Camp Cretaceous: Survival Chapter 10: Survivor, a jurassic park fanfic

Chapter 10: Survivor.

A/N: the following story may contain scenes that are disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. (and maybe a box of tissues)

"This can't be happening…This can't be real…It just can't be!" Darius thought in denial. He couldn't breathe, the pressure was too intense. But as bad as it was for him, he knew it was worse for Brooklynn. He could feel her squirming against him, desperately trying to shift her body into a position where she could breathe. Pain shot across her face as he felt a sickening pop from her chest.

"Oh my God, was that her rib? Her bones are braking! What do I do? God help me, what do I do? He panicked. The expression of sheer terror on Brooklynn's face commanded all of his attention, forgetting even the fact that he himself was suffocating.

"God please, help her, even if I have to take her place, please…get her out of this….save her, don't let her die…not like this." He begged.

There was another horrible pop as the second of her ribs broke, no pain was visible on her face this time. Her mouth hung open, her stare unfocused, something needed to happen, and happen now.

"God, PLEASE!" he cried out, using the last of his breath. All at once there was a loud snap and they lurched forward a few inches. The pressure had reached the point where it was too much for the iron grate, more accurately, the hardware securing it to the walls. Hope surged through him as his vision began to darken. Brooklynn was no longer struggling beneath him, to his horror, her eyes were rolling back and her head was beginning to droop forward.

"Hang on Brooklynn, just hang on." He begged silently as his own head began to fall. "Please hang on."

Another snap, and the pressure suddenly disappeared. The couple shot from the pipe into river, immediately washing down stream. Darius gasped for air, miraculously still clinging to the motionless girl.

With his arm hooked under her armpits, he swam as hard as he could for the riverbank. The moment his feet touched the rocks, he heaved her body out of the water and collapsed over her face.

"Breathe Brooklynn, come on BREATHE!" he cried. "Don't do this Brooke, please don't do this.

Tears flowed freely as Darius patted her cheeks, as if it would somehow wake her.

"Please….we were supposed to do this together." He sobbed.

He'd never done CPR, and he was terrified to try, he knew she had broken ribs and was scared if he didn't do it right, that he'd puncture something internally…if it hadn't been punctured already. But on the other hand, if he did nothing….

Darius took a deep breath, pinched Brooklynn's nose and tilted her back. Before he could give her the first breath, she let out a horrible sounding cough, spraying his face with what he thought was water.

"BROOKLYNN!" he cried in relief as she gasped and wheezed, fighting to fill her lungs with air. Brooklynn's terror filled jade eyes popped open and she grabbed him by the shoulders, as if they were still in the water.

"Darius…" she cried. "The water? Where are we? How did we?"

"By the grace of God." He said, pulling her up so that her head rested on his lap. "But don't worry about any of that now, just concentrate on breathing."

Darius gently combed her wet hair away from her face as she closed her eyes and let her body relax. Reaching up and finding his hand, she intertwined her fingers with his, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"Thank you." She whispered without opening her eyes.

"Rest" Came his response.

As he held her, he noticed something large and dark bobbing in the water, slowly being washed towards them on the bank. He could already tell two things, it was a dinosaur, and it was dead. The corpse came to rest just a few feet downstream from them.

"Troodon..must have jumped or fallen in after us, that's what hit me from behind. Thank God it apparently drowned before it hit me, if I'd have been bitten..." He didn't dare dwell on what could have been, knowing the effects Troodon venom could have. Pain, burning, paralysis, paranoia, hallucinations, and worst of all, rabies like, uncontrollable aggression.

He looked down at the injured girl in his lap and shuddered at thought of harming her during the rage portion of envenomation.

"If I ever get bit, I've got to make sure that can't happen….whatever it takes." He thought grimly.

After a few moments, Brooklynn tried to stand.

"Brooke, just rest, your not even breathing right yet." Darius protested.

"We have to move, too exposed out here." She wheezed.

Darius didn't like the way she was breathing at all. Each breath was a short raspy gasp, nothing like the slow and steady inhale and exhale it should have been.

"Your bleeding, are you hurt?" She choked out, reaching out and touching his cheek. He could see the blood on her fingers when she pulled back.

"I'm fine, he said quickly. "We can follow the river, there's only one major river on Isla Nublar, eventually we should hit the dock for the Cretaceous Cruise.

"Okay" She agreed, still trying to catch her breath.

Darius carefully made his way up the embankment, picking the easiest path possible for Brooklynn.

"That wasn't my blood, that was where she coughed on me, she coughed blood, what does that mean?God please let her lungs be okay, her breathing sounds horrible." Darius panicked silently.

A few yards up from the river bank he hit a concrete hiking path leading up river a ways to a massive waterfall.

"I'd bet anything this path leads straight to the dock, a trailhead at the very least." He exclaimed.

"That's….great….I can't…..seem to …..catch….my…." Brooklynn stopped mid sentence as she noticed the stairwell leading at least a hundred and fifty feet up to the top of the waterfall.

"Are you sure your ok Brooke? You really don't sound good." He asked.

"I'll be….fine….just don't….go too……fast." She said between gasps.

"Brooklynn, no this isn't a good idea, you can barely breathe, you can't do stairs." He argued.

"Ok fine…. you can …… follow me then." She said, stepping around him. "Really …… dino nerd, ……. I'm fine, just a little …… winded …….once we get back …….. to the hotel ……. you can worry…….about me …… all you want."

"Why are girls so darn hard headed?" He thought in frustration as he followed her up the stairs.

About a quarter of the way up, the path split. The stairs on the left continued up toward the crest of the falls, on the right was another cement path heading straight for, possibly even cutting behind the waterfall.

"Brooke, why don't you stop and rest for a bit." Darius urged as they reached the split.

"No….way….we have…..to keep…. moving…..can't…..stop." she argued breathlessly.

Suddenly she coughed. Wincing as she wrapped her arms around her own chest, her face contorted in pain as she coughed again and again, dropping her first to her knees, then to her hands and knees. Darius could see the foamy blood splattering the ground as she coughed. Unsure what to do, he dropped next to her and gently rubbed her back, praying under his breath, doing his best to keep his panic hidden…for her sake.

As the coughing fit finally subsided, Brooklynn pulled herself into the fetal position, clutching her rib cage and crying softly.

"Okay…maybe I'm not fine." She admitted weakly, refusing to look Darius in the eyes.

"Your gonna be okay Brooke, we didn't come this far just to come this far." He encouraged. "Where does it hurt? What are you feeling?"

"Left side……my chest….is tight….hurts……can't get……a full……breath….really…… tired……coughing……blood." She tried to explain. But having to try to breathe between each word made decent communication difficult.

"Okay, don't talk any more than you have to, just concentrate on breathing, we're gonna get through this. Why don't we follow this path, I'm pretty sure it goes behind the waterfall. That's not someplace you'd find prey, so there shouldn't be any predators. We can rest there till morning, maybe you'll feel better by then." Darius suggested.

"I'm getting worse, something is really wrong …I…I'll probably be gone by morning." She thought in defeat as she allowed Darius to help her to her feet. Slowly and gently, he guided her down the path, which did indeed lead behind the waterfall.

The rock was undercut a good distance, creating a decent, dirt floor cave just off from the cement path. Carefully he led her to the back of the makeshift cave and eased her down.

"Doing alright?" he asked, sitting down next to her. She didn't answer, simply shifted her body so she could lean back against his chest. Again her fingers laced in with his. After maybe twenty minutes, her breathing seemed to ease…but just barely.

"You're scared." She pointed out softly, breaking the silence. "I can feel it in your breathing, hear it in your heartbeat, every time I move, you tense."

"Ha, we almost get eaten every time we turn around, who wouldn't be scared? " he laughed.

"That's not it…..your scared I'm not gonna make it." She corrected, seeing right through him.

Darius was silent. She wasn't wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it, especially to her. Though, his silence said it all.

"Me too." She agreed quietly, turning to nuzzle her head into his shoulder.

"Brooke, that's crazy, your gonna be fine, you just need rest." He argued, unsure who he was trying to convince more.

"Darius….let's just be real.. It's getting harder to breathe….not easier, every hour that passes I'm more light headed, more fatigued. We need to stop kidding ourselves, we both know there's something messed up inside me." She said, gazing at the cascading water. "Something we can't fix."

Darius' eyes welled up, he much preferred her stubborn insistence that she was fine to her acceptance of what he feared was truth. It wasn't fair, it wasn't supposed to happen like this, there had to be something he could do… but he already knew there wasn't, he just couldn't accept it. The facts remained, they were stuck behind a waterfall somewhere along one of the many Jurassic World hiking paths, Brooklynn was too injured to move and the others had no idea where they were…if the others were even alive.

"Ya know it's funny." She mused. "This morning all I wanted to do was get to the communications building and radio for help, get the heck off this island. Now, the only thing I want in the world is to watch one more sunrise with you…but….I don't know if I have that long."

Silent tears ran down both of their faces.

"If I'd only.." Darius started

"Stop that" Brooklynn cut him off, pinching his lips shut. "None of this is your fault, if you try to put this on yourself I'll never forgive you."

