As a lone Parasaurolophus screeched at a diving Pteranodon, the T. rex burst out of the jungle. It knocked the Pteranodon out of the air, and the flying reptile skidded along the ground.
The Parasaurolophus turned to run away, and the kids gasped as they saw the dinosaur herd coming right back toward them!
Yasmina sprinted for the 6x4 and hopped in. “Ben, let’s go!” she shouted.
But Ben ran to the driver’s side and hauled Yasmina out of the vehicle just as a Sinoceratops slammed into it.
The dinosaur stampede was all around them, and Bumpy did her best to protect her friends with her tail.
* * *
The ground rumbled as Darius and Brooklynn hopped into the gyrosphere. But it wouldn’t start! Mitch and Tiff watched as a Stegosaurus approached the kids and ran off into the jungle.
The Stegosaurus rammed into the gyrosphere, jump-starting the engine. Brooklynn and Darius both grabbed the joystick, and the vehicle took off!
* * *
Mitch and Tiff were running at full speed, terrified of being flattened by the oncoming crush of dinosaurs. The ground rumbled beneath their feet as they ditched the duffel bag to lighten their load.
They saw a low-hanging branch up ahead, and Tiff grabbed it, swinging herself up into the tree. Mitch was only a second behind her. If they’d been any slower, the dinosaurs would have run right into them. As it was, the dinosaurs thundered beneath the tree, shearing off some lower branches.
The dinosaurs caused the tree to vibrate, and Tiff lost control of her rifle. It fell to the ground and was promptly trampled. When the herd had finally passed, the “ecotourists” climbed out of the tree. To say Tiff’s rifle was beyond use was an understatement. It was utterly destroyed.
“No, no, no!” she screamed.
“Leave it and come on!” Mitch shouted. “At this point, we just need to get back to the boat before—WHOA!!!”
Mitch had shifted his step, and something closed around his foot, yanking him up into the air. He was now hanging upside down from a tree branch, swaying back and forth.
“Oh, that’s right,” Tiff said with a sneer. “You set all those traps earlier, didn’t you? They were going to help you catch dinosaurs, weren’t they?”
“Get me out of this!” Mitch screamed.
Tiff tried to get hold of Mitch, to get him to stop swaying. “Hold still!”
“Uh, gee, Tiff,” Mitch said sarcastically. “I can’t, for some reason! Maybe it’s because I’m in one of our snare traps!”
“Well, I’m sorry you forgot where you and Hap set it!”
Before the two could continue their argument, a mighty roar came from the jungle. And it was getting closer. The T. rex!
A horde of Compys came running from the underbrush, and by now Mitch and Tiff knew this was a terrible sign. A moment later, the T. rex emerged, its jaws open, snarling.
“Hurry!” Mitch screamed.
The T. rex roared again, and Mitch swayed from the tree.
Then Tiff grabbed Mitch’s gun, and put her hands in his pocket—removing a set of keys.
“Babe?” Mitch said.
“I’ve never liked that nickname!” she yelled as she ran away, leaving Mitch to the mercy of the T. rex.
The gyrosphere rolled to a halt near the docks as the sun beat down on the jungle below. Smoke filled the Plexiglas ball as Darius and Brooklynn jumped out. They coughed and looked at their surroundings.
In the distance, at the edge of the dock, they could see it—Mitch and Tiff’s yacht.
With Tiff standing on the deck.
“I win!” she shouted, gloating. “I’m out of here! I got the boat, and you’re never getting off this awful, awful island!”
Darius and Brooklynn sprinted toward the dock, but they were too late. They would never reach Tiff in time, as the yacht had already begun to drift away from the pier. Tiff disappeared inside and emerged at the top of the boat, by the captain’s chair.
“In fact, I’m going back, and I’m not telling anyone that you’re here!” Tiff shouted. “You are going to rot here for all eternity—if the dinosaurs don’t get you first!”
Darius watched as the yacht started to shimmy in the water, almost as if something had just jumped aboard—but he couldn’t see anything.
Tiff gave the engine some gas, and the boat dipped in the water slightly as it raced off.
A chill went up Darius’s spine as he realized what had happened. Brooklynn realized it, too.
They both waved their arms wildly, jumping up and down, trying to get Tiff’s attention. “Stop!” they shouted. “Stop! You gotta get off the boat!”
* * *
Tiff was too busy feeling superior. She didn’t even look back as she said, “Stooooop, come baaaaack!” Then she laughed. “No one tells me no. No one gets in my way. You ruined my vacation. My marriage. And my best gun. You are never going home!”
She looked down at her pink neckerchief, straightening it. When she looked back up, she didn’t see open ocean. Instead, all she saw were Baryonyxes.
The dinosaurs jumped at Tiff.
* * *
Back on the dock, Darius and Brooklynn could only watch in horror as the boat sailed out of sight. They knew what was going to happen to Tiff. They did not wish it on her. In fact, it felt like the whole island was that boat, and the dinosaurs were coming for them, too.
The motorcycle roared out of the jungle and toward the dock, its engine sputtering. It was followed closely by Ben and Bumpy.
“Hey,” Ben said, raising his hand.
Darius ran over to his friend and wrapped him up in the biggest hug. Ben smiled and hugged Darius right back.
“I’m sorry,” Darius said. “I tried to hold on—”
“I missed you guys, too,” Ben replied.
Before Darius could break the hug, Brooklynn jumped in and hugged them both. They were quickly joined by Kenji, then Yasmina, and at last, Sammy.
“Starting…to lose…air…,” Yasmina croaked.
They laughed and broke the hug.
“So…what now?” Kenji asked. “Try to find another distress beacon?”
“No,” Darius said. “We’re done waiting for someone to rescue us. It’s time we found our own way off the island….”
The group smiled at Darius, and he grinned right back.
“Besides, I don’t think anyone got our signal anyway.”
Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, at Dr. Wu’s secret lab, something was stirring. The dull thumping sound of flesh hammering against steel and reinforced glass echoed in the darkness. Sharp talons scratched at the enclosure as cold fog poured out of the deactivated machinery that had kept the now-awakened thing in icy suspended animation. Suddenly, the glass shattered, and the creature let out a horrifying screech to let the world know it was free!
Darius flashes back to when he and the other Camp Cretaceous survivors were so close to getting off the island…
…and to the moment they lost Ben.
Darius realizes that there’s an emergency beacon that can be activated to call for help.
Unfortunately, the emergency beacon has become part of the T. rex’s nest on Main Street.
The T. rex does not like anything—or anyone—invading her territory.
Armed with a pair of kids’ walkie-talkies, Darius and Kenji plan to sneak into the T. rex’s nest to activate the beacon…
…while Yasmina and Brooklynn keep an eye out for the dinosaur.
The kids don’t know if they succeeded, but they feel good about working as a team…
…and as usual, they end up on the run. Sammy and Brooklyn help the injured Yasmina.
The kids confront the angry Carnotaurus they nicknamed Toro…
…and Toro is not g
oing to forget them.
Jurassic World is filled with beauty and wonder…
…but so much danger, too.
As the dinosaurs reclaim more and more of the island for their own…
…the kids feel like they are never going to get off the island. Will help ever arrive?
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Camp Cretaceous, Volume Two Page 8
