Chapter 4

 

 

Malcolm looked at both Ellie and Alan. He had interrupted something important, he didn’t mean to but in some small way he actually did. He sighed to himself before taking a seat on the couch. The group was silent for a few minutes until Malcolm decided to speak up.

 

“Hmm, like I said the place is empty. There are bathrooms, but no running water. I also managed to find a fuse box. However, they were all burnt out. So I guess we are out of luck.”

 

“That figures. Nothing on this island ever works,” Alan said as he shook his head back and forth in disbelief. He got off the table and began to walk around the room.

 

“We should try getting some sleep. I know it's not the best place to be, but…” Alan started to say when a ringing sound interrupted him. He looked towards Malcolm as he pulled out the satellite phone that Hammond had given him. 

 

“Hello?”  Malcolm said into the phone.

 

“Why in God's name are you there?” the voice on the other line stated loud enough for Ellie and Alan to hear.

 

“Sarah. It’s not what you think,” Malcolm said quickly.

 

“What is it then? You yelled at me about going there, and now you're back there.”

 

“Technically I’m on the other island. I also have good reason to be here.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“John’s grandkids are stuck on the island, I’m here to retrieve them with some old friends.”

 

“That’s the only reason you’re there,” Sarah stated as her voice slowly became calm again.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well, then I’m coming after you.”

 

“Sarah, no…no…stay  there. Don’t come here, whatever you do, don’t come here,” Malcolm stated, but it was already too late, the only response he got was a dial tone.

 

“She hung up on me,” Malcolm said as he looked at the phone.

 

“She isn’t coming is she?” Alan asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

 

“I hope not,” Malcolm replied as he played around with the keypads on the phone.

 

“You hope not?” Ellie asked.

 

“She has a mind of her own. I can only pray that she doesn’t come. But, Sarah is very determined and stubborn.”

 

“That’s just great. Now we could possibility have four people to worry about instead of three, not counting the kids that is. This night can’t get any worse,” Alan stated as he headed over to the wooden chair and sat down.

 

“Sarah coming isn’t the worst of our problems,” Malcolm stated silently.

 

“Yeah, we have kids we need to find,” Alan stated sarcastically.

 

“No, that’s not the worst problem.”

 

“What’s the problem then?”

 

“Hmm, well, hmm, that phone call hmm, it took half the battery up,” Malcolm said as he held up the phone.

 

“Hammond charged it before we left, how did one phone call drain that much power?” Ellie inquired.

 

“I kind of left it on all this time,” Malcolm stated.

 

“Tell me you’re joking,” Alan stated.

 

“Well…” Malcolm began to say when the group heard a high piercing screaming sound enter the room.

 

Malcolm and Grant jumped to their feet and headed over to the door. They looked out into the hallway as another scream came. Through the shadow an image of a raptor appeared. As it turned a hallway, its eyes landed upon the two bodies sticking out of the door. The raptor screamed again before taking a quick dash towards Malcolm and Alan. They ran back into the room and closed the door in just enough time to have the raptor bang into the door. They tried to keep their balance as the raptor kept banging into the door. With their backs against the door both men tried to hold onto life. Ellie came towards them in order to help when another attack came. The attack was much stronger and caused both men to lose their balance for a second or two.

 

“Ellie, in my bag there is a raptor call,” Alan yelled as he tried to hold it. Ellie nodded as she ran to the table and opened the bag. She looked around for it but didn’t see anything.

 

“What does it look like?” Ellie yelled over another piercing scream.

 

“It’s a raptor’s resonating chamber,” Alan grunted as he tried to keep the door closed. Ellie nodded her head and continued to look. She came upon a small object. 

 

“Is this it?” Ellie asked as she showed Alan. Alan nodded his head.

 

“Use it, try to scare them off,” Alan grunted again as the object behind the door got stronger. 

 

Ellie took a deep breath before blowing into the chamber. Almost instantaneously the banging behind the door stopped at the sound. She tried it again, and a soft scream from the raptor came into the room. Alan and Malcolm started to breathe in deeply, but never moved from their spots. After a few minutes Alan moved away from the door and signaled Malcolm to do the same. He slowly opened the door to reveal an empty hallway. Breathing a sigh of relief, he closed the door again.

 

“Let's put the table in front of the door for protection,” Alan stated to Malcolm. He nodded and headed over to one side of the table. Alan headed over to the other side and they picked up the table and put it against the door.

