JP: New Beginnings-Chapters 16-20

"JP: New Beginnings-Chapters 11-15" 

Chapter 16: Dinosaur Information 101

Ellie and Ian made their way to some offices. Ian walked up to the closest office, office #10, and tried the door. It was unlocked. He looked at Ellie. She nodded. He pushed the door open and they went inside. Ian quietly closed the door, as Ellie began to wonder around the office. Ian found the light switch and turned it on. There wasn't much in there. There was one computer and a room full of file cabinets. While Ellie sat at the computer to see what she could find, Ian began to open the file cabinets. Most of them were empty, but he was able to find scattered papers in a few of them. He rummaged through them, looking to see if they were anything of importance.

Ellie turned on the computer. It beeped several times, and then a login screen appeared. Ellie was about to type something in, when she decided not to.

"Why aren't you typing? We might be able to find something out, about this place," Ian asked.

"If I try to log in, we'll probably be discovered," she said.

Ian smiled.

"Yeah, good point. You know, Ellie. You're not only beautiful, you're intelligent, too."

"Thank you," Ellie said, dismissing his complements.

"Those happen to be the exact two traits that I look for in a woman"

"That's nice, Ian," she said, shaking her head. "Just look through the rest of the cabinets, will ya?"

Ian laughed.

"Okay, okay. I'm not giving up that easily though. I just want to warn you."

Ellie didn't respond this time. She just laughed, as she went to the other side of the room to open the file cabinets over there. She found nothing of importance.

"Ian, let's try another office."

"Okay."

Ellie walked to the office door, opened it, and peered outside. There was no one there, so she stepped back outside and went to the next office, office #8. Ian followed her. She opened the door and went inside. Ian shut the door and smiled at her.

"Did I mention that I love a woman who takes charge?"

Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You look over there," she said, pointing. "I'll look over here."

"Yes, boss," Ian said, smiling.

Ellie shrugged him off, and began to open file cabinets. To her delight, one of the cabinets was stocked full with folders. She took some of them out and began to read through them. Ian was still rambling on, as he looked through the cabinets on his side.

"You know, Ellie. What if Alan isn't the right guy for you? He's very boring, you know. Don't you want a man who is, uh, . . . unboring . . . and . . . taller. How about taller? That's a good trait to---"

"Look! I found something!" Ellie said, cutting him off.

Ian straightened up and walked to her side of the office.

"Oh, good, good. What did you find?"

"Lab notes about the dinosaurs," Ellie said, as she continued reading. "There are about 15 species on this island. Mostly carnivorous, from what I see here."

"I guess Envoy didn't want to disappoint the guests who wanted to see the big and bad dinos."

Ellie stared at him for a minute, and then she spoke.

"What did you say?"

"I said that I guess Envoy didn't want---"

"No, not that. Before that. What did you say about Alan?"

"Oh, that. Nothing," Ian said, smiling.

Ellie smiled back.

"Ian. I'm not with Alan. I'm getting a divorce. I'm going to be on my own . . . for a while."

"Hey! So there's a chance for me then?" Ian joked.

"Never mind," she said. "Just come here and read this."

Ian and Ellie sat on the floor, with a barrage of papers scattered all around. They read through most of the notes, and then Ian came upon a journal in one of the folders. He opened it, and they began to read journal entries.

Baryonyx (BX). One produced. BX doesn't behave normally. Has some sort of brain malfunction. I told Mr. Envoy that it should be destroyed, but he insisted on keeping it, until another BX is produced.

Megalodon (MEG). Two produced. Smaller of the two is somewhat baffled by the UnderWater Viewing Area in the Visitors Center. Once, it rammed into the reinforced glass, while a worker was painting the area. The worker quit the next day. Larger of the two keeps to itself mostly, although it is very protective of its smaller counterpart.

Elasmosaurus (EL). Four produced. One birthed in captivity, 6 months ago. EL's are very aggressive, especially the first one produced. The first one is also the birth mother of the infant EL.

Suchomimus (SU). One produced. Very docile. Too docile. Hoped this would be a vicious dinosaur. Produced instead of the Spinosaurus. Never leaves the safety of the river. Eats fish only. Will not eat provided food, such as goats and cows. I would like to destroy this dinosaur, and replace it with something different. Maybe Dilophosaurus (DL). Mr. Envoy said no, but I am still in the process of secretly producing DL's in the lab.

