A/N: WARNING: elements of suicidal thoughts. Minor compared to the last few chapters.

Darius slowly opens his eyes, blinking in the sawdust. A sad sight awaited him. The shelter they had worked so hard on laid in ruins. All the wood was splintered and destroyed. Their supplies lay under the rubble.

The young boy moves his head to look at himself. The front of his shirt was stained red with blood and wet with rain. Confused, he lets his head flop back and realizes he's been speared by a sharp piece of wood jetting out from the rubble.

Someone starts to gently pull him off of the stake. Darius is laid on the ground and looks up to see Sammy checking over his wounds.

He tilts his head to see Kenji checking over Ben. In the younger boy's back was a good sized hole, bleeding profusely. His right arm and back was crushed, as if he had been stepped on.

To Darius's right, Yasmina was checking on Brooklynn, who had hit her head during the fall. Darius was pretty sure that Ben and Brooklynn were both dead.

Above the group stood Rexy, yet not Rexy at all. She appeared more ghostly, as if she was a mere shell of herself. Her eyes were missing and the skull cavities were black. Her bones jutted out from her scaly flesh and her teeth were stained red. On her back perched black, bat-like wings, tattered and ripped. She ghostly moves towards Ben and slowly takes him in her jaws, before moving on to Brooklynn.

"We were almost there," Sammy whispers to Darius.

"Where?" Darius asks, unnervingly calm about the situation.

"The end," Sammy says. "Just a few more days and we would've made it."

"Oh," Darius says, watching as Rexy begins to approach him.

"Death is approaching," Sammy whispers, backing up. "Flee before it's too late."

"I will," Darius says as Rexy gently takes him in her jaws.

Darius sits up from his dream, shaking his head. Everything was quiet and calm. Rain and howling winds that made the campers anxious had been persisting all night in some sort of tropical storm. The rain had begun to soften when Darius woke up. Yet, he could feel this imminent sense of danger. He knew what to do.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Sammy whispers, watching over Brooklynn. Her hair was slightly damp from the rain. They were situated inside the little room, but even so, the rain still blew threw the cracks.

"Sort of," Darius says. "More of a warning. Death is coming and we need to evacuate the shelter. Now."

"You sure?" Sammy asks.

"Very sure," Darius says calmly, moving to wake Kenji.

The group is reluctant to leave—especially since Brooklynn was still weak, it was starting to rain harder, and there was no sign of danger—but Darius had no doubts about his gut feeling. Finally—with Sammy's support—Darius convinces the campers to listen to him and they begin to pack up their supplies. Yasmina and Darius help Brooklynn down the slide while Kenji, Sammy, and Ben gather their supplies.

"Where do we go now, O Fearless Leader?" Kenji yawns sarcastically, clearly annoyed that he was woken from his sleep without reason.

"I don't know," Darius says, thinking.

"So what? Are we just supposed to sleep on the ground now because the shelter isn't safe?" Yasmina grumbles. She was very annoyed about being woken up, and was not a happy camper in the morning. It didn't help that her hair was plastered to her head and her jacket was soaked through.

As the campers argue through the howling wind with Darius's seemingly paranoid decision, Brooklynn lays down on the muddy ground. She feels small vibrations and looks up. A puddle of water lays in front of her face. The rain was creating ripples in the small puddle, but she thought she saw the water rhythmically ripple in a different direction. Was it her imagination, or was something bigger shaking the water?

The longer she watches it, the more she's convinced that it's moving. The vibrations begin to get stronger. "Guys," she whispers.

The others kneel down. The water in the puddle was most definitely moving. Something big was approaching them. The footsteps begin to get louder and the campers feel a sense of dread.

"Rexy," Darius whispers.

Bumpy and Tornado—who had both slept through the campers racket and the howling storm—lift their heads and stand up. Blue gets to her feet and growls, sensing the new presence.

"Where is she?" Yasmina hisses, looking around in the darkness. The campers couldn't tell what time it was due to the dark rain clouds pouring up above them.

The Indoraptors growl, haunches raising in preparation for danger. The group clutches their weapons and the herbivores take on a battle stance. Blue slowly moves in a circle around the humans and Indoraptors, protectively hissing. The camp fam is on edge, hearing Rexy's footsteps come closer but grow softer.

"She's sneaking up on us," Darius thinks, unnerved.

To the camper's horror, the sound stops. Hearts pounding; breath's racing; they wait.

A loud, blood-curdling roar cuts through the wind and rain and scares the campers as Rexy tears out of the trees. The campers scream as Bumpy, Tornado, and Blue run to meet the T-rex. Rexy rams into the turquoise Ankylosaurus and sends her flying into the shelter. The heavy, armored dinosaur destroys the camp and the rickety building collapses.

Darius has no time to say, "I told you so," before Blue shrieks and attacks Rexy. Tornado bellows and charges at the Tyrannosaurus. Rexy is distracted by the Velociraptor and roars in fury as the Triceratops's horns connect with her flank. She grabs Tornado's frill with her jaws and throws her towards the campers.

The kids shriek, slip in the mud, and dart out of the way. Yasmina and Kenji roughly pull Brooklynn out of the way just in time to miss the herbivore. The Triceratops gets to her feet and shakes her head.

"We need to get out of here!" Darius shouts in the howling rain.

