Categories > Movies > Jurassic Park > For Those of The Five Deaths
Act I Prologue. "Not As It Should Have Been"
0 reviewsEven before the fall of the original Jurassic Park, the legacy of John Hammond and the Las Cinco Muertes had quite the prolific effect on the world after InGen began their work there and on the inf...
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SGTLEGENDKILLER
‘For Those of The Five Deaths’
A Jurassic Park Fanfiction
Prologue
“Not As It Should Have Been”
Danielle slid her shoulder firmly against the wet concrete utility house’s exterior wall. She did what she could to ease her breathing as she shivered from another rush of heavy rain and wind; the storm had only gotten worse than when she had left the InGen Compound. It was bad enough that she had to be out in a heavy storm at several minutes from the Compound, but after the fact they found that most of the electrical fences were failing all around Isla Sorna. She had been out around the dinosaurs plenty of times before, but in much better conditions. The worst part was that the main generator for the island’s fences just so happened to be located near a series of carnivore paddocks. She shivered from another brief gust and looked down at the shotgun in her bare hands, a Remington 870 loaded with 12 gauge slugs, and sighed to try to relax slightly.
‘C’mon Dani.’ She thought ‘50 more feet and you’re there. Then you can get back to Nicole.’
She shook her head slightly, and with her trembling cold fingers, she snapped the shotgun up around the corner of the wall she had been pressed against; she wasn’t about to start taking chances.
Danielle moved around the corner, seeing nothing around the sights of her shotgun in her peripherals. After seeing the coast was clear, she lowered her gun and took quick strides down the dirt lane past the utility house towards the small metal stand that housed the large breaker for the large fence generator. She would have to get the generator back up to make sure all of the fences stayed on so everyone could at least partially feel safe. She had only volunteered to venture forth after completing her headcount because she was so familiar with the island outside of the InGen compound. This was largely due to her nearly constant active studies on the dinosaurs and their behavior out in their regional paddocks.
‘Almost there… halfway there… only 20 feet to-’ Her thoughts were completely cut short as the dark outline of a medium sized carnivore walked into view around the storage housing near the generator. Danielle jerked to the side and slid into the space between the utility and storage buildings.
“Shit.” She cursed under her breath as she clutched her shotgun tightly to her chest. She tried her damndest to keep her breathing quiet and controlled, her mind raced at a thousand miles per hour; what could she do about a loose carnivore?! She gave a hushed exhale, she decided to carefully peek around the corner. Luckily, due to the rain and dark conditions, she was able to look around the corner without being noticed. She could clearly see the carnivore with its head reared up and sniffing as to scan the area. The red glow of the generator’s tower glinted over the dinosaur’s silhouette, clearly displaying the ridges above each of the animal’s eyes. An unmistakable trait of an Allosaurus. She sighed with a slight sense of relief. As little as it would help her relax there could only be at most two of those. InGen had only successfully made two of them out of the three batches that they had tried. The genome didn’t quite seem to mix right for some reason. The Allosaurus gave a sharp rumbling noise as its nose picked up the scent of a Human in the area. Danielle’s mind began to race again; she would have to think fast.
As she listened, she could hear the Allosaurus taking slow strides towards where she was. Not wanting anything to do with the creature, she quietly made her way around towards the rear of the building. She moved around the backside of the cement walls towards the side closest to the generator. Keeping a careful eye and an ear out for the other potential Allosaurus, which she was happy to not find around the corner. Once she had gotten around the building, she glanced around the opposite corner from where she had been to see the carnivore with its neck bent in between the buildings as it followed her smell. She decided quickly to take her slim chance. Silently she lifted her shotgun around the corner of the building and took aim at the distracted Allosaurus. Danielle cleared her mind to focus as she sternly lined up the bead sight to its mid front torso, knowing exactly where its vital organs were.
She then hesitated; she knew that the creature, much like the rest of the dinosaurs on the island, was most likely agitated by the storm. While she would rather see the carnivore live, if it saw her it would no doubt attack her. Despite everything she would rather have done to avoid this encounter, she had little time or chance to do what needed to be done. She swallowed and tightened the shotgun against her shoulder. She then held her breath and once the pulsing glow from the tower returned, she fired.
The hotly loaded 12 Gauge slug fiercely struck the Allosaurus right above and behind its left shoulder blade. Danielle could see puff of red spray as the round punched through the other side of the dinosaur. The Allosaurus gave a startled yelp in pain as it recoiled to the side from the slug. It gave a wheezing growl as it frantically turned itself to look in her direction before Danielle racked the gun and fired again, this time aiming for the dinosaurs head. The Allosaurus gave a final sharp rumble as its body fell into the mud under it with a sharp hiss.
