Chapter Text
“Sammy…. Sammy!”
The rain was deafening. The collective booming thumps of droplets against metallic material was almost impossible to hear over the panicked commotion of the Nublar Six. Or maybe, for Yaz, the rising sound of her heart in her throat was stopping her from acknowledging her surroundings.
They had survived the Scorpios Rex attack completely intact, or so they had thought.
Sammy was a sickly green. Her skin was more sweat than rain, the life within her dull and weak. She moaned and shivered quietly, clutching the pain in her side as she struggled with consciousness. Her dark hair clinged to her face, as Yasmina found herself clutching the younger girl’s hand in panic.
Brooklyn had not long ago carefully taken the poisonous quills out of Sammy, the wound would definitely scar.
“Sammy, we’re here.” Yaz focused on the girl’s face, which was scrunched into a look of agony. “Everything’s going to be okay.” The brunette’s voice cracked at the statement, as if her own body didn’t believe her.
Everything tunnelled down to just Sammy. Yaz cursed at herself for how poorly she had treated the younger girl merely hours earlier. The other four kids stood by in silence, shocked, unaware of how to approach the situation.
“Taking out the quills wasn’t enough. The poison’s already in her system. She needs an antidote!” Darius broke the heavy silence. He furrowed his brows in thought, looking at Kenji.
“Oh, sure, yeah, an antidote. That’ll be easy to find, considering no one even knew this thing existed.” The tall boy remarked, the optimism in his tone clearly lacking.
Their voices all numbed together as Yaz looked down to Sammy again. Even with sickly tainted skin, dead eyes and a tense, struggling face, she still found the Gutierrez girl beautiful. Her soft chin, big brown eyes and wavy hair was always enough to distract Yasmina, and although she had never thought about it too hard, it was in the painfully coming seconds that she realised that she should’ve always looked at her a little while longer. Her best friend truly was angelic to her.
The brunette felt herself rest her head on Sammy’s upper stomach gently, letting the rain pour down onto her lower back where the roofing ended.
“Maybe the medical supply station has something?” Ben suggested faintly, not getting very far into his possibility before being cut off.
“Doubt it” Kenji rebutted, crossing his arms and nibbling on his lip impatiently. The Kon was pacing side to side already without even noticing.
“Kenji’s right, the Scorpios Rex wasn’t supposed to ever get out.” Darius remarked. The young leader shot a glance at his injured friend on the muddied ground and felt ashamed. He couldn’t blame himself for the incident, but the weight of leadership was still a numbing reality.
Yaz gripped her best friend’s hand tighter and shook her head, refusing to let Sammy be left in the condition she was in. She would not be able to survive the effects of a normal dinosaur poison, let alone an unknown hybrid. Not without an antidote. There had to be something.
As if a gift from an unknown God, Brooklyn gasped sharply and stuttered out quickly, “The video in Wu’s old lab! He was attacked by the Scorpios a-and they were giving him this shot from a red vial. I think they said antidote, I’m not–”
Yaz shot up at one specific word. She lunged upward, almost falling onto the shorter pink haired girl in front of her. “WHERE is this lab?” Her tone was dripping with desperation, but she didn’t care. Her heart began to ache in her own chest, but she didn’t care. Her mind focused down to one thing, saving Sammy.
“Near the raptor paddock.” Brooklyn handed the fit girl a map with a handful of circled landmarks. One of them was the lab mentioned, conveniently almost a straight line from their location.
Yaz’s eyes frantically scanned the route around her. The Scorpios Rex was definitely out there within her line of travel. There would be predators lurking with every region, the rain would make it almost impossible for her to grip onto the mudded grass, and not to mention there would be too many obstacles that would make the journey even for her–
No. This was for Sammy. Nothing would stop her from getting this done.
“Take care of Sammy until I get back.” Yaz’s face crinkled as her brows deepened with purpose, shoving the map back into Brooklyn’s hands, who looked at her with a knowing look that she could not describe herself just yet.
Her and Brooklyn weren’t the closest pairing out of the group, but their connection was unique. Yaz appreciated the girl’s intelligence and reality. She was the perfect balance to Darius.
The runner shouldered past Darius and Kenji, almost knocking the latter off his feet. Darius supported Kenji against him, not letting her get more than a handful of metres before yelling out to her.
“Wait! Yaz! The Scorpios went that way!” The younger boy clutched at his shirt as he found himself looking at Ben, his head planning ahead of time as he typically did. If the brunette was truly going to go through with this, they needed to help her.
“I don’t CARE what’s out there! I’m saving her!” Yaz found those words escaping her mouth before she could even process them within her head. Her voice was dry, shaky. As they left her lips however, there was no sign of regret or hesitation. She was going to save Sammy, even if she risked dying to do so.
And with that thought, there it was, that fluttering feeling in her stomach up to her chest again. Maybe it was her nerves, or maybe it was the thundering storm that was clouding her judgement. There was also the raging guilt within her.
