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“Hold her until the data is downloaded, send the data to the Costa Rican Police, save Kenji from the Savoys, and get out of St. Louis while you still can.”
Those were the orders Darius and his friends were given before he died, and they were following them to a tea. This was their last chance to get home and stop Mantah Corp, and they weren’t going to waste it.
But it didn’t change how wrong it all was, even if they weren’t going to kill her.
Darius looked at Yasmina and Sammy, holding each other's hands and keeping watch on the door that, behind it, held a Raptor ready to rip them all apart if it broke loose. He turned his attention away from them and back to Ivy Pepper, gagged, blindfolded, and bound to a chair, with Brooklynn keeping watch to make sure she didn’t try to escape. If he were none the wiser, he’d say that it was yet another case of InGen playing God, that she was an abomination of science and nature.
Perhaps, Darius wondered, in her own way, she thought the same about them.
He looked back out through the window. It was a stormy June night, the type that created a soothing ambience of dropping rain and rolling thunder for those who listened to it. An ambience he couldn’t listen to anymore, if not for the fact that he was too paranoid to have any bit of relief if it meant lowering his guard so that a dinosaur could rip him and his friends apart.
That, combined with the muffled cries for help from Ivy and the ever so close calls of a probably bloodthirsty Raptor that will surely rip everyone apart if given the chance and yep, Darius sure as hell was on edge.
He chuckled. “Just another normal adventure for the camp fan,” he whispered under his breath. What he meant to say had he not stopped himself was: This is fucking insane. All of it was. But frankly, Darius stopped caring about the insanity of all this. All that really mattered was getting home, no matter what…
But even then, he felt so awful about the whole ordeal.
He looked back to Ivy, her jacket torn in some places from Ben’s spear and shirt ripped in others from Brooklynn’s attempts to Fashion a gag and blindfold (thank god for “Brooklynn unboxes Chicago” otherwise they wouldn’t have known what to do), her hat laying on the table next to her. She looked and sounded horrified, between her desperate attempts to escape and her muffled cries for help. It all made him sick to his stomach. It was nowhere near the level of finding a severed Sinoceratops head in Mitch and Tiff’s tent, but it was sickening enough to almost make him want to vomit. And at least with the Sinoceratops, it was Mitch and Tiff’s doing, not him and his friend’s doing.
None of this was right. Not one bit of this was-
“Darius?”
Darius almost jumped as he heard Ben’s voice behind him. Maybe he was getting a little too tense. He turned to look at Ben, finding him drenched in Rainwater, his spear holstered in his arm, ready to jab at whatever threat came their way.
“It’s almost done,” Ben said, in a professional, almost strict tone as he shook his head dry, “just a few more minutes.”
“Good,” Darius replied, quietly. He turned back to the window, looking for the red car that he knew would soon be here.
Ben placed his slightly wet hand on Darius’ shoulder, drenching it slightly. “Are you doing okay,” he asked, calmer than he was before.
“I mean,” Darius replied, as he turned to Ben and gestured at the room. “How can we be okay? We lost our boat to the Mosasaurus and are now stuck in an Alternate Universe where Mantah Corp and the Marigolds are hunting us, Kenji’s been kidnapped by those Savoy twins, we’ve kidnapped a girl who works for some “Lackadaisy” Place in the hopes that it can cause a distraction between them and the Marigolds, and behind that door is a Raptor just waiting to sink its teeth into us if given the perfect opportunity. If anything, it’s a miracle we’re all as calm as we are.”
Darius looked down and sighed, letting a tear fall. “Besides,” he continued, “We’re always running from something, be it a dinosaur, or a hybrid, or illegal hunters, or mercenaries or cat gangsters, when can we stop running?”
Ben looked around, uncomfortably. Darius was right, none of them were really okay, were they?
“Hey,” Ben put his hand on Darius, sitting next to him. “I know, I don’t like this either. But if this is how we get home, then it’s probably the right thing to do, right?”
Silence. Darius and Ben sat in silence for a moment, both waiting for the other to respond. It was uncomfortable, made only worse by the desperate calls for help by Ivy as Brooklynn desperately tried to keep her steady.
“Darius,” Ben asked. Darius turned to look at Ben, and sighed.
“I don’t know anymore-”
“And that’s okay,” Ben cut Darius off, “you don’t need to know everything-”
“I do, Ben,” Darius snapped back, startling everyone in the room including Ivy, before calming himself down. “I… I should know what to do, but I don’t…” Darius started to cry. “This is all my Fault, you should’ve never made me leader-”
“Hey,” Ben said, as he grabbed Darius’ hand, firmly, but gently.”If it weren’t for you, we would’ve never made it off Nublar, much less lived 6 months on that island. You’ll always think of something, no matter what.”
