Assets Out of Containment |1| Nublar Seven Series

Salvation

"Is that what I think it is?" My eyes were glued to the fire in the woods. Could it be? The fire was clearly man made, but who? My first thought was 'Ben', but how could he? There was no chance. Either way, I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of hope deep down.

"It can't be." Yasmina whispered.

"I'm seeing it too." Brooklynn agreed.

"That is most def a bonfire." Kenji said.

"People!" Sammy sighed, hugging Yasmina tight. Were there other survivors in the island? Maybe we weren't the only ones left behind. Or...

"Someone got our SOS signal!" Kenji said in relief.

"So, what are we waiting for?" I smiled.

"Let's go find them!" Darius threw his arms in the air. "It's time to go home!"

We swiftly gather our essentials and took off to the campfire. I grabbed my knife and put it in my pocket, Kenji had his butter knife and Brooklynn her baseball bat. Darius, Sammy and Yasmina, each grabbed pieces of wood that were laying around.

The part of the jungle where the campfire was located was really dense and we could easily get lost, so every now and then, one of us would climb up a tall tree to locate ourselves. Brooklynn went first, then Kenji, and Darius.

When it was my turn, I easily climbed the tree until I was high enough, the cut on my arm didn't bother me much anymore, nor did my back. Hey, turns out being benched wasn't all that bad.

On the top of the tree, I glanced at the direction the campfire was supposed to be, but nothing... no light or smoke in sight. I did a 360°, carefully analyzing my surroundings.

"No, no, no, no, no." I mumbled to myself. There was nothing! No sign of the campfire. I climbed down, jumping the last couple meters. "It's gone." I informed them, and then there was a collective gasp.

"What do you mean gone?" Yasmina asked.

"Maybe they put it out?" I suggested, still holding onto hope.

"What if they left?" Sammy quietly asked. "What if the people who came to save us gave up and we missed our chance?" After that statement, the mood went downhill fast.

"They can't be far, right?" I tried to lift their spirits. "We just saw the fire a few minutes ago, let's just keep going." I glanced at Darius, silently asking for help.

"Hayden's right, we can't give up now!" Darius said with a confident voice. "We are in the right track, just keep going that-"

A loud roar echoed through the jungle. I jumped at the sudden sound and what it meant. The roar was way too loud and too close for comfort. The six of us formed a circle, with our backs to each other, weapons in hand, ready to fight.

"C-Could be a really big Compy, right?" Kenji shakingly said. "Darius, didn't you say they were creepo skylarks?"

"I said they were crepuscular." Darius corrected.

The foliage moved on my right and suddenly a dinosaur jumped out of it, scattering out our circle. It was a Ceratosaurus, but instead of a fully grey skin, this one had patches of red on its face. It roared at us, but it didn't immediately attack so we took the opportunity to run for our lives.

We ran as fast as we possibly could in the darkness, dodging trees, rocks and logs. Maybe the dinosaur had problems seeing in the dark or maybe it just wasn't as fast, because the distance between us grew. I took the lead with Darius, but suddenly I heard a grunt and a thud, as if someone had hit a tree. I looked back to see Kenji sprawled on the floor, with Sammy coming full speed behind him; she didn't manage to avoid Kenji and tripped on his head, also falling to the ground.