Chapter 8: Power.
A/N: I know, I know, I'm nearly a month since chapter 7. Since then I've taken on a second job and between two full time jobs plus the farm, I'm working an average of 20 hours a day. Not sure how feasible 10 day targets are anymore, however I'll certainly try to make it less time than this one took. As always, hope you enjoy, that's why we do this.
Ben slept surprisingly well, though every once in a while he stirred to the sounds of animals in the rotunda. When he woke, it was early morning, light had just begun to filter into the visitors center. He lay awake in the control room for some time, intently listening for the occasional calls. The only sounds he had heard so far he had identified as compys. As the light grew brighter, Ben slowly crept along the control room floor to the large circular windows, peeking out, Ben scanned for any sign of the Baryonyx trio. With no evidence of any major predators, he quietly slipped out the door. The smell of the smoke had dissipated some, but was still fairly strong. Moving forward, he spooked a pack of compys from the Troodon carcass as he entered the rotunda. Both the Troodon and the Dimorphodon had been reduced to bones, no doubt the overnight work of the compys. As usual Ben headed for the lookout, only then, as he climbed the ladder, did he realize just how sore his left shoulder was. The Dimorphodon had done more damage than he had thought. It wasn't that the wounds were severe, just that there were so many. Painfully, he pulled himself up the ladder and scanned his surroundings. The Brachiosaurs herd had moved to its furthest point yet, perhaps spooked by the smell of smoke, or maybe the meat, knowing where there was the smell of meat, there were predators. Looking towards the pipe, Ben could see the Baryonyx trio had returned and found the Pachycephalosaurus carcass. Thankfully his diversion seemed to be working, the Baryonyx were far more interested in the free meal than his scent trail. However as he continued to watch them, his relief turned to dread. One of the Baryonyx pulled itself away from the little that was left of the unfortunate dinosaur and started sniffing at the path Ben had used.
"Please lose interest, please don't get curious, please don't follow." He whispered to himself nervously. His pleading was to no avail, the lone Baryonyx shot its head back towards its pack mates, and though Ben couldn't hear it, must have givin some sort of command as the other two snapped to attention and joined it, following it into the jungle towards the visitors center.
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap." He repeated, scrambling down the ladder, wincing as his shoulder took the strain. He knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the trio entered the rotunda. Racing the clock, Ben sprinted for the dry goods storage. Grabbing a flat of bottled water in each hand, he hurried to the control room, locking the door behind him. With a total of three and a half flats of water, thirty pounds of jerky, a couple bunches of bananas, and a few pounds of beans and rice, he wasn't worried about being trapped in the control room like the poor Pachycephalosaurus was in the pipe, he was more worried about them breaking through one of the large windows. Ben glanced toward the weapons locker, if they did brake in, he was ready for them. He watched silently, just barely perking through the edge of the control room window, looking for any movement. The view wasn't the best, he could only see a small section of the rotunda, but it was better than nothing, and much safer than hiding on the lookout. Within a few minutes, the first Baryonyx stepped into view, nudging the bones of the Troodon with its nose. Ben held his breath as the animal lifted its head, sniffing the air.
"It knows I'm here somewhere." He whispered to himself. The Baryonyx moved closer, following the scent towards the control room. Ben scurried back to his corner, out of sight. Again, he shouldered his shotgun and waited, praying that he wouldn't need to use it. He couldn't see the window from his corner, but he could hear the sound of clawed feet coming closer, stopping just outside the door. He could hear them chattering back and fourth, from what he could tell, all three were now just outside, the shadows on the wall from the window confirmed it. Ben clicked the safety off and took a deep breath, waiting for the sound of breaking glass. Just as he was sure the Baryonyx trio was about to shatter the window, a familiar roar filled the building.
"No way!" he said out loud, returning the safety to the "safe" position. The roar was met with shrieks from the Baryonyx as their shadows disappeared. Even though he knew it was foolish, he couldn't help but to sneak back to window. He peeked out just in time to see a Baryonyx fly into view, crashing into the floor, within seconds it was back on its feet, charging back the direction from which it had been thrown. With another roar, the newcomer stepped into view.
"Toro!...never thought I'd be glad to see you." He muttered under his breath, though he couldn't help but notice his old foe looked quite a bit worse than the last time they had met. Actually the dinosaur looked…burnt? Another Baryonyx charged, lunging for the larger dinosaur's throat, but Toro was ready. The carnivore sidestepped and clamped its jaws down its attacker's rib cage, spinning it around and throwing it into one of it's pack mates. The third Baryonyx tried for an attack next, but again Toro saw it coming and spun, slamming it's massive tail into the predator and sending it flying. Ben had to jump back as the Baryonyx slid into the control room wall, shaking the whole room. The Baryonyx trio regrouped, chattering at each other, as the crispy Carnotourus again roared definitely, ready for a second round. After a long moment, the Baryonyx pack decided that this portion of their territory wasn't that important after all, darting out the open back wall toward the jungle. Toro immediately gave chase and though Ben knew just how stupid it was, he followed. He got to the open wall just in time to see the trio disappear into the jungle. Toro stopped at the tree line, giving one last victorious roar. To Ben's surprise, the carnivore then urinated and kicked up the ground with its claws.
"Never seen that before." He thought, "guess the visitors center now belongs to Toro." The carnivore sniffed the air, turning it's attention back to the reason it had come in the first place, the smell of meat. The Carnotourus turned and headed back to the rotunda, sending Ben scrambling for a hiding spot. With no time to get to the control room, he dove behind the counter of the gift shop, creeping to the edge to keep an eye on Toro. The dinosaur slowly inspected its newly acquired territory, before sniffing out the kitchen door. However with no obvious signs of food, and being far to big to get into the kitchen, which was the main source of the smell anyway, Toro quickly lost interest and headed back out of the building. Ben breathed a sigh of relief. He'd known that it was a risk to make the jerky, but he hadn't really realized just how much attention he would be drawing. He quickly made his way back to the control room, eager to relax in the relative safety. He sat down in one of the computer chairs scattered throughout the room. Staring out the window into the rotunda, he took a bite of the Pachycephalosaurus jerky.
