Jake's eyes snapped open and he stared at the ceiling of his room as alarms began blaring all over the operations center. Jake scowled and reached over and grabbed the rifle that he always kept by his bed. One month had passed since Nublar had fallen and with the loss of even more personnel to recalls, certain faculties had begun to fail on the island. Unfortunately, one of them was the power systems since most maintenance workers had already left, and that meant that the fences were occasionally prone to failure. Already the lights were winking on and off as power seemed to be disrupted all through the island and not just at the fences. Jake left his room and made his way down the stairs and out onto the streets. What few people were left in the compound were hurriedly scurrying about with their rifles at the ready as air raid sirens went off all over the island. Jake made his way into the operations building, but when he reached the wardroom, his card didn't go through and unlock the door. After a few moments of trying it, Jake groaned and knocked on the door. Someone opened it and Jake stepped inside.
"What's up?" asked Jake as he approached a group of scientists around a monitor with his rifle at the ready.
"We've got another runner," said Jeff, the last remaining operations manager, as he observed the monitors showing a velociraptor running down one of the streets.
"Damn, I told you that fence needed fixing," said Jake. "After that accident with the semi a couple weeks ago when it plowed into their fence, they've slowly been finding ways to escape through the gap, regardless of the sparking and flailing wires."
"And like I told you, we don't have the manpower to rewire the entire fence. We've lost enough people as it is to make powering the fences a bigger issue. We'll fix the fences at the earliest opportunity," said Jeff. "In the meantime, we've got to peg down this issue."
"Number 17 on the incursion list," said Sam, another member of the operations team, as he wrote down a note on a pad. On the list were other numbers and letter denominations. "You know, there is an easier method to prevent these incursions from happening. Something a lot easier than tranqing the dinos and putting them back in their pens only for them to escape again."
"No," said Jake shaking his head. "Killing them is not the answer. If we do that then they'll all be on us and then we'd be having a lot more incursions than just this."
"Yeah but we're getting more and more tired from having to deal with them all," said Sam. "If we kill one of them, the others would know what would happen if they too try and brave the fence."
"Look I'd rather not risk it for now," said Jake. "Let's go get it."
He left with his rifle as Sam and Jeff accompanied him with their tranq guns. A black hummer roared to a halt in front of the building. The three got inside and found Gerry Harding driving the vehicle.
"Hey GH," said Jake as he slammed his door shut and the vehicle tore off down the road.
"Jake, Sam, Jeff," said Gerry acknowledging them all as the vehicle was let out through the main fence doors and took off down the road.
"So where's our quarry now?" Jake asked. Jeff consulted a handheld PDA.
"Looks like he's moving down the access road back to the Darwin Genetics Research Lab," he said as the vehicle bumped up and down.
"Is there even anybody left in there?" asked Jake.
"Unlikely, we pulled the remaining scientists from there during the last recall because they were hit so hard. No one should be in that general vicinity," said Jeff as the car severally bumped again.
"Alright good," said Jake grabbing a tranq gun and loading it with darts. "No worries about friendly fire then."
"Yeah, thank goodness for that," said Jeff. "I don't think I can deal with loosing another worker given that we're so short staffed as it is."
"Yeah well let's take it down before we loose it," said Jake.
Fifteen Minutes Later: The hummer roared down another road before it came to a halt in front of the Darwin Research Lab.
"It's in there alright," said Jeff looking at the motion trackers.
"Damn," said Jake. "Can you access any of the security cameras?"
"No," said Sam. "We cut power to this place after we abandoned it in order to divert it to where it was really needed. It'll take too long to power this place back up again and we can't spare it. We'll just have to go in and flush it out somehow."
"Great," said Gerry. "Well I guess that means no splitting up."
The four got out of the car and looked up at the desolate building standing ominously in front of them.
"Can't say I've been here lately," said Jake. "Not long enough to recall the layout at any rate."
"Yeah," said Sam as he opened the door and they stepped inside. "And these building aren't prefabricated either so each one is different from the next."
"Then keep your eyes and ears peeled," said Gerry. "I believe the top level is the way to go."
"Right," said Jake nodding. "Circular formation then."
"What about backup?" asked Sam worriedly.
"It won't come until they finally put that maiasaur back into its pit. It's taking at least a third of the people we have and three jeeps left just to drag it back. If any come, it'll be too late by then," said Gerry grumbling.
"Right," said Jake. "So keep silent."
The others nodded and moved from position to position down the various hallways looking for their escapee. After several minutes of searching, they came up empty.
"Where the hell is it?" demanded Jake. "It is still here right?"
"Yeah," said Sam bewildered at the results of the motion tracker on his PDA. "It's moving all over the place!"
"Then where?" began Gerry before a thud was heard high above them. The four looked at each other wide-eyed.
