Chapter WARNING: Dinosaur violence!
Chapter 10: Human Vs. Predator
The day went on with absolutely nothing happening except the rain kept pouring down with no intention to stop. Alex told Kara that Mike and Winn both had radios on themselves, but only Director Jones was allowed to communicate with them. Kara tried to think positively about it. Mike was a fighter, if anyone could come through this alive and keep Winn safe, it would be him.
When the night fell, they went through the same routine from last night. Cold supper, this time in complete silence and then going to their beds. After tossing and turning with a disturbed mind, Kara finally fell asleep praying Mike and Winn were both okay.
It felt mere seconds afterward when a loud alarm jerked her awake. Rubbing her eyes groggily, Kara blinked and squinted in the darkness for the source of noise with a racing heart.
"What is that?!"
"It's the fire alarm." Kara heard Alex replying and made out her silhouette peeking through the wide window of the office into the hallway. Eve was also awake, though didn't speak.
"Okay, Kara I'm going to check what's going on. You lock the door behind me and do not open it to anyone but me. Got it?" Alex ordered and she nodded in return.
After following Alex's words, Kara attempted to switch on the lights in order to lighten up the room since they weren't going to sleep with the constant shriek of alarm and it felt stupid to wait in the dark. The switch didn't work, however. The power was out.
Despite the lack of light in the room, Kara felt Eve's heavy gaze on herself and her radiating anxiety. Kara wished she could tell her about their suspicions. She trusted Eve.
"I- I'm sure it's just another glitch." She suggested with a nervous chuckle to cover her own wrecked nerves.
"I don't think it's a glitch." Eve deadpanned, taking Kara by surprise.
"You don't?"
"No. If the alarms are working then how can the power be out?" Eve paused before continuing with her observation. "You know this is not normal. This park has been designed specifically against such accidents. Sure Maxwell Lord's manipulation damaged the system, but the communication shouldn't be disabled. The National Guard should have reached us two days ago. It's not like we are that far off the coast." Smart Eve, she already had a sense what was going on.
"It is strange." Kara agreed while battling with herself over whether she should share what they believed was going on and in the end decided against it. There was no point in giving Eve more reasons to be afraid. Therefore she played ignorant. "I just hope we all get out of here in one piece."
"I hope so too." Eve sighed.
There wasn't any other chance to talk when someone tried to open the door by twisting the doorknob and failed as the door was still locked and instead raped the door urgently.
"Ma'am? You need to leave the room right now. We are evacuating!" A male voice claimed gravely.
Kara went to open the door in haste, but stopped short with her hand on the handle when she remembered Alex's warning. Kara decided to stall.
"What's going on? Why are we evacuating?"
"There's been an accident. It's dangerous for you to stay on this floor."
Kara frowned at the closed door. What kind of excuse was that?
"I don't understand Sir. What kind of accident?"
"Please ma'am! It's not safe for you in there! Please open the door!"
Kara refused to do that and wished for Alex to show up sooner. She yelped and jumped backwards when the man banged the door harder repeatedly and called for her to open the door.
Suddenly the banging stopped and a few gunshots with shouts were heard instead. The man cried in immense pain and fell silent instantly following a loud sickening snap. Eve came to stand next to Kara as the two backed away until their backs hit the opposite wall and waited anxiously. They sought each other's hands to hold in fear as a shudder ran through their bodies.
The two screamed when the office window shattered to pieces and a giant dinosaur head entered through. Kara saw the dark liquid dripping from its teeth onto the shards of glass. She didn't need any light to know it was blood. That guards blood.
Kara grabbed a chair and pointed its legs to the monster's head with shaking hands. She already knew a chair wouldn't stop what was about to happen, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Eve, on the other hand, was completely frozen. Kara doubted she was even breathing. If they were more aware of their surroundings, they would have noticed that the alarms had turned off, casting silence over the scene.
The fearsome lizard-ish head on the long neck stretched forward as its eerily white eyes glistened savagely with their scent. It inhaled soundly the smell of more fresh meat and growled triumphantly. Kara saw its unusually long hook-shaped claws scratching and ripping the wall as though it was made of cardboard. Even in the dark, and under the fog of terror that had clouded her mind, Kara still sensed that there was something really off about this dinosaur. It didn't look like any species she had seen before.
