Ch 16:
The journey felt like it took forever. Luckily, after walking for about ten minutes Sierra and Charlie found Barry's four-wheeler near the side of a road. It was tipped on it's side, and she tried to ignore the body laying nearby. She just took a quick glance to ensure it wasn't Barry before lifting it back onto it's wheels. It was heavy and took a few moments, but then she climbed onto it and started it. She radioed Owen to update him on the find. His update was that he was riding back toward the main part of the park, and that Claire was following him in a truck with Zach and Gray in the back.
Charlie ventured out onto the paved road, looking down a certain direction with her head tilted. She looked back at Sierra and squawked at her. Considering that way was south, Sierra figured Charlie was telling her it was the way to go.
"Alright, girl. Let's get going." Sierra agreed, getting the four-wheeler started and driving it onto and down the road, Charlie running at her side.
The road soon became familiar to Sierra, and she was easily able to follow it without checking that she was still going south. She knew which roads would take her back to the main part of the park. Specifically, the labs, which Owen had informed her on their last update that that was where they were heading. They were hoping to find some weakness on the Indominus' file.
Sierra practically crashed the four-wheeler into the front steps of the Innovation Center, scrambling off it and hurrying up the steps. She could see a large truck and Owen's motorcycle parked nearby, so she knew they were already here.
She hesitated a few steps from the front doors, looking back at Charlie, who was still following her. The raptor tilted her head when Sierra met her eyes.
"Charlie, stay out here, okay?" Sierra tried, hoping the raptor might understand. While the raptor had saved and protected Sierra, she wasn't so sure Claire, Zach, and Gray would be just as safe. "Find Blue. Find Blue or Delta. Okay?"
Charlie tilted her head the other way, and Sierra just decided to leave it at that. She turned and raced into the building, through the automatic glass doors and the main lobby of the building, and down the hallway labeled 'Hammond Creation Lab'.
"Owen?!" she cried almost hysterically, her eyes scanning the glass walls and trying to find her brother. Or anyone at this point.
"Sierra!"
Sierra skidded on the smooth, marble floor as she tried to swing around the corner of an open glass door and into a lab. She practically collided with her brother and wrapped her arms around him, tempted to never let go. His arms practically crushing the air from her lungs seemed to return the sentiment.
Unfortunately, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
Owen pulled away and ushered her further into the lab, his hand, the one not holding the shotgun, pushing at her back. They hurried through a lab and into what Sierra briefly thought was a secret, hidden door to a secret lab. Inside, she found Claire, Zach, and Gray. To her surprise, Gray ran and collided with her with surprising strength for such a small, scrawny kid. She returned the hug without thought, her body starting to tremble. She tried to distract herself by looking around.
There was the typical lab equipment and technology, computers, giant glass tubes with liquid and animals floating in them. And there were glass tanks with…weird creatures that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie. A lizard with feathers? A three-headed snake?!
A sound made nearly everyone jump and turn around. Several uniformed men had arrived and were…Sierra thought they were saving dinosaur embryos.
"What are you doing?" Claire asked anyway. After all, she was technically in charge, right?
"Afraid that's above your pay grade, honey." Vic announced, sauntering into the lab with his usual arrogant gait.
"Where's Henry?" Claire asked sternly.
"Dr. Wu works for us." Vic announced. Sierra tried to swallow the lump in her throat at that comment. She'd only met Dr. Henry Wu a handful of times, and she'd always thought he was arrogant, with a slight God complex, but the fact that he worked for Vic Hoskins…
Gray peaked out from between Owen and Sierra's arms. "That's not a real dinosaur." he murmured quietly. Sierra glanced down at him and followed his gaze to the computer screen ahead. It had a picture of what Sierra was sure was the Indominus.
"No, it ain't kid." Vic confirmed. "But somebody's got to make sure this company has a future. Imagine; that one?" he nodded to the computer screen. "A fraction of the size? Deadly. Intelligent. Able to hide from the most advanced military technology."
"Smart enough to take out the people ordering it around." Sierra cut off dryly.
Vic chuckled in a condescending manner. "Just a few minor setbacks. That there is a living weapon unlike anything we've ever seen."
"Pretty sure that's what you said about the raptors." Sierra couldn't stop herself. Her brain-to-mouth filter had died. Too many near-death experiences in the last 24 hours had frayed her nerves beyond repair and she couldn't shut up. "But I doubt you ever noticed the raptors glaring up at you whenever you visited. Blue and Delta especially were always watching you and communicating, likely contemplating your death."