Velociraptor (VEL). Twelve produced. Very intelligent, as foreseen. Not violent toward one another, like Hammond's VEL's. All twelve work very well together, during feedings. Electric fence needed to be extended over the top of the area, as the VEL's were working together, in an attempt to get up and over the fence. All day and night long, they attempt to break free of their paddock.

Pterodactyl (PT). Four produced. PT's are the newest production. I'm not all that familiar with them, as they act very differently from Pteranodons (PN). They are lighter than the bigger PN's, and therefore, much faster. They don't seem to like many foods. Only food that has been blended into a very gross paste.

Albertosaurus (AL). One produced. More to come. The AL is an exceptional dinosaur species. I have always wanted to observe this species, and now I have finally been granted the opportunity. Its visual acuity is much greater than that of the Tyrannosaurus Rex (TREX). It can actually track objects that are hardly moving. Once it snatched up an unfortunate worker that was planting trees in its paddock. The worker had believed the dinosaur had been tranquilized, but he was sorely misinformed. He had stood still, but the AL was still able to get him, because of the uncontrollable shaking the man was doing.

Tyrannosaurus Rex (TREX). Three produced. This was the first species produced for Mr. Envoy's new island. It should prove to be the crowd favorite, as most people know what it looks and acts like. Nothing unusual to report at this time, about TREX. All three are fine, healthy specimens of the Tyrant Lizard.

Ellie shook her head.

"What in the hell were these people thinking? Why would anyone want to knowingly produce potentially dangerous creatures?"

"I don't know. That's why we're here. To stop them . . . and to rescue some innocent bystanders," Ian said, still holding the journal.

"Whose journal is that? Does it say?" Ellie asked.

Ian turned to the inside cover. He read the name to himself.

"I'll be damned," he said.

"What? Who is it?"

"Henry Wu."

Ellie knew the same sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Who?"

"Dr. Henry Wu. Hammond's old chief geneticist. Remember him?" Ian did his best imitation of Dr. Wu. " . . . all the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are female . . . blah, blah, blah . . . "

Ellie laughed.

"Oh, yes. I remember him," Ellie said, thinking about it. "Why do you think he would want to work here?"

"He probably jumped at the chance to observe all the new species of dinosaurs here. Probably got paid a whole lot, too," Ian said.

Ellie was reading another file, while Ian was talking. She became serious again.

"Well, I don't think he'll be spending any of that money."

"Why? What did you find?" Ian asked.

Ellie handed him the paper. It was a death notice. Ian read it out loud.

"Isla Norte Public Relations. Dr. Henry Wu passed away today. He was 41 years old. He had an unfortunate accident with one of the attractions in the lab."

"Why would they even put that on paper? Why would they want evidence of it happening?"

"It looks like this office was abandoned quite a while ago, Ellie. They probably don't even know this paper exists. Or any of these papers, for that matter."

"Well, we need to save these papers, and that journal. They all prove what's been happening here."

"Any ideas where?" Ian asked.

Ellie thought about it. She couldn't think of a good place, either.

"I don't know. Can't you think of something?" She challenged.

"Okay, okay. Give me the folders. I'll secure them in my inside jacket pocket."

Ellie put all the needed papers and the journal into one of the folders. She handed it to Ian. He folded it slightly and put it in his jacket. He looked around the room.

"I think we should wait out the rest of the night here."

Ellie looked at him for a second. She wasn't sure if he was being sincere, or just trying to hit on her again. She decided that it didn't matter. Staying where they were was the best idea, either way.

"Yeah, I agree," she said. She saw him smile and take a few steps toward her. "You sleep over there. I'll sleep over here."

Ian smiled. It was at that moment, when he knew Ellie would never be interested in him. It's not like he couldn't figure that one out right away. He had just never given it much thought. He wasn't Alan Grant, so he didn't have a chance. He decided to stop the advances toward her, since she genuinely seemed to be uncomfortable with his playful teasing.

"Uh, Ellie. Can we call a truce?"

Ellie looked relieved.

"That would be nice."

"Okay, then. A truce it is. Good night."

"Good night, Ian," Ellie said, smiling.

The two of them laid down, on opposite sides of the small office.



