Another one.
Owen led the others into a museum hall, filled with a bunch of places to hid. Darius carried Maisie in his arms, not wanting to take a chance of her getting caught. Brooklynn noticed her boyfriend, and her heart melted kind of. She knew that Darius was very caring, and had no doubt he would be a great father if that's what he wanted to be someday. But he had barely know the little girl for a few hours, and he already took on the responsibility to take care of her. She supposed it was partly because of the memory of his Uncle, and the other part of it being Darius's natural instincts.
Owen saw a man lying dead on the floor with his gun a few inches away. He moved towards it slowly just in case that thing was near by. The body suddenly slid backwards and everyone quickly ran for any cover. Darius, Brooklyn, and Maisie hid behind a pillar and the others hid behind the display of a dinosaur skull. The Indoraptor growled, looking for more food. Or was it looking for more things to mindlessly kill?
After about a minute of hiding, Darius risked peaking. He saw that the Indoraptor was standing on the display, most likely just above where everyone else hid. Darius motioned for Brooklynn to hold onto Maisie, who shook her head when he tried to get her to stay with Brooklynn. Darius didn't know what to do. He was going to try to lead the demon away from everyone, but if Maisie wouldn't move...
Thankfully, Darius didn't have to wait long to know what to do. The walkie talking that the dead man dropped started to make noise, giving away where the four adults were hiding. "Run!" Owen yelled as the Indoraptor roared. Darius once again grabbed Maisie, and made a break for the stairs. Brooklynn quickly followed behind them. Once they got up the stairs, Darius handed Maisie over to Brooklynn, and took out his gun. He fired a couple shots to give the others more time to get up here.
Darius followed Ben through a secret door. Where did it lead? Who knows. As long as it got them away from that thing. Darius shut the door just in time and climbed down the ladder, which put them straight in a big display case. Brooklynn noticed another fuse box, and quietly opened it. She flicked a switch, and all the lights in the museum hall turned off. Darius checked his gun, and made sure he had ammo in it.
Darius and Owen took the lead once again in finding a way out. They snuck across several connecting museum displays, going through various fake environments. They made it to the end, and Darius found a hatch. If he could get it open, they could get the hell out of here. Darius messed around with the hatch, while Owen and Ben stood with Maisie, Brooklynn, Sammy, and Claire, who were trying their best to blend into the background. Brooklynn held onto the little girl's shoulders, holding her as close as Maisie would allow. Darius silently sighed at how hard this was. They were SO close!
Suddenly, the lights started coming on. One by one, the displays around them lit up until it was just theirs that was dark. And then the light came on, leaving them completely exposed to the Indoraptor's vision. Darius pulled out his weapon, waiting for something bad to happen. Maisie looked around the lit up display. She saw something in the glass window in front of her. Her breathing picked up as she saw a mouth with razor sharp teeth. She screamed as the Indoraptor jumped through the glass, hitting a bunch of the overhead objects, causing them to fall. The humans ducked, but Brooklynn and Claire were caught between the fake wood tree that came down on them. Maisie still screamed as the thing attacked them from above and straight through.
Claire felt something pierce her thigh, and screamed in pain. The hybrid monster's claw had poked her. Brooklynn looked to her left and saw an opening. She pushed Maisie left, and shouted, "Maisie, run! RUN!" The little girl took off to who knows where, but for now she was at least safe. But the hybrid demon noticed the girl in red, and decided to chase her instead. Darius looked at Brooklynn. "I've got Claire, go get Maisie." The man nodded his head as he ran after the Indoraptor. Owen joined, and grabbed the gun that belonged to the dead man.
Sammy looked at Claire, and noticed that someone was missing. "Wait, where's Ben?" A groan was heard. The girls looked to their right, and saw their friend beneath some metal. "Ben!" Sammy ran over, and cleared some of the debris he had on him. Looking at the younger man's situation, she saw he had a bent metal pole sticking out of his rib area. "Oh God."
Ben groaned again. "Yeah, this is definitely sub optimal, huh?" He laughed at his own joke, but the laughter was quickly replaced with groans and grunts of pain.
Brooklynn finally had the chance to look at her friend and gasped at what she saw. "SHIT! We've gotta get him out of here! Get him to a hospital!"
