A/N: Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed! I hope everyone else is enjoying season five as much as I am. This chapter is long, but there was just no good place to cut it, so my beta and I decided to leave it all as one big chapter. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Five- Fight to the Death
Everyone froze, staring at the anomaly.
"Connor, get it locked now!" Becker ordered, starting toward his truck to retrieve his weapon but stopping a moment later as an enormous figure came charging out of the anomaly, pausing briefly as though surprised by the sudden change in its surroundings.
"It's an Allosaurus," Connor said without moving, his voice just loud enough for Becker to hear. He was sitting just meters away from the giant dinosaur, frozen in place and staring up at it.
"Is that bad?" Jess whispered loudly, edging toward Becker nervously.
Becker surveyed the creature, sizing it up. It reminded him of the pictures Connor had once shown him of a Tyrannosaurus rex, except considerably smaller and with an elongated body. He edged closer to Jess as he watched the creature, waiting for it to make the first move.
"Uh… it's not good," Connor answered.
The Allosaurus snapped its head toward Connor, attracted by the sound of his voice.
"Connor, move!" Abby ordered, stepping forward and grabbing his arm, she pulled him away from the equipment as the creature started toward them, roaring threateningly and snapping its jaws.
Connor tripped over his equipment as Abby dragged him to his feet and would have brought them both down if Matt had not been there to grab his other hand and pull him back up, dropping his EMD in the process. The three backed away quickly toward the wall of the garage. The dinosaur moved after them with impressive speed for its size, quickly catching up to them. Abby pulled Connor behind one of the large concrete columns that lined the parking garage and Matt leapt to the side as the creature lunged for them, narrowly missing being caught in its powerful jaws.
"Look out!" Matt yelled a warning as the dinosaur turned, swinging its powerful tail out at the column separating it from its prey, sending chunks of concrete flying. Connor pushed Abby out of the way as a smaller piece connected with the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.
Jess screamed as Connor fell, drawing the creature's attention to herself and Becker for the first time. Becker had no time to retrieve his weapon from his truck as the creature charged at the cars. Seeing the creature's intention, he grabbed Jess from behind, pulling her with him as he backed out from between the two vehicles and forcing her to the ground, ducking to cover her as the dinosaur turned, striking her small car with its powerful tail, flipping it onto its side. The car missed hitting them by inches, slamming into the side of Becker's truck with incredible force. Jess shrieked as glass and bits of metal exploded down onto them.
Quickly losing interest in the demolished car, the dinosaur turned its attention to the two humans who lay at its feet and let out another deafening roar and reared back, preparing to strike. Becker could smell rotting flesh and blood on the enormous lizard's hot breath and Jess shrieked again and buried her face in his vest. Certain that the end was near, he tightened his grip on Jess and ducked his head.
"Hey!" He heard Matt yell. "Over here!"Becker raised his head slightly to see Matt approaching from the side, advancing on the creature with his EMD raised. Behind him, Becker could see Connor lying on the ground, still unconscious and Abby back at the equipment trying desperately to lock the anomaly. The creature turned away from Jess and Becker to observe this new interruption. Matt fired his EMD twice, but the weapon had little effect on the maddened beast. Matt cursed but did not back away, trying to give Abby time to get the anomaly locked.
"Abby?" he called over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off the dinosaur.
"I need a minute!" she replied as she bent down to inspect the screen of Connor's laptop.
"You may not have a minute!" Matt warned.
The creature now stood halfway between the two groups of people, apparently trying to decide whom to attack first.
"Don't move!" Becker breathed into Jess' ear, fearing that any movement might draw the creature's attention back to them. He felt her nod her agreement against his chest.
The momentary silence was broken suddenly when a deafening animal roar echoed through the empty parking garage. Everyone, even the Allosaurus, stopped and turned to look towards the anomaly as a second creature emerged. It was another Allosaurus, even larger than the first. It let out another terrible roar, apparently challenging the other dinosaur, which turned completely to face the newcomer. Becker seized the momentary distraction to climb to his feet, pulling Jess along with him and slowly back away from the creature toward the far wall opposite Matt, Jess, and Connor, keeping himself between Jess and the dinosaur the whole way. He desperately wished he could return to his truck to retrieve his EMD, or even better, a real gun, but he did not dare move that close to the creature and he would not leave Jess alone to do so.
The two giant beasts rushed at each other, crashing into on another with enough force to make the structure tremble. The noise was terrible as they ripped at one another's flesh in a desperate fight for dominance in the new territory.
