Chapter 7: The T-Rex
"You got any kids?" Alan asks trying to help the time pass.
Me? Oh, oh, hell, yeah, three. I love kids. Hmm. Anything at all can and does happen. Same with wives, for that matter."
"You married?"
"Occasionally. Uh, yeah, I'm always on the lookout for a future ex-Mrs. Malcolm." He takes a swig from his flask and offers it to Alan. "By the way, Dr. Sattler, um, she's not, like, available, is she?"
"Why?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry. You two are, uh…"
"Yeah." The car suddenly stops. "Hey, what'd I touch?"
"Uh, you didn't touch anything. We stopped."
EGEGEGEGEG
The cars have stopped and the rain is coming down. I hear a car door and turn to see my dad running to the car. I open the door.
"Is your radio working?" he asks.
"No, I guess yours isn't either." I state and he shakes his head in affirmation.
"I think we should just stay put." Gennaro says. Dad and I shake our heads in agreement. Dad nods his head and then runs back to the other car.
EGEGEGEGEG
"Their radio's out too. Gennaro said to stay put." Alan says as he gets back in the car.
"Kids okay?"
"I didn't ask. Why wouldn't they be?"
"Kids get scared."
"What's to be scared about? It's just a little hiccup in the power."
"I didn't say I was scared."
"I didn't say you were scared."
"I know."
EGEGEGEGEGEG
"Boo!" Timmy jumps up from behind the seat. He has these goggles on the top of his head. Lex and I jump.
"Hey, where did you find those?" Gennaro asks.
"In a box under my seat."
"Are they heavy?"
"Yeah!"
"Then they're expensive. Put 'em back." Gennaro goes back to fanning himself.
"Don't scare me." Lex says as she smacks him. Timmy goes to the back and starts messing with the goggles.
"Oh, cool. Night vision." I feel the car shake a little and hear a faint rumbling. "Do you feel that?" Timmy says putting his hand on my shoulder. I nod my head as the car shakes again.
"Maybe it's the power tryin' to come back on." Gennaro guesses. There are a few more jolts.
"What is that?" Lex asks. I look out the window and see the goat is gone. "Where's the goat?" As soon as Lex finishes, the leg lands on the top of the car. We look to see an arm go back over the fence. Suddenly the T-Rex comes into full view.
"Oh, Jesus!" Gennaro yells as he runs out of the car to the bathroom.
"He left us. He left us." I turn to Lex and Tim and they both look at me with fear in their eyes.
EGEGEGEGEG
"Where does he think he's going?" Alan asks as they watch Gennaro run to the bathroom.
"When you gotta go, you gotta go."
EGEGEGEGEG
The fence starts to bend and the lines start to snap. I silently start freaking out. I can't show it in front of the other two.
"Dr. Grant?" Lex says as she looks back at the other car with fear in her eyes. She goes to the back and finds an emergency box and grabs the flashlight.
EGEGEGEGEG
"Boy, do I hate being right all the time." Ian says as the T-Rex starts walking between the cars.
"Keep absolutely still. Its vision is based on movement." They both sit still. A light suddenly comes on from the other car. "Turn the light off. Em, turn the light off." Alan says with growing concern in his voice.
EGEGEGEGEG
"Turn the light off! Turn-Turn it off!" I yell. "Why did you turn it on?"
We all stop as the T-Rex leans its head down to look inside the car. Timmy goes and shuts the open door. I cringe as the noise catches the animal's attention.
"Stay still," I tell them. "Its vision is based on movement." They immediately freeze as the T-Rex leans down next to me. I still have the flashlight on. The T-Rex roars and Timmy and Lex put their hands over their ears. I rush to turn the light off.
"I'm sorry!" Lex yells as Timmy and I try to get it shut off.
"You're the one who turned it…" Timmy stops his blaming and we look up.
"Oh God," I breathe glancing one more time to the other car.
The T-Rex breaks through the glass in the roof. Timmy, Lex, and I seek refuge under the glass. We form a barrier by putting our hands and feet on the glass. Its teeth snarl at us through the glass. They are screaming and I am trying to keep the animal from breaking through the glass again. I turn my head and watch as it leans its head down and starts pushing the car. Lex and Timmy scream. The car is nudged again a second time. Finally it tips over. Broken glass crashes around us.
I find myself lying on the roof and mud is pouring in from the broken sunroof. The T-Rex continues to nudge the car. I try crawling out of the broken window when the T-Rex steps on the car and starts smashing it. I try to move but my feet get caught by the seat. I see that Timmy's legs are caught as well.
EGEGEGEGEG
Alan climbs frantically to the back of the car. He finds the emergency box and pulls out flare. He turns it on and goes outside.
"Hey!" He gets the T-Rex's attention. "Oh, God." It comes towards him and he throws the flare aside and stands still. It goes after the flare. Ian comes out of the car with a flare of his own.
