Eye of the Storm

I walk around camp, taking in the sight of the home that we made for ourselves. Somewhere deep down inside, I'm going to miss this place. Even the island as a whole. Even after all the close calls, the painful memories, the dangers from the darkness, the hunters and so on, this place has a special place in my heart, I'm going to miss it. I come back to the main compound after doing a routine check of our camp boarders. "... I'll be on channel six for emergencies!" I hear Darius says as he climbs down the ladder. "An emergency packing supplies? Broesph, I said I got this." Kenji says from above, a Jurassic World bag in his hand. "You are officially in charge. See ya!" I hear Darius says as he exits the surrounding fence that we scavenge from the ruined watchtower.

I slap my forehead as I see Darius run off into the woods. Out of everyone, he chose Kenji to be in charge of packing supplies. I enter the gate and climb the ladder. "Kenji is in charge. Kenji is in charge. Kenji is in charge." Kenji says in a song voice. "Hey, dumbass!" I shout out which makes Kenji jump in fright. "Oh hey, Ryan, how's it going?" He tries to play off but I look at him with an amused look. Ben walks down from the upper level. "What's going on?" Ben says confusedly. Kenji clears his throat. "I need you to pack...toilet paper." Ben looks very suspicious. "Toilet paper? Seriously?" Ben asks. "He's got a point. If your going to shit over the boats railing then I want to at least, wipe my ass when I'm done." I say sarcastically which gets Kenji to nod quickly, agreeing with me. "Alright...I'll go get the toilet paper." Ben says as he slides down the slide. Something is bugging him, might have to ask him later. I look back and see Kenji doing his little dance that he was doing before. "I'm still here, dipshit, quit that dance and help pack." I say which forces Kenji to straighten out. "Yes, of course, let's get it." He says as he smiles weirdly. I stare at him with an unamused look. "Just...pack." I grit my teeth in frustration.

I see Kenji sit down and contact Darius over the radio. He says that he has done packing and he did it 'flawlessly'. I quietly stand next to him. "Kenji, you actually have to do the stuff I asked for, rather than saying you did to make me proud." Darius says over the radio which causes Kenji to go silent and rigged. He notices me glaring at him from above. "Yes. Loud and clear, talk time is over. 10-4." Kenji says as he looks at me in apology. I snatch the radio out of his hand. "Get to packing before I pack you into a suitcase!" I threaten whick Kenji scrambles away, packing everything that he can. I hang the radio on my belt at the back.

I pack the stored beef jerky and canned fruit. I look up and notice Yaz coming back from her run. I slide down the slide to greet her. "How'd it go?" I ask for which she smiles. "Refreshing. Running without the need to worry about dinosaurs nipping at my backside." I laugh at her joke. I notice her look behind me to see Kenji trying to heave a bag out of the rubble. "I thought the designated bathroom area was that way." Yaz sarcastically states as she points off into the jungle. "Haha. I'm in charge of packing essentials for the boat and in going to do the best job anyone's ever seen!" He says as he gives another good tug at the bag. The bag gives way as Kenji is sent flying down to the ground in front of us. "Ha...you...sure about that?" Yaz laughs as she looks down at Kenji. "Best job? Keep telling yourself that mate, we might start believing it after a while." I say as me and Yaz fist bump.

"Seems just yesterday that you were sherking responsibility, do nothing but the bare minimum." Yaz says as she leans on the railing. "What changed?" I say chuck Kenji his hair gel. "Maybe I'm a new man." He says while puffing his chest. "Need some help, new man?" Yaz asks with a raised eyebrow. "Yes please." Kenji says as he drops his shoulders. I laugh at that. Says the a new man but he does always need help with something. "Ben was suppose to help me but I sent him to get TP like an hour ago." Kenji says which makes my eyes widen. Ben has been gone for a while. "An hour? To get something from the supply boxes that are just over there?" Yaz asks as she looks at me and Kenji. "You don't think something bad happened to him?" Kenji asks quietly. "Oh, on this island. I don't know, it's a possibility!" Yaz says angrily as she jumps down to the ground, me and Kenji follow suit. "Knew I shouldn't have sent him by himself." I whisper to myself as we all dash into the forest.

