Catastrophe

five

• 5 •

Owen Grady: "Don't worry. It's gonna be just like taking a walk in the woods... 65 million years ago."

— Jurassic World

•••

IT FELT AS IF THEY HAD BEEN WALKING FOR HOURS THROUGH THE JUNGLE when Gray suddenly ran up ahead.

"Guys, I see something," he said softly before rushing off.

"This is hopeless. We don't even know where we're going," Liana murmured. She was hesitant to admit it out loud, but she was losing hope. They were lost in the middle of God-only-knows-where, and there was a dinosaur on the loose. Everyone else on the island was back at the resort, yet they were wandering through the wilderness. Zach stayed walking next to Lia and the two trailed behind Gray. "How are we supposed to get out of here?" Lia asked, looking up at Zach. He was staying relatively calm, but she could tell that the gears were turning in his head. He wanted to find a way out just as badly as she and Gray did. Now that they felt like they were safe, it was just a matter of finding their way.

"We'll find our way out," Zach said. "Eventually."

"Guys, come here!" Gray called. Lia and Zach looked at each other worriedly and jogged up towards Gray. He was breathing heavily and holding up a damaged white construction helmet with the Jurassic World logo on it.

"What's wrong?" Lia asked Gray. He stayed silent. Zach moved closer and grabbed the helmet from his brother's hands. Gray's breathing sped up. Neither boy said anything. "Where did that come from?"

Zach looked at it and turned it over a few times in his hands. "I dunno. It must have belonged to some worker," he said. Gray's attention had shifted from the helmet in Zach's hands to a broken down jeep a few feet away. Zach and Lia both followed his gaze and looked at the car.

"Stay here," Zach said to both Lia and Gray, putting his arm up in front of the both of them. Rather than listening to him, Lia simply scoffed.

"Yeah right," she said, walking past him towards the broken down car.

Zach followed behind Lia, Gray gripping onto his arm tightly as they cautiously made their way further into the jungle. The three surrounded the car and inspected it. It was empty, sparking a little bit, and there were blood stains on the seats. It had clearly seen better days.

Just a few feet up ahead, there was a large door covered in vines. It looked like it hadn't been opened in years.

"I wonder what that is..." Lia said, walking towards the door.

"Lia, c'mon," Gray said. He was standing behind Zach, hesitant to go any further.

"Don't worry," she said, turning back to face the Mitchells. "I'm just having a look." She turned on her heels and headed towards the entrance, not even checking behind her to see if Zach and Gray were following after her.

"Come on, man," Zach told Gray, following Lia's lead, but cautiously looking around as he approached the door.

The door was heavy, and it took both Zach and Lia a few tries to get it to open all the way. Once opened, the trio cautiously walked through the door.

"Wow," Zach said softly.

"Wow is right," Lia said, already walking further into the room and looking around. The room looked like it was something spectacular at some point, with its high ceilings and glass roof, but it was now dark and dingy and overrun by plants. Vines covered the walls and plants upon plants were coming in from the ceiling and growing up from the ground.

Lia came up behind Zach and placed a hand on the back of his arm. "What is that?" She said, motioning towards the bone-shaped figure in his hand.

"Looks like some kind of bone," he said with a small shrug. Lia nodded, but she noticed something else. In the same spot where Zach had found the bone, she noticed a strip of colour. She used her foot to dust off the dirt and leaves and leaned down to pick up what looked to be some sort of old banner. She shook it off, trying to rid it of as much dirt and dust as possible.

Zach looked at Liana, then at Gray and raised an eyebrow. "Do you still have those matches?" The younger boy reached into his fanny pack and pulled out a box of matches. He handed them over to Zach.

"Here ya go," he said.

"We're gonna need some light. Can you wrap the banner around this?" Zach asked Lia. She nodded and did so, before taking the box of matches from him and striking one, using it to light the banner on fire. It wasn't the safest of ideas, but it wasn't half-bad for a makeshift torch.

Zach led Gray and Lia through the building, using the fire to illuminate a path. As they walked further, they came across a wall featuring dinosaur paintings. Between that and all of the broken signs and old banners, there was only one place they could have possibly found themselves in.

"This must be the old park or something," Lia said. "That would explain the paintings. And the bone. And the banner."

"I think you're right," Zach called from another room. Lia and Gray followed his voice and found themselves in a room filled with old Jurassic Park jeeps, helmets, and other random supplies.

They walked in-between the cars and Gray paused next to one of the cleaner looking ones. It was covered in vines, but it didn't look to be in terrible condition. "1992 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, sand beige," he said.

"How the heck do you know that?" Liana said.

"I read a lot," Gray said with a small laugh.

"Evidently," Lia sighed. Zach was staring at the car somewhat quizzically. Then he turned to Lia. Then to Gray. Then back to the car. "Hey. Zach. What's up?" she asked him.

"You remember when we fixed up Grandpa's old Malibu, right?" Zach asked Gray.

"Yeah.." Gray replied.

Zach smiled. "Perfect."

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