Chapter Thirteen: Yasmina is a Certified Badass
~~~
The campers continued to paddle, the cool cave air nipping at their skin, the spray of cold water cooling them down.
Eva admired the view of the underground cave, lost in thought as Darius and Sammy drove their kayak forward. Her eyesight eventually landed on the back of Kenji's head, far forward at the front of the group.
She just could not believe he was here, and she had not ripped his head off yet. It was for the best, though. Despite her absolute resentment and displeasure for him, once upon a time, he was one of her closest friends, and though she hated him a million now, she still would never wish an escaped hybrid dinosaur on him at all.
Sammy looked around panickedly. "Y'all, should the algae be moving?"
Eva jumped at the sound of Sammy's voice, her eyes following to see two glowing parasaurolophuses. She gasped as she leaned forward carefully. They were munching on algae on the shoreside, not even bothering to look up at the campers. They glowed an orangey-pink, with little splotches of deep blue. They were breathtaking.
"Don't worry guys," Eva breathed with a smile. "They're herbivores."
Parasaurolophuses right there, in the flesh!
Darius gasped, "Unbelievable! Dr. Wu must have put the bioluminescent gene into these parasaurolophuses."
"They're so pretty." Eva fawned over them.
The parasaurolophuses finally noticed them, bellowing softly. Eva grinned.
Two more parasaurolophuses appeared on the other side of the cave. They entered the water, reappearing beside the kayaks. Eva reached out her hand, petting the boxy head of one of the dinosaurs. It sniffed at her before pulling back. More parasaurolophuses emerged from the depths, some glowing white rather than pink.
Suddenly, a parasaurolophus pushed Eva's kayak into the CKK. Eva wobbled, grasping Sammy's shoulders to steady herself. The dinosaurs kept pushing in, engulfing the three kayaks on all sides. Eva pressed her hand against one of the dinosaur's chest in a feeble attempt to push it away.
The parasaurolophus of which Eva's hands were pressed against, perked its head into the air. The others followed suit. Eva could barely hear the sound of rushing water. The dinosaurs roared before delving back into the water, heading back the way they came.
Eva sighed in relief, but she wondered, What scared the parasaurolophuses?
"Uh, cool kids to nerds, where are you?" Kenji asked.
"Over here!" Darius answered. "I think something scared the parasaurolophuses."
"Darius, if we stopped paddling, why are we still moving forward?" Sammy asked, her words coated with worry.
Darius yelped, "Paddle! There's a current pulling us into a different tunnel!"
Their paddling ineffective, the water turned to rapids, dropping their kayak down a small waterfall. Eva squealed as they dropped, hands flying to the air, cackling in laughter as the water took control of their kayak. The light disappeared, engulfing them in darkness. She erupted in a fit of giggles, steadying herself every few seconds on Sammy's shoulders.
Eventually, their kayaks bursted out of a tunnel and into a lagoon.
Eva continued to laugh as she pulled her arm off Sammy and sat back.
Kenji gasped loudly, catching her attention.
She chuckled once more, eyes stuck on Kenji. He held his paddle close to his chest, his fingers fidgeting, tapping the long shaft.
"Why'd you gasp?" Ben questioned. "It didn't sound like a good gasp!"
Kenji answered, his voice wavering, "'Cause I know exactly where we are, guys. We're in the Jurassic World Lagoon." Kenji's voice dropped to a whisper, and Eva had to strain her ears to hear, "And so is the Mosasaurus."
"I assume the Mosasaurus is some kind of giant fish dinosaur that's gonna try and eat us."
"Damn it, why couldn't they have created something like the Triassic kraken or a megalodon?" Eva immediately shook her head. "I retract that last statement, cause I don't fuck with sharks."
A low growling emitted from across the lagoon, and the Mosasaurus made its first appearance, its dorsal fin emerging just above the water before dipping back down. The Mosasaurus began circling them.
"It's circling, testing us," Brooklynn whispered. "It's acting like a shark."
"Oh, god damn it."
"We're intruders in its domain, so it's investigating us. Before it gets confident, decides to... to..."
The mosasaurus snarled, its cry echoing throughout the lagoon.