"Hey, hey! Hey, hey!" Ian runs out with his own flare.
"Ian, freeze!"
"Get the kids!" Ian is still running from the Rex.
"Get rid of the flare!" Alan watches as the Rex takes Ian out. He then runs to the other car.
EGEGEGEGEG
I am vaguely aware that the Rex has left us alone. I do a quick survey and realize that it will take a lot of effort to get out. Out of the corner of my eye I see my dad kneel in to view.
"Dr. Grant! Dr. Grant!" Lex is freaking out. I try to wiggle my feet free, but it's no use. They are stuck.
"Okay, Lex, I got ya." Dad helps Lex out of the car. He turns back to us.
"I'm stuck! The seat's got my feet!" Timmy yells.
"Mine too." I say.
"I'll get you next." Dad says to me. I shake my head.
"Get Timmy out first." He reluctantly nods his head.
"You're okay. You're all right." Dad is trying to calm Lex down. "Tim! Tim?" He stops when he hears Lex scream. "Don't move. He can't see us if we don't move." Suddenly I feel the car start moving. Timmy starts screaming. I put my hand on his trying to calm him down.
"This way…Wait, wait, wait!" I hear dad trying to keep Lex out of harm's way. The T-Rex brings its head down in front of us again and roars. Timmy squeezes my hand harder. The Rex nudges the car again and I feel the car hit the barrier.
"Timmy? Timmy!" I hear Lex's frantic calling.
"Emily, Tim!" It's the last thing I hear as the Rex starts pushing the car and the sound of the scraping metal is all that I hear.
EGEGEGEGEG
Alan and Lex go over the side of the wall. Lex is on Alan's back. The car is slowly being pushed over the side.
"Lex! Lex! You're chokin' me!" Lex eases up her grip. The car is getting closer to going over. Alan spots another wire. "Grab the wire!" Lex grabs the wire just as the car plummets over the side. Alan's heart drops as they watch it land in a tree down below.
EGEGEGEGEG
I know the car must be getting close to going over. I look over to Timmy and he is terrified.
"Hold on to my hand and don't let go." I tell him. He grabs my hand and holds on tight. Suddenly I feel the sensation of falling. I hear a few branches snapping and then everything goes black.
EGEGEGEGEG
"'Key check space minus O, key checks off, safety space minus O.' He's turning the safety systems off. He doesn't want anybody to see what he's about to do." Arnold is explaining why everything has lost power. "Now, look at this next entry. It's the kicker. 'White rabbit object.' Whatever it did it did it all, but with the key checks off, the computer didn't file the keystrokes. So, the only way to find them is to go through the computer's lines of code on by one."
"How many lines of code are there?" Ellie asks, afraid of the answer.
"About two million."
"Two million?" Ellie asks in unbelief.
"Yeah." John turns to Robert with concern on his face.
"Robert, I, I wonder if perhaps you would be good enough to take a gas jeep and bring back my grandchildren."
"Sure."
"I'm going with him." Ellie says as she follows Robert out of the room.
EGEGEGEGEG
Alan is at the drainage pipe cleaning the mud off of him. He turns to the tree with the car.
"Emily? Timmy? Emily! Timmy! Em! Tim!" Alan turns to Lex. She is still freaking out. Alan is worried about his daughter but he needs to get Lex calmed down. "Now, Lex, listen, listen to me. I'm right here. I'm gonna look after you, but I have to go help my daughter and your brother. So I want you to say right here and wait for me!"
"He left us. He left us!" He takes both her arms in his hands and looks her directly in the eye.
"But that's not what I'm gonna do. Okay? Stay here." She nods her head. She goes over to the drainage pipe and sits inside.
"Emily? Timmy? Em? You hear me? I'm coming up." Alan starts climbing the tree. He starts mumbling to himself. "I hate climbing. I hate trees. Way too high."
EGEGEGEGEG
I can feel someone shaking me. I slowly open my eyes and look at a frightened Timmy. The first thing I register is a pain in my head. I reach up and touch the side of my forehead. I bring it back to find blood on my fingers. It's not a lot, but enough to know it will probably leave a scar.
"Are you okay?" Timmy asks. I shake my head yes. The motion making me a little dizzy and Timmy looks at me with a look of disbelief.
"Are you?" Before he can answer I hear my dad calling to us.
"Hey, Em? Tim? Em." I see dad look through the window. "You okay?" I nod my head. He turns to Timmy. "You okay?"
"I threw up." He says. I notice the stain on his shirt.
"Oh. Oh, that's okay. Just give me your hand." Timmy shies away. "Hey, Tim, I won't tell anyone you threw up. Right, Em. We won't tell anyone." I shake my head in agreement. "Just, just give me your hand. Here, I gotcha. Come on." Timmy starts moving.
"Okay."
"That's good. Over the wheel." I start to follow after Tim. Thankfully, the only thing that hurts is my head.
