Author's note: This is an intense chapter, the Final Hour. Enjoy!
"Any sign of the campers? Over," Claire speaks into the walkie talkie.
"Negative. Over," Roxie answers back.
The radio's static makes Sandra stir. She, Shelby, Rio, and Habeeba had ended up falling asleep on top of each other, with Sandra's head in Holly's lap. The twenty-one year old looks down at her nine year old sister. "Have a good sleep?"
"Yeah," Sandra groans. "What time is it?"
"About nine in the morning," Holly yawns.
"Did anything interestin' happen on the island?" the nine year old asks.
"Not really," Holly brushes her wavy, disheveled hair out of her face. "They've stoked a couple fires to send out a smoke signal to the kids, but so far they haven't found them."
"Run into any dinos?"
"Just a couple Compies."
"Nothing interesting over here?"
"The most interesting thing going on is Lowery's sandwich."
Sandra giggles as she glances over at the man. Claire had recruited him to help run the computer system they were using to work communications. At the moment, the interesting guy had what appeared to be the leftovers from a fridge packed together between two slices of bread. "Is that spaghetti?" Claire asks in disgust.
"This is all my leftovers packed together because they were going to go bad," Lowery explains, tired of everyone judging him. "I don't want to waste the food."
The two Gutierrez sisters gag.
"How can you eat spaghetti and meatloaf together in one meal?" a timid recruit gags, almost throwing up.
"Franklin, the best thing to do is mind your own business," Lowery sighs. "Claire judges me enough."
The redhead chuckles.
"S-sorry," Franklin stutters, getting back to work on the computers. He was an IT guy; recommended to Claire along with the other three technologically gifted recruits. "Will we hear any… screams through the channel?"
"If they run into a dinosaur, we will," Claire sighs.
Franklin shudders, his black curls shaking from side to side.
Habeeba sits up and yawns. "Just pretend it's a horror movie if you do."
"I hate horror movies," Franklin says sheepishly, smiling at the young girl.
"Me, too," Habeeba nods. "I don't know why my sister loves them."
"Because she's messed up?" Rio snickers.
"She will be after this," Holly murmurs.
"Control room, come in, over," Roxie says over the radio.
"What is it? Over," Claire says. The waiting families all jump to their feet, tense with anticipation.
"We've found signs of another camp," Roxie says. "And… oh my God."
"What is it?" Claire asks.
"I think… I think it's InGen," Roxie breathes. "Yes, it's InGen. Their camp here is in ruins. D-dead bodies everywhere. Some sort of dino fight must've gone on down here. I don't think there were any survivors."
"What was InGen doing there?" Claire asks.
"Probably covering up their scent," Owen says through the radio.
"Speaking of scent—" Roxie starts to gag.
"Yo, what dat smeal?" Brandon unexpectedly cuts in. "Some dino crapped near here. It's worse than the rotten bodies!"
The younger kids start laughing. "Did you step in it?" Jabari laughs.
"Oh, you'd know it if he did, kid," Alan cuts in.
"Other than the devastating sight of InGen's casualties and stinky dino waste, there's nothing to report," Roxie sighs.
Claire sighs. "All right, over."
"Darius, I think we need to rest," Ben says, looking back at Kenji.
The older boy was gritting his teeth, trying to walk on his injured ankle while it felt like fire. "I don't know how you did it, Yaz," he pants.
"You're doing pretty good," she shrugs.
"All right, let's take a break," Darius says.
The group sits down. Kenji lays Sammy on the grass. "Can you move anything?" Yasmina asks as she sits down next to her.
Sammy tries, but shakes her head.
"Okay, close your eyes, and let's see if you can figure out where I'm touching you," Yasmina says.
Kenji covers Sammy's eyes, and Yasmina touches her arm. "Yaz," Sammy groans, almost chuckling.
Yasmina lightly taps Sammy's thigh. The Texan doesn't react. Yasmina pokes her hard in the same spot. "Right about here?" Sammy guesses, touching the spot the athlete poked. Yasmina pushes on the top of her shin, and Sammy tries to reach the area she pressed.
Curious, Yasmina tries to pinch Sammy's calf through her jeans. Sammy's eyebrows narrow in confusion. "Did you… pinch me?"
"Did it hurt?" Brooklynn asks.
"Not really, but it was…" Sammy thinks of the word. "Uncomfortable?"
"So you still have feeling in your lower body," Yasmina says. "That's gotta be a good sign."
"If we get rescued, they might be able to heal you," Brooklynn says. "I think there's some sort of new therapy that can actually fix paralysis. Plus, I've heard that some people can recover anyway. If you still have feeling, you might actually be able to recover."
Sammy looks at her with hopeful tears in her eyes. "Stay positive. You could heal. Jesus healed the blind and brought the dead to life. You can heal from this. Stay positive."
Meanwhile, Darius and Ben had decided to scope out the perimeter for danger. "Darius," Ben murmurs. "Was it a bad decision to suggest killing ourselves? In front of Brooklynn?"
"I mean, it was risky," Darius says. "But I don't think it was bad. Before we were just surviving to wait for help. I think that we reached our breaking point two days ago and we had to have found a reason to move on. I think the next day or next couple days—however long it takes for us to be rescued—will be very hard, and we needed to decide for ourselves whether we want to move on or not. We need that strength—that will to live—to make it through what's coming, and you pushed us to find it."
"Yeah," Ben nods, poking a bush with his spear. "I'm just glad no one actually killed themselves. I thought Yaz might have. It was scary to see her like that. Hopeless and broken. I've seen her broken and hopeless before, but…"
"It was more pessimistic, the hopelessness," Darius says. "And the brokenness was more anger towards past hurts. Back there it was more… more like she was giving up."
