PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXXXVIII. It's What We Have To Do

"Eva! You okay, Fadoula?"

Yaz began laughing, too, turning to give Eva a hand up.

"Seriously... are you two okay?"

"I forgot how good it feels to run!" Yasmina grinned, ecstatic. "I mean, really run, for fun, and not because something is chasing us." She laid down beside Angel and propped her leg up on her knee, her hands behind her head.

Eva took a seat beside her, eyes trained on the clouds as the little white wisps moved across the sky.

"Can't say I can relate, but I'm glad you had a good time," Ben said, leaning against Angel.

"Better than good," she chuckled. "Being out there gave me the space to think. And, well, Eva had a hand in it... I'm gonna do it, Ben. I'm gonna tell Sammy how I feel."

Ben gasped. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, I'm so happy for you!"

Eva drummed her fingers against her knees, squealing in delight. "I can't wait!"

"How? When?"

"No idea... I'll just, I'll do it when the time is right, you know?"

Ben and Eva high fived.

In the distance, Sammy was lugging a giant piece of meat across the ground.

"Well, how about now?" Eva asked.

Yaz slowly smiled, watching the girl she was in love with. The trio approached Sammy, stopping a dozen feet behind her.

Ben gave Yaz an encouraging smile, while Eva shot her two thumbs up. The brunette took a deep breath, then approached Sammy.

Eva shook Ben's shoulder, whisper shouting, "She's gonna do it! She's gonna do it!"

Ben shushed her, the two focusing on the two girls.

They watched as the girls were showered in meat chunks from the Eaties.

Please still confess, Eva mentally begged.

Eva jumped at the sound of a twig breaking, and turned her attention on the fast approaching Darius and Brooklynn. "Darius and Brooklynn!" she greeted, smiling through the pain.

"Uh, fancy seeing you here!" Ben added.

"At the meetup spot?" Darius questioned. "Yeah, who saw that coming?"

"Hey, guys," Sammy greeted, standing to her feet. "Any luck?"

Brooklynn nodded. "Yup! I managed to set up a drone to patrol the perimeter of the island. Now we'll get an alert as soon as the Kons return."

"Nice!" Yaz walked towards the group, Sammy nonchalantly pulling her into her side. "And we made sure all the dinos had something to eat, so they won't go after each other. We did that, and I don't mean to brag. Except I do, because it's beautiful, and we should be proud."

"You're right," Darius agreed. "Not that there's anyone around to appreciate it."

"Time to change that!" Brooklynn pressed a few buttons on her tablet, the small device beeping. She held it up, panning the camera so all the campers fit inside the frame. "Whoever's watching this, get ready to be amazed! By these guys! Some of the most incredible people I have ever met."

"Are you recording us?" Sammy asked, knowingly.

"Yeah! Because someone needs to know that we survived Nublar. And that we're here now, and that we protected dinosaurs from big game hunters, and..."

"A horrible hybrid," Yaz said.

"Two horrible hybrids," Darius added.

"Technically three horrible hybrids," Sammy corrected.