Jurassic Park: The Broken Lives Saga by Dinohunter55
Chapter 10: Into the Wild
The morning light cast an orange glow through the dense fog carried by a gentle ocean breeze. Amanda watched the sizzling steak and her mouth watered. A small fire cracked and popped beneath the frying pan. Ellie sat nearby tending to her own steak. Neither had spoken more than a few words since the long ride back with the gallimimus. Silver Claw slept near Amanda, his belly gorged on the organs and meat.
They were between the building and cliff. A bucket of stagnant pool water sat ready if the fire got out of hand, though the damp earth and dew would likely keep any sparks from catching.
Ellie sat with her arms crossed over her stomach, more a sign of awkward discomfort than hunger pains. Ellie glanced at Amanda often but no words were forth coming.
Amanda flipped her steak over. The skin charred nicely but she may have cut it a bit too thick as she still saw blood weeping from the pink center. A few spices from the cabinets added a fragrance so appealing that she wanted to dig into it even partially cooked. She already ate raw compsognathus. What harm would a little gallimimus cause?
"Smells good," Amanda offered after another glance by Ellie.
"Yeah," Ellie mumbled.
"Do you want to talk?" Amanda said. "It doesn't have to be about what happened yesterday."
Silver Claw's eye opened a little and then closed it. He seemed to sleep again but Amanda knew better. His breathing gave it away.
Ellie was silent for a long time. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too," Amanda said.
"I mean it," Ellie looked at Amanda. Tears streaked her cheeks. "I left you behind and you nearly got killed. I was scared that I lost you."
Now it was Amanda's turn for silence. She felt the gathering moisture of her own tears.
"I'm also sorry I didn't trust you about Silver Claw." Ellie said. "He saved my life last night even though he was looking for you." Ellie shared the events that happened. "He could have left me for dead and told you whatever he wanted to but he didn't even hesitate to give me the key. Meanwhile, I thought about killing him while you were away since I doubted he could fight back."
Silver Claw opened an eye again and looked at Amanda. He nodded so slightly that Ellie did not see and then closed his eye again.
Amanda felt anger swell. She took deep breaths until it diminished. "Why?"
"I want things between us to be like they used to be." Ellie put her head in her hands. "I just want to go home."
A long shuttering breath left Amanda. "I've tried not to think about home too much."
Ellie looked up, confusion written across her face.
"I saw my Mom die Ellie." Amanda said. "My Dad was on that yacht and so were my aunts and uncles."
"Amanda, I…" Ellie crossed her arms across her stomach. "What about your brother and little sister? They're still waiting for you back home."
"Michael was overseas somewhere on deployment," Amanda said. "Julie was sick again and couldn't come."
"You still have them," Ellie offered.
"Yeah, I guess for now." Amanda reached down and prodded the steak with a knife. "You've got your parents still."
"Not for long," Ellie looked away. "I haven't told you yet but they're getting a divorce. My Mom threatened to take me back to Edmonton with her." Ellie was still seventeen but would be eighteen in a few months. "My Dad is planning to sell the house and then move overseas for work once it is done. Things were going quickly so they're probably gone by now."
"Ellie…" Amanda moved and sat beside her friend. She wrapped an arm over Ellie's should and let Ellie rest her head against her. Amanda decided never to speak of the plane and her choice, even to Silver Claw. "I'll find you a way off this island."
They had a cry together.
Silver Claw walked the fence. He had much of his strength again but was still thin. It would take time and more meals to recover what he lost. The gallimimus was nearly gone however.
Amanda and Ellie sat on the steps laughing. Amanda was teaching her how to speak his language. She was not as good as Amanda was but at least tried now. Ellie even allowed him to help a few times over the past week. He counted that as a greater victory than the few dozen words she spoke now.
Ellie even pet him once. It was awkward for both of them and he did not know how to feel about it. It did not feel the same as the growing bond between him and Amanda.
Silver Claw looked out at the jungle. He worried. Tyrannous was absent. Normally, Silver Claw saw glimpses of him or at very least caught a whiff of his scent. There had been nothing since the hunt. Amanda had shared the details with him, more than she shared with Ellie to spare her feelings. Something was missing from those details but he did not press her for answers.
They barred the gate to the tunnels just in case.
Silver Claw wandered back to the entrance.
