Ch 4:
Being crammed in a bulky armored vehicle with a half-dozen sweaty, bulky men was not at the top of Sierra's to-do list. But at least she was squished between Owen and Zia. It could have been worse. Poor Franklin was crammed between two buff, silent hunter-type men who were clearly unimpressed by his little bottle of bug spray.
"The T-Rex would be dead by now, right?" Franklin checked hopefully.
Zia crushed his hope with logical facts, stating that any creature could live longer if given proper care and nutrition.
"Sooo,…she'd be dead by now, right?" he double-checked.
"I hope she's not." Sierra admitted, earning several looks. "What? I mean, yeah she could kill us, but she kinda saved our asses last time we were here." she pointed out to Owen and Claire. "Plus, isn't she supposed to be the same T-Rex from the original park in the 90s?" she added, more to Claire, who nodded.
"Yeah, that's true."
"So, it'd be kinda cool if she was still alive. That'd make her, what, close to 30 years old?"
Sierra and Zia turned around several minutes later to look out the same window of the truck, and Sierra was hit with memories and nostalgia. The trucks were pulling into Main Street, which was left in shambles from the epic battle that took place here. And now it looked like nature was starting to reclaim it, trees and brush and vines creeping in.
"Bad memories." Ken guessed, and Sierra felt at her back as Owen turned to face forward again.
"Some were good." he answered.
"Most were good." Sierra whispered, quiet enough she was sure only Owen and Zia heard her. The truck slowed down right outside the steakhouse where Sierra had patched up Delta.
A loud, familiar thump made the truck jerk to a stop. Everyone sat forward, looking among themselves almost frantically.
"What was that?" Franklin demanded worriedly.
Owen, Sierra, and Zia all turned back around to look out their windows as the footsteps got closer and louder.
"I have to see this." Zia suddenly whispered, whipping around and hurrying through the truck. Sierra ignored her foot getting stepped on, hurrying after Zia. She couldn't help it, she needed to see this, too.
"Hey, miss! Miss! This area is not secured!"
"Sierra!"
Both girls ignored Ken and Owen as they rounded the truck. Realistically, Sierra knew this was stupid. It could easily be the T-Rex or something more dangerous.
But the sight of a huge, magnificent Brachiosaurus slowly walking through Main Street chased common sense right out of Sierra's mind.
She was almost as tall as the Innovation Center behind her. And her echoing calls had an almost supernatural, beautiful quality that sent chills up Sierra's spine. And each footstep made the ground shake. She actually had to bend her neck down to take a bite out of a huge palm tree.
Claire joined the two girls, wrapping an arm around each of them.
"I never thought I'd see one in real life." Zia admitted, her voice thick. Sierra respectfully ignored her tears. "She's beautiful."
Ken and his men made them get back in the trucks after that, stating they didn't have a lot of time. They made another long journey until they came upon a sort of stone bunker-looking building with a radio tower behind it. The truck parked in front of it and everyone filed out.
Franklin was able to work his tech magic, getting the doors to slide open within seconds. He even gave Ken Wheatley a bit of an attitude after the older man grumbled he was being too slow.
When the front doors slid open, it was a short walk down a corridor and through another set of doors before they reached the large operating room.
Franklin once again set to work hooking things up.
"Are we sure these biometric chips are still transmitting?" Zia asked. "The battery would be dead by now."
"The dinosaur is the battery. They're powered by body heat." Claire explained as Franklin hooked his laptop up to the huge, dusty computer system.
When his screen came to life, he pointed at the handprint scanner, "Hand."
Claire walked around them all to press her hand to the scanner.
Within seconds the room lit up, lights and computer screens flashing on all around the room.
"I'm in." Franklin announced, typing away. Sierra stepped up behind Franklin's chair, her eyes fixed on the biggest screen. It had a large, blue map of the island with hundreds of little lights, indicating the dinosaurs.
"There's a large group on the east dock." Franklin pointed out. There was a huge bundle of dots all pressed together on the top edge of the map.
"That's our boat." Ken answered, "We've already captured a bunch of them."
"Without a tracking system?" Claire asked, her and Owen turning to look at him. Sierra, too, glanced over her shoulder at the man.
