Chapter 9
Author Note: Hey everyone back with another chapter of this story. I have to say this is one of my stories that I have come to absolutely love writing and find really easy to write. Not sure what it is but for whatever reason the chapters just flow really well when it comes to writing them compared to some of my stories where I sometimes struggle through a chapter.
Anyway not much else to say but thank you to everyone who reviewed, and be sure to Favorite, Follow, and Review along with check out my other stories as who knows you might like them as well.
Oh and on a side note if this chapter is published on October 31st then it has the honor of being part of my first ever Multi-Update with it being a Triple Update.
That being said be sure to use the Fanfiction App as unlike the website notifications for story updates and all other types of alerts are working there.
Also who else is super excited that Netflix is making a sequel series to Camp Cretaceous called Jurassic World Chaos Theory!
And one final announcement with this chapter I have achieved my first ever story to reach over 100,000 Words Whoo!
(Camp)
The campers looked out at the clear campfire/bonfire from atop their base with wide eyes of disbelief. "It can't be…is it?" Yaz utters in a hushed tone both hope and fear swelling up inside her at the sight.
"I'm seeing it too" Brooklyn utters, confirming for the track girl that she wasn't hallucinating the bonfire and that it was in fact there.
"That is most definitely a bonfire, someone got our S.O.S. signal!" Kenji says in shock and awe at the sight of the bonfire.
"People, actual people…" Sammy mutters in awe and hope at the prospect of a rescue party.
"Let's go find them, it's time to go home!" Darius says excitedly, getting a cheer from the others before they begin to quickly climb down out of the base. The exception being Naruto who stared at the bonfire in the distance a moment longer. He didn't know why but he was having that same feeling in his gut that he had the day the Indominus broke out. Pushing the thought of that feeling aside he jumped out of the base landing in a crouch before running after the others.
As the campers run through the jungle each of them carrying a makeshift weapon, Brooklynn with her baseball bat, Kenji with his butter knife, Darius Sammy and Yaz each having a spear made from a sharpened tree branch, and Naruto armed with…himself the formers had wide grins on their faces.
"Oh we're almost there I can feel it!" Sammy exclaims excitedly as they continue running as fast as the group can, with Naruto obviously holding back due to him being much faster than them.
Brooklynn then decides to run over to a large tree and quickly climbs up it to make sure they were still heading in the direction of the bonfire. As she reaches one of the top tree branches she looks out searching for the telltale column of smoke or glow of the bonfire and after a moment she spots it "Yes! We're getting closer!" the pink-haired girl calls out in excitement getting a cheer from the others down below.
After Brooklynn climbs back down to the ground the group continues running in the direction of the bonfire. Every so often they would stop and one of them would climb a tree to check that they were still running in the same direction. After Brooklynn's climb Sammy was the next one to climb a tree and the girl let out a cheer as she spotted the smoke of the bonfire even closer than before.
A little bit later Kenji took a turn climbing a tree and let out a cheer of his own at the sight of the smoke column being even closer before he climbed back down and the campers resumed their running. "Come on, we're so close!" Darius yells out with a wide grin on his face as he vaults over a fallen tree as they run.
"Oh it's really real!" Yaz says with a cheer as she easily jumps over the tree due to her athleticism with Naruto right beside her the blonde having done a flip over the tree "Ha! Showoff!" she yells at him grinning at his feat to which he just grins back shrugs as he runs.
"Guys we're really going home!" Sammy calls out in joy at the group's likely rescue from the island.
After running a bit longer the decide to take another look for the bonfire with Darius climbing a tree this time. As the dino nerd reaches the top branch of the tree he has a wide smile on his face as he expects to see the column of smoke from the bonfire very close by. However upon scanning the area for any sign of the bonfire his smile fades and a look of shock and fear replaces it before he quickly climbs back down to the ground where some of the campers are breathing heavily to catch their breath from all the running. "The bonfire, it's gone!" Darius says eliciting gasps from the group at the devastating news.
"What if…they left?" Sammy says somberly after a moment as the prospect of missing the rescue party sinks in causing her to panic a bit. "What if the people who came to save us gave up and we missed our chance?" the girl adds her question causing the group to gain downtrodden looks.
Naruto opens his mouth to say something only to be cut off by the loud roar of a dinosaur more specifically what is clearly a carnivore's roar causing them to gasp. Acting fast the group circles up so as to keep an eye on any possible direction the threat could come from as they begin looking out into the dark misty jungle around them.
Looking out into the jungle they fearfully scan their surroundings for the location of the carnivore that was hunting them given the low growling they would sporadically hear from somewhere nearby. "It could be a really big compy right?" Kenji asks shakily his butter knife held high "Darius, didn't you say they were creepo skylarks?" he adds looking back over his shoulder at the teen.
"I said they were crepuscular" Darius whispers back in fright to the teen as he tightens his grip on his makeshift spear. However in his mind the teen was wishing that the ridiculous statement the asian teen made was correct as a really big Compy would be much better than whatever was hunting them right now.
Suddenly the sound of leaves rustling and heavy footsteps caught Naruto's attention as his eyes widened "EVERYONE DOWN!" he yelled out before jumping towards Darius. As the blonde haired teen flew through the hair he twisted his body with a spin extending his right leg outward as he did and in the process delivering a brutal spin kick to the side of the head of a large dinosaur as it burst through the leaves.
The impact of the kick sent the dinosaur's head snapping to the side resulting in it staggering backwards for a few steps and giving the campers a closer look at just what was hunting them. The carnivore stood at roughly 9 Feet tall and around 18 feet long. Its hide was a mix of a tan underbelly bleeding into a blood red with black stripes running down its sides.
"It's another Ceratosaurus!" Darius exclaims in fright at the sight of the dinosaur and having a feeling that this encounter with a member of the species was going to be a lot less peaceful than the one earlier in the day.
"Run!" Naruto yells out stating the obvious as the group's chances of fending off the hungry predator were pretty slim at the moment. The spears Darius, Yaz, and Sammy had would likely barely break the dinosaur's skin, Brooklynn's bat was even less effective…and the less said about Kenji's butterknife the better. Naruto knew that with his strength and speed he could have a decent chance against the predator but he wasn't a fan of the odds for if he had to solo it. Not to mention how there was no guarantee that if he tried to distract it so that the others would escape that the Ceratosaurus wouldn't just ignore him and head after them. Thus escape in his mind was the group's only option.
Not needing to be told twice the group began running for their lives away from the hungry predator. As they ran through the misty darkness brushing past bushes and leaping over branches they could feel the hot breath of the Ceratosaurus on the backs of their necks as it was right behind them. With Naruto at the head of the group he knew at this rate it was only a matter of time before the hungry predator caught one of them causing him to curse "Dammit, everyone take a left try and lose it in the trees!" he yelled out before running to the left towards some of the thicker density of trees with the group following right behind him.
As they ran through the trees thankfully the Ceratosaurus started to fall behind a bit due to the trees getting more and more in its way the denser the forest got. Unluckily for the group however it was at that moment that Kenji decided to look behind them to see how close the predator was to them. In the split second he looked back he ended up running into a low hanging tree branch which knocked him to the ground. Then in a perfect example of a domino effect Sammy who had also looked back at the Ceratosaurus didn't see Kenji lying on the ground and thus tripped over his prone body with a yelp.
Said yelp altered the others to their situation causing them to stop running and turn to see their two friends on the ground and the Ceratosaurus getting closer. Acting fast they ran back to the downed forms of Kenji and Sammy and stood in front of them protectively.
