Author's note:
Ahh, the long awaited chapter. Enjoy!
"Get up! Get up!" Darius hisses, shaking Yasmina awake.
Kenji shakes Sammy, and the Texan pretends to wake up. "What's going on?" Brooklynn asks.
"There's a dinosaur coming," Darius whispers. He grabs a long stick. Sammy and Yasmina follow suit. The three back into Kenji and Brooklynn, forming a circle. Brooklynn whimpers, holding the bat that Kenji found. Kenji brandishes his butter knife.
Darius's eyes dart around, searching for the danger. Behind him Sarah the Ceratosaurus charges out of the bushes with a roar. The campers shriek and scramble out of the way. Strong jaws clamp down where Darius's head was seconds ago. The teens dodge the bites as they grab their gear.
Sammy helps Yasmina limp away, but Sarah corners them. The girls shriek as they're forced into prickly bushes to avoid the dinosaur. "Guys!" Darius screams.
"YEEEEAAHHHHH!" Kenji lets out a war cry as he dives for the Ceratosaurus. He starts trying to stab the dinosaur with his butter knife, but the flimsy metal bends.
"Nice going, Kenji!" Yasmina spits, then screams as the Ceratosaurus ignores Kenji and dives again for the girls. They're forced farther into the bushes.
"I am at an Avengers threat level!" Kenji shouts, trying to distract the predator.
Darius gets an idea. "Not Avengers, Star Wars!"
"What?" Brooklynn asks, coming up behind him.
"Tie that rope around the tree!" Darius instructs her, pointing to the rope Yasmina created to rappel. "Then give it to me!"
"Why?" Brooklynn asks as she runs to do so.
"Just do it!" Darius shouts. "We don't have any other ideas!"
Darius slams his stick into Sarah's eye as she dives for the girls. The dinosaur is annoyed and finally turns her attention to Kenji and Darius. "Uhh… what now?!" Kenji asks.
"Distract her!" Darius orders. "We're pulling an AT-AT!"
"A what?!" Brooklynn shouts, throwing Darius the rope.
"Just do it!" he shouts, throwing the rope to Kenji, then rolling away to avoid being chomped on. He scrambles like a squirrel to keep Sarah in one place and stay out of her jaws.
"Ohh!" Kenji's face lights up in understanding. He runs around the Ceratosaurus's legs while Darius risks being eaten to distract the dinosaur. He wraps the rope around the predator's legs twice then throws it to Sammy and Yasmina, who have untangled themselves from the bushes.
"I think I get it," Sammy nods, then ties the rope as tightly as she can around a second tree while Kenji helps Darius distract Sarah.
"Now run!" Darius orders. The teens run away from Sarah. The dinosaur goes to run after them, and is tripped by rope. She roars, infuriated.
The teens laugh as they run. "I can't believe that worked!" Brooklynn exclaims.
"It won't hold her for long," Darius says. "But it might give us enough time to escape!"
"What's an AT-AT?" Brooklynn asks.
"It's the big walker from the Empire Strikes Back!" Kenji exclaims. "The one tripped by rope. Pop culture for the win, baby!"
"Just keep running," Yasmina shakes her head, hobbling along. The brace helped, but it was awkward. Sammy and Brooklynn sling Yasmina's arms over their shoulders to assist her and the group runs off again, trying to put as much distance between them and the Ceratosaurus. Sarah roars, and there was an odd shriek, but the campers were too concerned about getting away to care.
The teens run for most of the night, then slow to a fast walk when they get tired. As the sun started to rise, the campers could hear the Ceratosaurus coming up behind them. They start to run, but realize that they wouldn't make it in time. "I can't keep running like this," Yasmina says as the two girls help her.
"We need to find a safe place to hide," Kenji says as he hoists Yasmina up onto his back.
"We don't have to," Darius says, seeing a wooden pyramid he recognized as Jurassic World. The predator starts coming closer, and the group doesn't have much time.
Heart pounding from fear and exhaustion, Darius comes to a decision. "Girls, go to the park! Kenji, help me distract Sarah!"
"No!" Brooklynn exclaims.
"No arguing, just do it!" Darius shouts at her.
