Jurassic World: Return to Isla Nublar – Chapter 42: A Beam of Hope

A/N: I'm not sure how many of you know this, but this month is Jurassic June! As its name suggests, this month is dedicated to everyone's favorite extinct reptiles – the dinosaurs! How appropriate that I'm writing this during June. In Chapter 42, as the title suggests, things might be starting to look up for our lost teams. Also, expect more out of Rebecca in this chapter. I may or may have not said this before, but Rebecca wasn't initially supposed to be an important character in the story, but things have changed. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jurassic Park except the very characters I've made up.

Jeep-001 drove out of the jungle and into a clearing, following the trackways of either their research team or someone from Biosyn. Based on the lack of moistness in this part of the jungle, Stanley found the tracks ahead of them to be faint.

Man, I'm having a hard time seeing these tracks, Stanley thought. At least I can see them at all.

"Are we still on the trail?" Eric asked.

"Yes, we are," Stanley answered. "We need to take a left, the tracks lead around the tall shrubbery."

Eric nodded and swerved to the left. He stopped the vehicle in surprise to see a small puddle with a flock of sheep-sized dinosaurs drinking from it. They looked up in alarm and squawked before dashing away, into the underbrush. "Some species of hypsilophodont."

Stanley winced and got out of the jeep to take a closer look at the tracks. He shook his head and frowned. "Guys, I think we have a problem."

"What is it? Eric asked. Before Stanley could answer, he, Kelly and the soldiers exited the vehicle quickly. The soldiers wasted no time cocking their rifles, ready to fire at a hungry dinosaur. Eric and Kelly approached Stanley and looked at the tracks. "These are tracks of the hypsilophodonts. They're really bird-like. Where are the human tracks we've been following?"

"That's the problem. This part of the forest is drier than the rest of the island, so tracks aren't as well preserved." Stanley bent down to the ground and pointed at the large middle toe-print. "See, this is the largest of the three toes, and because of that, it's more likely to be seen in detail from the vehicle as we were riding. I never saw the other two toes sticking out to the sides."

Kelly gasped. "Wait, so we're been following dinosaur tracks all along?"

Stanley nodded. "After leaving the jungle, anyways."

"I had a feeling that these looked larger than human tracks."

Eric grumbled. "This is great! Now we don't even know where to start back looking! Stanley, how could you not notice we weren't following human tracks anymore!?"

"Most of my tracking is best done on foot," Stanley responded, "also, we are in a slightly drier climate and prints aren't preserved as well here."

"So what do we do now, Eric?" Kelly asked with concern. "We're not lost are we?"

Eric grumbled again and looked at his watch: 1:25 p.m. "We're not lost. We can get back to the Visitor Center easily. I guess we can break here for now. Maybe Ian and Sarah will find some clues and then get back on the right trail." He groaned to himself a bit before continuing. "This is just great! Thanks to you, Stan, we'll never find the missing teams at the rate we're going!"

"Whoa! Calm down, buddy," Kelly cautioned. "We'll find the others. Don't worry. Getting frustrated won't help the situation any. Just take a deep breath and relax. All we need to do is just wait here for a little while."

Eric took a deep breath and let it all out. Feeling a bit calmer he responded, "Alright, sorry guys, especially you, Stanley. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that."

Stanley acknowledged. "It's OK, man."

Dr. Sorkin reached the end of the rock ledge overlooking the river of lava, just a few meters below them. Ahead and over the lava was a chain-link fence, and behind that was the geothermal power plant. They were so close to finally escaping the caves! All that lied in the two and a half feet between them and the fence was the lava.

"OK, so it looks like we're going to have to take large steps to get across," Dr. Sorkin told the others.

"Yeah, obviously," Ryan said. "I'll go first, Doc."

"Why are you going first?"

"Oh, just in case there are a few dinosaurs on the other side, hiding out of view. Stand back everyone."

Ryan took several steps back before running forward with great speed. He leaped over the gap and successfully made it to the other side. He retrieved a pair of hedge clippers from his pocket and snipped a gap in the chain-link fence. He turned back to the others and nodded. "Taylor, you're next."

Taylor gulped as she looked at the lava, but she knew that if she wanted to get home, she'd have to get across. She made the same move Ryan had and before she knew it, she was on the other side with Ryan.

"Alright, now the rest of you can come over, one at a time."

Grant shivered as he glanced around the cave. Sounds almost like something I said when we were in the Pteranodon Aviary.

