Disclaimer: Jurassic World and the Jurassic Park franchise are the property of Universal Studios, Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg and Colin Trevorrow. I own nothing from this story aside from the plot.
Author's note: Greetings readers! Thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter and apologies for the delay for this one, just found a hard time writing this one but I digress. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Comments, criticism and suggestions are always welcome, I always love reading them. This story is still self-proofread so any mistakes are my own.
The vehicle stopped at a security checkpoint, ahead was a thick metal door marked V02 in bold white lettering. Next to the car was an ID scanner, Royce fished out his staff ID from his pocket and swiped it.
The gate raised itself to reveal the wide open space of the valley, an open grassy plain so the herbivores could roam freely. Once the gate raised itself fully, he put his foot on the gas pedal and drove in.
They stopped near the outcrop of a hill, in the rear passenger seat, Gray was scanning the surroundings for any sign of activity, seeing nothing but trees and the open plains, then something caught his eye.
To the left of the car, some distance away, he saw a single trunk with no leaves or branches, just a single curving stump. Then as it lifted itself up and moved forwards, the boy realized it wasn't a trunk at all, it was an animal's foot. Lowering the window to get a better view, he leaned himself out of the car and looked up and up. He was looking at the graceful, curving neck of an enormous sauropod rising high into the air.
He was looking at the mighty Brachiosaurus.
His mind was in awe as he gazed at the creature feeding from the treetops; the pictures and documentary footage never did justice to the majesty of this titan from a bygone era, to the fluidity and grace of its movements. In his excitement, he leaned back into the car and kept tugging at his older brother's jacket to get him to look.
"So yeah, I'm at my aunt's theme park right now, yeah it's the one with all the dinosaurs." The tugging wasn't working, so he dragged Zach by the jacket, bringing him closer to the window.
"Gray, hey Gray, what is it, whaa….," His mouth opened wide in shock," Babe, I'm gonna have to call you back." The phone slipped from his grasp and landed on the floor with a thud as he stared outside the window.
Gray, eager to see it closer, quickly opened the door and exited the vehicle, his eyes focused on the gigantic creature that was only a few feet away, the ground trembling with each step it took.
"It's a Brachiosaur!" He pointed excitedly.
Zach followed behind him, gasping at the sight, "She was my favorite dinosaur when I was a kid, now I see her and she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
He felt dizzy, as if the ground suddenly became too steep. He had trouble getting his breath. This was a creature he saw numerous times, through pictures and books but seeing it here, in person, it was something else entirely.
Zara could only smile at the sight as she came up to them, it was always so wonderful to see how people reacted to being up close to these animals, how their eyes would widen, mouths agape as they stared at these leviathans from the past, it was magical.
'If only Claire were here to see this...' she thought, feeling a sudden pang of longing in her heart.
For a moment, her smile faltered and she could only sigh, whispering, "Yeah, if only…", but she regained her composure and continued walking to the two boys. Her personal problems could wait.
"This has got what, a twenty five, twenty seven foot neck?" Zach asked as she came up behind them.
"Thirty five actually."
"Thirty five…." He whispered, simply amazed at the height of the creature before him.
Next, it reared up on its hind legs to feed from the tallest branch, something showcased in all of the park's commercials but seeing it in person felt different somehow, a creature this massive being able to do this and it was right in front of him, the feeling was indescribable.
The sauropod lowered itself, its front feet sending a tremor as they came to back to the ground. It peered at the group cautiously, then let out a gentle trumpeting sound, much like an elephant would.
"Zach and Gray, welcome to Jurassic World!" Zara said as she looked ahead, into the valley.
Across the plains, Gray could see a herd of Stegosaurs moving to the bank of a lake, their spiked tails raised high into the air. Behind them a flock of Gallimimus ran past the herd, weaving in between the larger dinosaurs and a pair of Brachiosaurs stood near the lake, bellowing softly to each other, the sight was incredible.
A moment later, the head of a Triceratops appeared from the foliage, its immense size and gray hide making it similar to that of an elephant but with the stance of a rhino, it had a magnificent fanned crest and two menacing horns above its eyes with a third shorter horn on its snout.
When it didn't move further, Zara tried to gently coax the herbivore out of its hiding place, "Come on girl, there's nothing to be afraid of, we won't hurt you."
Slowly but surely, it worked and the dinosaur approached the group cautiously, head low as its eyes darted back and forth, footsteps slow and deliberate.
She touched its head when it stopped in front of them. "That's a good girl," the Triceratops leaned into her touch and it let her hand caress the side of its face, the animal giving a low rumble as her hand travelled down to its beaky mouth.
She turned to the boys and waved them over, "It's safe, she won't hurt us."
They approached the massive animal and touched her cautiously, as if the animal would go off at any second but the Triceratops continued to stay still as they put their hands on her head.
As the boys interacted with the dinosaur, Zara recalled a quote from an interview with Ellie Sattler, the paleo botanist that was present during the Jurassic Park incident, about a conversation she had with John Hammond.
"John had a grand vision for the park, he told me that he wanted something that wasn't an illusion, something that felt real. Something you could see and touch..."
