Like Owen, Barry immediately knew something was not right when the raptors started communicating with the Indominus Rex, and that the situation would get very out of hand…
He fought bravely alongside the iNGen troopers to try and save his own life and the lives of the others, but when he realised they were losing the fight and when the troopers fled, Barry retreated into a hollow tree to wait it out from there.
He was only armed with one single rifle, and he knew damn well that that was not going to cut it against these animals. So, in this case, he wholeheartedly decided for cowardice instead of heroism, and he was not ashamed of that at all.
When the forest had quieted down again, Barry silently crawled out of his tree. He stood a few moments listening intently, but could not pick up any sounds out of the ordinary.
From the cover of his tree, he had seen the iNGen troopers flee, but Owen hadn't been amongst them. He just hoped his friend was still out there somewhere, and had not been mauled like most of the others.
"Owen…?" Barry called out as loud as he dared. He again listened for any sounds, both from his friend and of any dinosaurs creeping his way, but nothing happened. The jungle remained eerily quiet.
"Owen?!" Barry tried again, a little louder this time.
Suddenly, Barry's eye caught a horrible sight. About a hundred yards in front of him, he could just see a foot stick out from behind a small bush. The rest of the person was hidden by the vegetation, but Barry knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who it was lying on the jungle floor. He recognized those boots out of thousands.
"Oh, no…" He broke into a run. Somehow there was still a hope inside him that he was mistaken, that someone else on the island had the exact same boots. With the exact same wear-marks…
All Barry's futile hope was crushed when he skidded around the bush that hid the person from view, and saw it indeed was Owen lying there. "Merde!"
Barry was shocked to see the laceration which covered around a third of Owen's back. Blood was staining his friend's torn shirt and, other than his breathing, Owen was not moving at all.
"Owen?" Barry carefully shook Owen's arm.
At first nothing happened, Owen stayed as motionless as before. Barry repeated his actions once more. "Owen, can you hear me?"
This time Owen groaned softly. His eyes rolled a few times behind closed lids, before he wearily opened them. He stared ahead glassily for some seconds, before finally being able to focus his gaze on anything.
"Barry…?" Owen breathed out. "Why didn't you run like the smart man you are…?"
Barry chuckled in relief. Owen making jokes as usual must mean he was at least not on the brink of instant death. "I had to save your ass… again."
A short smile passed over Owen's face, but he was in too much pain to have it last longer than a second.
"What happened to you?" Barry worriedly eyed the large wound on Owen's back.
"Don't ask," Owen mumbled painfully, "let's just say… this entire plan was doomed to begin with."
Before either of them could say another word, they were startled by an earth-shuddering roar, most likely from the Indominus. It came from far enough for them not to be in immediate danger, but it was close enough to make haste in getting away.
"We need to go. Now." Barry said, controlled, yet urgently. "Can you walk?"
Owen shrugged weakly. "I don't know…but I don't have much choice, do I?"
Barry miserably shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
Owen slowly rolled himself onto his side. Even the slightest movement felt as if he was being ripped apart all over again. From this new position he tried to push himself a little more upright. His muscles, however, did not oblige with carrying the weight and he fell back to the ground with a soft grunt.
Barry knew that Owen was in a lot more pain than he let on. That soft grunt was probably the understatement of the year. He watched his friend struggle to get himself up for a few more seconds, before he held out his hand. "Getting to your feet is going to hurt anyway. Best make it short pain".
Owen stared apprehensively at Barry's outstretched hand. The internal debate was visible on his face, but he could ultimately only reach one conclusion: it was indeed best.
"Okay." He nodded. "Short pain…"
The moment Owen's hand clasped in his, Barry gave it a firm tug and effortlessly pulled him to his feet. Owen yelped in pain and went quite pale with the movements. He was in danger of immediately crumpling to the ground again, but Barry steadied him quickly. Two large hands on his chest prevented Owen from falling over.
"Are you alright?" Barry asked the question out of courtesy, but he could already answer it by simply looking at his friend.
"No." Owen slowly shook his head. The honesty of his answer was quite frightening. Owen usually was a man who would rather put up a façade than show his weakness. He had once even told that he was fine, when he had in fact broken his hand in an incident with the raptors. It had taken him two days to finally admit he might need some medical attention after all. So, for him to admit so easily now that he was not well, did not predict much good.
"Now what?" Owen asked.
