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.
When Owen, Zach and Gray finally managed to navigate through the panicked mob, it was to find Claire laying Zara on the floor, checking her for injuries.
"You two stay here, it could be bad." Owen said before he rushed inside to crouch down next to the redhead.
"How is she?" Owen asked. "Claire?"
Claire stammered, trying to focus her thoughts enough to make coherent sentences. "Umm, she has a pulse but its weak and her leg, right leg. It's bleeding."
The raptor handler looked at the injured area in question, "She put a tourniquet on," He said, relieved.
"Owen, we have to get her to the clinic."
He nodded, "I'll carry her."
Owen gently scooped up the unconscious woman's body, making sure to put his hand on her neck for support and hurried out the door, Claire and the boys not far behind.
"This place filled up quickly," Zach quipped as they approached the clinic.
Claire thought that was an understatement as the doors slid open. She looked at the crowded waiting area; adults were groaning in pain, kids were crying, and the medical staff were a blur as they hurried to and fro. The receptionist and some of the nurses were dealing with a mile long line of people, many of which were badly injured.
Claire stopped a beleaguered looking nurse who was rushing to the operating room, her arms full of blood bags.
"We need help, it's my girlfriend. She's injured and needs medical attention." Claire said.
A look that was a mixture of depression and panic shot across her face as she looked at the ever increasing line of injured patients. She removed the look as quick as it came and turned to Clair, shaking her head, "Ma'am I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait. We're getting patients in by the dozen and there isn't enough staff on hand to treat her right now."
"Isn't there something you can do?!" Claire screamed. "She's lost a lot of blood, you have to help her."
The nurse felt sympathy for her; she wanted to help her out but at the moment they didn't have enough staff to handle everyone. "The best thing we can do right now is put her in triage, but with the patient load we have right now you're looking at 2 to 3 hours tops."
Owen turned to her, "Claire, we can go to the raptor paddock. There's an infirmary there. Barry and I could help patch Zara up."
Finding no other solution, Claire agreed to his plan and they rushed outside. A helicopter suddenly passed by, bearing the Ingen logo on its tail. The group looked up, it looked to be heading east, to the raptor paddock.
Owen and Claire exchanged a look of understanding between each other.
Hoskins.
He had to be behind all of this.
"That son of a bitch," Owen muttered.
Claire pulled out her phone. "Lowery, give me a sitrep. Why is there an Ingen Chopper in the air and why the hell is it headed to the raptor paddock? Please tell me I'm just seeing things."
In the control room, the computer technician ducked into a supply closet, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard. "Unfortunately, no. The board of directors gave the INGEN private security division emergency powers. Hoskins is in charge. He's got this crazy idea to use the raptors."
Claire narrowed her eyes, angry at having her authority overridden. "What?! What do you mean use the raptors?"
Owen stared up at it, filling with rage. But before he could do anything, there was a sudden pounding coming from the metal gate at the end of the alley that lead to Main Street. The metal gate burst open, scared tourists were trying to escape from a pterosaur perched onto the Spinosaurus skeleton, it was spreading its wings and roaring at the visitors. They stampeded down the narrow corridor toward Owen, Claire, Zach, and Gray. The four of them backed away from the mob, but there was nowhere to run.
Claire gave a quick assessment of their surroundings and spotted a mobile veterinary unit with its doors left wide open right behind. "Get in the car! Move!"
The four of them ran to the vehicle, Owen lagging behind due to carrying Zara's extra weight in his arms.
Zach and Gray scrambled into the front seat along with Claire. Owen quickly hopped in the rear compartment, strapping Zara into a stretcher before closing the doors. He pounded on the small window that connected the rear compartment to the front, "Claire, get us out of here!"
"Go,go,go!" Zach and Gray yelled, looking out the window at the panicked mob approaching them.
Claire threw the gear into reverse, put her foot to the floor, and backed away from the approaching tide of people, honking wildly to get people to back away from the oncoming vehicle. Seeing a side alley, she swerved into it to escape the oncoming tide of tourists.
The four of them sighed in relief, thankful for the brief reprieve.
Night fell across the island. The car drove quickly through the jungle, its headlights illuminating the path ahead. Owen, who sat in the back to keep tabs on Zara's condition, slid open the window to the front. "Claire, we need to stop."
The redhead put her foot off the gas and applied pressure to the brakes. The medical transport slid to a stop on the service road. Claire turned to the back to face him. "Why, what's wrong?"
"I need your help. The tourniquet on her leg has been on for too long, if we leave it on any longer it'll cause muscle damage. I'm going to redress it."
She nodded, telling the boys to stay in the front before heading out to the rear of the vehicle.
Owen swung the doors open, letting Claire climb in while he prepped the equipment. He pulled out some medical supplies from the cabinets and placed them on the tables below it. He then gave Claire a pair of rubber gloves after putting on his own.
"What do you need me to do?" Claire asked as she put the gloves on.
"When I take the tourniquet off, you take this." He said, handing her a clean, rolled up towel. "And press down on her wound, then take it off when I tell you to. We clear?"
She gave him a firm nod in reply.
They set to work, Owen removing and Claire applying pressure as instructed. He quickly started to clean the wound before putting fresh dressing on it and wrapping it securely with a bandage.
All things considered, it was a successful operation. But there was still a lot more to be done before he could consider Zara's condition to be stable.
"That was good, but we need to keep moving." He said.
Claire exited and returned to the driver's side, shifting the car into gear and driving off.
