Chapter 3: A very Indominus Encounter
Peyton drover her Chevy Suburban towards the park. It was now time for lunch and Peyton parked her SUV at the parking lot. The teenager took her cousin from the car and carried her towards the Triassic Diner. Valentina couldn't help but admire Main Street and the crowd there. People were either eating at restaurants, having a walk or just admiring dinosaurs in Main Street. Peyton then entered in the Triassic Diner, where there was, among others, a young blonde woman in her 30s and her five-year-old son, an Afro-American woman in her 50s and her teenage daughter, and a young blonde in her 20s. They all waved at Peyton, being employees of the park themselves, in addition to having a talk after a happy lunch. The teen waved them back and sat her cousin at an empty table. The waitress, Anna, and the owner of the shop, whom Peyton called Ronnie the Cook, greated her
"Hi Peyton!"
"Hey, Peyton. Howdy?"
"Not bad. The little brat I carried is my cousin. And she's already playing with my nerves." Peyton told Ronnie and the waitress, Anna. Even Anna, Ronnie and the other adults in the diner had a gun next to them, as did the second teenager.
The young mother, a widow named Lydia, nodded in understanding. Peyton then ordered two cheeseburgers, cheddar fries and a single slice of apple pie. While Peyton ate her cheeseburger and cheddar fries, Valentina refused to eat her meal./
"Eat your lunch. You must be hungry." Peyton said after finishing her lunch.
"NO! IT IS UNETHICAW TO TAKE HEW MIWK AWAY FWOM A COW OW KILL AN OX FOW FOOD!" Valentina yelled.
"Eat it! You will decide whether you like it or not later, mate." the young blonde, named Olivia, told in an Australian accent before turning to Peyton, who took her spoon and put it on the slice of apple pie.
Valentina then began to throw a tantrum, causing the Afro-American woman, named Julie, to yell out loud to force Valentina to eat.
"SHUT UP AND EAT! YOU'RE RUINING OTHER PERSONS' DAY!"
"If you keep refusing, I'll eat your dessert. Anyways, there will be no dessert for you tonight." Peyton said cutting a piece of apple pie with her spoon.
Valentina stubbornly refused to eat her cheeseburger and cheddar fries. Peyton took the piece away and ate it, showing how serious she was. Valentina therefore ate her meal under the severe gaze of Lydia, her son, Anna, Ronnie the Cook, Julie, her daughter, Olivia and Peyton. The 3-year-old girl then began crying, feeling sad for the cows that have been milked and the oxen killed just for a meal, as she began eating the remaining parts of apple pie. Owen then came inside the diner and got informed of the whole situation by Olivia.
"Hi mate. I inform you your niece wanted to throw everything away. But Peyton ate a part of the apple pie to force the kid to eat her meal, like the zero waste policy demands. By the way, the kid threw a big tantrum."
"Mommy. This girl is so mean and egotistical. She is so stupid, too. Doesn't she know that even vegans first drank milk as kids?" the five-year-old boy, named Jim, told his mother Lydia, who nodded in agreement.
"Valentina, you really disappoint me. No television for one week." Owen told his niece in a stern voice.
Valentina sadly nodded as her uncle picked her up. Owen gave a thankful nod to the others before leaving with his daughter in tail. As they passed by Main Street, the Gradys stumbled upon the Gentle Giant Petting Zoo, an attraction with only baby dinosaurs being fed and ridden by children. Valentina was in awe in front of the baby dinosaurs. She absolutely wanted to pet them with love.
"Uncle Owen, Peyton. Can I go with the baby dinosauws? Pwease!" Valentina asked pleadingly, bouncing up and down.
"Your call, Peyton." Owen told his daughter, putting his niece on the ground.
"Peyton. The baby dinosauws awe so cute! I want to wide and pet them. Says 'yes'. Pwease!" Valentina begged with puppy eyes.
"No TV for four weeks, no dessert tomorrow at lunch, no dessert tomorrow evening, and no present for Christmas." Peyton said in a stern voice.
