Notes

Soundtrack suggestions:

The exfiltration:
Zodanga Happened — Michael Giacchino, John Carter (Up to 02:10).

-o-

In town, at the police station, the phone started ringing and the on-call duty officer, Teresa Perada, paused the TV show episode she was watching on the reception desk's computer. She picked up:

"Burgo Nuevo canton police, hello."

She then listened to what the caller had to say. At this hour, the office was often deserted, but that night Teresa was not alone because a man had lined up several of the chairs in the waiting area and laid down on them to take a nap, with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head.

"An incident? Dead and missing people?" The policewoman repeated.

The sound of the conversation woke the man. Slowly, he sat up and turned his head towards the reception desk.

"Alright. Thank you sir. You can hang up," Teresa told the caller a few moments later.

She put the phone down and the man in the sweatshirt removed his hood, revealing his short dark hair and horseshoe moustache.

"Call the captain, and the mayor," El Manigordo said.

Teresa nodded and he walked out of the police station.

In the operating room, Zia was still at Blue's bedside, occasionally checking her vitals. Observing the sleeping raptor, the veterinarian's face relaxed and she looked behind her. Sitting against one of the walls, Franklin and Owen were dozing and next to her boyfriend, Claire was lying on the floor and sleeping too, using her balaclava and Owen's jacket as cushions. As for Vinny, he was gone as soon as the transfusion was over. Unable to fall asleep unlike his two companions, Owen got up and approached the operating table. He stroked the Achillobator's plumage.

"How is she?" He asked Zia in a whisper.

"She's doing better. She'll live. But she must rest," the veterinarian replied in a low voice. "What do you plan to do now?"

Owen sighed. He and Claire hadn't thought about it yet.

"We have to at least get our passports and wallets back. We left them in our luggage this morning…well, actually yesterday morning. I hope they're still here and weren't accidentally sent to the Arcadia. I think it's best if we leave the canton, go to San José and try to explain to the authorities everything that happened."

"No matter what, keep watching over Franklin," she told him.

"You healed Blue. That would be the least I could do."

That's when the door opened and on the alert, the keeper and the vet turned to it and Claire woke up with a start. They relaxed a bit when they saw that it was Juan, who had come back to inquire about Blue's condition. His eyes widened in astonishment when he saw the couple and the IT technician with the vet and the Achillobator.

"What are you doing here? You're crazy!" He hissed, more worried than angry. "Torres expected you to come back here. The whole estate is closed off and they found the truck you stole. Squads are combing everything here. They even took the dogs out!"

"How are we going to get out?" Claire asked.

While Franklin sat up, Juan thought for a moment and then motioned for them to come to him.

"Follow me, quick! I may have an idea..."

Owen turned back to Blue.

"I'm taking care of her," Zia reassured him. "Go!"

The couple and Franklin followed the head keeper out of the operating room.

"And our passports?" The young man asked.

"We don't have time," Juan pointed out. "I'll see what I can do tomorrow."

Once they were in the office at the wing's entrance, he told them to hide there while he enacted his plan, and they did. A few minutes later, he returned and gave them his signal. The trio emerged from their hiding place and followed him out of the veterinarian wing, turning right. Quietly, they walked past the keepers' office, crossed the entrance Toro had smashed when he entered the building during the incident, and stopped right in front of it. Juan had parked his car a few meters away and going ahead, he went to check that the way was clear and that no one was lingering in the parking lot. Once he was sure of that, he opened one of the side doors and motioned for the trio to come.

"Quick! Give me the rifles and hide under the blankets!" He told them.

When they reached the car, they saw that he had lowered the rear seats and put several boxes, cushions and blankets in the trunk. In the boxes, there were packets of biscuits, tea, cups and also thermoses. Enough to supply a whole platoon.

One by one, Franklin, Claire, and Owen disappeared inside the vehicle and curled up in the lowered rear seats, slipping under a large black blanket. Juan adjusted it to hide them well, spread others on top of it, hid the rifles behind his seat, wedged cushions between the trio and the front seats, sprayed some air freshener, closed the door, got out and sat behind the wheel.

Leaving the Ark's parking lot, the head keeper skirted the now empty Mantellisaurus paddock, drove past the hacienda, then down the Oaks driveway, heading for the eastern gate. He frowned when he saw that it was closed and that in addition to the sentry in his box, there was another guard in front of the gate, accompanied by a dog he kept on a leash, one of the site's three guard dogs. The guard, a Costa Rican, motioned for Juan to stop and roll down his window. The dog, a Beauceron, greeted the head keeper with a bark.

"Where are you going in such an hour?" The guard asked.

"I'm going to resupply the ACU and the others at Monte Nebuso."

"Yeah, it's true that they need something to warm their hearts. I think Austin and his guys will be happy to know that some good coffee, biscuits and blankets are waiting for them when they return from their track."

The guard looked at the back of the car.

"Could you come out and open your trunk? Sorry for the inconvenience but I have to check all outgoing vehicles. You know how it is, the orders come from higher in the hierarchy."