After a ten minute drive through the jungle, the bright lights of the compound were visible. Ingen soldiers were milling around the area, patrolling or unloading their gear from nearby vehicles.
As the car slowed to a stop near the raptor paddock, a smug looking Vic Hoskins approached the group disembarking from it, gleefully declaring, "Ah! I see the mother hen has returned."
The car doors flew open and a very pissed off Owen and Claire walked up to him. Owen looked like he was ready to punch him for his stupidity but before he could do so, Claire leaped onto Hoskins and started a vicious assault on him.
"You son of a bitch, you wanted this to happen!" She said, barely holding back her rage as she wailed on him with her fists. Soon though, Claire felt Owen pulling her away from the head of security. She pushed angrily against Owen's hold on her.
"Get out of here," He said, barely able to hold the redhead. "And stay away from my animals!"
"Jesus Christ! How many more people have to die before this mission makes sense to you?!" Hoskins said as he stood up, angry that they wouldn't see the reason behind him using the raptors.
Barry appeared, "It's a field test, not a mission."
Owen set Claire down, fully anticipating that she would try to push past him and get at Hoskins. He was right and managed to grip her arm before she could do any damage.
"Claire, Claire. You need to listen to me, whatever it is that you're feeling right now, just let it go. Just calm down, can you do that?" He whispered.
She reluctantly nodded, taking long shuddering breaths through gritted teeth to calm herself.
"This is an INGEN situation now." Hoskins said, dusting himself off. "There are gonna be cruise ships here at first light tomorrow. Everybody is gonna get off this island and you know what the news is gonna say? They're going to talk about the civilians that we rescued- no,no,no- better yet, the civilians that your raptors rescued..."
An Ingen operative came up, nodding to Hoskins. "Sir, we're all geared up."
"Let's move it out!" he said, twirling his hands in the move sign and then turned to face Owen and Claire again. Regardless of the sanity of his plan, they had to do whatever they could to protect the civilians from the Indominus. "This is happening! With or without you, Owen!"
Owen looked to Barry for advice, who could only shake his head. "They've never been out of containment before. This is crazy…"
Turning to Claire yielded a similar shake of the head.
He paused, thinking it over. Letting the raptors loose was dangerous, there was no telling what could happen, but Hoskins looked determined to use them, come hell or high water.
But he had no choice, he had to go. He had to be there to minimize any collateral damage that his raptors and Hoskins' insane plan could cause.
"I'll go with your plan, but give me an hour. I have an injured civilian in that car who needs immediate medical attention. Me and Barry are the only people who can handle her."
Hoskins grudgingly nodded, "Fine..."
"Barry, go get the stretcher from the car into the operating room."
The Frenchman quickly nodded, going over to the rear of the medical transport.
Barry quickly opened the car door, muttering a soft, "Merde," when he saw Zara's condition. The Frenchman carefully moved the stretcher out of the car, wheeling her into the infirmary.
Owen and Claire followed him inside, the two boys not far behind.
The raptor handler stopped her at the door as she tried to follow him inside. Claire looked at him, pleading, "Owen, just-just promise me she'll be ok…"
"We'll try our best, Claire, that's all I can promise you."
She clutched Owen's jacket, pounding desperately at his shoulders. "It's not good enough!"
"I know and I'm sorry." Owen said, removing her hands from his jacket, "But it's all I can do."
That was the last thing he said before shutting the doors.
Claire's life was falling apart right before her, she was on the verge of losing everything. The park she worked so hard for was going to be shut down by the next morning and the woman she loved was currently lying unconscious in an operating room.
She felt drained, her legs started to shake. After all the events that she experienced, all Claire did was sit down on the floor outside the surgery room, buried her face into her hands and cried. Her sobs subsided when she felt a head settle on her shoulder.
Claire looked down and saw Gray looking at her, eyes shining with unshed tears. She snaked an arm around his shoulders, giving them a light squeeze to try and comfort him.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"No offence Aunt Claire, Shouldn't we be asking you that question?"
"Is Aunt Zara going to be okay?" Gray cut in.
"She'll be fine, Zara's a fighter." Claire said reassuringly. "She'll get through this."
That last statement was more for herself.
Thirty agonizing minutes later, she heard the sound of the operating room doors opening and stood up, anxious to hear any news.
Owen and Barry went up to her after they discarded their bloody surgical equipment. They told her that they managed to Stabilize Zara's condition was done but whether or not she was going to wake up was something that's up to Zara herself.
They left the room, taking the boys with them to give Claire some alone time.
Claire stood near the infirmary entrance, gazing at Zara as she lay unconscious on the infirmary bed. Her eyes glistened and her throat tightened as she slowly made her way inside, the only sound in the room was the steady beeping coming from the heartbeat monitor and the click clack of her heels.
She could see Zara's gray jacket was draped on a chair near the bed and there was also a pair of crutches propped up against it, in case she needed to walk.
Claire slid her fingers over the beds railing, her eyes taking in the other woman's breathing as her chest rose and fell steadily, the rips and tears in her clothes and the myriad scratches and bruises that covered her body, from the scratches on her arms to the wraps on her shoulders that covered the deep gashes from the pterosaur's claws.
As she sank into the chair, Claire couldn't believe what she was seeing, blinking her eyes to try and rid herself from this nightmare but she couldn't. The sight of the woman she loved, bloodied and battered in front of her was very real. She clasped Zara's hand in her own, choking back a sob at how cold it felt.
