Okay so i took longer with this one because i wasn't happy with what i wrote for this chapter, consider this a part 1/2. Im also going to try and wrap this story up before the new season drops.
Juan pulled back the curtain as soon as he shut off the water and took a deep breath up til now he had dreamed of nothing more than a hot shower, it was one of things that kept him going in that Godforsaken jungle. He passed his hand over his chest and felt how smooth that sponge had left his skin, the sticky, grimy, bumpy filth that cluttered his follicles was long gone and he thought he couldn't be happier, until he passed his tongue over his teeth. Tartar, a month's worth of it just packed in there in between his teeth and his gums begging to be scraped off with a good brush. 'What luck' he thought as he eyed the toiletries bag he swiped from downstairs, sure enough inside he found a toothbrush, toothpaste, and even some mouthwash, he leaned his head back and silently thanked God before he tore open the cellophane wrap.
A few minutes later he stepped out feeling like a new man in cargo shorts and a fruity hawaiian shirt, he kept the muddy boots. He looked out over the living room to find the teens had made themselves at home, Kenji with his arm wrapped in a makeshift gauze cast was eating a popsicle in front of gas lit fireplace his bare feet stretched out in front of the roaring fire, Sammy and Darius were outside on the balcony enjoying the night air accompanied by Yazmina who was using the railing to stretch, Brooklynn was walking towards him from her place on the couch, and Ben...
"Hey, so how you feelin?"
"I'm fine, where's Ben?" He couldn't find him even after stepping around her to look in the kitchen.
"He's downstairs in the lobby trying to get Bumpy to sleep."
"He actually managed to get that thing in here?"
Brooklynn walked over to the fridge and popped it open.
"Yeah, it didn't take much. Just a couple ears of corn. Weird, huh?"
She offered him one of the icy treats which he readily accepted.
"How long before he comes back up?"
"Relax, he's safe." She sounded chipper.
"That boy is in a confined space with a 4 ton armor plated monster with a wrecking ball for a tail he is the farthest thing from safe." He put the popsicle on the table. "I'm going to go get him the rest of you stay here."
"No complaints here bro!" Kenji responded without so much as lifting a finger.
Brooklynn was about to go after him down when Ben miraculously appeared through the doorway.
"Ah, finally asleep. You'd be surprised how easy it is to lull an Ankylosaur to sleep." His eyes fell on the popsicle. "Ooh, a popsicle? Don't mind if i do."
Juan didn't know which to complain about first, but since he was the adult here he chose a safety lecture.
"Kid, uh, Ben! No more lullabies for your friend, it's not a dog it's a dinosaur and-"
"Yeah, yeah relax will ya? It was just a couple of minutes, see I'm in one piece everything's fine."
Ben spread his arms out before turning to walk away when Juan grabbed his elbow and yanked him back before he could lick the popsicle, he saw a flash of fear in the his eyes before he turned them into a scowl. "Let. Me. Go."
Juan could see this kid learned to grow a backbone out there, that was good in some part but not when it meant defying his authority.
"I got a better idea." He tightened his grip and called the rest of the kids from outside, once they were gathered around him he started laying down the law. "Alright, everyone listen up and listen good. I am the only legal adult and park staff on this island so everything I say goes got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Kenji again.
"Hang on!" Ben started to protest.
"No. Shut up and listen, I'll let you keep your pet inside for now but that thing sleeps outside starting tomorrow and nobody leaves this building until help comes, alright?"
Darius spoke up next.
"But we're tired of waiting around, we all want to leave already and you can get us off this island." He stopped to think for a second. "Can't you?"
Juan grimaced and loosened his grip on Ben's arm.
"I can, I mean, I could've but I don't have my keys."
"Then what are those?" Ben pointed to the keyring hanging from his belt loop.
"Maintenance keys. They're for opening up locked doors, bathrooms, and fuse boxes and that's it." He swiped the popsicle from Ben. "The keys I'm talking about are vehicle keys, I have to check them out at the ranger stations and on top of that everyone can only issued one set for security purposes."
"Security purposes?" Sammy looked worried.
"Yeah, there's been some incidents over the years and security is tight, even if i went back to the station and tried to check out a different set of keys with someone else's keycode i wouldn't be able to get past the fingerprint scanner."
He took a bite of the red popsicle and felt his mood lighten a bit, it was cherry his favorite.
"Can't you just get your keys back?" Darius stepped forward a bit. "I mean, where did you leave them?"
Juan nodded as he thought back on that day.
