Camp Cretaceous, Volume One Read online

  * * *

  Back in the girls’ room, Brooklynn settled in on her bunk, looking at her phone. She was replaying the video she had just shot. There she was with Darius in the gyrosphere, rocking back and forth, zigzagging through a sea of dinosaurs.

  Everything was there, including the uncomfortable “after” moment when Dave and Roxie arrived and the kids were getting chewed out. Brooklynn watched as she saw everyone gathering around, except…except for Sammy.

  She noticed that Sammy was hanging in the background, near the Sinoceratops. She was scraping something against the Sino’s cheek. Then she put the sample in a tiny vial and slipped it into her pocket before rejoining the group.

  “What the…?” Brooklynn said, as she paused on the image of Sammy. She was so lost in the video that Brooklynn hadn’t noticed Sammy standing in the doorway.

  * * *

  The next morning, Darius walked into the common room. His enthusiasm had returned after a good night’s rest. “What up, Camp Cretaceous? WOO-HOO!” he hollered.

  His attempt at cheer was met with dead silence. Sammy and Yasmina just stared at him, then looked back at each other and Yasmina’s sketchbook. Ben took a loud sip from a juice box. Kenji leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.

  “Not in a ‘woo-hoo’ mood this morning, Darius,” Kenji said. “Not after yesterday. Trekking through a rainstorm will do that.”

  Taking another loud sip, Ben said, “We only had to walk because you crashed our gyrosphere.”

  “Today’s kayak day!” Darius said, trying again. “Who doesn’t wanna paddle alongside dinosaurs? Real dinosaurs! It’s going to be awesome…right?”

  Still no reaction. Then Darius noticed something was amiss.

  “Wait…where are Dave and Roxie?” he asked.

  “The babysitters took off early and left this,” Kenji said. He handed a children’s menu from a Jurassic World restaurant to Darius.

  Darius flipped it over and read, “ ‘We have to go talk to our boss. Stay inside until we return—draw, bond, whatever. The radio’s set for Channel Six in case you need us. Stay inside, stay inside, do not leave (Kenji, looking at you). Sorry for the kids’ menus. They’re all Dave had.’ ”

  Then the door swung open, and Brooklynn entered. Sammy looked at her, not saying anything.

  “What’s new on the internet, Superstar?” Yasmina said.

  “I wouldn’t know,” Brooklynn said tersely. “Because when I went to get my phone from its charger, it wasn’t there. Someone stole my phone!”

  Brooklynn paused, waiting for someone to confess. After a tense moment of silence, Yasmina said, “Brooklynn…who hasn’t had your phone?”

  “I needed to check the weather last night because I was scared of, you know, another near-death experience today,” Ben confessed.

  “Dr. Sattler posted a new column about microfossils yesterday,” Darius added sheepishly.

  “The lighting this morning was too good to miss the selfie-op,” Kenji added. “But I haven’t used it since then and definitely put it back. I swear!”

  “I…haven’t seen it, either,” Sammy said.

  Brooklynn’s eyes narrowed. “Really…”

  “Hey, hey, it’s okay!” Darius said. “Since we’re not kayaking till later, we’ll have plenty of time to look for the phone.”

  “Oh, I think I know exactly where to look,” Brooklynn said. “I also think that whoever took the phone might be trying to hide some of the things that are on it. What do you think, Sammy?”

  “Uh, what?” Sammy said unconvincingly.

  Yasmina stepped in between the two girls. “What is your deal? Sammy said she didn’t touch it. Ever think you might have just lost the stupid thing?”

  Brooklynn glared at Yasmina, then headed for the door. “Well, then. Let’s check her bags!”

  “You do not get to go through anyone’s stuff,” Yasmina said, stopping her.

  “Brooklynn, I did not—” Sammy stuttered.

  Then Darius jumped in front of the door, blocking Brooklynn’s exit. “Brooklynn, guys, come on! We can’t be this upset over phones. Let’s make the most of this incredible opportunity! This is Jurassic World! It’s…it’s…”

  But a loud ROAR cut Darius off before he could finish.

