Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of Part One of the Ghost Story: Who's That Girl?

The large flower themed calendar hung on the wall by the kitchen. The days had been crossed out with a red marker to a Saturday afternoon. In the Meubwel house, Saturday meant two things: Cam’s hang out day and Candice’s lottery day.

The glass front door sprung open, letting a huge gust of cold air into the spacious front entrance. The long peachy curtains covering all six windows jumped and blew the opposite direction. The door shut and the lock clicked. A woman with long bouncy brown hair came skipping onto the marble floor. Her high heels clicked noisily as she moved.

 “Oh yeah! Yes! Yes! Yes!” she shouted with a huge permanent smile on her face while jumping up and down. She stopped for a second and narrowed her eyes at a figure at the door all the way across the room. Her voice echoed as she called, “Cherry! Cherry!”

Cherry groaned and pushed the hair out of her eyes and walked to the woman. “Candice, take off your shoes before you start jumping with glee. You don’t know how long it took for me to finished mopping the front entrance. The dirt was practically imprinted to the ground!”

“Oops, must have been a hard job for you all by yourself, Cherry dear. It’s too bad Saturday has to been clean up day.”

The woman kicked off her heels and put them on the conveyor belt that with a touch of a button, the shoes were gobbled up by the slot on the wall. On the other side of the wall was a room shelved with shoes. Each shelf had a label with a name on it, and the conveyor belt knew to put the shoes on the Candice shelf.

“Yes, totally unfair that Cam never cleaned anything since the day she was born,” Cherry groaned again and rolled her eyes. She walked along the wall with the windows and sat down on the antique wooden bench.

“Aw, you don’t know that. She is older than you. Maybe you’ve never seen it.”

“Yeah, sure, says the woman who has been yelling at her herself for weeks,” Cherry said sarcastically. “Besides, she’s sixteen! What’s she going to be cleaning at the age of one?”

Candice sighed and took the bag off her shoulder and swung it on one of the hooks along the wall. She slipped around the flower vases and sat next to Cherry. “Okay, whatever. Forget the fact that you’ve been cleaning the house all your life and just hear me.”

“I heard your voice before you came into the house. It seems like lottery day went well for you.” Cherry spoke with a little raise.

“It did!” Candice shrilled. “You won’t believe this! You won’t believe it! Get this: I won the lottery! First time ever!”

“Oh yeah,” Cherry nodded. “I kinda guessed that was what had happened since you were screaming in the front yard a moment ago. So what did you get?”

Candice jumped to her feet and patted down her black skirt. She fixed the black framed glasses on her nose and took a deep breath. Then she leaned forward, gripped tightly to Cherry’s shoulders, and pulled her to her feet. “I won the lottery!” She screamed while swaying Cherry’s body back and forth. “I won it! I won it! Yay! Thirty million dollars for me! For us! Thirty million!” She repeated with her high pitched voice.

Cherry coughed when Candice let go. “Thirty million? Where is the money?” Her head sprang up and she looked around the room with an eager expression.

Candice blinked and laughed a little. She brushed the dark bangs out of her eyes and looked up at the ceiling meters above. The pointed glass ceiling let the afternoon sunlight enter the room.

“Well, they said the thirty million dollars weren’t going to come yet and if they didn’t give the winner something at the time, they’d look ridiculous. The money would come sometime later. So instead, just for now, they gave me free tickets! Free tickets to Sherpson town for the whole family—for two months!”

To Be Continued...

Relapse

Survival Hunt - Part Nine

The distance between them and that dinosaur progressively broadened. The restless forest of flailing branches and trembling leaves slowly calmed. The foggy air cleared slightly and the blue sky above showed face. A little further away, one or two silhouettes scurried away without any vocal sounds. A brown bird was spotted; flapping its wings vigorously and flew away to another tree.

Chouchou followed Jonathan with shaking eyes. Her thin fingers constantly combed through her now tangled hair. She reached a knot and yelped slightly. Jonathan turned around immediately with a raised eyebrow and a face expression saying, ‘Be quiet’.

She nodded and walked a little closer. Then she rubbed her fingers together. “Can we please stop for a minute? We’ve been walking with no sense of direction for a long time already. My hands are cold.”

Jonathan stopped in his tracks and whirled around. His bright eyes were hazy and slightly darkened. He narrowed them and sighed. “Get your gloves. We’re starting right after you do. Twenty seconds. Get going.”

“Come on, Jonathan. Why are you so mean to me?” Chouchou pouted as she swung her backpack off. She dug through her back and pulled out thin, yet warm black gloves.

After zipping up her bag and putting it back on, Jonathan counted down.

“Five, four, three, two, one, we’re done,” he turned around and pushed a swaying green branch away as he walked by.

“I didn’t even put them on yet!” Chouchou complained.

“Did I say I’d wait for you to put them on?”

Just then Lenny came onto the path. He had leaves sticking out of his hair and dust all over his clothes. He wiped the side of his mouth.

“Another one spotted,” Jonathan commented. “Where’s the other kid?”

Chouchou stared at Lenny’s every movement. The air felt cold as a sudden gust eloped around them.

He shook his head. “Elias? I haven’t seen him since the dinosaur from earlier. Where’d he go off to?”

“You’re supposed to know that,” Chouchou argued. She had a frown on her face now and arms crossed. “Elias was with you and Matthew the whole time. Where did you come from?”

Lenny shrugged. “Where’s Matthew then?”

Jonathan pointed ahead without a word. His dirt filled nail was shaking slightly as it directed the others toward the distanced fog. Rustling tree top leaves and dried grass was heard. The ground beneath them was wet with early rain.

“How come everyone doesn’t care about each other?” Chouchou asked. She looked at Lenny. “Does it not bother you that one of our group members is missing?”

“Am I responsible for him? He’s smart. He’ll know his way,” Lenny responded. “Besides, this is survival. You can’t let one person ruin you.”

“But wanting to find someone makes you determined doesn’t it?”

 After a series of rumbling grow fainter, Mei Xing appeared. She rolled up two pieces of rope and stopped with the other three.

“The dinosaur tore it in half, scared, and ran away,” she laughed. But her laugh was drowned away when she studied the faces of the other teenagers. With a half smile she asked, “What’s going on here?”

Chouchou pulled up her backpack and stared straight into Mei Xing’s eyes. “I’m not accusing here but both Jonathan and Lenny don’t seem to care whether we find Elias or not. Isn’t that a problem? We went through trouble to search for Casey, didn’t we?”

Before Mei Xing could say a word, Jonathan shot a glare at Chouchou. He snorted and shook his head violently.

“I’m pretty sure we all knew that the point of the survival hunt was not to find a bunch of people to work with and socialize with. I knew I was going to work by myself way before I reached this age. We were taught about this hunt when we were little—the insiders that is.” Jonathan pursed his lips and breathed heavily. “You don’t know anything though. Outsiders don’t know a thing about this. You,” he looked at Chouchou, “You’re an outsider, aren’t you?”

Mei Xing shut her mouth and looked to the ground. Her eyes studied the dark, flooded grass patches surrounded by slushy mud. The silence caused her arms to feel cold and form goose bumps. Though she wanted to add to the conversation, she stayed quiet.

Chouchou replayed the same look Jonathan shot. “That’s right, I don’t know anything. I don’t know what I am and I don’t know how you all think.” She made a pouted face as her eyes bulged and reddened. “I don’t know if I’m an insider or an outsider. But I do know you guys are all so different—too different for me to catch up.”

“Chouchou,” Mei Xing started. “We’re all different. No one thinks the same.”

“But you’re all leaving me out; treating me different! I don’t want to be so different that I can’t keep up! I don’t want to be here anymore! I’ll go back by myself. No one was going to care if I died anyway!”

She pulled her black hood over her head and darted ahead of them without looking back; without listening to any words the others yelled to her. 

* * * * *

Chouchou’s footsteps slowed when she realized she had run a great distance. Her throat was cold and dried, as if every swallow scraped along sandpaper. Her nose was clogged and red from the cold.

She stopped by a tree and squatted down. The tree was surrounded by tall and strong-smelling berry bushes.

Her breath huffed heavily into her gloved hands. The gloves against her face now felt warm and friendly. Her once smooth and flawless cheeks were now dry and itchy. She had irritated rashes on either side of her face, caused by sweat and the environment itself. The tears that rolled down her face only made it worse. The more water added the slower to heal.

