Mama should have had the baby by now, Sammy thought distantly. Was she healthy? She wondered. What did they name her? How much did she weigh? Was her hair wavy like dad's side of the family or straight, like mom's? Did she sleep through the night, or was she a crier? The questions swirled round and round and round her head again, though the most important, and unnerving of them rang like church bells. Was Sammy ever going to get to hold her?
Trying to stiffle a sob, the girl felt the answer was an unwavering "no."
In spite of everything, absolutely everything, it seemed like all she could do was think of home. How many times had they called her, and begged her to just come home over the course of the summer? How many times had they promised that they would find some other way to make things right? How many deals, and bargains, and compromises had they committed to in order to keep those promises? Were they worse off now than they had been before she'd left? Was it all her fault for being too pigheaded to see another way out of the situation they'd found themselves in? What was going to happen to them now that she had sold her soul to Mantah Corps, and wasn't around to deliver?
A shiver raced up the girl's spine.
The fear had been all consuming each and every time she set out to get a sample. Sammy hadn't been afraid of what would happen to her if she'd failed, but her family? Her mind concocted a million different scenarios each one worst than the last of what those shady men in suits would do to the cattle, to the ranch, to her family.
Her family. They probably all thought she was dead. Maybe, even had a funeral for her. Did Marisa sing for her, at her funeral? If Sammy was going to die here, she would want her sister to sing, she thought. She wondered if they'd announced her untimely demise at school.
School. It was a big heartless building full of cramped classrooms, and self-absorbed kids all believing themselves to be the main character in everyone else's story. Looking back, Sammy couldn't believe how important, and all consuming school had seemed. Aside from the ranch school was her whole life, even when life was shit, and the bullies threw their recycled one off jokes at her, or parents and teachers lobbied against her use of the bathroom, and fought against her interest in extra circulars. It hurt.
And it still hurt that she had to fight to be treated like any other girl, but after all this, she couldn't begin to fathom why it had scared her so much.
She couldn't even fathom how could things have gotten to this point. Sitting, shivering as the rains came down relentlessly, staring hard at the monster seated across from her, kept at bay by an invisible barrier, and force of will alone. This was the worst possible scenario.
Brooklynn shifted her weight in Sammy's lap. Conscious of her, for the first time since she'd fallen asleep Sammy readjusted the over-large shirt Brooklynn used as a blanket to cover the pink haired girl's shoulder. Still, their leaking shelter was much better than being out in the open with such a torrent raging through.
Steele had grabbed them what he could, in the twilight of their first night out in the open. "Thought they wouldn't mind a couple extra layers," he'd said.
No one had made mention of how the thin, stained, white undershirt she had been wearing had clung to Brooklynn's bruised and withered form, but everyone had definitely taken notice of it by the time Steele had looted what remained of that gift shop. Brooklynn who couldn't have been more grateful or relieved had wordlessly piled on two extra tops.
In the hospital. In that closet. It had taken Sammy a second to realize what was happening. A second she didn't have to waste. A second that must have felt like an eternity for Brooklynn. Sammy wished she hadn't been so emotional when she'd attacked Reed. Wished she'd have had the presence of mind to smash his head right through the shelves. To take his side arm and empty it into his chest. It was what he deserved. She wished she'd done it.
But wishing never solved anything. Her Abuela had told her that once. She'd been little, she'd been selfish. All she'd wanted was to go to Disneyland. It had been all she could think about, all she could talk about. Her first question every morning and her last request every night had been about Disneyland. She remembered wishing loudly for the trip over her 6th birthday candles. Her friends had all been, it just didn't seem fair. But life wasn't fair.
There wasn't a clear cut chain of command anymore, not that decision making had ever been fair with the ACU. But since Colton had been killed, tensions rose wildly among the supply party. It was Scott, the guy who seemed to own the world whenever he had a rifle in his hand that had nearly set those tensions to their breaking point. Certain that he knew better than the ACU team he'd questioned their every move ever since they'd fled the hospital and were driven deeper into the heart of the park.
He was dead now though.
They hadn't even seem what had gotten him. Couldn't have defended him even if they'd wanted to. It had been in the middle of the night, that first night. It was late. After the shirts, but before the campfire. It was dark. So dark. That night. They'd found another hotel. Was it a hotel? Sammy couldn't remember. Everything was running together.
She remembered a lobby. Of some sort. All of the glass had been broken out. That should have been the first sign. All the buildings in the area had been like that though. They'd done a quick sweep. Used their flashlights. All clear. Then they had hunkered down. Katie took Sammy and Brooklynn. They crammed themselves into the tight space behind the front desk. Steele had taken up a position sitting against the wall near their feet. Sammy still didn't know how she'd done it, but somehow she slept. That night.
It should have been safe. Even without power. Even without glass. They should have been safe. They had, had numbers. They had, had guns. They should have been safe. They weren't. Sometime in the dark they had all heard the screaming. That offal, terrible screaming. Sammy ran. She just ran. She hadn't even known where she was going. She hadn't even had a plan or a destination. She hadn't even known who she'd been holding onto until Brooklynn begged her to let go. Eventually they'd stopped running.
After that they had been lost. Out in the park. Waiting. Waiting to die.