  “What was that?” Brooklynn asked.

  “Where’s it coming from?” Sammy said.

  “Can’t see anything from here. The trees are blocking everything,” Yasmina said, frustrated.

  “Maybe they’re moving a new dino from the lab to another enclosure?” Darius offered. “We could probably see it from the Observation Tower!”

  Sammy grabbed Darius’s hand. “Wow, that’s a great idea, Darius! What are we waiting for?”

  “Hey, we’re not done talking about this yet,” Brooklynn said, shooting Sammy a harsh look. But Sammy had already pulled Darius out of the common room. Brooklynn followed, then Kenji, and finally, a reluctant Ben.

  If they’d only stayed for a few seconds longer, they would have heard the announcement over the radio: “Asset out of containment. Repeat: Asset out of containment. Stay indoors!”

  * * *

  Darius and the others had made it to the Observation Tower and raced up the stairs. When they reached the top, they were all out of breath, except for Yasmina. The snapping of tree branches could be heard, and then there was a Brachiosaurus walking alongside the jungle.

  “It’s just a Brachiosaurus,” Yasmina said, relieved.

  “Mystery solved,” Ben said. “Guess we should head back now!”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense,” Darius said, puzzled. “Brachiosauruses don’t roar.”

  Leaning over the edge of the Tower, the kids noticed two workers running out of the jungle. They seemed to be in a panic and started to shout at the kids—but the group was too high up to hear them.

  “What are they saying?” Darius asked.

  “They look mad,” Ben said.

  Kenji waved at the worker. “You’re gonna have to speak up!”

  A worker screamed at the kids, but they still couldn’t hear.

  Suddenly, the Brachiosaurus lurched, crashing into a stand of trees as she howled in pain. Something huge and invisible seemed to be dragging her down. The thing pulled the Brachiosaurus into the jungle until she could be seen no more.

  The trees where the Brachiosaurus had disappeared began to sway. Something huge and unseen was thundering through the jungle, coming their way. The kids ran to the edge to get a better look.

  At that moment, an enormous dinosaur appeared as if out of thin air. The kids didn’t know it, but this was the Indominus rex! The creature had been camouflaged until a second ago. Now she lunged forward, racing through the trees and man-made structures with terrifying abandon.

  The workers who had tried to warn Darius and the kids started to run, but by then, it was already far too late. The Indominus rex crushed one worker beneath an enormous foot. Then she made a grab for another park employee with her claws.

  The kids screamed as the Indominus rex roared and thrashed its tail.

  “What. Is. That?” Yasmina said.

  “Dr. Wu’s lab,” Brooklynn said. “There was a dinosaur. Indom—”

  “Indominus rex,” Sammy said in a frightened whisper.

  “How do you know that name?” Brooklynn asked suspiciously.

  “We need to leave,” Sammy said. “Now, now, now!”

  Looking down at the Indominus rex, the kids were horrified to see the great dinosaur staring up at them.

  “It sees us!” Ben shouted.

  The Indominus rex ran toward the Tower at a full sprint. With her awful claws, she scratched at the sides of the Tower as if she was going to climb it. The claws were tearing away chunks of the Tower’s foundation, weakening it, and the
building began to sway.

  Ben nearly went over the side as the Indominus slammed into the Tower again.

  Sammy did go over. With incredible speed, Yasmina thrust her hand over the side of the Tower, catching her.

  “Hold on!” Darius shouted. He and Kenji helped Yasmina pull Sammy back.

  The Tower leaned, and the kids tumbled. Thinking as one, the group headed for the zip line.

  Kenji snapped a harness on Ben, tight as it would go on the slender boy.

  Below, the Indominus continued to attack the Tower, and the structure leaned even more.

  Ben tried to stay on the Tower, but Kenji pushed him off the edge. Ben screamed the entire way down the zip line.

  Right behind him were Sammy, Kenji, and Brooklynn.

