger and bigger.
The girls were waiting for me on the stern. I grabbed onto the boat with one hand, while the other tried to raise the bag, unsuccessfully. Luckily, Sammy grabbed the bag, while Yasmina and Brooklynn pulled me on board.
“I told you that was dumb.” Yasmina said while I sat on the floor, trying to catch my breath.
Sammy kneeled next to me, with a concerned expression. “Oh my gosh, Hays. Are you okay? That was so close. Here let me get this for ya.” She started to take off my backpack for me. I was too tired to object so I just let her do her thing. She threw the backpack on the floor, and it had four venomous quills puncturing the fabric. “Now that was close.” Sammy mumbled. My hands shot up to my back, and I let out a harsh breath when I saw they hadn’t reached my skin.
“Let her breathe, Sammy.” Yasmina said with a hand placed on Sammy’s shoulders. I gave her a thankful smile when someone smacked me in the head.
“Why would you do that?” Brooklynn scolded me. I tried to shrink away from her but she engulfed me in a hug. “I didn’t mean it about the kung fu.” She gave me a final whack in the head after letting me go.
“Ow.” I rubbed my head, getting up. “I know. And it still is Muay Thai.”
“Idiot.” She mumbled.
“You're bleeding!” Sammy exclaimed, taking my arm gently into her hands.
“Again.” Yasmina commented.
I lowered my left arm to see a single gash across my forearm.
‘Only the quills had venom, right?’ My heart raced. Well since I was still standing, it must be okay. It wasn’t that terrible, it was a clean cut, which was the least I could ask for. There was blood running down my arm mixed in with seawater, which made it look bloodier than it actually was.
“It’s not that bad.” I played it off, poking at the cut. It didn’t hurt when I touched it, but the salt was making it burn so damn much.
“We should-”
Rushed footsteps echoed on the wooden deck, coming our way, and my eyes immediately darted that way, waiting for the one that hadn’t greeted me yet. Not that I was angry, but I expected at least a ‘hey, I’m glad you’re not dead.’
I had a hesitant smile on my face as he turned the corner. He halted in place, with an angry frown, examining up and down. ‘Okay, so he’s still angry.’ My face fell. ‘ Noted. ’ I could only imagine what he was thinking when he saw that I was exhausted, bleeding and had escaped from the Scorpios only by a hair. Yep, a good and fat ‘I told you so’.
“Okay, I know what you’re gonna say…” I raised my arms in surrender as he took big and angry steps towards me. I couldn’t help but take a step back as I’ve never seen him this mad, ever. “…but we got-”
His voice came out a growl. “You-”
Kenji snatched me by the waist and collided our lips together. My whole body tensed up, with my hands frozen in the air as I tried to understand what was happening. His eyes were shut and his lips were pressed hard against my own, while his hands held me tight, keeping me in place. My heart jumped on my chest when my dumb brain finally caught up to what was going on.
‘He is kissing me!’ My head spun. There were a thousand thoughts running through my mind, but I didn’t get them to come together to form a sentence other than ‘Kenji is kissing me.’
Our lips clashed together and I could feel Kenji’s teeth through the movement our our lips, but I didn’t mind. My eyes fluttered closed and I lowered my hands to his chest, enjoying his warmth against the coldness of my skin, his heart beating fast right under my palm.
‘We were kissing… in front of everybody…’ That realization made me gasp in surprise… or shock.
As abruptly as it had started, Kenji pushed me away. His face was a few shades darker of red, which I was sure reflected my own. His eyes were wide as he, just then, realized what had happened, but they immediately darkened again.
“Never, ever ask me to leave you behind again.” He growled in a deep voice that made me shiver and my knees almost gave out.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My brain had turned to mush, so I just stared at his back as he walked away, walking so fast, like he was trying not to run. I heard a muffled wheezing sound behind me, so I turned to find Yasmina with her hand over Sammy’s mouth, who was practically jumping in place.
“Your face is red.” Yasmina said with a huge smirk.
“Oh, shut up.” I mumbled, as my face burned even hotter.
“That was quite something.” Brooklynn was eyeing me mischievously.
“And you owe me money, Brooklynn.” Yasmina added.
“Don’t remind me…” She groaned.
I glanced back and forth between the two. “Wha-”
“You’re a bloody mess, let’s get you cleaned up.” Brooklynn said quickly, while grabbing my good arm and leading inside the boat.
I just let her guide me as I wasn’t thinking straight. I heard a shriek coming from outside, which pretty much confirmed that Yasmina had let go of Sammy. That made me cringe even more. So, they witnessed all that? And on top of everything, they placed bets on us? I was pissed, but still curious about how much money- okay not that curious. Mental note to kill Kenji for having our first kiss in front of everybody and ditching me there!
I was painfully aware that Brooklynn couldn’t stop giving me side glances and giggling. But she didn’t say anything while working on my arm. Which, by the way, didn’t even feel like a cut. It was like my whole body was numb, but I could still feel the ghost of Kenji’s lips against my own, the taste of salt, and his fingers digging on my skin. I felt the blood rushing to my face again. ‘Dammit, Kenji.’
Notes:
Thoughts?
Chapter 36: Escape from Isla Nublar
Summary:
That time when the campers took down two pug-fuckers with the help of a blue friend.
Notes:
200K words! Let's go!
Warnings: blood and violence.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The sunrise came and went, but no news on Ben and Darius. We had to leave the docks because the Scorpios was pacing around at the pier, with its eyes locked on our boat. So, we left, hoping it would leave too. And hoping Ben and Darius wouldn’t cross paths with it.
Kenji was up in the cockpit and hadn’t come down, even with the engine turned off. The last time I had seen him, he had stormed off after kissing me. After that, not even a word. Was he still angry about me asking him to leave with the boat? His silence seemed to point at that. On the other hand, it's good to know that he got ballsy when mad. My face got all hot for the hundredth time in the last minute, so I mentally shook myself, forcing myself to gaze at the shore that slowly passed by as the current dragged the boat.
I was sitting on the main deck, when Sammy slumped down next to me, too close for comfort. “So, are you guys’ boyfriend and girlfriend now?” She asked, gripping my arm. “You are so cute together.” She commented with glee.
“Um… we didn’t really talk about it.” I slowly squirmed away from Sammy.
“Too busy-” Brooklynn made kissing sounds.
I rolled my eyes. “No, he’s just hiding out up there.”
“And you’re just hiding out down here.” Yasmina commented.
I slid down on my chair, crossing my arms. Of course, she was right, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “Can we please stop talking about it and focus on the actual problem here? Ben and Darius are still on the island.” I reminded them.
“Right.” Brooklynn sighed and all or their faces fell.
“So, I guess one of us should go and talk to Kenji about turning this thing around.” Yasmina stared straight at me, but I felt a sudden urge to examine a lock of my hair up close. ‘ Wow, no split ends. ’ “Fine.” She groaned, turning around and going up the stairs.
“Do you think they’re okay?” Sammy asked.
“Dino-nerd and Jungle-boy?” I chuckled. “I couldn’t think of a better duo.”
…
Kenji guided the yacht back to the pier, docking it smoothly this time. The place was deserted, no Scorpios, no Ben and no Darius. I got off the boat first, glancing up to the sky while I did it. More dark clouds had filled the sky, the few patches where we could see the light blue were slowly disappearing.
Everybody joined me, even Kenji. I took the lead, using that so I could stay in front of the group and not have to look at a certain someone. I could feel eyes on the back of my neck, but I fought the urge to meet them.
We slowly made our way up the ramp that connected the pier with the rest of the dock. Waiting for any indication that we weren’t alone, for a pair of creepy red eyes, deadly quills or ragged teeth. Instead, we were met with a huge spiked tail coming our way.
We yelped, backing up quickly. A huge herbivore bellowed, waving its spiky tail calmly in the air.
“Stego- fucking -saurus.” I groaned with my hand on my chest.
“No Scorpios.” Brooklynn whispered as the dinosaur walked away.
“Yet.” Yasmina said.
Sammy walked up the rest of the ramp, halting in place. “Oh my gosh! Guys!”
We ran the last steps up the ramp and saw what had frightened her. There was a wrecked limo propped up on a tree.
“Oh, no.” Brooklynn whispered. “Darius and Ben.”
Its front bumper was smashed on the ground while the limo’s back was up in the air against the tree. All of the windows were shattered and I could smell gas. It took us a millisecond to find out that it was empty; there was no sign of Ben or Darius. I sighed, no blood, no one was injured. ‘They were okay.’
“They got away!” Sammy kneeled next to some mud, where there were footprints going away from the wreck. “Look!” She beamed. We all smiled as we followed Sammy after the muddy footprints. “More footprints, over here.” She changed directions.
We didn’t run for long before Sammy halted again. There was a path of dirt totally destroyed with fallen trees and bushes stomped over, much similar to those we had encountered on our way to the boat.
“Something big came through here. Like, lots of something bigs.” Yasmina said, uneasy.
“So? We’re looking for Ben and Darius, remember?” Kenji pointed out. “That’s just dinosaurs doing dinosaur stuff.”
“No, look.” Sammy kneeled by a broken branch with wide leaves. “They destroyed the trees they like to eat. Something spooked them real bad.”
“We should hurry and find Ben and Darius before the something gets to them.” I said.
“Great idea, let’s search for more footprints.” Brooklynn smirked, standing close to Sammy and Yasmina. “We’ll look this way…” She pointed to the right. “…while you two look there.” She pointed at Kenji and me, motioning to the left.
My mouth just hung open. ‘Did she just- not smooth at all.’
Yasmina mimicked Brooklynn's smirk while Sammy smiled and gave us the thumbs up. They left us alone and I cursed under my breath, glancing at Kenji, who was too busy kicking some rock to face me.
“We should get going, then.” I said already walking to where Brooklynn had pointed us towards and he followed me without saying a word.
There was mud everywhere so one would think that it would be easy to spot footprints, but no… there was nothing.
“No sign of them.” I sighed, finally giving up on the footprints. “Maybe the girls had better luck.”
“Yeah.” Kenji mumbled without even looking at me.
I sighed. “So-”
“How is the arm?” He blurted out.
“Better.” I tugged on the bandage on my forearm, barely even feeling the cut. “Brooklynn did a great job with it, as always.”
“Good… good.”
I hummed in response, running my fingers through my hair, trying to calm down the anxiety that started to pool in my stomach.
He kicked another rock. “So…”
“So…” I repeated, trying to encourage him to say something, but to no avail. So, I did. “I wanted to say something.” I announced, stopping in front of him and blocking his path. “When I said for you to leave, it- it wasn’t a sacrificial play, okay? I just didn’t want the Scorpios getting inside the boat, I’d never leave you… you guys.”
“Oh.” His mouth made an ‘o’ and he finally looked up at me.
“Sorry I made you mad.” I finished, pushing my hands inside my pocket as I didn’t really know what to do with them. “I didn’t mean to sound like Darius, I should’ve explained it better.”
He straightened his back. “And I’m sorry I- um that I- for before.”
I snorted. “You can say ‘kiss’, you know? We kissed.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Kenji lowered his head again, his hand scratching the back of his neck.
“You are?” It baffled me how he could be so bold one minute and so dense the other.
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath to ready himself. “‘Cause I made it awkward again, I always do that… first at the beach… now this.” He had started pacing around. “You guys are the first real friends I’ve ever had. And you are one of my best friends and I had to go and ruin it just because I- I-”
“You can say it, Kenj.” I said softly.
He finally stood still in front of me. “I- You’re so amazing and confident and you care and I- I like you.” His breath hitched.
I blinked slowly, my heart doing somersaults in my chest. “I-”
“It’s okay that you don’t feel the same, you don’t have to, okay?” He blurted out in a high pitch, without giving me the chance to speak. “I know I screwed up when I kissed you. Let’s just go back to when that hadn’t happened. Please?” He trembled, out of breath.
“What?” I could only blink slowly and digest all of that. ‘How could he say that?’ I narrowed my gaze, which made him take a step back.
“I’m sorry, Hayden. Can- can we just um… forget about it?” He stuttered, looking like he was one step away from falling to his knees and beg. But that only made my blood boil even more.
“What the hell, Kenji? Don’t kiss me and say you’re sorry, dammit.” I said through clenched teeth. “Cause I’m not, and I’m not sorry about the part where I kissed you back.” My breathing was getting out of control at this point. He looked at me with wide eyes, which reminded me of a puffer fish and a chuckle escaped my mouth, all the anger gone. “But maybe next time don’t do it in front of everybody.”
He slowly came to and a shaky smile grew on his face. “Next time?”
I wanted to smack him in the head, but didn’t. Instead, I just smiled. “Yeah, idiot, I like you, too.”
“You do?” He blinked rapidly.
“Yeah.” I breathed out, and I swear my heart was about to jump out of my chest.
“You do ?” His eyes were wide again.
“Yes. ” I said more firmly this time, but he just stared at me blankly. I took a step closer and poked his cheek. “Earth to Kenji.”
“Oh.” He beamed, his face turning red as a tomato.
“Idiot.” I chuckled. My hand hovered on his cheek, and I wondered how it would feel to touch his face, like actually touch it, it looked so soft and red. So, I gave in, brushing his cheek lightly. Kenji's breath hitched and I saw him tense up, but he never lost his smile. I cupped his face with one hand and my heart skipped a beat when he leaned in to my touch.
Kenji’s eyes traveled down to my lips and I had to smile at that. My heart beating so fast, my body aching at how much I wanted to kiss him right now.
“Kenji…” My eyes darted down at his lips as I saw they part slightly, almost as if inviting me closer. We practically gravitated towards one another, his face inches from my own. “…is it okay if I kiss you?”
“Huh?” His eyes didn’t leave my lips, he didn’t blink, didn’t move, I wasn’t even sure if he had heard me.
“May I kiss you?” I was out of breath. But both of our eyes half closed, I could feel his breath on my skin, as labored as mine.
“Yeah.”
It was all that I needed. I leaned in, while pulling him to me. As soon as our lips touched, I melted inside.
All I could feel were his soft lips against my own, moving hesitantly as we discovered each other. Our noses bumped together, and I couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. It was so much different than our first one, much more tamed, but at the same time, not. His lips were like a scorching fire, but yet feather-soft, gently moving against my own.
We pulled apart for a moment, our foreheads touching as we tried to keep our breathing in check. He smiled so, I smiled back, incapable of looking him in the eyes as I could only focus on his glistening lips. I could taste the salt of our sweat that got mixed up with our kiss. I could smell the fresh salty ocean. That’s Kenji. And I wanted more of that. Unable to control myself, I chased his mouth again, more fiercely this time.
Kenji tensed up in front of me. ‘Was this too much?’ I didn’t want to scare him, so I toned it down with the kiss. His hands traveled down to the small of my back, pulling me closer. I had to fight against a whimper at our bodies pressed together, so I focused on keeping my hands busy, gripping his hair and scraping the back of his neck. It was like our bodies melted together, but it didn’t matter that our lips were already locked, I wanted him closer, so I kissed him harder. He returned the kiss with the same intensity, and I realized how bad I needed that. He made me dizzy; it was like the whole world was spinning and he was the only one holding me still.
I felt my lungs screaming for air, but I didn’t want it to end, so I cupped his face, biting and tugging on his lower lip. A small smile formed on my lips as I heard Kenji gasp, shifting in front of me. And for a moment, we lost our balance. We separated as we stumbled, ending up using a close by log for support.
We stood side by side, breathing heavily as we locked eyes again. The corner of his eyes wrinkled as a bright smile appeared on his flushed face; I couldn’t help but do the same, and we both burst out laughing as it dawned on us what just happened. We were just as breathless as when we were kissing, laughing while leaning on the log for stability.
“Why didn’t we do that months ago?” I shook my head, but my eyes still didn’t leave his.
“That was…”
“Yeah.” I got in front of him while he still had his back against the log.
Kenji watched my hand as I raised it to meet his face again. I ran my finger through the edge of his jaw, curious about how the new beard would feel like. I didn’t pay much attention to it moments ago. It was soft but a little spiky, tickling my fingertips and making me giggle. Kenji’s smile disappeared and he tensed up.
“Sorry.” I whispered, my face burning hot. Thinking I was being weird, I tried to remove my hand but he placed his own over mine, keeping it in place. His chocolatey eyes locked on mine and I was pretty sure he could hear how fast my heart was beating from how close we were.
“Can I-” He mumbled, his breathing shallow as he raised his other hand in the air, inches away from my face. My breath got caught at my throat as Kenji caught a lock of my hair and gently put it behind my ear.
‘Shit.’ His touch was pure fire against my skin, his fingers hesitantly circled my ear, leaving a burning trail all the way down to my neck, collarbone and rested on my shoulder, like amber through my shirt.
I took a step closer, pressing him against the log. His hand gripped my shoulder, pulling me closer until I was lost in his lips again. It was like a race that turned the world on fire, his hands burned my skin everywhere he touched me. I let my nails drag against his scalp and again, tugged on his lower lip. Kenji groaned, pulling me impossibly closer by the small of my back. He parted his lips and our tongues met in a whole new sensation. With his hand on my neck, Kenji turned my head so the kiss would deepen. My hands wandered from his jaw, to his shoulders and ended up on his firm chest, heart beating like crazy. Because of me. I did that. I didn’t care if it was selfish, but I wanted more, more of his taste, his touch. More of Kenji. Nothing in the world mattered right now, not footprints, not our friends, not the Scorpios. Everything got pushed aside by his lips.
Kenji was forced to pull away, seeking oxygen. I was about to capture his lips in mine again, when I looked at him, and it made electricity run through my whole body. Kenji was in a daze, trying to catch his breath with lips plum and red. This sight of him like that, pinned against a log by me was heavenly. I could watch him all day, well except for when I would close my eyes to kiss him again.
But then, the daze gave way to panic when a loud growl brought us back to reality and our faces fell immediately.
“If that’s the Scorpios rex…” Kenji’s eyes went wide, his body tensing up.
“It’s not.” I assured him and he relaxed instantly. By now, the distinct sound made by the Scorpios was carved into my brain, and that wasn’t it. The growl pierced the silence for a second time, and it was more like a desperate cry than anything else. “But we should check in with the girls either way.” I straightened my posture, pulling back from him and the log.
“Right.” Kenji just stared at me with a goofy smile, without even trying to get up. I chuckled, warmth spreading in my chest as I tried not to stare at his lips.
“Come on.” I grabbed him by the hand, pulling him up. I let his body collide with mine and I saw a spark in his eyes. “We gotta go.” I whispered, closing the distance between our lips, but only for a second before I pulled away, dragging him with me. He whined, but followed. Well, he didn’t have an option if he wanted to keep our hands intertwined.
“So… should we tell them about us?” He asked, full of uncertainty in his voice.
“I think they already know.” I chuckled.
“Right, yeah, yeah, for sure.” He mumbled, scratching his head with his free hand.
“Oh, and by the way, you should get mad more often.” I shoved him lightly with my shoulder. “I don’t mind.”
“Oh, that?” He laughed to disguise his awkwardness, but the blush on his face betrayed him.
I just laughed at him as we made our way back. We didn’t saw the girls anywhere, so we followed the giggles. On the other side of a huge log, Brooklynn, Sammy and Yasmina were swooning over a baby Brachiosaurus.
“Oh, you’re so cute.” Brooklynn hugged the little dinosaur. It wasn’t that little though, it was larger than a big dog, but had those typical huge puppy eyes that were the most adorable thing ever. Yeah, it was cute, but it didn’t seem to be enjoying all the affection as it wouldn’t stop crying.
“Who’s an adorable Brachio-cutie?” Sammy said in a baby voice. “You are.”
“Aw.” Yasmina petted it.
Kenji groaned. “Guys, footprints, remember?” Just then, the girls noticed us there, and for sure noticed us holding hands. Hopefully, they didn’t notice our swollen lips. Brooklynn gave a really suggestive raise of an eyebrow, which I blatantly ignored.
“She’s looking for her herd.” Sammy said, looking back at the Brachio.
“So, what?” Kenji huffed. “Don’t we have a more important matter in hand?”
Brooklyn smirked. “I bet you two weren’t thinking about those important matters a second ago.”
I didn’t even have to look at Kenji to know he was all red. I chuckled. “Fair, but we are now.”
Kenji squeezed my hand harder. “Yeah, so why should we care about what happens to the dinosaurs?” He motioned to the Brachio.
“Because… Because life, it’s worth protecting.” Brooklynn replied, finally letting go of the baby and walking over to Kenji. “The Scorpios was never meant to be out in the wild. Dr. Wu knew that when he froze it.”
“Okay, yeah, obvi the Scorpios thing is bad, but it’s not our responsibility.” Kenji backed away from Brooklynn, letting go of my hand. “The people who made that freak should’ve thought of the consequences before they gene-spliced rando lizards together!” He waved his arms emphatically.
“Yeah, but there’s no one else here, we’re the only ones.” Brooklynn argued.
“Sorry B.” I patted her on the shoulder. “The baby is cute and all, but thinking like that would make us responsible for every single dinosaur…dinosaurs that were never meant to be in the wild either, hence extinct.” I explained. “And we already have our own stuff to deal with.”
Kenji stood by my side, arms resting on his waist. “We need to focus on finding Darius and Ben. And then finally, we escape this nightmare island!” He raised his voice, making the baby Brachio croak out loud, stomping her feet.
“Shh.” Sammy tried to calm the baby down. “Come on guys. Woooooo…” She started to make Brachiosaurus’ noises, calling for the herd. Without hesitation, Brooklynn and Yasmina mimicked Sammy.
Kenji groaned, lowering his head and glancing at me. “I can’t believe I’m- Wooooo…”
‘That’s it, everybody has gone crazy.’ I sighed, cringing as I imitated the sound. “Wooo.”
A loud bellow echoed through the jungle, and heavy stomps came our way. The trees parted as a full-grown Brachiosaurus walked towards us; the baby stopped crying on the spot, and hurried to the adult’s side, who lowered its head to nuzzle the baby.
“Whoa.” Sammy giggled.
“I can’t believe we did that.” Brooklynn said in awe.
We watched the parent and child walking away side by side, bellowing happily. I couldn’t deny that it felt good to help the baby Brachio, but I wasn’t sure it was worth it the time it kept us from Ben and Darius. They could be in trouble.
Yasmina suddenly ran to a nearby bush, and started to dig inside, as if she saw something. She pulled out a scruffy and dirty hat.
“Whoa! My captain’s hat!” Kenji exclaimed.
“Darius and Ben must have brought it here.” She tossed it to Kenji. “Which means we’re still heading the right way.” She glanced at the distance. “More footprints!” She exclaimed, running off.
We met her by a fresh set of footprints from two people, and a much bigger and animalistic one in the middle.
“They must be tracking the Scorpios.” She concluded.
“Or the Scorpios is tracking them.” Sammy whispered, shivered. “Look at the pattern.” And she was right, it was like the dinosaur footprint was over Darius and Ben’s, like it was after them.
“Hurry.” Yasmina took the lead.
…
Okay, so we were looking for Darius and Ben, who were being chased by the Scorpios, which meant we were ultimately running towards danger. Unarmed. With no plan. No regards for our safety or any logical thinking whatsoever. Yep, that’s us.
While we ran down the road, the footprints were getting rarer, but we had to be going the right direction. Then, the road got engulfed by the jungle and we were lost again, but we kept pushing straight. Some weird rocks and exposed tree roots began to appear on our path, and I was sure we’d been here before.
We walked past some bushes and I thought aloud. “Hey, isn’t this around-” Someone suddenly screamed in our face, making us flinch and scream back.
Our screams turned into laughter when we realized Ben and Darius were standing right in front of us. We rushed the last few steps and we were being smushed together in a group hug. We finally could breathe again knowing that they were okay.
“Thank goodness we found you!” Sammy half laughed, half cried.
“What are you guys doing here?” Darius asked, after we broke the hug. “We thought you left.”
“What? No! Camp fam for life, right?” Kenji said, fist bumping Darius. “We’d never leave someone behind.” He then wrapped one arm around me, and I just chuckled.
“We just had to deal with the damn Scorpios on the dock.” I said, finally taking the time to examine where we were. ‘I knew it seemed familiar.’ We were by the fallen Jeep, where we had helped Blue, and it seemed that Darius had recovered the tranq gun.
“Yeah. We saw them up close and personal.” Darius explained.
“Wait.” My head perked up.
