"Hang on, Ellie. We're almost there . . ." Alan cooed gently as they approached the Visitors' Center.
Ellie didn't answer. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd vomit. In any case, her tongue was too swollen to speak. All she could do was hobble along and trust that Alan knew what he was doing.
When they reached the bottom of the staircase, Alan adjusted his arm so that Ellie could hold the railing. It took her a couple of tries: there were three bars in her field of vision.
"Jeepers! What's wrong with her?" a familiar voice squawked.
Oh, no.
"She's been electrocuted, Robin. Stand aside."
"Yikes. That's terrible news- Wait, did you say electrocuted?"
Robin's tone brightened almost instantly.
"I can help! See, we both-"
"No, Robin! I need you to get Wu," Alan insisted as they stumbled up the stairs.
"But I-"
"Get Wu!"
"Alright, I'm going, I'm going!"
She pattered down the staircase as Ellie and Alan burst through the front door.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Alan shouted desperately.
The rotunda was deserted.
"Hello?!"
"Alan . . ." Ellie rasped, "I don't feel so good . . ."
He brought her over to the flower bed.
"Shhh, it's okay. Here, lie down while I get help. Don't move."
She didn't have much of a choice. Whenever she tried to sit up, Ellie experienced an agonizing pain in her chest. It was brutal. She rolled over and started counting the flowers to keep her mind off the pain.
Heliconia . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . .
She cringed.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Furry Feather Calathea . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 5 . . .
"We need help here!"
Ellie started shivering.
African Mask . . . Brazilian Tree Fern . . .
"Please? . . ."
Crocosmia-
Without warning, a massive wave of pain and nausea washed over Ellie, and she began to foam at the mouth. She spat into the flower display, trying not to choke on her froth as she contorted on the floor.
"Alan . . ." she coughed weakly.
The foam began to subside, but the pain only got worse.
"Alan!" she screamed.
As she batted her arms in front of her, she noticed that her hands seemed to be distorted. Impossible. It had to be her vision . . .
"Alan! Help!"
She bit her lip. It bled furiously. How-
"Ellie? Ellie, what's wro- OH MY GOD!"
Alan was on the balcony. By the expression on his face, Ellie could tell that something was seriously wrong with her. He looked as though he might faint . . .
She screamed. The pain was getting worse.
"ALAN!"
"I'm coming!"
"ALA-AAAAAAAAAH!"
Alan ran down the staircase at full force, jumping down two steps at a time.
By the time he reached the bottom, Ellie had already passed out.
***TSJPFEW***
"Ellie? . . ."
"Ellie?"
"Ellie, are you okay?"
She groaned and lifted her head.
Everything was blurry. Maybe she had gone blind during her little seizure . . .
"Ellie?" Alan whispered.
She jumped at his sudden appearance. Ellie hadn't noticed him before, yet he was standing right in front of her. He stepped back, then disappeared once more. That was strange. Maybe she was hallucinating . . .
"If you can understand me, blink twice."
She obeyed.
Alan flickered in and out of her vision. It was odd, she only seemed to notice him when-
. . . when he moved.
Oh, no.
Oh, no!
It was impossible! It had to be! There was no way this could be happening, no way! It had to be a mistake or a misconception on her part. And yet . . .
No. This wasn't real. This wasn't real!
"Ellie . . ."
She turned to Alan. He was struggling to find the right words. Finally, he sighed.
"Ellie, I think you might be a T-Rex."
***TSJPFEW***
Robin ran across the field, pumping her arms up and down like a drugged-up athlete. Although she had never been a good runner, panic was always a strong motivator. She had to be quick, for Ellie's sake.
Robin knew how tough the first sick-wave could be, in fact, one might say that she had firsthand experience. She would never forget how frightening the electrocution had been, especially since she had been among the first to undergo the procedure. Back then, nobody knew if it was possible for a person of her level of infection to survive. From what she understood, Ellie was a couple of notches higher than that, having been closer in proximity to the reactor when it went off.
To be honest, Robin was more than a little jealous of Ellie. Wu hypothesized that she could probably go all the way to the level of a T-Rex, the largest theropod on the island at the time. It made sense: she had come into contact with the Rex during her visit, and if anyone was at the top tier for radiation, she was the most likely candidate (well, aside from the kids, who reacted differently to the disease [though Wu wasn't entirely certain about the effects of the virus on children yet]). It was too bad Ellie wasn't a staff member. Wu might've told her more if he'd known that she could be trusted.
Robin stopped to catch her breath. What was she doing, anyway? Wasn't she capable enough to handle the situation on her own? Surely, she could assist Ellie, even if she was in a higher tier.
But Wu would be furious, wouldn't he? Robin pictured him with his arms crossed, tapping his foot like a cartoon character, shouting-
"ROBIN! What the hell is going on? Why aren't you at your post?"
She turned around. Apparently, WU had found HER.
