Seems Way Too Easy

Owen couldn't believe what he just heard. It couldn't be real. It shouldn't be real. But, the sad reality is that it was real. Blue had prions and she was going to die. Owen opened his mouth to say something to Ian, but nothing came out. Owen just stood still, lost in his own thoughts for a few minutes. Not Blue. She was to young to die! She was his best friend; his best girl. The blue streaked raptor might have been a pain in the ass sometimes, but she pulled through in being Owen's beta. She set things in order when Owen would lose control of the other three raptors. Blue was the perfect beta and it broke Owen's heart hearing that she was going to die.

"A-Are you sure?" Owen asked hesitantly.

"All three tests came back positive," replied Ian.

"But, it's just that...There's no way to cure her?"

"Well, Reggie called a guy who works on Isla Sorna to find a plant that actually fights off prions. But, the problem is that the plant has become rare and they don't know how long it'll take to retrieve and send it."

"H-How many days does she have left?"

"Depends on how far developed the prions are. If she just got it, then she'll be good for at least a month. But, if she's had it for a while, then I'm surprised that she's still alive at the moment."

"How long would she have if it's very developed?"

"A week, give or take two tops."

Owen needed to sit down, so he just plopped down on the ground and put his face in his hands. Ian didn't know what else to tell his uncle. It was terrible news, telling him that his best girl was going to die. Ian just sat down next to Owen and placed his hand on the raptor trainer's shoulder.

James walked out of the paddock and approached the two and asked, "What's going on?"

Ian didn't want to answer and he was sure that Owen wouldn't answer at all. But, to his surprise, Owen did respond by saying, "Blue has prions and she'll be dead within a month."

James' mouth opened slightly in surprise and then said, "Aye amigo, I'm so sorry."

Owen lightly nodded his head and then removed his face from his hands and simply stared at the ground.

"Would you two mind, giving me a minute alone?" Owen asked softly.

Ian then looked up at James and then got up off the ground and the two went into the paddock, onto the catwalk.

Once Owen knew he was alone, he let the floodgates open and tears poured from his eyes. They dripped onto the floor and he sniffed loudly as he thought about losing his best girl.

"How did she get prions?" James asked Ian.

"I think she might have gotten it from eating either a human when Alice broke out, or, maybe it was in a pig that they ate during a chasing exercise," Ian replied.

"Are you sure that she didn't get it from any of my raptors?"

"No, I ran tests on their blood, they're perfectly healthy. It wouldn't make sense if she got it from them anyway, because she hasn't eaten any of them, or their waste."

"I see."

"Owen's gonna be different once Blue passes."

"Unless they find a cure in time."

"James, they're looking for the plant that can fight it off right now on Isla Sorna. Lord knows how long it's going to take."

"There's a plant that fights off prions?"

"It explains why your boys don't have it."

"They don't eat plants."

"But herbivores do, and they eat herbivores. It transmits once they consume their prey."

"Why don't we bring a herbivore then and have them eat it?"

"Because, since InGen owns Site B, they'll want money, and lots of it."

"But, why does that matter? I'm sure that Claire would be able to convince them to send one over for little or no cost."

"It's not that easy. It takes days for a dinosaur shipment to actually get the green light processed. By the time they'd let it happen, Blue might already be dead."

James huffed and then placed his hands on his hips. It seemed like Blue wasn't going to be able to survive this one.

Zach stared at the ground as Alexis and Olivia just sat next to him and watched as he sat motionless. Alexis and Olivia hated seeing him like this. They were getting sad by watching him sulk and cry. He was really attached to the kid.

"Girls," began Zach, "I hate myself for letting him go. But, I know that it was the right thing to do. Don't worry, I'll get over this soon enough."

Alexis and Olivia nodded their heads and then Alexis placed her head on Zach's shoulder. He turned his head to look at her and then gently kissed her head. Olivia gave a small smile and then got up from the bench and quietly walked away. Alexis and Zach needed this time alone, since they were both grieving. Alexis simply showed it less than Zach did.

After a few hours, Owen went back to his bungalow to just, let the reality hit him. Zach and Alexis remained in the Bamboo Forest, and Ian returned to Reggie's office.