We find a clearing at the base of a shallow cliff. A herd on Anklyosaurs have made their home here. I see Ben with Bumpy at the far end of the clearing. "There's the little..." Kenji is about to say but I nudge him, shutting him up. I see a small pathway down the cliff which I point out to the others. We walk through the herd slowly, trying not to startle the herd. We walk up to Ben as he is feeding Bumpy. "Ben." I whisper angrily to him. "Shhh." Ben says as he hovers his finger over his mouth. Kenji barges pass me. "Don't shush us. I told you to get toilet paper." Kenji says angrily. "I did. Then I came to check on her." Ben says quietly as he feeds Bumpy. "That's fine, mate but you could have told us that you were going out to see her." I say to him. "You had us really worried when you didn't tell anyone where you were going." Yaz says sarcastically for which Ben takes offence. "Hey, I didn't realise I needed permission to live my life." He says mouthly. That's it. I walk up to him And grab him by his shirt. "Listen here, you little shit. We were fucking worried about you, how about you have some fucking gratitude that we came out to look for you just in case you became some predators food...or worse." I say with anger to him. I didn't care that he came out here to see Bumpy but I'm pissed off that he just walked off without telling anybody. If we didn't find him alive, we wouldn't ever find him...not in one piece anyway. Ben looks frightened and I let him go. "Just...tell someone where your going next time...please?" I ask as I calm down. He nods his head as I walk away. "Come on, let's get back to camp and finish packing, as a team." Kenji says as we begin walking back. We all turn back to see Ben still with Bumpy. "Hey Ben, you still part of this team?" Kenji asks, Ben gets offended again. "Ok! Sheesh! I'm a part of the team. For the next few days anyway." He says the last bit quietly. What are you going on about.

Ben walks ahead of us with Bumpy. "What do you mean?" Yaz asks confusedly. "After we go home, it's not like we are going to see each other again." He says. We gaze at each other before Yaz gestures us to follow. "Sure we will." She says trying to reason back. "Doubt it. We are spread all across the country. Factor in time, money, life. You get the idea." Kenji shrugs off what Ben said. "No, we're going to still hang out. Even sourpuss over there." He says as he points out to me. I chuckle at him. Smartass. "Stop being a downer, Ben, captain's order." Kenji says which I interject. "You're still not the captain." I say which his laughs.

As Kenji and Ben walk away, I notice Yaz has trailed behind, she has a sad look on her face. She's thinking about what Ben said earlier. I stand in front of her, as she looks up at me. "You ok?" I ask quietly. "Yeah...I'm fine." She says offhandely. She doesn't want to talk about it. "Come on, let's get to the others before the storm hits." She says as she hurries past me. I look up to the dark stormy clouds before looking back at her. I feel useless, what Ben said, while can be true, doesn't mean that we still can't talk. FaceTime, Skype, all that. We can still talk with each other. I feel like I can't accept the possiblity of living my life without any of them, these past weeks...months. I don't even know, have made me feel that I can't live without listening to Darius talk about dinosaurs, hear Brooklynn's lasted theory, Ben talk about Bumpy, laughing with Sammy, slapping Kenji upside the head...or being with Yaz. I need these guys, I can't imagine being without them.

We arrive back at Camp. Kenji opens the gate and see that no one is back yet. "Darius isn't back yet. We still have time." He says as we enter the gate. I look back and see Bumpy try and get through. Poor girl. "We need to pack food and water and maybe some bushes and junk for Bumper Car." Kenji offers to Ben who smiles.

"Kenji!"

Darius voice screams from the radio. I take it off. "It's Ryan, go ahead, everyone is listening." I say as I turn on the radio. "Hey. We need to get out of here right now!" Darius screams from the radio. We all look confused, he is frantic about something. "What's the problem?" I say. "There's another hybrid dinosaur." Brooklynns voice comes out of the radio. We all look horrified. Another hybrid. Sammy's voice comes out next. "Like the Indominus but worse!" My eyes widen in terror. Worse than that monster. I shudder at the thought. "Grab the supplies and meet us at the boat!" Darius yells out. "Alright, we got it. Meet us at Camp and we all will go together." I say which Darius agrees back at me. I holester the radio and my axe. "Yaz, run to the boat and see if it's all good to go. Kenji, Ben help me pack the rest of the supplies." I say which they nod. Yaz runs off into the direction of the boat while myself, Kenji and Ben climb the ladder and start packing.

