Chapter 2: Phoenix

"We're almost to the dock" Darius pants, "How's she doing back there Sammy?"

"Cold, we need to hurry" she called back.

"How, it's like eighty degrees out?" Kenji questioned

"Um, because she's soaking wet, losing blood, and fighting shock" Sammy snapped.

"Oh.. yeah.. good point." He admitted. They were still about a hundred yards from the dock but already they could tell this dock was nothing like the one they had left. It appeared to have been abandoned decades ago, with the jungle slowly reclaiming it. Vines and vegetation grew up through cracks in the pavement, this certainly wasn't part of Jurassic World. Within a few minutes the campers had reached their destination. Kenji and Darius helped Sammy and Brooklynn to get Yaz up and onto the dock.

"Lay her down here" Sammy ordered, " the sun's been heating the pavement all day, should help to get her warm. Kenji pulled off his sweater, rolled it up and placed it under her feet.

"Good thinking" Sammy commended him. Keeping her warm and her feet elevated will help treat her shock. Sammy placed a piece of fabric from Brooklynn's jacket over Yasmina's eyes to protect her from the sun, laying on her back it was blinding her. Her bleeding had slowed to an ooze, the tourniquet was doing its job. Sammy inspected her wounds trying to come up with a treatment plan.

"Sammy?" Darius asked, "Is she stable"

"Right now she needs to rest a bit, she can't travel, not like this. We've gotta figure out a way to disinfect and stitch her up. As for her shoulder, I think its just dislocated, I'm pretty sure I can set that." She explained.

"Can I talk to her" he asked softly.

"Oh yeah of course, she's not sleepin, that rag is just there to keep the sun outta….oh you meant alone, ha ha, of course, let me just skedaddle on outta here" she laughed. Sammy walked away joining Kenji and Brooklynn.

"Hey" Darius started.

"Hey" she replied.

"How ya feeling" he asked

"I'm sorry Darius" she said sadly, after a moment of silence.

"For what?" he snorted, "surviving?"

Yasmina was silent.

"I didn't think about what would happen when I grabbed the rope" she started, "If I would have realized…"

"You'd have what, let it eat you?" Darius interrupted. There was another long moment of silence.

"At least you guys would have got away while it was busy" she whispered.

"Yasmina, why are you so dang determined to die for us? What, do you have a death wish or something?" he snapped, blood beginning to boil.

"There is no victory without sacrifice" she countered dryly. Darius snatched the rag off her eyes.

"hey!" she protested, squinting in the light.

"Yasmina Fadoula!" he half shouted, "you look me in the eyes right now." anger flashed across her face, but she complied. "there is a difference between sacrifice and suicide. Yaz, nobody doubts your courage, nobody doubts your willingness to give your life for us, but to die for us needlessly?, when there are still other options? That's not heroism." Her good hand flew up and grabbed the front of his shirt, dragging his face to hers.

"Darius, I'm warning you," she hissed through gritted teeth, "don't you EVER talk to me about heroism, I know more about heroism than you can possibly imagine especially the costs, the TRUE cost that nobody sees"

Darius was shocked and saddened, he hadn't expected that reaction.

"I'm..sorry" she said, again reading his eyes and feeling instantly ashamed. "It's just that..I'm just…just…I'm sorry" she said, the fire draining away leaving sadness in its place.

"Me too" he said quietly. "guess I hit a nerve."

"Yeah" she whispered sadly.

"Do you wanna….."

"No" she cut him off.

"Fair enough" he replied. "Listen Yaz, this team needs you, and we need you alive, I need you, I need you to keep me in check, the others will follow me blindly, but you, I know I can count on to recognize if I'm making a bad decision. I need you to help me lead this team, you can't do that if your dead.

"Darius I'm just slowing us down" she argued. "If it wasn't for my ankle, you would have made it to the ferries."

"And if I hadn't got us stuck in the tunnels we would have made it too. What else you got?" he shot back.

