Jurassic World: Return to Isla Nublar – Chapter 21: Eyes Aglow in the Dark
A/N: So sorry for publishing this a little late; as you might have noticed, I normally publish a chapter on Thursdays. But don't worry, I'll still be publishing a chapter this week, probably tomorrow. In this chapter, we're finally going to finish up this intense chasing scene. As you'll remember from Chapter 20, a few new species of killers are making an appearance and in this chapter, I'll reveal the classification of each one. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jurassic Park except the very characters I've made up.
"OK," Levine began, not taking his eyes off the terrifying dinosaurs, "they're definitely members of the theropod group of dinosaurs . . . superb night vision . . . the teeth of a carnivore . . . lean, mean and . . . they look agile."
The dinosaurs slowly began creeping forward, tracing the backward steps of Levine's group. They emitted eerie clicking noises that they used for communication purposes. As the humans made their way into the main rotunda, another pair of eyes appeared in the darkness . . . then another . . . and another pair! There were at least half a dozen of the dinosaurs in the building; they seemed ready for the attack . . .
"OK, what's our plan for escape, Levine?" Lex asked.
"Not sure yet, Lex," Levine answered. "I'm sort of making it up as I go."
"Great."
Then, one of the dinosaurs rushed forward toward our group.
"RUN FOR IT!" Tim exclaimed, and the humans turned and ran as fast as their legs could carry them out of the Visitor Center. The carnivores issued bird-like shrills – generally sounding similar to the ones of the raptors, but much more mystical and mysterious – before they began pursuing their prey.
Most of the small pterosaurs attacking Grant, Dr. Sorkin and Taylor were flying actively around the room, but many of them were mercilessly banging against the windows of the aquarium's roof, trying to break in and attack Grant and the others.
"I thought pterodactyls were bigger," Taylor noted with a hint of fear in her voice.
"The technical term is 'pterosaurs', and many of them were small," Dr. Sorkin explained. "Still don't know what they are, Grant?"
Grant looked thoughtful and terrified at the same time. "Well . . . not quite sure, but now that I've been looking at them a while I'm pretty sure they're a member of the anurognathid family, perhaps Anurognathus or Jeholopterus. I'm leaning towards Anurognathus."
"I thought about that," Dr. Sorkin said, "but I wasn't sure since they're so . . . so vicious. Anurognathids are supposed to be insectivores, not predatory! Unless . . . Wu's frog DNA hack had something to do with it!"
"Maybe . . . but right now we need to think about how we get out of here."
Taylor suggested, "Just use the stuff in the fire extinguisher you have."
Grant shook his head. "I've no idea how much is in here, but it probably won't keep the swarm away for long." Looking out of the plexiglass, he admired how the creatures flew about the room like bats or birds. Look at how they fly, he thought. They're just like flying piranhas. Those droppings we found on the floor might have been caused by these guys. I wonder why they're so carnivorous . . . maybe these are a different species of Anurognathus from the one we know in the fossil record. I wonder how we can escape these guys.
All of a sudden, one of the Anurognathus found a small gap in the plexiglass roof and forged its gruesome head into it, causing Taylor to scream.
"Oh great," Dr. Sorkin said sarcastically. Grant took his fist and jammed it into the animal's face, causing it to withdraw out of pain. But that wouldn't stop the animals for long. CRACK! A long slit appeared in the roof of the plexiglass thanks to all the pecking the animals were doing.
"I thought plexiglass was tough!" Grant muttered.
"It normally is, but this has been here for decades, so naturally it's weaker than newer plexiglass. They're going to be on us pretty soon."
Then Grant said, "I think I have an idea. I don't know how much of this stuff's in the extinguisher, but perhaps if we use it wisely we can duck out of here and exit through the staff only door . . . perhaps."
"We won't know if we don't try."
As the Anurognathus began making the cracks larger with each peck, Grant prepared himself for their next course of action. Alright . . . three . . . two . . . one . . ."Now!" he yelled.
Grant burst through the door of the aquarium with Dr. Sorkin and Taylor close behind. The pterosaurs realized that their quarry was trying to leave and the swarm flew toward them to start their feast. The loud screeches the excited animals made was quite deafening as they neared their target.
