Clawen ♡ Second Time's the Charm

Chapter 5: Puffs of Dust

Owen's mind was blank except for the one thing that had become clear to him: Don't get killed. He was running the race of his life, the Indominus gaining on him. She reached the observation room door several seconds before he did.

His plan of escape foiled, Owen slid to a stop and began racing for the only opening left- the paddock's gate. Nick had already shambled there and was frantically punching in the code to open the gate. Slowly, the large door moved over to one side, creating a huge opening. Owen took his chance and sprinted for it. Don't look back, he told himself.

To his ultimate horror, the gate started to close when he was still many yards away. He put his head down, muscles working in desperation, and ran faster than he'd ever run in his entire life.

Back inside the observation room, tears streamed down Claire's pale face. She was pressed against the glass wall, groping at it blindly, longing to be able to do something about the whole situation. But all she could do was watch as Owen dashed madly for the gate. Please don't die. Please don't die. I can't watch you die. You can't die, Owen.
         
A few seconds before the gate would have been completely sealed, he managed to slip through the shrinking opening. Claire moaned in relief, sinking to her knees. Then she let out a gasp-- the Indominus had forced her head through the opening, too, and was smashing through the gate. The metal folded and crumpled like a flimsy piece of paper.

"Oh, God..." Claire whispered. The dinosaur roared victoriously when she broke free of the gate and, for the first time, stepped outside of her paddock. She studied her surroundings before easily picking up the scent of the humans. Claire trembled violently, too scared to even cry.

Owen dove under one of the park-issued vehicles and stilled his quaking body. He stared at the bottom of the vehicle, trying to focus on calming his ragged breathing, and listened for the approaching dinosaur. He spotted her enormous claws and tail nearing another vehicle. Then, his heart skipped a beat.

That very same vehicle was sheltering Nick. Their terrified eyes met and Owen saw that Nick was crying quietly while sucking on his thumb in an attempt to silence himself. Unfortunately, the Indominus wasn't satisfied with his attempts and had a much more efficient way in mind to silence him.

With a powerful shove, the vehicle went soaring into the air and crashing onto the ground near Owen, who shielded his face from the flying bits of shattered glass. He looked back at Nick, who was hunched down in front of the Indominus.

They met each other's gazes once more, and then Nick was gone. Owen was dazed, unable to move. One moment Nick was sitting there, trembling and sobbing but still alive. And the next moment, it was as if he had never existed. The Indominus growled and sniffed the air. He was next.

Owen forced his shocked body to move as a plan formed in his head. He slashed the vehicle's fuel line with his knife and held his breath as the gasoline splashed onto his face and chest. With a grimace, he rubbed the liquid into his clothes to mask his scent with its strong odor. He could hear the dinosaur coming closer, could feel the ground trembling with him.

Bloody jaws came into view, and the Indominus flared her nostrils beside the vehicle. Owen held his breath, screwed his eyes shut, and compelled himself to stay still. After getting a only whiff of gasoline and no human scents, the dinosaur snarled in frustration and stormed away. He let out his breath as slowly as he could and lay under the vehicle, trembling in immense relief.

Inside the observation room, Claire was hunched on the floor, not knowing what she was doing anymore. She had her wet face buried in her hands. Her thoughts were piling up, drowning her in an endless sea.

There's a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur loose in the park that has never seen anything outside the walls of its cage, that hasn't eaten at all today, and that has already killed people. The park will be shut down, the public will despise me. The company will lose millions of dollars. I'll lose everything, everyone, my job. And Owen.

She balled her fists and slammed them down into the ground at the thought of him. He's probably dead because of me. I shouldn't have let them go inside. I let my heart overpower my head.

Claire's thoughts paused for a moment when she heard a bone chilling sound fill the air. The roar of the Indominus. But it was fading, as if she was traveling farther and farther away. Claire forced herself to move. Crying doesn't help anyone.

She stood up shakily and opened the door leading outside. Peeking through the small opening, she didn't see the Indominus anywhere, but she could hear her distant roars, which confirmed that she had abandoned this place. But was she leaving because she had already killed her targets?

Claire hurried down the steps and rushed toward the broken gate of the paddock. She spun around, surveying the mess- the wrecked cars, pools of blood where someone used to be, scattered rubble. Her heart pounded and she shook her head.

"No, no, no," she whispered. It was obvious whom she was looking for. But amid the mess, she didn't spot her idiotic caveman and his ridiculous vest. So when he emerged from underneath one of the vehicles, her shock was unimaginable, uncontainable.

"Claire, you shouldn't be out here... not alone..." he breathed, his voice tired and relieved and stressed all at once.

Claire stared at him, trembling and fighting off the waves of tears. Hearing his voice again made her heart stop beating. Seeing him again, knowing that he was alive, that he was still here, made her want to cry and laugh and smile all at once. Owen tilted his head to one side as he watched her. He made his way carefully toward her shaking body.

"Claire," he whispered.

To his surprise, she rushed forward and placed her hands on his vest, tracing the outline of his pockets and running her fingers up to his neck as if she were checking him for injuries. True, she was inspecting every inch of him for injury, but deep inside, she just wanted to be near him, to touch him as if to make sure that he was really there, that it wasn't just a dream.

Owen, who had momentarily frozen when Claire threw herself at him, brought his hands around her back and pushed her closer. She looked up at him with wet eyes. "I thought you died," she breathed, for once not caring whether she sounded vulnerable or not.

Owen's heart skipped a beat. He watched her intently before lifting his hand from her back and gently tucking a loose strand of red hair behind her ear. His fingers brushed the lobe of her ear and the skin of her neck.

"I'm here, Claire. I'm alive," he said quietly. Claire nodded and wiped her face hastily, coming to the realization that perhaps she had shown too much emotion. She pulled away from Owen and averted her gaze. Stop it, Claire! You don't even like him, and there are so many more important things to focus on!

"We need to go to the control room immediately. There, we'll be able to track the Indominus," she said, straightening her blouse determinedly as panic began to creep back into her veins. Owen nodded, hiding his disappointment well. He understood that having a hungry carnivorous hybrid loose on the island wouldn't be any picnic, especially for the Senior Assets Manager.

Claire marched over to her white car, which thankfully hadn't been wrecked by the Indominus because it had been on the other side of the paddock. She climbed into the driver's seat while Owen got in beside her. The car sped off in the direction of the control room, leaving behind puffs of dust.
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