Jurassic World: Return to Isla Nublar – Chapter 41: Jeep-001
A/N: I have successfully finished another great chapter of Jurassic World: Return to Isla Nublar. I might have said this before, but I really feel that the story is approaching its final chapters. I'm still not sure exactly how long it is going to be. When I was writing the earlier chapters, I thought that the story would have ended long before the 41st chapter, but there was more information in each chapter than I originally had in mind. Anyway, thanks to everyone that's been reviewing, following, favoriting and even just reading this story! Please enjoy chapter 41!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jurassic Park except the very characters I've made up.
Eric, Kelly and the ten Lexico soldiers followed Stanley back into the jungle. They were on the trail of half of their research team, and that's when they found themselves in a small "clearing" of some sort in the jungle.
"Animals have definitely been here," Stanley said.
Eric asked, "Can you catch me up with what was going on, based on the footprints, again. Cause you lost me."
"Alright." Stanley and the others stopped walking and he began saying, "The T. rex chased the six humans into the forest. One set of the footprints disappears just before entering the forest, suggesting they were eaten in one bite."
"Typical T. rex attack," Eric stated.
"Yes. Then two of the group broke off from the others, and one T. rex followed them back onto the plains and barely made it based on the tracks. The main part of the team went into that hole we saw a little ways back. Then either the group somehow managed to get back together and were chased by the dinosaurs this way, or they followed the T. rex this way, into this clearing."
"It's not really a clearing," Kelly noticed, looking around at all the trees in the area. "I'd call it an opening in the forest. What happened next?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure." He slowly walked along the trail where the pair of tyrannosaurs walked after chasing the research team. They led him to more human tracks.
I don't think these are from our research team, he thought, these don't link with the prints we know are from our team. Maybe they're from the Biosyn team!
"I think I found the prints of the Biosyn team!" Stanley exclaimed. Kelly and Eric rushed over for a look.
"You think that's them?" Kelly pondered.
Stanley nodded his head. "Yes . . . unless it's the other half of the research team. I think this might be Biosyn though. We should follow it."
"But what about the other half of our team?" Eric asked. "We have to know where they went."
"We can come back later and follow them. But for now, let's follow this trail. Something tells me that we're getting close to something good! I can feel it in my bones!"
"It's so hot in here," soldier #1 said.
"Well, we are traversing next to a river of boiling lava," said Grant. "Could you really have expected any different?"
Grant's team of survivors – led at the moment by Dr. Sorkin – was slowly walking on a narrow pathway of rock down the tunnel. They'd been walking for several tens of minutes; no one was quite sure exactly how long though. Grant looked at his watch, the glow from the lava illuminating the numbers on the watch's face. It was 1:08 p.m. Just to their right was the river of lava below them. Perhaps the most frightening thing about the lava was that it was only a meter or so below them. If they fell, it wouldn't take them long to reach a hot demise.
"Hey, Doc," Ryan called, "you sure we're going the right way? This will lead above ground, right?"
"Eventually," the scientist answered.
"'Eventually.' I don't like the sound of that. And if we're heading the right direction, why are we heading downhill instead of uphill?"
"This lava river leads all the way to our geothermal power plant. From there, we should be able to get into the network tunnels and from–"
"Network tunnels! Again?"
"Yes, but this time the walk shouldn't be too long before we're above ground. Don't worry Ryan, we're going to get out of here."
"I have to admit, this lava is totally awesome!" Taylor exclaimed. "I've never seen lava with my own eyes before."
"Yes, you said that already," Ryan told her.
"I know, but it's awesome!"
"Think we're run into any dinosaurs, Dr. Sorkin?" soldier #2 asked cautiously.
Dr. Sorkin shook her head. "I highly doubt it. No dinosaur in their right mind would come down here. It's too dangerous for them to hunt. They'd be about as likely to fall into the lava as their prey. They need more room."
"I'm getting sort of hungry."
"No one's eating until we get out of here," Grant said sternly. "I don't want to hold our lives in danger of falling into that lava any longer than necessary. Besides, this ledge we're walking on is so narrow I'd never feel comfortable."
"They say the straight and narrow path is the way to go," Taylor observed.
There were a few moments of silence as the group walked. Finally, Dr. Sorkin spoke up. "So I guess we know what made those nests that you found at the dig site."
"Well, we weren't there to see what made the nests and no fossil skeletons were found at the nest," Grant reminded her. "But I agree that Anurognathus is our best guess. It's kind of strange though, because Anurognathus is supposed to be an exclusively Jurassic pterosaur. We've only found their fossil remains in Jurassic sediments, until now, anyways. Another thing I never expected from Anurognathus is that they were so vicious."