"You don't know what you're-"
"Their slowest pork dinner ever, I think is what I called it earlier today." Sierra cut in. Vic's face turned red, his eyes narrowing in anger. "Of course, to the Indominus, you'd barely be an appetizer."
"Listen here, you little-"
A screech cut him off, and everyone jumped back in fear as two raptors leapt into the room. Owen threw his arms out, keeping Claire and the kids behind him. One raptor, Charlie, stopped just in front of the humans, specifically in front of Sierra and Owen, but her eyes stayed fixed on Vic and the other raptor, Delta. Meanwhile, Delta stalked toward Vic, who was backing away in fear.
"Easy, boy! Easy!" Vic cried, backing into a door. He held his hand out, similar to how Owen did with the raptors. "I'm on your side."
Sierra watched tensely, her eyes moving from Vic's terrified face and Delta's poised stance.
She shot out, jaws clamping down on Vic's outstretched hand.
Sierra jerked her head away, eyes temporarily clenched shut as Vic screamed.
Charlie leapt in with a screech to join the attack while Owen pushed everyone out of the lab ahead of him, all of them breaking into a run. Sierra's shoes slid on the floor as they turned right once out of the lab, heading back toward the front door of the building. From behind, she heard a small explosion of shattering glass, a pair of familiar shrieks and maybe the tapping of claws on the marble floor. While she felt fairly confident Charlie wouldn't attack her, or even Owen, she wasn't quite as confident about Delta. Or that either raptor would resist going after Gray or the others.
Sierra ended up running between Zach and Gray, and as they passed through the lobby she noticed Gray reach out and push some button on the hologram display, likely making one pop up behind them to distract the raptors.
Owen and Zach pushed to the front so they could shove the double doors wide open, allowing for everyone to run through before they could swing shut again. But they still didn't stop, the group following Owen as he practically leapt down the steps.
Only to slide to a stop when another raptor leapt out in front of them with a screech.
Blue.
Another screech made them all spin around, seeing Delta shove the doors open with her head. Crouched down, she stalked toward them. When she made her way around one side, Sierra felt Zach grab her arm and pull her toward him, away from Delta.
Yet another screech had them whipping around again, finding Echo on their other side. Sierra looked to her left, back toward the building between Zach and Claire's heads. Charlie was creeping down the steps toward them, looking between Delta, Blue, and the humans. She was tensed, but not like she was ready to pounce.
"That's how it is, huh?" Owen commented, still facing Blue at the front of the group. While he slowly lowered his gun to the ground, Sierra watched Charlie creep around the group. Delta snapped at her when Charlie moved between her sister and the humans, but Charlie didn't back down. She cast Delta a glance, but continued a few more steps until she was next to Owen.
Owen glanced at Charlie from the corner of his eye, while Blue focused her sharp, amber eyes on her younger sister. Charlie chittered at Blue, who stared at her sister with intelligent eyes.
"Please, Blue." Sierra found herself whispering before she could stop herself. The Beta's eyes darted to her, fixed on Sierra before she realized Owen was reaching a hand out toward her. Blue snapped her jaws at him, but without any real malice or intent. Sierra watched anxiously, like everyone else, probably, as Owen just continued to slowly reach his hand toward the raptor.
When his hand continued past Blue's jaw, toward the side of her head, Sierra realized what her brother was doing. Blue seemed to be the only raptor with a camera still strapped to her head. Owen reached his hand to the side of Blue's head, past her eye, to unclip the strap and let it fall to the ground. Blue slowly blinked her big eyes at him, seeming content now that the offending device was off her head.
"That's it." Owen whispered at her, and Sierra found herself relaxing the slightest bit. It was seeming more and more likely that the raptors were back on their side. At least, if Blue was on Owen's side, the others would likely follow her example or risk her wrath.
A low roar and rumbling footsteps had Blue whipping her head around while everyone tensed. Sierra instinctively took a step back as the Indominus rounded the corner, her back bumping into Zach's chest. Sierra glanced around as the Indominus ambled closer. The raptors were watching the larger dinosaur closely, Charlie's head slightly lowered, all shifting on their feet. All the raptors but Blue took a step back as the Indominus got closer. Blue didn't flinch, just staring up at the huge dinosaur.
The Indominus made a sound similar to what the raptors did when communicating, a sort of squawk or deep chitter.
