Ch 9:
The path to become an intern at the raptor paddock was a long one. Long, arduous, and boring. The safety videos and courses she was required to take ranged from being 15 minutes long to two hours. Two hours of common sense safety knowledge. And then each video or course had a quiz that she had to pass with at least a 90%.
It was really sad how a lot of the videos had to emphasize things like the importance of closing and locking the doors when working at the paddock. Some even showed old security videos from the original park of what could happen if you weren't smart about locking the doors. These videos were rather gory and graphic, despite being grainy and black and white.
To be honest, Sierra dozed off during quite a few of the videos. They were just so boring! She still managed to pass all the quizzes with flying colors. Again, because they were so obvious.
She'd been taking the courses for over a week now, in between her regular classes with her tutor. She probably could have knocked it all out of the way in a few days if they would let her just sit and get it all done, but they wouldn't let her do more than an hour or two in a day. Probably a good idea, she supposed, since she was already dozing off just during a one hour session.
The sun was low when she left the small office she'd been taking her courses in. She knew Owen had gone to dinner with Barry and some others, as she'd told him she could find her own dinner. Her brain was tired and she didn't feel like socializing in one of the crowded restaurants with everyone.
So, she picked up some chicken tenders and fries to-go from Dave and Buster's, knowing Owen was at a different restaurant. She got back on her four-wheeler and drove to the place she technically wasn't supposed to go.
The raptor paddock.
Since it was getting dark, there were no employees around when Sierra slowed to a stop and parked the four-wheeler. There were a few light posts on around the area, but not enough to disrupt the raptors in their paddock.
Hesitantly, Sierra wandered closer to the paddock until she reached the holding pen, her bag of food in-hand. She stared out into the paddock beyond the cage bars, noting the stillness and silence. She knew they were all out there, and they probably knew she was outside the paddock, too.
Sierra glanced around hesitantly before looking down at the small keypad next to the door. After just another moment of hesitation, she punched in the code she wasn't supposed to know before pulling the door open. She closed it behind her, wincing at the loud clang it made despite trying to keep it quiet.
Slowly crossing the small space, she settled down in the dirt, leaning back against the metal wall off to the side, still a safe distance from the cage bars. The paper bag rustled as she reached in, pulling out the container of delicious, salty fries. Sighing deeply, she shoved a few fries into her mouth, closing her eyes and letting the soothing sounds of the night relax her.
A small sound made her open her eyes. It was barely anything, a slight rustling that could have easily been a breeze. But it still made Sierra open her eyes and glance to her right, into the paddock.
She could see four glowing eyes in the darkness, one pair farther away then the other. The nearest pair moved closer until a beam of moonlight illuminated the scaly skin, highlighting the blue and white stripes down her sides.
Blue tilted her head, moving closer until she was only about a foot from the cage bars. Sierra watched the raptor warily, waiting for her to lunge or make a move, something. But they just watched each other. Maybe she knew what Sierra knew; that she was sitting far enough away that Blue would never be able to attack through the cage bars. Sierra only looked away when the other pair of eyes moved closer until Charlie became visible two steps behind her Beta. Then Echo stepped out of the shadows, followed by Delta. They all watched her intently.
Sierra took a deep breath, trying to figure out what feelings were churning in her gut. She was thrilled to see the raptors for the first time in a month, but she was also wary, nervous, and curious. The question at the front of her mind since she fell into the paddock was: why didn't they eat her? She'd gone over every detail she could remember of the incident, trying to pinpoint what had happened and how she walked away relatively unscathed. Was it because of the jerky in her pocket? Was it her connection to Owen? Her constant presence in their lives since they hatched? She remembered Blue tilting her head at her when she spoke. Maybe Blue was just curious about her in a way other than what she might taste like?
As Barry had said several times over the past month, they may never know for sure why the raptors didn't attack. The only thing they could say with some level of certainty, was that there was a moment that Delta might have attacked if Blue hadn't stopped her.
Which brought up the nervousness churning in her gut, making her regret the bite of fries she'd eaten.
She should be wary of these creatures. It was common sense. They were fast, intelligent pack hunters. She'd seen them take down a deer with no real difficulty. But only a small amount of the nervousness she felt was because of them. Most of her nervousness was the situation in general. As much as she missed being at the paddock, the last time she'd been here, she'd fallen from the walkway to the ground below, only to be surrounded by a pack of velociraptors. She couldn't imagine how nervous she would be when she had to go back up onto the walkways again. If it wouldn't be utterly humiliating, she'd be tempted to wear a harness attached to the railings.
