Chapter Five

MIA SNAPPED AWAKE, squinting in the early morning light. The sun was out and shone into the emergency bunker from the lone window on the door. It was stuffy, almost stagnant in the bunker and the harsh light revealed specks of dust floating in the air.

Mia sat up quickly, scrambling to her feet. She heard the Tyrannosaurus. She sprinted up the stairs and to the window – skidding to halt two feet from it. She worried about being seen by the creature, but curiosity was stronger. She inched to the small window, straining to see out.

It sounded close. So close. The roar was almost ear piercing. It must have been right here…

She thought about opening the door – cracking it to see outside, but she reasoned against it. She held her breath and listened. She could faintly hear something moving – something big, inside a building. A rhythmic thumping. She had heard it before and knew what it was. It was the Tyrannosaurus.

Her heart raced, and her stomach dropped. "Oh, shit." She muttered instinctively. "Oh, shit. Shit!"

She scrambled back to the basement of the bunker, her hands shaking. The dinosaurs had gotten loose, or at least the Rex had. It was a twenty-foot tall, forty-foot-long predator. She knew what it was capable of – she knew what all the dinosaurs were capable of. She began to worry about the others. Were there any others?

She ran up to the door again, listening intently – pressing her face against the glass to see outside…

She heard a different thumping. Smaller, distant. This was no dinosaur – it was a helicopter. Frantic, Mia tried to crouch and investigate the sky from inside the bunker. Were they leaving? She started to sweat. She had to see…

She cracked the door open, cautiously inching it open, checking her surroundings. She kept one foot inside the doorway and leaned out, looking into the sky.

A small dot was moving – it was the helicopter Hammond used. She could barely see it as it flew away from the island, the thumping of the blades getting quieter and quieter. Mia felt her blood getting hot as she quietly leaned back inside the bunker and closed the door. Once inside, she locked it tight and tried to control herself.

"Fuck!" She blurted out as she slammed her fist into her thigh. It made her feel better, but she quickly regretted making a loud noise. She ran down to the basement and took the phone off the hook. There was a dial tone.

Her heart skipped a beat as she dialed the extension for the Control Room. The phone rang. She held her breath. It kept ringing.

She hung up and tried again. It kept ringing far too long for her comfort. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she tried the extension for the Ranger Station – the Garage – the Lodge – hell, even the Kitchen.

It just rang indefinitely. She was breathing too fast now, and she took a moment to calm down. "Okay," she said, "okay."

She tried hard to think; to clear her mind. Was that the only helicopter? Most of the staff traveled to and from the island via ferry or freighter ship, but Hammond had a helicopter that he preferred to use. It allowed investors a more scenic and awe-inspiring route as they approached the park. Mia was sure that Hammond's was the only helicopter.

They left me. She began to shake. They don't know I'm here.

Her mind raced as she tried to think of how she could get off the island. She reached for her cigarettes, struggling to light one with her trembling hands.

She heard the Tyrannosaurus again, and she threw the unlit cigarette on the ground as she ran to the bunker door. She looked out the window and could see the giant dinosaur walking away from the Visitor Center, into the jungle.

She muttered to herself as she tried to think. There were phones in the Visitor Center that could contact the mainland, and she could use them to call for help. There was also the North Dock, which was rarely used but outfitted for cargo ships. She couldn't remember when the next ship was supposed to dock, but there would probably be a manifest inside the Control Room. Her last option would be the East Dock, which was more frequently used and also outfitted for cargo ships. But there would be – hopefully – two or three of the Ranger's boats there.

The Ranger team had several vehicles – most notably the small fleet of gas-powered Jeep Wranglers. They were numbered 1-29, although the first nine weren't on the island. They had either been sold off or sent for repair. The three Triceratops had a habit of trying to ram the vehicles any time the Rangers entered their enclosure. Dr. Harding had the idea of painting bright red stripes across the Jeeps to discourage this behavior – and it seemed to work. Something about the contrasting colors spooked the animals enough to keep them at bay but not panic them. The Rangers painted all their vehicles this way, including the Starcraft Islander boats they used in the rivers and near the shoreline of the island.

If luck was on her side, there would be at least one of the four Islander boats at the East Dock. The easiest way there was to follow the access road from the Visitor Center.

She mulled it over for a moment, grabbed her flashlight, and headed toward the door.

