New Beginnings - Chapter 6 - Together? For Survival?

Previously…

I'm going to be here for a while...Owen thought. But how long exactly is the question.

…

Claire drew in a shaky breath. She had to admit it; she had to admit what was going to happen to her.

"Karen," she said softly, "I think I'm pregnant."

A few weeks later…

"Yea, yea, I hear ya. I'll get to you in a sec, B," Owen grumbled as he used his forearm to wipe the sweat perspiring on his forehead. Below, little dinosaurs circled around him. One in particular angrily snapped at his knees. "Hungry little shit, aren't ya?" Owen said affectionately. In response, the dinosaur yapped, as if in agreement.

Owen reached into the metal pail next to him, pulling out a slab of raw meat, and held it out to the moody one. It screeched happily as it gulfed down its meal. "There you go, B." He yanked a towel off that was resting on a nearby tree branch, and wiped the blood off his hands, watching the young animals dash around the enclosure.

Yet again, Dr. Wu had given him four dinosaurs, and had assigned their names- Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon- after the Greek alphabet. Owen held a certain animosity towards the names, and gave them nicknames instead (Beta was B, Gamma was Gam, Delta was Del, and Epsilon was Ep). They reminded Owen of the raptors, but these dinosaurs were much more aggressive and intelligent.

"Mr. Grady?" a high pitched voice called above. Owen looked up, his hand instinctively cupping his eyes from the blazing sun. Alike to the raptor enclosure, this cage had catwalks running above. Owen saw a woman leaning over the railing, her blonde ponytail spilling over her shoulder.

"Can I help you?" Owen yelled. He wasn't expecting anyone to visit him. Hell, the only people I talk to on this goddamn island are Wu, the dinosaurs, and that flippin' security guard that follows me around 24/7.

"Yes; can I enter the cage?" the woman inquired.

"You sure you want to come in?" Owen asked, eyeing her pressed suit and high heels.

"Yes."

"Alright, I'm coming to let you in." Owen walked to one edge of the massive concrete walls, and clicked the 'unlock' button on the electronic panel next to the door. It swung open, and standing on the other side was the woman, holding a clipboard in one hand, and a cell phone in the other. Then, she placed the cell phone on the clipboard, and extended her hand.

"Hello, Mr. Grady. My name is Jill Wagner, and I will be the one checking in on you and the specimens every other week," Jill introduced, her dark brown eyes never breaking eye contact with Owen. He almost snorted. "Specimens" she said. It reminded him of a special someone with fiery red hair and icy blue eyes. His heart began to ache a little. Swallowing the small lump in his throat, Owen shook her hand in silence.

"Yea, so, uhm, what do you want to know?" Owen asked, his mind distant. He began walking back into the enclosure, with Jill scurrying behind him.

"Any new developments? Have they exhibited any unusual behaviors? Anything like that," she answered, stumbling around on the uneven earth beneath them.

"Well, I think they're able to read human emotion. They can tell when I'm angry, sad, happy, and they act accordingly to each emotions. If I'm angry they'll back off, if I'm sad they'll be more playful, which I guess is their way to try to cheer me up," Owen recalled, "Also, they seem to have begun understanding what I say to them, so you could say they understand human speech." Jill nodded, and quickly scribbled on her clipboard. As they walked further into the habitat, the denser the foliage got.

Suddenly, she yelped, and her clipboard clattered to the ground. One of dinosaurs, Epsilon, had nudged her in the back of the knee. Owen noted Jill's look of fear, and scoffed.

"They're not going to hurt you; they're just babies," he reassured. Jill's eyebrows wrinkled in annoyance.

"Of course, of course," she muttered, leaning down to pick up her fallen clipboard. Then, Delta approached, and bit at her hand. Jill drew her hand back, and let out a shrill EEP. "What do you call that?!" Jill screamed exasperatedly. Owen sighed, and squatted down, holding out his arms. Gamma scurried into his embrace, and Owen stood up, dinosaur in hand. He turned to Jill, who was looking at him in wonder.

"See?" he said as he gently opened Gamma's mouth. Her teeth were shaped like dull 'U's rather than sharp 'V's. "Their teeth haven't fully grown yet. Even if they did bite you, it'd wouldn't hurt."

"Oh yes, of course," Jill grumbled, her face slightly red from embarrassment.

