PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

IV. Freedom Is A Place on Earth: And That's Camp Cretaceous

Chapter Four: Freedom Is A Place on Earth: And That's Camp Cretaceous

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It took another half hour of heavy jungle across a dirt road to reach Camp Cretaceous. Two stone towers stuck twenty feet into the air on either side of the road. In the middle, a double wood door was shut, the Camp Cretaeceous logo printed in large letters on the worn wood. Metal bars jutted in either direction from the stone towers, effectively fencing off Camp Cretaceous from the rest of the island.

Eva's eyes lit up— all of her worries of Kenji gone past, and all that was left was her amazement for the island.

"Welcome, to Camp Cretaceous," Dave announced as they drove through.

They pulled into a large clearing, the trees surrounding them stood hundreds of feet tall, with thick trunks and an even thicker canopy. The jeep parked in between two large islands of flora. Eva stood cautiously, gazing upwards. Their camp was fitted into the treetops as one massive tree house. Vines wrapped around the tree trunks and clung to the underside of the structure. A modernized, silver elevator was connected to the trunk of the main tree, running to the largest part of the tree house. Bridges branched off to other trees.

Something about the way the light fell into her skin, or maybe the smell of the air—sweet and tropical, like mangoes, something made her overjoyed for the wonders of Camp Cretaceous. She had never breathed air so fresh, or felt the sun the way she was feeling it now. There weren't enough words in the dictionary to describe the ecstatic feeling she was on— like being on cloud nine, a greater sense of euphoria running through her veins.

Eva's lips quirked into a frown when she noticed Brooklynn, however, camera up, focusing in on Yasmina. The latter, of which, looked to hate the attention she was receiving.

Eva sucked on her lip as she crossed the parking lot to the two girls. She clapped her hands together, butting in between Yasmina and Brooklynn's camera. "Hey, Brooklynn! So, I'm getting the feeling Yasmina doesn't really want to be on camera, but you lucked out, because I don't mind." She offered a smile, as if to say, back off, in the nicest way possible.

"Okay, Evangeline—"

"Uh, it's Eva," She corrected, cringing at the use of her full name. Yasmina slipped past the two, headed for the elevator.

"Okay, cool, I can roll with that. So..." Brooklynn spoke slowly, "How's the jungle, compared to the city? You're pretty far from... prep school, aren't you?"

Eva nodded, surprised Brooklynn got it all right, right off the bat. She opened her mouth, nothing but air escaping. "It's... really really pretty here. And! The dinosaurs, can't forget those," She laughed nervously. "I'm hoping to see some parasaurolophuseseses." She cleared her throat. "Those are my favorite," Eva grinned.

Brooklynn nodded, lowering the phone. "Thanks, Eva."

Eva gave her two thumbs up before heading in the direction of the others. Roxie and Dave were moving all the luggage near the elevator. As Eva stopped a few feet from the steps, Dave gathered everyone around. "Announcement time from your co-head counselors."

Roxie whispered something to him that had him frowning. She turned to the campers happily. "Okay, everyone, there's some ground rules to cover. Curfew's at eight p.m., and lights out at nine p.m. sharp."