Anger, worry, fear
[Ben POV]
I crash through the greenery, desperately wiping tears from my burning eyes.
No.
I'm not allowed to cry.
This all is my fault.
I lost my temper and now Y/N...
Y/N...
A sob escapes me and I push aside several ferns roughly.
After a while, I reach the home-cave of Mae. The door opens and I stumble into it.
My tears begin to flow.
"Ben!" Brooklyn notices me first. "Are you okay?"
"What happened?" Darius asks worriedly.
Everyone else floods into the room.
"Is everything okay?"
"Did something bad happen?"
"What is it?"
They're voices get louder and louder, and I cover my ears, shutting my eyes painfully close.
Mae walks to me and gently pries my hands away from my ears. "Ben, dear, just tell us. We're here for you, you know."
I let loose another sob.
Something dawns in Kenji's face. "Where's Y/N?" he snaps at me.
I shake my head. "Kash... He took her."
Kenji's eyes go wide and his face goes furious. "What do you mean, Kash? Took her? Where is she? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER, BEN?!"
If it's even possible, I feel even worse.
"A man was walking by. He was talking to himself about putting Pierce in the arctic biome. I don't know what came over me, but I just got really mad and I punched him in the face. He grabbed Y/N and he said... He said that if I hit him one more time, the BRAD would shoot electricity to Y/N. She told me to go, before Kash did anything. I didn't want to let her go- I wanted to stay- but..."
I break down into sobs and words
fail me.
Kenji yells in anger and shuts himself into one of the rooms. Brooklyn gives me one last look and runs after him.
Yasmina's and Sammy's eyes widen in shock and they both exchange devastated looks.
Mae shakes her head sadly. Caleb hopelessly collapses on the couch.
Darius' face falls. "We need to save her. We have to do something."
I just shake my head. "It's hopeless.
Y/N's... gone."
Caleb pats my shoulder. "Don't worry, Ben. We'll figure something out. But for now, maybe you can get some rest."
I shrug his hand off and just cover my face with my hands dejectedly.
Sammy and Yaz sighs deeply. "Well, we're going to go rest for a while. Yaz is really tired."
The sound of a door closing reaches my ears, but I don't lift my head.
"I don't understand what's going on here." Mae mumbles. "But maybe..." she trails off, muttering to herself.
I hear a bang from another door, almost as if Kenji punched it.
He's probably really mad at me right now because Y/N is his cousin.
Darius crouches down beside me. "How about, to get your mind off Y/N, we go and return Pierce to the desert biome with Mae? It won't solve things, but it might make you feel better."
I nod numbly.
•·•
"You boys stay back." Mae warns us.
Pierce groans loudly, the sound echoing through the tunnels
"He's clearly agitated, and I don't want him to..."
Mae gets cut off by Pierce charging at us. I pull Darius out of the way just in time.
Mae holds out her hand. "Pierce stop!"
She taps a button on her recording tablet and it lets out a groan similar to what Pierce lets out when he is calm. "Calm. Calm."
Pierce groans loudly, and the tablet imitates it.
"Scared. Yes." Mae slowly approaches the Kentrosaurus. "But... You don't have to be scared. 'Cause we're gonna take you..." She taps another button. "Home."
Darius stares at them in awe. "She... She just talked to a dinosaur."
"She did it with fancy science buttons. Bumpy and I found a way to talk through here." I lay a hand on my heart. "The biggest button of all."
After a thought, I add, "And Y/N too. She and Sunbeam..."
My shoulders slump and I look away
Darius gives me a look.
"But yeah. That was still cool."
[Brooklyn POV]
Kenji and I creep forwards to the feeding platform. We hide behind a tree.
I'm glad that I was able to persuade Kenji to help me watch over the T-Rexes' food to keep his mind off his cousin. He is really mad at Ben and I had to calm him down before he caused some serious damage to the walls. It was kinda scary.
The BRAD walks away after laying another white cube and both of us rush there to remove them.
Slightly groaning in disgust, I dig my arm into the bloody meat and pull out the rest of the cubes
(distant stomp)
Kenji gasps and pulls my arm. We hide behind a tree as the T-Rex, Big Eatie (Mae said that she named the mother that. The baby is Little Eatie) stomps into the clearing and begins to chomp on her dinner.
"This could take a while." Kenji whispers to me.
Big Eatie passes by our tree, carrying a piece of meat between her teeth.