"How?!" Sammy asked. Both girls were starting to panic. "We have nothing to cut the metal with, and I don't even know if he's bleeding!"
Brooklynn looked down at Ben, and grabbed his hand. "Hey, we're gonna get you out of this. Okay? You're gonna be fine." she said, tears forming in her eyes. But everyone knew the truth. It was just a matter of when. Finally. Brooklynn broke down in tears. "I'm sorry."
For the first time in a long time, Ben was truly scared. He didn't want to die. At least not like this. He at the very least hoped he would be able to live a life full of adventure. But if he was gonna die young, he wanted to die doing something badass, like rock climbing, or fighting something. But he would never be able to. At least not anymore. Because he was going to die tonight. Sammy and Brooklynn sat on each side of him, holding his hands. Tears started to flow down his face. He leaned into Sammy as he let the tears fall.
Darius chased after the hybrid dinosaur, following a path of destruction. He came to a window, and saw the glass broken. He realized that the demon was outside. Darius knew he had to keep going up. Maybe that's where Maisie was. All he could do was hope. Owen followed the younger man. "What's the play kid?"
"Kill the motherfucker and get Maisie." Darius simply said.
Owen rolled his eyes. "I like it. Short and simple."
The two men came to the top, and saw a door. Darius aimed his Glock as he kicked the door open, seeing the hybrid above Maisie's head. "Maisie, stay down!" he shouted as he crouched low and Owen stood tall with his rifle. Both men shot at the monster, who backed away from the bed. They stopped firing, thinking that the thing would drop dead. But the bullets only seemed to piss it off even more. The monster stood up on two feet, and growled at the two men who shot it. Owen tried to shoot the thing again, but he was out of bullets.
The two men backed up as Darius fired another shot, trying to scare the monster away. He kept firing, hoping to at least hit it in the eye. The hybrid roared and lunged, but was quickly pushed back by a familiar Velociraptor. Blue had jumped in just in time to save them. She climbed on top of the hybrid and clawed at him. Darius quickly ran to Maisie and covered her mouth as she screamed.
Owen stood next to them with the rifle still in his hands. Darius saw Blue losing her grip on the hybrid's back, and said, "Move!" The three humans jumped past the bed towards the window, the only option left to escape. Maisie led Darius and Owen, who slung the rifle's straps over his shoulder, through the ledger across the side of the house. Darius felt he was a kid again, sneaking up the side of Kenji's house with Ben. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he almost slipped.
Owen asked, "You good?"
Darius nodded and continued. They could all hear the fight inside, with the hybrid screaming. Darius hoped that Blue was doing okay. As if on que, the Indoraptor's head hit the window, causing them to fall. Darius and Maisie got separated from Owen who landed right instead of left. Darius wanted to search for him, hoping that he didn't fall off the side of the house. But a window above broke once again, with the hybrid monster falling straight to them.
Darius and Maisie ran as far as they could. They climbed a ladder that put them on a slick glass ceiling. The steel that held the ceiling together held their weight pretty well, but the Indoraptor tried to follow them. Darius and Maisie had reached the end of the ceiling, and stood next to a statue. The hybrid got smart, and used the ladder, and snarled at the humans. It walked towards them, but the weight of it's foot broke the glass.
Ben had managed to calm himself down, and kept his breath calm. Brooklynn and Sammy were trying to stop him from bleeding. They noticed a small puddle forming a few minutes ago, and were doing their best. They managed to slow it down, but the blood kept pouring.
Claire felt useless. She didn't know what to do. But the sound of glass breaking pulled everyone out of their thoughts. Glass and steel clattered on the smooth, polished floor. Everyone looked up. Ben heard the noise, and tried to keep his eyes open. "What happened?" he asked, feint of breath.
Claire had gotten up, and saw a black figure. "Oh my God! They're up on the roof!"
Maisie slipped, and grabbed Darius's jacket. The man fell with her, but reached to grab onto the statue. For now, the weight of Maisie and Darius was held. Darius looked back at the Indoraptor, who was slowly making it's way towards them. Darius looked back down at Maisie and the ground, not knowing how to get out of this.