“Them?” Sammy asked.
“There’s two of them.” Ben nodded and my mouth hung open. ‘How on earth…’
“Oh.” Sammy sighed, slumping her shoulders.
“Who would put two Scorpios in one island?” Yasmina groaned.
“How is that even possible?” Kenji complained.
“But there was only one cryo tube thingy.” Brooklynn pointed out.
“Uh, some animals reproduce asexually, and I think…” Darius started to pace around, thinking to himself before he glanced back at us. “Right. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that unless we take them out, they’re gonna destroy everything and everyone.”
Wow, a real Sophie’s choice. Go against not one, but two Scorpios and maybe die trying to save the island that had been trying to kill us this whole time. Or go to our perfectly safe boat and go home. But I sensed that I was in the minority here, the girls were obviously with Darius; Ben too, since his love for dinosaurs was just surpassed by Darius’; but I expected at least Kenji to see reason and vote for going home.
“I don’t wanna be on this island a second longer than I have to be.” Kenji announced and I nodded along. But then his expression softened as he glanced at everyone in our circle. “But, uh, it’s like I always say, life is worth protecting.”
‘He had too big of a heart for his own good. I sighed internally, but wasn’t surprised.
After Kenji made up his mind, it was like all eyes were on me. I glanced at Ben, who had the same determined expression as Darius, and then I remembered why he had run away in the first place. He was saying goodbye to Bumpy, who was going to stay on the island; an island soon to be infested with self-reproducing murder machines.
A sudden image flashed through my mind: the little Ankylo, surrounded by the corpses of her own herd. An army of Scorpios stepping over the dead, trying to get to Bumpy. And they would, if nothing changed. It was like an iron fist closing around my heart as I imagined sweet Bumps going through that.
‘Fine, for Bumps.’ I took a deep breath and looked at Darius. “Let’s hear the plan.”
“Okay, then.” Darius nodded, grabbing the tranq gun. “Let’s go find some Scorpios rexes.” His eyes sparkled with confidence.
But just then, a big droplet of water landed on the gun. Weird, it wasn’t raining. Another droplet fell, too thick to be water. And it was like everyone had stopped breathing and the jungle grew quiet. Or it already was? We looked up in unison, only to stare back at those cold red eyes.
A Scorpios was perched up a tree right above Darius, and it was drooling with its mouth open, showing its crocodile teeth. I had major déjà vu to my first encounter with this thing, but unlike that time there were no lightning to save us, and unlike that time I wasn’t going to freeze, I couldn’t.
Darius screamed and the Scorpios clawed at him; and when it only hit air, it crawled down the tree, swinging its tail right in the middle of our group, making all of us jump back to avoid it. The Scorpios jumped on top of the upside-down vehicle roaring as we ran towards the old Visitors’ Center. We didn’t bother to be quiet, it already knew where we were, so the quick run was filled with panicked screams. We pushed the door open, almost falling to our faces, but we quickly doubled down and closed it behind us.
We were panting while holding the door in place, even though no dinosaur was trying to get in. We all glanced at Darius who stood still with the gun in his hands.
He croaked his head. “I honestly forgot I was holding it.”
“It’s okay. We’ll get another chance.” Brooklynn said.
A sudden shriek made us all jump as Compies ran between our legs, running from something. At the hole on the wall on the other side of the room, another Scorpios emerged from the shadows, snarling as its eyes locked on us.
“It’s the other one.” Darius whispered.
Our backs pressed against the door, which separated us from the first Scorpios. My hands were shaking as I gripped at someone’s arms; we were trapped. The second Scorpios stood tall over the T. rex skull on the floor and roared at us. Darius whimpered, raising the gun shakingly. And the only thing we could hear was the hissing of the dart flying through the air. It flew past the Scorpios and hit a Raptor’s painting on a wall. The Scorpios stared at the dart, snorting as if it found it funny, but quickly enough, its attention turned back to us.
It lunged and we had to roll out of the way, scattering across the lobby. The dinosaur went after Darius who reloaded the gun, but just as he aimed, the Scorpios snatched the gun from his hands with its teeth, throwing it across the room. It lunged again, but instead of getting to us, it went head first against the wall. The dinosaur stumbled, dazed, giving us the chance to escape.
We ran to where the Scorpios had entered the lobby, which led us to a dim lit hallway. We opened the first door we saw, a metal door with a little circular glass window like those you see in ships. We were inside an old kitchen with several rows of metal counters, full of pans and pots, stoves and shelves. Everybody went to hide behind a kitchen counter, but Ben pulled Brooklynn and me inside a storage area. It was an empty freezer with a thick metal door, which only locked from the outside. It was a terrible hiding spot, no way out, but at least it wouldn’t be easy to get past that door.
“Dude. We’re trapped in here.” I hastily whispered to Ben.
“Trust me.” Ben said, closing the door and leaving only a slit.
We couldn’t see, but we heard the Scorpios’ loud breathing getting closer, like it was on the other side of the kitchen door. I wasn’t one to get claustrophobic, but being inside a dark freezer, with no way out, and with a monster around the corner wasn’t doing my heart any favors. Then, we heard a faint squeaking sound, like a door handle being toyed with.
‘The Scorpios couldn’t possibly open doors, right?’ I held my breath, but no door opened. It gave up on the door and we heard footsteps echoing in the hallway. ‘It was leaving.’ I let out a deep breath.
But I couldn’t be more wrong as the next thing we heard was the door flinging open and a loud, hoarse roar. I flinched away from the freezer door, while everybody in the kitchen screamed. A second noise, like an explosion, was followed by the clattering of the metal pans hitting the floor. The Scorpios was inside.
Brooklynn flung the freezer door open and we saw that the door had come off its hinges, carrying pieces of the concrete wall with it. The Scorpios was in the middle of the kitchen, with its tail up in the air as the Scorpios tried to reach over a countertop.
Kenji stood up by a stove, turning on every stove knob so the flames illuminated the kitchen in an orange light. The Scorpios’ eyes snapped at the fire, in a trance so we took our chance to escape, running out the new hole in the wall.
Back at the lobby, we went straight for the main doors.
“Outside!” Kenji screamed, already opening them.
“What about the other Scorpios?” Brooklynn argued.
“I’ll take my chances!” He said, running out the door.
But a shadowy figure screeched and jumped toward us, making us turn back inside. This time it wasn't Scorpios, but Blue. We slammed the door on her face, screaming as she pushed against it. I threw my whole body against the door but it was useless, the Raptor slammed against the door so hard that it sent us tumbling backwards. Blue growled as she stood on the open doorway, while we crawled away from her. Kenji was the one closer to her, and he desperately scooted backwards, basically climbing on top of my and Ben’s legs.
“Up there! Come on.” Yasmina pointed at the scaffolding.
A known hoarse growl came from behind us, and Yasmina backed away, almost having her arm ripped off by the Scorpios. And we were trapped again; Scorpios on one side and the Raptor on another. I freed my legs and got up, pulling Kenji with me and the seven of us formed a circle, back-to-back.
“We’re trapped.” Brooklynn stated.
Blue snarled as the Scorpios roared, spitting saliva everywhere, but they were interrupted by a third hoarse roar. All the heads in the room shot up, only to find the first Scorpios looking at us through the second-floor windows.
The pair of hybrids started a roaring competition, while Blue cocked her head at them, as confused as us. The first Scorpios leaped up to the second floor as a mountain lion would while chasing after its prey.
We couldn’t do much as we watched as the pair started to brawl through the metal railing of the window. And when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, pieces of the ceiling started to fall down. One debris crashed right in the middle of our group, making us all scatter again. A large piece of wood fell on top of Ben and Kenji, throwing them to the ground. They were groaning under the wood when I made it to them, lifting the thing off.
“You okay?”
“Thanks.” Ben mumbled, already on his feet.
Kenji just gave the thumbs up while rubbing a red spot forming on his forehead. I laid my hand out, pulling him up when I noticed Blue creeping up on us, ready to lunge. I had totally forgotten about her.
The Raptor’s eyes glanced to something behind us and she changed her target to Darius. He was reaching out for the tranq gun on the floor, when Blue made herself known to him, not attacking, just hovering over the weapon. Darius and Blue continued their stare down when a shriek came from the second floor and the second Scorpios plummeted to the ground. The Scorpios on the outside, started climbing up the roof, sending more debris our way. I heard Brooklynn scream and the second hybrid was on the floor again, roaring, I couldn’t even look as I was too busy jumping back and forth, trying not to be hit on the head. We finally had a break from the rain of debris and I could assimilate what was going on around me. The girls were crouched down, backing away from the Scorpios, while Darius was almost bowing to the Raptor. Letting Darius deal with Blue, I grabbed a few rocks and sent one straight to the deformed pug’s face.
“Hey, remember me?” I yelled, another rock already flying. “You ugly piece of-” The Scorpios roared so loudly it made me drop all the other rock in my hands. Hands gripped the back of my shirt and pulled me back, just in time for Blue to rush past me, charging at the Scorpios.
Blue had her claws outstretched when she jumped on the back of the Scorpios, intelligent enough to dodge the spiky quills. She dug her claws deep in the skin, making the Scorpios screech and contort itself until the Raptor jumped off. The hybrid swung its hands in the air, throwing the Raptor in the ground, but she was back on her feet in a heartbeat. Since the focus of the dinosaur wasn’t on us anymore, we managed to form a circle again, grasping at one another. However, we had to duck when Blue went flying across the room, hitting the wall with a thud. That caused more debris to start falling and we had to watch our step.
“Watch out!” Brooklynn yelled, pushing Sammy and Yasmina out of the way of a big piece of ceiling.
Kenji yanked my arm, and a metal pipe landed where I was seconds ago. “Thanks” I mumbled, before we had to sidestep more debris.
I watched as Blue limped towards the Scorpios, striking again, relentlessly. The Scorpios on the roof was trying to squeeze through the windows, while the dinosaurs on the ground fought, slamming each other against the walls. With each attack, the lone Raptor got slower, slacking as she fought for her life, which I didn’t get why she was doing that in the first place. She was allegedly the smartest Raptor, why would she start a fight she couldn’t win? Was it because of us? Was she protecting humans? Us? No, that didn’t make sense, she was a carnivore… a predator… and the only other dinosaur that had cared for us was Bumpy, and that was all on Ben. Had Blue softened up to Darius? That’s what was going on? A big section of the roof came down in front of us, and my gaze left the Raptor.
“We gotta go.” Sammy called, already near the door. “If the roof collapses on us, we’re toast.”
“But they would be too.” Darius pointed out, glancing at the hybrids. He sprinted towards the scaffolding and started to push on the poles. “Help me!” With a quick nod amongst us, we joined him at the scaffolding, pushing hard. “Come on! We gotta take this whole place down!” He grunted.
The Scorpios on the roof managed to pass through the window and land near us, ready to enter the fight. And the room was filled with the guttural sounds of the hisses and growls, the sight of teeth penetrating skin, claws slashing the flesh and blood splattering everywhere. I ignored the sudden urge to check on Blue, and just focused on pushing. With groans and grunts the scaffolding finally inched forward, and with one last push the whole thing came down clanking. It hit a nearby wall, opening a hole that destabilized the building, bringing part of the ceiling down.
“Run for it, now!” Darius screamed.
There was debris falling everywhere, and a cloud of dirt rose up in the air, leaving us blind. I dashed for where I thought the door was, hoping nothing would hit us. I saw a mess of pink hair falling down in front of me and I scooped her up with one arm, on the run again. I heard the hoarse roar from the hybrids and a snarl coming from Blue, but it was useless to go back for her. Just as we passed the doorway, a dark and blue shadow rushed past us, the Raptor was running to the jungle. There were several loud consecutive cracking and crashing, and the deafening sound of the whole building coming down. It was like there was an earthquake and we all threw ourselves to the ground even though we were outside and only the sky was above us.
The dust cloud engulfed us. An earthy and dry taste invaded my mouth as the cloud covered us. I struggled to breath, so a fit of cough broke out, trying to expel the dirt from my lungs. I felt Brooklynn doing the same, I had landed half over her, hugging her with one arm while the other covered my own head. I was sure I’d seen Sammy and Yasmina up ahead; Ben and Kenji were there too, but I didn’t remember seeing Darius. He had to have made it, right?
When the cloud thinned out, the first thing I did was raise my head and look back. The sight of a wide-eyed Darius on the ground was enough to calm my anxious heart. There was a low snarl from the trees, and stomps slowly disappearing in the distance. I felt a smile creeping up on my mouth, as I owed a ‘thank you’ to Blue. We all did.
Brooklynn squirmed under me, so I let go of her. “You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She coughed, sitting up.
“Hays?” Kenji’s voice pitched up.
“I’m fine.” I replied, getting up and patting my clothes to get the dust off.
“Guys, is everyone okay?” Darius asked from the back.
“We’re good.” Sammy groaned, pulling Yasmina up.
We looked back on what once was the Visitors’ Center. Twisted metal, cracked concrete beams, splintered wood, all a collapsed mess in front of us. In the shadows of the debris, we could see an unmoving claw, a tail or spatter of blood. We didn’t have to look through the wreck, we knew they were dead. I couldn’t help but smile at all the destruction, knowing that we helped.
A chuckle escaped my mouth. “I’m pretty sure destruction of a historic building is illegal.”
“It was built in the early 90s, I don’t know if that equates to historic.” Darius said.
“Just private property then.” I smiled.
“I’ll gladly destroy more of Jurassic World’s private property.” Yasmina grinned.
“I’ll drink to that!” I raised my imaginary cup.
“And I’ll drink to ridding this island of the Scorpioses!” Darius raised his and a smile spread throughout our group.
“To not getting eaten!” Kenji joined. In my hand, my imaginary cup turned into a carob juice box and my smile grew even wider.
“And to going back home!” Sammy cheered.
“To going back home!” We all echoed. Sammy and Kenji did a goofy dance; Brooklynn was distributing high fives; Yasmina had a huge smile, which I didn’t even think possible; Darius had his arms raised in the air, jumping; and I joined Brooklynn on the high five train. Ben was the only one that didn’t seem contaminated by our happiness, shoulders slouched forward, too distracted with a little rock on the ground. I stopped with the celebration and headed over to him.
“Don’t worry, Bumpy will be okay.” I placed a hand on his shoulder.
He raised his head with a frown. “About that, I-”
“We’re going home!” Kenji hugged me from behind, raising me in the air, making me giggle. He finally lowered me to the ground and yelled. “Last one on the boat is a stinky Compy!” I turned my head and he gave me a peck on the lips, already sprinting down the dirt road, leaving me with a big smile on my face.
“Wait, are you guys like… together?” Ben’s eyes were wide, going back and forth between us.
“Finally, right?” Brooklynn grinned. “Call me Cupid. That’s my middle name.” She bragged.
“Wait.” I cocked my head. “What is your middle name?”
“Come on, guys!” Sammy called. “You don’t want to be a stinky Compy!”
And to avoid being labeled a stinky Compy, we turned our backs on the chaos of the collapsed building, never to look back. Needless to say, we quickly gave up on running all the way back and we were walking down the dirt road, the sun was painting the cloudy sky orange. The crickets were chirping, there were birds in the sky, joined by the occasional Pteranodon. And I found myself taking in the jungle around me, how the sun shone through the trees, how there was the sound of a river flowing far away, the wind rustling the leaves. We passed a herd of glowing Parasaurolophus, munching on some berries; their bioluminescent markings coming straight out of a fairy tale. A family of Sinoceratops greeted us with a whole bush on their mouth, which made us all stop for a second to admire them.
…
By the time we had reached the docks, the sky had turned dark and new dark clouds were rolling in. There was always something on this island, never a moment of peace. If in one moment we were full of excitement from defeating the pair of Scorpios and full of hope of going home, in the next moment, someone comes in with some bad news that changed everything. That we weren’t all going to be together.
Turned out Ben had decided on not coming with us. The walk back to the pier had been a loud silence since the news. Everything reminded us of what we faced together, and what Ben was going to go through alone.
I tripped on some rope on the pier, making me stumble to regain my balance. “Stupid rope.” I grunted, kicking it to be swallowed by the sea.
‘How could he say that?’ I get it that he was sad about leaving Bumpy, but this? After everything, a little forewarning would’ve been nice, not just throw it at us on our last walk out the island.
Darius was the only one that didn’t seem surprised, and by the small conversation we had, he didn’t really think Ben wasn’t going to go through with it. But we were here, at the dock, and everything seemed so real.
“Well, this is it.” Ben said as he stood in front of us.
I clenched my jaw. ‘It didn’t have to be.’
Sammy sniffed. “I know I’ve asked you this a hundred times on the walk back, but are you sure you wanna stay behind, Ben?” Her voice quivering.
“Yeah, man.” Kenji, who had his head hung low, raised to face Ben. “After everything we just went through, it’s absolutely bonkers that you don’t wanna leave.”
“Well, okay, I know, I know it seems that way, but the Scorpioses are gone now.” He explained. “I’ll be okay.” He’s voice turned soft. “You guys are my family, but this island is home. I know how to survive here.”
“But every time I think of you out here all alone-” Sammy’s voice cracked.
“Yeah, and I’ll miss you.” Yasmina finished for Sammy.
“We’ll all miss you.” Brooklynn added.
Sammy was the first one to rush in for a hug, then Brooklynn, then everybody joined for a group hug. Swallowing down the frustration, I hugged him tighter. This was really happening and we’d never see him again.
Lightning illuminated the night, dispersing the hug.
“Another storm is on the way. Best sail out before it rolls in.” Ben said, looking down.
“Come on, guys.” Darius said. “Ben’s made up his mind. We gotta respect it.”
My chest grew heavy as Ben took a step back. “We’ve come a long way, Jungle Boy.” I gave him one last hug. “I’ll miss you.” I whispered in his ear.
“I’ll miss you too.” He hugged me tightly.
I broke the hug. “Say good-bye to Bumpy to me, I didn’t get the chance.”
He nodded; his lips pressed tight on a white line. I turned my back on him, following everybody to the boat. The six of us boarded, Kenji went to the cockpit, while the rest of us went to the main deck to wave goodbye. Ben stood lonely at the pier as the boat backed away. Sammy was crying, while waving at him. Everybody joined the wave, but I couldn’t, my hands were clasped onto the boat’s railing.
“We love you!” Sammy yelled over the thunder.
“Stay safe, Ben!” Darius shouted as Ben turned his back, walking out of the docks.
And just like that, it started to pour and darkness rolled in. The pier almost disappeared with the rain, and Ben’s silhouette wasn’t there anymore.
“Are we really doing this?” Sammy asked, quivering. “Are we really leaving him here?”
Kenji had turned the boat around, so now we gathered on the back deck, staring at the pier, growing small by the second. Waiting for a sign, or anything that would indicate Ben had changed his mind.
“Come on.” Darius whispered.
“Guys! Wait!” A faint voice called from the darkness. “No, no, no, no. Wait!” Ben’s silhouette was running down the pier.
“Kenji, stop the boat!” I yelled, with a smile on my face. He did what I said and joined us on the deck.
Now, Ben was totally visible in the night. He dove right in the ocean, swimming at full speed to us. Darius laid out his hand near the water and Ben grabbed at it, with certain desperation. Finally, we were seven again.
Ben was a bit out of breath when he stepped on the deck. “I guess I kind of realized that since I found myself on the island, I can take that new-found self somewhere else now.” He concluded. Kenji, Darius and Brooklynn had smirks plastered on their faces. I guess they never doubted for a second. Ben glanced at them with a frown. “You don’t look surprised to see me.”
Brooklynn chuckled. “We knew you’d change your mind.” She hugged him.
“Yeah, man.” Kenji laughed, ruffling Ben's hair. “Didn’t think you’d actually go diving in the ocean, though.”
Ben was dumbfounded. “I-”
“You needed to come to it on your own without someone telling you how to feel. I know.” Darius concluded for him. “Took you long enough!” He patted Ben on the back, giving him a side hug.
“Seriously? No one could have clued me in?” Sammy complained, as everybody laughed. “Oh, well.” She went in for a hug.
“Ah, okay.” Ben squirmed out of the hug.
“Okay, once and for all, let’s get out of this damn place.” Kenji said, climbing the ladder back to the cockpit. I gave Ben a quick hug and a smile before following Kenji, while everybody sat on the benches on the stern of the boat.
Kenji flipped some switches and the engine came to life, his hands on a lever.
“Take us home, Captain Kenj.” I smiled, shoving him lightly.
He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a beam of light shining inside the cockpit, blinding us. We rushed outside, to the side deck, with our hands covering our eyes because of the rain and bright light.
There were two helicopters flying towards the island, while one was hovering over our boat, its light shining on us. The noise from their engine was almost perfectly disguised by the storm. The choppers were all black and I couldn’t see any call sign, but what I could see were big and chunky machine guns mounted on the front.
The helicopter focused on us circled our yacht, and a female voice echoed. “Attention, return to the dock and cut the engine immediately.”
Notes:
When you write a nice little callback to a certain freezer raptor, only to discover that the little bitch escaped on Jurassic Park Survival... That’s canon now, right? For me, it is.
Chapter 37: Whatever it Takes
Summary:
There’s yet again a new threat that threatens threatened species of dinosaurs and also human kind? Kinda…
Notes:
Warnings: blood and violence.
Chapter Text
“Attention, return to the dock and cut the engine immediately.” The female voice said from the helicopter.
I squinted against the light on my face. “What the-”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Kenji threw his arms in the air. “We’re saved!”
“Are we?” Darius asked from below, but Kenji didn’t waste any time, running back to the cockpit. “Wait, Kenji!” Darius exclaimed.
I followed Kenji back inside. He had his hands over the lever, accelerating, so I put my hand over his, pulling the thing back to the ‘stop’ position.
“Hey.” He protested.
But I didn’t remove my hand. “Don’t you remember about the last time we thought we were saved?” I argued. “How are we going to be sure they aren’t like Mitch and Tiff?”
“Yeah.” Darius said, barging in the cockpit with everyone else at his toes. “I’m not exactly getting good guy vibes, Kenji.”
“Unmarked choppers, big, scary guns…” Yasmina trailed off.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Kenji turned to her, crossing his arms. “What would you bring to rescue kids from an island full of killer dinosaurs? Cake?” He exasperated.
“He’s got a point.” Ben said. A lightning cracked in the storm, illuminating the waves that were rocking our boat.
“The sea is pretty rough.” Sammy pointed out.
“All right then.” Darius took a deep breath. “We take our chances with the people in the helicopter?” He glanced around our circle, where he was met with nods.
“Agreed, but let’s not lower our guard.” I said, stepping away from the controls.
Darius’ confident face faltered for a second, but he swiftly recovered. “Let’s do this.”
Kenji took control of the boat again, bringing us to the pier. With the yacht properly docked, we watched as the helicopter circled us one more time, and then landed up the docks. We rushed to it, our hands covering our faces as fat raindrops assaulted us.
A guy, in whole military attire, was waiting for us by the helicopter. “What are you kids doing out here?” He yelled over the noise. He held a rifle with one hand, and with the other he helped Ben board the chopper.
“Long story!” Sammy said, as she too, accepted help. “Too long.”
“Way too long!” Kenji chuckled, as he was the next one to join them inside the chopper.
“Wait, if you’re not here to rescue us, then why are you here?” Ben asked, already strapped in the helicopter seat.
I was eager to get an answer, but we were interrupted by the ground shaking rhythmically, as a big predator was making its way to us. We froze as the full might of the T. rex emerged from the trees, and as soon as her eyes landed on the helicopter, she roared fiercely, louder than the rain and chopper combined, sending shivers down my spine. The helicopter engine picked up power, and the pilot raised the machine up in the air. We, joined by the military dude, all ducked away from the rotating blades, helplessly watching as Rexy charged towards the helicopter, closing her teeth on the landing skids. Then, it was a tug of war as the T. rex pulled, flinging the helicopter in the sky.
Our screams were muffled by the chopping noises of the blades, as we watched a violent tug made Sammy lose her balance and lean dangerously close to the open doors. Thankfully, Kenji was quick to hold her by the hand, keeping her from falling straight to the T. rex’s teeth. And with one last veering from the helicopter, the dinosaur let go.
Rexy stared down the chopper as it hovered in the air, out of range.
“Wait! Stop!” Military guy yelled, running at the chopper, totally disregarding the dinosaur he just ran past.
“Don’t!” Darius shouted.
