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Jurassic Park Dawn of Retribution Stage Thirteen
By JPJunkee+Yvonne
THIRTEENTH STAGE
"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."
-- James A. Baldwin --
The slight chirping against Grant's ears caused him to open his eyes. He blinked and held up a hand as the first few rays of the morning sun peeked through the tree branches, shining onto his face. He sighed groggily and stretched his arms, searching for the sound source. A few colorful birds were in the tree that had been used as their cover in the earlier part of the night. As he stared, still very much in sleep mode, he watched them fly from their perches and head out into the morning air.
Slowly craning his neck left, he saw Kaje and Malcolm sleeping against the tree that had been uprooted during the night, with Malcolm using Kaje's backpack as a pillow. Seeing how Kaje was still gripping the pack reminded him of how protective Leah was of her notebooks and tape recorders. She had them under lock and key, in a briefcase worthy of the best spy security there ever was. He had once witnessed her use that briefcase as a weapon, walloping a few well-deserving columnists from a rival network in New York, upon finding out they had misused some of her notes for their own purposes. The visualization made him briefly smile, only to fade away when he thought of the danger she was probably in right now.
His mixed feelings brought his thoughts to Ellie, who he could feel very close beside him. When he looked at her, he was shocked to see her eyes open and staring back at him.
"Good morning," he said rather quickly. Then after a moment, he added, "Sleep well?"
Ellie smiled, and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Kaje.
"Get your head off the backpack. You're drooling," Kaje said in disgust, pulling the pack from under Malcolm's head and waking him from his slumber.
Ellie smiled dryly. "Yes, it was a night of sleep to remember. But now, I want my nice and comfortable bed," she complained.
Grant nodded, and looked over at Malcolm and Kaje to see the two begin to stand.
Kaje grumbled, "I have no feeling whatsoever in my ass or upper legs." Then he stretched and sat down on top of the overturned tree.
Malcolm rolled his eyes. "Thank you for that delightful little piece of information."
As if someone had whispered to them, telling them to look in the same place, they all set their eyes on the spinosaurus lying completely still, about twenty feet away.
Kaje was the first to walk toward it. He put his hands on his knees and crouched down to look at the long stationary skull of the dead dinosaur. The eye stared blankly back at him; the emerald shade had faded a great deal compared to its former vibrant color.
"Spinosaurus," Kaje said in awe, and then he looked at Grant, who had made his way next to him, "You ever see one this close?"
"Yes," Grant answered with a sense of both fear and respect, "Two of them. Well, now three," he said, motioning toward the still giant.
Kaje carefully reached out, touching the spino's snout. Its mouth was agape, revealing the sharp, straight, non-serrated teeth. In that second, something chirped, causing him to remove his hand in a startled fashion.
Everyone froze, glancing nervously around. Grant looked toward the trees, but didn't see the colorful birds returning. Puzzled, he stood there, listening.
More chirping.
"What the hell is that?" Malcolm asked.
Grant was about to guess it was the birds, when Kaje yelled in surprise, stepping away from the spino. Grant turned to see what was wrong, and saw three compies hop out from the deceased carnivore's open mouth. They were riled up, squeaking and chirping at Kaje in defiance.
Malcolm laughed, "I think the little buggers are not happy with you for touching their meal ticket."
"Whatever," Kaje said, shrugging and poking at one of them.
"Be careful," Grant warned, "It's probably carrying that disease."
Kaje pulled his arm back, "Yeah, I forgot about that."
The compy Kaje was teasing began to chirp louder and more frequently. In seconds, more compies appeared, coming from several different hiding places around the spino.
Backing away, Kaje looked around, now a little worried, "What do we do now?" he asked Grant.
"We slowly back up, smile and then hope they just wanted us away from their meal," Grant whispered.
After successfully creating some distance, Ellie sighed with relief.
"We need to get off this island," Kaje said out of the blue.
"No, really?" Malcolm snipped, "I thought staying here would be kind of a nifty vacation."
Grant ignored the sarcasm, "We need to find Leah."
"We need to find a way off this island," Kaje repeated.
Ellie could see this was not going to head in a good direction, so she tired to intervene, "We'll do both. Both are important."
"I think getting safely off this island is more important than finding his girlfriend," Kaje challenged.
Taking a deep breath, Grant glared at Kaje. There were so many ways to handle this situation, but the only one that struck him was physical violence.
To his displeasure, Ellie stepped in between the two men, "Let's not get in a fight here, okay?"
"Who's fighting?" Kaje asked, "If we go hunting down his girlfriend, that will put us in close contact with the maniac. It's simple science really. Let her fend for herself."
"You are an imbecile," Malcolm commented.
Grant stood silent, thinking about what Kaje had said. He was right in a very big way. Going after Leah would put them in unnecessary danger, that's for sure, but he would try to save her anyway. He just wouldn't assume they would all want to help anymore.
"Maybe you guys should work on finding a way to communicate with the mainland. I'll go after Leah alone."
"Alan," Ellie interrupted.
"Go ahead," Kaje dared, "I'm sure Ellie will say something nice at your funeral."
Watching Grant's posture go from its surrendering nature to angry and defensive, Malcolm attempted to help, "Okay, okay. Let's stop this now. We're going to find Leah. We all had decided to do that already. So, why bring it all back up now?"
