FIFTEEN

Over the next three days, Alan and Ellie went out every morning with lunches packed in their backpacks, intending to spend the entire day in the field studying the animals, but when they returned to the dormitory in the evening, they did so with few new sightings and very little useable information to add to Alan's meticulous documentation.  By the third day, every species that had populated the area near the compound seemed to have vanished without a trace.

"It's like all the animals in the area have moved to another part of the island," Alan commented on the fourth day as they trudged through a large grassy field, puzzled by the mysterious evacuation.  "Nothing like this has ever happened during the whole time I've been on the island."

"Why do you suppose that is?" Ellie asked.  "Do you think this is evidence that they're trying to migrate?"  Noticing that her shoe seemed a little loose, she glanced down and watched as her shoelace flopped back and forth with each step.  "Oh, great," she muttered as she knelt down in the gently waving knee-high grass to retie it.

Alan stopped beside her to wait.  In answer to her question, he lifted his shoulders in a bewildered shrug, at loss for a rational explanation to the peculiar phenomenon that they were witnessing.  "That's a good question.  This didn't happen when I was here in the fall, and I would have thought a seasonal migration would include attempts at both spring and fall migrations.  Up until recently, I encountered multiple species every time I left the compound."  He paused with a thoughtful frown etched on his brow, considering the frequency of the earlier sightings compared with the lack of them, now.  "Now that I think about it, though, it does seem like I've been seeing a gradual decrease in sightings over the past couple of weeks, but I never thought of it as an exodus of any kind.  I assumed that the animals were here, but we just weren't connecting with them."

His eyes traveled across the island's landscape, studying the scattered groves of trees that dotted the plains, the long treeline that marked the edge of the jungle on their left, and the distant forested mountain ranges directly ahead of them.  Intently, he listened for the trumpeting calls of the great giants that were usually present in the open grassland, but only haunting silence came back to his attentive ears.  The complete absence of wildlife of any kind gave an eerie mood to the entire area.  Even the birds seemed to have vanished.

"What else could it be?" Ellie wondered.  With her shoe retied, she shifted position to tighten the other lace to prevent it from working its way loose as well.

"I haven't a clue, but if this lasts, we're either going to have to go to other parts of the island to find them, or throw in the towel and go home."

"You really want to do that?" she asked, surprised.  She tilted her head to look up at him, but the noon sun was high in the sky and nearly blinded her.  Blinking away the glare, she lowered her eyes back to the shoelace.

"No, but this is a big island.  It would take us days of traveling in the open to reach the areas that the animals might be, and that would open us up to all sorts of danger.  Not to mention, we wouldn't be able to carry enough provisions with us to last for an extended amount of time."

"What about the four wheeler?" she asked.  "We could use it to transport our provisions."

"Maybe," he responded, doubtfully.  "It isn't easy to push, though, and it would be especially difficult if we had to cross rough terrain.  And that doesn't solve the problem of how to protect ourselves."

The ground beneath their feet trembled briefly, as if a minor earthquake had struck the island.

Kneeling on the ground, Ellie felt the mild shudder radiate upward through her body, a curious sensation, but she experienced no immediate sense of apprehension.  Seismic activity was common on many tropical islands, particularly in the Pacific.  Many of the islands had, in fact, been formed by volcanic events.

"Earthquake?" she asked.  When Alan did not comment on the tremor, she suggested, "You know, animals have a sixth sense.  Maybe they felt it coming, and have tried to move away from it."  With both shoes securely tied, she stood up.   Her idea seemed a feasible answer to the situation, but when Alan uncharacteristically made no comment, she turned toward him and lifted her eyebrows to await a response.  Then the eyebrows dropped again as her eyes widened with sudden unease.

The paleontologist stood frozen in place, and the unsettling expression of alarm on his face sent a ripple of panic through the woman's body, chilling her blood as if ice water was suddenly being pumped through her veins.  Alan remained silent, but his appearance spoke volumes.  His typically casual posture had stiffened.  He knew what had caused the tremor, and he now knew exactly why the other animals had left the area.  They had not migrated; they had fled.

Slowly, he turned his face toward her, his expressive blue eyes wordlessly conveying the message that they were in mortal danger.  How he could determine that fact without actually seeing it remained a mystery to her, for the large sauropods also generated the same earthshaking vibrations, but she had been with him long enough to trust his instincts, and at that moment, there was no doubt in her mind that there was cause for grave concern.

For several moments, everything was still and quiet as they waited, their eyes locked upon one another, hoping that the animal had not spotted them, that it would move on in search of more significant prey.  Then, it came again, that rumbling shudder, stronger this time, which could only be an impact tremor caused by the footstep of a very large animal, an animal that was obviously moving slowly toward them.  A low growl resonated in the hot air, breaking the intense silence, a growl that Alan had heard before.

Ellie's pulse increased, but she forced herself to remain statue-still.  "T-Rex?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

"No," he replied.  "Worse."

She drew a deep shuddering breath.  There was only one animal on the island that could be worse than the Tyrannosaurus Rex.   "Oh, no," she whispered.

As one, they turned to look behind them.

It was the Spinosaurus. 

The approximate distance of about one average city block separated them from the most terrifying creature Ellie had ever imagined.  It stood on powerful hind legs, and its strong forelegs, tipped with long, sharp claws, were curled at its massive breast.  The huge sail, like that of a sailfish, stood up on its rounded back.  It cocked its head, dominated by its elongated, crocodilian snout, watching them inquisitively.  Its tail swished from side to side, as a cat watches a mouse, waiting for it to flee.

"Can it see us if we stand still?" she asked, thinking about the Rex's visual acuity, and hoping that the Spinosaurus was plagued by the same affliction.

"It can see us whether we move or not," he replied.  "In fact, it sees us right now."

