Jurassic World: Apocalypse – Chapter 23: On Nedry's Trail

A/N: Nedry isn't the only focus of this chapter, but he plays a large part nonetheless...even though he's already dead. And no, he's not coming back to life. LOL. In any case, I've decided to make a (somewhat) calmer chapter than the last one to add some variation to the story. What do you think is going to happen next? Please feel free to state your predictions in the review section and let's start reading Chapter 23! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jurassic Park except the very characters I've made up.

2:30 p.m...

Somewhere near Isla Nublar's East Dock...

"At least the rain's easing up a bit," Claire remarked as she followed Owen through the jungle near the raptor compound. The continuous drone of rain was evolving into a drizzle and caused the jungle to smell wet and earthy.

"Yeah, a little." Owen glanced at his surroundings, holding his tranquilizer gun, his finger to the trigger, ready to fire. The raptors he was tracking weren't the ones he'd raised them from birth; they weren't trained, they had no relationship with him other than in relation to food. "Those raptors had to have gone somewhere."

Claire was still overly concerned for her nephews, but she knew locating these raptors, if possible, was equally as important, because they could endanger the life of anyone on this island – including the 20,000 guests at this park. "You don't see any sign of them yet?"

"Not...yet."

"Do we at least know where we are?"

"Yeah I think we're near the East Dock. If we reach the East Dock and still have no sign of them, we'll continue looking for your nephews. Unless you're able to raise the Control Room again."

"Still nothing."

"Storm must be interfering with the signal. That storm was so bad that it must have–"

A loud squeak sounded from the surrounding foliage. Leaves rustled as some creature moved through them,

"Owen," Claire whispered. "What is that?"

"I don't see anything."

Another bush rustled. Owen held up his rifle...and a small beaked head rose into view. It cocked its head and squeaked.

"Just a Laquintasaura," Owen said. "They must have escaped sometime during that storm too."

"ACU's going to have fun getting those guys back in containment," Claire sighed.

The Laquintasaura squawked once more before leaping out of the foliage and running off into the jungle. Pushing aside her red-hair, Claire looked in the direction the little dinosaur had gone. She gasped at what she saw. "Owen, look at that."

Owen looked in the direction she was indicating. "What on earth...?"

They saw what looked like a Jurassic World jeep that had been driven into the base of a large tree. A dozen Laquintasaura were sniffing the tires, on top of the hood and inside the jeep itself, investigating it. Owen shrugged and walked forward.

"Huh, seems like someone doesn't know how to drive," he said. The Laquintasaura scattered as he approached. Owen peaked first through the windshield which had been shattered by something. "Oh my gosh!"

"What?" Claire asked.

"There's a man in here."

"Oh my."

"And you'll never guess who it is." Owen opened the driver's side door and Claire gasped.

"It's...it's Nedry!" Claire exclaimed as she came closer. The sight was disgusting: Dennis Nedry was seated in the driver's seat, his chubby face now red and bloated. His body was a mangled mess of intestines and other abdominal organs ripped out and scattered about. "Were the Laquintasaura feeding on him?"

"Looks like it."

"I thought Laquintasaura was herbivorous."

"Hey, lots of herbivores sometimes supplement their diet with meat. In any case, it doesn't look like they killed him."

"What did?"

"See his corneas..."

"If I get close enough to look I'll puke."

"...his corneas are reddish, and his face is bloated."

Claire turned away to look at the Laquintasaura standing nearby, waiting for the two humans to leave so they could return to the carcass. "Isn't that characteristic of a spitter?"

"Yeah, looks like some Dilophosaurus busted through the windshield, spat venom in his eyes, blinded him, then ripped him right down the middle. Not a nice way to go."

"So this is where that little weasel ran off to. But why?"

"Wish I knew."

Owen then noticed a pair of Laquintasaura pecking at something that appeared to be partially buried in mud a couple of meters away. He hurried to the spot, causing the dinosaurs once again to dart away.

"What did you find, Owen?"

"Looks like...a can of Barbasol."

"Shaving cream? What's that doing all the way out here?"

"Something tells me Owen wasn't using this for shaving." He uncovered the canister and picked it up. "Huh. That's interesting. It sounds empty, but feels full." He gave it a good shake to check his suspicions.