"He's on the damn roof?" shouted Gerry annoyed. "Oh that's just great."
"Why hasn't it jumped off yet?" asked Jeff.
"Who cares?" said Jake shrugging. "We've got him now."
The four ran up the stairs that lead to the roof and finally reached the door.
"You don't think it could've opened the door do you?" asked Sam bewildered.
"I doubt it," said Jake with a snort. "Regardless of how smart you think they might be, they would never be able to develop that kind of intelligence."
"I don't know," said Gerry. "I did hear rumors…"
"Rumors," said Jake rolling his eyes. "When you see it; then believe it. Besides, the door opens outward, any pressure of force would let you onto the roof. That's probably why the thing can't get back in the building, because it lacks the dexterity to open it back up."
"Whatever," said Jeff trying to get back on subject. "Caution should be taken, that thing could be anywhere up there."
"Right," said Jake nodding. "Let's go, I'll go out first. Make sure the door is shut whoever is the last one out. It may mean we're trapped up there, but it also means that raptor isn't going anywhere."
"We'll be right behind you," said Gerry. Jake nodded, but as he turned to open the door, he thought he caught a brief glimpse of Jeffrey shaking his head slowly. Jake shook his head, scowled, and threw open the door. He aimed his gun in every single direction of the roof, but didn't spot the raptor anywhere. Jake silently treaded across the multi-angled roof as the other followed him. They leapt over from edge to edge searching for the raptor.
"It is resourceful, I'll give it that," said Jake angrily after a couple minutes of searching turned up fruitless.
"It looks like we have to split up," said Gerry reluctantly.
"Yeah," said Jake. "Otherwise we'll never get this whole roof covered. Alright, keep in visual contact."
Jake took off in one direction and the other three in other ones. They slowly crept along the roof as silently as possible while searching for the beast. Still they found nothing. Eventually they all just looked at each other bewildered.
"Is it still here?" Jake mouthed to Sam who was looking at his PDA. Sam nodded but just shrugged.
"Where?" Gerry mouthed. Sam tapped on the PDA before throwing his arms up in frustration. Jake groaned and squeezed the bridge of his nose in defeat when he heard a creaking noise nearby. He threw up his hands and the others grabbed their guns and aimed it in his general vicinity as Jake looked everywhere around him. The creaking noise seemed to be emanating from the edge of the roof so Jake made his way there. He looked up and down the edge before sighing and looking over the edge. To his shock, he found the raptor hanging there with its claws dug so deep in the side of the building that it had made handholds. Jake looked down in shock as the beast roared at him angrily. However, before Jake could bring his tranq gun to bear on the creature, it launched itself into the air and flew up over the edge of the roof. Spinning in a primitive form of a spinning heel kick, it smacked Jake on the chest and he went flying backwards as his gun fired harmlessly off into the air. The raptor loomed over him before it noticed the other men on the roof aiming at it. The thing snarled and tore off across the roof as the other men opened fire on it. However, to hit a creature that could reach sixty miles per hour at a moment's notice, it proved ultimately futile. The raptor smacked the gun away from Gerry before leaping and twisting in midair to tackle Jeff and knock the wind out of him as his gun flew out of his hands and off the roof to the ground below. It then spun to face Sam who was trying desperately to fire his gun, but for some reason it refused to fire. Grinning slyly, the raptor slowly walked towards the mortified worker. Sam looked around desperately for some place to run to, but he was backed up against the edge of the roof and the raptor was between him and the door to below. Sam closed his eyes and waited for the end to come as the beast drew closer and closer to him. Behind him, Jake groaned and got to his feet and stood their holding his ribs as they still hurt from the kick. Looking at the current situation, Jake looked for his gun, but found it too far away for him to get to and fire in time, assuming it worked at all. As he weighed his options, Jake's arm brushed against the butt of his rifle protruding from the inside of his jacket. Jake threw back his jacket and looked at the thing as the raptor drew closer and closer to Sam. The scientist then looked at his tranq gun and weighed his options. After a couple seconds, he had made his decision.
"Jake don't do it!" shouted Jeffrey in his mind. "You swore you wouldn't!"
"I've seen one friend die at a raptors hands, I refuse to see anyone else die by their hands," said Jake bitterly and through tears. Time seemed to slow down as Jake threw back part of his jacket to reveal the butt of the rifle. He slowly yanked it out and aimed it as the raptor went airborne flying straight at Sam. Sam yelled as Jake yanked back on the pump action handle.
"DON'T DO IT!" shouted the voice even louder in his head.
"I'm sorry old friend," thought Jake sadly. Jake fired and the bullet went flying out. The leaping raptor then disappeared in a mist of blood and guts flying everywhere. Jake stood there with his smoking rifle for several minutes as he stood there still caught up in the heat of the moment. Gerry and Jeff meanwhile ran over to Sam to make sure that he was alright.