Danielle racked the shotgun again as she was hit with a quick wave of emotions. While she was thrilled to have been able to down the Allosaurus so easily, she soon felt a mixture of sorrow and regret; she never had wanted to end the life of such a beautiful creature. She was a Paleo Veterinarian; this was not what someone with her title was supposed to handle. With a respectful nod to the now dead dinosaur she gave a quick word of her regret and turned her attention back to the situation at hand. She wished she had time for alternatives or even a proper goodbye, but she understood the gravity of the situation; she had to get this generator back up for everyone else’s sake. She shook herself and went quickly to the generator’s breaker shack. With a flashlight and a quick read of the large panel box, she found the correct procedure to reset the generator’s systems. She could hear a flurry of electrical hums and crackles as the area seemed to come back fully online with the power. The flood lights of the area even had come on, hurting her eyes slightly for a moment. It was definitely a welcome change from the dark and cold island forests. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t the only one to benefit from the now illuminated generator station. Just now walking around the furthest side of the utility housing building… was the second Allosaurus.
Danielle turned and saw the carnivore at the same time it had seen her. It also only took the creature a moment to notice the body of her sister Allosaurus lying dead in the mud between her and the Human. With an upset roar the now enraged dinosaur lowered its head as it began to very quickly advance towards Danielle. With a rushed curse, Danielle quickly took her shotgun and snapped it up at the now charging dinosaur. She fired the shotgun as swift and as precise as she could at the dinosaur as it very quickly closed the 50 ft. distance. The dinosaur, after taking at least three of the remaining six shots that Danielle had loaded into the shotgun, was close enough to try to lunge for her. Danielle by this point, running out of options, dove towards the closest wall of the storage house at what must have been the last second. Her lucky footing and nimble move easily saved her life as the Allosaurus was unable to stop itself from slipping in the mud as it tried to correct course to follow, leaving it flailing and sliding on the ground for several seconds. Danielle made it to the wall and desperately fumbled with the wet shotgun shells in the shell rail on the side of the shotgun, her fingers frantically trying to reload the weapon before the Allosaurus struggled to get back up to its feet.
As the Allosaurus managed to nearly stand on pained legs, Danielle had managed to load three shells into her shotgun. Before the dinosaur could fully stand and charge at her again, she took quick aim and fired again, hitting the dinosaur in the side near its left hip. The Allosaurus gave a loud bellow as it trembled and fell back into the mud, now with one entire leg unusable. With the carnivore down, Danielle racked the weapon and watched the creature as it sort of just stayed still, whining and wailing out as if it knew it was finished. This of course made Danielle heavily in the heart. With a quick but emotional sigh, she took a step closer to the downed Allosaurus.
“Damn it!” Danielle spat out as she lifted the shotgun and aimed it at the center of the dinosaurs head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart… it’s not your fault…” As crazy as it would have sounded, she truly felt for the creature. She had only watched most of these dinosaurs grow from infancy, and now she was ending the life of several of them. She didn’t like how this all felt. “...You were perfect in every way… I’m sorry...” She said as the thing looked up at her with deep amber colored eyes. After a moment of exchanging stares Danielle pulled the trigger and put the animal to rest.
-~~-
Back in the main facility bunker underneath the control building, there sat several men around a few computer screens and a well-lit table of a map of the island. Harold Finch, the Security Director of the island looked down onto the table map with tight lips. He looked over at the Facility Director to his right, Tim Knocks, as the man blew a soft cloud of cigarette smoke over the table. This was a much younger corporate driven man who seemed to worry about the dollar sign a little too much. In stressful times such as these, he was known to being very short tempered and rather demanding of those around him. Tim had ordered a headcount of all the dinosaurs on the island before the storm had reached Isla Sorna and was adamant that the team needed to then head to the generator facility in charge of the paddock fence power. A series of lightning strikes had caused the fence system to surge and the system needed to be physically reset. All in the same night as this storm, they had lost communications with Isla Nublar and what few staff was left their from their island preview they were hosting. Both islands were seemingly troubled with problems this night. It was all a bit too hectic for everyone.
“Tim… We lost both of the Allosaurus…” Danielle’s voice came through the radio on the desk next to Tim. Even over the fuzzy radio, Harold could hear the sadness in her voice.
Tim looked down at the radio with an annoyed sour grimace. He didn’t have the patience for such unimportant information now. He flicked the final ash from his cigarette and took the radio, lifting it near his mouth. “Have you reset the fence generator yet?” He asked starkly as he ran his fingers through his slicked back hair, wanting results more than anything else.
There was an obvious pause on Danielle’s end. “...Yes… it should be coming up now…”
“Good. Just wait a second until it comes up on our end.” Tim told her as he glanced up at whoever was running the computer in charge of the external systems outside of the InGen compound. After a few moments and a series of flashing lights, the guy at the terminal gave a thumbs up. “Alright. We have the fences back up across the island now. Now get your ass back here, Ms. Arnold.” He told her rather coldly before setting the radio back down loudly on the table.
Harold watched Tim for several seconds. In all his years of dealing with InGen he was never amazed at just what kind of assholes the company would hire. Usually the employees were spectacular and star struck, as John Hammond would want, but every once in a while they would get a sour person. He guessed it was hard to get decent management hires on an island thousands of miles from the United States.
