Guardian | Camp Cretaceous

Last Day of Camp 1/2

Brooklynn laughed to mask her embarrassment. Who even says stuff like that? She thought, furious at the slip. An ass that could kill a man? I'm so weird! Shaking her head, she tried to push the awkwardness aside, glancing at the dinosaur resting its head on Yasmina's thigh, its curious eyes blinking up at her.

Before Brooklynn could ask if the hatchling had a name, sirens suddenly blared.

"Attention," an automated voice came through the speakers as Brooklynn and Yaz stood. Brooklynn quickly moved to support the athlete. The dinosaur chirped and scampered ahead on all fours, its long tail whipping back and forth. "All park-goers must report to the South Ferry Dock for immediate evacuation. Last ferry departs in two hours."

Brooklynn exchanged an irritated look with Yaz, who let out a huff while lifting her injured foot.

"That's it?" Brooklynn grumbled. "No explanations? That's all we get?"

From the right, Darius and Kenji hurried down the staircase, scrambling over the barrier with urgency etched on their faces. "We have to move—now!" Darius said, his voice tight with concern. Brooklynn noticed Yasmina's jaw twitch, wondering if she was biting back a snarky remark. "The only way we're gonna make it is if we run."

Sammy hesitated, glancing at Yasmina, who was still leaning on Brooklynn. "Are we sure that's the best way to get there?" she asked. The question struck a nerve in Yasmina, who immediately pulled away from Brooklynn, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest.

"I'm fine," Yasmina snapped. "I've competed with a torn ACL."

Just then, Azriel appeared, vaulting over the railing with the effortless grace of someone completely at ease in chaos. He leaned back against the barrier, eyes glinting as he looked at Yasmina. "Une femme difficile, celle-là," he murmured in a French accent laced with that cinematic sensuality. (A difficult woman, that one.)

Brooklynn couldn't help but agree. She nodded and took up a spot beside him against the barrier. From there, they watched Yasmina, who shot Azriel a narrow-eyed look, clearly picking up on his comment. "You should be more worried about Ben and Bumpy," she retorted.

"What we should all be worried about is catching a boat out of here," Ben said as he joined them, "and, naturally, we have a problem."

He laid out the park brochure on one of the benches, and everyone leaned in to take a look.

"We're here." Ben pointed at the lagoon, then dragged his finger down the map. "The docks are on the southern tip of the island. Even if we ran at peak Yaz speed, there's no way we'd make the last boat out."

Sammy wasn't convinced. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do," Ben countered. "I memorised the evacuation plan on the ferry ride over."

Everyone groaned—of course Ben would be the type to do that. Darius jumped onto the bench and looked around, brainstorming some hopeless plan to use the kayaks to send someone to tell the park personnel to wait.

"Or we could make a few jetpacks?" Brooklynn snarked. "Oh! Or befriend a unicorn." She buried her head in her hands as that same dread from the gyrosphere mud-pit incident hit her tenfold. "Face it. It's hopeless."

Yasmina's hand touched her back, rubbing soothing circles that only made Brooklynn feel more doomed.

"Or we could wait until the six o'clock monorail arrives," Azriel suggested calmly. Brooklynn looked up at him like he was crazy, then realised he was dead serious. "It should be here... now."

Right on cue, an automated voice echoed through Main Street: "We will be arriving at Main Street, your destination for fine dining and shopping at Jurassic World." Azriel helped Yasmina over to the railing as Brooklynn and the others hurried over. "Followed by stops at the Jurassic World Lagoon and the South Ferry Dock."