"She was always so stubborn and strong as steel," Ben murmurs. "Physically and mentally. Never giving up, even when she probably should've. Seeing her break down and give up for the first time, well, made it seem like there was no hope."
"It was definitely risky to offer suicide as a suggestion," Darius says. "I did think about it when you offered it. Going through everything we have makes you question whether you want to move on. But in the end, it turned out for the better. We're more resolved to live, which might not necessarily make it easier, but it will certainly carry us farther than we could ever go without it."
"What do you mean the next couple of days will be hard?" Ben asks. "I know that everyday has the potential to be difficult, but you sound like you know for sure."
"Last night—or two nights ago… whenever the last time we slept I had a dream," Darius says.
"Oh boy," Ben chuckles.
Darius shakes his head with a smirk. "It was… not a tornado, what's another natural disaster?"
"Twist—no that's another name for tornado," Ben sighs. "Tsunami? Tropical storm? Hurricane?"
"Hurricane, that's it," Darius nods. "You know how all the winds and stuff are very destructive, but inside the eye of the storm, it's very calm?" Ben nods. "Well, our journey here has been like a hurricane. The Indominus and losing you was the hard winds striking us. Then once we built the shelter, we came into the eye of the storm. We had time to rest up. But we weren't out of the storm; the storm hadn't passed. We need to pass through the rest of the storm before we're finished."
"So more hardships," Ben sighs.
"The first side of the hurricane in my dream was really big and long," Darius says. "And just white. White, stormy clouds. But the last side was really small and short. Except those clouds were black and full of lightning."
"So you're saying that while we dealt with the storm longer in the beginning, the end will be harder?" Ben asks.
"I'm just telling you what my dream is," Darius shrugs. "Interpretations can differ."
The boys chuckle. "But that makes sense," Darius continues. "With possible rescuers on the island, the end seems to be drawing near. But… I might just say that these past few days have been more difficult than the two months combined."
"Oh, definitely," Ben nods. "We lost a member, fought off a hybrid scarier than the Indominus, got found by humans only to be treated terribly, then saw a massive amount of carnage to scar us before finally finding out that those terrible humans were going to make sure we stayed here. That'll break your hopes real quick."
"To add to that, we've got Sammy paralyzed," Darius sighs. "Injuries are tacking up, and… I don't want to say it, but I'm worried the injuries will get worse."
"You don't think any of us will die, do you?" Ben asks.
"No, I think we're all going to survive," Darius states. "But… injuries… I don't know."
"Were any of us drastically injured in your vision Sammy talked about?"
"Uhh… Sammy was walking around just fine, so I think she'll heal. There… there was something off… Brooklynn and Yaz seemed fine, but there was something off about them… you, Yaz, and Brooklynn were kind of in the background the whole time, so I didn't notice much other than your existence. There was something about Yaz…"
"What about her?" Ben asks, worry rising up.
"I don't know," Darius sighs. "I can't place it. I guess whatever happened to her became normal, so I didn't think anything of it in my dream."
Ben bites his lip with worry.
"She was alive and fine in my dream," Darius says, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Just hold onto that hope. She's still the strongest of us all."
"Yeah," Ben sighs with a nod. "I'm just worried for her. For all of us."
"Me, too," Darius sighs.
The two take a moment to pray for protection and guidance. When they finish, Ben perks up. "Is that… water?" he asks, turning his head to try to pinpoint the sound.
Darius and Ben push through the brush and find a large, lazy river. It must've been at least ten feet deep and fifteen feet wide. The current was very slow; little twigs and leaves that had fallen in the water were slowly carried along.
"What river is this?" Darius asks, approaching the edge.
"Probably the one the cruise rides," Ben mumbles.
"Where are we?" Darius asks.
Ben closes his eyes. "I'm trying to picture the map." He kneels down and begins to draw a map in the mud. "If this is the park… and this is the river… Here's the cliff… This is the field and there's the camp… We sailed pretty far up the river before Sammy fell overboard. Chasing after her couldn't have set us that far back… Then we walked upstream and found the park, somewhere around here, maybe…"
"And then we found Mantah Corp and InGen," Darius says. "After that, traveled back into the jungles, here…"
"And who knows where we went when we ran from Sarah," Ben says. "So by my calculations, through the running and the chasing, we ended up on the other side of the river. Any rescuers here are on that side."
Darius sighs. "Is there any way we can go around it?"
"We had Bumpy and Tornado to ride on," Ben says. "We covered more distance faster. It would take too much time to go around it."
"Seems slow moving enough," Darius murmurs with a sigh.
"I don't think I like the idea of crossing this river," Ben says.
"Yeah, you can't swim, and Sammy is paralyzed on top of not being able to swim," Darius groans. "But… should we risk missing the rescue mission going around?"
The two weigh their options. Ben sighs. "I think it would be best to cross it. But I don't have a good feeling about this."
"God be with us," Darius sighs, standing up to head back to the others.
"What kind of dinos do you think we'll run into, Dr. Grant?" Brandon asks, walking closer to the older man. He had heard so much about this man from Darius; even though he wasn't as in awe as his brother, it still felt cool to walk beside such a well-known man. Especially since this man's experience might be crucial to his brother's survival.
"The usual," Alan smirks wryly. "Triceratops', Brachiosaurus', Rexy. Velociraptors if we're lucky."
"Blue's the only surviving raptor as of now," Owen says as they begin to walk down into the jungles. The cliff sloped down gently, allowing them to walk instead of climb down. "Hopefully she won't attack us."
"I wouldn't hope for it," Alan frowns, remembering the bad times he had with Velociraptors.
"You've always had a negative view on raptors," Owen comments. "Even before you met them."