Waiting, why did it always feel like they were waiting for something bad to happen? When they had the ferry to reach, at least there had been a goal. At least there had been a real sense of hope, even after the monorail had threatened to extinguish it completely. Now, what did they have now, but time, and dinosaurs, and death to look forward to? Trying her best meant putting on a brave face for the others, but really, back there on that beach, watching all those ships pilot themselves away from them and towards the signal fires? Sammy had all but buried her hope in the sand. She just couldn't let the others know it.
Still, Ben came back, so maybe, maybe there was hope. But only if they got to the hotel in time. Hugging tightly to the backpack she had carried so far, with one arm, and giving the pink haired girl a squeeze as she slept with the other Sammy struggled to remind herself that they weren't beaten, not just yet. In the backpack were the antibiotics, painkillers, and IV fluids that were going to turn things around for everyone. She was going to get them to Ben no matter what, then, then they'd find a way home. No more running, no more hiding, no more life and death.
They had sat hugging one another in the dark, doing their best to hide. Jumping at every sound. The feeling of eyes on them in the night. Sammy hadn't known where they were. She had, had no idea what direction to start walking in. Brooklynn hadn't been able to stop crying. Thinking on her feet Sammy had pulled them into the snug cover of a photo booth. The kind where all your pictures are printed down a stip of paper one after another.
It was just like the one she'd used with her sissies, the last time she had taken them to the movies. They'd just seen the new Cinderella, Ana and Marisa had loved it. They'd danced around mall in make-believe gowns. Just the three of them, hanging out.
Sammy had been so relieved. The twins had been growing so fast that she'd worried they would feel too embarrassed to spend time with her. Sammy remembered spending more than she'd bargained to that day. Ana had desperately wanted a princess makeover at Sephora, and Marisa couldn't live without getting her nails done, just this once. So Sammy had treated them with every last penny she had, giving them the real princess day they deserved. It was the kind of day the hard working Gutierrez girls rarely got to enjoy. It ended with them all together, smiling in that booth.
In the booth Sammy had held onto Brooklynn and tried to soothe away her whimpering and wailing. The other girl had gone relatively mute since her assault, breaking out into sporadic bursts of tears now and then, or saying just enough to answer the most direct and basic of questions, like, "Are you thirsty?" Gone was the bright and vivacious girl who had seemed all but unstoppable. She was a shell of her former self.
In truth, the act of pulling Brooklynn to her chest had merely been a shell of kindness. It had been one part act of compassion, and two parts act of fear on Sammy's end. Trembling all over the Texan had well known in the back of her mind how easily their position could be given away merely by shifting winds. She hadn't dared risk their hiding spot by allowing anything to hear her friend's fearful grieving.
"Shh," she'd whispered. "Shh, it's gonna be alright. We'll just wait here for the others, or mornin' what ever comes first."
Brooklynn, who had sat bound in her arms was no more than a bundle of twigs. Sammy still blamed herself for not trusting her intuition sooner. The pink haired girl always ate "like such a bird," she remembered thinking. What unreasonable pressures must this stardom and fame have put her under? She should have made the girl eat, Sammy had scolded herself. She should have said something to Roxie and Dave weeks ago when she'd first noticed Brooklynn's lack of appetite.
Roxie and Dave. After being driven from the hospital the group had stumbled onto a flat dirt road, the one they must have used in the event of an emergency. They'd followed it, walking fast, the sounds of the jungle all around them. Eventually the seven of them had spilled out onto a large paved walkway, kiosks, and little venues dotted all around them, a discreet way to keep the area from looking bare, while still leaving enough room for vehicles to get through, when necessary.
It had been between those kiosks that Sammy had seen him, the tall, light haired man in a red employee shirt, and khaki shorts. Her heart had squeezed at the sight of him, refusing to believe, yet fearful that it was the playful character that had tried to ensure her summer had been as much fun as it was enriching. She never got the chance to check, the team was on edge, everyone wanted to keep moving, and Sammy hadn't been about to leave Brooklynn's side again. She was sure if that had been Dave lying there with all those other people, he would have understood.
The girls understood the dire straights they were in, that night. Their breathing had been pent and fearful, their faces reflecting terror in the glass screen of the photo booth. Then they'd seen the flashlights. The others had found them. Their bodies sore from the close quarters of their temporary shelter the girls' legs had refused, at first, to straighten. They had waited until the rest of the supply party was well within reach before hobbling to join them on stiff joints. Menno, the other guy, had run too, but no one had been sure where. They had looked for him as long as they dared before the sounds of hissing and clicking grew too near and too frequent for comfort.
That was when the men had started tearing at whatever bits of debris they could get their hands on. They had piled it high and stuffed trash, empty cups, food wrappers, and discarded maps into the gaps and hollow spaces. Then, after a few tension filled moments they had finally gotten it to burn. In the fire's glare they had seen the glow of eyes bobbing and weaving, though creatures themselves stayed just beyond the ring of firelight. Shrouded in darkness and intertwining in a way that was startlingly familiar Sammy had recognized them immediately, troodon.
The girls had sat so close to the fire that their backs burned, and their eyes watered from more than just the smoke, as burnt plastic, and other fumes filled the air with an acrid scent. Still, it had seemed preferable than facing the troodon head on after the emerald hued vision they'd had of those beasts back when life was simple.
It was the next morning that they, exhausted, had tried to regroup, but still without sign of Menno. They wandered about briefly until they had been able to get their barrings, and set off. Wading through a sea of fears, and a mountain of bodies it wasn't until the five of them started moving with a suddenly clear sense of direction that Sammy had recognized where they were. Staring hard at the thick panel of glass as she passed it on her left the girl had remembered when she'd been there last.