But that would just give the other interns and trainers more reason to ridicule her.
That being said, Sierra was nervous. But these creatures had the chance to kill her, and they didn't. They were fast, intelligent, and there were four of them. They could have killed her instantly, but they didn't.
Sierra pursed her lips thoughtfully for a long moment. Then, she popped open the to-go box of chicken tenders. Ripping off four small pieces, she held one up for them to see.
"Want some chicken?" she asked rhetorically. Like she really needed to ask. The moment they saw the small piece in her fingers, they all perked up and took a step closer.
"Blue." she called first. Blue took that final step that had her nose practically touching the cage bars, her nostrils flaring at the warm scent of chicken. Sierra watched her for a long moment, her blue eyes meeting amber and getting lost in the eye contact for much longer than necessary. Finally, Sierra blinked rapidly before lightly tossing the piece of chicken the couple feet that separated them, through the bars and right into Blue's jaws. "Good girl." she whispered.
She repeated the process with the others, all four eagerly snatching up the tiny pieces of chicken. Sierra ate fries and one of the tenders in between sharing a couple of her tenders with the raptors. When the food was all gone, she brushed her hands together to get off the salt and crumbs. She then held her hands up with her palms facing the four raptors, showing them the food was gone.
"All gone. Sorry." she told them.
The four varying responses were kind of amusing. Delta immediately snorted before hurrying off into the trees. Charlie actually stepped closer to the bars, leaning forward with her nostrils flaring to check for herself that there was no more food. When her sense of smell confirmed Sierra's claim, she turned and wandered off in a different direction. Knowing Charlie wouldn't leave if there was any chance of food, Echo followed her younger sister.
And then there was one.
Blue barely glanced away when her sisters left, her amber eyes fixed, not on the food bag, but Sierra's face. She felt like a bug under a microscope under Blue's close scrutiny. Sierra knew on a personal level that each raptor was completely unique in every aspect; looks, build, personality, etc. But there was something a little…extra about Blue. Maybe it was some higher level of intelligence, or the empathy she'd shown from a young age that the others just simply lacked. Maybe it was something they added in the lab during her creation, or maybe it was simply her.
It was hard to know for sure, Sierra only knew what she could see. Like that extra level of awareness in Blue's sharp eyes when she watched people or listened to their conversations. When she narrowed her eyes and chittered almost threateningly whenever Vic came around.
Whatever it was, it almost made Sierra uncomfortable when Blue just watched her like this. Only 'almost' because she didn't look at Sierra the way she looked at Vic. Whatever expression she had on her reptilian face, she at least didn't look like she wanted to eat Sierra.
Her hand started moving before her brain caught up to her, and soon Sierra's hand was outstretched across the small space toward the cage bars. Her hand was spread flat, her palm facing toward Blue like something out of Tarzan or How to Train Your Dragon.
Her hand stopped inches from the cage bars and she froze. Her body tensed, ready to yank her hand back if she needed to as she watched Blue closely.
The raptor tilted her head just slightly. If Sierra had blinked she would have missed the movement. Blue's eye shifted from Sierra's hand, to her face, and back again. Then, she leaned forward toward the bars.
Sierra's muscles coiled even tighter, her wide eyes fixed on Blue's snout as she leaned even closer.
Hot air brushed Sierra's palm, making her fingers twitch. Blue's nose was just between a couple of the bars, putting her mere inches from Sierra's hand. If either of them leaned forward just slightly, they'd be touching.
The world seemed to freeze. Nothing moved, there wasn't even any of the usual night sounds. Sierra couldn't hardly breathe, she didn't dare to. It was as if one wrong move would break the spell.
Finally, Blue drew back a couple inches, her eyes finding Sierra's again. Then, she snorted slightly before turning and walking off into the darkness.
Sierra sat there for a long moment, her eyes staring into the darkness where Blue disappeared to, her hand still held up.
She didn't know what to make of that interaction…but it couldn't be anything negative, right?
AN: So, a bit of a filler chapter, but this was honestly something I added recently. This chapter wasn't originally in the story, it was actually inspired by a review left by reviewer Bladewolf101. So thank you for that!
And has anyone seen the newest trailer for Jurassic World: Dominion?! It's awesome! The baby is so precious!
Anyway, please review and let me know what you all thought of this chapter, and what you might want to see in later chapters, so what you might want to see from Sierra during the movie.
Thanks!
