Chapter 8
Author Note: Hello everyone back once again with a new chapter for this story. First off I would like to thank everyone that Favorited, Followed and Reviewed as we have now hit over 400 Favs and Follows WooHoo! Now lets hit 550 lol!.
Have to admit I am kinda surprised that so many of you knew about the Telltale Jurassic Park Game.
Also a little bit of a side note…I apologize for the dip in quality for a section of this chapter. I won't specify which part it is as it's pretty clear. The dip in quality is because I was having a lot of trouble with the events of the scene.
Anyway let's get this chapter underway shall we…
The moment they saw Naruto's body hit the ground the others rushed over in worry for their friend and leader "Hey Naruto c'mon wake up" Kenji says shaking the blonde slightly trying to rouse him.
"Outta the way Kenji!" Brooklynn snaps, nearly shoving the older teen aside as she kneels down to place her fingers on his neck and check for a pulse "The good news is Naruto still has a pulse. The bad news is that it's alternating like crazy which can't be good for him" she says after detecting a pulse signifying the blonde was still alive…for now.
"What do you mean it's alternating?" Sammy asks in confusion by the pinkette's statement.
"I mean that it's going from beating so fast it feels like he has a car engine in his neck, to beating so slowly that it's hard to tell if it's beating at all" Brooklynn says with a shake of her head. "Neither is good as if it beats too fast for too long he could go into cardiac arrest, and if it beats too slow he runs the risk of blood clots forming in his veins" the girl adds causing the eyes of the others to widen in horror.
Yasmina visibly trembles hearing this before turning to Darius "Darius you know the most about the Troodon what do we do?" she asks the dino loving teen.
Darius rubs his temples and runs his hands through his hair as he tries to think "Troodons have a venomous bite similar to that of a Komodo Dragon. It first causes hallucinations and fatigue before moving on to causing full on paralysis and later brain death due to it being a mix of neurotoxins. However based on what Naruto said, his unique physiology, and how long it's been since he bit we might have anywhere from 12-24 hours before he reaches the final stages of the bite. However, it's possible that the venom has mutated as a result of the living and breeding conditions he said the Troodons were in. We have no idea if my estimate is accurate. Back in the old park there was a brief encounter with Trodons and someone was bitten. From what I remember they treated the bite with a very powerful tranquilizer" the boy explains as he racks his brain for everything he knew regarding Troodons.
"So we just need to find a tranquilizer and inject him with it right?" Yaz asks in a scared tone.
"In theory, yes but it's not that simple. Too big a dose and we run the risk of it shutting down his heart and killing him. However, too little of a dose and it won't be able to combat the venom. We also have no idea what size dose we should give him so it will be a complete shot in the dark for us and we just have to hope for the best" Darius explains with a worried shake of his head.
"Where are we even going to get a tranquilizer anyway? It's not like we can just walk onto main street and stop at a drugstore" Kenji states in a slightly panicked tone.
Hearing this caused the rest of the group to try and think where they would be able to find one. However their thinking was broken when they heard "A….C…U" whispered out from Naruto through labored breaths as his body shook and spasmed a bit, his face twisted in pain with his eyes shut while he shakily managed to draw a small box with a circle under it in the dirt. Seeing this Yaz knelt down and held him to her body to try and stop his shaking and prevent him from hurting himself.
"So we just need to get to the ACU base right?" Sammy asks, trying to be hopeful in the dire situation.
Darius thinks on this for a moment before his eyes widen as he realizes something "No we just need to get to the ACU van we used!" suddenly exclaims figuring out what the drawing in the dirt was and shocking the others.
Kenji suddenly realizes what Darius is talking about "That's right! All ACU vans have a case of tranquilizers located in them usually underneath the seats in the back. All we need to do is get to the van and grab it, then inject Naruto with it" he points out, getting nods from the others.
"Well then what are we waiting for, let's go get that case!" Sammy yells out not wanting to waste any time given how they had no idea how long Naruto's body would be able to handle the venom before shutting down.
"No…morn…ing" Naruto wheezes out before passing out again with Yaz still clutching his body, a horrified look on her face at how sickly he is.
"He's right…" Brooklyn said through gritted teeth causing the others to snap their attention to her.
"What the hell does that mean!?" Yaz snaps at the social media star, her tone filled with anger at the statement said girl made.
"It means that he is telling us to wait until morning before we head out to the van because of how dangerous it is to go out at night! Even despite how sick he is, Naruto doesn't want us to risk our safety even more than we already are! Heading out now in the dark when have no idea what killer dino could be lurking around a random bush is insane, and he doesn't want us to take that risk!" Brooklynn snaps back at the track star "You're not the only one that is worried about him Yaz, we all are. However, going out there half-cocked will only lead to us getting ourselves potentially hurt or killed and thus making our attempt to save Naruto pointless and fail as a result!" she adds, causing Yaz to look down at the teen in her arms in worry.
"We will take turns looking after him throughout the night, and then at first light Kenji, Brooklynn, and I will head out to get the tranquilizer from the van. Sammy, Yaz the two of you will stay here and look after Naruto while we're gone. Sammy with you living on a farm you likely have the most medical knowledge among us and Yaz is still injured" Darius says formulating a plan of action for the group.
"I doubt looking after cattle will compare to looking after someone suffering from a nasty poison dino bite but I will do my best" Sammy says with a determined look though she honestly wasn't sure what she would be able to do in the situation.
"Alright so we know what we need to do. Let's get some rest now so that we can leave at first light. Yaz, Sammy you two should sleep in shifts tonight while the other watches over Naruto" Darius says laying out their plan getting a nod from the others before they go about getting some sleep with Yaz taking the first watch over Naruto.
(Next Morning)
Just as the campers had planned Kenji, Brooklynn, and Darius left to go get the tranquilizer from the ACU Van, while Sammy and Yaz kept watch over Naruto. Yaz was currently sitting with the blonde's head in her lap dabbing at his sweaty forehead with a damp cloth trying to ease the fever that he had developed.
"How's he doing?" Sammy asked, walking over with a worried look on her face and a small bucket of cold water from the nearby river for Yaz to dip the cloth in.
"He's getting worse fast. His fever is not breaking, he's having muscles spasms, and I think he is starting to lose feeling in some of limbs as at first he reacted to when I touched them but he hasn't been for the last half hour or so" Yaz says listing off everything she has noticed while looking after the blonde. The track star was growing more and more worried with every passing minute that the others were gone as Naruto's condition was deteriorating fast.
"Everything is going to be okay Yaz" Sammy says, placing her hand on the other girl's shoulder to try and reassure her.
"How do you know that Sammy!" Yaz snaps at the girl causing her eyes to widen in shock "We have no idea when Darius and the others will be back. Or if they will be able to find the tranquilizer. Oh or if the tranquilizer will even work and not just kill Naruto outright!" She rants off her emotions laid bare and in the open as she lists her fears.
"Your right I don't know that everything will be okay, but focusing on 'what if's' won't do any good and it's better to be positive or optimistic than only thinking of the bad as that only makes you feel worse" Sammy says with a small smile trying to help her.
