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Jurassic Park Shadows of History Stage Six
By JPJunkee
SIXTH STAGE
"Everything is now apparent. Everything is now relevant. Life and Death.
Truth and Lies. Chaos and Peace. Lost and Found. Fear and Trust."
--Kyle Warner--
CHAPTER 28
Benny came running back into the Control Room after looking for Dodgson, he panted as he spoke, "I couldn't find Dr. Dodgson anywhere. There were some dead bodies of some guards in a hallway, but he wasn't there."
Mac spun his chair around,"Did you look on both Floor B and A?"
"Yeah."
"Did you look in the Study Area?"
"Not yet."
"Well then, why don't you go check?"
Benny gave Mac a frightened look of a child who had just had a bad dream, "Well, I would but, the animals are out there."
"Yes, they've always been out there."
"No, I mean, out of their cages."
"What!"
Mac got out of his seat, and looked outside the Control Room's only window. He could hardly see anything in the darkness of night. But, he did see a man running, and behind him, a raptor in pursuit.
"My God."
"Did you set them loose?" Benny said.
"Why the fuck would I do anything like that?" Mac said, disgusted.
"Well, the only way to open all the outdoor cages, are through the Control Room, or from Dr. Dodgson's office in the Study Area. Even a janitor knows that much."
"Well then, isn't it obvious what's going on?"
Benny thought a moment, "Uh, not for me it isn't."
"Dodgson's let all the animals loose."
"Why would Dr. Dodgson do anything like that?"
"I don't know, but we gotta find a way to stop him."
"Why?"
Mac's jaw went ajar, "Are you that stupid? He's gonna kill us all. It's amazing the animals haven't found there way in here already."
"Does this mean we're gonna have to kill Dr. Dodgson?"
"Maybe Benny, we'll just have to see. But for now, let's just keep focused on staying alive."
Mac turned back to the computer, and checked to see whether the main gate had been opened. It hadn't. That meant the animals could roam any where they wanted, but they couldn't leave the main fence that surrounded the compound.
Mac typed a few keys, and set all the doors, so that they couldn't open, unless you had a key, or key card. After finishing that, he led Benny to a door in the back of the room.
It was labeled: Restricted Access. But, Mac used a key and opened it up. Inside were all sorts of weapons. He grabbed two shotguns, and tossed one to Benny. Then he grabbed four gas grenades, and two gas masks.
"What're those for?" Benny asked.
"A shotgun won't do shit against some of the bigger animals. But these babies will bring almost anything to its knees."
"Even the rex?"
"The rex is the least of our worries, with some of the other things out there."
Mac led Benny from the Control Room, and into a hall that led to the lobby. They needed to get to the Study Area. The only ways to get there, was to go outside, or take the tunnel from Floor D. But, Mac had closed off Floor C, so he couldn't even get to Floor D. He considered unlocking Floor C, but decided against it.
Mac walked to the door that led outside. He opened it slowly, and looked outside. He could hear men screaming, as well as the fearsome bellows of some of the dinosaurs. Mac wiped the sweat away from his eye. This was the hardest thing he had ever done.
He looked back at Benny,"Put your gas mask on." After Benny and himself had done so, he continued, "Stay close to me. We're gonna run straight for the Study Area's front entrance. From there, we make our way to Dodgson's office. I don't know if anything is loose in the Study Area, so be careful."
Mac began to step out the door, but Benny grabbed his arm, "Are we gonna make it?"
"Hell yes we are, now let's get moving, dammit."
Mac ran out the door as fast as his big body could manage. Benny followed closely behind him, whimpering with every step he took.
They could see the entrance to the Study Area ahead of them. So far they had seen no dinosaurs. They ran for a few moments, trying their best to ignore the screams around them. Until the entrance was straight ahead.
Mac reached the door, and used his key card to open it. The door flung open, and he reached back to pull Benny inside. But, Benny wasn't there.
"Help me!" He heard Benny scream. He ran back out the door, and looked up; holding Benny ten feet above the ground, was a carnotaurus. Benny looked down at Mac with terrified eyes. The carnotaurus growled softly and shook Benny slightly.