But Grant was quick – he aimed the hose at the little pests and blew a great blast of the nitrogen. The creatures were quick to back off for the time being and Grant and the others raced through the doors. Grant slammed the door shut with all his might. He even took a bandana from his pocket and tied it around the door knobs to keep the door firmly shut. The swarm through their tiny bodies against the door, but to no avail. Unlike the raptors, these pterosaurs weren't likely to bust through the door anytime soon. Grant, Dr. Sorkin and Taylor breathed a sigh of relief – they had managed to survive with little more than a few small bites, but still, that was way too close for comfort!
Tim, Levine, Kailey and Lex dashed from the Visitor Center with the dinosaurs on their tails. Tim reached the trailer first so he yanked the door open and shoved Kailey and Lex inside.
Levine was running as fast as he could, but at least one of the dinosaurs was rapidly catching up somewhere behind him.
"Come on, Levine!" Tim yelled. "Look out behind you!"
The dinosaur behind him sprung effortlessly through the air, aiming for Levine. I can't outrun it . . . Levine told himself, but I can outsmart it! The dinosaur narrowly missed capturing Levine as he ducked and tumbled onto the ground. It was now that Levine could see the general shape and color of the dinosaur thanks to the moonlight – it was covered in a pale body with dark dorsal stripes, a red underbelly and it had ferocious-looking claws on the hands and feet; similar to Velociraptor, one of the claws on each foot was enlarged and held up off the ground. A series of quills were running down its back.
Levine didn't waste a minute – he quickly got back to his feet and sprinted over to the trailer with the animals hot on his tail, ready to feast on his flesh. Once he reached the door, he slammed it behind himself. From outside, the dinosaurs' growls and snarls could be heard as the rest of the pack approached the trailer. A few of them banged their heads against the door in the hope of barging in.
"Is everyone OK?" Levine questioned. There was a little resistance, but the others nodded.
A moment later, Kailey glanced out the window in the door at the six noisy carnivores outside and asked, "What are those things anyway?"
"Maybe some variation of Velociraptor?" Lex suggested.
Tim shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Velociraptor doesn't look anything like those dinosaurs outside. Did you notice that they appeared not long after the raptor's ran?"
"Yeah," Lex agreed. "They did, didn't they? Are the raptors scared of . . . those killers?"
Levine grinned as he neared one of the trailer's windows. He turned back to the group and said, "They might be. Something seems strangely sinister about these dinosaurs though . . . doesn't it? But at least we're safe in here. This trailer's plenty strong. It's not like these are tyrannosaurs we're dealing with that can easily break in, so we should be fine–"
One of the dinosaurs jumped up to the same window Levine was standing at and roared. "Yikes!" Levine exclaimed, jumping back from the window in fright. "They are creepy little creatures!"
Grant, Dr. Sorkin and Taylor walked back down the hall that was on the second floor toward the main rotunda.
"I hope the others are alright," Dr. Sorkin told the other two.
"I'm sure their fine," Grant answered. "Do you still happen to have that walkie-talkie?"
"Oh! I almost forgot about this!" she forged in her pockets for the device, but it was nowhere to be found. "Oh drat! It must have fallen out somewhere while we were on the run."
Taylor suddenly gasped. "Hey, maybe we should think about going back," she said.
"Why?" Grant asked.
Taylor said nothing, but merely pointed at the shadowy figure coming around the corner further down the hall – it was definitely a dinosaur and had a long snout, slightly-glowing eyes, sharply clawed hands and feet and a lengthy tail. A male Velociraptor was still stalking the Visitor Center! Grant and the others instantly froze in fear as the creature slowly looked over in their direction, snarling.
"Turn back!" Grant yelled. After they began running, the raptor roared and gave chase. Racing down the dark hall, it was fast and agile. Grant and the others turned left and found a small, broken drinking fountain – a dead end. "Great! We're trapped!"