“I don’t care if I die,” Chouchou muttered in a whispery voice to herself. She huddled close to the tree and pulled the drawstrings of her jacket. Slowly her eyes shut, still mumbling. “I don’t care if all that’s left of me are bones. I wasn’t meant to be noticed or remembered on the last day of my life anyway. No one likes me… I’m too different. It’s been like this—since forever…”

“I don’t want to sit next to her,” a little girl with a bowl cut whined, pointing. “She’s wearing black and I don’t like black.”

The teacher knelt down beside the bowl cut girl and said in a friendly voice. “Chouchou is a nice girl; you two can be good friends too.”

But the little girl persisted, “I don’t want to be friends with a scary girl. I like girls that are like me.”

Chouchou sat alone at a desk with three other empty chairs. Her long, wavy blond hair did not help her blend in with her kindergarten classmates. Her black shirt with white kittens on it was newly bought and given to her by her aunt the day before her birthday. She wanted to wear it on her birthday at school so her classmates would like it.

That afternoon back home, she pulled her shirt and looked down at it. Then she complained to her mother she did not like the kittens on the shirt and wanted one with flowers instead, because flowers hardly ever printed on black backgrounds.

When her mother and father finally got her a new pink shirt, Chouchou pulled it on right away and went to school. She had a big smile on her face as she was brought into the classroom.

She hoped her new shirt would impress everyone. But it was just the opposite. The boys avoided her as usual, and the girls did not like the fact her pink shirt was prettier than theirs. That whole day Chouchou ended up colouring pictures alone again.

Years after that, in elementary school the same things would occur. When she had pretty hair accessories, or whether she had the newest clothing first, others would become jealous and leave her out of their groups, thinking she was too stuck up and spoiled.

As Chouchou slowly realized her parents were spoiling her, she wanted normal style things, to blend in with others. But when she got to school, they would say she copied them, or that she ‘finally wanted to join in.’

Apart from appearance, everyone was covetous over her creative stories, her beautiful artwork, and would criticize and tease her poor math grades.

That was until she turned eight and was forced to leave her country to a strange land far away by force. Her parents disappeared as she lived now with her mother, who revealed to have sneaked out of the land. Nothing school related or amalgamating with other people existed in this world. Solitude conquered every emotion.

* * * * *

“You’re an outsider, aren’t you?”

“I’m an outsider, aren’t I?” Chouchou sighed. She stretched out her legs for a moment, and then tucked her knees again.

The rough bark against her hooded head felt uncomfortable. Her long, messy hair wrapped around her neck as a wet and uncomfortable scarf.

But one incident did cause despondency previous to departure. In elementary school, the start of a new year in second grade, an experience never had before cropped up.

“Eli and Matt are partners, teacher, I don’t have one,” a girl with long black hair said. She had a tight elastic in her hair, bundling only a finger strand of hair at the back.

The teacher scanned the room and spotted Chouchou, again sitting by herself doodling on the requirements sheet. She came up to her. “Chouchou, can you work with Acacia for this project?”

Chouchou had a blank expression on her face as she looked up at the girl. The girl named Acacia was smiling. Chouchou nodded solemnly and continued to stare. The teacher walked away to help other students and the girl sat next to Chouchou.

Expecting another useless partner, Chouchou ignored the girl until she spoke. Usually the partner would read over assignments and tell her what to do. In this case, however, it was unusual.

“What do you want to do for the project?”

Chouchou heard the question twice before realizing it was directed to her.  She looked at the paper. “You pick.”

“Come on, you have to choose. I’m not going to,” the girl said. And she stayed quiet until Chouchou responded.

“Puppet show,” Chouchou finally said in a hushed accent.

The girl beamed and nodded, “I like that too.”

And for the first time, Chouchou responded with a big smile and a friendly laugh as if welcoming a great image that only appeared once in a lifetime.

* * * * *

            All the memories Chouchou had in her childhood before turning eight became a blur. The little details and the names of people all fogged. The new classmate’s faces readjusted into new people by the time she thought of them again. They were not who she thought they were.

Now fifteen years old, she still could not remember the name and face of the friendly girl who spoke to her in grade two.

Chouchou sat up with her eyes open and looked down at the ground. Her black gloved hands clenched tightly to the crumbled dirt and the foot of the tree. She opened her hand and watched as the crumbs trickled to the ground again.

            Everyone is different. Even though someone does not think anything has changed, quietly everything rearranges itself. The combination of two or more people would gradually adjust life and thoughts, forming a different person out of the same person. 

Rampage

Survival Hunt - Part Eight

            A slit of white light shone in the distance. The dot gradually shifted until a white line was formed. It turned into an eye shape. Then colours and figures were seen.

Casey opened her eyes and looked around. Everything was surprisingly fine. She was unharmed. The only places that hurt were from Jonathan’s muscle chuck and sliding around on rocks by the cliff. At the moment, her legs were sore and so was her back.

“Where is this…?”

She rolled onto her front and stared ahead. Close by she caught sight of an Aeolosaurus and assumed it was from the previous day. She wondered if it was lying in the grass field because it was sleeping.

A backpack was sitting somewhere on the other side of the tree Casey was flung into. She quickly scrambled to her wobbly feet and grabbed it. After holding onto the bag, she dropped to her knees and crouched down, hoping nothing had seen her moving without any thoughts.

When nothing moved in the next few minutes, Casey resumed to finding out where she was. She swung her bag over her shoulders and turned around, away from where the trees were gathering closer together into a forest.

The moment her head faced the other direction, something rough and hard came at full speed, smashing into her stomach. It sent her flying backwards at least fifty metres. Luckily there was grass all around.

Her head was spinning so fast that she could not discover what the strange moving object was. Faded and heaving pounds on the ground followed.

Casey yelled in a bellowing voice. She winced and bit her lower lip so hard she tasted blood. Both arms were clutching tightly to her stomach. She could not move an inch after being thrown so hard by such force. Her face was hot with salty tears. Sweat rolled down her face and stained her neck. Her hands were slippery, holding to her jacket tightly.

The soft grass cushioned her. It was like a bed. Casey had her eyes shut as she lay on the grass for a long moment. After another ten or more minute, she pulled herself to her feet.

Carefully she pulled her shirt up to examine how badly she was attacked. She was thankful her tummy warmer was thick and cushioned the strike a little bit. She was also relieved the thing that whipped her was large in diameter. If it were a thin rope-like material, she would definitely had skin peeled.

Casey wiped the sticky sweat and blood from her mouth off her face and fumbled with pulling the warmer off without scratching her deep, dark bruise. It looked sordid and implausibly nauseating. Just from the appearance made her insides shrivel and her fingers curl. Black, purple, red, and everything mixed together into a dark shade. Her skin did not even look like skin anymore. It felt like the enormous bruise probably would not heal completely even after weeks. It hurt a great amount as well.

An idea suddenly came across Casey’s mind. It was just something to do and attempt to help, but a horrible idea. She took her backpack off and dug out her water bottle. Her hands kept slipping as she turned the cap. Eventually it unscrewed. She pulled one arm out of her sleeve and dabbed it with water. Carefully, slowly, and shakily, she touched her wound. Barely any contact was made but it felt like a million bee stings already. She threw her sleeve away and squealed loudly. She bit her lip again, deepening the cut in her mouth.

Without another plan in mind, she put the water bottle away and zipped her bag again. She stood up and cautiously looked around. Her whole body was shaking and sweating with fear and nervousness.

Fearfully, she questioned to herself whether or not a dinosaur might suddenly vault out of the forest and charge straight for her. If that were to happen, she would definitely be finished right then and there. Her head could barely turn around; her waist could hardly even bend, much less move her legs and run as fast as she could possibly go, trying to escape a creature.

The field she stood on was vast. The damp grass grew tall and green. Just a couple metres away the grass began shrinking into a pebbly, dry and sandy area full of rocks. Up ahead was a forest of various species of trees. Some leafy trees sprouted in the middle of the grassy field.

Unhurriedly, Casey lowered herself to the ground and lay on her back. She stared up at the dim grey-blue sky. It looked as if it would rain a lot today. The sky was filled and jam-packed with thick, heavy clouds. The air was chilly and much stronger than it was yesterday. It was not surprising that it would feel frostier. The reason was simple. Today was the first day of winter.

