Chapter 7 Predators

Muldoon quickly made his way down to the ground level, and then to the basement level. Being a hunter, he knew it was intuition to put the rocket launcher in the jeep, just in case something like this was to happen. He walked over to where the jeep was parked...or at least where it should be parked; it was gone.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Muldoon exclaimed. He could hear the sound of thunder in the near distance.

Rain was drumming loudly against the roof of the land cruisers. Tim glanced over at Lex, who was falling asleep in her seat, while Sara was now sat in the front of the car with Ed Regis. Tim felt the night vision goggles feel rather heavy on his forehead. He reached for the knob near his ear, and increased the intensity. He turned around and could see both Grant and Malcolm sat in the front seats of the other land cruiser. How cool was that, Tim thought to himself. He saw Grant pick up the radio. There was a sudden burst of static. Tim took the radio of Ed Regis, who at the moment was just sat there, looking rather bored at the moment.
"Can you see us Tim?" Grant asked.
"Yep," Tim answered.
"Everything all right there?" Grant said.
"Yep," Tim answered.
"Of course it is," Ed Regis said rather blandly.
"Stay in the car," Grant said.
"Of course we will Dr. Grant," Tim said. He then clicked off the radio.
Ed Regis snorted. "It's awful out there. Of course we will stay in here. And anyway the power should be back on soon. The land cruisers would leave without us, if we weren't in them."
Tim, not really listening to Regis, looked towards the foliage. Through the glasses, the foliage looked like an electronic green colour. He could also see the grid pattern of the fence. He could tell they were parked on a downward slope, so that would suggest they were somewhere near the Tyrannosaur enclosure. It would be awesome if I could see the Tyrannosaur with these on, Tim thought to himself. Sadly as he looked around, he didn't see anything after a few moments. He gave up. The rain continued to pour down the windows of the land cruisers, and then the cars windows began steaming up; making it hard for Tim to even see out the car with the glasses.
"Well this is fun," Sara said from under her breath.

"How long have we been sat here?" Malcolm said, sitting in the other land cruiser.
"I don't know," Grant said. "Nearly ten minutes I think. You'd have thought they would have been able to get the power back on by now."
"Well there's only two people in that control room who know how to use computers properly," Malcolm said, shaking his head. "They might have other problems we don't know of yet."
"I don't know what happened to the power," Grant said.
"Short circuit perhaps," Malcolm suggested.
"But it seemed to happen before the rain really started," Grant said.
"That's true; they've been having quite a few problems to sort out." Malcolm agreed.
There was then a long silence, that seemed to last an eternity. They were just waiting for the power to come back on, and waiting to get back to the visitor centre.

Tim once again scanned the foliage, looking for the Tyrannosaur; either of them actually. The juvenile or the adult T-Rex. He saw no sign of them. If it wasn't raining so much, he'd love to just get out of the car and have a wonder around; and see if he could see any dinosaurs in the dark. The rain continued to pour down on them in sheets.
"Hell of a rain," Ed Regis said.
"I'm hungry," Lex said.
"So am I," Tim admitted.
"I know you all are," Ed Regis said. "But the power's out. These aren't gas jeeps, like you normally get at home."
"I hope they hurry up," Sara said sulkily.
Listening to the droning, continuous sound of rain pouring down, Tim started to feel drowsy. He looked over to the left, looking at a load of palm trees by the other side of the road. That seemed endless as well. He was suddenly startled by a loud thud from behind them. He swung around in time, just to catch a glimpse of dark shape crossing the road.
"Shit," Ed Regis exclaimed. "What was it?"
"I don't know," Tim said. "It looked huge, as big as the car." He still looked around for it, but it had gone as quickly as it had come. He heard a burst of static from the radio. He picked it up.
"Tim, are you there?" Came the voice of Grant.
"Yeah," Tim answered.
"Did you see it?" Grant asked.
"I just caught a glimpse of it," Tim admitted.
"What the hell was it?" Malcolm asked. "Which enclosure are we near?"
"I think we're near to the Tyrannosaur paddock," Tim said.
"Was it the T-Rex?" Ed Regis asked.
"I don't think so, it was in the road," Tim said.
"But you didn't see it properly?" Ed Regis asked.
"No," Tim shook his head.
Grant said. "Keep an eye out anyway, with the night vision goggles."
"Yes Dr. Grant," Tim said as he turned off the radio.
"I hope it wasn't the Tyrannosaur," Sara said.
"I agree with you there," Ed Regis nodded in agreement.