"Hey Zara, It's me…. It's Claire," She said, looking at the other woman.
"I know I might not be your most favorite person in the world right now, but I just really needed someone to talk to and you've always been there to listen to my problems."
Hearing no response, she continued.
"You had me worried back there you know? When I asked the boys where you were and they said you got picked off trying to help them, you wouldn't believe how scared I was..." She tucked a few loose strands of Zara's hair behind her ear and her knuckles ghosted over a gash on the woman's cheek.
Claire continued, barely holding back tears, "I feel like this is all my fault. I was so focused on my work that I neglected my family and the only woman that I ever loved, now look what's happened. Karen will probably never want to speak to me again after this and-and I'm not even sure if you're going to make it," The park manager swallowed thickly, trying to maintain composure but the tears that slipped down her face said otherwise.
"What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry, I should've been out there with you today, god knows I should've been. Then none of this would've happened, we would've spent a day having fun with the boys, the Indominus would still be contained and we would be in each other's arms right now, at home, instead of in this infirmary."
"So I need you to pull through this, ok? The boys need you, I need you and I don't know what I'd do without you. I don't know if I could even move on, you were always the reliable one, always there for me when I needed you. You're my rock Zara and I need you, now more than ever..."
"Just please, open your eyes or say something, anything. I need to know that you're going to be ok, don't leave me…." She pleaded, tears flowing freely now as she clung to the other woman's hand like a lifeline, fearful of what would happen if she let go.
She felt the hand she was holding squeeze back and the other woman's eyes fluttered open, her green eyes staring into Claire's own.
"It'll take a lot more than that to put me down, I can assure you that." Zara chuckled.
"You're ok! Thank god you're okay…." Claire smiled, not caring how broken her voice sounded as she buried her face into the other woman's chest.
"It's ok, just let it all out." Zara stroked the other woman's hair as she sobbed, running her fingers through Claire's fiery locks. "It's alright, we're both safe and we're both going to get off this island alive."
"I'm sorry, this is all my fault." She said, pulling back to look the other woman in the eye.
"You don't have to beat yourself up over this, Claire." Zara replied, taking hold of one of Claire's hand in hers. "Everything that happened to me today were because of my choices. I chose to go into the restricted area and I chose to step in front of the boys when that pterosaur was about to attack, you weren't responsible."
"But I should've been there. What will your parents say? They're not going to let me see you anymore when they find out I let you get hurt like this…."
"You should've yes, but you can't change the past, Claire." She said, gently squeezing Claire's hand. "And my parents can deal with this, Mum would fuss over me for a few days, probably ask me what the hell I was thinking and Dad….He'd probably do the same, then maybe give me a pat on the back for thinking on my feet like that."
After a pause, she added, "So, mind telling me what happened after I blacked out?"
After briefing the INGEN soldiers on his plan, Owen went to check on the velociraptors. He approached the cage cautiously, the raptors were bucking and screeching inside their restraints.
"Easy, Blue." Owen said, bending down to stroke Blue's head. The raptor seemed to calm down, even though she still snarled and hissed as Owen fiddled with the camera harness on her head. "You don't scare me."
Zach and Gray curiously observed the interaction from outside, absolutely fascinated at the sight of a raptor up close.
"Owen!" Gray called out. "Are they safe?"
"Not particularly, no." He honestly replied.
"What are their names?" Zach asked.
Owen turned around, pointing to each raptor. "I'd like you to meet Echo, Delta, and Charlie. The one you saw me with is Blue, she's our beta."
"Then who's the alpha?"
"You're looking at him." He replied, giving them a cheeky grin
Gray gasped in amazement. "Woah, that's so cool."
Claire and Zara walked up to group as Owen chatted with the boys. Claire had an arm wrapped around her shoulders, supporting Zara as she used the crutches.
As they came closer to the raptor cage, Gray turned around and caught sight of them. The boys immediately rushed over to the couple, giving Zara a tight hug.
She hugged them both back tightly as Gray burrowed his face into her neck, sobbing. The British woman stroked his back to try and sooth him, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll never do that again, I promise."
Owen exited the cage and approached her, smiling. "Glad to see you up and about."
"Thanks." Zara said.
"So, what's the plan?" Claire asked. Zara leaned in, curious to hear the details.
"We're going to run a scent drill. I'll let the raptors sniff the Indominus out and herd it into a kill zone. Once we have it boxed in, it's pretty self-explanatory from there."
"You're sure this will work?"
Owen nodded. "Positive, I've done this a million times before. The pig's just a lot bigger now."
Barry came over, "Owen, it's time."
Before he left, Owen left Claire a portable tablet so she could see their progress.
Claire opened the backdoor of the Mobile Veterinary Unit. Zach and Gray got inside, sitting on the rear seats. "If you need us, we'll be right up front," She said, trying to reassure them. "Just open that window, ok?" She pointed to the small window connecting the back and front compartment.
The boys nodded.
"Now just put your seatbelts on." She said. The boys looked around, finding no seatbelts. "Okay," She sighed, "Then just….hold hands."
Claire closed the door and went to the front, supporting Zara as she walked alongside her. She opened the door and helped her into the seat, then made her way to the driver side.
Once inside the car, Zara snuggled up to Claire, hooking her arm around hers and settling her head on the other woman's shoulder.
She sighed, exhausted. "Been a long day, hasn't it?"
Claire let out a long drawn out sigh as well, burying her face into Zara's hair. "Yeah, but you and the boys are ok, and right now that's all that matters."
