Jurassic Park: The Broken Lives Saga by Dinohunter55
Chapter 4: Amanda
Silver Claw raced down the hall. He passed many closed doors. A scent caught his nose. It was unfamiliar yet not. Neither velociraptor nor that of any creature he knew of, how did it seem like he knew it? It was a feeling similar to the sign outside. It was something he could not explain but grabbed at his curiosity.
The sound of running grew louder until Silver Claw rounded a corner just as a door shut. He eyed the closed door closest to him with suspicion. Further down the hall, another door led outside of the building. He saw the fence through its window. Whatever this creature was could open doors. That was curious and new.
He heard the harsh sound of metal scraping stone. It was the in the room behind the closest door. Silver Claw moved to it and paused. His breath came hard and fast as his heart pounded in his chest. He felt a thrill but not that of the hunt. It was of curiosity. He tried and failed to think of another creature that could open doors other than a velociraptor and a….
Silver Claw hooked the door handled with his three long fingers and pushed down. The latch rasped softly and then he nudged the door open with his snout. It swung wide to reveal a dark and empty room.
Silver Claw stood perplexed. The room was large but also empty save several stacks of chairs to one side of the room and desk on the other. A faint orange glow leaked in around curtains drawn over windows on the far wall. He sniffed the air. The scent was there. So where was the creature?
His eyes fell upon the desk. The noise made sense now. It had been flush against the wall before and now it was not. The solid face of the desk faced in his direction. He approached. The killing sickles of his inner toes clicked a nervous rhythm on the floor. He was ready to kill if he had to but he wanted to see the creature first. Curiosity drove him more than any other need.
Silver Claw loomed and peered over the edge of the desk. He saw nothing until he lowered his head to look under it. A scream startled him. Silver Claw leapt back and hissed. A shape leapt out from under the desk. Silver Claw attacked instinctively.
He missed the fleeing creature and caught a curtain in his claws as he fell. Bright orange light filled the room. He was blinded and then shrouded in darkness as the curtain fell over him. A door slammed. Silver Claw thrashed under the curtain as he struggled to free himself.
He fought his way free and stood. A solid door led outside. He ran to it and found himself standing on the grated metal walkway when he stepped outside. The air whistled around him. The ground lay more than fifty meters below him at the bottom of the cliffs. It brought a sense of vertigo to his already trembling body.
The creature was gone.
Silver Claw looked left and then right. It could have gone either way. He chose left. The main building of the compound was L-shaped and Silver Claw quickly found solid footing. The harsh sunset glare off of the building's windows kept him blinking. He lost the scent.
Around the corner of the building sat a dirty pool and a grated metal stairway leading to the roof. Creeping plants crossed the concrete boarder of the pool to drink of its stagnant waters. He still did not see the creature.
Silver Claw ran up the stairs and onto the roof for a better view of the surrounding area. He spotted the creature at the gate and it saw him. It must have gone right. Silver Claw crossed the roof and leapt down as close to the fleeing creature as he could. His speed startled the thing as it shrieked and closed both gates behind it before running away along the road headed north towards the gully.
"Go away," screamed the human for it could surely be nothing but that.
Silver Claw startled and paused in his pursuit. His heart and mind raced. He understood the words. He just understood the words and knew their meaning. He understood the human. A dizzying wave overwhelmed him.
The pack never told him that they could understand the human language. It was just like trying to understand a tyrannosaurus rex or parasaurolophus. Meaning could be gathered from how they reacted, the sounds they used, and the posture of the body. But nothing even came close to the clear understanding of speech used between the velociraptors.
Was it just him? Was it all a dream? No, he was awake, that much he knew for certain.
The understanding picked at the familiar feeling in his mind as when he observed the signs. But this was something different. This was clear and complete in its knowing. Silver Claw teetered a little and then refocused. He had to learn if the human could understand him as well and then why it was on the island.
Silver Claw pulled open the gates and turned to chase the fleeing human. It was an impressive ways down the road already though still much slower than a velociraptor. A tremor made him freeze.
A spinosaurus lumbered around the curve in the road a ways to the south. It spotted him immediately and roared a challenge. It lacked the long wounds from the previous day and was a slightly different color overall. Fear filled Silver Claw. There were two of the massive predators in his pack's territory. The spinosaurus charged.
