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There was no place in Thailand like this. Large structures full of exotic, prehistoric creatures behind glass. Bullet trains whipping around the complex with million dollar views of the water and the animals. Feeding shows with the beasts, showcasing their speed, strength, and capabilities.
Dinosaurs weren’t anything new now. For the last 30 years they’d been showcased to the public, breeding in secret captivity for years before that. They were still money makers, though, as shown from the record sales in the Jurassic World park off the coast of Costa Rica, the only park of its kind in the world so far. There might have been more if investors were used to sharing.
Working there was an opportunity of a lifetime, though more and more jobs came up on the market as the park expanded. They were constantly looking for new employees that were bi- or multilingual, and Li Ming happened to be the perfect fit.
He and Heart had been practicing their English constantly before deciding to move to the United States, especially since Heart would need it to go to college there. He was pretty good at it already, with the wealthy family tutors he had even before he went deaf. Li Ming was catching on, though, enough to land a job as a Gyrosphere Instructor in Jurassic World.
“Gyrosphere Instructor” was a fancy name for the gyrosphere ride operator, but it would look good on a resume, along with “Thai Interpreter." He had only been called once for interpretation in the park in the last 2 months to help a Thai mother find her lost child, but the experience still counted.
It was a bright, humid day at the park with no clouds in sight. Li Ming stood at his post, greeting guests and helping them into the gyrospheres, reminding them to watch the instructional video carefully and answering any questions they had. Many of the guests were sweaty and uncomfortable in line, impatient as the next gyrospheres rolled up. But Li Ming was comfortable here, as the latitude was similar to Thailand’s, and he reassured guests they would get in as soon as he helped the other guests get out of the ride.
Li Ming was closing the door to a gyrosphere when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“One moment please,” he said, making sure the seal on the door was flush.
Another tap on his shoulder.
Li Ming sighed and turned around, expecting an impatient guest, but instead he was greeted with the delightful, smiling face of his boyfriend. A season pass lanyard hung around his neck, courtesy of Li Ming’s employee discount (and Heart’s mom’s credit card), and a shopping bag was slung over his shoulder.
Li Ming hugged Heart quickly, glancing over his shoulder at the upcoming gyrospheres on the park map. They had 2 minutes to talk, unless Heart wanted to stand around while Li Ming helped people, which he usually did.
Aren’t you supposed to be on campus? Li Ming signed, wanting to give a more serious look at his boyfriend, but failing to keep the smile off of his face.
Heart just shrugged, saying out loud, “I wanted to see you.”
Heart’s voice was one of Li Ming’s most favorite things ever, and he was so glad Heart was practicing speaking when he could. It was usually short sentences or a couple words, but his voice was getting stronger and the pronunciation was getting better.
Have you eaten? Li Ming signed. As Heart began to answer, a voice broke through the walkie-talkie on Li Ming’s shoulder, and he held a hand up to let Heart know he was getting paged.
“All personnel, please suspend operations of your current station immediately, no exceptions. All guests currently on rides will be escorted off of them by field agents as soon as possible. Please leave your station and head to the nearest safe zone.”
Close down the ride? Was there a wildfire or something?
Before Li Ming could think of more excuses as to why the park was suddenly shutting down, a low, menacing siren sounded through the park. Li Ming knew that siren. They played it over a few times during orientation to help it stick. Containment Breach.
Li Ming moved quickly, flipping switches on his console to power the signs down, reaching for his intercom to make an announcement to the line of people in front of him. He held the speaker up to his mouth and saw the worried looks on the guests’ faces as they looked around for the source of the siren.
“Um, Everyone, the ride is closed for now. Please make your way to the nearest building marked with the safe zone symbol.”
There were groans in the crowd from those who had been waiting for this ride for hours, along with people piping up to accuse Li Ming of stopping the ride for some selfish reason, but many people were trying to turn around to walk away, creating havoc in the crowd.
“Hey, everyone, please try to stay calm-” Li Ming did what he could to keep everyone from panicking, but large crowds lost control fast, and soon everyone was scrambling over each other. The siren was getting louder too, shifting in tones and causing the atmosphere to feel eerie. Before Li Ming could call over the intercom again there was a tug at his shoulder.