Back by the Velociraptor pen, Owen unfolded a bloody towel, revealing the tracker that the Indominus ripped out of its shoulder. He walked down the line of cages, letting each raptor sniff the device. They were eager to find the source of the scent and kill it, bucking and screeching in their cages.
"That's it, that's it..." He said, "Sniff it out."
In the control Hoskins watched the proceedings with barely restrained glee, oblivious to the wary look Lowery was giving him. "This is awesome," Hoskins said.
Owen went to his motorcycle and fastened a camera to the handle bars, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and revved the engine.
Barry hopped on to an ATV, mounting a GPS tracking system to his vehicle and storing his revolver in a thigh holster. He turned to Owen, nodding.
They were ready.
Owen signaled to the young animal handler he saved earlier in the day. The handler was holding the release switch to open the raptor cages. Owen nodded at him to give the all clear and the young man pressed the switch.
Sirens blared as the gate opened and like bats out of hell, The Velociraptors burst from their cages at lightning speed, eager to find their prey.
Owen sped forward to keep track of his raptors. Barry came up behind him on the ATV while the INGEN soldiers followed behind them in their tactical vehicles.
The hunt was on.
On the tablet, Claire could see the team reach a clearing in the middle of the jungle. The raptors stopped first, heads low as they sniffed at the jungle floor.
The rest of the team stopped and got off of their vehicles, weapons at the ready and started scanning the surroundings while Owen took point. "They found something." He said.
Behind her, the boys slid open the window to see what was going on.
The squad traversed through the jungle, with only the moonlight and the raptors acting as their guides, finally stopping at a thick row of trees. The raptors snarled and hissed at the tree line.
They had found it.
Owen, Barry and some of the soldiers took cover behind a thick log while the rest took cover among the nearby trees.
In the car, Claire realized that the boys were watching. "No, no. This isn't appropriate for you." She closed the window, disregarding their protests. When she wasn't watching, Zara slowly slid the shutter back open, giving the boys a thumbs up.
Back in the jungle, the ground and tree line began to shake as the Indominus approached. The soldiers anxiously scanned the surroundings. The trees parted, the center changing color from green to white as the massive predator de-camouflaged. It peered curiously at the raptors, cocking its head to one side.
The soldiers tensed, tightening their grips on the guns as they switched into a firing stance.
Through the video feed, Zara could see multiple slash marks covering the animal's face. Probably Royce's handiwork, she thought with a sense of pride. He went down fighting, like he always wanted to.
The velociraptors reared up and sniffed the air, they observed the huge carnivore with an odd sense of familiarity almost. They screeched a challenge at the animal.
The Indominus roared back, letting out a roar that sounded eerily similar to the raptors own screeches.
The pack tilted their heads, confused. They started screech back and forth with the Indominus. Their bodies started to relax.
"Something's not right." Barry said to Owen, sensing something odd. "They're communicating."
The men continued to observe the interaction between the raptors and the Indominus, growing more anxious by the minute.
Back in the car, Zara tensed up, her blood running cold as she realized why the animals could communicate with each other. She looked over to Claire only to see a mirrored expression of shock come across her face.
The Indominus was part raptor.
She saw the raptors turn towards the men, but the look in their eyes changed; they weren't hunting the Indominus anymore.
They were hunting humans.
In the jungle, the soldiers were in a tense standoff with the dinosaurs, unsure of what to do. Their fingers were on the triggers of their weapons. They had a clear shot at the animal; all they were waiting for was the order to fire.
Meanwhile, Hoskins had had enough of waiting around. They needed to act and they need to do it now. He picked up the communicator and spoke into it, "Light 'em up!"
"Weapons free! Weapons Free!" A soldier shouted, squeezing the trigger on his assault rifle. The rest followed suit and soon the forest was echoing with gun fire. Their rounds managed to connect with the Indominus but with very few managing to penetrate its armored hide, they might as well have been firing BB guns at it.
The Indominus and the raptors ran off into the jungle, disappearing from view.
One soldier readied his AT-4 rocket launcher and fired at the Indominus. The missile streaked across the jungle and missed it entirely, hitting a cluster of trees, setting them on fire. The Indominus was hit by the explosion, collapsing to the ground but it quickly recovered and ran off again.
"Keep an eye on your six!" Owen said as they walked deeper into the jungle. "Raptor's got a new alpha."
A soldier walked carefully through the jungle, sweeping his M4 back and forth. Out of the corner of his eye, He could just make out the coloring of the raptor's gray flesh as it moved behind the bushes up ahead, stopping near a log just enough for the head to peek over. Thinking he had a moment, the soldier went down on one knee and snaked his finger into the trigger guard, preparing to take aim.
His mouth twitched into a slight smile as he centered his scope on the animal.
One shot, one kill.
His smile faded however when he saw something drip onto his rifle. When he looked closer, the soldier saw that it was drool. He slowly looked upwards….
Only to be greeted by the Indominus staring down at him, growling and snarling. A million questions raced through his mind; had it been there whole time? How could he have been so stupid? Why did he forget that it could camouflage?
None of that mattered when the Indominus opened its toothy maw and launched itself at the frozen trooper, mercifully ending his life in one bite. Two soldiers nearby spotted the large carnivore and prepared to fire but were immediately assaulted by raptors that came at them from behind. The raptors tore into them as they screamed helplessly.
