“What van?” Sammy asked.
They turned around as Ben pointed at a van ahead of them.
“It’s an ACU transport!” Kenji said, pulling open the van door. “Asset Containment Unit. Got the tour of their HQ—super hard-core dino-trapping security dudes.”
“Then where are they?” Darius said, looking around.
“Is that a tablet?” Brooklynn said as she shoved Kenji aside and jumped into the passenger seat. There was an ACU tablet sitting on it, and Brooklynn wasted no time in grabbing it and turning it on, swiping her finger on the screen.
Sammy looked in and found a radio that had been left on the backseat. She picked it up, fiddled with a knob, and turned it to Channel Six. “Dave, Roxie! Can y’all hear us?”
But there was only static on the radio.
Before she could try again, there was a loud BEEP! The sound came from the ACU tablet. The kids gathered around Brooklynn as she swiped the screen.
“There’s a map program running with little moving dots on it,” she said.
“They chip all the dinosaurs electronically to track them, see?” Darius said, pointing at the screen. “There’s us, and there’s—”
Darius tapped one of the dots that was far from them on the map. An ID popped up that said BRACHIOSAURUS.
“Here’s the Brachiosaurus Grove on the map. So why are the Brachiosauruses way over there?” Darius said.
Then they heard—and felt—the sound of heavy feet on ground. In the distance, trees were shaking, branches fluttering.
Bumpy pawed at Ben, mewing impatiently.
“Easy girl,” Ben said. “Guys, something’s coming this way….”
“That’s weird,” Brooklynn said, staring at the tablet. “Whatever that is, it isn’t showing up on the tablet.”
“What kind of dinosaur wouldn’t have a transponder?” Darius asked.
“I am not in the mood to find out!” Kenji replied, terrified.
Then came a bone-chilling ROAR again.
* * *
“Doesn’t anyone know how to drive a van?” Darius asked. The kids were now scrunched into the backseat.
“No,” Sammy said. “But we drove gyrospheres, right? It can’t be that different!”
“I don’t even have my learner’s permit!” Ben said.
“I do!” Kenji boasted as he jumped into the driver’s seat. Gripping the steering wheel, Kenji hit the accelerator, and the van took off!
In reverse!
The Indominus rex burst through the trees and ran right for them!
Kenji hit the brakes, put the car in drive, and gunned the engine. The van pulled ahead of the Indominus, but the dinosaur was quick.
“It’s gainin’! Go faster!” Sammy said, thumping her hand against the back of Kenji’s seat. Bumpy squealed.
The Indominus was almost on top of them!
“TURN!!!” Brooklynn screamed.
Kenji yanked the wheel to the right. The van spun around and took off in the opposite direction. The angry Indominus slowed down briefly as it changed direction.
“She’s coming back!” Darius screamed.
Suddenly, the Indominus crashed through the trees to their right and pulled up alongside the van!
Yasmina reached over the seat, grabbed the steering wheel, and turned the van left. They swerved away from the Indominus!
And over the edge of a really, really steep hill!
The van went airborne, and when its wheels hit the ground, the van kept on building up speed, going faster and faster down the hill. They crashed through trees, branches hitting the windshield.
The bottom of the hill was approaching rapidly as Yasmina reached forward again and pulled hard on the emergency brake. The van came to a complete stop…right in front of the genetics lab.
* * *
“We are so happy we found you,” Darius said. He was talking to a guy named Eddie, a lab tech who had been hiding in the genetics lab. The kids noticed that Eddie wore a party hat on his head and that the room had been decorated with a few streamers that hung from the ceiling. There was also a birthday cake. And because no one had eaten in, like, forever, the kids each had a slice.
“Things are crazy!” Darius continued. “There’s a giant camouflaged dinosaur out there! Also regular dinosaurs! We’ve been hoping to find someone to—”
“You’re sure you closed the door behind you, right?” Eddie said, cutting him off.