"Right now" she countered. "none of us have eaten in a couple days, we NEED to get to the park and supplies, and I can't travel. How many days are we gonna wait for me before we move? How are gonna make that hike after a week without food. Oh and then there's the little fact that we're all covered in my blood, every predator on the island can probably smell us." Darius looked down and sighed. "Got him on that one" Yaz thought.

"And if I would have made the call to head for the park rather than wait on the dock, we would be there by now and none of this would have happened" he explained sadly.

"Is she gonna be ok?" Kenji asked hesitantly.

"that depends" Sammy answered, "I can set the shoulder, but we've got to close those wounds. If that gets infected….out here without antibiotics…"

"It's a death sentence" Brooklynn finished. Sammy nodded solemnly.

"Great!" Kenji snapped, walking away holding his head. "First we lose Ben, now Yaz is probably gonna die, who's gonna be next? This isn't fair, this isn't right, it's not supposed to go down like this" he cried, fighting back tears. In frustration he kicked a rock, sending it bouncing and rolling. There was a metallic clang as the rock hit something. Kenji looked up in shock, Brooklynn and Sammy coming up behind him.

"What was that?" Sammy asked. Kenji just pointed, there were the jungle met the dock, half obscured by Vines and vegetation, was a small eight by ten building, on the door was a sign with an unmistakable red cross and the words, first aid kit inside. The trio just stared in disbelief.

"No way" Brooklynn mused. "We can't be that lucky." Kenji put his shoulder into the door three times before the vegetation released it. As he stepped inside he scanned the room.

"There it is" he exclaimed grabbing a white box with a red cross off of the wall. Turning around he handed the kit to Sammy who immediately dropped to the ground to inspect the contents.

"Bandages, alcohol pads, triple antibiotic ointment, burn cream, sting relief, oh..yes! Bottle of iodine, come on lidocaine, come on sutures, oh triangle bandage, need that" Sammy listed off to herself.

"Good job Mr. VIP" Brooklynn teased, bumping his shoulder with hers.

"I've got almost everything I need, just gotta find something to stitch with" Sammy said. "Maybe we can find some fishing line on the beach" she added hopefully.

"Fishing line…WAIT!" Brooklynn yelled excitedly. She reached into her pocket and produced a small plastic baggie, inside were five hooks, about fifty feet of line, and a few swivels and sinkers. "it's the fishing kit I found at the boat house" she added happily.

"This is perfect" Sammy squealed. "thank…..hey, what are u lookin at?" Brooklynn was staring at something yellow poking out from behind the building.

"Is that…are those?" She asked, moving forward for a closer look, "bananas?" The threesome moved around the back of the building closing in on their prize. Before them stood a beautiful, perfect banana tree, rows of ripe yellow bananas hanging in two bunches. The three stood there too shocked to move, finally Kenji turned to Brooklynn, dropped to his knees, and bowed.

"All hail Brooklynn, finder of food" he decreed.

"By the power vested in me, I hereby name you VIP for the day" he continued.

"Uh…exactly what power is he talking about?" she whispered to Sammy.

"Eh, just humor him" she whispered back.

"Um..ok then, for my first act as VIP of the day I say…..let's eat".

"Darius, you can't do that to yourself, how could you have known?" Yaz reassured .

"But isn't that what you're doing to yourself?" he asked, "I led us into the tunnels, I made the call to stay at the dock……..I..I let Ben fall…everything your holding against yourself…I'm just as responsible for, even more so. You can't hate yourself for those things without hating me as well." Yasmina wouldn't meet his eyes.

"The past can't be undone Yaz, but they can still have a future" he said, motioning to the others who were down by the tree line. "I think we need to reprioritize, instead of rescue being number one, our main priority should be keeping each other alive, that's where I've been going wrong. I should have said screw the ferries and looked for Ben while there was still a chance. I should have said no to waiting at the dock and took us directly where I knew there was food and water. Rescue can work itself out, but only if we're alive to be rescued." Yaz was looking him in the eye again, nodding to what he was saying. "And right now Yaz, keeping everyone alive means you need to heal up, we are going to need your skills if we're going to make it. We will rest until you can walk on that ankle, then we head to the park.