"Have you never worked with animals before?"

"I am Dr. Wu's assistant. I take his calls, arrange meetings, and all that. I normally don't work with...animals," Jill said, looking down. Owen crouched down, setting down Gamma, who protested by screeching loudly.

"Why don't you send down some other worker?" Owen said while stroking Gamma's head. He didn't see Jill go pink.

"Uhm, I-I'd prefer to work w-with people up close?" she stuttered. Right after she spoke, Epsilon again rammed into her shin, but this time with more force, knocking her over. Owen turned around to see Jill sitting on the ground, dust swirling around her, and a look of terror on her face. Owen was about to extend a hand to help, when Beta came sprinting out of the trees around them. Before anyone could react, B jumped on Jill's ankles, sank her teeth into Jill's high heel, and ripped off the shoe. At this point, Jill was screaming her head off, and Owen was watching with wide eyes.

B chucked the shoe in the air, which was intercepted by Delta. Delta set the shoe down, and Beta and Epsilon joined her in destroying the shoe. Gamma shrunk behind Owen, howling at her siblings, as if in disagreement. Gamma's tail whipped at Owen's ankles, snapping him out of his bewilderment at the dinosaurs' actions. Owen walked over to the three shredding Jill's shoe, with Gamma trailing behind him.

"C'mon, girls, that was rude," Owen scolded, and attempted to pry the shoe away from them. Epsilon snapped at Owen's hand, attempting to protect their treasure. "Hey! That was uncalled for, Ep." In response, Epsilon bared her teeth, but stood still as Owen picked the tattered shoe off the ground. Beta watched silently, and Delta leaped up and down, trying to reclaim the shoe, but it was out of reach.

Owen began walking towards Jill, who was still sitting on the ground, wide-eyed. Behind him, the dinosaurs screeched at one another in argument. He held out a hand to help Jill up. She took his hand, her face like a tomato now. Owen handed her the shoe. I guess some people can't handle high heels...unlike Cla- Again, Owen felt his heart grow heavy. He cleared his throat.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that. I don't know what triggered that," Owen said sympathetically. It was interesting to see his dinosaurs in action like that, but he would have never dreamed it would be towards a higher-up. I hope there are no consequences for this…

"Hmph," Jill uttered, turning around, and storming out of the enclosure. After the door closed, Owen turned towards the dinosaurs. They were all looking at him, waiting for a response. He went over to sit down next to them, with his back leaning on a nearby tree, and the sun burning his scalp through the gaps in the branches.

Gamma curled up next to Owen. Being the youngest, Gam was always the more sensitive one, and seemed more attached to Owen than the rest of her siblings. Next to her, Epsilon kept her distance, being the second oldest, and the most aggressive and violent one out of the pack. On Owen's other side, Beta sat next to their Alpha, being the oldest one of the pack. She was the quiet leader of the pack. Then, next to Beta, Delta sat. Delta was the second youngest, and always followed whatever Beta did.

Owen looked at all of them, and sighed.

"That was some crazy shit, what you girls did," he said, almost like a compliment, "But it was a bad thing," he chided. The animals dropped their heads slightly, showing disappointment.

Owen sat like that for a while, bathing in the sun, the dinosaurs chirping softly to one another. He thought of the dinosaurs' progress, when he'd get off this island, and most importantly, Claire. She's probably freaking out badly right now, Owen thought with a tight chest.

From his back pocket, he procured a small photo. It was a photo from their little honeymoon. The photo showed Claire smiling softly as he kissed her cheek. Owen's heart ached even more, staring at the photo.

Detecting Owen's mood, the dinosaurs yapped at each other, and circled around the photo in Owen's hand. He chuckled.

"You see this beautiful woman here?" Owen pointed to Claire's face with a smile. "She would've been your mommy, or something." He dug in his pocket some more, and pulled out his ring, still smiling. The animals peeped happily at his smile.

Owen thought of Wu's threats of harming Claire, and instantly grew worried.

God, please let her be okay...

There was a loud hum of sound as Claire entered the airport. It was the middle of the day, so of course, the airport was packed with people. Claire pushed and shoved her way to some chairs, and climbed on top. Her eyes scanned the crowd, trying to locate a familiar blonde heap of hair.