Valentina then chucked a huge tantrum, forcing an Irish employee named Archie to intervene and scold the little girl.
"Stop it! I have a daughter myself and you don't get everything you want."
"Thanks, Archie. Her deceased parents, ie my aunt and uncle, used to spoil her. That will change." Peyton told Archie.
Archie nodded in gratitude and resumed his work while Owen, carrying his weeping niece, and his daughter walked towards the Titanoboa Vivarium.
After entering the building, Peyton saw her friends brainstorming alongside a worker named Gaspar. Peyton decided to help out and find a solution.
"Guys, have a problem?" she asked.
"Yeah. The Titanoboa only shows up when angry or for food. Nobody sees her and tourists are litterally leaving the exhibit after coming in. If it goes on that way, the exhibit will be shut down." Rick told.
"I got an idea" Peyton said shouldering her M4A1 carbine before singing. "He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright- He checked of his equipment and made sure his pack was tight- He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar- You ain't gonna jump no more..."
As she sung, Peyton aimed her rifle at any rustling from the trees she saw. Her friends also looked for a Titanoboa head. Kelli, Liz, Lindy, Dean, Rick, Liv and Mary also started to sing 'Blood upon the Risers' while watching the trees move. Owen, his niece and Gaspar were totally stunned at seeing the Titanoboa looking at them, and especially Valentina, with curiosity.
"I have a new fwiend!" Valentina exclaimed.
Peyton and her friends then sung the US Marine Corps hymn, disappointing Valentina who wanted to sing 'The Ants Go Marching One By One'./
"From the halls of Montezuma- To the shores of Tripoli- We fight our country's battles- In the air, on land and sea- First to fight for right and freedom- And to keep our honor clean- We are proud to claim the title- Of United States Marines..."
As Peyton and her friends sung the US Marines' Hymn, more and more tourists went inside the attraction to see what was going on, a was a group of nine recently-arrived US Marines. Their leader was a man in his 30s with light brown hair and hazel eyes. The young man, a 1st Lieutenant, was wearing a Woodland MARPAT-dyed flame-retardant uniform with a Desert MARPAT-dyed boonie hat, a MP armband, a Coyote Brown plate carrier with their cover-fitted helmet strapped on and a pair of Rugged All-Terrain boots, as were the other US Marines. His men were armed with M4A1 carbines fitted with a Trijicon ACOG scope, an AN/PEQ-15 laser module, a vertical foregrip, a Crane stock, a stock-mounted magazine pouch and a Surefire M951 torchlight. They also had a OKC-3S bayonet on their vest and a Beretta M9 pistol on their waist. The officer's M4A1 was customized like his men's but with an EoTech HHS III hybrid holographic sight in place of the ACOG scope. He also had the same OKC-3S as his men and a Beretta M9 pistol strapped to his vest.
"Hey, who are you?" Dean asked the US Marines.
"This dude is Tim Murphy. 1st Lieutenant Tim Murphy." Owen corrected, as he served alongside Tim in Afghanistan.
"Yes, if you wonder if my grandpa was John Hammond, it's the truth." Tim told Dean and his other friends before turning to Owen.
"Still in the fight?" Owen asked Tim hugging him.
"Yeah. You owe me some 1st Lieutenant now, dude." Tim said as he let go
Gaspar, the tourists, Dean and his friends couldn't believe their eyes. Tim Murphy, John Hammond's grandson was standing right in front of them. Raising his eyes, one of Tim's men saw the Titanoboa starring a Valentina. The little girl sung 'The Ants Go Marching One By One' while the US Marine aimed his M4A1 at the snake.
"Calm down, Paskiewicz. Calm down." Tim told him, putting his hand on named Paskiewicz's barrel.
Suddenly, Lydia came in the exhibit with her son, as today was her day off and stumbled on Tim. Tim's men knew he had to raise his daughter, Cassie, since his wife died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver when Cassie was five. Now aged eight, Cassie confessed to her father's men she wished him to have a new wife.
