Chapter 7 Incubation

Previously...

"Barry?! What's going on?!" he responded.

"The fireworks drew more than the zombies! I've got dinosaurs in the field now too! They're drawing the dead to them!" Barry quickly yelled.

"Barry?!" Owen didn't know if he wanted to know where this was going.

"Some of the dinosaurs are TURNING!"

"FUCK!" Owen screamed. "What do you mean dinosaurs are turning?!" He was running every possibility through his head of how bad this could be.

"WHAT?!" Claire loudly whispered. She quickly ducked down, afraid she might have reacted too loudly. She made sure to check all around her before speaking quietly. "They're turning?!" This was getting worse by the minute and she hadn't even made it to the hotel yet.

"We've got a few of the apatosaurus and some gallimimus who were taken down now getting up and rampaging the field! Most of the rest took off back into the valley with dead on their heels!" Barry replied to Owen quickly.

"Goddammit!" Owen cursed. Now they had to deal with dead stampeding dinosaurs. "We can't let them reach the main park!"

Simon was standing in front of the screens, listening to the frantic conversation happening. "Lowery, bring the East Gate and all surrounding areas up on the screen! Vivian, get Hamada up here now!"

Lowery quickly brought up all visuals surrounding the northeastern area of the park while Vivian immediately started making the call.

"Oh my god..." Simon said as everyone looked on in terror. There on the big screen were thousands of zombified guests and staff swarming the area around the East Gate. They were tearing apart any dinosaurs they could take down. There were at least a dozen within view of the cameras that were completely decimated.

Then, like something out of a nightmare, they all watched as another dead apatosaurus slowly lifted it's sickly, half-eaten head. Then it stumbled it's way back onto it's feet and immediately started stampeding through the horde, swinging it's head wildly before turning and running back into the valley.

"Holy shit!" Lowery exclaimed, not believing what he was seeing. "That is not good!"

Simon grabbed the nearest radio, "Barry. Owen. It's Simon. I need you and all ACU to pull back. Go find shelter immediately! Don't try anything! There's nothing we can do right now!" He needed everyone in safe locations so he could plan the next moves.

"Simon, we need to keep them away!" Owen yelled, ready to turn his vehicle around and head back to the horde. "They'll decimate all the shelters if they make it there!"

"What is happening?!" Claire desperately whispered. She could only hear Owen and Lowery, so she didn't have a clear picture about what was going on. She was trying to pay attention to too many things at once.

"Claire, watch yourself! We'll worry about this shit! Get to safety!" Owen replied. If she could have protested, she would have, but she knew he was right. She needed to pay attention to her surroundings.

"Owen, there is nothing you can do! Get back here with your team! I need everyone secure to plan the next move! That's an order!" Simon said firmly.

Owen hesitated before answering, "Yes sir." he answered begrudgingly. They were still picking off dead from the vehicles as they approached.

"Sir, you needed to see me?" Hamada asked as he entered the control room.

"Hamada. I need an update."

"After the first onslaught, we're down about thirty members. All remaining, with a few exceptions are sheltered or here." he reported.

Simon nodded, solemnly. "How's our air team?" he asked.

"Intact and standing by." Hamada responded.

"Good. I need you to get a team armed and airborne. We need to know what's going on and we need to take down any assets that have turned." he ordered.

Hamada simply nodded, "Understood." With that, he immediately left to gather his team.

"Owen, ACU is going airborne, get your team to the park." he said into the radio, leaving no room for discussion.

Claire stayed far back in the bush to keep cover as she darted closer to the resort. She had strapped the rifle to her back and taken out the machete. Firing any shots was not going to be in her best interest, as there were still dead crawling all over the place. She was focused ahead, keeping her eyes peeled for any that had made it off the road.

She saw the ACU headquarters up ahead. She decided it would be better to try to get another vehicle. The access door was right in front of her, but she would have to cross the road. She quietly waited for a clear opening when she could make a run for the door. She had her access key and machete out and ready as she watched another group of dead make their way down the road, wandering aimlessly.