The chair turned into a pile of toothpicks by a single swing of its claw and grazed Kara on the shoulder in the process. There was nowhere else to run to. Kara put herself in front of Eve and stopped thinking altogether. The dinosaur lifted its other deathly talon, about to slash her. Kara took in one last breath and braced herself.
Multiple gunshots rang in the air and the freaky dinosaur snapped its head angrily towards the invaders. It shrieked in pain and forgot about its scared to death preys. To their disbelief, the dinosaur retreated and changed its mind about eating them as it fled the scene.
Alex jumped over the ruined window and into the room accompanied by three other guards. "Kara?!" She called terrified, her voice trembling.
"I- I'm okay." Kara replied in an equally uneven voice and almost collapsed in Alex's arms when they wrapped around her.
"Oh thank God!" Alex hugged her so tight that the little oxygen left in Kara's lungs were knocked out, yet she didn't complain. Never in her life had she felt this relieved in her sister's arms.
"Eve?!" Alex called the horrified girl standing behind Kara with worry. Soon Eve joined their hug and the sister hug turned into a group hug.
The power came back on after a few minutes and once again Kara was in the infirmary, this time to get stitches for the deep cut on her shoulder. It stung really badly. Alex never left her side and kept blaming herself for leaving when the alarm went off.
"Alex it's fine. If you hadn't gone, you wouldn't have even known about the dinosaur to get that gun." Kara pointed at the rifle Alex had been holding ever since and tried to convince her that she had actually saved them by leaving the room.
Alex told them that when she left, she saw the few guards were running around, getting the special sedative guns according to director Jones' commands and found out that there had been a breach into the building and a dinosaur had been spotted inside the building by the trail of two bodies. Alex had argued they should use real guns, but the director was under orders not to hurt any of these extravagant animals.
Kara felt guilty. She couldn't stop wondering whether that guard would still be alive if she had opened the door.
"Maybe you're right." Alex sighed wearily in defeat and sat on the edge of the bed where Kara was being treated on.
"Wow, it takes a dinosaur to finally hear you admit I'm right about something!" Kara feigned surprise.
"Shut up." Alex smirked and slapped her good shoulder lightly.
Dr. Snow put a clean gauze on Kara's injury and claimed she was done and they could leave. She then left them to check on Maxwell Lord who had woken up at last after the mayhem. The curtains around his bed were yet hiding him from prying eyes. Kara heard his whimpers. He was in a lot of pain and in no shape to get back onto his feet. Rexy had done a number on him.
Kara scanned her surrounding to see if anyone was listening and leaned towards Alex when she was sure. "Eve knows." She whispered.
Alex frowned at her. "Knows what?"
Kara rolled her eyes. "She knows this is all a setup. We should tell her. I trust her."
Alex didn't answer her right away and gave it a thought, biting her lip. "Okay." She nodded to Kara's astonishment. That Dinosaur had really brought things into perspective for Alex, no kidding. Speaking of that dinosaur, Kara remembered its unfamiliar shape once again.
"Alex that dinosaur, did you get it?"
Alex shook her head. "No, we shot it like ten tranquilizers and it didn't even flinch!" Alex dropped her voice considerably. "Don't tell Jones, but I actually used my own 44 Magnum on it and got it in the leg. That was when it finally reacted. I was losing my mind. What if I was late and –"
"But you didn't! Stop thinking that!" Kara pulled Alex into a hug.
Eve walked inside the infirmary at that moment. She still looked rather pale and shaken. Who could blame her? She nodded at them both and looked at Kara with a strange look on her face.
"Kara, I just wanted to thank you for saving my life."
"What, me? I didn't do anything. Alex was the one who shot the dinosaur."
"No, you – you put yourself between me and that thing." Eve looked at her in awe. "You were willing to give your life to protect me and I'm forever in your debt."
Kara adjusted her glasses and her cheeks blushed as she was completely flattered. "Oh, don't mention it. You don't owe me anything."
Kara turned to Alex and they shared a meaningful look. It was time to tell Eve about their plan.
