Chapter Twenty-Seven
The microceratus squealed as Gerry injected the shot, his face wearing a small frown as the animal wrestled to try and get out of his arms. Sidney watched, ready to offer assistance but knowing it was unneeded. Gerry Harding knew his business, the first nine dinosaurs he'd given the inoculation to having squealed in a similar fashion, but all had been held firm, injected and then released without anything but a sore leg. The smell of the animals favourite feed filled Sidneys nose, the fruits scattered around the ground randomly. Over-ripe bananas, oranges and lemons too, and some kiwi's. Quite the fruit salad, but it worked nicely in enticing the animals over and plucking them one by one for their treatments. They soon forgot the trauma, returning to the buffet spread out on the floor.
Sidney watched them, snorting through the fruits, selecting the choicest segments or peeling away the skins with their beaks. Odious little creatures, he'd first thought when he saw them. A long way from the size and majesty of the larger animals. These animals were like small dogs, curious and annoying. They'd been one of the few species to quickly adjust to human interaction, and now they were quite happy to approach people in their enclosures, sometimes engaging in what could be playful games, darting from one section of the Rat-Run to another.
Sidney felt one of them brush against his calf, its small sharp beak gently tugging at the fabric of his trousers. It snorted at him and then shuffled on, trotting over to the fruit and rifling amongst the others, selecting a black-spotted banana and stripping it away. Several of the others chirped and grunted, and then Gerry picked up the next one, settling it on his thigh as he crouched on one knee and picking up the prepared syringe from his case next to him, his hands working deftly and efficiently, no movement wasted or allowing the microceratus any room to wiggle. Another squeal and it was done.
"Not sure why you needed me Gerry, you seem to have them well trained,'' said Sidney, folding his arms across his chest. Gerry brushed at his moustache with a forefinger and stood up.
"It's just nice to have a bit of company sometimes,'' said the vet, watching the dinosaurs. "And truth be told, they seem a bit calmer around you. Do you spend much time up here?" Sidney pursed his lips.
"Not really,'' he said. "No more than the other paddocks. Or anywhere else on this island for that matter. Not a great deal of time to spend on leisure visits."
"I sympathise. I just look after the animals. Can't imagine what it's like looking after the island." Sidney snorted in amusement.
"It's not as bad as it sounds. I enjoy it."
"Every cloud then, I guess,'' said Gerry, kneeling to prepare the next jab for the final animal. He sniffed, looking up and over to the far gate. "You couldn't do me a favour could you? Go check on my trainee and see if she needs any help? I gave her the males to do, to see how she'd cope. Her name's Hannah."
Sidney felt a flutter of excitement in his stomach, mixed with a sting of apprehension. She'd been a bit erratic recently, and he was beginning to suspect she was using again. Trouble was, the three days he'd not spoken to her were driving him crazy. He'd hated to admit that he'd missed her. That he'd needed her.
"Sure,'' nodded Sidney. "I know who she is. I'll go check."
He ambled off towards the gate into the next enclosure, the hinges making a squeal of their own, a high-pitched disturbance to the relative quiet of the morning. He took a deep breath in through his nose, enjoying the summer air. It was clear, and warm, and he could feel it filling his lungs, the scents around him mixing and mingling with the earthy smells of the nearby forest. A pleasant remedy for any trepidation he felt nagging at him as he approached Hannah.
He spotted her, squatted by the long grass of the enclosure. She had her back to him, and he couldn't help but notice how high her shorts rode up her thighs, thighs that he had become extremely familiar with recently. His eyes wandered to the curve of her arse, enticingly outlined in those shorts. She'd put her hair in a long plait today, and he smiled as he remembered the scent of it, the last time she'd been in his bed. Or had he been in hers? Their encounters had become so often recently it was difficult to tell one time from another. A nice problem to have though.
"Having fun?" he asked, pulling up next to her. She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow and half turning, giving him a good view of the front of her shirt, the slight suggestion of her cleavage just poking up from the hem of the cotton top she wore beneath her button up.
