Chapter 8
Rain bounced off the car and lighting flashed sporadically across the sky. Despite his disappointment at being pulled away from what felt like a cave of wonders, Steven tried to make the best of it and peered out into the dense foliage looking for any sign of Pokemon life. Now that the sun had set, the park was lit up by floodlights that towered along the man-made road, casting a glare over the glass roof above his head. He had a feeling the brightness would be more than enough to scare off any Pokemon that might have been lingering in the area, but he lived in hope, and the other option was to watch Martin fidget uncomfortably in the chair next to him.
The car drove at a pace he'd describe as painstaking, moving between different enclosures barely faster than he could have walked them. He considered turning the sound back on their electronic guide, but immediately changed his mind. It had served as nothing more than a mild annoyance earlier. It was probably the lack of sound that stopped him from noticing the small, subtitled screen between he and Martin go dark.
The windows were beginning to steam up and he wiped away condensation with his sleeve. He leaned closer to the glass. Through the high, electrified fences something moved.
"A Pokemon!" he said. He squinted into the darkness. Something on four legs. "I think it's a Gogoat." He frowned as realisation dawned. "Tied to a post. That's not a very satisfying meal for instinctive predator Pokemon."
Martin made a faint noise of acknowledgement and wrung his hands together.
Peck stood in the control room, back ramrod straight, as Dr. Stone paced the floor. They had been watching Steven and the lawyer's (he hadn't bothered to learn his name) progression through the park on the monitors for the last hour. The storm battered the electronic car, but so far it had maintained it's course. He hoped the women had found shelter somewhere because he didn't fancy their chances in the jungle in these conditions.
"Is there no way we can make it go faster?" asked Stone. Again.
Jack looked up from the computer. "No," he said, with a lot more patience than Peck had been expecting. "The safety features won't allow for more than five miles an hour. Your safety features."
The screens flashed white and the three men looked to them. Lightning, Peck concluded.
Then the room was plunged into darkness.
The car jerked to a stop.
"I didn't touch anything, I swear," Martin protested immediately, holding up his hands as though to prove his innocence.
Steven didn't spare him a glance. "Lightning must have hit one of the power stations," he said. He peered out into the darkness. "I assume my uncle has backup generators on the island. We should be up and running again in a few minutes."
Though he knew it to be true, as he spoke he felt a prickle of unease creep up the back of his neck. He reached towards his pockets to feel for his Pokeballs and startled when he came up empty. He'd forgotten he'd left them behind.
He sucked in a steadying breath. It would be fine. While it would be comforting to know his Pokemon were on hand, he wouldn't need them. They'd be back on their way in no time.
The static whirring of the lone corner generator kicked in before a sickly green glow lit up the control room, giving off just enough light to see by, but not enough to do much else. Peck's eyes roamed across the now completely blank monitors, and he began to mentally map out the park. One of the first things he'd done when he'd been offered the job here was memorise the blueprints for the entire island. Knowing the terrain was often the difference between life and death in his line of work.
"They're not working," said Jack. He leaned closer to his computer screen and adjusted the glasses on his face.
"What do you mean they're not working?" said Stone, aghast. "Fix it!" He looked at Peck as though he would somehow have the answers.
"I mean what I said," said Jack. He pressed some keys and words flashed across the monitor. System failure. System failure. System failure. "The backup generators aren't online."
For a few moments, the only sound in the room was the tapping of Jack's fingers against his keyboard. He slammed his hand down against the return key. System failure. System failure. System failure.
"Shit!"
"Does it say what the problem is?" asked Peck. If nothing waylaid him, he could be to the generators in half an hour if he moved fast.
Jack's fingers flew across the keys and Stone began to pace again, tapping his stick on the floor as his did so.
"It…" Jack paused. "It could be a power surge. Or there's damage to the machines. I'll run a diagnostic programme, but it could take over an hour."
"You sound confused," Peck drawled. He pulled the tranquiliser gun from his belt and examined it.
"It's more than one generator with separate connections," Jack said. "They shouldn't all be damaged at once. We kept them separate to avoid this problem."
"Unless something got in there and destroyed them."
Stone stopped. "No Pokemon could have got through those fences. The building is locked. I took every precaution."
"If that were the case, we wouldn't be having this problem now," said Peck. Satisfied that it was still in working condition, he returned his tranquiliser gun back to his belt. He had a feeling he might need it.
Steven tapped his fingers against his knee. Not much time had passed, but boredom had well and truly set in, and without the air conditioning running so had the heat. The rain had slowed, though in the distance he could still hear the deep rumble of thunder. If they didn't start moving soon he was debating the merit of getting out of the car and walking the rest of the way back to the visitor's centre. Surely they must be getting closer to it now?
