Anguirus111 Note: This chapter is just one big flashback.
Isla Nublar, January 10, 1989: A twenty-three year old Jake crouched down on the beach of Nublar looking down at the dinosaur tracks with narrowed eyes as he contemplated the implications of what had happened. Sighing he stood up and took off his sunglasses and hung them in the upper pocket of his flannel shirt.
"Well they're definitely gone, I can tell you that," he said shaking his head humbly. "They climbed up and over the fence to leave no easy marks for us to find. Would've gotten away with it too if not for them misjudging the tides. Wonder if Pete is that smart?"
"That's not funny," said John Hammond standing next to him all decked out in white. All around them were scientists and personnel searching the beaches for any more tracks.
"Well what do you want me to tell you?" Jake asked shrugging. "That they left and came back? That's not going to happen. Face it Jimbo, they're long gone by now."
"Where do you think they went?" asked Hammond. "Back to Sorna?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Jake. "But with that newspaper report from Costa Rica…"
"There's no definitive proof that what happened is related to what we're doing," said Hammond fiercely. "That tape recording from that research team should confirm it for sure or not. It'll be here soon, then we'll have our answer."
"John," said Jake walking past him to leave before stopping by him briefly. "This is only indicative of a much larger problem. Putting vicious dinosaurs on the coast is a bad idea, and at the moment there are no places for personnel on this island to go if the dinos break loose. I've told you this before and I believe it now holds more relevance than ever. The lysine project and concrete bunkers have to be implemented sooner rather than later. But it's your call and I'm just the messenger."
Hammond remained silent as Jake prepared to leave when Ray ran up to them out of breath.
"We just got the recording in," he said. Jake and Hammond looked at him solemnly.
"Play it," said Hammond after a couple moments of silence. Ray pressed the button on the recorder. A roar emanated from the recorder followed by shouts of confusion and fear before Ray shut it off.
"Think about it John," said Jake leaving. "You need to reach a decision before it's too late."
He then put on his sunglasses and walked off to the waiting gas powered Jeep and took off down the road. Hammond looked at the tracks, the tide, the fences, and the ocean with the slowly rising sun. He picked up a stick and growled before launching it at the fence where it crackled and flung sparks as the stick went up in flames.
"Let's go," he said to Ray who had dove to the ground after the stick exploded. Ray got up and brushed himself off as he followed Hammond to the tour vehicle and it took off down the road.
Visitors Center: Jake and Muldoon sat in the Control Room looking disgusted at Nedry who was shoveling in all the candy in sight that was on his desk.
"You're going to kill yourself eating those things," Jake shouted to him. Nedry looked at him annoyed as he continued eating.
"Maybe we should feed him to the dilophosaurs," said Muldoon with a grin.
"Probably save on food costs," said Jake shrugging.
"Laugh it up," said Nedry. "Maybe I'll implant a sleeper virus in the system so when you log on it'll shut down all of the fences."
"Nedry," said Jake swiveling to look at him. "I really don't think we need your help to make this island fall apart. Case in point."
Jake pointed upwards as the lights began flickering on and off. Muldoon groaned and grabbed his rifle as headed for the raptor pit. Jake sighed and leaned back farther in his chair as the lights went out and then charged back on full force.
"Well I'm headed back for Sorna," said Jake to no one in particular. "There at least things work there."
"No you're not," said Hammond walking in with Ray. "You're going to Costa Rica."
"What for?" asked Jake.
"To reacquire our missing assets," said Hammond.
"I'm a scientist not a game hunter," said Jake. "I couldn't track a creature if my life depended on it."
"Well it does now so get prepped," said Hammond. "You made it, you deal with it."
"Am I the only one going?" Jake asked.
"No," said Hammond. "Jeff, Sam, Henry, and Gerry will accompany you."
"Why not Robert?" protested Jake. "He's the game warden expert!"
"He stays here in the event that the power fails again," said Hammond. "Now go, a chopper's waiting."
Jake groaned and got ready to leave.
"Don't worry Jake, I'll pay you extra," said Hammond. Jake paused by the door.
"I don't care about money, just implement the lysine project and build bunkers in this place," he said leaving.
