𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 - camp cretaceous

Brave

What felt like warm, damp sandpaper rubbed against the side of Ben's face. He let out a quiet groan at the touch; it ached all over - especially his head and chest. It felt like someone had beaten him with a piece of wood, and the pain was only returning.

"Stop," he murmured, pushing away the source of the wetness that covered his face.

Ben peered out one eye, and a blurry image began to form. Then he could make a small creature with pale blue scales and uneven horns. Ben quickly realised that the beast he was staring at was a dinosaur, and she was his friend: Bumpy.

He quickly grabbed the dinosaur, pulling her towards him and hugging her tight. "Oh, Bumpy, Bumpy, Bumpy!" he exclaimed, wincing at the sharp pang in his chest at his movement. Now filled with hope and optimism, Ben looked around with sparkling eyes.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked his friend, looking around eagerly but being met with a silent, empty jungle. He dropped Bumpy as his eyes widened, distress striking him painfully in the heart.

"Bumpy, where's everyone else?" Ben repeated. He quickly got up, struggling as his head throbbed, his hand reaching for it. The petrified boy called out, "Darius? Guys?"

He took a few steps forwards and then tumbled, hitting the ground harshly but brushing off the pain as he continued to yell.

"Help! Anybody? Help!"

A sudden noise sent a wave of trepidation over the boy, causing him to drop to the ground in a crouch. It was the sound of a twig breaking. Something was there, and it was watching him. A screech, accompanied by a quick clicking noise, made him turn his head toward the source, his gaze landing on a single compy. It screeched again, and from the other side, Ben heard a cry of response. Five, no, six compies popped out from the bushes, watching him eerily.

A rustling from behind told him that more had appeared, and from in front, he saw them stare. Ben whimpered fearfully, standing up and stepping closer to Bumpy as a comforting and fear-driven gesture. Then, as dozens more appeared, all creeping towards him, Ben dropped to the ground and covered himself with his arms.

He lay there, a whimpering, muttering mess as the miniature predators advanced. Then, just as he thought they would attack, Bumpy squealed and ran forward to protect him, swinging her tail defensively at the compies that dared to step closer. The compies howled as they were struck by Bumpy's thick tail, all running for cover or being struck again. Finally, as the area surrounding the two cleared, ridden of the rat-like carnivores, Ben pulled Bumpy into a warm embrace.

"Thank you, girl," he murmured softly, resting his head on her bump-covered back.

"Okay, okay. This is all going to be fine. They'll come to save me, right?" he asked, searching for confirmation of the critical point. Bumpy groaned in response, and Ben frowned.

"You are right; they don't even know where I am. So they must be waiting at the ferry." Bumpy attempted to walk out of the embrace, but Ben resisted her.

"So... we just gotta get to the ferry!" he concluded with a nervous smile. "How do we get to the ferry?.. Oh, the map!"

In a moment of realisation, Ben reached for his fanny pack but gasped as his hand slipped by. As another wave of trepidation crashed against him, Ben began to pat over his body, desperate to find his pack. It was gone. He began to hyperventilate, his breathing fastly paced and irregular.

"No pack. No map. No snacks. No hand sanitiser!" Ben yelled. He breathed hard for a few moments until he had calmed down and assessed the newly-worsened situation.

"Okay, this is bad. This is worse than bad. This is-"

His voice faltered as he felt a strange, tingling sensation on his right knee. There, sucking at his skin, was a dark, yellow-patterned leech. Ben stared at the segmented worm with wide eyes, listening to its oral sounds before fainting dead away.