Ch 3:
Sierra parked her car next to the clinic, her and Zach choosing to just take his truck instead of two cars. Plus, if Sierra and her family needed to hurry and go on the run, leaving her car behind would probably be necessary.
Zach drove while Sierra directed him, pointing him over the bridge and down a forest road.
"So, how've you been?" Sierra asked after several moments of quiet. "Anything interesting going on besides the Army and passing along Gray's secret messages?" she added jokingly.
Zach chuckled, one hand on the wheel and the other propped up on the window. "Honestly, not really. I've gone on a few deployments, and when I'm not deployed I got a job at a small garage. I actually just got back from a deployment last week."
"So, nothing on the personal front? Girlfriends? Cute female truck driver caught your eye?" she continued joking, hoping it was coming off natural and not as awkward as it felt.
Zach smiled, but it seemed slightly forced. "Um, a few dates over the years, but…honestly, you were right. Back when we broke up, what you said to me." he added with a glance at her. She watched him worriedly. She really hoped they weren't going to have to trudge up all their past issues, but maybe that was inevitable. "You pointed out how we both have our own issues thanks to our parents, and it caused tension and fighting all the time. I saw it as you walking out on me like when my parents divorced, but…you were right. I still had a lot to work out and being in a relationship at that point wasn't healthy. For either of us."
Sierra nodded slowly, her eyes going to her knees. It was something that had been on her mind for years, not just in Zach's case but hers as well.
Zach had never been the best boyfriend-not that he was a bad boyfriend! But he never wanted to open himself up, he never wanted to talk about things or feelings. That was a main issue with his first girlfriend, Katy or Kim or whatever her name was. The girl who he'd been dating when they visited Jurassic World. The two had only been dating a week when he left for the park. She'd been overly clingy, saying 'I love you' on the first date, constantly messaging him and sending photos. And when he returned from the park she'd tried to be a good girlfriend, pushing him to talk about what happened. But at that time he didn't want to talk about what happened. Instead of being understanding and giving him time, she took it as him distancing himself from her. Safe to say, their relationship didn't last another week.
In Sierra's case, Zach was the only boyfriend she'd ever had. She didn't have the chance to meet guys when being "island-schooled" on Isla Nublar. And she started dating Zach not long after graduating high school. Then after they broke up, there was the whole volcano issue, which lead to her having to go into hiding. Not exactly the best lifestyle for meeting guys. But it was kind of the perfect lifestyle to try and sort out her own personal issues.
"So, what about you?" Zach asked after a long, tense silence.
"Kinda hard to date when you're a wanted fugitive." she joked lightly, causing Zach to snort.
"Fair enough." he conceded. "But I meant more with your raptors. You were always kind of obsessed with getting them off the island before the volcano blew up. And I honestly never heard if you saved them or not."
Sierra nodded. "We did. It was tricky, and we got double-crossed by some mercenaries Mills hired. And we almost got blown up a couple times." she joked slightly. "Long story short, we got betrayed, Blue got shot and the others got tranqed. Delta managed to get away and we got left to die. Then me, Owen, Claire, Franklin, and Delta managed to sneak onto the boat and we had to help save Blue from bleeding to death. Then there was the whole thing at Lockwood's estate. Basically ended with all four raptors running off into the woods."
There was a long silence as Zach seemed to process everything she just said, his eyes only slightly wide in shock as he nodded slowly.
"What about after?" he asked, glancing at her curiously. "They just disappeared? You haven't seen them since?"
Sierra slowly shook her head, staring blankly out the front windshield. "We would hear a few snippets about sightings over the first year or two, but…we haven't heard anything in the last couple years. No sightings or videos or news reports. No reported deaths that might have been them. I try not to think about them or worry too much, because I know they can take care of themselves and each other, but…"
"But it's hard not to worry." Zach guessed, making her glance at him. She wanted for a moment to apologize for the problems her obsession with her raptors had caused when they were together.