Sammy pulls herself up onto Tornado, and Yasmina follows. Kenji grabs Brooklynn and supports her on his shoulder. Yasmina grabs the weakened pinkette and pulls her onto the Triceratops; strategically placing her in between the athlete and the Texan.

Tornado approaches Bumpy and uses her horns to help flip over the Ankylosaurus. Ben jumps up onto his ride, carrying Princess and Rima. Kenji follows with Toothless and gives Darius a helping hand. Mocha and Indigo cling to the leaders back as he gets situated behind Kenji.

Yasmina notches an arrow into her bow and aims for Rexy's head. The T-rex had Blue in her jaws and was shaking her like a dog. The athlete winces and tries to keep her arrow pointed at the upper half of Rexy's head. She releases the arrow and the weapon becomes lodged in Rexy's gums.

The T-rex drops Blue and roars in agony, infuriated with how much pain a miniscule mouth wound could cause. Blue rights herself and shakes her head.

Darius whistles. "Come on, Blue!"

The raptor turns to him and follows the two herbivores into the jungles. They run through the biting cold rain and whipping wind, running for their lives. Rexy is still occupied by her annoying new toothpick and has zero interest in going after the campers.

The campers begin to think they're safe when the Baryonyx trio runs into the herbivores. Tornado and Bumpy stumble back in surprise and fall over. The campers tumble off their rides backs and fall into a muddy pit. The three Baryonyxes look just as surprised as the campers and herbivores, but soon shake it off and snarl at the other dinos. Blue shrieks and the herbivores bellow.

The campers and Indoraptors right themselves in the wet mud and look around. A large tree had been blown over by the wind; it's root structure softened by the wind and rain. Now the campers were trapped in a deep pit where the roots used to be. Muddy roots stuck out above their head, but the pit was very, very deep.

"How do we get out?" Brooklynn asks, standing up in the soping mud.

Kenji attempts to climb out of the pit, but the mud gives him absolutely no purchase. It does give him a makeover, though. "It's way too wet, I-I can't climb out!"

"Is there anything we can use in the backpacks?" Ben asks.

The group takes off their backpacks and searches through. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could use to pull themselves out.

"We have rope, but if we throw it, it's not gonna do much good," Sammy gulps.

"Could we make a hook at the end and attach it to the roots?" Darius asks, supporting a tired Brooklynn.

Sammy pushes her wet hair out of her face. "There's nothin' that we could attach. If we could get someone up there maybe Bumpy could help."

Yasmina stares hard at the muddy wall, takes a running start, and jumps at it. The soft mud doesn't give her much bounce, and she slides down. She growls in frustration and tries again. Rima follows her mothers example and tries to climb out, but the mud made it impossible.

The athlete sighs in frustration and spits out mud. She looks up at her friends; the rain creating rivers in the mud on her face. "I don't know how we're going to get out of this."

The campers look at each other worriedly. The Indoraptors coo and nuzzle their parents. Rima rubs her snout along Yasmina's jaw. The athlete glumly pets her baby dino. "I'm sorry," she says.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," Ben says.

"If anything, it's my fault," Darius says. "We should've ran off into a different direction."

"Stop it with the self blame, both of you," Kenji snaps. "It's not a failure on your part if you can't defy physics, Yaz, and don't beat yourself up because you picked a direction at random and we happened to run into the Baryonyx trio."

"Teamwork works better," Sammy says, faithfully. "We gotta find a way to get out together!"

Ben looks up at the roots. "Looks like we're maybe fifteen feet from the ground? Maybe we could create a human tower and somebody can climb out?"

"That might work," Darius nods.

"I can be on the bottom," Kenji offers, widening his stance and placing his hands on the muddy wall under the uprooted tree.

"Who's next?" Darius asks.

"I can be next," Sammy says. "We probably want the heaviest on the bottom and the lighter ones on top."

"Okay," Darius nods. "So Kenji, Sammy, Yaz, me, and Ben?"

The group nods. Yasmina and Ben help Sammy climb up onto Kenji and she wobbly kneels on his shoulders. Next, Yasmina climbs onto Kenji, then onto Sammy and kneels on her shoulders. Kenji winces. "Can you take the weight?" Darius asks him.

"I got this," Kenji nods, grunting in effort.

Darius climbs up onto his friends precarious tower and kneels on Yasmina's shoulders. Sammy takes in a shaky breath and steels herself as Ben climbs up his friends. Kenji grunts and Brooklynn weakly tries to support his back. Ben arrives at the top and looks up. "Guys, we're not tall enough to reach the top," he says. "We have, like, two feet left."

"That's because the more weight we add, the more Kenji sinks," Brooklynn says, kneeling in the mud. The alpha male had sunk up to his thighs in the mud and was shaking.

"I can try to climb up the root system," Ben offers and grabs a hold of a muddy root. He tries to pull himself up, and the root snaps. He tumbles down into Kenji and the tower becomes a pile.

"What now?" Brooklynn asks as Sammy and Darius roll off of her.

Yasmina frowns. "Give me a chance to try to climb out. Darius, Ben, do you guys think you could hold my weight?"

"We could try," Darius says. "Kenji, do you think you can take another tower?"

"I can do it," Kenji says firmly, pulling his legs out of the mud. "I've got this."

"Alright, so it'll be Kenji, Sammy, me, Ben, and Yaz," Darius says.

