I'm so sorry, had my MCQ exams and a load of postgraduate applications to do! I haven't lost interest in the story, and I promise to update much more often over the xmas hols :) Forgive me? Haha, hope you enjoy x

Chapter 28

The first thing that Cutter became aware of was the throbbing pain that was coming from behind his left ear, radiating the full length of his skull; so intense and so attuned that he almost wished that he would slip back into blissful oblivion again. All around him, screams and shouts were mingled with the roars of unidentifiable creature, but they all seemed so distant . . . so muffled . . .

Slowly, he opened his eyes a crack, unable to find the strength to force his lids further.

Darkness.

His first thought was that he had gone blind, the same way that Claudia had when she was knocked out back in the other world all those years ago. It took a few moments for his muddled brain to work out that he was staring at a piece of rubble. This confused him for a while as his slowed mind tried to piece together the fuzzy pieces of what he could remember. They were on the roof . . . he and Jenny . . . and then he remembered something to do with Abby . . . and then . . .

He widened his eyes suddenly as the image of Jenny flying through the air popped up in his newly cleared mind, and out of nowhere, a pulse of energy shot through him, giving him the strength to push the rubble off him. Immediately, he inhaled a thick cloud of unsettled dust that caught in his throat, causing it to constrict sharply. Coughing and spluttering, he staggered to his unsteady feet, his eyesight still blurry as he steered his unfocused gaze to travel the length of his surroundings.

He was standing in the ruins of a building, but how and why seemed completely redundant at that point. He had more important things to worry about.

"Jenny!" he tried to shout at the top of his lungs, but what came out of his throat was in a low, scratchy voice. "Jenny!"

His vision still swimming with light, and his ears ringing alarmingly, he watched as though he was completely removed from the battle as a small group of what appeared to be Gallimimus's scurried past, darting in between anomalies like a flock of birds. Yells were still discernable through his haze, although whether human or other, he could not tell.

"Jenny!" he croaked again, his throat burning with the effort of speaking, but his fear at not being able to find his wife taking over any physical injury. "Jenny!"

He sensed rather than heard a sudden movement behind him, but he couldn't seem to exert any further control over his weakened body to turn around quick enough. The thing darted to his side swiftly, and with a dawning horror, Cutter caught a glimpse of a large and terribly familiar figure; Centipede-like, with too many legs to be able to count. Before he could so much as draw a breath, something sharp sliced into his shoulder.

Agony blinded him, and he crumbled to his knees, his compromised senses unable to ignore the burning sensation of poison that was already slowly spreading through his veins.

Jenny felt so utterly drained that she almost welcomed death for the promise of peace that it brought. It was a strange sensation - to know ones death was merely seconds away. Jenny had though that she would be scared, but now that the moment was upon her, she felt nothing but a paralysing numbness. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was acceptance. Either way, she knew she could do nothing to stop it. The Raptor was close enough that she could smell the rancid odour of stale blood and flesh on its breath.

She squeezed her eyes shut and immediately, the image of her three-year old son popped into her head, causing her chest to convulse painfully. If only she could see him again, even if it was just one more time . . .

Gunshots cracked through her stupour, shocking her out of her daze. To her complete bemusement, the Raptor keeled over sidewards and fell to the ground with a sickening crunch, clearly and unmistakably dead. And then suddenly, arms were around her, pulling her up.

"What - " she began faintly.

"Come on, up! Get up!" Ben's voice shouted, clearly panicked.

She obeyed without question, blocking out the pain and the noises around them as she forced herself to move. Ben dragged her around the side of the almost completely decimated bridge, only stopping when they reached the wide pillar that still stood erect, supporting nothing but air. Exhausted, and almost passing out with the agony in her ribs, Jenny lent against it and immediately felt herself sliding down onto the rubble-strewn ground, whimpering in pain as she clutched her side. She couldn't even be bothered to ask Ben how he'd escaped the ARC cell.

He crouched down in front of her, his stern expression not quite masking his concern. Without speaking a word, he reached down and prized her hand away. Gently, he pressed his fingers up against her throbbing ribs.

"Jesus!" she gasped through clenched teeth, jolting as a particularly nasty pain shot through her.

He ignored her, and continued to prod each of her ribs in turn, his face furrowed in pained concentration. Eventually, he dropped his hands away from her.

"Two fractured ribs as far as I can tell," he said in an unconcerned voice as he got to his feet. "You're lucky."

Jenny gapped at him, wondering if his was being sarcastic or not. Lucky? Was he serious? Two fractured ribs, a missing husband, a city ransacked by creatures, scattered friends . . . exactly what part of that did he class as lucky?

Before she could retort however -

"Now that you're not on deaths door, I don't mind being frank with you," he began icily. "Are you suicidal, or just plain stupid?"

"I - what?" she murmured as she tried to prop herself up more, still unable to think clearly because of the pain.

Vaguely, she was aware that she was trembling, and she had gained enough experience of these near death encounters to know that she was probably going into shock. Ben, however, either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"You never drop your weapon," he continued sharply as he dropped her discarded gun in front of her. "Now get up."

"I - I can't," she replied, sinking back against the pillar.

"You can," he said, taking a step back from her to indicate that he was going to help her no further. "You fight through the pain, because if you don't - you die. Get up."

She glared up at him, hoping that she was conveying the utter loathing she felt for him at that precise moment.

"Get up!" he shouted, clearly losing any patience he had. "This is pathetic. Maybe I should just let you die - maybe it's natures way of weeding out the weak - "

"I'm not weak!" she snapped, his words prodding a sensitive issue.

"Prove it then," he replied smugly. "Get up."

She shot him one final look of disdain before she slowly lay her palms flat against the ground and attempted to heave herself up. As she suspected, the pain redoubled, and she sunk back down with a sob. Ben said nothing, only crossed his arms, surveying her with a bored, cold look. It was the sight of his complete lack of empathy that drove her on. This time, she leant heavily on the pillar for support, and with a cry of agony, she staggered to her feet. Teeth gritted against the unbearable pain, she allowed herself a few moments rest until the majority of the throbbing had subsided before she turned to face him. She noticed that he was closer to her than before, as though he had stepped forward to help her, but then had thought better of it. Jenny could have sworn that his features were etched in worry, but as their gazes met, he hurriedly re-arranged his expression into a look of detachment.

"Good," he stated, giving her a curt nod before reaching down picking up her gun. "So you can stand," he added as he straightened up and thrust the weapon into her hands, "but can you fight?"

"Watch me," she retorted coldly as she snatched the gun back.

"Good," he nodded again in approval.

Then, to Jenny's complete surprise, he raised his own gun to aim at a point just over her shoulder. She jumped as he fired; the bullet flying neatly over her. She turned immediately, and nearly dropped the gun again in shock.

It seemed that when she had been too busy feeling sorry for herself, a group of Raptors - at least ten fully-grown adults - had formed an uncertain ring around them, surveying them with avid interest. The Raptor that Ben had shot was splayed across the floor, bleeding freely, and the creatures closest to its carcass were nudging it curiously, as though trying to figure out what had happened to a member of their group.

"Go back to back," Ben ordered sharply, and again, she obeyed without argument, knowing that despite the fact she had four-years field experience, his knowledge of fighting these creatures far outstripped her own.

They both raised their guns, pointing them at the creatures closest.

"The ones directly in front of us are going to try and keep our attention on them," Ben stated in a calm voice from behind her. "Then we're going to be attacked from the side."

"So what do we do?" she asked in a strained voice, panic enveloping her.