The Tyrannoceratops looked at us and charged again. We scattered once more and we all went the same way we did before. Jack slid under the Tyrannoceratops and sliced its stomach. It roared in pain and ran away, only to come back a few seconds later and charge at Jack. He blocked the horns with his shield. It ran away from us. We watched it disappear.

“I need to take a walk,” Lindsay said.

I volunteered to go with her, but she turned me down.

“Alone,” she said.

I watched her leave, and I turned to Jack.

“Hey, I think that hatchery still has some blueprints on how they created that creature," I suggest

“Okay. Just one thing," Jack said.

“Sure?”

“We need to find a spike on the creature’s tail," Jack replied.

“Why?”

“Because I think Bob has been poisoned by that creature. That is the only way to save him," Jack said. “That is the reason he couldn’t fight the Tyrannoceratops. He was too weak. He could have easily stayed on," Jack said. That made me worried.

What if Bob died? I thought over and over again. It would be awful. We couldn’t just do nothing, so Jack and I set off to find some way to help the little dinosaur.

“When Lindsay comes back, we will tell her nothing,” I cautioned Jack.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Or else we’d never hear the end of getting him hurt. We probably wouldn’t live long. I’m honestly more scared of Lindsay than the Tyrannoceratops," I nodded in agreement.

We started randomly feeding Bob plants, and, eventually, he started making weird, cough-like sounds. Then he jumped out of my arms, hissing at me.

“I guess that means that he’s alright,” I worry. “I wonder if he remembers anything."

Bob jumped up on me, and he tried to claw at my eyes.

“Let’s get back to the bunker before Lindsay does,” I said.

“You mean the place where the bunker used to be?” Jack muttered.

“Aw, that’s right! There’s another thing on my to-do list,” I groaned.

When we got back to the destroyed bunker, Lindsay was waiting for us. This tiny black and white blur streaked towards us, yapping loudly.

“What is that thing?” I shouted.

The thing came to a stop.

“It’s a dog," Lindsay said.

“I can see that now,” I muttered.

“Alright, wise one,” Lindsay said under her breath. “Why don’t you tell me where you’ve been this whole time?”

“I could ask you the same thing," I retorted.

Lindsay glared at me.

“We were just taking Bob for a walk,” Jack interrupted.

“I went to the remains of the town that was here, just to explore,” Lindsay explained. “I found an abandoned animal shelter. All of the cages were broken except for one. I found this little rat terrier in her cage. That’s why she’s here. I broke the lock and brought her out. I named her Luna. Do you want to hear her middle name?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Tic,” Lindsay replied.

“Why?” I asked.

“Say her first and middle names together."

“Luna...Tic."

“Faster."

“Luna Tic. Oh, I get it! Lunatic!”

“Exactly!”

“Okay, but what are we going to do with the remains of the bunker?” Jack asked.

“I’ll fix it up,” I volunteered.

“Get going,” Jack commanded. Lindsay and I started to clean up the kitchen and main living area while Jack cleaned up his and Anna’s room.

“Man, another thing of mine is broken," Jack complained. We had just finished cleaning up the destroyed bunker and Anna came from behind the trees, where the garden is.

“What happened here?” Anna asked.

“The Tyrannoceratops destroyed the bunker," Jack said. She was surprised because the walls on the bunker were made of pure steel.

We started to rebuild the place and extended the bunker a bit. The living room was lengthened 20 feet in each direction and we upgraded our rooms to be about 10 feet longer in each direction. We built a ladder that goes up to the top of Lindsay’s room and made her an archery post where she could spot dinosaurs. Jack had a new metal workshop where he could upgrade his sword however he wanted.

The new bunker took about two months to build. We all settled down for the night and rested for a long time (14 hours!).

I sat on the old couch, staring at my feet. It was a habit I had when I was in deep thought. Everyone else was bustling around, but I was completely still, pondering everything that had happened on the island. Thinking and imagining are the same thing. You process what is in reality now, then repeatedly imagine all sorts of different outcomes from the actions you consider taking, and then… you lose yourself. It’s peaceful.

“Hey guys, I'm going to pick some fresh food in my garden. See you guys later!” Lindsay announced.

“Stay," I muttered.

“What? Why?”

“Nothing. Nevermind,”

“No, seriously, what?”

“I miss my family… They all died in a plane crash. I feel like a part of me is missing. I feel like I'm not whole. Being with you guys… it helps."

All Jack did was give me a crooked smile and a thumbs up.

Lindsay walked over to sit next to me. She gave me an encouraging smile.

“Don’t worry. We’re here for you,” she said, scooting closer to me.

We stayed like that for a while. It was nice.

That afternoon, after making sure I was fine, Lindsay went off to her garden to find Bob and Luna Tic.

“I think I will go with Lindsay," Anna said.

“Okay see you later," Jack said, and Anna ran off to find Lindsay.

After spending a while sitting around in the bunker, I suggested that Jack and I go to the abandoned Walmart. He agreed, and we set out.

“Jack. I have to tell you something," I said.

“Okay?” He replied.

“I… kind of am.... in love with Lindsay," I said.

“What? How come you never told me this before? Why are you just now telling me this!?” He demanded.

“I just wanted to keep it a secret. Please don’t tell her," I said.

“Kyle, you are my only friend right now. I would never tell Lindsay!”

“Promise?”

“Promise with twelve cherries on top."

