Darius looked at the ecotourists and then back at the Compys, who were still foraging for the granola bar. He had been so consumed with survival and trying to be rescued. Now that the rescue was nearly here, it finally dawned on him that he was going to be leaving Jurassic World. Forever. He might never see another living dinosaur again.
“Hey, two days is still plenty of time to explore,” Darius said, brightening. “In fact, I know a place not too far from here that will blow your minds. You in?”
Tiff and Mitch nodded, smiling at Darius.
Suddenly, an alarm blared, and the Compys scattered.
Kenji and Brooklynn covered their ears, trying to block out the sound of the alarm.
“You!”
Brooklynn whirled around, only to see Hap staring at her.
“Stay away from the yurt!” Hap demanded.
All she had done was touch the yurt—she hadn’t even opened the door yet—and the alarm sounded.
“What’s going on?” Tiff said, racing up behind Hap as Mitch and the other kids followed.
Hap grumbled and pulled out a key fob. Pressing a button, the alarm shut off. He pointed at Brooklynn and Kenji and said, “Isn’t it obvious? The chatty one was trying to sneak into the yurt. These kids can’t go snooping into private spaces!”
Brooklynn glared at Hap, who glared right back at her. What is his deal?
“Now, now, Hap,” Tiff said. “I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?!” Hap said, not buying it.
Then he took a step toward Brooklynn and leaned in. “Do yourself a favor…and stay out of my yurt!”
“Let’s talk about this calmly, ’kay?” Tiff said, grabbing Hap’s arm. She led him away from the group as she turned and gave the kids a forced smile as if to say, “Sorry!”
“Sorry about that,” Mitch said, moving the kids away from the yurt. “It’s our first time working with Hap, and he’s very protective of his yurt. Set it up himself, moved all the equipment in. Hasn’t even allowed us in.”
“Ha!” Brooklynn said. “See? See?”
“Maybe we should postpone our trek. You’ve all been through a lot,” Mitch said, turning to look at Brooklynn. “Especially that one, it seems.”
“No, it’s fine,” Darius said. “Brooklynn won’t touch the yurt, and we’ll all go to the place I wanted to show you.”
Brooklynn stared at Darius, gritting her teeth. “Uh, Darius? I think maybe we should freshen up before we decide that.”
“We already freshened up,” Darius said.
“Can never be too fresh!” Brooklynn insisted.
* * *
Inexplicably, they were back inside the bathroom yurt, huddled around the toilet.
“Really?” Yasmina said. “There isn’t anywhere else we can talk?’
“Hap is hiding something!” Brooklynn said. “Why put an alarm on a yurt?”
“Uh…so a dinosaur or a you can’t sneak in and wreck his stuff?” Yasmina offered.
Darius threw his hands up. “You can’t just let this conspiracy stuff go, huh?” he said. “And for what? A new video to boost your followers?”
“Who said anything about followers?” Brooklynn snapped. “You think I’m doing this to get attention?”
“Yes! That’s your whole deal!’
“And what’s your whole deal, Darius? Dinosaurs? You care more about them than actual people!”
“That’s hilarious, you calling me selfish.”
Brooklynn’s eyes sharpened. “You’re obsessed. Just because Mitch is acting all ‘cool dad’ with you doesn’t—”
At the mention of the word “dad,” Darius’s expression changed completely. It was like the life drained out of him. Instantly, Brooklynn realized what she had said. Darius had lost his father, and she hadn’t meant to tear at that still-open wound.
“Oh no, Darius, I d-didn’t…,” she said, reaching out to him.
But Darius wasn’t listening. He turned around and exited the bathroom yurt.
The other kids followed, leaving Brooklynn behind.
“Aren’t you going to go with them?”
Brooklynn was at the edge of the camp, watching Darius take off with Sammy, Yasmina, Mitch, and Tiff on their dinosaur-photographing expedition. She was trying to fight off the tears that had come from upsetting her friend.