Chapter 17: It's All Relative

Alan was carefully walking down the maintenance road. It was pitch black in the area he was in. As he was walking, he heard a helicopter, and then moments later, he could see the lights from it. It had just taken off from the northwest corner of the island, and was going directly south, away from him. He stood there for a minute, watching the helicopter's progress. That's when he first heard a strange noise, like deep breathing. He looked in the direction of the noise. He could see the electric fence, which was running alongside the maintenance road. The fence looked different from the fences on Jurassic Park. There were thick steel bars, going vertically, up to about 50 feet or so, Alan guessed. There was a bit of a gap between the vertical bars, telling Alan that whatever was on the other side of that fence, was pretty big, since they weren't worried about it getting through the bars. The sounds seemed to be coming from the other side of the electric fence.

Alan, against his every instinct, walked toward the electric fence. For some unexplained reason, he needed to know what the source of the noise was. After walking up a tiny embankment, he reached the fence and looked inside. There was nothing, but blackness and silence. He frowned, as he could have sworn that the sound was very close. He turned around and started to walk back toward the maintenance road.

With his back to the electric fence, he heard a different sound this time. A low growling sound. He quickly turned around. He still didn't see anything, but blackness. That's when he realized that the blackness he was seeing, was actually a part of a very large dinosaur. The dinosaur that had been tranquilized by Jacob earlier. It had been leaning up against the fence, unconsciousness, breathing deeply. It was very much awake now and looked cautiously around. Alan suddenly became panicked, when he realized that the dinosaur was, indeed, leaning up against the electric fence. The only thing standing between himself and that dinosaur, was a fence. A fence that was obviously NOT electrified, since the dinosaur was leaning on it.

He didn't move, as the dinosaur pushed itself away from the fence. He watched, as it walked a few steps away from him, sniffing the air. The helicopter was still flying around in the southwest corner of the island. The lights, from time to time, would shine toward where Alan was. As the lights came his way, he was able to see the dinosaur. It looked like it could be a T-Rex. It was a little smaller than what Alan had run into in the past, but it was definitely a very qualified carnivore. Alan watched it turn around, toward him. He stayed unmoving, as the dinosaur continued to sniff the air. Now that the dinosaur was looking directly at him, Alan was able to get a much better look at it. The helicopter lights illuminated it, once again. It had a distinctive shaped head. Alan recognized it as Albertosaurus.

As he identified the species in his mind, the Albertosaurus glared at him. He didn't think it was possible for it to see him, but while looking directly at him, it roared and charged at the fence. Alan swore to himself, as he turned and ran. He could hear the steel of the electric fence bend, and finally give away. A section of the fence fell to the ground with overwhelming power. Alan felt the ground under his feet shake, as the fence hit the ground. He glanced back once, and wished he hadn't, as the Albertosaurus was in hot pursuit.

Alan quickly ran toward the ocean, knowing it was an absolute dead end. He felt he had a better chance if he could get back to the paddock, where he could hopefully hide in the safety of the trees. He turned around. The dinosaur was right on top of him now, which was the only thing that worked to his advantage. Had he continued to run forward, the Albertosaurus would have certainly snatched him up. When he turned around, the dinosaur was in the process of lunging toward him, so he was able to barely get past the jaws and run the opposite way. He ran right in between the legs of the massive dinosaur, quickly turning to get out of the way of the muscular tail. The large beast was still tracking him very well, though. It had pivoted on its hind leg, and continued its pursuit. Alan did his best to maneuver between the trees and bushes, in an attempt to stay one step ahead of it. The cat and mouse chase went on for about 10 minutes. After running and ducking for quite a while, he noticed a building, just to the right of where he was. He took a hard right turn and headed in that direction. The Albertosaurus saw the tiny human switch directions and continued to pursue him.

Alan continued to run. He was getting tired and worn out, but he forced himself to keep moving toward the building. As he got closer, he grimly realized that the building was on the other side of the electric fence. He reached the fence, quickly turned sideways, and tried to squeeze through the thick metal bars. After a little discomfort and slight panic, because the Albertosaurus was just about to him, he finally managed to squeeze through and fall to the other side. The safe side. He slowly stood up, a little wobbly, and continued to run toward the building. From behind him, he heard that same frightening sound of the dinosaur breaking down the unelectrified fence. It continued to charge at him, roaring occasionally.

