endless forms
Rated T for: Language, violence, blood/injury, drowning, eye injury, internalized ableism
Summary: The campers’ boat is sabotaged by Wu’s mercenaries, leaving them stranded on Isla Nublar indefinitely. Through good times and bad, only one thing is for certain; none of them will ever be the same.
A/N: Well, when I sat down to write more JWCC angst, I didn’t expect it to be 14k words long, but here we are! This is my take on a fic where the campers get stranded for the whole three years between the movies, meant to be taken as a series of snapshots into the campers’ lives. Hope you enjoy, reblogs/comments are appreciated! - Aqua
Click here to read on A03 (with more complete tags).
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~*~
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
- Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species
~*~
endless forms
~*~
After escaping Wu’s team, the campers find the boat right where they left it.
It’s just on fire.
Pitch-black smoke curls up into the sky, smelling of metal and gasoline. Orange flames flicker through the shattered windows of the main cabin and the bow is dipping into the water. For a few long seconds, all they can do is stare. The realization sinks into them one by one as their wide eyes trace the telltale holes in the side of the boat.
Wu’s mercenaries had guns.
Darius finally breaks down. He drops to his knees right there on the dock and sobs, screaming his frustration and despair and desperation in wordless cries. His fingernails dig into his arms hard enough to draw blood, but he doesn’t even feel the sting over the agony seizing his heart, the guilt crushing his lungs, and he cries like the world is ending.
Kenji’s ill feelings towards Darius are forgotten in a flash. Blinking away his own tears, he immediately wraps his arms around Darius, holding him tightly. And all he can think is how small the other boy feels in his arms, this twelve-year-old leader of theirs who’s placed the weight of their lives on his shoulders time and time again without complaint.
Brooklynn is right next to them, squeezing Darius’s arm as tears stream down her face. She murmurs reassurances into his ear even while her stomach churns, because this is what they get for trying to do the right thing, trying to be heroes, they’re going to be stuck here forever and she knows that whatever good they accomplished today wasn’t worth it.
Yaz chokes back a sob and sprints down the rest of the dock, raking her hands through her messy ponytail as she surveys the damage, her silhouette outlined in flame and smoke. Her weight shifts from foot to foot restlessly, anxiously, uselessly, mind racing for something she can do to stop this, to fix this, but coming up blank.
Sammy is stunned, standing motionless and staring at the boat with wide eyes, uncomprehending. She knows what must’ve happened but she can’t make sense of it. Her hands hang limply at her sides and her voice is painfully small in her own ears as she mumbles to herself, “But… they didn’t have to do that… why would they do that…?”
Standing off to the side, Ben can’t quite figure out if he’s feeling disappointment or relief as he idly watches the flames dance. But he does know that, whatever his feelings on leaving the island are, his friends don’t deserve to suffer like this. So he makes himself a promise, that if they ever get another chance, he’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
In the meantime, everyone falls apart in their own way as the boat is slowly consumed by fire and sinks, inch by inch of twisted wreckage, into the depths below.
~*~
The walk back to camp is deathly silent.
It’s Ben who leads the group this time, Darius sandwiched between Brooklynn and Kenji as Sammy and Yaz bring up the rear. With how shell-shocked and rattled they are, they rely on Ben’s steady composure and sharp senses to take them through the jungle safely.
None of them can really spare a moment to wonder how Ben is taking this all so well, but if they did, they wouldn’t be surprised.
~*~
It takes all of three days for Darius to bounce back.
Three days spent curled up in his bunk, too worn out to cry, refusing food and refusing to talk. All things considered, that’s a remarkably short amount of time to be depressed, given their circumstances, so the others let him be.
When Darius does emerge, he’s more like his old self, but there’s a certain spark missing from his eyes.
“We can’t give up,” Darius says, in the first conversation he’s had with the others in three days. “Someone will come to this island eventually, even if not to rescue us. It’s the only place in the world with living dinosaurs, we already know people can’t resist it. We just have to survive until then.”
They all agree, because Darius sounds determined enough that they almost want to believe him. But they’ve seen the missing light in his eyes and they know what it means.
Quietly, privately, they each grieve the well-worn hope that’s finally been pulled from their grasp. They mourn their old lives, their families, coming to grips with the likely possibility that they will never go home, that they will live on this island until the day they die- however soon that may be.
For Darius, it’s guilt more than anything. He’s given his family another source of heartache, left it smaller and more broken than it already was. But more than that, he hates to think that he’s given them something to resent his dad for. After all, Jurassic World was a dream that Darius inherited from him. When he left, they were happy for him, but nervous, too, and he’d promised he’d be fine. At the time, he hadn’t realized his last words to them would be a lie.
For Kenji, who knows full well that his father has the resources to send out his own search party and yet hasn’t done so, it’s a melancholy affair. He’ll miss him, even though the reverse probably isn’t true, even though the man probably doesn’t deserve it. He just wishes it hadn’t taken getting stranded on dinosaur island to realize how lonely his life had been before. And he wishes he’d meant enough to someone, anyone, to be missed.
For Brooklynn, it’s a similar feeling. Her thoughts are with her fans more than her distant parents, wishing she could provide them some kind of closure, while at the same time resenting the warped self-perception they’ve given her. Has her disappearance meant anything more than a few clickbait videos or a trending hashtag? She finds it unlikely. And is that all her life has amounted to? There was so much more she wanted to do, so much more she wanted to be.
For Yaz, her rage is matched only by her regret. She had a bright future, a promising future. She was supposed to go pro, make her parents and coaches proud. And then all her hard work, her long days and short nights, her sore muscles and joyless childhood, would’ve been worth it. She was robbed and she is furious, but there is nothing to do and no one to fight. Let her see Wu and his thuggish crew again, and she will give them a taste of the hell they’ve condemned her to.
For Sammy, the grief is almost overwhelming. Her parents never wanted her to go in the first place, and will probably blame themselves forever. Her little sisters will have to grow up without her, and the thought is enough to bring tears to her eyes. She loves her family and would do anything for them, would’ve made the same choice again in a heartbeat, but oh, how she wishes it hadn’t ended like this. It didn’t have to end like this.
For Ben, who buried his own hope months ago in an unmarked grave, it’s business as usual.
~*~
There are a lot of silent tears at night, now.
As they trade off on night watch shifts, they don’t really acknowledge it aside from a wordless pat on the shoulder or a brief hug. There’s no point in asking what’s wrong when they all know, and there’s nothing they can say in reassurance.
Ben offers to take the whole watch by himself, to let them all rest, but it doesn’t really matter when none of them are sleeping, anyway.
~*~
Food is the first thing on the to-do list.
“Even if we increase our rationing,” Darius muses, “the supply we have will only last another couple weeks, at most. We need a reliable source of food.” And then he turns to look at Ben, with slight trepidation because there’s a good chance Ben’s answer will be berries and grubs.
Ben, who’s clearly already given the subject some thought, shrugs and says, “Either we learn how to hunt dinosaurs, or we learn how to fish.”
Fishing wins, by unanimous decision.
Over the next several days, they scavenge their usual spots for every bit of rope they can find. There are a few coils of it in the emergency kits they found at the veterinary station, there’s some strung between railing at the docks, and there’s even novelty jump ropes in the giftshops that are thick enough to work.
Brooklynn has a vague recollection of how to weave a fishing net, from the same unboxing video where she gained her scant experience with rafts, and between all of them they manage something passable. The first time they lower the net into the river, they’re all breathless with anticipation.
Over the next couple hours of inactivity, anticipation steadily turns to boredom. Eventually, though, the net does yield fish.
The fish in the river aren’t very big, about the length of a small hand. Their scales are slimy and their flesh is full of tiny pin bones. But it’s the first actual protein they’ve had since Mitch and Tiff’s campsite, and it isn’t from out of a can, so they’re more than satisfied.
Ben makes a fire for them to cook the fish on despite Kenji insisting they can be eaten raw because of his past experiences with eating sushi. Darius, who has never tried sushi, doesn’t think that sounds right but doesn’t know enough about sushi to dispute it. Brooklynn is quick with the fact check, however, and points out there’s probably a lot of bacteria in the river so they should cook the fish to be safe.
Of course, it takes all of five seconds for them to realize it’s the same river they’ve been getting their drinking and bathing water from, so technically they wouldn’t be any worse off for it, but raw fish is an acquired taste, anyways. In the end, they cook the fish.
Sammy, who’s looking a little green, timidly suggests maybe they should start boiling the river water before they use it from now on- which everyone readily agrees to.
(Yaz, who’s been drinking raw egg protein shakes every morning since she was eleven, doesn’t see what the big deal is, but keeps her opinion to herself.)
~*~
It’s around that small campfire, eating their first dinner of freshly-caught fish, that Darius’s composure abruptly slips.