“Give me that damned thing.” Harold finally grumbled lowly at Tim, who shot him quite the harsh look in retort, not having the balls to open his mouth to talk back to his elders. “If you can’t handle your attitude then you don’t get the radio.” He spat before clearing his throat. “Danielle. This is Harold. I am sorry about the Allosaurs’… I am sure it came down to you or them. You are doing fantastic work, but I need you to relax and get back here safely… Is that understood?” He told her, giving her a slight pep talk. “I’ll start some fresh coffee and get some towels around for you both.”
“Thank you, sir…” Danielle said back with some feedback from a gust of wind.
“Let us know if anything else goes wrong.” He told her. “Finch out.” He sighed and looked down at the map. The girls would have a rough drive back if this storm continued getting worse.
Harold had almost barely noticed the scowling look that Tim was giving him.
“What is it?”
“Oh nothing…” Tim waved his hand about. “I was just wondering if you wanted to take a break and cook them some brownies or some warm soup for them before they get back.”
Finch gave him a firm glare. “That is enough of that, Tim.”
“We have more important things to worry about other than those two. They fixed the fences and that is what was needed.... Now we all should be in the clear.”
Harold chewed at the inside of his cheek for a moment, this bastard was clearly out of his league and trying to start shit. Harold had just about enough of it. “Watch it, young man.” Harold said half threatening as he pointed a firm finger at Tim before he walked from the table for the nearby common area where everyone else was staying. The moral was quickly dropping, and Harold knew it. They had been on lock down for a few hours now in observation of the monsoon but it was only getting worse. There was only so many VHS tapes for the television in the room and the people with them had already grown tired of the pair of chess sets that were in there. The bunkers were equipped with what was necessary; being food, water, and other items, they were lucky enough to have the TV to watch. Hell, if it got so desperate there was a deck of cards on standby. Harold prepared a second fresh pot of coffee for Danielle and Nicole. He just hoped they would be back soon. They should be at least.
Harold elected for a cup of what was left of the pot from an hour or so earlier before returning to the control area of the bunker with Tim and all of the computers. He could only imagine this being what the commander’s deck of a submarine would look like; it was damn near claustrophobic enough to feel as such. Harold stepped over to one of the men at the computer terminals overlooking several cameras that were still live around the facility. He blew over his coffee as his eyes glanced over the screen at each of the feeds. It was mostly exterior cameras showing heavy pixelated rain on the top of the screen with a line of other boxes of some empty interiors from around the facility while the center of the screen went through a rotation of each view in a larger screen box…
‘It’s called a ‘window,’ sir.’ He shook his head as he remembered the words of one of the computer techs trying to explain this computer lingo to him.
The main camera view changed after a few seconds in the rotation to show the long term holding paddock of one of the labs on the edge of the InGen compound. Inside the paddock was a lone Raptor that had been plucked from the batch that had been sent off to Isla Nublar. Something had gone askew with it earlier when it was young, and so it was put aside by itself for research and study. The specific reasoning was something that escaped Harold’s mind at the current time, but it was a dinosaur that Danielle had been working with for well over a year and a half. While he didn't remember much of the thing other than he knew she had affectionately named the thing ‘Bean.’ On the screen the dinosaur was huddled under a bush watching the walls and roof of the holding pen, clearly upset by the storm.
“Poor thing…” Harold muttered to himself.
The radio on the table crackled as Danielle began to come through. “Hey… The main road is blocked. We need an alternative…” Despite the news she sounded better in spirit since the last time she had checked in.
Harold made his way over to the table and snatched before Tim could reach over for it. He shot him a dirty look and clicked the button on the receiver. “What happened?”
Danielle gave a sigh. “There is a bunch of trees and stuff laying all over the road. There is too much to move.”
“Alright…. Alright…” He thought as he looked down at the illuminated map. “Where are you now?”
There was a slight pause, obvious as Danielle worked it out. “Somewhere between sector 8 and 5... Between the Carno and Large herbivore paddocks…” The radio cut out for a second. “...Right before the pinch point.”
Harold had followed their path with his finger as she spoke. “Alright…” he said, his eyes darting around for options carefully on the map. “There is another route through a maintenance bypass that goes through the Long-Neck paddock... back in sector 13 where you got the head count earlier.”
“Oh… Shit. I had forgotten about that.” Danielle grumbled through the radio, sounding overwhelmed.
“That’s OK. It is a bit of backtracking, but that trail leads right back to the main road into the Compound. You know the trail.
“Yeah… I do.” At this point the radio seemed to click slightly on Danielle’s end as if it changed hands before another voice came through.
“Hey. Can you verify that the fences are actually back up?” It was Nicole Walker, one of the Security guards under Harold. She had done a decent amount of close work with Danielle. “Because the indicator lights aren’t on.”
Harold looked over at Tim. “Check on that.”
