Jurassic World: Return to Isla Nublar – Chapter 50: The Final Attack!
A/N: This could possibly be one of the most exciting chapters in the entire story! We've got the two largest carnivores on and around Isla Nublar: Tylosaurus prodiger and, of course, Tyrannosaurus rex, and the heroes of our story struggling to survive during the final attack. Talk about excitement! Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jurassic Park except the very characters I've made up.
Dodgson sat in a corner. Despite severe disorientation, he'd managed to fight his way through dense thickets, through a couple of wire fences and was finally in the safety of a small supply shed in the eastern portion of the island. Other than that, he didn't know where he was.
For what seemed like hours, the pack of Compsognathus had remained outside, chattering and squeaking at their escaped prey. If they were still out there and if he was still weak and disorientated, they'd get him for sure. Of course, Dodgson wasn't under the effects from those berries anymore, but the compies wouldn't have known that and would have continued their assault. He didn't think they were still out there now, but he didn't want to go into the jungle in the dark with no source of light. He would just sit here and wait for morning.
The only light Dodgson had was the moon's glow from above. Unfortunately, he was too anxious to fall asleep. How was he going to get off of this island?
If only that goofy Halley girl hadn't come along on the trip, then things would have been different, he thought. Sighing, he got up and looked out another window. Then a thought occurred to him: what if he could climb on top of the building and see how close he was to the coast!
Feeling a sense of urgency, Dodgson found a rock and lunged it through a window. Then, he figured he'd be able to climb out the window and find something to grab onto to reach the roof. Yes, his assertion was correct. The compies were nowhere to be seen, thank goodness! Quickly as possible, Dodgson latched onto the roof and pulled himself up, using a pipe going along the side of the shed as a place for his feet.
Once on top of the shed, he could see over many of the trees and all the way to the coast. The ocean was in view! "Oh the joy," Dodgson murmured plainly. Fortunately for him, it wasn't too far away; in fact, it didn't look more than a couple hundred meters or so away from where he was! Perfect! As if that wasn't good enough, he also spotted a small dock along the shore of the beach with a little boat parked there. The boat appeared to possess a motor! Excellent!
"So long as I don't meet up with any dinosaurs, I'm good," he told himself. He didn't originally want to go through the jungle at night, but this opportunity was too good to miss. What if the Lexico team found the boat before he did? He didn't want to take that chance, so he hopped off the roof of the shed and started into the dark forest. Somewhere to the north, roars of tyrannosaurs on the hunt were heard.
Grant could hear the roars and yelling from the other side of the village, but there was nothing he could do to help Malcolm and the others. He, Sarah, Dr. Sorkin and Taylor were against the wall of a trailer, listening as the male Tyrannosaurus sniffed them out. Its sensitive sense of smell was on their trail. Grant and the others could try and play hide and seek all they wanted, but the T. rex would eventually catch on and they'd be its next meal. They needed a plan.
"OK, we need a plan, guys," Sarah said quietly. "Anyone have any ideas?"
"Should we do the music thing again?" Taylor asked. "It might work."
"I doubt it. Tyrannosaurs were far more intelligent than Carnotaurus. Loud music wouldn't hold them off for too long, if at all. Besides, rexes are good at hearing low frequency sounds. We'd have to search through the music in the laboratory and hope there's something that's low frequency enough to irritate the rex's eardrums. We don't have that kind of time."
The sniffing sounds of the T. rex were getting louder and louder. The predator was trying to be as quiet as it possibly could; its footsteps were quite hard to hear, despite the fact that the animal weighed six tons. Whatever they were going to do, they needed to do it fast!
Levine watched the mosasaur's tail dip beneath the water . . . he knew exactly what was going to happen.
Lex sighed. "I can't wait to finally have a real dinner. My stomach's growling like crazy!"
"Mine too," Kailey agreed. "I'd like a–"
"Guys, I hate to break up the moment," Levine began, "but we've got trouble!"
"What trouble?" Kelly asked. Levine pointed across the water to the now-faint ripple marks on the surface where the sea monster had come up for a breath. "What?" Levine was silent, he seemed to be waiting for something.
"Richard?" Stanley said. "What is wrong?"
Levine was still silent, eyes glued to the water. Then he said, "Turn right, now!"
"Why?" the soldier who was controlling the motor asked.
"No time to explain! Just do it!"
"But why?"
"Never mind." Levine knocked the soldier out of the way and caused the boat to make a sharp right turn. A millisecond later the jaws of the mosasaur exploded from the water. Less than a meter away.
Kailey screamed and clutched onto Tim as the monster dove back under to attack again.
The soldier Levine pushed aside returned to his position.
"Left!" Levine shouted.
The soldier turned the motor and the aquatic lizard attacked again. Her jaws snapped shut on air and returned to the water.
"Right!"
The boat jinxed and it was attacked again. Apparently the mosasaur was quite hungry.
"You do realize we are going away from the USS Mars, right?" Stanley observed.
Levine looked over in the direction of the boat – they were heading farther out to sea where the mosasaur would have more momentum to power her attacks. "Alright, let's try and get this boat back toward the ship."