But it was too late, the T. rex had noticed the guy, standing over him. The guy’s jaw dropped as he looked up to the open mouth coming his direction; he was midway through the motion of aiming his rifle at the dinosaur, when the T. rex’s jaws snapped shut, and the distinctly bone cracking sounds were heard over the chaotic storm. The Tyrannosaur rose her head up, with the guy’s legs hanging loose between her teeth, the blood dripping down with the rain and pooling by her huge feet. The T. rex swung her head back, swallowing the rest of the guy. On the docks, all of us took a step back from the scene as the pilot swerved with the helicopter, flying it over the trees and away from us.
‘They were leaving us behind!’
“No!” I yelled into the storm.
“Wait!” Brooklynn cried, flailing her arms in the air. “Come back!”
Kenji, Ben and Sammy were leaning on the door of the helicopter, arms outstretched for us while they disappeared into the night. The T. rex roared at the sky, and we quickly remembered we were in the presence of a bloodthirsty dinosaur.
“Run!” Yasmina yelled.
We sprinted out of the docks, aware of the growl and footsteps following us. We ran past the tall grass and landed on a dirt road. We slipped with every step, almost falling face first on the mud, but Rexy didn’t seem to be having any problem. We entered the jungle again, jumping over a fallen log and placing our lives on the shelter of the trees.
“Hide!” Darius yelled over the growls.
The fours of us took off in different directions. I heard the distinct sound of a tree cracking in half as I ran, my eyes darting all around, looking for a hiding place. I skidded through the wet grass, crouching behind a thick tree. I gripped the shirt over my heart, trying to slow it down and stop panting. The Tyrannosaur roared when she couldn’t find us, quickly shifting to a much more stealth mode. She got close to the ground, sniffing away. Hopefully, the rain was masking our scent. The T. rex walked around with such soft footsteps that I didn’t think possible from a dinosaur that size. I couldn’t even hear her anymore.
She passed through the tree I’d seen Darius hiding behind, and I held my breath as she sniffed the air there. But she moved on, passing through Brooklynn hiding behind some rocks, and going towards Yasmina. I moved from one tree to the other, always keeping my eyes on the huge dinosaur. She was sniffing the air, right above a fallen palm tree lodged over some rocks. My gaze widened as I saw the T. rex lower her head and grab the palm tree with her teeth, like a dog with a stick. I saw Yasmina, now exposed, jump up over the rock and start to run. Rexy let go of her stick and roared, chasing Yasmina.
I was moving before I could process it. Darius and Brooklynn came out from their hiding spot, and we all followed the dinosaur into the jungle. We heard a blood curdling scream, so we picked up the pace. We found Yasmina on the bottom of a dry river bed, face to face with Rexy. We ran down the side of it, more like slid down on the mud, and watched as the Tyrannosaur opened her jaw. My hands closed around a rock on the ground and I watched as it flew across the air, hitting the back of the T. rex’s head.
The dinosaur closed her mouth, forgetting about Yasmina and glancing at us. Brooklynn and Darius joined me as we tossed more and more rocks. The T. rex snarled, taking steps towards us.
“This was a horrible idea.” Darius pointed out.
“Totally.” I let out a nervous laugh. The dinosaur roared loudly and charged at us.
“Horrible!” Brooklynn yelled as we ran.
We sprinted down the muddy river bed, but we didn’t have anywhere else to go, our only option was to follow the ditch. The loud footsteps echoed behind us, a reminder that the T. rex could easily win this race. There was a bifurcation on the path, with one side continuing to a rocky ditch while the other had been taken over by thick tree roots. Brooklynn dashed straight for the roots, clawing her way through vines. But Rexy was getting closer and amidst desperation, I pushed her and Darius through the vine.
The ground under our feet disappeared and we all fell forward, into a little cave under a tree. We gasped as the face of the Tyrannosaur appeared in the opening between the thick roots, we crawled backwards until our backs hit the cave wall. The screams of the three of us fused together as the sound of cracking wood filled the cave.
“Check over there! Secure the area!” A strident male voice echoed into the night as a light of a helicopter beamed over Rexy. “Marine one, I need to close the gates. Confirm position.” The light moved away, towards what I imagined Main Street to be. “Marine one, do you copy?” The voice sounded alarmed.
The T. rex took a few steps backwards, getting out from the cave and glancing at the light in the sky. She stomped away, following the light and leaving us to catch our breaths. Darius, Brooklynn and I cautiously made our way out of the cave, only to find Yasmina waiting for us outside. We were soaked in the rain and covered in mud. Without even a word, only a glance and nods shared between the group, we reached the unanimous decision to follow the helicopter.
We entered Main Street by the monorail station next to the lagoon, and at the railing of the Jurassic Lagoon, the four of us had a clear view of what was happening. The Tyrannosaur was chasing a guy with a yellow raincoat, which was running for his life trying to reach a helicopter in the air. The chopper was backing away from the scene, but had a rope ladder hanging out for raincoat guy. The helicopter hovered over the lagoon, with the rope dangling in the air. The raincoat guy leaped, grabbing onto the rope just in time, but so did Rexy. The dinosaur grabbed the end of the rope with her teeth, tugging on it as the helicopter fought to remain in the air.
“Cut it now!” A voice ordered from the helicopter. “I said cut it!” And at that moment we watched as the rope snapped in half, right under raincoat guy's feet, leaving the helicopter free and Rexy left with nothing.
“He made it!” Darius cheered, as the guy started to climb the ladder. I smiled crept up on my face as the T. rex roared in annoyance.
“Yes!” Brooklynn beamed.
“Lucky guy!” Yasmina chuckled.
The helicopter glided over the lagoon with raincoat guy dangling on the rope. Then, the Mosasaurus leaped out of the water, letting out the loudest growl I’ve ever heard. Its powerful jaw closed around the yellow figure, swallowing him whole and snapping the rope. Yasmina looked away and Darius gasped at the sight, but the dinosaur disappeared with a splash of water while the helicopter flew away.
“Not so lucky after all.” I mumbled, my smile disappearing.
“That was insane.” Brooklynn said with her hands over her mouth. “What were they even doing?”
“No idea.” Yasmina replied, with her back turned to the lagoon. “But whatever it was, they definitely aren’t here to rescue us.”
I nodded along. ‘This is no rescue mission.’
The new sound of chopping blades made us all look up, where yet another helicopter illuminated the sky with its beam lights. The chopper flew right past Main Street and disappeared over the treetops.
“Is that the chopper the others are on?” I asked, watching where it had disappeared.
“Let’s go find out!” Darius said.
Yasmina groaned. “When are we gonna get off this island?”
…
The helicopter landed in a grassland area not too far from Main Street. The four of us crouched behind a big rock, watching as three armed men got out of the chopper. At night, we could barely discern any detail, but I was sure they were all dressed with full military attire like the guy on the docks; the man in the center turned on a flashlight, scanning their surroundings. We ducked as the light illuminated our rock, but just as quickly the light moved on. We peeked again, catching a glimpse of a hand movement from the flashlight dude and someone new stepped out from the helicopter with an umbrella, and the light landed on him for a second.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Yasmina groaned next to me.
“Dr. Wu.” Brooklynn said in a low voice.
Dr. Wu looked exactly like he did from the magazines, he was an asian guy with short and neat hair, a dark turtleneck and a white coat, almost like he was on his way to work on his fancy lab. Wu and flashlight guy were having a conversation, but it was hard to pick up on the exact words because of the storm.
“-Indominus sample… not?” Wu asked.
“-haven’t heard-” Flashlight guy’s voice was barely audible.
“Well, then, Mr. Hawkes… research laptop.” Wu said. This Hawkes replied something, but we only heard what Wu said next. “In my private lab, we’ll have to go on foot-”
Hawkes whistled. “Let’s move!” He said it loud and clear. Hawkes took the lead, followed by Dr. Wu and the other two military guys, who were carrying some heavy equipment.
“What does Dr. Wu need an Indominus sample and his research for?” Yamsina asked in a lower voice.
Brooklynn gasped. “He wouldn’t.”
“We're talking about the one who hid the Scorpios away and created the Indominus, B.” I glanced at her. “He totally would.”
“Wu wants to make more dinosaur hybrids.” Darius concluded.
“We have to stop him.” Brooklynn stated. “I know the laptop he’s talking about. We’ll get to it first and destroy it.” Brooklynn got up and started walking, followed by Darius.
Yasmina and I stayed put, exchanging a knowing glance. “Or… we don’t.” Yasmina said and I nodded along.
“What?” Brooklynn turned around. “Do you really want another damn Indominus or Scorpius rex running around in the world?”
I let out a harsh breath. ‘Were they really this naïve? Sometimes I forgot how young they were.’
“I hear you.” Yasmina got up. “But Wu is our ticket out of here. If we get caught destroying his stuff, he might not take us home.”
“But if we don’t do anything, countless people could get hurt or worse.” Darius argued. “People we love.” He had his hand on his chest.
I got up slowly. “But if we do something, we might be the ones getting hurt and left behind… again. Then, how are we supposed to protect who we love if we’re trapped here?” I ended up raising my voice.
Yasmina placed one hand on my shoulder. “Say we destroy the laptop. Then what?” She asked them. “He’ll still figure out a way to make more.”
“So, we take it to Costa Rica with us, give it to the authorities and expose Wu’s plans.” Brooklynn said, her face brightening up with her idea.
“Yeah!” Darius exclaimed. “He’ll be punished and never be able to do it again.”
Yasmina sighed. “Alright…”
‘I can’t believe this.’ I rolled my eyes, stepping away from Yasmina and letting her hand fall off my shoulder. “Do you really think he won’t see right through us? If I’m not mistaken you don’t have the best rep with him, B.” I glanced at her.
“We have our boat-”
“And what about Kenji, Ben and Sammy, huh? They are in one of Wu’s choppers. He probably already knows we are on the island.” I shook my head. “What? Is a doctor supposed to believe that a dinosaur stole his laptop?”
“We’ll deal with that later.” Darius dismissed me, which made only my blood boil more. “Right now, we need to get to that laptop before they do.” He looked down the hill, where the four adults were walking away.
“Come on, Darius.” I groaned, clenching my fists. “Stop with the half assed plans, this isn’t our debut in the dino world anymore, we can’t just leave it for luck!” Darius took a few steps back, his eyes flashing with hurt, but I wasn’t sorry.
Yasmina intervened, getting between us. “Calm down, Hayden.” She whispered through a clenched jaw.
“Don’t tell me to calm down, Yasmina.” I glared at her, but she stood her ground. “He needs to hear this or his hero complex will get us all killed.” I glanced at Darius over Yasmina’s shoulder.
“I’m trying to keep everyone safe…” His voice faltered. “...do the right thing.”
“How come the right thing isn’t to get us home, huh?” I took one step forward, only to be stopped by Yasmina holding my arm. “This isn’t Mitch and Tiff… this isn’t the Scorpios rex… there is no immediate threat, Bumpy is not- nobody is in danger!” I yelled at him, yanking my arm away from Yasmina’s grip.
“But he’ll use that laptop to do terrible things.” Darius had recovered his voice.
“He’s a fucking evil scientist! He doesn’t need the laptop.”
“Tell us your plan then.” Yasmina said softly, getting my attention back on her.
“My plan is to get us home. We get a helicopter ride out of this hellhole and then we simply tell the authorities everything and let them deal with Wu.” I explained. “We don’t need to risk our lives over a laptop.”
“Like they would fucking believe us.” Brooklynn huffed, crossing her arms.
“We wouldn’t have any proof.” Darius nodded.
I felt my face heating up, but I forced myself to take a deep breath. “True, but his reputation must be horseshit after the Jurassic fiasco that was the Indominus.” I talked slowly so they would understand. “It isn’t too far-fetched he would try again. If we see that, other people will too.” It wasn’t the best plan, but why did we have to take down Wu?
“Other people don’t know Wu like we do.” Brooklynn said.
“Still, it would be just our word.” Darius insisted, his brows furrowed in determination.
“It’s enough to open an investigation.” I pressed.
“We don’t know for sure.” Brooklynn shook her head.
“Is not up to us. We’re not responsible for whatever Wu does.” I said through gritted teeth.
“We’ll be responsible if we do nothing.” Darius said.
“It’s three against one.” Yasmina said, staring at me with a blank face.
“So that’s how it is then?” I narrowed my eyes at her. ‘Traitor.’ I glared at her until she was forced to look away.
“What Wu is doing is wrong.” Brooklynn sighed. “I wish it wasn’t up to us, but we're the only ones on the damn island that cares about keeping people safe.”
“Whatever it takes?” Darius' eyes glanced over to Brooklynn, who nodded, settling for their stupid plan.
I scoffed out loud at the two. ‘Whatever it takes, my ass.’
…
Turns out Yasmina was right, even though Dr. Wu had a head start, we knew the island better and they didn’t know we were racing. Brooklynn told us the location of this secret lab she found North of the island, where she and Sammy found out about the Scorpios via a laptop. I still didn’t agree with their stupid notion of stopping Wu, but they were hellbent in going through with this. The only thing I could do right now was help it go smoothly, and for that to happen we needed to be stealthy. Wu couldn’t suspect we had anything to do with his laptop. Maybe we could point the blame somewhere else… the Scorpios trashed his lab? Or his old coworker Eddie stole it? Yeah, we could work on that. Eddie didn’t seem to be the most stable person. I’m sure if we only dropped his name in a conversation, Wu could link the dots.
‘That’ll have to work.’ But the plan consisted of us reaching the lab first, and for that we couldn’t waste any time.
Yasmina took the lead sprinting through the jungle like our lives depended on it. I was glad she remembered how to get there, because Brooklynn was too busy panting at the back of the group to give us more instructions. I ran side by side with Yasmina while Brooklynn and Darius lacked behind. It’s funny how months of running from dinosaurs did to my cardio, now I could even keep up with the track-star.
“Yaz… girl… not all of us are all-world track stars!” Brooklynn said in between breaths.
“Hey, slowpokes…” she stopped dead on her tracks as the trees gave place to an abandoned building. “…we’ve got a problem.” The building looked like a small warehouse, and its entrance was totally blocked by fallen trees and branches.
“Oh, no.” I said, with my voice dry. “How terrible.”
Yasmina gave me the side eye. “More debris fell down in the storm.” She explained as Brooklynn and Darius stopped beside us, with their hands on their knees, catching their breaths.
“Let’s get to work.” Darius said, barely recovered from the run and already walking over to the pile of debris by the door.
I reluctantly joined them in removing the trash, at least it wasn’t raining anymore. All we could do was remove the small parts, no way we’d be able to move a whole tree. I was tossing branches behind me when we heard voices.
“Not too much further.” We could hear Dr. Wu approaching.
We frantically got out of there and hid in the trees, just in time for the four adults to appear on the other side of the tree line. The weather had improved, so we could get a clearer picture of them. Wu still had his umbrella even though it was not raining anymore; the military guys all had a bulletproof vest, heavy duty boots and were carrying a rifle each.
“There.” Wu pointed at the building. “You’ll need to clear the entrance.”
“Not hearing a ‘we’ in there, Doc. You plan on helping?” Hawkes asked. Hawkes seemed to be the leader, with a stern look he had a balaclava hanging around his neck, military haircut and an undone shallow beard.
Wu didn’t respond to Hawkes, which made it sound like Wu was actually in charge. Hawkes motioned to his buddies and they started where we had left it. One of the guys had a black cap and was carrying a huge bag; and the other man had a buzz cut and a goatee, wearing shades at night.
“There’s gotta be another way in.” Darius whispered.
“There are tunnels down there, but I only remember one door into the lab.” Brooklynn pondered. I just leaned back at a tree watching them with a blank stare. ‘This plan is crazy, everything's pointing towards ‘disaster’, but they won't give up. ’
“She’s right.” Yasmina nodded. “But there was a vent!”
“Big enough to climb through?” Darius asked.
“Frozen flowers!” Brooklynn gasped. “They froze up here because they were covering the vents that connect to the tunnels!”
Darius peeked at the military dudes swinging their axes at the logs by the entrance. “Look everywhere. We can still get to the laptop before them.”
We scoured the grass looking for said vent by the sound of grunts and cracking wood, which reminded us that the clock was ticking, but I remained in silence and helped them anyway. I didn’t want to argue again, because I knew it was useless, they had their mind made up and nothing was going to change that.
“Guys!” Yasmina called in a hushed tone. She propped open a metal vent, big enough for a grown man to squeeze through.
We went down a ladder, which put us inside the vent system. It was pitch black down there, with the entrance as the only light source. We crawled our way to the vent to our right, going to the lab, but we had to use our hands to guide our path. We found a few openings to underground rooms, but none were the right one. Turns out, to reach Wu’s lab, we only needed to go in a straight line.
Darius was the first one to reach the end of the vent, opening the grate to the lab. There was a lone emergency light on the hallway next to it, providing us with enough light so we could search for the laptop. The place was chaotic, the door had been ripped from its hinges, there were claw marks in the walls, quills nailed into the tables, papers were everywhere. But what really piqued my interest was the broken fish tank on the corner, it was huge enough to keep a dinosaur… like the Scorpios. A shiver ran through my spine and shook myself to get rid of it, returning my focus to the mission.
“It’s not here.” Darius whispered, checking the main desk.
Yasmina stepped into the hallway. “Guys!” She called, informing us that they were closing in.
“Got it.” Brooklynn found the laptop hidden under some papers. “Let’s go.”
We rushed back to the vent, Yasmina and Darius went first, followed by Brooklynn and me. I closed the grade behind me just as a beam of light scanned the room. I held my breath, frozen in place as the flashlight shone on our vent.
There was a familiar screech and a gasp in the room, making the light move away from us. ‘Thank you, Compy.’ I thought as the screeches faded away.
“Let me guess.” Hawkes said. “Something’s supposed to be in there?”
“The Scorpios rex.” Wu gasped, finally finding the destroyed tank. “If it’s escaped, we need to accelerate our timetable.” He sighed. “Don’t touch that!” Wu yelled, making the four of us on the vent flinch. “The Scorpios rex has poisonous quills like its namesake, the scorpionfish.”
“I’m guessing the boss would be very interested in something like the Scorpios.” I could hear the smile on Hawkes voice.
“Boss?” Brooklynn mouthed, hugging the laptop to her chest.
“No, it turned out to be too unstable.” Dr. Wu said. “However, I can perfect it, make an improved version. If I could just find my laptop! It should be here!” He grunted. Darius looked at me with an ‘I told you so’ look, and I just shook my head silently. “I just- that laptop had years of my research on it. Without it, what would take months will take years!” Wu raised his voice. “So, if you don’t want Mills to have your head, help me look!” He ended up yelling.
“Mills?” Brooklynn mouthed again and we just shrugged.
“You sure this is where you left it?” Hawkes asked.
“Yes!” Wu shouted back, but then lowered his voice. “I- I think so.” He didn’t sound that sure anymore. ‘Good, we could work with that.’ “Very well. We’ll check the other labs.” Wu’s voice got farther away and footsteps echoed away from the lab.
Yasmina motioned with her head for us to move, so we slowly made our way through the vent system. We crawled over the metal, aware that every little clanging noise could reveal us, but it was impossible to move totally quiet.
“This Mills guy that Wu’s working for wants him to make monsters.” Darius whispered.
“We have to do whatever it takes to keep the laptop away from them.” Brooklynn agreed.
“Move faster, then.” I poked her on the leg, ushering her.
Stretching my neck, I could see the faint light coming from our exit. Yasmina had already reached it and was helping Darius up. ‘I can’t believe we’d actually pull this off.’ I thought as I felt something prick me in the back of the neck. My hand shot up. ‘Fucking bugs.’ But to my surprise, my finger grazed against something solid, with a fluffy end. It stung as I removed it from my neck, I couldn’t see in the darkness, but I figured out the weird object on my hand.
‘A dart?’ The thought flashed through my mind.
My eyes stared at the darkness behind me, where a shape of a man was crawling through the vent. With a whoosh, another dart flew past me and the sharp sound of it hitting metal was heard. I gasped as I desperately crawled to the exit. I tried to warn Brooklynn in front of me, but my mouth was dry and no sound came out. ‘Was this vent always this blurry?’ I felt my heart racing. ‘This is no good.’ I tried to blink the blurriness away, then to shake my head, but that only made me dizzier. My forehead hit something cold and I fell to the bottom of the vent with a thud.
“What are you doing?” I heard Brooklynn’s voice right above me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up, my head was too heavy. “Hays?” Now she sounded concerned.
‘Go! You need to go!’ I couldn’t manage to make my mouth work.
I felt something heavy and pointy against my back and then, Brooklynn screamed, followed by the closing grates of the vent.
“Well, who do we have here?” Hawkes’ voice sounded from right behind my ear.
“Yaz!” I heard Darius yell.
“They're coming!” Yasmina warned. Then the air was filled with Darius and Yasmina’s grunts and groans.
I felt what I assumed was Hawkes’ elbow digging deeper into my back, as Brooklynn whimpered. I wiggled myself sideways and looked up. My sight took a few seconds to focus, and I could see Brooklynn hanging with one hand at the grate and the other clutching the laptop. Darius and Yasmina were trying to open the vent and propped up over me was Hawkes, with a tight grip on Brooklynn's ankle.
“Go!” I heard Brooklynn’s faint voice yelling.
I fought against a slumber that was taking over my mind, and slowly I managed to make my hand move. I dug my nails into Hawkes arm, or at least I thought I did, because with only a slap from him, I was forced to let go.
“What? No!” That was Darius, I think. I couldn’t even raise my head from the cold metal anymore. Everything seemed to be underwater, muffled, my eyes wouldn’t focus, I couldn’t move, I-
“We’re not leaving you guys.” And there was Yasmina.
“Whatever it takes.” Brooklynn’s voice echoed from far away.
Brooklynn let out a blood curdling scream and everything went dark.
Chapter 38: Stay on Mission
Summary:
The campers find out that ‘whatever it takes’ has consequences.
Notes:
Warnings: blood, violence, injuries, anxiety.
Chapter Text
CLANK!
CLANK!
CLANK!
That loud noise was all that I could hear. It was dark and cold, but the rhythmical clanging was somewhat comforting, it was something to hold on to. It was like my own heartbeat in the darkness.
“Hays?” I heard someone call my name. That high pitch voice was familiar, that I knew, but I couldn’t quite point a finger to it.
The cold floor was the next thing I remembered, sucking the warmth off me. Then was the pain: a splitting headache that made the previous slumber feel evermore welcoming. But I couldn’t, something with that voice told me to wake up.
My eyes fluttered open, and that voice called for me again. I was laying on my side on a cold concrete floor, my hands in front of my face were doubled, so I blinked a few times, until I had a normal amount of hands. There was something soft and pink under my head, a jacket. Pink? Brooklynn? I looked up to see her sitting next to me with a concerned frown.
“How are you feeling?” She asked softly.
“Great.” I mumbled, sitting up, ignoring the way the place spun. I had my back against a metal pipe that lined up the whole wall of the hallway that led to Wu’s lab. Speaking of which, the man in the white coat was standing a few meters away with one of his goons, the guy with the black cap who had a flashlight illuminating the place. “What’s going on?” I asked Brooklynn, my voice hoarse.
“Hawkes and his mercenary buddy went after Darius and Yasmina.” She explained. “Judging by how long they’ve been out, they either got lost or were eaten by dinosaurs.” She glanced at the mercenary in here with us, but he didn’t waver and remained in a stoic stance. “I’m hoping for the latter.”
“Good.” I let out a harsh breath.
CLANK!
So, Brooklynn was the one doing the noise! She had Dr. Wu’s umbrella in her hands and was hitting it against the pipes behind us. Again, and again.
“Must you continue doing that?” Dr. Wu asked impatiently.
“Doing what, Doc?” Brooklynn said, innocently. “This?” She hit the pipe again. “This?” CLANK. “This?” CLANK.
Wu pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “It’s quite annoying and it’s ‘Doctor’.” I couldn’t help but smirk at his annoyance.
Brooklynn stood up. “Well, maybe I’ll stop doing this…” CLANK.” “…Doctor…” CLANK.” “…when you stop making dino monsters.” She continued her assault on the pipes.
From the darkness of the tunnel, Hawkes emerged alone, walking past Wu and brushing against his shoulder.
“Reed?” The cap guy asked and Hawkes shook his head. CLANK.
“The laptop?” Wu asked, eager.