"Alright come on!" Brooklynn yells out trying to psych not only herself up but also the group as a whole for the inevitable fight against the predator.
Naruto took a self defense stance that Owen had taught him as he formulated a plan in his mind. The blonde would rush in and mee the Ceratosaurus head on to deliver an uppercut to the underside of its jaw. Then while the dinosaur was disoriented he would try to trip it, before following it up by going for one of its eyes in hopes that the predator would flee should it be injured to such an extent.
However before he could even act the blonde's plan was thrown out the window by the sudden appearance of a bright red flare that flew through the air before detonating like a firework right next to the Ceratosaurus's head much to the shock of the campers. They were even more shocked when a man's voice yelled "Get down!" before two men rushed past the group pushing them back and standing between them and the predator.
One of the men cocks the gun in his hands before firing off another flare,followed by another and another driving the Ceratosaurus away. The other man stands behind him in a karate stance much to the group's shock though Naruto just raises an eyebrow at this thinking it was ridiculous. As the two men stood protectively in front of the teens a woman joined them having walked out from the bushes to the side.
Turning her attention to the campers they get a good look at her appearance. She was caucasian and a bit on the shorter side and appeared to be in her early to mid 30's, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. Her figure in Naruto's opinion reminded him a bit of Roxie mainly in the chest area which was on the larger side though the woman's thighs were thinner than the female counselors. For clothing she was wearing a pink handkerchief scarf tied around her neck, a light gray buttoned up shirt, tan shorts held up by a brown leather belt, and a pair of brown hiking boots. She additionally had a gray safari-style hat on her head, and a large photography style camera hanging from a strap draped around her neck. "Oh, thank goodness, you're okay" she says with a smile to the group of teens as she looks at them.
As she says this the man that had taken the karate pose also turns around giving the campers a good look at him as well. Much like the woman he was also caucasian and presumably in his mid 30's as well. He has golden blonde hair, and green eyes. His clothing however was what stood out the most to the group and consisted of a blue partially unbuttoned shirt, tan shorts, and brown hiking boots. The man also had a tan fedora-style hat with a black band around it on his head, a fossilized trilobite necklace hanging around his neck, and a watch on his left wrist. "You are okay aren't you? The man asks in worry as he stares at the heavily breathing campers while the sky begins to brighten as the sun begins to rise.
As the man says this the final male of the trio of adults walks up behind him. Said man is also caucasian but a bit older than the other two appearing to be in his late 40's to early 50's as evidenced by his graying hair and goatee the former of which is in a short buzz-cut. The man has a grizzled and experienced look to him as he has multiple scars visible on his body with the most noticeable being a long scar running down his left brow. The man wore a gray sleeveless flack-jacket vest over a short sleeved black shirt, military style cargo jeans, and combat boots. In his hands was the rifle he had used to fire off the flares that drove the Ceratosaurus away.
"Who…Who are you?" Darius asks, finally finding his voice after the ordeal and shock the group just went through.
Hearing this the blonde just grins warmly and puts her hands on her hips "Well, after all that, maybe you should call us your salvation" she says before looking at the man in the blue shirt with a grin.
"Yeah that;s all well and good but I would still like some names if that's not too much trouble" Naruto remarks dryly as he stares at the trio with a pit of suspicion forming in his stomach. The blonde then looks at the blue shirt wearing man "Also quick question…Does he think that look works for him or is he just trying to look like Dr. Alan Grant?" he asks, shocking his fellow campers at the potential insult the blonde is giving their seemingly rescuers.
Hearing the question get's a snort of laughter out of the blonde woman, the tiniest of tiny smirks from the older man, and deadpan look from said blue shirt wearing man.
(Little while later)
The campers were now walking with the three adults with the older man leading the way hacking down various brush with a machete to clear a path. "You do know you don't need to hack the brush down right? The jungle is perfectly passable already" Naruto remarks with a bland look as he walks beside the man. Said man's response was to just silently stare at him out of the corner of his eye before hacking down another bush with the machete. "...Fine be that way…do you at least have another machete? Two people working to clear a path is more efficient than one" he adds.
For a moment the man just stares at the blonde giving him a once over before he reaches down to a strap on his pants and unsheathes another machete before handing it to the blonde before he resumes cutting a path with the blonde now helping him.
"We could not believe it when we saw your campfire" Brooklynn says to the other two adults as they and the others walk together.
"Did you get left behind during the evacuation too?" Yaz asks, wondering if they were left behind like them and if so would that mean there might be other people who also got left behind.
"Are you kidding? They definitely get left behind looking like that" Kenji remarks with a shake of his head referring to the pristine and clean condition of the two adults' clothes.
"Yeah, are you like, some super stylish rescue squad?" Sammy suddenly asks with a wide excited grin on her face.
"Guys! Take a breath, we don't even know their names" Darius suddenly says, cutting the rest of the group off from asking further questions.
Hearing this the man chuckles "I'm Mitch and this here is my better half Tiff" the blue shirt wearing man says introducing himself and the woman "We're eco-tourists" he adds the mention of which briefly causes Naruto to glance over his shoulder at the two with a slightly narrowed look.
"It's a fancy way of saying that we travel to exotic places and photograph rare animals" Tiff says explaining what that was to the campers in case they didn't know.
"I know Simon Masrani…or well knew him" Kenji blurts out trying to impress the two adults for some reason before remembering that the man died. The asian teen then thinks to mention that Naruto is Masrani's son only to freeze and decide not to after seeing the glare that the blonde was sending him over his shoulder.
"Well when we heard what happened here we were like zoop!" Mitch says excitedly as he makes a zipping motion with his arm that Tiff mirrors.
"Zoop! Gotta get down here. I was fine taking snaps of lions and tigers but-" the woman begins to say before Mitch interrupts her.
"Pics of dinosaurs in the wild? You don't pass that up do you babe?" the man says with a wide grin as he looks at his wife.
"No you definitely don't babe" the woman replies with a wide grin of her own before Sammy suddenly bursts out laughing loudly and creating a sense of awkwardness.
"Oh I travel too! Well before we got stuck here obviously" Brooklynn says out of nowhere trying to break the awkwardness that had formed "You've seen my videos haven't you? Brooklynn Unboxes the World?"" she adds getting confused looks from the married couple "The web channel?" the pink haired girl points out making it even clearer for the two. After a moment Mitch and Tiff just shake their heads indicating they have never heard of her content making the girl scoff in annoyance.
Sensing the pink haired girl's mood turn sour at this Darius changes the subject "When we activated the emergency distress beacon, we hoped someone would get our signal. I kind of can't believe it worked" the teen admits having lost a little faith in the beacon after almost three weeks of no rescue despite them having activated it.
"Oh yeah, the signal. Honey, remember when we got that? It was right after the boat dropped us off" Tiff says as if she is just remembering the emergency signal. Hearing this or more specifically how she reacted to the reveal of the beacon caused Naruto's eyes to narrow as he hacked away at the brush alongside the other man. The way in which she reacted just felt…fake, to the blonde and had him internally questioning just what the two were really doing on the island as a result.
"Ah where are our manners? Our companion here is Hap. He is our tour guide and came highly recommended. The man knows cameras and the outdoors like the back of his hand, but not much of a talker unfortunately." Mitch says introducing the older member of the trio to the others "We're almost there right Hap?" he calls out as Hap doesn't say anything and instead just continues cutting a path through the jungle alongside Naruto.
"Oh that's right we haven't even introduced ourselves either I'm Darius, that's Brooklynn, Sammy, Yasmina or Yaz for short and over there is Naruto" Darius says introducing the group to Mitch and Tiff after having realized they hadn't told their names to them yet as the group continued to walk on.