He finally made it to the door of the building. He took a fast glance around the outside of the building. It was very much under construction. There weren't even any windows in it yet. He wasn't even sure that going into the building would help, since it looked like the Albertosaurus could probably just destroy it in a few attacks. After looking back, and seeing the wide-open jaws of the Albertosaurus almost to him, Alan decided to take the chance. He opened the door, ran inside and slammed the door shut behind him. When the door shut, the inside of the room became pitch black. He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He just stood away from the door, trying to catch his breath.

The Albertosaurus ran, at full speed, right into the building. It easily took out the entire room Alan was standing in. He was thrown to the floor, as the dinosaur walked into what used to be a room with a door. Now that the room was gone, the moonlight helped to light up the area. Alan could see that there was another door still standing on the opposite end of the building. It was a very big door, and there was light coming out from under it. It looked like some sort of security door. Alan quickly began to crawl toward it. The Albertosaurus found the human once again and resumed its pursuit.

Alan managed to make it across the room. A part of the fallen wall was draped across the floor, held up by a few tables that were apparently in the room. Alan crawled under the fallen wall and continued to head toward the large door. The Albertosaurus lost track of the human, as Alan disappeared under some of the rubble. It stopped for a few seconds, looking for signs of him.

Alan made it all the way to the door. He was still on the ground, when he tried looking under the crack at the bottom of the door. The gap wasn't very big, but he could still see into the next room. All he could see, from his level, were desks, chairs and file cabinets. There was definitely light in this room. He slowly brought his hand up and tried pushing on the door, but it wasn't budging. As he was trying to think of what to do next, he thought he heard a noise coming from behind the large door. He immediately thought it was probably another dinosaur. He immediately started to have horrifying visions of being trapped between two dinosaurs. When the overwhelming feeling of giving up overcame him, he heard crying from the other side of the door. Suddenly, he had hope again.

"Hello?" He whispered under the door.

The crying stopped, but there was no other response.

"Someone there?" He whispered.

There was still no response. Alan glanced back to see where the Albertosaurus was. It was getting very close to him. It had carefully walked up to where the wall had fallen. It was moving things around with its snout, searching for him. He knocked harder.

"Hello? Please, if there's someone there . . . please let me in there," he pleaded.

Alan looked back under the door. He could see a shadow moving around now.

"Look. There's a very big dinosaur out here that is ready to have me for dinner. Please, open the door."

The Albertosaurus was able to pick the wall up with its snout, exposing Alan on the floor. It tossed the mangled wall aside and was finally able to see Alan again. It roared loudly and began to advance toward him.

"Oh, God," Alan whispered.

When the Albertosaurus was just about to him, Alan heard another noise from behind the large door. To his surprise, and delight, the person behind the door sounded like they were unlocking it. The door opened. Alan couldn't see who was on the other side. He crawled into the room, turned around, and slammed the door shut with his feet. He hurried back up and tried to figure out how to lock the door back, but it was very complicated. He could hear the giant footsteps of the Albertosaurus on the other side of the door. He frantically looked around the room for whoever opened the door, but they must have been hidden.

The Albertosaurus banged into the door, in an attempt to knock it down. The door was very durable though, as it stayed in place. Alan threw his weight into the door, hoping it would assist in holding the door closed. The Albertosaurus came in for another attack. This time, it managed to jolt the door open. Alan was thrown violently backwards. It felt like he was flying through the air slowly. Then, with a very sudden and painful landing, he struck the floor.

Alan looked at the door. It was spring loaded and had shut again when the Albertosaurus withdrew. He tried to get up so that he could try locking the door again, but found it very hard to do so. His entire body ached and his chest was heaving. He ignored the pain and started to get back up. He was struggling to get back to his feet, when he caught a glimpse of someone running past him. It was a little girl. She ran up to the door and started pushing and pulling the levers and switches on the door. In just a few short seconds, she had the door secured. The Albertosaurus was still ramming the door, but it was getting nowhere.

Alan decided to stay on the floor where it was much more comfortable. He was watching the little girl as she locked the door. When she turned around, he noticed she had a large gash on the side of her face.

"You okay?" He asked the girl.

She looked at him and was about to answer, when it was obvious that she recognized him.

"Dr. Alan Grant?"

