Living With Dinosaurs (Book 2)

Chapter 3: Flashback

-Gabriella's POV-

"Okay, that was weird." Darius replies.

"Yeah, now I'm on the fence. Because it could be true about us being hunted but at the same time... I don't know." I add in.

"I'm telling you, someone is after us."

"But why? Who would even want to do that?"

"I don't know for sure, but I've got some theories. Check 'em out if you want. They're in the back." Ben says to Darius.

Darius gets up and heads to the door that leads to the back of the van. "Man, Ben. This is well stocked." I hear Darius say after he slides open the door and enters the back to reveal Ben's living space.

"Like stepping inside your old dork pouch." I overhear Darius mumble, and I couldn't help but chuckle a little. I've been told I have really good hearing so I can hear the other things Darius is mumbling to himself in there.

"Mantah Corp secret underwater laboratory? Carnivorous locusts?"

Then I imagine Darius must have found Ben's other notes because I heard him grunting before hearing something open. "What the..."

Then, a few seconds later, I hear.

"Ugh. Ew, ew, ew!"

Darius then comes out and returns to his seat. "Okay, first of all, real talk. Are you eating food out of a boot? Because if you are, we need to talk about that."

Ben groans, and I just chuckle softly.

"And second, Big Shaving Cream behind it all? What the heck are these?" Darius added after holding up a note.

"They're theories." Ben replied, taking the note from Darius. "Some are from that website, and some are my own. At this point, we can't rule out any possibility." Ben adds before returning to look at the road.

"But right now, it doesn't matter who is hunting us. What matters is that they are."

"Hypothetically."

"But we can't take that chance. The messages I told you about from Dark Jurassic? Whoever sent them threatened all of us."

Darius sighs defeatedly. "Fine. I'll call Sammy." Ben winds down his window before snatching Darius's phone and throwing it out the window, causing Darius to gasp.

"Wha–"

"Phones are traceable. They're not safe."

"You could have turned it off."

"Well, phones are still traceable when they're turned off. I think. Right?"

"No."

"Huh. I could have sworn. I guess we could have looked that up, but... Not anymore..."

"You don't say. It's funny how it took Darius to get you to see that when I tried to tell you the same thing."

After another few moments of silence and Darius giving Ben a disappointing expression on his face, Ben speaks up.

"Actually, it's pretty cold. Just gonna... roll this up." He says as he rolls up his window. Darius takes in a deep breath before speaking.

"How exactly do you plan to warn everyone if we don't have phones, hmm? You learn telepathy on that website?" Darius asked, folding his arms and looking at Ben disapprovingly.

"No. Back there." Ben refers to a care package from Sammy, Darius picks it up and places it on his lap.

"Care package from Sammy. Return address is right on the front. She'll know where everyone is."

There was a moment of silence before Darius spoke up. "So, we're going to Texas?" Darius asked. "Yee-haw." Ben replies before taking in a deep breath.

It's now nighttime, and we're still on the road. Darius and I are both asleep while Ben continues to drive.

**Gabby's Dream**

Brooklynn came to visit me while I was home from college, we decided to go out for a girls day out to just catch up with what's happening.

"It's been so long! How have you been?" Brooklynn asked me.

"I've been doing great. College is, well... I'm getting the hang of it. I think?" I replied.

Brooklynn just giggled. "You'll be fine. You survived on an island filled with dinosaurs. College will just be a piece of cake for you." Brooklynn tells me.

I laugh. "Thanks, Brooklynn. I really needed that." Suddenly, my phone starts ringing, so I pick it up and answer it. It was my Dad.

My Dad sounded really upset and distraught on the phone. "Dad, calm down. What's the matter? Are William, Tyler, and Madeline okay?" I asked, thinking one of my half siblings has hurt themselves badly.

But before my Dad could say anything, Lucy's voice was heard on the other end of the line.

"Gabby, you need to come to the vet."

After hearing that, I dropped my phone as tears started to form in my eyes. I could feel my heart breaking. Something must have happened to Sokka.

Brooklynn picks up my phone and talks to Lucy for a moment before the two of us go to the vet. After arriving at the vet, I see Lucy and my Dad with William, Tyler, and Madeline.

They informed me that Sokka had been poisoned. Long story cut short since Sokka was a senior they did try to save his life, but it was obvious that it was time.

So, even though it was a hard decision to make, I decided to let him go. Brooklynn stayed with me while I sat on the floor and held Sokka while he was slowly slipping away from me forever.

Brooklynn decided to stay with me for a couple of more days while I mourned the loss of my best friend.

**End of Dream**

I wake up from my dream with tears in my eyes and feeling like my heart is heavy with sadness. I miss both Brooklynn and Sokka.

Darius wakes up, snorting and grunting, then yawing. "Sorry. I forgot how much running from dinos can take it outta you." He says, chuckling.

"Oh, pull off here. I've had to go to the bathroom since before we left." Darius tells Ben.

But Ben drives right past the exit.

"Dude, did you hear me?" Darius asked Ben.

Ben doesn't look away from the road. "What's going on?" Darius asked, looking at Ben.

"We're being followed."

Both Darius and I sigh. "We lost those Raptors hours ago. We don't even know–"

"Not them." Ben interrupts Darius. "There's a car. Every time I turn, they turn. When I slow down, they slow down. When I speed up..." Ben changes the gears.

"They're speeding up, too."

"Well, we are on a highway, aren't we? It could just be a coincidence."

"Seriously, Gabby? After what just happened? You still don't believe me?"

"Well, it is kinda hard to believe."

Ben groans in annoyance. "Remember how Sokka died?" He asked me.

"Don't you dare bring Sokka into this, Benjamin! You weren't even there for me when he died."

"I was in college!"

"You could have just rang me and asked how I was doing. Brooklynn, Kenji, Yaz, Darius, and Sammy all checked in with me to see how I was doing after his passing. But where were you when I needed you?"

"I..."

Darius stayed quiet during this.

"I'm so sorry, Gabby. I... I wanted to wait for the right moment to tell you, but I guess now I'm forced to come clean. I should have reached out to you and saw how you were with Sokka's passing and everything. But college got in the way, so to make it up to you, I was hoping we could move in together and adopt a dog together after we both leave college."

"You want us to move in together after college and adopt a dog together? Heck yeah!"