With a complete disregard for her physical pain Sammy yanked her seatbelt off. Still reeling from the crash she sprawled to the floor without it's support, vertigo overwhelming. Her disjointed thoughts took notice of a nickel that had rolled beneath the bench, it's gleaming silver face catching her eye before urgency overtook her. Picking herself up again the girl stumbled from the back of the van, dirt churning beneath her hands and knees as she crawled free from the vehicle. Wretching with nausea Sammy struggled to catch her breath, gulping for air before she found her feet, unsteady as they were.

"Yaz!" she called after the girl who seemed keen to put as much space between the two of them as possible. "Wait, Yasmina!"

The world shifted and wobbled all around Sammy, colors bleeding, shapes merging, and skewing into one another as her eyes welled up with tears that distorted everything she looked at. She felt faint, her limbs cold with shock, and despair, a radiating pulse beginning at the base of her neck and spreading outwards into her back and shoulders. She dismissed the pain and trudged on, her hand outstretched.

Oh God, she thought, the toe of her boot connecting with a rock, she tripped, catching herself but only just. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. She had wanted to tell Yaz, had tried to tell her, she really had, but now, now Yasmina had taken off like arrow from a bowstring, visibly shaking as she stormed further and further away from the group.

"Please!" Sammy called her voice quavering with an abiding sorrow.

"Is everyone alright?" Darius asked moving like an old man as he climbed out of the double doors.

"No!" Kenji wept, slumping against the wheel well at the front of the car, air hissing between his teeth.

At the sound of Darius' question Yasmina turned around, stalking furiously back the way she'd come, her gaze blazingly locked onto Sammy as she shouted. "We are not alright! We're lost in this God forsaken jungle with a murderous camouflaged dinosaur and you?" Yaz snarled, eyes narrowed as leaned in with menace towards Sammy who shrank shamefully beneath her stare. "You."

"Destroyed our only way to get help and lied about it!" Brooklynn shouted little worse for wear as she motioned about accusingly with her wrecked cell. "I told you!" she declared with a vindicated smile.

"So you did take Brooklynn's phone?" Darius asked, the disappointment in his tone wounding while Sammy observed a shifting tide in her friends as they all began to turn against her. "Why?" he wanted to know. "What were you doing?"

"I-" Sammy started, her voice a hollow guilt ridden whisper.

"She was probably trying to erase my video of her taking those samples from the sinoceratops!" Brooklynn correctly surmised. Sammy gave her a pleading look not to say more, but the pink haired girl seemed both angered at having been discounted by everyone, and relieved that she had indeed been right and continued to piece the rest of the puzzle together. "And you knew about the Indominus Rex because you were snooping around Dr Wu's office when I ran into you. I knew it!"

"I didn't mean to destroy the phone." Sammy sobbed, trying to find one ally among the faces that stared so hard and hating at her. "I fell on it when the zipline came down-"

"But you did steal it? You had it that whole time and you didn't tell us?" Ben called from the other side of the van where he played nursemaid to Kenji who couldn't seem to find his footing.

"Hold up. What were you doing in Dr Wu's office Brooklynn?" Darius inquired, filling the farm girl with some hope that not all was lost for her. She'd been so preoccupied with the fear of being caught however that she'd never dared to ask the question herself, what had Brooklynn been doing? Surly she wasn't working for Mantah Corp as well? Turning with interest Sammy looked at the other girl who floundered uneasily beneath the scrutiny.

"I... It doesn't matter I didn't break our only way to call for help and then lie about it! This is not my fault, it's her fault!" Brooklynn shouted diverting all of the tension and blame back to Sammy.

Everything was happening too fast, and all at once, Sammy's head was a whirl, she felt herself being kicked and tossed about with the chaotic furry of a rodeo bull whose flank strap was tied too tight. A few loose tears leaving behind solemn tracks on her cheeks Sammy looked helplessly first at Darius, then Brooklynn, and lastly Yasmina who had a fire in her eyes that threatened to consume her, the heat of which scorched Sammy's soul with bitter damnation.

"I'm here to spy." Sammy cried out, hugging herself as she turned away from Yasmina, unable to meet her stare any longer. "For a company called Mantah Corp."