Hawkes let out an annoying sigh. “Not yet.” CLANK.
‘ They got away! ’ A smile grew on my face, but I was sure to keep it discreet.
Brooklynn made one last attempt at the pipes, but Hawkes caught the umbrella mid-swing with one hand, and with the other, he grabbed Brooklynn by her red shirt, pulling her up.
“Do you ever stay silent?” He barked, his eyes twitching.
I got up in a flash. “Don’t touch her!” I warned, but I mustn’t have seemed that threatening leaning on the wall from the dizziness, because he laughed at my face.
“Or what?” He banged her head against the pipe, which made her yelp in pain.
I darted forward immediately, slamming my body into his. “I told you not to touch her!” I growled through a clenched jaw. He stumbled backwards, dropping the umbrella.
I glanced quickly at Brooklynn who was holding her head in her hands, which made me clench my fists.
‘Who the fuck does he think he is?’ I narrowed my eyes at Hawkes.
“So, you want to be the hero, kid?” He smirked menacingly.
‘Oh, I’m wiping that smile off his face...’ I feigned a kick to his ribs and landed a high kick on the side of his face, which made him fall on his ass.
“Who are you calling ‘kid’?” I smiled smugly as I watched him slowly get back up on his feet, blinking fast.
“Not bad.” He commented, his angry frown turning to a smile, glancing at something behind me. And that’s when I realized my mistake. Something hit the back of my head. Hard. With a groan, I fell on my knees, my vision going blurry again.
“Hays!” Brooklynn screamed. I glanced back only to see the mercenary holding her in place with one hand and on the other he held a pistol, probably what he used to hit me.
“Learn some respect, kid.” Hawkes pulled me up by the collar and punched me in the jaw, sending me to the ground. My vision doubled again and I could taste blood in my mouth.
“Stop! You’re hurting her!” Brooklynn pleaded, but Hawkes just smiled.
“Is this really necessary?” Dr. Wu jumped in, suddenly sounding unsure. “They are just kids-”
“Someone has to teach her some manners.” Hawkes glanced down at me with a twisted smile.
“Oh, I have manners… I just won’t waste it on fuckers like you.” I mocked him while cleaning the blood from my split lip with the back of my hand. “Last time I checked, kidnapping ain’t that polite either, fuckhead.”
“Language.” He sighed, shaking his head.
“Fuck you.” I grunted, up on my knees.
Hawkes took one step towards me and I tried to kick his legs from under him, but he jumped out of range. I got to my feet again and could hear Brooklynn’s pleas behind me, but I wouldn’t simply let Hawkes get away with hurting her. My kick swept wide of Hawke’s, he was out of range again.
‘Coward.’
He had a rifle strapped onto his back, whether it was the same tranq gun that knocked me out or a real gun, I had no idea. At least he didn’t motion to get it and seemed to be happy in using only his fist.
I inched closer to him, always sure to keep the other mercenary in my line of sight, but he didn’t seem to be moving or hurting Brooklynn, so I’d have to deal with him later.
I brought my hands up to try and help with the dizziness and closed my stance. Placing my weight onto my back leg a, I threw a fast kick with my front leg to the interior of Hawkes’ tight. He didn’t even have time to react and his smile finally faltered, hissing at me. It wasn’t a powerful kick, I knew that… but at least now I knew he was slow.
‘I could work with that.’
His right punch was met with several fast punches from me, but my fists didn’t hit since Hawkes actually knew how to block. I threw a low kick to his leg and he hissed again with the contact, which only made me smile more.
‘Bad with kicks, huh?’ I smirked. ‘Suck a loser.’
But I couldn’t lose focus, even with my head still throbbing, I forced myself to keep moving around. He was slow, but he was bigger and stronger than me. If I let him get me, I was done for it. And I couldn’t let that happen, Brooklynn was counting on me to get us out of this.
I blinked and Hawkes closed the distance, coming swinging. I ducked out of the way and he threw an uppercut. It was a good one, but I was faster. I twisted my body hoping for a back elbow to his face, but it only grazed his chin.
It was the wrong move. With the twisting motion, the room spun around me. I took a wobbly step away from Hawkes, blinking away the double vision, but somehow, he got a hold of my arm. Brooklynn let out a high pitch scream and I got slammed onto the floor, the air getting knocked out of me. Before I could get up, his leg was coming at me and I braced for the impact. I grunted as it made contact with my ribs, but it wasn’t that bad. Albeit a little rusty, I was used to training for body shots back at my gym.
“Stop! Please!” Brooklynn cried out, but, with a grin on his face, Hawkes kicked me a second time.
I gasped out loud as his foot hit right below the ribs. A spot on the body I was taught to go for every time. The sweet spot where the liver is exposed from the protection of the ribs. It was a weird feeling, a liver shot… it was like the organ moved up my ribcage with contact, then came the pain. Excruciating electric shocks traveled all through my body. I rolled backwards into a fetal position, holding my side as I tried to gather enough strength to breathe again.
“You’ve made your point, Hawkes.” Dr. Wu raised his voice. “Need I remind you we are on a tight schedule?”
At the simple mention of their mission, Hawkes demeanor changed and his smile disappeared. “Alright…” He nodded to the other mercenary, who let Brooklynn go.
She dashed to me, kneeling in front of me. “Hays! Shit, shit, shit.” She mumbled under her breath, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Why would you do that?” Brooklynn asked, tearing up.
“You know me…” I grunted from the pain, but at least I could breathe again. “…always doing dumb stuff.”
Hawkes turned to the Doctor. “Grab what you need, then we head to the chopper, no matter what we stay on mission”.
Brooklynn picked up the umbrella and stood up with her hand on her waist. “B., stop it.” I begged, trying to pull her down by her wrist, but she stood her ground.
“Pretty sure our friends already ruined your little mission.” She said smugly.
And to our surprise, Hawkes laughed. “Don’t worry, they’ll bring us the laptop.” He approached us, menacingly, which propped me to get up, using Brooklynn for support while gripping my side. “Cause if they don’t, things ain’t gonna go too well for pink-haired brats and wannabe heroes ‘round here.” He said with a low and threatening voice.
Brooklynn put on a brave face and hit a pipe with the umbrella. CLANK!
“Okay, you’re gonna stop that right-” The other mercenary was interrupted by a low snarl.
All our eyes snapped towards the end of the hallway, where shadows of dinosaurs could be seen against the wall.
“To the lab.” Hawkes ordered in an authoritarian voice.
Brooklynn grabbed her jacket from the floor and helped me inside the lab. The two mercenaries pulled out their rifles, aiming at the door as a loud growl echoed. We all tensed up as a shadow appeared on the doorway, but with another growl, it turned back, its footsteps leading down the hall.
Brooklynn motioned something with her head and grabbed my arm, pulling me with her to the back of the room, where she started to bang the umbrella against a table. CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
That did the trick and two Monolophosaurus barged into the lab, roaring. The dinosaurs lunged at the first thing they saw, the mercenaries, while Brooklynn and I hid behind the table.
Still holding my arm, she took her chance and dashed out of the room, with me close behind. The Monolophosaurus growled and I heard heavy footsteps behind us. I followed her into a maze of dark hallways, hoping she knew where she was going. I wasn’t much help since I was too busy trying to control my breathing as every time I took air in, it seemed like I was being stabbed with a blazing knife.
We ran up a flight of stairs and reached a door, which we swung open and the fresh air welcomed us. We slammed the door shut behind us and felt as it shook on its hinges with the dinosaurs slamming against it. Without a minute to recover, we turned around, only to be faced with a smug Hawkes watching us.
We skid to a stop, our eyes wide. “Thanks for showing us that vent in the lab. Real life-saver.” He grinned. Behind him, the vent grade was wide open and Wu was climbing out of it.
I cursed under my breath as I bent down, hugging my right side and trying to even my breathing. ‘Great.’ I groaned. ‘We’re stuck with them.’ Brooklynn hovered at my side with a hand on my back, but her eyes remained locked on Hawkes, with an angry glare.
The other mercenary stepped out from the vent and stopped next to Hawkes. “Here it is.” He said, passing something along to Hawkes.
Hawkes walked over to us, grabbing Brooklynn by the wrist. I was about to get between them, when the other mercenary grabbed me, wrapping something on my wrist. I glanced down, my mouth hanging open in disbelief as I saw zip ties.
“You expect us to go around in this dino-island without being able to use our hands?” I deadpanned.
“That’s what you get for being a brat.” The mercenary said.
“Alright people, let’s move.” Hawkes announced. Then he turned towards me “You better not slow us down.”
“Asshole.” I breathed out, low enough that only Brooklynn would hear.
“He said to move, now!” The other mercenary yelled against my ear.
…
We were walking in a line back to their helicopter. Hawkes was first, then Brooklynn and I side by side, then Wu and the other mercenary carrying his huge bag. The pain in my side had subsided, I could even walk straight again so, I was pretty sure it would disappear shortly. I was never on the receiving end of a liver shot, but they always said the pain passed fairly quickly. I couldn’t say the same for my head, though. I didn’t know what was on that tranq dart, but for sure wasn’t made with humans in mind, ‘cause damn my head was killing me.
My feet got caught up on a root and I felt my body leaning forward, but Brooklynn was there to hold me straight.
“Thanks.” I smiled weakly.
“Why did you have to do that, Hays?” She asked, in a hushed tone, so we wouldn’t be heard.
“It’s not like I tripped on purpose, it was totally the tree’s fault.” I laughed drily.
“Idiot, not that.” She awkwardly slapped me in the shoulder with her hands tied together.
“Ouch.” I tried to rub the place she’d hit, but I only managed to dig the ties deeper into my skin. ‘Stupid zip tie… stupid mercenaries.’
“Why did you have to fight him?”
I shrugged. “I dunno, I felt like it.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit.” Brooklynn spat.
“Bullshit, huh? I’m a bad influence on you.” I smiled.
“Stop changing the subject.”
“You really want me to say out loud?” I sighed and she kept her intense gaze on me. “I just couldn’t have him hurt you like that.”
“I can handle myself!”
I snorted. “No, you can’t, Brooklynn. Like it or not you are just a kid.” I said, but instantly regretted it when I saw the flash of hurt in her eyes.
“We all are!” She whispered hastily. “And we have survived in this dino-hell-island and Tiff and Mitch…” She glanced back at Dr. Wu before mouthing “…and the Scorpios.”
“Barely.” I scoffed.
“But we did!”
“That was dumb luck, this is different…these guys are different. They hurt people for living, don’t you get that?” I fought to keep my voice low.
“Of course I do, I may be a kid, but I’m not stupid.”
“Look, I didn’t mean it like that.” I sighed. “It’s just that… I’m the oldest, okay? I’m not gonna let anyone get their hands on you.” I averted my gaze.
“You don’t have to do that, I can handle it.” Brooklynn said, coming closer to me till our shoulders touched.
I didn’t step away, ‘cause it was a bit comforting, but if she thought that was going to make me change my mind… “But I don’t want you to, your childhood was already messed up by dinosaurs, B., you shouldn’t have to deal with this too.” My voice came out bitter. “I literally get in fights for fun. I can take it.” I playfully said, trying to lighten up the mood.
I saw in her eyes that she totally didn’t buy it, but she laughed either way. “Yeah, you have to be totally crazy to do that.” She shoved me lightly. “And you say Darius is the one with a hero complex.”
I huffed. “Unlike Darius, I wouldn’t move mountains for a Compy.”
“But you would get punched in the face for me?”
“Last time I checked, you’re not a Compy.” I shrugged.
“Surely hope not.”
“Camp fam, right?” Family was supposed to keep each other safe and that was what I was doing. I didn’t care if she didn’t like it the way I did it, we were getting back on the boat and all the way to Costa Rica whether she liked it or not. ‘Whatever it takes.’
Brooklynn sighed loudly. “Just don’t go do something stupid.”
“Me?” I chuckled. “Nah, when did I ever do that?”
“I swear you’re worse than Kenji sometimes.”
I gasped. “That’s mean!”
“Zip it you two.” The mercenary on the back hastily said.
We walked in silence for a while. The night wasn’t as dark anymore, the sky appeared to be cleared of the storm clouds and judging by the shade of dark blue, the sunrise was close.
I wondered what was going on with the others. Since we were still kidnapped, I bet Darius was holding on to the laptop, and for some reason he decided not to give it back? Like the information on that laptop was more important than Brooklynn and me. And knowing Yasmina… she was going along with whatever crazy plan he had; hoping he had one that is… I didn’t care if they thought the laptop was more important than us. I wasn’t going to be used as a bargaining chip. We just needed to find an opening… a distraction… something that we could use to get away. We knew this island with the back of our hand. We had the home court advantage and we were going to use it.
But what about Kenji, Sammy and Ben? We hadn’t seen their helicopter since they took off. Had they returned to the mainland? Or was their helicopter waiting to regroup with Wu’s? Were they being held hostage as well? I really hoped they were safe. Did they even know what was happening with us? Probably not... I knew that if they were aware, Wu would have his laptop and we’d be safe by now. Or so I hoped. Shit, I couldn’t worry about that now.
“Hey, Hays?” Brooklynn whispered.
“Huh?”
“How are you doing?”
“Eh, alright, all things considered.” I answered, raising my tied hand in the air. The pain on my side was almost gone and my headache had diminished to an annoying level of pain.
“Can you run?” She whispered, barely audible, and I nodded.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Hawkes said, without even turning his back. “Don’t.”
“You will be back with your friends as soon as we reach the rendezvous point.” Dr. Wu explained.
Brooklynn scoffed. “You don’t seriously expect us to trust a guy who hires mercenaries and kidnaps kids?”
“I didn’t hire them, and you are not ‘kidnapped’, you are an… unexpected complication.” He said, calmly.
“You call manhandling girls and tying us up an ‘unexpected complication’?” I snorted. “You really need to sort out your definitions, old man.”
Wu sighed. “I only came back for my research and to retrieve the Indom-” He sighed again. “The point is, I’m a visionary pushing the boundaries of science.” Brooklynn and I exchanged an annoyed glance. “Hopefully, one day, you’ll understand that.” He finished.
“True visionaries make the world better, not worse. Hopefully, one day, you’ll understand that.” Brooklyn stated, which made Wu’s eyes widen.
“Hold up.” Hawkes exclaimed, raising one arm up in the air. There was a large river blocking the path. The stream was strong, it would be impossible to cross it swimming.
“Okay, so we’ll go around.” The mercenary on the back suggested.
“Good thinking. Let’s head deeper into the jungle, where all the carnivores hang.” Brooklynn snickered. “We can cross on that.” She pointed to the fallen log that was crossing the river, which the mercs had failed to see.
“Oh, an intellect matched only by a Compy.” I tsked. “You wouldn’t last a week here.”
“Drop it, kid. Or I’ll feed you to the dinosaurs myself.” Hawkes said, without batting an eye. ‘They couldn’t even take a joke…’ I shook my head. Hawkes was the first to begin to cross the log; a few steps in, he slipped, but unfortunately didn’t fall. “It’s wet. Watch your feet!” He warned.
“You know, it would be much easier not to fall if we could use our hands.” Brooklynn said to the cap guy, raising her hands. But he remained silent and just pointed at the log.
Dr. Wu was the next one up, crawling his way across the river, then Brooklynn, then me and the guy with the huge bag behind me. The stream below us was terrifyingly strong, the muddy water splashing with the current.
I heard a scream behind me so I spun around just in time to see the cap guy disappear into the river with a splash. A few meters down the stream, his head emerged again.
“Help!” He screamed. We rushed across the log, but I was pointless as he disappeared in the murky water with one last scream.
Dr. Wu stared baffled at Hawkes, who didn’t even attempt to help his friend. “You’re just going to let him-”
“He knew the risks of the job.” Hawkes stated. “Your friends better deliver.” He coldly glanced down at Brooklynn and me.
…
Hawkes suddenly came to a halt in front of us, with his fist raised in the air and the other grasping at his rifle. He motioned for us to crouch down and we obeyed as a low growl had become evident. He raised the gun, aiming at something in front of us. With the ruffle of leaves, a pink glow was visible in the distance. The Parasaurolophus raised its head, showing more of its neon colors before it started munching on the grass.
Hawkes didn’t quit, though, with the dinosaur on the other side of the barrel.
“Relax.” Brooklynn sighed. “This one’s just being a dinosaur.”
“See?” Dr. Wu crawled closer to us. “My creations aren’t ‘monsters’. Her bioluminescence is stunning, even outside of the caves.” He frowned. “Wait, why is she here?”
I scoffed. “You can thank your other creation for that.”
“Yeah, the Scorpios rex was a monster.” Brooklynn glanced down. “Both of them were.”
“Both?” Wu’s frown deepened. “I only made one.”
“Turns out E750 made its own E750.” Brooklynn explained.
“Life finds a way.” I quoted, shaking my head.
“And between the two of them, they would’ve killed everything on this island if it wasn’t for us.” She added. “Didn’t think about that when you were being all Dr. Frankenstein, did ya?” She scorned.
A loud gunshot echoed into the night, making us flinch and the Parasaurolophus to flee with a squeal. Okay… that wasn’t the sound of a tranq gun, it was a very real rifle that Hawkes was handling with ease.
Hawkes had his gun to the sky and his eyebrows knitted together. “Let’s go.” He ordered, pulling Brooklynn to her feet. I gave him a death stare as I got up, taking my time on purpose, but he just turned his back to me and started to walk.
Behind me, Dr. Wu followed with his shoulders hung low and an amused smile grew on my lips. “Regretting not killing off the Scorpios when you were told to, Doc?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t know they were capable of parthenogenesis.”
I scoffed. “I guess there’s a lot you didn’t know.”
He finally raised his head at me, studying my face in a way it made me want to become invisible. “You look familiar. I don’t remember seeing you on the visit to the genetics lab. Have we met before?”
“Didn’t get the pleasure.” I replied drily.
“No, I’m certain that-” His face lit up in recognition. “Is your mother Dr. Simmons?”
“So?”
“I knew you seemed familiar. She has your picture on her desk.” Wu smiled, satisfied with himself. “You look alike.”
“That’s how it usually works, Mr. Geneticist.” I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, well she’s also as defiant as yourself.”
I narrowed my gaze. “I’d rather you didn’t talk like you know her… or me.”
“Understandable.” Wu nodded. “I’ve only worked with her on a few projects. I didn’t really know her.”
“Did she-”
“No.” He was quick to answer. “She was never interested in hybrids.”
“Did she know they existed?” I had to ask.
“She was not involved.” He explained, careful with his words. It didn’t matter, ‘cause I knew what that meant.
“But she knew.” I sighed, letting my head fall. ‘She knew that monster was on this island and still sent me here.’ But the anger towards her quickly faded. It didn’t matter. She could never have guessed what would happen.
“Yes.” Wu replied even though I didn’t ask a question. “And if it serves as a consolation, I’ve heard she quitted her job after what happened on the island.”
‘She did what!?’ I had to control myself not to show how much that got to me. She lived for her job. I might not like it, but I saw how her eyes sparkled when she talked about dinosaurs. ‘She gave that up because of me?... Because she thinks her creations killed me.’
“It doesn’t.” I glared at him. “So, she thinks I’m dead?” I hated how desperate my voice came out. But I needed some kind of confirmation, even if the source was Wu.
“Nobody thought it was possible for kids to survive this long.” He sighed, his eyes were full of pity, and that was enough for my anger to return. “For anyone to survive, really.”
“Yet, here we are.” I put on a blank expression.
“Indeed.” Wu nodded. “Here you are.”
“Just an unexpected complication, huh, Doc?” My voice was ice cold.
“I assure you-”
“Save it.” I spat. “We both know you’re not the one in charge.”
“We’re here!” Hawkes announced as we entered the grasslands.
…
The sun had begun to show itself over the mountains, casting shadows in the valley. Hawkes led us to the helicopter in the middle of the field, the imposing dark figure odd amongst the green grass. We waited in silence for someone to come with the laptop. I hoped that that was still the plan, or else I’d have to have another talk with Darius about priorities. ‘Whatever it takes…’ I felt anger pooling inside me. ‘Is he really going to play with our lives like this?’
The sun made its way up in the sky, riding the valley of the shadows. That was when we saw a single silhouette in the tree line. Hawkes mumbled something under his breath and grabbed one arm of each of us.
The silhouette ran towards us. A blue dot in the distance. Kenji? A smile grew on my lips, but it soon turned into a frown. ‘What was he doing here? Hadn’t he left on the helicopter?’
“Hey! I’ve got the laptop!” Kenji yelled, waving with one arm, while the other held the laptop tightly. “I have it! It’s right here!” He ran the last few meters, his eyes locking on me. “You okay?”
“That’s close enough.” Hawkes raised his voice, making Kenji halt. “Doc?” He panned over to Wu.
Dr. Wu sighed. “This is not how I envisioned spending my time on this island.”
“I know the feeling.” Brooklynn said with a blank expression.
Wu walked over to Kenji, but he was hesitant to deliver the laptop. Kenji hugged the laptop close and pointed at Brooklynn and me with his chin. Reluctantly, Wu waved Hawkes over, and he dragged us along with him.
Kenji’s eyes fell on me again and I saw his expression harden when he noticed my split lip.
‘I’m okay.’ I mouthed, nodding for him to give Wu the laptop.
“No.” Brooklynn whispered.
With one last glance at me, Kenji gave Wu the laptop.
“Thank you.” The doctor said.
“So not welcomed, dude.” Kenji narrowed his gaze. Kenji had his arm outstretched for us. Brooklynn and I took one step forward, only to be yanked back by our arms.
“Check it.” Hawkes ordered.
Wu was about to open the laptop when he gasped at something behind us. We spun around to be faced with the most majestic sight. Ben and Bumpy leading an Ankylosauruses' herd down the hill.
“Yeah! Let’s go!” We could hear Ben shouting from a distance.
“Ben!” Brooklynn yelled.
“Remember Bumpy? Well, how do you like her asymmetry now?” Ben shouted at Wu, who had a stupefied look on his face, eyebrows almost reaching his hairline.
Hawkes started to pull us back to the helicopter. I tried to yank my arm out of his grasp, but I only felt his nails dig deeper. Brooklynn did the same, but Hawkes didn’t budge. Kenji ran at us, but Hawkes was faster, throwing a frontal kick straight to Kenji’s chest.
“No!” I yelled, pulling harder as Kenji fell to the grass, coughing and clutching his chest.
The Ankylo stampede was on top of us, blocking our way to the helicopter. The mercenary pulled on us, left and right, avoiding the dinosaurs. While Hawkes was distracted, I pulled on my arm while raising my knee. With a knee strike to the gut, Hawkes let go of my hand and fell to the floor gasping for air.
I pulled Brooklynn away from him just in time to avoid being hit by an Ankylosaurus. I saw the mercenary rolling out of the way, while we ran to Kenji.
“Kenji! Are you okay?” I asked, reaching him.
He was still gripping his chest, but he was up. “Yeah.” He gave me a quick hug. “But we gotta go.”
Brooklynn glanced back. “But the laptop-”
“Sammy and Yaz got it!” Kenji said, pointing to our side. A few meters down the hill, Sammy and Yasmina were ducking and dodging the stampede with the laptop in hands, somehow, they managed to steal it from Wu. “Let’s go!” He ran, pulling us with him.
I glanced back to see Hawkes appearing from behind an Ankylo, right on our tail. So, we sprinted faster up the hill, passing Sammy and Yasmina who almost got hit by one dinosaur. I saw it when Hawkes attention shifted from us to the laptop. He made a B-line to the girls, who were too busy dodging dinosaurs to notice him.
‘No…’ I yanked my hand free from Kenji and darted towards them, ignoring as my name was being called behind me. I felt the air dislocated by an Ankylo’s club, inches from my head, but I didn’t stop.
A strident gunshot sounded over the stampede. Hawkes had his rifle in his hand, he had shot a warning shot at the ground and now was aiming at the girl’s. “My patience is wearing thin!” Hawkes yelled, finger on the trigger. “The laptop, now!”
Sammy and Yasmina were hugging each other, cornered by dinosaurs on one side and Hawkes on the other, slowly approaching as he towered over them, gun ready.
The world turned silent as I pushed myself to run faster. Eyes locked on the gun aimed at Sammy and Yasmina. I was at a full-blown sprint when my body collided against Hawkes’, sending us both rolling down the hill. Luckily, no new gunshot was heard.
