Chapter Eighty Three: You're Hurting Yourself
~~~
The campers tore through the jungle, hoping to make it to the forest biome to deter Mr. Kon's plans, only to be stopped by four BRAD-Xs. They opened their jaws, preparing electrical blasts until the six campers backed up, and the robots backed off.
"I'm guessing the whole, 'the BRADs are our friends' thing is back off the table?" Brooklynn said.
"Should we try another air lock?" Sammy whispered.
Darius shook his head, "Mr. Kon would have already thought of that, and we're running out of time."
"Wait! We don't need airlocks," Yaz grinned. "We can use the food platform!"
Darius nodded, "Good thinking, Yaz. Let's go!"
Darius and Yaz led the way through the jungle. They ran back to the compound, taking the elevator down to the medbay. Yaz led the way through the med bays to the T. Rex feeding platform.
As they reached the surface, they noticed vitals of the dinosaurs in the sky, as if they were entering a battle royale.
"It started!"
The campers ran to the edge of the presentation, where the velociraptors, Big Eatie, and the spinosaurus were all fighting one another, being controlled by the investors.
"We need to hurry! Split up, and be careful," Darius instructed.
Everyone nodded. Yaz and Sammy split off from the group, then Darius and Brooklynn, leaving Eva and Ben together. They headed for the spinosaurus, Eva gritting her teeth as they approached the fifty foot long dinosaur, which, in the controls of an investor, was just as dangerous if it were free.
Ben and Eva ran between two trees, the spinosaurus chasing after them. Its large frame became trapped between the two trees.
"Hey, Ben, I got an idea..."
"Why do I get the feeling it's not a good idea?"
"Well, it isn't safe. Or that smart, but it just might work... Okay, you climb that tree, and I'll lead the spino underneath it. Then you jump on its head, disable the dino while I go for the investor, we somehow make it out alive, and Bob's your uncle."
Ben nodded, heading over to the tree while Eva hid. She whistled, walking around the trees until the investor— who was now riding the spinosaurus— spotted her. Eva tripped, falling to the ground, and the investor took this as an opportunity to slowly approach her.
Ben landed on the spinosaurus's head, the dinosaur throwing the investor to the ground. The dinosaur fought to shake him off when Ben stuck the device into its skin, effectively severing the connection between the chip and the controller.
The spino fell forward and into the ground as Ben jumped off its head, running past Eva and grabbing her hand in the process. "Gotta run! You should too!"
"Time to help our friends?"
"After you."
Ben and Eva circled the jungle, heading back for the presentation.
They entered the clearing just in time to see the raptors attack Kash. Blood squirted out of his neck wound as he screamed, his voice disappearing as blood appeared on his lips. The raptors finished him off, tearing his body limb from limb until he could no longer move, until he could no longer make any noise.
Eva swallowed, suddenly wishing she hadn't eaten so much earlier.
"Are they all...?" Darius trailed off— he and Brooklynn a few feet away from Eva and Ben.
The spinosaurus roared, running straight for the Mantah Corp tent that was set up for the presentation. Straight at Mr. Kon.
Kenji began screaming for his dad, running to the destruction the spino left in its wake.
"Here!" Mr. Kon coughed, raising his arm.
Eva and her friends slowly approached, nervous for Kenji.
"I'm fine. Barely—" he coughed again, covering his mouth.
Kenji helped him to his feet, then took control of the tablet, guiding in drones to take care of the dinosaurs.
Kenji sighed. "I just got you back, and now I almost lost you because..." Kenji's father shrugged him off. "Because of you!" He snapped, glaring daggers at Eva and her friends.
Darius stepped forward as Eva bit her cheek and stepped back. "We were just doing what was right."
"Look around! Does any of this look right to you?!"
Brooklynn stepped back, and slipped her hand into Eva's. Eva was glad for the comfort, but terrified of the situation.
Mr. Kon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you kids have any idea what you've done? You've ruined us! All of our investors are gone!"
"Not all of us," the woman investor called from behind the rubble. She held her phone up, grinning. "Sorry, I snuck my phone in. And my buyer is still on board. This... was a disaster. But BioSyn is very interested in your tech. They wanna meet. Not here, obviously."
"Great! Set it up."
"What are going to do about them?" She whispered, not too subtly.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure they're not a problem."
~~~
"You're just as bad as Kash," Sammy said, disgusted.
"Enough! This is for your own good," Mr. Kon said. "You've proven you can't be trusted to roam freely."
Eva gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. She stared down Kenji, who was doing everything possible not to look at her.
Mr. Kon had gotten the BRADs to escort the six of them into the nursery. Now, they were trapped behind a sheet of polycarbonate.
"Besides," he continued, "It's only for a few days, while we meet our new buyer on Isla Nublar."
"Nublar?" Darius asked, shocked. "Are you seriously gonna let this happen?"
"This can't be what you really want, Kenji."
"Save it. None of you care what I want." Kenji scoffed. "I'm done with you guys."
Eva's jaw clenched.
"But we're family," Sammy said.
"No, we're not—" he briefly glanced at Eva, just once, then looked back to Sammy. "You all went out of your way to prove that today."
Eva snapped her fist against the polycarbonate separating the campers from Kenji. Kenji jumped, his eyes finally training on her own. Her fist collided with the wall, and again, he jumped. He stepped away, heading for the door, Eva's nose flaring. "You better walk your sorry ass over here and unlock the fucking door."
Kenji kept walking.
Eva's fist hit the plastic again. "Kenji!"