"Ian, that was my friend on Sorna," said Reggie.

"What'd he say?" Ian asked.

"They can't find the plant."

"Which means that every dinosaur on the island, including Blue, are gonna die soon."

Reggie nodded his head and then said, "I'll tell Claire to put out a park wide alert. We can't risk guests getting prions either."

Ian nodded his head and then said, "What baffles me, is that James' raptors don't have it, yet she got it."

"It's like you said. She probably got it from one of the guys she ate during Alice's rampage."

"But, I read the reports on each of those men. They were perfectly healthy! Blue must have gotten it from somewhere else."

"What if, Blue is an origin?"

"Origin?"

"What if a new infection of prions started with her?"

Ian looked at Reggie with a puzzled look and opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't utter any words. It made sense what Reggie was talking about.

"It makes sense," said Ian.

"Ian, I know that you're sad about Blue and your uncle being sad. And, I admire your tenacity to try and save Blue. But, this time, this is a battle which will only have disastrous results," said Reggie.

Ian sighed and then nodded his head. Reggie was right. It was a sad truth. Blue was going to die and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

Owen lied down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He couldn't stop thinking about that day that Blue hatched and he held her in her arms as she squealed and squirmed. It brought a tear to Owen's eye as he kept thinking about that particular scenario. Owen's thoughts were cut off when Claire walked in and sat down next to him. Owen didn't bother to turn his head to look at her. He just continued to stare at the ceiling. Claire stared at Owen for a few seconds ebfore saying, "I...heard about Blue. Owen, I'm so sorry. Reggie told me that the dinosaurs have giardiasis and prions. Since prions can be passed to humans, I've decided to temporarily close the park for a few days until the prions, uh, die out."

Owen didn't say anything to Claire, he just continued to stare at the ceiling. Claire sighed as she lied down next to Owen and then rested her head on his chest. She listened to his steady heartbeat and then she heard him ask, "Why her?"

"What?" she asked.

"Why was it just Blue that got it? Echo and Delta should have gotten prions, too."

"Reggie and his team believe that Blue is an origin point."

"A what?"

"Origin Point. A new infection of prions was going to start in her. They also believe that it could have been something she ate. Like a human during the Indominus Incident. Or, maybe even a pig that they fed on might have had prions and passed it onto her."

Owen sniffled and then uttered out, "It's not fair."

"I know. I really wish that there was something we could do to save her."

"So do I."

A tear shed from Owen's eye and rolled down the side of his face. Claire simply continued to listen to the beat of the raptor trainer's heart. It was almost soothing. Almost.

Ian wasn't going to let Blue die like this. He needed to figure out how the hell Blue truly got prions. She couldn't be a point of origin. It must've been something that she ate. A pig, human, maybe some of the mice that Owen feeds her. Ian needed to check everything. Ian went out to get some help from Sam and Andy. He gathered the two in front of the Innovation Center and told them what was going on.

"You want to us to help you trace a prions infection to save one raptor?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," replied Ian.

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes and said, "Tough shit then. Animals get sick, they die. Humans get sick, they die. Medicine just extends the death sentence."

"Look, you may not give a rat's ass about what I'm trying to do here. But, it's not just for the raptor. It's for all the dinosaurs that have it here."

"They're gonna be dead in a few days. A week at most."

"Jesus Sam! Why can't you just cooperate with me for once?"

Sam simply stood quiet with an irritated face and then Andy spoke, "Ian, I'll help you out."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'd like to figure out where Blue got prions, too."

"Awesome! Thanks so much Andy!"

Andy smiled at Ian and then nodded his head. The two then looked over at Sam, who then said, "Wha-Oh just because you say you'll do it means that I have to do it, too?"

"You know what? Do what you want Sam," replied Andy, "Probably wouldn't have gotten us anywhere anyway."

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter?"

Sam was shocked and offended by Andy's words and said, "You know what? I'll prove you wrong. I'll help out, and I'll find the origin before you both do combined."

Sam then turned around and walked into the Innovation Center. Ian looked at Andy with an arched eyebrow and asked, "She's competitive?"