Sarah bursts through the trees, hot on their heels. Sammy grabs Brooklynn's arm and runs to the park, trusting that Darius had a good idea. At the same time, Kenji slides Yasmina off his back and throws her to where Sammy and Brooklynn used to be. In the confusion, no one remembered their injured comrade. Yasmina rolls into a ditch next to a tree and gets caught in the roots. She groans in frustration and fear.
Kenji and Darius dodge Sarah's hungry jaws, barely making it out with their lives. Kenji sees a small ditch beneath a bush and tries to pull Darius into it. The predator snaps at the young boy, grabbing the front of his shirt with her teeth. Kenji pulls him back and all the Ceratosaurus is left with is a piece of Darius's shirt.
The boys fall into the bushes and into the small ditch. The Compies sleeping in the bush startle and leap out of their hiding spot. "Come on!" Darius grabs Kenji's arm and the two struggle awkwardly to get out while the Ceratosaurus is distracted. Yasmina untangles herself from the roots, gets up, and follows Kenji and Darius as they leave the woods.
Brooklynn and Sammy reach the concrete and turn around. Darius and Kenji are running towards them as fast as they can. "Wait," Sammy frowns.
"Where's Yaz?" the four say together, realizing that their injured friend is not on Kenji's back, nor at the park.
Yasmina hobbles as fast as she can, yelping in pain.
"Yaz!" Sammy shouts, seeing her friend behind the boys.
Darius and Kenji skid to a halt and turn around as quickly as they can. Yasmina trips over a stick and the boys hurriedly grab her under her arms and help her run. Sarah roars and starts running towards them.
"No!" Sammy shouts, knowing that there was no way they would escape, nor a way she could reach her friends in time. Brooklynn freezes in panic.
Ben yawns and stretches his arms. "Good morning, Bumpy," he says sleepily. A loud roar jolts him awake. Bumpy bellows a challenge. "No one's taking our park," Ben narrows his eyes, brandishes his spear, and climbs onto Bumpy. Her constantly changing height proved to be a challenge, but Ben was finding it easier and easier to mount her with the more practice he got.
Ben arrives at the grass and goes numb. He can hardly believe the sight he was seeing. "Is that…" he murmurs in shock. Sammy and Brooklynn were running full speed towards the park. As they reach the concrete, Darius and Kenji come tearing out of the woods. Yasmina followed them soon after, limping. "Yaz!" Sammy shouts. Darius and Kenji turn around quickly and head back for the athlete. They grab her and start to run as a huge predator comes after them. The three were not going to make it.
Fear rises up inside Ben. Only this time, it was the fear of losing his friends, and he didn't freeze up. "Yaw!" Ben urges Bumpy on, riding straight towards the large dinosaur as fast as she can go. It was a race to get to his friends first.
The three campers are panting from exhaustion as Sarah closes in on them. They believe that was the end of them.
Darius looks behind him and sees the Ceratosaurus's jaws closing in. Before he can even think about it, Kenji shoves the three to the side as an Ankylosaurus comes barreling their way. Bumpy headbutts Sarah, knocking the predator off her course for the campers. The Ceratosaurus roars at the juvenile Ankylosaurus and human. The two bellow back and ram into her again. Ben strikes the dinosaur with his spear and presses the button. A jolt of electricity shocks Sarah. She roars in fury at the human. Bumpy backs up and tries again.
Sarah grabs Bumpy by the neck and throws her. Ben slides off before she is thrown and rolls onto the grass. Bumpy lands on her back and kicks her legs, bellowing in fear. "Bumpy!" Ben shouts.
Sarah—having found a more filling meal—closes in on Bumpy. Ben thought that was the end of his dinosaur companion.
"That's… Bumpy," Kenji breathes.
"No," Yasmina whispers.
Yet another surprise was in store for the campers as Sarah closed in. A blue and gray streak races out from the bushes and strikes the Ceratosaurus. The predator turns around and snaps, irritated that small creatures kept interrupting her meal. The gray blur climbs over the Ceratosaurus and lands on the ground.
"A velociraptor!" Darius exclaims.
"That's…" Ben thinks, remembering Owen's files. "Blue!" he exclaims.