Grant looked up and toward the south – he thought he heard the sound of a helicopter. He gasped. "Is that what I think it is?" he whispered.
Dr. Sorkin nodded. "Yes, I think it is. We need to get its attention over here."
"How are we going to do that?"
The paleogeneticist glanced back at the male T. rex – he appeared to be looking up at the sky, looking for the source of the sound, but he couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Dr. Sorkin suggested to the others that they try and sneak back to the laboratory and try to turn the music back on. That would surely attract the pilots. It might work . . .
The four of them snuck over to the trailer next to them, and pretty soon the male rex's attention was back on trying to find Grant's group. There was only one trailer between them and the laboratory. Terrific!
"Great, now all we have to do is sneak over there and get inside . . ." Sarah said. She frowned. In order to do what she suggested, they'd have to go all the way around the building. Their walking would surely catch the dinosaur's attention and he'd run them down quickly. But that's when she spotted a small hole in the back of the laboratory that appeared to lead inside. "Maybe one of us could fit through that hole and get into the building to start that music."
Dr. Sorkin sighed. "Unfortunately, I think it's too small for . . . us." Then the adults looked at Taylor.
"What?" Taylor asked.
"You're the only one who can fit in that hole, Taylor."
"Wait, I can't do that. I'd have to hope the T. rex doesn't see me."
They stopped talking when the T. rex growled from behind the trailer they were hiding in front of. The monster still heard the chopper and glanced up at the sky again, as evidenced by a flash of lightning that lit up its stature and imposing teeth.
"No, I can't do it," Taylor said. She knelt to the muddy ground and continued as a tear trickled from her eye. "I can't do that. I'm just a little girl."
Grant said, "But you can do it, Taylor. You have to. That chopper might be our only chance of getting off this island."
"No wonder you guys never wanted me here in the first place. I'm useless!"
"Whoever said we didn't–?"
"I picked it up along the way. You think I'm just this bratty little girl who can't do anything. You're right. I can't do anything!"
Grant sighed and knelt down to Taylor's level. "Look . . . uh, Taylor. I'll admit it, it's true that we didn't want you here at first, and we did think you were sort of . . . pesky, at first. But listen, we didn't really know you that well." He put his hand on his shoulder and Taylor and Grant locked eyes. "Now that we've gotten to know you a little better, we know you've just been through a lot. Hey, it's difficult being a kid in the middle of a nasty divorce. Some kids turn to evil things, like drinking or drugs to feel better, even if it's only temporary. But guess what? You lived through it. You lived through that tough time in your life. A lot of kids can't do that. We were wrong to judge you prematurely. And what about all those dinosaurs we've already faced? We've been through many dangerous encounters while on the island, and you've generally kept your cool. Most kids your age – especially girls – can't stand going up against anything you have while on this island. If you can do that, then I'm positive you can do what you've got to do now."
Taylor wiped a tear away from her eye and nodded. "Thanks, Dr. Grant." She hugged the paleontologist tightly.
"Oh," Grant said. He awkwardly hugged her back.
Sarah noticed that the moonlight was being blocked by a large shadow. She looked back slowly and gasped. "Guys . . ."
"What?" Grant whispered. He and Taylor looked back in the direction Sarah was facing and saw the enormous head of the male Tyrannosaurus. The teeth of the creature were no more than five feet away from them. They were so close, that the tiny serrations on the teeth were barely visible. The creature was standing perfectly still in the rain, watching its prey with hungry eyes.
Taylor dashed away from the group.
"Taylor! Wait!" Grant exclaimed.
But the tyrannosaur – tempted by the prospect of a moving target – roared loudly as it quickly started to run after the little girl with alarming speed.
Malcolm, Ryan and the other soldiers threw themselves behind another trailer just in time to avoid the mother tyrannosaur's jaws. She roared with fury. For the past several minutes, Malcolm and the others had been playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, trying to keep a trailer between them and the T. rex. The situation had worsened when Chuck accidentally dropped his gun and it was crushed underfoot by the T. rex. This game had to end soon.
"You know," Ryan said, "running for your life can get kind of old after a while, you know what I'm saying?"
Malcolm nodded.
"Look out!" Chuck cried. The female T. rex had rounded the trailer sooner than they'd expected and she lunged. The men dodged and the rex's jaws snapped closed on thin air. She had successfully separated Malcolm from the others, and as he was the first thing she saw, she attacked him.
OK, we've got to mix up this game a little, he thought. He spotted a ladder leading to the roof of one of the trailers. He scrambled up it as the rex neared where he was. The roof of the trailer had a little table and a couple of chairs set up and was surrounded by a little fence to keep anyone up here from falling off, but this wasn't what Malcolm was worried about right now. The female T. rex lifted her head above the roof of the trailer and gave another roar. Malcolm froze in terror. What would he do now? Two trailers separated him from the laboratory . . . that's it! He could try and get to the laboratory!