“And,” Darius continued, looking at Ben, “What if I-”
Ben already knew the answer: “Then whatever happens, we’ll all do it together. I promise you, we’ll be with you.”
Darius smiled, perhaps for the first genuine time in a very long time, as he pulled Ben into a hug. Ben for a minute stood there, before hugging him back.
“Thank you,” Darius said to Ben, as he held him close.
“No problem,” Ben replied.
The two stood there for a moment, letting the world pass them by. They would have hugged out the whole rest of the night if they could…
But of course something had to go wrong.
A gasp caught everyone’s attention quickly. Yasmina and Sammy backed away from the door in panic. Ben and Darius got up, looking towards the metallic door. Darius could see Ivy’s head turn towards him just as he walked towards the door, but tried his best to ignore it.
At first they were confused. There was nothing there in the slightest, why did Yaz and Sammy-
Darius’ heart skipped a beat as he saw the hole in the other side of the room. He saw why Sammy and Yaz panicked.
The Raptor was gone.
…
The sign said “BUILDING CONDEMNED, DO NOT ENTER.”
Freckle tore off the sign, and pushed open the door, entering into a dark, damp entryway.
He steadied his breath as he closed the door behind him. It was quiet, too quiet, with only the ambience of the rain to keep his ears company. A mess of dust and splintered wood greeted him in what used to be the lobby. The faint smell of alcohol invaded his senses as he stepped further inside and towards the stairway, hiding whatever long since dead Speakeasy laid below. Whatever happened to get this building abandoned, it was definitely not a good thing.
So of course whoever kidnapped Ivy decided to choose this place to execute her.
Freckle checked his Tommy Gun first: 2 clips, 50 rounds per clip. He moved on to his Pistol (it was the shitty pocket pistol, but he’ll take what he could get): 6 rounds. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to handle at least a few of them-
Freckle nearly opened fire as he heard a slight clicking noise to his right. He looked down the hallway, expecting to see yet another Marigold gangster to mow down like the dozens he had killed before…
Instead, there was nothing. The hallway was completely empty, save for the darkness that consumed it. Freckle was all alone...
As far as he knew.
Freckle ignored the clicking, thinking it was just his imagination running wild, and opened the doors to the stairs. He prayed to god that Ivy was still okay and that Rocky did whatever he could to get rid of the Marigolds from the nearby Construction site (and also that he didn’t find any dynamite for the love of god). He took a deep breath, and started ascending the stairs to the top floor, where the note said she was being held.
It was going to be a long climb.
…
The rain drenched Darius as he stepped outside. He was used to rain, of course, being trapped on a Tropical island does that to you, but even if he wasn’t, the rain wasn’t his concern.
He looked at the device, black, with the Mantah Corp emblem on its side. He looked towards the screen, which illuminated his face in blue light, hoping that it’d be done any minute now.
It wasn’t even close.
5 minutes remained on the upload time. 5 minutes. In 5 minutes the Raptor could kill them all or one of the Lackadaisy guys could show up early and turn them into swiss cheese, why did it have to take-
Darius stopped himself from getting worked up. The others needed him, he couldn't be panicking right now. He checked the emergency lift, making sure it was still operational. Thank god it was. He did one last look over to the nearby lake and behind it the streets of St. Louis-
And froze in his tracks.
Not too far from the building they were situated in, near the construction site where he knew for a fact a T-Rex was being held, a Red Ford Model A was parked. He could hear the distinct sound of laughter and gunfire, and could just barely make out another one of those cat things, this one in a blue suit, walking across the top beams of the construction site, laughing like a maniac. They were here, and he didn’t even see them because he was too distracted to-
*BOOM*
“Shit,” Dairus almost said out loud, before hushing himself, as the cat chucked a stick of dynamite into the construction site, causing a resounding explosion in response. If they didn’t end up killing themselves somehow, they were going to accidentally release a damn T-Rex into a city of hundreds of thousands! What the hell were they even thinking?!
He had to warn the others. Now. He had no time to wait any longer, lest they had something way bigger than a raptor to worry about (and more explosive than one too). He grabbed the device, just in case that cat somehow managed to throw a dynamite onto the hotel’s roof-
Before he froze at the all too distinctive call of a Raptor.
He looked behind himself. He saw its shadow slowly get closer, illuminated by the lightning and nearby explosions. It didn’t see him, but it was getting closer to him with every second he stood still.
Move. NOW.
Darius ran for the door at that minute, just barely not slipping on the wet floor as he did so. He slammed the door behind him, locking it just as quickly. The whole room shook, as everyone turned to him startled. Darius took a minute to catch his breath, placing the device on the floor.