Tim personally felt bad by missing the animal. It could've been one of the Tyrannosaurs, but how though, was a good question. They should both be in their paddocks. In the sky there was a sudden white crack of lightning. Followed by a crashing of thunder a few seconds later.
Lex started crying. "Oh no..."
"Please, take it easy," Ed Regis said. "We'll back in doors soon."
Tim scanned the side of the road again, looking at the dense jungle. The rain splashed hard against the leaves. Everything seemed to be alive. He scanned the leaves, there seemed to be something there, beyond the leaves. He looked up higher, behind the foliage, he saw a large body that had a pebbled like texture but it wasn't a tree...it was the huge body of the adult Tyrannosaur. He saw its huge head, looking over the fence at the two land cruisers. The lightning flashed again, the animal rolled its head and bellowed a loud roar into the glaring light. Lex began to sob even more.
"Oh dear," Sara said under mouth.
"Tim?" Grant said, his voice rather calm, coming through the radio.
"Yes Dr. Grant," Tim said picking up the radio.
"Can you see what it is?" Grant said, keeping his tone as calm and as relaxed as he can.
"Yes, Dr. Grant." Tim replied. Tim was getting the idea that Dr. Grant was trying to keep calm—to not scare the two girls here in the car.
"What's going on right now?" Grant asked. "What's it doing?"
"It's just stood there, on the other side of the fence," Tim replied.
"I can't see much from here Tim," Grant said.
"It's looking at the land cruisers from where it's stood," Tim said.
"Okay," Grant said.

"I just hope that thing can't get out," Malcolm remarked, after Grant had turned off the radio.
"Let's just hope so," Grant agreed with him. From where they were sat, they could just about see the Tyrannosaur stood by the fence.
There was yet another long pause.
"May I look at the Tyrannosaur?" Sara asked, swivelling around in her seat to look at Tim.
"Urm, in a minute," Tim said. He watched the T-Rex, the head was huge. But it was still stood there for some reason. Not doing much at all. Through the goggles, it's eyes glowed a bright green colour. Tim felt a chill, but he didn't know why, as he looked from the head, down to the jaws. He also saw the smaller forelimbs hanging in the air, then it gripped the fence.
"Holy shit." Ed Regis said, staring out of the window, looking at the animal.
Tim glanced over at him in surprise.
"Bad language," Sara said, wagging a finger at him.
But suddenly Ed Regis opened the door, and climbed out of it. He had left the kids in the car, as well as leaving the car door open.
"Hey!" Lex shouted. "Where's he going?"
"Dunno," Sara shrugged her shoulders. "I'll go and get him." She opened the car door, and leapt out of the land cruiser. She closed the door behind her.
"Shit," Tim said. "They've both gone." He looked around and saw Ed Regis run into the woods on the other side of the road, with Sara following them closely behind.

While chasing after Ed Regis, Sara slipped down the soaking wet bank right on her bottom. She felt the mud and wet on the bottom of her jeans. She could see Ed Regis a few feet ahead.
"Mr. Regis!" She shouted at the top of her voice. Nearby, from the road and beyond she heard an enormous roar. She couldn't see anything though. She looked over at the nearest tree, which thankfully was climbable. She ran over to it, and started climbing it.

"What's going on Tim?" Grant's voice came over the radio.
Tim leaned forwards and tried to the close the door, but his hand couldn't reach the handle. He then looked back at the Tyrannosaur as the lightning flashed again, momentarily silhouetting the huge black shape against the sky.
"Regis left the car," Tim said. "Something spooked him. Then Sara went after him."
"Oh god," Malcolm's voice came over the radio.
Tim blinked to recover his vision. He saw the Tyrannosaur still stood there, standing motionlessly, rain dripping from its jaws...its forelimbs gripping the fence. Then it dawned on him; the fences weren't electrified.
"Oh no," Tim said.
"Do you know why he ran away?" Grant asked.
"Yes," Tim said. "I think he saw that the fences aren't electrified."
"What?" Grant said, with sudden alarm.
"Did he just say the fences aren't electrified anymore?" Malcolm said.
"I'm afraid so," Tim said, looking over at his sister, who was sobbing and visibly shaking. Tim quickly climbed out of the car, and shut the door that Regis had left wide open. He climbed back in and closed his door just as he saw the Tyrannosaur start tearing the cyclone fence to pieces with its enormous; tearing the coils to bits.
"Don't move, stay in the car," Grant's voice came over the radio.
The Tyrannosaur was now free, it stepped forwards, coming into the road.
Lex could now see the T-Rex from her seat; she watched it with wide eyes.
The T-Rex was now stood in between the two cars, Tim couldn't see the other land cruiser anymore because the huge body of the Tyrannosaur blocked his view.

