Author's note:
Happy New Year's Eve! 2020 is almost over! Have a great new year, y'all!
The T-rex roars a challenge to the group. Darius stares it down, not even flinching. He clutches his shield tight. "Campers, assemble!" he shouts.
Sammy comes up next to him in a tight, black suit. She takes out two pistols, flips them, and aims at the T-rex.
Yasmina jumps down from a building in a dark red shirt with a black vest over it. She nocks an arrow into her bow.
Brooklynn lands on the ground with a burst of lightning and stands up dramatically.
Ben bursts through a building, looking like a mix between the Hulk and Bumpy. He roars at the T-rex.
An Iron Man suit lands next to Darius and the helmet retracts. "What's the plan, Cap?" Kenji asks.
"Kenji, Yaz, and Brooklynn," Darius starts giving orders. "Set up a perimeter around here. Make sure no dinos get through."
"Got it," Kenji nods, walking over to Yasmina. "Better clench up, Legolas." He flies off with Yasmina. Brooklynn swings her bat around quickly and disappears off into the sky.
"Sammy," Darius says. "Distract the Rex with me. And Ben?"
The usually timid camper growls.
"Smash," Darius says.
Ben grins and leaps at the T-rex.
Darius wakes up and giggles to himself. "I'll have to tell Kenji about that one," he mumbles to himself.
"Tell Kenji about what?" Ben mutters sleepily.
"Just a dream," Darius brushes it off.
"What's the plan for today?" Ben asks, yawning.
Darius bites his lip. "Moving. Where? I don't know yet. We have to be careful where we go, because help is on the way and we don't want them to have a hard time getting to us."
"Are you going to put it to a vote to the group?" Ben asks.
"I don't know," Darius sighs. "I feel like it'll end up being an argument. But the last time I made a decision all on my own, Yaz got mad."
"Well, it's your decision," Ben says, trying to shrug. His arm was trapped by Sammy, so he could only move one shoulder.
"It's my decision either way," Dairus sighs again.
The sun shines through the window and the campers begin to wake up. Kenji mumbles in his sleep before sitting up straight in bed. "We have help on the way!" he shouts, jumping out of bed and doing a victory dance. Sammy sits up straight and starts dancing in bed.
Brooklynn sits up and pumps her fist in the air. "Kapow!"
"Sleep!" Yasmina groans, grabbing Darius and Ben's arms and pulling them over her face like a blanket.
"I'll go make breakfast!" Sammy says in a sing-song voice while skipping out of the room.
"Get up, Yaz!" Kenji exclaims. "We have help on the way!"
"Not just yet," Yasmina mumbles sleepily.
Kenji grabs her legs—gentle on the injured one—and drags her out of bed. The sleepy athlete has a death grip on Darius and Ben's arms, and they come with her. Kenji stops pulling her legs as she dangles halfway over the bed, grabs her under the arms and pulls her off the bed. Ben and Darius come down too with a grunt. "Come on, you're awake now!" Kenji exclaims.
"No I'm not," Yasmina grumbles, crawling over to the bed and pulling the comforter off. She wraps herself in it and tries to fall back asleep.
"Come on!" Kenji groans in frustration. "Wake up!" He grabs Yasmina's blanket and tries to pull it from her. She hangs on surprisingly well for someone half asleep. "Oh, good grief, your grip's stronger than Bens!" Kenji laughs.
"This is quite entertaining," Brooklynn giggles, yawning as she videos the encounter.
Kenji gives up on taking the blanket and drags Yasmina out of the room by her legs. All they could see of Yasmina were her bare legs as Kenji pulled her; the rest of her was wrapped in the blanket.
The campers eat breakfast, chattering excitedly. Yasmina was still sour about being woken up. Kenji had laid the blanket out on the floor and rolled her up like a burrito. She was happy until she found out she couldn't eat like that.
After breakfast, the group heads downstairs to hang out in the foyer. Yasmina was free of her comforter burrito. There, Darius puts it to a vote. "All right, guys," he says. "We can either go back to the Camp and build a shelter out of the wreckage, or we could head to the other side of the park and live in the lab."
