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At 5am Owen rocked my shoulder. I woke up, still bare but wrapped in sheets, and looked up at him. He was already dressed in dark jeans, his brown boots, and a black henley with his favorite vest. He had a duffel bag in his other hand.
"Rise and shine, time to go find our girl" He said with a smirk.
"Why so early? The flight doesn't leave till 7" I said, sitting up
"I want to beat Claire there" He said, making me roll my eyes.
I got up and got ready. I changed in black skinny jeans, brown combat boots, and a forest green v-neck that was partly tucked in. I tucked my hair into a slick ponytail and slid my celine sunglasses on.
We had a taxi take us to the airfield and saw the airplane. The pilot was sleeping inside.
"Why does this not feel safe?" I asked Owen as the taxi zoomed away
"This trip or this plane?" He laughed
I shook my head and followed him up into the plane. We sat in the back seat and I ended up lying on the ground asleep. Owen found a blanket and covered me.
About an hour and a half later, I heard voices. Owen had fallen asleep on top of me.
Claire boarded the small plane and didn't notice us in the back sleeping. I pushed Owen off of me and he groaned sitting up as I sat up.
"Owen! Jules!" Claire exclaimed with a reassuring smile.
"Didn't think you were ever going to show up" I mumbled putting my sunglasses over my head.
Two young people walked on board and they looked at Owen and I.
"Uhm. Zia Rodriguez, this is Owen Grady an-"
"Dr. Julissa Parker" She finished shaking my hand and very excited. I smiled.
"I'm guessing your a post-doc student" I said
"Your work got me through grad school!" She complimented. I thanked her and then Claire introduced the other guy.
"Franklin Webb, systems analyst" Claire introduced. He was nerdy and seemed very agitated.
"Nervous flyer?" Owen asked, amused.
"Would you ride a 1000 pound horse that's been abused all it's life?" He asked making me chuckle.
"I rode my motorcycle with my pregnant girlfriend in a jungle with a pack of raptors" He said, nodding to me.
"We're not compatible" Franklin concluded making me laugh more. The pilot got the engine going and began taking the plan off.
5 hours later, we reached the clear blue watres of Isla Nublar. The air was thick and smoke was riding low. The volcano was definitely active. My stomach turned wondering if this was a good idea.
We landed on a dirt strip where other people were. People that probably worked for Lockwood.
Claire got out of the plane first, then Zia and Franklin. I was about to get out but Owne kept me back in.
"Hey, we got to be careful out there. It's not just you and I anymore" He said referring to Winter.
"I know" I said softly
"Don't do anything stupid and stay close. I don't trust these people" Owen said. I nodded and got out. He followed behind.
We saw Claire talking to an armed gentleman with a few other armed men behind him.
"Where are the raptor wranglers?" We overheard him say
"Animal behaviorists. I'm Owen Grady and this is Dr. Julissa Parker" Owen corrected for him.
"Hey Owen, Dr. Parker" He said as he shook both of our hands.
"And you are? THe great white hunter?" I snipped back. He laughed
"Kevin Wheatley, I'm the expedition facilitator" He said, taking his sunglasses to eye me up and down. I mentally rolled my eyes and slipped my sunglasses back on.
"Oh god, it's so hot" Franklin complained in the distance, taking off his jacket.
"It's about to get a whole lot hotter" Owen said, pointing to the active volcano in the distance.
We got into armored trucks and went down a path that had gates that led us into the park.
Franklin kept spraying and rubbing bug spray on himself.
"The t-rex would be dead by now right?" Franklin asked.
"No, technically, no" I said.
"It's impossible to tell the max lifespan in a completely different environment. Take a caveman, for example, that would live for twenty years, but now lives in our day. Prime meals, healthcare, he'll live five times longer" Zia explained.
"So...she'd be dead by now….right?" Franklin asked again, nervously.
I shook my head and smiled at him for some comfort.
