Catastrophe

six

• 6 •

Henry Wu: "Monster is a relative term. To a canary, a cat is a monster. We're just used to being the cat."

— Jurassic World

•••

A LOUD SNAPPING NOISE INTERRUPTED THE TEENS AND THEY FROZE IN PANIC. They all cautiously checked their surroundings, afraid that another dinosaur had caught up with them.

"You guys think it's out there?" Zach said. He turned to Gray, who's eyes were wide with fear. Liana was still staring off into the jungle, making sure that the coast was clear.

"No," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Zach seemed to have taken notice of Gray's terrified expression and cleared his throat. "You're right," he said to Liana before turning back to his brother. "I mean, I know for a fact it's definitely not out there. Alright? We're totally safe."

Gray nodded quickly, though it was clear that he still felt a little uneasy. Liana turned away from the jungle and moved closer towards the jeep, smiling at Gray reassuringly.

"We're fine. We'll be back at the resort in no time."

"Okay," Gray mumbled.

Zach took the car battery from the jeep and passed it to Gray. "Here, go take this," he said with a small smile on his features. "You're stronger than me."

Liana couldn't help but smile as she watched their interaction and as they continued to work on the car together. She wished she could have been more of a help, but she knew just about nothing when it came to cars. She had just started learning how to drive back home, there was no way she knew how to re-start a seemingly dead car.

As she passed a wrench to Gray, who passed it to Zach, her face dropped. She was so caught up in saving her own ass that she had forgotten about her own family, her own siblings. She hoped that her family was still at the resort, safe and sound. However, they had no idea where she was. She could have been dead, for all they knew. She pulled her cellphone out of her backpack and saw that she had twenty-four missed calls from her mother and father.

"Oh my God," she said softly. She tried to call both of them back but they were too far into the jungle. She couldn't get any service. Her breathing sped up a little bit as she kept trying to call her mom and dad to no avail. "Oh my God, Oh my God."

Zach and Gray both paused and looked up from the car. They glanced at Lia worriedly and Zach set the wrench down.

"Is everything okay?"

"My parents have no idea where I am and I can't get any service. They're probably freaking out." She tried holding the phone higher into the air to get even one bar, but it was useless. She probably wouldn't get any service until she was back in the park.

Zach nodded. "Don't worry, we're almost done here. I think."

"Yeah," Gray piped up. "I think we might be good to go."

"Let's try it out," Zach said. "Lia, do you mind starting it?"

"Nope." She shoved her phone back into her pocket and hopped into the driver's seat. She drummed her fingers on the steering will and looked at Zach, who was just making one last adjustment. He set the wrench down and put his hands on his hips.