"Hmm. Not bad." He thought, chewing the dried meat. "A little gamier than compy, but definitely edible." After he had eaten a bit, Ben cautiously left the control room and entered the rotunda, as he moved towards the stairs, heading for the lookout, something crunched beneath his foot.
"A Troodon vertebrae" he said to himself. He hadn't even realized he was standing on the the remains of one of the animals that tried to eat him the previous day. The bones were crushed, having been stepped on during the dino fight. Ben kneeled next to a pile of shattering bone that was once the creatures skull, an idea forming in his head. He picked through the bone fragments, collecting the teeth, then moved on to the Dimorphodon carcass, which had shared a similar fate. There was something somewhat surreal about holding the teeth that had savaged his shoulder and arm. Ben also collected the hollow finger bones, as well as the talons and claws. Painfully climbing back to the lookout, he watched the Brachiosaurs heard for a while, enjoying their distant songs. Looking back to the pipe, the Baryonyx pack was cleaning up the last of the Pachycephalosaurus carcass, it was likely Ben's imagination, but he could almost see the dejected look on their faces after having lost some of their territory to Toro. The sound of flapping wings and an unfamiliar trill snapped him from his thoughts. Ben spun, shouldered his weapon, and clicked off the safety all in one smooth motion, but instead of staring down his sights at another Dimorphodon, a small brightly colored bird sat on the handrail. He clicked the safety back on and lowered the shotgun, staring at the colorful little creature, except it wasn't a bird, not exactly. It was most definitely a dinosaur, but only the size of a crow. It had a compy like head and feet with little killing claws like a tiny Velociraptor. But it was also covered in bright feathers, blue on top, with an orange underbelly, on top of its bird like wings and feathered tail.
"What the heck are you?" Ben asked the the little creature. The dino bird hopped around on the rail, cooking its head and trilling at him, seemingly asking him the same question. Though he knew he shouldn't, Ben couldn't resist slowly reaching out his hand, offering the creature a half eaten strip of jerky. The little dino cocked it's head side to side, hoping closer on the rail, sniffing at the jerky before finally snatching it out of Ben's hand. He watched in amazement as it brought its feathered wings up and grabbed the meat with tiny clawed hands at about mid wing.
"You really are half bird half dinosaur aren't you?" Ben asked as the creature ate. "Are you another one of Wu's hybrids?" The dino bird squawked at him, almost sounding irritated.
"Okay, okay, sorry, I wasn't trying to insult you, keep your feathers on." Ben chuckled. Finished with the jerky the little dino flitted down to the catwalk, hopping toward him, then climbed his leg like a squirrel.
"Hey, what are you doin, get outta there" he laughed, as the winged little beast sniffed at his pocket, trying to get the last piece of jerky. "You want it so bad, here ya go." He said, pulling out the food and handing it to the dinosaur. As soon as it had the jerky, it flew to the window ledge, turning to trill at Ben, almost saying thank you.
"Okay you got your fill, go on, do whatever you were doing before." He laughed. He was a little sad to see the dino bird launch itself into the sky and disappear into the distance, it had been a funny little thing, and it was a welcome distraction from the seriousness of survival. Ben sighed as he stared off in the direction it had flown.
"Oh well, he got food from me once, maybe he'll come back to visit." He said to himself hopefully.
"Well I think we can officially call this an answered prayer." Sammy chuckled as she checked Yasmina's clothes in the dryer.
"Amen." Darius agreed, plopping down in on the couch.
"I don't know if I'd go that far, but I'll admit the timing was a crazy coincidence." Brooklynn sighed, sitting down next to Darius.
"Crazy coincidence, divine intervention, I don't care what it was, the point is she's gonna be ok, that's all I care about." Kenji stated, collapsing in the chair. "Why am I so tired now?" he yawned.
"Emotional exhaustion." Darius answered. "We've all been worrying ourselves sick since we found her gone, and I don't know about you, but I didn't exactly sleep great last night. I kept waking up to feel if she was still breathing."
"Same." He agreed, flopping his head back and closing his eyes. "That's pretty much all I did was lay there and listen to her breathe."
"Mmmm, I was listening too." Brooklynn agreed, laying her head on Darius' shoulder. Moments later, her eyes drooped closed as well. When Sammy came back with Yasmina's clothes, she found her friends asleep. Brooklynn had laid down on the couch with her head resting in Darius' lap, his hand on her head as if he'd fallen asleep stroking her hair.
"Awww" she giggled to herself. Kenji was another story, head back, mouth hanging open, snoring like a chainsaw with a small trickle of drool running down the side of his face.
"Oh Kenji." She chuckled as she wiped the drool away from his mouth. Sammy laid Yasmina's clothes on the coffee table and headed to the closet, returning a moment later with a stack of blankets. She quietly tucked each of them in, slipping a pillow behind Darius' head and reclining Kenji's chair to make sure they were comfortable. When she was finished, she stepped back to take a look at her sleeping friends.
"Ooo, almost forgot." She said under her breath as she hurried the kitchen and returned with three glasses of water, which she placed on the coffee table in front of the campers. Finally satisfied, she grabbed Yaz's clothes and headed to the athlete's room. Sammy gently knocked on the door and entered.
"Yaz? You awake?" she whispered.
"Yeah….can't sleep." Came the response.
