Jump | Zach Mitchell

thirty

WHEN we find Gray again, I'm so relieved that I cry. There are people rushing all around us and dinosaurs swooping down, and I'm hugging the life out of him. 

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I sob. "I shouldn't have let you go-"

"It wasn't your fault! I saw that thing hit you."

Another Pteranodon is shot out of the sky, this one narrowly missing us as it crashes through the windows of a giftshop.

"Jesus," Zach pants.

Gray frowns, pulling out of my embrace to hold my arm out. Blood has soaked the side of my shirt and slickened my hand. "What happened?" He asks.

"Don't you think we can do this later?" Zach scolds. "Let's get the hell out of dodge-"

A Dimorphodon knocks several people off their feet, then tackles a man with a gun. A woman with startling red hair swipes the gun off the ground and uses the butt of it to knock the dinosaur off her partner before shooting it several times.

Zach squints. "Is that-"

"Aunt Claire!" Gray shouts, suddenly darting away from my side to be reunited with her.

...but he pulls up short when the man who had been attacked stands and plants a big one on Claire. I'm talking a major lip lock. The kind that makes you go "damn" and you aren't even apart of the exchange.

"Um..." Gray shifts awkwardly, turning to look back at us. Zach grabs my hand and we walk over to stand beside him.

When the pair break apart, Claire pushes her hair out of her eyes. When she sees us, she shrieks. Her dainty heels click across the pavement as she runs over to meet us, shouting out names.

"Are you okay?" She asks, taking us each by the chin to look over our conditions. "Where did you go? Why didn't you come back?" She sounds like she's on the verge of tears. "Oh my God, Jonelle..." She clutches my shoulders as she takes in my injuries. "Sweetheart, are you all right? What happened to you?" Then she yanks me away from the boys and brings me into a tight hug; I have to bite down on my lower lip to keep from crying out when she touches my side. I'm surprised by the gesture, and my shaky arms slowly come up to rub her back.

When she finally pulls away, she goes to stroke Zach's cheek. "Oh, I was so worried about you guys."

Zach jerks away from her touch, staring straight behind her. "Who's that?"

Claire straightens then, glancing over her shoulder at the man she briefly made out with. He comes to stand behind her, gun back in his hands.

"Oh, you saw that?" Her voice has gone from hysterical to nervous. "This is, um, Owen. We... work together."

Zach gives her an incredulous look.

I purse my lips. "When you say... work..." Claire looks at me, blue eyes wild. "Do you mean... like... what you thought Zach and I's 'talking' meant? That kind of work? Or, like, work-work? Like, actual work?"

Her face drops and her mouth quivers as she verbally stumbles, trying to come up with a good explanation. Zach has to turn his head to hide his amusement. Gray just looks confused.

Zach drops his arm over my shoulder. "Glad to see you're back to normal. You had me worried for a second."

"Well, what can I say? I have to keep you on your toes," I tease, even though I feel light-headed and breathless – which is made even worse when he kisses my temple.

"Hey." Owen steps forward. "We can figure this out later. We need to get out of here."

"You're right. You're absolutely right," Claire quickly agrees, seeming extremely thankful for the change in subject. "Let's go."

---

"LOWERY, I'm on my way back to you," Claire reports into her cellphone. We're following Owen to one of the back areas that typically aren't accessible to non-employees. I'm thankful that we don't have to run anymore, but the absence of people means that I no longer have anything to distract myself from the pain in my side. It's getting worse. Breathing is becoming increasingly difficult.

I don't want to say anything about it, though. Owen and Claire have enough problems. I don't want to worry them, and I don't want to chance being split up from Zach and Gray.

"What do you mean, 'use the raptors'?" Claire questions, pressing her hand against her free ear so that she can hear better as a helicopter flies by.

Owen stops in his steps. "Son of a bitch," he exclaims.

"You shouldn't say 'bitch,'" Gray says.

Owen brushes the advice off. The door that we came through earlier is creaking as people pound against it, wanting to get away from the flying dinosaurs.

He ushers us into the waiting Jeep just as the doors break and civilians come pouring inside the restricted area, a large Pteranodon hovering over them.

Everyone is shouting at Owen to drive, to get out of the way of the stampede. I would join in, but I feel incredibly dizzy and a little tired. I'm seated between Zach and Gray, so I take advantage of the placement and grab onto the backs of Owen and Claire's chairs to keep me steady. All the jostling around makes the aching in my side near unbearable. I just want to be still.

Miraculously, Owen steers us out of the way in time. We're squeezed into a small alleyway. He stops the Jeep abruptly, causing us all to lurch forward. I let out a soft whimper from the tug of my seatbelt on my side, but no one hears.

I peer out the windshield with tired eyes to see a flood of horrified people, faces displaying their terror as they run for their lives. I don't want to see it. I lean back against my seat and close my eyes.

"This does not feel safe," Zach voices his opinion loudly.

"Can we stay with you?" Gray begs.

I hear Claire exhale loudly. "I am never leaving you as long as you live," she promises.

"No, no! Him!" Gray exclaims. I crack an eye open to see both boys pointing at Owen anxiously.

There's an awkward silence in the Jeep as Claire looks from us to Owen and then back to us.

Zach clears his throat. "Yeah... definitely him." He reaches over to clap Owen on the shoulder. I suck in a sharp breath when he pushes against my bleeding arm. He glances at me quickly. "Sorry, Jonelle."

I nod weakly. "It's okay," I wheeze.

Ha! No it's not.