Camp Cretaceous, Volume One

by Steve Behling

  Kenji’s face smacked into the Plexiglas a few times.

  “Ha! I’m really getting the hang of this!” Ben said, proud of himself.

  Kenji hit the glass again.

  “Are you seeing this?” Darius said as he looked at a Brachiosaurus. “Whoaaaaaaaa!”

  The kids were about a hundred feet behind the slow-moving herd of dinosaurs. Roxie and Dave were in the 6x4, following closely. Their transport jumped like it was hitting a speed bump every time one of the massive dinosaur’s tree trunk–sized legs struck the ground.

  The sky grew darker as Sammy peppered Yasmina with question after question, trying to draw her out.

  “What’s your favorite color?” Sammy asked. “Favorite food? Favorite color of food?”

  “Orange, orange, and orange,” Yasmina said, trying to end the conversation.

  “Jokes!” Sammy said, nudging Yasmina. “I love jokes! Oooh, what do you and your friends do for fun?”

  Unable to take it anymore, Yasmina yanked on the joystick, causing the gyrosphere to lurch forward. It caught Sammy off guard, and she suddenly became quiet.

  * * *

  “How awesome is this?” Darius said. “We’re, like, so close!”

  Darius maneuvered their gyrosphere as close as he could to the dinosaurs, determined not to miss anything. Brooklynn, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care at all. She was on her phone, looking at her latest video: “Ben Meets Bumpy!”

  She had a frown on her face, though.

  “ ‘Used 2 b cool.’ ‘You made Jurassic World BORING,’ ” Brooklynn said, reading the comments on the video. “ ‘Lame.’ ‘No one likes u NE more.’ ”

  “Uh, hey, can you believe that an Ankylosaurus’s tail is strong enough to shatter bone?” Darius said, changing the subject.

  “Can you believe I don’t care?” Brooklynn snapped. She looked at Darius, then softened.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just…having one of those days. There’s a lotta pressure when your whole life is about being popular. I’m not like you. I can’t just tell a lame story and move on.”

  “Wasn’t that lame,” Darius said, a little hurt.

  “Trust me, it was,” Brooklynn said. “But you’re not even fazed! I just need people to…to like me.”

  Brooklynn stared at Darius. Then, sadly, she said, “You wouldn’t understand.”

  * * *

  CRACK!!!

  Thunder echoed across the plain as the sky above continued to darken.

  “I thought you said the storm rolled up the coast?” Roxie said, concerned.

  “It must have rolled back down,” Dave replied.

  BOOM!!!

  Another crash of thunder caused a Stegosaurus in front of the 6x4 to rear up. The creature swiped its tail, nearly taking out a nearby Ankylosaurus! The dinosaurs bellowed loudly.

  Roxie hit the gas and drove in front of the kids in their gyrospheres, slamming the brakes. The gyrospheres came to a halt, as the herd of dinosaurs continued to move ahead without them.

  Dave clapped his hands to get the kids’ attention. They popped the hatches on their gyrospheres so they could hear him better.

  “New plan!” Dave said. “The storm’s getting worse, so…we’re all going back to camp!”

  Thunder rumbled threateningly.

  “We’re not gonna let a little rain stop us, are we?” Darius said. “When else will we get the chance to ride alongside a herd of dinosaurs?”

  Dave shook his head. “Sorry, can’t risk it.”

  The radio in the 6x4 crackled, and Roxie picked up the receiver. “Hullo, hullo, Roxie here!” she said. There was only crackling in response. “Can you hear me? Anyone?”

  “Okay, new new plan,” Dave offered. “Storm’s interfering with the radio, so Rox and I will drive ahead and tell the others we’re pulling out. We’ll be right back. Stay together and stay behind the herd.”

  Disappointed, Darius watched as Roxie and Dave drove off.

  * * *

  Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed, frightening a Sinoceratops. The dinosaur broke from the herd, and Darius watched, mouth agape, as the creature ran off in the opposite direction.

  “That Sinoceratops is gonna get lost!” Darius said. “We need to go after her!”

  “You heard Dave,” Brooklynn said. “Let’s just chill out and wait here.”

