cerise; owen grady

Chapter Five: Fighters

Owen and I stepped off the motorcycle to find Claire chatting with a worker. She saw us and noticed Owen eyeing the many construction workers.

"We've been pre-booking tickets for months. The park needs a new attraction every few years in order to reinvigorate the public's interests; kind of like the space program," Claire said as she led us up the stairs to the inside of the paddock. "Corporate felt that genetic modification would up the wow-factor."

"They're dinosaurs. Wow enough." I muttered under my breath, earning a glare from Claire.

"Not according to our focus groups."  She replied. "The Indominus Rex makes us relevant again."

Owen let out a small chuckle,"The Indominus Rex."

"We needed something scary and easy to pronounce. You should hear a four-year-old try to say,'archaornithomimus,'" Claire countered. 

"You should hear you try to say it," said Owen. I smirked as we entered the enclosed part of the paddock.

There were several large windows that overlooked the paddock, paired with some huge trees and rocks to make it seem more tropical. I placed my hands on my hips and walked towards the window. 

"So what's this thing made of?" I asked, gazing out at the paddock.

Claire looked away nervously and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "The base genome is a T-Rex, the rest is classified."

"You made a new dinosaur but you don't even know what it is?" Owen asked as he stole a glance out the window.

"The lab delivers us finished assets and we show them to the public - can we drop a steer please?" Claire called. She nodded towards the guard who was stuffing his face with food. He pressed a few buttons and a crane began lowering a disgusting piece of skinned meat.

I leaned in a bit closer before covering my mouth with one hand. "How long has the animal been in here?"

"All its life."

Owen's eyes flickered around the cage. "Ever seen anything outside of these walls?"

She shook her head,"We can't exactly walk it."

He pursed his lips before lifting his hand to point. "And you feed it with that?" 

We all watched as the meat was lowered to the bottom of the paddock. Claire's face faltered for a moment and she shook her head slightly. I almost felt bad. "Is there...a problem?"

I stepped forward to say,"Animals raised in isolation aren't always the most functional."

"Your raptors are born in captivity," said Claire as she turned to Owen. 

"With siblings," He said. "They learn social skills. And I imprint on them when they're born. There's trust. The only positive relationship this animal has is with that crane."

I let out a shaky breath. "At least she knows that means food." 

"So..she needs a friend; we should schedule playdates, that sort of thing?" Claire muttered, stepping closer to the window.

Owen frowned. "Probably not a good idea."

Claire began to tap on the window and my eyes widened by how she was acting. She could get herself killed by agitating the animal. 

"Is it in the basement? Or downstairs? Maybe it's in the rec room." Owen said sarcastically.

"It was just here, we were just here." Claire said quietly, worry clear in her features. She walked over to a small podium that held an electronic device and tapped it. It made a noise and several screens on the wall were covered with a red flashing overlay.

Owen's back faced us as he walked away towards the back wall. "Oh shit."

The guard set down his bag of chips for a moment and rolled on the moving chair. "That doesn't make any sense. These doors haven't opened in weeks."

My smirk faltered a little and I walked by his side. "Um, Claire? Were those claw marks always there?"

"You think it...Oh god." Claire said with fear. "She has an implant in her back, I can track it from the control room." She raced out of the room and to her car quickly.

Owen looked at me and mouthed,'go,' and I followed him, the guard, and a construction worker into the paddock. The sliding vault closed behind us, so we couldn't get out. We all looked around and walked behind the worker, who was studying the large, white claw marks that were fresh on the cement wall. Owen traced one mark that was bigger than himself and gaped up at the other marks.

The guard followed his gaze. "That wall's forty feet high. You really think she could've climbed out?"

"Depends," said Owen vaguely. 

"On what?" I asked.

"What kind of dinosaur they cooked up in that lab."

Suddenly, a female's voice was heard from the guard's radio. "Paddock eleven, this is control. You need to evacuate the - " Her voice was almost immediately caught off from static.

"Hey, what's the problem?" The guard asked.

"She's in the cage! It's in there with you!"

I gasped before shouting,"Go! Go!"

Owen and I followed the worker and halted. Before us stood a massive beast; bigger than a t-rex! It let out a loud growl and began to chase us. We ran and I don't think I had ever been more terrified. Ever.

I had no time, air, or will left in me to scream as the monster ran ten times faster than any thing that God could create. I ran so fast that I didn't have the extra energy to look back while the worker was being eaten.

The guard pressed his hand onto a scanner and the large door opened while the guard scurriedout in fear. I ran side by side with Owen, hoping to escape the dinosaurs talons. We ran out just in time as the doors were closing.

On the dinosaur.

It broke free as Owen pushed me under a car and slid next to me, pulling me into his chest. I felt his heart beating rapidly and I knew mine was also. The dinosaur was visible as it moved around to the truck where the guard sat and cowered. Owen and I watched in horror as the dinosaur trapped the man in its teeth and ate him entirely. I let out an inaudible whimper and cuddled into Owen's chest.

He looked like he had just experienced an aha-moment as he pulled his pocket knife out and cut a cord. Coolant spilled all over both of us and he rubbed it onto our clothes.

A tear trailed down my cheek when the Indominus headed to our car next. It sniffed the air and lowered itself so that its cerise-stained teeth were visible. 

It finally walked away from the car and Owen released a shaky breath.

I now understood how Alan Grant had felt when he had decided not to endorse John Hammond's first park.