I don't have anything to say aside from that I hope you all continue to enjoy my writing, though eventually when I finish this story I might go back and rewrite some stuff to make it all line up better. But that's still quite some time away.
And yes, I saw the new trailer for Chaos Theory / that it was out, and I do plan on making a separate fic for that once I'm done with this one, even if it takes me forever.
But with all that said, I hope you enjoy it, and I'll see you at the bottom.
"Hello.": Normal talking.
"HELLO.": Yelling.
"Hello" Speaking through the radio.
'Hello': Thinking.
What: Emphasizing a word.
"HELLO": Signs and Warnings.
* bang * Sound effects.
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It was a new day for the members of what was once Camp Cretaceous, as they were still drifting at sea, trying to keep the yacht afloat and figure out their next move. Though they all knew they would have to dock soon to hopefully find some fuel for their rapidly draining supply of it, or what was left.
"Hurry up, Darius. With the engine off, we'll get swept out to sea or smashed on the rocks." Kenji called out to the young leader of their group.
Said leader was currently hanging off the side of the yacht with a rope tied around his waist, which Cass was holding, as he applied a new layer of tape over the hole in their boat. With a sigh of defeat as some of the taped peeled back up from the salt water.
"Alright, pull me up." Darius called out to the eldest teen, who in turn hoisted him back onto the boat and pulled him up over the railing with his free hand. "We gotta fix that hole or the gas would be the least of our problems." He said before untying the rope from his waist.
"Agreed." Cass simply said as he bundled up the rope before setting it down on one of the tables. He then promptly sat down in one of the booths and leaned onto Yasmina. Whether he wanted to show it or not, he was certain his fellow camp members could tell he wasn't getting much rest or eating. Even within the last three days he had only gotten a combined five hours worth of sleep and had only eaten one maybe two meals.
Yaz could see that he wasn't fairing too well, probably more than most considering that she spent a lot of alone time with said member of their dysfunctional family. Hell, she knew that he wasn't doing all that well when they had their first heart-to-heart all those months ago in the tree house that was once Camp Cretaceous. But things have definitely been getting worse for him ever since he came back injured, then there was the incident with Mitch, and the fact that she knows he is seeing what she only hopes are hallucinations of his dead family, though to what extent, she doesn't know. Yasmina knew that Cass was still pretty quiet and alone when it came to what he was thinking and feeling. Being the pillar that all of them relied on and being the first one to put themselves in harm's way if it meant they all got out safely, she knew he was under a great deal of stress, anxiety, and depression from all that had happened in his life and here.
But as strong as he was, he was also only nineteen, and carrying all of them and himself to survival. She could see it though… the way his eyes would get dimmer, the way he would stare into nothing, the lack of sleep, the lack of eating. Yaz knew that he was putting them before himself time and time again, with little to no regard for his own health and safety. And she was scared. Scared of what would happen to him if he took one step too far, scared of what could happen if they can't get back home sooner rather than later, scared of what Cass would do for them, scared of what he'd put himself through for their sake.
So she hoped, no, prayed, that they could finally go home soon so that the man that she loved could finally breathe.
"Hey.." Yasmina softly whispered to her boyfriend as she nudged a bit of chocolate toward his face. "You need the sugar, okay..? Take a bite."
Cass glanced at the food and then into her eyes and saw the pleading look that she gave. So with a sigh, he took a bite. "Thanks, love.." He whispered as he continued to keep his eyes open as he staved off his need for sleep, keeping himself leaned up against her to get what little comfort he could.
Kenji soon climbed down the ladder. "I thought having no GPS was the least of our problems." He said as he rounded the corner to talk to them.
"Yeah, and, uh, not to add to the doom and gloom but…" Yasmina piped up as she had crumpled up a now empty chocolate wrapper. But suddenly the ship let out a groan as it dipped a little to one side, causing most of the campers to let out a gasp as they steadied themselves. "...I'm pretty sure we're also sinking."
"Nah." Kenji said shakily. "We're just riding low in the water 'cause of, uh…" He said before clearing his throat and looking at Ben and Bumpy.
Bumpy let out a whining growl as Ben knelt next to her and petted her head. "Do not listen to him. You're perfect the way you are." Ben whispered to his Ankylosaur before returning to his normal tone of voice. "isn't there some non-dino-infested dock we can get to?" He asked.
"The closest one is on the other side of the island. We'll never make it." Brooklynn said as she looked at a map of Isla Nublar before letting out a sigh as she slouched forward. "We're doomed and gloomed."
"Ha! Hold up!" Kenji suddenly exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "There is another dock not far from here. A private dock that's not on any map." He explained to them before pointing off in the distance. "The dock near the P-house!"
Everyone else just looked at the teen in silence for a few seconds in confusion.
"I went before we left." Ben told him.
"No, not the…" Kenji tried to correct him but he could see they didn't know what he meant. "My dad's penthouse! There's a private pier and everything!" He said with excitement.
"And you're just now telling us this?" Yaz asked as she and the others looked at him in disbelief.
"Okay, well, maybe I forgot." Kenji half-assed apologized. "But now, we have a magic keycard to get inside so… meh."
"That penthouse could have everything we need." Darius said with hope in his voice.