“No, I’m staying here,” Kenji said. Then he smiled at Brooklynn. “I know you didn’t mean the ‘dad’ thing. It was a slip. Happens to everyone. Even me. Especially me. Look, Darius knows you didn’t mean it that way, too. Just give him time.”
Brooklynn looked at Kenji, and suddenly, her whole demeanor changed. “Come on,” she said. “Even if Hap reset the alarm, I can disarm it.”
She turned around and headed back into camp.
“Wait, what?!” Kenji said, watching his friend approach Hap’s yurt.
“Okay, how did ‘give him time’ turn into ‘break back into the yurt’?” Kenji asked.
“Because once I prove I’m right, Darius will have to forgive me,” she said.
“I can’t believe I’m the voice of reason here,” Kenji said with a sigh. “Brooklynn—”
Before they could take another step, they heard someone clearing their throat. Turning on their heels, they saw Hap, waiting by the yurt.
“Mitch and Tiff asked me to go with them,” Hap said slowly. “But I said, nah…I’ll make sure those two don’t get into any trouble. Let’s not make this any more unpleasant than it needs to be.”
Hap placed his large hands on the kids’ shoulders and promptly guided them away from his yurt.
* * *
“You guys are gonna love this place!” Darius said, bounding up the grassy hill. “It’s just up here!”
When they reached the top of the hill, Darius pointed to the valley below. There was a herd of Brachiosauruses grazing. Mitch and Tiff stared at the placid scene, their jaws open.
“Wow,” Mitch said.
Darius looked at Mitch, then gave him a sly smile. Cupping his hands over his mouth, Darius let out a Brachiosaurus call. Then another.
Mitch cupped his hands around his mouth and imitated Darius.
Then the Brachiosauruses bellowed back!
Mitch looked at the dinosaurs with awe and wonder.
Darius pulled out his field guide, flipping through its pages. “If you think this is cool, there is one more place we could go.”
“The watering hole?” Mitch said, looking at the page in Darius’s field guide.
“Just my favorite place on the island!” Darius said. “I mean, getting that close to so many herbivores and carnivores? And nobody’s fighting?”
Mitch and Tiff looked at one another, clearly interested.
“You could get lots of good pictures there!” Sammy said. “There’s so many dinosaurs!”
“Babe, what would we do without this kid?” Mitch said, squeezing Darius’s arm softly.
“Let me radio Hap with the change of plans,” Tiff said. “It’s watering hole day!”
Darius smiled. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he was truly happy.
* * *
“Come in, Hap! Hap, come in!”
Tiff’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie, unheard by both Kenji and Brooklynn, who had fallen asleep at the dining table.
Hap picked up the walkie-talkie and walked away from the sleeping kids.
The moment he was out of sight, Brooklynn’s eyes snapped open. She had only been faking sleep. Then she nudged Kenji, who actually had fallen asleep.
“Come on,” Brooklynn said. “Now’s our chance.”
They ran quietly over to the row of yurts and were just about to go inside Hap’s tent.
“No, you listen!”
; It was Hap, on the walkie-talkie! He was just a few feet away, pacing by the yurt. The kids ducked for cover and listened.
“I’m done!” Hap continued. “No, this isn’t a threat. This is a promise. Stay out of my way. I’ll take care of these kids myself.”
They watched as Hap ducked into his yurt. When he reemerged, he was carrying an Asset Containment Unit stun spear in one hand.
Brooklynn and Kenji were off and running.
“Babe, you okay?” Mitch asked.
Tiff had hurried back to the group, but all the color had drained from her face. “Ya know, babe, I think we should pack up, head back to camp.”
“Uh, what’s going on?” Yasmina asked.
Tiff looked at Mitch, hesitating. “Oh, nothing big,” she said haltingly. “Just an…odd conversation with Hap. Why don’t we go? Now. Okay? Okay!”
Mitch nodded and started to run back down the hill.
