Jurassic Park: The Broken Lives Saga by Dinohunter55
Chapter 20: The Heart of Man
Silver Claw heard several shots and more roars. He raced to reach the plains. They had lingered on the far side of the river to make sure that the hunters were not setting up an ambush for them. It wasted precious time. They crossed the river after the first gunshot.
The jungle parted. Silver Claw quickly spotted Amanda and the hunters running towards the cliffs. Close behind was the ceratosaurus. It passed the dead stegosaurus and chased the humans as another shot rang out.
"Amanda," Silver Claw barked. His breathing quickened and his heart pounded. She did not hear him but the ceratosaurus did. It slowed slightly and looked back.
The humans reached the cliffs beside one of the many tall, metal spikes lining the canyon. One of the men fired another shot. The ceratosaurus roared furiously and closed the distance. Silver Claw forgotten in face of a closer threat.
Silver Claw trembled. He was unable to do anything except watch helplessly as the predator closed the distance. At the last moment, the humans jumped into the grey river of fog and were gone. His whole world slowed. Amanda's short-lived scream stuck in his mind. He dropped to the ground just as the others arrived beside him.
"Where are the humans?" Sara said.
Silver Claw did not answer.
"Silver Claw," Sara said. She lowered her head until she was even with his eye. His pain reflected back in her pupils. "Where is Amanda?"
Slowly, Silver Claw looked towards the ceratosaurus. "She jumped over the edge."
The ceratosaurus looked down into the mists and roared before turning to claim the stegosaurus. It quickly spotted the velociraptors and roared challenge. It was a warry challenge however. It grew steadily nervous as it approached the kill. In the end, the ceratosaurus ripped a chunk off the rear leg and retreated with its measly prize after urinating on the kill. The creature swayed awkwardly as it disappeared into the jungle further down the plain. The frightened herds stampeded south.
Silver Claw slowly rose to his feet and walked towards the place the humans jumped, where Amanda jumped. He ignored the rest of the pack as they called after him. At the edge of the cliff, he looked down and saw only the swirling mists. Somewhere far below, he imagined… he tried not to imagine what Amanda looked like after that kind of fall.
Chains rustled in the mists.
"I'm sorry little one," Sara said softly.
Sara and Sunayana were the only ones out of the group to approach him while the rest of the pack tore into the stegosaurus.
"I'm sorry she is gone as well," Sunayana offered. "I enjoyed my conversations with her. I was curious to see how far she would go as part of a pack eventually."
Silver Claw remained silent. He had no words. His mind emptied of all thought but grief.
"Come with us back to the nest," Sara said and then nuzzled his neck. "It will be safer to grieve there."
"OK," Silver Claw managed to get out after a while.
Slowly, Silver Claw followed Sara and Sunayana away from the cliffs. The world around him lost focus and color seemed all the dimmer to match the void he felt.
"God damn it, give me a boost won't ya!" The voice carried back across the canyon.
Silver Claw turned to see one of the men emerge from the mists and grab hold of the ledge, pulling himself up on the far side. Silver Claw's heart raced. Anger filled him until he saw Amanda rise from the mists. He whimpered. The man pulled her up and then reached down and helped the final human. They were all alive!
"She's alive!" Sunayana exclaimed. "Silver Claw, she's alive!"
The rest of the pack joined them at the commotion. They smelled of fresh blood and meat.
"Amanda," Silver Claw half whispered and half whimpered.
The hunters lead Amanda out of sight as they rushed into the jungle. She did not get a chance to see him. Silver Claw ran. He would find Amanda and get her away from the hunters even if he had to kill them himself to do it. The pack called to him as they tried to catch up to him. He did not slow his pace.
The jungle enveloped Silver Claw and he was weaving between trees and over rotting logs at a consistent pace. It was easier going than his home in the western side of the island. The jungle was more open and he saw obstacles coming sooner here. He reached the river crossing and froze. A herd of triceratops were halfway across when he barreled out of the jungle onto the bank.
The matriarch bellowed and the triceratops closed ranks, ushering the few young ones away from the velociraptor. They stomped and bellowed at Silver Claw, turning the stream into a churning mess. They did not budge, not even when the rest of the pack appeared. If anything, the herd recognized their position of strength in the water and held firm.