"We'll have everything we need." Kenji promised. "My dad loves boats. He's got all sorts of nautical junk."
"To the P-house!" Darius exclaimed.
"To the P-house!" The other campers exclaimed with a fist pump and laughed, except for Cass who half-heartedly pumped his fist up with the others.
Though Kenji just let out a fake unenthusiastic laugh at the fact they're now on board with calling it the P-house.
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It had taken the campers close to an hour to take the yacht to the hidden dock of Kenji's dad's penthouse, with said boat bumping into the concrete pier and letting out a screech as the metal dragged against it. But as they stopped, Kenji, Brooklynn, and Darius watched the fuel gauge drop to the bottom of the red meter.
"That's it. That's the last of the gas." Darius said aloud, hoping that they would find more, or else they were all out of luck.
"Totally worth it 'cause you're about to see the most exclusive spot on the island." Kenji said as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
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ON THE ISLAND
The group had finally set off from the yacht and made their way toward the penthouse, and as much as Yaz had wanted Cass to stay behind and rest, they both knew that it'd be best if he came along, knowing just how much trouble seems to find them.
But instead of walking, Kenji had acquired some battery-operated all-terrain Segways. So Kenji, Darius, Brooklynn, Sammy, and Yasmina had all opted to take one to rest their legs for a little bit because Kenji practically shoved them onto them. Meanwhile, Ben and Cass just decided to ride on top of Bumpy.
"At the penthouse, we travel in style. It's only a short ride away." Kenji said as he began to slip back into his old self and show off his father's wealth. "Cool, huh? Thanks to B's magic key card opening every door on the island, I'll finally get to show you guys my home away from home!" He explained in excitement as he did loops and spins around the others who just chose to ride themselves forward.
Suddenly Sammy let out a gasp of fright, causing everyone to stop and gasp as they turned and saw what she did.
"Whoa!" Darius called out as they all saw a theropod dinosaur stalk through the bushes just to their left, with it being decently tall but just smaller than the Baryonyx that they had seen previously on the island. But the dinosaur just stood still, with its left eye occasionally flicking to them before continuing to stare straight ahead and not move.
"Uh, Darius?" Kenji quietly asked the question that most of the campers were thinking.
With the release of a sigh, Darius answered them. "It's just a Monolophosaurus. They're loners. Pretty much keep to themselves." He explained before continuing with the Segway.
"Then, onward! Paradise awaits!" Kenji said as he and the others followed after Darius.
As soon as the campers had let the Monolophosaurus's field of view, it had turned around and let out a low growl as it watched them leave. And a few seconds later, another Monolophosaurus came to its side and let out its own growl.
After another few minutes of the group riding toward the penthouse did they stop as Darius let out a gasp as he looked up at the "penthouse".
"Pretty cool, right?" Kenji asked rhetorically as he showed them what was essentially a skyscraper. "Wait till you see the inside." And just a few seconds later, they had arrived at the base of the building.
"Looks pretty clear." Darius said to the others as they all came to a stop and got off their respective modes of transportation. "We get in, get what we need, and get out."
"Got it, D." Cass agreed as he hopped off Bumpy and tiredly shouldered his sledgehammer.
"You're not gonna use that to get in, are you..?" Kenji hesitantly asked the older teen as he pointed at the tool, not wanting his dad's stuff to be broken.
"Not unless I have to..?" Cass answered questioningly with a raised eyebrow. "Let's just hope Bubblegum's keycard actually works here." He said as he patted Brooklynn's head.
"Wait here, girl." Ben said as he hopped off Bumpy and led her to a nearby fern for her to eat. "No offense but it's not really her kind of place." He said to the resident rich kid.
"No offense, but she's an 8,000-pound dinosaur who will totally trash my pad, so, yeah, totes not happening anyway." Kenji said to him as he and the other campers made their way to the front door of the penthouse building.
They all waited with baited breaths as they watched Brooklynn pull out the keycard and bring it up to the keypad.
* beeps *
And with a green light, the building was unlocked for them.
"Yeah." Kenji said to himself in excitement.
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* muffled panting and grunting *
Suddenly one of the doors of the penthouse swung open, as Darius, Kenji, Ben, Brooklynn, and Sammy collapsed forward into the room as they tried to catch their breath. Meanwhile, Cass and Yasmina stood behind them out in the hallway looking no worse for wear.
"How do we run from dinosaurs every day and we're still this winded from taking the stairs." Darius questioned as he fell to his knees and took in deep breaths.
"Sorry." Kenji apologized as he tried to stop his panting. "If the elevator was working, it opens up right inside."
"Still doing okay..?" Yaz whispered to her boyfriend as she grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. "You can sit down if you need to.."
Cass just looked down at her and gave a soft smile. "Thank you, Yaz.. But I'll be fine." He told her before squeezing her gently. "I'm tired.. and hungry.. But someone has to watch y'all." He said with a chuckle.
"Then let me do it…" She trailed off. "Please? You're already doing so much for us, you need to recharge." Yasmina said to him.
"Hmm." Cass hummed to himself in thought. "Tell you what, if we can get all the stuff we need here and get back to the yacht, then I promise I'll eat something and lay down for a few hours.. or, at least try to…" He offered her as an alternative.
