A/N
Hey everyone! Today is the end of the hiatus, so expect an overload of stories today. Here's the fourth installment to this story. WARNING: this story is going to be over very soon. But, it's not over yet, so keep enjoying it! To know when story updates are coming, and to get news on breaks, join the discord server. Info is in the profile, or find a link to the lobby through the below link.
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Big thanks to my bed. I like sleep. I need more sleep. Here's to sleep.
….
Chapter 4
Michelle's eyes fluttered open. There was a patch on sunlight on the floor, shining through the blankets. Her mind was still groggy from sleep, she couldn't figure out where she was.
Then, the ground started to rumble. A brachiosaurus bellowed nearby, making Lawrence stir from his sleep.
Michelle sat up as best she could under the tables as Lawrence eyed her with confusion, eyes going slack with shock as the previous day's events flashed through his mind.
She crawled out from under the table and stretched, replaying everything that had happened.
How could things have gone so wrong?
The monorail crashed, Mr. L was dead, they had had three encounters with two very angry and hungry Tyrannosaurus Rexes, which were probably hunting them now, a Dilophosaurus encounter, and the snake bite.
Yesterday felt so long, and yet had gone by in a flash at the same time. So much had happened…
And they were STILL lost in the jungle, with no viable exits, barely any supplies, and another crisis in the main park, meaning no help was coming for them.
They were alone.
Forgotten by all except those who could do nothing.
Abandoned by the ones they thought cared most.
Not exactly a dream vacation, or a ringing endorsement for their families.
Michelle shook her head as Lawrence crawled out and stood next to her.
He kept his voice low so as to not disturb the kids, "What's our plan, the next move? What do we do?"
She sighed, "Get Darcy another shot of anti-venom and anti-biotics. Get everyone fed. Gather up all the supplies and see if we can scrounge anything else up from the building. You said the radio doesn't work here?"
He nodded, "Yeah. The transmitter is way too old, and it's been knocked out by years of erosion and dinosaur activity. We can only receive information. I've got good news though."
"What?"
"Theres a bunker about halfway between here and the old visitor's center. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's anywhere from a mile to two miles away. They have power, plenty of supplies, both medical and protection-wise, and most importantly, a transmitter that can't be taken down, powered off of solar panels, not to mention solar powered satellite phones and walkie-talkies that we might be able to hail someone on."
Her eyes lit up, "We can at least call our parents and tell them what happened and see if they can get a private team out to find us."
"Just one problem." He took his glasses off, polishing then on the hem of his shirt, "Because we believe theres already a crisis going on, reception might be bad, not to mention the fact that all lines might be busy from so many people calling for help."
Michelle groaned, rubbing her face.
"And there's also the issue of why the crisis is happening in the first place: that escaped dinosaur. I couldn't find any information on where it escaped from, the computers were too old to hack through that many layers of encryption. But, following reports of where it has been sighted, I believe I traced the origin back to about three miles northwest of here, with a half mile margin of error. And that was pretty difficult to do. The creature appears to be erratic, zig-zagging to the east and west, sometimes heading back north for a quick jaunt. But overall, it seems to be heading south to the main park."
"Oh, great. Any other good news you have for me?"
He straightened his glasses, "Besides the dinosaur that escaped and could possibly be in our area right now? Yes. The rexes are possibly hunting us right now. And Dilophosaurus hunt in packs. That one has a family. They're assumed to hunt down those who hurt the group, so we possibly have a group of venomous dinosaurs hunting us."
"And how big are the packs?"
"Dr. Alan Grant theorized they could be anywhere from ten closely knit Dilophosaurus, to 45 members. So, on average, our group might be around 27. That's of course a hypothesis, and it could be less. Or more. Theres a large margin of error here."
"Why do we always have error margins? This is life or death! We need to be sure of ourselves! If we're wrong, we could DIE. We can't be taking any chances!"
"Oh, I'm SORRY! How about from now on, you do all the calculating, and I'll be sitting over in the corner saying we need 100% in our favor!"
"Oh, excuse me! Excuse me for trying TO GET US OUT OF HERE ALIVE!"
"I'm trying to help out too, so maybe stop acting like EVERYTHING is MY fault, and maybe let's work together so we don't all DIE!"
Michelle growled and took a step towards her cousin, but a small cough made the two look over to the table.
The kids, excepting Darcy, had lined up in front of the table and were staring at the cousins with huge eyes full of fear.
Lawrence cleared his throat, "Uhmm… good morning kids? ... Uh… how did you sleep?"
Scott stared at them sadly, "You two were arguing."
