I am not even going to try to come up with an excuse for my elongated absence, here is chapter 11! I promised y'all I would continue this and I will. I want it to be a really long series that has the same apocalypse feel to it as the walking dead. I'm not going to do shoutouts anymore sorry but I am going to make long chapters and hope to still hear your lovely thoughts and comments and reviews. Thanks guys and enjoy chappy 11
Chapter 11, We Gotta Get Out Of Here
The day was slightly warmer as Gray woke up to the sounds of birds chirping around the wooded area. He yawned and slipped out of his sleeping bag, looking around to see that Witchley and Zach were both absent, and he would've freaked out if not for the small note Zach left him on his sleeping bag.
Wanted to let you sleep in, we're out in the camp. Don't freak out.
Once again it was like Zach could read his mind and Gray couldn't help but chuckle. The air was warm against his cold cheeks and as he sat up to leave he felt something in the back pocket of his pants, pulling it out to see the makeshift ruler and plate wand. The ruler was slightly cracked and the plate was dried weird after being waterlogged but miraculously- it was still holding together. Gray thanked his luck for a minute then, happy he'd changed back into his dried pants right before they left the cabin what felt like years ago now. With everything that had happened to them in the past couple of days- it was a miracle really that the old tangible piece of a fond memory held up so well.
Slipping it back into his pocket for the time being, Gray exited the tent to a blinding sun, when his eyes adjusted he saw that the snow was slowly starting to melt under the heat of the sun. Once again people were moving around, making food, washing laundry, and some kids around his age and even younger were playing tag.
Just how long was I sleeping?
He searched around until his gray eyes spotted the other kids in his group, Zach's face lighting up when they made eye contact.
"I thought you were going to sleep forever." He chuckled, throwing an arm around Gray's shoulders once again.
He smiled sheepishly, "Yeah sorry… guess I was really exhausted."
"Gray you really need to stop apologizing for everything. Some extra sleep is exactly what you needed."
Gray nodded shyly but still felt embarrassed to have been the last one up, when it seemed the others were being pretty productive helping make pancakes on a few different pans over some small fires.
"You didn't miss much" James said to him, smiling.
It's cool to see that James isn't acting cold to me anymore, maybe we can even be friends.
"Yeah Tom just has us helping out with the breakfast, he says he is going to show us around afterwards" Carlos said, and then added in a hushed whisper, "But we should really be going by then. We can't have them thinking we're staying here."
"Why not?! It's safe and warm and there is shelter and food here." Ashley rebutted, her normal scowl etched onto her face.
"You can't seriously mean that Ashley!" Zach careened, "Our parents are out there who knows where, doesn't that matter to you?"
Ashley glared at Zach with cold anger and hurt in her eyes, all they'd been doing as of lately is arguing with one another. "Obviously I care about the adults Zach! I miss my parents and I am worried about them too! But I know they can take care of themselves. Especially with Owen being there. And I know they'd want us to be safe. I'm not saying we should stay here forever but staying until the snow is melted sounds like a much better idea than what we've been doing, trekking out in the snow with barely enough supplies and no clue as to where we're going!"
The two of them glared at one another, of course Ashley managing to slip a few glares over at Gray because as usual according to her he was the real enemy here.
"Cool it you guys." Carlos hushed, "You're being really loud and the last thing we need is one of the adults knowing we want to leave. I have a pretty good feeling they won't be too happy about it. They certainly weren't excited when you shared the idea of leaving last night Zach."
And as if on cue, Sarah and Tom walked over to the kids and sat next to them near the fire.
"Pancakes are smelling great! They'll make for a nice pre- tour breakfast." Tom said in a cheery voice.
How anyone managed to stay this peppy during an apocalypse, Zach just couldn't understand, and barely noticed as Gray leant slightly into his side, yet another thing that seemed so normal for them lately.
"We appreciate the hospitality." Carlos said genuinely, smiling as Ashley started passing out the pancakes to the big group of survivors.
