Alive ➳ Zach Mitchell

III

He pointed towards the gaping hole in the electric fence, which clearly didn't belong there. "Whoa, look, off-road." 

A foreign, monotone voice boomed in the Gyrosphere, demanding that the three return immediately to the leaving point, as there were some technical problems that had to be solved right away.

Adelaide's brow furrowed. "Zach, let's head back." 

She tried to regain control over the joystick, but then Zach put his hand on her bare arm. A smirk was twisting his lips upwards, and Adelaide froze. "Come on, Ades, I'm sure it's nothing. If we go now, who knows what fun we'll miss?" 

Had he just come up with a nickname for her? And how could he touch her with so much confidence? Where was the awkward Zach she'd first met?

Adelaide put her hands up in surrender. "Fine."

Having received her permission, Zach began leading them past the barrier between the meadow and the forest.

* * *

Zach gestured towards the four Ankylosaurs that were pacing around the Gyrosphere. "See, I told you this was gonna be fun. We're here with four . . . dinosauruses."

"Ankylosaurs, and there's five of them," Gray muttered.

"Aren't you supposed to be the genius or something?" he remarked, starting to count by pointing at each dinosaur. "One, two, three, four."

And then Adelaide noticed the glass reflection of the most feared asset of Jurassic World.

Adelaide swore loudly, her hand shooting for the joystick, not even caring as she pried Zach's fingers away from it. "The fifth dinosaur is the Indominus Rex!"

The Gyrosphere shot ahead, straight into an Ankylosaur, which would have petrified Adelaide's blood in her veins if that were possible. The freshly angered dinosaur swung its tail into the Gyrosphere as hard as it could, sending the three spinning backwards. A loud roar slashed through the air, the I-Rex ready for a fight it knew it could effortlessly win. The monstrous dinosaur bent its head over an Ankylosaur---its protective shell was the first thing sharp teeth the size of a human's arm met, but it was to no avail; as soon as the carnivore found the spot between the shell and the uncovered neck . . .

"I can't look," Gray whimpered, burying his face in his hands. 

With a sickening crunch, the Ankylosaur was dead, and the Indominus Rex, the apex predator of the park, found itself a far more interesting target.

The Gyrosphere.

"We're safe in here . . . right?" Zach breathed out, his voice quivering. 

Adelaide hummed a response, not peeling her cautious eyes away from the white nightmare in front of them. Before anyone could do anything---except scream, which Gray had just started doing---the Indominus's claw pierced through the Gyrosphere's glass wall. Adelaide's hand found Zach's, and they held onto each other for dear life.

"We're so dead, we're so dead!" Gray cried out as the huge claw retreated, leaving behind a wide hole in the glass.

The I-Rex let out a ferocious growl and kicked the Gyrosphere, turning them upside down. The three screamed in unison. Head hanging, Adelaide could only hear her frantic pulse thrumming in her eardrums. A drop of hot liquid splashed on her forehead, dripping from her chin, where a shard of glass had cut her profoundly.

Zach's fallen phone began ringing, showing Claire's ID on the display. Both teenagers tried reaching it, but neither succeeded, their fingertips barely grazing its screen. The next thing they knew was that the Indominus's teeth were piercing the Gyrosphere, the creature picking them up in its powerful jaws, only to slam them back onto the ground.