Chapter Thirty: Eva Loses Control
~~~
"I know it wasn't easy, but you made the right choice, kid. Thanks to you, we'll be done in no time."
Tiff took up the rear, swatting away mosquitos and groaning. "Ugh! We better be! Oh, god. I told you I never wanted kids. Now we have four of them and no guide."
"We don't need a guide, babe! We have Darius. And he is taking us to... drumroll please?"
"The watering hole," he admitted bitterly.
"A one- stop dino-hunting shop! This kid is something. Didn't I tell you this kid is something, babe?"
Sammy coughed, and a moment later, Yasmina collapsed. "Ankle hurts. I need a break."
"Just for a little bit," Sammy pleaded. "She can't keep going this fast."
"Fine! It's exhausting keeping these— ugh! Bugs away!" Tiff swatted the air around her.
It was small, but it was the start to glorious revenge.
"Why are they only attacking me?" she shrieked.
Sammy and Darius helped Yaz to the ground beside a log.
"We can't just go along with this," Yaz said lowly. "We have to do something."
"We only have two choices," Darius said. "Help them and get back to our families, or don't and stay trapped here."
"Or option C," Eva offered.
"There is no option C."
"Um, yes there is. Option C is to fight them, take their guns, and run."
Darius shook his head. "Unless you can gurantee—"
"Have you ever been front kicked in the vagina?"
"I— uh, what—?"
"Because I promise it hurts just as much for girls as it does for boys."
Darius shook his head again. "I don't know, Eva. I promised I'd get everyone back home, no matter what it takes. But—"
"Shhh," Mitch crept up on them, finger to his lips. He stood as something rustled around them. "Babe, you hear that?"
The bushes continued to rustle and heavy footfalls came closer until a large, thirty foot long stegosaurus entered everyone's vision.
Tiff unzipped her gun case and removed her gun. Something about seeing the rifle right in front of her made everything so much more real to Eva. If she could just take the gun from her and run...
"Perfect. Look at those plates," Tiff whispered.
"She's beautiful, isn't she babe? Just stay clear of its thagomizer."
"What?"
Mitch nudged Darius. "The pointy spikes on its tail, eh, bud?"
"Whatever," Tiff quietly snapped. "Just take the shot before it gets away."
"Don't worry—" Mitch pushed Darius to the ground and raised his rifle. "It won't feel a thing."
Mitch lined up the shot, turned the elevation turret, and let his finger curl around the trigger.
Eva, in one of her worse ideas, slid her middle finger and her thumb between her lips and whistled. She made eye contact with Darius, who seemed to have the same idea. Mitch flinched and shot a tree branch off, instead. The stegosaurus trained its gaze on the group and bellowed loudly.
It ran straight for them, and the campers dove one way as Mitch and Tiff dove the opposite direction. The dinosaur roared, swinging its tail at Mitch and Tiff, and missing them by inches. Then it focused its gaze on the campers, who scrambled to their feet and took off.
The stegosaurus ran after them, only getting side tracked when Tiff came into view. The stego swung its tail one last time at the campers, and roared after them, but didn't follow.
The four were free of the stegosaurus and Mitch and Tiff, until the gun bag entered Eva's view. She ducked, and it flew into Sammy, knocking her to the ground.
Tiff grabbed Yaz as Mitch grabbed Darius. Eva looked between Yaz, Darius, and Sammy (who was still on the ground under the gun case) and quickly came up with a plan of action.
"I told you they were trouble!" Tiff snapped.
Mitch steered Darius towards his wife. "Not the time, babe!"
Darius suddenly pushed Tiff to the ground, freeing Yaz. He slipped something in her hand, and that's when she knew it was time to act.
Tiff reached out a hand, tripping Yaz.
"You little..."
Eva darted out of the trees and straight for Tiff. She reeled her foot back, only to plant it in the woman's crotch. She groaned in pain, letting go of Yaz's ankle. Eva moved to her hand, next, and with one smooth stomp, she crushed Tiff's hand under foot. Tiff's screams echoed through the jungle. Sammy emerged next, and tackled Tiff away from the two athletes.
"Go, Yaz!"
Eva turned to face Mitch and Tiff, her eyes flaring as she sized them up. Tiff was screaming bloody murder and struggling beneath Sammy, but Mitch had a tight hold on Darius. She took a step forward, but Yaz's hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her from the scene before she could do anymore damage.
"You brats!" Tiff snarled.
