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I look down to see the dinosaur's beady eyes staring right back at me. It lets out a loud, deafening roar as I widen my eyes.
"Who gave this guy the right to break out?!" I mutter to no one in particular. There was no response in return, only the screeching from the beast.
Everyone was too frightened to say anything.
It claws at the structure again and I watch as Ben starts to slide through the fence. I reach to him and grab the back of his shirt to keep him stable.
Suddenly we're lifted up, but to only be slammed down again.
Sammy starts to fall over the railing and my breath catches in my throat.
"Sammy!"
Yasmina was quick to catch her hand.
"Hold on!"
Darius yells as him and I scramble to help pull her back up.
"The zip line! Go, go, go!" Darius shouts, pointing towards it. I get what he means and I start to rush everyone to it.
Kenji pulls down the first seat and I drag Ben over to it, sitting him down. The watch tower was struck again and we all shook and Ben started to panic.
"I can't! I can't! I can't!"
Kenji and I both groan, "Here!" We each grab one side of the buckle and clipping it in for him. I look to Kenji and he's already staring at me. I nod towards him and he nods back, a simple sign of appreciation.
Ben starts to slide down slowly, trying to reach for the railing and starts to freeze up. The Indominus Rex bangs up against the structure again, making me stagger.
I run up to Ben, placing my hands on his shoulders. "Hold on!" I shout before pushing him off, watching as he slowly moves out of view.
Then Sammy, Kenji, Brooklynn, and Yasmina make their way down the zip line. I was next.
I had offered for Darius to go before me but he didn't want to. There was no time for arguing anyways.
We watch as the zip line stops, halting their movements. The watch tower shakes again.
"What's happening?" I ask towards Darius, not taking my eyes off of the other's figures.
"It's the emergency break!" He pauses for a moment and I looked at him.
"I have an idea." He starts to unbuckle himself.
"Darry, if you're doing what I think you're doing, I assure you it's not a good idea!" I shout to him, trying to form an idea of my own.
"Didn't you say you were strong? Like, really, really strong?" Darius asks, taking a few steps back.
"Uh, no! What are you talking about?!"
"Well, catch me!"
"What?! Wait no, Darius!"
He suddenly flings himself into my arms, attaching to me like a koala. The force of his body sends us flying down the zip line.
"This is not what I thought you were doing!" I shriek on the way down, keeping a secure hold on him.
"It's working. It's working!"
In an instant, the line snaps, making us all fall through the trees.
Distant screams were all I heard before I felt my body hit the ground.
————————
Two years prior
'Why did he do it?'
It was cold. My body felt numb, it was as if I couldn't move.
The frosty wind was hitting up against my face, turning it rosy.
My breathing felt shallow as I stared upon his gravestone.
Liam Cooper L/N.
A caring father and brother,
who's loving memory never grows old.
The service had ended a while ago, and I couldn't find any strength to pull myself away from the graveyard.
'Why did he do it?'
My eyes scanned through the flowers that were left, knowing that no matter how many people have mourned, it couldn't bring him back.
Soft footsteps from behind me crunched on leaves.
I didn't feel like turning around, I knew who it was.
"You should head on home, you'll get a cold out here." A deep voice spoke, a strong hand landing on my shoulder.
I didn't respond.
'Why did he do it?'
I felt warmth cover my back as a light brown jacket was tossed over it. I instinctively wrapped it around myself, breathing into the fabric.
He had sighed and knelt down next to me, dropping his head to the ground.
It was silent for a moment, before I had the courage to speak up,
"Why did he do it?"
A hoarse whisper left my throat.
I slowly turned to look at him and he was already facing me.
His mouth was perched into a line, and his eyes were almost emotionless, but drooping. He opened his mouth to speak, before turning away, not saying anything.
It was quiet yet again.
I heard him take a heavy breath, "I don't know."
He rested his hand on top of the gravestone, muttering something under his breath.
He suddenly stood up, dusting himself off.
"Come on." He muttered, standing over me.
I didn't move.
"Now." He whispered sternly, straightening his posture.
I slowly and reluctantly stood up from my spot, still not taking my eyes from the gravestone.
"Look at me." He kneels in front of me, redirecting my eyesight, forcing me to look into the same eyes my father had once shared.
"Your father is gone, you cannot bring him back by being here, okay?"
My eyes widened slightly.
He took notice and began to rub my arms.
"Hey, hey... I didn't mean..." he softened his eyes.
"Your mother is waiting for you, let's get you out of here, yeah?" He pushes, nudging me to the parking lot.