“Darius,” Ben rushed to Darius’ side, “are you okay?!” Darius gave him a thumbs up in reply. Ben sighed in relief at that moment, perhaps prematurely, but it didn’t matter. He checked the device, and again sighed in relief when he found it perfectly intact.
“The Raptor’s outside,” Darius continued, still out of breath from his sprint. A slight shock emerged on everyone’s (except Ivy) face. Brooklyn walked away from Ivy and checked the door, making sure it was locked, before barricading it with a wooden table.
“Try and open this, you oversized turkey,” Brooklynn joked, as she slowly walked back to Ivy to make sure she didn't’ escape-
“The red car’s here too,” Darius continued.
Everyone turned to shock as he said that, except Ivy, who seemed to perk up at that.
“Wait, are you sure it’s the one we’re supposed to look for,” Brooklyn asked, panicked, but inquisitive. “What if it’s someone else who’s a normal person and just so happens to have a red car-”
The whole room quieted in shock as a boom shook it. Everyone looked outside, watching as smoke billowed from outside. Ivy’s expression under her gag and blindfold suddenly turned to almost hope, as if somehow the chaotic force outside was a good thing.
“I don’t think normal people use explosives, Brooklynn,” Yasmina replied, stressed, before being pulled back by Sammy, who tightly held her arm.
“Look,” Darius tried to reassure the room, hiding his own stressed, fearful tone, “we got 5 minutes until the device sends the data, we just have to hold out until then and-”
A loud creaking sound silenced everyone at that minute. They looked towards the other door, the only way in and out of the room (aside from the once fully sealed raptor room that now had a hole to the hallway), as they hushed themselves into almost complete silence. The clicking of the Raptor’s talon didn’t follow, so they could definitely breathe easy on not being ripped apart by one of them for now.
But the alternative of becoming target practice for the Lackadaisy guy was certainly not a much better outcome.
The others attempted to keep whatever sound they made hushed, if they made any at all. They had been quiet before, way too many times, and this was no different (well kind of different). So long as they remained completely silent, whoever was on the other side of the door would not even realize they were there and just go away-
“FRMCHMM!”
Everyone’s heart sank to the bottom of their chest. They hadn’t even accounted for Ivy Pepper at that very moment, and now she had become their very doom.
…
Ivy.
Freckle turned to where he heard the sound, just down the hall to his right.
“HMMP MM!” the voice called out again, all too recognizable.
Freckle's heart dropped as he feared the worst.
Freckle rushed down the hall at that minute, barely keeping himself from screaming, as he hoped to god he made it in time. If Ivy was hurt in any way, he swore to god…
He didn’t care who was on the other side of the door, they were going to die.
…
Brooklynn sat, trying to find any way to silence Ivy. But what could she do, aside from make a vain attempt at fashioning yet another gag while she was literally kicking and screaming? She could barely keep herself from just breaking at that very moment.
“Just knock her out already,” Yasmina yelled, panicking, “she’s just telling us exactly where we-”
“Yaz,” Brooklynn replied, equally as panicked, “I’m in the middle of something, I do not need commentary!”
“Guys-” Sammy tried to interject, but was stopped by Yasmina holding her tight.
Darius quietly sat towards the wall, waiting. His breath came in quick rapid fire exhales and inhales, his vision became tunneled, his hands started to shake, his ears rang like bells. He could barely breathe, as if being choked-
Ben grabbed his hands. He couldn’t hear him, but he could see his blue eyes, looking at him, and could feel his hand touching his own. He tried to take a deep breath, in, and out. In and out. He could feel himself come back to reality.
“You okay,” Ben asked, as the ringing finally stopped. Darius gave a thumbs up as he stood. He was still panicking, but at least Ben was with him.
He looked towards the device. 4 minutes remained. 4 minutes too many. Dammit, hurry up. There’s a guy with a gun outside ready to try and shoot us, we don’t have time for-
The footsteps suddenly stopped.
…
This was the room. It had to be.
Freckle tried to open the door. As expected, it was locked. Dammit, can nothing ever be easy when-
“Pmmnphm, hmmp!”
That was Ivy’s voice. It was unmistakable. Oh god, whatever they were doing to her, he couldn’t imagine. Perhaps they were waiting to shoot her, or maybe they were slowly slitting her throat-
Freckle didn’t want to think about that last scenario, much less waste anymore time and let Ivy continue to be kidnapped or worse. He wasn’t going to let them get away with this.
Not with their life.
He threw his body into the door, doing everything in his power to bring his full might upon that wooden barricade. He would do whatever it takes to save Ivy.
Whatever it takes.
…
“Sammy, wait, stop-” Yasmina tried to warn Sammy, before she rushed to the door and put her against it to stop whoever was on the other side from getting in. She grunted as another slam attempted to throw her to the floor, but she refused to let up. The whole room was tense, as everyone hoped that whoever was trying to get in would stop.