After a minute or two, everyone was across the lava river and had went through the hole in the chain-link fence.

"That fence was actually pretty easy to cut," said Ryan. "It's so old."

Taylor glanced up at a large piece of machinery on top of the elevated power station held up by strong poles (A/N: This is where the survivors of JP:TG climbed up to escape the Velociraptors). "Dr. Sorkin, what did you say they did here?"

"This is the geothermal power plant. Just before it shut down, the park was partially running on geothermal power."

"What is the geothermal power plant supposed to do anyway?"

"Geothermal power plants in general are reactors that generate electricity from heat inside the earth's crust. The energy that's collected is clean and sustainable. We were using the heat from the lava vents to create power."

"I didn't know they had that technology back then," soldier #1 admitted.

"InGen was one of the most technologically advanced organization in the world at its time, way ahead of its time. Even by today's standards they were world-class. Hammond spared no expense when it came to technology."

"Yes, we know," Grant murmured. Since they weren't too far from the lava, he still felt the heat and wiped some sweat off his forehead.

Ryan asked, "Does the power still work?"

"With a little fixing up," Dr. Sorkin started, "you could probably power everything in the park."

"Well, we don't have that kind of time, unfortunately. We need to keep moving and get above ground as fast as we can. I know there might be carnivorous dinosaurs around there, but I'd feel safer than in these dark tunnels. Which way do we go?"

Dr. Sorkin pointed straight ahead to a tall and wide door. Next to the door was a control panel with several buttons. "I should have known, there's no way to open that door unless we can get power into the fuse box underneath the control panel."

"We can't lift the door open by force?" Grant inquired.

"I'm afraid not."

Ryan smiled. "Well, looks like we'd better get to work, and fast." He turned to Dr. Sorkin. "I guess you're the only one qualified to fix this. At least . . . you can fix it, right?"

"I think so. I'll need help from the rest of you guys though."

"You think so? That's reassuring."

Levine, Kailey and Tim trailed behind the mother Ceratosaurus and her young through the semi-arid plains. She seemed to know there was something out here that she wanted.

"Where do you think she's going?" Kailey asked.

Tim responded, "There's no way of knowing where–"

"Look out!" Levine exclaimed and got the other two to duck as a Pteranodon swooped overhead! A rush of air whooshed past the humans with each mighty flap.

It squawked and soared over the Ceratosaurus family as well. The mother snapped her jaws and missed the pterosaur; she probably was snapping more from annoyance than with the intent to catch the flying reptile. The babies cowered under their mother until the pterosaur was well ahead of them.

Tim turned to Levine. "Where do you think it's going?"

"Where the rest of those pterosaurs are going." Levine pointed to a flock of Pteranodons landing on the plains a few hundred yards from the Ceratosaurus trio. Among them were some small dinosaurs – theropods – that were similar in shape to Compsognathus, but slightly larger.

The dinosaurs and pterosaurs seemed to be gathering around the carcass of a large dead dinosaur – a medium-sized Brachiosaurus.

Levine snapped his fingers. Now it makes since! All these carnivores came here to feast on the dinosaur.

The Pteranodon that flew over Levine, Kailey and Tim's heads squawked as it made a landing near the carcass. The three other Pteranodon feasting on it already cawed back in reply. Then the newcomer quickly joined the other members of his species at the food source. He snapped his sharp beak at a few small theropods and they backed away, allowing him access to the carcass. He found a gaping wound in the animal's leg and dove his beak deep inside before extracting some stringy and still-bloody muscle fibers. The theropods knew they were the underdogs of this feast and moved to a section of the dinosaur that wasn't being eaten.

The mother Ceratosaurus quickened her pace as they progressed toward the carcass. A sudden caw was sounded from behind Levine's group. They looked back to see two of the small theropods – each about thee feet in length and around half that in height – run past them, hardly paying the humans any attention. They had tan-colored scales covering their bodies with faint brown stripes on their backs and tails. They darted around the Ceratosaurus family and headed straight for the carcass.

Kailey winced. "What are the small theropods?"

"They're Segisaurus," Tim told her. "They're kind of like the smaller version of Coelophysis and the larger version of Compsognathus."

Finally, once the mother Ceratosaurus got within a few yards of the carcass, she emitted a deep roar and the Segisaurus instantly scattered, followed closely by the Pteranodons who leaped into the air and took off. The large theropod roared again, claiming the carcass as her own before clamping her own jaws on the Brachiosaurus' fleshy gut. Her babies squeaked as they got near their mother. They took only a mere second to find the right place to start and they began eating with their mother.