"This is bad."
"We have to get out, now!"
"There's a ladder by the spectator stands," Darius pointed.
"How are we gonna—"
"Y'all!"
"Paddle! Go, go, go!"
"This is not how Kenji wanted to go out!"
"This isn't on my to-do list either!" Yaz cried.
Sammy screamed, her frantic paddling nearly drenching Eva in water. She felt so useless. By now, the CKK had reached the ladder, and Ben and Yasmina were halfway to it. Eva reached out her right hand, "Give me the paddle, Darius!"
"What? But—"
"Paddle!" She demanded, her face flushed red.
The paddle shakily entered her hand, and in a second it was Eva's turn to pitch in to save herself. The mosasaurus circled their kayak as Eva thrust her paddle into the water.
The kayak quirked right, moving with Eva's paddling.
"Why is the—"
"Paddle harder!" Eva snapped. She moved to the left side to straighten them out, then back to the right.
"Don't look back, guys!" Darius encouraged. "Just keep paddling!"
"I'm trying! What's Yaz doing?"
Bang. Bang. Bang. "Hey! Hey! Over here! Heyy!" Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. "Over here! Here! Here! Yes! Here!"
"She's distracting it, buying us time."
"Keep going!"
Eva, Darius, and Sammy finally reached the spectator stands. Eva was the first off, steadying the boat for Darius and Sammy. She gave Sammy a hand up as Darius clambered onto the platform beside them.
Yasmina was still stuck on the pole that connected the line to the spectator stands—the line that fed the Mosasaurus.
"We gotta do something!" Sammy panicked.
They hurriedly climbed the ladder. Reaching the top, Kenji shouted,
"Grab the chain!"
They watched as Yasmina jumped off the small platform she was on, hands wrapping around the feeding chain. Kenji was standing at the controls, bringing the chain back to their side. Yaz climbed the chain like you would in a phys ed class on the rope.
"Come on, Yaz!"
"Come on, come on!"
They shouted encouraging words.
The chain shorted as far up as it could go, but still, it didn't seem far enough up. Yasmina began swinging back and forth, as if she was going to jump the rest of the way. The mosasaurus circled the feeding chain, its dark body moving vividly throughout the blue-green water.
"Oh no, she's not gonna make it."
The mosasaurus sprung from the water, its jaws open wide, clamping down on the line, a mere few feet away from Yasmina. The line snapped, and Yasmina screamed. The ACU tablet that was tucked under her life vest fell out and into the deep water. The mosasaurus fell with a large splash.
The end of the chain clanged against the fence around the lagoon and Yasmina flew off. She landed rough, her ankle popping as she collided with the ground.
"Yasmina!" Sammy was the first to her side.
Eva approached slowly, calculatingly.
"I'm okay..." She touched her ankle, hand pulled back, grimacing. "I think."
"Uh, also, where'd everyone go?" Ben questioned.
Eva looked around. The spectator stands were completely deserted.
"Evacuation procedures have to be in effect, right?" Eva guessed.
"So, what do we do?"
~~~
Nothing. The answer was nothing.
Eva had collapsed on a bench, legs kicked up, hoodie pulled over her eyes to give the allure that she was asleep. But how could she sleep in a time like this? The main park had already been evacuated. They were still completely alone.
Everyone else had migrated around the section of the stands Eva was in. She peeped Kenji and Darius talking in the upper lefthand corner. Ben was cradling Bumpy a few rows down. Brooklynn was standing at the top, alone. Her eyes were wide and glossy, and she was hugging herself.
"Wednesdays are k-k-kids eat free days h-here at Jurassic World!" An automated voice echoed through the stands.
Eva heard footsteps walk past her, and then a voice.
"Thank you, for saving us, for saving me," Sammy said. "That was amazing. You're amazing."
Was she speaking to Yaz?
And then almost coincidentally, Yasmina spoke up. "Stop." Eva could hear her grunting. "We may need each other to stay alive, but don't for a second think that makes us friends again. Because we're not, and we will never be." Yasmina's grunts of pain slowly faded out— she had to have been walking away from Sammy.
