Chapter 8: Split Ways and Split Decisions

Hey everybody! It's been a while.

Just a bit of news: Since I realized this story has much more to do with Total Drama than Jurassic Park, I moved it from the TD and JP crossover section to the plain Total Drama Series section. Deepest apologies if you had trouble finding it because of that. Piece of advice; typing in 'total jurassic' in the search box lists it as the first or second story.

Anyway, I've finished writing out the story arc for TDJP, and I'm announcing now it'll have 15 chapters, dividing into three parts (1-5: Arrival, 6-10: Survival, 11-15: Escape). Also, this chapter is a good deal gorier than the previous ones, although nothing too gory. You have been warned, ha ha.

One last thing: We're super close to getting 1,000 views! We should hit that mark this chapter, with any luck. Now, just a guest review reply:

Mysterious: If I were confronted by a T-Rex, I'd have a heart attack and die before it could eat me. Well, it's a good thing you found this story again, then. Here's the newest chapter, hope you enjoy!

Day 4 on Isla Sorna

Chris stood at the front of the boat, enjoying the breeze. He was a bit uneasy, but certain he was, finally, for the last time, safe. Dinosaurs couldn't open doors.

Dinosaurs couldn't open doors, that is, until they figured out how to. And the smaller Deinonychus certainly did. The door creaked a little as it swung outwards, but Chris paid no attention to it. The 'nychus, realizing the need for stealth, crept up behind him, ever so slowly. It was about to pounce when the former host spotted it out of the corner of his eye. Chris quickly ran up to the railing, climbing it, hoping to jump overboard, as the raptor landed to find its prey already gone.

But Chris wasn't quite fast enough. As he leaned over to jump, claws seared into his shoulders and started pulling him back onto the boat.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

Bridgette was the first one awake. She started getting up slowly, and then remembered where they were and jumped to her feet. She looked around and saw all the others on the ground, still sleeping. The fire had died down to a few hot embers. But they'd survived the night.

Courtney got up quickly too, and they started shaking the others awake. Within minutes, all of the fourteen survivors were up. "What now?" asked Noah semi-sarcastically.

"Now, we go and find the boat," replied Courtney with anger in her eyes.

"Admittedly, the search might not be entirely pointless, but the larger carnivores are likely to stick near the shores. We're much safer finding a large tree or a cave. Trust me, it may take a few weeks, but help will come eventually."

"What is wrong with you?!" yelled Courtney, exasperated. "Don't you want to get off this island?!"

"Believe me; I'll take every chance I get to do so. But searching for the boat is a calculated risk. In other words, calculated to be too risky."

"Well, you just be like that, bookworm! You can go find shelter. Everybody else will come with me." She made a motion for the others to follow her, but no one did. "Seriously? C'mon, people!"

"Codykins and I are on Noah's side," said Sierra, dragging the semi-conscious Cody over to where the egghead was standing. Noah smirked a little and leaned against a rock.

"Who else is with me?" he asked.

Jo, Tyler, and Chef walked over to join him."Ain't got nuttin' against either of ya," said the latter. "Actually, I do, but it's equally so. I'm gonna stick with the scrawny kid. He's got the brains, I've got the brawn. Together we make the perfect survivor duo"

"Uh, thanks," acknowledged Noah, rolling his eyes. "Anyone else?"

A couple of the former campers still sitting around exchanged glances, wondering what to do. Cameron finally spoke up. "I'm going with Courtney. I want to get off this island as soon as possible."

Mike grabbed Zoey's hand and stood up. "Where Cam goes, we'll go."

It was Courtney's turn to smirk at Noah, as, after much hesitation, DJ also chose her side, claiming his mama would want him to do it. He was quickly followed by Dave the cameraman. That left Bridgette and Katie undecided.