Blue roars at the Ceratosaurus, who answers back in anger. The two battle, with Sarah snapping at the velociraptor. Blue climbs on top of the bigger dino, nips and jumps out of reach. After minutes of losing pieces of skin and getting nowhere close to biting the raptor, Sarah leaves with a defeated stomp. Blue shrieks at her as she leaves, then heads for Bumpy. The campers watch in awe as Blue nudges Bumpy and helps her flip over. The juvenile Ankylosaurus bounds over to her human father, nuzzling him.
Sammy pulls Brooklynn along and comes up beside Darius, Kenji, and Yaz. All six campers watch in awe as Blue stares at them, gently twitching her head. They can hear her making a soft purr. The velociraptor gives them almost a motherly stare.
"Kenji, you said that the raptors were being trained to take human orders, right?" Darius breathes. "Did they raise the raptors from birth?"
"Yeah, an ex Navy Seal, I think, raised the four raptors," Kenji says, staring at the raptor.
"Maybe… maybe the Navy Seal trained them to show compassion," Darius wonders. "Raptors are super intelligent. Maybe she… she sees us as children to protect."
"A raptor having compassion on us?" Yasmina asks. "That can't be…"
"Maybe she sees us as helpless babies she needs to protect," Darius says. "And she's been trying to protect us."
Blue stares at them, almost smiling. Darius steps forward ever so slightly, seeing how Blue would react. She jerks back and runs into the woods.
Darius sighs, disappointed. "Dude, did you actually think the raptor was going to lean into your touch?" Kenji chuckles. "You're not Hiccup, and she's not Toothless."
"It came really close to us when we were sleeping according to Yaz," Darius says.
"Wait, you guys knew that thing was in our camp?" Sammy questions.
Darius and Kenji wince.
"Yeah, great idea to keep it a secret from the girls," Yasmina nods, quirking an eyebrow in anger. "It's totally not coming back and there's no reason to panic. Yep."
"You knew?" Sammy asks, anger starting to rise.
"We didn't want to worry you," Darius explains. "There wasn't a reason for the raptor to come back and eat us when she had the chance to eat us at night. I figured it was gone and not coming back. Although it looks like the raptor was… I guess trying to protect us in a way."
Yasmina sighs in anger. "I'm glad you told me, but you should've told everyone! If you see a dinosaur, you tell us!"
"I didn't want to cause panic," Darius says, trying to defend his decision, "and there didn't seem to be a problem."
"There's always a problem if there's a dinosaur!" Yasmina shouts. "You can't just keep information from us!"
"Sometimes it's necessary!" Darius argues, almost pleading with her to understand. "I was going to tell everyone, but not at that moment. Panic wouldn't make anyone think straight, and there was no immediate danger. Sometimes withholding information for the time being is better than just being straight-up honest. If being honest would cause panic and make you go crazy in fear, that's not going to help us!"
Yasmina goes to shout something back, when Sammy puts her hand on her shoulder. "I don't like that you kept it a secret from us, Darius," Sammy says. "I wish that you had been honest with us from the beginning. But panic wouldn't have helped, and everything turned out okay. I'm a little hurt, but I trust that you thought it through and did what you thought was best."
"You're bound to make mistakes, though, and this was one of them," Yasmina hisses.
"You make mistakes, too," Sammy argues. "But Darius is the leader here. Listen to him and trust him. You do trust him, right?"
"Yes," Yasmina grumbles.
"Would he steer you wrong?" Sammy asks.
"No," Yasmina crosses her arms.
"Then trust that he's making decisions with everyone's safety in mind," Sammy says. Yasmina glares at her; miffed. "What do you say, Brooklynn?" Sammy asks.
Brooklynn doesn't answer; she stares at the ground, still frozen in shock.
Ben leans against Bumpy, watching everyone. "Guess you guys aren't all hunky dory with each other yet."
Everyone looks up in shock; the realization that Ben was alive finally hits. "Ben?" Kenji's eyes go wider than they ever had. "Dost my eyes deceive me? You're alive?"
Ben chuckles. "If not, you can see ghosts."
"BEN!" Kenji shouts, tackling him with a suffocating bear hug.
"Careful!" Ben shouts, afraid that Kenji would break his bandages. His wounds had already opened up again in the fight.
"Sorry," Kenji says, hugging Ben gentler.
"Ben!" Darius exclaims, hugging his friend. "You're alive," he whispers with tears in his eyes.