"Mantah Corp?" Darius asked, brows furrowed. "They're a bioengineering company big rivals of Masrani, they tried to make dinosaurs too but Wu beat them to it."

"You doomed us all for some lousy company?" Ben shouted, shooting up incredulously from the other side of the van.

"Our ranch was in trouble." Sammy began, teeth chattering with anxiety as she fought hard not to cry. "We were in real, real bad shape. My folks had to borrow a lot of money from some shady people... It just kept disappearing as fast as we could make it, and much faster than we could repay it. Our ranch was running itself into the ground. Then-" Sammy squeezed her eyes shut, a stabbing hopeless pain piercing her heart. "My daddy signed away the deed to the ranch! He sighed it away! It's not just where we work it's where we live! It's my home!" Trembling she took a moment to look about imploringly, surly they had to understand. It was her home, her everything, they were going to lose everything!

"Father of the fucking year!" Kenji shouted his expression hard set as he stood with difficulty.

"Don't you dare talk about my daddy that way Kenji Kon!" Sammy yelled taking a hurried step towards him, blood boiling. "He's a great man! He ju-"

"Yeah, sounds like a real winner!" Kenji argued back with a grunt.

"At least my daddy-"

"Guys!" Darius interrupted, "Please." The two looked at each other irate for a moment but said nothing more conceding to the dire nature of their situation. "I'm sorry about the ranch Sammy, but that doesn't explain what you were doing collecting samples for Mantah Corp." Darius went on, trying to re-rail, the conversation.

"I-I don't exactly know how its all connected either..." Sammy confessed, casting the boy a lost glance. "People just kept showing up, looking for money. Mama and Daddy tried to keep us from seeing it, but we're not stupid. It seemed like they were coming by all the time, sometimes things got really heated. We had to call the Sheriff once or twice, but as soon as they heard the cops were coming they'd hightail it..." the girl paused to take a deep steadying breath, the world still swaying beneath her feet, but not as drastically as before.

"Then the men in the suits, with the sleek black cars started showing up." she went on.

"Mantah Corp?" Darius asked.

"Mantah Corp." Sammy confirmed with a nod that she immediately regretted. "They started coming around more and more, even talking to my little sister, putting hands on her! They said that they would ensure that we lost everything unless I spied for them and used the behind the scenes access I'd get at camp to gather information from Wu's lab, DNA from dinos, and whatever else I could get my hands on. But then Brooklynn caught on and I got scared and everything went wrong. This is the last thing I wanted to happen. I'm so, so sorry!" Sammy said turning to face Yasmina.

"What to be stuck next to a broken down van on killer dinosaur island? Hey, me too, what are the odds?" Yaz bit out. "And it's totally not like it's your fault or anything, oh, wait."

"No," Sammy said between trembling breaths. "Hurting you."

"Oh, I'm so sure." Yasmina grit, with a bitterly wounded expression. "Was it all a lie? Pretending to be friends? Pretending you... Pretending you cared about me?" she asked unconsciously reaching up to brush her fingertips against her lips. "...You just needed someone to hide what you were doing. Tell me I'm wrong?" she demanded.

"You are wrong!" the ousted camper pleaded. "I just didn't know how to say it, how to explain to you, but I tried, I really did try to tell you!"

"Only because you were going to be exposed anyway and you needed some sad sap patsy to feel bad because you confessed and defend you against the others!" Yasmina bellowed fists clenched once again. Sammy's eyes fluttered fearfully, was Yaz going to hit her?

"Well guess what?" Yasmina questioned with ferocity, a hand cutting through the air like a knife. "I'm done defending you, you're on you're own."

"Please!" Sammy begged, pressing hard against her chest to try and quell the painfully rampant beating of her heart. "Yasmina I lo-"

"Don't!" Yasmina shouted her strong resolve of fiery rage and vengeance faltering, a stray tear slipping from her eye. "Don't you dare! I hate you Sammy. I hate you! Go away."

Her breath catching, throat tight Sammy found herself unable to breathe. Looking haplessly to the others she found in their stares only judgement and disdain. Tearing away from the other girl Sammy raced to the other end of the vehicle. Cupping her face she cried in long rasping sobs huddled in the dirt rocking back and forth as she languished. All she had wanted to do was help her family, all she had wanted to do was save the ranch. How could it have all gone so wrong?