Owen ran past the dead soldiers. In the long grass up ahead he could see Charlie tearing into a corpse. The raptor handler stopped as she spotted him. He braced himself for the attack but it never came, she only tilted her head curiously.
Owen thought for a moment that maybe the raptors could still listen to him.
But before he could do anything, a nearby soldier fired his rocket launcher at the animal. The explosion knocked him off his feet and threw him to ground. Owen got to his feet, devastated.
Charlie was gone.
In another part of the jungle, Barry was running for his life as the INGEN soldiers around him were being picked off by raptors one by one. Seeing a hollow log, he immediately ducked into it just before a raptor launched itself at him.
From inside, he could hear the raptor walk closer to him as it scratched and clawed at the wood. The head broke through and he could see the raptor looked familiar. It was Blue.
Owen ran back to the vehicles and leapt onto his motorcycle, starting the engine. He could see Blue nearby, clawing into a piece of wood. He revved the bike's engine and whistled to get her attention, then sped off. The raptor narrowed her eyes and chased after the vehicle.
Barry sighed, he was safe. For now.
Bursts of gunfire could be heard reverberating through the jungle as the soldiers tried desperately to eliminate the Indominus and the raptors.
Back in the mobile veterinary unit, the occupants could only watch the events unfold with open mouthed horror.
"Did you know?" Zara asked Claire accusingly, pulling away to look her in the eyes.
Claire stuttered, "I-I-I…."
"Did. You. Know?!"
"No! I didn't know! Ok?" She shot back. "Henry never told me anything. I know just as much as you do."
"Is everybody dead?" Gray asked, terrified.
Zara opened her mouth to say something but Claire cut her off. "No, everyone's fine," She said calmly, shutting the tablet off.
"Don't lie to him," Zach said.
Zara cast her a doubtful look as well.
"He's scared," Claire said, looking at her. "It's okay to lie when people are scared."
Gray moved closer to the window. "I'm ready to go home now."
"You will, sweetie. We promise." Zara said, cupping his cheek. Claire added, "Yeah, tomorrow you'll be home. And your mother will never let you see us—"
Anything else she wanted to say was cut off as an INGEN soldier pressed a bloody hand to the driver side window. "Run, get out of here! Go!" he yelled.
Claire and Zara screamed as the redhead fumbled for the keys. The wounded soldier limped around to the back of the vehicle and opened the rear door. But the boys saw the shadow of something approaching from behind him.
"They're coming!" was all he said before Echo leapt onto him, digging her claws into his back.
The engine roared to life and Claire floored the accelerator, speeding off, causing Echo and the soldier's body to fall away. In the driver's seat, Zara noticed a shadow approaching in the distance.
"GET DOWN!" she shouted just before Delta's head broke through the driver side window, tearing at the seat just as Claire managed to duck her head out of the way. She floored the gas but the raptor clung on, adamantly trying to get to her.
Seeing no other option, Zara decided to get physical, using her uninjured leg to deliver several powerful sharp kicks to the raptor's skull, " . !" She repeated kicking it enough times for it to lose its grip and fall off the vehicle.
Zach and Gray watched as Delta rolled across the road, slowing to a stop beside Echo. The boys sighed in relief as the car left the raptors behind. The raptors however weren't about to give up and resumed the chase.
Zara checked the side mirrors to see if they were far enough away but her eyes widened at the sight of the raptors catching up to the vehicle. "Must go faster." She said, turning to face Claire.
The redhead drove as fast as she could through the rough dirt road but the raptors still managed to catch up. Seeing Delta approaching the vehicle's left side, Claire swerved to the left and managed to knock her down.
"Are you boys ok back there?" Zara asked, turning around to see how the boys were doing just in time to see them shock Echo with a cattle prod. The raptor tumbled out of the vehicle, rolling in the dust.
Zach turned to face her, yelling triumphantly "Did you see that?"
"I can't wait to tell mom!" Gray shouted.
"Oh please no!" Claire replied through the window. "Do not tell your mother about that, ever!"
She turned to face Zara, who could hopefully talk some sense into the two but the British woman could only shrug and say, "I don't know, maybe they can tell Karen a little bit."
That was met with two enthusiastic cheers.
Claire could only shake her head.
Owen, who finally caught up to them sped up and drove alongside Claire's window. "We gotta get indoors, come on!"
Claire passed her phone to Zara, "Get Lowery on the phone and tell him to call in a helicopter for us."
The other woman nodded, quickly dialing his number and pressing the phone to her ear.
Owen sped up ahead and Claire followed closely behind.
Claire and Owen drove through the abandoned Main Street as they made their way to the Innovation Center. It was certainly an eerie sight, hours ago it was filled with tourists now it was dead silent. Even the clinic lay abandoned when it was filled patients just before. Claire thought that maybe they had transferred all the patients elsewhere.
They stopped and parked their vehicles. Claire quickly exited the driver side and helped Zara out, looping her arm around the other woman's shoulders to help her walk; she ditched the crutches, they'd just slow them down.
Owen and the boys ran through the genetics lab to get to the control, Claire and Zara close behind but when they passed through Henry Wu's office they stopped, noticing shadows moving behind the backstage area in his office.
"That's odd," Claire said, taking a look around. "They evacuated."
Zara was perplexed as well, the genetic material and the embryos could last indefinitely with the power grid still on and even with the backup generators they had a lifespan of eight weeks. So why did the genetics staff just up and leave?