"Your clothes are done" Sammy said, placing them on the night stand. "The others are passed out already."
"They must have been tired." Yaz said, shifting herself to better look at Sammy.
"They were, nobody's really slept much since you left." She admitted.
"You shouldn't have came for me, you should've gone to the communications building." She said stubbornly.
"If we would have done that, you'd be dead right now." Sammy shot back. The athlete fell silent, staring at her hand. "Doesn't matter, at least you all would have stayed safe." She said quietly.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean, of COURSE it matters, you matter, to all of us." She argued.
"Look, if something happens to me, then that's fine, it is what it is, I'm okay with that, but if something happens to another one of you…and I could have possibly stopped it….I can't do that again, I just can't." she said softly, refusing to meet Sammy's eyes. "I just don't wanna lose any of you….except for Kenji occasionally, but I'd give my life even for him." Sammy understood that Yaz was kidding, but that last part still upset her.
"Hey, cut him a little slack, he actually really stepped up while you were gone." She protested.
"Really? Are we talking about the same Kenji? Dino farts turned the air trashy Kenji?" Yasmina asked. Though Sammy faked a smile, the look in her eyes told her it would be best to stop.
"He's actually a really good guy if you give him a chance, strong and brave too." Sammy pushed back. "He actually cares about you a lot more than you seem to realize." She added, her voice beginning to raise slightly.
"No, Sammy listen, I didn't mean.."
"No you listen." The Texan cut her off. "He's been there for you this whole time, you've just been to blind to see it. Back at the dock, we only found the shed and first aid kit because Kenji had to walk away because he was upset about the idea of you dying from infection. He was the one that held your hand, he was the one that made you that crutch because he knew you hated relying on others. Then last night, he was the one who tranquilized the Allosaurus, he was the one who climbed next to its jaws and ran to you and carried you back to the tunnel, he was the one that tried to keep you warm when you were unconscious, soaking wet and shivering. And just not even an hour ago, he was the one having an emotional breakdown because HE didn't wanna lose YOU."
"I didn't mean it like that." She said quietly. "I was trying to joke about it because I really thought he was dead…because of me…you have no idea how that feels." Sammy's anger abated and her eyes softened.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry, it's just he never gets any credit for anything, he cares about us just the same as we do, but I don't think he feels like everybody cares about him, and it's because of little jokes like that. He may laugh at them, but what else is he supposed to do? Inside he thinks that's how you all really feel about him. You said I couldn't understand how you felt, thinking he died because of you. Well if he'd been a half second slower, he would have died, and he would have died sacrificing himself for someone who he didn't think cared. How much worse would that have made you feel?" Sammy explained. Yaz was silent, again unable to meet Sammy's eyes.
"Look, just….let him know you care from time to time, teasing and joking is fine, but only if he knows how you actually feel." She finished.
"I just figured he knew….I'm not great at saying how I feel." She answered quietly.
"No, we hadn't noticed." Sammy laughed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"So what made u so sure it was Kenji that you thought you saw get chomped anyway?" She asked.
"Well I figured it was either Darius or Kenji, I doubt either of them would have been ok with you or Brooklynn doing something so dangerous, then when I was out, I had a dream where Ben and Kenji were both there talking about how I killed them." Yaz confessed.
"But you didn't kill Ben, and you certainly didn't kill Kenji, he's snoring away in the living room." Sammy interrupted.
"Ben accused me of letting him die because he brought Bumpy, when I said I tried to find him, Kenji said that was how I sacrificed him to the Allosaurus…they asked who…" Yaz had to stop and close her eyes, fighting hard to keep her emotions under control. "Never mind, it's not important…..I don't remember anyway." She lied.
"That's ok, you don't have to tell me, though I wish you would. Just keep reminding yourself that nothing they said was true, that wasn't Kenji, and that wasn't Ben." Sammy encouraged, seeing right through her. Yaz was silent for a few minutes, even so, Sammy could tell she wanted to say more, just couldn't figure out quite how to do it without letting her too far in.
"They asked which one of you I'd kill next….called me a murderer." Yaz finally confessed, barely above a whisper.
"Also untrue, what else?" she pushed.
"They said if I cared about you guys, that I'd give up and let go." She finally added.
"Whoa" she said quietly. "I was thinking that maybe it was your own feeling of guilt that was causing your dream, but now….after hearing all this…I honestly think this is demonic."
"Yeah, I don't think so." Yasmina countered, "I don't believe in demons or angels, or heaven or hell, or any of that stuff. Not putting you down for your beliefs or anything, but I just don't buy it."
"The greatest deception that Satan ever pulled off, was convincing the world that he didn't exist." Sammy mused. "I do have a question though, do you really think Ben would think that way about you?"
"No, probably not, he wasn't like that." She sighed.
"Okay then, do YOU think you're a murderer, that the rest of us would be safer if you were gone?" Sammy questioned.
"No, murder means intent, I never wanted any of this, and no not really, I'll do everything in my power to keep everyone safe, I can't do that if I'm gone." Yaz finally admitted.
"So if you don't believe it, and Ben wouldn't believe it……then what is it that's making those accusations against you." She asked. Yaz stared at her, unable to answer the question.
"Anyway, you should probably try to sleep, you may be awake but you've still got a lot of recovery ahead of you." Sammy said, getting up from the bed and starting towards the door.
"Uh Sammy, wait." Yaz stuttered.
"Yeah?" she answered, turning around.
"I…uh…" she stuttered again, " why can't I just say it, just tell her I'd rather not be alone right now, she would understand completely, she would stay all night if I needed her to…..No, no reason to bother her, I can deal with it myself."
"Nothing, never mind, thank you for bringing me my clothes." She covered.
"Oh, no problem, get some sleep now, you need it." She said, quietly slipping out the door.