"Uh, nothing . . . Well, something . . . What I mean is-"
"ROBIN!"
She flinched.
"It's about the group . . ." she whimpered.
"Are they getting along?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Good. I'm glad to hear it. We need their cooperation. Especially Sattler," he said pointedly, "We'll bide our time for now, but when the moment is right, we'll tell her everything."
Robin grimaced.
"Actually . . ."
***TSJPFEW***
"I just don't understand how this could happen!" Alan marveled, "I mean, it's crazy, totally crazy!"
Ellie nodded. She was sitting in the middle of the flower bed, watching him pace back and forth. Although she knew that he was upset, she was glad that he was up and about. She didn't want to lose sight of him.
"And you didn't know about this side-effect, right?"
'Of course I didn't! I would have told you.'
"Oh, Ellie, you know I can't understand a word you're saying . . ."
She rolled her eyes. It was odd that she was able to do so, considering the hypothesized lack of ocular mobility in dinosaurs. Maybe she wasn't completely saurian after all . . .
"I can't believe Wu lied about something as important as this," Alan continued, "I mean, look at you!"
She snuffed angrily.
"You know what I mean."
Suddenly, the doors swung open.
"Alan, Ellie, I made it! Now, will someone tell me what's going o-AH-AH-AH!" Ian shrieked as he noticed Ellie.
"Don't move, Ian!" Alan shouted.
Ian froze with his arms shielding his face.
"I'm not talking about the vision thing," Alan clarified, "It's Ellie."
"What about her?" Ian asked, still not moving.
"No, I mean, it's Ellie."
'Hi, Ian.'
He lowered his arms.
"I don't get it," Ian babbled.
Alan sighed.
"What's not to get? Ellie's a T-Rex."
She nodded and waved at Ian with her tiny T-Rex arm.
Ian looked at Alan, then Ellie, then Alan again. Finally, he put his hands together and took a deep breath.
"And everyone's . . . okay with this?"
'What do YOU think?'
"I can't understand her, can you?" Ian asked.
"Nope," Alan sighed.
Ian ran his fingers through his hair.
"Alrightee, then. This is quite a dilemma. Are you sure it's El-"
"Yes!" Alan shouted impatiently.
"Just making sure . . ." Ian said defensively.
Ellie grunted.
"Hey, don't you get sassy with me!" Ian said, waggling his index finger at her.
She snapped her teeth at him mockingly.
"Argh! That's not funny, you know. I still have PTSD from my last encounter."
'Don't we all?'
Alan started pacing again.
"I think we need to reconsider our options at this point-"
'Obviously.'
"That sounded sarcastic," Alan surmised.
Ellie shrugged as best as she could.
"Anyway, we should probably figure out a plan of action, or things could get ugly real fast," he finished.
They didn't have to wait for his prophecy to come true. At that exact moment, the Costa Rican nurse entered through a side door, blowing her nose. She adjusted her glasses and turned to face Ellie.
'Um . . . hello?'
"Dios mío, es un dinosaurio!" she screamed, dropping her tissue.
"Wait! Stop!" Alan shouted as she fled.
"¡Ayuda! ¡Ayuda! Estoy siendo perseguido por un monstruo, y él ve con hambre!"
"We've gotta get you out of here!" Alan shouted to Ellie, who promptly stood up.
'Alan, I hope you know what you're doing, because I'm not sure that I can walk too far on these legs . . .'
"How do we get her out of here? She won't exactly fit through the front door . . ." Ian pointed out.
"I don't know, but we'd better think of something, and quick!"
Suddenly, a group of security guards flooded across the room, having been alerted by the nurse's screams. They pushed Alan and Ian to the side aggressively. After finding cover, they cocked their guns and took aim at Ellie.
"Wait! Don't shoot her, don't shoot her!" Alan shouted, trying to push past them.
Ellie felt a sharp sting on her thigh. They were firing at her!
"Run, Ellie, run!"
Run where? There was nowhere to go! She swerved her head from side to side, searching for an escape route.
"Through the glass, Ellie! Jump through the glass!" Ian hollered as two guards tackled him to the ground.
Ellie turned to the window, trying to judge its width. Another bullet grazed her shoulder. She would have to take a leap of faith.
She took a running jump at the window, hoping that she was heavy enough to break through.
She was.
The glass shattered around her as she tumbled down the slanted terrain, landing painfully on her side. Somehow, she managed to stand herself upright before the guards were able to surround the window area. Ellie stomped across the open field, heading for the cover of the jungle. She felt a bullet nick her eyebrow, and ran faster.
Once she was out of range, she turned back to the Visitors' Center to see if Alan was okay. Unfortunately, she was too far to identify the tiny people running around on the broken glass. She did notice, however, that a group of unfriendly-looking men were boarding a jeep to chase her down. She turned away from them reluctantly. She didn't want to leave, but if she were to stick around . . .
Ellie plunged into the dark jungle, not knowing where she would end up when she reached the other side.