Eva pitied her— well, both of them. One girl with trust issues and the other who was just trying to save her family. Gosh, they sounded like the start of one of those queer books Kai would always read.
"You okay?"
Eva zoned back in, ears pulling in Brookylnn's soft voice.
"Nah," Sammy answered her. "Not really."
"Yeah, dumb question." A beat of silence passed. "I don't know her that well, but I think if you give Yaz some space, she'll come around. Maybe? I don't know, I'm gonna be honest— IRL friendships aren't really my thing, but, uh... sounds right, yeah?"
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because Kenji is right."
Eva furrowed her eyebrows as she opened her eyes. She lifted her head and stared down at Brooklynn. Kenji? Right about something meaningful? What the hell happened on the CKK?
"Ugh, that feels so wrong to say," Brooklynn admitted. "Never, ever repeat that. Ugh, gross." Brooklynn sighed. Eva laid back down and flicked her hood up, closing her eyes. "Listen, I've done my share of selfish things. I only knew what you were up to because I was also sneaking in places I shouldn't. You were at least doing it for family. I was doing it to impress a bunch of angry internet randos. Plus, when we get out of here, you're gonna give me the exclusive on all the juicy details of you spying for Mantah Corp! 'Brooklynn Unboxes a Conspiracy'. Pow, pow! Try to tell me my videos are lame after that, angry internet randos!"
Sammy giggled.
"So... deal?"
"Deal."
The space grew quiet after their conversation ended. Eva enjoyed the sun on her face as she settled back into the bench she was lying on.
Then, an alarm cut through the silence, blaringly loud. Eva groaned, her eyes scrunched shut. She was not moving. Her head still ached, and her stomach growled. Not to mention she was tired from all the constant running.
Yeah, she would lay there. What did it matter, anyway? They were so close to not escaping the island, what are the chances they actually did?
A male voice came over the intercom, "Attention, all park-goers must report to the South Ferry Dock for immediate evacuation. Last ferry departs in two hours."
Eva's eyes sprung open, but she still didn't move. Two hours? That's all they got? Was it even possible to get to the south ferry docks in two hours?
Eva turned back to listening to the others. They were slightly further away now, at the bottom of the spectator stands.
"—be way more worried about Ben and Bumpy."
Ben spoke next, "What we should all be worried about is catching a boat out of here and, naturally, we have a problem. We're here. The docks are on the southern tip of the island. Even if we ran at peak Yaz speed, there's no way we'd make the last boat out."
"You don't know that," Sammy said.
Ben scoffed, "Yes, I do. I memorized the evacuation plan on the ferry ride over."
The campers groaned.
The air was silent for several moments, until Eva heard Darius say, "Is she asleep?"
"She's not," Brooklynn said. "Get your ass over here, Eva! We're trying to figure out how to get to the docks."
"Ahh, fuck off," Eva groaned. She turned on her side, coughing.
"Do you want us to leave your primped ass behind? Stand up and walk over here or so help me I will toss you back into the lagoon with the Mosasaurus!"
Rolling her eyes as she stood, Eva stuffed her hands into her pockets as she approached the group. "You're so tiny, you wouldn't be able to toss me in, anyway." Eva yawned. "Okay, what are we doing?"
"We just, need another way to get to the docks. Can we use those somehow?—" Darius pointed at the kayaks. "Or send someone to tell the ferry people to wait? Or..."
"Or make a few jetpacks real quick? Oh! We should befriend a unicorn!" Brooklynn sassed. "Face it, it's hopeless."
"I got off my bench for this?"
An automated voice sounded from somewhere nearby, "We will be arriving at Main Street— your destination for fine dining and shopping at Jurassic World!"
The campers approached the edge of the lagoon, staring out across the water. A four car monorail came into view.
"Followed by stops at Jurassic World Lagoon and the South Ferry Dock."
"Monorail, what-what!"
Brooklynn smiled, "Mm, nicely played, Universe."
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I was so focused on outlining a new fic idea I had for another fandom that's so far out of my comfort zone I got distracted and didn't update until it was almost too late, so thank you for being patient xxx <3
ALSO we hit a 100 reads!! Thank you guys so much!!! I hope y'all are all enjoying :)