Summary: Terri gets back to the guys and they have some semblance of a plan.

Author's Note: Hello! Sorry it's taken me a month to update. This chapter was mostly written three weeks ago but I was hoping to have the next chapter ready before I posted. It's causing some trouble. I hope everyone who celebrates it had a Happy Halloween! It's my favorite holiday.

I post silly incorrect quotes on Tumblr as future spoilers for this story so if you want, you can follow the blog I made. joanne-the-mothersaurus

Or join the discord! /GqC3S8aVSE

Chapter 19

The First Bad Decision in a Horror Movie

"They're taking too long," Buzz said, sitting down between Rodger and Max with a worried scowl.

"Fiona would have called if something happened," Max assured him while they watched Caruso handle the staff that was trying to get them to leave. They had cautious amusement and pity for the poor ride operator who really didn't deserve Caruso's enthusiasm.

"Now see here!" Caruso said dramatically as a very unimpressed security guard tried to stare him down. "My FIANCÉE and her little sister are still out there! Don't you dare tell me that everything is under control! I guaran- TEE you that my lawyers will make sure your bosses are under control if you make us leave and I LATER find out the LOVE OF MY LIFE has been torn to pieces by dinosaurs. Have you ever seen an I-demand-to-talk-to-your-managerasaurus?!"

"Sir. I'm very sorry but—" the ride operator said, not hiding his stressed confusion.

The poor guy's supposed boss cut him off. "Sir, I assure you we have the situation completely under control. Your friends are most likely already back at Main Street. If you come with us, I'm sure we can rectify this situation."

"Have you not listened to a single word I've said?" Caruso snapped.

"You said that your…" the man briefly looked Caruso up and down. " Fiancee …and her sister went ahead of the rest of your group. Don't you think it's possible they finished the ride and left?"

" No," Caruso said dryly, the drama dropping from his voice for the briefest moment. He put it back on. "They called us after we had already arrived here! We would have met them leaving. Are you suggesting—"

The other guys had no idea where Caruso was planning on taking that argument. It was just as likely he paused to get the other person to interrupt him.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just saying—"

All the while the rider operator was frantically trying to get the manager's attention but not confident enough to interrupt.

The entire ride area was mostly empty by now, except for a few stragglers waiting by the tramway in the distance, far from the weaving now-empty line. But those weren't causing nearly as much trouble as a group of boys apparently refusing to leave. In fact, an irritated tourist or two had pointed up to the station when security drove up to check that everyone had left.

"Sir, you and your friends really need to come with us," the security guard said sternly. "You can wait back at the—"

Caruso interrupted the officer and ignored the other staff members, which included another security guard and a ranger with an Asset Containment Unit patch. "This is terrible customer service! Disgraceful! You really expect us to leave behind our loved ones?! Absolutely not! What if something has happened?!"

The staff members had to partially know he was putting on an act. They had to .

Buzz was distracted from the show as his watch vibrated.

Caruso must have noticed his watch did the same, but he was a little busy.

Rodger and Max leaned a little closer as Buzz answered the call.

The sound was crackling and Rodger muttered something under his breath about more work to do on the watches.

"—p lease? Is anyone there?"

"We're here," Buzz said as the three of them shared worried looks.

Terri let out a sigh of relief that was audible over the radio.

"What happened?" Buzz asked.

Terri choked on her words. She sounded frustrated. "I can't…"

It was quiet while Terri tried to speak. They all knew Ms Moynihan might be listening, but it seemed to still startled Terri to hear the woman's voice.

"Where is your sister?" Ms Moynihan asked gently, unable to really hide the dread. "Take a deep breath, kiddo."

Terri sucked in a shudder. "Fiona…" They could practically hear her apologetic cringe.

As if reading her mind, Ms Moynihan cooed. "Terri, don't worry about the call signs," she said. "Just tell us what happened."

Terri struggled with her voice for another moment. " Fiona needs help!" Terri forced out, then immediately coughed.

The guys tensed, Max glancing at Caruso to make sure he was keeping the annoyed staff occupied.

"W-we…there were these guys who went through a hole in the fence and I convinced her…" She swallowed a sob. "She told me to run…"

There was silence for a moment.

"Did you come across the Indominus?" Ms Moynihan's tone was very telling.

The guys shared a grimace.

There was a pause. "Yes," Terri managed. "I don't know if she's okay. I don't…" she trailed off.

