PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XVII. Inclusive Dr. Doofenshmirtz

Kenji followed the others closely. They entered Main Street through a back fence.

Main Street was very... chaotic. Buildings were smashed, chairs and tables were strewn across the street, and there were lots and lots of dried blood stains.

"What happened here?"

"Uh, I'm thinking dinosaurs," Brooklynn said in a snide way.

"It's more than that," Darius replied. "Some kind of fight took place. From the height, it looks like maybe the T-rex and... something bigger?"

"The Indominus Rex?" Brooklynn walked over to the edge of the lagoon, where the fence was broken in one section, and the edge of the concrete was cracked and had begun to crumble. She continued, "I don't think we have to worry about it anymore, or what's left of it."

Kenji laid Eva on the nearest table. His arms ached from carrying her for so long.

"Ugh! Or, the Mosasaurus being hungry for a while."

"Guys!" Sammy gasped, "You have to see this!"

Sammy led the campers to one of the store fronts, where a cardboard cutout of Brooklynn holding a phone charger was on display. Behind her, a little island was filled with more phone chargers.

The cardboard cutout was wearing a pink bomber jacket, ripped skinny jeans, and clean, white shoes. Except for the fact that Brooklynn's shoes were caked in mud and dirt, the cardboard cut out looked identical to Brooklynn.

"Wow, I totally forgot I agreed to that," She chuckled, hands stuffed into her pockets.

"Do you only own one outfit?" Darius asked, incredulously.

"What, it's my signature look!"

"Please! Autograph my phone charger, O Queen of the Brooklanders!" Kenji wheezeed as he held out a phone charger. He fell to his knees, gripping his stomach.

"Well, I think it's cool," Sammy said. She placed a hand over cardboard cutout Brooklynn's shoulders. "When we get rescued, I'm taking it with us."

"TBH, this does kinda remind me of home. I haven't posted in days. I bet my followers are worried sick about me."

"And your parents?"

"Oh, uh, right. Obvi, them too."

"Okay, let's start, uh, looking for a way to communicate with the mainland," said Darius. "There's gotta be a phone or something here, right?"

They entered the store and began their search.

~~~

On a table thirty feet away, Eva slowly blinked open her eyes. The sun was too bright for her liking, but she forced her eyes to stay open and adjust to it. She sat up carefully and looked around confused. She recognized the location as Main Street, but she had zero idea how she got there. She also didn't understand why she was on a table, or why she was alone.

Main Street was in ruins. Some stores were caved in, while others were intact. One of the towers on the end of the street was crumbling, and looked ready to fall over onto any victim that stood underneath it. The ground was littered with trash, sunglasses, purses and backpacks. There was even a single shoe sitting a little further away, until Eva looked close enough to realize the foot was still inside the sneaker. She turned her head to the side, fighting the urge to puke. There was nothing left in her, she knew that. But still, nausea danced in her stomach and she scrunched her eyes shut to fight the feeling.

She hopped off the table, stumbling. She fell to the ground, her knees scraping the pavement. "Woah," she mumbled as she carefully stood. She pulled her glasses off her face, frowning at the small cracks running through the lenses.