Chapter 22: Putting A Face With The Enemy

              Alan and Jodie continued to head to the west. Alan was still helping Jodie, but she was starting to walk on her own some. Her leg was feeling a lot better, as the day progressed. For about the last hour Jodie was asking Alan a million questions about dinosaurs. She wanted to have the knowledge, in case she needed it later. Alan explained to her about all the new species that he believed were roaming the island. He explained to her how the dinosaurs were, more than likely, safely behind electric fences, but that it was only a guess, at this point. The Albertosaurus was definitely not behind a working electric fence. The fence had somehow malfunctioned. Alan figured that there could very well be other dinosaurs roaming around.

              They walked for about 2 hours, stopping a few times to let Jodie rest. They were stopped right now, resting. Alan looked to the West and noticed that there was something in the distance. It looked like it could be a building.

              "Jodie, can you see that?" He asked, pointing.

              Jodie looked.

              "Yeah. What do you think it is?"

              "I don't know. Let's go that way," Alan said, looking around. "I feel like a sitting duck out here in the open like this."

              "Okay."

              Jodie got back up. As they started walking that way, she thought she heard something.

              "Did you hear that?"

              "Yeah."

              "What is it?" She whispered.

              "Sounds like . . . a car."

              Jodie tensed. They were right in the open, with nothing around to run for cover.

              "Come on. Let's head toward that tree line over there," Alan suggested.

              He grabbed Jodie's arm and helped her go quicker. They were almost to the tree line, when a human voice was heard.

              "I think that's far enough. Stop. Both of you."

              Jodie instantly knew who it was. She and Alan stopped. As they turned around, Jodie whispered to Alan.

              "That's Bodan."

              Alan sighed. He hadn't had the pleasure of meeting Bodan yet, but he had heard about some of the awful things that Bodan had done. He turned around and saw that Bodan wasn't alone. There were two men with him, and each of them had a gun. He put up his hands. Jodie did the same.

              Bodan and his two assistants got out of their jeep. Bodan approached Alan and Jodie, while the other two men stayed closer to the jeep, aiming their guns at Alan. Bodan was now directly in front of them. Alan made a mental note about just how large this man was. He was surprised just how much taller he was than himself. Alan had to look up quite a long way. He noticed a bandage on Bodan's face, and it was very much soaked in blood. It looked very painful.

              Bodan studied the stranger that was with Jodie. He smiled, as he recognized the man.

              "Dr. Grant, I presume."

              Alan nodded.

              "I'm pleased to have finally met you, sir."

              Alan just stared at him. The guns aimed at his head were making him very nervous.

              "You can put your hands down," Bodan said. He looked at Jodie. "You, too, my dear."

              Alan put his hands down. Jodie did the same. She inched closer to Alan and grasped his hand.

              "You're not much of a talker, are you, Dr. Grant?" Bodan asked, smiling.

              "I guess I'm not," Alan said.

              "I bet you're wondering how I found you."

              "Yes. I was wondering about that," Alan said.

              Bodan stepped over to Jodie and reached for her arm. The sudden movement made Jodie back away. Alan put his arm in front of Bodan, in an attempt to stop him from scaring her.

              "Dr. Grant, you don't want to get shot, do you?"

              "Of course not."

              "Well, I suggest you let me go about my business, sir. Otherwise, my associates will be forced to shoot you."

              Alan moved his arm away. He looked at the guns that were still pointing at his head. He knew he needed to remain calm.

              "Thank you. Now, what I was going to show you, is this," Bodan said, grabbing Jodie's wrist.

              He took off the bracelet she was wearing and tossed it at Alan.

              "We affixed a little transmitter in her bracelet. We've been following her for quite a while now. Imagine my surprise, when I found you with her."

              "What are you planning to do?" Alan asked.

              "Oh, I'm not quite sure, yet. I do know one fact, for certain."

              "What's that?" Alan asked.

              "You will not be as lucky as you have been in the past, Dr. Grant. This dinosaur island will be very different."

              Jodie grabbed Alan's hand again. He quickly looked at her, before turning his gaze upon Bodan again. Alan was starting to suspect that Bodan really didn't have any use for them. He could only hope that Mr. Envoy wanted them alive, for some reason.