Last time had been the first time she'd ever felt so small. Her hair had still been damp, and smelled strongly of chlorine from the pool. Surrounded by her friends, Dave, Roxie, and a whole gaggle of little n's she watched with nervous excitement as the T-Rex stalked towards the goat.
Kenji, more drunk than tipsy in Sammy's opinion had, had his face pressed flat against the glass chanting, "Rexy! Rexy! Rexy!"
A wide eyed Darius had been standing next to him rattling off dino facts so quickly and with so much excitement as he watched that his voice was pinched high to the point of cracking.
It was Yasmina who had shared her concerns, sarcastically commenting, "Maybe not the best activity for the vegan?" her eyes rolling to where Ben had crouched several feet away from the others hands over his ears, rocking slightly.
Sammy had remembered feeling bad for him, the thought of joining him a fleeting one quickly dismissed when Brooklynn had announced, "Alright Brooklanders get ready here it comes!"
It had been a lot bloodier a demise for the goat than Sammy had expected it to be.
Bloodier a demise than what she thought an ankylosaurus could have given. Something had clicked in Sammy's mind then. The blood, the dried blood from when Colton had been clubbed to death by that thing. Sammy had stopped walking, turned and looked back at what could have been a half convincing smattering of new freckles across the other girl's face. Sammy had torn the side of her shirt then, grimacing at the sight. Dousing it with precious water from her water bottle she had used the scrap of fabric to wipe away the dry crust of human remains that had misted across Brooklynn's face, and neck.
Why hadn't she thought of it earlier? Sammy had cursed herself. Even in her state of shock it must have been terribly uncomfortable for Brooklynn to walk around like that, not to mention how the smell would only have led predators right to them. That had been when Sammy remembered the shirt.
"Brooklynn, sweety, we have to take off the undershirt." she'd said. "The one with the blood on it. The others are fine. So it doesn't attract predators. You understand? Brooklynn?"
Brooklynn had seemed distant as she spoke, even when Katie who had backtracked to their side seemed to have and agree with the cowgirl's revelation.
"Turn your back to them, and I'll hold your other shirts down ok?" Katie had tried with a sense of calm, cool command. "Arms in then out, like a turtle. Like gym class. Come on, even if you're not 'that girl,' I'm sure you've seen a 'that girl' maneuver." she'd tried to make it relatable, simple, funny even, before taking the bottom hems of the other tops Brooklynn had, had on, in hand.
The pink haired girl who had seemed almost oblivious to them before, had come alive at the touch. Her eyes had gone wide, she'd shuffled backwards, her breathing sharp and erratic. She'd grabbed onto Katie's wrist and tried to pull it away with her weak, bent arms. She'd paced, teathered tearfully to the spot by the woman, wanting only to flee. The way she had shuffled about, wanting to run but having no where to run to had reminded Sammy of Rebelde.
Rebelde had been her fourteenth birthday present, and her first birthday present if you counted by years out of the closet. A deep burgundy red the mustang had been wild, and seemingly, at first glance, highly aggressive. Sammy had remembered being frightening of him, and the way he lashed out with his hooves. She had doubted her ability to break the animal, but she had also desperately wanted a horse of her own, this had been the compromise. She remembered the wild whites of his eyes, the impossibly wide flare of his nostrils, and how she had come at him again and again with the rope. Sammy also remembered the moment when she had realized that he was just as scared as she was, and exchanged the shouts and ropes, for whispers and apples.
Shouting for them to stop it, it had been Terry Steele who put an end to the madness, "Leave her be, God damn it!" he'd barked shoving Katie square in the chest.
"The blood!" Katie had argued motioning to Brooklynn who was in another fit of tears.
"We made it this far, we keep going. And use your fucking head next time!" he'd bellowed, catching Sammy off guard. He'd been the one doing all the overstepping in the closet, when the wounds were their freshest. He'd seemed to acknowledge it though, and now the whole topic was taboo and met with nothing but his rage.
When he'd turned his back on them Sammy had apologized, hugging her friend who hit her with lame blows from closed fists. Sammy had accepted the beating she knew she deserved. Following Steele with her eyes Sammy had watched him wander back up the path to where Reed was waiting. Watching them, with a shark's smile.
All those mean in suits had that same predatory smile. She remembered how relentless they'd seemed, never stopping, never giving an inch. More than that she remembered the long, icy car ride to the airport. She'd lied to her parents. She had said that she was going to Grace's for a sleep over, and packed as much as she could fit into her backpack. Then she'd gotten her daddy to drop her off.
After that she had lied to Grace. Sammy had told her that it was supposed to be a surprise girl's day at the mall for her birthday, hoping that if she just ignored the cumbersome pack that Gracie would too. She'd said that her folks were alright with it, they just couldn't afford the gas to drive all the way into town twice. All she'd had to do after treating her friend to lunch and some light shopping was to wait for the other girl's dinner-time curfew to close in on her.
"You sure you don't wanna ride back?" Grace had asked, wringing her hands when her brother texted saying he was waiting, for a second time.
"Yeah, I'm sure, Daddy'll be here any minute." Sammy lied again, waving her phone as evidence of a conversation that had never happened. Already she had seen the suit sitting at the food court, eyes glued to her the entire time.