"I have great respect for what these animals can do," Alan says. "And I'd prefer not to meet them."
"I think if you build a relationship on trust with any dinosaur, you could tame them," Owen states. "To some degree; they'll always be wild and unpredictable."
"Well, you've had a different experience with raptors than I have," Dr. Grant sighs.
"My interest in raptors was actually started by you," Owen reveals. "Ever since you taught me how they hunt—with a very vivid, physical demonstration—I've been fascinated by them."
A grin slowly creeps onto Alan's face as he turns to Owen. "That was you, huh? The little brat?" Dr. Grant looks the grown man up and down. "You're not as chubby as I remember."
Brandon and Milton burst into hysterical laughter, unable to imagine Owen as a chubby, fat kid. Owen rolls his eyes. "I got in shape," he chuckles.
"So if Blue attacks, we'll just hide behind Owen," Milton laughs. "And if Rexy attacks?"
"Don't climb into a truck," Tim grins.
"And don't move," Alan says. "She hunts based on movement."
"That would only work at night when her vision is limited," Owen sputters. "We'd stand out enough in the grass."
"Enough fighting, boys," Roxie cuts in before Alan or Tim could argue. "If Rexy attacks, shoot her."
"All right, we have some news," Darius says as he and Ben arrive back at the group's little resting place. The others turn to look at him. "The possible rescue group is over that way, but…"
"But what?" Yasmina narrows her eyebrows.
"But we have to cross the river to get there," Darius winces.
Sammy sits up quickly. "What?" she asks, her voice trembling with fear.
"We need to get to these people as soon as possible," Darius says. "It would take longer to run around the river. We don't know how far up it ends, and we don't know how much time we have."
"Let's do it and get there as quickly as possible," Brooklynn nods.
Sammy whimpers. "Please don't make me go in there again. I can't take a third drowning."
"Third?" Kenji asks in confusion, before his eyes widen in horror. "What did that.. blankin' company do to you?!"
"The guys from Mantah Corp held my head under water to get information out of me," Sammy whispers, shaking. "I told them all I knew about E750, which wasn't much, but I still gave them information… I'm sorry…"
Yasmina's eyes widen at the mention of that name.
"It's okay, Sammy, we don't blame you," Darius says. "And I'm sorry, but we need to cross the river."
"I can't do it, I can't drown again," Sammy shakes her head, on the verge of tears. "And I couldn't swim before; I definitely can't swim now!"
Darius's heart breaks as his usually look-on-the-bright-side friend has a panic attack. "It's okay," Kenji says, hugging her from behind as she hyperventilates. "We won't let you drown."
"We need to get moving," Yasmina says. "Let's at least take a look at this part of the river. Maybe it's not so scary."
"A barrel of water wasn't scary until Tiff made it scary," Sammy mumbles as Kenji hoists her up into his arms.
The crew heads to the edge of the river bed and looks over it. Sammy's grip on Kenji's shoulders tightens at the sight of the water. "Seems slow enough that swimming wouldn't be a problem," Yasmina says, placing her hands on her hips.
"Speak for yourself!" Sammy squeaks.
"Look, I know this has become a big traumatic fear for you, but we need to cross it," Darius says. "I don't like the idea, either, but we can't waste any time."
The Texan buries her face in Kenji's shoulder, scared of getting in the water. "We can go first," Kenji says, rubbing her back. He places her down at the edge of the river and slips down into the river. It was about a two foot drop between the ground and the water. Kenji lets the current pull him downstream a little bit. "See?" he says, swimming back to the group with ease. "The current is nice and slow. It won't roll you and it won't pull you. You'll be safe with me."
Sammy covers her face, dreading with great fear the moment she would have to get in.
"You can hold onto my shoulders and I'll swim across," Kenji says. "It'll be okay."
Sammy sighs shakily. "Okay," she whispers. Kenji clings to a rock with one hand—kicking with his legs—and turns so that Sammy can cling to his back. She wraps her arms around his neck while Yasmina and Darius help lower her limp legs into the water. Sammy shivers as she's lowered into the water. When her torso touches the water and she can clearly feel the cold liquid, her grip on Kenji's neck tightens.
"Eg! You're choking me!" Kenji exclaims with a rasp.
Sammy releases his neck and resorts to wrapping her arms around him and gripping his collarbone. "It's okay," Kenji reassures her with a gasp of air.
"It's cold, it's wet, just get me out of here!" Sammy whimpers, tears falling down her cheeks.
Kenji breast strokes through the water, making sure to keep his head—and therefore Sammy's head—out of the water. He winces. "What?" Sammy whimpers.
"Nothing, I think I reopened the wound on a rock back there," Kenji grimaces. As he kicks, red blood begins to flow downstream.
He reaches the other side and pulls him and Sammy up onto the bank. Once he had swung his legs onto land, he pulls Sammy up onto the grass. "See, wasn't so bad, huh?"
"I guess," she mumbles with a sigh.
"Okay, Yaz, Ben, you guys go next," Darius says. "You can't swim, so Yaz might as well carry you."
Ben takes the backpack of medical supplies, wraps the straps around his head and clings to Yasmina as she gracefully glides through the water. Brooklynn climbs in and begins swimming. "Do you need help?" she asks as Darius slides into the water.
"Nah, I'm good," Darius says, doggy paddling through the water. Kenji and Sammy chuckle at his swimming style.
Sammy looks downstream and pales. "Uh, y'all?!"
Kenji turns to see a spiny sail sticking up through the water, heading straight towards the other campers. He was no dino expert, but it didn't take much effort for him to figure out that it was a Spinosaurus; he had seen the closed-off-from-the-public dinos way too many times. "Oh, sh…" he starts to say. "Get out of the water! Come on, GET OUT!"
