Chapter Four: Freedom Is A Place on Earth: And That's Camp Cretaceous
~~~
It took another half hour of heavy jungle across a dirt road to reach Camp Cretaceous. Two stone towers stuck twenty feet into the air on either side of the road. In the middle, a double wood door was shut, the Camp Cretaeceous logo printed in large letters on the worn wood. Metal bars jutted in either direction from the stone towers, effectively fencing off Camp Cretaceous from the rest of the island.
Eva's eyes lit up— all of her worries of Kenji gone past, and all that was left was her amazement for the island.
"Welcome, to Camp Cretaceous," Dave announced as they drove through.
They pulled into a large clearing, the trees surrounding them stood hundreds of feet tall, with thick trunks and an even thicker canopy. The jeep parked in between two large islands of flora. Eva stood cautiously, gazing upwards. Their camp was fitted into the treetops as one massive tree house. Vines wrapped around the tree trunks and clung to the underside of the structure. A modernized, silver elevator was connected to the trunk of the main tree, running to the largest part of the tree house. Bridges branched off to other trees.
Something about the way the light fell into her skin, or maybe the smell of the air—sweet and tropical, like mangoes, something made her overjoyed for the wonders of Camp Cretaceous. She had never breathed air so fresh, or felt the sun the way she was feeling it now. There weren't enough words in the dictionary to describe the ecstatic feeling she was on— like being on cloud nine, a greater sense of euphoria running through her veins.
Eva's lips quirked into a frown when she noticed Brooklynn, however, camera up, focusing in on Yasmina. The latter, of which, looked to hate the attention she was receiving.
Eva sucked on her lip as she crossed the parking lot to the two girls. She clapped her hands together, butting in between Yasmina and Brooklynn's camera. "Hey, Brooklynn! So, I'm getting the feeling Yasmina doesn't really want to be on camera, but you lucked out, because I don't mind." She offered a smile, as if to say, back off, in the nicest way possible.
"Okay, Evangeline—"
"Uh, it's Eva," She corrected, cringing at the use of her full name. Yasmina slipped past the two, headed for the elevator.
"Okay, cool, I can roll with that. So..." Brooklynn spoke slowly, "How's the jungle, compared to the city? You're pretty far from... prep school, aren't you?"
Eva nodded, surprised Brooklynn got it all right, right off the bat. She opened her mouth, nothing but air escaping. "It's... really really pretty here. And! The dinosaurs, can't forget those," She laughed nervously. "I'm hoping to see some parasaurolophuseseses." She cleared her throat. "Those are my favorite," Eva grinned.
Brooklynn nodded, lowering the phone. "Thanks, Eva."
Eva gave her two thumbs up before heading in the direction of the others. Roxie and Dave were moving all the luggage near the elevator. As Eva stopped a few feet from the steps, Dave gathered everyone around. "Announcement time from your co-head counselors."
Roxie whispered something to him that had him frowning. She turned to the campers happily. "Okay, everyone, there's some ground rules to cover. Curfew's at eight p.m., and lights out at nine p.m. sharp."
Everyone (besides Ben) noted their annoyance with the early bedtime.
"This is for your safety," Roxie continued. "We are in a dinosaur-filled jungle. You must always keep your distance, or you could be seriously hurt, if not worse."
Dave pointed to the sky, "Cabins are up that-a-way."
"First one there gets top bunk!" Yasmina shouted.
Eva's eyes widened, and she quickly jumped into a sprint to reach the elevator. Her left hand wrapped around the handle of her bag and her right around the grab handle of her backpack in one swift movement, and she ran into the elevator after Yasmina, the others following suit, albeit slower. It was only when the elevator doors closed, everyone squished together, that she noticed Darius was missing.
The elevator stopped at the top twenty seconds later, and everyone spilled out into the hallway. Eva took a turn down the right hallway, passing a kitchen before appearing outside a door marked GIRLS.
She pushed the door open with her shoulder, surprised to find the room empty. She double checked she was in fact in the girls' dormitory, then pulled her bag over, heaving it onto the top bunk of the closest bunk bed. She climbed the small ladder on the end, heaving a breath as she collapsed backwards, her head colliding with a soft pillow.
Her flight may have only been five hours, but tacked with the six hour ferry, she was exhausted. Her eyelids fluttered shut, the sound of her own heart lulling her to sleep when the door burst open with a bang. Eva groaned as she turned on her side, slowly sitting up to see a panting Sammy enter the room. Brooklynn and Yasmina were close behind her. Sammy caught Eva's eyes, then lit up when she noticed the dozen bunk beds in the room.
