Jurassic Park Broken Lives
Chapter 9: The Hunt
Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park.
Amanda slowly stretched as she sat up and moved the hair out of her eyes. Amanda looked to see Ellie and the raptor still asleep so slowly left the room, being sure not to wake them. Unhurriedly Amanda made her way to the main entrance and within several minutes, she stood at the top of the water-covered stairs. Cautiously she stepped onto the first step then another until she was only a few steps from the bottom. Suddenly she lost her balance and crashed into the dirt at the base of the stairs. Amanda moaned as she sat up and brushed the dirt off her face.
Suddenly a laugh came from the outside of the compound and soon a large male raptor walked out of the bushes. "Hello Amanda."
"Go away!" Amanda shouted at the raptor. "Why must you continue to torment us?"
"You injured me." Tyrannous hissed then calmly added. "Come here."
"Why should I?" Amanda said and crossed her arms while still on the ground.
"Come here." Tyrannous said again.
"What do you want?" Amanda growled.
Tyrannous walked up to the fence and stared at her until she finally came over. They stared at each other for a moment before Tyrannous said, "I wanted to show you something."
"You lost me after 'you'." Amanda said. "I know some words but not that many…yet."
Slowly tyrannous reached for the fence with left hand.
"What are you doing?" Amanda hissed.
Suddenly Tyrannous placed his hand on the fence. He stood in front of her and smirked. Slowly he looked to see a palm tree that had fallen in the storm the day before.
Amanda stepped back. "Oh…crap."
"Bye now." Tyrannous said before running into the jungle that was dark in the morning light and in a moment, he was gone.
Amanda just stared at the jungle for several minutes. Suddenly she felt a scaly hand rest on her shoulder. Amanda screamed and spun around to see Silver Claw staring at her in shock. "Sorry I thought you were that other raptor…" Amanda said when she calmed down. "The fence is broken." Amanda placed her hand on the fence to show him.
"What?" Silver Claw asked.
"I had a little chat with the green raptor." Amanda said before adding, "He showed me that the fence was off before running away."
Silver Claw made a low growling sound in anger of Tyrannous being near his new home again.
"He gone now… or at least I think he is."
"No," Silver Claw growled.
"Do you think we might… have to… find a new home?" Amanda said in a low sad tone.
"Maybe…"
"Your screaming woke me up Amanda." Ellie said as she walked up.
"Sorry about that…" Amanda said softly, "We might have to move…"
"What? Why?" Ellie almost shouted in horror of leaving the safety of the compound.
Amanda touched the fence and pointed to the tree on the fence. "The green raptor knows there is no power, he showed me."
"Where will we go?" Ellie asked.
"There are several other buildings and maintenance sheds on this island." Amanda replied. "Maybe we should discus this near the building so green raptor can't hear us…"
"You're not safe anywhere on this island." Tyrannous said and walked up to the fence. "Hello Ellie," he smiled, "still mad are we?"
Ellie looked away from him. "Go away, you're not wanted here."
Tyrannous quickly turn his attention to Silver Claw. "Hello Silver Claw," Tyrannous grinned. "It just burns right now doesn't it, to see me here and you're able to do nothing to me because you're still too young to pose any real threat to me."
"No, because I'm not the one you should be worried about." Silver Claw smiled as he quickly backed away from the fence alongside Amanda and Ellie.
Tyrannous stared at them awkwardly for a moment and sniffed the air then suddenly his eyes widened. Slowly he turned around and looked up.
Towering above Tyrannous stood an adult metriacanthosaurus, about eight meters long, with dagger like teeth, scarred face, ridged snout, and jet black hide. Drool dripped from its open jaws as it stared at Tyrannous, a huge red eye fixated on him. Suddenly the metriacanthosaurus lunged forward and Tyrannous just managed to move out of the way, as the massive head crashed into the ground. The massive creature spun around, causing its tail to shred the fence as if it were paper, then lunged forward again at Tyrannous but missed repeatedly until Tyrannous managed to escape into the jungle. The metriacanthosaurus gave up and turned its head to look at the building, but nothing.
Silver Claw, Amanda, and Ellie silently stood behind a wall by the door. The metriacanthosaurus, searching the compound, walked though the grass then soon moved off as its mate, slightly larger with more a more reddish hide, emerged from the jungle with four hatchlings. Finally, when both the metriacanthosaurus moved off into the jungle the three stepped back out onto the stairs.