  Then it was Darius’s and Yasmina’s turn to go. As they slid down the zip line, Darius saw the Indominus rex finally topple the Tower. No one had yet reached the end of the zip line, however. As the supports crumbled, the zip line went slack.

  Darius and his friends fell into the jungle below.

  * * *

  The tree branches must have slowed our fall, Darius thought, rubbing his head. He’d landed on the ground only moments ago.

  Looking around, he saw that everyone was accounted for. Then the ground beneath their feet rumbled.

  “It’s coming,” Ben said worriedly.

  “It could be anywhere,” Yasmina gasped.

  “The Observation Tower was that way?” Brooklynn wondered in a daze, spinning around. “Or was it that way?”

  Sammy looked at Brooklynn. “Okay, I’m sorry, but I…”

  Giving up trying to explain, she reached into her pocket and pulled out Brooklynn’s phone. Or rather, what remained of it. The phone had been smashed in the fall. Sammy quickly hid the broken phone pieces.

  “Where is…” Darius said. He felt for his Raptor necklace, the one his dad had given him. It wasn’t there! Had it fallen off? “No, no, my necklace!”

  Then he remembered. “I left it in my bunk!”

  “We’ve got slightly bigger problems,” Kenji said as the Indominus roared and the ground shook.

  The kids were off and running, ducking under tree branches as they raced through the jungle—away from the Indominus rex!

  “Everything will be fine when we get back to camp,” Darius said. He hoped.

  They kept on running, and no one looked back, not even for a second.

  * * *

  They arrived at the Camp Cretaceous base, only to find that the compound had already been ravaged by the Indominus rex.

  Deep, clawed footprints could be seen all over the campgrounds. The common room had crashed to the ground, and several of the rope bridges that connected the various tree houses together had been ripped down. The elevator had been smashed, too.

  There would be no way to get up to the bunks.

  Or my necklace, Darius thought.

  The Indominus rex roared again, but Darius could tell that the roar was receding—the dinosaur was moving in the opposite direction from camp.

  “Dave, Roxie…they must have all gotten away,” Sammy said hopefully.

  “We’re on our own,” Yasmina said matter-of-factly.

  In that moment, a furious Brooklynn turned to face Sammy. “Give. Me. My. Phone!” she ordered.

  “Wha—” Sammy said.

  “I don’t care about you sneaking into Dr. Wu’s lab, I don’t care about whatever you did with the skin samples you took from the Sinoceratops,” Brooklynn said rapidly.

  “What skin samples?” Yasmina asked.

  “What do you mean, Dr. Wu’s lab?” Kenji said.

  “I don’t even care that you stole it now. All I want to do is call for help. Where is it?” Brooklynn demanded.

  Sammy touched her pocket—the one that she knew contained what was left of Brooklynn’s phone. But instead of telling the truth, she said, “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about! Skin samples? Sneaking into labs? You made up some crazy thing in your own dang head!”

  Yasmina got between them. “Hey, back off,” she said. “Not everything revolves around you and your phone! It isn’t Sammy’s fault you lost it!”

  “Would you guys please keep it down?” Ben said. “There’s a big—”

  “A big scary dinosaur?” Kenji said, shutting him down. “Of course there’s a big scary dinosaur! There’s always a big scary dinosaur!”

  “And you’re always a big-mouthed jerk!” Ben countered.

  Everyone was now arguing. Darius watched them and backed away slowly. He was focused on the bunks in the tree above. The arguing was growing louder now and becoming particularly vicious. Everyone was saying mean things about everyone else.

  Until finally Ben shouted, “NO ONE IS GETTING OUT OF HERE!”

  Suddenly, everyone stopped fighting.

  “We just saw people get eaten!” Ben continued. “We’re alone, we’re defenseless…we’re dead.”

  Darius looked at his friends, who seemed to be giving up entirely. He thought about his necklace. The one his dad had given him. Suddenly, he missed his dad more than ever. But his friends were here. Right now. And they needed his help.

