Ryan ran back towards the group, ignoring the agonizing screams and crunching of bones behind him.
He noticed a bright light coming from a tree. Taking a closer look, it was Chris and the campers, using a piece of broken glass to reflect the moonlight.
"Nice. Just hope nobody else sees that," Ryan said to himself.
When he arrived, they greeted him with hugs and relieved sighs.
"What happened?" Brooklynn asked, noticing Ryan's injured arm.
"Oh, nothing. All part of my plan," he responded with a smile and a wink.
Walking over to Chris, Ryan gave one of the rifles and some ammo to him.
"I managed to delay Mantah Corp for some time."
"Good," Chris said, loading his gun. "However, what now? We're outnumbered, and still have dinosaurs to deal w-"
A rustle from nearby bushes interrupted him. The two instinctively raised their guns towards the noise.
A large dinosaur burst through. But thankfully, it wasn't a predator.
"Bumpy!" Ben shouted. He ran over to hug her.
Lowering their guns, Ryan and Chris sighed in relief. They even chuckled.
"Alright, guys. Let's find some shelter for the night," Darius said.
Everyone nodded and moved away from the Mantah Corp site.
"Any ideas as to where to take shelter?" Ryan asked.
"How about the aviary?" Chris suggested. "It's sheltered. And because it was an attraction, it should have food and water."
"Not the worst idea," Yasmina said. Sammy nodded at her side.
"Alright, then. Let's go," Darius said.
The group came across a road and followed it, noticing a sign that said "AVIARY," indicating they were heading in the right direction. Not too long after, they spotted the glass dome in the distance.
"We'll enter through the unloading dock, so Bumpy can get in." By now, she was the size of a small car.
Ryan shot the keypad and the shutters raised. Remaining silent, he slowly walked forward, turning his flashlight on and scanning the visitor's area. Even with the power on, it was dimly lit.
He motioned with his hand to come forward, signaling it was clear.
They reached a pair of doors and entered the main area. The eight walked through the glass tunnel that provided both a clear view of the aviary as well as protection.
"Is there a chance anything could have gotten back inside?" Kenji asked, noticing the hole where Masrani's chopper crashed into. There was also another large gap where the Indominus crashed through.
"No idea," Ryan said. "But if I've learned anything here, it's that nothing is predictable."
The group then saw Masrani's wrecked helicopter. The chopper was totaled, but Ryan spotted the M134 minigun, still attached.
"Oh, hell yeah!" Ryan gleefully cheered. "We can use that."
"You might want to think twice about that," Ben noted nervously. Turning towards him, everyone noticed Ben was staring at something. They followed the gaze.
Outside the glass tunnel, a flock of pteranadons and dimorphodons flew, returning to the aviary to take shelter for the night.
"Oh, great," Sammy said. "First the monorail, now here?"
"They must still be reluctant to nest outside. So they're taking shelter here," Darius noted.
The pterosaurs took to the trees and rock cliffs. They surrounded the helicopter.
"We'll play this nice and cool," Ryan said. He turned towards the campers.
"Guys, I need you to do something. Down that hallway is the control room." Ryan pointed to his right down the tunnel. "Get in there, and if by some chance we wake them, you can sound an alarm that will scare them off for a while."
The campers nodded and left for the control room. Meanwhile, Ryan and Chris took an elevator down to an entrance for the enclosure.
"You ever kill a pteranadon or dimorphodon?" Ryan asked.
Chris shook his head. "But I used to take duck-hunting trips with my relatives in Texas. Can't be too different."
Ryan laughed. "Yeah, if the ducks did not have sharp, tooth-filled beaks and could snatch you in their talons."
The elevator stopped and opened. Raising their rifles, Ryan and Chris silently exited.
The aviary was warm, with moonlight shining through the hole in the roof. It was quiet, with insects chirping, frogs croaking and a stream flowing.
Also audible were Ryan and Chris' footsteps, pressing ever so slightly into the grass. Their boots moved at a slow but cautious pace.
After what seemed liked an eternity, the pair finally snuck quietly to the helicopter. Chris began to undo the gun from its stand, while Ryan kept watch.
The two began to hear a faint rumbling. It was a Mantah Corp chopper, heading in their direction.
"Hurry!" Ryan mouthed.
"I'm trying! It's stuck!" Chris mouthed in response.
Ryan began to nervously sweat as Chris began to work faster.
But it was no use. The chopper flew directly overhead, waking all the pterosaurs.
"Damn it," Ryan said aloud.
Screeching loudly, they noticed Ryan and Chris below, and took off.
Ryan began shooting, taking several down. Chris was about halfway done with unfastening the minigun, still working as fast as he could.
"How much longer?!" Ryan yelled, barely audible over the roars and gunfire.
"A couple more minutes!" Chris announced. "Where the hell is that alarm?!"
Meanwhile in the control room, the campers tried sounding the alarm, but there was a malfunction.
"What do we do now?" Ben asked.
Looking over at a computer screen, Kenji noticed something.
"The keypad that connects to the siren is off. If we can turn it on, we can use the siren."
"Huh. Not bad. Maybe you're smarter than you look," Yaz said. Kenji glared at her with annoyance.
"Look, it isn't that far," Brooklynn said.
"Okay," Darius exhaled. "Brooklynn and I will go. You guys stay here and give us the passcode, then when we turn the keypad on, turn the alarm on."
The two teens left. Running down the tunnel, they saw Ryan and Chris ducking and dodging pterosaurs while shooting at them.
"Hang in there, boys," Brooklynn said to herself as she continued running behind Darius.
"Chris, here! My last mag, make it count!" Ryan said. He threw the magazine to Chris, who loaded it into his gun.
Despite the amount of bullets Ryan and Chris fired and the amount of pteranodons and dimorphodons they killed, there were still dozens in the air, flying in a frenzy.
Then, through a nearby gate, Bumpy broke through. Some of the pterosaurs diverted from the ACU recruits and towards her. Luckily, her bony plates deflected any blows and her tail club hammered any that flew too close.
Meanwhile, Darius and Brooklynn arrived at the keypad. Darius pressed the power button, and it turned on, asking for a four-digit code.
The intercom came to life.
"Darius, Brooklynn, can you hear me?" Ben asked. Turning towards a nearby camera, Darius raised his thumb.
"Okay, good. The code is: 4. 3. 0. 2."
Darius entered the numbers and the siren blared, so loudly everyone covered their ears.
The two of them ran back to the tunnel to see if it worked. It did, as the pterosaurs, startled, escaped quickly out of the aviary. After a minute, the siren stopped, and the aviary became quiet again.
The campers met down at the helicopter, where Ryan and Chris were working to free the minigun.
"Thanks, guys," Chris said in relief. "We both ran out of ammo. A few seconds longer and we would've been swarmed."
"Any luck getting the gun free?" Darius asked.
Ryan grunted, then freed the minigun, carrying it with both his arms.
"Can't wait to fire this down Mantah Corp's throat," he said with a smile.