Yaz found herself internally scoffing. She had always felt this way around Sammy, but she couldn’t process what that meant yet. The butterflies sometimes were like a punch to the stomach, filled with anxiety and uncertainty.
The track star turned around and took a deep breath, she reached the powered down fence of their makeshift home and took her position.
‘Just breath, Yaz.’ She spoke to herself to calm herself down. She had to do this.
Looking over her shoulder back to the sickly, dying girl on the ground, she knew that if she didn’t return in time, Sammy was going to die. It was something that needed to be accepted.
That information fueled her more than any of her morning push ups or planks ever did. Tilting her head down, the runner’s eyes reflected back the shining glow of the moonlight, only the glow in her eyes was amplified by a pure indomitable spirit.
Three, two, one.
As Yaz took off, she felt the air in her lungs depleting quicker than usual. She had run marathons, won races of all lengths, competed internationally and medalled every single time, her room filled with first and second place awards. Some of her trophies were so big that they wouldn’t even fit on her shelves. And yet– there she was, scampering through dark forests and rain too thick to see as if she had never exercised a day in her life. And it was all for her. For Sammy.
Sammy was poisoned. Sammy was dying, and it was up to Yasmina to ensure that their last words together were not her own pessimistic ones. Sammy was Yaz’s world, Sammy made her feel… different. She had grown to be her exception to every situation. When it came to her feelings, Sammy was the only one who she truly spoke to about them.
And that was enough to keep pushing. Kilometre after kilometre. Running in a tense silence.
They had only known each other for six months, but within those six months, Sammy had changed the way that Yaz saw the world. Previously a shell that was slammed tightly shut, Sammy had unlocked something within her that she had never had with anyone else before. She trusted the country girl more than anything. It went beyond the mutual trauma, it went beyond the common grounds. They just– somehow always understood one another. Yaz could feel it every time they spoke, as if they were meant to be friends.
Friends. Best friends. She felt herself cursing herself again in her own head.
“This friendship… has an expiration date.” She recalled herself saying merely hours ago. The look on Sammy’s face after she had pushed her away broke her heart. And now here she was, panting her way through thick forestry to ensure that she could wrong her rights and tell Sammy that she had been scared. She had been reclusive. They were best friends and she would go to the ends of the world if it meant seeing Sammy smile again.
That beautiful, wide smile of hers. Every single tooth and all.
Yaz had never had friends. Relationships as a whole never interested her. Sure, she had previously crushed on a few boys, been familiar with girls and the such. But none of it was genuine. She was always alone, and none of it compared to Sammy. Sammy made her like having friends.
An echoing roar disrupted her deep concentration, piercing Yasmina’s ears. The girl froze in terror, ducking behind a nearby tree.
The Scorpios Rex was nearby, and it wasn’t leaving.
The girl sighed deeply, not letting herself get distracted any longer. The killer dinosaur could wait, she was beating it to this stupid lab.
“Hang on Sammy, just hang on–uh!” The brunette gasped in shock, coming face to face with a wide river, its current dangerously strong. The fit girl swore to herself. She knew that there would be obstacles, but she never imagined one as big as that.
With a loud groan, she threw her fists around, narrowing her vision down to the other side of the river. “COME ON Yaz! You’re gonna let a little water stop you?”
She took one step back, two steps… then three.
“Okay..”
And then she lept, practically gliding through the air as the storm’s high winds shoved against her. The brunette tried clinging to nearby greenery, but shyly missed.
And within a mere few seconds, water invaded her eyes. She was drowning. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t process anything. She wanted to gasp for her, yell for help, anything to ensure that–
“Ugh!” As she was carried along the current, Yaz desperately grasped a thick branch stuck into the ground, pulling herself up with as much strength she could muster. Her lungs stung with pain and her legs ached to rest. She had already run kilometres by that point. If she were back home she would have called that distance childs play, but she wasn’t back home.
She was on an isolated island, with dinosaurs, with a dying best friend.
The track star leaned against the nearest tree to her and buckled her knees up to her chin, letting her head weakly rest against her knees as she hugged herself tightly. It was then that she began to think back to her task at hand.
Sammy. “Get up dammit! You have to save Sammy!”
She found herself thinking back to when things were peaceful. When this place was merely a tourist attraction. When there were no accidents, no traumatic experiences…
And no Sammy.
—-—-—-—-—-
“Oh dang, my pages got wet.” Yaz mumbled to herself. She sat alone on the modern, leaf coloured couch. Her eyes glazed over the damp pages of her newest sketches.
‘I should tweak the T-Rex's teeth, they look too… wide.’ She had thought to herself. The fit girl loved her alone time, and was happily sitting away from the rest of the group, avoiding Darius’ cheesy and corny campfire stories. She picked up her plain pen, and began thinking to herself.
“You need a friend!”
“Agh!”