"Claire?" a voice called from behind. Claire turned around, and her eyes met with her sisters'. A rush of relief washed over Claire, and she clabbered down from the chair. She and her sister rushed towards each other, and became tangled in an urgent embrace.

"Oh thank God you're here," Claire mumbled into Karen's ear. The two broke apart.

"Of course, Claire," Karen said softly, "You're my baby sister." Then Karen frowned. "But I haven't heard from you ever since what...happened at the park. Then, you suddenly contact me out of the blue?"

"I know, I know...Let's talk about this when we get back to my apartment," Claire said hastily. Karen nodded, noting her sister's panicky attitude.

On the drive back, the siblings didn't talk much. Claire would make a couple comments about a few landmarks here and there, and Karen just silently studied her sister.

Over the phone, Claire had explained her situation with minimal detail. All Karen knew was that Claire was pregnant, and she needed help. So, she decided to move in with Claire for a bit (being a business woman, she could just work from her laptop), until Claire could take care of herself and her child.

But who is the father? Karen had wondered. True, she could tell that Claire had changed after the incident, during their brief exchange when she had picked up Zach and Gray, but Claire had always been a workaholic, and never went on a night out, much less date someone.

"We're here," Claire announced, as she parked beside the apartment building. The two made their way up to the apartment.

"The guest bedroom is over here," Claire said, as they walked in through the door, and led the way through the kitchen, dining, and living room. Karen immediately noticed a few things...off about the apartment.

First, there were tissues everywhere. From how distraught Claire looked, Karen assumed that Claire had been crying, a lot. In the kitchen, there were boxes of takeout scattered across the countertops, and pots and pans stacked in the sink with blackened grime clinging to their bottoms, which Karen guessed was burnt food. Oh God, she tried to cook, didn't she.

Karen remembered back in their childhood, whenever Claire had attempted to cook, it had always ended up in a smoke filled kitchen, and the fire alarm blaring through the house. Finally, Karen noticed the endless piles of books stacked on the couch, floor, and coffee table in the living room. All of the books shared similar titles: A Mother's Guide to Newborns, Newborn Necessities, Everything to Know about Babies!. Karen stopped abruptly in the living room.

"Claire." Claire stopped and turned around. Her eyes followed Karens' to the mess in the living room.

"Ah, sorry! I didn't have time to clean up before you came," Claire said.

"Claire, what's going on?" Karen demanded, knowing that Claire hadn't told her everything. Claire and Karen stared at each other for a while. Then, Claire drew in a deep breath, trying to steady herself, but she felt her heart ache. Karen's my sister...I have to tell her...

"I-I...he...he," she tried to speak, but felt hot tears collect in her eyes. She sat down on the couch, and Karen joined her, putting a hand over Claire's.

"Hey...I'm here for you," she said softly. She hadn't seen her sister cry like this in a very long time, which meant that Claire was really on the edge of breaking.

"Owen…"

"Owen?"

"My...husband...the father-"

"Husband?! You got married?" Karen blurted. Claire gave a small smile at her sister's excitement.

"Yes, I did...sorry I didn't tell you...we were trying to stay under the radar."

"No, it's okay...I'm just really surprised, and happy for you!" Karen said happily. Claire nodded, and pulled out a small photo of her and Owen on their honeymoon. She handed it to Karen.

"That's Owen."

"Ohh, that hottie you walked off with that day," Karen remembered. Claire scoffed and stared off into the distance.

"Yea...well...he's gone missing...and I have no idea where he is," Claire said, her voice trembling. Karen set the photo down on the coffee table.

"Missing? How long?"

"A few weeks…"

"Weeks?"

"Yes...I've been collaborating with the police to try to find him...but so far, nothing."

"He just...took off?" Karen questioned skeptically. She had never met this Owen guy, and had no idea what he was like. Claire shook her head.

"No...he wouldn't just take off...which means something happened to him," Claire said darkly. Karen nodded, and wrapped her arms around Claire.

"Hey, we'll find him, okay?" Karen reassured.

"I hope," Claire whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Owen, you said "Together, for survival."...but where are you when I need you most?

a/n: okay yay new chapter! sorry im taking longer in between updates now! i know how i want the rest of the story to progress, but i dont want to jump the gun and end the story too quickly; so im trying to prolong it a bit so im making it up events that were not in the original storyline as i go along (which is taking me longer to write and stuff lol).

thanks for reading yet again! see you next update!