Site-B

by QuantumRex

Site B concerns the untold chaotic events that occurred on Isla Sorna prior to, during, and immediately following the original Jurassic Park disaster. Several of the dinosaur species have begun to breed on their own, and the velociraptors in particular are creating havoc. In the background a corporate scandal deeper than Dennis Nedry unfolds.

325. Chapter 325

CHAPTER 325

John Hammond held his cane off the ground and extended it out in front of him until the amber encased mosquito at its top end tapped the thick aquarium glass before him. He stared past the glowing jewel of petrified tree sap to examine the creature within. 9 feet long, from nose to tail, was the beast. A crocodile like snout with sharp protruding teeth gave it away without question as a carnivore. Four thick legs hung below it in the water, the fore and rear toes paddling intermittently to keep its long body in place. The tail was lengthy and paddle like.

"That's curious, Henry," John leaned his cane away from the glass.

Dr. Wu stepped closer.

Mr. Hammond continued, "the tall sail on its back."

Dr. Wu spoke casually, "the animal is semi-aquatic. It appears to provide stability in the water."

"Hm." Mr. Hammond turned his back on the first holding tank and moved forward to a second tank that had been behind him.

A dark shape loomed at the back of the aquarium, and John couldn't help but get a chill as he approached. The shape hung in the background like a ghost until it sprang forward with explosive force. Crocodile jaws struck the glass with a bang, and Mr. Hammond recoiled. His cane left his hand and clattered on the concrete.

Another 9 foot long carnivore raked its claws against the side of the tank. It snapped its teeth and threw its body into the glass.

Mr. Hammond adjusted himself as Dr. Wu handed him his cane from the floor. "What am I looking at here, Henry?"

"Spinosaurus, Sir," he answered.

"You told me that was spinosaurus." John thrust his cane in the direction of the first tank.

"Yes, well, the genetic material we had to work with was massively corrupted. We had to do an unparalleled amount of reconstruction to the code. We tried a variety of differing avenues, and came up with two viable specimens."

"This is hardly the same creature as that one." John poked his cane at the second animal who was still thrashing about at the glass.

Dr. Wu said, "and yet we've compared the teeth of these two specimens to spinosaurus aegypticus, and they are both an identical match."

"This one appears to be far more aggressive." John found himself backing away even more.

"Yes," Dr. Wu said plainly.

"Will they grow bigger?" John asked.

"I expect they'll grow much larger. They may turn out to be the largest carnivores we've engineered."

"Larger than T-Rex?" John raised his brow.

Dr. Wu nodded.

"Hm." John dipped his chin. "And which specimen is the most accurate?"

"That, we don't know," Dr. Wu began. "Fossil remains of spinosaurus aegypticus are incomplete and scarce."

Another person joined the conversation, "In fact the original remains discovered in Egypt in 1912 were destroyed during World War II."

John Hammond turned and nodded, "Dr. Conners."

Bryce continued, "early reconstructions of spinosaurus have depicted it as somewhat of a giant dimetrodon-like biped. Both these specimens are quite unlike that. After comparing images of the original fossil material to x-rays of both these specimens I can at the very least be confident at this time that either of the two are more accurate than the earliest reconstructions. I will however add that the first specimen is far more adapted to the water, which seems to make the most sense. It's consistent. It favors a diet of aquatic meats and spends much more of its time in the water. The second specimen is erratic. it can swim, but it's quick on land. It's not picky about what it eats, and it's mean as hell."

John Hammond mulled over the details for a time, turning his cane in one hand. He turned to Ms. Murdock who had been standing quietly at a distance. "Care to share your thoughts? Ms. Murdock? Ms. Murdock…" Mr. Hammond's voice faded into the back corners of her mind.

Ms. Murdock had this memory playing in her head, but why? Why was it relevant now?

Her thoughts were foggy. Where was she? She wondered. Not there… not then… That memory happened some time ago.

Her eyes were closed. She opened them. Her vision blurred with a blast of sunlight. She squinted. Her head hurt. She felt like she was hung over, and someone had used her cranium for a punching bag.

A sticky cool wetness surrounded her. Mud... She curled her fingers in it. Her vision cleared up, and she saw tall grass in front of her and… Ms. Murdock shifted her head. Scales. A foot. A giant foot. Thick like a tree trunk. She rolled over and saw the belly of a brachiosaurus. There was a deep bellow, and it ambled along with thudding steps.

As the beast moved off the sun hit Ms. Murdock fiercely, and she recoiled against the mud. Her boots splashed in water. She was at the edge of a riverbank.

More brachiosaurus walked the bank, following in the direction of the first. They were followed by several stegosaurus. Ms. Murdock's head swiveled as she watched them go by. Something seemed to be driving them away, a predator perhaps. Ms. Murdock heard a loud crunch next to her and turned. She was nose to nose with the dull cow-like expression of an apatosaurus. It inched closer with a sniff, it's jaws chewing slowly on plant matter. Around its throat, folds of scaly skin hung like jowls that had a life of their own. Each overlapping layer of rough flesh extended and retracted like a small lapping wave on a shoreline as the creature chewed, swallowed, and shifted its mighty neck.

The apatosaurus nuzzled into Ms. Murdock's chest, and a broad tongue licked up her muddy shirt. Joan put up two palms and gently guided the creature's face aside. Its big gentle eye regarded her for a moment and then glanced around quickly. A soft moan belched out of its throat, and it carried itself off at a brisk pace.

Joan recalled the other creatures being in a hurry. The idea that a predator was nearby came back to her.

Then Ms. Murdock was on alert. She stood quickly and swayed like a drunk. Her feet stammered, and then she got a hold of herself. Immediately she saw the helicopter wreckage. Smoke still came off the engines. The fuselage was dead in the water, and the river's current churned against its metal hull.

Was that what was driving the herbivores away? She didn't think so. The wreckage had been there long enough that she had somehow managed to exit the helicopter and stumble down stream. Ms. Murdock didn't recall any of that though. She had no concept of how much time had passed since the crash, but it seemed like it had been a while.

Was she the only survivor? She began to wonder. Ms. Murdock recounted everything she could remember leading up to the crash. It didn't help. She had blacked out at some point before the helicopter struck the ground. Was she alone on the island?

Then she saw something further upstream from where the Chinook was sitting in the water, and her memories of the young spinosaurus made sense. They must have been triggered by a glimpse she had caught earlier when she was stumbling away from the wreckage in a haze of actions she couldn't remember. Now she saw a great sail approaching the wreckage.

Simultaneously she felt a tugging at her pant leg and looked down. A Compsognathus was chattering away while busily nipping at her clothing.

"Screw off!" Ms. Murdock snapped her boot at it, sending it hurling through the tall grass with a screech.

She lifted her eyes back to the helicopter wreckage and saw that the sail was still approaching from upstream.

"Damn," she sighed.

Inside the battered fuselage Kyra opened her eyes to pure darkness. There was not a shred of light to be seen no matter where she turned her head. She shifted and felt pressure on all sides of her. She was crammed into some kind of tight space, perhaps even crushed. Could she move? Could she get out? She felt herself bob and drift. Oh God, she thought. Was she underwater? Was she going to drown or suffocate?

Kyra squirmed and threw her elbows. She kicked her legs up, and a solid lid sprang open above her. Sitting up fast she felt air on her face and took a heavy breath. The large strongbox Kyra was in rocked and tilted. She looked around her and saw that the fuselage had taken on two to three feet of water. Nobody else was around. She wasn't sure what to do or where to go.

Kyra began by climbing out of the crate. She took her time as not to tip it in it's partial buoyant state. Slowly, carefully she braced her arms on the corners of the box and dipped one foot in the water. Kyra felt a second layer of hesitancy as the water was murky, and she did not know what prehistoric creature might be waiting to grab her leg and drag her under. She watched the water lap around her ankle before plunging her other foot in.

Breaking free of the strongbox Kyra sank up to her waist in water. She stood there waiting to see if she would meet some undesirable fate beneath the surface of the small splashing waves about her, but she did not.

Kyra looked up towards the cockpit, hearing the sound of the water echo through the fuselage as it would if she were in a cave. Nobody was there. She looked toward the rear door. It was still open, letting in light and water. Kyra saw the current rolling at the edges of the door. It must be a river, she thought, perhaps in the valley. That would make sense. She didn't see much beyond it. It was grass and weeds at the bank. If she listened she could hear the calls of dinosaurs she had grown accustomed to.

Kyra turned back to the strongbox and was shocked to see that Seth was curled up inside of it. That's when she remembered that she had shoved him into the crate moments before the crash.

"Oh my God! Seth!" She reached in and turned him over.

His eyes were open. He stared back at her. His expression was blank, and he said nothing.

Kyra tried to read him but couldn't. She didn't know what to say. What was there to say? It had all gone wrong, over and over again. No matter how many times they attempted to escape this awful situation it only got worse. What was left to say? What consoling words or those of encouragement could possibly be appropriate at a time like this?

Seth finally said, "I was hoping we were all dead."

"You don't mean that." Kyra was taken back.

"Yes. I do." Seth turned away from her and curled up in the box.

Kyra looked around the waterlogged helicopter. She didn't feel safe. "Come on Seth. I wanna get out of here."

"So go." He remained curled up.

"I need you to come with me." She nudged him.

"What for? I'd rather die here than out there. At least I won't have to run my ass off anymore."

"Seth, cut it out. Let's go." She tugged him.

He pulled away. "Nobody is coming for us. There is no way off this island. We're all alone."

"What about the boats?" Kyra said. "My Dad said we should get to the pontoon boats along the river."

"Do you even know where that is?" Seth rolled back to look at her.

Kyra didn't know exactly. She couldn't answer him.

"That's what I thought." Seth looked her dead in the eye and said, "your dad is dead. My mom is dead. Everyone is dead. You and I are dead. You just haven't caught on yet."

Kyra started to tear up.

"Stop it," Seth said. "There's no sense in that. Ms. Murdock was right. She's the only one who seemed to have any sense in the bunch."

Kyra slapped Seth so hard his head hit the side of the crate and bounced. "Ms. Murdock is a crazy bitch, and you're being an asshole!"

Seth looked at her. His cheek was already glowing red, even in the gloom of the fuselage. He turned his opposite cheek and said, "do it again. I don't care."

"You're a piece of shit!" Kyra shoved the create. "When I met you I thought you were just quiet or something, but you're a coward. You're giving up because it's too goddamn hard." She spit in his face. "Screw you, Seth! You can die for all I care."

Something about what Kyra had just said broke him. Seth felt his body sag and his face and eyes droop. It was as though Kyra had slapped him again, only this time she had struck the core of his soul. The despair he had been feeling subsided, and all he could think about was being a coward. She had been so blunt, and the truth hit him like a train.

Seth felt nothing but shame and he hung his head and stared at his knees. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Kyra pushed his forehead up with her palm and looked him in the eye. "I need you to pull yourself together, because I'm not doing this shit alone."

As Seth sat in the crate and nodded slowly he felt the container rock as the water around it shifted. There was a soft groan and a scrape of metal along the rocks in the riverbed below them. The Chinook was moving.

Seth lifted his eyes and exchanged looks with Kyra. Before either of them said anything the sound stopped, and the fuselage was still. Their eyes scanned the gently sloshing water within the fuselage as it calmed down. A bubble rose to the surface and popped, echoing quietly through the metal hollow. Then there was a loud bang.

The fuselage lurched, and the water within it swelled one way and the other, smacking against the walls. The crate tipped over, and Seth dumped into the water. He tumbled into Kyra, and they both floundered until getting their footing.

"There's something out there," Kyra coughed on a mouthful of water.

"Maybe the wreckage is just shifting in the current," Seth gulped.

There was another loud bang, and the Chinook lurched again. The water swelled higher, throwing Seth and Kyra into the side of the fuselage. The wreckage tipped further until the helicopter slammed onto its side.

The aircraft rested there, and Seth and Kyra bobbed to the surface. Their eyes darted around in a panic as they coughed and gasped. The water around them sloshed and slowly settled, but at its surface terrifying things had been stirred up.

Kyra saw a set of fingertips break the skin of the water. Seth was staring at a nose and a set of lips that were just penetrating. More body parts came up around them, grazing the brink of the water. Boots, pants, the back of a torso, a sopping head of hair all bobbed around them like zombies coming up from a graveyard.