The group thinks about it. "I think the Camp would be the best place," Darius says. "It's far enough in the woods that we won't find Paraquat dichloride or any other poisonous substance they mishandled."
Brooklynn winces. "I think the other side of the park is the best idea. It's safer and man made."
"You just want showers," Yasmina quips.
"Among other things," Brooklynn says. "And we haven't had to run from dinosaurs since we got here."
"I think we should go to the other side of the park, too, y'all," Sammy agrees with Brooklynn. "It'd be easier for the rescuers to find us."
Ben straightens up. "This is your chance to be brave," he thinks. "I'm with Darius. We should head to the Camp. It may not have the comforts of home, but I think it's safer. Particularly for Bumpy."
"Of course, you're thinking of your baby," Brooklynn says.
"At least I'm thinking of someone other than myself," Ben retorts. "Plus, she's our tank. Do you wanna lose her?"
"Well, the other side of the island has fresh grazing lands," Sammy suggests.
"And possibly more poisonous spills," Ben says. "This whole experience has shown us how many corners this park cut when it comes to safety. At least in the woods, we wouldn't have to deal with malfunctions. I'm not afraid of toughing it out in the woods, again," he adds to remind them what he had been through. "And wasn't it your idea to leave the place, anyway, Sammy? What's your change in decision for?"
Sammy looks down.
"I'm with Sammy and Brooklynn," Kenji says. "We've been better here than out there. Got more sleep, had more supplies, actually ate our fill. It's better here."
"I'm with Darius and Ben," Yasmina says quickly. "At least in the wild, things are more natural. And we've all survived out there against the dinosaurs. Now we have weapons. We could make it. Plus, we don't know where all the agro dinosaurs are. Either they spread over the island, or they stayed close to the park. Either way, our chances against them are better out there."
The six start to argue over what to do just like Darius predicted. "Why would we move from somewhere we're actually safe?" Brooklynn asks. "We can just move away from the pesticide so that Bumpy's safe."
Darius winces at what feels like an accusation. "Because we're not going to stay safe here forever. Dinos are going to come."
"We follow Darius," Yasmina argues with Kenji. "You said it yourself that naming him leader was your best idea, so why aren't you following it?"
"Hypocrite," Kenji spits. "If you really believed that, you'd have trusted him when he didn't tell you about Blue. No, trusting the leader only works when you agree with him."
"I'll take my chances in the woods," Ben says, raising his voice slightly. "Why do you want to go to the other side of the park? You gotta problem toughing it out in the jungles? Scared of something? Hiding something?"
Sammy's throat tightens at the accusation and she fights back tears. "Why tough it out if we can live somewhere safer? There's no problem on the other side of the park."
"Why tough it out if we can live somewhere safer? Because we don't want to go soft and get comfortable," Ben hisses. "We need to stay sharp and quick on our feet to survive!"
"We don't need to move farther than we have to," Brooklynn says, almost begging Darius to understand. Her pleading tone feels like a dagger to Darius. He feels the need to cave in and stay, but doesn't think it's a good idea.
"You're not the brightest one here!" Yasmina shouts. "Why should we listen to you?"
"You're a reckless hothead who's biased to Darius and Ben because you don't like the rest of us!" Kenji yells back. "Of course, you'd follow them!"
"We could head out into the jungles with no direction and survive!" Ben shouts. "Might do the rest of you some good, since you don't want to take chances!"
"Why take chances when we don't have to?" Sammy asks quietly. "Why do we have to move?"
"Maybe because we're stuck on this stupid island and nowhere is safe!" Ben exclaims. "We need a plan and someone's gotta come up with it!"
Darius cringes. "I know, I know, I need to lead you! Let me think!"
"Are you saying you'll lead?" Brooklynn sputters. "Cause you don't have the experience, Macho boy."
"I've had more experience surviving than you," Ben declares.
"We've been on the island the same time," Sammy protests.
"You were following the others around in a herd," Ben retorts. "Guess it suits you, Ranch girl."