As if in response, it opened its long snout, filled with sharp yellow teeth, and bellowed a roar so terrifying that Ellie felt her heart leap into her throat.

"Oh, God," she whispered, shakily.  "What do we do?"

The Spinosaurus continued to observe them, playing a curious waiting game.  Alan knew that as soon as they moved, it would probably follow them, but with a little luck and if it had just fed, perhaps it would allow them to back away from it without following.  Even as the thought entered his mind, he knew it was unlikely, since the animals it typically fed upon had obviously fled the area.  In all probability, it was hungry and likely to eat anything it came across.

He glanced over his shoulder, seeking a possible escape route.  The only option seemed to be the dense jungle in the hopes of losing it in the thick tangle of trees and vines.  His hand sought Ellie's smaller hand, and seized it in a firm grip.  "Let's get into the jungle."

They backed away slowly, keeping their eyes on the creature.  At first, it merely stood and watched them as they withdrew, inspiring the hope that it would ignore them as insignificant in the food chain, but their relief was short lived, for their movement stirred it into mobility.  Its massive hind legs took strong, powerful steps as it advanced toward them.

As if by mutual concurrence, the two humans spun around and began to run as fast as they could, still holding tightly to the other's hand.  They did not have to look over their shoulders to know that it was rapidly gaining on them.  They could feel the increasingly heavy footfalls and the tremors it generated in the ground beneath their feet.

"Hopefully, these trees will slow it down," Alan shouted as they entered the tree line.  Without hesitation, the Spinosaurus followed, crashing through the foliage after them.  The humans zigzagged through the jungle, sidestepping the trees that blocked their path and ducking under the higher branches of the taller trees the stretched across their path in an effort to elude the massive beast.

Alan's healthy stamina would have allowed him to easily outdistance the weaker woman, but his grip on her hand did not allow her to fall behind.  Whenever she lagged, he pulled hard, forcing her to keep up even though she could barely keep her legs under her.  Already, he could hear her ragged gasps for breath, and knew that she was nearing the point of exhaustion.

Glancing over his shoulder, Alan estimated that it was less than a half block behind them.  Had they remained on the open plains, it was obvious that it would have overtaken them by now, yet any advantage they had gained by the forest trees was only minimal and probably temporary, for they could not maintain this speed very much longer. 

The ground vanished suddenly from beneath his feet, and he felt himself falling.  He immediately released Ellie's hand in an effort to avoid taking her over the edge with him, but it was too late.  With a cry of surprise, she toppled over the steep bank behind him.  An instant later, they struck the sloping rocky ground and skidded and rolled all the way to the bottom, coming to an abrupt halt only a few yards from the stream bed that had carved the thirty foot deep ravine into the earth sometime during the island's distant past.  Stunned, Alan lay still for a moment on a hard surface of river pebbles, watching as a cloud of dust, stirred up by their rather dramatic tumble, drifted across the surface of the gently trickling water.

Ellie stirred beside him, and he scrambled quickly to his knees.  Leaning over the woman to check her for injuries, he asked, "Are you all right?"

She raised her head, and nodded.  "Yes," she gasped as she sat up, rubbing her left elbow with her right hand.  It stung, and she folded the arm back to look at it, noticing the ragged bits of skin that had been torn from it.  "I skinned my arm."

Alan brushed away the bits of dirt and gravel that clung to the injury.  "It'll be all right.  It's only bleeding a little bit."  Her face was scuffed and bruised as well, and he knew that he had probably obtained similar injuries.  At least there were no broken bones to worry about.  They had been fortunate.  He could only hope that the cameras had survived the fall.  However, there were more pressing issues to deal with at that moment.

Lifting his eyes to the top of the ravine, he saw that the Spinosaurus had stopped at the edge, and was observing them from above.  It roared and shook its head angrily, yet it hesitated, uncertain how to traverse the steep, rugged surface.  Then, it began to pace back and forth at the edge.  With a little luck, their chance encounter with the deep stream bed would provide them with a successful escape.

Alan took Ellie's hand again.  "Come on.  We need to get going before it finds a way down."

She would rather have remained there in the cool shade to rest, but a loud roar from up above reminded her that the Spinosaurus would eventually find a way to get down the steep slope.  She managed to get her feet under her and stood up with Alan's help, then turned to face the opposite bank.  Her resolve weakened.  It was as high as the one they had just slid down, a steep surface of loose dirt and leaves, moss-covered rocks, and a tangled weave of tree roots exposed by erosion.

She shook her head, doubtfully, her chest heaving as she struggled to recover from the sprint through the jungle.  "It's too steep, Alan.  I don't think I can climb it."

"Yes, you can," he urged. 

Without waiting for a response, he tightened his grip on her hand and led her across the stream.  Although very wide in breadth, it was shallow, and they were able to use the rocks as stepping-stones until they finally reached the other bank.  Perhaps thousands of years ago, it had been a mighty river, but the flow of water from the mountains had shifted course, reducing it to a trickle in comparison to the forces it had taken to carve out the ravine.  Now, it was a gently flowing stream, its crystal clear water gurgling peacefully over the smooth pebbles that covered the streambed.  It would have been a perfectly soothing place to lie down and take a nap, but that was a luxury they could not afford.

When they reached the other side, they paused again to look up at the steep bank that faced them and the summit that loomed high overhead.

Alan was nodding as he studied the slope's uneven surface.  "Well, this shouldn't be too difficult," he said, expressing more confidence than he actually felt.

Ellie stared at him, slack-jawed.  Was he serious?  "For whom?" she challenged.

"No, seriously.  Look.  There are plenty of rocks and exposed roots to serve as handholds and footholds."

"Maybe we could walk upstream and find an easier incline," she suggested, reluctant to climb the rugged surface.