"Matt," Becker said quietly into his earpiece, "Matt, you and Abby get Connor out of here. Secure the gate to the entrance ramp; we can't let those things get out of here. Jess and I will get out up the stairs and through the building." From across the garage he saw Matt nod his agreement and say something to Abby, who was still struggling with Connor's computer and a moment later she succeeded in locking the anomaly. Becker watched as Matt and Abby pulled Connor up between them and slowly retreated up the ramp and out of the garage. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the gate slam closed and turned his mind back to the situation at hand. He could feel Jess pressed against his back and he turned his head to address her quietly.
"Don't worry, Jess, we're getting out of here." he reassured her. "Just stay behind me and stick close, all right?"
He waited for her to nod her agreement, which she did hesitantly.
"Okay, let's get moving."
Of all the ways her evening could possibly gone, this was one scenario Jess would never have imagined in her wildest dreams. Well, she conceded to herself after a moment of reflection, perhaps in her wildest, more nightmarish-type dreams, but certainly not her normal dreams. What had started out as a perfectly pleasant evening out with friends had gone as wrong as possible in less than an hour: there was an anomaly, Becker was angry with her, Connor was injured, and now she was trapped in a parking garage with Becker and two enormous creatures looking to rip her to pieces. She could not remember the last time she had been this terrified, but she willed herself to stay calm long enough to get out alive with Becker. There would be time for a panic attack later, she told herself firmly, tightening her grip on the back of Becker's vest.
She carefully inched along the wall behind Becker, cursing her choice in footwear with every step. Becker and Abby might have had a good point about her shoes at work. She tried to avoid watching the fighting dinosaurs as she found it easier not to panic when she focused on watching her own feet but every few moments she would sneak a peek around Becker's wide shoulder's to check on their progress and their position in relation to the two fighting creatures. They had barely made it ten meters when she glanced up and noticed the dinosaurs were moving towards Connor's equipment. As the larger creature dodged a wild attack from the smaller, it's deadly tail swept behind it, knocking over the laptop and locking device. The anomaly unlocked, springing back to its normal size as it reopened. Through his vest, she felt Becker tense as he observed this new development.
"Change of plans, Jess," he said quietly, pausing and turning to face her. "I want you to get out of here. Stick as close to the wall as you can and get out up those stairs. Once you get outside, find Matt and the others and wait for back up."
"Okay," she said breathlessly, glancing toward the exit, too terrified to argue. Fifty meters had never seemed so far away. "Wait, what about you?" she asked, realizing he had not included himself in those plans.
He shook his head. "I've got to get the anomaly locked again before anything else comes through. Once it's locked I'll meet you outside with Matt and the others."
"That's completely insane!" Jess whispered fiercely. "Matt locked the gate, so nothing is getting out of here."
"It's my job to secure that anomaly. It wasn't a suggestion, Jessica. Go now, please!"
She opened her mouth to voice another argument, but stopped when she saw the pained expression on his face.
"All right," she agreed hesitantly.
"Just stick to the wall. You'll be fine." He reassured her.
"Please be careful!" she whispered after him.
She slowly inched along the wall toward the stairs Becker had indicated, keeping her back pressed tightly against the cool concrete. She watched nervously as he advanced across the open garage to his truck, keeping a close eye on the fight as he did. He turned back once to check her progress and nodded to her, motioning for her to keep moving. She sighed with relief when he reached the truck, hoping that he would find what he was looking for quickly and get out of harm's way.
Jess could not believe the fight had lasted as long as it had. The noise was terrible: snarling, roars of anger, and shrieks of pain. Both were now bloody and mangled, but neither was going to back down. The fight had ranged all over the garage, the two creatures crashing into the concrete columns and walls indiscriminately as they fought, but now the fight was beginning to move back to the truck. She noted with alarm that Becker had not yet seen this because his back was turned as he searched his truck for something.
Unable to stop herself, she shrieked, "Becker, look out!"
He approached the truck cautiously, crouching to stay out of sight. He knew he did not have much time to get the anomaly locked and get out of the garage. So long as the fight continued he knew he and Jess would be of little interest to the creatures, but as soon as it ended the victor would immediately turn its attention back to them.
Jess' car was pushed up against the passenger side of his truck from the first attack, effectively blocking it, leaving the driver's door the only way in. Unfortunately, this meant turning his back to the fighting dinosaurs as he searched the truck. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then pulled the driver's door open. Taking one last look at the fighting creatures, he turned quickly and leaned into the truck, searching for the case he kept tucked under the back seat. Matt's arrival at the ARC had marked the start of many new policies, chiefly, as far as Becker was concerned, the replacement of real weapons with EMDs. However, old habits die hard, and Becker had been careful to keep one of his personal favorites stashed in his truck in case of emergencies.
He was so focused on finding the case he momentarily forgot about the danger behind him and he became lost in his task. Hearing Jess call his name, he spun to see what had caused her alarm.