I nod gently, turning around without a word. I began to walk swiftly to the lot, hearing his light steps behind me, before suddenly stopping.
"Uncle Len?" I turn to find him facing the graveyard, his black coat swaying in the wind.
He takes notice of me watching and quickly catches up, swinging an arm around my shoulders.
We walked in silence, the quiet seemed to be happening frequently.
"Don't worry, Y/N." He says suddenly, smirking at me.
"I'm here."
————————
Present
".../N?"
"...Y/N!"
"Come on.. get up!"
Two voices spoke to me.
I felt groggy. My head hurt.
There was a distant roar.
"What the heck is that thing?"
"Y/N we need you to get up, like, now."
My eyes suddenly shoot open, remembering what had just happened.
There were two figures leaning over me, Pinky and Darius.
Pinky helps me stand up as I groan at the pounding in my head.
"Hey, you okay?" Darius asks.
I nod before looking around, my eyes landing on Ben.
I walk over to him, taking him in my arms briefly.
"Are you alright?" I whisper to him, he nods into my shoulder.
There was another roar.
Ben whimpers, "It's coming."
Yasmina shushes him, "It could be anywhere." I nod in agreement. We all stay quiet to listen, but we don't hear anything else.
Pinky starts to look around us, "Wait, was the observation tower that way? Or was it this way? I..." she spoke up, frowning at the lack of direction we have.
I placed a hand on her shoulder, sharing the same facial expression she has.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but I-" Sammy spoke up, before quickly stopping. She looked down at her feet, as if she was ashamed. Or guilty. She avoided eye contact with me as I looked back at her.
'What were you going to say, Sammy?"
Darius gasps, drawing my eyes over to him,
"Where's..? Oh no. My necklace, I left it in my bunk." He mutters, saddened. My face softened. It wasn't a secret that it had meant something to him.
The Indominus Rex roared again, steering all of our attention once more. We huddled closer together, afraid of standing alone.
"We've got slightly bigger problems than.." Mr. Sideburns starts to run his mouth, but gets cut off by the Dinosaur.
"We have to run. Now!" Sammy says.
"To where?!" I respond, panicked.
Darius looks around quickly, "This way!"
We all take of sprinting towards the direction Darius pointed to.
"Everything will be fine once we get back to camp." He speaks up, being ahead of everyone else. I'm quick to be up there with him.
Jumping over logs, tripping on sticks, and stepping in puddles, we finally make it past some weeds and into our camp. Or, whatever's left of our camp.
"Oh no.."
We all shudder.
The whole place has been torn down. We walk towards it, scoping out the ruckus. Darius steps into a huge footprint, surprised as the same ones trail out of the camp.
I look up, listening to the creaking sounds of the remaining building. This whole place is about to fall.
"Dave, Roxie, the other workers, they must've all gotten away." Sammy says, slowly walking around.
I watch as Ben walks and her to an upside down vehicle. He peeks inside and starts to back away.
"Not all of them..."
My face drops and I quickly walk over to him, catching him from tripping over his own feet. I lead him away from it.
'He didn't need to see that.' I think to myself, frowning.
Yasmina picks up a walkie-talkie, hitting it and trying to speak into it. There's no response and she drops it on the ground.
"We're on our own."
"No..."
I whisper, glancing around at everyone as they look down.
Brooklyn suddenly becomes frustrated, "Give me my phone!" She yells into Sammy's face.
"What?" Sammy says innocently.
"I don't care about you sneaking into Dr. Wu's lab," she begins to go on a rant and I quickly walk up behind her, trying to stop her.
"Hey, Pinky, not so loud we don't know what's listening out here." I whisper to her, but she shrugs me off, continuing.
"I don't care about whatever you did with the skin samples you took from the sinoceratops!"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"What skin samples?"
"What we're you doing in Dr. Wu's lab?" We all question at once.
Pinky begins to walk forwards and Sammy backs up. I follow in her steps.
"I don't even care that you stole it now. All I wanna do it call for help!" Her voice begins to break.
My hand lands on her shoulder, "Pinky.."
"Where is it?!"
Sammy begins to stutter, a loss for words.
"I don't know what you're talkin' about!" She begins to walk around us, circling back to her original spot.
"Skin samples? Sneaking into labs? You made up some crazy thing in your own dang head!"
"Sammy, she wouldn't have just made this up!" I spoke up, having my suspicions Sammy is lying. I heard Pinky talking to someone out in the hallway, it couldn't have be a worker.
Yaz became irritated, "Hey, back off. Not everything revolves around you and your phone! It isn't Sammy's fault you lost it!" She points at her, getting in Pinky's face.