Sammy became a sobbing, laughing mess. "Ben, you're alive!" she says between sobs, hugging him tightly. She speaks again, but her sobs and laughter cause it to come out as incoherent gibberish.
Brooklynn is still in shock, and Yasmina stands as still as a statue, her mouth hanging open in shock.
"See, we all lived," Darius grins, nudging Brooklynn's arm.
The pink-haired girl slowly turns to him. When Darius told her to run and that he'd distract Sarah, she had panicked. Flashes of what could've happened ran through her mind as Sarah closed in on her three friends. Traumatic nightmares where everyone died danced through her vision. "They could've died. They could've died." she repeats to herself.
"Brooklynn, I told you, we're safe," Darius says. "And Ben lives!"
All her fear and panic comes out in one, delayed, angry reaction. "How could you almost die to save us?!" Brooklynn wanted to yell. Instead, before she could think, she slaps Darius across the face and says: "Stupid!" Then she hugs Ben, crying in relief. "I can't believe you're alive!"
Darius stares at her in shock, wondering what he did to deserve being slapped in the face and being called stupid. No one else noticed.
"I… I can't believe you guys are here," Ben shakes his head in amazement, prying himself off of Brooklynn, Sammy, and Kenji. He moves over to speak to Yasmina, the only one who hasn't reacted. "So, was it so bad that I brought Bumpy along?" he chuckles, trying to be cool. He gently punches her arm good naturedly.
Yasmina's delayed reaction comes. "BENJAMIN PINCUS, HOW DARE YOU LET US THINK YOU WERE DEAD!"
Ben jumps in shock, his eyes widening in surprise.
Yasmina punches Ben's good shoulder with a pretty good swing before wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and sobbing. Ben carefully places his hands on her back and looks at the others, unsure what to do with the usually independent Yasmina. The group chuckles at the sight.
Ben holds Yasmina as she chokes up. Her breath is warm on his neck and he blushes, realizing that he wasn't wearing a shirt in front of them. "I'm sorry," she says, barely able to get it out. "I'm sorry… I fr-froze on the mon-on-onorail."
She says more but her sobs make it gibberish. "It's okay," Ben smiles. "Really. I don't blame any of you," he says, addressing the others.
Kenji turns away. "You okay, Kenji?" Sammy asks.
"Come on, guys," Kenji says. "It's Yaz, give her some privacy." He was really turning away to conceal the nearly uncontrollable tears sliding down his cheeks. "Don't cry. Men don't cry. Don't cry." But the tears of happiness and guilt refused to listen.
"Kenji, get over here," Ben smirks, motioning with his hand despite the alpha male not being able to see it.
"If you insist," Kenji shrugs, trying to conceal the fact that he was crying.
"Kenji, give it up," Brooklynn says with a small laugh. "Yaz broke, you're fine."
With that, Kenji lets out a sob and grips Ben in a death hug, quietly crying. Brooklynn, Darius, and Sammy join in the hug, letting loose of their tears. The six sink to the ground, rejoicing the fact that Ben survived and apologizing for not being able to save him.
"We should've come back for you sooner," Brooklynn sobs.
"No, you should've gotten off the island," Ben shakes his head.
"We tried," Darius laughs. "It didn't matter."
"We should've saved you," Kenji whimpers. Yasmina babbles tearfully in agreement.
"Guys, stop," Ben says, gently pushing everyone back. "Listen, I don't blame any of you for freezing on the monorail. I've done the same thing. You don't have to apologize." Ben turns to Darius and gently wipes a tear away. "Thank you for trying your best to save me, Darius." The youngest blinks and more tears slip out. Ben gives him a silent hug.
"I don't blame you, Brooklynn," Ben says, holding her hands in his. "And I would rather you guys try to escape the island than risk your lives trying to find me, because there was a higher chance that I didn't survive." Brooklynn looks down; her lower lip trembles in guilt. Ben gives her a strong hug.
"It's… it's understandable to freeze up in panic," Ben says, turning to Sammy. "It's okay." He hugs her and pats her on the back.
"I'm sorry," Sammy sniffs.