Silver Claw ran down the road towards the human. It looked back at him and then the spinosaurus. Its eyes went wild with fear but its legs could not carry it any faster despite how hard it tried.
Silver Claw caught up to the human easily but did not pass it. "Watch out for the gully ahead." Silver Claw said.
The human only looked at him with wide eyed terror.
It did not understand him. How could he understand the human but it could not understand him?
The spinosaurus passed the gate and then roared as it saw new prey. It would catch the human easily in the open. Silver Claw could outrun the lumbering beast if he followed the road where he would not need to dodge trunks, branches and dense undergrowth. But then he would leave the human to its fate. Could he do that without trying to get answers?
The road curved. The human did not.
"Look out for the gully!" Silver Claw yelled.
The human looked back over its shoulder at him, a startled expression written on its face. The look was still not one of comprehension. Its foot found air instead of ground. It screamed. It fell.
Silver Claw watched the human tumble down the embankment. Somehow, it avoided all the trees but landed hard upon a mossy overhang before rolling off and onto the gravely bed below.
The spinosaurus closed the distance.
Silver Claw let loose a frustrated snarl and turned down the embankment. His journey was smoother than the human. He reached the bottom and found it unconscious beside the rushing water. Water lapped at its head.
He grabbed at the loose colorful skin on its back and pulled. He realized with a start that is was not skin but a fibrous material that could be removed. It was wearing clothes. He heard about them too from the pack but was not until he touched it that he made the connection and recollection. It too picked at that strange part of his mind with the vague sense of knowing but this time offered more than the sign brought though less than the words.
The spinosaurus reached the top of the embankment and halted. It roared furiously down at Silver Claw. The bright green eyes fixed on him. A lesser intelligence then his own considered the options. It placed a tentative step on the embankment and then another.
Silver Claw considered leaving the human and saving himself. He nearly did. Instead he reached down and grabbed the human, hooking his long clawed fingers under its chest just behind the arms. Silver Claw ran while dragging the human's bare legs along the smooth streambed. It was slower than he would like and the human was heavier than he initially suspected. But he made it work.
The spinosaurus was only halfway down the embankment when Silver Claw lost sight of it around a bend. He did not slow. Once the spinosaurus was on the streambed it would move much faster. The only safe place was one of the caves. He just had to find one even though the thought of entering it drew up a deep fear in him.
As a young hatchling, he became lost in one such cave. Alone and in the dark for over a day he had been traumatized by the squeaking of bats and the dripping of unseen water. He snapped back to the present before that past consumed him.
He heard the footfalls of the spinosaurus. It was in the gully but moving cautiously on the loose stones. Silver Claw reached another major bend where the embankment became cliffs. Small caves filled the walls between growths of ferns. They were too small to squeeze into or too shallow and provided no protection. His heart thundered.
The spinosaurus was close now. Around another bend, Silver Claw froze. A lone stegosaurus grazed upon the ferns. It stood unmoving in the stream, like a great boulder against the current, with its head grazing one side while spiked tail swayed lazily over the other.
Beyond it laid the cave Silver Claw needed.
The stegosaurus noticed the velociraptor and the peaceful mood the animal vanished. It bellowed a challenge and thumped its tail on the loose stones. It turned to allow its tail free range of the gully while protecting its head from attack.
Silver Claw looked back. The spinosaurus rounded the previous bend and roared. The sound startled the stegosaurus. Silver Claw took his chance and raced forward with the human still clutched in his claws. The tail swung but Silver Claw ducked at the last moment, earning a grunt from the stirring human.
Out of the reach of the tail, the stegosaurus looked as if it would turn but the spinosaurus lumbered into view. The stegosaurus sung its tail back and forth rapidly to ward off the massive predator while walking further upstream to keep the velociraptor away from its head. The plates on its back rustled with the motion.
Silver Claw passed the stegosaurus and headed for the cave. He felt the wind and heard the clack as the stegosaurus actually tried to bite him on the tail. If not for the human, he might have tried to bite back.