              "Again, Mr. Bodan. What are you planning to do?" Alan asked.

              Jodie tensed up. She really didn't think it would be too much longer before Bodan had his men gun Alan down. She began to cry. Alan let her hand go and put his arm around her shoulder.

              Bodan looked at her.

              "Now, now, Jodie. Don't be sad. It'll all be over very soon, my dear."

              Bodan reached his hand out to touch Jodie. Alan moved her out of the way.

              "Please, leave her alone," Alan said.

              Jodie grabbed onto Alan, gripping him around the waist tightly. She was still looking toward Bodan, so she was able to see him take a swing at Alan. She saw Alan deflect the attack away with his right arm. As Alan did that, Bodan's men came running up, guns still aimed at Alan.

              Alan took a quick look at the guns that were now very close to his face. He held up his hands again.

              "Okay, okay. Sorry. Relax," he said.

              Bodan smiled. He looked at the two men.

              "Dr. Grant was just protecting a family member. Everything is quite okay. I assure both of you," Bodan said. "You two can back up a little. Give Dr. Grant and I some room."

              The two men did what they were told. They went backwards about 3 steps, their guns still aimed.

              "So, who else is here with you, on this little rescue mission?" Bodan asked.

              Alan didn't answer.

              Bodan smiled coldly.

              "Are you comprehending what I'm saying, Dr. Grant? Or has the sun warped your mind?"

              "I'm here alone," Alan finally said.

              Alan still had his hands up. Jodie was still holding onto him. Bodan stepped up and swung his fist toward Alan again. This time, the punch connected. Alan was understandably dazed as he staggered to the right, holding his jaw.

              Jodie let his waist go, but grabbed onto his left arm. She was beyond frightened. She really thought that Bodan was going to beat Alan to death, right in front of her. To her surprise though, he backed off after the first hit. Instead he barked an order to one of the armed men.

              "Smith. Knock him out."

              Alan and Jodie both heard the command. Alan tried to come up with some sort of defense against Smith, but Bodan quickly came up to him. Bodan struck Alan in the stomach. As Alan doubled over, he saw the butt of Smith's gun coming at him. That was the last thing Alan saw.

              Smith hit Alan with the gun as hard as he could. He watched him fall down. He looked, to make sure he wasn't moving. He wasn't. He was out cold.

              Jodie screamed, as Bodan and Smith attacked Alan. It happened so quickly, that Jodie didn't have a chance to help. He fell down right next to her and lay, unmoving, on the ground. She knelt down next to him.

              "Alan! Alan!" She said, as she began to cry.

              "He'll be all right, my dear. For now, anyway. Although, one can't really know when some large creature might come around," Bodan said, smiling. "Get in the jeep, Ms. Grant."

              Jodie looked up at him. She didn't want to leave Alan, in the middle of nowhere, all by himself.

              "No. You can't leave him here like this." 

              "Would you rather I have Smith shoot him?"

              "NO!" she yelled, as she kept trying to shake Alan awake.

              "Well, then, get in the jeep. It's that simple. Jeep. Dr. Grant doesn't get shot. No jeep. Dr. Grant gets shot."

              Jodie looked at Alan for any signs of life. He was breathing, but not much else. He was still out cold. He had blood coming from his head, as well. Jodie made the only decision she could.

              "Okay. I'll get in the stupid jeep."

              Jodie looked at Alan again. She leaned over and gently kissed his cheek. Bodan became impatient.

              "How touching. Let's get a move on," he said coldly.

              Jodie stood up and walked between the two armed men, toward the jeep. Bodan followed. When Jodie reached the jeep, she turned and looked at Alan again.

              "He's not going anywhere," Bodan said.

              He forced her into the jeep. She was instructed to sit in the passenger seat. The two armed men went around the rear and jumped into the back of the jeep. Bodan got in the driver's seat. Jodie never took her eyes off of Alan. He still wasn't moving, which was making her very concerned.

              Bodan backed the jeep up, and continued going South. He looked at Jodie.

              "Don't look so worried, my dear."

              Jodie said nothing. A few tears ran down her cheek, but she didn't say a word.

              Bodan grabbed his walkie talkie.

              "Jacob. Bodan here. Over."