They entered the hidden lab, finding glass cages and aquariums filled with a menagerie of genetically modified hybrids. A vibrant yellow salamander with a large green dorsal fin. A feathered iguana. A triple headed albino python. A caiman with shark's gills and teeth.
All of them turned when they heard the sound of a locks snapping open, turning to see a pair of INGEN contractors insert tubes of embryos and DNA samples into a cold storage device, locking it shut and wheeling it out of the lab.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Claire asked.
Hoskins entered from the doorway, a huge grin plastered on his face. "I believe that's above your pay grade, honey."
"Where's Henry?" Claire said.
"Dr. Wu works with us." Hoskins replied. "And right now, he's on his way to one of our secure facilities. So don't you go worrying your pretty little head about his whereabouts."
Gray looked at the monitor—it showed a rotating 3D model of the Indominus Rex. "That's not a real dinosaur."
"No it ain't kid." Hoskins agreed, "But someone has to make sure that this company has a future."
"Let me guess," Zara said, brows furrowed in anger. "That person is you."
The head of security clapped sarcastically, "Bingo, someone please give the lady a prize!" He continued, pointing to the monitor, "Just imagine that one but a fraction of the size, intelligent, deadly, and able to hide from the most advanced military technology. A superweapon unlike anything that has ever been seen before."
"You're insane, what makes you think you can control them? What if they decide they don't want to take orders anymore?" Zara said.
His eyes narrowed and he spoke in a calm, measured tone. "Like I told our dear friend Mr. Grady here this morning, we'll cull the weak and the disobedient. Only allow the strong and the loyal to flourish."
"You're crazy." Claire said.
"I'm crazy? The only crazy people in this room are all of you for not realizing the potential of what we have here. What did we learn over the course of millions of years of evolution? It's that nature is just the gift that keeps on—"
He was cut off mid –speech as Delta jumped in-between them. She closed in on Hoskins, hissing at him as she backed the head of security against a fridge. "Easy, boy." He said, trying to keep the raptor at bay. "Easy."
Owen kept Zara, Claire and the boys still, covering them with his arm. Any sudden movements and they were all raptor food.
Hoskins held out his hand, trying to copy the hand sign that Owen used to calm the raptors. "Easy boy. I'm on your side."
Delta seemed to relax, tilting her head to one side. She stepped closer to him.
"That's it, see?" Hoskins said, exhaling in relief. "I'm on your side."
It did not last very long however as Delta chomped on his outstretched hand. Hoskins screamed and Delta continued her attack, mercilessly tearing him apart.
Unfortunate as his demise was, it gave the five of them the opening they needed to escape and they ran back into the main lab's hallway. Claire pointed to the elevators at the end of the hall, "Over there, come on!"
The group ran to it but were stopped short when Delta jumped through the glass wall ahead. They turned around and ran back to the center hall as the raptor whipped around to face them.
Owen, Claire, Zara and the boys ran through the hall to reach the front door. As they passed the interactive displays, Zach tapped a command on the hologram projector.
A Dilophosaurus appeared, spreading its frill and roaring. Delta stopped and prepared to attack the unexpected intruder. The distraction bought the group enough time to make it through the front doors.
They descended the steps to go back to Main Street. Blue suddenly jumped out in front of them, blocking their path. Delta burst through the double doors, snarling. Echo jumped from on top of the mobile veterinary unit.
The raptors surrounded the group from all sides, blocking any escape routes, snarling and hissing aggressively. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Owen said.
Blue stepped towards him, she snarled but didn't strike. He thought that maybe the raptor still recognized him and that's why it held back. Owen dropped his rifle, holding up a hand in the calming gesture he usually used.
"Easy," He said, reaching towards the side of her face. "Easy, Blue."
His hand cautiously travelled to the camera harness, unbuckling the device from her head. The raptor relaxed.
Their moment was interrupted when the sound of thundering footsteps approached as the Indominus emerged from the side of a building, roaring menacingly.
As it reached them, Blue looked back and forth, at her new alpha and back at Owen.
He hoped the raptor would make the right call.
The indominus roared commandingly at the raptors, it wanted them to attack the humans.
But Blue stood her ground, roaring protectively.
That earned a quick swipe from the large carnivore which sent her flying into side of a building. She fell to ground, seemingly lifeless.
The other two raptors roared in challenge, daring the Indominus to take one more step. Owen grinned slightly; he had them back on his side now. He picked up his rifle and motioned for the rest to go to a nearby souvenir booth filled with hats and other merchandise; with Zara being in the condition that she was, they needed as much of a head start as possible.
Claire looked at Zara and the boys. "Ready?"
They all nodded.
"Now!" They all ran towards the booth, vaulting over the counter to get inside. The Indominus tried to follow but Owen let out a sharp whistle, signaling his raptors to attack. Charlie and Echo leapt onto its back, digging their claws and teeth in.
Zara winced in pain as she landed inside the booth. Claire turned to her, concern evident on her face, "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, "Just stings a lot is all."
They all turned at the sound of gunfire. Owen was shooting the animal while the raptors kept it distracted, relentlessly attacking it. They were fighting a losing battle, the raptors were holding their own against the Indominus but they weren't enough to bring it down.
"We need more," Gray said.
Claire and Zara turned to face him.
"We need more what?" Claire asked.
"Teeth," He replied with a firm nod. "We need more teeth."
Claire and Zara looked each other in the eyes; a non-verbal understanding seemed to have passed between them.
They knew precisely what he was talking about, there was only one animal in the park that fit the bill.