  “I’ve read everything about Sinoceratops behavior. We can get her!” Darius said.

  Man, how can I convince her? Darius wondered. Then he thought of something.

  “Your followers might really love a thrilling dino chase….”

  Brooklynn looked at Darius and smiled.

  Darius sealed the gyrosphere, and Brooklynn raised her phone to start filming.

  * * *

  “Wait!” Sammy cried over the headset radio. “Are you guys going after her? I really don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ve seen cattle spook before, and—”

  “Let’s go!” Yasmina said, ignoring Sammy and pushing the joystick forward. The gyrosphere took off, following Darius and Brooklynn.

  Then Kenji sealed the door to his and Ben’s gyrosphere.

  “Oh no,” Ben said. “There’s no way that I’m—”

  “Great!” Kenji said. “I’ll drive!”

  The three gyrospheres were now racing off in pursuit of the frightened Sinoceratops. Darius was in the lead and had pulled up close behind the creature.

  “Almost got you, girl!” Darius said.

  The Sinoceratops veered. Only then did Darius see the enormous rock right in front of them! He pulled hard on the joystick, and the gyrosphere barely missed the boulder.

  “Sorry,” Darius said as Brooklynn nearly dropped her phone. “That was close.”

  Brooklynn reached into her mouth, removing a wad of gum she had been chewing. She placed it on the back of her phone, then stuck the phone to the dashboard of the gyrosphere.

  “Voila!” she said proudly. “Instant phone mount.”

  “Great idea! And also, ew.”

  “Just keep driving, Dino Nerd.”

  “Sure thing, Superstar.”

  The two grinned at each other as the gyrosphere raced forward.

  * * *

  “Come on, Darius! Get closer!” Brooklynn said.

  “Someone flank her on the other side and we can lead her back to the herd!” Darius said over his headset.

  “Wait, you’ll scare her!” Sammy protested.

  Then, out of nowhere, Kenji zoomed ahead, flanking the Sinoceratops opposite Darius and Brooklynn.

  As Sammy predicted, the Sinoceratops panicked, making a loud noise.

  But Darius’s plan seemed to be working! The dinosaur was sandwiched between the two gyrospheres! Maybe they could lead it back to the herd!

  “I’ll cut her off. It’ll be fine, Sammy!” Darius said. Then he moved his gyrosphere in front of the Sinoceratops. The creature reacted by making a U-turn and running away.

  “Listen up, y’all,” Sammy said. “We gotta get her before she goes and spooks the whole herd! Stay to the outside, or—”

  Before she could finish, the two other gyrospheres zipped by in pursuit of the Sinoceratops.

  “Relax,” Yasmina said to Sammy. “Darius knows dinosaurs.”

  “We need to gently steer her away!” Sammy said.

  “A Sinoceratops weighs two tons!” Darius replied over the headset. “She won’t notice ‘gentle’!”

  “No, wait!” Sammy shouted, but it was too late. Darius had already moved his gyrosphere in front of the Sinoceratops. The dinosaur was totally spooked and knocked Darius and Brooklynn right into the herd!

  * * *

  “We’ve got multiple assets straying from the herd!” one of the park employees cried out.

  “The
kids!” Dave and Roxie said in unison. The counselors ran back to their 6x4, but before they could hop in—SMASH!—an Ankylosaurus knocked the vehicle over. Dave and Roxie had to dive out of the way to avoid being hit by their now airborne truck, which landed upside down with a loud crash.

  * * *

  The storm arrived, but it was nothing compared to the storm of dinosaurs that Darius and Brooklynn had stumbled into. They were weaving in and out of dinosaurs, doing their best to avoid becoming extinct themselves.

  WHAP!

  A Stegosaurus tail swatted the gyrosphere, knocking them right into Kenji and Ben. Yasmina twisted the joystick of her gyrosphere, managing to avoid both the collision and the Stegosaurus.

  “Watch out!” Sammy shouted. “Stego, six o’clock! Tail! Tail! Tail!”

  “Hang on!” Yasmina replied, as she skillfully maneuvered the gyrosphere away from each threat that Sammy called out.

  The herd was now stampeding directly toward the kids.

  Not knowing what else to do, the kids drove their gyrospheres off the plain and toward the thick jungle that surrounded them.

  Maybe the dinosaurs won’t follow…or they’ll be confused and lay off, Darius thought.

  “Low branch coming right at us!” Sammy shouted.

  “I see it!” Yasmina shot back. “Let me concentrate!”

  Then came a loud CRACK, but it wasn’t a stampeding dinosaur. A bolt of lightning struck a huge tree in front of Yasmina’s gyrosphere, causing it to fall right toward them! Yasmina managed to stop, but their gyrosphere was trapped in the fallen branches!

  Meanwhile, Ben and Kenji’s gyrosphere was zigzagging through the jungle as they continued to fight over the joystick.

  “Left! Back to right! No, right!” Kenji said. “Back to left!”

  “Fine, you drive!” Ben said, relenting. “Just get us out of here!”

  “Finally,” Kenji said, seizing the controls, only to smash into a tree.

  * * *

  “I think we lost them,” Darius said as their gyrosphere emerged from the jungle. “Okay, think! Sinoceratops are fast on open ground, so we just need to corner her. Then we can get her back to the herd.”

  “Great!” Brooklynn said, climbing out of the gyrosphere. Looking into her phone, she said, “Here we go! Another Brooklynn exclusive! Keep watching, ’cause it’s about to get real!”

  “Brooklynn, wait!” Darius exclaimed. The hulking Sinoceratops charged them.

  “Too real! Too real!” Brooklynn announced, running back to the gyrosphere. She leaped in and buckled up right as the Sino slammed into the vehicle!

  SLAM!

  The Sinoceratops hit the gyrosphere again, its nose horn piercing the gyrosphere’s Plexiglas shell. Then the creature lifted the gyrosphere off the ground and started to shake it back and forth, trying to dislodge its horn!

  The kids were screaming as the Sino flung the gyrosphere off. In the process, the dinosaur’s horn broke.

  The gyrosphere crashed to the ground as the Sino raced into the jungle.

  Darius and Brooklynn looked at each, realizing that they were still alive. They started to laugh.

  Then they looked outside and saw the mud. The gyrosphere started to sink.

  “Help!” came the sound of Brooklynn’s panicked voice over the static-filled headsets. “Can…ear us? We’re stu…udhole…sinking!…elp!”

  Snatching the headset’s microphone, Sammy shouted, “Brooklynn? Brooklynn, can you hear me? Where are you?”

  The only answer was more static.

  “We gotta find them!” Sammy said to Yasmina. “Brooklynn! Darius!” Sammy called out.

  “Guys!” Yasmina hollered. “Can you hear us?”

  Having gotten clear of the fallen tree, Yasmina pushed hard to get the gyrosphere to go faster.

  “Hello? Hello?” Yasmina said into her headset. “Can anybody hear me?”

  “Still no sign of Ben and Kenji?” Sammy said, just as their gyrosphere almost ran into Ben and Kenji. The two boys had left their crashed gyrosphere and were on foot. They looked wet and miserable.

  * * *

  A minute later, all four kids were crammed into Sammy and Yasmina’s gyrosphere, rumbling through the jungle. Suddenly, Kenji heard something from outside. It sounded like screaming—like Darius and Brooklynn!

  “I hear them!” Kenji shouted. “They’re over there!”

  * * *

  Mud poured in through the hole made by the Sino’s horn. Time was running out. Darius threw his shoulder against the hatch, trying to force it open.

  “It won’t budge,” Darius said. “The mud is jamming the doors!”

  “Try driving out again!” Brooklynn suggested.

  “We’ll only sink deeper!” Darius said.

  “Then YOU think of something, Mr. ‘Let’s Go Corner the Dinosaur’!”

  Angry, Darius turned to glare at Brooklynn. The gyrosphere shifted and started to sink deeper and faster into the mud, which was closing in all around them. The mud was even covering the top of the gyrosphere.

  “Brooklynn? Darius?”

  It was Sammy!

  “Hello? Sammy?” he shouted into the headset

  “Do you read me?” Sammy said over the radio. “We’re com…to…elp!”