The girl desperately replayed everything in her head from the moment she'd arrived at camp. She thought she'd been so careful, so clever, and discreet. Pocketing some mucus coated eggshell from Bumy's hatching, going back with Darius for samples in the butterfly garden, smearing the dimorphodon blood against her shirt 'accidently' to collect later when she checked on the poor animal, picking up each and every fallen scale or tooth she'd come across on the hike. She'd gotten sloppy, careless at some point, and that was how Brooklynn caught if only- if only-

Yasmina... the thought occured to her so suddenly that Sammy gave a start. It was Yasmina. From the moment she had her outburst at Canyon Convivial Sammy had been infatuated with unraveling the mystery of the girl, watching her, looking for hints an clues about what made her tik, a deep desire to get to know her, and if possible get close to her consuming much of her waking thoughts. It had been Yasmina that made her falter, that made her lose sight of what should have been her one and only purpose at Camp Cretaceous. It was Yaz she had been preoccupied with, checking on her when the opportunity to collect the sinoceratops samples first arose. It was Yasmina who had distracted her from the very beginning.

I was obsessed. She thought tearily, the bitter knowledge that the girl she had become so enamored with now resented her wholely.

Sammy's crying worsened, becoming bitter and resentful as she could hear the others talking, Bumpy calling noisily about something. Suddenly the trees to her left folded, their boughs brushing the earth as they were bent low by a powerful force. She had only just realized the danger they were in when the Indominus Rex, roaring with ferocity burst through the treeline. Everything was fear and adrenaline as the children all began to scream, ducking and scrambling for cover around the dilapidated vehicle.

It was just as Sammy was beginning to welcome her fate with a melancholic acceptance that the creature ran past them, as though their insignificance was immeasurable. That was when she heard the gunfire, little plumes of dust whisping into the air as the miniature projectiles imbedded themselves into the ground with a dull thud-thud-thud that seemed miniscule in comparison to the loud crack and boom of the machine that fired them.

Huddled in stunned shock it was Kenji who broke the tension, "That's Masrani!" he said with a smile. "That's his call sign on the tail! Yeah, kick it's butt Masrani!"

Following his lead the others followed, their eyes glued to the black aircraft as it held position well above it's target, marksman maintaining level sight. The bird cage, Sammy thought a hopeful smile breaking out across her face as she caught sight of the large glistening dome on the distance. That was the bird cage! She knew where they were! They were close, they were going to be- the cacophony of shattered glass broke her train of thought.

"What was that?" she whispered apprehensively.

"I don't, know." Darius said squinting into the distance as several small, fast moving shapes ascended into the sky, a cloud of them heading straight for the helicopter.

They watched on terror as it banked desperately to one side, then the other before it began spinning and whirling out of control. It hit the top of the half-sphere, an angry orange pyre exploding in its wake.

"Mr Masrani." Ben whispered, hands over his mouth.

Steadily the shapes began to move en masse, heading directly for the children, and that was when they recognized the horrific forms of pterosaurs looming towards them. Thinking quickly the eldest grabbed Brooklynn's tablet and began tapping frantically at the screen.

"The kayak river, it's near here. It goes underground near the ridge if we follow it, it should lead us right to the main park!" he said in a stroke of genius.

"Then that's where we need to be." Darius declared racing away. "Come on!"

Boots to the ground Sammy took off running, the others taking up position all around her as they fled for their lives. Death rained from the heavens with talons for rending and cruel beaks to sever and cleave. A sudden weight crashed down on Sammy's back, her legs giving out as she pelted for the cave, gusts of wind swirling around her as the heavy beast on her back beat it's wings. Ten needles in your back, she thought her frantic mind conjuring to life memories of a stupid playground game from her youth.

Nails digging into the soil the cowgirl tried to claw her way free from the winged predator when more weight crashed down on her. The girl dared not look back, shielding her face and eyes as the animals began screeching at one another, vying for their prey. They bit and tore at one another as they fought until with great wing beats they took flight engaging in vicious aerial combat as they flew off. Taking the opportunity Sammy bolted, panting for air as she entered the distinctly cooler mouth of the cave.