The others turn and see the sail gliding through the water towards them. "Spinosaurus!" Darius exclaims, kicking harder. Brooklynn whimpers and swims faster. Yasmina and Ben had already arrived at the other side. Yasmina shoves Ben to Kenji and pushes off, not even noticing that Ben wasn't out of the water. The boy sputters as he goes under, and it takes Kenji a second to grab his friend and pull him up.
"Swim!" Yasmina shouts as she passes Brooklynn to reach Darius. She drags him along, trying to get him to swim faster.
"Yaz, what are you—" Darius asks as he splashes along.
"Just keep swimming!" Yasmina says. "Whatever you do, don't stop!"
"Come on!" Brooklynn shouts as Kenji pulls her roughly out of the river.
Yasmina sees the sail swim closer and closer and knows that her and Darius wouldn't make it. Not with his novice swimming style. "He'll make it, even if I don't," the athlete decides, and lets herself get pulled farther downstream towards the Spino. She kicks against the current, holding herself in place while Darius reaches the bank. "Yasmina!" Ben shouts. "Come on!"
As Darius grabs Kenji's hand, she whirls around and begins to freestyle swim as fast as she can for them. The sail was dangerously close.
"Yaz!" Sammy shouts.
"Come on!" Brooklynn shrieks.
Kenji leans over the edge and reaches out his hand for her. "Grab on, Yaz!" he shouts.
Yasmina reaches out and touches his fingers. The sail was so close. The athlete's eyes widen with horror, and she takes a deep, gaspy breath as she's torn from Kenji's grasp. To her friends' horror, she is pulled underwater. "YAZ!" they shout.
Yasmina struggles underwater, trying to turn around and hit the Spinosaurus. It had her by the lower half of her left leg, and it was biting hard. Blood clouded the water around her. "What did Brooklynn say to hit with a shark?" Yasmina thinks. She didn't know how to deal with a Spino, but just maybe it would respond like a shark. "Was it the nose and eyes? The gills? What do I do?!"
The Spinosaurus begins to roll in the water. As it rolls her, Yasmina's head is slammed against a rock on the bottom of the lake. Disoriented, she releases the air she was holding and struggles feebly.
On land, the campers see a disruption of the water. "It has her in a death roll like a crocodile!" Darius exclaims.
"Give me your spear!" Kenji turns on Ben, preparing to jump in after Yasmina.
Brooklynn freezes. "It's tearing her and disorienting her like a crocodile," she thinks, the gears in her mind beginning to turn quickly. "Wu uses many reptilian genes from living animals, maybe crocodiles are used in the Spinosaurus. What if it has a palatal valve…"
Taking a deep breath, Brooklynn dives into the water. "Brooklynn!" Sammy screams with horror.
The pinkette swims determinedly towards the Spinosaurus. It slows down, and Brooklynn approaches it's snout. It shakes its head, and Yasmina flops limply in the water. Brooklynn doesn't have time to think about it as she grabs onto its snout. "Please let there be a valve," she grits her teeth as she sticks her hand down it's throat in faith. She presses against some sort of skin in the back of its throat and the Spinosaurus jerks its head back before swimming to the surface for air.
"Kapow!" Brooklynn thinks, grabbing Yasmina under her arms and kicking her legs. The pinkette looks up to see a second Spinosaurus appear in front of her. She stifles a scream of shock as it swipes at her with its front claws. Its middle claw catches her eyebrow and slices her eye before cutting her cheek. Brooklynn closes her eye in pain and grits her teeth.
She can hear a muffled splash behind her and a spear appears, stabbing the second Spinosaurus in the nose. It jerks back and Kenji grabs Yasmina and Brooklynn. The two campers pull their injured friend to shore where Darius and Ben pull her up.
"Move! Move! MOVE!" Darius shouts, grabbing Yasmina's left arm and left thigh while Ben does the same on the right. Kenji scoops up Sammy while Brooklynn disorientedly grabs the backpack of medical supplies.
The two Spinosaurus' climb out of the water and onto land. When standing on land, they were smaller than the campers thought, and appeared to be juveniles. The campers run into the jungles, trying to escape the predators. The two Spinosaurus' chase them for a bit before deciding they weren't worth it.
After the campers decide that they were somewhat safe, they set Yasmina down and Kenji begins CPR. He doesn't have to perform compressions for long before she coughs up water. "Yaz," Sammy breathes a heavy sigh of relief.
The campers turn to her leg to work on stopping the bleeding and freeze.
Yasmina gasps for air. "What happened?" she coughs. She moves her right leg and pauses. "Where… where…" She sits up slightly and lifts her left leg. Blood runs down her knee and thigh. About two inches from her knee was a bloody, ragged stump where her calf used to be.
"What state do you think we'll find them in?" Miriam asks her father and uncle as they pass under a tree.
"I don't know," her father sighs. He lowers his voice to a whisper. "We'd be lucky if we could find one of them alive."
Miriam stares at the ground as they walk. She knew the chances of finding her sister had to be less than 0.1. While there was still some sort of hope that maybe, just maybe, Mantah Corp had left her alive, she knew it wasn't likely. As agonizing as the thought was, there was little chance that she had five sisters now. Miriam blinks back tears as she tries not to imagine a world without Sammy…
"Don't think about it," Ghaleb whispers to her, reading her mind. "At least, not until we're off the island. We can't be dwelling on our thoughts out here."
Miriam nods. She can see in his eyes that it's a battle for him, too.
As the group walks, Alan holds up his hand. The rescue operation stops. "What is it?" Roxie asks.
Dr. Grant kneels down and looks at a puddle of water. It rhythmically ripples. The group looks around in horror. "So, we meet again old friend," Alan says as he stands up. Through the trees, ol' Rexy stomps out, tilting her head and staring at the group. She growls, and the rescue mission prepares their rifles for combat.
