PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXI. Mausebär

Chapter Sixty One: Mausebär

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Eva never fell asleep. She tried— she really did. And after a full night on mission, she thought she could fall asleep on the couch, but in all reality, she could not get past a gun to her back. She could not get past trekking through the jungle with her hands tied behind her back. She could not get past the fear pooling in the pit of her stomach from the moment the mercenary's hand wrapped around her ankle, until Kenji was cutting the zipties off her wrists.

And then she laid on the couch, her hair fanning her face as she stared up at the ceiling. The inkling of fear still ran through her blood. She was held hostage. She tried to fight an ex-military avaricious man. Her chest still ached. Her wrist throbbed.

A million times over the past twelve hours, she truly believed she was going to die. She believed that this was the end.

How could she have spent the last twelve hours making stupid after stupid mistakes? How could she stand there pretending everything was okay, when she was so close to losing her life again? She acted like a kid, and if she had learned anything surviving on Isla Nublar, she was more than a survivor. And she sure as hell wasn't a kid anymore.

A hand touched her forearm and she jumped, her eyes springing open as she moved forward, her fist raised.

Ben jumped, begging her not to hit him.

"Ben?!"

"I just came to get you for lunch!" he said quickly.

"Lunch?"

"Yeah. It's lunch time. Yaz said we should leave you alone during breakfast, so we did. It's lunch time now."

Eva lowered her hand, looking around the room. "I'm— I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said sweetly. "I get it. I'd be jumpy too. Just, come out, all right? We're all gathering on the deck. It might be our last meal... together..."

Eva nodded, apologizing again as she followed Ben out of the cabin.

She took a seat on the couch, propping her feet up on the table in front of her as she was handed a plate with a couple dozen berries. She began stuffing her mouth, not realizing how hungry she was until she began satisfying her needs.

"Are we really off the island? Or is this a dream?" Sammy asked, rounding the corner with her plate in hand.

"If it were a dream, I'm thinking we'd have a change of clothes," Brooklynn said, looking down at her pink jacket, which was caked with mud that most likely wouldn't be coming out any time soon.

"I think I'll have to burn this hoodie," Eva joked.

"Ha! What do you mean?" Ben looked to Brooklynn, "I've always wanted a signature look."

Brooklynn giggled, her laughter infectious, and the others quickly joined in. Eva looked around, realizing Kenji was still in the bridge. She walked away from a laughing Darius, and made her way up to the second floor.

"Hey, Captain," Eva greeted. "It's lunch time."

Kenji kept his back to her. "Can't leave my post till we're docked in Costa Rica. I'm the only one of us who's ever sailed before."

"All right, lemme try again." Eva cleared her throat. "Hey, Captain," she purred. She crossed the cockpit in three strides. Her fingers crept up Kenji's biceps and down his shoulders. "It's lunch time."