Tim gave a sigh of protest but did as he was told. He quickly stepped over to the appropriate person to check. “Which one? There is like 20 sets of fences.” Tim commented. He was the Faculty director. Whatever happened outside of the compound was typically not his thing to care about.
Harold shook his head. “Should be right on the monitor… Paddock A12.”
Tim leaned back over the computer man’s shoulder to look only to a moment later look back towards Harold. “Uhm... It’s showing that they're off.”
Harold’s mind panicked slightly from this development. Danielle had already told them that three of the four Carnotaurus in that paddock had ganged up on the runt of the group in agitation from the storm when she was doing her headcount that Tim had ordered her to do originally. Suddenly, the sound of a deafening roar and a metallic clang was heard over the radio. Nicole, who had been holding the receiver button, had dropped the radio of the Humvee and stopped broadcasting. The sound of the radio started everyone and was heard throughout the bunker. Harold had even dropped the radio onto the table and everyone’s gaze was on the control area.
After a moment the radio chirped loudly as continued to broadcast from the girl’s side as it got lodged between something that held the button on, filling the silent bunker with the sounds swift thumping of a pair of shotgun shots mixed with the thunderous, speaker rattling Carno roars. As one of the guns stopped, the sound of the Humvee’s engine could be heard struggling as Danielle obviously tried to get away from the carnivores.
“They are trying to flip us!” Nicole shouted over the sound of a loud metallic crunch.
“Son of a bitch!” Danielle yelled after another crunch sound.
The sound of machine gun fire started as one of the girls had taken one of the Security Division’s M16 rifles with them. Magazine after magazine was fired, and due to the ruggedness of the recommissioned war vehicle was obviously a factor in their now lengthy survival of such an attack. One of the Carno’s could be heard yelping while thudding off, before another sharp roar rang out. A final crunch was heard and the radio cut out on their side, leaving the bunker of waiting people horrified. Harold’s gut sank and he took a slow scan of all of the people around him before looking at Tim, who had most nervous face any of them had ever seen.
“We shouldn't have made them go out.” Harold spoke up, finally voicing his peace.
“They’re in an armored tank-car…” Tim seemed to reason that the girls might still have a chance. “Bullets couldn't make it through it, so what chance does a dinosaur have?”
“That is the thing, Tim…” Harold bit his cheek again for a second before retorting. “Bullets can go through those things. They’re tough, but they ain’t invincible.”
“What the hell do you know, Finch?” Tim challenged him with a look.
“Did you not see what the hell went down in Panama two years ago?!” Harold yelled. “The armor on that vehicle isn’t that thick! With enough time those dinosaurs would be able to rip their way through!” This was unlike him. Everyone knew Harold as a very collected and calm person that could handle about every tough situation world could have thrown at him. “And why?! We just probably lost two good people out there for what? A bullshit head count?!”
At this, the sound of wind howling had seemed to pick up sharply followed by a loud thunderous clash on the surface above. A bolt of lightning had struck one of the large trees just outside of the Compound of walls, so close that the sound even shook the air throughout the bunker. Those near the camera view watched at the tree toppled over onto one of the labs; the same lab that Danielle’s Raptor was in. After a moment of quiet, Tim straightened himself after the ordeal and being yelled at.
“That’s it.” He announced as he stepped back over to the map table. “Enough of this tea party bullshit. We are calling for immediate evacuation.”
“But… sir…” The radio man started up about concerns for the storm only to be immediately cut off by Tim.
“I don’t give a single shit!” Tim demanded loudly. “You call the mainland and get the Chinooks over here to get us! This is a top priority. Call Ludlow if you have too, god damn it!”
“What about Danielle and Nicole?!” Harold spoke up, while the likely chance they would survive was actually low, he still would prefer to wait until they could check.
“No. Forget it. It isn’t your call, Finch.” Tim told him sternly. “Do your damned job for all these people. It is a loss for sure, but they are just more paperwork for me. So don’t you worry-”
Tim was swiftly cutoff by Harold socking him square in the corner of the jaw, sending the younger man clear off his feet and onto the floor. While Harold was getting up in age, the old Korean Vet was no slouch. He rubbed his raw hand and watched Tim roll onto his backside to look up towards him holding his face. “What the hell was that?!?”
“If you ever say some shit like that about another person again I will do so much worse, you slimy fuck.” Harold spoke with such an acute tone of hatred in his voice; no one in this room had ever heard this side of him. Yet when he looked up from Tim no one in the room security or scientist had anything to say. “We are going to give them an hour… And if we don’t hear back from them we will call for the Chinooks. If this worthless S.O.B. tries to slide any more shit I want to hear about it. Got it?”
The room was filled with nods and ‘yes sirs.’
“Good. Now I'm stepping out to take a smoke.” He said, picking up Tim’s pack of cigarettes and lighter heading towards the bunker door. It had been years since he had smoked, and after that, he was very much looking forward to it.