Levine, Tim and Kailey stopped walking and stayed a safe distance away from the mighty carnivore. "This is just like what happens on the African plains," Levine observed as he looked through his binoculars. "Scavengers will try to get to a downed animal before the larger carnivores come by and scare them away."

"The Segisaurus didn't get too far though," Kailey pointed out. The little dinosaurs were only a short distance away, wishing they'd been allowed to continue eating.

One of the baby Ceratosaurus pulled out a fleshy sliver and started gobbling it down as its sibling came over and growled fiercely. He then gripped onto the meat and the two began a game of tug-of-war. Their mother, meanwhile, paid no attention to their game.

Kailey giggled and took her camera out to start taking pictures. "They're so cute being silly like that. There's plenty of meat of that carcass and they choose to fight on that little piece. Oh well."

All of a sudden, a loud cackle/growl was heard coming from the sidelines. The mother Ceratosaurus and her young looked up to see a young male individual who also wanted some of the sauropod to himself.

"Uh oh, there's trouble," Levine said.

He cackled/growled again. This time, the mother responded with a growl of her own. The male wasn't deterred and shook his head in a gesture of aggression; he took several steps toward the sauropod's middle section. The baby Ceratosaurus ran behind their mother for protection. The mother dinosaur took a step forward, away from the carcass and toward the rival. She stomped one of her feet on the ground and roared loudly; she shook her head from side to side to show off her elaborate head crests. Not only was the mother disinterested in sharing this section of the carcass, but she was also focused on protecting her young – she's aware that other Ceratosaurus will often kill the young of other Ceratosaurus. After flaunting her crests, she roars yet again and charges toward the smaller male, snapping her toothed jaws.

The Segisaurus take the opportunity to sneak up to the carcass and start eating again as the female reaches within several strides of the male. The male leaps back to avoid getting wounded by her teeth; he knows very well which of the two of them is stronger and more aggressive, especially when protecting her young. He lowers his head and growls in submission before retreating to where the Brachiosaurus' tail is. Content that he's far enough away, the mother dinosaur returns to her young. The babies squeak to their mother, who lowers her head to their level to comfort them.

Kailey zoomed in on the action and before she knew it, another snapshot of dinosaur parental behavior was saved in her camera. What a touching scene, she thought.

The male Ceratosaurus looked up at the little family and snarled lowly, staring intently at the sauropod's guts now torn open by the mother dinosaur. She noticed his glares and looked over in his direction, growling. Quickly, the male Ceratosaurus got the message and began tearing into flesh around the tail of the large animal, pretending nothing had ever happened. Before long, the female Ceratosaurus and her young also got back to feeding. The mother's jaws were now stained in the blood of her meal as she tore out a hunk of flesh with her serrated teeth and pulled her head back to swallow it.

Tim smiled and asked, "Messy eaters, aren't they?"

Kailey nodded and smiled back. "Yeah they are." She flashed a grin at Tim and as she lowered her camera, Kailey scooted closer to him grasped his hand with her own.

"What could possibly be so interesting that Levine, Kailey and Tim had to follow those dinosaurs?" Halley asked. She, Lex and Rob were still sitting comfortably beneath the shade of a grove of trees near the waterhole; the Brachiosaurus herd was also still resting in the shade not too far away. "Come to think of it, why'd you have to come to this dumb island to study some dumb lizards anyway?"

"First of all, they're not dumb," Rob snapped. "I bet you wouldn't call them dumb if you were face-to-face with a hungry Velociraptor."

"And they're not lizards either," Lex added. "Dinosaurs aren't lizards. They have a different skeletal structure and the way their legs are positioned when standing is different. Believe me, you learn a lot about dinosaurs when you have a dino-nut for a brother."

Halley rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"I'd watch my tone if I was you," Rob said with a smirk. "After all, you are technically in trouble. You're not supposed to be on this island in the first place."

Halley scowled at him. "Well, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have stayed alive after finding those raptors!"

"They weren't after us anyway! Besides, if they did attack us, what could you have done?"

Halley opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't think of anything that would make sense, so she let the subject drop.

A few minutes passed by, and the three sat in silence. At that moment, Lex noticed something hidden beneath some shrubbery a meter or so away. I wonder what that is, Lex thought. She reached underneath the shrubs and her hands finally grasped around an object – a plastic-covered object, probably also covered in dirt and other debris. Well, this definitely isn't natural.

