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Jurassic Park Dawn of Retribution Stage Sixteen
By JPJunkee+Yvonne
SIXTEENTH STAGE
"Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets,
and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time."
-- James A. Baldwin --
Grant wondered if perhaps Larson's sense of control was slipping, or rather if Larson didn't care to boss them around as much anymore. Walking through the jungle, Grant, Ellie, Leah, and Malcolm were allowed to walk side-by-side, when before they were spaced apart so that they couldn't make any group effort to escape or conspire against their captors.
Grant glanced to his right where Leah was. Surprisingly, she was holding up very well, considering their current predicament. When he first found her in the dark the night before, she was an emotional wreck. But now, as the darkness was slowly fading into early morning, she seemed more comfortable and more in control over her emotions.
He looked to his left where Ellie walked. Her eyes stared straight ahead, unseeing. Her stare was cold and indifferent to the world around her. Still watching her, wondering what she could be thinking, he watched her slow down and stagger some. Reaching out quickly, Grant grabbed her hand and stopped her from falling.
"Are you okay?" he asked, still holding her hand.
Ellie nodded. "Yeah, just a little light-headed for a second. Thanks."
"No," Grant said. "I mean, are you okay? You don't look so good."
Ellie shook her head, quickly saying, "No, I'm fine."
Grant didn't think she was telling him the truth, but he let her be, not wanting to bring attention to themselves. He released her hand and continued to walk with the convoy.
"Alan?" Ellie asked softly beside him. When Grant looked at her, she continued, "If we don't get out---"
"Everything's going to be okay," he interrupted her. "We'll find a way out of this, don't worry."
Grant looked toward Larson and his men. Surely, nothing good could come of this, but he didn't let her see his dreadful thoughts. Instead he had opted for something less bleak.
Ellie nodded for the sole reason of comforting Grant, making him think his words truly meant something.
From the front of the line of people, Larson announced, "We'll take a break here. Ten minutes, I suggest you use it wisely."
All the men nodded, then unstrapped their weapons and sat down next to a tree, basking in the shade. Grant and the others walked over to a large boulder and sat down next to it.
Malcolm put his back against the boulder. Then he gingerly removed his shoes from his sore feet, shaking tiny rocks and sticks out of them.
Grant sat down next to Malcolm. Leah moved to sit down on Grant's other side, but before she could, Ellie took the spot. Leah frowned slightly, then sat down next to Malcolm.
Malcolm winced as he put the shoe back on his left foot. He let out a long sigh when he straightened the leg, his face covered in sweat. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the hard boulder.
"You okay?" Leah asked him, noticing his discomfort.
Malcolm blinked his eyes open, surprised someone was talking to him. "Huh?"
"Your leg," Leah said. "You look like you're in a lot of pain."
"Oh, yeah, uhh, I broke it really bad about ten years ago," he said. "It's never really fully healed. It doesn't bother me that much, except for when I'm walking for a long time. . . like we are now."
Leah nodded. "Want me to ask them if they might have any aspirin to ease the pain?"
Malcolm shook his head and smiled. "Umm, no thank you, ma'am. I think I can manage."
Leah smiled, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larson stood with his shoulder propped against a tree. At the tree's roots sat McCarney. Larson pulled a small silver flask from his pants pocket and unscrewed the top, taking a big sip. Afterwards he sighed and screwed the cap back onto the flask.
"That stuff will make you dehydrated, you know?" McCarney commented.
Larson shrugged and offered the flask to McCarney. "Your point?"
McCarney smiled before reaching up and taking the offered drink.
Pushing his way through some of the other men, Griffin walked hastily over to Larson and McCarney. He approached Larson and said, "What are you doing?"
Larson frowned, spreading his fingers apart innocently. "We're having a drink. What are you doing?"
Griffin ignored the question. "We're about half an hour from the volcano now, why are we taking a rest? Why not just get it over and done with now? End this all."
Larson sighed, "We're all tired. You wouldn't want to be too tired to not be able to enjoy the grand finale, would you?"
Griffin shook his head, whispering, "You're impossible." Then he walked forward, moving past Larson.
Larson reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. He whispered harshly into his ear, "Do not question my command in front of my men again. Understood?"
Griffin looked at Larson from out of the corner of his eye. "These are not your men, Brock. They will not follow you like you're some kind of great leader. They are here because the price is right and because they want to see the abominations on this island sent back to hell. They hold no loyalties to you, and neither do I." Then he pushed off Larson's hold, and walked away.
Larson glared at Griffin as he walked away. His hand made its way to his pistol, holding the butt of the gun, ready to draw it and drill a round into the back of Griffin's spine. Then he smiled and let go of the gun. His small smile turned into a large crazed grin and he shook his head, chuckling to himself.