After walking for about another half hour as the dawn turned to day Mitch suddenly said "Our camp is not much, but hopefully you'll be okay roughing it with us" as he and Tiff parted a couple of palm leaves to reveal their camp. The sight of the camp caused the eyes of the entire group to widen in awe, minus Naruto who just quirked a brow. In front of them were four fancy yurts, a wooden table with plates and silverware on it surrounded by several wooden lawn chairs, with several more lawn chairs surrounding a campfire.
"Oh my gosh!" Sammy remarks in awe at the sight of the camp.
"Is this a dream?" Yaz asks before grinning "Outta my way" she yells running into the camp followed eagerly and quickly by the others minus Naruto.
The campers look around in awe at the camp, the sight of which feels them with euphoria as they compare it to staying in a five-star hotel making their base pale in comparison. "Is this real!?" Darius says with a wide smile on his face as the teens explore more of the camp pulling back the door flap of one of the yurts to see a luxurious bedroom setting.
"Even the mosquito net is luxurious!" Sammy remarks in awe at the sight of the bed.
"This is what I imagined Kenji's penthouse would be like…but better as we're not locked out due to him failing math" Yaz remarks breathlessly at the insides of the yurt as she takes a jab at Kenji for his failing math and thus having them be locked out of his penthouse as a result.
"I…see…brand names!" Brooklynn suddenly screeches in delight, making grabbing motions with her hands before Darius has to actually drag her back from the yurt before she attacks it. Yaz seemingly follows after the two leaving Kenji to stare at the interior of the yurt alone.
"It's fine I guess…I personally would have arranged the yurts in more of an A-line config but whatever to each their own I guess" the asian teen remarks dismissively of the yurt. However after checking to see that no one is looking he quickly enters the yurt and flops down face first on the bed before laughing with his laughter being muffled by the comfy bedding.
The others take a look at the table and all the cutlery, plates, and cups placed on it before Sammy notices a can open causing her to gasp and hesitantly pick it up "A can opener" she says in awe holding it to her chest as she collapses to her knees as Mitch and Tiff walk over. Looking up at the two, the girl had a look of shock on her face. "Do you have any idea how long I spent trying to open those cans of fruit we found? It almost broke me" she says in an almost broken tone.
As he walked up to join the other teens Naruto couldn't help but feel sympathy for the girl at that "Okay so maybe these three have ONE good thing about them so far' he thinks to himself as while he was extremely suspicious of the three adults at least they had a can opener.
"My goodness, I can't imagine what you kids have gone through or how hungry you must be. Would you like some breakfast?" Tiff says as she takes off her hat with a kind smile on her face. Her remarks causes the group's eyes to widen and their jaws to hang open at the offer.
(20 Minutes later)
Mitch, Tiff, and Hap looked on in shock as Darius, Kenji, Sammy, Brooklynn, and Yaz loaded their plates with more and helpings of breakfast with said breakfast consisting of toast, eggs, and bacon. The five teens had already wolfed down three plates of food each and were still coming back for more. Naruto however had a single plate of bacon and toast to tide himself over with and was currently reaching into his pocket for some homemade jerky.
"Oh that's so good!" Sammy remarks with a partially full mouth of food at the delicious breakfast that seemed like a feast after what they had to survive on for the last three weeks.
Naruto noticed Hap eyeing the jerky in his hand causing him to raise an eyebrow before reaching into his pocket and pulling out another piece before holding it out in offering to the man "Homemade Compsognathus jerky want some?" he asks.
Hap merely stares at the offering for a minute before taking it and after giving the dried meat a sniff, before he bites off a piece and eats it "Not bad" the man says with a nod of his head thanking the blonde teen as he resumes slowly eating his own breakfast.
"After that we escape another dinosaur attack, and another one, then we eventually saw your bonfire..and then you saved us from a dinosaur attack" Darius says as he finishes giving the two adults a brief summary of all that the campers had been through since the Indominus incident. As he does this Mitch and Tiff listen intently as they eat their own breakfasts and the other teens ravenously finish their food.
"So…many…attacks" Yaz remarks in a haunted tone as she finishes a slice of her toast.
"And yet here you are, after all you've been through. Your camp destroyed, being abandoned by those meant to protect you, and losing your friend" Tiff says in a dramatically distraught tone.
The woman's statement causes the teens to cease their eating and their mood to become somber as they remember the loss of Ben. Seeing their expressions change Mitch puts his hand on his wife's shoulder "Don't be a downer babe. They're with us now and they're safe." he says causing the teens to look amongst themselves "And when the boat comes back in a couple of days-" Mitch adds before being interrupted by his wife.
"After it refuels in Papagayo" Tiff says, interrupting her husband to remind him.
"Yes after it refuels in Papagayo babe, we'll get you back to the mainland" Mitch says, resuming his statement and revealing that their boat would be back soon and that they would take the kids to the mainland when they leave.
"We're leaving in two days?" Darius asks with a look of shock and excitement on his face that is mirrored by most of the group.
"Is this really happening?" Sammy asks with a hopeful tone at the prospect of finally being able to get off the island.
"It is sweetie you're really going home" TIff says with a small smile on her face as she pats the girl on the shoulder.
The woman's statement causes a round of cheering and laughing from campers minus Naruto who shifted his gaze to his empty plate. His mind was full of thoughts regarding what comes next once they were off the island. Obviously he would do whatever it took to save his father's company which was most likely in a really bad state following the man's death and the fall of Jurassic World. But after he did that, then what would he do?
As the teens laughed and cheered Mitch pulled up his camera before nudging Darius, getting the teens attention "You wanna see some pics we took of Big Five animals in Botswana?" the man asks before showing the teen pictures of a lion, elephant, and some other animals. However, hearing the term 'Big Five Animals' used by the man caused Naruto's eyes to narrow as using that specific term was a major red flag given the meaning behind it.
"Cool, do you have any dinosaur shots?" Darius asks with a grin wondering if the man had managed to photograph any dinosaurs yet.
"Unfortunately not yet. Personally I had my sights set on the . I can't wait to see its craniofacial biting behavior in action" The man replies with a slight smile on his face at the thought of the specific dinosaur.
"Have to say pretty brave of you to wanna photograph such a dangerous predator" Naruto remarks narrowing his eyes slightly as he steepled his fingers in front of his face, putting his elbows on the table. "Hate to say it though you're out of luck when it comes to craniofacial biting for the given how she is the only rex on the island there is no need for her to do it" he adds with an air of smugness in his tone.
Mitch's eyes steeled a bit at this remark before shrugging it off "Well I go by the saying of 'go big or go home' and who knows maybe I will get lucky and see it" he says with a slight smirk directed Naruto's way.
Hearing this Naruto just chuckles at this "Well careful you don't bite off more than you can chew else you will go big and end up not going home" he says with a very clear yet subtle implication that the man shouldn't mess around with the dinosaurs especially Rexy if he wanted to make it off the island alive.
Feeling how awkward the air around the group had gotten as a result of the little back and forth between Naruto and Mitch, Darius decides to change the subject "Um you're into dinosaurs?" he asks the man given his remark about craniofacial biting.
Mitch's eyes widen a bit at hearing this before he grins at the teen "Oh yeah I can be a bit of a nerd about dinosaurs at times" he remarks rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Hearing this Darius grins "Craniofacial talk? I'll bite" he jokes getting an amused look out of Mitch "Sorry that was terrible I know" he adds in apology for the corny joke.
"Looks like we both need muzzles" Mitch jokes before the two start laughing getting a number of eyerolls from everyone.
