"OK, Darius, introduce this dinosaur!"
Brooklynn stood before a dark surface like a stern teacher, pointing at a crude, hand-drawn map of Isla Nublar.
"Huh? Oh, right!"
The group sat around a long wooden table. They looked worse for wear, as if they had just crawled out of a sewer.
"The Datanglong belongs to the Carcharodontosauridae family. It's a medium-sized carnivore, originally discovered in China's—"
"Stop, stop, stop..."
Brooklynn rubbed her temples, nursing a growing headache, and cut him off. "I asked for a briefing on its behavior, not a lecture on its paleontology."
She was speechless; whenever Darius started talking about dinosaurs, he treated it like a college seminar.
"Oh. Right," Darius said, adjusting his thoughts. "They're likely territorial and will defend their hunting grounds from other predators. And given their size, we're definitely on the menu."
Brooklynn turned back to the board, sketching a few lines. "Which means we have to find a way to map out this thing's routine and slip through its territory."
Yasmina, sitting to the side, frowned and raised her hand. "Why not just go around it?"
Brooklynn pivoted to show the map. She circled two areas flanking the Datanglong's zone. "These are both dense jungle. We can't guarantee there aren't more dangerous predators in there. By contrast, the Datanglong's habitat is relatively open, which makes it easier for us to navigate."
She looked at Darius. "Think we can do it?"
Darius rubbed his chin, hesitating before offering a suggestion. "I think it's worth a shot. Even though it's a fierce carnivore, its size means we can probably still deter it with our tasers if things get hairy."
…
A branch was pushed aside, revealing a Datanglong sprawled lazily on the ground.
Sensing movement, the predator glanced at Darius and the others hiding behind the bushes. It blinked once, closed its eyes, and let out a comfortable, rumbling snore.
The teens, who had been tensed for a life-or-death struggle, stood frozen in disbelief. Everyone turned to look at Darius with questioning glares.
"Uh... every dinosaur has its own personality?" Darius stammered. "Maybe this one is just... exceptionally lazy?"
Several hours later, as the light began to fade, the group returned to camp covered in mud.
"Dammit, I didn't see a swamp coming..."
Brooklynn was fuming. They had been less than a kilometer from the docks when a massive mire blocked their path. She drew a large 'X' over the area southwest of the Datanglong territory, marking it impassable.
"Well, at least we can rule out Mitch and his crew coming from this direction," she muttered.
They had salvaged everything from the poachers' camp, and their notes made no mention of encountering a swamp.
…
"Darius! This one!"
"On it!"
A few days later, the Camp Cretaceous crew tried a different direction, heading toward the docks on the northeast side of the island. Once again, they were a mess, looking like they had just finished a marathon. A cross-country, life-of-the-flesh marathon.
"This is the Carcharodontosaurus, one of Jurassic World's restricted-access exhibits," Darius explained, recalling the beast they'd just encountered. "They're hyper-aggressive and fight constantly for food and land. This whole sector is definitely his."
He paused, adding a grim detail: "If I'm not mistaken, that one was an Alpha. The strongest of the pack."
"Do we have a chance of slipping past him?" Brooklynn asked.
"Zero. He's a bloodthirsty tyrant."
Darius was firm this time. Brooklynn didn't push it; she simply marked a large 'X' over that region.
…
Birds took flight in a panic as the forest erupted in violence. Trees toppled like toothpicks. The teenagers burst from the undergrowth, sprinting for their lives.
"Darius! I thought you said his territory was back there!"
"EVERY DINOSAUR HAS ITS OWN PERSONALITY!!"
Behind them, the Alpha Carcharodontosaurus was currently embroiled in a nightmare. Three Albertosaurus had him surrounded. He had his jaws locked onto the throat of one, blood spraying from both sides of its neck.
The other two Albertosaurus were clamped onto the Alpha's arm and hind leg, but the tyrant didn't even flinch, as if he were immune to pain.
Snap.
The Alpha's arm broke under the immense bite pressure. Ignoring the injury, he released the mangled throat of his first victim and lunged back into the brush to tear into the remaining two.
…
"Okay, here's my idea," Sammy said, taking her turn at the board. Brooklynn's plans were getting too dangerous and time-consuming, and the group had voted for a change. "I think we take the gondolas up the mountain. If we get to the high ground, we can see if there's a boat at the docks."
Kenji leaned back in his chair, legs crossed, fiddling with a pair of binoculars. "Uh, our binoculars aren't exactly high-tech. If we want to see the docks from the peak, we'll need something much stronger."
"Actually, at my house…" Kenji started to brag about his family's wealth again, but the group had already tuned him out.
"That means..."
"We have to go back to Main Street to find a better pair," Darius and Brooklynn said in unison.
"Wait," Ben interrupted. The high-intensity predator encounters of the last few days had left him looking exhausted. "My mom was a Jurassic World employee. I remember her saying there are fixed observation binoculars installed at the mountain peaks."
"Ben! That's perfect!" Sammy cheered, relieved she wouldn't have to face the T. rex on Main Street again.
…
Carlo was in his usual spot, sprawled by the lake enjoying a quiet afternoon, though his afternoons were rarely actually quiet.
Yasmina approached with her sketchbook and sat on her usual large rock. Seeing the Parasaurolophus hatchlings curled up asleep next to Carlo, she realized she wasn't even surprised anymore.
"Hey, Yaz! Why'd you head out early?" Darius asked as he ran up, notebook in hand.
"Darius? Oh... sorry. I just... I really needed to decompress," she said, rubbing her forehead. "You know how it is. These last few days... it's been a lot."
Darius found a patch of grass and sat down to record Carlo's behavior, even though the predator was currently doing nothing but napping.
"I thought you were in a hurry to leave," Darius noted.
Yasmina looked anxious, sketching a line only to immediately erase it. "I am. I want to leave more than anything. But I don't want to leave like this... I don't know how to describe it."
"Escaping death every single day... I just need to breathe. I hope tomorrow on the mountain is safe for once."
Darius offered a confident smile. "Don't worry. The mountain peaks aren't a great habitat for dinosaurs."
Yasmina managed a small laugh. "What if there's a dinosaur with a 'special personality' up there?"
Darius scratched his head awkwardly, offering no comeback.
Silence fell over the Great Lake once more, and Carlo finally got his wish: a peaceful nap.
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