Yaz thinks over what Sammy said and has to admit the cowgirl had a point. The athlete's thoughts had been plagued by what if's ever since Naruto was hurt and it had been making her more and more stressed. Taking a few calming deep breaths the trackstar calms down and turns her attention back to the blonde with his head in her lap and resumes dabbing at his with the rag as Sammy just smiles and goes back to keeping an eye out for the others or any threats.
(With Kenji, Darius, and Brooklynn)
The three teens had left camp at first light and were nearing the ACU van. Thankfully they hadn't run into any danger yet "We should be just about there…I think" Darius says looking around at the surrounding area.
"Yeah the van should be right over…there!" Brooklynn says pointing off to the side where the van is located and is still wedged up against the rock that they had crashed into.
The trio quickly rush over to the van and open the back doors before they search for the case containing their goal. After a minute or two of them essentially tearing apart the back of the van Kenji let out a shout of "I found it!" and pulled out a small black case from under the passenger side seat.
After he handed the case to Brooklynn the girl opened it and she saw what was in it causing her eyes to widen "YES! This is just what we need, and there is even an additional syringe of adrenaline" she says before closing the case "We have the tranquilizer, and adrenaline should we need it so let's hurry back!" the girl adds before the three start running back to camp.
(Back at Camp)
Yaz and Sammy looked on with worried looks as Naruto's breathing became ragged and shallow. The two were clearly able to tell that the blonde was struggling heavily to breath indicating that the venom was entering its final stage.
However the girl's attention was suddenly diverted from the dying blonde to the edge of camp when they heard a shout of "WE GOT IT!" and turned to see Brooklynn, Darius and Kenji running towards them with the girl carrying a small black case in her arms.
The trio quickly reached where the others were with Brooklynn getting out the tranquilizer "How's he doing?" Darius asks, looking at Naruto.
"Not good, his breathing has become really ragged and shallow" Yaz says, still cradling the blonde's head in her lap.
"That's bad it means the venom has begun shutting down his respiratory system. Hopefully the tranquilizer will work as if it doesn't…" Darius says grimly leaving the sentence open ended as it wasn't hard to imagine what would happen should the tranquilizer not work.
"Alright I have the tranquilizer all set I just need access to his thigh" Brooklynn says holding the prepped needle up. Kenji helps roll up the blonde's left pants leg as Brooklynn starts feeling around Naruto's thigh "Dammit where is his femoral artery?" the pinkette mutters trying to find it.
"Whoa wait you're injecting it into an artery? Shouldn't you inject it into a vein?" Sammy says, her eyes widening at the girl's words.
"There is no time. With how fast his condition has deteriorated there the tranquilizer wouldn't have enough time to fully combat the venom if I injected it into a vein. And I have to inject it into his thigh instead of say his arm or neck as that way it will hopefully have just enough time for the tranquilizer to dilute partially so that it doesn't cause him to overdose…there!" Brooklynn says before finding what she had been looking for and injecting the contents of the needle into it.
The campers watched in silence and listened to Naruto's breathing for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly the blonde's breathing didn't sound ragged or shallow anymore as it returned to normal causing their eyes to widen in happiness and relief at their success. However that relief suddenly turned into horror when the blonde's breathing stopped "SHIT IT WAS TOO MUCH!" Brooklynn shouts as she reaches over to the case to grab the shot of adrenaline. Turning back to the others, the girl ripped the cap off the epi-pen style injector "KENJI DARIUS HOLD HIM DOWN AND STEADY!" the girl yells as the two boys do just that. Brooklynn acted fast, jamming the shot of adrenaline into Naruto's chest.
For a moment nothing happened and then the blonde's eyes shot open and he sat up straight throwing Kenji and Darius to the ground "YAZ HAS A SEXY ASS AND THIGHS!" he yells loudly before blinking a couple times and laying back down before he started snoring lightly.
"ummm" Darius says as he and the others have wide eyes with Yaz's whole face being a crimson blush as she stares at the lightly snoring blonde whose head was in her lap again.
"Mmm her breasts are nice too~"Naruto mumbles in his sleep causing as he seems to almost cuddle against her thighs Yaz to blush even more as they were all in shock by what just happened.
The silence was broken by Kenji who first snorted before he fell to the ground laughing his ass off which after a moment or two caused Brooklynn, Darius, and Sammy to start laughing with even Yaz let out a slight chuckle.
After getting their laughter under control Brooklynn lets out a sigh "Well with that rather…revealing look into Naruto's thoughts that confirm he is in fact just like any other teenage boy despite him being part dinosaur. I think I can safely say that he is going to be okay" she says with a shake of her head and an amused smile on her face.
Hearing this the others let out a sigh of relief as they watched the blonde sleep. As she watched the blonde peacefully sleep Yaz smiled softly as she thought about what he had said "Idiot" she thought to herself though she was internally happy that he thought she was sexy.
(Timeskip)
It was early morning and while some of the campers were still asleep others were already up and about. Darius for example was among the latter as he laid on the ground drawing a small group of compys that were sleeping on a towel in a small pile in the small notebook he had found at the field vet station.
However the little reptiles were suddenly rudely awakened by Kenji stomping over and shooing them away "Shoo, you retro iguanas!" he yells out scaring off the little dinosaurs before grabbing the towel and shaking the dirt off getting a deadpan look from Darius for the interruption.
Seeing his sketch subjects gone Darius got up off of the ground and followed Kenji up the makeshift ladder the campers had made on the side of their pseudo-tree fort platform base that they had cobbled together out of the ruined camp. Reaching the top of the platform Darius takes a seat on the makeshift couch and begins flipping through his field guide.
Meanwhile Kenji had stripped down to his boxers and walks into the makeshift shower that the campers had cobbled together and turns on the water only to let out a yelp "Yagh! Doesn't this water ever get warm? We are in the tropics for pete's sake!" the asian teen yells out.
As this was happening Yaz was slowly making her way down the small staircase the makeshift base had with an improvised splint composed of two pieces of bark held together by vines wrapped around her injured ankle. The track star passed by the still somewhat sleeping Brooklynn who was trying to get another five more minutes of sleep, and Sammy who was trying to open a can of fruit…with an ice cream scoop.
"Ahh come on!" The southern girl says in frustration as she pounds at the top of the can with the scoop before giving in to her frustrations and tosses the can aside, only for it to roll across the platform and into the back of Yaz's injured leg "Oops sorry Yaz!" the girl suddenly says in apology.
"It's cool" Yaz says with a shrug as it didn;t hurt her before she takes a fossilized dinosaur claw and creates another tally mark on a chalkboard next to several others. "Day 22" the girl says to herself As the girl steps away from the board and sits on the couch next to Darius she looks around "Where's Naruto?" she asks not seeing the blonde anywhere.
"He got up really early and made a quick supply run to Main Street and should be back anytime now" Darius says looking up from his field guide.
