"We gotta warn the others."
No shit, Sherlock!
"C'mon," I say instead. I pick my bow up again and start running. I'm not even really sure where I'm going...
When I see a familiar round shape in the distance upon joining the Earth once again, I can't help but feel pure and utter joy rush through me.
"You guys got a-" I start, at the same time Brooklyn cries, "I don't think that's where we parked!"
Just then, the ground starts to rumble. My eyes tear away from the gyrosphere just in time to see a heard of panicked dinosaurs coming through the edge of the jungle. Immediate chaos began.
{}{}{}{}
We were running.
He was suddenly there, suddenly, unexpectedly there. Brooklyn and Sammy ran into him and they all fell over, leaving me tripping backward in surprise at his sudden appearance.
"Darius! Oh my gosh!"
I didn't exactly know what to do, so I quietly slipped back behind a tree and watched them all come back to their senses and to their feet.
I can't pay attention to what they're all saying.
Darius.
He looked just like he did when we lost each other.
Except...sadder, in more distress. His shoulders were tense and his eyes were duller than I remember. They're dark, chocolate color was lighter in a hallow kind of way. A way that isn't good, that doesn't give you butterflies in your stomach when you see them. They make your chest hurt and your face soften. They give you a sense of guilt and the need to comfort and hold that person.
I want to do just that.
"We-We found the lab Dr. Wu was using to make the Indominous Rex," Sammy was explaining. "And...other hybrid dinosaurs."
"There's more than one hybrid?"
His voice.
I missed it so much!
"Yes, and- wait. We found something else — or someone else."
That's my queue.
I take a step out. I walk into his view.
And then I'm tackled to the ground.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Blake, it's you, it's really you!"
We're hugging. Hugging and crying and just...laying there.
I'm in his arms. He's in my arms.
Why does this feel so right?
{}{}{}{}
Despite there being rain by the time we reached the treehouse, it didn't deter the feeling of joy that flooded me when I saw it again.
There were a few strange changes made to the base, such as a fence surrounding it that hadn't been there before, but I decided that now wasn't the right time to ask questions. We were more concerned on the oncoming storm, which was getting worse by the second.
"We're here!" I shout, almost forgetting that the rest of the group didn't even know I was back. "What can we do to help?"
Darius had explained briefly about their plan to leave the island as soon as I was found. It definitely wasn't an unwelcome surprise in the least, and in fact kind of sweet that they weren't going to leave until they had me, but with how bad the storm was getting, I wasn't sure we'd be able to get on the boat without falling in the water. Barrels were being rolled and dropped, full of water. Bags were being unloaded from the place also.
But it all stopped as soon as they heard my voice.
"Blake?"
Ben's head poked over the railing of the fort, and, for the second time that day, tears pricked my eyes.
Ben! It's my brother! He's okay. He's safe!
"Holy shit!"
Ben practically ran down the slide to get to ground-level and crash into me. I met him half-way without pause, and held him as if I'd be separated from him again. We were both crying, both whispering words of relief to each other, before the moment was interrupted.
"Hey, Bee, you're back!"
I look up at Kenji. His face is contorted in something resembling guilt and shame, but at the same time a messy attempt to make himself seem his typically smug self.
"I totally knew you were alive! No doubt at all!"
A lie. I didn't call him out, but I knew it was.
Ben pulled me into another hug, then back, looking up at my head.
"Y-Your hair..."
He looked down at my bow.
"You...wh-what is that? Is that a-"
"Bow and arrows that I made all by myself?" I smirk. "Yep. You aren't the only one who can go from weak to jungle-crazy in a matter of days."
I thought he'd punch me for calling him weak, but instead, he frowned.
"You were never-"
"Hey, guys!"
God, I wanted to kill that rich-ass jerk!
"Not to be a bother or ruin anything, but we're kind of in a time pinch right now and need to be hurrying!"
"Right. Okay, sorry. Uh...what can I do to help?"
{}{}{}{}
We were all geared up and ready to go when a familiar track-suited figure came dashing through the gate of the fence. I almost dropped everything and ran to her, but stopped upon seeing her fear.
