Back again! Wahoo. Let's get to it. Have a good day, stay home, stay safe.
"You on the boat! Return to the dock and cut the engine immediately!" the voice on the helicopter ordered again.
Kenji cheered. "We're saved! Yeah! Wahoo!"
Darius wasn't convinced. "Are we? Because that's what we said last time." The older teen raced to where Kenji was steering. He saw that Kenji was starting to steer back towards the island. Darius cut the engine.
"What the hell man?" Kenji asked.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly getting good guy vibes Kenji." Darius explained himself.
The others had made it behind Darius. Yasmina put her two cents in. "Think about it. Unmarked choppers, big scary guns..."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Kenji said sarcastically. "What would YOU bring to rescue six kids from a dinosaur island? Cake?"
Darius started thinking, "We didn't send out any call for help. And the LAST time we thought someone was here to save us, we ended up almost getting killed."
Kenji dismissed it. "Maybe Dave and Roxie DID end up finding a way to get help."
A flash of lightning came across the ocean. Sammy spoke up. "The sea is looking pretty rough."
Darius looked at the group. "All who think that we should keep moving out to sea, raise your hand." Darius was the only one to raise his hand. "Who thinks we should take our chances with the people on the chopper?" Everyone else raised their hands. Darius had a bad feeling about this, but he decided that if it's what everyone else thought they should do, he would agree. He took his hand off of the accelerator.
Kenji started to steer back towards land. Darius took this chance to go through one of the bags. He checked, and found more ammo for the shotgun. It wasn't a whole lot, but it never hurt to be prepared. Brooklynn came up behind him. "Why are you loading the gun?"
"It's just a precaution." Darius assured her. "I don't plan on killing anyone. It's just a sign for them to be careful. And if we DO end up getting in a fire fight, I want at least SOME way to fight back." Brooklynn nodded.
A few minutes later, they were back at the dock. The helicopter landed, and a jeep pulled up a few seconds later. Two men exited the helicopter and the jeep. "What are you kids doing here?" one of the guys yelled.
"Long story!" Ben yelled back as he boarded the chopper.
"Too long!" Sammy assured.
"Way too long!" Kenji added.
The woman flying the chopper spoke into her comm. "Echo Five, we found six kids. Please advise. Over."
They realized that they weren't here looking for them. "Wait, if you guys aren't here to rescue us, then why are you here?"
"That's confidential information." one of the guys outside of the chopper told them. "We can only fit three passengers onto this chopper. The rest of you are going to have to come with me."
We nodded. The co pilot went around the chopper to get into his seat. The driver of the jeep was about to get into the car, when a loud thud was heard and felt. They got closer and closer. A tall figure broke through the tree lines. Darius was the first to see Queen Rexy. "Motherf-" RROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAR! The big animal came charging through. The chopper quickly got off the ground, leaving her guys and the rest of the campers on the ground. The two mercs chased after the chopper, trying to tell them to wait. But Rexy was too fast, and bit down on both of them. Yaz, Darius, and Brooklynn raced to get into the jeep. That was the only way they were going to escape the Queen of the dinosaurs.
Yaz got into the drivers seat, Brooklynn was in the passenger seat, and Darius got in the back. He took off his shotgun, and made sure it was ready for a fight. Yasmina stepped on the gas, and they were off. The Rex started to chase them. Darius wasn't sure how fast the Rex could run, but he didn't want to find out. To scare her off, he thought he could just shoot a couple of bullets into the trees. Make her think that they were attacking and shooting at her, and she would give up and get scared away.
But that only seemed to make it worse. The angrier she got, the faster she started to run it seemed. Darius turned his head to look at Yaz. "Must go faster!"
Yaz told him, "I have to be able to SEE where I'm going!"
Brooklynn looked in the side mirror. The Rex roared, telling them she was still here. "A little FASTER please!"
Darius shot another bullet in the air, trying to scare the Rex away. But she kept chasing them. It seemed like forever. In all honesty, it was probably like 10 minutes. But to them, it FELT like forever. Finally, she stopped chasing them. She had enough. Yaz kept driving. "Marine One, I need to close the gates. Do you copy?" A radio had gotten their attention.
"What's Marine One?" Brooklynn asked.
"It's gotta be some kind of diving call." Darius thought. "Marine, right?"
Yaz agreed. "Okay. Where's the ONLY place, in the ENTIRE park, can you go diving in?"
They thought for a few seconds. Brooklynn spoke up. "The Lagoon."
Darius tilted his head in confusion. "With the Mosasaurs? Why would they go there?"
As if on que, the radio once again said, "Marine One, I need to close the gates. Do you have the package? Over."
"What could the get from the Mosasaurs?" Brooklynn asked.
