SURVIVAL

3 – What Remains

Downstairs and following the signs leading to the kitchen were three men all of which were disgruntled. The tallest of the men kept his gun held close to his chest and mumbled. "This is such bullshit. Why doesn't In-Gen just blow this damn island to hell with some napalm or something." He stopped at the kitchen door and glanced inside. "If she's in there, I don't see her."

A Hispanic man, who came to the shoulders of the taller man, opened the door and motioned inside. "After you, Simon."

The third man, a skinny blonde, answered through a cheesy smile. "Momma always told me, ladies first. So, ladies first Juan-ita!" He ignored the hateful stare from the other and laughed to himself.

Simon glared at the blonde. "Guess that means, you Alex-is."

The blond, Alex, swallowed nervously and adjusted his grip on his rifle's stock. He ventured into the kitchen and felt a chill run down his spine. Something had made a mess of the place. Pots, pans, and silverware were scattered about the countertops and along the floor.

He made sure to keep a watchful eye for any movement and announced to the others, "It's clear."

Cautiously, the two others followed, and each went down a different aisle to search. Being mindful of the strewn pots and pans, they searched in every cabinet and oven only to find nothing. Finally, the three exchanged uncertain expressions and neared the freezer.

Simon looked at the Alex. "Alright, Princess, you take the honors."

"Nah uh," Alex quickly exclaimed. "I went to the kitchen first." He turned his attention to Simon. "It's someone else's turn."

All eyes turned to Juan, who frowned in dread. Not needing to be told, he trudged over to the door and unlatched it. He hesitated a moment and finally opened the door. It seemed clear until he stepped inside. There, to the right and laying on the floor was a frosted over something or other that looked much like the dead ones found inside the visitor center lobby.

"Oh shit!" Juan panicked, swung his rifle around and started to shoot at the motionless form.

Both Simon and Alex leaped back and too, aimed at the freezer. Simon yelled out, "What the hell," and almost fell over when Juan collided into him.

Juan scrambled past the men behind him to get out of the freezer. "There's a big ass lizard thing in there, man!"

Alex looked down his rifle's site and inside the freezer to see what the other was talking about. At first glance, he could see what was so frightening about it, but when examining it more, couldn't resist laughing. "You stupid ass. It's dead!"

Juan yelled back. "That's because I shot it!"

"I guess the fact it's frozen means nothing, either, huh?"

Simon looked inside the freezer as well and shook his head. He glared at Juan. The voice of Terrence called out on their radios. "I heard gunfire! Report!"

Alex, still laughing, grabbed his radio off his pants and cued it. "Calm down. It's all clear. Juan found a frozen lizard in the kitchen and got all trigger happy."

The Hispanic ranted back, "Shut up!" He leaned against a kitchen counter and heaved a breath before he cued his radio. "It was a big lizard, boss. At least an eight-footer! I've never seen anything like it before!"

On his side of the radio, Terrence rubbed his face with his hand and mumbled to himself. Well, he did say to shoot any dinosaurs they saw. "Idiots," he stated out loud and went down the stairs to the lobby.


Terrence descended the fossil littered staircase and glared at the people he'd come to mentally dub The Three Stooges. He stopped shy of them and arched his brow in question. "Well? Did any of you find anything other than some frozen, eight-foot iguana?"

Simon spoke. "We saw no sign of the girl."

"Were you three even really looking? She's highly intelligent and damned difficult to find, though not impossible. You have got to keep your eyes open." He sighed and ran a hand over his mouth. "One of you three needs to keep an eye out behind the team. What's to say she won't try and attack someone from behind?"

Juan spoke up. "That's if she's even alive. For all we know, she could be dead. I read the reports. Supposedly she got offed by a T-Rex or whatever."

Alex cut in. "Supposedly. It's not for sure, though."

"Which is why we need to be vigilant in our search, gentlemen," Terrence continued. "Now get back out there and keep looking!"

They grumbled to themselves and trekked into the dining hall. Juan choked out a cough and wove a hand in front of his face after he stepped inside. "Smells like shit in here."

Simon pointed to the buffet table loaded down with rotten food. "What did you expect? Rotten food."

"Smells like my sister's room." Juan buried his face in his shirt and held his rifle with one hand.