"I will," Hammond promised. "The others will meet you in San Jose, but Henry is flying in from San Diego and will catch up with you later."
"Then maybe we will survive this," said Jake leaving. He walked down the hallways nonplussed with his hands in his jacket pockets when suddenly a voice interrupted him.
"Hey Jake," said Jeffrey. Jake grinned.
"I was wondering when you'd get here," said Jake.
"Yeah and not a moment too soon," said Jeffrey. "Thanks again for the job, I can't stress how grateful I am."
"What're friends for," said Jake as he pushed open the double doors and emerged into the daylight sun, walking down to the jeep parked below.
"True dat, true dat," said Jeffrey nodding. "I don't know how I'll be able to repay you."
"Just be careful," said Jake. "Don't take anything lightly on this island. It may look like a wonderful place to be, and it is, especially by being surrounded by creatures that haven't been on this earth in a long time, but don't forget how deadly they are. Just watch your back and you should be fine. I'll see you around bud," said Jake getting into the jeep. He hit the accelerator the jeep tore off on the road leaving Jeffrey behind in the dust.
"You watch yourself as well old friend," said Jeffrey before leaving to move in his stuff.
Costa Rica: The helicopter touched down in San Jose and Jake got out with a backpack and a taser rifle along with a tranq gun. Across the parking lot was Sam, Jeff, and Gerry who were clustered around a Land Rover.
"Hey Jake," they all said with a lack of enthusiasm.
"This is so stupid," said Jake throwing his stuff in the back before all got in the vehicle with Gerry driving.
"Yeah," said Gerry. "We're hardly experienced for something like this."
"So why is he putting us up to this?" asked Sam confused in the backseat.
"Because Hammond wants to maintain excellent public relations with the outside world regarding the dinosaurs," said Jake both condescendingly and disgusted. "If he sent armed soldiers to this research camp, they'd suspect something was amiss and investigate and find out the truth. It's a PR nightmare, oh no! Ugh."
"You're saying Hammond is going to sacrifice us just so he can maintain a perfect public image?" asked Sam incredulously.
"Oh yeah I forgot you were new," said Gerry. "That's generally how conglomerates work: kill the worker before you humiliate the company."
Awkward silence descended on the group as the car drove on in silence.
Research Camp: The Rover roared to a halt outside the camp and the four scientists got out of the vehicle as the lead scientist of the camp approached them.
"Game faces people," said Jake with a big false grin. The other three groaned before smiling as well.
"Hi I'm Albert Nietsnie, call my Alby," said the lead scientist.
"I'm Jake Whitacre, this is Gerry Harding, Jeff Spengler, and Sam Stone," said Jake introducing the other members of the party.
"Welcome to our camp," said Alby. "If you don't mind my asking, what is Ingen's interest in our little project? I mean, I love the fact that Ingen is financing our research, but over one roar? That seems rather abrupt."
"John Hammond is funding your research so you won't be asking those questions," said Jake dropping the charade immediately. "We'll conduct our business and you do yours. We won't interfere with you and you shouldn't interfere with us. Believe me when I say it's for your own good."
"Alright just asking," said Alby holding up his hands in defeat.
"It's okay," said Jake with a grin. "You probably don't want to know the truth anyway."
"Can you give me a hint?" asked Alby as the group advanced towards the tents with their gear.
"Sure," said Jake nodding. "Using advanced technology and ancient DNA, we created a dinosaur that escaped from its pen and is now running loose through the jungle."
Silence descended at that statement. And then everyone burst into laughter.
"Ah, ha, ha, ha, that's a good one!" said Alby wiping a tear from his eyes.
"Yeah," said Jake chuckling nervously. "Gotta admit it was kind of hard coming up with a crazy enough retort."
"Well you succeeded," said Alby still laughing. "Well good luck catching this 'dinosaur'. We'll be eating dinner soon so if you want to join us, you're perfectly welcome to"
With that he walked off and the laughter amongst the four others abruptly died down.
"If you only knew," said Jake shaking his head as the scientist left.
"Why'd you tell him the truth?" asked Jeff confused as the group continued heading for the tents specifically set up for them.