"Kenji, I don't blame you," Ben says strongly, trying to emphasize his point. "I'm not mad at you at all. Stop blaming yourself." Kenji purses his lips to hold back his sob and hugs Ben from behind. Ben smoothes back the alpha males hair, trying to convey his forgiveness. "Op, did I mess up your hair?" In his raw, emotional state, Kenji loses it, letting go of Ben and falling on the ground, laughing hysterically.
"At least you're feeling better now," Ben chuckles. "Yaz, it's okay. I'm not mad at you."
"I-I'm th-th-the on-one n-not afr-r-raid o-of de-e-eath," Yasmina chokes, her sobs getting in the way of her English. "I-I-I shou-ou-ould o-of he-he-helped-d you-ou."
"We both should've," Kenji says sadly, still slightly wheezing from his uncontrollable laughter.
Ben sighs. "Guys, I don't blame you. Stop blaming yourselves. How many more times am I going to have to say this?" He pulls the two of them into another hug. "Listen, I get that you guys feel bad, but you don't have to. You two are the oldest and the strongest of the group; you feel responsible to take care of us. And you have. You don't need to feel bad about freezing up once when everything else you've done is brave and amazing."
"We can't freeze up," Kenji insists.
"Alright, if it makes you feel better, we'll call it even," Ben changes his approach, desperately trying to make them feel better. "I froze millions of times and almost got you guys killed. I froze on the watchtower and you had to risk falling off to throw me down the line, Kenji. On the stairs, you were about to be eaten, Yaz, and I froze. If Darius hadn't intervened, you wouldn't be here. We'll call it even."
The two chuckle slightly. "No, it's not even," Ben says suddenly. "I froze millions of times, you guys still have freeze cards left to use!"
The group bursts out in laughter. "Okay, no more beating yourselves over the head," Ben laughs. "I'm just happy to see that you survived, even if you're still stuck here."
"Same," Brooklynn nods.
What happens next almost makes Ben laugh out loud. The entire day had been an emotional rollercoaster for the group, and finding him was the cherry on top that broke Yasmina and Kenji's stoic facade. The two realized at the same time that they had been vulnerable and cried in front of others, something they tried very hard not to do. Simultaneously, they try to recover in their own ways.
Kenji's arrogant ego immediately pops up as Bumpy licks him. "Ew, no," he pushes the dino away. "You're messing up my gorgeous hair."
Yasmina quickly wipes away her tears and hurriedly stands up. "We should probably find medical supplies. You're bleeding, Ben."
Ben looks down. Being thrown around had reopened his wounds for the umpteenth time. He also realizes that he was shirtless and turns bright red. "Umm… yeah, and we should probably find some thicker bandages than… my shirt…"
Kenji grins. "Are you embarrassed to be shirtless?"
"Yes," Ben's face heats up, and he crosses his arms.
"Have you never worn a swimsuit?" Sammy giggles.
"I don't know how to swim," Ben whispers.
"Would it make you feel better if the rest of us took off our shirts?" Kenji asks. The alpha male doesn't wait for a response before taking his shirt off.
The group groans in amusement and annoyance. "Kenji," Brooklynn rolls her eyes.
"What? You technically could take off your shirt, but that would just make everyone embarrassed," Kenji points out with a smirk. "Come on, Darius! Let's make Ben feel welcomed!"
"What? How is that even helpful?" Darius asks, his face heating up as well. His eyes dart to the girls watching with amusement.
"It's less embarrassing when everyone is in the same boat as you," Kenji says.
"This is a coed group, Kenji," Darius hisses.
"Even the girls could join in!" Kenji exclaims. "Except for Sammy."
"What?" Brooklynn and Yasmina ask at the same time.
"Well, you guys have jackets you could take off," Kenji points out. "And you've probably worked out in only a sports bra, Yaz."
"True," Yasmina shrugs. She looks at Ben and Darius's heated face.
"Are you chicken?" Kenji snickers.
Yasmina tilts her head, and takes off her grey jacket, revealing a light purple tank top. "If it makes Ben feel better," she huffs, limping away from Kenji. Brooklynn and Sammy start laughing.
Darius internally sighs. "Fine," he grits his teeth and takes off his shirt.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Ben whispers to him.
"I'm the leader," Darius hisses. "I should've been the one to think of it. Yaz and Kenji are making me look bad."
Ben chuckles. "Some 'Welcome back into the group' party this is."