Casey shut her eyes tight and kept her arms by her side. Her hands were clenched again in tight fists. Her lips were dark mahogany and purple. The cut along her mouth where she kept biting was red and puffy. It hurt yet she continued to bite it. Her eyes began to swell up again. She hoped to fall asleep.

It hurts… It hurts… It hurts so much I can’t go on! I don’t want to go on. I can’t… Even though I had made a promise; I promised that I would be strong and try hard… I can’t. I don’t want to do this anymore…

Finally her breathing slowed down, a little more relaxed now. She wanted to forget about the pain. Things started to fade away slowly. The view of the low sky blurred into darkness.

* * * * *

Unsettle grey filled the space. Minuscule flashing white and black dots mixed together with the blotchy grey colour. The light flickered black for a split second. Then the grey vision reappeared. The space gradually widened.

Casey stared up at the sky. Her freezing cold hand touched her cheek. Her face had a high temperature. She rolled to her side but stopped halfway, wincing at the pain. She had forgotten about the wound for a minute, but remembered it again. Something was different, however.

Something rolled off her stomach as she turned. She used her weak hands to push herself to a sitting position and stared. Thin branches holding large leaves surrounded her. She picked a branch up and spun it in her fingers. The leaves were like raindrop shaped fans. Something about the outer layer of the greens gave her fingers a tingle. She sniffed the air. It smelled minty.

Wait… Am I sitting? Before, my stomach hurt so badly I couldn’t even bend it, so why am I feeling all right sitting…?

Casey poked her stomach lightly. It still hurt but it was not stinging or throbbing. She picked up the minty leaf and put it on her face. She blinked and took it off. Her tongue licked it a bit. It had a sweet taste. Hunger was reminded by a taste. She had not eaten for a full day already. But it was not smart to risk eating something unknown. She threw the leaf away and stood up.

Noises were heard in the distance. Noises were heard everywhere. The leaves rustling in the wind, the wind itself was moaning in morning. Then another strange yet familiar sound was heard. They were footsteps. They were footsteps of an enormous creature. The sounds were spread apart. Even the ground began shaking lightly with every pound.

Casey’s eyes were wide open and not blinking. She stood still, petrified, unable to move. Only her eyes were darting side to side. Suddenly her ears perked up. It sounded from behind. She spun around on her heels.

Her eyes enlarged bigger than before. They stung so much since she did not blink. Her jaw dropped. Sweat started smearing her face again. Her fingers were wet and shaking.

What stood some distance from her was a gigantic creature. It had an extremely long neck. The head was small but capacious enough to see that it was holding something in its mouth. The body of the creature was a great amount bigger than a human; a building size, indeed.

Casey recognized the creature—the dinosaur to be unequivocal.

This dinosaur… It’s the one Mei Xing explained. It’s the one that had us go insane yesterday. The A… The Aeolosaurus…?

Her finger shook as she felt her arm slowly rise in front of herself. Subsequently, without another thought, her legs trembled and backed up. Every step serially increased in speed. Shivering and vacillating legs only caused trouble. After another step, she fell backwards onto her bottom.

The Aeolosaurus lowered its head a bit. The small shadow of a branch began enlarging. The branch came out of its mouth and started falling. It landed a metre away from Casey’s feet. She tucked her legs in, full of surprise. She stared up at the dinosaur without moving.

It let out a low moan. Then it started turning away. The creature was in such close distance that the ground was shaking like an earthquake. The thumping in the grass was loud as well.

Nothing stirred in the next five minutes. The dinosaur had disappeared into the forest. Echoing thumps continued but were fading. Distanced shouts sounded like murmurs. Everything was quiet again.

Casey moved her fingers, scratching at the dirt. Her fingernails were caked in brown soil and her hands were muddy and scraped all over. She patted her hands on her jacket and scrambled forwards. Inquisitiveness crept into her mind. Her hand reached out at the branch the dinosaur dropped. Her fingers came off wet. With repugnance, she brushed her hand on the nearby grass, trying to get rid of the awkward touch.

Was collecting some kind of dinosaur evidence needed…?

The backpack slid off her back. She pulled it forward and grabbed a Ziploc bag from deep inside. Picking the branch up again she brushed her finger across the stick and wiped it in the bag. Another idea came to her mind. She picked up the branch and built up all her strength to break it into a smaller piece. Soon enough, she managed and closed the bag.

She took her water bottle out and poured some on her hands. She discovered a few slivers in her palm but ignored them. After taking a sip or two, she stood up again and sighed. It was time for her to finally do something useful.

While she brushed away the grass as she walked, she constantly wondered what the dinosaur was. It was like Lenny said. The dinosaurs could have been mutated or somehow altered. This Aeolosaurus appeared to understand. It had a mind; some thought to help, which was funny because animals or creatures would never consider human emotions or even know what was on their minds.

It could be possible for the Aeolosaurus to not be a real dinosaur in the era. But that would conclude something that did not make much sense

* * * * *

Halfway into the forest, water started falling. Small raindrops sprinkled down on the earth. The sound of rain muffled every other sound. Although the rain started falling lightly, buckets started to pour within a minute or so. Footsteps were not as heavy. Rustling leaves were not rustling as loudly.

Casey’s face was cold and soaked in an instant. She pulled up her hood and tightened the drawstrings, warming her ears. She held onto her backpack straps as she started moving faster through the woodland.

Every step she took caused mud to splatter everywhere. Dark brown puddles were formed. It was incredibly hard to see which was where and what was there. Up ahead was misty. The smell of rain was so strong and sour.

The boots on Casey’s feet were caked. The colour transformed into chunky brown and leaves with humus. Her running slowed down.

She found a little shelter under a large tree. Tired, she crouched down to the ground and stared ahead in the distance. Every half minute she wiped the water off her face and sighed. Nothing was seen. There was no one around. But even if there was, the person would not be seen so easily in the weather.

Casey let out a long sigh. Her plan at first was to find the others but that was pushed aside quickly. There was no reason for her to find the others again. Although it would feel safer and more cheerful with someone around, there did not seem to be any chance of running into them again. Everything she did now, she had to do on her own. She knew that very well.

Her back was cold against the old tree trunk. Her backpack was sitting in the muck at her feet. Her hands were tucked into the sleeves of her jacket as she dug through her bag. She knew she had kept some kind of snack in there.

During preparation, all the teens were allowed to bring anything with them. Food was one of the number one choices. The survival hunt hosts and helpers provided almost every kind of object and food for them. They all knew it was essential, especially in a crucial event like the survival hunt.

Many items included extra clothing like hats and gloves or scarves. Some important optional trinkets were watches and compasses. There were extreme items, weapons, like scissors or knives. First aid was a required package.

Inside the backpack were different labeled bags. Most of the teens separated their belongings into four categories: first aid, food, clothing, and weapons or materials. Casey grabbed a variety of items during preparation. There was not a single person who knew exactly what they needed or did not need inside the dinosaur arena.

Casey had a small bag of wheat snacks that did not appeal to anyone. It had no scent or any taste to be honest. The wheat pieces were dry, but the crumbs of dried fruit helped a lot. She did not like dried fruit very much but it was something that would keep her going.

After two raisins and one piece of wheat, she packed up again. By now, everything she had with her was dripping with rain water. She squeezed water out of her ponytail and gave her waterproof clothing light smacks, spraying rain off. She rubbed her eyes and got off her ankles, regaining balance and releasing sharp pins and needles.

Because of the sharp pain, she was paralyzed for a minute. She stood under the tree silently and biting her lip, shaking, and eager to leave the spot. She continuously rubbed her legs until finally after one more shake, she could move normally again.

Cautiously Casey moved forward down the rigid and slightly visible path. Ahead were muddy puddles and branches that grew out of the earth, creating arcs that easily tripped people. Even though it was still morning, the forest appeared shadowy and gloomy like near evening.

Just then, Casey’s heart pounded loudly and heavily. She grabbed her shirt collar and pulled off her hood, letting the large raindrops splatter on her head. Her breath began speeding up hastily. The heart pounding was faster and louder.

This is strange. Something’s there… Something’s happening. Something is coming.

A split second later, her ears jerked up and she turned her head to her left. There was a dim light glowing.

Casey’s shaking legs brought her closer to the light, but her body was refusing to go any closer. Only one more step gave her the answer.

