Chapter Nineteen

THE BARYONYX DRIFTED AWAY from view as Mia guided the boat into the current that formed the river. Her left eye was still shut tight from pain, but she was no longer having to swerve around the trees of the swamp. The river was fairly sparse, and it would not be long before they reached the coast. She began to calm herself but found it difficult – particularly because she was still furious with Kelly. She wasn't going to convince him to go to Isla Sorna – or to let her go to the island. She was going to drop him off at the East Dock, where he could get his own damned ride. Good riddance.

Kelly staggered up to her, pushing the tranquilizer gun off the passenger seat and sitting down. "Phew. Got a little nutty there, huh?"

She didn't say anything, but instead kept her eyes on the river.

"Well, we made it." He stretched his legs out and ran his hand through his hair.

Mia let a few moments pass before she spoke – her voice was coarse. "What supplies was all that worth?" The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Kelly was hiding something. It did not make sense that he would risk himself like he did.

The jungle on either side of the river started to become sparser as they continued. "Yeah, just extra stuff. Ammo. First aid stuff." He shrugged. "Never know what's gonna happen on this island, evidently."

She shook her head. It was obvious he had no intention of telling her. "I'm fine, by the way."

"Yeah, you're a tough chick."

She clenched her jaw in annoyance. "Yup." On the horizon was the river delta that fed into ocean. It was just now dawning on Mia that they were actually escaping. She almost couldn't believe it. Her eyes kept roaming to the riverbanks on either side, expecting to see the two raptors or the Tyrannosaurus jumping out at them.

Instead, she just saw palm trees and thin beach-grass. Kelly got up and started messing with Mathews' gear, but Mia could not see exactly what he was doing. She felt uneasy about Kelly. Any trust that he had earned was completely gone. On the ground, near the entrance to the small cabin in front her, was his rifle – right where he had tossed it when he jumped in the boat. She winced as she moved her left foot toward it – quietly, slowly – and looped the sling around the toe of her boot.

Kelly kneeled and started checking over Mathews' tactical vest. All the magazine pouches were empty – save for one. Damn. Kelly took the last mag out and inspected it. Mathews had fired a hundred-and-fifty rounds in total. Kelly himself – well, Mia really – had only used one magazine total. Kelly's vest still had five fresh magazines in it.

He glanced back at Mia to make sure she wasn't looking before he opened the large pouch at the back of the vest and belt harness. He lifted the flap and quietly touched the Barbasol can. It felt a little cold. He wiped some of the mud off and rolled the canister inside the pouch, looking for any punctures or dents. Other than being a little dirty, the can was completely untouched. He wondered where Mathews had found it. Near Nedry's body, certainly. He also wondered why Mathews never bothered to tell him about it. He wondered if Davies knew about it. He stuffed it back into the pouch, for now at least. "So, what's the plan?"

Mia knew he was going to ask. At the emergency bunker, he had expressed getting away from InGen. He would definitely not be on-board for going to Isla Sorna – and as far as she knew, he wasn't even aware there was an Isla Sorna. She took her time trying to think of how to answer.

The boat reached past the delta now, and Mia slowed the throttle. They were now in open ocean – albeit only a few dozen yards from the beach.

"Hello… Earth to Mia."

She wasn't sure what his reaction would be. She decided that telling him vaguely of the other island might convince him to take his own boat. She tried to think of the most delicate way to put it. "There's… another island."

"Nope. There's not. Not that we care about." He stood up, hands on his hips.

"I'm going there. I need medical attention."

"Yeah, you know, Costa Rica has a lot of hospitals."

"It's faster for me to go to the other island."

Kelly walked toward her. He bent down over her; his face close to hers. "What's on the other island?"

"Park… employees."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "We are not going to the other island."

She took a breath, trying her hardest not to be intimidated. "You don't have to. I am."

He stood straight and spun around, walking to the back of the boat. Mia steered right, heading toward the East Dock. She could even see it from their position – the huge concrete dock jutted out at least a hundred feet into the ocean. She couldn't see if there were any of the Ranger boats there. There must be.

"I don't believe this!" She could hear the annoyance in his voice.

"Look, it's fine. I'll take you to another boat. We can go our separate ways."

He spun toward her again. "Yeah, so you can go tell InGen all about us, huh?"

She shook her head. "Oh, please. I think there's more important things to talk to InGen about. Besides, you didn't even name who you were hired by. You never found the embryos –" She tried to finish her sentence normally, though it was painfully obvious she had cut herself off. Holy shit. He's got the embryos.

"Right." Kelly agreed. "But we're still going to Costa Rica." He took a step forward, suddenly aware that he wasn't wearing his military gear nor his rifle. He looked around the boat quickly for it – scared for a moment that it was left in the swamp. He spotted it near Mia's foot. Well, can't grab that inconspicuously. He reached for the tranquilizer gun instead.

Mia pulled the throttle down as soon as she saw him grab it. Now they were sitting motionless in the ocean.

She pointed to the docks. "For fuck's sake. We're almost there. Home free. You can go to Costa Rica and do whatever the hell you want. I'm going to the other island." She turned to face him, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. She wasn't sure if the blood coming out of her hip was adding to that or not. "But the embryos are coming with me."

Kelly sighed. "Why do you have to be so fucking stubborn?" He looked above her to the docks in the distance. "Turn us around. To the mainland."

"I can't do that."

"Will this tranquilizer kill you?"

She winced at the question. They were loaded with Etorphine, Dr. Harding's preferred tranquilizer. She had some vials of the reversal agent, Diprenorphine, in the pouch on her belt – they weren't used on the dinosaurs to revive them, but it was always standard procedure to create matching doses of it when preparing tranquilizers – in the event that one of the staff 'had an accident.' Although the tranquilizer drug was fatal to humans – it didn't work immediately. She would have a two-to-five-minute window to administer the reversal agent herself.

"Yes."

Kelly looked sad. "Damn. That's a shame." He sighed, "Well, thanks for all the help, champ," and pulled the trigger.

The dart punctured Mia square in the shoulder, and she could feel the drug inside immediately pump into her body. She took all the strength she had – lifted her left leg – and as she kicked Kelly off the side of the boat replied, "Good luck."

She hit the throttle with her elbow as she frantically dug into the pouch on her belt, tossing the case of tranquilizer darts onto the floor. She opened the case with the reversal agents. Her hands were feeling slow – and she was feeling lightheaded. The world looked brighter as her pupils dilated. Focus.

It took her several tries to pick one of the vials out of the foam case. Her hip didn't hurt anymore. Her mind was beginning to feel foggy. Come on, focus.

Actually, maybe this was better. It wasn't so bad. It was a beautiful sunny day on the water. The breeze feels nice. Fucking focus, Mia.

She took the cap off the syringe and tapped it, trying desperately to get her fingers and thumb working well enough to engage the plunger function. Her eyes were too heavy to keep open. Her mouth hung open as well, the salty spray of seawater occasionally dotting her lips.

She held her breath and tried to jam the needle as hard as she could in her shoulder, where the other dart had stuck.

Dammit, I'm going to die. I guess this is better than eaten by dinosaurs.