"That was close." Ellie sighed.
"Yeah… too close." Amanda agreed. "Now we have to go before that green raptor or those other things come back."
Silver Claw nodded and began to walk down the stairs.
"I should pack some things first." Ellie said and rushed into the building. "Wait for me."
"Ok… I should too… wait up." Amanda said before rushing after her.
For several minutes, Silver Claw stood on the stairs, alone, until Amanda and Ellie walked up to him. Both girls each had a backpack filled with clothing and a small blanket. Soon the three began to walk down the wet stairs and Amanda pulled out a map from her pocket.
"Ok the closest building complex is north east of here… though it is where a velociraptor pack is that are the same color as our friend." Amanda said quietly.
"No, we should stay away." Silver Claw replied.
"Maybe we could stay by one of those lakes… they both look like they have cliffs overlooking them and we might find a cave." Ellie said.
"That would be nice." Amanda added. "I would say that the furthest lake from here would be our best choice. It is close enough to the building that we could sneak in unnoticed by the other raptors… hopefully." Amanda replied. "Maybe that part of the lake isn't their territory."
"Is it theirs?" Ellie questioned.
"No," Silver Claw replied.
"Good," Amanda sighed.
Amanda, Ellie, and Silver Claw walked towards the broken fence and made sure not to trip over the mess of wires and metal. Finally, they got pass the mess when Silver Claw stopped and began to sniff the air. He turned around, lowered his head and nudged Ellie's right leg.
"What is it?" Ellie asked then she saw the blood. "Oh…Amanda could you get a bandage?"
"Why? What's wrong?" she asked.
"I'm bleeding and your friend here seems a little fixated on it." Ellie replied and moved her leg away from Silver Claw.
Amanda took off her backpack and looked though it until she found some bandages at the bottom. "Yeah… Here let me put it on."
Silver Claw stepped away and shook his head, trying to clear the scent of blood from his mind. What was that about? He thought as his mind gradually cleared.
Finally, when Amanda was finished with the bandage the three continued on, following Silver Claw through the jungle. Amanda picked up a hammer lying in the dirt in their path and put it in her bag. Soon the came to a familiar wall of bushes and soon stood at the edge of Silver Claw's old home.
Amanda sighed softly, "Saying your good byes." Silver Claw nodded. Amanda turned to Ellie, "This was his home…"
"Oh…" Ellie could only say then noticed an odd shaped object near her feet. Slowly she reached down and picked it up. "What's this?" She asked.
Silver Claw turned to see Ellie holding a toe claw. He quickly grabbed it with his mouth and gently placed it back on the ground. Silver Claw hissed loudly to make sure she would not touch it again.
"What was that about?" Ellie nervously asked after Silver Claw hissed at her.
"That was a claw from one of his dead family members." Amanda softly answered while Silver Claw walked around the rest of the nests.
"Oh…" Ellie replied and sighed.
Soon Amanda, Ellie, and Silver Claw were on their way again. They walked uninterrupted until nightfall when Amanda and Ellie had to rest. Slowly the girls sat down in the damp leaves, being sure not to get their bags wet. Slowly Silver Claw rested next to them but kept an eye on the surrounding jungle for any possible threat. For an hour, the three sat their, silent and tired, but refused to sleep. Finally, Amanda, Ellie and Silver Claw stood back up and continued their journey for a new home.
The next morning Amanda and Ellie lay asleep at the base of a tree, not to far away, Silver Claw lay curled up in a temporary nest. Nearby the sound of crashing water echoed through the jungle. Amanda slowly woke, stood up, and looked around. She slowly slid on her backpack and woke up Ellie.
"What?" Ellie moaned. "What time is it?"
"It's morning." Amanda replied.
"Hey… that sounds like a river…" Ellie said softly, "I could use a drink."
"Hey, you're right, it does. I wonder why we didn't notice it last night…" Amanda yawned before walking over to Silver Claw. "Wake up."
"What is it?" Silver Claw moaned.
"We should get going," Amanda growled. "There is a river nearby."
Silver Claw slowly stood up and began walking towards the river. Amanda and Ellie quickly followed Silver Claw into the jungle and within several minutes, they emerged from the jungle next to a massive waterfall. A thunderous roar filled the air. The water pored over the top in a massive wall, creating snow white waters and small whirlpools at the bottom.