Up ahead where the dimly glowing light was, a safe house stood. It blended in well with the background, except for the tiny speck of light: a front door light. It was immensely dim that only someone with perfect vision could see it clearly, and in the rain too.

Just then the tiny spot of luminosity flickered and shook.  It blurred into darkness for a split second. Then another blink and it returned to normal.

Stop… Stop…!

Casey’s heart was knocking. Her shaking hands clutched tighter to the neck of her jacket. Every part of her was stinging with a freezing cold touch.

Stop… Stop it! Stop it!

Finally she swallowed hard. The tense lump in her throat was preventing her from swallowing and breathing normally. Her fingers were shaking faster and so were her legs. The sounds in her ears were ringing loudly.

In a moment’s time, pounding in the distance was heard. Heavy running and loud splatters like footsteps in puddles became auditory.

A high pitched scream was heard. Following that was another higher pitched shriek. The voices were piercing and raspy. Whether it was a female or male, it was almost impossible to know.

Casey’s eyes widened. Her jaw opened and her teeth started chattering. Sweat was building. She suddenly felt hot under all the drenched layers. Booming followed the screams.

Then, she saw something.

She immediately jumped out of the path and grabbed onto a tree trunk. Her nails scraped off a chunk of bark. She shoved it in her mouth to stop herself from teeth chattering and wanting to scream.

When the dark, foggy figures progressively grew larger, Casey frantically tumbled over her feet and pushed aside leaves, desperate to get into the bushes nearby. Her hands scratched at contact with the thorny branches in the process. But her mind was not on that. She was scared and full of trepidation. It felt as if her heart was going to bounce out of her mouth.

The bush she managed to scramble into was just behind a group of thick trunked cedar-like trees. The area was also close enough to see the larger path just in front and the safe house camouflaging somewhere.

Multiple pairs of feet thumped in water close by. There was chaos right in front of her eyes. Casey parted some branches, trying to catch a glimpse of the commotion.

Her trembling fingers pulled a small bottle out of her jacket pocket. She fumbled with the lid and sprayed herself all over. She was beginning to inherit a leafy fragrance. It did not smell much like the real nature, but at least she did not smell like flesh.

Her heart still pounded as she put the bottle in her pocket. Just after she found a comfortable sitting position, clenching tightly to the roots, the uproar was fading away. Casey watched as the two teenagers crashed inside the safe house.

A second later and the carnivorous creature behind would have caught one of them in its long, sickle-shaped claws.

Casey’s eyes were shaking and constantly blinking. Water started to roll out. Her teeth dug into the bark as she held her breath.

There were three fairly short dinosaurs angrily scratching at the safe house. They had muscular legs and long tails. The scariest part of them was they had extremely long black claws on their hands and feet. The claws were like knives and could possible scratch through anything.

Deep inside, Casey sighed silently in relief for the two teenagers that were lucky to have survived that. The dinosaurs appeared in excellent health. Their muscular legs looked as if they were also very athletic and could run for miles.

When all that died down, Casey held her breath. She sat as still as she could possible, still staring out at the three mysterious and annoyed dinosaurs.

All three of them had just missed a chance at breakfast. They would be furious and desperate to find something—anything—to be able to fill their stomachs for enough energy to start the day.  If they heard or seen anything, they would launch right at it. Carnivorous dinosaur’s noses were never underestimated.

Casey sat uncomfortable in the bush. She prayed with all her strength they would not sense her. She had already tried her best to have them not smell her. They might have seen her from far away, but the rain could have blinded them a bit.

While the nosy dinosaurs scrambled here and there, Casey risked shutting her eyes tight and trying to ignore the fact they were there. She indeed would be blinded but it would spare her from shrieking and gasping when one of them came to her face outside the bush.

She silently breathed another fresh batch of air into her lungs and slowly let it out. Her eyes were closed and her head was held high, but not high enough to stick out of the bush. Her ears were the only part of her working; and her nose, but she did not recognize dinosaur smell. But she finally did, and they smelt like blood and meat.

Her eyes tightened. A ticklish feeling crept on her back. She felt all her hairs stand on end. Goosebumps formed quickly. Something nearby rustled.

God, tell me they’re not there…

The meaty smell was stronger. One of the meddlesome dinosaurs had its face over the bush. It snorted and slobbered into the leaves. After a raspy shriek from it, the other two came closer. They were mumbling in dinosaur language to themselves.

The rain continued to fall. Soon enough, something further in the opposite direction, deeper in the forest, shuffled. The dinosaurs jerked their heads up and began making noises while charging towards it. They roared loudly and stomped away quickly.

Casey winced and flinched lightly. An itch was behind her ear but she did not touch it. When the dinosaurs finally disappeared, she sat for a minute or two before scratching. And she finally took a silent gasp for air and opened her eyes. Her heart settled.

Thank goodness…

* * * * *

Still in the bush, Casey sniffed and looked around. It was uncomfortable in the rough and tight space. She tried to move but stopped only to have a horrible thought come across her mind. If something was lurking there, she would have no chance of survival.

Should I stay here all night?

Quickly she shook the thought out of her head and bit her lower lip again. By now it was completely puffy and bruised. She winced and opened her mouth wide. She touched her lip, finally realizing how deep her teeth had gone into them. A canker sore would form soon.

Her teeth were straight after having braces, but they were sharp. Her canine teeth especially were sharp. She had not had her dentist come in and file them up since a while ago.

As quietly as she could, she pulled a small tube out of the inside of her jacket. She kept a lot of medication and bandages on her for emergencies. Casey squeezed a little substance on her finger and dabbed the side of her mouth. It stung a lot. It hurt so much that she almost spat loudly and bit her lip again. She squeezed a little more and applied it to the other scratches she had.

At last, her numb and bruised body could not take the cramped space anymore. Her back was aching and her knees felt locked in a bent way. Even her neck was straining and her shoulders hurt painfully from being hunched over for a long time. She took several peeks out the bush before gradually and inaudibly crawling out. She had one hand gripping tightly to her backpack straps, and her legs were ready to sprint whenever needed.

When she got her leg out of the tangled branches, she slipped and fell flat on her face. The front of her body was completely covered in mud. She was completely wet now. For a minute or two she lay there paralyzed and too tired to get up. All her muscles were aching. Only her fingers twitched slightly.

After she caught her breath and shuddered in the cold rain, she slowly dragged herself across the muddy ground to the trunk of a large tree. With the strength remaining, she pulled herself to her feet and stayed close to the tree. Her eyes darted left and right, up and down, as if she were tracking a nuisance mosquito.

Now as soon as her legs started moving properly and her stomach not hurting as much, she began her journey again. It was difficult and stressful, despite it only being the second day.

Casey heard her stomach growl. The growling was like a pouch of air in her stomach moving and trying to digest whatever non-existent substance was in there. It added more pain to her previously damaged stomach.

No, I’m going to save my food. I only have a limited amount. If I eat it all now, I might not have any left to keep myself going later…

But it hurt more and more with each step she took until her knees popped again and she tripped into the wetness again. Finally Casey gave up arguing with herself and snacked on a granola bar. If she ate now, she might not have to eat again later until a while.

* * * * *

She had walked at least a long hour before finally hearing something familiar.

The rain had already started falling lighter until they were only sprinkles. The air was still misty and cold though.

Something whizzed by her ear. That something sounded hard and seemed heavy. Casey jumped up and dashed to the nearest tree and held on tightly. Her fingers looked the same colour as the rough and old tree bark. Her brown eyes stayed wide open, staring into the distance on her side. Slowly she shrank down to the ground, trying to make as less movement as possible. Her eyes narrowed, still staring. That was until she felt a smile come across her face.

There were light footsteps in behind the fog. The dark silhouettes were made out to be human. In fact, little voices were heard.

Casey felt something whizz by her ear again. She stood up and tilted her head to the side to look at the chattering group.

“Nathan, stop that.”

“Sorry Mei…”

Casey’s eyes widened.

Was that…?

Halfway opening her mouth, her jaw made a weird pop sound. She shut her mouth again and bit the inside of her cheeks. A second later, her fingers left contact with the tree as she started slowly walking towards the sound.

“…Hello…?”

“Who’s there?”

“Hello…? Are you…?”

“It’s Casey!”

Casey focused on a spot until the fog disappeared. She saw three familiar people. She wanted to smile but her mouth hurt so much she ended up biting harder to the inside of her mouth and pursing her lips together.