"Like I said, the Anurognathus InGen cloned could either be a species we haven't yet uncovered as fossils, or Wu's frog DNA caused them to behave differently than the extinct ones would."
Just then, Dr. Sorkin looked ahead and gasped at what she saw. Oh my gosh! In front of her beyond where the lava river turned to the right were large sets of machinery and other contraptions. This is it!
Grant nodded when he saw it. "Looks like we're almost there. That's the geothermal power plant, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes it is!" Dr. Sorkin said excitedly. "We'll be out of the frying pan and into the forest in no time."
"I think 'out of the flames and into the deadly forest full of carnivorous dinosaurs' would be more accurate," Ryan told her.
Malcolm looked out his window as their chopper flew high over Isla Nublar. They were swiftly following the river to the coast. Somewhere along the riverbanks were hopefully signs of human activity. Preferably from the research team, but if they found anything about the Biosyn team, they'd be a step closer to solving the mystery.
He looked over at Sarah, who was using her keen eyes to do the same as Malcolm was doing. "You think we should start calling for the team using a loud speaker?" he asked her.
"We could," Sarah began.
"That would be a bad idea," the pilot yelled above the sounds of the chopper blades.
"What's that?"
"I said, that would be a bad idea."
"What would be a bad idea?"
Suddenly, the bloodcurdling roar of a Tyrannosaurus was emitted somewhere from the jungle below them.
"Good point," Sarah admitted. "We don't want to alert the carnivores of our location anymore than the noise from the chopper is."
Just then, Malcolm spotted something on the riverbank – a colorful deflated object.
"Hey! I think I see the inflatable boat someone took from that shed!"
The soldier in the chopper and Sarah instantly looked in the same direction as Malcolm – it was definitely the boat. Perhaps the team was nearby!
"Pilot! Prepare to land this chopper where that boat is!" Malcolm shouted.
The pilot nodded. "Yes, sir."
Dodgson slapped an insect that landed on his neck. Then he felt another one land on his arm. After slapping that one, he felt another on his nose. Without thinking, he slapped that one too.
"Ow! Ow! OW!" he cried, rubbing his sore nose. "These mindless bugs. Go pick on someone your own size!"
Suddenly, he felt the sound of his own stomach grumbling and reached his hand into his bag, trying desperately to find his food . . . it was gone!
"What? Where'd my food go?" He fell to his knees and searched throughout his backpack. Had he really eaten all the food he had that quickly! He groaned loudly. "This is just great! Now not only do I not have a ride, but I also don't have food to eat. Maybe there's something to eat on the island. I wonder what dinosaur tastes like." He continued searching through his bag and found a few bottles of water. Well, on the bright side, I would die of thirst before I die of hunger, so it's a good thing I still have water to drink.
That's when he noticed a bush with little red berries growing on it! They weren't much, but food was definitely food and Dodgson didn't want to starve. He placed everything that he'd taken out of his backpack for his search for food back in his bag and began gathering berries from the bushes. He placed them in a small plastic bag he brought; once he had gotten enough, he collected some more berries and stuffed them into his mouth.
He nodded his head in approval. Hey! These are pretty tasty! Dodgson hastily started grabbing for more berries and shoving them in his mouth. Sure, it wasn't sanitary, but he was too hungry to care. The berries were so good, that Dodgson must have eaten dozens and dozens of them over the next several minutes. By the time he was finished, he wasn't exactly full, but he was content – content enough to continue along his journey to the coast to hopefully find a way off this dangerous island.
The helicopter slowly settled on the riverbank alongside the deflated boat. Malcolm, Sarah and the soldier leaped out and ran toward it to make an inspection. At first, they were dumbfounded as to what happened to the missing people.
"OK, so what do we know so far?" Malcolm
"Absolutely nothing," Sarah answered. She crouched next to the boat and observed rows of puncture marks. "OK, so we know that something punctured the boat. Now, it's highly unlikely that the boat would hit something and leave these marks in so many rows. It's more like an animal attack."
"Tyrannosaur?" the soldier asked.
Sarah shook her head. "Probably not." She looked closer at one of the punctures and gasped. Her hand dove into the empty space and pulled out a 4-inch, sharply pointed slanted triangle-like object and held it up to the sunlight. Tiny serrations could be seen along the side. "You know what this is?"
"Uh . . . tyrannosaur?"
"No, it's the tooth of a mosasaur."
"You mean that creature that's been attacking anyone who gets close to the island?"
"Yes. This ferocious marine reptile must have swum upriver and decided to attack the boat. Considering there's no blood, I don't think it was successful. But then again, I don't see any tracks nearby either."