He isn’t sure what causes it. One second he’s listening to Kenji wistfully rattle off a story about some amazing fresh sushi bar in Tokyo, and the next he’s staring at the bowl in his lap with blurred vision from the tears in his eyes.
Sitting next to him, Brooklynn lightly bumps her shoulder against his. A silent show of support.
Darius manages to smile at her and keep eating.
~*~
They set aside a day to pick through Mitch and Tiff’s campsite.
Most of what was there was trampled into ruin by the stampede, but there are a few good finds. Canvas from the tents makes for bedding and wall reinforcements alike, and there are some weapons that weren’t destroyed. No guns, but three long knives and a machete that are in good condition. Everything else is snapped or bent.
The machete goes to Kenji, who tries to pretend it doesn’t unnerve him. Ben, who has started keeping his spear strapped to his back at all times, gives him a knowing look and helps sift through the rubble until they find a sheath for it. Sammy and Yaz each get a knife. Brooklynn, now favoring a baseball bat, passes the last knife off to Darius.
“There’s a lot of super useful things we can do with these,” Darius says on the walk home, forcing cheer into his voice. “Stripping firewood, cleaning fish, cutting ropes, opening cans…”
They all know the most likely use will be poking an attacking dinosaur’s eye out, but the thought sits uncomfortably. Ben can see it from the way they hold their weapons. How strange, he muses to himself, that the thought of violence still makes them so uneasy.
“And for defending ourselves,” he adds, when no one else says it.
Darius grimaces. “Right. If we have to.”
Ben snorts but says nothing else.
They all know they’ll have to, sooner or later.
~*~
They have a discussion on whether they should move base or not.
Their camp is looking a little worse for wear, and Kenji’s condo- or, his dad’s condo- is a tempting prospect. It’s incredibly secure, assuming all the dinosaurs have cleared out by now, and protected from the elements. They could fortify the vents and doors, and have a virtually impenetrable fortress.
Kenji leaps at the idea, wanting to provide at least this bit of comfort and security for the others.
But ultimately, they decide it’d be too risky to move away from the river, their source of freshwater and food alike. Plus, trekking up and down a condominium with non-functional elevators everyday seems like a waste of time and energy.
It’s good to have it in their back pockets, though, as a safehouse to fall back on if needed. And they make plans to have a scavenging trip through the building for anything useful.
Kenji’s satisfied enough with that.
~*~
A routine is established.
Maintaining their food and water supply takes first priority. Through trial and error, they find the best spots in the river to cast their net, and Ben even makes some progress in using his spear to fish. It’s not really necessary, because a single catch is plenty enough to feed them all, but they’ve noticed Ben is more likely to eat when he gets his food himself, so no one questions the habit.
They stockpile firewood and cut down thick ferns and vines to fortify their camp with, making the roof water-tight and the walls more substantial. Darius and Yaz work on a map of the island, making small expeditions farther and farther out from camp so they can better familiarize themselves with the surrounding area. They note which places are regularly inhabited with dinosaurs and where all the structures are, to be scavenged through at a later date.
The tunnel system is also being mapped out. They find Brooklynn’s universal keycard can open some of the underground security doors, and Ben has plans for using controlled fires to melt the ones that it can’t. They chase out the few Compies that are still around and make sure to seal up whatever outside entrances they find, ensuring the system can only be accessed by opening one of the hatches.
(They find the room E750 escaped from. After picking through it for anything useful, they block it up for good, if only to make themselves feel better.)
~*~
There are always dinosaurs.
They don’t ever go more than a day without at least seeing one, unless they stay inside the camp the whole time. Darius would like to say they’re getting more and more used to it, every time an attack happens, but in reality he knows it will never be anything other than terrifying to hear that telltale roar in the distance.
He supposes it’s best not to get complacent, anyways.
~*~
One day, Yaz pulls Sammy away from the camp to talk.
In private.
“Look,” she starts without preamble, staring doggedly at the ground, “I’m not the best when it comes to emotions. But after everything that’s happened… I couldn’t- I can’t just say nothing. And now, now I figure… what have we got to lose, you know?”
Sammy tilts her head. “Okay…?”
Yaz risks a look up. “I… like you, Sammy,” she says quietly. “I mean, really like you.”
Sammy just gives her a gentle smile. “I… sort’a had a feeling.”
“What?” Yaz’s heart jolts, her eyes wide. “You knew?”
“I mean, yeah,” Sammy laughs, but her cheeks are flushed and she plays anxiously with her hair. “Well, I mean, I- I hoped… the way you act around me, I thought it had to mean something. But I wasn’t sure if maybe I was just misreadin’ things or not, so I figured I’d wait n’ see if you brought it up.”
Yaz is stunned. So much for keeping things close to the vest. It takes her a few moments to find her words, mouth opening and closing as she scans Sammy’s face- she’s amused but not unkindly so, and there’s the faintest glimmer of anticipation in her deep brown eyes.
“So… you know I like you,” Yaz settles on finally, her breath tight in her chest. “Do… do you like me, too?”
At this, Sammy breaks into a grin. “Yeah, of course I like you,” she says vehemently, taking Yaz’s arms to pull her closer. “Guess I should’a made it even more obvious.”
Yaz feels her face heat up. Had she really been so oblivious? “Maybe you should,” she murmurs, her heart starting to race. “Just to make sure I really get the message.”
And Sammy does just that, leaning in to kiss her with a smile.
It’s Sammy’s first kiss with a girl, and Yaz’s first kiss at all. It’s short and sweet, but manages to leave them breathless anyways. Sammy rests her forehead against Yaz’s as her arms settle around her waist to hold her just a little longer, almost reluctant for this moment to end.
“I’m glad I met you,” Yaz whispers. “Even if it took coming to dinosaur island.”
Sammy giggles. “Hey, at least we get somethin’ good out of the whole deal.”
They return to camp with interlaced hands and matching grins, and Brooklynn squeals loud enough to make Ben jump. Darius gives them a happy but knowing smile, and Kenji is caught completely off-guard.
Despite the fact that they’re now officially dating, not much changes for them on a daily basis aside from the occasional kiss. They talk and hang out together just as much as they did before.
… and okay, yeah, now Yaz sees it.
~*~
Ben visits Bumpy every couple days, both to check up on her and to ensure their bond doesn’t completely fade away.
Even though she lives with her new herd full time, it’s reassuring for the campers to know they’ll always have a friend in the Ankylosauruses.
~*~
In a moment of downtime, Yaz is reclined on the couch with her sketchbook in her lap, adding some shading to a sketch of Sammy, when Brooklynn suddenly swoops in to sit next to her. The appearance of the younger girl instantly makes Yaz snap her sketchbook shut, her cheeks flushing.
“Hi!” Brooklynn greets her cheerily.
“Hey,” Yaz offers, eyeing Brooklynn warily. She holds her sketchbook protectively to her chest, hoping that Brooklynn won’t ask about it.
“So…” Brooklynn drawls, her green eyes bright and eager. “Sammina or Yasammy?”
Yaz blinks, sitting up to face her better. “What?”
“You and Sammy’s couple name,” Brooklynn explains, leaning forward excitedly. “Which one do you like better?”
Yaz snorts, managing not to roll her eyes. “We don’t need a couple name, we’re not celebrities.”
“I guess not,” Brooklynn relents. Her grin eases into something smaller, more genuine. “It’s just… nice. To see you two happy together.”
Yaz softens. “Thanks. I’ve… never been in a relationship before,” she confesses. “I guess that’s why it took me so long to realize what my feelings meant.”
Brooklynn nods thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure everyone else knew before you did. Well, except Kenji,” she laughs. “So wait, did you even know you liked girls?”
“No.” Yaz shakes her head. “I mean, I guess the only people I’ve been close enough to develop feelings for would be my teammates, which uh, was an all-girls’ team. But if I did, I… didn’t realize it.”
“Huh. Must’ve been a surprise,” Brooklynn muses. “I’ve known I was bi since I was ten. Or, well, the internet sort of figured it out for me.”
Yaz raises her eyebrows. “Woah. That’s… kind of young, isn’t it?” she asks hesitantly.
Brooklynn makes a noncommittal noise. “Not a lot of privacy growing up when your parents run a super popular family channel,” she says faintly. “All the speculation and pressure to come out kinda… expedited the process.”
“I’m sorry,” Yaz murmurs, her brows furrowing. “That should’ve been something you figured out in your own time, on your own terms.”
Brooklynn gives her an appreciative look. “It’s alright. It sort of gave me a head start, in being a voice for all my LGBT fans. A lot of kids look up to me, so I’m glad I can be a role model for them, and help them know it’s okay.” She glances away, picking at a loose thread on the sofa. “Besides, there have been countdowns to my eighteenth birthday for years, so I’m used to not having any privacy.”
“Okay, that’s messed up,” Yaz says, appalled.
Brooklynn shrugs, lips tugging up in a rueful smile. “The life of an online superstar, right?”