"Come on Bridgette," said Noah. "We all know you're not the most gymnastic on land. Think you'll be able to outrun a dinosaur?" Bridgette gulped and headed over to Noah. Tyler grinned and held up his hand for a high five he never received. Katie, the last one undecided, looked back and forth between Noah and Courtney for a long time before finally deciding with Courtney.

"See you later, alligator," said Noah sarcastically as he walked off into the tropical jungle, with Bridgette, Tyler, a limping Jo, Chef, and Sierra pushing Cody in a wheelchair following.

"In a while, crocodile," sneered Courtney back, but Noah was already gone. She crossed her arms and headed towards the beach. Katie, DJ, Mike, Zoey, Cameron, and Dave followed.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

The Deinonychus pulled and Chris came toppling off the railing, hitting his head on the metal deck of the boat and knocking himself out.

The raptor had never had an easier meal. Chris just lay there, totally unconscious, as the beast began to 'dig in', not even bothering to kill the host first. Of course, Chris did die anyway as the creature swallowed up his heart. Soon very little remained of the middle-aged man besides a smear of blood on the deck and a lot of bones.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

"How much longer is it?" asked DJ for the thirtieth time.

"For the last time, DJ," yelled Courtney, "we get to the beach and we head east along the shore until we reach the boat! Stop whining!"

"Sorry!" squeaked the tall teenager. Meanwhile, Cameron, who knew the most about dinosaurs by far, was giving instructions to the others.

"First off, we need to get rid of anything that has a smell. The carnivores will pick up the scent from a mile away."

"Well, we don't have much," said Katie. None of us exactly took time to pack our bags when the Tyrannosaurus Rex attacked." The last part she said sarcastically, and Cameron paled a little.

"Just trying to help," he said. "So, we also need to avoid game trails and streams. Try to stick to the brush, and don't make too much noise."

"What do we do if we're actually spotted by a dinosaur?" asked Mike.

"Hmm, well, with the biggest carnivores, if we can find a cave or a hole or just a way through the trees they can't fit through, that'll work great. If you see any type of raptor just standing there, don't run away. That's their hunting strategy. Two more of them will be hidden somewhere, waiting to ambush you."

"What do we do then?" asked Dave.

"Climb a tree, as fast and as high up as you possibly can. If you're quick enough, you'll make it. And like I said, it has to be high. Raptors can jump extremely well. Oh, and the herbivorous dinosaurs shouldn't be any problem. But if you see a nest, or eggs, or a baby, steer clear away."

As Cameron finished his speech, a small dinosaur hopped out of the undergrowth in front of them. It was about the size of a Compsognathus, but clearly just a youngling of some other, larger species. It looked like it could almost be a baby Deinonychus, but the proportions were wrong. The head was smaller and narrower compared to the body, and the scales were more of a reddish-brown.

"Aw, it's cute!" exclaimed DJ, grabbing the little guy and picking him up. At first the small dinosaur struggled, but then relented and let himself be carried.

"DJ!" hissed Courtney. "What the hell are you doing? You're carrying a frickin' dinosaur. Put it down right now, or it will kill you!"

"Don't be ridiculous," reprimanded DJ, stroking the raptor's head fondly. "This cute little guy shouldn't, wouldn't, and couldn't harm a fly.

Courtney face palmed and Mike spoke up. "DJ, that's a baby animal. And where there's a baby, there's a mama."

"Well, I can be his new mama," claimed DJ. "I'm naming him Ferdy.

"Uh, DJ?" said Cameron nervously. "You're holding a Velociraptor."

Courtney gulped. "Get rid of the damn thing!" she cried, grabbing 'Ferdy' from DJ's arms and tossing him bodily back into the undergrowth.

"Now look what you did!" whined DJ, but Courtney ignored him and continued walking. The others followed her. Behind them, the infant Velociraptor hopped back out of the undergrowth and started creeping along behind them, keeping a good distance back. Only DJ noticed him, giving the creature a silent smile.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

After walking but two minutes, Cody's wheelchair hit a root and the brake on the right wheel broke. The candy-lover looked down and shook his head sadly. Noah walked over and took a look at the chair. "Well, the brake's definitely busted," he said. "Honestly, that's not that much of a problem. But the whole wheelchair is. If a dinosaur chases him, he's dead. And so are you, Sierra. We can take turns having him lean on our shoulders."