"We need to get back to the resort." Barry kept a sharp eye on their surroundings, while, at the same time, making sure Owen would not fall over. "They surely cleared everyone out by now, but it provides us with more cover than this forest".
"The resort is a ten mile walk from here. At least…" Owen sounded discouraged. He knew that he would never be able to make it that far before collapsing again.
"I know." Barry fully understood the situation they were in, "but there isn't any other way…" He pointed in a southward direction. "The road must be about a mile from here. Maybe we can find an abandoned vehicle along there to take us some of the way."
"It's worth a try." Owen agreed.
Together, the two men set off for their dangerous journey through the jungle.
Their progress was very slow. Barry had to support Owen with every step they took, as his friend leaned heavily on him. Without that support Owen would have already fallen to the ground many times, and probably would not have gotten up.
Owen's eyes were fixed on a point somewhere along the horizon. He was sweating profusely, still bleeding, and his breathing was fast and shallow. He was fighting with all his might not to lose consciousness again. They had to make it to the road, that was their only goal, and their only chance of getting off this island.
"What was that?" Owen suddenly halted, looking around and peering intently into the darkness all around them. He might be close to losing consciousness again, but his hearing was still perfectly fine.
"What is what?" Barry looked around, too. Other than eerie silhouettes of trees and bushes there was nothing to be seen.
"That…" Owen heard it again. It sounded like a muffled voice, speaking in panicked tones. Barry heard it now, too. He scanned the darkness around them once more for the source of the voice, until he suddenly realised that it came from himself.
"The radio!" Barry exclaimed. And indeed, from one of his inside pockets he pulled a small walkie talkie. "I was sure I lost this!"
Barry turned up the volume, and they could now clearly hear someone speak.
"Hello?! Hello?! Is anybody out there?! Can somebody hear me?!"
Owen's head snapped up upon hearing the voice. His mind cleared somewhat as adrenaline rushed back into him again. "That's Claire!"
He took the radio from Barry. "Claire? Claire, can you hear me?"
"Owen!" Her voice sounded immensely relieved even through the crackly sound of the walkie talkie. "Where are you? Tell me you're okay!"
"Barry and I are still in the forest," Owen answered, "we are getting close to the road, about two miles north from the side lane to the Aviary."
"I'm in a truck," Claire answered quickly, "I've got the boys and I'm coming your way. I should be able to reach you in about twenty minutes."
"Make it faster," Owen mumbled darkly. He swayed noticeably on his feet and had to fight a wave of vertigo. He grabbed Barry's shoulder to steady himself. His soft whimper was heard quite clearly over the walkie talkie.
"Owen?" Claire's voice broke on his name. "You don't sound well…"
"That's because… I ain't…" Owen muttered dejectedly.
Claire gasped audibly. Her voice sounded small and vulnerable when she next spoke. "Please, hold on…"
Barry and Owen did not hear from Claire again after those last words, and resumed their slow progress to find the road.
"There!" Barry suddenly pointed out. Sure enough, through the trees they could see one of the few street lights that were placed alongside the road.
It took them a few more minutes, but finally they stepped away from the tree line. The road was completely empty and silent.
Barry nervously checked his watch. "It took us over twenty minutes to get here. She should be here by now."
Owen tried to focus on his hearing and sight, but all he could hear was the rushing of his own blood, and all he could see were black spots. He groaned audibly as he tried to stay conscious. The walk through the forest had cost him too much of his strength, and he was positively panting now. The pain from his wound was immense and more than any human being would be able to take for an extended period of time.
"Owen, stay with me."
Owen had not even noticed Barry had come to stand in front of him, and had his hands on either of Owen's shoulders.
"I can hear the truck," Barry encouraged, "just hold on for a few more minutes, then we'll be safe".
"I…. I…. can't…" Owen breathed out. His eyes rolled back and he went completely limp as he sank to the ground. The pain and loss of blood ultimately took the best of him and pulled him away into unconsciousness again.
Despite his best efforts, Barry could not prevent Owen from crashing to the ground. He quickly felt his friend's pulse and was relieved to find a steady, albeit rapid, heartbeat. Owen's breathing was shallow and a bit irregular, but at least he was still alive.
"Perfect timing, Grady," Barry muttered sarcastically.
Barry rose to his feet as the roar of a truck's engine grew even louder, and the headlights became visible just after a last sharp turn in the road. The truck was being driven at full speed, and it did not take Barry long to see why….
A/N: Thanks again for reading! All favs, follows and reviews are still highly appreciated. Next chapter will be up asap :-)