Horrorstricken, Kyra and Seth backed against the side of the fuselage. As the bodies drifted before them a deep long growl came from outside the helicopter. Following it was a great, sloshing, splashing sound. Something humongous was moving through the water just outside the Chinook. Kyra and Seth began to see swells in the water that undulated past the cockeyed cargo door. As they ceased they heard the growl again, and a large shadow cast across the door. It was soon followed by a continuous line of sharp teeth. The pointed snout appeared at the right side of the door and slowly traversed toward the left. Tooth after tooth after tooth appeared, each one protruding from a long, scaly, crocodilian muzzle in a jagged formation. The mouth continued to move across the doorway until Seth and Kyra saw a narrow speckled eye squinting in at them. It widened and then inspected the interior of the fuselage. Seth and Kyra remained petrified against the wall, but they could not help but feel totally exposed. The eye narrowed again. The creature cocked its snout and sniffed the air, then it grumbled.

The sloshing and splashing started again, and they could hear heavy foot stomps this time. The animal was shifting its body toward the doorway. Water churned up through the fuselage pushing the floating corpses closer to Seth and Kyra, and they both cringed.

The animal's long crocodile snout intruded into the fuselage and it snorted on the air within. It moved forward as far as it could and stopped. Beyond its head and neck all Kyra and Seth could really make out of the creature were two short stocky forelegs.

The creature issued a roar that was loud and raspy. Within the fuselage it was like the dinosaur was using a giant megaphone. Seth and Kyra could not help covering their ears. The animal's head withdrew from the interior of the helicopter rather swiftly, and its forelegs rose out of the water. Though Kyra and Seth could no longer see its face they had a good view of its long belly and further back its much bigger and stronger hind legs as well. The dinosaur's forefeet were resting on either edge of the door, and enormous curved claws were occasionally visible as the animal repositioned.

"What the hell is that?" Seth whispered.

"Spinosaurus," Kyra answered.

The spinosaurus seemed to be resting or waiting. It wasn't moving much, and just occasionally shifted its weight from time to time.

"Maybe it'll go away," Seth said.

They both watched it, and it continued to remain where it was.

Kyra whispered, "maybe not."

She looked up toward the head of the fuselage and said, "we could try sneaking out through one of the front doors."

"What if it sees us?" Seth narrowed his eyes on her.

"It's kind of slow," Kyra said. "It's a swimmer not a runner. If we can get a good head start I'm sure we can outrun it."

Seth was looking past Kyra with a worried expression.

"What's the matter?" Her eyes followed his back to the rear door.

The spinosaurus was peering in again, only this time there was no question that it had spotted them. The dinosaur stared for a moment and then pulled its head away. With splashing steps its feet thudded through the river as it moved out of sight and alongside the fuselage.

"Is it leaving?" Seth said.

"I don't know," Kyra shook her head.

There was a bang, and the Chinook started scraping along the riverbed. The fuselage lurched and shimmied. Kyra and Seth soon saw through the back door that the helicopter was rotating such that the cargo door would be facing downstream. As the rear of the chopper lined up with the river they got a view of what was there. Just beyond the cargo door was a small drop off where the river turned rocky and rapid. Outside the helicopter the spinosaurus was circling to the cockpit. Through smudged and cracked windows Kyra and Seth could see the form of the huge carnivore heaving its weight. The bay door scraped closer to the drop off with every push, and then it was hanging out over the rapids. The water within the helicopter began to pour out the door, creating its own small waterfall. Seth and Kyra braced themselves against the current and watched as the corpses around them were swept away. The fuselage continued to scrape over the edge, and soon it was teetering.

"Hang on to something!" Kyra shouted.

The rear of the Chinook dropped ten feet and crashed on the rocks below with a shudder. As the cockpit simultaneously vaulted upward the remaining water dumped against Seth and Kyra. They each gripped the rib like seams along the interior wall of the fuselage. It was like fighting against a waterslide as the current battered them.

The water soon flushed out, and they were able to hold on, but now they hung where they were and waited to see what would happen. Dripping with water they looked at each other and then down at the door below. Just at its mouth one of the corpses had gotten caught. Its appendages bobbed in the river current as it lay face down. Neither Kyra nor Seth wanted to look too closely at the details of its clothing, hair, or skin color. They did not care to know who it was. They did not have much of a chance anyway as a moment later there was a flash of teeth. The spinosaurus snapped down on the corpse with its crocodile jaws and pulled it away. The animal's mouth was out of sight, but Seth and Kyra could hear bones cracking and flesh being torn. Sounds of chomping and swallowing followed, then the spinosaurus was on the move down stream to chase after the other bodies that had drifted away. It splashed through the rapids, and it's thick paddle-like tail swished past the door. After that it was gone.

Seth and Kyra waited in the fuselage for a while before deciding it was safe to go. They scaled down the inner wall until reaching the door at the bottom. There they navigated their way across a large log that was stuck in the rapids. It took them partway to shore where they had to scale slippery rocks and eventually wade through waist deep water that was less turbulent than the middle of the river.

Kyra and Seth trudged onto the muddy bank where they looked down and saw their shoes standing in a mosaic of various kinds of dinosaur footprints. There was a time when they both would've stared and marveled at them, but now they scarcely noticed.

Downriver the water flowed out of the valley and into the jungle.

Kyra said, "we need to get out of the open.

Seth nodded but said, "that's the direction that thing went in."

"We'll, it's the closest tree line, and besides, I'm fairly certain the pontoon boats are along the river somewhere down that way. I don't know exactly where, but if we follow the river we might come across them."

"Might?" Seth gave her a look.

"I already told you I don't know where they are, but I think it's that way, and we shouldn't just stand around here in the open anyway. Right?"

Seth sighed, "right."

They set off downstream following the riverbank toward the tree line. They both knew that being near the water would make the chances of them running into dinosaurs more likely, but it was their best lead to finding the boats.

As Seth walked beside Kyra his head felt strained. It was like his brain had been pulled and stretched and stomped on. There was barely a thought he could hold onto. He was just walking, staring forward and walking.

They were halfway to the tree line when out of the blue Kyra asked, "what were you listening to? On the day we met up in the village, what were you listening to?"

Seth stopped and turned his heels in the mud to look at her. He stared strangely.

Kyra stood and watched him puzzling over the question for a time and then said, "what?"

Dragonflies zipped around their shoulders as Seth let the question hang longer.

"Did I break your brain?" Kyra poked at his forehead.

Seth brushed her finger away.

"Jeez, ok." Kyra backed up.

Seth shook his head. "You're asking me that now?"

"Why not?" Kyra started walking again.

Seth stood for a moment then followed. "You could've asked me that days ago."

"But I didn't, and I wanna know." She said.

"Why?" Seth subconsciously gripped his temple and strained his face.

"Fine, keep it to yourself," Kyra huffed.

"We'll what does it matter?" Seth dropped his hands.

"It doesn't. Never mind. I already told you not to tell me." Kyra was walking faster.

Seth said, "Nine Inch Nails."

Kyra laughed quietly.

"What's wrong with that?" Seth squinted.

"Nothing at all. It just suits you."

"Whatever."

"This is going to be a long walk if you don't ease up a little."

"Our parents just died." Seth shrugged his hands up.

"Well you don't have to take it all out on me. That's all I'm saying."

"Maybe we just shouldn't talk for a bit. I can't even think straight."

"Fine." Kyra turned her nose to the sky.

They continued the rest of the way to the tree line in silence. When they reached the jungle they both paused.

Seth looked down the river as it flowed into the depths of the foliage. It might as well have been the throat of a pitched black cavern. It was dark and mysterious. Anything could be hiding in the trees, and it wouldn't matter if it was twelve inches long or the size of a bus. They might not spot it until it was poisoning them, devouring them whole, or ripping them to shreds.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Seth asked.

"Oh, we're talking again?" Kyra gave him a side eye.

"Just give me a break, ok. Are we really going to do this or not?" Seth said.

Kyra looked back up stream to the open valley. "Unless you're still bent on dying in that helicopter."

Seth just looked at her, and then he started walking into the jungle.

There was an area of the river that ran along the right side where it was shallow and rocky or pebbled at times. This seemed to be the easiest path to navigate.

They had been walking for a bit when Seth asked, "what if the river gets too deep?"

"Then we'll go through the jungle and just stay close to the river," Kyra said.

"Well, what if the jungle gets too thick." Seth looked into the dense trees.

"Well then I guess we'll die," Kyra huffed.

"Sorry for asking." Seth's shoes slipped over stones as he spoke.

"Now you're talking too much." Kyra stopped and faced him.

They both just stood there and stared at each other.

Eventually Kyra said softly, "I'm sorry about your Mom."

"Yeah," Seth nodded. "I'm sorry about your Dad."

"Yeah." Kyra poked at a rock in the water with her toe.

They both were quiet for a bit, and then Kyra flicked a small splash of water up at Seth with her shoe.

Seth looked up at her, and she gave the smallest smirk. As much as Seth didn't feel like it, he returned the smile.

"Come on," Kyra waved forward.

They both kept walking.

"How far away do you suppose the boats are?" Seth asked.

"I really don't know." Kyra squinted upriver. "It could be a while."

"Great," Seth droned.

The trickle of the water was getting louder as they moved ahead, and soon they were standing at the top of a shallow sloping waterfall. The current splashed and spilled down the crevices between rocks and boulders. Seth and Kyra took their time scaling down this obstacle. It was not especially hazardous, but time consuming.

While they were preoccupied with climbing down the waterfall a shape emerged out of the jungle behind them. First a long crocodilian snout slipped out from amongst the tree limbs and angled their way. A muscular neck followed, and then two powerful arms. Each forelimb was equipped with strong fingers that could grasp and large hooked claws that could tear. The beast watched them in silence, and then moved further into the open. A big torso pushed out of the trees followed by a set of legs that looked fast and powerful. The beast took its time, and Kyra and Seth could hear none of it over the fall of the water. Like a giant saw blade a dorsal sail upon the carnivore's back cut through the trees and into the open. The dinosaur stepped fully into the river, and lastly its tail came out of the trees like a two ton eel. It turned and towered over Seth and Kyra, looking like a fire breathing dragon. On its two long legs it approached the waterfall, and with meticulous grace, stepped upon the boulders. Its sharp talons gripped the rocks, and with strength and balance it drew closer.

Seth and Kyra reached the bottom of the waterfall and waded through a pool of churning shallows until they reached the right side of the riverbank where there was a broad, dry, gravel patch. Pausing here they looked downriver to get their bearings and plot their way.

"Let's hope there's not too much more of that," Seth said.

Kyra nodded and pointed ahead. "It looks like if we keep to those rocks over there we'll have a pretty good path."

Seth looked to where she was pointing and nodded. "It's strange," he said.

"What?"

"That there aren't any animals around."

Kyra squinted from bank to bank.

"We've been walking for a while," Seth went on. "We haven't seen a single dinosaur." He stopped suddenly. "You smell that?" His face crunched. "It's like the back dumpster at a seafood restaurant." He waved his hand in front of his nose. "Where's the dead fish?"

Seth felt an abrupt change in the air. A steamy heat surrounded him carrying the stench that he smelled. He turned to look at Kyra, but he didn't see her. Instead he saw two rows of sharp teeth and the roof of a long, large mouth. Seth's head snapped the other way and he saw two more rows of teeth with a slender tongue running between them. His gut sank. The realization that he was standing within a massive set of jaws barely struck him before Kyra tackled his knees.

Seth felt his body hit the gravel. He heard the clap of jaws above him. When he looked up he saw the huge crocodile like snout.

"Come on!" Kyra snatched his wrist.

They both got up and started running. Behind them the air shook with a raspy bellow. The ground shuddered with powerful footfalls.

"This way!" Kyra tugged Seth into the jungle.

They dove into thick foliage and began crawling amongst it. Kyra found a rotted out log and whispered, "get in."

Seth wriggled into the soggy old tree trunk, his elbows sinking in mud. Kyra shimmied in after him. It was a tight squeeze, and they were tangled one over the other.

"Ow!" Seth said as Kyra's elbow jabbed his inner thigh.

"Shh!" She hissed.