"The big herbivores are easy to find." Ken answered distractedly. "Can you isolate that raptor?"
"Raptors." Sierra emphasized the plural.
"I need a species code." Franklin explained.
"Blue's is D-9." Claire explained. "The others are chronological; D-10, D-11, and D-12."
Franklin punched in all the numbers, and suddenly all the dots blinked out except for four, small red dots clustered together not far from the bunker on the map, but probably at least a few miles away.
"Do those indicate whether or not the dinosaur is still alive?" Sierra couldn't help asking. She tried to squash the flare of hope she felt at seeing all four dots together. That had to mean they were all still alive and together, right?
Claire glanced at her sympathetically. "Not necessarily. Even if the animal is…, well, they're powered by body heat. The tracker will still transmit until the battery dies, unless it's destroyed. But the chances are good." she added.
"We'll need to borrow your truck." Owen told Ken as he and Sierra turned towards the door.
"I'm coming with you." Zia announced confidently, putting her backpack on. "We don't know what kind of condition they might be in."
"Now, I don't know about you two tagging along." Ken announced, gesturing to Sierra and Zia as they all turned back to him. "This isn't some little picnic in the park. Things could get hairy out there."
Sierra narrowed her eyes at the man. She was starting to dislike him more and more each time he opened his mouth.
Zia practically stomped up to him and got in his face, pulling out one of the darts he had on his shoulder strap. "These are powerful sedatives. One too many, and they could have respiratory failure. You'll need a pair of medical specialists on hand. Also, I'm not as soft and witless as your comment implies." she pushed the dart back into place and patted his chest condescendingly before turning around to leave the bunker.
Sierra stifled a grin as Zia passed her, fixing her eyes on Ken herself as she allowed a smirk to cross her face.
"What she said. And I've survived multiple encounters with my raptors and the Indominus Rex. I think we'll be fine." With that, she turned and followed Zia out the door.
Owen was a few seconds behind her as she climbed back into the truck. "What did you say to poor Claire?" she asked knowingly. She'd heard him talking to the redhead, and knowing her brother's sense of humor, she felt the need to ask.
Owen smirked as he sat next to her. "Basically just reminded her that if I die, it's her fault."
Sierra punched his shoulder in response.
The truck drove for a while before Owen had them stop and let the siblings out. Owen told Ken he'd contact them when they were ready for them, but that him and Sierra had a better chance of finding the raptors on their own.
They walked into the dense jungle, following a small creek for a while. Sierra couldn't help glancing over her shoulder every so often, feeling like she was being watched. Whether it was the raptors or another, smaller dinosaur was besides the point.
They soon found a couple sets of familiar footprints. Owen touched the cool mud with his fingers, radioing Ken to update him on the fresh tracks. They followed the tracks into a small clearing surrounded by bushes and trees. On the far end of the clearing was an old, overturned jeep. Sierra recognized it as one from the original park, since it looked almost identical to the one her, Zack, and Gray fixed up a few years ago. This one, however, looked like it had been here for a very long time.
Sierra bumped her elbow to Owen's, nodding toward the jeep even though she was sure her brother noticed it before she did. It was on it's back, a door open and bushes growing all around it and even growing on the truck. It made the perfect little hiding place. The tracks leading right to the jeep, as well as the shrubs that looked like they'd been dragged and shoved into the jeep were just further proof. As if the raptors were making it into a nest.
Bushes shook, but it came from behind the two siblings, making them spin around. Sierra was sure she spotted a familiar tail before it disappeared. It happened again several feet to the left.
A loud clang from behind, followed by a screech, made them spin back around to the jeep.
And there was Blue, crouched atop the jeep with her jaws parted, looking ready to pounce.
Almost instantly, they were surrounded. A raptor stepped out of the bushes on every side, from the left, right, and behind, all looking ready to pounce.
As Beta, Owen kept his eyes on Blue.