Heart stood next to him, a confused, concerned look on his face. He motioned at all the people, begging with his eyes for his boyfriend to explain to him what was happening.
Sorry, Li Ming fumbled with his hands, We have to go. There’s been an emergency.
He could barely say “Containment Breach” in English, let alone know it in Thai Sign Language, so he would have to explain it to Heart later.
As Li Ming stepped out from behind the counter to guide the two of them towards the inner park buildings, the loud screech of tearing metal and the snapping of powered cable lines came from the central park in front of them. Blood-curdling screams rang out an instant later, followed by the hollow sound of running footsteps on the park concrete and a pair of heavier steps thumping after them.
Heart, oblivious to the noises, kept moving, watching his step down the stairs, not noticing people now running his direction. Li Ming grabbed his arm, pulling him back up the stairs, signing Not safe over and over to make sure Heart could understand. The shorter boy looked out over the chaotic crowd, trying to focus his sights down the winding path to the gyroscope ride, but everything was covered in foliage and trees apart from the tall buildings sticking out of the green.
Li Ming had to think quickly, pushing his boyfriend towards the empty gyrosphere that just slid into place at the loading dock. Heart gave him a confused look, pointing at the now glowing “Closed” sign hanging over the dock, wondering why they would get into a park ride in an emergency. Li Ming rapped his knuckles over the thick glass of the sphere, signing Safer than out here before pushing Heart to climb into the gyrosphere, sliding into the seat next to him.
Li Ming closed the door behind him, reaching out towards the screen to override the park safety procedures with his employee number. Talking dinosaur cartoon characters were replaced with a park map and touch screen controls. Li Ming had done this once before, taking Heart on a joy ride around the park’s plains when his co-worker came to take over his shift. The gentle thrill of that moment was long gone, replaced with panicked heartbeats and sweaty palms as Li Ming tried to start the gyrosphere forward.
Heart looked over his shoulder towards the crowd as the ride began to move. He swore he saw something huge poke through the treetops, grey and blurry, disappearing as soon as it appeared.
As the gyrosphere bounced through the tall plain grass, Heart tried to ask Li Ming where they were heading. Li Ming pointed at a circle on the map with a dot in the middle that was located in a darker green region to the left of them.
Li Ming made a sharp turn when he spotted a gap through the trees into the forested region of the park, praying that the ground was smooth enough to glide over. Guests weren’t allowed to take the gyrospheres out of the designated plains areas because of the way the landscape was built, but Li Ming recognized the circle symbol on the map as a safe zone building, and he was going to get Heart there.
Every sound was muffled in the gyrosphere: the crunch of the leaves they glided over as they squeezed through the trees, the rushed pounding of animal footsteps running nearby, and the screams of the guests they had left behind at the ride station. The sounds faded more as they got further into the woods. The two boys had subconsciously grabbed each other’s hands after they had gotten into the sphere, squeezing tighter with every shadow that passed over them and every bump in the ground below them.
Heart felt helpless in this situation. He knew something was wrong, of course, but he couldn’t figure out exactly why. There were so many things that could go wrong in a park like this, and he wasn't sure which one of them it was. The people that owned Jurassic World gloated about how much money they spent on the technology here, so Heart was hoping they would have everything under control soon. He had missed any sort of warnings or sirens of indication in the park, and he couldn’t read Li Ming’s lips before with the damn intercom in the way. He just held onto his boyfriend’s hand, knowing Li Ming was trying to take them somewhere safe, even if the middle of the woods looked scarier than trying to get somewhere in the main park.
The gyrosphere slowed and curved again, and a small building came into sight. Li Ming started to sign something when there was a low, short rumble that shook the gyrosphere. Heart looked around, scanning the trees when another rumble came. There were a couple of seconds between each rumble, and they each shook the sphere a little more, getting closer.
Li Ming’s eyes were wide, but he kept pushing the gyrosphere forward, disregarding the scratching of the glass on tree branches and roots slithering out of the ground. He pulled the sphere about 10 feet from the door of the compound.