Below the trailer, Ryan and the other soldiers tried to get the animal's attention, but the rex wasn't buying it. The T. rex lunged its jaws at Malcolm and slammed them down on the fence on the roof. The creature pulled back, causing the trailer to tip to that side. Malcolm knew it might fall so he ran as fast as he could for the next trailer. He leaped and successfully landed. The female T. rex noticed where he was going and stopped toying with the railing and charged after him. As Malcolm was about to leap onto the next trailer, the T. rex blocked him and tried to attack.
Malcolm dodged and hopped back onto the trailer he'd just been on, nearly slipping off the wet roof in the process.
Grant ran after the male T. rex, waving his arms and yelling loudly. Unfortunately, the animal was after Taylor and there was no stopping that. Taylor ran as fast as she could toward the laboratory, but she wasn't sure if she could make it or not. She glanced behind her and screamed with terror. The Tyrannosaurus was practically on top of her. The dinosaur's jaws darted downward and Taylor swiftly dodged; the jaws slammed into the muddy ground. Shaking his the mud off his snout, the dinosaur grew even more enraged. She neared the hole in the laboratory and instead of running she leaped, fell into the mud and slid on her stomach the rest of the way toward and into the hole as if trying to catch a football.
"I made it!" Taylor exclaimed. She saw that the other end of the hole would in fact get her inside the laboratory.
But as she tried to crawl further inward, a sudden force yanked her by her foot and pulled her back – the front teeth of the tyrannosaur. She screamed as she was being pulled back by the powerful animal that had latched onto her shoe. The moment the reptile let go to get a better grip, Taylor pulled herself back into the building and the dinosaur missed.
"Sorry you overgrown lizard!" Taylor exclaimed when she was too far for the T. rex's mouth to reach. She spoke to soon however, as just when she thought she'd reached a safe distance, a long, wet, slimy object wrapped around her shoe. It was the Tyrannosaurus's tongue. "Ew! Gross!" Taylor cried. She was powerless as the tyrannosaur pulled her back toward its end of the hole . . . or was she? Taylor used her other foot to try and remove her other shoe. The shoe slipped off and the tyrannosaur dragged it out of the hole.
Taylor quickly hurried through the hole and into the laboratory. She stood up and began brushing herself off. Outside, the Tyrannosaurus must have quickly figured out that the shoe was not what it wanted to catch and roared. But it was too late for it to try and catch Taylor.
"Yes!" the girl exclaimed. She had lost a shoe, but who cared? She made it! Now all she had to do was get out of the main part of the laboratory and into the lobby where she could turn the music on.
The angry male Tyrannosaurus growled as he dropped the shoe into the mud. Grant looked up at the beast he was standing behind. It hadn't noticed him yet and appeared to be irritated that his prey had escaped. Yes! Grant mouthed. She made it. I hope she knows how to work those cassette players.
"Alright, Rebecca," Charlie said through the radio, "we'll continue the search for a couple more hours. We know they're out here somewhere."
He and his co-pilot Samantha flew the helicopter over the jungles of the northwestern part of the island, searching diligently for the Malcolm's team.
Samantha thought she heard some loud music playing and looked to her right and noticed a lighten-up area of the forest. "What's that over there?"
"Who knows," Charlie answered. "I can't tell from this distance if that light's artificial or natural."
"I don't know about you, but to me it looks pretty artificial." She grabbed her binoculars: she saw what appeared to be a large building and a village made up of mobile trailers. The light source (which was relatively dim) was coming from several light posts that looked a lot like telephone poles, without the wires. "It's definitely artificial. I can see light posts and buildings. Maybe it's a laboratory base. And there's music playing, at least I think it's coming from that direction."
Charlie shrugged. "Alright then. Maybe we've found the team."
He veered the chopper toward the source of the light.
"Either it's our missing research team trying attract our attention or it's Biosyn being up to no good," Charlie said. "In either case, there's something good about it."
"What's so good about it being the Biosyn team?"
"We can catch 'em in the act, of course."
Music played loudly as Malcolm lunged a chair at the female T. rex. As expected, the dinosaur was not bothered by the loud music for more than a couple seconds before going back to her prey. She didn't like the chair Malcolm had thrown at her and grew more angry at the human than before. Below, Malcolm saw Ryan and soldier #1 approach the right leg of the dinosaur. "Stay back!" he yelled, not wanting them to get hurt.
But Ryan didn't listen. He kicked the dinosaur in the foot and this attracted her attention. The female T. rex looked in their direction, growling.
"Oh . . . no," soldier #1 said. "Run!"
The two men ran for it and the beast started to chase them when suddenly a low-flying helicopter zoomed overhead. The T. rex looked up and roared at the flying machine. She seemed transfixed. Ryan and soldier #1 stopped running.
"Well, that was perfect timing," Ryan said.
The helicopter flew over the laboratory and toward the flat ground between the dinosaur enclosures and the trailers. But what the helicopter pilots didn't know was that they were landing terribly close to where the baby T. rex were hiding. The babies squeaked and cowered in fright as the flying machine came in for a landing. Both T. rex parents didn't like this and rapidly abandoned their hunts to chase the chopper away.
