JURASSIC DEAD CHAPTER 23: THE CORONADO BRIDGE

Summary: The gang faces a standoff on the bridge...

"Owen!" Claire shouted when she saw the oncoming force.

"I see them!" he replied, panicked, "Boys, get down out of sight! Karen too! Whatever happens, stay in this truck if you can. You understand me?!"

They both quickly nodded their heads and started ducking down and hiding as best they could.

Karen started to argue, but before she could speak, Sam grabbed her and kissed her.

Pulling back, he caught her eyes, "Just this once. Don't argue." She just nodded and he kissed her again before she ducked down with Gray.

Claire slammed on the brakes and they were quickly surrounded by a number of black SUVs. Doors all around opened as agents pointed their guns at the truck.

"Get out of the vehicle! Now!" one of the agents shouted. Owen and Claire both carefully got out with their hands in the air and walked to the front of the transport. Sam had managed to hide his sidearm in his belt behind his back and his machete on his leg. Owen had his attached to his prosthetic. The three exchanged nervous looks, not sure yet what was happening.

A moment later, the back door of one of the SUVs opened and Defense Secretary Adams stepped out. He walked over and stood in front of the trio, who were standing there with their hands behind their heads.

"Miss Dearing. Lieutenants. Where do you think you're going?" he asked evenly.

"Taking them to a lab for testing, at the request of Dr. Wu." Owen lied easily.

"Now we both know that isn't true. I ordered them to be put under watch an hour ago. Those raptors are government property."

"Pretty sure I would have been informed of that," Claire replied.

"I'm not stupid. I know your father gave you a warning. But you might have missed the news. Martial Law has been declared to get the outbreak under control. I can make use of anything I need to keep people safe." he said smugly.

"From what I've heard, you can't get it under control." Owen countered.

"We were never going to get it under control, Lieutenant. It was a lost cause the minute that ship crashed into the dock. You know that. Now it's just about maintaining what control we have. The President has given me the authority to do whatever it takes." the secretary replied.

"Convenient that the power lands with you." Sam said.

"It is always the military that leads in chaos."

"Why didn't you stop it if you knew this would be the result? You had enough information to give you reason to destroy both ships. Now you have zombies and dinosaurs on the loose. We told you this could happen and yet you still did nothing. You created the chaos. " Claire said, angrily.

"I did not create this!" he replied, marching up to her and getting in her face. "Your scientists did that. But I'm going to be remembered for saving those that can survive."

"So you are knowingly letting people die. You could have prevented this and you chose to let them die." she said, staring him in the eye. She was finally able to let go of her guilt and turn it to anger at those who have allowed this to escalate.

"I am not choosing anything, Ms. Dearing. There are those above me who felt this was an opportunity."

"An opportunity for what? Mass murder?" Owen asked in disbelief.

"An opportunity to remove the drags on society." the secretary stated, "Don't you all understand? The powers that be want to create a better society for everyone. But we can't do that while some people feed off the rest of us, while doing nothing to better themselves."

"You're justifying genocide." Sam said, his voice dripping with disgust. "Those with the means will survive while those without will be eliminated or turned."

The secretary just sighed, showing his annoyance, "Think of world where those that rely on the system no longer exist. Think of what we can accomplish if we no longer have to carry the weak and broken. Once we take back control..."

"That's just it, isn't it? You've lost all control. You can't stop the spread on your own without losing men to it. The only way to slow it down is to send in teams that can't be turned," Owen said, "So you think you can use my family to clean up your mess. After everything this government put me through with my dolphins, why do I owe you anything?"

"You wouldn't even have those raptors if it wasn't for us, Lieutenant! It's thanks to us that your project even existed." he replied forcefully.

"You're one of them," Claire said, shocked, finally seeing the big picture, "A member of the Coalition."

"I see you've been talking to Dr. Wu." he smirked, all but confirming it.

"You son of a bitch..." Owen started as he tried to step forward, but Claire stood in front of him.

"You have two options here, Grady. You come willingly and help develop more response teams. We'll make sure all your family and friends remain safe."

"Or?"

"Or you are taken under arrest and we still use the raptors to create more teams, but I can't guarantee the safety of your loved ones."

Meanwhile, in the cab of the truck, Karen and the boys were still keeping down low and trying to stay out of sight. The window was cracked, so Zach was able to hear some of what was being said.