"When I lost them I was coming back from a field call with a vet, we heard over the radio there were two kids missing and it's my job to help find them. I was rushing back to get the doc to a safe place so i could take off when we ran into..."He looked to Ben. "an Ankylosaur, and boy was it spooked." I literally ran into it though, caught it on the shoulder with the front end of my jeep and killed the engine. I tried to rev it up again but we barely had time to piss ourselves before it swung around and slammed its tail into us." He put a hand on his hip and gave the popsicle a lick to keep it from dripping on his hand. "I woke up a few hours later and it was already nighttime, my feet were dangling in the air and everything hurt, i sat there for a bit until i realized the jeep was torn in two and I was still strapped in to the cab. When i could move i got out of there, never bothered looking for the front end." He finished off the popsicle. "So that's where the keys are, somewhere out there stuck in the ignition of a wrecked jeep and I'm not going back into that fucking jungle to look for them either."
Juan crossed his arms and let his story rest on the group for a minute. They looked at each other as if searching for the words they wanted to say. Kenji was the first to speak again.
"Well, you heard the man yet another dead end, but hey! Look around us, we're already in my dad's condo, Darius already activated the distress signal, and we have electricity and running water what more could you ask for while waiting for rescue?"
"A couple of senoritas?" Juan joked and high fived Kenji.
Brooklynn sighed with disgust. "Seriously, that's all you can think about at a time like this?"
"Oh, would you prefer senoritos? Trust me you don't want that. I have a cousin that-"
"Knock it off! I mean, I get it. We're safe here but ugh, could we at least talk about something else."
"Yeah" Darius interjected. "Like a backup plan?"
"A backup plan? Darius this whole time we were just trying to find an adult who could help us. Now we have one and as much as I hate to admit it, Kenji's right. We're safe now."
"Sorry Brooklynn but I agree. I know what it's like to think you're safe and then have the world turn upside down on you. We need a backup."
"Like what Ben? The treehouse?" Yazmina walked over to stand beside Juan. "That thing could barely protect us, in fact I'm pretty we only got by on good luck while we were living there and that was only AFTER the Indominus tore it down."
"Indonna-what?"
"Besides you guys could barely keep up with me when we had to run, what's going to happen if we go out there again? We got something else to be worried about now in case you haven't noticed. Two somethings." She corrected herself before looking at Sammy. "Well?"
"Um.." She looked at Darius and shook her head unsure of what to say. "I mean, I want to go home too it's just-"
"It's decided then, not like it was ever up for discussion. Tomorrow we cook up a decent breakfast, paint a giant SOS on the roof, kick that dinosaur out onto the parking lot, and then coast on our good looks until we get rescued." He made his way to the kitchen. "Any pizza rolls in that fridge?"
Juan left them behind as he raided the fridge, though the majority of the group had sided with him Ben and Darius looked far from beaten. They turned around and confronted him in the kitchen when a loud roar broke the silent tension between them.
"What was that?" Ben looked out over the darkened jungle, Juan and Darius joined him as they saw small birds take flight from the canopy though the trees didn't move, slowly the trail of frightened creatures ran parallel to them. Another roar echoed through the night and everyone could feel the vibrations in their chests, it was a deep guttural roar that was somehow as loud as a mack truck charging through a long tunnel. What followed next ws a series of thumps seemed to shake the hotel from the foundation itself. Ben came to a horrible conclusion.
"Bumpy!" He raced to the door but Juan tackled him to the floor. "Let me go! I need to calm her down!"
"You're not going anywhere jack!"
Ben struggled feebly against the pair of strong arms wrapped around his torso when they heard a crash and then a roar of freedom. Everyone got up and raced to the balcony, looking over the edge they saw Bumpy racing across the pavement to the nearest treeline.
"...go bumpy..." Ben whispered quietly as another heart stopping roar filled the night everyone turned to witness the mystery monster make a beeline through the forest for the hotel upsetting every bird and pterosaur along the way. Everyone ducked down instinctively as scared as they were they looked through the holes in the railing to see what new dinosaur was going to be imprinted into their nightmares that night when suddenly a black shape jumped out of the forest and streaked across the paved concrete at an incredible pace pausing only to sniff the air long enough to follow Bumpy's trail before taking off again.
"No." Ben nearly shouted before Darius clapped his hand over his mouth. Everyone froze and looked at Ben who, wide-eyed and breathing heavily, lifted his hands to show he was willing to calm down. Juan never took his eyes off the dinosaur though, he'd never seen anything like it before. It looked like a raptor at first glance but as he squinted he thought he could see clean moonlight in place where its nose should be, then he realized it had stopped moving. Through the gap as he continued to stare he watched how its eyes glinted as it slowly turned it head to face them. It didn't look for them on ground level, it turned its head to look up to the balcony.