"Right," said Sierra briefly, and helped Cody out of the wheelchair, leaning him against her. "What now?"

"Now," began Noah, "We walk some more. The center of the island is this way." He gestured his hand in a north-easterly direction.

"What're we waitin' for?" asked Chef, walking off. Jo followed him, occasionally leaning on Tyler when her injured leg gave her pain. After a little while, they came out into a clearing to behold the most amazing sight of their lives. Impossibly gigantic sauropods towered above them, grazing on the trees. There were at least four or five of them, all over eighty feet long and not too shabby height-wise either. A funny crest lay on top of their heads, which in turn were on top of their long necks. Brachiosaurs. Around them milled an entire herd of much smaller, yet still huge dinosaurs. They had long crests on their head and were pretty much the stereotypical image of a duck-billed dinosaur. Most of them walked around on all fours, standing up on two legs occasionally. They were Parasaurolophuses.

Author's Note: Almost everybody knows what a Parasaurolophus looks like, even if they don't know the name, so if you're still not certain what it is, just look it up on Wikipedia.

Noah was the first one brave enough to walk out into the valley. The Brachiosaurs paid him no mind as he walked among them, even going underneath the stomach of the largest. When the Parasaurolophuses saw him, they ran a little away, some of them making deep throaty sounds that could only be compared to that of a bugle or some such instrument.

Behind him, Sierra lost her grip on Cody and he stumbled forward, collapsing on the ground in front of one of the brachiosaurs. The gigantic creature bent down and looked at him, its face inches away from his. He reached out and touched the dinosaur. It stayed that way for a moment, and then the sauropods moved over to chew on some more trees.

Still in awe, the rest of the group wandered out of the trees and observed the dinosaurs. For minutes things stayed like that, peacefully. They almost forgot how dangerous a place they were in. Admittedly, there was one heart-pounding moment in which a Brachiosaur almost accidentally stepped on Tyler, but thanks to his own clumsiness he tripped and rolled out of the way.

Everyone was genuinely beginning to enjoy themselves when one of the Parasaurolophuses at the end of the clearing made the funny bugle noise again. But this time much louder, and with a different tone to it. The other Parasaurolophuses stopped to listen as one after another gave the call. Then they started fast-walking (as much as a dinosaur can fast-walk) across the valley towards where the teens and Chef had come from, the adults flanking the young. The Brachiosaurs too, lumbered slowly away. Then one of the dinosaurs gave a screeching call and the herd ran, straight at the survivors. Everybody but Cody and Bridgette ran out of the way. Thankfully, none of the duck-bills trampled either of time as they ran on past.

Bridgette stood back up. "I wonder what that was about."

"I don't like it," said Sierra. "Not one bit."

Then Chef caught sight of what had made them run. "Oh sh- - -

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

Courtney's group had also just entered a clearing, but a much larger one near the end of the island. Ferdy had followed them this far, but stayed back at the edge of the forest.

"Looks like we're at the edge of the island," said Zoey. "See the end of the clearing? That's a huge cliff."

"Well, we've made it this far," sighed Courtney happily. "Let's head over to the cliff and then make a left turn. When the edge of the shore is all beach we know we're getting close."

Everyone nodded and walked through the clearing. Before they were even halfway to the cliff, however, the Tyrannosaurus Rex tore out of the forest. It paused for a while and sniffed the air, no one daring to move. It hadn't seen them and looked like it had lost interest in the scent. Just as the beast turned to go, Dave snapped.

He screamed and sprinted towards the cliff's edge. The T-Rex turned around and dashed towards them. Courtney, Katie, DJ, Mike, Zoey, and Cameron all sprinted too. Dave reached the edge and threw himself bodily over it, landing in the water over a hundred feet below with a huge splash. Courtney and Mike also reached the edge, but stopped before jumping.

