Chapter Fourteen
Claire looks sheepish after I ask her whether or not she is sure about her nephews ages. I shake my head
"Doesn't matter, we'll take one of the parks vehicles for now"
I look at Owen
"You drive"
We make our way out of the visitor's centre and climb into the van Owen drove earlier with Claire in front and myself in the back. Owen had stashed a few weapons from security for both of us and took off at top speed. Claire is trying to get hold of her nephews, her voice easily becoming frustrated when there is no answer.
"Nothing"
I pipe up from the back
"They must be too far out to get any reception"
"Or something could have happened to them"
"Relax Claire, we'll find them. Owen and I weren't hired for nothing you know"
Owen drives faster and eventually we come to the open, grassy plains in which the herbivores reside. The stench of blood and death is in the air, but it seems to make no difference to the humans in the front seats. I cover my nose subtly but my heart thumps in a way that says that I should be wary of what I might see up ahead.
Owen stops the vehicle and looks at Claire and me
"Stay in the car"
"You're delusional if you think you're going out alone"
"Remember the last time"
I clap a hand on his shoulder and dig my nails in a little
"Exactly"
I jump out with him, Owen making sure to carry the gun. Up ahead is an Apatosaurus laying on its side, groaning miserably as it tries to move its head. Owen walks around the back of the animal while I take the front. The wounds on the animals horrifies me and it takes a moment to stop myself from touching her, to try and make the wounds better and have her safe. A whine wants to escape my throat but I swallow it, knowing that it wouldn't make her feel better. I hear the comforting sounds coming from Owen, Hushed words that she wouldn't understand and yet is comforted by his presence and touch. I walk up to her head beside Owen and get down onto my knees, gently touching the dinosaur's neck and face. The tears build up in my eyes and I swallow harshly. The click of the door on the vehicle opening has me looking at Claire who is staring at the wounded animal. She comes closer, slowly almost as if she doesn't know how to react to all of this in front of her. She builds up her courage and comes close, getting on the ground close enough to touch. She places a hand on the Apatosaurus' neck and gently rubs. It lifts its head and she moves away in shock but Owen calms the dinosaur down again as it groans in pain. I'm not able to watch anymore, knowing that her life force is draining away, that she only has a few moments left before all that is left is a corpse. So I walk away.
I wipe the tears that escape from my eyes and focus more on seeing the other things around us. Arms wrap around my waist from behind and I place my hands on them, accepting Owen's comfort. I turn my face into his neck and breathe in his scent, comforting and warm. I feel his scruff rubbing against the side of my face
"We lost her didn't we?"
It is a rhetorical question but he answers with an affirmative anyway
"We need to stop this thing before it does any more damage"
He nods and I turn to look over the grassy plains, I can't see anything yet but the same smell of blood and death is getting stronger. I pull out of Owen's arms and make my way further, the crunch of boots on the grass means that he is following and I look in horror when I see the scene. I gasp and place a hand over my mouth, the sudden rush of bile wanting to come up. Claire's heels dig into the soft earth beneath her feet and she approaches us. I feel myself swaying lightly and Owen grasps me with a firm hand. Claire gasps when she finally sees what we are looking at. Owen breaks the silence
"It didn't eat them"
"She's killing recklessly as if it's a game to her. Or as if she finally found out what she is capable of"
He looks at me and says
"She's killing for sport"
I nod in agreement and turn back towards the car and get in. Owen drives us into the forest, the foliage getting thicker as we go along. Eventually we find what we are looking for. The glass bubble that is the ride in broken in front of us and we get out to examine it. It sparks and the sound of the recorded safety tape is the only sound for this area. The other animals must have cleared themselves out from here when the chaos began. I sniff the air and the scent of fear is thick along with the scents of adolescent and a younger child. Claire and Owen go towards the device while I go looking around for any other clues. I find several foot prints, first the Ankylosaurus and then other was similar to that of Rex. I presume it to be the Indominus' footprints and turn to see that Owen had a large tooth in his hand. Claire spots something on the floor and panics, picking up a cell phone from the leaf covered ground
"No, no, no, no"
"Hey"
Owen points over her shoulder
"They made it out"
I too see the foot prints leading away from the area; Claire lets out a sigh of relief when she sees them. We follow the prints to the water fall and Owen looks out into the water, and I try to find if there are any other animals with us out here, mainly looking out for the Indominus. Claire comes running to Owen's side and once she looks down at the water she realises that the kids have jumped
"Brave kids"
"Smart kids" I say to them
Claire starts yelling out for Zach and Gray and I grab her around the mouth, instantly silencing her
"First rule of being out in the wild: Don't draw attention to yourself unless you want to be eaten"
She struggles in my grip and I let her pull away
"I'm not one of your damn animals"
He shushes her
"Those kids are still alive, but we won't be if you continue to scream like that"
"So you can pick up their scent can't you? Or track their footprints"
I roll my eyes. I can do that, but she doesn't need to know
"I was with the Navy not the Navajo"
Claire becomes petulant, doing that weird shake and stomp thing kids do
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"The both of you get back. I'll find them"
"No"
Claire waves between herself and Owen
"We'll find them"
Forget that I am even here why dontcha?
"You'll last two minutes in there, less in those ridiculous shoes"
Claire looks haughty then suddenly opens the top blouse that she is wearing, tying it at her waist and pushing up the sleeves. She then looks at Owen, entirely proud of herself. Owen on the other hand is dazed by the sudden almost undressing of Claire Dearing and takes a moment to register her actions…and her rack
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'm ready to go"
"Okay, let get one thing straight. I'm in charge out here. You do everything as I say, exactly as I say it"
Claire tries to cut in only to be bulldozed over by Owen, who refuses to give her a chance to talk
"Relax, it's just like taking a stroll in the woods"
He pauses
"Sixty five million years ago"
Claire walks away from us or more like stomps in this case and Owen watches with faint amusement before looking over where Claire had been standing, right next to the footprint of the Indominus Rex.
He looks over at me
"You keep lagging behind"
I shrug my shoulders
"I don't like it when you do that. It's dangerous out here"
"You and Claire are busy with each other"
He points a finger at me
"Don't stray too far from me. Like I told Claire, I'm in charge out here"
I give him an unimpressed look but walk ahead of him anyways