He could not cross the river and dared not swim it further upstream for fear of what might be lurking in it.
"Silver Claw slow down," Sunayana said as she joined him. "You'll only hurt yourself and then you'll be no help to Amanda."
Silver Claw snarled his frustration.
"We'll have to take the long way around," Sunayana said.
Silver Claw considered it for a moment and then took a deep breath. He was acting rashly. He was no use to Amanda like this and she was still alive. Sunayana was right. He let the anger of the moment cloud his mind. It would get him in trouble if he did not fight it in the future.
"You're right. I'm sorry," Silver Claw said. He looked at Sunayana and then the rest of the pack and nodded. "We'll have to go to the bridge."
"Loki and Zathana, you go back to the pack and let them know about the stegosaurus kill. No need to risk injury on a hunt if we don't have to," Sara said. "Silver Claw, Sunayana, Grey and I will carry on and find Amanda."
"What about the human camp?" Zathana said.
"Leave it alone for now," Sara said. "They aren't going anywhere right now and they aren't a threat. We'll deal with that problem later."
Zathana looked disappointed but she and Loki set off quickly.
"Let's go find Amanda and get her back," Sara said.
Silver Claw nuzzled Sara and together they set off as the herd of triceratops continued bellowing and stomping long after they disappeared into the jungle.
Amanda bent to catch her breath as her limbs trembled. Her mind raced nearly as fast as her heart. She had almost died. The ceratosaurus was nearly on them when they jumped down the edge of the cliff. If it were not for the half-meter beam of metal sank into the rock, they would have fallen to their deaths and even then, she lost her footing and only just caught hold of the chain net to prevent the dizzying fall into the canyon below. They crossed the metal catwalk joining the two sides of the canyon and climbed the other side.
Amanda did not know where they were now but heard a stream gurgling nearby. She licked her lips. She could really use the drink.
"God damn it that was close." Diego cursed, "Swear I felt its breath on the back of my neck!"
"I've seen these darts take down a charging buffalo with a single shot," Lance grimaced as he looked through the pouch and examined each one. They looked like a large green bullets. "I know I hit it dead in the chest. That beast didn't even feel a thing after two of these."
"Ceratosaurus," Diego said. "Don't forget the four rounds that I put in it. Their hides are tough and it is a lot bigger than a buffalo. It's probably feeling it by now I reckon. Dinosaurs just don't respond to stuff like you think they would. I told you to bring something with more output than a single shot."
"Feeling what now?" Amanda asked as she finally caught her breath.
"These are special poisoned darts," Lance said. "Got the recipe from a bushman in the amazon, I scaled up the dose for dinosaurs but clearly not enough. There's a flechette round in each of these that carries the poison to target. "
"You really don't have any honor do you?" Amanda said and crossed her arms. She dreaded to think what one of those might do to a velociraptor.
"Listen Amanda," Lance said and pointed a stern finger at her. "I'm not really concerned about something like honor when I got a four ton dinosaur breathing down my neck and I need it to stop, immediately. I don't need some sheila we found in the middle of the jungle telling me or my men or what we should and shouldn't being doing out here. And, I'm pretty sure you'd be grateful to be in one piece if my bullet saves your neck."
Amanda frowned but had no response.
"That's what I thought," Lance said. He shouldered his rifle and looked to Diego. "Let's get a move on and find the road."
The bellow of a triceratops drifted on the air. It increased into a chorus of angry voices. While it was hard to place the sound in the jungle generally, it came from a northerly direction.
"I'd say we should stay off the road for a bit," Diego said. "Something has got those triceratops rattled and I don't want to find out what."
"Agreed," Lance sighed. He looked at Amanda. "You can stay with us but I'm tired of your lip so from here on out you better behave or we'll leave you to your fate since you want to stay here so badly."
"Fine," Amanda said. She worried about being alone in the jungle when she did not know where the pack was or even if they knew where she was. "I'm sorry. It's been a while since I've be around people. I just don't like seeing things die unnecessarily." She swallowed and then looked Lance in the eyes. "I guess it can't be helped now since you won't leave."