"Are you Tim Murphy?" Jim asked Tim.
"Yeah, and how do you know my name?" Tim asked the 5-year-old boy.
"I saw you on TV. In 2010, they said a Marine CWO name Tim Murphy dragged an injured ANA soldier over six hundred meters and saved the soldier's life." the boy answered.
"It did happen. I was there." Owen, who had served with Tim, confirmed.
The Marine officer then motioned with his head towards a woman in her late 30s, who came in the Vivarium alongside a man named Takashi Hamada, the leader of the Animal Containment Unit. Said woman was none other than Lex Murphy, Tim's sister.
But before Lex could introduce herself, Rick said, "You're Lex Murphy, right?"
"Right." Lex answered with a smile.
Lex also heard Valentina sing 'Five Little Ducks' while Tim motioned his men to follow him. The US Marines followed their leader, who let out a USB port and headed towards the monitoring computer where he plugged his port and copied its content in the computer itself.
"What is he doing?" Gaspar asked.
"A test." another US Marine replied./
Tim then opened a playlist he created on the computer and the Marines' Hymn began to play. Then, everyone could hear Bridgit Mendler, aka Teddy Duncan from 'Good Luck Charlie', singing. Gaspar then noted down on his memo to use music to attract the Titanoboa, as the giant snake was still there. Peyton and her friends parted ways to help out at other exhibits as Lex and her brother waved each other goodbye, since Lex is there to inspect the safety of the exhibits with Hamada, while Owen kept carrying his niece to the laboratory with Peyton still following her father. Tim and his men then headed towards the laboratory, too.
Meanwhile, Claire who had just arrived in the control room, headed towards two technicians name Lowery Cruthers and Vivian Krill. In this high-tech room with numerous screens and workstations, each manned by a technician.
"What's the live count?" Claire asked while stopping by Vivian.
"22,216 visitors." Vivian answered.
"There have been 28 heatstrokes, six kids at the lost and found and this." Lowery reported typing something.
The images displayed on the screen showed Peyton and her friends singing military-themed songs as the Titanoboa came out of hiding. After watching the video for a few more minutes, Claire saw someone she thought she knew. Going to Lowery, she called him out.
"Lowery stop the video and zoom on that woman next to Hamada and this man next to Owen and his niece."
Lowery stopped the image and zoomed on the two individuals before inputting their picture in the facial recognition hardware. He couldn't believe the result.
"Is is true?" Claire asked clearly astonished by the result.
The screen indeed displayed the identity of the individuals as Lex Murphy and Tim Murphy. Vivian and Lowery couldn't believe it either. Couldn't be.
"You talked about Owen's niece Valentina. Other guys told us about her as well." Vivian informed Claire.
"I know. It must have been terrible for such a little girl." Claire replied before changing the topic of the conversation. "If you want to know about the sponsors, they will come in two weeks, early January 2014.
With that Claire left the control room and headed to the lab, where she intended to meet Dr Henry Wu, unaware of the surprise she was going to have.
At the lab, the head geneticist Henry Wu, was overseeing two eggs that didn't hatch. Turning over to his assistant, he expressed his worries.
"I don't know when these guys will hatch. If they stay here for too long, the animals will die."
"I know, Doctor. I had to drink a whole coffee pot yesterday." the assistant replied.
Then, the two of them saw Owen, his daughter, a little girl they only knew was his niece and nine US Marines coming in the lab.
"Hey Henry. How are the two eggs?" Owen asked him putting his niece on a stool.
"Nothing yet. My poor assistant had to drink the whole coffee pot yesterday." Wu said in a sullen tone.
"Must be frustrating." one of Tim's men replied.
"Jarman's right. Having been on an observation post in Afghanistan myself, I know what it does." Tim informed Wu.
Before Wu could say anything, Claire came into the lab, causing everyone minus Valentina, to look at her.