Eva glanced around the scene, her eyes landing on silver and wood. She broke free from Yaz and dashed forward, letting one hand dip down to the earth, wrapping around cold metal. Her eyes snapped to the barrel of the rifle, then to Yaz, who had panic written in her features.
"Go!" Sammy's voice echoed.
Eva took off back towards Yaz, and jumped a fallen tree trunk.
Yasmina pushed Eva in front of her. The sounds of pounding footsteps and heavy breathing filled their ears as they put as much distance between themselves and Mitch and Tiff... and Darius and Sammy, who didn't deserve to be left behind.
"Stop, stop, I need to breathe," Eva choked. She bent over, hands to her knees, and tried to steady her breathing. The gun fell to the ground in front of her.
"We need to keep going," Yasmina encouraged. "We have to find Kenji and Brooklynn."
"Why did you force me to come with you?"
"Truthfully?"
"That'd be nice?" Eva squatted. Her thighs felt cool to the touch, but her skin was sticky with sweat in the damp night.
"I thought you were going to kill Tiff, and you shouldn't have to live with that on your conscience."
"Oh." Eva picked up the gun. It suddenly felt heavy in her hands, and she wanted to leave it behind. "Yeah, we should keep going."
Yaz nodded, but neither moved.
After a beat of silence, Eva cleared her throat. "Okay, let's go."
"Let's."
~~~
A beam of light swerved into view, and Eva wrapped her hands around Yaz's waist, pulling her back. They collapsed into the grass. A motorcycle swerved around the two and crashed.
"Yaz?" Kenji? "Eva!"
"We've got big news!" Brooklynn said as she squatted beside the two girls.
"Yeah, you're not gonna believe—" Kenji's hand curled around Eva's chin, leaning her head to the side. "You're bleeding! Why are you bleeding? Who did this to you?"
"Not important—"
"Mitch," Yaz answered.
"He's dead."
Eva shook her head, "It's just a scratch." She pushed his hand away. "Listen, Tiff and Mitch have them. Darius is leading them to the watering hole so they can kill the dinosaurs there!"
Yaz's hand wrapped around Eva's and squeezed.
"Darius would never do that," Kenji said.
Eva squeezed back.
Yasmina gasped, and uncrumpled a paper in her other hand. It was a map of the island. A large red X covered a spot on the map. "You're right. He's leading them here."
Main Street.
"Look, Yaz, Eva, you need to know—"
"There's no time," Yaz cut him off. "We have to figure out what Darius' plan is."
"What?" Brooklynn took the page from Yaz. "He's taking Tiff and Mitch to Main Street?"
Nearby, a bush rustled. Instinctively, Eva picked up the rifle at her feet and held it up, her finger hovering over the trigger. A large dinosaur emerged from the underbrush. Yaz fell to her ass and backed away. Eva held the gun higher.
"Put down the gun!" Three voices shouted at her. The first two, obviously Brooklynn and Kenji, but the third was a mystery.
"Put down the gun! Put down the gun! You shoot her, I kill you!" The voice snapped.
Eva lowered the gun slightly to see Ben? On an ankylosaurus? Bumpy?!
"Put down the gun! Put it down!" Ben snapped. "Put it down, right now!"
"Ben!"
"Gun!"
"Oh shit, sorry!" Eva set the gun in the grass.
Ben hopped off the ankylosaurus. "Hey." He glanced between Yaz and Eva, and cleared his throat. "Yasmina—"
Yaz tackled Ben in a hug.
Eva stood back, looking at the boy in amasement. The last she had seen him, she did nothing to try and save his life. He was presumed dead, and she did nothing.
Ben cleared his throat. "You're a hugger now, Fadoula?"
Yasmina pulled back. "Still have mixed feelings about it, but I... you're..." She brought Ben into another hug.
"Yeah, yeah, we have been trying to tell you about it," Brooklynn said.
Yasmina and Ben pulled back, and the latter turned to Eva. "What, no hug?"
"I..."
"I've got this one," Ben chuckled as he stepped forward, quickly bringing Eva into his embrace.
Eva's hands snaked around his upper back, pulling the life out of him. He chuckled nervously, but hugged her back with the same intensity.
"You're alive," she breathed. "I'm so sorry."
"Uh-uh." Ben shook his head, then pulled back. "You don't have to apologize, because it wasn't your fault."
"But you—"
Ben slapped his hands against her cheeks, squishing her face. "Not. Your. Fault. Got it?"
Eva nodded.
