Author's note: I know I posted the last chapter yesterday, but I wanted to post the 5th chapter on Thanksgiving, so enjoy this new chapter!
"All right, Sammy," Darius laughs. "So how many siblings do you have?"
"Yeah, just how big is your family?" Brooklynn asks.
Sammy takes a deep breath.
"Oh, dear," Yasmina rolls her eyes with a smirk.
"Well, we got two houses on my ranch," Sammy starts. "My Mom and Dad own one. My Abuela lives with us in our house. My oldest sister, Holly, still lives at home with us, although she's dating Justin. Next comes Miriam, she's only three years older than me. Then comes Rio, Sandra, and Shelby, my younger sisters. In the other house, we have my Uncle Travis and Aunt Trinity. They have Wayton, Angelina, Roy, and Sage, my four cousins. That's just the ones that live on the ranch, we've got other aunts, uncles, and cousins, but I'm just focusing on the ranch."
Kenji shakes his head. "Wow! Sounds like chaos to me."
"Oh, I didn't even bring up the critters," Sammy laughs.
"Please do," Brooklynn giggles. "I love cute and cuddly animals."
"All right," Sammy sighs. "We got our three Texas Longhorns bulls, seven cows, and four heifers."
"What's the difference between cows and heifers?" Darius asks.
"Cows have had calves and heifers are females who haven't had a calf yet," Sammy explains. "Then we got the cute youngins' Dolly, Princess, Moolly, Beefcake, Pickles, and Bambam. Those are just the longhorns that we keep. We've got others that we sell for meat, but we don't name them. My sisters and I will get attached."
Kenji laughs. "Dang, how do you keep that memorized? You got any more animals?"
"You want me to go on?" Sammy asks.
"Might as well," Yasmina shrugs. "We're just walking right now."
"Well, all right, we got two rams," the Texan goes on. "Our five ewes: Nellie, Pepper, Petunia, Bitsy and Smooches. And our favorite little lamb, Fleecy. I miss Fleecy, she's adorable."
"Aww, I love lambs," Brooklynn squeals.
"We got five horses; two Friesians and three Morgans," Sammy continues. "Felicity, Black Beauty, Philippe, Angus, and Maximus."
"Maximus, as in Tangled?" Brooklynn asks.
"My youngest sister is six, of course we got a horse named from Disney," Sammy laughs. "We have some Border collies, all of the superhero variety. We got: Batman, Wondy, Thor, Loki, and Stark. Stark can be a butt, so you'll hear his name shouted very often.
"Is he volatile, self-obsessed, and can't play well with others?" Kenji asks with a stupid grin.
Sammy laughs. "Then we got our Australian shepherds: Superman, Black Widow, and Groot. My younger sister insisted that we have a Groot, even though the dog's a girl. We got the barn cats that catch mice, then the four cats that live with us in the house: Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Paprika. Paprika came last. That's all our current critters."
"If I said you were raised in a barn, would you agree with me?" Yasmina asks.
"It's not too far from the truth," Sammy shrugs.
"Your house sounds like complete chaos," Brooklynn shakes her head.
"What about you, Brooklynn?" Darius asks. "Any pets or siblings?"
"Well, I've got an older brother, Milton," Brooklynn shrugs. "He either helps me make videos or tries to mess up my takes; depends on his mood. He has a German shepherd/Australian shepherd mix named Scooter. I have a pet rabbit named Oreo. My parents are pretty relaxed, since they're always off at work, so I have a pet bat, Inky, as well."
"Woah!" Darius's eyes go wide. "You have a pet bat?!"
"She's so cute," Brooklynn smiles. "I love her."
"You're telling me that you're meh about dinosaurs, but you love bats?" Darius quirks an eyebrow.
"Haha, jealous?" Brooklynn laughs. "I'm full of surprises. I had a pet Bearded dragon but he's gone. I'm not sure where. We think Scooter ate him…"
"All right, Kenji, let's see if you've got anything exotic," Yasmina says. "A lion? Wolf? How about a crocodile!"
"Sadly, I've never had pets," Kenji shakes his head. "You?"
"Used to have a hamster and a cat," Yasmina says. "Then my brother threw the hamster across the room and he didn't live."
"Woah, what?" Darius asks. "That's animal cruelty!"
"The hamster bit him," Yasmina shrugs. "He was young. And the cat brought fleas into the house. We tried everything, but nothing could fix the problem. So we had to get rid of him. What about you, Darius?"
"No pets that I can remember," Darius says. "Brandon and I tried to convince our parents to let us keep the turtle we found, but Mom wouldn't have it."