Yasmina lets out a pained, horrified scream. She begins to hyperventilate as she continues to shriek.
"Shh! Calm down!" Sammy exclaims with tears, grabbing her knee and trying to keep it still.
"Please, calm down!" Darius says, shaking. "You'll bleed out!"
This only makes Yasmina freak out more.
"She'll bleed out faster if she isn't calm," Ben thinks. He himself felt unnervingly calm in the situation. Maybe it was because he was holding onto the hope that Darius's dream was a prophetic vision. Maybe it was that he trusted God to help them out alive. Maybe it was that if he freaked out, it would be impossible to calm her down. Either way, Ben lets out a controlled breath before taking off his shirt. "Put this under her leg," he calmly instructs Sammy. She shakily folds it up and sets Yasmina's leg stump on top of it before trying to examine the wound.
Ben turns his attention to his shrieking, thrashing friend. "Shh…" he says, wrapping his right arm under her arm and around her back. He moves his left arm underneath her right and holds the back of her head securely. "Shh, Yaz, it's okay."
Yasmina continues to hyperventilate.
"Yasmina, listen to me," he says, trying to hold her head still enough to rest his forehead against hers. But she is too panicked to listen.
"I need to get her attention," Ben thinks. There was one approach that was sure to get her attention, but it had the potential to make her panic more…
Deciding that it was worth the risk, Ben presses his lips against hers, firmly kissing her for a few seconds. When he pulls back slightly, Yasmina stares at him in complete shock, gripping his shoulders painfully. "At least I have her attention," he thinks. "Yaz, shh, calm down. It's going to be okay."
Yasmina's breath hitches as she remembers why she might not be and starts to panic again. Ben kisses her again. Something inside Yasmina stills the moment his lips touch hers. The idea of a kiss had always scared her; she wanted to punch and hit whoever dared even think about kissing her. The thought of someone else's lips on hers made her gag. But none of that went through her mind in the moment. Ben was gentle, yet firm with his kiss. In the moment, Ben felt so strong to her, so confident and sure of himself. Somehow, it made her feel secure; safe within his arms. Yasmina wanted to stay there, held tightly in his arms with their lips locked. She wanted to stay wrapped together with him like this, and pretend that none of the traumatic things that she had seen and felt existed.
Ben pulls back slightly. "It's okay. We're going to make it through this."
And she believed him. Despite how stupid and cheesy it sounded—come on, she just lost her leg, how could she be okay?!—Ben sounded so sure of it. His confidence was comforting. "Okay," she whispers, nodding slightly.
"All right, I need you to stay focused on me," Ben says. "Stay calm. Forget what everyone else is doing, forget what's happening, just stay calm and quiet. Take a deep breath in with me." He breathes in deeply, and Yasmina mimics him. Then he breathes out, and she follows. The two synchronize breaths, with Ben slowly taking deeper and deeper breaths to calm down Yasmina.
He takes her hand and presses it against his neck. "Try to focus on my heartbeat, okay?"
Yasmina focuses on his pulse as her fear begins to melt away. The steady rhythm calmed her down and steadied her heart.
"Okay, simple questions," Ben says. "What's your favorite color?"
"Black," Yasmina whispers, beginning to breathe more steadily. "You?"
"Green," Ben says. "Like an emerald, deep green."
"That's nice," Yasmina says, shivering. "Are you cold?"
Ben gently removes his right arm from around her back and urgently taps on Darius, never losing his cool. "No, do you feel cold?"
"Yeah," Yasmina says. "Is that bad?"
"You're all wet, you'd probably be cold," Ben says nonchalantly, even though inside he was trying not to panic. "Steady my heart, Lord," he prays, knowing that Yasmina could feel his pulse. He couldn't let his heart start racing and freak her out.
"Oh my God!" Brooklynn exclaims, covering her mouth with her hand.
Yasmina shrieks and starts thrashing around.
"Shh! Calm down!" Sammy exclaims with tears, grabbing her knee and trying to keep it still.
"Please, calm down!" Darius says, shaking. "You'll bleed out!"
This only makes Yasmina freak out more.
Ben takes off his shirt and gives it to Sammy. "Put this under her leg," he calmly instructs Sammy. She shakily folds it up and sets Yasmina's leg stump on top of it before trying to examine the wound, while Ben wraps Yasmina up in a hug.
"What do we do?!" Kenji asks, gripping his knees to try to stay steady.
"Uh, uh, we need to stop the bleeding," Darius says, panting in fear. The group had seen many, many injuries during their course on the island. But losing a limp, now that was something that hadn't happened. Already, Ben's shirt was soaked with blood.
Brooklynn drops the bag of medical supplies and stumbles over to a tree, vomiting in stress and shock.
"We need to wrap her leg," Sammy says, trying to sit up.
"She's going to bleed out too fast!" Kenji protests. "Would a tourniquet work?"
"Could we, um, what's it called…" Darius panics. "Burn the wound?"
"Cauterize the wound?" Sammy corrects. "It would stop the bleeding."
"Cauterizing can leave severe infection," Brooklynn says, gagging from throwing up.
"Which is worse?! Bleeding out, or having an infection?!" Kenji hisses. "They're both going to kill her! At least, with the cauterizing, she could have a chance to get to a doctor!"
"That's if we're rescued!" Brooklynn protests. "What if we're not? What if we're stuck on the island and she slowly dies of infection?!"
Ben taps urgently on Darius's leg. Darius turns his attention to the two. "No, do you feel cold?" Ben asks calmly.
"Yeah," Yasmina whispers. "Is that bad?"
"You're all wet, you'd probably be cold," Ben says.