"I've had other things to worry about the last few years. It makes it easier to not obsess." she finally answered. Between working a job, taking college classes online while being in hiding with her family, and having a sort of adopted niece who was having some issues lately…Well, there was no shortage of things to worry about.
There wasn't much more small talk after that. Sierra mostly just directed Zach on which turns and forest paths to take until they were soon pulling into the large snowy clearing with a modest-sized cabin near a lake. She saw Owen outside working on his motorcycle, and she grimaced slightly when he instantly stood up at the sight of an unfamiliar vehicle. She probably should have called or texted him before just showing up with Zach.
She opened the door almost as soon as Zach slowed to a stop. "Calm down. It's okay." she called as she stepped out of the truck. "It's Zach."
As soon as she said his name, Zach was stepping out of the truck after parking and turning it off. Owen looked back and forth between his sister and Claire's nephew for a moment.
"Zach? What-how?" He shook his head slightly. "Wow, um, how're you doing?" Owen finally asked as the two shook hands.
"Not bad." Zach answered just as the front door opened. Sierra looked past her brother to see Claire standing warily in the doorway. Maisie was likely hidden somewhere inside until it was deemed safe.
"Zach?!" Claire finally called when she recognized her nephew. Almost instantly, she was running across the stretch of snow until her arms were wrapped tightly around Zach's broad shoulders. Zach had about four or five inches on his aunt, so when he returned the hug her toes briefly left the ground. "Oh my God! What are you doing here?!"
Zach laughed uncomfortably. "Um, that's a bit of a long story. And you might want to be sitting when I tell you. And you might want a beer."
Owen and Claire exchanged a wary glance before nodding and leading the way back to the cabin. Owen dropped back a step and tossed his arm around Sierra's shoulders.
"How did this morning go?" Sierra asked. Owen had gone out with Rosa and Shep, a couple members of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to try and catch some loose Parasaurolophus.
Owen sighed heavily. "Not great. We ran into some poachers who had us outnumbered. Had to let them take one or it would've been a gun fight."
Sierra sighed, nodding in understanding. Years ago, Owen would have risked the fight, refusing to let them take a dinosaur to kill or sell. But now he had Maisie, Sierra, and Claire to think about.
"Well, you smell like horse crap." she mumbled with a wrinkled nose. "Did you not shower when you got home?"
"I just got home." Owen complained.
"Like an hour ago." Claire countered over her shoulder.
"I was contemplating how to have a certain conversation later." Owen responded. At Sierra's curious glance, he lowered his voice so only Sierra and maybe Zach could hear. "Maisie went into town again today. I need to have a talk with her about it."
"I thought I saw her." Sierra hissed to herself. She'd caught a glimpse of who she thought was Maisie from one of the clinic windows that afternoon, but by the time she'd taken a second glance no one was there. The small town was just down the road and over a red bridge, but Maisie, for obvious reasons, wasn't supposed to go there. The town was full of good, decent people. But all it took was one person to recognize Maisie and seemingly try to do the right thing and call someone. "Do you want me to try and talk to her?" Sierra offered, looking up at her brother.
Owen sighed. "I have to try and talk to her. If it goes as poorly as I'm sure it will, you can have a go at it."
The conversation ended at that point as the group made their way up the porch steps and into the cabin. Maisie was waiting warily around the corner in the small living room, near the fireplace.
"Um, Maisie, this is my oldest nephew Zach. Zach, this is Maisie." Claire introduced the two. Zach stepped forward and offered his hand, which Maisie shook in return.
"Nice to officially meet you." Zach told her.
"Likewise." Maisie answered, her accented-tone still wary. "What's going on?" she asked the room, glancing among everyone.
"That's what Zach was hopefully going to explain." Owen answered. "You want a drink?" He offered, pulling a beer out of the fridge.
"Sounds good. And you might need one, too." Zach admitted.