“Uh, I think so.”
Eddie spun around. “You think or you know?”
Eddie looked down the hall, staring at a door. Darius noticed. So did Kenji.
Then Brooklynn started smacking the buttons on a phone. “There’s no dial tone!”
“The land lines are down,” Eddie said, looking distracted. “So is the radio, and cellphone service keeps cutting out.”
“But the Park obviously has a plan,” Darius said. “So…what’s the plan?”
Eddie laughed. “Do you not get it? We’re doomed. No one is coming to help!”
Kenji asked, “But what about Dr. Wu or—”
“Wu? Who do you think is to blame?” Eddie yelled. “Wu got greedy, and instead of dinosaurs, he built monsters! Masrani, Dearing, they’re all clueless about what’s really going on here. Jurassic World isn’t a park. It’s a powder keg, and it is detonating all around us!”
Then Eddie collapsed into a chair and scowled at the kids.
“No, you have to know what to do,” Darius said. “We drove all the way here ’cause—”
Eddie reached up and grabbed Darius by his shirt. “Whoa, drove? You have a vehicle?”
Then Eddie pushed Darius aside and ran out of the lab.
“Guys?” Kenji said sheepishly. “I, uh, left the keys in the van.”
The kids ran after Eddie.
* * *
Eddie was already halfway to the van when the kids emerged from the lab.
“Stop!” Darius shouted. “What are you doing?”
Eddie kept on running, moving way ahead. “Getting out of here alive!” he yelled over his shoulder.
Yasmina took off in a sprint. If anybody could overtake Eddie, it was her.
But Bumpy squealed and stopped short in front of Yasmina. She tripped, falling down. Shooting Bumpy and Ben an angry look, she got up and started running after Eddie again.
It was too late, though. Eddie had reached the van and was already behind the wheel. He started the engine and took off.
The kids were chasing after the van as it raced down a jungle road.
Yasmina turned on the speed, her legs and arms pumping as she sprinted toward the van. She was getting closer! The van was almost in reach. She stretched out a hand, about to touch it—
ROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRR!
Suddenly, the Indominus rex burst out of the trees and slammed into the van!
Eddie screamed and Yasmina dove for the ground hard as the fearsome dinosaur kicked the van with a clawed foot. The vehicle spun around in a circle. As soon as it came to a stop, Eddie jumped from it and ran. Sensing fear and an easy kill, the Indominus charged after him.
Deciding quickly that it was better to be anywhere the Indominus wasn’t, the kids and Bumpy took off in the opposite direction, running into the jungle.
As they fled, they could hear the horrible growls and roars of the Indominus. Eddie’s screams filled their ears.
They kept on running until they came to a huge cable fence. If they could get past it, they could keep running through the jungle. But how could they do that? It was too high!
“Perfect,” Kenji said with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “The Park’s only intact fence!”
The kids hugged the side of a large tree as they looked around. There were piles of old, rusted metal barrels and a large metal container t
hat had been used a long time ago.
There was another loud roar from the Indominus.
Eddie’s screams could no longer be heard.
The kids looked toward the abandoned van and saw the Indominus raise her head. Hanging from one of its teeth was Eddie’s birthday hat. It fell to the ground, and the Indominus stepped on it.
The dinosaur came closer to the kids, moving slowly. Bumpy got between them and started braying.
“Shhhhh!” Ben said, trying to keep her quiet.
What are we gonna do? Darius thought. He looked around and saw boulders, trees, the metal barrels…the metal barrels.
Darius shook his head and put a finger to his lips, indicating for everyone to be quiet. Ben covered Bumpy’s mouth. Darius motioned for them to follow. They looked scared, but he smiled.
* * *
The kids hid behind the metal barrels as the Indominus rex lumbered their way. Darius had gambled everything on the world’s most dangerous game of hide-and-seek. And he was praying that they were lucky enough to win…and live.
The massive dinosaur cocked its head, listening, trying to find its prey.