Yaz thought for a few seconds before leaning up and kissing him. "Fine, but at least let me help you while we're in here."
Cass just let out a chuckle. "Okay, Okay. Fine."
She could only giggle to herself as bit by bit was Cass letting himself let others handle some of the responsibilities that he has, on top of him listening to what she has to say about his health. It wasn't much, but she knows how hard it is for him to have others handle things that he wants done, but she knows that Cass trusts them.. well, some of them. Herself and Darius mainly, while the others are all tied in second, except for Kenji. She knows that Kenji is at the bottom of Cass's list.
Yasmina's thoughts were cut off as she heard the audible gasp from her fellow camp members as they took in the sight of the penthouse that was before them.
They all took in the sight of the perfectly spotless white room, with the far wall being a giant window with a glass door to the balcony. Mahogany wooden tables and shelves were scattered across the walls, as well as potted plants, and soft gray rugs, joined together to make walking paths to the rest of the penthouse, soft white padded chairs with gold accents were placed around a table, and the walls were lined with pictures of Kenji's father and all of his accomplishments.
"Oh, I am not dressed for this." Sammy said aloud as she and the others took in just how… luxurious it all was.
"Welcome, friends, to Casa de Kenji! Who's up for the grand tour?" He asked as he stood in front of everyone before turning around with a bit of flair.
Suddenly, Darius, Ben, Brooklynn, and Sammy all rushed into the penthouse with laughter as they looked around and relaxed on the furniture, while Cass and Yaz entered at their own pace together.
"Or there's the self-tour. That too." Kenji responded with a smile on his face as he joined the others.
"Whoa." Darius let out in amazement as he looked at a solid gold statue of a Sinoceratops head.
"Pretty sweet, eh?" Kenji asked as he walked over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "A gift from Masrani. I named it… Horatio." He said with pride.
"A replica of the 68-million-year-old Sinoceratops discovered in Southern China!" Darius exclaimed in joy and wonder.
"Uh, sure. Also, it's gold." Kenji responded.
"Kenji, this is amazing." Brooklynn said from the other side of the room as she touched and admired a piece of art that was resting on the table.
"Careful." Kenji stuttered out as he rushed over to her. "Dad doesn't let me touch that." He said with a nervous chuckle. "it's one of his favorites. An original Gaddi." He said with pride.
"Your daddy's Gaddi?" Brooklynn jokingly poked fun at the wording with a raised eyebrow.
"Obviously, it's, uh… it's, uh… expensive. That's why it's art!" Kenji tried to sound smart but obviously failed.
"Oh, my god! Kenji, is that your dad?" Sammy asks as she rushes across the room to get a better look at one of his photos.
"Yeah. And that's the first skyscraper he ever bought." Kenji said like it was no big deal.
Sammy let out a gasp. "Is that him at the White House?"
"What can I say? Dad plays golf with the prez." He told her nonchalantly.
"Hey, how come there aren't any pics of you—" Sammy began asking as she looked at all of them on the wall.
"If you like those, check these out." Kenji hurriedly responded before handing her a photo album. "There's even a pic of Dad on the cover of Modern CEO magazine. Yeah, he owns the magazine, but, you know, still, huge honor"
"Guys, snacks!" Yasmina called out as she and Cass came back into the main room after finding them. With the two of them tossing around chips, popcorn, and gummies to all of the others.
"Um, imported snacks." Kenji replied as the others just laughed at being able to eat something that wasn't canned. With the younger campers not hesitating to open the bags and immediately start eating.
Brooklynn lounged on one of the chairs as she shoveled popcorn into her mouth. "I could eat only this all the time." She said between mouthfuls.
"Thirsty?" Kenji asked Yaz as he popped out from around the corner with multiple bottles of water.
"Mm-hmm." Yaz murmured out with a mouthful of chips as she reached out for one.
"Just so you know, it's from a very exclusive artesian well in Paris, filtered through diamonds." Kenji told her a story that may or may not be true.
Yaz just snatched the water from him with a raised eyebrow as she opened the bottle. She took a few sips of it before pulling it away with amazement. "That's not water. That's an experience."
Kenji and Yaz bumped the water bottle together before Kenji handed Cass one and walked toward the others, but while he wasn't looking, Cass just set the water off to the side. He wasn't here for food and water, if the others wanted to relax, that was okay with him, hell, he encouraged it, but he wasn't going to. There's too much going on on the island for him to relax. He pat Yaz on the head and ruffled her hair before going off to look for supplies.
"This gold is so shiny…" Brooklynn idly said.
"Guys, did you meet Horatio?" Darius asked as he, Brooklynn, and Sammy all hung out around each other.
"Look at them." Ben said disapprovingly with a shake of his head. "They've all gone soft." He let them talk for a bit longer before deciding to get their attention. "Hello! I thought we were supposed to be searching for gas? A patch for the boat? A GPS? Any of this ringin' a bell?"
"Dude, chill. Have some water." Kenji said before tossing him a bottle.
Ben caught said bottle before taking a sip, he quickly glared at Kenji before turning away from him and began chugging the water.