"Because I knew he wouldn't believe it," said Jake simply. "Hell no one would really. Now he doesn't believe it and he's off our back."
"True dat, true dat," said Sam nodding. They walked over to their individual tents and chucked their gear inside.
"So how're we supposed to track this thing?" asked Jeff. "It's in its natural element after all and I've only really hunted deer before this."
Jake reached into his bag and pulled out a portable motion sensor.
"This will detect the tracking device implanted in the creature and ping when it is within fifty feet," Jake explained. "The faster it pings the closer the creature is."
"How do we it's even around?" asked Gerry. "It could easily be long gone by now provided there's only one."
"There is," said Jake. "I got a good look at the autopsy photos of the couple and there was just too much of them left to account for more than one creature. And they were killed only a couple miles from here down on the beach so believe me when I say that this is the dinosaur's new hunting ground."
"Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll somehow tear the tracking device loose," Sam speculated.
"Yeah seeing the thing go into catatonic shock would make thing easier but I don't see it happening anytime soon," said Jake as he walked with the others to the dining gathering. But as they were leaving, the device pinged.
"Oh shit," said Jake looking at the thing, but just as abruptly as that the pinging died.
"Well I guess that answers that question," said Jeff trying to bring some humor to the situation, it didn't work.
"All the same I think I'll bring my rifle to the table," said Gerry.
"Yeah me too," said Sam. The others ran back to their tents and grabbed their weapons before heading for the gathering of scientists.
"Guys, this is Jake, Jeff, Sam, and Gerry," said Alby to the other fifteen scientists. They all mumbled hello before they went back to eating.
"Wait, are you Jake Whitacre?" one of the female scientists asked across from him.
"Yeah, what of it?" asked Jake. The scientist shrugged.
"Heard about what you did with that dodo, not too shabby," she said.
"Yeah well I just wish it had survived longer," said Jake grabbing some noodles. "It died moments after birth, but for a moment a dodo did walk on the Earth again."
"So are you here to watch over us now that Ingen is footing the bill?" the scientist asked again.
"No," said Jake. "We're just here on a quick specimen run that's all."
"You sure came out of your way to come all the way down here from San Diego," said the scientist.
"When you're a scientist, you kind of loose any semblance of a life," Jake responded.
"Isn't that true," said the scientist. "I have a younger sister I haven't seen in ages since I got this job."
"It's just an occupational hazard I guess," said Jake nodding.
"I'm Sarah Steferson," said the scientist holding out her hand.
"Jake Whitacre," said Jake shaking her hand. "But I guess you already knew that."
"Yeah I guess I did," she said with a smirk.
"So what're you doing here?" Jake asked. Sarah shrugged.
"Research on the various flora and fauna, we're trying to discover any new drugs that might help back home," she said drinking some water.
"I have a friend who does that," said Jake. "He's quickly working his way up the corporate ladder at Pacific Pharmaceuticals."
"Really, that's where I want to work after this research is done!" said Sarah excitedly. "Who is it?"
"His name's John Brown," said Jake simply. But before Sarah could respond with more questions, wind blew everywhere as a helicopter roared overhead and landed nearby.
"Now what?" demanded Alby as the wind continued blowing fiercer than ever as an individual got out along with some gear before the chopper with Ingen blazed on the side tore off into the nighttime sky. Jake laughed as the silhouetted person tried to carry his gear but couldn't and dropped it everywhere.
"This isn't funny Jake, come help me," said Henry Wu easily identifying the laugh despite the relative darkness. Jake groaned and got up and walked over to him along with the rest of his team and Alby.
"Who is this?" Alby asked confused.
"Albert Nietsnie meet Henry Wu, chief scientist of Ingen," said Gerry.
"Dr. Wu," said Alby nodding. Henry nodded back.
"Sorry about the entrance, but I couldn't arrive in time to meet up with the rest back at the airport so the copter brought me right here after I landed back in San Jose," said Henry.
"It's alright," said Alby. "We're used to having unexpected visitors drop in from our main HQ, this is no different. Welcome to our camp and we've set up a tent for you near your friends. Well, dinner is just about over so we may as well turn in for the night. See you in the morning."