"I was,'' she said, not quite serious but not quite playful either. A bit of cat and mouse then, as he waited for her to decide how she wanted this to go.
"Do you require any assistance?"
"Such as?" That eyebrow hadn't moved. He wasn't quite sure what assistance he was offering, but he was damned if he was going to let her wrong foot him. Not this time.
"Carrying your bags?" He smirked, seeing if that would draw her in. She sniffed and brushed the dirt off her knees, standing up and walking away from him, into the long grass. Somewhere ahead he heard the shuffling of the male animals. She sauntered through the tall blades, her swaying hips disappearing from view and her hair swinging hypnotically.
"You shouldn't go into the long grass you know,'' he said after her, plunging his hands into his pockets as he watched her. She ran her palms over the tips of the grass, her hand turning and gliding.
"Oh?" she purred. "Is that sage advice from the warden of Sorna? Do deadly predators lay in wait for me?"
"Depends," said Sidney, pouting his lips and looking off to the side. "Do you think ticks are deadly predators?"
She turned and faced him, maybe ten feet away, the slightest trace of a smirk on her face. Her eyes gleamed playfully now.
"Not compared to some predators I know. Besides,'' she tossed her hair, "wouldn't be the first time somethings sucked on my body." He couldn't help but smirk, feeling that irresistible pull he always felt around her. That dangerous power she had. He looked at her, and saw her smile growing. Then she sniffed, a loud and agitated sniff, and fussed with a nostril. Sidney felt that trepidation come roaring back inside him, that doubt and disappointment. He couldn't help himself. Not when he fought his own battle every day with something like this.
"Han,'' his voice was firm, stern. Sterner than he meant, but he couldn't help it. He thought she was passed this. "Are you using again?" She took a deep breath, a frown of her own creasing that smooth face.
"No."
"Han…" he warned.
"Oh don't start Sid,'' she said. "I said no. It's just, you know, habit. It comes and goes." He bit his lip.
"Don't lie to me Han. Not after I covered for you last time."
"I said I'm clean Sid." She looked hard at him, those eyes holding his. "I haven't touched the stuff in weeks, okay?"
"If I find out…" She crossed the distance between them, taking his wrist with a warm hand.
"You don't need to worry. Look, I got back from Nublar yesterday. My uncle was there, with my cousin Maisie. She put some things in perspective for me." Her hand slid down to his, fingers entwining, smooth and firm. "Helped put some people in perspective for me." She smiled at him, and all he wanted to do was kiss her. He placed a hand on her cheek.
"Okay, I'm sorry,'' he said. Her skin was wonderfully smooth, and his hands itched to travel down her neck, to feel more. "You never mentioned you had a cousin?"
"There's a lot I don't mention,'' she said, looking at his scars with that smirk again. "Annoying, isn't it?" She shoved him playfully as they moved around the grass, towards the group of animals by the fence line as they appeared from the grass in search of the fruits she'd scattered around for them. "I'm an only child, and Maisie was a surrogate sister. Spent a lot of time with her and my uncle at his manor. Lots of great summers."
"At his manor? Sounds more English than I am,'' said Sidney, watching Hannah kneel and begin preparing the inoculations from her case on the ground.
"Nothing's more English than you, Mr. Wallace. Who the hell drinks hot tea in the middle of the summer heat?"
"It's refreshing,'' said Sidney, enjoying the humour in Hannah's voice. He'd missed this. "So tell me about this cousin of yours. Did you grow up together?"
"Pretty much, yeah. We just sort of clicked when we were little, and since then, well, I think of her more as a sister now anyway. She used to balance me out, you know. She always knew how the keep me from getting in trouble." She gave him a grin. "Well, the really serious trouble that is."
"I can't imagine,'' teased Sidney.
"I used to love playing with my uncles displays, in his showrooms. Maisie knew all the secret passages and crawl spaces. Oh, the stuff we used to pull." She smiled to herself wickedly.