"Oh god there's two now" Yaz mutters in slight horror of there being two dino loving nerds now.
As the two lovers of dinosaurs talked about said creatures Brooklynn just rolled her eyes with a slight grin as she grabbed another piece of toast and began to pick at it taking small pieces off before eating them "So you uh do this for a living yeah?" she suddenly asks, looking at Hap. Instead of answering her question the man just continued slowly eating his food with a steely gaze. Not getting a response from the man annoyed the social media star a bit so she decided to press on "Not sure if you heard, but I travel the world too. Yep, I'm a vlogger and have been all over the world, its kind of a big deal" she adds only to receive silence yet again. "So uh where have you been Mr. Nature Guide" she asks, further pressing her questioning of the man.
Hap looks at her for a moment before just stating "Nature Places" causing Brooklynn's eye to twitch a bit in annoyance.
"Do you take people on photography eco-tours alot? Mitch said you came highly recommended. Is this your first time working with-" Brooklynn says, rapidly firing off a number of questions before she is interrupted.
Said interruption came in the form of Hap roughly setting his plate of food down before looking at her with slightly wide eyes and a stern look "No more questions!" he says a bit harshly causing her eyes to widen. Realizing his mistake the man's expression softens a bit "Your food will get cold" he adds before turning back to his plate and causing Brooklynn to cease her questioning.
"Alright kids, why don't you go freshen up while we clear the table? It's a little primitive though so sorry about that. However in the bathroom yurt you will find a solar-powered shower, and a heated toilet" Tiff says standing up from her set with a kind smile.
Her statement causes Sammy's eyes to widen in shock before she gets up from her own chair and walks over to the woman holding her arm "I love you! It's fine if you don't say it back" she says before running towards the yurt. As the girl leaves Tiff turns her head to the side with a smirk on her face before feeling the girl's grip on her arm again and turns to see Sammy back next to her before whispering "Love you" and running off again. Needless to say the blonde haired woman was a little put off by the statement.
Seeing Sammy rush over to the bathroom, the others went to join her and freshen up themselves. However as Brooklynn got up the blank white tag she found in Wu's lab fell out of her jacket pocket and onto the ground. As the girl went to pick it up Hap ended up beating her to it and the man began to stare at the blank tag intently "Hey that's mine" the girl says wanting the tag back. Reaching out to take the tag she tries to pull it out of his hand but it remains firmly in his grip as the man narrows his eyes slightly at her before letting it go. As the girl puts the tag back in her pocket and walks away she glances back over her shoulder at Hap for a moment before continuing on to join the others in the bathroom yurt. All the while Hap watches her go with a focused stare.
(In the Jungle)
Back where the campers had been rescued from the Ceratosaurus by Mitch, Tiff, and Hap, Kenji's butter knife lay discarded and forgotten on the ground. All of a sudden however the booming sounds of a dinosaur's footsteps could be heard before a large shadow covered the butter knife and the ominous low growling of a dinosaur sounded in the area.
(Mitch and Tiff's Camp)
The campers were all gathered in the bathroom yurt looking over everything inside the luxurious accommodations "Pre-pasted toothbrushes? What are we royalty?" Sammy asks inspecting the toiletries by the sink before gasping "Four kinds of hand cream and little soap peacocks!" the girl adds with a bit of a squeal in excitement.
Hearing this Naruto just rolls his eyes "Why would anyone need four different kinds of hand cream? Not to mention those carved soaps are such a waste as they are a nightmare to use" the blonde remarks not seeing what the big deal was. Not to mention the soap was so overrated and not practical. At one point his father had them in the bathrooms of the hotel rooms with the soap shaped like dinosaurs from the park. However ultimately they weren't practical as after only a few uses they would start to fall apart usually around the legs, tail, or head thus making them look like any ordinary bar of soap only twenty times more expensive.
Kenji opened his mouth to give his opinion as well only for Brooklynn to shush him "Shh, I can't prove it yet, but I think…" the girl begins to whisper before stopping and looking out the privacy flap of the yurt to see Hap walk by near the table. After the man was out of potential earshot she turned back to the others and continued "There's something going on with Hap. He dodged all my questions, and was really weird about the blank tag I found in Wu's lab" the girl says before pausing for a moment to let what she said sink in. After said moment she resumed "Mitch and Tiff are clueless. She is to 'Golly Goodness' to notice anything, and all he thinks about is dinosaurs" she adds giving air quotes when she says 'Golly Goodness'.
"What's wrong with thinking about dinosaurs?" Darius asks not seeing what was wrong with thinking about the creatures a lot.
"No I…" Brooklynn says stammering a bit before sighing "I'm just saying Hap's suspicious. He's gruff, and unsmiling, and-" the girl continues as she lists off all the things about the man before benign interrupted.
"What's wrong with that?" Yaz remarks with a deadpan look on her face as she had been described similarly several times herself.
"I don't mean…" Brooklynn says trying to explain the descriptives she used before signing "Look, is it possible Hap could be involved with Mantah Corp?" The girl says as given the shady stuff the company had done before in her mind it seemed possible that they could hire someone to come to the island.
"I don't know Brooklynn" Sammy says, causing the others to turn their attention to her "The Mantah Corp folks who sent me here were more like corporate spies, not action-man, secret-identity, pew-pew spies." the girl says explaining the differences between Hap and the Mantah Corp goons that she dealt with.
"Look, I know you have conspiracy on the brain Brooklynn but forget Hap" Darius says causing her to turn her attention towards him. "In two days, we're going home! Let's just focus on that" he says with a smile as the prospect of finally going home was a mere couple days away.
Having listened to everything the others were saying, Naruto had refrained from voicing his thoughts as he mentally went over everything that seemed off about the adults so far. "Brooklynn might have a point" he says, voicing his thoughts, causing the others to turn to him in slight shock. Seeing that he has their attention the blonde continues "However I think Mitch and Tiff are the more suspicious ones than Hap" he adds getting a raised eyebrow of confusion from most of the group.
"What do you mean?" Yaz asks in curiosity wondering what the spiky-haired blonde meant as Mitch and Tiff seemed less sketchy than Hap if she were to be honest.
"I mean that it feels like there is more to them than they are revealing" Naruto states before he begins to explain just what he means "First of all they seemingly come out of nowhere almost like they arrived on the island stealthily. Then there is how in all of the conversations they seemed more reactionary to what we said than they should have been" he adds.
"What does that mean?" Kenji asks in confusion, not understanding what the blonde was talking about.
"Remember how they reacted when Darius mentioned the emergency distress beacon?" Naruto asks. At this Kenji nods this prompting him to continue "Tiff only mentioned they received the signal AFTER Darius brought up the beacon in the first place, and even then it felt as if she was putting on an act. If they had actually received the beacon signal then wouldn't it make more sense for them to have mentioned it prior to it being brought up by someone else?" he asks as he explains the inconsistencies regarding the woman.
Thinking over the statement Yaz brings her hand up to her chin in thought "He has a point, it is kinda odd how they didn't bring it up and they did seem almost surprised that there was anyone else on the island" she says voicing her thoughts on what Naruto said so far.
"Then there is some specific wording that Mitch used that is a big red flag" Naruto points out, narrowing his eyes as he does so.
"What do you mean?" Darius asks not seeing how anything that the fellow dino lover said was alarming.
"It was his use of the term 'Big Five Animals' when he referred to the pictures of animals in Botswana. That specific term is used to describe big game or dangerous animals such as Lions, Elephants, Rhinos, Leopards, and Buffalo or really anything that falls under that category. It's a term that is primarily and mainly used by only two types of people" the blonde explains, narrowing his eyes and clenching his fists a bit.