Yaz raises an eyebrow at this as it means he must have woken up REALLY early then. She was about to say something when "Someone say my name?" is heard as Naruto's head peeks up over the edge of the platform as he reaches the top of the ladder.
"Yeah Yaz was just asking where you were" Sammy says with a small barely noticeable smile on her face as she gives said girl a knowing look. The result being Yaz giving her a slightly narrowed look in return.
"Ah okay" the blonde says as he fully climbs up onto the platform with a backpack on.
"How did the supply run go?" Yaz asks with a raised eyebrow as she could tell the backpack was stuffed full given how it bulged out.
"Went alright, had to take a detour as I ran across Toro munching on a Parasaur kill. I gotta tell ya we did a number on the bastard as he is covered in nasty burn wounds some of which are super gnarly looking and likely infected" Naruto says with a grimace as it was not a very pretty sight to see basically two-thirds of the dinosaurs body be a giant mess of burnt flesh and muscle and leaking puss.
"Oh gross and wait 'He'?" Sammy says with a look of disgust on her face before raising an eyebrow at the terminology Naruto used to describe the dinosaur.
"Yeah Toro is a he now something I can confirm as I saw his dangly bits when he took a leak while eating. I guess some of the dinosaurs are going through the whole sex change thing like in the previous park" Naruto says with a shrug as he really didn't need to see Toro's dick.
"That's amazing!" Darius yells in excitement at the reveal.
"Heh Life will find a way" Yaz says with a smirk as she leans back into the couch.
"Yes yes Malcolm was once again proven right…But if you start acting like him Yaz we're going to have an issue. Don't get me wrong I respect the guy but damn he can be insufferable to be around" Naruto says with a deadpan look on his face directed at the girl. The blonde had met Ian Malcom a couple times and that was honestly more than enough for a lifetime.
Yaz gained a smirk hearing this as she brought her hands together in an almost cradle-like formation not unsimilar to a certain history channel meme and with a large grin on her face says "Chaos Theory" causing Naruto to just slump his shoulders while the others laugh.
"Anyway moving on for the sake of my sanity I come bearing booty!" Naruto says dramatically as he pulls his backpack off and unzips it before tossing a couple bags of chips and some cans of soup onto the makeshift table in front of the couch. He then pulls out a six pack of soda cans and sets them down next to the chips." causing the campers to let out a cheer before Naruto cuts their celebrating short with his next statement "Main Street is starting to run out of food for us to scavenge as between stuff either spoiling or compys getting into everything there isn't much left unless we find more canned food. Also this next bit is just for the girls. I did manage to find some…Items…that you will need" he says, causing the campers to deflate a bit.
Yaz, Sammy, and a now awake Brooklynn give him a grateful nod as they really weren't looking forward to having to deal with certain feminine issues without said supplies. Naruto was about to say something else only for an empty five gallon water jug to go bouncing by courtesy of Kenji throwing it from the shower "No mas agua…a little help." the teen says with a sigh from behind the makeshift shower curtain.
"I got ya Kenj" Darius says, putting his notebook down and getting up to grab the empty jug so he can refill it.
"You know if you keep doing that for him he will never learn to do it for himself" Yaz says with a roll of her eyes getting a shrug from Darius as he picks up the jug and slides down the slide on the side of their base.
"I agree with you Yaz but the alternative this time would be Kenji walking out here past all of us butt naked" Naruto points out before pointing towards the shower door where the asian teen's boxers are hanging from.
"Eww gross Kenji you know the rule no nakedness in the shower while others are around!" Brooklyn says her face scrunching up in disgust while Sammy blushes slightly, and Yaz shudders.
"Well excuse me for wanting to wash Kenji Jr, and the twins as they were getting rather funky from all this humidity" Kenji yells out from the shower, his hands being up in their air and visible to the others over the door.
"Dude…way too much info" Naruto says with a grimace while Yaz swallows some bile that had risen in her throat, Brooklyn actually hurls over the side of the base, and Sammy gags a bit.
Uh guys! You really need to see this!" Darius's voice is heard yelling from down below causing Naruto, Sammy, Brooklynn, and Yaz to rush down to him while Kenji lets out a groan and comes out of the shower, gets dressed and joins them.
Reaching Darius the other's look on in shock as he stands next to the river that runs along the outer edge of camp…or did at least. What was once a healthy flowing river had essentially completely dried up.
"That was not like that a few minutes ago" Naruto says, thinking over the various causes of what could have caused the river to dry up so rapidly.
"Yeah where did all the water go?" Samy asks, voicing the question that was on all of their minds.
"Why don't we ask Mr. 45 Minute Shower?" Yaz says sarcastically, giving Keni a side glance as he dries his hair with a towel.
"Hey, looking good is part of my brand. Also no way I drained a whole river, a hot tub or small pool yeah but definitely not a river" Kenji says in his defense with a shake of his head.
Naruto jumps down into the riverbed with Brooklynn sliding in after him as the two begin inspecting the ground. The blonde then walks a short way up the river bed looking for anything strange, while Brooklynn gets slightly distracted by hearing a faint humming noise.
"Guys we need to figure out what's up or we could run out of drinking water" Darius says to the others as Brooklynn looks off in the distance. "While this river isn't the only source of drinkable water on the island it is the most accessible to us and without we would have to either find water elsewhere and risk running into dinosaurs…or find a new spot to have a base" he says further stressing their need to figure out what's has caused the river to dry up.
"Shh!" Brooklynn suddenly says silencing them as Naruto rejoins the group "I hear that humming again" she says getting a sigh from the others given how much she had been fixated on the supposed noise the last few weeks. "The river must have been drowning it out. But now that the river isn't blocking it I can follow the sounds and-" she begins to say excitedly only to be interrupted.
"The frozen patch of flowers?" the others all say at the same time interrupting the pink haired girl.
"Oh I um mentioned it huh?" Brooklynn says awkwardly.
"The frozen flowers you saw once and have never been able to find since? Yeah you mentioned them a couple times" Naruto says with a deadpan look on his face.
"A day" Yaz adds also with a deadpan look on her face.
"For the last 20 days"Kenji finishes with a skeptical look on his face.
Seeing the looks actually causes Brooklynn to blink a few times in shock at hearing them say this "Uh I'm sorry for wanting to get to the bottom of all the weirdness on the island. I came to unbox-" begins to say only to once more get cut off.
"Unbox Jurassic World and that's what I'm gonna do" the others once more all say at the same time.
Seeing this Brooklynn opens her mouth to say something before closing it and giving them a deadpan look "If you're gonna go look for the noise, then I'll come to" Sammy says before walking over to stand beside her "If that's okay? It would be nice to have an adventure for a fun reason instead of a 'Fleeing dinosaurs or facing imminent death' reason" she adds, getting a nod in return.
"Great while you two do that the rest of us will figure out why the river stopped" Darius says with a grin.
"Actually Darius I have to go take care of something today that I have been putting off for to long so I won't be heading with you guys to solve the whole 'no water' mystery" Naruto says informing the others that he had something to take care of.
"I'll head with Naruto" Yaz says with a shrug as she really didn't feel like going with Kenji and Darius or Sammy and Brooklynn.
