Chapter Seventy Two: No Match For Big Eatie
~~~
Eva spent the night staring at the stars, and not getting a wink of sleep. She tried to sleep, believe me, but once you have an epic mental breakdown / panic attack, it's generally hard to sleep after. She avoided talking to all her friends, not just because they were fine being in it for the long haul, but because she was simply too tired to talk to anyone. Not even Darius, who was on first watch and knew she was awake.
Of course, they tried talking to her, but after one too many shutdowns, they decided to leave her alone. It wasn't till the late morning did Eva finally start talking again.
"She's asleep," Sammy relayed quietly, from Mae's side. Mae slept through the night, and the morning, and she was still asleep, now. "The leaves we put over her wounds stopped the bleeding, but I don't know how long that's gonna last. We gotta do something."
"Ben says Kash has a phone," said Yaz. "Let's get it, call for help, and get out of here."
The news about a phone was great and all, but Eva knew something would come up, like always, and they'd be stranded longer, like always. It was simply easier to not get her hopes up. That was, she would never be disappointed.
"But what about the dinosaurs?" Darius asked. Everyone stayed silent. "Now that Mae's injured, who's gonna protect them?"
Yaz gestured to Mae, "Darius, look at her. She needs help. Real help. Our only choice here is that phone."
"Those leaves aren't exactly sterile," Ben said in a low voice. "We're running out of time. Let's split up and try to find Kash."
"Huh, small problem. We don't know where he went," Kenji pointed out.
Green light flickered over the rock, and everyone immediately jumped into hiding. Behind rocks, behind bushes, everyone was crouched down, keeping out of sight of the BRAD robots.
"Shhh!"
"New orders received." The BRADs said, then turned around and left.
"One of them could be headed to Kash," Yasmina whispered.
Ben gestured between the girls and Mae. "You guys go. I think there was a first aid kid in the snow gliders. I'll get Mae patched up."
"Okay, Yaz, Eva, will you come with?" Brooklynn asked. "Sammy, you should go with Kenji and Darius."
Everyone agreed, then the trio of girls split up from the others, headed in the direction of the BRAD that disappeared to the left. The girls hid behind two trees, watching as the BRAD scanned the terrain.
"Hey, Yaz," B whispered, "Are you okay? I mean, you know, with the nightmares—"
"I'm fine. We've got bigger things to worry about than a few bad dreams," she whispered back.
"You know it's more than that... Eva?"
"Is this why you brought us out here?" Eva quietly snapped. "To grill us? I'm fine, Yaz is fine, we're all fine. Can we just get on with finding the damn phone?"
"Still touchy, got it."
Eva rolled her eyes, then hurried forward, away from Brooklynn. She sure as hell did not mean to snap on her best friend, but she hated being asked if she was okay. Why can't she just suffer in silence? It's not like Brooklynn actually wanted to know how she was doing.
The girls crept towards a warehouse, sneaking inside when the BRAD opened the door. The inside was filled with BRADs, BRADs, and you guessed it! More BRADs.
"They're inactive," Brooklynn whispered, gesturing to the dozens of BRAD robots lined up inside.
The girls hid behind a set of boxes.
"Finally, took you long enough," a male said from the other end of the warehouse.
"Kash?" Yaz whispered.
"Let's get closer," Eva suggested.
They moved closer, keeping to the shadows.
"Prepare the test space outside my compound," Kash said.
"Unable to connect to drone perimeter system," the BRAD said.
Kash sighed. "Retry connection protocol."
"Unable to connect to drone perimeter system."
"Ugh, fine!" Kash threw whatever he was holding, and it collided with the trunk the girls were hiding behind. "Like everything else... I'll do it myself!"
Eva peered over the edge to see Kash toss his phone on the table. He then picked up a screwdriver, turning to the robot next to him. She waddled around the trunk, headed for his work space, for the phone.
Her hand reached out, her fingers grazed the top of his phone when the computer beeped, and Kash slammed his fist against the table.
"No connection either?! When I get a hold of those imbecile freelancers—" he picked up his keyboard and threw it on the ground like a child, while Eva reached for the phone again. "—Who messed up my code—"
Brooklynn and Yasmina pulled Eva back behind the trunk.
"I am gonna—!" Something crashed and Eva flinched, grabbing Yaz's hand by instinct.
"Ooh, my earbud," Kash said in a cheery voice as if he didn't just trash his workspace like a toddler. "Thought I lost it."
Rock music played so loud, Eva could hear it coming through his earbuds as he walked away.
"I could have gotten the phone!" Eva whisper shouted.
"And he would have found us."
"What good would that have done?"
Eva rolled her eyes. Her hand was literally touching the phone, and they pulled her back before she could grab it. The audacity.
Brooklynn, Yaz and Eva followed Kash back to the compound he was at the day prior, where he tried to kill Mae. Kash walked around singing rock and playing an air guitar, which is normal behavior, but because it was on someone as crazy as Kash, it left a bad taste in Eva's mouth.
Kash walked past the two velociraptors, smirking when the drones held them back, squealing in pain. He continued on, through the front doors.
"Brooklynn, Eva, I, I can't..."
"Yeah, no," Brooklynn agreed, laying a hand on Yaz's shoulder. "We're not taking on raptors, BRADs, and Kash alone. Come on, let's go find the others."
~~~
"We found Kash. In this, creepy warehouse full of BRADs."
"I almost had the phone, but then..." She started off accusatory, her voice falling flat and gone.
"He went back inside the compound," Brooklynn continued.
"The BRADs forced Big Eatie away from her daughter," Darius told them. "They shocked her until she left with them."
"It was... hard to watch."
"Hasn't he hurt them enough?" Mae cried.
"He wants to use her for some kind of test," Darius continued.