The three of them turned around just in time to see the Velociraptor coming around the corner. It slowed to monitor the situation, and it was liking what it saw: it's prey was now trapped in a corner. There was no way they could escape! Slowly but surely, the carnivorous dinosaur crept slowly forward, hissed and bended its legs for the attack . . .
The creature leaped into the air toward its prey! But all of a sudden, a flying dart sunk its needle into the dinosaur's in the neck and the animal shrieked in surprise as it fell to the ground. They looked up and saw Captain Ryan at the other end of the hall with his gun ready to fire the next shot should the animal wake up. Soldier #1 and soldier #2 were standing by his side..
"Perfect timing guys!" Dr. Sorkin acknowledged.
"No problem," Ryan answered as he approached the group.
"That was totally awesome!" Taylor exclaimed.
Grant said, "I was wondering what happened to you guys."
"You were?" Ryan asked with a grin. "Well, after you guys kept running down the hall and the raptors chased after you, we followed one of the Velociraptors that remained in the hatchery. We kept following it until it met back up with you guys and well . . ." he looked down at the animal he shot. With a shrug he added, ". . . I guess the rest is history."
Dr. Sorkin then asked, "Hey, Ryan, do you have a walkie-talkie radio I can use."
Ryan retrieved one out of his pocket and handed it to the scientist. "It's got a weak battery, so make the call quick."
The scientist nodded and got the radio from him.
The dinosaurs just outside the trailer were relentless and not going to give up this hunt so easily. They had stopped banging their heads against the door, but were at the moment slowly circling the trailer, trying to figure out a way to reach their prey.
Just like raptors, Levine thought, they're intelligent predators; trying to outsmart us by getting in here.
Levine and Tim watched with interest as one of the dinosaurs outside stopped to consider the situation. There was definitely anticipation and tension in the air, as the creature's impatient snarl seemed to indicate. It then went disappeared under the trailer.
"Where do you think it's going?" Tim asked. Levine could only shrug.
Just then, a voice came from one of the walkie-talkie radios in the trailer, "Hello? Levine? Tim? Lex? Kailey? Is anyone there? This is Dr. Sorkin! Over."
Levine quickly picked up one of the radios that were set up on a rack on the wall of the trailer and noticed that the cords they needed to be charged were unplugged. Nice, looks like someone forgot to plug these in. "Hey, Tim, could you plug these in please?"
"Sure."
Then Levine put his mouth to the radio and said, "This is Levine, over."
"Oh, thank goodness you're there!" Dr. Sorkin exclaimed. "Are you guys OK? Where are you?"
"Well, 'OK' wouldn't be my best choice of words. We were in the Visitor Center getting chased by Velociraptors when they suddenly ran off on us. That's when we came face to face with some stranger dinosaurs."
There were a few moments of silence on Dr. Sorkin's end. "What – type – dinosaur?" (A/N: During this conversation with Dr. Sorkin via walkie-talkie, this: "–" indicates static.)
"Hey, Dr. Sorkin, is your radio charged up? Because I'm hearing a lot of static."
"Sorry, it's – low. Have to – fast. Describe –saur."
"Well . . ." Levine glanced out the window and continued, "they're sort of raptor-like in shape and body-build: they have sharp, enlarged, sickle-shaped claws on their toes. But they've also got glowing eyes."
"I – those are. They're called Troodon pectinodon," Dr. Sorkin explained. "They're a nocturnal and – species that hunts in packs and – they're afraid of –."
"Say that again, say that again, Dr. Sorkin!"
"Repeat, they're a – and dangerous species that – and they're afraid of light. Use light to repel them – don't let them bite you."
"Well, I wasn't going to offer my arms for their dining pleasure."
"But I'm serious, Levine, don't – bite you."
"Why are you making an emphasis on the biting part?"
"Just don't let–" Dr. Sorkin's radio was dead, and not long after that, Levine's died too.
"What are they, Levine?" Kailey asked in fright.
"They're called Troodon pectinodon," he answered. "Apparently another species not on InGen's list. Dr. Sorkin said they're pack hunters and she said not to let them bite."
"Troodon?" Tim asked in surprise. "Really? They look a bit more . . . menacing than the ones in the fossil record."