"I don't know. Let's head to Main Street. Maybe we can find the others." Darius reasoned. Yasmina continued to drive towards Main Street. As she was driving, they heard the T-Rex roar again. Looking out the window, Darius saw the Rex running. They had pulled into Main Street, and saw a guy in a yellow jacket chasing after a ladder dangling from a chopper. He made it to the ladder, but Queen Rexy was too fast. She grabbed onto the rest of the ladder, and started yanking the chopper down, trying to make the yellow guy fall.
The three teens watched as finally, the ladder gave out. Queen Rexy was left without her midnight snack. The three campers cheered, watching the guy get away. But a few seconds later, the Mosasaurs leaped out of the water, and chomped down on the yellow guy. The three teens started to feel like they jinxed him. But, THEY didn't realize that the Mosasaurs was still alive. Looking out towards the entrance of the Lagoon, they saw the gate that opened up into a river. Darius started to wonder if that was there before. If not, how long have these people been here?
Another helicopter flew above their heads. "Is that the same one the others are on?" Brooklynn asked.
"I don't know. But I guess there's only one way to find out." Yasmina said.
Darius groaned in frustration. "Shoulda stayed on the boat." They raced back into the jeep, and followed the chopper. They ended up following them into a clearing in the Valley. The teens left the jeep hidden in the trees, just in case it WASN'T their friends. The three teens took cover behind a huge rock above the Valley. Darius watched as four people get out. Three mercs, armed to the teeth, and another guy that had a grey coat. After he had opened his umbrella, Darius got a good look at his face. "You've gotta be shitting me." Darius whispered.
Brooklynn peeked over the rock to look. "Oh, of course. It HAD to be him."
Yaz also peeked over. "Good ol' Doctor Wu."
"Can't fly any further in the storm Doc." the lead merc said. At least, Darius was THINKING it was the leader.
Wu asked impatiently, "Do we have the Indominus sample, or not?"
The leader informed him, "Unknown. Haven't heard back from the other two teams." Darius REALLY wished this guy had a name.
"Well then, Mr. Hawkes," Well, lucky me, Darius thought as Dr. Wu spoke, "we need to retrieve my laptop. It's in a private lab a few miles from here. We have to go on foot." Wu gave a smirk. "Too bad you didn't come prepared."
Hawkes shot back, "We have two different definitions of being prepared."
The teens watched as Hawkes gave a bunch of orders to the other men. "What does Wu need the Indominus Rex sample for his research?" Darius asked.
Brooklynn let out a scoff of disbelief when she came to a conclusion. "He wouldn't."
"He would." Yaz said. "The son of a bitch wants to make MORE hybrids."
Brooklynn sighed. "Alright. I know the laptop he's talking about. Sammy and I saw it when we were looking into what E-750 was."
"Great." Yaz said. "Let's go."
Brooklynn and Yasmina got up, and started walking in the direction of the lab. Darius however, wasn't so sure. "What if we... Didn't?"
Yaz looked at him like he was crazy. Brooklynn said, "You're not being for real here, right? Because if you are, then we have a problem."
"Do you really want another Indominus or Scorpius Rex running around the world?" Yasmina asked him.
Darius nodded. "I, I get that. But... We have a boat. They have choppers with guns attached to the side. If we screw with his laptop, and he finds out about it, he's never going to let us go home. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to go home. We've been MORE than responsible for these animals. It's not our job to stop him, regardless of what happens."
"If we don't do anything," Brooklynn told him, "people could get hurt."
Darius lifted his head up to look her in the eyes. "Okay, say we get to the laptop, destroy it, what's going to stop him from making more?" That was a question they didn't think of. "He figured it out once, he's going to figure it out again either way."
Brooklynn stumbled for a second. "Then... We take it with us to Costa Rica. Give it to the cops, and get an investigation started with the FBI or something."
"We do that," Yaz chimed in. "he'll be punished, and never be able to make more."
Darius sighed. "That could work. I just... I'm getting tired of us taking responsibility for things we're not responsible for."
Brooklynn helped him to his feet. "Well, for some reason, we're the only ones that seem to care what happens to humanity in the long run." Darius nodded his head, and put on his usual grin. "Whatever it takes?" Brooklynn asked them. They all nodded.
"Great. Now let's go save ourselves a laptop." Yaz said.
"We just have to beat a bunch of armed adults who have a head start." Brooklynn pointed out. "Easy enough, considering what happened last time this happened."
"Just an average Tuesday for Camp Cretaceous." Darius quipped.
"And WE have an advantage." Yaz said.
"Being?" Darius raised an eyebrow.
Yaz smiled. "THEY don't know it's a RACE."
With nothing left to talk about, they ran as fast as the could to the lab. After about two hours of running, the teens finally made it to the lab. They weren't sure how far the other men were, but they needed to work fast. "More debris was knocked down during the storm." Brooklynn stated.