Darius peeked out from behind the barrel to see where the Indominus might be. She was right in front of him.
The dinosaur roared. Darius ducked back and bolted.
The Indominus whipped around the corner, trying to catch Darius, but he was no longer there. The kids had moved on, slipping around the side of the shipping container.
But Ben and Kenji were missing! Darius looked around, trying to spot any sign of them. He saw them at last, stuck behind one of the big boulders. Gotta help ’em get over here, Darius thought. Then he had an idea. Darius picked up a rock, ran to the opposite end of the shipping container, and threw it.
The rock landed and made enough noise to lure the Indominus away. Ben and Kenji ran!
Just then, Brooklynn dropped the tablet. It landed with a clatter. The Indominus jerked its head. The dinosaur was now heading right for them! Brooklynn was sure this was the end, until Sammy yanked her behind a tree.
The Indominus was drawing closer…and closer…her fangs only inches away from them. The Indominus whipped its head around and headed in the direction of a nearby sound. It distracted the Indominus just long enough for the kids to make a break.
The two girls sprinted across the way to join the others behind a pile of metal barrels.
The van was now in sight. The kids ran and piled inside. Yasmina started it up. She went slowly at first to keep the engine quiet, but as soon as she thought they were out of the carnivore’s earshot, she hit the gas. The Indominus got smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror every second as the van raced away.
“We’re getting out of here!” Brooklynn said. She looked at Sammy and smiled.
“We did it, camp family!” Sammy said brightly. She moved to high-five Brooklynn as the van hit a bump—and the broken pieces of Brooklynn’s phone spilled out of her pocket!
“My phone!” Brooklynn said. “I knew it!”
Yasmina looked at Sammy in disbelief. “Sammy?”
She should have been looking at the road, not at Sammy. Because Yasmina was distracted just long enough for the van to crash into a creek bed.
* * *
“Is everyone…” Yasmina started to say, and then she laughed bitterly.
She got out of the van and slammed the door shut behind her.
“Yaz, wait, wait!” Sammy said, following her out of the van. Yasmina stood there with her back to the group as they climbed out of the van. Sammy approached and noticed that Yasmina’s fists were clenched.
“Yasmina—” Sammy said.
“We’re not okay!” Yasmina said. “We’re in the middle of a jungle with a monster dinosaur out there. And you. You…”
Suddenly, Brooklynn was there, laying into Sammy. “Destroyed our only way to get help and lied about it! I told you guys!”
“So you did take Brooklynn’s phone,” Darius said, stunned. “Why? What were you doing?”
“Probably trying to erase my video of her taking those samples from the Sinoceratops,” Brooklynn said. Then she gasped. “And you knew about the Indominus rex because you were snooping around Dr. Wu’s office when I ran into you!”
“Hold up, what were you doing in Dr. Wu’s office, Brooklynn?” Darius asked.
“I—it doesn’t matter,” she said. “I didn’t break our only way to call for help and then lie about it! This is not my fault! This is her fault! She—”
“I’m here to spy!” Sammy blurted. All eyes were on her. “For a company called Mantah Corp.”
Darius wrinkled his brow. “Mantah Corp? They’re a bioengineering company. Big rivals with Masrani and Biosyn. They also tried to make dinosaurs, but Wu beat them to it.”
“You doomed us all for some lousy company?” Ben croaked.
“Our ranch was in trouble, so my folks had to borrow a lot of money from some…shady people,” Sammy explained. “We didn’t know they were fronting for Mantah Corp. They said we’d lose everything unless I spied for them. Used the ‘behind-the-scenes access’ I’d get at camp to gather info from Wu’s lab, and DNA from dinos, and whatever else they needed. But then Brooklynn caught on and I got scared, and then…everything went wrong.”
Sammy slumped, defeated. Then she looked at Yasmina. “This is so the last thing I wanted to happen.”