"Yeah," Alan said, breathing heavily. He managed a slight laugh. "What's left of him, anyway."

The girl laughed. Alan smiled.

"So . . . you must be Jodie, is that right?"

Jodie seemed very surprised that Alan had recognized her.

"Uh, yes. Yes, I'm Jodie."

Alan was still smiling. He attempted to get up. When Jodie noticed he was having difficulty, she went over to him and helped.

"Thanks," Alan said. He was able to see her face injury up close now. "What happened?" He asked, pointing at the gash.

"A jeep accident."

Alan was about to ask more questions, but then he noticed Jodie was starting to tear up.

"Hey, it's going to be all right. I'm here to get you out. To rescue you."

Jodie had kept her emotions under control, up until this point. But now that an adult was in the picture, she began to think about the horrific events that had taken place the day before. She looked at Alan and suddenly felt the urge to hug him. She hesitated though. She felt a little awkward. She began to cry, as every emotion she had been hiding while on this island, started to emerge.

Alan pulled her to him and embraced her. She cried harder. Alan held onto Jodie very tight for several minutes, while Jodie worked on composing herself. Then, she suddenly remembered the dinosaur that was outside the door.

"What was out there?" She asked, not moving from his arms.

"It was an Albertosaurus."

Jodie looked up at him.

"What does that look like?"

"Kind of like a T-Rex, but smaller."

Jodie let go of Alan. She was starting to get herself back together now, as she wiped away her tears.

"How do you know that? I mean, couldn't it be a few different dinosaurs?"

"Yes, it could have. It's mostly an educated guess, really."

Jodie nodded. She was still very nervous about the whereabouts of the dinosaur.

"Is it gone?" She asked.

"I think so. It's not trying to get in here anymore, so that's a very good thing."

Jodie nodded again. Alan looked around the room, trying to figure out where they were. Jodie spoke up.

"Dr. Grant, are you here alone?"

"No. There's a few more of us. At the moment though, they've seemed to have lost me."

Jodie laughed a little bit.

"It's good to finally meet you," she said.

"Same here," Alan said, smiling.

"I've been hiding in here for quite a while," she said.

"Do you know what this place is?"

"Not really. I've just been hiding. Then, I heard the outside room fall down, and you knocking on the door. You scared me to death."

"Sorry about that. I would like to thank you for opening the door."

"You're welcome, Dr. Grant."

Alan smiled. He was still very much out of breath.

"You can call me Alan, if you want to."

"Okay."

Alan looked the rest of her over. She was wearing jeans and a ripped up, muddy, short-sleeved shirt. Alan guessed that it used to be red. She had several bruises on her arms and several rips in her clothes. She had long brown hair that was put up in a ponytail. Under all the mud, she was a very pretty girl. Alan was suddenly angry. Envoy shouldn't have taken innocent children for leverage.

"I am so sorry that you got involved in this mess," Alan said.

"I can't say I'm happy about it, but I've been holding my own."

"Did you see Tim and Lex?"

"Tim and Lex? The kids that were on that first island with you?"

"Yeah, that's them."

"They're here, too? Wow. No. I haven't talked to anyone, except for two guys named Jacob and Bodan. And a few other bad people."

"So Bodan and Jacob are both here? On the island?"

"They were. Some huge dinosaur attacked our jeep and I ran away from them."

"What did the dinosaur look like?"

"It was big. It sort of looked like one of those Spinosaurus things, but it didn't have a sail."

"That could only mean two possibilities. Suchomimus or Baryonyx. Why in the hell would Envoy develop such dangerous creatures?" Alan rambled out loud.

Jodie was about to say something, when the Albertosaurus began ramming the outside of the building. It had gone around the fairly large building and was trying its luck with the other side. The entire room shook. There was one single window in the room they were in. It was about the size of three standard windows and the Albertosaurus was looking through it.

Alan grabbed Jodie and the two of them quickly hid behind a desk that was close to them. In all the commotion, Alan was still able to notice Jodie wincing as he pushed her down behind the desk. He noticed a large rip on the back of her shirt. She adjusted herself so that she was fully leaning on him. That seemed to make her pain less severe. Alan rose up to peak over the desk. Jodie grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down.

"Please, don't do that," she whispered in a panicked voice.