As he passed the camera computer, it was hardly noticed that the Raptor from Danielle’s lab was making its escape by scuttling carefully up the trunk of the tree that had crashed through the wall of his cage. His tail disappeared from view as he slipped out the destroyed bit of wall, leaving the building for the stormy dark island.
‘For Those of The Five Deaths’
A Jurassic Park Fanfiction
Prologue
“Not As It Should Have Been”
Danielle slid her shoulder firmly against the wet concrete utility house’s exterior wall. She did what she could to ease her breathing as she shivered from another rush of heavy rain and wind; the storm had only gotten worse than when she had left the InGen Compound. It was bad enough that she had to be out in a heavy storm at several minutes from the Compound, but after the fact they found that most of the electrical fences were failing all around Isla Sorna. She had been out around the dinosaurs plenty of times before, but in much better conditions. The worst part was that the main generator for the island’s fences just so happened to be located near a series of carnivore paddocks. She shivered from another brief gust and looked down at the shotgun in her bare hands, a Remington 870 loaded with 12 gauge slugs, and sighed to try to relax slightly.
‘C’mon Dani.’ She thought ‘50 more feet and you’re there. Then you can get back to Nicole.’
She shook her head slightly, and with her trembling cold fingers, she snapped the shotgun up around the corner of the wall she had been pressed against; she wasn’t about to start taking chances.
Danielle moved around the corner, seeing nothing around the sights of her shotgun in her peripherals. After seeing the coast was clear, she lowered her gun and took quick strides down the dirt lane past the utility house towards the small metal stand that housed the large breaker for the large fence generator. She would have to get the generator back up to make sure all of the fences stayed on so everyone could at least partially feel safe. She had only volunteered to venture forth after completing her headcount because she was so familiar with the island outside of the InGen compound. This was largely due to her nearly constant active studies on the dinosaurs and their behavior out in their regional paddocks.
‘Almost there… halfway there… only 20 feet to-’ Her thoughts were completely cut short as the dark outline of a medium sized carnivore walked into view around the storage housing near the generator. Danielle jerked to the side and slid into the space between the utility and storage buildings.
“Shit.” She cursed under her breath as she clutched her shotgun tightly to her chest. She tried her damndest to keep her breathing quiet and controlled, her mind raced at a thousand miles per hour; what could she do about a loose carnivore?! She gave a hushed exhale, she decided to carefully peek around the corner. Luckily, due to the rain and dark conditions, she was able to look around the corner without being noticed. She could clearly see the carnivore with its head reared up and sniffing as to scan the area. The red glow of the generator’s tower glinted over the dinosaur’s silhouette, clearly displaying the ridges above each of the animal’s eyes. An unmistakable trait of an Allosaurus. She sighed with a slight sense of relief. As little as it would help her relax there could only be at most two of those. InGen had only successfully made two of them out of the three batches that they had tried. The genome didn’t quite seem to mix right for some reason. The Allosaurus gave a sharp rumbling noise as its nose picked up the scent of a Human in the area. Danielle’s mind began to race again; she would have to think fast.
As she listened, she could hear the Allosaurus taking slow strides towards where she was. Not wanting anything to do with the creature, she quietly made her way around towards the rear of the building. She moved around the backside of the cement walls towards the side closest to the generator. Keeping a careful eye and an ear out for the other potential Allosaurus, which she was happy to not find around the corner. Once she had gotten around the building, she glanced around the opposite corner from where she had been to see the carnivore with its neck bent in between the buildings as it followed her smell. She decided quickly to take her slim chance. Silently she lifted her shotgun around the corner of the building and took aim at the distracted Allosaurus. Danielle cleared her mind to focus as she sternly lined up the bead sight to its mid front torso, knowing exactly where its vital organs were.
She then hesitated; she knew that the creature, much like the rest of the dinosaurs on the island, was most likely agitated by the storm. While she would rather see the carnivore live, if it saw her it would no doubt attack her. Despite everything she would rather have done to avoid this encounter, she had little time or chance to do what needed to be done. She swallowed and tightened the shotgun against her shoulder. She then held her breath and once the pulsing glow from the tower returned, she fired.
The hotly loaded 12 Gauge slug fiercely struck the Allosaurus right above and behind its left shoulder blade. Danielle could see puff of red spray as the round punched through the other side of the dinosaur. The Allosaurus gave a startled yelp in pain as it recoiled to the side from the slug. It gave a wheezing growl as it frantically turned itself to look in her direction before Danielle racked the gun and fired again, this time aiming for the dinosaurs head. The Allosaurus gave a final sharp rumble as its body fell into the mud under it with a sharp hiss.