"Give me the rope," Yasmina says, holding out her hand. Sammy pulls out the length of rope and hands it to the athlete before climbing onto Kenji. Darius climbs up and then Ben. Kenji is trembling and grits his teeth in agony. Brooklynn tries to support him as he sinks into the mud.

Yasmina climbs up as quickly as she can and grabs a hold of a root. "Think you could handle it if I stood up?"

"Do it," Ben grits his teeth, steadying himself on the muddy wall.

Yasmina carefully stands up on Ben's shoulders and grabs a hold of a bigger root. She starts to slip down and grabs onto the root with her teeth. She sticks her hand deep into the mud and grabs onto a thicker root. Slowly, she pulls herself up through the rain and mud, gritting her teeth and biting onto the roots as an extra measure; her legs were useless in the slippery mud. Her friends cheer her on and shout excitedly as she makes it to the top and pulls herself over the edge. Yasmina pants, spits out the mud, and looks around. In the dusky, pouring down rain, her vision was limited. But there was no sign of the fighting dinos.

"They must've moved the fight elsewhere," Yasmina thinks as she ties the rope around the tree trunk. She realizes that the rope is too short and sighs in frustration. The athlete ties the rope around her ankles, lays on her back, hooks her knees around a thick root, and leans down into the hole. Kenji is still struggling.

"Grab on!" Yasmina says, holding out her hand for Ben. "We need more rope!"

"Here!" Brooklynn says, handing Sammy the backpack. The Texan shakily grabs it and hands it to Darius, who gives it to Ben. Ben wobbly puts it on his back while holding onto Yasmina's hand. The athlete wraps her arms around his torso, clings to a thick root with her legs, and sits up. Ben rolls onto the ground and looks up at Yasmina. "Wow," he breathes, impressed—and a little intimidated—by her feat of strength.

"Come on, let's get the rope out," Yasmina says, not noticing his dreamy staring at him.

"Uh, uh, yeah," Ben stutters, taking off the backpack and wiping his wet, blonde hair out of his eyes. Yasmina pulls out the rest of the rope and ties it to the end of the other, then throws it down to her friends.

"Brooklynn, you go first," Darius says. The team ties the rope around her waist and gives her one backpack, Princess, and Indigo. Yasmina begins to pull the rope up, grunting in effort as she digs her knees deeper into the grass and mud.

Ben watches her in awe, a little tongue tied.

"Come on, help me!" Yasmina snaps.

"Sorry," Ben shakes his head and starts helping pull the rope. He grabs Brooklynn's hand and pulls her up, and Yasmina sends the rope down to Darius, who takes another backpack and Mocha. Then Kenji comes up with Toothless and Rima. After him comes Sammy with one backpack on her back and the other in her hands. As the others pull her up in the rain, the second backpack slips from her fingers and falls back into the pit. "D*** it!" Sammy exclaims, losing her grip on the rope and flipping over. Sammy's jaw drops, realizing what she had just said, as Kenji pulls her cowgirl boots up.

"Language!" Kenji and Yasmina exclaim, way too excited about being able to give her a taste of her own medicine. Sammy merely shakes her head, spraying her friends with water droplets.

"Oh yeah! Go Yaz!" Darius exclaims. The campers cheer for their Olympian friend.

The athlete smiles shyly. She puts her arm around Kenji and Brooklynn "Come on, it was teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Heh."

"Pff, that's too cheesy," Kenji sputters. "Take credit for your achievements!"

"Yeah, that was really impressive," Ben breathes, his eyes widening. Darius, Brooklynn, and Kenji exchange a knowing smirk.

"Okay, that was all me," Yasmina switches gears. "I'm all that and a bag of chips."

"Okay, well that's just arrogant," Kenji sputters again.

"Well, what do you want?!" Yasmina exclaims with a laugh.

"Okay, we all helped out," Sammy interrupts. "Kenji was amazing supportin' the team like that. And we all pitched in. But Yaz definitely saved the day. And Darius got us out of the shelter before Rexy crashed it. They both saved the day!"

"This is what true friends are," Darius says. "Covered in mud, soaked, and there for each other."

"Yaz! Yaz! Yaz!" Kenji starts the chant and the others join in. They all move in for a hug, covered in mud and soaking wet in the rain. "Wait," Kenji says, pausing for dramatic effect. "Deja vu, anyone? This is exactly what happened on the monorail."

"What? Are the Baryonyx druggies gonna come barreling through and pick her off?" Brooklynn asks. "The real question is what are we going to do about that backpack?"

"It's got our clothes, feminine supplies, toiletries, stuff like that," Sammy says.

"Considering you and I are on our time, we might need those," Yasmina says, gesturing to Sammy. "Don't want a predator to smell us."

As if summoned by Kenji's words, the Baryonyx trio bursts through the trees. Bumpy, Tornado, and Blue are hot on their heels.

"LIKE I SAID!" Kenji exclaims, jumping over the tree with the rest of the group. Crack the Baryonyx crashes into the tree and moves out of the way before Tornado can spear her with her horns. The campers shriek as Tornado breaks through the tree and almost hits them. Kenji breathes a sigh of relief, holding onto her horns to save himself. "Always the crotch, huh?" he asks the Triceratops as he sits on her face.