"What was wrong with the truck by the shed? Amanda asked.
"Not much I don't think. It might need some oil, fresh gas, and the weeds pulled out of it. I only looked at it once but there was something moving around nearby and I wasn't sticking around to find out what it was." Ellie said. "I only went that way once. I usually just went to the lake. I thought about getting you to go with me sometime but…"
"I was too busy," Amanda hugged Ellie.
"Yeah," Ellie chuckled a little.
Amanda reached up and rubbed Silver Claw's side as he passed her. He was getting used to the attention from her and liked it. Sometimes, he missed it. Silver Claw settled behind Amanda so that he curled his head onto her lap while his tail laid along her other side. She stroked his quills.
"Still no Tyrannous?" Amanda asked.
"No," Silver Claw said.
"Do you think he left?" Ellie said.
"I don't know," Silver Claw said and Amanda translated for him.
Ellie leaned over and whispered, "We could check out the truck while it's still daylight. If I can get it fixed then we can go somewhere else."
"Where would we go?" Amanda whispered back. Her hand paused over Silver Claw's quills.
"I was looking at your map. There is an airstrip and a harbor. They might have a working radio."
"Those are in the center of the island." Amanda said, dropping the whisper. "It's not a short walk."
"I know," Ellie sighed and leaned back. "That's why I wanted a vehicle. I don't think the cart will do the job."
"And my old pack lives in the area," Silver Claw said.
"I thought your pack died?" Ellie said.
"My pack did die but we were part of a larger pack before. It split after the war into two packs. The other is still alive as far as I know." Silver Claw nudged Amanda's hand. She petted him again.
"Would they take you in?" Ellie asked.
"Maybe, my mother was the daughter of that pack's new alpha pair at the time." Silver Claw said. "I don't think they would be so kind to you though."
"Probably not," Amanda sighed.
"So what are we going to do?" Ellie asked.
Silver Claw slipped towards sleep as Amanda and Ellie kept talking.
Amanda pulled the four-wheeled cart they used to bring the gallimimus back the building. Now it held parts for the truck. There was a little more needed than just oil, gas and weeds but Ellie was making it work. They managed to push the truck into the tunnel with Silver Claw's help. Unfortunately, it took out the motorized cart during the process. It was a long walk in the dark.
Silver Claw walked nervously at Amanda's side. He still disliked the tunnels but made the effort to accompany them back and forth as they fetched supplies. Amanda was proud of him. He would not go through the cave door however, despite some light teasing by her.
Amanda found Ellie under the truck, a flashlight in her mouth. "I got the last of the parts you needed."
Ellie slid out and smiled. Oil speckled her face, "Great."
With Amanda's help, they placed the new battery and poured the last of the gas into the tank. Ellie tinkered with a few other odds and ends then closed the hood. She sat behind the wheel and held the key. She closed her eyes for a moment of silent prayer then turned the ignition. The engine turned over a few times and then rumbled into life.
Amanda cheered. Ellie sank back and stared at the roof, mumbling praises. She let the engine run for a few minutes and then shut it off before the fumes built up too much. The truck had less than a quarter of a tank. They had no gas left to spare but they had options now.
Silver Claw felt the tremor as he paced the fence in the dying light. He quickly moved towards the entrance. His heart quickened a little even though he was safe.
The spinosaurus emerged soon after. It walked along the fence, oblivious to the velociraptor staring hatred at it and the volts humming in the wires. It bore the pale scars down its flanks that his pack left.
"I hate that thing," Amanda whispered as she and Ellie joined Silver Claw in the lobby.
"It killed my pack," Silver Claw said.
"Mine too," Amanda placed a hand on his shoulder.
Ellie grew a mischievous smile and walked forward to the door.
"What are you doing?" Amanda reached out to stop her.
"Hey dummy!" Ellie shouted as she opened the door a crack.
The spinosaurus turned its head and touched the live wires. Sparks exploded. The beast roared.
Ellie laughed.
The spinosaurus turned away. Its tail struck the fence. Wires snapped with a telltale twang. The fence posts bent. Wires sagged. The harsh alarm rang.
Ellie paled, "Oh shit."
The spinosaurus turned back and ripped into the metal posts from which the sound blared. The alarm died as sparks rained from the fence. The lights soon followed and the buildings went dark.