"It shouldn't matter." Darius told her. "The big tree in front of the door has a big enough gap that we should be able to get in one by one." Darius moved what he could, and climbed over the branches. Brooklynn and Yaz followed him. He opened the door, and was able to slip through. The girls followed him. Brooklynn barely made it through the door before Wu and his mercs made it past the trees.
Darius followed Brooklynn to the labs. "The laptop was in Wu's lab. We need to find it." she told them.
"Are you sure it was there?" Darius asked. "I don't remember seeing a laptop."
Brooklyn told him firmly, "It's going to be there." The three teens found the lab. After searching for a few minutes, they finally found it. "I've got it." Brooklynn whispered.
"Great." Darius told her. "Let's get the hell out of here."
Yasmina, who was watching the door, put her finger to her lips and motioned for them to stay quiet. "My lab is just down through this hall." Wu's voice was heard. Yaz, Darius, and Brooklynn were trapped. Brooklynn looked around the room, and found a vent big enough to fit them. She motioned for the others to follow her. They got the vent cover back on in the nick of time as Wu, the man named Hawkes, and another guy came into the lab. The flashlights of the mercs shined bright over the metal covering. Darius was worried that they were caught, but a Compy jumped up to bite the man, making him flinch with a small grunt.
Another minute passed and Wu let out a gasp. Hawkes said, "Let me guess. Something is supposed to be in that tube?" He was reffering to the broken cryofreeze tube in the room.
"The Scorpius Rex." Wu confirmed. "If it has escaped, then we must accelerate our timetable. Don't touch those! The Scorpius Rex has poisonous quills on its tail, like the Scorpion Fish, one of it's MANY base genomes."
"The boss might be VERY interested in THIS." Hawkes commented.
Wu dismissed him. "No. It turned out to be too unstable." Darius had to fight to hold in s scoff. "But, I can make another one. A perfect product. If I could find my laptop!" Wu slammed something with his umbrella. "That laptop has DECADES of my research stored. What would take months is going to take YEARS if I can't find it. So if you DON'T want to make Mills disappointed, you'll help. Me. Look."
After some more shuffling, Hawkes asked, "Are you SURE this is the lab you left it in?"
"Yes!" Wu answered, but his confidence didn't last. "At least I… think so. Very well. Let's search the others." The three adults walked out of the room. The three teens began crawling through the tunnel. They figured all paths lead outside.
Yaz was in front, and Darius and Brooklynn crawled next to each other. Everyone was too scared to say anything. Their crawling ALONE could alert someone they were here. The vent came to a dead end, but the tunnel went up. They didn't know how far, but if they ould make it above ground, that would be great. Yasmina started climbing first, with Darius climbing after Brooklynn. She handed him the laptop and he started to crawl. Yaz broke through the up top vent. Brooklynn was almost there, but she slipped. Darius caught her, but they slid about a foot down. "You good?" Darius asked her. They both realized that Darius caught her, but she was now pressed against the wall in a very awkward position.
She nodded. "Just need a minute." Darius nodded his head. He got out of the vent after Yaz. By that time, Brooklynn made it back to the top again. Darius gave the laptop to Yaz, and offered Brooklynn a hand. She accepted. As he pulled her up, she was suddenly pulled down. Brooklynn screamed as she felt something tug her leg. "Well, well, well. What do we have HERE?" Hawkes's voice said.
Darius tried to pull her, but Hawkes was strong. Brooklynn looked at him, and said, "You gotta go!"
"Not leaving you here!" he replied.
Brooklynn was slipping through his fingers slowly. "Darius, GO! I'll be okay! Whatever it takes. Remember?"
Darius looked her in the eyes. He was in this situation before. And he couldn't believe what he was about to do. "I'll come back and find you!" She nodded, and braced herself. Darius finally let go. Darius heard her scream and watched her fall down the hole with Hawkes. He was distracted in his thoughts. Yaz pulled him by his shirt, trying to get him to run. He looked in the direction of the entrance, and saw Wu and two more mercs. Hawkes came out a few minutes later with Brooklynn. Yaz finally pulled him up to his feet, and he ran with her. They ran for a few minutes trying to put some distance between the mercs and them. "I can't believe that I left her." Darius said out loud when they felt safe enough.
"We don't have time for that right now." Yasmina told him.
"I KNOW you can here me!" Hawkes's voice said. The two teens looked around. This guy was GOOD if he could make his voice come in all directions. They couldn't even tell if he was in the trees or not. "Set down the laptop, and nobody has to get hurt! I won't come any closer! You have my word."
"Does this guy think we're idiots?" Yasmina whispered.