McCarney saw the whole confrontation. And when Larson started to laugh, McCarney looked away from him, and then at the silver flask in his hand. He had just shared a drink with a madman. He wondered absently if what Larson had was contagious. He stared at the flask like it was a poisonous snake, then frowned and tossed it aside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ellie's head rested against Grant's shoulder, as she tried her best to relax. She had not witnessed a premonition of any kid, but she still feared what was yet to come with great anxiety. Her fear wasn't subsiding, even when she was this close to Grant. She was holding back feelings from him because she didn't want to crush his positive outlook and it wasn't allowing her much rest.
Grant looked at the top of Ellie's head, but he could tell she was staring out into space again. He put an arm around her shoulder to try his best to offer some sort of consolation. He didn't think he was ever very good at comforting others when they were in pain or troubled by worry, but he tried anyway.
He glanced toward Leah and caught her looking at him. As soon as he made eye contact, though, she swiftly shifted to look elsewhere. He smiled at her reaction, and waited for her to look at him again.
Leah knew in her heart that Alan loved her, but she was very uncertain as to how these current events were affecting him. It must have been hard, having to worry about two women he cared about so much. Ellie wasn't a bad person, which was the really hard part for her. She wished Ellie was mean and hurtful, that way things would be more easy going for her. She shook her head at such a childish thought, and then looked back toward Alan. He was still looking at her, and now it was her turn to smile, as she looked into his caring and comforting eyes. He was a good man, no matter how she looked at it. Of course, he would try to help Ellie in any way he could. It was because he was such a good man that she fell in love with him in the first place.
Alan was trying to read Leah's face, and was sure he could see her affection for him in her eyes. He mouthed the words 'I love you' to her and she did the same in return. He watched as her eyes moved from his and then closed, a look of content on her face. If he were to die tonight, at least he was going to die knowing that she loved him and that he loved her.
Ellie had given him a hard time about her, but he knew that if she had the time to get to know Leah, she would like her and see that she wasn't a bad person. The whole reporter thing she was so irate about would dissipate in time. Time seemed to be the one luxury none of them had though. He sighed and held Ellie a little tighter, as his eyes began to close involuntarily.
A thought suddenly occurred to him, as he opened his eyes again. All the thinking about reporters had made him remember the InGen reports that he still had with him.
Moving carefully, as to not disturb Ellie, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded the paper and flattened out the creases as he looked over it again. He set down the paper that showed the analysis of the disease, and moved onto the second sheet. This paper showed the funding that InGen had acquired in its early months when creating Jurassic Park. He looked over the names of the companies again; AAAS, Peak Echelon, Microsoft, FAS, and some Japanese company. The names meant next nothing to him, but he found it odd that the FAS would be involved with InGen or the park.
The FAS was a part of the US government that basically focused on advancements in the field of science. Grant found it odd that the US government would fund InGen, and then go ahead and destroy Nublar when they had a hand in creating it.
Malcolm looked over his shoulder, and took the paper from his hands, looking over the names.
"Only a few million from Microsoft?" Malcolm muttered. "Bill must be cheaper than I thought he was."
"I didn't know the FAS was involved with InGen," said Grant.
"Neither did I, but I had always suspected as much. That's why this island has lasted so long. If the US can still get use out of it - and if they put money into InGen, they must have had some use in mind - then they're going to try and keep them alive and prospering."
"Do you recognize any of the other names on the list?"
"Umm, not really no," Malcolm said. "Except for maybe this 'Peak Echelon'. Uhh, if my memory serves me correctly, I think they were involved with the assassination of Almar Mkebi."
"Who?"
"Mkebi, a big shot from Kenya. He also owned a few casinos in the US, and rumors were he was involved with drugs and the like. He got shot on his way out of a restroom in one of his casinos, and his killer then slit his own throat. There's no definitive proof Echelon is connected, though, but they're the only suspects."
Larson quietly walked over to them, standing directly above Grant and Malcolm. "You two sure are talkative," he said, startling Malcolm. He dropped the papers, a few of them floating toward Larson's feet. "Whatever could be so interesting?" He bent down and picked up the closest paper, looking over it.
After a moment of reading the data, he looked away from the paper, "Pteranodons. Wu was very fond of them. That is, until they grew to almost twice as big as the expected size and began to swarm the workers," Larson commented, smiling as he thought about it, he added, "They would dive bomb workers and carry them off to their enclosures in the mountain. No one wanted to feed them."
He looked down at the scientists and the reporter, all of which looked concerned, but Grant especially. Larson found this slightly amusing. "Oh, don't worry. Wu found them to be . . . deformed . . . so he had them exterminated."
"They're still on this island," Grant said.
"I assure you, they were all destroyed," Larson insisted.
Grant was about to continue the debate, when Malcolm elbowed him, giving him a look of warning. Frowning, Grant finally nodded and kept quiet.
Without waiting for someone else to talk, Larson tossed the paper onto Grant's lap. Observing the tiredness of everyone around him, he clapped his hands together. "Come on, break's over. Let's get a move on."