"Mr. Grady. I wanted to talk to you about the assets. Though not expecting you and your daughter to be here." Claire told Owen.
"Stop calling him 'Mr. Grady'. It's Owen. And you always consider the dinos assets." Peyton told.
"Anyways, I wanted to say you that Mr. Masrani has been informed of the dimensions of the two animals when grown up, so he asked me to tell you to help Dr. Wu to take notes to build their paddock." Claire answered.
"Why me and Dad?" Peyton told Claire.
"Seeing how you control..." Claire began
"See, it's all about fucking control with you. That's why Dad and you never had a second fucking date." Peyton mockingly informed Claire.
"Excuse me. I never told I wanted a second date with your father." Claire told the teen.
"Who prints an itinerary for a night out?" Peyton replied.
"I am an organized person." Claire answered in a frustrated voice.
"Nonsense. What diet forbids drinking tequila and eating a pepperoni pizza?" Peyton told.
"All of them actually. And what kind of man shows up at a date in board shorts with his daughter wearing camouflage clothes." Claire said
"It's named Central America. It's a tropical climate and surplus clothes are sturdier than a dress. If you want to talk about the animals, I want you to know it's probably easier for you to think dinosaurs are just numbers in a spreadsheet but they aren't they're alive. They do come from a test tube but they don't even know that. They just know 'I gotta drink, I gotta hunt. I gotta fuck'. There's no control in that. It's a relationship based upon respect between man and beast." Peyton replied for her father, who gave her a thumbs up.
While her cousin and Claire were arguing, Valentina saw the two eggs move. The little girl leaned towards the eggs and felt heartbeats inside of them. The little girl also felt the mysterious occupants were scared of the armed girl and armed men outside. The occupants didn't want to be shot on sight, as they thought the armed people were here to kill them. Valentina decided to help them, so she lifted her hands and gently touched the shell of the eggs.
"It's okay." the little girl softly said. "They'we fwiendly. They won't fiwe unwess being fiwed upon."
With the little girl's gentle touches and comments, the eggs started shaking, causing Valentina to withdraw her hand away. The two eggs starting again and Valentina could hear the dinosaurs inside were breaking their shell. The first egg hatched quickly, revealing a hatchling the shape of a T-Rex but not as bulky and with the arms of a Utahraptor. The dinosaur was grey-white in color with red eyes.
Before doing anything, Valentina saw the second egg hatch, revealing another dinosaur ressembling the first one. While the first hatchling had no trouble getting out of its egg, the second one had a piece of egg stuck on its head like a sort of makeshift blindfold. Valentina helped the second dinosaur remove the piece of egg. Shortly afterwards, the two dinosaurs made eye contact and saw Valentina, who scratched their chin as the two dinosaurs chirped with affection. The little girl giggled doing that, causing a US Marine to yell in surprise while pointing his rifle at the animals.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?"
Tim, his remaining men, Owen, his daughter, Wu and the other scientists all turned around with Tim, his men and Peyton pointing their M4A1 carbine at the two dinosaurs.
"How did you do that?" Wu asked in surprise
"I have done it by speaking with them. I told them you wewe fwiendwy. And I told them Peyton and the sowdiews wewen't going to fiwe." Valentina said.
"These are hybrids, fellas." Tim said lowering his carbine, followed by his men.
"Hybwids? Like the Ligew and Muwes?" Valentina said.
"Yes. And we named them Indominus Rex." a scientist told.
"I decided their names." Peyton told everyone "Arya and Ygrid."
"Sounds a little George RR Martin, but overall it's fine." Wu said out loud. "By the way, Valentina should keep them. For us to build their paddock. And for her, there's a daycare service."
Everyone nodded before leaving the lab. After leaving the lab, the Gradys went back to their house while Tim and his men went to their observation post, which was set on the rooftop of the Dave and Buster's as it was now almost night. Meanwhile, Lex and Hamada went inside the ACU quarters, where Lex slept on an empty bunk.
Little did everyone know what would happen in the next days and weeks.