"Zach! Can you hear what's going on?" Karen whispered.

"Yeah. It's the Secretary of Defense. He wants the raptors. And it sounds like they're going to let the outbreak spread on purpose." he replied.

"What?!" she screeched almost too loud.

"Mom, we need to help," Gray said beside her.

"I don't know what we can do, honey. I think the best thing to do is to stay hidden as long as possible."

"Mom, they're talking about taking Owen with them. We can't let that happen!" Zac said.

Karen lifted her head slightly so she could see out the windshield. She saw the line of government agents lined up with their guns pointed toward the front of the truck. She ducked back down quickly to avoid being seen.

Her sister needed back up more than ever now, "Zac, which button is it?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"To open the cage. Which button is it?" she asked again, more forcefully this time.

"It's that one," he replied, pointing to it.

She lifted her head again to get another look and could see the Defense Secretary yelling angrily at them. She knew help would not be coming soon.

"When you see your chance, push it."

"Well lucky for me, my loved ones are here with me." Owen smirked.

"Are they?" the secretary smiled, looking almost evil. He turned back toward the convoy and waved his arm.

A moment later, two agents climbed out of a nearby SUV and opened both back doors. Both Captain Grady and Admiral Brady were dragged out of the seats. Their wrists were tied with wire ties and they stumbled as they were pulled to the front.

"Dad!" Both Owen and Sam shouted at the same time. They went to step forward and guns were quickly pointed at them. Both quickly stepped back with their hands up.

"Owen! Sam!" the two men shouted back.

"I believe we're ready to talk now." Adams said.

"You son of a bitch." Owen growled.

Claire put her arm out to stop him from advancing again. She stepped forward between the two men and glanced briefly back at Owen. She turned back to the men aiming their weapons all around them, "Gentlemen, we don't need to be fighting, do we? Don't we have enough bullshit to deal with right now?"

The tense standoff continued for a few moments, with Claire standing resolute between Owen, the Secretary and the restrained Grady and Brady. The secretary seemed unmoved by Claire's attempt at diplomacy. "Ms. Dearing, you seem to underestimate the gravity of the situation," he retorted coldly. "We are at a turning point in history, and sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

"A lot of terrible things in history have been done for the sake of the 'greater good', Mr. Secretary," she argued, "And time and again, history as proven those that participated to be the true monsters and evils of society. Right now you are holding my family against their will. For what? You could have worked with us all along. But the draw to power was obviously too much for you to resist. So here we are at a standstill."

"You forget. I still own these two. I can have them court-martialed and sent to prison. They shared classified information with civilians. That's treason."

Owen froze at that thought. His father could face life in prison for warning him. He couldn't believe he found himself actually pondering the offer. He knew it would mean raising more raptors into weapons of war, but it would guarantee his family would have high level protection. The outbreak was going to take over. They had heard it from the horse's mouth. It was a way to keep his family safe. It was a way to keep Claire safe. He looked over at his father, who shook his head 'no' to him.

Claire watched as a look of worry cross Owen's face before it turned to resolve. She could tell he was exchanging looks with his father as he made his decision,

"So what's it going to be, Lieutenant?" Adams said, "You come with us willingly and I hand your fathers over to you. I'll send a team with your family to get them safe. You don't have too long to decide."

"How do I know you won't betray me?"

"You don't."

Claire turned to him and put her hand on his chest, "Owen. Don't" she said, looking him in the eye, "We stick together. You promised."

He looked at her and placed his hand over hers, "You're my whole world. You know that don't you?" he said, running his thumb along her cheek, "I love you."

"Owen, no..." she protested, but he turned and wrapped his arm around her.

"Adams, I-" he started to say, but was interrupted by the growing sound of nearby screams.

Not far away, on the other side of the bridge and coming from the northern part of the city, cars began crashing and piling up. Others were able to stop before crashing, but were prevented from getting across by the pile up in front of them. As people got out of their cars to see what was happening, Sam elbowed Owen to get him to see what he was seeing.

Like insects crawling over the damaged cars, they could see a large number of zombies making their way across the bridge and in their direction. And they were moving fast.

All of a sudden the alarm for the raptor cage started going off. He heard the distinct sound of the cage opening,

"We're about to have company. In more ways than one," he said, stepping close enough for Claire to hear him. She looked just beyond the line of agents and saw the horde coming their way.