"What did she think of the park?" asked Sidney, entranced by the way her long fingers deftly moved and prepared the shots.
"She couldn't believe it. Man, she was so jealous, especially when I told her about this place too." Sidney nodded, expecting such an answer. Nublar had that power. He frowned, a thought popping into his head. He checked his watch.
"Ah shit.''
"What's up?"
"I need to catch the boat to Nublar at midday. Robert needs to see me. Something about the velociraptors." Hannah pouted.
"You're leaving me?"
"I'm afraid so. Duty calls.'' He squeezed her shoulder, and she rocked against his leg.
"Come see me when you're back? Usual place."
"I'll be there,'' he said, feeling a tingle of excitement. The sun felt just that little bit warmer right then. He turned and headed towards the gate, listening to the squeals of the microceratus as Hannah administered each jab. He wished he could stay. Just ten minutes with her had been enough to get him hooked again. And then he realised it hadn't been near enough.
He passed through the gate and turned to watch her, one hand on the iron frame of the door. She seemed to sense him, and shot a look over her shoulder, giving him that grin that he knew he was beginning to do anything for. He grinned back, then shut the gate with a clang…
Harris shut the gate to the Burroughs with a clang and scampered back through the rain, his dark shape flitting through the red glow of the rear lights. Sidney had to turn his head even further to follow his movements, his one good eye still taking some getting used to. Harris' face appeared at the gap in the door of the shuttle and he hopped inside, his movements quick and twitchy, as if he thought just being out in the open meant a predator might be right behind him. Which there was every chance there could be. He was right to be twitchy. Sidney nodded at him and pulled on the door lever, the crude mechanism squealing and clanking as the bi-fold doors shut and settled into place. Harris dumped himself into the seat behind Sidney and let out a long breath, shaking his long hair. Sidney felt a few drops of water flick up his back.
Grimacing, Sidney moved the bus out of park and into drive and revved up the engine, hearing the throaty growl of the diesel engine cough its way back to life again. He could feel the vehicle shuddering, and then he stepped on the gas, the air brakes releasing and the tyres biting into the earth, gaining traction on the wet dirt road.
The jungle swallowed them and the trees were once again all around them, dark silhouettes and leaning pillars in the golden beam of the headlights. Well, headlight. This particular shuttle bus was well known to Sidney. One of the oldest of the four on Sorna, he knew the staff inwardly groaned whenever it turned up at their stop. Creaking and uncomfortable, with patchy electrics and questionable brakes, this bus was one Sidney had had on his list to be replaced. He smiled to himself, glad that he hadn't got round to it. Right then, the familiarity of it was comforting, and he was just grateful for something with wheels and a roof.
The rain was coming down harder now, and the old shuttle's wipers were doing just enough to keep the view clear for Sidney as he wound his way through the trees. Blurry shapes twisted and slithered through the rivulets on the windscreen, and his hands twitched every time, expecting the shape to become a dinosaur. Above the retching engine he could hear thunder, the rumbles not too distant in the dark sky. His mind drifted to the last storm, the rain coming down just as hard as he'd boarded The Endevour, his mood at its lowest knowing it was the last time, that he'd ruined everything.
"…you've had your last chance…"
His hands gripped the steering wheel painfully tight, his teeth clenching, hating that he would never forget those words, knowing that he'd been trying to put it right since. Denying that there could be no putting it right. You can't change what happened. He huffed through his nose and scratched at his chin, feeling the course stubble on his skin.
"So how far is this lab?" asked Harris, one hand holding his axe handle and the other gripping the aisle pole next to his seat. He wobbled from side to side as the bus bounced along the track.
"Could be a couple of hours,'' said Sidney, gauging the distance. "The weathers not on our side, and this old girl is not the quickest of cats. The roads won't be too clever either. Best settle in." Harris blew air through his teeth, sitting back into his seat and looking about the interior of the bus, nodding to himself. He looked nervous.
