2. THE DINOSAUR KID
The grass crunched softly under the Nike basketball shoes of sixteen- year-old Eric Kirby as he ran alongside the other people in his 10th grade PE class. They were doing the mile, which was one thing that Eric hated about PE. Actually, he pretty much hated everything dealing with PE classes and he was glad that this would be the last year that he had to take it. Even when he was in kindergarten he hated that class, but he always had to deal with it and hope that it would be over soon.
Suddenly one of the school's bullies, Bob, came up alongside Eric and pushed him out of the way.
"Better hurry up Dinosaur Kid, before you get eaten," Bob said as he moved away from Eric. Several of the other kids laughed as they continued to run past.
Dinosaur Kid was the name that Eric had received 2 years ago after his trip to Isla Sorna when he was fourteen. Most people had already known about Jurassic Park and the three incidents that occurred; however it wasn't till the San Diego Incident that the whole world knew of Jurassic Park. What happened in San Diego caused lots of damage and death made only be the efforts of a lone Tyrannosaurus Rex looking for his son. More damage would've been made if it weren't for Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler's assistance.
However, because of what occurred, Isla Sorna was bombed by the United States, leaving all of the animals dead. Eric wanted to go to the island with a group called Earth First to try and protest against the bombing. It didn't help though, but Eric would've wanted to try just like the other people of that group. The only thing that had stopped him from going were his parents and he couldn't go against them for not only the fact that they were his flesh and blood, but for also all of the power that they held in the U.S. under Kirby Enterprises.
Just the name of that company made Eric feel sick. He hated his parent's corporation. His dad had said thousands of times that Eric would take over Kirby Enterprises when he and his mother died.
All Eric wanted to be was a Paleontologist. He didn't want to have to take over a company that he knew nothing about and despised in the first place. He wasn't someone that walked around wearing suits and ties. Eric was a lain back kid that wanted to do something that he'd enjoy instead of something that he knew he'd never be able to do.
However, his parents were airheads. They never listened to reason. When Eric had told them that he wanted to be a Paleontologist, Amanda made him go outside and get a switch from a tree. She then made him pull his pants down so that she could beat some sense into him. He'd gotten several bruises on his ass because of that day and couldn't bare to sit down for two whole weeks. After that he never mentioned being a Paleontologist again. He guessed the reason for the outrage was because of what they'd went through on Sorna trying to rescue him. They probably just didn't want him to end up running from InGen dinosaurs again. He couldn't really figure that one out. All of those animals were dead now. Nublar was destroyed in 1989, Sorna was destroyed in 1999, InGen went out of business only months after Nublar's destruction thanks to Donald Gennaro, and Biosyn was finally forced to file for chapter 11 after Jeff Rossiter's little plan to make Jurassic Park San Diego. It didn't seem like it could be possible for another JP incident to occur. Eric guessed that his parents either cared too much for him, or they just loved to abuse him. He hoped it wasn't the second one.
As Eric neared the finish of the mile, he found himself feeling overly tired and out of breathe, but he continued moving on just so he could get it all over with. Eric had never considered himself at all athletic. Sometimes he would play basketball with some friends, but he never wanted to play on a team. He crossed the finish line and proceeded over to the grass where he dropped to the ground immediately. Eric stared at the beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds making all kinds of shapes in the sky. To one side he saw several bunny rabbits that appeared to be hopping around. Then to his horror he saw another cloud that gave the shape of a horrifying Pteranodon that seemed to be swooping down at him. He started to panic, and then he screamed as someone grabbed his arm.
"Whoa, calm down," the man said as he was trying to get Eric to settle down.
To the side of the playground Eric could hear Bob and his friends laughing at him. Then Bob started to yell to Eric, "Don't let the mean dinosaurs get you Dinosaur Kid!" More laughter was heard from the kids behind him. "Stupid faggot!" The kids laughed even louder as they started to walk away to another part of the playground.
Eric looked at the man to his side. He seemed to be in his late 50's or early 60's. Eric had no idea who he was. "Don't listen to them. They'll just have a criminal record in the future. I'm Edward Campbell formerly of Earth First and now CEO of Zinj Bioengineering. I'd like to talk to you about something that I'm sure you'd be very interested in knowing."
