Chapter Six: IF SINO SANDWICH, WHY NOT EDIBLE?
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"Yes!"
"This is going to be so much fun!"
"Oh, man, I'm driving!"
"We get to drive gyrospheres?" Darius asked, smiling widely.
The jeep had stopped in a large grass field next to three gyrospheres. The sky was filled with grey clouds, but Dave reassured everyone the storm had passed them. Eva jumped off the end of the truck bed, pulling her jean jacket closer around her body.
"Saddle up, dudes and dudettes," Dave said, clipboard back in hand as he slapped the front of one of the gyrospheres. "We're going on a cattle drive, but with dinosaurs! It's a dino drive!"
Roxie handed out earpieces to each of the campers.
Eva looked around at all the gyrospheres, noting that one of them had three seats. She took it upon herself to jump in the middle, back seat of the slightly bigger three seater, in hopes that the two people she ended up with would be fun to hang out with. Something about sitting in a two seater with just one other person sounded so unbelievably awkward to her, she wanted nothing to do with it.
The seat to her left shifted, and she gave a small wave to Yasmina as she climbed into the gyrosphere.
Okay... so one of the teens she was stuck with in the gyrosphere was the Track Star. Yeah, Yasmina genuinely scared Eva. She seemed nice, but she also appeared quite hardcore about track, which wasn't something Eva could entirely get behind. She participated in cross country in the off season of her sport, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it. But Yasmina? Man, she was serious about running as a sport— what Eva considered punishment in her sport was fun to Yasmina.
"This is gonna be so sick," Yasmina said.
The gyrosphere creaked slightly again as the other side's door opened smoothly, revealing Sammy.
"Right?"
Oh god.
No problems with Sammy, but at times she was a bit... much. Like, she was a lot— and nothing like Eva's friends at Rutherford. But maybe people in Texas are really that much more friendly than those in New York.
"Now we're in a shell together," She continued. "A shell for three. Glad we got you too, Eva."
"Yay..." Yasmina said. Eva felt the same.
"Everyone!" Dave yelled, "Seat belts at all times!"
She watched him quietly talk to Darius in front of their gyrosphere. Whatever he said, Darius ended up looking dejected, slowly stalking over to the gyrosphere beside Eva's, which Brooklynn was sitting in.
"Alrighty campers!" Dave said into their earpieces as the jeep pulled forward, in front of the gyrospheres.
"The headsets are for emergencies," Roxie said. "You can always reach us on channel six!"
"Let the herding begin!"
Yasmina, hand on the joystick, shot their gyrosphere forward.
Jimmy Fallon's voice became an oddly soothing background noise as their gyrosphere raced alongside the dinosaurs. Yasmina led them next to a brachiosaurus, its footfalls rumbling the ground. Eva's gaze fell on two parasaurolophuses that were matching the gyrospheres speed. She grinned, her eyes glossed in amazement, her mouth slightly ajar.
"What's your favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite color of food?"
Eva looked away from the parasaurolophuses to Sammy.
"Orange, orange, and orange," Yasmina responded curtly.
"Ooh!, jokes, I love jokes! What about you, Eva?"
"Uhhh..." Crap, Eva was blanking, why was she blanking? How has not a single thought entered her head? "Um, dark blue, cheese... and red?" Wait, what was the question?
Sammy nodded enthusiastically. "What do you and your friends do for fun?"
The gyrosphere went quiet, neither Yasmina or Eva answered the question.
"I train... alone... quietly."
"Kai and I mostly just study and listen to music?" Eva blurted from the back.
"Really? Dang! I'm used to people all around twenty four seven. My sisters, Daddy, Mama, Abuela, the cattle."
Eva leaned forward, addressing Sammy. "Is your family really that big? Or do you have workers on your ranch, too?" She genuinely wondered how many people worked on the ranch, if they were supplying all the food at the park. Like, what would you do if you wanted to be alone from time to time? Well, according to Sammy the night previous, she simply didn't feel that.
"Mostly family, but the Morenos are basically family too! Oh my gosh, I wish you could see the ranch, Eva! Something tells me you would love it!"
"This is my first time leaving New York," She admitted, suddenly nervous. She turned her eyes to the herd around them, specifically a very cute sinoceratops that was running alongside them. "I'd never even gotten on a plane before coming here."
The sky began to darken as their gyropshere faded into silence. Thunder rolled in the distance, and the clouds above them turned dark grey, threatening to spill their rain.