"Yeah," said Jake watching him leave. "Actually no you won't."
"Yeah," said Gerry grabbing some of Henry's gear. "Can't afford to have them find out the quarry we're after."
"Crap Henry what the hell do you bring?" asked Sam as he hefted another heavily filled bag.
"Oh the essentials," said Henry. "Chemistry sets, test tubes, manuals, and every single document we have on the deinonychosaur, both our information and other scientific journals."
"We have the tracker," Jeff complained. "Isn't that good enough?"
"If you want to walk around for months looking for that thing then fine," said Henry. "But I'd rather know where it is and go to it rather than have it come to us."
"Makes sense," said Sam. "Hanging around here is not my idea of a vacation."
"Right," said Gerry. "So get some sleep, we'll all need it in the morning."
Morning: As the scientists woke up, they soon came to the realization that the Ingen personnel had already taken off. Although mystified by their quick departure, their work and Hammond's money drew them off from investigating further. Farther away the team was cutting their way through the rainforest trying to locate their quarry.
"You know, I'm just going to say it. Only an idiot would actually hunt a deinonychosaur," said Jeff.
"We're idiots, so what's your point?" Gerry asked pushing back another fern.
"That was it I guess," said Jeff shrugging.
"Henry, how're things going on your end?" Gerry asked.
"So far so good," said Henry yawning before slightly grinning. "I can definitely tell you that the deinonychosaur is not in this area."
The others groaned.
"Thanks Henry, thanks," said Gerry shaking his head.
"Just doing my job," he said with a laugh. Suddenly the tracker went off.
"Quick, hide!" shouted Jake as everyone swung up their weapons to the ready. The group huddled behind two nearby trees as the scanner continued beeping.
"It is very close," said Jake as the tracker was beeping very quickly.
"Yeah but from where?" asked Gerry.
"Let's just start shooting!" said Jeff.
"No!" shouted Jake. "We don't have enough ammo to pull it off. And these darts don't come cheap either!"
Silence descended on the group as Henry began waving a strange metal bar through the air.
"And what the hell are you doing?" Jake asked. Henry shrugged.
"Just testing the atmosphere and see if I can't get a scent of the thing," said Henry.
"And if you can't?" asked Gerry.
"Then it's downwind from us and we'd be dead before any possible conclusion I could ever reach," said Henry. The others remained silent as Henry continued with his work. A couple moments later and his equipment beeped.
"Got it!" he said triumphantly. "He's at one o'clock!"
"Let's roll!" said Jake. The group made a beeline through the forest as they advanced closer and closer to the dinosaur as the tracker continued beeping before Jake shut it off.
"Can't be much farther," he said simply.
"Why hasn't it moved?" Jeff asked.
"Probably dead," Sam surmised hopefully.
"Do you smell something burning?" Jake asked. The other sniffed and air and nodded before quickening their pace. Soon they could hear the roar of flames and see smoke high in the sky before finding themselves confronted with a burning Mestizo village.
"Oh my God! What the hell happened?" said Henry beginning to feel sick. Dead bodies lay all over the village, every one of them ripped savagely apart. Men, women, children, dogs, all were brutally slashed and eaten.
"There's only one thing that could account for this much devastation," said Jake simply. "And for once, it ain't humans."
Suddenly, an inhuman roar pierced the air and a door to one of the huts burst outward amongst the flames and through the gutted door appeared the deinonychosaur with a blood drenched mouth that was dripping everywhere.
"What do we do?" Jeff asked unsure. Jake angrily snapped the safety off of his gun.
"Our job," he said simply. The deinonychosaur growled and charged straight at them as the team opened fire. Dart slammed into the beast and it dropped like a rock before skidding to a halt in front of them.
"So that's it?" asked Jeff angrily. "All of this destruction and all we can do is to stand by and let if live?"
"It's our job," said Jake grimly. "And it's all we can do. Someone call in Hammond, and let's check for any remaining survivors."
The team moved out into the remains of the village as Henry took out his satellite phone and dialed Ingen's local office in San Jose.