Sammy dragged her suitcase to the bed directly next to Eva's. Yasmina took the one across from the girls. Brooklynn looked at all the bunk beds before dropping her bag on the ground under Eva's bunk. "Too.. far," She panted. Brooklynn looked up at Eva, "Bunk mates?"
"Sure," Eva grinned.
Brooklynn collapsed on the bed below her.
~~~
About an hour later, Yaz reentered the dorm room, talking about rounding up the girls. Eva was sitting beside Brooklynn on the bottom bunk, the latter of which was showing her pictures from her trip to Machu Picchu. They were surrounded by their half unpacked bags. Sammy was beside them, setting up a framed photo of a cow onto the small nightstand between their two bunk beds— Bessie, she had told the pair, flushed, right before Yasmina entered.
The girls excitedly followed Yasmina from the room and to the elevator, where Roxie was waiting. Outside, they met up with the boys and Dave, and started their trek into the jungle. Along the way, Roxie explained that their first adventure of the trip was hiking up the observation tower to watch migrating dinosaurs.
Darius hadn't stopped talking about dinosaurs the minute Roxie dropped the news. Eva listened amused. There was one clear thing Eva had learned about Darius. That kid knew everything there was to know about dinosaurs, and then some. Eva attended a lecture about dinosaurs at her school two months ago, and she didn't remember a freckle of information, but Darius? He knew enough to put some paleontologists out of a job.
They reached the top of the observation tower, after climbing seven sets of stairs, and were watching tons of herbivore dinosaurs cross the path below them. Eva hugged the railing between Brooklynn and Darius, watching with intent as little parasaurolophuses scurried past. It wasn't as close as she would've liked, but it was still amazing to watch nevertheless.
The sun had by now started to dip below the ocean horizon, casting everything in a golden glow. She appreciated the warmth on her skin, and the way the water glistened like a million diamonds. The sights she was seeing were more than anything she could ever ask for. The dinosaurs were just a cherry on top.
"There's Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus!" Darius named excitedly.
Eva smiled at the kid beside her— for some reason, his excitement was making her insides turn all gooey.
"Wow, you really do know your stuff, Dino Nerd," Brooklynn said.
"Check out the... Brontosaurus," Kenji said, pointing to one of the long-necked dinosaurs.
"They don't have those here," Darius corrected. "Common mistake."
Eva snickered, earning a glare from Kenji.
Darius gasped, "Are those Sinoceratops?! When did you get those?"
"They are cooking up all kinds of new dinos in that lab," Dave answered from behind Eva.
"Wow! Where are they herding them to?" Sammy asked as she pointed to workers on quads riding alongside the herd.
"They're herding them back to their nighttime enclosures," Roxie said.
"Enough banter!" Dave yelled. He led the eager teens to the other side of the observation tower. "It's zip line party time!"
"Me?" Ben asked as Dave pulled the boy over and had him step into a harness. Dave slipped it up over his shoulders and began buckling it, before connecting it to a carabiner, and then to the trolley on the zipline. "M-maybe Yasmina should go first. Or Darius? I don't really—"
Ben screamed as Dave pushed him off the tower.
Yasmina pushed to the front, the next to go down the zipline.
Eva was fourth after Brooklynn. Her hands outstretched, cutting through the wind. She wondered if this was what freedom felt like, soaring through the air, the warm breeze splashing over her like a swim in her heated pool. But her grandparents weren't here to mutter obscene things about how she carried herself, or how a woman shouldn't play on a boys lacrosse team. She didn't have to deal with them, or the Rutherford faculty always keeping a close eye on her. For once, she could enjoy herself without the prying eyes of her elders.
On the other side of the zipline, a Jurassic World worker unhooked their harnesses and kept careful watch of them. About ten minutes passed before Dave and Roxie climbed the staircase. They thanked the worker, then herded the campers back to Camp Cretaceous.
As night fell, dinner of cheeseburgers, hotdogs and bratwursts were served. Eva easily devoured three plates of food before turning in for the night. She was definitely tired, though she hoped she was tired enough to fall asleep without any background noise.
It was no secret to Kai, nor her grandparents, that she had to fall asleep with some type of white or brown noise to put her out. Eva was wringing her hands, pacing the girls dormitory as she tried to figure out how to sleep without something going on in the background.
The door bumped open to reveal Yasmina, a stern look on her face and her toothbrush in her mouth. She had changed into black pajama shorts and a worn, grey Wizards of Waverly Place t-shirt.