"You're a good man Darius, I trust you, and I've got your back. Maybe at least a couple of us can get off this island alive." She said. Darius squeezed her hand in affirmation of their pact.

"Well here come the others, looks like they found something" Darius said. Brooklynn had something yellow in each hand, while Sammy was carried what looked like a white briefcase. As they drew closer Kenji started in on his best monkey imitation jumping around and beating his chest.

"Oh lord" Yaz rolled her eyes.

"Are those…bananas?" Darius asked as they approached.

"Yep, who's hungry?" Brooklynn laughed, handing them each a bunch of bananas.

"Where'd you find these?" He asked, still in shock as he jammed one into his mouth.

"There's a whole tree back behind tha…." Sammy started but was distracted by Kenji pretending to pick bugs from Brooklynn's hair and eat them, his monkey act still going strong.

"Oh my gosh, Kenji that's enough, I can't even talk" she laughed.

"Oh and Kenji found this" as she held up the first aid kit. Sammy kneeled next to Yaz.

"Yaz, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is I've got everything I need to patch you up right……but I have nothing to ease the pain…its gonna hurt….a lot." she said sadly. Yasmina's eyes darted from face to face.

"Do what you've gotta do, I need to heal." She said coldly, locking eyes with Darius who nodded, sending her an unspoken thank you.

"Ok Yaz, this is how it's gonna go. First I need to sterilize your wrist with iodine….its going to burn. Then I need Brooklynn to pull the two edges of the wound together while I stitch it. After your stitched up, I'm gonna try to reset your shoulder." Sammy explained.

"Do it" Yaz commanded

"OK Brooklynn, help me hold her arm down while I spray the iodine" Sammy ordered. Kenji kneeled down on Yasmina's other side and handed her a small chunk of wood.

"Here, you should bite down on this..you know, so you don't hurt your teeth. And you can squeeze my hand if you want." Yaz felt a little taken aback. She really hadn't expected this kind of compassion from Kenji, maybe, just maybe, this group was different. She put the wood in her mouth and took Kenji's hand. Yaz looked to Sammy and nodded. Sammy sprayed the iodine into the wound sending an excruciating rush of pain all the way through the athlete's body, she screamed through the wood as she clamped down on it, Kenji screamed too, as she crushed his hand with her grip.

"Ahhh, let go, let go, your breaking my hand, guys help me, she's braking my hand" he yelped, trying to free himself.

"Wounds clean" Sammy breathed.

"Take a few minutes to catch your breath before I start stitching. Your doing great Yaz. The pain subsided and Yaz released her grip on Kenji, who snatched his had away, glaring at her.

"How is your grip that strong? " he complained. Yaz chuckled through deep breaths.

"I work out, remember" she laughed. Yaz took deep slow breaths, breathing through the pain and mentally preparing for more.

"OK Brook, are you ready?" Brooklynn nodded. " all you need to do is hold it closed till I get the first few stitches in ok?"

"Got it" she affirmed.

"OK Yaz, whenever your Ready" Sammy said softly. Kenji's hand slipped back into Yasmina's startling her. She shot him a confused look.

"If crushing my bones helps you get through this, then it's worth it." He explained. She could feel herself beginning to get overwhelmed but she couldn't deal with that now, she looked a Sammy and nodded. Again pain washed over her, though not as bad this time, she could feel each stitch, but she could also feel Kenji stroking the back of her hand, attempting to comfort her. She was much more aware this time of how hard she squeezed him, and was doing her best not to hurt him. After a few moments she felt someone stroking her forehead. She opened her eyes to find Brooklynn smiling at her.

