9

We stay in the sphere for another hour—until our hunger gets the better of us and we decide to go back to camp for breakfast.

As we head back in the opposite direction from where we were facing, we both see it. Thick, black smoke is pouring out of the mountain in the center of the island.

"Z—Zach?" I'm stammering. It looks like a volcano that could erupt at any second, taking the entire island with it.

In my peripheral vision, I see a wide eyed Zach swallow hard before answering, "Let's get back."

It's not like we are going to be any safer at camp, but we have nothing else to do—and it feels like we need to do something.

After we unload the gyrosphere in it's usual resting place, we walk toward the gate to discover that it is standing open. My heart sinks, and I quickly rack my brain to remember how we would have forgotten to close it.

"Shit..." is all Zach says.

Instinctively, I look down at my watch to see if any dinosaurs are near—but my wrist is empty. I look at Zach's arm and see the same thing. In our hurry to see the sunrise, we'd forgotten our most important supply.

I remember now—I was walking toward the counter where my watch was charging to put it on when I saw Zach messing with the padlock outside. I wanted to surprise him so I quickly hurried out, forgetting my watch.

How could I have been so stupid?

"It's fine," Zach says, reassuringly. "We probably just forgot to lock the gate. It's not like dinosaurs can open doors, right?"

I don't answer because I don't know. There have been rumors about raptors learning to open doors at the very first park 20 years ago, but I never believed it.

Now though...I'm not so sure.

I can't imagine leaving without shutting the gate behind us, even if we were distracting each other. It's been programmed into our brains to make sure the gate is closed at all times.

I grab Zach's hand, intertwining our fingers. My voice is shaking. "What do we do?"

We have no weapons on us—nothing to protect ourselves if there happens to be a 80 million year old carnivore in our house.

Zach takes a deep breath, "Let's go in. I'll go to my room first and get the gun. You go to the medical trailer and get the tranquilizers."

"Should we really split up?" I ask anxiously.

"What good are we going to do for each other without weapons? Ivy, listen to me." He takes my face in his hands and looks at me intensely. "We will be fine. Nothing is probably in here, and if it is, I will protect you. I swear. I won't let anything hurt you."

I take a deep breath in an attempt to lower my heart rate and silently nod. I have a bad feeling. I don't know what it could mean, but I bring my mouth to Zach's and kiss him like it would be our last time.When we break apart, we are both gasping.

"Meet back here, okay?" Zach asks, hands still on my face.

I nod and we both start running in opposite directions. I don't risk a look behind me, afraid that it would slow me down. I reach the trailer within seconds, throw the door open and slam it behind me once I'm inside.

I know exactly where the tranquilizer gun and darts are located having spent so much time in here the last few months. I load the darts as I'm simultaneously walking outside to meet Zach.

Once I finish my task, I look up—but Zach isn't there. He isn't anywhere I can see.

Without hesitation, I run to the house. Not knowing what might be transpiring within, I make a split second decision to stop and look through the first window I come to. What I see chills my bones.

Blue is in our living room, eyes locked and inching closer and closer to the front door—where Zach is standing, unmoving. Instinctively, I scream.

They have to hear me, but neither one takes their eyes off of each other. They are locked in.

He's doing the right thing by standing his ground and not running. If he tried to run, she'd be on him within seconds. But by holding eye contact, he's challenging her dominance. She's confused.

"Ivy, run!" Zach yells in no particular direction.

"I'm not leaving you!" I yell back, already getting to work.

I have the tranquilizer gun, but it can take several seconds before the dart takes effect—seconds that Zach does not have.

Blue is a mere fifteen feet away from Zach. I can see her getting in position to pounce as I push down all conscience thought and slam my bare fist through the window, shattering the glass.

A half second later the gun is poking through the window pane aimed at Blue's side. I quickly shoot two darts back to back praying that at least one hits the target. I'm not the best shot on a good day, and this time I had no time to aim.

By pure luck, both darts hit Blue—one on her side flank and the other into her thigh. She doesn't seem to feel them as she continues to stare at Zach.

What finally breaks her concentration, though, is also her strongest strength—her nose. My hand is now covered in blood from the shattered window. The dark red liquid drips from my hand onto the ground by my feet.

Blue's head turns attention from Zach to me. As she  walks toward me, I notice a barely discernible shift in weight. The tranquilizer must be starting to take effect.

"Zach, walk away slowly," I say loudly.

"No, Ivy—"

"Zach, just do it! I'll be fine. The darts will start working in a few seconds." I hope. She is getting closer to me.

I don't take my eyes off Blue's to see if Zach followed through but am relieved when I finally see Blue stumble over her feet and drop to the floor.