Kelly and his men kept quiet as they treaded the jungle, headed for a hilltop to gain a good viewpoint. Their earth-toned and olive-green civilian clothes blended quite well with the environment. This wasn't a coincidence: they had worn those colors specifically knowing that they might need to camouflage themselves on the island.

They stalked through the jungle in a staggered line, careful not to step on too many branches or dead leaves. From the top of the hill, they could see a mile or so in every direction. As they took cover in the dense trees, Mathews took out a pair of small binoculars and surveyed the land.

Kelly shifted his weight as he knelt. "What's the word, Mathews?"

"Still can't see shit." Mathews sighed as he brought the binoculars down. "I don't see anything besides the damn trees."

Kelly sighed – but all the men began to hear something. They straightened their postures and shouldered their weapons. A low thumping sound began to cut through the air. Kelly paused for a moment. "That a chopper?"

"Sounds like, boss." Davies replied. They scanned the skies, looking for the vehicle. Mathews brought his binoculars up to his eyes again.

"There." He said as he pointed a finger to the east. The other men brought their rifles to their eyes, looking through the scopes.

"I'll be damned." Briggs added.

"Gimme an ID?" Kelly asked impatiently.

Mathews squinted into the binoculars. "Agusta. A109, I think. Small blue logo on the side. I-something."

"InGen?"

"Could be. Headed east. To the mainland if I had to guess."

Briggs chimed in, "Staff, you think?"

Kelly shrugged. "Hopefully not our guy Nedry being flown to prison." He spit his gum out into the dirt. "Head to the point of origin."

"Copy that." Mathews said as he took mental notes about the layout of the land. "Ready when you are."

"Yep." Kelly got to his feet and shifted his vest. "Let's go."

Mia approached the Ranger Station, pausing after every step to take stock of her surroundings. The impact tremors from the Tyrannosaurus' footsteps had faded deep into the jungle, and Mia felt she was safe from it for the moment. She had no way of knowing what other dinosaurs had escaped, and she did not want to take any chances.

She kept her ears trained on the sounds of the island – right now, all she heard were various bird calls and small critters in the leaf litter.

She finally made it to the Station, and she carefully walked around the edge of the building to the front. She glanced up to look at the lights that lined the roof, but they were off. Makes sense, she thought. They were automated lights and turned on when the ambient light level was low enough – during nighttime or storms and it was bright daylight now.

She rounded the corner and tiptoed to the front door – trying to enter her employee number as quietly as possible on the keypad. She was overjoyed to see the green light come on, and she caught herself almost shouting in relief. She deftly swung the handle down and opened the door, silently shutting it behind her.

Now that she was inside the Station, she let out a sigh. The overhead lights were on, and various computer screens were lit up – although they displayed a black screen with white text:

PRESS ANY KEY TO START

She ignored the computers and went straight down the hall to the stockroom. She quietly opened this door as well, pausing to hear if anything was inside before swinging it completely open and walking in.

This was the prize. The walls were lined with Ranger equipment: flashlights, first aid kits, medicine cabinets, refrigerated medicines and compounds, tranquilizers, and four tranquilizer guns.

She walked directly to the tranquilizer guns and took one off the wall rack. She slung it across her chest, opening the bolt on the butt of the stock and putting one of the tranquilizer darts inside. She closed the bolt and looked back to the equipment.

She opened a small plastic case and placed eight more tranquilizer darts in the foam padding before closing it. She took another plastic case and filled it with vials of the tranquilizer reversal agent as well. She carried both with her to the other side of the room, where there were military-styled pouches on a shelf. She took a canteen and clipped it to her belt, making sure to secure it near her back. She stuffed the cases of darts inside a utility pouch and clipped it to her belt as well, after the canteen.

Back at the equipment rack, she grabbed the CO2 canisters that the tranquilizer guns used. There was a case of twelve of them, but they were only good for about six shots each. She could only fit eight darts on her person, so she grabbed one extra canister and stuffed it in her pouch.

She tried to look around for anything else that was useful. She had come mainly for the tranquilizers but hadn't been able to picture what else was being stored in the room. The medicine cabinet was full of antibiotics and miscellaneous medications that the Rangers used on the dinosaurs, and she couldn't think of anything she could use them for.

With a shrug of her shoulders, she replicated her quiet process as she made her way back outside and slowly made her way to the Visitor Center. Now that she felt properly geared up, she had to know if there was anyone left.

She wouldn't leave anyone behind.