The cave entrance was a narrow fissure in the rock, barely wide enough for Silver Claw to drag the human through and he had to stoop down to do it. The stegosaurus was slammed bodily into the gully wall. Dirt and rock rained down. Rock shifted. Silver Claw reached a wider passage where he turned around. The entrance narrowed until it as far too thin for Silver Claw to escape through. His deepest fear filled him. He was trapped in the cave.
A titanic battle raged outside but all Silver Claw knew was the narrowing slit that still allowed light inside. He dropped the human who grunted, moaned, and then rolled over shakily. It screamed. He did not care. Silver Claw watched the narrow gap close until it was only large enough to stick his snout through.
The battle continued. The sound muffled. Dirt and rock fell. The hole remained fixed. Silver Claw dropped to the ground. The human clambered away in his peripheral vision and sobbed. The sun set and the dark consumed him in a waking nightmare.
The early morning light finally crept into the cave. Silver Claw stared at the light and blinked. He had not slept all night. His body trembled. Muscles ached from tension. Somewhere nearby, the human slept. He heard its gentle breaths.
A cold numbness filled his mind. The night of terror had left him feeling hollow. He relived the events of the distant and recent past. Near dawn his mind had cleared. Now, he was just tired. He needed sleep but the tiredness originated from a deeper mental fatigue. Sleep would only do so much. He needed time and somewhere safe to hide. The cave provided both but not the kind he needed or wanted.
Silver Claw shifted and then stood. His muscles throbbed and he closed his eyes while trying to push back the pain. Moving around would help. Slowly, very slowly, Silver Claw paced the small confines in silence. Despite the low light, he could see well. There was not much to see. The space was barely large enough for him to turn around in and the low ceiling meant he could not raise his head above his shoulders. A connecting tunnel led deeper into the rock but his vision ended at that yawning dark abyss.
Thoughts threatened to drag him back to the past and darker places. Instead, he focused on the sleeping human. It lay tight against a wall as far away from where he had dropped as it could without straying far from the entrance. It must not have a fear of caves he concluded since it was able to sleep through most of the night. Though like him sleeping at the pond, it awoke several times in frightened panic before drifting off once more while mumbling a few incoherent words.
The dark made determining color difficult and Silver Claw had not paid enough attention previously to determine them now. He moved closer and looked it over, taking in its scent. It had an earthy damp smell which he figured was from the fall while the stronger body odor of fear sweat and hint of something sweeter permeated the whole. He examined the face and saw that it had soft, gentle features. The body was covered by clothes. A short sleeve shirt and shorts he figured. Scratches and bruising marked the slender legs that ended with feet obscured by old shoes.
Silver Claw considered for a while. He was sure that it was a young female. That felt right in his mind. She was not very big and had no visible claws. Inside her slightly ajar mouth, he saw no sharp fangs either. It puzzled him the humans were able to keep his elders in cages for the longest time. They seemed like easy prey.
Silver Claw nudged the soft skin of her arm. The female shrieked. Silver Claw leapt back, simultaneously hitting his head on the low ceiling and bending his tail against the other wall. He hissed his pain.
The human sat up, breathing hard. Her eyes darted blindly in the dark. Silver Claw felt pity. She could not see him even though he could see her. Her breathing increased and grew troubled. It started to worry him. He saw a trembling arm reach up for her chest.
Silver Claw felt helpless to calm the human. He moved to her and sat beside her though she did not know it. He watched her. He could kill her, release her from her suffering. He could make it quick. She would feed his growing hunger for a few days at least.
But that sat wrong with him.
Silver Claw lowered his head until it rested on her lap. She gasped but otherwise remained as she was for a while. He felt the pulsing of her heart through his jaw. He could nearly taste the fear radiating off of her. But slowly, her breathing eased and her heart slowed.
A tentative hand wandered from where it clutched her chest until it found the tip of his snout. Silver Claw resisted the sudden urge to snarl at the touch. Her hand traced his scales until it touched his crest. She traced it until, behind his eyes, she touched the stiff quills at the back of his skull. She started petting him.
The feeling was not an unpleasant one and soon Silver Claw felt himself drifting off into much needed sleep.
A light beyond his closed eyelid stirred Silver Claw from a deep and peaceful sleep. His crimson eyes opened to the lit features of the human female. He startled up and looked at the entrance where the afternoon glow remained just as faint through the narrow hole as it had in the morning. He looked back at the human.
