All The Echoes In My Mind Cry
"Prettiest thing he's ever seen, my ass," Cassandra muttered, prodding and pulling at the bags beneath her eyes, "old hag walking here." She took one last look at her pale reflection, the harsh corporate lighting less than flattering, only to start violently as an alarm suddenly blared into being, almost deafening her.
Clamping her hands over her ears, Cassandra staggered out into the corridor, crashing into a security guard, who shoved her aside, the whole building suddenly swarming with personnel, the air alive with the crackle of radio static and disembodied voices.
With difficulty, she elbowed her way back to the conference room, only to stop short at the Post-It note stuck haphazardly on the door, Claire's slanting cursive saying CASS, SORRY, GOT TO GO, NEEDED BACK AT BASE. KIDS ARE OKAY. OWEN WILL DRIVE YOU TO THE HOTEL. CLAIRE. But what made her stomach turn was the last two words underlined several times, P.S. TELL HIM.
"What, am I your personal chauffer now?" Owen complained from behind her, making Cassandra whirl around. "And tell me what?" he asked, brow furrowing as he read the last line.
"You tell me," Cassandra retorted, tearing the Post-It down and crumpling it into a ball before dropping it onto the ground.
"Litterbug," Owen criticised, wagging his finger mockingly at her.
Cassandra knocked his hand aside. "Never mind that," she snapped. "What the hell is going on!?" As she spoke, the alarm abruptly fell silent, even as the swarm of activity continued. "So?" she prompted as Owen glanced around the corridor, face distracted.
"Thank God, I couldn't hear myself think with that racket," Owen complained, craning his neck past her.
"Owen!"
"Jeesh, keep your wig on, man!" Owen retorted, trying and failing to get around her, Cassandra too fast on her feet, blocking him at every turn.
"Look, where's Claire?" Cassandra demanded, flapping her hand in front of his face, making Owen blink owlishly. "Why did she need to go back to base?"
"It has an implant on its back," Owen said distractedly, suddenly waving at somebody behind her, "she can track it from the control room."
"Track what?"
"Mr. Grady?" one of the security guards panted, coming up the side of her, grabbing his chest as he caught his breath. "We have clearance to enter Paddock 11."
"Take it easy, bro," Owen advised, eying the overweight man with concern, "or you'll end up taking a heart attack."
"Been there, done that."
"Maybe you shouldn't have taken this job, then," Owen said, holding his palm up, silencing Cassandra who was about to launch into another tirade, "security's a young man's game."
"I was told it was a desk job," the security guard said bitterly, "so much for sitting on my fat ass all day."
Owen repressed a grin. "C'mon, enough gassing," he then said, clasping the man briefly on the shoulder before setting off down the corridor, the security guard having to hurry to catch up.
Cassandra stood there, wrongfooted, before taking off after them, cursing Owen under her breath. As she navigated her way through the throng, she almost lost sight of Owen several times, only catching a glimpse of his broad shoulders here and the back of his blue shirt there, forcing her to run in order to catch up. Gasping, she skidded round a corner, just in time to see the pair of them standing at the end of a long passage, the security guard keying in the co-ordinates to one of the password-protected access points.
As she caught her breath, the pair stepped outside, forcing her to sprint after them again, Cassandra finding there was no rest for the wicked, neither man noticing as she hurriedly slipped through the entry before it slid shut. But she couldn't afford to stop, the men then crossing the concrete to yet another access point that led to the paddock, the security guard scanning them through with his pass this time, Cassandra limping after them as the entry began to slide shut, barely making it through, squeezing through the gap with little space to spare. She collapsed against the wall, pushing the hair out of her eyes with both hands, her breath now coming in huge rasps, the sound making Owen turn around, confused.
"Cassandra!" he snapped, striding over to her. "What the hell!?"
"You're preaching to the choir, man," Cassandra choked out, trying and failing to wave away an intruding fly buzzing around her head.
To her disgust, Owen reached out, swift as a cat. He caught it, crushing it in his hand, the look on his face silencing her from saying anything else. "You stay here," he said, before stalking off, shoulders hunching.
Cassandra hunkered down on her haunches, watching as he joined the group of men standing by the metal gate that led out to the main road, the tallest of them gesticulating at something on the wall, the others shaking their heads. They were a mixture of security and construction, the latter making a living travelling around the resort maintaining the various buildings and sites, whilst the former usually led a more lackadaisical life watching the monitors and performing desultory patrols.
Frowning, she squinted, trying to make out what they were looking at, only for her heart to still when she realised it was giant claw marks. What was going on, she had no idea, but the claw marks were clues she didn't want to contemplate. Unconsciously, her gaze found Owen, who stood with his arms folded as he studied the wall, the other men falling silent as he began to speak, giving way to his natural authority. They listened intently as he pointed up at the claw marks, his voice low and serious, Cassandra becoming distracted by the strong lines of his profile, wishing in vain for pencil and paper -
Suddenly the air was alive with static, a woman's distorted voice echoing over the men's radios, startling them all. What she was saying, Cassandra didn't know, the woman's words garbled. But the men suddenly took off like startled birds, Owen and the others splitting off into different directions, their yells permeating the paddock as the ground began to shake, knocking Cassandra over, hair falling across her face, blinding her. It couldn't be, it just couldn't... She could hear Owen shouting her name, telling her to get out, but she could no longer see him, his voice echoing oddly through the trees.