All three beings heard what sounded like a loud clank and bang. The Indoraptor turned it's head and Darius tried to see who was there. Owen stood with the rifle in his hand. Darius smirked. Owen pointed the rifle at the Indoraptor as Darius and Maisie tried to get back up. The hybrid monster slowly backed up awkwardly.
Darius finally pulled himself up, and put Maisie closer to the statue. She held on tight. Darius looked back at Owen, who turned on the laser. The hybrid's head moved with the laser, anticipation building up as the laser landed right onto Darius's chest. The men locked eyes with each other. Darius nodded, knowing what needed to be done.
Owen pressed the button, and Darius ran towards the hybrid monster. The dinosaur ran towards him, and Darius ducked and slid to the left at the last second. The Indoraptor hit the glass, which started to crumble under the weight. All three humans watched as it grabbed onto the steel, keeping himself from falling all the way.
It pulled itself up, and growled at Darius. The monster glared, and roared at the man in front of him. But a call stopped it from jumping. Everyone heard the call again, and looked to see Blue standing on one of the roof tops. Darius smirked.
Blue roared, and jumped at the Indoraptor, with both of their weight too much to hold. Blue and the hybrid fell until they all heard a painful roar. Owen, Darius, and Maisie looked through the hole to see Blue standing over the dead Indoraptor, pierced by the conveniently placed Stego head. Blue let out a victorius roar, and ran off.
The girls below saw the dinosaurs fall, and gasped as Blue walked away, thinking she was going to attack them. But she didn't. A moment later, Zia and Franklin appeared. "Woah." Zia said as Franklin smiled.
Brooklynn also looked up at the hole. "Hey!" Darius said, waving at his girlfriend.
"Hey!" Franklin said, returning the wave. "You good?"
Darius rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You?"
Franklin shook his head. "Nope."
Zia said, "We have a situation downstairs. You need to see this."
Brooklynn yelled, "Darius! We have one ourselves. It's Ben." she explained.
Darius suddenly got worried, and everyone made their way downstairs. They met Claire, Zia and Franklin on the way down. "Maisie, go with them. Okay?" She nodded, and Darius took off. He ran as fast as he could into the museum, and slid to a stop. He saw Ben lying in a pool of his blood, Sammy and Brooklynn cradling him. "How long has he been like this?"
"Too long." Sammy said, barely above a whisper.
He walked towards his friend. "Ben? Can you hear me?"
Ben struggled to keep his eyes open. "Darius? Is that you?"
The older man nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here. I'm here. Just stay awake for me. Okay? I'm gonna find a way to get you out of here."
Darius held Ben's hand. "Darius. It's not your fault. This one's on me. I know I have no right to ask you this. But will you tell my mom I'm sorry?"
Darius nodded, holding onto his friend tighter. Tears came down his cheeks. "I promise."
Ben smiled, but his face suddenly got worried. "Bumpy."
"We'll take care of her. She'll be fine." Darius told him.
"No." Ben said. "Let her be free. She deserves to be free for as long as she can." Darius nodded once again. He slid down to hug the man who became his brother. He cradled him as Sammy and Brooklynn held onto him however they could. "I love you guys." Ben said, breathily.
Darius let the tears fall freely, sobs escaping him. "We love you too." they said between tears. Ben smiled as he closed his eyes and took his last breath, his body too weak to stay awake.
The three remaining friends wept over their friend. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Darius muttered, clutching tighter and tighter. The others, Owen, Claire, Maisie, Franklin and Zia came back just a few moments later.
Claire and Zia gasped as Owen and Franklin stared silently. Maisie didn't know what to do, so she just stood silently. The three Campers stood up, and cleaned their faces. Once Darius looked at Owen, the older man asked, "Do you want to try to move him? Send him home?"
Darius shook his head. "I was thinking we just burn the fucking place to the ground. He had a thing for controlled arson. Might as well give him the biggest fire he's ever seen."
Brooklynn nodded. "Agreed."
"What about the dinosaurs below?" Sammy asked. Darius and Brooklynn paused. They didn't think of that.