"The Spinosaurus will follow us, and if we find an easier incline, you can bet it will too," Alan replied, the dependable voice of reason.  "No, we have to go up it here, where it's steep, or we'll have it right behind us."

High above them, the beast roared again, still trying to find a way down.  Spurred into action by their retreat, it placed one foot tentatively over the edge of the embankment as if to start down the steep slope, then pulled it back when the soil beneath the foot began sliding.  Whatever thought process the animal may have possessed, it seemed to understand that a misstep would send it crashing to the bottom where it would incur serious if not fatal injuries.  It resumed its pacing back and forth, its steps carrying it farther and farther each direction before it returned.  Finally, it disappeared into the trees, then returned and moved into the trees in the opposite direction.  With a stab of concern, Alan worried that eventually it would find a spot where the bank was less steep, possibly even shallow enough that it would easily cross the gully.

"Give me your pack," Alan commanded.

Without bothering to ask why, Ellie slipped off her backpack and handed it to the paleontologist.  Placing his free hand on Ellie's back, he pushed her toward the steep bank.  "Go," he told her.

Resigned to the fact that she must climb, she started up the bank without protest.  At first, the going was not too rough.  The grade was gradual and there were plenty of rocks on which to find good footholds, but after about ten feet, the slant became steeper, forcing her to use the outcroppings of rocks and exposed roots to pull herself along.  With concerned eyes, Alan watched from the bottom as she slowly made her way up the steep grade.

The sloping ground beneath her trembled again as the Spinosaurus returned and strode along the edge behind them, watching as the woman continued to climb.  Opening its snout, it roared, then disappeared into the trees again.

When Ellie was well on her way, Alan draped Ellie's backpack over one shoulder, and scrambled up the slope behind her, gripping the same rocks and roots that Ellie had used to assist her ascent up the incline.

Halfway up, Ellie was forced to stop to rest.  Sinking to her knees, she clung desperately to a strong tree root and lowered her head as she gasped to recover her breath.  "Oh, God," she whimpered, her breathing frighteningly labored.  "I can't keep this up much longer."

They heard a loud roar from somewhere upstream, and Alan realized with a jolt that it was coming from below, in the ravine.  It had found a way down!

"Ellie, I know you're tired, but we can't stop," Alan told her.  His voice was kind, yet contained an urgent quality that reminded her that they were in imminent danger.  Keeping a wary eye upstream, he said, "Ellie, you have to go.  Now!"

Reaching upward again, she grasped an outcropping of rock, noticing as she did that her arm was trembling from the exertion.  Trying to ignore the quivering of her exhausted muscles, she slowly pulled herself upward.

"That's it, honey," he said from directly below, his voice encouraging.  "You're doing good.  You're almost there.  Just a little farther."

She glanced over her shoulder.  Alan was only a few feet below her.  Seeing her face looking down at him, he smiled encouragingly.  She was too tired to smile in reply, so she turned back to the slope, and managed to pull herself up a few more feet before she was forced to stop and rest again.

Again, Alan quickly caught up with her, but this time he came up alongside her, and stopped beside her, hanging on to an exposed root that hung like a vine.  "Take a moment and catch your breath," he instructed.

Sinking to her knees again, she allowed her body to relax for a moment and flexed her tired hands, first one, then the other.  "I can't go much farther, Alan."

"You're almost there," he told her.  "Look up.  We only have another six feet or so.  You can make it that far."

As she looked up toward the summit of the ravine, she wasn't so sure.  She had very little left to give.  Those six feet may as well have been sixty.

At that moment, the Spinosaurus came into view from a bend in the streambed.  Fixing a malevolent gaze upon them, it rushed toward the bank they were climbing.

Ellie felt her pulse step up a notch.  "Oh, God," she whispered. 

The Spinosaurus stood a little more than fifteen feet tall, but Ellie knew that it probably had an overall reach of several feet more if it stretched its long frame, a fact which placed them in immediate danger.

Galvanized by fear, she reached upward again, and seized another rock that protruded from the ground and used it for leverage to pull herself up.  Just a few more feet.  She set her teeth in a determined fashion, and continued to climb.

Below her, the dinosaur snapped at the air just beneath her feet, so close that she heard its teeth click together.  She quickly pulled herself higher, keeping her feet out of reach as she tried to move faster, but her tired body had expended nearly every ounce of strength it possessed.  She stopped again and hung there for several moments, arms quivering uncontrollably, desperately praying that she would not lose her grip and fall back into the ravine.

Realizing that Ellie was drained, Alan increased his pace until he reached the summit.  Quickly, he shed the two backpacks, then lay down on his belly and extended his hand over the edge.  "Ellie, take my hand.  I'll pull you up."

Gratefully, she reached up as far as she could until her hand was grasped by his, and he pulled her with all his might.  Using her feet for momentum, she assisted him as best she could until finally she was pulled up over the edge. Safe at last, she rolled onto her back on the ground to rest.

Below them, the Spinosaurus was becoming more agitated.  It bellowed its rage as it attempted to follow them up the steep slope, then fell back, landing in the stream with a splash so great that threatened to empty the streambed of all its water.  The earth trembled beneath its weight.  It quickly recovered its feet, and approached the bank again.

Alan stretched out beside the exhausted woman on his back, and both of them rested on the cool mossy ground as they gasped for breath.

"We made it," he panted.

"What about the Spino?" she asked, listening to the sounds coming from inside the ravine.

Rising on his elbow, he leaned over the edge to look into the ravine.  It spotted him and lunged upward, but fell short.  Reflex caused Alan to jump back, even though he knew it was unable to reach him.  "It's very angry," he replied.  "And it hasn't given up, yet.  Are you able to go on?"

She groaned in protest.  "We must surely be safe here!  There's no way it can climb up that slope!  The bank is too steep."