"No problem…"

Juan complied and opened the trunk. While holding the dog on a leash, the guard bent down and swept the boxes, pillows and blankets with his flashlight. From where he was, he couldn't make out the shape of the trio's bodies under the blankets and behind the boxes. Suddenly, the dog began to sniff and it put its front paws in the trunk, ready to pounce inside. Noticing this, Juan paled and prayed that it was the smell of the cookies and not that of his stowaways that caught his attention. But like many, the guard was tired and he wanted to finish this task as soon as possible. He pulled on the leash.

"It's alright, Agarre. Come here!"

But the dog began to pant in excitement and barked, nearly startling Franklin under the blankets. The guard didn't care and tugged on the leash, growling.

"Can't you see it's food, dummy! Jesus, what a stupid dog!"

Pulling on the leash again, he made Agarre climb down from the trunk and he turned to Juan.

"Okay, it's all clear. Be careful on the road."

The head keeper closed the trunk, settled back into the driver's seat, the sentry opened the gate, and Juan sighed with relief only once he had left the gate behind him. Shortly after, he entered the road, driving towards Burgo Nuevo.

"You can breathe, we're out," he informed the trio.

He heard them sigh, mumble about the guard and Agarre, and stir.

"But don't put your heads out right away," Juan added, "we'll soon be crossing town."

As they drove down the hill, they passed police cars and the head keeper wondered where they were going.

Fifteen minutes after they left Site D, the vehicle stopped and Juan said:

"We're here. Wait for me."

Under the blankets, the trio remained motionless and for several minutes, silence prevailed. Then they heard Juan coming back to his car. He was conversing in Spanish with someone else, a woman. He finally opened the door and whistled to let them know it was all clear.

"End of the line; all change please!" he said quietly before lifting the covers.

Closest to the door, Owen sat up and got out of the vehicle first. He was followed by Claire, who slipped her guard pistol between her pants and knickers before hiding it under her jacket, then by Franklin. Exhausted and sore, they had great difficulty in standing up straight and had only one desire, it was to find a safe place to sleep, no matter if it was a simple straw mattress on the ground. Beside Juan they saw the woman he had been talking to a moment earlier. In her forties, she had a slender body, long black hair and a pleasant angular face. She greeted them.

"Hello."

They greeted her back and Owen looked around. They were parked in front of a house built on one level. With white walls and a tiled roof, it was similar to many others that could be found in the country. Behind them, the alley would join one which itself led to a country road. Beyond the property, it was still too dark to make out the landscape and have any idea of their location.

"Where are we?" Franklin asked, looking at the house.

"In a safe place," the head keeper replied. "I'll leave you with Elena, my wife. If I linger too much, they'll realize that something is wrong. You will hear from me during the day. In the meantime, rest and tend to your wounds."

But as he began to put the blankets and boxes back in place, Claire stopped him by gently touching his arm.

"Juan, thank you very much. We're in your debt," she said in Spanish.

He nodded.

"You will thank me later. You're not out of the woods yet."

Elena then led the trio inside the house and as they walked into the living room, a young man of about eighteen came from a hallway to their left. He was as tall as Juan and as slender and good-looking as Elena, and when he saw him, Owen greeted him.

"Alonso. How are you since last time? You grew up a lot."

Claire watched them shake hands and exchange a few words. Owen didn't seem to recognize the place, so she knew he must have met Alonso when the latter when to visit his father on Isla Nublar at some point.

"Alonso. Get the first aid kit and some alcohol from the bathroom," Elena ordered her son.

The young man nodded and returned to the hallway, where he opened a door to his right. The next moment, another door opened at the end of this same corridor and an old lady in a dressing gown came out.

"What is happening? Who are these people?" she asked Elena.

"They're friends of Juan, mom. They will stay here today. Go sleep in my room. We have to clear the guest room for them."

Elena's mother nodded and as she went to get some of her things from the guest room, Alonso came out of the bathroom and brought what his mother had asked for.

"Have a wash first," she told the trio.

"Go first, Franklin," Owen suggested. "You wouldn't like to come after us..." he added, smiling weakly.

"Alonso will bring you clean clothes," Elena said in English to the IT technician.

He headed for the bathroom and while he was taking a shower, Alonso brought him a change of clothes. As soon as he came out of the bathroom, he told the couple that they could go and while they were washing, Elena inspected the few injuries he had, and more particularly the one inflicted by the stone thrown by the assassin.

"It doesn't look too bad to me, but keep an eye on it...," she told him.

They tended them and once they were done, Franklin asked:

"If I understood correctly, we sleep in the room at the back?"

"Owen and Mrs. Dearing yes, but not you. You'll take Alonso's bed," she replied, pointing to a side room, whose door faced the bathroom. "Usually, he wakes up at dawn to do physical exercises and work so don't worry, you're not disturbing."

Noticing that Juan's son was already in a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers at this hour, he nodded and trudged towards the room he had been assigned, the second on his left, the first being Elena's. When he passed in front of the latter, he heard snoring, that of their hostess' mother, Blanca. He opened the door to Alonso's room, entered it, closed it behind him, and collapsed like a log into the bed before falling asleep.

Behind the mountains east of Burgo Nuevo, dawn was already breaking.