"She's fighting shock," Darius hisses to the rest of the group. "Sammy, what should we do?"
Sammy whimpers. "In the long run, cauterizing is bad. But it gives her a chance to survive, hopefully long enough to be rescued."
"How do we do that?" Darius asks.
"We need to start a fire," Sammy says. "And I need a knife. A clean one if possible."
Brooklynn immediately starts to try to strike a fire while Kenji gathers twigs and Darius takes off his cotton shirt. Brooklynn strikes a spark and the twigs catch fire. Darius lets his shirt catch and the fire begins to burn. "Come on, come on," Brooklynn murmurs nervously, seeing Yasmina lose more and more blood.
"I can't find a surgical knife, but I did find a pocket knife," Kenji says.
"Maybe it'll work better, since it's bigger," Sammy whimpers, unsure what to do. As the fire burns, she holds the knife in the fire.
Yasmina slowly blinks and looks at Ben. "Am I going to die?"
"I believe you're going to make it," Ben says soothingly.
Tears slip out. "Will I go to Hell?" she asks. Ben can detect fear in her voice.
"Have you accepted Jesus?" he asks.
"No," she shakes her head. "Will… will he accept me?"
"He died on the Cross for you," Ben says. "He died for your sins, and he took all the pain you've ever felt and ever will feel on there with him for you. His salvation is a gift; you just have to accept it."
"How?" Yasmina says, sniffing.
"By believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth," Ben says. "Do you want to?" Yasmina nods. "Okay, say this prayer: Lord Jesus, I repent for my sins."
"Lord Jesus, I repent for my sins," Yasmina nods with a cry.
"I believe that you died on the Cross for my sins," Ben says.
"I believe that you died on the Cross for my sins," Yasmina whimpers.
"Lord, come into my heart today," he continues.
"Lord, come into my heart today," she whispers.
"I receive you as my Lord and Savior," Ben smiles.
"I receive you as my Lord and Savior," Yasmina says, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Amen," Ben whispers. "Don't worry. God's holding you."
"Okay, Ben, we're going to cauterize her leg," Darius interrupts, holding out a thick stick.
"All right, Yaz," Ben says, taking the stick, never taking his focus away from her. "They're going to cauterize the wound, okay? Sammy's going to take a knife and heat it up. It's going to burn the wound. It'll hurt, but it's going to help you survive, okay?"
Yasmina nods, whimpering.
"Okay, you can bite down on this stick," Ben says, letting her bite it. "And you can hold my hand if you want."
"Mm hmm ffmm," Yasmina tries to talk. Ben removes the stick. "I might break it," she says.
"Okay," Ben chuckles. "Then just hold on to me."
Yasmina wraps her arms around his shoulders and grits the branch in her mouth. "Okay, guys," Ben gives Darius the thumbs up before wrapping his arms around her.
"Okay, should be hot enough," Sammy whimpers. She takes the hot knife and holds it against the bleeding stump of Yasmina's leg for two seconds. Yasmina screams in agony, biting down hard on the stick. The stick cracks as she digs her nails into Ben's bareback. He whines, but doesn't complain.
Sammy heats up the knife again and repeats the process, slowly burning the bleeding tissue of Yasmina's leg stump. The athlete was screaming in pain, hot tears of anguish streaming down her face. Ben wished he could help her; wished he could soothe her pain. But all he could do was hold her and let her scratch his back in an attempt to bear the pain.
Sammy finishes and wipes her forehead. "There, the bleeding has mostly stopped. How are you doing, Yaz?"
Yasmina pants in exhaustion and pain. She was feeling dizzy and lightheaded. Sounds started to get muffled and it was as if they were moving in slow motion. She was cold and feeling nauseous. "Okay," she says woozily.
"We need to get her to a doctor, fast!" Darius says as Kenji takes off his shirt and he and Sammy tie it around her leg stump.
"Take off your jacket and hold it against your eye, Brooklynn," Sammy says, finally noticing that the pinkette was bleeding heavily.
"This can't…" Brooklynn almost says as she takes off her jacket, but stops herself. She was beginning to believe Kenji had a point.
A shrill, hair raising roar spooks the group. It was way too close, and they recognized it. "Oh, crap," Darius sighs in exhaustion.
Rexy lets out a roar and charges at the humans. Yasmina's father, Sammy's father and uncle, and Tim grab the stowaways and run down the slope. The rest of the group shoots at her. All the bullets do is infuriate her more. She bends down and snaps her jaws. The two military gunmen—who had stood in front to get a better shot—can't move back quick enough and end up in her mouth. Roxie and the medics flinch as she chomps them to pieces. "Why is she so dang durable?!" Eric shouts as they decide that flight was the best response.
Rexy swallows the two humans and contemplates chasing the others. She didn't hunt for sport, but these tiny creatures spit fire and imprisoned her…
The T-rex charges after the group. Alan turns around and aims his gun at her. Before Rexy can chomp on him, or he could shoot her, a shrill, strange roar sounds from down in the jungles. Rexy stops and raises her head. The call was strange and unearthly. It was high and warbly in pitch. It almost sounded like clicks, and had a hint of insect-likeness.
The group looks up at Rexy. The queen of the dinosaurs bristled. She was very threatened by the sound. It was an unknown dinosaur she had never heard of, and it sounded strange, foreign, and dangerous. The call challenged her authority over the island and claimed dominion over that particular spot. Rexy was not about to let another strange hybrid take over her island.
With a roar of fury, Rexy charges down the slope to take care of this new threat.
"Run! Run!" Darius orders. Kenji immediately scoops up Sammy while Darius, Ben, and Brooklynn pick up Yasmina and carry her. The teens reach the base of the cliff and race towards the open clearing of the slope. They can hear the Scorpius rex racing through the bushes towards them.