"It's no problem. Soon all the snow will be gone though and dinos will be back on the prowl."
Sarah gave Tom a pointed look saying 'trying not to scare the kids' and added. "But the fence should be up by the end of the day. And by that time nothing will be coming in."
Or out. Gray shivered, grabbing onto Zach's sweater sleeve. He glanced down at Gray in concern, seems he was having the same worries.
"My goodness… what happened to your arms?" Sarah asked suddenly- reaching out as if to touch Gray's bandages. He instinctively curled into Zach a bit more, who glanced warningly at the woman.
She seemed to get the picture and backed off a bit, "I didn't notice those last night with the dark and all that snow."
Gray glanced down at his bandages and saw that they were really dirty with mud and dried blood visible on the once clean bandages.
"He got some glass from a car's window embedded in his arms. We removed it but haven't been able to change the bandages in a few days." Zach explained, one of his big hands lightly touching at the bandages.
"Well that can be easily fixed, we have some first aid supplies in our makeshift medical tent. Sarah can give the rest of you a tour while I change the gauze on your arms." Tom started, but with seeing the protest in Zach's eyes he added, "Or your brother can come too instead."
It was clear to both adults leading the camp that the older brother was fiercely protective of the younger, so they wouldn't even try to separate the two of them, not like that is what they wanted to do anyways.
The small group of kids looked tentatively at one another before nodding, Carlos, James and a very annoyed Witchley who wouldn't even look Zach in the eyes went with Sarah to look at the camp, as Tom lead the two brothers to the small tent holding the medical supplies.
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Claire awoke with a gasp, looking around to see she was in a dark room- and the others were there as well, the Thompson's, the Maculane's and Karen and Scott. But Owen was nowhere to be found.
She shivered with the sudden spiking fear of not seeing her boyfriend safe or anywhere to be seen.
"Karen… Karen!" She cried, shaking her older sister slightly. Karen startled awake, jumping out of the protective hold Scott had around her instinctively when they were passed out.
"Wha…? Huh?" Karen mumbled incoherently, looking from Claire to the others and then down at Scott in shock that he'd been holding her in his unconscious state.
"Snap out of it Karen, I need you to help me find Owen."
Karen looked to Claire, the reality of their situation finally sinking in.
"He's not here?"
"No. And I am really worried."
At this point the others were starting to wake as well, including an annoyed looking Scott who obviously didn't realize he'd been cuddling with his almost ex-wife in his sleep.
"Oh my goodness!" Mrs. Thompson cried, "That man… Hank. He's kidnapped us."
The dark metal door swung open then, and a blinding light blazed against the group's unexpecting eyes.
"Yeah. No shit. He's definitely kidnapped us." Said Owen, standing in the light of the doorway with his arms held behind him by no other than Hank himself.
Before the others could react though, he was shoved not at all gently into the cell and the door was slammed shut and locked behind him. Claire hadn't even had the chance to see the expression on Hank's face as he was silhouetted behind Owen's shadow.
"Owen!" She cried, reaching out and pulling the man into an embrace as he put his strong arms around her in return.
"I'm ok. I'm fine. They haven't done anything to me…" He started, and then sat up to look in Claire's eyes. His expression gave Claire more chills of fear wracking down her spine. He looked so damn scared.
"He want the kids."
There was a collective gasp out of all the adult's mouths that would've been comical in a different situation but brought a blanket of icy fear over the group.
"What…?" Claire asked, trying to soak in what she'd just been told.
"You heard me right, only he doesn't want all of them. Just Zach and Gray."
This time Karen gasped, falling in shock into Scott's outheld arms.
"You… you're kidding right?" Scott asked, his face as pale as a ghost.
"Why would I joke about something like that?" He glared back defensively, Claire put a calming hand on his shoulder, "He says that those two are the key to everything that's happening. And that he's going to do whatever it takes to find them."
"Sounds like a mad man to me." Mrs. Maculane tutted, crossing her arms in worry and anger.