The brunette was startled, her entire body jumping in shock. She clutched her sketchbook defensively and looked up, locking eyes with none other than Sammy Gutierrez. Well… that's what she thought her name was. Yasmina wasn’t the best at making friends nor wanting to get to know people. She will admit, she had almost forgotten all of the other camper’s names at one point. But she was getting somewhat accustomed to them now. Well, as accustomed as she could.
“What?” She could only spit out a single word as the country girl’s energy practically vomited down onto her.
“Is that a scrapbook? I love scrapbooking! We could make one together. Pull you out of your shell.”
Yaz looked down to her clutch hands and then looked at the girl in disbelief. She hadn’t exactly made it subtle that she liked to be left alone and non-sociable. The sketchbook itself and mysterious attitude made it even more obvious.
“I’m pretty happy in my shell.” She shrunk away from the other girl shyly.
“No one likes the shell. It stops people from getting to know you!” Sammy leaned closer to her slightly, testing the emotions of the conversation. Her lopsided smile had an odd charm to it.
Yaz breathed out a laugh at the obvious oblivious nature that was illuminated from this Gutierrez girl. Or maybe the other girl could see through her lonely, anxious facade.
“Bingo!” She flashed a finger gun at the younger girl awkwardly, hastily getting up from her seat to walk away. She didn’t want to make anything worse than it already was.
Yasmina had already embarrassed herself enough, and she was certainly not there to make friends. She was an independent person who liked her independent life. Or that’s what she told herself. And quite frankly, no one had ever taken interest in her nor wanted to help her out before. Sammy… was the first. She could admit that.
“I know you’re just shy!” The country girl’s thick comforting accent bounced off the walls behind her as Yaz continued walking away. She could tell the other girl was not going to budge on her sudden quest to befriend her and make her feel more comfortable.
“Can’t hear you in my shell!” Yasmina looked over her shoulder with a small chuckle, looking over to Sammy, who sat there with a knowing smirk on her face. The track star mentally took a small moment to analyse Sammy’s face. Her face was soft, round and covered in freckles and similar of the like. The younger girl’s jet black hair complimented her pink headband perfectly.
She looked… cute. Her puppy dog eyes were quite convincing.
“I’m not giving up!” Yaz gripped even more tightly onto her book at those words, as she furrowed her brows anxiously. She was still determined to get through this camp with little to no social problems, but with this Sammy girl, she found herself clinging to her chest and smiling to herself humorously.
Sammy was funny. And clearly had a bubbly personality. She could at least appreciate that.
—-—-—-—-—-
Yasmina would gladly endure everything she has up to that point again if it meant getting to keep Sammy.
She clung to her chest at the memory, yearning to be back in that treehouse with that same book in her hands, able to rewrite history and prevent such an awful event from occuring. She longed for Sammy to look that bubbly again, to look that alive. She had been so patient and understanding with Yaz, knowing she was truly just shy and reclusive.
Yasmina tensed her fists and arose with a small grunt, jogging to a nearby sign post. Her eyes locked with the raptor paddock sign, and she felt a rising hope within her stomach. Only a kilometre left.
Her legs pounded against the pavement. Had it been ten minutes? Twenty? Yaz had certainly ran at least five kilometres in less than twenty minutes. If her brain wasn’t spiralling out of control, she would’ve almost congratulated herself. Nonetheless, she gasped for air with every step she took.
Eventually she caught site of a nearby building, clinging to a nearby tree for support.
“Raptor paddock.” The runner whispered to herself, putting it out into the universe that she was in the right place, finally.
As Yasmina ran, the texture under her shoes changed and shifted. The terrain went from a muddy green, to a twisted and vine-coloured brown. The sound of gravel kicking under her feet stopped her in her tracks as she took the time to properly look up.
The lab. She had made it.
A large tree trunk lazily sat directly in front of the main, and what seemed like the only door to the facility. Yasmina practically hopped entirely over the gigantic wooden object and hurried to the door. She gripped the handle anxiously, ripping the door open and–
“Ugh, come on!” The door was stuck, barely moving mere inches. A small, but incredibly thick branch stood in the way of the door, prohibiting any movement from it. Yaz wanted to stab her own eyes out at the realisation, but breathed her frustration away. She’d have to push the log slightly backwards, no big deal. It was no big deal.
Yaz slammed her back against the wall, letting her feet gain grip onto the shapely wooden log. She leg-pressed at home commonly in the gym, and the position she was in felt familiar enough. With one large breath, she pushed her weight against the log, grunting loudly in concentration.
Sweat dripped down her sides as she estimated the true weight of this log. It would easily be more than three times her body weight, with the grip consistency of oil. It was frustrating, her feet constantly slipping, and Yaz knew that she would struggle to move this even an inch from her position.
A guttural clicking interrupted her thoughts, making Yaz stop in her tracks. Raptors were about, dangerously close. She watched from a gap in the large log as a terrifying creature strolled by, its hissing presence overwhelmingly terrifying. But it was no raptor, it was the Scorpios Rex. Project E750. It was lurking, stalking nearby prey.