"And those are?" Brooklynn asks, having never heard the term before.
"Trophy hunters…and Poachers" Naruto remarks causing the groups eyes to widen at this "And given how he stated that he had his 'Sights set on the T-rex' it's not hard to picture what his real motive is" the blonde adds as what he said sinks in.
As they mull over his words and the implications there is only one question that they need to ask, a question that they are all unknowingly thinking "So what do we do?" Darius asks, being the one to voice the question that was on all their minds.
"We keep our eyes open" Naruto states causing their eyes to widen a bit "It's possible that this is all a coincidence and they are just some eco-tourists or whatever. However it's also possible that I am right. Either Way we need to keep our heads down, our eyes and ears open, and our plans secret. If it turns out they are who they say they are good, less for us to worry about, and we will be off the island in a couple days. However if they turn out to be lying or not who they say they are then we react accordingly and go from there as that's all we can do to be honest" he says laying out their options.
"Right so I guess we just keep our eyes open then" Sammy says with a shrug and a slight smile.
(20 Minutes later)
Sammy was currently doing a very good job of keeping an eye on Mitch and Tiff…given how her eyes were currently closed in bliss as the woman gave her a shoulder massage as the girl sat in one of the fold out chairs while next to her Yaz lounged in another chair with her splinted ankle propped up. The Texan let out a sigh of bliss as the woman worked a knot out of her shoulder "Amazing right? I have a Reiki healer back home who showed me a few tricks. The man is a miracle worker" she says with a smile on her face.
Seeing this Naruto just rolls his eyes as he walks over towards the chair that Yaz is resting her ankle on. When Yaz noticed him approaching the chair she moved her ankle down so he could sit though the girl was surprised when he pulled said ankle back up into his lap and began gingerly massaging it like he had done many times in the past few weeks. The track star had become accustomed to his massages as he would gently work the muscles in her ankle and leg so they didn't atrophy or heal incorrectly from her not using it as much or as intensely.
Off to the side Brooklynn sat at the picnic with her arms crossed and a grumpy look on her face as she saw Mitch showing Darius more pictures of what are most likely animals on his camera. However her attention was soon directed to Hap who came out of the bushes at the edge of camp with a large duffle bag in each hand. She watches as the man looks side to side suspiciously before walking behind the yurts. Deciding to investigate the girl gets up from the chair and sneaks behind the yurts to see what the man is up to.
As the girl crouches down behind a barrel and watches Hap set the bags down before he begins searching through one of the bags. However unknown to Brooklynn someone was walking up behind her and as a result the girl nearly let out a yell when said person put their hand on her shoulder. Turning around she glared at the individual who turned out to be Kenji "What are you doing?" the teen asks before seeing Hap "Are you spying on Hap?" he adds as it definitely seemed that way.
"No! It's not spying" the girl says in her defense before turning her attention back to Hap. However after a moment she sighs in defeat "Okay yes it's spying. What are you doing?" she says in admittance before asking him why he was there.
"Ugh I just had to get away from Mitch and Tiff. I don't get how anyone could stand them with how…perfect, they are. I mean we get it you're rich you don't have to keep throwing it in our faces" Kenji complains as Brooklynn turns to look at him with a look on her face that just screams 'Really?' given he basically does the same thing all the time.
"Look at the lens cover" they hear before turning their attention back to Hap to see him struggling to put a camera together. The two watch as the man gets increasingly frustrated with the camera before letting out a small shout of "The threads don't match up!" as his frustration with the equipment reaches its peak.
"Yeah not strange at all that a guide for a pair of photographers, apparently isn't good with cameras" Brooklynn remarks with a deadpan look on her face at how suspicious it was.
Hap continued to fiddle with the camera for a bit before he walked into the yurt next to him and in the process opened the door flap to it briefly. In that moment a pair of crates caught Brooklynn's eye as they seemed really out of place "We need to get into that yurt" she whispers to Kenji.
(With Darius, Mitch, and Tiff)
The three had broken away from the group and decided to explore a little bit outside the camp. As they walk through the bushes Mitch suddenly hears a chirping causing his eyes to widen as he grins seeing what it was. "Look"he says, kneeling down so as to not get spotted and gesturing for the others to join him.
As Tiff and Darius join the man he pulls out his camera and snaps a few pictures of the five Compys that were socializing with each other not far from them.
"Oh they're so cute" Tiff says with a smile before walking towards the group of dinosaurs much to Darius and Mitch's fear. "Ah come here little guy" the blonde woman says as she kneels down in front of the Compys.
"No stop!" Darius calls out in warning and causes her to turn his way with a shocked look.
However just as she turns away the Compy's let out a shriek and pounce. One of the small predators perches itself on her chest and begins to tear at the pink scarf around her neck, while another leaps onto her arm and snaps at her face barely missing with its tiny needle-like teeth.
Acting fast Darius pulls out the energy bar he had brought with him from Mitch and Tiffs camp as a snack "Hey! Over here!" he calls out catching the attention of the diminutive dinosaurs as he waves it above his head. The teen then throws it as far away as he can causing the Compys to let out a shriek and pursue the snack thus leaving Tiff alone. With the dinosaurs gone Darius and Mitch rush over to Tiff to see if she is okay with the husband and wife hugging upon reaching each other. "That was a close one. Compy's may look cute but they have trace amounts-" the teen says before being interrupted.
"Of venom in their bites, which enables them to take down prey much larger than them. Quick thinking D" Mitch says interrupting the teen and complimenting his response to the situation. "How did you know that trick with the food would work?" the man adds in curiosity.
"I have kinda been keeping a log of their scavenging habits, and other dinosaur behaviors" Darius says a little sheepishly as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his field guide notebook before handing it to Mitch. As the man opens the book and looks at the notes and drawings within with his wife peeking over his shoulder at the contents as well "It's not much to be honest" the teen adds bashfully feeling a little embarrassed by the field guide.
As a result of his embarrassment and looking away sheepishly he missed the excited if not…eager…Look that flashed in Mitch and Tiff's eyes and across their faces as they stared at the contents of the book "This is incredible Darius!" Mitch says with a wide smile as he praises the boy's work.
"Um thanks, oh and Yaz drew all the pictures pretty great right?" Darius responds with an excited look on his face, enjoying how the two were impressed by the field guide.
"This is remarkable Darius, we haven't seen even a tenth of the dinosaurs you have…Maybe we've been looking in the wrong places" Tiff remarks praising the teen as she flips through the field guide eagerly looking over every little detail contained within.
Mitch gains a bit of a forlorn look on his face all of a sudden "We've only got two more days to see these magnificent animals" he says a bit somberly "When the legal battles end and this park closes for good, what will all of this have been for in the end. Will it still mean anything to anyone?" the man remarks looking out at the Compys in the distance as they played around in the grass while eating the energy bar.
"Are the legal battles that bad?" Darius asks as from the way the man spoke it sounded like they were horrible.
"You have no idea Darius. While there were only a couple of deaths for the park goers, there were a lot of injuries that apparently range from minor to pretty severe. However it was the workers of the park that got hit pretty hard in death's and injuries. Apparently it's rumored that at least 50 workers were killed in the chaos. Then when you add in how Simon Masrani also is among the dead, and his son is rumored to be dead as well it has left the Masrani Corporation in total chaos and trying to run damage control as best they can without any real leadership. In all honesty D, I wouldn't be surprised if by the time the all the legal battles are done that Masrani Corporation ends up fracturing and being sold piece by piece to the highest bidder" Mitch says explaining to the teen just how much of a mess the fallout of the fall of Jurassic World has been.
