Here it is! The prequel to 'The Hunted', my Jurassic Park fanfic I posted two days ago.

I don't own Jurassic Park. You know the drill. I've read the books a few times and watch the movies constantly, and if I've gotten any facts wrong, please let me know! Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Drew Austen, a field researcher and assistance to Dr. Harding for InGen's new park stationed on Isla Nublar, stepped back to inspect the lock on the storage shed. The key pad had been acting up lately and the door refused to lock when closed. Although he had a Parasaurolophus and a sick herd of Triceratops to check on and they called him out here to fix a door... He was pissed, yeah, but with problems popping up all over the park these days they were short on hands to check out minor problems. Plus, the shed was on his way to the Parasaurs and he had no real reason to say he couldn't. Everyone knew he was a bit of a handyman. Drew cursed himself for not keeping that skill hidden and just spending all his time on the dinosaurs instead of the fixing that damn computer in five minutes flat. He should have clarified ten that his real skill only lay in computers. Not key pads. But it was close enough, they must have thought.

Wiping a hand across his forehead and pushing his mop of dull brown hair out of the way, he leaned down to take a better look at the pad and the lock in the door itself. Both looked like they should, he supposed. Taking the cover off, he checked the wiring behind it, finding nothing the matter with it. He punched in the code and the door, now open wide, locked. Pressing the same code, it unlocked. He tested this a few times and positive it wouldn't fail him, closed the door and entered the code one last time…

It clicked.

He pulled on the door and it swung open wide. Damn it! Trying the code again, the door locked and unlocked while open, but once in place, the locks refused to stick. Haphazardly, Drew put the key pad back together. He would have to notify one of the actual maintenance guys to come and fix it. Unclipping the walkie-talkie from his belt and held it up to his face.

"Austen here. I'm out at… Storage Shed 4? The key pad is beyond my skill level to fix, could someone else come out here and take a look?" He listened to the static on the other end before a woman's voice answered him.

"Thanks for letting us know, we'll send someone out later today." Silence and static, then, "Austen? Drew Austen?"

"… yeah?"

"No way! I can't believe you're here! It's me, Marcie! From the reserve in Kenya?" the woman said, dropping the formal act she had going over the radio just seconds before.

Drew stood there, thinking. Marcie…? He had worked at the wildlife reserve in Kenya before, same as the park's game warden, Muldoon. He couldn't really give a face to this Marcie girl, though. Best to just go along with it. "Uhm. Yeah. How are you? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"You have no idea who I am." It wasn't a question. Busted. "Never mind, it's fine. I'll be out to fix the key pad today." The other end clicked, leaving static on his end. He switched the walkie-talkie off and secured it back on the belt holding up his khaki safari shorts. If he encountered Marcie he'd deal with her then. Right now, Dr. Harding was waiting for him.

…

Marcella Foster-Hanson, better known as Marcie to everyone, slammed the walkie-talkie onto her desk in the small room she jokingly called an office. She was a rung below the Head of Maintenance on the ladder of Jurassic Park's crew but was always getting stuck with lame jobs like, "repair this table" or "fix the keypad." She wanted to get out there and see the dinosaurs! They were so amazing and she knew her nephew would go crazy if she had some up close and personal time with them. Maybe even some pictures. They'd have to be smuggled off the island, though, with everyone being overly paranoid about letting anything about the park leak out to the world. They were a few months from opening and it was going to be a complete surprise (she had secured some pre-opening tour passes, since she had done a lot in the past year to actually set things up.) A few pens were built by Marcie, including the Velociraptors and a few for the less threatening specimens on the island.

Dragging herself out of the rolling chair, she gathered up her equipment and wrote a note which she posted on her door, informing anyone who came that she was 'Out fixing shit. Be back whenever.' It was very unprofessional, but for the most part, people around here had a sense of humor. Things were breaking left, right and center. No one was ever in their office for more than five minutes at a time.

The hallways of the Service Building were empty. There wasn't much of a point for that letter now, with no one around to see it. Passing by the break room, she overheard a fellow repair-person that the tourists were arriving soon to tour the park. They were excited. Apparently some dinosaur expert was flying in. All Marcie really knew about the things was that her nephew loved them and they were like lizards, and also extinct. Until now. She had trouble keeping their names straight, but the ones that were dangerous usually sounded dangerous.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Marcie turned, and Helen Young, a researcher, jogged to catch up with her. Her crazy red curls bounced and moved round her head even when she stopped moving, giving Marcie the image of Medusa from the Hercules stories. Helen was a year or two older, maybe twenty eight. She was dressed the typical safari-inspired khaki shorts and a button up top with rolled up sleeves that everyone who went outside wore. Marcie had on something very similar, but her boots and vest gave her away as being a worker. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a bright red scrunchie.

"What are you slumming around here for, Helen? Getting bored of the smart life?" Marcie joked, continuing to walk.