Hugging Grace, everything inside Sammy had screamed that with was wrong, that it wasn't safe, that this was exactly what you weren't supposed to do. You weren't supposed to have secret rendezvous with adults but especially not the ones who told you your parents weren't supposed to know about it. That was how people went missing, that was people got trafficked. After watching her friend leave Sammy had sat down at the table across from the man.
"I was almost worried that you weren't going to show." the man had smirked.
"Well I'm here, now what?"
"Straight to the point, I like that Sammy, I like that a lot." he had gotten up, and with no other choice left to save her family the girl had followed. Followed right out into the sleek black car with tinted windows that had been waiting for them.
Seated nervously on the soft leather interior, Sammy had hugged her pack close to her chest as she watched the world she knew blur past the window. In her heart Sammy hadn't been able to help wondering if this was all one huge mistake.
"We aren't going to have any problems with you being called in as missing, are we?" he had asked.
Sammy's gaze had flickered over to the driver, hoping in someway to find an ally. He had kept his gaze decidedly fixed on the road which stretch on into the growing night. Deaf to the conversation taking place within the vehicle he was nothing more than a mute bystander who didn't give either of them any mind. Sammy remembered wondering how much they had paid him to transport an underage girl without her parents knowledge or consent, and more over, what kind of people had she gotten herself in with who could buy someone's morality?
"No." Sammy had shaken her head.
"You're sure?"
"My folks think I'm spending the night at a friend's, and my friend thinks my daddy is coming to pick me up from the mall. No one is gonna know I'm gone, 'til I'm gone." she explained evenly, fighting hard against the nervous chatter of her teeth.
"Good." he had nodded, pulling a phone from his breast-pocket.
Sammy's cell had begun to vibrate moments later. She'd open it to see a thank letter from Jurassic World to the Gutierrez family for being their number one beef supplier, an official looking invitation to something called "Camp Cretaceous," plane tickets, flight schedules, a two night booking at a hotel somewhere called Punta Arenas, and detailed instructions on a time and place. The information relayed itself one key item after another to the girl.
"An associate will meet you when you land, and another before you board the ferry. If everything goes right up until then, you'll receive the rest of the details from them. I suggest you commit these details to memory before disembarking." he rattled off commands to the windshield, he hadn't even bothered to look at her.
Chill with fear Sammy hadn't felt more lonely or isolated than she had, sitting in that car. It had been at that moment that all of it had finally felt, real. She'd been trembling. She'd wanted to cry, but something told her that, that kind of weakness would not be well received by the man in the suit.
Weakness was an unforgivable sin, one that Jurassic World would not tolerate. This had been no more apparent than when their group had passed by an open pen full of empty, bloody saddles, and torn brightly colored play suits. Diverting herself, and her friend turned ward away from the gruesome scene of dead children and juvenile dinosaurs, that carefree day, the one she couldn't allow herself to believe had ever been real came trickling back.
"This can't be real!" Darius had shouted gleefully, back then, all smiles. "Two feedings in one day? I cant wait to see the mosasaurus! I heard they can get it to breech the water almost every show!"
Dave, the haphazard hero of their outing had, had to weigh his options against the enthusiasm of Brooklynn, Darius, and Sammy as it clashed with Kenji's erratic behavior, Ben's tearful wretching, and Yasmina's impartial stance on what they did with the remainder of the day. And he'd looked utterly lost.
"We could always slow things down a bit, go to the Innovation Center and check out the Holoscape?" Roxie had offered in mediation. "Or perhaps the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo, even? It's where several of the park's adolescent herbivores are housed prior to being introduced to their herds."
"Gay!" Kenji had objected.
"Yeah like that's camera worthy!" Brooklynn had scoffed in grudging agreement, already at it with her comment section.
Darius had visibly deflated, but quickly relented when, for the first time all day, all summer, actually, Ben had seemed ready to do something other than bring everyone else down.
"Do you think Bumpy will be there?" he'd asked.
"Jeez enough with your dino girlfriend already!" Yasmina had practically yelled in irritation. They'd all been there, most of them anyway, when the dinosaur had been born, and they had all been extremely tired of hearing about it from the boy. He'd put the word obsessive to shame.
"She's not my girlfriend!" Ben had blustered, red faced and visibly angry.
"Then quit acting like it!" Kenji had commented, putting himself as he always did into the middle of every confrontation, like he fed off it.
Ben had looked almost ready to cry.
That had been when Darius and Sammy had jumped in to intervene. "I'm game for the petting zoo!" the boy beamed. "Yeah and you can use it as down time to edit your videos!" Sammy had offered helpfully to Brooklynn.
"So, we're in agreement?" Dave had asked hopefully. Slowly most of the campers had nodded their acceptance of such a fate. "Sweet, we have a quorum!" Dave had pumped his fist into the air, before turning to lead the way.
Death had circled above them, hanging effortlessly in the air. The shadows which had passed over their party had begun infrequently at first, as pterosaurs explored their new range with apparent leisure. Soon, however the darkness they cast became as constant of a companion as the shadows of the people they stalked. It hadn't been until the hapless group were closing the gap between them and their destination that the attacks began. Sammy hadn't been paying attention, when it happened. Tired, and dragging her feet after so much walking with so little sleep she had been caught completely unawares.
It had been Reed who'd raised the alarm. "Bird, bird, bird!" he'd shouted diving for the cover of a nearby bench after he'd noticed the danger.