I was up in seconds, but he caught my feet, sending me down again. I kicked mindlessly behind me, hearing the distinct sound of a crack. There was blood streaming down Hawkes’ nose, but he didn’t seem to notice it as he started to get up, no gun in hand.
I was faster this time, pushing him to the ground and passing the guard easily. I couldn’t exactly punch with my hands tied together, so I slammed my fist King Kong style at his head.
“I’m really… beginning… to hate you!” I grunted with every slam of my fist, however, none made contact as he had his hands up in front of his face.
“Hays!” Sammy called my name, ushering me to join them as an Ankylo ran between us, smashing the rifle laying on the grass.
“Go!” I yelled. ‘Hawkes would only follow us.’
“No, we-”
“Get out of here!” I yelled, locking eyes with Yasmina, hoping she would get it. She nodded and started to pull a reluctant Sammy away.
Hawkes squirmed below me. “I really don’t want to hurt you kid, I just want the laptop.” He grunted, trying to catch my arms.
“Too bad, ‘cause I don’t mind hurting you.” His arms blocked my fists again.
“Remember that you asked for this.” He declared, throwing a right punch up.
I grabbed his wrist tightly and a smile grew on my face. My thing was Muay Thai, so I wasn’t that good with ground fighting, but I knew what to do from there. I spun around his outstretched arm, one leg going over his neck, while the other was over his chest at an armlock.
“Better luck next time, old man.” I grinned as pulled, leaving no space for him to escape. Hawkes squirmed and grunted trying to free his arm, but I pulled even more. I was in a weird backwards angle, but I knew I hadn’t broken anything. I’d just rejoice on the fact that he was in a lot of pain while everybody escaped safely.
I looked around to see Wu cowering at the helicopter close to me. Sammy and Yasmina threw the laptop to the ground, only for it to be stomped to pieces by an Ankylosaurus. Ben was nowhere to be seen; Darius was pulling Brooklynn out of the stampede; and Kenji was a bit up the hill, fighting his way through the dinosaurs to reach me.
‘Why did I think he’d leave me to deal with Hawkes alone?’
“Is it really worth it to protect a laptop?” Hawkes kicked and twisted his body, but I kept him flat on the ground. “Just give it to me and I promise you and your friends won’t get hurt.”
“You really think I’m afraid of you?” I scoffed, ignoring the Ankylo running inches from us. “You can’t do anything without your buddies around.”
“Want to let me go and find out?” He finally stopped struggling. “Or you’ll keep with the coward’s choice?”
“You talkative now? After being beaten by a kid ?” I smiled, still holding his arm.
“What’s the next step, huh? I bet you didn’t think this through.” I could hear a grin on his voice. “You’ll have to let me go at some point.”
“Maybe I’ll feed you to the Mosa.” I rejoiced on the thought, ignoring the fact that he was right. ‘What’s next?’ There was nothing to tie him up. And I bet he would fight even if he was trapped. ‘What do we do with him?’
“I don’t think you will, just like I don’t think you’ll break my arm.”
“Only if you make me.” I pulled a bit harder, testing his limits. “Please, make me.”
Hawkes gritted his teeth. “Do it, then.”
“What?” I blinked.
“What are you waiting for? Do it.”
“Shut up.” I huffed.
“Wouldn’t you like to hurt me? For hurting the pinked haired brat? Or that weak boyfriend of yours?” I felt his chest rumbling with laughter under me.
“I said shut up!” I yelled, refusing to give in.
“All bark no bite, huh. Then you left me no choice.” Hawkes said. I raised my head to look at him, but then I saw it… a silver flash coming down.
I didn’t feel the knife going in, I only felt my leg seizing up. But I did feel how it went in the second time, and the third time; like a burning hot poker inside my thigh. My scream came delayed, more of surprise than anything. I jerked back, away from the knife and that’s when I heard the crack. The arm I was holding tightly went limb, and I heard Hawkes’ scream join mine.
One more desperate piercing stab at my leg made me let go. I kicked my way away from Hawkes. My left leg was almost dead under me, I tried to take a step, but it collapsed, useless. I forced myself to forget the pain and I managed to get up, hopping away with one leg. A warm liquid traveled down my leg, from my thigh all the way to my feet. Blood.
‘Fuck.’
I glanced to my right, noticing a tank of an Ankylosaurus coming my way. Fingers closed around my hair, yanking me backwards. Even if I wasn’t hit by the tank, now I was being pinned to the grass by Hawkes.
“Did you really think I was going to let a stubborn kid get in my way?” His face was twisted in pain and rage. “Did you really?” He barked and the blood spewing from his nose dripped on my forehead.
I gasped as his hand closed around my throat. I tried to buck my hips, to get him off of me, but my leg didn’t respond. I tried to hit his face, but my bind wrists didn’t let me, so I grabbed his wrist, trying to jerk it away, but he had all his weight on that one arm, it was useless. I could feel my heart racing against my ears, the pressure on my throat and my lungs burning for air.
“All of this just for a laptop that doesn’t exist anymore?” I wheezed.
“What?” He eased up on my throat.
I gasped for the relief that was oxygen. “It’s gone.” My voice was raspy.
He looked around, his eyes widening when he saw the remains of the laptop. Then the rage took over his face. “You little-” He removed his hand from my throat and he searched the grass for something. The silvery- no gray, it was a rock, not a knife. I felt relief at the sight, however, it was coming at me nonetheless.
I didn’t have time to raise my arms, so I just closed my eyes as the rock met my right temple. An explosion of bright lights was visible through my closed eyelids. There was a scream, not sure if my own, but the pressure over me was gone. There was a high pitch ringing in my ears and something warm dampening my hair. I opened my eyes and the bright sun made me squint. It hurt to breathe, to move, to even blink. There were grunts and groans coming from somewhere. My head was heavy, but I forced it to move, glancing at the source of the noises.
Kenji and Hawkes were throwing punches at one another, but even with only one arm, Hawkes had the upper hand. Kenji had his feet planted on the ground, his guard raised high, but Hawkes kicked him in the gut, making him double over. Then, Hawkes punched him in the eye, sending Kenji to the ground.
“Stop!” I tried to yell, but my voice cracked. Kenji was in a fetal position on the ground, his hands over his face as he tried to block the incoming punches.
‘This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not Kenji.’ I didn’t want to move, I didn’t want to make my pain worse, but Kenji needed me. I blinked to clear the black spots from my vision and tried to get up, but I only managed to get on my elbows.
“Don’t think I forgot about you.” Hawkes grinned, walking over to me with his right arm hanging limp to his side and blood trailing down his face.
But his face wasn’t the only one. Blood started to trickle down the side of my face, dripping and staining the green grass, red. Red all over. I glanced around me, noticing way more crimson stains than I’d anticipated.
‘Oh, that looks bad.’ My eyes locked on the red below me. ‘So much red.’ Drip... Drip... Red... Incessantly. Spattering on a growing puddle that was quickly absorbed by the ground underneath.
A shadow stood over me, and hands forcefully turned me around. Hawkes was tall on top of me with a crazy look on his face. His hands were empty, no knife, no rock, which was a relief. I tried to move, but it was like his gaze locked me in place, incapable of moving. Or was it just how the world was spinning around me? It was getting hard to think.
Since my body wouldn’t respond, I let my mouth move. “It’s not cool to bring a knife to a fist fight. Nobody ever taught you manners?” I let a smile creep in my face, too tired to do anything else.
‘But at least he isn’t hurting Kenji anymore… I’ll take that as a win.'
“I wouldn’t be smiling if I were you.” Hawkes kneeled down next to me. “I did say what was going to happen if your little friends didn’t pull through, didn’t I?” His hand closed around my throat. Squeezing. “I am a man of my word.”
“Hawkes!” Dr. Wu suddenly yelled. “Our work here is done! We need to go before-” He paused. “The Indominus sample made it off the island!” Wu tried to argue, but Hawkes didn’t waver. “Hawkes!”
“Stop!” I gasped for air, but the pressure on my throat was too much. I tried to kick, but Hawkes pressed his knee against my injured leg, making it explode in pain. My mouth opened in a silent scream, no air to come out of it. I raised my tied hands, clawing at him, but he only laughed at my attempts. Like a little kid trying to fight off a grown man. ‘Pathetic.’
He smiled down at my pain.
The burning in my lungs…
The stabbing spasm of my leg…
The splintering ache in my temple…
All of my senses started to die down as black spots filled my sight.
‘That's it. He's really killing me.’ Hawkes’ eyebrows were knitted together and his teeth were showing, almost like a dog snarling. It didn’t help that my view was blurry and a twist of nausea started to rise from my stomach. My head fell to the side, too weak to fight it.
‘At least everybody got away safely.’ Kenji was still on the floor, just a blue blob to my eyes. ‘He could still get out.’ I thought. ‘Please get up!’
The ground was shaking below me, or was my own body seizing up? I could feel the blood leaving my brain, accompanied with more blurriness.
‘I’m going to die.’ The world was blobs of green and blue, more like teal… it wasn’t an ugly sight. Teal was pretty.
‘I’m dying.’ I was floating in this teal world, my body numbed by the cold water and my head heavy, going under.
‘This wasn’t that bad.’ My eyes fluttered close.
“They are not our mission!” A voice ringed in my ears with a high pitch, desperate. I knew that voice, but I didn’t like that voice. Who was it again?
They are not our mission.
They are not our mission.
They are not our mission!
What mission? The voice was on a mission? Was I on a mission? I got a feeling like I was. I was on a mission, but it was too hard to remember. Something about family… yeah, that seemed right. About keeping family safe. Must keep family safe. That was important.
I mustn’t be doing that great of a job since I couldn’t even move, too tired… too numb… everything felt heavy. A blanket laid over me, making me sink. The water, cold, invading my lungs… shivering…
“They are not our mission!”
The hand keeping me underwater let go and a rush of warmth flooded my head, bringing the colors back. I inhaled deeply, gasping for oxygen on one minute and on the other, coughing my lungs out. And oh God, how everything just fucking hurt. I couldn’t even pinpoint where it was coming from. My head… my throat… my chest… my leg. All the pains got mixed together like a lightning bolt traveling through my body.
The sound of an engine turning on and rotating blades chopping up the air was deafening. Another fit of cough took over me as I laid sideways on the grass. Wet grass started to fly into my mouth, so I doubled over in a fetal position with my hands, still tied together, over my head. The helicopter noises were overwhelming, sending electric shocks through my temples and black spots to my sight.
‘Stop!’ I shut my eyes. ‘Please, just go away already.’
A body blocked the wind, pressing me against the grass. I gasped at the pressure, my hands getting between us while I pushed it away.
“It’s me.” Kenji’s voice rang next to my ear. “It’s okay, it’s me.”
I blinked my eyes open, squinting at the blurry blue blob before me. I blinked again and the blue turned into Kenji. One of his eyes was beginning to swell up and tears were rolling down his face. Hawkes had done that.
‘I ending that fucking-’ The black helicopter flew over our heads, sending strong winds at us.
“He’s gone. It’s all going to be okay.” Kenji pulled me into his lap, hugging me close and protecting me from the wind. I clutched his shirt, resting my head on his lap. The splitting headache didn’t back down at all so, I closed my eyes into his hug, taking in his smell. It didn’t smell much like the ocean anymore, it smelled like the rain, or was it wet grass with a bit of a coppery side to it?
‘Dammit, everything's getting mixed in together.’
“Hays, please.” Kenji’s voice went up an octave as he shook my shoulder. “Talk to me.” His voice got caught up on his throat.
‘Why is he like that? Is he in pain? ’ My eyelids were heavy, but I got them open for him.
“What-” My voice didn’t sound like my own. ‘What’s wrong?’ I wanted to ask, but it was just so damn hard.
“Hey.” He smiled and a tear fell on my cheek. “Sorry.” He mumbled, cleaning the tear with his thumb. There was blood on his thumb. ‘Why is there blood in his thumb? Is he bleeding?’
“-okay?” I asked, my voice cutting off again. My voice was raspy and low; it hurt to speak, like my throat was on fire. But again, everything was at this point.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He laughed as more tears rolled down his face. I wanted to catch them before they fell, but my arms were made out of lead. “Don’t move.” He took my hands into his. Warm. His hands were warm. I nodded, but immediately regretted it as it made the world spin.
“Look at me, Haydie.” His hand cupped my face, bringing me back to consciousness. I blinked, not even noticing that I had closed my eyes. I tried to correct my nickname, but not even that left my mouth.
‘Haydie…’ That was what my dad called me. It made me wonder how they were doing. If mom had quitted, I’m guessing not so well. I couldn’t let them down now… now that we were so close to going home…
“Help! Guys, help!” Kenji screamed over his shoulder, which made me flinch and close my eyes as another shock traveled through my temples. “Eyes on me.” He said quietly, coaxing me to look at him again.
‘I would if you weren’t so loud.’ I sighed.
“I’m going to keep annoying you till you do as I say.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes as they were filled with tears.
“Idiot.” I breathed out, noticing a glint of a true smile in Kenji’s eyes.
But just as I did, black dots started to dance in my vision, and together with the dizziness, it made me want to vomit and fall asleep at the same time. I pressed my head against his stomach, closing my eyes.
‘So warm.’ I sighed. It was way too cozy in his lap for me not to let the slumber take me.
I heard his voice calling my name, but it was far away. Muffled. The world was muffled. There was an overflow of new sounds that joined his voice… footsteps, cries and a scream, all muffled by a warm embrace.
Chapter 39: Drowning
Summary:
And the consequences might be everlasting.
Notes:
This one I’ve been looking forward to putting out since day one and it’s finally here.
AAAH OKAY, okay, so there’s some fluff, some wholesome moments, other more steamy cause Kayden deserves it, but there is some pretty dark shit too… so get ready.
My first draft of this chapter was 13k words long, so I had to split it with the next one. I hope almost 10k is not that long lolThis chapter was kinda inspired by Avalanche – Avril Lavigne
Warnings: injuries, anxiety, PTSD, panic attacks, slight nonconsensual (but is not what you think).
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
My head bobbed up and down; my cheek was resting against something hard and warm. The air was filled with the smell of sweat and copper.
There was the sound of sticks and leaves being crushed under someone’s feet…
A hushed whisper…
Loud breathing…
I felt weird, disconnected almost.
Then the pain set in. Blazing hot. Throbbing. Incessantly. I heard a choked cry but could quite point out its source.
“Sorry.” A voice mumbled from under me. Kenji. That was Kenji.
I didn’t open my eyes, but I became aware of how his hands wrapped around my legs, holding me on his back as my arms hung around his neck. I couldn’t feel my hands, though. ‘Weird.’
I felt a dull ache coming from my leg, along with something wet. ‘Why is my left sock wet? I hate wet socks.’
“We’re almost there.” Kenji said softly.
I took his word for it, wherever ‘there’ was, and I just let myself be rocked by Kenji’s steps, the heat coming from his body was almost comforting among the pain. Almost. The right side of my face burned hot, like a blazing poker was carved in my temple and someone lit up the sun right in front of my closed eyelids. So, I pressed my head against Kenji’s shoulder, and let the sweet and painless unconsciousness take me back.
…
The first thing I noticed when I came to, were the sheets against my skin and the soft mattress under me. I did a mental check of my body, my head felt cold… no, wet, my hair was wet, like I had just taken a shower. There was something wrapping my whole left thigh and a weird pressure on the right side of my face. It hurt to breathe and my chest was stiff, like it was working overtime to draw in oxygen. My mouth felt dry and my throat was burning hot, matching the piercing headache.
My eyes took time to adjust to the room around me, focusing on the several eyes watching me.
“Hey.” My voice came out hoarse, scratching my throat.
“Hays!” Brooklynn’s face lit up.
Sammy gasped, gripping on Yasmina’s arm. “I’m so glad that you’re up.”
“How are you feeling?” Kenji was at my side, holding my hand. I glanced around the crowded bedroom back at the boat; it looked to be nighttime and the room was dark, only with a few candles to light it, which I appreciated.
Sammy and Yasmina stood on the foot of the bed, Kenji was at one side of me, while Brooklynn was at the other, close to Ben and Darius, who were standing on the doorway. All of them had looks varying from concern to relief.
“Still breathing… so, fine?” I gave him a weak smile. My hand went to the side of my face, where a bunch of gauze was taped to my right temple. It stung when I touched it, so I left it be. I frowned at a redness around my wrists… right, the zip ties. And on my upper arm, more bandages concealed the gash made by the Scorpios.
‘Damn, that seems like it was forever ago.’
“Okay, so what’s your name? What year are we in? And do you know where you are?” Sammy shot one question after the other.
“I’m conscious, okay?” But her gaze held strong. I sighed. “Fine… Hayden Simmons, 2016 and hopefully on our way to Costa Rica.” I finished with a raise of my good eyebrow.
“Nope, still on Nublar.” Yasmina commented.
“We were too worried about you to do anything else.” Kenji said softly, his thumb caressing my hand. I glanced up at him, noticing that he only had his white undershirt instead of the blue one and that he had a huge bruise in his right eye.
My free hand closed around the sheets. ‘He got hurt trying to help me.’
“You got a black eye.” I raised my hand that once was intertwined with his, to his face, my fingers hovering over the bruise.
“I’m fine.” He took my hand back into his. “I’m more worried about you.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but-” I tried to get up and a wave of nausea immediately hit me. My body leaned sideways, but Kenji was there to help me.
“Easy.” He whispered, carefully making me lean back into the bed’s headboard.
“Okay, that was worse than I thought.” My hand went up to my head again, wincing at the throbbing headache and hoping that the room would stop spinning. “By any chance you still have those painkillers, B.?”
“I bet there’s some left, be right back.” Brooklynn dashed out the room, the pink hair flying behind her.
I took my time to evaluate the rest of my injuries. I was wearing the same black shirt with the park’s logo, the red stains were difficult to spot against the dark material, but they were there. I didn’t feel any dry blood on my skin, which I appreciated, probably Sammy’s work. Under the sheets, my hands met… naked skin?
‘Where the fuck are my pants?’ I felt my cheeks heating up.
“Don’t push it, Hays.” Ben said. “You almost died today.”
“No need to remind me.” I pulled the sheets closer. “What happened anyway?”
“We found you with your head cracked open and your leg looking like pincushion.” Yasmina was quick to explain.
I huffed. “Not to me… to Wu and Hawkes.”
“Oh, they got away on their helicopter.” Yasmina shrugged.
“They didn’t get the laptop, though.” Sammy cheered, high-fiving Yasmina.
“They did get a piece of the Indominus.” Kenji mumbled.
“What?” Yasmina asked, her eyes going wide.
“Wu mentioned that they got a sample of the thing.” I said as Brooklynn came back with a couple pills on her hand and a bottle of water. These were different from the ones I saw her taking all those days ago, but I trusted that they would work just fine. I swallowed two of the smallest pills, but they went down like huge nails dragging against my throat.
‘Damn, it hurts so much just to drink water.’ My hand hovered my throat, it felt weird and swollen.
“So, all of this was-
“For nothing?” Kenji scoffed. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Not for nothing, there was a lot of information on that laptop that Wu will never recover.” Darius talked for the first time since I’d woken up, he didn’t look at me though, just at Kenji. “Kenj, listen. Don’t feel bad about stealing the laptop. I get it, we just wanted Hays and Brooklynn back safe.”
My eyes darted back and forth between the two. ‘Kenji stole the laptop to give to Wu?’
“Yeah, I bet you did.” Kenji said bitterly.
“Seriously?” Darius frowned. “What’s your problem?”
Kenji got up and straightened his back, letting go of my hand. “You care more about stupid dinosaurs than us!”
Brooklynn gasped. “Kenji!”
“I only did what Brooklynn asked me to do.” Darius’ voice was small.
“For once, when you have to do the right thing, I’d like to see you put the group first. Just once!” Kenji screamed and a heavy silence lingered in the room. I sneakily captured Kenji’s hand with my own, squeezing it lightly while he stood up to Darius. Especially when I was too tired to do so myself. It was comforting seeing that I wasn’t the only one that thought like that.
Not that I liked to see Kenji like this… well, turns out I kinda liked it when it was directed at me, ‘cause I got to see bold Kenji. And I liked bold Kenji. That side of him didn’t come out that often, which made me wonder what else he was hiding. A cocky guy, very lazy, also a total nerd and a teddy bear on the inside, but let’s not forget hot as hell. ‘Where was I?’ I mentally shook myself. I’d completely lost track of my thought process. Right… Kenji was mad at Darius. Was I mad at Darius? ‘Yeah, I was.’
“Whatever it takes.” Brooklynn broke the silence with a whisper, glancing down at her feet.
‘Right, that’s why I was mad at him.’ I smiled at myself, proud of figuring it out. I glanced around at the long faces. ‘So, people are mad, no smiling right now, then.’ I forced myself to be serious.
“It was a group decision.” Darius stated.
My hand shot up like I was in the classroom. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.” I frowned. Why was my hand up? ‘Get down, hand.’ I let it fall to my lap.
“Look, Hays…I feel terrible about what happened to you.” He finally looked at me. “I really do, but I couldn’t possibly know that was going to happen.”
Kenji squeezed my hand hard. “But still you-”
“He couldn’t know, no one could.” Yasmina said, throwing daggers at Kenji, who huffed at her stare.
Darius nodded as if the matter was settled. “I’ll make sure we have everything ready to leave as soon as Hays feels better.” He turned his back and left the room, leaving me staring at the doorway. ‘That’s it?’
“He means well.” Ben said, giving me an apologetic look. “Feel better.” He said before also leaving.
“I’ll be right back, Hays… I’ll just…” Brooklynn glanced at the door and at Kenji. “Be right back.” Then, she left after Darius.
Kenji slumped down next to me, squeezing my hand a bit too hard while sulking in the corner of the bed. He was frowning and his lips were in a white line from being pressed together, showing that cute dimple on his chin. The urge of running my fingers through that dimple, it I remember correctly, his skin was super soft, but the rational side of my mind kept my hand still.
‘Damn, I’d kiss him right now if we were alone. Kiss his bad mood away.’ Warmth spread in my chest as a smile crept up on my face in realization. I got to do that now… kiss him if I wanted to. Then maybe I actually could reach out to his dimple…
“Okay… this got really awkward.” Yasmina made me break my gaze from Kenji.
‘ Really awkward, right… ’ I was suddenly completely aware that Kenji was sitting next to me while I was almost naked underneath the sheets.
“What’s awkward is that my pants are missing.” I pulled on the sheets closer.
“Oh, we had to take them out to fix ya leg.” Sammy smiled, apologetic.
“Okay… I’m hoping that you did the fixing…” I said to Sammy, while giving Kenji a glance.
Yasmina sighed. “Don’t worry, no dude saw your skinny ass.”
“Hey, it’s a great ass.” I protested, elbowing Kenji. “Right?”
Kenji turned into a tomato. “I- ugh -what?”
Sammy laughed. “Nobody had time to check your ass out, we were more worried about-”
“The pincushion?” I offered.
Sammy held my free hand in hers. “Hays, I’ve been meanin’ to- you kept that terrifyin’ man away from us back there.” She started to tear up. “I’d have never left if I knew what was gonna happen.”
“Yeah, that was on us.” Yasmina dropped her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, I didn’t know what was gonna happen either.” I shrugged. “I don’t blame you.”
“B- But you almost- you-” Sammy was starting to sob and Yasmina placed a hand on her shoulder, which made her sob a little less. “I never wanted you to have to go through somethin’ like that.”
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” I said honestly. “You do whatever it takes to protect your family, right?”
“Oh, I love this Camp Fam.” Sammy pulled me into a bear hug, making me let go of Kenji to hug her back.
Yasmina was looking at us two funny, so I just waved her over. “C’mere.” She groaned, but let me pull her into the hug.
“Aw, what did I do to deserve a friend like you?” I could hear the smile in Sammy’s voice.
“Oh, no, you own me.” I chuckled. “I expect lots of cakes coming my way in the future.”
“Deal.” Sammy laughed through the tears.
Next to me, Kenji let out a loud breath. I glanced at him as soon as Sammy freed me. “Are you mad at me? For going against Hawkes?” He shook his head ‘no’. “It’s okay. I like it when you're mad, just don't be mad in front of everybody again.” I smiled at him.
“I'm not mad at you.” He frowned, his cheeks turning pink.