"Crikey!" Charlie exclaimed. An old veteran of the air-force, Charlie hadn't felt this afraid in a long time. He was concerned how on earth they'd rescue the research team with the approaching monsters.
"What's wrong?" Samantha asked. "Never seen a dinosaur before?" She was trying to make light of the situation.
"I've never been in a situation this life-threatening before!" He pulled the helicopter upward as the T. rex parents approached. They roared loudly and stood over their offspring to protect them. The female T. rex raised up to her full height and snapped at the chopper, but even at 20 feet tall, she was still too short to reach the machine.
Grant watched as Malcolm and the soldiers walked away from the trailers and toward the laboratory. "We should go too," Dr. Sorkin suggested. The three of them ran until they reached the others. Malcolm didn't hesitate to embrace Sarah.
"I'm glad you're OK," he said.
"Thanks," she responded.
Grant looked over at the laboratory and saw Taylor peeking from around the corner. He signaled her to come over to them. Once she reached them, he said, "Good job, Taylor."
Taylor gleamed. "Thanks."
"How are we going to get on that chopper?" Dr. Sorkin asked. "Those T. rex probably won't let it land."
Charlie lifted the chopper up to avoid the male tyrannosaur from biting it. Then he drifted the chopper over slightly to the left and the dinosaur's below followed, opening and closing their jaws. They would simply not allow the chopper to land. The female rex roared and snapped at the helicopter, but Charlie pulled it upward and out of the way.
"How are we going to do this?" Samantha asked. "What if we called for backup?"
Charlie shook his head. "No time, no time. This helicopter might not keep the rexes interested for long and our survivors might be in danger again." He looked over at the research team and noticed they were heading toward the jungle. Yikes, if they go in there we might loose track of them. Thunder clapped and lighting lit up the night sky. The rain seemed to pour down harder than ever before. "Now we're really limited for time. If we don't get out of here soon and the thunderstorm gets any worse, we'll be grounded. We can't wait for back up. We need to rescue the research team now!" Rain poured down upon the windshield of the helicopter.
"Say," Samantha began. "See that trail leading past the wire fence surrounding the village?" Charlie nodded while remaining focused on staying high enough to avoid the T. rex. "What if we were to distract the T. rex long enough for the research team to get to that pathway leading out of the wire fence and into the jungle."
"But the tree cover's too dense for us to rescue them."
"There's a pathway through the jungle. If they stay on that pathway, maybe we can zoom over there in time to let down the ladder and haul them up."
"Good idea."
Samantha opened her window, grabbed her megaphone and yelled to the research team, "Guys! We'll need you to run into the jungle down that pathway that leads out of the village and into the forest. We can keep the dinosaurs distracted until you get over there. Go now!"
"You heard her!" Ryan exclaimed. "Let's go!"
The group quickly started running toward the laboratory. Unfortunately, their movement did not go unnoticed – the male T. rex glanced in their direction and growled. He immediately forgot about the helicopter and charged the group, jaws agape. The female meanwhile, being more focused on the safety of her young, continued to nip at the chopper. She growled and flared her nostrils.
"Great Scott!" Charlie exclaimed. "It's going after them anyway. Let's go!"
Charlie went a little higher into the air, the helicopter began to go after the research team. After making sure her offspring were OK, the female T. rex followed the chopper – she wanted to see it away from her territory.
The zodiac zipped to the left and the mosasaur disappeared beneath the ocean.
"Alright, keep up with me!" Levine exclaimed. "Right!"
The soldier turned the motor just in time to avoid the mosasaur's attack. She snapped her jaws closed with great fury and dived back beneath the water. The zodiac was getting increasingly close to the USS Mars, but the mosasaur wasn't relenting any. It seemed determined to make a meal of the zodiac's occupants.
"Left!" Levine exclaimed. The zodiac jinxed to the left.
"That creature's a monster," Lex breathed.
Tim nodded.
"Where is it?" Eric said. Everyone scanned the ocean for a sign of the beast, but it wasn't anywhere to be found."Something's up. It should have surfaced by now."
Rebecca joined other soldiers, Jimmy the mechanic and the captain on the USS Mars deck. "Where are they now?" she asked the captain. The captain looked across the dark ocean and pointed to a little zodiac only visible thanks to a light on board the boat.
"That mosasaur's after 'em," the captain said.
"They're gonna need a bigger boat, don't you think?"
"Where is the wretched thing?" The captain retrieved his night-vision binoculars and peered at the zodiac. The zodiac seemed to have been abandoned by the mosasaur. "Hey, maybe it decided to leave them alone."
Jimmy shook his head. "No, something else is up."
"It should have tired by now, this mosasaur. I've heard reptiles tire quickly."
"Cold-blooded reptiles do, but mosasaurs aren't cold-blooded. They're warm-blooded monsters. It also has a powerful tail fluke to propel it through the water like a shark. It'll tire eventually, but until then . . ."
There was a brief silence before Lester stomped onto the deck, followed by John Hammond. "What's all this fuss about?"