Everything had been panic, everything had been uncertainty, talons, and beaks. Sheltering among the ruins of an eatery close at hand the others had watched as a great winged devil hit the pavement. The beast screamed its displeasure taking several small hops forward to keep its balance. A second, slightly smaller one landed just to its right. The weary travelers watched as they squabbled, pecking at one another in frustration without doing much real damage.
Leaning against a wall for support Sammy had been crouched on broken glass, the slick feel of it under her soles robbing her of the confidence to run if needed. Brooklynn huddled beneath a table, chair legs grating as she slowly slid it into place between her and the predators that sought a kill. Minutes had stretched on into hours, and still the five of them waited, for something, anything, about their circumstances to change. Still the pterosaurs seemed keen on the area, and hadn't gone far. So they waited.
Sammy had waited for what felt like an eternity sipping what she now recognized had been the best coffee of her life for something to happen. She'd been at this little spot tucked out of the way, while still being only a five minute walk to the ferry, as instructed. The last few days had been a blur. The flight, the hotel, the cash waiting for her on the bed with very direct instructions to do some sight seeing, and buy a few monetarily valuable trinkets. Her cover was one that had been carefully crafted, and the cryptic individuals she was working for had intended to make it a convincing one.
She hadn't been startled, so much as she'd been caught off guard when a thin woman with platinum blonde hair, and a sharp fashion sense had seated herself across the table from her. After so many men in suits and dark sunglasses whose faces blurred seamlessly into the ambiguity their job required the woman was a startling change. More so, when she'd stared hard at Sammy over her own shades with eyes of blue and brown.
Hetrochromia, Sammy recalled thinking. Abryan's dog Maya in San Miguel had that.
Only, under this woman's gaze Sammy had felt like an insect. Her orders had been clear, direct, and thinly veiled with a certain amount of threat. She'd given Sammy everything she'd needed, including the beacon with which to guide the drones in whenever a sample was ready for retrieval. It would have all felt so very exciting and new, cowgirl turned Bond Girl overnight, if only it hadn't been so frightening.
"We need to do something." Steele had muttered from where he'd moved to beneath the table where the frightened girls had eventually settled.
The others had wordlessly agreed, though no one knew what exactly, "something" entailed. Sammy had been busy trying to come up with a plan, trying to emulate Darius' natural leadership, Brooklynn's vast skill-set, or even Kenji's startling moments of pure genius. She had been tried though, and couldn't think clearly, turning to Steele she'd hoped he could think of something, something that didn't involve using himself as bait.
That was when Katie just to the left if the trio had opened the insulated little pack that had been slung over her shoulder throughout everything.
"Ice is gone." she'd announced, carding dismally through the now unrefrigerated bags of blood. "The ones on the bottom are still cool, but the ones on top..." she'd left her sentence unfinished as she sucked on her front teeth as of coming to a decision. "I don't think any of this will be good for much longer, four hours in the heat, that's all you get before the blood dies. But, I think I've got the distraction we need." the woman announced retrieving a bag of the life giving fluid and tossing it lightly in the air.
"We can't waste any of it." Steele had snapped.
"It won't be a waste if it saves our lives." Katie countered. "Those things have a keen sense of smell, and they won't pass up what they think is an easy meal."
"We need that blood." the man had argued.
"We need you a lot more." Katie said, refusing to budge and seemingly sensing the same energies Sammy had been. "Besides I have antiseptic, tourniquets, needles, and collection bags." she explained flashing him some of the vital equipment nestled in her bag. "We can do this at the hotel, if the donor blood goes."
Steele relented, giving a curt nod. "Get ready to leg it girls." he said trying to rouse the teenagers.
As she shook the sleep from her legs Sammy had watched Katie edge her way towards the front of the little restaurant, blood bag in hand. Sammy's heart had raced with uncertainty and trepidation as the woman stood with a poise that had led the girl to believe she'd played softball at some point in her life. The bag arched high in the air before splattering on the ground several yards away. It had taken only a moment for the pterosaurs to take interest.
It was as the creatures had begun circling a new target, one with an irresistible aroma that the desperate scavengers raced out of their place of hiding and tried with all their might to get to the "Historic" Prehistoric Plaza. Reed had taken up position in the rear, nearly abandoned by the rest who wished nothing but pain and misery for the man, he'd grumbled loudly about the perceived and very much intended slight.
It had been as they were in the home stretch when the party became harried by pterosaurs once again, dive bombing them in the golden light of the late afternoon sun. This time it had been Katie to condemn the threat as too much of a risk to continue, but not until it was almost too late. Taking cover again, the medic had been quick to apply pressure to the deep gash at the back of her left shoulder.
"Lucky that thing didn't grab you, and haul ass." Steele had tried to lighten the mood as he did his best to help.
"Yeah, I feel real lucky." the woman responded with sarcasm.
Frustration, anger, and defeat polluted the very air the five of them breathed as they had come to the conclusion that this was as far as they were going to make it. The sun had just begun to set, and still certain that the troodon were stalking them no one wanted to risk a darkened foray through the park. It was right there, they had been able see the hotel from where they waited in an all but collapsed mini-theater. Sammy had felt like she was losing her mind, stir crazy, anxious she needed to see the others, she needed to know they were alright, she needed to get this medication to Ben!
Staring hard at the crest of the Plaza, Sammy couldn't help but recount the contents of her backpack, and the good she intended to use them for. Huh, she'd thought, an epiphany striking her full in the chest. Ben's weird fanny pack routine had started to make a whole lot of sense all of sudden.