"We should call Dr. Stone," Martin blurted out.
"He's watching us on the monitors." He offered the man a gentle smile in an attempt to calm him down. "He knows we're stuck and I'm sure he's doing everything he can to fix it."
"But-"
"No buts," said Steven, firmly. "Everything is going to be fine. We'll be back soon."
Martin still seemed unsettled, but also seemed unwilling to argue the matter. Steven turned his attention back towards the Pokemon enclosure. Something akin to dread began to twist in his stomach.
"Did you feel that?"
"Sir," said Peck, "I really think it would behove you to calm down."
Stone's jaw clenched and he turned to glare at Peck. Given his decades of experience with scary Pokemon and significantly scarier men, Peck was unmoved. "My nephew is stranded in the middle of our park and you want me to calm down!"
"Yes," said Peck. "Your nephew is a smart, competent young man, and you do him no credit to assume otherwise. You aren't helping him by panicking." He turned his attention to Jack, who was still prodding at his computer with increasing frustration. "What can we do?"
Jack stopped and looked up. "It depends how severe the damage is to the generators. It could be an easy fix. Or it might be better to just go and get our guests now and get the hell out of dodge." He shrugged. "It's hard to say without knowing more."
The rhythmic patter of Stone's feet as he journeyed from one side to the other came to a sudden stop. "Jackson," he said, "are the electronic fences still running for the Tyrantrum pen?"
"No."
Steven licked his lips and sat back in his chair. No, Martin was probably right. It wouldn't do to let his imagination get the best of him. He wasn't eleven anymore and there were no monsters hiding under the bed. Everything would be fine.
The ground beneath them shuddered again.
"I don't feel anything!" Martin's voice was high and strangled. "Just the wind!"
"Stay calm," said Steven, feeling anything but calm. He pushed down the desire to check for his Pokeballs for a second time; they weren't there and it didn't matter, because they would be fine.
Another shudder. This time Steven imagined he heard a deep, resounding thunk. It was thunder, he reasoned. The storm had just changed direction again. It had swung back around the batter the small island. The most logical explanation.
He wrapped his hands around his knees and took in a deep, steadying breath. In - hold for five seconds - out - repeat three times. It was a technique he'd been taught by a young, sympathetic counsellor his father had hired to help him deal with his mother's passing, and to this day it had never failed to calm his racing mind.
Thunk.
Steven forgot to breathe.
"What is that?" said Martin. Visibly shaking, he awkwardly thrust a hand into his pocket and withdrew an expensive looking phone. "I'm calling Dr. Stone."
Thunk.
Martin dropped his phone on the floor and scrambled to pick it up.
Unable to watch his companion's pitiful descent into panic, Steven looked back into the Pokemon enclosure.
His fingers tightened around his knees.
Thunk.
"Where's the Gogoat?"
"Who cares about the damn Gogoat!" said Martin. He gripped his phone between two fingers just to drop it again. "No!"
Where the Gogoat had once been stood a bent metal post with half a length of chain swaying back and forth.
Thunk.
Unable to tear his eyes away from the vacant spot, Steven pried his fingers from his knee and reached out blindly to grab Martin by the shoulder.
"I think we need to get out of here."
He felt Martin stop scrabbling for his phone. "What?"
Thunk.
"Now." Lightning flashed. "We need to get out of here right now."
Martin tilted his head up and Steven dragged his attention away from the jungle. Martin's eyes were wide and frightened in a way that somehow seemed to calm Steven's own racing heart. They could do this. Everything would be fine. Look after Martin and worry about yourself later.
"All right," said Martin.
Thunk.
"Good."
Thunk.
"Now."
"Okay."
Thunk.
Despite the thundering rain, all Steven could hear was heavy breaths in the hot car and the thudding of his heart against his ribcage. He nodded, mostly to himself, and wrapped his fingers around the door handle of the car. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Martin do the same.
Thunk.
On three, he thought to himself.
SMACK.
Steven jerked his hand away from the door in fright, head snapping upwards instinctively towards the sound.
His heart clenched in horror and he pushed himself back further into his seat. Framed around a bent, rectangular shape, the glass roof above them was smeared with red. Beside him, Martin whimpered. Steven swallowed. Surely that wasn't the leg-
Thunk.
Movement caught his eye and his head whipped back towards the Pokemon enclosure. Cables that made up the electrified fence were beginning to bow in the middle, like they were being pulled down by something. Something a lot bigger than him. Martin gasped for breath as, one by one, the wires began to snap.
"What is it?" said Martin urgently. Bruising fingers wrapped themselves around Steven's bicep.
Steven held up a hand to silence him, his own heart thundering in his chest, and the pincer-like grip on his arm tightened. He peered out into the darkness and was just able to make out the shape of a large, solid claw cutting through the defences.