"Perhaps they're a different species from the Troodon we've dug up as fossils or it's part of the frog DNA substitute Dr. Sorkin told us about."
"What advice did she give?" Lex questioned.
"Well, she said they're afraid of light . . ."
A light-bulb flicked on inside Kailey's head. "Just turn the trailer lights on!" she suggested. Lex, who was closest to a light switch, obeyed and the lights in the trailer turned on. The Troodon outside shrieked in surprise and looked up at the trailer. They began to blink rapidly and tried shielding their light-sensitive eyes from the light – it was blinding them!
"Turn the outside lights on," Tim instructed. Lex obeyed again and the five Troodon began to recoil quickly. This is working like a dream, Tim thought. So all we have to do is use lights to drive them off! Perfect!
The Troodon that had gone underneath the trailer wasn't the least bit deterred, as it couldn't see the light from where it was. So it continued to crawl forward. This predator was trying to find a clever way into the trailer. The dinosaur looked up and saw a hole; maybe this could be a place to slip in. He forged his head into the gap but it was a dead end. After pulling it back out, he continued walking until he felt a force feel like it was pulling his body back. Clicking in surprise, he looked back and saw that he had become entangled in wires and cords . . . terrific. So he began roughly pulling and chewing on the cords to loosen himself . . .
"So long, Troodon!" Levine proclaimed as the animals began heading toward the edge of the clearing to leave the area. "Get ready to loose your . . ."
PHOOM! The trailer suddenly returned to its dark state. ". . . night . . . vision," Levine finished his previous sentence. As the Troodon that went underneath the trailer reappeared, it joined the rest of its pack as they slowly turned around to see that the light that kept them away from the trailer was no longer active. The dinosaurs made their clicking noises to themselves.
"What just happened?" Lex asked. Levine glanced around the room: the power had mysteriously turned off, so now nothing was on or charging, meaning the radios and sat. phones that they used to communicate with the outside world were inactive because someone forgot to plug them in earlier! Now this group was in trouble.
"Think the Troodon noticed the lights went out?" Kailey inquired.
Suddenly, one of the scary dinosaurs leaped onto the hood of the trailer and roared aggressively.
"Yikes!" Lex exclaimed. "They are nefarious-looking!"
Then the humans watched as it and another of the same species leaped onto the roof of the trailer. After taking a good look at the roof, they began looking curiously at the trailer's skylight . . . The Troodon then started to tenaciously bang their heads against the glass of the skylight, causing deep cracks.
Kailey asked, "Think they can get in that way?"
"With time, perhaps," Tim told her. Just then, the sound of shattering glass was heard from the front of the trailer – everyone looked forward to see that one of the Troodon had apparently picked up enough speed to launch itself at the windshield window of the trailer and busted clear through the glass. With its prey in sight, the Troodon emitted a loud raven-like sound to alert the others of their target that was now in reach.
Now that the Velociraptor was brought down, Grant and Dr. Sorkin curiously studied the animal's body. Ryan stood not far away, ready to fire at any dinosaur that approached. He had sent the other two soldiers outside to rescue Levine's group. Grant and Dr. Sorkin had wanted to go as well, but Ryan recommended against it, saying, "No, that's not a good idea. The last thing we need are more people in harm's way. Leave it to the professionals."
At the moment, Grant and Dr. Sorkin were using the opportunity to get a closer look at the downed Velociraptor that lied before them: this creature was built for the hunt – the muscles underneath the dinosaur's skin were tight and strong; if the animal were awake, these muscles were the ones that would allow for quick reflexes.
Grant bent down and looked closely as the dinosaur's ferocious claws. He smiled. The six-inch retractable claw was the part of the foot that interested him the most; normally, he knew, this claw was used to finish off its prey, whether it be another dinosaur or a human being.
Back before he went to Jurassic Park the first time, it was common knowledge that raptors used their toe claws to make deep slashes into their prey. But in reality, these claws were more commonly used for more lethal uses – instead of merely slicing the prey's guts open, Grant had learned that the claw was actually more commonly used to piece and puncture the vital organ areas, specifically the windpipe and jugular vein . . . not that making lacerations into prey was out of the question!