 

“That should hopefully keep any creature out,” Alan said as he walked over to the couch and sat down. He was still out of breath when Ellie sat down next to him.

 

“So this is what you used to save me,” Ellie stated as she handed the chamber back to Alan.

 

“Yeah. Billy made it a couple of years ago. It came in handy when I had my adventure with the Kirby’s.”

 

“Remind me to thank Billy for this nice creation.”

 

“I will,” Alan said with a smile. He looked up at Malcolm who was now sitting in the wooden chair.

 

“Thanks for your help,” Alan said.

 

“You would have done the same for me,” Malcolm stated as he began to close his eyes.

 

“Maybe,” Alan said with a smirk before leaning back against the couch. His body felt exhausted, the day's events had taken their toll on him in more ways then one.

 

“Maybe we should try and get some sleep,” Ellie suggested as she looked at Malcolm. He was already fast asleep; his head was leaning to one side of the chair. She smiled and turned to look at Alan, who had also fallen asleep. She shook her head back and forth at the sight of both of them asleep, and then she lay back against the couch and closed her eyes. She listened to the rainfall upon the roof before falling fast asleep. 

 

Malcolm shifted in his seat as he slowly began to wake up. He looked at his watch; hitting the indigo glow button the time read 7:45am. He sat up to stretch his muscles. Looking around the room he noticed that Ellie's head was lying upon Alan's shoulder. They looked happy. Malcolm sighed to himself as he got to his feet and headed over to the couch. He tapped Alan's shoulder to wake him. Alan shifted in his sleep before waking up.

 

“What do you want?” Alan asked still groggily.

 

“Good morning to you too. It’s almost eight, and we should get a move on,” Malcolm said as he cracked his neck. Alan nodded and turned his head to face Ellie. She was sound asleep. He didn’t want to disturb her, but they needed to find the kids.

 

“Ellie,” Alan said as he softly touched her face. Ellie woke up instantly as Alan touched her face. Noticing she was leaning on his shoulder, she jumped away from him.

 

“I’m sorry about that…I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Ellie stumbled.

 

“Nothing happened, you just used my shoulder as a pillow. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Alan stated with a smile before standing up and stretching.

 

“Okay,” Ellie said as he followed Alan's movement.

 

“Let’s move the desk, and then get out of here. The raptors shouldn’t be around here anymore,” Alan stated as he gestured to Malcolm to pick up the desk. They moved the desk, and then Alan walked up to the door and placed his hand on the handle. He slowly turned it as he opened the door he was greeted with an empty hallway. Sighing to himself he walked over to the table and grabbed his backpack.

 

“Let’s get going,” Alan said as he started out the door. After grabbing their personal items, the others followed him out the door and into the main entrance. 

 

The doors to the main entrance were completely open. As they stepped outside the smell of previous rain lingered in the air. The trees and plants glistened with the left over water that was still sitting on them. The clouds had disappeared and only blue skies could be seen for miles. The sound of birds chirping could be heard, and even in the distance the sound of roars from many different types of dinosaurs also could be heard. Life on the island was in full bloom. Alan smiled to himself, thinking that a place like this could be a perfect destination, except for the fact of man-eating dinosaurs.

 

“Which way should we go?” Alan asked as the group walked down the steps.

 

“I’m not sure,” Ellie stated as she looked out towards the jungle.

 

“It's funny. If I knew twelve years ago that I would be coming back to this island then I would have memorized the area, maybe even have drawn a map,” Malcolm commented. Alan stared at him as if he was insane.

 

“If I knew what I do now, then I would have never agreed to come to this island,” Alan stated.

 

“Where is your sense of adventure?” Malcolm asked.

 

“I lost it to real dinosaur,” Alan stated as he headed towards the backside of the building. Ellie and Malcolm followed him.

 

The rains from the night before had made the ground muddy. With each step they took they seemed to sink deeper into the ground. When they finally made it to the backside of the building, Alan looked around the area, trying to remember which direction to take to get to the employee's compound. There were no trails, nothing to lead them in any type of direction.

 

“Any idea of which way we should go?” Ellie asked as she also looked around the area.

 

“I think we should go…” Alan started to say but was unable to come up with any conclusion.

 

“Can I make a suggestion?” Malcolm asked. Alan nodded his head.

 

“Why don’t we follow the sign?”

 

“What sign?”

