Within the jungle he moved cautiously, constantly on alert. They had tossed him in there for days but nothing had ever happened and so he was led to believe to be safe. But today something was off. He felt nervous, he could feel himself being observed, as if something else was in there with him.
Something hungry.
He was just shaking away those thoughts, calming himself when the world around him seemed to explode, just as that strange clicking sound, which has always accompanied him while in the jungle, suddenly spiked. The bushes surrounding him began to tremble and he felt the ground shake a little as something quite heavy had just jumped nearby. Without turning around to check he started to run away, bolting out of the jungle into the nearest clearing, as four shapes seemed to do the same following him.
Just as he had reached the clearing, seeing the massive gate from which he had entered that nightmarish place, his stalker emerged from the foliage looking at him with cruel, cold eyes.
In his eyes, it appeared like a massive beast. Four meters long and almost two of height, its skin of a dark green with black vertical stripes on her back. The monster advanced slowly toward him, its head and body low, almost dragging on the ground, its forelimbs wide to either side as it snarled threateningly at him as it advanced.
Screaming in terror he ran away, just as a second beast landed where he had been a second ago. Panicking, he kept running, followed by the two beasts who seemed ready to kill him. Screaming he ran, as a third monster appeared suddenly from his left side, snapping its teeth at him, making him run faster.
As he felt himself more alive than he had ever been, he ran straight ahead, jumping through some bushes just as he believed to have finally managed to outrun those monsters. Only to realize that he had been prodded all along. As he emerged from the bush, in fact, he found himself face to face with another of those monsters, only this had a blue streak on her sides, from head to tails.
Squealing in terror, he tried to backpedal but the thing was faster, as it snapped her jaws and slashed with her claws. Bob the Pig vanished from existence just as the clicking sound stopped resounding from above.
“Damn…”
On a metal infrastructure, elevated from the ground by several meters, Owen Grady stared at his dinosaurs as they ate yet another pig, diving it within them, as the biggest chunks went always to the blue striped raptor.
“She’s done it again…”
“Well, mon ami, she’s a smart girl. What did you expect?”
"Yeah... you're right. I just hope she's smart enough to survive..."
"What do you mean...oh... Him."
As Owen and his colleague had been talking, they both saw a rather burly man coming toward them. The guy was none other than Vic Hoskins, one of the personnel that had come from Ingen to make sure that the dinosaurs were gonna be treated as per regulations. At least, that's what was written on his papers.
"Owen! Owen...Amazing job you've done with these animals. The way the last one...how do you call it?"
"Blue. She's Blue."
"The way she intercepted her prey before it could be rescued...Wow! You've done a hell of a lot of work with these beasts..."
As Hoskins kept talking, Grady kept moving, keeping himself busy until, with some annoyance in his voice, he turned and faced the Corporative guy straight in the eyes.
"What do you want Hoskins?"
"What do I want? What Ingen wants is to have a field test with these animals. You've just shown today that they can follow orders."
Owen Grady, shaking his head, moved his stare away from Hoskins, as he turned toward the walled section of the jungle where his team of velociraptors was living.
"They're animals, Vic. Sure they obeyed me since they see me as their Alpha but this doesn't make them tame. So the answer is no. There won't be any field test."
Hoskins huffed as he leaned on the railing, still looking at the dinosaurs mingling within the jungle, barely able to see them or distinguish them from one another. With a bored tone, then, he turned toward Owen Grady, looking at the animal trainer with a sassy stare.
"Sigh. You leave me no choice here, Owen... It's either a field test for them..."
"Not gonna happen, Hoskins."
"...Or you give your beloved Blue back to Ingen for a short time."
Grady stopped, turning around and facing the burly guy with an angered stare, almost ready to punch him right in the face.
"What did you say!?"
It was Vic Hoskins turn to smile now, as he faced the younger guy while keeping the sassy look in his eyes.
"These animals aren't yours, Grady. They're property of Ingen. I tried to justify their presence here with a field test but... if you refuse, They will come and take your preciou raptor back to the lab for some analyses. That's why I'm here. Either you accept the test...or she'll come back with me.
I'll give you the rest of the day to mull it over. Think about it. Otherwise, by day's end, I'm authorized to collect her from this facility and bring her to an Ingen structure somewhere on one of these islands. Don't worry, though, they will give her back to you in a few months... probably.``
As Hoskins walked away, having said his piece,Oen turned his stare to the raptors, although they were too well hidden within the jungle to be properly seen, with a pensive stare. One of his colleagues, who had heard most of the discussion, stood beside him, while looking toward the jungle.
"What are you going to do, mon ami?"
"I don't know. They're not ready for the field test... But I don't want to give Blue to those people...Who knows what they would do to her..."
Away from the Raptor enclosure, Vic Hoskins took out his phone from his pocket and speed dialed a number saved within his memory.
"Yes. It's done. I don't think he'll agree to a test. Yeah...we will have to content ourselves with Her. Don't worry, she's the most intelligent of the bunch. Once we manage to train her, we will have a go ready solution for our clients troubles. I'll collect her tonight. Yes, I may need some muscles and some papers. Thanks. It shall be done."
That evening, came way too fast for Owen. He had mulled it over all day and yet had to find a solution. He couldn't, in all of his conscience, agree to a field testing. Nor Blue, nor the other raptors were ready for that. Everything could go wrong and with a park full of civilians right beside them he couldn't risk it. Hard it may be, he had to swallow the pill and let her go.
As he returned to the enclosure, he could already see Hoskins stationed near the entrance, as several tough looking mercs were milling all around him, while Ingen's scientists and field doctors took great care as they prepared themselves to move the raptor from the enclosure.
"So, Owen, what's it gonna be? Field test or..."
"They're not ready for a test, Vic. I...I can't..."
Hoskins, appearing like he was sad for having brought this bad news to Grady, moved his stare to the ground, as he nodded to himself a couple of times.
"I see... Well, nothing to do but doing it. Ok, people... Let's move her out. Ah, Owen, please, make her come to a clear area. We would prefer to give her a couple of tranquilizer shots where we coud easily pick her up, without disturbing the others."
Blue had been enjoying her day with her pack.They had hunted together, they had slept and even played a bit together. That morning, as he had followed her Alpha's instruction she had made sure to grab their prey, and had enjoyed it particularly. Her Apha hadn't seemed too pleased but, despite him being the Alpha she still had some trouble in reading him. If she hadn't grown up with him, she would have said that he looked much more like a prey, than one of the pack.
That night. though, she heard him calling her. She distinctly heard her name called and, leaving her sisters to guard their nest, she went to investigate. Soon enough she found herself in the middle of a clearing, looking up to her Alpha as he stared at her strangely.
BEfore she could do anything, three things hit her body, as she then began to feel woozy and confused. Unable to call for her sistershelp she began to fall on the ground, as she then stared at the Alpha without understanding why he had betrayed her. Then she fell into darkness.
When Blue opened her eyes she found herself...
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