The Lost Dinosaur |2| Nublar Seven Series

Don't Look Back

You know me, I have to kill at least one Ceratosaurus. Sorry, not sorry.

Ben

The smoky stench filled the air as all hell broke loose. This sight of Nublar was so unfamiliar, it made my stomach churn. Once upon a mountain was missing half of its side, being blown up into the air. My ears were still ringing from that. The sky above us had become as dark as night, surely all that smoke and ash reached the space, so high it went. But everything that goes up must come down. The rocks that were once part of the mountain, rained down on the island.

The earth wasn't shaking anymore, but every time a fireball landed near, it caused a mini earthquake. We were lucky to be on the east dock, the few mountains between us and the volcano seemed to protect us, but the rest of the island... The whole north of it was covered in smoke and fire, the jungle was ablaze and certainly dinosaurs had perished because of it.

I don't know how long I stayed on the ground watching the rainfire, enough for my ears to work again, that's for sure.

Men yelled, dinosaurs bellowed, and fireballs hit the ground like little explosions. One had hit a pyramid of containers on the dock, making it all come tumbling down, metal burning like ember. One truck had a gray Ceratosaurus biting the bars that held it and a fireball went straight to it. In a split second, there was no truck anymore, no Ceratosaurus, just a black hole on the dock, embers everywhere.

I scrambled to my feet, something dropping from my lap as I did so. A little black radio was on the ground.

My eyes went incredibly wide as I picked it up.

"Hayden! Hays! Are you there?" I yelled into it. Nothing. "Hayden, pick up!" Silence. Every passing moment of radio silence had my heart growing heavy and my chest so tight I couldn't breathe. "Hays, please answer me." I was pleading at that point.

"I'm a little busy trying to drive away from a volcano!" Her voice had me sighing so hard I leaned on Bumpy's cage.

"You're alive! Thank God!"

"Please tell me the ship's still there."

"We are, but not for long." I looked at the dock. Trucks were rushing inside as men ran for their lives, with the occasional Compy in their midst. The ship under me shook rhythmically, but I was unsure whether it was from an earthquake, waves, or the engine being turned on. "Where are you? Hurry up."

"Believe me, I'm going as fast as possible, unless you want me to go through- Hey!" Hayden yelled, followed by honking. "Did you not see me here?"

"What?"

"Brachiosauruses are blind." She grunted.

I chuckled. "Did you just honk at a Brachio?"

"It ignored me, so... Anyway, you better hold that ship, I'm almost there!"

I squinted at the distance, trying to see past the fire and chaos. A long neck with a small head on top stood out between the trees.

"I see you! I mean, I see the Brachio. You're almost here!"

I had a huge smile on my face as I saw the Jeep on the dirt road. However, my smile died in a second. A scream drew my attention back to the mountain, the cloud of ash being expelled from the volcano was making its way down the mountain, covering the valley in a gray blanket. A super-heated blanket made out of ash and rocks capable of killing anything instantly.

"Don't look in your rear-view mirror! Just go faster!" I yelled, feeling my eyes wet.

"Fuck!" Hayden shrieked, panic in her voice. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"