Sunlight beamed through the large doors and the windows of the shelter centre, and inside it bustled with the murmurs and movements of the refugees. Primary medical help had been provided to the injured and wounded while the others were resting, and the staff members, those who were still doing fine, were checking things around and making sure everything was accounted for. But in their heart, all of them were waiting for the morning ferries to arrive, to take them away from this island of nightmare once and for all to the warmth and safety of their homes.
Claire was seated on the bed, absentmindedly stroking Gray's hair who seemed to be in a light slumber resting his head in her lap. Kate was wide awake, and resting, waiting for Zach to come back. He had left awhile ago to manage a wheelchair so they could take one last stroll before leaving, since she was heavily requesting for it.
They had made it to this place last night. Almost all the seats and resting beds had been occupied by the time they had reached here, and as soon as they had issued one for themselves, Zach and Gray had passed out after being reassured that Kate was going to be alright. Claire had let her youngest nephew sleep on her lap because he was still too shaken up to let go of her nearness, and it was not like she could get any sleep that night anyways. Later that night, Owen had returned with Kate after getting her wound treated and soon had left again after tucking her in.
None of them saw much of Owen afterwards; no doubt he was busy assisting the staffs around for the final preparations. Kate awoke quite early in the morning out of habit, and despite the fact she had an dull ache all over her bandaged up torso that she would rather not move, she had gotten sick of lying in bed for hours. Plus, there were a few things she herself needed to take account of. But since she could not walk around on her feet, she had taken quite a lot of time to muster up the courage to ask Zach for help.
"Earth to Kaitlyn?"
That snapped her out her reverie and when she looked, Zach had indeed managed a wheelchair just like he said he would. He tried to smile when their eyes met, "Ready for it?"
Twitters and chirps of the morning birds were gradually filling up the air as cool breezes blew in through the large open doors, brushing her hair against her face as Zach kept pushing the wheelchair down the beeline between the crowd and the beds and sitting arrangements. Thanks to Claire and Zach's assistance, Kate managed to climb into the wheelchair, but it still somewhat throbbed when she was still supposed to be under the influence of painkillers.
Neither of them talked, but the silence was not uncomfortable, either. Kate was currently focused on looking for Barry, while Zach asked about him to the staffs whenever they passed by one. It was quite concerning; the last she had seen of Barry was when the raptors had turned their back against them, and they had not received any word from him afterwards. Owen might have found him around in the meantime, but she had no way to know.
So when her eyes landed on the familiar face right ahead amidst the crowd, she forgot all about her injury and how she was not supposed to get up on her feet or move much if she did not want the stitches to be undone, and tried to push herself on her feet, only to groan in pain.
"Kate-!" Zach gasped but Kate ushered her hands trying to assure him, despite that her eyes now brimmed with tears from throbbing pain. She pointed to where Barry was, and Zach hastened up.
"Barry!!" Kate still yelped when they were close enough ignoring the blunt throbs that struck her from all the movements and without a care if her sudden action alarmed the others. "Oh, thank goodness, you're alright!!"
Barry, who was talking to another staff, left his post immediately to check up on her as soon as he saw her. "Kate, how are you feeling now?" He asked taking her hands in his.
"Quite better," she tried to smile, "I'm tougher than I look."
"Of course, you are," Barry chuckled, although the smile from his lips started fading. "I heard from your brother, and I've meaning to look for you ever since.... I'm sorry that I didn't find you before you did, I have no excuse to—"
"Hey, it's okay. I know you all have your hands full. I totally understand."
"Yeah.. You've no idea," Barry sighed, and for a moment there was a hint of exhaustion all over his face, but soon that disappeared as his gaze shifted to her companion. "How are you holding up... Zach, was it?"
"Yep," Zach gave a nod, "I'm fine, thanks."
There was a few seconds of silence, and a staff interrupted the trio wanting to have a word with Barry but he dismissed the staff soon enough.
"Didn't see you since the raptors went berserk. I had been worried sick...." Kate started, and Barry nodded again.
"I was worried about you, too. You saved me but risked your necks at the same time... Man, I tried every ways to find you guys ever since, but all futile." He waved his hands with a sigh. "That is, until your brother showed up before me, a couple of hours ago."
Kate nodded, a question already bubbling up in her mind. "Did you... hear about what happened to the raptors...?"
"Oh, yeah," he nodded, in doleful eyes. "Fierce little beasts they were.... You know, I miss them."
The raptors sure were handful, even messed up pretty bad a few times, yet they cared for them and it was only natural that their demise came as a blow to the both of them.