They both sat still as water gurgled up through the mud and bubbled around them. Heavy thudding shook the earth, and a shadow fell over both ends of the log. The footsteps ceased, and there was a moment where large breaths were heard directly above. With a loud crash the top of the log was torn away as the dinosaur ripped it off with its fore claws. Seth and Kyra were totally exposed as the beast reared its head to snap. They scrambled to their feet and started running again.

"Follow me!" Kyra shouted. "Stay close!"

She ran straight toward the trunk of a large tree and Seth followed. They both bumped into it, and then dodged around the side of it. Behind them they heard the huge carnivore slam into it with an angry growl. They heard a roar and another slam. This time it was accompanied with the sharp crack of splitting wood.

Kyra and Seth looked behind them and saw the dinosaur pushing through a broad limb of the tree with its arms. The branch broke off and went tumbling in their direction. There was a great whoosh of air as it fell next to them.

Seth even felt some of the leaves graze his face. "Shit!" He jumped back.

"Keep moving!" Kyra tugged him along.

They ran through a stretch of thick jungle and reached an area where it thinned out. They found themselves trudging through a bog that sucked at their shoes with every step. They were soon ankle deep.

"We're dead!" Seth shouted. "We can't run through this. We're dead!"

"Shut up! Shut up! No we're not! Keep moving!" Kyra shoved him on.

The jungle thundered behind them. Trees crashed and thrashed. The carnivore burst through the foliage and roared.

"Don't look!" Kyra slapped Seth's chin forward. "Just keep going."

The dinosaur looked down at the mire and paused, then it took its first step. The beast let its foot settle in, then it took another. Gaining confidence that the ground was stable enough the dinosaur quickened its pace.

"Over there!" Kyra pushed Seth. "That tree!"

Ten feet away there was a crooked tree in the bog that leaned over and reached the other side where the jungle resumed. They pushed through the mud and got to its broad gnarly base. With haste they began to scale it.

The carnivore boomed across the mire and reached the tree. With its front limbs and one hind foot it leaned its weight down on the base. The tree creaked and groaned. With heavy aggressive fore claws the crocodilian beast slashed up the trunk.

Seth and Kyra climbed further away from the animal, but as it put more weight on the tree it began to sag and give way.

There was a sudden break and the whole trunk slammed down. Kyra and Seth were plunged back into the jungle. They fell off the tree and tumbled into the dense low foliage.

Laying amongst the cover of fern trees Seth whispered, "what do we do?"

Kyra shook her head and put a finger to her lips. Then she made a signal for him to keep his head low. They both looked in the direction of the dinosaur and saw that its eyes were sifting through the rubble of the fallen tree. When it swung its gaze further away from them Kyra flagged Seth to follow her.

They crawled on their bellies beneath the fronds of the fern trees for a time and wriggled over snaking tree roots. Kyra was belly crawling amongst a cluster of cycads when she heard a thrash of leaves, and the carnivore's scaly foot smashed down right beside her. She and Seth froze as the beast shifted its body and sidestepped over them. It became apparent that the animal did not know they were right beneath its belly. They watched its narrow chin oscillate in one direction and another as it remained clueless of their whereabouts. It's arms dangled and swung above the dirt. It squatted on its haunches and the huge curving talons grazed the soil, at times coming dangerously close to swiping Seth or Kyra. It growled, and grunted, and then straightened its legs, pushing its body back into the air. With a grumble one foot lifted away, and then the other followed. Smashing and crashing through the foliage, the carnivore lumbered off.

Kyra and Seth remained quiet and still for a time and then crawled onward through the jungle. Soon Seth heard the gurgle of water, and he realized that they had reached the river again. The mud under his elbows changed to gravel and he found himself back on the bank.

"Did we loose it?" he whispered.

Kyra craned her neck. "I have no idea, but we should keep moving."

They stood up and looked out across the river, and what they saw was a sixty foot long beast with a sale on its back and a crocodile snout. There was a moment of confusion. Seth did a double take and then realized that this was the dinosaur that had attacked the helicopter. Although they looked strikingly similar this was not the dinosaur they had just run away from.

"Shit. It's the spinosaurus," Seth said beneath his breath.

"They're both spinosaurus," Kyra said.

"What?" Seth looked at her confused.

"This one is version A. The other is version B," Kyra answered.

"What are you talking about?" Seth was further confused.

"Do you really need me to break it down for you right this second?" Kyra eyed him with exasperation.

He shook his head.

Version A turned its head and looked at them as it stood on all fours in the river. From between its clamped teeth there dangled the arm of a human corpse from the helicopter wreckage. The animal examined them, its tail swishing above the water. It blinked and then reared up on its strong stocky hind legs.

There was a crash behind Kyra and Seth, and they spun on their heels. Version B was towering over their backs. Their heads jerked back to Version A. With a quick clap of its jaw the arm vanished into its mouth.

The spinosaurus bellowed and swiped its fore claws at the air. It lurched forward taking cumbersome steps on its hind feet. Walking as a biped was not graceful for version A, as it was much more front heavy and not built for that kind of locomotion. After only a few small paces it dropped onto its front legs and bellowed again. It was a lot like a grizzly bear in that respect, only it looked like a monster crocodile.

Version B lowered its head and hissed. It thrashed its tail and shouldered small trees out of its way. Seth and Kyra were stuck between the two titans with no time to run. Version B charged, and its huge ankles rushed past them on either side. All they could do was throw their elbows over their heads and duck.

Version A reared up and swiped its fore claws. It roared and snapped its long jaws at its attacker. Version B was not phased by the display and rushed in without hesitation.

Seth and Kyra were still curled up in small huddles on the bank, but they heard the two spinosaurs crash together. There were bellows and growls, and when they looked up the tale of Version B was whipping in their direction. They flattened on their bellies and felt the gravel shudder beneath them. They turned their necks to look at the fight and saw the heels of Version B stomping back at them.

Seth and Kyra rolled on top of one another as the large talons and scaly toes of Version B danced around them. They saw its underbelly pass over them, and next the deadly hooked fore claws of its hands were swinging above them. They felt hot drops of liquid raining down and realized it was bloodshed from overhead. Version A was stumbling and staggering. It choked and coughed. Seth caught a glimpse through the splashes of blood. Version B had a death hold on Version A. Its jaws were clamped around its throat, and it used its hands to wring its opponent's neck like a washcloth.

"Let's get out of here!" Kyra tugged Seth.

They both started running downriver. There was a loud pop, and a quick tearing sound. Seth and Kyra were scarcely out of range of the two spinosaurs' swinging tails when the bench sized jaws of Version A dropped out of the air and splashed down in the water right in front of them.

Kyra and Seth stumbled to a halt.

"Shit," Seth gasped.

Version A's mouth bounced open, and its tongue drooped out over its lower teeth. Its eye stared at them as though it were still looking about.

Seth and Kyra heard a growl and turned around. Version B stood over the headless corpse of its vanquished opponent, but it was staring at them.

Seth said, "it's not gonna chase us anymore, right? It has food now." He glanced at Kyra for confirmation. "It's going to stop and eat, right?"

"Only if it wants to." Ms. Murdock's voice came out of nowhere.

Kyra and Seth Spun back to the disembodied dinosaur head and saw her standing just beyond it.

"That is Dr. Wu's abomination, and it doesn't always make sense." Ms. Murdock beckoned with her hand, "come on then."

"Dear God," Kyra uttered, "of all the people who could've survived."

The Version B spinosaurus growled and stepped over the body of Version A.

"Sorry for the disappointment," Ms. Murdock said, "but you're just going to have to deal with it. That spinosaurus is coming, so you can stand there, or you can follow me now… right now."

Ms. Murdock turned and started running.

The spinosaurus bellowed and began to charge. Seth and Kyra looked at each other and sprinted after Ms. Murdock. They ran along the riverbank and through shallow churning pools. They skipped and dodged over rocks rushing as fast as they could. Behind them the spinosaurus was booming and huffing like a freight train, and it was catching up fast.

"Here!" Ms. Murdock shouted, and she cut to the right.

She led them off on a little split in the river that was scarcely more than a trickling creek that spilled between two car sized boulders. Ms. Murdock, Kyra, and Seth squeezed through with the spinosaurus snapping and hissing just behind them.

The small stream fell down a slippery rocky crevice that was just deep enough to hide their heads when they were fully erect. The three of them stumbled, slipped, and leapt down the mossy trench, grasping at roots and tufts of ferns that were growing from its walls. The whole time they could hear the spinosaurus stomping and breathing as it pursued them.

Running onward the three slid down more slick rocks, bounced over roots, and suddenly found themselves plunging into the throat of a small cave. It wasn't very big. The light at the other end was scarcely fifty feet away. Once they were a good third of the way in Ms. Murdock dug her heels.

"Stop stop stop!" She commanded.

Seth and Kyra crashed into each other, and then slammed into her. They got their footing on the slippery rocks and then stood quietly.

Bits of light shone through small holes in the ceiling of the cave, and Kyra realized that there was not much earth between them and the jungle above. The more she looked around the more she saw that the whole trench they'd been running through was the remnants of a collapsed lava tube.

"Hey!" Ms. Murdock snapped her fingers at Seth and Kyra.

Kyra looked at her, but Seth seemed lost. He was looking at the ground and shaking his head. Outside the tube he could hear the growls of the spinosaurus.

"Hey!" Ms. Murdock slapped his cheek.

Seth looked up surprised, but with an expression of acceptance about the slap.

Ms. Murdock pointed fiercely at the two of them. "I could just as well strangle the both of you and throw myself off the nearest high precipice and call it a day, though it seems the two of you still have some fight left. But I'm not going to waste my time if you've lost it. Hey!" She slapped Seth again. "Stop looking at your feet. Keep your head clear. There'll be plenty of time for you to fall to pieces if we ever get off this island."

Outside the tube the spinosaurus was roaring and stomping. Bits of earth were crumbling from the ceiling onto their heads.

Seth was muttering, "This was stupid. We're just gonna die. Why'd we even try?" He couldn't pull himself together.

Ms. Murdock raised her hand to slap him once more, but was taken off guard when Kyra's knuckles wrapped across her cheekbone with a surprising amount of force. Her head was thrown to the side, and she left it there for a beat. When she turned back there was a smirk upon her lips.

"That's the spirit," she glowed. "You look after that one." Ms. Murdock pointed at Seth. "Make sure he keeps all his marbles in a bag."

"You're insane," Kyra said.

Ms. Murdock leaned close. "I'm one of the few still alive. You think about that one."

As Kyra and Ms. Murdock stood almost nose to nose one of the spinosaur's hands crashed through the ceiling and started swiping its giant claws around. Ms. Murdock and Kyra became separated from Seth as the talons slashed around. He backed away in the other direction.

"Seth!" Kyra called.

Just behind him one of the spinosaur's hind feet punched through the crumbling rock just above him. Seth leapt forward onto his belly, and a pile of loose earth dumped onto his back.

The spinosaurus pulled its appendages away. Through the dirt and rock they heard the carnivore stomping above.

Kyra ran over to Seth and dug at the dirt with her bare hands as Seth wriggled fiercely to break free. Ms. Murdock came to help. Above them they heard the spinosaurus roar. When they looked up they saw a mesh of tree roots that was now free of the earth and rock it once held. Through it they could see the eye of the spinosaurus peering in at them.

"Hurry!" Ms. Murdock shouted.

As they dug they heard the roots being ripped apart by the dinosaur's claws.

Seth became free and he scrambled to his feet.

"Run!" Ms. Murdock pushed them.

As the three of them sprinted off the spinosaur's narrow snout jabbed down into the tube and snapped the air where they had just been standing. They ran to the tunnel's end and came out into soft jungle light once more. Behind them the booming feet of the spinosaurus were already building momentum.

The three of them found themselves in another narrow rocky trench. From above, the shadow of the spinosaurus was already falling over them. Seth looked up and saw its chin bobbing over head, and he realized that the carnivore was straddling the trench as it ran.

"Shit!" He ducked as the spinosaurus swooped its jaw low to take a snap.

