PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LVI. I'll Do Whatever It Takes

"Ugh, gross, my shoes are all wet now," she grumbled.

Eva rubbed the blood on her pants, whipping around just in time to watch Yasmina fall backwards into the river. She gasped and rushed out her hand, but her friend was already headed downstream.

She ran after her, slipping in the mud ever so often. When she reached the bend, Yaz was clinging to a thick vine. Eva wrapped her hand around a tree trunk and reached out her other. The two girls connected hands, and Eva pulled her to the shore.

Yasmina collapsed next to the tree trunk, gasping for air. Eva could read the panic in her eyes, the fear. She had been where Yaz was twice now.

She grasped her hands. "Hey, look at me, Yaz." The brunette looked up slowly, her lips parted, her breathing shaky. "You're okay. You're okay. The hard part is over. Now we just have to run again. Can you do that? Run? I'll be by your side the entire time."

"L-let's go."

They stopped at a directory, which labebled the direction for Main Street, the lagoon, the aviary, and finally the raptors.

"That was right near the lab," Yaz said.

"We're almost there."

The two girls took off once more.

~~~

"Raptor paddock."

"Awe, and some cute parasaurolophuses-es-es."

Yasmina shot her a look that said, shut up.

They continued on through the jungle until they reached a small clearing next to an ugly, old building.

The two athletes climbed the tree next to the door, trying and failing to open it— the tree was blocking the door.

"Ugh, come on!"

"The tree! We can move the tree!"

"I think you are grossly overestimating what we can move."

"Do you want Sammy to die?" Okay, harsh, but maybe it'll turn out to be the right motivation for her. "Come on, come on." Eva pulled Yaz to the ground, then propped her feet against the tree and pushed her back against the wall. "This'll work," she said confidently, despite having the overwhelming fear that it wouldn't work, and Sammy wouldn't make it, and everything will have been for n—

The wood splintered as it shifted, but Yasmina quickly stopped.

"What—"

Her hand slipped over Eva's mouth.

A guttural clicking noise fell through the air. The Scorpios Rex.

They slid down, hiding themselves further beneath the tree. Loud, heavy footfalls retreated from the lab.

"Okay, let's try this again," Eva whispered. She sucked in a breath and pushed, but to no avail. "Yaz? ... Yasmina?"

Yaz rubbed at her eyes. "Push. Everything you got. Three, two..."

Eva didn't question her, and instead put everything into pushing against the tree. It began to shift. Centimeters, and then a few inches. They stopped, and Yaz quickly yanked the door open.

The door immediately led to steps, leading to another set of tunnels. Eva groaned, noting her hate for the tunnels as she followed after Yasmina.

They entered a room covered in slash marks and quills, tables overturned, equipment destroyed. The two began their search, looking in cabinets, under loose papers, and anywhere in between.