"I used to have one of these claws," he said, "a fossil."
"Really?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah. This is one of the features that made this dinosaur such an efficient killing machine. I wouldn't underestimate the animal's gnarly head though either! There are dozens of needle-sharp teeth in the skull and somewhere in there is the brain of an intelligent creature."
"It never ceases to amaze me just how clever these creatures are," Dr. Sorkin commented. "Look at him. He's the perfect killing machine. In a fair fight a mammal wouldn't stand a chance."
While holding his gun up, Ryan said, "Well, speaking as a mammal, I'm all in favor of cheating."
"They're problem-solving intelligence is state of the art," Dr. Sorkin continued. "They were the smartest dinosaur we ever created for the park . . . except for one species . . ." her voice trailed off. She seemed to be bothered by something.
"You OK, Dr. Sorkin?" Ryan asked.
"Who? Me? Yeah, I'm fine."
"So what exactly is smarter than a Velociraptor?"
"The Troodon are the most intelligent dinosaurs we had at the park, but . . ."
"Give me a description so next time we run into them, we know what we're dealing with. Are they worse than Velociraptors?"
"Look, I'd rather not talk about Troodon now."
Ryan sighed. "Fine then."
As Troodon burst through the trailer's windows, now that they knew they could be broken, Tim, Lex, Kailey and Levine were just managing to make their escape through a window. The Troodon that had crashed into the windshield window was already chasing after the humans. It made the characteristic clicking sound to alert the rest of her pack members that their prey was making an escape. The other Troodon made the elk-like shrieks in reply.
The Troodon hurriedly escaped the trailer as Levine's group dashed past the jeeps they had brought to the island. Unfortunately, they couldn't merely hop in and drive off because they'd have to turn the ignition on, press the gas and finally take off (even though this act could take them a few mere seconds, that's all the time the Troodon would have needed to kill them). Before having left the trailer however, he had grabbed his laptop, the three memory chips they'd retrieved (two from the hatchery computers and the other from one of the Control room computers) and shoved them into his backpack which was at the moment on his back.
Levine and the others ran toward the jungle as fast as they could, he noticed a flashlight sitting on the seat of Jeep-03. He quickly snatched it up while running past as he caught up with the others. Great! Now if I ever have a minute I can turn this thing on!
Levine was now slightly behind the group, following Lex, Kailey and eventually Tim who was leading. Once they reached the forest, Tim knew the Troodon would have the advantage, so they needed to escape quickly. Then, he heard the sound of his sister fall to the ground – she had tripped on something. "Lex!" he exclaimed upon looking back.
"I think my foot's caught on something!" she yelled.
Suddenly, he saw something to his left: among all the trees in the darkness of the jungle, he spied a large tree that might be a good one to climb and escape the Troodon! It was perfect – the way the tree's branches were growing seemed that it would be an easy climb. Tim turned to Kailey who was right by his side and said, "See that tree over there? I think it's relatively easy to climb."
"Alright!" Kailey obeyed and ran toward the tree. Tim on the other hand went back to help Lex.
Levine and Tim reached Lex at the same time – she had gotten her foot stuck in some vines that were growing along the ground. The Troodon were somewhere in the jungle – they couldn't be seen, but all three of the humans knew they were near thanks to their almost mystical clicking sounds. They were sort of like ghosts as they stalked through the forest.
They're not gone, Tim thought. He was wondering if they were intentionally staying out of sight. Being such smart animals, he figured the Troodon might be planning an ambush. Some movement in the foliage maybe ten yards away meant they definitely were near.
Quickly, Tim and Levine got Lex untangled and up on her feet just as a Troodon came dashing from the thick undergrowth no more than 15 feet away.
"If I can only get this flashlight working!" Levine cried worryingly as he fumbled with the "on" button", knowing they couldn't possibly outrun such a swift animal.
"Give it here," Lex ordered. Upon grasping it, she lightly hit it with her hands and CLICK! In a flash, a beam of light emitted from the flashlight and revealed three more Troodon standing only a few meters away! They snarled in fright as Lex shined the light directly at their eyes.