We gather the food, water and other essentials into bags. I look out and see Darius, Brooklynn and Sammy returning. "We're here. What can we do?" Darius asks as Ben sends a bottle of water down the slide. I grab the bags and drop them down to Sammy. I dropped a bag down at Brooklynn as Yaz enters the gate. "Yaz, what's wrong?" I ask. "The ocean is too dangerous to cast off and the boat is already taking on water." She says, huffing and puffing. "So we're stuck. With the Scorpios out there." Sammy says fearfully as we all come down to the ground. "The Scorpios?" I ask. "Yeah, the Scorpios Rex. Wu said on his feed it was his first attempt at creating a hybrid." What Brooklynn just said to me makes me more terrified. If the Indominus wasn't the first than it was the perfected sample and that thing was a monster. If the Scorpios is less perfected than I can't even imagine what it could do.

"We need to fortify the camp. We can't leave because of the weather and camp is the best place for us now. Barricade the gate and reinforce the fence." I say which everyone nods on agreement. I move outside and grab a few large planks and stack against the inside of the fence. I look over and see my crate of my gear. We're going to need and the protection we can get. I go over and put my Kevlar vest on. I holester my axe and grab the knives. Attaching two to my hips and one to the outside of my right leg. I grab one the remaining spears and swing around my shoulder. I walk back over to the group just as I overhear Sammy and Yaz's conversation. "For now? What do you mean 'for now'". Sammy asks confusedly. "I mean...let's be real, Sammy. This friendship...has an expiration date." Yaz says. My eyes go wide. What are you talking about? "That's not true." Sammy reasons back. "Yes it is. Open your eyes. We have nothing in common. Only the need to survive on this island. Once you take that away what do we have? Nothing." Yaz says sadly. After everything we have gone through, you throw it all away like that. My fist clenches in anger. "You don't mean that!" Sammy cries out. "When we get home-." Sammy tries to say but Yaz interrupts. "If we get home. And when we do get back. You'll go back to Texas and I'll go back to my own home...Face facts, Sammy, we're not best friends. We never were." Yaz says sadly as she inspects some planks. Sammy has tears in her eyes and walks away. Yaz stands up and watches Sammy walk away.

I march towards her. "Can we talk?" I ask Yaz as she turns to me. Her eyes widen at my facial expression and clenched fist. "Ryan, I-." She goes to speak but I interrupt her. "Now." I say firmly as I walk underneath the treehouse. Yaz walks behind me. I start to pace around, I look at Yaz, she stands nervously. "So that's how it is, huh?" I question while mock laughing. "After everything, everything we have been through, you throw it all away." I ask with gritted teeth. "You know that this isn't going to last. We are have our own lives and be honest, will we even be able to see each other?" She questions. "We don't have to see each other in person. There is Skype, FaceTime, whatever. Yaz, we have been through shit that only comes out of nightmares and not once did I ever think that when we got home that I would leave you alone. You're my friend and I hoped that..." I stopped myself as she stares wide eyed at me. "Hoped we could become...something more." I say quietly, looking down at my feet. There. I said it. She steps forward and brushes my cheek with her hand. "I wish that too...but it could never happen. Not the way we wanted too. I'm sorry, Ryan but this is for the better." She says as our foreheads lean on each other. "Don't do this, Yaz, don't end it like this." I try to reason, silent tears are falling from my face. "I'm sorry." She says as tears fall from her eyes. She walks away from me, leaving me alone to my thoughts. I clench my fist. Anger has built up and I just can't hold it anymore. I grab a plank of wood and throw it across from me. "AHHH!" I scream out in frustration. I see one of the foundations of the treehouse and I punch the wood with all my might. My knuckles begin bleeding but I don't feel the pain. The pain in my heart is worse than the one on my hand.

I walk out from underneath the treehouse and hear the jeeps horn going off. Darius and Kenji haul the battery inside and link up wires from the battery to the fence. Kenji throws a stick and it's electrified by the fence. Good thinking guys. We all climb up to the upper floors and wait out the night. The rain starts to come down hard. A bolt of lightning scares off Bumpy as a demonic howl echos from the jungle. We prepare ourselves for what's coming. The rain is causing the fence to make small flashes of electricity to show. Fuck. The crackling noise will draw the Scorpios right too us. A loud, horrifying screech is heard as the cry of a Parasaurolophus dies out.