"So?"

"I had a cousin that stored an extra set of keys in a fake pop can. I wonder..."

Owen carefully unscrewed the bottom of the canister. Beams of sunlight burst through the clouds, piercing through the jungle canopy and lighting up the forest floor as Owen laid his eyes upon the contents inside the canister.

"Dinosaur embryos," Claire said.

Owen came to a conclusion. "Now things are starting to make sense. I think I know what happened: he must have been driving to the East Dock to drop off these embryos and got out of the car. The Dilophosaurus pack attacked him sometime during the storm, he got back in the jeep, but accidentally dropped this canister before he shut the door. Then he drove forward a little bit before crashing into that tree where the dinosaurs broke in and tore into him."

"So that rascals been stealing dinosaur embryos!" Claire looked down at the radio she was holding. "Hey! I've got a signal! It's a good one too."

"Good. Contact the Control Room. We've got some news."

Henry, Dianthus and Hammond walked back into the Control Room.

"So what's the news?" Masrani asked.

Henry said, "We think we know what Nedry was up to–"

But before Henry could continue, Claire's voice came loud and clear through Arnold's headphones.

"Mr. Arnold! This is Claire Dearing. Over."

Arnold looked up in surprise. "Hey! We've got communication back." Then, snapping back into a serious mode, he replied to Claire, "Reading you loud and clear, Ms. Dearing. How are the raptors? Did you and Owen check on them yet?"

"Only Owen's squad are present. The rest have escaped."

Everyone in the Control Room looked over to Arnold; they didn't want to believe what they'd just heard.

"Claire..." Arnold said softly, "...repeat that please."

"I said the raptors have escaped! They're loose in the park!"

Masrani sighed. "Well, things could have gone better today."

"Does Owen know how long they've been out."

"He's not sure. They definitely escaped during the storm, however."

"So," Ludlow summed up, "we've got seven T. rex, the Dilophosaurus, the I. rex AND now the raptors roaming the island!"

Arnold turned to Anthony. "Get ACU on the hunt for those raptors immediately."

"Yes, sir."

Arnold said to Claire, "OK, I'm having Anthony notify ACU. Anything else?"

"Yes, we also located Nedry."

"Nedry? Where is he?"

"He's near the East Dock and was carrying dinosaur embryos in a canister of shaving cream."

Henry snapped his fingers. "That's why he was carrying that thing around! All those embryos he stole's worth somewhere between two and ten million dollars."

"Tell her to get that imbecile over here immediately," Masrani ordered.

"OK," Arnold said. "Mr. Masrani wants to see Nedry pronto."

"He's dead," Claire replied. "The Dilophosaurus killed him sometime during the storm. We also found another spitter victim who Owen thinks might have been involved with Nedry. His name is Miles Chadwick, according to his card in his wallet."

"Miles Chadwick?"

"Yes, he works for some company called Biosyn."

Hammond and Henry looked at each other knowingly. "Biosyn?" Hammond asked. "I know that company."

"Who are they?" Anthony asked.

"They're a rival bioengineering company. They've tried to match us for years, but they've been largely unsuccessful, because they usually try cheating their way to the top."

Arnold continued to speak to Claire, "Alright, thanks for the update Claire."

After Arnold hung up with Claire, Henry said, "I'm going to check the lab and make sure that rascal didn't steal anything else."

Henry left the room. Everyone stood there, quietly, in thought. Masrani shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

"This is terrible," Masrani said. "Where did we go wrong with this park?"

"It's not over yet, Simon," Hammond consoled his friend. "We're just having a bit of a hiccup. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

The doors to the Control Room opened once again as Hoskins and a ACU trooper entered, rolling in a patient transporter (like the ones they use in hospitals) carrying an all-too-familiar face.

"I'm back Hammond!" Ian Malcolm announced.

Masrani and Hammond scowled before putting on fake smiles as they approached the wounded Malcolm. Following the first three men in were Sarah and Kelly.

Kelly looked around the Control Room. "Wow! This is so cool!"

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet, kid," Hoskins said. He turned to Masrani. "Look what the storm rolled in."

"Yes, I know," Masrani mumbled. "Hello, Ian. I trust the ACU troopers handled you well."