Bang. Bang. Bang.
"Kenji!"
You're hurting yourself, he wanted to tell her, but he just continued to walk, leaving the room swiftly.
Eva turned her fist from the side to the front, effectively punching the plastic. "Kenji Aleksander Kon!"
She pulled back her fist and two hands wrapped around her wrist, stopping her. Eva glared daggers at Yasmina, roughly pulling back on her arm, but Yaz would not let her go.
"You're hurting yourself, Eva," she said.
Eva finally jerked her hand back, eyes turning in time to see the door of the nursery hiss shut. "He's fucking dead."
Hot tears stung at her eyes, and she frantically wiped them away with her uninjured hand.
"When we get out of here, he's gonna wish he never fucking betrayed me."
~~~
Eva couldn't stop watching Kenji call them less than family, and then walk away. The scene kept repeating and repeating in her head.
I'm done with you guys.
He had looked so confident, so unnerved, so completely fine. He was so fine leaving them out in the rain, so fine declaring they were no longer family. He acted as if they never were. He acted as if Eva and her friends meant nothing— that the last six months met nothing, that everything Kenji and Eva had been through together was nothing.
Eva ground her fists into the floor beneath her. Every time she felt like punching something, she had to refrain from punching the walls. Yasmina had already threatened to stop her by any means necessary. The last thing Eva needed was to lose her cool and be stopped once again.
Still, she was in pain, in an endless mental turmoil. Her thoughts clouded over picturing Kenji, soft eyes and soft lips and confessing he was in love with Eva. She pictured him at her side, hand resting on her knee, as he told her he was there for her, for whatever she would need. She pictured him brushing her hair behind her ear, whispering sweet nothings into her ear. She pictured the two in the infinity pool, cackling in laughter as they spilled Rutherford secrets, and Eva grew comfortable with being in the water once again. But above all else, she pictured his face, bright and cheery, telling Eva with such vigor, that he would never let anything hurt her ever again.
What a fucking lie that was...
"Forty seven... forty eight... forty nine... fifty..."
Yaz had been working out for the past twenty minutes: push ups, sit ups, and now crunches. Eva was only slightly annoyed, knowing that was how her best friend relieved stress.
But, everyone was dealing with the loss of Kenji in their own ways. Sammy was biting her nails, staring off into space. Brooklynn had curled into a ball, resting her chin on her knees, eyes stuck on the ground. Ben was sharpening what looked like a piece of bone. And Darius, well... Eva could not read Darius. He looked both lost, and as if the gears were turning in his mind, trying to figure everything out.
Brooklynn sighed loudly. "He left us..." Eva froze, eyes glancing at her pink haired best friend. "I can't believe he just left us..."
Eva didn't know what to think. She was mad: her muscles tense, her head aching as sharp needles stabbed at her brain, and her body quivering with tremors. Part of her believed there was no way Kenji would say those things— not after everything they had all been through together. But Eva also knew Kenji would follow his dad to the end of the line; he would do anything for his father's approval. But would he really turn on his best friends for the approval of his father? No, she was convinced. But did that mean he never really saw them as family in the first place?
Sammy crawled over to Brooklynn's side, and pulled her into a half hug.
"I don't get it."
"Why would Kenji do this?" Yaz said.
Ben scoffed. "You think you know a guy..."
"Yeah, what you all said," Sammy hesitantly agreed. "What do you think Dar—?"
Darius held up his finger. "Four, three, two, one..."
On queue, the door hissed open to reveal a BRAD-X. The robot entered the room just enough to scan them. "All accounted for."
And then, the robot turned around and left.
Darius turned to face the discouraged looking campers. "All right, guys. That BRAD patrols every half hour. Which means we have thirty minutes to find a way out of here."
Everyone but Eva stood to their feet, all eagerly searching for a way out. But, Eva stayed on the ground, eyes stuck on the laces of her shoes. How could she look for a way out without the proper motivation to do so? Kenji had turned on her— the love of her life had turned on her, and she officially had nothing left. So, what was the point of escape?
Sammy and Brooklynn tried to pry open the doors next to Eva, while Yasmina carefully balanced Ben, who was reaching for some electrical type box on the wall.
Ben slipped, and the two fell to the ground.
Eva finally stood, approaching her two friends.
"Maybe next time you don't step on my face?" Yaz said sarcastically.
Ben chuckled. "Sorry. When I said left, I thought you'd go left."
Eva offered her hand to Ben, silently pulling him to his feet.
With a clang, Eva turned her head to see Darius removing the grate below the nursery.
Eva gagged as the cover was removed.
"Why does it smell so bad?" Sammy asked.
"Uh, pretty sure this is a sewer," Yaz said.
The sound of robot footsteps echoed around, and everyone gasped.
"Put the cover back!" Eva whisper shouted.
Everyone quickly acted natural, lounging around the nursery. The door opened, and the BRAD scanned the group, "All accounted for."
As soon as the BRAD was gone, Darius and Eva removed the cover, and everyone jumped into the sewers.
Eva gasped at the foul smell that invaded her nostrils. Darius landed last, hurrying to his feet beside her.
"We have to hurry," he whispered. "That thing knows we're gone. We gotta move."
"This way? Or- or maybe this way?" Sammy said, pointing in two separate directions.
"I don't know, we just gotta pick one."
Heavy footsteps sounded, and a green light at the end of the tunnel to their left filled their vision.
"I vote not that way," Yasmina said.
"Come on," Darius whispered, leading the way away from the killer robots.