“Bummer.” I pouted and now he was bright red. “You’re cute.” I chuckled at how easily he blushed. ‘Oh, did I say that out loud?’
“Jeez, are you high or something?” Yasmina was suddenly very close, holding me in place by the shoulders as she stared at my eyes, analyzing it.
“Are you gonna kiss me too?” I asked. “I’ll have to warn you, I have a boyfriend and you are not my type.” At that, both Sammy and Kenji had a fit of cough, almost choking with the air.
Yasmina narrowed her gaze. “What did Brooklynn even give you?”
I shrugged, turning my face away from hers. “I don’t feel any pain.”
“I bet you don’t, hot lips.” She chuckled, backing away. “We’ll leave you to rest then.”
“Bye.” I smiled brightly, holding Kenji’s hand to my lap.
“Alone.” Yasmina pulled Kenji away from my reach.
“Wha- why?”
“Sweet dreams.” She waved.
“Wait, no. Kenji, I know you’re mad, but don’t go kissing Darius, okay?” Kenji’s bright red face was the last thing I saw before Yasmina pulled him past the doorway. “Shit, Sammy, where are my pants?” I started to crawl out of bed while wrapping the sheets around my bare legs.
“You’re gonna stay put and rest.” Sammy placed both hands on my shoulders, keeping me from getting up.
“But-”
“I promise to get them back to you, and to not let Kenji near Darius.” She giggled.
“Fine…” I slumped back to the soft mattress. “You better.”
…
The air was heavy; my feet dragged behind me while my arm strokes proved useless. I couldn’t move. Air? Wait, no, it was water. I was swimming against waves, leaving behind an island. The tide was stronger than me, pushing my head under the waves. The water was freezing cold, numbing my body.
‘Maybe that was why I couldn’t swim.’
A huge wave crashed onto me, sending me to the bottom of the ocean. My back hit the sand momentarily, before the wave pulled me away, tumbling. I opened my eyes, but only saw darkness, the salty water burning my eyes. I tried to kick myself to the surface, but it never came.
‘Where was up?’
The little airI still had in my lungs was running out. The water sent me to the bottom again, my back glued to the sand as the whole ocean compressed me, making all the air that was left to float away.
“No, come back!” I pleaded, trying to reach for the silver bubbles.
My lungs burned, but I refused to give up, to let the water in. Hands made out of sand surrounded me, holding me down, my legs, arms and throat. It pulled me back against the bottom, squeezing. The weight of the water… the pressure of the hands… it all just hurt so much. I was being crushed. I took a deep breath of the sweet oxygen. It only worsened the burning in my lungs, though. I gasped and gasped, but the release never came, instead the dizziness set in.
‘I’m dying.’ The pressure in my neck increased, crushing it until I heard a crack…
I woke up gasping for air, clawing at the invisible hands in my throat. I slowly blinked, taking in the room I was in. The bed, solid. The air, not heavy. I let out a harsh breath, my throat dry. I found a bottle of water next to my head and gulped it down in seconds, even though it hurt like hell to swallow it.
I was alone in the dark room.
‘How long had I been asleep for?’ I glanced around, next to my pillow lay my old pair of sweatpants, cleaned and folded neatly.
“Thanks Sammy.” I mumbled out loud and I put it on. Four big slashes were visible in the fabric, showing my bandages underneath. I guess I was lucky Hawkes hit the outside of my thigh, ‘cause bandages wouldn’t have cut it if he had hit something more important.
As I stood up, the headache I expected to be drilling against my temple wasn’t there, nor was the pain on my leg, or anything really. Under all of those bandages, I felt the tightness on my skin where the wounds were, and my muscles were all stiff, like I had just run a marathon and my whole body was begging me to go back to bed. I guess whatever Brooklynn had given me was still doing its job, which meant I wasn’t out for long, hopefully someone was still awake.
The rumble in my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten for a whole day, maybe more? So, there I went hopping away to find food. I didn’t find anybody in the inside quarters, but I did find a bag of chips. I heard voices coming from the main deck, so I took a peek, but the boy with the good hair wasn’t there. Betting that I’d find Kenji in the cockpit, I hopped up the ladder, one step at a time.
I was breathing heavily by the time I reached the top, but alas I found Kenji sitting on the floor of the top deck, with only an electric candle next to him. He had his blue shirt back on and sat quietly against a wall, hugging his knees close to his chest. The chatter of the rest of the campers was audible from the deck below us, but Kenji chose to sit by himself, away from all the noise.
His eyes locked on me as soon as he heard me hopping towards him. “Hays? What are you doing out of bed?” His voice came out full of concern. He motioned to get up but I dismissed him by tossing the bag of chips at him.
“I got my pants back.” I simply said. “Now, scoot over.”
He frowned as I sat next to him. “You look pale, are you sure you’re okay?”
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “Wow Kenj, you sure do know how to make a girl feel pretty.”
“No, I mean you look tired, that’s all.” He corrected himself, sounded exhausted himself.
I let out a harsh sigh. “I am tired, just not sleepy.”
Kenji nodded, opening the chips. He took a few and returned the bag to me, which I promptly attacked. Regretting not having brought any water, I forced the chips down my dry throat.
“I saw you getting into a helicopter, what happened?”
“It crashed.” Kenji said as if it was the most normal thing in the world, while I stared at him dumbfounded. He shrugged. “Pteranodons.”
“Did anyone get hurt?”
He sighed. “Just the pilot. She’s gone.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
“And I’m glad you’re okay.” He looked at me, but I only averted my gaze. “Are you okay?”
I huffed, throwing a potato chip in my mouth. “Ask me that tomorrow.”
I focused on eating while an awkward silence lingered between us. I noticed Kenji fidgeting next to me, glancing at me with the corner of his eye. I even offered more chips but he refused… go figure what was going on inside his head. I had been meaning to ask him about what Darius had said earlier, about Kenji stealing the laptop or something. Was it not the plan for Kenji to do the exchange? I wanted to know, but at the same time I didn’t want to bring up the topic, I just wanted to let it all be in the past. So, while I ate my chips, I got to appreciate the view.
The night was clear of any clouds, showcasing the stars in all their glory. That’s one thing we didn’t see everywhere, the night sky was so bright, so full of stars it seemed you could pinpoint the hundreds of different galaxies. The blues with a mixture of red and purple really made me want to have a camera with me. Although I doubt the lenses were able to capture the night sky to its totality. It would be like taking a picture of the moon with a phone’s camera. Talking about the moon, it was missing from the sky tonight. Somehow, it made it seem much more special, like the stars had all of the stage to themselves.
It might be beautiful, but it was damn cold. The ocean breeze was in full blast mode, making me shiver.
My hands reached the bottom of the bag of chips. Empty. ‘Oh, man.’ I sighed, tossing the bag aside.
Kenji cleared his throat. “You know… I never got the chance to say…” He captured one lock of my hair, playing with it between his fingers. “…but you look pretty with the new look.” He blushed a bit at the words.
“Thanks.” I smiled. “I miss the blue, though.”
“That was pretty too.”
I raised my hand to cup his face, rubbing my thumb against his patchy beard. “Now, that we’re getting rid of…”
He smirked with a glint of playfulness in his eyes. “Yeah?” He cupped my face with both hands, careful not to touch my injured temple and pulled me closer, rubbing his raspy beard against my cheek.
“No, Kenji!” My voice came out in a high pitch as I tried to squirm away from him, but he only laughed at me. “Stop!” I smacked him in the arm until he pulled away.
“See, that’s what you get from talking like that of my beard.” He laughed.
“You can’t even call that a beard.”
“What was that?” He motioned to pull me in again.
“You’re so annoying.” I smacked him one more time, but he didn’t seem to mind as he pulled me close nonetheless.
I was about to smack him again, but his lips met my own. I couldn’t help but melt into him, my eyes fluttering close as he pulled me in. Kenji wrapped his arms around me so gently and softly, like I was made out of glass and one wrong move would shatter me into a million pieces. Replacing the chill of the night with him; his warmth spreading to me as we kissed slowly. I could only cling onto him as my heart fluttered.
“You’re so damn annoying.” I whispered into the kiss.
Kenji chuckled, showering me with light pecks, on my cheeks… forehead… nose… everywhere but my lips. I caught myself whining; any other day, I would’ve been embarrassed by that sound, but today I didn’t care. I just wanted Kenji to hold me and close the distance he’d created. And when he obliged, a purr rumbled from inside of me; our lips pressing together ever so tenderly that I could get lost on him forever.
My hands played with his patchy beard while his, traveled up my back, drawing invisible patterns that even over the shirt, sent chills up my spine. He nibbled at my lower lip and a sting of pain from my split lip distracted me for a second, but Kenji’s tongue brushing over it made me forget about everything.
He tasted like potato chips, salty. ‘Yup, that’s my favorite snack now.’
I gripped his shirt, bringing him desperately closer, wanting to taste more of him. Kenji pulled on my hair, making me gasp, but not of pain, no, Kenji only took the pain away. Through my parted lips, our tongues met, curious. He groaned deeply as his hand traveled up to my neck.
Big hands that easily wrapped around it. Tight.
‘No, stop it! This isn’t him … it’s Kenji.’ I told myself as a whimper escaped my lips. I shut my eyes even tighter, trying to forget about the memory that tried to invade my mind. Kenji’s hand remained there and I could feel my heart beating on my throat. I couldn’t let Hawkes ruin this moment.
‘Go back to the moment, focus on Kenji… on his lips… his touch.’ I could only tighten my fists, scrunching Kenji’s shirt while at it; trying to stay as still as possible and hope that this feeling went away.
But it lingered… the tightness… the helplessness… the lack of oxygen as his hand closed around my throat. Squeezing.
“Stop!” I blurted out, lurching backwards, away from the hands that kept me under water.
“Hays?” Kenji looked at me with wide and scared eyes. “Sorry. Did I hurt you? Did I-”
“Not you.” I shook my head, but it was like someone was drilling into my temple. My hands hovered over my own neck, the pressure still there, the pain, the constant burning… so hard to breathe.
The ghostly hands were still there. Squeezing.
My vision swam before me. Again that twisted smile, showing its teeth with a snarl, was laughing at my desperation, keeping all the oxygen from reaching my lungs. I let my head fall, heavy as a silent scream tried to escape, but there was no air for it.
That sick laughter rang in my ears, then I heard a strangled squeak, realizing it came from me.
‘What is happening? Why can’t I breathe?’ I gasped, again and again, craving the sweet taste of oxygen, but it never came. ‘Help! I can’t breathe! Help!’ A call for help got choked by my closed down throat, no air would pass through there.
“Make it stop.” I didn’t even recognize the desperation of my own voice. My vision went in and out of focus as I stared at the wooden floor, no, the grass under me. The bright green grass spattered with red. Then, the blue blob was in front of me. His arms around me, trapping me and keeping all the air out. I tried to fight it, to push him away, but my strength was fading. I couldn’t even keep my head up, let alone fight the strong arms locking me in place.
‘I’m going to die. That was it. He really was killing me.’ My heart was racing. Fast. Too fast. I could hear it in my ears, filling the blurry world with the soundtrack of my desperate heart beating. My lungs fought for air as my heart was beating out my chest. With one last attempt, I clawed at the hands squeezing my throat, but they were relentless, holding me down.
Everything started spiraling.
‘I’m dying.’
And that’s when the world tilted on its axis.
…
I found myself curled up to a ball. My face was against something cold and hard. There was a voice talking to me, but I just couldn’t make myself focus on it, so I tried to focus on something else. My hands were wrapping around my legs, which made a dull pain rise from it, so I let that go, the pain instantly got better. My head was also throbbing, but the cold floor helped with it. There was something warm on top of me, my fingers closed around a soft material that smelled familiar.
I hesitantly blinked my eyes open, taking in the wooden floor below me.
“Hays? Can you hear me?” Kenji’s voice had a hint of desperation, but it remained soft. “Hayden, please…”
I looked up to see him hovering atop of me, eyes glowing because of the tears that threatened to fall. His hands were frozen in the air, almost like surrendering or… hesitant to touch me. He was back to only wearing his tank top. Ah, so that’s what was warm around me, his shirt.
“Are you back?” He asked and I gave him the smallest nod, anything else just hurt too much. He let out the heaviest sigh. “Can I?” He motioned with his hands, and again I only nodded.
Kenji’s warm arms wrapped around me, pulling me to his lap as the smell of the ocean impregnated my nose.
‘I like that smell.’ I reminded myself. ‘Yeah, I do.’ My head was resting against his chest. It went up and down rhythmically, so I tried to match my breathing to it. In. Out. In. Out.
‘Oh, I can breathe again.’ I could hear Kenji’s heart beating, a bit fast, but normal. I could no longer hear my own, though. ‘Good. Yeah, that’s good. Normal.’
And that’s when I noticed his shirt was growing damp and so was my face. Tears were streaming down, soaking everything and leaving a salty taste in my mouth.
‘I almost died.’ A choked sob escaped my lips and the arms around me tightened its grip.
“You’re safe, Haydie.” Kenji’s voice was soft, but firm. “It’s okay.”
What he said was reassuring, but it broke something inside me, because now I was full on sobbing against his chest, gripping at his shirt as if my life depended on it. The only life jacket on the sea that tried to drown me.
‘Pull yourself together, dammit. You’re not dead, you didn’t die, you’re okay.’ I hated that he was seeing me like this. I wasn’t vulnerable … that was not me, my hobby was to get into fights, for god’s sake!
‘What is wrong with you? Stop crying!’ But the fact that I couldn’t stop crying only made me cry even more.
“So, I know we don’t have a calendar, but I think my birthday is close.” Kenji said.
‘What was he talking about?’ I dug my head into his chest, trying to muffle my sobs.
“I should throw a party, obvi you all are invited. I bet my dad will hire that chef I like. Oh, it’s gonna be awesome. I can show you around my place… can’t wait for you to see my bedroom, it’s huge!” I focused on his words while I sobbed away. “And- and I don’t mean anything by it, I just want you to show it to you cause my bedroom is dope. It was personally designed by- well, it doesn’t really matter.” He sighed. “When is your birthday anyways?” He paused, waiting for something, but I could only hear my sobs. “Hays?” He tried again.
“Huh?” I took a shaky breath.
“Your birthday, when is it?” Kenji asked softly.
‘He asked you a question. Answer the question.’ I ordered my brain, but it had all turned to mush, so it took a while for me to focus enough.
“November 13th.” My voice came out hoarse and wobbly.
“Okay, I’m throwing you a party too, but don’t tell… it’s a surprise.” He laughed and I felt his chest rumble under me.
Kenji went for hours talking nonsense. Rambling about his life with his dad, his school, how he maxed out a level in some game… it all got mixed together with my tears.
“Favorite color?” He’d ask.
And my answer always came muffled and hesitant. “Black.”
“Mine’s blue!” He’d say all excited.
Kenji would brush my hair lightly, his fingers grazing my scalp. I know I was supposed to be in pain, whatever Brooklynn had given me had clearly run out by now, but in this little bubble that Kenji had created, there wasn’t any pain. The cold floor didn’t bother me, nor did my head or how my leg was going numb from the weird position.
“Favorite movie?” Kenji asked.
“Scream 4.” I poked my head out of his chest, my tears drying out.
“I haven’t watched that one, we should watch it together, maybe after we marathon Fast & Furious.” He nodded.
“I’d like that.” I smiled, my cheeks stiff like they didn’t remember how to.
“It’s a date.” He smiled back, giving me a peck on the forehead.
I frowned. “Our first date is not going to be a Fast & Furious marathon.” My voice was small, but my annoyance was clear.
“So, um… you- you’ll go on a date with me?” He glanced down, his eyes wide.
“Yeah, dumbass.” My cheeks got used to smiling again.
“Ka-ching.” His chest rumbled with laughter.
“So annoying.” I nudged him with my forehead and we fell into a comfortable silence, only with the sound of his heart beating under my ear as his chest went up and down. A wave of shame came over me. I never meant for him to see me like this… so broken and pathetic. “I’m sorry.” I finally said.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He was quick to assure me. “I used to have panic attacks all the time as a kid, when my mom… she passed away.” His voice turned gloomy.
“I’m sorry.” I mumbled, looking up at him.
“It’s in the past.” He shrugged dismissively. “People used to talk to me through it, it always helped.”
“Only you can annoy me out of a panic attack.” I gave him a half smile. It was weird to put a name to what happened. Panic attack. The words felt weird in my mouth, like they didn’t begin to describe what I was feeling. And it was something I’d never want to feel again. To relive the moment was agonizing.
“That’s what I’m here for.” Kenji hugged me tighter.
“Thanks, Kenj.” I muttered.
“Anytime.” He kissed the top of my head.
…
Kenji insisted on me going back to bed. I knew he was still trying to make me feel better, acting all goofy and cracking jokes, but the bubble had burst the moment we left the upper deck. The pain was back in full force, leaving me weak and lightheaded, having to rely on Kenji to walk my way back to bed. So, I made sure we picked up another of those pills for the pain, no way in hell I was going to be able to relax with the heavy metal band having a concert inside my head.
Now, we were sitting on the bed, my head resting on his shoulder while he talked about a Fast and Furious movie. I pretty much hummed automatic responses as my mind traveled back to moments ago.
I really did think I was going to die. Choked by invisible hands. And I couldn’t fight it, so, in a way, it was even worse than what happened yesterday in the grasslands. Hawkes… he would have killed me if Wu hadn’t intervened. The memory was fuzzy, but the words were clear in my mind. ‘They are not our mission.’ Well, at least I thought that was Wu.
Years training on the mat, only to be taken down by an old man. My blood started to boil just at the thought. I should’ve broken his arm when he asked me to. He freaking asked me to! Fucking psycho!
If I hadn’t hesitated, maybe I’d have had the upper hand. And that silver flash crossing the air…maybe I’d have escaped the knife. The piercing hot stab, going into my leg, again and again. Now they were hidden under thick bandages, I hadn’t even seen the stab wounds, nor I wanted to. The permanent ragged edges that would heal without stitches, leaving ugly scars for life. His face coming up every time I see it. Hawkes… there forever, with me.
And the worst was that he wouldn’t leave my mind. His deranged look standing on top of me. The scars he had left. He kept ruining things even though he wasn’t actually here. I couldn’t even kiss Kenji without him coming up. Is that how it’s gonna be? Breaking down just with a touch to the neck? I couldn’t have that. I wouldn’t let him ruin my moments with Kenji too.
I blinked as hands waved in front of my eyes.
“Hays?” Kenji’s concerned gaze was locked on me.
“Sorry.” I gave him a half-smile.
“You okay? You’ve been gone for a minute there.”
“I’m fine. You were saying?”
“Never mind.” I couldn’t figure out if he sounded sad or concerned.
“No, no, you were saying something about um…” I had to pause to think about it. “The Tokyo one, right? It’s your favorite.”
“We don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want to.” He had a lost puppy face on, looking at me with his chocolatey eyes.
“Oh, no, it’s fine.” I was quick to reassure him. “I just zoned out, I’m sorry.” I took his hand in mine, squeezing it gently. His gaze bore into mine as if searching for something, analyzing it. I had never seen that look on him, but it resembled his concentrated face, his dimple almost showing. “What?” I chuckled a bit nervously under his gaze.
Without a word, he towered over me, his arms wrapping around me tightly, not enough to hurt, just so it wouldn’t be any space between us.
“Just making sure.” He mumbled into my hair.
“Of what?” My laugh was muffled by his chest.
“Nothing.” He pulled away so we could look at each other. His eyes were a mix of happiness with sadness and worry. But I couldn’t have that, I was tired of these dark emotions that seemingly didn’t leave me, I wanted to chase them away, so that’s what I did. I leaned closer, connecting our lips in a soft and gentle kiss, and even though Kenji responded to me a bit hesitant, it still sent butterflies to my stomach.
I pulled away slowly, keeping my eyes closed for a second more before I locked eyes with Kenji again. This time, the sadness and worry were gone, there were just his warm gentle eyes reflecting my own.
“And what was that for?” He smiled goofily.
“Just making sure.” I smiled back, my hand leaving his shoulder to go to his face. I played with his beard for a bit, then I let my hand explore more of him as he leaned in to my touch, eyes half open and a lazy smile on his face.
Seeing him from such a close distance made my hands grow curious. Slowly, I drew his eyebrows, fingertips hovering in the bruise on his eyes, but I quickly moved on from there to his cheekbones and his sharp jaw. But I left the best for last, I let my thumb drag across his lower lip as Kenji swallowed hard with his eyes now locked on me. I caressed it until he parted his lips and I could feel the warmth of his mouth on my thumb. He was breathing heavily at this point. So damn hot on how just a touch could turn him into a mess. Looking at him like that only made the heat grow inside of me.
So, with a devious smirk I moved closer and climbed onto his lap, careful not to show how that made my leg cramp up. The pounding in my head was long gone and I was sure my leg wouldn’t be a problem for much longer. So, I settled for something between sitting on his lap and on the ankle of my good leg, since I couldn’t really bend the other one. But that didn’t matter, cause Kenji was looking at me with his dark eyes, the same look he had from our first kiss.
I loved to see this side of him. Kenji looked so pretty, tank top showing his broad shoulders and defined arms; his eyes really sparkled with the candle light.
I continued where my finger had left off, but this time with my lips, just teasing, hovering, never really kissing him. He dug his fingers on my hips which incited a chuckle from me, so I moved on from his lips to his cheek, all the way to his ear. I sucked on his earlobe, to which Kenji made a noise deep on his throat, his fingers digging into my skin.
He was out of breath by the time I went back to his lips, about to finally capture them with my own when Kenji placed his hands on my shoulders, pushing me back so I’d look into his eyes.
“Hays… I- I don’t think we should do this right now.” His breathing was labored and his eyes dark, but his voice was full of concern for me, which honestly made my heart flutter.
“I’m good.” I gave him a small smile. “Promise.” I kept my voice confident to reassure him. I wouldn’t let you-know-who ruin this too, I wanted to make sure Kenji forgets about it and knew that it wasn’t happening again.
I glanced at his parted lips and leaned toward them, tilting my head slightly, but before I could kiss him, Kenji turned his face and my lips met his cheek, making me groan.
“We don’t need to do this.” He insisted.
“What’s wrong?”
“I should be asking you this.”
“Nothing’s wrong, I just need a little distraction.”
“I don’t think-”
I interrupted him, kissing him on the cheek. “Don’t need to think.”
“This is about those pills, right? Yaz said not to give more to you…”
I groaned, pulling away just so I could look him in the eye. “Yaz doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Besides, those little things haven’t even taken effect yet.” It wasn’t a full on lie, yes I could feel the numbness from the pills taking over my body slowly, but that didn’t have nothing to do with this. I wanted Kenji to think of me and not remember how weak and vulnerable I was just because of- Ugh. I wanted… I wanted him to feel good under my lips. I wanted to feel good. Anything other than the dark pit that threatened to swallow me whole.
“This feels weird.”
I ignored how that stung and went back to tease him with my lips. “A good weird I hope.” I whispered to his ear. Then, I moved to leave small kisses down his neck.
Kenji tensed up under me. “I’ve never- you’re my first real girlfriend…” His breathing was back to that heavy mess I was aiming for. “I don’t know what to do.”
I struggled to decipher his mumbling, but when I did, I could only grin at his cuteness. “Just kiss me.” I locked eyes with him again, our noses touching.
I could see his eyes grow dark as he glanced down at my lips. I let my hand wander to the nape of his neck, nails grazing the skin as Kenji inhaled sharply.
But instead of giving in, he shut his eyes, shaking his head. “I- I don’t think we should.”
‘Why is he being so difficult?’ I refrained from letting out a loud groan. Instead, I let my hand slip lower and I studied his face. I let my nails graze at his collarbone, allowing my hand to feel the length of his arm, taking in the shape of his hard muscles; imagining his arms wrapping around me, holding me. Every time my nails made contact with his skin, I saw Kenji fighting a gasp. His hands were fisting my shirt, but never really touching me.
He finally opened his eyes, pupils shot as I rested my hand on his chest. I smirked at how fast his heart was beating under my palm. I could feel the warmth radiating from him and I couldn’t wait to feel his skin without that stupid tank top. I was beginning to have as much of a hard time continuing the teasing than he was ignoring it.
Kenji wasn’t even looking at my eyes anymore, his gaze locked on my lips. I purposefully bit my lower lip, watching as his breath hitched. I probably would end up kissing him on the lips right then and there, so with my thumb under his chin, I turned his head away so I could access his neck again.