Acacia started jumping up and down. She ran forward and hugged Casey tight. She started jumping again. “Casey! We thought… We thought you wouldn’t make it!”

A nod came from Mei Xing as Acacia let Casey go. Mei Xing tightened the rope around her waist and brushed her straight bangs aside. “Yeah… How did you…?”

“I don’t know what happened…” Casey mumbled. She swept the sticky hair off her face and wiped her wet cheeks with her sleeves. “I think I probably passed out…”

“That A-saur was so big and everything!” Acacia exclaimed. “Mei Xing said if it dropped you, you probably wouldn’t…” She lowered her voice. “Well, we’re glad you’re okay! You don’t know how worried we were.”

Casey raised an eyebrow and sniffed. She suddenly felt extremely cold. Her fingers shook as she scratched her nose. “The A-saur was all right. I don’t know what happened but it didn’t seem like a normal dinosaur. You know, I think it had… Well it just didn’t seem like an animal. It left me mint leaves!”

She pulled her backpack off. But before she did, Jonathan pushed her shoulder. He patted mud off her jacket and gave her a look that made him seem like he was keeping a laugh to himself.

“What happened to you?”

Casey looked at him with round eyes. She glanced away from him and at her clothes. She had a few scratches and holes in her clothing already. Most of her clothes were caked in mud. Even her face was splotchy.

“Oh…” Casey sniffed again. “I saw these other two people running into a safe house. They were being chased by these small dinosaurs. There were three of them and they had really long and curved claws. I thought I was going to die.”

“You didn’t go into the safe house?” Acacia asked.

Casey shook her head. “No. I was too far away from it. I hid in a bush instead.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t get eaten then,” Jonathan stated. He handed a cloth to her.

Mei Xing nudged Jonathan. She looked at Casey, who had taken the cloth. “Those dinosaurs are probably Balaurs. I don’t really know much about them but they are short and have long, shiny, hook-like claws. They also have really big muscular legs. They’re so scary looking but really cool at the same time! They have sharp teeth and three claws on their hands and their feet. Such fascinating creatures.”

Acacia stole a glance at Casey, who was shuddering. “I don’t think we should be admiring the creepy little carnivores quite so fast. I mean, they are carnivorous if they have hands and feet and claws and sharp teeth and ugly faces, right?”

“I don’t think they have ugly faces,” Mei Xing said.

“Okay, they have ferocious faces that make them look constantly mad and awkward,” Acacia nodded a reply.

“Where are the others?” Casey asked. Shivers ran up her spine as she spoke.

Mei Xing patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry about them. We split up early this morning to search for safe houses, some resources, maybe some food, and other things. Acacia suggested searching for you so she went with me but I don’t know what happened to the groups since we met up with Nathan a little while before.”

“Are we going to look for them?”

Acacia took a peek behind. She looked back at Mei Xing. “What do you think?”

“We can’t exactly guarantee finding them. We can try, but we might not… I mean, we don’t know how big this arena is yet, and we don’t know what kind of dinosaurs are here. We found a lot of carnivorous dinosaurs here. I’m not sure what the goal of this is but the main thing here is to survive, not stay together and get desperate when we’re alone.”

Casey nodded. She lowered her head and started talking quietly. “I’m sorry but I did not really think about looking for you guys after we separated.”

Jonathan folded his arms. “Well good for you. I wouldn’t worry about you if I were separated from the group.”

“We all knew that you wouldn’t,” Acacia mumbled.

Jonathan ignored her. “Come on, let’s get going before something with a beautifully awkward face comes popping out at us while we’re just standing around.”

Just then, the tall trees growing close together, just a dozen or more metres away had their branches sway. The leaves were rustling loudly and anxiously. They tumbled to the ground after a couple of spins in the air. The bushes growing just around the trees also shuffled.

The four teenagers standing in the crowd of trees stood silently still. Their eyes darted everywhere. They held their breath as the sounds grew louder.

Casey watched the bush. She looked further behind it. “Do… Do you hear that thumping…?” she whispered.

There were so many trees that the sunlight hardly made its way in. The trees were also looming over in a haunted way. But some light was shining through, enough that colours were seen.

In a split second, something jumped out of the bush. It was a boy, and someone they all knew too.

“Hey, it’s just Matt,” Acacia said, taking a breath.

But the expression on his face was not the best. He opened his mouth to call out to them but they heard nothing.

Mei Xing suddenly took a step back. She pulled a rope from her pocket and nudged Jonathan. She gave Acacia and Casey slight glances before her shaking voice sounded. “I think he means for us to run!”

The thumping sounds were very loud and audible now. They were heavy and fast-paced. Just from the ground shaking, they all knew this creature was angry and charging.

Matthew sprinted past the other four. Something came out of his mouth this time but they still could not hear. But he seemed to have mouthed something along the lines of ‘It’s still far’. This time, Acacia’s eyes widened and started tearing up. She turned around darted after him, not giving a care of what he was actually running away from.

Jonathan pushed Casey. “What are you still doing here? Get your brain and run already! Or just leave it behind if it’s slowing you down!” He gave her another push, this time so hard her legs automatically started working and sprinting away.

“What about you?”

“Forget about that, just leave!”

Casey turned around shook her head, shaking all the horrendous thoughts she had stored in her mind. She clenched her hands into fists and stared in front of her, where Acacia and Matthew were tiny in the distance. Although her legs were tired and every muscle in her body was numb, her legs continued running. They would not stop even if she forced them to.

Back by the bushes, Mei Xing and Jonathan stood on the side.

“It’s just an angry Triceratops,” Mei Xing commented. “I can sort of see it. That fan thing on its head…”

“It’s ‘just an angry Triceratops’? Mei, you never say that ‘fan thing’ either. You always say it’s the large neck frill,” Jonathan hissed. He held his rope tight in his hands. “And exactly why are we still here?”

Mei Xing shuffled in her spot and started running the direction the others had gone. “Remember that Elias, Lenny, and Chouchou are still there somewhere!”

“Right…” Jonathan nodded. He started walking along the bushes mumbling that they should have been smart enough to have run like Matthew. He looked up and saw Chouchou roll out of the bush and out of the dinosaur’s path. “Oh, there’s one.”

“Ow!” She cried. She crawled to the bush and started rubbing her knee. “Are you trying to kill me, Lenny?”

“Do you want to die?”

Chouchou looked up and was surprised to see Jonathan. She opened her mouth and breathed in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

He ignored her question. “Why isn’t that dinosaur coming out already? What happened to your other group mates?”

“The… the what…?” Chouchou stuttered. She turned around and almost jumped backwards into the bush when the thundering creature charged out from behind the trees, trampling the bushes in the process. “You mean that thing? It’s there!”

The Triceratops thumped in a straight path, snorting and groaning. Its eyes caught sight of Chouchou and Jonathan. Suddenly its path angled. It started running towards them now. It tossed its head and raised its horns. As it ran closer, the horns were pointing straight at them.

Chouchou automatically freaked out and screamed.

Jonathan pulled her to her feet and pulled her aside. “What are you doing? Don’t scream when it’s coming at you!” He opened his eyes wider and stared at the dinosaur. “Mei Xing, you take care of this!”

A rope from an enormous tree dove at the dinosaur, tightening around its neck. The rope was thick and strong but not strong enough. The dinosaur raged and roared loudly as it was being slowed down by the tight rope. It was getting angrier and pulling hard. The gigantic tree keeping it from charging elsewhere was beginning to get pulled out of the ground. The whole tree slanted and dirt from the ground parted. A root sprouted from the earth.

Mei Xing jumped down and ran to the side. “That is definitely not going to stay. Here, Nathan, see if you can find Lenny and Elias. And Chouchou, you’ll need to stay with someone so go with him.”

“How are you going to deal with that thing by yourself? You’re not a muscle woman,” Chouchou said with worry in her eyes. But she still stood up and followed Jonathan out of the scene.

As they ran, they could still hear loud and angry stomping and roaring behind them. Jonathan was quick, jumping over branches and roots. He looked left and right and slowed down a bit. Behind him, Chouchou ran as fast as she could, also searching for the others.

“Where did they go?”

Dinosaur

Survival Hunt - Part Seven

            Now the group was counted up to six people. They all collected their belongings and tried to think of what to do next.