We finally got into the old park and I couldn't help but stare out the window at the ruins.
I felt Owen looking at me and I looked at him.
"Bad memories?" Kevin asked, noticing our glances at each other.
Owen closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
"Some were good...damn good" He mumbled.
The truck came to a complete stop and we heard large footsteps outside.
"What was that?" Franklin asked.
We looked out the window.
"Was it the T-Rex?" Franklin asked again, a bit more panicked.
"I have to see this" Zia said, running to the back and jumping out.
"Hey! Miss, miss! This area is not secured" Kevin snapped running out after her. I couldn't help but smile. She reminded me of myself years ago.
We piled out in time to see the beautiful brachiosaurus walking by. She was chomping on some trees.
"Look at that! I never thought I'd see one in real life!" Zia exclaimed, tears welling up as Claire have her a light shoulder squeeze.
"Isn't she beautiful" I whispered.
"Well, i mean, can we just….go?" Franklin said, scared.
Everyone piled back in and we were back on the road and got to the edge of the jungle. We got out again, at the base of the network control tower.
Franklin went to work and got the doors unlocked. We all walked in and Franklin got the system up and going within a minute. The map of Isla Nublar popped up with the tracking of dinosaurs.
"There's a large concentration on the east doc" Franklin said.
"That's our boat. We've captured quite a few already" Kevin said
"Without the tracking system?" Claire asked.
"Bigger herbivores are easier to find. Can you find the raptor?" Kevin asked, making me a little suspicious.
"I need the species code" Franklin said.
"D9" Claire replied.
"There she is" I said, slinging a shotgun around my back.
"We're going to need to borrow a truck" Owen said
"I'm coming with you guys" Zia said.
"You guys will probably need help depending on what kind of condition she's in" Zia added.
"I don't know if you ladies should go. It could get kind of hairy out there. Leave it to the men" Kevin said. I rolled my eyes and before Zia could go off on him, I walked up to him and pulled out the tranquilizers that were tucked into the belt of his weapon.'
"These are powerful sedatives. Shoot too many and she could die from organ failure" I snapped, tucking it back into the sling and patting it.
"Also, we're not as soft and witless as your comment implies. Come beefcake Grady" Zia said, taking the lead.
I smiled proudly at her leadership and patted Owen on the chest to, following Zia.
"Owen, Jules, wait!" Claire called out. I turned around as we looked at her.
"Be careful, okay" Claire said.
"If we don't make it back, and Winter is orphaned. Remember, you're the one that made us come out here" Owen said, sarcastically, but with a straight face. I hid my smile.
He laughed and turned around pulling me.
"We'll be fine Claire!" I exclaimed as we caught up with Zia
We drove through the jungle with the cage truck.
"We can't get closer to her in this thing. We need to go on foot" I said to Owen as we looked at the tracking device.
"She'll keep running if she hears this" He said in agreement.
"Stop the truck" I said to Kevin. He ordered his driver to stop.
"Claire, I'll need you to be my eyes, we're going on foot" Owen said into the radio.
"Copy that" Her voice came through as we jumped out.
I walked behind Owen slowly and kept my eyes and ears open.
I looked down and saw her distinct footprint.
"Owen" I whispered as I knelt at it.
He touched it and realized it was a fresh print.
"She's close" He whispered back.
I nodded.
"We got a fresh sign. Wait on my signal" I said quielty into my walkie-talkie.
We walked into an opening and saw a flipped over mercedes from the park.
I got nervous. The open space left us vulnerable.
I kept one hand on Owen's back as we slowly made our way to the broken down vehicle.
The bushes started moving. My breath hitched as we stopped.
"Blue" Owen gently called out with a few nibbles in his hand for her.
My heart jumped and Owen and I physically jumped as a few little compsognathus jumped out of the truck. My hand rested on my chest, trying to ease my heart.