“Do you think…?” Sammy said softly, exchanging worried looks with Yasmina.
“I’m sure everything’s fine,” Darius said.
* * *
But when they arrived back at Mitch and Tiff’s glampsite, there was no sign of Brooklynn or Kenji.
“Guys!” Yasmina shouted.
“Brooklynn?” Sammy called out.
“He’s not in the bathroom, either!” Tiff said. “Children, Mitchell and I are going to have a quick grown-up conference. You stay put. We’ll brb, ’kay?”
Then Mitch grabbed Tiff, pulling her aside. Darius watched as they spoke to one another rapidly, the exchange becoming heated.
In that moment, Darius knew that Brooklynn had been right.
* * *
Brooklynn and Kenji were sprinting through the jungle, trying to put as much distance between themselves and Hap and that stun spear as they possibly could.
The kids could hear the rustling sound of brush being pushed aside and knew it was Hap, hot on their heels.
“Keep…going!” Brooklynn said, panting.
They poured on the speed, moving even faster. They made it through the jungle and into a clearing. There was foliage all around them. Before they could take another step and duck back into the jungle, the kids heard a voice.
“I told you to stay put.”
Suddenly, Hap jumped from the bushes, blocking their path with the stun spear.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” Hap said.
But before he could finish, Brooklynn and Kenji flinched in horror as something darted from the bushes. Something fast. It attacked Hap, swinging what looked like a thick tree branch or a walking stick. The tree branch connected, and Hap tumbled to the ground.
Kenji and Brooklynn looked up, and at last got a good look at the person who had saved them.
“Ben?!” Kenji said.
“Wait, explain this again?” an astonished Brooklynn said.
Ben stood before her and Kenji, along with his now much bigger dinosaur, Bumpy, but it still wasn’t registering. Ben really was alive!
Brooklynn couldn’t take her eyes off Ben. Just the sight of him was overwhelming, completely unreal. She thought for sure that Ben had lost his life in the fall from the train. They all had. And now there he was, alive as could be.
While Brooklynn and Kenji could barely contain their excitement at seeing their lost friend alive, Ben seemed to be completely nonchalant. He shrugged as he tied Hap up with vines. Neither Brooklynn nor Kenji said anything, but the looks on their faces practically screamed “How the heck did you survive that fall, and how are you even here?”
Ben looked at his friends and saw the disbelief on their faces. Wearily, like it was already an old story, he said, “Fell off monorail. Got savaged by Pteranodons. Plummeted into a lake. Crawled out of the lake. Lost Bumpy. Found Bumpy. Overheard that couple say they were going to leave you all here to die.” He paused for a moment as though he were trying to remember something that wasn’t really all that important. “And I defeated Toro. Oh, and I may be immortal. Too soon to tell.”
Kenji stared at Ben, trying to take it all in. Ben had just blown through what sounded like an astonishing series of events and made it all seem like it was no big deal. He’d survived the Pteranodons…the part about defeating Toro! That Carnotaurus had given the kids so much trouble during their initial attempt to escape the island. The creature had them cornered and had nearly eaten Darius! And now here was Ben, saying that he had single-handedly defeated the dinosaur! Kenji tried to act cool, but he was impressed. The germaphobe had survived.
And more than that, it was apparent that in the weeks that Ben had been separated from his friends, he had become like a new person. Gone was the Ben who always looked like he was going to throw up and was constantly slathering his hands in sanitizer. In his place was a new Ben. This new Ben was steely eyed and carried a big stick. He looked like he was born in the jungle and exuded a calm fearlessness.
Finished with the vines, Ben looked at Hap’s stun spear on the ground, picking it up. He twirled it around, then stuck it in his belt in one motion. The spear reminded him a little of the one that he had fashioned for himself out of a long stick and a rock—the same one he used to face Toro.
Then he spit.
“New Ben is metal,” Brooklynn said.
“Who cares! He’s back!” Kenji said, throwing his arms around Ben.