Hope that, as usual, never came to pass.
…
Whoever was on the other side of that door was not budging. Freckle was starting to get desperate. He had to get it open, he needed to, he needed to save Ivy, whatever it took. But he was running out of options, and he couldn’t just-
The rage started to consume him again.
Whatever it took, he would save Ivy.
He got away from the door and readied his Tommy Gun, before aiming right at the door.
*CLICK*
…
Yasmina heard the click all too well. She was familiar with it after their encounter with the mercenaries and Savoys: the cocking of a gun.
“Sammy, Move,” Yasmina pushed Sammy out the way, just barely in time before-
*RAT TAT TAT TAT*
Yasmina fell to the floor, grasping at her grazed ankle, as gunfire filled where Yasmina and Sammy once stood, quickly reducing the door to a wooden bullet sponge.
“Yaz!”
Sammy ran up to Yasmina, her ankle slowly bleeding onto the floor as she screamed in agony. She held her down, trying to soothe her, to do anything to make the pain stop. But what could she even do?
The rest of the room was starting to realize the real hopelessness of the situation
What do they do now?
…
The door was reduced to a series of bullet holes in a matter of seconds. Whoever was on the other side was definitely injured, given the screams of pain. It would still work for him at this point, so long as they wouldn’t hurt Ivy anymore.
Of course, he was still going to make damn well sure they didn’t get away with what they did to her.
Freckle holstered his Tommy gun and readied himself for one last shove.
…
Ben rushed towards the door, raising his spear in defiance. He was ready to keep them safe, whatever it took. If it meant he was going to die here from whoever was on the other side of the door, then he was okay, so long as they got to go home.
The only thing he’d regret would be not telling Darius about…
He looked to Darius, what could’ve been his last time, and smiled.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, “it’s okay.”
He turned back, ready to face them, to defend his family. If he died here, at least he made sure his family would still be safe.
That’s the least he could hope for.
…
Freckle busted through the door, grabbing his Tommy Gun ready to shoot them all to hell and back-
And then, for the first time, all that rage he usually got when holding a gun, suddenly faded away, as he stopped dead in his tracks.
…
Ben waited, and waited, and waited. They all did, for when inevitably the bullets would start again. For when the whole room would become filled with gunfire and screams and blood. For when the five would meet their untimely ends, just as they should have 6 months ago.
But none of that happened.
He didn’t shoot. In fact, he almost looked hesitant to shoot. Why didn’t he shoot? Why was he not shooting them all?
…
Freckle would have shot them if they were anyone else, especially if they were Marigold. Ivy was blindfolded, gagged and bound, her jacket and shirt torn and ripped. He would’ve had every reason to start spraying the room with gunfire for what they did to Ivy…
But they were just kids.
They were the same ape things he had seen before, the ones that only had fur at the top of their heads. But they were young, younger than he was that’s for sure. They were just kids, they didn’t have guns, or knives. The closest thing to a weapon any of the kids had was a spear, one that was being used as a deterrent against him.
Freckle lowered his gun. He was going to save Ivy by any means necessary…
But he refused to kill these kids.
“Just let Ivy go,” he said, calmly.
…
Ben didn’t buy it. He didn’t believe that the man who tried to kill Yaz and laughed while doing so was now just asking to let his friend go, not now. He couldn’t trust him, not one bit…
And yet, a part of him wanted to…
“Drop the gun,'' Ben ordered, firm, domineering. He waited for the exact moment the facade broke and he tried to shoot him in the chest so that he could rush up and impale him right in that rotten heart of his-
…
Freckle dropped the Tommy Gun, and kicked it away from him. He watched as the chubby girl (what he assumed as a girl anyways) looked at him in shock for a moment, before she grabbed the Tommy Gun and put it to her side. She took one more look at him before she went back to tending to her friend, who’s ankle was grazed by a bullet. One of HIS bullets.
He hurt innocent people. Of course he did.
Freckle dropped to the ground, put his hands behind his back, and waited.
He looked at Ivy, who looked confused, scared. He was, too, but he still smiled: he was going to save her, she didn’t have to worry.
…
They all looked in disbelief at him.
No way in hell did he just surrender like that. This had to be a trick. No way would anyone just give up like that. If they were Mitch or Tiff, they would suddenly reveal a giant knife or an SMG or some other cruel weapon, but here he just…
Stopped.
Darius was the first to speak.
“Let her go,” he ordered.
“Wha- are you serious,” Brooklynn asked, as she looked at him incredulously. “Are we really just going to-”
“You heard me,” Darius replied, as he gave her a glare.