Claire grabbed a road flare and a radio from an emergency supply kit nearby. She got ready to run out but Zara's hand on her arm stopped her.
Before she could say anything, Zara cupped the back of her neck and crushed Claire's lips to hers in a passionate, emotional kiss. Their lips moved against one another hungrily, as if this one would be the last.
They pulled back from the kiss, panting for air.
"I love you," Zara said, "Come back safe, please."
Claire nodded, "I will."
With that, she ran out of the souvenir booth and into the dark.
Delta screamed in pain as the Indominus sunk her long teeth into the raptor and flung her into a cement column. The raptor's spine broke on impact, killing her instantly.
Echo screeched and dug her claws deeper into the animal but one raptor was not enough to challenge the Indominus and it quickly yanked her off its back with its jaws and clamped onto her, killing her in one bite. It threw Echo's body onto the street and turned to face Owen, the only person left who could challenge her.
With his gun dry on ammo, Owen raced across the street and into the booth, pushing the three occupants inside as far back as possible. "Where'd Claire go?"
"She has a plan." Zara replied.
"And that plan is?"
What she was about to say was cut off by Zach and Gray screaming as the Indominus tried to push its head into the small booth.
In a dark alley that ran alongside Main Street, Claire sprinted towards the huge steel door of a massive paddock, stenciled with the number 9. She pulled out her radio. "Lowery! Lowery! Are you still there?"
Lowery answered the call in the empty control room. "Claire! Where are you?"
"I need you to open Paddock Nine."
"Nine? Are you kidding?"
The Indominus' roar cut through the night. Claire steeled herself. There was no going back now. "No I'm not, now open the damn gate!"
Lowery looked hurt. "If you say so." He turned to his keyboard, bracing himself. He typed the access code and hit ENTER. "Hold on to your butts."
The alarm lights flashed and alarm klaxons blared loudly as the gate to the Tyrannosaur's paddock raised itself open. When the gate was fully opened, all Claire could see at the moment was a quiet and still forest. She lit the flare, hoping to catch the Rexes attention.
The silence seemed to stretch on, and for a fleeting moment Claire wanted to ditch the plan entirely. But then the first footfall came, a thundering stomp that shook the ground and rippled the puddles where she stood. She craned her head upwards and all Claire could see were two tiny points of red light.
As the animal stalked towards her, she realized that the lights were from the flare glinting off of the Tyrannosaur's eyes.
Shrouded in darkness, the Rex looked positively demonic, like an ancient dragon risen from slumber. It was majestic and horrifying at the same time.
Claire considered dropping the flare and running to press the manual close button to keep the Rex away from her. But soon the Tyrannosaur was upon her, eyeing her hungrily.
The Rex knew all too well what the flare meant.
Dinner.
And at that moment, Claire was on the menu.
She backed away slowly, leading the huge carnivore away from the paddock gates. Claire soon burst into a full on sprint as Rexy picked up her stride, snapping her jaws at the red head.
As Main Street came into view, Claire hoped to god the plan would work.
The indominus rammed her head into the souvenir booth, trying to reach Zara, Owen and the boys. But the booth was too small and the predator's massive jaws couldn't fit. It retreated and Zara sighed in relief but not long after, she felt the tiny booth shake as the Indominus rammed its head into it, causing tiny cracks to form in the structure.
Claire ran past the Spinosaur skeleton as she came on to Main Street, throwing the flare at the Indominus. The Tyrannosaur broke through the skeleton and let out a mighty roar to attract the other dinosaur.
The Indominus pulled its head away from the booth and turned to face its adversary, roaring in defiance.
The two titans stood still for a moment, facing each other, on one side; Tyrannosaurus Rex, the tyrant lizard king. Millions of years of evolution refined the lowly Coelurosaur Dilong into a predator without compare, rising to the top of the food chain of the prehistoric kingdom. An apex predator and the undisputed king of the Cretaceous period.
On the other side stood the Indominus Rex, the untamable king. Fine-tuned by the latest genetic technologies to be the ultimate killing machine, using the DNA of the best predators the prehistoric world and the modern world had to offer. A pure-bred alpha predator.
The Tyrannosaur looked, no-Glared at this annoying upstart that tried laying claim on her territory. This island was hers and if the genetic freak thought it could take her kingdom without a fight, it had another thing coming.
The street shuddered with each of the carnivore's gigantic steps as they charged at each other. Rexy drew first blood, digging her teeth into the Indominus' neck. The other animal struggled in her jaws, swiping her claws upwards in a futile attempt to damage the rex's face but she held firm, her jaws clamping down as she threw it into a nearby building, rubble collapsing on top of the animal.
As the dust settled, Rexy peered curiously at the pile of shattered concrete and glass when it shifted and the indominus launched itself out, swiping at the tyrannosaur with such a look that left no doubt in anyone's mind that she wanted the other animal dead.
The T-rex tried to back away but the Indominus was faster, landing a blow across the Rexes cheek. When the Rex was distracted it bit into her neck and forced her down onto the street, biting repeatedly into her neck.
As the two titans clashed, Claire crawled away and took cover behind some nearby sculptures.
Once she was down, the Indominus picked the T-rex up by the neck and slammed her into the souvenir booth, making the group inside back away from the Rexes jaws as it came at them.
From the outside, Claire could see that the booth was crumbling apart but the people inside were too focused on the battle to see.
"RUN!" she yelled.
