Claire had been running ahead of the group as they heard the tapping of claws and hyena-like snarling behind them. The sounds echoed around them as well. The Pyroraptors were everywhere now, they were all aware of it. They knew that Biosyn's hounds would not give up their hunt so easily. The only way it would end would be with their remains scattered all around the island. Alan was being held up by Zia and Sattler, still in pain from his injury. With Maxin close next to them, they dared not to look back.
As Zia carried Alan, she felt something drop out of her jacket. She looked back to see her communicator lying on the floor behind her. She turned her head to Maxin. "Hold Grant!"
The grizzled hunter took Alan's arm and held him up as Zia fell back to grab her communicator. Once she got it, she ran as fast as she could to catch up with the others, Malcolm and Franklin right next to her. They were so far ahead of them at this point, it would take a great amount of adrenaline to reach them. The three of them ran as fast as their legs could take them, the Pyros screams and growls filling their ears. It was like being hunted by an abnormal force, not comprehending how close it was to you. Only having the feeling of it being all around you, no matter where you turn. All they wanted now was to get to the others, then leave this forsaken Island.
But there was one thing they did not count on. The hallway to the right. For once the three had reached said hallway, a blur of orange flung itself through the air in front of them, knocking over some of the ancient crates. The Pyro had started to climb to its feet as Claire and the others disappeared from view.
Zia, Malcolm, and Franklin looked around, hoping to find another way to catch up to Claire and company. There just had to be a way out of here. They prayed to God that they could find a way. Sure enough, they found one. Another Hallway. Down to the left. If they could make it through there, they could find a way out of this deathtrap, and back to civilization. Either that or they stay and meet their maker.
Three more Pyros were seen coming down the right hallway where the first one came. That, coupled with the demonic laughing of the pack behind them was a sound that made them feel as if they were being faced with the devil himself. They swiftly took off down the left hall as the first one climbed to its feet and followed after them, its three companions close behind.
"Hurry!" Zia yelled to her companions.
"Uh yes, very good idea, Ms. Rodriguez." Malcolm panted as he fled with them.
Soon, they found a large, metal door ahead of them. They heard the furious snarls and whooping from the Pyros. Even though they feared the creatures with a burning passion at this moment, it did not have Now, it did not have to be said that they felt sorry for these animals. It was not their fault they were turned into mindless, uncontrollable killing machines. Regardless, their instincts told them to value their lives as well.
Malcolm flung the door open, hurriedly ushering Zia and Franklin in. Once they were in, he shut the door with a loud slam. As he struggled to catch his breath, he and the others looked through the window. The four Pyros were sniffing around, seemingly searching for their scent. The feathered creatures sniffed the air before turning back down the hall. Once their forms disappeared from view, the three gave sighs of relief.
"Well, guess we can go back out now," Franklin suggested.
"There may be more out there." Zia countered.
"Agreed." Malcolm nodded as he turned to see where it was that they were.
Apparently, there were in some sort of power plant. But just like everything else in this establishment, it looked as if it were decades ancient. They could see vines growing up the walls and several of the objects in the large room, namely the large crates. There had barely been any power in this room for so long, it had become as desolate and tragic-looking as the rest of this Island.
At the other end of the room, past the large crates, the three saw a door. That could lead them back to the others and away from those things out in the halls. They climbed down a metal ladder hanging off the side of the catwalk and hurried over to the door.
Zia grabbed the handle and tried to turn it. However, it did not even budge. "What? Darn…"
"Anybody got a key?" Malcolm asked.
Franklin looked at the door with a concentrated stare. There clearly something he knew about the strange locks on the door. "Well, I'll be."
"What is it?" Malcolm asked.
"It's a Jacobson coding lock," Franklin answered. "First created by Arthur Norton Jacobson. It was something used at the DPG base. There's probably a computer around here somewhere. Should be connected to the whole power plant altogether."
"And if we find it, then that'll open the lock?" Zia asked him.
"Um, guys?"
"Hypothetically." Franklin nodded to Zia, ignoring Malcolm.
"But if that's the case, how was the computer room functioning?" Zia asked.
"Um, uh, excuse me?"