We turned to watch them run off, but that was a rookie mistake. Blue then jumped out from the bushes on top of the vehicle with a roar. We jumped again and faced her. I was gripping Owen's back, peeking my head out.
She hissed.
"Hey girl, you miss us?" Owen asked, calmly as I stepped to stand beside Owen.
She looked at me then to Owen and tilted her head.
She jumped down and closer and hissed again.
"Easy, Blue! Hey!" I snapped as she tried to scare us.
"I brought ya something" Owen said, holding up a piece of dried meat.
She looked at it, her nose flaring.
"Here ya go" He said tossing it at her. It hit her nose, and she didn't bother looking down at it or picking it up.
"Well okay" I muttered as Owen used the clicker.
She let out a screech and snapped at Owen and began circling us.
"You know me...eyes on me" Owen said to her. She remembered those commands and inched closer to his out strectched hand.
Just as she was about to let Owen touch her, a few darts came flying past my head and right into Blue.
"Shit!" I screamed as she roared in surprise and panic. Her tail whipped under Owen's feet, tripping him, but came back up and whipped me hard in the face. I fell to the ground and heard Owen yell "I told you to wait for our signal!" before things started to go hazy.
"Back your men up right now" Owen said quietly as they circled Blue. Owen knelt beside me and slapped my face to get me awake. I forced myself to snap out of the hard hit and sat up. He helped me up to my feet as Blue looked to us in panic and almost hurt.
She suddenly screeched, charged at us, and Owen pulled me down as she jumped over at us at a man who had a gun behind us.
She chomped down at him,. The other men began shooting their tranquilizers.
"Stop!" I screamed from under Owen's chest.
The guy being attacked pulled out his gun.
"No! Don't shoot her!" I heard Kevin yell. Owen got off of me and we jumped up.
The guy fired his gun right into her thigh and she cried in pain.
I screamed for them to stop as tears fell down my face.
Owen was speechless as he watched her fall in pain.
"You son of a bitch!" Owen yelled, charging at Kevin. Kevin aimed his tranquilizer gun and fired a dart right into Owen's chest as I stared at him in disbelief. THe rest of the men aimed their guns at me. I looked from Owen's fallen body to Blue's fallen body.
"Owen!" I exclaimed as he nodded off. I ran and knelt beside his body as Zia ran to Blue.
I pulled out the tranquilizer vial before anymore could penetrate his blood system.
Next to Owen's body was the handgun used to shoot Blue. I grabbed it and swiftly stood up, aiming it right at Kevin's face.
All of a sudden the men pointed their live ammunition guns at me.
"You her or me and this animal dies!" Zia yelled
"We got what we came for. You're all just collateral damage" Kevin said making me mad.
"She's losing blood and if we don't treat her, she'll never make it back to camp" I snapped, my fingers still on the trigger of the gun.
Kevin looked at his men then to Zia and myself. He sighed and had his men lower their guns.
I lowered the handgun as well.
"How about this, that animal dies I'm going to shoot you both. And not with this, like I did to your boyfriend. You're both going to take care of her" Kevin said, pointing his gun from Blue to me and Zia, then to Owen's passed out body, then back to me.
His men apprehended Zia and myself. They harnessed Blue and threw her into the cage.
I struggled in the grip of Kevin's men.
"We can't leave Owen here! The volcano can erupt any moment"! I yelled at Kevin. He walked up to me, face so close to mine that his breath made my stomach turn.
"Unless you want to end up on the ground with him, keep moving missy" He snapped. I forced my tears to stay in and I looked back as the man apprehending me dragged me and threw me into the truck.
"Owen!" I screamed, but nothing happened. The tranquilizer had him out cold.
They shut the doors and it went dark.
"He'll make it out" Zia said softly and I finally let the tears out.
"They fucking tricked us. I knew it! I knew something was wrong!" I exclaimed
The ground began to shake a bit. The volcano was starting to erupt.
"I want that bonus! I got the blue one!" I overheard Kevin say.
