⍟ Strings {A Camp Cretaceous x Male Reader Story - Ben}

𝟸. 𝙰𝚝 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝...

The campers warily trek further and further into the cave, just to discover that it leads out into a... desert?

"Okay," Brooklyn shields her eyes from the sun, "Definitely not Costa Rica."

"Looks more like... Australia?" Darius infers as the others slowly make their way down the rocks.

"No way we went that far though, right?"

Kenji slaps his hand onto Y/N's face, holding there for way longer than comfortable.

"Kenji... what are you doing?" Y/N side eyes the other boy.

"Making sure we're not dead." Kenji whispers eerily.

"Cus if we're dead we'd be ghosts, and if we're ghosts, I'd be able to, like..."

He wiggles his fingers in Y/N's face, "Woooo, go through you."

Y/N slaps his hand away, "I'll show you dead in a second!" He rolls his eyes and moves down the rocks.

"So, we know where we aren't." Brooklyn stands over the ledge.

"Nope. Just that we're stranded, and alone. Again." Yasmina tosses a rock.

"We've just gotta... assess the situation." Darius stays optimistic.

"Hey, guys! Look at that!" Ben slides down and points over the ledge, "Over there in the distance, something shiny!"

"I see it! Looks like the sun in glinting off some sort of metal thingy?" Sammy squints her eyes to get a better look.

"Something metal could mean someone had to make it! We gotta go check it out!" Ben cheers.

"Hang on," Kenji steps forward, "You wanna go walking across a blazing hot desert just because you saw something shiny?"

"We have no idea what's out there." Darius chimes in.

"Uh, yeah we do." Y/N folds his arms, "Rocks and sand."

"Oh, my sweet, frightened children." Ben shakes his head and smiles, "So, we're not in 'Costa Rica'. And we don't 'know where we are'." He uses air quotes.

"And we have 'no hope'."

"We didn't know how we were gonna survive on Nublar and yet, we did. By sheer will, determination, and teamwork."

"There aren't even dinosaurs here! So logically, this should be easier!"

"So, let's go out there and, you know, survive!"

Nobody seems entirely impressed by Ben's motivational speech.

Yasmina's the first to move, "Why not?" She sighs and shrugs before making her way further down the slope.

"We can at least try." Sammy joins her, the others following behind.

Y/N hangs back with Ben for a moment.

"Good try." He attempts to make the discouraged boy feel better, lightly squeezing his shoulder before moving to catch up with his friends.

The group begins walking towards the shiny thing Ben had spotted, with no other insensitive to follow.

Y/N turns to Yaz, observing the scowl on her face, "Hey, at least the Mosasaurus didn't eat us." He nudges her in the side.

"Right, as if dinosaurs weren't enough, now we're washed up on some desert island." She rolls her eyes with a slight smirk.

"Well, at least it's a nice day?" Ben tries to put a positive spin on it.

"At least, there aren't any mosquitoes here." Sammy adds.