"This doesn't sound like good news." Claire noted, taking a seat at the small kitchen table. Owen grabbed the beaten up armchair from the small living room and dragged it over so sit in so there were enough chairs. Maisie sat between Sierra and Owen, Claire sat on Owen's other side, and Zach sat between Sierra and Claire. Owen set beers down in front of Zach, Claire, and himself, while putting a bottle of Cola in front of Sierra.
Zach gave them basically the same explanation as what he said to Sierra earlier. Owen and Claire were understandably worried. Claire was worried for Gray, stating the same concerns Sierra did. And both were clearly worried about what this meant for Maisie.
Sierra's eyes went to Owen when there was a lull in the conversation. Her brother's elbows were propped up on the worn kitchen table, his hands cupped in front of his mouth as he stared blankly ahead, lost deep in thought.
"If they're closing in, we might have to consider leaving while we have a lead." Owen mumbled.
"Maisie, why don't you go outside." Claire suggested gently, resting her hand on Owen's while looking around him at Maisie.
"What? Why? This is about me. I have a right to be part of this." Maisie argued.
"No, Maisie, Claire's right." Owen cut in. "We need to discuss our next move. Can you, just, maybe chop some firewood or something? Please."
Maisie huffed, shoving her chair harshly back from the table before storming out. Sierra winced when the door slammed shut behind her. She watched out the window for a moment before getting up and going further into the kitchen. She grabbed the loaf of bread off the counter and grabbed sandwich fixings from the fridge, like cold meat and lettuce. She fixed up several quick sandwiches, all while making comments during the conversation. It was quickly decided that they would need to leave the cabin, but now they needed to decide when and where to go.
Sierra set a large plate of sandwiches down at the table. "I'm gonna go talk to Maisie." she murmured, taking a smaller plate with just a couple sandwiches with her. She got a few nods or murmurs of agreement before the door shut quietly behind her.
Across the small stretch of land, Maisie was rather violently chopping logs into smaller pieces. The young teen was clearly taking her frustrations out on the firewood. Sierra would admit to doing the same on occasion. She stopped and waited a few feet away. When there was a break in the rhythmic chopping, Sierra cleared her throat. Maisie paused and looked over her shoulder.
"What, did the secret planning committee close?" she asked sarcastically.
"Nah, it just got boring. So I made some sandwiches and left the planning up to them." Sierra answered. "Owen's got it pretty much covered. They're just trying to figure out when and where we're supposed to go." When Maisie continued to chop wood, Sierra wiggled the plate in her hand. "I got sandwiches. I put extra bacon on yours." she added temptingly. Maisie paused and looked at the plate for a long moment before sighing in defeat. She set the axe down and sat on one of the logs they had around the fire pit. Sierra sat next to her and held the plate, letting Maisie take her BLT with extra bacon off the plate. Sierra took a bite of her own sandwich, letting the silence linger for a bit while she chewed.
"I get that your frustrated. But they're just trying to do what's best for you." Sierra started quietly.
Maisie huffed. "I'm not a child. They don't have to keep shielding me from everything."
"I get it. But you're fourteen, and that's kinda that awkward between stage. You're not really a kid, but you're not quite a teenager, either. And there's a lot of serious stuff going on that they want to protect you from." Sierra explained.
"They don't need to shield me this much. I don't know hardly anything about the outside world because I've only been in this cabin for the last four years. And you three are the only people I've seen."
Sierra gave her a knowing look. "Not to mention the many illegal trips into town." she pointed out.
Maisie took a bite out of her sandwich, pointedly looking away from Sierra.
"Look, I get it. You were handed a raw deal. It sucks, I'm not arguing that. But if you want some truth…" she trailed off until Maisie finally looked at her, "There are some horrible people out there looking for you. People who don't care that you're a human being. People who are going to hurt you or experiment on you. There are some politicians, as in people who actually make the laws, who don't consider you a legal human being; they don't think you have the same human rights. They could do whatever they wanted to you and face little to no legal repercussions. Claire is going to kill me for telling you this, but you're right. You're not a kid anymore, unfortunately. You need to know that there are people who are out to hurt you."