"Did she go dino?" Rodger asked. It was a loaded question. It meant the situation changed drastically.

Staying hidden would suddenly be much lower on the ladder of priorities.

"Yes…" Terri sniffed.

"Good, " Ms Moynihan said. She clearly wasn't happy, but Fiona facing that monster as a dinosaur was probably far better than staying human.

"Terri, the rest of us are still at the station," Buzz said carefully. "Do you need me to come fly to you?"

The others glanced at the staff worriedly.

" No! " Terri snapped. "No, someone might see you! They'll freak out! I can… I can make it. I think I'm almost—."

"Terri?"

All they got was static.

"Terri, come in!" Max asked.

"Do you boys have eyes on her?" Ms Moynihan asked urgently.

Buzz frowned, his gaze turning to the valley beyond the Gyrosphere Station platform, then the security Caruso was dealing with. His eyes snapped back to the greenery.

"There!"

His shout got the attention of one of the staff, effectively cutting all the arguments off.

The guys vaguely heard one of two security guards mutter, "Oh shit," before they and someone with a gun, presumably the ACU ranger, rushed down the platform to the Jeep by the fence below them. They drove off, heading toward the blue marble in the distance.

Buzz told Ms Moynihan that some staff were getting Terri and promised to update her soon. He had to put away his watch before the staff noticed.

Meanwhile, the ride operator was getting chewed out by someone who apparently was higher up the food chain than him.

"I thought you said all the spheres were accounted for," the operations manager said, with the tone of someone who knew they screwed up.

The ride operator blinked like a deer in the headlights. "What? N-No that's not what I…I was trying to tell you that two spheres are missing! I called the control room!"

"We'll discuss this later," the first person said before turning to Caruso. "Sir, I'm terribly sorry—"

Caruso switched gears. " Excuse me?! Just who do you think you are? I told you there were people out there and you were the one not listening! He was merely doing his job better than you!"

He continued to distract the manager from yelling at the worker until the security guard and ranger had brought a scuffed-up, teeth-clenching Terri back to the platform, leaving the broken gyrosphere on a hill in the distance. They looked a little more panicked than Terri did.

They had her sit down on a bench while the ranger and the security guard who stayed behind barked into their radios, trying to stay out of hearing range while the remaining security checked on Terri.

"You hurt anywhere?" he asked sternly. He looked a little pale too.

Terri shook her head, looking at the guys instead of the man.

"Kid, can you tell me how your gyrosphere got like…that?" he asked, his disturbed gaze flicking to the speck of blue he just rescued the girl from.

"Dinosaur attacked it…" Terri mumbled, staring at nothing for a moment.

"What about your… sister?" he glanced at the guys for confirmation. "Do you know where she is?"

Terri played the stunned victim pretty well and just mumbled something. She sniffled.

The ranger swallowed and quickly backtracked. "Okay. Sit tight kid. We'll figure this out, okay?" He looked at the rest of the teenagers. "Can one of you…?" He gestured at Terri.

Max nodded and replaced the ranger on the bench. They waited until the staff were all busy anxiously discussing something on the other end of the platform, Caruso being ignored for once. He darted over.

"Terri," Max took her shoulders to calm her down. Her shaking wasn't all acting. "Why did the radio cut out?"

Terri trembled as she reached into her pocket, producing the crushed pieces of a watch as she wiped her eyes. "I-it fell in the gears…" she whispered guiltily. She took a deep breath in a weak attempt to steady herself as she handed the pieces to Rodger.

It worried the guys to see the younger teen rattled like that. She was as tough as Fiona when it counted. She had no problem running into danger back home, although her judgment had gotten a little better over the last few months.

Terri checked that the staff weren't watching before hissing out. "You guys have to get out there!" Her voice was tense and shaky as she whispered. "Fiona. She's…That thing is huge!"

"Where was the last place you saw her?" Max asked.

"There's a wrecked part of the fence about fifteen minutes Northwest," Terri said, swallowing as she tried to gather enough saliva to talk without coughing. "Like if you head out from here, it's kinda hidden in the treeline on the left side." She swallowed a little. "I don't know exactly how far. I think the gyrospheres do like 30 miles per hour at the fastest. It was slower coming back though." She glanced at Rodger who was probably trying to calculate the distance in his head. "We went through the fence on foot."

"Do you know how long you walked?" Rodger prompted.