Darius was thinking how to get out of this. He's got eyes on us most likely. He made a promise to not come closer, but he's probably got his buddy moving towards us. His thinking was right. He did send his guy on them. Unfortunately, Hawkes got the figures mixed up. His guy ended up walking right into Grim and Chaos. Yaz and Darius heard his painful cries. They finally stopped.
Hawkes's voice continued, "We're headed to the Valley to load up the chopper! You've got till sunrise to bring me the laptop!"
Not wasting another second, Darius and Yaz ran towards the boat. It was near the lab, so they had the advantage of getting to safety first. After running for half an hour, they stopped when they saw the boat. "Because they're right here!" Sammy's voice said.
Darius and Yaz looked up, and saw Sammy, Kenji, and Ben. They laughed, and ran into a group hug. "We thought you had left on the chopper." Darius said.
Kenji chuckled. "Come on. You know we wouldn't leave you guys behind." After looking around for a second, he asked, "Where's Brooklynn?"
Darius looked at Yaz. He sighed. "As per FUCKING usual, we have a problem."
She interrupted him, knowing he wouldn't be able to stay calm enough to explain. "Wu's on the island. He's hired a bunch of mercs to retrieve the Indominus sample, while he and another team went to his lab to get this laptop."
"And as we were making our escape, the leader of the squad grabbed Brooklynn." Darius said with anger. It was replaced with regret very quickly. "She told me to let go."
"You left without her?!" Kenji yelled.
"It's what she wanted." Darius said.
Kenji scoffed. "Some friend you are!"
Darius started getting in Kenji's face. Yasmina separated them by pushing her hands between them. "Listen. Brooklynn told us to run, and we did. We have till sunrise to figure out a plan to get her back."
"Give them the fucking laptop!" Kenji said. "Plan done!"
Yaz shook her head. "It's not that simple."
Darius shoved her hand off his chest when she said that. "I KNEW something was gonna go wrong. It ALWAYS does. I told you that we should just leave it alone. Who cares what Wu does? But NOPE! You just HAD to get the laptop when we could have been on our way to safety."
Sammy and Ben got in front of Darius. They needed him to calm down, and the situation wasn't helping.
"What's so important about the laptop?" Sammy asked.
Yasmina explained, "It has DECADES of his research. Everything that went wrong at the first park, and everything that went wrong now is because of Wu. He wants to make more hybrids. We can't just give him the laptop to create more monsters like the Scorpius or Indominus."
"If we don't give him the laptop, who knows what they'll do to Brooklynn?" Kenji challenges.
But nobody had an answer. "We don't have any other choice." Ben said. "We've gotta give Wu the laptop."
Darius looked at Yaz. "If we put it to a vote, it's going to be three in favor of just giving him the laptop." Yaz gripped the laptop a little tighter. "Give it to me."
He walked towards her, but Yaz said, "After we wipe it!" The older teen looked at her with confusion. "We planned on taking this thing to Costa Rica, right? We copy and wipe the laptop. Keep the copied files, and give Wu a useless laptop. We get Brooklynn, and Wu gets nothing. We hand over the files to the FBI."
Darius thought for a second. It wasn't going to do anybody any good going in with no plan. "If we do this, how do we copy it?"
"I've got a flash drive back at Camp Cretaceous!" Sammy said. "We use that to copy the laptop."
Kenji gave his two cents. "No. I draw the line. THIS is too risky. Right Darius?"
Darius looked at the group. He sighed. "I don't have a better plan. And we can't just turn a blind eye to the consequences of what Wu will do. Let's do it."
Kenji held Darius back as the other campers ran to the camp. "This is too risky. If you truly love her, then you won't try to pull a fast one on them."
"I don't have a better option, Kenji." Darius said. "I don't like it either, but we need to follow the plan. That's the best option to keep Brooklynn safe." Darius and Kenji raced to catch up to the others.
Once they got back to camp, Darius took in the sight. He didn't have a whole lot of time to look at the camp after the Scorpius attack. Everything was worse than he thought. But he couldn't think about that right now. He climbed up the ladder after Yaz and Sammy. "Is the flash drive still there?" he asked Sammy.
"Still here!" She replied happily.
"Open up the laptop." Darius told Yaz. She did, and it dinged as it came to life. "Good. It still has battery."
"Lucky us." Yaz said. "Cause THAT would have SUCKED." Yasmina puts the flash drive in, and clicks on a few buttons. A few seconds later, another window opens up, and a bar comes up. The bar moves.
"It's copying you guys!" Sammy told them.
The bar moves again ten seconds later. "Veeeeeeeeeery slooooooooowly."
Darius sighed. "There's a flaw in our plan." he told them. Kenji and Ben looked at him. "What if Wu decides to check the laptop BEFORE giving us Brooklynn? We need another plan."
"This is getting too risky." Kenji said.