Rob noticed what Lex was up to and asked, "What are you doing over there?"

"I think I've found something . . .," she answered as she retrieved the item: it was a walkie-talkie radio! It was covered in dirt and other grime, as it probably hadn't been touched by human hands since 1993.

The three human's eyes bugged out in surprise and shock. Rob rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head in awe. "No . . . way! Do you think it works?"

Lex shrugged. "Only one way to find out." She lightly hit the device against her hand and flicked on the power switch. Nothing happened. "Batteries must be dead."

"Hold on, I've got an idea." Rob took a flashlight from his pocket and unlatched the compartment containing the batteries. He looked back at Lex. "What type of batteries do you need?"

"Two triple-A's."

"What do you know? Exactly what we need!" He handed the batteries to Lex. Lex smiled, hoping the device would still work after all the years of abandonment. She clicked the power switch again and this time a little red light came on near the top of the device. "Yes!" she exclaimed. To her delight, she heard static, meaning that it could connect to any radio nearby.

"Great! Do you remember the number for Biosyn?" Halley asked.

Lex looked up at Halley. "It's a radio, not a phone."

"A satellite phone would be good right now, though," Rob pointed out. "Not that we'd call . . . Biosyn anyway. We'd call Lexico first."

"Now all I have to do," Lex began, "is search for an active frequency. I hope someone's nearby."

Rebecca walked up to the captain of the USS Mars' office. She knocked lightly on the door.

The captain, who was sitting at his desk, looked up from his computer. "Come in."

Rebecca entered. She smiled and said, "I need access to some of your computer files to send them to my computer."

"Oh, go ahead." He scooted his chair away from the computer to give Rebecca room to get by. "I'm just playing a game of checkers anyway."

Rebecca walked over to the computer. "Who are you playing with?"

"The computer. Just hit the 'exit' button. I don't care about saving it. The computer was going to loose anyway."

While Rebecca began looking through the computer files for the one she needed, the captain walked over to the radio-set he had sitting on his windowsill. "It sure is a good thing this ship's too big for that mosasaur to attack."

"Yes, it is," Rebecca agreed. "Even if it tried, it would probably break it's teeth."

The captain turned the radio on and started searching through channels; it was mostly just music he either wasn't too fond of or that sounded awful, but when he passed a frequency that had what he thought were familiar-sounding voices. That's funny, I could have sworn I'd heard that voice before.

He turned back to the frequency and a tired-sounding voice said: "Hello, hello, this is Lex Murphy, pick up if you're there. Repeat, this is Lex Murphy . . ."

The captain nearly jumped out of his skin and Rebecca quickly turned her chair around to face the radio before getting up and walking over to where the captain is.

"That's Alexis!" she exclaimed. "How can we communicate?"

Rebecca was handed the radio's headset and microphone by the captain; then he turned the communication device on.

". . . repeating, this is Lex Murphy, signing off–"

"No, no! Wait! I'm here!" Rebecca yelled.

"Rebecca?! Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. Oh my goodness! I'm so glad you're OK! You are OK, right?"

"For now we're fine. You don't know how good it is to hear a human being from the mainland!"

"Actually, we're not on the mainland. The USS Mars is right off the coast of Nublar. We have several teams searching the island for you guys."

"Really?"

"Yes. The Malcolm's, your husband and Eric Kirby are also there."

Rebecca heard Lex sigh in relief. "Thank goodness!"

"Tell me, how many of you guys are there?"

"Let's see, two days ago, a raptor attack at the Visitor Center separated us from the rest of the group: Alan, Dr. Sorkin, Ryan, two other soldiers and Taylor, the little girl. We've lost one soldier, but Levine, Timmy, Kailey, another soldier, and a woman by the name of Halley Dodgson has joined our group; she's with Biosyn."

Rebecca frowned. "Biosyn?" She whispered to the captain, "Tell the team searching the Visitor Center that we've found Lex, Tim, Kailey and the lot."

The captain nodded and left the office.

"So, you have no idea where Grant, Dr. Sorkin and the others are, right?" Rebecca asked with concern.

"Not a clue. The last place we saw them was the Visitor Center. Is there a way you can tell where we are?"

"Yes, I can locate your coordinates. I'll have one of our two teams searching for you. Can you stay put?"