"Don't pull me too hard."
"No hurry. Stand on the door. Hang on to me." Dad gets Timmy out of the car and then turns to me. I reach out my hand.
"Okay, I got you." Once out on the limb, dad wraps me in a tight hug. He takes his handkerchief and gently dabs at the spot on my head. I flinch at the pain but smile at his compassion.
"Okay. Okay, that's not too bad, right, Tim?" He winks at me.
"Yes, it is."
"Just like coming out of a tree house. Did your dad ever build you a tree house?"
"No!" Timmy and I say at the same time.
"Yeah, me too. The thing about climbing is, you never, never look down!" Timmy automatically looks down.
"This is impossible. How am I gonna do this? It's about 50, 50 feet…"
"I'm gonna help you…" We hear a snapping noise. The car is moving. "Oh, no. Tim, go!" Timmy goes down first with me right behind him. Dad stops us before the car stops at a large limb above us. "Oh! Go, go, go! Go, Tim, go! Faster, Tim!" We make it almost to the bottom. "Tim, Emily, jump!" I jump immediately. Dad wraps his arm around Timmy. "Go, Tim!" they land and we go a few steps before dad pulls us both down to our knees and covers us. The car comes crashing down over us again. The broken sunroof keeping us from getting hit.
"Well…we're back…in the car again." Timmy says out of breath.
"Well, at least we're out of the tree." I point out. Dad just chuckles. We crawl out and make our way over to the pipe. Lex jumps down and immediately goes to hug her brother. Timmy and I both take the chance to clean ourselves up. I take dad's handkerchief and get it wet. Carefully I take Timmy's face in my hand and wipe the dried blood from his face. Lex walks over and takes it from me. Dad pulls me to the side.
"When the car went over," he starts but doesn't continue.
"At least this time you stayed." He smiles and pulls me in to another hug.
"I need you to help me keep these two calm," he whispers in my ear. I turn to look at Lex and Tim. "Okay guys we better get moving." Lex hands the handkerchief back to my dad. Timmy grabs my hand and I smile at him. Lex walks next to dad as Timmy and I follow.
EGEGEGEGEG
Robert and Ellie pull up to the scene in the gas powered jeep. They both get out and look around.
"Where's the other car? Where's the other car!" Ellie voice is laced with fear and panic. They look around more.
"Alan!" Ellie yells desperately.
"Dr. Grant!" Robert calls out as well.
"Emily!" Ellie cries as they both gravitate to the destroyed bathroom.
"Grant!" Robert lifts a piece of palm branch roof. "I think this was Gennaro."
"I think this was too." Ellie says with disgust in her voice. They both freeze when they hear a roar. "I think it's ahead of us."
"It could be anywhere. With the fences down, it can wander in and out of any paddock it likes." They both look from side to side when they hear a moan. They move some branches and find Ian.
"He put a tourniquet on. Ian. Ian!" Ellie points out before she tries to wake Ian.
"Remind me to thank John for a lovely weekend." Ian says while slowly sitting up. The T-Rex is heard again.
"Can we chance moving him?" Ellie asks.
"Please chance it." Ian replies. They get him in the jeep, when Ellie walks over to the debris left over from the other car.
"Ellie, come on!" Robert yells impatiently.
"Wait, wait." Ellie looks over the side and spots the other car. Her heart drops as she turns back to the others. "The other car!"
Robert and Ellie make their way down to the car.
"Dr. Grant?" Robert calls shining his flashlight around.
"Alan! Emily!" Ellie is now sobbing as she runs to the side of the car.
"They're not here." Robert says as Ellie's flashlight catches three sets of footprints in the mud. She lets out a sigh of relief to know that they are at least okay. She looks off into the woods as another roar is heard.
EGEGEGEGEG
Ian is sitting in the jeep with his eyes closed. A tremor wakes him. He looks at the puddle next to the jeep as it ripples with the tremor.
"Anybody hear that? It's a um, it's an impact tremor is what it is. I'm fairly alarmed here." Ian says as he watches the puddle of water move again. He sees Ellie and Robert running back to the jeep. He waves with his arms, "Come on, come on, come on. We gotta get outta here. Now, now! Right now!" They both climb in the jeep. "Go, go ,go! Let's go! Start the engine!"
Just as the jeep is put in drive, the T-Rex comes into view. Robert punches it. The T-Rex starts gaining. "Must go faster! Here it comes! Fifth gear!" Ian is yelling. Ellie turns around.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" She yells as Ian tries moving away from the Rex. He accidently bumps the shifter and the car starts to slow down.
"Get off the stick! Bloody move!" While they are not looking, a low branch comes into view.
"Look out!" Ellie yells.
"Down!" Everyone ducks as the branch takes the top of the jeep off. Finally, they start to pull away.
"Think they'll have that on the tour?" Ian asks as the T-Rex slows down and they lose sight of it.
