Anguirus111 Note: Thanks for all who reviewed, this looks like it'll be the last chapter. The chapter title is based off of Apocalypse Now and will feature a couple scenes identical to it. It's not for lack of originality it's just very poignant given what Hammond is going to do in this chapter.
Park: Jake groaned and blinked as he opened his eyes. He sat up with a massive headache and was very sore but otherwise he was okay. As he looked at his surroundings, he saw trees and the open sky. For some reason Jake was on the embankment of a river with the boat beached nearby, but the coast was nowhere in sight.
"Oh good you're awake," said Lex. Jake looked at her confused as she was covered in mud and water.
"So what am I this time?" she asked with a laugh. "A compy? No wait, a gallimimus?"
Jake laughed and shook his head. "Nope, I just see Alexis Murphy right in front of me."
Lex shook her head and sat down next to him on the bank. She took a rag she'd found and wiped off her face leaving smears of mud on it.
"So what happened while I was out…jungle girl?" asked Jake nodding at the boat.
"The crocs did more damage than I realized, we had a hole punctured in the side of the boat and water was beginning to leak in. I got us as far down the river as I could before I had to beach the boat," said Lex. "I've been doing some diving to see if the hole could be repaired, but it's really beyond my area of expertise, teaching. What about you, can you fix the boat?"
"As I told you earlier I'm," Jake began.
"Not Macgyver I know," said Lex shaking her head. "Well it was worth a shot."
"So where're the kids?" Jake asked since no one else was on the beach.
"Your buddies from earlier came and ate them," said Lex shrugging nonchalantly. Jake shook his head.
"I don't think my buddies would do that," said Jake. "They wouldn't do anything without my say so."
Lex nodded. "And why is that so? Why was I completely shocked when you came roaring over that hill with a dinosaur escort? I thought you hated dinosaurs!"
Jake nodded. "I still do. But circumstances arose lately that lessened that hate. That's part of the reason why I didn't hallucinate seeing any when I woke up."
"Why is that?"
"Because I no longer have to face them alone anymore," said Jake looking at her with a smirk. Lex laughed.
"Listen, you owe me dinner. But since its noon why don't we go have some lunch instead?" she said standing up and holding out her hand to the sitting Jake. He looked up at her.
"What do you plan on having, dinosaur meat?" Jake asked. Lex shook her head.
"I'm a vegetarian, you can have it," she said. Jake raised an eyebrow at that statement. Lex laughed at his confusion as she helped him up and the two walked down the road.
"There's a Jurassic Park restaurant down the road, I took the kids there and left them there while I came back here to see if the boat could be fixed," said Lex.
"I don't know which is more disturbing, the fact that you left the kids there alone or the fact that you left me here alone!" said Jake perturbed. Lex shook her head.
"Somehow I don't think it really matters since I haven't seen a dinosaur at all today," she said. Jake looked thoughtful.
"Guess the lysine is finally starting to kick in," he said.
"How does that stuff work?" Lex asked.
"Beats me," said Jake shrugging. "Henry designed it, I just pushed for its inception."
"So you don't know if it will affect any of the dinosaurs?" asked Lex.
"Nope," said Jake. "But I assume it will because after all why would we put it in every dinosaur if it didn't? We don't really have any reason to lie to ourselves about putting in a protective measure so I don't believe it is a hoax. The dinosaurs will be affected by it, the only question is how."
"So life won't find a way," said Lex thinking back to something she had heard Ian Malcolm say once.
"Knowing Ian he'd probably come up with some additional schtick about there being infinite diversity in infinite combinations. What a nut," said Jake shaking his head. "Course I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I saw it coming."
"Saw what coming?" asked Lex as some fog began drifting in.
"That his crazy childhood experiments would lead to him to chaos theory," said Jake.
"How come you know so much about him?" asked Lex somewhat confused by Jake's fascination with Ian Malcolm's life. Jake looked at her expression bewildered before he began laughing.
"What?" Lex demanded. Jake held up his hand.