Tim got back up as quickly as he could, scrambling around in the darkness. He felt blood in his mouth.
"Lex," He said, but she didn't respond. She was sat on the floor near Tim.
The T-Rex was stood near the front of the land cruiser, its chest moving as it breathed in and out, the forelimbs making clawing movements in the air. Then the huge head of the T-Rex came down again, blocking the shattered windshield, and it banged again on the front hood of the land cruiser. Tim grabbed the seat as the car rocked again on its wheels. T-Rex banged down on the metal twice more, but all that accomplished was denting the metal. The T-Rex lifted its head, and moved around the side of the car; the big tail blocked his view out of all the side windows. At the back, the animal snorted, a growl that rose above the sound of the rain. T-Rex sank its jaws into the mounted spare tire at the back of the land cruiser and easily tore it away. The Tyrannosaur threw the tire away.

The rear back of the car lifted into the air for a few moments, then came back down on the ground. Tim heard a burst of static near him.
"Tim, are you there?" Came the voice of Grant over the radio.
Tim scrambled around for the radio. He found it and picked it up.
"Yeah I'm here," Tim answered him, breathing rather heavily. He could feel his heartbeat thumping rather quickly. He couldn't see anything out of the windows on his right side apart from pebbled flesh. The Tyrannosaur continued to lean against the side of land cruiser, which rocked back and forth with every push, the springs and the metal creaking loudly.

The Tyrannosaur roared again, the sound was almost deafening. The roof dented downwards, followed by yet another jolting impact, and pieces of glass began falling down onto the floor of the car. He could see that the front windshield had broken completely out, leaving just a rim of glass left behind. Beyond that was the huge head of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The T-Rex obviously knew that Tim and Lex were in the car. His head rushed forwards, its jaws were wide open and there was a sudden squeal of teeth against metal. Tim realised the Tyrannosaur was too big to reach either Tim or Lex, as the head moved away abruptly. Then he suddenly saw one of the huge hind legs of the Tyrannosaur came down on the land cruiser. The world around Tim went crazy as the land cruiser slammed over on its side, the windows splatting in the mud. Tim felt dizzy, all he wanted to do was to fall asleep, and wait till it was all over.

Then the world around them crumbled as the T-Rex's jaws clamped down on the window frame, and what was left of the land cruiser was lifted into the air. Lex shrieked as the Tyrannosaur crashed the car down again. Tim felt the need to be sick, his sister was screaming now, suddenly coming alive as it were.
"Shush Lex," Tim said, that took a lot of his physical strength. He felt the world go wild as the T-Rex lifted the car up again, and then with a metallic scraping shriek, the car fell from the Tyrannosaur's jaws, which was a sickening fall, Tim's stomach heaved and then the world went black and silent.

In the other car, Malcolm gasped. "What happened to the other car?"
Grant blinked as the lightning faded. The other car had gone. Grant peered forward trying to see the other car, at first he thought that the huge body of the Tyrannosaur was just blocking their view. But in the next flash of lightning they could see clearly that the car had disappeared.
"What happened?" Malcolm asked.
"I don't know," Grant said. He rolled down the window, to see if he could hear them screaming; just to find out if they were still alive. Faintly he could hear somebody screaming.
"Is that one of the girls?" Malcolm asked.
"I think so," Grant said, sounding unsure.
They saw the Tyrannosaur's head look to the left towards the woods that was a mix of palm trees and other taller trees. Then it bent down and started sniffing at something on the ground.
"It's a time like this when you think extinct animals should remain just that," Malcolm said.
Grant nodded in agreement. He watched as the Tyrannosaur turn around, and started to walk in sweeping footsteps towards the other land cruiser.
"Do you have any suggestions of what we should do now?" Malcolm asked as the Tyrannosaur was coming closer and closer to the land cruiser with every large step.
"Can't think of a thing," Grant said.
"If we don't we're both going to end up dead," Malcolm said. "And I'd very much like to live a bit longer." He turned the handle on the door, kicked the door open and ran. But Grant could see he was too late—the Tyrannosaur was much to close. There was another crack of lightning, and Grant stared in horror as the T-Rex roared and rushed forwards. Everything afterwards was a bit of a blur; the T-Rex bounded alongside him, its massive head ducked and Malcolm was thrown into the air like a toy doll.

Grant opened his own door, and went outside. He felt the rain pour down his face and body. T-Rex turned away from Grant, the tail swinging through the air; he was completely exposed to the Tyrannosaur, who was no more than eight feet away. Grant was getting ready to run, somewhere, anywhere away from here. He didn't know whether or not the kids were still alive. But then suddenly the T-Rex turned around and faced Grant and the land cruiser. The T-Rex emitted a loud roar, and started sniffing the air. Grant froze immediately. He watched as the Tyrannosaur cocked its head, glancing with one eye and then the other; looking in the land cruiser but it didn't attack Grant.
Grant didn't understand why it didn't attack him. His heart was thumping fast, and his hands were shaking. He placed them slowly on the metal panel of the open door.

