Welcome To Jurassic Hell

Ch. 21: Safe Space

Long-story-short, we all ended up finding the beacon and sending a signal out.

I was the only one of the group to barely put any effort into getting it from the T-Rex's nest, though nobody seemed to notice, even after the chaotic moment with the Compies.

After getting the beacon secured, we spent the night up in a tree. I barely slept a wink.

Currently, it was the middle of the next day. We'd gone two days now without food and water — it was inevitable that, if the dinosaurs didn't, the starvation and thirst would kill us.

Everyone sat at the trunks of our trees, awaiting Darius, who was scanning the tree line above with a pair of binoculars. I sat next to Kon, tapping my foot on the grass while he threw stones at the tree by Yasmina's head. Each one hit the bark with a crack and fell to the ground with a soft thump. It was annoying, but I didn't say anything.

The pain was still getting worse, of course. My chest was now in continuous pain instead of coming on and off, and it was starting to spread up to my throat, making it drier than it already was with the lack of hydration. It was at this point I was starting to regret hiding my pain from the others, but I couldn't tell the truth now.

I'll be fine.

I kept telling myself.

It'll get better on its own.

Obviously it wouldn't, but I'd rather lie to myself for unknown reasons.

After a while, Yasmina finally had enough of Kon and caught one of his rocks. She turned to him and glared, stopping him from throwing any more. I smile to myself as the girl turns back around and Kon remains frozen in place.

A cough erupts.

Just one, one small and painless one that I think is no big deal. I cover my mouth with my fist and everyone pays me no attention.

Darius, a few moments later, returns from his station and everyone gets up.

I struggle, but get to my feet through the pain.

"Good news?" Sammy asks. She and Brooklyn come around past Yasmina, completely ignoring her pained gasps and grunts as she limps over a tree limb. I walk over and pull her arm over my shoulder with another meek cough, that, once again, goes without even myself noticing or caring. I help her over to the rest of the group.

"The pteranodons are nesting on the eastern mountains, so that's out." Darius informs, making everyone groan.

Since this morning, we've been trying to find a place to make some kind of more permanent shelter. Somewhere we can stay without having to run somewhere else the next day. So far, we've found nothing.

"Dang it." Sammy sighs. She crosses the area surrounded by a dozen other x's on our map out.

"The mountains, grasslands, and jungle are out because of dinosaurs."

"And Kenji's penthouse is out because he's bad at math."

Kon scoffed.

"I didn't think my dad was serious about changing the locks if I failed algebra. This is not my fault!"

"That's actually completely your fault." Yasmina points, making me smile briefly.

"Okay, well, whatever." Kon shrugs. "The whole island is full of dinosaurs, we're cooked!"

"Oh, Kenji, we can't give up, now! We set off the emergency beacon."

"Sammy's right." Darius nods. "We need to find somewhere safe to hole up until rescue arrives."

"Where? It's been days! We're out of options."

"Yaz, don't worry. I'm sure we'll find somewhere." I try to assure her, though it doesn't really work.

"I can't keep running while I'm in pain, Blake. My ankle's getting worse by the minute the more we keep running, and running, and...we...we need to find something."

I'm about to reply, before Kon interjects.

"Hold on, now, since when did you two become such good friends? I thought you hated everyone's asses here."

Douche...

"And I thought you were Mr. VIP of the island, but not even your father lets you roam wherever you want!"

"Hey, now, don't-"

"Wait, guys."

We all stop and look at Darius, who smiles sheepishly. It doesn't feel comforting, and I worry about what he's going to say next.

"There's...some place we haven't tried yet, but I don't...I don't think you're gonna like it."

"Try me." Yasmina challenges.

————

"You win, this is not where I want to bunk."

We all stand in front of where we all started this hell of an adventure. The camp is just as wrecked as it was when we'd last been here, debris, smoke, and trash scattered all over the area. Pieces of torn clothing and broken pieces of furniture made it for a darker ambience.

"Are you serious?" I say. "Didn't we specifically run away from here?"

Darius puts his hands up defensively and gestures to the surrounding clearing. The once bright, thrilling landscape was now more thriller and chilling. It was as if we were in a horror movie, being hunted by hundreds of exotic monsters that would crush us into bits.

"Just hear me out. There's a stream of fresh water, we've got trees-"

I'm far away from the group before he can finish his explanation, falling to my knees at the side of the flowing stream surrounding the camp. Indeed, it looked shiny and fresh, and just what I've needed the past forty-eight hours.

"Blake?"

I don't give myself much time to drink down the substance, and shove my cupped hands up to my lips, throwing down all of the water inside them. It runs cold and wet down my tongue, which would be uncomfortable for anyone else, but felt heavenly to me. It formed its own little stream dropping down my throat, cooling the inflamed flesh and tissue.

Oh, God, this felt amazing...

After pushing down another gulp of water, I cough and give a thumbs up back to the group.

"Im in!" I shout.

Everyone joins my side and starts to down their own fills of water.