"No, not really. We're following a herd of dinosaurs for protection. They're resting at the moment, but I'm sure they'll be on the move soon. This area's loaded with dangerous dinosaurs. We've already had more encounters with killer dinosaurs than I'd like to have had. The dinosaurs we're following are moving east, in a relatively straight line."

"Alright, I'll send our closest team over there to get you guys. I can send them your coordinates and once they reach them, if you're not there, they can travel east and rescue you guys."

"Thanks, Rebecca. Send Lester my love."

"I'll do that. I have to go now. Contact us if you need anything."

"Alright, we will."

Lex turned the radio off and smiled at Halley and Rob. "We did it! They're on the island already searching for us!"

"Ha! I knew Lester would do that once he noticed we were missing!" Rob exclaimed. "Too bad we can't stay in one spot."

"Yeah, it's too dangerous."

"Dumb, ruthless killers," Halley muttered, referencing the dinosaurs.

Rob scowled. "You know, you'll be seeing stars if you don't watch your mouth." He then looked in the direction Levine, Kailey and Tim had gone. He grinned. "Fortunately, Levine and the others haven't gone too far. We can still see them."

The two women looked in the same direction and noticed the three of them were watching some dinosaurs scavenge from a dead sauropod a few tens of yards away.

Lex asked, "Should we call them over?"

Before anyone could answer though, one of the larger Brachiosaurus rose his neck off the ground and got to his feet. He bellowed loudly and the rest of the herd got the message: "Let's get a move on!" The whole herd began to stir and they started walking away from the waterhole.

"Well, looks like we need to get moving," Lex noted. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled to Levine's group, "Hey guys!"

Levine, Kailey and Tim watched with interest as the Ceratosaurus fed on the dead dinosaur. The Pteranodons were still soaring around the area, waiting for the bigger carnivores to leave so they could feast. Some of the Segisaurus were eating from parts of the dinosaur that weren't near the Ceratosaurus. As the mother Ceratosaurus ripped out a piece of the sauropod's leg muscles, some flesh dropped from her mouth and fell onto the ground below. A nearby Segisaurus saw it and slowly crept toward it, despite being dangerously close to the larger predator.

His head darted forward and successfully grabbed it! This sudden movement caught the attention of the Ceratosaurus who growled and snapped her jaws at the Segisaurus, who darted away just in time.

Incredible, Levine thought, absolutely incredible. I wish we could watch the entire process of this dinosaur being turned into nothing but dust. But since it's so large, that's likely to take weeks, if not months, and that's way longer than I'd like to stay here.

"Hey guys!" a feminine voice yelled from far behind them. They looked back and saw Lex waving her arms around. That's when Levine noticed that the Brachiosaurus were leaving the waterhole. He looked at his watch: 2:15 p.m. "I guess the sun's going to start setting from now on." He turned to Tim and Kailey. "Let's get back to the others."

Tim nodded and unclasped from Kailey's grasp. The three of them took a last look at the family of Ceratosaurus – the mother and her two children, all still preoccupied with feeding – and started heading back.

The moment they got back and started following the herd again, Lex told them the terrific news about contacting the USS Mars.

"No way!" Kailey exclaimed. "This is great!"

Levine shook his head in wonder. "It's amazing that you just so happened to find a radio sitting beneath the shrubbery. It's even more amazing that we're finally getting off this island!"

"You're telling me!"

Soldier #2 had found a toolbox full of useful objects nearby, and Dr. Sorkin was able to use them to fix up the system.

"Alright," Dr. Sorkin began, her focus still on the compartment beneath the control panel containing wires and other machinery. "Turn the system on."

Ryan stood near a large red button on the wall that said push to close. He pressed the button and several lights appeared on the control panel that would soon allow that exit door to open.

Dr. Sorkin then said, "Give that handle a few more pumps, Alan."

Grant acknowledged. He was standing next to a pump underneath some high power plant machinery. He began rapidly pumping the pump and steam hissed out of certain pipelines connected to the plant.

Taylor squealed with excitement.

Soldier #1 and #2 meanwhile were on the elevated power station above where Grant was. As soon as Dr. Sorkin gave the orders, they used manpower to turn a large wheel that must have opened some sort of valves inside the plant machinery. Suddenly, the control panel completely lit up. Dr. Sorkin got from underneath it and smiled. We've done it! We're finally going to get out of here. "Alright, guys, good work. The system in here is up and running again and we'll be able to open the door."

