She hurt. It hurt her afterward to know what she had done. It hurt her to think. And, moreover, her head hurt from bashing down the tall wall. This One didn't like these feelings. She couldn't even enjoy the feeling of the sun on her scales without there being some sort of anger, some sort of violence that she needed to inflict on something.

The long necks started it, as she had come to rationalize. They didn't see her as a fellow big thing. They saw her as dangerous. At least, that's what she thought they saw in her. Maybe if there was only one left, she wouldn't feel so alone. But the tapping at the back of her head told otherwise. Tap-tap-tap… just like how she tapped her claws to her chest when she felt nervous.

But it wasn't nerves. No. It was an itch. Such was this itch that it drove her to explore her new territory beyond the confines of the small things' tall walls. The plains were massive and sprawling. She was sure she'd seen a few more big things and small things like her out there. But she wasn't content with going anywhere near them. This One much preferred to not be upset by being reminded of her being alone.

Giving out a discontented rumble, This One then took to standing back up, giving a stretch before she looked over to where she had left the long necks. Grooming her claws of any remaining blood on them as best she could, she then took to heading off in a new direction. She was bored, she wanted to explore before going back behind the tall wall.

Though part of her didn't at all enjoy the prospect of wanting to set up a nest there. Why did she want to go back toward where the small things had attacked her? It was better than dealing with other big things that didn't want to deal with her. Perhaps she'd make two nests? No. That was wasteful… her territory was vast now. She didn't need to set up a nest right now. In fact, patrol was better! This One snorted in satisfaction at that.

Yes. This One would patrol the vast expanse of her new territory, deal with any new big things she came across, and hopefully drive the small things out. Only then would she feel more at peace.

'But what of Small Hunter?' the tapping at the back of her head reminded. Tap-tap-tap… now every tap was on the small thing that she'd seen at her old nest. Part of This One wanted to treat him as another small thing, something to be bitten, or torn by claws, or stomped by her paw. Another remembered the way that he walked around her nest. He didn't look like he wanted to be there. And he smelt like the jungle, like it was his home too.

This One didn't believe that she'd see Small Hunter again. Small Hunter seemed intent on hiding from her when he'd fled her home, and had little fear scent to him. If she'd come across him, she would consider him prey in the moment. Like Fat and Dull Fat. But maybe This One would let Small Hunter live again. The more she considered it, the more she wanted familiar scents around. Small Hunter reminded her of her kind… or at least, she thought he did.

But that didn't mean that she liked Small Hunter. Small Hunter was still a small thing. The small things made her life at her old nest ugly and painful. The thoughts on it made the tapping seem to grow louder at the back of her head. TAP-TAP-TAP… It drew out a growl from This One, a warning to the bad thoughts to stay away. But they wouldn't. They never did when her mind started tapping at her like that.

The best way to deal with it? Gnaw or bite on something until the tapping went away. Or lash out and knock down a tree. But instead of considering something like that, This One's attention was drawn away from the tapping by what sounded like a grunt from the wilderness nearby. Growling lowly under her breath, she crept through the trees, shifting her scales to match them. Making her way through the jungle, she looked around to see more big things. The tapping was gone now, replaced by curiosity at how different the other big things were from not just her, but the long necks she'd encountered before!

They were bulky, but stout, with what looked like heavy scales on their backs and tails that ended in massive clubs. They were certainly big things like her… but also not like her. Their beaks tore at the ground, pulling up greenery to chew on as she watched patiently. She would call them short legs.

"No, no. Bad idea, bad idea." There was chittering now, the sound of a small thing nearby. But it was muffled… like it was behind something.

"Great idea."

"No! No, we're gonna get arrested. They'll shave our heads, and we're gonna have to make rootbeer in the toilet."

"What are you talking about?" Out of the brush came what… looked like an odd thing the small things rode atop of. This One had never seen anything like it. It was so clear and shiny, and it moved so quietly. It didn't seem like the big, boxy things that the other small things rode atop of. It was like they were seated in the air, able to see the world around them for what it was.