“Say you don’t want me to kiss you.” I whispered into his ear, my voice rasp.
“Hays…” Kenji shuddered.
I dragged my lips lower, meeting the base of his neck. “Say it and I’ll stop.” I sucked hard and Kenji moaned loudly, his hands back on my waist, now pulling me closer. His touch was fire, all my nerves were going haywire as I had to control myself not to moan with him.
“I do… want to kiss you.” Kenji let it out between ragged breaths.
I gladly left the crook of his neck to meet his eager lips, and this time he let me. His lips parted for me, so I deepened the kiss, tasting him. The potato chips taste was all gone now, which was a pity. I had my hands on Kenji’s hair, pulling on it slightly and drawing soft sounds from him every time I did it.
It was awkward for a moment, our noses bumping and too much teeth, almost making me want to laugh, but I quickly adjusted that, taking control of the kiss. His mouth was burning… his fingers digging on my skin… but I still felt Kenji’s hands hesitant, keeping me from coming closer and not really trying to go higher or lower for that matter. And I couldn’t have that. I wanted this kiss to be seared into his brain, making him forget about the last one. Making me forget.
Ignoring his hands, I pressed him impossibly closer, pinned against the bed’s headboard. Kissing him harder, my tongue exploring his mouth as he tried to keep up. His mouth was so addicting. My kisses turned greedier and sloppier as something like a growl came from my throat. Kenji finally woke up from whatever trance he was in, his hand traveled to my tangled hair, tugging on it. That made me break away from the kiss with a surprised moan coming from deep inside me.
I cupped his face, tilting it to the side so I could access his neck again, leaving open mouth kisses on my new favorite place. Kenji melted under me, panting as I took care of his neck. He let out the most beautiful sounds as he tried to catch his breath.
“Kenji…” I groaned into his skin. My back arched into him just by his sounds alone. I wanted to be closer to him, for him to touch my bare skin, to press down into him, to feel him.
“Hays.” Kenji made me leave his neck, and now we were face to face. Both of his hands were on my sides, although I wanted them just a little higher. His eyes were pools of darkness in the dim lit bedroom, his lips were parted as he panted, red and swollen because of me.
“Fuck.” I breathed out at the sight of his glistening lips, making my stomach clench. I thank God I wasn’t standing right now, cause my knees would buckle for sure. I chased his lips again, hungry for him, his warmth and his smell. My hands had a life of their own, while one was forever on his hair, the other explored lower. I grinned as I felt the ripples of his abs. I tugged on his tank top so I could feel it properly. But with a groan, Kenji tensed up under me, his hands returning to my waist, pushing me away.
“Hays.” He called into the kiss. I didn’t want to end this, to separate my lips from his. “Hays.” He was more insistent this time.
With a sigh I pulled away, resting my forehead against his, eyes still closed as I breathed hard. “Yeah?”
“I don’t wanna hurt you.” From his voice alone, one might think he was in pain.
It was like the whole world was a blur and I could only focus on his swollen lips. Addicted to how soft they were. I had to concentrate real hard to formulate words right now. “You’re not, and you won’t.” I said.
“Are you sure? Cause I don’t want to push.” I held my finger to his mouth, shushing him. ‘He wasn’t the one doing the pushing.’
“I just wanna be here with you.” I brushed my finger against his lips. “Let me be here with you, Kenj.”
His breath hitched. “I don’t know.” He stuttered. “Can we just talk for a moment?”
Annoyance was starting to pool inside me, but I pushed that down, instead I smirked at him. “Sure, what do you want to talk about?” I let my hand rest on my lap.
He looked everywhere but me. “Um… eh… pets? Do you have any pets?” He bluntly asked, as if it was the first thing it came to his mind.
I inched my hands closer, ever so close to his abs. “Does an Ankylosaurus count?”
“No.”
“Then, I don’t.” I finally reached his shirt, pulling it up slowly.
He inhaled sharply, and I saw a million emotions go through his eyes. Then it settled for something like determination. “One second.”
He grabbed hold of my hands, removing them from him, making me whine, but he ignored me. Then he removed me from his lap, letting me sit on the bed alone while he got up. His hair was a hot mess, all tangled up because of me. I chuckled as I noticed that his neck already had some red circles forming. ‘Oops.’ I let my eyes wander even lower, biting my lip at the bulge on his pants.
I was shamelessly oogling, feeling hot all over. With an amused smile, I watched him gather all the pillows from the bedroom, placing them like a wall dividing the bed. “There.” He stood proud, laying on the other side of the wall.
“You scared of me, Kon?” I chuckled.
“Yes.” He deadpanned. “You and your hands.”
“What else are you scared of?” I let my voice grow rasp.
“Your hands and your…” He groaned. “Stop!”
“You’re the one who said you wanted to talk.” I said innocently. “I’m talking.”
“Let’s talk about something else.”
“Like…?” I laid down on my side of the wall, staring at the ceiling as I tried not to laugh at him.
“Like, what’s your favorite food?”
I sighed. “You already know that.” The thought of fries and ketchup crossed my mind.
“Ice cream?” He sounded amused. “That’s not food.”
“You eat it, so it’s a food.” I shrugged. “What’s yours then?”
“Pizza.”
“Is that really your answer? Pizza?”
“What’s wrong with pizza?”
‘So basic, well… I guess ice cream is too…’ I chuckled. “Nothing. Pizza is fine.”
“There’s this pizza place near my house, it’s my favorite.” There was a smile on his voice. “I used to go there all the time. My dad even went with me sometimes.”
“Is there an ice cream shop near it, by any chance?”
He paused for a moment. “Maybe.”
“Hm…good.”
A comfortable silence grew in the bedroom. The lingering sensation of Kenji’s lips on mine, his fingers digging on my skin… were still very much present.
‘Fucking Kenji and his pillow wall.’ I really wanted him to be lying next to me, his warmth chasing the cold away. But the fucking wall… I hated being treated like a glass doll, like I was going to break at any given moment.
‘But you did break.’ A voice in my head reminded me. ‘And you have the scars to prove it.’
‘I don’t want their pity. I did what I did because I had to and would’ve done it again.’ Yasmina and Sammy’s terrified faces flashed through my eyes, backed into a corner by Hawkes. ‘I’d do it for any of them.’ The certainty didn’t even faze me. Everybody was going home, I didn’t care about the price.
‘Are you sure you can pay this price?’ My conscience insisted. ‘It might stay with you forever.’
‘Everybody is alive and that’s enough for me.’ I told myself, as if it would make it true. But the truth was, it was exhausting, both physically and mentally. And I was not sure if I was ready for the repercussions of the latter.
“Hays?” Kenji called and I absentmindedly hummed in response. “Are you sleeping?”
“No.”
“What’s your phone number?”
“Huh?” I was a bit taken aback about how sudden of a question it was.
“So we can keep in touch, you did accept to go on a date with me.” His voice was smug.
“Oh, right.”
“You- um, don’t need to if you don’t want to. I mean… I get it if you changed your mind.” All the confidence left his voice.
“Are you sure you want to date someone full of scars?” It was out of my mouth before I could even think about the words.
“I have scars too.” Kenji sounded a bit offended.
I sighed. “Mine are ugly and all over the place.”
“Don’t say that.” A pillow went flying and I could see his face on the other side of the bed.
I turned to my side, just enough so I could see him, but without putting pressure on my wounds. “But it’s true.”
“I don’t mind them, why should you?” He frowned.
They are gross… ugly… and…“They remind me of too much bad shit.” I let out a harsh breath.
Kenji looked me straight in the eyes. “If I could, I’d kiss all your scars away.”
I sucked the air in, heat traveling through my body. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” He looked truly confused.
“Cause that makes me wanna kiss you.” I stared back into his chocolatey eyes, which grew wide.
“I-” His voice faltered.
“Can we?” My voice came out as a plea, but I didn’t care.
“Hays…” His tone, apprehensive, almost frightened. “I don’t want you to go through that again. Ever.”
“I just- I just wanna forget about it all.” I stuttered, anxiety pooling inside me. “Please, Kenji.”
Pillows went flying across the room as he moved over to be next to me, our noses almost touching as he took a deep breath.
“Just keep your hands where I can see them, okay?” His cheeks were slightly flushed, a soft pink that matched his still swollen lips.
“Beautiful.” I mumbled.
Kenji blushed in a deep shade of red, his face, ears and even neck. ‘He was too damn cute for his own good.’ His initial shyness disappeared and he captured a lock of my hair and placed it behind my ear, then he cupped my face.
“Hands?”
“I’m not moving.” I chuckled at his request, but I gripped my shirt, making sure they would stay put anyway.
“Good.” His voice was low. “I- I wanna try something, okay?” Suddenly he sounded unsure again.
“Okay.” I breathed out, my heart pounding against my chest in anticipation.
I felt his breathing tickling my lips before he closed the distance with the kiss. His lips seemed even softer right now, moving slowly against my own. It was a slow kiss, yes, but an intense one nonetheless. Kenji’s lips parted immediately and I did the same, letting him be in control. He was purposefully drawing out the kiss, savoring the moment, no rush in the world.
His hand was still cupping my face, and he turned my body so I was lying flat on the mattress, with his chest gently pressed against mine. It took all my willpower not to move my hands, but I didn’t, cause he asked me to.
A fire lit beneath my skin, not a scorching and destructive one, but warm and comforting. A warmth that came from Kenji. I focused on his touch, how his thumb caressed my cheek, getting to taste his tongue as it met mine, inciting soft whimpers to escape me. I didn’t fight it, I just let myself get lost on him. I wanted to let Kenji keep kissing me forever, letting our tongues dance in tender kisses.
But eventually, Kenji pulled away, our heavy breathing got mixed together as we tried to recover from the kiss. I felt like I was in a daze, Kenji’s eyes warm and gentle glancing at me, his face flushed red. I was pretty sure, this time, I was redder than him.
“So how was that?” He sounded unsure, searching my eyes for something. I couldn’t bring myself to answer, so I just nuzzled my nose onto his neck, humming softly. “Is that all that I get?” His chest rumbled with laughter.
“I think I forgot how to put words together.” I laughed breathlessly.
“So… good?”
“Perfect.”
We stayed for what it felt like forever in the warmth of the bed, holding each other. I was using Kenji’s chest as a pillow, one arm circling his waist as he wrapped his strong arms around me. I could feel his steady breathing moving my head up and down until I felt my eyes wanting to close.
“Can you stay?” I asked, holding my breath as I thought I was asking for too much. But I couldn’t help it, I wanted to stay like this forever.
“I can um… stay until you fall asleep.” His voice was hesitant. ‘Well, that’s better than nothing…’
“You do like to watch me sleep, huh?” I chuckled, the drowsiness escaping me.
“What? No!” He whined, sitting up so suddenly that my head plopped to the mattress.
I ignored the electric shocks that shot from my temple, cause Kenji’s face was the most adorable tomato red. “You’re so cute when you blush, Mr. Tomato Head.”
His blush only deepened as he tried to find his words back. “Then it won’t be for long, ‘cause the minute you start snoring, I’m out.”
“I told you. I don’t snore.” I narrowed my eyes, but soon relaxed at how familiar this scene felt.
“Like a pig.” Kenji grinned.
“Dumbass.” I grabbed a pillow and threw it straight to his face. “Headshot.” I laughed.
“Stop trying to murder me, you need to go to sleep.” He pouted.
“Make me.”
“Oh, I will.” Kenji laid the blanket over me, tucking me in.
“That’s not what I meant.” I whined, but didn’t stop him.
“Too bad.” He settled for the edge of the bed, only our hands interlocked together. “Cause now you’ll hear about the time I almost blew up my pool.”
“A bedtime story?” I giggled.
“Shush.” His face was serious, but in his voice it was clear he was trying not to laugh. “It was the fourth of July and…”
Notes:
How are we feeling about this so far? I still have one more chapter to go. They actually are making it back to Costa Rica after season 3, not a spoiler since I made it clear I won’t be doing seasons 4 and 5. But don’t worry, I intend on fixing all the loopholes this canon divergence causes.
PS: I think that was more of a PTSD scene than a panic attack, idk. I’d be surprised if any of the campers came out without PTSD.
Chapter 40: Nublar Seven
Summary:
Goodbye dino-island!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The sun was high in the sky. I enjoyed the warmth against my skin, ridding me of the lingering coldness from my dreams. Even if I had no trouble falling asleep, my sleep was restless. I woke up several times in the night, always the same dream where I ended up on the bottom of the ocean.
“Sleep well?” Kenji asked as I joined them in the main deck for breakfast.
“Yeah.” I lied, but my smile was genuine, remembering how he had stayed by my side until I fell asleep last night.
“You look better.” Brooklynn scooted over for me to sit next to her.
“Thanks.” I mumbled. Well, I didn’t feel better. I’m pretty sure she was lying. My head was throbbing and I couldn’t move that fast without getting dizzy. Also, I couldn’t move fast at all because of my leg, the dull pain coming back every time I moved. “So, do you have any more of those pills by any chance?”
“Yaz told me not to give you any…” Brooklynn glanced at the girl, warily.
“How considerate.” I gave Yasmina a death stare, but she remained unfazed. “So, what’s for breakfast?” I asked, giving up.
“Nublar berries with a side of canned pineapple.” Sammy opened up a bright smile.
“And now, for the main course…” Ben showed up with a plate over his head. “…the plumest and the juiciest…” All of us were on the edge of our seats. “…Nublar grubs!” He laid the plate, full of slimy white larvae in front of us.
“Ew.” A collective groan and sounds of puking went around the table.
“Hand-selected by yours truly.” He grabbed one of the grubs as it squirmed between his fingers. “Thank you for your sacrifice.” Ben put the whole thing in his mouth, munching.
I turned my face away immediately, feeling my stomach doing somersaults.
“Come on.” Yasmina groaned, putting her hands over her face.
“Do you have to do that here?” Darius complained.
Ben licked his fingers, offering the plate to us.
“Well, I guess the least I can do is keep an open mind.” Sammy hesitantly took one grub. She got it really close to her opened mouth, watching it as it moved, its slime dripping to the floor. Our eyes were fixed on Sammy as she was about to take a bite. “Uh-uh.” She gulped, throwing the grub away.
Yasmina screamed as the thing landed on her head, she slapped it across the table, now landing on Darius’ nose. He panicked, too afraid to touch it with his hands.
Ben shrugged. “How you all survived, I’ll never know.” He took the grub and tossed it into his mouth like it was a french fry. Suddenly, the berries on my plate didn’t look very appetizing.
“Okay.” Sammy side-eyed the plate of grubs. “No tears or goodbyes until we’re sitting on the plane, but can I just say, look at us.” She smiled. “We started as campers, and now, we’re-”
“Immortal?” Ben asked.
“Survivors?” Brooklynn offered.
“Exhausted.” Kenji took a bite from a berry.
“Sore?” I chuckled.
“I was gonna say soulmates.” Sammy finished, earning a glance from Yasmina.
“Still doesn’t feel real.” Darius sighed. “We finally are going home. Go us!” He punched the air.
I refrained from commenting something sarcastic. ‘Like something terrible never happens when we say that.’ I sighed.
‘Maybe something terrible has already happened.’ A voice said in my head, and this time I agreed with the voice. ‘And it could’ve been avoided...’ I noticed Kenji staring at Darius, his eyes reflecting my own thoughts.
“I’m gonna miss you guys so much!” Sammy was practically shaking on her seat. “Before we get off this boat. I’ll need everyone to write down their email addresses, social media handles, and weekly availabilities for a group check-in.” Sammy and Yasmina exchanged a smile. “Also, your favorite kind of cake and the best time of day to receive packages. And maybe, I don’t know, for fun, your favorite memory of just the two of us.” She finished it off with a nervous giggle.
“Right, but before all that… how about we leave this island already?” Darius suggested.
“Finally!” Brooklynn cheered.
“Oh, man.” Sammy dried her invisible tears, while Yasmina patted her on the shoulder.
“Captain K’s got it!” Kenji saluted, already getting up to go to his post.
Everyone went to their own corner, Sammy and Yasmina went to lie down under the sun; Brooklynn and Darius were chatting by the boat’s railing; and Ben was having a feast with his grubs.
‘Well, no time like right now to indulge my curiosity.’ I forced down the rest of my berries.
“Hey, Ben? What exactly happened when Brooklynn and I were… ugh- away? Darius mentioned something about Kenji stealing the laptop…” I trailed off.
“Oh, right, that.” He finished swallowing one grub. “It took some convincing, but Darius’ plan was to make a copy of the files on a flash drive Sammy had, and then erase the thing. Getting you back and leaving Wu with nothing. Two birds, one stone.” He gave me a half-smile.
I nodded. “Great plan.” I said with a straight face. ‘Nothing to go wrong at all.’
“It would’ve been great if Kenji hadn’t stolen it before it got erased, though.” Ben shook his head. “Can’t blame the guy, he wasn’t thinking straight, guess he must really like you.” He played with the grubs on his plate.
“Yeah.” I mumbled. ‘Not thinking straight? The first option should’ve been to give up the laptop!’ I sighed. ‘Good to know where the priorities really lie.’
“Do you ?” He raised a brow at me.
“What?” I asked. ‘Yeah, if it was up to me, they would have the damn laptop and we’d be home already.’
“Like Kenji?”
“Oh…” I blinked, then chuckled. “Yeah, I do. Crazy right? If in the beginning of all this you’d have told me that I would be with Mr. VIP himself… I’d probably laugh at your face.” I shook my head. ‘Kenji really did come a long way from that smug rich kid he was.’ “I guess people change.”
“Guess they do.” Ben shrugged, pushing his plate away, not looking that hungry anymore.
“But no doubt, you’re the one who changed the most, Jungle Boy.” I smiled.
“What can I say? I defeated Toro!” He hit his fist against his chest. “And commanded a whole herd of Ankylosaurus with Bumpy!”
“Don’t think I forgot about that!” I said. “It was awesome, Wu’s face when you showed up on the top of the hill… priceless.”
“That’s asymmetry on his face!” Ben laughed.
“That’s- ugh, yeah, that.” And then I remembered the little Ankylo, like a punch to the gut. “Bumpy! I didn’t say goodbye!” I tried to get up, but I forgot my leg was not working properly and almost fell on my face if it wasn’t for Ben rushing to my side.
“Careful.” Ben helped me back to the chair and sat next to me with a heavy sigh. “She’s gone already… with her herd… her family.”
“We’re her family too.”
“I know… but it’s for the best.” His voice was small. I could tell he was having difficulty believing in his own words.
I leaned back on the chair. “With all the stuff that happened, I forgot to say goodbye.”
“It’s okay.” He placed his hand on my arm. “Don’t blame yourself, she wouldn’t either.”
“Do you think she’ll remember us?” My voice came out more desperate than I had anticipated. ‘For the second time now, I forgot about her…’
Ben paused before answering. “Darius said something about them being related to birds, and birds are really intelligent.”
“So, yes?”
He nodded, confidently. “Yeah, I think so.”
I nodded along, if Ben believed that, who was I to say otherwise? But I couldn’t help but wonder if there was still time to pay a quick visit to Bumpy and say goodbye. We were still docked after all.
‘Why are we still docked?’ I frowned; Kenji was taking his sweet time.
“I think I’ll check on Kenji.” I mumbled, getting up more carefully this time.
“Here, I’ll help.” Ben offered his arm.
“Thanks, but I’d be pretty useless if I couldn’t walk a few steps by myself.” I smiled awkwardly at him.
“If you say so.” Ben shrugged, but I saw in his eyes he was hurt by the denial.
“Hey, it’s not you, it’s a me thing.” I explained. “I hate being a burden.”
“You’re not a burden.” He glanced at me intensively.
“Right now, I am. So at least let me hop away with dignity.” I chuckled.
“Fine.” He cracked a smile.
I hopped to the ladder, using the railing for support. But I came across Darius, eyes distant as he observed the jungle. ‘I didn’t even notice him leaving the deck.’
“Hey, Darius.”
He blinked, startled, as if he hadn’t noticed me. “Hi.”
“Going up?” I motioned to the ladder.
“Oh, no, I actually wanted to talk to you.” He fidgeted with his necklace as I stood silent, waiting for him to speak. “You know I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, right?”
“Of course I know that.” I said, making him sigh in relief. “But that doesn’t mean I agree with your plan. Honestly, what was the plan? Cause from what I heard, your focus was on erasing the laptop, not keeping Brooklynn and me safe.” I tried my best to keep my voice calm, I didn’t have the energy for a shouting match right now.
“We found a way to keep you safe and the research away from Dr. Wu.” He reasoned. “It was the best plan we had, but Kenji-”
“Don’t blame this on him.” I was set on keeping this civil, but Darius was making it difficult. “His was the best plan and you know it.”
“Everybody else agreed on it.” Darius’ voice was firm, but I saw his hands shaking a bit. Yeah, knowing that everybody else was backing him was disappointing to say the least, it was like a punch on the gut on how they could disregard our safety like that.
“Yeah, so you’ve mentioned.” My voice was bitter.
Darius’ knuckles turned white as he gripped onto the railing. “But what was I supposed to do? Let Dr. Wu get his research?”
I sighed. “You already know my answer to that.” I leaned on the railing, turning away from him to look at the dock. ‘Jesus, this is going in circles.’
“I get it.” He talked slowly. ‘Oh, does he, really?’ I had to roll my eyes. “But it’s over, they are gone and without the laptop. We are still here, alive, about to go home.” I scoffed at his blind optimism, but refrained from saying anything. Darius groaned. “Why are you being like this?”
“Jeez, why do you think?” I spat, voice full of poison.
“You know I never meant for you to get hurt.”
“That doesn’t change the facts.” I turned to him. “Sure, this is on Hawkes, but do you understand what ‘kidnapped’ means? Or they haven’t covered that vocabulary on your grade yet?” Even I was surprised at the coldness of my voice, but I maintained my piercing gaze.
Darius widened his eyes at that, as his mouth hung open. “Stop- stop being all condescending.”
“Then stop being so naïve.” I shot back.
“I did my best.” His voice cracked, almost like a pleading. ‘Well, it wasn’t enough.’ The thought echoed in my mind. Darius had his head between his hands. “Why is this so difficult? I just want us to get home.”
‘Then act like it.’ It was what I wanted to say, instead I stayed silent.
I never meant to hurt Darius, but I guess I was angrier than I anticipated. The moment he turned his back at me and walked out of the side deck, I wanted to apologize. I didn’t want to come out so mean, I just wanted him to understand my side.
‘Dammit, Hayden.’ I felt the headache coming back at full force, together with exhaustion.
…
Going up the ladder was not easy. Why didn’t they have normal stairs in this boat? It was like they purposely made things harder. It’s not like Mitch and Tiff couldn’t afford fucking stairs. My breathing was embarrassingly loud by the time I reached the cockpit, where Kenji was twiddling with some wires in the control panel.
“That stupid dinosaur had to bust literally everything.” Kenji mumbled. “What are they, anti-technology or something?”
“Whatcha doing down there?” I asked, leaning on the wall by the door. I had a smile on my face, determined in not letting my argument with Darius ruin the good mood.
He jumped ever so slightly from my voice, sparing me a glance before going back to the panel. “Fixing the boat.”
“I thought it was fixed, we sailed on it, like, the other day.”
Kenji finally stopped with the controls and turned to face me. “There’s no sonar, no radio… we could get lost in a storm, or attacked by sharks, and let’s not even talk about the lunch tray covering the hole on the boat.” He exasperated. “Lots of things could happen!”
“Chill, Kenji.” I commented, worried at how red he was becoming.
He stomped his feet. “I’m not chilling, I’m the Captain and it’s my job to get everyone safe to Costa Rica!”
“We’ll get there safely.” I said calmly.
“You almost died!” He suddenly yelled.
‘Oh, so that’s what this is all about.’
“I know.” I sighed. “But it was not on you.”
“And yesterday…”
“I know.”
“Back then I couldn’t do anything, I was useless… but what I can do is fix the damn boat.” Kenji ran his finger through his hair, messing up his hairstyle.
“I wouldn’t say useless…”A grin grew on my lips. “You’re awfully good at taking my mind off of things.” With that, Kenji turned that tomato color I was aiming for. “C’mere.” I motioned, and he reluctantly made his way to me, dragging his feet. I gripped at his shirt by his waist, but he still wouldn’t look at me. “I’ve heard you stole the laptop for me, that was-”
“Stupid, I know.” He said drily, staring at his feet.