"Your doing great Yaz, just a little more and your done" she cooed. She looked to Sammy, she was concentrating hard, sweat on her brow. She turned back to look at Kenji, Darius knelt next to him, both had tears in their eyes, hurt by having to watch her endure, but being unable to help. In that moment she felt a warmth that she hadn't felt in a long, long time, not since she was a little girl. That feeling terrified her more than the Indominus rex did. Her soul ached to let them in, to drop her walls, to open her heart, just once why couldn't she be vulnerable, why couldn't she allow herself to be held, why couldn't she allow herself to be loved without being forced to earn it, others could do it, why couldn't she?. As bad as her soul wanted to open up, her mind was just as desperate to keep her locked down. No, she couldn't chance letting them in especially not here, not where any of them could be there one minute and dead the next. She couldn't feel that warmth, only to lose it again, no matter the cost, she couldn't let that happen. No, much safer to keep her needy vulnerable soul locked tightly away, a prisoner inside her own gates. Besides, they would likely turn on her one day anyway, if family can turn, then how much easier for friends. No, definitely much better to keep things as they are, stay strong, work together, but let nobody in….ever.

Yasmina was so lost in her own thoughts that she failed to notice Sammy had tied off her last stitch and was wrapping her wrist in gauze and tape.

"How's that" Sammy asked. Yaz wiggled all her fingers and tested her grip. Gripping made her wince but her fingers moved fine.

"Looks like your tendons and nerves are ok, but the muscle will take a bit of time to heal." Sammy explained. "Now let's see if we can get that shoulder back in. "Kenji, Darius, will you guys give her a hand up and hold her steady?"

"Of course" Kenji agreed.

"No problem" Darius added. The boys pulled her up and tried to hold her as steady as they could. Sammy straightened out Yasmina's arm and applied forward pressure. Yaz bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. Sammy moved her arm around lining her shoulder up in position.

"Ready?" she asked. Yaz nodded. Sammy placed a hand on Yaz's shoulder and another on her collarbone.

"All right guys, hold her. One…two..THREE!" Sammy shoved with all her might, there was a sickeningly wet crackle and large pop noise as Yasmina's shoulder went back into place. Yaz let out a scream that was sure to bring predators, and her knees buckled, she would have hit the ground if the boys hadn't been holding her. Breathing heavy she began to relax, most of the pain was gone. She rolled her injured shoulder, testing it. It was sore and stiff, but it moved like it was supposed to, she wiggled her fingers again, they still worked fine, even her ankle was moving much better today. "Sammy was right, she did patch me up right…all I've got left is a little healing and I'll be back to normal" she thought.

"Guys," she said softly, "I really wanna thank you, all of you, I wouldn't have made it without you all." Everyone moved in to hug her and for once she didn't fight it. For the first time Yasmina was glad she hadn't been eaten.

Ben's eyelids started to flutter, suddenly a dinosaur bellowed next to his ear, snapping his eyes open and sending him scrambling backwards.

"Ahhh" he cried, shielding his face as his back hit a tree. Ben sneaked a peek just to see what predator was about to devour him.

"BUMPY!" he yelled, throwing his arms around the beast.

"How did you get here, come to think of it, how did I get here, and where exactly is here?" Ben tried to focus on his last memories for clues. He remembered the attack and falling from the monorail, He remembered being grabbed out of the air by the Pteranodon. He also remembered the second Pteranodon attacking, trying to snatch him from the first. He didn't know how far he'd been carried, but it had seemed like he was in the air forever. He remembered watching the lights of the monorail getting smaller and being dimly aware he was being taken towards the center of the island. There were no lights or landmarks that he could see when they were attacked again, this time he was dropped into the jungle, safe from the flying beasts. He looked at Bumpy.