As for the small things themselves… they weren't wearing false skins like This One had ever seen. They were… it was hard for This One to even find the thoughts to describe it to herself. They didn't wear the hard-heads with the bones on them, and they were busy chittering to each other, more than the ones she knew. Their noise was annoying and aggravating. But their false skins reminded her of Small Hunter.

Maybe they knew where Small Hunter was. She decided to follow them, see if they would lead her to Small Hunter. She could be smart enough to know that small things did not like to be alone. They would lead her to Small Hunter, surely.

"There. You're welcome. Up and close with four… dinosauruses."

"Ankylosaurus," the smaller one chittered. These two intrigued This One. Was the smaller one talking about the short legs? "We shouldn't be here. And there's five dinosaurs." Five? She could count too; she had learned it when she was very small, when the bad things tried to command her. The smaller small thing must have been very young to not know how to count. This One began to peak her head from the jungle ever so slightly, wanting to see where the fifth short leg was.

"Aren't you supposed to be a genius or something? Look." The bigger of the two then started pointing toward the group of Ankylosaurus with what seemed to be boredom. This one could never really tell, but his body language made him seem… oddly distant. "One, two, three… four."

"Five…" She could see the heat radiating off the smaller small thing. She would call that one Short. He was, by far, the smallest small thing she'd ever seen. Why was he pointing out? This One couldn't help but look a little further, raising herself just barely out of the brush. But instead of seeing another short leg, the closest one turned its head to look in her direction. This One froze, not certain how to react as all the others followed that one's lead.

Realizing that she had been discovered, This One started to make a low growl. She did not want to fight more big things. It was hard to fight something as big as herself, and those big bony clubs at the end of their tails. But that didn't seem to perturb or warn the short leg in front of them. Instead, its tail began to wave a little, almost like it was trying to keep her attention.

Fury began to boil in This One's blood, and she let out a piercing roar to scatter them, going forward in a mock charge. However, her path was disrupted by the small things. In the panic of the herd, she did not see the small things', and her right paw smacked into them. The resulting thud sent Short and the other one flying into the panicked herd.

"Go, go, go!"

"Shit!"

She hissed out her anger toward the small things as she chased one of the short legs, the other having been smacked by the small things and forced to collapse to the ground. It was at that point that the short leg turned itself around, giving off a bellow that sounded like little more than a dying sound from the throat. It was a call for death.

This One didn't want to oblige it, staying back and offering another roar of defiance toward it. This would be the last time she would warn the short leg.

"Drive, drive! Go!" Between the pair of them, the short things were trying to escape, and amidst an errant swing of the short leg's tail, they were sent flying again in another direction. This One couldn't find it in herself to even be afraid of the short leg's strength, but rather impressed by it. If it could do that to the small things' makings, she was halfway tempted to leave it be. Such a creature deserved her respect.

However, that respect was short lived when the short leg turned itself around, bringing that club into her side. Stunned and giving out a pained growl, this time she didn't hesitate and charged it. The short leg did the same thing, the club hitting into This One's shoulder. It thankfully dulled the blow, hitting such a strong part of her body, but it still hurt.

Wanting to end this quickly, she attempted to bite down on top of the short leg like she had the backs of the long necks. She only found that the short leg's scales on its back were tougher than they looked, and only made for hurting her crowded, mismatched teeth.

The creature gave a grunt of exertion as it shook her off, trying its best to swing its tail toward her again. Not wanting to get hit again, This One backed herself up, offering another roar to try and dissuade it as she looked for an opening. There, under its back: its soft underbelly and legs!

Reaching over again, she ducked under the tail as much as she could, letting it turn itself around before reaching over with her claws. Using her short claws to grasp onto its side, she held on and reached with the others towards its vulnerable hind leg. The creature bellowed in pain as she tore it open and forced it to the ground.

Now This One had the advantage, and moved to push the short leg onto its side. Respect was not given to the weak, but at least this creature had earned itself a quick death as she wrapped her jaws around its head. Its panicked cries to its long-fled herd were silenced with a crunch as she yanked forward. She felt the short leg's paws slacken and fall and the taste of blood trickle into her maw.