Grant, Ryan and the other soldiers went over to where Dr. Sorkin and Taylor were. Ryan said, "You know, if this were a movie, this would be the perfect time for an attack."

"Thanks for the positivity," Grant responded sarcastically.

"I'm just saying, we need to be prepared for anything that comes our way."

Just then, Taylor saw a something briefly glint in a corner out of her peripheral vision to her right. She went over to it and retrieved it; she gasped at the object she was holding: it was a long and thin metal blade with a handle. It was a knife, but not just any knife – a machete.

"Hey! Look what I found guys!" she exclaimed. The others looked over in her direction.

"Wow! A machete!" Ryan took the knife from Taylor and wielded it around in his hand. "Awesome! We've got a weapon! Nothing like the rifles we had, but it's better than nothing!"

Dr. Sorkin gasped. "I've seen that machete before," she said quietly. "That was the machete of Oscar Morales."

"Oscar Morales?" Grant questioned. "That name sounds vaguely familiar."

"Oscar was one of the mercenaries sent by InGen to rescue, me, the Hardings and Nima Cruz after you, Ellie, Hammond, Malcolm and the Murphy's left. He had successfully and single-handedly killed a Velociraptor with that knife, and wounded another."

"He did?" Ryan's eyes widened. "Why didn't Lester get him to come in this mission? That's the kind of guy I'd like to have around."

"True, he was a kind of annoying, but he was brave when there was a moment we needed him. The Velociraptors trapped us in this very room during the Jurassic Park Incident and he used this machete to face-off with them again. Unfortunately, he wasn't so fortunate the third time he battled a raptor and sacrificed himself to save us."

Ryan frowned. "Bummer."

"Whoa," Taylor breathed. "Better take it with us."

"Yes, let's take it and get out of . . . here . . ." as he turned to the exit door, he found it to still be closed. "I guess we'll have to press the button before we can get out of here."

Taylor reached over to the control panel and pressed the large red button; the door opened upward (sort of like a garage door) and revealed another long and yet familiar hall – the network tunnels.

Ryan grumbled, "Oh great. Not these tunnels again! Don't tell me these are the same ones we were in earlier."

"They aren't," Dr. Sorkin answered.

"Good, because if we must go through here, we should get out as quickly as possible."

"It shouldn't take too long to successfully get out of here. I've traversed these parts of the tunnel many times before, so I know my way around. In fact, I don't think we're more than a couple meters away from a door to the outside!"

Eric guzzled water out of his water canteen and down his dry throat. He, Kelly, Stanley and the soldiers were sitting underneath the shade of some trees in the open woodland. They had decided to stay here during the hottest time of day before continuing their search.

"We've got to find them soon," Kelly whispered. "I can't take this heat much longer. I know the tropics are expected to have large doses of heat, but . . . it's getting old."

"Don't worry," Stanley told her, "this is about as hot as it's going to get. Pretty soon, it will start to cool down. It's 2:30 now, and I expect that by 3:00, the temperature will have dropped."

"So . . ." Eric started as he turned to Kelly, "do you think your dad is really going to write another book about this event?"

Kelly shrugged. "It's likely, especially since he's involved in it. He didn't originally write about the Kirby Incident because he didn't feel like there was enough material to work from–"

"What's he talking about?! I survived eight weeks on that island, all alone and with no major weapons. I have tons of stories to tell . . . and even more if you count the ones that happened when my parents and Dr. Grant found me."

"Hold on, I wasn't finished. Over the past few weeks, he's been considering doing a book on the Kirby Incident, perhaps to lead up to this adventure we're on now. This one definitely has enough material to work with."

"I'll say."

Just then, Eric's radio went off: "Eric Kirby, this is Rebecca, over."

Eric picked up the radio and put it to his face to respond. "This is Eric Kirby. What's up? Over."

"We've just been in contact with the half of the missing team!"

Eric jumped slightly, partly because of his excitement for the great news, and partly because Rebecca just hurt his ears. "Wait, say that again? Did you say you've contacted half of the missing team?"

"Yes! Lex, Tim, Kailey, one of the soldiers and Levine are all together. They also have someone from Biosyn with them."

"Biosyn? We could use him! He could help us get information on what Biosyn is up to!"

"It's a woman actually, and yes, she could. Based on their coordinates, your team is closest to them. I'll send you the coordinates, and they are traveling east, so once you reach the coordinates I'll send you, just keep heading east."

"Why can't they stay in one spot?"