Leaves are rustling in the distance. The rain is completely pouring down and the thunder and lightning are not helping matters. A shadowy figure comes out of the bushes and walks on all fours towards us. I can just see its size. It's larger than a Velociraptor but nowhere near as large as the Indominus. Other than that, I can't see much. The shadow walks up to the fence and brushes against it. The figure shrieks in pain as it jumps away from the fence. Suddenly, in a move that defies all animal behaviour. The figure jumps towards the fence, creating a lot of static electricity to go off. Because of the bang against the fence, some of the others jump out in fright. I look down and see a flaming red eye gaze at us through the fence, it's pupil narrows. It's seen us. The figure stands up and roars just as lighting strikes. I see the creature in all its horror. It's standing on its back legs like a human. Its pure black body is twisted and misshapen and covered in spiked quills. It's legs are chicken like and don't look like it should be able to carry it's weight. Its face has to be the single ugliest thing I've ever seen. Its snout is short and stubby. Its teeth are jagged, misshapen and pointing in all directions. It's a horrible mess of everything. A mix of Velociraptor and Indominus, just the worst features of both.

We all cover our eyes to shield from the flash of lightning. We look back and see that the Scorpios is gone. We all surround each other, looking for it. "Where did it go?" "I don't see it." Sammy and Ben say respectively. I unsheathe my axe and hold it at the ready. I feel something dripping down on me and turn sharply to look up and see the hybrid in the tree. Motherfucker can climbs trees. Darius soon gasps and everyone turns and sees the monster. The hybrid roars and flash of lightning goes off as the creature jumps towards us. It's arms and legs spread open on the way down. We move out of the way as it lands. It snaps at everything and anything. I charges towards Kenji as he throws anything loose at the hybrid. The creature lunges towards but I intervene, bringing down my axe onto to its thick neck. The skin is super tough, the animal doesn't even feel the pain. The creature stands up and towers over me. It's left hand reaches back and comes down onto me. I try to dodge out of the way but the reach of the arm is too long. Three of its four claws scartch down from the side of my head, down my right eye and cheek. The pain is surreal as it's other hand comes forward. I lift a piece of plank off the table to shield myself from the death claws. The force of the blow sends me toppling over the railing and down to the ground.

I try to lift myself up but the pain on my face and chest feels really bad but I push through it. I notice that a tree in the distance is smoldering like it was on fire. What the fuck. I suddenly see the Scorpios jump down and swing its tail. Sammy is right in its firing range but I lunge forward and pull her out of the way of the tail. "Thank you." She says while whimpering. "No worries." I say quietly, everything is fuzzy and red. I see the Scorpios cornering the others. I heave my spear off my shoulder and jump onto the hybrid. I line the spear shaft in its jaws. I pull the spear back to pull the hybrid away. It's bucking to try and get me off. "RYAN!" I hear Yaz scream at me but I ignore her as I take out a knife and stab the monster into the neck and chest. The knife is barely even entering the tough scales but blood is still drawn...barely. I stab down and pull upwards creating a large wound on the chest of the animal. The Scorpios reaches back over my back and pulls me forward, its claws drag themselves up my back from the throw. "AHHHH!" I scream out in pain. I try to get to my feet but the Scorpios swings its tail around and hits me dead centre into my stomach. The blow sends me flying into one of the foundations underneath the treehouse. "Uhhh." I groan out in pain. The wound on my back with the force of my body hitting the foundation. This pain is the worst that I've ever felt.

I try and pull myself up and hear a cry of something from the jungle. The Scorpios has ceased it's attack and jumps over the fence and runs off into the jungle. I collapse back down to the ground. Thank fuck. "Why'd did it leave?" I hear Yaz ask. I try to heave myself up from the ground but I'm in so much pain, I can't move without something screaming at me in pain. I don't hear what the others are saying as I walk out from underneath the treehouse. "Oh my God, RYAN!" Yaz screams out as she comes running up to me. Kenji and Sammy come around to hold me up. I feel Kenji unbuckle my Kevlar. "He's hurt really bad, the wound on his back and face need tending too." I hear Sammy say worrying to the group. "I'm fine, I just need some rest." I try to say but I notice, faintly, Yaz ponting, horrified at my stomach. "Oh no." I hear Brooklynn say as I gaze down. Two quills have punctured my stomach. I grab hold of them and pull them out. It hurts really bad when I do.

Suddenly I feel something strange. "I don't feel so good." I say as my legs give out and I collapse onto the ground. "No no no no, Ryan!" I hear Yaz cry out. The funny feeling is making me really drowsy, her voice is faintly receding out of my mind. I notice the others crowding around me as I look up and see a break in the clouds and see the stars. "Yasmina..." I whisper out and then...blackness.