"The Computers there must've been running on an alternative generator. I used to work with those a lot after Lockwood. Must've been set up in the walls or something. Wu probably knew that, that's how he cut it off. All we need to do is find the computer connected to the plant and open the lock."
"Zia? F-Franklin?"
"And how do we know it would be working after being left in a place like this?"
"Well, it would take some expert wiring, but I think I could get it to work. All we have to do is-"
"As interesting as your little discussion on computer graphics is," Malcolm had spoken a bit louder now, getting his comrades attention. "I would to mention one minor detail. A flaw in your plan, if you will."
"What is it, Malcolm?" Zia asked.
"We're not alone."
And as they were soon aware, Malcolm was right. They could see something moving among the crates. It was a large shadow. A large Dinosaur. Slowly, but surely, the animal came into view, growling very lowly. Now being involved in several occasions involving Dinosaurs in their lifetimes, neither of these three had ever recalled seeing a Dinosaur quite like this one. The nine-foot-tall body was tannish-brown with a collection of dark, brown stripes. Two green crested perched themselves atop its head, and matching green stripes on the sides of the head. Its arms were not as small as a T-rex's and were capable of gripping their prey.
The animal opened its mouth and let out a roar that made their goosebumps shoot up. They bolted straight towards the ladder and could hear the pounding footsteps of their pursuer. Malcolm grabbed onto one of the handles, but then felt the metal bar be lifted off, carrying him with it. The Dinosaur held the other end, and shook its head around, trying to throw him into his mouth. Malcolm waved his arms as he got nearer to the creature's claws. He let go of the bar and bolted back to the ladder. Zia then reached her hand down and pulled him up onto the platform.
Panting heavily, Malcolm crawled up and sat next to his allies. "Uh, suppose I owe you one, Ms. Rodriguez. "
"No problem," Zia then looked down at the Dinosaur below them. The beast looked up at them and snarled with a curl of its mouth. Its emerald eyes squinted as it circled around like a Tiger, pacing around with a fierce desire. To the left. Then to the right. It looked as if it were calculating the situation. "What exactly is that thing?"
"I recognize those muscle structures," Franklin said as he watched the animal pacing about. "I saw the skeleton in InGen labs at the second park. Metriacanthosaurus parkeri, that's what they called it, anyway."
"I thought they all went extinct before the volcano blew up," Zia questioned.
"Apparently, they had the Marine Iguana genes Wu mentioned," Franklin shrugged, not taking his eyes off of the predator. "So, they most likely swam off before 2018. Either way, it looks like it wanted to do some sight-seeing."
"Now that sort of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?" Malcolm put his hands together. "Bit of a damper for us, really. How do we get out of here now?"
"A more appropriate question is: What kinds of wires do I connect?" Turning their heads, Zia and Malcolm saw what it was that Franklin was referring to. A computer. But it looked as if it were even older than the building itself. There it sat. Collecting dust and vines. There was a large assortment of power cords below the desk, and they too looked ancient.
Franklin got on his back as he examined each of the cords and the outlet underneath the monitor. "Let me see… it looks like what we have here is a G11S4 Farrex cord. They don't make cords like these anymore. Went out of stock in 2008. I remember I used to work with them before joining up with Claire."
"Why would they stop making them?" Zia asked.
"Discontinued use," Franklin fiddled around with the cords before finding an outlet. "Guess these were the last ones. If I can route them back into the Computer, I can probably recharge the auxiliary power. It'll probably turn the computer back on and re-route the power to everything on this side of the building. Then I'll be able to go down there and open the lock."
"There's just one problem that you have unfortunately overlooked." Malcolm pointed at the Cantho below them, as it wandered around the crates below. "Our friend down there might, uh, might not be so willing to help you out with your little mission."
"I can help with that." Zia watched as Franklin held the ends of the cords and yanked the covers off of the outlets. He then placed the cords into their respective outlets. Suddenly, the computer began to hum before making a static-like sound. The screen began to flicker slightly, it was a light blue flash before finally showing something. It was a sort of symbol. An I, and then a G. It was just about as easy to conclude that it was InGen as it got.
Almost as soon as this screen pulled up, the three of them could see a small blue light blinking on the door's lock at the other side of the room. Faint, but easy to see.