"Ugggh!" Yaz growled in frustration, flopping backwards in her bed, it was a mistake. The impact of her head on the pillow sent a shockwave of pain through her right ear, while the quick motion sent her damaged equilibrium spinning and bobbing.
" Gah, that was dumb." She thought, clamping her hand over her ear. " How exactly am I supposed to help anyone survive, I can't walk, use my arm, can barely hear, and any little movement will probably make me fall over……if I just would have waited….had a little bit of patience for once…not been so hard headed.." Yaz raised her hand to the lumped up wound on the back of her head.
"Maybe this time being hard headed wasn't such a bad thing." She said to herself. When the dizziness had subsided, she carefully got dressed and climbed back into bed. Briefly, she considered leaving the room to find her friends, she wasn't comfortable sleeping away from them, though she'd never admit it. Unfortunately she was still far too dizzy to really move around much. Alone, Yaz closed her eyes and eventually drifted off.
The sizzle of sausage in a frying pan filled the suite, causing the campers to stir.
"Mmmm I smell pancakes." Darius said, rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms.
"Mmm, and coffee." Brooklynn added, smiling up at Darius from his lap. The swelling in her eye had finally gone down, but the bruising was still there, a little less purple and more yellow now.
"Morning Brooke, sleep good?" he asked, looking down at the YouTube star. For some reason her bright green eyes seemed a little extra vivid this morning.
"Mmmhmm." She yawned, sitting up.
"Have you even slept, Sammy?" Darius called back to the kitchen.
"Yeah I did, I'm just used to getting up early to start chores, figured I'd make ya'll breakfast." She answered, handing Brooklynn a cup of coffee and setting one in front of Kenji, giving him a gentle shake.
"Huh?...what's wrong?" he blurted, snapping up straight.
"Nothin, everything's fine, just breakfast is almost done, that's all." She answered soothingly. Kenji breathed a sigh of relief and plopped back into the chair.
"Bad dreams?" Brooklynn asked sympathetically.
"Are there any other kind on this island?" he grumbled, sitting forward and grabbing his coffee.
"Not really." She sighed.
"Hey it could be worse, we could be out there eating random berries and grubs, but instead, were safe and warm in here with coffee, orange juice, and Sammy's home cooking, we've actually got it pretty good." Darius reminded them.
"Awww thanks, I wanted to do biscuits and gravy but I didn't have everything I needed." Sammy called from the kitchen. "Speaking of which, breakfast is almost done, will someone go wake Yaz."
"I'll get her." Kenji answered, standing up and stretching.
"Thanks Kenji." She called back.
"Hey Yaz, you decent?" He called through her door as he knocked, there was no answer. "YAZ" he tried again, loader this time. Still nothing. A pit of dread began to form in his stomach. Slowly he opened the door and peeked in. Yasmina lay on top of the covers, thankfully dressed, on her back with her face looking away from the door, he couldn't tell if she was breathing. Slowly he entered the room, panic beginning to build as he approached her. She was still….too still, he still couldn't detect if she was breathing or not. As he stood above her, panic was beginning to take over, his hands, legs, and arms started to tingle, with two fingers he reached down an felt her neck for a pulse, he could feel nothing. Like a dam bursting, the panic took over.
"YAZ!" he croaked, giving her shoulder a violent shake. The girl let out a deep gasp as her eyes shot open, like a bolt of lightning, she was sitting up clutching Kenji's wrist in her good hand. The look of fear on her face and in her eyes was something he would never forget. The two stared at each other for a moment, both trying to process what just happened.
"Whoa…I guess I'm not the only one having nightmares." Kenji said, breaking the silence. The look on Yasmina's face quickly turned from fear to annoyance.
"If you ever wake me up like that again, so help me, I'll feed you to the Mosasaurus myself." She stated dryly.
"I thought you were dead" he exclaimed.
"Nope, but like I said, if you ever try that again, you WILL be." She threatened.
"Sammy sent me to get you, breakfast is ready." He explained.
"Pffff, not hungry." She said, laying back down.
"Come on, how are we supposed to enjoy our breakfast if you just wanna sit in here and mope about being injured." He pushed.
'I'm sure you'll manage." She pushed back.
"Come on Yaz, seriously, am I gonna have to pick you up and carry you in there?" he asked.
"Ha! I'd love to see you try." She taunted, closing her eyes. A second later her eyes snapped open wide, realizing what she'd done.
"Don't you even think about it." She hissed as he closed in. "Kenji, I'm warning you, don't you dare, KENJI!" she shrieked as he pulled her up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.
"Careful, it's hot." Sammy warned, as she set plates in front of Darius and Brooklynn. A sudden commotion coming from Yaz's room caught the attention of all three of them. As Darius jumped up to investigate, the door swung open, revealing Kenji carrying a kicking and biting Yasmina across his shoulders.
"Sammy, special delivery, one Yasmina, slightly irritated, as promised." He laughed, gently setting her on the couch next to Brooklynn. Yaz crossed her arms like a toddler and glared.
"As soon as I'm healed, you, me, and the mosasaur….oh yeah…it's happening." She warned. Sammy, Darius and Brooklynn all burst into laughter, glad to see her display some humor, Kenji on the other hand, wasn't so sure she was kidding.
"Just in time for breakfast." Sammy said cheerfully, as she set a plate before Yaz.
"I already told Kenji, I'm not hungr….is that pancakes and sausage?" she asked, stomach growling.
"Eat up, if you wanna heal, you need to eat." he smiled.
"Guess I could eat a little." Yaz relented. Together, the campers dug in, something about the hot, home cooked meal lifted their spirits, making the whole situation less terrible.
"Sammy, that was amazing!" Brooklynn complimented, drawing groans of agreement from the others.