Silver Claw retreated with Amanda and Ellie into the dark halls where the raging beast could not see them. Ellie hung her head low and avoided eye contact.
"I guess we're leaving tonight," Amanda said.
Amanda waved Ellie forward and then went inside to close and lock the door behind the truck. It was noon. They had slept in due to the late night packing and the long walk after. It meant they also avoided most of the predators who hunted during the early morning and then again at dusk. A few hunted during the midday heat however. They would still have to be careful.
Silver Claw leapt into the covered truck box and stuck his head through the opened rear window so he could look through the windshield. Amanda closed the tailgate. Ellie had removed the canopy door so it was open if Silver Claw needed to escape. Amanda was glad that it was a hard canopy and not some thin cloth.
Amanda hopped in and instinctively put on her seatbelt. The musty smell of the old cloth seats wrinkled her nose.
"Are we ready to go?" Ellie asked.
"I think so," Amanda said and looked over the two backpacks in the cab.
"Silver Claw?" Ellie looked at him.
He nodded.
Amanda unfolded the map from her pocket and looked it over. They had a ways to if they were to reach any of the major sites on the island. The truck would never make it all the way. Ellie shifted into gear and the vehicle lurched forward. Amanda cracked the window for some air and gave Silver Claw a scratch under the chin.
The jungle rolled by at a decent pace. Ellie was an adequate driver but seemed to hit every dip and bump. They passed through a narrow valley that acted as a pass between the valley where Amanda hunted and where the nest of Silver Claw's pack lay. Ellie turned east at the fork. A sign pointed west in the direction of the building and that road also led to the first shed Amanda and Silver Claw had used.
Ellie picked up the pace a little, as the road had less sharp curves in it.
Silver Claw turned his head and looked out the window beside Amanda. She rubbed his jaw and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Do you want us to stop so you can see your nest one more time?"
Silver Claw thought on it a little and then looked back through the front again. "No," Silver Claw said.
Amanda saw his mind turn back to those events and rested her arm on the back of the seat so she could lay her hand on his neck. She petted him slowly but said no more.
At the next fork, Ellie continued east instead of following it north. That road ended in a dead end where a shed marked the start of a long footpath up the mountain to a radio tower. Through Ellie's window, they could see a long narrow inlet that led out to sea. The waves broke along the shore in tall sprays. The view returned to jungle when they turned south.
A cliff dropped away beside the road on the driver side and Ellie hugged the jungle opposite. They stopped at a shed beside a pond. Amanda looked at the map. It must be out of date. The road forked but that fork did not appear on the map. A faded sign read SOUTH DOCK.
"We can always come back if the others don't work out." Amanda offered.
Ellie nodded and turned the vehicle north again to follow the original plan. Silver Claw perked up at the sounds of several large herds to the south along the other road. Amanda chuckled. The sound of a river drew near and then faded away again until they reached a bridge. It was solid and they crossed without incident.
"This is the end of the other valley that my pack hunted in," Silver Claw said.
"Soon we'll have new places to hunt," Amanda said and leaned back, resting her head on the seat. She sighed and really thought about home for the first time in a few days.
They followed the inlet again for a while north. Across the water, they saw the road they had just traveled minutes before. It was up a slope and a mountain peak loomed behind it. The island was beautiful when not being chased by dinosaurs.
The road turned inland then steadily rose. The road grew bumpier and Amanda held the handle above her door. Where the ground leveled out the road straightened. Ellie slowed to a stop but did not cut the engine.
Ahead, a herd of horned behemoths wandered into the road. Ellie cut the engine as one emerged close to the truck. The triceratops crossed the road. Each was nearly double Amanda's height at least with two horns as long as she was tall and a small one on the nose larger than her head. Frills curled up behind the horns. Many bore scaring. They were magnificent giants. The largest looked their way.
Silver Claw shrank back out of sight.
The herd moved on and Ellie started the engine again. They had just over half of what they put in originally left. The truck rolled forward slowly and then picked up speed once they were past the herd to avoid spooking them. They passed a lake in which several kinds of hadrosaurus swam. It was fleeting view that disappeared as fast as it had appeared.
The road curved frequently and they soon traveled along the slope of another river valley. They climbed again and turned away from it. Ellie rolled up to a shed at the top of a narrow road cut into the cliff ahead. It curved gently with sheer cliffs to either side. The only way was forward or back unless they tumbled over the edge into the canopy below. It ran down until curving behind trees where it met the valley below.