"Yaz? Why aren't you at the dock?"
"The surf is way too intense to cast off," she explained out of breath. "Boat's already taking on water. No way to leave until the seas calm down."
"Great, so, we're stuck?"
Yaz's head spins at my voice, her eyes widening.
"Holy shit! Blake!"
More hugging. A little more crying. Blah, blah, blah.
"But...we're stuck here with the Scorpius out there!"
Kenji merely shrugged at Sammy's cry.
"Avoiding killer dinos is kinda our thing."
"Not like this one. We've only survived to this long because we know how dinosaurs should act. With the Scorpius Rex on a rampage, all bets are off. Soon...survival will be impossible."
It's clear Darius blames himself, somehow. I don't understand why, or in what way. Maybe something happened while I was gone?
No matter. There were more important things to get to.
"You shouldn't beat yourself up," I tell him. I put down the things in my arms and walk up to him. Gently, I put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think there's anything we could've done."
I could've stayed with Darius and NOT have disappeared on them.
No.
No could've or if.
I need to think about right now.
Darius looks at me for a brief moment and smiles. But then his expression morphs into one of anger and he turns to point at Kenji.
"He could've done what he was told! If he had, we'd all probably be at the boat right about now."
"I didn't do-"
"You said you had everything handled!"
"I didn't anticipate Ben-of-the-jungle just running off!"
"Hey! I didn't ask you to follow me. Besides, whether or not I was here, you could've grabbed more than your bag and hair gel."
Yaz grabs Ben's shoulder, all the while I'm still processing the fact that Ben strayed from the group he was supposedly assigned to.
"Hey, that's not fair. He was worried about you," Yaz tells him.
"Yeah, and I was worried about Blake and Bumpy, so...so I'm sorry I felt the need to go look by myself because you guys wouldn't!"
"Hey, we didn't mean to-"
"Guys!"
Everyone turns to Brooklyn.
"What's more important right now is that we come up with a plan. Sammy, Blake, and I all saw what it was capable of on film. Actually, scratch that, we only saw part of what it was capable of, because it only poisoned Dr. Wu. This thing is...it's different than everything else we've seen. We need to plan."
At Darius' command, everyone starts looking for ways to fortify the fence. I stay back with him, noticing the look of anger he has pointed at Kenji.
"Hey, are you okay?" I ask him. I take a seat next to him on the log he's sitting on and carefully press my hand onto his. A spark of heat flutters through me at the contact, but I keep it hidden.
Darius looks down with a strangled breath.
"I'm just upset at Kenji. I told him to...and I just...ugh, you don't have to be here comforting me, you know. You should be resting, actually."
I shake my head almost immediately.
"No, Dar, I have to help."
"But you've-"
"Survived nineteen days on my own, remember? And Ben survived even longer, yet I haven't seen any of us — even myself — question his strength."
Darius smiles.
"You seem...better."
My cheeks are suddenly warm, but I can't find it in myself to look away from his eyes as I smile back.
"Yeah...I think I am."
And suddenly he's leaning in.
And for some reason I am too.
"I...I really, really missed you," I mutter, just so Darius can here.
"I missed you, too."
I don't know how, but we're suddenly only inches away. His lips are so, so close, and I'm just seconds away from closing the distance. He is too. And then...
Someone clears their throat.
Darius and I's heads span so fast I actually felt dizzy for half a second.
Ben.
He was standing in front of us, arms folded, and eyes narrowed on us. Or, more specifically, on Darius.
My face heats up even further if possible, and I'm quick to slither back from him while he does the same from me.
Ben still eyes Darius, but speaks to both of us.
"You guys gonna come help us or...?"
"Oh, uh, um...yeah! Yeah, yeah! Sorry, coming!"
I hurry up to my feet and avoid Darius' eye.
It doesn't surpass me while walking away. I see the way Ben turns back and glares at the other boy with all of his might before following me. Typical germaphobe Ben was never like that. He wasn't usually that protective. Not in that way.
I spare one last glance back at Darius, who stares back at me.
I smile before walking away.