She thought that maybe this was what the park was missing, a sense of intimacy and closeness to the animals themselves, feeling that there was a degree of separation with some of the parks attractions, that you were so close yet so far from these majestic beasts.
Suddenly, Zach noticed something nipping at his shoes and looked down. He saw a small dark green dinosaur squatting on its hind legs, staring at him with a pair of beady eyes.
He instantly recognized what this dinosaur was, it was a Compsognathus.
The teen couldn't help but smile as it hopped around his feet, still staring at him with those beady little eyes, "Beautiful, aren't they?" Zara asked as she stood behind him.
"Is it dangerous?" He asked.
"No, Compys are perfectly harmless."
He bent down, the palm of his hand outstretched. The animal hopped onto it and he brought it up to his face, the compy felt very light, almost weightless and from this close he could see her coloration in even more detail. The skin was a vibrant green that faded to a dull yellow and it had dark green stripes that ran across its back all the way to the tail.
"Hey there buddy, aren't you the cutest little thing?"
The dinosaur sniffed at Zach, then rubbed her head against his neck, he couldn't help but giggle.
"I think she wants you to feed her," Zara said with a smile.
"What does she eat?" Gray asked as he came up to them, the Triceratops having left the group to wander into the plains.
"Usually small insects, rats and dead animals, think of them like jackals. They're scavengers."
"Hang on, I might have something," She added as she reached into her purse and brought out a small piece of beef jerky, putting it in Zach's unoccupied hand. He put it up to the compy's face, she cautiously sniffed the piece of dried meat before darting forward and grabbing it with her jaws.
The dinosaur swallowed the jerky and squealed happily at him, then burrowed her head against his neck again. Gray cautiously approached his brother, afraid to startle the creature that sat in the palm of his hand. Zach noticed his hesitance and motioned for him to come closer, gently grabbing his hand and lowering it onto the dinosaur's back slowly, Gray smiling in amazement as he stroked the compy's body.
For moment as the boys interacted with the animal, Zara saw the two small children that she'd sometimes tuck into bed at night, regaling them with stories of her time working at the park. Back then, they were always so happy, so carefree and now they were forced to grow up too fast.
Guilt stabbed at her heart as she remembered that she was supposed to keep the boys entertained and happy for the weekend before they returned home to face their parents' separation but sadly, that situation was out of her control.
Out of nowhere, a rustling sound came from a nearby bush as several compys jumped out. They observed the group for a while before running away which caused the animal in Zach's hand to run off and join them. But something was off, the pack of dinosaurs were running alongside the fence.
"It's like they're looking for something," Royce said as he walked past him, pulling out a pair of binoculars. Looking through them, he took note of the way the dinosaurs' heads darted back and forth as they sprinted across the field and looked ahead of the pack.
"Interesting…" He muttered.
"What?" Zara asked.
"Take a look for yourself…." He said, passing the binoculars to her.
She pushed her sunglasses onto her head and looked through them.
"You see that part of the paddock? Notice something off about it?"
"Well I'll be damned..."
A mile away from them, the metal gate to the restricted area was left wide open. The latch securing it was bent inward, as if something rammed through it.
"Should we check it out?" She said, lowering the binoculars from her face and slipping her sunglasses back on.
The trooper shrugged, "Your call, but I think it should be safe enough. The animals have shock tags installed so they can't come near the fences anyway."
"Well, I suppose there's no harm in it." She said.
"Ok, then let's get going."
The group made their way back to the car, the two boys animatedly discussing with Zara about their experience.
Once they arrived, the four of them disembarked and slowly approached the security gate. Royce took point, tranquilizer rifle aimed squarely at the jungle ahead for threats.
When he was sure that the area was secure, he slung the rifle across his back and closely examined the damage done to the lock.
"So, what do you think happened?" Zara asked.
"Well, from the looks of it, something hard and fast hit the latch hard enough to break it in two. So, I can safely assume it was from a Pachycephalosaurus."
"How could that happen?" Zach asked, he thought the animals couldn't come near the fences without being shocked.
Zara chimed in, "Well, the pachys like to butt heads with each other over territory and that usually shorts out their chips."
Royce nodded, "You're right, HQ received a report three hours ago that said there was a pachy roaming outside his zone, so this probably was from that incident." The three of them turned concerned looks to him, so he continued, "Just relax, it was sedated and returned to its habitat so we have nothing to worry about."
"So why hasn't the gate been fixed yet?" Zara asked.
He could only shrug, "Your guess is as good as mine."
"What's in there?" asked Gray, peering curiously into the jungle.
"Nothing much really, just some of the infrastructure from the old park and dinos that aren't ready for public viewing." Royce said.
"Whoa! That sounds awesome, can we go, can we go?" Zach and Gray said at the same time, peering up at Zara hopefully.
She considered it for a while, weighing the pros and cons of it in her head before saying, "Oh alright, it should be nothing more than a walk in the park, right Royce?"
"Yeah, sure." He said somewhat hesitantly, taking one last look at the jungle before walking back to the car, the rest of the group in tow.
Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming.