Catastrophe

nine

• 9 •

Alan Grant: "Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we have the slightest idea of what to expect?"

— Jurassic Park

•••

WITH A LOUD GROAN, CLAIRE OPENED THE BACK DOORS OF ONE OF THE JURASSIC WORLD VANS, revealing not much more than some containers filled with god-knows-what and various pieces equipment.

"See? Totally safe."

Zach and Liana looked at the inside of the van, then at each other, then back at the van, not quite believing Claire's words. Zach let out a breath and Liana cocked her head to the side, trying to gauge how "safe" they were actually going to be.

"Alright, get in," Claire said, already moving to help Gray into the van. "Come on." Zach followed after Gray, and offered a hand to Liana as she jumped up into the van. Gray went to sit on top of a container, and Zach sat next to him. Liana settled for just sitting on the floor and leaning up against the wall.

"If you need me, I'll be right up from. Just open that window." Claire pointed to a sliding window situated above Zach and Gray's heads before continuing. "Okay, put your seatbelts on."

The three all glanced around the van, Zach and Gray even reached around the sides of where they were sitting, only to find nothing that vaguely resembled a seatbelt. There was nothing. This was clearly a vehicle made for transporting inanimate objects- not teenagers.

Claire released a small sigh of defeat. "Okay, so just- hold hands," she said finally, closing the doors and heading towards the front of the van as the three teens just glanced at each other in the darkness. After a few seconds, Gray held out both hands, one for Zach, and one for Lia.

Liana laughed softly and grabbed the boy's hand, whereas Zach just glanced at his brother's hand, which was now hitting him on the arm softly.

"Come on, Zach, you heard your aunt," Lia said, smirking softly at him.

"Fine," he muttered, taking hold of Gray's hand and smiling weakly at the younger boy.

The three were sitting in silence, all too drained and exhausted to even try to start a conversation. You could have heard a pin drop until the silence was broken by the sound of some very riled up raptors.

"Nothing's getting in here, right?" Gray asked, his eyes staring at the doors directly across from him.

"Of course not," Liana muttered. Though she wasn't sure if that was true, she wanted to comfort Gray. And in all honestly, saying it out loud brought her some slight comfort. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Gray nodded weakly, but he still didn't seem convinced as his eyes lingered on the doors as the raptors continued to shriek outside. Zach looked at him for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Hey- you remember that ghost at the old house? Remember, the one in the garage? I protected you, right?"

"You made a battle-axe out of a ruler and a paper plate."

Zach smiled as his brother recalled the story. "Yeah. And see, nothing's gonna get you when I'm around," he said as he put a hand on Gray's shoulder. "Okay?"

"But you're not always gonna be around."

"Yeah I will."

Gray still looked unsure, so Zach looked him straight in the eye as he continued speaking.