Another one.

Andrew: I'm glad you thought so. Originally, I planned to have the fight go the same way, and have Kenji use the pistol that Darius gave him. It would have been empty, but I think that would have been less believable for them to become friends again so quickly.

Aaaaaaye! 69 likes! :] Have a good day, stay home, stay safe.

Darius felt someone shake him awake. He looked up, and saw Brooklynn shining the light in his face a little bit. "Morning." she said. The older teen sat up. Brooklynn held a can of fruit in front of him. "We already ate. We figured that since you haven't been getting enough sleep, you needed it."

Darius took a bite. When he swallowed, he said, "Thank you." He finished his breakfast, and stood up with the others. "Alright. Shall we keep going?"

The teens walked for another hour, according to Ben. They finally came across some light at the end of the tunnel. Bright light shined. The six teens walked out, and were met with a desert. Brooklynn sighed. "So... NOT Costa Rica."

Darius sighed. It's a habit he's picked up recently. "Great. We get off one island just to trade for another island." Kenji put his hand on Darius's face. "Kenji, what are you doing?"

Kenji went on a weird rant. "Making sure we aren't dead. If we were dead, we would be ghosts. And if we're ghosts, that would mean we would be able to go 'ooooooooo' through each other."

Darius slapped his hand off of him. "We're not dead dumbass."

Kenji responded cockily, "Well, now you know. You're welcome."

Brooklynn rolled her eyes. "Okay. We know where we AREN'T. Anybody have any idea where we ARE?"

"Nope." Yaz said dejected. "Just that we're stranded on some fucked up island. Again."

Darius tried to keep everyone from getting too down. "Let's try to come up with some sort of plan."

Ben pointed towards the distance. "Hey guys. Look out in the distance. Something shiny."

Sammy said, "I see it. The sun is glancing off of something metal?"

Ben reasons, "Something metal means that someone had to make it. We should go check it out."

Kenji made sure he understood. "Let me get this straight. You want us to go trekking across a hot, barren desert on the off chance that you saw something shiny?"

Darius agrees. "We don't know what's out there man."

Ben shook his head, and started to give a speech. "Oh my sweet and frightened children. So, we're not in Costa Rica. And we don't know 'where we are.' And we have 'no hope.'"

Yaz lifted her hand that held a rock she found. Darius saw that she was about to throw it. He put his hand up, and told her, "Not yet Ferb."

Ben continued, "We didn't know how we were gonna survive Nublar. And yet, we did! And all we have is our sheer will, determination, teamwork, and dumb luck. Hell, there aren't even DINOSAURS here. So logically this should be easier. We even have a bag of supplies to get us started. So, let's go out there, and... You know, survive!"

The others looked at him. Ben was met with a few scattered, unenthusiastically okays. As everyone else left, Darius out his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Nice speech Ben." The two teens raced to catch up to the others. Darius caught up to Brooklynn. The two walked side by side. "This place is freaky. I'm half expecting to come across two droids on their way to Jabba the Hutt." he told her.

"Do you only care about football, and movies?" Brooklynn asked with a chuckle.

Without thinking, Darius blurted out, "I care about you too." Brooklynn looked back at him, and he quickly backtracked. "Yeah, you know, I care about you, and the whole group. Even Kenji back there. I don't know why though." Darius felt like he dodged a bullet when Brooklynn smiled and shook her head.

Yaz was talking to Ben in the back of the group. "As if Dinosaurs weren't enough, NOW we're on another stranded island."

Ben tried to cheer her up. "Well, at least it's a nice day."

Sammy added onto it. "At least we don't have any mosquitoes."

Yaz tried one as well. "At least we aren't being tortured for eternity by vampires."

Kenji perked up. "I've got one. At least it's like the beach, but with no ocean."

And that started the game that would get them through the next few hours of walking. The bag seemed lighter, and everyone wasn't so upset. Well, at least until they got thirsty. Darius gave them each a bottle of water. Yaz gave another one. "At least we aren't being tortured by demons in a fiery pit of Hell."

Sammy quipped how hot it was. "Are you SURE about that one?"

Darius and Ben had been in a debate in one of Kenji's At Least. "No, Ben. You don't understand. It's LIKE a beach without the ocean."

"The ocean is made up of sand." Ben said. "This is just dirt with a possible mix of animal crap."

Darius countered, "What do you think sand is made of?"

