Wherever You Are

Chapter 8

"Alex, Owen!" We turned to find Claire running toward us. "I need your help. My nephews didn't come back when they closed down the exhibits." Claire was looking around frantically, trying to find her nephews.

"Claire, calm down," I told her. "How old are your nephews?"

"Uh, one's about this tall, high school age. The other is-"

"You don't know how old your own nephews are?" Owen nearly shouted.

"Can you please just help me?" Claire cried.

"We'll help you," I agreed. "Where we they last?"

"They were in a gryosphere, but never came back when we sent out the call for all rides to close."

"To the valley it is," Owen mumbled.

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"Oh my gosh," I whispered.

Owen told Claire something, but I didn't hear it; I was too concerned over the mauled Apatosaurus. I lifted the creature's head into my lap and stroked it's neck, trying to soothe it.

"Shh," I whispered, "you're okay. Nothing will hurt you now. Shh." Owen came and sat across from me, and I could feel the tears falling freely now. "Shh."

When the Apatosaurus took her last breath, I rose, and Owen began walking to the edge of the hill. What he saw must have upset him, because before I could get over there, he was already next to me, trying to lead me back to the Jeep.

"Owen, what-"

"Just get to the car, Al."

"Owen-" I broke free from his grasp and ran to the top of the hill. What I saw crushed me: the entire Apatosaurus herd was injured, their dying moans heard for miles. I fell to the ground, my breath broken by sobs. Owen put his hand on my shoulder, and I rose, knowing we had to leave.

"It's killing for sport," he informed Claire. "We have to find the kids before she does."

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"No, no, no, no!" Claire leaned down and picked up a cracked phone.

"Claire, they're okay," I said, pointing at two pairs of sneaker tracks. We followed the tracks to a waterfall, where the their tracks stopped.

"They jumped?" Claire shouted.

"They've got guts."

"Zach! Gray!" Claire shouted. Owen wrapped his hand around her mouth, stopping her calls.

"Do you want to get us killed? The Rex didn't follow them, which very well means it could still be nearby. Al, what do you-" Owen turned to look at me, but I wasn't where he was expecting me to be. "Al?"

"I'm right here," I told him. I had stopped down to run my hand through the water, cleaning the cut I never covered. "I don't want the Rex to have any reason to follow us." I looked for something to cover my hand with, but Owen had already torn a portion of his shirt into a strip and wrapped it around the wound.

"Where do you think they went?" Claire asked us.

"There's only one way to find out," I offered.

"No. Not in a million years."

"Owen, come on, it makes no sense to have all of us go the same way. If they were just here, that means I might be able catch up to them."

"Over my dead body."

"If we travel in a group this big, that might be the case," I countered. "I'll have my radio, it's waterproof, if I run into any trouble, I can contact you. It's our best option."

Owen sighed. "Just, don't die on me, alright? Friday nights would suck if you weren't around."

I laughed. "Same goes for you." I nodded at Claire, winked at Owen, then jumped off the cliff into freezing water.