"We're not going to make it!" Brooklynn cries.
As the Scorpius rex pokes its snout through the bushes, Darius looks over his friends as they run. Kenji's ankle was slowing him down, and it didn't help that he had to carry Sammy. If she was to be separated from the group, she wouldn't make it. Brooklynn was still bleeding from being scratched in the eye; it would blind her and make it more difficult to detect danger. Plus, if it got infected, that was death. Ben was fine, but he wouldn't be able to take care of everyone. Yasmina was fighting shock and still slightly bleeding. Her leg would get infected and kill her later, if blood loss didn't. Yasmina's eyes stared disorientedly up at the sky as Brooklynn, Ben, and Darius carried her.
Looking over his group, Darius knows that they wouldn't make it out of this alive. The Scorpius rex was too fast and deadly; they were too injured and damaged.
Darius stops and gives Brooklynn a kiss on the cheek. Ignoring the blood on his lips, he looks at all his friends. "You guys were always my reason to live."
"Darius," Brooklynn hisses in fear, glancing at the oncoming hybrid.
"Go! Now!" Darius orders, giving Kenji a commanding stare. In the second that they met eyes, Darius told him to move on. Let him sacrifice his life so that the others could make it to the rescuers. Don't come back or risk their lives for him no matter what. He wasn't going to come back.
Darius runs towards the Scorpius rex. "Darius!" Brooklynn screams, moving to help him. Ben immediately wraps his arm under Yasmina's back and fumbles to pick her up in bridal style.
"BrooK!" Kenji tries to grab her arm, his voice cracking at the end. Tears were in his eyes.
"Darius!" Sammy shouts as he ducks under the stinger.
Kenji shuts his eyes tightly. He couldn't. He wouldn't. But he had to. He had to leave Darius in the jaws of that hybrid. With Darius as a distraction, the rest of them had a chance of escaping and making it out alive. But how could he just leave one of his best friends to a fate like this?
Making a decision that he really didn't want to—but had to—Kenji sighs. "We have to move!"
"Darius!" Brooklynn sobs.
"Brooklynn! Move!" Kenji shouts.
Ben blinks back tears. He understood what they had to do, but that didn't make it anymore easier.
"Noo!" Brooklynn sobs. "We can't!"
Darius can hear his friends crying out for him. He can hear Brooklynn shouting his name, calling him back. Her sobs break his heart. But he would rather give his life than let her die. "I hope you can forgive me, Brook," he thinks sadly as he runs straight towards the Scorpius rex.
In the sunlight, it turned out to be a gray green. Darius bends backwards to avoid it's deadly tail. "Come on!" he shouts, trying to provoke it and distract it. He can hear Kenji trying to get the group to move on. "Yes, move on. Live your lives. Take my sacrifice and go."
The Scorpius rex snarls at Darius and snaps at him with its jaws. Darius runs backwards to avoid the scary mandibles and falls over. A loud, familiar roar originates above him and he looks up. Rexy's giant foot comes down on Darius before he can move out of the way. Her back claw punctures the right side of his chest, and her heavy foot crushes his left hip agonizingly. Darius lets out a raspy, anguished scream that was drowned out by the T-rex's infuriated roar.
"Darius!" Brooklynn shouts, her throat raw. Tears slip out from her right eye as she watches the T-rex's foot crush her friend.
"Darius!" another voice cries out behind them. The campers turn around to see a large group racing down the slope. A couple familiar faces stuck out to them.
"Roxie? Dave?" Ben breathes.
"Papa!" Sammy calls out.
"Darius!" Brandon shouts again, running towards his younger brother. Roxie, Dave, Alan, and Owen run straight towards the battle between Rexy and the Scorpius rex. Two of the three medics run towards the scene, while the third begins to check over Yasmina. Ghaleb falls to his knees next to her, worried sick when he sees her missing leg. Brooklynn breaks free of Kenji's grip and follows the medics to Darius.
"Shoot! Shoot!" Owen commands, firing his weapon at the dinosaurs. With their attention on each other, it doesn't do much to the dinosaurs.
"Dave! Help me move him!" Roxie snaps, trying to hurriedly pick up Darius and move him.
Rexy snaps at the Scorpius rex and shakes it like a dog. Her tails whips around and snaps the neck of one of the medics. The broken neck and lifeless eyes tell everything they need to know, but Alan still checks his pulse. Nothing.
"Mayday! Mayday!" Roxie shouts into her walkie talkie. She gives the coordinates and urges the pilot to pick them up.
Rexy throws the Scorpius rex and the hybrid skids across the ground, taking out Owen and the other medic. Hungry, the Scorpius rex stands up and snarls at the medics. She screams until it chomps down on her neck, cutting off her scream. Owen prepares his rifle and shoots at the soft underbelly of the Scorpius rex. The hybrid roars in agony before Rexy snaps at it.
Roxie tries to cover up Darius's sucking wound as he gasps for air. Brooklynn is hysterical, holding onto Brandon as Roxie tries to fix up Darius. "Don't leave us, Darius!" Brandon pants.
"Just hold on Darius," Brooklyn sobs.
Darius opens his eyes and slowly looks down. He seemed to be floating above his body as Roxie worked on patching up the wound in his chest. There was no pain or fear; only peace. He can see Brooklynn and Brandon urging him to stay and hold on. "I'm not in any pain," he wanted to tell them.