Resigned to their fate, but resolute that they would try again, and succeed in the morning Sammy did her best to settle in, though the sight of someone out on a balcony gave her pause. I hope everyone's alright, she'd thought wearily. Edging towards her Brooklynn nestled her head into Sammy's shoulder and almost immediately fell asleep. Rest hadn't been so easy to come by for the remaining members of their doomed troupe.
As the night had grown deep and dark, her belly nauseatingly full of stale popcorn and candy bars, Sammy couldn't help but keep her mind from wandering to everything that had gone wrong. Katie, who moved gingerly, had busied herself stashing sweets away like a squirrel while Reed slept a monster's trouble free sleep, and Steele kept watch, leaving Sammy to wonder if they were ever going to talk about it. There hadn't been time, and Brooklynn retreated further into herself at the mere thought of her ordeal, but there had been a great many things Sammy had yet to reconcile, her guilt first and foremost.
"You should have let me kill 'im." Sammy announced to the dilapidated space, though her meaning was plain. "You should have let me kill 'im." she restated when niether of her honorable companions spoke.
"I told you, things like that can't be taken back." Steele said into the darkness, unable to meet the girl's gaze.
"What he did to Brooklynn can't be taken back either." Sammy had grit, her eyes flooding with tears she quoke with rage as she spoke.
"No," Steele had replied in a broken voice as he shook his head. "It can't."
The silence which hung over that place in the following minutes had been enough to suffocate.
Fighting against everything she knew, everything she believed in, and everything she thought about herself Sammy had known in her heart that if it came down to her soul or waiting for justice in the kingdom to come, she'd take the gamble for someone like Reed. He needed to die. There were somethings beyond forgiveness, redemption, and repentance, and if believing in the way she did made her a bad Catholic, fuck it, according to half the people she knew she was going to hell anyways.
"She's strong," Katie intoned from where she worked. "Its going to take some time, but she'll be alright."
Sammy had scoffed disfainful of the woman's blanket statement.
"She reminds me of my sister." Katie went on, packing every last nook and cranny she had with chocolate bars, licorice, and skittles. "My sister was strong. It took a long time, and a lot of therapy, which our parents didn't approve of or believe in, but, she's alright now. Brooklynn will be too. We just have to take care of her until then."
Sammy had nodded, conceding to Katie's rueful experience, and feeling a pang for the woman's sister. Sammy hadn't known what to do with herself when Brooklynn had been hurt, so she didn't think she would even survive it if anything happened to one of her sisters.
"I'm sorry." the girl had apologized.
"Me too." Katie agreed with melancholy.
Contemplative and quiet Sammy's brows had knit themselves tightly together when a thought occurred to her. It had been nagging at the girl for a few days now, but it had never seemed to be the right time. Now that they were penned down and unable to move, Reed the enemy, and Brooklynn the fragile little doll both asleep, it had seemed as good a time as any.
"Who's Kelsey?" Sammy questioned, looking pointedly at the man keeping watch.
The soldier had given a sigh, his shoulders sagging towards the floor. With a short waving motion he indicated for Katie to take over. Once she was in position and at the ready the man came and sat at Sammy's side, opposite Brooklynn.
"She's my little girl." he sighed, running a hand over his sweaty crown of hair. "Well," he paused. "She's not quite so little anymore. She's 'bout your age, and that's the damn scariest part too."
"Sorry."
"Can't be helped," Steele laughed fondly. "No matter how hard you try, you just can't keep 'em from growin' up on ya."
In spite of everything Sammy couldn't help but chuckle, thinking of how much this man reminded her of her daddy, and how much she missed him.
"I'm sorry." Sammy said again. "Did someone hurt he-"
"God no!" Steele snapped, though a twinge in his voice made it sound like he was afraid that if she ever had been hurt she wouldn't have told him. "But that doesn't stop me from wanting to protect her from this shit show we call the world."
Sammy had smiled. "You sure do love her."
"More than anything." Steele had confirmed.
"Well I think Kelsey is a lucky girl to have a daddy like you." the cowgirl yawned.
"Tell that to her Mama." the man smiled sadly. "Never get to see her much these days... I uh, have some problems... Lingering shit from my time in the middle east..." he explained, snuffing his nose.
Sammy's heart squeezed for him. "Who doesn't have problems?" she asked, leaning on him as exhaustion threatened to overtake her.
"I'm sorry about-" she started.
"Don't, don't even. I feel the same way. Trust me, that man is as good as dead." Steele murmured with iron in his voice.
"Just gotta get 'im on patrol with me, in the mornin'. We'll take a couple blood bags, make a hole." he had gone on, elaborating his plan to commit murder. "Lotsa ways a man can go missing in situations like this, and Reed ain't gonna be missed by anybody."
Steele had been right, there were a lot of ways a man could go missing in situations like this. Only, it wasn't supposed to be this way, Sammy thought glaring hard at the rain soaked man who sat across the room from her. Steele was supposed to be the one who had come back, not Reed.
Shivering from fear, and loss just as much as she was the downpour Sammy tried her best to wipe her face free of the tears and the rain. They were huddled together, the three women, wet from the water that was finding ways in through little gaps in their shelter. They were stiff, vigilant, and afraid. Katie had rendered what aid she could to Reed, as her creed had dictated, but now she sat with the girls weighing their options.
Haggard and almost defeated, beaten down at every turn by circumstance, and sedition all they had anymore was each other.