For a moment the world around him stood still. The last cable fell.
Then, standing about twelve feet from the ground, a huge, spiked head pushed it's way through the foliage. It was hard to hear anything over the sound of fat raindrops hammering against the car, but Steven fancied he could hear a low growl emitting from the beast's throat. It moved forward (thunk), bringing a large nose and jaw into view below narrowed, gleaming eyes. It's mouth hung open, displaying rows of sharp teeth. The half rocky, half leathery looking skin around it's nose seemed to wrinkle as the creature snarled.
"What is it?" said Martin, so quietly that Steven almost didn't hear him.
"Tyrantrum." Unable to blink - unable to even move - Steven watched the creature look around. Gathering it's bearings. As he scrabbled around his mind for some kind of fact about the Pokemon that might help, he suddenly wished Diantha were with him. At the very least she had trained one of these things before. He felt a sudden stab of resentment for his uncle, who had lured them all there without the information or the tools to keep themselves safe. Then he felt guilty, because he was sure that his uncle would be beside himself trying to get them back. Everything would be fine. They'd figure this out.
"It's looking at us," Martin said. Steven could feel the hand on his arm shaking violently, but couldn't find it in himself to offer comfort. It wasn't looking at them.
Thunk.
"Stay very still," he said instead. "Maybe it won't see us."
The Tyrantrum moved forward (thunk, thunk) and then Steven could finally see it's entire, hulking form no longer concealed by large, wet leaves. Without his Pokemon by his side, Steven felt his level of fear skyrocket. The unbearable heat of the car weighed down on him. Suffocating. Martin whimpered again and Steven felt the grip around his arm loosen and then drop away completely (thunk).
Within the car there was a mechanical clunking sound, and for one shining moment, Steven thought that power had returned. Then the sound of rain grew abruptly louder and reality crashed back down. Martin had opened the door.
"Stop," said Steven. He reached out a hand to stop the man from making what Steven knew to be terrible mistake. The kind of mistake he might not come back from.
Martin looked back, his eyes wide with fear and his entire body trembling. "It's not looking at us," he said, as though that explained everything. "We can-" He stopped, voice breaking with fear. "We can make it."
"No we can't," said Steven urgently. Martin leaned back, away from Steven's grasping hand and shook his head rapidly.
"We have to go. Look at the size of that thing!"
The Tyrantrum wasn't looking at them now, it's body turned to the left and it's head turned upwards as though it was sniffing the air.
"There's nowhere to go," said Steven. His whole body shivered despite the heat and his arm dropped impotently by his side. "Please."
Martin shook his head.
"No!" Steven cried, lunging forward to grab the other man. But it was too late.
Martin all but fell out of the vehicle, and maybe he'd have made it if he hadn't slammed the door behind him with such a resounding bang. Tyrantrum's head snapped towards the car and Steven quailed under it's unforgiving gaze. A staccato mantra of no, no, no, no, no began to pulse against Steven's brain, seemingly in time with his rapidly beating heart. Knowing it was suicidal, but also knowing he couldn't leave Martin outside alone, his own shaking hand reached for the car door. No. No. No.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
The whole world shook beneath the Pokemon's humongous clawed feet as it picked up speed towards Martin.
Steven threw open the door.
"Stop!" he yelled, having no idea what he was going to do if the Tyrantrum did in fact stop.
It didn't.
His feet squelched into ground and warm rain pelted down at him as he staggered out of the car. He'd barely moved, but his chest heaved with every laboured breath.
"Martin!"
The Tyrantrum roared and Steven instinctively clamped his hands over his ears and ducked. Martin stumbled, but somehow kept his footing as he ran as fast as he could towards the jungle. Steven took a shaky step forwards in the dark and water sloshed into his shoe. No. He had to help him. But what could he do?
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
For a moment it looked like Martin was going to make it to the tree line.
Then Tyrantrum caught up with him.
Steven felt like he was rooted to the floor and water dripped down from his hair, making his eyes sting. He wanted to look away. He couldn't look away.
The Tyrantrum roared again, and maybe Martin looked back this time. It was hard to tell. Then the Pokemon leaned forward, light reflecting off it's powerful muscles. Steven opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
Sharp teeth clamped down around Martin's torso and lifted him from the ground. Legs flailed in the air.
Run, Steven's mind screamed at him. Just run. You'll die if you don't.
His whole body recoiled in horror as lightning lit up the sky, throwing the Tyrantrum and poor Martin into a sharp silhouette. The Tyrantrum jerked it's head backwards and Steven looked away.
"I'm sorry, Martin," he said. His voice was lost to the wind and the rain.
He turned around and ran into the jungle.