"Come on, let's mount up, team!" Darius orders. The girls climb onto Tornado with Indigo and Rima and the boys slide through the mud to get to Bumpy. The Ankylosaurus smashes Pot's head with her clubbed tail and bellows at Ben.

"What? I was stuck in the mud pit!" he protests, climbing onto her back. Kenji and Darius follow him. The Baryonyx snarls and moves to bite the humans. Ben spears her tongue with his weapon, eliciting a pained cry.

"Move!" Darius shouts in the rain. Ben spurs on Bumpy and the Ankylosaurus runs off into the field. Tornado and Blue follow suit, running alongside the Ankylosaurus. The Baryonyx trio follows along, snarling as they begin to catch up.

"Shoot her!" Darius shouts at Yasmina from his spot on Bumpy.

The athlete pulls out a muddy arrow and nocks it. She lifts the bow and pulls back the string. Brooklynn holds onto her waist to keep her steady. Between the howling wind, low light, and pouring rain, Yasmina had a hard time focusing on the predators. She growls in frustration and releases the arrow. It misses Weed by two feet. Growling, Yasmina tries again, and gets within one foot.

"Come on!" she exclaims in frustration. She nocks another arrow. Tornado and Bumpy skid to the side to turn and run in another direction as Yasmina releases the arrow. She misses the predators entirely. "I only have half a dozen left!"

"Aim better then!" Kenji shouts at her.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" she shouts back. In anger, she aims and quickly releases the arrow. Pot skids to a stop and shakes her head, trying to snort out the arrow that had stuck up her nose. It begins to bleed. The other two Baryonyxes slow down for a second before resuming the chase.

"Quick! Make her angry again!" Ben laughs.

"Uhh, you're a terrible runner! You run like a girl!" Kenji shouts.

Yasmina releases an arrow at Weed and barely misses by an inch.

"Come on, wuss! Do better!" Kenji shouts.

"You're distracting me!" Yasmina snaps, releasing the arrow. It lodges in Weed's teeth and the Baryonyx falls back.

Crack growls and speeds up. She snaps at Yasmina and grabs her bow. The athlete is pulled forward and off of Tornado's back. Rima howls at the Baryonyx as her mother is taken away.

"Yaz!" Darius shouts. "Fall back, Ben!"

Ben pulls back on Bumpy's horns and the Ankylosaurus slows down. Kenji and Darius grab onto her feet and hold on, struggling to keep a grip on Bumpy. The boys slide down and hook their feet on the edge of her shell, keeping Bumpy between them and the Baryonyx. "Let go, Crack!" Kenji shouts. Blue snarls and jumps onto the Baryonyx, biting her shoulder. Ben whips his spear around and whacks the predator on the back of the head, but Crack refuses to let go no matter what the campers threw at her.

It becomes a tug-of-war for Yasmina. Her hand was clamped around the bow and stuck in between the Baryonyx's teeth, making it impossible to let go. She grabs her left arm and tries to shield her head as the carnivore shakes her like a cat with a mouse.

"Stop, Torni!" Sammy pulls on the Triceratops's horns and the dino skids to a halt. Sammy pulls out her rifle, aims at the thrashing Baryonyx, and shoots. The gunfire noise shocks everyone and Baryonyx number one falls down dead.

Yasmina hangs off of Bumpy's back in shock and the two boys pull her up. "Are you okay?" Ben asks worriedly. Darius brushes a stroke of hair out of her face.

"I'm good," she says, staring into the rain. "Rattled my brain, there."

"Let's move it before Two and Three get back on their feet," Darius says. Brooklynn and Sammy take Yasmina back onto Tornado and the three herbivores are off again, escaping into the rain.

The cool, crisp winter wind blows through the park. Small children play with each other and their parents; running through the small trails and taking family hikes.

Alone on a bench near the entrance, an old man with a wide brim hat sits. His arms were crossed and his hat was low over his eyes.

A family of three walks by. The blonde woman stops, and places her hands on her hips. "Dr. Grant?"

The man looks up and smiles. "Ellie," he says, standing up and giving her a hug. "Wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Just heading out on a little family walk," Ellie shrugs.

"Hey, Alan," Ellie's husband says, giving him a handshake.

"Ah, Charlie," Alan smiles, looking at Ellie's son. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Well, if it isn't the dino man," the seventeen year old says, giving him a handshake.

"So what are you doing here?" Ellie asks.

"Meeting up with someone," Alan says vaguely.

"Oh, well, I guess we should let you be," Ellie smiles. "Nice to see you again."

"You could get involved, too," Dr. Grant says, stopping Ellie in her tracks.

Ellie's husband whispers in her ear, and she whispers back. Then he and their son continue on the walk. Ellie turns around to face Alan. "You're going back to the island, aren't you?"

Alan nods. "Thought if anyone could help the kids, it'd be someone who's been there a dozen times."

"Even after the first accident?" Ellie asks. "Even after the Sight B incident?"

"Precisely," he says. "There's kids stuck on that island. With Sight B, there was no one to help us. We had no backup, no communication, nothing. This is a full fledged rescue mission."

Ellie looks down and sighs. Reluctantly, she says: "I understand the need of the poor mothers… and I'm proud of you for wanting to help them… but… just be careful."

Alan starts to speak when four people approach them. "Alan Grant, I assume?" a goofy-looking man asks.