“Yikes.” Yaz suppresses a shudder. “If we ever get back home, you have got to consider a new career.”
That makes Brooklynn laugh. “Okay, maybe I can tag along to a track meet with you, try out the athlete grind?” she suggests.
“Sure, just don’t forget your briefcase,” Yaz teases.
“Ugh.” Brooklynn holds her face in her hands, but can’t quite hide her grin. “Are you ever gonna let that go?”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Yaz warns, but she’s smiling, too.
~*~
None of them realize how much they’re growing until certain shelves in their camp suddenly become easier to reach. Yaz goes to kiss Sammy’s cheek one day and is startled to find she has to go up on her toes. When Kenji ruffles Darius’s hair, his hand is almost at eye-level.
For a while, height becomes sort of a competition, or at least something to brag about. The day Darius surpasses Ben is only beaten by the day Sammy nearly catches up to Kenji- up until he has his own growth spurt.
(At the end of three years, Kenji will still be the tallest, but only slightly above Sammy. The difference between Yaz, Darius, and Ben comes down to millimeters, but Brooklynn is the shortest by several inches.)
~*~
The campers warm up to the idea of using weapons.
None of them have any combat training, aside from Yaz’s five years of kickboxing lessons, so it’s mostly trial and error. They figure out the best way to use their weapons without hurting themselves, practicing stabs and slashes against the thick jungle tree trunks until the movement feels natural and fluid, building muscle memory and calluses alike.
It's a somber affair, but necessary.
~*~
After a particularly robust bout of growth spurts, their clothes start to feel a bit too tight and a bit too short.
Kenji’s condo is the first place they check for replacements. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really stocked for long-term living, and all they find are a few extra suits in his father’s suite. Nothing suitable for living on a tropical island, and they aren’t confident enough in their collective sewing abilities to fashion better fitting clothes out of the material.
Their next stop is the various gift shops on Main Street. They time their raid carefully to ensure the T-Rex is absent, posting Ben as a lookout because he was the least concerned with picking out anything specific to wear.
Ultimately, they all find a shirt and a pair of shorts that fit them. Everything has some kind of Jurassic World branding on it, but it can’t be helped. Some are more tasteful than others, in any case.
Darius picks a simple black T-shirt that has two little raptors printed on it, to look as if they’re poking out of the pocket. It amuses him endlessly because real Velociraptor hatchlings would be way too big for that.
Kenji takes a liking to a vintage-looking T-shirt with the original Jurassic Park logo on it. And for Ben, he grabs one with a cinematic print of the Mosasaurus, about to engulf a Great White shark. (Ben, after tearing off the short sleeves to convert it to a tank top, deems it acceptable).
Brooklynn manages to find the only pink shirt in the place. It has a chart on it displaying images of different Velociraptor expressions which, in her opinion, is a bonus- even if the ‘sad raptor’ looks suspiciously similar to ‘confused raptor.’
Sammy goes with a white tank top with the Jurassic World logo, artfully surrounded by greyscale leaves and ferns.
Yaz is disappointed by the lack of athletic clothing, but settles for a crop top that reads, ‘It’s a Wild Jurassic World.’ After changing, she shows off the six pack everyone always suspected she had, making Sammy blush.
None of the gift shops carry underwear, but there is a shop for swimsuits. It’s… an unconventional substitution, but technically, the function should be the same. In fact, the swimwear is probably more durable than their current undergarments, and the waterproof material is helpful considering the tropical climate. All of them know the horrors of soggy underwear and would like to avoid repeating the experience, so the swimsuits are deemed acceptable.
Sammy, who’s had wire poking out from her bra for several weeks now, calls first dibs on the changing room.
~*~
Ben shows them how to construct small bits of armor out of vines and tree bark. It’s somewhat of a moot point, because they all know it can’t protect them from a dinosaur’s teeth or claws or crushing weight. But it can protect their arms and legs from small bumps and scrapes, often obtained when sprinting through the jungle, and it helps them feel slightly more capable.
And at the very least, it makes their cheesy souvenir outfits look slightly more cool.
~*~
The pages of Darius’s field guide start to fill up.
He tries writing smaller and using fewer illustrations to save space, but in the end, there’s just too much he wants to include and before he knows it, he’s staring at the back cover.
Part of him knows it’s not really important. He had originally started the practice so that once they got off the island, he could share his findings with the world. Now, though, the chances of anyone else ever reading his guide are slim.
Still, he finds himself reaching for it anytime he makes a new observation, only to be disappointed when he remembers.
~*~
Yaz’s ankle gives out, eventually.
It’s an ordinary day for them- which includes running for their lives from a dinosaur (a stray Monolophosaurus, in this case). A few sharp turns and heavy landings later, and suddenly there’s a loud pop. Yaz gasps, stumbling to her knees. Her face is pale and sheened with sweat, eyes wide with horror.
Sammy quickly doubles back for her, throwing Yaz’s arm around her shoulders to pull her up. But her foot won’t take her weight even with Sammy’s help.
By unspoken agreement, the rest of the campers dart into a loose circle around them, protecting each other’s backs with weapons at the ready. The Monolophosaurus catches up to them seconds later, pulling up short once it sees their defensive formation.
It paces around them uncertainly, tail lashing from side to side. Hissing, it makes a few swipes at them, darting forward and snapping its jaws.
The camper it happens to be closest to is Ben, who responds by screaming at it at the top of his lungs, jabbing forward with his spear. That seems to make the Monolophosaurus pause.
The rest of the campers join in immediately, screaming and swiping their weapons at it. Kenji’s machete comes close, but it’s Brooklynn’s bat that finally lands a solid hit on the side of the dinosaur’s face.
Snarling, the Monolophosaurus staggers back a few steps, shaking its head. It roars at them, almost indignantly, before turning and stalking back into the underbrush.
There’s no time to celebrate their victory- screaming is a good deterrent for smaller dinosaurs, but can easily attract the bigger ones. Wordlessly, Kenji lifts Yaz onto his back, and they begin their trek back to camp.
As soon as Brooklynn gets a look at Yaz’s ankle, her stomach drops. She would like to say it’s just a sprain. She knows how to help with those. But she heard the way Yaz’s ankle popped, and her entire foot is swollen and bruised, and the joint seems way too loose. The slightest movement has Yaz in tears, and it can’t bear any weight at all.
Whether it’s a torn ligament or a broken bone, it’s something beyond Brooklynn’s capacity to fix. All she can suggest is rest and support.
Using their scarce medical supplies and whatever materials they can scavenge up, they build a brace for Yaz. It’s clunky and only remotely boot-shaped, made out of metal pipes, tree bark, and compression tape, but it’s better than nothing.
Even after taking it easy for a couple weeks (as easy as she can, anyways), trying to do anything more than walking without the brace makes her stumble. It isn’t healing the way it should be, stuck at about 70%, and Yaz feels with horrible certainty that she’s damaged something permanently.
The brace stays on.
~*~
“Let me know if it hurts, alright?” Sammy asks.
The brace isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, and at the end of a long day, Yaz’s leg is left pretty sore. Sammy’s taken it upon herself to massage Yaz’s aching muscles before bed, to help her relax and hopefully get some rest before it’s her turn for night watch. It’s yet another way their relationship has grown closer, in addition to them now sharing a bunk.
“You don’t have to do this,” Yaz mumbles, not for the first time.
Sammy gives her a patient smile. Her hands are infinitely gentle as they move over Yaz’s ankle, careful to soothe instead of hurt. “I already told you, sweet pea, I don’t mind. ‘Sides, it’s the least I can do.”
Yaz sits up a little more, careful not to bump her head on the roof of their bunk. “What do you mean?” she asks, frowning. “You don’t owe me anything.”
Sammy shrugs, her gaze downcast. “Well, you first hurt your ankle savin’ me from the Mosasaurus. And you didn’t even like me back then. Not to mention you probably reinjured it that night with the Scorpius-”
“Hey,” Yaz says softly. “This isn’t your fault.”
“I know.” Sammy’s smile is faint. “I just… after everything you’ve done for me…”
“I’d do it all again in a heartbeat,” Yaz swears.
And despite how terrified she is that her ankle will be the death of her, and the guilt she feels for being a burden on the group, she means it.
~*~
Brooklynn, a late bloomer, has her first period.
Sammy, an early bloomer who’s been dealing with hers since she was eleven, makes a perfect mother hen and helps the younger girl through it, banishing the boys from the camp for a few days.
They decide to make themselves useful and raid Kenji’s condo for chocolate bars. They’re stale, but a very welcome treat. Brooklynn tears up upon receiving them, and then punches Darius in the arm to make up for it.
~*~
“So hey, if you had to pick, which dino would you want to eat you?”
Kenji’s offhanded question comes out of nowhere, surprising and appalling the other campers. But before Darius can reprimand him, Ben’s immediately providing an answer, without even looking up from the fire where his fish is cooking.