Darius and Ben lagged behind the rest, a howling Bumpy managed with great difficulty between them. With a grunt Yasmina hefted the door closed behind them, and the teenagers let out kind breathy sighs. As they recuperated their strength and energy the campers looked around themselves, the automatic announcement that played on loop a strange comfort, the familiarity that they were nearer and nearer civilization as a woman's voice explained life vest safety over a loud speaker a soothing reassurance to their frayed nerves.

Edging towards the water Sammy watched quietly as the others scooped up lifejackets, dawning the bright yellow vests with capability and confidence. They all appeared so sure of themselves, the girl thought as she watched them, to know that this was how they were going to get out of there, to be saved. And they all ignored her as they moved about with purpose the fact that moments ago they were running for their lives, again, forgotten. Staring at the slick fabric of a vest draped over the guard railing Sammy picked it up and reluctantly followed their lead, desperately wishing that she could feel so assured.

It was as she was sliding the vest on that Yaz pushed past, grabbing Ben by the shoulders coasting him towards a distant kayak. Struggling against her emotions Sammy finished dressing as Kenji loudly announced that he and Brooklynn would be pioleting the 'CKK' or 'Cool Kids Kayak.' For some reason, his idiocy was somehow grounding a little smile tugging at the corner of Sammy's mouth.

"Come on Sammy," Darius said coming up behind the cowgirl. "Let's get out of here."

The kayak tilted and bobbed in the water making it difficult for the teens to maintain their balance. After a few seconds of trial and error the two sat, oars in hand. That was when Sammy heard Darius gasp, turning towards him brows knit she saw worry on his face.

"Your back is bleeding." he cringed.

Reaching behind her Sammy touched her lower back, fingers brushing an open cut, it stung. "Is is bad?" she asked after feeling around at the marks that mirrored it.

"I don't know..." Darius admitted. "A few of them look kinda deep, the rest are more like scratches."

Nodding Sammy took his word for it even though now that she was aware of it, it really, really hurt. With determination she dipped the paddle into the water and pushed them away from the dock. Rowing in silence for a few minutes Sammy felt like a moron when she realized how drastically they were listing towards the left and glanced back to see that her partner was struggling, brow furrowed with effort and exertion.

"I'm such an idiot," she smiled meekly. "I'm sorry I didn't think of it earlier, I'm right handed it just came natura- nevermind. Doesn't matter. Let's switch. I'll row on the left, you rest your shoulder."

"Thanks." Darius said gratefully while ahead of them the other two kayaks collided.

"Watch it!" Yasmina bit out.

"Hey," Kenji grinned with a wryly apologetic tone, pain on his face, his oar moving in short shallow strokes, coasting along while Brooklynn did most of the work. "CKK has right of way."

The six kids paddled and drifted along the calm clear waters of the lazy river. The cave was dark, damp, and cold, uncomfortably so for the Texan who felt a shiver run up her spine. It wasn't long however, before the cave opened up from a narrow tunnel in to wide cavern with gently flowing waterfalls that spilled out into a placid lake, algae, moss, and other strange subterranean plantlife illuminating the pitch with a gentle pink glow. Awestruck the kids looked around themselves taken in by the majesty, and wonder.

Ahead of them Sammy watched Yaz, her face aglow with light, and life as she stopped rowing and reached a hand out to touch the cool, crystalline water that spilled down the rock face into the pool. The peaceful smile that came to Yasmina's face in that moment put the natural beauty that surrounded them to shame. Yaz was never going to forgive her, the cowgirl thought, watching with a heartaching sense of longing, wondering how, if ever she was going to make things right between them.

As they drifted Sammy could hear the others talking in low echoing voices, their whisperes reverberating off the stone walls and making their words difficult to decipher. That was when Sammy took note of how quiet Darius was being. He wanted to know why, she thought squeezing shut her eyes with anticipation.

"Just ask." she muttered.

"It's just that you talk so much about your ranch and your family sent you here to break the law." the boy rushed out, everything tumbling from his lips all at once, the moment he'd been granted permission.

"Don't Darius you don't know anything about my family." Sammy snapped, she regretted engaging him already.

"I know they put you in danger when they sent you to spy on the park." he scoffed. "How can you still defend them?"