"It'll find a way," Alan said with certainty.  "You have no idea how persistent this beast is.  We're going to have to lose it before it finds its way out of there."

Apparently realizing that it could not climb the steep bank, the dinosaur turned toward the bend in the streambed again.  Alan watched as it moved away, presumably returning to the shallower bank that had enabled it to descend into the ravine.

"It's moving up the ravine, looking for a way out.  It's only a matter of time before it finds it.  And when it does, we need to be gone from here."  Grasping her hand, he urged her to get up.  "Come on.  It'll work its way back."

Ellie submitted to his pull on her hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet, and they made their way through the dense jungle again, traveling downstream, increasing the distance between them and the beast.

For the next hour, they traveled as quietly as possible, careful to avoid calling attention to themselves.  They could no longer hear the dinosaur, and gradually, they began to relax, believing they had lost it.  They walked slower, occasionally allowing themselves a few moments to rest.

At last, they found a wide section of the stream with a gradual slope that enabled them to cross back over to the other side, increasing that feeling of confidence that they were finally safe.

They paused to rest in the shelter of a high rocky bluff, and sat down on the ground to examine the cameras for damage.  To Alan's great relief, although one contained a dent in the casing, they both seemed to be working, protected by the sandwiches and paper towels he had included in the packs.  The sandwiches, of course, had been flattened.  Humorously, one plastic-wrapped sandwich contained the imprint of the camera it had cushioned during the tumble down the ravine.  The back had popped open on the 35 mm snapshot camera, exposing an entire roll of film, but it was a new roll with no pictures on it, so they had lost none of their photographs.

As Alan returned all three cameras to his backpack and rolled up the extra one and stuffed it inside to relieve Ellie of the burden, she lay back on the cool ground and closed her eyes, grateful for the respite.

Alan set the backpack aside and started to lean back as Ellie had done, but something peculiar caught his eye.  In a dark, shallow depression near the base of the bluff, a pair of yellow eyes peered out at them from a motionless creature that was concealed there.  It watched them silently, sending a shiver of apprehension down Alan's spine, recognizing the creature for what it was.  It had been lying in its lair, observing them the whole time they had been relaxing.

"Raptor!" Alan whispered.

Ellie sat bolt upright and her eyes snapped open, seeking Alan's face as if to confirm the seriousness of his declaration.  Following his gaze to the shallow depression, she scrambled to her feet in fright and took an involuntary step backward.  To have escaped the Spinosaurus only to be ripped to pieces by a velociraptor was a cruel twist of fate.  Tensing, she waited, staring at the pair of eyes that continued to gaze at them.

The raptor remained hidden beneath the overhang, and obviously had no intention of leaving the safety of its lair.  Its eyes shifted from the two humans to the area of the forest behind them, having heard something that had thus far eluded the human's inferior ears. 

"It's hiding from the Spinosaurus," he told her.  Reaching down, he picked up the full backpack.  "I don't think it'll bother us right now, but let's move away slowly."

Keeping a watchful eye on the raptor, they slowly walked away from the carnivorous dinosaur that had not moved a muscle, except for those yellow eyes that shifted from the forest back to the two humans, and then back again to the forest, aware that a much large predator was approaching.

The sounds of a massive animal pushing through the undergrowth moving toward them caused them both to whirl around to face it.  Even though they could not yet see it, they knew it was the Spinosaurus.  It had been following them.

The man and the woman exchanged disbelieving glances.

"How does it know where we are?" Ellie asked, reaching up to brush a lock of stray hair from her face in a gesture of frustration.

In that instant, Alan saw the blood trickling from her elbow, and instantly knew the answer to her question.  He grasped her arm.  "It smells the blood from your injury."

"Then there's no place we can hide that it won't find us."

"There is one place," he said, quietly.  "I know where there's a safety bunker not too far from here.  Trouble is, I don't know if we can reach it in time."  Reaching out, he took her hand again.  "Come on."

Together, they began to run again, leaving the watchful raptor safely concealed in its hiding place.

 

SIXTEEN

The trees and shrubs began to thin until finally, the jungle terminated into a large field with a rolling landscape consisting of several small hills and bluffs and a few scattered trees.  Without slowing his pace, Alan sprinted onto the open field.  He had known it would be there, and he knew from the map back in the office at the compound that the bunker would involve one of those hills.  Finding it should be easy enough, as long as they maintained a good lead on the Spinosaurus. 

Ellie stumbled on a patch of uneven ground and nearly fell, breaking her handhold with him as she struggled to maintain her upright position.  With a cry of pain and surprise, she went down heavily on one knee, but managed to recover without falling completely to the ground.  Free from Alan's consistent pull on her hand, she staggered and finally stopped, gasping for breath and fighting to keep her face from contorting in pain.  For some time now, she had been keeping the burning ache in her abdomen a secret from him.  Her hand sought out the source of the pain and was grateful to find that there was no blood, yet the pain was severe enough to raise concern that she had caused damage to the surgical incisions, either during the fall down the slope or during the run for their lives.

Unable to stop quickly, Alan ran ahead several paces, then returned to her side.  He was gasping for breath, as well, and was not alarmed when she removed the hand from her abdomen, assuming that she was suffering from a cramp in her side. 

Behind them, a thundering roar rose from the depths of the jungle, causing both of them to turn toward it.  It was only a matter of moments before the predator reached the prairie as well.

"We can take a moment to catch our breath, but we can't stop.  It isn't going to give up."  Turning his back on the jungle, Alan shifted his eyes to the open field again, seeking out the location of the safety bunker that had been carved into the ground years earlier by the previous scientists.  He could see the solid metal door standing against a mound of earth in the middle of the field, and pointed toward it.  "There's the bunker!"

Ellie saw the bunker door, tantalizingly near, yet so distant in her exhaustion that it might as well have been a mile away.  Her heart sank, discouraged, and tears welled in her eyes.  "I'm too tired," she gasped.  "I can't go that far."

