Before Jurassic World

Chapter 20

A few weeks later I was at the raptor paddock shooting the shit with Barry while Owen took the girls through their paces.  The gala was tomorrow night, and so far everything was proceeding as planned.  Lowery had taken his rejection in stride, especially when I promised to put in a good word for him with Vivian, and I'd gotten the call from Zara today that Bilbo had finished my "revolutionary" creation.  Whatever that meant; I was trying hard not to think about it.

"They really accept him as the Alpha, huh?" I asked Barry, handing him the Skittles bag.

"Mostly," he responded taking a handful, then giving me the side eye.  "How is it you look like that when you eat like this?"

"Got lucky in the metabolism department," I shrugged.  "You all set for tomorrow?"

"Yes, Owen and I will meet you there.  You sure you can lift that access card?  We're dead in the water without it," Barry questioned.

I popped a Skittle into my mouth, raising my eyebrows at him.  Was he really questioning my mojo?  He smiled, laughing at me, then returned his gaze to Owen who was just wrapping up.  He called out to each of the raptors individually before tossing them a rat (yuck) as a reward for a job well done.  I stood up, grabbing my candy and making my way towards the stairs.

"Nice man, they did well today," Barry told Owen.

"Good day," Owen responded modestly.  "We need to get them into containment so the vet techs can check them real quick.  Then we can let them out for the rest of the day."

Barry nodded, making his way down the stairs to quarantine the girls.  Owen and I fell into step beside each other as we walked down the stairs.   Without looking at me he held his hand and waited, I dumped a handful of Skittles out into his palm begrudgingly.  There was no "we" in sharing, but somehow these two always found ways to siphon my supply of treats.  I blamed it on their good looks.  It's hard to think straight when you're surrounded by men who look like underwear models.

"You hanging out for a while or do you have some behavior to assess elsewhere?" Owen asked as we walked towards the containment units.

"Actually, Simon wanted a visual inspection of the raptor paddock.  Can I knock it out now since the girls are in containment?"  Might as well kill two birds with one stone, you know, since technically I was supposed to be working.

"Sure, go ahead around.  I gotta head back upstairs, I forgot the buckets, you good by yourself?"

"Yes mom," I said winking.

He shook his head, smiling at me as he headed back up the stairs.  I made my way to the first security door hitting the green button, tapping my foot as I waited on the door to rise.  Once inside I hit the red button closing it, and repeated the process at the next door.  Lord help us if we were ever in a hurry.

I stepped into the raptor paddock, making my way around the enclosure slowly inspecting the walls and security.  I made mental notes of any changes I could recall or any evidence the raptors were investigating one area more than another.  I glanced over my shoulder and saw Owen speaking with one of the new hires at the top of the catwalk.

I was almost in the middle of the paddock when I heard a bell ring out at the opposite end of the enclosure.  I froze looking towards the sound trying to process what I was hearing.  Time seemed to stand still as every thought blurred in my head somehow moving agonizingly slow and ridiculously fast all at once.  That ringing was a signal the containment units had been opened.  I shook my head, that couldn't be right because that would mean the raptors were now in the paddock with me.