"I didn't join camp to have to save humanity every few months either." Darius shot back. "I want to get Brooklynn back as much as anyone here. But whining isn't going to help her. We need to come up with a plan." Darius used the paper and pencil that Yaz had. He drew what he SAYS is supposed to look like the Valley. It was a very crude drawing, but it would have to serve it's purpose. "This is the chopper in the Valley. It's like a bowl, right? Not exactly an easy thing to escape from. I'll meet Hawkes and Wu at the chopper, but Ben needs to come in with a distraction."
"We could use Bumpy." Ben suggested. "I've made some friends with the herd. I'm sure that they will be happy to help. I'll cause a stamped and come down from this hill right here. We'll cause enough chaos for Brooklynn to escape. Then, we run like hell for the boat."
"What if she gets caught in the stamped?" Kenji asked. "There's just so much that could go wrong."
"If we all stick to the plan, then we're going to be fine." Darius assured him. "Have some faith. You know it's hard for me to not freak out. You understand? Stick to the plan. Don't go rouge."
The time passed by slowly. Kenji kept looking at his watch. It was 3:39 A.M. "Come on. Come on. Go faster!"
"It's not going to go faster Kenji." Darius told him.
A ding came from the computer. "Good news. It's done copying." Sammy said.
Kenji reached for the laptop, but Yaz slapped his hand away. "But wiping it is going to take at least another hour."
Ben got up from where he was sitting. "Well then, I'm going to go round up Bumpy and her friends. Get situated on the hill. You guys headed for the Valley too?"
"We'll wait a few minutes." Darius said. "We don't know if Hawkes is going to set up a perimeter around the Valley. We want it to look like we were just getting there. It's at least a half an hour run, yeah? So by the time this thing is done, we'll already be on our way."
Ben nodded his head. As he went down the ladder, Yaz told him, "Good luck."
"You too." he replied. "See you in a little bit."
The waiting was excruciating for Darius and Kenji. Darius was watching the computer along with Kenji. Darius was mainly there so Kenji wouldn't go rouge. "This is cutting it too close." Kenji continued to say.
"Take it easy Kenji, okay?" Darius said. "It's almost done with the wiping. Sunrise isn't until 5:30, and it's only 4:42. We still have time."
Sammy was going around the entire camp, holding her fingers up like a camera. She made it back to the boys on the couch, and said click. "You guys are doing good watching the laptop. We gonna leave in a few minutes?"
Darius checked the laptop's progress. "Yeah, it just crossed over to eighty percent."
"Hey, let's get a couple of group shots." Sammy said. "Darius, stand up with Yaz. Head over to the railings. I want a couple of pictures." The two teens posed for a few picture. This was actually a nice distraction before doing another daring rescue plan. "Alright. Can I get a couple of more bromance shots of you and Darius Kenji?"
The three teens saw that Kenji wasn't there. Neither was the computer. But the flash drive was on the table. "Kenji?" Yaz called out.
A thump was heard from the ground, and footsteps running. Darius looked over the railing to see Kenji running through the trees with the laptop. "The son of a bitch went rouge!"
Sammy grabbed the flash drive, and Yaz and Darius raced to catch up to him. "Why's he doing this?" Yaz asked.
"Because he's worried! Well so am I KENJI!" Darius yelled, knowing full well the other teen could hear them. They continued to chase after him. He had a head start. They weren't going to catch up to him. "We change of plans." Darius told Sammy and Yaz. "He'll make the exchange. You guys try to get back the laptop. Either finish wiping it, or destroy it. Got it?"
"Got it." Yaz and Sammy said.
Kenji made it to the Valley. He checked his watch. It was 5:17. He was ahead of schedule. Looking at the chopper, he saw Hawkes and Wu and Brooklynn. Looking behind him, he saw that Darius, Yaz, and Sammy were catching up to him. The two boys locked eyes. Darius was trying to get him to think it through. You're blitzing the play too soon!
You made the wrong call! Kenji thought. Without another thought, Kenji ran down into the Valley. "Brooklynn! Hey! I've got it! I've got the laptop!"
"That's far enough." Hawkes told him. Kenji stopped. "Who the hell are you? Where's the other guy?"
Brooklynn knew who he was talking about. "Kenji! Where's Darius?"
"Don't worry about him." Kenji said bitterly.
Wu stepped forward. "The laptop." Kenji took another few steps closer. He stopped, and motioned for Brooklynn. Wu turned to Hawkes, and motioned for him to come forward with the girl. Everyone was closer together. Wu put his hand out again. Kenji looked at Brooklynn. She shook her head. Kenji set the laptop in the doctor's hand. "Thank you." Wu said.
"So not welcome dude." Kenji replied. "Now hand her over."
Brooklynn started walking, but Hawkes held her back. "Wait. Check it first."
