A/N: I know what you're thinking. What's up with the title? Well, I decided to get into the alphabet challenge, or whatever it's called when you try to get a story starting with each letter of the alphabet, and do you know how hard it is to find a good "X" word? Anyway, Xoompin is a funny word for going over bumps, which describes this story pretty well. And, as of today and yesterday's stories, I'm now missing only one letter to the alphabet!

Ben dreamed that he was laying on a cloud. It was uncomfortable.

Ben shifted, sleepily feeling for Bumpy's spikes. When his hand sunk into the softness, he grumbled and searched farther, eventually finding something hard and thin. Ben investigated the object, confusion waking him up until he opened his eyes.

In front of him was a rough wall of sticks jammed together and tied with vines. His hand was clutching a thin branch. Under him was a pile of moss and Jurassic World t-shirts.

Ben quickly lifted his head, halfway convinced that the previous day had been a dream. But he was surrounded by the walls of the boys' rough hut, and Kenji was snoring in another nest nearby. A third, empty nest belonged to Darius. Otherwise, the hut was empty.

Ben rolled onto his back. The sun was barely up, it's dim light filtering through the leafy roof. Of course, Ben was used to getting up with the sun, as Blue had seemingly never slept.

Using the wall for support, Ben got out of his nest and stood. He cast about for a walking stick, but his hadn't been replaced. Sammy had insisted on helping him around, and the uneven walkways of logs and branches wouldn't have allowed a walking stick, anyway.

Ben finally limped to the entrance by leaning on the wall and mostly hopping on his good leg. He glanced at Kenji often, but the boy never stirred.

At the entrance, Ben was still stranded. He frowned at the walkway with nothing on which to lean, then sighed in defeat.

"Did you… need some help?"

Ben jumped at Yaz's hesitant question. He hadn't noticed the girl, who was sitting against the girls' hut, bundled in a green hoodie. Yaz rose halfway to her feet, uncertainty in her eyes.

"Um… yeah," Ben said after a moment. "I lost my walking stick."

Yaz stood the rest of the way, tucking her notebook under her arm. She went to Ben and put his arm across her shoulder to help him to a broad platform in the middle of camp.

On either side of the platform was the sleeping huts. Behind the platform, furthest from the clearing, was another hut to hold supplies the teens had gathered. A few tunnels were chopped into the surrounding foliage, which Ben had learned led to lookout posts. Ben had learned the previous night that the entire campe was collectively called the Treehouse.

"Where do you need to go?" Yaz asked.

"Ground," Ben said, wanting to see Bumpy.

Yaz hesitated. "We haven't had a chance to check the area yet."

Ben leaned toward the edge of the platform. He could see the herd of Sinoceratops grazing calmly.

"It's safe," Ben said confidently.

Yaz raised an eyebrow, but helped him to the rough ladder of small logs nailed to the trunk of one of the trees. Ben sat and considered the best way down.

"Where'd you get the nails?" Ben asked.

"Maintenance closets at the park," Yaz said. "We found tools, and Brooklynn and Kenji found a knife there, too."

"The pteranodons didn't attack you?" Ben asked.

"They did the first time," Yaz said. "We were going to camp out in the park, but the lights attracted the pteranodons outside, and small dinosaurs inside the buildings. And during the daytime, Rexy's taken over."

"Rexy?" Ben watched a Sinoceratops swing her head toward the trees. "You mean the T. Rex?"

"Yeah. Darius came up with that one. You okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're just… staring."

The Sinoceratops returned to grazing, so Ben turned his gaze to Yaz. "Just keeping a lookout."

"Oh." Yaz looked at the field, then Ben. "You still want to go down?"

Ben nodded eagerly.

"Try just using your hands and good foot," Yaz suggested. "You have to kind of hop backwards and down. It's strange, but it works."

Ben tried to follow Yaz's instructions, but his climb was more of a semi-controlled plummet. He had splinters in both palms and his butt was sore from sitting hard on his landing, but he was at least one the ground.

Ben heard Bumpy's roar and turned with a grin. The young Ankylosaurus barreled over to Ben, stopping inches from flattening him.

Ben laughed. "Okay, easy, girl. Did you miss me?"