Sammy grew contemplative for a moment, remembering the way things used to be before their financial trouble. It had been so much better then, everything just worked, like gears in a clock. Sure there was the occasional hiccup like fewer calves live birthed one season, or a sick group of head the next, but they always dug in and worked together, and because of that they bounced back, always. They were more than a family, and stronger than a team, lifting up and supporting one another no matter the circumstances, and her parents didn't keep secrets from her. They were close, that was just they way it had always been.

That was probably the first indication that something was wrong, Sammy reasoned dipping her oar deep into the pool, when her parents started whispering, their conversations always dying away the second she walked into the room. Self-consciously Sammy had worried that they were talking about her, and she found herself beginning to question if her folks were really as supportive, and accepting as they had said they were. Then the strangers started showing up and she knew better, but still they whispered, still they lied.

In no short amount of time girl had figured out what was going on, Abryan and her would watch these people coming and going at all hours, only told not to worry about it, to keep quiet, that they were kids, they should be concentrating school and their chores, nothing else whenever they asked. 'Loan sharks,' was a word her cousin threw about with disdain, spitting to the ground each time. The girl had felt her guts knot at the suggestion, but found herself unable to believe his assumptions, until she'd seen the truth written in red with her own eyes.

"Because they didn't send me." Sammy mumbled feeling small and inconsequential as they floated over the water. "They said 'no' to Mantah Corp. They said they'd rather watch the place burn, than use one of their kids like that. But Mantah Corp just kept coming. They tried talking my little sister Marisa into coming, but I put a stop to that. I more or less agreed to hear them out though, so they sent me these files. There was page after page of expenses we had no way to pay for. We were hemorrhaging cash! And we owed so much to so many people! I read through it again, and again, and again, for days trying to figure out another way." Sammy sobbed. "Darius, I-I still can't believe how things could have gotten this bad!"

"I'm sorry." the boy apologized weakly, in the reactionary way you did when you felt for someone but could literally do nothing to improve their situation. Leaning forward he pat her gently on the back, it was sore, but the sentiment was there.

Sammy smiled through her tears, he was a good person. "You didn't do it... I chose to come here." she said, hoping to ease his unnecessary sense of bystander's guilt. "My folks didn't even know I was gone until it was too late," she laughed. "I told them I was at a slumber party... Smashing the phone was an accident, but Brooklynn is right. This is all my fault."

"Not all of it." he shook his head. "But, I still don't see why-"

"If your family was in trouble wouldn't you do anything in your power to save them?" the girl asked turning to look at him.

He met her gaze before looking away abashed. "You remind me of my big brother." he said after a while, the analogy hurt at first, but she told herself that she was being hyper aware and oversensitive, and chose to wait and see where this was going.

"After my dad died, I was just sad. Really, really sad..." he paused with a remorseful sigh. "Even that's an understatement... But so was my mom, so was Brand, but all I could think about was how sad I was, and how much I missed him, and how much I had lost. I was selfish and it didn't really click with me for a while that they were going through exactly the same thing I was."

"Darius I'm su-"

"No, I was sad, and I was angry, and I took it out on everyone else. Then, I just kinda ignored the world for a bit, my family included." Darius went on, motioning with his paddle for Sammy to let him speak his mind. "I kinda hated Brand for a while. I'd watch him go to school, and work, work and school every day no matter what. At first it was like he didn't even notice that dad was gone, like he didn't miss him, or feel the same cold emptiness when he walked into the house. Then I found some bills while looking for a school assignment I'd lost. Do you... Do you know how much chemo costs?" he asked, voice warbling.

Turning to him, sympathy shining in her eyes Sammy shook her head. "And hospice? And a God damned funeral?" Darius was crying now, his oar sitting across his lap he rubbed his eyes with his good hand. "A lot!" he choked. "A whole lot! But that's what Brand was doing, he hadn't forgotten about dad, and he wasn't trying to move on either, he was still taking care of him long after he was gone... He was taking care of all of us, because that's what Brand does and I hung up on him last night!"

Sammy felt helpless, wanting nothing more than to rush over to the boy and wrap him up in a big warm hug as his grief robbed him of the point he'd been trying to make and he mourned the possibility of never seeing his brother again. Instead she gave him the time he needed to collect himself.