              A few seconds went by and then there was a response.

              "Yes, Bodan. What?"

              Bodan looked at Jodie. She made eye contact with him. He smiled, as he talked into the radio.

              "Jacob. Let the Suchomimus out. We're got a minor problem to contend with in Section 4."

              Jodie stared at Bodan in disbelief. Then, her disbelief turned to anger.

              "What are you doing?" She yelled.

              Bodan laughed.

              "Taking care of Dr. Grant. You really didn't think I'd let him get away, did you?"

              Jodie couldn't think of anything more to say. All that she really wanted to do was kill Bodan. But since she didn't have a weapon, she did the next thing that came to mind. She jumped out of the jeep, as it was moving.

              Bodan was stunned by Jodie's actions. He slammed on the brakes. The jeep skidded for quite a long ways in the dirt, before it finally stopped moving. The two armed men jumped out immediately. Bodan stayed in the jeep. He turned it around and started slowly driving back the way he came.

              When Jodie jumped from the jeep, she landed on the ground very hard. She rolled several times, trying to break her fall. She quickly got up and ran toward the tree line, which wasn't all that far away at this point. Her leg was really hurting, but she forced herself to keep going. She heard the jeep's motor coming back. She turned her head to see how close it was. She couldn't see it yet. She reached the tree line and ran into the jungle. Suddenly, she could hear men talking. She stopped, so that they wouldn't hear her running. Then, she dunked down and hid. She could see the two armed men walking in the dirt, just outside of the jungle, where she was hiding. Then she saw Bodan pull up in the jeep. He got out and ran toward the two armed men.

              "Where is she?"

              "I don't know, sir," Smith answered.

              "Well, GO FIND HER," Bodan yelled.

              "Yes, sir," Smith said.

              Jodie watched the two men go into the jungle. Neither of them came in her direction, which made her understandably happy. She heard Bodan's walkie talkie, so she turned her attention back toward him.

              "Mr. Bodan. The Suchomimus isn't cooperating," a voice on the other end said.

              "Who is this?"

              "It's Ethan, sir."

              "Well, Ethan, put Jacob back on."

              "Yes, sir. One moment." 

              A few minutes went by before Jacob communicated with Bodan.

              "Bodan, the dinosaur is not doing what we were advised that it would do. When the gate was opened, it didn't run out. Instead, it refuses to leave its paddock."

              "Can't you coax it out?"

              "We've tried. We're still trying. I'll keep you updated."

              Jodie could see that Bodan was very unhappy with the news he just received.

              "Jacob. I want that dinosaur out. I want that dinosaur over in section 4 just as soon as possible."

              "Okay. I'm trying my best. Maybe we should try a different dinosaur instead."

              Bodan thought that over.

              "Yes, maybe that would be a good idea. If that Suchomimus doesn't leave its paddock in 20 minutes, scrap that plan and go with the Tyrannosaurus Rex.," Bodan said, smiling. "I believe it's a favorite of Dr. Grant's."

              "Okay. I'll let you know."

              Bodan placed his walkie talkie in its place on his belt. He looked around for his two assistants.

              "Smith! Come back over here! Forget about the girl. We need to leave this place right now. In 20 minutes, the T-Rex is going to be freed."

              It didn't take long for the two men to emerge from the jungle. All three men knew what freeing the T-Rex meant. A lot of destruction. Bodan didn't want to be anywhere near section 4 when the giant carnivore was released. The three men got back into the jeep. Bodan started it and floored it, going back to the East, toward the office portion of the island.

              Jodie waited a few minutes, and then she came out of the jungle. No one was in sight. She started to run back to where she thought Alan would be.

Chapter 23: On The Run

              Jacob waited the 20 minutes, and then he instructed Daniel to close the Suchomimus gate, and to open the T-Rex gate. Daniel wasn't sure he had heard the command right.

              "You want the Tyrannosaurus Rex out?" He asked.

              "Yes. That's what I said. What part didn't you get, Daniel?"

              "Sorry," Daniel said.

              He made his way through several touch screens in order to close the Suchomimus gate. It only took about 1 minute. Then, he looked back at Jacob.

              "Sir, I really think that you should rethink the Rex idea for right now."

              "Why is that?"

