Chapter Two
Only the crunching of bones as the Tyrannosaurus bit into its most recent prey broke the usual natural sounds of Isla Nublar. Tara stood next to a tree near-by, her attention scanning over the area. She learned quickly that just because the large dinosaur was in her presence, she wasn't necessarily safe. Everything was ready to pick off anything smaller than it, easier to kill than it, and not everything feared the Tyrannosaurus.
Many things were faster, and she was probably the easiest prey.
She shook her head slightly, hearing a different sound emerging. Her attention moved upward as it neared, the sound of wings in the sky. Two helicopters passed overhead. Her gaze followed after them before she looked back to the Tyrannosaurus, the dinosaur started to move off again. She entered the clearing, allowing her attention to wander from her surroundings and rest on the sound of the metal birds.
They seemed to concentrate at one location for several minutes before moving further off and disappearing entirely. She looked forward, watching the dinosaur she'd spent the last few weeks with before smirking some. Just like before. She took a deep breath, glancing toward where the resort was and then continuing on. People were back; she didn't know who, but they were back.
"Grab a couple of walkies," Lowery ordered, facing the door as the other two men entered the control room again. He turned in his seat, looking back to the cameras that still operated in various places around the park. A few times, they'd catch the movement of a dinosaur across one, but otherwise things sat still. Flashes of the videos on that final day, the screams and flat lining heart monitors, went through Lowery's mind.
He shifted to the dinosaurs lining his old station; surprised they managed to stay there. Owen and Barry moved passed Claire, grabbing a couple of charging walkie-talkies before turning to face the woman. "She's out there somewhere," Owen stated. The man next to him shook his head, twisting a knob on his walkie to turn it on.
"We don't know that," he answered. Owen looked to him, eying him a moment before looking to the camera screens.
"Her body wasn't there, no signs of being eaten. If I know her, she's alive out there. She has an advantage, she'll use it." Lowery grabbed one of the dinosaur figures from his desk. He played with it between his fingers, studying the shape of the four-legged beast before turning in his seat. His gaze moved to the other three.
"As soon as InGen gets in from the beach, they're going to put you to work out there. How do you plan on searching for her?" Claire asked. She shook her head. Her arms crossed over her chest. "She still may be dead, Owen."
"Hey, I didn't give up when it was your nephew's. Don't give up on her," he responded. The woman looked away from him.
"We just find the T-Rex," Lowery stated. All eyes turned to him. He paused. His shoulders rolled into a slow shrug.
"Why're you lookin' for the T-Rex now?" a voice came from the doorway to the room. All eyes shifted, including Lowery's. Charles stood in the doorway, his attention moving from the four of them to the screens.
"You got here fast," Owen responded. The man chuckled.
"The animals have the island, they're all spread out." He looked to the two men, his eyes falling to the walkie-talkies and then to Lowery. "So, interested in the T-Rex?"
"Not personally," the man responded, turning in his seat again and setting the dinosaur figure back into its place.
"Well, I am." The man in the doorway moved further into the room. "Our first goal is to round up the dinosaurs that will aim to eat us." His attention moved to Owen. "Think you can still control those raptors of yours?"
"Never could control them," he answered, clipping the walkie onto his belt. "But if Blue is out there, I'd like to see her again." He couldn't say one way or another if that bond would still be there, though he certainly hoped it would. There would be no letting his guard down though.
"Either way, we go after the Rex first. She's gonna be the most dangerous." Charles leaned against the railing and watched the cameras. He had been part of InGen long before the incident with the Idominus happened, but he hadn't been on the island that day. There were other matters that Hoskins assigned him to. After the fall of Isla Nublar, he was more than happy to take the new role and deal with their little scientist.
Claire turned to face the man fully. "And how do you suggest we get her rounded up?" she asked. The man chuckled a little. He looked to the woman, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Mister Grady goes and finds his Raptors, or Raptor if it is, they do that little hunting game and seek her out. The others follow and we take her down."
"Did you learn nothing from the Indominus?" Owen asked.
"Even if it would work," Barry interrupted. "How do we go about finding a single Raptor?" The other man turned back to the cameras in front of them.
"Your man here watches the cameras, you two go out with a platoon of men. Communication and teamwork, boys. It's doable." Owen sighed and shook his head. He walked passed the man, to the door.
"Whatever you say. I'll be outside," he responded. He slipped out the door and headed down the hallway, glancing at the lab as he passed. Hoskins never took in what he said either. He looked forward. Part of his mind told him to argue, but the other part told him that their crazy plan might just work out in finding Tara, so long as they lived through it.
He slipped outside from the lobby and descended down the few stairs. The earth rumbled as an Apatosaurus made its way along in front of him. The back of his mind told him finding Tara would be a long shot, that even with the protection of the T-Rex, anything could get to her. Unlike the dinosaurs themselves, she was still human, with little to protect her other than her size. Even her sense of smell wouldn't be enough to save her.
It wasn't all he feared about for the woman however. A person left alone out there would change, that he knew to be inevitable, but he wondered how much she changed, how much she would give into the dinosaur tendencies the lab made part of her DNA.
The rest of his mind felt glad there was a chance; he expected to come and find a body or remains of one and take it back home for burial. But there was a chance they could find her alive.
"Hey, Owen, you there?" Lowery's voice crackled through the walkie. Owen glanced down to the equipment on his hip and unclipped it, pressing the button.
"What's up?"
"Think we saw Blue, near where the aviary was. Barry's coming out, the other men should be there shortly." Owen let out a small sigh.
"Roger." He glanced up to the sky, almost ducking behind something as a Pteranodon flew overhead. It failed to notice him.
"Oh uh… one more thing Owen."
"What is it?"
"If you find Tara… let her know I've changed my mind about that movie, Planet of Dinosaurs." Owen paused, trying to understand what the man was talking about. He held the walkie to his mouth, ready to push the button.
"Whatever you say, Lowery."