KA-BOOM!

The explosion shook the carrier like an asteroid making contact, while Karla continued her high-pitched breakdown as her body disappeared into the flames. The flames fell down onto the lower deck, causing several smaller explosions inside the ship as the waves started to sweep large chunks of it under the water.

The Gradys still held tight to each other as they watched the dinosaurs all rushing away from the fire, with most of them stopping at the very edge of the carriers while a few mustered up the courage to jump overboard into the waves.

The next explosion went off on the corner of the ship, with Maisie pointing her hand out hopelessly as several of the smaller species were consumed in the blast. She was about to run towards the rest before Claire pulled her away, looking to Owen as she said "the whole thing's going under! We gotta get off this thing!"

"Guys, over here!" Lowery shouted over to the Gradys from the boat, with Maisie pushing Owen and Claire ahead. "Wait Maze, what... what are you doing...?"

"I won't let them die!" she snapped back as she pulled away from her parents. "Tell them to bring round the other ships! I'll meet you over there!"

"Maisie!" Claire called after her as she darted over to where the dinosaurs were, but Owen held his wife back. He smiled at her, saying "she knows what she's doing... come on!"

Maisie darted down into the lower deck, covering her mouth and trying to avoid the ravenous fire as she freed any of the still-living dinosaurs that had been tied up here. "Come on... go... GO!" she barked desperate orders at them, with most of the beasts already heading upwards to the higher deck with the others. The majority of the larger dinosaurs had been caged on the top deck so they were already out, whereas it was many of the smaller species that were imprisoned down here.

SQUAAAAAAARRK!

The familiar caw alerted Maisie as she froze with wide eyes, looking to the very end of the room where the raptor was chained up and struggling to break free. "BLUE!"

Waiting until the deck was completely vacated by the other dinosaurs, Maisie rushed over to where Blue was, trying her best to manoeuvre her way through the barricade of flames that continued to keep them apart. Part of the floor gave way, creating a crack right between them as the water broke through. While her footing became less stable, Maisie noticed that this water was helping to keep the fire at bay, which gave her just enough time to jump over the gap to her goal.

The raptor was still panicking as she struggled to escape, so Maisie had to keep her distance with her hands up. "Alright, just calm down... okay... okay-okay-okay... I'm gonna get you out of here, girl..."

Blue let Maisie close enough to pull off the leather strap that Karla's men had taped around her maw, letting the raptor open her mouth more as she shook her head. Maisie tried to think as fast as she could while the fire continued blazing and the water continued to rise, taking a few seconds before her eye caught a glance at the long, metal pipe in the corner behind the raptor.

"Ah-ha!"

"HEY! Over here! Look over here!"

The third carrier made its way over to the flaming wreck, with Grant running to the very edge with a flare in his hand. He ignited it as the carriers got as close as they could to the sinking wreckage, letting the trapped dinosaurs fixate on the sparkling flames as he started walking backwards.

Once he'd made sure they were all focused on it, Grant threw the flare behind him before he ran in that same direction, with Sattler pulling him out of the way of the dinosaurs as they came thundering across to the third carrier.

Lowery pulled the Jurassic Park boat alongside the second carrier, letting Owen, Claire and Arnold get off as they watched the dinosaurs arriving on the third. Claire was still worried as she ran ahead to the very edge. "Owen, can you see Maze?"

Owen squinted as much as he could. "No, but she's gotta get out quick... that hunk of junk's not gonna hold long."

Maisie dug the pipe into the metal hinge attaching Blue's chains to the floor, pressing her full body weight into it and pushing it down with all her strength. Her hands and chest both hurt like hell as she kept pressing, but she could definitely feel the chains give way and knew she couldn't give up until Blue was freed. "Come on, come on... HUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"

BOOM! A final explosion erupted from the control room just as the chain broke, with Blue letting out a frantic, high-pitched cry as she jumped free and headed towards the exit. Maisie shrieked as she was sent back by the blast and hit the back of her head hard against the wall behind her, flopping like a rag doll onto the floor as the walls finally broke and the room was completely submerged in a powerful sweep of water.

She tried to keep her mouth shut as she was swept in, feeling the waves dragging her body down with the rest of the carrier while she frantically tried to swim to the surface. The harder she pushed, the more energy she used up and the heavier the waves seemed to get, and Maisie had to fight to keep her eyes open while holding her breath tight. It took about thirty seconds of this struggling before her arms and legs started to numb with the cold and the dark started to close in, and despite Maisie's best efforts her eyelids were getting heavier than ever, eventually drooping and closing as the light completely disappeared around her.

The second carrier pulled alongside the third as everyone watched the first finally disappear into the waves. Claire and Owen both crossed to the third carrier as Grant and Sattler rounded the just-rescued dinosaurs into smaller groups. Sattler turned to face them, saying "that's all the ones we could get... "

"What about M... Maisie? Is she here?" Claire had a worried tone in her voice, but Sattler didn't answer back as she and Grant both went wide-eyed. This confused Claire at first, but she seemed more frustrated when she said "well... is she?! Where's my daughter?!"