Before Wu could open up the laptop, the ground started to shake slightly. And lots of footsteps were heard. Looking up the hill, everyone saw a herd of Ankylosaurs. Ben was on top of Bumpy, leading the charge. "Let's go!" Brooklynn looked over to her left, and saw Darius, Sammy, and Yaz running down to meet the herd.
Wu and Hawkes turned back to the helicopter, dragging Brooklynn with them. "Darius!" she yelled. Brooklynn tried hitting Hawkes's arm to let her go. He didn't. Kenji ran up to Hawkes, and tried to engage him in a fist fight. But with one hand, Hawkes easily took care of him.
Kenji fell on the ground. The plan was failing. DAMN IT DARIUS!
The herd of Ankylosaurs circled the merc, the girl, and the doctor. An Ankylosaur hit Wu in the shoulder, and he dropped his laptop. Sammy and Yaz reached it first. "We got it!" Sammy yelled. The girls started to run away. "We have to finish wiping it."
"We don't have to worry about that now!" Yaz said. "Just keep it away from Wu and his "
In the confusion, Kenji had gotten to Brooklynn. Hawkes started chasing them. He thought that they had the laptop. Sammy and Yaz ran passed him. He looked at them, and saw that THEY had the laptop. Hawkes was about to chase after them, but a voice kept his attention away from them. "Hey asshole!" Hawkes turned in the direction of the voice. Darius stood in front of him with a couple of Ankylos separating them.
"There you are!" Hawkes yelled. "That kid in the blue shirt jumped the gun, didn't he? Pulling a fast one on me is a hard thing to do. It almost worked too."
Darius said, "You didn't hurt her, did you?"
Hawkes grinned. "You'll just have to get to her to find out."
Darius's eyes narrowed. He rushed towards Hawkes, taking out his knife. This is not the first fight Darius has been in. But it's the first one he's started. Hawkes met him in the middle. Darius threw a punch at his chest. Hawkes blocked it. Darius anticipated this, and threw another punch at Hawkes's face. Once again, it was blocked. But Darius dropped the knife, and used his free hand to pick it up, and slice up on Hawke's arm. The older man yelled in pain, and stumbled back. He wasn't knocked off his feet, but Darius took a chance to rush at the man. He lifted his knife to stab the man, but Hawkes blocked it, and headbutted Darius. The teen stumbled back, and clutched his head.
With Darius on the ground, Hawkes turned to the girls. Wu was on one side, and the merc was on the other. There wasn't a lot of room to move. "My patience is reaching it's limit!" he yelled at the girls. Darius worked through the pain, picked up his knife, and got up. He reached behind his back. "Give. Me. The LAPTOP!"
Darius had gotten out his gun. Sammy and Yaz saw Darius aim up. "Oh! You want THIS?! CATCH!" Sammy threw the laptop in the air. Hawkes ran to catch it. Darius took a chance, and fired two bullets. Hawkes stopped running, and saw the laptop land on top of an Ankylosaurs. Looking back, he saw that the teen he just headbutted had a gun. Looking back at the laptop, it was destroyed. But there were two bullet holes on the casing.
Hawkes looked back at Darius. "How do you like THAT bitch?" Hawkes was furious. But the herd of Ankylosaurs was getting too much. And the laptop was gone. No use fighting the kids any more. Darius watched Hawkes and Wu get in the chopper. The herd was still running in circles. The older teen ran back up the hill. "Brooklynn! Brooklynn!"
He turned his head, trying to find her. "Darius!" Brooklynn waved for him. She and Kenji had gotten out of the herd to safety. Yaz, Sammy, and Darius ran to them. Ben and Bumpy were not too far behind. Everyone made it up away from the stampede. Darius reached Brooklynn, and they hugged each other. The rest of the teens joined them a second later. They shared a laugh. The herd was still on the Valley floor, but the chopper was taking off. The chopper stopped right above them. Through the glass of the cockpit, Darius saw Hawkes give them a dark look.
"Trees. To the trees! Go!" Darius yelled. He ran past them, and grabbed Brooklynn's hand. She ran next to him, and the others ran through the trees. The chopper flew up above them.
Sammy said, "We can't outrun them!"
"As long as we stay in the trees, we'll be fine!" Darius said. The six teens kept running. The chopper was right above their heads. The big machine lowered it's self to be as close to the trees as possible. It looked like the chopper was about to land right on them when it suddenly pulled up, and flew in the other direction. The six campers sighed in relief. Darius and Brooklynn hugged again. "I'm sorry for leaving you."
"Hey, YOU did NOTHING wrong. Okay?" Brooklynn assured him. "You just did what I told you to do."
"Sorry about the rescue." Darius said. "There were some... miscommunications about what we were doing."
Brooklynn chuckled. "There always is, isn't there. But thankfully, our luck has kept us all alive again."
