Jurassic World: Apocalypse – Chapter 12: The Case of the Missing Indominus
A/N: When Indominus rex goes missing, there's only one person you can call to track her back down: Owen Grady. He's about to be alerted to the news of the potentially missing dinosaur. Elsewhere in the park, Alaina makes a discovery which could change the course of their day and...a storm appears to be moving toward the island, set to pour down lots of rain later in the afternoon. What's going to happen in this chapter? There's only one way to find out...start reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jurassic Park except the very characters I've made up.
"I vote T. rex Kingdom!" Brianna exclaimed as they left the Mosasaurus Feeding Show at 10:35 a.m. Looking at the map, she said, "I wanna see a T. rex!"
"Me too," Alaina agreed, "but I think I'd like to save the T. rex for a little later." She paused and looked at the sky. Above, dark storm clouds were rolling inland; there was little doubt that a storm was going to be brewing fairly soon. That storm looks like it might be pretty bad, she thought, maybe it won't last too long. I'd hate for a little rain to put a damper on our fun. I can check my weather forecast on my phone to see if...then she had a thought. The clouds and how they moved could be observed via satellite. The satellite up in space could see everything on earth, including everything that was on this island.
While Tom and Brianna discussed their next stop on the island, Alaina pulled up the Google Earth app on her phone. She looked up "Isla Nublar" and looked at the entire island. She had a hunch – she and Tom wanted to find out what happened to Dr. Grant, but so far their trail had been cold. Maybe there was something on the island that would give them answers to their questions. She wasn't sure what led her to this hunch, but she finally felt that she was getting somewhere. Very carefully, she scrutinized the entire island, looking at all the buildings, animal enclosures and attractions. That was when she noticed the northern portion of the island was completely void of any human settlements, cut off from the park by an electric fence running the island's width. It was covered in dense forests and a large mountain...wait! She found one human settlement, cut off, from the rest of the park. Alaina zoomed in and saw what looked like a little shack with what might have been an enclosure next to it. What was it? Alaina knew it was stupid to consider it anything unique, but she couldn't get the thought out of her mind. What if this building actually could help her and Tom solve their mystery? There was only one way to find out!
"The Bug House sounds cool," Tom suggested. "I'd like to see those giant dragonflies."
Brianna shrugged. "Sure, that sounds cool. The Bug House sound interesting, Alaina?"
Alaina looked up from her phone. "I'm sorry, what's that?"
"I asked you if you wanted to go to the Bug House?"
Alaina stared at the map for a few seconds when she noticed the gyrosphere ride! She grinned.
"Actually," she said, "I'd like to ride the gyrospheres attraction."
Tom and Brianna looked at each other, clearly wanting to save the more exciting attractions for later. When Tom and Brianna began to object, Alaina pulled Tom aside. She showed him the shack on her phone and explained her suspicions about it.
Tom frowned. "I dunno. You really think that building could have clues?"
"It's a start," Alaina said. "Unless you have a better idea, I think this building is our best shot."
"But there's an electric fence separating the park from the shack. How would we get there?"
"The Gyrosphere is the closest attraction to the fence. If we can get to the fence, I'm sure we'll be able to form a plan to get through. Then it should be a hop, skip and a jump from getting answers. And if we're going, we should probably go now, before we get heavy rains. My forecast says it's going to rain heavy this afternoon."
"What? I thought it was supposed to be sunny all day."
"Hey, you know how the forecast is always changing. So, are you in?"
Tom smiled. "You know I am."
They went back to Brianna and told her of their desire to go on the Gyrosphere. She agreed (after they told her they could still enjoy the Bug House in the rain, while the Gyrosphere would be less enjoyable); they hurried in the appropriate direction.
Ray Arnold stared in amazement at his computer screen. There was no I. rex to be found in the entire paddock. He scanned every direction several times. Behind him, Anthony and Henry began to get concerned. All Arnold found were the deep claw marks in the paddock wall.
"You sure she's not in there?" Henry asked.
"Does it look like I see her?" Arnold returned. "How can I miss a 43-foot long, 18-foot tall, 20-ton carnivorous dinosaur?"
"OK, then you try explaining why she's not there and how the claw marks got on that concrete wall."
"She is here, somewhere...at least she better be. There's no way a creature like that could escape."
"Release a goat from her feeder," Anthony suggested.
Having no better ideas, Arnold made the feeder expel fresh cow ribs from a compartment in the paddock wall. The cow ribs fell into the enclosure...nothing happened. Sighing, Arnold shook his head. "Her microchip tracker reveals that she's at least within the proximity of her paddock, if not in it."