Mike and Winn got off the car they had been given very shortly after they had started their journey, because the handle showed the car was out of gas which was strange since Mike had checked the level prior to igniting the car. He slid under the car to search what the problem was. They had given them a tempered car. The short slim pipe connecting the fuel tank to the engine had been cut and thus all the gas had leaked out on the road in a matter of minutes. Very classy. Perfect to make their already dangerous mission even harder.
The two hiked the hill Mike knew would take them to the Predators Zone under heavy rain. They were soaked through and the fog around them didn't help. A part of Mike thought this weather should keep the animals inside their dens and another part – the louder one – kept warning him how starved animals couldn't care less about the bad weather.
Both of them tried contacting the HQ many times, but no one was on the other line. Mike saw a few antennas which were essential to help the transmission in the park, being sabotaged and wondered if this was another trick by Luthors, or the radios had been taken down for real because of dinosaurs.
To their biggest relief, Rexy never showed up. Maybe she wasn't hungry after hunting so many other people and smaller dinosaurs. As a proof along their way, Mike spotted many killed dinosaurs. He felt truly devastated seeing how the weaker ones had fallen prey to the predators. They didn't deserve this. They were supposed to have long peaceful lives in the park, not being slaughtered and perished. It genuinely hurt him being powerless over these great losses. The only thing they could do, was to put an end to it by turning back on the system and close the gates and bring back order.
They found their way into the thicker area of the zone and caution became an indispensable as Mike found fresh footprints in the mud. He listened intently for any sound that could guide him where the gluttonous Dinosaur was residing. Maybe he was watching them, waiting for the right moment to strike. Mike took the lead and with a ready gun, stepped a few paces forward as he signed Winn to follow him.
The bushes jerked away harshly as tall dinosaur jumped out with its jaws wide open, ready to bit off his head. Mike dived to a side and shot three tranquilizers into its side. The dinosaur dropped immobilized. Only then Mike had time to see which species it was. The small size and the bright red patterns over its yellowish- green body told him it was a Coelophysis. They weren't that big. Smaller than an adult human, but they were fast and benefited from sharp teeth.
"Dude! That was some classic Max Payne move right there!" Winn cheered in awe and Mike chuckled with the shake of his head. Typical Winn with his video game knowledge.
"Is that a Coelophysoid?" Winn asked nervously, wiping away the water from his face. He moved towards Mike and on his next step something crunched under his foot. He immediately moved back to see what had he stamped on.
Mike started to answer him, but turned white as a sheet. "Winn, don't move!"
Winn froze with one foot in the air and made a squeaky noise. He was one foot into a nest with four big eggs and behind him, Mike saw the Coelophysoid mother Dinosaur eyeing him with mad eyes.
"DUCK!" Mike shouted when the dinosaur surged forward to kill, approaching dangerously fast. Winn dropped himself with his hands over his head and shouted when the dinosaur toppled over him. Mike barely had time to shoot at the protective mother, but he got her in the neck.
Winn was still shouting when Mike got to him and pushed away the unconscious female heavy dinosaur.
"Winn! Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Winn croaked as he rose to his feet with Mike's help, shaking from head to toe.
Mike scanned him for injuries and thankfully found none. He nodded and patted Winn on the back firmly. "Yeah, I think you're okay."
He then turned around to inspect the nest. The eggs were unharmed. Winn had walked on broken eggshells. "How is this possible? They explicitly told me no reproductions happen naturally!" Mike couldn't believe his eyes. Although he was bitter with the betrayal, it didn't deter the marvel he felt in seeing dinosaur eggs in a natural environment. He then felt worried about leaving the eggs unprotected with their parents incapacitated. Seeing the broken eggshells again, Mike looked around to find the hatchling, but it was nowhere to be found. Had it fallen preyed on?
"Hey, what are you doing?" Winn asked when Mike put down his backpack and took out a blanket.
"We can't leave them here. Some dinosaurs eat unhatched eggs." Mike explained as he wrapped the eggs in the blanket.
"So what?! Some others eat us too!"
Mike frowned at Winn. His fear had made his brute survival instincts to kick in and putting his safety above other things. "You don't understand Winn! These are true Dinosaur eggs! They aren't artificial lab embryos! We can't just leave them here! I can't!"
Mike wrapped the eggs securely in the blanket and tucked them in his bag, covering them with other things to stop them from getting wetter than they were.
