Levine took a deep breath as they drove away from the grisly scene, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. That should've never happened, he should've been the one guarding the girl instead of the kid. It wouldn't have ended that way, or at least the raptor would be the one dead on the ground right now. Of that he was sure of. He made a note to himself to impart the news, at least find out who had survived her. Sure she had been a Biosyn agent, but… part of him wasn't feeling quite right with the way the situation had been handled, very messy and sloppy from the beginning. He looked back in the rearview mirror to look at the kid, saw his blank face just staring off to the side.
To see someone die like that had to be very damaging on the psyche he knew; he'd had to have therapy after the Sorna expedition himself. It had helped to underline his other underlying issues, including his youthful arrogance. He had the Satphone in his hand, the kid having handed it to him in a daze. He fiddled with the controls, listening to the sound of the rain pattering against the windshield. They were almost to the hill where the barn was, and he thought maybe he could try getting the record of the last call or something. Levine wasn't an idiot, he knew that most likely that the girl's last call had been to her bosses, probably about getting in reinforcements or a pickup. The last one seemed likely, as she seemed the sort who was clever enough to try to reverse the situation like that.
Okay this should do the trick, he thought to himself as the driver put the jeep into fourth gear. A bit rough going, but they were slowly and steadily making their way up the hill. He could already see the barn, how large and imposing it was. Its doors thrust open, and a sinister aura about it. Strange, he couldn't put his finger on it but there seemed to be something off. He put it to the back of his mind as he tried to figure out the Satphone again, it must be one of the newer models he thought to himself. He clicked what he thought was the right switch but only saw a red light flashing on and off on the side. Did that mean the battery was dying or something? He really had no idea.
He didn't know how the hell Marty was going to fit in the car if he was injured either. He supposed that one of them might have to be uncomfortable for the sake of the others as well. It was only until they got to the hummer, but… He just wanted to get this over with as fast as possible really. He put the receiver of the Satphone to his ear as he felt the final bump indicating that they were over the hill already. He heard a creak, and a hissing of statuc but otherwise nothing else. Frowning, Levine considered that the phone had after all been left out in the rain for hours under a dead body. Surely that had something to do with affecting the function.
"Hello, hello?" he asked, even as he could see the house opposite the barn come into view. Not a bad place actually, and he was curious to see how Marty was holding up. No answer on the phone, he could tell it was connected; maybe they just didn't want to answer. Biosyn safeguarded its secrets; there might be some sort of password to make it work. Ah hell, even if this phone didn't work, he still had another option. Like a fool he realized he'd left his cell phone in the hummer, right on the passenger seat. He hoped none of these little green lizards was in there right now; they'd probably have to clear the car before they were able to drive off in it.
As Muldoon braked to a stop in the clearing, Levine turned the phone off in frustration. No sense in wasting battery, he thought to himself, he would work on that later. After they got everyone out of this place. They all got out of the car, faced the house. The rain was pouring down around them, and he really didn't want to spend too much time here. "Should we knock on the door now, or after lunch?" Levine quipped, not really meaning to be sarcastic, he was just in a bad mood right now. Maybe it was this place, even though he'd barely been here a few hours. It had already left a lasting impression, even if it was a bad one.
"I'll do it," Muldoon said with a sigh, stepping forward. "We don't know how injured this man may be, it may be moderate, to maybe more severe. I need everyone to be willing to carry him to the car if need be. Do you understand?" His face was hard; although he was more worried about what sort of condition Marty was in right now. It was an unknown type of animal, at least unknown to him that had attacked the man; he had no idea what kind of damage it was capable of. The Doctor was here no doubt about it; if there was anyone who could keep Marty alive it was probably going to be her right now. His arm tense, he grabbed the doorknob and opened it outwards.
The others crowded behind him, so they could see. The house was barely lit, with a lamp on the end table illuminating the living room. They could see the dining room table, a form on it. For one long instant, their breaths caught in their mouths before they realized he was breathing, just very long and slow. There was a slumped figure leaning against the table, and he realized it must be Dr. Carter, most likely taking a rest after all that exhaustion. He shut the door behind him, glad to get the constant drone of the rain out of his head. As he stepped forward, he noted that the wound on Marty's leg looked serious, there were at least two sets of rags around it, in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.
Levine stepped forward, "Marty!" He called out, concern written all over his face, he stepped forward. However Muldoon's arm shot out, held him by the shoulder, shaking his head. "Let go of me damn it," Levine said very annoyed now. He was going to see how his old friend was doing, get him out of this situation and hopefully get some medical help. He could see from here that the wound looked bad, a wonder that he hadn't already bled out from the shock. He had a whole lot of questions to ask the doctor, about the severity of the wound, etc. He struggled again, but Muldoon's grip was like iron, for some reason. But there was something in his eye that made him pause.
