It were the raptors…
Somewhere along Claire's race for safety, the animals had found her and were now in hot pursuit.

Barry watched the dinosaurs skid through the sharp turn in the road, following the truck as if it were their prey. Claire had definitely found the gas pedal on the truck, and she had outrun them so far. The dinosaurs were a good 200 metres behind her, but they sure had the capacity to ultimately close that gap and properly attack. And he was sure they would…

Barry only had a short window of time to get himself and the unconscious Owen into the truck. It would definitely be tricky, but, as long as he timed it right, he might just succeed.
He quickly lifted Owen off the ground, carrying his friend over his shoulder. A flash of the headlights meant that Claire had seen him.
Barry took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "Alright…"

The truck was now close enough for him to make out Claire's face and her terrified look. She probably was in great doubt whether Barry would succeed in getting in without being snatched by one of the raptors, or whether he would manage to get into the truck at all.

When she was close enough, Claire stomped on the brakes, bringing the truck to a skidding stop. Right at that moment Barry felt Owen stir against his shoulder.
"No, not now…" He mumbled, as he took an even firmer grip on Owen's body. If Owen regained consciousness, Barry would have to control him. In his current condition, Owen would surely not make it into the truck by himself. So, even if conscious, Barry would have to be the one to get him into the vehicle.
But despite his slight signs of life, Owen remained unconscious and moved no further.

The truck hadn't even come to a full stop yet, when the cargo doors in the back swung open. Zach and Gray appeared in the opening, ready to pull Barry and Owen in.
"Seriously, man, don't look around!" Zach called out fearfully. Barry wasn't planning on doing so, for he knew the raptors were getting dangerously close, their teeth ready to sink into him.

In one swift motion, Barry threw Owen, none too gently, into the truck. Zach and Gray immediately pulled the unconscious ranger further inside.
Barry, against his better judgement, did cast one quick glance over his shoulder, and immediately wished he hadn't. The raptors were less than 50 metres away from him now, running at full speed and with razor sharp teeth bared.

"GO!" He yelled loudly at Claire for her to start driving, as he took a giant leap. Barry landed only just inside the truck, immediately being pulled in properly by Zach and Gray.
"Watch out!" One of the raptors had made it to within 5 metres of the truck, and lunged forward. It wasn't quite able to jump inside, but its jaws still snapped shut menacingly close to Barry's legs.
"Go! NOW!" Barry yelled again at Claire. She replied immediately by pressing the gas pedal all the way down to the floor, driving the truck to its maximum.

The missed jump caused the raptor, Blue, to fall heavily onto the road, tripping up her sisters close behind her. It gave Claire just enough time to create a 'safe' distance between the truck and the raptors.

The raptors quickly scrambled to their feet again, but none of them engaged in another chase of the truck. They stared down the road for a few more seconds, before finally scurrying away and disappearing into the jungle.


In the truck, Barry, Zach and Gray all cheered in relief at seeing the raptors retreat. For now, at least, they were somewhat safe.

"They're gone!" Zach informed Claire.
"Are you guys alright?" Claire asked through the open window that separated the driver from the cargo area. Now that the raptors were no longer in pursuit, she dared to take her eyes off the road for just a second to quickly look around.
"We're fine," Barry answered.
Claire locked eyes with him in the rearview mirror. "And Owen?"
"He's hurt pretty badly," Barry admitted, "he's passed out. We need to get him to a medic right away."
"What happened to him?" Claire's voice became smaller and more frail with every word she spoke.
"I don't know exactly." Barry shook his head. "All he said was that his back was cut open by one of the raptors' talons."
Claire stifled a sob, which went unheard by the others over the roar of the engines. "Oh my God…"

Claire was silent for a few minutes, doing her utmost best to hide that she was crying silently. She tried not to imagine what it must have been like for Owen to get cut open by a raptor's talon, and what kind of pain he must be in now. Only thinking about such things made her nauseous and brought fresh tears to her eyes.

"Where are we going?" She asked when she was sure her voice would hold again.
"We need to go to the docks," Barry called over to her, "they're setting up shelters in the boat and plane hangars. There will be medics there, too. Evacuation mode is in full effect now, but it will take days to get all the 20.000 people off this island."
Right… She should have known that. too. Claire blamed her panic and fear for forgetting most of the standard operating procedures and protocols. "And what about the Indominus? As long as it's loose the people will be in danger, right?"
"The docks are outside the gates to the park," Barry answered, "it's the safest place for now, but the Indominus is no regular dinosaur. I know I won't sleep well until I'm sure that animal is dead…"


Owen slowly awoke to the sounds of an engine being pushed to its limits. He felt his body sway softly, and sometimes more violently, with the movements of the vehicle he clearly was in. The pain this caused was close to unbearable. Especially the vehicle's more violent movements, felt like they were further ripping apart the already torn flesh of his back.
He felt extremely weak. It was difficult to get his vision focussed, and he felt he needed to breathe faster than normal to receive the necessary amount of oxygen. His muscles would not support any kind of movement right now, so he lay still.

"We turn left here, and then drive all the way to the end of this road".
That was Barry's voice. Owen groaned softly, but the sound was drowned out by the continuous roar of the engine. He slowly opened his eyes, and found himself almost face to face with Gray. The young boy sat right next to Owen on the floor of the truck's cargo area. Tears stained his face, along with a few minor cuts.

"Hey, buddy…" Owen muttered just loud enough for Gray to hear.
Gray's face immediately lit up. "Owen!"
Owen heard footsteps, and a few seconds later Barry appeared in his line of vision as well.
"Mon dieu, Owen." Barry sounded relieved. "I thought you had died for real this time".
"Hm…." Was the only answer Owen produced, before falling silent again. Everything hurt, and even speaking proved painful to him.

Barry watched his friend with concern. Owen had gone extremely pale and, even though he was awake, he did not appear to be fully conscious. His eyes drifted in and out of focus, and his wounds were still bleeding quite freely. From the way Owen kept tensing the muscles in his arms, Barry could tell his friend was in extreme agony.

"Where are we?" Owen spoke with difficulty, slurring his words.
"In a truck of the Mobile Veterinary Unit," Barry clarified, "Claire, uhm… commandeered it."
A faint smile passed over Owen's face at Barry's joke, but as soon as it came, it also disappeared again.
Gray had seen it, too. "Are you okay?" He sounded close to tears again.
Owen tried to have his voice be as stable and nonchalant as possible when he answered. "I'll live, buddy."

Gray stared helplessly at Owen. He wasn't fooled by Owen's attempts to sound breezy, and knew perfectly well how bad this entire situation was. And how bad Owen's condition really was.
"I-I… don't want you to die…" Gray sobbed suddenly. Zach scrambled over to his little brother's side, and put an arm around him for comfort.
Owen's eyes locked with Gray's and he gave him the most reassuring look he could manage. "I promise I won't…"


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