Watching it after getting to his feet, Franklin turned back to his allies. "Well, all I have to do now is hack into that lock and it will be smooth sailing. Oh yes, I almost forgot about our friend, didn't I?"
"Just a little bit," Malcolm said. "But um, you also forgot about one thing."
"What's that?"
"That would be the Distraction-Conflict model," Malcolm nodded. "You see, there is a theory that contemplates a certain conflict between two people when one of them attends the person instead of their task at hand. Therefore, the laws of Chaos Theory clearly state that the only way to resolve this matter is Distraction. It is also said that distraction from the workload can ease your conscious mind."
Zia had climbed onto one of the large, metal pipes that hung on the wall. She looked around to see if she could find the Cantho. If this animal was trying to hide from them, it was doing a tremendous job at it. Not even a commando could have as good as this creature was doing. She then grabbed a broken metal bar and banged it against the pipe she was on. "Hey! Hey over here! Where are you! I'm over here!"
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
She could not even hear its footsteps. Now that was surprising. For something of that size, she would have expected to hear its footsteps at one point or another. But no. There was just no sign of it. Perhaps Franklin didn't have to worry about anything-
The attack did not come from before her. Nor did it come from behind. Below. She felt the pipe be bent upward by the animal's brute force. The Cantho roared as he tried to twist the pipe off the wall just to get to Zia. The human held onto the metal as she was shaken about. As she felt herself being flung from the pipe, she reached out her arms to try and hold onto the other side. However, she felt herself roll across the floor below.
She could feel it shake. She knew the Cantho was right behind her. She climbed back to her feet and rushed towards one of the crates. At this moment, she was regretting the moment that she even stepped on that boat. She forgot why she was complaining about standing in the snow. First aggressive Pyroraptors, now a sneaky Metriacanthosaurus. She would take freezing cold over this any day.
Still, she had to keep this animal distracted as Franklin unlocked that door. Once he did that, then they would find Claire and the others and get as far away from this wasteland as humanly possible. The Cantho reared its crested head as it pursued her. It opened its jaws wide and tried to snap them around her, missing her by a mere inch. Zia then rolled forward into one of the crates, where it was too small for the Cantho to enter.
It thrashed around as it tried to pursue, but its nine-foot-tall stature could not make it through. Before it could push forward, a new sound filled its ears. It grunted as it turned its head to see Malcolm waving his arms and yelling. It bared its fangs and immediately lunged forward to try and get him. Malcolm, however, turned around and raced for his life. Zia exited the crate as she watched the Cantho chase after him. She looked around and saw Franklin hacking at the lock. Hopefully, he was nearly done with it. That animal was getting angry.
She then heard Malcolm scream and saw him get flung through the air. He flew over a stack of crates and hit the side of one of them with a loud bang. He scrambled to his feet as the Cantho growled fiercely. It hunched its body as it prepared to attack, and flailing its limbs in anticipation. It then sped towards him at ramming speed, aiming to taste blood.
Luckily, Malcolm was faster.
He rolled to the side, and with another bang, he heard the Cantho makes a large dent into the metal crate. The animal snarled as he struggled back to his feet. Looking to the side, Malcolm saw that he could not run, with another assortment of crates stacked around him. Thinking quickly, he climbed up the side of one of them, hearing the angry grunting behind him motivating him to keep climbing.
He felt the bars below him be ripped from the crate, and the hot breath of the Cantho panting and blowing. Once he got to the top, he watched as its head was merely inches away from him. The animal was climbing up to him. He hurried across the stacks as he heard the animal racing after him. He heard Franklin and Zia calling at him from below. He saw that the door was open. All he had to do now was lose the big lizard here.
He saw another crate next to him. He suddenly got an idea. He climbed up the back of it, knowing the animal would follow him. He saw the Cantho charging towards him with another ramming speed. He then pounced towards him; mouth open wide. And that was when he let himself drop to the ground. He landed next to his comrades and looked up to see the Cantho fall off the other side with the crate.
Malcolm sighed with relief as Franklin helped him to his feet. "Well, that was, um, dramatic."
"Better get a move on then," Zia said. The three then raced towards the door. She turned to face Franklin. "Gotta say, Franklin. That was pretty impressive."