Muldoon was staring at the small crumpled cigarette on the table. The woman wasn't the type to smoke, he thought he knew that much. Leaning over he picked it up, noticing how the woman didn't respond. "Wait a second," Muldoon said as he made his way around the table. Something was definitely wrong, he could feel it, and he could feel it in his bones. He prodded the slumped figure carefully with one hand, hearing Marty groan as he drifted in and out of unconciousness. He noticed at least two or three syringes by the side. Probably enough Morphine to stop a horse in that man's body by now he figured. Probably wouldn't even notice when they picked him up to put him in the car.
He flinched as the figure fell to the floor, the blankets that had very cleverly been rolled up to stimulate a form in the semi-darkness unrolled to the ground. As they did so, Muldoon turned around, shotgun suddenly aimed. Not fast enough, as he heard the familiar sound of a gun click right as he swerved. Out of the shadows he observed the man standing in front of him, his face covered with sweat and grime from the mud outside. In his hand was a handgun, it was too dark to make out the exact model, but that was not what captured their attention. No, it was the fact that this man held the gun to the head of Dr. Carter, his other hand holding her forcefully by the shoulder.
"Drop the goddamn gun or I'll blow her away," Ed James said, smiling as he looked out at the people. "So help me you move an inch and I'll put a hole in her head." He wasn't joking either, and he hoped they didn't make him call his bluff. Normally he wouldn't do something like this but with that animal on his back out there, he had no choice but to call the mission a failure. Taking the girl hostage had been a last minute choice, mainly when he'd seen the jeep pulling in and parking near the barn. The moment he'd seen Levine's face, he knew the game was over if he just acted normally. With none of his backup here right now, he would be identified instantly.
"That's right asshole," he said as Muldoon lowered the gun slightly, "Might want to drop it as well otherwise the good doctor here is getting one right in the head." He had no intention to kill anybody, but he was under duress right now, and probably could not be held responsible legally for anything he did right now. The courts would back him up on that, not responsible in any way, shape, or form. The most he would probably do he thought to himself was knock her over the head, make his escape while the people were too busy making sure she was okay. It was a shame really; she was a better looking broad then that other bitch. He moved towards the door, keeping one eye on the people, making sure they didn't move.
"I'll also be needing your car keys as well," James said, he turned the gun sideways to show he was serious. At least the broad was being quiet, he didn't really like it when too many people were talking as much. "If you would kindly toss them over, not throw them at my face that would be excellent." He took his hand off of Dr. Carter's shoulders for a moment, extended his arm just above her shoulder, his palm outstretched. He couldn't exactly wait forever, and he would let them know it. If they showed any signs of trying to attack him he would sure as hell shoot or hit the girl, to stop them from moving forward. Too bad about them but they would be relatively safe here.
Slung over his shoulder was his backpack, which contained the unconscious Procompsognathus. Hell even if they couldn't go back with that larger dinosaur, Rossiter would probably give him a promotion for this. It was still better then they'd managed to get in the past few years. Especially since the DNA from the aberrant forms had proven too degraded for the labs at Biosyn to handle, because by the time they got their hands on it was usually near burnt to a crisp by an overzealous government. This would do for now, give them a head start, hell it might even be the perfect size to breed in numbers without fear of government discovery. But first, he needed the keys, so he could get out of this place.
The man Levine, stepped forward, trembling and holding the car keys outstretched in his hand. "Okay, just don't hurt her," he said, clearly nervous at the way this situation had turned out. "You take the car, everybody goes their own way." He thought it could be resolved so easily, what a fool. He was taking the girl with him, at least as far as out the door. That was the only way he could be sure they didn't try anything foolish. He grabbed the car keys in his hands, feeling powerful and victorious at once. See how they all saw reason once they realized there was no other better way? He backed up, dragging the girl with him as he did so.
He was almost halfway to the door when he let go of the girl to grab the door handle. It turned out to be a mistake because before he knew it he felt a jabbing sensation in his ribs, and instinctively lowered his arms to his chest to protect himself. In that moment, she dove to the floor, as Muldoon had suddenly aimed his gun right at him. It seemed to be a Mexican standoff, very classic. But it was going to end one way, with him walking out the door. Ed James smiled, still confident in himself. This was nothing other then a minor inconvenience. Just like most people were. He leveled the gun straight at Muldoon, his smile not wavering.
Muldoon couldn't understand why James didn't put the gun down. Carter had got him at a disadvantage there, managed to elbow him in the ribs. By anybodies reckoning that should've been enough to incapacitate him. Or at least stop him long enough to get a bead. But he'd had to rush for Levine's Uzi, grab it out of his hands. That had cost valuable time. "Drop the damn gun," he said gritting his voice, or I'll blow your goddamn brains all over the floor." He didn't know how serious he was, and frankly he didn't care. After seeing what had happened to the Biosyn woman, he wasn't about to let them kill anybody else with their selfishness and greed. His blood shot eyes were either that way from too much whiskey, or just tiredness in general.
