Jump | Zach Mitchell

twenty

OBVIOUSLY, our first reaction is to go into full-out panic mode. 

Gray is hysterically shouting that we're going to die, I'm screaming my head off, and Zach is yelling for us to shut up while he shoves the steering stick forward.

We don't get very far before we're flying – from, you know, a dinosaur kick.

We hit the ground hard, causing all three of us to be yanked against our seatbelts. Then we're spinning: fast, dizzyingly, to the point that everything is a blur of green and grey.

I guess the Ankylosaurus thinks that we're a threat – or maybe they're perfectly domesticated and think we're some new toy from the pet shop. Either way, thick and powerful tails are suddenly knocking us this way and that, like some giant version of pinball – a game that I will probably never play again for as long as I live... if I live.

Now it's Gray's turn to scream bloody murder, flailing all over the Gyrosphere. I feel like I can't breathe, raggedly gasping for air. Zach is silent, but one of his arms has come across my body, holding me in my seat. His other is gripping the side of the Gyrosphere for dear life.

He's afraid. Holy shit, Zach is afraid.

...if I wasn't scared before, I sure as hell am now.

"Both of you, pull it together!" He orders harshly, but his voice sounds like he should be taking his own advice.

We smack into a tree and our spinning slows. We come to a complete stop in the center of the clearing.

Zach's hands are suddenly all over me: checking my head, my seatbelt. "Are you okay?" He asks, breathless.

"What the hell do you think?" I retort.

He gives me a pinched expression before leaning to look around me. "Gray-"

Gray is sobbing. Instinctively, I bring my arm over his shoulder and pull his face into my chest. "Hey," I whisper shakily. "We're okay." For now. My fingers run through his hair, trying my best to soothe him. "It's over, Gray. We're fine."

I barely believe what I'm saying, but with Zach watching me and Gray crying, I suddenly want to seem braver.

"I'm gonna throw up," Gray begins to chant. "I'm gonna throw up, I'm gonna throw up."

"No you're not," Zach says quickly, just as I say, "Please don't."

There's a fierce growl and the Earth shakes beneath us. Gray starts to move, but I wrap both arms around him and plant my cheek against his head. "Don't look," I tell him. "Everything's okay."

The fifth dinosaur – the carnivore with razor sharp teeth and long nails, the one that kicked us – is stalking toward the Ankylosaurus.

Zach's arm slips between my legs and grasps the steering stick, eyeing the dinosaur warily. As it stalks past us, he slams the stick forward, trying to get us to the edge of the clearing as quickly as possible.

"Zach, watch the tail, WATCH THE TAIL!" I shriek as an Ankylosaurus swings its club-like tail around, smashing into the front of the Gyrosphere. Thousands of fractures cover the glass. We're sent flying again, crashing into another tree.

The special technology that usually keeps the Gyrosphere upright breaks – or maybe it just wasn't designed to withstand dinosaur attacks. We roll upside down.

I feel my skirt flop over. I let out a small yelp as I quickly unwind my arms from Gray and hold my skirt.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Zach snarls. "Why do you care if anyone sees your pretty pink panties in the middle of a dinosaur attack?"

"Because I don't like people knowing the color of my panties, much less seeing them in the first place!"

Gray's stopped crying now, but he's turned an interesting shade of green. "Guys, it's coming up. I'm gonna puke. It's going to happen."

"Shut up, Gray." Zach's desperately trying to work the steering stick – but the Gyrosphere doesn't respond to his manipulations. "Fuck, it's not working."

The dinosaurs are fighting about ten feet away. The fifth dinosaur is larger than the Ankylosaurus, with deadly claws that tear into its soft legs. The smaller creature lets out a cry, injured leg buckling under its weight.

"Oh my God," Gray whimpers.

Zach huffs. "What?"

The fifth dinosaur then shoves the Ankylosaurus onto its back, exposing the vulnerable belly.

My breath catches in my throat. I feel tears welling up in my eyes. "No," I whisper. "No, no, no, no." My head is shaking fast. My vision is blurring from tears. My hands leave my skirt to cover my mouth.

The fifth dinosaur leers over the wounded Ankylosaurus, then leans down and snaps its neck.

I want to scream, but all that comes out is a choked cry. The tears spill over. I'm unable to console myself, bawling as my eyes take in the blurry sight of the dead Ankylosaurus.

Immediately, Zach is trying to comfort me. "Jonelle, hey." His hand leaves the steering stick and wipes at my face, guiding my chin to turn away from the massacre. "Don't look at it, okay? He's fine. He's gonna be fine. He's just... unconscious or something."

"No he's not," Gray deadpans, voice equally thick with emotion. "He's dead."

"Gray," Zach growls. "You don't know that-" 

"Are we even safe in here?" He asks. "What if we're next?"

Zach's hand continues wiping away my tears. "Yeah, of course. We're totally safe." But his tone is hesitant and hushed and horrified.

Just as he promises that, the worst sound in the history of all noises grates across our eardrums.

Zach's phone is on the ceiling – well, the ground now – vibrating with Claire's caller id.

Stretching his long arm as far as it will go, Zach struggles to grab his phone. The noise could attract the fifth dinosaur – something we definitely don't want.

...we're not lucky, though.

Just as Zach swears that he's almost got his phone, a massive head lowers itself in front of the Gyrosphere. An unfeeling eye peers at us curiously.

Then one of its claws breaks through the impenetrable glass.

This time there's no screaming. There's no yelling. I don't even think we're breathing.

The fifth dinosaur slowly turns the Gyrosphere until we're on our backs, staring up at its unforgiving face. There's blood on its yellowed teeth, killing in its golden eyes.

For a moment it stares at us, almost like it doesn't know what we are.

Then its mouth descends.

Its jaw stretches around the Gyrosphere, taking nearly half of our vehicle inside. Its teeth scrape against the surface, trying to break inside.

Gray finds his voice again, letting out screeches that could rival a banshee.

The glass breaks as the fifth dinosaur's teeth sink inside. It lifts us up, shakes us like a chew toy, and then slams the Gyrosphere back down. More glass breaks, the space behind our heads suddenly open to the jungle air.

Zach reacts quickly. His hands dart across, unbuckling our seatbelts. I find the ability to look away from the dark abyss of the dinosaur's mouth to stare at him incredulously. I doubt Gray even notices.

We're lifted again. This time when we come down, all the glass at the back of the Gyrosphere shatters.

We're free.