A/N: Here's another chapter folks, enjoy!- Poshil
Jurassic Park and its characters belong to Michael Crichton.
Chapter 2: Hunted
Primary Service Road, Southwest of the Park's Visitor Center, Morning
The moment Muldoon opened the exit door, a wave of heat and humidity washes over Ellie, a reminder the island's location and tropical climate. The two step out of the safety of the emergency bunker with wary eyes and caution for danger. No threats yet for the time being.
Ellie did a quick check with her headset and volume of her walkie-talkie before fastening the headset back to her belt. As she looked up towards Muldoon's back something struck her mentally like a brick wall. The feeling of her previous determination was quickly replaced with concern, then a twinge of fear as she steps further away from the bunker.
The atmosphere felt different since the last time Ellie stepped outside. Even during the trip to the bunker from the visitor center, she didn't feel this amount of primitive animosity lingering in the air. The various animal cries and the heavy humidity choking the air, Ellie imagines the island is mimicking what the prehistoric era was like, dangerous through and through.
Perhaps its nature's way of punishing them Ellie thought. More accurately towards John Hammond for the idea of bringing back extinct dangerous dinosaurs into this world with her along with everyone else got caught in the crossfire of their primal hunger. Regardless of the reason Ellie didn't like the idea of sticking around outside for long. She quickens her pace and catches up with Muldoon.
The duo starts their trek around the bunker towards a small hill that stretches out into a flat, grassy area. No danger in sight so far to Ellie and Muldoon's relief but they remain cautious while pushing on forward to the shed. Ellie glances over to her left along the way, spotting the visitor's center off in the distance. The once inviting structure now stands as a grim reminder of all that's happened when she returned back to that same building the night before.
The news of the power failing, the deadly encounter with the Tyrannosaurs Rex, her mentor Alan Grant and Hammond's grandkids missing, Gennaro's mangled remains near the TRex Paddock, all this being a hellish experience would be an understatement.
"Please be safe Alan."
"Stay close." Muldoon orders Ellie in which she complies, hastily keeping up with the warden's pace.
Pass the visitor's center Muldoon and Ellie enter a small service road that led into an open clearing. This particular clearing house one of the major dinosaur pens Muldoon's assigned to oversee, the Raptor Pen. Dread began to fester the closer the two approached the quiet compound. Ellie's heart continues to beat faster with each step as the building slowly becomes more visible upon approach. She didn't need to be a genius to know that with the power offline the intelligent hunters contained in the enclosure would likely escape their pen but a small part of her held on some sliver of hope it wouldn't be the case. That hope was quickly diminished when she looked towards the pen's electric fencing, what's left of it.
A section of the wiring that surrounds the pen is ripped and torn asunder, leaving a gap wide enough for an animal to squeeze out. A large animal.
"Oh god."
It's expected for the raptors to escape but to see the remains of the enclosure that suppose to contain these dinosaurs is truly terrifying. Ellie diverted her gaze to Muldoon in hopes the hunter had some contingency plan in this dire situation. In hindsight, Ellie regrets not speaking out against Hammond when Muldoon suggested invoking the Lysine Contingency, cut the supply of lysine the dinosaurs need to survive although waiting out the dinosaurs wouldn't be realistic with how ill equip the survivors are to last any longer.
Ellie's curiosity set in when she notices the hunter squatting down towards the sand, focusing intensely on strange markings embedded into the ground before angrily muttering a storm of words. Ellie leans down and felt a cold shiver seizing her body. The words from Muldoon faded in and out as her focus turns to the strange markings in the sand, which she recognizes to be a set of footprints. The footprints appear to take shape of a bird's foot, but much larger and the long talon marks look nothing like a bird's, no doubt the prints belonging to the escaped raptors. The size of the print is staggering; Ellie can't imagine how terrifying a velociraptor looks up close and prays she didn't get the chance.
"Come on this way." Muldoon mutters calmly, standing back up and venturing onto a path that leads into a jungle of trees. Ellie could've sworn her stomach jumped into her chest with the realization Muldoon was walking towards. The trails of footprints were heading into the jungle. The same one Muldoon's entering.
Of course we have to go into THAT jungle.
Ellie lets out a concerning sigh before catching up with Muldoon, praying the raptors are preoccupied with other interests not including hunting.