“Easy, the T-Rex.”
Darius gawks as Kenji gives a delighted grin.
“Really?” Yaz asks, knitting her brows together.
“Of course,” Ben says matter-of-factly. “With the T-Rex, at least it’d be over in one big bite instead of a super painful mauling. Plus, if someone asks what happened to me, ‘He got eaten by a T-Rex’ sounds way cooler than ‘He got eaten by a Monolophosaurus.’ No one even knows what a Monolophosaurus is.”
Darius gives him an offended look.
“Okay, most people don’t know what a Monolophosaurus is,” Ben amends, rolling his eyes even as he smiles.
“Stop saying Monolophosaurus,” Brooklynn huffs.
“Hey, what about the Mosasaurus?” Kenji asks teasingly, lightly elbowing Ben in the ribs.
Ben wrinkles his nose. “Uh, it’d be really stupid to get eaten by something that’s literally confined to a tank. Plus, it might swallow me alive, and getting slowly digested would suck.”
Yaz’s expression is a cross between fascinated and disturbed. “You’ve given this a concerning amount of thought.”
Ben shrugs. “Not much else to think about.”
“You sure you wouldn’t rather get killed by an herbivore?” Sammy chimes in, as if she’s making a generous offer. Her arm is settled comfortably around Yaz’s shoulders. “Broken neck is a faster way to go than gettin’ chewed up.”
“Hundred percent,” Ben assures her. “If a dinosaur is gonna kill me, it better at least get a meal out of it. Can’t blame a carnivore for hunting, that’s the circle of life.”
Kenji snickers. “No offense, but you wouldn’t make much of a meal for anything other than the Compies.”
Ben scowls. “Oh sure, like you’re such a grand feast, yourself?”
“Uh, have you seen me?” Kenji asks in mock disbelief. He curls one arm to proudly show off his bicep. “That’s solid protein right there. Any dino would be lucky to get a bite of this.”
Ben’s eyes quickly dart away, his cheeks tinted ever so slightly. “Why am I not surprised you managed to turn this into an ego trip?” he grumbles, crossing his arms.
Meanwhile, Brooklynn is laughing into her hands somewhat hysterically. “I can’t believe this conversation is happening,” she groans, torn between amusement and mortification.
Darius pats her shoulder consolingly, unable to hide his own grin. “Just let it happen, superstar.”
“Hey, I’m a legit snack, Ben.”
“I don’t even know what that means!”
~*~
Darius is almost drowned by a Parasaurolophus.
No one is sure why the attack happened. Perhaps he was standing a little too close to the deep part of the river, and the dinosaur was feeling a little too territorial that day. One second, he’s directing Kenji and Brooklynn on where to tie the fishing net. The next second, there’s a splash, a shout of alarm, and he’s gone.
Kenji reacts first, racing over and diving into the river. He manages to snag one of Darius’s flailing arms, trying in vain to pull him back to the surface as the water churns around them, his feet scrabbling for purchase on the muddy riverbed.
Ben, who’d been keeping watch on the riverbank, dives in after him. Maneuvering a spear underwater is clumsy, but eventually Ben lands a hit in the face. The Parasaurolophus lets go, its cry of pain muted by the water, and swims off.
Kenji drags Darius ashore. The entirety of his calf has darkened into a nasty bruise from the force of the bite, but there’s no broken skin (Parasaurolophus teeth are flat, meant for grinding plants) and the bone doesn’t appear to be broken.
No, the biggest problem is that Darius has stopped breathing.
His face is slack, his eyes are closed, and his lips are tinted blue. At Ben’s shout, Brooklynn drops to the ground next to Darius and starts CPR. After a few tense moments, Darius’s body spasms, and then he’s coughing up water.
But even after his lungs are clear, he seems weak and confused, barely conscious, so Kenji quickly scoops him up and they hurry back to camp. It takes a couple hours for him to recuperate, laid up in his bunk as the rest of the campers hover anxiously.
When Darius does finally come-to, his first attempts at speaking devolve into coughs. He catches his breath, gaze drifting across each of his friend’s worried faces. “Wh- wha- what… what hap- what…” He stops, furrowing his brows, and tries again. “What happened?”
Ben eyes him apprehensively. “A Parasaurolophus dragged you under,” he says. “How are you feeling?”
Darius pauses, taking stock for a moment. His throat is a little sore and his leg is aching, but other than that, he feels fine. “M- my… my uh… my- my leg is, um… it’s…” His breathing quickens, panic starting to seep through his confusion. What word is he looking for? And why can’t he speak without stuttering?
“Hey, it’s alright,” Sammy quickly soothes him, not quite able to mask the nervous flutter in her voice. She grabs a water bottle and holds it out to him. “Here, just take a drink and have a breather.”
But when Darius goes to reach for it, it slips through his fingers and drops to the floor, a startling smack. Only now does he realize his hands are shaking. He blinks at them, tries to curl them into fists, but it feels like he’s moving through sand.
Yaz scoops the bottle up, alarm flashing in her eyes. “Here,” she murmurs, pressing it into his hand.
Darius keeps hold of it this time, though he can’t hold it quite still, hovering slightly in the air. And when he goes to unscrew the cap, his fingers don’t respond. They’re clumsy and slow and they tremble incessantly. Aghast, he sets the bottle down, unconcerned with his thirst for the moment.
“H- how… how lo- how um, how long was I…” Darius swallows, tries again. “How long w- was I, uh…” What’s the word, what’s the word… “Out?”
“I don’t know,” Kenji says lowly, his expression pinched. “But you weren’t breathing when I pulled you out of the water.”
‘Oh,’ Darius thinks, his chest tightening. ‘That’s not good.’
The realization must’ve shown on his face, because Brooklynn’s breath catches. “You’re… gonna be okay, right?” she asks carefully.
Darius grimaces.
Cerebral hypoxia- oxygen deprivation of the brain- can have many long-term side effects. Among these are memory loss, speech difficulty, and decrease in motor coordination. It’s generally irreversible; once brain cells are dead, there is no healing or replacing them. But it could’ve been much worse. If he’d gone even a couple minutes longer without oxygen, he could’ve had a seizure, wound up in a coma, or even died.
Darius would explain all this if he could, but he can’t string together the words without stuttering or forgetting certain terms, and he can’t hold a pencil steady long enough to write it out. His attempts only frustrate and fluster him as the others grow more concerned.
So in the end, “Brain damage,” is the short explanation he settles for, given with a half-hearted smile.
~*~
It’s a difficult adjustment.
Darius’s motor control isn’t as far gone as he initially feared, but it’s still pretty bad. He can, for the most part, grab and hold things (as long as they aren’t too small). He can still wield a knife, and climb a ladder, and pull in a fishing net. But anything intricate, anything that requires dexterity, is almost impossible.
The others don’t really know how to handle conversations with Darius anymore. They’re torn between patiently waiting for him to find his words, or attempting to help him out by filling them in from context. As a result, there’s a lot of fumbling and uncertainty that makes even casual conversations a challenge.
It’d be easier if Darius could make up his mind on which is more helpful, but that changes by the day. Sometimes, his frustration at forgetting a word is enough to bring him to tears, and he’s desperate for someone to help. Other times, getting cut off is a frustration all its own, because the word is on the tip of his tongue, if he could only get it out.
He tries not to snap at the others. He knows they’re doing their best. But sometimes the reality of the situation, the weight of everything he can no longer do, gets to be too much and he has to walk away before he loses his temper or breaks down crying.
He’s supposed to be a leader, to look after them. He’s supposed to be the one with the answers. And it’s devastating to know he’s failing at it, that he can’t be what they need.
Darius doesn’t tell them this- conversations are even harder when he’s emotional- but Brooklynn seems to figure it out anyways. She corners him after a particularly frustrating day, a knowing look in her green eyes.
“Dude, you have got to stop beating yourself up over this,” she tells him, her voice gentle but firm.
“I- I know that,” Darius tries to insist, but the truth must show in his eyes because Brooklynn sighs.
“You’re so much more than what you can do for other people,” she says, putting a hand on his shoulder. “All the decisions, all the responsibility, it doesn’t always have to be on you and you alone. We’re a team, so for once, put aside that big hero complex of yours and let us help you.”
It takes Darius a few tries to get his words out- and not for the normal reasons. “Okay,” he says finally, blinking away his tears. “Okay, I’ll… I’ll t- try.”
None of them know sign language. But, working together, they come up with a functional system of simple gestures- easy enough for Darius’s stiff fingers to do- that they can use to convey messages. Some of it is basic and intuitive; nodding means yes, shaking your head means no, a hand held up means stop. Then there’s specific signs for things like good, bad, follow, wait, quiet, run, hungry, tired, hurt, all clear, sorry, nice job, back to camp, help, and even a few short phrases.