Yaz gasped quietly to herself, ducking her head lower to the ground. She prayed the creature would not bother to look over the piece of wood. Her prayers were quickly answered as the brunette analysed the creature’s shadow slowly, and painfully, stomping away from the site, until nothing could be heard but the boom of the storm and near silence of her breathing.
Her heart rate was dangerously high. Yasmina’s hands gripped tightly to the ground as she sat frozen in shock. She wasn’t strong enough to push this, she couldn’t survive this, what was she thinking?
No. Sammy needed her, and Sammy’s life was more important than a couple of predatory dinosaurs. She pushed her legs back up to the log and remembered their fight from before. She hadn’t let herself truly think about it since it happened, mere snippets erupting in emotional periods. But now? Her brain flooded her with the pain, another reminder that she needed to get back to camp, to Sammy. It was not only her duty, but her responsibility. She had made Sammy feel such deep pain, and she couldn’t forgive herself for it.
—-—-—-—-—-
“You don’t mean that! You’re my best friend! After we get home, we’ll–”
“If we get home. And even if we do somehow survive all this, you’ll go back to Texas, and…”
A storm was brewing, an unknown hybrid dinosaur was loose and headed their way and tensions were high. After this, it was up to the campers to finally find their way home and return to their normal lives.
Well, that’s what Yaz dreamed of, at least. Six months on that island and all she had endured was anger, pain, suffering, day after day struggling to survive.
But she had also gained Sammy. She turned around, looking at the girl with a serious expression. Her head was pounding, but her heart ached even more. She wanted to go home, and she had realised that no matter how Sammy made her feel, it would probably all stop once this was over.
She would go back to school. Back to running. Back to… no true friends. And Sammy would eventually forget about her, back in Texas. They all did. She was never worth remembering for too long.
Her anxiety was certainly taking control, but she didn’t know how else to defend herself. Tensions were high, and she weighed up her next words carefully.
She knew Sammy was good for her, almost… meant for her. Their connection was undeniable and they had been each other's rocks for so many months and yet– Yasmina’s voices were telling her to push her away. To put up defences to ensure that no matter what happened during the next big couple of weeks, she wouldn’t get hurt. After what Ben had said, the thought of going back to normalcy scared her, and so she made her normalcy come to her early.
“-we’re not best friends. We never were.”
Just like lightning, Yaz could almost hear Sammy’s heart crack in that moment. She winced to herself, regretting the words immediately. She had no right to take her frustrations out on Sammy, but part of her words held some truth. She had no idea how things would be if they were to survive everything, and if Sammy truly would want to talk to her at all after everything.
The farmer girl behind her sniffed slowly, her breath shaky. She was clearly holding back tears and it only broke Yaz’s heart more.
She clutched the wooden plank in her hands tightly, swallowing hard in her throat. Yaz, in a moment of guilt, turned around to apologise but was met with no Sammy. The girl had already walked away. She had walked away and Yasmina had ruined the best thing that had happened to her in her entire life.
—-—-—-—-—-
Regret piled into her like a flood. Each second of remembrance was like a bullet to the stomach. It enraged something within Yaz. Her guilt became her weapon as she furrowed her brows in anger towards herself.
She took a deep breath in, and pushed the log with every bit of strength she had. She had to repay Sammy for how horribly she had treated her. She had to keep getting up. Keep trying. Keep going. Sammy was depending on her.
Her adrenaline spiked as she felt a newfound strength. Her legs ached and screamed in protest, but she did not stop. Yaz almost felt her knees pop in place, but after a few excruciatingly long moments, the log budged. The old wood ached from movement, being rolled a couple of inches away from the door.
It was no dinosaur strength level roll, but it was enough. It would suffice. And now Yaz could finally save Sammy. The brunette practically pried open the door, leaping inside with an eagerness that she only had for her races.
She entered the lab room of the Scorpios Rex. Thick, scratch marks were etched into the walls as a reminder of its unstable violence. Blood was stained in countless spots on the floor, and the room’s furniture was so displaced that it was even harder to navigate under the dark moonlight.
She recalled that the building had no power. Yaz was relying on natural light and her ability to navigate to find this supposed antidote.
Her brown eyes scanned the room once more, as she opened every cabinet, drawer and spare space possible. Her hands moved faster than her mind did.
“Fuck… it’s– it’s not here.” The brunette picked up different vials and cylinders of liquid, analysing them more closely. None of them were antidotes, merely basic chemical reactions for simple testing.
She saw the flash of Sammy’s weakening body in her mind and slammed her fists into the table the vials were on, its contents rolling away and spilling onto the floor and nearby areas.
“It has to be here!” She grunted loudly, yelling in frustration. She couldn’t give up, not now.
She let her anger release as her hands found any nearby object to throw. Papers scattered across the room, tables were easily flipped upside down and across the tiles, and glass shattered its way onto the floor as Yasmina found herself losing her own mind.
She curled onto the floor, letting her breathing settle as she held herself with her own arms. Her legs appreciated the rest, but her knees moaned in pain from the sudden drop to the floor.