Bumpy groaned and flopped to the ground with her head on Ben's lap, making Ben laugh again.

Yaz landed lightly beside Ben. "Wow, she sure missed you."

"It's the first time we've been apart for awhile. Maybe she was just lonely without me and Blue."

"You really traveled with Blue?" Yaz asked.

"Sure. She's the only reason the two of us are still alive." Ben waved at his bad leg. "I kept reopening the wound the first couple days; something would have eaten me if it hadn't been for Blue."

"I'd have thought Blue would have eaten you," Yaz murmured. "Er, no offense to her, but she did almost attack Darius and Kenji."

"I was surprised, too," Ben said, rubbing Bumpy's head. "But I think she lost the others in her pack and was just lonely."

"I may never understand dinosaurs," Yaz said, shrugging. "Think you can walk?"

"I'll ride on Bumpy," Ben said. He added a bit sheepishly, "It'll be better if I could find a walking stick so you guys don't have to walk me all over."

Yaz hummed in thought. "Or a crutch. We cleared a bit of the nurse station last week, and I think I remember seeing some crutches there. Some of us can make a supply run today and get you crutches."

Ben perked up. "Can I come?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Yaz said. "You can't walk."

"I can ride Bumpy."

"No. She'd be too loud and we rely on stealth on supply runs."

Ben opened his mouth to ask why, then remembered the teens were armed with only wooden spears and a couple knives.

"Maybe next time?" Ben asked hopefully.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Yaz said. "Come here. I'll introduce you to Sammy's Sinos."

Sammy had a trio of Sinoceratops she'd befriended well enough to stick around the team. Yaz explained that Darius suspected some of the dinosaurs bonded well with humans since they were all raised in captivity. Sammy had named the Sinos of her little herd Eema, Neera, and Baylene.

The teens hadn't been able to do much to the Treehouse besides the huts, but Yaz showed Ben some of the trees with piles of wood at the base. These trees would eventually work as bolt holes in case a carnivore cut one of the team off from the main camp.

When Ben, Bumpy, and Yaz were on the other side of the clearing, there was a sudden shout from the Treehouse.

"That's Darius!" Yaz said. "Come on!"

Ben was grateful to still be riding Bumpy. The young Ankylosaurus easily kept pace with Yaz's sprint across the clearing.

Ben squinted at the Sino herd. They were still calm and grazing, even though Darius had sounded alarmed. Even Bumpy acted excited, as though Yaz was just racing.

Before long, the trio reached the ladder. Ben still felt there was no cause for alarm, but climbed as quickly as he could manage after urging Bumpy into the woods. Going up was even harder, despite the arm strength Ben had gained using a walking stick. If a carnivore had been nearby, Ben wouldn't have made it halfway.

Still, Ben was proud of himself when he finally hauled himself onto the platform. He collapsed on his back, grinning at Yaz when she emerged beside him.

"What did you see, Darius?" Yaz called.

Footsteps clattered over the bridges. Ben rolled onto his stomach and saw the rest of the teens hurrying toward them.

"What were you doing down there?" Darius demanded. "You know we haven't checked the perimeter!"

"We were doing that," Yaz said, sounding as confused as Ben felt. "And we didn't see anything."

"Yeah, and Bumpy-"

"Can't fight Spike or the Indominus," Brooklynn interjected. "What if Rexy had attacked?"

"Bumpy would have warned us," Ben said, still not understanding why the four were staring at him like he was crazy. "What?"

"You and Bumpy talk now?" Kenji asked with a smile.

Ben clenched his jaw and didn't answer.

"We have to be careful," Sammy said in a consoling tone. "We don't want to lose you again, Ben."

"You won't," Ben assured her. "If you'll let me show you-"

"No," Darius snapped. He turned and limped away, saying, "Until your leg heals, stay off the ground."

"Like you were yesterday?" Ben asked before he could stop himself.

Darius halted. Without turning, he said, "You heard me," then kept limping away.

Ben narrowed his eyes at Darius' back, silently determining that he would prove Darius wrong.

A/N: Next up is Stand Tall, the official sequel for The Lost Ones. It's mostly written (maybe; the beginning feels weak) and is going to be divided into chapters, most likely.

Can anyone guess where I got the names for Sammy's Sinos?