"Fair enough" he choked out.

Darius could do nothing but sit there, holding the pink haired girl close as she snuggled into him. He prayed that this wouldn't be the last time they snuggled.

"She's dying and she knows it, this is so unfair….it should be me, God, please make it me, let me take her spot, heal her, get her home to her family. Guide the others to us, Sammy would know what to do, guide them here while there's still time. Please…we need a miracle." He prayed.

"Darius, will you promise me something? … "She began after a long moment.

"Of course, anything." He assured her.

"When it happens….promise me you'll be with me, don't leave me, don't make me face it alone….I can't." She said, barely above a whisper, tears carving their paths down her face. "I know it'll be hard, but……I can't be strong by myself….I need to hear you tell me it'll be ok, I need to hear you tell me that you'll be ok…I'm scared Darius, really scared….I don't wanna die…I'm not ready."

Darius' mind was spiraling, the fact that she was literally planning her own death was the last straw, he couldn't hold it together any longer. He finally understood why she said she'd rather die by his side than go on alone. Being the survivor was torture. Being the survivor meant it would be him who watched her take her last labored breath. It would be him who would move her to her final resting spot as her body cooled and stiffened. It would be him who would have to watch her disappear forever beneath shovelfuls of dirt. Given the choice between casualty and survivor, under these circumstances, he'd choose casualty any day.

He suddenly found himself wishing that the storm drain grate hadn't failed, it would have been far more humane than this, at least they would have been together.

"I can't lose you." He sobbed, finally breaking down. "Not now, not after everything, not now that I finally see…"

"I wish we had more time." She said sadly, cutting him off, knowing full well what he was about to say. "I'll hang on as long as I can…but in the meantime, I….I kinda just wanna be held."

"I'm not going anywhere." He promised, his hand dropping to her hip. "Hey, what's this?"

"Huh? Oh that's the other two flares I found in the boat house." She explained, pulling them from her pocket.

"Brooke, if Sammy and Kenji made it out, and I go set these off….." He started.

"Then maybe they'll see it and know where to find us!" Brooklynn finished excitedly. "But…you'll have to leave me to set them off." She added sadly.

"The best place would be from the top of the waterfall. I'll go as fast as I can." He said, shifting himself out from under her.

"I….I don't wanna be alone." She whimpered.

"Brooke, this could be it..this could be your chance for more time….OUR chance for more time." He tried, he could see the last part got to her.

"Please hurry" She croaked.

Darius leaned down and gently kissed Brooklynn on the forehead. Her eyes widened a little as she failed to suppress a grin.

"Darius Bowman, that was my first kiss." She giggled.

"Mine too" He agreed sheepishly before standing. "I'll be back for you Brooklynn….I promise."

"Bumpy, am I ever glad to see you." Ben cried.

The Ankylosaur broke her attention away from the retreating family group and turned to Ben, rearing up on her hind legs and shaking her armored head, bellowing in excitement.

"Is that where you've been? Hanging out with that group? Looks like he's a great protector, sorry we got off on the wrong foot." He said.

Bumpy was on top of him in a flash, licking his face and nuzzling her adoptive dad.

"Okay, okay Bumpers, enough. You're gonna drown me." He laughed, shoving the dinosaur's tongue back in her mouth. Bumpy looked Ben up and down, as if in disbelief that he was really okay, stopping to moan at the tree trunk laying across his leg.

"Oh yeah..that. Could I get a little help?" He asked.

Bumpy understood what Ben needed and immediately put her head against the trunk and shoved. It didn't go quite as planned. While the tree did move, the weight and rough bark did some fairly significant damage. It actually looked pretty similar to severe road rash, only made worse by the fact that every time Ben cried out, Bumpy stopped pushing to check on him, the sentiment was sweet, but it made the whole ordeal last much longer than it should have.

Finally free, Ben tried to walk on his injured leg, he could manage it, but it did hurt a good amount. Bumpy moaned softly and nudged at the bloody scrapes.

"It's all right girl, it's not as bad as it looks. I'll tell ya what Bumpy, your way smarter than that ol book of mine says you should be." He complimented. "Brain the size of two walnuts..psht, you're probably smarter then than they are."

An idea formed in Ben's mind.

"Hey Bumpy, how about giving me a ride back to the visitors center?" he said scratching under her chin. Moving back to her side, he put some weight on her shell, gauging her reaction. To his surprise, she kneeled, knowing exactly what he was wanting.

"Just genious." He thought. "How long does it take to train a horse to do this?."

Bumpy waited until Ben had climbed up and sat down, somewhat uncomfortably, on her shell before standing and heading off through the jungle.

"I'm doing it, I'm actually doing it, she's letting me ride her." He thought in victory.

"Good girl Bumpy, your doing great!" Ben said, leaning down and patting her head.

Before long the visitors center came into view. Up until now, he had simply sat there while Bumpy took him home, now he was curious to know if he could direct her.

"Come on Bumpy, this way." He said, leaning his body to the left, to his surprise and excitement, Bumpy veered left.

"No way!" He thought.

"Now this way Bumpy." He commanded, leaning to the right. Again, the Ankylosaur steered right.

"How is this even possible? How do you know this Bumpy?" Ben marveled.

Bumpy looked back at him and bellowed happily.

"Bumpy, I think you're smarter than at least half the people that ran this place." He said in disbelief.

They made a loop around the around the visitors center before heading back into the shade of the jungle, finally stopping at the banana grove. Bumpy laid down, allowing Ben to easily dismount the her shell.

"Good girl Bumpy, good girl." He said, hugging her neck and scratching under her chin. "You are absolutely incredible, you know that?"

Bumpy groaned contently as he grabbed a few bananas from a nearby tree and fed them to her.

"You thought I was dead didn't you? That's why you set out on your own. Well truth be told Bumpers, I got pretty close." He said, taking a banana for himself.

The telltale sound of flapping wings announced Archie's arrival on the scene as he landed next to Ben, eyeballing the fruit.

"Seriously Archie, you've got a problem with food, your gonna end up needing dino liposuction." He laughed, tossing the rest of his banana to the flying reptile.

Bumpy did not seem impressed by the new visitor, looking indignantly from Ben to the newcomer and back.

"Oh come on Bumpy, it's not like that, Archie is not your replacement." He explained, sensing the Ankylosaur's angst.

Archie could sense it too, smugly eyeballing the larger dinosaur as he finished the banana. As soon as the fruit was gone, he rose up to full height and hissed. The blatant show of disrespect from this tiny creature proved to be too much for Bumpy, who immediately jumped to her feet and bellowed in anger, knocking Ben to the ground.

"Guys, cut that out, we're all on the same side, we're all friends here." He pleaded, stepping between the two animals.

It was no use, the challenge had been initiated. Bumpy shook her head and slammed her tail into the ground as she had against the bull Ankylosaur earlier, slowly circling the tiny challenger.

"SERIOUSLY BUMPY HE'S LIKE ONE POUND, PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW HE'S A THREAT." Ben yelled in frustration, again trying to separate the two. This time Bumpy's stance eased a bit as she looked over at Ben, letting out a groan of complaint.

Seeing his opportunity, Archie ruffled his feathers and crouched to pounce, just like a tiny velociraptor. With a sound somewhere between a roar and a squawk, he jumped onto the armored dinosaur's head, biting down on the her asymmetrical horns.

Ben dove to the ground narrowly avoiding the Ankylosaur's tail as the animal spun. The banana tree wasn't so lucky, splintering as the bony club smashed through the trunk. Bumpy spun and bucked and jumped like a rodeo bull, trying desperately to dislodge the tiny rider. Archie on the other hand, maintained his grip, harmlessly biting one horn and then the other, utterly powerless to inflict anything other than annoyance on his foe.

After several minutes of squawking, bellowing, flapping, and bucking, Ben had had it.

"ENOUGH!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Both animals came to a stop and stared at him momentarily.

"DO YOU NOT SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" He yelled, spreading his arms and spinning around slowly, showing what used to be the banana grove in complete ruin.

The combatants looked around them. Every tree was destroyed, every buch of bananas smashed to pulp. Archie trilled sadly and few off into the canopy, while Bumpy lowered her head shamefully.

"You two really made a mess of things, didn't ya?" He chastised. "What's your deal anyway? Why are you so jealous?"

Bumpy looked to the side and moaned. Suddenly movement caught Ben's eye. A wandering spider, perhaps the same one that had bitten him, had somehow survived the onslaught, and was now running at full speed towards him. Before he could react, a blur of blue and orange dove from the tree tops, pouncing on the arachnid.

Archie tossed the spider in the air and snatched it up again, it's exoskeleton crunching as it disappeared down the animal's gullet, leaving only a single twitching leg on the ground. The Archaeopteryx then looked at Ben, cocking his head and trilling before again hissing at Bumpy and retreating back into the canopy.

The Ankylosaur looked over at Ben and gave him an irritated moan.

"Sorry girl, I guess creatures that fly can just be jerks sometimes." He said, rubbing his wounds from the Dimorphodon. "But that particular flying creature brought me a carob bar, warned me about the bull, and just now, he took out that wandering spider, so he's actually pretty handy to have around."