He sighed again, glancing around, then looked back into her eyes. When she observed, the look in his eyes only ached her heart once more. Someone shouted the estimated time of the docking times for the ferries, sending a new ripple of hustle amongst the staffs and the volunteers who were working around tirelessly, and it only struck her harder how she would have to leave every dear ones behind when she would be leaving this island.
"Girl... I hate to say this, but... there's still a lot left that I need to take care of and we might not see each other again, so... I guess, this is goodbye," Barry smiled, but beyond that there was unmistakable sorrow gleaming in his eyes. After all these years of living and working together, no doubt it was going be hard for them not seeing each other again. She gave a curt nod, struggling to keep the smile intact on her face.
"Tu vas me manquer," mumbled Barry in his native tongue with a small smile, but unlike the usual times when she could half-understand and half-assume, Kate did not know what it meant. She had never heard this phrase before.
So she blinked, clueless and hesitant for a moment, before deciding to ask anyways. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, I'll miss you, kid," Barry explained with a chuckle and ruffled up her hair, and whatever of the gloomy air was still left seemed to have dissipated.
Although a little abashed for having to ruin the moment like that, Kate nodded, "And I'll miss you, too."
While Kate did not want to let him go, she could hear one or two staffs calling for him, others shouting at the top of their lungs as they hurried from one end to another. So she gave a nod again but with a wistful smile, not wanting to make it any harder for him, either.
Barry, who now turned his gaze to Zach, said changing his tone, "You look after her."
Zach only nodded in response, and Barry looked back at Kate again, scratching at his nape.
"I...uh, I'll go now... And, tell your brother I said bye, I only met him briefly in between all this work. You know him better than me, so look after him for me, will ya? Both of you're crazy, but sometimes he's a reckless step ahead." He chuckled as he said so, starting to fall back, and gave her a two-finger salute.
"Good to see you in one piece, Kate. And stay out of trouble for me."
"I'm barely in one piece!" She tried to joke, and to her rejoice Barry laughed.
"And I still like it better!"
A silence stretched on as both Zach and Kate watched Barry disappear amongst the crowd. Hearing her sigh, Zach looked down at her. It had to be hard for her, he could assume. For him, and his brother, they would be going home, whether or not their family stuck together for long. Whereas, for her, she would have to leave her home, and the family she grew up with, behind. He wondered if he could say something to help her feel better, but he knew he sucked at it. So instead, he slowly started to push the wheelchair ahead when she finally looked away, hoping to give her some distraction.
The closer they approached the entrance, the busier it got with the movements of the staff, and some of them warned them of wandering off and risk missing the ferries when they would arrive. Yet, as they passed through the enormous doors of the shelter centre and the sunlight hit his skin, almost dazzling him in the eye, his gaze shifted towards her once more. The dark brown hair of hers that burned golden under the sunlight gave a very different look to her.
Whistling sounds went off all of a sudden that startled him; that was also when he realised that he had been staring way too long at her. Warily, he looked around, wondering if that sound meant to alert them of something dangerous. "Wh-What was that?"
He again looked at Kate for answer, who seemed pretty unfazed unlike him. "The ferries... they've arrived," she explained briefly, and somewhat absentmindedly.
"Zach! Zach!!"
The sound of rushed footsteps followed by the shouting drew their attention and the duo looked back only to find Gray, who now scampered to a stop and hung bending down over his knees to catch his breath, but only for a second.
"Let's go! Claire says the ferries have arrived!!"
Zach pushed the wheelchair and followed after Gray, and no sooner had they neared Claire than Gray cried out pointing to their parents. He did not even wait, at once he had sped off right into the arms of his mother, in the same manner Kate had seen him greet Claire the previous morning.
"Oh my, Gray!" The mother cried embracing him, breaking down into tears. "Are you alright? Are you hurt??"
While Gray was having a happy reunion with their parents, Zach, on the contrary, had slowed down upon the sight of them, and his expression was indifferent once again, as if he had been very reluctant to join them. Kate could not but wonder when she noticed that, failing to read his expressions. So she asked, "Aren't you happy to see them?"
"It's... not like that," Zach mumbled only.
The first thing that came to his mind upon the sight of his parents was that, although very disinterested he was about coming to visit this place at first, the only good part out of this whole weeklong trip was supposed to be the time away from his parents and their strained relationship which was affecting him as well as it did to Gray, no matter how big of a poker face he was always used to put on. Even after or during the whole ordeal of the previous day, he could not remember to have missed any of them, not even briefly. But that was not what bemused him; what did was the realisation that, for some reason, he was truly glad to see his parents now that they were here.