"Well Bumpy, if you're here then the gang must have made it to the dock. Did you come all the way from the dock to find me?" The ankylosaurs bellowed happily at him. Ben thought for a moment about the reality of his situation. He was alone, the only human on Isla nublar, nobody was coming for him, the others would tell everyone that he was dead, how could they think any otherwise. No, he was on his own, at least until investigators got there, there would surely be dozens of lawsuits, and evidence would need to be gathered for those lawsuits. But investigations take months or years.

"Ugggh, it's useless Bumpy, I'm not a survivalist, I'm not Darius or Yaz or even Kenji, they would know what to do." He wished his friends were there, but at the same time, he thanked God that this nightmare was over for them.

"Wouldn't they be shocked if I did survive?" He asked the dinosaur. "If I tracked them down and showed up on their door steps just to say hi" he laughed out loud contemplating their reactions. Suddenly a new thought sprouted and took root in his mind. What if this was his chance? His chance to shed everything he disliked about himself and arise a new man. Ben didn't quite understand what was happening, he had lived with debilitating anxieties his entire life, but now in this moment, alone on an island full of man eating dinosaurs, he felt no fear, no anxiety. He felt free of the labels society had placed on him, free to choose how to feel, how to live, he felt confident. To the whole world Ben Pincus had died a hero in the early morning hours of December 23 2015 but like the fabled Phoenix rising anew from its own ashes, so too was Ben, rising from the ashes of who he once was. Ben knew for certain now that he would survive, because that was the choice he was making. He knew one day he would stand in front of other kids suffering from anxiety and tell his story. The more he thought the more excited and thankful he became.

"Well Bumpy" Ben started. "I don't know if I hit my head, or if the trauma activated some sort of awesome defense mechanism, or what exactly happed but….I'm not afraid. How about you?" The bucked around him happily.

"Good, we better find our way back to the park….any idea which way?" he asked. Bumpy sat on his haunches and tilted his head.

"OK, let's try this way" Ben sighed. Together they headed down a game trail, moving quietly and cautiously. He didn't really have much of a plan, assuming that eventually they would stumble into something. His hunch proved correct, they had only been hiking about forty-five minutes when they came to a large concrete wall.

"Well bumps" he said. "We're not goin over, better see if we can go around." "What do you think, left or right?" Ben asked the ankylosaurs. Bumpy snorted at him in reply.

"Yeah, I was thinking left too" he said, the pair started following the structure. Soon Ben could hear flowing water.

"We must be coming up on a stream" he said "are you thirsty, I sure am." Soon the source of the sound came into view, a large drainage pipe sticking out of the concrete wall. As he got closer something green caught his eye, Ben stopped in his tracks. A short distance from the pipe, at the base of a tree, was a vehicle. More accurately, what was left of a vehicle. Ben and his dinosaur companion cautiously moved in to investigate. The wreck appeared to be an old Ford explorer, painted green and yellow. It was pretty smashed up, upside down, missing a tire, with huge bite marks scaring it's undercarriage, "Jurassic park" was painted on its sides. Ben looked up and saw broken cables hanging from the top of the wall, mixed in with the Vines and vegetation.

"That's where it came from, girl, up there, there must be a road up there." He reasoned. "Stay here Bumpy" Ben commanded, grabbing hold of one of the cables. Ben always hated the rope climb in school, it took way more upper body strength than he had on tap, but now Ben looked at the climb ahead as a challenge to conquer instead of a chore. He was actually surprised at how easily he made it to the top, perhaps confidence, not strength had been his true problem. At the top of the wall he found another green and yellow explorer parked in the middle of a road extending for miles in each direction. Down the road about a quarter of a mile, the terrain leveled out with the road.

"That's were ill get Bumpy up here" he said to himself. Turning his attention to the second explorer he noticed it seemed to be intact. Both front doors were open, he could tell they had been open for years, the front interior ravaged by the weather. Looking up Ben noticed the sun was beginning sink low in the sky, Ben contemplated sleeping in the vehicle, poking his head inside, he could see the back seats didn't seem too bad.