Ben's eyes widened. "Ohhhhhhhhh. So, it's like the beach because the sand covers the entire world. The only thing that WOULD make it BE a beach is an ocean."

Darius nodded his head. "Exactly."

Brooklynn, who had taken her jacket off qnd used it as a shield from the sun, told them, "If you two don't shut up, I'm going to MAKE you shut up."

After another few hours, the teens were starting to get exaughsted. But a swift breeze brought a sudden relief from the heat. Sammy looked down, and saw the dust moving faster. She turned around, and saw a cloud coming to them. "Hey guys?"

"A SANDSTORM?" Brooklynm gasped.

Sammy asked, "What do we do?"

"Run like hell!" Darius said. To his surprise, Brooklyn ran back for him, and grabbed his wrist. One by one, the campers were overtaken by the cloud of dust. Darius and Brooklynn were the last ones to be engulfed in the dust. The sand blew past them. Darius and Brooklynn held onto each other tighter. "Where the hell is everyone?" Darius asked.

"We have to find somewhere to hole up until the storm-" Brooklynn was interrupted as Darius fell, pulling her with him. They slid down a steep hill before coming to the edge. They free fell for a few seconds. Darius wrapped his arms around her, hoping that she wouldn't get hurt so bad. He landed on the hard ground with a thud, hitting his head slightly.

He opened his eyes, and saw that Brooklynn was okay. She was also on top of him. They locked eyes for a second. "Hey." Darius said, his voice going slightly deeper. Brooklynn got up, and walked to the wall of the cave. Darius got up, and started yelling to the surface. "Hey Kenji? You there?"

"Guys?! Hello?!" Brooklynn joined. After a minute, they decided it was no use.

"Let's follow the ravine." Darius suggested. "There's gotta be a way out."

Brooklynn agreed. "Damn. I lost my jacket." She lead the way, as Darius watched their six. Who knows what's in here? Or maybe even, what IS in here? The teens still called out for help as they walked. Darius got closer to one of the walls. He looked up, and was about to say they should try to climb up when q piece of rock and dirt hit his eye. He groaned in pain, trying to wipe it. Brooklynn turned around, and asked, "You okay?"

"It's nothing serious." Darius told her.

Brooklynn grabbed his face, and pulled him closer. "Let me see."

Darius waited as she looked I'm his eyes. She couldn't see anything from where he was standing, so she pulled him closer. Darius felt his head tilt as she looked in his eyes some more. And he felt his temperature rise, not only in his face, but down stairs as well. To keep himself under control, he grabbed her wrists, and gently pulled them away from his face. "It's fine. Thanks."

He motioned for her to keep walking. Brooklynn raised an eyebrow, but turned around. "Have it your way, tough guy." They started walking again. Brooklynn kept scratching her hair, and muttered, "Stupid sand, getting everywhere." She pulled her hair out of her usual pony tail, and let it air out. The hair was longer than he thought. Or maybe it was the bun that was bigger. He wasn't sure. But it was the first time seeing her hair fully laid out. He watched as it fell down her back. The tips went down to her shoulder blades. Her roots looked like copper. "Darius." her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She turned around, and said, "Do you hear that? Another gentle hum."

Darius was going to go crazy if she started looking for another hum. But then he listened, and faintly heard something as well. He moved closer to one of the walls, and planted his ears. "It sounds like... water pipes? But that doesn't make sense. This is supposed to be a barren desert island, right?" He looked in the direction of the sound. "Where do we think it's going?"

Brooklynn said, "Don't know. But it sounds like it's headed in this direction. Let's keep following this. Maybe we can find a way out."

Darius told her, "Lead the way. You're the brains of the outfit." She looked at him, and smiled. They followed the pipes for a little bit. Darius and Brooklynn were getting thirsty, but at least they were cooler down here than they were up there.

"Hey! Up there! Those boulders! I bet they're blocking a way out!" Brooklynn ran over to the rocks that were blocking their way. The girl tried to move the rocks, but no luck. "Darius, get up here. Give me a boost or something." Darius got up, and started to look for a gap to take advantage of. Darius put his foot up to get more leverage, but it came loose. Darius fell backwards, and landed on the ground with a groan. Brooklynn got down, and checked on him. As he got up, she asked, "You good?"