Brooklynn tugged at Eva's shirt. "Lemme see your stomach."
Eva sighed, then lifted her shirt. She noticed Kenji's eyes flitted to her stomach, and he swallowed.
"Bruises are greenish-yellow. They're getting better, but I'd still take it easy, Eva."
"What on earth happened?" Mae asked.
"I sorta got my ass handed to me by a hybrid dinosaur..."
"The Scorpios might be giving Jayla Donovan a run for her money," Kenji joked.
Eva laughed, gripping at her sides in a half-grimace.
"You and I both know I would have kicked Jayla's ass."
"And yet you didn't."
"Yeah..."
What would life be like back at Rutherford? Eva kept thinking about going back, about returning to the mainland, but what about her spot on the lacrosse team? She was playing on scholarship. Was that handed to someone else? Would she even get a spot on the team again? Will she still be under careful watch of the staff? What would happen between her and Kenji? How would Kenji and Eva fair together? They could handle dinosaurs, sure, but high school was its own version of hell on earth, and the way some kids acted, it totally rivalled being hunted by dinosaurs.
But not Kenji, she told herself. That was my mistake.
Eva scrunched her eyes shut, still hating herself for how she acted towards Kenji for so long. He was always her friend, but she was just an asshole.
In the distance, a dinosaur roared.
"That's Pierce!" Mae informed, attempting to stand on her feet, only to fall back against her rock.
"No, no, no, you need to rest."
"But if Kash is hurting him like he did Big Eatie..."
"Don't worry. We'll go."
~~~
The drones led Pierce into the yard in front of the compound while the campers watched. A moment later, another set of drones led in Big Eatie from the right side.
"He's gonna force them to fight," Darius realized.
"He wouldn't."
"It adds up," Eva said. "Dosing the food, making them more aggressive, seeing how strong they are, Mae's research..."
"He doesn't care how dinosaurs feel. He only wanted to know how they'd do in a fight."
Brooklynn held her hands against her heart, "But Pierce is no match for Big Eatie. He'll be slaughtered."
Pierce and Big Eatie roared at each other.
"Guys, I know that phone is our only way off this island, but we have to—"
"Save them."
"Yeah, we do!"
"I guess," Eva muttered.
"Wait, really? I mean, I, I was gonna—"
"Give one of your classic 'save the dinos' speech? No need bro, we're with you," Kenji said.
Darius looked to Eva and raised an eyebrow.
"What?" she asked, cluelessly.
Kenji shoved her shoulder.
"Yeah, y-yeah, with you to save the dinos. Whoo!"
"Could've sounded more convincing," Brooklynn commented.
"I'm still gonna dip when the supply plane comes back—"
"Eva!"
"— But, I'm with you here, Darius."
Brooklynn rolled her eyes. "Kash must be controlling those drones from his compound. If we can get in there, we can disable them and keep the dinos from hurting each other."
"We'll have to lure him out of there, first," Darius said.
"I got some ideas on that front," Ben began, snacking on a carob bar— he still had those?
"Perfect. Sammy, you're with Ben. Once Kash leaves his compound..."
"We'll trail him," Brooklynn said, nudging Kenji. "Make sure he stays out."
"Okay. Yaz, Eva, you guys and I will get past the raptors, sneak into the compound, and get control of the drones."
Eva sighed dramatically, falling backwards as Yaz stood.
"Hey, are you guys sure?"
"I got this," Yasmina smiled confidently.
"Do I have to?" Eva asked. "I mean, can't I go with Brooklynn and Kenji?"
"If she wants to come with...?" Kenji began.
"Yeah, sure," Darius agreed. "Yaz and I got this."
Eva nodded gratefully, rushing to her feet. She ran after Brooklynn and Kenji, who were sneaking off into the jungle.
~~~
"Uh, when Kash comes out, how are we gonna keep him from going back inside?"
"Hmm... I was kinda thinking we'd sacrifice you?" Brooklynn joked.
"You could sacrifice me, free of charge," Eva said with a laugh.
"Absolutely not," Kenji said.
"Yeah, we need you here with us," Brooklynn said as she tucked some pink hair behind her ears. "You're kinda the thing that keeps me going..."
"Stop, you're gonna make me blush," Eva said, that very blush creeping up her neck.
"Hitting on my girlfriend in front of me? Bold move, Brooklynn."
"I think you should be more worried about me," Eva laughed. She pulled Brooklynn into her side, and pressed a kiss to her temple.
"Eva!" Kenji whisper shouted.
"Chill!" she laughed. "Brooklynn is like the sister I've never had. That was an all-philia forehead kiss."
"Philia?" Brooklynn questioned.
"You know, the deep, long-lasting affectionate love you give to your friends?"
"Oh, like Yaz and Sammy?" Kenji guessed.
"No, they're in love with each other. They don't count."
"Darius and Brooklynn?"
"In love," Eva responded, nonchalantly.
"What? I— I, I am not in love with Darius," Brooklynn said, tucking hair behind her ear.
"I'm talking Ben and Bumpy. Like, that raw love you give your bestie."
"I am not in love with Darius," Brooklynn repeated.
"Oh, so, like, you and Kai?" Kenji asked.
"You and Sammy."
"Me? In love with Darius? You're— you're crazy."
"You and Brooklynn. I get it now. Philia. I love that. What are we?"
"I would say eros, but I feel like we're still in that ludus— playful, fun kinda love."
"Ludus."
"Ludus."
"Darius? Pfffttt. No."
Pierce and Big Eatie roared at each other, breaking up their little moment.
Kenji leaned into Eva. "She's definitely in love with D."
Brooklynn had turned the same shade as her hair.
"Look," B said, pointing at Kash exiting the building.
"Let's go."