DESTRUCTION | Zach Mitchell

Chapter Four • Exploring

"Is it big?" Gray asked. They were currently sitting in the splash zone for the Mosasaurus show. Gray was being his normal excited self as Zach was slumped in his seat watching his phone with a look of pure boredom. Adira sat in the middle and smiled at Gray while she secretly rolled her eyes at Zach, Gray saw the action and giggled to himself.

"She's pretty and all, but you might wanna' put that away" she whispered as she leaned in since Zach was looking at a picture of a blonde girl on his phone. The show had already begun and they were waiting for the Mosasaurus to appear to eat the shark that was hung above the tank by a line.

He had luckily just put his phone back in his pocket when the beast jumped out of the water and captured the food in one bite with a growl. It slowly fell back down into the water, which ended up going all over them. She laughed as she saw the look on their faces. She had been to the show many times and had picked the splash zone specifically since they got a better look from it.

"Oh my God! That was awesome!" Gray cheered as he held onto Adira's arm to pull himself up to see better. For an eleven year old, he had a strong grip. She didn't mind, she was enjoying the excited atmosphere he carried around, it was somewhat innocent. She always wished for a younger sibling. She loved Owen, but he was always protective over her, she'd like to be the protective one for once.

"How's that for childish" she whispered to Zach with a smirk. He laughed in amazement as the stands were brought down another level. He instinctively grabbed her hand at the jolt the stands gave but let go in embarrassment. Adira laughed but brought her hand back and linked her fingers with his, it felt nice. The moment was ruined when they remembered Gray.

"It had 88 teeth!" he yelled as he snapped a few pictures with his small camera. She wondered for a moment why he didn't have a phone like every other kid, but remembered he wasn't a normal kid. She wondered if she'd be seeing him working with her in the park in the future, he had great potential.

She was surprised when Zach hadn't snapped at Gray for his fact. Instead he laughed happily and gripped her hand a little tighter to which they shared a small smile.

She never really spent much time with other people her age. The closest person to her age around the island that she actually liked was Lowrey. There was a programme on the island that let teenagers work there part time, either for the summer or for job/school purposes but they only stayed for a few months so she never bothered in trying to get to know them.

"Wanna go see something else cool?" Zach asked them, bringing her out of her isolated thoughts. She really didn't mind not having friends her age, she didn't need them. It would still be nice though.

"Yeah! Where next Adi?" Gray asked as he tried to yell over the clapping. She smiled at how excited Zach seemed to be and felt a little accomplished.

"You know what gyrosphere is?"

  ¤  

"Can I sit with you?" Gray asked as they boarded the train. Adira laughed and looked at Zach triumphantly. He looked at Gray with a roll of his eyes.

"Too bad pipsqueak, she's sitting with me" he butted in as if it was obvious. She looked between the two and tried her best to keep a serious face.

"As great as I am, I think it would be best if you sat together. This is family bonding time" she told them with a smirk when their faces fell. She walked to the seat behind them and sat at the window, but leaned forward so she could talk to them.

"Do you know what they are?" she asked Gray as the train made it's way past Gallimimus valley. It was hard to see them, so she wanted to test him on his knowledge. He squinted his eyes as he tried to make out what they were before he decided on an answer.

"Gallimimus" he decided on after a moment. 

"You're smart kid" she told him with a smile but looked confused when she noticed the depressed look he suddenly had and looked to Zach who only shrugged passively. He was about to start talking to her with his arm behind Gray's seat to look at her until Gray spoke up.

"If mom and dad get a divorce, will one of us be with dad and the other with mom?" he asked Zach with a sad face. Adira's face constricted at the thought of him not smiling and sat back in her seat to give them privacy.

"What? Why would you say that" Zach responded as he looked back at Adira with a dazzling smile as he tried to ignore Gray. She sent him an annoyed look and turned her head to the window so he could focus on his brother.

"Because they are" Gray sighed sadly.

"No they're not getting a divorce... they're not getting a divorce" he repeated with a little more confidence. He turned back to Gray when he realised Adira wasn't going to give him any attention.

She tried to block out their conversation, but it was hard to when Zach had such bad comforting skills.

"Look you haven't been around that long. They've always been like that" he told Gray who was beginning to sniffle. She tried to ignore her instincts to hug the little guy and watched as a touring bus drove through valley.

She listened while noting how smart Gray was, even if it was a sad subject. He had figured out what the letters that their parents were receiving meant that they were getting a divorce. She nearly slapped Zach on the back of his head when he told Gray that he'd been gone in two years. She then realised that she was older than him.

"I don't want two of everything" Gray cried. Zach tried to tell him that he needed grow up but Adira cut him off.

"You know, dinosaurs are killers, it's eat or be eaten with them" she told Gray. "Except when they have children" she smiled. "They love them unconditionally and protect them with their life" she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Now, I know it's hard to compare your parents to a bunch of man eating killers, but I believe that even if they're not together, they'll still love you unconditionally.. just without the having to protect you with their life part" she added in the joke and smiled when Gray stopped crying to laugh a little. He nodded and wiped his tears away but didn't say anything.

"There you go, anyways can you tell me the name of your favourite dinos...." she trailed off as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the sight of two APU trucks going through the valley. She barely listened as Gray went through the list as she thought of possible reasons for such drastic measures. She ended up shaking the thought away and deciding it was probably some precautions taken for the new asset.

Little did she know, she was thinking about the right animal, but the wrong reasons.

AN

I'm making them short since it's a movie.