"No, no. Bad idea, bad idea," Gray said urgently as they peddled through the forest.
"Great idea!" Zach smiled.
"No! We're gonna get arrested. They'll shave our heads, and we're gonna have to make root beer in the toilet."
"What are you talking about?"
"Gray, I think you've been watching a little too much TV," Aria laughed, nervously looking around her. "Pick up a book next time."
Zach pushed them forward a little more until they saw four dinosaurs eating some of the leaves and the grass.
"There," Zach said. "You see? I told you. You're welcome. Up close and personal with four…'dinosauruses'."
Aria laughed a little at Zach's pathetic inability to know what the dinosaurs were really called.
"Ankylosaurus," Gray corrected. "We shouldn't be here. And there's five dinosaurs."
"Aren't you supposed to be a genius or something? Look. One, two, three, four."
Gray pointed at a reflection on the front of the sphere. "Five."
Aria's stomach flipped significantly as the three of them slowly turned around to find a huge dinosaur rising above them that was unlike any dinosaur Aria had ever seen and was clearly a carnivore that now wanted to devour them. Then it opened its mouth wider than any dinosaur should have the ability to do and let out a huge roar.
"Go, go, go!" Gray screamed.
Zach tried to move the gyrosphere, but the dinosaur hit it with its foot, sending them all spinning across the forest floor and knocking them into several of the other dinosaurs like a pinball machine.
"Hold it together, man!" Zach cried to a screaming Gray.
Aria shut her eyes and tried to hold down what little food was inside of her. They finally stopped spinning when the dinosaur came near them again.
"Drive! Drive! Go!" Gray and Aria screamed to Zach.
Zach began moving the gyrosphere away, but one of the dinosaurs' tails rammed into it which propelled them into a tree and flipped them upside down. When Zach tried to move the joystick, nothing happened. They were stuck.
They all watched in horror as the huge dinosaur fought with the remaining Ankylosaurus. It tried to bite the shell, but quickly realized it couldn't break through the hard surface. Instead, it managed to flip the shell over before biting the Ankylosaurus's head with a loud sickening crack. Gray and Aria looked away, the sounds being enough.
"We're safe in here, right?" Gray asked.
"Yeah, they're totally safe," Zach whispered, though it didn't sound like he totally believed what he was saying.
Zach's phone, which had fallen to the ceiling of the gyrosphere, started vibrating fiercely, his Aunt Claire's face filling the screen.
"Zach!" Aria said urgently. "Get the phone, get the phone, get the phone, get the phone!"
The two of them started attempting to grab the phone before it drew the attention of the dinosaur.
"Zach. Aria," Gray whispered.
"I almost got it," Zach said.
"Zach?"
"Yeah?"
"Look."
Zach and Aria looked up to find the evil eye of the dinosaur staring into the gyrosphere, pleased with finding its next meal.
"We are so dead," Aria whispered.
The dinosaur turned the sphere around and then began moving it back to the upright position. One of its claws burst right through the supposedly unbreakable glass, making all of the passengers' hearts skip several beats. The dinosaur stared at them angrily and hungrily at the same time.
It opened its mouth and came straight for them. Aria knew then that she was looking at the very face of death. All three of them began screaming as the dinosaur's mouth tried to get them through the glass. At first, it was unsuccessful. But then its teeth clamped down into the gyrosphere and hefted the whole thing up into the air. Then it slammed it back onto the ground, breaking the glass behind them and nearly giving them all whiplash.
Aria watched as Zach began to undo his and Gray's seatbelts, and she followed suit. When the gyrosphere slammed down for the third time, the three of them managed to slip out of it. Zach covered Gray and Aria as the dinosaur slammed the jagged gyrosphere down over them.
"Go! Go!" Zach screamed. The three of them took off running as fast as they possibly could. No one knew exactly where they were headed as long as it was away from the dinosaur. They made it into a clearing, and just when they thought they were safe, the dinosaur came barreling through the trees.
Aria ran as fast as she could, though her lungs were giving her a lot of grief. They stopped running when they came to the edge of a waterfall.
"We're gonna have to jump," Zach said, seeing no other option.
"I can't," Gray panicked.
"Are you ready? One, two—Come on!"
The three of them jumped off the cliff just as the dinosaur was about to catch them. Aria plunged into the water, her lungs crying out for mercy. She forced her eyes open, feeling the horrid sting as the water came in contact with them. A hand on her foot pulled her down further into the water, and she saw Zach with a finger over his lips again. She desperately needed air, but she knew she couldn't do anything until the dinosaur was gone. Air could wait if it meant not getting eaten.
Finally, the dinosaur retreated from the waterfall and they all broke the surface, gasping for breath.
Zach pulled Aria and Gray up to the bank. Gray quietly whimpered and Zach looked over at him.
"You jumped."
The both of them began laughing and Zach pulled his brother close to him.
Their moment of victory abruptly ended when Zach heard gasping next to him, and turned to find Aria on the ground, unable to breathe properly.
"Oh, crap!" he exclaimed. He quickly leaned over her. "Aria, where's—where's your inhaler?"
"It's…in my bag," she gasped. "Back there."
"Dang it," Zach muttered. "Okay. Aria, you've been through this before, alright? Sit up." He gently helped her up off the ground and got her up into a sitting position. She was gasping heavily for breath, and he knew that he had to do something soon if he wanted her to live. "Take my hands." Aria grabbed onto Zack's hands and squeezed them so hard that they started shaking, but he didn't even notice the pain. "Focus on your breathing, okay? Close your eyes and think of yourself on the beach with the gentle ocean behind you and the warm sand beneath you. Okay? Now breathe with me."
Zach began breathing slowly for her so she could copy his technique. It took some time, but eventually Aria was able to get her breathing back to a somewhat normal pace. It would have to do until she could get some kind of medication.
When Aria opened her eyes again, she realized how close Zach was to her. Their foreheads were almost touching. In fact, they were actually close enough to…
"Good," Zach said, shaking her out of her moment. "Come on. We have to keep moving."
He helped her stand up and the three of them began making the trek to somehow get back to the park.