"Shit," she said as she stepped back closer to Owen and Sam, "Well, gentlemen, it's been fun. But we should all be on our..." she said before being interrupted by the screeches from the raptors.

Before anyone could react, Blue and Echo jumped out from behind the transport and landed in between the trio and the armed force facing off with them. While some agents turned to fire at the horde coming from behind, the rest kept their eyes on the raptors, currently positioned to pounce.

"DO NOT FIRE!" Adams shouted at the agents, "I need Grady and the raptors alive!"

"Well, this is a problem," Sam said, knowing he was stating the obvious.

"Let's make sure it doesn't become a bigger problem," she said, splitting her gaze as much as she could between the raptors and the zombies, "We should probably get off this bridge."

Owen thought fast and realized that the military had blocked off their side of the bridge so they could stop the transport head on. They had an open road to get away, "If we can get back in the truck, we can make a quick escape. But we need to get Blue and Echo back in their cage first."

"What about your dads?" Claire asked.

"We're not leaving without them." Owen replied with certainty.

"Meaning we're fighting?" Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

"Most likely," Claire replied, reaching for the machete she had tucked under her pant leg.

The raptors were holding their position in front of the trio, ready to pounce at any moment. For Owen, it felt like they stood there forever, but it was only about a minute later that the horde had almost reached the convoy. Blue and Echo both jumped over the line of agents and began attacking the onslaught of zombies. The agents all turned and began firing at anything running toward them. This included some civilians trying to escape.

It was suddenly total chaos.

Some of the agents started escaping to vehicles, while others stood there ground, taking down as many as possible.

Sam had pulled out his gun and was firing, while Claire and Owen were slashing at anything that got close enough. All three stayed close to the truck, but the zombies were breaking through the line of agents and surrounding them.

"We need to get out of here!" Claire shouted as she stabbed one in the head.

"There's too many of them!" Owen replied as he beheaded another, "The agents are starting to turn!"

Out of no where, Echo jumped out in front of them and began slashing and throwing anything she could get her jaws on. They were suddenly making a dent in the horde and were almost clear enough to escape.

Thomas and Jim were both knocked down in the upheaval. Both with their hands still tied up. They were left to kick off what zombies came after them.

"Well this is a new experience!" Jim yelled, "I thought being admiral meant a cushy office!" he said as he rolled around, trying to get his hands free.

"Yeah, well, our sons are involved! What'd you expect?! They get it from us!" Thomas yelled back, "Come on! Maybe if we're back to back we can untie the other!" he said, turning so their backs were facing and their hands could reach.

Thomas was able to loosen the tie on Jim's wrist enough for him to free one hand. Unfortunately, as he tried to roll around to untie Thomas, a zombie got around his neck from the back and was pulling him away.

"Shit! Hang on, Tom!" Jim growled out as he fought his attacker.

He was losing the fight when all of a sudden the zombie was knocked away. He turned to look as he was catching his breath.

"Hey dad!" Sam said with a grin, "Need a hand?"

"Very funny! Go help-" he said as he turned, "Shit! They're putting him in the car!" he screamed as he caught sight of the agents dragging Thomas back to the convoy.

"On it! Get to the truck! Check on Karen and the boys!" Sam said as he began fighting the mass building up again.

Claire and Owen had been slightly separated and Claire was doing fine covering herself. Owen was fighting one off who had gotten close enough that they were wrestling.

"Owen!" she shouted, as she turned to look at him.

"I'm fine!" he growled out as he finally pushed it off and beheaded it, "Watch your back!" he shouted as he saw one about to grab her.

Just as she turned, the zombie reached her and she was forced to wrestle it. It was stronger than her and began pushing her down to the ground.

"CLAIRE!" Owen screamed, fighting his way through, "SAM! GET TO CLAIRE!"

Sam shot the one in front of him and began running toward her, but it had gotten her to the ground and was on top of her. She was fighting it with everything, keeping it's mouth away from her.

Owen was pushing and stumbling, trying to get to her, when suddenly Blue dove in and grabbed it off of her. She pulled it into a barrel roll and tossed it off the side of the bridge. She hopped back up and ran back to Claire, jumping in front of her and knocking away anything coming at them.

Claire was still on the ground and underneath Blue when Echo joined them and the two formed a wall in front of her.

