Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter 18: Aftermath

Mike watched Kara leave the dank kiosk in tears and let out the breath he had been holding. Letting go of her was the hardest thing he had done in his life, yet it was for her best. Wanting to be with her when he was only slowing them down was selfish. If just one of them were to see the sunrise one more time, he would rather it be Kara than him.

He wiped away the hot tears he had tried so hard not to set free and sneaked out of his hiding place to see how close the monster was. Very close. He dragged himself out the kiosk just in time before Ace fell through with a painful whine. Mike clenched his jaw at the sight of the loyal animal's torment. Nevertheless, he had to move out of the way if he wanted to avoid Reign and Rufio's violent moves.

His last protector was in no better shape than his brother. Mike watched them from behind another still standing shop and glanced in the direction of Aquarium to see if Kara had made it. Mike's heart dropped like a stone when he saw her suddenly collapsing for no reason. Something was wrong and he couldn't understand what.

Rufio was pushed away at a moment of weakness and Reign ran ahead, picking the scent of her prey. Mike cursed loudly, yelling at the top of his lung and tried to attract her attention to himself instead, but that didn't work. The heartless beast had her mind set only on Kara who seemed barely awake at that point.

As Mike kept shouting Kara's name and limping towards her, Nibs - the only other Lost Boy left with Alex - arrived out of nowhere and answered to his master's anguished calls. He ran faster with one last growl and leaped at Reign, only to be tossed away easily and stalling the killer dinosaur for just a few seconds.

Mike didn't think twice before walking in its path, replacing his fallen Raptor. He wasn't just gonna stand by and watch Kara die. He couldn't live with himself. Reign lurched forward, not even giving him a second glance and swiped him to a side with a powerful slap that sent him flying. Mike felt the hard blow to his head and lost awareness for a brief moment.

He heard gunshots and then a deafening boom that shook the air. Rippling sounds of something sending gusts of air forced Mike's eyes to fly wide open, only to see a chopper very close to the ground. Mike gaped at it in surprise and whipped his head instantly to where Kara was, his breathing stopped, expecting to see the sight of his nightmares, yet there was no sign of Reign. Only Kara laid unconscious on her back like before.

Before Mike could do anything though, a splash of water was heard and a huge volume of water burst out of the Lagoon. He heard the otherworldly screeching sound before seeing what has dived out of the water. The enormous Mosasaurus sprout out of the water and took a hard bite at something black on the surface. With how stunned Mike was, it took him a moment to understand what the colossal animal had hunted was no other than Reign who was the one making all the nerve-wracking God awful sounds. The Mosasaurus plunged back into the water with another splash, taking his giant meal with him and disappeared deep into the dark water. It was the most bizarre thing he had ever seen in his life.

Nature had balanced itself at last by taking out all the man-made abnormalities. Mike was so stupefied that he hadn't realized he was dripping from the wave of water that had rained on him, being so close to the lagoon.

Mike scrambled to his feet, falling and then half crawled to where Kara was. He had trouble putting together what had happened and couldn't believe their luck.

"Matthews!" John shouted his name over the loud sound of helicopter blades and helped a terribly disoriented Mike to his feet. He felt terribly nauseous. He was sure he had a concussion if his double vision was any indication.

"J- John?" He stuttered when his teeth chattered, not realizing that he was shaking from head to toe uncontrollably. "John, wh- what ha- happened?" He asked him as they walked to Kara.