Darius was about to answer when the rocks started crumbling. Darius looked with confusion. Slowly, the rocks started to fall. Darius grabbed her wrist as more rocks started falling from the fourth feet cliff. They found a big enough gap they could hide in. Darius looked up, and saw a big rock falling. Without thinking, Darius pushed Brooklynn against the dirt wall, shielding her face in his chest. When the dust settled enough and the adrenaline rush stopped, Darius realized the awkward position he put him and Brooklynn in. Now it was his turn to ask, "You good?"

She looked up at him, and nodded. "Yeah." Darius moved out of her way. The path way was littered with rocks. They walked carefully on, and in between them. When they got to where the entrance was, Brooklynn said, "Well Darius, when you get something done, you go all out, don't you?"

The teens kept walking. A few minutes later, they found where the pipe was headed. A small pool of water laid on the ground. Darius and Brooklynn helped themselves to it. They looked over and saw their friends. Ben was sitting with his back against another wall, and Kenji was trying to cheer him up. "Hey, I mean, at least..." But he had nothing.

"Oh no. Kenji finally lost his wit, and I wasn't the one to shut him up?" Darius said, teasing Kenji. "Please don't tell me that's all you've got."

"Lame. Brooklynn teased as well.

They were met with a group hug. "You guys are okay!" Ben said relieved.

"Of course we are." Darius assured him. "We're immortals, survivors, and most of all, HUNGRY." Darius pointed to the bag Kenji was carrying.

Brooklynn said, "And we in OTHER good news, we found this!" She pointed to the water pool they found. The four teens ran to the water. They let out refreshed sighs.

Darius grabbed the bag, and started opening it to get food. "Crazy thing is, we heard water pipes in the caverns. Somebody BUILT this thing."

"But, why?" Sammy asked.

Yaz asked the slightly more important question. "And where are they now?"

Brooklynn sat next to Darius to share the peaches. "No idea. But if we can find the shiny metal thing, we might get some answers."

After everyone drank up, Ben said, "Hey guys. Check this out. It's the berry bushes back on Nublar. Same leaves, and everything."

Sammy gasped. "Water AND dry food? What is it, our birthdays?" That actually made Darius sad to think about. It had been six months since they had a proper meal and a stable food and water supply. He wanted to find a way off this damn place as soon as possible. That didn't stop him from enjoying the dry berries.

Suddenly, for some reason, Ben started losing it. "Wait. Don't eat them! Stop!" He slapped the berries out of the campers hand, and tried to get them out of their mouths. He gripped Darius's head, who had quickly shoved them into his mouth to eat, and tried to get him to spit it out. He slapped his head multiple times. "What if I only THINK they are like the ones on Nublar? What if they are actually poisonous? What if I'm WRONG?" Darius decided to spit them out to appease Ben. The younger teen tried to calm himself down. "Everything will be fine when we find the shiny thing."

Darius realized that Ben was starting to revert back to the old, scared Ben. "Come on guys. It can't bee too far away now. Let's try to find it before dark."

"I'll start the count down." Yaz said. "We've got ten seconds."

The six teens ran up the cavern entrance, and started looking for the metal thing. They looked around, starting to feel the stress. Sammy pointed out in the distance. "There is is!" Ben ran as fast as he could. The others followed him. Darius kept thinking maybe it was an escape route. They got to the thing they had been walking towards all day!

They found... "A metal rectangle?" Kenji asked. "THAT'S ALL IT WAS?"

Sammy still kept her optimism. "Maybe there's more to it than that?"

The six teens searched the surrounding area. Brooklynn had finished putting on her jacket and putting her hair back in the pony tail, when she found something. "Um, guys? There's a pile of animal bones."

That got everyone unsettled. Yaz tried to share Sammy's optimism. "Hey, whatever this ting is, it could have just died of natural causes." Everyone looked at her. "Yeah. Not a HUGE plus." she admitted.

Ben sighed and laid down. "So, no people. No help. Just more questions." All the teens felt it. Their bodies were exhausted. Their legs were tired of the running, the fighting, the danger. They just wanted to be home. But for now, they had no choice but to stay here for now.

As the sun went down, the six campers used the supply bag to get some materials to start a camp fire. They got it working just as the night had taken over. The stars shined bright over their heads as they sat in a circle around the fire, staying warm. Nobody tried to sleep. They were too tired to sleep. Nothing was said. What needed to be said? Another sappy speech about keeping hope? Darius scoffed. Bullshit. I suck at this.