"Come on," Levine encouraged, "the light beam's too narrow to protect us from all sides." Lex and Tim agreed and dashed for the tree Kailey had climbed in.
"Keep running guys!" Kailey told them. "They're right behind you!"
Once they reached the tree, Tim, Lex and Levine rapidly progressed up and joined Kailey on one of the branches just as four of the Troodon reached the base of the tree. Suddenly, Kailey's feet slipped on a wet branch.
"Ahh!" she screamed loudly. Her hands reached for a place to hold but they also slipped. But no sooner had she started falling did she feel something grip hold of her arm – Tim. He and Levine hauled her back up the onto their branch as the Troodon snarled and howled loudly from below. One of them was so desperate that it bended its legs and leaped upward with ease . . . but still missed biting into flesh by several feet – our survivors were now a good 13 or so feet above the ground . . . they were safe at last.
Soldier #1 and soldier #2 ran out of the Visitor Center, their guns cocked and ready to fight off any dinosaurs that might attack. The two men scanned the area, but saw nothing. Fortunately for them, the moon was full and gave great light to objects exposed to its light.
"See anything?" soldier #1 asked.
Soldier #2 shook his head. "Negative. It's dark out here. You sure they didn't run back into the Visitor Center?"
"Maybe they did. Let's look around and see what we–"
A loud cackling sound echoed from the jungle and the soldiers aimed their guns in the direction of the sound. Then, a pair of glowing eyes appeared in the foliage at the edge of the clearing – the soldiers quickly realized that these were the dinosaurs Dr. Sorkin was speaking of.
"This is going to be a piece of cake," soldier #2 said. But no sooner had the words exit his mouth did another pair of eyes appear at the edge of the clearing, then another and another. Pretty soon there were at least 15 pairs of eyes watching the two soldiers!
"Piece of cake, huh?" soldier #1 asked.
"Well, I knew Dr. Sorkin said they hunt in packs, but I didn't know the packs were this big!"
Then, a loud elk-like shriek was sounded by one of the dinosaurs and they left the foliage at the clearing's edge and started rapidly approaching the two men. It was unclear whether this was more members of the same Troodon pack from earlier, or a totally different pack. All they knew that if they started firing, they'd never be able to shoot at all the dinosaurs before they got close enough to overcome them. There was only one thing left to do . . . RUN!
Dr. Sorkin, Grant and Ryan were still standing in the hallway next to the Velociraptor. The only movements it made were the rise and falls of his chest . . . until his fingers and eyelids began to twitch.
"I think he's waking up," Dr. Sorkin said. "We'd better give him some space."
"Good idea," Grant agreed. So the three of them went around a corner and watched as the dinosaur slowly opened its reptilian eyes, got back on his feet, yawned, and shook his body off. It was now during a moment when it wasn't hunting after prey that one could really admire the magnificence of the living animal. (Though Ryan still had his gun poised in case it smelled them and decided to attack).
The Velociraptor cawed lowly to itself just before it took a few seconds to sniff the air. Then the creature's quills fluffed out and it let out a loud shriek before running down the hall as fast as its legs could carry it – it was running back outside to rejoin his pack.
"I wonder what got him running," Grant said in a worried tone of voice.
A few seconds later, soldier #1 and #2 ran around the corner and met up with Grant and the others; they were almost out of breath.
"What? What's wrong?" Ryan asked.
"There are dozens of those . . . things . . . behind us!" soldier #2 told him. Grant, Dr. Sorkin and Ryan looked in the direction in which the two soldiers had come from and not only heard eerie clicking noises, but also saw at least a dozen of glowing eyes coming in their direction – no wonder the Velociraptor ran!
Grant gasped and looked further down the hall. "Follow me!" he yelled. The other five people quickly followed Grant as they raced down their path. The Troodon only stopped a moment to consider their decision before continuing the chase.
Grant and the others rounded another corner and stopped because they'd reached a dead end with nothing more than a ventilation shaft in the wall. The humans looked back at the dinosaurs approaching. The Troodon snarled and growled aggressively as they began coming forward; they were positive they'd get their prey this time!