"Sorry I forgot you wouldn't know," he said chuckling.
"Know what?"
"Ian Malcolm is my cousin," Jake explained. "We grew up together as kids because it was his parents who took in me and my sister."
"Oh," said Lex with sudden realization that it explained why Jake so often quoted Dr. Malcolm and had some similar concepts of situations as well.
"So you've read his books then?" she asked having recalled reading one for a psychology course her freshman year in college.
"Unfortunately," said Jake. "He had me read over his drafts a few times and I was already fed up with his theory anyway that I just wrote about how ticked off I was with him and his theories and how it's all bullshit. If he were here now he would be laughing his ass off at me, I know he would."
Lex began laughing as did Jake a couple moments later.
"So where's this restaurant?" Jake asked.
"Just up ahead," said Lex as a dark object was seen mostly obscured by the mist ahead.
The coast: Six helicopters roared across the beach and over the jungle.
"Our first objective will be to reclaim the Visitors Center," said Hammond over the radio. "From there we can fan out and eliminate anything that wasn't affected by the lysine and too dangerous to properly contain."
Affirmatives came in over the radio as the copters roared over a waterfall and over a pair of electrified fences.
"Lock and load, we're going into action," said Hammond with grin while Muldoon and Arnold fidgeted nervously in their seats.
Restaurant: "Jake, be honest. Is my grandfather insane?" Lex asked. Jake sighed and leaned back in his chair at their table. All around them the kids were either eating or sleeping on the chairs in the restaurant.
"I don't know," said Jake sadly. "I wish I did but I don't."
"Any insight is better than none," said Lex also reluctant to talk about her grandfather whom she had adored for so long.
Jake leaned forward and clasped his hands together deep in thought.
"I…think…your grandfather has been on this island for too long," said Jake finally. "He hasn't really left this island for a prolonged period since even before it opened. He's become obsessed with making this island the best attraction ever and that means devoting more and more of his life to studying and knowing the dinosaurs. As a result, John had slowly begun developing personality traits more and more like the dinosaurs themselves. Over the years he has become more and more animalistic in nature. This coupled with his poor childhood involving using flea circuses to try and gain enough money to scrounge by has driven him closer and closer to the edge. When he falls over that edge I don't know when or what will happen."
"So you think he'll do something irresponsible," said Lex sipping his soda.
"When he does, I'm worried about what's going to happen to us and the park," said Jake solemnly.
Visitors Center: A pair of raptors was patrolling the outside of the Center as they attempted to protect some of their dying brethren inside. They had hoped that by bringing in food they would be saved, but so far no prey had shown up in ages. They were debating whether or not to leave to go hunting when a rhythmic thumping was heard. They tensed as the sound grew louder and louder and seemed to come from everywhere. Six more raptors emerged from the Center in various states of health as they all roared at the invisible enemy. Then a pair of strange objects appeared above the trees and roared overhead. Three more did so as well, but the final object released a pair of objects that streamed towards the ground with a trail of smoke behind it. The objects slammed into the ground and exploded flinging dirt and raptors everywhere.
Restaurant: Lex and Jake ran outside as they heard the explosion and saw smoke rising in the distance above the trees.
"Get the kids, we're moving out!" shouted Jake to Lex as he began checking his weapon. Lex nodded and ran inside, worried that she knew what was going on.
"Please don't let this be what I think it is," Jake thought from the outside. "And if it is God help us all."
Center: A pair of helicopters roared by overhead firing their skid mounted Vulcan cannons at the ground as they began chewing up the dirt trying to hit a pair of raptors running from the area. More explosions rocked the area as two more helicopters roared over the Center, shelling it with rockets.
"That's right!" shouted Hammond over the radio. "I want no survivors! Now make a place for us to land!"
Affirmatives came over the radio as the other helicopters began roaring low over the ground chasing off some more raptors.