I step closer to Brooklynn.
"Yaz, she just wants to call for help!"
Ben started to intervene, "Would you guys please keep it down?! There's a big-"
"A big, scary dinosaur? Of course there's a big, scary dinosaurs. There's always a big, scary dinosaur!" Kenji talked back, getting in Ben's face.
I nudged him away from Ben, "Hey, man! Don't talk to him like that!"
"And you're always a big-mouthed jerk!" Ben says back towards Kenji.
"Give it back!"
"Back off!" Yasmina and Brooklynn argue in the background.
Kenji walked closer again, "Yeah? Well, at least I don't play with crayons!"
I shoved him backwards again, making him stagger.
"What did I just say?!"
"You stay out of this!" He fights back with me, pushing me like I had to him.
"What is your problem with me? I'm trying to get us, all of us, out of this mess!"
"I didn't lie to you about it!"
"Just stop!" The girls argue behind me.
I snarl towards Kenji and tackle him to the ground, holding him down. "You don't tell me what to do! Don't pick on my brother like that, asshole!"
He fights me for a second before flipping us over, pinning me to the ground, "Well, I can say the same to you." he mutters.
We wrestle on the ground for a while. I felt hands on me and I'm suddenly pulled off of Kenji.
"Enough, Y/N!" My brother yells.
Kenji and I both stand up, breathing heavily and staring at each other. He looks away from me and I look to the ground.
"No one is getting out of here!" Ben starts, getting everyone's attention.
"We just saw people get eaten! We're alone, we're defenseless." He falls to the ground, pulling his legs to his chest.
"We're dead."
I mutter profanities under my breath, putting my hands in my pockets.
'This cannot be happening'
I give myself a second to catch my breath before glancing at everyone.
I look to Pinky.
She has her head in her hands and she's shuffling her feet. She stressed.
I look to Yasmina.
She's muttering to herself while walking around aimlessly. She's frustrated.
I look to Sammy.
She staring at the ground, fiddling with her pocket. She's nervous.
I look to Kenji.
He has his hands on his head and his eyes are screwed shut. He's scared.
I look to Ben.
He has his arms wrapped around his legs and his head tucked in between them. He's given up.
I look to Darius.
He's staring at us deep in thought, like he's trying to remember something. He has hope.
'Are we really dead?'
"We're not giving up!" Darius spoke up. I smile.
'I knew it'
"I get it. It's scary. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Things aren't always gonna go your way."
Everyone looks at him with anticipation.
"Life is messy and sometimes... things fall apart." He grins at us.
"But that's okay because when that happens, we pick up the pieces and keep going. And we never give up."
He ends his speech, all of us surrounding him.
I smile at him and wrap my arm around his shoulders, bringing him into small side hug.
"What about your necklace?" Pinky asks, crossing her arms.
"It's not important. I've got the memories right here." he puts his hand on his heart.
I squeeze him gently, putting 2 and 2 together about what that necklace meant to him.
"What are we supposed to do?" Yasmina asked him.
Darius walks out of my embrace, to stand in front of us, "Get south to the park. Get help. And the only way we'll make it is if we do it together. We're a team or we're nothing at all."
I nod at his words, before glancing over at Kenji.
'Man, I really don't wanna work with that douche' I think as he looks at me, furrowing his eyebrows.
I give him the same look back but advert my eyes to Ben, "Or, you know, we don't go back into the jungle." Ben says meekly.
Kenji starts to move, putting his arm in front of Ben and moving him out of the way. He's going to make my blood boil all over again.
"You can wait for the negligent babysitters, but I'm with Darius." He says.
"Wait, really?"
"Dude, there's no way I survived a dinosaur attack-"
He's cut off as a plank of wood suddenly fell from the sky, almost right on top of Kenji, "...just to be taken out by cheap camp debris. Kenji ain't going' out like that."
He pauses and starts to walk away with Darius.
"We're going south. The rest of you coming or what?"
It's quiet for a moment before I sigh, "You know, I really don't want to say this, but Y/N ain't goin' out like that either."
I follow behind the boys, walking on the other side of Darius.
The Doof in Blue looks at me, giving a small smile. I give one back.
"I'm in." Pinky states, jogging to catch up with us.
"We're in, too." Yasmina announces, wrapping her arm around Sammy, beginning to follow us.
"Um, but guys?"
I glance behind me to see Ben still standing there.
"Let's go, Ben!" I yell out to him. He visibly sighs and starts to follow us, muttering something while doing so.
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