"They're fine." Maisie spoke up. "I let them out." Brooklynn and Sammy were shocked. Before Darius could ask why, she answered for him. "They're like me. Brought back to life." Darius looked at his two friends. Worry were written on EVERYONE's faces. They weren't sure what was going to happen to them now that dinosaurs were on the loose on the mainland.
Darius had managed to find the kitchen, and found some cooking oil and a lighter. He took two barrels and started pouring it all over the floor where he could. Brooklynn and Sammy did the same. Darius was hit back with the memory of him and Kenji burning down that warehouse. It was the place where Kenji's mom died. Now, since this is the place that Ben died, they would do the same. Burn it to the ground. Because this place is the cause for a lot of the chaos that is about to happen.
Finally, after a long while, they made it back to the front entrance of the house. Darius still had his last can of oil, and let the last bit onto the stairs. He chucked the container back up the stairs, and turned on the lighter. Darius felt guilty. This would be the closest thing to a memorial Ben would get. And his mother wasn't even here to see her son.
"Today marks the death of someone who was very passionate, and cared deeply about the ones he loved. His name was Ben Pincus. In the brief four years I knew him, he went from being the kid at camp who was afraid of everything to a complete badass of a man with a fucking dinosaur at his side. And a little shit, as I so affectionately called him." Sammy and Brooklynn let out a small chuckle, remembering all the times Darius would call Ben that.
"He always tried to do the right thing, always looked out for his friends, and became the little brother I never knew I needed. I can only hope that I lived up to what my own brother did for me. I hope that in your last moments, you realized that you were what continued to keep us together through all the bad times we faced as a group. I hope that you find peace knowing that we burn this building in your honor to grant your number one wish. Going out in a badass blazing ball of fire."
Darius threw the lit lighter up the stairs. Once the flame hit the oil, it burst, and quickly traveled into the house. After a few minutes, the whole bottom portion of the house was on fire. Darius stepped back to the others. Sammy and Brooklynn wrapped their arm around one of Darius's. The young man finished his eulogy. "We love you Ben. You'll burn forever in our hearts."
Suddenly, a roar was heard. Darius, Sammy and Brooklynn turned to see a familiar, asymmetrical dinosaur. She walked closer to the fire, seemingly calling out for Ben. Darius put a hand on her head. "I'm sorry Bumpy. Ben's gone."
As if she understood what was happening, she let out a soft roar, almost like she was in mourning. She turned to walk away, but saw Maisie in the corner. The little girl walked up to her, and Bumpy just stood there. Maisie gave Bumpy soft pets, and the female dinosaur's head rubbed against the little girl, seeming feeling comforted. The eight humans watched as Bumpy walked away into the woods.
"We need to find the others." Zia said. "Get them somewhere safe."
"No." Darius said. "It's time to let the dinosaurs roam free. They wanted to free these animals from Nublar. Now they have to live with the consequences. Now, they get to see what it's really like to live in Jurassic World."
News had quickly spread about what had happened. The dinosaurs were free on the main land. The government attempted to step in, but all their initial efforts were stopped by the aggressiveness of the animals. Within a month, California was considered a dinosaur hotspot. Another committee was held at Capital Hill to discuss action that needed to be taken. This time, Darius didn't appear. He was too busy helping Owen and Claire keep Maisie safe. They feared that the government would try to take her if they found out she was a clone.
Ian Malcolm made an appearance though. "How many times do you have to see the evidence? How many times must the point be made? WE are causing our OWN extinction. Too many red lines have been crossed to fix it now. And our home, in fundamental ways, has been polluted by avarice and political megalomania. Genetic power has been unleashed upon the Earth. And of COURSE that will be catastrophic. This was inevitable the moment we brought the first dinosaur back from extinction."
And we have convinced ourselves that sudden change is something happens outside the natural order of things, like a car crash. Or like a sudden illness, we don't conceive of sudden, RADICAL, IRRATIONAL change as woven into the very fabric of existence. Yet, I can assure you, it most CERTAINLY is. And it's happening NOW. Humans and dinosaurs are going to be forced to co exist. These creatures were here before us. And if we're not careful, they're gonna be here afterwards. We now have to adjust to new threats we didn't even KNOW were possible. We have entered into a new era. Welcome to Jurassic World."
Stay home, stay safe.
