Guardian | Camp Cretaceous

Bonjour, Belle

Days had passed since the whole ordeal came to an end, and now the campers were brainstorming ideas to escape the island, Yaz drawing brief sketches of each idea on the board with chalk they'd found in Wu's lab.

While looking for a phone was Brooklynn's idea, Yasmina had scoffed and pointed out that even if did manage to find one, the frequency was down, but then she'd gone on to suggest finding a helicopter was the right plan. Brooklynn gave her a perplexed look before barking a laugh—how was that any better? Fortunately, before either of them could say something they'd regret, Sammy cut in with her idea to use gyrospheres, which didn't sound any better. And the less said about Kenji's asinine suggestion for a human catapult, the better, while Ben swore up and down that kayaks were their best bet. However, Darius insisted that a raft was their only option.

Finally, all eyes turned to Azriel, who seemed lost in his own little world, gazing up at the clouds with his usual serene expression. Yasmina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, resigned. "Azriel, you're up."

Azriel glanced at the board, pausing for a moment before standing and taking the chalk in hand. "Looking for a phone isn't a bad idea," he admitted. "A place like this should have a satellite phone for emergencies. And Mitch and Tiff might've brought their own, so checking their camp is in our best interest." Brooklynn felt a small swell of pride and crossed her arms, raising a brow at him.

"Don't look so smug," Yasmina narrowed her eyes at her friend.

Azriel's gaze shifted to the chopper as he drew a tight circle around it. "Also not a terrible option. If we find one, I can fly it well enough to reach Costa Rica, but that comes with huge risks. We all remember what happened to Masrani's bird..." A flock passed overhead as if on cue, drawing everyone's eyes skyward with nervous glances.

"Yeah, I vote nay on the chopper," Kenji laughed anxiously. Yaz scowled at him, crossing her arms and blowing a strand of hair from her face.

Azriel struck out Kenji's suggestion. "Entertaining, but a sure-fire way to end up dead." Kenji visibly deflated as Azriel then marked off Sammy's plan. "Gyrospheres aren't buoyant enough; if we're lucky, we'd die from lack of oxygen before the pressure crushed us inside those things." Sammy winced at the merciless denial.

Finally, he focused on Ben's idea, drawing a wide circle around it and connecting it to Darius's raft plan. "Now, kayaks on their own would be a bad call—it's nearly two hundred kilometres over open ocean. But incorporating them into a raft could give us a decent chance."

Ben and Darius exchanged a glance, nodding before raising their fists for a bump. Brooklynn clicked her teeth and looked back at Azriel, who had put a hand on his hip, running his fingers through his hair with a nod.

"Raft, phone, chopper—that's our priority list," he continued, setting the chalk down. He drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully. "Ben, Darius, take Bumpy to the kayak river. Haul back as many as you can to camp." He turned to Sammy. "We'll need sails. Any chance you know how to sew?"

"My abuela taught me," Sammy grinned. "I could make a scarf so fine you'd never believe it was handmade."

Azriel nodded, unclipping his knife and tossing it to Kenji. "Head to Mitch and Tiff's camp, cut off as many pieces of felt from the yurts as you can. And look for a sat phone while you're there."

Kenji glanced uncertainly at the knife, still haunted by what it had been used for only days before, but he nodded. "Uh, what does it look like?"

Azriel looked exasperated. "A Nokia with an antenna."

Kenji raised a brow, still clueless. "And a Nokia looks like...?"

Yasmina threw her hands up. "Rich people. It's a brick with a stick poking out the top." Azriel chuckled, nodding in agreement.