"Yes, you can," he insisted.

"Please," she pleaded, her breathing alarmingly labored.  "I have to rest."  Her legs were shaking uncontrollably and the pain in her abdomen was growing worse to the degree that the act of breathing intensified the pain.  Pressing her hand against her abdomen again, she sank down into the grass.  Alan's firm hand tried to pull her back up, but she resisted, which caused him to drag her for several feet.  She was dead weight, and she made no effort to get up.

"Come on, Ellie!" he urged, refusing to allow her to give up and refusing to relinquish his hold on her hand.  "Get up!"

"I can't!" she told him, then instantly regretted her sharp reply.  "I can't go any farther, Alan.  I just can't do it." 

Looking into her eyes, he realized that she was giving up.  A twinge of panic stirred in his heart.  He couldn't lose her like this!  "We don't have much time," he told her.  "It will be in the open any moment, now."

She doubled over the hand that was pressed tightly to her stomach, fighting the urge to weep.  Maybe it would be easier just to let go, to let the Spinosaurus take her, and in doing so save Alan.  With her gone, he would be able to escape, and she would be with her children again.  "I can't make it, Alan.  You have to go on without me.  I'll try to hide in the grass, or something."

"I won't leave you here, Ellie," he told her, his eyes watching the treeline.  He could not see the Spinosaurus through the foliage, but he could hear it coming toward them.   "We're losing time," he prompted.  "We must go now!"   He noticed then that her fist was pressed tightly against her abdomen, and realized with a jolt that it was not a cramp that was troubling her.  He dropped to his knees before her, and grasped her wrist in an attempt to pull her hand away, but she refused to yield.  "Ellie, what's wrong?" he asked, greatly concerned.  "Have you torn open your incisions?"

"No, it's just hurting a bit," she admitted.

"Let me see it," he demanded.

Her eyes flashed angrily, but she removed her hand, allowing him to lift the hem of her blouse to observe the scars that marred her fair skin, the scars she still wished he had never seen.  Her abdomen rose and fell rapidly with her accelerated breathing, but there was no reopening of the injuries.

He lifted his eyes to hers, guiltily; a silent apology.

"Satisfied?" she asked.

"I'm just worried about you."  The sounds of the Spinosaurus crashing through the dense foliage were getting louder, and he knew they were wasting valuable time.  His hand sought hers again, but she pulled away.  "Come on," he insisted.  "We have to get going."

She glanced behind her, so totally defeated that she had resigned herself to her fate.  "I can't go any farther, Alan," she repeated, calmly. 

"Then we'll both die, because I won't leave you."

She knew he meant it.  "No, you have to go on.  Just leave me here."

"That bunker is our only chance to survive this," he told her.  "And I already told you, I won't leave you.  Either we both go, or we both die."

She glanced quickly behind her toward the jungle, then back at his anxious face.  He was waiting for her answer, the answer that would determine if they lived or became dinner for the volatile dinosaur.  And she knew he was already aware that he had pushed the right button; after all, she had come halfway around the world to save his life.  He knew she would not sacrifice him to the carnivore.  Damn you, Alan Grant! cursed the silent voice inside her head.  Finally, she sighed with resignation.  "All right, I'll try."

Summoning the last ounce of her vanishing strength, she allowed him to pull her to her feet, and she followed him across the meadow toward the metal door that was beckoning from the mound of earth that marked its location.

Behind them, the Spinosaurus had reached the edge of the meadow, and bellowed its fury as it saw its prey fleeing.  The ground thundered as it raced toward them.

Ellie's feet felt like they had turned to lead, and she was having difficulty picking them up, but she managed to increase her pace, due in no small part to Alan's constant pull on her hand.  The tenderness in her abdomen increased with every breath, and she pressed her free hand tighter against it in an effort to suppress the pain.

Reaching the bunker door, Alan grasped the handle, praying that it had not rusted shut.  With a shrill metallic squeal, the door slowly yielded to the man who yanked backward with all his might.  When it was open far enough to admit them, he shoved Ellie inside.  Unprepared for the downward slope, she fell forward on the hard concrete floor, and quickly rolled away from the door to give Alan room to enter.  He glanced over his shoulder as he dodged inside, staring into the jaws of death.  The Spino was almost on top of him, stretching its neck down with wide-open jaws.

Alan dodged into the darkness of the bunker, and braced his foot against the frame to provide leverage as he pulled the door shut behind him.  At that moment, the Spino struck it so hard that the heavy metal door slammed shut and rattled on its double-reinforced hinges.  The impact threw Alan to the floor on his back.  He scrambled to his feet quickly, and his groping hands found the heavy slide lock, and he slammed it into place.

Outside, the animal's deafening roar pierced the still air, and the bunker shook as it circled the enclosure seeking a way inside, but it was solid.  They were safe, for the moment. 

Alan's heart was hammering in his chest and thudding loudly in his ears.  Leaning forward, he placed his hands on his knees, giving in to his own exhaustion.  "I'm too old for this," he panted, struggling to catch his breath. 

Somewhere below him, deeper in the bunker's interior, he could hear Ellie gasping for breath.  "I'm younger than you are, and I'm just as tired," her voice came back to him through the darkness.  "Maybe more so."

He was too tired to answer.  For several minutes, the only sounds were their own accelerated breathing and the bellowing of the enraged beast outside.  The bunker shuddered with each of its steps as it continued to circle the shelter.  Finally, the sounds outside ceased, but Alan knew it was not yet safe. 

The ground sloped downward into the mound of earth, and when he was somewhat rested, Alan straightened up and with his hand outstretched, he moved toward the wall.  When he found it, he felt his way along the cool concrete, moving toward the direction of Ellie's voice.  Groping in the darkness to find her, his hand grasped something soft, and he realized that it was her breast.  He jerked his hand away as if he had just received an electric shock.  "Sorry."