Danielle racked the shotgun again as she was hit with a quick wave of emotions. While she was thrilled to have been able to down the Allosaurus so easily, she soon felt a mixture of sorrow and regret; she never had wanted to end the life of such a beautiful creature. She was a Paleo Veterinarian; this was not what someone with her title was supposed to handle. With a respectful nod to the now dead dinosaur she gave a quick word of her regret and turned her attention back to the situation at hand. She wished she had time for alternatives or even a proper goodbye, but she understood the gravity of the situation; she had to get this generator back up for everyone else’s sake. She shook herself and went quickly to the generator’s breaker shack. With a flashlight and a quick read of the large panel box, she found the correct procedure to reset the generator’s systems. She could hear a flurry of electrical hums and crackles as the area seemed to come back fully online with the power. The flood lights of the area even had come on, hurting her eyes slightly for a moment. It was definitely a welcome change from the dark and cold island forests. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t the only one to benefit from the now illuminated generator station. Just now walking around the furthest side of the utility housing building… was the second Allosaurus.
Danielle turned and saw the carnivore at the same time it had seen her. It also only took the creature a moment to notice the body of her sister Allosaurus lying dead in the mud between her and the Human. With an upset roar the now enraged dinosaur lowered its head as it began to very quickly advance towards Danielle. With a rushed curse, Danielle quickly took her shotgun and snapped it up at the now charging dinosaur. She fired the shotgun as swift and as precise as she could at the dinosaur as it very quickly closed the 50 ft. distance. The dinosaur, after taking at least three of the remaining six shots that Danielle had loaded into the shotgun, was close enough to try to lunge for her. Danielle by this point, running out of options, dove towards the closest wall of the storage house at what must have been the last second. Her lucky footing and nimble move easily saved her life as the Allosaurus was unable to stop itself from slipping in the mud as it tried to correct course to follow, leaving it flailing and sliding on the ground for several seconds. Danielle made it to the wall and desperately fumbled with the wet shotgun shells in the shell rail on the side of the shotgun, her fingers frantically trying to reload the weapon before the Allosaurus struggled to get back up to its feet.
As the Allosaurus managed to nearly stand on pained legs, Danielle had managed to load three shells into her shotgun. Before the dinosaur could fully stand and charge at her again, she took quick aim and fired again, hitting the dinosaur in the side near its left hip. The Allosaurus gave a loud bellow as it trembled and fell back into the mud, now with one entire leg unusable. With the carnivore down, Danielle racked the weapon and watched the creature as it sort of just stayed still, whining and wailing out as if it knew it was finished. This of course made Danielle heavily in the heart. With a quick but emotional sigh, she took a step closer to the downed Allosaurus.
“Damn it!” Danielle spat out as she lifted the shotgun and aimed it at the center of the dinosaurs head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart… it’s not your fault…” As crazy as it would have sounded, she truly felt for the creature. She had only watched most of these dinosaurs grow from infancy, and now she was ending the life of several of them. She didn’t like how this all felt. “...You were perfect in every way… I’m sorry...” She said as the thing looked up at her with deep amber colored eyes. After a moment of exchanging stares Danielle pulled the trigger and put the animal to rest.
-~~-
Back in the main facility bunker underneath the control building, there sat several men around a few computer screens and a well-lit table of a map of the island. Harold Finch, the Security Director of the island looked down onto the table map with tight lips. He looked over at the Facility Director to his right, Tim Knocks, as the man blew a soft cloud of cigarette smoke over the table. This was a much younger corporate driven man who seemed to worry about the dollar sign a little too much. In stressful times such as these, he was known to being very short tempered and rather demanding of those around him. Tim had ordered a headcount of all the dinosaurs on the island before the storm had reached Isla Sorna and was adamant that the team needed to then head to the generator facility in charge of the paddock fence power. A series of lightning strikes had caused the fence system to surge and the system needed to be physically reset. All in the same night as this storm, they had lost communications with Isla Nublar and what few staff was left their from their island preview they were hosting. Both islands were seemingly troubled with problems this night. It was all a bit too hectic for everyone.
“Tim… We lost both of the Allosaurus…” Danielle’s voice came through the radio on the desk next to Tim. Even over the fuzzy radio, Harold could hear the sadness in her voice.
Tim looked down at the radio with an annoyed sour grimace. He didn’t have the patience for such unimportant information now. He flicked the final ash from his cigarette and took the radio, lifting it near his mouth. “Have you reset the fence generator yet?” He asked starkly as he ran his fingers through his slicked back hair, wanting results more than anything else.
There was an obvious pause on Danielle’s end. “...Yes… it should be coming up now…”
“Good. Just wait a second until it comes up on our end.” Tim told her as he glanced up at whoever was running the computer in charge of the external systems outside of the InGen compound. After a few moments and a series of flashing lights, the guy at the terminal gave a thumbs up. “Alright. We have the fences back up across the island now. Now get your ass back here, Ms. Arnold.” He told her rather coldly before setting the radio back down loudly on the table.
Harold watched Tim for several seconds. In all his years of dealing with InGen he was never amazed at just what kind of assholes the company would hire. Usually the employees were spectacular and star struck, as John Hammond would want, but every once in a while they would get a sour person. He guessed it was hard to get decent management hires on an island thousands of miles from the United States.