"Does it surprise you?" Andy asked.

"Not really. It's just that, she fell for that so easily."

"Look, it doesn't matter right now. Let's start searching."

Ian nodded his head and then he and Andy began to head towards the raptor paddock.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Reggie over the phone.

"I'm super serious Reg! We found it and lots of them!' responded Reggie" friend.

"How fast can you send them over?"

"You don't want the extract?"

"I can do that with my team here."

"Well, I can have it packed up by tonight and have it in early tomorrow morning."

"That's perfect! Thank so much Tommy."

"Anytime Reg."

Reggie then hung up the phone and then called Ian in a few seconds.

"Ian, it's Reggie. We've got the plant that can save Blue and all the other dinosaurs," said Reggie.

Tommy and his crew were finishing packing the plant that would kill the prions on Isla Nublar. Once they had all the boxes packed up. They began to load them onto a small transport boat that would arrive on the beaches of Nublar by eight in the morning. As they loaded the last box, they heard something in the distance. Tommy told his men to freeze, and all in good timing. A T-Rex stepped out of the trees and approached the men. The T-Rex was a male and he didn't seem very happy. The frustrated tyrant walked towards the boat and sniffed the boxes. It didn't like how the boxes smelled and let out a displeased rumble. Tommy told his men to then slowly head back to the safe zone, and the men did as they were ordered. Little did they know, that the T-Rex brought a few, fast friends. In a matter of seconds a pack of velociraptors ran out of the trees and began to hoard around the T-Rex. The Rex then let out a roar at the raptors, trying to get them to back off. Tommy and his men decided to use this time to make a run for it.

Big mistake.

One of the raptors heard some of their footsteps and then saw some of them running off. The alpha of the pack then commanded the others to attack the fleeing humans. The swift thieves made chase and began to close in on Tommy and his men. Tommy didn't even bother to turn around when he heard a few screams of terror. He began to run faster once he heard the T-Rex close behind him and the raptors.

Then, the safe zone was in sight. Tommy saw some of his men already inside. He and a few others were left to make it in. Tommy began to go full throttle and made it inside the safe zone. The gate was closed and locked a couple of men out, and the men were devoured.

"What do we do now, sir?" one of Tommy's guys asked.

"We wait for now until the dinosaurs are gone," he replied.

"But, they know that we're here now. They won't be leaving for a while."

"Then call Reggie and tell him about our current problem."

"You got it, sir."

Tommy cursed under his breath. He thought that this was going to be easy. But, he should have known better. He was on an island full of dinosaurs. Nothing was going to be easy.

Claire and Owen both fell asleep for some time. Claire slowly opened her eyes and checked her watch.

5 pm

They've been asleep for around three hours. Claire slowly got up off of the bed and then stared at Owen. He seemed very peaceful at the moment. Maybe he was dreaming about Blue. Claire gave a small smile seeing that Owen was a bit relaxed at the moment. Hearing that Blue would be meeting her end sooner than expected was just heart-wrenching. Claire was sure that if she heard that Rexy had prions and was going to die in a few days, she'd be very sad and wouldn't talk to anyone for a few days. It was just how she dealt with pain, just like Owen. Being alone in one's thoughts. It was nice every now and then.

Claire quietly exited Owen's bungalow and then jumped when she heard Owen scream. Claire quickly ran back inside and asked, "What's wrong?"

Owen then took a few deep breaths and let everything around him settle in his mind. He was on his bed, in his shack, and Claire was making sure he was all right.

"N-Nothing, I'm fine," he replied.

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Uh, I was dreaming about, well, about Blue dying."

"Seemed like more than just Blue dying."

Owen looked at Claire and then said, "She didn't die by prions in my dream. Ortiz killed her with a gun."

"Oh."

"I'm fine Claire. I really am. It was just a dream, right?"

Claire opened her mouth to say something, but then lightly nodded her head with a slight smile and then exited the bungalow again and drove off to the park.

Owen took in a few more deep breaths and then put his face in his hands. Ortiz killing her might have been a dream, but Blue dying soon sure as hell wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare...