“Or maybe something else would have happened and we would still be stuck here,” Kenji offered. Brooklynn blinked and stared at Kenji. She hadn’t thought of that.
“Look, I…I know you’re mad at Sammy,” Kenji said. “But getting mad doesn’t get us out of here. It just…makes more people mad, you know? Put yourself in her shoes. At this point, is there anything you could say that would make Sammy feel worse than she already does?”
Brooklynn was quiet. She glanced at Sammy sitting in Darius’s kayak, paddling silently.
“Just ask,” Sammy said lifelessly.
“It’s just that you talk so much about your ranch and your family,” Darius began. “But your family sent you here. To break the law.”
“They didn’t send me. They said no to Mantah Corp. They said they’d rather lose everything than use me like that.”
Darius looked at Sammy, surprised.
“I was the one who contacted the Mantah Corp agent. I agreed to come here. My family…they didn’t even know what I was planning until I was already on the ferry. Smashing the phone was an accident, but…Brooklynn’s right. This is all my fault.”
“I still don’t see why…”
Sammy turned to face Darius and stared him straight in the eye. “If your family was in trouble, wouldn’t you do anything in your power to save them?”
* * *
The group took a momentary break and stopped paddling. But something was wrong.
Darius flinched as Sammy grabbed his arm, nails digging into his skin. “If we stopped paddling,” she said, “why are we still movin’ forward?”
Looking down into the river, Darius could just see that the kayak was being pulled ahead. The sound of rushing water could be heard in the distance. Glancing up, Darius thought he could make out some kind of opening ahead. It looked like there had once been a grate that covered the opening.
Something had ripped it apart.
“Paddle!” Darius cried out. “There’s a current pulling us into a different tunn—”
But it was already too late. The current was far too strong and pulled the kayaks down into the dark tunnel.
* * *
When the kayaks emerged, it took Darius a second to realize they had emerged into daylight once again! Well, dusk, anyway.
The water was calm as the three kayaks drifted away from each other.
“We’re okay!” Ben shouted.
Sammy laughed. They all felt a rush of relief that the current had not led them into a more dangerous situation…until…
Kenji gasped. “Guys—we’re in the Jurassic World Lagoon,” he said. “And so is the Mosasaurus!”
Darius gulped as just beneath the surface of the water, the massive shadow of the largest creature at Jurassic World swam below them.
* * *
“It’s circling,” Brooklynn said, scared. “Testing us. It’s acting like a shark. We’re intruders in its domain, so it’s investigating us…before it gets confident and it decides to…”
“This is bad,” Brooklynn concluded.
“We have to get out…now!” Kenji concurred.
Darius looked around to see what their escape options might be. The walls that surrounded the lagoon were way too high to climb. Turning his head, he saw the empty spectator stands on the other side of the wall. There was a ladder on the rail in front of the stands.
The walls may be out, Darius thought. But the ladder…
Suddenly, the kayaks began to bob up and down in the water, as the Mosasaurus’s tail fin breeched the water’s surface. The water was roiling and the kayaks along with it.
“Paddle!” Darius shouted. “Go, go!”
He pointed toward the ladder, and the kids paddled with all the strength they could muster.
* * *
It was hard to tell what was making the biggest waves in the lagoon—the Mosasaurus or the furious paddling of six kids.
Kenji and Brooklynn had reached the ladder and were motioning for the others to join them.
But Darius and Sammy were still far behind. The water around them heaved as the Mosasaurus swam around in circles, slowly honing in on them. Sammy’s panicked eyes met Yasmina’s.
* * *
“No,” Yasmina said. She stopped paddling and stared up at a crane platform. Crouching, she scooped up Bumpy and plopped her into the spot Yasmina had just vacated. Then Yasmina took Bumpy’s spot.
“What are you doing?” Ben shouted.
“Whatever you do, don’t stop paddling!” Yasmina ordered, and then she grabbed her metal paddle and pulled herself up onto the crane platform.
From her vantage point on the platform, Yasmina could see the Mosasaurus closing in on Darius and Sammy. She banged the paddle on the platform as hard as she could. WHANG!
The sound echoed throughout the lagoon.
* * *
Brooklynn and Kenji had made it up the ladder and into the safety of the spectator stands. They helped Ben and Bumpy up and called for Darius and Sammy to hurry.
The Mosasaurus was almost upon them!
* * *
“Don’t look back, Sammy!” Darius said frantically. “Just keep paddling!”
“I’m tryin’, but—what’s Yaz doin’?”
The Mosasaurus was getting nearer and nearer as Darius raised his head. He saw Yasmina on the platform, banging her paddle.
“Hey! Hey!” Yasmina shouted. “Over here! Hey!”
“She’s distracting it, buying us time!” Darius said. “Keep going!”
* * *
“We gotta do something!” Sammy yelled as they reached the stands.
Thinking fast, Kenji ran off and started up the feeding crane.
Yasmina looked up and saw the chain coming her way. She jumped onto it, holding the chain tightly as it swung her back toward the others.
