𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓 as it wrung between my fingers, leaving me in my black bra. A cold breeze travelled down my spine as I kept my back to the boys.
Zach was wringing out just shirt as well, while Gray was sitting on a rock, dumping his shoes out.
I still felt sick to my stomach. A near-death experience was never an enjoyable time. The boys were still silent and I wouldn't dare speak a word unless I was spoken too.
I twisted my hair between my fingers as more water dripped down my arms and neck. My arms and back were bright red from when I made the painful connection with the water. It hurt to move around, but I knew I would have to suppress the pain for now.
I managed to get as much water out of my shorts without taking them off and I had already drained my shoes. I slipped my shirt back over my body, turning around as I did so.
When my head popped out, I was face to face with a shirtless Zach. My cheeks flushed instantly as his eyes met mine. He raised an eyebrow and I whipped around quickly, trying to avoid any conversations about what I had just seen.
"You okay, there?" He asked and I nodded, refusing to face him again.
"Yup, everything's fine," I muttered as I crossed my arms over my chest awkwardly. "Gray, you ready?" I called, still facing away from the boys.
"I'm good," He called back and I moved towards him, eyes steering away from Zach. I huddled towards the small, blond boy, with a reassuring smile on my face.
"I'm proud of you, you know that right?" I told him as I placed my hand in his shoulder.
"How did you know to unclip the seatbelts, back there?" Zach asked as he walked towards us.
"I... uh," I thought to myself. How did I know to do that back there? It's not like this has ever happened before. "Instinct, I guess," I answered. "I figured it would be better than becoming dinner for that thing,"
"What even was that thing?" Zach questioned to Gray, who shrugged his shoulders.
"I've never seen it before," Gray told us and I bit my lip. If Gray had no clue what that is, then we're screwed; and so is the entire park.
That's when my mind began to race. I dug through my bag viciously, trying to find my phone. When my fingers brushed against the screen, I grabbed it and pulled it out.
I dialled the first person I could think of; Owen. The phone rang for a minute then the line went completely silent. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" I cried as I ran a hand through my hair.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're okay," Zach whispered as he placed both of his hands on my shoulders. "Everything is going to be okay,"
My eyes met his and he gave me the sweetest smile. "I can't get a hold of my uncle," I told him quietly. "He's one of the only people who would know what to do in this situation,"
"We're going to die, aren't we," Gray asked and my heart sunk to the bottom of my shoes.
"We're not going to die, Gray," I told him as I crouched in front of him. I grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "I swear that you'll make it back alive,"
Gray nodded and turned to the forest. He took a deep breath before leading our trek back to the resort. Before I could follow, Zach grabbed my hand, holding me back for a second.
"You can do this okay? Just think of it like you're with your uncle, what would he do?" Zach told me, trying to get me to connect with Owen.
"First, he'd probably yell at me for being out here, and then he'd try to make it back before nightfall," I answered as I pulled Zach forwards, my hand still gripping his.
As we moved through the forest, my hand slipped from Zach's, feeling weird if I held it too long. I tried to think of how Owen would handle this situation.
He'd probably say: Keep your voices down, quick movements, never stay in any place too long, and stay hidden the best you can.
What would he think about this entire situation? He's probably worried out of his mind. Does he even know that I'm out here? Does he even know that that thing is roaming around freely?
How many people has thing actually killed already? And who are its next victims?
⫷ ⫸
After forty-five minutes of nonstop walking, and unbearable silence, we finally took a break against a jumble of rocks off to the side of the makeshift trail. Besides the common 'Water your step' or 'It's better to go this way', nobody really spoke.
I was grateful for the silence, just letting my mind try and piece together what had happened. The relaxing sound of dirt crunching under my sneakers, the familiar wave of wind that would calmly shake the trees or the disappearing sound of the waterfall.
I unclipped my backpack, then grabbed three granola bars and a bottle of water.
I passed the food to the boys and unwrapped my granola bar, eating it in three bites. I licked the chocolate off of my lips as Gray took a large gulp of water.
He handed me back the bottle and I passed it to Zach. "Have some water," I told him.
"I'm okay," He replied as he crinkled the wrapper between his fingers.
"It wasn't a question," I told him as I pushed the bottle into his chest. He sighed, but nonetheless, took a big sip of the cold water. He screwed the cap back on and passed it back to me.
"You need some as well," He told me as Gray got ready to walk again.
