PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XXXVIII. Crates of Food

Chapter Thirty Eight:  Crates of Food

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"It fucken wimdy."

Yasmina sighed loudly, then turned to send a glare at Eva.

"Did I fucking stutter?"

"Let's just find Darius, yeah? You go that way—" she pointed to the left, "While Sammy and I head over here."

"I thought splitting up only worked in Scooby Doo..."

And, the two best friends had walked away. Eva turned to Brooklynn and the two boys, and slowly followed them as they wandered the jungle.

The entirety of last night, one of the worst storms that had hit Isla Nublar raged on. Eva ended up not sleeping a wink, but shrouded herself under the cover of their treehouse, poking at a small fire to keep warm, and wrapped up in her green comforter to keep dry. The others sat with her, but were lucky enough to fall asleep on one another as the night grew.

After the sun had risen, they left the grounds to search for viable food. Most of their common berry bushes hadn't survived the storm, so they went further out. And then they lost Darius.

"Aaahhh!"

The sound of a body thumping against the ground echoed through the jungle, somewhere from their left.

Kenji, Brooklynn, Eva and Ben stepped around a tree to see Darius laying on the ground next to a snapped vine.

"Dude, that did not sound good. Are you okay?" Kenji asked him as he offered him a hand.

Darius graciously took it.

"Guys!" Ben shouted. "We found Darius! He's over—"

"Ben, don't. Shhh! Something's up there." He peered curiously up the side of the cliff, where long vines dangled down at them. But no dinosaur looked back at them. They were met with silence— not even the birds or other animals were making such noise.

"Oh thank god, you're alive!" Sammy shouted as she ran up.

Eva face palmed.

Darius whispered back, "Not for long if we don't get outta here."

"Why—" a dinosaur roar cut Yaz off, followed by a weird clicking sound. "... Do I even ask?"

The campers began walking back to camp, and Eva couldn't help but notice something absolute reeked around them. The smell was so bad, it was burning her nose hairs. Even when she breathed through her mouth, it was like she was tasting it instead.

She covered her nose and mouth with her hoodie-covered hand as she walked.

"Ugh, I think I cracked a rib," Darius groaned as he moved his arms around.

Eva glanced over her shoulder at him.

"For real?" Brooklynn asked. Darius shrugged. "Let me know if the pain gets any worse. Let's hope you just bruised it, for now."

"Shit, look at how busted this place is," Kenji commented from the front of the group. "That was one of the worst storms I've ever seen."

"We were so worried about you," Brooklynn told Darius. "You said you'd be right back, and then you just disappeared."