"Yeah that was good, thank you." Yasmina added.
"It must have been, that's your third helping." Darius laughed.
"Oh, but someone wasn't hungry…remember?" Kenji mocked playfully. The athlete narrowed her eyes at the VIP, before shoving another link in her mouth.
"Shut up Kenji." She said, accidentally spitting a little chewed up sausage on the table. The whole group burst into laughter, their moral rising by the minute. Without warning, the lights flickered and dimmed for a moment, immediately ending the laughter.
"That's twice today." Sammy noted." It happened earlier, while ya'll were still sleepin too.
"The grid must have been damaged by the storm." Brooklynn guessed.
"We need to get to the communications building….today…there's no telling how much longer we're gonna have power." Darius decided grimly. "Alright guys, get ready, we'll head out in probably like fifteen minutes. Except for you." He said looking at Yaz. "Your gonna stay here and rest."
"Uh yeah, that's not happening, if your going I'm going." She argued.
"Yaz, look" he sighed, it's not that we don't want you with us….but you can't run, you can barely walk with your dizziness, your sound sensitive, one Rexy roar would put you out of commission, and you can barley use your hand, not to mention you just barely woke up from a head trauma that dang near killed you."
"You can't seriously expect me to just sit here while you guys go out there alone." She complained. The whole group stared at her.
"Oh come on, that was totally different." She tried.
"Um, yeah it was, we're going in a group, YOU went alone." Brooklynn pointed out.
"Shut up, superstar." She hissed.
"Look." Darius intervened, "don't take this the wrong way, but right now, out there…..your a liability." He winced at his own words. "What I mean is, if something goes wrong out there, we stand a better chance without you." He tried again. Yasmina's jaw dropped.
"Your right." She muttered after a deep breath, "I just…it's just hard to…"
"I get it, I'd feel the same way, but if our roles were reversed, wouldn't you make the same call?" Darius asked gently. Defeated, Yasmina nodded her head.
"You better not take too long, or I'm coming to look for you." She snapped.
"We'll try." He promised, "the sooner we get going, the sooner we get back."
"Don't worry Yaz, we'll be back before ya know it." Sammy reassured, before joining Brooklynn and Darius at the door.
"Here, maybe this will help put your mind at ease." Kenji said, handing her a radio from the ACU command center. "I'll keep you updated on where we're at and what we're doing, may not work in the tunnels though, but I'll let ya know before we drop into them."
"Be back as soon as we can." Darius said before giving his team a nod and slipping out the door. Brooklynn and Sammy both smiled at Yaz before following.
"I'll be on six" Kenji said stepping toward the door.
"Kenji, wait." Yaz started.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Nothing….just…I'd be sad if you died out there, so….be careful ok." She stammered.
"Remember, channel six" he smiled, disappearing out the door. And just like that, Yasmina was alone again.
"This is gonna drive her completely insane." Kenji said, catching up with the others.
"Well, maybe next time she'll think twice before she takes of on her own and almost gets herself killed." Brooklynn mused unapologetically.
"To be fair, as bad of a decision as it was, she was trying to keep us out of danger, and to be honest, I really wanted to find Ben too, so I'm glad she got to search, at least we know there's nothing left to find." Sammy pointed out.
"Yeah, it wasn't any fun being in that position as your leader…I wanted to look for him too, but the chances were so small, it was hard to justify putting you all in danger, I don't agree with what she did, but I definitely understand it." Darius agreed, as the elevator doors opened into the lobby. The group quietly and cautiously exited the building, heading for the tunnel entrance.
"Yaz, come in." Kenji said quietly into his radio.
"I'm here, go ahead." Came the response.
"Were outside, heading for the tunnel, all clear." He informed her.
"Okay, good." She responded.
"Okay Darius, what's the plan?" Sammy asked.
"Brooklynn, do you remember what tunnels to take to get there?" he asked.
"Mmmm, not really." She admitted, "but…I brought a phone, no service of course, but the camera works, I can take a picture of the map so we don't need to keep going back for directions."
"Good idea, later on we can draw it so we have a paper copy." He said. "Okay Sammy, the plan is to hit the ACU command center, get a picture of the map, get to the communications building, see if we can call for help, and then get back here."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Sammy agreed. Moments later they reached the tunnel entrance. "We're at the tunnels, about to climb down." Kenji said into the radio.
"Okay, you guys be careful down there." Yaz answered.
"I don't know if these when we're underground, I'll try to raise ya when I'm down but if doesn't work, then it will probably be a few hours before you hear from us again." He warned.
"Yeah I figured, good luck you guys." Came the reply. One by one, they climbed down the ladder into the red light. Once they were all down and the hatch had closed, Kenji tried to raise Yaz….there was no response.
"I didn't think the signal would be able to get out, not with all this concrete and electromagnetic interference from the wiring running along the walls." Darius said.
"Yeah, me either." Kenji admitted. "It was worth a try though."
"Definitely." Darius agreed, "We can try again from the command center, keep her from worrying to much." Without further delay, the four started walking. Brooklynn and Kenji led the way this time, as Darius and Sammy followed.
"I'm surprised your not leading." Sammy pointed out.
"Eh, Brooklynn knows the tunnels better than I do…and..I kinda figured it might be good for her and Kenji to work together, you know, squash anything that might be left over from the whole map thing." Darius explained.
"That's a really good idea. He and I talked about that, he knows he was in the wrong, he's just not very good at apologizing, I mean, he wants to…just doesn't really know how." Sammy said.
"Yeah I imagine he probably doesn't have a whole lot of practice at that. I'm glad he wants to though, he really stepped up with saving Yaz. I hadn't really seen that side of him but it's definitely better than his spoiled rich boy act." He continued. Sammy stared at Darius.
