Hide (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom)

Chapter 8

Every breath I take scratches my throat. My eyes water as the smoke burns, and I run blind, lead only by Owen's hand pulling me forward. I have no idea how close we are to the cliff, where any other dinosaurs are around us. I can't see the ball ahead of us. I can barely see Owen in front of me.

Suddenly his hand slips out of mine, and for a split second I think I'm left alone in this smoke, unaware of anything around me. Then my feet run out of ground to step on, and suddenly I'm falling.

The world around me becomes clear again as I fall out of the plume of smoke. The rocky cliff rushes past my vision as I fall, and the blue sky is visible for a moment before I collide with the water.

The force knocks any remnants of air out of my lungs. My chest burns, screaming for air. I sink slowly for a few moments, facing the sky as it gets darker, my body sinking further. I'm vaguely aware of muffled splashes around me, realizing the large forms crashing into the water are dinosaurs falling off the cliff.

Swim. You need to swim.

Somehow I manage to turn my body upright and kick my legs until I move upwards. My chest feels like it's on fire. My heart pounds rapidly in my chest, my pulse thumping in my ears. A couple black spots appear in my vision as I inch closer to the surface. The sky gets lighter. I kick harder, I push myself as hard as I can. I'm so close.

My head breaks through the surface of the water and I gasp deeply, air filling my lungs. I cough, choking on the air, as relief floods my body. I pant heavily, taking deep breaths over and over again, trying to feed oxygen back into my brain. I close my eyes as I lean my face towards the sky. I'm alive.

"Sadie! Sadie.." I barely have time to react before hands grab my shoulders and turn me in the water. I open my eyes to see Owen's face, laced with concern and panic. He lets out a relieved sigh as he places his hands on the sides of my head, just staring at me. I wrap my arms around his neck, out of relief that he's alive and in front of me and for support. He immediately grips me tight and buries his face in my hair, pulling my against his body.

"I'm okay," I breathe out, still panting heavily. "I'm okay."

He pulls away after a few moments. He looks into my eyes before speaking, as if he's making sure I'm really okay.

"We have to help them," he says quietly, and it takes me a second to realize he's talking about Claire and Franklin. He turns around in the water and we both watch as the last inch of the glass ball sinks below the surface.

We both swim over to where the gyrosphere just was.

"I'm gonna dive, I'm gonna get them out." He turns to me. "You stay here."

"What? I need to help them," I argue.

"You almost drowned. Stay here." He doesn't let me respond as he dives below the waves, leaving me.

I can't see him once he goes under. I can't see the sphere. I can't even see my own feet. All I can do is keep myself afloat and wait for someone to break through the surface.

After about thirty seconds I begin to panic. No one has resurfaced. Oh god, they all drowned. I begin taking deep breaths, preparing myself to dive again. Then someone breaks through the surface, and I see Owen as he gasps for air. No one else comes up. I look at him expectantly.

"I couldn't get them out. Have to try something else." He takes a gulp of breath and dives again. I can't just sit here and wait. I take a deep breath and dive, swimming through the dark waters.

The water burns my eyes a little, and my vision is blurry under the waves, but I manage to spot the lights coming from the gyrosphere. I swim further down.

They sank so deep, jesus. I can already feel my lungs straining, still not fully recovered. I manage to push myself down to them and I find myself next to Owen. I watch through unclear vision as he uses a knife to try and wedge the door open. All I can think to do is use my fingertips to try and pry the door away from the rest of the ball.

It seems to take forever. I can feel my lungs begin to ache, needing air again. But I refuse to leave them here. They have to get out, or they'll drown. I grit my teeth and pull as hard as I can at the door, and it finally pops off. It pushes me back a few feet and slowly sinks towards the sea floor. I watch as Claire pushes herself off the ball towards the surface, and Franklin climbs out after her.

My chest burns all over again. Upon watching Franklin swimming upwards as well, I finally start to kick my legs, propelling myself towards the sky. I feel frantic as the surface appears much further away than I thought it was. I push myself harder, trying to reach it faster. My lungs beg for air. I feel a hand clamp around my arm and tug me upwards, dragging me out of the depths.

I finally break through the surface again, inhaling deeply. The hand doesn't leave my arm as I take deep breaths, refilling my lungs again. I turn around, seeing Owen staring at me, still with concern, as he supports my body in the water. None of us speak as we just try to catch our breaths, the immediate danger finally subsiding.

"Beach," Claire mutters, and I turn to face her. She points in the direction of the rocks, and I see the little alcove she's speaking of. Slowly and tiredly we all swim in that direction, all kind of supporting each other in the water. It feels like an eternity until we reach the little beach, and we all slowly drag our bodies onto the wet sand.

I lie back in the shallow water, allowing it to wash up around me. I pant heavily, finally giving my body a break. My heart beats dangerously fast in my chest, probably at a concerning speed. I can't focus on anything else for a few moments except the relief in my lungs. I stare blankly at the blue sky, the water cooling me down.

Bella.

She suddenly reappears in my mind.

Bella is alive.

I can hear voices next to me but I can't bother to hear what they're saying.

She's alive.