Without a second thought, however, This One felt that she needed to be sure that the others would heed her warnings next time. Instead of letting go of the carcass, she yanked again, and again, feeling flesh rend from its neck until the short leg's boxy head came off in her jaws. Shaking her head around, she spurted its blood across the nearby ground and onto the long-dead big thing before letting go of the offending appendage.

Now she was hurting… now the tapping was back, and louder. TAP-TAP-TAP… She could practically hear it with every beat of her heart… and now her claw was tapping as well. Pawing at the side of her head, This One couldn't help but growl in pain as her shoulder began to flare up. She would note that these things were dangerous.

Then the sound… the sound aggravated her aches and the tap-tap-tapping in her head, and it was coming from the small things! Angering, annoying little creatures! She didn't care if they led her to Small Hunter or not, now! She cared that they stopped their incessant noise! It was a vibration that tickled at her skull against the small things' riding thing, and she went over to look.

"Almost… got it…"

"Z-Zach…" Short chittered, its eyes staring into her crimson irises with as much fear as the scent that wafted from them: bitter and pungent.

"Yeah?" the other one grunted. It must've been what that short thing was called. Zak…

"Look…" As soon as Zak looked up to what Short had seen, she only gave off a low, rumbling growl. Quiet. In order to make her point clear, she tried to turn them around to face her, giving a slow blink and looking upon them with as much fury and hatred as she could muster. Their heartbeats, she could see them in their heat-forms. And she could small the pungent odor getting worse, especially as she used a claw to try and point to the thing that had been making noise, now silent.

Never again did This One want to hear the small things' noisemakers in her territory. She hoped the message had been gotten across. Zak seemed to close his eyes in submission, understanding. Short, however, was not, and the panicked, squeaky breaths only served to irritate This One further. But hearing the bellow of another big thing close by, she looked away from them for a brief moment.

No… they weren't all that close. A second bellow followed after it. The short legs were regrouping elsewhere. Before she could choose whether or not to let the small things go, however, the sound came again, vibrating against her skull and demanding a tap-tap-tap of her mind against it.

Roaring in fury, This One reached down with her maw, opening it as wide as she could to try and swallow the small things' rider.

"Oh shit!" Zak screeched out. Short had begun bellowing in fear. When it wasn't clear that she could swallow it, This One instead took to trying to crush it in her jaws and slam down the rider into the ground. She would silence them, and that much was made clear as she heard the shattering of the rider.

Shards of the rider cut into her gums as she gave firm slams to the small things. Only for her gaze to be snapped in the direction of the fleeing pair. In realizing they had escaped, she roared a command to stop running before giving chase.

This One's breaths came out ragged and she could taste the blood in her jaws now. Parting through the trees, her gaze snapped onto the fleeing pair of small things, who stopped at a sheer drop that seemed to roar back at her.

"Are you ready? One-two —" This One's jaws snapped over air as she saw them plunge into the water below. Garbling a confused sound, she leaned over to see where they had gone. She knew the small things couldn't breathe water. If she couldn't, how could they? They would need to surface eventually.

But they didn't. It seemed as though that they were gone, drowned under the roaring tide that poured over the cliff-side. Roaring in an angered tone at her prey having drowned, This One padded away, ready to continue the patrol of her new territory.

All the while, though, her claw tapped her chest in time with the tapping in her mind. Tap-tap-tap…


The drive through the valley had been quiet. Claire hadn't had much to say to Owen after he demanded that they go in on foot and tire instead of by helicopter. The Mercedes the park used as ranger vehicles were quieter, and the pinging of the lost gyrosphere had stopped a few minutes after they entered the valley.

It'd stopped pinging somewhere close to the Old Visitor's Center, just a little ways away from the broken fence line. The Indominus Rex truly lived up to its name when Owen had gotten out to investigate the gate, which had been busted open violently. Rended metal and cracked concrete showed where she had charged it.