"You look good in red," said Jeff not trying to throw up. Sam was in shock so any thoughts of heaving from all the bodily fluids around him hadn't entered into his mind yet. Jake approached them silently with his rifle dragging behind him. He stood there wondering what their reactions would be.
"Not a bad piece of work," said Gerry looking at the remains of the velociraptor. "Bout time someone fought back, I'm tired of their constant unopposed incursions. Score one for the home team!"
Jake didn't say anything he just stood there with his rifle and looked out at the jungle surrounding them. Jake shuddered as the jungle seemed almost like it was encroaching on them.
"Because in the end…its judgment that defeats us," thought Jake with understanding.
"So what do we do with that?" asked Jeff pointing to the raptor's carcass.
"We bury it," said Jake. "Better the other raptors don't know what happened to their comrade."
"Did you guys get it?" a voice crackled over their radios.
"Yeah we got it, Joseph," said Jake into his.
"Unfortunately, it fell off the roof to its death after we tranquilized it. We'll have to bury the remains," said Gerry into his radio.
"Good," said Joseph. "And good riddance to bad rubbish I say."
The radio went dead.
"We all feel it, why ignore it?" asked Gerry holding up his hands. "We hate them so why not vent our frustrations on them? They're the cause of all our problems anyway."
"Nedry was the cause of all of our problems," said Jake sighing as he sat on the roof and dangled his legs over the edge, it wasn't easy to admit it. "The dinosaurs merely took advantage of it. We are to blame for all this, no one or nothing else. We played God, is it any wonder the door would come back and hit us in the ass?"
"Do you regret what you've done on this island?" Jeff asked. Jake shook his head vigorously.
"No I don't regret what I've done. We did what no one else could do and we earned that right through blood, sweat, and tears. We made them, we patented them, we own them and nothing will change that," said Jake.
"So what do we do?" asked Gerry. "We have to do something or else we'll all go mad!"
"You guys can do whatever the hell you want," said Jake standing up. "I won't stop you and I won't hinder your efforts. We're all going to burn for this sooner or later, better dig ourselves into this hole than be put in it for no reason."
"Finally," said Gerry relieved. "And this isn't all bad. Hunting dinosaurs is something that hasn't been done…ever. And think about the dissection we can gain from live specimens, the possibilities are endless."
"Just don't destroy all the specimens," said Jake. "That's all I ask."
"Yeah we hear ya," said Gerry as he and Jeff hauled the carcass over their shoulders and off towards the building.
"You okay Sam?" Jake asked nudging him.
"I feel like shit," said Sam spitting out some blood. Jake grinned.
"Well look at it this way, you feel like it, you look like it, and you're covered by it. Three for three ain't bad," said Jake laughing. Sam nodded weakly before he ran over to the edge of the building and threw up.
"We'll be downstairs," said Jake leaving. As he walked down the steps, Jake seriously wondered if what he was doing was right. If he let the workers go nuts killing and possibly torturing the dinosaurs, was he acting humanely at all? He honestly didn't know, but he had to reluctantly admit that maybe it had to deal with the recall of Stevie Sandelder.
Four Days Ago: Jake was eating a celery stick as he read the latest survey of employee morale. Every time there was a recall of personnel, morale sunk 20 lower and was now hovering around an all time low of 15. Jake wanted to find a way to bring it up, but so far nothing had worked. Everyone seemed too restless to engage in any of the old company picnics or sporting events. They wanted to do something, but Jake couldn't figure out what. Although he had to admit that maybe it had to do with the dinosaurs, he'd seen their contemptuous glances at them and it had unsettled him. As he was still deciding what to do, the fax began printing again. Jake groaned and realized that this was probably it, morale would hit zero. The last page printed before the unit lost power and shut down and the lights began flickering again. Jake groaned as he grabbed the papers before power in the complex shutdown completely leaving only the emergency lights on.
"Just a little temporary problem with the power," said Jeff over the radio. The geothermal power unit had to be taken off-line for maintenance and with fewer and fewer personnel, it looked like repairs would take longer and longer. As a result they had to operate off of gas power and that was hardly an equal substitute for all the power requirements an island this size needed. It may have been good enough of Nublar, but it was not good enough here.
"All fences are still operating at 75 efficiency though," Sam chimed in to relieve everyone. Jake meanwhile flipped on his flashlight and began reading through the next list of names to be recalled. As he was scrolling through the names, he came upon a name that he hoped he'd never have to read: Stephanie Sandelder.
"Jeff, do we have enough power for the radio?" Jake asked.
"No," came the response. "But why bother, we haven't have had any contact with the outside world in a month, why would it start now?"