She held a small flashlight loose in one hand while the other recoiled from where she had been resting it. He saw her face clearly now. Frightened blue eyes stared wide at him above a small nose and trembling lips. A band of light freckles broke up the pale shade of her skin while her auburn hair fell long and loose past her shoulders.
He scared her and for that he felt a little sorry. A trembling hand reached out. He met it with his snout. She relaxed a little and let her hand fall away.
"I must have startled you," she said. Her voice was soft and gentle much like the rest of her. Much softer than the stressed shout he heard from her other previous day. "I forgot that I had the flashlight in my pocket."
"Did you understand me the other day?" Silver Claw asked. "Is that why you're talking to me now?"
She flinched at the words but otherwise showed no comprehension.
Silver Claw sighed. "I can understand you but you cannot understand me."
"The other day," she paused, "you gave me quite the scare in the building. You certainly are better than that monster that chased us."
Silver Claw found it an odd behaviour that she would continue speaking to him despite not understanding a word he said and presumably while he should not understand a word she said. It was not unpleasant however.
She touched his neck. Silver Claw looked down at her arm. She froze briefly and then started petting him again.
"You're not so bad."
Silver Claw found he enjoyed the attention and eventually leaned into it a little.
"I think we're trapped in here for now," she said. The direction of the light changed to focus on the entrance. "I don't think we'll be digging out through rock."
Silver Claw followed the light and then turned his head towards the tunnel. She seemed to notice and turned the light to follow his head.
"There's a tunnel," she said and moved to get up.
Silver Claw hissed and placed a clawed hand on her leg to keep her still. She shrank back to where she was.
"This light won't last forever," the human sighed with a hint of frustration. "I don't want to be in the dark."
Silver Claw released her and stood up.
"It's almost like you understand that," she laughed.
"I did," Silver Claw said.
She paid no notice and got up as best she could under the low ceiling. Her bent figure looked more uncomfortable than Silver Claw's own. She walked to the tunnel and turned the light down it. It stretched as far as the light in a nearly straight line. The walls were rounded and smoothly rippled with jagged chucks of porous volcanic stone scattered across the floor.
She moved down the tunnel. Silver Claw did not.
When she noticed that he was not following, she turned to him. "Are you afraid or something?" The question was not cruel or judgemental, merely a question.
Not knowing what else to since she would not understand his words, he give a slight nod of the head and then his gaze turned downward.
She went wide eyed for a moment and then squinted. Something was clearly on her mind. She moved back to him, a quizzical look writ on her face. She touched his chin. That brought his eyes up to hers.
Silver Claw felt a threat challenge as their eyes met. He pushed the feeling down. He knew that it was not. Still, his quills straightened.
"This is dumb," she whispered to herself. "It's just an animal." Her hand fell away and she turned to go back down the tunnel but stopped. She looked at him again. "Can you understand me?"
Silver Claw realized that she understood the gesture. He nodded, a little too enthusiastically he realized to his slight shame.
The human froze. It was clear she did not know how to react but Silver Claw saw the intelligence behind her eyes as she considered the situation. "If you really can understand me," she mused on her next words. "Shake your head instead of nodding."
Silver Claw shook his head.
Her eyes widened and she crouched down in front of him. Silver Claw lowered himself to her level to maintain eye contact. She held out her arms to either side. "Look at the flashlight."
Silver Claw turned his head to the flashlight in her right hand.
"You… you can understand me." She stammered and sank back until she was seated.
Silver Claw stared. His heart quickened. She was smart. Now they could communicate simply one way. It frustrated him a little that she could not understand his words but it was a start.
"This is amazing," she smiled. "Can you understand every word I'm saying?"
Silver Claw nodded.
"How?" the human paused expecting an answer. She realized her mistake and sighed. "Oh right, you can't speak English."
Silver Claw snorted.
She was about to say something but her eyes fell back to the flashlight. "We need to get going before the battery dies." She stood and turned.
Silver Claw did not follow.
She realized and returned to him. "Are you afraid of the dark?"
Silver Claw shook his head.
She thought for a moment and looked down the tunnel. "Are you afraid of the cave?"