"You ok?" Sidney watched him in the rear-view mirror. Harris' eyes snapped to his, looking like they did when Sidney had first met the man.
"Yeah, yeah. It's just…this place, you know?"
"I know,'' said Sidney. "I'm sorry you got caught up in it all."
"It's ok. Not your fault what happened. I just hope we can find the others. You reckon they're ok?"
"I don't know,'' said Sidney. "I hope so. My friend Adam is at the lab. I'm sure he's looking after them."
"Is he another Warden like you?" Sidney shook his head.
"He's a Geneticist. Used to be a medical doctor too. Clever man. Good man."
"He helped create the dinosaurs then?"
"Its his job,'' nodded Sidney.
"Why'd he change?"
"I don't know,'' said Sidney, genuinely stumped. "Guess it was just time for a career change."
"Pretty extreme," said Harris looking out of the window, one finger tracing a line along the edge of the axe handle. Sidney wriggled out of his webbing and held it out for Harris. "Hey, do me a favour and load up any last shells into my gun. You know how to do it?" Harris took the webbing from Sidney and looked at it, slightly frowning. "It's easy. Just slide each round into the hole on the side here, and make sure the brass bit is at the back of the shell." He tapped the loading port on the shotgun before picking it up, discreetly flicking the safety on and holding it behind him for Harris.
"Never fired a gun in my life…" muttered Harris. Sidney could well believe that, watching Harris pull each slug out uncertainly and carefully load them into the shotgun. The man's face looked like he thought the gun would go off at any moment.
"It's alright, the safety is on," said Sidney. Harris nodded silently, putting the last shell into the weapon. "How many shots do I have?"
"Four,'' said Harris, handing the weapon back gingerly. Sidney grunted as he took it and tucked it down by his side. "What happened to the end of it?" Harris pointed at the walnut stock of the shotgun, looking at the grooves. Sidney ran a hand along his head, feeling the scars on his scalp. He smiled, remembering how badly Hannah had always wanted to know.
"I used to work in Kenya,'' he said after a moment. "One day I was following a trail of some poachers when I saw a small boy from the local village. He was kicking a football against a tree. Out of nowhere a leopard went for him." The scars itched on his head, the memory as fresh as the day he got them. "Not quite sure how I ended up between them. I'm sure you can guess the rest."
"Jesus,'' breathed Harris. Sidney nodded, closing his eyes and seeing that leopard come at him, that big paw with those claws swinging for his face, holding up his gun in defence and feeling the incredible strength of the cat as it dragged its claws along the stock and onto his head.
He could still hear the terrified screams of the boy, the snarls of the cat and scrape of claw on wood and then the burning fire on his head, the warm gush of blood down his face. And then the mewling cry as he'd shot the beast. The worst sound of all.
Sidney negotiated a tight bend and manoeuvred the shuttle though some denser forest, the storm above picking up momentum, raging above the thrashing treetops and fighting its way down between the trunks, driving the sheets of rain into frenzies. Every now and then white flashes of lightening lit up the inside of the bus, making Harris and him look like silent ghosts.
On the dash in front of him a few non-descript items rattled and jostled amongst each other in a small alcove. A small key caught his eye and he recognised the red tag that was attached to the keyring. He ignored the immediate feeling of irritation, knowing the key should have been in the small Perspex box beside his seat.
"Harris,'' he said, fishing the key out. "Is there a black box at the back of my seat?" He knew there was, or at least there should be.
"Yeah,'' said Harris. "Solid looking thing, with a padlock."
"Take this and open it up." Sidney lobbed the key to Harris, who snatched it from the air and pursed his lips as he undid the lock. The lid thumped into the bottom of Sidney's seat.
"Holy shit,'' muttered Harris. Sidney watched as the man pulled the Spas-12 out of the box. Sidney looked at the weapon, caught between the reassurance of another firearm and the bitter sting of what had happened the last time he'd seen one, the last time he'd held one. He could still hear the scream. Could still hear Robert.