 

“The sign that is hidden behind the trees over there.”

 

Alan and Ellie looked over to where Malcolm was pointing. Behind several tree branches and leaves was a faded sign. Alan walked over to the sign and moved the branches. He smiled to himself as he saw the sign pointing upwards towards the employee compound. He was surprised that the sign was still standing up, and most of all that it was even still in pretty good shape.

 

“I guess someone likes us. The employee compound is in this direction,” Alan stated as he pointed in the direction of the sign. The group moved forward through the jungle, hoping that nothing major would cause them not to make it to the place. Most of all they were hoping that the kids would be there.

 

“You know what I just realized,” Malcolm stated after about ten minutes of silence.

 

“What?” Ellie asked.

 

“The kids aren’t kids anymore, they are adults.”

 

“Wow, doesn’t that make me feel old,” Ellie stated with a weird look on her face.

“Yeah, but it makes Alan feel even older since he is older than I am,” Malcolm said with a smirk.

 

“You couldn’t help yourself could you?” Alan asked with a smile.

 

“Nope.”

 

The minutes seemed to pass slowly as the group made their way through the jungle. Alan was still in the lead, while Malcolm and Ellie were a fair distance behind him. Malcolm and Ellie were having a conversation about life, family, and anything else that seemed somewhat important.

 

“So anything else new, something you’re not telling me?” Malcolm asked.

 

“Other than the divorce?”

 

“Other than that.”

 

“Hmm, no. I came to find Alan to talk to him, that was before Hammond had convinced me to come on this trip.”

 

“Does Alan know you got a divorce?”

 

“No.”

 

“Is there some reason you don’t want him to know?”

 

“No. I just haven’t found the right time to tell yet. When we broke up, it was hard on both him and me. I just don’t know how to tell him. Mostly I’m afraid of what he will say.”

 

“That’s understandable. Can I ask you a question?”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“Do you still love him?”

 

 

Ellie didn’t answer Malcolm.  Instead she just looked at him. He knew it was the same look he saw on Sarah's face whenever someone asked if she loved him. They stayed quiet after that conversation. Each member of the group was left to their own thoughts as the clouds above them began to form again.

 

It looked as if another storm was slowly approaching. Alan hoped that the storm wouldn’t start until after they arrived at their destination. After about an hour or two the tree branches began to fade and there was an opening coming into view. As they stepped into the opening they saw another gray building. Except this building was much bigger. There were several windows around the building, all which were covered with metal bars. Alan gave a sigh of relief and headed towards the entrance of the place. As he approached the door he grabbed the handle and turned it. The door opened just a little bit; pushing on the door he opened it completely. He then walked over the threshold.

 

Turning around he came in contact with a rather blunt object across the side of the head. Falling to the floor with a thud he looked up and only saw the outline of some person. His vision became disordered and blackness invaded him before he could say anything to the object.

 

“Oh god,” the voice said as Alan lay on the floor. Ellie ran over to Alan, not even looking at the person.

 

“Alan?” Ellie asked only loud enough for her to hear, hoping that he would say something.

 

“Tim?” Malcolm asked as he looked at the figure.

 

“Dr. Malcolm?” Tim asked with surprise in his voice.

 

“Wow, long time no see,” Malcolm stated as he smiled. Tim smiled back and looked down at Ellie.

 

“Dr. Sattler?” Tim asked.  Ellie nodded her head.

 

“Hmm, who did I hit?” Tim asked.

 

“Alan,” Ellie stated as she bent down to check Alan’s pulse.

 

“He is still alive, and breathing. I think you just knocked him out for a while.”

 

“I didn’t mean to do it.”

 

“Don’t sweat it, I hit him yesterday and then he fell down a hill. So I guess he just likes being beat up. I wouldn't get too close to him after he wakes up, he might be a little angry.”

 

“Let’s move him somewhere that is more comfortable,” Malcolm suggested to Tim. Tim nodded and both slowly picked up Alan and took him down a hallway. After a few turns they came into a big game room there was a couch and a few tables. There was also a pinball machine and pool table. 

 

“Put him on the couch,” Ellie said as she followed Malcolm and Tim. They nodded and placed Alan on the couch.

 

“I hope he is going to be okay,” Tim said as he looked at Alan.

 

“I’m sure he will be,” Ellie said reassuring.

 

“Tim, what’s going on,” a voice said from behind them. Tim turned around and faced the voice.