Michelle laughed nervously, "Well… I mean… maybe? Alright, look-"
"Are we going to die?"
Lawrence started, "What?! Absolutely not! None of us are going to die! We're all going to be fine. Hopefully. Most definitely. Maybe. Certainly. The answer is yes. But also no, but most assuredly yes."
Michelle elbowed him, then smiled at the kids, "Everything is fine. We were only arguing because we're tired from all that's happened so far. But all is well. Lawrence and I are going to get you all out of here, and back to your families so you can go safely home."
The kids seemed to relax a bit, moving out of their line to mill about the room, avoiding the walls and cabinets in fear of hidden snakes. Michelle pulled Darcy to sit on the table.
Unfastening the tourniquet, she surveyed the area. Mild bruising, some dried blood, and a tiny patch of yellowish-green skin around the wound. She cleaned the area again, making sure not to agitate it too much. Grabbing two new needles, she shot Darcy up with more anti-venom and anti-biotics.
Maneuvering Darcy into a chair, Michelle sat everyone down, pulling out some jerky and passing it out. Lawrence walked into the room, arms full of dusty, old looking metal cans.
He handed them to Michelle, "Its fruit. Back then they had airtight seals, so maybe we can open one up and see if they're any good. I mean… its only 20 years old."
Michelle smiled tiredly, taking the can opener he handed her and cracking the can open. The smell of fruit salad drifted out. She found some small cups and carefully dished out the contents, checking and double checking each individual piece for any signs of decay or rot before doling it out to the kids.
She sighed and sat down, head in hands, utterly tired. Lawrence sat next to her, gently patting her back in solidarity. Michelle chuckled softly, nodding to her cousin.
The kids happily tucked into their fruit, but looked up in fear when the ground started to rumble. The cousins looked up, then smiled as they heard the brachiosaurus roar again.
Michelle turned to the kids, "Don't worry guys. Just a brachiosaur. Veggie eater. They're slow, so the only danger they pose to us is stepping on us, and we'd be able to move out of the way before that happens. Go back to your fruit."
They nodded, turning back to their plates. Lawrence stood, stretched, then went right back to his tech room, possibly to see if he could gather any more information. Michelle watched him close the door, the stood up herself, stretching, the searching each cabinet in the room.
She mostly found spiders, bugs, and bug droppings. She didn't find any more food, but she found bullets, and an old version of the cattle prods used during the original park. They already had all the medical supplies in the room, and it didn't seem like there was anything else to find.
Michelle sat down, fitting the bullets, a machete and various knives she also found, rifle, and cattle prod into a harness, fitting it around her torso.
Blaire giggled at her, "You look like you're in the army!"
She looked down. Her clothes were torn, and covered in brown and green stains, similar to camouflage. She had no idea how stringy or mussed up her hair was, but it stood to figure it wasn't likely to win her L'Oréal Girl of the Year. With the weapons strapped to her back, she looked like a warrior.
Not a strong, or even a confident, warrior, but a capable one. One who would do what was necessary to complete her mission. And that mission, God help her, was to keep 12 little kids alive in the most God-forsaken place she ever had the misfortune to visit.
Michelle chuckled, brushing a lock of ratty brown hair out of her face, only of it to fall back. She took her shirt, ripped the end of it off, and tied her hair back, commando style.
She smiled at the kids, "Just need a black marker to make some marks under my eyes and we're all set!"
Josh tossed her a tiny item from the desk. Michelle caught it, then smirked.
A black marker.
She uncapped it, swiping it across her cheek bones while the kids clapped and giggled. Lawrence stepped out of his room to see the commotion, and before he could duck out of the way, got two war stripes for himself.
He growled at his cousin, swatted her, and disappeared back into the blackness lit only by screens. Michelle turned to the kids, smirking, and winked at them, giving a thumbs up. The kids giggled more, watching her continue her search, having eaten everything.
She stopped at the door, peering out. The car was still there, and seemed to have sustained no damage from the previous night. She could just see the partially squashed form of the Dilophosaurus she shot, mostly because it was being swarmed by Compies.
Michelle shuddered, picturing her own body in its place, being picked apart bit by bit, until only the pieces the Compies didn't want, along with her bones, were left to be stepped on.
She was so lost in thought, she didn't notice that they had stopped eating, and were all staring up and into the forest.
But she did notice when they all ran away in the direction of the building the group was in.
Michelle's spine went stiff, every sense on alert, the hairs on the back of her neck tingling.
Something was out there.
Something dangerous enough to scare the Compies.