"FINALLY" she nearly yelled. "Finally someone else can see the good in him, see that it's all just an act to hide his insecurities."
"I always saw good in him." Darius explained. "But he just…didn't take anything seriously, that kinda made it hard to trust him. I'm glad that he's trying to be different, but not everyone is so quick to see it, and now he's kinda got to prove himself."
"I know, it's not easy to undo first impressions…I just wish he'd get some recognition when he does something good." She said sadly.
"Yeah I get it, Brooklynn can be a little hard headed sometimes though. That's why I thought maybe this would be good for them." He answered.
"Speaking of Brooklynn, Sammy started. "She told me she talked to you about why you were avoiding looking at her."
"Ugh, don't remind me, that was a horrible conversation." He moaned.
"Yeah, she may have mentioned it didn't go very well at first." She said sympathetically.
"She thought I was calling her ugly, but she's not ugly at all, guess she just can't see that, anyway, I tried to tell her she was beautiful, which seemed like it worked for a while. But then later she started accusing me of lying about it to make her feel better…Ugh..why is she so complicated." He complained. Sammy's face went hot with guilt.
"Umm.. sorry, that was probably my fault. When she told me about that I laughed and said you probably panicked….I tried to fix it but the damage was already done." She apologized.
"It's okay, you weren't wrong, I did panic. I never actually called her ugly, I would never, but when she thought that, she was so hurt…….I panicked and told her I thought she was beautiful. I mean, I meant it, I really do think that, but I didn't wanna give her the wrong idea and make it sound like I was coming on to her either." He admitted.
"Doubt she would have minded that." Sammy snorted, before catching herself.
"What?" Darius questioned, "What do you mean by that?"
" Ahh, Sammy you dang fool, you said the quiet part out loud…." She thought, mentally slapping herself.
"Uh..I just…I just meant…she probably would have seen that as a compliment….that's all." She stuttered, laughing nervously. Darius narrowed his eyes at the cowgirl.
"Oookay….that was a bit suspicious…you sure she hasn't said anything?" He pressed. Sammy gulped, she was no good at this, she suspected that Brooklynn had a crush, but she hadn't actually admitted it. " Wait, that's it!" she thought.
"Darius, I can honestly say that Brooklynn has never said anything about liking you like that." She said, somewhat proud of herself. Darius' skeptical eyes seemed to lose a little brightness.
"Oh…okay…well good, that would just make things weird." He said.
" Wait!...was that a little…disappointment in his voice?" she thought. Now it was Sammy's turn to narrow her eyes.
"Darius Bowman!..do you like Brooklynn like that?" she prodded. Darius' face flushed.
" Oh crap!...what do I say?" he thought.
"N..no, of course not. Romance should be the last thing on any of our minds on this island. Not only that but…."
"These are the stairs to the command center." Brooklynn called back to them.
"Great, we're making good time, good job guys!" Darius complicated, changing the subject.
" No…..that wasn't obvious at all." She thought to herself sarcastically as Darius rushed up to Brooklynn and Kenji. Together the group ascended the stairs.
"Yaz, can you hear me?" Kenji called into the radio. After a few moments, it crackled to life.
"Yes, Kenji I hear you, where are you guys?" she asked.
"We're at the ACU command center, Brooklynn is taking a picture of the map so we don't have to keep coming back." He explained.
"Good, you guys made good time." She said.
"Took us a half an hour to get here from the hotel. Looks like it's about four times the distance to the communications building, so my guess is about two hours there, maybe a little more?" Brooklynn guessed.
"Okay Yaz, we're heading to the communications building now, Brooklynn thinks it'll take a couple hours. I'll try to call ya, when we get there." Kenji said.
"Copy that." Yasmina replied. "You guys be careful….okay?"
"Don't worry Yaz, we'll be careful, it's all gonna be fine." Darius said into the radio.
"Better be." She sighed.
"We should get moving." Brooklynn urged. The group descended back into the tunnels. Again Brooklynn and Kenji took the lead.
" Alright Kenji, you can do this…" he thought.
"So Brooklynn, about the other day..about the map." He started. "That was totally my bad..I shouldn't have blamed your map."
"Since when do you apologize?" She asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"Guess I had that coming." He sighed.
"Well your not exactly known for your humility." She quipped.
"Yeah I know, one of the many things about myself that I wish I could change." He said glumly. "I didn't mean to misread it, after you said those were vents…it. It was pretty obvious…especially since you did label them…I don't even know how I didn't catch that..I felt pretty stupid." Brooklynn glanced over at him, what remaining anger she had starting to melt.
"Look, it's not that you were stupid, we were all stressed and tired, I wrote the map, I should have just led, that way there wouldn't have been the chance to misread it….and I probably shouldn't have gotten as angry as I did…that didn't help anything." She admitted.
"You had every right to be mad." Kenji sighed. "Instead of owning up to my mistake, I tried to pass the blame on to you…when I was confused, there was no reason I couldn't have asked you…no reason except my own stupid pride I guess."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, I know a few things about pride myself." Brooklynn said, looking down.
"Brooklynn, the YouTube superstar with twenty-seven million followers is…..prideful?...nope, can't see it!" he laughed.
"Ha ha, very funny." She chuckled, rolling her eyes.
"Looks like it's going pretty well up there, they're both laughing." Sammy pointed out.
"Good, the last thing we need in our team is stupid grudges." Darius said.
"Mmm, speaking of that." She started, "you were pretty rough on him yourself last night."
"Yeah, that probably wasn't my finest moment." He agreed.
"I mean, Kenji wasn't wrong." She explained. "We need to face facts, there may well come a time when one of us gets hurt beyond what we can treat….tough decisions will need to be made, we were soooooo close to that already."
