I quickly shoved the card in my back pocket as I walked out to the waiting room where Barry was.
"Owen's blowing up my phone" Barry said
"Same" I sighed showing him.
"How did it go?" He asked
"Good, no concussion" I explained shortly.
He drove me back to Owen's bungalow and the entire 20min drive you sat with anxiety.
Do i tell him? How do I tell him?
As you got out of the car, you realized Claire's Mercedes was parked out front. They were in a semi heated conversation. Owen looked like he had just cracked smart ass comment and Claire looked extra annoyed.
"Hey how are you doing?" Owen exclaimed, running past Claire to me.
"I'm fine! Totally fine, all clear!" I lied straight through my teeth, pushing past Owen towards Claire. She was dressed in a white skirt, purple top and white jacket. Very pristine with her hair super straight.
"Claire, what's going on?" I asked
"Perfect, you are needed too!" Claire said
I looked to Owen.
"She wants us to check out the safety features for a paddock they built for a new asset they created" Owen said sourly.
"Asset? You created?" I asked Claire, dumbfounded.
She rolled her eyes.
"I'm not about to hear a lecture from you too. I need both of you asap, at the request of Mr. Masrani" She said coming down the stairs of Owen's bungalow.
She walked past you and stopped at Owen.
"You may want to change your shirt. They are very sensitive to smell" She said before walking to her car.
I laughed as Owen rolled his eyes.
"I'll be waiting in my car!" She called out.
"Come on, get changed" I urged Owen as he followed me in side.
"What did the doctor say?" Owen asked again once inside his bungalow.
"He said I'm going to be a bit sore, but it's just a reaction from shock and stress" I lied again.
"So you're okay?" He asked
"Yes Owen!" I exclaimed as he changed into a navy blue shirt and brown leather vest.
The entire 25 minute car ride Claire kept talking about Jakob and how he was so good for her. Jakob had taken a week off to go home and visit mom. Owen had zoned out of the girl talk and to be honest, I had too. My mind was all over my situation.
Is he even ready to be a father? Does he want to be one?
Claire pulled up to a large and tall paddock and we followed her up the stairs and into the the viewing area.
"We've been pre-booking tickets for months. The park needs a new attraction every few months to reinvigorate the public's interest. Kind of like the space program. Corporate felt that genetic modification would bring up the wow factor" Claire explained.
"That's never a good idea" I muttered
"They're dinosaurs. Isn't that wow enough?" Owen added
"Not according to our focus groups. The Indominus Rex makes us relevant again" Claire said back
I laughed at the name.
"The indominus rex?" Owen also laughed.
"We needed something scary and easy to pronounce. You should hear a 5 year old trying to pronounce Archaeornithomimus" Claire snapped
"You should hear you say it" I laughed as she let both of us into the viewing area
One wall was completely glass, and you looked out into the paddock. An uneasy feeling came over me.
"What's this thing made off?" Owen asked
"The base genome is that of a T. Rex. The rest is classified…"She said
"You made a dinosaur, but don't know what it's made out of?" I asked, shocked.
"The lab sends us finished assets and we show them to the public...can we drop a steer please?" Claire explained
The security guy nodded and pushed a button.
"How long has the animal been in here?" Owen asked
"All its life" Claire said as you got as close as you could to the glass.
"It's never seen anything outside of this?" He asked
"We can't exactly walk it" Claire said with a smirk.
"And you feed it with that?" Owen asked pointing to the crane lowering the steer.
"Is there a problem?" Claire asked annoyed.
"Animals raised in isolation aren't always the most functional." I explained.
"The raptors were born in captivity" Claire fired back
"With siblings. They learn social skills, and I imprint on them when they were born. There is trust" Owen explained
"The only relationship this animal has ever had is with that crane. At least she knows it means food" I said pointing to the crane.
"So i guess she needs friends, we should schedule play dates that sort of thing?" Claire said sarcastically as Owen walked over to the corner to get another view.
I rolled my eyes.
"Probably not a good idea, Claire" I muttered.
She tapped on the glass impatiently.
"Where is it?" She muttered.
"Is it in the basement? Or downstairs? Maybe it's in the rec room" Owen joked making me laugh.
Claire shook her head and walked past you to the tracking system.
"She was just here, we were just here" I heard her say. She pushed a few buttons and all of a sudden a few warning sounds went off. Claire and I looked at the screens to see it say No thermal signatures detected.
My stomach dropped.
"Claire, where is she?" I whispered and I heard Owen say "Oh shit" behind me.
"This doesn't make any sense. These doors haven't been opened for weeks" The security guard said.
"Were those claw marks always there?" Owen called out. Claire and I turned around and walked ot Owen.
Out in the paddock, it looked like she clawed her way up the wall.
"Are you thinking?" Claire mumbled. She looked from you to Owen.
"Oh god...she has an implant in her back. I can track it from the control room" Claire said hurrying towards the door.
"Let's go check it out?" I suggested to Owen.
The security guard got up and lead both of you into the paddock with another worker.
You guys stood in front of the claw marks.
"Those are huge Owen" I said, that uneasy feeling coming over again. I turned around. I felt like i was being watched.
There was so much greenery.
"The wall is 40 feet high. You guys really think she could have climbed out?" The security gaurd asked
"Depends" Owen said
"On what?" He replied
"On what kind of dinosaur they cooked up in that lab" I responded facing the wall again.
Suddenly the guards radio was trying to patch through, but it was coming through static. Your heart began to sink. Something wasn't right.
"What's going on?" The guard said into his radio.
"IT'S IN THE CAGE. IT'S IN THERE WITH YOU!" a female voice exclaimed.
"Go!" Owen yelled and all four of us ran towards the forest.
That's when you heard bushes and bark cracking and moving.
"Oh shit!" I screamed realizing she was right in front of you guys.
She was a fierce, monstrous creature. She barely had dinosaur features, and I was frozen in fear. Owen grabbed my arm and pulled me back towards the main doors.
The poor worker was too slow and she grabbed him. I heard him scream and the crunch of his body. This made me run faster, and past Owen as adrenaline kicked in. The guard had gone through the doors and the doors began close.
"Run!" I screamed hoping Owen was behind me. I heard him say oh shit as we both slid through the doors before it could close. Owen grabbed me and pulled me under a crane vehicle.
She bursted through the barely closed doors and her footsteps were thunderous. I had to try to control my intense breathing. If there was one thing you knew, animals could smell fear. Her sense of smell had to be great.
We watched as she crouched behind the car the guard was hiding in front of. The poor bastard didn't have a chance. Owen had an arm over me and held my shaking body tight.
She flipped the vehicle and chomped down on the guard. I had to stifle in a scream as we both laid on our back. Owen pulled out his knife and cut the gas line and sprayed gasoline all over us, to mask our scent.
I closed my eyes and prayed as I felt her footsteps near. Owen held my hand squeezed it tight as she came right next to the vehicle we were hiding underneath.
I dared not open my eyes but felt her breath near. It reeked of blood and carcass. My stomach turned and i felt a wave of nausea.
We stayed like that, hidden and silent, for another 5 minutes until the sound and pressure of her footsteps were no longer viable.
We rolled out and I immediately threw up. Owen was visibly shaken up as he rubbed my back.
"We have to find Claire" I managed to say
"Let's go" He said running to a car.
I guzzled down two bottles of water that were in the car as we drove down to control.
"This is bad Owen. There's an unpredictable thing out of containment and there's families at the park!" I exclaimed.
"I need to know what they used, what is that thing?" He said in shock and anger.
Adrenaline was pumping through my veins.
What do you guys think so far? Leave a review for faster updates!