Alive ➳ Zach Mitchell

IV

As time went by, the sun began its descent towards the horizon, the humid jungle air cooling with each passing hour. Nobody spoke for a while, worried that the Indominus—or any other dinosaur, really—might be lurking around, but that soon proved to be merely paranoia. The silence soon grew thick and uncomfortable, the three flinching and ducking behind tall ferns at each sudden noise. Zach tried lightening the mood with a joke that fell on deaf ears, Gray was still shaken up by what had happened, and Adelaide . . . well, Adelaide was, most of all, concerned with keeping herself and the boys alive in a world she herself didn't know too well.

The sun melted into the horizon, smearing the blue canvas of sky with a sunset's breathtaking colours. Nobody stopped to admire. Nightfall only meant one thing, dangers increased by a thousand, and the old Welcome Center was nowhere to be found. The low branches were scratching at their skin and tugging at their dirty clothes, and every once in a while they encountered the imprint of a dinosaur's foot in the still-wet mud, which managed to get their hearts racing. Fortunately, the trio didn't come across any prehistorical creature along the way.

"I'm tired," Gray whined.

Adelaide tipped her head back, scouring the sky for the stars she knew she might have a chance of orienting herself after. "We're gonna get there, I promise," she reassured the younger boy, uncertain if the words were meant for him alone or also for herself.

It was almost humorous to think what Claire would say if her underage assistant popped up and announced that she'd misplaced her nephews in a dinosaur-infested jungle.

Zach drew nearer to Adelaide, cradling a small, white flower in his hands, its stem dripping sap into his palms. He cleared his throat to fetch the girl's attention. When she turned around, eyes wide, instead of the pleasant surprise he expected to read on her features, Zach was greeted by a hiss and Adelaide snatching the flower from his hands, only to toss it into the thick folliage surrounding them.

Adelaide grabbed Zach's hands and started rubbing at his palms with the hem of her tank-top. "That's Sanguinaria, you precious idiot," she scolded, her voice low and panicked. "Blood-root. It's very poisonous."

Zach cocked an eyebrow. "I'm precious?"

Adelaide scoffed and shook her head. "Of course that's the part you hear. Tell me if you start feeling sick." Then, looking up at him, her green eyes boring into his, "In case you wanted to know, I like orchids better."

"How much farther?" Gray interrupted from ahead, his question followed by a loud stomach's grumble. "I'm starving."

Zach scoffed, and Adelaide pressed her lips together—as if they weren't famished, too.

As darkness began to settle, the three made their way through the dense jungle, birds cawing above their heads, limbs aching.

"Maybe if we weren't on a wild goose chase, we'd get to safety," Zach muttered under his breath.

Nonetheless, Adelaide still caught his words. "It's not a wild goose chase," she retorted. "The Welcome Center is real."

"In that case, where is it? Because it feels like we've been running in circles and God knows what time it is."

"I'm sorry, Zach"—Adelaide's voice was acerbic—"but I'm doing my best. If you think you'd be better at this, just say the word."

Gray, whose attempts at ending the fight had been spoken over, stepped in between the two. "This won't help us get anywhere. Let's just keep going, please."

Both Zach and Adelaide were fuming, but neither objected to Gray's intervention, so they continued their seemingly neverending journey.

"Is your brother always like this?" asked Adelaide.