"You were part of Earth First," Eric replied with excitement. He'd never had the opportunity to meet someone from that group that he felt very strong for.
"Yes, indeed I was," Campbell replied. "That group was how I was able to come about making my company Zinj, seeing as which I was at Isla Sorna's destruction and all."
"You went to Sorna when it was destroyed! I wanted to go and help to stop them from destroying those animals, but my parents wouldn't allow it."
"Yes, I know," Campbell said smiling. "I also know that your name is Eric Kirby and about your trip to Isla Sorna."
"Who doesn't know about that trip," Eric snickered. He kind of hated how he'd ended up on Sorna. After the parasailing incident with Ben Hildebrand he had to spend a long time there with that guy, and Ben, at the time, was his mother's boyfriend, because his parents had been divorced in 99. Ben actually scared Eric in a way. He just really didn't know the guy. Plus Ben wasn't very happy with his choice of being Bi-Sexual. That always pissed Eric off. Why couldn't people just get over all of that shit? Why can't they just let people live with the way that other people were and move on with their lives? It was not any of their business anyway.
After Ben's death Eric's parents realized that they still loved each other and eventually got married again which wasn't good for Eric because of the yelling that he would always receive from them and of course the beatings. His parents also scared him at times with their ruthlessness that they seemed to have received.
"Well I've came here today to tell you that the InGen dinosaurs aren't extinct. They continue to live and flourish." Campbell continued to smile. He knew that the kid would be excited to know that.
"What are you talking about," Eric asked more confused then he'd ever been. "Sorna was bombed! How could they still be around?"
"InGen had a third site for their animals," Campbell replied. "In the deep unknown parts of the Congo where the Lost City of Zinj once was, John Hammond created Site C about a year and a half after he bought Isla Sorna. Apparently Sorna was too small for what they wanted to do and needed another area to work with."
"The Congo? Why would InGen want another site that far away from Costa Rica?"
"More secrets I believe. That's the only reason my company ever figured out. However, Site C isn't the reason that I'm here. I'm here because my company have captured the animals from Site C and built a magnificent park to showcase the animals. I'm having a little pre-opening invitation for a few experts to enjoy. I'd like you to be one of those experts."
"Is it because I'm a survivor of a Jurassic Park incident?"
"That and the fact that you're the only one of them that I can trust with this project."
"So you asked most of the others and they said no," Eric asked smiling.
Campbell smiled. This kid was obviously very smart. He wondered why he hadn't asked Eric first instead of the others, like Ian Malcolm and Robert Muldoon. Hell, he was related to Karen Ross for crying out loud! They needed him badly if they were going to get Dr. Ross. "You're right. I wish I hadn't have wasted my time with them now. Come on though, what do you say? I know you'd love to see the animals again, and this time it's perfectly safe. I'll even pay you handsomely if you like."
"How handsomely," Eric asked.
"As hansom as you appear to all the girls you've gone out with kid," Campbell smiled patting the boy on the back.
Eric laughed. "That's not going be very high then."
Campbell laughed. He didn't understand what the kid meant though. He'd thought for sure that a nice looking kid like him had had dozens of girlfriends. Hell, Campbell had had about twenty before he'd even reached Eric's age. All of them worshiped Campbell for his good looks and charms, so he wondered what was with Eric on that point.
Eric sat there on the ground and thought over all of the events that occurred on Isla Sorna and all of the horror that he'd experienced over the several days he was on the island. However, he also thought of how much he loved dinosaurs and how sad he was when the island was bombed. Now that they're still alive it made him want to see them all over again. "Alright, I'm in, but there is one problem. My Aunt Karen is going to be looking after me this weekend because of a vacation that my parents want to take. What are we going to do about that?"
"Don't worry Eric," Campbell replied. "One of my people is taking care of the problem as we speak. Come on. Let's get moving. There are people waiting at the airport for us. I've already got you out of class now so we're free to go on."
"How did you get me out of class," Eric asked. "I'm not related to you in any way."
Campbell smiled that devilish smile of his. "The Zinj Corporation can be very conniving at times my young friend. Especially when it comes to getting what they want."
With those words the two got up, off the ground, and started off for Campbell's rent-a-car.