Sammy sighed, and stood up. The others looked at her, wondering what she was about to do. She let out a long scream. The others sat there, wondering what to do. Yaz stood up a few seconds later, and nodded her head. I could use a good scream.

The others watched Yaz give out a loud scream of her own. Darius muttered, "Fuck it." He and Brooklynn stood up, and pet out their own screams. Kenai stood up a second later, and they were all screaming. Ben was pulled up, but he didn't scream. The others screamed until they couldn't anymore. They fell asleep soundly a few minutes after that.

The fire was almost out. It had kept the warm, but they had fallen asleep for a few hours. Ben jolted awake. He thought he heard something in the bushes. Yaz groaned. "Ben? What are you doing?" The teen ignored her. He lit the fire, causing it to roar back to life.

Darius woke up, and after getting over the initial shock that Brooklynn's back was pressed up against his front, looked where Ben was looking. Everyone slowly woke up as well. "What's going on?" he asked the teen.

"I heard a noise." Ben said. Darius kept his gun trained on the bushes.

But nothing happened. "Are you SURE man?" Darius asked. "Maybe this is like yesterday with the berries."

Ben shook his head. "I KNOW I heard something." He was less firm when he backtracked. "At least, I THINK I did." The bushes moved, causing everyone to be on edge. A few seconds later, an animal with long, pointy teeth roared, and jumped out of the bushes. The six teens stood up and jumped back with fear. Ben grabbed a branch from the fire, and they had a torch to use for defense, along with Darius's gun.

"What the hell is that?" Brooklynn asked, gripping onto Darius's arm tighter.

"Saber-toothed tiger." Darius answered.

The big cat circled the teens. Kenji whimpered. "I told you guys we time-traveled."

"Shut up Kenji!" Yaz said with gritted teeth.

Sammy was starting to panic. "What do we do? What do we do? Whatdowedo?!"

Ben thought about what he could do. They couldn't fight a tiger. He looked to his right, and saw the caverns. He might be able to lose the animal in there. Or at least, lead it away from his friends long enough to escape. Darius saw his head turn towards the cavers. "Don't. Don't do it Ben. Don't-"

Ben ignored the warning, and ran for it. "Hey Toothy! This way!"

The others raced after them. Ben had a head start, but the tiger was faster. Darius aimed his Glock to shoot the tiger, but he lowered it. "Why didn't you take the shot?" Kenji asked.

"I don't have good aim! I might hit Ben!" Darius explained. The teens continued to run above the caverns. They watched the fire from Ben's torch burn. It helped them get an idea of where he was. It went on for minutes. Darius knew that Ben couldn't keep up the chase for much longer. He looked around, and saw a boulder. "You saw The Land Before Time, right?" he asked Brooklynn as he ran past her.

"Darius, what are you doing?" she asked him.

Darius answered honestly, "I have no idea!" He took out his knife from his pocket, and skidded to a stop, kicking some rocks over the edge. He looked down. Ben's torch had gone out. He looked where the tiger was, and jumped right in. He landed on the tiger like a horse, and stabbed the animal in the shoulder. It roared in pain as it tried to get Darius off it's back. The commotion kicked up a lot of dust. Darius was flung off the animal's back, the knife in hand. As he ran to where he thought Ben was, he felt three claws scratch his right pec. He turned around, and got out of the cloud of dust. He ran towards Ben, and grabbed the younger teen's arm. "Play time with Diego is over Roshan!"

As they were running, Ben asked, "Now what?"

"Just follow me!" Darius said. He looked up, and saw that he was headed in the right direction. "Now Brooklynn! Do it NOW!" The rock fell from the cliff, landing right in front of the tiger. The animal stopped just as the big rock landed, Brooklynn, Kenji, Yaz and Sammy started throwing rocks at the tiger. Darius watched Ben get up, and throw rocks and scream. Even after the tiger decided to run, Ben screamed some more. Darius smiled. You finally let it out.

Ben helped Darius up, and they started running in the opposite direction of the tiger. They found an escape to the surface a minute later. The others came down towards them. Brooklynn slammed into Darius, and wrapped her arms around him. "Idiots! What were bozos thinking?"

The six teens got into another group hug. Darius responded, "We weren't. Maybe that's our problem Ben." Everyone laughed at that. Ben pulled away from the group. Darius asked, "Hey, you okay Ben?"

