PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXXXIX. The Return of Kenji

Chapter Eighty Nine:  The Return of Kenji

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"Look at us! We didn't even argue about whether or not to save a dinosaur that tried to eat us!" Brooklynn cheered, filming the campers.

They had just finished dragging the nothosaurus out of the sewers and into the medbay. Thank god it was still passed out.

"Yeah, what is wrong with us?"

"Why, did you just, video tape us moving her, instead of helping?" Eva panted.

"Someone has to document all the crazy stuff we're doing," she defended. "Besides, I'm tiny. You have muscles. There was a clear decision here."

They all left the dinosaur alone, sitting down on the closest thing they spotted: some large wooden boxes. Eva hopped up on her and squatted on the lid.

"It won't last forever, but this might stop that gas leak," Brooklynn said, delivering the duct tape to Darius.

"You're gonna need some back up," Darius said. He looked to Ben, Yaz, and Sammy. "You guys okay to take her to the swamp biome without us?"

Stretching her arms across her chest, Yaz asked, "Yeah, but why not the forest?"

"She spent her life down in the tunnels so I don't think she's socialized enough for that."

"What about you guys? If that gas did this to a nothosaurus..."

"Maybe this will help?" Eva said, taking the white wash cloth from Sammy's hands. "Were there more of these?"

"Yeah... Be careful," Sammy instructed, dropping the other wash cloths in her hands.

"When are we not?"

"You too," Darius said.

"I was talking about you, Eva. Don't do anything stupid."

"How can I? Ben's taking all the stupid with him."

"Hey!"

Sammy pulled Ben into her left and Yaz into her right. "Don't worry, y'all. We got this! The dynamic trio! I know it's not a thing, but it should be."

The trios split up: Yaz, Sammy and Ben running for the nothosaurus, while Eva, Brooklynn, and Darius ran back into the sewers.

"Eva and I got the leak. You try to cool the core," Darius instructed the two girls. "You ready?"

Brooklynn nodded. "Every thirty seconds, we get out of the gas and meet back here, just to be safe. As soon as we hear this." She tapped her tablet, an alarm beeping from it.

The trio nodded in confirmation. As soon as Brooklynn hit the timer, they sucked in deep breaths and ran into the room. Darius and Eva beelined for the pipe, which was continuously spewing poisonous gas.

Eva touched the pipe, jerking her hands back as the hot metal burned her. She gasped, her lungs burning as she breathed in the gas. Her towel dropped to the ground as she reached forward with both hands, wrapping them around the pipe to stabilize it.

Darius peeled off rows of duct tape, carefully wrapping the pipe back together. At the sound of the alarm, they bolted for the threshold.

"Are you okay?" Darius asked once out of it poison gas.