"Come on, let's move." He nodded at a not so happy looking Winn and they resumed their track.
They made it to where Max Lord had been keeping Mike and Kara a few hours later without any more accidents. The door had been left open and despite knowing no one was around, Mike had reservations about stepping inside. You never knew what could show up in this place, yet the stubborn rain with wind and the growing darkness forced them to take refuge.
Mike checked every room fast. Apart from three small Compsognathus and one Microraptor that looked a lot like falcons, No one and nothing was inside. Sadly Ace had disappeared as well. The sedatives must have worn off. Mike could only hope he was okay. Raptors were intelligent. Maybe he had found his brothers, his pack. Mike couldn't bring himself to throw out the harmless, little animals and assured Winn that they were harmless.
Mike shut the door behind them and blocked it with some chairs since the lock on it was broken.
Winn unpacked his laptop and started working immediately. While he was busy with wiring and typing, Mike decided to check on the eggs. He was fascinated and enraptured by them. Sure he had seen a dinosaur hatch in the labs dozens of times – including every single his Lost Boys – but this was something else. This felt real. He only hoped the warmth from the blanket could keep them healthy until he could return them to their parents.
They soon realized there was no power in the small building. The central electricity current wasn't working for some reason and therefore Winn couldn't do anything. Mike looked around for a solution. He found a diesel generator in a corner and wheeled it outside to the small generator room located on the south-facing side. The night was falling and the twilight was getting dimmer by the minute.
Mike wiped the water out of his eyes and reached for a wrench to unscrew the thick cords that connected the lab to the central grid and plugged in the generator's cords instead. It didn't take long until he found out there was no gas in the generator. Another problem. Fantastic. He shouldn't have expected their luck to turn so soon.
Cursing under his breath, Mike searched around the musty smelling place with his flashlight and noticed some containers by the wall and checked them one by one. He shouted in victory when he found what he was looking for. A jerry can.
He rushed back to the generator and poured in the liquid. The loud humming sound of the machine working was music to his ears. He had to wait a few minutes until the capacitors were charged enough and the current came on.
Unexpectedly two hands locked around Mike's neck in an iron grip, pushing down on his windpipe. Mike gaged and kicked against the hands strangling him. Remembering his training from the navy, Mike used his forearms to hit the attacker's elbows with a fast blow and freed himself.
Staggering backward, Mike saw a tall topless man with a bruised face. It was Maxwell Lord's mercenary. The one Alex had knocked out. He was alive and back to take his revenge. Exactly what he needed right now, between the Luthors throwing rocks at them and hungry dinosaurs waiting for the right moment. This was the icing on the cake.
Mike got into his fighting stance, raised fists and crouched back. The guy started the fight, Mike pulled away so his punch missed his face. They exchanged some bellows and Mike seemed to be faster than his already tired opponent. Their brawl pulled them outside under the pouring. Mike kicked him in the back of knees and he groaned as he dropped down. But Mike had underestimated the bulky man's speed when his own feet were swiped from under him and his back hit the ground with a splash. The bully straddled Mike and locked his hands around his neck again. His vision started to dim. He didn't want to die. He couldn't break his promise to Kara.
His will gave him enough power to hit the man hard in the face by smacking the under of his jaw and he fell back as he yelped. Mike took out his knife from its sheath fixed on the side of his calf and pointed it at his attacker threateningly. However, his heart dropped when he found himself at the point of a gun. Who can win against a gun with a knife?
He heard the gun getting cocked and expected it to go off instantly, yet instead of a bang, he heard a savage growl and something blurry smashed into Mike's grim ripper like a racing car. A powerful set of jaws vengefully bit the gun holding hand, almost ripping it off.
"ACE!" Mike gasped loudly as the faithful Raptor took another bite at the man who had been trying to harm his master. Mike felt dizzy at the sight of so much blood mixing with rain.
"ACE STOP!" He ordered the mad Raptor, but he wouldn't obey, too occupied with his kill.
It was too late. The man's agonizing shrieks ended moments later. Mike felt sick. He couldn't even move from his knelt down position. Too appalled.
The Raptor then turned to him, pinning him with his intense stare. For the first time ever, Mike felt scared of the Raptor. Had nature finally won over nurture?