"Lowery, if you can hear me, I'm across from the back door of the security building. I need you to give me an all clear to run for it." she whispered as quietly as she could.

"Claire, please be careful!" Owen pleaded.

"Claire, you have an opening coming after this group passes." Lowery replied.

Unfortunately, at that moment, her phone that was in her pants started to ring loudly. The dead that were on the road immediately turned their attention to her.

"OH SHIT!" she yelled as dozens picked up speed and ran right for the jungle area where she was hiding. She took off deeper into the bush, hoping it would slow the coming onslaught of dead chasing her.

"GRAWWWRRR!"

"CLAIRE!" Owen screamed. He heard her phone go off, which meant her location was compromised. He slammed his foot on the gas trying to get to her fast. "Baby, I'm coming!" he said as the panic was rising in his chest. "Everybody hang on!" he yelled as he shifted gears and picked up speed rapidly. The other vehicles followed suit when they saw Owen take off.

I can't lose her. I can't lose her. I can't lose her, he kept repeating in his head.

"We need ACU on the ground behind the security building, NOW!" Lowery yelled into his earpiece.

Claire ran as fast as she could, trying to watch her step without losing speed. She dared to look behind her, realizing she had at least thirty dead chasing her. The jungle overgrowth was slowing them down enough to keep her ahead, but they were gaining. "Oh god!" she yelled, looking ahead again.

The momentary fear kept her from watching her step and she caught her foot on a low vine and tripped to the ground, yelping out in pain. "Fuck!" She shook it off as best she could and tried to get back up to speed. She had twisted her ankle and was now running in pain. "Godammit!" she screamed, exhausted at this point and now injured.

"Claire!" Lowery yelled, standing up quickly at his console. He could see on the video feed that she had stumbled to the ground.

"Claire! Hang on!" Owen cried out. He had tears falling as he tried to get to her and it didn't feel fast enough. Sam looked over at him, knowing something was really wrong.

"Owen?" Gray shakily asked. He knew his aunt was in danger. Owen looked absolutely terrified.

"It's okay, Gray," Sam replied. He knew Owen was in no state to reassure the boy right now. "Remember what your uncle here said," he continued. Owen looked over briefly at the word uncle. It sounded so natural to him and Sam smirked at his reaction. Turning back to Gray, "Your aunt is the strongest, the smartest and the bravest. She will be fine." He said the last part looking at Owen. He nodded in response, knowing deep down that Sam was right. It didn't lessen the terror flowing through him much, but it gave him hope.

They were finally on the main drag of the park. Owen blew through the roaming dead when necessary as blood spattered on the side of the Jeep. "Gray, put your head down and cover your eyes!" The boy did as he was told. Danny, who was in the back with him, helped by covering his head in a hug to muffle the sound. They were coming up fast near the security building, so he knew he wasn't far behind her.

"Owen! We'll clear the streets with the guys! You get to Claire! There's a rescue team coming up behind her now!" Adam shouted. He and Katerina had joined the convoy after leading the first mass away from Claire after she dove out of the car.

Lowery watched as her vitals were all over the place. He knew her stress levels were high. "Claire, you've got ACU and Owen coming up on you fast here! Hang on!" he reassured her as he heard her breathing labored.

She could finally see the resort buildings as she started to hear gunfire and ATVs coming from behind her. ACU had caught up to the chase and was drawing the horde away from her. Most had turned and taken off after the new sound, but she still had a handful on her heels. She was losing traction due to the pain radiating from her ankle. She had almost reached the road along the hotel when she landed on her ankle wrong and tumbled again, landing on her shoulder. She crawled back up and knew she was going to have to turn and take on the attack head on. They were too close now. She flipped the rifle around her shoulder to try and get off a few shots first before dropping it and picking up her machete that had fallen out of her hand, readying herself to fight back face to face.