  * * *

  The four kids had jumped out of the cramped gyrosphere and raced over to Darius and Brooklynn.

  “Get us out of here!” Brooklynn shouted.

  “Roxie? Dave? We’ve got a real emergency here!” Ben said into the radio.

  Yasmina tried to grab hold of the muddy gyrosphere to pull it out but couldn’t.

  “It’s too heavy!” Kenji said, straining.

  “Ahhh!” Ben screamed. “It’s gonna pull you under!”

  Kenji realized that Ben was right! The suction of the mud pulling down the gyrosphere was taking him and Yasmina with it! They hobbled away from the vehicle.

  “Uh, guys?” Ben said as lightning flashed overhead.

  Between Ben and the lightning, everyone’s attention was now on the Sinoceratops, who chose that particular moment to return. She pawed at the ground with a massive foot, ready to charge.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Sammy said. She moved toward the Sinoceratops, arms out, drawing closer to the Sino. “Hey, I get it,” she said gently. “It’s hard to trust strangers. It’s a scary world out there. But I’ll trust you if you trust me.”

  Then Sammy placed a hand on the dinosaur, and the creature seemed to calm down almost immediately. Yasmina stared at Sammy in awe. The moment was so amazing, it almost made everyone forget that Darius and Brooklynn were sinking into a mudhole.

  “Guys!” Darius shouted.

  Sammy looked at Darius and Brooklynn, then at the Sinoceratops. “Hurry!” she ordered. Then she grabbed two vines and told the others her plan.

  Kenji tied the vines together, making a rope. Yasmina grabbed one end and climbed a tree. She wrapped the vine around the tree for leverage and tossed it down to Darius. He reached up and grabbed the vine through the muddy hole in the gyrosphere. Pulling it in, he handed the vine to Brooklynn, who tied it around the dashboard.

  Yasmina then gave the other end of the vine to Ben, and he and Kenji gently wrapped it around the Sinoceratops.

  Sammy kept on soothing the dinosaur until Kenji flashed her the thumbs-up.

  “Come on, girl,” Sammy said to the Sino. “Easy. That’s it. Nice and slow. Let’s go. You got this.”

  Then Sammy offered the Sinoceratops a branch of tasty leaves to eat. As the dinosaur munched on the foliage, Sammy guided her forward. In the process, the powerful Sinoceratops easily pulled Darius and Brooklynn from the mud!

  * * *

  The sky had opened up, and it was pouring rain harder than ever. Roxie and Dave found the kids and returned to camp
. The kids were in the common room now as Sammy looked out the window and into the jungle, alone. At least, until Yasmina walked over to her.

  “I…If everyone would’ve listened to you,” Yasmina said softly. “If I had listened…we wouldn’t have had any problems. I’m not so great at trusting…new people.”

  Then Yasmina took a deep breath and said, “My favorite color is black. My favorite food is pizza….”

  Suddenly, Sammy threw her arms around Yasmina. “I knew we were gonna be friends!” Sammy said.

  “Not really a hugger,” Yasmina said, pulling away from the other girl.

  “You are now!”

  Yasmina rolled her eyes, but then, giving in to the hug, she smiled.

  * * *

  Roxie and Dave had gone off to talk to the woman in charge of the Park. Herding dinosaurs and wrecking gyrospheres were definitely not supposed to be part of the camp experience. Before they left, both counselors had assured the campers that they were in a lot of trouble. This left Darius glum as he sat on a rock ledge that encircled the common room’s dinosaur skeleton centerpiece. Brooklynn walked over to him.

  “Hey, what’s up?” she asked.

  “I thought I knew everything about dinosaurs,” Darius said quietly. “But all I did was mess up today. I just wanted…”

  “People to like you?” Brooklynn said.

  Darius looked at Brooklynn. “Yeah. I guess we have that in common.”

  The boy’s face brightened.

  “Well, tomorrow’s a new day, and thanks to you, I’ve got a new video to show the Brooklanders. So I’m gonna go edit and post,” she said, laughing. “Later, Dino Nerd.”

  Darius grinned despite himself.