The grass crunched softly under the Nike basketball shoes of sixteen- year-old Eric Kirby as he ran alongside the other people in his 10th grade PE class. They were doing the mile, which was one thing that Eric hated about PE. Actually, he pretty much hated everything dealing with PE classes and he was glad that this would be the last year that he had to take it. Even when he was in kindergarten he hated that class, but he always had to deal with it and hope that it would be over soon.
Suddenly one of the school's bullies, Bob, came up alongside Eric and pushed him out of the way.
"Better hurry up Dinosaur Kid, before you get eaten," Bob said as he moved away from Eric. Several of the other kids laughed as they continued to run past.
Dinosaur Kid was the name that Eric had received 2 years ago after his trip to Isla Sorna when he was fourteen. Most people had already known about Jurassic Park and the three incidents that occurred; however it wasn't till the San Diego Incident that the whole world knew of Jurassic Park. What happened in San Diego caused lots of damage and death made only be the efforts of a lone Tyrannosaurus Rex looking for his son. More damage would've been made if it weren't for Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler's assistance.
However, because of what occurred, Isla Sorna was bombed by the United States, leaving all of the animals dead. Eric wanted to go to the island with a group called Earth First to try and protest against the bombing. It didn't help though, but Eric would've wanted to try just like the other people of that group. The only thing that had stopped him from going were his parents and he couldn't go against them for not only the fact that they were his flesh and blood, but for also all of the power that they held in the U.S. under Kirby Enterprises.
Just the name of that company made Eric feel sick. He hated his parent's corporation. His dad had said thousands of times that Eric would take over Kirby Enterprises when he and his mother died.
All Eric wanted to be was a Paleontologist. He didn't want to have to take over a company that he knew nothing about and despised in the first place. He wasn't someone that walked around wearing suits and ties. Eric was a lain back kid that wanted to do something that he'd enjoy instead of something that he knew he'd never be able to do.
However, his parents were airheads. They never listened to reason. When Eric had told them that he wanted to be a Paleontologist, Amanda made him go outside and get a switch from a tree. She then made him pull his pants down so that she could beat some sense into him. He'd gotten several bruises on his ass because of that day and couldn't bare to sit down for two whole weeks. After that he never mentioned being a Paleontologist again. He guessed the reason for the outrage was because of what they'd went through on Sorna trying to rescue him. They probably just didn't want him to end up running from InGen dinosaurs again. He couldn't really figure that one out. All of those animals were dead now. Nublar was destroyed in 1989, Sorna was destroyed in 1999, InGen went out of business only months after Nublar's destruction thanks to Donald Gennaro, and Biosyn was finally forced to file for chapter 11 after Jeff Rossiter's little plan to make Jurassic Park San Diego. It didn't seem like it could be possible for another JP incident to occur. Eric guessed that his parents either cared too much for him, or they just loved to abuse him. He hoped it wasn't the second one.
As Eric neared the finish of the mile, he found himself feeling overly tired and out of breathe, but he continued moving on just so he could get it all over with. Eric had never considered himself at all athletic. Sometimes he would play basketball with some friends, but he never wanted to play on a team. He crossed the finish line and proceeded over to the grass where he dropped to the ground immediately. Eric stared at the beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds making all kinds of shapes in the sky. To one side he saw several bunny rabbits that appeared to be hopping around. Then to his horror he saw another cloud that gave the shape of a horrifying Pteranodon that seemed to be swooping down at him. He started to panic, and then he screamed as someone grabbed his arm.
"Whoa, calm down," the man said as he was trying to get Eric to settle down.
To the side of the playground Eric could hear Bob and his friends laughing at him. Then Bob started to yell to Eric, "Don't let the mean dinosaurs get you Dinosaur Kid!" More laughter was heard from the kids behind him. "Stupid faggot!" The kids laughed even louder as they started to walk away to another part of the playground.
Eric looked at the man to his side. He seemed to be in his late 50's or early 60's. Eric had no idea who he was. "Don't listen to them. They'll just have a criminal record in the future. I'm Edward Campbell formerly of Earth First and now CEO of Zinj Bioengineering. I'd like to talk to you about something that I'm sure you'd be very interested in knowing."