“Give me that damned thing.” Harold finally grumbled lowly at Tim, who shot him quite the harsh look in retort, not having the balls to open his mouth to talk back to his elders. “If you can’t handle your attitude then you don’t get the radio.” He spat before clearing his throat. “Danielle. This is Harold. I am sorry about the Allosaurs’… I am sure it came down to you or them. You are doing fantastic work, but I need you to relax and get back here safely… Is that understood?” He told her, giving her a slight pep talk. “I’ll start some fresh coffee and get some towels around for you both.”
“Thank you, sir…” Danielle said back with some feedback from a gust of wind.
“Let us know if anything else goes wrong.” He told her. “Finch out.” He sighed and looked down at the map. The girls would have a rough drive back if this storm continued getting worse.
Harold had almost barely noticed the scowling look that Tim was giving him.
“What is it?”
“Oh nothing…” Tim waved his hand about. “I was just wondering if you wanted to take a break and cook them some brownies or some warm soup for them before they get back.”
Finch gave him a firm glare. “That is enough of that, Tim.”
“We have more important things to worry about other than those two. They fixed the fences and that is what was needed.... Now we all should be in the clear.”
Harold chewed at the inside of his cheek for a moment, this bastard was clearly out of his league and trying to start shit. Harold had just about enough of it. “Watch it, young man.” Harold said half threatening as he pointed a firm finger at Tim before he walked from the table for the nearby common area where everyone else was staying. The moral was quickly dropping, and Harold knew it. They had been on lock down for a few hours now in observation of the monsoon but it was only getting worse. There was only so many VHS tapes for the television in the room and the people with them had already grown tired of the pair of chess sets that were in there. The bunkers were equipped with what was necessary; being food, water, and other items, they were lucky enough to have the TV to watch. Hell, if it got so desperate there was a deck of cards on standby. Harold prepared a second fresh pot of coffee for Danielle and Nicole. He just hoped they would be back soon. They should be at least.
Harold elected for a cup of what was left of the pot from an hour or so earlier before returning to the control area of the bunker with Tim and all of the computers. He could only imagine this being what the commander’s deck of a submarine would look like; it was damn near claustrophobic enough to feel as such. Harold stepped over to one of the men at the computer terminals overlooking several cameras that were still live around the facility. He blew over his coffee as his eyes glanced over the screen at each of the feeds. It was mostly exterior cameras showing heavy pixelated rain on the top of the screen with a line of other boxes of some empty interiors from around the facility while the center of the screen went through a rotation of each view in a larger screen box…
‘It’s called a ‘window,’ sir.’ He shook his head as he remembered the words of one of the computer techs trying to explain this computer lingo to him.
The main camera view changed after a few seconds in the rotation to show the long term holding paddock of one of the labs on the edge of the InGen compound. Inside the paddock was a lone Raptor that had been plucked from the batch that had been sent off to Isla Nublar. Something had gone askew with it earlier when it was young, and so it was put aside by itself for research and study. The specific reasoning was something that escaped Harold’s mind at the current time, but it was a dinosaur that Danielle had been working with for well over a year and a half. While he didn't remember much of the thing other than he knew she had affectionately named the thing ‘Bean.’ On the screen the dinosaur was huddled under a bush watching the walls and roof of the holding pen, clearly upset by the storm.
“Poor thing…” Harold muttered to himself.
The radio on the table crackled as Danielle began to come through. “Hey… The main road is blocked. We need an alternative…” Despite the news she sounded better in spirit since the last time she had checked in.
Harold made his way over to the table and snatched before Tim could reach over for it. He shot him a dirty look and clicked the button on the receiver. “What happened?”
Danielle gave a sigh. “There is a bunch of trees and stuff laying all over the road. There is too much to move.”
“Alright…. Alright…” He thought as he looked down at the illuminated map. “Where are you now?”
There was a slight pause, obvious as Danielle worked it out. “Somewhere between sector 8 and 5... Between the Carno and Large herbivore paddocks…” The radio cut out for a second. “...Right before the pinch point.”
Harold had followed their path with his finger as she spoke. “Alright…” he said, his eyes darting around for options carefully on the map. “There is another route through a maintenance bypass that goes through the Long-Neck paddock... back in sector 13 where you got the head count earlier.”
“Oh… Shit. I had forgotten about that.” Danielle grumbled through the radio, sounding overwhelmed.
“That’s OK. It is a bit of backtracking, but that trail leads right back to the main road into the Compound. You know the trail.
“Yeah… I do.” At this point the radio seemed to click slightly on Danielle’s end as if it changed hands before another voice came through.
“Hey. Can you verify that the fences are actually back up?” It was Nicole Walker, one of the Security guards under Harold. She had done a decent amount of close work with Danielle. “Because the indicator lights aren’t on.”
Harold looked over at Tim. “Check on that.”
Tim gave a sigh of protest but did as he was told. He quickly stepped over to the appropriate person to check. “Which one? There is like 20 sets of fences.” Tim commented. He was the Faculty director. Whatever happened outside of the compound was typically not his thing to care about.