Owen had almost reached the resort area when he heard gunfire coming from the jungle off the road. He slammed on the brakes, knowing it was Claire or ACU, and threw it into park. "Danny! Stay here with Gray! Be ready to go! Sam, you're with me! Adam, clear the roads!"

Sam just nodded and grabbed his rifle, throwing the door open and beating off the dead that had approached the car. He saw the other vehicles screech to a stop and all his friends race to take out the scattered dead in the area as well.

"Gray, stay down! We'll be right back!" Owen said as he followed Sam out of the car. Danny climbed through the center to hop into the drivers seat, standing by.

Claire was fighting off about five of them, the machete giving her the distance to swing wide and knock them off. With one lucky shot, she managed to behead one before two more were approaching fast. She fell back as they were almost on her when shots were fired over her head, both zombies falling in front of her. More shots were fired as the other two ravaging dead were taken down. She collapsed on her back as she heard footsteps fast approaching.

"Claire!" Owen shouted as he ran right for her after taking out the attackers.

"Owen!" she cried out. He practically threw himself on the ground next to her, picking her up in his arms bridle style and turning to run back to the car. Sam followed with his rifle raised, ready to take out anymore that might come up on them.

"Lowery! I've got her! Call off ACU! Get them out of harms way! Adam! Katerina! Get everybody back in the cars and get going!" Owen shouted as he bolted as fast as he could. Sam was firing off shots as soon as he realized they had attracted some attention.

Danny was ready as soon as they had reached the Jeep. Owen ripped open the back door and diving in with Claire in his arms, practically landing on Gray. Sam slammed the door shut behind them as he ran to the passenger side, beating off the dead that had caught up with the end of his rifle.

"GO!" Sam shouted as soon as he was secure with the door shut, having to push out arms and hands to finally get it closed. Danny immediately threw it into gear and took off with some of the dead still holding on and running behind. The other vehicles were just out ahead.

"Turn down the next right! Lowery! If it's clear, get the security garage door open in Building 3!" Claire shouted from the back. She knew this area like the back of her hand and she could get them there. She pulled Gray into her lap, careful not to aggravate her injury, covering his head to protect him from the sights outside the vehicle. Owen pulled her closer to him, wanting to reassure himself that he had her safe.

Danny swung the car right as they were able to shake off some off the attackers behind them.

"Go left then right! You'll see the garage on the right! Lowery! Be ready to start closing it!" Claire shouted. It was going to be close. Danny followed the directions and saw the open garage ahead. The other vehicles ahead were racing through. He picked up speed as they got closer. "Adam, whatever you do, don't stop! Coming in fast!" she shouted into her earpiece.

"Lowery! Start closing it now!" she ordered. They watched as the door began to lower. Danny shifted gears to gain more speed. As they got to the entrance, they could hear the door scrape the roof of the Jeep as they barely made it through the opening before he was slamming on the brakes and spinning the wheel. A few of the dead had made it through with them and the other guys were already clearing them out.

"Stay here!" Sam said as he opened the door and began firing. Danny jumped out to help clear the area as Owen waited with Claire and Gray. He wanted to get out and help his friends, but he was needed here protecting his family.

It didn't take long as there weren't many that had managed to get through the door. Sam opened the back door once they were clear. "We're good guys." he panted, out of breath, "Let's go find everyone."

"Can you give us a minute?" Owen asked. He needed to just stop and breathe himself for a moment now that they were all safe.

"Yeah. Gray, why don't you come with me and Danny. Get out and stretch your legs here." Sam offered.

Gray hesitantly looked at Owen and Claire, when Claire nodded. "I'm okay. We're okay. We're gonna go find your mom and brother in a minute." He took that as enough and climbed out of his seat and followed Sam, closing the door behind him.

As soon as it was shut, Owen was burying his face in her hair and squeezing her tighter. "I love you. I love you so much." he said, almost crying in relief.

Claire turned so she could see him, "I'm okay." She lifted his hand up to her face, "See. I'm here." He gently caressed her face before leaning over and drawing her lips to his. As soon as he made contact, he pulled her tighter to him as he deepened the kiss, pouring everything he had been feeling into it.