Kaje began to soften a little, seeing the amount of stress he was able to cause. He had just shot off his mouth without thinking again, so he decided to relent, "I'm just spent. I've had enough, that's all." He looked at Grant, "Sorry."
Grant nodded solemnly and then looked to the ground.
Wanting to help, Ellie placed a hand on his shoulder, but Grant shrugged her away and began to walk.
Moments later, the others followed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grant brushed a branch out of the way and stepped forward into the midday sun and out of the lush foliage of the jungle. He shielded his eyes with his hand and looked to see where he was. "Oh, no," he said softly.
The others came walking up beside him. "What is it?" Ellie asked.
"The river," Grant said, putting his hands on his hips. "I don't care too much for this river," he said, thinking back to his time on Isla Sorna a few years ago. "And predators use this water source, it could be very dangerous to be here."
"That must be what our crocodile friend was doing," Malcolm added.
"True, but we need to keep going South, and that means we need to cross this river," Kaje said, speaking for the first time in a long time, having been silent since his out-of-character apology.
Grant sighed and walked up to the river's edge, he looked closely at the water trying to gauge how deep it was. Where the water met the rocks of the shore, he could clearly see the river's bottom, but further away from shore, it turned dark blue.
"It's very deep here," Grant said.
"Uh, well, if we have to get across," Malcolm said, "then perhaps we should continue down the river bank and look for a safe place to cross."
Grant nodded, it was the only thing they could really do. It was their only option.
Carefully stepping to the river's edge, Kaje took a good look around, glancing down both sides of the river.
Ellie stepped between Grant and Malcolm and reached for Kaje's backpack that was slung over the man's shoulder. Kaje whirled around defensively, "What are you doing?"
"I want some food."
"You could just ask nicely, you know." Watching Ellie glare at him was disconcerting, as she was somewhat scary when angry, "Okay, okay. Here . . . sorry," he added.
The three other people rummaged through the pack, each producing a power bar.
"You know, I don't think I was thanked for carrying our stuff all over this island."
"I'd say we're all just lucky that Larson allowed you to carry anything at all," Malcolm pointed out, as he took a bite of his only food source.
Kaje only nodded. A few minutes later, everything was put back into its storage place, and they continued to walk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As they continued their trek along the river bank, they had fallen into two groups. Malcolm and Kaje were ahead arguing about something, while Grant and Ellie were lagging behind a little bit.
Grant sighed and then flexed his injured hand, wincing. His hand was definitely showing signs of infection. It was warm to the touch now, and there was a subtle numbness that traveled from the wound, almost all the way to his elbow. He wasn't about to bother or worry the rest of them, though. He decided, right then and there, to remain silent about it. Lost in his own thoughts, he finally came back to reality when Ellie's voice intruded.
"You look tired," she said, breaking the silence between them.
"I am."
"How's the hand?"
"Fine," he said in a very short tone, as he continued to navigate the uneven ground.
Ellie nodded and stopped trying to make conversation, since he didn't seem to be in the mood at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, were you correct, Kaje?" Malcolm asked.
"Sorry?"
"Were you correct? On the flight over here, you said you were correct about everything; Grant, the island, and most interestingly, you said you were correct about me. Does this still ring true? Have your initial views on everything turned out to be correct? Simple question."
"No, not exactly."
"And what was it that you originally thought about me?"
"That you were a know-it-all that would never admit being wrong, and would change your views in order to fit the new situation."
Malcolm smiled slightly at the long comment. "Well, wasn’t I right about everything? Was I ever wrong?"
"I don’t know. Were you?"
"No."
"You knew this all was going to happen this way?"
Malcolm shrugged, "To a certain extent, yes."
"How could you have known? I mean, it was a simple plan. We go in and research the animals, determine how to treat their disease, and then get out. It was all so simple."
"Then why did it fail?"
Kaje hesitated, then said, "There was too little room for error."
"And what was the major error that sent everything into turmoil?" Malcolm asked.
Again, Kaje thought for a moment before answering. "Human error. General Aldez handled the human side of things too poorly, and ultimately caused us to come to the conclusion that we would need to escape him, in order to survive. That, and the unexpected arrival of Larson to the island."
"Ah ha, correct. The plan left no room, and did not consider the unexpected. That was why it went wrong. The plan was simple. But, the plan was too simple for such a complex system as this island. It did not expect the unexpected."
"And you knew it would happen this way?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Chaos."
Kaje rolled his eyes, as Malcolm proceeded to ramble on, talking about things that Kaje could care less about. Finally, after a barrage of explanations and reasons that Kaje didn't take the time to listen to, Malcolm's last question grabbed the young man's attention.
"What did you say?"
"Uh, when? I've said a lot of things."
"The last thing."
"Oh. Well, I was just wondering how long we've been here."
"Yeah, me too."
"I'd say three nights," Malcolm answered.
"Three? It seems like more."
"That's because time plays tricks on your mind when you're tired, hot and hungry."
"Yeah, well, I still think it was more."
"Uh, no."
