PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XXXVI. Sweetarts and Milk Duds

Chapter Thirty Six:  Sweetarts and Milk Duds

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The sunlight scattered through the jungle canopy, hitting the floor like a million blotches of ink on wet paper. Dozens of bugs buzzed and chirped, milling around the jungle. It was a rare day, where the air was drier than usual and the sun was out and shining, and despite constantly being chased by dinosaurs, something felt okay in the world. As if Eva were to be chased by an allosaurus, it would all be okay, because the air was less muggy and the sun was bright and cheerful, as opposed to the scary scene that storms on Nublar bring. Yeah, it was a good day. Except, with Kenji so close nearby, it nearly wasn't.

Eva no longer had a problem with Kenji. Which wouldn't be a problem, or rather, shouldn't, but her thoughts were still dark whenever she even thought about him. For so long, she believed Kenji was part of the reason her life became equivalent to a prisoner's, with one toe out of line she would be banished from Rutherford. But two weeks ago she found out he wasn't. Kenji may have seen the aftermath of the prank his friend pulled, but he had absolutely nothing to do with it.

So now every time Kenji would say something, it would be Eva's instinct to roll her eyes, or scoff, or make some crude remark. And that was entirely problematic of its own accord, because Kenji was innocent, and Eva was anything but.

Eva had caught herself many times whenever a rude remark bubbled up in her thoughts. But sometimes they slipped through, like when Kenji told her: "Maybe if you'd listened to me earlier about sticking together and not taking unnecessary risks, we wouldn't be in this mess now," Eva felt he was calling her an idiot, and, without remorse, told him, "Oh, because you're always the expert on everything, right? I don't see you coming up with any brilliant escape plans, Mr. VIP-Know-It-All."

Which, of course, could have been remarkably worse. Though she was still angry with herself for lashing out. Lashing out had to be an old, dead habit. It had to be something she could no longer lean on to get through her day.

Because of this, Eva has decided she has absolutely no idea what to say or how to act around Kenji. Every time he came near, she didn't trust herself, and promptly turned the other way. If she could run, she would. If she could bolt, she'd be faster than The Flash himself. But she couldn't do that, either.

Being a bitch was one thing, but running from your problems was another in its entirety, and Eva wasn't allowed to be scared. She had to keep herself together and focus on escaping the island, and not any of the teenager-ish things she was dealing with .

"Earth to Eva," Brooklynn said, waving her hand in front of the blonde's face.

Eva yawned before pushing Brooklynn's hand away. "I'm awake."

Brooklynn looked her up and down, with her bottom lip jutted out and a curious look in her eyes. "What were you thinking about?"

Eva looked around the jungle, where Yaz and Sammy walked together a few paces ahead, and even further up were the boys— Kenji, Darius and Ben, all walking stoic as if conversation were a curse. They were headed to Main Street to pick up some last minute supplies before they attempted to leave Isla Nublar for good.

Eva actually thought they might have a chance with the kayaks, but she had always heard from Kai how much harder it was to kayak in the ocean than in a river, and that worried her. If kayaks didn't work, what would they do next? Personally, Eva thought a boat was the best way to go— and although a kayak is technically a boat, she didn't count it.