New Beginnings - Chapter 10 - Shiny New Developments

Previously…

"He takes Owen away, and just assumes nothing's going to happen to him?" she muttered to herself. "Well, Wu's got another thing coming." As she stormed away in a flurry, Owen was left with no choice other than to chase after Claire, to stop Dr. Wu once and for all.

…

"No, no. Don't stop them," Wu said with a small smile, "I want you to release the dinosaurs."
"Sir?!" He shut off the gadget, before any arguing.

"Time for a field test."

"Claire! Wait!" Owen shouted at the furious redhead. She stopped, and turned to face Owen.

"You're not going to stop me," she persisted. Owen put his hands on her shoulders.

"Look, Claire, I know you're mad and you probably want to rip Wu a new one," he reasoned, pausing to look between Claire and Nicolas, whose head was currently buried in his mother's neck due to his oncoming drowsiness. "But Wu is insane, and we both know that. There's no telling what he could do. I don't want to lose you and Nick." Claire's expression softened. Her arms tightened around their little boy, and her eyes locked with Owen's.

"He threatens us...that's why we need to take this on together," she finally responded softly, "I just...don't want to lose you again." Owen pulled her into a warm embrace, Claire's face pressed against his chest.

"And I don't want to lose you," he murmured. The two pulled apart. Then, Claire noticed something sticking out of his shirt pocket, and grabbed it. Unfolding it, she saw that it was a photo of her and Owen on their honeymoon, so many years ago.

"You kept it this entire time?" she whispered, staring at the photo. Owen smiled.

"Of course. It was the only thing that got me through this whole damned time. I even showed it to the dinosaurs." Claire laughed.

"What did they think of me?" she asked jokingly. Owen draped one arm across her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

"I think they liked ya. Or maybe they were just fascinated by the sparkly ring I showed them." Claire smiled at Owen and put the photo back. She turned towards the office building, glancing upwards at the towering edifice.

"Let's go," she said defiantly, "Finish this once and for all."

Owen and Claire, with Nicolas on Claire's hip, marched hand-in-hand up to the building entrance. Claire, a little more eager than Owen, stepped forward and grabbed the handle.

"Get ready for showtime, Dr. Wu," she said sarcastically under her breath. Suddenly, a scream erupted from the main street stretched out behind her and Owen. The two turned around, and saw the familiar scene of complete chaos. With wide eyes, Claire and Owen watched as tons of park visitors ran screaming, away from the main street.

"You've got to kidding me," Owen growled.

"Oh god no," Claire cried. She wanted to sink to her knees, but she saw Owen immediately began heading towards the commotion. Snapping out of her daze, she jogged towards the crowd as well, attempting to catch up to Owen. But, she eventually lost sight of him as he was swallowed by the crowd.

Claire eventually made it to the edge of the fleeing crowd, until there were only a few visitors left running away. Before long, the sounds of terrified screaming was nothing but a muffled hum in the background. Standing in the middle of the abandoned street, Claire had no idea where Owen had gone. Her best bet was the enormous performance hall where the dinosaurs were expected to be on display. With high heels tapping against the pavement, Claire strided quickly towards the large building.

Suddenly, a few lengths away, a dinosaur leaped out of a bush, its low snarl startling Claire. It didn't notice her just yet, so she dove out of sight, behind a nearby picnic table. This isn't going to do much, but it's the best option right now! Claire thought frantically.

She heard the animal rustle around, the scraping of its claws on the pavement growing louder as it scampered closer. Holding her breath, Claire edged closer to the nearby gift shop, hoping that once she got inside, there would be a higher chance of survival. She shuffled slowly due to the fact that she was holding Nicolas in her arms, and she needed to be as quiet as possible. Come on...almost there…

The dinosaur halted, and so did Claire. She needed to pause every time the dinosaur ceased movement, otherwise the street would be dead silent, with Claire being the only source of noise. She shook slightly as she heard the animal sniff the air. She bit her lip to keep from whimpering out loud.

At that moment, Nicolas twitched in her arms, awaking from his impromptu nap. Oh no…I need to stop him! But it was too late. Nicolas began screaming, making his crankiness evident.

The dinosaur's head poked up, and stared directly at the picnic table. It dashed towards it, and flipped it, causing the wooden surface to splinter into a million pieces. Claire turned, her back to the explosion, ensuring Nicolas' safety from the flying debris. Then, she twisted back around, coming face-to-face with the dinosaur.

She quickly stood up, attempting to level with the dinosaur, but it still towered over her. Its slitted eyes glared menacingly at her, but she didn't break eye contact. At this point, she was trying her best to mimic Owen and his behavior with dinosaurs. Thankfully, Nicolas had quieted down, sensing the tense atmosphere.

Claire and the dinosaur continued their stare-off. At the same time, Claire kept easing closer to the gift shop. The dinosaur cocked its head to the side, as if reading whether or not she was a threat. Before Claire could interpret the dinosaur's expression, she stepped on a plastic box, making a loud CRACK resound through the street.

The dinosaur blinked, snapping out of its trance, and seemed to come to the conclusion that its prey was getting away. It snapped its jaws, and rushed towards Claire. Panicking, she threw her availible arm up, trusting that it knew she meant STOP.

The dinosaur hesitated. But, instead of focusing on Claire's outstretched arm, it was fixated on the silver ring on Claire's finger. Claire assumed the ring attracted the animal because the sun caused the gem to gleam intensely. The animal crept closer, bending down to peer at the accessory, until it was breathing on Claire's hand. It finally looked at Claire and studied her face. It still hadn't attacked her.

Claire's heart stopped as she remembered what Owen had said: "I even showed the photograph to the dinosaurs...I think they liked ya. Or maybe they were just fascinated by the sparkly ring I showed them."

"It can't be…," Claire muttered, "You recognize me…?" The dinosaur chirped in agreement. Claire felt a large smile stretch across her face, thankful that she wasn't eaten, and amazed at the fact that the animal actually knew who she was. Acknowledging her cheerfulness, the dinosaur nudged under her hand, like a pet wanting to be stroked. Claire ran her hand down its neck. Nicolas also reached over and patted the dinosaur.

Abruptly, the dinosaur lifted its head up, and lengthened back to its full height, as if sensing something. It turned towards the performance hall, roared, and trotted towards the building. Claire stood still for a second, and then sprinted after the dinosaur. Please be running towards Owen, she thought as she chased after the dinosaur.

a/n: ayy dino trainer Claire lmao

btw i imagine the new dinosaurs to be just a lil bit bigger than the raptors (instead of being at the height of a human, they're like a foot or two taller like around 7-8 feet)

sorry for the late update

also sorry if these next few chapters seem rushed or worse; my school year is about to start soon so i want to finish this before i get too busy and never update again! (sorry but its truee ;_;)

anyway thanks so much for reading another chapter! see you next chap!