"How old is Brandon?" Brooklynn asks.
"16," Darius says. "Milton?"
"16," Brooklynn says. "Yaz, you got siblings?"
"An older brother, Ghaleb, a younger brother, Jabari, and a younger sister, Habeeba," Yasmina says.
"I thought for sure you'd be an only child," Sammy says.
"I try to be," Yasmina says darkly.
"Woah, woah, woah! We gotta murderer among us!" Kenji exclaims.
"That came out wrong!" Yasmina laughs. "I mean, I just stay in my room as much as possible and have alone time."
"I thought for sure you were lying in bed plotting their deaths," Kenji shakes his head, laughing.
"Oh, I do that, too," Yasmina nods, much to her companions' amusement.
"I can't believe we haven't asked these questions about family before," Brooklynn says as they walk. "You'd think that'd come up more but all we knew before was Darius's…"
"Dad died?" Darius finishes. "Yeah, or Kenji's father's aloofness."
"Yee, you'd think we'd talk more about family," Sammy says.
"Well, we were pretty focused on surviving for a while," Yasmina says. "Are you getting tired, Kenji?"
"Nah, I'm fine," Kenji says, even though the others had slowed down to keep up with him. He starts jumping around again.
"For the last time, stop!" Yasmina yelps. "This is not fun!"
"Yeah, I think I'm done jumping," Kenji pants.
"I can take her if you're tired," Sammy offers.
"Oh, so now I'm just a package to carry?" Yasmina frowns.
"You are until your ankle heals!" Kenji declares.
"Shh! Shh! Guys!" Brooklynn hisses. Everyone stops talking. Loud footsteps were coming towards them.
"Hide behind that rock!" Darius whisper shouts. The group runs for cover. Kenji roughly throws Yasmina off his back and onto her right leg. She hops lopsidedly on her right foot indignantly for a few seconds before Kenji wraps his arms around her and Sammy's torsos tightly and pulls them behind the rock. Brooklynn slides next to Yasmina, and Darius sits next to her. The group holds onto each other nervously.
A two-legged, huge dinosaur walks up to the tracks, growling slightly. The campers hearts pounded hard. Darius slowly looks around the rock before whipping his head back into the safety of their shelter. "Ceratosaurus," he whispers.
The Ceratosaurus begins to crunch on the meat inside its mouth. The campers wince at the sickening crush of bones. Sammy's gag reflex is activated, and Kenji covers her mouth to keep her from making noise. Brooklynn shudders and buries her face in Darius's shoulder. Yasmina forces herself to breathe through her nose, and Darius wraps his arms around Brooklynn, shaking.
The Ceratosaurus roars and stomps off. After the thundering steps were mere thumps, the camper sigh with relief. "He's gone," Kenji sputters.
"Technically, all the dinosaurs here are female," Darius inputs.
"Oh, I'm sorry for misgendering a dinosaur!" Kenji exclaims quietly. Sammy starts snorting behind his hand. "Ew, you spit on me," Kenji sticks his tongue out, wiping his hand on her shirt.
"Guys, how close are we to Ben?" Brooklynn asks, lifting her head from Darius's shoulder.
The campers look at each other in horror. "You don't think…" Sammy whispers.
"Not Ben," Kenji moans, looking in the direction that the Ceratosaurus disappeared.
"Come on!" Darius exclaims with urgency. Kenji hoists Yasmina up onto his back and the campers set off again, following the tracks. After a few minutes, Darius's shoes crunch on something brittle. He looks down to see glass scattered across the mud. Pieces of metal were scattered up ahead as well.
"This is where Ben fell," Darius says hollowly.
"Where is he?!" Kenji asks.
"He held on for a while before falling," Brooklynn reminds them. "He'd be farther on down the tracks."
The group runs on down the tracks, trying to find any trace of their fallen friend. As they run, Sammy trips and falls. "Guys! Look!"
The Texan had fallen into one of the Ceratosaurus tracks. Next to her face, was a dried puddle of blood.
"Who's is this?" Brooklynn asks.
"I don't know," Darius shakes his head.
Yasmina reaches up and tugs on something caught on a branch. "Cloth."
"That's from Ben's shirt," Kenji says.
"This must be where he landed," Darius states.
"Then where is he?" Sammy asks.
The group looks down at the Ceratosaurus footprint. "Noo!" Sammy wails, covering her face with her hands. Brooklynn buries her face in Darius's shoulder again, sobbing. Kenji is torn between being distraught and numb; his mouth hanging open in shock. His right hand subconsciously touches Ben's fanny pack. Yasmina sniffs, and wraps her arms tightly around Kenji's neck, burying her face in the cocoon she made. Muffled sobs could be heard from her.