Bumpy grumbled and turned away before plopping down, reluctantly accepting defeat.

"Don't worry girl, you are and always have been my number one." He said, patting her side.

The pair rested in the destroyed banana grove until darkness began to fall, signaling time for them to return to the relative safety of the visitors center.

"Well Bumpers, I guess we should get moving, what do you think?" He asked, pulling himself to his feet and climbing up onto Bumpy's armored back.

The dinosaur gave a contented groan and headed back to what was once their home. Stopping just outside, Bumpy let Ben down off her back, but refused to go any further.

"What's the matter girl? You're not coming in?" He asked in confusion.

Bumpy reared up and pawed at the ground where Toro had marked his territory.

"She knows Toro owns the building now, if she's in the rotunda and he comes back…there's no way out." Ben realized.

"It's okay girl, I get it." He said. "I'd love to have you in there with me but I'd rather have you safe."

"Meet me back here in the morning okay?" He said, scratching her under the chin. "I really missed you girl, I'm so glad to have you back."

The Ankylosaur moaned happily and licked his face before slowly retreating back into the jungle, disappearing into the darkness. Ben kept watching for several minutes after she'd gone, still in disbelief that they'd been reunited.

Eventually he sighed and turned back to the visitors center. Using what little daylight was left, he climbed to the lookout, curious if Archie had come home to roost. To his relief, a small bundle of blue and orange feathers sat curled up on the catwalk.

"You really need to try to get along with Bumpy." He said solemnly. "You guys are no threat to each other and if you keep goading her like that, your gonna end up getting all of us killed."

He sat down next to the dino bird and leaned back against the wall, suddenly realizing just how sore and exhausted he was. Reaching over, he stroked Archie's back, causing the animal to raise up and relocate to his lap.

"I guess I don't really HAVE to climb back down to the control room." He thought to himself. "I'm fairly safe up here, I've got Archie as an alarm, and I'm sure Bumpy isn't too terribly far away. Plus I don't really wanna move him."

Giving in to his exhaustion, he closed his eyes and prayed.

"Father in heaven. Thank you for another day. Thank you for bringing Bumpy back and delivering me from the bull Ankylosaur and the spider. Father I ask that you would allow Bumpy and Archie to get along, and that you would watch over the others wherever they are. Please don't let any harm come to them. These thinks I pray in Jesus name…..amen."

Three miles off the coast of Isla Nublar, a DJI drone hovered five hundred feet above seemingly empty ocean before slowly descending toward the darkened outline of a surfaced submarine.

The bee like whine from the rotors grew louder as the aircraft neared its pilot on the foredeck of the vessel, gently landing at his feet. The pilot shifted his first person goggles up to his forehead and bent down to pick up the aircraft.

"DRONE SECURED SIR." He shouted to the first mate watching him from the conning tower.

"VERY WELL, DIMITRI, NOW GET BELOW, UNLESS YOU FANCY A SWIM." He shouted back.

Dimitri had almost reached the deck hatch when a red light in the distance caught his eye.

"SIR, THE ISLAND, A FLARE!" He yelled, pointing to the burning red arch in the sky above the island.

The officer lifted his binoculars as a second red tracer of light shot into the sky. No doubt about it, it was most certainly a distress flare.

"EH, NOT FLARES, JUST SHRAPNEL FROM AN EXPLODING TRANSFORMER." He shouted back to Dimitri.

"SORRY SIR, I GUESS I JUMPED TO CONCLUSIONS." He shouted in apology over the sound of the surf.

"IT'S ALL RIGHT DIMITRI, I'D RATHER HAVE YOU ALERT NEAR THESE ISLANDS ANYWAY. NOW GET BELOW, BEFORE WE'RE DETECTED." The first officer replied.

As Dimitri disappeared down the hatch, drone in hand, the first officer scanned the island with his binoculars.

"So there are survivors." He thought, focusing on the area where he saw the flares. "Who were they trying to signal?" He wondered as he climbed down the ladder to the bridge.

"Prepare for dive…helmsman, take us to fifty meters, dive plains at 20 degrees, make heading 352 degrees North, ahead one third." He ordered.

"Aye Sir." The helmsman responded as the vessel began to move.

"Nicholai" The first officer called, nodding for the old man to approach him.

"Yes Donovan?" Nicholai asked.

"Wake the Captain." He said lowering his voice. "There's been a…..development."

The familiar green glow was somewhat comforting to Sammy. It reminded her of her farm, she used one of these same units countess times to keep watch over the herd. Now, she used it to guide Kenji and herself through the underground labyrinth that was Isla Nublar's maintenance tunnel vent system.

Turn after turn, grate after grate, she searched for a ladder to the surface, finding it ironic how when they were walking freely through the tunnels, there seemed to be ladders every fifty yards, but now, when they desperately needed one, they seemed to simply not exist.

A million thoughts swirled in her mind as each grate she peeked though led only to more disappointment and frustration. She needed this win, Kenji was counting on her, she HAD to prove herself, to make up for lying. It didn't help that she feared the worst for Darius and Brooklynn. They were in the vent system somewhere too, just like her and Kenji, however, they had had three Troodons on their heels right from the get go, she simply didn't see how it would have been possible to outrun them in the vents on their hands and knees.

"Father God, please let Brooklynn and Darius have made it, please keep the dinosaurs far from them and keep them safe." She prayed silently.

Another grate came into view. As they had so many times already, her adrenaline crept up at the possibility of finding a path to freedom. Only empty tunnel was visible through the slats…another disappointment.

Sammy flopped back against the vent wall in frustration.

"Let's just rest here a moment…..I need to collect myself." She said, a hint of irritation in her voice.

Kenji scooted up next to her putting a sympathetic hand on her knee.

"Stop doing that to yourself." He said quietly. "We'll find a way out eventually, but stressing yourself out over it isn't going to make it any faster or easier."

"Am I really that obvious?" She sighed.

"Uh, yeah. I've been able to feel your tension for like the last fifteen minutes." He admitted.

"Sorry." She apologized sadly. "it's just, I know your counting on me, I'm scared, I'm worried about Brooke and Darius, I'm worried about Yaz, I'm just…..overwhelmed."

"I'd be concerned if you weren't. But you're amazing Sammy, there's nothing you can't do." He encouraged.

"Pffff, wish I believed that as much as you do." She retorted.

Kenji slipped his arm around Sammy, hugging her reassuringly, allowing her to relax a bit as she lay her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Sorry about earlier, you know, when I started talking about sweat. Sometimes I say stupid things when I'm nervous." She explained.

"Nervous? Why would you be nervous." He asked, furrowing his brow.

"Oh I….um, well…um..it's just what you were saying, about not leaving me.. . It was really sweet...and I, um..didn't really know how to respond." She stammered out. "I mean I'm touched, and I understand where you're coming from, but I can't stand the idea of being the reason you die. If the rolls were reversed, and say you fell and broke a hip, you would tell me to go and you know it." She explained.

"Okay first off, break a hip? Exactly how old do you think I am?" He said in mock offense. "Second off, I would absolutely tell you to go." He admitted.

"See, that's what I'm….." She started

"But would you?" he asked, cutting her off.

Sammy's jaw dropped.

"Uhh, what?"

"If I was hurt, would you go on without me? Would you let me get eaten and save yourself?" He asked.

"I….uhh..but that's not…" She stuttered.

"Check mate." He grinned smugly.

The Texan rolled her eyes and snuggled into his arm a little tighter, frustrated, but thankful for his loyalty. After a few moments of resting together, it was time to get moving.

"As nice as this is, we probably shouldn't stay in one place too long." Kenji pointed out.

"Do you wanna take the lead for a while? Sammy asked. "Maybe you'll have more success than me."

"I don't care who finds the way out, just as long as we get out of here." He said, taking back the PVS-14 unit from her. Continuing their quiet expedition through the vents, Kenji checked grate after grate with no success. Finally he came to a cross shaft extending about forty feet to the left and to the right, a grate at each end.

Checking the shaft to the right first brought only more disappointment. Sammy stayed back at the main shaft while he crawled back to the left. Carefully, he peered through the metal slats, before him was more tunnel, but this time at least there was something different. A painter's cart full of painting supplies sat against the wall directly opposite the grate.

To the left of the cart, another tunnel disappeared into the distance, but just at the extreme range of what he could see, there was a structure sticking out of the wall…..a ladder.

Kenji's heart leaped. There it was, finally, after all this searching, he could make it out so clearly now, how had he missed it a moment ago? This was it, their way out, all that was left was to retrieve Sammy and escape. As he turned back towards his friend, a familiar, yet terrible sound caught his attention, the sound of claws tapping against concrete.

Kenji silently spun back to the grate, staring in horror as a pair of Troodons trotted into view.

"Of freakin course, of the miles of tunnels and vents down here, this is where they'd be." He thought.

The animals came to a stop next to the painters cart, sniffing the air and chattering at each other. He could do nothing but watch as the first one's posture and movements changed, becoming slow, silent, and deliberate, while the second hopped up on top of the cart, trying to sniff out the direction of their prey.