The young teen shook his head. "I spent so long and worked so hard to not be 'Scared Ben' anymore. I thought I succeeded." he explained. "But the second we leave, I'm right back to square one. Freaking out about the berries, and every little noise I hear."

Sammy said, "Which is the reason we're all together right now still."

Kenji agreed. "If you WEREN'T scared, I would be worried."

Ben scoffed. "I guess Scared Ben is good for SOMETHING."

"Hey! Pity party of one! You just jumped into a cave with a motherfucking TIGER to save your friends." Yaz reminded him.

Brooklynn laughed. "Just another thing to add to the already long enough list of Badass Ben Moments."

"You may not be Fearless Island Ben, but you're NOT back to Scared Camp Ben." Darius assured him. "Maybe you're finally just Ben. Remember what I told you about us being your family."

Ben's face smiled. "I like it. It's direct, with a broad meaning." Everyone laughed and hugged again.

Now that the initial adrenaline rush was over, Darius felt pain in his scratches. He groaned and Brooklynn pulled away. "What's wrong?" She looked at his shirt, and saw there was blood coming out. And three nasty marks. "You got hit by the tiger?"

Darius nodded. "It was fine a minute ago."

Brooklynn looked around. "The medical supplies are in the bag. Did anybody think to grab it?"

Kenji lifted his arm up. "Right here."

"Come on." Brooklynn said, pulling Darius. "Let's get back up to the surface, and get this cleaned up." Once they got up, Brooklynn took the bag, and dug around for a minute before finding the alcohol medicine. "Take your shirt off." Brooklynn told him. The four campers watched as he took it off. The shirt looked bad, but his chest looked worse.

"It caught me as I was trying to get out of the dust cloud." Darius explained.

Brooklynn had him sit down on the ground. She patted the medicine on his wound to clean it. He did his best to not scream. But he was in so much pain. After about fifteen minutes, Brooklynn had almost used up the last of the alcohol. She said, "I cleaned it the best I could. But in order for it to heal properly, it's going to need stitches. And it's going to be infected seriously before then." Brooklynn thought for a second. She saw that his shirt was torn, ripped. It wasn't going to be ideal, but she would have to make due. "Where's your knife?"

Darius lifted it up. "Why do you need it?"

She sighed. "I'm going to use the last bit of the alcohol on your shirt, and tie it around your chest. You'll be cold for the rest of the night, but it will delay the "" infection."

"You want to cut my shirt up to make a make-shift medical wrap?" Darius clarified.

"It's the only option left." Brooklynn said. "Unless you WANT to walk around waiting for the infection to kill you."

Darius didn't make a fuss about it. Well, not until Brooklynn was done. It felt weird to walk around with only his pecs covered. "I feel like I'm wearing the upper part of a bikini."

Brooklynn chuckled. "Well, we can face it all, a dinosaur island, rough seas, tiger attacks, and Darius's complaining. But at least we have each other."

Sammy smiled. "THAT'S the BEST 'At Least' yet."

It was only two hours until sunrise, so everyone decided to just keep walking. They were wide awake after the tiger attack. They were all feeling exhausted. Kenji however, felt different. "It's too quiet."

Brooklynn scoffed. "We're tired, thirsty, in the middle of nowhere, and YOU'RE upset with the fact that it's quiet?"

"Give him a break." Darius said. "We've had a bunch of jungle noises for the past six months. NOW, it does seem eerily quiet." Kenji tripped over something, and fell down on his face. Darius turned around, and laughed his head off. "Oh man! That's ONE way to get it loud in here! Haha! You alright Kenj?" The others knelt next to him, seeing if his leg was okay.

But he was more concerned on what he tripped on. It felt, and SOUNDED like metal. "What the hell is this?" Kenji rubbed the bump he tripped on. The dust cleared, and it was metal. They looked around, and Kenji pointed to the ground again. "There are tracks!" Everyone started running in the direction of the tracks. "Finally! We may have found a way out of here! Salvation, here we-OOF!" Kenji celebrated too quick.

"You guys also saw Kenji slammed himself right into absolutely. NOTHING. Right?" Yaz asked.