They try to focus on words Darius is likely to use on a regular basis, so he doesn’t have to waste time and energy saying the same things over and over again, as well as stuff he might need to use in an emergency, where speed is important. After a couple weeks of practice, Darius knows the signs by heart and the others can immediately interpret them, even use them whenever a situation calls for stealth.
It’s not a perfect solution. There will always be times where Darius has to rely on the others to help him with simple tasks, or struggle and stutter through a sentence to get by.
But he doesn’t feel alone anymore, and that’s a good place to be.
~*~
Darius wakes up one day to find some peach fuzz on his upper lip.
Kenji claps him on the shoulder in congratulations while still insisting it’s not as impressive as his mustache, which complements his beard (both are still patchy, more stubble than actual hair, but that’s beside the point).
Meanwhile, Ben is starting to think he’ll never get facial hair.
~*~
Keeping track of time is hard, but it’s been long enough that they can reasonably assume they’ve all had at least one birthday since being stranded.
At least, that’s Kenji’s reasoning behind suddenly declaring it his birthday. “I can’t not have a sweet sixteen birthday party,” he insists. “I’ve been planning it since I was like, ten. It was gonna be a primo yacht party with the hottest DJ in L.A, private catering from a three Michelin Star restaurant, and swimming with professional mermaids.”
Ben snorts. “We could always go for a swim with the Mosasaurus.”
That earns a few snickers from the others. Kenji rolls his eyes. “Okay, obviously I’ll have to throw this party on a budget, but come on!” He throws his hands up. “We deserve to let loose a little bit. Let’s hang at the penthouse for a couple days, live it up!”
The campers have learned by now that Kenji’s showboating is actually a secret way of showing he cares about them. It’s a little disheartening that he feels like the only thing he can offer is his wealth, but they’ve all got their own shit to work through.
So they agree, and that’s how their ‘surprise birthday’ tradition gets started. Whenever they need a break from the stress of their daily life, or one of the campers seems to be in dire need of a boost, they can throw a birthday party to escape it all for a little while. The gifts they scrounge up for each other are crude, but it’s more about the principle of the thing.
(Besides, the best gift for Kenji is watching his friends be carefree teenagers again, even if just for a day.)
~*~
Brooklynn loses the vision in her left eye.
Although they’ve been on the island for a long time now and know it pretty well, there are always surprises. Especially because many of the dinosaurs don’t stick to any kind of regular schedule. The T-Rex has her lair on Main Street, but her hunting trips take her all over the island.
So, running into her unexpectedly is just part of life.
Fortunately, on this particular day, Ben happens to know the area and leads them to a waterfall. It’s part of a sheer cliffside and flows into a deep lake, so it’s perfect for jumping off of to elude the T-Rex.
Unfortunately, on this particular day, Brooklynn slams her head on a rock during the fall down.
When the other campers surface and see Brooklynn floating, motionless in the water with blood pooling around her, the terror of the T-Rex is instantly forgotten. Kenji pulls her to shore, frantically calling her name. She’s breathing but unconscious, and her face is covered in blood, stemming from a gash on her left temple, right beside her eye.
This isn’t the first time one of them has been severely injured, but this time it’s Brooklynn. Having the only person with first aid skills incapacitated adds on an entirely new layer of panic.
It’s a collective effort to try and get Brooklynn stable, to clean away the blood as best they can- as carefully as they can- and bandage the wound. In the time it took them to get back to camp, Brooklynn’s eye has swelled horrifically, so Sammy wets a rag with clean water to use as a cold compress.
From there, all they can do is wait.
Brooklynn does eventually regain consciousness, though it’s clear she’s suffering from a concussion. It’s a struggle to keep her from tearing at the bandages in her confusion, and her cries of pain are heartbreaking. Once she’s rested a bit longer and is more coherent, they explain what happened, and the fear on her face makes her look startlingly younger than she is.
Over the next few weeks, Brooklynn is restricted to bed rest, the other campers having to help her get around until she adjusts to her limited vision. It’s a severe bruise to her pride, and leads to more than a couple breakdowns.
But the worst part is when the bandages come off.
“Okay,” Brooklynn says impatiently, “you can take the rest of them off, now.”
Sammy, clenching a fistful of dirty bandages, swallows hard. “I, uh… already have, hun,” she says as kindly as she can.
Brooklynn freezes as the implications fully sink in. Carefully, she lifts a hand to her eye, her fingers softly probing. She can feel her eye moving around, the way her lashes flutter and her lids open and close. But she can’t see anything besides inky blackness.
“Oh,” Brooklynn says, and then she starts crying. As it turns out, her left eye can still do that.
It’s a heavy revelation for the campers to swallow. With just the right eye, Brooklynn can only see about 45 degrees to the left of her nose. That’s a considerable blind spot to have, when living in a place where the threat of death constantly lurks around every corner.
(Ben takes it particularly hard, as the one responsible for leading the group to the waterfall in the first place.)
And her eye hasn’t just lost its vision, its appearance has changed, too. Her pupil is permanently dilated, slightly larger than that of her good eye. The color of her iris has faded, now a milky white with only hints of green instead of the bright emerald she was born with. And the scarring around her eye leaves the skin a mottled pink, rough under her fingertips.
For the first time in a long time, Brooklynn’s thoughts stray back to her old life, when her image was everything. She can vividly imagine the kind of hate she’d get, if this had happened while she was still an influencer, and it makes her feel sick.
She starts parting her hair to cover her eye, seeing as how it’s useless anyways.
~*~
Relearning how to do everything with one eye is harder than Brooklynn thought it’d be.
The others are helping as much as they can. Using leaves and moss, they pad all the sharp corners in the camp, to lessen the chance of Brooklynn hurting herself when bumping into something. And whenever they have to venture out, one of them- usually Ben- stays firmly on her left side, guarding her blind spot.
Brooklynn is incredibly grateful for their support. She knows they still care about her and would do anything for her, and that accepting their help doesn’t mean she’s weak.
But knowing that isn’t always enough to silence the voices in her head, the ones that tell her she’s useless and ugly, that it’s her fault she was injured in the first place, that she’s a liability who is going to get herself or someone else killed.
It’s hard to open up about this stuff. But when Darius signs ‘Are you okay?’ to her one day, she remembers what she told him after his accident, and doesn’t want to be a hypocrite.
“No,” she says honestly. “I know I can count on you guys to look after me, I do, and I appreciate it. And I should just be glad I’m alive. But whenever I see my reflection, the way it looks, I- I just…” Her voice breaks, and she glances away, her eyes stinging. “It’s stupid, I know. Looking pretty is the last thing to worry about on dinosaur island.”
Darius’s expression softens. His hands are remarkably steady- a rare occurrence, nowadays- as he gently reaches out to brush her hair out of her face. He doesn’t shy away from her bad eye, and meets her gaze evenly.
“The outs- side… isn’t important,” he says. “What really, um, makes a- a person who they are is… is everything up here,” he taps a finger to the side of his head, “and in h- here,” he moves his hand over his heart. “Our- our bodies… are just, uh… just- just the machines we pilot. And ha- having a defective one doesn’t m- make us less of a… a, uh, you know, a… a- a person.” A smile pulls at his mouth. “And I w- would know.”
Brooklynn manages to laugh through her tears. “You know, all you had to do was say that I’m still pretty.”
Darius ducks his head. “O- oh, yeah, uh… that- that too.”
The sincerity in his voice catches Brooklynn off guard. “Oh.” She tucks her hair behind her ear, suddenly feeling shy. “Um, thanks. For everything, I mean.”
“No problem,” Darius replies, scratching the back of his neck. He might be blushing, it’s hard to tell.
It doesn’t magically make all of Brooklynn’s insecurities go away, but she does start wearing her hair back again.
~*~
No one really remembers when the last of the pink grew out of Brooklynn’s hair.
Sammy’s requires frequent haircuts to keep it from becoming an unmanageable tangle of frizz.
Yaz chops all her hair off one day on an impulse. She panics about the decision almost immediately after, but Sammy assures her that she’s still beautiful, and that if she’s tired of dealing with long hair on a tropical island, it’s entirely her right. Plus, Sammy personally finds the choppy pixie cut very flattering, which Yaz is greatly relieved to hear.
~*~
“Try a- a little m- more uh, more… high-pitched,” Darius suggests.
Ben obliges, taking another breath before blowing into his cupped hands. A sharp chirping sound pierces the air, making the campers jump even though they’re expecting it.
“Yeah, that’s it!” Darius cheers, signing ‘nice job’ for good measure. “Spot-on raptor im- impress- sion, man.”
After finding out Ben had an uncanny talent for mimicking dinosaur calls, Darius- unsurprisingly- immediately found a good use for it. Namely, teaching him the raptor call for ‘help,’ which could come in handy if they ever encounter the solo raptor again. Or, if they ever need to team up with her against a larger enemy again.