"There's a ledge ten feet down!" yelled Mike. "If we can make that, we're good!"

Courtney didn't bother to reply and jumped, landing on the ledge smoothly. Mike turned around just in time to help Zoey down the cliff. She and Courtney huddled against the rock. Mike was too anxious watching the other three run and the Rex pursue to climb down just yet. DJ reached the edge and climbed down slowly. Katie was very near with Cameron far behind, the carnivore catching up fast.

Katie jumped and landed hard on the ledge, shivering terribly with fear. Mike began to climb down, but then he saw Cameron wasn't going to make it on his own and his mind was made up. He had to save his buddy.

Getting back on top of the cliff, he ran a little ways towards the Rex and Cameron, who were nearing quickly, and started waving and yelling his arms. The dinosaur seemed only to have eyes for Cameron however, as it finally caught up to him and leaned down to catch him in its mouth.

But Mike wasn't about to let them happen. He sprinted forward and dived, knocking Cam out of the way as the dinosaur's jaws closed, right on his arm. The creature, not sure what was going on, lifted up its head and shook Mike around by his arm, the teenager screaming in pain. The carnivore bit down a little, and something so gory happened it made Cameron throw up on the spot.

Mike's entire left arm snapped off.

He dropped to the ground, clutching the stump on his shoulder in agony and disbelief. The Tyrannosaurus swallowed the arm and looked down at Mike and Cameron, ready for the kill.

The kill never came. A stone zoomed out of nowhere and hit the creature in the back of the neck. It turned around and caught sight of something in the forest. The Tyrannosaurus Rex gave its terrible roar and charged. Mike thought he saw long light blonde hair as whatever it was turned around and fled, the Rex pursuing. Could it've been Dawn?

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

Dave, meanwhile, had hit the water hard. He sunk down, and quickly came back up, spluttering for air. Then he got his bearings and looked around. He was about twenty feet away from the edge of the cliff, and sharp rocks were clustered all around. Thankfully he hadn't fallen on one. The cameraman grabbed on to one of the stones, resting for a minute.

And then the Kronosaurus grabbed him in its mouth.

He had no time to think, struggle, or fight as it dragged him down underwater. After a few seconds he noticed he wasn't dead yet, and a terrifying realization came to him. The creature didn't mean to eat him alive, it wanted to drown him.

This terrified him out of his mind, and he beat his fists on the creature's snout, wriggling and struggling to get free. He was successful as the thing opened its jaws to try and get a better grip. Immediately, he was swimming as fast as he could away, even farther down into the ocean.

The Kronosaurus blew out bubbles in a way that could only be described as sighing. This was one feisty bit of prey that did not want to be drowned in the normal fashion. Best to finish it off quickly.

The prehistoric sea creature zoomed through the water, biting down on Dave and swallowing. Not bad, it thought. But it could've used a little ketchup.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

Courtney, Katie, Zoey, and DJ were still on the ledge, paralyzed with fear. Yes, the danger was over, but after witnessing Cameron's near death experience, Mike's amputation, and Dave's demise all within thirty seconds, their brains were understandably a little rattled.

Courtney was the first one to come to her senses and climb back on top of the cliff. She walked over to the guys. Cameron was perfectly fine, but Mike obviously was missing an arm. He was likely in shock as she ripped off a piece of his shirt and used it to make a tight bandage, mostly stemming the blood flow. Zoey, Katie, and DJ joined her.

The Type A sighed. She had a hard decision to make. Leaving a man behind was never really right, but the fresh blood from Mike's wound would attract every carnivore on the whole island.

"We're going to have to leave Mike here," she said eventually. "I think you can all guess why."

"No," said Zoey. "No! If you're gonna leave him, you're gonna have to leave me. I'm staying with Mike."