* * *
The two parasaurolophus laid motionless in the dirt. The ground, wet from the night before, had caused their bodies to sink down a few inches. The green female para was on its stomach, its grey eyes open. Dried blood was crusted to its snout, while a milky saliva dangled out of the side of its mouth. The other dinosaur, brown in color and its long crest a vibrant red, was resting its front legs on the green dinosaur's back, while its neck rested across the back of its mate's neck. Both the bodies were very skinny, their bones showing through underneath their skin.
The Costa Rican soldiers stood in a circle around the two dead herbivores.
Martinez sighed, pointing at the green para, where the dried blood had collected at the end of its duckbilled snout. "She caught the disease." He pointed to the light brown dinosaur. "He died from starvation and malnutrition. Life mates; he stayed beside her, even after her passing."
General Aldez crouched down beside the green para, pulling his hunting knife from its sheath and a plastic sealable bag from his pocket. He stared thoughtfully at the dead animals before him, then said quietly, "You are all brave soldiers. You should be proud of yourselves and your brothers. However, the mission is, in all rights, a failure. We've lost the American scientists, and as much as it pains me to admit it, we will never find them again. Our mission was to find a cure for the disease on this island, and the Americans were our way of uncovering that cure. With them gone, and most likely dead, all is lost. To prevent the spread of this terrible disease, we are supposed to destroy the island and all its inhabitants."
He stabbed the knife into the green flesh of the dead para. It was like cutting through leather. Aldez cut out a small four-inch chunk of flesh, then slipped it into the plastic bag. "And that's what we're going to do," he said, standing up and walking slowly over to the male para. He knelt down beside it, and looked up at his men. "Radio for extraction, then bomb the island. Soon, it'll all be just a bad memory. We'll take these samples of flesh back to the labs for analysis, in case the disease might actually make its way off the island after it's destroyed." There were other reasons for taking the samples of diseased flesh back with them, but none that he felt compelled to share with his men. He moved to cut into the male dinosaur, when Martinez interrupted his actions.
"And the scientists. Grant, Malcolm, Degler, and Kaje? What about them?" Martinez asked.
"What would you have me do?" Aldez asked sourly.
"They could still be alive."
"And if they are, we're not going to be able to find them--"
"When we call for evac, we could fly over the island and look for them," Martinez said.
Aldez shook his head, "Do you actually believe they could be alive at this point? They're unarmed and are being hunted not only by the dinosaurs, but by those fanatics as well. Searching any longer is a waste of time and energy, two things none of us have."
Aldez looked at the faces of all his men, then said, "We will plant explosives at different points on the island, then call for evac, and once we're all in the air we'll blow it all to hell."
Martinez glared at him, but didn't say anything more.
Aldez sighed, then turned back to the male para, and stabbed his knife into the flesh above its left shoulder.
The skinny neck of the male para jerked up suddenly, and it let out a raspy honk of alarm. Aldez yelped in surprise, and fell backwards. The dinosaur shook slightly as it attempted to stand, but it never reached its full height before it was ripped into from all sides by a hail of bullets courtesy of the Rican soldiers. The male para roared in pain, then slumped down, landing next to its mate on the ground, its eyes now becoming gray and distant, as well.
Aldez scowled at the dinosaur he had thought to be dead, then got to his feet. He walked slowly over to the dinosaur, and only paused long enough at its side to finish his cut in the flesh. Once he was done, he slipped the flesh into a second bag, then wiped the blade clean in the grass, putting it back into its sheath.
"If we split up we'll be able to cover more ground faster," Aldez said. "Which means we can get off this island all that much sooner. You all should have been outfitted with an explosive's device at the beginning of this mission. Plant them in a safe place, then radio back to me when you're done."
* * *
Walking through the dense jungle, Larson was finding it hard to see more than about five feet in front of him. It was very humid, more humid than before, and there was a layer of fog residing all around them. The limited sight distance was worrying him. They were down to only a handful of men, including himself, Griffin, McCarney and Jack, and not being able to readily see possible danger was wearing on him.
Temporarily forgetting about the danger, a smile crept across his face. He couldn't believe the witless wonder, Jack, was still alive. He just chalked it up to God providing shelter for the ones who couldn't shelter themselves due to their own stupidity.
Finally, there was a slight break in the fog as they came upon the volcano.
Cautiously, Larson stopped and glanced at Griffin in an alarmed manner. It was very quiet here. No birds chirping. No insect noise. And, most importantly, there were no signs of the men that were supposed to be there.
When Griffin was close enough, he whispered, "Where is everybody?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe they're camping on a different side," Larson said, hoping it was true.
"Yeah, maybe," Griffin breathed, looking around as if he were expecting trouble, "Maybe those Rican bastards met up with them."
"Maybe something really mean and scary ate them," Malcolm suggested, from a few paces back.