Her voice, still breathless from their dash to safety, contained a trace of amusement.  "It isn't as if you've never touched it before."

"Let's sit down and rest awhile," he suggested.  He slipped off the backpack and placed it on the floor, then, leaning back, he slid down the hard wall until he was seated on the floor.  Removing his hat, he dragged his fingers through his long, sweat-soaked hair, and tossed his hat onto the floor beside him.  It felt good to sit down, and he leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes, giving in to his weariness.

Ellie sank down beside him, her arm pressed against his for comfort and security.  They could not see one another, but they could feel the other's presence. 

It was cool inside the bunker.  The walls, floor and ceiling were constructed of solid concrete, protecting the human-made subterranean shelter from the sun's rays.  Only a small sliver of light peeped in under the solid door, providing meager visibility as their eyes slowly adjusted to their burrow.  Gradually, their breathing and heart rates returned to normal, and the pains in Ellie's abdomen began to ease up.

Realizing that she would be dead at that very moment had Alan allowed her to remain behind, she felt suddenly ashamed of her weakness and so very, very glad that Alan had not left her to the Spinosaurus, as she had urged him to do.  "Alan, thank you for not allowing me to give up out there.  I was so tired, I just didn't think I could go any farther, and I didn't want you to be killed too."

He heard the shame in her voice, but did not wish to embarrass her further by calling attention to it.  "Well, we're not out of it yet," he replied.  "Unfortunately, we still have a long walk back to the compound.  We'll have to be extra cautious."

Ellie had already thought of that.  "I know."

"Ellie, you were inside one of the bunkers on Isla Nublar, weren't you?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did they keep any supplies or useable items there?"

She knew instantly what he was thinking about.  "Yes, they did!  They had an arsenal!"

He scrambled to his feet, eagerly.  "This one is probably on a smaller scale, but maybe, if we're lucky, there will be something we can use."  In the near total darkness, he could barely see a foot in front of him, but as he felt his way along the cold walls, his hand struck something hard and metallic.  A storage cabinet!

His hand slid around to the twin doors of the cabinet, and grasped the handle, half expecting to find it locked.  Obviously, it had been placed there to assist the workers in an emergency, for the cabinet doors easily opened wide without the need for a key.

Feeling his way through the contents with his hands, unable to identify most of them by touch, he searched for something useable and eventually touched something he recognized as a flashlight.  Although he already knew that the batteries would be dead, he couldn't resist the need to check to be certain.  He flicked the switch several times, but the flashlight did not respond.  He returned it to the cabinet, and felt around until his hand found something long and waxy.  His hand slid up the smooth surface to the tapered top and found the wick.

"A candle."

"Obviously, they wanted to cover all bases in case the batteries were dead in the flashlight.  "Now if we just had a way of lighting it," Ellie commented.  "Are there any matches?"

His hands fumbled over the objects until he found a small box with a rough strip of striker friction up each side.  "Found it.  Hopefully, they will still be good after all this time," he said, sliding the box open.

"My mother has been using the same box of matches for the last ten years.  They're still good, so maybe these will be too, if they've stayed dry."

Alan removed a match from the box, struck the tip on the rough strip, and watched as a spark sputtered and died.

"Try another one," Ellie urged, undaunted.  "Sometimes you get a bad one, even in a good box."

Alan removed another match, and struck it.  A small flame flickered at the end of the small wooden stick, and he held the candle close to it until it ignited.  A soft glow of light illuminated the dark interior of the bunker.  It was even smaller than they had originally realized, a small burrow resembling a storm cellar, nothing at all like the large bunker Ellie had shared with Hammond, Muldoon, and Malcolm on the other island.

"Well, at least we can see, now!" she said.

"Here, take this," he said, passing the candle to her.

Able to see the items now, Alan searched through the assortment of items inside the supply cabinet.  His eyes lingered on the small rifle rack, which was capable of holding at least three rifles.  Unfortunately, they either had not been included in the original supplies, or else they had been removed sometime prior to the evacuation.  A compact first aid kit stood on its end on an upper shelf, and he removed it, intending to dress Ellie's injured arm.  Other items inside the cabinet included a length of nylon rope, a stack of thin blankets, the useless flashlight, and more candles.  He could not think of any use for the rope, so he left it where it was and closed the doors again.  Still inside their protective plastic wrapping, the blankets were in surprisingly good shape, so he removed them and closed the cabinet door.

"Well, not very helpful, but better than nothing, I suppose," Alan said.

"The bunker on the other island was a lot bigger than this," Ellie told him.  "It was built to accommodate the staff, and it had a lot of shotguns and walkie-talkies there.  Muldoon had the key required to open the gun closet."

"Well, I guess it stands to reason that they wouldn't want to leave a lot of guns lying around the island unattended, but I was sure hoping for something more useful."

Ellie tipped the candle so that a small puddle of wax formed on the concrete floor.  She set the base of the candle in the hot wax, and held it upright until the wax hardened, affixing the candle to the floor.

Alan opened the blankets and spread them on the floor for them to sit on, then he popped open the lid on the first aid kit.  Inside it were gauze pads, unopened bottles of iodine and sterile saline solution, Band-Aids and adhesive tape.  Taking a couple of the gauze pads, he opened the lid on the saline and poured some of it on to the pad.  Then he reached for Ellie's arm.

She folded the arm back, exposing the injury, and watched as Alan gently cleaned the scrape, wiping away the blood and dirt.  Next, he opened the bottle of iodine and paused to glance at her face.  His own experience with iodine was that it stung terribly, so as he applied the tip of the applicator to the injury, he blew on it to ease the sting.  Another gauze pad was placed over the wound, and held in place with the tape.