The Mosasaurus was now in pursuit as the crane moved back to the spectator stands. The dinosaur was picking up speed. It was familiar with the chain. The chain brought its food every day. And there was something on the chain.
“She’s not gonna make it!” Kenji screamed.
As the Mosasaurus breeched the water’s surface, just about to take a bite, Yasmina swung forward on the chain. The Mosasaurus missed by inches!
Chomping down, its massive jaws snapped the crane cable instead, and the Mosasaurus sunk back into the water below.
The crane arm continued to inch Yasmina—who was hanging on to the chain for dear life—toward the stands. As soon as she was over the stands, Yasmina fell, her left ankle hitting the ground hard. She screamed in pain.
Sammy rushed to her friend’s side.
* * *
“Thank you,” Sammy said, sitting down next to Yasmina. The athletic girl winced as she touched her left ankle ever so slightly. She was used to aches and pains, but this was different.
“For saving us,” Sammy continued. “For saving me. That was amazing. You’re amazing.”
“Stop,” Yasmina said, standing up, grimacing at the pain. “We may need each other to stay alive, but don’t think for a second that makes us friends again.”
Yasmina turned away, doing her best to disguise her limp. Sammy frowned and drew her knees up close to her chest.
“You okay?”
Sammy looked surprised as Brooklynn sat down next to her.
“Naw. Not really.”
“Yeah, dumb question,” Brooklynn said. “I don’t know her that well, but I think if you give Yaz some space, she’ll come around.”
“Why are you being nice to me?” Sammy asked.
“Because I’ve done my share of selfish things,” Brooklynn said. “I only knew what you were up to because I was also sneaking in places I shouldn’t have been. You were at least doing it for family. I was doing it to impress a bunch
of angry internet randos.”
A look of determination came over Brooklynn’s face. “Plus, when we get out of here, you’re gonna give me the exclusive on all the juicy details of you spying for Mantah Corp. ‘Brooklynn Unboxes a Conspiracy.’ Try to tell me my videos are lame after that, angry internet randos!!”
Sammy looked into Brooklynn’s eyes.
“So…deal?” Brooklynn said, putting out her hand. Sammy grinned. She took the other girl’s hand. They shook.
Then came the sirens.
“Attention!” a voice said over the PA. “All park-goers must report to the south ferry dock for immediate evacuation. Last ferry departs in ninety minutes.”
“We have to move,” Darius said. “The only way we’re going to make it is if we run.”
Sammy nodded in Yasmina’s direction, catching Darius’s attention. He saw her hunched over, rubbing her injured ankle.
Yasmina started to walk, but Darius could see that it was a painful effort.
“Are you sure that’s the best way to get there?” Sammy asked.
Suddenly, Yasmina straightened up. “I’m fine,” she said sharply. “I’ve competed with a torn ACL. You should be way more worried about Ben and Bumpy.”
“What we should all be worried about is catching a boat out of here, and, naturally, we have a problem,” Ben said. He zipped open his fanny pack and pulled out one of the kids’ placemat maps from the common room. Ben flipped the placemat over, revealing a printed map of the island.
“We’re here,” he said, pointing, “and the docks are on the southern tip of the island. Even if we ran at peak Yaz speed, there’s no way we’d make the last boat out.”
“You don’t know that,” Sammy said, hoping he didn’t.
“Yes, I do,” Ben said. “I memorized the evacuation plan on the ferry ride over.”
“Okay,” Darius said, regrouping. “So we need another way. Can we use those kayaks? Or send the fastest one of us to run and tell the ferry people to wait?”
Darius peered into the sky and flinched as a flash of light caught his eye. Then there was a soft sound—a whooshing noise—and it seemed to be coming closer. Looking at the elevated track above the Mosasaurus lagoon, Darius saw it—the Jurassic World monorail! It could take them all the way to the ferry docks!
* * *
They were already heading up the stairs that would take them to the approaching monorail when Toro arrived.
Brooklynn saw him first and shushed everyone, making a frantic “GET DOWN!” motion with her hands.
Darius turned his head, looking below. Toro was by the monorail stairs, sniffing as if he had caught the scent of prey. Darius locked eyes with the group. He whispered, “Move. Fast.”
Crouching, the group stayed down below the railing, trying to avoid the Carnotaurus’s field of vision.
So far, so good.
Kenji made it to the top of the stairs just as the monorail pulled into the station. But a roar from below let the group know that the Carnotaurus had found them.
“RUN!” Darius screamed as the monorail slowed down and came to a stop. Its doors opened. Everyone sprinted across the platform for the monorail.
The monorail’s doors were already closing, and Toro was coming!
* * *
Below them, Toro attempted to force his way up the stairs to catch his prey. But the stairs were far too narrow for the dinosaur’s massive frame. Darius gasped as he saw the dinosaur coming closer.
Yasmina struggled on her injured ankle.