We walked for another few minutes without anything trying to kill us. We made it to the abandoned Walmart. We saw some soda and drinks and put them into a rusty cart. Then we found the jackpot. After shoving aside a moldy shelf, we saw an entire wall of cans. We grabbed everything we could, but then we heard a slight scraping noise.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Bob?” He called softly.

We kept hearing it, then something landed behind us. A creature. One of Alex’s creatures. It grabbed us and a person walked from another aisle. It was Alex.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Alex said.

“How are you alive!?” Jack yelled at him.

“You truly believed I wouldn’t be prepared for any outcome?" He scoffed.

“Well, you really didn’t think about your plan!” Jack yelled.

“Release Jack, my creature," Alex said in a demanding voice. It dropped him but kept me hanging. Alex pulled out a sword from behind his back. Jack unsheathed his own sword.

Alex narrowed his eyes, and Jack did the same.

They charged. Clang! Clang! Clang! Their swords seemed to hit each other a million times. I was able to send an SOS to Lindsay and Anna. Jack and Alex were still dueling. A few minutes later, Lindsay and Anna ran in, seeing Jack and Alex in the midst of their battle.

“Jack!” Lindsay yelled, worried. Alex had him pinned against the side of the old building, sword at Jack’s throat.

“You ready to give up, Silvercatcher?” Alex said with confidence.

“Not even close," Jack replied. “And it’s Silvercauther,” Jack ducked and Alex’s sword went into the wall. Jack dashed forward to slash Alex’s face with his sword then immediately hopped back. Alex screamed in pain, grasping his face to staunch the flow of blood.

“Okay! Okay! You win!” Alex shouted desperately.

“Run and take your dinosaur with you," Jack said.

“Come, creature," Alex called as he walked away.

“Jeez! You almost died!” Anna said as we walked out of the Walmart with all of the soda and food.

The end.

It ends there!

Just kidding. We aren’t that lucky. Anyway, we left Walmart after shopping. We were fine, and we had a huge party for Jack, complete with Lindsay’s cooking. Not much happened that night. No dinosaurs, no Alex.

By the time we got back to our bunker, it was past midnight. We had survived again. Barely.

Yeah, it was a long night. We were all on edge, so went to bed at about four in the morning. We finally got in bed and slept, just to be woken up two hours later by the Tyrannoceratops roaring in the distance.

I walked out to the hallway. Lindsay and Anna were yawning and walking in my direction, but I didn’t see Jack. I walked outside. He was outside practicing. He sat down and picked up his guitar and started singing. I recognized the song. It was “Warrior” by Imagine Dragons.

As a child, you would wait

And watch from far away,

But you always knew

That you’d be the one

to work while they all play

And you, you lay

Awake at night and scheme

Of all the things you

Could change but it just a dream

Here we are, don’t turn away now

We are the Warriors

that built this town

Here we are, don’t turn away now

We are the Warriors

That built this town from dust

The time will come,

When you will have to rise

Above the best, and prove yourself

your spirit never dies

Farewell, I’ve gone,

To take my throne above,

Don’t weep for me

‘Cause this will be the labor of my love

Here we are, don’t turn away now

We are the Warriors

That built this town

Here we are, don’t turn away now

We are the Warriors

that built this town from dust

Here we are, don’t turn away now

We are the Warriors that built this town

Here we are, don’t turn away now

We are the Warriors

That built this town from dust

I walked back to the bunker thinking that song pretty much explained Jack’s life. It turns out that Lindsay and Anna were listening as well. Jack didn’t sing much, but he sang pretty well. I was surprised. The three of us went back inside.

“Act like nothing happened," I said

“Okay," Lindsay agreed.

Jack walked in and sat down.

“Anything for breakfast?” I asked.

“Sleep. I want to sleep for breakfast," Lindsay muttered, yawning again.

Then I felt a warm breeze. Too warm. Hot. Burning. It was obvious that Jack and Lindsay were uncomfortable as well. We looked around and saw a light emitting from the living room. As we walked closer, the hallway grew hotter and hotter. We were halfway down the hall when we saw flames licking at the hallway ceiling.

“Fire!” I shouted. We all sprinted outside.

“Wait. Who is that?” I asked. Somebody was approaching us. As he drew closer, I could see that the figure was a boy about our age with a long, jagged scar on his face. It ran from his left eyebrow to the edge of his mouth, dragging it into a menacing scowl. The overall effect was threatening. I was immediately on guard, prepared for combat.

“Seth," Jack greeted the intruder warily.

“Well, well, well," the guy - Seth - said, still stalking towards us. “Jack." That’s when I noticed something odd about his gait. He walked as if his back was in pain.

“What happened to you?” Jack jogged towards Seth.

“That creature. The creature that attacked your bunker-”

“It got you?” Jack interrupted.

“The one that killed Mark. The one that almost killed you, Jack. That one," Seth didn’t pause. “That was me,”

“You?” Jack was confused, and so were the rest of us.

“Yeah, me. So, what are you going to do to me?” Seth challenged. I pulled out my bow and nocked an arrow.

“Kyle, stop. I have to do this alone," Jack said.

“Jack," I protested.

“No. I befriended this monster. This is how it ends."

A cloud of thick black smoke blew towards us, making everyone but Seth erupt in coughing fits.

“Run. Go. Keep everyone safe for me," Jack said, drawing his sword.

I hesitated, but then I complied. “Okay."

Ignoring their protests, I dragged Lindsay and Anna away from the battlefield. Another cloud of smoke blocked our view just as Jack charged towards Seth.

I will let Jack take this over since only he knows what happened.