"Oh, does this place have a hot tub?" Yasmina excitedly asked as the conversations picked back up again.
"Oh my gosh." Sammy said with laughter. "This is amazing! We only use that for Thanksgiving!" She said as she continued to examine photos and look around the penthouse.
"What about a gym?" Yaz asked as she slowly got caught up in all of this stuff.
And Kenji could only smile to himself as he watched them all talk and enjoy themselves.
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OUTSIDE THE PENTHOUSE
* Bumpy snoring *
The Ankylosaurus was curled up on a patch of grass outside of the building, sleeping soundly as the sun's rays hit her scales and her clubbed tail occasionally thudded against the ground.
A pair of Monolophosaurus stalked toward the Segways that the campers had left behind, sniffing them as they had tracked the scent, before one of them bumped into it and knocked it over, causing the other to let out a low growl in warning.
But they were not alone, four more Monolophosauruses were sniffing around the outside of the building, around the windows and doors as they tried to pinpoint the smell. This went on for a few more seconds until one of the Monolophosauruses slammed its head into a vent grille a few times and pushed it in, giving them a way into the penthouse. And with some growls and calls to its fellow Monolophosauruses, the dinosaurs began to stalk their way into the vent.
Bumpy had finally woken up due to all of the noise and turned toward where it was coming from, and she saw at least a dozen Monolophosauruses make their way into the vent, and eventually, into the building completely. She rushed over toward them as fast as she could, but they were quicker than she was. So by the time she got there, it was too late. Bumpy could only growl out and slam her clubbed tail into the concrete as a way to warn the others of the incoming danger.
If only they could hear her.
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BACK IN THE PENTHOUSE
"I can't believe you have one of these! I didn't even think it was released yet." Darius said with excitement as he played on Kenji's hand-held gaming console.
"Sweet, right?" Kenji said as he leaned over Darius's shoulder to watch him play. "Top-secret prototype. Took me all last summer to get that high score so…"
"Yes! High score." Darius suddenly exclaimed which was followed by a few seconds of silence. "Sorry." He whispered as an apology.
"Pfft. Well, whatever. It's, it's a kid's game." He tried to play it off as he walked away with some nervous laughter.
Sammy was still sitting on the couch as she flipped through the photo album until she turned a page and found a folded piece of paper. She looked around before grabbing it and unfolding it, letting out a soft gasp as she looked at what was on it.
"Hey, have you seen Cass? I've been looking for him." Yasmina asked as she walked up behind her.
"Look how cute this is." Sammy said as she showed Yaz what was on the piece of paper.
"Aw." Yaz let out with a small chuckle.
"What awesomeness are you two looking at?" Kenji asked as he came back over.
"This adorable drawing you made of your adorable family!" Sammy said as she showed him it. It was a crude crayon drawing of a house with himself, his dad, his mother, and of course… a mermaid.
"Is that mermaid your aunt or were you always obsessed with them?" Yasmina asked with a laugh.
"I've got all this cool stuff and you zone in on something I drew when I was five?" Kenji asked as he took back the drawing and folded it back up.
"Uh, guys?" Ben said with a hint of urgency. "Something's up with Bumpy." He said as he stood on the balcony and looked over the edge. Motioning the others to come to check it out, which they all gathered around and looked with him. "She only acts like that when she senses danger or when she's constipated." Ben said as they watched Bumpy continue to growl and groan as she slammed her club into the ground.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really hope it's the second one." Brooklynn told him,
"I'm sure it's nothing." Kenji said as he crossed his arms.
"We can't risk it. You said your dad has a portable GPS up here?" Darius inquired.
"Yeah, somewhere, but I didn't even show you the hot tub yet. Sixty jets!" Kenji said as he tried to pull them back into the wealth of the penthouse.
"I'll go down to the garage. If there's gas or something to patch the boat with, that's where it'll be." Ben told them as he walked past Kenji and across the room to leave.
"We're coming with. And hopefully, we'll pick up Cass along the way." Yaz said as she followed behind him but after a few seconds of silence. "Sammy. You coming?" She asked as she noticed the girl hadn't gotten up from the couch.
"Oh, um, yeah." Sammy replied as she closed the book and set it to the side before getting up and following them out. And as they were leaving, Sammy had closed the door, but not hard enough as it had cracked up just a bit.
"Glad to be outta there." Ben said aloud. "So much marble, and gold, and comfort. That's no way to live, am I right?" He said as he playfully elbowed Yaz in the arm.
"You've been in the jungle way too long, dude." Was Yasmina's response with a roll of her eyes.
* thudding in the distance *
The three campers quickly came to a stop as they heard a noise.
"Do you hear that?" Ben asked them.
The three of them rounded the corner of the long dark hallway and noticed a door on their right that they noticed the noise was coming from. So they slowly walked up to it and peered through the glass window that was at head-level on the door. They heard things crashing together, falling down, and what sounded like things slamming into each other.
When suddenly a Monolophosaurus reared its head up and roared from inside the room, scaring them and getting them all to yelp out in fright. Soon, it and another Monolophosaurus started slamming their heads into the door and glass trying to get to them, letting out roars and growls while doing so.
"How did they get up here?" Sammy urgently asked.
"Does it matter?" Yaz asked back.