Kenji ignored the comment, and felt it again. It wasn't like it was a mirror. He pressed around with his hand. Eventually, it got a reaction. A door slid open, causing everyone to jump back in surprise. The door revealed a dark hallway. A few seconds later, the lights came on. The six teens glanced at each other, trying to decide what to do. "What do we think's down there?" Sammy asked.

Darius shook his head. "I have no idea. But, we need to make a choice. Stay in the desert, or get to the bottom of what this place is." The teens IMMEDIANTLY chose to get the hell out of the desert. They were tired of all the dirt and sand. And the heat. As if they could EVER forget about how hot it was less than 24 hours ago. Darius took out his pistol with his left hand. The door shut behind them, and the teens decided that there was no going back now. The others pulled ahead of Brooklynn and Darius. The older teen looked up, and saw a bunch of pipes. "Think those are the water pipes from earlier?"

Brooklynn didn't answer. She turned to where the pipes separated from the others. A door was seen at the end of the hall. "Hey guys. This way." The group followed Brooklynn. To the right of the door, a panel lit up. It was blue, and had a lock symbol on it. The girl put a finger on the screen, and moved it around a few tries. To her amazement, it worked. The doors opened, and the kids went through it. On the other side, they were met with a forest. After looking around for a few seconds, Brooklynn asked, "You guys remember how, like, twenty seconds ago, we were literally in a desert?"

"What the hell is this place?" Sammy said, repeating out loud what everyone was thinking. A loud thump shook the ground. And another one. It got closer and closer. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that felt like a-" A tall, dark blue figure broke through the trees with a snarl. "T. Rex." Sammy finished with a whisper.

The animal roared, causing the six campers to run. The Rex chased after them for a few minutes. The teens found cover. The Rex ran right past them, and through more trees. It stopped when a much bigger Rex emerged through the trees in front of the smaller one. T. Rex roars, and started to bite at the smaller one. "Does EVERY island have dinosaurs now?" Brooklynn whispered.

Ben looked over her, and pointed. "Let's ask HER." The rest of the teens turned to where he was pointing, and saw a woman crouched behind a big log with a tablet in hand. She didn't even seem fazed.

Darius asked loud enough to get the woman's attention. "Who the hell are you?"

The woman looked up from her tablet, got up, and walked to them. "You six are trespassing. What are you up to? *GASP*" She clutched her tablet a little tighter. "Are you here to spy?"

Darius scoffed. "Yeah lady. Because we LOOK like a Super Secret Teenage Spy Band. We've got an album called, 'Never Getting Home' debuting July 21st."

Brooklynn interrupted him. "Are you crazy?! Why would you want to watch a bunch of T. Rex's fight?"

The woman said, "First of all, they're not fighting. They're playing." Darius looked at the two beasts, and realized she was right. "Second of all," the sound of her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "I would like an explanation on why you six are on this private island."

Yaz said, "Lady, we don't want to be here. We didn't even MEAN to come here. We just wanna go home."

The woman looked at the kids suspiciously. But all she said was, "Follow me." The woman asked what they were doing on the island, and Darius told her a brief summary of what they had been doing for the last six months. Surviving Nublar, trying to get through storms, and even fighting monsters. "You really expect me to believe that six children survived alone on Isla Nublar for six whole months?"

Brooklynn shook her heads. "Trust us, we can hardly believe it either."

The woman thought for a few seconds. "Well, I suppose you've got to be telling the truth. Because who WOULD make up such a crazy story? Not saying that you're crazy. Or that you don't have to. You don't know ME, and I don't know YOU." She looked at Darius with a thought for a second. "Accept for YOU though. I MIGHT now you. What's your name?"

"Bowman." Darius told her.

"Bowman." the woman repeated. "Any relations to Sarah Bowman?"

The six teens stopped walking. Darius looked at her. "My mother."

The woman's eyes widened. "Darius Bowman?" The teen nodded his head. "Oh my gosh! Your mother talks about you all the time! I'm Mae Turner. Me and your mother went to University together."

Darius also recognized her after a second. "Yeah. I know you. From the wallpaper. You and mom even wrote the book on playing behaviors of big dinosaurs like Rexes."

Mae nodded. "How is Sarah doing? I feel bad. It's been some years since the last time we talked."

Darius's face fell slightly. "She died about two years ago."

Mae's smile also fell. "I'm so sorry." The T. Rexes roared, causing the teens to gasp. "Oh, no. Don't worry about them. They're almost tuckered out for the day."