Kaje stopped, causing Malcolm to stop. The two continued to bicker about time, finally starting to walk again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ellie stopped by the side of the river for a moment. They had been walking past a low point on the shore, so she was able to lean over and place a hand into the water. She brought up her cupped hand and drank from it.
Grant stood off to the side watching, and after she drank twice he walked up beside her and did the same thing. The cool water soothed his throat as he kneeled and scooped more in his hand, more-so than the warm water Kaje was carrying.
"This certainly hits the spot," Ellie said.
"Yeah."
"We're going to find her, Alan."
"What?"
"Leah. We'll get her back."
"I know that," he answered quickly and almost defensively.
He stood up and slightly wobbled. Ellie was there to assist him, but he pushed her arm away.
"I'm okay."
Sensing that his mood would probably only get worse, Ellie decided to get some long-thought questions out of the way. As they started walking again, she looked at him.
"So, Leah is a reporter?"
Grant looked at her and at first, he didn't answer. But then he sighed and after looking toward the sky for a few seconds, he took a deep breath.
"Yeah, she's a reporter."
"Where is she from?"
Grant stared again for a moment.
"If you don't want to talk about it, fine with me," she said, shrugging her shoulders as she walked.
"New York," he answered reluctantly.
"New York," Ellie softly repeated, as if she were formulating an equation of some sort.
"Why?"
"Wasn't that reporter that followed us around from New York?"
"Yes."
"I wonder if she knows her."
"New York is a big state," Alan pointed out.
"Do you remember the little witch's name?"
"I'm not sure."
"Olsen . . . Lowell . . . I can't remember."
Grant cringed, since he knew it was just a matter of minutes before she put the whole thing together. He wasn't sure which way she would go on the angry scale, so he just kept walking and waiting for the inevitable to happen.
"Lowen . . . Owens!" Ellie exclaimed, "That's it. Owens."
"Yeah."
"Leah Owens," she said, turning to look at him.
Grant glanced at her, a little confused as to how she put it together quite so fast. She was clever.
"How did you---"
"Figure it out so fast?" she asked, cutting him off, "I figured it out as soon as you said she was from New York."
"Why the barrage of questions, then?"
"Just to watch you squirm," she stated in an almost vicious tone.
"Thank you."
"Alan," Ellie said, spinning around and then stopping in front of him, "Why in the hell would you want to get involved with the person who broke us up?"
"It wasn't really like that."
"Yes, it was."
"I didn't meet her until a few years later. And besides, she's not a bad person. She was just---"
Ellie held up her hand, "I know you weren't about to say she was just doing her job."
"Yes, that's what I was---"
"Then, just shut up. Because that is bullshit."
"Ellie."
"How in the world do you sleep at night?" she angrily questioned.
Grant waved a hand in her direction and then began to walk again. She could infuriate him so quickly. She always could. But then, when he thought about it, she was almost always right, which made him even more angry.
"Hey, Alan. How long have we been here?" Malcolm shouted out of the blue from in front of them.
In his rising rage, Grant simply craned his neck toward Malcolm and shouted, "How in the hell am I supposed to know!"
After seeing Malcolm shrug and turn forward again, Grant focused back on Ellie. He decided to act like a child and turn the tables.
Stopping, he glared at her and said, "And you didn't do anything to hurt me?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You went and got married only a few months later, Ellie. Or did you forget that part?"
"Our relationship was over and done with. I moved on with my life."
"And that's what I'm trying to do, damn it."
"And thank you for mentioning my dead husband. I really appreciate that. I really do."
Grant looked down, forgetting about how his words would affect her. He was only trying to make her understand some of his pain that had been bottled up for way too long now.
"I'm sorry about that. It was wrong to bring that up. I was being---"
"An asshole?"
"No," he said as he began to walk away from her again. "I was thinking insincere."
Ellie shook her head and followed behind him, glaring at the back of his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I guess Alan is a tad bit high strung," Malcolm whispered, "best to leave him alone, I suppose."
Kaje nodded in agreement and then said, "I think you might be right about the three-day thing anyway."
"Of course I am."
Kaje was about to say something unfriendly, when his left leg disappeared into a mud hole in the ground.
"God damn it," he said, pulling it from the suction of the mud.
Malcolm pretty much ignored what had happened to the man and continued, "Now where was I? Oh yes. So you see," Malcolm said, ignoring Kaje's glance to cease talking, "the Sierpenski Triangle shows exactly what is wrong with this little expedition that your friends from Costa Rica have brought us along for."
Kaje had decided to stop talking to Malcolm, but somehow, he got dragged into another debate.
"I don't see how mathematics could possibly show how this expedition is going to fail," Kaje said with a frown.
"But, it's not mathematics, it's chaos. Uh, you, more than anyone else on this island, should be agreeing with me, Kaje. I mean you said yourself that you had been working with James Gleick."
"Yeah, but you said Gleick wasn't a real choatician, so why should I believe anything he's taught me about chaos, if he wasn't a real scientist?"
Malcolm rolled his eyes. "Yes, I did say that Gleick wasn't a real scientist, but I never said he didn't know what he was talking about."