The powerful jaws of the Tyrannosaur opened and closed. It was still stood still there, and it bellowed a loud roar that carried through the night. Then Grant watched as one of its big hind legs came crashing down on the roof of the land cruiser and the claws slid off the roof with a metal screech—nearly catching Grant as he stood there. The foot splashed in the mud. Grant was almost waiting for the inevitable, when the animal would finally attack Grant, but didn't come; at least not yet. The T-Rex moved towards the rear of the car, using its head it slammed the passenger door shut, nearly knocking Grant off his feet. Grant was overcome with fear, but he never moved. The T-Rex's head moved towards Grant, but it moved past him towards the rear of the car.
What's happening, Grant thought to himself. He could smell the foul stench of the Tyrannosaur. The T-Rex continued to snort. It then turned towards Grant but still didn't attack him.
Obviously the rain is helping me conceal my scent, Grant thought to himself.

The Tyrannosaurus bellowed yet another loud, deafening roar. And now Grant was beginning to understand what was going on; the T-Rex knew Grant was here, but didn't know where he was exactly, so it was trying to frighten Grant into revealing his position. In a final move of frustration one of the T-Rex's hind limbs came crashing down on the land cruiser, knocking it over. Grant felt searing pain and the surprising sensation as his body flew through the air and his world became colder and colder. He fell back to the ground.

Sara was literally pooing herself with fear as she sat up in the tree, not knowing what to do. She could just see glimpses of the Tyrannosaur through the gaps in the leaves of the tree. She looked around at the ground below, for any sign of Ed Regis; but she had no idea where he'd gotten too. She then heard the branch beneath her snap. Oh crap, she thought to herself, as she started falling out of the tree. She tried to catch one of the other branches on the way down; she did. She held onto one branch with one hand, but it snapped in her grasp. She fell all the way down to the ground. She landed in a heap on the wet hillside. She shouted briefly in pain; she felt pain in her left leg and left arm. She started crawling down the hillside. She glanced over her shoulder, and thankfully she saw no sign of the T-Rex. As she reached the bottom of the hill, tiredness and fatigue quickly took over her body. She was rather frightened not knowing what to do at this point. She was just a kid. She started feeling drowsy. It isn't safe to sleep here, she thought to herself, but her body disagreed with her.

"Oh damn, will you look at that," Harding said, as he was sat behind the wheel of the gas jeep. Sean Dow was sat in the front with Gerry Harding while Ellie and Gennaro were sat in the back. In the yellow flare of the front headlights, they could see that a huge tree had fallen, and was blocking the road.
"Crap, must be from the storm," Dow said.
"Yeah, no doubt," Harding said. "We can't get past it. I better contact Arnold in the control room." Gerry Harding picked up the radio, but all they could hear was a static hiss.
"I don't get it," Harding said. "The radio lines seem to be down for whatever reason."
"Probably the storm," Gennaro suggested.
"I don't know about that," Harding said.
"It might be a technical problem they're having in the control room," Dow said.
"Try the land cruisers," Ellie suggested.
Harding opened the channels, but there was no response.
"Maybe their back at the visitor centre," Dow said.
"Could be right there," Harding said. He then put the jeep into reverse.
"What are you going to do?" Ellie asked him.
"Go back to the turnout road and get onto the maintenance road. You see we have two different sets of road systems, one for visitors and the other for staff. It will take a little bit longer but hey, we may see some of the animals at night." Harding explained. He turned the jeep around and headed back the way they had come.

Arnold still working madly at his computer screen, wondered again where that fat bastard Nedry had gone. He had asked Stephen Falden—head of security and the other security guards to go and search the building for Dennis Nedry, and that was about five, six minutes ago.
"Somebody took the goddamn jeep," Muldoon said, as he came back into the room. "Have you made contact with the land cruisers yet?"
"I can't raise them on the radio," Arnold told him, shaking head. "Because the main board is down. So I have to use this, its weak but it ought to work. They're not answering the radios in their cars. For whatever reason."
"That's not good news," Muldoon said. "You don't think something happened..."
"I hope not," Arnold replied. "You could take one of the maintenance vehicles, if you still want to go out there."
"Yeah I would but they're in the east garage, and that's a mile away from here," Muldoon said. "Where's Harding?"
"I assume he's on his way back," Arnold said.
"We could ask him to go and pick up the kids when he gets back, or I could go and get them after he returns." Muldoon said.
"That's fine yeah," Arnold nodded.