"So, in more pressing news," Brooklynn spoke up. She handed the map to Ben. "Darius isn't taking the hunters to the watering hole."
"What?" Ben's eyebrows knit together in confusion as he glanced at the X. "Why would he take them straight to the T-Rex?" He handed the map back to Brooklynn.
"Home court advantage!" Kenji realized. "Darius and Sammy know the terrain, and Mitch and Tiff don't. It'll be easier to lose them on Main Street than in the jungle."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go help them!"
"Yes!" Ben agreed as he picked up his spear. "Bumpy and I are ready to roll."
"Uh-uh, big problemo. There's no way we'll make it to Main Street before they do."
"Kenji has a point," Eva said.
Brooklynn held up the map, "I'm gonna ignore Eva agreeing with Kenji, and point out that there is one obvious shortcut."
"Down there?" Kenji's eyes widened. "You must be joking! Don't you remember last time? Not only is it super dark and creepy, but we nearly died! Nope! No go for Kenji."
Eva nudged him with her elbow. "I'll hate you a little less?"
Kenji's eyes narrowed. "How much is a little less?"
"I'll only argue with you six days a week."
"Do I get to pick the seventh day?"
"Fine!"
"Done!"
~~~
"You know, when I agreed to come down here, I didn't picture four of us on one fucking bike!"
"Hush up, Kenji!"
"Yeah! We're doing this!"
Eva kept one hand secured around Yasmina's waist, and the other in the air as she whooped.
"Left!" Kenji shouted.
Eva's hand fell back to Yaz's waist, and she hugged her body as the bike turned left, under Brooklynn's controls.
"Now, right! Right!"
The tired squealed and the bike nearly tipped as Brooklynn took the next turn.
"Uh, could you maybe take some of those turns a little less murdery?" Kenji asked.
"B!" Eva shouted.
Brooklynn gasped, and turned the bike, skidding to a stop. Five more inches, and they would have run head first into a security gate. Kenji whimpered as he fell off the front of the bike. Ben, who was on Bumpy's back, came to a stop a few feet away.
He approached the gate, clinking his spearhead against the metal. "Let's take this down, Bumps."
Everyone backed up, giving the dinosaur some space.
Bumpy roared and ran forward, smacking her tail against the security fence. Ben's eyes widened in shock when the fence didn't move.
"Again!" No such luck. "Again!" Nada. "Again!"
Ben kicked at the gate himself.
Yaz leaned against one of the pipes in the wall and said, "Yeah, I don't think Wild Child and his Amazing Dino are gonna be able to punch through that gate."
Eva chuckled at her words, watching the human- dinosaur pair struggle.
"O-o-o-okay, maybe Bumpy just needs a little pep talk to bring it down?" Kenji approached the dinosaur. "You're not going to let some door stand in your way, are you, Bumpy?"
Bumpy roared.
"You break barriers! Barriers don't break you!"
A grin taunted Eva's lips as she watched the human- dinosaur interaction.
Bumpy bumped her head into Kenji's chest, who fell to the ground. Ben kept helplessly attacking the fence.
"What do we do now?" Kenji asked.
Ben went back to telling Bumpy to take down the fence, which had already proven useless. Eva took a seat on the ground beside Kenji, watching the duo continue to struggle.
"A glass of peach juice Ben doesn't give up despite his fruitless attempts?"
Kenji grinned, "You're on."
A few minutes later, Ben announced, "It's not budging."
"I'm confused," Kenji said.
"Who wins the fruit juice?" Eva asked.
Brooklynn approached the fence, looking crestfallen.
Then, the ventilation system kicked on.
Ben looked around confused, "Wh-what's that?"
"There it is again."
A low whirring noise filled the hallway. Kenji sighed as he got to his feet. He reached out a hand to Eva, who took it with a grateful nod.
Brooklynn silently led the group into an intersection, where she then pointed out a door down the left corridor that was lit up in a red glow.
Bubblegum pressed her ear to the door. "If there's electricity down here, we could find a way to raise that gate. We gotta follow that hum!"
She pulled out her key card and pushed it into the little slot in the door. The light turned green as the door clicked. The door swung open with a hiss, letting in cold air.
As they entered the new hallway, Eva realized the air was so cold and dewey, she was struggling to see further than five feet ahead of her.
"Whoa. It's cold enough in here to—"
"To freeze flowers."
Ben titled his head in confusion. "Is that a thing people say now?" Eva walked past him in time to hear him tell Bumpy, "Guess we did miss a lot."