"Back to the penthouse!" Ben exclaimed as he and the other two took off from that spot to try and make it back before sliding to a stop at the end of the hallway as they looked at the far wall and noticed a shadow on the wall.
"Psst! Up here!" Cass whispered with urgency from the massive air duct above them.
Without needing more instructions from the eldest, they all reached up toward him, and one by one they were pulled up into the vent.
"Get going, we'll talk later." Cass quietly told them as he motioned for them to crawl through the duct with him following behind them.
And by the time the Monolophosauruses had broken through the door and rounded the corner, the campers were nowhere in sight.
The faint sound of metal clanging caught their attention and drew their heads upward, where they spotted the open vent. And with a roar, a Monolophosaurus jumped into the vent.
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INSIDE THE PENTHOUSE
Kenji let out a sigh of relief as he relaxed in a massage chair. "I can feel the stress draining out of me." He said before reclining the chair. "You guys are missing out. Who's got next."
"We're a little busy, Kenji." Darius said as he searched one of the bookshelves.
"You have no idea where the GPS is?" Brooklynn asked as she finished searching for the other one.
"Dad's not big on sharing details." Kenji said nonchalantly. "Frees me up to not sweat the small stuff. Or any stuff really."
Brooklynn could only groan in annoyance.
"Then where does he keep his nautical stuff?" Darius asked the teen.
Kenji let out a groan before sitting up and got out of the chair with a stretch. "Thataway, right past the 20-seat… home theater." He trailed off as Darius and Brooklynn walked away halfway through his sentence.
The two campers entered another room that had a desk and chair at the far end of the room and bookshelves lined the left and right walls.
"Okay, getting warmer, maybe." Brooklynn said as she crouched next to a small marble table and ticked up a spyglass off of it.
Darius searched the desk, moving books and papers off to the side before stumbling across a compass that lay on the table. "A compass! It's not a GPS, but it'll do." He said as he picked it up.
"It'll more than "do". That's an antique." Kenji said as he leaned against the door frame. "Rumor has it, it used to belong to—"
"Someone super fabulous. We know." Brooklynn said as she walked past him with Darius in tow.
* dinosaur growling *
Brooklynn let out a gasp before backing into Darius while shushing any noise that he would have made. The two campers watched as the muzzle of a Monolophosaurus pushed itself between the door and the door frame, letting out a growl as it sniffed around. Darius and Brooklynn could only stare in fear..
"What is that?" Kenji asked loudly as he rounded the corner, causing the other two to let out a gasp and the Monolophosaurus to let out a screech as it shoved its whole head past the doorway and tried to get in, but the three teens all rushed forward and slammed themselves into the door and began to force the dinosaur out of the way. And bit by bit, they managed to close the door on it.
But after letting out a sigh of relief, their moment of solitude was quickly swept away as the Monolophosaurus slammed its head into the door, causing a hole to form and chunks of wood to fall toward Kenji.
"This door's solid mahogany!" Kenji exclaimed in shock.
"We get it! You're rich!" Darius shouted at him. "Just keep the door shut so we can barricade it!" He said as he and Brooklynn quickly swapped places with him, with the Asian teen now blocking the door. Brooklynn and Darius soon came back as they pushed the couch toward the door.
"Careful!" Kenji says as he moves out of the way at the last second before they all run a bit deeper into the room and away from the door.
"It's not working!" Darius exclaims as he watches as the door and couch begin to jostle a bit and shake as the dinosaur keeps slamming into them.
"The elevator!" Brooklynn calls out.
"That's definitely not working!" Kenji said back.
"We can climb down through the shaft!" Darius explained as he and Brook tried to pry open the door and succeed after a few tries. "Kenji, come on!"
"What?" He asked in disbelief before looking back at his dad's Gaddi, and with every passing moment, the Monolophosaurus got closer and closer to breaking through the door.
"Kenji!" Darius called out to him again.
Kenji just ran back and grabbed his father's Gaddi before making a break for the elevator, and just as he passed the door, the Monolophosaurus burst into the room and shoved the couch out of the way before chasing after him. And with not much more time, the three campers all jump through the threshold of the elevator doors and into the shaft, grabbing onto the cables and sliding down them as the elevator door closed on the dinosaur's face, cutting it off from them.
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IN THE VENTS
The campers were stealthily crawling through the vents, with Sammy leading them, followed by Yasmina, Ben, and finally Cass.
"We have to go back for the others." Sammy whispered.
"They're safer in the penthouse." Yaz told her. "We'll meet back up with them after we hit the garage."
* dinosaur screeching *
They all abruptly stopped as they heard the noise.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me…" Cass whispered mostly to himself.
"Let's keep moving." Sammy whispered to them before she resumed crawling.
It was silent for a few more seconds as they all focused on moving forward, before coming to a split. Either taking a left or a right. Since Sammy was the one leading them, she stuck her head around the corner to check out both ways. First was the right side, which was only a few feet deep and blocked by another grate, she turned to the left and immediately let out a scream of pure terror as a Monolophosaurus lunged at her with a roar.
She quickly backed away from it with fright. "Back! Go Back!" Sammy screamed out as she and the others quickly turned around and crawled away while the Monolophosaurus let out some more roars as it snapped its jaws at the campers and stalked toward them.