 

“Lex, remember Dr’s Malcolm and Sattler,” Tim stated as Ellie and Malcolm turned around. 

 

“Oh my god,” Lex said as she ran up to them. She gave them each a big hug.

 

“Where is Alan?” Lex asked after she broke the hug with Ellie.

 

“He is on the couch, your brother knocked him unconscious,” Malcolm stated with a smile.

 

“TIM,” Lex scowled Tim. She walked over to the couch and saw Alan.

 

“Is he going to be okay?” Lex asked.

 

“Yes,” Ellie stated with a smile.

 

“You also gave him a black eye?” Lex asked as he looked at Tim.

 

“No, Ellie gave him that,” Tim said defensively.

 

“It’s a long story. Let's just say that Alan has been bound for pain in the past day,” Ellie stated as she looked at Alan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Why don’t we go sit at the kitchen table and let him rest,” Lex suggested as she looked at Alan.

 

“That’s a great idea,” Ellie said, she wanted Alan to have some peace and quiet.

 

“So why are you guys here?” Tim asked as the group headed toward the small kitchen table. Tim pulled a couple of more chairs out of the closet and placed them around the oval table.

 

“We came to rescue you two,” Malcolm answered as he sat down. Ellie wasn’t paying attention to the conversation; she was instead looking at her surroundings for the first time since they had arrived.

 

The kitchen was connected to the living room and was rather small considering the size of the building. There was a huge refrigerator in one of the corners. It looked to be new once upon a time, but now dust had settled into it making it look as if it was something you would buy from a swap meet. There was a microwave that sat on the counter next to the refrigerator, and there were even a couple of toasters. There were two metal sinks, which had rusted due to the light coming in from the window and mostly because of the elements. Several cupboards were place above and below the counter. The floor was tiled, which looked to be once white, but Ellie wasn’t completely sure.

 

The living room itself had two huge couches and a smaller sofa in the corner of the room. In the middle, right next to the wall was a big screen television, which also had gathered dust. There were also even more cupboards, which Ellie suspected held movies and CDs. The tile ended just before the living room and carpet was place around the living room. The carpet was a dark brown. There were fans in both the living room and kitchen as well as lamps scattered in several different places.

 

“Ellie?” Malcolm asked causing Ellie to come back to reality.

 

“Umm, what?” Ellie asked still not paying attention.

 

“The kids wanted to know if you wanted anything to eat,” Malcolm stated with a smile.

 

“I don’t know, what do you got?” Ellie asked.

 

“ Bread, turkey, ham, cheese, eggs, cookies, etc,” Tim stated off the top of his head.

 

“Everything but pizza,” Malcolm stated with a sound of disappointment in his voice.

 

“Well, you can always call out, but I highly doubt it would be delivered in thirty minutes or less,” Lex stated sarcastically.    

 

“I also highly doubt any person in their right minds would deliver it to the island,” Ellie added. The group started to laugh when they heard a noise coming from the couch. Ellie got up and walked over to Alan.

 

“It’s okay, he is just talking in his sleep,” Ellie stated as she looked at him. Alan was still unconscious but he was saying weird things in his sleep.

 

“I think I’m going to go use the restroom. Where is it?” Ellie asked as she walked away from Alan.

 

“It’s down the hall, third door on the left,” Lex stated as she started to make sandwiches. Ellie nodded her head and started down the hall.

 

When Ellie entered the bathroom, she noticed her image in the cracked mirror. She looked tired, sore, distressed, and scared. She stared at herself in the mirror, trying to understand everything that had gone on in the past days. She had left her children with her mother and headed to see Alan against her mother's liking. Before she knew it, she found herself talking to Malcolm and John Hammond. She gave a heavy sigh, and she wished she could stop time and go back to the beginning. As she closed her eyes, she found her mind drifting to Alan. He was everything. She still to this day regretted breaking up with him, and most of all leaving. She opened her eyes as she heard a knock on the door. She walked over and opened it.

 

“Lex has the food ready,” Malcolm stated. He smiled then headed back towards the kitchen, Ellie followed him slowly.

 

“I hope you like turkey sandwiches,” Lex stated as she placed a plate full on the table.

 

“I can eat anything,” Ellie stated as she sat down at the table and took a sandwich off the plate and started to eat.

 

 

Extra Note:

 

Sorry this took so long. Hope you like the chapter and please feel free to leave a review.