Lance eyed her suspiciously but finally nodded and then turned south.
They walked only a short distance when they found the stream. It was clear, cool and most importantly, refreshing. Amanda drank deep, cupping handfuls of water to her dry lips as Lance and then Diego drank before refilling their canteens. One stood guard while the other bent down and then they traded positions.
Lance offered Amanda a granola bar as they moved on from the steam and she took it graciously. A growing feeling of guilt built in the back of her mind. She knew these men would die soon, possibly this coming night. As much as she disliked their actions, she did not believe that they should die for it. Worse, they had been largely kind to her and she had not repaid it. That fact sat heaviest upon her conscience. She fought down the feelings and convinced herself as much as she could that she had tried to warn them and that whatever followed was their fault not hers. It still felt like a hollow excuse that sat wrong in her mind.
She desperately wanted to tell them about what was coming so that they might flee but that would betray the pack and place them in danger. She could not and would not do that. She owed Silver Claw her life and the pack might soon accept her so she owed them her loyalty, not to mention the kindness some of the pack had shown her already. Who knows, the pack might become her new family and that was not something she would put at risk. Lance and Diego would probably think she was crazier than they first suspected anyway, just another excuse she added to the list.
They broke from the jungle onto the road again by accident a while later. The road ran along a large reinforced fence with a nasty line of dinosaur-sized barbed wire along its top. The area was clear of threats and so they followed the road south to make greater speed away from the triceratops herd.
"They never finished this enclosure," Diego said.
"What was it going to hold?" Amanda asked. "It's looks a lot tougher than the other fences I've seen."
"We used this fence style to contain the spinosaurus. Only worked if it was electrified though otherwise they could break out with a running start," Diego said. "The Lab Coats thought that they might have got their hands on some giganotosaurus DNA, a dinosaur bigger than the tyrannosaurus rex, so I heard, and then they started working on this to hold it or other large carnivores as needed, using some of the natural landscape to avoid having to build a full pen. We were running out of space down by the harbor anyway. They never got to finish it before the park went under and then the construction stopped here shortly after that."
"They were building a park?" Amanda asked, "Where? What kind of park?"
"It was on another island," Diego said. "I only went there a couple of times while escorting dinosaurs from this place to release there. It was going to be some sort of resort, pretty fine place all said."
"What happened?" Amanda asked.
"Bah," Diego shooed her away with his hand. "I wasn't there when it happened. I only heard stories and few at that. Lots of legal headaches with that place, no wonder the company had to lay off a bunch of us afterwards."
"There's a building up ahead," Lance said.
"That'll be the aviary lookout station," Diego said and then added after a moment, "Not much there."
Where the trees parted, the aviary lookout sat like a large roundhouse overhanging the cliff. White concrete walls flecked paint beneath a low metal roof rusting and tarnished green. A smaller, circular open area sat above occupied by some equipment. Smaller rectangular structures extended to either side of the main body. The doors were open.
"Let's take five," Lance said.
"Sounds good," Diego said.
They entered the building cautiously and swept it with their guns ready. Once they confirmed clear, Diego shut the steel doors and locked them.
For the first time in a while, Amanda felt truly safe. Nothing could get at them through those doors or the concrete walls.
There interior was sparse. Some empty lockers sat near the entrance, a few pieces of broken equipment lay scattered across the room and a single damaged cart remained where the wheel broke. A spiral staircase led up and down through the floor and roof from which a cool, misty breeze stirred the air. In the wall facing the canyon, windows, some broken, allowed a view of the beautiful landscape beyond but the grey mists prevented a view down into the canyon.
Diego whistled, "They picked this place clean during the evacuation. There used to be more equipment in here 'fore."
"What did they use the equipment for," Amanda asked.
"Monitoring the big, scaly birds down below," Diego said. "They wanted to see if they could be trained." He sighed. "Turns out they couldn't but it took a man being carried off before they gave up."
"Pteranodons, right?" Amanda asked.
"I think that's it." Diego said and shrugged, "Weren't my problem." He wandered over the window and looked out.