"You were part of Earth First," Eric replied with excitement. He'd never had the opportunity to meet someone from that group that he felt very strong for.
"Yes, indeed I was," Campbell replied. "That group was how I was able to come about making my company Zinj, seeing as which I was at Isla Sorna's destruction and all."
"You went to Sorna when it was destroyed! I wanted to go and help to stop them from destroying those animals, but my parents wouldn't allow it."
"Yes, I know," Campbell said smiling. "I also know that your name is Eric Kirby and about your trip to Isla Sorna."
"Who doesn't know about that trip," Eric snickered. He kind of hated how he'd ended up on Sorna. After the parasailing incident with Ben Hildebrand he had to spend a long time there with that guy, and Ben, at the time, was his mother's boyfriend, because his parents had been divorced in 99. Ben actually scared Eric in a way. He just really didn't know the guy. Plus Ben wasn't very happy with his choice of being Bi-Sexual. That always pissed Eric off. Why couldn't people just get over all of that shit? Why can't they just let people live with the way that other people were and move on with their lives? It was not any of their business anyway.
After Ben's death Eric's parents realized that they still loved each other and eventually got married again which wasn't good for Eric because of the yelling that he would always receive from them and of course the beatings. His parents also scared him at times with their ruthlessness that they seemed to have received.
"Well I've came here today to tell you that the InGen dinosaurs aren't extinct. They continue to live and flourish." Campbell continued to smile. He knew that the kid would be excited to know that.
"What are you talking about," Eric asked more confused then he'd ever been. "Sorna was bombed! How could they still be around?"
"InGen had a third site for their animals," Campbell replied. "In the deep unknown parts of the Congo where the Lost City of Zinj once was, John Hammond created Site C about a year and a half after he bought Isla Sorna. Apparently Sorna was too small for what they wanted to do and needed another area to work with."
"The Congo? Why would InGen want another site that far away from Costa Rica?"
"More secrets I believe. That's the only reason my company ever figured out. However, Site C isn't the reason that I'm here. I'm here because my company have captured the animals from Site C and built a magnificent park to showcase the animals. I'm having a little pre-opening invitation for a few experts to enjoy. I'd like you to be one of those experts."
"Is it because I'm a survivor of a Jurassic Park incident?"
"That and the fact that you're the only one of them that I can trust with this project."
"So you asked most of the others and they said no," Eric asked smiling.
Campbell smiled. This kid was obviously very smart. He wondered why he hadn't asked Eric first instead of the others, like Ian Malcolm and Robert Muldoon. Hell, he was related to Karen Ross for crying out loud! They needed him badly if they were going to get Dr. Ross. "You're right. I wish I hadn't have wasted my time with them now. Come on though, what do you say? I know you'd love to see the animals again, and this time it's perfectly safe. I'll even pay you handsomely if you like."
"How handsomely," Eric asked.
"As hansom as you appear to all the girls you've gone out with kid," Campbell smiled patting the boy on the back.
Eric laughed. "That's not going be very high then."
Campbell laughed. He didn't understand what the kid meant though. He'd thought for sure that a nice looking kid like him had had dozens of girlfriends. Hell, Campbell had had about twenty before he'd even reached Eric's age. All of them worshiped Campbell for his good looks and charms, so he wondered what was with Eric on that point.
Eric sat there on the ground and thought over all of the events that occurred on Isla Sorna and all of the horror that he'd experienced over the several days he was on the island. However, he also thought of how much he loved dinosaurs and how sad he was when the island was bombed. Now that they're still alive it made him want to see them all over again. "Alright, I'm in, but there is one problem. My Aunt Karen is going to be looking after me this weekend because of a vacation that my parents want to take. What are we going to do about that?"
"Don't worry Eric," Campbell replied. "One of my people is taking care of the problem as we speak. Come on. Let's get moving. There are people waiting at the airport for us. I've already got you out of class now so we're free to go on."
"How did you get me out of class," Eric asked. "I'm not related to you in any way."
Campbell smiled that devilish smile of his. "The Zinj Corporation can be very conniving at times my young friend. Especially when it comes to getting what they want."
With those words the two got up, off the ground, and started off for Campbell's rent-a-car.