Larson was about to discipline Ian Malcolm, when the silence was broken by a man gasping for help somewhere nearby. After exchanging a glance with Griffin, both men began to walk toward the gasping.
"Hello?" Larson whispered. For the first time in a long time, he was actually very afraid. Something was definitely not right here and he didn't like the feeling of no control.
As Larson and Griffin temporarily disappeared into the fog bank, Jack tightened the grip on his rifle, "Mick, I think we're all alone out here," he whispered in disbelief and fear.
McCarney only nodded, preparing his own rifle and keeping his eye on Grant and the others.
Grant absently reached out for Leah's hand as the eerie gasping became much louder, more panicked. She was very content in allowing him to do so.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larson and Griffin jogged toward the voice, but as they got closer, the gasping stopped, leaving them wondering which direction to go. They made it to the rocks, cautiously looking around.
"I'll take the left," Griffin whispered, his pistol out and ready.
Larson nodded and began to go to the right. Soon the men were quite a distance apart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't like just standing here," Malcolm said.
McCarney pointed his rifle at him, "Would you rather I shoot you?" Frowning and then slowly shaking his head no, Malcolm took a few steps back. "Good, then shut up," McCarney added.
Standing at his side, Ellie began to look closer at the dirt. Behind them, there was a definite sign of a struggle in the area and she thought she could see tracks from a bipedal dinosaur. She wanted to investigate, but she knew movement of any sort would end up getting someone hurt at this point. She turned toward Grant and sighed with momentary relief, as she saw him also examining the ground.
"What is it?" Leah whispered.
"Not sure yet," he whispered back, taking care in not talking too loud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We got a live one here!" Griffin yelled.
Larson had made it a great deal away, but he instantly turned and ran toward Griffin's voice.
McCarney was observing with intensity. Such intensity, in fact, that he didn't notice a captive or two walking away from him.
Grant began to follow Larson, with Leah in tow. He wanted to see for himself what was going on. As he approached the rock face, rounding a large rock, he saw Larson next to Griffin. Both men were kneeling over a wounded man. As Grant got closer, he realized that 'wounded' was an understatement. The man's torso was in tact, but below that was just a mess of blood and guts.
Checking the man's pulse, Griffin began to talk to him, "What happened?"
"Raptors," the man whispered, as he tried his best to breathe.
Larson was indifferent to the man's pain, "How many?" he asked, professional-like.
"I-I'm---" the man began to cough.
"Come on! How many!" Larson screamed.
Scanning the area, Grant began to lure Leah away from Larson and Griffin, a little step back at a time, "It's too quiet," he whispered to her when he saw her questionable look.
Larson was now to the point of shaking the man. He wasn't interested in the raptors anymore, though, "Did you place the explosives!" he yelled over and over.
"Brock, give him a second," Griffin whispered, "He's messed up pretty bad. Give him a damn second."
Larson glared at Griffin, angry with the man for stepping in, but also angry because Griffin was right. He let the man go, waiting for him to catch his breath.
The man was trying to answer by nodding his head, but he no longer had control over that motor function. Shaking horribly, he finally sputtered out, "Y-yes."
"Good," Larson said, shoving the man to the dirt. Picking up the man's rifle, he stood up and began to bark orders, "Let's get a move on."
Noticing Grant was close by, Larson became angry. He aimed his rifle toward him, yelling, "Where do you think you're going?"
Grant immediately released Leah's hand and raised his arms into the air, "Just looking," he answered. "Larson, something is about to happen here. We sho---"
The clicking sound from the rifle told Grant to stop talking.
"Turn around and start walking. I don't want to hear your theories or your warnings. Just walk."
Grant nodded, slowly putting his hands down and reconnecting with Leah, who was now nervously glancing in every direction.
Getting ready to shove Grant to make him go faster, Larson spun his head to the side, at the sound of a couple of rocks tumbling down the side of the volcanic hill. The rocks finally came to a rest in front of Griffin's feet. The man looked down at the rocks, then back up at Larson, then up the mountainside to where the rocks had fallen from. The fog made it very difficult to see very far up.
Everyone turned to stare up the hill, looking for any sign of movement.
Grant looked at Larson, who was gripping his rifle tightly, preparing his nerves for the attack that seemed all the more inevitable at this point.
Then Grant heard the cackling snarl behind him. Goose bumps rose on the skin of his arms, as he twisted around quickly. A bushel of green foliage shook somewhere in the distance, as something quickly sped away into the dark foreboding mist.
"We should not linger here," Griffin said quietly to Larson. "We should go now."
Larson shook his head. "No, it's too late for that," he said, his voice only loud enough for himself and those in his immediate area to hear him. "We can't leave. They won't let us."
From the corner of his eye, Grant saw Leah looking up at him. He turned to her, as their fingers intertwined. Grant looked away from Leah for but a moment, to Ellie and Malcolm standing together not far away from McCarney and one other man, then he looked back at Leah.
"It'll be okay," he whispered. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you."