This time, Silver Claw nodded.
She knelt in front of him and gently cupped his jaw, turning his head up to look at her. "I'll stay beside you the whole time. I promise," she smiled down at him. "I thought about yesterday a lot during the night. You saved me from those monsters outside, didn't you?" She waited for his nod. "I promise you that I'll help you through the cave. It may not lead out but we need to try and I'll be there with you the whole way. I'm scared too but together we can survive this."
She stood slowly with Silver Claw. She moved beside him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Eventually, they started walking together.
It was slow going at first but eventually the tunnel grew tall enough that they could stand properly. Tremors rocked Silver Claw often but a few calming words from the human eased his nerves for a time. After what seemed like hours but in actuality was only around half an hour, they came to an impasse. The cave narrowed until it was only a crack large enough to crawl through.
Silver Claw felt sick.
The human patted his shoulder and then stepped forward. She knelt and looked through the crack. She crawled inside.
Silver Claws heart raced and he whimpered a protest. For long moments, he began pacing as the darkness consumed him. Then the light came back.
"The cave opens on the other side and I think I see something." The human looked up at him from the crack. "Come on."
Silver Claw shook his head and hissed.
"I'll help you through," she said, "just like I promised."
Silver Claw stood his ground for a while but eventually noted the dimming light. The battery was dying. With a whimper, he moved to the crack and looked through. It was not long, only about his length from snout to tail. That was not much he told himself. But it looked tight. He tucked his arms in and lowered to the ground.
"Keep your arms out," the human said. She had more room to move around than he did. "You'll need to pull yourself with your arms while also pushing with your legs.
The position was uncomfortable but he managed and slowly, all too slowly for his liking, Silver Claw inched forward through the crack. His heart raced. The human pet him reassuringly from time to time to keep him calm. It helped but only a little. Near the other side, he caught on something and began to panic.
"No, no, no, no," the human said. "Calm yourself. You are ok." She grabbed his head forcefully and made him look at her.
He nearly bit her.
She was beside him, sprawled just like him. She turned and shined the light back. She tugged him a little towards her. "Try going forward now."
Silver Claw moved tentatively. He was free.
The human crawled ahead and out as Silver Claw's head reached the other side. She flashed the light down the tunnel. He saw a grey wall that contrasted with the dark rock of the cave. Before he knew it, he was free.
Silver Claw pounced on the human and pinned her to the wall. She gave a shriek and trembled. Silver Claw buried his snout in her neck and purred. His heart pounded. He had never felt more grateful to have another living creature at his side.
The human seemed to recognize this. A tear rolled down her cheek and she tentatively wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're safe," she whispered in his ear before letting out a long sigh. "You gave me a bit of a scare just now though."
Silver Claw stepped back and nodded his apology. She seemed to accept it and together they moved down the tunnel. The light dimmed a little more.
The grey wall turned out to be manmade. It was concrete and blocked off the cave. A single metal door led through it. The human opened it and stepped beyond, followed closely by Silver Claw. A new tunnel stretched in two directions. The air was staler than the cave but had a similar dusty smell. Pipes and wires ran along the roof in neat bundles. The walls were largely bare save the odd sign which the light did not linger on long enough for Silver Claw to get a feel of the meaning.
"Let's go this way," the human gestured with the light down one side of the tunnel.
Silver Claw did not resist and followed the human.
"This is promising," the human said. "Now it has to lead somewhere and if it doesn't then we'll just turn around and walk the other way."
The light flickered.
"Hopefully before the light goes out," she chuckled nervously.
They progressed faster in the manmade tunnel than the cave. The dying light motivated Silver Claw to move and the artificial nature of the manmade tunnel help ease his fears. The human continued to keep pace and kept a hand firmly on his shoulders. He appreciated the gesture.
The light dimmed more.
They came to junction where the main tunnel continued but a side passage led to a flight of stairs leading both up and down. The human led Silver Claw to the stairwell and they climbed.
The light flickered off. Silver Claw's heart raced. His breaths came fast. The light returned.
"It's ok," she soothed. "We're almost out." She aimed the light at the wall where the words ACCESS SHED were printed on it with an arrow pointed up.