"There's more. He said the gunshot was an excuse to get us away from the kids and when he went back to find them the cabin was in shambles and the kids were gone."
If it were at all possible to get even more terrified, the words Owen just said made the real terror come out in all of the adults, and for a moment no one knew what to say.
"Oh my god…" Mr. Thompson muttered, clutching his now sobbing wife to his chest.
"I… I'm sure they're ok." Claire started, voice shaking, "They are smart kids. Besides they have Carlos who is almost 18 and Zach, even though he's only 16 he's a really good leader. And Gray is really smart."
Mrs. Maculane sniffled and added, "James is pretty good at thinking quickly on his feet."
"A-and our darling Ashley is brave and strong." Mrs. Thompson sniffled.
"Exactly." Claire said, trying to find comfort in her own words. "I'm sure right now they are fine, and are watching each other's backs."
They all nodded quietly.
"Still, we have to get out of here. Especially if there is this weird target on Gray and Zach's back. I have a weird feeling that Hank isn't alone in wanting to find them. It makes absolutely no sense… but to be honest. Nothing does anymore."
The same light from the door interrupted them once more, and this time a badass looking woman stood in the light. She had an old scar running over half of her face, and she was missing her right eye. Deep red hair tangled down her shoulders and she was wearing black laced up tights and a black tank top.
"Karen. Come with me." she said, voice deep and scratchy.
"What?! No!" Claire yelled, jumping in front of her still freaked sister with Scott, both of them protectively trying to keep her safe.
The woman didn't seem fazed at all, and simply pulled out a taser gun, tasing both Claire and Scott in one shot, causing them both to spasm and fall to the ground.
"Claire!" Owen yelled, growling at the woman like an angry animal, and then going to attack her.
Without blinking she used the taser on him too.
"Anyone else?" She asked, circling the room with her eyes.
"No. Don't hurt anyone else, I'll come with you." Karen said, in what Claire was scared that sounded like defeat.
"K… no." Claire wheezed quietly, trying to find her strength once again in her numb arms and legs.
"I'll be fine Claire. Don't worry about me." She smiled sadly, and then leaning in close for a second said-
"And focus on finding us a way out of here. And to the kids."
And then the woman lead her out of the room and they were plummeted into darkness once more.
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Zach was surprised to see all the medical equipment they had in the small tent, there was a small cot, some sterilized needles, an IV drip, stethoscope, multiple medicines, bandages and even a pair of crutches!
He sat down on the cot next to Gray who'd been unusually quiet all morning long, and now rested his head wearily on Zach's shoulder as if he hadn't slept until almost 11 that morning.
"Where did you get all this stuff?" Zach asked a bit suspicious about the abundance of medical supplies.
"Yesterday we did a run to the local doctor's office in town. The whole world is quickly getting rampaged by dinosaurs, the whole town was empty." Tom answered honestly, a saddened look to his face.
Zach grimaced and nodded. He was pretty good at telling when people were lying, a skill he'd picked up over the years of being lied to by his parents. And he could tell Tom wasn't lying.
"Anyways, you kids shouldn't worry too much about this. When the army and the navy take care of this, it'll be back to normal life again."
Gray looked up to meet Zach's gaze and they shared a look.
This isn't going to be over anytime soon.
Tom pulled out some new gauze and anti-infection cream and approached Gray at the cot.
"Ok let's get a look at the wounds."
Gray glanced up at his brother once more before nodding and beginning to unwrap his bandages. Despite wincing in pain it was clear to Zach that Gray was trying overly hard to conceal his pain and appear strong.
Once unwrapped the two brothers got a clear look of Gray's wounds that they hadn't been able to see in a few days. The cuts were slightly dirty and still red and puffy, but they looked ten times better than they did the first night, and were starting to close up and heal.
"Well I'd say given the circumstances, this looks pretty good." Tom said.
For a second Zach saw a ghost of a smile on Gray's mouth before it dissapeared.