"Actually Yaz this is something I need to do by myself in order to put the issue to rest" Naruto says somewhat cryptically.
The track star is silent for a moment as she processes the blonde's words before it hits her what he is planning to do. Giving him a nod of understanding she walks over to Sammy and Brooklynn "Guess I will go with you two then" she says with a shrug.
"Oooh its a Camp Cretaceous Girl Adventure!" Sammy says excitedly as she practically bounces side to side.
"Right so the girls will look for Brooklynn's Frozen Flowers Mystery, Naruto will do whatever he needs to do, leaving Kenji and I to figure out our water problem" Darius says with a grin.
"Kenji do what now?" said teen asked, referring to himself in the third person.
"You wanna keep up your shower habit right, and also survive? Well then let's go unbox the mystery of the missing water!" Darius says in a spooky tone.
"Darius…never do that again. And with that I will see all of you later, and stay safe" Naruto says with a wave before he runs off into the jungle.
"Fine I guess I'm in. After all it makes sense as I know this island like the-" the asian teen begins to say only to get interrupted.
"Like the back of my VIP Hand" Sammy, Yasmina, Brooklynn, and Darius all say at the same time while also rolling their eyes all at the same time.
Kenji visibly shudders at the uniformity "Ugh we have been spending way too much time together" getting a chuckle from the others before they split up into their groups and head into the jungle as well.
(Kenji and Darius)
The two boys were following the dried up riverbed as they headed deeper into the jungle. They were keeping an eye out for any signs of what was the cause of the river drying up and of course for dinosaurs. Kenji had for some reason chosen to carry around a butterknife of all things for self defense. Darius had seen this and raised an eyebrow at the teens choice of a weapon but decided to not voice his thoughts on how ineffective it would be.
Darius meanwhile was carrying a tree branch and writing in his notebook about various things he was seeing like several trees. As a result of his focus being on his notebook he ended up accidentally bumping into Kenji's back with the end of the stick causing the older teen to jump in fright.
"Dude this is like the tenth tree on a tree you have written about. How can you be so obsessed with trees growing out of other trees?" Kenji asks in irritation at the younger teen's antics.
"These trees are part of the Triceratops food chain. Oh you'll love this, trees contain neochrome which-" Darius begins to excitedly say only for Kenji to interrupt him.
"Wasn't really looking for an answer dude" the asian teen says with a deadpan look on his face before walking over to the little bit of water still in the riverbed and filling an empty water bottle with it.
"Kenji, I know you like to pretend this place isn't cool but dude look around!" Darius says excitedly as he gestures to all around them "How crazy is it that we are straight up living with dinosaurs!?" he asks with a shout startling a small group of Parasaurolophus that were a bit further up the riverbed and causing them to run off. "When they're not trying to eat us of course" the teen adds with a slight nervous chuckle.
Darius then spots something a little bit aways and excitedly rushes over to said object which is a heavily steaming pile of dirt with several dinosaur eggs in it "Dinosaurs sometimes compete over geothermal vents to use as natural incubation chambers for their eggs!" he yells joyfully at the sight.
Kenji walks by with a deadpan look on his face at this "Dirt and steam may be a never-ending source of wonder for you, but my standards are a bit higher" the asian teen says with a roll of his eyes.
Hearing this the dino loving teen sighs heavily before getting up and running after Kenji "Broseph, only VIP dinos with mad connects can get primo egg cribs" he says in 'Bro-talk' which was really cringey.
"Darius we have talked about this multiple times…you can't do bro talk" Kenji replies as he walks past the teen who had stopped in place briefly.
Letting out another sigh Darius looks at Kenji's back as he follows after him "You know I feel bad for you. You can't see what makes this place amazing!" he says honestly feeling sorry that his fellow camper couldn't see how incredible the island was.
Hearing this Kenj stops walking and lets out a sigh "I have seen it. All of it like a gazillion times. Oh and those ferns growing on the trees that your so excited about…" he says before walking over to one of said trees and pulling down some of the ferns to reveal a speaker "They're just there to hide speakers" he says causing Darius's eyes to widen in shock "Sorry bro but I am just way over Isla Nublar there is nothing here for me anymore" Kenji finishes before walking off again.
Darius walks over to the tree and pulls the ferns down again to look at the speakers when Kenji calls out "Whoa Darius! You were right!" causing the boy to perk up and quickly run after his fellow camper. "I can't believe it, it's so amazing. It's, it's…a dead end! This place is the coolest" the asian teen says in a faked awestruck tone as he gestures to a cliffside with trickling waterfall going over the cliffside and down into the dry riverbed.
Walking over to the cliffside as he ignores Kenji's comments Darius looks at it intently "It's a waterfall or at least it should be. Whatever has caused the river to dry up must be up there" he figures out before grinning at Kenji "You know what this means…Rock climbing! How cool and exciting is that?" he asks excitedly only for Kenji to silently walk past him to the side of the cliff resulting in Darius letting out a sigh of defeat.
(Sammy, Yaz, Brooklynn)
The three girls had been walking for a bit as they tried to track down the source of the strange humming Brooklynn had heard. Said pink haired girl was in front carrying a baseball bat she had managed to find ahead of Yaz, and Sammy who were talking about various topics to pass the time.
"Okay so what's your favorite place?" Yaz asks Sammy with a raised eyebrow, figuring it must be her family's ranch given how she was willing to commit corporate espionage to try and save it.
"Oh that's easy High School" Sammy says with a smile and giggle.
"Your favorite place in the world is High School?" Yaz asks with a skeptical look on her face.
"Yeah! There's lockers, dances, passing notes in class, getting detention for passing notes in class" Sammy says listing things off before gaining a sly smirk at the end.
"No! School is where you go to do boring stuff before coming back to do it all over again five days a week" Yaz says with a shake of her head at how boring school was. Hearing this Sammy just gives Yaz a knowing smirk causing said girl to sigh in defeat "I may like square pizza day in the cafeteria"
"Oh please you told me your favorite is Orange, Orange, and Orange for your favorite color, food, and color of food" Sammy teases nudging the girl in the side causing the two to laugh at the joke, before Brooklynn slows her pace and starts walking beside them as she tries to awkwardly join in their laughter and conversation.
The two girls stopped laughing and raised their eyebrows at her "Oh wow yea, pizza is orange. So funny right?" Brooklynn says awkwardly.
"Oh um…No it was kinda something Yaz said before" Sammy says a bit awkwardly given the situation.
"Oh yeah cool cool" Broolkynn replies before she picks up her pace and starts walking in front of the two girls again.
Seeing how Brooklynn seems to be a bit bummed out and feeling awkward,Sammy silently nudges her head in Brooklynn's direction to Yaz. Knowing what the girl is trying to convey Yaz says and rolls her eyes "Hey Brooklynn what's your favorite thing about school?" she asks throwing her a bone so to speak to include her.