Though they didn't get too far away from it, because another Monolophosaurus came down from another path in the vent and cut them off with a screech.
"I fucking hate this island." Cass said with a tired grumble. "Move, Yaz." He simply tells his girlfriend before rearing back one of his legs and kicking a vent grate off. "Climb in." Cass said as he was getting tired of being in these vents already.
"This one goes down!" Sammy exclaimed.
"Down where?" Yasmina asked her.
"Who cares?" Ben replied as if he wasn't gonna question what Cass told him to do. So without any hesitation, he dropped down into it, soon being followed by Sammy, Yasmina, and Cass.
The campers quickly fell all the way down, with Ben falling onto a grate and blasting it open and into a hallway while holding onto the grate that was dangling down. Sammy soon came down and grabbed onto Ben to break her fall as they both held on for a few seconds before letting go. And then Yasmina and Cass came down one after the other a few seconds apart, both landing on their feet.
"Thanks, big guy." Sammy said to the eldest teen.
"Mhm." Cass grunted out as he closed his eyes tightly and rolled his shoulders. 'Why does my head hurt so damn much..?' He thought to himself before shaking his head and forcing his eyes open.
"Hey.. are you okay?" Yaz asked him as she put a hand on his cheek after seeing his moment of discomfort.
"I'm good. Let's just find that garage already and get the hell out of here." He said as he grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze before letting it go.
Everyone agreed that it'd be best if they hurried up with what they came here to do and began jogging off down the hallway. And after a few minutes of jogging, they finally made it into the garage with Ben and Cass pushing open the doors.
It was a large open and dimly lit room with a concrete floor and ramps off to each side of the room that led toward the exit. And spanning multiple rows after rows were limousines.
"Limos on a jungle island. That's practical." Ben said as they all looked at the vehicles before walking away and toward some metal storage lockers on the left wall.
"Ooh, sealant!" Yasmina called out as she and Sammy opened one of the lockers up. "We could use this to patch the yacht!"
"Now, all we need is gas." Ben said before being knocked on the head gently by Cass. "Ow, what?"
Cass merely just turned away and gestured to rows and rows of limousines.
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IN THE ELEVATOR SHAFT
The teens were climbing down the elevator cables as quickly as they comfortably could, with Brooklynn at the bottom, followed by Darius above her, and Kenji above him.
"Faster, Kenji!" Darius shouted out.
And Kenji slid down a bit as he was actively falling behind because he was still carrying his father's Gaddi with him.
"Just let go of the sculpture!" Brooklynn yelled out at him.
"No way! Think of dad." Kenji responded in disbelief.
* dinosaur growling *
The campers quickly became quiet and stopped climbing as they had become scared of the noise that reverberated around them and a roar echoed through the elevator shaft.
"Where are they coming from?" Brooklynn whimpered out in fear as she looked around.
With a loud bang and a roar, one of the metal grates to a vent blew off and down the shaft as a Monolophosaurus slammed into it and began trying to take bites out of Kenji, but was just out of reach with the older teen. Suddenly a second Monolophosaurus blew off a grate and tried to take a bite out of Brooklynn, though all it got was a mouth full of cables, the action still caused the pink-haired girl to let go of the cables and fall with a scream.
Brooklynn manages to catch herself by grabbing onto the cables once more but slides down them all the way to the elevator at the bottom with a loud thud and falls onto her back.
"Brooklynn!" Darius calls out as he looks down toward her. However, he noticed the Monolophosaurus look up toward him with a growl and jump toward him with a snap of its jaws.
Brooklynn slowly got back up with a groan and tried to pull open the hatch on top of the elevator.
Darius started climbing up the cables as the Monolophosaurus kept snapping at him before jumping onto the cables and climbing after the teen while repeatedly trying to take a bite out of him.
The other Monolophosaurus tried to bite Kenji once more, but the older teen leaned back, almost falling off the cable and dropping the Gaddi, but he managed to hold onto it and keep himself from falling.
With all the shaking of the cables and his rapidly slipping grip, Darius fell from the cables and grabbed onto one of the steel supports that lined the elevator shaft walls, barely managing to catch himself. However, his moment of reprieve didn't last long as one of the dinosaurs dropped down toward him, causing him to jump out of the way and hang on somewhere else.
The Monolophosaurus tried to pull itself up with a roar but didn't have the upper body strength to do so, so it fell all the way to the bottom and crashed down onto the elevator.
Brooklynn quickly jumped out of the way of the falling dino, with the elevator suddenly having so much extra weight dropped on top of it, caused it to fall a few more feet, creating a small gap where half of an elevator door could be accessed.
The pink-haired superstar quickly moved over toward the elevator doors and tried to pry them open in the moments that the dinosaur was stunned by its fall.
Darius could no longer keep his grip on the support beam and fell down the shaft as well, but between a momentary grabbing of the cables and using the Monolophosaurus as a way to cushion his fall, Darius was left uninjured as he rolled next to Brooklynn.
The Monolophosaurus let out a groan that scared the two campers as it shakily raised its head and tried to shake the pain from its skull before letting out a roar.