"I'm going to put on the medication then I'll leave Zach to help you with the bandages, since I've got more duties I need to complete around camp." Tom continued, rubbing some cream gently into Gray's skin before heading out.
Gray went to grab the gauze but was stopped when his older brother grabbed his wrist lightly.
"Ok, what's wrong?" He asked in a no nonsense voice.
"What? Nothing's wrong."
"Gray I'm not an idiot. I can tell something is wrong. You're being really quiet and you look exhausted even though you slept so much last night."
Gray sighed, his head falling down until his mop of ever growing long hair flopped over the front of his face, "Ugh Zach why do you have to know me so well?" he asked.
"Because I'm your big brother dork." Zach replied, ruffling Gray's hair slightly.
He looked up at him with a slight chuckle, but obvious worry in his eyes. He really looked his age of only 11 years at that moment. Like a lost and scared little kid. And Zach figured, that really is what he was.
"It's just… well it's everything. So much has happened lately and now I have a really bad feeling about this place. Not the people, they seem nice. But I just have this feeling that we're not as safe here as everyone likes to believe. And I'm thinking about everything we've seen in this week. I thought Jurassic World was the worst thing ever but I don't really think it is anymore. I mean I saw a boy get crushed under a car, we lost the adults, the cabin got crushed and I almost lost you! I just have this really bad feeling that this is only the beginning and it's really scaring me Zach…" he whispered, looking down at his hands holding the gauze, and slowly moving it around in his hands. But he didn't cry. Probably because he'd been crying so much lately and he'd simply run out of tears.
"I'm scared too Gray…" Zach admitted, pulling his little brother's face up to look at him, "no actually I'm terrified. I feel the exact same way you do. Everything now is just so crazy. But I'm not going anywhere. Ok? I promise."
"But you can't really promise that Zach, not really. We're not in control here on whether we live or die… we… we may even be dead tomorrow for all I know."
"NO! Don't say that!" Zach said harshly, and Gray's eyes that had lingered once again to the floor snapped back when Zach yelled.
"I… I'm sorry.. Just don't say that… ok?" Zach continued at the look of guilt in Gray's eyes. A few tears sprung to his eyes and unfortunately he didn't wipe them away in time for Gray not to see them.
"Now there's something you're not telling me." Gray said, putting his little hand on Zach's shoulder. He almost started crying right there at the pure innocence and love yet understanding his little brother had for his emotions.
"Ok you got me. I've been having nightmares, not like the ones we had when we were at home after Jurassic World, more like… well you die every night in my dreams Gray. In some horrific way. One after another."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well why didn't you tell me you were having bad feelings for the future?"
"Ok. I guess that's fair enough. We've both really got to start talking to each other more." Gray said, a silly little smile on his face.
"Yeah… I guess so."
"And Zach, I'm not going anywhere either." He added sweetly, and once again Zach chuckled. Happy to see that despite all the crazy they'd been through so far, Gray was still Gray. His overly sweet and selfless dorky little brother.
He pulled him into his arms for a minute, happy to hear his brother sigh with the comfort Zach's arms brought. And he felt a lot better than he had in weeks, having talked to his little brother about his feelings. He laughed, knowing a month ago he would've gagged at the thought of a heart to heart with a certain little 11 year old brother.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing."
"Okkkkkkkk." Gray stretched out, his voice going up in a high pitched silly way.
"Come on, let's get your arms re-bandaged."
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Carlos, Ashley and James walked behind Sarah as she droned on and on about the different jobs people had around camp. They'd finished the tour and were heading back to meet up with Zach and Gray once again.
Ashley was rolling her eyes and James looked bored out of his mind, but Carlos was busy trying to find a way for them to get out of there.
On the tour they'd been shown that at every single entrance or gap in the woods to the camp, there were adults stationed with weapons keeping guard. The fence was being built out of hacked over trees and abandoned cars and furniture, and they were building it up as high as they could, so Carlos realized they'd need to slip out that night before the fence was completely built.