"Or not."
I stand up. "Wait, why didn't she eat? And where's she going? Come on."
Kenji groans and follows me. We tail the dinosaur.
From behind a tree, Kenji and I witness a sight: Big Eatie nudging her daughter to eat the food while the smaller T-Rex lays weakly on the ground.
"Little Eatie's still hurt." I mutter.
"I thought Mae sent the BRADs to help her."
"Guess they didn't get the order." I finish.
Big Eatie lays down beside Little Eatie and falls asleep with her lovingly.
"Look at her trying to help her baby. How could anyone hurt her?" Kenji whispers with a sympathetic expression
"Come on." I tell him softly. "We gotta tell Mae about this."
[Ben POV]
"So now you decide to just drop, 'Oh yeah, I can speak to dinosaurs, but whatevs'." Darius says irritatedly.
Mae chuckles. "I guess hiding my personal side project from you all isn't necessary anymore. I was waiting to develop the research more before I shared it with Mantah Corp. Not sure I'm doing that now."
"Yeah, I follow that instinct." I mutter a bit angrily, thinking of Kash.
"Could I try?" Darius asks sheepishly.
Mae turns around reluctantly and hands him the tablet. "Go on then, you've earned it."
Darius squeals in happiness. "Yes!"
The tablet beeps and the Kentrosaurus growls from it.
"Friend. I'm your friend." Darius smiles at Pierce.
The Kentrosaurus sniffs him and Darius lays a hand on its snout.
It lifts him up and drops him. Darius gets up disappointedly.
"Don't be discouraged. It takes time to build a bond with a dinosaur." Mae pats him on the shoulder.
We walk a little further in the sweltering hot desert.
All of a sudden, Pierce starts groaning agitatedly
"Calm down Pierce. Calm down." Mae taps a button. "Safe."
After the Kentrosaurus finally calmed down, Mae approaches it. "Poor thing has to be starving."
I hear incoming footsteps and my head snaps to the side.
If it's Kash, I swear...
Kenji slips on the sandy soil and his bum hits the ground.
Brooklyn skids on her feet and pants. "Little Eatie is still hurt. The med BRADs you called never went to help her. How could your orders be overridden?"
"I thought there was no communication on or off the island." Darius points out.
"There isn't. Someone must be giving counter orders."
I scowl at the ground. "Kash."
"Right then." Mae claps her hands abruptly. "You get Pierce to his food. Kash will be at the jungle biome. I'll get cleaned up and go get some answers."
"You sure that's safe?" I warn her.
"Until I know what he's up to, it's best he doesn't know you're here."
"But he does know I'm here." I point out. "I should sneak there with you, and maybe I could find Y/N."
Mae shakes her head. "Since he knows you're not a friendly face, it's too dangerous."
I glare and look away. "I want to find Y/N. I need to find her. I made a promise and I'm not breaking it. Especially not to her."
Mae sighs and takes one look at my determined and furious expression. "Fine. Just this once. And you have to be extremely careful."
I give her a curt nod. "I will be."
Darius and Brooklyn look at me with eyes filled with worry. "Be safe. And bring her back."
"I will."
"You'd better." Kenji scowls at me.
•·•
I follow Mae from close behind.
Suddenly, a BRAD approaches her. I quickly hide behind a tree as Mae jolts in surprise. "You startled me."
With white eyes, the BRAD follows Mae into a clearing.
The clearing holds a large glass building and I stare at it.
"I'm coming Y/N."
After some time, I spot the door and I quickly sprint towards it.
It opens automatically (stupid design for a dino island, but pretty useful for sneaking in) and slip inside.
The inner side of the building has hallways that look like the tunnels (not in Nublar, in Sorna).
After walking for some time, I spot a thin trail of blood on the floor, and I cover my mouth in worry, distress, and shock.
What if it was Y/N?
That thought spurs me to follow it and it leads to a door.
Taking a deep breath, I kick it open. Surprisingly, it works.
The inside of the dim room has only one working light. On the side, there are empty metal tables with nothing on them. A few boxes and crates litter the floor.
I search around the whole room.
Eventually, I spot a bloody knife on the floor and my eyes widen in horror.
Beside the knife, a pool of blood ripples at me.
I'm too late.
1720 words.
Is she dead?
You'll find out in the next chapter.
This isn't over yet.
The battle has just begun.
Also, sorry for the blood. This might disturb some readers :(