Kenji stepped forward. "Look, lady, if you could just point us towards a phone booth, that would be great."

Mae looked at the group. "That's a little bit of a problem. The island is shut off completely from the grid. No communications in or out."

The teens groaned. Brooklynn asked, "What about the tablet? There's got to be SOME way to reach the main land."

"I'm sorry. The tablet is closed circuit." Mae informed them.

Yaz and Sammy sighed. "Great. So there really IS no way home."

Mae shook her head. "There's GOT to be a way to get you back. And before then, you all can rest up in my place."

The woman turned, and lead the group. Brooklynn grabbed Darius's good arm, and asked him, "Do we trust her?"

Darius looked at her. "Do I trust the woman that says she was friends with my mother 18 years ago?"

Brooklynn chuckled. "I'll take that as a no."

Yaz noticed how the two teens laughed with each other. Yeah. Officially ship it.

As they were walking for a little bit, Darius wanted to ask a thousand different questions. But if they wanted to get home safe, they would need to play their cards just right. Suddenly, Mae put her arms up. "Quick announcement time. Whatever you do, do NOT go down there." She pointed to a ditch that lead to a super dark area. "Super dangerous." The teens nodded in understanding. "All right, back to it." Her cheery voice came back almost as quickly as it left. A little more walking, and they came across a waterfall. "We're here." she said.

The kids followed her to another door from earlier. Mae opened the door, and revealed a VERY luxurious apartment. "Wow. As far as caves go, THIS one has got to be the best one we've stayed at." Sammy said as she and the others made themselves comfortable on the couch and chairs.

Mae spoke again. "A stupid question, really. But are you guys hungry? I'm going to make myself a sandwich. I'll just make enough for all of you. Just in case."

As soon as the woman left for the kitchen, the six teens started to search around. Mitch and Tiff were still fresh in their minds. They didn't want to be lied to again. But they found nothing. Darius found the desk that he thought Mae worked at. "No phone. I think she's telling the truth." Darius told everyone. They sighed.

Sammy had found a bunch of papers on the desk. She gasped, and showed it to her friends. "Mantah Corp." The kids gasped as well.

Before anybody could think of what to do, Mae came back. "Here you all are. A couple of sandwiches for you guys whenever you get hungry." The teens sat down at the table. They decided that if they were going to be running again, they needed to regain some strength back. Mae noticed that they were very quiet. "Is there something wrong?"

Yaz perked up. "Yes. We would like to ask you about-"

"Something to drink?" Brooklynn interrupted smoothly.

Mae gasped. "Oh, of COURSE. You need cocoa." Mae turned back to the kitchen again.

Brooklynn whispered, "We need to go. If Mae is working for Mantah Corp, then we need to get out of here."

Sammy answered, "Maybe not."

Brooklynn looked at her with confusion. "But Mae works for the same company that blackmailed your family."

"Well, so did I." Sammy countered. They had to admit she had a point. "Sometimes, bad people prey on good people to do bad things for them."

"We should think about checking out that 'dangerous area' she was talking about." Ben said.

Darius shook his head. "Someone should ask her about medical supplies. I'm going to be pretty much useless until my chest heals fully."

Yaz grinned. "Okay. Me, Ben, and Kenji will check out the dangerous thing. Brooklynn, patch Darius up. Sammy, find out what you can." When nobody was looking, Yaz gave Darius a wink. The older teen gave her a confused look.

The three teens left the living room just as Mae was coming around the corner. "Bad news, I only had two cups. But the good news is, with the right attitude, a bowl CAN be a cup." The older woman noticed that three were missing. "Where's the other girl and guys?"

Darius quickly lied on the spot. "Checking the perimeter. A habit we got into when we were exploring any new place on Nublar. They should be back in a little bit."

Mae nodded. Brooklynn asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any medical supplies lying around, would you doc? He got part of his chest cut up when facing the tiger." she explained.

Mae nodded. "I may even have a small sewing kit you can use." The older woman came back with medical supplies. "Do you know how to do this?"

Brooklynn said yes. "I've patched him up so many times before this." Brooklynn motioned for Darius to take off what once was his shirt. The girl motioned for him to sit on the couch. He did. She got a good look at it. "It's not even close to being healed. No infections either." She looked at the shirt, and saw that it was bloody. Even after cleaning the cuts with alcohol, she was going to need a lot more than what she had. Brooklynn got out the sewing needle, and the sew. After she had gotten it attached, she said, "You're going to have to be calm. Okay?" He nodded.