Lance looked between them and then sat against a wall, closing his eyes. He was quiet for a while. "I'm sorry about getting cross with you back in the jungle Amanda," Lance said. "You remind me of someone with all your questions and stubbornness."
"Who's that?" Amanda asked.
Lance did not answer. Instead, he just sighed and kept his eyes closed.
When Amanda turned away, Lance spoke, "My little girl."
Guilt washed over Amanda so heavily it threatened to break her in that moment. She wanted to cry. Lance had a child, a girl, and soon they would grow up without a father because of her. "You have a child," Amanda whispered.
"Yeah," Lance said as he opened his eyes but looked at the floor. His voice betrayed a deep sorrow.
Amanda hesitated for a moment. The guilt eased slightly. "What happened?"
"Don't," Diego warned.
"It's alright," Lance said softly and sighed. He pulled out a photo from inside the breast pocket of his vest. He thumbed it lovingly and then held it out for Amanda.
Amanda took it gently and looked at it. In the picture, Lance knelt beside a massive crocodile but his fatherly gaze was not on the beast or the camera. The beaming smile and wide, excited eyes of the six year old on his knee was the focus of his attention. She was a beautiful little girl and full of life. Amanda handed the photo back.
Lance took it back, gazed at it for a moment, kissed it, and then tucked it back in the pocket, reverently patting the pocket after. "Susan," Lance said, "My little Suzy."
"She's beautiful," Amanda said.
"She was," Lance said, "Got the good looks from her mother. She got my stubbornness unfortunately but an inquisitive mind. She was more stubborn than a mule some days." Lance chuckled softly, closed his eyes, and smiled briefly but it turned quickly into a grimace.
Amanda said nothing.
"I was away when it happened," Lance said, "Not on a hunt, mind you, just on business. A man broke into my home and killed my wife and child both. Cops got his name and face but never did find him. That was three years ago."
"I'm sorry," Amanda whispered. Her heart ached and she imagined what such a loss would do to a person. She imagined it was close to what she felt upon losing her family.
"I found him though," Lance shifted and rested his head against the wall again, eyes closed. He looked ready to sleep. "It was in a bar about a year later and half a continent away. He didn't know who I was but he learned real fast."
"Bastard deserved it and more," Diego said quietly.
"I doubt there was much left for the cops to find after the salties were done with him." Lance said. He relaxed and offered no more.
Amanda stood still for a long while, thinking, but eventually joined Diego at the window for a moment. He did not offer up any more conversation and so she wandered to the stair and looked down.
"Leads down to an observation deck that's enclosed but the birds probably tore through the chain-link securing it by now." Diego said without turning. "I wouldn't go down there if I was you."
"Thanks," Amanda said somewhere on the side closer to sarcasm than appreciation. The looming events were making her bitter she realized sullenly. Normally, seeing more people would have brought her some joy after everything she had been through, not now it seemed. She showed hostility in the face of genuine kindness. That bothered her. Maybe it was the loss of Ellie so recently or maybe it was just another excuse.
She followed the stairs up. The room turned out to be an observation deck of its own with a large telescope. It was open to the air and she had a nearly unobstructed view of the surrounding area. She brushed some of the grime off the telescope before popping off the protective caps.
The large lens had a crack but still offered a largely unobstructed view. She turned it from the mountain peaks down to the plain across the canyon. She spied the herds of dinosaurs that were lingering further away from the stegosaurus kill. The stampede was over for now. A hesitant calm settled the herds and they returned to grazing.
She spotted the stegosaurus family and quickly looked elsewhere. That poor infant stegosaurus, she thought. The terrible cry lingered in her mind. She moved from animal to animal and imagined that she was doing what the scientists, or Lab Coats as Diego was so fond of calling them it seemed though she quietly wondered if he had called them that to their faces or not, did during their day to day.
Amanda's gaze slowly drifted north to where the stegosaurus kill lay. She wondered if the ceratosaurus succumbed to the darts yet. Her heart quickened as she looked upon the kill. The velociraptors were there.