Blue's head turned to look back at the humans. It was clear what the Indominus wanted Blue to do.
Sierra anxiously met Blue's eyes when the raptor looked at her. Then her amber eyes swung to Owen. The man who was there the moment she hatched. The man who held her and raised her. Protected her and taught her.
Blue chittered at him, a warm sound she didn't make at humans very often.
Her head swung around and she shrieked up at the Indominus, a very obvious show of defiance.
The Indominus roared back in rage before her clawed arm lashed out, catching Blue's comparatively tiny body. Sierra flinched violently as Blue flew through the air, slamming into the cement column of the Starbucks before dropping limply to the ground.
Owen spread his arms out, symbolically pushing everyone back a few steps when the Indominus glared down at them. On either side of them, Delta, Charlie, and Echo all shrieked up at the larger dinosaur, infuriated on their sister's behalf.
Owen glanced back and forth at the raptors before giving a familiar, sharp whistle. Echo lead the charge, followed closely by Delta and Charlie, racing up and leaping onto the Indominus' back.
Owen lead the way around to the right of the fight, but Sierra hesitated in following while the others took off at a full sprint. She glanced after her brother and back at Blue a couple times before racing over to the downed raptor. She ignored how her bare knees hit the pavement, likely being scraped raw. Her hands hovered over Blue for a moment, taking a moment to take a deep breath before continuing.
She rested her fingers against Blue's neck under her jaw, feeling along the veins and bumps. She froze for a moment until she felt the familiar fluttering of a pulse. She sagged in relief just as Blue shifted under her hands.
"Shh, shh, Blue, you're okay. Please don't move just yet." Sierra whispered, trying to ignore the chaos going on behind her. Just to be safe, she glanced over her shoulder. The other raptors were on the Indominus' back, biting at the tough flesh while the bigger dinosaur tried to shake them off. Sierra couldn't see Claire or the boys, but she saw Owen hiding behind a model of amber stone, taking shots at the Indominus with his shotgun. He peaked around the rock at the same moment Sierra found him.
"Sierra! Get out of there! Hide!" he yelled.
"Not yet!" she yelled back, more than grateful Owen had found her backpack in her wrecked UTV and returned it to her. She still had some medical equipment inside from helping out at the raptor paddock.
Blue shifted again, her eyes peaked open and her head lifted drearily.
"No, no, girl. Stay down for a moment." Sierra pleaded, trying to remain calm. She rested her hands on Blue's side and carefully ran her palms over every inch of Blue's side and back. It had happened so fast, but Sierra was pretty sure Blue's left flank had taken most of the impact. She found no signs of any broken bones on Blue's right side, so she carefully checked Blue's neck and spine, thankfully finding nothing more than a few scrapes.
She quickly glanced toward the fight in time to see one of the raptors get tossed to the ground. With the dark and distance, it was hard to tell for sure which one it was. Thankfully, she got back up and threw herself into the fray.
"Okay, how can I roll you over?" Sierra muttered to herself, looking back down at Blue to find one large, amber eye fixed up at her. At a particularly loud sound from the fight, Blue tried to scramble to her feet. "No, no, please stay down for a moment, Blue. Please." Sierra pleaded, carefully trying to press the raptor back to the ground.
A louder stomp that was too close for comfort made Sierra jump and look back. The Indominus was stomping around, trying to get the raptors off of her, like a horde of annoying flies. Uncomfortable with just how close the huge feet and jaws were getting, Sierra hesitantly got up and moved behind Blue, carefully wrapping her arms around Blue's chest under her shoulders. Blue shrieked in protest, but Sierra couldn't tell if she was in pain. Sierra tried to carefully drag Blue further around the corner of the coffee shop, more out of view of the fight.
Apparently sick of this treatment, Blue stumbled to her feet and shook Sierra off, lightly chomping her jaws in irritation. Sierra held her hands up in a sign of surrender.
"Come here, please, Blue." Sierra pleaded, taking a step around the corner while Blue turned to look back at the fight. "I know you want back in the fight, but just let me check you over. Please?"
She wasn't sure if Blue really understood her words, but Blue followed Sierra around the corner. She limped for a step before seeming to be fine. Sierra quickly ran her hands over Blue's left side, the one that had hit the wall, before feeling down Blue's legs. She made the mistake of glancing toward the fight as she was standing straight again.
She saw Claire running off just past the fight, barely more than a pale blur.
But then her eyes fixed back on the fight.