Alan nodded and stayed down, behind the desk. The Albertosaurus continued to ram into the building, knocking out the glass from the window. The glass flew across the room, some of it falling on Alan and Jodie. Alan covered up Jodie, as shards of glass dropped on him. Jodie was holding onto him very tightly. He could feel her shaking. He just continued to hold her, as the room started to fall down around them.

"I think we have to get out of here," he whispered to Jodie.

"I'm scared. I don't want to go anywhere."

They were running out of time. The Albertosaurus was now working on the weak spot in the room, the broken window. It was sticking its snout through the empty window, shaking the entire outside wall. The wall began swaying back and forth.

"Okay, Jodie. We've got to go. Right now. Can you open that door again?"

Jodie was beyond frightened now. She barely even heard what Alan said.

"What?" She asked, her voice trembling.

"The door," Alan said, pointing toward it. "I need you to open it again, okay?"

Jodie nodded. Alan began to crawl toward the door, trying to stay hidden behind the desks. Jodie followed, but then stopped suddenly. There was a very different and very severe pain in her right thigh.

"Alan," she whispered.

He looked back at her. She was holding her leg and crying. He crawled back to her and took a closer look at her leg. There was a large piece of glass dug into her leg. It was buried deep inside, with just the wide tip sticking out. Jodie looked at it closer and, gripping the tip, yanked it out.

"No, wait," Alan said.

As Jodie pulled, blood sprayed everywhere. She yelled in a panic, as she saw the blood. She had the piece of glass in her hand. She had pulled it completely out. She threw it in anger.

Alan quickly put his bare hand on the wound, pressing as hard as he could. The blood was still flowing though. Jodie, naturally, began to panic even more.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," was all she could manage to say.

"It's okay, Jodie. Hold right here," Alan said, moving his hand, when Jodie put hers there. "We just have to find something to stop the bleeding. Here, use this for now."

Alan found some papers scattered on the floor. He gathered them up and handed them to her. He desperately looked around for something better. In the search he picked up the piece of glass that Jodie threw. It was bloody and almost as big as his own hand. Jodie's wound could prove to be very severe, if they didn't get the proper treatment. He needed to stop the bleeding right now. There was a closet near the window, just to the side of it. He crawled toward it.

When Jodie saw that Alan was crawling the opposite way from the door, and toward the creature, she became very concerned.

"What are you doing?" She whispered.

Alan didn't answer. He reached the closet and opened it. The snout of the Albertosaurus came back through the window at that moment. Alan was only a few feet away from it at this point, but he kept calm and continued to look through the closet. He found some blankets. He gathered them up, stood up, and tossed them toward Jodie.

Jodie caught some of them and dragged the rest close to herself. She was very worried about Alan. He was still standing right next to the wall and the dinosaur still had its snout in the window. Its eyes were shielded by the wall though, so it couldn't see into the room.

Suddenly, the Albertosaurus removed its snout and became very quiet. Alan was still standing by the window, so he couldn't see what was going on. He looked at Jodie, hoping she could see what it was doing. It didn't take long to figure out what it was doing.

"Watch out! Get down!" She yelled.

Alan dropped to the ground, just as the Albertosaurus rammed through the window again. This time, one side of the wall gave away and the outside wall began to sway again. Alan looked into the closet again, trying to find something to defend himself with, as the wall was just about ready to collapse. All he could find was a broom. He lifted the broom from the closet and crawled under the window. He could feel the breath of the dinosaur on him, as he adjusted the broom. He lifted the broom and jammed it into its snout, as hard and as far, as he could.

The Albertosaurus let out a painful roar and withdrew its head from the window. Alan and Jodie looked at each other. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Alan peaked out the window to see where the Albertosaurus went. Jodie tensed up, as he looked out the window a little bit longer than she was comfortable with.

"Alan. Where is it?"

"I don't know. I think it's gone."

Alan stood up and stuck his head out of the broken window and looked both ways. There were no signs of the Albertosaurus. He hoped it really was gone. He turned around and took a good look at the room they were in. The dinosaur managed to loosen one side on the outside wall, but the room was still in tact. The room withstood the attacks. Alan walked up to Jodie, who was still next to the desk they were hiding behind.

"How you doing?" He asked, as he knelt down next to her.

"I'm not sure."