Jungles and tropical rainforests are one of the few things that Ellie loathes with a passion. The heat and humidity is one reason, but the other is bugs, bugs that specifically dedicate their lives in buzzing and biting you as much as possible throughout their mere line span. Refraining to swat away the bugs loudly, Ellie did her best to make little noise within the hostile environment of the jungle, focusing her sense of hearing for any potential raptor lurking about. The songs from various birds continue to echo across the various palm trees, light dancing and flickering ceaselessly around Ellie's surroundings through the crevices of the swaying branches above, and the soft crunches from the dirt underneath Ellie's boots, yet no raptor cry or sound of any kind could be heard no matter how hard she tried to grasp them.
Sweat poured from Ellie's forehead in small beads. The humidity is slowly becoming bearable, but her frayed nerves continue to weigh her down as the prolong absence of any danger threaten Ellie to drop her guard. The idea of a raptor stalking them without making any audible noise surfaced and kept her on edge. She found some means of comfort looking over to Muldoon who remained relax and composed in the hostile jungle but all in all, Ellie felt like a nervous wreck. She wants nothing more than to get this operation over with and back into the safety of the bunker.
Relief washes over Ellie when an outline of a building catches her attention. A single pathway cuts deeper into the jungle towards a small clearing. In the clearing, a chain-link fence surrounds an open area blanketed in fog further down the path. Ellie leans against a nearby fallen tree blocking the path for a better view of the opening. The fog slowly rolls and fades away, revealing more of the path littered with a few more fallen trees and branches, and a lone building roughly the size of the emergency bunker positioned in the clearing.
The exterior is made of dull gray concrete with a large air duct connected to the left side. The building has seen better days thanks to the previous night's storm but thankfully the structure seems intact. The buildings simple look and walls plain and void of any obscure feature though it's far from inviting. A single sturdy door on the face of the building with the chain link fence several yards in front surrounding the building, no doubt this building is the maintenance shed. Yet still no sign of Ray Arnold or the raptors.
"I can see the shed from here." Ellie whispered to Muldoon, the Warden still warily looking around for any signs of danger. "We can make it if we run."
That second statement felt foolish to Ellie, but she's also eager to get inside the safety of a building as soon as possible. Relief faded into concern as Ellie's gaze fell onto Muldoon's focused stance. Despite his calm demeanor, Ellie couldn't help but feel a bit shaken on why his eyes widen all of a sudden.
"No, we can't."
Muldoon's response froze Ellie in place. While the hunter remains calm, Ellie was far from composed. The ambient noises from the jungle died out leaving nothing but eerie silence surrounding the two humans. Within the silence, a small purring noise resonated softly against the trees, something unnatural and unheard of. Dread crept into Ellie's throat and she slowly backed away from the path towards the shed before turning back to Muldoon.
"Why not?" Ellie asked nervously.
"Because we're being hunted."
Hunted, the word being used against a person is the single most terrifying thing Ellie can hear from someone.
Oh god.
"In the bushes straight ahead."
Muldoon was on point as Ellie glances towards the direction the hunter is facing. Resting comfortably in the underbrush of the jungle is a large reptile-like head veering its gaze toward the duo. Its eyes sharp and focused like a cat stalking it's pray. Beneath the eyes of the olive green scaled creature is a large mouth housing a row of razor-sharp teeth glistening from the partial sunlight above as if the creature was smiling, pleased to see the fear etched on the face of its potential prey. The raptor remains motionless in its position like it was trying to blend in the environment. Or simply taunting them as the creature seems well aware it has been spotted.
Ellie remained motionless and kept her focus on the predator, her breath caught in her throat in short panicked gasps. The raptor is far larger than she imagined and deadly to boot. The creature remained still, observing the two humans while softly humming a low growl, daring them to make a move before it could strike.
"It's alright." Muldoon said calmly, keeping his gun trained at the raptor.
"Like hell it is!" Ellie hissed softly. How is he so calm while I'm here on the verge of pissing myself?!
"Run, towards the shed." Muldoon ordered sternly.
Ellie blinked twice before silently mouthing what the hunter had said. She prayed he was joking around to lighten the mood, only Ellie knew better that he wouldn't be joking around from their current predicament. Ellie glances over towards the shed, terrified of how far it is. No way can either of them make it before the raptor springs out to ambush them.
"I got her." Muldoon muttered, slowly stepping forward towards the raptor.
