Fearless ≫ Zach Mitchell

vii.

s e v e n

~

Ashton giggled lightly as she focused on Jimmy Fallon. A small screen in front of her streamed a video of her favorite comedian explaining the science behind the Gyrosphere. Zach and Gray didn't find the video amusing, like her, if they were even paying attention to it.

"The Gyroscopic technology will keep you upright at all times, so you've got nothing to worry about."

"Where are they?" At the sounds of Gray's impatient voice, Ashton looked up from the small screen. They had been in the Gyrosphere for nearly five minutes already, though they hadn't yet seen any trace of a dinosaur. Another series of shivers ran up Ashton's leg as Zach pushed forward on the controller, increasing the sphere's speed as they neared a corner of trees.

As soon as the Gyrosphere turned the corner, Gray's question was answered. Standing in front of them were countless dinosaurs, grazing or fighting or even just basking in the sun. A large grin found its way onto Ashton's face as she stared at the sight in front of her, speechless.

"Whoa," Zach breathed out, clearly just as awestruck as she was. To her left, Gray was busy taking pictures of the dinosaurs, a huge smile stretched across his lips.

"Apatosauruses and Stegosauruses and Triceratops!" The twelve year old named off each dinosaur as he pointed at them, laughing as a Apatosaurus bent its neck to sniff the Gyrosphere. To their right, a Triceratops lay under a thick canopy of trees. Though as its small, dark eyes landed on the glass ball, it rose to its feet and quickly moved away, as if it felt threatened.

Ashton opened her mouth to speak, though was cut off as a static sound came from the speakers by their heads. She listened closely, feeling a twinge of disappointment at what the voice of the accented woman said.

"Due to technical difficulties, all of our rides are now closed. Please disembark all rides and return to the resort."

Beside her, Gray looked crestfallen. The smile had vanished from his face, replaced by a slight frown, and his head was lowered to the ground.

"Come on," Zach said from her right, staring at his brother with sympathetic brown eyes. "We can stay out for a couple more minutes."

"But they said it was closed," Gray argued slowly, though there was a faint sign of hope in his voice as he looked between the two older teenagers.

"Aunt Claire gave us special wristbands, right? We're VIP, dude. Come on, it'll be fun." Exchanging a small smile with Ashton, Zach pushed the joystick forward, increasing the speed of the Gyrosphere drastically.

Though Ashton noticed that Gray still looked a little hesitant. She placed a hand on the boy's knee, giving it a gentle squeeze and shot him a large grin. "Come on, Gray. Be a little rebellious."

Soon enough, Gray was laughing alongside her as dozens of Stegosauruses and Triceratops ran at full speed beside the Gyrosphere. The sound of his laugh was like music to her ears, causing her heart to swell. The kid was starting to grow on her, and it made her happy seeing him having fun. Ashton's gaze snapped to her right at the sound of a phone ringing. The Gyrosphere slowed to a stop as Zach removed his hand from the joystick. His hand brushed against her bare leg as he pulled it back to his body, reaching into his front pocket and pulling out his phone. Clicking a button, he held it up to his ear, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Hey, Claire." He paused for a moment, clearly listening to his aunt talk on the other line. Ashton strained to hear what the red-head had to say, as if more than likely had to do with them bailing on Zara, though she failed miserably. "I can't really hear you. We're in the hamster ball."