              "The accident with the Baryonyx, from yesterday afternoon, weakened some of the fences."

              Jacob knew absolutely nothing about computers. They gave him a very large headache.

              "How?" He asked.

              "Some of the fences aren't getting full power to them. I sent Ethan to Control Room 2, in order to manually reroute some of the power again. This time, we should have everything working properly and up to code."

              "Does Bodan know that the fences aren't quite up to code?"

              "I don't know, sir. But I do know that the fence, just outside Section 4, hasn't been properly powered yet. I'm afraid that if you let out the Rex, it could go to that fence and force its way into Section 3. You can't want that."

              Jacob was about to respond, when a frantic voice over the walkie talkie interrupted them.

              "Daniel! Daniel? Are you there? Over."

              Daniel picked up the walkie talkie. He recognized the voice. It was the weekend lab technician. He would sit around and make sure nothing bad happened in the lab. That was his only job. The fact that he was calling in such a frantic voice, obviously worried Daniel a great deal.

              "Yeah, I'm here, what's the matter?"

              "There is a . . . problem . . . with one of the dinosaurs over here!"

              Jacob took the walkie talkie from Daniel.

              "Jacob here. Define . . . problem."

              "Well, some of the dinosaurs escaped their holding area and are running free somewhere in the lab, sir."

              Jacob looked at Daniel, hoping that he would have a solution. He did.

              "Tell him to seal off the part of the lab he is in and we'll send help."

              Jacob nodded and relayed the message. There was about a minute of silence, and then the man's voice was heard again. It was much calmer.

              "Okay. I've barricaded myself in the middle section, on the first floor. Please send help."

              Jacob said something to him, that Daniel didn't quite hear. Then he looked back at Daniel.

              "Now, where were we?" Jacob asked.

              "The fences. They're not up to code. We need to fix them before you go letting out a 6 ton dinosaur," Daniel said, recapping the best he could.

              "Good point. I'll take it up with Bodan. Hold on."

              "Yes, sir," Daniel said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Alan slowly started to work his way back to consciousness. At first, he just lay there on the ground, listening to the various sounds of nature all around him. Then he began to remember where he was and what had happened.

              He was lying on his side. He slowly began to move his arms and legs, making sure they all worked. As he attempted to sit up, the sudden pain, coming from his head, forced him to lay back down. He reached around to the back of his head, trying to find the source of the pain. When he brought his arm back around, there was blood on his hand.

              Then he remembered Jodie. He was still dizzy, as he started to look for her. He sat up, as fast as he could, and started yelling her name. When he started yelling, he realized that his jaw wasn't right, either. He held onto it for a second of two, trying to rub some of the pain out. When he moved his hand away, there was blood again. Bodan, and Smith, had really gotten him good in just those few minutes.

              He managed to get up. He slowly walked over to where the jeep had been, and discovered tire tracks in the dirt. They continued to the west. He started to follow them, hoping to catch up with Jodie somehow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Daniel was typing, and talking to Ethan at the same time on the walkie talkie. They were trying to coordinate the fences, to make sure they were all properly reinforced. They finally had completed the delicate task. Daniel, who was still in the Main Control Room, looked at Jacob.

              "Okay. We've got the fences running smoothly."

              "Good. Let out the Tyrannosaurus Rex."

              "Yes, sir."

              Daniel typed a few quick commands and the gate for the T-Rex opened. One of the cameras, that were still operational, was located near the T-Rex Paddock, so when Daniel saw that one of them walked out of the paddock, he closed the gate back, with a few more simple keystrokes.

              "Okay, it's out. And it's going toward the maintenance road."

              Jacob smiled.

              "If we're lucky, we might be able to see it eat Dr. Grant. Any idea where he is?"

              "No. The camera range isn't that great. I have no idea where he is, but I'm sure that the T-Rex will find him. Just give a few moments. It's an extraordinary hunter."

              Jacob was about to say something else, when a frantic Ethan was heard over the walkie talkie.

              "Daniel! Come in, Daniel!"

              Daniel quickly picked up the walkie talkie.

              "Yeah?"

              "I just noticed something over here. I'm hoping it's a malfunction. Can you check something for me over there?"

              "Sure."

              "Access Fence Security for me."