"Fucking birds, man, I tell you." Reed laughed to the room at large holding his side with some discomfort as he spoke.
Brooklynn who'd been laying with her head in Sammy's lap sat up, and anxiously bundled herself between the two women. Sammy wrapped an arm around her, Katie took her hand. An invisible line had been set in the middle of the room, and if that man tried crossing it they planned to give him the hell that was coming for him.
"Don't worry," Sammy said with assurance, decidedly ignoring the soldier. "We'll see everyone soon. I mean, we're so close! Its right there all we gotta do is wait for the rains to die down, then we hoof it!" she enthused, trying to keep Brooklynn's spirits up.
"What do you think they're doing right now?" Sammy grinned, trying hard not to think of her own heavily weighted sorrows.
Brooklynn shrugged slightly.
"Well, they're worried about us, naturally, but I bet Kenji is driving everyone absolutely insane! I mean, he's bad enough regularly, but confined to one room for days? His ego alone is probably bursting through the roof right now!" Sammy laughed, because if she didn't she was going to cry.
"Yaz is probably doing her best to keep everyone grounded, and is probably being a real grump about it too. Bumpy, well, you know her, she's probably into everything!" she went on, trying hard to avoid mention of the boy she was sure had passed on in their absence. "I bet she and Chase are getting on thick as thieves!"
"Chase?" Katie asked with a quizzical tone, one that felt light with forced cheer.
"Yeah," Sammy nodded, matching her tempo as she ignored her grief. "The boy, with the Paw Patrol shirt. He wouldn't tell any of us his name, but I asked which pup was his favorite, and he pointed to Chase, so," Sammy shrugged helplessly. That's what we took to called 'im."
"You call that boy Chase after we found him running for his life from those compys?" Reed observed from his side of the room, a look of amused disbelief on his face. "That's pretty fucked up."
Sammy felt a pang in her heart, it really was, when you stopped to think about it. It had been her idea, her knowledge of Georgia's favorite show that had given the boy his moniker. The Texan felt sick at the thought. Did it bring up bad, and bloody memories for him? Did it hurt him, or maybe even scare him to be called Chase? The bitter taste of this truth mingled with the fresh doubt, uncertainty, and fear. The harrowing reality that she would never know what had actually happened on that patrol, and what exactly had become of the haunted man who she'd come to think of as their guardian, crushed Sammy wholly.
Shaking as she fought against an oncoming fit of hysterics Sammy was startled into a sharp hiccuping breath by a cold hand on her shoulder, "You forgot Darius." Brooklynn whispered tearily.
"Yeah, I did." Sammy smiled as the other girl joined the game she and Katie had started, the one that was necessary to play if they didn't want to fall apart entirely. "What do you think he's doing right now?"
Brooklynn's gaze became distant for a minute, and Sammy worried that she was slipping away again when suddenly a light, and life glowed brightly within her soft green eyes. "I bet he's formulating a plan to come get us." she grinned.
Sammy laughed, "He so would!"
"He'd probably be mapping everything out, and talking about different routes, and strategies for dino encounters." Brooklynn elaborated, looking and sounding like herself for the first time since- "it" happened.
"I bet he's using all his dino brains to try and convince everyone else that it's a good idea." Sammy added onto her imaginings.
"Probably." Brooklynn agreed. "He's probably telling everyone that nows the best time to go, that not even the big predators would be out in a storm like this. One time he told me-"
"That's... actually not a bad idea Pinkie Pie." Reed interrupted, leaning forward with clear interest.
Sammy watched as Brooklynn's breath was stolen from her body as she tried to hide her face.
"Don't call her that!" Sammy yelled, fire in her blood at seeing how quickly Brooklynn could be snuffed out. She couldn't even imagine what being in a situation like this one, where your life very well might depend on your attacker, must be like. She shook with rage, and hatred.
"You don't talk to them Reed." Katie roared, half-standing, hand hovering over her weapon. "Ever. And I swear if you come near me, or any of the kids after this I'll put one right between your eyes!"
Reed smiled in a smug way that made it seem like he was weighing his options. Sammy could almost hear what he was thinking just from the way he looked at the three of them, "She liked it, and you would too." he seemed to emanate.
"My bad, my bad." he crooned, hands in the air, a mocking surrender. "Just trying to be friendly is all."
"You don't have any friends, Reed, only days and those are carefully numbered." Katie threatened.
"Do it then." the man leaned forward a menacing amount of calm. "You know how, you've got a gun. Do it."
Sammy's heart was beating so hard that the roar of blood in her eats was deafening. Brooklynn, crying loudly at this point was trying to press herself between Sammy's back and the wall. Sammy stared anxiously. She didn't want to see it, if Katie really did pull that trigger, and yet she couldn't look away. The medic hesitated, poised like a cowboy ready for a quickdraw, her entire form trembling.
"That's what I thought." Reed smirked. "Glad we understand the gravity of the situation. You need me, whether you like it or not."
"Fuck you!" Katie shouted, earning only a chuckle from the man.
When Katie turned her back on Reed Sammy could see just how pale and unwell the woman looked. Slowly she ran shaking fingers through her thick black hair as she stared uncertain, and ashamed of herself at the girls. Everything seemed to stall then, in the wake of it all. Time moved on, but it didn't seem to notice the four of them until freeing herself from the temporal snare Katie started loading up with gear.
"Come on girls, get up. We're almost there." she commanded, sounding firm an unafraid, though the thick gravel her voice had taken on spoke of her need to cry.