Just in time to see the Indominus snatch one of the raptors off her back with her jaws and throw the small raptor away.
"Delta!" Sierra screamed impulsively, watching the raptor crash into a large grill just inside a restaurant window. It was a miracle that the grill was likely damaged in the pterosaur attack earlier. She didn't see any fire, but there was a loud crash as Delta's body bounced off the grill and disappeared into the building.
Sierra ducked as the Indominus swung around, her long tail swinging dangerously. She caught sight of Owen barely ducking as the tail shattered the fake rock he'd been hiding behind.
Sierra's chest seized in agony as the Indominus snatched Echo up in her jaws. Thankfully, Charlie leapt onto her face, chomping her jaws and clawing at the Indominus' eyes. In response, the huge dinosaur dropped Echo to roar in pain, shaking her head and dislodging Charlie.
Blue let out a familiar sound, a sort of bark-like caw that Sierra had heard before. In response, Echo scrambled to her feet, her and Charlie dodging the Indominus' feet and disappearing around a corner. All the raptors were now hidden from view.
The Indominus looked around, turning her back to the Innovation Center. Sierra hesitated before racing across the street toward the shops on the other side. She didn't know where her brother or the boys had disappeared to, and she had no idea where Claire ran off to. All she really knew was that she needed to check on Delta.
She kept low to the ground, ducking behind any bit of debris, sign, or lamppost she could find as she scurried past the Indominus. She finally reached the steakhouse that Delta had been thrown into. She practically dove in through the huge window, rolling over the grill and praying it was really broken, to land heavily on her knees inside. She hesitantly peaked back over the grill to make sure she hadn't been spotted. To her relief, the Indominus was searching for something else, likely the raptors.
Hearing a shifting sound, Sierra turned back around to see Delta crouched behind an overturned table, watching Sierra closely. Sierra took a deep breath, holding her hands up for a moment to show she was unarmed, before carefully crawling and scooting across the floor toward Delta. Despite the danger behind her, she kept her eyes fixed on Delta. The biggest raptor had always been a bit of a wild card, and being injured may leave her feeling cornered and vulnerable, making her potentially more likely to lash out.
"It's okay, girl. You know me." Sierra whispered, scooting a bit closer. Delta watched her closely, and Sierra couldn't tell if she was relaxing at all or still remaining tense.
A loud crash had both of them jumping. Delta lurched to her feet before screeching and collapsing back to the ground, favoring one side. Sierra looked over her shoulder. Now she could hear screaming and crashing. She hesitantly stood up so she could see outside over the grill and out the window.
Almost right across the street was the Jurassic Traders Outpost. The Indominus' face and jaws were roaring and chomping right in front of it, her long, clawed arm shoved through one wall and reaching into the small building. She could hear a few different voices screaming from inside.
Owen. And Gray and Zach.
"Lowry, are you still there?" a voice from Sierra's back pocket made her jump again. She looked around frantically before remembering her walkie talkie in her back pocket. Someone was talking into it.
"Hey, where are you?" another voice responded as Sierra pulled it from her pocket.
"I need you to open Paddock 9!" Claire. That was Claire. But…but Paddock 9 was-
"Paddock 9? Are you kidding?!" the voice responded incredulously.
The Indominus shrieked so loudly that Sierra was sure the rest of the park could hear, and she found herself ducking down and curling up in a ball on the floor. She noticed Delta was actually huddling farther behind the table.
Sierra pulled the walkie to her mouth and spoke before she could think. "Just do something! Please! She's going to kill them!" she cried.
"Damn it, Lowry, be a man and do something for once in your life!" Claire snapped.
"Why'd you have to make it personal?" the voice responded.
There was silence after that. Or at least, silence on the walkie talkie. But certainly not on Main Street. Sierra peaked over the grill again, unsure of what to do. She didn't know what Claire's plan was, just that in likely involved the T-Rex, since that was the only living creature in Paddock 9. But they didn't have time. Should Sierra jump out and try to distract the Indominus? Even just for a moment?
It hit her, and it probably wouldn't do much of anything, but…
Sierra hurried over to the grill, pulling the gun from her pocket and taking off the safety. She aimed it over the edge of the grill at the Indominus' side. She shot off a few shots before ducking back down behind the grill. She heard the dinosaur roar, probably in minor annoyance since those tiny bullets wouldn't do much. But maybe it offered a small distraction?
