Welcome To Jurassic Hell

Ch. 34: Run

"I can't believe I'm the voice of reason here." Kon groans as Brooklyn darts for Hap's yurt.

"Me neither." I groan, following after.

When we reach the tent, Brooklyn lifts the curtain with the means to go inside. However, our little trio is instead greeted by a very tall, very gruff looking Hap. We all gasp and jump back in fear as he comes out, glaring us down.

"Mitch and Tiff asked me to go with them, but I said, 'nah. I'll make sure those kids don't get into any trouble'."

To my fear, he grips Kon and Brooklyn by the shoulders and leans forward. His eyes stare me down, keeping me, the only one not in his grasp, from running and instead standing stone cold behind my friends.

"Let's not make this any more unpleasant than it needs to be."

————

He sticks us at the table, sitting across from us and preventing us from moving with his eyes. For a while I watch him in fear, but I soon grow accustomed to his sight as minutes turn into what has to be at least two or so hours.

By then, my legs have fallen asleep, my chest is starting to ache, and Kon has fallen asleep on Brooklyn's shoulder. That leaves me and Brooklyn in a staring contest with Hap, who's about to win as the pink-haired girl visibly starts to doze.

I want to scream, beg her to stay awake as he eyes fall and her head lolls, but she eventually gives in and starts to snore.

That leaves me, the very much awake and fearful Blake, keeping eyes locked with Hap.

"What are you really doing here?" I build the courage to ask. If I can face dozens of dinosaurs and even injure a few without so much as passing out, I'm sure I can face up to this old bear of a man.

He doesn't reply, just continues to watch me.

"Fine then." I sigh.

Another while passes, and I wish I had the ability to tire myself like the other two. But after that while, the man's radio starts to crack on his hip and I take back those wishes.

It's Mitches voice, I think, calling for Hap.

The man stands up and pulls the talki out of his belt, eyes never leaving mine.

"Stay."

It's the only thing he says before walking away, leaving me stunned as he disappears behind one of the yurts.

That's when Brooklyn jumps up, scaring the living hell out of me.

"Brook-"

She shakes Kon awake and explains to us that she was never really asleep (Kon claims he wasn't either, but the drool he wipes from the side of his mouth begs to differ). We then rush over the where Hap had walked off and listen to him yelling into his talki about not wanting to do something anymore.

"I'll take care of these kids myself!"

That's what scares me, even more so when he drops the communication device to the ground and stomps on it. The pieces splatter and it takes a lot in me not to gasp and blow our cover.

Brooklyn shushes and ushers us to follow her around the yurt, which I don't hesitate to do.

Once we're out of the man's sight we start running, never looking back.

"Come on!"

As we reach the trees, I look back for a second to see Hap watching us from behind. It's a terrifying picture that might never leave my head; his large, stone-still figure standing unmoving across the clearing, watching without any readable expression on his face.

I'm just glad he doesn't take the gun out of his belt once we start dodging through the trees.

————

We can't have been running for long when Hap finally starts to catch up. He must have really strong legs in order to have gotten himself this close so fast.

He carries a shock stick in his hand, telling me he in no way has good motives for chasing us down. It's enough motivation for me to keep running despite the building ache in my chest, almost faster than Brooklyn.

Kon, of course, is the slowest of us, tripping and flinging around everywhere embarrassingly. I'd be laughing if we weren't in danger right now.

We run around trees, through vines, jump over logs, but nothing we do seems to avert the angry man behind us from our tails.

By the time we're reaching a wall of large rocks blocking our path, Hap has already caught up. I've started dragging behind, giving him the opportunity to grab my arm and twist it painfully behind me back.

"Ow! Let go of me!"

He then shoves me forward, knocking me into Kon and Brooklyn and sending us all to the ground.

My chest and throat start to flare up and I let out a small cry as I push myself up and roll to my back. Kon and Brooklyn do the same, and we watch helplessly as Hap closes in on us.

"I told you to stay put!"

Brooklyn and Kon start crawling back, but I find myself too weak to do the same. As the two kids reach the rock wall, Hap reaches me. He holds the shocker out menacingly and flicks it on, giving me a good view of the blue and white sparks of electricity that generate from the top.

This is the end.

He's going to kill me.

Then he's going to kill Brooklyn and Kon.

I'm going to die.

I close my eyes and await my fate, but instead of pain, I only hear the sound of a sharp cry and a big thump that sounds in front of me.

My eyes fly open and barely catch as Hap hits the ground, eyes closed, out completely cold.

How...?

I look up, and that's when time seems to stop.

Because standing right above me, figure shining bright in the sunlight as if some kind of angel, is a grown ankylosaurus...

And Ben.

"What?" He smirks down at me. "You've never seen a ghost before?"