"Oh wow, um how to just pick one" Brooklynn says turning to look at them as she began walking backwards "I mean…I really love the big…food fights? Yeah the big food fights?" she says awkwardly causing the Sammy and Yaz to look at her strangely.
"Uh-uh, you've never been in a high school have you?" Yaz asks raising an eyebrow at the social media star's odd answer.
"Yeah no, a hundred percent online tutors" was the girl's response as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly "Oh but once I dropped a scone in front of the queen while making my 'Unboxing Buckingham Palace' video! Total food fight right?" Brooklynn adds with a slight smile on her face.
"Um yeah sure?" Sammy and Yaz say with awkward looks on their faces.
Seeing this response Brooklynn starts feeling nervous herself so she turns back around "Um yeah so we should keep moving" the girl says with her back to the others and a nervous grin on her face. She takes a couple steps and hears a crunch causing her to look down at the ground and see a small patch of flowers some of which are frozen. "I think this is the place," she says, causing the others to look at the patch of flowers before Brooklynn jolts back when the humming sound picks up and the flowers start waving about.
"The hum" Sammy whispers in shock at the sound, getting a shocked look from Yaz as well. The track star was equally shocked that the sound was real and not just something Brooklynn had made up.
Brooklynn hesitantly reaches out to touch the moving flowers before her eyes widen. "It's super cold air, and the ground is vibrating?"she says with raised eyebrows before moving the flowers to the side revealing a metal grate in the ground.
"Whaaaat?" Sammy says in a drawn out gasping tone of voice at the sight of the strange grate in the ground that was blowing cold air.
(With Naruto)
The blonde was making his way through the jungle headed towards his destination. Naruto had chosen to cut down his travel time and risk of running into hostile threats by running through the forest as fast as he could instead of walking. He moved swiftly through the woods, mounting and moving across the obstacles in his path as if it was as natural as breathing. He was at home in the woods just as he was in town, and this showed it as he moved with the ease of any forest or jungle animal never slowing no matter what got in the way.
Nearing the edge of the jungle Naruto leaped over a fallen tree before sliding to a stop in front of his destination…the Aviary. Steeling his nerves Naruto walked through the giant hole in the side of the massive domed building and got his first look at the inside of the former attraction since the fall of the park. What was one a combination of forested area and rocky pillar cliffs was now a charred shell of what it had once been. The small forest section had been razed to the ground leaving nothing but charred husks and blackened ground. The fake rock pillars that had been created using a combination of steel, rebar, and hardened foam like that used in movies had all been reduced to twisted piles of melted metal. Making his way further into the former exhibit the ground crunching with every footfall the blonde came upon the source of all the devastation.
Resting on its side was the blackened burnt out husk of what had been his fathers helicopter. Walking over to the remains of the aircraft he approached the cockpit and a tear trailed down his cheek as he saw the blackened skeleton of his father still in the pilot's seat. Naruto gently placed his hand on his fathers skull and let out a sigh "Hey dad, sorry it took me so long to get over here. I would have been here much sooner but I had a little encounter with some leftovers of the old park and the little bastards took me down for a bit" the blonde says with a little chuckle.
Removing his hand from his fathers skull, Naruto sat down on the blacked ground and leaned up against the destroyed aircraft "You know you saved us dad. That fucking monster had us dead to rights out in the open if it weren't for you coming in guns blazing like something out of a Vietnam War movie" he says with a chuckle and imagining his father laughing at the analogy. The blonde's expression sombered though "I failed however…I lost one of the people I was supposed to protect" he admits thinking of poor Ben and how the boy must have had a gruesome end. Clenching his Naruto gained a determined look "I promise you this though dad…I WON'T lose anyone else!" he snarls out vowing not to lose anyone else. "Ya'know dad I think you would like the group I am with. Darius has a love of Dinosaurs that rivals even yours, Brooklynn can be a bit much at times but has a good heart, Kenji is…well he is Kenji enough said. Sammy is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She came here with the intention of stealing park secrets knowing full well the risks to save her family's livelihood. Then there is Yaz, she is funny, smart, athletic, and beautiful…I think she's special dad" he says with a fond smile on his face as he talks about Yaz in particular, telling his father about the friends he has made.
Sitting there with his eyes closed for a moment Naruto can just picture his dad with a large proud smile on his face "Sounds like you finally have a crush" he imagines his father saying with a teasing tone. Chuckling at the thought of his dad's teasing, Naruto gets up and takes the backpack he was wearing off and sets it on the ground by the helicopter. Reaching into the helicopter he begins to gingerly and carefully remove his father's bones before storing them in the backpack and zipping it up and hefting it back onto his back. Taking one last look at the wreck of the helicopter he made his way out of the ruined aviary towards his next destination.
(Darius and Kenji)
The two teens gasped as they climbed over the top of the cliff and rested on the ground "That was great!" Darius says sarcastically as he takes deep breaths due to how exhausting the climb was.
"Yeah, who needs actual enjoyment when you can climb a twenty-foot tall cliff!" Kenji says exhausted by the climb.
Having regained his breath Darius sits up and turns away from the cliff edge only for his eyes to widen "Well that explains our water problem" the teen says as he looks at a massive pile of trees and rocks blocking the river not far from them. "Okay so all we have to do is move that tree, and it should be good to go. It's going to be lit!" he says analyzing the situation and throwing in some bro-talk.
"You're seriously going to try and convince me that this will be cool?" Kenji says with a deadpan before sighing "Let's just get this over with" he says getting to his feet and walking towards the blockage.
For the next several minutes the two teens try lifting and pushing the huge fallen tree acting as the main blockage to the river only to not make it move a inch due to the sheer size of it "Geez where is Naruto when you need his strength" Kenji says breathing heavily from the recent attempt at pushing the tree.
"Yeah I have to be honest I thought this would be easier" Darius admits with a sigh. However the roaring of a dinosaur nearby startles the two teens causing them to duck behind the fallen tree. Peeking over the foliage they spot a pair of Stegosaurus grunting and bellowing at each other as they swish their mighty spiked tails about. The sight causes Darius's eyes to widen in excitement "Their fighting for dominance! Stegosaurus are super territorial" he says before the two boys let out a yelp and duck down to avoid a large rock that had been launched their way from one of the herbivores swinging their tail. Seeing how the tree had jostled from the impact of the rock hitting it caused Darius to realize something "I know how to fix our water problem!" he says before running out from behind the tree.
"What! Darius, get back here!" Kenji calls out not moving from behind the tree as he watches his fellow camper yell at the two dinosaurs trying to get their attention. "Argh! Crazy idiot!" he snaps before rushing out from the tree and grabs the younger teen trying to pull him back to the tree.
However Darius frees himself from Kenji's grip and starts making loud grunting noises trying to imitate those of the Stegosaurus's only for them to be ignored. Kenji lets out a sigh seeing this before whistling loudly causing one of the herbivores to turn towards them and let out a bellow before it begins to charge them.