"I found a live one!" shouted Jeff after a couple minutes of searching. The others ran over and found a mestizo drenched in blood with a massive cut across his chest with which blood was flowing freely.
"He's in shock," said Jake trying to remember his human physiology.
"No shit," said Gerry annoyed as he tried to prop up the mestizo's head.
"El Diablo, El Diablo, El Diablo," he kept saying. "No es possible! Es el Diablo!"
"He's not going to make it," said Sam feeling his pulse. "He's too far gone."
"What's he saying?" Henry asked meeting up with them.
"The Devil, how is this possible, the devil is not supposed to exist, and yet I saw him with my own two eyes. Mother of God," said Jeff translating. Jake's gaze snapped upwards as he looked at the drugged dinosaur nearby. He opened his mouth to say something but remained silent. Instead he pulled out a dart gun and loaded one of the darts from his rifle into it.
"What're you doing?" asked Sam.
"Giving him some relief from the pain," said Jake simply.
"That'll kill him, it's designed for dinosaurs not people!" said Jeff.
"Relief is still relief," said Jake. "If it were me in his position, I'd want the same thing."
"I can't say I agree with this," said Sam.
"What choice do we have? If he starts blabbing about the dinosaurs two things could happen, people would find out about the DRP and sue or arrest us, or he blabs about it and is labeled a nutcase when he's actually telling the truth," said Jake.
"I guess you're right," said Sam. "But it doesn't mean I'm going to feel any better about it."
"No one does, but it has to be done," said Jake. He pointed the gun at the mestizo's arm before looking at him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry. This never should have happened," said Jake. He fired.
Present Day: "Sufficed to say, no one else survived the village onslaught," said Jake leaning back against a desk as the powerpoint concluded with photos of the devastated village and a final image of a newspaper reading: SCIENTISTS DISCOVER VILLAGE SLAUGHTERED, GROUP OF JAGUARS BELIEVED RESPONSIBLE.
"The officials never found out the truth and we got away, relatively scotch free," said Jake. "There were a couple members of the tribe off attending school elsewhere and Hammond set them up for life under the pretense of us finding it and feeling terrible about it. Admittedly we were however…"
"I get the idea," said Karrie completely in shock about it all. "I had no idea about any of this."
"Yeah," said Gerry. "Well I hope you now realize why we cannot just leave Sorna, and why the lysine contingency is so important. We cannot afford to let any dinosaurs not have it otherwise what happened at that village ever occur again."
"Yes, because if one dinosaur can wipe out twenty two people in less than a week, imagine an army of them," said Sam rubbing his hands nervously.
"Exactly," said Jake shutting off the projector with the remote. "Which is why I need specimens and I need them now. I'm not willing to wait around until it's too late to do anything about it. I don't want to see a repeat of A-1."
"A-1?" asked Karrie.
"The designation we gave the first dinosaur ever to escape to the mainland. It was the first and with any luck the last," said Gerry.
"Yeah so saddle up, we're going home," said Jake.
"What about them?" asked Jeff pointing to all of the remains left behind, including Burke's.
"Strangely enough, we do have body bags down in storage, zip up Burke in one of them, but leave the rest here to rot because I don't plan on returning here anytime soon," said Jake leaving. The others nodded as Jake grabbed Steviesaurus off of the counter and headed for the bathrooms. He knocked on the women's door.
"Rebecca we're leaving," said Jake.
"Coming," came the muffled reply. The door opened a moment later revealing Rebecca who looked terrible with her clothes a mess and her hair looking like it had blown outwards.
"Looking good kid," said Jake trying to put a positive spin on it.
"Shut up," said Rebecca stumbling off. Jake held up his free arm in defeat before Steviesaurus craned her head down and vomited all over his shoes.
"Thanks," said Jake to the thing. "Thanks a lot. Ugh."
Jake shifted her wait and then proceeded down the hallway with his shoes squishing along the way. Then a half hour later, they were headed back to Sorna.
"Hope Stracken's kept the island in one piece," said Gerry with a grin. The others shrugged, but a few hours later as they approached the island, smoke rose high into the sky.
"Oh shit," said Gerry. As the boat finally got closer, they could all see that Isla Sorna was on fire.