I gently stroked Blue's cheek.
The least I could do was protect Blue, and I was failing at that. I prayed that Owen was okay and running back to find Claire and Franklin.
If they duped us, they had to have trapped Claire and Franklin as well.
The trucked reached the east dock and they transported us into a ferry with other dinosaurs in other cages.
Owen, Claire and Franklin barely made it out.
There were resting on an edge outlooking Kevin's men loading dinosaurs. Owen used a pair of binoculars and spotted Zia arguing with guards. He looked past her to see Julissa with Blue. His heart skipped a beat and he felt a little better. They were together and alive.
The dock started getting bombarded with debris from the volcano and the ferry began to drift away from the dock.
I peered out from the truck we were in and couldn't spot Owen, Claire, or Franklin anywhere in the Ferry.
My heart was pounding and I hid back in before a guard could see me.
An hour passed and I couldn't bear not knowing where Owen was. I could feel the ferry move with the stormy waves, and Blue's cries didn't help either.
Zia was checking her heartbeat and blood pressure as I tried to soothe her. I looked at her eyes and saw hurt, fear, and vulnerability for the first time. She was so powerful but so weak the current moment. I brushed my hand softly against her cheek and she cooed into it.
"Shhh, just a little bit longer" I whispered.
I looked up just in time to see Owen peeking his head in.
"Oh my god you're alive!" I screamed. He quickly put up his finger to his mouth to have me quiet down. I hurried over to him and jumped into an embrace as Claire and Franklin came in.
"How's blue?" Claire asked as I let Owen go.
"She's losing blood" I said
"Oh, look what they've done to her" Owen said sadly as he gently stroked her head.
"Who are these assholes?" Zia asked
"They're animal traffickers. There's no sanctuary, there going to sell them" Owen said
"Not blue, they want something else with her" I said, remembering Kevin's conversation.
"Like what?" Claire asked
"I don't know, but she's hemorrhaging and we don't have the proper equipment" Zia said, keeping her hand on Blue's bullet wound.
Blue thrashed her head against the pain.
"Hey! Shhh" Owen soothed her and she calmed down. I took Zia's spot and put pressure on Blue's wound.
"Zia and I can't get the bullet out without a blood transfusion. If we can get blood from a similar species, we can get her the blood she needs and get the bullet out" I said.
"Franklin, take Julissa's spot. She's got to get blood" Zia ordered. For the first time I looked at Franklin.
He was in the corner of the truck staring at Blue with wide eyes.
"No, no, no" He began in panic
"Franklin, now!" Zia snapped
He walked over.
"Steady pressure" I assured and he slipped his hand under mine to take my spot.
Some blood spurted out at his face.
"Oh my god, oh my god, is it in my mouth?" He asked, and it definitely was.
"No, you're good" Owen lied as I looked for a blood bag and needle.
"All the animals should be sedated. Look for a carnivore similar, two to three fingers, no more than three" Zia said.
"There's only one on board…" I muttered looking at Zia then to Owen. He was confused.
"Rexy…" I said quietly and his eyes went wide.
Zia looked at Owen's face and then gave him a painful smile.
"We have to Owen." I said. He nodded and we snuck out of the truck and made our way to Rexy's cage.
Owen and I opened up the back door and stared at her. Her jaw in itself was nearly the width of the cage she was in.
She was snoring.
Owen jumped in and helped me up. He slowly outstretched his arm and tapped her nose.
She barely moved. Owen scooted against the wall of the cage to her side.
"She's tranqued." He assured as he felt for her pulse.
He found a pulsating vein.
I was frozen in the corner, in fear and awe.
"Okay, i found one. Come on" Owen urged
I slowly made my way over to him, but just as I did, she turned her sleepy head against the wall and pinned Owen.
"Shit! Owen! Are you okay?" I quietly exclaimed
His long arm shot up with a thumbs up.