The forest was silent, save for the rustling of trees and bushes. No impact tremors or heavy breathing to alert them to a Rex attack.
No Brachio moans, no anything.
But something was out there, hunting them.
Or searching…
But she couldn't see anything. The only thing moving was the bushes and leaves high up on the trees, and the only sound was the faint rustling of leaves through the cracks in the door.
Her hand crept to the handle of the machete stuck in the waistband of her tattered jeans.
Nothing but the bushes…
A bright green streak zipped through the forest behind the body. She gripped the handle so hard her knuckles went white, eyes searching the forest even harder.
A minute went by, then two, then three.
She didn't see the streak again, nothing stepped out into the clearing, and nothing made any noise that could be heard through the walls or above the wind.
Michelle stood as still as a rock, deathly silent, barely breathing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing…
WAIT!
The streak appeared again, closer to the body. Michelle could just make out a head, tail, and a blur of legs.
The bushes at the edge of the clearing rustled violently. Her eyes narrowed.
That was definitely not the wind.
A Dilophosaurus stepped out, edging closer to the body. It was huge. Michelle's heart skipped a beat as more and more poured out of the jungle, all smaller than the first one.
Lawrence was right.
The creature had a pack.
The alpha nuzzled the body, tipping its head back and wailing in what seemed to be grief.
The kids looked up in shock as Lawrence raced out of his room in panic. He stepped towards Michelle, who waved him down.
Her eyes went back to the window. They were circling the van, sniffing it. The alpha was still nuzzling the body and wailing. Two smaller Dilophosaurus came from the bushes, sniffed at the body, and curled at the sides of the alpha.
"That was his mate."
Michelle started at Lawrence's breathless words. He had snuck up next to her and was watching the whole scene unfold. She turned back to the window and felt a small pang of regret.
It had a family.
A husband, sort of.
Kids.
A home.
A community.
And she killed it.
She cut down a woman in cold blood. Would that happen to her? Was the creature her age? Or was she more like her mother? What would happen to the children now that their mother was dead?
She lost herself in thought and remorse, not noticing when Lawrence let out a hiss of alarm and backtracked away from the door. A Dilophosaurus threw itself at the window, scratching and hissing, making her yelp and fall backwards.
All thoughts of pity and sadness vanished from her mind.
These were wild animals.
They wanted to destroy her, Lawrence, and all the kids huddled at the table.
The first one may have been a mother, but so was Michelle.
And she had children to protect.
So that was what she was going to do.
Lawrence grabbed her arm as it moved to unlatch the door, "Uh, Michelle? Just what the FUCK do you think you're doing?"
She glared at him as he took a step back at her expression.
"I'm getting everyone out of here alive."
She unlatched the door, throwing it open. The Dilophosaurus scratching at the door lept for her throat, but in a quick movement, she drew the cattle prod from its harness, striking a heavy blow on its head.
It fell to the ground, a gaping wound in its skull. She stepped forward into the clearing, sneakers sinking slightly into the damp ground.
All the Dilophosaurs were watching her now.
The alpha stood, nudging the babies into the bushes behind him. He stalked forward, the group parting for him.
The two eyed each other angrily, squaring off.
It raised it frills and spat venom at her, but she just squatted.
The alpha had lept a few seconds after it shot the poison, so she rose, putting all her strength into an uppercut with the cattle prod.
The blow was tremendous, the creature's neck snapping from the force, flying back several feet, landing next to the other body, the one of its mate.
A tiny part of her brain snickered at the poetry of them dying next to each other, but she was mostly focused on the rest of the pack, now roaring angrily, raising their frills.
She dodged as almost fifty splashes of venom flew at her, splattering on the walls. She thumbed the prod to the highest setting, beyond legal for today's standards.
A killing shock.
The prod glowed, plasma arcs jumping between the spokes, humming audibly, vibrating in her hand.
She raised it in front of her, growling, "Come at me you little shits."
They roared and lept at her.
And she lept back.
Swinging the prod in wild arcs, she slammed some out of the way, electrocuting others.
She carved a bloody path through the pack, kicking a good many in the jaws, dislocating them. Venom covered the ground and the walls. Corpses surrounded her, and the ground was starting to get slippery from all the blood spilled.
But Michelle kept going, a snarl fixed on her face. Eventually, the remaining ten Dilophosaurs decides to be smart and retreat. She stared after them angrily, blood pumping in her ears, vision swimming from anger.
When the bushes stopped moving, she smirked, raising her head up to the sky and howling in triumph, every inch a primal woman protecting her children from a savage beast.