The teens started to walk towards the boat again. "It won't always keep us alive." Kenji whispered in Darius's ear.
"Hey." Darius told him. Kenji turned around, and everyone else stopped. "You were right. I should have come up with a better plan. I was worried about getting Brooklynn back too, but it's my responsibility as leader to stay calm and keep everyone else calm. Are we good?" Darius put his arm out, hoping that Kenji would take it.
Kenji looked at it, and said, "No. We're NOT good. We've done some crazy shit for the six months we've been here. But this time, it crossed a line. Unlike YOU, I don't take risks with my friends lives." Kenji turned to walk away.
Darius was confused and followed after him. "We've put ourselves at harms way every other time. Mitch and Tiff, remember that? The two people with the hunting guns? You make it sound like I FORCED everyone to follow the plan. We ALL agreed. You could have been helpful and come up with a better solution instead of whining the entire time."
Kenji turned around, and bitch-slapped Darius. He let out a grunt. It shocked him more than anything. But on instinct, Darius put his hand into a fist, and gave Kenji a right hook. It connected with Kenji's jaw line. The teen fell on his back, clutching his jaw. "Ugh. What the fuck! You punched me in the face!"
"You slapped me like a bitch!" Darius defended. Kenji got up, and rushed at Darius. The older teen dodged the wide hook, and horse collared Kenji, knocking him back down again. Darius thought that was the end of it, so he walked away towards the others. Kenji got up, and with a branch he found, wacked Darius in the head. The teen went down with a grunt. But just as quick as he was knocked down, he got back up. Looking at Kenji, he said, "Alright. I deserved that. We're two for two. Call it even?"
Kenji answered by rushing to tackle Darius. But the older teen was stronger, and easily redirected his attack. He pushed Kenji above a tree, and held him in place. "You just left her there! AND you agreed to a plan that almost failed!"
"You know it tore me apart to leave her!" Darius responded. "And we would have had a better success with the plan if you hadn't jumped the gun and taken the damn computer!"
Kenji headbutted Darius. That was the SECOND time this morning that Darius got headbutted. Kenji clutched his head like Darius did. But at least he was free. Once they had gotten their heads to stop hurting, they began throwing punches. No method to it, just two friends fighting each other.
"Darius, stop it!" Brooklynn yelled.
The girls tried to run over to brake it up, but Ben stopped them. "I've seen this before. When two males are fighting, either dinosaurs OR humans, they just have to tire themselves out."
A few more punches were thrown. Each punch hit their opponent. Kenji punched Darius in the arm where he got shot. The skin healed, but it still hurt from time to time, and in retaliation, Darius kicked Kenji back. Darius clutched his arm in pain. Kenji sat up. He looked at Darius with hatred. They both got up, and rushed at each other once more. Kenji threw another punch, and Darius parried it. The older teen wrapped his left arm around Kenji's neck, and used his right arm to hold his head in place. Darius has taken too many headbutts in the last three days.
Kenji flailed in his arms. Darius tightened his grip around the other teen's neck. Kenji still flailed. Darius held tighter. Finally the flailing stopped, and Kenji whispered, "You don't deserve her." Darius's eyes widened. He let go of Kenji, and threw him on the ground.
Brooklynn and the others started walking over to help them, but Darius put up a hand telling her to stop. Darius asked him, "What did you say?"
"You don't deserve her." Kenji repeated. "If you really cared about her, you wouldn't have left her. This is your fault she was taken."
Darius sighed. "This wouldn't have happened in the first place if you had just listened to me on the boat. I said we should keep going. Everyone else though we should turn back and trust the guys with the military grade guns. Just like we all agreed to follow the plan and get Brooklynn back."
"Well, you should have put your foot down on the boat if you really had such a bad feeling.." Kenji shot back.
Darius laughed at this. "First, you say I shouldn't be so controlling. NOW you say, I'm not controlling ENOUGH?" The older teen shook his head. Darius got up, and walked over to Kenji. He put his hand out to help the other teen up. Kenji looked at it, and slapped the hand away. Darius shook his head again. "You don't want my help? Fine. Let's just get to the boat so we can get the hell out of here. After that, we don't have to speak to each other again."
Darius walked past the others, and started walking to the boat. Both boys were bruised, and had a little bit of blood. Kenji and the others trailed behind him. Brooklynn walked up next to him. She grabbed his arm, and whispered, "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "I will be."
"Let's get to the boat." Brooklynn told him. "I'll patch your face up when we get there."
Finally, the six teens got off the boat. The tension from earlier was still there, but not as bad. Darius got to the boat with Brooklynn first. He helped her on, and looked at the others. "Alright people, lets do this one more time." Darius helped up Sammy, Yaz, and Ben. Then it was Kenji's turn. Darius once again offered him help onto the boat, but Kenji refused. Darius sighed. He was going to talk to him when they got to Costa Rica. Maybe even before. But he was going to give him and Kenji time to cool down.