Seth lost his footing and slid down a slick rock slope on his back, He tumbled over some rocks at the bottom and got back to his feet. The shadow of the spinosaurus was still cast over him as he continued to run. Ahead of him Kyra and Ms. Murdock were weaving over rocks and splashing through pools in the stream. As they all rounded a bend the trench abruptly ended. They were still in the jungle, but in the open of the river again.

"Shit, we're dead," Seth said.

"Not yet, boy." Ms. Murdock looked downstream.

As the spinosaurus crashed through the trees behind them there was another cacophony of noise. Kyra and Seth followed Ms. Murdock's gaze. Rumbling up the river was a herd of corythosaurus.

The herbivores ran on their hind legs, honking and bleating. They banged shoulders and hips as they stampeded in close formation.

Ms. Murdock put a hand on Seth's shoulder and her other on Kyra's. "Hold onto your butts," She said.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Seth's voice cracked. "We'll be crushed to death!"

Seth looked at Kyra, but she appeared to be going along with it unquestioningly.

"Run!" Ms. Murdock shouted.

She sprinted off, and Kyra followed likewise. Seth's feet stuttered, but when he saw the spinosaurus charging at him from the jungle he kicked into gear.

"Follow me!" Ms. Murdock yelled.

As Seth did as he was told he got a bad feeling about the stampede, or rather what was behind it.

"Hey!" He hollered, but no one responded.

The splashing and stomping of the corythosaurs was too loud. They were about to be swallowed up by the stampede, and there was no turning back anymore. Seth felt the spray of water from their stamping hit his face, and at the final moment he saw a few of the lead herbivores rear up with wide eyes presumably realizing they were running straight at the spinosaurus. Then Seth was swallowed up in what felt like a violent rainstorm and a surging ocean. Water soaked him with stinging force from everywhere. Ms. Murdock and Kyra were only a few paces ahead, but he could scarcely see them. Booming legs stomped past on his right and then on his left, and then more came. He shifted and dodged, but soon he lost sight of where he was, where Ms. Murdock and Kyra were, and he could hardly tell which way was downriver anymore either.

A thundering corythosaur foot kicked water right in his eyes, and for a moment he could not see. When he cleared his sight there was a bellow right above him, and he saw that he was getting charged straight over. He dove between the legs of the corythosaur and landed on his belly in the water. His face sank below the surface, and he felt his body rocking amidst the turbulent water. Seth sprang back up with a gasp and was surprised to see that the violent mist was settling. The corythosaurs had passed, but the danger was not over. As Seth had suspected, there was another carnivore on this side of the stampede. It was the unclassified theropod species that had been dubbed Gigantor.

The scaly ferocious beast was running full steam, and seemed to have no idea at all that the spinosaurus was charging from the other side.

Seth looked behind him and saw corythosaurs falling over like bowling pins as the spinosaurus threw its weight against the oncoming herd. In moments it was emerging out of the confusion like an unscathed wrecking ball. Seth's face went back and forth between the two carnivores rapidly. Neither one was slowing down. He couldn't even tell if they knew the other was there.

Seth let out a scream. It was all he could think to do. A thundering thud shuddered over his head, and he ducked into a ball. He felt the earth shake next to him, and then there was a most unusual sound.

When Seth poked his head up he found himself staring at an enormous scaly belly. He saw giant three toed feet kicking at the air and a tail slapping sideways against the water. Seth's eyes trailed to a large chin and a gawking jaw that moaned pathetically. The Gigantor was knocked unconscious. It had blacked out in the collision and was painfully coming around.

Seth heard another groan beside him and turned his head. The spinosaurus was staggering with its head between its ankles. It stumbled and strayed into the jungle where it slumped against the trunk of a tree. It leaned there for a bit until the trunk creaked, snapped over, and left the spinosaurus to plummet into the undergrowth with a thump.

Seth looked between the two tractor trailer sized carnivores a bit dumbfounded until he felt a strong arm scoop around his waist and carry him off.

As this happened he heard Ms. Murdock's voice softly in his ear, "This is where you walk away, you lucky little bastard."

Seth followed her to a place in the jungle nearby where Kyra was hiding. When they got there Kyra looked like she was going to speak, but Ms. Murdock put a finger to her lips and shook her head. With a wave of her hand she led them deep into the jungle. They walked for quite some time and she would frequently stop to look around or check the dirt at their feet. One time she even paused to examine a pile of dinosaur droppings they'd come upon. Several times Kyra tried to ask where they were going, but Ms. Murdock kept shushing her. Seth was beginning to see that Kyra was getting mad about this.

Eventually they came upon a herd of ankylosaurus dozing in the jungle. Ms. Murdock paused and turned.

"Make no sudden movements," she whispered.

She led them amongst the herd of slumbering armored dinosaurs and stopped when they were well within it. Her eyes shifted cautiously across the studded backs of the herbivores as they slept. The more they stood idle the more Seth and Kyra became aware of their sounds. The snoring was constant, and between the grumbling breaths and snorts there was the occasional sneeze or fart. There was a distinct animal scent in the air, a collection of their body odor, breath, and droppings.

One Ankylosaurus directly beside them cracked an eye open. It stared half heartedly, thumped its clubbed tail against the dirt, and then tucked its head against itself.

Ms. Murdock looked a little apprehensive at the animal's movement, but when it settled, so did she.

She looked directly at Kyra and said, "speak quietly."

"Where are we going?" Kyra almost exploded, but in a whisper.

"To the pontoon boats, of course," Ms. Murdock whispered.

"I thought you didn't like that plan." Kyra squinted.

"It was your father's plan, and the only one anyone came up with," Ms. Murdock sighed.

"And you said we shouldn't do it. You implied it was a stupid idea." Kyra cocked her head.

"Well, my dear, I think stupid is the only option we have left aside from giving up."

"How far is it?" Seth asked.

"Far enough, and there are one or two notable obstacles." Ms. Murdock scanned across the ankylosaurs again.

"What sort of obstacles?" Seth's eyes widened.

"There's no sense troubling yourself about them till we get there. For now just follow me, do as I say, and please keep quiet."

A chattering sound caught Ms. Murdock's attention, and her eyes went to a curious compsognathus that was spying on them from the back of a nearby ankylosaurus.

Seth looked at Kyra and said, "I don't like the sound of that."

"Kyra whispered back, "You're the one who said she was the only one with sense in the bunch."

Ms. Murdock's hand shot out and snatched the compsognathus around the belly like she was grabbing a fish out of water. It squirmed and squealed until she snapped its neck with her other fist. The little dinosaur went limp and she held it over Seth's head.

"Hold still." Ms. Murdock jammed her thumb into the animal's bladder, and a stream of urine poured into Seth's hair.

"What the hell, lady!" He shook his head and it got in his mouth. He started spitting.

"I told you to hold still," Ms. Murdock said. Then she held the compsognathus out to Kyra. "Your turn."

Kyra frowned at it, grabbed it out of Ms. Murdock's hand, and squeezed it over her head.

"That's the spirit," Ms. Murdock smirked.

In another part of the jungle down river from the helicopter wreckage Lew Dodgson dropped a large, solid, black case that he'd been lugging at his feet.

"I told you not to bring that," Daniel said. "It's only going to weigh you down."

Dodgson glowered at him as he squatted to open the case. He popped the latches with his thumbs and threw the lid back. Inside were several cartons of cigarettes, cans of RedBull, and a pistol. Dodgson tore into one of the cartons and stuffed five cigarettes in the right side of his mouth all at once. With his Zippo he ran a flame back and forth until his face was shrouded in thick puffs of smoke.

"Christ, Lew. Just paint a bullseye on your face." Daniel shook his head.

"How far are the goddamned boats?" Dodgson cracked a RedBull and guzzled it from the other corner of his mouth.

"It's a bit of a hike. That's why I told you to leave the case." Daniel eyed the surrounding jungle for danger.

Next to the two of them Howard King was dripping with tears and sniffling. His head was hung, and his body shook.

"Oh, for the love of God," Dodgson rolled his head. He snapped open another RedBull and sucked it in. "You're still blubbering?"

"You killed them. You murdered them," Howard whispered. "and we're stuck here. We're stuck. And you killed them."

Dodgson looked back at Daniel. "You're god damned certain those boats are there?"

Daniel nodded, "Dr. Conners was. It was the plan."

Dodgson was on his third RedBull. "Then we'll stick to it. Just get me the hell off this rock."

"Right. Then you need to ditch the case. The terrain is going to be pretty rough ahead, and we can't be carrying dead weight," Daniel said.

Beside them Howard sniffled loud and continued to sob.

"Fine," Dodgson grumbled.

He picked the pistol up out of the case, aimed it at Howard's forehead, and pulled the trigger.

With a bang of gunfire the back of Howard's skull smacked against a tree trunk. A splatter of blood and brains oozed on the bark behind it.

"What a disappointment you turned out to be." Dodgson stuffed the pistol behind his waist and turned to Daniel. "No more dead weight," he stamped out all five of his cigarettes in the dirt and sucked down a fourth RedBull. "Which way?"

Behind Dodgson there was a dull thump as Howard crumpled in the underbrush at the base of the tree trunk.

Daniel examined the scene for a moment, shook his head, and then opened his mouth to speak. Dodgson waited to hear him, but nothing was said. There was a rush of air, and the foliage behind Daniel seemed to swallow him up in an instant. Dodgson heard one brief growling roar as it happened, then Daniel was simply gone. He had vanished almost as though he were never there to begin with. The foliage settled, and the jungle was quiet. Dodgson looked around. His eyes fell on the case of cigarettes and RedBulls, then to Howard's folded corpse at the base of the tree.

Dodgson looked up into the canopy and shouted, "fuck!"

Some distance from where Dodgson was standing in complete dysfunction, Smith was adjusting a makeshift bandage that was secured around his head where a bullet had grazed him. He was breathing the humid jungle air in heavily. Over his huffing he heard the chirp and chatter of a swarm of compsognathus. He had been hearing it. The noise started almost as soon as they'd left the chopper, and it hadn't stopped. Smith squeezed the large branch that was in his hands and he resumed clubbing the little dinosaurs away as they came by the dozens.

"God damn it! Get back!" He shouted.

Reuben was walking backwards, tugging on two wrists as he dragged Sparrow's limp body over rocks and tree roots and through mud and thick foliage.

"The damn bastards are relentless," he snapped.

Sparrow was crawling with comps that were biting and gnawing at her wounds. Thorne followed beside her with frantic hands. He snatched them away by the pair, squeezing them, strangling them, and chucking them into the jungle, but there were always more. He couldn't move fast enough. Now the little beasts were starting to snap at the wound on his ankle, and scurry up his arms and legs.

"God!" He swatted them away.

As soon as his attention was off of sparrow there were so many compsognathus covering her that she could scarcely be seen.

"For God's sake! Just leave her." Dr. Levine burst. "Her ankles are already chewed to the bone. I think it's safe to say she's not going to make it."

Richard was at the head of the group, and she looked sternly over her shoulder at everyone before moving along.

Thorne looked at the situation realistically. She was right. There was no sense in dragging Sparrow any further. He walked up to Reuben and took his shoulder with a firm grip.

"Let her go," Thorne released his deltoid leaving a prominent wrinkling of knuckle depressions in the fabric of his clothing. He walked further ahead to catch up with Dr. Levine and didn't give Sparrow another glance.

Reuben looked down at the two lifeless wrists in his hands, and he let them drop to the jungle floor. As he turned his back on Sparrow he took his pocket watch out and held it up. The face was shattered and the inner workings exposed. Many of the cogs were missing, and what was left was bent and mangled. Reuben put a hand to his breast where he felt the bruise where Daniel's bullet had struck him. The pocket watch had come between him and the lead round, stopping it from penetrating his chest cavity.

Reuben stared at the remaining fragments of the watch. He held it up by his ear. "Nothing," Reuben shook his head. "I hear nothing. He's gone, just gone."

Reuben let the watch slip out of his palm. It's chain was yet threaded through his fingers, and it slowly chattered between them until it came free, and the broken watch fell into the mud with a quick dull thunk.

Smith was still swatting away at the compsognathus with his branch until he realized that he was alone in the battle. He looked ahead at the others who were simply walking away in silence.

"Hey. We're just gonna leave her like this?" He called ahead. The stick hung loose in his hand.

Nobody turned. Nobody answered.

Smith shook his head, dropped the stick, and hurried to catch up with the group.