"I'm fine, I'll have some later," I lied. I had no clue how long we would be out here, and water is an extremely important necessity. I wasn't going to waste it.
"Y/n," Zach stated with authority, which caught my attention. "I wasn't asking, drink," He ordered and I nodded quickly. I took a small sip of water and put the bottle back into my bag.
"Now we're even?" I asked him and he grinned. I slung my bag over my shoulder and we continued through the forest.
I watched as Gray stood a few feet in front of us, walking at his own, fast, pace. "Can I ask you a question?" Zach said out of thin air.
"Shoot," I replied as I stepped over a large bush.
"After we got dried off, you said to Gray, 'you' not 'we'. Why?" Zach questioned and my face froze.
"Look, just promise me that if we come face to face with that thing again, you'll take Gray and run," Zach stared at me for a second, unsure of what to say.
"Y/n-" He stammered and I sighed.
"I'm not trying to do any crazy shit like take it down in my own, but if something does happen, just run, okay?" I continued.
I'm not going to run towards it, practically begging for it to kill me. And especially not without any type of weapons. I'm not trying to be a hero or to be remembered as a saviour or that shit.
But I knew that if it came to it, I'd sacrifice my life for these boys.
I know that Owen would do it for me, and I knew Zach would do it for Gray. So, I'm doing it for them.
"Pinky swear," I noted as I stuck my smallest finger into the air.
"Pinky swear," Zach replied as his finger hooked with mine. Our bodies were close and I could feel a string of butterflies making their way into my stomach.
Zach looked as if he was about to lean down; to kiss me. But Gray's voice interrupted whatever moment we were about to have. "You guys coming?" He hollered toward us.
"Coming," I told him as I let go of Zach's hand. I walked away from him and more towards Gray. I could hear him chuckling before he caught up to the two of us.
Besides being stuck in a jungle, I was glad I was with them.
"This is what it would've been like," Gray revealed as he shimmies around a large tree trunk.
"What?" Zach asked as he pushed past a group of vines, all strung together, weaving in and out of each other.
"If dinosaurs never went instinct," Gray explained, "People just wandering around, scared all the time,"
My eyes flickered around the jungle. Some time between now and when we started walking, the sunlight disappeared. It never set, and it is still heading light on the sky and park, but with the thick and heavy trees, it's completely invisible.
My shirt began to stick to my back from the immense amounts of sweat and humidity trapped in the jungle. Using a hair clip, I pulled my hair away from my face, pinning it together as I wiped my forehead.
"This sucks," Zach muttered, causing me to laugh aloud. "What?" He asked, with a cheeky smile painted on his lips.
"Nothing," I hummed with a smile.
"You suck," He retorted pathetically and I chuckled again. It felt good to laugh, especially in times like this.
At this moment, it felt as if we weren't stuck in a jungle, hiding from a dangerous dinosaur that wasn't even a real species. The smell of wet plants filled my lungs, giving me a sense of relaxation and relief.
Everything was going to be completely fine--
"Guys?" Gray called softly, a white, mud-covered helmet in his grasp. I walked towards him, Zach by my side, unsure of why a helmet was important.
His breath picked up and I could tell that he was going into shock. I moved towards him and took the helmet from his cold fingers. And that's when I noticed he huge gaping hole on the side of the helmet, no doubt from our friendly dinosaur from earlier.
I could see Zach looking at our surroundings, trying to see if it was close. I set the helmet back on the ground, keeping it out of sight of both Zach and Gray.
"We need to keep..." My eyes fixated on a small vehicle, sparking subtly, and crashed up against a tree, "Moving," I walked towards it as Zach told Gray to stay where he was, but Gray didn't listen.
I slowly stopped in front of the small gold cart with the Jurassic World logo on the side. Blood covered the driver's seat as well as huge claw marks, running down the fabric.
I shuffled around to the front, checking over my shoulder from time to time. I placed my hand on the hood of the car as I stared at the bloody mess inside.
As Gray and Zach joined me, flies began to buzz close by, causing me to swat them away from my hand. That's when I noticed the red.
Covering my hand was a thick and dark liquid that could only be blood. I stared at my hand, feeling a hot substance rise up my throat.
My hands began shaking as I notice the hood of the vehicle was painted in the dark red blood.
Splat.
A drop of the blood fell onto my wrist and rolled down to the grassy flood.
Splat.
Another drop fell down from above, landing further up my forearm then the last drop. Terrified, I looked up, and to my dismay, I could see the leave painted in the scarlet substance.