Leah smiled weakly, since fear had overpowered her already. She opened her mouth to reply--
With a crash of branches, leaves exploded through the fog. A single velociraptor leapt through a large bush, landing on the man beside McCarney. The raptor instantly dug its claws into the man's torso, ripping away flesh as he screamed in agony. McCarney shifted his legs and lifted his rifle, but before he could ever even aim at the raptor, the long brown tail whipped to the side, catching the back of his knees and knocking him to the ground.
Grant pulled Leah close, placing her behind him. Larson and the other men all trained their weapons on the raptor, unleashing round after round that ripped through the dinosaur's skin as well as the skin of the man it had attacked.
As soon as the death scream emitted from raptor, there was another clash of wood. A second raptor jumped from the shadows, pouncing on another unsuspecting gunmen.
Grant looked up the side of the volcano to see three raptors quickly making their way down the embankment. The raptors came from all directions. Some men scattered, some only screamed, while others were either shooting or trying to hide.
Through the haze, a raptor came running directly towards Grant and Leah. The creature's mouth and arms were spread wide, preparing to grasp its prey. Leah gripped Grant's hand tighter, and nearly yanked him off his feet as she began to run in the opposite direction.
Screams of both human and dinosaurs filled the air. Taking in quick glances all around, it reminded Grant of a war field. He saw Ellie leading Malcolm along an outcropping of rocks, probably looking for a good place to hide. Glancing the other way, he spotted Griffin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After being surrounded by a group of raptors, Griffin had ran and taken cover in between a couple of large boulders. It was very cramped here and he only had enough room for himself and his rifle, in which he aimed out through a gap in the rocks. Breathing was slightly difficult in the small space, but he was safe here. An overly zealous and curious raptor had tried to reach its claws in through one of the gaps, attempting to snare him and pull him out of the rocks. It hadn't reached its clawed hands twelve inches into his hiding place before he blew it away.
He was feeling fairly confident about his situation now. He was safe and would just have to simply wait it out until the remaining dinosaurs were killed. Then, he would walk out of his hiding place unscathed. He dimly thought about whether or not Larson would live through the entire ordeal, or if nature would just make things easier for all of them and kill their hostages for them. He allowed himself a self-assuring smile, then rested his head against the warm rocks.
Dust fell from above, sprinkling into his hair and over his face. He blinked away the fine powder from his eyes, then looked up slowly. The rocks that enclosed his little place of solitude from above were beginning to shift slightly, causing dust to fall from between the cracks. Griffin began to breathe harder as he started to understand what was happening above him.
With a sudden snarl, the rocks above his head were finally knocked away, allowing a bright shining light to fall upon his face. He sat onto his bottom as quick as he could, just as the two raptor heads came down at him. The raptors snapped their jaws, growling and snarling, trying to reach his face. Drool dripping onto his chest, Griffin pressed himself as close to the ground as he could manage.
He felt a searing pain in his right foot. He looked to see a clawed hand sticking through the hole he had used to enter the hiding place, and one of the talons stabbing into the side of his foot. He screamed and kicked the hand away with his other foot, then brought all his limbs as close to his body as he could.
Bringing his knees to his chest, his wrapped his arms around his shins, then bowed his head down trying to block out the incisive roars of the raptors.
In his position on the ground, Griffin could no longer move his rifle to shoot any of the dinosaurs.
Closing his eyes, he began to scream for assistance. "Help! Help! Somebody help!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From somewhere behind Grant, a raptor screeched. It sounded so close, he could almost feel its hot breath as it bridged the distance between itself and the humans. In front of him, he could see one of Larson's men firing a rifle blindly in the massive confusion. Grant shouted at the man, getting his attention. The man turned and began to shoot at the raptor that was tailing Grant and Leah.
The heat of the gun blasts and the sound ringing in his ears, Grant ran past the man. Once he was about a foot or two behind him, he paused for a moment to look back. As soon as he did, he realized how close the raptor had been to reaching them. The man had not killed the raptor, not even one bullet had touched it. With a shrill shriek, the raptor jumped off the ground and landed on the man.
The long talons on its feet dug into the man's kidney region, while its forearms sliced into his back and its mouth began to ravage his shoulder. The man screamed, but did not fall, despite the weight of the animal. Instead he pressed the muzzle of his gun against the raptor's stomach, and with five loud bangs, finished off his clip of ammo. Blood shot out the other side of the raptor's torso. In a final attempt to kill its prey, the raptor reared its neck back, then with an open mouth, engulfed the man's face, silencing his screams
As Grant and Leah tried to put some distance between the fatally wounded man and themselves, another raptor was coming from the other way. They stopped, trying to decide with way to dart. In that brief moment of hesitation, the dead man toppled backwards with the dead raptor still latched to his body. All this took place in a matter of seconds, and Grant only had time to push Leah out of the way before the raptor and the man landed on top of him. The weight of the two deceased beings slammed him hard against the ground.