She desperately looked for Silver Claw but quickly realized that he was likely looking for her. She spotted Zathana among those present but not the rest. Rebecca was there without Talon. Amanda chuckled. He was probably stuck at the nest still. She quickly derided herself. She would have to forgive or at least tolerate them at some point, though that point had not come about just yet. Jack seemed more furious with Talon over Rebecca. She wondered why that was, maybe her injury. Rebecca still had a noticeable limp. Sara and Sunayana were probably with Silver Claw. That was a safe assumption. She hoped they were safe and keeping Silver Claw out of trouble.
Amanda placed the caps back on the telescope and then grabbed a hard plastic folding chair from where it sat folded among the equipment. She tested it before using to make sure it was not brittle with age. She sat and leaned back so she could look out over the plains. Lance and Diego were taking more than five, not that she was complaining.
A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the attack. The ceratosaurus would have stopped at the stegosaurus if Lance had not shot it again, probably. She hoped the poison would not be a painful death. It was only doing what carnivores do, though that thought made her chuckle to herself. She was changing she realized. Though, that same train of thought did not extend to the spinosaurus. She would not mourn that thing if Lance shot it. Nothing else he could do would make her happier.
She was just glad that Silver Claw did not see her jump from the cliff. That would have destroyed him. Amanda closed her eyes for a while and then slowly drifted off to sleep as the warm air eased her body into relaxation.
Silver Claw wanted to scream his frustrations as he crouched in the bushes along the road with the rest of the pack. The spinosaurus was asleep on the bridge with its head resting on the rail, not only that, it wore the scars left to it by his dead pack. It was also the one that took Ellie. They heard another spinosaurus call from beyond the lake as they traveled, the female spinosaurus, so that meant that both were present in the area.
"Maybe we should go south again," Sunayana offered. "The triceratops will have moved on by now."
"And something else might have taken their place," Silver Claw hissed but she took no outward offence at his words.
"We'll carry on to the buildings and use the bridge there," Sara said. "I know you're frustrated Silver Claw. Amanda will be fine. The humans will return to the camp before night. We will be able to find her there if not sooner."
Silver Claw slowly nodded and then crept out to cross the road. The others followed. The buildings were not far but he would remember to take Amanda wide of the road and river when he brought her back.
Amanda startled awake to the sound of a teeth itching crack. The sun was just about behind the mountains. A lot more than five, she thought. In the grass beyond the building, a large herd of pachycephalosaurus grazed. A few butted heads.
"Those head bangers caught us napping," Diego said as he came up the stair with Lance.
Amanda was about the make a comment but caught herself at the last moment.
"What are those," Lance asked.
"Pachycephalosaurus," Amanda said. "Not the nicest plant eater you'll run into on the island."
"That's an understatement. They're more likely to put you through a wall than flee," Diego said.
"Speaking from experience?" Amanda asked with a sly smile. She could not help it this time.
Diego laughed heartily, "Nah, not me but someone I worked with, good times."
"We stayed a bit longer than expected," Lance said as he leaned on the rail. He set his rifle down.
"Not going to shoot one?" Amanda asked.
Lance gave her a side-eye glare for a moment, "No. It's getting late so we'll have to stay here the night. I don't want any predators sniffing after a body just outside our camp. That would be foolish." Lance sighed and looked out over the herd.
Amanda felt the guilt building again. "Why do you do it?"
"Trophy hunt," Lance said flatly. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt something that no one else has hunted before."
"I've hunted them before," Diego said.
"No one important," Lance corrected.
Diego laughed hard enough that some of the herd looked towards them and then the whole herd moved away from the building.
"As I was saying," Lance said and smiled. "This is a chance to test my metal against something meaningful. I don't like leaving the animal to rot, I really don't. I normally hunt alongside locals who take the meat to feed their villages."
"But you use poisoned bullets?" Amanda wrinkled her brow.
"Poison sounds harsher than the reality. It needs to get directly into the blood. If something eats it, as long as they don't have any open sores or wounds in their mouth or stomach, it's basically harmless." He paused for a moment and then added, "Mostly. It leaves the meat safe to consume, though it's better if you cook it first, just to be safe. I don't normally use them anyway, too hard to travel with them so I just make up a few when I need them. I use them mostly for problem animals that harass the villages, man-eaters and such. Even if I don't hit something vital, they die."