The sun on the east side was shining at an angle above their heads. Though it was bright and caused everyone to wish they had sunglasses, the air was chilly and unpleasantly bitter. The clouds hung low in the sky, splashed with light grey. Wind blew the trees; leaves falling and twisting in a high pitch whistle.

Casey put her hood on and pulled the drag strings tight. Her neck felt hot with nervousness and the sense of trepidation, but the feeling of feeling cold on the inside made her ignore the body heat.

“If there haven’t been any dinosaurs in this area, don’t you think there would be more people around?” Chouchou asked suddenly.

Casey took a step back and looked up at the yew tree they had stayed in the last night. She sighed and opened her mouth to speak. But before she had the chance, something sharp whizzed by. Following that was a raspy, low and irate screech.

The ground began thumping. Trees were swaying harder than they were before. Vision started blurring and it seemed as if things were moving quicker than before as well. Behind them, probably a few dozen metres, sounded an earsplitting and extended screech.

Matthew turned around and oddly squealed breathlessly, as if he had lost his voice, “Spi—! Spino—!”

“Run!” a voice shouted loudly.

Casey felt her heart starting to race. Without turning back or even developing the next thought, she almost tripped over her feet, trying to catch up with her group members, who had already started sprinting.

“Split up!” Lenny yelled. He turned around a row of trees and disappeared. Chouchou followed his direction.

Everything was funny. The early, quiet mood had abruptly converted into a fast paced, confusing, and scary feeling. It was obvious a dinosaur was heading their way, angrily trying to reach out its short arms for something to fill its stomach. But not knowing which direction to head, not knowing where the creature following was the scariest part.

Up ahead, Casey saw the trees starting to move apart. She had no idea where she was going, but following whoever was running in front of her. She was afraid something new would appear out of the blue and trample them for sure.

She ran and ran non-stop but her eyes were swelling with tears. She quickly wiped them away with her sleeves, still moving. The figure in front of her had vanished.

Then a voice was heard, “This way!”

Casey’s eyes turned but things were fogging up. Behind her, she heard quick and loud, heavy pounds. The pace was increasing and the noise was going louder. Inside her head she wanted to stop running; her legs were wearing out on her. Her heart was racing faster than ever imagined, both from freaking out and running.

“Hurry!” The voice was there again. But it was strange how there was not much panicking in the tone.

Sweat and tears were mixed on her face. Casey had her fist clenched and still running. This time, she had absolutely no idea where she was going. She saw a large tree trunk in front of her. She wanted to slow down, or try and make a turn, but her legs were not listening to her anymore.

Finally something thin and tight grasped onto her arm. She tried to scream but panic and alarm were getting the better of her. Her voice was completely lost.

In a split second, she felt herself being picked up off the ground. Her right arm was stinging with pain. Her legs frantically kicked, wanting to be put back down. Then, the pain was beginning to go away. Her whole body was flung in the air and over the trees, across the forest.

She landed with a thud, on her front. Her arms were bent under her body, saving her head from face planting into the hard ground.

Her heart was still racing but the anxiety and sense of fright was flowing out of her chest. Quickly she rolled over and pulled herself to her feet. Her legs wobbled and she almost fell back on the ground. Her head was dizzy and vision was still blank and white.

“Sorry! Are you all right?” The familiar voice spoke again.

Casey used her palms and pressed hard against her eyes. She opened them again and started exhaling loudly.

In front of her was a short boy. She had never seen him before. His dark brown hair was straight but curled up out of place and full of knots. Around his forehead was a dark band—a ribbon to be exact. Across his face were several scratches and blotches of grime.

He reached his brown, almost black sleeved arm forward and hit Casey’s head. She made a grunt and blinked one eye after the other. Her whole body was aching.

“You’re safe now, Mei— Mei Xing’s got this under control,” he said with a grin.

Casey nodded but she could not move any part of her face. She then felt herself being pulled behind a large tree and pushed inside the trunk. He followed her inside.

“This is one of our hideouts,” he said with pride. He opened his arms and turned around. “Sit down. I’ll quickly bandage you up.”

He pulled a stick out from between some thin roots and started to dig a hole. He pulled out a small brown box.

The tree was not very large. The trunk only had a small opening from the roots growing out of place. In fact it looked more like someone had pried it open more so something could fit inside.

They were underground, to be exact. On the surface, it looked like a tree with a hole small animals crawled into, except there was some large and dried piece of dirt shaped like a door that covered the hideout up.

Inside, however, was a different story. The trunk had been hollowed out just a little, and the ground had been dug up deeper, to fit three or four people at the most. All around were sticks. They were stabbed into the dirt.

Finally Casey coughed and choked. She looked up at him with scared eyes. Then she grabbed his hood before he turned away. She tightened her grip, still staring at him. He turned around and watched every move she made, ready for her next.

With a shaky voice she whispered, “How about the others? Where are they?”

The boy shook his head and shrugged, “Well, I managed to swing two others but both ropes got detached so they flew off somewhere. I’m sure they’re somewhere close by. I’ll go find them now. You stay here and don’t touch anything and don’t make a noise.”

“What’s your name?” Casey asked, scrunching her face from the stinging ointments the boy put on her bandages.

“Jonathan,” he said and jumped out of the hole in one go.

“Thank you,” Casey said.

For a moment Casey sat on the damp soil with her legs stretched out in front of her. She slowly leaned back and stared up at the inside of the tree. There were webs formed with lifeless insects glued. She turned her head to the other side and saw the same thing. Next to her was a worm wiggling in and out of the dirt, sliming it up.

Casey shut her eyes and winced at the pain. The side of her head had been badly bruised. Both knees and both elbows were also scratched up. She carefully pulled her jacket back on and rubbed the injured parts.

She held up her left hand and looked at the watch. A day had gone by and just less than half the next also. Her hand dropped and she shut her eyes again.

The next thing she heard was a kick at the dirt wall. Her eyes enlarged as she shrunk into the corner of the tree. With all her heart she hoped it was not a nosy dinosaur. To her relief, she saw Jonathan again, who had just kicked both Acacia and Elias in. They both looked fairly in good shape, except some bruises, and extra pain caused by Jonathan.

He jumped in after them and pushed the dirt door back. Quickly he pulled out sticks and started digging out random first-aid kits.

“Where’d you get all those kits?” Elias asked.

Jonathan opened another box of bandages and pulled out a strange container with a gooey and clear substance inside. “Some of them we packed and the others we found in this arena.” He pointed at Acacia. “Sit still.”

She nodded obediently and followed his movements with her eyes.

“Where’s Matthew?” Casey asked, crawling out from behind a large pile of dirt.

“No idea who that is,” Jonathan said.

After he tied the bandages together on Acacia’s arm, he buried the previous boxes and went to dig up another box.

“Thanks…” Acacia turned to Casey and then at Elias. “We lost him when we started running away from that Spinosaurus.” She sighed, “We were all so freaked out.”

“Who’s Mei Xing?” Casey asked next, suddenly remembering the named being mentioned.

Jonathan suddenly stopped fumbling with the first aid and looked up. “Ah, I was supposed to meet up with her after this. She said she saw some hungry Rugops nearby after realizing a Spino was chasing after you guys. You should thank her after. Thanks to you guys, she did do something she hates doing the most.”

Casey watched him bury the last box. “What’s that?”

He stomped on the dirt to pack it down and looked at Casey with his crystal-like blue eyes. “Killing a dinosaur.”

“Sorry about that,” Casey said.

“Where is she now?” Acacia asked.

“No idea,” Jonathan said. He stood up and stretched. “You guys don’t know anything, right?”

“What does that mean?” Elias asked. He rolled down his jacket sleeve.

Jonathan swung his backpack on and pulled the dirt door down. “You’ve rested long enough. I’m sure Mei’s dealt well with the Spino and the Rugops.”

Acacia scratched her head and laughed a little. “I don’t really know my dinosaurs so what exactly is… a Rugops?”

“Basically they’re wrinkled up faced dinosaurs that eat meat. There had to be at least a group of them to take down a ferocious Spino.” Jonathan started climbing out of the hideout. “Now, get out.”

* * * * *

The four of them walked in the forest for a long time by now, probably for at least fifteen minutes at the most. Nothing spectacular happened, luckily.

Just then, someone jumped down from a tree in front of them. She rolled up her ropes up in second and put them in her pocket.