But James was still smiling, his goddamn infuriating smile making all the alcohol inside of him boil. Maybe he would just shoot him in the knee, incapacitate the man without actually killing him. He wouldn't normally entertain such thoughts, but this man had held a gun to an innocent woman just moments before. In this kind of situation he really was at his wits end. The day was just too damn long and wouldn't end. "Wipe the damn smile off your face and tell me what's so funny," He was losing his patience rapidly, and was really not in the mood for this man not to take anything seriously. He just wasn't in the mood at all. He took a quick glance at Levine's face, wondered why he looked so worried.
"Maybe you should consider lowering your own gun," strange, he didn't recognize the sound of that voice. But it was coming from behind him. He realized that there was only one candidate for that person to be, and he sighed. Why didn't he see it coming earlier? It had been so obvious, right from the start. The eggs, keeping the backpack with the eggs, there had been no reason to take them had there? If the backpack had been left at the house, the woman would've never have died really. He lowered the Uzi carefully, making sure that the kid saw him drop it to the floor. Levine already had his hands up, a look of resignation in his eye.
The kid circled them carefully, still aiming the gun at them. James looked bemused, and intrigued at this turn of events. But Muldoon noted one thing, that he did not look surprised at all. Had they been in contact before the expedition even started? He noted that as a distinct possibility. But there was certainly nothing they could do about it right now. He breathed heavily as he noticed the two staring at him, almost as if they were going to taunt him. But they hadn't shot him yet, and that was something to consider right now. Most likely they were just going to leave quiet and rationally. Plus any gunshot might draw the attention of the large animal, that was almost certainly skulking around somewhere nearby.
But they didn't shoot them and James opened the door carefully, this time with one gun aimed down at the woman, the kid's gun aimed at them. The door slammed just as quick and they all set a deep breath. Then as one Levine and Muldoon rushed to the window, with Levine stopping first to help the Doctor up. From the perspective of the window he could see the two get into the car, try to start it. It seemed they were having some difficulty. Hell that was good, he could go back and get his shotgun if he had to. He was about to go back when he heard a sound, the sound of the transmission starting up. He would never make to and back before they got away that was for sure.
Frustrated, Muldoon slammed his fists against the glass, feeling the hot stench of the whiskey reflect back to him. Dammit, why did he not see that coming, he could already see the self-congratulatory sneer on the man's face as they started the car, and were preparing to back it up. Suddenly he realized something as he was looking down at the ground. Even though the rain was coming down pretty heavily, he could still see the fresh imprints of some animals tracks on the ground. He thought to himself that if James had been chased in here by that animal where would the animal go… It was an interesting train of thought to be sure.
Just as he thought, there was a sudden shift in the change of the ambience. He could hear the normal patter of the rain pouring down but there was also something else, something oh so quiet in the background. His trained ears could hear it because it was the sound of a stalking animal trying not to be heard. He pressed his palms flat against the window, smiling inwardly to himself. Well, if this weren't an amusing turn of events. He sort of figured that it would happen, given that it was right near the animals 'home' territory. He could hear the sound of the rain pouring against the glass, the sound of the thunder rolling, and the car's transmission starting. There was a faint tremor, made the glass tingle ever so softly against his fingertips. He felt alive, like he was back in Africa.
There was another low rumble, and he could tell it wasn't thunder. Levine got the good doctor to her feet, and they watched the scene. Something seemed to stir out of the darkness, and now even the people in the jeep were starting to notice. The man was gunning the engine faster now, some new and desperate energy given to his actions. A large shape was suddenly visible, its outline of its form barely distinguishable in this driving rain. But he could see it, oh yes he could see it. From the reflection, he saw recognition come into Levine's eyes, as the man drew in his breath, utterly astonished. The beast stepped out, and they all could hear the growl louder, as it assessed the new entity in its territory.
The dinosaur suddenly roared, rearing its head back before staggering towards the jeep. At that moment the Jeep fired up, and started backing up. The large dinosaur roared again, lunging forward and nearly snapping the tailpipe of the jeep. The car skidded a bit to the side, and then sped forward. Muldoon had a flash of inspiration and flicked the light switch. The dinosaur seemed to fluctuate colors for almost the barest tenth of a second, but it was enough for him to see it fully in the light. He was awed, so that's what they had made on the other island… The animal chased after the jeep, following it as it swerved down the hill. He smiled to himself.
"Looks like it'll lead him on a merry chase," he said.