"If I can get the doors to shut, this will make a decent camp" he said out loud to himself. To his surprise both doors shut and latched easily.

"Well, I guess I better go collect Bumpy" he said, before climbing back down to his waiting ankylosaur. After reaching the ground and giving Bumpy a good scratching behind the ears, Ben led Bumpy to the area he had seen from the road. Doubling back they headed for the intact explorer. As they walked, Ben tried to imagine what had happened the night the vehicles stopped. He knew this was part of John Hammond's original park, and that it had been sabotaged in 1993. He also knew the tyrannosaurus rex had broken fee that night. Judging by the massive destroyed fence on the left side of the road and the destroyed explored over the cliff on the right, this could well be the place it broke out. Suddenly a terrible thought came to mind, the open doors, the destroyed car.

"My God" he said out loud. "There were people in these cars when she broke out." Ben said a quick prayer in his head for anyone who had been part of the attack. Opening the back door he shoved a protesting Bumpy into the rear seat, climbing in after him. The interior was damp and reeked of mildew and mold, but at least there was a barrier between him and the outside world.

"Well girl, I know it's not that comfortable, but it's better than nothing." Ben yawned and closed his eyes, still slightly weirded out by his newfound confidence. All day, one small phrase had repeatedly played in his mind whenever he started to feel his anxieties return, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" Ben tried to clear his mind and not over think it.

"Either way Bumpy, need to get some rest, tomorrow we'll follow this road to the original Jurassic park."

"OK that's enough, get off me, still not a hugger" Yaz huffed, trying to extract herself from the groups arms.

"No of course not" Darius laughed.

"Awww, I thought we were havin a moment" Sammy whined.

"moment's over" Kenji chuckled.

"OK guys, after that, I've gotta rest." Yaz said turning and limping towards the shade.

"Here, I'll help you" Brooklynn offered, catching up and looping an arm around her.

"I'm going to check out that shed you guys found" Darius announced, walking towards the end of the dock.

"Well that leaves you and me Sammy, I'm heading down to see what I can find on the beach, wanna come with?"

"Sure!" Sammy answered excitedly. Their walk to the beach was silent for a few minutes.

"I just wanted to tell you…" they both said in perfect unison. Shocked they both whipped their heads around to look at each other and laughed.

"Go ahead" they both said in unison again, causing Kenji to double over in laughter while Sammy couldn't stop snorting.

"Kenji" Sammy choked out through her laughter, "you first". Kenji tried to regain his composure, taking deep breaths and holding them to try to stop his uncontrollable laughing.

"I just wanted to tell you Sammy, that what you did back there was absolutely amazing, doctoring Yaz up the way you did", if it wasn't for you, she probably would have died." Kenji said with admiration.

"Eh, it was nothin, just doin what needed to be done" she chuckled.

"Stop doing that right now!" Kenji scolded.

"St..stop doing what?" she stuttered.

"Stop selling yourself short Sammy, you always act like nothing you do is incredible, or worthy of praise, your so much more valuable to this team than you ever give yourself credit for." He declared.

"But what about…" she protested, looking at the ground.

"Mantah corp?" Kenji finished. "So what, you did what you had to do to save your family . We all understand that, even Brooklynn calmed down when I explained that to her"

"Thanks for that" she said without looking up. "if only Yaz could understand"

"Don't you worry about what Yaz thinks" he shot back. "Yaz obviously has some really really bad stuff in her past, she doesn't trust anyone, probably not even herself, she searches for reasons not to trust people, weather they're valid or not, I actually feel really sorry for Yaz."

"Me too" Sammy admitted.

"The point is" Kenji continued, "you need to start seeing your worth, you are so much more than the sum of your mistakes."

"Ok" she squeaked, still looking at the ground, blushing bright red, tears streaming down her cheeks. Sammy slowly looked up at Kenji, and suddenly tackled him into a bear hug.