“Mei! You’re back already,” Jonathan said.

The girl patted his shoulder and nodded, “Yup. So Nathan, were you—?” She looked at Casey, Acacia, and Elias. “You have a really large group.”

“Oh, you’re Mei Xing, right?” Acacia said.

Mei Xing nodded.

She was tall in comparison to Jonathan. But how they dressed in the same outfits and looked friendly made them seem like siblings.

Casey looked around and held her hands together. She looked at Acacia and Elias, who were not exactly doing anything.

Mei Xing brushed the wisps of hair in front of her ears aside. Her hair was dark and looked almost black, but a tint of it looked brown in the sun. She blinked her eyes and then gave them a forthcoming smile.

“Your pack’s other half is safe.” Then she turned around and frowned. “That’s funny. They were behind me just a moment ago. Well, that was before I started looking into the trees…”

Elias pointed. “They’re there.”

Lenny, Matthew, and Chouchou were seen now. They had just turned towards them and ran to catch up. All of them looked tired and unharmed.

“Oh, there you are,” Mei Xing said and clapped her hands together in relief. “I thought I lost you with another dinosaur or something.”

“Why’d you start running away?” Chouchou asked with a grumpy expression. “I thought you tricked us and just left us.”

“Well you were slow,” Matthew said to her. She frowned at him and turned the other way.

Lenny stopped walking. He looked at Mei Xing and sighed. “You even had us watch the Spino roar at us, trying its best to escape the ropes you tied on it. It almost broke free until those ugly dinosaurs appeared out of the blue.” He shook his head in dissatisfaction.

Matthew nodded in agreement. “You totally went Tarzan on us.”

The others laughed. Mei Xing shrugged an apologetic face. Jonathan jumped up and tried to stand as tall as he could. He was smaller in size, in evaluation with the others, but the same height as Acacia.

“Stop talking.”

“Oh,” Casey remembered. “Thanks, Mei Xing.”

Mei Xing shook her head and waved her hand. “No, it was nothing.”

“But Jonathan said you had to kill the dinosaur…” Acacia said. She looked up from her fumbling fingers at Mei Xing.

“It’s more important to save human lives. And besides, I didn’t kill them. I just… sorta set up a trap and had the other dinosaurs go for it. Spinosaurus are strong and vicious. It got so mad at me when I tried to tie it up. But when they’re weakened, I guess that goes for anyone, when they’re weakened, they become a good target.”

Now, the eight of them stood silently among the trees for a minute. For that one minute, they were all focusing on other things, be it staying cautious, feeling sorry, fear accumulating, or anything in that range.

With a good ear, a faded boom was heard.

A few seconds later, the slow booming was louder.

“Is that another one?” Casey asked. Her eyes shook as she turned to the others. She realized their stance were further apart than before. She took a small step closer.

Jonathan pulled out a rope and held it tightly in his hands. He had an angry facial expression, staring into the distance of one direction. Mei Xing was looking that way as well. She took a deep breath in and let it out. In a low voice, she said, “It’s an Aeolosaurus.”

“How can you tell?” Lenny asked.

Mei Xing put a finger to her ear. “If you can hear the pattern of steps, then you will know. I’m pretty sure it’s having lunch now. Aeolosaurus can stand up on its hind legs to eat off of those super tall trees. They don’t eat people but you have to be careful anyway.”

“Let’s get going,” Jonathan said a little irritated. “We can’t stand here listening to it until it comes this way. Another meat-eater might show up again and seriously, I don’t have any effort to save you.”

Everyone started walking again. Casey halted and looked in the direction where the dinosaur was rumoured to be at. She heard uneven pounds on the land. Quickly she shook her head and followed.

Deep inside she could only think of why she was where she was. No reason formed. She could only tell herself that it was the tradition of the land she lived on. But no matter how hard she tried backing up her origin, she shook her head and began arguing instead.

It was a strange thing. The hosts of the Dinosaur Survival Hunt probably did not even have a reason when asked. But they never worried about it because no one had ever, in the history of this, has ever asked for it.

And Lenny was right. He was right about what had happened already. He was right about the time traveling, the thing about being transported when exiting a safe house, the mutations of dinosaurs.

Casey felt herself starting to understand yet stay confused. She was an insider, yet she did not think the same as any insider she has seen. An insider would keep their mind closed, believing that the tradition of the land was the most important and true belief.

But during the short, just beginning journey in the dinosaur era, she had been with outsiders. Their way of thinking… The thing about life being important and the fact it was insane to be putting lives into a dangerous arena with ferocious, hungry, and angry dinosaurs. That had soon influenced.

I don’t want to die…

Her feet stopped moving. Casey blinked back into reality. She shook her head and held tightly to the straps of her backpack.

I don’t want to die. Why? Have I always been afraid of dying? Everyone back in the building… They were scared as well. But all the leaders, the hosts, the adults… they didn’t feel a thing. This doesn’t make any sense… at all.

Actually now it does. This year is different, that’s what it is. It’s… all changed.

She turned around and stared. Her hands trembled as they tried grasping at anything on the trunk of an old oak. Her nails dug into the cracks.

“Casey.”

She looked up. Acacia was waving to her to tell her to hurry up. Casey caught up and walked next to Acacia.

“They said there’s some cliff nearby here,” Acacia said.

Casey stared at Acacia. Quietly she asked, “Are you not scared?”

“Of course. I’m terrified,” Acacia responded. She stared ahead. “Although I have no idea what I’m doing here and what I’m going to do or even what will happen to me, I’m stuck here. So I’m going to try and face this reality, somehow.” She laughed.

“Somehow,” Casey nodded. “You’re so brave to think like that.”

“What do you mean?”

Casey shook her head. She stared at the ground in front of every step she took. “I feel so useless and stupid. For an insider like me to feel even more afraid than an outsider… Doesn’t that make me a failure?”

Acacia patted Casey’s back. “All people are different. It’s okay if you think like that.”

Casey then stood up straight and pumped her fist in the air. “That’s right. I’m going to face this reality, somehow, also. I’ll do my best to stay alive and make sure you do as well. I did promise you, didn’t I?”

“Forget about that,” Acacia said.

* * * * *

The cliff ahead was clear now. A small open ground was seen. It was almost as if the trees purposely left that space open to mourn. The trees had bent trunks, curving towards the open space. The branches were hanging low, dangling their leaves towards the middle. A single, awkward, patch of grass was on one side. A huge grey boulder was on the side of the patch, like a tangent. The whole panorama looked like it was set up this way on purpose.

Sunlight was shining towards them. The shadows were growing to the eastside now, indicating evening was arriving. Clouds were loaming and floating in one direction. They never left the sky, almost as if they were lost, following each other.

“Do you see those long necks on the other side?” Mei Xing asked.

Everyone was standing amongst the trees, camouflaging by the trunks, and looking across the deep canyon.

“They’re so far away,” Elias commented. “Is that side perhaps…?”

Mei Xing shrugged. “I want to go to that side and collect information. It would be so much easier since apparently they’re all herbivores.” Then she looked back into the dark forest. “But carnivorous dinosaurs are harder to study and find anything new. It’s too dangerous but… I just feel like everything is like Jurassic Park!”

“There she goes again,” Jonathan shook his head.

Casey thought for a moment. She remembered watching the Jurassic Park movies back at home when her father was out at work. As a single child, bored and alone at home, she would search the house for new things to do. The Jurassic Park movies were hidden behind a cabinet though.

“Was this survival hunt supposed to be like Jurassic Park?” Casey asked. “Were there scientists experimenting fossils and DNA and created dinosaurs again?” She looked at Lenny, since he had been in the arena before.

He shrugged his shoulders. “It could be but it might not be.”

If scientists were curious about dinosaurs and brought them back to the earth for studying and experimenting, it would be understandable. If they created a time machine to travel back in time to get a good look at how dinosaurs used to act, it would be understandable. The whole story, the tradition, of going back in time to collect information would all make sense. But…

But if that was true, why were teenagers doing this? Why were they forced into doing this for seven years of their lives the moment they step out of their house? Was it serious when they said no one had died in the previous hunts?

That could not be possible anymore. No one died in long, long ago hunts, when the dinosaurs were probably only robots. Now, they had minds of their own. No, they were real from the past…

Those were questions of an outsider. Those were questions that an insider began thinking. The number of outsiders seemed to have increased over the years. It must have been like Elias said: they take you back.