Both Darius and Brooklynn frantically tried to pry the elevator doors open with all of their might to hopefully get out of there before the dinosaur could attack them.
Kenji was still holding onto the cables above them when his captain's hat fell from his head and landed directly onto the Monolophosaurus's face, buying the younger teens a few seconds of time before it shook it off. With no other choice, Kenji closed his eyes and let go..
* loud crash *
Just as the Monolophosaurus was about to get up, Kenji dropped the Gaddi onto its head, causing the dinosaur to collapse and fall unconscious.
Kenji slid down the cables and joined up with his friends. "Oh…" he trembled out as he looked at the shattered remains of his father's Gaddi and picked up the biggest piece he could as well as his hat.
But the Monolophosaurus suddenly shot its head up with a roar… only for Kenji to slam the remains of the Gaddi into its head, and all three teens quickly fled the elevator and closed the doors before the dinosaur could get back up.
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IN THE GARAGE
The group were all hanging around one of the cars in silence as the only sound that could be heard was the flowing of gasoline, which Cass and Ben had been able to siphon from the vehicles. Ben was currently kneeling next to the gas can to keep an eye on it, Cass was leaning against the trunk right behind him, Yasmina was leaning up against the side of the limo, and Sammy was standing up near the driver-side door.
"Sammy?" Yaz called out the girl's name as she looked over at her and noticed her look of sadness. "Sammy?" She asked again while standing right next to her.
"Hi!" Sammy snapped back from her thoughts. "I… uh… what?" She paused for a moment as she tried to collect herself.
"Is something bothering you?" Yaz asked with concern written on her face.
"Dinosaurs in the building isn't enough?" Ben cut in.
"Private conversation, Ben." Yaz scolded him before moving closer to the girl. "Come on. What is it?"
"It's just that…" Sammy started before letting out a sigh. "Seeing that drawing of Kenji and his family, it made me think. We're about to go home, but do I even have a home to go back to?" She said with a quivering tone. "What if Mantah Corp is mad that I failed at spying for them? Yaz, I'm scared to go home." The two shared a moment of silence.
* clanging *
Until they were suddenly brought out of it by a noise that instilled fear, causing the younger campers to let out a gasp of fright while Cass just let out a sigh of exasperation and defeat as he was already tired of this day.
* dinosaur screeching *
After a few moments, two Monolophosauruses fell out of a vent from the ceiling of the garage and landed on the concrete floor with a thud. It took them a few seconds to get back up, but once they did, the only thing that they noticed was the sound of a car door closing.
The Monolophosauruses began sniffing the air and checking out the limousine, and all they got was a reflection of themselves due to the black tinted windows that blocked their view to the inside.
Inside the limousine, Ben, Cass, Sammy, and Yasmina all sat down with their backs pressed against the seats, creating as much of a low profile as they could, just in case the dinosaurs' vision was strong enough to make out movement behind the tint.
"We need to leave, now!" Yasmina whispered with urgency.
"How? We just took all the gas out of the limos." Ben whispered back to her.
"Not that one." Sammy quietly called out as she pointed at a limousine that was parked all the way across the garage on its own.
"Okay." Cass said to himself. "Any of you know how to drive?" He asked.
"I was learning a bit before we got here…" Yaz explained to him. "Wait.. why? What are you going to do?" She asked as he was the one who usually drove all of the vehicles they had come across.
He tightened his grip on his sledgehammer. "Distract them. The sooner and safer that you three can get in that limo and start it, the better. We can't lose this gas, this is our last chance to refuel the yacht." Cass said while gesturing toward the gas can that Ben was carrying.
"What about you?" Yasmina tried to argue.
"What about me?" Cass countered before letting out a sigh. "Sweetheart, I'm not about to die in some rich dude's garage. Especially to these damn things." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "Now you three get moving after I lure them away from the limo, okay?"
Ben and Sammy gave an affirmative nod and grunt of acknowledgment at his request, and while Yasmina hesitated, she inevitably did the same as she trusted him.
"Good." Was all Cass said before he snuck out of the limousine and down a few rows away before slamming his sledge into the concrete, making a massive crack and thud sound out through the garage that got the Monolophosauruses attention as they rushed over toward where the noise came from.
The three campers opened the door on the right side of the limousine before opening the door to the next limo over, and slowly swapped from vehicle to vehicle to reduce their chances of being spotted by the Monolophosauruses. However, they didn't need to worry too much, as Cass was giving the dinosaurs the run around as he snuck between limos and around the concrete supports of the building, slamming his hammer into the ground or walls to get the dinos' attention.
Finally, after a few minutes and a few close calls, the others had made it to the limousine against the far wall, with Ben and Sammy quickly jumping into the back and Yasmina hopping into the driver's seat and cranking the key that was still sitting in the ignition.
The loud noise had caught the attention of the Monolophosauruses, causing them to quickly whip their heads toward the sound of the vehicle and charge it while letting out roars and screeches.
"Fuck." Cass just said to himself before standing up and running toward the limo.
The trio let out screams of shock and fright as they noticed the incoming dinosaurs, so without much hesitation, Yaz slammed on the gas pedal and floored it toward to dinosaurs, slamming into them and knocking them out of the way before suddenly stopping in front of Cass.