But what concerned him more was the fact that Blue had heard the Indominus' roar all the way across the island. And not only had she heard it, but she had considered it a challenge. Owen could've blamed tiredness, deliriousness or something else entirely for understanding that last screech that she gave him before he left.

It was a mimicry of what she had heard, and her body language indicated one thing: death. That roar that the Indominus had made was a call, a challenge. It was a summoning of death. That chilled him to the core. It wasn't like a simple challenge though. It was a deliberate and malicious call for death.

It was crazy! Dinosaurs couldn't talk! Even velociraptors couldn't communicate so deliberately. At least, he didn't think so. So why did he understand Blue so clearly there?

His thoughts on the matter were interrupted, however, by the crackle of a radio.

"Grady, it's Hoskins." Owen reached over, wincing at the growing pain in his shoulder before answering.

"Yeah?"

"ACU team just lost contact near the Old Visitor's Center. Close to where the gyrosphere was pinged; how close are you?"

"Just passing through the valley down toward it," he replied. "Shouldn't be more than a few minutes at most." Owen's train of thought, however, was interrupted by the sight of something terrible just behind the valley. He'd expected to find the Apatosauruses, but it was still disheartening to see.

Parking just behind it's the carcass's limp tail, Owen turned to Claire, looking at her with utmost seriousness as he hoisted his gun from the back.

"Stay in the car," he ordered. Claire looked at him slackjawed, practically in awe at what she saw in front of her. But her eyes conveyed horror and despair. As the raptor trainer left the Mercedes, he could already smell it before he was close. Rot and decay permeated the air around it, to the point where it almost made Owen gag. The sheer stench seemed to sting at his nose all the more the closer he got.

Looking around briefly for any signs of the Indominus close by, his attention was brought back to the present by the sound of a wheezing gasp for air, deep and long. It was confirmed by the rise and fall of the dinosaur's broad chest. His eyes widened and his mouth became dry at the prospect… she was alive.

Walking over toward its long neck and head, Owen could immediately see just how much pain she had to have been in. A frothy mix of spit trailed from its lips as it looked up to him. He could've sworn he saw a moment in the chocolatey eyes where the Apatosaurus wanted to lean up to him. Hoisting his gun back over his shoulder, the trainer's hands immediately went to comfort the obviously dying animal.

"Hi," he whispered, offering soothing pats, which was readily replied to with a quiet groan from her.

"I know… I know," Owen continued, his tone quiet as he tried to help ease the dinosaur's likely last moments. It broke his heart to hear her wheeze out, but what broke his heart more was the scent that clung so close to her. It was bitter… the same kind of bitter scent he'd caught off most of the control room by this point. It mingled with the decay, but the smell was just about the same.

"Shh… it's alright." His soothing tones and touches definitely made the Apatosaurus more at ease. But her attention was grabbed by Claire having left the safety of the car in favor of getting close to the dying animal. He barely looked up to her, focusing solely on the dinosaur. But as she bent down to get a closer look, he looked briefly up to her with the dinosaur, who grunted in exertion and agonizing pain.

"Alright, girl…" Those chocolatey eyes looked to Claire in fear for what was likely to happen soon. Doctor Edd Monroe wouldn't get here in time. But he'd at least get on the radio with him to let him know what happened to the Apatosauruses.

Claire's hand reached out to feel against the leathery skin of the sauropod, her slackjawed expression having firmed into a resigned, defeated stare of despair. She likely didn't know what to do. Owen gave her a mere look. There wasn't anything that they could do besides make her last moments more comfortable.

Then the dinosaur moved. Its neck craned upwards slightly, giving out another quietly-groaned bellow of pain. The bitter scent seemed to peak for a brief moment as Owen tried to comfort as best he could. That was when he finally realized what that scent was, and it made his heart break even more. She was scared…

"Okay… okay, okay, okay… you're okay," Owen quietly soothed, bringing the animal's head back to the ground. She kept gulping, closing those chocolate eyes for the last time as she took her final breaths. And then she was gone, heaving out one last mighty sigh.