"Forget it," said Jake. "I'm going to the Hammond Research Lab."
"Why?" asked Jeff. "We'll have the power back on soon enough."
"I just need to pick something up in my office," said Jake.
"It's your call," said Jeff as the radio went dead. Jake groaned and got up out of his chair. He made his way down the blackened corridors with his flashlight as other people slowly began vacating the nearly empty building. They emerged into the blinding sunlight and Jake headed down to the garage. He headed in and stared at the V-8 Interceptor. The car seemed to be the perfect amalgamation of him, the V-8 Interceptor part the darker side to his personality that seemed to be emerging and almost overtaking his good side, the remains of the Falcon that had yet to be replaced. Jake sighed and got in the car and powered it up. The vehicle tore off down the road and headed towards the Hammond Lab. After a couple minutes driving and contemplating his current situation, the vehicle rumbled to a halt in front of the lab. Jake walked up the steps and into the lab.
"Hey Jake-o," said Stevie from behind her desk as she filed something away. "What's up?"
"Let's go for a walk," said Jake simply. Stevie looked at him perplexed before she shrugged and grabbed her sunglasses.
"Okay," she said simply. She grabbed a leash and she and Steviesaurus rounded the receptionist area and they trio of them emerged from the building and walked down the steps past the Interceptor.
"So you finally took her for a spin," said Stevie. "Hard to believe your dream became a reality."
"I've known you for too long," said Jake with a grin before he sighed deeply.
"What?" Stevie asked before she noticed something down below. "Steviesaurus, don't do that!"
The dinosaur looked at her confused as it peed all over the Interceptor's front left tire. Jake smirked.
"That's okay, it could use a wash," he said but again he sighed right after and gloominess set over him.
"What's wrong?" asked Stevie as they walked down the road. "You seem more upset than usual."
"I'm loosing it Stevie," said Jake abruptly. "I can't maintain my sanity any longer. This island is closing in around me, I can't keep being the person I once was."
"Yeah I know how it is," said Stevie shivering. "This place is creepy I'll give you that. I bet one day I'll be decked out in camouflage paint and fatigues hunting dinosaurs with only my trusty knife. Apocalypse Now won't have anything on me."
She laughed at that as Jake nodded humbly.
"I'm just worried when all is said and done, will I come out unscathed, or just a shell of my former self?" asked Jake. "I'm loosing my grip on reality Stevie, really I am. All it will take would be one snap decision and it could tip this whole island into darkness."
Silence descended on the trio and the only thing breaking it was Steviesaurus' constant munching on grass.
"I know what you need," said Stevie finally. "You need something physical to keep you rooted in reality, something that when you look at it, it will remind you of who you really are."
"Sounds reasonable," Jake admitted.
"Now what should it be?" Stevie wondered. "Aha, I've got it."
Stevie pulled out a locket that she almost always wore around her neck. She popped it open to reveal a photo of her, Jake, and Steviesaurus that had been taken the day she'd received the dino as thanks for her hard work on the island.
"Just remember this day, and you will never succumb to whatever demons haunt this island," she said as she put it around Jake's neck.
"Thanks Stephanie," said Jake with a mild grin.
"Haven't called me that in awhile," said Stevie. "And only when you're bearing bad news. I've been recalled haven't I?"
"Yeah," said Jake. "Figured it'd be best if I broke it to you in person than having you hear it over a radio broadcast."
"Truth be told, I am kind of glad to be getting out of here," said Stevie. "But I will miss you two more than anything else."
She bent down and hugged her little dinosaur who rumbled happily.
"You two watch out for each other okay?" she said. "I expect to see you two again sometime."
"But who knows when that'll be?" said Jake. Stevie stood back up.
"It will happen, and then we'll all be together again," she said confidently. Jake smiled.
"Always the optimist," he said. Stevie shrugged.
"Well someone has to be in this family," she said. Jake kissed her on the forehead and together the three advanced down the street. The next day, she was gone and Jake was left to his own dark self that seemed to know no bounds, the room he was in now following the incident with the raptor. Steviesaurus sat on the ground in a hump, no longer showing the energy it once had when Stevie was around, and the locket was hung around its neck. Jake had taken the thing off after he had shot the velociraptor deeming himself no longer worthy of wearing it. As he continued to sit there thinking about the future downfall of this island, a knock was heard on his door. The door creaked open and Gerry poked his head in.
"We're going hunting, do you want to come?" he asked. Jake looked at the protoceratops who looked back at him with haunting eyes, the same eyes he'd seen on Jeffrey's face before he went onto that roof.
"The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he didn't exist," flashed through Jake's mind.
"Yeah I'm coming," said Jake as he grabbed his rifle and together the two left the darkened room.