"Would you expect it any other way?" Kenji laughs, taking Yasmina's arm and slinging it over his shoulder to help her walk.
She jerks it away from him. "I'm fine." He tries again and she shoves him back. "I can walk just fine! It was Ben who saved me from Sarah, not you!"
"She's embarrassed about being the trackstar and needing help to walk," Darius whispers to Ben. "On top of that, she cried. I don't want her to walk, but it's going to be a big fight if I try to make her do otherwise."
"Understood," Ben chuckles. "Yasmina, would you like the honors of being the second person to ride on Bumpy?"
Yasmina smacks his hand away. "I'm not your damsel in distress." Despite this comment, she hoists herself up onto Bumpy's back and offers a hand to Ben.
"I'm not yours, either," Ben retorts, climbing on top of Bumpy without his right hand, which was beginning to bleed more. Yasmina chuckles, impressed by this new change in Ben. "So, what's surviving on this island been like for you?" Ben asks as Bumpy walks alongside the group.
"Dangerous," Yasmina says.
"Tiring," Brooklynn giggles.
"Stressful," Darius sighs.
"LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE FREEDOM TO JUDGE EGGS! GOD BLESS AMERICA!" Kenji and Sammy shout in unison.
"That about sums up our journey," Darius nods to a confused Ben. The journey to Kenji's father's condos is filled with regales of the things they survived. And, of course, catching Ben up on all their inside jokes.
The group arrives at Kenji's condos, and he grabs three keycards. "One room for the boys, one room for the girls, and one for Yaz to escape the rest of us," he grins.
Yasmina tschs and limps into the hotel. "I thought she'd smack me," Kenji raises his eyebrows.
"Well, she would've but you were being thoughtful towards her by providing alone time," Sammy says. "She's thankful, so the two responses cancel each other out." Kenji found that hilarious.
Ben and Darius check out the boys room while Sammy checks out the girls room. Brooklynn immediately heads for the showers. "What happened to you?" Ben asks, noticing blood on her jeans.
"Ask me again, and you'll wish you died on the monorail," Brooklynn spits feraly, before walking off.
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Darius shakes his head with wide eyes. Ben laughs at Darius's reaction.
Not too long after, commotion arises. "NOT THE STUPID SUNGLASSES!" Yasmina shouts from across the building. Ben, Darius, and Sammy stick their heads out of their rooms to see Kenji running full speed down the hall—still shirtless—with his famous posh sunglasses on. Yasmina follows soon after, limping as fast as she can. The three follow the bickering teens into the condo's large foyer. Yasmina was trying to take Kenji's sunglasses.
"What's your problem?" Darius asks, pulling the athlete back.
"The sunglasses, ugh!" Yasmina groans.
Kenji sprawls out on a couch—still without his shirt, despite it sitting near his head—and poses seductively. "Draw me like one of your French Kenji's."
Yasmina's mood turns from angry to amused. She barks out a laugh. "I just might," the athlete says, sending Kenji into a fit of windshield wiper guffaws.
Ben brings the entire group to the medical center. Sammy finds equipment for stitches and turns to him. "I think the best thing would be to stitch your wounds shut, especially since you keep reopening them."
Fear of needles rises up in Ben, but he queasily pushes it down. "Can you do it?"
"I've had to suture the cattle," Sammy says. "And I've practiced on suture pads. I mean, I'm no expert, but I've done it enough that I remember."
"Shouldn't you not suture on your own?" Brooklynn says, wrapping the small, blue mini jacket she found in the lost-and-found. She had had a complete wardrobe change after taking a shower.
"Well, that's if you can't get to the doctor soon," Sammy says. "And preferably, we'd want to use the butterfly patch, but with the exercise he's been up to, it's not working."
"It's fine, let's try it," Ben says, his mouth going dry.
"I don't know where an anesthetic is, so are you okay without a pain reliever?" Sammy asks, grimacing.
Ben breathes in deeply. "I can handle it," he says firmly. "Be strong, be strong, be strong," he thinks to himself. "Show them how much you've grown."
"You sure?" Darius asks.
"Yeah," Ben nods. He lays down on a hospital bed and purses his lips as Sammy cleans the wound on his arm.
"It'll be fine," Kenji says. Without really thinking, he automatically moves in to hold Ben's hand, having gotten used to being the strong one in their friendship.
