A/N: And here we go…
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Hotch checked his map before continuing ahead. They had been walking for about half an hour already, and were moving southeast to cross a river before continuing west. So far they had continued without upset, and he was hoping that their streak would continue.
"Anything on the radar?" Emily caught up to him.
Hotch held the WingMan up so that she could see. "We seem to be evading these larger groups, but we're going to be running into the smaller groups when we pass the river."
"And we have no idea what species to expect?"
Hotch shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. We're about two hours from a pit stop at the power station, so if we keep moving at this pace we should be able to be at the medical facility by mid afternoon."
"Assuming nothing stops us." Emily took a sip of her water from her canteen. She kept her eyes ahead while maintaining as much peripheral vision as she could. Every single noise made her jump, but she couldn't relax. Their lives depended on it.
Hotch could hear the sound of water moving in the distance. "We need to cross this river here. Stay together." He ushered Tintin, Cleveland and Jones into single file as they broke through the thick brush.
The river was gigantic, but luckily relatively shallow. Emily looked downstream and could see a herd of Hadrosaurs about a mile away. "Heads up."
"Keep low and move fast." Cleveland motioned for them to follow him.
As they made their way across the river, Hotch heard the sound of branches breaking in front of them and looked up. His eyes shot towards Emily's to confirm she'd also heard the noise, and she nodded in agreement. Hotch held up his arm for them to stop.
The sound of branches breaking was getting closer, and Emily could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she felt the ground shake. Something big was coming their way, and they wouldn't have much time to move out of its way. Hotch pointed to the left and the group moved as quickly as they could through the raging river to the other side.
Emily watched Hotch pull out the WingMan as they struggled to the nearest cover of bushes. She saw a small red dot moving very close to their location and her stomach shot up into her throat with anxiety.
Luckily Tintin spotted cover in the form of some large boulders that bordered the river. The group made it behind the rocks and backed into the brush as a head broke through the trees. And it was a big one.
Emily gasped quietly and slapped a hand over her mouth. The Tyrannosaurus was massive, its short arms hanging by its side as it walked into the river. It bent its head down to let water rush into the bottom of its jaw and then lifted its head up to take a drink. The Hadrosaurs downstream had scattered with the sound of the approaching predator.
Jones' hand went to the rifle on her back but Hotch stopped her. He put a finger to his lips and the woman nodded uncomfortably. They all watched silently as the giant animal slowly walked away, its tail swinging behind it with ease.
Emily let out a sigh and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her eyes met Hotch's and he pointed to the trees. The five of them crept carefully into the bushes, Tintin bringing up the rear.
"Great snakes, that was a close one!" The whisper was quiet, but still too loud for Emily's liking.
Hotch held up his hand for them to stop. "We need to keep moving west. We'll follow the river up and then we shouldn't be far from the power station. Is everyone ready?" He got four nods. "Okay, let's keep moving." He turned and led them along, sticking close to the river as they moved through the trees.
Emily came up next to him as they walked. "It's surreal, isn't it?"
He wasn't an insecure man by any means, but he knew that he was out of his element on this island. "A little terrifying, yes. Are you alright?"
She shrugged. "I'll be fine. Are you okay?"
"Ask me that when we get to the power station."
The rest of the morning was relatively quiet as they snuck through the trees. Cleveland had accidentally spooked a baby triceratops and Emily had almost tripped into a nest of eggs of some kind, but other than that there hadn't been many encounters with the park animals. Hotch had checked the WingMan a few more times and even though they were moving more and more inland, the majority of the dinosaurs were clustered much farther to the center of the island. But they still weren't out of the disaster zone yet.
Hotch took a bite of his energy bar as they came to a clearing. They were only a mile away from the power station and they had been making good time. He noticed that Cleveland and Jones were incredibly high strung, but the situation was way out of the structure of their training so he gave them a break.
"I need a minute." Emily put a hand on his arm, and he nodded. "Nature calls. I won't go far."
"Five minutes, everyone." He turned around and dropped his pack, stretching his arms as he watched the others relax for a brief minute.
"If you don't mind, I'll come along with you," Jones said to Emily, who nodded in agreement. The two women carefully searched out an area where they could safely get some privacy from the men. They both found large trees to hide behind, while keeping an eye on their surroundings.
Emily stepped back out and waited for the other woman to join her. "How long have you been serving?"
"Five years." They walked back to the clearing. "You used to work with Agent Hotchner?"
"Yes, I did. I was a member of his team back in Quantico. Behavioural Analysis Unit."
"I bet you saw some dark shit in that job."
"You have no idea." Emily picked up her pack and buckled it onto her back. "We ready to move on?"
Hotch stood up and nodded. "One more mile. Let's move, and stay quiet. We're getting closer to some more activity." He held up the WingMan and pointed to a cluster of red dots. "We'll cut through this area and we should be home free for the time being."
Emily followed him closely through the clearing, keeping her head up. Tintin was right behind her, and she was silently impressed that he was keeping up with everyone. The young man was hardly sweating in the intense heat. He shot her a small grin and she returned it.
Soon they lost the river completely and they started to climb into thicker brush. Emily could feel the gradient increase and soon they were looking over cliffs that had a beautiful view of a valley.
Hotch pointed in the distance. A grey, fenced off building was looming about fifty yards in front of them. "I think that's it."