"Thank you so much, I really needed to hear that" she sobbed, burying her face in his neck.

"No problem, your VIP knows how to appreciate his friends" he joked, slipping back into comic relief mode, that moment had gotten too mushy, too awkward.

"Hey this is perfect" he said, picking up a piece of driftwood and changing the subject. The wood had been a branch, warn smooth by the sea, about five feet long with a ninety degree bend at the top.

"Hey that looks like an old man's cane" Sammy laughed.

"actually, a crutch" Kenji corrected, tucking the bent end under his arm. "all I gotta do is attach a handle with some Vines and trim it down to Yasmina size."

"I just want you to know I'm on to you Kenji Kon" Sammy blurted out, pretending to be an arrogant, entitled, spoiled brat. I see the real you underneath." Kenji leaned in and put his finger to his lips.

"Shhhh, that's our little secret" he whispered, then he booped her nose and walked away laughing, leaving her standing there confused.

"This conversation isn't over Kenji" she yelled after him.

"Oh but it is for now dear Sammy" he called back chuckling.

Brooklynn helped Yaz to sit down in the shade. "You did great Yaz" she complimented, sitting down next to the athlete. "I don't know how your so strong, I could never have handled that"

"Did I have a choice?" she asked?

"No, not really" Brooklynn admitted. "But still I admire you Yaz, I just wish I was that strong" she said looking down.

"No you don't" She said sadly, "I'm strong because of things I've been through. But hey, your not exactly weak either, it took strength to face off against the spino the way you did, courage too."

"Yeah, I didn't really put a lot of thought into that, I just did it." Brooklynn laughed.

"Truth is, I thought you were a shallow, phone obsessed, spoiled brat that would end up getting us killed out here, I'm glad you proved me wrong." Yaz admitted.

"Yeah, that seems to be the image I put off" Brooklynn sighed.

"Why?" Yaz questioned.

"I don't…I don't know" she sighed again, shaking her head. "I guess I just try to act like the on screen Brooklynn, but that girl is made up, that's not me…I mean it is but…ughhh, it's complicated, I just….I just…"

"Want people to like you" Yaz finished "so instead of being yourself, you pretend to be what you think they want"

"Pretty much" Brooklynn confirmed, looking down. Yaz thought for a moment.

"What's your family like?" she asked.

"Well, mom works a lot, and I'm so busy with my channel. We get along fine, I guess we don't really talk that much" Brooklynn admitted sadly.

"Brothers? Sisters?" Yaz asked.

"Only child" Brooklynn responded.

"What about your dad?" Yaz pushed.

Brooklynn was quiet for a long moment.

"From what I remember, he was great, I remember he'd pretend to be a monster and chase me around the house. I've read his letters to mom and he always told her to tell me he loved me……I really miss him" she said, her eyes beginning to well up.

"What happened?" Yasmina asked quietly.

"Daddy was a soldier" she started, two days before my sixth birthday he got deployed. A month later his Humvee hit a roadside bomb. He ..he hung on for a couple days but in the end…daddy came home beneath a flag."

"I'm sorry" Yaz whispered.

"Mom had to get a second job to make ends meet but we weren't making it. I started my channel as a way to distract myself, and it just kinda took off. Pretty soon I was getting paid for advertising and stuff and between that and mom working, that's how we made it. But I wrapped so much of myself into that stupid channel that sometimes…..sometimes I have to look at a picture to remember what he looked like….Yaz, I don't even remember the sound of his voice." She cried, tears now streaming.

"Were not so different" Yaz stated quietly, her own eyes beginning to well up.

"Is your dad de…" Brooklynn started.

"Mostly" Yaz cut her off.

"Hey, here comes Darius" Yaz said changing the subject. Darius walked up as Brooklynn quickly tried to wipe away her tears.

"How ya feeling Yaz?" he asked.

"I hurt" she said dryly.

"Yeah I bet you do after that" he said, how about the ankle? Yaz wiggled it around.