"I know, I know, I just wasn't ready to hear that….or think about it." He said a bit defensively.
"None of us were Darius, just thank God she woke up…..otherwise….." she trailed off.
"We'll deal with that if it happens, in the meantime, we should pray it never does." He said.
"Agreed, but really we should have a talk about it at some point, find out what everyone would want done if it was them." Sammy pushed.
"Yeah, I guess your right." He conceded. "I'd better go apologize to Kenji." He said, eager to get out of the conversation.
"Way to avoid that one." Sammy thought, as Darius sped up to join Kenji and Brooklynn.
"Hey Kenji, got a minute?" he asked as he caught up. Brooklynn instinctively drifted back to give them privacy.
"Sure, what's up dino nerd?" he answered.
"I just wanted to apologize for last night….I shouldn't have acted the way I did…I know it wasn't any easier on you thinking about that then it was for me to hear it……I NEVER should have said what I said…I was way outta line." He admitted shamefully.
"I don't blame you Darius, I hated myself for even bringing it up." He sighed.
"Sammy thinks we need to have a group discussion…on what we would want done if it was us." Darius continued. The pair walked without speaking for several minutes before Kenji broke the silence.
"She's not wrong, but it's a double edged sword. Take me for example, of course I'd rather be dead than be a vegetable that you guys have to take care of….but on the other hand, I would never want any of you to have to bear the burden of actually doing something about it. I mean, if Yaz never woke up…we all know what she would want, but I certainly couldn't do it..I had I nightmare last night about it, then when I went to wake her for breakfast, I thought she was dead. This whole thing kinda messed me up." Kenji admitted, looking straight ahead.
"It messed with all of us man." Darius assured him, placing a hand on the older boy's shoulder. "How bad was the nightmare?"
"I dreamt I had to do exactly what you said yesterday." He said flatly. Darius' stomach turned with guilt.
"Kenji…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." Darius tried.
"I know..it's okay. You were just upset, we all were." Kenji said, cutting him off. Darius, hung his head, ashamed. As the group continued their trek, making small talk along the way, Darius noticed the tunnel began to slope upwards, gently at first, but slowly getting steeper. Soon the campers pace slowed as the uphill walk got more and more strenuous.
"Feels like we've been going uphill for miles." Sammy complained.
"Communications building is at the top of a mountain, so that makes sense." Darius pointed out.
"Just think Sammy, on the way back this will all be downhill." Kenji mused.
"That'll be nice." Brooklynn breathed. As time and distance passed, the tunnel began to level out.
"Not much further guys, we're almost there." Brooklynn encouraged. About fifteen minutes later, she stopped at a ladder.
"This should be it!" she exclaimed, staring at the picture of the map on the phone. Darius climbed the ladder first. The hatch opened into the jungle a short distance from the buildings, together the group made their forward and stepped into the clearing. Excitement quickly turned to disappointment as they stared at the burned out ruins of two large buildings. The first building was nothing but a demolished pile of concrete and steel, remains of burned radio equipment and toppled towers and antennas strewn about. The second building stood mostly intact, but gutted by fire. Large steel pens and cages gave away its identity as the veterinary facility.
"Yaz, can you hear me?" Kenji spoke into the radio sadly.
"Kenji I'm here, it's about time, you said two hours, it's been three, is everyone ok?" Yaz blurted out, obvious relief in her voice.
"Sorry, a lot of it was uphill, slowed us down. Wasted trip, communications building is destroyed, looks like a bunch of the radio stuff blew up, there's craters all over, almost look like bomb craters." He explained.
"Bomb craters, they really do look like bomb craters, they run in a straight line too, right through the building…like a bombing run. But why? Only the Costa Rican military could do something like this, why would they hit the comms building…..it doesn't make sense. It has to be a coincidence." Darius thought to himself.
"Spread out, search for anything we can use." He ordered. Sammy headed straight for the burned out veterinary facility, hoping against hope that some of the medications, specifically the antibiotics, had survived the fire. Darius and Kenji, scoured the rubble of the communications building, while Brooklynn joined up with Sammy. Twenty minutes later, Darius sighed in disgust.
"There's nothing here Kenji." He said dejectedly.
"Just busted concrete and scrap metal." Kenji agreed. A few moments later, Sammy and Brooklynn reappeared in the doorway of the ruined vet building. Their disappointed faces and empty hands told a familiar story.
"The place was an inferno." Sammy said, shaking her head as she approached.
"Incinerated everything, even inside the stainless drawers and cabinets." Brooklynn added.
"Well that confirms it, this whole trip was pointless." Darius sighed. "I really thought this would be it, thought there would be a radio, that we could finally put an end to this nightmare."
"Hey." Brooklynn said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, at least we tried."
"Thanks Brooke." He said, laying his hand on top of hers, before immediately getting nervous and dropping it to his side. Mercifully the awkward moment was interrupted the sound of flapping wings, as a bright blue and orange bird landed on a broken wall next to them.
"What the heck is that thing?" Brooklynn shrieked, scrambling backwards.
"No, Brooke, it's okay, it's an Archaeopteryx."
"An Archy what?" she asked confused.
"An Archaeopteryx." He corrected. "Some say they're the missing link between dinosaurs and birds, I had no idea they bred those here."
"What's it got in its mouth?" Kenji asked.
"Looks like a piece of beef jerky." Sammy guessed, leaning in close, trying to get a better look.
"Must have robbed a stand on main street." Darius guessed. The little dinosaur cocked it's head at the group and brought it's clawed hands up to hold the jerky as it ate.
"Whoa, bird wings with claws, that's SO freaky." Kenji said with a shiver. The Archaeopteryx finished it's meal and squawked at Darius, tilting it's head from side to side. Suddenly it left from its perch and glided to Darius' hip. He froze as the little animal latched its claws into his clothing and scurried around him like a lizard on a fence post, sniffing at his pockets before climbing up his back and perching on his shoulder like a parrot.