              Daniel typed, and quickly got to Fence Security.

              "Okay, I'm there."

              "Now check the Velociraptor Fence for me. I'm mainly interested in the recently added overhead electric fencing."

              Daniel accessed the Velociraptor Paddock Fence Security.

              "It's working, Ethan. It's online."

              "That's good," Ethan said with relief.

              "Why?"

              "Because, according to this notation near the fuse box over here, the Raptor overhead fence is routed into the Southern paddocks, instead of the Northern ones."

              "Why would they do that?" Jacob interrupted.

              Daniel didn't answer him. He started to run the dinosaur field test program.

              "Are all the Raptors accounted for?" Ethan asked over the walkie talkie.

              "I'm checking on that now. Hold on."

              "Okay," Ethan said.

              Jacob watched, as Daniel typed and typed and typed. Then he just stared at the screen, not saying a word. Just staring.

              "Are they all there?" Jacob asked.

              Daniel looked at him.

              "According to the computer, there is only one Raptor in the paddock. One."

              Jacob took the walkie talkie from the desk.

              "Ethan, he says the computer only picked up one Raptor in the paddock."

              "Oh, my god," Ethan whispered.

              Daniel looked at Jacob.

              "That's a very bad thing," Daniel dramatically understated.

              Jacob was furious. He began to scream at Daniel now.

              "Why didn't we already know this!"

              "Because none of the systems are set to automatic right now. We had to conserve system memory, in order to reroute power systems back and forth."

              "What the hell does that mean, Daniel?"

              "It means that we should have manually checked all of the paddocks, sir. But since the outage occurred to the south, we didn't think of checking the paddocks to the north."

              Jacob looked away.

              "Bodan is going to be pissed."

              Just as the words came out of his mouth, Patrick Bodan walked into the Main Control Room.

              "Bodan is going to pissed about what?" He asked, as he threw the cigarette he was smoking to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Alan had made his way to the narrow concrete road, that ran through the middle of the island. The sun was beaming down on him, making him even more uncomfortable. He walked for only about 15 minutes, before he stopped for a quick rest. He had a tremendous headache. There was no where to sit, so he walked off the path and toward the tree line. There, he leaned on a tree, getting out of the sun for a minute. While resting, he spotted a building in the distance, along with something else. He squinted in the sunlight, and finally identified what it was. It was a wooden sign, coming up through the ground. He walked toward it. As he got closer, he could read what it said. It said MONORAIL ENTRANCE / MALL. The sign came up to about his waist and there was an arrow, pointing toward a rather large building, just past the sign.

              "Monorail?" Alan said to himself.

              He looked up and laughed. There was a track made of concrete, quite a distance above him. There were also massive concrete posts, rising up to meet the concrete track. The track led into the large building, and then came out the other side. He was laughing because he hadn't even noticed the track, until right now. The tracks went on, as far as he could see, in both directions. He sat down on top of the sign and thought about where to go and what to do. He was slightly turned around now, after being knocked unconscious, but he was certain that he hadn't seen this monorail/mall building before. Logically, he was pretty sure the lab, where he was supposed to meet Ian and Ellie, was back the other way. After checking his head, to see if it was still bleeding, he got up and started to cautiously walk the other way, toward the lab. At least he hoped so.

              As he walked, he started to wonder why there weren't any people or trucks around. He didn't have very long to think about that, though. Suddenly, a loud and frightening roar was heard all around him. Alan stopped and quickly scanned the area, trying to figure out which direction the roar came from. As he was scanning, he walked backwards and toward the mall. He reached the main door of the mall and tried to open it. The door was locked, but the doors where made of glass. He looked around for something to throw into the glass, and that's when the ground began to shake. Something very big was heading his way. After a few seconds, he finally saw what belonged to the deafening roar. It was the Tyrannosaurus Rex and it was tracking him fast. It seemed to look right at him, making him temporarily freeze in terror. The T-Rex thundered toward him.

              Getting the door open was now Alan's top priority. He saw a garbage can, sitting close to the concrete walkway, a few steps from the entrance. He ran toward it. In the direction of the oncoming dinosaur. He quickly grabbed hold of the garbage can and carried it back toward the glass doors. The T-Rex was all the way to the wooden sign that Alan had been sitting on, just moments before. Alan made it to the doors and, raising up the garbage can, he threw it into the doors. Glass shattered all over and the garbage can rolled down the hallway of the building.