Malcolm inquired, "Do you think they could have jumped out of the boat and swam to shore while the mosasaur continued to attack the boat?"
"That's a definite possibility. I'd say we keep looking in the helicopter."
"Did we learn anything from this stop?"
"Yes, we learned that someone's been down the river this far. We might find the team somewhere around here."
The Brachiosaurus herd walked onward toward their destination, presumably on the other side of the semi-arid plains, on the eastern side of the island. Their whale-like moaning calls could be heard for miles around in all directions.
"These animals are such beautiful creatures," Levine breathed. He and the others were still trailing closely behind the large sauropods, knowing that if the Ceratosaurus came back, they'd be safe.
Kailey opened her water bottle and guzzled down some water.
"Careful how much you drink," Tim cautioned. "You don't want to run out."
"That's why I'm only drinking little amounts at a time," she responded. She glared at the hot sun above them – it was almost directly overhead, suggesting it was near noontime still. She looked at her watch: 1:15 p.m.
"Uh! When are these giant lizards going to stop walking?" Halley whined. "It's too hot out here! I'm melting!"
"She has a point," Rob stated. "The original plan was to stop and take a break during the hottest part of the day."
Levine nodded. "Well, the original plan didn't include getting chased by Ceratosaurus." He looked at the sauropods in front of them and grinned. "Besides, I think they've got the same idea."
The Brachiosaurus herd began walking toward a small watering hole nearby. They too were suffering from the heat and needed to take a short rest during the hottest part of the day. The waterhole had several bunches of tall palm-like trees growing around it, so the sauropods could also feed here as well.
Once the mighty giants reached the waterhole, they craned their long necks over the water and dipped their snouts in for a drink. Like modern giraffes, they splayed their front legs to the sides to enable them to reach the water easily.
"Well," Levine began, "it looks like we'll stop here for a while."
They all agreed and took a seat underneath a grove of trees. Lex sighed in relief.
"It feels so good to be off my feet," she said. "How big to you reckon these plains are?"
Levine shrugged. "I'm not sure. But the island's not that big to begin with. So I'd imagine we'll be out of here by tomorrow morning, if not way sooner, which I think is most likely."
Kailey looked up. "Say, why don't you read another email, Levine," she suggested.
"Alright," Levine agreed with a nod. He opened and turned on his computer and began scrolling through the list of emails.
"Wait, what emails?" Halley asked.
"These are emails that Dr. Henry Wu sent to John Hammond before the park's demise. Oh! Here's a good one!
'March 5, 1993
Dear Hammond,
It turns out that Dr. Sorkin has been in contact with the laboratories on Sorna and gave them the information they needed to recreate the same species of dinosaur that she's been working on. I told her that she shouldn't have been doing that without your consent, as the species hadn't yet been given the OK by you. The embryos of the species she's recreating are coming along fine and are expected to hatch within the next few months. They are now mature enough to be able to identify what they probably are – a species of Troodon. We're not yet sure of the species of Troodon though. I took the liberty to do a little research on Troodon, and found out that paleontologists believe that it was a small nocturnal theropod with great vision and sense of smell. They are also the most intelligent dinosaur species known, even more so than Velociraptor! You can check on the specimens when you return to the park, but I have a feeling that they might not yield much public appeal. Many species of nocturnal animals today obviously aren't very active during daytime hours – when the park would be open – so visitors might not get to see them much. I reminded Laura that if the species didn't fit your vision of the park, it would have to either be moved to Site B or euthanized. I know she despises the idea of them being euthanized, but I think she understands . . . I think. She can be hard to read at times.
Harding has been noticing something strange with the Triceratops – they seem to be occasionally getting sick. Harding believes they're suffering from some sort of gastric poisoning. They never get deathly ill, but their symptoms are mainly disorientation, dilated pupils and labored breathing. They seem to catch the bug every six weeks or so. Harding doesn't know why! Some have suspected that the cause is the lilac berries we've been growing in the enclosure, but Harding doesn't think so. They aren't even eating the berries because there's no trace of them in their dung, so how could they get sick from eating them? It must be something else.
You really amaze me Hammond; how you seem to make it to the park at the birth of every creature on Nublar fascinates me. The Hypsilophodon are doing great in their new pen at our confidential laboratories on Nublar. They seem to really have a liking for blueberries, despite the fact that blueberries didn't even exist when and where Hypsilophodon lived. They also enjoy eating the island's native berries. On my breaks, I really enjoy watching them gallivant around their enclosure while they play. Their behavior is not unlike that of the Dryosaurus we have on Site B. They're a very small species, growing no bigger than a sheep or small pony, but they're still cool. I'm thinking they can be eventually placed in the Triceratops enclosure during Phase B, as they're really too small for their own enclosure, in my opinion. What do you think? For now though, they're happy in the DNA Project #1 facility pen.