Darius's eyes widen in shock having no idea things were that bad on the mainland "Naruto needs to know this" he thinks to himself before deciding to change the topic "Hey don't worry two days is still a lot of time to explore the island. In fact I know a place not too far from here that will blow your minds" he says with a large grin on his face thinking about the Watering Hole he and Kenji found yesterday.
However before the two adult's can voice their opinion on his remark the three suddenly hear the sound of a loud alarm blaring from the camp causing the three to rush in that direction to investigate what happened.
(Mitch and Tiff Camp)
Kenji and Brooklynn were standing outside the yurt that they saw Hap enter earlier, covering their ears in an attempt to block out the sound of the extremely loud alarm emanating from said yurt. The two were about to run whey they could barely hear Hap yell "YOU! STAY AWAY FROM THE YURT! As he emerges from the bushes and rushes over to the two teens with an angered look on his face before pulling out a small remote and using it to turn off the alarm.
It was right at that moment that Darius, Mitch, and Tiff ran into camp and saw "What's going on?" Tiff asks, wondering what happened and what caused the alarm.
"Isn't it obvious? The chatty one and the hair, were trying to sneak into the yurt" Hap says in a harsh tone as Naruto, Yaz, and Sammy rush over as well to see what was going on as they stand behind Kenji and Brooklynn. "These kids can't go snooping into private spaces!" the guide adds while glaring at Brooklynn a bit with said girl glaring right back at him.
"Now, now, Hap. I'm sure this was all a misunderstanding" Tiff says, walking over to the man and trying to calmly diffuse the situation.
"Misunderstanding?" Hap remarks almost mockingly at the suggestion with a glare towards Tiff before turning his attention back to Brooklynn "Do yourself a favor and stay out of my yurt!" he says in an almost threatening tone of voice to which the girl just raises an eyebrow of suspicion and a hint of smugness at. Seeing the look on the girl's face Yaz gives her a deadpan look while Naruto just shakes his with a sigh.
"C'mon Hap let's talk about this calmly" Tiff says as she begins gently leading the man away from the group so as to speak with him in private.
"Sorry about that" Mitch says apologizing to the teen on Hap's behalf "It's our first time working with Hap, and he's very protective of his yurt. In fact he set it up and moved all his equipment in by himself. Heck he hasn't even allowed us inside it" the man adds with a shrug. Hearing this Naruto raises an eyebrow in interest and glances in the direction of where Tiff and Hap are just in time to see the man look over his shoulder at the teens. As well as the glare that is on Tiff's face for a split second. However Naruto takes note of how the glare isn't being directed at Hap but instead is seemingly being directed at him and the other teens.
"Ha! See? See?" Brooklyn suddenly blurts out to the other teens as if it validates her suspicions about the man.
"Maybe we should postpone our trek. You've all clearly been through a lot…Especially that one it seems" Mitch whispers to Darius though his remarks are heard by the others much to the ire of Brooklynn for the remark.
"No, no it's fine, Brooklyn won't touch the yurt, and we'll all go the place I wanted to show you" Darius says not wanting Brooklynn's actions to ruin showing Mitch the watering hole.
"Uh Darius? I think maybe we should freshen up before we decide that" Brooklynn says through grit teeth with a forced smile on her face.
"We already freshened up" was the dino living teen's response through grit teeth and a forced smile of his own.
To which Brooklynn stated "Can never be too fresh" her teeth still grit and smile forced. The action ultimately prevails as after Darius relents giving her a deadpan look the campers all go to the bathroom yurt together leaving a confused Mitch in their wake.
(Bathroom yurt)
The campers had all crammed into the small bathroom stall of the yurt to which Yaz remarks "Really? There isn't anywhere else we can talk?" with a sigh at the absurdity of cramming into a bathroom stall to have a secret meeting.
"Yeah I have to agree with Yaz on this. There is no way this looks good should Mitch, Tiff, or Hap decide to poke their heads in and check on us" Naruto says with a deadpan look as from an outsiders look in this would be a very awkward thing to walk in on.
"Jeez, what do you want me to say? Time was kind of a factor and I couldn't think of a better place for us to have some privacy!" Brooklynn says, throwing her hands up at the remarks as she whispers to everyone. The girl then shakes her head "Nevertheless Hap is clearly hiding something, I mean why else would you put an alarm on a yurt!?" she asks as it didn't make sense.
"Oh I don't know, maybe to alert him, should a dinosaur try to sneak in and wreck his stuff or ambush him?" Yaz remarks sarcastically as it was pretty clear why one would have an alarm on a tent or enclosed area in a hostile environment.
"While Yaz has a point given we are on 'Killer Dinosaur Island'" Kenji says agreeing with Yaz and ignoring the deadpan look Naruto was sending his way for the name he used to refer to the island. The asian teen then continued "But I was with Brooklynn and that alarm was definitely crepuscing me out" he adds looking between everyone.
"Kenji you really need to stop using words you don't know the meaning of" Naruto says with a sigh and a roll of his eyes and getting a shrug from said teen.
Hearing this whole conversation Darius just rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner with a scoff "Typical" he says.
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Brooklynn asks, directing a light glare his way for the remark knowing that it was in regards to her.
"You just can't let this conspiracy stuff go can you?" Darius remarks with a shake of his head in disappointment "And for what? A new video to boost your followers or fame?" he adds rather coldly to the girl.
Hearignt his Brooklynn's eyes actually widen in shock at the remark, having never expected something like that from the teen "Who said anything about followers or fame!? You think I am doing this to get attention!?" she whispers hotly in growing anger.
"Yes! That's literally your whole deal since day one of camp! You're just mad that Mitch and Tiff haven't heard of you, and now you're doing this!" Darius snaps back at the girl.
Hearing this Brooklynn's anger reaches a boiling point "And what's your whole deal Darius? Dinosaurs? You care more about them than actual people. But newsflash dino-nerd half those dinosaurs would love nothing more than to rip you or any of us to shreds for a snack, while the other half would gore, or trample us without so much as a care in the world!" she fires back at the teen for the remark.
"Oh that's hilarious, you of all people calling me selfish!" Darius fires back while the others continue to just watch on in silence with most not knowing what to say. Naruto had a feeling he should step in and end the fight but felt like this was something that had been boiling up between the two teens for a while and needed to be resolved before it ended up with someone getting hurt or killed.
"You're obsessed Darius! And your obsession along with how Mitch is acting all 'Cool Dad' is blinding you to what is right in front of you…" Brooklynn fires back before realizing what she just said. Needless to say her statement causes hers along with all the others eyes to widen in shock at the statement especially directing it at Darius. "No…D-Darius. I-I didn't" she says stammering her words as she tries to think of a way to make right what she just accidentally said in her anger.
However Darius wanted none of it and just angrily turned around leaving the bathroom stall. The others look at the pink haired girl who was sporting a guilty look on her face for the remark "Not cool superstar" Yaz remarks with a shake of her head as she leaves the stall as well. Kenji and Sammy can't even bring themselves to look at Brooklynn as they leave as well.
The pink haired girl slumps her shoulders in sadness at what she just did due to her anger before looking up when she felt a hand on her shoulder to see Naruto staring at her. Internally the pink-haired girl was screaming as she had totally forgotten that Darius wasn't the only one whose dad was dead.