Sierra debated doing it again when she realized some of the thumping sounds in the chaos were too…rhythmic to be made by the Indominus. It sounded like…footsteps.
Sierra looked up over the grill again in time to see a small, red flare hit the Indominus in the shoulder, gaining the dinosaur's attention. She saw Claire dive out of the way, and then the T-Rex came crashing through the huge decorative skeleton with a roar that put the Indominus' to shame.
The Indominus roared in response, pulling her arm from the building and standing straight so the two could face each other right in the middle of Main Street. It brought to mind the western showdowns in old movies.
Sierra looked across the street, between the two huge dinosaurs, to see Owen, Gray, and Zach staring up at the scene.
Then the two clashed with roars and snapping jaws. The T-Rex briefly clamped her jaws on the Indominus' neck, but her upper hand didn't last long. It was clearly an even match. Sierra glanced across the street to the Outpost before turning back toward Delta. The raptor was watching through the window from her spot behind the table, but she focused on Sierra as the teen settled on the ground next to her.
Sierra slid her backpack off before carefully turning to Delta. She made sure to move slowly and carefully, not wanting Delta to feel threatened. Even though she watched closely, Delta seemed to be content to allow Sierra to work.
Sierra carefully felt around Delta's back leg, the one she'd been favoring earlier. Sure enough, when her hands gently squeezed a certain spot, Delta shrieked and tried to move away. Sierra put her hands up, trying to shush her.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. But I have to heal it." she whispered, going back to her backpack. She pulled out a large wad of gauze, but then stared thoughtfully at the leg. She wasn't sure if it was broken or sprained, but she probably needed to make a splint. Glancing around, she found the broken leg of a wooden chair. It was fairly thin but probably relatively strong.
Sierra grabbed it and set it gently against the side of Delta's leg. She then began to wrap gauze around it. As she did so, she tried thinking of how to hold it in place. She had no idea what was going to happen after this fight. What if this splint needed to stay in place for weeks, or even longer? If Delta's leg was indeed broken, it would take at least a month, if not two or three, to heal. And the raptors relied on their strong legs for just about everything; running, fighting, hunting.
A much louder crash made Sierra jump and turn towards the window. The crash came from just outside. Were the boys and Owen still in the outpost?
"RUN!" a familiar voice screamed, making a chill run up Sierra's spine. The complete terror in Claire's voice had Sierra standing and hurrying to the window, the sight making her stomach drop.
The Indominus was clearly winning the fight, having taken the T-Rex by the neck and shoved her head through the outpost. The building was starting to collapse as the T-Rex's head was pulled back out of the building. Thankfully, this gave just enough time and room for Owen to shove the boys out of the building ahead of him, the three running across the street and disappearing out of Sierra's view.
The T-Rex was thrown to the ground, and it looked like she couldn't get back up. Sierra could only watch in terror as the Indominus approached her downed opponent, their only hope of winning. The monster was taking her time, knowing her victory was guaranteed.
She planted one huge, clawed hand down on the T-Rex's neck, opening her enormous jaws while her opponent just sagged into the rubble in defeat. The Indominus lowered her jaws to finish the fight.
A familiar caw had Sierra turning and practically lurching forward to look out the window.
Blue let out a second caw as she came racing around the corner. As she got closer, Blue's head lowered, her claws extended, and her jaws parted in a screech as her pace doubled. In a blur, she leapt up, jumping off the T-Rex's head and onto the Indominus' shoulder. A grin lit up Sierra's face as the Indominus turned her head to snap at Blue, leaving her other side open for Charlie and Echo to leap onto her other side. She started whipping her body around to try and shake the raptors off, but they hung on.
And then, the T-Rex was back up, clamping her jaws down on the Indominus' neck and slamming her into a building.
Sierra was distracted from the fight once again by Delta trying to stumble to her feet, crashing into the table next to her.
"No, no, stay down. Sorry. Let me finish your leg." Sierra urged, carefully trying to urge Delta back to the ground so she could finish wrapping the leg. She had to unwrap the gauze and start over, since it had started to unravel when she'd been distracted. Once it was rewrapped tightly, she held it in place one-handed while dumping out her backpack to properly search for what she had to use.
Her free hand instantly latched onto the small bottle of medical glue. It was supposed to be for cuts on the skin, but could she use it to temporarily glue the gauze in place? She skimmed the information on the bottle, seeing that the glue tends to peel off the skin in about a week. She wasn't sure if that timeline applied to fabric. Her eyes then landed on the medium sized Steri-strips. A kind of tape usually for holding cuts together.