Elsewhere, Daniel was being drug through the low foliage at a frightening pace. He shielded his eyes as sticks and fronds slapped his face. He could scarcely see worth a damn to get his bearings, and even though he had not seen what had grabbed him he had a pretty good idea of what it was. The mere fact that he was still alive was a very big clue.

The beast that had him was growling and snorting as it ran. Daniel felt himself go up a shallow incline and then down another. He wove through tree trunks and skipped over mud slicks. When he finally felt his captor slowing down Daniel found himself bounding through a broad fern bed that was lush and thick. When he was well within the midst of it his captor stopped somewhat abruptly, and he went tumbling for several extra feet.

Daniel lay on his belly with his nose in the dirt. He paused there for a moment and just listened to his surroundings. He heard the jungle foliage shifting. He heard bugs and birds. The distant drone of parasaurolophus vibrated on the air. Footsteps moved around him, crunching the ferns as they stepped. There were many, but one set in particular stood out. They were heavier, more powerful.

Daniel grinned to himself as he faced the damp jungle soil.

"Hello, Skeksis."

He turned onto his back and saw Vulture looming over him. Her wrinkled buzzard skin twitched, and her primitive underdeveloped quills quivered as she stepped toward him.

Daniel raised his chin at her showing not a shred of fear or submission. Vulture stopped at his feet and glared.

Daniel wriggled his ankles. They were bound. He looked down at them and saw a crudely tied lasso fashioned from jungle vines. The other end of these vines trailed up to the jaws of a nearby male velociraptor. As Daniel's eyes fell upon this predator he saw a raptor unlike any other he had ever seen. It reminded him of roadkill. Dead, mashed up under a tire, and smeared on the asphalt roadkill. It might have resembled more of a red tailed hawk, but much like Vulture, this animal's plumage was thin, primitive, and more like that of a bird hatchling, a giant bird hatchling that had been hit by a Peterbilt. Despite that, this hunter was larger and bulkier than the others, with a hulking form that carried bulging muscles.

Daniel kicked at the vines a bit. When they did not fall loose easily he simply tried to stand with his ankles bound. Immediately the big velociraptor gave the vines a firm tug, and Daniel slammed on his hip.

"Easy does it, Roadkill," Daniel winced.

The bulking velociraptor snarled at him and drew all slack from the vines, keeping them taught and ready.

From his seated position amongst the ferns Daniel took a closer look at the raptor clan that surrounded him. Some of them looked familiar, bearing the average male and female appearances he had seen before. Many others were not like this at all. Each appeared to bear what Daniel could only speculate to be genetic anomalies, perhaps defects that came through only after they bred amongst themselves in the wild. Why had he or anyone else never seen them before, he wondered. They must have been outcasts, surviving in hiding, and now accepted by Vulture's rogue clan. Many of the deviants had a vulgar character to their appearance that rivaled Vulture herself.

"A motley crew you have here, Buzzard." Daniel shifted his eyes to Vulture. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Vulture scowled at him then turned to Roadkill and barked an order. The big velociraptor shifted the skin folds around its eyes, twisting them into something that resembled distaste. Roadkill hunched like a large ogre. Beneath the skin and plumage that housed its bones and muscle Daniel watched the animal reposition within itself until it was glaring him straight in the pupils. In an act the animal clearly did not want to carry out, Roadkill spread his scaly jaws and released the vines. Slowly they slipped over his teeth like a ratchet, letting loose, and then fell to the ground.

Roadkill backed away and uprighted himself. At his breast his arms fidgeted in what seemed like caged frustration or anger, but the velociraptor remained stationary.

"You're too kind." Daniel kept an eye on Roadkill as he reached for his ankles and unbound himself. He stood with a certain caution though still did not give off any indication that he was the least bit frightened.

His eyes went to Vulture, and he stood firm. The utahraptor stepped closer until they were nose to nose. Vulture growled, letting her hot breath bathe Daniel's face.

Daniel did not even blink. He cocked his head after a while and said, "I know you didn't drag me all the way here for a staring contest. Are you going to let me in on what it is that you want?" He made a motion to the surrounding deviant raptors, "or do I have to start kicking your asses for answers?"

Vulture leaned back a little. She cracked her jaws apart revealing a mere sliver of the jigsaw lines between her teeth and let one word through. "Escape."

Daniel grinned, "God damnit, you're talking now. Escape, huh?" He pondered it for a moment. "Let me see if I got this straight. You want me to help you get off this island?"

Vulture sneered and then gave a slow nod.

"Ha! Well I'll be damned." He leaned toward Vulture. "And what makes you think I can do that? I can't even get myself off this God forsaken rock."

Vulture matched his lean in. "The boats."

Daniel nodded. "You bastards really do keep tabs on everything, don't you?"

He began to pace in front of Vulture, and her eyes followed him fiercely. After a few back and forth turns Daniel stopped and looked at her. He opened his mouth as though he were going to speak, but then he just let it hang. A moment later Daniel burst with laughter.

Vulture gave him an angry look.

"I'm sorry," Daniel was still coming down from the laughter.

"Why laugh?" Vulture growled.

Daniel collected himself. All eyes in the clan were on him, and none of them were bearing friendly looks.

Daniel gulped down the last of his chuckles and spoke. "I'm a man who reaps the benefits of living like a beast, and you're a beast seeking after the benefits of being a man."

Vulture seemed perplexed, and looked like someone who didn't want to admit they hadn't understood. The utahraptor shifted and avoided eye contact with her clan. Instead she locked eyes with Daniel and tried to keep her air of authority about her.

"My apologies. Perhaps that was a bit long winded and poetic for someone just grasping The English Language." Daniel thought for a moment. "What makes you think that it's any better on the outside than what you've got going on right here?"

Vulture appeared to be pondering the question with more understanding, but she gave no answer.

Around Daniel and the utahraptor the pack was watching their exchange intently. Roadkill was glaring with a judgemental poise. Drool pooled between his teeth as he stared.

Finally Daniel said, "why leave?"

Vulture replied, "no damn your business."

"Suit yourself," Daniel shrugged. "Why should I help you?"

Vulture sneered, "no help. I kill."

Daniel got right in Vulture's nose. "And where would that leave you? There were no cages on the helicopter. Dodgson didn't capture you. You went to him. You were trying to flee the island until Falcon got wise to you and your followers defecting. The boats are your only option, and I am the only one who can help you."

Vulture was silent. Daniel could see her mulling it all over. Then she said, "Richard help."

"And yet you came to me. You need someone who thinks like you. Richard is afraid of you. I understand you. You came to me because you need another beast."

Vulture scowled, "you help? No help?"

"I'll help," Daniel said. "But we need a plan, and you're going to have to do as I say. You're going to have to trust me. Can you do that Skeksis? Can you trust me?"

Daniel felt the utahraptor peering into his soul with her eyes, and he kept his face stone and neutral. She could not read him well, and he knew it. He could see it.

Vulture said, "watch you good… Eyes on you."

"I'd expect nothing less," Daniel kept his pupils locked with hers.

Vulture turned to Roadkill and barked an order.

The hulking velociraptor tightened the skin around his neck as he issued a scowl. There was a definite display of hesitance. Vulture's eyes narrowed on him and she barked the orders again. Roadkill's fingers curled and he shrank a little. The velociraptor grumbled, but this time did as he was told.

Roadkill issued some raspy trilling vocalizations at the pack and waited. There was a stirring amongst the clan, and soon one of the members came forward from the outer edges.

This velociraptor was one of the deviants. It's skin was pale, and its plumage ratty. He moved as though he feared the sun, clinging to the shadows and avoiding rays of light that pierced the canopy. His eyes were whitish and he squinted them with distain at the light. As Daniel watched the creature approach he figured it had some kind of severe photosensitivity.

In its mouth it carried something, a backpack. Daniel was intrigued as the velociraptor rested the bag at his feet and released the shoulder straps. The dinosaur took a step back, growled at Daniel, then scowled at the sunlight before filing amongst the pack once more.

Daniel looked at Vulture with curiosity and a raised brow. He crouched over the bag and lifted the flap. "What pray tell could this be?"

Peering inside he scarcely believed what he saw. "I'll be goddamned."

Daniel pulled two revolvers out of the backpack. His revolvers. Turning one on its side he read the inscription that was engraved upon it. "He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man."

Daniel grinned and looked back in the bag. The bottom was full of loose bullets. Sifting his fingers through them he picked up a handful and inspected them. He identified a few different varieties. Picking a couple out of the handful he held them up to eye level and said, "right, some of these will do."

Daniel stood and looked at Vulture.

Vulture said, "now you help."

Daniel nodded, "yes. I'll help." He looked around. "Have you seen any others?"

Vulture tilted her head in question.

"Are there other people yet? More than me and Dodgson? Have you seen other people from the helicopter?"

Vulture nodded, "people more. Seen Richard and more."

Daniel opened one of his revolvers and started feeding bullets in. "They'll go for the boats. If they know about the boats they'll go for the boats. We see them, we kill them."

Vulture nodded.

Out of the corner of his eye Daniel saw that Roadkill was watching him closely with a tight eye. Daniel finished loading the first of his twin revolvers and moved on to the second. Daniel watched the big velociraptor's killer claws twitch every time he loaded another bullet.

Turning his attention back to Vulture Daniel said, "I think it couldn't hurt to take a page out of your playbook and create a few distractions. We still have Falcon to worry about. We'll get to that. First bring me Dodgson."

Vulture sneered, "Dodgson jackass!"

"Well articulated," Daniel sighed. "Nevertheless we might find his flavor of insanity useful. If not, you have my full blessing to gut him like a fish."

Vulture mulled it over and then barked another order, and a pair of velociraptors came forward from the pack. One of them looked like any other female Daniel had seen. The other was a deviant, and somehow resembled a mesh of a giant raven and a porcupine at the same time, as its plumage was merely the thick, hard, central shafts of feathers without the softer barbs.

Vulture exchanged sharp vocalizations with them, and the pair turned to sprint away.

Daniel said, "Alive, Skeksis. Bring him to me alive."

The pair of velociraptors paused and looked at Vulture. Daniel swore he saw the utahraptor roll her eyes as she trilled another order.

"And preferably with all body parts and innards attached and intact," Daniel added.

Vulture gave Daniel a sneer but trilled more direction to the velociraptor pair.

The two raptors appeared annoyed but squawked respectfully to their leader. Then, with a snap of their stiff tails they were gone.

In a very dense part of the jungle Thorne was following behind Dr. Levine when he stumbled against a tree and slumped. Richard heard him struggling and she turned.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Thorne?" She asked.

"I just got dizzy, real damn dizzy. Must be this heat. My legs feel heavy though." He lifted one knee and dropped it.

Dr. Levine got a curious look on her face. "Did one of those coeleurosaurs bite you?"

"Yeah," Thorne nodded. "A couple of times."

Dr. Levine nodded, "I thought they might be poisonous."

Thorne's face filled with alarm.

"Relax." Dr. Levine said. "I suspect its mild, usually just enough to take the fight out of whatever injured animal they're scavenging. Perhaps enough of it might put you into cardiac arrest, but I think you'll be fine. It'll likely ware off in due time."

Thorne slid down the tree until he was on his butt. "I'm just gonna sit a minute," he said.

"Yes, you do that, Mr. Thorne," Levine nodded.

Reuben crumpled down next to him and plopped his head in his hand. "Those tiny little bastards are like The Critters! I've seen this in the cinema." His eyes rolled toward the canopy. "A strange and unforgiving hell we've gotten ourselves into, that's for certain." Reuben pulled his head away from his hand and viewed the empty palm bereft of his pocket watch with a heavy heart. His eyes squeezed shut, and he silently wept.

Thorne extended a fatigued arm and patted his shoulder. "Sorry for your loss," he said quietly.

Reuben embraced Thorne's wrist and nodded bitterly.

Smith was standing by and watching the grief unfold. He shook his head and turned to Dr. Levine. "Hey Doctor? You sure Thorne is gonna be alright? He's looking kinda pale."

"No I am not sure, Mr. Smith, that he is going to be alright." Levine's eyes panned the foliage.

"I'm guessing you don't know where the hell we're going either," Smith huffed.