Running back to the tree the two teens stand in front of it as the dinosaur charges closer and closer. Kenji has a nervous look on his face but is held in place by Darius who says "Hold, Hold…" right before the dinosaur reaches them. As it does the Stegosaurus turns its side to them with its mighty and deadly tail raised "NOW!" Darius yells as he and Kenji dive to the side at the last second avoiding certain death as the Stegosaurus swings its tail at them. Luckily for the two it misses them but slams into teh fallen tree lifting it into the air and dislodging it from the river causing the raging water to flow again as the two teens run away.
"Yes we got it!" Darius says with a cheer as they run away from the flowing river.
"Great but how do we get rid of IT!" Kenji yells thumbing over his shoulder to the angry Stegosaurus that was now chasing them. The two teens continued to run from the herbivore only for it to start gaining on them. However their luck seemed to change as the other Stegosaurus chose that moment to reappear and slam into its fellow dinosaur seemingly trying to restart their duel for dominance allow the two teen to escape.
Running a bit further the two checked to see if they were in the clear and after seeing how they were no longer being chased stopped running to catch their breath. However they suddenly heard loud footsteps and growling causing them to look up and to their horror see a black scaled Ceratosaurus a mere couple feet from them looking straight at them. The two teens gulped audibly in fear as Kenji pulled out his butter knife and held it in front of him as if to ward off the carnivore.
(Sammy, Brooklynn, an Yaz)
"I knew we'd find it!" Brooklynn cheers as she looks down at the metal grate before she realizes something "Wait, if the power is out on the island then what's powering this?" she wonders aloud as it was strange that the vent had power while the rest of the island didn't. "Ugh this place just keeps getting weirder and weirder" she adds with a shake of her head.
Sammy's eyes widened at this "YazYaz Yaz Yaz! This is just like that episode where Esther follows that graffiti trail!" she says excitedly before noticing Brooklynn turn back to look at her "Sorry, Yaz and I were talking about this show we love…"
"Esther Stone: Highschool P.I! Episode 23 when she exposed the cryptocurrency ring. I have seen every episode like 80 times!" Brooklynn says excitedly, internally happy that she finally has a topic that she and the other girls all like.
The pink haired girl's response leaves Sammy and Yaz stunned "No way! You watch Esther Stone?" Sammy asks as a wide grin forms on her face.
"Huh famous people are just like us" Yaz remarks with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
"A K-pop group turned me onto it when I was touring with them," Brooklynn says revealing how she started watching the show.
"Ish, Famous people are like us-ish" Yasmina remarks with a deadpan look and slight roll of her eyes as of course that would be how the superstar learned about the show.
"Then what are we waiting for! It's time to investigate…"A Stone-cold Mystery!" Sammy begins to say before Yaz and Brooklynn join her.
"Okay spread out and see if you can feel any more vibrations" Brooklynn says before three girls start looking around the area seeing if they can find any more clues.
Yaz walks a few feet away from the other two girls when she suddenly stops "Hey I think I hear something!" she says getting their attention so they rush over and all three girls can hear a faint humming.
"Follow that hum!" Sammy says with a grin before they start running through the jungle in the direction the noise is coming from.
As they run Brooklynn smiles "Hey remember when Esther figured out the superintendent's phone vibrating was actually Morse code?" she asks.
"Oh and the killer chase scene in the abandoned warehouse?" Yaz chimes in as she runs beside the pink haired girl.
"But still made it to prom in that amazing dress? Oh that was so cool!" Sammy cheers as she is in the back of the group.
"I love that episode when she finds the…genetics lab?" Brooklynn says as she looks behind her at the others before turning her head to see said building right in front of them.
"Yeah but that was in season two and we don't talk about season two" Sammy says leaning against a tree to catch her breath a bit.
"No not the lab from the show…the lab right in front of us" Brooklynn says pointing in said direction as Sammy looks up to see said building with a raised eyebrow.
"Is it just me or does it seem like we come back to this building a lot?" Yaz asks as they had been to the building multiple times already.
(With Naruto)
After leaving the Aviary with his father's remains in his backpack the blonde headed to his next destination. Pushing aside some ferns Naruto exited the jungle and came to a clearing with a ruined log cabin in the middle of it. Giving the house that had been his home on the island a quick look the blonde walked past it grabbing a shovel that was laying on the ground. Upon reaching the backyard of the house he sets down the backpack and begins to dig a hole. Within a few minutes he had dug down several feet and grabbed the bag before putting it in the hole and refilling the hole with the dirt.
Setting down the shovel he walked over to the ruins of the house and rummaged around before finding a rock from what used to be the cabin's fireplace. Naruto pulled it free and walked back over to the freshly dug grave and placed it in the ground in front of the mound. Grabbing the shovel again he snapped of the head of it and carved 'Simon Masrani, Born June 1967*, Died December 2015, Beloved Father, and Hero' into it.
Stepping back from the grave Naruto gave it a look and moment of silence before turning and running back into the jungle.
(Darius and Kenji)
The two boys stared in horror at the Ceratosaurus right in front of them. They were frozen in terror as the carnivore stared them down growling lightly. However much to their shock instead of sinking its teeth into them it turns around and walks away over a small hill.
"Um not that I'm complaining or anything but why are we not currently getting a one way trip down the throat of that dinosaur?" Kenji asks, slowly lowering his butterknife.
Instead of answering Darius follows the Ceratosaurus over the small hill and upon seeing what's on the other side his eyes widen in shock. At the bottom of the hill are multiple dinosaurs all of different species surrounding a watering hole. From his spot he is able to make out a couple of Stegosaurus's, some Ankylosaurus, a few Parasaurolophus, several Sinoceratops, and looming over them all is the towering forms of three Brachiosaurus "It's a watering hole" the teen says in awe at the sight. He then spots the same Ceratosurus that they just met approach the watering hole and stand right next to a Sinoceratops as it begins drinking some of the water. "Dr. Grant theorized that they could be a kind of neutral ground so to speak for predators and prey under the right conditions. Now without any fences or people around it seems like those conditions have been met and we could be the first people to ever see something like this" he teen says in wonder at the sight.
Darius then runs towards the watering hole causing Kenji's eyes to widen in shock "Wait where are you going?" he asks, watching as the dino loving teen approaches the watering hole before turning around to wave him over. The older teen lets out a sigh before he cautiously and nervously follows after Darius. Upon reaching him the two then walk between the Ceratosaurus and the Sinoceratops with the former eyeing them briefly as it sates it's thirst "Um dude…are you sure this is safe?" Kenji asks nervously.
Instead of answering Darius places his hand on Kenji's and makes the teen lower his raised butterknife as they look at all the dinosaurs enjoying the watering hole. Reaching down they cup their hands and gather some water before drinking it staring in awe at the majestic scene in front of them.
(Sammy, Brooklynn, Yasmina)
The three girls were about to head into the abandoned lab when they heard rapid footfalls and leaves rustling causing them to go on guard. Brooklynn raised her bat ready to strike out at whatever was approaching them…provided it wasn't too big a dinosaur of course. However when the possible threat finally burst through the foliage her response instead of swinging her bat was "...Naruto?" in confusion at seeing the blonde emerge from the foliage.