  “We’re not giving up!” Darius said loudly. “I get it. It’s scary. This isn’t how this was supposed to be. But things don’t always go our way. Life is messy, and sometimes things fall apart. But that’s okay. Because when that happens, we pick up the pieces and keep going. And we never give up.”

  “What are we supposed to do?” Yasmina asked.

  “Get south to the Park. Get help. And the only way we’ll make it is if we do it together. We’re a team or we’re nothing at all.”

  * * *

  The enclosure fence had held this long at least. That was, until the Carnotaurus came along. He took a look and growled.

  Something else was there, too.

  On the other side of the fence, the Indominus rex thundered into view. The two carnivores looked at each other, unsure what to do next.

  Then the Indominus roared and brought its claws down on the fence.

  * * *

  I know where we are! Darius suddenly thought. “The Carnotaurus. We’re by Toro’s paddock!”

  Darius pushed aside some ferns. Behind the foliage, there was a large cable fence. Except it wasn’t exactly a whole fence. The cables had been ripped down, leaving a huge opening.

  “I remember this fence!” Darius said, finally seeing the hole. “The broken…ripped-down…fence.”

  Darius shot Kenji a worried glance.

  “That means Toro is out here,” Ben said, breathing heavily. “With us!”

  “Now we have to deal with Indominus and Toro,” Darius said. Then he swiveled to look at Ben. “Hold up. How do you know about Toro?”

  “We all know,” Yasmina said. “Kenji told us, like, the day after it happened.”

  “In my defense, me saving you was super cool,” Kenji said. Darius glared at him.

  “We know this enclosure is due north of the Main Park,” Darius said, thinking out loud. Then he pointed in the opposite direction. “So if we keep going that way, we’ll hit the Visitor Center. We’re sure to find Dave and Roxie or someone else there in charge.”

  “Yes, exactly what I was thinking,” Kenji said. “As a leader, which I am. Follow me!”

  * * *

  The kids had only been gone for about a half a minute when the trees rustled and an enormous foot stepped out. The Indominus rex had been watching. Now she was following them, too.

  “Yaz?” Sammy said quietly. “There’s something I—”

  But before she could confess to Yasmina, she saw the other girl had frozen in her tracks, along with the other kids.

  Right in front of them was a shattered gyrosphere. There were giant footprints
surrounding the gyrosphere, and clawed, torn-up earth. There were even remains of an unfortunate Ankylosaurus.

  “The Indominus rex was here,” Brooklynn said.

  The plants behind them rustled. Something leaped at them! The kids screamed, jumping back. The dinosaur moved back, too. It was moaning loudly, but it wasn’t the Indominus rex.

  “Bumpy!” Ben exclaimed.

  The dinosaur, now much bigger than the last time they had seen her, mewed at the sight of Ben. Bumpy remembered him! Ben gave Bumpy a big hug.

  “As fun as this reunion is, shouldn’t we keep moving south?” Kenji said.

  Brooklynn shook her head. “I’m not spending another hour walking through the jungle hoping that we don’t run into that Indominus. We need a new plan.”

  “Okay…so, uh…we need to find somewhere safe close by,” Darius said, thinking on his feet. “Isn’t Dr. Wu’s field genetics lab near here? You guys went on the tour. Does this area look familiar?”

  Sammy looked around, then pointed in a different direction. “Yeah! Yeah, I think it might be over that way!”

  “Great!” Darius said with a deep sigh. “That’s where we should go. There’s bound to be an adult there who can help….Right?”

  No one said anything. Not because they didn’t have anything to say. But because a dinosaur answered first with a terrifying roar.

  The Indominus rex was nearby!

  * * *

  Everyone was flat-out sprinting toward the genetics lab. Everyone except…

  “Wait! Guys! Where’s Ben?” Darius called out.

  He squinted and saw that Ben…and Bumpy were way, way behind.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Yasmina said. “There are dinosaurs eating people out here, and Bumpy can’t keep up!”

  Frustrated, Ben threw up his arms. “Then, then…” He stopped talking as he saw something in the distance. “We’ll put her in the van!”