"But---"
"And, uh, I am right. Chaos theory and more specifically, the Sierpenski Triangle, show that this expedition is going to fail. The Ricans came here five months ago, they discover a disease, and they feel they should stop this disease. So, uh, they plan another expedition, taking along people who actually know what they're talking about, and what do they expect? They expect the same thing. That in itself is wrong. Because, uh, you can't study and make discoveries without changing what you're studying or discovering. Now, may I ask, were there any casualties in the first expedition?"
"A paleontologist named Greg Diamond died from the disease while flying back to the mainland," Kaje said. "But other than that, there were no other casualties."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At that, Grant looked up in surprise, relieved to be distracted from Ellie's intense mind games, "Diamond died from the disease? I thought he died in a car crash---"
Malcolm waved his hand, "Oh, now you want to talk? Well, you're going to have to wait."
Grant frowned at Malcolm's obnoxious attempt to ignore him, but waited for him to make his point, just hoping it wouldn't take an hour.
Malcolm looked back at Kaje, "Okay so, uh, one person died in the first expedition. That's actually very good to have lost only one man. But, uh, coming back here, and expecting the same results -- hell, they expected to cure this damn disease, they expected better results -- is just plain insane. The Sierpenski Triangle shows that. It shows, that you can't expect to get the same outcome in such a chaotic system, like this island. It's bound to fail, and fail miserably. I mean look, uh, how many people that we know of have already died on this expedition? At least eight. That's already eight times worse than last time. Then add in the fact that really, this whole expedition has only just begun . . . we're in for hell by the time it is over. That is of course, if we live to see the end."
Kaje waited several seconds, to make sure Malcolm was indeed finished, and then he answered Grant, "Yeah, Diamond was killed here."
Grant looked toward Kaje with disbelief on his face, but when he looked back toward Ellie, his eyebrow raised even higher, extending the frown.
"That guy deserved whatever happened to him . . . and more," she said.
"What did happen to him?" Grant asked.
"The disease got him, when he was accidentally bitten by an infected dinosaur."
"I can't see anyone getting bitten by a dinosaur on purpose," Malcolm observed.
Kaje rolled his eyes, and then looked back at Grant, "So anyway. Yeah, he was killed, only a few months ago."
The four of them walked silently for about ten minutes, and then Ellie caught up to Malcolm, "May I ask something?" Ellie asked quietly.
Malcolm smiled, "Of course, my dear."
"Does chaos theory have anything to say about the disease?"
"Ah, finally taking a liking to my theory, eh Dr. Degler?"
"A very faint interest," she said as she cast a glare in Grant's direction.
Grant frowned and shook his head.
Malcolm chuckled, "Well, uh, yes it does actually. But the truth is, that it doesn't say much about it. Only, that a machine -- which would be the dinosaurs in this case -- being created by such an unpredictable and flawed system -- which would be our good friends, InGen -- and then placed in such a chaotic environment such as this jungle, is just -- like everything else that is involved with InGen -- bound to fail. Think of it as a second extinction. The natural world is taking back what it owns, it's killing off what should already be dead."
Grant walked silently, cringing at the very sound of Ian's voice, as he rambled on and on.
"But you don't know what caused the disease to appear so suddenly?" Ellie asked.
"Not the faintest clue. Though I could share with you some of my ideas---"
"No, that's quite alright," Grant said quickly.
Malcolm smiled again, "You never did really care for my theories, did you, Alan?"
"Oh, I respect them, like I guess I should. But, at the time being, I have a hell of a headache and don't really feel like hearing you talk."
"Ouch Doc, I'm hurt," Malcolm said as he walked towards a small slope on the shore beside the river. At the top of the slope was a fallen tree, Malcolm began to climb over it. "But when you want to hear my views on the subject," Malcolm said as he hopped over the fallen tree and was out of view, "Just . . . let . . . me . . . crap."
Grant chuckled softly as he crawled over the log, "Let you crap? Okay . . ." Then Grant was on the ground, beside Malcolm. Malcolm was standing completely still, obviously not trying to move. Grant looked from Malcolm to where Ian was looking.
There, drinking from the river, stood six small dinosaurs. They were looking at Grant and Malcolm curiously, they made soft growling noises, and then they would take a drink and then continue to stare again.
Ellie and Kaje made their way over the fallen tree, and were now standing at either side of Grant and Malcolm.
"Umm, Alan," Malcolm whispered, "what the hell are these things?"
Grant looked at the creatures before them. They were only about three feet tall and seven feet long. They stood on their muscular hind legs and their arms were short, but very muscular, and had five fingers on each hand. At the end of the rather long neck was a boxy head that bore a large resemblance to an allosaurus. They were all colored a dark purple color, and one of them had a red head, he presumed this must have been the alpha male. Grant knew this species and he shivered, as he was about to announce its name.
"They're ornithomimoides mobilis," Kaje said, stealing Grant's words right off his tongue. "Carnivore, late Cretaceous, they're thought to be very intelligent and very swift runners. Related to allosaurus, even though it lived tens of millions of years after allosaurs died out."
"I didn't ask for a history lesson," Malcolm hissed, then said, "Uh, what do we do now?"
The ornithomimoides continued their staring and drinking, they looked very curious, but also looked as though they were completely harmless and indifferent to the threat the humans could very well be.
"They don't act hostile," Kaje said, stepping towards the small dinosaurs.
The dinosaurs stopped drinking, and now they all stared only at Kaje.