Darius closes his eyes. He was ready to go. Ready to see his late father and Heavenly father. He felt completely at peace with it. "It's not time to go," a soft, gentle voice that sounded sort of like his father says. Darius slowly closes his eyes and opens them. Bright sunlight meets his eyes. He was an adult, standing in a grassy field. A young girl—probably around four or five—runs towards him, laughing and giggling. She had on a pink dress, and her brown, curly hair was styled with a bow. She had lighter skin than him, and the softest brown eyes. As she runs towards him, Darius picks her up and spins around with her, listening as she laughs with joy. He hugs her close and begins to tickle her side. She squeals with laughter. "Daddy, stop!" she squeaks.
Darius had wanted to go. He had wanted to sacrifice himself for his friends and go on to see his father in Heaven. But now that he had seen a vision of his daughter, he didn't want to go. He wanted to live. He wanted to experience life and meet this little girl. And he wouldn't if he didn't go back. Darius closes his eyes. "Let me go back. Let me live." He feels almost a gentle, falling sensation and slips into unconsciousness.
"Darius!" Brooklynn sobs as he closes his eyes.
"He's unconscious, not dead," Roxie assures her. "Back up!"
The plane arrives and lands in the clearing near the slope. "Come on!" the co-pilot urges, stepping out of the plane to help.
Rexy notices the plane as the fatally injured Scorpius rex slinks off. She charges towards the group, roaring as she goes. "Shoot her!" Roxie shouts as she and Dave carry Darius into the plane.
Rexy draws near the group, sticking out her jaws to bite the humans. One of the rescuers—a big, burly man well over six foot—lets out a shout as he steps in front of her and swings his fist around. His strong fist connects with Rexy's jaw and knocks her off course. The T-rex steps to the side, surprised that this human could do that to her. Sammy covers her mouth in shock. Kenji and Ben's jaws drop, astounded.
Rexy turns her attention to the co-pilot and snaps her jaws around his torso with a sickening crunch.
"Come on, if you wanna live," the big, burly man says, picking up Yasmina and carrying her into the plane. Kenji, Ben, and Sammy exchange a look of awe. If this man were to tell them that he was the Terminator, they would not be shocked. Sammy's father quickly picks up his daughter while her uncle assists Kenji. Ghaleb practically picks up a shocked Ben and drags him towards the plane.
Alan and Owen ward off the T-rex with a gun as the others get situated in the plane. Yasmina and Darius are laid down in the aisle and immediately Roxie and Dave begin to try to stabilize them. "Where's Russel?" the pilot calls back.
"Inside Rexy!" Roxie shouts.
"I need someone to help me fly this thing!" the pilot snaps.
"M-Milton can fly," Brooklynn stutters.
"I learned the basics for your channel, that doesn't count!" Milton squeaks.
"You're gonna learn fast, kid!" the pilot says. Milton sighs shakily and sits in the co-pilots seat.
"Go, go! While Rexy's distracted!" Owen orders as he and Alan close the plane door.
Milton and the pilot start the plane and take off. Rexy shakes her head and roars at the plane as it leaves. There was no celebration, though, as Roxie, Dave, and the remaining medic work to stabilize the two injured campers. Darius was having trouble breathing and Yasmina was slowly losing blood. "We need more medics!" Dave says.
Sammy's father and uncle, and Miriam get out of their seats and help, using their medical knowledge to assist in any way they can. Kenji holds Sammy in his lap and she curls into him, crying as her friends slip into critical condition. Ben grips the plane seat, his knuckles white as he watches in horror. Brooklynn sits in Brandons lap and buries her face into his shirt, sobbing. Ghaleb wishes that he could tear his eyes away from the horrifying sight of his sister dying before his eyes, but he can't. Owen steps in to help in any way he can.
The seconds pass like hours as they fly. Every drop of blood feels like a gushing waterfall, and every compression feels like a beat of agonizing hope as they go.
"How is everything going?" Ellie asks, walking into the computer room. She had just flown in, having been asleep at home when they launched the rescue mission.
Kenji's father walks in as well. He had been in a business meeting and got there as fast as he could when he heard that the mission had been launched.
"Haven't heard anything from them in a while," Claire informs her.
The radio crackles timely. "We're on the plane a few minutes away from the mainland!" the pilot says. "Prepare the EMS! We have two campers in critical condition!"
The breath is knocked out of the families. Claire immediately phones the ambulances to be on standby as they race out of the building. They can see the plane drawing near. "There they are!" Shelby exclaims.
The plane lands and the EMS races towards the plane. A couple enter the plane with two stretches and carry out the injured campers. The families rush towards them as they're whisked into an ambulance. "Hold them back!" one of the emergency responders orders, wanting them out of the way so that they could get to the campers.
"Darius!" Mrs. Bowman cries, seeing her son on the first stretcher. Habeeba is held back by her mother as they see Yasmina on the second stretcher.
"Sammy?" Mrs. Gutierrez calls out, only to be held back by an EMS worker. The other four campers are ushered into other ambulances without seeing their families. No one knew what condition any of them were in and they had to be rushed to the hospital as quickly as possible.
The rest of the rescuers climb out of the plane. Roxie lets out a shaky sigh of relief. While they were in critical condition, they were home in the hands of the medical establishment. There was a greater chance of them surviving than before.
Brandon hugs his sobbing mother tightly, praying fervently that Darius would make it. Milton is gripped in a hug by his parents. Ghaleb is tackled by his sister, and Mr. Fadoula wraps his arms around his sobbing family. Mr. Gutierrez guides a crying Miriam to meet the rest of their family. For once, the Gutierrez family was silent. Ben's father holds his wife back from trying to get to their son. She lets out a sob and embraces her husband. Mr. Kon stands there in shock, trying to tell himself that Kenji would be okay. He had seen the EMS workers guide Kenji out of the plane, so at least his son was walking.
"Will they make it?" Owen asks as he stands next to Claire.
"They're in the hands of the doctors," Claire sighs. "Let's hope they can save them."