Mac acted quickly, he aimed his shotgun for the beast's chest, and began to fire receptively. "Let him go, you filthy over grown lizard!"
The carnotaurus moaned, and dropped Benny to the ground. Then it looked down at Mac and growled, slowly advancing.
Mac stood his ground, and shot the carnotaur again in the chest. The creature bellowed, and staggered backwards. Mac fired again, this time hitting its leg. The creature roared at him, then started to run away.
Mac ran over to Benny, picked him up, and dragged him through the door.
Once through the door, Mac checked Benny's wounds.
Benny had been grabbed by the chest. Small puncture wounds ran all along his chest and stomach. Blood slowly trickled from the wounds. But, there was something else. A weird smell. Mac peered closer to the bite marks. Not only was there blood, but there was a thick drool. The drool was making the blood smell bad, and turning it an almost brown color.
"Is it bad?" Benny managed to say between breaths.
"Well, I'm no doctor," Mac smiled, "But, I'd say you're gonna live."
"Good. I don't wanna die."
Mac smiled, then helped Benny to his feet, and began to walk down the stairs, that led to the Study Area. And hopefully, to Lewis Dodgson.
CHAPTER 29
Blood trickled from wounds in his leg and shoulder. Dodgson winced as he rose a piece of gauze to his forehead. Damn Wu. Everything was in his control, other than Wu. Damn him to hell.
Dodgson got to his feet, and began to pace his office. He had been knocked unconscious by the grenade, and it was a good thing. If he had still been breathing, Wu would have shot him. The son of a bitch. He had caught a bullet in his left thigh, and grenade shrapnel had grazed his forehead, and punctured through his shoulder.
He was losing lots of blood. The world was beginning to turn hazy. But, he fought it, not willing to give in. At least not yet. First, Wu would have to die. Then, all would be fine. Death would once again be an open option.
He smiled at the thought of one of the dinosaurs grabbing Wu in its mouth and shaking his body until Dodgson heard his spinal column snap. What an ironic event that would be!
Dodgson snickered, and he walked to the door of his office. He was underground now. And nobody was here with him. Yes, there were a few of the mutant G2s in his area. But, that gave him no worry. They were all at a lower level, and he had locked them out of his level. The only thing he did have to worry about, was the entrance into his area.
It was unlocked. But, most dinosaurs were too big or too stupid to be able to get through the door. But, he had heard rumors about the raptors being able to open doors. This made him shudder. But, he reassured himself, with the pistol he held in his hand. He even had more ammunition in a closet in his office. He would be safe. From dinosaur, from man.
Mac led Benny down the stairs and into the Study and Research Area. They still wore their gas masks.
It was obvious to Mac now, that Dodgson had released the dinosaurs. Why? That was his question.
They rounded a corner at the bottom of the stairs. And came to the highest level in the Study Area. Benny gagged behind him. His skin was turning a pasty white color. Mac stopped walking and set Benny on the floor.
He looked closely at the wounded man.
"You okay?" Mac asked tenderly.
Benny smiled, and answered weakly,"The bites don't hurt no more. But my muscles do."
"What do you think it is?"
Benny smiled again, "I feel no pain, but my muscles are so damn stiff. I can barely move them. It hurts to breath."
"What do you want me to do?" Mac put a hand on the man's shoulder.
Benny frowned,"It doesn't matter what I think. I'm going soo----"
Benny's body slumped, and drool dripped from his open mouth. Mac was about to turn away from the dead body, when he noticed one of the bite marks. It was no longer bleeding, nor was it red. It had turned a sickly green color. Mac slowly reached out and touched the wound. At first, nothing happened, then he pushed harder. Puss shot from the wound, and covered his hand in a nasty white cream.
Mac gagged as he stumbled backwards. He looked at his hand, covered in the chalky white paste, and he vomited on the floor.
Meanwhile, Grant and the others made their way through Floor C. They had been searching for a way out for a long time. And time was growing short.
They needed a way out, and fast.