Silver Claw nodded but it did little to calm his heart. True to her word however, he hand never left him, even in the dark.
They continued on until a faint light trickled in from above. Silver Claw bounded up the remaining stairs until he was in the small shed lit by narrow windows along the top of the wall. It was still the afternoon but nearing evening.
The human ran up the last few steps and laughed. "I guess you never promised to stay by my side the whole way." She patted his side. "That's ok."
The shed was small with a few tools hanging on the walls. Silver Claw recognized it and realized just how close it was to his nest. The human looked around but nothing caught her interest. While, he considered where to go, Silver Claw settled onto the floor to rest. In a moment, the human joined him.
After a long silence, the human said "I'm Amanda." He looked at her and she smiled. "I'm not sure what to call you yet but we'll figure it out."
"Amanda," Silver Claw repeated.
"Did you just say your name?" Amanda asked, "In your language?"
Silver Claw shook his head.
"My name?" Amanda asked next.
Silver Claw considered for a second and then nodded. He saw the thoughts racing behind her eyes. The same thought ran in his too, could she learn to speak his language. It was not something they had time to explore now but if they were together long enough, the answer was maybe.
Silver Claw stood before she asked any more questions and reared up to look out the windows. Amanda joined him but could not jump high enough to see out although the effort was comical.
The road and surrounding jungle appeared safe for the moment. Silver Claw opened the door and stepped outside.
"We made it!" Amanda cheered as she joined him.
He hissed sharply at her.
Amanda flinched back but realized her mistake and whispered, "Sorry." Amanda looked around. "Which way is the building from here?"
Silver Claw looked down the road in the correct direction. She turned to go. He walked in the opposite direction.
"Hey wait," she ran up to him. "Where are you going?"
He looked at her but kept walking.
"Are you going to the building?"
Silver Claw shook his head.
"Will you take me to the building?"
Silver Claw considered and then nodded.
Now, Amanda considered, "You just want to go somewhere else first?"
Again, Silver Claw nodded.
"Can I go with you?" Amanda asked. With the nod, she fell in beside him and though it looked like she wanted to say more, Amanda remained silent.
They followed the road as far as Silver Claw dared and then turned into the jungle. Amanda was noisier than Silver Claw liked but most predators did not stray closer to the nest than the road. That was until the spinosaurus. The familiar jungle around his home made Silver Claw even gladder to be free of the cave.
The sound of the stream soon greeted them and Silver Claw moved until it was in sight. They walked the top of the embankment. Amanda appeared pleased and took in the surroundings with curious eyes.
A thought stuck in Silver Claw's mind. If any survivors were at the nest, a human was a problem. They would kill her. He thought on it and realized that he did not want to let that happen. He would not let that happen, not after she saved him. He would protect her if needed.
The smell of rot wafted through the trees. They were close. Amanda held her nose and looked a little pale. Silver Claw pretended not to notice but it was bad even to him. The jungle parted to reveal the butchered remains of Silver Claw's pack.
Amanda puked.
Silver Claw felt dizzy but called out just in case. No one answered.
"Was this your home?" Amanda asked between dry heaves.
Silver Claw just looked down and turned away. He felt the earth tremble underfoot. His eyes widened. Amanda was oblivious. He took her hand in his mouth and led her away. She resisted at first but soon even she felt the tremor. Eyes widened with knowing terror.
A dense thicket provided enough cover for the two of them and Silver Claw curled around Amanda protectively. A flock of birds took flight nearby. The sound of heavy breaths filled the air. The spinosaurus walked into view. It was only a dozen meters away though the trees.
The beast growled and sniffed the air. It lingered like the stench in the air. Amanda covered her mouth. Her chest heaved a little but she stifled the sound. After a minute, the spinosaurus moved on down the valley along the opposite side of the stream. The tremors faded and it was gone.
Silence filled the world.
"I hate that thing," Amanda whispered when she could no longer take it. "Did it do that to your home?"
Silver Claw nodded.
Amanda wrapped an arm around Silver Claw. "I'm sorry, I know your pain." She was silent for a while save a few quiet sniffs. "I lost every one I loved to that monster too."
When Silver Claw was sure that it was safe, he led Amanda back to the building just as night settle over Isla Sorna.