Heart took the chance to look over his shoulder after getting his seatbelt off, looking around them for the source of the rumbling. Something deep red caught the corner of his eye, and he turned to see a large, three toed foot stomp around a tree, followed by another, both connected to a large, leathery, burgundy body. The head attached on top was similar to the famous T-Rex, who Heart had seen in the park, but the nose bridge looked taller, and there were two spikes sticking out of either side of her head. Her mouth opened slightly, revealing her rows of sharp teeth, and she sniffed the air, seemingly trying to decide what the big glass ball was. The worst part was, she was only about two strides behind them.
Heart grabbed Li Ming’s arm and shook it, letting out a quiet whimper as he urgently pointed behind them. Another rumble shook the gyrosphere very closely and Li Ming turned. He saw the horns and the teeth, and the beady eyes scanning them. Another step and she’d be right behind them. Li Ming signed slowly to Stay Still, and Heart nodded once in return. They had seen in a movie once, to not let the predator in on their presence by being completely still.
The Carnotaurus stepped towards them one final time, her feet landing inches from the glass, the claws on her little arms flexing. She wasn’t as big as some of the star dinosaurs of the park, but she was definitely taller than the sphere, her stance wider. She peered down at the boys through the top of the glass. They could see the ridges covering her nose bridge, and a piece of something stuck in her teeth from her last meal.
Li Ming had been clenching his jaw to the point that it was painful, and he felt Heart’s hand shaking in his. The beast tilted her head at them like a curious dog, and for a moment everything was still.
Her clawed foot raised up and she pushed it down on the sphere, flipping the boys upside down and launching the ball into the side of the compound building. The sphere cracked some of the wood siding of the building, but rolled back towards the Carnotaurus, where she swung her leg up again, this time successfully smashing the ball through the building wall.
The boys were shaken up, literally, littered with bruises from bouncing around the inside of the gyrosphere. Li Ming landed on his stomach and Heart landed on his back, both of their heads pointed towards the hole in the wall. The glass where she had been slamming into the sphere was severely cracked, and she could easily collapse the ball with her foot, or her nose.
The boys scrambled to stand up, Li Ming moving to smash on the “open door” button on the control screen that was thankfully still working. A rumble, another footstep closer. The gyrosphere door opened about half way, and Li Ming pushed it up, opening it enough for the boys to crawl through. Another rumble.
There was a hatch on the floor in the compound and Li Ming threw it open, revealing stairs leading down. He turned to grab Heart, who was right behind him. The Carnotaurus had since stuck her head through the hole in the complex wall, sniffing at the gyrosphere. The sound of the hatch doors opening shifted her attention to the boys. The two hurried down the stairs, closing the hatch behind them. As they ran down the steps, the sound of wood and glass cracking followed them. Li Ming could only picture her ripping the upper structure apart, smashing the sphere to pieces.
It was dark in the underground concrete structure. There were some dim overhead lights shining on the ceiling, but one’s eyes took some time to get used to the shadow. The boys made their way through the structure, ending up in a room with two Jurassic World branded Jeeps, and shelves and supply crates lining the walls. There was a garage door behind the vehicles with no windows to indicate where they were.
The two opened up the crates that were unlocked, finding tarps, raincoats, and other supplies. Heart pulled out a flashlight from his box, pointing it at Li Ming and turning it on. Heart could now see that Li Ming was bleeding from a cut on his lower thigh, the blood smeared around on his knee. He looked around for some sort of first aid kit. There was one hanging on the wall, so Heart gathered some supplies and made Li Ming sit on a crate to tend to his wound.
“Do you think we’re safe in here?” Heart asked out loud, wiping blood off of the other’s skin and tossing the used gauze away from them. He looked up to Li Ming who was thinking, worry still written on his face. He signed I think so, but his expression wasn’t promising. Li Ming winced at the alcohol wipe swiping over his cut, and Heart mumbled “Sorry” over and over as he cleaned the wound.