Owen froze momentarily, shocked to see the defensive pack position. They were covering her almost entirely.

He was broken from his stare by a gun firing and Echo screeching out in pain. He could see the dart in her side. It was seconds before she collapsed on the ground.

"ECHO!" Claire shouted.

They were still going to try and take the raptors.

Blue screeched in obvious anger, but remained in her position over Claire. Another round went off, but missed as Blue seemed to dodge it. That was enough to piss her off and she leapt at the direction the firing was coming from.

Claire was back to fighting off zombies as she got up. She was trying to get to Echo, but the agents were moving in and the zombies were surrounding her again.

The teams were able to keep the horde back and get a hold of the Echo, moving her to a nearby transport.

Owen couldn't do anything but watch. They were fighting on all sides, "We gotta go! NOW!" he shouted, "Where's my dad?! Where's your dad?!"

Sam was already making his way back toward the truck, "Dad's in the truck! They grabbed your dad again! I went to go after him, but then Claire needed help! I'll go get the truck started! You get her!"

"CLAIRE!" Owen was trying to get them off the bridge before they were overrun, but Claire was clearly lost. She was razor focused on getting to Echo, but the transport started taking off back across the bridge.

As he was trying to get to her, Owen caught sight the Defense Secretary being rushed off to a vehicle and his anger took over. All the years in the Navy, trusting the brass to have his back when the time came and ultimately being stabbed in the back. The raptors were just one more thing they would take from him and he couldn't allow it. Without saying anything, he took off after him.

"Owen!" Claire snapped out of her daze and realized Owen was going after Adams, "STOP!"

He rushed up and began fighting his way through. Adams looked back and realized Owen was chasing him and started panicking. He moved faster toward his vehicle as agents were being taken out by zombies all around him.

"Adams! You're not taking my family!" One of the agents managed to get behind Owen in the chaos and hit him with the butt of his gun, knocking him out.

"Put him in the car with his father! We need to go!" Adams shouted as he jumped back into his SUV. The agents tossed Owen's unconscious body in with Thomas, just as Blue realized what was happening and began chasing them.

"OWEN!" Claire screamed as she watched her husband being taken. She was surrounded by agents and zombies and couldn't go after him. She could only watch as the motorcade took off, Blue and dozens of zombies chasing behind.

"CLAIRE!" Sam shouted from inside the truck as he turned the motor on. "We gotta go!"

She hit a series of buttons on her watch, sending the return chime to Blue, but there was no guarantee she would respond. Claire fought off a few more before turning and running for the cab of the truck, jumping in and slamming the door closed, "GO!" she shouted at Sam, who shifted gears and took off across the bridge.

Claire hit the return call to Blue again, hoping she could track them and come home. But she also knew she might not let Owen out of her sight.

"What the hell happened?!" Karen asked, breaking the momentary silence. Jim had just appeared a moment earlier and was fighting off anything that came near the vehicle. But they were leaving without Owen or Thomas.

"Where's Owen?" Zac asked.

"What about the raptors?" Gray asked desperately.

Sam was focused on the road, but spared a solemn glance over to Claire. She turned back to look at her family, "The government has taken Owen, Thomas and Echo into custody. I don't know about-"

Just then the entire truck shook as a crash was heard.

Gray looked back, "It's Blue!"

"Oh thank god!" Claire breathed as she hit the button to close the gate to the pen.

Sam made a few more swerves before finally reaching the end of the bridge. The traffic was stopped and he had to crash through a few cars to get to open road, but they were soon on the highway, which was mostly clear at the moment.

It was again silent in the cab as everyone was collecting their thoughts. Only the sound of breathing and occasional noises from Blue could be heard.

Claire was lost in thought. They had Owen and Echo. She had no idea where they were being taken. They needed a plan.

"Jim? How many military or research facilities could they go to that would be able to handle Echo?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I can think of at least a dozen." he replied.

"What are you thinking?" Sam asked.

"We need to get to the ranch. We'll figure out our next move from there." Claire said as they made their way to the plane waiting for them in Vegas.

One week later...

Owen felt like he was experiencing deja vu. It was foggy as he was returning to consciousness and he felt immense pain in his head and neck.

"Fuck. Where am I?" he said as he looked around the dark room.

"Owen?" he heard a voice say from the void.

"Dad?"

"Oh, thank god. No memory loss this time," he heard his father sigh.