"The zodiac's out there with the Richard's half of the research team," Rebecca answered.
Lester looked up. "Is . . . Lex there?"
"Yes."
Lester hurried to the railing and quickly spotted the zodiac zooming toward them. "What's going on out there?"
"The mosasaur's trying to attack the zodiac," Jimmy answered quickly.
"Wait, they're on the way back already?" Hammond asked. Hammond was previously sleeping, but he was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed by now. "Is that Tim and Lex on that boat?"
"Yes it is," Rebecca answered. "That whole half of the team is on that boat."
"Is Grant's group found yet?"
"I'm afraid not. The helicopters are still searching for them."
Jimmy said, "We probably should have used the zodiac with spikes on the bottom of it."
"Yes thank you that is blindingly obvious!" Lester snapped. He brushed back his hair. "Why in the world didn't you use the spiked zodiac in the first place? Are you guys that clueless?"
"Calm down now, Lester," Hammond said.
"I am calm!"
"No, you're not. Perhaps when this is all over you and I should settle down and have a nice cup of tea–"
"A cup of tea indeed! My wife is out there and in danger all because someone didn't use the spiked zodiac!"
"We didn't use it," the captain said, "because we saw the mosasaur swim upriver earlier today. I guess we just figured there was only one in the vicinity."
Tim went next to Levine and peered into the water as the boat got closer to the ship. "Think it's gone?"
"It could be," Levine answered. "Perhaps it got tired and left." But as he said it, Richard Levine didn't think that was true. He sensed as if maybe the mosasaur was trying a different tactic. What if she wanted the prey to think she'd given up. This is when Levine felt deep down that he had to say . . .
"Go right! Go right!"
The soldier obeyed, but that's when the zodiac was suddenly knocked above the water level! The mosasaur had attacked again and bumped the zodiac with its snout in an attempt to subdue it; the boat nearly tipped onto its side but the boat plopped back on the water right-side up and zoomed forward.
"GO! GO! GO!" Kailey screamed. "Get us out of here!"
"The soldier is working on it," Stanley said. "Calm down."
Levine glanced back and saw the mosasaur splash back into the water. It was going to come after them again.
"But how are we going to get them on board the ship?" the captain said. "Even if they reach the ship OK, we'll have to use the grappling crane to get them out of the water and in order for it to do that, the boat will have to be at a stop."
"Do we have chum of some kind on board?" Hammond said.
"Chum?"
"Yes, it's often used to attract sharks."
"Well, I'm afraid we don't. Why would we want to attract the mosasaur? We need to get it away from the boat."
"If we had chum, we might be able to use to it lure the reptile away from the boat so that we can use the crane to lift it out of the water. But since we don't have any chum, my idea won't work."
"Wait . . . this ship's got sonar capabilities," Jimmy started.
"Yes, why?" Rebecca said.
"Well, paleontologists believe mosasaurs had the ability to sense vibrations in the water through their lower jaw. If that's the case, maybe we can use the sonar system on this ship to produce a loud, powerful blast of sonar. It won't hear the sonar blast, but we might be able to drive it away from the ship."
The captain snapped his fingers. "You know, that might work."
Rebecca frowned. "You think?"
"We can only hope."
"Well stop standing there and do it," Lester snapped.
"Yes sir."
"And it had better work!"
Hammond rubbed his forehead. I hope this works, for all our sakes!
The mosasaur rammed into the zodiac again; it was getting better at predicting where the ship would turn next. Levine decided to switch things up a little.
"Right!"
The boat went right instead of left and as Levine predicted the mosasaur attacked to the left.
"Go right and then make a quick left and right again."
"Gotcha, Richard," the soldier controlling the propeller answered. He obeyed and the mosasaur was confused.
"If we keep this up," Kelly said, "we should be OK."
The zodiac soldier zipped from the left to the right and to the left again, in an attempt to confuse the mosasaur. It was working fine until the motor began to sputter.
"What?" the soldier asked as he tapped on the motor. "Don't tell me . . ." Unfortunately, the motor sputtered until it died down and the zodiac came to a stop on the ocean, less than a hundred yards from the ship.
"What happened?" Kelly asked.
"The motor gave out. I'm going to try and get it back working."
Levine looked over at the water and saw the serpentine shape of the mosasaur gliding effortlessly just beneath the surface of the water. It was coming toward them slowly yet surely; perhaps it thought that its prey had come into a state of shock from going so fast after being knocked out of the water by her snout. Of course, a boat didn't really work like this, but the mosasaur didn't know that. Beneath the moonlight, Levine made out the creature's piercing eyes and nostrils, its sharp fangs and gruesome jaws. This animal was going to kill them in an instant if the motor couldn't be kicked back into action.
The soldier was working over time. "Come on you witless thing!" He kicked the motor with his foot and it still didn't budge.
The mosasaur put forth a quick burst of speed. Plowing toward the zodiac, her jaws were open wide and ready to finally consume the boat . . .
"Alright folks," Eric said, "this is the end."