"They know we're here somewhere, just not exactly where." He thought.

As he watched, the Troodon jumped from the cart, knocking it over and sending a five gallon bucket of some unknown substance rolling across the tunnel, the liquid spilling out in glugs. Moments later, the fumes hit his nose.

"Acetone." He thought.

A plan hatched in his mind, not a great plan, but a plan none the less. Though their scent was covered completely by the chemical, the predators still showed no interest in leaving as they continued to search the area for the quarry they knew to be there somewhere. Slowly and silently, he crawled back to Sammy, pulling her in close to whisper in her ear.

"Sammy, there's a ladder, but it's got dinos guarding it." He started

"What! There's no way they're that smart, how do they know to do that?" She whispered back.

"Well, the aren't guarding the ladder per se, but they caught our scent and are looking for us."

"Oh God, if they find us….." She started, unwilling to finish the sentence.

"Don't worry, I've got a plan." He assured her. "They knocked over a bucket of acetone, that stuff is super flammable. I'm gonna use our last shock charge to light it and start a fire, the light should, in theory, send them running and give us a chance to get to the ladder."

"Ok let's do it, I'm right behind you." She agreed.

"Um, that's kinda the part your gonna hate." He said sheepishly. "I actually need you to stay back here, maybe even move back down the vent a bit."

"What? WHY? What are you worried is gonna happen?" She asked apprehensively.

"Just…there's a small chance….one in a thousand actually…that it might….blow up." He said.

"You mean with you right next to it…." She said accusingly.

"Small…Tiny…Little chance." He reiterated.

"Absolutely not." She said definitely.

"Come on Sammy, it's a risk yes, but how many risks have we taken since the Indominus broke out? Everything we do is a risk, we have to take this chance….it might be our only one." He pleaded.

She hated to admit it, but she couldn't deny his logic.

"I just wanna go on record saying I hate this plan." She said dejectedly, retreating back a bit from the vent intersection.

"When you hear the shot, and see the light of the fire, make your move." He instructed.

"Wait, what do mean make my move? Your gonna be right there with me right?" She ask suspiciously.

"Yeah, of course, now get ready." He said unconvincingly, before disappearing down the vent.

"God I hope this isn't as bad as I'm thinking it's gonna be." He thought, dreading what he was about to do.

As silently as possible, he crawled up to the grate, peering through the slats with the aid of the night vision. The Troodons were still there, still searching, it would only be a matter of time before he and Sammy were discovered. Making a mental image of where the leaking bucket of acetone lay, Kenji lay down in the vent, tazer rifle across his chest, feet at the grate.

"Well, this is it, it's now or never. If this goes wrong, at least Sammy should be able to make it out." He thought grimly.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, he kicked the grate with all his might, sending it flying. In one smooth motion, before the Troodons could react, he sat up and aimed into the darkness, without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

Behind him and around the corner, Sammy's anxiety was just about to overcome her.

"What's taking so long, is he okay, why was he acting weird, God I really don't like this plan." She thought.

Suddenly, from the darkness, she heard the metal clang of the grate falling to the ground, followed by what she recognized as the tazer rifle. A split second later there was a deafening explosion that shook the entire tunnel system. A column of blue flame basted through the vent ahead of her. Her stomach tied in a knot as the burnt tazer rifle tumbled to rest in the vent intersection.

"KENJI!" She shrieked, scrambling into the cross vent to find him. The open fire in the main tunnel bathed the vent in orange flickering light and though she was glad to finally be able to see, the sight that awaited her made her wish she was still in the dark.

Kenji lay in a heap, face down, a few yards from the opening into the tunnel. Rushing to his side, she rolled him over to face her. His eyebrows and lashes were burnt almost completely away, along with quite a bit of his hair. The skin on his face, legs and hands shown bright red, but otherwise he seemed okay.

Kenji slowly opened his eyes. Sammy was hovering over him, her eyes full of fear. She was saying something but there was no sound, only a steady high pitched whine.

"What's happening, why can't I hear, why does everything move like it's in a strobe light?" He wondered.

"Kenji! Kenji, are you okay? Say something." Sammy's distraught voice slowly broke through the whine. His senses only beginning to come back online, he forced himself to sit up.

Before he could get his bearings, Sammy's arm was looped around him, hauling him to the burning tunnel. The heat of the fire on his burnt skin caused him to cry out in pain, covering his face with his equally burned hands.

Sammy stopped short, unsure what to do. They needed to get to the ladder, she could see it, only twenty yards away. But she couldn't put him through the pain of walking through the the flames to get there.

She dropped into the tunnel, leaving her injured friend in the vent. Methodically she stomped on the flames in a futile attempt to put out the burning liquid.

"There's got to be a way to at least protect his face." She thought desperately.

Eventually her eyes drifted down to her own shirt. Without a better plan, she hurried back to the vent.

"Kenji, close your eyes and keep em closed, don't you dare open them." She warned. "Here, wrap this around your face, I'll lead you through." She instructed.

Kenji closed his eyes obediently. A few seconds later a relatively cool cloth wrapped around his face, easing the burn slightly. The cloth was light and airy and smelled like Sammy, suddenly he realized what it was.

"Oh my gosh, it's her shirt, no wonder she warned me to keep my eyes closed." He realized.

Sammy guided him out of vent and into the tunnel. The heat of the fire on his legs was horrible but manageable. Moments later she led him the twenty yards to the base of the ladder, well away from the burning chemical.

"Ok Kenji, don't turn around." She commanded, unwrapping her shirt from his head. "Okay, you're good….actually could you give me a hand?"

Turning around, he found her facing away from him, holding the strings if her shirt up behind her neck.

"Could you tie me please?" She asked. "Its kinda a pain to do it my myself."

"Uh, sure, no problem." He said, tying the strings into a double bow knot. "Is that okay, or did I go too tight?"

"Nah, it's fine, thank you Kenji. We best get outta here while we still can." She said, starting up the ladder.

At the top, Sammy studied the hatch. Pulling the manual lever, she pushed with all her might, barley able to lift the heavy, rock shaped, hatch door without the assistance of the hydraulic system. Finally she was able to open it far enough for her and Kenji to scramble out.

Slamming the hatch door back down the pair blinked at each other in the full moon light before embracing in celebration of their victory.

"Sammy Gutierrez you are absolutely amazing." He said pulling back to look at her.

Sammy shrank a bit under the compliment, looking down down and tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Awww, your pretty amazing too….and..and blistering." She added in concern.

"Huh?" He asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"Your face, it's already blistering from the burns. Come on, that tree looks climbable, we can rest there and get you back to the hotel in the morning, where I can properly treat ya." She decided.

Kenji only nodded, with the adrenaline wearing off, the pain of his burned flesh was beginning to occupy most of his thoughts.

Climbing up to a height that was well above the reach of most predators, the pair found a spot where the single trunk split into three, the split creating almost a cradle where they could sleep without worry. Sammy helped him get comfortable, again inspecting his face before moving down to his hands and legs.

As she worked, an arcing red light in the distance caught his eye. Kenji shot up straight and gasped.

"Ooo jeeze I'm sorry, did that hurt? Sammy asked in concern.

"No, I saw a flare!" He exclaimed, "over there!"

"A flare?" She asked in disbelief, looking the direction he was pointing.

Suddenly another burning red light shot into the sky.

"A FLARE!" She exclaimed in confirmation. "Someone is over there!"

"It's Brooklynn!" Kenji stated outright. "Brooklynn had flares, she found them in the boat house, she used the first to save us from the Spinowhatever."

"Yeah, it's gotta be her, but what's she doing? You think she's trying to show us they're okay?" She asked.

"No, they've gotta be in trouble, she wouldn't have used both just to say hi. You use flares when you need someone to come to you and you're showing them where you are."

"Yeah, your right. I wonder what's happening?" She said, a slightly helpless tone in her voice.

"We'll know when we get there, come on, we need to hurry" He said, getting up and starting to climb down.

"But…you're hurt, and that's about two miles away, everything in the jungle is gonna be rubbing across your burns." She warned, climbing down after him.

"Doesn't matter." He called back, "Somethings wrong, we have to find them. We should be able to make it within a couple hours."

"And according to him, I'm the amazing one." She thought, shaking her head, as her wounded friend started out into the jungle, heading the direction of the flare.

"Brooke, how you holding up?" Darius asked, hurrying back to her side.

The girls face was pale, fear and weakness shown in her eyes.

"Please don't leave me again." She choked out. "As soon as you left, I started coughing, I couldn't stop, I….I thought for a moment that maybe that was it for me."

Brooklynn leaned forward so Darius could settle in behind her, leaning back into his embrace.

"I keep bringing up more blood." She said grimly, looking over at the small pool and foamy splatters covering the rocks next to her, the aftermath of her coughing fit during Darius' absence.

"How's your breathing? A little better?" He asked hopefully.

"Worse, I'm getting less and less of a breath." She admitted sadly.

"I won't leave again…I didn't wanna leave that time….but we had to try." He said, fighting hard to keep his voice from cracking.