              Alan jumped through the broken glass and ran to his right, in an attempt to get out of view. When he disappeared, the pursuing T-Rex lost sight of the movement, and stopped. It stood there, trying to track which way its meal had gone. Alan was pressed up against the wall, right next to the shattered glass doors, hoping that he wouldn't be seen. He wasn't. The T-Rex stood still, and looked around, for about five minutes. Then it finally gave up the search.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Jodie made it back to where she thought Alan was left behind. He wasn't there. She looked around, trying to find signs that she was, at least, in the right place. She found the jeep tracks, where the jeep had stopped and she found her bracelet on the ground, very near to where blood was splattered on the ground. There was no evidence that Alan was dragged away and eaten, so Jodie sighed with relief.

              As she was looking at the jeep tracks, she noticed something else. There were footprints! Footprints going in a westerly direction. She followed them, with her eyes. They continued on, as far as she could see. They must have belonged to Alan. She smiled, as she quickly followed them.

              After a few minutes, her happy mood changed. The farther she went, the more worried she became. She was starting to lose her sense of direction, plus she started to have doubts about the footprints belonging to Alan. They really could have belonged to any worker on the island. She thought that she should have ran into him by now. She didn't think he had that much of a head start. She kept on following the footprints, though. As she followed them, they ended when it looked like Alan started walking on the narrow concrete road. Jodie continued on, not really knowing if that was really the right thing to do.

              After about 10 minutes, she heard a very loud roar, coming from in front of her somewhere. She stopped walking forward, and instantly ran for the cover of the trees. She stood there for a few minutes, listening to the continuing roaring. She wasn't sure if it was coming closer, or going farther away. She decided to stay put, and wait it out.

              It wasn't a long wait, before she saw the source of the roar. She guessed that it was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, since it resembled what she had seen in books. She was completely captivated by the colossal creature, as it walked past her, shaking the ground with every step it took. It hadn't seen her. It just kept walking to the east, with no particular urgency. Jodie sighed with relief, as she continued to watch it move past her. The shaking of the ground also subsided. Then, just as she was thinking about going on, the ground began to shake harder again. She looked back toward where the beast had gone, and saw that it had turned around, and was studying the area that she was in. She remembered reading that the T-Rex couldn't see very well, so she stayed absolutely still. It still seemed to know that someone was there. It was bringing its huge head back and forth, sniffing the air. Jodie remained calm and still, as it began to walk toward the trees she was hiding next to. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and hoped for the best.

              While her eyes were closed, she heard another high pitched growl, coming from the opposite way. It was definitely the growl of another dinosaur, originating where the T-Rex had come from. She opened her eyes, and regretted it immediately. The T-Rex had its snout very, very close to where she was. She almost screamed in panic, but then remembered the other growl she had heard. She looked beyond the T-Rex's snout, and spotted two other smaller dinosaurs, running swiftly down the concrete road. She lost sight of the smaller dinosaurs, as they ran past the T-Rex, and then caught sight of them again, when they safely made it past. The T-Rex turned its massive head, when it caught a glimpse of movement. It roared and turned the rest of its body quickly. It rumbled off in pursuit of the smaller dinosaurs.

              Jodie had been standing through the entire ordeal. When the T-Rex finally disappeared from her sight, she collapsed to the ground, in a heaping mess. She sincerely hoped she was never that close to a T-Rex again. She had read Alan's account of his confrontation with a T-Rex, but couldn't truly respect it, until now. How he was able to stay perfectly calm, and to keep the little girl completely calm, was beyond her. If that dinosaur had stared in her direction for another minute, she would have broken down. That much was certain to Jodie. She would have broken down and been eaten. She stood up and began to run to the west again, in the direction she hoped Alan had gone. She needed to find him right now, before her stupidity would get her killed. She didn't want to be on her own any longer. She ran, as fast as she could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Alan began to explore the hallway that he was hidden in. After the T-Rex had wandered off, he felt temporarily safe. As he was walking, he started to think of Ellie and Jodie. Mostly Jodie, since she was probably with the enemy. Probably with Bodan. He hadn't had much of a chance to get to know her. He hoped that she was safe from harm.