Then, the fatigue from battle caught up to her, and her arms fell limp, the prod dropping down to graze the ground, still active.
Lawrence sidled up to her, avoiding the bodies, "Are you… are you ok?"
She nodded, breath labored, looking over the carnage. A small part of her was amazed. How was she even standing, much less without a single scratch on her body?
She heard a tiny 'fwoomph' and looked down. The venom that had dripped on the ground had caught fire. She watched unattached as it travelled slowly towards the building.
Lawrence yelped, shoving everyone and their supplies into the van. Michelle stood there, head cocked, watching the progress of the flames.
Lawrence smacked her upside the head, snapping her out of it.
"AHH!" she glared at her cousin, "What?!"
"Michelle.", he grabbed her by the shoulders, staring deep in her eyes, "The building is rigged to explode. We need to go. NOW."
She shook her head, nodded, then grabbed the keys from his hand, dashing into the van, putting the key into the ignition before she was even fully seated.
They started off with a jolt, speeding away as fast they could.
It had maybe been a minute when a huge explosion rocked the forest, sending debris flying after them, trees and bushes leaning forward from the shockwave.
The car jolted from the impact, but kept going. Michelle kept her death grip on the wheel and foot planted to the floor. Lawrence turned in his seat, checking on the kids. They looked around the car at each other.
Then one giggled. Suddenly the car was filled with laughter and whooping. Michelle managed a small smile as Lawrence gently punched her shoulder.
They were out.
They were out.
They were safe.
They were going home.
She sighed in relief.
Everything was going to be all right.
They were safe now.
She turned, smiling, to say something, when something struck the van.
Everyone screamed as the vehicle veered slightly off course. Michelle wrestled the steering wheel back under control, checking the mirrors.
A giant… thing was on the road behind them. It roared and chased after them.
Lawrence stared at his mirror in amazement, "What IS that thing? It looks like a T-Rex was dipped in X-Men mutagen!"
"Stop being amazed Lawrence!"
"But look at it! It's magnificent! It must have been lying in wait for us. An ambush predator. That suggests a high level of intelligence. And look at that snout!"
"I'm not going to look at its snout! That's where the teeth are! The teeth that want to EAT us!"
"Seriously! Look! It's in the shape of a rex, but it's much slimmer and longer, and has more teeth, ground to a finer point."
"Oh, so you're saying it can kill us easier. GREAT."
He straightened his glasses, "This isn't a prehistoric dinosaur. This is something new… a hybrid maybe?"
Michelle tried pushing the pedal further into the floor, jerking the wheel slightly to avoid an attack, "Well, we know from our research the head scientists were creating a new dinosaur by the end of the year. They have created hybrids before, but not many are in the actual park. We know that a dinosaur escaped in this relative area, and it was highly classified."
"I think we found our escapee." He turned, eyeing the snout as it slammed into the back of the van, "If it is a hybrid, I'd say the base genome is definitely a T-rex. Carnotaurus or Allosaurus would have giant horns. Spinosaurus has the sail. Definitely Rex DNA."
Michelle stayed focused on the road, trying to dodge the attacks, and not being successful, "And why do we want to know what it is?"
"If we know what it is, we know how to escape it, or fight it."
"Why would we want to FIGHT it?!"
"Just a suggestion!"
"A terrible one!"
"Oh shut up."
He turned back to the creature, doing its best to get the van open, luckily, Lawrence had made sure it was completely locked and secured after the first rex attack. The doors rattled with the rest of the car, but nothing flew open.
"It's like a monster rex…"
"Is this supposed to make us feel better, Lawrence?"
"We should call it the MON-Rex!"
"Oh yes! We should be naming it while it wants to EAT US!"
"We can't just call it a dinosaur!"
"Then name it fucking Larry and help me get us the fuck out of here!"
"How am I supposed to do anything? You're the one behind the wheel!"
"I don't know! Calm the kids, find a flare and distract the thing, just fucking shoot it! Do something! Literally anything that doesn't involve any of us dying is an acceptable plan!"
"Oh yes, I'm sure the kids will listen!" he turned to the kids, a big smile on his face, "Hey kids! Don't worry! Everybody calm down. We are NOT about to die!"
They started screaming louder and shriller as the MON-Rex hit the van again.
Lawrence turned back to the front, shrugging, "Whelp, I tried. Didn't work."
"Oh fuck off! You didn't try shit!"
She successfully dodged an attack. The MON-Rex slowed down, roared, and then disappeared into the forest, flawlessly blending into its surroundings like a chameleon.
Lawrence stared after it, "Did you see that?! It just disappeared!"