"Wow!" Ellie and Amanda could only say at this majestic site.
After several minutes, Ellie finally asked. "How do we get across?"
Meanwhile back at the compound, "Where are you Silver Claw?" A voice shouted from the gap at the fence. "Come out and fight!" Slowly Tyrannous began to sniff the air. He looked down to find several droplets of blood. Tyrannous smiled as he found the slight scent remaining on the ground and began to follow it into the jungle.
"Hey! There's a bridge down there!" Amanda said with excitement and pointed down the river.
The two humans and the raptor quickly walked to the bridge that on each side had a small cliff under the base. The bridge was in terrible need of maintenance, one of the rails lie in the river, rust covered the entire structure and a human skeleton lay off to one side. Amanda and Ellie turned away when they saw this but soon continued onto the bridge. It creaked with every step but soon all three were across.
"Hey there's a road!" Amanda smiled. "This will make…"
Suddenly a loud crash sounded from behind and the three turned to see an adult proceratosaurus charging at them. The creature, six meters long with serrated teeth, long slender legs, bright red crest, and brown hide, let out a deafening roar. Amanda and Ellie screamed as the creature began to cross the bridge when suddenly it gave way and the proceratosaurus crashed into the water below. The proceratosaurus managed to stand up in the fast moving water. Silver Claw walked to the edge and looked over the side at the creature that roared in response. All of a sudden the rest of the bridge gave way and collapsed onto animal. The river turned red, Silver Claw turned away and gestured for Amanda and Ellie not to look but it was too late.
"Oh…" Amanda said as she looked over the edge. "We should go now…"
"Yes," Silver Claw sighed, "we should."
Slowly Silver Claw walked ahead of the humans as they followed the road. Only the calls of large herbivores could be heard in the distance as the three walked down the road. "When do you think we'll be there?" Ellie asked to break the silence.
"I don't know…" Amanda pulled out the island map. "It should be at least a day or two walk, three at the most."
"Ok," Ellie sighed.
Before long, the dirt road widened until it stretched over ten meters across and completely treeless. They walked down the center of the road for kilometers and the road abruptly changed to asphalt. In the distance, a small pole appeared with an orange object swaying in the wind. Gradually as the three got closer, a building with a tin roof at the edge of the jungle became visible. Soon they could see large oil drums, two vehicles covered in vines, broken crates, and a small antenna. By now, it was dusk and Amanda and Ellie were exhausted.
"We should stay the night here." Amanda said and yawned. "That building would be better that the damp jungle tonight."
"Yeah," Ellie agreed.
"Ok," Silver Claw said and walked towards the building and pushed the door open with his snout.
Inside, only impressions of where objects once were remained on the dirt floor, four windows faced the road and a series of wires ran into the ground from the roof under the antenna. Otherwise, the room was barren and empty. Amanda and Ellie walked over to the furthest corned form the door, pulled out a blanket from their backpacks, and sat down. Silver Claw nudged the door shut and soon lied down next to Amanda, resting his head on her lap. Finally, nightfall came and the two humans and one velociraptor slept comfortably in the serene night.
Tyrannous stood at the edge of a cliff. The bridge lied in a twisted mess with the broken body of the proceratosaurus in the riverbed below. He let out a roar of anger, jumped across the chasm, landed safely on the other side when suddenly the ground below his feet crumbled, and he tumbled into freezing water below. The current pushed him faster and faster down stream, several times completely submerging him underwater. Suddenly the water began to quicken more so until he felt himself being heaved over a huge waterfall and into a channel leading into the ocean.
A light drizzle fell over Isla Sorna as daybreak came, a soft breeze swayed the orange windsock, and the roof clicked with every drop of rain that hit it. Amanda stared out the window at the rain. In the corner, Ellie and Silver Claw still slept and because of the rain, Amanda did not want to wake them.
Amanda sighed softly. "So much like home…" She watched as the rain began to fall in greater quantity. Soon it drenched the ground and caused puddles to form. Amanda soon turned away from the window and sat down near Silver Claw.
Unnoticed by Amanda, Silver Claw began to wake up and soon stood up. He lightly nudged Amanda and she turned to look at him. Silver Claw was about wake Ellie when Amanda stopped him.
"Let her sleep," Amanda whispered. "It's pouring rain."
