Camp Cretaceous (Darius X Brooklynn)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Another one! Everyone stay home, stay safe.

"Darius? Darius, are you there?" Brooklynn groaned, then gave up on trying to reach him.

Yasmina was up with Kenii, leaving Sammy to help her walk. Brooklynn's left arm hung over Sammy's left shoulder. "He'll make it back." Sammy assured her. "You know that he'll do anything to keep you safe."

Brooklynn nodded. "I just... Why does he have to try to do everything alone?"

"Like I said," Sammy answered, "he will do anything to keep you safe. But you know that we're screwed if he left KENJI in charge."

Brooklynn smiled. "Hey. With the thought of dying in the front of my mind, I realized that I never said sorry."

"For what?" the Texan girl asked.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you when this all happened. I got mad at you and blamed you for the Indominus." Brooklynn explains. "Deep down, I KNEW it wasn't your fault that the Indominus got loose. I guess I was scared, and needed something to use as a punching bag. So, I'm sorry that I never apologized until now. And I'm sorry for how I treated you."

Sammy smiled. "Thanks Brooklynn. I'm glad that we've at least become friends."

"Me too Sammy." Brooklynn shared the smile.

Darius had finally made it to the Valley Plane. It took a few hours longer than he would have liked. Right below was a herd of Ankylosaurs. He took a quick glance, and saw one that kind of looked like Bumpy. He had found her, so Ben was either there with her, or not too far behind. Darius walked over to Bumpy. They didn't have a great relationship, but it wasn't an aggressive one either. Kind of like a relationship you would have with a cat that didn't like you, and you were afraid of IT. They gave each other space, and things were fine.

Darius finally got to where Bumpy was. She was hanging around the outskirts of the herd. The big Ankylo saw him and recognized him after a second. "Hey girl. Wanna help me find Ben?" At the mention of Ben, she moaned a little bit. Darius looked behind her, and saw that something was breaking through the tree line. He aimed his rifle, and was about to shoot, but he saw a blue headband and some dirty blonde hair pop out. "Ben. There you are." Darius said.

"D-Darius?" Ben was shocked that the older teen had not only found him, but found Bumpy BEFORE him, the guy who IMPRINTED on her. Albeit, on accident. "What are you doing here? How did you find her?"

"I thought of all the places she could be." Darius explained. "I remembered seeing an Ankylosaurs herd a while back, and decided to check here. I may not have your tracking skills, but I have been taking notes these last few months."

"How long have you been here?" Ben asked, getting over his initial shock.

"Only a few minutes." Darius assured him. "Don't worry, you're not losing your touch." They stood in silence for a minute. "Come to say goodbye to her?"

Ben took a deep breath. "Something like that." He was hesitant to say more, and Darius saw it, but he didn't pry.

"Alright." Darius nodded his head. "Take a few minutes. Then we need to head over to the boat. The others are probably there already."

Ben walked over to Bumpy, and started to pet her. "I... I'm not going back with you guys."

Now it was Darius's turn to be shocked. "Um... What? The Scorpius's roar might have damaged my ears. It sounded like you said you weren't going with us."

"I'm not." Ben looked at Darius dead in the eyes, showing that he was serious. Darius was speechless for a second. Ben continued, "I've... Thought it over-"