It slowly dawned to Ellie what Muldoon was implying, he plans to use himself as bait. She wanted to protest, plead for the hunter for any other option that doesn't involve self sacrifice. The hunter however seemed set as he raises his weapon towards the stalking raptor, simply darting his head towards Ellie with a stern gaze and commanding tone.
"Go! Now!" Muldoon barked out.
Without hesitation Ellie quickly turns towards the path to the shed and bumps into the fallen tree she was leaning on earlier. Cursing under her breath for forgetting the tree's existence, Ellie scrambles over it and runs for the shed while Muldoon slowly pursues his target.
Adrenaline coursed through Ellie's body like a torrent of rain. Legs and arms pumping against the air, Ellie sprints across the jungle path like a track star during an Olympic event. The path suddenly becomes trickier to traverse with the ground littered with various small plants and broken branches. It didn't slow her down as she sprinted across the path with ease, various plants snapping underneath her boots. She had no reason on being subtle. She needed to get into the shed, now.
Ellie fast approaches another fallen tree blocking her way. She hops over the tree and continues onward to the shed, not daring to look back. A distorted screech from some animal bellows into Ellie's ears perked up along the path, another cry follows suit in response to the previous one. Multiple raptors, and they're chasing her. A glimpse of one the prehistoric pursuers came into Ellie's purview vision. The features of the prehistoric creature are still hidden within the underbrush but the scale and height of the raptor's outline is staggering. This sight alone forces Ellie to sprint faster, her boots slamming into the dirt to propel further forward in hopes of outrunning the deadly predators.
The distance to the maintenance shed closes in and the pursuers still hot on Ellie's heels. Her breath catches in her throat when the path ahead suddenly dips about three or so feet. Several fallen tree branches block the path and no way of her jumping across them without getting caught in the branches. A stray branch hanging above the outcrop gave Ellie an idea. With a burst of speed, Ellie leaps off the ledge and grabs hold of the loose branch, swinging over the fallen branches and landing down a few feet ahead of the obstacles. Ellie quickly recovers and continues running towards the shed.
Another fallen tree blocks her way, and like the one before she jumps over it. Only this time she nearly loses her footing when she lands in a puddle on the other side. Ellie catches herself from falling, yelping in shock as her arms and legs envelop in cool water from landing hard in the puddle. She quickly scrambles up and bursts through a gate along the chain-link fence surrounding the shed. A few steps into the clearing, Ellie lunges forward for the door, praying it was unlocked. The door gives way and Ellie rushes inside the shed, slamming the door shut behind.
The hunters broke away from the path, disappointed from their escaped prey. But they know of another meal at the ready. Without a sound, the hunters crept back into the jungle for their new target.
The safety of the maintenance shed brought Ellie's heart rate down to a steadier pace, finally relaxing her nerves from prior stress. The adrenaline in Ellie faded away, and a sudden urge for oxygen forced her to hunch forward in exhaustion, inhaling lungfuls of air to ease her wary muscles. Not long after the fatigue from the sprint finally kicks in. Ellie's legs almost buckled from exhaustion, forcing her to lean on a nearby railing to support her tired form. Running and jumping over trees and obstacles is taxing to the body apparently.
Did I just do all that?
Ellie continues to calm her breathing while taking in her new surroundings. The entranceway of the maintenance shed is narrow and stuffy. The railing she was using for support led to a set of metal stairs descending down into a dark corridor with no indicator how far the corridor goes. Ellie couldn't help but marvel the design of the building. What appeared to look like a small building outside, the interior of the structure is built mostly underground. An odd design for a "shed" to say the least.
After returning her breath to a normal rate, Ellie glances around the entryway when she spots something glimmering beside her foot. A closer look revealed the object being a set of keys. Curious, Ellie scoops up the keys for a closer examination. It's a key ring, several keys of various sizes attached to a single metal ring. Some of the lightning from sunlight entering from the two small ports of the entrance helped Ellie make out the owner of the key set based on the tag attached to the chain.
R. Arnold. Mr Arnold is here!
Why would Ray leave his keys lying around? More importantly, what caused him to run late on his promised return? Where is he? Numerous questions kept popping in Ellie's mind in waves. After calming her body, Ellie shouts out down the set of stairs.
"Mr Arnold?"
No response. The silence terrified Ellie as she took a few steps down the stairs, calling out his name again only to be replied with further silence. Concern grasped Ellie but for the time being she pushed forward on what she set off to do, restoring the park's power.