"Careful, Kenji."
Darius stepped forward, bracing his shoulder against a heavy crate to help his friend haul it into the house.
The two had finally made it back to the world of civilization. Their harrowing ordeal on Isla Nublar had turned the "Camp Cretaceous Six" into living legends; the moment they touched American soil, they had been swarmed by a sea of reporters and flashing cameras. Between the media frenzy and their mandatory cooperation with the investigation into the DG-3273 incident, they had only just been granted a semblance of freedom.
Kenji's father, in a sudden and baffling turn of conscience, had relentlessly pursued a legal appeal. In doing so, he had unearthed nearly every experimental record related to DG-3273, even at the cost of exposing the darker chapters of his own career.
The fallout was swift: he was imprisoned, his private assets were seized by the government, and Kenji, the once-pampered "heir to the throne," had fallen from his pedestal. With nowhere else to go, he had moved into Darius's spare room.
"Phew... thanks, man. I'm definitely not used to manual labor yet," Kenji muttered, dropping the luggage and exhaling a long, weary breath. He straightened up, watching Darius wave goodbye to the driver.
"No more private cars to ferry me around. That's gonna take some getting used to..." Kenji murmured, his eyes lingering on the departing vehicle as if watching his old, carefree life disappear around the corner.
"Alright, Mr. Big Shot, let's get the rest of this into your new 'mansion.' Hope it's up to your standards," Darius joked, patting Kenji on the shoulder as he turned toward the house.
"Oh! Wait, Darius! Hold on a sec."
"What's up?"
Darius paused. Kenji was frantically patting down his pockets, searching for something.
"Where is it... I know I put it... Ha! Found it. Here."
Kenji pulled out a thumb drive and tossed it toward Darius. Knowing his friend's habit of never handing things over properly, Darius didn't even need to think; his reflexes kicked in, and he snatched the drive out of the air.
"What's this?"
"Brooklynn told me to give it to you. Said it was that 'thing' she promised you back on the island."
Darius blinked, a realization dawning on him.
"Thanks, Kenji! See ya in a bit!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Darius bolted for his room on the second floor, tossing a quick shout of gratitude over his shoulder.
"See ya, bro," Kenji muttered to the empty hallway, bending back down to tackle the last of the heavy lifting.
…
Curtains drawn. Door locked. Chair pulled in. Computer on.
Darius's room remained largely unchanged; it seemed his family hadn't had the heart to touch anything while he was gone. His dust-covered laptop struggled to life, the boot-up sequence agonizingly slow as the OS demanded immediate updates. To settle his nerves, Darius let his gaze wander.
His eyes fell upon a birthday gift from his late father, a game case with a photo taped to the front. It was a picture of him and his dad, grinning at his birthday party.
"Dad..."
He picked up the case gently. It was through this very game that he'd won his seat at the Camp Cretaceous adventure in Jurassic World... and now, it felt like a lifetime ago.
"Dad, I brought back some incredible 'research' for your birthday this time."
A soft smile played on Darius's lips. He set the game aside and plugged the thumb drive into the laptop.
"You were right about him. He's like a guardian of the natural world. He never lets you down." Darius continued to whisper to the empty room, speaking to the one person who truly understood his passion.
"And I'm not going to just stand by and watch, either."
His fingers hovered over the keyboard, then began to fly. The glow of the monitor reflected in his determined eyes.
Dear Ms. Claire Dearing,
My name is Darius Bowman. I imagine you've heard of me if you've been following the news lately.
I understand you are looking for any information regarding the "Little Giga." I hope this helps your cause.
[Attachments: 5 Video Files]
P.S. Next time, you might want to double-check for stranded humans before completing an evacuation.
…
"This is the third time today you've snuck off to the Great Lake. Even Yaz has been there twice."
Brooklynn stood like a stern guardian, her arms crossed as she scrutinized Darius.
"Uh... sorry?" Darius replied tentatively, unsure which way the wind was blowing and opting for a preemptive apology.
"Ugh... honestly! Don't forget, we are technically 'on the run' here! On an island literally crawling with dinosaurs!"
Brooklynn was genuinely frustrated, mostly because Darius and Yasmina seemed absolutely possessed by the allure of that lake.
"Look at this."
To prove her point, she pulled out a tablet displaying footage she'd managed to scavenge from an Asset Containment Unit (ACU) camera. It was a low blow, but she was desperate.
Darius watched the footage of Carlo taking on the humans, or rather, a one-sided massacre of the mercenaries. He remained silent for a long moment.
"Erm... okay. Come with me. I want to show you something."
"What?!"
Brooklynn couldn't believe his stubbornness. Even after seeing that, he still wanted to head back to the water? She admitted the scenery was spectacular, but it wasn't worth getting eaten over.
"Fine. I want to see what the big deal is."
Her teenage defiance flared up. Determined to prove she was right, Brooklynn marched past Darius, leading the way toward the Great Lake.
…
Yasmina sat quietly on a rock, observing the markings on the ground. She sketched a few lines on her paper, frowned, erased them, and started over.
Nearby, Carlo was engaged in a much more literal form of "broad-stroke" art. With a massive tree branch clamped in his jaws, he was systematically raking the earth. When he ran out of space in one spot, he simply moved to the next, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his "drawings" were unintelligible to anyone but himself.
The Parasaurolophus toddlers, apparently thinking Carlo was playing a game, hopped happily along the furrows left by his "pen," chirping with delight.
"See, Brooklynn? What did I tell you... Brooklynn?"
Darius called out to her, but there was no reply. He turned around to find her standing frozen, looking like a statue. Only the camera held tightly in her hands proved she was still breathing.
Darius smiled, his expression saying it all: I told you so.
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