"I'm okay" He exhaled painfully
He motioned for me to come closer, so I went on her other side where there was more room. I walked past her gigantic claws, my entire body trembling.
I reached the bag over her neck towards Owen.
"Here!" I said.
"I can't, this angle won't let me get pressure on her vein. You gotta do it" He said, one arm was pinned.
"I-I can't. I can't reach!" I whispered.
"You're going to have to climb up there" He said
I looked from him to her head.
My jaw was hanging open.
"Oh no, i'm-no-i'm not doing that" I said
"You'll be okay. It's like riding a bull" He said
"Riding a bull? I didn't grow up in a rodeo or wherever you came from" I snapped
"I can't say that she' going to be asleep a minute from now, so hurry the fuck up" He snapped back.
"Oh my god" I muttered as I threw one leg over her neck.
"Oh my god her breath stinks" Owen mumbled with a disgusted face.
I then threw the rest of my weight over, but she then swung to the other side.
"Gently Julkes! Gently!" Owen snapped quietly.
I gripped her with all four of my limbs and she settled down.
My jaw still hanging loose.
Owen looked at her then up to me and laughed quietly.
"Good job, you're making this look totally normal" He said as he handed me the blood bag and needle.
I began with the needle, but her skin was so rough.
"You're gonna have to jam it in there, she's got thick skin. Ready?" He asked. I nodded.
"One, two-Ah!" I exclaimed, stabbing the needle into her neck. She let out a roar and moved again against Owen's body.
He peeled back off of her face and had saliva all over him. I looked at him disgusted but then felt relieved when I saw the blood being deposited into the bag.
"It's working!" I whispered.
Suddenly we heard voices and looked to the cracked open door.
The door was slammed shut and locked and i closed my eyes, mentally cursing.
Suddenly she woke up and let out a thunderous roar. I held onto her for dear life as I pulled hte needle out. She thrashed her head around as Owen tried to be as flat as he could to avoid her teeth.
'The bars! Get through the bars!" I told him as I climbed out top with the blood bag.
Owen got up and was about to reach for them but one of her claws got loose and blocked his path. I ran down and jumped off and opened up the back doors just in time to hear her thunderous roar. I had to cover my ears as Owen did.
"Jump owen!" I yelled
He jumped through her open jaws and rolled out. I quickly shut and locked the heavy door and we both panted for air, looking at each other in disbelief of what had just happened.
"Did you see that?" Owen asked, clearly processing what we had gone through. I nodded still trying to catch my breath.
"Please tell me you have the bag" He panted. I lifted it up and he sighed in relief.
We got back to Blue's caravan and Zia got the transfusion going right away. Zia and I worked on extracting the bullet while Owen soothed Blue.
I could feel Owen's eyes burning on me. The first love of his life was in pain on a table, and I tried as much as I could to pull the bullet out with minimal pain. I got it and examined it. It was the entire bullet, thankfully, it did not explode.
I looked at Zia and nodded for her to stitch blue up.
"She's going to be okay" I assured Owen and Claire sighed in relief. Owen smiled and pulle dme into a hug and whispered a thank you. I pulled away and gently rubbed Blue's face.
"You did great girl" I whispered and she quietly chirped at me.
Blue ended up sleeping, and slumber began falling on the rest of us. Wel all took a corner of the caravan. Owen and I shared the one closest to Blue's head to be near her.
"Hey, I have to show you something" He said, pulling out a picture that was laminated out of his pocket. It was of me on the beach with Winter. The sun hit both of us just right giving off a beautiful glow.
"Where did you get that?" I asked, not remembering sending him one. I took the picture and smiled and touched Winter's face.
"You're mom sent me pictures here and there" He said as he wrapped an arm around me.
"I miss her" I said as a tear fell.
He held me tight as I slipped the picture back into his vest.
"Well get back to her" He assured. I looked up at him and our lips met for a short, sweet kiss.
"We have to" I whispered.
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