Jodie still had the papers pressed up against her thigh. They were totally soaked in blood. Blood was also dripping from her thigh onto the floor. He gently removed the papers. Jodie winced.

"Sorry."

"My leg, below the knee, is numb. I can't feel it."

"We just need to get the bleeding stopped and you'll be fine."

"I hope you're right," Jodie said, tearing up again.

Alan picked up a blanket and tore the border off the top of it. While he was doing that, he kept an eye on the window to make sure there wasn't an unwelcome visitor. He worked on ripping more of the blanket up into small pieces. He took the small pieces that he made and put them on Jodie's wound, and then he grabbed the border piece he had ripped off first. He looked at Jodie.

"I'm going to need to lift your leg up, so that I can wrap this around it."

"Okay."

Alan nodded. He lifted her leg as gently as he could, but there was no way not to hurt her. She cried out in pain, as he put her leg back down. He tied the blanket border snugly above the gash. Jodie screamed again.

"Okay, done," he said.

"Thank God," she said, gasping.

Alan gave her one of his looks. She managed to smile.

"There. Now if you don't move too much, you should feel much better in the morning."

"What time is it?"

Alan looked at his watch. He was amazed that it still worked, after the little swim he had taken.

"It's about Midnight."

"Wow. I guess it is time to go to sleep. My curfew is usually 10:00pm at school. Are we going to sleep here?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"What if that thing comes back?"

"Well, I think that being inside a building would be better than being under a tree."

"Yeah, good point."

Alan looked down at her leg.

"Hey, look at that. The bleeding has just about stopped."

Jodie looked down. She looked at Alan and nervously smiled.

"Thanks."

Alan nodded. He got up and started to spread the other blankets around on the floor, behind another desk. When he had them the way he wanted them, he looked back at Jodie.

"Let's get you over here, on the blankets and away from all of this blood on the floor."

Jodie thought that was a good idea. She just didn't want to think about moving. Alan came over to her and knelt down again.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay, put your arms around my neck."

Jodie did what she was told. Alan gently picked her up. She cried a little bit, but mostly she just clenched her teeth. Picking up Jodie hurt Alan a little bit, too. His entire body was still aching from being tossed across the room. He carried her over to the blankets and gently put her down. He situated the ripped blankets over her wound, and then he walked over to the light switch. He turned the light off, making the room instantly black. He waited for his eyes to semi-adjust to the dark, and then he sat down beside Jodie. He reached over and grabbed the other blanket that was on the side and covered them both up with it. He laid down next to her. Jodie quickly moved and ended up laying on his shoulder. Alan looked back toward the broken window. The moonlight was shining through it, and to his relief, there were still no signs of the Albertosaurus.

"Good night, Alan."

"Good night, Jodie."

She smiled in the darkness. She was holding onto his arm, as she closed her eyes, hoping that the Albertosaurus didn't decide to make a return visit.


Chapter 18: Distress Call

Henry Wiggans walked into Hammond's office, holding a piece of paper. The office was newly decorated and was located on the first floor of the mansion. As he walked in, Hammond looked up from his desk.

"Hello, Henry."

"Sir, I have some news," Henry said.

Hammond looked at his watch. It was quite late.

"At 1:30 in the morning, you have news?" Hammond thought that Henry looked stressed. "Something bad?"

"Yes, and no, sir," Henry said, looking down at the paper in his hand. Hammond stared at his assistant, waiting for the bad news. Henry continued. "They made it to the island. But there was some sort of problem with the boat. We received a distress call in morse code, just a little bit ago."

"Oh, my," Hammond whispered.

"We weren't able to make out the entire message, but here is most of it."

Henry handed the piece of paper to Hammond. He read it to himself.

SOS.......911. SEND........RESCUE.......WEST DOCK. BOAT DOWN. SUPPLIES GONE. AT LEAST TWO DEAD.........GRANT......MISSION ABORTED...

"Any idea who sent this?"

"Most likely, one of the mercenaries, sir. No idea which one, though."

Hammond slowly stood up. He had been sitting in his office chair, for several hours, looking over papers. His body wasn't ready to stand up freely yet. He leaned on the desk, supporting his body with his hands.

"Okay, Henry. This is what we'll do. Get some of our people over to the Baja Peninsula. Have them assemble a rescue team and have them stand by for further instructions."