"Hold up a second. Look over there." Cleveland pointed across the valley. There was a red building far in the distance with a black X on the roof. Emily guessed it was a helicopter pad. "That's our destination. Maggie should be in there somewhere."
"We'll take an hour stop tops to rest up," Hotch said, ushering their team closer to the power station. He saw that the front gate had a padlock on it and he took in the height of the fence, but Jones stepped past him and took out a bolt cutter.
"Can never be too prepared." She snapped the padlock off with ease and opened the gate to let everyone in.
The power station wasn't gigantic, but it would provide them with the coverage they needed. Hotch pried open the front door and they all filed in carefully. Cleveland rattled on the roof to check for signs of life, but they were greeted with silence.
"Have you tried to reach Wimsley at home base?" Hotch asked Jones, gesturing to her walkie talkie. The woman shook her head.
"No, I'll try now." Jones squeezed the receiver on her walkie talkie. "Jones to base, over?" Her voice echoed on Cleveland's radio.
They waited for a few minutes but were met with nothing but static. "Must be out of range," Cleveland said, trying his too just in case. Again, there was nothing but the sound of his own voice echoing back on the channel. He shrugged and buckled it back into his pack.
Hotch nodded. "Take a break and eat something. If you get restless come find me and we can move out early."
The two soldiers nodded and stretched out along the wall, pulling out some food. Emily took in her surroundings. She had seen solar panels on the roof of the building so she assumed that the power station was still functional. She saw two rows of panels on her right that were labelled with different areas of the park.
"Should we snoop?" Tintin had come up behind her. "Think this place still works?"
Emily walked over to one of the panels and opened the door. It seemed to control the phones and computers. "Probably does." She closed the door. "I don't know what would happen if we turned everything back on, and I don't want to jeopardize this mission when we're out of our element."
Tintin nodded. He opened the door to the other panel and it was labelled with various gates in the park. "This one needs to stay off. Don't want to get zapped while we're climbing around this place!"
Emily pulled out an energy bar from her pack, smirking. "That would be the preference." She slid down the wall and sat on the floor. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
"I'm turning twenty this month." Emily choked on her food. He was practically a kid!
"You're pretty brave to be out here."
Tintin shrugged. "I do what I can. I'm not about to look away from someone who needs help. Especially not in a place like this. If I was in the same situation, I would want someone to come help me. Age shouldn't have anything to do with it in my opinion."
"You're right." Emily took a drink of water. "You're a good man for coming out here."
"I'm just following the best." Tintin smiled at Hotch as he came over to sit with them. "What's our plan?"
"I've been looking at the map." He knelt down and laid the map out so that Emily and Tintin could see. "We're here. We can see the medical centre down in the valley here. The problem is this." He held up the WingMan so that they could see the density of red dots surrounding him.
Emily chewed her lip. "If we cut through the middle here and to the northwest we should clear them."
"We're going to have to be extremely cautious. The smallest sounds could cause a problem." Hotch leaned against the wall next to Emily. "Whatever happens, make sure to stick together."
Emily nodded. She could tell from the look on Hotch's face that he was extremely uneasy about their next move. "Let's relax for a couple minutes." She took the map from him and folded it up.
Hotch took out his canteen and took a few sips of water. It was almost half empty so he knew that he would need to conserve what was left in case they got hung up at the medical facility. He set his pack next to Emily's and closed his eyes for a minute, trying to calm his breathing.
The hour went by too fast for everyone's liking. The shade from the heat was welcome, and Emily winced uncomfortably as she put her pack back on. Her shoulder straps were already starting to create blisters in the humidity.
As they stepped out of the power station, Hotch made sure that the door was shut securely. If they needed to come back in a hurry, he didn't want anything waiting for them when they returned. Jones pulled the gate shut and slung the broken padlock on to keep it relatively shut. Hotch let Cleveland lead and fell back with Emily.
They hiked in silence. The drop into the valley was relatively steep, but nothing they couldn't handle. Cleveland stuck to the edge of the cliffs so they could see clearly ahead of them. Two miles in and Hotch put a hand on the man's shoulder to stop him. He put a finger to his lips and handed him the WingMan.
They were incredibly close to the largest aggregation of red dots. Cleveland nodded and took the device. He took a deep breath before leading them.
Their pace decreased significantly. Emily felt her heart beating in her chest as they moved quietly along. Then as they came to the valley floor she could see what was blocking their way. It was a herd of Brachiosaurs. She breathed a small sigh of relief that they weren't carnivorous, but she knew they still could cause problems if they were spooked. They were gigantic.
Cleveland pointed to the left. There was a dense covering of trees that circled the herd and could provide good camouflage for the group. Everyone followed closely, watching their steps so as to not break any branches or cause any sudden noises.
They were halfway when Cleveland stopped suddenly. The WingMan buzzed uncontrollably in his hand and he knew that something was very wrong. He held it up for Hotch to see.
There were about twenty red dots moving fast towards their location. Some of them were branching off to the opposite end of the valley and a few remained in the center. Cleveland's eyes widened. "It's predator action," he whispered.
They were only a mile away from the medical facility. Hotch could see the red walls through the trees. They would have to make a break for it, or find cover immediately. So he made a split decision.
"Run."