"Well yeah, learned to do that in my spare time." Franklin started. "And I had a lot of-"
So fast the attack came. The loud, shrill roar filled their ears as the large jaws came from the side. The Cantho broke the two of them away from the unfortunate. It pinned the IT intern to the ground as his high-pitched scream, mixed with the roar, echoed throughout the room. Zia and Malcolm could only watch as it all transpired. The Cantho was scary enough when it was attacking them, but when it was attacking their friend, now they were scared.
Even more so when they saw the blood staining its fangs. Shredded clothes. The Dinosaur shook Franklin like a terrier shaking a rat. And soon enough, Franklin's screaming stopped.
"FRANKLIN!" Zia yelled out. She could not believe that he was gone. Not even seeing the Cantho tear the body to pieces with its fangs, yanking the limbs off the body with his claws.
Malcolm grabbed her and pulled her away from it. "Ms. Rodriguez, I'm terribly sorry. But we have to go now!"
Zia's eyes were drowning her face at the moment. Her friend was there, right before her. She had known Franklin since the DPG first started. And now, she could hardly believe that he was now gone. She watched as the Metriacanthosaurus devoured the remains of its kill. She now had no choice. She knew now that she could do nothing for him now. She and Malcolm then raced to the door that was opened by Franklin's final act of goodwill. With one last glance, Zia saw all that was left of Franklin now.
A pair of bloody, broken glasses.
There was no looking back at this point. They heard the Cantho roaring behind them. He had finished his kill, but could not follow them through the tiny door. They raced through the hallway and found themselves at what could be described as a loading garage. There were ancient trucks from decades ago parked everywhere. Just like in the power plant, everything in this room was covered in dust and vines. Abandoned by the world, everything once civilized was ow taken over by the elements.
The two could not stress enough how much their legs hurt from all the running they did. Zia got to her knees as she put her hand to her head. Her legs were the least of her problems at the moment. She had just lost her best friend only a couple of moments ago. She could not believe Franklin was gone. He was dead. It may not have been, but she could help but feel that it was her fault.
Malcolm looked down at her. He did not know Franklin as much as she did. He did not share as many memories as she did with him. Being a man of Chaos theory, he knew that when someone is close to you, it can be the hardest thing in your life to say goodbye. It had been a few moments since they had entered this garage, and the two had been sharing a solid five minutes of silence. Finally, Malcolm broke the silence.
"I'm, um, look I'm sorry about your friend."
Zia was still silent for ten seconds before answering. "He shouldn't have come. He should've never volunteered for this. Everybody knows he didn't do well outdoors, even he knew that. Why did he have to come?"
"It may not be anywhere in my field of expertise," Malcolm tilted his head. "But I believe that in some stories, everyone wants to contribute. Everybody wants a part to play in all this. Perhaps it was that Mr. Webb wanted to find his role as well."
Zia shook her head. "I don't care how long it takes. I'm going to make sure everything he wanted, everything he needed, he gets. I'm going to see to it that his family knows what he did. What he died for."
"Uh, Ms. Rodriguez?"
"I'm going to make sure they get the bonus he should have gotten."
"Um, Zia?"
"I'll make sure that he gets all the recognition he deserved-"
She was soon stopped by Malcolm putting his hand on her shoulder. She saw that he was staring at something behind them. "Do. Not. Move."
At first, a tear-ridden Zia raised her eyebrow in confusion at the theorist's request. She had no idea as to what he was talking about. And neither why he would be saying something like this during her time of grief. She had decided to turn her head to what it was he was looking at. And what it was that deep growling was. And when she turned her head, she saw it.
Behind a massive, abandoned eighteen-wheeler, was the brown face, all riddled with scars, of the T-Rex.
Well, I stayed true to my word. One of Claire's group did not survive this trip to Sorna. While she and the others are running from the Pyroraptors, Zia, Franklin, and Malcolm have had themselves a run-in with a Metriacanthosaurus. They may be extinct on Nublar, but not on Sorna. And with this chapter, I have done what the movies haven't. I've killed off one of the main protagonists. And now, a grieving Zia and Malcolm are face to face with the tired old Queen of Isla Nublar: Rexy. But why isn't she attacking? You'll just have to stay tuned for the next chapter to find out. Stay safe, and Spare no Expense.