Surviving the Waves

Chapter 13 & 14

Chapter 13: Yaz's POV

Yaz stood at attention, her eyes scanning the training field in front of her. She had worked her way up in the special forces, something she had dreamed about since she was a kid. It felt good—pushing herself to the limit, feeling her body and mind sharpen with each challenge. It was a far cry from the days of running from dinosaurs on Isla Nublar, but those experiences had given her an edge, a kind of focus that others didn't have.

She never talked about the island, though. Even her fellow soldiers didn't know the full story. How could she explain something like that to people who had never faced anything remotely close to it? The terror of being hunted by creatures that weren't supposed to exist—that wasn't something you could casually drop into conversation.

She hadn't heard from Darius in a while. They had all stayed in touch after everything, but as the years went on, their lives took different paths. Brooklyn was still chasing her dreams of becoming a top-tier YouTuber, Ben and Sammy had settled down and become farmers, and Kenji... well, Kenji was Kenji. He had slipped back into his father's world, running his business empire.

Yaz pulled out her phone during a break, scrolling through their group chat. It had been quiet for a while—too quiet, now that she thought about it. Darius had always been the glue that held them together, checking in, making sure everyone was okay. But now... it was like he'd disappeared.

She bit her lip, her gut telling her something wasn't right. Maybe it was time to reach out, check in on him. But before she could type a message, her commanding officer called her back to the field.

Later, she told herself. I'll call him later.

Chapter 14: Brooklyn's POV

"Hey, guys! It's your girl Brooklyn, coming to you live with a brand-new video! Today, we're going to dive into—"

The sound of her own voice echoed in her studio as Brooklyn recorded another video for her millions of subscribers. She still couldn't believe how far she'd come. After Isla Nublar, her YouTube channel had exploded. People wanted to know everything about the dinosaurs, the island, and what she had been through. Of course, she had kept a lot of the details vague—no one would have believed the full truth anyway—but she had used her experience to build her brand, to make something out of the chaos they had lived through.

Her life now was all about content creation. She traveled, she filmed, she edited. It was exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. And while she loved every second of it, there was a part of her that missed the group—the shared bond they had formed in the midst of danger.

She hadn't heard from Darius in a while, and that worried her. He was the heart of their little makeshift family, always making sure they stayed in touch. But recently, he had gone quiet, and that wasn't like him.

Brooklyn paused mid-recording, her phone buzzing beside her. She glanced at it, half-expecting it to be a new sponsor email or some kind of business inquiry, but it wasn't. It was a message from Yaz.

Have you heard from Darius?

Brooklyn frowned, her fingers hovering over the screen. She hadn't, and that wasn't a good sign. If anyone had a reason to go off the grid, it was Darius—but he would've told them first, right?

Her mind raced with possibilities as she responded.

No. Why? Is something up?