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nine - close calls
the next morning came around too quickly for elle. she was exhausted after taking watch for most of the night. she needed a fat coffee with way too many shots of espresso but they were in the middle of the forest in a building most people didn't know still existed. so, her chances of waking up properly and not walking around like a zombie from anything other than adrenaline were extremely low.
she woke up to zach and gray already up, whispering to each other about when to start working on the car and whether to let her sleep.
"she was up most of the night, dude," zach argued.
gray frowned, "but we can't leave her and we need to work on the car."
elle groaned, "you guys need to learn to whisper. and i'm up now."
she sat up, stretching out.
"how'd you sleep?" zach asked, suddenly nervous around the girl. he had no idea why but he was more conscious of everything he was saying. maybe it was the night before's conversation that still lingered in his mind, or maybe it was the fact he was so much more conscious about everything about her, especially her lips.
"like shit," she muttered, standing up and brushing herself off. "c'mon, we gotta finish the jeep and get the fuck out of here."
both boys followed her back to the garage, no questions asked. zach had filled gray in on the fact that elle looked after them for most of the night, so there was no way either was arguing with her at that moment.
---
they had to venture back outside to grab the car battery only metres from the entrance, but that also meant being exposed. elle offered to do it, figuring she could get out and back in quickly, as she was relatively fast, but zach was quick to shut the idea down. he reminded her that she had no idea what a car battery looked like or how to get it out of the car.
"we'll all go," zach told.
elle rolled her eyes, "fine."
so they did. they rushed out and to the car, zach quickly getting the battery out.
there was a snap.
they all turned, searching the overgrown forest for movement.
"you think it's out there?" zach asked. elle elbowed him, trying to remind him that they had a literal child with them. he followed her eye line to a terrified gray. "i know for a fact it's definitely not out there, all right? we're totally safe, right elle?"
she nodded, "right. this park has had so many containment anomalies it's probably been sorted already, while we were asleep. i remember when a triceratops got out. trixie was running rampant, it took six tranquillizers to get her to sleep."
"trixie? as in toy story?" gray questioned.
elle smiled, "yeah, i named her, can you tell?"
zach smiled down at her before he turned his attention back to gray, "here, go take this. you're stronger than me."
gray took the battery from him, walking ahead and back inside. they followed close behind.
"that was really sweet," elle whispered.
"he's scared, we gotta try and make sure he isn't, even if we are," zach replied, shrugging.
elle nudged him, "still sweet."
"so, you really named a dinosaur after a toy story character?" zach teased.
elle chuckled, "it felt fitting."
---
zach tightened something under the hood before he turned to gray.
"all right. turn it over," he instructed.
gray turned the key. the engine sputtered to life and the group cheered.
elle climbed into the passenger seat as gray climbed into the back. zach quickly jumped into the drivers seat after slamming the hood shut.
"i thought you failed your driver's test?" gray questioned.
"no," zach began, making elle relax. "only the driving part."
"what? zach move, let me drive, i have, you know, a license," elle tried. zach shrugged, gesturing to his ear as if he couldn't hear her. "zach!"
he began driving, making her shriek and sit back down on her chair, buckling her seatbelt.
"son of a-" she yelled, unaware that claire and owen heard her from only metres away. they were too far gone by the time the adults reached the garage. lucky that they were as the indominus arrived only a minute later.
they'd survived one encounter, there was no telling if they would have survived another.
"zach, slow down," elle shouted as they were approaching a gate. "i can unlock it-"
she was cut off as they hit the fence, knocking it down. gray laughed.
"how'd you have access to restricted areas?" zach spoke up.
"my adoptive father owns the park, that's how. oh, i missed your birthday, have an all-access key card so you can do whatever you want," she answered.
gray leant forward, "that's kinda sad."
elle laughed, "it's fine."
"that's it. we're safe now," zach announced.
elle hit him, "you've just jinxed us."
"i have not jinxed us."
"have too, you don't say shit like that-"
gray had turned around, something in the review mirror grabbing his attention, "guys." when both continued to argue, he raised his voice louder. "guys!"
"what?" elle asked, turning to him. her eyes trailed upwards, seeing the pterodactyls and pteranodon on their tail. "fuck. go, go, go!"
zach quickly noticed the winged, dinosaurs, speeding up.
"you shouldn't say 'fuck'," gray shouted over their panicked voices.
elle turned back to see him staring at the dinosaurs above them, "neither should you."
they approached the gate to the park, yelling at the guards to open the gate.
elle unbuckled her seatbelt, ignoring the questioning from the brothers and stood up, waving her arms, "open the gate. it's elle. open the gate you wankers."
zach grabbed her arm, pulling her down, "maybe don't die in a car accident and then deal with the dinosaurs."
elle rolled her eyes. either her yelling or the fact there were quite clearly dinosaurs in the sky helped them because the gate began to open.