Brooklynn took out the knife that she never gave back. She cut his cuts open again. Not a whole lot, just enough for his blood to cleanse itself. Darius groaned in pain. The cuts were VERY bad. The blood started flowing again, which was okay. Brooklynn got to work on stitching up his three scars up. She shushed him whenever he got into a certain amount of pain. When he asked her to stop, she stopped, and let him catch his breath. "You know, if the YouTube thing doesn't work out, you should think about becoming a nurse." Darius quipped.

Brooklynn chuckled. The mini operation went on for a few minutes. She was almost through with stitching the final one of his scars. "When you're done with this, girls are going to be lining up for see you're scars." Darius smiled again. They locked eyes with each other, forgetting about Darius's stitches. Their thoughts were pulled back to reality when an alarm blared from the table.

Mae stepped away from Sammy, and read the screen. "'Unauthorized life form located in sector four? Intiating Elimination Protocol?' THAT sounds dangerous."

Darius quickly asked, "Where is sector four?"

"By that super dangerous place I told you not to go to." Mae answered. Darius fought to hold back a groan and a facepalm. "Why do you ask?"

Darius spoke fast. "We lied. The others went to check out the dangerous area. THEY are the unauthorized life forms!"

Mae ran out of the mini apartment. Sammy chased after her. Darius was about to run too, but Brooklynn kept him on the couch. "YOU of all people should NOT be running. It will just break the stitches." Darius sighed. Brooklynn finished up stitching his chest. She looked in the freezer Mae had, and got out a couple of frozen veggie packets. She handed them to him, and he set it on the wound. He didn't realize how hot he had gotten. The coolness felt amazing. A few minutes later, Mae came back with Sammy and the others.

Mae directed them to where Brooklynn and Darius sat. She stood up. "What did I tell you about going down to the dangerous place?"

"We know that it's a feeding area." Yaz said. "You can stop calling the dangerous place."

"Why?" Mae asked. "Does 'dangerous' not register with you anymore?" She sighed before she could say anything else.

"That's actually why we checked it out in the first place." Ben told her.

Before things could get any more heated, Sammy spoke up. "The reason why I was at Camp Cretaceous in the first place was because I was a spy for Mantah Corp." Mae turned her head. "They had blackmailed my family, so I agreed with them. And then everything went wrong on Nublar. First the Indominus, then we had to deal with hunters, and then ANOTHER dinosaur hybrid. We've just developed trust issues for anybody but each other. And after everything Mantah Corp said they would do to my family, could you blame us for not trusting you?"

Mae had sat down, and was thinking about what Sammy was saying. "No. I don't think I can. But the work I do is good. I study dinosaur brains to help anticipate their needs, get a better understanding of their behaviors. How could any of that be bad?"

"Five minutes ago, you thought those BRADs were just a puppy version of DUM-E. Turns out they're just the Pitbull version of Ultron." Kenji said.

Brooklynn groaned. "If I have to go through ANOTHER day of super hero movie references, I'm going to lose it."

"What's a BRAD?" Darius asked. He felt like he was missing something.

"They're robots that are programed to protect the biomes." Mae said. "I don't think The Thinker could have even predicted that six kids and a Compy would show up unannounced."

Darius looked at Yaz and Ben. "The little bugger followed us from the beach? Nice. Where's he now?"

Kenji said, "Blown to bits by the Ultron Pitbull."

"Rest in peace Little Bugger." Darius muttered sadly.

Mae's tablet beeped a less threatening beep. "Almost feeding time."

As she got up, Darius said, "The Uber Eats driver better have my steak."

Brooklynn put a hand on his shoulder. "Just let it go."

"Dinner time for the T. Rexes." Mae clarified. "Part of my job is to observe mother-daughter eating habits. It's actually surprisingly sweet." She looked at the group, but her eyes landed on Darius. "Until I can find a way to keep you safe, stay here. The BRADs aren't allowed to enter my living quarters." With that, Mae left.

Once the doors shut completely, the group looked at each other. Darius said, "Sammy, Kenji, tail her. The rest of us will stay here." The two teens raced after her.

Another one! Thank you so much for reading you guys. Hope you have a good day, stay home, stay safe.