Before Darius got on, he took one last look at the island they called home for the last six months. It's been THAT LONG?
The teen shook his head, signaled for Kenji to start the boat, and met the others on the stern. Sammy decided to get some much needed rest. Yaz laid on the other chair and Ben laid on the little couch. Darius put his shotgun to the side of the boat where he could grab it if he needed it. Brooklynn and Darius stood on the railing. "We're finally getting out of here." Brooklynn said with a sigh.
"Yeah." Darius replied. "It looks that way." He put his head down slightly. "I'm sorry I left you."
"You have NOTHING to be sorry for." Brooklynn interrupted him. "Okay? That was MY choice. The only thing you're guilty of is getting yourself injured." Darius chuckled at that. "Speaking of, let's get that cut cleaned up."
She pulled him to the living room, and he sat down on the ottoman there. Brooklynn took out the first aid kit, and took out an alcohol wipe. Darius felt the alcohol sting where the wound was. Brooklynn cleaned it as gently as she could, then put a band aid on it. A YELLOW band aid. Darius shook his head, and they both started to laugh. When she was done with the band aid, Brooklynn caressed the cut as two teens looked at each other with soft smiles. After what felt like forever, Darius put his head back down, and stood up. "Thanks again for patching me up." Brooklynn nodded. "You gonna come back out on the deck?"
She replied, "I'm actually going to rest in here for a little bit. Wake me up in time for lunch?" Darius nodded. "You should get some rest yourself."
Darius smiled. "I'll try." The older teen left the room, and walked back out on the deck. When he got to the bow, he looked back up at Kenji. The Captain locked eyes for a brief second, and Kenji looked back out to sea. Darius sighed, got up, and walked up to the steering. He looked and saw Kenji staring straight at the water. Darius knocked twice. Kenji looked at who knocked, and looked back in anger when he saw who it was. "Can we talk?" Kenji didn't say anything. "I don't know anything about boats. Could you maybe tell me what this thing does?" Darius pointed to a panel. Kenji just kept staring straight. "Hey look at that. I don't know shit about boats. Right now, YOU are the MVC. Most Valuable Camper."
"Just stop." Kenji told him. At least he was now LOOKING at Darius. "Okay? I don't need you to lead me. I'm smart enough to lead myself."
Darius was confused. "I never said you weren't smart."
"Oh please." Kenji shot back. "All you care about is impressing Brooklynn."
"Okay, NOW I'm starting to think you're a dumbass." Darius said. "I've been trying to get us home. And now, thanks to us all working together, we're going home."
Kenji scoffed. "Yeah, well, like you said. After we get home, we won't have to talk to each other ever again."
Darius groaned. "I was... Mad. I'm sorry I said that to you. Kenji, I value our friendship."
"Listen Darius." Kenji snapped. "Just get the hell off of my bridge. Okay? I'M trying to get us home. Unless YOU can drive a boat. In that case, be my guest. Add that to your reason's why Brooklynn should date you list."
Darius shook his head. "And here I thought that we were old enough to talk our problems out."
"I thought we were old enough to know when to NOT play the hero." Kenji poked back.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Darius asked. "I HAVEN'T been playing hero. Again, you KNOW that it tore me apart to leave her."
"If I was there, I would have found a way to stop them." Kenji challenged.
Darius gave a fake smile and laugh. "Alright buddy. Let's hear your plan. You've got 3 mercs. One of them is grabbing Brooklynn and pulling her down from a vent. The other two are racing to find out where the noise is coming from. You only have Yaz for help. AND you still have the laptop to take care of. What do you do?" Kenji was silent for a second. "Come on tough guy. What do you do?" The other teen couldn't come up with a good answer. "Yeah. You don't know. Because YOU weren't there."
Darius turned to leave. "Maybe there should be a change in leadership." Kenji said.
The older teen turned around. "You think THAT'S going to make me back down? Okay. We'll put it to a vote. If you can get three people to side with you, then I will let YOU take the responsibility. But until then, we have to work together."
"We need each other to stay alive, MAYBE." Kenji said. "But that doesn't make us friends. I can't forgive you for leaving Brooklynn."
Darius shook his head and groaned in frustration. "I'm not going to stand here and listen to you." The older teen walked out of the frame, and slammed the door behind him. He got back down to the bow of the ship. Ben, Yaz, and Sammy were sleeping. Darius decided to sit down, and watch as they headed towards the sunset to Costa Rica.
The end of season 3! Wahooooooooooooo! Anyways, I feel like the last bit of the chapter was a little clunky, but I tried to write different versions. None of them seemed to stick. Anyways, have a good day, stay home, stay safe.