“Sweet.” I corrected him, pulling him closer until he was obligated to look at me. “No one ever did something like that for me before.” I admitted, my cheeks heating up a bit.
“Oh.” He blinked a few times, really looking at me this time.
I sighed. “But what I still don’t get is how keeping some info from Wu was more important than us.” My voice turned bitter, thinking back to Darius. “What even happened with the flashdrive?”
“Maybe Sammy had it or Darius… I think it got destroyed… I don’t know and don’t care.” He huffed. “Stupid Darius with his stupid plan.” Kenji mumbled under his breath.
“Not all was on him, though. I was the one who went after Hawkes.” I shook my head. “I was too worried about what he might do to Sammy and Yaz to be worried for myself.” Kenji buried his head on the crook of my neck, wrapping his arms around me tightly. “Hey, it’s okay.” I hugged him back, letting half of my weight fall on him and the other half on the wall behind me.
“For a moment, I thought you died in my arms.” He said against my neck, sounding more broken and defeated then I’ve ever seen him.
I felt a lump on my sore throat. “I- I’m sorry.”
He pulled back abruptly, looking me in the eyes. “It’s not your fault! You care about your friends, don’t- don’t be sorry for that.”
“I won’t.” A shy smile grew on my face. “But only if you promise to tone it down with Darius.”
“I don’t get how you’re not more mad at him.” He groaned. “Stupid nerd put your life at risk.”
“He knows where I stand.” I let out a harsh breath. “I’m just- I don’t have the energy to be mad at him right now.”
“That’s why I’ll be mad for both of us.” Kenji said, decidedly.
“As sweet as that is…it makes me feel sorry for the kid.” I grinned. “But even if you’re mad, don’t go kissing him, please.”
His eyes went wide as his face turned bright red again. “That was one time!” He protested, his dimple showing.
“It was pretty memorable.” I smiled, raising my fingers to graze his dimple.
“You’re not gonna let that go, right?” He mumbled.
“Never.” I pulled him into a kiss, letting him press my body against the wall to keep me in place. But the moment was brief as someone cleared their throat next to us.
“So, that’s why we haven’t left yet.” Brooklynn grinned, standing on the doorway.
Kenji blushed again, getting that look of when a kid is caught with their hand inside a cookie jar. I just smiled at Brooklynn, happy to be the cookie jar.
“Kenji was just doing the last touch ups on the boat.” I explained, not letting Kenji leave my arms just yet.
“Last touch ups… I see...” Her grin grew as she stared at us up and down. “But seriously, can we leave already?”
Kenji disentangled my arms from him, which made me huff and cross my arms in protest, he smiled at that, but with another look at Brooklynn, he blushed.
“It’s um… all set.” He headed for the control panel, and after turning a few switches, the purr of the engine was heard. He opened the brightest smile, throwing me a wink before staring straight ahead. “Goodbye dino-island!”
…
The wind blew my hair into my eyes, temporarily blinding me from the view of Isla Nublar disappearing behind the boat. I remained in the upper deck by the cockpit, leaning on the railings, watching as we left months of our lives behind. On the horizon, the island seemed so small… so harmless, just a rock in the middle of the ocean.
We were going home, finally. I should be happy, ecstatic that I’d get to see my family again, my friends, my home, but all that gave way to mourning and fear. Fear of the future and how it would be like with all of us to be scattered across the country, I was not ready to let go of them just yet. And somehow, I was not ready to leave Nublar, at least not without saying goodbye to Bumpy. Damn, that dino really is part of the family, a big ol’ Bumpercar that loves naps and mangoes. Shit, I was an asshole for forgetting about her.
A lump formed in my throat. “Never again.” I whispered into the wind. A promise.
“You bet!” Brooklynn chirped next to me. “We did it. I can believe we finally did it.” I didn’t say anything, just nodded in response. “Come on, stop glooming, I thought you of all people would want to put this all behind.”
“It’ll be hard to forget.” I mumbled as my hand grazed at the bandages on my arm. Old and dirty covering that scratch from the Scorpios, just another scar for the collection. And there were so many, why were there so many? Monorail, sharks, Scorpios, Hawkes…
Brooklynn cleared her throat. “I’m sorry about what Hawkes did to you.”
I shrugged just watching as the island shrunk with the distance.
“How I acted, I just- I- a laptop is not as important as you, you know that, right?” I know that she expected me to agree and say everything was fine, but I remained silent. What she was saying didn’t really match with their actions. “Right, Hays?” She insisted.
I gave her a half smile. “Thanks for saying that.”
“I’m sorry.” Her slim arms wrapped around me, pulling me close to a sudden hug. I was a bit taken aback since I was usually the one initiating the hugs, but I hugged her back nonetheless. I had most of my weight on her, but she never complained. Even though I was the taller one, she was the one comforting me, her head pressed against my shoulder as I buried mine on her pink hair.
“Hey, it’s gonna be fine.” Brooklynn said softly, finally separating from me. “We’re alive and we’re going home.” She opened her arms to the horizon that we were traveling to.
“I’m just waiting for the bad thing that always happens to happen.”
“Nothing’s going to happen. Just enjoy the sun, the breeze and keep your eyes open for Costa Rica!” I let out a sad smile at her optimism. “At least, if something happens, at least I hope it's funny, I’m tired of disasters.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Come on, let’s move on from this hellish-island.” She threw one of my arms around her shoulder and guided me to the front of the boat, where a new horizon awaited us.
There were only clear skies in front of us, just the bright blue meeting the deep dark blue in a straight line. The wind didn’t blow my hair into my face anymore, no, it just made it messier. The wind carried that particular smell of the ocean, leaving a salty taste in my mouth, which made me glance fondly at Kenji, who smiled back before returning his attention to the controls. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on the rest of the campers on the main deck. Sammy was taking a nap next to Yasmina, who watched her with a smile on her face, drawing on her notebook. Darius and Ben stood on the edge, eyes locked on the horizon, lost in thought.
‘Yeah, I guess I should be happy.’ We’re all safe… I just wasn’t just sure if we were okay. I grimaced at the memory of my new recurring nightmare. I’ve dealt with worse than nightmares, I could do this. Which made me wonder what haunted the others’ when they slept…
‘Nah, don’t think about that, just think about how happy you are, it’s a happy moment.’ I let myself lean on Brooklynn and enjoy the warmth of the sun.
…
I didn’t last much under the sun, though. The brightness was giving me the worst headache. Heading inside, it was dark and cozy, and the sway of the boat on the waves led me into a deep slumber. No nightmares this time, or none that I remembered.
“Hays?” I was gently shaken awake by Sammy, who had the biggest smile plastered on her face. “Land ahoy!” She giggled.
The sun had begun to set and a huge landmass stood before us. Its little lights were bright in the twilight. It was Costa Rica! Other people! Civilization! My heart beat fast, and this time it was for a good reason.
Kenji guided the boat to what it seemed to be a small harbor, with a couple empty piers where we docked.
“I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” Sammy seemed to be vibrating in her feet from all the excitement. “People!”
“Ka-ching!” Kenji joined us.
“We made it!” Darius cheered and a heavy session of hugs and high-fives ensued.
“Hello, Costa Rica!” Yasmina smiled.
“We’re actually here.” Brooklynn had a widened gaze, watching as people walked on a nearby street. A big yellow building stood tall by the beach; the noise of the night life was music to our ears… the cars rushing past a busy road… people chatting and laughing loudly… music started to play in another language; I didn’t recognize it, but I couldn’t help but think that Dave’s demo was a bit on the superior side. Maybe I was biased…
We stepped down onto the concrete pier. The waves were crashing against the structure, rhythmically. The place smelled like fish, salt and motor oil, so distant from the smells of the jungle. We stood still for a few minutes, taking in our surroundings. I leaned on Kenji, taking the weight off of my bad leg. In return, he squeezed my waist, with a bright smile on his face, a smile that was plastered in every camper’s face.
‘It’s really over.’ I was waiting for that moment where everything always goes wrong so it was a relief when the heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders. And for the first time in a long time, I just let myself actually smile and feel happy.
“So, what happens now?” Kenji tightened his hold on me.
“We go home.” Darius said.
“I don’t know about you guys, but the Indominus kinda ate my passport.” Brooklynn chuckled.
“Can anybody speak Spanish?” I asked and all eyes turned to Sammy.
“What?” She practically shrunk behind Yasmina. “That talent skipped my generation.” She mumbled.
“Okay, we can do this.” Ben said with confidence, one foot propped upon a cleat, chest puffed.
Darius smiled. “Together.”
And as one, the seven of us walked down the pier.
…
The next hour seemed to pass by in a blur. The police initially didn’t believe us, but one google search later and off we went to the hospital. There were a lot of questions, none that I cared to answer at the time, so I let the rest of them do the talking. Calls were made and there were flashes everywhere, camera flashes. They were trying to get a hold of our parents, but we made the news, so it shouldn’t be long.
There were images of the outside of the hospital we were staying at on the TV. My room was simple, all white, one bed and a window I kept closed at all times. It was clean, too clean. The smell of antiseptic burned my nose. The doctors looked me over first thing as I arrived, I got a fancy head scan. I didn’t speak Spanish, but their faces weren’t that promising. And there were my cuts, I did not know there was a set timeframe to get stitches after the injury, so I’ll have to get by with the fake ones.
It was the middle of the night and I sat in bed on my hospital gown, the IV stung where it poked my arm. The air conditioner felt cold against my skin, so I wrapped the thin covers around me. A soft knock on the door made me look away from the TV.
“Come in.”
Kenji’s head poked out of the doorway. “I knew you weren’t sleeping.”
“We have jello.” Brooklynn’s voice came from behind him.
“Howdy.” Sammy said.
Kenji pushed the door open all the way, squeezing next to me on the bed. The seven of us cramped the small hospital room.
“Did you raid the hospital kitchen?” I laughed, seeing how everyone was holding three to four jellos each.
“We played the ‘we almost got eaten by dinosaurs’ card.” Yasmina grinned.
“I’m keeping the card.” Kenji said. He opened a strawberry flavored one and handed it over to me and then opened a pineapple one for him.
“How are you feelin’, Hays?” Sammy asked, already opening her jello.
“Properly numbed.” I chuckled, hospital painkillers were totally different from Tiff’s, which was a bit annoying to say the least. “A bit weirded out, to be honest.”
“Yeah, I don’t like hospitals either.” Brooklynn nodded.
“But you guys look good, they didn’t have you guys wear a gown I see.” I looked around, they all looked fresh out of the shower, wearing new clothes that seemed too big for them. It was weird seeing clothes without dirt, mud or blood on it.
Yasmina chuckled. “Oh, they did, but they said we were fine, all things considered.”
“Lucky bastards.” I mumbled.
“They must’ve called our parents already, right?” Ben was standing by the window, jello untouched.
Darius nodded. “Or at least the US embassy.”
“You’ll see, tomorrow we will all be going home in Kenji’s style!” Kenji opened a huge smile. “Have I mentioned my dad’s private jet?”
“A couple hundred times.” Brooklynn groaned.
“They’re calling us the Nublar Seven.” I read the news headlines on the TV, the only words I understood.
“Yeah, that’s on Brooklynn.” Yasmina side eyed her.
“It’s catchy.” Sammy came into her support.
“What can I say, inspiration came to me.” Brooklynn shrugged with a sly smile on her face.
“It’s a fitting nickname, I think.” Darius smiled at her.
Kenji groaned in protest while Ben kept quiet, watching the street down below. I didn’t really care about the media calling us that, for me, we’d always be Camp Fam.
A comfortable silence filled the room, we were all eating while watching TV. Kenji was sitting next to me, our shoulders touching. I wondered how it was going to be tomorrow, the world was going to hear about us, our parents would come running, there would be tears and a lot of questions, I didn’t look forward to the latter. But more importantly, we would go home, scattered across the US, far from each other.
“I can’t believe it. We did it, Camp Fam.” Sammy said with teary eyes. That prompted Yasmina to get closer to Sammy, to console her, but they were happy tears.
“We got out.” Darius smiled. “I knew we could do it, guys. We’re going home, for real.”
After a hug session and some happy tears, the night passed in light conversation, no talk about the island or dinosaurs. It was nice. I didn’t even remember a time when we had that, just some teenagers having fun. But I noticed Kenji was a bit tense as we held hands, even though the air conditioner was blasting he was sweating, and he was a lot quieter than usual. I figured that the same thoughts in my mind were burdening him. The future.
“Hays?” Kenji called, leaning in and keeping his voice low so only I could hear. “I was wondering that maybe we could, like I know in the beginning it will be hard and all, your parents probably would want you around, but you could come over… or I could.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.” I smiled. “But we do live on opposite sides of the country.”
“I have a jet.” He deadpanned. “Well, my dad has a jet, I’m sure he’ll lend it to us.”
I was already thinking of the possibilities. “Yeah, we can make it work.”
Kenji blushed lightly, leaning closer to me. “So, will you go on a date with me?”
“Yes.” I beamed. “But I thought I had already said ‘yes’ to that.”
“Just making sure.” He shrugged, but had a smile on his lips. “Chicago has some amazing pizzas.”
“So, I’ve heard.” I nodded earnestly. “LA isn’t that far behind.”
His eyes were playful. “Um… I don’t know if I believe you, I guess I’ll have to go there to confirm it.”
“I guess.” I shrugged; it was impossible not to smile at him. I tugged him by the arm so he’d close the distance.
Kenji gulped, eyeing my lips. “We are not alone, you know that right?”
Images of our very first kiss flashed through my mind, making my cheeks burn up. “I don’t care.”
Kenji smiled and leaned in, hand cupping my face as we kissed softly. His lips tasted like pineapple, sweet and a bit artificial from the jello. The movement of our lips, slow and warm, made me smile too and then, we weren’t kissing anymore, just two smiles touching by the lips as warmth spread in my chest.
“Eeew, not in front of my jello.” Brooklynn’s high-pitched voice brought us both back to the room, where the reactions were from giggling to averting eyes.
“Oh, shut up.” I laughed, throwing my pillow in her direction.
“I’m happy for you guys.” Ben smiled.
“Oh, so Kayden is like official official?” Sammy squealed.
“Duh.” Brooklynn mumbled.
“Kayden?” I frowned.
“Don’t look at me.” Sammy raised her arms in surrender and eyed Brooklynn.
“I already have all the ship names ready.” Brooklynn grinned, sparing Sammy and Yasmina a glance.
“I dig it.” Kenji smiled, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
Sammy shook Yasmina by the shoulders. “Y’all, I’m so happy I could explode.”
“Please don’t.” Yasmina groaned.
“Everybody is invited to hang out in my ranch, you’ll meet my parents, my siblings, my cousins and my cows! It’ll be sweeter than stolen honey.”
“Just set the date.” Darius nodded.
“Sounds fun, but I’m not particularly excited to going back to school.” Ben groaned.
“I love school!” Sammy beamed.
“We know, Sammy. You’re the only one.” Yasmina said, laughing to herself.
“I love school too.” Darius jumped in.
“I spoke too soon.” Yasmina shook her head.
“Why am I not surprised?” Brooklynn chuckled.
I groaned. “Homework… college applications… waking up early…”
“You should put Nublar in your college application.” Brooklynn suggested. “Surviving dinosaurs… that will soften them up.”
I laughed. “For sure.”
“I’ve been thinking.” Kenji said.
“That’s never good.” Yasmina chuckled.
I rolled my eyes at her. “Let the guy speak.”
“You’re just saying that cause he’s your boyfriend now.” She smirked.
“Shut up, Yaz.” I looked up at Kenji. “So, what’s on your mind?”
“I’m just thinking how I’m never going to an amusement park ever again.”
“Or an island.” Darius added.
“Anywhere tropical really.” Yasmina said.
“Jurassic World just isn’t getting zero stars, ‘cause I’m pretty sure one is the lowest it gets.” Brooklynn crossed her arms.
“I support this rating.” Ben nodded with a smile.
“The sun is coming up, guys.” Darius commented, glancing out the window. “I get a feeling today is the day we go home.”
“It better, I’m done waiting.” I grinned.
…
Morning had come and gone. The seven of us were in a meeting room of the hospital, there were office chairs circling a huge glass table. No one sat down, only me, but that was because of my leg. And we were silent, awfully opposite of how we spend our night. The police informed us our parents were on the way, they had already landed at the local airport.
I had to plead with the nurses to not keep me in a wheelchair and to give me some damn clothes. So, I was properly dressed this time, some gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt, looking like a patient from a psychiatric hospital. I was pretty sure that was where all our clothes came from.
Kenji paced in front of me, Ben and Darius were staring out the window, hoping to get a glance when our parents arrived. Sammy and Yasmina were leaning against the wall, next to Brooklynn, who was peeking out the door. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife, but there was a sense of excitement too. Our parents were here, in the same country as us, in the same city.
The first sign was Brooklynn tensing up. “Guys…”
Everybody dashed out of the room, me included, which consisted more of hopping quickly. In the elevator, there were around ten adults cramped up inside. My eyes were searching for the typical wavy black hair that my parents had, my dad’s kind eyes or my mom’s stern ones. Who am I kidding, my mom is so short I could never find her in a crowd.
Sammy squealed loudly and ran to a couple, the first one to escape the elevator. They were very tan and wore cowboy boots, her dad was tall with brown hair, while her mother looked like an older Sammy, both had very kind eyes. Darius and Yasmina were the next to spot their parents. Darius hugged her mom tightly, she looked very fancy, short hair and golden earrings, next to her was who I guessed was his brother Brand. Yasmina rushed to a woman with the same beautiful hair as her, but cut short. They stared at each other for a long second before hugging. An older lady came to Ben, wearing a whole lot of jewelry and kissing him nonstop, while he laughed. Next up, Brooklynn was engulfed in a hug by two men crying a lot, one was bald looking like a Hollywood actor and the other had a suit and brown hair.
It all seemed to take half a second as I noticed a dark haired man with round glasses. As soon as we locked eyes, I felt my vision blurry from the tears. I waited for him to come to me, cause honestly, I would’ve fallen on my ass if I tried to walk. I tried to mimic his smile but I simply couldn’t, but I did notice a smaller person following him. Mom.
“Hayden!” My feet left the floor as my dad spun me around in a hug. And if there was any pain from my injuries, I didn’t feel it. I hugged him back, smiling so much it hurt, then the tears came.
When he put me down, I turned to my mother, her eyes were red, crying. I think I’ve never seen her cry before.
“Sweety, I-” I didn’t let her finish and gave her a bear hug. My face was in her hair, her smell. Home. They smelled like home. But it ended too fast as cupped my face with her hands. “You face… you’re hurt, Hayden.”
“What happened, Haydie?” My dad took notice of it too, looking me up and down.
“That doesn’t matter.” I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand, but my smile remained. “You’re here.” I laughed.
“Of course, we are, and we have you back.” Dad caressed my hair.
“You came back to us.” Mom held my hand.
We were about to hug again when I noticed Kenji hadn’t moved. He was standing away from us, looking like a lost puppy with teary eyes. Alone. 'Where is his dad?' I scanned the hallway for the man I had seen in the photograph back at his penthouse, but he wasn’t there. I know Kenji already felt like his dad abandoned him, but this … the audacity!
I was ready to commit murder as I called Kenji over. He dragged his feet, but came. I gave him a quick hug, whispering that it was going to be okay in his ear, while my parents looked at us, puzzled.
“Mom, Dad… this is Kenji, my boyfriend.” I announced, smiling. That was enough to spark a smile from Kenji as well.
My mom gave him a look over and hugged him, which honestly, was not what I was expecting. My dad seemed surprised too, as he shook Kenji’s hand.
“You’re Mr. Kon’s son?” My dad asked him.
“Um… yeah.” Kenji mumbled, trying not to cry.
“I’m so sorry, he’s running a bit late.” My mom said. “He organized for all the parents to come together, but he ended up getting stuck in traffic. Would you imagine that?”
“He’s… coming…?” Kenji mumbled, looking dumbfounded.
“Oh, yes. He’s a very-” Ding! We all looked at the elevator as it opened. “That must be him.” My mom said.
Kenji’s dad came out of the elevator, disheveled hair and out of breath, but his suit was spotless as in his pictures. Kenji ran over to him, trying not to crash into the hugging families in the process. Both Kons almost went to the ground as they met in a hug.
I returned to my parents with a huge smile on my face. “I can’t believe this is really happening.” I hugged them again. “Where’s Lizzy?”
“She was in the middle of a school excursion, she couldn’t come, but as soon as you want, we can call her.” Mom said.
“She made us promise to call.” Dad laughed.
“Of course, she did.” I laughed. I glanced around, the tears seemed to be drying. I saw Sammy introducing her parents to Yasmina’s mom, the same with Ben and Darius’ mothers. So, I held both of my parents’ hands. “Come on, there’s some people I want you to meet.”
Notes:
Hey everybody, so here ends my take on the seven campers and the crazy ride that was for them to get home. I hope it was as fun for you as it was fun for me to write it.
Please feel free to comment if you’d like, I’m always looking forward to hearing from my readers.
PS: This was my first fic and I’m sure it wasn’t perfect, but I’m glad I got to share it with you.
PPS: There’s a little epilogue coming next week. Keep an eye out for that.
PPPS: I’ll probably be editing the initial chapters of this fic in the following months, just some grammatical stuff.
Chapter 41: Epilogue: Mt. Sibo
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The little Ankylosaur had grown since the campers had left Isla Nublar. The armor on her back hardened and the light green gave way to a deeper moss green, just like the adults i her herd. Much had changed since then, the grass had overgrown, trees had fallen due to hurricanes, but Bumpy hadn’t changed. She was laying on her spot by Camp Cretaceous, looking up to the treehouse where Ben would greet her every morning. But for a long time now, Ben wasn’t there, so Bumpy got up and walked all the way to the east of the island, where her new family was herding at the moment.
No carnivore would dare to mess with a herd of full-grown Ankylosaurs, but Bumpy had to be cautious on the way there, because she was alone. The ground shook under her feet and she stopped dead on her tracks. She was getting used to the earth shaking, but her senses were working on overdrive either way. It could be a stampede of larger dinosaurs, it could be a huge carnivore coming her way, but just as sudden as it had started, the earthquake was gone, just like those other times.
Bumpy sped up to reach her family, and all of them were as spooked as her, but nonetheless, she was greeted with bellows and some nuzzle bumps. Soon, their day resumed normally, eating the grass, leaves and the occasional berry. There were no mangoes anymore. Bumpy loved mangoes, but she loved even more who gave it to her. He was long gone, but it helped to have her Ankylosaur family with her.
The day was running its course, the sun traveling through the sky, getting closer to the horizon, the Pteranodons soaring, the Ankylosaurs grazing the grass and a herd of Gallimimus could be seen doing the same in the distance.
Then it all stopped.
The Pteranodons flew away in a hurry. The Gallimimus raised their long necks in the air, watching the big mountain in the north with wide eyes. The Ankylosaurus did the same, moving so the young of the herd would be in the center.
The earth rumbled, shaking more fiercely than ever before. All the dinosaurs took off running at the sound, away from the mountain. Ankylosaurus were joined by the Gallimimus and occasional Compy running in a stampede. Bumpy stayed close to her family, where she felt safe. But an ominous trail of dark smoke grew in the air behind her.
Isla Nublar was a volcanic island off of the coast of Costa Rica, and Mt. Sibo, the lone mountain in the north, was a volcano. A long believed to be dormant volcano. But things don’t stay dormant for long in Isla Nublar. So maybe this time it isn't going to be a meteor, but a volcano to rid the Earth of dinosaurs.
Bumpy didn’t understand the reality she was in, but she knew it was bad. Her world was changing dangerously fast. The smoke rose up in the air like a cone, and it disappeared from sight as the dinosaurs entered the dense jungle. There was only one direction she wanted to go, and unbeknownst to her, she led her herd there. The treehouse that always made her feel safe. But her family was desperate, which made her feel the same. Bumpy slammed her club against the mesh fence, bellowing madly.
Calling.
Notes:
The Lost Dinosaur, second part of the series, is out now! It follows Hayden and the campers through the Fallen Kingdom storyline. Updates twice a month. Go check it out!
Alternate_J on Chapter 1 Fri 11 Aug 2023 12:49PM UTC
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