"What if you accidentally hit someone?" Amanda asked.
"I wouldn't," Lance said and then shrugged after a while. "We carry an antidote just in case though. I make it when I make the dart."
Diego patted one of the bulging pockets on his vest.
"I see," Amanda leaned back and looked out towards the plains.
"I take my trophies back to my home as a record of all the places I've been. I travel a lot." Lance said. A sullen look settled on his face. "We're going to be here a while so might as well make ourselves comfortable."
Lance started down the stairs, rifle in hand. Diego soon followed him.
Amanda stayed put until she heard the metal doors creak open. She hopped up and looked over the railing. Lance stepped out, eyes warry of the pachycephalosaurus. He had the gun in his hand. He moved away from the herd and towards the nearby jungle. It was a thin strip and she saw the protruding cliff face that the fence used as a natural barrier not far within it. Nothing large could hide well in with that little space at least she hoped not.
After a few minutes, Lance returned with an armful of firewood. By the end of the second trip, the sun set behind the mountains and cast long shadows over the world. A noticeable chill crept into the air. A third and final trip ended with sizable log dragged inside. The doors shut and locked once more. Amanda wandered down and found Lance using the rope saw to cut the log into easily carried lengths.
"Won't a fire attract unwanted attention?" Amanda worried, "The smoke too."
"I'm willing to risk fire," Lance said. "Smoke won't draw them in like blood would. Most animals are warry of fire as well. Just come the morning, we'll need to keep an eye out when we head out. I can live with that."
"Worse comes to worse," Diego said. "We can just go down to the lower observation platform. A fire would definitely keep the birds away and I know a spot they can't get to if needed."
"Carry some of that up the stairs Amanda," Lance said and pointed at the smallest pile of wood already set aside.
Amanda did as told. By the time she made her way back down, a second pile waited for her and Lance had finished with the log. She made another trip and then waited as Diego brought an armful up the stairs.
"Sit tight now," Diego said and headed back down.
She did and used the time to stack the wood off to one side so it was out of the way. Diego returned with a few logs under one arm and a second folding chair under another. A loud clang came from down the stairs and Diego rushed down.
Amanda looked and saw Lance maneuver the broken cart awkwardly up the rounded stair. Diego grabbed the top end and after a great deal of cursing, they managed to get it up. With a little less finesse, they knocked the top shelf off, wedged it down against the middle, and then forced both yet lower until it formed a makeshift bowl to keep the fire off the damp but flammable wooden floor.
Lance only put two logs in at first and then built a teepee of sticks over them. Into the center, he stuffed kindling that he shaved from branches with a knife. Meanwhile, Diego grabbed a third chair and set it up so that the three of them formed a triangle around the fire. When Lance was satisfied with his work, he pulled out a lighter and carefully lit the kindling. The fire burned slowly at first but spread into a crackling blaze that warmed the air. The open view let the smoke spill freely out without suffocating them, save when the odd breeze blew it right into someone's face. It hit Amanda first and she coughed.
"Call up Doug," Lance said. "Let him know we won't be back tonight."
Silver Claw crept as close as he dared to the men despite Sara's warnings. Amanda was nowhere in sight and neither were the hunters. The rest of the pack lurked somewhere among the trees. He dared not attack the humans yet although his every instinct told him otherwise. Thankfully, only one man patrolled the perimeter for the moment and he was on the far side of the camp.
The men spoke in hushed whispers and in a language that he did not understand. That was new. He understood Amanda and Ellie perfectly but whatever language the men spoke was completely unknown to him. He did not get the slightest feeling or hint of what they might be saying either. Now he understood how Amanda must have felt. He wondered if she could understand them.
A radio crackled to life and a man got up from the fire and walked over to it.
"Doug, you there?" The radio hissed.
Doug turned the volume of the radio down before he responded. "Doug here," the man said. "We were starting to think you got eaten, over."
Silver Claw silently cursed. He could not hear the radio from this distance.