Sierra debated for a moment before using the glue to stick the gauze closed, then putting a couple of the strips overtop of it, hoping that might make the gauze stick together more than a couple weeks. Still worried it wouldn't be enough, she wrapped another piece of gauze around the leg a few more times for added support and protection, once more putting both the glue and tape over the end to hold it in place.
Heaving a sigh, Sierra held her hands up in a sign she was done, slowly standing and backing away. Delta watched her for a moment before slowly standing up. She looked from Sierra to her injured leg as she hesitantly put weight on it. She then took a few steps forward, as if testing it. She had a fairly obvious limp, but at least she was walking on it and not shrieking in pain.
It was that moment that Sierra realized the sounds of fighting were quieter than before. It sounded like the fight was on the other side of Main Street.
Sierra carefully climbed over the grill and jumped down to the sidewalk in front of the building. She stayed close to the wall as she looked down toward the lagoon. It looked like the T-Rex and the raptors had the Indominus backed toward the edge of the lagoon. And she looked battered with poles sticking out of her back. But she still stood up and roared in defiance.
Only for the Mosasaur to leap out of the water and clamp her enormous jaws on the Indominus' neck. Struggling was futile as the Mosasaur dragged her prize down to a watery grave.
Sierra stared, frozen, for several moments. When Delta hopped down from the window, Sierra blinked rapidly, coming out of her shock. Delta limped forward, clearly determined to rejoin her sisters. Sierra followed her, her eyes both watching the T-Rex as well as searching for her brother and the others.
Finally, she spotted them hiding behind a column. Owen spotted her the same moment as she started hurrying toward him. He ran to her and scooped her up, practically crushing her in a hug, her toes dangling in the air.
"Where the hell did you go?!" he demanded, setting her back on her own feet to practically glare down at her. "Where were you the whole time?"
Sierra turned and looked over her shoulder, her eyes landing on Delta as the raptor limped up to her sisters. Blue watched the T-Rex walk off for a moment before turning and chittering at her injured sister. Charlie was practically bouncing on her feet while Echo sniffed at Delta's wrapped leg. Luckily, it seemed the pack accepted Delta, not shunning her for the injury or the splint. It likely helped that she was still obviously Delta, snapping impatiently at Echo's sniffing snout.
Owen had followed Sierra's gaze and his shoulders sagged slightly. "You were with Delta." he guessed knowingly, giving a nod.
At the sound of his voice, the raptors all turned to their Alpha. Blue had her head held high, right in the center of her sisters. Her pack.
Sierra looked past Owen to see Claire with her nephews, still partially hidden behind the column and watching the raptors warily.
"What happens now?" Sierra asked her brother, glancing at him and then over at the raptors.
"I don't know." Owen admitted. "For one, we need to head to the docks to catch one of the boats to the mainland."
"What about the raptors?" Sierra asked worriedly.
"They'll have to stay on the island." Owen pointed out, which was obvious. "But after that, I don't know. I can't see this place reopening, not after this. I don't know if or when we'll be back."
Sierra nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat as she turned to look at the raptors. Blue tilted her head, looking from Sierra to Owen. Owen shook his head silently at his Beta.
Blue seemed to hesitate, but with one last look at them, Blue turned and ran off up Main Street, her sisters falling into formation behind her. They turned and disappeared into the jungle. Sierra watched with a bittersweet feeling as they disappeared from view. She didn't know if or when she would see them again. But then she squared her shoulders. There was no 'if' about it. She would see them again. She would make sure of it.
AN: This story only has the epilogue left, and then it's complete. But not to worry! I will be posting the sequel soon after that, which will follow Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
I tried to include some more bonding moments between Sierra and the raptors, which I know a lot of you were asking for. But it was hard to find spots to add those moments in without them seeming forced. But Sierra did heal Blue and Delta!
Also, with her mending Delta's leg, I was largely inspired by Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World, where Sarah and Nick mend the baby T-Rex's leg. I almost had her use chewing gum like Sarah did in that movie, but figured I should be a little more creative. I'm not sure how well medical glue and Steri-strips would actually work in this situation, but she's a teenager with basic medical equipment in her bag, so she just used what she had on hand. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Let me know what you all thought of this chapter! How many of you are happy all the raptors lived?
And who's seen Jurassic World: Dominion? I saw it over the weekend! I don't know if it was my favorite, but it was still awesome!