"We're going in, Muldoon lock and load," said Hammond as he hefted his cane. Muldoon looked at Arnold helplessly, but Arnold just looked back at him in total shock at the situation. The helicopter landed along with another two helicopters and began offloading mercenaries who emerged weapons drawn.
"Sir you'd better get inside the Center!" shouted one of the pilots over the radio.
"Why? What's wrong!" shouted Hammond over his headset running across the ground amongst the explosions.
"We have aerial hostiles inbound!" shouted the pilot. A pair of Skybaxes roared angrily and dived at the copters, which tried to pull some evasive maneuvers to avoid them.
"Drop your troops and go!" shouted Hammond.
"But," came the response.
"Do it now!" shouted Hammond. The two remaining helicopters landed and disgorged their troops before taking off again. Unfortunately, one of the Skybaxes clipped one of them and it crashed to the ground in a ball of flames.
"Drive them out of here and eliminate them!" shouted Hammond. "Now let's go secure my Center!"
Park: Lex and Jake were running down the road with the kids when a pair of low flying helicopters roared by overhead being chased by Skybaxes. Lex and Jake watched them roar off into the distance before little flashes were seen in the distance.
"Oh God," said Lex feeling sick to her stomach at the thought of what was probably going on.
"Yeah I hear ya," said Jake. They looked at each other nervously before Jake held out his hand and Lex took it and together both used that connection as a source of inner strength as they pressed on.
Center: The front doors exploded inward as the raptors inside prepared for the oncoming assault. A pair of objects flew into the lobby trailing smoke and soon it filled the entire area. Then several bullets flew out of the smoke and tore down a pair of raptors. The others were totally enraged and rushed into the smoke in a fit of rage. More shots were heard and the finally the smoke cleared. A couple soldiers had been downed but so had several more raptors.
"C'mon let's get Nedry to the control room," said Hammond. Nedry was led shackled through the bullet riddled lobby.
"You're mad Hammond! Mad!" shouted Nedry as he was hauled down the hallway. Hammond just scowled at the protesting technician.
"Just fix my island," he said angrily. Then suddenly a wall burst in and a tyrannosaurs rex burst in, roaring at the troops.
"Open fire!" yelled Hammond.
"But that's our star attraction!" shouted Arnold. Hammond looked at him viciously.
"It can be replaced, they all can be replaced!" he shouted. The mercenaries began firing on the tyrannosaurs who roared out in pain.
Compound: "Oh my God," said Lex about to be sick. Carnage reigned everywhere as human and dino remains laid everywhere with the whole area smelling of blood and guts and gunpowder.
"C'mon," said Jake shaking his head at what had happened. Already the compys had descended on the area, but some began dropping to the ground thanks to lysine deficiency and the others paused to eat them as well. Jake and Lex made their way through the area with the kids in tow. They made their way into the lobby and found the dead corpse of the t-rex on top of the t-rex skeleton that had been in the lobby along with several mercenaries were dead by either being trampled or torn in half.
"Who are these people?" Lex asked pointing at the dead mercenaries and their heavy weaponry.
"I don't know," Jake admitted. "But I have a pretty good idea."
"A rival corporation?" asked Lex. Jake shook his head.
"Let's get to the control room," he said. They were about to when the pair of deinonychosaurs rushed into the lobby.
"Jake, what do we do?" Lex asked. Jake laughed.
"Relax, they're with me," he said.
"But you're no longer covered in blood! The river must've washed you clean!" shouted Lex. Jake looked down at his very clean shirt and then up at the two dinosaurs advancing on them with their claws outstretched.
"Shit! Run," said Jake as the group turned and ran as the dinosaurs chased after them.
Control Room: Hammond and his remaining mercenaries, oblivious to the action in the lobby, opened the door and advanced into the room. Nedry was forced down into the chair at his old desk and looked at it, recalling the last time he had been there.
"Less thinking more working!" said Hammond angrily. One of the guards poked Nedry with his rifle.
"Alright, alright," he said cracking his knuckles and getting to work.
"Ray, watch him," said Hammond leaving to talk with his remaining six mercenaries.