              His mind drifted to Ellie. She had Ian with her, at least. Alan didn't like the idea of Ian being alone with Ellie. Not at all. He cringed, as he thought about Ian hitting on her, over and over again. He knew Ellie could take care of herself, but he wished that he was with her, instead of that annoying man.

              As Alan was lost in thought, he heard a noise, coming from one of the other rooms. His stopped and looked around, trying to figure out which room it had come from. There were about a dozen doors, up and down the hallway, and it was beginning to make Alan a little uneasy. There were too many places for something to hide. He heard another noise and this time it was definitely a dinosaur. It was a high pitched snarl. He didn't wait around to find out what it was. He began running down the hallway, in an attempt to get as far away from the snarling as possible. He began to open and close doors rapidly, as he continued to make his way, deeper into the mall area.

Chapter 24: Raptors, Dilos, and T-Rex . . . Oh, My!

              Ian smiled, as he realized that the building they were walking toward, was the lab they had been looking for. He and Ellie walked up to one of the side doors, and quietly went inside. The lab was a very big building. As they walked inside, there was a diagram of the building interior. It had two floors, and was divided into three sections, with hallways connecting every section to the next. They were standing in the section closest to the middle of the island. It was quite large, with a very high ceiling.

              "Well, we made it," Ian said. "Where do you think Alan is?"

              "I don't know. Let's look around for him. Come on," she said.

              Ellie walked through the section they were in, and approached the stainless steel security door. There was a place to put your hand print for identification. She frowned, as she looked at Ian.

              "Okay, genius. Get through this one."

              Ian laughed at her. He was about to enthral Ellie with his intellect, once again, when the stainless steel door flew open. A man, who was on the other side of the door, ran head on, into Ian. Both of them fell to the floor, leaving Ellie the only one standing. She was about to yell at the man for needlessly plowing Ian down, when she saw that there was something else coming through the door. She yelled, as she bent over and attempted to drag Ian out of the way.

              "Ian, get up!"

              She knew what it was, that had burst through the door. The colorful crest on its head, identified it as a Dilophosaurus. The only positive thing she could think of, was that it didn't seem to be full grown. It was only about 7 feet tall, which was plenty tall enough, in Ellie's opinion. The frenzied man was screaming and waving his arms around, while still on top of Ian. Ian saw that Ellie was trying to help, so he reached his arm out to her. She took it, and, with all her might, managed to drag Ian out from under the frantic man. It was then, that Ian and Ellie noticed why the man was acting so strange. He had a black substance all over both of his forearms, and it seemed to be burning through his skin, like acid.

              Ian quickly got to his feet and checked his own body, to make sure the man didn't pass it along. He hadn't, and Ian looked relieved . . . for a second. The Dilophosaurus let out a strange vocal noise, and then a frill lifted up, around its neck. It began to hiss. Ian looked up, as Ellie yelled at him.

              "Ian, watch out! It's going to spit again!"

              The Dilophosaurus was still in the doorway. It swayed its head back and forth several times, and then the last time it moved its head forward, a black substance shot from its mouth. Ian darted to his left just in time. The black substance went right by his head, and stuck to some papers, that were tacked to the wall behind him. He ran to Ellie and grabbed her hand.

              "Let's get the hell out of here!" He yelled.

              "What about him?" Ellie asked, pointing to the man, who was still on the floor.

              Ian didn't get a chance to respond. The Dilophosaurus had bent down, as Ellie was talking, and bit down on one of the man's waving arms. Just as the dinosaur attacked the man, three more Dilophosaurs appeared behind the first one. All of them growling and hooting. One of the newly appeared Dilophosaurs joined in with the first one, and finished off the wounded man. Ian and Ellie began to run for the outside door. Ian opened it and was about to make a run for it, when another unexpected surprise greeted him.

              The two Velociraptors, that had run past Jodie earlier, had lost the pursuing T-Rex, and had made their way to the lab. They had been investigating the area carefully, when Ian opened the door. They were just as surprised as he was, by the encounter. The Raptors immediately snarled and snapped at Ian, causing him to back up the other way, and into the lab again. Ellie was right behind him, and was forced backwards, as well. The two humans were in between two carnivorous species of dinosaurs. They were sure they would be torn apart, by one or the other, or both.