Li Ming heard a subtle tapping coming down the hallway they entered through and he grabbed Heart’s shoulder, stopping him from rummaging in the first aid box for a bandage. Heart had set his flashlight down, pointed towards the hallway opening. A small, green lizard-like creature stepped into the beam, looking at the boys curiously. It looked like a dinosaur, but couldn’t have been much bigger than a cat. It bent down and pecked at a discarded, bloodied gauze like a bird before taking the gauze into its mouth and shaking it.
The boys looked at each other, relieved that it was something so small, so harmless looking. The creature dropped the gauze and chirped a couple times, looking down the hallway. Li Ming stood up and walked around Heart, picking the flashlight up and pointing it down the hallway. Heart watched him take a few steps back, mouthing “Let’s go!” and pointing towards the Jeeps. Another one of the creatures came out of the hallway, then another, and another.
They were circling Li Ming, Heart saw, and one jumped up onto Li Ming’s leg as he tried the Jeep door. He kicked it off, but then another jumped up on him. He would manage to knock one off, but another would jump up, digging their razor claws and teeth into his skin.
Heart was panicking like he had never panicked before. He raced around the side of the room, looking for some sort of weapon. The tiny Compys had noticed him as well, and a couple were making their way over to him. There was a hose hanging on the wall near a shelf of tools. A power hose.
Heart pulled the hose off the wall, turning the water spout on, and aiming at the creatures now on his heels. He pulled the trigger, sending a powerful shot of water at the Compys, blasting them off their feet. They slammed into the floor before pulling themselves up and scampering away down the hallway.
Heart ran around the car with the hose, aiming it at the creatures jumping up onto his boyfriend. He shot at them and they flew off of Li Ming, their bodies hitting the Jeep parked next to him. He kept the trigger held down, trying to get every last one. The creatures started to retreat, not sure what was happening to them. Heart knew the water stream probably stung Li Ming’s skin too, but it was better than being mauled to death.
Heart shot one last dino off of Li Ming’s shoulder, and it scurried away down the hallway after its siblings. Li Ming stood there panting, covered in little scratches and bite marks, totally soaked from the power washer. Heart said sorry again, dropping the hose onto the concrete. Li Ming didn’t respond, instead motioning towards the Jeep and climbing in the driver’s seat.
Heart got into the passenger, making sure there were no more little beasts following him before he slammed the door shut. He turned to look at Li Ming, to ask if he was alright, maybe ask if he should get the first aid kit again. But Li Ming reached out and grabbed Heart by the neck, pulling him in for a kiss. It was short but powerful, containing all the emotions they were experiencing while fighting for their lives. The kiss tasted of sweat and a little blood, as one of the creatures nicked Li Ming’s lower lip, but Heart welcomed it. It told him his boyfriend was going to be okay, and that they just had to keep going.
When the two boys pulled away, Li Ming said “Thank you,” to Heart, giving him a smile even after what had just happened. Heart swiped his thumb over Li Ming’s cheek, cleaning a little bit of dirt off his face, smiling back at him.
Li Ming snatched the car keys off the dash and started the Jeep, backing it up a little. He pressed random buttons on a remote clipped to the visor until the garage door opened. Daylight shone through the opening crack in the door. Heart pulled a map out of the glovebox and scanned it, looking for anything useful. There was a dock very close by that they could reach, belonging to the Cretaceous Coast Boat Tours. Maybe there would be rescue teams docked or helicopters flying overhead, or even just a boat. Anything.
The two boys reached the shoreline relatively easily, aside from some heavily armored dinosaurs that dented the side of the Jeep just by running by. Their tails had heavy bone at the end, and they swung like chained maces, just low enough to avoid smashing through the passenger window and into Heart’s head.
They pulled up to the side of the Cretaceous Coast Boat Tours, using Li Ming’s employee code to get through the locked doors and up the stairs to the dock platform. They expected people leaving the island on boat or trying to reach safety, but there was no movement. Silence.
Are we too late already? Heart signed as he and Li Ming walked toward the end of the docks where one last boat was stationed. Behind them was an expanse of the park with shops and entrances to other rides lining the street. Discarded food and bags littered the ground, and some of the decorations hanging between buildings were torn down.
