Welcome To Jurassic Hell

Ch. 70: Can we fix this?

Maybe Brooklyn was right after all.

Or, maybe it was the collision of her fist with my head that was making this whole situation much more difficult.

Either way, all I could tell you is that my head was throbbing, and I was sweating in places I had no idea could sweat.

Everyone else wasn't fairing much better.

Brooklyn had taken off her signature pink jacket, now holding it over her shoulder as she dragged herself behind me.

Kenji, who I'd noticed was keeping as far a distance as he could from the internet girl, had rolled his sleeves up and was slouching forward, as if a large rock was breaking his back. I had to force myself not to let the guilt of hurting his and Brooklyn's relationship get to me, though it was a difficult challenge. That mixed with the physical exhaustion was making for a painful few hours so far, and all we've done is walked for that time.

Darius was in a similar form as Kenji. Multiple times he'd tried to roll his short sleeves up to a tank-top like state, but they just kept getting loose, and so he eventually just gave up and kept walking through the heat.

Sammy and Yaz were practically dragging themselves at this point, the latter more than everyone else, really. That long-sleeved track suit wasn't doing her any favors.

Ben would hold a hand up to his hand every now and again, wincing. I could see decently red splotches growing along his arms and face. Even though he tried to pretend he was fine, I knew he himself was wearing down, no doubt with a massive headache worse than mine.

God, I could really use some water...

"Uh, guys..."

I almost ignored Sammy's voice due to a sudden beautiful breeze coming through. I sighed joyfully at how cool it felt against the fire or the spotlighting sun. But I looked back anyway, and all of the relief quickly flew away with the wind when I saw the big wave of sand rushing right towards us.

"A sandstorm?" Brooklyn yelped.

"What do we do?"

"We need to find cover!"

"We always outran those pesky storms on Nublar! Run!"

We all start to do just that — Ben up front, Kenji behind him, Darius behind him, followed by Sammy, Yaz, then Brooklyn and me.

Despite our panicked attempts to get away, I could feel the sand pick at my skin more and more, until I was finally completely engulfed in wind and dirt. I immediately begin to cough as I lose sight of everyone. My surroundings grow shrouded by the whirling sand clops.

"Guys," I shout out into the storm. "Guys!"

But I hear nothing. No replies. Even if someone did say something, I couldn't hear jack over this stupid storm. I push my arm up to my face as I stomp forward, hacking up a lung as I tried to find someone.

"Ben? Ben! Darius? Guys! Guys, where are-"

I nearly fall over when I suddenly ran into something.

Well, someone.

"Blake!"

Brooklyn.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" I yelp as something brushes past my ear, but I can't tell what it was. Brooklyn rams into me in a gnarly hug that has my head blaring more, and the coughs grow worse. Despite this, I hug back and take her hand to keep her at my side. Feud or no feud, we were in this together. Fuck the earlier fight — we needed to get out of this storm!