(Darius isn’t foolish enough to think they could ever tame the raptor, like Ben did Bumpy, but she’s cooperated with them in the past and it’s always good to be prepared.)
“Dude, how do you do that?” Brooklynn asks in amazement. “I can’t even whistle.”
Ben grins, looking pleased with himself. “Looks like my seven years of oboe lessons finally paid off,” he says, puffing out his chest.
Kenji gasps. “Wait, wait, wait. Stop everything.” A massive grin spreads across his face, eyes sparkling like he’s a kid on Christmas morning. “You play the oboe?”
Ben deflates again. “And that’s why I haven’t brought it up,” he sighs.
~*~
A Baryonyx encounter ends with Kenji getting clawed across the face.
Running in to them from time to time is inevitable, really. The pair of carnivores are hard to keep track of, since they tend to wander instead of establishing any kind of home nest. And their smaller size (relatively speaking) gives them a stealth advantage that many other dinosaurs don’t have.
It happens during a trip to Lookout Point, where the campers are hoping to scavenge the solar panels that power the gondolas. Ben has recruited Bumpy for the mission, fastening a makeshift sled to her spines so she can carry the heavy panels- an easy feat now that she’s reached her adult size. But they don’t even make it halfway to the mountain before they’re ambushed.
Weapons and training aside, two Baryonyxes are still a challenge. Bumpy squares off with Limbo, while Chaos sets her sights on the campers. During the attack, Kenji narrowly avoids her jaws by ducking- which happens to put him directly in the path of her claws.
Kenji screams like the campers have never heard him scream before, and goes down clutching his blood-streaked face.
Without hesitation, Ben jumps in front of him, screaming at Chaos in defiance and lashing out with his spear to keep her at bay. Bumpy delivers a parting blow to Limbo and charges to Ben’s side, roaring and beating her tail on the ground. The other campers immediately rally around them, forming a protective wall around Kenji.
After Ben’s spear hits its mark, slicing a gash up the side of Chaos’s face, the Baryonyxes beat a grudging retreat. Sammy pulls Kenji onto the sled, Ben hops onto Bumpy’s back, and they all make a break back to camp.
It takes all four of them to hold Kenji down while Brooklynn does her best to clean and dress his wounds. He screams and thrashes until the pain becomes too much, and he falls unconscious. This turns out to be both a blessing and a curse; Brooklynn is able to work much more quickly, but Ben is nearly beside himself with panic.
The next couple of days are hell. Kenji drifts in and out of consciousness, burning up with a fever that’s likely the result of infection. When he’s awake, he’s in extreme pain and can barely bring himself to eat, no matter how the others beg him to. When he’s asleep, he’s plagued by nightmares and can’t seem to get comfortable, shifting restlessly and crying out in his sleep.
Even after his fever breaks, the recovery is hard. The bandages- scraps of scavenged fabric- cover half of Kenji’s face, restricting him to the camp. Eating is difficult, and cleaning the wounds every couple days is excruciating. He hates the way the others have to help him with everything, and feels more useless than ever before.
(Brooklynn knows the feeling, and lets Kenji vent to her whenever he needs to.)
Once the bandages have been off for a few weeks, it becomes apparent that Kenji’s wounds have healed as much as they’re ever going to. That leaves him with three large slash marks cutting across the right side of his face.
The topmost one skirts along the side of his nose and just underneath his eye, the puffy scar tissue leaving his lower eyelid raised in a partial squint. The middle one has disfigured both his ear and the corner of his mouth- a sizeable divot in his upper lip exposes a sliver of his teeth even when his mouth is closed. And the bottom one crosses from the edge of his jaw to his chin in a deep gouge.
It’s all superficial. He can see out of his right eye perfectly fine, and despite the outer appearance of his ear, his hearing is unaffected. He can still talk and eat normally. The pain is getting better by the day. It could’ve been so, so much worse.
This is what Kenji tells himself, every time he catches his reflection in the river or traces his fingers over the scars and feels like crying.
It doesn’t always help.
~*~
Kenji feels Ben staring at him.
He’s used to catching Ben staring at him. Well, not him, specifically. Ben just stares a lot, in general. It’s one of his quirks that they’ve all gotten familiar with. But all of a sudden it feels different, like touching an exposed nerve, and Kenji bristles.
“What do you want?” he snaps. Immediately, he regrets how harsh his voice came out.
But Ben has grown a lot from the shy boy who first arrived on the island, and he isn’t even fazed by Kenji’s tone. Brows furrowing, he pushes away from the wall and stalks up to Kenji, his eyes hard and determined. Without a word, he grabs Kenji by the front of his shirt and-
And then Ben’s kissing him.
In the time it takes for Kenji to process what’s happening, Ben’s already pulled away. He’s backed up a step- not too far- and is glancing off to the side, avoiding Kenji’s gaze. His face is flushed red and he’s fidgeting with his hands, an anxious gesture that Kenji rarely sees on him anymore.
Kenji blinks. “Um-”
“I like your scars,” Ben says in a rush. “I think they look cool. And uh, they mean you’re a survivor. So don’t… don’t be insecure about them, okay?”
Kenji’s hand comes up to his lips. “So… you kissed me,” he says slowly, “just because my scars look cool?”
Ben rolls his eyes, but there’s a fondness, there. “No, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” he confesses. “I guess… I let my old fears get the best of me. But when this happened…” His eyes dart along Kenji’s scars, his expression softening. “We could’ve lost you. So it just- it put things into perspective.”
“I see.” A smile tugs at Kenji’s mouth, warmth curling in his chest. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised someone eventually fell in love with me,” he drawls, putting on airs. “I’m really quite the catch.”
Ben huffs even as his blush darkens. “If you’re gonna be all smug about it, then forget it,” he sniffs, turning as if to leave.
“No, no, no,” Kenji says quickly, catching Ben by the hand. “No take-backs. You’re stuck with me now, wild man.”
Ben’s lips quirk up into a grin. “Alright, city boy,” he murmurs, sliding his hands up to Kenji’s shoulders.
“Woah, woah, woah, enough with the city boy already!” Kenji protests, indignant. “I’m older than you, and I’m definitely more man than boy. Have you seen my beard? And hey, aren’t you from Chicago?”
Ben gives him a dry look. “Are you gonna kiss me or not?”
Despite the sudden butterflies in Kenji’s stomach, he plays it cool. “Well, since you asked so nicely.” He leans down slowly, intending to take his time, but Ben grows impatient and closes the gap for him.
Kenji’s kissed girls before, but that was nothing like this. Ben’s calloused hands are rough on Kenji’s neck as he pulls him down, pulls him closer. When he lacks in experience, he more than makes up for with enthusiasm, kissing Kenji recklessly, like this is a battle he’s determined to win. His scent is strong- sweat and mud and grass, undercut with the sharp sting of alcohol from the hand sanitizer he seems to possess in infinite quantities.
It’s so perfectly imperfect, so Ben, that Kenji’s heart feels like it’s going to burst.
The sound of footsteps makes them both jump. They break away from each other, but not quite before Darius and Brooklynn round the corner. Kenji is painfully aware how clear it is that they were just kissing, and he feels his face burn.
Once they recover from their surprise, Darius and Brooklynn break into matching, shit-eating grins.
“It’s about time, you two,” Brooklynn says, while Darius lets out a wolf-whistle, giving them his hand sign for ‘nice job.’
The embarrassment is enough to make Kenji wish he’d sink right through the floor. But Ben just lets out an easy laugh, dorky as ever, and interlaces his fingers with Kenji’s. “Yeah, yeah, we get it. Now could you give us some privacy? We were in the middle of something.”
The completely unabashed way he says it has Kenji hiding his face in his hand. “Oh my god, Ben,” he groans, borderline mortified and yet almost in awe of Ben’s confidence.
Darius and Brooklynn oblige, cackling like hyenas on their way out. Ben wastes no time pulling Kenji into another kiss.
~*~
Darius’s voice changes overnight, without any warning. It gives all the campers quite the surprise in the morning.
Ben goes through an embarrassing period of voice cracks before his finally drops. Though it’s not dramatically deeper than it was before, which he considers a total rip-off.
Kenji’s is more subtle, gradually deepening over time before settling. It isn’t lower than Darius’s, which Kenji thinks is insanely unfair, seeing as he’s the oldest guy, but the universe doesn’t seem to care (which is, to be fair, par for the course at this point).
~*~
“- see those two flyin’ together? I call ‘em Terry and Donna. And that one with the red markings is Red Bull- you know, Red Bull gives you wings?”
Sammy and Darius are watching a flock of Pteranodons fly by, weapons held at the ready in case they are noticed. But the dinosaurs are well above the treetops of the jungle and for the moment, everything is peaceful.
“You know, you- you really shouldn’t name them,” Darius says off-handedly, though his smile is amused. “Naming d- dangerous animals can provide a- a- a- false sense of- um, of- of familiarity, and make you less, uh… less…” He frowns, signing ‘help.’