Drat! Grant thought. Why can't there be another place to escape . . .? Oh wait . . . there is! He looked at the ventilation shaft directly behind him and got a brilliant idea.
He quickly bent down, opened the grate that covered the shaft that covered it and told the others, "Come on! Let's get in here!" Fortunately, the shaft was large enough for a human to easily fit if they crawled and everyone quickly slipped inside. The Troodon suddenly realized their prey was getting away and tore toward the shaft with great speed.
Grant was the last one in and just as the Troodon in the lead rushed forward, he slammed the grate back shut with a great slam! The Troodon knocked its head into the grate with all its might, but it stood firm. The dinosaurs snapped and growled from outside, but there was nothing more that could be done. Finally, Grant's group was safe from harm.
"Good thinking, Dr. Grant!" soldier #1 complimented.
Grant said nothing, but merely nodded his head in reply.
"Now what do we do?" soldier #1 asked.
"We crawl through this ventilation shaft and hope there's another way out of here."
Lewis Dodgson handed his sister another crate to put on the truck. Halley, Dodgson, Baselton and Howard had formed an assembly line from his office to the pickup truck in the parking lot in the respectable order mentioned earlier in this sentence (there was a door from his office in Biosyn's Californian headquarters that led directly to outside).
"So tell me why we're moving this stuff now?" Howard asked. "The sun's already down and I'd like to get some sleep!"
"You're telling me!" Halley agreed, handing Dodgson a box. "I never get to sleep in! I'm forced to go to bed late and wake up early in the morning!"
"Oh hush!" Dodgson snapped as he took the box from Halley. "And for your information, half the time, it's your fault you don't get to bed earlier. Take last night, you were up most of the night watching Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale."
"I was not!"
"You kidding me? I watched you! No wonder you have to take so many naps during the day, just like a preschooler."
Halley rolled her eyes. "That's why I like Christmas, because I can go to sleep and wake up."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Howard asked as he handed the last item to Baselton. "Christmas is more than six months away!" Halley wasn't sure (she always made somewhat meaningless and random statements). "Anyways," Howard continued, "I thought we were taking off tomorrow morning."
Dodgson placed the last item Halley just handed him into the truck and said, "I changed my mind. Lexico's team is already on the island as we speak, if they didn't have any further complications. What we need to do is get in and get off that island before they finish their study. After they've left the island, it will be too late to do much of anything because no doubt Lexico's already going to have some protection laws or something that'll make it impossible for us to get to the island." He looked at the truck and grinned. "Well, that's about everything. Get in everyone."
Quickly, the four of them boarded the truck and Dodgson began driving away from the parking lot . . . but instead of heading to the dock, he went in the opposite direction.
"Hey!" Baselton exclaimed. "I thought you rented a boat so we could reach Isla Nublar! The docks are the other way!"
"Ah, I changed my mind," Dodgson said. "Besides, the new way is quicker than reaching the island by boat."
Finally, Dodgson reached the Biosyn's heliport and Baselton smiled – there was already a helicopter on the landing pad, complete with two pilots and a few Biosyn employees on standby that would direct the helicopter into the sky. "So we're going by helicopter," Baselton noted. "Brilliant idea, Dodgson! We'll get to the island much faster!"
Howard frowned and gulped. "Um . . . tiny problem sir . . . I'm terribly afraid of heights!"
"Well, better get un-afraid of heights," Dodgson told him, "because this is the way we're reaching the island. Now get out and help me load this stuff onto the helicopter."
A/N: I'd like to take a moment to say that my real-life sister, Halle, was the inspiration for Halley Dodgson; she actually said, "That's why I like Christmas, because I can go to sleep and wake up". And just like Halley Dodgson, Halle often says somewhat meaningless and random statements. How did you like the new predators: Anurognathus and Troodon? Please keep in mind, that even though the raptors are dreadfully fearful of both species, they WILL make another appearance in my story! So will Anurognathus and Troodon for that matter! Anyway, what dinosaur do you hope and/or think will appear next in "Jurassic World: Return to Isla Nublar"? Say your opinion via commenting!