SURVIVAL

5 - Pet's Sign

Up ahead was the maintenance shed, just as Pet said. Terrence smiled. This was as good a spot as any to call in the helicopter, given the broad field encircling the shed. Behind it was a power grid, he figured controlled the electrical fencing enclosing their respective dinosaur habitats. The men took a break, while Simon and Juan towed a makeshift stretcher made out of sticks tied together to support an unconscious Alex. Terrence made the call to the mainland and gave a full briefing on what happened and their coordinates for assistance.

Within an hour and a half, the helicopter arrived and gently touched down in the grass. Alex was hoisted into the aircraft, and as quickly as it landed, it took off with its sick passenger onboard.

Miguel opened up a bag of beef jerky and started to snack while he observed the hunting party's assigned leader. "Where to from here, fearless leader?" The amount of sarcasm in his voice couldn't be masked by the mouth full of jerky.

Terrence shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine." He already knew where to go and had a slight idea of what to do. "My vote, we check out the T-Rex enclosure area...see what we find and make our way to the docks from there."

DeAndre was confused. "Why there?"

"Because..." Terrence glanced towards the black man. "The girl has always been one to return to the scene where something traumatic happened to her or someone else close to her. It was the Tyrannosaur Paddock where the park visitors were attacked and where she risked her life to save them. I can almost assure you, if she's still alive she'd certainly returned there at one point. Hell, she could still be there for all I know."

Simon bobbed his head in agreement. "I say we give it a try. Better to go check things out then not and it be the one place she could be."

After being given another fifteen minutes on top of the hour and a half to rest up, the group continued. Their feet met the main road as their eyes followed the track in the middle of it. In their walking, Miguel started singing 'Highway To Hell' as the others, except Terrence, joined in. For Terrence, he didn't think it appropriate to be singing such a song in light of what happened. Less than an hour later, the team found themselves standing before the T-Rex Paddock.

Everyone was quiet. No one joked, no one sang songs in mockery of what had happened. Nothing. The scene alone was a grim wake-up call to the events that unfolded just a couple weeks prior. Severed cables frayed at their ends dangled from their bent support posts as still evident footprints of the Rex shown in the hard-dried dirt road. A loan, vibrant colored Ford SUV paid testament to the unpredictable choosing of nature. To the right were splinters of what used to be a restroom. Poking out beneath a few dried reeds was the decayed remains of a person's torso.

The second De'Andre took a stance in the middle of the Rex print he suddenly felt so small when compared to it. Simon and Juan went to the lone vehicle and searched through the contents for leftover equipment.

Simon cheered to himself, "Ah hah!" He crawled out of the back seat of the SUV holding a pair of what looked to be high powered goggles of a sort. "Check these babies out!" He held up the park themed painted goggles and proudly smiled. "Oh yeah!" He laughed to himself and handed them to DeAndre to look at.

Jose high fived the other and tried them on himself. "These are perfect for seeing anything in the dark! Way to go, bro!"

Dread sunk deep in Terrence's chest. He could see this going in every way wrong. Nowhere was this going to be a good ending. A part of him hoped Pet was watching this to know to stay better hidden. No doubt the men would find her, now. He felt sick all over and dizzy, too. This was not good at all. He somberly made his way to the concrete wall and sat heavily down. Now, what was he supposed to do?

Late afternoon was starting to set in and with it, a heavier humidity. Terrence twisted off the top of his canteen and took a hefty drink. What was once cool and refreshing water was now replaced with hot water that tasted like plastic from his canteen. Regardless, it still quelled his thirst. It was almost empty by the time he was done, and he grumbled. What he wouldn't give for a cold beer at that moment.

He stood up and loudly whistled to get the conversing men, still going on about the goggles, to shut up and listen. "It's going to be dark, soon. That means we need to do our searching before it gets dark."

Juan pointed at the goggles resting on DeAndre's head. "Don't forget, we got those!"

"Maybe," Terrence crossed his arms over his chest, "but there's only one of those and seven of us. We're a man down which means we need to work harder to get stuff done. So, knock it off with the circle jerking over the goggles and split up!"