She wasted no time in undoing the minutes of agonizing effort it took to put Ivy in all this, first with the blindfold, then the gag, then finally the rope. She was almost immediately shoved out of the way by her, falling down onto the floor, slowly getting back up.
…
“Freckle,” Ivy shouted, tears streaming down her face, as she ran towards him.
“Ivy,” Freckle shouted in response, as the two embraced in a hug, their sobs mixing together as one. Relief and joy washed over the two, as if somehow the skies grew a little bit brighter.
She was safe, Freckle thought to himself. He started to get up, still holding Ivy in his arms, as he turned back to the kids.
He could see the confusion on all their faces, for what just happened. It was perfectly understandable.
He just wished they could see his guilt.
Freckle turned to the door, ready to start leaving for the Lackadaisy and to get Ivy somewhere safe-
…
That all too familiar call rang out again, this time in the halls.
The kids shot up, and backed away from the door. That couldn’t be possible, shouldn’t be possible. The Raptor was outside this whole time, how the hell did it get in the halls? There was no way for it to get in that they saw, and if there was, the orange cat, Freckle, would’ve surely been ripped apart.
So why was the Raptor in the halls?
…
Freckle looked towards them. He saw their faces fill with horror at the strange sound. What was so scary that-
The clicking started again.The same clicking he heard in the lobby. It sounded much closer than before.
It wasn’t just his imagination running wild. There was someone here.
Freckle backed away from the door, and started to approach his gun, as Ivy ran to the back. Freckle was ready for anything, everything.
Everything… except for what happened next.
…
Ben approached the door. He raised his spear, and waited. Waited for the right time to jab it square in the face.
Darius turned back to see Ivy remove the barricade to the door. The door to the outside, where-
Darius had a realization at that moment. Of course the Raptor didn’t manage to get back in through some secret hole none of them saw. It was never alone to begin with.
“Wait, stop-”
Just a second too late, before Ivy unlocked the door, swung it open-
And screamed in utter terror at the site in front of her..
…
Freckle turned back, grabbing his tommy gun, as he saw Ivy running away from the now open door to the roof, and saw…
What the hell is that?!
Freckle opened fire in the bipedal lizard’s direction, causing it to jump to the side, hiding away in the rain-covered darkness of night. He had never seen anything like it before, it was almost like a demon out of hell.
“Raptor,” one of the kids, the black skinned one, answered, as Freckle turned back to look at him, confused on what the hell a Raptor was.
“It’s a Raptor,” the kid said again, still not answering his question.
“We need to get out of here now,” another kid, tall, yelled out. She was about to walk towards the other door when-
Why is there another one?!
…
Why did he have to be right?
Ben charged at the Raptor, jabbing it with his spear, causing it to stumble away for a brief moment, as Freckle opened fire towards it, causing it to jump back into the hall.
Just great, now what the hell were they supposed to do.
The hallway had a Raptor waiting to kill them, and the roof had a Raptor waiting to kill them. They were completely trapped, with no way out whatsoever-
Darius stopped, and realized something.
The emergency lift was on the roof too.
Darius took a deep breath, grabbed the device and ran out onto the roof.
“Darius, are you insane,” Brooklynn called out.
“What other choice do we have,” Darius replied, as he rushed towards the emergency lift. Freckle followed him, holding his gun close.
…
The kid, Darius, turned back to him.
“I need a few more minutes,” Darius told him. “Just give us time to get the emergency lift ready.”
Freckle nodded. He would’ve asked a lot of questions at this point, about what the hell those things were, what they were, what that weird box thing was, but it didn’t matter. None of it did. Not as much as saving Ivy, and these kids.
Funny, just a few minutes ago he was ready to kill them for kidnapping her, but now he’s protecting them with his life. Had he know they were just-
He heard a screech from above: Raptor, he assumed. It didn’t matter.
Whatever it took, he would keep Ivy safe.
…
Freckle turned around and shot at the Raptor, forcing it to run from its hiding spot and into the open. Darius ran towards the emergency lift, as the others, Ivy included, ran into the outside, Ben following behind as he held his spear.
Yasmina limped as Sammy tried desperately to carry her, just barely being helped by Brooklynn and Ivy, as the 4 joined Darius in the lift.
Darius checked the device one more time: Just a minute remained.
He hoped this one minute wouldn’t be their end.
…
How fast were these things?
Freckle swore he had managed to get a good shot on them enough times at this point, but everytime he did it somehow managed to dodge it, running faster than even he could. These “Raptors” just avoided any shot or hit they threw at them. How could that even be possible? Where did these things even come from-
*CLICK*
The clip was empty. Dammit. Freckle prepared to reload, ripping out the empty clip-
Just as he saw the Raptor start running towards him.
“Screw it,” Freckle thought under his breath.