Kenji looks between Ben and Darius, torn between backing one of them or taking charge. Yasmina stares at Ben, not able to believe he was being so cold and reckless. "I don't know, maybe… maybe the other side of the park is the best idea."
Darius and Ben look at her. Panic rises up in Darius. "Why? Why don't you trust my idea?"
"Since when are you cowardly?" Ben asks, confused by her change.
"Maybe we don't have to be reckless," Yasmina says, a little scared by the change in their usually timid camper. "Maybe we don't need to stress ourselves just yet."
"Do you not think we could make it?" Ben asks.
"I think we could make it, but you're acting reckless!" Yasmina states. "I trust Darius's decisions, but you're acting weird!"
"Darius and I are on the same page, Yaz!" Ben shouts.
"Then I don't know who to believe since you're crazy!" Yasmina shouts back, turning her back to him.
Darius holds his head. "Great, everyone is against my idea, and the only one who's for me is Ben, and he's acting strange!"
"JUST STOP!" Sammy screams, shocking everyone. Her fists shake in anger. "This arguing is getting us nowhere but strife and anger! Both paths that we're arguing over can lead to danger; there is NOWHERE on this island that we're safe! But the most dangerous thing we could do is be divided! We're stronger together, and we can't be angry and mad at each other in the worst moments of our lives! We need a leader to guide us and make the tough decisions when we're divided. The problem isn't that we don't have a leader, it's that no one's listening to him! What's the point of a leader if everyone else is following their own ideas? We can all pitch in our own ideas, but there needs to be one voice casting the final vote!"
The group looks down at the hands and the ground, realizing she was right.
"I don't wanna go back into the jungles," Sammy continues. "I'm… I'm scared of what we'll have to go through in there. But if you think it's the best idea, I'll follow you, Darius. You wouldn't choose a path that would get us killed, and I trusted that you're doing your best to lead us in the right path. And I trust that you'd protect us. I'll go where you go."
Darius feels the urge to cry and give Sammy a great, big, bear hug. He controls this urge; the young boy didn't want to act immaturely or little kiddish. Not when he finally had the others attention. "Sammy is right. I get that some of you don't want to leave; I don't either. But we need to be flexible and able to move. We also need to be able to cooperate and follow someone. You guys call me leader, but as soon as you get ideas of your own, you argue with me."
The others look away from his gaze, knowing what he said was true. "As soon as you get comfortable and have an idea, I'm just a little kid again," Darius thinks.
"How are we supposed to get along when we all have different ideas?" Yasmina asks solemnly.
"Either you trust that I'm listening to your points and weighing our options, or you find a new leader out of this chaotic argument," Darius suggests.
"Are you sure we need to move immediately?" Brooklynn asks. "Is there any immediate danger here at the park?"
A loud, hair-raising roar answers her question.
"How are we supposed to get a search team out there?" Roxie asks on the video call after all the hellos are done. "There's a ban on the island; no one can get over there."
"Worst case scenario, we hire mercenaries or bounty hunters," Mr. Kon says. "Someone who's willing to break the law and go to the island."
"Before we go to an illegal solution, let's try to change the ban," Mrs. Bowman speaks up. "We know the kids are alive; you have to be heartless to not want to save them."
"How would we change that?" Miriam asks.
"By putting pressure on those in power," Mr. Kon shrugs. "Make them feel the heat when they say no. Like Mrs. Bowman has pointed out, you have to be heartless not to want to save them. If we can spread the word that the children are alive, it will put pressure on those who keep the ban."
"That's what the Internet is for," Milton grins. "Spread the word that the kids are alive and suffering on the island. Get advertisements asking for help. Maybe get a petition started to allow a search party to get them. Brooklyn's got a ton of followers who are disappointed. And there's gotta be Yasmian fans who are sad, too."
"I'm a celebrity, I can try to spread the word through my network," Hayoon says.
"We could put pressure on the owners of Jurassic World," Mrs. Pincus says with a dark gleam in her eye. "It's their fault for cutting corners in safety and creating that hybrid. Maybe we can guilt them into helping us."