"Ten minutes? I don't know." She looked down. "I'm sorry. I don't know. I wasn't paying attention like I should have." Her voice trailed off and she twisted her fingers into her skirt.

"Hey, that's not your fault," Buzz insisted, nudging her. "Was Fiona okay when you left her?"

Terri frantically shook her head. "It was chasing her and the guys we were looking for. What's the plan? What do we do?"

" You go back to your parents and keep them calm while we look for Fiona," Max said.

Terri glared at him and Max was probably seconds from being cussed out.

Caruso interrupted whatever cutting language was about to escape Terri's lips. "I don't think all of us should go."

The others looked at him.

He explained, looking at Max pointedly. "There's only one T-Rex on the island and if you have to go dino, then it's going to be hard to explain if someone sees us. Fiona's going to scare enough people out if even one person catches sight of her."

"By that logic, I can't go either," Buzz said. "But I bet I can find her faster from the air."

"Yeah and they–" Caruso subtly gestured at the ACU ranger. "Are going to shoot you down just as fast!"

Buzz scowled but they knew Caruso was right. For once.

"You just volunteered yourself and Rodge. You know that right?" Max asked.

No one liked the idea of splitting up. It was tempting fate. They could look out for each other if they were together. But Caruso's point was a big one. There wasn't just an aggressive dinosaur they had to worry about.

Caruso opened his mouth to make some joke about the humidity already ruining his hair but glanced into the jungle and shut it. He shared a look with Rodger.

"We got it," Rodger said, spelling it out more for himself than the rest. "If we need to go dino around the staff, we can hide in the herds. And between the two of us, we have the best defenses."

The air sobered for a moment. This wasn't like if one of them got caught by Veloci and the others had to stage a rescue mission. Those (thankfully rare) situations were terrifying, but at least with a monster like Veloci, they knew killing them wasn't something he was interested in. Not until after he experimented and got whatever he wanted from them, at least.

Buzz noticed the park staff coming back over and signaled the others.

They didn't have enough time to figure out a plan for how to sneak away.

Time was of the essence. Rodger and Caruso needed to get out there and look for Fiona now. They didn't have time to get all the way back to Main Street and then lose the staff. There was no telling if the tram would even be operational by then.

"Caruso," Max whispered as they were very politely (but firmly) marched to the tram while one of the rangers tried to walk and write down Terri's information while asking her more questions about what happened.

Every step was taking them farther away from their friend who most likely needed help. Their window of time was shrinking.

Max eyed the automatically timed tram as it arrived, the staff notably more relaxed to see it, despite their vehicles.

The staff were busy dividing up the labor, deciding who would escort them to Main Street, who would take Terri to get checked out, who needed to write the missing persons report, who was taking the tramway, and who needed to drive their cars back to the resort.

Max looked back at Caruso. "You and Rodger need to get out there."

Caruso nodded, eyeing the walkway and how far the drop to the ground was. "Distraction. Got it. Punch the guard."

Max stiffened. "What?!"

"Just punch him! The big guy! We'll scatter while—"

"While they tase me?" Max finished with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not doing that!"

Five minutes later, Caruso cackled as he and Rodger ran, leaping over roots and ducking under foliage. "That was incredible! Did you see Max twitching?!"

"That was the plan?!" Rodger snapped at him, already winded. He hadn't received any warning before a very hesitant Max suddenly decked the biggest security guard, and then Caruso was dragging him away while panicked staff frantically shouted after them.

"Damnit! I hope Buzz got...a photo."

"I don't think so. I saw him and Terri run. They got on the tram right before it left. Did we...just strand Max with a bunch of staff who are pissed at him?"

"Yup! Oh relax, they have cars !"

They slowed when it was clear they weren't being followed.

Both boys were panting from the sprint, Rodger more than Caruso.

"Did I just lose my hat!" Caruso wheezed.

Rodger groaned and rolled his eyes.

"So much for keeping a low profile…," he muttered. "I bet this is exactly the opposite of what Ms Moynihan would approve of."

"Well, it was either that or waste time riding that tram all the way back to the park before we could lose them. Need I remind you Fiona is quite possibly in a dire situation."

"You have a point. I can't believe you have a point."

Caruso scoffed and straightened up to study their surroundings while Rodger was still catching his breath. "I have a lot of good points."

"If you bring up your hair right now, I'm gonna kill you."

"Touchy. Hey, do you know what direction we were running? Is this north?"

"I was following you."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Caruso."