They looked at each sign they passed, looking for the way to the stairs. But, they never saw a way. Then, right ahead of them, a door. Labeled: Stairs to Floor D.
Everyone ran for the door. Wu took out his card, and ran it through the slot. The red light on the door beeped, and disappeared.They waited for the green light to appear, but instead a yellow one did.
A little speaker at the side of the door said in a woman's voice, "Floor C has been restricted. No doors leading to or from Floor C can be opened without proper clearance."
"Proper clearance? I got this card from Dodgson himself!" Wu screamed at the machine.
Malcolm's skin turned white. "You never told us that it was Biosyn behind all this. Although I guess I should have known."
"Yeah well, we were kinda busy." Wu muttered.
Harris asked,"Who's Biosyn?"
"Biosyn are the rivals of InGen," Brunell said,"But, it's not the company that's particularly dangerous. Dr. Lewis A. Dodgson is the man we have to fear. He's probably the guy who locked us on this floor."
"You know a lot for a mercenary," Grant observed.
Brunell took a card out of his wallet, and ran it through the locking mechanism on the door. "I'm not a mercenary, I'm an FBI agent." The door clicked, and popped open.
Brunell walked through the door, and everyone followed him, mouths hanging open.
Malcolm turned to Wu,"What else are you not telling us?"
Wu shook his head,"It's not that I'm not telling you, it's that you never asked."
Malcolm's face turned dark red,"You made them, didn't you?"
Wu didn't answer.
Malcolm put a hand on Wu's chest, and pushed him against the wall. "You bred them, didn't you?"
"No."
"You sold them embryos then."
Wu nodded slowly.
Grant sighed in the background, and shook his head.
Malcolm asked,"Why?"
"I was bankrupt! I had no money. Nobody would give me a job, after the incidents with InGen." Wu choked back a tear, "Believe me, everyday I regret my decision. I wish it were me who had died in those villages. I thought that maybe by helping to kill what I helped create, might right my wrongs."
Malcolm curled his lip in disgust, "You didn't answer my question."
"Yes, I did! That's why I did it!"
Malcolm shook his head,"No, that's not the reason. And you know it." Malcolm released Wu, and began to walk down the hall ahead of the others.
Wu sat there, looking to the floor, ashamed of himself. Everyone stared at him, not saying a word.
CHAPTER 30
Mac stalked down the twisting halls, and walked into the office area. Dodgson's office, he knew, was at the end of the hall.
Mac raised his shotgun, cocked it, and advanced himself towards Dodgson's office.
He could see it now. All its blinds were closed, and its door closed. He would catch Dodgson by surprise. He grinned to himself, as he reached for the door.
He opened it, in one fluid motion. His big body moving as fast as it could. He stepped into the room and held his gun in the air.
He yelled,"Down on the floor, now!"
But . . . . Dodgson wasn't here.
"Looking for me?" Came a voice behind him.
Mac tried to spin around, but was shot in his leg, and he fell to the ground. He grabbed for the shotgun, and aimed it at Dodgson, who was standing in the door. But, before he could, Dodgson shot his arm.
Mac cried in pain.
Dodgson asked softly, "Why have you come here?"
Mac grasped his arm, and stiffled, "You let all the animals loose."
Dodgson nodded, "I know."
"Why?
Dodgson stepped towards the man, "I've known you since you were 18 Mac. You've always been a smart guy. Always had the will to succeed. Always pushed yourself, defying the challenge set before you. But, you always had a problem. You always needed the reasons. This is a drawback, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you go now."
Dodgson knelt down beside the helpless man, and pressed his gun against the fat man's forehead.
Mac mumbled, "No please. Please Lew. I'm sorry."
Dodgson's eyebrows arched, "Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"For coming here to kill you."
Dodgson's mouth fell open, "Mac! You were going to shoot me? Well, I never!"
Mac could not determine if the other man was being serious or not. "Please don't kill me," Mac pleaded.
"Give me one good reason."
Mac stuttered as he searched for words.
The gun fired, and blood splattered across Dodgson's torso.
"Too late."