"Me too," said Cameron.

"Me three," said DJ, crying a little.

"I'm with them," said Katie after a while.

Courtney gave in. "Alright, alright, we'll take Mike with us. But if we all get killed, my last words to you will be 'I told you so'. DJ and Zoey, pick him up. The boat can't be that far away."

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

Back with Noah's group, the others quickly noticed what had made Chef swear and the Parasaurolophuses stampede. The Ceratosaurus was charging out of the woods at them. It had likely originally intended to catch a young Parasaurolophus, but now the only prey left was the teens and Chef.

"Run, suckers!" yelled Chef. "Run like you never have before in your miserable lives!" He took off, and the others bolted behind him. They reached the forest on the other side and split up, the horned carnivore in hot pursuit.

Tyler stumbled repeatedly and tripped, falling into a small gully and rolling underneath a ledge. Bridgette crashed into him, knocking him farther under, and he realized he was in a burrow-like underground expanse. The surfer chick crawled ahead of him, and the jock dared to poke his head back outside and look around.

"Hey guys!" he screamed. "Over here! Quick!"

Noah heard his yell and made for it, not seeing the ditch and falling headfirst into it. Tyler grabbed his ankle and dragged him in.

Meanwhile, the Ceratosaurus was pursuing Chef, with Sierra, Cody, and Jo running very slowly for obvious reasons. Sierra saw Noah fall down and ran towards him, dragging Cody along with her. She saw the burrow ahead of time and carefully crawled down. Bridgette helped her pull Cody in.

Chef slid under a fallen log, narrowly evading the red and black dinosaur's teeth. He got up and ran as the carnivore had to take another longer route, not being able to make it under or over the log. Chef dashed for the gully, Jo falling into step behind him. The cook hit the depression and slid inside the burrow, Jo right behind him. But she was a little too late.

The Ceratosaurus had finally caught up and bit down on her injured leg, dragging her back up. Tyler lunged forward and grabbed her hand, desperately trying to pull her in again. But he nowhere anear strong enough. As her hand slipped from his, she mouthed one word. "Go."

And then she was gone, pulled back out. The Tyrannosaurus would have been able to toss her up, but this carnivore was smaller, so it threw her to the ground and snapped at her. She was able to roll out of the way in time, but it got her on the second bite.

Down below in the burrow, the other six heard her screams. Tyler, horrified, was about to go out and try and somehow save her, but when a bucketful of blood splattered against the gully right outside, he decided against it.

Heeding Jo's final words, they crawled as deep as they could into the tunnel. It was obviously some sort of burrow, probably made by foxes or badgers long ago. But there were no inhabitants, as the dinosaurs had likely eaten all the mammals on the island. The burrow was a dead end, so they huddled together in the dark and waited it out. A good ten minutes after hearing the Ceratosaurus' receding footsteps, Noah crawled out, looked around, and gave the all-clear sign. Everyone else crawled out behind him, and they headed off again, avoiding the blood stains on the ground.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

On the boat out at sea, the Deinonychus had finished eating Chris, leaving nothing but blood and a few crunched bones. It poked around the ship yet found nothing more to eat. The creature wanted to return home but had no idea how to.

It jumped onto the railing, gripping it with its hind claws, and gave out a cry that was best described as a mix of a bleat and a hiss. It kept giving this strange call, its tail swinging behind it.

Then the Kronosaurus broke the surface and swallowed it whole, disappearing back into the deep.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

Over an hour later, Courtney's group, with Ferdy still following a good deal behind, reached the boat without further incident. Or at least, they reached the spot where the boat used to be. "Damn it!" yelled Courtney. "Chris made it! Why did he have to make it?!"

DJ curled up into a ball. "What're we gonna do now?" he sobbed.

"Find the others, I guess, right?" said Katie.

"Right," agreed Courtney. And then her eyes widened. "Hide. Now!"