It was the hardest part of the job with any animal: the moment where they died. When they died young, it was even worse. The Apatosaurus now grew cold to his touches, and as he pulled his hands back from her, Owen could only realize that the last thing that the dinosaur felt was pure, unbridled fear. The bitter stench now seemed old, beginning to dissipate in favor of rotting decay.

Claire looked absolutely heartbroken, the realization of what happened crashing down on top of her. But she didn't look away. Her hands continued to stroke the now cold, leathery hide of the sauropod as Owen stood to his feet. Looking over the plains, he could see more bodies. He could tell immediately that they had been dead for quite some time, as he saw crows and scavenging compys fluttering around them.

The green, lizard-looking dinosaurs only jumped away when a crow would swoop in to scavenge on top, only for it to clamber back up pebbled hides to take bites.

"It didn't eat them," Owen observed, terrified by the implication of that. No mere animal went out of its way to readily kill for the sake of killing. There had to be an underlying reason. "It's killing for sport…"

Claire's hands were now covering her mouth as Owen stepped on down, gun returning to his hands while he went to investigate the bodies.

"But… why?" Claire asked, shocked in disbelief. Part of him wanted to slam Claire for creating this monster again, but he didn't have the heart to do it. Not after watching one of the most beautiful creatures he'd ever seen in his life die in front of him.

"I don't know," Owen answered. "Claire… hand me your phone." She didn't even bother to argue the point, handing to the raptor trainer her cellphone. "Do you know Edd's number?" After quickly getting it, he called the vet's office, not at all surprised to hear a gruff "What?" from the other side.

"Hey… Doc?" Owen greeted.

"Owen! Didn't think you used phones. You alright?" Owen sighed, looking over the bodies again as he tried his best to give the vet the bad news.

"Umm… the Apatosaurus herd… the one in the valley close to the Old Visitor's Center… they're gone Edd."

"Oh," was the response from the doctor. Monroe's tone was clearly saddened, but what broke his heart more was the light gulp he heard from the other line. He knew that the man had to be holding back tears. "All of 'em?"

"I've got six here. Dunno if that's all of them, Doc… I thought it'd be better if I told you." There was a few seconds of silence before a shaky voice replied.

"I appreciate that, Owen… I'll send some vets over."

"Gotcha. Just make sure you're careful. What killed them is still out there." There was a sigh before Edd hung up, clearly not wanting to delve anymore into the topic.

Owen's heart hurt… his shoulders hurt… his pelvis and neck hurt… everything hurt right now. And the more he looked over the bodies of the Apatosauruses, the more he realized that the Indominus Rex was deliberately spiteful and cruel. She clawed deeper, gouging out muscles. One of the animals' throats had been cut open, bone and skin keeping its head attached.

The injuries on the one on the hilltop weren't nearly as severe. Sure, they were deep slashes and gouges… but those injuries could've been survivable. He didn't know what killed the one on top of the hill. Maybe bloodloss, maybe a punctured lung — its wheezy breaths had been slightly gurgly.

The severity of the injuries on the ones below the Apatosaurus on the hill led Owen to believe that she wasn't meant to die. She was just meant to be alone, hurt, afraid.

That wasn't an animalistic behavior. To his knowledge, Owen could only name 3 animals on the planet that were that particularly spiteful: tigers, octopi and humans. Humans were very good at it. They'd turned spite and petty cruelty into an artform. Tigers could grudges and octopi had the intelligence of an 8 year old.

But why would the Indominus have that kind of capacity for cruelty? It couldn't be all the carnivores. It explained the cannibalism of her sibling, it explained the aggression. But the more he looked at the Indominus' modus operandi, the less it made sense. It picked up people in its claws over simply batting them away. It looked for and knew weakpoints in the fence. And now, it was killing for sport, trying to leave only one dinosaur alive in its massacre.

"Owen?" Claire asked. Her tone was soft, almost shaky as he responded.

"We need to find that gyrosphere and get back to Control… head back to the car. I'll catch up in a minute." Giving a nod, the manager went back up to the Mercedes on the hilltop.