"I can be cute," Shelby giggles.
"How's that helpful," Yasmina's younger brother sputters.
"Please help us, my older sissy is in danger," Shelby says, trembling her lower lip and blinking her eyes innocently at the camera.
"No one can say no to Shelby when she's pouting," Rio snickers. "She's got the cute factor. Put her on an advertisement sniffling and asking for help and people's heartstrings will be tugged."
"That would totally work in our favor," Milton says. "The cuteness factor is a huge advantage. Also the tragedy. If people see a little girl upset and find out that there's a way to help her, they'd be willing to send support. Especially if we can get people to believe they're alive. That's the hardest part."
"Mothers mourning their children, little children missing their older siblings, brothers crying out for revenge," Hayoon says. "Sadly, we might have to put on a show to get support. We have the tools, now we just have to play the cards right."
"You can't go wrong with support from the masses," Roxie says. "All right, Mrs. Pincus, Dave and I will talk to the owners of Jurassic World and try to get help from them. The rest of you work on your acting skills."
"What was that?" Brooklynn whispers.
"The indo-rex?" Sammy whimpers. "We haven't seen it in a while."
"That sounded…" Darius thinks for a moment. "I don't know."
"Should we investigate?" Kenji asks.
"Yeah," Darius nods, heart thumping.
"Where'd Bumpy go?" Sammy asks.
"I don't know," Ben says. "Bumpy!" he hisses.
"Yaz, you head with Ben to find Bumpy," Darius says. "If that is the Indo-rex, or any big predator, we could use a Ankylosaurus on our side."
The six separate. The bigger group warily searches the park for the source of the noise and come across an open cage. "Woah," Yasmina says, coming around the corner awkwardly in her boot.
"Where's Ben?" Darius asks.
"We split up," Yasmina says.
"You never split up in a horror movie!" Kenji hisses urgently.
"We're not in a horror movie!" Yasmina hisses back.
"Tell that to the Indominus, the T-rex, Toro, and all the others!" Kenji exclaims. The others shush him.
"What was in this cage?" Brooklynn trembles, holding her camera in one hand and gripping Darius's arm in the other.
"Uhh…" Kenji squints in the sun. "Not sure."
Darius opens a flap and finds a paper file. His face falls.
"What?" Brooklynn whispers.
"It's a T-rex," Darius whispers to the group.
"So now there's a T-rex stompin' around?" Sammy whimpers, stepping between Yasmina and Kenji.
They hear another hair-raising roar. "Climb, climb!" Darius orders, and the group climbs up the metal ladder attached to the building.
Kenji climbs up after Yasmina. The boot was too big and clumsy for the ladder, so the two developed an awkward method of climbing: Yasmina stepped on Kenji's shoulder with her booted leg and he helped lift her up. "You better not be looking up," Yasmina growls.
"No, Ma'am," Kenji says, dutifully looking at the rung in front of him.
The five arrive at the top. The wall was at least five feet wide, so the campers had plenty of room to walk safely. On the other side was a thick wall of concrete, tall enough that they could lean on top comfortably.
"Where's Ben?" Kenji asks, looking around from his spot on the wall.
"Probably in the fields," Sammy says. "That's most likely where Bumpy went."
"You guys," Brooklynn whispers. "The door. Something's moving in there." She points to the large, dinosaur sized opening on the other side of the wall.
"That's the entrance to the T-rex's paddock," Kenji says. "The staff left it open.
"Something's down there," Sammy whimpers. "What is it?"
"I can't tell," Darius squints.
Brooklynn points her camera at the door and zooms in. "Almost got it…"
The others huddle in close, trying to see. "Rexy," Kenji whispers.
The T-rex begins her fear-inducing walk into the daylight. She widens her stance and roars. The campers shrink down behind the concrete edge. The predator sniffs the air, growls and turns around.
The teens let out a sigh as the dinosaur disappeared. "A T-rex lair, right on top of Main Street!" Darius exclaims with a whisper. "This is great!"
