RUN ➳ ZACH MITCHELL

sixteen

The following morning it seemed the same amount of people were in the Visitation Center as the night before. It almost looked as if the ferries hadn't been bringing tourists back and forth from the mainland of Costa Rica at all.

Rory awoke to a soft feeling on her eyelids. She shifted against something warm, and opened her eyes to see the face of Zach Mitchell staring down at her. She flushed slightly, realizing he been kissing her eyelashes. "Good morning." He smiles, moving a piece of hair from her face. The girl returned the earlier gesture before sitting up.

Gray lay next to her fast asleep in the early day. Claire ran her fingers absently through his hair, her pale green eyes locked on something in the distance. Rory pulled her lips tight reminding herself that everyone deals with calamity in their own ways.

Rory spotted her guardian across the sea of bodies. He was helping an older man. Last night after Zach and Rory had come back from their "short romantic getaway" as Gray had teasingly called it, Owen had told her the officials who now own the island (since the pervious owner, Simon Masrani, had been killed yesterday afternoon), were shutting down the theme park. For good this time, they hoped. This meant that since Rory and Owen's bungalow was technically part of the islands property, the two were being kicked out. They needed to be packed and moved by the end of next week.

The two elder teens leaned against each other, playing with the others fingertips that were still caked with dried blood and dirt.

When you think of a group of 20,000 people in one place all at once, you'd probably think there'd be an endless amount of noise. But everyone there talked in strained whispers, and even that was kept to a minimum. Although the Center was a sanctuary on the island, most everyone wouldn't feel completely at ease until they were back in their own homes.

Claire lifted her eyes from Gray's sleepy face and instantly spotted her sister, Karen, running towards them. "Oh, my god. It's your parents," she cried causing Gray to sit up at the mention of them. Zach started, and turned to look as Claire repeated herself. "It's your parents."

Claire stood quickly, her blanket draped over her frail shoulders. "Come on, come on." Rory stood back with her as Zach and Gray rushed to hug their parents.

Gray seemed to be crying along with his mom; their embrace equally tight between them. Zach gratefully accepted his fathers kiss to his head not pulling away like he usually would. "Are you okay?" Karen Mitchell asked in her youngest son's hair. "Oh, baby."

Claire's eyes welled with tears, glancing between the family of four as guilt and sadness washed over her like a tidal wave. Karen hesitantly released her hold on Gray before approaching her only sister. "I'm so sorry," Claire choked out. Rory bit her lip, looking away from the small family reunion.

Karen didn't respond, but instead wrapped her arms tightly around Claire. "Are you okay?"

Claire licked her pink lips, and gave a halfhearted nod. Karen smiled softly and turned to her older son a hug. "Come here," she said, and Zach automatically flung himself into her arms. Rory smiled at the sight, and for the first time in years wondered what it would have been like if her parents hadn't died in a freak boating accident and were there to comfort her now.

Karen caught sight of the blonde girl, and remembered Zach and her sitting next to each other when she'd first approached them. She blanked a bit when she recognized the sweatshirt Rory was wearing.

Karen Mitchell held her oldest son at arms length and inquired, "Is that girl over there wearing your sweatshirt?" Zach seemed flabbergasted, and opened his mouth to say something, but Karen wasn't waiting for an answer. "She's pretty. Wait-- is she Rory? The one who was giving you a tour yesterday?"

Zach looked defeated knowing he wasn't going to get out of his mom's pestering. He nodded.

"Ah," Karen said, tilting her head to the side, studying the girl. Rory tried not to fidget when she felt the woman's azure eyes on her, and instead sent Zach's mother a smile. "She seems lovely. Much better than that Amanda girl." Zach agreed quietly, a fond smile on his lips. Karen let go of her boy's shoulders, sending him a wink. "I'll just be . . . over there." She pointed to where her husband, sister, and son stood.

Rory drew patterns on the titled floor with her toes and was startled to see another pair of black converse appear next to her. "Hey," she breathed as soon as she saw who the pair of shoes belonged to. Zach raised his warm hand to the side of her cheek mindful of the scabbed cut. Rory leaned into his hand and the two stayed this way until Zach was called over by his father to leave the islet. Sadness invaded her heart, and Rory frowned deeply at the thought of departing Zach's side.

She clung to Zach in their few spare seconds, scared of the two's future but even more afraid to mention it. Since both of their phones were destroyed when they'd been attacked by the Indominus, they didn't now exactly how to keep in touch. Much less when they'd see the other again.

Zach placed his lips to a spot just above the blondes ear. The caress filled Rory with warmth, and suddenly she wasn't as intimidated of the future anymore.

Zach was the first to pull away knowing his family must be getting impatient. "I'll see you, princess," he said before turning his back and moving to stand by his family.

Rory gave a small wave to Gray before the Mitchell's were out of her sight, on their way back to America. Away from the horrors that echoed within the island. Away from the blonde girl who's world had been shaken to the core over the course of 24 hours. Away.

Away . . .

// lol what is this. but anyway I hoped you enjoyed the last official chapter of Run