"Hey, girls. You miss us?" he asked carefully as Sierra stepped so they were back-to-back. Her gut was churning with a mixture of joy and nerves at the sight of Charlie, Delta, and Echo all around them. They all were alive and looked okay. She couldn't see their ribs, so they were clearly eating enough. Delta didn't have the wrap on her leg anymore, so it must have fallen off at some point. From this angle, though, she couldn't tell if her leg was healed okay or not. It at least looked like she was putting weight on it.
She heard a few clunks and thumps as Blue jumped down from the jeep to the ground. Owen's back bumped into hers as he backed away from Blue, forcing Sierra to take a step closer to Echo in front of her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Charlie's nostrils flaring, her head leaning forward infinitesimally.
She heard Blue chitter as Owen told her they brought them something. She'd given him some of the jerky to pocket while tracking the raptors. Following his lead, especially after Charlie's reaction, she reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a few strips of jerky. The three raptors in her line of sight shifted their feet at the familiar sight, but Charlie had her usual reaction, practically wagging her tail as she shifted excitedly.
Sierra peaked over her shoulder, not wanting to feed the raptors out of turn in case if pissed Blue off. But when Owen tossed the treat to Blue, she let it fall to the ground in disinterest.
"Okay." Owen muttered.
Blue started circling them, forcing everyone in the clearing to turn in a circle; the raptors so they maintained the circle, Owen so he stayed face-to-face with the Beta, and Sierra so her back stayed to Owen's.
"You know me." Owen reminded Blue carefully as she continued to snap and growl.
Sierra carefully held up the jerky in her hands before tossing them to Delta, Echo, and Charlie in turn. Charlie and Echo snatched them up. Delta seemed to be looking from Blue to Sierra and back again, conflicted with what to do until Blue made the call.
Charlie took a step closer, her nose clearly looking for more food in Sierra's pockets. Blue screeched at her sister, making Charlie back off.
"Hey, eyes on me." Owen reminded Blue quietly, using his clicker in one hand with his other outstretched. Sierra peaked back over her shoulder at the interaction, figuring the other raptors wouldn't make a move without a signal from Blue.
Blue made a softer sound that Sierra couldn't name, her head tilting ever-so-slightly at Owen. Sierra felt hope in that instance. It was certainly not the behavior of a hunting animal. Blue sniffed and shifted her feet, starting to relax a bit more as she shifted closer to Owen. He murmured quiet encouragements as she moved closer and closer.
Sierra held her breath. They were so close. Owen was mere inches from touching Blue. Maybe this really would work.
Then everything went to hell.
Sierra wasn't sure what happened at first. Just that Blue suddenly screeched and freaked out. The other three reacted similarly. In the chaos, Blue's tail knocked Owen flat on his back. Sierra was bumped and knocked to the ground on her stomach. She didn't even have time to panic that there was a raptor's talons inches from her face.
Pushing herself up, she realized they were surrounded. But this time by Ken Wheatley and his armed men. She couldn't fathom what was happening for a moment. They were supposed to wait for Owen's signal, which her brother was reminding them of as he stood up.
That's when her mind and eyes caught up with her gut. Stumbling to her feet, she saw the small dart in Charlie's neck, a blur since she was shaking her head in an attempt to dislodge it. Blue, similarly, was clawing at her head to try and get another dart from her own neck.
Sierra spun around, distinctly feeling unsafe. And not because of the carnivorous dinosaurs in the clearing.
"Back your men up right now!" Owen hissed, arms out like that might stop any further conflict.
Sierra's eyes moved from one raptor to the next. Charlie and Echo were back-to-back, hissing at the men even as they stumbled on their feet. Then her eyes moved past Owen's shoulder to Blue, who also stumbled as if drunk.
A calloused hand grabbed Sierra's arm from behind, yanking her back and making her stumble. "Get back." an unfamiliar voice ordered her gruffly.
The sudden disturbance drew Blue's attention from Owen's outstretched hand, her amber eyes fixed on the gun-wielding stranger manhandling Sierra.
She screeched fiercely, leaping into the air with talons extended. Owen dove out of the way, and Sierra wrenched herself to the side, ripping her arm free of the man's grip as he screamed. Sierra rolled over, eyes darting around frantically to see everything that was happening. At Blue's attack, the other raptors had leapt into action, as well. Men were shooting them repeatedly with tranq darts, but Sierra was forced to stare at Blue.