Darius hurried to her and threw her arm over his shoulder, taking some of the weight off her bad ankle. With the Carnotaurus approaching, they finally made it to the top. They raced across the platform, where they found Kenji and Brooklynn holding the monorail doors open—
“Please stand clear of the closing doors,” the PA insisted.
“Hurry!” Brooklynn cried.
As Darius and Yasmina leaped through the monorail doors, they saw Toro lunge! But the stairs collapsed beneath his monstrous weight, and the platform crumbled.
* * *
As the monorail zoomed along the tracks, Darius stared out the window, his mind drifting. He caught sight of Jurassic World in a state of complete disarray and destruction. Smoke drifted skyward, flames burning bright below.
Turning to the others, Darius said, “Guys. We did it. We’re going home.”
“This calls for a celebration!” Brooklynn said.
“I cannot wait to be home,” Yasmina said. “Once my ankle’s better, it’s back to training. And I guess finding a new corporate sponsor since mine was Jurassic World.”
Darius almost laughed.
“It’s gonna be weird for things to be normal again,” he said. “Like, are video games gonna seem boring now?”
Kenji laughed.
“How about you?” Darius asked, looking at Kenji. “What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get home?”
“Depends on which wing of our mansion you’re talkin’ ’bout,” Kenji said. “East wing’s usually off limits, but Dad and Candy are away on business, so…I guess I’ll go downstairs to our bowling alley. Staff always lets me win. Life of a VIP.”
“So,” Sammy said, changing the subject. “What have you missed, Ben?”
The kids kept on talking, sharing what they would do once they got home and weren’t being chased by dinosaurs and being faced with an all-encompassing, impending doom.
Everything was going to be fine.
Until the thunderous boom in the distance and the sudden shaking made them all realize it wasn’t.
* * *
The kids looked out of the monorail windows, but they couldn’t really see anything other than the sky filled with thick, black smoke and an orange, flickering glow beneath it.
Of course, that was the direction in which the monorail was heading.
“It sounded like an explosion,” Yasmina said.
“I don’t think it was near us,” Darius said, quietly hoping he was right. “We’re okay. We’re still okay.”
Trying to brighten the mood again, Sammy said, “I know camp wasn’t what we thought it was gonna be. But after everything we went through, at least we’re leaving this place with five new friends.”
This was followed by an awkward silence.
“Wait. Do you guys not see us as friends?”
“I mean, doesn’t it usually take more than a few days to become friends with someone?” Brooklynn asked.
“We were thrown together at random, and we have nothing in common,” Yasmina said.
“That’s not true!” Sammy protested. “We’ve been through more together than most friends have in a lifetime!”
“And now that it’s over, what are the odds that we’ll ever see each other again?” Ben wondered.
The monorail car grew quiet as each kid realized that Ben was probably right.
The silence was broken by the sound of the park announcer over the PA.
“Coming up on the right, you’ll see our world-renowned eighteen-hole dinosaur-themed golf course. It’s one of the many wonders that makes this park so very Jurassic.”
Brooklynn looked up at the PA and scrunched her nose. “What does that even mean?”
“I thought I knew,” Darius said. “My whole life, I had this idea of Jurassic World. My dad used to say this place was ‘Allosaurus and a bag of chips.’ He was so corny.”
Brooklynn looked at Darius and turned her head slightly. “Um…‘was’? So your dad is…?”
Darius nodded.
“Dang it!”
Everyone turned to see Ben rummaging through his fanny pack as he talked to himself. “Come on, it’s gotta be here somewhere….Bumpy stepped in something icky, and I’m low on sanitizer. It’s fine. I can make more.”
Fr
om his fanny pack, Ben produced small bottles of aloe vera and rubbing alcohol.
“Ben, why are you here?” Kenji finally asked.
Darius shot Kenji a look. “What he means is, well, you’re scared of dinosaurs. And the outdoors. And sometimes the indoors. And germs.”
“My mom works for Mr. Masrani,” Ben said. “She got me into camp. Said it would be a great way for me to ‘face my fears.’ It’s been a nightmare! I’m sick of being scared all the time. And of running, and of almost getting eaten, and…and of holding everyone back. I just can’t do…this.”
Bumpy mewed quietly, looking at Ben. Then he smiled. “But it’s not all bad. If I hadn’t come, I never would have met—”
WHAM!!!
Something smashed into the monorail window.
Bumpy squealed.
The kids jumped back, recoiling as they saw a winged Pteranodon thrashing against the glass. The creature slipped from view as the monorail continued down the track.
Then they heard a pecking sound.
Behind them, they could see a dark cloud rapidly approaching. But it wasn’t a cloud.
It was a flock of Pteranodons!
* * *
Something’s attracting the Pteranodons, Darius thought. But what?
Then he looked up at the ceiling, at the bright lights inside the monorail car.
“We gotta turn off the lights!” Darius shouted. “Flying reptiles are basically seabirds! They’re attracted to shiny, moving objects, and with all these lights on—”
“We’re a shiny, moving object!” Sammy gasped.
Camp Cretaceous, Volume One Page 7