He looks at the girls, who stare at him in confusion.
"... This is terrible," Darius says mournfully.
"What's back there, Kenji?" Brooklynn asks, leaning closer to get a better shot. "Can the T-rex escape?"
"Let me see," Kenji says, moving past Darius to take a look. Brooklynn slips with a yelp. Darius grabs her and pulls her back. Kenji dives for the camera and almost topples over the edge. He squeals in surprise.
Yasmina and Sammy grab his legs and pull him back. In the process, the emergency walkie talkie falls out of Ben's fanny pack and into the T-rex lair.
"Ah, s***!" Kenji curses.
"Language!" Sammy hisses.
"It's a good word to describe the situation!" Kenji hisses back.
"Come on," Brooklynn moans.
"I won't let you forget this for two reasons," Yasmina huffs, leaning against the wall. "First off, you just lost our life line. Second, that squeal was higher than any pitch I've ever heard from a girl."
Kenji growls at her.
"I'll get it," Darius sighs, and climbs over the wall. He jumps down and grabs onto one of the pipes attached to the wall.
"Darius!" the others exclaim.
"That's not stable!" Kenji whisper shouts at him.
Darius tries to find footing on the pipe, but his feet slip on the pipe in a comical scramble. He chuckles sheepishly to himself. "Way to go, Darius. Whatcha gonna do now?"
"You idiot!" Yasmina hisses, slapping the concrete. "How are you getting down?"
"I did not think this through," Darius grits his teeth, wrapping his legs around the pipe. "I need some assistance getting down," he thinks out loud.
The pipe groans and the top half starts to separate from the wall.
"Not what I had in mind," Darius cringes as the pipe detaches from the wall and leans to the left. Darius holds on tightly as he is turned upside down. He slides down to the end and holds on to it for dear life. The young boy's eyes widen in shock as his arms straighten out and he bumps his nose on the wall.
"Hey, Spiderman, how are you getting down?" Kenji asks. "Swing on a web?"
Darius looks up at them, down at the ground, then at himself. With his straight arms and feet gripping the pole, he was the perfect Spiderman. He chuckles to himself. "I think I'll just stick the landing."
"Stop making puns!" Yasmina almost shouts. "Don't you—what are you doing?!"
Darius let's go with his feet, flips over and faceslams the wall. Then he lets go and lands on the ground. He stumbles and rolls down the hill and through the wreckage, landing with a grunt on the dirt ground. He groans, rubs his head, and grabs the walkie talkie.
The young boy looks around. In front of him was a giant window. "Must be where they watch the T-rex like a tiger in a zoo," he thinks to himself. All around him were chunks of concrete and wreckage from the building.
As he looks around, Darius hears thundering stomps coming from the large doorway. His heart beats in sync with the stomps and he crawls behind a large chunk of concrete. He tries not to breathe too hard as the T-rex arrives at the doorway.
"Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man!" Brooklynn whimpers, panicking.
"Get out!" Sammy hisses, hands trembling on the wall.
Darius looks around and shakes his head. There was nowhere for him to go.
"How do we get him out of there?" Yasmina whispers, her head whipping around for a solution.
"We make some noise," Kenji says determinedly. "Hey, Rexy! Over here!"
The T-rex whips her head around and roars at the campers. She headbutts the wall.
The campers stumble a bit. Kenji grabs Sammy's arm to keep her from going over the edge. The T-rex roars again, making the teens flinch. "She can't climb out," Kenji says. "Hopefully."
"Darius still can't escape!" Yasmina argues. "How is he going to get out?"
"Where's Darius?!" Ben shouts, arriving with Bumpy.
"He's in the T-rex pen!" Brooklynn shouts down. Rexy roars again, hitting the wall again.
"WHAT?!" Ben shouts. "Bumpy, speak!"
Bumpy bellows a challenge to the T-rex. The Tyrannosaurus hears her and roars back. The two have a conversation through the wall before the apex predator stomps out through the doorway. Darius carefully peaks out from his hiding spot. "Follow the dino!" Kenji says. "Carefully!"