Darius cleared his throat hard a couple times before saying, "You were only thinking about your family, like him. I admire that, and I can't blame you for what you did."

"Really?" Sammy asked with hope, relief washing over her as his simple act of forgiveness alleviated much of her anxiety and despair. "Thank you!" she sighed as they glided past Ben hugging into a crying Bumpy, Yaz complaining loudly admonishing the animal for her unruly behavior.

Then Sammy noticed movement in the dim light and gave a start. Thinking that perhaps her mind had been playing tricks on her she squinted along the cave walls, then a patch of light shifted away from them.

"You guys should the algae be moving?" she asked with concern. Then she saw movement again, more, larger shapes, shifting and pulling themselves away from the background, if she focused she could make out the camouflaged silhouettes of several large dinosaurs grazing amongst the glittering shoreline.

"Don't panic they're herbavores." Darius hastily called to the others as the animals turned to watch them with meager interest. "Unbelievable! Dr Wu must have put the bioluminescent gene into these parasaurolophuses!"

Wonderstruck the children gaped at the large beasts with bright stripes and markings as they contently kept to their own. They looked like someone cracked open a glow stick over their heads, Sammy thought, recalling the way the chemicals looked pouring down her hands that summer when she and the boys had tried convincing everyone aliens had been to the ranch by smearing the stuff across a group of hefers late one the evening. She knew it probably didn't, but as the glow fluctuated as the parasaurolophuses murmured to one another, she wondered if it felt warm to the touch.

Then Bumpy began baying at the large dinosaurs, her honking defensive as she backed into Ben, stubby little tail swinging back and forth, as though she intended to do them harm. The brightly colored animals moved closer, making waves in the water as they swam to investigate the rabble-rousing intruder.

"Make her be quiet!" Yasmina shouted.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Ben called back, whispering to the little ankylosaurus, and running his hand across her back. "They're scarring her!"

"Yeah well she's pissing them off!" Kenji yelled, nervously smacking a parasaurolophus on the snout with his paddle.

"They're just being territorial, kinda strange for parasaurolophuses, actually, they're seen in blended herds all the time." Darius began brows joined. "I wonder if they're sick, or it is a behavioral trade off for the bioluminescence!"

"Does that really matter right now?" Brooklynn questioned as the large previously declared harmless creatures swarmed around the boats.

"Darius, what do we do?" Sammy whispered fearfully over her shoulder, afraid to aggravate the dinosaurs that were growing more and more aggressive.

"Ben, just push her in already, they did care until-"

"Screw you Kenji!" Ben shouted, hugging Bumpy protectively.

"I'll do it!" Yasmina offered as kayaks collided, pressed together jarringly by the parasaurolophus.

"No!" Ben argued.

Sammy's heart was racing as she and Darius were pressed tight against a ragged stone wall by the creatures. After everything else, she thought, pink moss rubbing off on her skin, it seemed ridiculous that this was how they were going to die. Suddenly one of the animals gave a loud trumpet and the herd stopped, looking around for signs of danger. Then as unexpectedly as the attack began, it ended, the dinosaurs hurriedly submerging themselves into the water and swimming away. Sammy took a deep, but shakey breath.

Everyone seemed to share in their momentary respite, except for Ben who had picked up his paddle and was holding it loftily like a weapon. "Push her in?" he asked with offense, red faced as his kayak drifted past the CKK. "Push her in?" he repeated making a motion like he was going to hit the other boy, but didn't follow through, opting instead to splash the blowhard with water. Kenji moved quickly to retaliate, too quickly and froze mid-action, face contorting. "Sorry." Ben muttered turning away to cradle his unconventional pet. "And you!" he bit out glaring at Yasmina.

Sammy couldn't help but laugh at their antics, though the way Yaz turned from the boy and nodded with confident affirmation to Brooklynn, she felt her heart sink lower into her chest as they both splashed the boy who whinged and complained loudly. The Texan stared dismally at her lap, while water streamed lazily on either side of her. What a minute, she thought, they're still moving forward.

"Um, guys if we stopped rowing why are we still moving forward?" she asked, looking to see if anyone had the answer.