The other subjects of DNA Project #1 are all growing in their egg shells; all except the Anurognathus. The temperature for their eggs wasn't warm enough, so they'll end up hatching a little after the rest of the species. We still have yet to identify the oviraptorid, the extinct bird, one of the two other species of theropods, and the pachycephalosaur. But since they are incubating as I type this email, we should know their species in the next few months, unless they're species new to science, which I'm also hoping for. The thought of naming a new dinosaur really excites me! I'm was thinking of names like "Wuasaurus", or "Henryosaurus".
We have been able to identify one of our mystery species: Ceratosaurus nasicornis. This, as you will recall, is a species we've already recreated on Isla Sorna. Either some DNA samples we have at Site B were accidentally sent to these laboratories, or they were among the DNA samples of the other creature's we're recreating here. I don't really know. However, I must admit that Ceratosaurus would do greatly in the park for the Phase B project. Most of the carnivores we have in the park presently are either extra-large (Tyrannosaurus) or relatively small (e.g. Dilophosaurus, Compsognathus and Velociraptor).
That's all the updates for now.
Sincerely, Henry Wu.'"
"Oh, now we learn that Ceratosaurus is on the island," Lex groans. "That figures."
The Brachiosaurus nearby began to bellow loudly and the group looked up – another dinosaur approaching the waterhole was getting them worked up: it was a relatively large theropod with a three-crested head. Yes, this was a Ceratosaurus.
Halley sighed. "Sarah-saurus again," she said.
"It's called a Ceratosaurus," Tim corrected.
"Sounds almost the same as the way I pronounced."
"But it's not. Ceratosaurus means 'Horned Lizard'. 'Sarah-saurus' – if that existed – would mean 'Sarah's Lizard'."
The Brachiosaurus bellowed at the approaching Ceratosaurus. Some of the larger sauropods began to stomp their feet to warn the carnivore against coming closer and attacking. The Ceratosaurus snarled in reply and walked toward the waterhole.
Lex noticed a pair of smaller dinosaur beneath the Ceratosaurus. Unlike the larger dinosaur, they had large eyes and heads compared to the size of the rest of their bodies and they had lanky legs. "Say," Lex started, "I think that's a mother Ceratosaurus with her young."
The baby Ceratosaurus hadn't even formed much for crests yet – they were only tiny bumps on their heads at this stage. It would be several years before they'd become as large as their mother's.
"The babies are so cute!" Kailey exclaimed.
Levine nodded his head and placed his binoculars in front of his eyes. The mother leaned over until her toothy muzzle was drenched in water. Her babies began to drink as well. Once the brachios figured out that the Ceratosaurus family weren't in a hunting mood, they continued drinking as well.
"It's such a nice scene," Kailey said as she lifted her camera and snapped a photograph. "Two enemies drinking at a waterhole peacefully."
Tim asked. "What are you going to do with those photographs after we get off the island?"
Kailey shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps I'll sell copies of them. I bet I can make a lot of money off of that! That's going to be awesome! I'll be one of the few people in the world to have photographs of real live dinosaurs!"
"Say, what's up with the Brachiosaurus?" Rob questioned. Levine and the others looked over at them and saw that they were lying down below another grove of trees near the waterhole. They were going to sit out the hottest part of the day and continue traveling later. "Looks like they have the right idea. This is nice, we can just sit here and relax until they're ready to go. Then we follow them to the east and once we reach the forested area, we shouldn't be far from the coast."
"Has anyone actually figured out what we're going to do once we get to the coast?" Halley inquired.
"Easy," Levine stated, "we'll just walk north until we reach the North Dock. From there . . . perhaps there were some boats left behind. An inflatable boat would be nice."
"Not with that mosasaur out there," Lex reminded him. "The rest of you guys never saw it; that mosasaur is a monster. It will snap an inflatable boat in no time at all. Believe me! That's thing is powerful! It's like the dinosaur version of Jaws. You should see what it did to the dock!"
"You're probably right. Though I bet instead of being the dinosaur version of Jaws, it would probably eat Jaws for breakfast in one bite. The people in the Jaws movie have it easy! If they had a mosasaur on the loose, then they'd really be in trouble. But a shark like Jaws is nothing in comparison to the monstrosity and ferociousness of a mosasaur, one of the most dangerous killers ever to swim in the ocean."