"She's loose on the island?!" Henry panicked. "Oh my gosh. We've got a serious situation here! We've got to–"
"Calm down, Henry. We don't know what's happening. Remember the time we thought we lost an Acrocanthosaurus last month? We thought she escaped too. However, we eventually found out that she was hiding in her cave because she was ill. It's probably a similar instance here. I don't think there's anything to worry about. But we do need to go over there immediately and see what's going on."
"And how do you suppose we do that?"
"Anthony, I want you to call Claire and Owen. I need them over at that paddock pronto."
"Roger." Anthony quickly took a seat at his computer and followed his orders.
Meanwhile, Arnold began making a call to Hammond and Masrani.
"You're absolutely going to love our next attractions," Hammond announced as he led his guests toward the Monorail Station. "We've got two attractions in store for you next."
"What are they?" Kelly asked.
"Well," Masrani began, "we have a Cretaceous Cruise, where you'll be able to meet a variety of dinosaurs along a prehistoric-looking river. The other attraction is the Gyrosphere, where you can go into the plains and get up close and personal with several of our herbivorous dinosaurs."
"No expense spared on either attraction," Hammond added.
"The Gyrosphere sounds interesting," Sarah said. "I'd like to go on that first."
Cheryl begged to differ: "Actually, I'd prefer going on the Cretaceous Cruise first before–"
A loud sound blared from Masrani's walkie-talkie: "Simon! This is the Control Room! Come in, Simon!"
Masrani got the radio from his pocket and responded, "I'm here, Ray. What's wrong?"
"We have a bit of a situation here. I need you and Hammond to come to the Control Room immediately! It's that urgent!"
"We're sort of busy right now–"
"It's really urgent, and really confidential. I need you both here now."
Masrani frowned. "Ok, we'll be there shortly." He put the radio back in his pocket and turned to the others. He said, "I'm afraid they need Hammond and I in the Control Room. Can you six handle yourselves?"
"Well, I'm with them," Gennaro reminded him.
"Yeah, how could I forget that?" Masrani said with a sigh.
Hammond frowned. "Are you sure they need us?"
"He said it's urgent."
"Well, in that case, I guess we'll see you all in a little bit. Have fun while we're gone."
After Hammond, Masrani and Dianthus left, the group tried to decide where to go first.
"I'm not into kayaking," Gennaro argued.
"It'll be fun," Billy encouraged. "I here they have a nice selection of theropods on the Cretaceous Cruise. I'd like to see them."
Malcolm said, "Why don't you and Cheryl go on the cruise. We'll take the Gyrosphere and meet back here in a little bit."
Billy and Cheryl nodded.
"Do you have my number?" Sarah asked them.
Sarah, Billy and Cheryl quickly exchanged phone numbers. Then Billy and Cheryl walked toward the Monorail that would take them to the Cretaceous Cruise, while Gennaro, Kelly, Sarah and Malcolm began making their way to the Gyrosphere.
"Talk to me, Anthony," Owen said as he rode his motorcycle through the jungle. He had his radio on speaker mode, allowing him to talk and drive at the same time. "Are you sure she's gone?"
"All I know is that she's not there," Anthony responded.
"Remember the Acrocanthosaurus we lost track of last month? Are you sure that I. rex isn't just sick or something?"
"We don't know. That's why we need you to check it out."
"Alright, I'm already on my way."
Owen rode quickly through the forest until he reached the enclosure. He winced, noticing that everything looked safe and secure? I don't think she got out, Owen thought. I'm pretty sure she's just sick or something. He walked toward the paddock where he saw several ACU soldiers standing around, just in case they would be needed. As he walked, Owen scanned the area for Hoskins, he came across Oscar, Billy and Daniel Cafaro, otherwise known as D-Caf.
"Hey! Owen, my man!" Billy exclaimed.
"Hey, Billy, D-Caf, Oscar," Owen replied. "What's happening here?"
"Nothing, much," Oscar said in his usual casual tone of voice. "We've been here for at least 15 minutes and we've seen no sign of activity, in the enclosure or out of it."
"Yeah, it's almost like she just vanished into thin air," said Billy. "Hopefully the dinosaur's not sick, I mean, if she was...I don't know a vet brave enough to go in and treat her."
"At the same time, I hope she's not out of her paddock," Owen added. "Where's Hoskins?"
"He's on the catwalk above the enclosure."
Owen nodded and went up the stairs to where Vic Hoskins was located.
"Glad you're here, Owen," Hoskins said. "Wherever that Indominus rex is, she's not making this too easy. I'll feel so much better when we've located her."
"What's the plan?"
Hoskins sighed. "Well, considering her tracker says that she's in the vicinity, and we don't know exactly where she is, there's only one thing we can do...we need someone to go in the enclosure and find her in there."
"OK," Owen said, "I'm going in."