"Oh my god! Over there!" Sattler and Grant were both looking past Claire all the way to the end of the ship, where they saw a familiar figure clawing her way onto the edge of the ship with a piece of a soaked sweater clenched in her jaws.

"Blue?... BLUE!" Owen called as they all ran over, only for the raptor to turn with a snarl as they stopped a couple dozen feet away. Undisturbed yet still rather tense, Blue continued to reach back over the edge, pulling harder on the sweater as the small, humanoid body it belonged to became visible to the others.

"Maisie!" Owen held Claire back for a moment as Blue stood protectively over the unconscious child, gently holding out his hand to the raptor as he slowly and silently edged closer. Zia, Vivian, Lowery and Arnold all stayed behind Sattler, Grant and Malcolm as they all watched silently.

"Good girl... there's a good girl... there's a good girl..." Owen felt a small, warm smile stretch across his face as his hand rested on the dinosaur's face, calming Blue enough to let Claire get past. Claire got down on her knees as she turned Maisie onto her back, frantically pressing her daughter's chest with both hands to try and revive her.

"Come on honey, don't do this to me... ugh, you can do this... come on... come on!"

It took about ten seconds before she jolted up and started violently coughing up the water from her lungs, but Maisie eventually opened her eyes again as she pulled herself up, being slightly surprised when Owen and Claire both trapped her in the tightest hug either of them could give. She was surprised at first, but returned the embrace as her breathing slowly returned to normal and she buried her head in her parents' chests.

"I could have saved more..." she panted out with a melancholy, regretful tone in her voice. "I just... I know I could have saved more..."

"Hey..." Claire sniffled as all three of them started crying in relief and joy, cupping her daughter's face so they saw eye-to-eye. "Maze, you... you saved so many of them... they're all here because of you... we... we all are, Maisie..."

Maisie let out a weak little laugh as she pulled away from them both, with her focus now turning to the raptor that was still watching them from a few inches away. Exchanging a confident nod with Owen and Claire, Maisie limped over to where Blue was and wrapped her arms tight around the raptor's neck, with Owen and Claire both keeping a hand gently pressed on her snout.

Malcolm grinned as he stood closer to Sattler and Grant, the three of them all looking each other as he said "so... what now?"

Grant shrugged as he looked to Sattler, who itched the back of her head as she said "well... we got all the dinosaurs on two big ships... what do you three say...?"

The Gradys all looked at them and then at each other, as Claire sighed and pulled herself to her feet. "I um... well... hmm... I say we set a course for Isla Libre..."

Maisie and Owen were both slightly surprised by this, with Maisie taking her mother's hand gently. "Claire, are... are you sure about this...?"

Claire nodded as she wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Yeah... it's time they um... I think it's time they all went home..."

Despite his true intentions at the time, Isla Libre was everything that Mills had said it was that day. A vast valley of green trees and high mountains, with the large and strong rock walls that the formation had created only just being wide enough to allow the two carriers to enter it. The thrill that came from looking on it's beauty was something that could hardly be described, and it was easy to conclude that this hidden paradise would be a perfect new home for the dinosaurs to thrive in.

The beasts themselves wasted no time thundering off of the carriers onto the dry land in a mighty stampede, while the Mosasaurus circled the island and disappeared under the rumbling waves. The Tyrannosaurus stopped herself before the large green jungle, looking back to the ships and the humans on it as she let out her signature bellowing roar. By the time the Queen had disappeared into the forest brush, the main deck of the two carriers were almost completely devoid of dinosaurs of any kind, with the sole exception being the last velociraptor that was preparing to head off.

Owen patted Blue gently on the nose, stroking the side of her face with her other hand as Maisie had the rest of her trapped in a final tight embrace. "Take care of yourself, girl..." he gently said as he pulled his hand away, with Maisie wiping the tears from her face as she walked backwards towards Claire as well.

Blue stared at them silently for a few moments, before turning to see the vast land that was so close now. There were no buildings, no tourists, no scientists. Just the promise of freedom, preservation and survival, and it was all there for the taking. Glancing back a final time to the humans, Blue suddenly let out a high pitched caw as she darted across to the dry grassland and disappeared into the thick brush of trees and greenery.

Owen held his wife and daughter close as they looked to Grant, Sattler and Malcolm, all of whom nodded in response as they signalled to Lowery. He turned to the captain's quarters where Zia, Vivian and Arnold were all at the wheel, shouting "that's all of them! Let's get a move on!"

During her last descent the Mosausaurus had managed to damage one of the carriers beyond repair, meaning that everyone had to get onboard the third and final ship back to the mainland. After about a half hour the island was nearly completely out of sight in the mist, though the Gradys all sat at the very end of the carrier to watch it as it slowly vanished from their view.

"So... you're not worried about them?" Maisie looked to her parents with a brow raised, with Owen kissing the top of her head as Claire gently shook her own head, taking a moment to think.

"Worried about the dinosaurs? Hmm... nah... it's meant to be, Maze... besides, Karla's gone, and... and they're where they belong now."

"Hmm... yeah." Maisie held herself close to her parents as she rested her head between their shoulders, a smile on her face as she looked at the island a final time and it faded away completely.

"And so am I."