"Get back here!" Ellie whispered in a harsh tone.
Kaje paid no attention. He stepped towards the small creatures again, and still they only stared at him. "See? They're not going to hurt anyone, now come on---" The red headed ornithomimoides raised its head high and roared fiercely. The roar was like none Grant had ever heard before, he fought the urge to cover his ears and protect them from the harsh noise.
Kaje watched in surprise and horror at the alpha male of the group, as it began to stride slowly up to him.
The alpha male now stood directly before him, looking up into his eyes. Kaje didn't dare move. The alpha male stared at him for what seemed like minutes, then it roared and spun quickly in a 180-degree circle, using its tail as a weapon and hitting Kaje hard in the stomach.
Kaje gasped as the air was knocked out of him and he fell backwards into the shallow part of the river.
Grant ran to his side and kept the man's head above water.
Malcolm and Ellie watched as the five other ornithomimoides lined up to the sides of the alpha male.
"Uh, what now?" Malcolm said, breathing heavily.
Ellie looked around desperately. They couldn't go back over the fallen tree from where they came, and they definitely couldn't just run through these dinosaurs. "Swim," she said, barely audible.
"What?"
"The water, Ian! Get in the water!" Ellie screamed as she ran for the river.
Malcolm stood there, dumbfounded, still staring at the approaching dinosaurs, "Yes, excellent idea," he concluded, jumping next to Ellie and wading with her into the deeper water.
Grant helped Kaje to his feet and together they swam out into deeper water.
"Um, the current's rather strong," Malcolm said.
"Good," Grant said, swimming out towards Ellie, "that means they may be a little discouraged in joining us."
"Well, I guess it's okay," Kaje said, still breathing hard, "I mean, the current is going the way we were walking."
They began to float down the river, all the while watching the dinosaurs as they easily kept pace with the current's speed.
"Heh, ugly bastards, aren't they?" Malcolm said with a laugh.
Then, the animals stopped running, causing Malcolm's smile to vanish. The alpha male let out a long raspy call and in the next second, all the dinosaurs were moving toward the water. With running starts, they leapt into the air, landing with a splash.
"Woah, uh, I guess I should have expected that," Malcolm said, still frowning.
"Swim faster!" Grant yelled and together they began to swim with the current away from the ornithomimoides.
The creatures screamed with anger as they desperately tried to catch up with the humans that seemed just out of reach.
Grant heard a change in the pattern of the river's sound. He looked ahead of them and saw a large gray building that covered the river, with a tunnel running under it as to not block off the flow of water. The building had no features whatsoever other than a single steel door, rusted from the elements.
Ellie looked up and saw the building too, "What is that?"
"I don't know!" Grant yelled in an effort to be heard. "But it's shelter, so we need to get inside!"
The ornithomimoides saw the building now as well, and they seemed to double their efforts of reaching the humans before they got away.
Where the river ran under the building, there was a dark and dreary tunnel. Kaje noticed it first. It looked very forbidding, but it could have proved useful.
"Look!" Kaje exclaimed, "The river runs into the building through that tunnel. Do we go through that?"
"No! Get to the door!" Grant shouted over the roar of the water.
They swam hard, with the dinosaurs hot on their heels. Suddenly, the dinosaurs stopped their chase, and with a roar of defeat, they turned and began to swim away.
The humans looked on in astonishment, as the dinosaurs retreated into what appeared to be fear.
"Well now, isn't that odd?" Malcolm said with a curious look on his face.
"More than just odd," Grant added.
"Might be time to get out of the water," Ellie suggested.
Together, they got out of the river and futilely tried to shake off some of the water. Drenched from head to toe, they walked towards the building and up to the door.
Grant sighed with uncertainty as he opened the door and walked into the building. Once they were all inside, Kaje closed the door.
Malcolm felt his entire body shiver at once, then he gasped as he saw his breath fill the air. "Um, this is different."
"Is it cold in here or is it----" Kaje began.
"Yes, it's cold," Ellie said.
"How? It's nearly a hundred degrees outside," Kaje said.
Malcolm touched one of the metal walls of the building, it was covered by a thin layer of frost. "The question really isn't how it's cold in here. But instead; why is it cold in here?"
Grant was already leading them through the building. It was a basic building, nothing really spectacular. Just mainly offices with computers and filing cabinets.
"What do you suppose this place was for?" Ellie asked.
No one had an answer.
* * *
The heavy pistol resting against his knee, Aldez sat back against the bark of the tree. The sound of a running river was heard everywhere, echoing against the multiple trees at the river's edge. Looking in front of him, he saw his soldiers in crouch positions, their weapons held at the ready.
With the river at his back, Aldez slowly turned from the tree, and looked out at the swift waters. The river ran down and under a peculiar looking gray building. He sighed and sat back against the tree once more.
His hand fished into his backpack and pulled out the tracking device that they were using to follow the scientists. Their signal had led him to this location, and they were now currently somewhere inside the gray building by the river. Perfect, he thought, recapturing Grant in the close quarters of a building like this would be much easier than in the open jungle. They had no room to run here. The game of cat and mouse had finally come to its final chapter.
Wiping the sweat from his upper lip, he waved his arm, motioning for Martinez to come to him.
