Chapter 22

Rest Stop

Guiterrez frowned. He was walking behind the rest of the team as they skirted the edge of the southern fields, heading towards the lagoon. They had left the Stegosaurus herd almost three quarters of a mile away, and they had enjoyed comparative silence since then. Despite the unchanging heat and the sweat enticing humidity, there was now a welcome breeze that coursed through the trees, easing the stifling atmosphere. It was easier to breathe, and he felt a little better about their predicament.

But he was worried about Malcolm. He was walking along ahead of Guiterrez, limping slightly, but appearing determined. Sarah walked at his side, watching him closely. Guiterrez knew that he was putting on a brave face. It was quite convincing close up, but from a distance Guiterrez could see that every so often his leg would spasm, as if receiving an electric shock, and that it caused him great pain, as it caused him to stop. He blamed these momentary pauses on stones in his shoes or a need for a drink, but Guiterrez saw him wincing when Sarah wasn't looking. Malcolm appeared to be insistent on the fact that his leg was recovering, but Guiterrez was doubtful that he was getting any better. Nevertheless, he couldn't confront Ian about it when they were all walking in such close formation.

"Okay guys, take a break," called Anderson from the front of the group.

Guiterrez raised his eyebrows, surprised. But then he heard the gentle trickle of running water, and looked down. They had reached a small stream, roughly six feet across, and a few inches deep. Clusters of rocks that jutted several feet out from the ground littered the area around it, making miniature rapids.

"Oh yeah," breathed Guiterrez, hurrying over to the stream, and getting down onto his knees. He reached into the stream, and felt the delightfully cool water flow over his hands. Cupping them, he pulled his hands out from the stream to his face, slapping a puddle of sparkling clear water into his eyes. He sighed as he washed away the sweat and dirt of the jungle, enjoying the wonderful cooling sensation as the water began to evaporate. He repeated the process several times, washing his arms as well.

Beside him Anderson propped his rifle against one of the rocks, and sat down on another. He opened his bag, and brought out his water bottle. He popped the lid, and refilled it from the river.

Guiterrez copied him, and looked around. Running along the banks of the river was a small beach of pebbles. Sunlight poured into the small space in the jungle. Bird calls floated down towards them from the tree tops further upstream. Rodriguez and Wu were also refilling their water bottles, chatting quietly. Sarah and Malcolm were sitting on a large rock behind them.

"Pepperoni pizza, extra cheese," Guiterrez heard Rodriguez say, chuckling.

"Oh, no, no. French toast," announced Wu, laughing openly, stuffing his water bottle back into his bag.

"What are you doing?" asked Guiterrez, taking a candy bar out of his pack, and tearing the wrapper off with his teeth.

"Naming the first thing we're going to eat when we get back," said Rodriguez, "We're going to celebrate."

Guiterrez shook his head as he chewed, but couldn't help smiling.

"So," he said, turning to Anderson, "after the rest stop, we carry on to the lagoon?"

"That's right."

"Any ideas on how we're going to get across?"

"We could swim," suggested Rodriguez, relaxing on the ground to catch his breath, "I mean, it couldn't be that deep, could it? It's a lagoon."

"I don't think that'd be a good idea," murmured Tim, coming out from behind a group of ferns.

"Where were you?" asked Sarah.

"Bathroom," he muttered absently. "No, swimming across wouldn't be the best option. If we did, and were spotted, we'd have nowhere to go."

"Wouldn't be a boat that we could use, would there?" asked Sarah.

"There used to be an old outhouse which had rubber dinghies in it, but we couldn't all fit in one, and they wouldn't be very good if something attacked us."

"Well, then what?" asked Malcolm, flexing his leg.

"I don't know, we'll have to decide that when we get there," said Anderson, checking his pack. He brought everything out, inspected each piece, and then repacked it carefully and neatly. Then he turned to the others.

"Guys," he said, "you all have your radios and headsets in your packs, right?"

There was a sudden rush of zipping and murmurs of 'yeah'.

"Good, we need them, so keep them safe."

Rodriguez brought out a small metal box, and opened it. "We still have this," he said, turning it for them to see.

It was the tranquilizer gun that they had recovered from the geothermal control room. The silver metal glinted dully in the sunlight. It was small and delicate looking, with the four long darts and the phial of green liquid it looked like some form of medical injection equipment.