"What are you three doing out here?" Naruto asks with a raised eyebrow.
"We found the frozen flowers and a ventilation grate that was blowing freezing cold air under them hence why they froze. Then we followed the noise of the ventilation shaft and it led us here. What are you doing out here?" Sammy says explaining what they had discovered.
"I finished what I needed to do, so I decided to do some scavenging and was going to see if the lab had any medical supplies," Naruto says with a shrug explaining why he was at the lab.
After that was said the four teens made their way into the darkened lab and started to look around one of the rooms of the lab "The Indominus Rex, the hum, Mantah Corp?" Brooklynn says looking around the darkened room.
"Mantah Corp?" Sammy asks in confusion wondering how the shady company factored into the pink haired girl's thoughts.
"Yeah it all connects here, according to that Eddie guy, Dr. Wu was up to something very big and very secret here" Brooklynn says as she begins looking around the room for any clues. However the lab looked like somebody had already gone through it searching for something or taking any information or files that looked important.
Yaz flicks the light switch on the wall a couple times only for the lights to remain off "No power, so how is it that the humming is coming from this direction?" she wonders aloud.
"Who do you think took everything?" Sammy says looking at a knocked over whiteboard .
"Given how we haven't seen any rescue parties since the island was evacuated its a safe bet that during the evacuation the lab techs and Dr Wu, likely took all the notes and data to preserve them" Naruto says rubbing his chin in thought at where all the files on the dinosaur research could have gone.
"Something has got to be here" Brooklynn says with a determined look as she exits the room with the others following behind her and heads for another room.. As they head down the hall they don't notice the low growling of a carnivore as it pokes its snout out around the corner.
Walking into the room that just so happened to be the circular one that they met Eddie in the quartet being searching it for clues. Brooklynn walks over to Eddie's birthday cake that still sat on the counter though it was noticeably stale and starting to mold. Looking down at the floor she sees a picture of Eddie and Dr. Wu together with the latter looking rather uncomfortable "Oh that weird birthday guy!" the girl says in realization, catching the attention of the others.
"Who?" Yaz asks with a raised eyebrow not getting who the girl was referring to.
"The van stealing jackass!" Brooklynn says causing Yaz to understand who she was referring to "He mentioned something about the 'Other Guys', and that no one knew what was really going on here. Maybe he was secretly working for Mantah Corp" the pink haired girl says as she begins looking through all of the papers that are scattered on the floor.
"Yeah, pretty safe bet that he was and I still stand by my thoughts that he got what he deserved" Naruto says, narrowing his eyes at the memory of the man who was not only clearly a spy but had also left them to die while attempting to steal their mode of transportation.
"ARGH! Nothing!" Brooklynn yells in frustration throwing several papers into the air as none of them had anything important or revealing on them.
"Brooklynn, what did you expect to find?" Sammy asks in curiosity.
"I don't know something big, something important. I mean I came here to…you know" the girl says before realizing that she was about to repeat herself with the whole 'Unboxing' thing again and stopped herself. However before anything could be said in response the quartet heard a loud screeching startling them.
The four quickly ran behind an overturned table using it as a hiding spot as they peeked out around it to see a pair of Baryonyx stalking the halls outside the room. As one of the carnivores walked past the room the other poked its head into the room before entering it.
"It's Chaos!" Sammy whispers in fright causing the others to look at her in confusion "I named the three Baryonyx's 'Chaos' 'Grim' and 'Limbo;" she says explaining her remark.
"After the hacker gang in episode 68 of Esther Stone?" Brooklynn adds getting a nod from the Texan.
"...What the heck is Esther Stone?" Naruto whispers having no idea what they were talking about.
The three girls briefly look at him with deadpan stares "When we get off this island I am sitting you down and we are going to binge all of Esther Stone" Yaz whispers to Naruto getting a raised eyebrow from him before the four fall silent to avoid being found. They can hear Chaos lurking around the room snarling and lightly chittering.
"Naruto, can you do anything to take care of it?" Brooklynn whispers wondering if he could take out the Baryonyx.
Naruto just shakes his head at this "No to confined of a space to take it on, not to mention the other one could come in at anytime especially if it hears its packmate in a fight" the blonde whispers back as while he could probably take a the Baryonyx solo out in the open it was too risky to do so inside especially since it had backup.
As Chaos moves to the other side of the room the four teens begin stealthily crawling away from the table to try and escape. As she begins to crawl Brooklynn's hand touches a manilla folder that had slipped out from behind the picture of Eddie and Dr. Wu catching her attention so she takes it with her and sneaks behind the others.
The four teens hide behind another desk on the other side of the room giving Brooklynn a chance to look at the folder and as she flips it over she notices 'E-750' written on the other side "E-750? That was a folder on Dr. Wu's laptop" she whispers to herself before she is shushed by Naruto as the four teens continue their life and death game of hide and seek with Chaos and move to a new spot to hide.
Chaos sniffs around before knocking over the cart that had remains of Eddie's birthday cake on it before it begins to leave the room. However after hearing Brooklynn let out a yelp from tripping over a tipped over table leg it turns in the direction of the four teens and lets out a screech before it starts chasing after them.
"Go go go!" Naruto says as the four teens run around the circular room tipping over anything they can and throwing whatever they can get their hands on at the carnivore as it chases after them. The four make a complete lap of the room before heading towards the door ducking under the snapping jaws of Limbo as it came down the hall. Luckily for the teens the Baryonyx was prevented from chasing after them as a result of Chaos crashing into it and wedging the two carnivores in the small hallway as they started to snap and screech at each other angrily.
(Darius and Kenji)
The two teens were sitting on the ground leaning against a tree as they watched the dinosaurs at the watering hole "Thanks Darius, this is so…" Kenji begins to say before trailing off.
"Cool?" Darius asks, getting a chuckle and nod from the older teen "Man I wish Dr. Grant was here. He would write the most amazing article about this" the teen says with a smile.
"Dude you don't need that guy, you have your nerd book. Why don't you just write it down?" Kenji says with a grin as Darius had been writing and drawing all sorts of stuff in his notebook lately.
"This? Nah I'm just messing around" Darius says in embarrassment as he looks at the notebook in his hands.
"Could have fooled me. Naruto and I took a peek at your book the other day out of curiosity and he said it was pretty impressive and well detailed. Besides if this is really something that no one has ever seen, I bet you could make that doctor dork mad jealous and impressed that you saw it and he didn't" Kenji says revealing how he and Naruto had taken a peek at the notebook while encouraging the younger teen on.
Hearing this Darius smiles at the words of encouragement and the idea of Dr. Grant being impressed with his work "Wanna stay a little longer?" the teen asks his fellow camper with a grin.
"Yeah, besides this place has a sweet resting tree" Kenji says, closing his eyes as he relaxes against the tree he is leaning against as Darius looks at his 'Field Guide'.
(Sammy, Brooklynn, Yaz, Naruto)
The four run away from the genetics lab heading for the jungle only to come to a skidding stop as the third Baryonyx comes out of the jungle right in front of them. Naruto steps in front of the girls shielding them from the carnivore and takes a ready stance so as to counterattack should it attack.