Sergeant Martinez came into formation and took a knee at Aldez's side. "Sir?" Martinez whispered.
Aldez pointed to the device in his hand. "They're in the building over my left shoulder. We're going to strike now before they leave that building, understood?"
Martinez nodded.
"Good, get the men into formation now then, I want to be rid of this problem." The gun resting against his knee shifted slightly.
"We mean to capture them, not kill them," Martinez reminded him.
The General leaned closer to Martinez, "Get the men together."
He nodded slowly, then got off his knee and waved for the other soldiers to come up. Then, once all soldiers were into one tight group, they walked out of the safety of the trees, and towards the water's edge.
Aldez took his place in the front of the group. Smoothed rocks shifted underneath their feet as they walked. He looked over his shoulder at the men behind him, spying Martinez bringing up the rear of the line of soldiers. The young Sergeant was looking timidly around at the river and surrounding trees, as if expecting an ambush. Aldez shook his head and looked forward again. Martinez was not military material. He was a good shot, and a survivor, but he lacked the trust in his fellow soldiers. And that made him dangerous.
Ahead of him, Aldez could see the door leading into the building. He would have much rather had part of his team enter from the front, while the rest infiltrated the rear or sides of the building. But the fact that he did not know the layout of the building, and that the jungles surrounding it were dangerous, made him wary about splitting up his team. It was best to work together as one, he decided.
Martinez spun around again, pausing to look at the trees across the river. He thought he had heard something, though he wasn't sure of what it could have been. A sound much like thunder, only the skies had now cleared and there was no hint of any approaching storm.
Turning again, he continued to follow the others to the building. He almost slipped once or twice, walking over the smooth pebbles in his big black boots.
His whole body ached from the action he had been through over the past day. Martinez considered himself to be a man in top shape for his age. He had been trained to push himself to the limit, and then back again. But this mission had been overwhelming even for him. His feet hurt with every step he took. His back was sore, and sent waves of pain up his spine whenever he sat up or lied now. His face was scratched and bruised so badly it was as if he had crawled over barbed wire. And his head was suffering from the worst migraine headache he had ever felt.
Everyday wounds, but the last one kills you. Where had he heard that before? It was an old saying, he knew that, but he had no memory of where he could have picked it up, or when.
The fetid aroma in the air brought his attention back to reality. He looked back across the river, half expecting to see some large monster from a second rate B movie, preparing to leap at him. There was none. There was just the smell. The all-too-familiar smell of decaying life.
The ground vibrated slightly underneath his feet, the smooth pebbles rocking back and forth. Martinez, standing at the back of the line of soldiers, could easily read everyone else's reaction to the sounds and reverberations.
There were no reactions.
Had he just imagined it, like the sounds, or the smell?
Aldez and the other soldiers in the front of the line were now merely thirty feet away from the door leading into the building.
Something was wrong, he could feel it. He turned the safety off on his rifle and looked all about him, surveying the land for any disturbances that would signify an attack.
Then he heard the low guttural growl. This time, the entire group of soldiers stopped in their tracks. No one dared move. Martinez fingered the trigger of his weapon as his eyes darted everywhere about the river.
General Aldez stood motionless with his hand on the butt of his pistol, ready to draw it as soon as he noticed any movement. He heard another growl echo over the trickling waters of the river, but he could not identify where it had originated. Out of the corner of his eye, he detected motion. Not daring to turn his body or even his head, he strained his eyes to the left as he tried to get a better glimpse of the new arrival in the trees across the river.
About twenty feet above the ground, nestled among the tops of the trees, he saw the big green boxy head of the dinosaur that had attacked him in the storm; the tyrannosaurus rex. The giant predator stared down at the group of soldiers, not making any indication that it actually intended to attack the humans. Silently, the big head moved from side to side, staring at each individual, and then moving onto the next.
Aldez had seen firsthand what this animal was capable of. It was put on this earth with only enough brain mass to decipher how to kill another living animal, and that was what made it the brilliant predator and survivor that it was and is today.
The tyrannosaurus was a born hunter and killer. It obviously had experienced tactics for bringing down its prey. What if the dinosaur he was looking at now, wasn't simply just passing by and taking a look at the strange visitors to the island? What if this tyrannosaur was only one of a pack, and it was working as a decoy as the others quietly surrounded them?
Without giving it a second thought, Aldez raised his pistol from his side and aimed it at the giant animal, instantly firing off a round.
The tyrannosaurus simultaneously charged out from the trees and into the river as it ran to attack him and the rest of the Costa Rican soldiers. The water came up in big splashes as the large three-toed feet came crashing down through the river's surface. Even in the deepest spots the water was barely up to the tyrannosaur’s knees.
All the soldiers had consequently raised their own weapons and had begun to fire upon the enraged dinosaur. The bullets seemed to have no effect in piercing the animal's thick hide.
Aldez stood his ground, taking aim at the broad skull and firing round after round, hoping to hit an eye or the open mouth.
One of the soldiers panicked, as the dinosaur loomed ever closer. Screaming, he pushed Aldez aside, causing the man to trip in the loose rocks and fall on his back. Then, the soldier threw his weapon to the ground and read as fast as he could to the entrance of the gray building.