"I know." She said. "But even without the others, I still have you." She smiled, squeezing his hand.

"I'm sorry it turned out like this Darius, I truly am…this was supposed to be your dream, instead it turned out to be a nightmare." She said sadly.

"It wasn't all bad." He corrected. "There were some good times."

"Like what exactly?" She asked with a skeptical chuckle.

"Like right after we escaped the gyrosphere…"

"That was before the Indominus broke out, that doesn't count." She laughed, cutting him off.

"Okay fine, there was the sweaty cotton candy thing in the boat house." He laughed.

"Oh my God, I was talking about my B.O. and you freakin sniffed me…who does that?" she laughed in return.

"Or the time I accidentally called you ugly. That was a good one." He snickered.

"Um..exactly how was that good? I wanted to kill you for that." She snapped.

"It was good because in the end, I got to tell you you were beautiful." He smiled.

"I still don't believe you." She added.

"Then there was the that first night, when we drooled all over each other." He reminisced.

"Uh, that was utterly mortifying." She said with a shiver. "These are supposed to be happy memories, not a blooper reel."

"What about all the times we snuggled?" He asked.

"Okay I'll agree with you on that one." She smiled.

"Know what I just realized about my happy memories?" Darius asked.

"What's that dino nerd.?" She humored.

"Your in all of em." He said simply.

Brooklynn smiled silently, pulling his arms tighter around her. He wished he could belive that it was the moment causing her to snuggle closer, however, he could feel her arms and legs growing colder, her hands beginning to turn a shade of gray as her oxygen deprived body shut down blood vessels to her extremities, in order to direct her oxygenated blood to her vital organs and brain, in a desperate attempt to keep her alive a while longer.

"It's gonna be okay Brooklynn, just hang on….just keep hanging on."

"Gahh!" Kenji groaned in pain as jungle thorns tore at the burned and blistering flesh of his bare legs. Behind him, Sammy grimaced sympathetically, wishing there was a way to ease her friend's pain.

Part of her wanted to beg him to stop, to stop putting himself through more torment, the others would probably be fine, in fact if the flares would have gone up just a few minutes earlier, they never would have seen them at all. Still on the other hand, she knew he was right. The others had to be in trouble and that they were the ONLY ones who could help.

"Kenji, at least let me take the lead. I can at least knock some of the vines down so they don't tear you up so bad." She pleaded.

Kenji stopped, breathing heavily against the pain.

"It's…it's not that bad." He lied. "I can manage…but if you're wanting to lead…I guess that's fine." He said, trying to hide his sigh of relief.

"The way I see it, if we just keep going directly towards where the flares came from, we should eventually run right into them…I mean..why would they use the flares and then keep moving? It doesn't make sense…..they gotta be trapped or hurt or something." He explained.

The more Sammy thought about it, the more sense Kenji was making. After the Spinosaurus, Brooklynn only had two flares left. Why would she waste both if it wasn't an emergency. Beyond that, she had no way of knowing if her and Kenji were out of the tunnels, or even alive for that matter, she must have been desperate.

Her anxiety began to grow as they closed the gap on their friends. Would they be able to find them? Would they be wounded? Would it be both of them…..or only one?

She felt guilty now for wanting Kenji to stop in the beginning. It was ironic, she had been more distracted by his injuries than he himself was, despite his pain, he'd been able to remain focused on what was important.

"I sure wish the others could see this" She thought, glancing back at Kenji. "He's showing so much courage right now, they'd all have no choice but to give him the respect he deserves."

"Kenji?" she called back to him.

"Yeah?" He winced.

"You're an incredible person, and you're loyal, courageous, sweet, funny, and brave. I just wanted you to know that." She said.

Kenji was taken aback, with no idea where that had come from or how to respond.

"Well uh, thank you Sammy, I really appreciate that. But I hope you realize that you're all those things too." He finally said.

"Eh, not really." She argued. "You were ready to go the second you saw the flares…I hesitated."

"Sammy, the only reason you hesitated was because I'm hurt. Otherwise you would have been on your way as fast as I was, you were just watching out for me." He explained.

"Okay….if you say so. Anyway, I just wanted to say that…you never know when your time will be up."

"Darius?"

"Yeah Brooke?"

"Does it feel like it's getting colder out to you?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's getting a bit chilly out." He lied, biting his lip to keep from letting out a sob.

"Okay good, if it was just me…..that would've been a bad sign." She explained.

"Why does she have to be so smart." He thought, squeezing her tight against himself and rubbing her ice cold arms. A few moments later, she started to shiver.

"It's not fair! She deserves better than this, I can't do this, I can't just watch her go…this can't be happening, it can't be true, God help her PLEASE, I'll do anything, just please heal her." He prayed.

"So, if I'm in all your happy memories…what about when I'm gone?" She asked sadly, breaking the silence and tearing him from his thoughts.

"Brooke…if your gone….there's not gonna be any more happy memories." He said glumly.

"Don't say that Darius, please..I..I can't hear stuff like that." She pleaded. "I already feel horrible enough without the thought of me being the reason you spend the rest of your life depressed."

"I'm sorry…." He started, "I just…I can't lose you….not like this….I mean, a dinosaur is one thing, but like this? Just sitting here waiting? It's just so messed up…so messed up….and you have nothing to feel horrible about, this wasn't your fault." He said, his voice cracking.

"It wasn't yours either Darius, promise me you won't lose sight of that. I never would have made it this far if it wasn't for you" she cried. "I…I don't want to dwell on it any more….tell me happy things."

"HOW? He screamed in his mind, how am I supposed to think of anything remotely happy right now?.. ..Come on Darius, don't be selfish..Brooklynn needs this…so you better figure out something to lift her spirits."

"Okay, let's try this." He started. "I want you to close your eyes, I'm gonna give you a scenario and I want you to to concentrate hard on it, believe it, feel it, see it, really live in it. Forget everything that's happening in the outside world and just live in the moment. We may never get out of here physically, but that doesn't mean this island has to hold you prisoner here, and here." He said, tapping her head and her heart respectively.

Brooklynn rolled Her eyes. In classic Darius fashion, the idea was both corny and yet sweet and sentimental enough to make her drop her inhibitions and play along.

"Okay fine." She said closing her eyes and sighing. "I'll play along, where are you taking me dino nerd?"

"The beach, Imagine we're back home." He started, stroking her hair. "We're all at the beach..can you hear the guls?.. you and me are laying on a towel, soaking up the rays. Kenji and Sammy are messing around in the tide pools, Yaz is having fun catching sea gulls by running them down before they can even get in the air. There's kids laughing and playing, people flying kites, ladies looking for agates, people playing Frisbee with their dogs. The sun is hot but there's a light breeze so it makes it the perfect temp."

To her surprise, her oxygen deprived state, along with Darius' slow soothing description, worked together just enough to actually make her feel as though she was there, it was almost trace like, and for a moment, there was no pain, no worry, only the beach, her friends, and the sun.

"Mmm, I can feel the sun..it's so warm." She said through chattering teeth.

"Look." She said as her own imagination took over the storyline.

"Kenji caught a little octopus, Sammy's trying to get a picture of him holding it up…ha it's attached to his face now…Sammy's trying to help…it just inked him." She said laughing aloud.

"I can see it." She whispered weakly. "It's all so perfect…I just wish I could stay here."

"Then stay…you don't have to come back to Isla Nublar…you can stay at the beach." He told her soothingly, tears streaming down his face as he felt her relaxing while he gently rocked her broken body. "Just stay at the beach…I'll stay with you."

"It can't be much further can it?" Sammy asked as she did her best to clear a path through the jungle for Kenji.

"I'm not sure, I don't know this part of the park. Look for a building, a clearing, anything…I don't think Brooklynn would fire those flares from the jungle, especially if she wasn't going to stay right there." He explained.

"BROOKLYNN!...DARIUS!...CAN YOU HEAR ME?" She yelled into the night, waiting a few moments in silence. The distant roar of water was the only response.

"Do you hear that?" she asked.

"Yeah, sounds like we're close to the Isla Nublar river." He replied.

The pair looked at each other.

"THE RIVER!" They shouted simultaneously.

Picking up the pace, Sammy carved trail towards the sound, occasionally stopping to call out her friends names, praying for a response.

"I'm not sure how much yelling we should be doing." Kenji mentioned. "There could still be predators here…especially by a water source.

"Oo, good point." She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I just really want to know that they're okay."

"Yeah, me too. We'll at least we know one of them was alive a couple hours ago." He said brightly.

Sammy stared at him.

"Uh Kenji, that really doesn't make me feel any better." She admitted.

"Sorry." He chuckled.

A short time later they arrived at the bank of the Isla Nublar river.

"I don't see anything, do you?" Sammy asked.

"No, except for the hiking trail." He answered, relishing the brush and vine free concrete path. "We've got to be in the right place, you wanna try down river a bit?"

"Sure, if we don't find anything after a while we can come back and try up river." She added.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Kenji agreed.

Together, they moved down the path, following the river east, searching for any sign that Brooklynn or Darius had been there. As they searched, the roar of the water grew louder and the current grew faster.