"I'm going for a walk," said Muldoon, desperately wanting to sort out his thoughts. He left the room and headed off down the hallway.
Dining Area: Several shots were heard as Jake fired blindly behind him as the group rushed into the room along with the two deinonychosaurs, which burst in as well and began leaping over tables trying to get to them.
"Kids get under the tables, the dinos will come after us and not you," said Jake. The children nodded nervously and hid underneath the tables while Lex and Jake drew their attention and ran into the kitchen.
"We have such a bizarre relationship," Lex commented.
"Well look at it this way," said Jake cocking his rifle. "When we get out of this nothing will surprise us."
"Let's just hope we do get out of this," Lex huffed.
"Now who's acting pessimistic?" Jake asked sarcastically. Lex growled and two ran down one of the aisles in the kitchen as the two deinonychosaurs forwent opening the door and just crashed through it to find it empty. The looked at each other, then back into the dining area, before debating it out, and entering the kitchen. They spread out and advanced down various aisles. Suddenly Jake popped up and fired off a shot that slammed into one of the deinonychosaurs legs blowing chunks of flesh off causing it to keel over in pain.
"Sorry buddy, but you left me choice," said Jake as he ducked back below the cabinets with a hint of sadness.
"C'mon let's keep moving," said Lex. The two skidded down the road while the other deinonychosaur went into a rage over the death of its comrade. It began leaping from aisle to aisle seeking out its prey. Then when it hit the last aisle, Jake leapt up and smacked it across the face with the butt of the rifle. The dinosaur then returned its head to its original direction, roared, and shoved Jake flinging him backward. The animal subsequently snatched the rifle with the other hand and held it, examining the weapon. Lex ran over and helped Jake up as they both watched the dinosaur examining the weapon with interest.
"It can't use that can it?" Lex asked. Jake shrugged.
"Before I would've said no, but now I don't know," said Jake nervously. The two were preparing to leave when the rife went off blowing a chunk out of the wall. Lex and Jake spun around to see the rifle pointing the rifle at them before putting it in its mouth and chomping the thing in half before approaching them.
"I suppose now would be a bad time to say I love you," said Jake looking at the thing. Lex nodded.
"It would," Lex agreed. "But then again I feel the same way. I love you too Jake."
The dinosaur landed right in front of them.
"How romantic," they both said annoyed. The dinosaur leapt at them when suddenly a shot rang out and it exploded covering both with blood and guts. Lex and Jake looked wide-eyed as Robert Muldoon stood near the doorway with a smoking gun.
"Robert!" Jake shouted grateful.
"Nice to see you two, I figured you'd survive the island somehow. Course based on what I just heard I didn't see that coming," said Muldoon letting it trail of like that with a grin.
"Shit happens," said Jake making no attempt to cover it up. "Now what's John up to?"
"You'd better come with me," said Muldoon grimly.
Control Room: "There!" shouted Nedry slamming the enter button. The power suddenly roared on and the lights all popped on along with all of the computers.
"Fences activated, phones online, everything's up," said Nedry triumphant.
"Good, now get lost," said Hammond. Nedry pulled away from the console and left the room heading for the vending machines accompanied by a guard. Hammond accessed the computer and typed in a single command: EXTINCTION. Suddenly the security cameras popped up showing dinosaurs collapsing all over the island as automated defense turrets popped up out of the ground and began blasting down anything that moved.
"What're you doing?" Arnold demanded.
"Just a little backup plan," said Hammond happily. Then the door opened and Muldoon, Lex, Jake, and the kids filed in.
"Lex!" Hammond shouted rushing to her. He weeped as he hugged her but she quickly pushed him back.
"Grandpa what've you done?" she asked with tears in her eyes.
"I-I-I…I did what was necessary," Hammond stammered out.
"Annihilating an entire species is not necessary," said Lex looking at the destruction tearing apart the once beautiful island. The kids had begun crying at the carnage visible on the screen.
"John you've gone to far, stand down," said Jake simply.