Harold shook his head. “Should be right on the monitor… Paddock A12.”
Tim leaned back over the computer man’s shoulder to look only to a moment later look back towards Harold. “Uhm... It’s showing that they're off.”
Harold’s mind panicked slightly from this development. Danielle had already told them that three of the four Carnotaurus in that paddock had ganged up on the runt of the group in agitation from the storm when she was doing her headcount that Tim had ordered her to do originally. Suddenly, the sound of a deafening roar and a metallic clang was heard over the radio. Nicole, who had been holding the receiver button, had dropped the radio of the Humvee and stopped broadcasting. The sound of the radio started everyone and was heard throughout the bunker. Harold had even dropped the radio onto the table and everyone’s gaze was on the control area.
After a moment the radio chirped loudly as continued to broadcast from the girl’s side as it got lodged between something that held the button on, filling the silent bunker with the sounds swift thumping of a pair of shotgun shots mixed with the thunderous, speaker rattling Carno roars. As one of the guns stopped, the sound of the Humvee’s engine could be heard struggling as Danielle obviously tried to get away from the carnivores.
“They are trying to flip us!” Nicole shouted over the sound of a loud metallic crunch.
“Son of a bitch!” Danielle yelled after another crunch sound.
The sound of machine gun fire started as one of the girls had taken one of the Security Division’s M16 rifles with them. Magazine after magazine was fired, and due to the ruggedness of the recommissioned war vehicle was obviously a factor in their now lengthy survival of such an attack. One of the Carno’s could be heard yelping while thudding off, before another sharp roar rang out. A final crunch was heard and the radio cut out on their side, leaving the bunker of waiting people horrified. Harold’s gut sank and he took a slow scan of all of the people around him before looking at Tim, who had most nervous face any of them had ever seen.
“We shouldn't have made them go out.” Harold spoke up, finally voicing his peace.
“They’re in an armored tank-car…” Tim seemed to reason that the girls might still have a chance. “Bullets couldn't make it through it, so what chance does a dinosaur have?”
“That is the thing, Tim…” Harold bit his cheek again for a second before retorting. “Bullets can go through those things. They’re tough, but they ain’t invincible.”
“What the hell do you know, Finch?” Tim challenged him with a look.
“Did you not see what the hell went down in Panama two years ago?!” Harold yelled. “The armor on that vehicle isn’t that thick! With enough time those dinosaurs would be able to rip their way through!” This was unlike him. Everyone knew Harold as a very collected and calm person that could handle about every tough situation world could have thrown at him. “And why?! We just probably lost two good people out there for what? A bullshit head count?!”
At this, the sound of wind howling had seemed to pick up sharply followed by a loud thunderous clash on the surface above. A bolt of lightning had struck one of the large trees just outside of the Compound of walls, so close that the sound even shook the air throughout the bunker. Those near the camera view watched at the tree toppled over onto one of the labs; the same lab that Danielle’s Raptor was in. After a moment of quiet, Tim straightened himself after the ordeal and being yelled at.
“That’s it.” He announced as he stepped back over to the map table. “Enough of this tea party bullshit. We are calling for immediate evacuation.”
“But… sir…” The radio man started up about concerns for the storm only to be immediately cut off by Tim.
“I don’t give a single shit!” Tim demanded loudly. “You call the mainland and get the Chinooks over here to get us! This is a top priority. Call Ludlow if you have too, god damn it!”
“What about Danielle and Nicole?!” Harold spoke up, while the likely chance they would survive was actually low, he still would prefer to wait until they could check.
“No. Forget it. It isn’t your call, Finch.” Tim told him sternly. “Do your damned job for all these people. It is a loss for sure, but they are just more paperwork for me. So don’t you worry-”
Tim was swiftly cutoff by Harold socking him square in the corner of the jaw, sending the younger man clear off his feet and onto the floor. While Harold was getting up in age, the old Korean Vet was no slouch. He rubbed his raw hand and watched Tim roll onto his backside to look up towards him holding his face. “What the hell was that?!?”
“If you ever say some shit like that about another person again I will do so much worse, you slimy fuck.” Harold spoke with such an acute tone of hatred in his voice; no one in this room had ever heard this side of him. Yet when he looked up from Tim no one in the room security or scientist had anything to say. “We are going to give them an hour… And if we don’t hear back from them we will call for the Chinooks. If this worthless S.O.B. tries to slide any more shit I want to hear about it. Got it?”
The room was filled with nods and ‘yes sirs.’
“Good. Now I'm stepping out to take a smoke.” He said, picking up Tim’s pack of cigarettes and lighter heading towards the bunker door. It had been years since he had smoked, and after that, he was very much looking forward to it.
As he passed the camera computer, it was hardly noticed that the Raptor from Danielle’s lab was making its escape by scuttling carefully up the trunk of the tree that had crashed through the wall of his cage. His tail disappeared from view as he slipped out the destroyed bit of wall, leaving the building for the stormy dark island.
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