"All things considered, I'm doing fine," Malcolm answered. "You might want to go out and fetch your T. rex though. She's loose in the park."

"So is everything else," Anthony said under his breath. Arnold shot him a glance.

Sarah walked up to the large monitor on the wall showing the map of the park. "What are all those red dots supposed to represent?"

Arnold sighed. "Those are the carnivores."

"Let's see...looks like you're Dilophosaurus have escaped from the northern part of the island–"

"We're aware of that."

"Gosh, um, how many T. rex did you guys clone?" Malcolm asked.

"Seven," Hammond asked, "if you must know." Malcolm smirked knowingly. "And one of them is a juvenile," Hammond quickly added.

"You do, uh, realize they're all out, right?"

"Yes, we know, Ian. We already have the ACU out there tracking all the loose carnivores down. Everything will be back under control in a few—what's so funny?"

Malcolm snickered. "John, John, John...you act like there's a protocol for everything. Don't you see what's going on? This is exactly what I predicted would happen if you weren't careful. See, as the Chaos Theory clearly suggests, complex systems don't evolve their chaotic nature until small, seemingly insignificant changes occur within the sys–"

"Thank you, Dr. Malcolm," Ludlow interrupted. "But I think it's high time we let the real experts handle this matter. You know nothing about running a theme park."

"I might beg to differ," Malcolm said.

Hoskins spoke up. "Simon, you up for suggestions?"

"If they're any good," Masrani answered.

"We've got a lot of dinosaurs on the loose right, in addition to the I. rex."

"Yes."

"We know how hard it is to capture the Indominus. My troopers are good, but only up to a point. They're not gonna capture that thing."

"What are you saying?"

Everyone turned to Hoskins to see what he would suggest.

"Owen's been working with those raptors since birth. They respond to commands; we can use that to our advantage. Unlike human fighters, raptors come equipped with their own, built-in weapons, and they're fast, agile and lethal. We can use them to combat the hybrid."

"You've got a hybrid dinosaur here?" Kelly asked.

Ignoring her, Anthony said, "In order to use Owen's raptors, we'd have to let them out."

"That's what I'm saying. They're trained, so we can use them to–"

"I don't care how trained they are," Masrani responded. "That's not going to happen."

"But hold on–"

Masrani held up his hands. "Let me be as clear as I can – no Velociraptors will be voluntarily let loose on this island. We have enough trouble on our hands."

Sarah had her own input. "Besides, even 'trained' wild animals can be aggressive and unpredictable, even to their caretakers and trainers. I've seen the same thing with lions, tigers, bears, hyenas in zoos; sometimes the trainers and caretakers forget these are wild animals and put too much trust on them; they learn their lesson too late. And let's keep in mind that raptors are even more dangerous than the animals I mentioned. There's no telling what they'd do."

Hoskins shrugged. "So what's your plan, boss?"

"We let ACU handle this."

Kelly pointed to the northern region of the island on the map. "Look up there, near the Cretaceous Cruise," she said. "Those two red dots seem like they're moving out of their enclosure."

Hoskins frowned. "That's a problem. Arnold, hand me the radio. I've gotta get my boys out there as soon as possible."

Cheryl tried to text Sarah again, only for her text to fail going through. It must be the rain, she thought. The rain however seemed to be letting up, so maybe she'd get through to Sarah soon. Cheryl and Billy had taken refuge from the rain underneath an umbrella that was poised above the table they were sitting at. The table was situated near a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream restaurant, where they'd gone earlier and gotten something to snack on. After the ice cream was consumed, Billy fell asleep.

Cheryl smiled as she watched her boyfriend continue to snore soundly. She gently slapped him on the arm.

"Huh? What?" Billy mumbled as he awoke. "We're still here?"

"Yeah. I've tried to reach Sarah, but I'm not getting through to her."

"That's weird. Must be the storm."

Then Cheryl's phone made a chirping sound. "I got a text. Must be from Sarah."

She read the text aloud: GET TO THE INNOVATION CENTER NOW!

Cheryl frowned. "Seems pretty urgent. Since the rain's let up, we'd better get going."

"I wonder why she's so intent on us getting there quickly," Billy said.