"Grim!" Sammy yells in fear before said Baryonyx roars and goes to lunge at them. Naruto moves to block the dinosaur's attack only to stop mid-step as Grim stops his attack and turns his attention towards the Genetics Lab where he hears his packmates' cries of distress coming from and runs in said direction.
Seeing their chance the four teens make a break for it and after running a good distance away from the Genetics Lab they take a small break to catch their breath. As they do so Yaz notices Brooklynn being a bit depressed "What's wrong?" she asks.
"I was so close to finally finding something but I dropped the folder when we were being chased" the social media star says in frustration as after searching for so long she finally had a possible lead to all the strangeness on the island only to drop it.
"You mean this?" Sammy says reaching behind her back and pulling out said folder from her back pocket with a grin and handing it to the girl.
"No way you grabbed it!?" Brooklynn asks in shock at what the girl managed to do during them being chased by Chaos.
"Yep now open it up!" Sammy says excitedly, curious to know what was in the folder.
"Super Spy Sammy does it again" Yaz says with a grin that gets a chuckle out of the four as Brooklynn opens the folder.
Pouring the contents out into her hand she looks at a couple tags "Okay some strange tags with a bunch of numbers and letters" she says as the tags were just that a strange assortment of jumbled letters consisting of the letters 'G, C, T, and A' in different combinations with a different four-digit number at the top of the tag. "And this thing?...Great no answers just more questions" Brooklynn says holding a blank white tag in her hand with a sigh.
"I don't recognize the blank tag, but I feel like I have seen the letter combination tags before…Though I don't remember what they are" Naruto says rubbing his chin in thought as the letter tags looked familiar…Not the specific ones Brooklynn was holding but he feels like he has seen a similar kind before.
However before this revelation could be delved upon further teh sound of the Baryonyx's roaring could be heard "We should probably go" Yaz remarks as they all get to their feet and resume running away from the lab and back to camp.
Upon returning back to camp they notice the river is once more flowing meaning that Darius and Kenji had been successful in their task for the day. Climbing up into the base Brooklynn spots Kenji drying his hair off, likely from having used the shower…again, and Darius sitting on the couch working on his book "Looks like someone solved the water sitch" the girl says getting their attention.
"Your welcome, all me of course" Kenji says with a grin as he sits on the couch and puts his feet up on the makeshift table causing the girl to roll her eyes in disbelief as Yaz, Sammy, and Naruto climb up the ladder and onto the base.
"Yeah! Way to go Kenj!" Sammy cheers with a smile causing the teen to blush slightly in embarrassment.
"Huh not bad" Yaz and Naruto happen to say at the same time with matching raised eyebrow looks on their faces.
"Uh that was so creepy…never do it again" Kenji says in response to their synchronicity with a shudder.
"Well we found this!" Brooklynn remarks excitedly as she pulls out the blank white tag from her back pocket and shows it to the two boys confusing them.
"Was that something you were looking for?" Darius questions with a raised eyebrow not getting the significance of the tag.
"Kinda" Brooklynn says as she and Sammy high-five and get congratulations from Darius and Kenji who are still confused by the tag.
"You know if Esther Stone was here she'd say…"Sammy begins to say only to be cut off by Kenji.
"Life is hard, so any day that goes somewhat right deserves to be celebrated with a party." The Asian teen says before the others just stare at him "What? It's a great show okay? The relationship between Esther and her dad is really compelling" he adds defensively while also revealing a bit of his own personal issues.
"Uh, well in the spirit of Esther Stone, let's…" Sammy says with a grin that the others soon mirror.
(Hour Later)
"PAAARTY!" Kenji yells with a cheer as everyone clinks cups together and begins drinking the last of their soda supply that Naruto had scavenged from Main Street during his last trip there. The sun had set and the campers had decided to have a small party to celebrate their success during the day. Granted given their survival situation they couldn't go crazy with the party and had thus decided to just finish off their soda supply and have some of the chips that Naruto had also snagged from Main Street. "And check it out you can't have a party without music!" the teen adds before he pulls out an old tape recorder and sets it on the table pressing play.
"Oh Yeah! Feel the beat that I made!" Dave's voice is heard coming from the from the device causing Naruto's eyes to widen in horror.
"No don't tell me…" The blonde says in horror at what Kenji had found.
"Oh yeah Dave made a demo tape!" Kenji says with a wide grin as said tape begins playing rather bad musical lyrics with Dave singing/beatboxing.
"Nope I'm out" Yaz says with her hands up and standing up from the couch before walking off.
"Yeah me too…I have heard that abomination before and it is more terrifying than anything we hae seen on this island so far" Naruto says with a shake of his head as he gets up as well and follows after Yaz.
"Um Kenji what is this?" Sammy asks, having no idea what she was listening to.
"It's Dave's demos. I found them in what was left of his bunk and was waiting for the perfect time to break it out…oh here's the best part!" Kenji explains the origins of said tape before listening as Roxie's voice is heard from the tape questioning Dave before being mixed around. Hearing this Sammy, Brooklynn, Kenji, and Darius kinda start grooving to the music.
Darius then sees Yaz and Naruto off to the side with the former drawing in his field guide so he walks over and checks on it. "Oh that's great!" he says upon seeing her finish drawing a rough sketch of the watering hole and the dinosaurs drinking from it in the book for him.
"Darius, Yaz, Naruto come on!" Brooklynn says running over and pulling Darius away to dance to the music.
Naruto and Yaz can't help but grin as they see Darius awkwardly dance with the girl while off to the side Sammy and Kenji do the same "Well what do ya say Yaz? If we have to suffer from Dave's music we might as well share our suffering and dance?" he says, offering his hand to her with a grin on his face.
Yaz chuckles at this and takes Naruto's hand "I would be remiss if I let our fearless leader suffer alone" she says as the two begin to dance together laughing the whole time as they unknowingly dance a bit closer to each other than the others are.
"Whoa look at that!" Sammy suddenly says looking out at the sky which is filled with stars. As the others look at the sky several meteorites streak across the sky creating a rather beautiful scene.
The campers all watch the scene with Brooklynn putting her arm around Darius' neck with a grin as it rests on his shoulder, as Kenji does the same with Sammy. Naruto also puts his arm around Yaz's neck however unlike the others Yaz tilts her head towards him leaning into the embrace a bit.
As the campers enjoy the beautiful sight, they notice a column of rising smoke in the distance and the light of a campfire being its source. "That's too small to be a forest fire" Brooklynn says, her eyes wide at the sight.
"That's a campfire" Sammy says in shock, recognizing the size of the fire due to all the times she had one back home.
"Guys…we're not alone" Darius says as the campers all gain grins at the prospect of not only being alone on the island anymore but also the prospect of it possibly being a rescue party. Naruto however looked out at the campfire with a narrowed gaze as while rescue would be great it seemed odd that whoever it was that campfire belonged to seemingly appeared on the island silently.
End Chapter 8