A sudden squeak and thud alerted Owen, however, to the fact that one of the scavenging birds had lifted up a compy from the ground and dropped it from high up. Looking at the newfound carcass, Owen's stomach grumbled to him. He stared at the carcass on the ground for a few seconds, listening to his stomach. He was definitely still hungry after that steak. Hopefully when all was said and done, he'd be able to go and get something to eat.


Barry looked on over the ridge toward the beach below. He could see the InGen boats dropping off trucks, equipment, everything that seemed to be under the sun. His intuition told him that something was going down. But all things considered, it looked like they were there for the Code 19. As they packed up, however, he could tell they were heading up the road toward the raptor paddock.

Taking his radio into his hand, the Frenchman sighed as he tried to get Owen's attention.

"Owen, we have a situation here," he called out. When he didn't get a response, Barry considered trying again. But as the trucks and vehicles came up to the raptor paddock, Barry couldn't try and get Owen on the horn. He had to stop InGen's goons from taking over their facility. He could hear one of the girls impatiently offering high-pitched, short screes. It was likely over wanting attention from another of them or something along those lines.

The man who stepped out of the lead vehicle — a heavily armored jeep — was a taller man, similar to the lawyer that Barry had met earlier that week. He wore a light blue short sleeve polo, some kakis and a Mets baseball cap that covered a head of red hair. His red beard had fleks of grey in it, and he wore a look that screamed "I am the manager", in spite of his extremely casual appearance.

"Excuse me, are you Owen Grady?" he asked. His tone was high, almost nervous-sounding as he looked around. People were now stepping out of the vehicles, already unpacking equipment as Barry tried to make sense of the intrusion.

"No… Barry Sembène."

"Do you know where he is?"

"I'm not at liberty to tell you. I'm sorry, who are you?" The redhead then grabbed from his vest pocket an InGen identity card. Without the baseball cap, the picture showed a man with flecks of grey across his red hair and a nasty sunburn.

"Ed Regis. InGen. I'm here to help set up asset containment,"

"I can see that," Barry responded with a cautious nod. "Why do you need Owen?"

"Hoskins sent for us, said we needed Grady to set up shop here. We intend to use this paddock as a base camp."

"I can't do that without Owen."

"That's exactly why we need to get in touch with him, at the very least. Now, do you know where he is or not?" Barry shook his head, not willing to divulge anything to Hoskins' goon.

"That's a shame," Ed Regis lamented. "We can't start operations without someone giving us permission. Do you run this paddock as well?" Barry now crossed his arms, his gaze on Regis harsh as he answered.

"I am… but I was given orders to not let anyone try and set up here."

"And why is that?"

"Because Owen does not trust Vic."

"Trust isn't the issue here," Regis replied. "We were told that there is a dangerous animal on the loose in your park that needs to be put down. You can either cooperate or work with us, or we can go directly to your manager and have him override your orders."

"Then go to Hoskins," Barry shrugged. "Go to Masrani. They'll tell you the same thing. Owen runs this part of the island, not InGen." Ed only seemed to give an annoyed sigh at that, shaking his head.

"You know Mister Sembéne, I can't say I agree with that. Last I checked, IBRIS was an InGen study. Not a Jurassic World study.

"And Hoskins gave Owen full control over selecting staff and ensuring safety here. I can't let you stay."

"And Hoskins gave me orders to establish a base camp. For the moment, IBRIS is not my concern is setting up here, and then going and speaking to Masrani and Hoskins."

"And the answer is no." Barry's stance was firm. He wasn't going to let Ed Regis walk over him. "Go talk to your bosses first. I'll get in touch with mine."

"And where do you propose we leave this equipment?"

"Take it with you. I don't care." Ed's lips pursed at that, clearly not enjoying being told 'no'. Without a second word in with Barry, Ed returned to his car and grabbed a satellite phone, looking disgustedly in Barry's direction the entire time.

"Hey, Vic? It's Ed. Yeah… he wouldn't… we need you down here, now."