"I knew we should have brought a bigger boat," the soldier who wasn't trying to get the motor working said.
The mosasaur's head erupted out of the water with great speed. Everyone screamed!
The zodiac was shaken by a tremendous force and the motor suddenly turned back on. Eric looked just in time to see the mosasaur bump into the zodiac with the side of its head as it narrowly avoided engulfing the boat. Everyone opened their eyes. "Why'd it . . .?"
The mosasaur's tail smacked into the zodiac as it left the boat behind. It appeared to be swimming away from them for good!
"Why did it . . .?" Eric asked again.
"Who cares!" Kailey exclaimed. "We're alive!"
One of the soldiers said, "And the motor's working!" He caused the motor to propel the boat forward once again. Our survivors took another look at the gigantic mosasaur. Already it was a couple hundred or so yards away from them. It was at the surface of the water, expelling old air from its lungs and taking in new air. The moonlight shimmered on its green scales and scutes. By now, the mosasaur was probably wiped out by the attack and would likely go into a more secluded location to rest until it finally ready to hunt again. Right now, the creature looked beautiful.
The crane lifted the zodiac out of the water and released onto the ship's deck. Its tired occupants got out.
"Wow, we made it!" Levine exclaimed. "We actually made it! I can't believe it!"
"Are we actually back?" Kailey asked Tim. "Or am I dreaming?"
"We're back," Tim answered. Everyone cheered happily.
Hammond burst into view from among the Lexico soldiers. "Lex! Tim!"
"Grandpa!" the siblings said.
"Come here, you two!"
The three hugged tightly, glad to finally see each other again.
"I can't believe this!" Hammond said after they let go of each other. "I can't believe it! Ha, ha! I knew we'd find you guys! I just knew it. I have a sixth sense when it comes to these types of things." He looked at Tim. "By golly! You're shirt! You know you're mother's going to have something to say about you dirtying up your good shirt!" Hammond chuckled.
"Yeah, she probably will," Tim said. "But I'm alive and that's all that matters. You wouldn't believe all the things we've seen grandpa."
"Things?"
"Yeah, I'll have share more with you later. I'm sure the others will have something to tell too."
"Rebecca!" Lex exclaimed.
By the time she reached them, Rebecca looked relieved. "Oh my gosh, come here girl." The two girls embraced. "I'm so glad you're OK."
"Where's Lester?" Lex asked quietly.
But Rebecca didn't need to answer, as Lex spied him standing directly behind Rebecca. Lex went over to him.
"Well, you seem to be OK," Lester said, in his usual dull tone of voice.
Lex rolled her eyes, grinned and got even closer to Lester, inches from his face. "So all that time, you didn't miss me?"
"Of course I missed you."
"I missed you too."
She and Lester hugged and kissed each other passionately.
Grant ran through the dark jungle trail, hoping to reach a point where the helicopter could lower the ladder so they could climb up. Above them, the chopper was no doubt preparing to do just that. They need to hurry up! He thought.
The roar of the dinosaurs came from behind. Even through the torrential downpour, the tyrannosaur pair kept up with the humans, their feet splashing in the mud.
"They're gaining!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Thanks for the unnecessary update!" Ryan said.
About 100 meters ahead of them, the helicopter dropped the ladder – just a little further and they'd be safe. Grant looked behind him and spotted Taylor; the little girl was running as fast as she could, struggling to stay next to Dr. Sorkin, who was directly behind Grant. The female T. rex roared and rushed in front of her mate. The male T. rex had no choice but to let her pass. Her jaws held open, she was quickly approaching the group. Based on her speed, there was no way Grant and the others would successfully make it to the helicopter in time.
"We're not going to make it!" Malcolm said. Chuck looked back and screamed as he narrowly avoided the monster's jaws. "Come on, Chuck!"
"I'm working on it!"
The male T. rex lunged forward in front of the female and she growled at him. The male growled back. This gave Chuck the opportunity to dart out of harm's way and allowed the group to stay one step ahead. But all too soon the predators were back on the trail of prey.
As they went along a bend in the path, Grant noticed that the pathway in front of them moved slightly . . . and it reminded him of something he'd seen earlier that night.
"Wait! Stop!" he cried.
"Are you crazy?" Ryan asked. "We're being chased by two giant beasts and you want us to–"
Everyone stopped running as the "empty space" in front of them moved and a large two-legged dinosaur rose up before them as its skin changed to its normal color. Its double-horned, white head, black body and diminutive forearms gave its identification away in a flash. It was a Carnotaurus!
"Oh snap," soldier #1 said.
The Carnotaurus was a little bigger than both of the individuals they saw in the village. He roared, bearing his teeth.
"Run back!" Dr. Sorkin exclaimed.
As the group turned around, Taylor screamed at the sight of the two T. rex. The Carnotaurus forgot about the humans and looked up at the new threats. He growled as loud as he could, trying in vain to scare off the dinosaurs. The Tyrannosaurus stopped chasing Grant and the others and roared in reply. Then the carnotaur side-stepped the humans and shook its head from side to side, trying to scare off the larger carnivores. This was their chance!