He was not fast enough. The tyrannosaur had crossed the river now, its incredible mouth open, teeth like daggers searching for flesh to tear into. The soldier was almost to the door when the dinosaur seized him by the chest and shoulders, picking him up like a rag doll, and then proceeding to immediately swallow him whole.
Martinez watched this all with a sense of total shock. He couldn't believe the incredible combination of both speed and strength that the animal possessed. It had snatched a two-hundred pound man off the ground as if he were a feather pillow. All the other men around him ran and screamed as they retreated to the safety in the trees. It was only then that Martinez noticed he hadn't raised his weapon to fire once.
The tyrannosaur roared triumphantly after swallowing its prey. Then it inhaled deep and looked down at the only remaining men left by the river; Aldez and Martinez. It stared at Martinez for a moment, awaiting the human to act, but he never did. Then, it looked downwards at Aldez, who still sat on his buttocks, looking up awestricken at the terrible killing machine that loomed above him. The tyrannosaur hesitated a moment as it stared at Aldez, awaiting the response it had grown accustomed to; running and screaming. The man's behavior was peculiar. Hardly ever would prey stand its ground, rather than pressing an attack, or retreating to safer territory. Slowly it lowered its head and looked closer at Aldez, trying to contemplate his next move.
Aldez wouldn't give into the fear, he refused to move or run away from the tyrannosaur. He had read documents in the past, saying something about how a tyrannosaurs' vision was based on movement. He hadn't given it much thought then, but the information had come in handy. The dinosaur had not attacked him, it couldn't see him if he didn't move. Now, all he had to do was just wait it out, and allow the animal to move away on its own.
The rex's snout moved closer to Aldez's face. The overwhelming stench of decay and death floating away from the jaws of the animal made his stomach turn. The nose was so close to him now as it breathed in and out, that the hairs on the top of his head were gently sucked in and out of the large round nostrils. Beads of sweat dripped down his face as he realized the dinosaur could see him. It was just playing with him, inspecting him, sizing him up. Aldez fingered the pistol at the side of his leg. He would much rather drill a bullet through the creature's bottom jaw and up into its brain, having its dead body collapse on top him, than have it just swallow him whole without him making any action to stop it.
The tyrannosaur smelled the fear that radiated off of the man's skin. It intoxicated its senses. Slowly, the jaws parted, and the long dark tongue snaked out of the open maw. The tongue moved forward like a blind cobra, making its way to its food. The tongue pressed up against his cheek, its warm saliva sliding down his neck and into his shirt. Aldez frowned as he tried to keep the immense terror of his situation at bay.
The rex closed its eyes, using the tongue for vision as it moved up and down Aldez's body.
With the rex's eyes closed, Martinez took the initiative. Setting his rifle at his feet, he pulled a grenade off his uniform. He quickly snapped the ring off of the grenade, throwing it as far as he could. He watched as the small green grenade sailed over the tyrannosaur, and plopped into the river beyond.
The explosion in the river sent water and rocks flying in every direction. Roaring in surprise, the rex stood up to its full height as rocks and wooden debris hit its backside.
Martinez hesitated, trying to decide about whether to throw a second grenade or move onto using his rifle.
The rex's eyes spotted Martinez fidgeting with his weaponry, and let out a second deafening roar. Its little forearms twitching in anticipation it slowly stepped towards Martinez, its eyes full of murderous intent.
No time for using a grenade any longer, Martinez brought his rifle to his shoulder, then aiming quickly at the widest part of the dinosaur, opened fire. Round after round shot from the barrel of the rifle, and raced towards the chest and stomach of the tyrannosaur. Round after round, the animal kept coming. It roared once more as it neared its newly targeted prey.
Martinez narrowed his eyes, then got to his knees and took aim. His crosshairs placed over the fleshy broad neck of the dinosaur, he pulled the trigger. With a satisfying splatter of blood, the bullet pierced into the rex's neck, and then shot out the other side. The shot was not a kill shot, by any means, the bullet having only really hit the outside of the tyrannosaur's neck.
But the tyrannosaur stopped in its tracks, obviously surprised that it had been wounded. Then with a quiet growl, it turned around, and slowly retreated back to the trees across the river.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moments later, Aldez sat with his back against the same tree he had been at earlier. His skin reeked of the foul smell from the tyrannosaurus saliva. Flies and other bugs flew about his face, and he did all he could to swat them away.
His men sat on the ground all around him shocked and exhausted over what had just occurred. They all wore a face of shame, for having fled and abandoned their leader to the monster's will. Now was not the time for excuses and apologies however.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Aldez said. "Three of you are just going to run for the building, and then once inside, you will find Grant and the others, then extract them from the building and lead them back to us. We will provide you with cover fire in case the dinosaur comes back."
No one even gave acknowledgment that they had heard the plan. All of them feared that they would be among the few chosen to run for the building.
Aldez looked at Martinez, the first man he would have chosen to lead the other two into the building. But not now. Martinez had saved his life, and he would willingly admit that. And he would not repay the man by sending him on a mission that would likely result in his death.
Aldez turned away from the Sergeant and looked at the big man beside him. "Sisqo, you will lead the other men into the building. Is that clear?"