Maisie swallowed a lump in her throat, looking down at her sandwich. "Did you feel trapped? Growing up on the island with Owen?"
Sierra took a deep breath as she thought about how to answer. The two had discussed Sierra's childhood a bit over the years, but certain details had always been left out. "Honestly, not really. But I was also a really weird kid." she joked slightly, earning a small smile from Maisie. "Looking back, I do kinda wish I'd met more kids my age back then. But honestly, I think I was more isolated living with my parents. At least living with Owen, I got out and socialized. Granted, it was mostly with older interns and scientists at the raptor paddock. But with my parents, I couldn't really have friends at all." Sierra looked down at her plate, feeling Maisie stare at the side of her face. "Can't really get close to people, or they start asking 'where'd you get that bruise?', 'why are you limping?', you know, those sort of things."
Maisie frowned slightly. She knew the basics of Sierra's abusive parents, but she'd been spared most of the gory details.
"So, anyway, I can tell you that sometimes life kinda sucks. But sometimes it's not so bad. I mean, my dad was an abusive prick. Your whole life got turned upside down in a single night." she smiled sympathetically at Maisie, who returned it with a slight nod. "But life's not so terrible here, is it? We hike and fish, we have a lake all to ourselves for swimming in the summer. We have bonfires right outside our door to roast marshmallows."
Maisie laughed. "Yeah, I suppose that's true." She sighed. "I just kinda wish my whole world wasn't confined within theses woods. I want to get out there and see things and meet people. Zach's the first new face I've seen in four years."
Sierra sighed. "Yeah, I get it. And hey, maybe now you'll get to see things and meet people, since it seems like we'll have to leave."
"Yeah, I guess so." Maisie agreed before grinning slightly. "So,…is that the same Zach you dated?"
Sierra's tan skin wasn't enough to conceal her blush. She reached over and lightly shoved Maisie's shoulder while the teen laughed. "Oh my God, shut up! Yes, that's the same Zach, but stop."
"What? I was just asking a question." Maisie grinned. "He's cute."
"Okay, no." Sierra pointed an index finger in the girl's face. "You're not old enough to think boys are cute. You're supposed to still think boys have cooties. If Owen hears you say that, he'll get out his rifle for target practice." Maisie was laughing hysterically while Sierra was barely containing her own laughter. "But yes, I suppose he did get a little more attractive." she admitted quietly before taking a bite of her sandwich.
The two laughed a bit harder at Sierra's admission. Sierra lifted her sandwich to take another bite when a sudden rustling followed by a couple squeaks drew her attention to the trees and bushes nearby. She froze, the sandwich partway to her mouth. Judging by Maisie's sudden silence, the teen must have seen the same thing.
Standing slowly, Sierra set her plate down on the log before taking a couple steps toward the trees.
"Is that-?" Maisie whispered, standing a step behind Sierra.
"Baby raptors." Sierra whispered, her eyes fixed on the two baby velociraptors standing just outside of the trees. The two babies were shifting anxiously on their feet, looking between the two humans. "Maisie, give me some bacon." she whispered. She heard the shuffling behind her as the teen grabbed the plate with the sandwiches on it. Then a couple strips of bacon were shoved into Sierra's open palm.
"Hi." she spoke gently, careful not to use some kind of baby voice with the raptors. She just wanted a calm tone, not a baby-talk kind of voice. "It's okay. I've got some food you'll like." she said, waving the bacon a bit closer.
"That one looks just like Blue." Maisie whispered.
"Almost exactly." Sierra agreed. One of the baby raptors did look like a mini Blue. It had blue-gray skin with a tan belly and stripes that went from it's eyes to the tip of it's tail. But when it hopped closer, Sierra could tell the stripes weren't quite a metallic blue like Blue's stripes, they were more of a teal color, with a hint of green in the stripes.
The other baby looked very different. It had teal skin with a tan belly and lower jaw. It's head was a slightly different shape due to the little nodules on it's nose, in front of it's eyes. And it had stripes like the other baby, but they were white. And it had little quills on the back of it's head.