"Not by yourself you're not." Then, Hoskins looked down at his soldiers at ground level. "Owen's about to enter the enclosure. I want everyone on top guard at all times! No exceptions! Stay alert and on the look out. We're going to be taking a calculated risk around here. D-Caf, I want you on the button that opens and closes the gate inside the paddock; Billy and Enrique, I want both of you to follow Owen inside."
"Roger that, alpha," Billy said. "Will do as instructed."
Claire rushed into the Control Room. She had previously been tagging along with Gerry Harding and his daughter as they made their park rounds and were on their way to check on a sick Triceratops when she was contacted by Anthony, telling her to return to the Control Room immediately. Apparently, something had gone wrong with I. rex; she was told that they didn't know where the dinosaur was. How could that happen?
"I'm here," Claire announced as she walked over to the monitor where Hammond, Masrani, Anthony, Arnold and Henry were. They were all looking at the large monitor screen on the wall in front of them, watching the live feed via security cameras at the I. rex paddock. "What's the news?"
Arnold said, "Owen's about to check inside the paddock for the dinosaur."
"I hope he's going to be OK."
"I'm sure everything's fine," Hammond whispered.
At Hoskin's command, D-Caf pressed the button that opened the gate to the enclosure. The gate slid slowly to the side; the door was rusty and stiff, as it had not been opened for a long time. It was finally open and Owen, Enrique and Billy were allowed admission into the paddock. They walked slowly forward, looking for the slightest sound or sight. Billy and Enrique held their EMD's cocked, ready to use them if the opportunity arose.
The three men progressed further and further into the enclosure. There was an utter silence – no bird chirps...definitely no dinosaurs were heard. Owen glanced around the vegetation in the enclosure. He wasn't sure what to make of this experience. Surely they'd be able to find a 43-foot long theropod with ease, right?
"Billy, see anything?" Enrique asked.
Billy answered, "Negative, all is clear."
The three of them spent the next five minutes exploring the enclosure, scanning everywhere they could think of. Everyone, both in the field and in the Control Room, waited with baited breaths. The enclosure wasn't that large, so it astounded them that they were as-of-yet unable to find the predator. Finally, they walked up to the wall where the deep claw marks had been etched. Owen cat-whistled in amazement. He'd never seen Indominus rex's full body before, but he knew that it must have been a powerful creature with wicked-sharp claws. Otherwise, how could she have caused so much damage to the wall.
"Well," Owen said, "we didn't see her in this enclosure...and these scratch marks might suggest she climbed out."
Billy frowned. "That wall's 40 feet high, you really think she climbed out?"
Owen reached out and traced his hand over one of the marks. "Depends..."
"On what?"
"...on what kind of dinosaur they cooked up in that lab."
Owen looked up at Hoskins, who was still on the catwalk.
"We didn't find anything," he said.
Hoskins nodded. "Alright then. Do one more sweep of the enclosure and then come out."
Owen agreed. As they walked away from the wall, something struck Owen as odd – the silence was...unnatural. He should have heard more insects, and at least a couple bird calls...it seemed too quiet. Owen stopped walking.
"What's wrong, Owen?" Billy asked.
"Something's not right. We need to get out of here right now."
"Surely we can do one more sweep," Enrique said. "I don't see a problem in–"
"Shh!" Owen put a finger to his mouth. He heard something...he heard a low exhale...than a slow inhale...before another low and slow exhale – breathing. "We're not alone in here."
All of a sudden, branches snapped and twigs crackled. Something appeared to be moving in the vegetation nearby. Owen, Enrique and Billy looked in the direction of the noise to see a large creature rise from the foliage. Her large red eyes glared at the men as she stood up to her maximum height. Her skin slowly changed from a greenish-brown color to her a paler coloration. The claws on her hands flinched and her leg muscles tensed as she rose. Owen and the other men could not see the entire animal's body through the thick foliage, but they sure heard the low growl the animal made.
The Indominus rex never escaped her enclosure...she had been here all along...watching them...
"Oh...my...gosh," Billy breathed laboriously. "We are so...dead."
A/N: Well, Indominus rex certainly knows how to make an entrance, doesn't she? Still, Hammond, Masrani and Arnold don't seem too worried. Let's hope they can prevent this dinosaur from causing any more trouble in the park. What do you think of Alaina's plan to solve the mystery surrounding Dr. Alan Grant? Will they find answers at that shack she found? What do you guys think the shack IS, anyway? I can't wait to reveal all these answers to you soon. Oh my gosh! This moment is unbelievable for any Jurassic Park fan! I've been waiting for eight years for the fourth JP film to come out...and finally, it's COMING OUT NEXT WEEK! I'm so stoked! Man, this last week till the film's release is going to be so long. To pass the time, I'd encourage you to read some of my other fanfiction stories, favorite, follow and please REVIEW on this story and I'll catch you all next week! Spare no expense at the movies!