"So, why does that matter?" Silver Claw asked. "It is only rain."
"We could catch a cold." Amanda said softly.
Silver Claw walked over, pushed open the door, strolled outside and let the rain cover his body. Silver Claw sighed. "Why does she think she would catch a cold? This is warm." He said to himself.
Amanda just looked out the window at Silver Claw. She watched as he looked back at her gestured for her to come out. Amanda sighed and walked to the door and held her hand out. She felt the heavy drops hit hand. They were warm.
Suddenly thunderous roars echoed from the jungle. Silver Claw rushed for the door and after he entered, Amanda closed it. Amanda and Silver Claw watched as massive four legged creatures emerged from the jungle on both sides of the structure. Their large frills and long horns immediately named them as triceratops. The large herbivores walked carelessly in the rain, several stepped on the old wooden crates that shattered under the weight, and they began barking as they made their way from one side of the road to the other.
"What's going on?" Ellie moaned as she walked up to the window. "What are those?" She nervously asked.
"It's all right, they are triceratops, herbivores." Amanda replied.
"Oh, ok." Ellie sighed, "Noisy things aren't they."
"Yeah," Amanda said.
Silver Claw watched as young triceratops playfully jumped around in front the building, unaware that it was near one of the island's top predators. Silver Claw dug his claws into the dirt in frustration, his feathers stood on end and he growled at the unsuspecting animal.
"What's wrong?" Amanda asked in response to this strange behavior.
"I think it's that baby triceratops there." Ellie said when she looked at him. "He is fixated on it."
They watched as the herd move off into the jungle on the far side but the baby stayed on the road, still not far from the building. The triceratops jumped playfully in the puddles but suddenly the baby realized it was alone and squealed in fear. Thunder echoed over the island and drowned out the cries of the infant.
Silver Claw snapped. He jumped through the window with a loud crash and dug his claws into the hide of the young triceratops. It squealed in pain and struggled to move with the added weight of the velociraptor. Lightning flashed in luminous glows as the two animals struggled in the one-sided battle. Silver Claw slashed the thick grey hide with his killing claws and blood flowed from the massive wounds until the baby lay dead on the ground. He let out a victorious roar and began to eat.
Amanda and Ellie stood in shock behind the broken window. Silver Claw continued to eat then he finally remembered that Amanda and Ellie were watching. Slowly he approached the girls, who backed away from him. He jumped through the window and slowly walked up to them, by now the girls were against the wall. Droplets of blood and water dripped off the raptors body but his snout was drenched with blood. Silver Claw made a low hiss.
Tyrannous woke to the sound of thunder and quickly he jumped to his feet. His body, wet and covered in sand, ached with every movement. In front of him lay an unknown jungle, behind the unforgiving waters of the channel. He roared in anger but then something unexpected happened. He got a response. Suddenly the bushes in front of him came alive and a pack of velociraptors stepped out.
The pack totaled eleven as they surrounded the weak Tyrannous. Most were female, brown in color with green eyes, with a few males, orange with black strips and yellow eyes. Then one more stepped out, a female, white in color with black spots. She lowered her head and back away as several of the females snapped at her.
"What are you doing in our territory?" The alpha female hissed.
"I fell off a cliff into the water on the other side of this channel and washed up here." Tyrannous hissed and was ready to defend himself.
"What's your name?" The alpha male asked.
"Uh… I am Scar." Tyrannous replied a shook off some of the water on his back.
"Do you have a pack?" One of the females asked.
"No, they are all dead thanks to another pack." Tyrannous growled.
The alpha male and female began to talk then finally looked back to the weak raptor. "Would you like to join us?" The male asked.
Tyrannous was silent for several moments then smirked. "Yes… Yes I would." Thunder cracked overhead. "So… where do I now call home?"
"Follow us," The alpha female said and ran into the jungle.
The rest of the pack soon followed. Tyrannous slowly paced himself to stay close enough not to lose the group but slow enough to save his strength. Within the hour, they reached the edge of the jungle overlooking another channel.
Before them lay a small channel filled with tall rocks. On the other side, a large building complex sat in the center of a large grassy plain. "Over their in the grassy plain is our home," one of the females said, "In the trees by that complex are our nests."
"How long till we get their?" Tyrannous asked but the pack began to move without an answer. Tyrannous could only roll his eyes and try to catch up…