"You look like a prehistoric pirate." Brooklynn laughed. The Archaeopteryx cocked its head and squawked at her before flitting to her shoulder and climbing down her to the ground. Making its rounds, it hopped across the ground and scurried up Sammy's leg, bringing a nervous laugh from the Texan. Deciding she had nothing interesting to offer, the animal locked its eyes on Kenji.
"No….don't even think about it, creepy little lizard bird, stay back." Kenji warned, trying to back away slowly. The Archaeopteryx hopped to the ground from Sammy and took a couple hops towards Kenji.
"Stay back!" he warned again, backing further away. The animal hoped even closer.
"You want food, is that it? Your still hungry? Beef jerky didn't do it for ya?" He asked, digging into Ben's dork pouch. "Here ya go, carob bar, mmmmm, you want this? How about you take this….food… and leave me alone?" he said, tossing the carob bar at the animal. The feathered dinosaur snatched up the bar and squawked, glancing around at the campers as if to say thanks. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it threw itself into the air and flew off into the distance.
"That was incredible!" Darius exclaimed, "It's always been assumed that Archaeopteryx behavior was more reptile than bird, but did you guys see that? Total bird, it was just like a crow with teeth, science had it one hundred percent backwards, this is awesome!.
"I thought he was cute!" Sammy decided. "Reminded me of Petrie from the land before time"
"What makes you think it was a he?" Brooklynn asked.
"I don't know….Petrie was a boy. Hey, that's what I'm gonna call him, Petrie." She laughed.
"He, she, it, who cares, as long as it's gone, that thing was creepy." Kenji shuddered.
"Alright everyone, there's nothing we're gonna find here, and we've got a couple hours walk ahead of us, let's get heading back." Darius said, turning back toward the tunnel.
"Yaz, we're coming home, should see you in two and a half to three hours." Kenji reported into the radio.
"Good, you guys might want to hurry, the power has been flickering more often now." She warned.
"Hmm, two or three hours. Enough time for me to get a good bath in, with the power acting up, this might be my only chance." She thought.
"Ok Yaz, dropping into the tunnels, see you soon." Kenji's voice said over the radio.
"OK, see you soon." She responded. Using the crutch Kenji had made her, she was able to get to her feet and make it to the bathroom. Her dizziness forced her to move slowly and deliberately.
"Darius was right, I don't have any business being out there in this condition, first dinosaur attack and I'd almost certainly get them killed." She admitted in her head as she turned on the water. Yasmina watched as the water filled the tub, replaying the last few days in her mind. She had made a lot of decisions she wasn't necessarily proud of, but yet here she was, alive and safe, slipping into a hot bath while her friends, the ones she owed her life to, braved their way through the underworld of Isla Nublar.
"It's just not fair, after all the mistakes I've made, I'm the one in comfort while they have to make the sacrifices." She thought sadly, relaxing in the water. After soaking for about an hour, Yaz drained the tub and got dressed.
" They should be about half way here." She thought. Suddenly the lights flickered again, but this time it lasted longer than the others. She began to get anxious.
" What if they are still in the tunnels and we lose power? Can the security gates be opened without power? Can the hatchways be opened without power?" she wandered. Though she knew it wouldn't work, Yaz grabbed the radio anyway.
"That was longer then the others." Darius said grimly, staring up at the lights. Suddenly the radio bust to life, there were no words, only bursts of static. Darius and Kenji stared at each other.
"It's picking up the burst of radio waves when she keys up the mic, but her signal is to weak to get through down here." Darius explained.
"But she knows we're in the tunnels, and she knows the radio doesn't work here, what's she trying to do?" he asked confused.
"Somethings wrong." Darius said, as the lights again flickered. "That's twice in the last couple minutes."
"GET OUTTA THERE" Yaz shouted into the radio, "your gonna end up trapped in there if you don't get out now!" The power dimmed once again. "Please let this go through." She thought. "GET OUTTA THE TUNNELS."
The lights dimmed low for almost ten seconds.
"Brooklynn, how far are we from the closest exit?" Darius asked calmly.
"Umm, according to this, maybe five minutes?" she guessed, looking at the map on the phone. "Should be just past the next security gate."
Yasmina felt completely helpless as her radio emitted only silence. She was nearly in a full blown panic, if they ended up trapped, there was nothing she could do in her condition.
" Please, please let them make it out." She begged. "Please keep the power on long enough."
"RUN" Darius shouted. The group didn't wait for an explanation. As they ran, the lights flickered and dimmed, this time it was different, it was clear that whatever piece of the power grid that had been damaged, was now failing completely. Finally the security gate came into view, and just beyond that, the ladder to the surface. As he closed on the gate, he pulled out the security card, reaching for the red light on the lock.
"We made it, we actually made it." He thought.
Yaz sat on the couch, knees pulled up to her chest, eyes closed, lights flickering all around her. The radio lay against the opposite wall, battery pack a good five feet away from the handset, a noticeable dent in the drywall above it.
"Please make it, please make it, please make it." She repeated under her breath as she rocked back and fourth. Finally the flickering stopped and the room went dark.
Four miles away and thirty feet underground, Darius stood in complete darkness. The security card fell to the ground from his outstretched hand, still two feet from the gate. Hidden by the blackness, he dropped to his knees, gripping the solid bars, knowing their escape was a mere fifteen feet on the other side. It might as well have been fifteen miles, the gate was hardened steel, there was no way through. As he sat there, cursing himself for not being just a few seconds faster, Brooklynn's soft yet nervous voice broke the silence, asking the one question he didn't have an answer for. "What do we do now?"