"…shoot her! Shoot her!"
"What the hell is this thing?" said Harris, looking at the weapon and turning it in his hands. "InGen expecting their employees to run into many fire-fights on their way to work?"
"It's a shotgun,'' said Sidney. "And all the buses have them. Just in case any animals are loose and make a nuisance of themselves." Harris looked up at him.
"Seems pretty heavy handed for something that's being a nuisance."
"A dinosaur can be pretty heavy handed,'' said Sidney. "I think you have seen that by now."
Harris blew out his cheeks, hefting the weapon and practicing taking aim by holding the gun to his cheek in a rifle style hold.
"I wouldn't hold it like that without the stock unfolded,'' said Sidney, watching him. "You fire it like that and you will break your jaw and lose a few teeth." Harris moved it away from his body gingerly. "Hold it lower or unfold the stock."
"Guns aren't my thing," said Harris, glancing at his axe, a look of almost longing in his eyes.
"They will need to be until we are off this island. You'll be glad of it if we run into any trouble. See how the fore-end, where your left hand is, slides? Pull it back until it clicks. That will keep it in semi-automatic. Means you can fire off each shot without pumping it. There should be some shells in the box." He heard rummaging in the box, a few items rolling along its base.
"Yeah there's quite a few," murmured Harris.
"Good. Load as many as it will take, should be at least eight you can get in there. Put any others into my webbing and if there's any left after that stuff them in your pockets."
"Where's the loading hole on this thing?" asked Harris, looking on the side of the weapon, probably expecting the same style as on Sidney's.
"Look underneath. Just in front of the trigger."
Harris grunted and then quietly loaded the shotgun, a frown on his face. With the noise of the storm above the rumble of the bus's engine, Sidney imagined the sound the weapon made as each shell was loaded in, the mechanical clicking of the moving parts as familiar as the creaking garden gate at his mothers house. Just as familiar and just as dreaded.
"…work her back!...Shoot her!...Shoot her!..."
Harris finished his task and set the shotgun across his knees, now slotting the remaining shells into Sidney's webbing.
"Is it easy?" said Harris, not looking up. "Killing a dinosaur, I mean, with one of these."
"Depends which dinosaur,'' said Sidney, turning his head a full ninety degrees to look out of his window as he took another turning, always checking, always expecting. "The smaller ones, yes, if you score a good hit. The big ones, likely only to piss them off." He remembered the roar of rage the Monarch had made as he'd sunk a few slugs into it.
"What about those dragon ones? The ones that killed…that female doctor." Sidney could see Harris wincing, knowing he was touching a sore spot.
"Won't take many shots to down a dilophosaurus. Could even do it with one, at close range and in the right spot." Sidney remembered the way that dilo's head had burst apart on the cliff top last night, as he'd run for his life, and before he'd injured the alpha. He grit his teeth, seeing the scarred face of the alpha and its tattered frill, its teeth tearing Grace's throat away. Sidney shook his head, closing his eye. "Hopefully it won't come to any of that." Harris nodded his agreement.
"Any other dinosaurs I should know about? In case it does come to that? You don't have any that breathe fire do you?"
"No, thank god," Sidney snorted humourlessly. "But give it time, knowing InGen." Sidney drummed his fingers, worrying about all the carnivores that lived on the island. Wasn't really much he could say that wasn't blindingly obvious if it did come to it. "General rule of thumb, if it's got sharp teeth, then shoot first and worry later. If it's coming at you with sharp teeth, shoot twice."
"Right. Right"
"Listen, the lab is a ways away from most of the paddocks. Chances are we will find the others and be on our way in no time, with no drama's. We'll all be on that plane come sun-up." Harris looked far from convinced. Maybe he could hear the doubt in Sidney's voice. Sidney knew he was talking out of his arse, the way things had been going they'd probably find every Rex on the island waiting for them at the doors. Maybe a fire-breathing one too. "You survived on your own with nothing but an axe. You'll be ok."
"Right."