"I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you Brooklynn…You really fucked up just now" The blonde says in an almost disappointed sounding tone with a shake of his head. Siad tone and his words felt like knives being stabbed into her. "But take it from someone who has a better understanding of dinosaurs than humans. Even I am able to tell that you didn't mean what you said and that it was just the frustration and anger talking" he adds causing her eyes to widen. "Just…give them and especially Darius some time to cool down, and then obviously apologize and I am sure things will go back to normal. Well as normal as things can be when stuck on an island of dinosaurs am I right?" he adds with a slight chuckle at his joke near the end before he also leaves the stall.
As Brooklynn stands there alone in the stall thinking about her actions and how her words hurt Darius she feels horrible and her legs feel weak. As a result she takes a seat on the toilet lid and puts her face in her hands "...I really fucked up" she whispers to herself as she wipes at a tear in the corner of her eyes. She had said some mean things in the past but the way she had hurt Darius just now put them all to shame and made her feel even worse for some reason given it was Darius of all people that she had hurt.
(Outside the Yurt)
Darius angrily walked out of the yurt, his fists clenched in fury over the remark as he walked past Tiff who raised an eyebrow as she spotted the others following after him minus Brooklynn "Um, what about your other friend?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't worry about her, she's doing her own thing" Darius almost snaps back as he walks past her towards Mitch.
"So um D, you still wanna show us that place you were talking about?" Mitch asks a little hesitant though there is clearly a sense of eagerness hidden underneath it.
"Yeah of course!" Darius replies his attitude changing instantly as he was excited to show the man the watering hole though internally he was still furious with Brooklynn.
"Great, so who wants to head out?" Mitch asks, looking at the others besides Tiff as obviously she would be coming along. Sammy raised her hand a little nervously as she just wanted to get out of the awkward atmosphere that was surrounding the camp in the wake of the argument.
"Yaz wants to go as well but she will be right behind you. Just have something I wanna talk with her about first!" Naruto calls out to Mitch before he gently leads a surprised Yaz a bit away from the others.
"Wonder what they have to talk about?" Mitch says thinking aloud to himself.
"Who knows it could be anything, maybe even young love?" Tiff says with a shrug and a slight smirk that causes the man to just shake his head and roll his eyes at the remark.
(Yaz and Naruto)
After leading the girl to the otherside of the camp Naruto stops and turns to look at her "So just taking a shot in the dark and assuming this is where you explain why you volunteered me to go with Darius, Sammy, and the sickly sweet couple?" Yaz remarks cutting Naruto off before he could say anything.
In response to her question he nods "I am staying here at the camp to keep an eye on Brooklynn and most like Kenji as well given he is probably going to stay behind as well. That being the case I need you to go along with the others and keep an eye on Darius and Sammy" he says to the girl before narrowing his eyes a bit "I also need you to discreetly keep and eye on Mitch and Tiff as more and more red flags keep getting raised in my head regarding them. However be VERY careful Yaz especially in regards to Tiff she is giving me a really bad feeling and almost reminds me of…" he adds in a serious tone before trailing off.
"What does she remind you of?" The girl asks with a raised eyebrow as to be honest she was getting an odd feeling from the blonde woman as well. The whole 'goody goody' overly nice thing she had going on felt a little too perfect to the girl.
"She reminds me of the Indominus" Naruto says, causing Yaz's eyes to widen at the remark "It's her eyes, every so often whatever act she is doing slips and her real self shows for a split second. Everytime I have seen her do that I have caught a glimpse of her eyes and what I see in them is the same thing I saw in the eyes of the Indominus, cruelty, sadistic, and psychotic" he explains as the woman really unnerved him. In response the girl nods and turns to head to join the others only to stop as Naruto grabs her hand "Be careful…please" he tells her almost pleadingly as he holds her hand.
Yaz's eyes widen a bit at his tone and the way he is holding her hand before she nods with a small smile "You got it" she says softly giving his hand a gentle squeeze before they let go of each other's hand and walk back over to the others.
(With Brooklynn)
The pink-haired girl sat down at the table of the camp in a depressed state as she watched Darius, Yaz, and Sammy walk away with Mitch and Tiff. Hearing some footsteps behind her she turns her head to see Kenji and Naruto sit down in the chairs next to her "Aren't you gonna go with them?" she asks softly, her voice cracking a bit due to her emotional estate.
"Nope, we're staying here" Naruto remarks with a shrug as he kicks back and puts his feet up on the table.
"Yeah, and we know you didn't mean the dad thing, it was a slip in the moment that happens to everyone. Heck it's happened to me a few times" Kenji says, trying to cheer the girl up.
"Besides like I told you Brooklynn, Darus knows you didn't mean it the way it sounded like, so just give him time and let him cool off before you apologize to him" Naruto adds as he leans back into the chair to relax a bit.
After thinking on their words for a moment the girl gains a determined look and gets up from her chair "C'mon even if Hap reset the alarm, I can disarm it now that I know its there" she says heading back towards the yurt with Kenji getting up to follow after.
Seeing this Naruto just sighs "Dammit all, can't even relax for five minutes" he says tiredly before realizing something "Oh shit…I've become Roxie" he mutters in horror over the fact that he is essentially the camp counselor of the group. With that thought in mind he lets out a sigh and gets up from the chair following after the two.
As the trio walk towards the yurt Kenji can't help but ask "So just asking but how did 'Give Darius time' turn into 'Let's go break back into the yurt'?" he asks, wondering what thought process the girl used to make that leap.
"Because once I prove I'm right, Darius will have to forgive me" Brooklynn says before rushing ahead of the two boys.
"...I am officially done trying to understand the mental workings of the female mind" Naruto states with a blank look on his face as he tries to think of what made Brooklynn think that way.
"I can't believe that I'm the voice of reason for once" Kenji remarks with a sigh and a shake of his head.
"Yeah it just feels…wrong, I'm half-expecting to suddenly wake up and back in camo prior to the Indominus attack and for this to have been a nightmare" Naruto remarks with a shudder as for Kenji of all people to be the voice of reason was unsettling. The blonde's comment earned him a light glare from the asian teen though on some level Kenji had to agree with him.
As the three reach the yurt Brooklynn pulls back the door flap before letting out a gasp as Hap is standing right in front of them. The older man stares down at the three with a light glare "Mitch and Tiff asked me to go with them, but I declined stating how I would make sure you three didn't get into any more trouble. That benign case, let's not make this any more unpleasant than it already is shall we?" he says, causing Kenji and Brooklynn to gulp slightly while Naruto just sighs.
(Darius, Yaz, Sammy, Mitch, and Tiff)
Darius was in the front of the small group leading them up over a grassy hill with a grin "You guys are going to love this place, it's just up here" he says right before they reach the top of the hill and the sight before them causes the two adults to gasp in awe. In front of the group was a forested area in which a herd of Brachiosaurus were seen casually grazing on the tree tops.
Mitch and Tiff begin taking pictures of the sight with their cameras and seeing this Darius begins to imitate the calls of the Brachiosaurus catching the attention of one of them. The herbivore lets out a few calls of its own as it approaches the group slowly and bends its long neck down towards them. Seeing this and how Darius is making the calls Mitch reaches up to touch the dinosaur but is unable to due to its head still being out of reach. Seeing the herbivore turn around and begin to lumber away Darius resumes the calls with Mitch even joining him, the two getting a few sounds from the Brachiosaurus in return as it lumbers back towards its grazing area and rejoins its herd.
Darius turns to look at Mitch with a wide grin "This is the first place I wanted to show you . But if you think this is cool there is a place that blows it away" he says hand the man his field guide.
Mitch raises an eyebrow and flips to near the end of the guide where he sees a drawing that causes his eyes to widen "A water hole" he says almost breathlessly at the drawing of several dinosaurs drinking from a pool of water.