Looking around in panic, Grant tried to push the corpses off his lower body.
He had pushed Leah so hard, she had fallen, but she had instantly gotten to her feet. She was by his side in seconds, trying to pull the dead bodies off of him so he could stand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raptors were everywhere. There was no getting away from them as they continued their relentless pursuits, following a carefully coordinated attack pattern.
Larson watched as a pair of raptors chased at the heels of Jack. The man did not even bother to turn and fire at his attackers. Larson sighed, aiming at the two raptors, and with five shots brought both the dinosaurs down. Then, he heard the sound of quickly moving footsteps to his left. He spun to see a raptor speeding towards him.
He aimed the rifle at the small bipedal predator, and pulled the trigger. His heart skipped a beat when he heard only a clicking sound. The raptor screeched, raising its tail for balance before it leapt at him. Larson grunted and gripped the end of his rifle, swinging it like a baseball bat, hitting the raptor in the side of the head as it tried to reach for him. The dinosaur growled, falling to its side, but it was back on its feet in an instant.
With no time to reload, Larson swung the rifle at the raptor again. This time the creature was expecting the attack, and bit onto the rifle. Larson struggled to get the gun back from the dinosaur, but its jaws had the power of a bear trap. It was preoccupied however, and so with a smile, Larson pulled his silver pistol from his waist.
The raptor's eyes followed the shine on the pistol, but it made no movement to stop its gnawing on the rifle. Larson brought the pistol over, aiming it directly at the middle of the raptor's skull, only about four inches away. He smiled.
With a loud growl, the raptor released the rifle and lunged at the pistol and Larson's hand. Larson pulled the trigger, the bullet going in through the raptor's open mouth, and then out the back of its skull, directly behind its right ear.
Larson then reloaded the rifle, and started to walk away from the carcass, when he heard Leah scream in frustration and fear. He turned to see Leah trying to pry a dead raptor and a man off of Grant, who had been unlucky enough -- or stupid enough, Larson considered -- to have the two things land on him. He smiled and strode over to Leah.
Latching onto Leah's arm, Larson pulled her in the opposite direction. She screamed, trying to fight him off.
Larson looked down at Grant, and winked, "Cheers." Then he led Leah, kicking and screaming, away.
Grant struggled to free himself, but it seemed the more he moved, the more trapped he became. With clenched teeth and an angry demeanor to match, he watched Larson drag Leah away, helpless to do a thing about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ellie and Malcolm ran side by side. They kept their heads low as bullets flew above them. Ahead, they saw a pair of rocks with a narrow space in between that could work as a hiding place for a short while until some of the action had died down a little. As they ran, they observed McCarney tripping and falling over a cluster of rocks. While he lay on his back, he tried to hold off all the raptors that he could with a barrage of gunfire.
A scream from Leah caused Ellie to look away from McCarney. She strained her head to the right, and watched as Leah was dragged away by Larson. Leah's eyes were filled with fright and alarm. Ellie followed her gaze to see Grant on the ground, pinned underneath two corpses.
Without so much as a word to Malcolm, Ellie took off running towards Grant, in hopes of helping him stand up and find safety.
Malcolm saw her turn and run away from him and he shouted for her to stop, but she was adamant about rescuing Grant. Malcolm was about to run after her, when he saw Leah being manhandled by Larson.
Taking it upon himself to free Leah from the crazy man, Malcolm rushed to his side, trying to wrestle away Larson's stronghold. It worked, since the muscular man was preoccupied with staying alive, dodging and shooting various raptors.
Leah briefly thanked Malcolm, but then immediately screamed.
Turning around, the only thing Malcolm saw was a fist as it painfully crashed against his cheek and eye.
As Malcolm looked around, he noticed everything looked foggy, and then realized that it was more than the just the bad weather. The fog began to turn a different color altogether, finally dissipating, as blackness consumed his mind. He fell to his knees, wavering to the force of gravity, and then hit the dirt with a thud.
Larson stood there momentarily, smiling at his handy work, and also making sure Malcolm didn't recover. Once he was certain, he yanked Leah toward him and began to look for a place to hide. All around them, raptors and humans were interacting, with the humans getting the brunt of it.
Squirming away from his grasp, Leah kept shaking her arm around, trying to free herself. She was getting farther away from Grant and Malcolm, the one thing she didn't want to do. Fighting with Larson only resulted in him abruptly striking her in the face. Her head snapped back as he continued to lead her at will. She could hear Grant yelling her name in the background, but was temporarily too distracted to look in his direction.
Raptors attacked from both sides.
Larson let her go and hurried to place both hands on his rifle. He made it just in time, as he fired at the closer of the two. The dinosaur fell and skidded on the dirt. Leah frowned as she noticed the other raptor had lowered its body considerably, showing that it was ready to pounce.
It jumped, shrieking as it did so.