"Hey, look at me. You'll be ok." Harris nodded. "You look tired. Try getting some rest. Just make sure the safety is on that shotgun, eh?"
"What about you," said Harris, double checking the small switch on the Spas-12 and looking like shutting his eyes was a fine idea.
"I'll sleep on the plane,'' said Sidney, doubting he would ever sleep again. "Its ok. I'll wake you if I need you, or when we get there."
"If you are sure,'' said Harris, propping his back to the window and stretching his muddy legs out across the seat. Sidney watched him tilt his head back, his eyes closing and his body gently wobbling and bouncing as the bus trundled along the road. Looked like he was asleep in seconds, his chest gently rising and falling. Funny thing, exhaustion. You don't know it's there until you just stop moving and it catches up with you. Sidney could feel his own, reminding him it was there. He fought it off.
He let out a long breath, feeling somewhat easier now that he was virtually alone. Just him and road ahead, taking him ever closer to the lab and the people he was responsible for. Christ knows what had happened since the monorail, but whoever was still alive needed him. He felt a jittery pang of excitement, knowing there was a way off the island, knowing he had a way to get them back there. Knowing there was a small way to atone for what he'd done. For what he'd let happen. For all of it.
His mind turned to Hannah, and his eye flicked to Harris, still feeling the regret that it was Harris who Viv had seen on the monorail, who he had hoped was Hannah. She was gone, he knew. Either at the bottom of the sea or a bloated corpse somewhere on one of Sorna's grey beaches.
He could still see her face, when he'd left her in her cabin. After they'd argued. After they'd fucked, as angry a fuck as you could have with someone. He'd hated it, even then knowing he couldn't say no. Even after what they'd done. What she'd done. He'd balled his fists and said he was done, with her, with InGen. She'd held on to him, clawed at him, beat at him, both their emotions boiling over and consuming them, pulling them together again.
Then he'd heard those gunshots on the boat and felt relief. Relief for the excuse to leave her, to get away from her, knowing he would probably be right back. And then the ship had exploded, and he'd been ripped away from her, and any last chance he'd had to make things right had gone up in flames and sunk beneath the waves.
And here he was again, fooling himself into thinking he had another chance. That he was everyone else's last chance. He snorted, realising his own arrogance. His own self-delusion. Look what it had cost already. Hannah, Grace, his own damn eye. He put a hand to his cheek, feeling the numb skin and the sore sting around his eyeball. The sting ran deep.
The sky flared white again and then a moment later the thunder rumbled, turning to a boom. Harris twitched and sniffed, his eyes opening for a moment before closing again. There was another flash of lightening and several shapes darted across the road ahead, sinuous forms flitting through the single beam of light from the bus. A second later and they were gone, tails whipping away and slinking into the forest. A second had been all it took for Sidney to recognise them, their colours unmistakeable, along with those crests on their heads. He wondered if the alpha was among them. He felt a strong urge to stop the bus, take his shotgun and follow them into the trees, the hunter in him feeling the call of the hunt, the scent of blood. Or was it revenge? Or maybe just a very wet way to go about committing suicide.
He drove on past where the dilophosaurus had crossed the road and carried on without a second glance, leaving them to the darkness of the forest. The bus bumped through a rut in the road, the chassis groaning and setting the items on the dash jingling again. The plastic bottles in the wide cup holder down by Sidney's side danced about erratically, all of them half full of what looked like water. Sidney picked one up and took a tentative sip. The water was lukewarm and sour, but it trickled down his gullet leaving a silky trail to his dry and sore throat. He drank more, knowing he was far more dehydrated than he realised. Robert would have been furious with him for something so foolish. He scowled. Robert was furious with him, and for something far worse than not drinking enough water.