"Zach?" The mother had looked over Gray's shoulder for him as she called, noticing Zach had not yet joined them. She started with her arms outreached towards him, tears still rolling down her cheeks and he, too, finally allowed his feet to steer himself towards her, at first in faltering steps but then he paced up, as Kate stayed behind. His mother was not slow to vocalise her concern, still in tears, as she grabbed him by the shoulders. The father had joined, too, trying to check if his boys were alright and unharmed, taking a look from head to toe before pulling both of his sons into a hug as well.
After making sure her kids were okay, Mrs. Mitchell kissed her kids on the foreheads, then wiping a tear she turned to look for her sister, Claire, leaving the kids with their father. Claire, who had been standing back watching the happy reunion of her elder sister's family, lowered her gaze as soon as their eyes met, her eyes brimming with tears in some sense of guilt, before breaking into an apologise.
"Karen, I know I-I've been very irresponsible... and, and you have every reason to be mad at me—"
But she could not finish as she, too, had been engulfed in to a hug.
The Dearing sisters were now in tears in each others arms, and the Mitchell brothers were conversing with their father — Kate smiled as she witnessed their happy reunion. She suddenly missed her brother, her only family, and unbeknownst her she found herself looking for him once more. To her surprise, she caught his eyes not so far from where she was. Owen seemed to be coming this way as well, probably finally done with all the works, and he gave her a smile, starting to pace up, when someone else called her name.
"Kaitlyn."
Kate saw how Owen slowed down as Zach appeared behind her, ready to push the wheelchair again. Gray, too, had skipped to joined their side.
"We'd like you to meet our parents," added Zach with a smile, which she returned promptly.
As they neared his parents, Kate stole a glance over her shoulder and found Owen showing a thumbs up with a grin, signalling he was okay to wait a while.
Owen was looking around as he waited, watching as a group of people were filing out and making their way to the dock, when a certain auburn head in his peripheral vision seized his attention. Indeed, Claire was making her way towards him, clutching onto the blanket draped over her shoulders, who gave a shy smile as their eyes met.
He found himself patiently waiting for her to join him, a pleasant feeling swelling up his chest just at her sight. And when she stopped before him, he took a step closer, wanting nothing more than to bask in the warmth of her closeness. As a soft breeze swept their hair, and emotions tingled at their fluttering hearts, they said nothing but gazed into each other's eyes, memories both pleasant and not flashing in the back of their minds perhaps, perhaps finally realising the undeniable connection they had always shared despite their differences.
"So...." started Claire in soft whispers. "What do we do now?"
"Probably, stick together.... For survival?" Owen added with a hint of joke, the corners of his lips curving up.
He offered his hand, and to his joy, she smilingly took it in hers before falling to his side. As her gaze shifted towards the enormous doors that would lead them to the dock, Owen looked out at the patch of the sky visible through doors, and together, they ambled down the narrow beeline between the crowd and the beds and sitting arrangements.
* * * * *
Loose strands of hair brushed against her face in the breeze as Kate stared ahead in silence, quite absentminded. Her eyes were trained upon the departing ferries, one of which carried the Mitchells away. Their destinations varied from each other, and so did their lives.
Somewhere it ached inside her. She would not have possibly even crossed paths with the Mitchells, if not for Claire's request... Just yesterday they met, and while they had not started off on the right foot, she had not realised when she had started to value them, or enjoy their company. It had been long since she had made new friends or enjoyed the company of peers, and she was lucky to enjoy a bit of it, but all of it was now over. What were the odds that she would ever get to see them?
Before boarding the ferries, the brothers had found her once more, to say something for the last time. But there was nothing more to be said. They had already said their goodbyes, and yet none of them felt like walking away from each other, from the memories they had made. When their mother had called for them, Zach and Gray had shared glances, and Kate was sure to have noticed that Zach was mouthing something to his brother but quickly stopped figuring he was being watched, and Gray, heaving a sigh, had started to retreat although still facing her, bidding goodbyes once again. It was evident he did not want to leave her side just as much like his brother, but Kate had a feeling Zach was desperately waiting for a moment with her, and she could not tell if this was her gut feeling or it was a mere wish of hers.
Until Gray was out of earshot, Zach appeared to hold onto his calm pretence, but even so he looked hesitant, as if he had been contemplating something. And so Kate waited patiently, but time was running, and his mom was calling for him again.