"Yes," Alan offers a handshake.

"I'm Roxie, and this is Dave," Roxie introduces them. "We're heading the rescue operation. You've met Eric, and this is Grace Bowman, the mother of one of the campers."

"Nice to see you again, Dr. Grant," Eric says, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you all," Alan nods curtly. "This is my good friend, Ellie."

"So, Eric tells us that you want to join the rescue mission on Isla Nublar?" Roxie asks.

Alan tips the brim of his hat. "I've had experience on both islands."

"So you want to be in the field?" Roxie asks.

"Where else would I be?" the older man asks. "I'm not good with first aid or flying a plane. But I do know dinosaurs. And I do know surviving amidst them."

"Well, we'd be honored to have you on the team," Roxie smiles.

"You're not the only one from the original accident," Eric says. "Tim… Murphy, was it?"

"Haven't heard that name in a long time," Alan chuckles, glancing at Ellie. "When do we leave?"

"Well, we got the 'Go ahead' yesterday from the Costa Rican government," Dave explains. "We're gathering resources and volunteers together and, if we stay on schedule, we'll send a rescue party out for them in five days."

"How can I help?" Ellie pipes up, causing Alan to turn to her. "I'm not traveling to the island again, but if there was any way that I could help, I'll do it."

"We need pilots for the plane," Darius's mother says. "The government wants this to be a small ordeal, believing it's a lost cause, anyway."

"My husband works for the State department," Ellie states. "I'm sure we could find competent pilots. Maybe even soldiers."

"Well, we're glad to have you guys aboard this mission," Eric smiles, shaking Alan and Ellie's hands.

"Lemme see your hand, Yaz," Sammy says as the two herbivores lumber down the slope. "Did Crack—oh lawd, I still can't believe you named her that, Kenji—did she get your hand while she was shakin' ya?"

Yasmina was starting to recover from being violently shaken by the predator. "No, her teeth just missed me."

The athlete shows Sammy her hand. There were red pressure wounds from where the Baryonyx's teeth squeezed her wrist. "Well, at least she didn't break the skin," Sammy says, leaning over from Tornado's back to see. The Triceratops moves and Sammy falls in between the Ankylosaurus and her ride.

"Woah!" Kenji exclaims, grabbing her under the arms. Brooklynn reaches for Sammy's arm to catch her.

"Thanks y'all," Sammy chuckles sheepishly, righting herself on her ride.

The dinosaurs arrive at the bottom of the slope and hear a sound. "What was that?" Brooklynn asks.

They listen and hear it again. "I can't tell," Darius says, shielding his eyes from the rain.

"Ugh, would it stop raining already?!" Kenji exclaims in frustration.

Yasmina scans the treeline and points. "There!"

"Oh, it's…" Darius squints. "Toro?"

"Aw, she looks like she's injured," Sammy whimpers.

"Wait, you guys can see her?" Ben squints.

Ben and Sammy guide their rides over to the injured Carnotaurus. Blue snarls, wary of the predator. "It's okay, Blue," Darius says. "She can't hurt us."

The campers approach their first foe. Darius and Kenji limp a bit, having put strain on their ankles during the fight. The predator lets out a defeated snort, moaning in pain. Darius kneels down next to her snout, and the Carnotaurus doesn't move to eat him. "Maybe another predator got to her?" Darius suggests.

Sammy looks over the dino. "Ew, her burn wounds are infected and full of puss."

The Carnotaurus lets out a pained groan; her flank rising and falling quickly with labored breathing. "Bite marks," Brooklynn says, kneeling down next to Darius. "Small ones. Compies have been eating her alive."

"Wonder how long she's been down here, slowly dying of infection and starvation," Yasmina frowns.

"Poor girl," Sammy whines, sitting down next to Brooklynn. "This isn't a quick, painless death."

"I mean, she tried to eat us multiple times, but…" Kenji kneels down on the other side. "This is just an agonizing death."

Toro moans. The Indoraptors approach the dying dino with curiosity, chirping at her. Toro groans in pain, and the young hybrids purr in sympathy.

"Sorry, girl," Darius says, gently, carefully petting her snout. Yasmina gently rests her hand on the other side of Toro's snout. The Carnotaurus tilts her head to lean into the athlete's soft touch, purring. The campers exchange a look of sympathy. "Should we just end her suffering now?" Darius asks.

"I don't think that's necessary," Sammy whispers, watching as Toro's flank rises slower and slower. Toro—one of the first dinosaurs to ever chase them—stills. The campers look at each other, tears glistening.

"I… I never thought I'd be so sad to see her go," Ben murmurs.

"It's the death," Yasmina says. "It's a sad death to have."

"Or… maybe it's that she was… she was the one that pushed us to work together so many times," Darius says quietly. "Besides the Indominus."

Kenji stands up and salutes the dead Carnotaurus. "You fought valiantly and bravely. You were a worthy foe and should have met an honorable end."

Ben stands up and salutes Toro, too. "You were a worthy opponent, and I owe my battle skills to our first battle."

"You bonded us and forced us to find a way to band together to survive," Darius salutes her respectfully. "And because of our stupid decision to jump into your cage, my friendship with Kenji started." The alpha male smiles at him.

"You brought us together despite our differences," Yasmina salutes, restating what the others had said because she couldn't think of anything else.