"I don't recall asking either of the four of you to follow me. If you'd prefer to wander around alone in this jungle be my guest" Dr. Levine set her eyes on him. "I've navigated plenty of thick terrain all on my own."

"This one's gots dinosaurs." Smith plucked a stem from the dirt and started chewing it like straw. "Big angry ones with insatiable appetites and little poisonous ones too."

"Yes. That's the situation we're in, Mr. Smith," Levine's lips were tight. "Please assume I'd love to hear you tell me more about it."

Smith twisted his face, taking offense. He was about to turn away from Dr. Levine when he saw a dark shape pop out beside a tree thirty feet behind her. The creature showed itself for a heartbeat and then retreated swiftly behind the trunk from which it spied.

Smith became ridged and put a finger to his lips. "Shh!" The stem fell from his mouth.

Dr. Levine followed his gaze and searched the jungle behind her seeing nothing but dense foliage. "You're very skittish Mr. Smith, and it wont help any."

"I swear I saw it, Doctor. I saw something." He pointed past her.

Behind them Reuben was mocking Smith in a mumble that was just articulate enough to be coherent. "I saw it. Out there! On the wing."

Beside him Thorne mustered a weak chuckle.

"Very well then. What did it look like," Dr. Levine humored him.

"Don't patronize me, Doctor. This is serious." Smith narrowed on her.

"Well, it must have run off then." Levine looked around. "If it's too small to see or hear anymore, and it's too skittish to come any closer, then it's probably not a very big threat."

"Probably," Smith reiterated.

"Yes," Levine was annoyed.

"But not certainly," Smith pushed.

"What do you want me to tell you, Mr. Smith? These are wild animals not monsters. They're not out to get you, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous either." Levine turned away from him.

"What about them raptor things?" Smith said.

"Levine froze a little, and Smith caught it.

"I'm not the expert here, but they kinda seem more monster like to me. Your boy Guitierrez is a puddle of organs because of them. King called them a military weapon, and you said it yourself, they ain't natural."

Richard looked back at him. "You make a fair point, Mr. Smith. Just keep a sharp eye. I can't give you more of an answer than that. We're dealing with a lot of unknowns here."

As she finished speaking there was a hooting sound in the jungle behind her. Levine turned and saw the creature Smith had been talking about now only half the distance away. It wasn't very large, but it was a carnivore and bore a distinct V shaped crest along the top of its skull.

"Dilophosaurus," Dr. Levine whispered with a spark in her eye.

The animal opened its mouth, but no roar came out. Instead Levine found the blur of a liquid projectile hurling at her face. She ducked, but Smith was standing right behind her, and it caught the corner of his left eye.

He screamed and fell to the ground. "It burns! It burns!"

Levine looked up from a crouch, shielding her eyes with her hand. The creature had large folds of skin around its neck that it had expanded like an umbrella in much the same fashion as a peacock used its tail feathers. It hissed, and roared, and then it charged.

The dilophosaurus bounded quickly at Dr. Levine and Smith. The opportunity to run was nonexistent. Dr. Levine balled herself up, expecting to feel claws and teeth dig into her flesh. Before this happened a figure leapt from the dense surrounding foliage, tackling the dilophosaurus from the side, and bashing its skull with a large rock. When the dilophosaurus was down its attacker smashed its head several more times until brains and blood were quite freely exuding.

The person got up and looked at Dr. Levine. Dr. Levine looked and saw Joan Murdock.

"You," Richard said.

Ms. Murdock kept the rock in her hand and raised it high. "Give me a reason to keep your faculties intact."

Dr. Levine thought quickly, and came up with the best answer she could and then hoped it would mean something to the threatening woman that was coming at her with a rock.

"I'm not with Lewis Dodgson," she blurted.

Joan stopped. The stone lowered a bit. She almost laughed a little. "That withered balding snake was Lewis Dodgson?"

Richard nodded.

Joan examined her for a moment and then looked to her company. "And what about them?"

Reuben stood up promptly and said, "if it means you wont try to bludgeon my head with an ignimbrite, then no."

Joan looked at Thorne. "What's the matter with him?"

Dr. Levine answered, "coeleurosaur bites."

"How many?" Joan asked.

"Just a few." Thorne rolled his head towards her.

"You'll be fine," Ms. Murdock paused. "Or you'll go into anaphylaxis." She further paused. "But I've only seen that happen once."

"Oh my God! I can't see! My left eye is blind!" Smith wailed.

"Keep your voice down." Ms. Murdock walked over to Smith and pulled him to his feet. She grabbed his chin and turned his left cheek toward her. With her thumb she pried his eyelid up. "Hm," she said and let him go. "It'll wear off." Ms. Murdock turned to Dr. Levine who was pulling a glob of Dilophosaurus venom out of her hair. "You'll not want to handle that. You're fingers are going to go numb."

Off to the side Smith was muttering, "I can't feel my face." He was poking his cheek.

Joan looked down at the dead dilophosaurus and said, "the comps will be along in a minute." She started walking off. "Come on, you two." Joan said at the foliage.

Seth and Kyra emerged out of the nearby jungle growth and started following Ms. Murdock. They each gave Dr. Levine and her company stern looks that said they didn't know what they had gotten themselves into. The looks were ghostly, and Dr. Levine was shaken by that. Thorne and his two remaining crew were shaken. The looks also said that these kids had seen things, unimaginable things.

As Seth and Kyra put their eyes forward Ms. Murdock chuckled, "Peter Ludlow has been operating beneath the thumb of Lewis Dodgson." She shook her head. "Certain things are making a lot more sense now."

"Who is Lewis Dodgson?" Kyra asked.

"No one you need to know any better," Ms. Murdock answered.

"Wait!" Richard said. "That's it then? Are you just leaving us out here, or do you expect us to follow you or something?"

"You can do whatever you like," Joan looked at her plainly.

"Tell me why I should trust you when that man you were with murdered my team." Levine said.

"I never trusted him, and I don't recall me asking for your trust." Joan started to turn back around.

"Then why did you bother stopping for us in the first place?' Levine talked at her back.

"That dilophosaurus would have come after us if it wasn't busy with you. They're easier to kill when their backs are turned. One less carnivore is one less carnivore, and if you hadn't noticed, there are a lot on this little island. That corpse is going to keep most scavengers and hunters off our backs for a bit. They'll be coming this way," She pointed to the dead dilophosaurus, "instead of that way," Joan pointed ahead of her. "Now if you'll excuse us."

Thorne stumbled to his feet and barked, "you know a way off this island, don't you?"

Joan was quiet.

Thorne continued, "I'll make a deal with you. I don't trust you, and you don't trust me. You'll show us how to get the hell out of here, and then we'll pretend we never met each other."

"That's fair enough, but know this. We're not slowing down for anyone."

"I wouldn't expect you to." Thorne teetered, and Reuben caught him.

"Just one more thing then," Joan cracked a grin.

Kyra was crouched beside the dilophosaurus corpse. In a swift motion she snatched two sniffing compsognathus off its hide. One in each hand, she strangled them with white knuckled fists until their eyes were popping and their bodies went limp. Kyra held them up beside Ms. Murdock like two butchered chickens.

When Joan saw it her grin expanded from ear to ear. "She's one step ahead of me."

Back amongst Vulture's clan Daniel stood straddling over Dodgson's face as he lay on his back. The two raptors that had delivered him stepped away, bowing their heads to Vulture as she was standing near by.

Dodgson stared up at Daniel's crotch and focused on his face beyond. He blinked, looking frazzled and confused.

"Hi Lew," Daniel grinned. "Enjoy the ride?"

Dodgson circled his head around looking at all the killer raptor claws in his field of vision. He sat up with a stiff spine, swiveled his head some more, and then sprang to his feet.

Dodgson's hand went out, pointing in no particular direction, and it wavered. "Daniel?" He scanned the sinister carnivores before him further. "What the hell is this?"

"Relax Lew." Daniel reached out and plucked a clump of dry leaves from Dodgson's thinning hair. "This is everything you ever wanted falling right in your lap."

Daniel observed all kinds of fleeting expressions across Dodgson's angular face. It was clear that he still didn't have a grasp of the situation. Daniel stepped in and put a firm arm around Dodgson's shoulders, and he turned him toward Vulture.

"Lew, I'd like you to formally meet Vulture."

Dodgson eyed the utahraptor from head to toe and said, "does she expect me to shake her friggin hand or something?"

Daniel looked at Vulture who sneered with exuding unfriendliness. He turned his chin back to Dodgson and said, "Unlikely." Daniel then made a quick shift back to Vulture and held up an index finger. "Will you excuse us a moment? Thanks."

Daniel swiveled himself and Dodgson around, and he squeezed Dodgson close. Whispering, he said, "Lew, I know this is a lot to take in, but you're gonna have to catch up fast. Vulture is the pinnacle of your collaboration with Dr. Henry Wu. She is intelligent enough to understand basic human communication, perhaps even more so. She's strong, fast, and you've already seen her in action, so you know she's lethal as hell. Imagine having cloned and patented an army of these to sell to the military."

At that a devilish smile crossed Dodgson's teeth.

Daniel squeezed Dodgson ever more firmly. "Lew, Vulture and I have formed an alliance." He said it loud, so the utahraptor could hear. Daniel turned himself and Dodgson around and said, "She's agreed to help us get off the island, and in return we help them get off the island."

Daniel shifted his eyes to Dodgson and searched his face seeking an indication that they were on the same page. He caught a spark in Dodgson's eye that said everything.

Dodgson soon followed it up with the question, "they're coming with us to the boats?"

"Indeed they are," Daniel slapped his back.

"Fantastic!" Dodgson's smile grew a hundred fold. He took a small bow at Vulture and said, "It's an honor to have you on our side."

Vulture gave him a dirty look, and Dodgson straightened up uncomfortably. Vulture gave a sharp bark and snapped her teeth at Dodgson's face.

Dodgson stumbled back and shouted, "what the hell!"

Daniel stepped between the two of them and said, "whoa! Everybody be cool."

Vulture growled but eased back.

"Relax Lew," Daniel said from the edge of his mouth. "It takes a little time to develop a report."

"Then you better teach that bitch some manners." Dodgson straightened his pointer finger.

Daniel took note of a growing number of bearing teeth among the raptor clan. "For Christ's sake, Lew. Temper yourself."

Both of them noticed a specific pair of eyes on them. They were closer than the rest and circling in. They belonged to Roadkill.

Dodgson saw the uncommon form of the velociraptor, and his face recoiled. "What the Jesus Christ is wrong with that one?"

Daniel said, "Dr. Wu's craft hasn't met perfection yet. It appears when they breed in the wild certain genetic flaws surface. Henry had a very challenging time getting the plumage to stick. None of the stock on Isla Nublar were born feather bearing. These most recent batches were the first, but some of their offspring seem to be a different story. I believe that's why these diverging clans are forming. That's where we come in Lew. It's time to perfect the work."

Dodgson nodded slowly, bottling his pride for the time being. "Yes," he said. "It's ours to finish."

Daniel gave Vulture a regarding look and said, "Vulture has informed me that some of our loose ends are still running around. We'll take care of them first. Make sure they don't reach the pontoon boats before we do."

Ms. Murdock and her party were making their way through the jungle at a steady pace. At the back of the group Smith kept wiping his forehead and sniffing his fingers. Then he'd follow it up with a sour face.

"Would you stop being such a baby about it already?" Thorne said as he trudged through the foliage beside him.

"That bald teenage girl juiced that little dinosaur's piss all over my head like she was making lemonade," Smith complained.

"Well, would you rather have more of that poison sludge in your eyeballs?" Thorne asked.

"Well at least that shit don't make you stink like a dead asshole." Smith muttered.

A moment later he tripped over the back of Reuben's heel.

"For Christ's sake! That's the dozenth time!" Reuben barked.

"I'm blind in one eye!" Smith shot back.

"Do it again, and I'll make you blind in both!" Reuben shook a fist.

"Hush," Ms. Murdock hissed from the head of the group.

She navigated through a cluster of fern trees with Dr. Levine, Seth, and Kyra all following close at her back.

A short while later Ms. Murdock whispered to Dr. Levine, "I'm guessing you're not with them either." She nodded to the three men at the back of the group.