Ben went in for the hug but then surprised Kenji by unfastening his fanny pack, the one that Kenji had been carrying around since Ben disappeared.
“We’ve got bigger grubs to fry,” Ben said. “Like figuring out what to do with Hap. I say we feed him to the Mosasaurus. Or the T. rex. Or—”
“Or you could listen to me,” Hap said.
Everyone jumped as they saw Hap sit up.
“You’re awake?” Brooklynn asked.
“Of course I’m awake,” Hap said. “You can’t actually knock someone out by just hitting them on the head. You kids have to trust me. I’m trying to save your lives!”
* * *
“Uh, what’s going on?” Darius asked as he watched Mitch and Tiff pulling out boxes and duffel bags. “Do we really need all this to go look for Brooklynn, Kenji, and Hap?”
Mitch and Tiff exchanged looks; then Mitch smiled at the kids. “Just wanna be prepared for whatever we might encounter along the way. After all, the boat’ll be here in three days. You wanna be rescued in one piece, don’t you?”
“You said the boat would be here in two days,” Yasmina corrected.
Mitch waved. “Two to three days. Right, babe?”
“Hundred percent,” Tiff said. “Now grab that stuff we need from Hap’s tent.”
Sammy watched as Mitch headed into a yurt…that wasn’t Hap’s. “Um, I thought you said that one was Hap’s?”
“Why don’t you kids have some chocolate?” Tiff said, cutting her off. “It’s from France! And over there!”
Before anyone could protest, Tiff shoved them into the dining area.
“I can’t be the only one who thought that was weird,” Yasmina said quietly. “How do you forget what day the boat is coming back?”
“And they’re being kinda shady about all that stuff they’re packing,” Sammy added.
“And about that tent,” Darius said, gesturing at the yurt.
The three kids looked at each other, and almost at once, an unspoken plan began to form in their minds.
“What’s in that?” Sammy said, pointing at a bag of gear that Mitch and Tiff had gathered.
“Huh?” Tiff said.
“Oh, what’s in that?” Sammy continued, pointing at another bag. Turning to Mitch, she said, “Favorite color, favorite food, favorite color of food—go!”
“I…What?” Mitch said.
While Sammy distracted Mitch and Tiff, Darius snuck into the mysterious yurt. Once inside, h
e saw a folding table. Something was sitting on top of it, under a tarp. Darius noticed that there were all kinds of traps on the ground, like ones that might be used to capture wild animals…or dinosaurs. And leaning up against a wall were hunting rifles and ACU stun spears.
“What…?” Darius muttered as he approached the tarp on the table. Lifting it aside, he saw the horns of a Sinoceratops underneath.
Darius gasped and backed away…right…into…Mitch.
“Whatcha doing in here, D?” Mitch asked with an ominous grin.
* * *
“How, exactly, is chasing us through the jungle saving our lives?” Brooklynn asked. “Plus, we heard you tell Mitch and Tiff you were going to ‘take care’ of us.”
“I’m trying to!” Hap said, looking at the vines knotted rather lamely around his wrists. “By getting you home. I was gonna take you somewhere safe and then force Mitch and Tiff to sail us all to Costa Rica.”
Then Hap shot an icy look at Ben. “But then you ran off. Feral boy and his dino pal showed up. And everything went sideways.”
At the mention of “feral boy,” Ben raised his head to glare at Hap. His lips curled into a smile, and he grunted in approval.
Hap turned to face Brooklynn.
“We have a boat moored at the northwest dock,” he said.
“There’s a way off the island?” Kenji said in disbelief.
“You all said it was refueling—” Brooklynn pointed out.
Rolling his eyes, Hap said, “Yeah, they lied.”
“Wow, that’s supposed to make us believe you?” Brooklynn argued.
“Listen! I scouted out some kind of garage near here when we first landed. We can take a vehicle, get to the dock, and prove I’m telling the truth. But only if you untie me.”
Camp Cretaceous, Volume Two Page 5
