My blood feels thick in my veins as I try to process everything that is happening, my leg is stinging and my head is still feeling heavy and it takes the sudden shattering of glass to pull me out of myself, gasping as Echo is suddenly between us and Hoskins. Owen is quick to put himself in front of us, pushing me directly behind him as he tries to judge the raptors movements. Taking a shuddering breath, I try to calm myself a scream ripped from my throat as Echo launches forward and attacks Hoskins, blood splattering the walls as his screams echo in my head. I almost laugh at the irony of Echo the raptor making screams echo in my head, I am pulled from my morbid musings as Owen pulls me along and briefly begin to think I may be going crazy or that my concussion is worse than I thought.
We sprint down the corridor skidding to a halt and sprinting in the other direction as Echo appears before us. I can hear her claws tapping on the floor behind us as she gives chase and tears of fear are welling in my eyes. Sickness rising in my throat, I have never been so scared, the adrenalin that is pulsing through me is almost painful it is so strong and I don't know whether having the others around me is helping or not. On one hand I was glad I wasn't alone, I would at least be dying with the man I loved but on the other, oh God I don't think I could handle watching anyone else die, to watch Owen die would be the worst thing that I could possibly imagine, I would just have to make sure he was okay, somehow. Gray suddenly puts his hand out and presses one of the displays as we race through the atrium and a hologram appears, temporarily stalling the raptor behind us and for a second I allow myself to breath before reaching deep within myself for some energy I didn't realise I had left. Bursting through the doors and out into the open we fly down the stairs only to freeze again as Blue appears in front of us. I turn but my breath is knocked from me as Delta and Echo reappear. We're surrounded. We're dead. It's over!
Owen's fingers are gripping mine almost painfully tightly by now as he pulls me close to him, making sure that he is still positioned in front of me.
"So that's how it's gonna be huh Blue?" he murmurs to the raptor moving steadily and calmly as he reaches up to remove the camera from the raptor's head with his free hand.
"Owen," I whisper, hating the way my voice wavered and shock with terror as I spoke and his fingers tighten around mine a fraction.
"It's okay baby, I'm gonna keep you safe, I promised remember? I'm not going to let anything happen to you, we've got too much to do still," he is speaking to me, I know he is and his words somehow bring me comfort despite the situation we were in, despite the fact that he never takes his eyes off the ancient predator in front of him. We all jump a little as the ground begins to shake and the I-rex comes around the corner its very presence enough to chill me to the bone. For a moment I feel as if time is standing still, it is as if the very air has stopped as we standed, shaking, facing this monster but then something incredible happens and the raptors turn on it, leaping to our defense, to Owen's defense and for a second I stare at him in open awe and admiration as he turns and smirks cheekily at my expression before his face falls back into its serious frown as he pulls us towards somewhere to hide. Directing us to a kiosk as he begins shooting at the Indominus.
"We need more," Gray is muttering and Zach, Claire and I all look at him in confusion as he counts again before repeating himself.
"More what?" Claire says as she moves closer to him pulling him into her side even as Zach has his arm wrapped around his shoulders.
"Teeth," he replies as if it is the simplest thing in the world and for a second my eyes meet Claire's and then, before I can talk myself out of it, I am on my feet grabbing her radio from her hand and a flare from the emergency box attached to the wall of the kiosk and I am sliding out into the open.
"Taylor," I can hear Owen scream out my name but I don't have time to turn or answer him as I sprint to the T-rex enclosure and instruct Lowrey to open the gate. As I hear the gears begin whirring I take a shaky breath and light the flare, whimpering as the huge monster appears before me and roars. What was I thinking? I really needed to stop this ridiculous hero complex I had suddenly developed and I am blaming Owen for completely by the way. I mean I never used to do this, mind you, I never used to be constantly in life ending situations and the problem was I was sorely ill equipped to deal with them and a combination of Owen and blind luck were the only reason I was still alive right now.
I run then, quicker than I've ever run in my life and just pray that I am in time. When I round the corner and back to the open I see the I-rex trying desperately to get inside the kiosk where I assume the others are trying to hide. Screaming I throw the flare at the monster before falling to the ground as the T-rex roars again, causing the I-rex to pull back and roar too before the two titans launch at one another. For a second I look up and my eyes meet the shocked gaze of Owen but my vision is blocked as a huge tail swings dangerously close to me and I am forced to scuffle backwards behind some sort of rock feature.
"Run," I scream at them as I see them both heading towards the kiosk again and all four of them sprint out and towards me only to be blocked and headed off into a shop front by the fighting monsters. A sudden call of a raptor makes me jump from my hiding place as I see Blue streaking towards the fight and joining it. For a moment I am so engrossed in watching the battle between the huge dinosaurs that I miss them heading for me and only when I hear the frightened screams of Gray and Claire at the last moment do I realise and try to race away from them.
Somehow, I make it to the safety of the wall and then into shop where they are hiding but something is wrong. I felt it hit me, of course I did, but it isn't until I stop in front of them that everything suddenly begins to burn and my abdomen suddenly feels as though it is on fire and I pull my hand away from it to see that it is coated in thick red blood. I glance up my eye meeting Owen's his own filled with fear and anger and something else that I can't quite place. My legs are feeling shaky now, too shaky to hold me up and I slump forwards, I know I should be running still, fighting to get away but the fight seems to have suddenly left me as cold begins to seep into me my body colliding with a shelf of ornaments in the shop we are in, a strangled groan escaping me as I try to move and stand only for my legs to buckle completely and I find myself on the ground.
"Hold on Taylor, please, hold on," I open my eyes to see Zach and Gray leaning over me as Claire tries to do something to my stomach. Something that makes me gurgle out a scream of pain.
"I'm sorry Taylor, I have to stop the bleeding," she is saying frantically and I nod my head at her a little.
"O… Owen," I gasp out and a moment later I feel Gray move away and I feel him beside me, his fingers in my hair.
"I'm here baby, it's okay I'm here," he whispers and I smile as he grips my hand and my fingers hold onto his.
"I've managed to stop most of the bleeding, but she'll need some stitches at the very least we need to get her to a doctor and quickly," Claire is saying and he makes a small noise of distress looking more worried now than he did when we were facing Blue and the others, "it's okay Owen, it's not as bad as it looks," she reassures him and I squeeze his fingers to try and reassure him further that I would be okay.
"Right, let's move then, they're gone but stay close to me anyway until we get to the evacuation area," he says before moving closer to me, "this is going to hurt a bit baby but I need to lift you and you need to be strong for just a little longer okay?" he whispers and I nod before clamping my lips shut and trying not to scream as he lifts me up, holding me close to his chest. "I've got you baby," he murmurs to me and I smile a little despite the pain.
"It's over?" I gasp out the question, pain still pulsing through me and I feel him nod even as small fingers that I can only guess are Gray's take the hand that is hanging limply by my side.
"It's over T, we made it, we won," Owen replies and I can almost feel the exhausted smile that is surely on his face.
"I missed it," I slur slightly and I can feel him chuckle slightly as my eyes drift shut.