He figured by the evening when people were eating dinner there would be less guards standing around the exit points. They'd use those times to escape and head on their way.
"Cool man, your arms aren't bloody anymore." James said out of nowhere, and Carlos was snapped out of his thoughts to see they were outside of the medical tent with Zach and Gray once again.
"Thanks. I like not having gross gauze and bleeding arms too." Gray laughed, and Carlos and Zach exchanged a happy smile to see their two little bros getting along finally. Everyone had noticed the tension between the two of them.
"Zach." Ashley said seriously.
"What is it now Ashley?" Zach asked, sounding exaggerated as usual.
"No need to be rude. Jeez. I guess you don't want to know what I found when we were on that stupid tour."
Carlos was about to shush her for being rude when he realized that Sarah had walked off.
"You found something?" He asked instead.
"Yes Carlos, I did. Thanks for actually caring. Look." She pulled a black police walkie talkie out of her pockets.
"No way… where did you find that?"
"It was next to someone's bag of stuff, their luggage said Skilift County Utah, there's someone else here from home. Weird huh?"
Zach groaned and slapped his hand to his head, "So you basically just stole someone's walkie talkie?"
"Well sorry for thinking this might be the exact thing we need to contact the adults! I'll just go return it now and let us remain separated from them forever…"
"Ugh guys, seriously just stop arguing for two seconds you're giving me a headache!" Carlos interjected.
"Witchley's giving me a headache too…" Gray mumbled, earning him a pointed growl from Ashley.
"Look, how about this. We borrow it for now and then after we reach the adults we give it back to…"
Carlos was interrupted by a loud and obnoxious screech.
The kids gasped and huddled together as a swarm of pterodactyls started making their descent towards the camp.
And just like that the camp erupted into chaos, people started screaming and running in all different directions, dropping whatever they were previously holding.
"Shit, we have to get out of here. Now!" Carlos yelled, gripping tightly onto James' and Zach's shoulders.
Zach nodded, and grasping Gray's hand in his right and Ashley's in his left, the group started to sprint out of the camp and back into the cover of the woods.
"Oh… oh GOD!" Ashley yelled, stopping in her tracks as a woman was swept up yelling and shrieking by a pterodactyl, and thrown to her death into a tree.
"Ashley, come on! There's nothing we can do. Come on!" She heard someone yell, and then she was yanked forward and tripped slightly before turning her head away from the horror seen behind her and running.
And once again they kept running, until they couldn't hear the screams anymore, until they knew for sure they'd outrun the flying dinos. And they were alone once again.
And finally collapsing behind a big tree, all huddled together and somehow still alive, grasping onto one another, desperate for comfort, the kids cried. Each trying to forget what they just saw and each wondering how many people had survived.
Zach grasped onto a sobbing Ashley, felt Gray huddled into his right side. And heard his brother whisper over and over about how 'he knew it, he just knew it'.
Finally after what seemed like hours they separated, all looking at one another wearily.
"It's ok guys. We're still here. We're still alive. We need to keep moving." Carlos said, his voice shaky.
"And I know just where to start."
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Claire and Scott tried desperately to open the metal door in front of them as cries of pain echoed throughout the hallways. But it wouldn't budge.
Karen. It was Karen crying, and no matter how much they yelled, how much they fought, or how much they thought they hated each other, Scott couldn't stand to hear Karen in pain.
She was being tortured.
"Guys…" Someone said in the background, but Claire and Scott barely heard it.
"Guys."
Another scream of agony.
"GUYS!"
They turned around sharply, finally hearing his voice. Owen was holding up a little black thing they could barely make out in the dark.
"It's the kids. I have no idea how they did it. But they managed to call us on the walkie talkie…"
"They were just attacked by pterodactyls."
TO BE CONTINUED….
Wow, ok so I had so much fun finally writing again. I really hope to update this soon because I am getting back into it and I hope you guys can get back into it too. Please review if you are not too mad at me for the long wait. Ok until next time and hopefully soon- Supermikeyninjalady