"Repeat that, did you say that something tried to eat you and now you're holding up somewhere safe for the night? Do you need evac? " Doug said, "Over."
That grabbed Silver Claw's attention. He listened to the rest of the back and forth but it contained little of interest and worse, nothing to go by to find Amanda. When the man set the radio down, Silver Claw slipped back to the jungle.
"Did you learn anything?" Sara said, looking him over.
"They're safe," Silver Claw said, "But I don't know where they settled in for the night." His body trembled with the eagerness to keep searching but a creeping fatigue gnawed at him.
"That's good," Sara said. "Amanda is safe for now. You can relax. We'll rest for a while and continue the search at dawn."
Silver Claw wanted to protest but she was right.
"The humans can live one more night," Sara said. "Tomorrow, the hunters die."
Amanda yawned as she relaxed, the warmth of the fire washing over her. She hoped Silver Claw was safe.
"Here," Lance said as he handed Amanda half of a sandwich.
Amanda took it and sighed after first bite. It was roast beef with lettuce, tomato, and a sauce she could not name. Her mouth watered. How long had it been since she last had real homemade meals, too long. She missed her mother's cooking but pushed aside the memories as the attack threatened to surface in her mind. She tried not to dwell on the past.
"Thank you," Amanda said as she finished the sandwich. She blinked away a tear.
"So Amanda," Diego said and leaned in towards the fire. "Tell me how you escape them raptors, the ones that left the mark on your leg."
"I try not to think about it," Amanda said but Diego's gaze was insistent. He was not going to let it go.
Amanda sighed. "My friend and I were traveling in the rain one day not too long ago. We knew the raptors were near the airstrip but so was the tyrannosaurus and wanted to get away from them before they found us. I guess we figured that the rain might help cover our trail. We headed for the harbor but a herd of pachycephalosaurus delayed us. They were blocking the road and we couldn't get around them."
Amanda licked her lips and Diego offered her his canteen. She took it and drank deep. "While we waited them out, we climbed a hill to get a view of the area. That is when we saw the raptors coming at us. They must have caught our trail since we passed by a kill they made. I got Ellie up the tree and was part way up myself when one of them grabbed me and pulled me down." Amanda lifted her leg to emphasize the marks. "That girl bit hard but didn't go deep thankfully."
"They can jump high?" Lance asked.
"Very high," Amanda said. "They'd easily jump onto the roof of this place from the ground."
"How'd you escape?" Diego raised an eyebrow.
"I was good at making the raptor calls by then and called for help." Amanda said. "It confused them for a little bit and then a raptor from a different pack attacked them. He saved my life." Amanda chuckled and then smiled. It was close enough to the truth. "In the chaos I got to safety and later we escaped to the labs."
"You don't seem to be lying but I don't think it's the whole truth neither," Diego said. He scratched his chin.
Amanda shrugged. "What about you? You said you have some raptor scars of your own."
"That I do," Diego said, further questions about her story forgotten for the moment. He took his vest off and then his shirt. "See this," Diego said and turned showing his right shoulder. A set of ugly scars marked him where a velociraptor bit down. Several longer scars marked his lower back and side. "Got another on my thigh but I ain't taking my shorts off for ya. It wouldn't be decent of me."
"He only does that when he's drunk," Lance said.
"Hey!" Diego scoffed. "I only do that on special occasions."
"Half the ladies in Puntarenas have seen you with your drawers down," Lance said and then shook his head.
"Damn rights they have," Diego laughed. "Had a lot of special occasions, even took a few home with me the last time."
"Sure you did," Lance said and then leaned back. He took a quick swig a small flask from inside his vest.
Amanda just looked between them, mouth agape slightly. They took the hint and settled down. "What's the story behind them? I told you mine."
"I guess you did," Diego said. He put his shirt back on but left his vest aside. "Well, it ended with me blowing this one's brains out at point blank range," Diego pointed to his shoulder. "The other one did my thigh dirty right after that."
"Start from the beginning," Lance said. "I know this story already but she don't."
