PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XXI. Kenji Is A Pretty Little Princess

Chapter Twenty One: Kenji Is A Pretty Little Princess

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A second baryonyx began closing in on them, snapping its jaws at every sharp turn Brooklynn and Eva took. Eva kept Brooklynn in front of her, her bag of water weighing her down the more she pushed herself to keep going.

They finally turned, heading in the direction of Sammy and Darius.

"Run, run, run!" B shouted at the others. They turned, eyes wide, and obeyed.

The baryonyx that was after them split from Brooklynn and Eva, and turned to Sammy and Darius.

Brooklynn and Eva huddled behind a trunk, watching as the baryonyx took a bite of open air, missing Sammy by inches.

It froze, eyes stuck on the baryonyx that was trapped in the cage. They both screeched at each other, communicating in a language the campers didn't understand.

"Guys, over here," Brooklynn whispered to them.

All four of them crouched behind the trunk, watching as the two baryonyxes continued to communicate with one another. The free baryonyx butted its head against the cage, to no avail.

"It's trying to free the other baryonyx."

While the dinosaur was distracted, Eva, Darius, Brooklynn, and Sammy snuck away, only to be met with another baryonyx. "Go, go, go, go!" Eva screamed as she took off, weaving between cages to escape the dinosaur.

She pulled ahead, feet sliding on gravel as she slipped behind a chest with rifled supplies inside. She peered over the top, watching as Sammy fell behind another a few dozen feet from her. Brooklynn and Darius ran past. They climbed onto one of the cages that still held a stegosaurus inside.

The carnivore was jumping the side of the cage, snapping its jaws at Brooklynn. Eva couldn't watch. She slid down, her back to the campers, wondering what would be the easiest way to get out of there. She could run forward into the jungle, but who would be her guide back to Camp Cretaceous? She could dip away, any direction away from the angry baryonyx. She could run, save herself. But what would happen to the others? What would happen to her if they survived?

Darius shouted, "Eva! Sammy! The stegosauruses! Open the gate!"

Eva looked between the baryonyx hell bent on Darius and Brooklynn, and the stegosauruses behind them. She was closer than Sammy, but her tongue slid between her teeth, and she made the impromptu decision to pretend like she didn't hear Darius' pleas of help. She ducked further behind the chest, legs down flat.

"It's working! It's working!"

Eva peeked over the top to see Sammy on the other side of the station, helping B and Darius to the ground. They started to sneak away, so Eva stood rather abruptly to join them.

She snuck around the baryonyxes, who had their backs to her, cornered by the stegosauruses, before taking off in a sprint after the others.

"Awe," Sammy cooed when Eva finally rejoined them.

The third baryonyx, which was previously trapped, rejoined the other two as Darius ran up to the campers. They snarled and screeched, and sent the stegosauruses running in the campers' direction.

Eva's eyes widened and she immediately took off in a sprint, running in what she hoped was the direction back to Camp Cretaceous. As she ran, Darius shouted directions back to camp. When she began to recognize the land, she pulled ahead to warn Kenji and Yasmina.