Owen picked up Zara in a bridal carry and led the two boys out of the booth, barely making out in time as the Indominus slammed Rexy onto it, utterly obliterating the structure. They joined Claire by the structure, Owen setting Zara down to see the battles grim conclusion.
The Indominus stood victorious over the Tyrannosaur's battered form, one hand keeping the Rex pinned down. It opened it jaws, prepared to deliver the killing blow.
Suddenly, high pitched screeching came out of nowhere. All eyes turned to see the source of the sound and found Blue racing towards the Indominus, claws ready to strike.
She jumped onto its back, ripping and tearing at the flesh. The animal tried to shake the raptor off of it but Blue dug her claws in, holding on tightly. With the Indominus distracted, Rexy rose to her feet and lunged at the other carnivore, ramming it into a nearby building.
Zara, Claire, Owen and the boys saw the titanic struggle creep ever closer to them and ran for the safety of the park gift shop.
The Indominus fell back onto the boardwalk with a thundering crash and rose, only for Blue to jump onto its snout, biting and slashing. It flailed around in a rage, trying to dislodge the raptor from its face. The rex saw the opportunity and rammed it in the chest, sending it crashing into the fence surrounding the Mosasaur tank, destroying several sections as it did so.
Rexy and Blue roared triumphantly, forming a united front against an unnatural foe.
The Indominus stumbled to its feet, roaring defiantly. It reared back, ready to strike and lunged forward. It didn't make it very far before the Mosasaur burst from the water and clamped its jaws onto the animal. The Indominus struggled within its jaws but the aquatic reptile had a vice grip on it, refusing to let go.
The Mosasaur then slipped back into the tank, taking its prize into depths. The raging waters calmed, but the Indominus did not surface.
With the battle over, Rexy peered at Blue. The battle-scarred Tyrannosaur carefully considered whether or not to attack her momentary ally, but chose not to. She turned away and lumbered off, free for the first time in eleven years.
Blue turned to Owen but he only shook his head, he couldn't take care of her anymore. With one last look of farewell, she disappeared into the night.
It was 7 in the morning in the control room, Lowery stood alone at his console, relieved that it was all over. He had stayed behind to make sure everyone was safe; keeping the monorail running and making sure the power was still on throughout the park.
Now that everyone had already left, He had to board the chopper but there was one more important thing for him to do .The computer prompt stared at him from the main screen, waiting for his input.
INTIATE PARK SHUTDOWN?
YES/NO
Reluctantly, he hovered his cursor over yes and clicked.
GOODBYE….
The lights in the control room began to shut off one by one as he walked to the exit.
As Lowery stood in the doorway, he took one last misty eyed look at the control room and with a heavy sigh, he walked out.
As dawn broke, Zara found herself walking up to the control room's helipad, Claire supporting her as she climbed the stairs. The helicopters blades whirled to life as it waited on the landing pad. Claire helped her into her seat, then Gray and Zach into theirs. Lowery got into the seat opposite them.
After helping them into their seats, Claire walked to the edge of the platform, taking one last look at the park that she invested the last ten years of her life into.
She looked across the island, trying to burn the images and sounds into her mind; the brachiosaur's bellowing across the island, the park's main street, the island's magnificent mountain ranges and the waters of the Mosasaur tank sparkling in the sun.
Claire felt rueful leaving. All those years of work, gone to waste because of one bad day. She wished she could turn back time and fix all of this, a lone tear falling down her face at the thought.
But soon-too soon, her reverie was interrupted when she felt someone grip her arm, turning to see Owen nodding to the helicopter.
"Come on." He said softly, leading her into the chopper. "Let's go."
Once they were all inside, Owen closed the door and signaled to the pilot to takeoff.
She sat next to Zara, watching the helicopter lift off the landing pad through the window.
As the helicopter rose into the air, they looked out the windows, looking down onto the park as the helicopter flew across it.
It soared across the island, passing over the visitor center, the hotel, and finally the dock, where they could see the last boats leaving. Claire settled into her seat for the long trip back to mainland, lowering her head onto Zara's shoulder.
The British woman winced slightly from the pain but slid an arm around Claire's shoulder, squeezing to give comfort.
"Ten years, can't believe it's been ten years." Claire whispered, audible enough for just Zara to hear.
"We had a good run." Zara replied.
"We had a great run." Claire said firmly. "Best ten years of my life. I was in charge of the greatest theme park the world had ever seen and I fell in love with the most beautiful, kind hearted woman I ever met."
The British woman chuckled, "Flatterer."
She sighed, closing her eyes. "I just wish it ended differently."
"At least we still have each other." Zara said. "And I'm not leaving you, ever."
The helicopter picked up speed as it headed towards the mainland. Zara took one last glance out the window and saw the island, nestled against the bright orange sky and purple sea, cloaked in a deep morning mist, fading further away until it was just a speck in the distance, a diminishing green jewel amidst the wide expanse of ocean.
And cut! That's a wrap.
Whew, that took way longer than expected and very sorry for making you guys wait a long while but finally it's here. I want to thank everyone who faved and reviewed this fic and I would like to thank my friends who helped me proofread. It's been a wild ride and I want to thank you guys for sticking around and for your patience despite the late updates, your support gave me the motivation to keep working on this fic and make it the best it could be. After this, I'm gonna release a short epilogue and go back and revise some of the old chapters to fix some grammar errors.
A sequel to this fic is in the works but it's not going to be out for a while.
Until then, I hoped that this chapter was worth the weight.
See you next time.