"Fine," Diego said. He leaned in with elbows resting on his knees. "I'll tell you what. Those raptors have always been a problem. It was fine when they were small but they didn't stay that way for long. Damn good at escaping too," Diego scratched his chin for a moment and then took a swig of his canteen. "They escaped the one day and as usual, I was called in to help roun' them up. The three big ones were the problem. They were smart, a little too smart."
"Was one of them Seth?" Amanda asked.
Diego looked at her sharply, eyes squinting. "How'd you know that one's name?"
Amanda sank back a little but then shrugged. Her heart quickened as she thought of a reason she might know it. "I think I read it in some lady's notes."
"She weren't here when this happened," Diego said. "I suppose James told 'er. They got pretty close before the end."
"Who's James?" Amanda asked.
"I'll get to that bit in a moment," Diego said and then continued, waving her off. "The raptors escaped during a power failure while the backups were down for maintenance. Downright bad luck for everyone involved that day. The raptors mauled a man badly and then escaped into the jungle headin' south. Their pen was in the main laboratory complex, at least the ones I'm talking about right now. There were others, different kinds of raptors that we housed in various locations across the island. It made them easier to contain and kept them from killin' each other."
The fire snapped and the branches shifted. Lance added a couple of branches to the fire.
"I got my team together to track down the raptors," Diego said. "Nonlethal weapons only, who in their right mind would send men to fight dinosaurs with nonlethal weapons." Diego shook his head. "One of the Lab Co-, ah, scientist, named James demanded to come along with me. He was in charge of these raptors and had some bond with them, being they imprinted on him." Diego took another swig from the canteen. "Some of the dinosaurs imprint on the first thing they see, like baby birds. Probably thought he was their momma."
"Well, we tracked down the raptors to an area in the west. They found a nice pond with some waterfalls to gather around. We only started expanding that way recently so most of the trek had to be done on foot." Diego leaned in as his brow creased and eyes fixed on the fire.
"We managed to get the jump on most of them and dart them quickly. We loaded them up and realized a few were missing. The big three were missing." Diego licked his lips. "We found the three a short time later, or rather, they found us. They lured us into a trap. Two of my men died right away. One of the raptors, I think its name was Richard, grabbed hold of me and tried to drag me off too. I shoved the barrel of the dart rifle in its eye and scrambled its brains." Diego laughed and shook his head.
Amanda felt sick at the thought.
"Well, the lady of the big three took issue with me killin' ol' Richard and did my thigh dirty with those wicked claws. She screamed somethin' terrible while doing it." Diego leaned back. "The men shot her full of darts and she collapsed beside me. She foamed from the mouth for a while but never got back up again. I think her name was Amelia."
"And what happened to Seth?" Amanda asked.
Diego gave her a curious look. "Seth and James went at it, kind of fittin'. He might have actually calmed that raptor down if it didn't see the two others die first. He didn't stand much of a chance after that. James just had a cattle prod, no dart gun. I never saw a man who looked so closed to shittin' his drawers be that brave. The man earned my respect that day goin' toe to toe with raptor with glorified stick."
"It's in the face of real adversity that a boy becomes a man," Lance said.
"True that," Diego said and then nodded thoughtfully. "James fought that raptor and won. I think he managed to hit it in just the right spot that the shock knocked out the raptor. He got his leg all sorts of messed up for the effort though. They barely got him back to the mainland in time to save his life. He walked with a cane after that. Didn't see him for over year, it surprised me when he did come back."
"James came back after all that?" Amanda said.
"Yeah," Diego said. "It surprised the lot of us when he did. Few weeks later, that lady started working, the one whose notes you read. Her name was Tessa. Think those two hit it off after a while since they were always together studying the raptors. It's truly a shame that she got her back ripped out by one of 'em during the evacuation. Never heard if she survived or not. Wouldn't be the only one to die that day, it was a mess."
Diego sank back and his features softened. He sighed. "That was only a few years ago but it feels like forever. I didn't think I'd ever come back to this godforsaken island…"
Amanda wanted to press for more information but saw that Diego looked lost in memory. She considered everything she heard. It was a lot to take in and she would confirm some of the details with the pack later. Grey might know about it since he was around at the time.
The silence stretched on late in the night; that was until the raptors started screaming across the canyon.