"Getting bored of being a smart ass?" Helen asked.

"No. Not yet." The two remained quiet for about five seconds before bursting out laughing. "But really, it's good to see you. You should stop by here more often!" The blonde wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders.

Helen sighed, "I do. But you're never in your office. Like now, you're usually off to work on something. What's wrong now? I thought all the pens were in working order. Nothing's gone wrong with them for weeks."

It was Marcie's turn to sigh now. Dropping her arm and shifting the box of tools she was carrying to the free hand, she retold her conversation with Drew Austen and the broken keypad. "He doesn't remember me, which has to be total crap. I mean, we dated for what… three months? Is he that dumb?" By this point, the two had gone up a flight of stairs and were leaving the building. In a small parking lot were three cars; the other five were being used by other maintenance personnel.

"Well, Kenya was a long time ago. A lot has happened since then. I'd stay and chat more, but you're probably in a hurry and I have to go get some stuff ready for the tour today, so maybe we can talk more later? I'll see you on the boat." Helen waved and ran off, around the building and out of sight. Marcie heaved a sigh which was part grumble. She wasn't in any kind of hurry.

Tossing the tool box into the car's passenger seat and sliding into the driver's side, she started the engine and headed in the direction of Storage Shed 4.

…

Jumping back and bumping into Robert Muldoon, Tommy Chapel apologized and got of the way as the game warden stormed past him. At least he didn't get another scolding. The Velociraptors terrified him and he wished she had been assigned to oversee some other part of the park, far away from them. Muldoon didn't have the patience to deal with the fears of the other employees. He was often asked that if the dinosaurs scared him so much, why did he agree to work here? He liked dinosaurs before coming here, all of them. They were long dead. But these ones were very much alive and wouldn't hesitate to bite you in the jugular and eat you while you were still alive…

"Chapel, stop gawking at the beasts and get over here!"

"Y-yes, sir! Coming, sir!" The boy stuttered. He hurried down the metal stairs from the viewing platform of the Velociraptor holding pen. Muldoon and another security officer were talking and Chapel waited. He cast worried glances at the pen. There was one of those raptors that liked to run into the fence. 'Testing it' is what Muldoon had said. Testing for weaknesses… Chapel shuddered. He needed to stop thinking about them. He'd be leaving on the boat tonight to get away from the storm and would be away for three blissful days from the park and it's dinosaurs.

The men stopped talking, Muldoon took off in the car and the other officer, Ramirez, told him to head to Storage Shed 4. He had heard over the radio that the key pad was acting up and someone was out to fix it now. He wanted Chapel to recode it once that was done. They had dealt with a theft just last week and the supplies in that shed needed to locked.

With the car gone, Chapel headed out on foot. The shed was on the tour route and relatively close to where he was now. In no time, he reached it and greeted the woman working on the door. They talked little and once everything was back in working order, he thanked her and went to work on setting a new code.

Marcie scoffed at him. Not even waiting till she left to recode it? What did he think she was going to do? Steal stuff? It wasn't her who took those supplies last week, but she guessed everyone was a suspect until the real culprit was caught. The supplies, if she remember correctly, were mostly food and some darts for the blow guns. Her guess would be that bag of lard, Nedry in Computer Technicians. It didn't make any sense why he'd take the darts, but maybe he just thought they were candy.

Dumping the tool box back into the car, she turned back to the shed, hands on her hips. "Hey, kid. You need a ride back?" Even if this guy had no manners, it didn't mean Marcie couldn't be polite. Besides, he had walked here and even on foot, the Visitor Center and the other buildings were pretty far. He pressed a few more buttons and then turned around, smiling.

"I'd love that, thanks! Just give me a second." Tommy entered in a new code that he would have to remember and tell the rest of security later. Closing the door and locking it, he ran to the car and jumped in beside Marcie.

The conversation on the drive back was just as small as before. Marcie thought the guy still had to be a teenager, he looked so young. He had his dark brown hair (maybe it was black? She really couldn't tell) styled in the way kids that age did. His face had a few blemishes and he was wide eyed and peppy. He asked too many questions and all Marcie wanted to do was stop the car, push him out and leave him in the middle of one of the dinosaur exhibits… and not the nice ones.

"Okay, we're here. I need to take this car back to Maintenance, so uh… see you." Marcie said when she stopped outside the Visitor Center. She had no idea where the kid was headed, but he could walk there from here. Jumping out, Tommy beamed at her with perfect white teeth that Marcie had the urge to punch in. Damn kid, she thought. Years of whitening and my teeth aren't even close to that.

"Thanks a lot, Marcie! Bye!" His voice cracked and both of them winced. Tommy turned bright red and then ran off before he embarrassed himself further. All Marcie could do then was laugh and drive off toward the Service Building.

Damn kid.

Once again, I hope you liked it! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Review if you have the time and thanks!