PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXXII. No Match For Big Eatie

Chapter Seventy Two:  No Match For Big Eatie

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Eva spent the night staring at the stars, and not getting a wink of sleep. She tried to sleep, believe me, but once you have an epic mental breakdown / panic attack, it's generally hard to sleep after. She avoided talking to all her friends, not just because they were fine being in it for the long haul, but because she was simply too tired to talk to anyone. Not even Darius, who was on first watch and knew she was awake.

Of course, they tried talking to her, but after one too many shutdowns, they decided to leave her alone. It wasn't till the late morning did Eva finally start talking again.

"She's asleep," Sammy relayed quietly, from Mae's side. Mae slept through the night, and the morning, and she was still asleep, now. "The leaves we put over her wounds stopped the bleeding, but I don't know how long that's gonna last. We gotta do something."

"Ben says Kash has a phone," said Yaz. "Let's get it, call for help, and get out of here."

The news about a phone was great and all, but Eva knew something would come up, like always, and they'd be stranded longer, like always. It was simply easier to not get her hopes up. That was, she would never be disappointed.

"But what about the dinosaurs?" Darius asked. Everyone stayed silent. "Now that Mae's injured, who's gonna protect them?"

Yaz gestured to Mae, "Darius, look at her. She needs help. Real help. Our only choice here is that phone."

"Those leaves aren't exactly sterile," Ben said in a low voice. "We're running out of time. Let's split up and try to find Kash."

"Huh, small problem. We don't know where he went," Kenji pointed out.

Green light flickered over the rock, and everyone immediately jumped into hiding. Behind rocks, behind bushes, everyone was crouched down, keeping out of sight of the BRAD robots.

"Shhh!"

"New orders received." The BRADs said, then turned around and left.

"One of them could be headed to Kash," Yasmina whispered.

Ben gestured between the girls and Mae. "You guys go. I think there was a first aid kid in the snow gliders. I'll get Mae patched up."

"Okay, Yaz, Eva, will you come with?" Brooklynn asked. "Sammy, you should go with Kenji and Darius."

Everyone agreed, then the trio of girls split up from the others, headed in the direction of the BRAD that disappeared to the left. The girls hid behind two trees, watching as the BRAD scanned the terrain.

"Hey, Yaz," B whispered, "Are you okay? I mean, you know, with the nightmares—"

"I'm fine. We've got bigger things to worry about than a few bad dreams," she whispered back.

"You know it's more than that... Eva?"

"Is this why you brought us out here?" Eva quietly snapped. "To grill us? I'm fine, Yaz is fine, we're all fine. Can we just get on with finding the damn phone?"

"Still touchy, got it."

Eva rolled her eyes, then hurried forward, away from Brooklynn. She sure as hell did not mean to snap on her best friend, but she hated being asked if she was okay. Why can't she just suffer in silence? It's not like Brooklynn actually wanted to know how she was doing.