The men groaned but did as they were told and readied their guns to break off into their teams. Miguel and the second Alex took to searching the main road while Simon, Jose, and Juan took the access ladder down into the Paddock. Terrence and DeAndre followed them down the ladder and joined them by the wrecked second vehicle.

Jose questioned. "Think this is covered on the insurance?" DeAndre smacked him upside the head and shook his head in disapproval. Jose growled out, "Don't ever hit me again," while he glared hatefully at the other.

DeAndre neared the other person's face. "Or what, homeboy? What you got?" Juan was so distracted with the two arguing that he didn't notice a pebble hit Terrence in the back.

Terrence mentally placed the direction the pebble had come from and gave a brief backward glance in the appropriate direction.

The arguing was getting worse, and before the two could start to fight, Terrence cut in. "Enough, you two!" He took Jose by the arm and lead him away from the other. "It's going to be dark, soon. We need to hurry up and finish our search and get out of this area before nightfall. I have zero plans on setting up camp for the night anywhere near Tyrannosaur territory." Terrence motioned to Juan and Jose. "You two, search eastward. Call over the radio if you find anything, dead or alive."

Reluctantly, the two men did as ordered. Every step Terrence took, he kept looking for traces of Pet. He thought he could see her footprints in the dirt barely visible beneath overhanging sprigs of plant life. The man made sure to step on anything resembling a footprint to hide them from his partner. It's not like it mattered, anyway. DeAndre's attention was not on the ground but instead searching between trees and anywhere else his eyes could meander to.

That's when they smelled it. A horrid stench drew a gag from Terrence and a choking cough from DeAndre. They stepped through the foliage to find a heaping pile of days old animal dung. "Shit," muttered the black man.

"Literally," answered Terrence. He was about to walk away from the ill inducing smell when he saw it. Terrence took a second glance to make sure he saw what he thought he was. He titled his head to the side and furrowed his brow. He motioned for DeAndre. "Get me a stick or something..." The man did as requested. Terrence took it and used it to dig away fecal matter to reveal what he instantly recognized as the leather band to a collar.

DeAndre huffed a laugh. "Looks like Fido had a bad day."

"That's not Fido's collar." Terrence worked the stick under the collar and completely withdrew it from the pile. A single dung encrusted dog tag hung from a metal ring. Terrence smiled. "Looks like the girl didn't make it after all."

DeAndre looked at the offensive item, mostly because of its disgusting appearance. "What? She wore that thing?"

"It had a sentimental meaning to it. It was more of a choker than an actual collar." Terrence sat it on the ground and uncorked his canteen to pour the rest of the water onto the tag. Grime filled, etched letterings read Pet and her InGen identification number. "Bingo. Just what InGen was wanting. Proof."

"You don't think they'll want something more?"

Terrence looked at the man and to the massive dung pile. "If you want to dig around in there for a bone or something else to use as proof, you go right ahead." He stood up and made sure to hold the collar at a distance with the stick. "Besides, the girl never took this thing off since the day she got it. Even when she was sick or badly injured did she never take it off. I'm convinced she's dead."

DeAndre scowled at the dung pile. "Sure. Whatever. I'm not digging my hands in that shit. No pun intended." He turned and trudged away. Terrence waited a moment before he followed. He was looking for Pet, but saw nothing or received any notification she was there.

Perched on a high tree limb, well out of the men's line of sight, was Pet. She didn't care her hands and up to mid forearms were covered in dried dung. She was emotionally distraught. Her collar was all she had left of her best friend and the man she saw as a father figure. The day she received it played through her thoughts and remembered exactly how she felt when seeing it. She swore never to lose it, or never give it up no matter what. And now, she had. Whether it was for the best or not, she didn't know. She bit back a sob and slowly released a breath she had been holding. Her body ached with heartbreak, and she repositioned herself to peer over the branch she had taken cover behind.

She could see the small forms of Terrence and his partner become obscured within the forest's undergrowth.