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The group stopped at the edge of a large valley that contained large bones in the form of what Lauren guessed were Primates. "The fumes are flammable," Joseph warned the others while Lauren shivered uncomfortably. "I think we should find a safer way 'round this," Lauren asked the others, she looked up at her father who seemed to consider it for a moment. "But with the time limit we have, would we make it?" Sherry asked with an anxious tone, she didn't like the look of the misty valley but she didn't want to miss their chance off the Island. "The quickest way is through the valley," Joseph answered despite the clear hesitance on everyone's faces.

"All right... We stay quiet, close together, and be prepared to run if need to," Joseph told them as he moved forward. "Stay calm no matter what we encounter," Lauren added as she followed her father, the quartet moved together slowly and silently to ensure nothing would be alerted by their presence. Lauren had to admit the smell of the valley was making her stomach churn, she tried to ignore it; thankfully, the small meals meant she couldn't risk vomiting as it would've been a waste of safe rations. Lauren's eyes focused on the large skull of an ape, the mere size of it insinuated that it would've been over at least 150 feet tall.

A distant hiss-like growl caught Lauren's attention, she kept walking but didn't hesitate to let her eyes search the thick mist for anything that could be stalking them. None of them saw it coming, a large lizard-like creature ran at them and immediately snapped up Sherry Torres into its mouth leaving Lauren watching in complete horror. "RUN!" Joseph called grabbing Lauren's wrist and pulling her along, Alexei got over the shock and followed the father-daughter duo as fast as they could go. "IT ATE HER!" Lauren screamed as tears formed in her eyes. "IT'S A CRANIUM REPTANT AND WE ARE ITS PREY!" Joseph shouted back as they spotted the edge of the valley in the distance.

Lauren's brain was swirling as the image of Sherry being consumed by the creature repeated in her mind, it struck her harder than when they found Jackson dead. But maybe it's because they had been traveling on this Island for two days already and spent the time getting to know each other. Lauren's heart ached for the blonde woman who was hoping to get home and mend things with her brother, apologize for abandoning him, and fix their bond; be there for her niece and nephew and now it had burned down in flames. Then it clicked; Flames. Lauren reached into her pocket, pulled out the lighter, and flicked it on before she stopped and threw it into the gassy mist.

The explosion sent the three humans into the edge of the valley, the Cranium Reptant was blown to pieces by the explosion. "We gotta get off their territory," Joseph spoke as he helped his daughter up, pulling Alexei from the ground before they climbed over the large wall out of the valley. The three didn't stop running until they were out of breath and a safe distance away from the death trap that was the valley. Once they believed they were safe enough, the three of them dropped to their knees in front of a river; Lauren gasping for air as she felt a pinch, her stitches were torn. But she couldn't think of that, all she could was cry for Sherry and her short life; sending a prayer to the Angels above.

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Joseph stretched as he looked down at his daughter, she was asleep in the makeshift hammock they had made above the ground. "Morning..." Alexei spoke as he looked up at Joseph from his own chosen branch. It had been two days since they were in the Valley, they had managed to get closer to the beach they would be getting their lifts off of the Island. "No troubles, I assume?" Joseph asked knowing that Alexei had been on watch. After their horrible encounter with the Cranium Reptant, they decided that the Island was much more dangerous than they guessed and immediately knew it would be safer in the trees rather than the ground.

"Just another one of those large buffalos wandered by," Alexei told him as he adjusted himself, the vines tied around his legs to keep him on the branch were loosened as he moved. "We'll have to move soon if we want to reach the beach before they arrive," Joseph told him before moving to wake his daughter, he had decided that this was the last time he dragged her along on his expeditions; It was possibly his last expedition. "Dad?" Lauren spoke groggily, she rubbed her eyes before sitting up more; the hammock string snapped sending her tumbling to the ground. "Ow..." Lauren muttered before looking up at the two men who were laughing.

The trio packed up their things and made their way down the small pathing, Lauren was more paranoid knowing the dangers of the island which made her more alert to any sounds or growls. Alexei and Joseph spoke together about their lives back home in the States while Lauren looked down at the bracelet on her wrist, it was the last thing she had of Sherry, and wanted nothing more than to give it to the woman's brother. "Lauren?" Joseph called gaining his daughter's attention, she looked up at her father and smiled softly before catching up to the two men. "So what's the first thing you'll do getting off of the island?" Alexei asked the two.

"I'm gonna have a burger, grease and all because man, do I miss them," Joseph told Alexei who laughed and agreed with him. "I'm gonna find Sherry's brother and return his sister's bracelet," Lauren told them causing their smiles to fall. "Then I'm gonna live the rest of my life making her proud. Live her dream of becoming a wife, mom, and maybe a grandmother one day while making a career of my own to inspire my children to chase their dreams," Lauren added with teary eyes, she sniffled and looked up at the two men. "Sounds like a beautiful plan, Ren," Joseph told her with a fond smile while Alexei nodded.

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Lauren's heart soared seeing the ship in the distance mostly unharmed, she knew it would be a bumpy escape through the storm but once they were away from the Island, they could worry about what would happen after. However, when the trio approached the large ship they noticed the lack of noise coming from it and the way it seemed to be banked rather than sitting in the water. "Oh no..." Alexei muttered as they walked forward spotting blood on the side of the ship, Lauren gasped before rushing up onto the ship with her father and Alexei following behind her. None of them expected the sight they saw, their minds reeling at the view in front of them.