"We must be coming up on a….HEY, what the heck is that?" Kenji said, running ahead to the dark man-made shape on the edge of the path.

"It's a side by side!" Sammy exclaimed, catching up to inspect the wreck. "It doesn't look to damaged, just flipped over. Do you think if we flipped it back on its wheels that we could get it to run?"

"Maybe, as long as nothings to broken and we let it sit for little bit so the fluids can drain back where their supposed to be." He answered with a shrug. "Looks like it belonged to park maintenance." He added, pointing to the scattered tools littering the ground around the machine.

"We can mess with it after we find the others." Kenji pressed

"Agreed." She nodded.

A mere twenty yards from the overturned side by side, the river disappeared over the edge of a cliff in a massive waterfall. A good sized wooden viewpoint overlooked the scene. Mesmerized by the beautiful, moon lit view, the pair leaned against the wooden railing, staring out over the river valley.

"Their out there somewhere, and they can't be far." Kenji pointed out.

"Yeah I know..Do you think this is it? Where she shot the flares from I mean?" Sammy asked.

"Probably, it's in the right place, and it would be the perf….."

"Wait, wait, wait, right there, what's that?" She exclaimed, cutting him off and jogging to the top of the wooden stairs leading down along side the falls.

"It's the spent flare launchers!, she left them in a V pointing down the stairs." He explained in near disbelief.

Kenji and Sammy smiled at each other in excitement and hurried down the stairs.

"What do you see now?" Darius asked softly.

"You..you're grilling burgers and hot dogs for us….you've got sunscreen on your nose. She replied weakly, her eyes closed, but a contented grin spread across her lips.

"What else do you see?" He asked.

"Sammy's trying to wash octopus ink out of Kenji's eyes. Yaz is laughing at him, everyone is laughing and smiling…and..my daddy is there, of course he'd wear his uniform to the beach…he…he says he approves of you.. it's paradise. I wish you could see it Darius."

"Just concentrate on being there…enjoy it, everything here is fine..nothing can hurt you now..I'm watching over you." He cooed, doing his best to blink back tears.

All at once, her body jerked forward in a half cough, half gargle. Blood sprayed from between her lips and ran down the corners of her mouth as she coughed a few more times. Leaned forward with Darius' shaking hand gently rubbing her back, she spat the last of the blood from her mouth. Shaken back to reality, her shoulders slumped at the loss of her happy imagined beach.

"I'm running out of time." She whispered, more to herself than Darius.

"Nah, there's plenty of time, go back to the beach Brooke, tell me what happens next." He urged.

"I…I can't, the beach is gone…I'm too afraid." She said, her voice cracking.

"You don't have to be afraid, I'm here, I'm not leaving you. I won't let anything hurt you." He cried, his own voice cracking.

"I don't wanna die!" She sobbed. "What if it hurts? I don't want it to hurt."

"I won't let it." He swore solemnly.

"Which way?" Sammy asked, nodding toward the landing about half way down.

"Stairs keep going down, looks like the path leads behind the waterfall. Maybe they left another arrow." Kenji suggested.

They both scanned the ground as soon as they hit the landing. Dark splatters were visible in the pre dawn light.

"Is that blood?" Kenji asked

She knelt down and dipped her finger in the liquid.

"Yeah, it's blood…not that old either." She said grimly.

"Well if one of them is hurt…that would be the place to hide." He said, nodding toward the waterfall.

Brooklynn tried to take a deep breath but couldn't, it felt as if there was a massive set of hands inside her, holding her lungs, keeping them from expanding. It hadn't been this bad all along, but instead had gotten steadily worse ever since she'd been crushed. Now all she could manage were tiny, short, gasps..mere mouthfuls of air…it wasn't enough, it hadn't been for hours, but now, she'd reached a tipping point. She was lightheaded and dizzy, worse than she'd ever been. Her arms, legs, and face were asleep and cold. Her body was beginning to stiffen, as if she'd already passed. She could feel her eyelids fluttering, as she straddled the edge of consciousness, knowing that if she gave in to the overwhelming urge to allow her eyes to close, that they would never open again.

Despite her fears, she was ready…mostly, Darius however, was an absolute wreck. It was for his sake, that Brooklynn clung tight to the last thread of life, though soon he'd have no choice but to face the inevitable.

She now lay mostly flat, her head again resting in her friends lap while he stroked her dyed hair, doing his best to sooth her.

"It's gonna be okay Brooke, it's all gonna be okay." He promised in futility.

She gazed up at him, the brokenness in his eyes tore at her very soul.

"I'm so sorry Darius, forgive me." She whimpered.

"There's nothing to forgive. Just keep fighting, don't give up on me." He begged.

"Darius I….."

"DARIUS…BROOKLYNN…THANK GOD!" Sammy shouted, running to the couple, Kenji right behind her.

Brooklynns eyes lit up as her signature smile chased the weariness from her face.

"Your alive!" she cried weakly.

"Whoa, Brooklynn you don't look so good, your pale, your lips are blue, Oh my God Darius, what happened to her." Sammy asked, she herself going pale at the sight of her friend.

"Sh..she got crushed, she's got broken ribs, she can't breathe."

Sammy dropped to the wounded girls side, taking her hand in hers.

"How bad is it?" She asked.

"Bad enough that if you guys would have been ten minutes later….I doubt she'd still be here." Darius said, answering for her.

"Oh Brooklynn" Sammy cooed. "Broken ribs, your lungs are probably punctured and collapsed."

Kenji's eyes went wide.

"Collapsed lungs" He thought, his mind kicking into overdrive, as he took a couple steps back and bolted out from behind the waterfall.

In confusion Darius looked to Sammy who simply shook her head.

"No idea." She said, focusing her attention back on Brooklynn.

"It's okay now Brooklynn, Sammy's here, she'll get you fixed up, we're gonna make it." Darius said, voice filling with hope. "What do we do? "

Sammy looked down, tears starting down her cheeks.

"I…I don't know." She said sadly.

"Wait, what do you mean you don't know? You always know, your our doctor. He asked in disbelief.

"But I'm not a real doctor Darius…I'm a farmer, this isn't like Yaz's arm where all I have to do is stitch her back together, she needs a surgeon. Sammy said defensively.

"She'll never make it to a surgeon!" He nearly shouted. "Sammy….she's dying." He whimpered.

"I know." She whispered, her sad eyes meeting Brooklynn's.

Though it didn't show outwardly, the words "I know" hit Brooklynn like a hammer. The last glimmer of hope she'd been clinging to evaporated, leaving her no choice but to accept her fate.

"No..there has to be a way..there has to be something…" Darius sobbed in denial.

Slowly Brooklynn raised her hand, bringing it to rest lightly on Darius' cheek.

"It's okay Darius….I'm not scared anymore….but I need you to tell me your gonna be okay."

"No…..Brooke, I can't." He whimpered.

"Please , I need to hear it."

"If I do….you'll let go….you can't let go Brooklynn you just can't……I…… I lov…" He tried.

"I KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Kenji yelled as he burst back into the cave, cutting off what Darius was about to say.

Sammy and Darius stared at the teen in shock.

"Wait…is she…?" Kenji asked, his eyes widening at the sight of the others crying.

"Not yet, but we're losing her." Sammy said, looking away from his eyes.

"Air." He explained quickly, "her chest is full of pressurized air. It's stopping her lungs from being able to expand. Let me guess, it started off not so bad and kept getting worse right? Coughing blood?"

Darius nodded, still to distraught to process what was happening.

"We have to let the air out." He said holding up a pen and a box cutter.

"Wait, so you want to stab her in the chest?" Darius asked, horrified.

"No, Kenji's right, it could work." Sammy said, a flicker of hope lighting up in her eyes. "But not till you sterilize that blade."

Suddenly Brooklynn's hand flew up, grabbing Darius' upper arm and squeezing hard, snapping his attention back to her.

Her eyes were wide, her free hand clutching her throat, indicating she could no longer breathe at all.

"Darius, it's now or never." Kenji pleaded.

Brooklynn, locked eyes with Darius and nodded.

"DO IT!" He yelled, doing his best to soothe the dying girl.

"hold her still." Kenji ordered, collapsing on top of her and pushing her shirt all the way up, earning a brief glare from Darius.

Sammy held Brooklynn's feet while Darius laced his fingers with hers, holding her hands tight and pushing his forehead against hers.

"Look in my eyes Brooke, nowhere else, just at me." He said.

She complied, locking her jade eyes onto his, their light, visibly draining.

"She's out of time Kenji" He shouted impatiently.

Kenji took a deep breath.

"It's not wrong, your trying to save her life, there's no room for modesty right now." He told himself as he ran his fingers just beneath the bottom edge of Brooklynn's bra, locating the soft spot between two of her ribs.

Bringing up the box cutter, he pressed the blade to the spot, bit his lip and shoved…hard.

The girls whole body jerked and tensed, her pupils dilated, and if there had been breath in her lungs, she would have screamed….instead there was silence.