"I think they're going to fight!" Taylor said.
"Come on! Let's go!" Grant said. Grant grabbed Taylor by the arm and gestured for everyone to follow his lead. They dashed past the preoccupied Carnotaurus and for the helicopter. Behind them, Grant didn't dare look back. Loud roaring, snarling and growling was heard through the rain; a fight was taking place. The ground shook with each footstep of the fighting dinosaurs and Grant wanted to see what was happening, but he knew this might slow him down and there was no way he was going to miss the opportunity to get off this island, not this time!
He reached the ladder and hustled Taylor up it, following her were Sarah, Malcolm, soldier #1 and #2 and Chuck, Dr. Sorkin was about to go up when a loud yelp was heard. Grant, Dr. Sorkin and Ryan looked back at the dinosaurs just in time to see the Carnotaurus clenched in the jaws of the male Tyrannosaurus. The smaller carnivore was caught by the neck and held up in the air as the T. rex suddenly slammed him down to the ground with great force. The Carnotaurus yelped loudly in fear; his legs kicked the air and his tail swished from side to side; his diminutive arms flailed about aimlessly. The female T. rex roared and crunched down on the Carnotaurus' hips, crushing them for sure. The doomed predator tried in vain to escape from the jaws of the two killers as they mercilessly tore him apart –
"Come on, Doc," Ryan urged. Dr. Sorkin nodded and scurried up the ladder, followed by Captain Ryan and finally Alan Grant. Once securely on-board, the helicopter lifted the ladder and left the frightened calls of the Carnotaurus behind.
As the helicopter flew over the village and back toward the North Dock, Grant and Dr. Sorkin took a final look at the area below them. They could see the parent Tyrannosaurus walk toward their eager youngsters. The babies leaped happily beneath their father who was holding the dead Carnotaurus in his jaws; the head had been decapitated completely. It was obvious who won this fight.
They're probably going to return to the jungle and eat their meal, Grant thought.
The rain was beginning to fall harder and made it difficult to see what the dinosaurs were doing. However, Grant was able to barely make out the T. rex family as they went back into the forest and out of the village, the father leading the babies out of the rain. The mother T. rex looked up at the helicopter flying above her. From deep within her lungs, a victorious and characteristic roar exited her mouth and she too, retreated into the forest to follow her family.
Grant turned away from the window.
"Is everyone OK?" Charlie asked.
Grant nodded. "Yes, we're fine."
"Was there anyone else down there?"
"No."
"Any sign of Biosyn?"
"No."
"Oh, by the way, thanks for tuning up that music. It would have been a lot harder to find you if it wasn't for that."
"I did it," Taylor whispered, "I actually did it!"
"Yes, yes you did," Grant said.
"Yeah, good job, Taylor," Sarah gave Taylor a hug. Then she looked down at Taylor's foot. "Where's your other shoe?"
"The dinosaur probably ate it," Taylor continued. "I was in the hole and it got me by the shoe. It lost its grip the first time, but the next time it used its tongue to pull me by the shoe and I ditched the shoe."
"I'm just glad it's all over," Ryan said. "That was nuts. I've had enough of dinosaurs to last me the rest of my life. I can't imagine why anyone would pay thousands of dollars to see those wretched beasts."
"All animals are beautiful in their own way, Ryan. None of the carnivores are monsters, they're only trying to get enough food to survive. Humans are the real gluttons."
"Whatever, Doc."
"Besides, the herbivores aren't bad."
"Well, whatever the case. That's my last mission dealing with dinosaurs."
"Don't be so sure," Malcolm said. "You never know what you'll be doing next."
"There's the ship!" Taylor exclaimed, looking out her window.
The helicopter had left the thunderclouds behind and were now flying beneath a clear moonlit night. The USS Mars was below them, they'd finally be safe.
"Dr. Grant!" Tim exclaimed as he went over to hug his mentor. The helicopter carrying Grant, Malcolm, Sarah, Taylor and the others had just landed on the USS Mars. "Sometimes I never thought I'd see you again."
Grant wasn't much of a hugger, but he hugged Tim back anyway. "Yeah, me too."
"Where did you guys go after the raptor attack at the Visitor Center?" Kailey asked.
"It's a long story," Dr. Sorkin responded. "A very long story."
Hammond went up to each member of the research team and either shook their hand or hugged them while saying how glad he was that they'd each made it back safely. He reached Dr. Sorkin. "Well, glad to see you made it back OK. I was beginning to miss you."
Dr. Sorkin raised her eyebrows. "Oh really?"
"Yes, yes I was."
Then Hammond went up to Charlie and Samantha. "Thank you, thank you both."
The two pilots nodded in acknowledgment.
As Grant chatted with Eric and Tim, he noticed an African man standing nearby. "Who's that guy?"
"That's Stanley," Tim said. "He's from Africa. He was invited on the rescue mission so we could track you guys down. We never would have found Levine's 'gang' without him."