It was then that Yasmina noticed a particular box on the floor that she hadn’t before. It was a larger medical box, with a blue needle logo on the front. She raised her brow in curiosity, making her way over to it with desperation.
She found herself gasping as she opened it, a large black container accompanied the space with a spare syringe and a few spare parts. Yaz shakily grabbed the black case from the metallic box, caressing it in her hands. She let it open slowly and held her breath, almost dying from relief as she read the words on the vials inside.
“E750 ANTIDOTE.”
Sammy was saved.
Well– almost. Relief flooded Yasmina as she realised her girl still had a chance. She hugged the black case tightly and bent over on the floor, her head touching her knees. All she had to do was survive. Keep running. And mostly importantly- make it back.
“Yes! Oh yes, yes, yes!”
Her body beelined for the front door again. She would treat her immense cuts and bruises at a later time, for now, she could barely even feel them.
The rain had yet to slow down, but the distant sun was on the horizon. The darkness would end, Yasmina would make sure of it. As she eased shut the heavy door, the previous noises of distant animals and booming thunder was replaced with an ear-rupturing crunch. The brown-eyed girl froze in fear at the sound.
Something was being eaten.
And there it was, staring at her, blood dripping from it like it was some glorious wet coat. Its eyes were dark, a red hue exasperating the evident evil in its heart. Its teeth were twice as long as that of the T-Rex, in addition to its longer arms. With dark and slimy skin, and long, injuring quills sticking out from most of its body, this creature was a downright monster. It looked down at Yasmina with a burning hunger that struck utter terror into her bones.
Yaz shuffled backwards, hoping its current meal of raptor would be enough to distract it if she were slow enough, but then she found herself screaming in response to the dinosaur’s deafening roar. With the loudness of a T-Rex but pitch of other species, the Scorpios Rex’s sound was terrifying.
The black case thudded onto the muddy ground loudly after the commotion. Yaz anxiously glanced down at the case that had become slightly ajar, then back to the Scorpios Rex. Its stare merely gazed deeper into her soul, its eyes stalking her every move, her temperature determining how she was stalked as a whole.
It was a straight line from where she was to safety. Yaz, taking a similar route, could be hidden away from the hideous creature a few dozen metres away with fifteen minutes of running. Constant running.
It lifted its head down in front of its meal and watched the runner closely, preparing itself for any sudden movement. It was almost as if the dinosaur could sense the rising temperature of Yaz’s body.
Her heart pounded lightly as her fingers grazed the top of the case, her fingers pushed the contents back together with a deafening click. She noticed subject E750’s eyes dilate at the mere sound, hunting her every movement.
This was it. She had to make it back. Yasmina knew logically it was impossible to outright run away from this thing, but it couldn’t hurt to try. She had to try. For Sammy. She prayed Darius had come up with a distraction, as she was out of time.
The brunette leaned over and raised her arms in front of her, letting her hands caress the ground. She knelt with one leg in front of the other and changed her grip on the antidote’s case into a tighter one, preparing herself. Yaz looked forward to the distant treeline and took a deep breath in, she knew what had to be done. Her body had already submitted into its position.
The sound of rain numbed out of her mind as the ground in front of her turned into a makeshift track. If she ran, and continued to run, not looking back, she might just survive. She could get back to Sammy and everything would be okay. It had to.
So with one large grunt, Yaz launched from the ground with impressive speed, her legs pounding against the damp terrain. The creature screamed in protest, immediately taking off after her. Its footsteps covered twice as much ground as hers, the booming growing ever so closer with every inch of ground covered. But that only fueled Yaz’s anxiety and motivation more. She had to live, she had to live. For Sammy.
After what felt like an eternal imprisonment, the same river from before approached her path, only this time a much flatter and longer jump approached her. The screeching roar of the Scorpios Rex flooded her ears and tickled her back as Yasmina found herself sprinting faster towards the river. Her survival depended on her making this jump. The dinosaur was about to catch her, she needed to jump.
And so she did. In fact, the girl soared so high into the air that she came back plummeting down onto the grass with an uncomfortable crunch.
Something was definitely sprained at best, or broken at worst. Yaz’s right ankle throbbed in pain at the jump’s impact, begging for pressure to be released. She tried to reach for support, but found nothing but air around her. The girl struggled to get up and found herself sitting on her knees, mouth panting with exhaustion. The creature was still out there, she needed to move. But she couldn’t.
Until she thought of Sammy.
—-—-—-—-—-
Rain faintly spat down on the island around them. Outside of the treehouse there were a plethora of dinosaurs and dangers that awaited them. But inside the treehouse? There was a comforting presence and light.
Yaz walked outside of the warmth of the living accommodation in search of a specific fellow camper, and found a familiar younger girl lazily leaning against the dark balcony rails, deep in thought. Sammy looked almost upset. The sight made the track star more confident and certain in what she was about to do.