"Come on. It's okay." Sierra took a step closer, holding the bacon out, one in each hand. The two babies shifted on their feet, eyeing the strips of bacon with their noses twitching. They chittered at each other, making the occasional squawk. Finally, the bluer one took a step closer. Then, it lunged up and snatched a piece of bacon from Sierra's left hand. Her fingers barely avoided going with the bacon. Sierra barely had time to recover before the other one jumped up and took the other piece from Sierra's right hand. The meat was swallowed in less than a second.
"Whoa. You definitely take after your mothers." Sierra muttered, taking a step back. She smiled slightly, watching the two sniff around in search for more food. Then movement in the trees just past the babies wiped the smile from Sierra's face.
"Maisie, get behind me." Sierra ordered quietly, putting her left arm slightly back and to the side to keep herself between the teen and the adult raptors that stepped out of the trees.
Blue screeched, stepping farther out of the trees. The two baby raptors instantly whirled around and ran back to the adults, one weaving around Blue's feet and the other bumping noses with Delta before both scurried even further back until they were tucked behind Charlie's feet. Blue and Delta placed themselves firmly between Charlie and the babies, and Maisie and Sierra.
"Maisie, Sierra, don't move." Sierra almost relaxed at the sound of her brother's voice. In her peripheral vision she saw Owen come up on her left, his left hand stretched out toward the pack. "Hey, girls. You stayin' outta trouble?" he asked the raptors quietly.
"They had babies. How is that possible?" Maisie asked. Blue responded with a loud screech. Delta crouched a bit while Charlie took a step back, nudging the babies farther into the trees.
Owen pointed sternly at Blue. "Back up." he ordered firmly, earning a growl.
"They won't hurt us, will they?" Maisie asked, likely remembering their last run-in with the pack at the manor. But Sierra wasn't so sure that was the case anymore. They hadn't seen the raptors in about four years. And now they had young to protect. And who knew what the pack had gone through in the last four years in a completely new environment?
"Damn right, they will." Owen echoed Sierra's thoughts. "Just breathe. If you don't, they'll think you're scared."
"I am scared." Maisie responded, the slightest tremor in her voice.
"They don't need to know that." Owen told her.
Sierra's eyes moved to Charlie, who was hidden partially by the trees. Even the most laidback of the pack seemed on edge. Instead of pushing her sister by trying to approach the humans or looking for food, Charlie was staying well back with the babies behind her. She was protecting the babies while Blue and Delta protected the whole pack.
Owen shook his head silently at Blue. The Beta took a step back, cawing at her pack. Instantly, Delta turned and lead the way back into the trees. Charlie followed with the babies, and Blue brought up the rear.
"They have to have a nest nearby." Owen noted. "The young can't be more than four months old. Get back inside, I'm going to follow them."
"Wait." Sierra grabbed his arm to stop him. "It's getting dark." she pointed out with a glance at the sky. "You can't wander off out there in the dark, they'll hunt you down before you know you've found them. Especially if you follow them right off the bat like that, they'll feel hunted and threatened, especially with babies. Let's let them go for now, we're not due to get anymore snow. We can follow them in the morning. We'll be more prepared. Plus, this adds on to what we have to think about."
Owen sighed, nodding his head. "Do we go ahead with our plan to leave, knowing we're leaving them here to possibly be found?" he asked rhetorically.
"Let's get back inside. We have some more planning to work out." Sierra insisted, putting a hand on Maisie's shoulder to urge her back to the cabin.
"Did you notice what else I noticed?" Owen asked as he followed the girls to the cabin, his hand finding Sierra's back to urge her ahead.
"I noticed quite a few things. But there is one thing that stuck out." Sierra looked back and met Owen's eyes over her shoulder. "Where was Echo?"
AN: Ooh! Lots revealed in this chapter! Any guesses or theories? On the second baby raptor, or where Echo might be? A lot can happen in four years, who knows what might have happened to the pack?