He pulled back, running his hands gently around her face and hair, checking her for any more injuries, but also just wanting to look at her. He would never again take for granted just being able to look at her. "That was too close. Don't do that again." he said, seriously.

"I can't promise anything, you know me, but I will do my best." she smirked at him. He couldn't help but chuckle at that. She was his girl, through and through. "Come on, cowboy. Let's go find the rest of our family."

Our family, he thought. She didn't even hesitate. It was a simple statement that meant everything to him. They were surrounded by the most terrifying and horrifying circumstances, but through all of it, he had found his place in a family. And he was going to protect it at all costs.

"Let's go." he said, getting out first. He turned and lifted her out of the seat, carrying her over to where Sam and Danny were standing with Gray and the others.

"You can put me down, you know. I can put a little weight on it." she said, grumbling.

"Not happening." he replied, shutting down further argument.

"Careful, Owen. She might dive out of your arms into parts unknown, scaring the shit out of you." Katerina admonished her. She lost sight of her almost immediately behind the horde chasing them and it wasn't until she heard her voice in her ear that she knew Claire was okay.

"I won't say it was my brightest idea, but I also won't say I wouldn't do it again." she smirked.

"So we learned nothing." Katerina chuckled.

"Pretty much." Claire grinned.

Owen just rolled his eyes. "Guys, let's move."

Sam moved to walk in front of Owen, who was carrying Claire. Gray walked closely at Owen's side while Danny and the rest followed at the back. They made their way to the security entrance to the lobby. Sam went through first, using Claire's access card, making sure it was safe. He came back, tilting his head to the door, letting them know it was all clear.

When they reached inside the lobby, Owen finally put Claire down on her feet, but keeping a hand on her hip. Despite Claire wanting to race up to get her sister and nephew, they needed to plan their next moves.

"Alright, we need to split up and find all our guys in the hotel. They should be all in this building. We are going to need them. We meet back down here when we've located everyone we can. If you've got weapons of any kind, grab them." he ordered. The group wasted no time in splitting up and starting their search. Owen, Sam and Danny stayed with Claire and Gray.

The hotel manager saw the group and quickly approached Claire. "Ms. Dearing?"

"Hi Maggie, how are you guys holding up?" she asked. She desperately wanted to go check on her sister, but she also needed to do her job helping to maintain some order. None of them were going anywhere right now and they needed to work together.

"People are getting anxious." she paused as the she formed the next thought, "There aren't many left. Can we at least let them out of their rooms?" The hotel manager was nervous as the calls from the rooms were becoming more frequent and more frantic.

Claire considered the possibilities if they allowed the guests out. The lock down was a protocol put in place to help minimize loss of life if one of the animals got out. The control room managed the doors so that they could contain any situation based on where the danger was. They never anticipated this much loss and this long of a containment. She thought of her conversation earlier with a panicked Karen who said she was hearing banging and yelling.

"Lowery? Thoughts on opening the rooms? We could really be here a while." she said into her earpiece.

"What if some have turned?" Lowery asked. He knew some people had made it into the hotel during the chaos. Everyone was immediately ushered to rooms and secured. There may have been some infected before they went in.

"We'll have ACU go door to door releasing them. If they don't answer, we don't open." she responded. Food and cabin fever mixed with fear were going to become a serious problem if they didn't find some way to let people move around.

"I can run it by Simon, but we're down a bunch of ACU members and they're getting tired, Claire." he warned.

"Lowery, how about we keep some of my guys here to help do the door to door and monitor the hotel?" Owen offered.

There was a few moments of silence before Lowery came back on, "Simon said if we can arm the Navy guys, let's do it."

"Maggie, let people know we'll be opening the doors soon. I want to gather the team and plan first before it's a free for all." Claire relayed.

"You got it." she replied.