"You gave us plenty of scares," Brooklynn salutes.

"May you rest in peace," Sammy says, standing up.

The campers stand in respectful silence. "Should we bury her?" Sammy asys.

"Don't know how, it's raining and storming," Yasmina shrugs.

"We need to find a shelter," Darius says. "A new one."

"How about we stay sheltered in style," Kenji shrugs, gesturing to the river. The Cretaceous Cruise boat was drifting downstream in the fast moving water.

"Good enough," Darius shrugs. The campers approach the edge of the river. The large cruise boat bumps into the edge of the river. Darius and Kenji jump into the boat and help their friends in. The other four pick up the Indoraptors and bring them on. "Come on, Blue," Darius beckons.

"Bumpy," Ben encourages.

"Jump TornadO!" Sammy coos before running out of the way of the jumping Triceratops. The herbivore clumsily gets to her feet and rocks the cruise. Bumpy jumps as well, and her back legs catch on the edge. After a bit of struggling she gets on, too.

"Come on, Blue!" Darius shouts.

The velociraptor assesses the situation. A relatively small boat with the Triceratops and Ankylosaurus taking up a lot of room might not be the best option for the human-wary raptor. Sure, she wanted to protect them, but she still didn't like humans touching her. She had evaded every time the campers tried to pet her. Did Blue really want to put herself on a boat surrounded by water with them?

Her motherly instincts win out and she takes a running leap. She lands flawlessly on Tornado's back and jumps up to the top of the cruise ship.

"Welp, she gone," Brooklynn laughs.

The campers head inside to turn on the cruise ship. "Must've come loose from the dock in this stupid storm," Kenji mutters. He turns the keys, presses a few buttons, and the ship comes on. "Voila!" he exclaims, standing back after working on the control panels. "Autopilot is on. Good thing, too. I always crash the jet skies at my Dad's lake house."

"Ooh, a lake house sounds fun right about now," Brooklynn sighs.

"I'm done with water," Ben shakes his head, glad to be out of the rain.

"The autopilot is taking us up river," Yasmina states. "And how does this thing have an autopilot?"

"As John Hammond would say, 'Spared no expense,'" Kenji quotes with a grin.

"And yet they spared safety installments," Yasmina sneers frustratedly. "Can't find any life vests on this stupid boat."

"Uh, is this a bad time to mention that I can't swim?" Ben nervously inputs.

"Me neither," Sammy whimpers.

"Just stay close to someone who can," Kenji shrugs. Sammy takes him literally and clings to him like he was life support.

"Hey! The rain's slowing down!" Darius exclaims. The campers look out the front window. The rain had slowed from a pouring onslaught to a gentle shower.

"Nice," Yasmina chuckles. "I always enjoyed rain, just not when it's pelting you like bullets."

The campers head out onto the deck as the rain starts to slow. Kenji basically drags Sammy around with him; she refuses to let go. Ben sticks close to Yasmina, knowing she was a good swimmer. The four stand at the railing and watch the scenery go by.

Darius looks around and realizes he can't find Brooklynn. "Where'd she go, where'd she go?!" he worries, beginning to search for the pinkette.

On the other side of the railing, Brooklynn stood watching the rushing waters churn underneath them. "Jump," the dark voice in her head returns.

"No, no, no, no, no," Brooklynn argues. "No, I can't disappoint them like that."

"You disappoint them anyway," the thought worms its way in.

Brooklynn takes a deep breath in and shakily forces herself to back up. "Get help, get help, girl. You can't deal with this on your own!"

"Brooklynn," Darius's voice startles her.

"Gah!" she jumps.

"You okay?" he asks, concerned.

Brooklynn sighs, and hugs him tightly. "I just… Don't leave me alone with my thoughts, not here where I could jump."

"You're worth so much more than you realize," Darius whispers, hugging her tightly. "Taking your life would be the biggest mistake. You're so unique and wonderful. What would life look like without you? You have a purpose on Earth that no one else can fill; imagine what would happen without you?"

"I can't be that important…" Brooklynn mumbles.

"Everyone is important," Darius says, rubbing her back. "Even if it's just simply putting a smile on people's faces, you're important. Imagine if you did something small and simple that brought hope back to someone. Maybe they lead a country or maybe they do something small like own a flower shop. Either way, you might have saved them. How's that for important?"

"I guess you're right," Brooklynn smiles as she pulls back.

"Hold on for the sunrise," Darius whispers, gently holding her arms.

"I'm trying," she whispers. "I'm staying for you guys."

"Right now, just find a reason to live," Darius says. "Even if it is for us. But… find a reason to live for yourself. Don't do it because I would miss you or Yaz would miss you or your parents would miss you—although in a tough situation, that's definitely something to consider. Do it because you genuinely want to live. Death will happen eventually and you might be the first of all of us to go, or you might not be. What are you going to do if you lose one of us?"

"I can't lose you now," Brooklynn whispers, on the verge of tears. "You're my first true friend. I can't lose you now, Darius. I—"

"I'm not saying I'm going to die right now," Darius interrupts. "I'm just saying that… if you place your happiness and worth in your friendship with me, you might lose it. Find whatever you can to cling to life right now. But you can't be healing because of us. You need to follow this journey of healing because you want to heal."

"I didn't feel like I had a reason to live or heal before you guys," Brooklynn sniffs. "You guys gave me a reason to live."