"No." Richard said with a light smile. "They're hired muscle or something, but I don't believe they had any clue what they were in for when Dodgson hired them."

Ms. Murdock said, "you're a paleontologist."

"What gave it away," Richard rolled her eyes to the side.

"Nobody else would look at a dilophosaurus corpse like they're eying up a piece of chocolate cake." Joan ducked past a low branch and kept moving.

A heavy set of footsteps came up close behind Ms. Murdock and Dr. Levine. They both glanced back and saw Thorne pushing Kyra and Seth aside like a set of drapes.

"Watch it, Lou Ferrigno," Kyra shoved his elbow, but he didn't even seem to notice.

"How far are these boats?" Thorne asked.

"We'll get there when we get there, Mr. Thorne," Joan put her eyes forward.

"Ok," Thorne grunted. "How about telling me the bad news now."

"Which is?" Ms. Murdock kept her pace steady.

"There's a way off this island, but it's not a good one, is it?" Thorne said.

"I'm certain that was implied from the beginning," Joan said.

"Well how bad is it?"

"Does it matter?"

Thorne huffed, "Look lady, it seems you and the kids here have clocked in a few hours of practice on whatever the hell is going on here. Me and my colleagues are obviously a bit out of our element. I just want a fighting chance."

"Then you came to the wrong island." Joan spit. "Me and these two kids have all but died more times than we can count in just a matter of days. Call it a miracle or dumb luck. We're still alive, but we probably shouldn't be. All I can tell you is don't expect this island to treat you any different. Every inch of it is treacherous, and each creature is deadly in its own way."

Thorne shook his head and fell back in line with Reuben and Smith. As he reversed from between Kyra and Seth, Kyra gave Seth a glance, but he wasn't looking.

"Hey." She gave him a light shove. "You look like you're in outter space or something, and you haven't even blinked in like five minutes."

"I don't know," Seth said.

"You don't know if you're ok?"

"I guess…"

"Don't cave in on me again. These guys seem about as stable as Ms. Murdock." Kyra nodded ahead.

When Kyra made that comment Joan did not turn around but Dr. Levine did. She gave a glance over her shoulder and raised her brow at Kyra. Kyra caught the doctor's eye and shrugged, and Dr. Levine turned back.

"Sure, whatever," Seth absently nodded.

The jungle abruptly ceased, and the group found themselves on a muddy riverbank covered in dinosaur tracks.

"Oh my God," Dr. Levine dropped to her hands and knees. She placed her palms in the animal prints and felt their shape as the slick mud pressed around her fingers. Levine felt the wet earth suck at her skin as she pulled her hands away. She was enchanted in a way that she felt could not be interrupted until she heard the deep belly moan of an actual dinosaur.

Her eyes lifted to the river ahead of her. Wading in the nearby shallows was a herd of triceratops.

"Magnificent," she whispered.

Dr. Levine watched with unbroken attention as the dinosaurs drank, bathed, and sunned themselves in the open air of the river. Like a moth going toward a bug zapper her right foot lifted to approach the herd without caution or a second thought.

It was Ms. Murdock's voice that broke the spell when she said, "this way," and started leading the group down stream.

Richard was torn. She stretched an open hand at the triceratops herd and said longingly, "perhaps just a moment of observation. It'd be a shame just to-"

Joan cut her off, "Dr. Levine, I will leave you here."

Richard bit her tongue, "of course." She nodded woefully. "We must continue."

She turned her back to the herd with a pain in her heart that only grew.

Ms. Murdock led the group around a bend in the river where they came upon a steep cliff side that rose up from the bank. Out of the cliff face there was a strong, rounded, metal armature that covered the sheer drop from top to bottom. It was clear to see that it was some kind of a cage.

Thorne, Reuben, and Smith paused to crane their necks upward at the structure.

"It's built right over the river," Reuben said.

Smith nodded, "yep. I have a pain in my gut says that's where we're headed."

"What could they possibly be keeping in there?" Thorne shook his chin.

He felt a chilly presence at his side and looked down. Kyra and Seth were standing there like a pair of bad omens giving him a spine shivering eye.

Kyra spoke with ominous foretelling when she said, "that's the bad news."

Thorne swallowed hard, but he tried to hide it.

Beside him Smith said, "She's a creepy little thing, isn't she?"

"Come on. We're getting left behind," Thorne nodded forward.

Joan led the group toward the structure without a word of information. She could feel the fear and questions building around her, but she didn't care.

They were a bit of a way off yet when they heard a crashing in the trees to their left. Joan halted the group with a fierce hand motion. Everyone stood motionless, listening to snapping twigs and rustling leaves until three thick horns emerged from the foliage. It was another triceratops, and it appeared to be alone.

Joan relaxed slightly, but she remained on guard as the herbivore entered the water.

Dr. Levine smiled as the triceratops found a deeper pool of river bank water and lowered until its belly was below the surface. She found herself holding in a laugh as the dinosaur turned on its side like a giant puppy. Waves of water undulated from the herbivore's robust turning belly as it bathed, and Richard couldn't contain herself any longer. A single burst of loud laughter exited her mouth, and she immediately clapped a palm over her smirking lips.

The triceratops stopped rolling about in the water.

"What kind of a Looney Toon are you, woman?" Reuben gave Dr. Levine a set of narrowed eyes.

"Shh!" Ms. Murdock snapped.

The triceratops shifted onto its four legs and stood its belly out from the water. It turned its horns toward the group and snorted.

Ms. Murdock was completely back on edge again.

The herbivore grunted and began to wade toward them, and soon only its face and back were above the water. As it crossed the river its wake was like that of a boat.

"Hey hey. That big thing with the horns is coming towards us," Smith stuttered. "Seems like running time."

"Keep your feet where they are, Mr. Smith, and don't breath another word." Joan whispered harshly.

"That sounds like the opposite of smart," Smith's feet were shifting as though to break out in a sprint.

"God damn it, Smith, shut up, and don't move. I think she knows a little more about it than you do." Thorne wanted to grab him to keep him from running, but he was more than an arms length away. Fortunately Smith stayed put.

The triceratops rose out of the river like a small mountain thrusting to the surface. Water trickled through the grooves between its scales like thousands of tiny rivers. The animal shook itself dry with a snort, and every weighted flab of skin and muscle jiggled like Jello. It stood only ankle deep before the group and gave them a hard look. It was then that Richard stepped forward.

"Don't you dare," Joan hissed when she saw the doctor advance one pace toward the beast.

The triceratops turned its thick beak toward Richard. It's eyes were firm.

Richard continued in a slow, smooth, gentle walk, her shoes wading delicately through the shallow water at her feet.

The triceratops backed up a pace and swung its horns. Richard paused, letting the animal calm down. When the triceratops was more or less still she resumed.

"Good God!" Reuben put a hand to his forehead.

Nearby him he heard a quiet familiar sound. The tinkling sound of a small chain running through a set of fingers. Despite what was unfolding with Dr. Levine, Reuben was compelled to seek out the source of the sound. He turned his head and saw Seth standing nearby. He was observing the situation with Dr. Levine like he was under hypnosis. His eyes stared forward, wide and without a single blink. There was something in his hand. He was moving it back and forth. It was a chain with a broken pocket watch.

Reuben's eyes grew like melons. "Where in the name of Jehoshaphat did you get that?" Without thinking Reuben found himself towering over Seth. "Answers boy!"

Seth stopped strumming the chain in his fingers and shifted his eyes to Reuben. "I found it in the jungle right before we found you in the jungle.

Kyra noticed Reuben from Seth's other side and leaned around. "What's your problem, man?"

Without words Reuben took the chain from Seth's palms and lifted the watch in front of his face.

Seth and Kyra exchanged looks and shrugged as Reuben became lost in the broken face of the watch. He appeared almost catatonic.

"Weirdo," Kyra whispered.

She and Seth moved their attention back to Dr. Levine.

The doctor was within arms reach of the triceratops' snout. She could see everything. The folds of skin, the muscle tone, every subtle twitch of muscle fiber. She smelled its body odor and the stink of its breath. This thing was real.

Richard held out her hand. She thought there would be a pause, a moment where the triceratops became more acclimated to her presence, but there wasn't. Like an eager dog this triceratops shoved a wide mucous coated nostril into her palm and snorted. The interaction was brief. The dinosaur licked at the edges of its beak, and then it retracted its muzzle.

Dr. Levine stood and waited. The triceratops turned its rump toward her, and that was that.

"Hm," Richard pondered the exchange.

Then there was a voice at her ear.

"This is not a petting zoo." Ms. Murdock's whisper was ferocious. "These creatures can and will kill you. I have absolutely no more space for people oo-ing and ahh-ing over dinosaurs. The next time you pull that stunt you will be on your own."

Richard turned to face Ms. Murdock and said, "I'll try to keep that in mind."

Behind her the triceratops was ambling away, its legs sloshing through the water.

Joan kept a hard stare on Richard when she said to her, "I really don't like you."

Richard didn't skip a beat when she smiled and replied, "I really don't like you either."

The rest of the group stood by awkwardly waiting for the confrontation to fizzle. Richard eventually walked off toward the armature on the cliff side.

A light bounce carried her step when she said, "I can't wait to see what's in there."

"That doctor is off her rockers," Smith said.

Thorne shook his head. "This whole place is off it's rockers."

Kyra walked past Thorne and said, "Your friend is off his rockers. I think he's broken or something."

Seth followed her nodding.

Thorne and Smith snapped their chins to Reuben who was frozen like a statue. They hurried over to him and saw that he was holding his pocket watch up to his face.

"I thought he got rid of that thing," Smith squinted at the smashed time piece.

"Reuben?" Thorne shook him. "Reuben!"

Smith was snapping at his ears. "Come on, man. This ain't no time for your crazy. We gettin left behind."

Reuben just stood there staring at the watch. His eyes were lost in it, and they were searching. Searching. They fixed on the mess of cogs and damaged parts, looking. Looking. He stared and stared until there was a single tick, a single shift in the broken mechanism. His eyes lit up.

Reuben's fist snatched around the pocket watch. "Run!" He shouted. "Run!"

Reuben broke into a mad dash toward the giant cage on the cliff side. He ran past Smith and Thorne. He picked up speed, sprinting beyond Seth, Kyra, and Ms. Murdock, and Dr. Levine.

"Run, you fools! Run!" Reuben's boots kicked at the river. "He spoke of danger! There's danger afoot! Danger!"

"What the hell is that man doing?" Ms. Murdock watched him.

She looked back. Smith was shaking his head. Thorne was shrugging.

"Damn fool," Smith spat in the river. "He lives and dies by that watch, but all it ever did was fill his head with fairytales about goblins and shit. He was better off without it."

"We'd better go get him," Thorne grunted.

"Let him go," Smith flapped his arm. "You heard Murdock. Any more stupid escapades and people gettin left behind. I've had about enough of him anyway." Smith flapped his hands at Ms. Murdock. "Forget him Murdock. Let him run off into the jungle like a maniac. He'll keep those goblins off our backs. Heh heh."

Ms. Murdock was staring past Smith and Thorne and watching the lone triceratops that was still plodding away from them. It was almost upon the far bank from where it had come. Joan scanned the tree line just beyond. She felt something was amiss.

Seth and Kyra came to her side, each filling with concern over her pause.

"I think we'd better follow Mr. Reuben's lead and match his pace," Ms. Murdock turned to Kyra and Seth and shoved their backs. "Now. Go!"

The three of them started running, and Dr. Levine watched them sprint past. Then she whipped her head back to Smith, Thorne, and the far off triceratops. Her hand was still dripping with slick mucous from the herbivore's nose. She had been captivated by examining it up until this point. As she focused on the lone triceratops and the trees beyond she gave the viscous slime one last rub between her fingertips before wiping it on her pants and giving this new situation her full attention.

"Looks like Murdock is taking her cues from Reuben," Thorne nodded his chin down river.

Smith and Thorne watched Joan sprinting with Kyra and Seth. Then they caught Dr. Levine staring past them. They jerked their heads to the triceratops. It was just entering the thick jungle.

The trees and branches around the triceratops suddenly thrashed alive. They squealed and snapped, and through the shredded leaves fulminating from the violent quake something grabbed the herbivore.