“Uh…”

Casey looked at Chouchou.

She was pointing behind them with an open mouth. “Is that…? Is that…?”

Mei Xing looked up. She opened her eyes wide and blinked. “That’s the dinosaur from before. We better move out of the way.”

It was true. The Aeolosaurus who was eating from multiple trees had finally caught up to them. It was enormous—beyond sophisticated words to describe its height. The towering neck attached to the colossal body… It looked as tall as the beanstalk Jack climbed in the fable.

The neck lowered at a high speed towards the group. They quickly scattered, trying to find a way around the large, rough skinned creature.

Elias turned around and ducked under its tail. “Casey, Chouchou, behind you!”

Casey turned around and found herself almost at the edge of the cliff. She looked over at Chouchou, whose foot was right at the edge.

“Cho watch out!” Casey ran to her.

Everything seemed to get scarier and more unrealistic. The ground under Chouchou suddenly crumbled and she disappeared behind the cliff.

 “Chouchou!” Lenny shouted.

 “Gotcha!” Casey breathed. But she was sliding slowly off the cliff as well, holding on tightly to Chouchou’s wrist. She reached her other arm down and tried pulling her up. “Come on; try climbing with your feet!”

Acacia and Matthew stood behind the tree farthest. They peered over and started coming closer. They were just as frightened.

But when they got closer, the Aeolosaurus turned its head and started walking towards them. Elias and Lenny began backing away next to them.

“It’s coming!” Acacia pointed. She grabbed tightly to Elias’ sleeve.

Meanwhile on the other side of the dinosaur, Jonathan and Mei Xing were putting together ropes.

Chouchou’s eyes were filled with tears of horror. She grabbed onto Casey. “Please Casey. Please don’t drop me, Casey!”

Casey felt her hands sweaty again. Her hands were feeling numb and wet. She bit her lower lip and tightened her grip. Her eyes suddenly looked past Chouchou, down into the deep canyon. Her head began feeling dizzy. “I’m totally lost. I can’t…”

“Casey, don’t!” Chouchou shouted. Her eyes shook, feeling herself falling lower. Casey’s hand around her wrist was feeling slippery. Determined, she kicked with her feet but it was useless.

The two of them were slipping. Rocks started crumbling beside them. Chouchou felt herself lower about a foot deeper into the canyon. She desperately glanced up at Casey. In a split second, a huge chunk of the cliff under Casey’s stomach cracked. She screamed as they fell, gripping tighter to Casey’s wrist than before, digging her nails into her skin.

A rope tied in a loop suddenly appeared dropped down from above. Casey felt it squeeze around her waist. She felt like choking and throwing up, but it became their miracle.

The rope tightened. Casey still hung onto Chouchou. They dangled at the edge like a tiny decoration.

Chouchou raised her head trying to see what had happened. Casey turned around and saw Mei Xing at the top. She finished tying the rope to the tree trunk. Jonathan stood by the tree.

“Casey, grab on!” She shouted.

Casey forced herself to bend up, kicking with her feet and managing to get her leg tangled with the rope. She reached as far as she could possibly and grabbed the rope.

“Hurry, help!” She screamed. She felt her grip on Chouchou’s wrist slip. She clutched tightly to her hand.

After a long while of chasing, crying, and frantically panicking, Chouchou and Casey were brought back onto the land. They coughed, trying to catch their breath.

Close among the trees, the dinosaur had thumped away. The others were out of sight.

Casey rubbed her elbows, wincing at the extra pain. She shook her hands but the numbness in her wrists did not go away. She could hardly feel her hands or legs. Chouchou crawled away to a nearby tree and sighed in relief. Her forehead was covered in sweat and cheeks smeared with tears. Her brown hair was sticking to her face.

“Nathan, bring the rope back,” Mei Xing said, untying half of it from the tree.

Jonathan jumped up from behind the tree and dove for the rope. “Mei, catch!” He swung the rope up into the air in a loop motion. But he swung it a little too hard. The heavy rope whipped into the forest and hit something hard. A loud roar replied.

Mei Xing let out a loud yell. Jonathan jumped out of the way, pulling the rope back with him.

Casey looked up and saw the dinosaur angrily thumping towards her. She started backing up. She heard rocks falling and knew she was close to the side of the cliff. Panicking, she rolled to her front and got to her feet.

After a step or two, the bandages on her knees started loosening. She felt something wet, sticky, and warm rolling down both knees. In pain, she dropped to the hard ground again. She saw blood soaking through her pants and turned away.

I feel totally hopeless! Why can’t I save myself like the others?

She tried crawling, as she was afraid of losing her balance, despite deepening the scars on her legs. As fast as she could possible go, she crawled across to the patch of grass, hoping she could hide behind the boulder.

 “I’ll get her.” Mei Xing dug through her pocket and looped her rope onto a branch. She confirmed it tightened by giving it a hard pull. Just before she swung up, everyone gasped in horror.

The Aeolosaurus lowered its neck and pushed its head at Casey.

I’m finished! It’s gonna trample me!

Casey squealed and rolled onto her side and back on her feet, running to the forest where the others were hiding. She saw a tree in front and picked up her pace, running at full speed towards it.

Just then, her boots stepped on a large rock and lost her balance. She got her foot tangled into a large branch of leaves. She tripped over a loop in the branch and toppled over. Her hands were shaking as she tried to reach for the branch.

“Casey!” Chouchou screamed, having just opened her eyes from relieving dizziness.

The dinosaur’s small head swooped down and with its teeth, bit into the branch and began turning away, with Casey still attached.

“Nathan!” Mei Xing shouted. “Climb the tree!”

He shook his head frantically. “I can’t make it in time!” He started running to the tallest tree he could see.

Angrier thumping sounded in the air, echoing across the cliff and forest. The dinosaur was walking faster now and soon disappeared into the forest before the others could take another step.

From the bushes meters away, the others realized the dinosaur was not after them. They looked around from where they hid after hearing loud footsteps. Then they saw the large long-necked dinosaur and something in its mouth.

“Casey!” Acacia screamed again. “Come back, you A-whatever-saurus! Give her back now!”

She turned to Elias and then Matthew with scared eyes. She looked at Mei Xing. “What do we do? It took her. It’s gonna drop her somewhere, or leave her somewhere! It might lose her in a crowd of carnivores.”

Matthew stared at Acacia’s frightened expression. He reached his hand out to pat her back, to comfort her, but he shook his head and turned away.

Mei Xing sighed loudly and glanced at Jonathan. “I don’t know what to do. Why couldn’t we have gotten her back?”

Slightly guilty, Jonathan turned away.

By the cliff, Lenny pulled Chouchou back onto her feet and brought her to the others. She had her head down and tears welled in her eyes.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m completely useless.”

Acacia turned to her and sighed.

Mei Xing looked at Chouchou as well. Her focus shifted when she saw a huge tear in her jacket and pants. Her leg was bruised red and her fingers slightly scratched. “Let’s go find some first aid for you.” She turned to the others. “Are you guys all okay?”

They nodded their heads and looked at one another without a word.

* * * * *

Another hideout was in the roots of a larger tree.

A packed chunk of dirt served as a doorway, just like the previous hideout. This one was larger but still short in space. Everything was dark except a few specks of light coming in through small holes in the soil.

Mei Xing finished wrapping Chouchou’s injuries. She sat down on the lumpy ground and sighed, taking out a bottle of water. “Get some rest if you can.”

Elias and Matthew sat on one side of the tree trunk. Acacia was squished with them. Just next to her was Chouchou, still wide awake and feeling scared and culpable from the previous experience. Lenny sat next to her. And on the other side of the tree were Mei Xing and Jonathan—closest to the random stick buried first aid.

In moment’s time, they fell asleep without making another noise.

Chouchou leaned backwards, pillowed by her ponytail. She stared up and the dark, barely visible tree ceiling. She sniffed and continued staring. Her eyes started stinging from keeping her eyes open, not even blinking. Her hand covered her face and she turned her head back down, resting her chin on her knees.

“You still awake? Go sleep.”

Chouchou looked around. “Who?”

“You.”

She turned to her right, hearing Lenny’s voice. She nodded, not giving a care about how dark it was and how no one would see her. She kept silent.

After a moment, Chouchou shut her eyes. “Thanks…”