Darius and Kenji look at each other. The two boys share the same crestfallen, tearful face. The alpha male slowly lowers himself to the ground, and moves Yasmina around in front of him so he could hug her properly. She did not protest. Sammy gets up and tackles Kenji, giving him just enough time to open up his right arm and receive her hug. She sobs on his other shoulder. Darius and Brooklynn join in on the group hug, mourning their lost friend.
After what felt like hours, the campers pull away. "Now what do we do?" Brooklynn asks hollowly.
"We should head back to the main park," Darius says quietly. "It's safer there, and we'll have food and shelter."
"Oh, Ben," Sammy whispers.
"We have to go," Darius says, stronger this time. "It's the afternoon, and we need to get back to the main park as soon as possible."
"But Sarah the Ceratosaurus is down that way," Kenji says. "How are we going to follow the monorails to the main park if a dangerous dinosaur is done there?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Darius asks.
"Actually, I think I do," Kenji frowns, and pulls out the map from Ben's fanny pack. "We're in the forests near this track right here," he points to a location on the map. "If we continue down this track, we'll be heading to my father's condos. This track and the other track circle around the main park."
Darius sighs. "All right, we head down this track and get to your father's condos. Beats running into…"
"Sarah the Ceratosaurus," Kenji says angrily.
"This whole trip along the tracks was a big fake out," Brooklynn says sadly. "We accepted Ben's death when he first fell, then revived our hopes only to have them crushed a second time."
"At least we checked," Darius says, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'd rather know for sure than to have him possibly be alive and we never tried to find him. Now come on, let's get a head start before night comes."
The campers solemnly start following the tracks back to the main park.
"Thank you, Lord, for another day of life," Ben prays, closing his eyes as the sun rises. "Thank you for keeping me safe on this island of death. If it be Thy will, please keep me safe another day. Amen."
Bumpy bellows, stamping her feet.
"What? I'm Catholic," Ben shrugs. "And I need all the help I can get on this island."
Bumpy snorts and waddles off.
"Oh, you're just jealous that God put humans in charge of the Earth, and not you!" Ben calls after her. Then he starts wheezing. "I am losing my ever-loving mind! Arguing with a dinosaur over religion, pfff."
As the sun begins its way through the sky, Ben replaces the moss on his wounds. Miraculously, there were no signs of blood poisoning or infections. The day goes by and Ben relaxes, giving his wounds time to heal and watching Bumpy play with a twig or graze on the grass. As the sun began to go down, though, there was a rustle in the bushes next to him. Ben starts, watching warily. A small Compy pops out.
"Jesus, Mary, Joseph," Ben startles. "This is an unfavorable situation."
The Compy begins to walk towards him. Ben watches it warily. Another Compy pops out, then another. "Back!" Ben shouts, waving his left arm at them. "Get back!"
The Compies are unfazed, sensing dinner.
Ben moans, looking around for something he could use as a weapon. He knew fully well, though, that a group of Compies would certainly overtake him.
As the first Compy goes to bite him, Bumpy comes bellowing to her Daddy's rescue. She stomps on the little dinosaurs, smashes her tail into a few, and chases away most of the pack. As Ben listens to the commotion of her in the distance, he watches the Compies she harmed. Some got up and left quickly, but three were dead.
Bumpy comes back and nuzzles Ben. He scratches her head and looks at the dead Compies. While the situation he was in was suboptim—err, trash, he might have a use for them. Acai berries and water wouldn't be enough. Ben looks down at his chest. He could already see his ribs. Not that he had much body fat to begin with.
He sighs. "I'm a vegetarian, Bumpy. I don't like to be cruel to animals… No! Bad Ben!" He smacks his face with his left hand. "Don't be sympathetic! It's kill or be killed! These Compies were mean to you first! Toughen up! Be a man! Be hardcore!"
As the sun dipped below the trees, Ben tries to make a fire. He gathers small twigs and dried leaves to use, and then ponders how to start a fire. He hadn't exactly learned how to; he was scared of fire. He recalls what they did in movies, took two stones, and tried to make a spark. After about ten minutes of nothing but pain from his right arm, he gives up. He then tries rubbing a stick very fast. After several attempts—and multiple failures—Ben finally made a spark. "Yes!" he exclaims, throwing his good arm in the air triumphantly.
Bumpy initially jumps back, but then bellows happily, sensing her human friend's happiness. Ben does a tiny victory dance.