He threw the now empty clip at the Raptor’s face,causing it to stumble a little bit.
Freckle didn’t have time to wait and laugh at the damn thing, as he slammed the second clip into the gun, ready to-
“BEN, FRECKLE, COME ON!”
Freckle looked up and saw Darius calling for him and Ben, the other kid he assumed. He was immediately grabbed by Ben, before the other raptor slashed at the place that he once stood.
The two ran hard, barely dodging the Raptor’s razor sharp claws and talons shaped like a scythe of the grim reaper. It almost seemed like they were being chased by death itself. Some unholy being that could never possibly exist in their world.
The second he neared the lift, he felt Ivy tug him the rest of the way inside, as he turned to fire at the Raptor once more, making sure that thing stayed the hell away from them.
…
Ben slammed the button, nearly bruising his hand in the process, and thus made the lift begin its descent, the shuttered doors closing. Freckle fired a few more shots, causing the pursuing Raptor to back off just in time for it to miss the lift. He seemed to sigh in relief, feeling as if the worst was over.
Darius hoped he wasn’t feeling that.
Darius looked at the device. It was ready to be sent.
Darius slammed the send button at that minute.
“Yes,” he shouted almost on instinct, as the files that would expose Mantah Corp were sent to the Costa Rican Police. Everyone (except for Freckle and Ivy) cheered at the realization. They did it, they won.
They could go home now.
…
Freckle didn’t know what the kids did, or what that thing Darius was holding did, but whatever happened must’ve been a good thing. He smiled at that minute. Ivy smiled at him, tentatively, as she kissed him lightly. Freckle hugged her tightly, smiling as he did so. They were safe, it was all over now.
“It’s okay, Ivy,” Freckle told her, calmly, “It’s all over now.”
…
Darius’ heart skipped a beat when he heard Freckle say that. He turned his head to face him, as Freckle seemed to look in confused concern. Of all the things he could’ve possibly said at that very moment, of all the various sentences that could’ve escaped his mouth, ‘It’s all over now’ had to be the worst possible thing he could’ve said. Because the minute you think you’re safe from the horrors, the minute you let your guard down enough to think that it’s all over and everything is going to be just fine-
Darius heard the raptor land behind him, as one of the cables keeping the lift in place snapped, causing the lift to list on its side and stopping the lift right in its tracks.
…
Ivy yelped as she slipped and nearly fell off the lift. Freckle grabbed her hand, before nearly slipping himself. He grabbed a hold to the edge of the lift, as he watched his Tommy gun fall off the edge, and into the water below. They were now hanging from the lift, mere seconds from falling to an untimely end below.
Freckle had a pit in his stomach at that moment. In one second, everything went to hell.
…
Of course something had to go wrong, Darius thought, something always goes wrong. Why did he expect anything different this time?
Freckle and Ivy were about to fall off the edge, the others were not much better, and Ben was facing a Raptor alone. Just as soon as they had hope, it was crushed. This was it, unless somehow some miracles comes in to-
A faint splash caught Darius’ attention. He looked down and saw the tommy gun slowly sink into the-
“Everyone, jump for the lake,” Darius shouted out, causing everyone to look at him in shock.
“Are you insane,” Brooklynn replied, as she barely kept herself from slipping off the edge.
“You have to trust me,” Darius replied, as he took a deep breath and jumped to the lake below.
…
Freckle thought it was insane, but at this point what choice do they have. It’s either risking their life by jumping into the Lake below, or stay on the lift and surely become a victim of the Raptor.
He would rather take a risk.
“Ivy, you have let go,” Freckle told Ivy, as his grip started to fail. Ivy looked back up to him, horrified. “You have to trust me!”
Freckle readied himself, hoping that she made it to the lake, as he saw what he assumed to be the other 2 girls fall next to him, the other one holding onto their ankle in preparation.
“One,”
Freckle started counting. Ivy started to take deep breaths, as the pink haired girl fell next to him, holding her nose as if it’ll help her chances.
“Two,”
The raptor charged at Ben, as he continued to skirmish with it, barely keeping himself from slipping off the lift himself.
“Three!”
Ivy took a deep breath, and let go of Freckle’s hand, falling into the lake below.
…
Ben made his way towards the edge, ready to drop into the lake below and get the hell out-
Before being knocked over by the Raptor’s tail, his spear falling off the edge and into the lake below. Ben took a look at the Raptor, it’s razor sharp talon clicking, as it’s made it’s approach towards him-
Before wincing in pain as it was shot in the tail.
…
Freckle never expected the Pocket Pistol to actually be useful in this whole ordeal. He thanked god that he brought it with him.
The Raptor turned back to him, snarling. Freckle took another shot, aiming for the head this time-
And hit the cable keeping the cart suspended, snapping it, and causing the lift to completely flip onto its side.
