Make it through the night

CHAPTER 28

Chapter 28

"You're telling me you've never been on a road trip before!" I whisper screamed. "No, I didn't really do long car rides well," Ben replied, and I just stared at him in shock. "And what about now?" I questioned. "I think I could manage. If it was with you," he smiled, and I just rolled my eyes.

The two of us stood there talking until all of a sudden Kenji appeared. "I thought you two were supposed to be keeping an eye out?" Kenji smirked. "We were," I said insistently. "Sure. Anyway, you guys need to come join the group Darius says we need to make a plan." Kenji told us.

Ben and I exchanged looks and then flowed Kenji. Once we reached the others, I immediately noticed Mae's unconcise body. Ben went over to check on her and I sat myself down on the rock that Kenji was leaning on.

"She's asleep. The leaves we put over her wounds stopped the bleeding, but I don't know how long that's going to last. We have to do something," Sammy told us.

"Ben said Kash has a phone," I told them, remembering Ben had mentioned seeing Kash on a cell phone while we were trying to save Mae. "Then let's get it call for help, and get out of here," Yaz suggested. "But what about the dinosaurs?" Darius asked, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Now that Mae's injured, if we leave, who's going to protect them?" he added.

"Darius, look at her, she needs help. Our only choice is that phone," Yaz said motioning to Mae who cried out in pain. "Those leaves aren't exactly sterile. We're running out of time. Let's spit up and try to find Kash," Ben suggested.

"Huh, small problem. We don't know where he went," Kenji muttered, I opened my mouth to make a suggestion, but I was silenced by the sound of BRADS scanning nearby. Quickly we all darted behind rocks hiding from the BRADS. Thankfully none of them saw us before they received new orders and started hopping away.

"One of them could be headed to Kash," Yaz whispered to Brooklynn and me. "We should follow them," I muttered. "You guys go. I think there was a first aid kit in the snow gliders. I'll get Mae patched up." Ben whispered. "I'll wait here then, someone should stay with Mae in case the BRADS come back," I whispered, and everyone nodded. After that Kenji, Sammy and Darius went after one BRAD while Yaz and Brooklynn went after another. I made my way over to Mae sitting down beside her, taking her hand in mine to keep an eye on her heartbeat. I noticed Ben looking at me, "Go," I whispered, and he nodded before running off.

I stayed right by Mae's side, occasionally checking Mae's pulse, she wasn't doing well, but hopefully, she would pull through. Soon enough Ben returned with water and bandages. "Miss me," he smiled as he crouched down next to Mae, "Eh, not really," I said with a smirk, and he gasped in fake offense.

After that, he turned his attention to Mae. "Okay, Mae. Let's get you cleaned up," he told her softly before he tried to remove the large leaf that was wrapped around her torso. All of a sudden Mae let out a yelp and then her arm shot up and she punched Ben in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Ben, you hurt me," she said opening her eyes and looking down at the boy. "You hurt me!" Ben exclaimed sitting up, and I couldn't help but giggle at the situation.

"Sorry, maybe it's safer if we stick with the leaves," she muttered. "We don't want you getting an infection. Luckily, antibacterial is my middle name," Ben said moving back over to the first aid kit. "Really. My middle name's Enfys. It's Welsh for rainbow," Mae remarked, obviously still a little out of it from the pain. Ben and I exchanged looks, "Okay. Let's just take care of these wounds," Ben said. "You're not going to punch me again, are you?" he questioned her before he reached down to unwrap the leaf bandages. "No, I'm ready for it this time," Mae replied. "Are you?" I questioned before Ben tried to undo the leaves again only to get punched in the face by Mae again.

"Sorry," Mae muttered, as I laughed. "Here, hold on to my hands," I instructed her as Ben slowly began to unwrap the leaves, Mae's hand squeezing tightly around mine, instead of punching Ben for the third time. Soon enough, the leaves were off, and Ben set to work cleaning and bandaging up her wounds.

Once Ben had finished Darius, Kenji and Sammy appeared, and Yaz and Brooklynn followed shortly. They all gathered around us, except for Kenji who was keeping watch. "We found Kash in his creepy warehouse of BRADS," Yaz told us. "I almost had the phone. But then," Brooklynn muttered. "He went back inside the compound," Yaz said finishing her sentence.

"The BRADS forced Big Eaite away from her daughter. They shocked her until they left with them," Darius informed us. "It was hard to watch," Kenji added, as he walked over to us. "Hasn't he hurt them enough?" Mae cried. "He wants to use her for some sort of test," Darius explained. "That sound's ominous," I remarked, and then a roar echoed through the jungle, catching everyone's attention.

"That's Pierce!" Mae exclaimed trying to pull herself up. "No, no, no. You need to rest," Darius insisted rushing over to her and making sure she stayed still. "But if Kash is hurting him like he did Big Eatie," Mae said. "Don't worry, we'll go," Darius told her.

"Lilly, you okay with keeping an eye on Mae?" Darius asked looking over at me, I nodded. "Okay then everyone else let's go," he said, and they all began to run toward where the roar had come from. Once they had disappeared into the tree line, I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry your stuck here with me," Mae whispered. "Honestly, it's a refreshing break," I smiled. "Besides you are good company," I added.

The two of us sat in silence, the sounds of dinosaur roars echoing through the forest. My eyes scanned the tree line, I was hoping that everyone was okay. "Hey, are you okay?" Mae asked realizing how tense I was. "Just worried," I replied looking over at her. "You seem to care a lot about your friends," she said with a smile. "Well, it's kind of my job to protect them. although I haven't been very good at that lately," I mumbled. "It seems like you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself," Mae told me. "Maybe," I admitted setting back down next to her.

"You know, I used to have this spear, I made it out of a raft ore when we first got abandoned on Nublar. I used it to stab Toro in the eye when he tried to attack us, and it was my only protection when I was alone searching for Ben. I left it on Nublar, thinking I wouldn't need it anymore, but I kind of wish I hadn't now. It made me feel safe, and I was really good at fighting with it," I told her, and she nodded.

"You could always make a new one," she suggested. "We are surrounded by wood, and there is a knife in that first aid kit Ben brought," she told me. "I suppose," I replied realizing how simple what she told me was. Of course, I just needed to make a new one, I should have thought of that.

My eyes scanned the area around the cave we were sitting in, and low and behold there on the ground was a large stick. I quickly crept over to get it and then returned setting to work on carving one side of it onto a point. "Thank you," I mumbled as I carved, and Mae just smiled and nodded.