Dodgson stood, wiped off his gun, then walked back into the hall, waiting to surprise his next victim. He left the blood on his face. It kept his spirits up.
CHAPTER 31
Floor D was dark. Dark and dreary. Grant and the others moved slowly, so they wouldn't stumble into anything.
All around them, they could smell death. It lingered in the air, taunting them. Beckoning them onward. Every now and then, they heard noises.
Sometimes they heard noises from creatures, that none of them could see. Sometimes they heard things falling over, and crashing to the floor. And sometimes, they heard the faint noises of people moaning in pain.
It was the closest all of them had ever come to hell.
Brunell led the way, his shotgun held high at his shoulder. Harris had been given Leah's gun, and he held it closely.
They rounded a corner, that took them to a door. This was the door that would take them through the tunnel, and into the Study and Research Area of the compound.
Brunell took out his key card, and swiped it through the door's lock. The door unlocked, but a mechanical voice gave off a warning, "Warning, holding cells in next sector have been compromised. Non-human life forms detected."
Brunell looked back to Wu, "Do you know anything about this?"
"No. I didn't even know there were any cells in the tunnel."
Brunell frowned. "How big is the tunnel?"
Wu replied softly, "I wouldn't have the slightest clue."
Brunell nodded. "Okay everybody, we're going through the tunnel. Keep your wits about you. And keep quiet."
Brunell opened the door, and walked through. The others followed.
They walked through the door, then closed it behind them. The tunnel was pitch black. Malcolm moved his hand along the tunnel wall and smiled in the darkness.
"Guess what I found?"
Everyone looked to him, and he whispered, with a smile on his face.
"Let's shine a little light on the subject, shall we?" He flipped a switch at the side of the door, and the entire tunnel lit up.
Grant looked from Malcolm, to the rest of the tunnel that awaited them. He felt bile rise in his throat. And he bent down to one knee, gagging.
Malcolm looked down at Grant, confused. Then, he looked up at the lit tunnel. The tunnel was lined with holding cells on both walls. But, it was what was thrown over the walls and the floors that caught his attention.
Strewn everywhere, were bodies. All mangled, their flesh torn to shreds, and thrown about the walls. The floor was coated in blood and innards.
Grant got to his feet, and approached the closest pile of bodies. Lying on the floor in front of him, was the crippled body of a Galliumimus. Its neck had been sliced open, under the jaw, and its stomach was torn apart. It was obvious that they Galli's killer had only killed it, and not eaten it.
But, what disgusted him even further, was the other body, lying on the Galli's tail. Its head was missing, as was one of its arms. The stomach was shredded, and the intestines were lying across the floor. It took Grant a moment to realize he was looking at what once was a human being.
Wu walked along side Grant and looked down at the human's body. The body had a name tag; Rebecca Linson. It was Dodgson's secretary. Wu frowned and stepped backwards. He looked to Brunell, but he too was mesmerized by the carnage as well.
Then, they heard a snarl.
Grant snapped his head up, to look for the creature that had emitted the noise. Wu slowly turned around, and looked into the bloody carnage beyond.
Out of one of the holding cells, lining the walls, stepped a raptor. It stepped out into the lights that showed its skin to be the color of a rotten apple. It snarled at the ceiling. It had a weird membrane running from its left eyebrow to its lower jaw, covering the one eye. It had only one arm, the other was only a stub at the shoulder. And its tail was bent in the middle, jetting it to the sky like a lightning rod.
Slowly, its head moved from the ceiling, and down to where the people stood. It snarled and curled its lip, revealing jagged, misplaced teeth. Then, it coughed four calls into the air.
Grant knew these sounds. It was calling for backup. "Get ready everyone," he whispered to the group.
Out of cells, towards the back of the tunnel, stepped five more disfigured raptors.
Wu looked at them all, and shivered. He remembered when he had seen the first disfigured raptor. It had been big and black, and its eyes had been glazed over with blindness. And most of all, he remembered how the creature had acted like it was literally an insane animal. He didn't see that particular raptor here. He was thankful for that.