Pet zipped back up her backpack once she made sure everything was still in there, most of all her picture. She tossed on the straps and crept over to the office door. She intently listened for any nearby movement and when she didn't hear any, proceeded outwards. Barely audible voices of the men chatting somewhere within the building were heard, which made her quickly scamper down the hall. A couple turns later, she found herself at the emergency fire exit and strained her vision to look out of the narrow window. She couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there. There could be people hiding in the bushes beyond her view, or just under the stairs waiting. Any smart team would know to cover all exits in case the target or targets tried to escape through the back.

The hybrid nudged the door open and listened. She even sniffed the air for anything foreign. There was nothing but birds chirping and the tropical aromas of the island in the air. Pet accepted it as an all clear to proceed and stepped out of the building and into the sun-filled day. Quietly she shut the door and tiptoed down the metal staircase to the sidewalk. She made sure to stick to the sidewalk and not walk on any soft earthen areas. Not far from the sidewalk was a tuft of grass. Pet jumped to it and used it to hide her trail on her way into the forest.

She could hear a helicopter in the far distance and feared it carried more people sent to hunt her down. The hybrid took cover under a broad-leafed plant and listened as the helicopter got closer. Over the visitor center it flew, never slowing to land or circle back around. She was in the clear, for the most part, and made sure to stay low when she crawled away. Pet wasn't sure where she was going to go but knew she couldn't stay anywhere near areas most likely to draw a search team.

In the days following being left behind, she debated on going to Isla Sorna and knew she could get there via one of the transport boats usually kept at the docks. That was if any remained post-island evacuations or hadn't been sunk or disabled by the storm. It was at least worth a try. Should there be anyone on Isla Sorna, would InGen try to kill her there, too? She was still within InGen's area of control and nowhere near the public. Not like staying around, here, was any better.


Terrence returned to the office he figured Pet to be in only to find the door half open, versus its previously barely cracked, and the backpack gone. He was right. She had been there and heard his message. He just hoped that wherever she had taken to hiding was as far from him and the others as possible. Wherever that may be.

He could hear someone approach him from behind and glanced back to see a muscular black man come into view. "Did you find something, DeAndre?"

The newcomer, DeAndre, shook his head. "No. The control room is clear."

Terrence nodded. "Good." His next words were spoken slightly louder, should Pet still be in the immediate area to hear him. "I'm going to finish checking these offices to make sure." He stepped over to one of the offices with its door closed and tried the handle for the show of face. "It's locked. No worries." The man grabbed his radio and cued it. "Incoming weapons fire," and flipped his rifle off safety. He aimed and fired at the lock. Once the lock was busted, Terrence opened the door to check inside. He knew it would be empty, but DeAndre didn't.

DeAndre pushed past him and entered the room, gun armed and looked inside. "Nothing."

Simon came over the radio. "Did you get her, boss? Did you get the bitch?"

Hearing the offensive word sent a streak of anger through Terrence, and he clenched his jaw in anger because of. He growled in response, "She's not here."

Terrence and DeAndre continued to check each room and forced any locked doors open they came across. Terrence just hoped she wasn't in one of them and started to break out in a sweat from either anxiety or the island's humid heat. He wasn't sure. The two crept down another hallway to see a slightly ajar door flex on its hinge.

DeAndre pointed to it, and Terrence nodded, the leader going into it. He'd prefer him over his companion should Pet be inside. With how smart the hybrid was, surely she wasn't dumb enough to stay inside the same building she knew the InGen hired hunters to be. He nudged the door open with his rifle's muzzle and spooked a rat in the process. The rodent darted into the hallway, and DeAndre took aim and shot it. The force behind the high-powered shot tore through the small animal and sent pieces of it splattering against a nearby wall.

Terrence looked at the other man wearing a deadpan expression. "Was that necessary?"

"I hate rats." DeAndre shivered in disgust and proceeded to the next office.

Given how trigger happy the other man was, the game warden felt even more nervous and wiped at his brow with the back of his hand. This was going to be a long, long trip. He wasn't sure how long he could keep up his show of face or even how persuasive he could be with it. Men such as Ludlow's little hunting party seemed tight-knit throughout and because of, were probably skeptical to trust someone outside their circle completely.

