Catastrophe

seven

• 7 •

Simon Masrani: "The kids? This will give the parents nightmares."

— Jurassic World

•••

            "STOP RUNNING!" ZARA YELLED, as she could not catch up with the three teens in her high heels. They didn't listen, though. They were panicked, and they needed to stay safe. Running and finding somewhere to hide was the only way they were going to stay safe.

            The flock of pterosaurs had taken over the main strip of the resort. Everywhere they turned, guests were screaming and running away as the pterosaurs squawked and attacked whoever they got their beaks on. Not knowing where to run, Zach, Gray, and Lia froze, grabbing onto one another as they spun around in circles, trying to decide where the safest place to go was. It looked as if nowhere was safe. The park has been turned into a warzone. If they wanted to stay alive, their best bet was probably to just keep moving. Gray ran forward towards a shop, but one of the dinosaurs swooped down towards him. Before it could attack Gray, Zach and Lia both reached out to pull the boy back towards them.

            "Don't just stand there!" Zara yelled frustratedly, but before she could run for shelter, one of the pterosaurs grabbed her and lifted her up into the air.

            "Oh my God," Zach said, running after Zara as she was passed from dinosaur to dinosaur in midair. Gray and Lia ran after her as well. Her terrified screams were enough to make the three feel sick to their stomachs. There was nothing they could do to help her.

            Zara was dropped into the water, and they all sighed in relief. Perhaps if she could swim for long enough, she'd be okay. They all ran towards the water, hoping to catch sight of Zara, and they found her, but she wasn't alone. Three pterosaurs had dove into the water after her, and were back as tossing her back and forth, pulling her underwater and back up as they fought over her.

            Liana clasped a hand over her mouth. The sight in front of her was terrifying, but she found she was unable to look away. Zach and Gray were staring at the scene as well, helplessly.

            One of the pterosaurs swam to the surface with Zara caught between its beak. Before it had the chance to fly away, the mosasaurus rose above the surface, grabbing both the pterosaurs and Zara in its mouth. Its mouth closed on the two with a loud snap, and the pterosaurs let out one final squawk before the mosasaurus disappeared back under the water.

            Gray and Lia were unable to move, paralyzed by fear, but Zach was able to click back into reality.

            "Go!" Zach yelled, pushing Gray forward before putting a hand on Liana's lower back and pushing her slightly. "Get inside now!" Gray grabbed onto Lia's arm as he ran off, and Lia grabbed Zach's hand, pulling him behind her.

            Unable to find a building that wasn't being ravaged by the pterosaurs, they kept running. Gray and Lia ran next to each other. Zach trailed ever so slightly behind, though his hand was still clasped with Liana's.

            They all heard a voice yelling their names and Gray tried to follow it. He knew it was their aunt, but she was nowhere to be seen amidst the chaos.

            "Guys, run faster," Zach yelled. Both Gray and Liana made the mistake of turning around and see that a pterosaur was heading straight towards them. They had a lead, but the dinosaur was faster and quickly gaining on them. Luckily, the dinosaur hit one of its wings on a food stand, giving them more time to get away. It recovered quickly, though, and was chasing them faster than ever.

            "We have to get down," Lia yelled over the noise. Without a second thought, she and Gray dove down towards the ground, taking Zach with them. They all crawled as fast as they could to get away from the dinosaur until they were backed up against a wall. Zach's arm shot out over Lia and Gray's chests as the pterosaurs slowly but surely made its way closer to them. They breathed heavily as the dinosaur stared at them, its beak only a few centimetres away from Liana's face. Realizing it couldn't get them due to its exhaustion and injured wing, Lia grabbed onto Zach and Gray's hands.

            "Three," Lia said, not breaking eye contact with the pterosaur.

            "Two," Zach said, preparing to stand up.

            "One," they all finished, jumping up from the ground as quick as possible, struggling to get back on steady feet.

            They ran a little further and came across a man being attacked by one of the creatures. That wasn't what surprised them, though. What surprised them was the woman standing above him, killing the creature in three swift movements. Zach and Gray had stopped running to marvel at the situation, and Liana looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

            "What? Why did we stop running?"

            "Is that Aunt Claire?" Zach asked Gray.

            "I think so," The younger boy replied.

            Claire helped the man to his feet, and rather than thanking her, he pulled her in for a kiss. The three teens all cocked their heads to the side as they watched them.

            "That's cute. I think," Lia said quizzically. It wasn't exactly an ideal situation for romance, but she realized she wasn't one to judge as she looked down and noticed that she and Zach's hands were still intertwined.

            When Claire and the man pulled away from one another, their eyes stayed locked on each other for a few moments before Claire turned and saw her nephews. "It's them!" She exclaimed, before taking off towards them.

            "Zach! Gray!" She leaned down so she was at Gray's level and grabbed his face in her hands.

            "Oh my God, thank God, thank God!" She said, tears filling her eyes. "What happened? What is this? Are you okay?"

            Both boys were unable to say anything, as Claire was firing questions at them so quickly.

            "Where did you go? Why didn't you come back? I was so worried about you."

            Rather than giving Claire any information about where they had been all day, Zach looked over at the man she had just been kissing. "Who's that?"

            Claire straightened up and looked at her older nephew, trying to regain her composure as the man approached them. "We work together," she said simply. Gray and Zach looked at her with very unconvinced expressions on their faces.

            "Who's this?" Claire asked, looking between Zach and Lia, definitely not ignoring the fact that they were holding hands.

            "I'm Liana," Lia said, waving weakly.

            "Claire," the older woman replied with a soft smile.

            "Hey," Claire's "co-worker" called. Claire turned around and the three teenagers glanced at him. "We gotta go."

            Claire nodded and shoved her nephews and Liana forward. "Come on," she said as they exited the main section of the resort.