"better by the day" she said.

"Maybe this will help" Kenji said as he and Sammy walked up, holding out his now completed crutch. Yasmina's eyes widened a bit as she scrambled to her feet, grabbing the crutch and shoving it under her arm excitedly.

"Hey this works great, I can keep the weight off my ankle and I won't slow you down, Kenji this is so great, thank you." She cried.

"Where'd you get that, Kenji?" Darius asked.

"Made it," he said nonchalantly.

"That's great, Yaz if your feeling up to it, maybe we could head for the park tomorrow morning." Darius said excitedly. "But for tonight, I think we should all pile into Kenji's shed to sleep, it might be a little cramped but we should at least stay warm. In fact, it's getting close to dark, probably be best if we get comfortable while we can still see."

"Yeah I could use the rest anyway" Yaz agreed.

"Me too" Sammy yawned.

"That makes three of us" Brooklynn added. The campers made their way to the shed and piled in. Brooklynn against the wall, then Darius, Yaz, Sammy, and Kenji. As they settled in, Sammy suddenly had a thought.

"Hey, do ya'll realize tomorrow's Christmas?" she asked.

"Hmm, yeah your right" Darius agreed, "This is Christmas eve"

"Some Christmas" Yaz commented.

"I miss my family" Sammy said sadly.

"We all do Sammy" Brooklynn agreed.

"We may not have our families, but we've got each other, and if we can't be home, there's no one else I'd rather spend Christmas with than you guys." Darius said.

"He's right guys, I'm glad we're together" Brooklynn added.

"True that" Kenji chimed in.

"I guess you guys aren't the worst" Yaz said smirking.

"You guys are part of my family now, so I guess I am spending Christmas with family" Sammy laughed.

Kenji rolled over facing away from Sammy.

"Ok I'm gonna face this way, don't be trying anything again tonight Sammy" Kenji joked.

"Oh lord" Sammy rolled her eyes, "When I fell asleep, you were in the boat" she retorted.

"Lies" Kenji shot back laughing.

Brooklynn rolled into Darius, tucking her head up under his chin.

"Are you ok with this? She whispered. "Or am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Its fine" he answered.

"Thanks, it just…makes me feel safe..and I could use that right now." She explained.

"So I'm your security blanket?" he asked.

"Yep" she answered quickly.

"I can do that" he said, giving her a reassuring squeeze. In response she wiggled in tighter against him. He couldn't bring himself to admit that the warmth of her body, the steady rhythm of her breathing, the ever so faint scent of cotton candy all came together to bring him a sense of peace as well. Once again Darius looked over his team. Yaz was already asleep, she had earned it. Kenji was already snoring too, as Darius watched, Kenji rolled over, nuzzling into Sammy, like Brooklynn was nuzzling into him. Sammy shot a glance to Darius who silently laughed with her. Sammy rolled her eyes and shrugged, accepting Kenji's cuddles. Brooklynn was tucked tightly into his right side. Thankfully they were all still alive and safe, Darius closed his eyes and drifted off.

Unknown to the campers, Yasmina's greatest fears had come to pass. Drawn by the smell of Yaz's blood, a super predator silently circled the shed. She could smell them inside…five of them, one wounded. She could get in…if she wanted to. Their scent was familiar, she had encountered them before, but this time, they were defenseless. She could have them whenever she wanted.

"Not tonight" she decided. It would have been too easy, no sport to it. No, she would let the wounded one heal, make it a fair hunt, then when she was ready, she'd pick them off, one by one. The predator darts off back into the jungle, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

A/N: Hi, hope you enjoyed the chapter. The Christmas timeline is based on the December 22, 2015 date given on Google for the Indominus escape. The dinosaur protection group website indicates that all surviving dinosaurs from Isla sorna including the spinosaurus were moved to Isla nublar as attractions for Jurassic world. That's my for the spino's appearance in chapter 1. Thanks again.