His stomach turned at the feeling of the blade cleaving its way into her chest cavity, but the job was done, the blade hit its mark, hot blood and air sprayed his face as her chest visibly deflated. With his teeth, he jerked the guts out of the pen, leaving only the hollow tube, which he pushed into the wound, allowing the excess air to vent while he held pressure around the tube to stop the bleeding.

Agonizingly silent seconds passed before Brooklynn took her first raspy gasping breath, followed by another, and another.

Expressions of relief shot around the cave, tears of joy replacing those of sorrow. Brooklynn gazed up at Darius with a look that he couldn't quite translate.

Suddenly the side of her face lit up as an orange glow filled the cave. Framed by the river valley, the morning sun broke over the horizon, bathing the teens in orange, reds and yellows, made all the more spectacular by shining through the waterfall.

"I got my sunrise!" Brooklynn exclaimed weakly, grinning from ear to ear. "It's perfect."

Darius stared out at the rising orange disc, rainbows of color appearing it the mist at the mouth of the cave.

"It's the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen." He said softly, squeezing her hand.

She didn't squeeze back.

His stomach summersaulted inside him as he looked down. She was still…eyes closed, mouth slightly open.

"Brooke?" He squeaked. There was no response.

"Brooke?" He tried again, louder this time, giving her a shake. Still nothing.

Panicking inside he glanced up at his friends for reassurance, horrified faces confirmed what he didn't want to believe.

"I…I don't understand….it should have worked….why didn't it work? Kenji cried softly, holding his head in his hands.

"You did the best you could." Sammy said, laying her hand on his shoulder, unable to lift her eyes. "There was probably more going on inside than just her lungs."

Darius' entire body went numb and began to shake uncontrollably, his vision blurring at the edges, unable to hear anything but his own heart slamming in his chest.

"No" he whispered. "No…this can't be happening."

Sammy moved in to comfort him, but he pulled back from her.

"No, she's not dead….she's sleeping…she has to be." He cried, desperately trying to convince himself.

"Darius." Sammy called gently.

"DON'T" He shouted, tears streaming down his face. "Don't you dare say it."

Sammy backed down, allowing him to greive in his own time.

Darius leaned in, his face hovering just above Brooklynn's.

"Don't go Brooke, please…you can't go." He whispered.

He could feel the others watching him, feel their sorrow and grief, it hung in the air so heavily it seemed as if he could touch it.

"I failed you." He thought. "I promised you it'd be okay, and then I let you die. You fought so hard, held on so long, I'm so sorry.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, gently kissing her forehead. Suddenly his eyes snapped open wide, tilting his head to hold his cheek just above her lips, a look of focus replacing the look of anguish on his face.

"Guys!" He exclaimed, "I..I think she's breathing….I'm shaking too bad, I can't tell….Sammy can you check?"

Sammy moved to Brooklynn's side, desperately wishing she didn't have to tell Darius that he was just feeling gas escaping her body. Picking up the girls forearm, she held two fingers to her wrist. Looking up, she shook her head sadly.

Darius deflated, unable to process what was happening.

Just to be sure, Sammy moved her fingers to Brooklynn's neck, feeling around until suddenly her eyes widened a bit. After a few moments, she went back to her wrist, and then back to her neck again before finally laying her ear against the girls chest.

A slight grin spread across her lips.

"Darius was right." She announced, "She's still with us, her heartbeat is strong, I don't know why the heck I can't feel it in her wrist, but it's definitely there, her breathing is way shallower than I'd like, but it's steady. She's sleeping…well passed out is more accurate."

The three embraced each other, weeping in relief.

"You did it Kenji." Sammy said, hugging him tightly, yet carefully avoiding his burns. "What you did saved her life…there's no question."

"How Kenji?" Darius asked. "How did you know what to do? That was incredible."

"Grandma." Kenji explained. Grandma has emphysema pretty bad. She was over for Thanksgiving and couldn't catch her breath. It got worse and worse till she could barely breathe, so we called an ambulance. Turns out her left lung had popped and was leaking air into her chest. That air stopped her good lung from being able to work right. I remember the doctors put a tube in between her ribs to keep the air from building up in there so she could breathe."

"Did they end up having to do surgery?" Sammy asked.

"Other than placing the tube, no I don't think so. I'm pretty sure her lung healed on its own in a few weeks." He replied.

"Good, then hopefully Brooklynn can heal too." Darius added.

"Yeah but we still need to get her back to the hotel pretty quick, I've got to sterilize her incision, God only knows what was on that box cutter." Sammy explained.

"Sorry, there just wasn't time." Kenji apologized.

"No, you did what you had to do….I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us." She said apprehensively.

"We'll cross that bridge when and if we get to it, but right now, she's alive, and that's all that matters." Darius said definitively.

"As much as I'd like to get her to the hotel, it's probably better if we just let her rest for a few hours, her body has been through a lot." Sammy added.

"Not just her body, but her mind too, she just spent the last several hours sitting here waiting to die…I'm not okay, I doubt she will be either…at least not for a while." Darius reminded her.

"All the more reason to get her back to the hotel where she can be comfortable and safe." She said.

"Agreed, but she's in no condition to hike. While she's resting, we could build a stretcher or a sled or some sort of way to carry her back." He added.

Sammy and Kenji smiled at each other.

"Let's go see if it will run" Kenji smiled.

"let's go." Sammy said getting up.

"If what runs? What are you two talking about?" Darius asked in confusion.

"There's a flipped over side by side not far from the top of the waterfall." She answered.

"Yeah, that's where I got the box cutter and pen." Kenji added.

"WHAT? That's awesome, if you guys can get that to run, we can get her there in no time." Darius said excitedly.

"Plus…we don't have to walk." Kenji grinned.

"Alright guys I'm gonna stay with her, you two be careful and good luck." Darius said, hugging them both.

"You too, we'll be back shortly." Sammy said, following Kenji down the concrete path.

The second Kenji stepped into the direct sunlight he regretted it. Just the heat of the sun made him feel like his face was on fire all over again. Covering his face with his hands, he stumbled backwards into the shadows and mist beneath the falls, Sammy and Darius both jumping to his side.

"I can't." he said. "My burns…I can't go in the sun.

"I can't flip that thing over by myself." Sammy said in concern.

"I'll go, you stay with Brooke." Darius offered. "I don't wanna leave her…but she can't hike that far…that atv is our best option.

"Do you know anything about atv's?" Kenji asked.

"I do." Sammy said, speaking up. "As long as he can help me get it up right, we should be good….as long as nothings broke and the battery still has some charge."

"Alright then, it's settled. Good luck you guys." Kenji said, sitting down next to Brooklynn.

Sammy headed down the path, leaving Darius to catch up, he took a long last look at the wounded girl resting beneath Kenji's burned and watery eyes. Catching his gaze, He grinned.

"Don't worry Darius, I'll take care of her while your gone." He said softly.

"Oh, uh…it's not that I don't…."Darius started.

"No need to explain, I get it….take care of Sammy out there, okay?. Kenji said, cutting him off.

The two boys shared an understanding look.

"I will." Darius said, giving Kenji a nod and hurrying off to catch up with Sammy.

"Thank God you guys got here when you did." He said as he came up behind her.

"Yeah, it was definitely a miracle the way everything worked out." She agreed. "Just the fact that all four of us made it out of the tunnels alive is a miracle in and of itself. I mean we were only out of the tunnel for five minutes when Kenji saw your flares, just a few minutes earlier and we never would have seen them."

"Or the fact that you got there at the last possible second, and Kenji, of all people, knew exactly how to save her life." Darius added.

"Or the fact that he was able to push through the pain and fight through the jungle, burned from head to toe, to find you guys…he's really the hero of the night." She said.

"I'll never be able to thank him enough for that. How'd he get burned anyway?" He asked.

"He blew up a couple of Troodons…..and kinda himself too." She answered.

"Sounds scary." He said quietly .

"It was, there for a minute I thought he was….." She agreed, stopping herself.

"I get it…I've watched Brooklynn suffocating twice now in less than twelve hours and been utterly powerless to help her…..I wouldn't wish that feeling on my worst enemy." He explained sympathetically.

"Hey, you never did say how she got crushed." Sammy pointed out.

"We had to jump in a super fast moving storm drain to get away from the Troodons. It actually empties out just down river, but there was a grate at the end. Smashed Brooke into it and me on top of her, and a dead Troodon on top of me. The water was so fast it was just pushing so hard.. I…I felt her ribs breaking." He said, finding the story painful to recount.

"That's awful, how did you guys get out?" She asked.

"Grate finally broke." He said simply.

"Wow, someone's definitely watching over us…..which is why I have faith that this thing will run." She said cheerfully.

"I sure hope you're right." Darius admitted.

Moments later they arrived at the overturned atv.

Without any hesitation the both grabbed the side, lifted and pushed. Within mere moments of their arrival at the wreck, the side by side was back on its wheels.

"Well that was easy." Darius said, looking around nervously as if he expected something to go wrong. "Now what?"

"Now we wait a while, let the fluids drain back down, then we can try to start it." She explained.

"How long?" He pushed.

"Oh fifteen minutes should do." She answered.