Eva froze in place, eyes falling on the brunette as hers fell on the blonde. They both looked away, backing into their own little worlds. Eva slid out the door, searching the camp house for the patio that led to the skywalks. After walking around aimlessly, she finally found one. Half way down the skywalk, she took a seat, letting her socked feet dangle over the edge, arms folded atop the mid railing. The sun had already set, and the night was dark, starless.
She shivered slightly in her hoodie as she rested her head on her hands.
Even though the night sky was obscured by clouds, Eva found the scene around her stunning. Trees so tall they reached the sky, and a perfect little home settled into the trees. It was peaceful. There was no one watching her, waiting for her to mess up. She almost wanted to stay here on Isla Nublar, where freedom beckoned her closer. So what if there were dinosaurs? They were caged up, and didn't pose a threat to her. She could get a job in the park, see the sun set every night and the sun rise every morning, and she— no. She was getting ahead of herself.
Eva stood, brushing off her bottom, and headed back inside. She had only been on the island for six hours. She had tasted freedom, but she couldn't get ahead of herself. For all she knew, the following two weeks would be more dreadful than she dreamed.
She grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen then slipped into the girls' dormitory under the cover of darkness. She would deal with her messy feelings in the morning, when she wasn't sleep deprived.
~~~
"Eva!" Brooklynn whisper-shouted as the dorm room so ungracefully opened with a bang. Eva jumped, peering over the edge of her bunk.
She had yet to fall asleep, and had been staring at the ceiling for a while now. She watched Brooklynn leave over an hour earlier (according to her watch) and while she was curious where the pink haired girl went, she also was too tired to follow after.
"Yes?"
"You would not believe what just happened." Brooklynn shut the door, then took a seat on her bed, looking up to Eva.
Eva could just see her through the dark, thanks to the moonlight streaming in behind them. Brooklynn looked breathless, her chest rising and falling sporadically. Her hair stuck to her forehead like it was doused in sweat.
"Oh my god, shut up," Yasmina groaned, voice muffled from her pillow.
"But guys! Kenji and Darius almost died!"
Sammy sat up quickly. "Ooh, spill the tea!"
"Wait, how?" Yasmina asked, also sitting up.
Brooklynn excitedly gripped the pole of her bed as she told the girls about visiting the velociraptor pen whilst believing it originally to be the compy pen, of Kenji dropping Brooklynn's phone into the pen, and about climbing down to get it. She talked about how Darius heroically jumped into the pen to distract the velociraptor's off of Kenji, and how Dave saved the day.
"I just got a warning." She finished, "But it sounded like the boys were going to be in some serious trouble."
"Like getting sent home, trouble?"
Brooklynn shrugged. "Roxie seemed super mad. I wouldn't put it past her."
"That sucks..." For Darius.
"Okay, can we go to sleep now?" Yasmina asked. She fell into her bed gracefully and snuggled into her sheets to prove a point.
"Yeah, I'm hella tired," Sammy added with a yawn.
Eva yawned as well, turning over in her bed. She started on her right, then her stomach, where she stared out the window at the large moon for several minutes. She migrated to her left and curled into a ball. She stretched and cracked her back. She moved to her back, eyes sunk into the ceiling.
"Psst."
Eva lifted her head, seeing both Sammy and Yasmina sound asleep.
"Psst. Hey."
Eva peered over the edge of her bunk to see Brooklynn, one hand on the floor, half out of bed and looking up at her. Her phone was on her chest; a sliver of light illuminating her red shirt.
Eva tilted her head in confusion.
"Can't sleep?"
She shook her head. Whispering, she said, "I usually fall asleep to, like, ambience. Crashing waves is my favorite, but stuff like flickering fires and soft rain just calms my racing mind enough for me to sleep."
Brooklynn gasped lightly. "You should use my phone! I'm sure you could sleep with it."
"Oh, no, that's okay," she shook her head again. "I'll fall asleep eventually."
"No, no, I insist," Brooklynn said, determined. She typed away on her phone until the sound of a youtube ad blared from it. She gasped as she quickly turned down the sound.
The girls giggled.
Fifteen seconds later, the sound of rain hitting a glass window filled Eva's ears. Eva shot the younger an appreciative smile, which Brooklynn reciprocated, before slipping off the sheets and hitting the floor with a thunk.
Eva snickered, hand over her mouth, in a desperate attempt to not wake up Stoic and Bubbly.
"Goodnight, Brooklynn."
"Goodnight Eva."