PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XLI. Nothing Lasts Forever

Chapter Forty One:  Nothing Lasts Forever

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"Get in. I'll start it up," Darius announced.

Brooklynn and Ben took the front car, followed by Yasmina and Sammy in the second. Kenji took the third, and because Eva didn't really care to sit near him again, she slid into the fourth car with only Jarrell to keep her company. She pulled the restraint down over her head. She decided to keep Jarrell in her pocket, so he wouldn't fly out of her hands.

Darius ran over into the seat beside Kenji and in front of Eva, quickly hopping into it. He pulled his restraint down.

"How do we know this coaster will even—"

Kenji was cut off as the roller coaster hissed and began pulling forward.

The train clanked as it took them up their first hill.

"You see anything?" Darius shouted.

"Not me!" Sammy shouted, sounding panicked. "This thrill ride's way too thrillin' to keep my eyes open!"

"Sammy Gutierrez scared of coasters?" Eva shouted.

Sammy whimpered in response.

"Not that it'll help," Yaz said. "We don't even know what we're looking for."

"Yeah, I doubt even Brimford was crazy enough to leave a bunch of food laying around out in the open."

Pessimistic.

"He didn't, but he did leave another clue!" Ben yelled. "He painted his symbol on one of the concession stands!"

Yaz laughed. "That's awesome! You were right, D!"

"That's gotta be it."

"It just get's weirder and weirder."

The train dropped down the other side of the hill, gaining speed.

Eva burst into laughter, throwing her hands in the air. "Woohoo!"

"Whoo!"

"Yeah!"

"Awesome!"

The coaster turned a corner, and instead of an animatronic T-Rex, a very real Tarbosaurus roared at them. Its jaws clamped around the track, missing Eva by a foot.

A deafening scream left her lips as she covered her head and looked back.

The coaster headed into three large circles, climbing away from the tarbo.

"This cannot be happening!"

"How the fuck did it get in?!" Eva panicked.

The coaster dove again, nearly avoiding the dinosaur once more.

"What the fuck do we do?!" Sammy cried. "It'll be waiting for us!"

Eva's eyes widened, realizing this is the first time she had ever heard Sammy say the f word.

They started their trek up the last hill of the ride.

"We have to get out. We can climb down that railing."

Eva saw it— a thin metal ladder at the top of the coaster on a catwalk, right before the drop, leading to the ground.

Brooklynn and Ben popped open their restraints and climbed out.