"Carnivores, apparently. They said they're traveling with a herd of dinosaurs to stay safe, and they're moving east, so therefore, Levine and the others have to move east."

"Alright, thanks for the news. My team will get on the move immediately."

He turned the radio off and turned to the others, who had overheard Rebecca's loud voice.

"Well, this is terrific!" Stanley exclaimed. "What are we waiting for! Let uss ease on down the road and find the others!"

Surprisingly, Grant's group found their time in the network tunnels uneventful and soon found the nearest exit. They were back in thick jungle and the familiar sounds of insects and birds reached their ears.

"I've got to hand it to you, Doc," Ryan started, "that wasn't actually so bad of a walk. Where to now?"

"We need to head to the coast," Grant reminded them. "And after that the North Dock should be relatively easy to find."

"I hope so."

"Did InGen ever clone Ice Age animals?" Taylor asked curiously. "Like woolly mammoths and rhinos and saber-toothed cats."

"No, we didn't," Dr. Sorkin answered. "Dinosaurs, pterosaurs and mosasaurs were the only extinct creatures we ever brought back to life."

"Since DNA from Ice Age mammals can be found in their frozen remains, wouldn't those be easier to obtain?" Grant inquired.

"Sure, but Hammond had a dream: he wanted to bring back everyone's favorite extinct creatures – the dinosaurs. Mammals and mastodons would have been cool, but he felt that they wouldn't have the same sort of impact as dinosaurs. Mammoths and other Ice Age creatures would have been much easier thanks to easily obtainable DNA and the fact that we could use modern relatives to reproduce their extinct cousins. Dinosaurs are the next level; that just goes to show you how technologically advanced InGen was. Even though dinosaurs were recreated first, there was some talk among InGen scientists that we should construct a type of Glacier Park after Jurassic Park was complete and successful. So that's why–"

"Shh!" Ryan voiced.

Dr. Sorkin scowled, "Look, Ryan, just because you're the military doesn't mean you get to–"

"No, I mean shh!"

Everyone stopped walking and listened . . . the sound of metallic whirring from the air . . . and that sound could only come from . . .

"A helicopter?" soldier #2 asked.

"No," Grant argued. "It can't be!"

But sure enough, through the tree canopy they could make out the shape of a helicopter, a Lexico helicopter! Did they not need to reach the coast after all?

"They've sent rescue teams!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Alright, we need to get their attention. But how?"

Dr. Sorkin gestured toward a small open area not too far away. "I think we can reach it before the helicopter flies overhead if we hurry."

But at that moment, Grant noticed a pair of eyes watching his group from the forest foliage. They were a good ways away, but the paleontologist knew that predatory dinosaurs could cover ground very quickly.

As if that wasn't bad enough, as the sun shifted in the sky, he was able to make out another pair of eyes – there were two dinosaurs stalking; both stood almost motionlessly in the shadows. The only things that betrayed their presence was the blinking of their eyes and the rising and falling of their toothy-jawed heads with each breath. Based on how high the eyes were above the ground, Grant estimated that they were approximately four to six feet tall.

Grant drew the others' attention toward the dinosaurs nearby.

"Predators?" Ryan whispered. After Grant nodded his head, Ryan stepped forward. "Well, I'll just have to show them who's boss." Quickly, he retrieved Oscar's machete and held it in front of him.

"Forget it, Ryan," Dr. Sorkin cautioned. "There are two dinosaurs and you can't fight them both off at once."

Ryan frowned. "You've got a p–"

Without warning The dinosaurs leaped from cover and charged forward, emitting a hideous roar! They had elongated skulls with sharp alligator-like teeth, strong and clawed forearms and legs, a long tail and a beautiful reddish-orange hide covered in dark brown markings. Worst of all, they weren't as small as Grant had predicted, but stood ten feet tall and 20 feet in length!

Grant's breathing rate increased as he spoke out the creatures' name. "Herrerasaurus."

Ryan gasped. "You know, hurrying to catch that chopper isn't the worst idea!"

A/N: Expect a scene with Herrerasaurus in Chapter 43. I have some idea of how I want the story to end and what's going to happen next, but I'd like to hear you guys' (and gals') opinions. What do YOU think is going to happen next? Be sure to read Chapter 43 because that's a chapter you won't want to miss . . . and yes, it's filled with many more unexpected turns and situations. Please be sure to take my poll, favorite and follow this story if you haven't already and r&r!