              That's not what happened. When the Dilophosaurs saw the Raptors, they began to growl and hoot, swaying their heads back and forth. The Raptors had never seen this type of behavior before, and didn't know how to counteract it. They ignored the humans . . . for now, and went for the more serious threat, the other dinosaurs. Both of the Raptors leapt toward the four Dilophosaurs, claws extended.

              As the Raptors jumped, Ian ducked out of the way, by diving to the ground. He grabbed Ellie by the arm, and pulled her down with him. From the ground, they turned just in time, to see the Raptors rising above their heads, toward the Dilophosaurs.

              Two of the Dilophosaurs, frills out, spit at the flying Raptors. The black substance struck one of the Raptors in the eyes, while it was in mid air. It let out a yelp, as it hit the ground sideways, sliding toward the awaiting Dilophosaurs. When it finally stopped sliding, it was permanently blinded. It tried striking out toward where it thought its adversaries might be, but it wasn't able to connect. The Dilophosaurs were too quick. Two of them, working as a team, attacked the wounded Raptor. One of them spit at the Raptor again, hitting it in the head, while the other one started to bite at its mid section. In no time, they had the Raptor defeated.

              The other Raptor had landed just to the right of the Dilophosaurs. It was all alone now, one against four. It realized that it couldn't win, so it made a run for it. It leapt completely over the two Dilophosaurs, closest to it, that were finishing off the blinded Raptor. It landed in between the other two Dilophosaurs, that were still very close to the unknown, and now deceased, man. The Raptor was able to catch those two dinosaurs completely off guard. It attacked the closest Dilophosaurus, and was able jump up, and slice its throat. The wounded Dilophosaurus cried out, and then, taking a few last breaths, collapsed to the ground, right next to the half-eaten man. The Raptor, sensing that it probably couldn't do any more damage, retreated through the opened door, and ran down the hallway, toward the middle section of the lab. Two of the remaining Dilophosaurs followed it, leaving one for Ian and Ellie to deal with.

              Ian and Ellie were back to their feet, by now, and were running for the outside door again. It had somehow gotten shut, in all the commotion, so Ian placed a hand on the doorknob. He didn't go any farther though. Suddenly, the ground was shaking and it was coming from outside of the lab. Ian looked at Ellie, as if to ask her what to do. As he was looking at her, he heard that same strange vocal noise. The lone Dilophosaurus growled, hooted, and then spit at them, from across the room. The black substance hit the door, just above where Ian's hand was.

              Startled, Ian opened the door and began to make a run for it. As he left the building, he thought he heard Ellie say something, but he couldn't quite make it out. His momentum carried him outside, where he unintentionally spotted the source of the shaking. It was the Tyrannosaurus Rex., and it was walking very close to the lab, trying to track which way the two Raptors had gone. It instantly saw Ian, as he ran outside.

              Ellie hadn't followed Ian outside. She had seen the T-Rex, through the door, when Ian had opened it. She yelled for him to stop, but he must not have heard her. He ran right out there, and just about right into the path of the T-Rex. Ellie reached for him, and managed to grab one of his arms, pulling him back inside the lab. Both of them were relieved, once again, as the T-Rex let out a majestic roar, just outside of the door.

              Their happiness didn't last long. The lone Dilophosaurus was still in the room and was still spitting at them. Ellie quickly looked around for something to throw at the dinosaur. She found something suitable, a row of oxygen tanks nearby. She grabbed one and was surprised at just how heavy it was. She turned toward the Dilophosaurus and pitched the tank at it, hitting it right in the head. Ian, thinking the tanks were a good idea, started looking for a fire extinguisher. He found one rather quickly, and sprayed it at the Dilophosaurus. The first attack, with the oxygen tank, had dazed it. The second attack, with the fire extinguisher, had blinded it temporarily.

              Ian and Ellie were able to get past the dinosaur, and run down the hallway, toward the middle section of the lab. They knew that the other dinosaurs had also gone this way, but the alternative was the T-Rex, and that was hardly an alternative.

© 2002 by Yvonne Bartha