The raptors came together, all forming a line that blocked the way through the tunnel.
"What do we do?" Madison asked.
"We need to get through that door," Malcolm said, motioning to the door beyond the raptors.
Grant, who was closest to the raptors, stood slowly, and began to back away. He took out his gun, and aimed it at the slowly approaching raptors.
Brunell asked Grant, "Can we kill them?"
"It's our only choice," Grant answered, his voice grim.
Brunell smiled, and cocked the shotgun. Leah whimpered and went back to the end of the group, unarmed and defenseless to the approaching onslaught of the enraged animals. Harris and Wu, took out their pistols, and both aimed at the raptors.
Aaron Madison, shifted his camera into his other hand, and took off the safety on his gun. "I better be getting paid overtime for this."
The middle raptor gave a crackly call, and the pack immediately charged. The raptors that were positioned to the side, ran the quickest, and jumped at the humans when they got in range.
Grant's machine gun blazed to life, and to his amazement struck one of the leaping raptors in the chest. Wu shot the other leaping raptor, but only in the leg. It collapsed to the ground, but then began to crawl towards them. Wu unloaded as many bullets into the creature's head as he dared with in the pressing time of the battle, then he turned his attention to the other creatures.
Harris shot his pistol at one of the running raptors, but somehow, the thing kept coming. He hit it five times, before it pounced on him. It was about to bring its sickle claw through Harris' chest, when Brunell pressed his shotgun up to the raptors head, and blew its brains out of it's long skull and sprayed them across the wall.
"Thanks," Harris said, pushing the beast off his body.
"Later," Brunell cocked his shotgun again, and blew a whole into a different raptor's chest. Then, he was struck from behind by the single-armed raptor. He fell to the ground, getting the wind knocked out of him.
Madison saw Brunell fall. Then, he saw two raptors break off of the main attack and run over to Brunell. Madison screamed out a war cry of sorts, and charged the animals. He shot the first one with his machine gun, the bullets pounding through its tough hide. But, the second heard him coming, and swiftly turned around to face him.
He was about to fire right into the creature's face, when it seized his gun with its powerful mouth, and took it straight out of his hands. It looked down at the gun it had stripped, then back at Madison, and snarled. Its eyes were filled with an unspeakable hatred. Madison felt an overcoming wave of fear and despair wash over him . . . . then, he remembered.
Madison's powerful body shifted, as he raised the big camera over his head. The raptor stepped forward, but it was too slow. With the strength of a professional wrestler, he brought the camera down on the raptor's head, sending it crashing to the ground.
The camera was in pieces in his hands. A grin spread over his face. Then, as he noticed a searing pain in his foot, he looked down. The raptor was biting his foot. Aaron screamed, and began to wallop the creature with what remained of his shattered camera. The raptor's clawed hand came up, and sliced into his calf, and he fell to the ground. He closed his eyes, as he winced in pain.
Madison could feel the hand come up his leg, nearing his stomach, and he knew he was done. Then, he heard three close gun shots, and the hand began to quiver and shake. He opened his eyes and saw Malcolm with his gun in the raptor's mouth. Blood was pouring out of the back of its head.
"That's the last of them!" Grant called from the other end of the tunnel.
Madison slowly sat up, his leg was throbbing. He looked to Malcolm,"Thanks."
Malcolm smiled, "Uh, anytime."
Brunell walked over to Madison, he was favoring his back a bit. "What you did was very brave, Aaron."
Madison smiled,"Really? Now I think it was stupid."
Brunell laughed,"Well, either way, I thank you."
Leah came walking up, wiping tears from her eyes, "Is everyone okay?"
Malcolm looked closely at Madison's leg. "Well, I've had my fair share of leg injuries. And, I'd say this looks pretty bad. It's not broken, and no arteries were hit. But, the wound is not clean. And, you're bleeding pretty badly. We need to get you to a doctor real soon."
"Glad you told that to my face," Madison remarked coldly.
"Thought you'd like it better that way."
"How are you?" Leah asked Brunell.
Brunell touched his back, and when he brought his hand back, it was smeared in blood. "One of those bastards gave me a scratch, it's nothing bad."