Ben slid off it and towards the lake, as Freckle let go of the lift just in time, taking 3 more shots at the Raptor. All of the shots missed.
Freckle took a deep breath, as he prepared to hit the lake.
*SPLASH*
…
Darius coughed as he breached the surface, the water that entered him as soon as he splashed into the lake pouring out. He noticed the others coming not too far behind him. First Yasmina and Sammy (with the former being held by the latter), and then Brooklynn. Darius took a sigh of relief, they got out of this alive-
*SPLASH*
He saw Ben crash into the lake below, followed by Freckle. It was then that his heart sank.
Ivy hadn’t resurfaced.
…
The cold oppressive sensation of the summer lake waters stabbed Freckle’s body as he landed in the lake, illuminated by the ambient lights of the city next to him. He took a minute to reorient himself, as he searched for his Tommy Gun. He found it quickly, and grabbed it, before make his way to the-
He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard Ivy’s grunts.
He turned to find her, desperately trying to swim, as her leg was caught in seaweed.
“Oh god no!”
Freckle rushed down to Ivy, and began tearing at the seaweed, desperate to remove it before-
It was cut instantly by a Spear.
Freckle turned back to see Ben, smiling at him, before making his way to the surface. Freckle grabbed Ivy and began their ascent.
…
*SPLASH*
Darius rushed over to Ben as he resurfaced, hugging him tightly. He thanked god that he was okay.
*SPLASH*
Coughing caught their attention, as they turned back to find Ivy and Freckle resurfacing as well, barely having made it out.
“Thank you,” Freckle managed to cough out as he took a breather.
“No problem,” Ben responded, as he put around Darius and started to-
The screech of a Raptor forced Ben to push Darius ahead of him and block it with his spear.
…
Freckle watched as the Raptor emerged from the water, barely blocked by Ben’s spear. As if they needed any more reminders of its existence. He grabbed Ivy and ran, preparing to blow that thing back to the hellhole it came from-
*CLICK*
Wait, what?
*CLICK*
No.
*CLICK*
No no no no no.
*CLICK*
Freckle checked the chamber, and his heart sank. The Tommy Gun was jammed, water filling its chamber.
“Dammit,” Freckle shouted, as he dropped it to the ground and backed away. He checked his Pocket Pistol, the only other weapon at his disposal: Only 1 round remained.
He had to make this shot count, for Ivy, for every single one of the kids there. Nothing else mattered at that moment other than making sure everyone else made it out okay.
He began taking his aim towards the Raptor, ready to put an end to this nightmare once and for all-
And turned around in fear when he heard another one break through the front door.
…
Ben backed away from the Raptors, the group forming a circle, with Freckle holding gun towards whatever Raptor was closest, and Ben holding spear high, ready to stab whatever Raptor came close.
But it didn’t really seem like it’d matter.
No matter how quickly Ben could jab something with his spear, it would always move faster than him, and it seemed like Freckle’s gun couldn’t keep up with the Raptor’s lightning fast speed.
Darius almost broke down there. It seemed like this was it. The end.
They were really going to die here, weren’t they?
…
He could barely even hit 1 raptor with 5 shots, how was going to hit 2 raptors with 1?
Freckle realized it was hopeless, as the Raptors started to get closer. He prayed to god that whatever Rocky was doing, whatever batshit insane plan he had cooking up, that it would be enough to stop them.
“It’s okay, Ivy,” Freckle reassured Ivy, holding her hand tightly, making sure she was with him no matter what happened next.
So long as he was still with her, whatever happened next was fine by him.
He readied himself, keeping Ivy behind him as one the Raptors jumped at him, it’s talons ready to rip through them-
And was suddenly caught in the jaws of something else. Something even larger than it. Something that made him look in awe inspired terror.
…
T-Rex.
They all knew exactly what it was, and for once in their experience with its existence, its appearance was actually a good thing. The Rex threw the raptor to the lake, causing an audible splash from the now deceased predator. The other Raptor lunged onto its back, causing it to stumble towards the building, crashing into it with a resounding bang, before backing away from it.
The kids watched as it did so, almost with relief, before a red Red Ford Model A pulled up behind him. Darius recognized the car, as he did the cat that stepped out of it, maniacally laughing like some freakish clown. Freckle turned around and shouted at that instant towards the figure.
…
“ROCKY?!”
And on cue, his cousin made his presence known.
“Fear not, my beloved cousin, for help has arrived,” Rocky shouted, followed by his all too iconic laughter, as he swung around towards the dragon-like creature behind him. “Ain’t she a beaut?!”
“Rocky,” Freckle shouted back, “What the hell is-”
Rocky laughed again, as he shouted, at the top of his lungs, “I HAVE NO IDEA!!!”
