Camp Cretaceous (Darius X Brooklynn)

Chapter Nine

Enjoy everyone. Have a good day, stay home, stay safe.

Darius watched the sunrise. Sammy had a point that the island did look beautiful when the thought of imminent death was absent. For the first time in days, he felt at peace. His talk with Yaz helped him to stop blaming himself for Ben's death. But he wasn't going to ask any of the others to risk their lives. If there was a risk involved, HE would take the brunt of it. It was his responsibility to make sure that everyone else got home safe, regardless of what happens to him.

After a few more minutes, he feels the hotel shake a little bit. With each step, the ground vibrated with more intensity. He didn't know if the Rex was just passing through, but he didn't want to take the risk. "Kenji." Darius shakes the other teen awake. "Kenji wake up."

Kenji stirs as he is pulled out of his dream. "Must... Save mermaid. Mhhh." Kenji looks at Darius. "What is it?" Before Darius could respond, the building shakes the bed.

"Guys, wake up." Darius shakes the others awake. The girls were not too happy with being woken up so suddenly.

Brooklynn groans. "What is it?" The building shakes once more, and that causes everyone to get up.

"What do you think it is?" Sammy asks, helping Yasmina up.

"Rex probably." Darius says. "Be prepared to run."

A few seconds later, the Rex comes into view of their window. The Rex was dragging something in her mouth, a tree trunk by the looks of it. It walked right past the hotel, and in the direction of Main Street.d

Darius wanted to check something out. "You guys stay here. I'll be back as soon as possible." Darius gets up to head out.

Brooklynn follows him. "Where are you going?"

"I need to see something." Darius looks at her. "I have a hunch, but I need to be sure." The teen exits out the door, and everyone follows him.

Kenji says, "You're not going to follow the T-Rex, are you?"

Darius just looks at him. "Look, it's headed to Main Street. I'll follow the Rex to see if she is just passing through or if she is doing something else."

Sammy interjects. "No way. You go alone, you could get killed."

"Well, we can't all go." Darius tries to reason. "It's easier for me to go alone instead of worrying about multiple people in this situation. If you guys just stay here, then at least I know where you all are."

"Then you and I will go." Brooklynn says. Darius shakes his head. Before he can verbally object, she continues, "Yaz is the fastest, but injured. Kenji would be too scared, and Sammy is the slowest out of all of us. By default, I'm going."

Darius was again about to object when Yasmina put her 2 cents in. "Even if there is no immediate danger, she can watch your back."

Everyone else agreed with it. Darius realized that he wasn't going to stop Brooklynn from coming, who looked at him with her arms crossed and a small smirk. Not wanting to spend another second debating this, he sighs and nods his head. Darius looks at the watch, which read 6:04 "We'll try to be back at 8:30 latest."

The two teens had been walking for about thirty minutes. They were moving at a steady pace, but Darius was resisting the urge to walk faster and leave Brooklynn behind. It was a silent walk so far, and Darius was grateful. But Brooklynn couldn't take the silence anymore.

"So... What was life like back home?" Brooklynn asked.

Darius's heart started racing. After the dream he had, he was mentally checking himself. After a few seconds, he finally answers, "It was fine. Me and my brother moved in with my uncle after Mom got sick. He's a nice guy, his wife doesn't like us for some reason."