Finally, they made their way to the elevators to head to Karen's room. They reached her door and Sam knocked once before Owen used Claire's access card to enter the room.

"Oh my god!" Karen shrieked as she saw them all enter. She ran right up to Gray, lifting him up into a tight bear hug, kissing the side of his head repeatedly. "My baby...my boy..." she repeated over and over. He squeezed his mom hard in return. Zach walked over and as soon as his mom released him, pulled his brother into a tight hug as well.

Owen had walked Claire in and sat on the couch with her in his lap, still unwilling to fully put her down. "We should check your ankle." he said as he moved her next to him and kneeling down next to her. He pulled her boot off as gently as he could.

"Ow!" Claire cried out. "I think the second time I went down made it worse."

"Well, good thing we have the Jeep because there's no way we're moving you on foot." He grabbed a pillow and placed her foot on the couch, elevating it as best he could.

"Claire! What happened?" Karen asked. "I tried to call you back to find out what was going on!"

Well, that explains the phone ringing, she thought. She decided not to let Karen know how close she was. "Long story and it's gonna freak you out. So let's not." she groaned as she leaned her head back on the arm of the couch. "We still need to get back to the control room in one piece."

Owen was leaning over her, just pushing her hair back in gentle strokes. He was planning in his head, but didn't want to take his eyes off her yet. "You should rest for a little while while we get everyone and figure out our next move."

"But I can help..." she started.

"You absolutely can, but right now, all we're going to do is go door to door and get the other guys. You can rest and I'll wake you as soon as we get back. We'll get everyone together downstairs." he interrupted.

"Owen..."

"Claire, listen to the man. You were under tremendous stress and your vitals were all over the place. Go rest for a little bit," Lowery piped in to the earpiece.

"Please." Owen pleaded with her, looking at her seriously.

Claire realized Owen was really shaken up. "Fine." she huffed, crossing her arms. "Lowery, I'm going offline for a bit." she said, taking her earpiece off and placing it on the table.

"Thank you." Owen said, leaning down to kiss her head. He reached down and lifted her up to carry her to the bedroom.

"You know I could have walked. It's like ten feet." she chuckled.

"I know." he grinned, but showed no intention of putting her down. He gently laid her down when they reached the bed in the bedroom. Claire had luckily booked Karen a suite so she could have some space to relax and have the boys around without being cramped.

Owen sat next to her on the edge of the bed, taking his earpiece off. He cupped her face and leaning down to kiss her. The kiss rapidly deepened as Claire grabbed the back of his head, pulling him in closer. He found himself stretching himself out over her as their kiss quickly descended into a full make out session. He began reaching up her shirt, grasping at her breast, as she was pulling at his when they were interrupted.

"Grady! Finish later! Things to do!" Sam shouted from the other room.

Owen groaned as he released Claire, burying his face in the pillow behind her. "I swear to christ, he always knows."

Claire couldn't help but burst out laughing. After catching her breath, she had to agree. "Probably for the best. There's a lot of people out there that could hear us."

"Alright, I'm gonna go find some people and then we'll get out of here." He leaned down one more time to kiss her before getting up to leave. "I love you, beautiful."

"I love you, too." she smiled. He grabbed his ear piece and headed to the door.

"Hey." Claire called to him. He turned to look back at her. "I still want to hear those things you wanted to say to me."

He smiled, "And I still want to say them. I'll be back soon." With that, he grabbed Sam and Danny and they went to find the rest of their Navy comrades.

Back in the control room...

Simon watched the video feed as the air team prepped for takeoff. He knew most everyone else was, at least currently, out of harms way. "I need to get back on the horn and try to get us some kind of an evacuation. Keep me posted on the air attack."

"Understood." Lowery replied.

Simon began walking back to Claire's office when Lowery's voice stopped him. "Hey Simon?" He turned and looked back at him. "What are we gonna do if no one will help us?" He needed to ask the hard question.

"Honestly? I don't know, Lowery. I just don't know." With that, Simon entered Claire's office and closed the door.