"Does anybody else have weapons training?" asked Anderson.

Guiterrez nodded. He had used tranquilizer guns to sedate many wild animals during his studies in Costa Rica, including a howler monkey that had one of the first suspected InGen dinosaurs clutched in its jaws. "I can use one," he said, pulling the box towards him. He took the pistol from its place within the packing foam, and cracked open the chamber. He then took one of the darts out, and the phial of green liquid. Taking off the plastic cover on the tip of the needle, he punched the dart through the membrane on the phial, and withdrew the plunger to the top. He then began inserting the dart into the chamber.

"Wait, you're supposed to tap it," said Tim.

"Mr. Murphy, you do so to rid the air bubbles within the syringe, because it might cause heart failure. In this case, I'm not going to be too concerned about that," said Guiterrez calmly, snapping the chamber shut. He checked the safety, and put the gun into the back rim of his trousers. Then he filled the other darts with the tranquilizer fluid. He then took a specialized carrying belt that he had found in the side of the metal case, and inserted the darts into it. Making sure that the protective tips were on the rest of the darts, he put the belt around his waist, and clipped it in place.

For some reason the gun made him feel a lot safer. He knew that it wouldn't actually do him much good, especially with the larger animals, but at least it was something.

He breathed deeply for a moment, letting the gentle breeze wash over him.

"Hey Martin, fill that will you?" said Sarah, tossing him a water canteen from her pack.

Guiterrez caught it, and unscrewed the lid. A little resentful about leaving his momentary contentment, he got to his knees, and leaned over the small stream. He stuck the canteen underneath the surface, and felt the cold water wash over his hands again. The canteen bubbled from the tip, and he idly watched the flow of the river, watched the contours of the surface as it slowly traveled downstream.

And then slightly, ever so slightly, the water shuddered. Not in a small area, as if disturbed by fish, but the whole stream appeared to shiver. Guiterrez paused, forgetting about the water bottle. He waited for a few moments, watching the water closely. Once again, the stream shuddered.

Guiterrez frowned. He looked over his shoulder at the others. None of them had noticed anything, and were busy conversing over the procedures that they would need to reboot the central core systems of the island. Guiterrez turned back to the stream, and watched the water again, and waited.

The water continued to shiver over the next ten seconds, and it appeared to be happening more frequently.

Guiterrez didn't know what could be causing it. What could make a stream vibrate? Perhaps the electricity in the power lines trying to find a way through? Or some machinery underground?

He wasn't sure. But after a few more seconds it seemed doubtful. The change in speed of the shuddering deemed machinery out of the question. It was irregular, almost like a thumping.

The water shuddered once more, but this time it was accompanied by a sound. It was deep, low, and booming. It was barely audible above the rushing water beside him.

He was starting to get nervous now. But something kept him stuck in place, listening intently, his hands submerged.

Now he could feel the vibrations traveling through the water and up his arms. And the sound was building.

And then something in his head snapped into place; something was coming.

Boom.

Guiterrez's breath caught in his throat. He could still barely hear it, but it was definitely stronger than before. He cocked his head, and listened hard.

Boom.

His eyes widened. Something really was coming towards them. Something very large. The sound was now coming to the point where it was clearly audible. He was sure that the others would detect the next shudder, as now he could feel the very ground beneath him start to shake.

He was right. As the ground shook beneath him, the conversation between the group ceased immediately. Guiterrez sensed them all standing up behind him, shuffling around. Anderson grabbed his rifle, and Sarah whipped the pistol from the back of her trousers.

"What was that?" asked Rodriguez.

Boom.

"Guys," said Guiterrez, directing their attention towards the stream. Something else was happening now. As he watched, the booming sound rang out, now reverberating all around them, echoing in the jungle. And the water shuddered violently, and this time rippled with small concentric circles. It was very strange; Guiterrez has never seen water do that before.

"What is it?" asked Guiterrez. He looked over his shoulder, to see a mixed group of expressions. Rodriguez and Wu were looking around in an air of hesitant curiosity. Anderson was frowning, training his rifle in a wide arc at the jungle on the other side of the stream. But Tim, Sarah and Malcolm bore an identical expression of pure horror. Guiterrez felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of the fear that their faces conveyed.