After that, Ben prys a Compsognathus tooth from one of the dead ones. It was very small, but he didn't have anything else sharp to use. He rubs it in the stream, trying to wash it as best he can, before using it to tear off the Compies' skin. Then he speared the Compies on sticks and roasted them over the fire.
The fire was very tiny, and it took all night for Ben to cook the meat to what he declared safe enough to eat, but he did it. As Bumpy grazed on grass, Ben tore off a leg with great difficulty and bit into it. The flavor was gamey—at least he guessed it was—but it was white meat like chicken. He didn't like it, but he didn't dislike it, either.
What he was proud of was that he was able to figure out how to make use of the meat he had been handed and cook it. "Thank you, Lord," he smiles, very proud of his resourcefulness. He continues to feast on the Compies, carefully deciding which parts of them were safe to eat, when to eat them, and when to save them. He eventually decided that there was no way to keep the meat from putrefying, so he ate everything he felt was safe. Might as well fill up if the food would go to waste. As the sun came up, Ben laid back with a satisfied smile, actually feeling close to being full.
Roxie sets her newly bought, tiny suitcase on the bed with a flop. She sighs, and places the new shirt she bought in the suitcase. As soon as the I-Rex incident took place, charities started to send clothing, food, water, medical supplies, and other necessities to the victims and the families who lost a loved one in the accident. Support systems had been set up for families grieving the loss of a loved one, and therapists had come in to help soothe victims and assist them in dealing with their newfound trauma. Roxie had declined the therapists, as well as declined new clothes. She felt that the victims needed them more than her.
The brunette sighs, pushes back a wispy stray of hair, and looks around her motel room. Other than the clean shirt she bought, and the bag with a survival kit in it that she always kept with her on the island, there were no belongings. There was no time to head back to the treehouse for her personal items and suitcase. If there had been, she would've utilized it to find the kids…
Roxie leans against the wall, and gently bumps the back of her head on the wall a couple times. She couldn't get the campers out of her head. Fond and slightly annoying memories of them followed her wherever she went. Watching Ben overcome his fear of germs for a moment to hold Bumpy, witnessing Yaz come out of her shell and bond with Sammy, seeing Darius get adorably excited about dinosaurs. She even missed Brooklynn's obsession with social media and Kenji's annoyingly entitled behavior. Any behavior was better than the cold silence that hung over the place.
Roxie slides down the wall, rests her elbows on her knees, and covers her face with her hands. No, cold silence was not what she would use to describe it. It was the deafening silence of no laughter, no happiness. The silence screamed of their deaths and their plight. It carried along their shouts for help and called her name. But she had no way of answering it.
She sniffs, removes her hands from her face, and sighs. She looks down at the ground and sees something underneath the dresser. Roxie takes it in her hands. It was the walkie talkie she brought back, the one that she talked to the campers through. After staring at it for a moment, she gets up and places it in her suitcase. Then she closes the small pack.
There's a knock at the door. "Come in," Roxie calls, knowing who it'd be.
Dave opens the door. "What are you doing?" he asks softly.
"Going home," she says. "Heading back to Liverpool. There's nothing for me here."
Dave's face fell. "What are you going to do when you get back?"
The brunette looks down. "I don't know. Mr. Kon promised to make sure any employer wanting to take me in for a babysitting job—or any job working with children—knows what happened here. He's very angry at me, but he could do worse. He could sue me probably. But he's going after the heads of Jurassic World instead."
"I think he realizes that you were hard pressed to make a quick decision and that we were severely understaffed," Dave says. "Had we had more staff—or Mrs. Dearing listened to us—things would've turned out different for the kids. I think he knows that, but he's still angry about the loss of his son."
"I don't blame him," Roxie says. "That still doesn't make my decision okay. Part of me wishes he would do more against me."
"You're not the only one he should go after," Dave reminds her. "No one will trust me with kids again. I'll probably go back to the chain restaurant industry after this."
"Where did you work before Camp Cretaceous?" the Brit asks.
"Chuck E. Cheese," Dave says with a chuckle.
"Not surprised," Roxie smiles. After a moment of silence, Roxie sighs. "I can't apologize enough to the families."
"I know, I know," Dave nods. "But there's nothing we can do. Nothing anyone can do. Government ban prevents any search party."
"I wish we could organize a search party and go find them!" the British woman says, momentarily forgetting her sadness as her hotheadedness returns. "Who are they to say there aren't survivors?! I'm sure there are people on the island who need help, but nothing's coming to them! The campers are totally capable of surviving, and they would be clinging to the hope that someone out there is searching for them…
"And there is, just…" Roxie sighs, calming down. "Unable to send help. I don't know what's worse. Believing that they're dead and that there's nothing we can do to undo it, or believing that they're alive, but there's no help coming to them…"
"The chances of their survival on the first day were slim," Dave whispers. "And everyday that passes dwindles those chances. As much as I hate to say it, odds are it would be futile to send out a search party…"
Roxie hangs her head.