"Coming!" Zach answered hastily and turned to Kate.
He could feel all the blood rushing to his face just at the thought of having to say something but he was miserably failing at it. His lips parted and he fumbled for words, but nothing would come out. He so wished to say that he was going to miss her and not forget her, to convey that he was grateful to her for everything, but no matter how he tried he could not feel his voice.
And it all started getting harder, feeling her eyes on him. No doubt she was waiting for him to say something, but it was like his brain was shutting down. Zach looked at his feet instead, before closing his eyes tight and exhaled. He tried to be courageous once more, he tried to calm his anxious self and verbalise what he had been repeating in his mind several times, yet he messed up when his eyes met hers again.
"G-Goodbye, Kaitlyn."
After all this preparation, that was all he had said. Somehow he had managed to skip the whole paragraph he meant to tell her, and only spilt the goodbyes. Zach paled, realising how it might come off as rude at this point and his neurones started firing left and right as he stared right into her eyes. But her reaction only surprised him more.
A soft smile had spread across her lips as she gazed into his eyes, softly shaking her head.
"No," Kate whispered, "See you."
And that somehow broke his heart even more, and he desperately repeated in his mind not to break down now. Zach almost chuckled, trying to relax the knot in his throat and blink away the tears. A strong mixture of nostalgia and resentment attacked him, but he just drew in a soft breath. "Yeah...." His voice sounded a little raspy as his emotions were catching up with him, "Yeah. That sounds... better. See you."
Even after that, instead of falling back, Zach had found himself standing there, itching, struggling against himself to stop being a coward. When the last warning bell rang for the ferry he was to board and caught a glimpse of Owen behind her, Zach found himself starting to retreat, the light inside him hoping to say those words having died. But no sooner had he started to put distance between himself and her, than he realised that if he walked away today, he might regret it forever. And so, he willed himself to look back, and even though Owen was about to push her wheelchair towards the ferry which the Gradys were supposed to board, he started in spite of the bubbling nervousness.
"I really wish we could have started off on the right foot, you know," Zach said, raising his tone fearing she might not hear him otherwise, "You're really cool. I'm sorry that I was too quick to judge."
Kate seemed positively surprised at first, but then she had smiled again. "And you're actually fun to be around with!" She, too, shouted so he could hear her distinctly. "Although maybe, I'd still pick Gray as the more fun Mitchell."
Zach could not help but chuckle this time. She had not dropped a single chance to joke even in their last moments, and somehow it made her likeable all the more. None if it made sense; how he hated every second of her company just yesterday morning and now, now it was completely different. What was more crazy was how her smile prolonged an emotion in him that he was not acquainted with.
Kate had stared long after him when he finally had left, watching his figure grow smaller and smaller until he had joined his family on the ferry, until Owen's voice brought her out of her reverie.
"Sorry to keep you waiting this long."
Kate took a deep breath, trying to shake it off before turning to her brother.
"The wind is strong here," said Owen, draping her with a jacket he had managed from somewhere, "You might catch a cold."
The Gradys were aboard another ferry. Kate was still seated in the wheelchair, and while her brother had insisted to let her in a cabin to take rest, upon her request, he had brought her to the deck. Owen, who had taken to stand by her side, now leant against the railings.
"Quite the view, huh?" He mumbled slowly.
She followed his gaze to the island that was drawing further and further with every passing second.
The beautiful Isla Nublar. The magical island of dinosaurs. Where she had created a lot of memories, the place that had grown to be a very important part of her life. It never occurred to her that she would ever have to miss it. The island that she called her home.
Irony, how the hybrid that was merely created by the park to spike attraction led to its own doom. And now that the park was shutting down forever, all the dinosaurs, including Blue, the only raptor who survived, were going to be left behind, unwatched and uncared for. But it was probably for their best, rest of the dinosaurs were going to be here, without the humans interfering with their lives ever again.
As Owen placed a hand on her shoulder, slowly she reached a hand to hold his, their fingers now interlaced. Kate could no longer feel the lumps and knots in her throat, nor her eyes stung much. It just felt empty, numb, and puzzling. Everything seemed meaningless.
What now?
What were they going to do?
Where would they be going?
Once the island had blurred out of eyeshot, it was now only the sea and the sound of the waves crashing against the ferry.
"Goodbye," She whispered to the wind, as a tear finally trickled down her cheek, unbeknownst to herself.
authors' note : 𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 '𝘯𝘦𝘸' 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 >~< 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘳-𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦...
P.S. book title's been shortened to "Jurassic" only