lost » zach mitchell ON HOLD

seventeen

"Lowery, I'm on my way back to you," Claire spoke into her phone, plugging her other ear with her finger to hear what Lowery was saying. Owen led them to a parked Jeep. They were finally off of Main Street and into the staff backroads which was quieter but the danger had not lessened. "What do you mean 'use the Raptors'?"

"Son of a bitch!" Owen seethed, slowing the fast walk to a stop as he turned to look at Claire.

"You shouldn't say 'bitch'," Gray muttered under his breath. Natalie shook her head as she placed a bloodied hand on his shoulder.

"Take the kids," Owen told Claire, his face hardened in a scowl, "Get them someplace safe."

The group turned when loud banging came from behind them, the large metal doors to the main park began to pry open. Zach's hands grabbed both Natalie's and Gray's, already backing away from the door. Hundreds of people burst through the doors, screaming as they ran for safety from the dinosaurs.

Zach pulled the two into the back of the Jeep with him, Natalie groaning as her back pressed against the seat. Owen threw the car into reverse and pressed down on the gas pedal, the Jeep flying down the backroad as the crowd ran towards them. Zach and Gray were panicking, yelling for Owen to go faster while Natalie bit her lip from the pain in her back. 

Natalie fell into Zach's side, her head colliding with his shoulder harshly as Owen spun the wheel down hard. With a loud screech the Jeep backed up between two buildings, tucked away from the horde of people. The three teens watched out the windshield as people ran by, screaming and yelling for help.

"This does not feel safe," Zach muttered as he wrapped his arm around Natalie, avoiding her injured back. Natalie was silent, a look of pure terror and pain on her face.

"Can we stay with you?" Gray asked, putting his hands on the back of Owen's seat.

Claire nodded as she let out a shaky breath. "I am never leaving you as long as you live."

"No, him," Zach shook his head quickly, pointing to Owen.

"Yeah, definitely him," Natalie spoke as Gray let out a sound of agreement from beside her.

The car fell silent, the sound of the running engine becoming white noise as the group watched the horde of terrified people disappear as they fled from the dinosaurs. Past the large, concrete walls of the backroads, Natalie could hear the screeching of the dinosaurs and screaming of the unfortunate souls who couldn't escape their brutality.

"I've got to get to my Raptors," Owen said to himself, being putting the car into drive and speeding towards the Raptor paddocks.  

Natalie had never felt more exhausted in her entire life. Her heart felt weak, as if it was going to collapse in her chest. Her back ached terribly and she could only imagine what the skin beneath her shirt looked like. In the quiet of the car, Natalie tried to convince herself that they were safe - at least for the moment - and let her heavy head fall on to Zach's shoulder.

"Nat?" Zach spoke softly, tilting his head to see her face, "Hey, hey? You okay?" he asked in a quiet urgency when she didn't open her eyes at his voice. Natalie only grunted in reply, too tired to tell him to shut up.

Quickly realising he would get nothing from Natalie, he turned to his aunt with a neared frenzied worry. "Aunt Claire? Aunt Claire, Natalie was hurt,"

"What? Oh, my God," Claire's orange hair whipped around as she turned in her seat to see the teenagers.

"Back on Main Street." Zach began to explain as he held Natalie's in a tight grip. "Nat got hurt by one of those things,"

"A Pterosaur," Grey quickly clarified, leaning forward in his seat with the same worry as Zach but his voice also held an underline of awe as he continued. "Nat saved us. She pushed us out of the way before it could get us,"

"I'm fine. Really," Natalie tried to dismiss their worry but they were not having any of it. Natalie had no choice but to listen when Claire told to turn around so she could see the damage done to Natalie's back. The claw marks appeared a lot worse than they actually were. Her shirt was torn and ruined, blood stained the thin material and her russet skin was coloured in the same crimson read. 

Despite how gory the wounds looked on first sight, Claire reassured the three that they weren't too deep. "Once we get to the Research Arena, I'll have somebody clean and bandage it, okay? They might not be deep, but we can't have them getting infected." Claire explained.

Unable to lean back into her seat without ripples of pain erupting from her back, Zach pulled Natalie into his chest. Her cheek pressed against his neck as the two stared silently out of the window, admiring the royal purple and burnt orange sky as the sun set in the horizon.

"Is it too early?" Zach asked quietly so only Natalie was able to hear. 

She ignored how her cheeks flushed at the feeling of his warm breath brushing against her ear. Instead, she looked away from the sunset and lifted her head enough to see the edge of his jaw. "Too early for what?" she asked in confusion. 

"Nat..." he began but the words seem to catch in his throat. "There's been something I've wanted to tell you for a while now," Natalie waited silently for him to speak. She held her breath as she felt her heart pounding against her chest, eager to know what it was he was wanting to tell her. "I just never thought it was the right time and... well, I just don't think there will ever be a right time to tell you this so I'm just going to come right out and say it..."

Natalie bit her lip as Zach moved his head to look down at her, their noses almost brushing together from how close the two of them were to each other. "Yes?" Natalie asked softly, her voice barely audible as she bit her lip in anticipation.

"I..." he began before quickly clearing his throat. "Nat, I..."

"Yes?" she pressed once again.

"I told you so,"

Natalie was stunned. Baffled. Completely caught off guard as Zach finally spoke. "What?" she managed to sputter out.

Zach's lips pulled into a smirk at Natalie's wide eyes. "It wasn't long ago since you were panicking about dying in a 'fucking tin can'. If I remember correctly, you were complaining about slutty, drunk pilots, pointing out how pointless the brace position is and I'm pretty sure you said something about dicks as well." Zach hummed at the memory, mockingly, "But you were so sure there was no way a dinosaur would ever lose their shit and go on a rampage. Now look where we are,"

"You're fucking joking?" Natalie gaped as she pushed herself off his shoulder, his hand resting on her hip.

"What?" Zach snickered. His laughter only becoming louder as Natalie's fist collided with his arm as a weak attempt of a punch.

"Jesus Christ, Zach!" Natalie hissed at him, trying not to draw the attention of the adults who were having a conversation of their own. "I thought you were going to tell me something else."

"Like what? What did you think I was going to say?"

Natalie narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. "Something that wasn't going to piss me off, you asshole,"

"C'mon, you love it really," he shook his head, his lips still pulled into a large grin as he pulled Natalie back onto his side. Natalie's silent fuming slowly faded into mild annoyance as the beating of his heart thumped against her ears. Nothing would ever change her mind about Zach Mitchell. He was a cocky, insulting asshole who seemed to thrive on getting on Natalie's last nerve.

But she loved it really.