Though it seemed improbable the heavy bodied triceratops was lifted several feet off the riverbank and then thrown on its back. A foot with three talons came down and stepped into the herbivore's belly like it was made of Play Dough. A crocodile snout reached out and bit into the exposed throat of the triceratops. There was a stifled shriek, and the herbivore's neck was broken.

The giant hunter, Dr. Wu's abomination, the version B spinosaurus dug its talons into its victim's belly and drew back until a pile of entrails tumbled onto the riverbank.

Smith and Thorne were stunned into motionlessness as the spinosaurus thrust its javelin like snout into the mound of loose organs. They both jumped when they each felt a hand on their shoulder.

"Walk away gentlemen," Richard spoke softly in their ears. "Slowly, quietly, carefully. As beautiful as she is, we must excuse ourselves."

Thorne and Smith did as they were told, and the three of them backed away as a group, but they didn't get far before the spinosaur's eyes were on them. Together they ceased. The spinosaurus lifted its head from the fresh carcass and looked at them with curiosity. A bundle of intestines was woven through its jaws and trailed back into the abdominal cavity of the triceratops. One of the spinosaur's large hands came up and began stroking the entrails as someone would a long beard. It growled softly as it did this.

"Most peculiar," Richard marveled.

The spinosaurus bellowed at the three of them. Smith and Thorne cowered in its magnitude, but Richard seemed much less phased. Still dragging the entrails in its jaws the spinosaurus tilted its head with intrigue and stepped off of the triceratops carcass.

"Most peculiar," Richard repeated.

The spinosaurus advanced one step toward them.

"Uh, Doctor?" Thorne's voice quivered.

"Gentlemen," Richard began. "It appears we're going to have to run." She shook her head. "Most peculiar."

At that Dr. Levine took off sprinting away from the spinosaurus.

Thorne and Smith looked at each other baffled and said in unison, "shit!" Then they bolted after Dr. Levine.

Behind them the spinosaurus roared, and they could feel it in the chore of their bodies.

"Jesus!" Smith said, "Don't look back man! Don't look back!"

"I'm not!" Thorne shouted.

"I was talking to me, man! I was talking to me!" Smith hollered.

Ahead of them there was a spread of larger and smaller boulders throughout the river. Richard had already reached them and was weaving her way through. Much farther up was the remainder of the group.

Smith and Thorne ducked behind the first rock that was big enough to occlude them, and there they could hear that the spinosaur's steps were very close.

"There's no way it didn't see us, Thorne," Smith was shaking.

Thorne looked around. There was a boulder down stream just a bit that was shaped like a large shelf and appeared to have a low overhang on the opposite side. Thorne pointed to it and then pointed to the water. It was deep enough between where they were and the next boulder that they could fully submerse if they laid flat.

Each taking a breath they dunked under the water and let the current take them until they banged up against the next boulder. Remaining beneath the water they clawed along the rock surface until they reached the overhang.

They came up slowly, only letting their heads breech the surface. As it was, there were only a few inches beyond that to spare. There they waited. Both men hugged the inner confines of the overhang and exchanged glances. The water toiled around them, and they had to grab at the riverbed to stay in place. They heard nothing, no footsteps, no sloshing in the water. They waited longer, listening and watching.

A tendril of intestine appeared just beyond the overhang. It dangled from above, dripping with blood as it gently swayed. Smith and Thorne looked at each other pondering whether the spinosaurus knew they were there or not. The length of intestine lowered into the water until they saw the point of a scaly muzzle and jagged, interlocking, sharp teeth.

"My God," Smith couldn't help whispering.

He and Thorne exchanged glances again.

A growl escaped from between the spinosaur's teeth, and they could hear the sound of heavy sniffing, though they could not see its nostrils. The end of the spinosaur's snout shifted and tilted in many different ways. It seemed as though it were trying to get a better angle to smell beneath the overhang. The dinosaur let out a half hearted roar, and its head started to drift away from Thorne and Smith. Both men chuckled with uncomfortable silent relief.

Thorne looked out beyond the spinosaur's jaws and scoped for a potential path they could take through the boulders. He turned to Smith to make some hand gestures, but all he saw was a splash in the water where his head had been. Smith was gone, pulled under the water. A moment later Thorne saw him burst out from the surface being drug upwards by his pants. The spinosaurus had three huge claws on its hands, one of which was a great deal larger than the other two. With this claw the carnivore had snagged the cuff of Smith's pant leg. Smith dangled upside down screaming. He flailed and contorted, but it did no good. The spinosaurus tossed him forward like a dog treat and caught him in her own jaws by the same leg.

He screamed all the louder, "Thorne! Thorne! Oh my God, man, help me! Help me!"

Thorne knew he could do nothing.

The spinosaurus ambled away from where Thorne was still hiding. All the while Smith was still screaming. The carnivore meandered through the boulders, following them down river toward the enormous cage on the cliff side. Thorne waited until the spinosaurus was somewhat occluded by the maze of large rocks and solidly facing away from him, then he made his first move forward.

Leaving the overhang he let the current take him. His eyes and nose were the only thing he allowed to be above water. Thorne tread quietly, not making a splash until he was flat against the next large boulder. There he froze.

For a moment he could still hear Smith screaming, then there was a crunch, and Smith fell silent.

Thorne imagined the spinosaurus had detected him somehow, and it had rendered Smith mute to more easily search. Thorne imagined in his mind's eye the hunter's speckled iris squinting and scanning for him amidst the vibrations of its own growl. He thought he heard footsteps. He swore there was sniffing and breathing coming closer and closer. Was he simply being paranoid? He could not tell.

Dirt trickled off the boulder above him. He looked up and saw the long narrow chin of the spinosaurus appearing over the rock. Smith was still hanging from its jaws, and his limp knuckles were sweeping the top face of the boulder.

Thorne clutched the saturated breast of his shirt and wrung it. He knew he was screwed. The spinosaur's head kept intruding over the rock until it was fully above him. Thorne suspected he only had a moment before the dinosaur looked down. All he could do was make a run for the cage now. Perhaps he'd make it. Perhaps he wouldn't. Thorne clutched his shirt tighter and prepared himself. Then he heard a whistle.

The spinosaur's chin swung out of view, carrying Smith's body with it. Thorne heard the dinosaur's feet stomping in the river. The carnivore was doing an about face. The whistle came again. Someone was purposely drawing the attention of the spinosaurus. Thorne crept to the edge of the boulder and peered around. He saw the looming figure of the spinosaurus facing away from him, and then beyond that Richard was standing out in the open.

"Jesus," Thorne whispered. "What in God's name are you thinking?"

Richard put two fingers between her lips and unleashed another whistle that cut the air. Then Thorne was certain he saw her wink at him.

Smith's body dropped from the spinosaur's mouth and plopped in the water. The carnivore bellowed and charged at Richard.

The doctor turned and ran. Her bold move was not without a plan. Ahead of her there was a boulder that was roughly the size of a small house. It was perhaps the largest of the boulders amongst the labyrinth of rocks, but it had split in twain. Betwixt the two halves there was a crevice that Dr. Levine believed was too narrow for the spinosaurus to squeeze through.

She sprinted and made it to the crevice with the spinosaurus charging in just behind her. A deafening bellow rang in her ears and was only magnified by the rock faces around her. The walls of the boulder halves narrowed quickly, and the way was thwarted by a tangled mass of tree roots that were growing down from the top face of the rock above.

Dr. Levine plunged among the roots but could go no further. She twisted her body to face the spinosaurus, and its gaping maw clapped shut right in front of her face. The carnivore hissed and snapped again. It's breath was steamy hot as it roared, and its stench was great.

Richard flattened herself into the roots, but they were incredibly dense. Though the spinosaurus could not reach her at the moment it was starting to squeeze further in, and she feared one of these times a snap of its teeth might actually reach her.

The dinosaur twisted its head and wriggled. Each of its movements was filled with more frustration, but indeed, Dr. Levine could see that the front most assembly of teeth in the spinosaur's mouth were just shy of touching her.

She twisted her body and thrust one of her arms among the roots trying any way she could to further herself from the spinosaurus. It didn't seem to be working at all. Three more jaw snaps flashed in front of her eyes. It appeared the spinosaurus was determined to catch her. Dr. Levine had nowhere else to go, and the carnivore was still squeezing itself closer.

Behind her she heard the tree roots creaking and snapping. Then some of them spread apart and she saw Thorne's face. He had come through the crevice from the other side and was muscling them apart.

"Hello doctor." Thorne's face was strained as he pried the roots further apart.

Richard saw that the roots would spring back if Thorne let go, but he was also very much in the way, and she could not simply slip past him. She made a snap decision and threw herself into Thorne, and they both fell back.

With the roots closing up behind them Richard fell on top of Thorne and said, "infinite thankyous."

She clambered over his face and started sprinting out of the crevice. "Come on," she shouted. "We haven't long!"

Thorne heard the spinosaurus crashing about as he got up and followed her. When he exited the two rock halves he could see that the dinosaur had almost wriggled itself out from betwixt the boulders. It's feet were stomping, and its tail lashed. Thorne ran, and when he heard the spinosaurus bellow again he knew the head was free from the crevice.

Thorne caught up with Dr. Levine, and together they dodged through the remainder of the boulder labyrinth.

"Look out!" Dr. Levine shouted.

The spinosaurus had closed the gap between them, and Thorne found himself in the arch of its swinging jaws. They both ducked, and the dinosaur's mouth smashed against a boulder beside them. They continued to run, and the carnivore's breath was right on their backs. Thorne was becoming more and more certain that he and the doctor were not going to make it.

Over the roar and stomping of the spinosaurus there was another noise. A gas powered engine screamed at full throttle from somewhere overhead. Dr. Levine and Thorne looked up and saw what appeared to be a dune buggy launching off a flat upward sloping boulder that was right near them. The dune buggy hurled through the air and smashed straight into the side of the spinosaur's neck. As the small vehicle crashed into the river the carnivore stumbled to a teetering halt. The beast was stunned.

Richard and Thorne were equally at a pause, staring in a processing purgatory.

The dune buggy was on its side. It's engine was sputtering out. The vehicle had a reinforced metal cage around it that looked like it was designed to take a beating from such a large animal as the spinosaurus. Whoever was inside of it stood a good chance of being fairly intact.

The spinosaurus growled and shook off the blow. It turned its long snout to the dune buggy and shifted over it. With a stomp it lurched down and bit the protective cage. Lifting the vehicle out of the water it raised it into the air and rattled it about. After a few bouts of violent shaking the driver's side door of the dune buggy popped open and swung freely. From the open door Reuben emerged and dropped down into the river. His landing was surprisingly graceful as he planted his feet. Reuben's boots appeared to hit the river rock running, and he was propelled forward at once.

"Run you fools!" Reuben spun Richard and Thorne about and gave them a push.

Behind them the spinosaurus was still shaking and rattling the dune buggy, but it soon noticed the three people fleeing the scene. It's eyes narrowed, and it threw the little car against a boulder.

"In there!" Reuben pointed to a door at the base of the cliffs that led into the enormous cage that had been looming before them.

Thorne didn't like the look of any of it, but he didn't have much of a choice, and he was beginning to see that everything about the island was treacherous and merciless. He was beginning to understand Ms. Murdock.

They exited the river and ran up the bank. Reuben was the first inside, then Dr. Levine. Thorne passed through the doorway and turned around. The spinosaurus was barreling at him with an open mouth. If not for the protection of the door he would surely be dead in a second's time. He slammed it shut, and not a moment later three claws pressed outward grooves into the metal door from the other side with a sudden slash. Thorne almost fell on his back, but Reuben caught him.

Thorne closed his eyes for a moment. He took a breath and cherished it. He had been on the edge of death out there, and he knew it. It was not a place he wanted to be again. Not like that. Not so helpless. Not so vulnerable, like a roach under a boot.

He heard the spinosaurus roar through the door. It's heavy footsteps followed, and they soon faded away.

Thorne opened his eyes. Reuben was looking at him with a stern foretelling expression. The pocket watch was dangling up near his cheekbone. There was a small comfort in seeing a familiar sight restored, but Thorne had a sour feeling about the message it was about to deliver.

Reuben glanced at the watch and then locked his eyes hard with Thorn's. He whispered, "he says the worst is yet to come."