Thankfully, everyone heeded her warning. Zoey and Cameron scrambled into the bushes, Mike dove into the ocean, Courtney climbed a tree, and DJ and Katie hid behind a rock. Four Deinonychuses ran out of the woods, hissing and sniffing. It seemed like they had been following the scent of Mike's blood. Fortunately, the waves washed all scent of the blood away, and he was extremely thankful he'd chosen the ocean as a hiding spot. After a moment's hesitation, the Deinonychuses stalked off, and everyone came out of hiding.

Courtney grimaced. "Let's find Noah's group before anything else finds us!" She crept off into the forest, the other teens following behind.

~~~~~/-\~~~~~

Deep in the middle of the jungle, Chef chopped through some sticky vegetation with a rusty machete. Bridgette had found it lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere, and since the cook was the only one with combat training, she had given it to him.

Following along behind him were Noah, Bridgette, and Cody leaning on Tyler's shoulder, giving poor Sierra a break. As for the fan girl herself, she was bringing up the rear.

Chef suddenly stopped and held up his arm signaling a halt. Noah didn't see it in time and smacked into the large man's back. "Watch it soldier!" yelled Chef. "Do I look like a cushion to you?"

"Soldier?" repeated Noah. "We're in a jungle on Isla Sorna, not in the middle of World War I. Of course, your probably wouldn't know the difference since you've been in both."

Chef shushed him. "I see somethin' up ahead. Somethin' man-made." He bent down and walked as stealthily as he could, which wasn't very stealthily, through the undergrowth. Everyone else walked along quickly, not quite sure what to expect.

They came out of the trees to see a house. Or at least something like a house. It was built wedged in between three trees whose trunks twisted around. The 'house' was entirely made out of logs, vines, and ferns, and looked like the type of cabin you'd find in Hawaii.

"Think there are people in there?" asked Bridgette.

"Doubt it," said Noah. "Who could live in the middle of bastardly dastardly dino land?"

"Let's check it out!" said Sierra.

"Shut up!" whispered Chef as loudly as he could whisper. "Stick close behind me. We're goin' in." He slowly walked up log steps, holding his machete out in front of him. Noah rolled his eyes and jogged after him, followed by everyone else. Chef slowly opened a door and stepped inside.

Sitting in a chair weaved out of ferns was a man. At first they thought he must be a cowboy, as he wore the right hat for it. He was middle-aged, with a weathered face, dusty brown hair, blue eyes, and a plaid shirt. He was absolutely startled at seeing them, jumping straight up. "Who are you?!"

"Hold up buddy, I'm asking the questions here," said Noah. "Who are you?"

The man was too flabbergasted to answer for a while, but he eventually said "Me? I'm Alan Grant."

TO BE CONTINUED….

Dead: Harold, Boat of Losers Driver, Heather, Frederic, B, Billy, Izzy, Chris, Dave, Jo

Alive: Noah (Group 1), Katie (Group 2), Tyler (Group 1), Cody (Group 1), Bridgette (Group 1), DJ (Group 2), Sierra (Group 1), Mike (Group 2), Zoey (Group 2), Cameron (Group 2), Courtney (Group 2), Chef (Group 1)

Unknown State: Dawn, Ezekiel

Eliminated: Duncan, Staci, Heather

Injuries: Cody (recovering from feverish sickness, mostly-healed cuts and scrapes, broken finger), Mike (severed arm)

Dinosaur Species: Stegosaurus, Deinonychus, Ceratosaurus, Kronosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Compsognathus, Velociraptor, Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus

If you don't know who Alan Grant is, rest assured, all will be explained in the next chapter, coming up soon! This is my favorite chapter so far, and I hope everyone else liked it just as much. Thanks for reading, and please favorite, follow, and review!

~TheImpossiblyAwesomeWriter

Next Time: Noah's group is explained the entire story behind the island and hears rumors of a highly dangerous plan to escape, while Courtney's group leaves the boat to try and find the others, being pursued by the Deinonychus pack all the while.