Heart had tried calling anyone he could on his cellphone while they were driving the Jeep, but the signal was weak and unreliable, each of his calls failing. He didn’t pay for the wifi while he was here either, and Li Ming’s phone was in his work locker on the other side of the park. If they couldn’t get this boat started, they were trapped.
Look for the keys. I’ll check for gas Li Ming signed, moving to where he thought there might be extra gas cans, just in case this boat was close to empty. Heart climbed in the boat, searching over the dash board and seats for any sign of keys.
Thump. Thump. A familiar rumble sounded through the park behind the boat docks. Li Ming shot up from his spot rummaging through the boat house storage and turned towards Heart. He hadn’t felt the rumbles on the rocking boat. Li Ming ran over, hoping into the boat and pulling Heart down to hide behind the boat seats, looking over the headrests cautiously.
The snout of a very large dinosaur appeared around a building first, jagged teeth lining inside the long, narrow mouth, a human arm dropping out of it and onto the ground. Next came the body, red and white striped, a long sail adorning her back. She had shorter arms and meaty legs, her lengthy tail swishing behind her to keep her steady. She walked slowly, eyes sweeping the surrounding area. She didn’t notice the boys from that far away, but there was no telling how well her senses worked, especially with any random animal DNA that might be mixed with hers.
The Spinosaurus whipped her head to the side, following the sound of more thumping from the other side of the street. The red Carnotaurus walked onto the concrete, making guttural noises towards the bigger dinosaur. The Spino responded with a short roar that vibrated the boat. The two circled each other, stalking very slowly.
The Carno lunged first, going for the Spino’s neck. Claws scraped violently against the concrete. They let out monstrous noises with each attack, flesh tearing under teeth. Heart sunk down into the boat, letting his hands hold him up from the floor. Instead of finding cold, smooth metal, his left hand hit something ridged and free, sliding across the floor under his fingers.
Heart snatched the boat keys off the floor and wiggled them in Li Ming’s face, who was still engrossed in the territorial fight displayed in front of them. Li Ming sucked in a breath, turning to crawl towards the front of the boat. Heart hopped into the front seat, sliding the key into the ignition.
At the same moment that the boat sprang to life, a horrifying crack rang out behind them. Heart pressed the pedal on the floor and the boat spurted forward. Li Ming turned in his seat, checking the scene. The Spinosaurus stood over the body of the Carno, her foot on the other's head. She had cracked her neck, the Carno’s body limp against the concrete.
Before she could feast, the drumming of the boat altered the Spino to the boys’ location, and she stepped toward the docks. Heart had taken the initiative to floor it, so they were speeding away as fast as they could. Li Ming watched her get to the edge of the dock, leaning down to inspect the water. It was as if she was contemplating jumping in after them. Thankfully, something in one of the buildings drew her attention, and she turned around, beginning another territorial stalking.
When the boat got far enough away from the island, the boys switched the engine off to think about their next moves and look at the supplies that had. But first they hugged tightly, making sure they had really made it this far together.
Two weeks later, a check arrived in the mail from InGen. It seemed to be a mix of workers’ comp and hush money, but the boys didn’t care. It was a speck in the billions of dollars the company had, but it was enough to buy Uncle Jim five new chicken restaurants back in Thailand, at least. The two would put it in savings, using it to pay off Heart’s student debt for now.
Heart had felt terrible after the Jurassic World catastrophe. Not only was it traumatizing, Li Ming looked ten times worse than he did. Heart had a few bumps and bruises, but Li Ming was covered in Compy bites and slashes, and his thigh wound had gotten infected. He looked much better after their hospital trip, which InGen also covered, but Heart still felt bad.
Li Ming didn’t seem to be that phased from it all. They both had nightmares the first week back, but Li Ming had come to the U.S. for money and freedom, and now he had more than he knew what to do with. He’d still find another job soon, but for now he could bother Heart by sending flowers to all his classes and making him the two dishes he knew how to make: eggs and chicken over rice.