She had the man pinned to the ground, practically ignoring the darts hitting her flank as her jaws and talons ripped into the screaming man. Sierra was close enough to see the sharp claws piercing his bloody flesh.
She was also close enough to see him pull a handgun from his belt.
"No!" she screamed just as the gun went off.
It was like everything moved in slow motion as Blue cried out, her body jerking up at the shot. She stumbled and then fell to the side, dropping limply to the ground.
And in a blink, everything snapped back into normal speed.
"Blue!" Sierra shrieked, stumbling to her feet and clambering over the motionless body to Blue's side. She instantly pressed her hands to Blue's bleeding stomach. The wound was below Blue's ribs, close to her back leg. She glanced around at the chaos that erupted. She saw Owen running at Ken, and she saw a tail disappear into the bushes to escape the rain of darts.
Sudden silence made Sierra look up again. Her eyes fixed in horror as her brother appeared frozen feet from where Ken Wheatley had his gun aimed at him. Then Owen dropped to the ground, and Sierra's stomach did the same.
"Owen!" Zia, who Sierra hadn't noticed until then, ran past Ken and his men to kneel over Owen. Sierra barely caught sight of her plucking a tranq dart from Owen's chest before Zia snatched up the handgun from the ground nearby. She stood and aimed it at Ken, causing everyone else to aim their guns at her. Sierra instinctively reached her own hand, slick with blood, to the gun at the small of her back. She paused when the barrel of a gun nudged her head.
"You shoot either of us," Zia stated firmly, "and that animal dies."
"I think we got the drop on ya, sweetheart." Ken countered condescendingly.
"She's losing blood." Zia snapped. "And if we don't treat her…she'll never make it back to camp."
Ken seemed to debate silently for a long moment before waving his hand downward, gesturing for his men to lower their weapons.
"Alright, fair enough. However," Ken nodded to one of his men, and Sierra was suddenly yanked to her feet, the gun pulled from her waistband as she cried out in shock. "we only need one of you to treat that animal."
"Sierra!" Zia took a step toward Sierra, only for a gun to be pointed in her face. Sierra felt rough ropes against her wrists, tied so tight she was sure she'd lose feeling in them in no time. She was then shoved to the ground so hard she knew her butt would bruise while the man tied her to wrists to something behind her.
"Now, if that animal dies, I shoot you." Ken told Zia plainly. "So, unless you want to meet a similar fate as your little friends," he gestured to Owen and Sierra on the ground, "I suggest you cooperate." He turned to his men and gestured. "Let's pack 'em up and move out!"
Sierra tugged on her bindings as she watched the men pack up three unconscious raptors; Blue, Charlie, and Echo. Delta must have managed to slip away in all the chaos.
One of the men approached Ken. "What about the fourth one? It ran off. Want us to track it down?"
Ken waved him off. "Nah, don't bother. Looked like it had a limp when it ran off. And he only really wanted the blue one, these other two are just a bonus. He'll probably sell 'em off."
Sierra swallowed the lump in her throat at those words, her eyes searching out Zia as the other woman was shoved after some of the other men. Their eyes met, and Sierra nodded once, trying to mouth, 'Go. Save Blue.'
Zia nodded once in return, her expression determined as she allowed herself to be pushed back through the jungle.
Sierra glared at nearly every man as they filed out of the clearing, a few tossing a glance at her, and one even carelessly kicking Owen's arm as he walked past. When they were gone, Sierra realized her breathing was picking up, panic starting to creep in. She forced herself to start taking deep breaths. She couldn't plan an escape if she panicked.
She shifted in her seated position and felt something in her boot. Hope flared to life in her chest as she stretched her legs out and looked at her ankle. Of course! She had a small hunting knife tucked into her boot! Something she did on occasion as a precaution when hunting or hiking.
Thinking quickly for a moment, Sierra pulled her legs back in, tucking them underneath her so she moved from sitting to crouching on the balls of her feet. It took some shifting and experimenting, but she ended up shuffling her feet as far back as she could without falling over, then arching her back so she could stretch her tied hands as far down as she could.