"Very funny. Where the hell are we? And why does it feel like my head was hit with a wall of bricks?"

"They've been keeping you knocked out. They didn't want you resisting too much. Looks like we're in some kind of government installation. I know we went through a bunch of gates and I'm pretty sure we're underground."

"They didn't knock you out too?"

"I played nice. They only kept me in the dark. Figured one of us should have some idea where we are."

"Oh, god! Claire?! The raptors?!" he said as he found himself waking up more.

"As far as I can they have you, me and Echo. The rest got away. I've been trying to listen to the guards talking. But from what I could hear when I could, they know where they are and they are under surveillance for now. Everybody's hands are full with the outbreak right now."

"How bad?" Owen asked, hesitantly.

"No idea. I can tell it's bad, but not to what extent. We've been down here a few days, if not a week."

"Well if the city was overrun..."

"Yeah, there's no telling what it looks like out there right now."

"But my wife is alive?"

"As far as I can tell, for right now, she is."

"Then we need to figure out a way out so I can go find her."

Meanwhile, somewhere in the mountains of Montana...

Karen quickly made her way across the compound. She had just left Gray with Barry and Mac, who were feeding lunch to Blue. There were construction workers building up all the fencing around the property and security team members around every corner. About halfway across the field she could see Zach working with Sam on some of the vehicles in the nearby garage building. She nodded her head and smiled as both as she passed by.

"Come 'ere, beautiful!" Sam shouted from his spot on the ground. He was laying on a dolly having just been under one of the trucks.

"Can't right now! Promised Claire I would help her with something first and I'm late! I'll be back!" she said before turning and making her way to the main house.

As she entered the house, she made her way to the main office where Lowery had setup the control center. She had come in the middle of his most recent update.

"So what are the numbers?" Claire asked, as she looked at the monitors. She turned and acknowledged Karen before she continued, "How far out are they?"

"We're looking at about a week out. It's grown." Lowery replied.

"How big?" she asked.

"Last estimate was around thirty five thousand."

"Fuck." she swore, shaking her head and turning away from the screen. She looked at her sister and Karen could see the fear in her eyes.

"We're hoping the winter conditions will slow them down."

"I need to get out there and start looking." Claire was getting frustrated being trapped on the ranch. She wanted to start a hard search for Owen, but the outbreak was out of control and widespread in a matter of days.

"Claire, we'll get there. We need to narrow down the list first," Jim said from behind her, "We can't just go invading every military facility. Especially right now." He had become a true advisor for her. He was helping develop her search and rescue with all his inside information. And another father figure for her to look to when she needed it.

"I know I'm being unreasonable. But I do not want to be trapped in by this horde all winter. I want my husband and his father home. I want my raptor home with her sister. We're safe here. Simon is putting everything he can into fortifying this property. I'm going to get my family back."

The room was quiet for a moment, "We should have a complete picture of the situation by tomorrow morning," Lowery said, breaking the silence.

"Thank you, Lowery. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go deal with something." she said, stepping out of the room with Karen following right behind.

As soon as she was out in the atrium, she started to collapse slightly and had to reach for a nearby table to keep from falling.

"Claire!" Karen whispered loudly as she rushed over to help.

"I'm fine!" Claire whispered angrily back.

"You are not! That is the fourth time this week!" her sister retorted, "You need to rest and take care of yourself. Owen wouldn't want to see you like this."

Claire just sighed, "I know."

"Look, you go upstairs and I'll meet you there, I'll get you some water and something to eat from the kitchen."

"Fine." she huffed.

"Big sisters always know best!" she almost sang as she walked away toward the kitchen. Claire just rolled her eyes and climbed the stairs.

About ten minutes later, Karen made her way up to the master suite, which Claire had made her own. It was assumed since Claire was both Owen's wife and Thomas' daughter in law, she would get the biggest space.

As she entered she found herself in the sitting area that Claire had turned mostly into office space. She could see the door to the sleeping area and bathroom open. She walked in to find Claire sitting on her bed, staring at the wall.

"I already did it."

"Well?"

"I don't know yet."

Karen sighed and walked into the bathroom. Moments later she came out and just leaned in the door frame, crossing her arms and looking at her sister.

"Positive?" Claire asked.

"Positive," Karen replied with a nod, "What are you going to do?"

"Find him."