As he waited, he walked back to the wooden viewpoint at top of the falls and gazed out over the river valley. Lost in thought, he didn't hear Sammy coming up behind him.

"Darius? You okay?" she asked gently, coming to stand beside him.

"Huh? Oh..yeah..I'm fine." He lied. "Actually….no…no, I'm not okay…not even a little."

"Brooklynn?" She guessed.

Darius nodded.

"If Kenji would have gotten back just one minute later….she'd be gone." He said staring into the distance.

"But she's not." She reminded him.

"Yeah, thanks to Kenji." He said.

"And you." She said. "If it hadn't been for you, she would have let go long before we got there. She was hanging on for you, that much was obvious."

"Yeah I guess so." He sighed. "That was way too close.

"What would you have done if we hadn't shown up? " She asked solemnly.

"I don't know." He said wistfully, looking over the edge of the waterfall to the ground one hundred and fifty feet below. "I don't know."

His answer and the way he said it made Sammy swallow hard.

"Well, we're all safe, so there's no need to dwell on it I guess." She backpedaled. "Um…how bout we see if we can get that side by side to start?"

"Has it been fifteen minutes already?" he asked.

"Close enough." She said, walking back to the atv.

With each of their fingers crossed, Sammy looked at Darius, closed her eyes and twisted the key.

Nothing happened….nothing.

"Ummmm." She said anxiously, looking to him for ideas.

"It was flipped over, could the battery be loose?" he asked.

"That's a good idea." She said, hoping out of the atv and twisting the battery connections. When she twisted the negative cable, it sparked.

Sammy shot a smile to Darius.

"I think that did it." She said.

Hopping back in the machine, she again twisted the key. This time the engine cranked to life, smoking a bit as it burned leaked oil from the cylinders.

"YES!" they shouted in unison.

"Hop in Darius, we'll drive it down to the viewpoint." Sammy beckoned.

Darius obliged and a moment later the reached the top of the waterfall.

Cutting the engine, Sammy grinned.

"Let's go tell them their ride is here."

Yasmina's focus was cat like, as her eyes followed the tiny yet infuriating insect. Twenty minutes the arthropod had tormented her, flying at her eyes, her mouth, her nose, slowly driving her to a level of insanity that she thought only Kenji was capable of bringing her to.

The evil creature flew in slow angular circles a little over a foot above her face. slowly, she brought her good hand into position, every muscle in her body tensing in preparation of the impending strike.

Yasmina herself wasn't even quite sure what triggered it but suddenly her hand was moving through the air, feeling the satisfying tiny impact of the fly on her palm, closing her fingers around it, forming an inescapable prison.

She sat up in the bed, staring at her closed fist, feeling her tormentor crawing and buzzing, attempting to free itself.

"HA!" She yelled in victory, shaking her prisoner inside her fist. "How do you like it."

The buzzing was different now, more distant, more…mechanical?

"Wait…that's an engine!" She thought in disbelief. "Yes that's definitely an engine!"

In her excitement she eased her grip just a little too much, allowing the fly to wiggle free.

"AH! NO! THIS ISN'T OVER!" She screamed at the insect as she scrambled to the balcony.

Heart pounding with joy, she could see the tiny vehicle speeding towards her, swerving around bodies and debris.

"It's them, it has to be them, their coming straight here, who else could it possibly be?" She thought.

Yaz waved to her friends as they approached, but they didn't seem to notice.

"Wait, Somethings wrong, Somethings definitely wrong." She repeated in her mind as the side by side skidded to a stop.

Yaz watched as Sammy jumped out of the driver's side and ran to the passenger side, helping Kenji out of the seat and leading him towards the hotel lobby, he had cloth wrapped around his head and face and appeared to be blind.

At the rear of the vehicle, a shirtless Darius hopped out of the bed, turning to scoop up Brooklynn bridal style. Her shirt was pushed up to her armpits and even from the fourth floor she could see the blood covering her midsection. Thankfully she was conscious, as her arms were wrapped around Darius' neck.

Yaz hurried as quickly as she could to the stairwell, intent on meeting them half way.

"Whoa, gotta be careful here, remember last time." She told herself as she threw open the door to the stairs and started down, this time clinging tightly to the handrail.

A few moments later, she could hear her friends' voices…voices she wasn't sure she would ever hear again.

"GUYS!" She called.

"YAZ!" Sammy called back, still leading Kenji.

"All the rooms are unlocked, just get them to the closest one, I'll meet you down there." She yelled.

"Okay, see you in a minute." Sammy yelled back.

The group stopped at the second floor landing, pouring out of the stairwell into the hallway and into the first room they came to. Moments later Yasmina burst through the door behind them.

Horrified, she watched as Darius gently lay Brooklynn on the bed, a white piece of plastic impaled into her chest just below her bra.

Glancing over at Kenji she noticed his legs, his legs were red and wet from pus, ragged loose skin from torn open blisters made him look like he was made of Kleenex.

"Oh God, what's his face look like under that shirt?" She thought, finally realizing that it was Darius' tee shirt wrapped around his face.

'Yaz, can you grab some cool wet towels from the bathroom?" Sammy asked, already in doctor mode. "It's great to see you again by the way."

"Yeah, no problem, except the powers out, is the water even gonna work?" She asked.

"It should, the hotel has a water tower on the roof, we should have water just from gravity until the tank goes dry." Darius answered as he stroked Brooklynn's hair.

Yaz hurried to the bathroom and threw the towels in the shower, sure enough, the water still worked.

After they were soaked, she rang out the excess water and carried them to Kenji.

"What happened to you guys?" She asked in concern.

"Brooklynn got crushed, she's got broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Kenji blew up five gallons of acetone but got caught in the explosion, he's pretty badly burned.

Me and Darius are okay though." She explained.

"Physically, anyway." Darius added, not taking his eyes off of Brooklynn.

"We're never doing that again, no more splitting up, this has been absolute torture." Yaz said.

"I really wish it could be that way." Darius thought, not wanting to argue.

"Yaz, would you dress Kenji's burns with those towels?" Sammy asked. "I need to tend to Brooklynn."

"Darius, I need you to run up to our suite on the sixth floor. The first aid kit and iodine is in the bathroom, I need you to bring it to me." She instructed. "I need to get this incision disinfected."

Brooklynn's eyes met his. She knew all too well how the iodine felt. He honestly wished he could take the pain in her place. He turned and headed for the door.

As he pushed the door open, He turned to look at his friends.

Yasmina stood by Kenji on the opposite side of the bed. She was strong, moving and helping as if she was fine, but Darius knew better. He knew just how great her injuries actually were. The internal strength it took to make her broken body do the things that needed to be done was both amazing and reckless. She certainly had the will, if only she could stay down long enough to heal.

Currently she was playing nurse to Kenji, slowly unwrapping Darius' shirt from his face. Kenji was a bit of an enigma. In the beginning, he'd been self absorbed and immature, worried mostly about his hair and making sure everyone knew how rich he was. But now….now things were different. In the past few days he had saved not only Yasmina's life, but now Brooklynn's too. He'd endured what must have been nearly unbearable pain having his burned legs shredded by the jungle in his unrelenting attempt to find them, and on top of that, he was still helping where he could. No, immature and self absorbed certainly didn't describe who he was now.

Darius found his stomach turning as Yaz did her best to gently remove the shirt, the skin of Kenji's face sticking to the fabric and peeling off, leaving a pus soaked bloody mess as the blisters popped and tore. He was definitely going to be down longer than he realized.

His eyes then fell to Brooklynn. She looked so fragile laying there on the bed, Sammy inspecting the tube sticking from her chest. In truth, she was in fact fragile, he'd come painfully close to losing her already and she was still a long way from being out of the woods. The events of the last twenty four hours had definitely changed their relationship, opening his eyes to things that had already been there for a while, that neither of them wanted to admit.

Now that they seemed to be on the same page, things should have been easier, yet somehow now he felt like they were more complicated. How was he supposed to have a relationship with someone in this horrible place, where he could lose her at any moment? How could he lead them effectively if she was the only thing on his mind? Even now, her eyes begged him not to leave her side, not to do the things he needed to do. Later, when she was healed, they were going to have to have a very tough conversation, he didn't look forward to that at all.

Looking up to Sammy, he felt his anxiety ease a little. Sammy was definitely something special, with her ability to be the happy bubbly boost to morale they all needed from time to time, but then when the chips were down, she was lazer focused. She had an uncanny ability to fill any role she needed to, from counselor, to doctor, to foot soldier. This was especially important because three of the five were now out of commission for an extended period. It was going to have to be him and Sammy that picked up the slack and provided for the others needs. Yes the times ahead would be difficult, but they would persevere.

Suddenly Brooklynn winced. Sammy had inadvertently reopened the incision in her chest.

"Dang it, dang it, dang it." Sammy repeated as she tried to stop the small fountain of blood. "Yaz, toss me one of those towels. Darius, I need that first aid kit!"

"Of course." He said, having finally been shaken from his thoughts.

Making eye contact with Brooklynn, he silently promised her he'd be right back and disappeared into the hall.