Leah ducked, quickly placing her hands on top of her head, falling to the ground.
The raptor jumped right over her, its claws outstretched. She felt the wind from its movement and was astonished to still be in one piece.
Two seconds later, before it could readjust and turn around, shoots were fired into its torso. Her eyes blinked involuntarily with every shot, and then she watched it slump forward . . . dead.
Larson was standing next to her, reloading his rifle. She glanced at him, wondering why he would do such a thing and waiting to see what he was going to do next.
Larson had only saved her for his own personal agenda, but now he concluded that abandoning her was the best course of action. He suddenly found himself not thinking clearly about his situation and his objectives. Hearing someone shouting for help brought him back to reality. Right away, he realized it was Griffin. He scanned the area, trying to figure out where the shouts were coming from. He turned toward Leah and simply smiled, ultimately deciding to forget about her. He ran toward the safety of the rocks, in the direction of Griffin's shouting, his rifle in the ready position.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack was shooting at anything that moved. Three raptors had already almost gotten him, saved only by the bullets that found a way into their heads. Hearing rustling behind him, he spun around and squeezed off two shots.
One of his own men clutched the side of his head and slumped to the ground.
Looking around to make sure no one witnessed what just happened, Jack quickly shook it off and ran.
He heard something close behind him, and stopped running, preparing to shoot at anything. As he turned around, a blur in the fog caught him by surprise. The blur was gone as fast as it had appeared, confusing Jack, until he felt a searing pain in his chest. The fog was thick, but he could see his own body and was shocked to see that he was bleeding. He placed a hand over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but blood kept pulsating between his fingers, splattering on his clothes. The last thing he saw was something very swift and low to ground, coming straight for him.
Having the time to make a complete circle around its prey before it even knew what happened, the raptor was now in front of Jack again. With a shriek, it pounced on the man, ripping out his jugular. Jack's eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground, instantly dead. The raptor stood by, waiting for its meal to stop twitching.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gasping for breath from her furious run, Ellie finally reached Grant. He gazed up at her, but said nothing; his eyes were clouded with a mix of fear and anger. His hands were gripping the shoulders of the dead man on top of him, and with a grunt he tried yet again to push the weight off of him. His face turned red from the effort, but the bodies hardly moved at all.
Grant was faintly aware that someone was nearby, but he couldn't see them. That thought was quickly replaced by sudden fear, as he heard the cackling sound of a raptor. His initial reaction; the raptor he thought was dead above him, wasn't actually dead. After ruling that out, he turned his head in the direction of the noise, to see a raptor slowly slinking its way towards him. Blood was slapped against the animals left hind leg, where three bullet holes could easily be seen, causing it to drag one of its legs behind its body as it half-crawled toward him.
The raptor looked directly at him, then down at the ground somewhere between itself and the human. Grant followed the creature's gaze to where the dead man's rifle lay on the ground, about three feet away. The raptor looked back up at Grant, snarled, then continued to crawl towards him.
Grant grunted, reaching his arm out towards the rifle, but he wasn't even close to getting to it. Looking the other way, he caught sight of who was trying to help him.
"Ellie," he said quietly. He was having a difficult time breathing with the extra weight on his stomach and chest.
She looked down at him, but didn't allow him to finish his sentence. "I'm not leaving you here," she said.
He pointed, the best he could, behind her, "Raptor!" he tried to yell, but the weight on his chest made it hard to do so.
She heard him though, and tensed up as the dinosaur continued to creep in their direction.
"Rifle," he said.
She nodded and began to move toward it without thinking, then stopped as fast as she started.
"It's too far away," she said with despair.
Grant watched the Raptor's progress with fear, "Just get out of here!" he yelled hoarsely, as he continued to pry the dead weight from his body.
Ellie's determination increased as she refused to leave his side. Swearing, and verbally declining his order to run, she began looking for something else to defend herself with.
Pushing with all his might again, Grant managed to budge the dead man a tiny bit. In the movement, a glint caught his eye and he saw that the man had another weapon. A gun, still sitting in its arm holster. He reached for it, was very thankful when he actually managed to get a hold of it, and then turned his head toward the raptor.
"Get down!" he whispered, since he found it difficult to talk at all anymore.
Ellie hit the dirt and Grant fired two rounds into the raptor's torso, causing it to jerk backwards, stopping its forward momentum.
Grant began to smile, but it faded when the raptor didn't fall. It kept coming, so he fired the gun two more times, finally leveling the persistent dinosaur.
Tensing her muscles, Ellie glanced around very quickly. Seeing that the raptor was no longer a threat, she stood up and put her arms around the dead raptor's midsection and heaved. At the same time, Grant put all his strength into pushing the man off, his injured hand producing a searing pain that went completely up to his shoulder. After nearly twenty seconds, they both stopped their struggle, unable to move them off.