"Impact tremors," whispered Tim. His breath was coming in shuddering gasps.

"What?" said Anderson, "what does that mean?"

But now Wu's face fell, and his expressions changed to that of somebody coming to a terrifying realization.

Boom.

"What the fuck is it?" asked Guiterrez, standing up.

Malcolm was backing up, and was looking around fervently. His face had gone deathly pale, as had Sarah's. "We have to hide. Now," Malcolm breathed.

Anderson pointed his rifle to a thick bush backing up against a large rock. It would provide good cover, and was easily big enough for all of them to hide inside.

Guiterrez was confused, but by the urgency of the other's words he complied. They all grabbed for their bags, and almost ran for the bush. Guiterrez dived in, and forced the leaves out of the way, settling in the center, repositioning a few branches to hide him best. The others were all squashed up alongside him, their breath heavy in his ears.

The booming sound was now loud in his ears, and the impact tremors made his body leap off of the ground by at least an inch.

"Why are we hiding?" he heard Rodriguez hiss to his right.

"Shut up," whispered Tim, "something's coming."

"What is?"

"Shh!"

Now the booming was almost ear-splitting. It seemed to be emanating from only a few meters away. Guiterrez could hear the blood rushing in his ears, and his heart seemed to be trying to crawl up into his throat.

Suddenly a massive foot slammed to the ground only two meters in front of the bush where they were hiding. It was over three feet long. It was dark green, and ended in three splayed toes, tipped with razor sharp talons. Another foot joined it a second later.

The feet paused. Whatever this was, Guiterrez thought, it was enormous. From somewhere far above them, there was a deep, menacing growl.

Beside him Guiterrez could hear the erratic breathing of the other's, and somebody to his right was shaking. He himself was fighting the urge to piss himself.

The left foot ahead of him took a single bounding step forward, making it to the bank of the stream. There was a loud rasping sniffing sound. Guiterrez changed a change in position, and peeked out of the top of the bush.

He almost screamed at what he saw.

Twenty feet above him, a massive head, almost five feet long was staring at the jungle on the other side of the stream. It was almost square in shape, and Guiterrez could see large jaw muscles working under the skin. The eyes were bright yellow, the rounded black pupil working in the socket furiously. There was a round hole just behind each of the eyes, which he guessed was an ear. But what scared him the most where the 30 centimeter long fangs that were protruding from the upper lip, curving backwards along their length. They were coated with blood.

The body was robust, and powerfully built. The torso was the same dark green color as the feet, but was a light yellow on the underbelly. Two tiny front limbs waved in the air, the two fingered hands flexing. Even from his position he could tell that this was a dinosaur of considerable size. He guessed that it was at least forty feet long.

Guiterrez was now trembling uncontrollably. His mind worked furiously, reaching back to his childhood, trying to find remember the name. He knew this dinosaur; everybody did. And then it clicked.

Tyrannosaurus Rex.

It was a T-Rex…the Tyrant Lizard King.

As he looked closer he could see that the dinosaur had a small animal clenched in its jaws. He frowned. Didn't dinosaurs usually eat their food right away, not carry it around with them? All of these questions made no sense to his stupefied brain.

The Tyrannosaur growled again, and took another step forward. It was now standing in the middle of the stream.

It stopped again. It knelt down, and sniffed. Guiterrez squinted into the stream. And then his chest clenched. He had left Sarah's water canteen in the stream. The Tyrannosaur rooted around in the water for a minute or so. It growled deeply, the sound reverberating in the jungle.

Then it raised its head again, and stood up. It took another step, and its head disappeared into the jungle. Now its long tail was swinging over their heads. Another bounding step and it was gone.

They waited for several minutes in complete silence, listening to the booming sound as it slowly dissipated. Finally, Anderson stood up, and crept out. He swung his rifle in a wide circle, and then signaled the all clear.

Guiterrez got shakily to his feet, and fought his way clear of the bush. He emerged slowly, and looked around at the others. They were all white as a sheet, and were drenched with sweat, their hair soaked through. He guessed that he was too.

"That was a…," whispered Rodriguez hoarsely.

"Yes," said Tim, "it was."

"I don't know about you guys," said Anderson from the bank of the stream, "but I'm not waiting around for it to come back. Let's get the hell out of here."