Wu looked at the wound. There was a deep gash, that tore through his shirt, and went from his right shoulder, down to his left buttocks. The wound was surprisingly not bleeding too badly. But the skin was shredded. How could Brunell withstand the pain?
"Um, Malcolm, could you come have a look at this?" Wu asked quietly.
Malcolm began to stand up, but Brunell declared sternly, "It's nothing, it's fine. I'll be just fine." Then, he walked away, and down the tunnel.
"Is he okay?" Grant asked.
"He's hurt three times as badly as Madison. I wouldn't give him very long."
Malcolm sighed, and mumbled to himself, "Another victim falls to the hand of chaos."
CHAPTER 32
Together, they walked to the end of the tunnel, to where the door was. They all stopped at the door. They had decided to rest for a little, before advancing any further.
Grant sighed, and walked into a corner, that hadn't been splattered in blood. Leah followed him.
She sat next to Grant, and looked closely at him, but didn't say anything.
There was a long silence, before Grant said quietly, "How are you doing?"
Leah smiled, "Pretty good, considering our current situation. And yourself?"
Grant shook his head, "I've been in worse predicaments, but I was ten years younger then."
"Is that how long it's been since you went to the island?"
"Yes, it's been nearly ten years since I went to Nublar. Amazing really, since it all feels as if it had just happened yesterday."
"Experiences like that stay with a person for a long time. I'm sure, that this place will be on my mind for a long time," then she frowned, "Well, that's if we get out of here."
"We'll get out of here. Just have faith, and don't listen to Malcolm."
Leah laughed at that. Grant observed her smile with great awe. It was nothing like that he had never seen in all of his years on earth. The smile reminded him of Ellie. In fact, Leah reminded him of Ellie in more ways than one. The same smile, the same hair, the same type of laugh, and the same outlook on life it seemed.
"Yes, he's a bit pessimistic, isn't he?" Leah said still smiling.
"I don't think that would be the word," Alan said. "He believes in his theories, and his scholarship. And he has the undying belief that everyone is entitled to his opinion. But, he is usually correct it seems."
"It's not a good thing to know that he's usually correct, when he constantly claims that we will die down here."
"Well, he's been wrong before."
"From what I hear, he was right about Jurassic Park," Leah said.
"That he was," Grant said, nodding slowly.
"You think he's wrong about this place?"
Grant smiled, "I think I have to, for our own sake. I mean if he's right, then we'll be just another statistic on the death tally in the news, when the story of this place goes public. But, if he's wrong, then we'll be getting out of here soon. And who knows what will happen after that."
"If we do get out, what do you think will happen?"
Grant shrugged, "For us there'll be lots of questions. For Biosyn and this place, they'll both probably be destroyed, by bombs or by lawsuits."
"If --- when we get out, what are you going to do?" she asked slowly, as if she were deep in thought.
"Oh, I don't know. Probably look for a new profession, my current one seems to bring me nothing but trouble. Grant smiled, "And you? What or who do you have to go home to? Are you and Madison together?"
Leah laughed, "Oh no, we're not together. And no, I have no person in particular to go home to. . . . why do you ask?" she gave a teasing smile.
Grant smiled, but inside his heart was racing. It had been so long since he had flirted with a woman. Wait, was this even flirting? What did he say to this? How did he respond? Why yes, I'd like to take you out for dinner sometime, what do you say? No, he couldn't say that! But then again saying, Well no, I'm not interested, was not a good idea either, because ... as he just realized ... he was somewhat interested. He looked back at Leah, she sat there smiling, awaiting an answer. Then, he sighed with immense relief as he heard footsteps coming towards them.
Grant looked up and saw Wu walking towards him. Wu's face was pale, "Dr. Grant, I think you better come look at this."
Grant got off the floor, looking at Leah as he got to his feet, "You'll have to excuse me." Leah nodded, as he followed Wu down the tunnel. He turned back once, and saw Leah sitting on the floor, still smiling up at him.
1/28/2003 1:01:10 PM
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