“I’m not so great at trusting new people.”
Yasmina knocked her sketchbook lightly against her forehead and forced it away from her body and hands, gifting it to Sammy as a form of offering. She leaned against the balcony awkwardly, gazing up to the stars. The farm girl had done everything in her power to earn her trust, pushing forward with every opportunity no matter how negatively Yaz reacted. She always tried to include her. And after what they endured that day, with Darius and Brooklyn almost drowning in that thickened mud, Yaz had realised that Sammy was different. And very good with people. It was enough to push her to give Sammy a chance, despite her doubts. And if she had to be honest with herself, the Texan girl was someone that she found herself constantly strung towards, although she would never admit that.
Sammy could see through Yaz like a book. She was alone, self conscious and afraid.
Sammy looked over to her with her wide, gaping eyes. They were almost mesmerising, with how big and innocent they were, constantly saved for just her viewing as of recent. She cautiously took the book from Yaz’s hands and flicked through the pages, coming across the girl’s most recent sketches of mostly T-Rexes and other forms of dinosaurs.
“I’m not very good, so you probably won’t even like them.”
There was an awkward silence, as Yaz forced her eyes down to her feet, anxiety overwhelming her.
“I don’t like them–”
Oh. Perhaps Yaz had thought wrong, her heart clenched at those words, already regretting her newfound emotions and longing for a true friendship–
“-I LOVE them! I knew we were gonna be friends!”
Relief washed over Yasmina at the loving, high pitched words from Sammy. The younger girl lunged herself into a hug with the track star, tightly wrapping her arms around the brunette's neck.
Yaz wouldn’t admit it, but it felt nice. Apart from her mother, hugs were a rare occurrence for her. She always pitched it down to her just not liking affection, and although that answer remained mostly true, this embrace with Sammy certainly did change things. She pushed herself out of her comfort zone for this girl, realising that although she may not be overly affectionate, Sammy had turned already into an exception.
“Not really a hugger.” She meekly commented, knowing that she liked the new form of contact.
“You are now!” Sammy wiggled her hips back and forth with excitement, pushing Yaz another step forward, as if letting the older girl know that she can be comfortable with her.
Yaz took a deep sigh, she supposed with Sammy that was now true. The girl was physically affectionate down to the tee, and Yaz didn’t mind the occasional touches and hugs, as long as it was from Sammy. They were going to trust each other, so that meant Yaz too would challenge herself. She reached a singular arm out in an awkward manner, letting it rest against the younger girl’s left shoulder blade. The warm lights from inside reflected a beautiful light onto them as a sudden warmth invaded Yaz’s body. She was glad she pushed herself to hug the girl back. It felt terrific. It felt almost alien, unreal.
They both pulled out of the hug, giggling and smiling giddily. Yaz found herself once again studying Sammy’s wide, innocent eyes.
“You don’t give up, do you?” The sporty girl remarked with an admiring smile, eyebrows raised in almost disbelief at Sammy’s persistence.
“Never for friendship!” Sammy commented blankly, as if it were something she stood true in and believed in entirely. Her crooked smile made its way onto her face again, and Yaz merely smiled at the site and words. It was in that moment that reinforced Yaz’s newfound feeling within her. She liked Sammy’s presence, and she was willing to let her be close to her.
She trusted Sammy. And she hadn’t trusted nor cared for anyone in a long time. And that meant a lot to a loner like her. Sammy never gave up, and maybe for the potential of their connection, neither should she.
—-—-—-—-—-
She wouldn’t give up. Not now, she had come so far. It didn’t matter if the rain poured heavier than that day, it didn’t matter if she was being chased or eaten alive. This antidote would make its way to Sammy even if it was the last thing the track star ever did.
Yaz groaned in pain and clutched her ankle once more. She felt around, deducing that nothing was badly broken from what she could tell. It was just a severe sprain, meaning she could get through this. She competed with a torn ACL. This? This was nothing to her. Or so she said to herself.
“I’m not giving up either!” Yasmina announced to herself, almost in reply to the memory, letting her head rise in the torrential rain. But it was then that a familiar roar invaded her ears, and her heart with fear.
From a nearby tree in front of her, leaves shook violently and moved almost snake-like. She was being hunted, this was her reality. The Scorpios Rex could barely be seen, but Yaz knew it was there, its red eyes piercing in the dark. Watching her. Waiting for her to be weak.
It slowly descended from the thick tree, coming face to face with Yasmina once more.
She screamed in horror as it approached her, almost taunting her with her injury, roaring loudly into the late night. She gripped tightly onto the black box in her arms, refusing to let her grip slip.
She had quite had enough of the night. She was done with everything. She needed to save Sammy. She was tired. She had had enough.
“Go ahead then!” Yasmina began, throwing an arm in her face in protest to the animal’s threatening voice. It stood up straighter, analysing the girl. “If you’re gonna do something, then do it already!” The track star forced herself up onto her feet, standing proud in her tracks, arms wide and almost comical. She was worn out, her voice cracked and gave away her imminent fear, but her body was not moving. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She didn’t give a fuck anymore.