"They must have filled the gaps in the sequence with something amphibian or reptilian that can change color."
Lawrence leaned back in his seat, "Well, now we know how it escaped. It camouflaged itself from view, then snuck out. And that's how it snuck up on us, it hid in plain sight."
"Should we be worried about what it's going to do?"
"No. from the behaviors it just displayed, we escaped, and should be well on our way to escaping."
"Are you sure?"
"Positively."
They turned to the road, speeding the van up a tiny bit. Michelle noticed that the trees well ahead of them were shaking violently, but not on the other side of the road. And nothing else was moving around those two trees. It wasn't the wind.
She didn't have the time to contemplate it before they were at the spot. She noticed a slight distortion in the air, like a massive wave of evaporation on a hot day.
The MON-Rex suddenly shifted back into view: right in front of them.
Michelle yelped, going to slam on the brakes.
She was too late.
They slammed into it full force, being thrown forwards, only to be pushed back as the air bags deployed. They sat groaning for several seconds, trying to clear their heads. They looked up to see a giant amber eye staring at them from outside the windshield.
Michelle stayed still, trying to keep her voice low and steady as the kids whimpered, "All right everyone. Stay quiet and stay still. If this thing is part rex, it gives us the possibility that it won't see or hear us."
"Uhh… Michelle?"
"What is it Lawrence?"
"The other main part of the genome. I know what it is."
"What?"
"I think it's… velociraptor."
She let out a shaky breath, "Oh shit."
The MON-Rex nudged the van, making it rock a little. It roared, spit flying onto the windshield, teeth so close to their faces.
It climbed onto the car, making it groan and sink a tiny bit into the still damp ground.
"Don't worry everyone! The door is latched, theres no handles on the outside, and the top and sides are armored. Besides, the windows are bulletproof, so-"
Its claws smashed through the windows. Shattered glass rained on the floor and the heads of the kids, who ducked, screaming. Looking up at the claws that scraped right above their heads, they screamed more, thrashing in an attempt to get out of the way.
Michelle's hand went to her seatbelt as the creature jumped off.
It hooked its claws back into the windows, tugging with enormous force. The car groaned and started to shift towards the beast.
Michelle's eyes went wide as she stared at Lawrence, "It can't tip us over, can it?"
He gripped the chair, eyes closed, "It broke through bullet proof glass like it was nothing. It disappears into thin air. It lays traps and tricked us. I think we can assume that it can do pretty much whatever it wants, and we can't stop it."
The vehicle groaned more, leaning so far it started an almost slow fall to the ground. Everyone grunted at the impact, shifting in their seats with the gravity. The MON-Rex sniffed at the side now pointed at the sky, then at the exposed bottom.
Then, it started to pull the van again. The creaking intensified as it shifted more, the top now under them, sinking slowly into the mud.
The kids couldn't scream anymore, and were now reduced to whimpering.
They could feel the tremors in the ground as the creature stalked around them, growling, sniffing. They could hear its heavy breathing and the titanic footsteps.
It plunged its claws into the bottom on the transport, avoiding the engine, still red-hot from running, giant spike emerging right next to the legs of the kids in the back.
They found they still had the ability to scream.
They thrashed and screamed in their seats, upside down, as the claws retracted.
Michelle undid her belt and fell hard to the bottom of the car. Crawling back to the kids, not waiting for Lawrence, who was struggling with his belt, she started unhooking the kids, turning a tiny shade of red, gently lowering them to the ground.
She and Lawrence worked quickly, getting all the kids down, then huddling them in the center, close to the engine, where the hot pipes gave them some protection.
Michelle brushed hair away from Darcy's face, who was leaning against her, "Ok everybody. No talking, no moving. Deep, slow, and quiet breaths. If we're lucky, it'll think it killed us and move on after it loses interest. In for a count of four, breath out for a count of eight to lower your heart rate. We're going to be fine."
She looked up as the claws came back in and the MON-Rex roared ferociously.
"We're going to be fine." she breathed, "We're going to be fine."
The creature stalked around them, nudging it violently, making the passenger jolt inside. For half an hour, it attempted to get in at them, but the still-hot engine protected them.
Eventually, they heard it roar, then felt retreating footsteps.
Michelle and Lawrence looked at each other.
It was leaving.
But was it preparing for a massive attack, or leaving for real, having lost interest in something not moving or making noise?
She looked up at the holes showing filtered sunlight.
They would wait and see.
They heard it roar once more, in the distance, then nothing but wind.
It was gone, for now.
But they stayed huddled on the floor.
Better safe than sorry.