"We should stop here for the night," Silver Claw said.
"I thought we were going to try to reach one of the buildings before night?" Ellie said. She cut the engine to save fuel.
"There is a pair of carnotaurus watching the road," Silver Claw said. He remembered what a pack member had told him when they tried to return to the nearby nesting site.
"I don't see anything," Ellie said.
"These ones can camouflage," Silver Claw said. "You won't see them until it's too late."
"I can drive past them quickly," Ellie offered.
"We are getting low on gas though," Amanda said. "I'd hate to run out while being chased."
Ellie sighed and sank back in the seat, head looking up.
"They move into the river valley during the night and come back this way around noon." Silver Claw said. "My pack told me this. Our old nesting site was nearby so they would check in on the territory occasionally or pass through to check on the other pack."
"So they're going to come this way," Ellie raised an eyebrow.
"That concrete shed should be strong enough to hide inside." Amanda said.
Ellie grabbed her bag and got out of the truck first. Amanda followed soon after along with Silver Claw. The air was rich in smells and Amanda thought she heard the distant rumbling of a waterfall. The inside of the shed was more spacious than it looked due to a stair leading into a small cave on which the building sat.
Silver Claw was resistant to join them but finally did so as night fell. Amanda woke briefly in the night as several large creatures investigated the shed and truck. She heard their deep breathing and smelled a hint of death. A shadow passed over the narrow windows of the shed. She snuggled up to Silver Claw who also listened. Ellie slept through it, oblivious to the world.
Silver Claw yawned as the first light filtered into the shed through dirty windows. Amanda stirred at his side and a while later Ellie woke. They had no food but drank some of the water they brought. They waited until the sun was above the mountains in the east before heading out.
The faint scent of carnotaurus lingered in the air misty. Their footprints clear in the mud. The trail led off into the valley.
Silver Claw jumped into the back of the truck but stayed near the rear for a little while. Amanda and Ellie chatted. The engine rumbled to life and they headed down the cliff road. A series of small waterfalls sprang from the side of the cliffs near the shed but around the corner of a cliff face from it. They fell into a large pond and formed a stream that ran through the jungle until it cascaded over the edge of another cliff into another larger inlet than the one they passed the day before.
He remembered it faintly from his childhood before the pack split. Their nest was near the pond but so was the cave where he got lost. The nest was the place where his father died though he never saw it. Something attacked the nest and slew his father, though his body was missing, presumably eaten.
Silver Claw rested his head on the tailgate and watched the jungle go by.
At the bottom of the cliff road, the road turned south and then east again. They crossed two rickety bridges where the stream poured over small cliffs into the sea. Silver Claw thought he heard a proceratosaurus flee but could not be sure. The inlet was lost to sight for a time as they headed into deeper jungle.
By the time the inlet reappeared, Silver Claw had moved to the front so he could look out the windshield again.
"Nice of you to join us," Amanda said and smiled. She patted his neck.
"So," Ellie picked up their conversation. "Why didn't you apply to a university?"
"I wanted to take a year off from school," Amanda said. "I was talking to my Dad about backpacking through Europe. After that, I was going to decide what I wanted to do with my life. I would like to get married eventually."
"You'd meet a lot of men on campus," Ellie gave Amanda a teasing nudge. "Aren't you worried about not getting into a good university?"
"A lot of frat boys you mean," Amanda rolled her eyes but blushed. "I don't want some booze hound sniffing at my skirt." Amanda sighed. "You know my Dad has a lot of connections at Harvard, or had."
Silver Claw was a little lost and returned to the tailgate.
"I think we're boring him," Ellie laughed.
The truck bounced hard and tossed Silver Claw around the back. Metal scrapped. Ellie nearly lost control of the wheel but managed to keep it on the road.
"Oops," Ellie called, "My bad. I didn't see the rock."
Silver Claw stared coldly at her for a moment and then looked away. He was unsure if it was on purpose or not. His heart raced and his breathing was quick. He forced his quills flat.
The truck rumbled on until they reached another bridge. It crossed a wide deep river. The engine sputtered and died before they made it all the way over. They had reached the bottom of the tank. The rest of the journey would be on foot.