As her fingers brushed the handle of the knife under her pant leg, she heard the rustling of some bushes much too close for comfort. Pausing, she glanced to her left and met a pair of amber, reptilian eyes on a teal-skinned face.
"Delta." she breathed as Delta slipped out of the bushes smoothly, like a shadow. The raptor broke eye contact as she moved further into the clearing, looking around. Sierra watched her walk closely for a moment and saw that Delta did, indeed, have a slight limp. Thankfully, it seemed very slight, almost unnoticeable. And she seemed perfectly healthy aside from that, so it must not affect her ability to run and hunt.
Delta approached Owen's still form, where he was sprawled unconscious on the jungle ground. She sniffed at him before straightening and staring into the jungle. She tilted her head for a moment before letting out a familiar bark-like call. She did this a few times, pausing after a few moments as if listening for a reply that never came.
She was calling for her sisters. Sierra swallowed the lump in her throat. She cleared her throat before calling, "Delta. Delta, it's okay. Don't go after them." she tried. If Delta went after the men with her pack there's a chance she would be killed.
A loud explosion-like sound made both of them jump, turning to look behind them. Sierra couldn't see anything through the treetops, but she was sure the volcano was getting more active. She instantly put more effort into escaping. Her fingers latched onto her knife handle, pulling it from the hidden sheath inside her boot. Turning it carefully in her hand, she started sawing at the ropes around her wrists. She hissed when the blade sliced the skin of her forearm, but then she felt the ropes snap.
Sighing in relief, she brought her arms around, brushing off the scraps of rope as she stood and hurried to her brother's side. Returning her knife to her boot, she crouched and frantically shook her brother.
"Owen! Owen, wake up! We have to go; they took Blue and the others! They took Zia! Wake up!" she yelled, shaking him more and more frantically with each word.
Owen groaned, scrunching up his face and turning his head away from her. "Wha-" He blinked open his eyes, looking around a moment before focusing on her face. He jerked, trying to sit up and failing for a moment before he was able to. "Where're they? Wha's goin' on?" he demanded, voice slightly slurred. Probably from the tranq dart Zia had pulled from his chest. Sierra hoped Zia had pulled it from Owen's flesh before too much of the drug could enter his system.
"Wheatley and his men took Zia and the raptors, and left us here to die." Sierra explained rapidly. "We need to get back. We don't know if they'll let Claire and Franklin live, or if they're just loose ends that will need to be dealt with."
Owen nodded, scrambling to his feet, only to sway slightly in place. Sierra stood and grabbed his arm, holding him steady while he got his footing. Delta watched all this closely, her head tilted as she chittered at her alpha.
"Delta?" Owen mumbled, blinking hard to try and clear up his vision.
"She ran off in the chaos earlier, and they decided to leave her since she has a bit of a limp." Sierra explained. "When they all left, she came back."
Owen nodded, slowly reaching a hand out to Delta like he'd done with Blue. Delta sniffed at his hand before snorting slightly. Turning, she started walking away before pausing at the edge of the clearing to look back at them. Her posture practically screamed, "Well? Are you coming or not?"
"I think she has the right idea." Sierra commented, hesitantly stepping away from her brother to see if he could stand on his own now. "We need to go. The only way we're getting off this island is to hopefully catch a ride with those jerks."
"Yeah." Owen agreed, looking over his shoulder. "And we're running out of time."
A quick glance over her own shoulder revealed the slowly-moving lava creeping down the mountain. They needed to hurry, this island wasn't going to last much longer.
Turning, the two siblings hurried after Delta, who was all-too-happy to leave behind her pack's temporary nesting ground.
AN: We finally get reunited with the raptors, only for three of them to get taken away. But don't worry, Owen and Sierra will see them again soon.
And what do you think of Delta joining Owen and Sierra instead of being captured?
Also, I've had a couple people mention they have ideas or suggestions for the story. I'm always open to hearing any ideas you might have. I can't guarantee I'll be able to use every idea, but you never know. Even if I don't actually use the idea, it might give me inspiration. So if you have an idea you want to share, feel free to mention it in a review, or PM me.
Leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter! Thanks!