PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

IV. Freedom Is A Place on Earth: And That's Camp Cretaceous

Everyone (besides Ben) noted their annoyance with the early bedtime.

"This is for your safety," Roxie continued. "We are in a dinosaur-filled jungle. You must always keep your distance, or you could be seriously hurt, if not worse."

Dave pointed to the sky, "Cabins are up that-a-way."

"First one there gets top bunk!" Yasmina shouted.

Eva's eyes widened, and she quickly jumped into a sprint to reach the elevator. Her left hand wrapped around the handle of her bag and her right around the grab handle of her backpack in one swift movement, and she ran into the elevator after Yasmina, the others following suit, albeit slower. It was only when the elevator doors closed, everyone squished together, that she noticed Darius was missing.

The elevator stopped at the top twenty seconds later, and everyone spilled out into the hallway. Eva took a turn down the right hallway, passing a kitchen before appearing outside a door marked GIRLS.

She pushed the door open with her shoulder, surprised to find the room empty. She double checked she was in fact in the girls' dormitory, then pulled her bag over, heaving it onto the top bunk of the closest bunk bed. She climbed the small ladder on the end, heaving a breath as she collapsed backwards, her head colliding with a soft pillow.

Her flight may have only been five hours, but tacked with the six hour ferry, she was exhausted. Her eyelids fluttered shut, the sound of her own heart lulling her to sleep when the door burst open with a bang. Eva groaned as she turned on her side, slowly sitting up to see a panting Sammy enter the room. Brooklynn and Yasmina were close behind her. Sammy caught Eva's eyes, then lit up when she noticed the dozen bunk beds in the room.

Sammy dragged her suitcase to the bed directly next to Eva's. Yasmina took the one across from the girls. Brooklynn looked at all the bunk beds before dropping her bag on the ground under Eva's bunk. "Too.. far," She panted. Brooklynn looked up at Eva, "Bunk mates?"

"Sure," Eva grinned.

Brooklynn collapsed on the bed below her.

~~~

About an hour later, Yaz reentered the dorm room, talking about rounding up the girls. Eva was sitting beside Brooklynn on the bottom bunk, the latter of which was showing her pictures from her trip to Machu Picchu. They were surrounded by their half unpacked bags. Sammy was beside them, setting up a framed photo of a cow onto the small nightstand between their two bunk beds— Bessie, she had told the pair, flushed, right before Yasmina entered.

The girls excitedly followed Yasmina from the room and to the elevator, where Roxie was waiting. Outside, they met up with the boys and Dave, and started their trek into the jungle. Along the way, Roxie explained that their first adventure of the trip was hiking up the observation tower to watch migrating dinosaurs.

Darius hadn't stopped talking about dinosaurs the minute Roxie dropped the news. Eva listened amused. There was one clear thing Eva had learned about Darius. That kid knew everything there was to know about dinosaurs, and then some. Eva attended a lecture about dinosaurs at her school two months ago, and she didn't remember a freckle of information, but Darius? He knew enough to put some paleontologists out of a job.

They reached the top of the observation tower, after climbing seven sets of stairs, and were watching tons of herbivore dinosaurs cross the path below them. Eva hugged the railing between Brooklynn and Darius, watching with intent as little parasaurolophuses scurried past. It wasn't as close as she would've liked, but it was still amazing to watch nevertheless.

The sun had by now started to dip below the ocean horizon, casting everything in a golden glow. She appreciated the warmth on her skin, and the way the water glistened like a million diamonds. The sights she was seeing were more than anything she could ever ask for. The dinosaurs were just a cherry on top.