Ellie set her gaze back on the raptor and dead man. The raptor's mouth was still biting into the man's face, while its claws were still stabbed into his shoulders and stomach. Blood was everywhere and she could see that some of it was dripping on Grant, too.
Realizing that she needed to find a different approach if she wanted to get him out of there, Ellie leaned down and got on the ground.
Grant could kind of see her through the bodies, "What the hell are you doing?"
Not answering, Ellie placed her legs against the raptor and began to push with all of her strength. Then she ordered, "Push to your right!"
He did as she instructed, and in just a few seconds, he could feel the pressure on his chest begin to fade.
Smiling broadly, she quickly got to her knees and helped him drag off the raptor. The dinosaur's head thumped to the ground, releasing the man's head in the process. With the raptor now on the ground next to Grant, she took her eyes away from it and started to concentrate on the dead man still impaled in its claws. Leaning over, she grabbed the dead man's loose arm and began to pull, while Grant pushed.
She needed a bit more leverage, so she blindly placed her hand on the ground. Feeling something slice into her left hand, she jerked it back, her eyes widening at the sight of blood. She looked down and realized that her hand had pressed up against the raptor's sharp teeth, piercing the inside of her hand, just above the index finger.
In that next instant, she heard Grant make a final attempt at lifting the man, "Watch out," he warned, as the man toppled over next to her.
Grant was finally free.
He stood up on wobbly legs, regrouped, looked to see where everyone was, and then grabbed Ellie by the hand. Spotting a makeshift cave-like entrance in the volcano nearby, he said, "Come on, we'll be safe over there."
As they moved, Ellie noticed that Grant was limping. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he answered.
They made it to the cave and Grant hurried Ellie inside first. Settling in, they turned to see what was going on out in the open. Larson was seen looking around the outcropping of rocks on the other side and Leah was dragging Malcolm toward that same outcropping, which both relieved and frightened Grant.
"Looks like she's got Ian," Ellie whispered.
"She's a sitting duck out there," Grant observed in a worried tone.
Ellie was more than a little worried about the laceration on her hand. She kept it hidden from Grant, though. He had enough to worry about and he didn't need another distraction.
After a half dozen scenarios ran through his mind, Grant felt the strong desire to get Leah and Malcolm over to their cave and away from Larson's side of the field.
"Stay here," he whispered to Ellie.
Ellie had been looking all around them, but when he spoke she focused on his concerned face. She quickly nodded, placing a hand on his arm. The moment only lasted seconds, nothing being said between them. Just a look telling each other to be careful.
Knowing that she would be safe there, he stood up and began to make his way toward Leah and Malcolm
"Alan, watch out!" Ellie yelled, almost leaving the protective enclosure.
Upon hearing her warning, Grant hit the dirt without thinking. A large shadow floated over him, but the fog was too thick to guess what it might have been.
She watched Grant get up and run toward Leah. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, as he continued to sprint, determination in his eyes. Then she realized that the slow motion was more than just a feeling. Her vision had started to blur, as well. Was it the fog? She blinked, trying to focus on where Grant was, but found it very hard.
Looking down at her hand, she noticed it was already very red and irritated. Pain was registering from her hand, to her wrist, to her elbow and all the way up her arm. She briefly thought that the pain was probably close to Grant's pain in his hand and she frowned, thinking of the amount of agony he had been in for the last several days.
Regrettably, Ellie knew that she had been infected.
A wealth of firepower came storming her way, jolting her back to the present. Rocks were shattering left and right, causing a small outpouring of volcanic dust that now mixed with the fog. Ellie crawled back into the cave as far as she could and covered her head as bullets ricocheted in several directions.
Brushing herself off, Ellie stood up, noticing that her legs were already a little wobbly. Was it from the disease? Or just knowing that she might have it? She made her way to the mouth of the cave, searching for Grant. The fog, coupled with her own blurriness, was still detracting her from seeing, but her eyes widened when she saw two raptors appear in the drifting haze. They stood motionless about twenty feet away, observing Grant as he continued to race across the dirt.
"Alan!" she shouted, "Behind you!"
He continued to run, showing no signs of hearing her. He was already too far away for any sort of warning shout, as it would have most certainly just blended in with the other screaming and shooting going on. He didn't see the raptors watching, and she knew he probably wouldn't know of their presence until it was too late. Standing up, Ellie was set to make a dash for Grant, not thinking about what she would do once she got there.
She didn't get far. A giant shadow loomed over the ground just outside of the cave, and she got a closer look at whatever had almost gotten Alan in the fog. Sheltering her eyes, she gazed up and gasped in awe.
A pair of giant pteras soared past the cave entrance, very close to the ground. She estimated about a thirty-foot wingspan and was still just awestruck by the majestic appearance in the sunlight.
Comments are appreciated!
--JPJunkee and Yvonne
10/24/2003 9:32:44 PM
(Updated: 10/26/2003 10:59:14 AM)
(Updated: 10/26/2003 11:01:15 AM)
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