Darius stays behind corners and watches as the T-rex finds her way out of the tunnel. There he finds Bumpy headbutting the T-rex. They roar at each other, and Bumpy swings her clubbed tail around to smack the predator in the face. "Kick it's butt, Ben!" Kenji exclaims, pumping his fist in the air.
The T-rex lunges for Ben. Bumpy bucks backwards and Ben is thrown off. He hits the ground and rolls over to Darius. The leader helps his friend up and leads him over to the ladder.
Bumpy rams into the T-rex, forcing the dinosaur back against the wall. Ben and Darius almost fall off the ladder. Sammy tumbles backwards and starts to go over the wall again.
"Stop falling off of walls in the middle of dino fights!" Yasmina and Kenji say together, grabbing her arms and pulling her back. Brooklynn offers her hand to Ben and helps him up, then Darius follows.
The T-rex and Bumpy battle until the predator flips the young Ankylosaurus over. She bleets in panic, kicking her legs in an attempt to flip back onto her feet.
"Bumpy!" Ben shouts, his voice cracking at the end.
Rexy closes in for the kill when Blue decides to appear. The raptor jumps on top of Bumpy's soft stomach, sending a jolt of terror through the juvenile Ankylosaurus. She roars at the T-rex angrily.
The two have a small conversation before the Tyrannosaurus snorts and stomps off angrily. Blue jumps off and tries to help Bumpy flip back over. The campers climb back down the ladder and look at the velociraptor. Instead of giving them a compassionate stare, she looks annoyed. She snorts, bobbing her head up and down.
"I think she's angry with us for fighting a T-rex," Darius says. "Whatever truce they have, it won't last for long. We're going to have to leave the park. It's Rexy's territory now."
Darius tentatively steps forward. Blue tilts her head. He steps forward again and she still doesn't move. He steps forward a third time and she shakes her head. Then zips away between the buildings. "That's closer than I've gotten before," Darius sighs. "Okay, team, let's pack. Sammy, you're in charge of the food. Yaz, Ben, medical supplies. Kenji, Brooklynn, let's search for anything else that's useful. We'll check out weapons later."
The teens immediately head off to do their tasks, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Sammy is able to fill one large backpack with non perishable foods and water bottles and another smaller one with plates and other kitchen necessities. Ben and Yasmina prepared two backpacks with medical supplies, knowing that they would be vital to their survival in the future. Darius and Kenji found new batteries and packed them in a water tight bag. If they were to short out the batteries in the walkie talkie, they would be done for. Brooklynn found a couple other small walkie talkies to use between each other. She also located an ACU tracking tablet and sealed it in a water tight bag. Those were able to fit in one backpack along with a firestarter kit and a couple flare guns.
At the condos, Brooklynn packs extra clothing, soap, a couple dinosaur and survival guide books, blankets, toilet paper, and feminine products. Darius stares at the stuff she was packing. "What's a tampo—"
"Do you really wanna know?" Brooklynn quirks an eyebrow.
"Not really," Darius shakes his head.
"I thought we were packing what was essential," Kenji says.
"Extra clothing to protect us from sunburn," Brooklynn explains. "Soap to wash up. Do I really need to explain the guide books? Blankets for the same reasons as the clothes. Are you going to argue with me on the toilet paper?"
Kenji shakes his head with a sheepish chuckle.
"And feminine hygiene products because we don't want a dinosaur to track us down using blood," Brooklynn says, planting her hands on her hips challengingly.
"I won't argue with you," Kenji shrugs with a laugh.
After filling five large backpacks and one small one, Darius takes the others out to the range. "What weapons can you guys use?" he asks.
"I'll stick to my bat," Brooklynn chuckles. "I never unboxed weapons."
"You should've," Kenji sputters. "My father always left me up to my own shenanigans when he was here at the park. One of the security guys found me getting into trouble and gave me a tour of the ACU headquarters. Then he let me shoot some of their rifles. That's why the ACU division is my favorite part of the park."
"The guns or the fact that someone noticed you?" Yasmina snarkily asks.