Hammond came over to them. "Well, Grant, I'm sure you take back saying you'd never like to come to these islands again. Am I right?"
"Not even close, John," Grant returned. "I was practically forced to come to Nublar this time. I'd never go back on my own accord."
Hammond looked over at a little girl standing next to Sarah Malcolm. "Ah!" he said to get the pair's attention. "And you must be the stowaway."
Taylor slapped her hand on her head. "How many times do I have to tell people? I'm not a stowaway!"
Lester, Lex and Rebecca stood out of the crowd, watching everyone's gleeful reactions to finally succeeding in their mission.
"Well, all things considered, I think things turned out very well," Rebecca said.
Lester looked at her. "You do realize how many men we've lost, right?"
"Hey, it could have been worse. Compared to most visits to these islands we've fared pretty well."
Lex agreed. "She's right. 10 people escaped Nublar alive during the Jurassic Park Incident. All the InGen hunters died on Site B – except Tembo – in '97 on Sorna. All the mercenaries died during the Kirby Incident of 2001. This time, most of the people who went onto the island survived."
"Well, I intend to keep it that way," Lester said. He raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd like to get back to the mainland. Captain, get us back to Costa Rica!"
"Yes sir!" the captain replied.
Within the next few minutes, the USS Mars was moving out into open water, finally going back to the mainland. Rebecca met up again with Lester and Lex.
"What's up, Rebecca?" Lex asked.
"I forgot to tell you that Rajesh wants to meet with us pretty much as soon as you reach the mainland."
Lex groaned. "He does? Can't he wait?"
"He says it's urgent."
"Knowing him, it's probably not very urgent at all," Lester murmured.
Dodgson walked quickly through the jungle. Wet ferns slapped against his face and clothes, but he didn't care – he was getting out of this dreaded place! Alright, I've got to think of someway to save Biosyn fast . . .he thought. Wait, it's too late, isn't it? We've already spent up most of the funds on this mission. We'll probably have to close up the place once we get back.
Suddenly, there was a rustle in the ferns nearby. Was Dodgson's optimism getting the best of him? He shook his head as the noise got closer and closer.
"Oh no," he whispered, "not here, not now!"
He broke into a run. All he had to do was get out of the jungle, reach the dock, hop on the motor boat and leave the island.
Dodgson exited the jungle, and that's when, from behind, he heard . . .
"Ouch!" it was a feminine voice. "I'm always tripping on these tree roots."
Dodgson stopped dead in his tracks. That couldn't be who he thought it was . . . maybe it was just his imagination . . . maybe a parrot was just mimicking her voice . . .
Slowly turning around, he saw a woman exit the foliage and walk onto the dock. She had black hair filled with all sorts of twigs and branches, her goth-style clothing was torn and shredded in many places, her face was bruised up, and her left arm looked badly injured. Dodgson knew exactly who this person was.
"Halley!" he exclaimed.
"Lewis!" Halley exclaimed.
"I thought you were . . ."
"You just left me in that tree! How dare you!"
"What do you mean? You wanted me to leave you alone. Besides, I've traveled farther and faster than I would have been able to do with you tagging along."
"Still, you shouldn't have just left me there."
Dodgson sighed. "What happened to your arm?"
"One of those dinosaurs nearly killed me, because somebody left me behind."
"Whatever, you coming or what?"
"Where are we going? Did you get the eggs?"
"No. I never found the jeep."
"You know, every time you've tried to get InGen's technology, you've failed. You know that right?"
"Just hop in the boat and be glad I'm taking you back to the mainland at all."
Halley and Dodgson went onto the dock and climbed into the boat. Dodgson reached for the ignition. This thing had better work . . . he thought. The boat's motor turned on! "Good, finally something positive happened on this expedition."
He turned the boat around and started heading out to sea, leaving Isla Nublar behind them.
Halley found a small pocket book on the floor of the boat. She opened it and saw a man's picture. The name next to the picture was: Cortez Philip. "Apparently there was a guy named Cortez Philip who was in this boat."
"Cortez Philip?" Dodgson repeated. "That name sounds familiar." Then he remembered: that was the name of a guy who worked for a tabloid publishing company called Newsy Daily.
As Dodgson got farther and farther away from Isla Nublar, Dodgson took one last look at the island as it disappeared in the distance. How would he have any chance of saving his company now? They'd used the last of the money to fund this expedition which had failed once again. Right now, Dodgson didn't care about that. All he cared was that he was getting off the island alive. That's all that mattered now. He glanced at the coordinates indicated on the dashboard to indicate the way back to the Costa Rican mainland.
A/N: Well, how did you all like the chapter? This story's not finished yet though! Next week, we'll have the epilogue and I'll finally reveal what stories I'll be doing next. If you liked this one, you won't want to miss my future stories. And get those questions you intend to ask the survivors of this story ready folks, because I have decided not to publish that crossover/talk show fanfiction in two weeks like I originally planned . . . I'm publishing it next week! If you haven't, please be sure to review, favorite and follow this story (or follow me to know when I'll be updating my next story) and I'll see you all next week. R&r!