RUN ➳ ZACH MITCHELL

ten

"Hey." Rory cooed, lightly stroking the top of Charlie's head. The Velociraptor bucked ever so slightly, and Rory continued to speak in soft tones to the animal. "Easy, Charlie.

"Good girl." Rory smiled, planting a kiss on the side of the dinosaurs head. "Be good out there, alright?" Rory said before removing her hand with a heavy heart and slowly walking away from the dinosaur she'd imprinted on 8 years ago, her head facing the ground.

"Owen," Rory heard Gray call out from behind the metal bars. "Are they safe?"

"No; they're not," Owen replied, as his god daughter approached from behind.

Zach gave Rory a concerned, protective look at that statement which made the girl roll her eyes. "What are their names?" Zach wondered curiously looking past the duo of trainers.

"Well you got, Charlie," Rory pointed at her animal who was at the farthest muzzle. "That's the one that the Mr. Masrani had no choice but to let me train." Rory giggled at the memory but then quickly sobered up remembering that Owen had told her he was dead. She coughed awkwardly, and Owen took over naming the Velociraptors.

"There's Echo. Here is Delta," Owen motioned to the given animal. "This one's called Blue. She's the beta."

"Who's the Alpha?" Gray asked loudly.

"You're looking at him, kid," Owen said.

Rory glanced over at him in disapproval. "Well," she drawled. "Technically speaking, he is Delta, Blue, and Echo's Alpha. I on the other hand, am Charlie's."

Zach stared at her with his mouth open. "That's hot," he blurted out bluntly.

Everyone stopped talking and stared at the sixteen year old. Rory blushed, glancing down with a wide toothless grin. Owen glared over at Zach, who looked more embarrassed than Aurora for thinking his last words out loud. But his words were true; the thought of Rory being in charge of such a dangerous, carnivorous creature definitely turned the hormonal teenage boy on.

The silence stretched until Claire came to collect the teens including Rory--who said one last quick goodbye to Charlie. She led the trio to a large truck, and opened the back doors. "See? Totally safe," Claire said in a forced tone. The three adolescents stared at her with raised eyebrows, silently asking if she was really telling them this hunk of various flimsy metals could keep an GMO with 74 deadly sharp teeth. Claire stared back at them and then cleared her throat. "All right, get in. Come on."

Claire carefully hoisted her youngest nephew, and then silently waited for the other two to follow suit. The trio sat on the narrow seats resting on the back wall of the vehicle, Rory sharing one with Zach again. "If you need me, I'll be up front. Just open that window." The red head pointed to the sliding feature above their heads. "Okay? Put your seat belts on."

Rory shook her head silently, already knowing that that safety feature was never made for this car. Claire furrowed her eyebrows as Zach and Gray looked at her expectantly. "Okay, so just . . . hold hands." With that the adult woman slammed the two doors shut, and walked around to the front of the car.

Immediately after his aunt was out of view, Gray extended his arm to his older sibling. He waited for him to mirror his actions, but Zach only snorted. "I'm not holding your hand." Rory smiled softly at the curly haired boy, and to be honest she was so scared for her Raptors and Owen that if she was the one sitting next to him, she would have held his hand.

A dinosaur screech is heard in the distance, making Rory tighten her jaw in fright. "Um, nothing getting in here, right?" Gray stuttered out. Rory pierced her lips and looked away, for she knew that nodding would only make the boy's fear go away even though it wouldn't be the truth.

Zach glanced at the blonde girl who had suddenly taken an interest in the steel wall next to her. Zach inhaled knowing he was going to have to be the one to comfort Gray. But, hey. What are brothers for? "Gray," he started in soothing tones. "Do you remember that ghost at the old house? Remember the one in the garage? I protected you right?"

Gray thought a minute before feebly replying, "Yeah. You made a battle axe out of a ruler and a paper plate."

Zach smiled a toothless smile. "Yeah. See, nothing is gonna get you while I'm around, okay?" He moved a hand to the back of his sibling's neck as an act of reassurance.

Gray pressed his lips in a tight line and studied the floor. "But you're not always gonna be around."

"Yeah, well . . ." Zach trailed off. "Hey. We're brothers, okay? We'll always be brothers and we'll always come back to one another. No matter what."

Rory inwardly let out an 'aw'. Maybe Zach wasn't the huge ass douche he'd been in the beginning of the day towards his brother. "No matter what?" Gray asked uncertainly.

"No matter what."

// 25 comments for new part; sorry this is so short and shitty ♡