They came across the emergency exit, and Terrence sighed in relief. He had a feeling it was where she had most likely gone and was now outside. He opened the door and stood on the back step to look out. Mountains painted green with rich, tropical life greeted his eyes. This was indeed a fantastic island and an ideal place to set up such a unique park.

Off to the side and a slight distance away was the emergency bunker. Terrence reached for his radio and questioned. "Miguel, how's that maintenance shed going?"

Inside the emergency bunker and lounged back in a chair, smoking a cigarette was Miguel. He slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke, eyes focused on a collection of bloody gauze bandages scattered about the floor. Just shy of them was a table covered in schematics of the maintenance shed and maps of the island. He flicked his cigarette's ashes on the concrete floor where they joined a slowly forming pile of ash and discarded cigarette butts.

He answered. "Maintenance shed was clear, never mind the rotting remains of some poor bastard that got ripped to pieces."

"Where are you now?"

"In the emergency bunker. Apparently, our girl is injured..., or someone was, at least." Miguel took another deep puff of his cigarette and held it in for a moment before slowly releasing it.

Everything in Terrence froze up with sickening dread. Had he found her? And if so, did he shoot her? Or did someone else? Before he knew it, he was racing to the emergency bunker, heart beating faster than his steps could keep up with. He busted in through the bunker's heavy metal door and startled Miguel in the process. The man fell out of his chair when he tried to get to his feet and accidentally burned himself with his cigarette in the process.

Miguel was livid. "Son of a bitch, man!" He frantically brushed away the fallen ash burning a hole in his shirt. "You could've at least given me a head's up instead of busting in here like you own the place!"

Terrence paid the ranting man no attention as he knelt down to inspect the bloody gauze bandages. Whoever it was that was injured had lost a lot of blood. He wondered who it belonged to and began running scenarios through his head. Miguel was already under the partial impression it was Pet who was injured and decided to stick with it. Maybe it would help with the story and belief that Pet had died to the Rex. She had become fatally wounded and bled to death or died of an infection. The more he thought about it, the less that would work. They would need a body to prove she was dead.

"These could've belonged to anyone," Terrence stated and stood back up. "From what I read in the reports, the girl was supposedly killed by the Rex. If that's so, then she wouldn't have made it in here to do this!" He gestured to the soiled gauze.

Miguel joined him. DeAndre entered the bunker and shouldered his rifle. Miguel continued. "She could've escaped the Rex."

"You honestly think an eighteen-year-old girl fought and won against a Rex? Did you not see the lobby and those dead bodies? If a Rex did that to those things then what makes you think some kid would stand a chance?" Terrence was now in Miguel's face, his usual composed features bright red in anger.

Miguel shrugged. "I don't know... maybe she shot it?"

"Did you see any bullet casings anywhere in the lobby?" The other man shook his head. "Okay, then. Use common sense." Terrence loudly sighed and shook his head. "Where's the other Alex?"

"He said he was going to go out back and take a piss." Miguel watched the other two men leave the bunker and go back outside. In their wake, he tossed up a middle finger meant for Terrence and cursed under his breath.

Outside and staring jaw dropped at the raptor pen was the second Alex. He pointed at the ravaged cables. "You see that shit?"

DeAndre cut in. "This is why we're supposed to stick together, dumb ass! There's no telling what all is out there!"

Terrence slowly released the breath he'd held and listened as the helicopter flew over the compound yet again. They were searching the island by air for any signs of the hybrid still being alive. Unless they had thermal imagining, Terrence knew they weren't going to find her. The forest canopy was too dense to actually to see through. Not to mention, Pet knew where and how to hide when the helicopter flew over. There was no telling where she was, now, or even where she would end up going. The island was massive in size and surely offered a plethora of spots to hide. It'd take months to properly search the island versus the week they'd been given.

One week. What was all going to happen in that one week? What could all possibly occur? Terrence frowned. "Alright, enough standing around. Get back to searching the compound. We've still got a lot of ground to cover, and there are other areas located on the island she could hide. That is, if she managed to survive the Rex. There's maintenance sheds, the boat dock, several animal isolation pens...All that isn't going to search itself while we stand around doing nothing."

He looked to DeAndre and Miguel. They understood the order and trudged off, leaving the other Alex where he stood.