PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XLVI. Blind Hope

Chapter Forty Six:  Blind Hope

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"Goodbye, Jurassic World."

A familiar ankylosaurus emerged from the treeline, running for the shore. She roared after their retreating figures.

"Goodbye, Bumpy."

Eva put a hand on Ben's shoulder and offered a warm smile.

The campers were on a raft— the first raft of their escape, but not their first escape off the island.

"Woohoohoo! Ha! See ya never, stupid dino island!" Kenji yelled. "You thought you could eat us? No way! You thought you could stomp on us? Think again!"

Sammy joined in, "Yeah! You thought you could crush our spirits? Impossible!"

"To be fair, the island did crush my spirit."

Eva frowned at Ben's words. She stepped forward. "You thought you could drown me?! Yeah, right, motherfucker!"

"Dr-drown you?" Yasmina questioned.

"When did the island try to drown you?" Sammy asked.

"Uhhhh... aah!"

Eva wrapped a hand around the mast to catch herself from falling. Water slipped between the cracks in their raft as they went over a baby swell.

"We're fine, we're fine," Eva said.

"Um, guys?" Brooklynn screamed, looking out to the horizon.

Eva's eyes widened. A steep, unbroken wall of water was headed straight for them. "Oh my god."

"Everyone, secure the vines!"

The wave raced towards them.

"How?!"

Blood rushed through Eva's ears. Her mouth parted; she wanted to scream, but she was silenced.

"I don't know, uh, pull on them?!"

She was going to die.

She was going to die.

"You said you had raft experience!"

"I said some raft experience! Some!"

She sucked in a breath. Would that be her last?

Eva twisted her hoodie in her fingers. Her vision tilted.

"Oh, so only some of us will die!"

A hand latched around her wrist. "Angel, you need to breathe."

"The wind's strong, we can just power through," Brooklynn said.

Their sail, which they took ages finding enough of the correct material for, ripped off their mast and flew into the sky.

"Oh, maybe we should be panicking."

The raft grew dark. Looking up, there was only water. And then, the water was everywhere.

Eva held her breath.

She had been here before.

She kicked around, but couldn't tell which way was up. Her hair glided around her face, but she felt less than ethereal. How was she going to escape this time? How was she going to survive?