The mother Ceratosaurus gurgled to herself as she lifted her head out of the water, water draining from her jaws. She lifted her snout high and sniffed the air; nostrils flaring. Scanning the area with her eyes, she seemed to know that something was nearby that interested her. She called to her young and began walking away from the waterhole. The young Ceratosaurus squawked in reply and followed their mother happily.
"Where do you think she's going?" Kailey questioned.
Levine grinned smugly. "Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"
Rob looked at Levine suspiciously. "What are you getting at, Levine? You're not doing what I think you're going to do, are you?"
"Of course I am! We're on this island to do research anyway."
"You can't go now, we're supposed to be resting until the sauropods leave the waterhole. Remember?"
"Yeah, but this is a great opportunity to learn more about Ceratosaurus; it's a rare dinosaur in the fossil record, so we can't learn that much about it from fossils. The opportunity to watch a living one is too good to miss."
"I'm coming too!" Kailey said. "I've got to get some more close-ups of those babies. You coming, Timmy?"
"Uh, sure," he responded. "I'd love to see what Ceratosaurus parental care is like."
"Alright then," Levine stated. "If the sauropods start moving and we're not back, just–"
"Leave you behind?" Halley asked. "Sure."
"That's not what I was going to say, but sure."
Lex asked, "How will you guys get back and know where to go?"
"We'll just go east. We won't be following the Ceratosaurus for that long."
Stanley, Eric, Kelly and the soldiers had been walking along the road for a short time, following the trail of relatively fresh tire tracks, made probably the day before. The sounds of birds and insects were around them, probably meaning that there weren't any carnivores around at the moment.
"This jungle is really beautiful," Kelly commented.
Stanley nodded. "Yes, it is no wonder that Hammond wanted to make this the destination for his park. Tell me, I forgot, did either of you get to see it before it went downhill?"
Eric and Kelly shook their heads. "No," Kelly answered. "I didn't even know there was a dinosaur zoo at the time. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know dinosaurs were back from extinction."
"Me neither," Eric agreed.
Stanley sighed. "What a shame. I wish I had been here to see it . . . and maybe be able to get out of the park before the power went out."
"Hammond was deeply saddened that his dream wasn't able to come to reality," Eric explained. "However, he was able to overcome the sadness, deciding not to let it bog him down. Over the next four years, he decided that he wanted the dinosaurs on Site B preserved as a sort of nature reserve."
"And Nublar too, apparently," Kelly added. "Though he didn't tell anyone about it. I'm still amazed how he was able to keep it a secret over all those years. I would have had to tell someone, sometime. He kept that secret for 21 years!"
"Hey! What's that up ahead?" Stanley asked.
Eric winced. "Looks like a jeep!"
Excitedly, they all rushed over to the jeep, hoping to find its occupants sleeping inside. Unfortunately, it was empty. The jeep was lying in front of a dried puddle from two nights before.
"Well, it's definitely one of the jeeps that our team had!" Kelly exclaimed excitedly. "It's jeep-001. Where is the team?"
"I don't understand," Stanley started. "The half of the team that we were following went back into the plains and have no association whatsoever with the set that led to the vehicle . . . perhaps the people inside were two members of the other half of the team."
"HELLO!" Kelly called. "HELLO!"
"Shh!" Eric shushed. "Our group might not be the only ones who could hear us."
"Say," Stanley said with a grin, "why walk around trying to find the group when we could just as easily drive? We'd get around much quicker."
"Good idea. Why didn't we do that in the first place."
"We never expected that they would have walked this far away from the Visitor Center. Is there a key we can use to turn the ignition on?"
Eric nodded. Now we'll find the group at a much faster rate.
Everyone quickly piled into the jeep. It was a tight fit (really tight since it only really comfortably seated seven people), but at least they didn't have to walk halfway across the island. Eric – who was sitting in the driver's seat – turned the car on and they were off. Kelly contacted Rebecca at the USS Mars with her radio so she could send them some coordinates that would take them back to the plains through an area wide enough for the jeep to pass through so they could continue their search for the missing research team.
A/N: I felt that this chapter would be a good one to reveal some more information about DNA Project #1. Of course, I'm sure many of you already know what many of the mystery creatures are, as many of them have already appeared in the story (e.g. Gigantoraptor). In Wu's upcoming emails, you will see be able to read about some of the things that were happening before the first movie and The Game and/or events that lead up to the first movie and The Game, such as the Triceratops getting sick and Dr. Sorkin's creation of the Troodon. I can't wait to write the next email! In the emails, I've tried really hard to portray the love/hate relationship shared by Dr. Sorkin and Dr. Wu before the Jurassic Park Incident. Anyway, please be sure to check out my poll and, until next time, r&r!