"Better?" he asked, pressing the tape firmly into place.

She nodded.  "Thank you, Doctor Grant."

"Are your incisions still causing you pain?" he asked, gesturing toward her abdomen.

She shook her head.  "No, it feels better, now.  I must have just pulled something and made it sore."

With Ellie's injuries attended to, they leaned back to wait, watching the flickering candlelight dance on the walls while outside a killer stalked the meadow, waiting for it prey to emerge.
                                                                 ~~~

The time passed slowly inside the bunker.  The candle burned down, and was replaced by another in their desire to avoid being plunged into complete darkness again. 

"Do you think it's gone?" Ellie asked after awhile.

Alan lifted his eyes to the ceiling, listening for any sounds of the creature outside or above them, but heard nothing.  The bunker had been still and quiet for some time now, indicating that the creature was not moving around.  "I don't know," he replied.  "Maybe.  We'll give it a little more time to be safe."

"I've never seen an animal that big," she said, awestruck.

"Or as lethal."  He cast a longing glance toward the storage cabinet.  "Damn, I wish I had a gun.  If ever there was an animal that needed to be destroyed, it's that one.  Those geneticists had no business bringing this particular animal back into the world.  Of all the mistakes they made, the Spinosaurus is the biggest mistake of all.  The only good thing about it is that they only created one, so at least it can't reproduce."

"I guess that explains why the animals have all left the area.  Obviously, it's moved farther inland!"

"Yeah.  I guess I should have considered this as a possible explanation for the other animals' evacuation.  I had never encountered anything like this before, but it makes sense.  I've seen it a few times, so it's probably been inland for awhile, picking off members of the herds over a period of time, but we somehow managed to avoid contact with it, until now.  The other animals must have migrated away from the danger.  If it can no longer find food in this area, it will eventually move on in search of game."

"That's the good news," she said.  "I hope it moves on quickly."  She fell silent for a moment, pondering a question that she had been too tired and scared to ask while they were running for their lives.  "How did you know this bunker would be here?"

"There's a map back at the compound that shows the locations of the bunkers and other man-made structures on the island.  Whenever I go into an area, I always try to locate the nearest bunker on the map.  I've come across several of them, mostly in areas that are relatively far away from the compound.  Obviously, they were set in place to provide emergency shelter for the workers in the field in case they encountered a situation like the one we're in."

"I'm glad they had the foresight to do that.  Have you ever had to use one before?"

"No.  This is the first."

She sighed, heavily, and slid her body farther down the wall so that she was almost reclining.  She was tired and severely disheartened by her inability to keep up with Alan during the run to save their lives.  Because of her weakness, she had placed Alan in danger.

"What are you thinking about?" Alan asked after awhile.

"I nearly got us both killed," she said.

"No, you didn't.  I let my guard down again."

"Alan, would you quit trying to take the blame for everything?  If I hadn't been here, you would have been able to run faster and farther."

"It doesn't matter, Ellie.  If we didn't have this bunker, it would have gotten me regardless of how far I can run."  He reached out and squeezed her knee and patted her thigh.  "Don't worry about it.  We're safe, and that's all that matters." 

"How long have we been trapped in here?" Ellie asked.

Alan pressed the small button on the side of his wrist watch, and the face was immediately illuminated.  "About four hours," he replied.

"I hate to bring this up, but if we don't get out of here soon, nature is going to start demanding immediate attention."

He understood what she was referring to.  "Yeah, me too."

He glanced toward the sliver of light that peeked from beneath the door, and stood up.

"What are you going to do?" Ellie asked, worriedly.

"I'm going to take a peek outside and see if it's still there," he replied, moving slowly up the slope toward the thin light that shone underneath the door, where it did not quite meet the floor. 

"Be careful," she cautioned, but her warning sounded lame even as the words were spoken.  Of course, he would be careful, she reminded herself.

Alan grasped the metal slide bar, and pushed it back.  After a brief hesitation, as if gathering his courage, he pushed the door slightly ajar and peered out through the crack, squinting in the bright light.

The area immediately in front of the bunker was devoid of any living thing.  He could see all the way across the meadow to the jungle, but there was no movement anywhere to suggest that danger lay nearby.

He pushed the door open farther, remaining cautious, but reasonably certain now that the creature had finally become bored with trying to reach its inaccessible quarry, and had moved off to try to find other prey.  Turning his body sideways, he took one step outside and scoped the entire area, paying particular attention to the area behind the mounded earthen roof of the bunker.  Because of its size, the Spinosaurus would have easily been visible had it been lying in wait for him, and he felt relief that the entire meadow was free of dinosaurs.

Turning back to Ellie, he beckoned with his hand.  "Come on.  It's gone."

She was standing against the wall, watching.  "You're sure?" she asked, afraid to step out into the open where there was no shelter.

"Pretty sure," he replied.  "We can't stay here forever, though.  We're going to have to venture out some time.  Its going to be dark before we get back to the compound, as it is."

She blew out the candle, and retrieved his hat for him as she made her way up the sloping floor to the door.  She handed it to him when she reached the door.

Moving slowly and cautiously, the two humans emerged from their underground shelter.  Both gazed apprehensively at the edge of the jungle and at large clumps of tall trees, observing and listening carefully, but so far their search turned up no sign of danger of any kind.

"Maybe it's finally moved on," Alan suggested, hopefully.  Grasping Ellie's hand, he led the way toward the jungle again, where they would have some cover as they made their way back to the compound.

As always, Ellie marveled at Alan's ability to find his way around the island without benefit of a map in hand, but she made no comment as they moved quietly through the jungle trees and ferns.  She had no way of knowing, and he would never have admitted it to her, but he was struggling to recall the details of the map he kept in the office of the dormitory.   Preferring to leave the map in the office where it would not get lost or damaged, he always studied it meticulously each time he ventured into an unfamiliar area, carefully noting all the topographical details and taking particular notice of anything that was a potential asset to his safety.  The location of the bunker had been carefully observed prior to their departure that morning, but retracing their steps in the rapidly diminishing daylight was becoming a challenge.