“Careful?” Sammy suggests.
“Careful,” Darius agrees gratefully. “Less careful around them. It’s th- the same logic behind venomous snakes at zoos.”
Sammy looks thoughtful. “Guess that makes sense…” Then she points at the next one, face brightening. “Oh, this one’s Madonna- get it? Pteranodon, Madonna?”
Despite himself, Darius laughs. “Okay, that’s- that’s pretty good.”
~*~
Ben’s hearing starts to go.
It’s a subtle process- so subtle, in fact, that it takes a long time before anyone even realizes what’s happening. They discover it completely by accident, when Darius unintentionally sneaks up on Ben while his back is turned.
Darius only just manages to avoid the fist that comes swinging his way, yelping in alarm.
“Woah, Darius!” Ben draws up short, realization flashing in his eyes. His hands drop to his sides, all the aggression and tension in his body vanishing as quickly as it had come.
‘Sorry,’ Darius signs, catching his breath. ‘Are you okay?’
“Yeah, yeah,” Ben waves him off, apologetic. “You just startled me.”
Darius knits his brows together. If it were any other camper, he wouldn’t think anything of it. But Ben? Ben is notoriously hard to sneak up on, always hyperaware of his surroundings as a result of his time alone. And it’s not like Darius was even trying to be sneaky.
A knot forms in his stomach. “Is your, uh… your h- hearing okay?” he asks tentatively.
Ben blinks in surprise. “What? Yeah, it’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Darius shrugs and lets the matter drop for the time being. But he’s not fully convinced, and starts keeping a closer eye on Ben. And as he does, he has some… worrying revelations.
It’s not uncommon for them to have to call Ben’s name a few times before he takes notice, if he’s a little way’s off from the rest of them. Before, Darius assumed it was just because Ben had a tendency to let his mind wander. But now, he’s not sure. And as he’s looking closer, he’s starting to see patterns.
Ben always answers straight away if he happens to be looking at the person talking, or standing close by. He’s less likely to hear them if there’s other noise going on in the background, like the running river water. And whenever they’re out on the island, and there’s some faint sound in the distance that makes them all tense, Ben doesn’t react until he sees the rest of them.
As much as Darius doesn’t want it to be true, he can’t deny the facts. And the longer they wait to address it, the more danger Ben is in. He brings it up to Ben in private, already knowing it won’t be an easy conversation.
“So,” he starts, “I uh, I’ve noticed some… uh, some things.”
Ben quirks a brow. “Things?”
Darius nods. “I- I think… I think, um, that you’re h- hard of- of hearing.”
“Darius, that doesn’t make sense.” Ben’s voice is tight, the way it gets whenever he’s trying to reign in his emotions. “I can hear you perfectly fine right now.”
“It’s n- not always all or- or nothing,” Darius explains gently, despite his rising dread. “D- does your family h- have any… a- any, uh… any history o- of hearing loss?”
Ben bites his lip, clearing debating with himself. “My uncle had to get a hearing aid when he was in his thirties,” he admits, glancing away. “My mom said there was a chance it was hereditary. But it’s not supposed to happen until later in life. For it to start so early, I- I don’t think…”
Darius’s uneasy feeling grows. The various roars from different dinosaurs can measure well above 100 decibels, which is hazardous to human ears. Not to mention the occasional explosions they’ve witnessed, often set off by Ben himself.
All of them have been exposed to loud sounds and been completely fine afterwards. But for someone with a genetic predisposition to hearing loss…
“Being on th- this island… has caused it to accelerate,” Darius says grimly.
There’s a split-second where Darius can see the fear plainly in Ben’s eyes. And then he shrugs, quickly turning away. “So what? Dinosaurs aren’t exactly quiet, I’ll be fine.”
But they both know that’s not true. Sure, the large carnivores on this island often announce themselves with a roar, but not always. They can be stealthy when they want to be. And all it takes is one time for Ben not to hear it coming, just one time for it to be fatal.
Darius takes a breath. “Look, I- I know this is h- hard, but-”
“But what?” Ben snaps, whirling back around with bared teeth and raised hackles. “I’m fine, I’m perfectly fine! I can take care of myself, I-” His voice breaks, and all the anger falls away, leaving him pale with fear. “I’m fine, I… I’m fine. I have to be.”
Darius puts a hand on his shoulder, sympathetic. “You’re… you’re gonna be o- okay, Ben,” he tells him softly. “We’re n- not going to let anything, um, a- anything… happen to you.”
Ben’s already shaking his head. “You can’t promise that,” he says, his voice wavering. “And- and if I can’t take care of myself, then I’m good as dead.”
Before Darius has a chance to respond, Ben’s gone.
~*~
Later that evening, Kenji finds Ben on the roof.
He’s sitting against the railing, angled so he can see anyone coming up the stairs while still keeping an eye out on the horizon, the dark blue sky bleeding into purple as the sun sinks low over the jungle. His gaze flicks over to Kenji briefly before he turns away again.
Kenji lingers by the stairwell, hesitating. He really doesn’t know how to handle… this. But when Darius explained how upset Ben got, Kenji knew he couldn’t just let him be alone. No one should deal with this kind of thing alone, not even a totally-capable semi-feral jungle man.
He must hesitate too long, because Ben sighs. “I take it you’ve all heard the news?” he asks dryly.
“Yeah, um…” Kenji swallows. “Ben, listen-”
“Listen?” Ben lets out a sharp laugh. “You might be out of luck, because apparently, I’m no good at that.”
“Hey, no.” Frowning, Kenji approaches Ben, sinking to the floor next to him. “Ben, losing your hearing isn’t a personal failure, it’s something beyond your- or anyone else’s- control.”
Bristling, Ben glances away, lips curled into a scowl. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Hey,” Kenji murmurs, putting a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Don’t shut me out.”
Ben winces. “I’m sorry,” he relents, some of the tension draining from his shoulders. “I just… for the first time in my life, I’m finally strong enough to take care of myself. I don’t want to lose that.”
Kenji’s brows crease. “Okay, that makes sense,” he says, “but accepting help from your friends doesn’t mean you have to lose your independence.”
“Doesn’t it?” Ben asks helplessly. “Darius thinks I shouldn’t go anywhere alone, in case a dinosaur sneaks up on me.”
Kenji makes a noncommittal noise. “… I mean, to be fair, none of us should really go off on our own,” he says, spreading his hands. “The island is too dangerous for that.”
Disappointment flashes across Ben’s face. “You don’t get it.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” Kenji agrees, tilting his head. “Why is control such a thing with you? I can’t understand if you don’t tell me.”
Ben’s quiet for a moment. “It’s… the way my parents raised me,” he says finally, his voice tight.
“Ah.” Kenji blinks. “You… don’t talk about them much,” he says carefully.
Ben smiles without humor. “Yeah. I care about them, but they’re more like… super involved social workers instead of parents. Ever since I was little, they’ve managed every aspect of my life, every second of the day. How I dress, what I eat, the activities I do, who I hang out with…” He hugs his knees to his chest. “But it was my fault, too. I mean, you remember what I used to be like. It wasn’t like I had a lot of strong opinions of my own- unless it had to do with germs.”
Even if there’s some truth to his words, Kenji feels a pang of sympathy. “Still, though. That’s gotta be tough. I can’t imagine my dad being that involved in my life.”
Ben gives him a sidelong look, pursing his lips. “That’s sad for different reasons.”
“Sure, but we’re talking about you right now,” Kenji says deftly. “So, you had overcontrolling parents. And now that you’ve experienced freedom, the thought of not being completely, 100% independent and in control at all times over your life…”
“It’s scary,” Ben finishes, his voice small. “It feels like I’m that same helpless kid I used to be. And I can’t be him, because he wouldn’t make it out here.”
Kenji’s heart tightens. They’ve all struggled and suffered plenty since being stranded on the island. But sometimes, their worst demons are the ones that came here with them. Kenji knows the feeling well, considering how much he’s still affected by his strained relationship with his father. And it hurts to see Ben, the person who’s found so much strength and confidence, doubt himself now.
“Maybe not on his own,” Kenji amends, putting his arm around Ben’s shoulders. “But you’re not alone. And you’ve grown so much since I’ve known you, I- I don’t think you could ever go back to being helpless.”
Ben peeks up at him. “You… really think so?”
“Of course!” Kenji assures him. “Need I remind you who defeated Toro?”
Ben lets out a faint laugh at that, gazing at Kenji with equal amounts of fondness and wonder. “Thanks, Kenji,” he says softly, leaning in to kiss him on his scarred cheek.
Kenji hums and settles further into the embrace, Ben resting his head on Kenji’s shoulder as they watch the sunset together.
~*~
The official decision comes a bit later; no one is to go anywhere alone. When venturing out beyond the camp, each of them are to utilize the buddy system, as determined by Darius.