He set the empty bottle down, crumpling it in his fist and picking up another, finishing that one off too. The tendons in his neck felt tender as he swallowed down the last of the water, a nasty reminder of the shouting he'd done recently. And why he'd done it. He wished the liquid had been something stronger, a wish that made him feel sick at the same time. He crumpled the second bottle in his hand and tossed it away, annoyed. His hand was reaching for the third when he realised maybe Harris would need a drink. He snatched his hand back and gripped the steering wheel, sticking a tongue into a tooth and doing his best to make his frown even harder. Absent-mindedly, he patted his chest where his breast pocket would normally be.
The storm raged on as Sidney swung the shuttle around the final bend and brought them out into the cleared space beside the Embryonics Lab. He'd been forced the take the longer route, avoiding the narrower roads through the thick jungle of this side of the island. They were at the western entrance to the lab, at the base of hills that surrounded the facility, the road he'd used snaking down from the higher ridge top. This entrance was mainly used by the transport teams, evidence of their vehicles left abandoned by the tall shutter doors and ramps of the entrance. Empty crates and cages were scattered about the concrete forecourt, tipped over and pushed into the corners. Some of them were even damaged.
It was dark, with none of the external lights coming on as they approached. Usually at night the sensor activated floodlights would pick up their movement and fill the area with light. Sidney wasn't surprised they hadn't come on. He could see signs of the hurricane even in the dark and when the lightening flashed. A few of the closer trees had blown down onto the roof, crushing against the upper structures and leaving gaping holes. Lamp posts and some of the floodlights had suffered a similar fate, laying across the ground or against the external walls. Part of the perimeter fence was listing at an alarming angle, the tops of the wire fence almost brushing the walls of the lab.
Sidney brought the shuttle around in a wide arc, his arms pumping quickly and sweeping the large steering wheel around and around as he bought himself enough room to reverse the bus towards the nearest shutter. The whining beeps of the reversing alarm brought Harris out of his fitful sleep, the man blinking away his exhaustion and sitting up quickly. The shotgun almost slid to the floor beside him as his hands brushed it. He snatched it up and looked about, his bright eyes looking ready for anything.
"We're here,'' said Sidney, quite needlessly. Harris grunted and slapped his face, brushing his dirty dreadlocks out of his face and sitting up, gripping the aisle pole and looking out of the windows.
The bus bumped into a crate and Sidney was obliged to put it in park, switching the engine off and leaving the key in the ignition. The wipers ground to a juddering halt on the windscreen, caught halfway between their endless back and forth arc. Looked like they were going to get a bit wetter again too. He rolled his shoulders cracked his knuckles, taking a few breaths and slapping his own face. He could have used an hour or two after all. He hefted his shotgun up and gave it a quick check, satisfying his habits and slipping into his webbing, the weight of the new shells a small comfort. Wasn't quite dry socks though.
"You ready?" asked Sidney, giving Harris a look. The man nodded, holding the Spas-12 close and chewing his lip. "Let's go then."
Sidney dragged on the door lever and the bi-folds squealed open, letting in the storm. The wind blew in at them and they were then out in the rain, the drops hitting Sidney's face like needles from all directions. Mud splashed up his shins as he crossed the wet forecourt. In the dark, the lab loomed up, a big and foreboding shape. Sidney had never liked it here. He knew how the infant animals were kept, and it had never sat right with him. This place had always seemed…cruel.
A long roar echoed through the night, a deep and powerful sound. Unmistakeably a Rex. Most likely the blue female. Her paddock would be the closest. Sidney tensed up, knowing it would be too good to be true to get in and get out without incident. He inwardly shook his head at the odds of her being here. Still, a Rex couldn't get inside. Hopefully.
Something was glowing on the far side of the valley, beyond the rooftops of the lab. Sidney ignored it, focusing on getting inside and finding Adam and the others. He prayed they were still here. Still alive.
They reached the shutter bay entrance and Sidney worked his way to the side doorway, finding the wet door handle and turning it. The door swung open and the darkness beyond intensified, a black abyss beckoning him in. He slipped inside, Harris following close behind him. He gripped his shotgun and headed into the darkness, letting it absorb him. Outside, the storm raged on.