“To be next to a broken van on killer-dinosaur island?” Yasmina said sarcastically. “Hey, me too. What are the odds?”
“Yaz, I—”
“Was it all a lie?” Yasmina said, getting in Sammy’s face. “Wanting to be friends? Pretending you cared about…? You just needed someone to hide what you were doing.”
Sammy started to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. Then she started to cry.
“I’m such an idiot,” Yasmina said.
“You’re wrong. I just didn’t know how to say it—how to explain it to you! Just because I spied doesn’t change who I am or how I feel or—”
Sammy put a hand on Yasmina’s shoulder. Yasmina pushed her away.
“Don’t touch me!” she shouted. “Go away, Sammy.”
* * *
“Not now, Bumpy,” Yasmina said. She was in no mood for company, even if it was in the form of a ridiculously cute dinosaur. Bumpy mewed and rubbed her head against Yasmina’s hand, but Yasmina gently shooed her away.
The Ankylosaurus mewed again and butted up against Ben. He patted her on the head as she became more insistent, nudging Ben harder. “Bumpy, what are you…?” Ben started to say.
Suddenly, the kids became quiet, as the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP of heavy footsteps could be heard. The ground vibrated, and Yasmina and Ben exchanged looks—so that’s why Bumpy was trying to get their attention.
From out of the trees, the Indominus rex appeared, roaring in anger. But she wasn’t after the kids!
Looking up, they noticed a helicopter! The Indominus leaned forward, running back into the forest, chasing the helicopter.
They ran through the jungle, skidding to a halt at the edge of a cliff. In the distance, they could see the Aviary—where the flying dinosaurs were kept. The helicopter was flying overhead, and the Indominus roared. Sure enough, the helicopter got closer to the Indominus and started to fire.
“Yeah, kick its butt, Masrani! Woo-hoo!” Kenji cried, recognizing the park owner’s call sign stenciled on the chopper. “We’re saved! Yeah, baby! I told you, they’ve got it totally under con—”
The helicopter crashed into the Aviary, creating a massive hole in the glass structure. An explosion followed, shattering most of the glass. Pteranodons flew out of the Aviary and over the main tourist area of the Park. Soon, screams could be heard from miles away.
While the others looked on in horror, Brooklynn turned to the tablet. Her fi
ngers danced across the screen as she searched for something.
“The Main Park is over that ridge,” Kenji said, pointing as his finger shook.
Brooklynn showed everyone the screen. “There’s some kind of path here that might—”
“The Kayak River!” Kenji exclaimed. “The entrance is near here. It goes underground, beneath the ridge! If we follow it, it’ll take us right to the Main Park!”
* * *
“Jurassic World River Adventurers!”
Ben nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice that came over the loudspeakers.
“Prepare yourselves for the wonder of the underground river!” It was just the pre-recorded voice of a park announcer!
“Guys, we can still make it to the Park. Everyone, grab a kayak!” Darius said, relieved.
The park announcer went over the various safety procedures as Darius and his friends grabbed life jackets and paddles. The kids broke up into groups, with Brooklynn and Kenji in one kayak. Darius was going to go with Ben and Bumpy, but Yasmina grabbed them instead. She didn’t want to go with Sammy.
Sammy, looking sad, approached Darius. “Come on, Sammy, let’s get out of here,” he said. She went with him and jumped into his kayak.
If only they had noticed the looming shadow that flitted around the cavern…
Darius looked up at the incredible bioluminescent cavern through which they paddled. It’s like another world! he thought.
The cavern was bathed in colorful lights that danced along the rocky formations, playing off the water. At times, the kids were barely even paddling. They watched as the gentle Parasaurolophuses glowed in vivid blues and greens, a result of the dinosaurs grazing on the abundant bioluminescent plants growing throughout the cave.
Brooklynn broke the silence. “We’re here because of her!” She was still stewing about her phone and Sammy.
Camp Cretaceous, Volume One Page 6