The jeep pulled in front of them, stopping all three gyrospheres. The sides popped open, everyone climbing out. Eva joined, though her foot caught on Yasmina's seat, and she tumbled into the grass. Roxie peered over the top of the jeep, while the others stared at her. "I want to be down here," she said, her voice uneven. Eva cleared her throat, crossed her legs, and propped her head in her hands. She looked at Dave expectantly.
He stared at her a moment longer before clearing his throat. "All right, gang, new plan. Storm's getting worse, so we're all going back to camp! Fun, right?"
Eva pouted as she stood and dusted off her ass, which was slightly damp from the last time it rained.
"Awe, man!"
"Are you serious?" Darius complained.
"Don't blame me, blame the storm."
"I blame them both," Roxie said, back inside the car again.
"We're not gonna let a little rain stop us, are we?" Darius continued, clearly trying to barter. "When else will we get the chance to ride alongside a herd of dinosaurs?"
Dave shook his head. "Sorry, can't risk it."
"But Dave, I'm sure under you and Roxie's capable leadership, we'll—"
"This is not up for discussion," Roxie said firmly. She then began trying to speak into her hand held radio.
"Okay, new new plan, storm's interfering with the radio, so Rox and I will drive ahead and tell the others we're pulling out. We'll be right back. Stay together, and stay behind the herd."
Roxie and Dave drove off.
Eva climbed back into the three seater and propped her legs up on the console in front of her. Sammy and Yasmina climbed in after her.
Lightning struck not too far away from the gyrospheres, Eva jumping at the crack of thunder that came with it.
Suddenly, Darius and Brooklynn's gyrosphere flew past them, heading after a sinoceratops that was heading away from the herd.
Eva clicked on her headpiece as Sammy asked, "Wait, are you guys going after her? I really don't think that's a good idea. I've seen cattle spook before, and I—"
"Uh-huh, let's go!" Yaz swatted Eva's feet away, and as soon as they were clear, she moved their gyrosphere forward after the other.
Eva noticed Kenji driving his and Ben's gyrosphere, coming up behind them.
"Um, let's just everyone settle down a bit," Sammy suggested. "We don't want to get too close, or—"
Kenji's gyrosphere swerved in front of them, nearly making contact.
"Watch it, Ben!"
"It wasn't me!" Ben shouted. "You're gonna get us both killed!"
"With you driving, we'll die of boredom!" Kenji responded.
Eva snickered as their gyrosphere began swerving before pulling out of view on the left.
Darius spoke up, "Someone flank her on the other side and we can lead her back to the herd!"
"Wait, you'll scare her!"
"Um, guys, I think we should listen to Sammy," Eva tried, "She knows cattle like the back of her hand."
Sammy shot Eva a thankful smile before turning back to the front.
"Let the big dogs handle this, Cowgirl!" Kenji shouted as his gyrosphere came back in front of them, cutting the girls off. They fell on the sinoceratops' other side, Kenji shouting, "Sino sandwich, baby! Woo!"
"I'll cut her off," Darius said. "It'll be fine, Sammy."
"Well, I tried," Eva muttered, leaning back into her seat.
"No, he's gonna make her bolt! This isn't the way to do this! We gotta calm her down!"
Darius' gyrosphere slid in front of the sinoceratops. She bellowed and spun around, running back to the herd.
"Listen up, y'all. We gotta get her before she goes and spooks the whole herd. Stay to the outside or—"
"We've got this!" Kenji whooped.
Sammy looked back to Eva as Yasmina drove them forward, following the others.
Eva raised her hands in surrender. "Don't look at me! It's not my fault the only one that agrees with you is in the same bubble!"
"Relax," Yasmina told them. "Darius knows dinosaurs."
Ahead in the herd, Darius and Brooklynn's gyrosphere slammed into a dinosaur, and it soon turned into a pinball machine, with their gyrosphere spinning and being thrown around between dinosaurs. Yasmina drove expertly through the herd, easily avoiding tails and limbs.
They entered the jungle, the herd now behind them.
"Low branch coming right at us!" Sammy shouted.
"I see it! Let me concentrate!"
Thunder clapped as Yasmina swerved around the branch.
A loud noise, like a gunshot, burst through the air. A second later, a large tree fell in front of their gyrosphere, cutting them off. As Yasmina backed up, Eva realized there was another fallen tree behind them.
"Fuck."