Of course he had no idea, he just lured whatever the hell that thing was towards here and thought it was surely not going to end horribly.
Well, at least they were still alive and not horrifically injured.
Freckle grabbed Ivy and headed for the car, jumping right into the shotgun seat, before turning his head back and shouting at the kids,
…
“GET IN THE CAR!”
Darius didn’t think twice before following ahead, as the others followed suit. Being honest, they’d rather take their chances with the insane as hell cats than the T-Rex right about now. It was tight fit getting everyone in the car, but it would do.
“Freckle, Is it just me or-” Rocky tried to ask, before Freckle cut him off, Ivy sitting on his lap in the front seat.
“Just drive Rocky,” Freckle shouted, and on cue, the Raptor landed right next to them, almost jumping for their car, before getting picked right back up by Rex's jaw, clamping down with a ferocious chomp.
…
Freckle held on to Ivy for dear life as the car accelerated, watching behind him as the now lifeless Raptor, what before was almost impossible to kill, was thrown effortlessly into the hotel by the creature, causing it to collapse. It roared triumphantly after that, loud enough that it made his ears ring.
Freckle was thankful that it didn’t seem ready to eat them, at the very least.
…
Darius took a breath. The rain finally started to stop, dissipating into a light drizzle. They were on the outskirts of St. Louis, pulled over to the side of the road, the river flowing calmly beside it. It was calm, a brief respite from all that happened.
For the first time in a long while, Darius let his guard down. For now, at least, things were safe-
Something touched his shoulder.
Darius yelped in response, backing away towards a tree from whatever dinosaur wanted to turn him into their dinner-
Just to find Freckle, looking at him in shock, before calmly sitting down, as if reorienting himself.
…
“Rocky’s left for the Daisy,” Freckle explained, calmly, as he did everything in his power not to freak this kid out more than he already was.
“Good,” the kid responded, quietly, as his shoulders slightly dropped, and the tension in his body seemed to fade a little.
Freckle suddenly realized, this tension didn’t seem to be in response to whatever he did. The way he backed away into a corner, keeping his back against a tree, as if to keep someone from sneaking up on him. The way his hands were raised as if trying to keep a distance from someone threatening his life. The way his body tensed up, as if ready to be littered with bullets the next moment…
No, those were learnt long before he grazed that girl’s knee, before they were forced to kidnap Ivy. They learnt it from wherever the hell those things came from.
…
“That was that thing,” Freckle asked him, taking Darius by surprise, not just because he seemed genuinely apologetic, but also because he didn’t know what the hell a T-Rex was. Who doesn’t know about the-
Darius stopped himself, he didn’t want to complain to the man who saved their lives.
“It’s a T-rex,” Darius replied, “and it’s not the only dinosaur here.”
…
Dinosaur? Those things were dinosaurs?
As far as Freckle were concerned, Dinosaurs were just giant, dumb lizards that died out many years ago, they weren’t horrific monstrosities of reptilian scales that ripped through flesh and brought buildings to their knees. How could those things ever possibly die out-
Then the realization hit Freckle.
‘Not the only dinosaur.’
Those raptors that moved faster than bullets and ripped through flesh like a blade through cloth, and that T-Rex that moved the earth as if it was a dragon of old… And they aren’t even the only ones that were here? In St. Louis?
How many more of these things were there? If those things were bad enough, then how much worse were the rest of them?
And how many of these things did these kids have to Survive?
“How many more of these things are there,” Freckle asked again, paranoid for not just his and Ivy and Rocky and his mom and everyone else’s safety, but the kids’ own safety.
Darius took a minute to respond, before asking “Carnivores or Herbivores?”
“... What?”
Darius sighed, “Meat eater or plant eater?”
Freckle looked at him incredulously, before replying, hesitantly, “Meat-eater?”
Darius replied again, “Aside from the Rex and Raptors, there’s also the Dilophosaurus, Monolophosaurus, Spinosaurus, Baryonyx-”
“I’ve heard enough,” Freckle said, trying to stop himself from breaking down then and there. At least 4 more of those things, maybe more, were out there, and he’s only learning about it now?
… How long has this been going on for?
“You’re going to tell me exactly what’s going on,” Freckle spoke, calmly, but assertively.
…
Darius looked at Freckle, and hesitated. How was he going to explain everything to him? How could he explain it to him? The fall of Jurassic World, being stuck on Nublar for six months, the Scorpios Rex, Mantah Corp experimenting with Multiversal Travel, all of it. How could he possibly explain it all to him if he doesn’t even know what a T-Rex is.
“It’s a long story,” Darius replied, his shoulders dropping further, as he took in a deep breath in, and silently let it out.
This was going to take a while.