"OWEN!" she screamed, scrabbling to her feet. "OWEN!"
"Get out of the way!"
Cassandra staggered as she was roughly shoved aside by one of the men from the construction crew, his hard helmet askew as he hurriedly scanned his pass, making the entry slide open. He threw himself through the gap without a backwards glance, not caring if Cassandra followed him or not. As the entry slid shut again, Cassandra ran towards the wall where she'd last seen Owen. She stumbled as the ground continued to roil beneath her feet, the tops of the trees shaking, whilst others toppled over, Owen out there somewhere amidst it all.
"OWEN!" Cassandra screamed again, glancing wildly around her as she half ran, half limped towards the metal gate that led to the main road. Next to it, one of the security guards, the overweight one Owen had commiserated with, was frantically pressing his palm to the glass screen of the panel, a blue light flashing as it scanned his handprint. "Where's Owen!?" she demanded as the gate creaked open, the security guard whimpering something incomprehensible in return. "Where is he!?" she shrieked, but he just fled through the widening gap, leaving her on her own.
"Cassandra, get out!" Owen yelled from amongst the trembling trees. "Get out, now!"
"Where are you!?"
"JUST GO!"
Now sobbing, Cassandra limped through the still opening gate, staggering sideways as another strong vibration rocked the ground. She reeled, trying and failing to catch her balance, making her fall against a parked car, people shouting and yelling as they ran past. "OWEN!" she screamed into the void, her brain unable to compute this was actually happening. "OWEN!"
To her horror, the gate then started to slide shut just as Owen came out of the trees, running at top speed towards her, the Indominus Rex appearing from behind the trees, almost on top of him, the closing gate threatening to trap him inside the paddock with it. For a moment, Cassandra reeled again, eyes dilating, and then she dived to the side, trying to hold back the gate with her bare hands, only to get dragged along as it shut.
"Cassandra, no!" Owen yelled, waving her aside. "You'll get crushed!"
"OWEN!" she yelled back, fresh tears falling down her face. "RUN!" -
Before she could react, somehow in some way, Owen was suddenly there, catching her around the waist, dragging her away from the gate. Propelled by momentum, they skidded across the gravel, the ground suddenly erupting afresh beneath them, throwing them up into the air, Cassandra half landing on Owen, winding him.
"GET UNDER THE PICK-UP!" Owen shouted as he shoved her off him, the Indominus Rex becoming momentarily caught between the gate and the gap, before biting its way free, its teeth tearing the metal apart like paper. "GET UNDER IT NOW!"
Weeping, Cassandra somehow managed to drag herself under it, Owen crawling in after her. Clamping her hands over her mouth, she watched as the Indominus Rex's feet come into view, each step it took making the ground churn. Every move it made was slow, considered, Cassandra realising too late it was trailing something. It arced around, before coming to a stop beside a service truck, breathing heavily. Crouching behind the front of the service truck was the overweight security guard, his pleading gaze riveted in their direction, making Cassandra clamp her hands harder across her mouth, knowing what was going to happen next.
The Indominus Rex kicked the service truck aside like a toy, the vehicle flying through the air before crashing onto the ground, Owen throwing himself over Cassandra as the debris hit them like shrapnel. She peered out from under Owen's arms, but the security guard was now gone, a leg lying amidst a puddle of blood where he'd hiding. She retched, Owen releasing her, reaching behind him instead, drawing out the small knife from the leather sheathe he wore clipped to the back of his belt. He rolled onto his back, hurriedly slicing the fuel tank, spraying the gasoline over them both, making Cassandra recoil, most of it hitting her face and hair.
Owen hastily rubbed the brown liquid over himself so it covered most of his clothes, before leaning over and doing the same to Cassandra, trying to bypass the most personal parts of her body, Cassandra too far gone with fear to think of doing it for herself. Suddenly he went still, his hands upon her waist, gripping it. Cassandra's head snapped round, her terrified gaze crashing into his, Owen's eyes wide with warning, making her freeze in turn. The Indominus Rex was right next to them, sniffing the ground beside Owen, Cassandra only able to see its flaring nostrils and bloodstained teeth.
Her gaze darted back to Owen, but his own eyes were now scrunched shut, beads of sweat dripping down his brow, his body hunched over hers, fingers digging into her flesh through the thin fabric of her damp clothes. She glanced back again, held in a morbidly fascinated thrall as the creature then turned its head in their direction, letting out a loud roar, spraying droplets of blood over Owen, its crimson teeth inches from his head.
Without warning, it suddenly straightened up, disappearing from sight, its foot crashing down instead, making the ground convulse. As it then loped off, Owen opened his eyes, letting out a low shuddering breath, before burying his face in Cassandra's back, pressing his lips against her spine, making her heart thud frantically in her chest, the two of them impossibly alive.
There's blood on your lies
The sky's open wide
There is nowhere to hide...