"But," Dave says, placing a hand on her shoulder and leading her out of the motel, "maybe some good can come out of this. The kids are gone, but their families aren't going through this alone."
He gestures to the docks. Refugees and survivors were walking around and going about their business. On the deck of the motel not too far away from Roxie's room was Habeeba, Yasmina's younger sister. The young brunette had curled up into a ball, pulling her black hoodie tight against her body comfortingly.
One of Sammy's younger sisters approaches her. "Howdy, I'm Sandra," she says quietly, sticking out her hand for a handshake.
Habeeba shakes her hand solemnly. "That's a mighty nice hoodie," Sandra says, sitting next to her.
"It was Yazzy's," Habeeba says quietly. She shows her the front of the hoodie. A Mockingjay symbol was printed onto the front of it. "She liked Hunger Games."
"I've heard of that," Sandra says. "Never seen it."
"I've only heard about it from my sister," Habeeba says, pulling the front of the hoodie up to her face and nuzzles it, concealing her tears.
"This was Sammy's favorite hat," Sandra says, taking off the cowgirl hat. It was brown with pink trim. "The only time she'd let us wear it was when we were playing horsies and she was the horse and we were the cowgirls."
"Yasmina almost never let me wear this, either," Habeeba says, pulling on the baggy hoodie. "She'd let me hide in it when she was wearing it sometimes. Always pretended like she didn't know why the front was lumpy and giggling. Jabari would come looking for me and she'd say, 'Oh, I don't know where Bee Bee is. What do you mean someone's hiding in my hoodie?' Then Jabari would pull me out and she'd say, 'Oh my gosh, where did you go from, Bee Bee?!'... I miss her."
Sandra hugs the crying girl, and the two silently embrace each other, finding comfort in their shared sorrow.
Near the docks, Roxie sees Sammy's cousin, Roy, playing with Yasmina's younger brother. The two were having a fencing competition with long sticks they found.
Not too far away, Brandon was talking with the older brothers of Yasmina and Brooklynn and Sammy's cousin. Milton was showing them his dog and Brooklynn's pets. Brandon was holding Brooklynn's bat, while Ghaleb was holding the bunny. Milton was trying to keep his dog from attacking the Guiterrez cat that Wayton was holding.
Sitting on a bench, Darius's mother held a Bible in one hand, and clasped Ben's mother's outstretched hand in her other. Ben's mother joined hands with Sammy's mother, aunt, and Abuela, and the five women bowed their heads in prayer.
Ben, Yasmina, and Sammy's fathers had a quiet discussion circle, along with Sammy's uncle.
Choi Hayoon had arrived, hoping to see her ex-step-brother, but was saddened to find out his fate. She had formed a small acquaintance group with Sammy's older sisters and female cousins. Her mother was making small talk with Yasmina's mother.
"These guys share a common tragedy," Dave says. "The kids are gone, and it's absolutely awful what happened to them, but maybe… maybe it has led to some meaningful friendship between the six families. And maybe this incident has finally taught people not to mess around with dinosaurs anymore. Maybe this time, the lesson will stick."
"I guess there can be good that comes from this," Roxie says numbly. A taxi arrives and beeps. "That's my ride," Roxie says, giving Dave a hug goodbye.
"Please see a therapist about this," Dave says.
"I will," she sighs, then begins to walk towards the taxi.
Little Shelby comes up to her. "Were you the one who left Sammy?"
Roxie nods. "I'm sorry. I tried to go back for her."
"Well, at least you tried," the little girl blinks innocently. "No one else is tryin' to find my sister. They just keep sayin' she's dead." Shelby hugs Roxie around her waist. "Thank you for tryin'."
Roxie's lower lip trembles and she kneels down to give the little girl a proper hug. "You're welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't do more."
"You tried, that's what I like about you," Shelby smiles. She gives the British woman a kiss on the cheek before running off to cuddle with Sandra and Habeeba.
Roxie was barely able to hold back her tears of sadness before, but the little girl's touch of kindness broke that little bit of determination. She gets into the taxi without a word, unable to hold back the tears any longer.
Dave watches her drive away, a forlorn expression on his usually goofy face. Little Shelby comes up to him and hugs his leg. He chuckles, and sits down on the deck to give her a real hug.