Sisqo nodded slowly, wiping his sweaty palms on the sides of his pants.
"Usted dos," Sisqo said in Spanish, pointing to two men at his right. "Sígame ahora."
The other two men nodded their heads slowly, then got up from their crouch position, and followed Sisqo as he led them out from the shade of the trees. They slowly and quietly walked towards the river's edge, their weapons at the ready just in case the tyrannosaur would decide to attack for a second time.
With a wave of his hand, Aldez silently led the other men out of the trees. He walked out to where Sisqo stood on the smooth pebbles beside the water, then he nodded his head. Sisqo returned the gesture, then, taking a deep breath, whispered to his two comrades in arms.
Aldez turned to Martinez as Sisqo continued to speak with the other two men. "We will stand here," Aldez said. "Sisqo's squad will make a run for the building, and we will provide cover fire should they be attacked."
"Are three men enough, General?" Martinez asked. "That's hardly a squad at all, especially considering the foes they may face."
Aldez cocked his eyebrow; "You would like to join them?"
Martinez looked from Aldez to Sisqo. He sighed when he saw the man's eyes, which were full of dread. It did pain him to see a man so scared as Sisqo was right now, but then again, it almost brought a strange satisfaction to know that Sisqo actually could fear something else. He turned back to Aldez and said, "No sir."
"So be it," Aldez said. Then after a brief discussion with Sisqo, Aldez finally said, "Go when ready."
Sisqo nodded, checking his gun for ammo. The big man closed his eyes, releasing a long breath of anxiety. As soon as his eyes opened, he patted the other two men's shoulders, then without anything more than a second glance back at the other soldiers, they broke off into a run for the building.
Martinez raised his rifle, watching the trees for the return of the rex. Rocks flew up underneath Sisqo's feet as he ran. Martinez was slightly amazed at the swiftness the big man had, but when he considered that in reality Sisqo was running for his life, he supposed that running fast was a given.
A sudden, thundering roar caused Sisqo and the other two men to stop in their tracks.
"No, no, keep running!" Aldez shouted, waving his arms.
But it was too late, before Sisqo's little squad could move again, the trees parted and the lumbering tyrannosaurus reemerged into the light of the sun. It roared cavernously as it ran at them with its head low to the ground, jaws open, revealing the darkness inside the throat.
Without thinking, Sisqo threw himself onto one of the other men as the beast rapidly approached them. But, in doing so, he left the other man as the prime target. The rex titled its head to the side and closed its eyes. The man screamed, barely even raising his rifle at all before the open mouth closed on his torso, ceasing his life in one powerful snap of flesh and bones.
"Fire!" Martinez screamed to the other men who watched as the man was picked off the ground. "Fire at will!"
Bullets danced through the air as they raced their way towards the rex. Sisqo picked the other man off the ground and hauled him to his feet. Panicking, the man dropped his rifle. He made a move to run back for it, but Sisqo stopped him as the rex slowly trudged towards them.
Blood shot up from the dinosaur's body as the bullets broke through its hide. The rex growled and shook its head as the gunfire began to overwhelm it.
Sisqo and the other soldier were almost to the door. Sisqo thrust his hand out, ready to grab and twist the knob to open it. Then he looked back over his shoulder, the rex was right behind them, its head looking down at them with its maw wide open ready to accept them into its gullet.
Sisqo screamed as he watched the tyrannosaur's teeth grow ever closer, and then unknowingly he ran directly into the door. With a loud bang the door broke off its hinges as Sisqo and the other man flew through, landing on their stomachs with a thud.
Aldez realized that if he didn't do something drastic, he was going to lose one of the better men, so he turned and quickly took off his backpack.
Martinez had been watching the drama unfold, but Aldez' strange behavior got his attention. He watched his commanding officer reach into the backpack and remove a new weapon.
"What is that?" Martinez asked.
"It's an unofficial means of defense," Aldez retorted.
He held up the small grenade launcher and aimed it toward the rex. He had the massive mid section in sight and was about to squeeze the trigger, when Martinez grabbed for his arm.
"Wait! You need to aim it higher. It's too far away."
After thinking about the suggestion, Aldez finally agreed that he was probably right, so he raised the weapon and fired. The grenade launched toward the predator at a high rate of speed, but the aim was still slightly off to the right. It collided with the rex's tail, exploding it into oblivion.
The rex roared, in both anger and pain, and crashed its head down and through the door's frame. The long snout slid across the cold floor as it neared Sisqo's legs. The mouth opened ready to grab his lower torso and swallow him whole. Then, with a whimper, the jaws suddenly snapped shut, the head going limp on the floor.
Slowly, Sisqo got to his feet, and looked down at the massive skull now resting at his feet. Crimson blood trickled out of wounds at the back of its head, joining with the blood that slowly seeped out from between its teeth. It was dying the entire time, he realized, but it just wanted to kill a couple more pests before it went. Sighing, he looked at the broken doorway, where the muscular neck of the tyrannosaur had now filled to capacity. Nothing was going through that door. Not him, and not any other soldiers on the other side. He looked at the soldier to his right, and realized they were on their own.
Comments are appreciated!
--JPJunkee and Yvonne
ornithomimoides mobilis
9/30/2003 12:23:30 AM
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