The Scorpios Rex eyed her down menacingly, approaching her slowly, step by step. Its teeth enlarged with a long, piercing ooze. Its mouth hung open slightly ajar, hunger clearly adept in its eyes. It was taunting Yaz, letting her live her last moments mere seconds longer, as if to give her a false hope, and incorrect sense of reality.
And then, the sky erupted.
A thundering boom cracked across the landscape. The skyline was caught into gigantic flames, alluring the creature away from Yaz. It stood memorised, tilting its head slightly crooked to the right in curiosity. Immediately, it ran towards this light. Like a moth to a flame, it began its deafening roar and melted into the night rain, and away from Yaz’s terrified figure.
Yaz internally knew Darius– and most likely Ben, he loved explosions– was behind that elaborate and dramatic plan. She was grateful for them, as because of them, she could live to save Sammy.
She wasted no time sprinting back to reality, ignoring the throb in her ankle. After a few long hundred metres, the familiar pathway that laid outside of their campsite drew under her shoes. Grass was replaced with gravel, and she felt her ankle slowly giving way with no retaliation possible.
Her lungs ached. Running was her passion, she was always sore in some form during her track days, but with the injuries that she sustained, Yaz knew that she would have to rest for a while. Her body was slowly breaking down early without her permission, being pushed too far physically and mentally. She was shaking– quivering almost– from a mix of agony and fear. Her lungs were screaming and aching so badly that it was almost numb. But as she spoke to herself, her voice came out as a mere weak breath, a reminder of her true state no matter how deeply she ignored it.
“Come on, Yaz,” She wheezed out, her chest sounding almost crackly. She limped across the road, begging to see the outlining fence of their base of operations. Her vision slipped and dragged across her peripherals, causing a moment of black in her mind. And within that small section of black, Yaz found herself slipping on a nearby branch, falling over onto the ground with a painful thud.
She blacked out momentarily, almost dreaming, or thinking, of a similar moment with Sammy when she hit the ground.
—-—-—-—-—-
“Agh! Go, Yaz! Go!” She recalled Sammy screaming out to her in encouragement as the twisted couple following them trapped and pinned down Sammy and Darius. It sparked something within her, and she launched from her spot in the bushes and took off faster than she ever had before. Sammy had risked her own life for Yaz’s.
The country girl had pushed that horrific blonde woman off of her to save her, and now she would repay that favour. She would save Sammy this time instead. She needed Sammy to know that all of her efforts were forever seen by her. She was appreciated, and she was cared about.
—-—-—-—-—-
Yaz’s eyes snapped open, she was leaning against a log on the ground, directly parallel to the twig she tripped over.
This wasn’t over. She had to get up.
‘Get up Yaz. Get up. GET. UP.’
She arose with immense haste, her ankle quivering and buckling multiple times under the pressure. She fell down again, and again, and again. But Yaz kept getting up until she stayed up. Because she needed to for Sammy. Her life was in her hands, this was it.
She almost felt as if she could die herself when she approached more familiar bushes and grass. Yaz was approaching the home stretch now, she knew that more than anything in her body. And yet, the urge to give up was screaming at her. Her vision was tunnelling steadily, and her heart was on its way to give way if she did not stop running. But she did not care, nothing was beating her to Sammy. Not even death itself.
She looked to the sky as she hobbled, and remembered each moment.
—-—-—-—-—-
They sat on the yacht in silence, a tension beckoning to rip into the conversation. But instead of tension, Yaz was filled with warmth and excitement. They were free to just- be. No dinosaurs, no running away, no nothing. Just a bunch of teenagers on a boat, able to relax and be free of their struggles.
It was then that Sammy lunged onto her randomly, giggling happily. She then bid her a temporary farewell and walked over to Brooklyn, as Yaz stared in awe. The brunette wished for longer forms of contact.
Something compiled in her chest as she looked at Sammy. She had utter adoration for the girl. Nothing could tear her apart from her anymore. Sammy was the one person she trusted the most, and always would, and she thought that was beautiful.
Almost as beautiful as the way Sammy looked. Her large, strong arms and curly dark hair made it hard to focus on any task at hand. And Yaz knew that no matter what would happen to her, she would always have Sammy.
—-—-—-—-—-
Yasmina’s ankle was twisted in an uncomfortable manner. She pushed past it and forced her mind back to the country girl she so heavily admired.
She had always had Sammy.
The group hugs, where Sammy had always made sure to linger and focus her touches on Yaz. The countless saves, where Yaz found herself wanting to cling to Sammy more and more for the mutual comfort of being safe. The long nights of cuddling and secret touches within the group, where Yaz ached for more contact despite always hating contact her whole life.
Sammy would always protect and do anything for Yaz, and the track star realised that she too would go above and beyond for Sammy. Always. In a way that even confused and worried her.