At last, unseen by them through the dense trees, the sun slipped over the horizon, and a quarter moon began its slow progression across the night sky.  They saw occasional glimpses of it as they passed through areas where the trees thinned, providing meager light for them to see as they continued their trek through the densest part of the jungle, where the Spinosaurus could not approach them without making enough noise to warn them.

Alan had finally released his protective hold on Ellie's hand, trusting her to keep up as they trudged over the rough terrain at a comfortable walk.  Although he tried to maintain a calm demeanor, his nervousness increased in the dark, a fact which was easily detected by the woman as she observed his alert watchfulness.  The smallest noise attracted his rapt attention, and he kept a firm hold of the shock prod.  Ellie held her can of pepper spray, ready to assist in the event of an attack.

A startled squeak from almost under his feet made Alan jump back, then he laughed shakily as a small field mouse scurried across the path into the safety of a clump of ferns.  "My nerves are strung as tight as a fiddle string," he admitted.

"Yeah, mine too," Ellie agreed.  Listening to the sounds of the night, she heard bullfrogs croaking at a nearby water source.  "I've become so adapted to the creatures on this island that I had almost forgotten it was previously inhabited by common mammals and amphibians."

"The mice, rats and even snakes and small lizards tend to fall victim to the Compies.  There are also other animals, but you rarely see them.  Some have been obliterated."

As a scientist, Ellie found this troubling.  "It's so sad to see a healthy native eco-system completely taken over by an introduced species."

"Yeah, especially a species as devastating as this one." 

Ellie brushed a hand across her arm, as if to rub away the gooseflesh that popped up on the skin. She felt chilled, even though the night air was warm.  "Have you ever traveled like this after dark?" she asked, curiously, as they proceeded, using conversation to calm her tension.

"No, never.  I had hoped I would never have to," he replied, uncomfortable with the notion of talking while they were walking through the jungle.  "Maybe we'd better move as quietly as possible," he suggested.

Ellie understood that he was politely asking her to refrain from talking, and she complied with the request.  Conversation would distract him from the caution necessary to move through the darkness safely and prevent him from hearing the sounds that might alert them to possible danger.  Not to mention the fact that it might also signal possible predators of their presence.

Needing the physical contact, she reached toward the waistband of his jeans and took hold of the back of his belt with her left hand, while keeping her finger lightly on the nozzle of the can of pepper spray that was clutched in her right hand.  Nervously, she cast frequent glances over her shoulder at the darkness of the jungle behind her, expecting at any moment to see a predator stalking them.  Spooked, she crowded close behind the man, resisting the urge to run, even though there was nothing to run from.

Calm down! she told herself, annoyed by her own skittishness. 

Alan could hear Ellie's accelerated breathing close behind him, and decided that she was due a rest break.  Locating a deeply shadowed spot surrounded by ferns and jungle growth, he said quietly, "We'll rest here for a few minutes."

Gratefully, she sank down on the cool ground, her legs folded beneath her, Indian fashion, clutching the aerosol can on her lap.

Alan sat down beside her so close that their arms were touching, but he remained alert, turning quickly toward the slightest noise, his eyes scanning the darkness on all sides. 

After several minutes, they heard the sound of something moving through the undergrowth.  Alan tensed, and he felt Ellie start beside him.  Motioning with his hand for her to remain where she was, he quietly rose up on his knees and peered over the top of the clump of ferns.

A dark shape scurried past, so close he could almost have reached out and touched it.  It was small in stature, a bipedal dinosaur.  A velociraptor, he realized, gripping his shock prod tighter in his hand, preparing to defend himself if necessary. 

Sensing that it was not alone, it stopped briefly to look around nervously, as if searching for something.  He suspected that it was probably the same one they had seen hiding in the shallow depression beneath the bluff.  Raptors did not normally travel alone, and he wondered if it had somehow become separated from its pack.  It did not call out, apparently still aware of the danger posed by the much larger Spinosaurus.

Still aware that another living creature was nearby, but apparently unable to identify it, the raptor continued to gaze nervously about for several moments, turning its head first one way and then the other.  Then, it abruptly darted away into the jungle.

Alan sank back down beside Ellie, and whispered.  "Raptor; probably the one we saw earlier.  I think its searching for its pack."

"Wonder how it got separated from them?" she whispered.

He shrugged.  They probably would never know.

After resting for several more minutes, Alan stood up.  "I think we'd better get going," he urged.  "The longer we stay out here, the more dangerous it is."

She accepted the hand that he offered, and was pulled to her feet.  They started walking again, staying out of the open as much as possible, and using the closeness of the trees and fronds to their advantage.

At last, after a long night of walking, they reached the hill overlooking the compound, and saw the welcoming sight of the dormitory before them.  No beckoning lights were shining through the windows, for they had expected to return before nightfall, but it was the most wonderful sight they could have imagined at that moment.

"I never thought I'd be so glad to see that building in my life!" Ellie exclaimed, so relieved to see it that she was actually fighting the urge to cry.

Alan heard the emotion in her voice, and placed a comforting arm around her, rubbing his hand up and down her arm.  "Let's get inside.  All I want to do now is go upstairs and crawl into bed!"

"I second that!"

Together, they hurried down the slope toward the building.  When they reached it, Alan fished the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, and they went inside.

It was dark inside the building, but their eyes were well adjusted to the dark, so they proceeded up the stairs without bothering to turn on the lights.  Mumbling "goodnight" to one another, they each went to his or her own cubical, and dropped down on the bed without bothering to undress.