"Didn't know the first time you'd get behind the wheel with your boyfriend in the car would be to commit a hit-and-run." Cass said to her jokingly as he opened up the passenger door up front and took a seat next to her.
"Oh ha ha." She said sarcastically with a smile before once again hitting the gas and driving them out of the garage and to safety.
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OUTSIDE
Suddenly the front doors to the penthouse building were thrown open as Darius, Brooklynn, and Kenji bolted out of there, soon being followed by two Monolophosaurus that they had stumbled across as they tried to make their way out of the building.
* honking *
The three turned to their right and saw a limousine pull up next to them, with the back passenger door being opened and being greeted by the sight of Ben and Sammy. With them not needing to be told what to do, Darius, Brooklynn, and Kenji all jumped into the back of the limo to escape from the dinosaurs.
And just as the Monolophosauruses were going to attempt to attack the teens, Bumpy came rushing in and slammed directly into them, knocking them onto their backs and sides as they lay stunned.
"Let's hit it, Bumpy." Ben yelled out back toward his Ankylosaur as he had stuck his head out of the sunroof.
And with a groan, Bumpy called back to him and began following after the limo.
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BACK ON THE YACHT
Darius was up in the control center as he set the compass down next to the wheel so they could always know where they were heading, and checking the fuel gauges as well. While they weren't completely full, they had way more fuel than when they had found it.
He looked over and noticed that Kenji was sitting on his own looking solemn.
"Cheer up, Kenj. With all the stuff we found at your place, we just might make it out of here." Darius said as he took a seat next to his friend.
"Yeah, I, I know. I…" Kenji stopped himself and let out a sigh. "I guess I thought by seeing the penthouse, you guys would finally think that I'm…" He stammered over his words a bit. "I'm a… I mean, I just wanted to show you all a good time before we left the island."
"We did have a good time. Before the dinosaurs tried to kill us that is." Darius said as he scratched the back of his head and Kenji looked down at his own lap. "Dude, you know you don't need all those fancy things to impress us, right? We're already impressed."
"Yeah, right." Kenji said self-deprecatingly.
"Yeah, right!" Darius reiterated. "You're cool, funny, loyal. Hell, you fought off a dinosaur in an elevator shaft."
Kenji couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "I smacked it with Dad's Gaddi."
"You're a good guy, Kenj, and a good friend. Know that." Darius told him. "None of that other stuff matters." He said as he got up and walked away.
And now that he was alone, Kenji pulled out that drawing he made when he was a child and looked at it fondly.
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Yasmina rounded a corner of the yacht as she was talking to Cass about his more than reckless behavior, not like he would do anything to change it though, and she knew that. But she needed to get her worry across somehow.
Then she noticed Sammy sitting on her own on own of the on-deck couches, something that Cass noticed too. The eldest gave his girlfriend a quick kiss and a shoulder squeeze before stepping back and letting her check in on her best friend.
Yaz sat down with a few seconds of silence between them, seeing as how she wasn't the best at these sorts of talks, but Sammy beat her to it.
"I know what you're gonna say. It sucks that I have to be so worried about my family." She said with a pause, which Yaz was about to fill, but Sammy spoke again. "But maybe I don't have to just sit here and worry. Maybe I should help them somehow." And just as Yasmina was hoping to get a word in, nope, the Texan spoke again. "Maybe I should do something. Which is exactly what I'm gonna do. Do something about it!"
Sammy quickly got up and hugged her friend tightly. "Oh, thanks, Yaz! You're the best." She said before walking off and back to her usual self.
Yaz just sat there and chuckled to herself with a smirk. "Nailed it."
"You've got quite the way with words." Cass said sarcastically from behind her and began laughing softly at her reaction to being snuck up on.
"You have got to stop doing that." She said with a huff as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.
"Nah, I don't think I will." He said as his energy was quickly draining from the day as he stepped over the back of the couch and plopped onto it and rested against Yasmina. "I'm just.. gonna lay here for a moment.."
Yaz could only look at him with softness and worry as a small smile adorned her lips.
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"So, how're we gonna fix this thing?" Darius asked as he removed the tape from the hole in the yacht.
"No idea. I never got around to making a Brooklynn Unboxes Boat Repairs video." Said pink-haired said.
"Too bad. Bet it would've got tons of views!" Sammy said as he was still a Brooklander.
"All right, people. So what do we got?" Darius asked out loud to all of his fellow camp survivors.
Brooklynn, Ben, Kenji, and Sammy all helped brainstorm ideas on what they could do or use to fix the hole because this was the final piece they needed to fix before they could finally go home.
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IN THE JUNGLE
A drone was rapidly flying through the air as it swerved between trees and other obstacles, its little camera surveying its surroundings and scanning for any signs of life.
Something quickly dashed across its field of view for a split second, causing whoever was controlling the drone to force it to turn around and search for whatever it was. But luck wasn't on their side as the drone got knocked out of the air and fell to the jungle floor.
* thud *
* thud *
* thud *
And a scream-like roar was all that was heard.
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Sigh, sorry for the delay on this one, seems like I can never catch a break with things popping up and stopping me from writing. But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.