The larger creature had the other by its throat. The smaller was desperately trying to free itself, thrashing wildly and dragging the other creature backwards toward his truck. Realizing, as Jess had, that he had only seconds before he would be caught in the middle of their fight, he did the only thing he could think of: he threw himself into the cab of the truck and slammed the door closed behind him.
Jess watched in horror as the fighting creatures stumbled backwards toward Becker, gasping audibly as he threw himself into the interior of the truck just before the dinosaurs reached him. Just before they hit the cars, the larger dinosaur seemed to regain his balance and pulled the smaller back. Before Jess could even register this stroke of good fortune, she realized what the larger animal was planning. Tightening its jaws around the smaller dinosaur's neck, it reared back, using its powerful neck muscles to throw the smaller into the cars. The force of the impact sent the truck sliding across the garage, where it smashed into the concrete wall, shattering most of the windows.
The larger dinosaur roared victoriously, waiting for the other to get up. The smaller managed to climb to its feet, staggering back several steps as it did so. Turning her attention away from the fight, Jess made a decision. She pushed herself away from the safety of the wall and ran as quickly as she could back along the wall to the badly damaged truck.
"Becker!" she gasped when she reached the truck, looking in one of the smashed in windows. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," he answered with a groan, reaching out to grab her outstretched hand to pull himself up. "I thought I told you to get out?"
She ignored his question and helped him pull himself off the floor and back into the driver's seat. He was covered in glass and had a few small cuts but seemed to be mostly unharmed. "Can we go now, please?"
"Hang on." He turned away from her to reach into the backseat of his truck again. She turned back to keep an eye on the fight, wringing her hands nervously. As she surveyed the garage she noticed the light from the anomaly beginning to flicker and dance in a worrying manner.
"Becker," she warned, "the anomaly, I think it's-"
There was no need to finish her sentence as a moment later the anomaly winked out of existence, leaving the garage dimly lit, now only illuminated by the headlights from the two wrecked automobiles. The awkward angles of the lights cast strange shadows across the expanse of the garage. Becker climbed out of the truck and landed beside her, holding up his prize for her to see.
"No more toy guns," he explained calmly as he loaded the shotgun. Under normal circumstances she might have rolled her eyes at his obsession with his shotgun, but at that moment Jess knew she had never been happier to see a real gun in her life. She saw him cast a quick glance around the garage, taking in the situation, before shaking his head in frustration. "We're getting out of here. Now." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him, moving much more quickly than he had before, and not bothering to stick to the walls, rather crossing the empty space of the garage to get to the other side more quickly. She understood Becker's eagerness to get out, but she could not tear her eyes away from the battling creatures as he pulled her behind him. Jess could tell the smaller one was near death as she watched the rivers of blood flow freely from its neck and the deep gashes that covered its entire body. But the animal was not done fighting yet. She remembered Abby once telling her that wild animals are often most dangerous just before the die, driven into a frenzy by pain and desperation. The smaller charged blindly at the other, forcing them back from the center of the garage towards the wall opposite Jess and into the crates Becker had warned Connor to stay away from earlier.
They were nearly halfway to the stairs when it happened. With a shriek like nothing Jess had ever heard before, the smaller creature fell at the feet of its attacker. Roaring victoriously, the larger bent down and savagely ripped into the other, blood and flesh flying as the smaller finally surrendered and died. Not pausing for even a moment, the remaining creature, though covered in blood and wounds from the fight, immediately turned from the body of its defeated foe to look directly at Becker and Jess. It let out a terrible roar that made Jess' ears ring before starting towards them, quickly picking up speed as it moved.
Becker cursed under his breath and dropped her hand before pushing her behind him and raising his shotgun.
"Right," he said, taking aim at the approaching dinosaur, "Abby is just going to have to let this one go. We are not keeping this thing as a pet." He took a second to glance back at her. "Jess, run. Get out of here now."
But Jess could not seem to move her legs. She was too terrified to run and she would not leave Becker again. Her breath caught in her throat and she raised her hands to cover her ears as Becker raised his gun.
He fired several rounds into the charging dinosaur before it changed its course, veering off to the side. The next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion for Becker as he fired the last round in his shotgun as the Allosaurus ducked to the side, revealing the crates of explosives. The shot intended for the dinosaur instead hit the crate of explosives, detonating them.
Becker turned, throwing his arms around Jess less than a second before the powerful explosion ripped through the garage, sending them flying through the air as the building collapsed around them.
A/N: Finally, we get to the action of the story! I hope everyone else is enjoying the new season as much as I am! I hope to have the next chapter up soon. Please review if you have a minute! I love getting feedback!