Kenji is paired with Yaz, on account of him being the only camper who could feasibly carry her if her ankle were to give out.
Brooklynn and Ben are paired together because they fill the gaps in each other’s senses exceptionally well; Ben’s eyesight is the sharpest of the group, and Brooklynn’s excellent hearing has become even more heightened since the loss of her eye.
That leaves Darius with Sammy, who he feels has the best chance of picking up his train of thought in the event of a mental stalling, since she understands more about animal behavior than the others.
Though they all accept this reasoning as solid, Sammy can’t help but pout- however playfully- at not being paired with Yaz. Darius then explains that he deliberately separated the couples in order to eliminate the temptation to become… distracted, and thus, letting their guard down.
Sammy blushes at this and concedes the point, though she notices that Darius has also avoided pairing himself with Brooklynn. A coincidence? Maybe.
But privately, she wonders if the same reasoning applies.
~*~
The campers experience their first real tropical storm on the island.
They’ve seen storms before, but nothing like this, where the rain is blowing sideways and the wind can fell trees. It rolls in fast and without warning, leading to a mad dash for the underground tunnels. They wait in the dark for hours and hours until they can no longer feel the ground shake from thunder, and warily, emerge blinking into the daylight.
It's a rude awakening. The whole island looks like a disaster zone, but their camp was hit especially hard. Flooding from the river has turned the site into a temporary mud pit, and their structure is in shambles. Normally, the sight would be enough to drive anyone to tears- all their hard work, wasted. But they’re rattled and exhausted and losing daylight, and crying won’t fix anything.
Wordlessly, they all start to rebuild.
~*~
A scavenging trip through the main park has brought the campers to the Lagoon. Unpleasant memories fresh in mind, they keep a wide berth around the Mosasaurus exhibit- up until Brooklynn realizes she can hear waves, much closer than they ought to be.
Brooklynn catches Ben by the arm, to get his attention before she speaks. “Hey, uh… does the gate look open to you?”
She’s squinting out at the enclosure, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun. Frowning, Ben follows her gaze. The far side must be at least a football field’s length away, and the glare on the water’s surface makes it hard to see. He gets as close to the edge as he dares, staring intently.
The other campers have taken notice of the situation, and wait with bated breath.
“… yeah, it does,” Ben confirms, nonplussed.
“Shit,” Kenji swears, his eyes widening.
Yaz rakes her hands though her hair. “Now how could that have happened?” she frets, her voice strained.
“I don’t know.” Sammy’s shaking her head, looking frightened. “But if the tank’s open, then that means…”
“Oh god,” Brooklynn breathes. “That means the Mosasaurus is out there, loose in the world-”
“Hey, h- hey, relax,” Darius says quickly, holding his hands up. “The Mosasaurus likes to, um, t- to- uh, to hunt in open water. It’ll pr- probably spend the rest of its days way out in the deep ocean, eating w- wh- whales and uh, and sharks a- and giant squid. There’s n- no- no reason for it to go near the um, you know, the- the ah, the shore.”
The relief that breaks across his friend’s faces is worth the uncertainty lingering in the back of Darius’s mind. He hopes he’s right, in any case, but there’s nothing they can do about it and it doesn’t really affect them, anyways. Besides, if the six of them can handle an island full of dinosaurs, the rest of the world should be able to deal with one.
“Happy trails, old friend,” Ben calls out to the empty tank, giving a two-fingered salute with a wry smile.
~*~
“Do you think we should have a plan in place, for if the volcano erupts?” Brooklynn asks one day.
Darius could explain that he finds that event unlikely, considering the volcano must have been thoroughly analyzed before the island was deemed safe enough to build two theme parks. But it wouldn’t hurt to consider the possibility, and it’s always a good thing to exercise his problem-solving skills, so he just nods.
Putting their heads together, the campers decide on the underground tunnels as their best chance of survival. They’re large enough for Bumpy (who Ben insisted on being part of their plan) and mostly sealed off from the surface, protecting them from toxic gasses, ash, and lava alike. And, considering the size, running out of oxygen isn’t likely.
Of course, none of them know how long it takes for a volcanic eruption to clear up. As a precaution, they start storing clean water in the tunnels, and a few extra supplies they have no immediate need for. The food will have to be brought down with them, since nothing they have can keep for very long.
Even though the possibility of an eruption is low, it’s hard to brush it off completely. Having a plan in place helps them feel a little more secure, but realistically, they can’t be sure it would work.
They’ll just have to hope the volcano remains dormant.
~*~
It’s a beautiful night.
There isn’t a single cloud in the sky to obscure the dazzling patchwork of stars above them, twinkling in a pitch-black abyss. The full moon hangs over them like a solitary eye, casting its gentle glow over the canopy of the jungle. A lullaby of rustling leaves fills the air, trees swaying in the warm breeze.
Normally, all but one of the campers would already be asleep by now, to catch what rest they can before it’s their turn for night watch. But by some unspoken consensus, they’ve all agreed it was too good of a night to waste. Huddled up on their roof, they sit together under the stars and take a rare moment to appreciate the beauty of their world; six small souls in the face of eternity.
Brooklynn’s quiet voice breaks the silence. “How long do you think it’s been?” she asks.
No one has to ask what she means.
The passage of time has gradually lost its meaning to the campers. They’d stopped keeping track of days after the walls of the camp filled up with tally marks. All they really need to know is how many hours of daylight they have left at any given moment, and they can easily glean that from the sun’s position in the sky, so timekeeping isn’t a huge concern of theirs.
“Definitely a couple years now, at least,” Kenji says decisively. “I mean, a beard like this doesn’t just happen overnight.”
Ben, who’s leaning against Kenji’s side, rolls his eyes fondly. “Right, ‘cause that’s how all the great ancient civilizations kept track of time; facial hair growth in prepubescent males.”
Kenji lets out an offended squawk, but Sammy swiftly intervenes before a full-fledged argument can break out. “We’ve all changed a lot,” she amends, carding a hand through Yaz’s short hair. “It’s… kinda strange to think about, how much things must’ve changed back home, too.”
“Yeah,” Yaz murmurs, eyes tracing her ankle brace as her hand rests on Sammy’s knee. “Makes me wonder if I’d even fit in anymore. If… any of us would feel right, if we went back to our old lives.”
“I know I wouldn’t,” Brooklynn declares, her expression scrunched up in distaste. Then she sobers. “But at the same time, it’s like… if we never make it home, then what was all of this for? Was it even worth it?”
The rest of the campers fall silent, considering the question.
Darius knits his brows together, thoughtful.
This life is hard. It’s a struggle just to make it through the day, to secure food and water and shelter, things they’d always taken for granted. Exhaustion is a constant companion, going hand-in-hand with terror. There are few moments of true peace, some new threat always lurking right around the corner, and none of them remain unscathed.
Some scars are small and superficial, received from the shallow gashes and scrapes that their rough lifestyle hands out on the daily. Like tally marks, they pepper the campers’ arms and legs, obtained without notice or care. Yet they remain an undeniable testament to everything the campers have overcome.
Some scars are large and visible, serving as grim reminders of the danger that will always follow them. Like Kenji’s maimed face or Brooklynn’s cloudy eye, Sammy’s three puncture marks from the Scorpius quills that only Yaz ever gets to see. They represent the close calls and what-ifs, and fuel the campers’ drive to be faster, stronger, better.
Some scars are more functionally detrimental, a permanent loss that can never be healed. Like Yaz’s weak ankle or Ben’s fading hearing, Darius’s fractured mind and unsteady hands. Parts of the self they can never get back, and instead must learn to live without.
And some scars are emotional instead of physical, left by the stress and trauma of everything they’ve been through. Like knee-jerk flinches and silent tears, night terrors that strike at random and breakdowns that build like a rolling storm. They have all been changed psychologically, fundamentally- and in many ways, for the worse.
But as Darius looks over his team, his herd, his family, he allows himself to feel a rare, fleeting moment of pride.
They are a group of teenagers who were left for dead- not once, not twice, but three times- and have survived anyways. They are grit and dedication in souvenir T-shirts and tree bark armor, carving a life for themselves on an island of giants until their fingers are raw and bleeding. They are loyalty and trust and steadfast love, pulling each other from the brink of death and oblivion time and time again.
They are endlessly evolving, as each new challenge inspires an inner strength they didn’t know they had to take form.
Part of Darius still hopes that someone will come for them, someday. That he could fulfil his promise and look at this experience safely from the other side. That all their struggles and hardship could have meaning beyond survival, that they could add something to the world with the knowledge they’ve gained and the lessons they’ve learned.
But even if that moment never comes, and they spend the rest of their days on this island, he knows it’s still a life worth living.
“We’re enough,” Darius says, his smile illuminated by the moonlight.
(And because it’s night, none of them see the distant smoke rising out of the volcano behind him.)
~*~
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