"Hey!" Kenji gapes dramatically. "That hit me in my soul!" The alpha male dramatically clutches his chest and falls to the ground theatrically. "It's both…" he answers after everyone stares at him for a while.
Kenji picks up a rifle and aims it at a target. He does decently with his rifle.
Darius picks up a rifle, and after fiddling around with it is able to hit the target once.
"Where'd you learn to shoot?" Brooklynn asks.
"My dad," Darius says, tone softening. "He was a veteran. Taught me and Brand how to shoot as soon as he could. I haven't shot a gun in about a year, though, so I'm rusty. Yaz? Can you shoot?"
"Shot a rifle once, didn't like it," she shrugs.
"It's awesome!" Kenji exclaims.
"I was twelve and I didn't like the kickback!" Yasmina hisses.
"I bet I can learn," Ben says, even though he's extremely nervous and unsure. "I'm a fast learner."
Kenji and Darius try their best to show him, but no matter how hard he tries, Ben could not get the hang of it. "Well, if a dino comes, duck behind these two, girls," he chuckles.
Sammy's brows knit together in irritation and something inside her snaps a bit. She waltzes over to Ben, takes the rifle from him, aims it at the target, and blows Kenji and Darius out of the water with her precise aim and lightning fast reflexes. Within seconds, she had nailed every target.
The group stares at her with wide eyes. Sammy blows a wisp of hair out of her face and shifts her weight onto her right foot. "My sisters and I compete in the local trick riding events. One of our tricks is shootin' at targets while our horses are at full gallop. I'm the second best sharpshooter out of all my sisters. This is what rednecks are for, y'all."
"I… I, uh… I assumed…" Ben stutters in complete shock.
"What? Assumed that bright and bubbly Sammy hasn't seen a gun before in her life?" Sammy finishes for him. "Well, I guess this isn't the first time I've surprised y'all." She gently shoves the rifle back into Ben's hands and sassily walks over to the array of rifles.
"You can have all the rifles if you want!" Kenji exclaims with an impressed laugh.
Ben's face heats up a bit as he smarts from Sammy showing him down.
"Uhh… okay," Yasmina shakes her head. "If we're showing off, I guess now would be the time to mention that I'm a decent archer."
"I saw a bow inside," Ben says quickly, guiding her into the building.
She comes out with a sleek, but high-tech bow. "Oh, bruh, you found Kody's bow!" Kenji exclaims. "He's the guy I met. He has a custom made bow. Half the arrows are able to penetrate dino skin and kill 'em while the other half break through the skin just enough to administer a tranquilizer."
"Dude, this can actually be used on dinos?" Yasmina says, her eyes lighting up with excitement. Kenji nods vigorously. Yasmina grins and shoots at the target. She misses. Kenji snickers. "Hold on, let me get used to this new bow," she mumbles. Her second arrow hits it's mark flawlessly.
"Okay, I guess we've all found our weapons, except for Ben," Darius says.
"Bumpy," Ben shrugs.
"Good choice," Darius laughs.
Night falls, and the group packs up a few more things. Outside the condo, they hear thundering footsteps. After a bit of arguing with the group, Darius decides on a course of action. "All right, we don't want Rexy to follow us to our camp. If we can, it would be nice to push her into the Mosasaurus lagoon. Kenji, you know that motorcycle we found?"
The alpha male nods.
"You, Yaz, and Brooklynn take the motorcycle and the backpacks to the Camp," Darius says. "Sammy and Ben will stay with me to try to distract the T-rex long enough for you guys to get the supplies to the Camp."
"Why them?" Yasmina asks.
"Because you're injured and Brooklynn's weapon is a bat," Darius says. "Sammy's a good shot and Ben has an Ankylosaurus pet. And I'm the leader."
"Noo, we're splitting up the gang," Kenji sighs.
"We'll find each other," Darius says, holding out his hand.
Kenji grips his hand. "Don't you die on us."
The group hugs each other and wishes the others good luck. Then they head to do their tasks.
Separated.