"Why are you upset?" Hammond demanded angrily. "You of all people should be backing me up! Don't forget what happened to Jeffrey, you hate dinosaurs!"
Jake nodded. "Yeah I'll never stop hating them. But they're monsters by nature! It took being trapped among them for me to realize that! But you John, you've become a monster by choice! You've been here too long and you've seen and done too much and it has affected your psyche! Stand down John or we'll all die!"
"You're under arrest, you're all under arrest for espionage!" shouted Hammond.
"Grandpa!" said Lex still crying.
"Don't worry my dear, I'll keep you safe from their evil influences!" shouted Hammond. Then the phone started ringing. Muldoon picked it up.
"Yes…are you sure? Oh thank God. Yes, yes thank you we were afraid it was just us. Yeah I'll tell him," said Muldoon. He turned and looked at Hammond with a look of extreme sadness on his face.
"That was the corporate office. They've been observing your current actions and have come to a decision that you are a danger to the company and to others. As such, you've been given a mandatory vacation and Peter Ludlow is now in control of Ingen," said Muldoon.
"Did they tell you why Robert? Why they want to terminate my command?" Hammond asked sullen.
"They told me you had gone totally insane sir and that your methods were…unsound," said Muldoon.
"…Are my methods unsound?"
"I don't see any method…at all sir," said Muldoon aiming his rifle at Hammond to make sure he didn't do anything rash.
"Are you an assassin?" asked Hammond totally detached from the current situation at hand.
"I'm a warden, sir," said Muldoon.
"You're neither," said Hammond angrily. "You're an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill!"
"But why does it have to be this way? What happened to you John? Why did things have to happen this way? What went wrong!" asked Jake helplessly.
Hammonds hands tightened. "I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us," he said helplessly before tearing down and crying.
"Apocalypse Now," said Jake understanding. "Help Mr. Hammond to his chopper."
The mercenaries shrugged and led the broken man back to his chopper. Jake tapped a command on the computer and the turrets shutdown.
"So what now?" asked Arnold as the group filed out of the room. "What do we do?"
"I don't know," said Jake walking towards the helicopters in the distance. "But it's not my concern, I'm a scientist not a businessman and it's time I got back to it."
"So soon?" Lex teased.
"Well I do have a couple things to take care of first," he said with a grin. Lex laughed as a massive helicopter landed nearby and began releasing scientists and other corporate officials. Peter Ludlow approached them.
"We're indebted for your help in restoring stability to this island," he said. "I'm sorry for the actions of my uncle, but what's done is done. Hopefully now things won't be so terrible."
"We'll see Pete we'll see," said Jake. Ludlow left accompanied by Henry Wu and Sarah Harding as they set about restoring the island back to 'normalcy'. Lex and Jake were about to board the helicopter when a final individual, clad in black leather, emerged from the chopper. He advanced forward and stopped in front of Jake and Lex.
"You," said Jake annoyed. "Can it! I'm not in the mood!"
The individual smiled and opened his mouth to speak.
"Shut up! Just shut up! I'll pay you some other time," said Jake walking off with Lex into the helicopter as it roared off into the distance. Behind them, Ian Malcolm sighed.
"What did I tell you Jake, chaos is inevitable," he said walking towards the Visitors Center with Sarah Harding.
Helicopter: Jake watched the jungle zooming past the underside of the copter before it was replaced by water.
"So they're all dead?" asked Lex referring to the dinosaur. Jake laughed as he patted her hand.
"Not quite," said Jake with a smile. "Life has a strange method of finding a way."
Beach: A pair of lizards and crabs scurried across the beach when suddenly the sand shifted. It shifted again and again and soon the ground began trembling and shaking. A small crab darted back and forth when a clawed foot smashed down on it, crushing it flat. The Gojirasaurus Quayi, curiously lacking the lysine deficiency thanks to its creator, stood looking out at the open sea. It reared back and roared a challenge at the world before lumbering into the water and swimming off, for a certain island chain in the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
The End.