Suddenly, a loud female scream pierced the air as kayaks filled with tourists paddled with haste to the dock of the Cretaceous Cruise. As soon as they reached land, the people ran as if for their lives away from the water, attracting the attention of those standing nearby. Billy and Cheryl got up and went toward the tour guide, who was quickly getting out of his own kayak.

"What's going on?" Billy asked.

"The dinosaurs!" the tour guide exclaimed. "The dinosaurs! They're coming!"

With that, the tour guide ran. Billy and Cheryl exchanged glances of confusion. Another scream was heard as an onlooker spotted a pair of crocodile-like heads moving swiftly through the water toward the dock. A moment later, they burst from the water. As water streamed off their bodies, the dinosaurs revealed themselves to be a pair of Suchomimus, no longer held back by their security systems. Billy and Cheryl were struck with instant fear. Tourists all around the Cretaceous Cruise were thrown into a panic. One of the Suchomimus roared – which was of a higher pitch than that of Rexy – and charged after a cluster of people.

Cheryl asked, "How did they get out?"

"I don't know," Billy said. "But we need to get out of here! Come on!"

Grabbing Cheryl's hand, Billy led her through the fleeing mob down the path away from the Cretaceous Cruise. Unfortunately, the other, slightly smaller, Suchomimus decided to give chase and pursued Billy and Cheryl's group. It snapped its jaws, grasping for the nearest human. Then, the other Suchomimus suddenly changed its course and began to run toward Billy and Cheryl's group, blocking their path! The humans were thrown into even more panic and chaos. They ran about like ants on a griddle.

"Everyone!" Billy cried. "Everyone! We need to stand together! Running will only–"

But no one listened. The larger Suchomimus released a crocodilian-like hiss from its throat as it came to a halt before its prey. It looked at its partner and growled. The smaller Suchomimus growled back in reply. These dinosaurs weren't technically what one could consider "pack-hunters", but they were using a technique common among other reptilian predators – Komodo dragons and crocodiles – they were using a "mobbing" technique to herd the prey into a cornered area where they could be easily picked off.

Slowly, the Suchomimus edged closer and closer to the humans.

"What are they doing?" Cheryl asked.

"I think they're herding us toward the Bug House," Billy responded.

Cheryl looked behind her at the Bug House. This attraction was a large dome-shaped enclosure (kind of like the Aviary, but smaller, only about 200 square feet across), filled with all kinds of tropical plants and giant insects and other arthropods, many of them from the Carboniferous, a primeval habitat known for its giant invertebrates. People who'd reached the Bug House first were banging on the door, which had been locked from the inside by tourists who also wanted to escape the carnivorous theropods and were too inconsiderate to let the others in. Failing to barge in, those outside the building stopped their brainless frenzy, slowly backed toward the door of the large structure. The Suchomimus edged got closer and closer, clicking their hand claws. As Billy gazed at the giant predators, he was able to observe their large thumb claws. They may have usually been used for capturing fish, but they would easily tear apart a human if the chance arose.

"Any ideas?" Billy asked his girlfriend, who was clinging tightly to her boyfriend.

She shook her head and bit her lip. There was nothing they could do. Within a few moments, the Suchomimus would lunge forward and snap up dozens of innocent men, women and children. There was a slim chance that she and Billy might escape, but the likelihood wasn't there. In a minute or two, they'd probably join all these other people in getting consumed by–

"Hey guys!" a man who was near the entrance to the Bug House called. "I picked the lock on the door! It's open!"

A/N: Exciting stuff. Malcolm is finally back in the Control Room...as you might have expected, I'm sure we'll be hearing some more about the Chaos Theory, because you know he won't stop bringing it up so long as Jurassic World is in the midst of chaos itself. I was kind of hoping that Suchomimus would make an appearance in the Jurassic World movie (not that I'm complaining; Jurassic World was one of the best films of all time! Suchomimus or not, it's awesome!), but it didn't, so I figured that it would be interesting to add them to my story. It adds another element of danger (and chaos) to the park. Malcolm's going to have a lot of fun yacking about the Chaos Theory once he gets the full story of what's going on in the park. Well, as usual, be sure to favorite, follow and review this story – and check out my latest poll! – and I'll be publishing a new chapter very soon! Spare no expense!