Darius leaned forward, bracing himself with Sammy's shoulder so that he wouldn't fall, then he gave a cry of fear and alarm. "Paddle, paddle!" he screamed. "There's a current pulling us into another tunnel!"

Rowing and fighting as hard as they could the children found the efforts wasted and in vain as they were tossed and buffeted about by churning white waters. The rapids grew in violence as they went further and further into the dark unknown of the tunnel that swallowed them. Just barely Sammy could make out a drop in the distance, and pressed her feet hard against the rests, bracing to go over it. In an unyielding darkness the girl felt herself pivot forward, then lurching go over the precipice.

Her stomach in her throat as they fell Sammy grounded herself in the boat as much as possible. Then they spilled out into a painfully bright, sunny day. Shielding her eyes Sammy turned her face away from the luminous orb in the sky, scarcely able to believe that they had made it. All of the ups, and downs, and being jostled about finally getting to her the girl felt as though she was going to lose her lunch, but they were alive. They'd made it. Falling back into her seat with a relaxed slump Sammy let out a belt of laughter.

Kenji, who had put on his sunglasses gave a start. "What now?" Ben whined.

"I know exactly where we are," the VIP explained nervously. "We're in the Jurassic World lagoon, and so is the mosasaurs!"

Everyone gasped, looking with trepidation into the murky water, waiting pensively for something to happen. "I assume mosasaurs is some kind of giant fish dinosaur that's going to try and eat us?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," Darius nodded. "But whatever you're imagining I guarantee you it's not big enough, or has enough teeth."

"Really helpful, Darius!" Brooklynn shouted irritably.

Then they saw a wake ripple through the water in the distance followed by a jagged row of spines creating a wave through the water. Slowly, menacingly, it moved towards them, and began to encircle the three yellow kayaks.

"It's circling, testing us." Brooklynn said staring with morbid fascination at the animal. "Like a shark. We're intruders in it's domain so it's investigating us before it gets confident and decides to-"

"Now who's being helpful?" Darius yelled across the water to the pink haired girl.

"This is not how Kenji wanted to go out!" the eldest cried as they all began rowing for their lives.

"This isn't on my to-do list either!" Yaz snarked.

Working with a frenzy Sammy could hear Darius behind her struggling to paddle. Her own back and neck in knots she couldn't imagine how much it hurt Darius to try and pour on the speed like this. Then she noticed the CKK was lagging behind as well, Brooklynn tearily shouting orders to her partner as he toiled. Looking back Sammy could see the monsterous shadow beneath the waves gaining, and passed a look of despair to Darius.

Sammy heard a splash.

"No!" Brooklynn shouted.

"What the hell is she doing?" Kenji asked gaping in shock.

Vying to see what they were looking at Sammy finally caught sight of Yasmina in the water, oar held out in front of her like a boogie board legs propelling her mightily towards a pylon. "Yasmina!" Sammy screaming, her blood running cold.

"Don't stop paddling!" Ben called back to them, strain in his voice. "She said whatever happens don't stop paddling!"

"Please God, please if you're there," Sammy mumbled in a misty eyed prayer to the Lord. "Please let her be alright. Please!"

Blinking away tears Sammy focused on getting her and Darius to safety even as dread filled her mind with an abhorrent cacophony, imagined scenes playing out before the girl's eyes. A metallic clatter rang out over the lagoon, and the cowgirl turned to see Yasmina beating against the large metal pillar with her oar screaming maddeningly for the beast to come get her like some berserk Amazon woman. The mosasaurs stopped it's persuit of the rafts and went to explore this newfound development.

Buying them the time they needed Sammy rushed after Kenji who went to a control panel and quickly got to work. "They let me feed this thing before." he muttered in a distracted form of explanation. "Grab the chain!" he shouted to Yaz raising some sort of hook out of the water.

Sammy's muscles were tense and her nerves were shot as she watched Yasmina jump onto the cable, while Kenji slowly reeled her in. "Please," she begged. "Please!"

Then the mosasaurs launched itself skyward. The cable snapped and all at once the athlete was hurtling towards the ground. Sammy took off running for her. Yaz hit the concrete hard.

"Yasmina!" Sammy gasped rushing towards her.

