Run (Zach Mitchell)

Chapter 3: A World Explored

According to Zara, Claire is supposed to rendezvous with us at the Visitors Center here shortly. Once we were inside, Gray immediately separated from us and ran off through the crowds to go exploring. I secretly smiled at the kid, admiring his enthusiasm about learning. Zach was still, as usual, glued to his phone, that little-

"Zach, Gray, is that you?"

"Aunt Claire!" Gray abandoned whatever he was recently occupied with and ran over to her at the bottom of the grand staircase, wrapping his arms around her waist in a tight hug. She seemed surprised at his sudden outburst of affection, and was very awkward in her attempt to reciprocate. It's pretty obvious that she isn't around kids very much.

"Oh, hi. Wow, it's been so long since the last time I saw you. Zach, you were like this high," she said holding up her hand to a bit above her waist to show how tall he used to be. "That was, what, 3 or 4 years ago?"

"It's 7 years. But you know, close," Zach said bluntly. The tension was thick in the air, and as uncomfortable as humidity. Honestly, I felt bad for Claire. She doesn't seem to have time for anyone else besides those she works with, and clearly it's affecting her family relationships.

"I see you all have your V.I.P. passes." She then handed Gray a sealed envelope. "This is for food, and Zara And Skylar will take good care of you. I have an important meeting I have to go to, so I'll meet up with you guys for dinner at 6."

"Don't forget you have the-" Zara reminded her.

"Right. Then I will see you guys at 8. What time do you go to bed, or do you go to bed at different times?"

"You're not coming with us?" Gray asked, his excitement quickly fading with his realization. My heart shattered, I hated seeing him so disappointed.

"No, I'm afraid not. But I'll spend the entire day with you tomorrow. I can take you in the labs, behind the scenes, that's cool, right?" Said Claire as she desperately tried to cheer him up. She really needs to take a day off.

"O-okay." Gray was clearly disappointed. Zach seemed annoyed, and Zara was on the phone barely paying any attention. And I was off to the side feeling bad for everyone.

What a group.

"Don't worry, Zara and Skylar will take good care of you. Now, I'll see you later." Claire called to her nephews, walking off to wherever she had to be.

A moment of tense silence hung in the air as we watched her leave. "I guess that could've been worse," I muttered to myself.

"Can we go do something now?" Gray asked, snapping me from my thoughts.

"What do you have in mind?"

"What about the Triceratops petting zoo?"

"Sounds good to me. Zach?" At the sound of his name, Zach glanced up from the mobile device in his hands.

"Sure, whatever." Well, it's better than nothing. As soon as those words left his mouth, I grimace as Gray grabs my arm in a similar fashion to how he did back at the hotel, pulling me in the direction of the exit. In my surprise, my reflexes kicked in and I grabbed the one thing (or in this case, person) closest to me, which just so happened to be Zach. He produced a similar reaction to mine and stumbles forward, forcibly coming along for the ride.

Once Gray slows down and decidedly waits for Zara to catch up to us, he lets go of my hand, and I let go of Zach's wrist.

"Geez, you have a strong grip," he said rubbing his sore wrist and leaning against the wall of the souvenir shop we were now waiting outside of.