She saw familiar metal in the distance and gasped for air, letting Sammy’s voice in her head be her guide.
“I’ve been trying to find a good time to tell you this… you’re my best friend, Yaz, in the whole world. And I’m really glad we got to know each other.”
Her thoughts were interrupted by her screams of desperation and pain. Yaz was not going to fall. Not now. The flashes of Sammy’s round, beautiful face and gorgeous, gaping smiling flooded her mind. She needed to see Sammy like that again. She needed to see her alive, she needed to just see her.
Sammy viewed them as forever together, forever best friends and forever each other’s safe place. And that was when Yaz realised something truly terrifying. It caused her to run, to stretch out, and she did not look back nor stop.
And then, she made it. The Nublar Six’s home of operations, their makeshift house. She fell onto the floor next to Brooklyn, who looked at her in shock. It may have been due to how quickly she had been, but it also may have been due to the countless bruises and cuts Yaz had obtained on the fearful trip.
But none of that mattered, she shoved the case into Brooklyn’s hands, knowing the intelligent girl would know what to do.
“I’m here, Sammy! I’m here!” Yaz grasped one of Sammy’s hands with both of her own as Brooklyn injected the antidote gently, her own masked face filled with anxiety. The track star smiled softly down onto her other half. Even when as green as the swamplands, Sammy was still effortlessly adorable to her.
And then there was silence. The rest of the group was back now, but Yaz was too focused to care about them. They could’ve been there mere seconds after her, or long after. She didn’t care. Why wasn’t Sammy responding? Why wasn’t she waking up?
“Come on… come on come on come on!” She rested her head against the farmer girl’s hands, usually strong but now weak and frail. Her condition had worsened greatly since Yaz had left, and she could only hope that she had run fast enough for her girl.
“Please, wake up.” Yaz began to sob now. With every passing second she found herself shaking violently in distress. “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. It might not be easy or perfect, but…”
Yaz choked on her own words. The world was turning to black as she felt Sammy’s unresponsive body in her hands. She had to live. She had to live. She had to live.
“Please, wake up.”
Minutes went by in silence as the others looked at Yaz with despair. Sammy, still unmoving, barely breathing, laid unconscious by Yaz’s side. The brunette rested her head to Sammy’s chest and sobbed quietly, saying familiar words to herself that she realised she should have said before it was too late.
‘Please, wake up. I love you.’
She couldn’t lose Sammy, she couldn’t imagine her world without her sunshine. She needed her to stay, she needed her. Sammy, dead? No. She refused to believe it, it wasn’t possible, it wasn’t–
Heavy coughs in her face startled Yaz as she snapped her neck upwards, witnessing a now conscious Sammy shiver and cough in pain. The farmer girl opened her eyes, and the first thing she focused upon within the group was Yaz’s face. Covered in dirt, sweat and tears, Yaz still reflected back the most precious smile she could muster, looking down at Sammy with enough softness to challenge the most perfect pillow.
“Hey, Yaz.” Sammy coughed out with a weak smile. It was her typical crooked grin that made the track star’s heart warm.
“Hey, Sammy.” Yaz could barely produce proper sentences together while looking down at her injured friend.
Yaz loved her. Yaz loved Sammy, and Sammy was still alive. And that flooded her with joy.
She softly placed a hand to Sammy’s thigh, and her other hand to the girl’s shoulder, making sure to not put too much pressure. Sammy’s hand still clung to her side in pain, as she panted irregularly.
“How ya’ feeling?”
“Like I got punched in the stomach like a porcupine.” Despite the greenly pale, sickly skin, Yaz noticed a faint pink in Sammy’s cheeks as they made contact. “So you know, better.”
They locked eyes and searched each other for everything and nothing at the same time. Sammy was alive, and Yaz could rest knowing that she had the rest of their lives to make up for her mistakes. Sammy had alway tried to include her, and although it began as a random act of kindness, it had blossomed into the most genuine friendship she had ever had.
But now, staring down at the beautiful girl, Yaz couldn’t help but wonder if it was just friendship that he had been wanting for so long. The warmth, the smiles, the giddiness and almost jealousy at times…
Yaz really did love Sammy. And she would have to take care of her the best she could to prove it.
But for now, they would merely rest. Sammy needed Yaz just as much as Yaz needed Sammy. That much was true. They would sit for a few minutes, and then they would leave this island.
So Yaz found a spot next to Sammy and shuffled in next to her, giving the girl time to decide on boundaries. And with that, Sammy immediately clung to Yaz for support, leaning against her shoulder tiredly. She grabbed ahold of Yaz’s hand with her own and interlocked their fingers, rubbing Yaz’s hand with her thumb comfortingly.
Yaz’s heart exploded at the contact. She hid down the blush as much as she could and tried to focus on the rest of the campers’ conversations, as they all approached Sammy and ventured off into their own conversations.
And as they all trailed off, Yaz stayed, and she would never let herself leave again or push Sammy away. She was to take care of Sammy, just as much as the other girl had taken care of her.