Yaz gripped her left leg, with hands made bloody from the braided metal. "I'm fine!" she grit, though a large distended lump at the side of her knee told a different story.

Kneeling down beside her Sammy reached out to get a better look at her leg, Yaz pulled away sharply. "Thank you, for saving us." Sammy tried. "For saving me, that was amazing, you are amazing!"

"Don't!" Yasmina snapped struggling to her feet, gingerly favoring her right side. "We may need each other to stay alive, but don't for a second think that makes us friends again, because we're not, and we never will be."

Forcing herself to walk Sammy watched as Yaz shuffled away, the agony on her face preferable to spending another moment with her. Drawing her knees to her chest Sammy couldn't help but cry as Ben asked anxious questions about where all the people were. Sammy was tired, scared, and inspite of the other campers who were talking just a few feet away felt utterly alone. She was sorry she had lied, wished there was some way to fix things between them, heartbroken, she knew she couldn't.

"Hey," came a light voice as Brooklynn sat down beside her, a hand gently coming to Sammy's arm. "You ok?"

Sammy blinked up at her through watery eyes. "Nah, not really."

"Yeah, dumb question." Brooklynn winced, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. It wouldn't stay. She tried again, to the same result. Sammy watched as with a strangled scream Brooklynn tore her hair out of its messy bun, blinking back frightened tears of her own fists slamming onto her lap. Brooklynn began feverishly beating herself across the thighs, trying hard not to weep until she was able to pull herself back together.

"Sorry." the girl apologized sheepishly as she began pulling loose pink strands free from her rubber band. "It's been a day."

"Sure has." Sammy laughed. "Are you ok?"

"I thought we had just established that, that was a dumb question, and I for one do not believe that you Sammy Gutierrez are dumb." Brooklynn smirked, slipping into her easily recognizable internet personality of wit and charm, surpressing and refusing to acknowledge her own fears and fragility in that moment.

"It's alright to be scared." Sammy told her, watching as Brooklynn haphazardly scooped her tresses into a disheveled ponytail.

"I'm not." the other girl lied before turning around arms out. "Ta-da! What do you think?"

Sammy took in the stringy, knotted, and very lopsided hair do, and couldn't help but feel for Brooklynn. "You look deranged." she laughed, earning a friendly shove from the super star, one that caught her off guard as she wondered what had caused this one-eighty. "Turn around, I got you."

"Thanks." she said turning around obediently on the bench. "I don't know her that well but I think if you give her some space she'll come around." Brooklynn said after a few minutes of Sammy carding through, and smoothing out her hair as best she could without a brush. "Maybe? I don't know. I'm gonna be honest IRL friendships aren't really my thing. But it sounds right yeah?"

Sammy worked quietly before asking. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because," Brooklynn sighed as though admitting defeat. "Kenji is right, ugh," she gagged. "That feels so wrong to say never ever repeat that." There was a pause, she seemed to have difficulty organizing her thoughts into words. "Look I've done my fair share of selfish things. I only knew what you were up to because I was also sneaking in places I shouldn't have been. You were at least doing it for family. I was doing it to impress a bunch of angry internet randos... I was just an asshole with a camera and some charm, you were trying to be a hero."

Sammy was taken aback by what Brooklynn said, the same warm relief filling her up as before when Darius said he'd forgiven her. Somehow after all the tension, and nerves, knowing that she wasn't some pariah made the girl feel completely exhausted, in the running-for-your-life-while-pursued-by-killer-dinosaurs sort of way.

"All done." she smiled, tapping the other girl on the shoulder.

Touching her hair inquisitively as she turned around with bright eyes Brooklynn smirked. "Thanks." she said before transforming into her lively, more animated persona once more. "Plus when we get out of here you're going to give me all the juicy details about you spying for Mantah Corp." she went on leaping to her feet with enthusiasm. "Brooklynn Unboxes: A Conspiracy! Pow! Pow! Try and tell me my videos are lame after that angry internet randos!"

Sammy giggled watching her fire off finger guns into the air.

"So deal?" Brooklynn asked plopping back down.

"Deal." Sammy agreed.

The friends exchanged dimly optimistic smiles as they sat in the abandoned amphitheater, and leaned in for a reassuring hug.