They were frozen at the sight of three Cranium Reptants prowling around consuming the bodies of their former team, Lauren felt like throwing up but she was frozen in her spot. "We need to run," Alexei breathed out as quietly as he could. "I... can't..." Lauren muttered as tears formed in her eyes, her breathing become unsteady and all that time she spent being calm seemed to dissolve and freeze her to the spot. All she could see was Sherry's death, how quickly it had happened, and the realization that they would all face that same fate. "Ren... when I tell you to run, you run," Joseph told his daughter in a harsh whisper.

"But--" Joseph gave his daughter a stern glare, he knew his fate but he could give his daughter a chance to survive; the Island wouldn't stay hidden from the world. "I love you, Lauren. You need to live out that dream," Joseph told her as Alexei stood firm with Joseph. "It was great meeting ya, kid," Alexei told her before raising a brow at Joseph before he could talk. It was clear the two had become best friends and if one was going down, so was the other. Joseph pulled out his lighter while Alexei revealed a flare gun from their ship, Joseph looked back at his daughter and smiled fondly with teary eyes, "Make me proud. Now run!"

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Lauren could hear the Reptant following behind her, she slide to the ground dodging a low branch before rolling over only to come face to face with the large creature practically drooling at the sight of her. "Lord have mercy..." Lauren muttered as she rolled again to avoid its tail from grabbing her, she pushed herself off of the ground and tried to run only for the Cranium Reptant to catch her with its tail and pull her closer. Lauren let out a scream that echoed through the air, she pulled the sharp blade from her shorts and drove it into its right eye causing it to throw her across the clearing into a tree. The impact took Lauren's breath away as she felt her whole body radiate pain from the hit.

A loud roar stopped the Reptant from stepping closer, the creature seemed to cower as it looked around the area before lowering its head and rushing off into the jungle. Lauren sighed as she let her body collapse against the tree completely, tears fell silently down her cheeks as she held her side and stared up into the sky. She was alone, injured, and highly likely to be eaten by something on this Island. Lauren closed her eyes and just sat in silence, her head was pounding as her body shook from shock. The sun seemed to disappear causing Lauren to hiccup as she opened her eyes to see a large ape standing before her, her heart began racing as the beast kneeled down to her.

"Please... I don't wanna die," Lauren whimpered as she looked into the eyes of the large ape. The Primate tilted its head before holding out its hand, she looked from its eyes to its hand before deciding it was worth the risk; she had nothing left. The primate stood to its natural height and began walking towards a large clearing closer to the center of the Island surrounded by a river. Lauren laid back and watched the sky as the primate continued on its journey, she wasn't sure where it was taking her but it hadn't eaten her yet so maybe she would survive.

The primate slowed to a stop before bellowing a mighty roar, Lauren steadied herself as the primate lowered his hand to reveal humans with paint on their bodies. "Incredible!" A man's voice sounded before he approached them, he held his hand out for Lauren and the young woman allowed him to help her off of the primate's hand. Lauren turned to look up at him, the primate bowed its head slightly before he sauntered off towards the place she had run from. "He's off to deal with any strays. Especially after you were harmed," The man spoke before motioning her to follow behind him.

"Who is he?" Lauren asked as she limped behind the man, "And who are you?" The man stopped and turned to Lauren with a kind smile. "Apologies. Lieutenant Hank Marlow of the 45th," Hank introduced as he saluted her. "Did you crash here during the war?" Lauren asked him, the man nodding before he began walking again. "And he is Kong," Hank answered her initial question only creating more questions in her mind. Lauren followed Hank into a large hollow ship, her eyes flickered around the space. "What is this?" Lauren asked Hank who sighed and turned to her.

"As far as I can tell, this ship washed up about ten years before I did," Hank told her as he watched her for any reactions. "This is all hollowed ground to them. So if you like your hands, don't touch anything," Hank continued with a small grin before walking closer to a wall where drawings were telling a story. "The way they tell it... for thousands of years, the people on this island lived in fear--" Hank was cut off by Lauren, "That's a hell of a long time to be scared." Hank chuckled and nodded in agreement before continuing, "And then, one day, the damnedest thing happened. Some of the things they were afraid of started protecting them--"

Lauren walked closer to the artwork and began reading through the images to understand the full story as Hank continued, "--Against the things that were eating them. But nothing lasts forever, I guess. And this is where they honor the last of their saviors. Kong is the King of the Island. He's God to these people, the Iwi's. Kong's a pretty good king as you witnessed. But he keeps to himself mostly. This is his home, we're just guests here." Lauren smiled at the image of Kong, the bones in the valley made her realize that there were once more of them. "And the bones in that valley?" Lauren asked making Hank's eyes widen.

"You were in the west and got out alive?" Hank asked as the Iwi's entered the room listening to the two speak. "One of us didn't..." Lauren muttered but Hank heard. "I lost a friend, a brother to them too," Hank expressed as he noticed Lauren looking at the drawing of the Cranium Reptant. "I call 'em Skull Crawlers," Hank told her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's a pretty cool name for them actually... I was just referring them to their scientific term based on theory rather than the physical creature," Lauren told him before she sniffled. "C'mon, let's get your wounds fixed up," Hank offered before leading her out of the ship.

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Rosemary Speaks <3

In the next chapter, we will skip ahead to the movie; so prepare for Tom Hiddleston!
Hank Marlow is genuinely one of my favorite characters, he's so funny.

See you there!