"It's just my favorite place on the island!" Darius yells out in excitement "I mean getting that close to so many herbivores AND carnivores, and nobody's fighting, it's amazing!" he adds with a wide grin.
"You could get lots of pictures, there's so many dinosaurs!" Sammy adds happily with a grin of her own. Behind the cheery girl however Yaz had a slightly worried look on her face as given Naruto's warning of the two adults she felt like Darius might have just made a huge mistake telling them about such a place.
Mitch turned to look at Tiff with a big grin on his face "Babe, what would we do without this kid?" he asks with a smirk on his face before he ruffles Darius's curly hair.
"I know babe he is a huge help, let me just radio Hap with the change of plans then we can head straight there" the blonde haired woman replies with a wide grin of her own.
(Back at Mitch and Tiff's Camp)
The atmosphere around the camp was tense to say the least, at least it was between Hap and Brooklynn who were just staring each other down as they sat across from each other at the table. Kenji was completely oblivious to the tension given how he was currently sleeping and much to Brooklynn's annoyance, snoring, leaning, and drooling on her shoulder. Naruto on the other hand had once more kicked his feet up onto the table and was seemingly sleeping though in reality he was just resting his eyes and making it look as though he was asleep.
Brooklynn suddenly lets out a loud yawn and her eyelids appear to grow heavy before she closes her eyes, seemingly falling asleep. As Hap watches this his radio crackles to life "Hap, Hap do you copy?" Tiff's voice is heard emitting from the device as he gets up from his chair and walks to the other side of camp to answer it.
After a moment Brooklynn's eye cracks open to see if the man is gone before she fully awakens having clearly faked her falling asleep. With a nudge of her shoulder she wakes up Kenji who in his sleepy state mutters "I'll save you mermaid".
Hearing this Brooklynn just rolls her eyes in annoyance "Ugh do you seriously only have one dream?" she asks as the asian teen only seemingly ever dreamt about saving a mermaid from all his sleep talking.
"Nothing wrong with having a certain dream that you have frequently as I have one myself. However given the frequency of Kenji having that dream it is pretty strange for him" Naruto says suddenly with his eyes still closed indicating that he was awake as well before he opened them.
"And just what might your recurring dream be then hmm?" Brooklynn asks with a raised eyebrow as she was genuinely curious at what the blonde dreamt about.
Hearing her ask the question the blonde's mind drifted back to just what his recurring dream had been causing his cheeks to flush a little bit "It doesn't matter don't you wanna do some snooping?" he asks in an attempt to evade answering the question as he REALLY didn't wanna tell her just what his dream had been.
Seeing the slight flushing of Naruto's cheeks and how he evaded her question Brooklynn briefly gained a 'cat that ate the canary' grin on her face "Oh I'm going to find out what your dream is blondie" she thinks to herself as she already had an slight idea of what said dream might be based on previous actions of his. However, shaking those thoughts from her mind the content creator quickly got up from her chair "Well what are you guys waiting for now's our chance" she says before sneaking towards the yurts.
As they sneak around one of said yurts they suddenly stop as they hear Hap growl out "No you listen I am done…No I don't care what…This isn't a threat, this is a promise. Stay out of my way! I'll take care of these kids myself!" he suddenly yells into the radio before turning it off. Having heard this the three teens decide to make a break for it and start stealthily running away.
Unfortunately for them however it was at that moment that Hap walked back into the main area of the camp and noticed them gone causing his eyes to widen in fright "No" he said softly looking in every direction for them before spotting Kenji's blue shirt as the teen disappeared into the jungle. Seeing this the man begins running after the teens.
(Mitch, Tiff, Sammy, Darius, Yaz)
Mitch was using his camera's zoom feature to scan the area for any more dinosaurs when Tiff runs up to him panting a bit with a worried look on her face "Babe, you okay?" he asks his wife.
"You know babe, I think we should maybe pack up and head back to camp" she says in response sounding a little nervous and fidgeting a bit with a nervous look on her face.
Hearing this Yaz turns her attention towards the two adults "Um, what's going on?" she asks with a raised eyebrow having a feeling something big had happened.
"Oh um nothing big, just an…odd conversation with Hap. So why don't we go? Now, okay?" she says first in response to Yaz before shifting her attention to Mitch before she begins to actually lead him back in the direction of camp.
"Do you think…?" Sammy asks, trailing off a bit and leaving the question rather open-ended.
"I'm sure everything's okay" Darius says optimistically as he begins walking after the two adults.
"You do realize that Hap is alone with Brooklynn, Kenji, AND Naruto right?" Yaz remarks with a raised eyebrow.
"...We might wanna hurry just a little bit then" Darius says after flinching for a moment before the three hurry a bit to catch up to the two adults and hastily make their way back to camp.
(Mitch and Tiff's Camp)
Having hurried back to the camp the two adults and three teens found it abandoned "Guys!", "Brooklynn!", "Kenji!" The three teens call out for their missing friends as Mitch and Tiff look around.
After a moment the five gather around the campfire having found no sign of the others "Children, Mitchell and I are gonna have a quick grown-up conference. You stay put as we'll BRB okay?" Tiff says with a nervous smile before she pulls Mitch off to the side of camp away from the teens. However as she does so the campers are just able to make out her whispering "Mitch I am telling you…" to which he whispers "Relax babe" and she counters with "...This is ridiculously off track" before they exit the earshot of the three teens confused by the conversation while Yaz is a little nervous at what she had heard from it.
(In the Jungle)
Naruto, Kenji, and Brooklynn ran through the jungle fleeing from Hap who was chasing them and slowly gaining on them. "Can't you fight him Naruto!" Kenji yells through heavy breathing from all the running.
"I could but I would rather not! That electric baton he has in his hand looks like it gives a pretty nasty zap! Not to mention there is no telling what he has on him for blades or hell maybe he even has a gun!" the blonde yells back as while he definitely overpowered the man in physical strength and speed said man could easily make up for said disadvantages with technique/experience, and obviously weapons.
"So we just keep going!" Brooklynn wheezes out as the three had been running for a good while now after having fled the campsite. However ultimately the rapidly exhausting duo of Kenji and Brooklynn hindered the trio as Hap managed to catch up to the slowing Brooklyn and grab her arm before shoving her into Kenji knocking the two to the ground. Seeing this Naruto stopped his running and jumped in front of the two protectively as he stared down the man.
Hap took a few breaths as he stared at the three teens internally impressed by the defensive stance the blonde had slipped into to protect his friends "Kids got Marine or Navy training to an extent based on that stance" he though as he recognized the stance as a mix of Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. "I told you kids to stay put!" he yells at the teens whose eyes widen at what is approaching the man from behind "You have no idea who you're dealing-" Hap begins to say before he is suddenly hit in the back of the head by a tree branch and knocked unconscious to the ground.
The three teens let out a gasp as holding the tree branch was none other than a dirt covered Ben with a much bigger Bumpy lumbering up behind him.
"Ben?" Kenji asks in a whispered tone of disbelief to which the apparently not dead teen just grins.
"What? You've never seen a ghost before?" Ben asks with a smug grin on his face leaving the others speechless.
End Chapter 9
Ending Author Note: Well there is Chapter 9 and everyone and ooh boy was it a doozy. Shocks, Fights, Development, and Reveals!
I have to say I might actually start working on the next chapter right away as the next episode is one of my favorites…Going to be really fun covering it.
Anyway, enjoy the Triple-Update if I posted this alongside two other updates. Be sure to Favorite, Follow, and Review as I would love to see this story reach 550 or even 600 Favorites and Follows.