It took a few minutes to set Brooklynn on her feet, she didn't want to move, didn't want to go. All it seemed like she wanted to do was curl up and die. Sammy who wouldn't let her do it, couldn't blame her for feeling that way either. This situation was beyond reason, beyond comprehension, beyond anyone, and yet, they still had to find a way to move forward.
It wasn't long before the party was crowded around the entrance of their temporary refuge, staring out at the rain.
"Shouldn't take us longer than five, maybe ten minutes." Katie thought aloud, trying to judge distance, weather, and the state of her companions. "Ready?"
Taking Brooklynn's hand, Sammy nodded.
Stepping out into that storm was like stepping into another world. The rain was coming down in an endless wall of water. They were completely soaked through in a matter of seconds, but that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was the way it drowned everything out, the way it narrowed visibility to almost nothing. Unable to see or hear more than ten feet away in any direction, the group pulled into uncomfortably close ranks.
Only a five or ten minute walk, you've got this, Sammy affirmed to herself, eyes squinting against the deluge. Movement was slow going, hampered each time one of them stumbled over something in their path. Broken concrete, rebar, and other debris bruised and cut their legs. Sammy's foot caught on something, she tripped, pulling Brooklynn down with her. Her arm sunk deep into something slick, and putrid. She lay struggling to get up, fighting against the squelching, rotten flesh of a rain bogged corpse. She screamed, and cried, and wretched staring down at the gore she swam in. A hand at the back of her shirt hauled the cowgirl up.
Heart racing, ears ringing, warmth running down her legs as her bladder loosed in horror Sammy frantically wiped at the viscera that coated her chest and left arm. Unable to be helped by any of them the girl wailed in anguish beyond words to express, quaking violently as she did.
Staring at the deep red-brown that washed down her arm and onto the ground the girl gave a start when she heard Reed shout, "Be more careful next time." as he turned to help the other girl.
Shocked out of her terror by a different type of dread Sammy pushed passed him, to raise Brooklynn from the ground. Slowly, cautiously they pressed forward, eyes pegged to the ground.
They rounded a corner, and there it was, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, queen of the jungle. Heart racing anew Sammy stared at the beast. Most of her bulk was obscured by the rain, but her snout only a few short feet away from the girl was clear in all its deadly menace. It felt like she was face to face with a legend, one she hadn't quite believed in, until now.
"As the legend goes," Tio Luis had said leaning over the campfire so that it's sinister glow illuminated his face just right. "That Daniel Boone was the only man alive to see the Howler and live, but that is just the legend. I've seen the beast with my own eyes." he'd said, voice dropping.
Sammy remembered how she'd scooted closer to her cousins as they sat wide eyed and nervous across from the storyteller. They'd been enjoying a productive deer season, but there was nothing scarier than going from hunter to hunted, and Tio Luis had been preying on this fear.
"And I sit before you boys witness to its ferocity." he'd gone on, rolling his sleeve to reveal the terrible, ragged looking scar on his right arm. The children had all been familiar with the sight of it, but no one had dared ask how he'd aquired it. Sammy's dad had flashed a smile, elbowing his little brother as he spoke. "It was on a night just like this." Tio Luis had continued. "Dark, and deep, the first thing I heard was a blood chilling scream..."
Brooklynn screamed, her nails digging into Sammy's arm. The team back peddled, scrambling over one another to put as much distance between them and the great animal as possible. Through the heavy veil of rain the dinosaur could just be made out lifting her head, with half interest. The sharp chuff of air that was blown from her nostrils before she lowered her head back down, seemed to carry with it's fowl odor a sense of dismissal.
Whatever the reason, be it the weather, a full belly, or pain from the wounds Sammy had noted during the brief encounter, the girl was relieved to see that Rexy wasn't paying them any mind. Legging it past the creature, Sammy held her breath in silent prayer, only letting it out when she'd thrust her way in through the front doors of the Prehistoric Plaza.
Immediately Sammy began to shake and shiver, ice cold after stepping into the air conditioned lobby. They'd made it. Somehow, they'd made it, she thought staring with only a vague sense of familiarity at the paper, and luggage strewn space. She'd been here before, but it somehow all seemed so foreign. It was eerie and felt more empty, and more sacred than it had before, almost like walking across hallowed ground.
As they gravitated towards the elevators Sammy found herself anchored in place. Turning she saw a look of sheer terror and desperation on Brooklynn's battered face.
"You can't say anything!" the pink haired girl rushed out.
"What?" Sammy, not quite following asked.
"You can't say anything about what happened!" Brooklynn shrilled, on the verge of becoming frantic. "It didn't happen, ok? It never happened! Nothing happened! No on can know! Please! Please! No one can know!" Brooklynn screamed.
Sammy stared flooded with a conflict of turmoil, empathy, and shame. It wounded her soul to see her friend like this, to hear her lost petition for mercy, for secracy, for lies. Brooklynn was asking her to lie, Sammy thought then.
Everything... everything she'd done to get here, to this point had meant lying to someone about something...
Maybe Yasmina was right about her... Maybe she really was a terrible person...
She was liar...
But, Sammy resolved, fists clenched, she never lied without good reason.
"I promise." Sammy vowed her heart bleeding as she pulled her friend into a hug.
Looking at the adults who stood near the opening metal doors Sammy witnessed cruel duality of existence in the pain, and pleasure written upon their faces.
