Chapter 15 -Yearning for Friends
Eric was still down there. "ERIC!" I yelled at him.
Crack! Splinter! The door was giving way. I couldn't see Eric. Where had he gone? "ERIC!" I screamed urgently.
"ERIC!" both Hannah and I screamed down into the dark room.
With a clatter, the door fell off its hinges into the room. The once dark bathroom was filled with sunshine; only the dark shadows in the doorway were baring most of it off.
"ERIC! ERIC, COME ON!" Hannah and I screamed together. A Raptor charged into the room and leapt up at the hole. Hannah and I quickly stood up. Not waiting for Eric (as I wished to do), Hannah grabbed my hand and lead me away … fast! I didn't even really notice our surroundings as we went from hall to hall from room to room, through door after door until we reached some sort of balcony thing. Hannah had still not let go of my hand but was leading me onward. Not that I needed her to hold onto me. I could follow very well, thanks.
We ran over to the side of balcony and looked over the edge. I would say we were about three or four stories up.
"Shoot," Hannah said, looking around. "Follow me!" she said after she had spotted a possible escape. We charged down to the end of the balcony and skidded to a stop. A TREE!
"Han," I said. "You are brilliant!"
She smiled and climbed up onto the railing. She grabbed a branch and swung herself onto another and waved for me to follow.
I hesitated for … a second. I hated climbing trees. It was everything. The height was just a small part. Well … not really. More a big part than anything else. But the feel of bark … and the chance that bugs might crawl down my shirt … not pleasant.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed a branch and began to climb down. Immediately, my skin began to crawl and my cuts began to burn for no particular reason. With every movement, every time I stretched my skin in any way, the stupid gashes would feel as though something was trying to rip them apart. Probably because I was ripping the scabs but … you know.
But, then again, I remembered that the Raptors were most likely behind us and could probably jump down to the ground. I began to climb down much faster after that. I just concentrated on ok, one less branch if you pass this one and … junk. It really worked, though. I reached the ground in no time! Of course, Hannah was practically tapping her foot in impatience … but we won't go into details.
After we had both taken a deep breath, we darted across the open space and ran full speed into the trees. Every time my foot hit the ground, a sharp pain would shoot up my back and every stride I took I had to resist the urge to turn around and look for Eric. No, Lane. Do NOT think about that now! I thought. It will only make matters worse. So … I kept on running, following Hannah through underbrush and through vines.
Hannah suddenly stopped running and I ran into her, falling to the ground. I nearly yelled at her; then I remembered we were on a dinosaur-infested island and it probably wasn't all that great of an idea to attract attention. I slowly stood up and brushed the dirt off of my already soiled clothes. I looked around to see why Hannah had stopped so suddenly and I couldn't find anything that could be the cause. "Hannah. What …?" I began.
She stopped me by holding out her hand and whispering; "Lane, hush. Listen."
So, I listened. And I listened. And I listened. But I couldn't hear anything. "Han, I can't hear a darn thing. What the heck is going on?"
Hannah sighed and looked down at her feet. "I thought I heard someone calling out my name," she muttered. "Ever since I got separated from you and Tina, I just … I thought … I would hear … and then you came. I thought the worst had happened until you told me you had been with her. So I thought she would be ok. But … now that we haven't seen her for a while … I really miss her, Lane!"
"I know," I said, fully realizing that Tina was not with us and could very well be dead. These thoughts had not been in my head before and now they were. I didn't know how to deal with it; so what was the point in trying to comfort Hannah when I wasn't even able to comfort myself? But … Hannah could keep her cool around the dinosaurs so much better than I could. I felt it was my duty to keep my head about our friends … about Tina. And though I felt that my heart would rip in two if anything happened to Tina … and Eric … I knew that I had to help Hannah make it through this.
"I miss her too, Hannah. But … we've got to be strong. Tina is really smart. She's the one who got me out of the mess with the Raptors the first time. I would have been some cub's dinner if it hadn't been for her. She kept her head cool and calm and pulled me out with her. That's why she's going to be ok. That's why we're all ok. I can't do it but you and … Eric … can. And so can she; so can Tina. She's ok and she'll stay ok, Han. I know she will."
I sounded much more confidant than I felt, but I was proud of myself. Hannah looked a lot calmer and really, the words that had just come out of my mouth, made me feel a whole lot better about not knowing where Tina and Eric were. Eric had lived on this island for eight weeks at one time; he could pull through one more time. And Tina had kept her head when no one else could, when she needed to stay calm. Not only had she saved herself, but she had saved another as well. That was why she was going to make it through; that was why she was ok.
"What now?" Hannah asked after our long moment of silence.
"Well," I said. "Seeing as how I have NO idea where on earth … exactly … we are, why don't we climb a tree to get out of harm's way?"
"Sounds good to me," Hannah said wearily. She chose a nearby tree that looked tall and easy to climb. We both began climbing. Even though I hated it more than anything, climbing up didn't seem very bad. At least we would be getting away from the dinosaurs.
When we were about half way up, the ground began to shake. Like … you know … with a boom boom boom thing going on. Well, I kind of freaked out. I mean, well … 'kind of' is an understatement. I TOTALLY freaked out. I all of a sudden froze and it seemed as though I was dizzy and num all over. Then, without warning, I just started screaming and yelling. I think I said I wanted my mommy one time in there, too.
Hannah tried to calm me down but it wasn't working too well. I couldn't really hear her to tell you the truth. I was just yelling and blabbing on, making our situation worse. The stupid dinosaur wouldn't have even known that we were there if it wasn't for me. That's right. My stupid fit led it right to us when it was really going heaven knows where else.
The thing that really got me to stop screaming was when through the branches, I saw it running straight at the tree we were hanging in. Wow! Was that thing huge! It was reddish with a huge fin on its back. I knew it wasn't a Tyrannosaurus. It was bigger. MUCH bigger. It looked like it could actually use its front legs, unlike the pitiful ones of the T-Rex.
Well, we were in a predicament. There's no denying that. If we went up, we would have to come down some time and the stupid animal thing could wait for as long as it wanted. Or, we could go down, and have no chance whatsoever to survive. If we stayed where we were, the idiotic creature … thing … would … It would just be able to pluck us right off the darn tree, all right? Guess what we did!
That's right! Our fears had frozen us RIGHT in place. Yep, we were doomed.
So, the dinosaur came running up to the tree, lowered its head, and hit it really hard. We were, coincidentally, right on the other side of where it hit the tree and, as I had a very pathetic grip on a rather thin branch, the branch, and myself, went plummeting down to the earth.
Guess: Oh, I'm scared. Very scared …
Morning sunrise: I figured.
MS: You are a sad strange human being.
Antiope: Yes, I know. Aren't I though? DON'T TSK ME! DO YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME! COME ON! I CHALLENGE YOU … TO A DUEL! MWAHAHAHAHAHA … I'm done now. Don't hurt me! pouts and does puppy dog eyes
Shooting Star: I'm glad that SOMEONE is concerned about Eric! But … I'm sorry … you're just going to have to wait and see! I just LOVE being evil …
Giggles: Well, I am certainly glad that it could be MY story that you love so much. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Lane's not a Mary Sue! does a little dance Happy day.
The Greanleafed One: I have and forever more will we fatally wounded by your attempt to kill the cliffhanger. Utterly and completely… yeah. You aren't dead are you!
flutterby: You're … just … I … pats on back