"Then give someone else a reason to live," Darius whispers, wiping her tears away.

"Okay," Brooklynn closes her eyes and sniffs, gently holding his hand as he wipes away her tears. The two stand like this for a few minutes. "I hate being sad and depressed," Brooklynn admits, breaking the silence. "I wish I could find a way out of this dark blanket thrown over me. I wish I could be happy, even for a few seconds."

"That's what Kenji's for," Darius smirks wryly, making her chuckle. He wraps his arm around her back and guides her around to where the others were. "No, seriously," Darius says as they walk. "Sometimes it seems like Kenji is only here for comic relief."

"And then he pulls out those super emotional life lessons and makes you cry," Brooklynn giggles.

"He's something," Darius raises his eyebrows with a chuckle. The two come around the front of the ship to see Sammy clinging to Kenji's back like a barnacle and the alpha male holding his arms out and leaning on the railing. His eyes were closed, and if Sammy were more relaxed, it would've been romantic.

Yasmina turns to the two newcomers with a devilish grin. "Hey, Brook, can you sing My Heart Will Go On?"

Brooklynn claps her hand over her mouth to keep from snorting. It didn't do much good.

"Ooh, I love that song," Sammy grins, lifting her head. Her, Yasmina, and Brooklyn start singing the chorus, and Kenji's cheeks turn bright red. He immediately puts his arms down and grips the railing.

When the outro comes, Brooklynn doesn't hesitate to belt out the lyrics with a powerful voice. Her friends stop singing and stare in awe as her voice reaches high and low pitches with grace and ease. When she finishes, Brooklynn blushes. "Was I bad?"

"Bruh! That was AWESOME!" Kenji exclaims.

"Wow!" Sammy starts clapping, forgetting about her fear of water and letting go of him.

"Encore! Encore!" Ben claps.

Yasmina whistles in surprise. Darius tries to whistle like her, and ends up spitting.

Brooklyn chuckles.

"You could seriously make a career with that voice," Yasmina states.

"I'd need lessons to hone in my skills," Brooklynn giggles.

"Wait, you telling me you haven't had lessons?!" Kenji's jaw drops. Brooklynn shakes her head. "Get on American Idol," Kenji grins.

Brooklynn smiles shyly. The teens lean on the railing and watch the scenery go by as the cruise chugs on. The Indoraptors weave their way around their parents legs and climb up their backs. Toothless is a bit offended that Sammy is holding onto Kenji and climbs her way up the Texan's back. Then she tries to squirm her way in between the two.

"Okay, okay, you little brat," Kenji rolls his eyes and pulls Sammy to the side, wrapping his right arm around her to make her feel secure.

The campers are silent; only the rushing water penetrates the silence. The ship's autopilot guides the boat through the twists and turns as they slowly sail upstream. The campers huddle close together as the rain slows to a stop and the afternoon sun comes out. Kenji starts poping his lips out of boredom. His friends for the most part ignore his behavior. Yasmina, on the other hand, kept glancing at him with irritation.

Sammy looks over at Yasmina with a sympathetic smile, and gently taps Kenji. "That's enough."

"Enough of what?" he frowns.

Yasmina rolls her eyes. "The popping."

"It's quiet and I'm bored," Kenji complains.

"Well, talk then, just stop being annoying," Yasmina growls.

"You're always so irritated by everything," Kenji rolls his eyes and starts up a game of naming all the trees they passed. The other campers join in. They don't notice how badly that comment hurt the athlete.

After a few minutes, they notice Yasmina's glum behavior. She had covered the sides of her face with her hands and was leaning on the railing. "Are you okay, Yaz?" Ben asks, gently nudging her with his shoulder.

"It's nothing," Yasmina mumbles. The other suspect that she was crying.

"Why are you crying?" Brooklynn asks in confusion.

"I don't want to talk about it," she sniffs.

"It's okay," Sammy rubs her back. "You can talk about it. None of us would judge you for it."

"Kenji would use it against me," Yasmina looks up at her, wiping away her tears.

"No, he wouldn't," Sammy sputters. "You wouldn't do that."

"I make no promises," Kenji shrugs unapologetically.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Brooklynn asks. "Kenji starts popping his lips and you start crying. What's going on?"

"It's a complicated, embarrassing thing," the athlete mumbles. "Remember how I said I had sensory issues?"

"So you dislike certain fabrics and certain sounds?" Ben asks. She nods. "Not surprised," he smirks. "So sounds are like your 345th reason to be a hermit?"

Yasmina chuckles. "Yep."

"How are you sensitive to sounds?" Darius asks. "Do loud noises startle you or?"

"No, it's more embarrassing than that," she hides her face in her hands.

"Don't be embarrassed," Sammy smiles. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Just say what it is."

"It's weird!" the athlete hisses.

"I didn't think it was weird or strange when you told me," Sammy shrugs.

"Hold up, Yaz has opened up before about this?" Kenji asks in shock.

"It was BIR," Yasmina says. "Before the Indominus Rex."

"You're just making us more curious," Brooklynn chuckles.

"Fine," Yasmina growls. "Chewing makes me stressed."

Sammy starts laughing. "What are you laughing about?!" Yasmina snaps.

"You could explain it better than that," the Texan laughs.