"I'm fine," Ben says, shaking his hand to discourage Kenji. "I can handle this."
Kenji backs away, a little hurt and confused. Yasmina sits on a chair next to Ben, but doesn't move to hold his hand or anything; seeing the reaction he had to Kenji.
Sammy begins to stitch up Ben's wound. The blonde boy grits his teeth to keep from crying out. "You've been through worse pain, you've been through worse pain," he reminds himself, trying to stay strong. The group watches, concerned that he didn't have a pain reliever, and amazed that he didn't cry out.
Sammy stitches up all three gashes on his arm and then moves to the gashes on his torso. Ben whimpers, but uses all his willpower not to scream. The Texan girl grimaces, knowing that he was in pain. "Are you sure you're okay? Cause we can look for a painkiller."
"Get it over with, Sammy," Ben growls, almost angry with her for prolonging the end.
"Okay," Sammy says quietly, finishing up the sutures as fast as she can.
When she was finished, Ben sighs with relief. Sammy makes sure the wound is sterilized and wraps it in gauze and bandages. "Hopefully now it will begin to heal," she says.
"Thank you," Ben says, getting off the table carefully. "Your turn," he smirks at Yasmina.
"There's not much to do for a sprained ankle," she shrugs.
"But I did find a boot in the lost-and-found," Sammy says, giving it to her. The athlete puts her foot in the boot, adjusts it, and stands up.
The group then checks out the warehouse of food. Most of the food had gone bad, but the potatoes, sweet potatoes and other odd foods had stayed good enough to eat. "Prepare to eat a lot of potatoes!" Sammy exclaims with a giggle.
"Carbs, great," Brooklynn says sarcastically. She glares at Yasmina when she notices the athlete staring at her, daring the other girl to make a comment.
"I can feel your ribs, you're fine," Darius says with confusion, poking his friend in the back. Brooklynn squirms, giggling at his touch.
"Is this McDonalds?" Yasmina asks, pointing to a ton of packaged boxes.
"Yeah, we order from a bunch of fast food restaurants," Kenji explains.
"We'll be able to eat that for years," Ben jokes.
"If that stuff stays good for years, it shouldn't be edible," Yasmina says, a little concerned. The group laughs.
After the dinner that Sammy prepares, and finding a safe spot in the lobby for Bumpy to rest, the group heads to bed. They were all exhausted, and the boys flopped into their own beds. After a few minutes of laying in the dark, Darius gets up and stands over Kenji. "Hey… Tough boy, do you need someone to cuddle with?" It was meant to sound like a sneer, but they both knew that Darius wanted physical comfort from another human.
"Pfff," Kenji snickers. "SUrE."
The two stare at each other in the dark. Both wanted the physical comfort after everything they went through, but neither wanted to admit it. After an awkward stare, Kenji lays back down and pulls the covers back. Darius takes that as a silent yes, and climbs underneath the covers. He turns over and looks at Ben. He silently flicks his head, gesturing for Ben to join them.
The blonde boy smiles. It had been about a week since he had had human contact. Darius sits up and lets Ben climb in between him and Kenji. The three boys start to doze off.
Darius is beginning to fall asleep when he thinks he hears the door open. Brushing it off as his imagination, he doesn't bother to open his eyes. Moments later, the covers lift up and someone slides in next to him, wrapping their arms around him. Darius drowsily looks down and sees pink hair nestled underneath his chin.
The covers lift up again and Yasmina slides in between him and Ben with one swift move. She smooths back Darius's hair and rests her hand on his head in a sisterly way. On Kenji's side of the king-sized bed, the covers lift up and Sammy crawls in. She lays horizontally across everyone's legs, giggling as Kenji snorts in his sleep.
"Is that comfortable?" Ben asks, sleepily lifting his head.
"I'm good," Sammy yawns.
"Whatcha doing?" Darius groans.
"Brooklynn and Sammy spooked," Yasmina grumbles. "So they decided to move rooms for safety in numbers."
"What about you?" Darius asks.
"Safety in numbers," Yasmina mumbles. She refused to admit that she didn't want to be alone at night.
Darius chuckles, and sighs. The remaining five fall asleep, crowded in on the bed.
Hopefully the next chapter will be out on Christmas Eve.