I quickly follow suit and collapse onto the ground beneath me. In a daze, I look up and see Zach rounding the corner of my house coming towards me.

He sees my hand and, without saying a word, turns around and heads to the medical trailer. I close my eyes and the next time I open them, Zach is asking me questions about how to treat my wound. My brain has a fog surrounding it, though, so I can't figure out what he's asking.

I look down at the contents of my first aid kit scattered around me haphazardly. Zach is frantically picking things up and setting them down again. I take a deep breath and try to pull myself together.

I take the gauze out of his hand and see that he is shaking. I hold both of his hands in mine, so he will look in my eyes. "Zach, we need to hurry. I have no idea how long those darts are going to work, and Blue could wake up any minute."

He nods quickly, and I begin instructing him on how to clean and bandage my hand. The adrenaline from facing off to Blue is fading, and the pain in my hand is becoming overwhelming. The cut is deep.

He works efficiently, and my wound is taken care of within minutes. "I say we go to the dock and wait for Claire's boat," Zach says while he is taping the gauze.

I know we can't stay at the camp. Blue would be able to trample down the door to any of the trailers with ease. They weren't built to keep the likes of her out—that's what the fence is for. I briefly consider hiding in the gyrosphere, but then I remember how easily the old doors became dislodged when Zach opened them—and then we would be trapped. Zach is right, the dock is the best option. If Blue comes after us again, at least we would be able to jump in the water and have a chance.

We don't wait to gather the supplies around us and start running. There is no guessing how much time we have. I am still a little dizzy and wobbling slightly, which isn't allowing me to run as fast I would like. But we get to the dock without incident.

We both sit—basically collapsing—and wrap ourselves in each other's arms, reassuring our bodies that we are still alive. I see that my wound has already bled through the gauze, but we need to save our resources. I'm not strolling up there to get more supplies.

I can barely keep my eyes open, and Zach says he would stay up to watch for Blue. It was the best sentence I've ever heard in my life.

When I wake up, I have no idea how much time has passed, but the sun has definitely changed positions since I last saw it.

Zach is lying on his back staring at the sky with his feet dangling off the side of the dock. He hears me shift positions and looks at me. I see his eyes immediately travel to my bandaged hand. I look down and see that the gauze is completely saturated with blood, and it's now starting to pool on the dock.

I guess it's time to change the bandage.

While Zach stealthy gets to work on my hand, he fills me in on what I missed. "Blue woke up awhile ago and took off. I almost woke you up, but she didn't even look this direction. I think she was disoriented."

"Thank you for letting me sleep. I can't believe you were able to stay up this whole time."

He shrugs, "You saved my life. It was the least I could do."

Once he is done playing doctor, I say, "Now it's your turn. You need to rest. I'll keep an eye out. Blue may be out of the house but who knows where she might be."

He doesn't need telling twice before rolling on to his side and closing his eyes. I think he falls asleep instantly.

It feels like the longest day of my life. Neither Zach nor I have had any food for almost twenty four hours. Thankfully, I had thrown a few water bottles in the first aid kit. Every sound—no matter how small—makes me jump. I'm going to have a heart attack before the boat ever gets here.

Zach wakes up after sunset, moaning uncomfortably. "Thanks for letting me sleep." He repeats my words.

He moves to sit next to me and places his arm around me. "I'm having serious mixed emotions right now."

I look up at him quizzically, so he continues, "On one hand, I am so thankful that I came back here—because of you. But on the other hand, I hope that volcano burns this place to ashes. They never should have messed with Mother Nature like this."

I know what he means. Something about seeing Blue in our dining room—amongst all of our 21st century belongings—seemed wrong. Either we don't belong here, or they don't. I'm not sure what the right answer is.

Zach and I spend the rest of the night like that—side by side. I occasionally look behind me to see the pillar of smoke from the volcano getting thicker and darker in the moonlight. I wonder how much time is left—and I wonder what will happen when time runs out.

As the sun rises, Zach and I see the boat. It's the same one that brought me here almost six months ago. We don't say anything—we are both so weak—until we are on the deck and the captain addresses us.

"Your aunt wanted me to let you know that she will be here in a few days. She's on a mission to save the dinosaurs," he gives a sarcastic wave of his arm. "She wanted me to see if you two would like to stay and assist."

Non-pulsed, Zach and I say immediately and simultaneously, "No."

Well that's all folks! This last chapter took me the longest to update of any story that I've ever written! I couldn't figure out how I wanted to do it. I'm still not crazy happy with it, but I hope it wasn't completely horrible!