"Yeah, that's kinda… vague," Darius laughs.

"Okay," Trackstar sighs. "There are certain trigger sounds that cause panic, anxiety, and anger in me. Chewing, slurping, lip smacking—" she throws a dirty look at Mr. VIP, "loud breathing and sniffing—fun during cold season—and whispering are the main trigger sounds."

"Why would chewing cause anxiety?" Kenji shrugs, laughing in confusion. "Can you not tune it out."

Yasmina stares hard at him, thinking for a moment. "Imagine if Darius brought a big, hairy tarantula to the dinner table. You weren't allowed to kill it, hit it, or even touch it. You had to sit there and eat your dinner and pretend that a big spider isn't crawling around next to you. Think you would be able to do that?"

"Definitely no," the alpha male's eyes widen.

"Well, that's chewing for me," Yasmina shrugs.

"Except chewing can't hurt you," Kenji argues.

"Well, most tarantulas can't hurt you," Brooklynn quips.

"You're just as irrational as me," the athlete smirks.

"Arachnophobia just feels like it's been wired into my brain from birth," Mr. VIP states.

"With a sensory disorder, that's how it feels, too," Yasmina plants her hand on her hip.

"Touche," Kenji nods. "I get your point."

"I think I read about something like that," Brooklynn murmurs. "Misophonia. Trigger sounds like chewing cause a fight or flight response in the brain."

"That's it," Yasmina nods. "Most of the time I try to flee, but when I have to be around it… I just get angry and want to lash out physically and verbally. And I know that you guys aren't the problem. It's me. I'm the one with the issue; you guys didn't do anything wrong. But… it's like the anger's jerked out of me…"

"Someone brought the tarantula to the table, and it doesn't matter how much you rationalize with yourself," Kenji says softly. "You just can't control the reaction."

She nods. "I can control not lashing out. But that means sitting there, smoldering in anger… and I feel so guilty about it. I hate that I'm just sitting there hating you guys for something that is perfectly normal and totally my problem… I appreciate what you've done, though, Sammy. There were times when you would move away to eat or try to give me an out. Even when I was a jerk to you…"

"You're welcome," the Texan smiles. "You know, you can tell us when you're having a hard time coping with it. I'm willing to move away to finish eating or something if it helps you."

"But it's not your fault," the athlete says guiltily. "I feel bad for making you change your behavior for something that you can't control."

"You can't control it, either," Sammy says softly.

"You can tell us," Darius says. "We won't mind. We understand."

"I just feel guilty about it," she whispers. "And I'm so used to internalizing it. We've only known about it for about half a year. For years, it was just a source of strife and anger and stress in my family. Whenever I mentioned it, it would turn into a lecture about how I should tune it out. Eventually, I just stopped talking because it led to fights. I still hate to talk about it."

"We're not going to fight with you about it," Ben rubs her back. "You can tell us."

"That might take time to work on," she smiles sadly. "But… I guess it's nice to get that off my chest. It's hard to pretend I'm not irritated about it."

"I had no idea there was a problem," Darius chuckles. "Guess you hid it pretty well."

"So what have we learned today?" Sammy asks her friends.

"That chewing is Yasmina's Kryptonite," Kenji lists. "She has a panic attack when we make noises, and that you should be compassionate and understanding when people act out. It's not okay to hit someone for something stupid, but don't take attacks personal. People might just be having a bad day—or your chewing stresses them out."

Yasmina smiles shyly at him. "I've always been scared of talking about this because I thought people would brush me off as irritable and overreacting. But I'm also scared that I'll end up making people change too much just to suit me."

"That's why we should show compassion and understanding," Ben says. "'Tune it out' isn't helping you anymore than 'Snap out of it' helps Brooklynn. You shouldn't use your condition as leverage to abuse people, but don't internalize everything, either."

Water splashes Ben in the face. "Oh, you gotta problem with my statement?!" he shouts down.

A Plesiosaur—the source of the splash—groans at him. The others laugh. A couple more appear, swimming next to the Cretaceous Cruise with curiosity.

"Woah, I've always wanted to see these guys!" Darius says, going into nerd mode. A Plesiosaur raises it's long neck and Darius leans over the railing to pet it. Yasmina moves over to hold onto his legs.

Sammy slumps in disappointment. Kenji moves a box next to her. "I'll hold onto you," he offers. Sammy steps up and nervously leans over. Kenji holds onto her waist to keep her from falling as she pets the Plesiosaurs.

Bumpy and Tornado lean over the railing and moan at the water dinosaurs. The Indoraptors chirp curiously, and the Plesiosaurs answer back.

Darius laughs. "This is one of those moments where I forget what dinosaurs can do to you."

"Yeah," Yasmina smiles. She looks up and sees two large trees have crashed into the river, blocking their path. "Brace for—!" she starts to warn her friends.

The cruise ship crashes into the two trees, shaking the deck. Bumpy and Tornado lurch to the side, and Blue slides off the top deck. Yasmina falls over and pulls Darius back onto the deck with her. Brooklynn, Ben and Kenji lurch to the side and fall onto the deck. In the chaos, the alpha male loses his grip on Sammy, and she falls into the rushing rapids with a scream.

A/N: Well, there we go! The closer and closer we get to their rescue, the more intense the chapters get. And there might be a few more cliffhangers... fair warning. ;)