Henry had grabbed a notebook from the desk, and was rapidly writing everything down.

"Get it all, Henry?"

"Yes, sir. I believe so. I'll get working on this right away."

Henry left the office in a hurry, leaving Hammond alone with his thoughts. He hoped that Alan, Ellie and Ian were unharmed. He didn't want to find out that one of them, were among the "at least two dead". He sat back down, as his thoughts drifted to that island. What might have caused their boat to go down? What could have possibly been there, to stop them from docking on the island? Or maybe they did dock on the island, and were taken away by some of Envoy's men? No. If that were the case, there would be no time for a distress call. Unless, one of the mercenaries was able to secretly send it?

The questions were running through his mind so fast. Hammond finally had to shake his head, in an attempt to clear it, since there were no obvious answers appearing. Whatever might have happened to all of them, one thing was clear. If he didn't hear from someone soon, he would pay for another expedition over to Isla Norte. He had to get his grandchildren back safely. He just had to. They were his whole life now, really. They usually amounted to his only visitors. His daughter hadn't spoken to him in quite some time. They had said some very unpleasant things to each other in the past. She went as far, as to ask him not to attend Tim's graduation. He didn't want to be the cause of another family struggle, so he obliged his daughter, much to Tim's sadness.

Missing the graduation wasn't all the bad, anyway. It had worked better into Hammond's plans. After all, that cleared his schedule, so that he could go meet with Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant. He had made it his life's obsession, to stop anyone who might try to capitalize on his dinosaur research. He had gone through great lengths, to make sure that the technology developed on Jurassic Park be patented in his name. He still remembered the day when InGen tried suing him over the patents. They had lost. He had succeeded in tricking them all and had been selling bits and pieces of the technology, ever since. Not the technology to produce dinosaurs, but the breakthrough computer systems (the gene sequencer supercomputers), the development of hatching different animal species in ostrich eggs, and the selling of the unique ways of incubation to interested companies. John Hammond was more wealthy now, than he had been when he created Jurassic Park.

No matter how much money he had, no matter how many people he had working for him, and no matter how many companies depended on his patents, Hammond couldn't stand to think about losing any of his family members. He would do anything in his power to bring Tim and Lex home.


Chapter 19: Knowing Jodie

As the sun rose and lit up the room, Alan woke up. He had been up quite a few times in the night, checking both on Jodie and on the window. He looked at his watch. It had stopped on 3:00am. He shook it a few times, but the second hand didn't move. It must have finally succumbed to being waterlogged. His clothes were still slightly damp, too.

He looked over at Jodie. She was still sound asleep next to him. He smiled, as he remembered his cousin Richard calling him at about 3:00am, over a decade ago. Ellie had answered the phone, and Richard had just started yelling "It's a girl. It's a girl!" Ellie had congratulated him and then had handed the phone to Alan. He had congratulated him and they had talked for a few minutes. Then, the doctor had wanted Richard for something, so he had told Alan good-bye, hanging up the phone. Alan had talked to Richard a few times after that, but he had mostly lost track of him. Alan and Richard were very close as kids in Australia. Then, when Richard was about 14 years old, his family had moved to the United States. To Illinois. That's where Richard had stayed all these years.

Jodie yawned loudly and stretched her arms out. Alan watched her, as she began to remember where she was. Her happy and content demeanor went away and the frightened child came back.

"Good morning," Alan said.

"Good morning," Jodie said, trying to smile at him.

She moved her leg around a little and winced.

"How's your leg?"

"It feels better, but it still hurts."

Alan wanted to give her some time before he tried to talk her into walking. He just started making small talk.

"So, you know a little bit about dinosaurs, huh?" Alan asked.

"Yeah. Ever since I knew that I was related to a famous palaeontologist, I've studied about them. Mostly just the dinosaurs that were on those dinosaur islands. I've read your two books and I also read Eric Kirby's book."

Alan nodded.

"You ever read Eric Kirby's book?" Jodie asked.

"No, I haven't had the time. I do own it, though."

"He really says some very nice things about you. He was really happy to see you, on the island. He was all alone before finding you. When he realized who you were, he had a lot of faith that he would get off that island alive."

"Eric is a good kid. And a smart kid. And it seems to me that you're pretty smart yourself."

Jodie smiled.

"I have to tell you, I felt just like Eric did when I recognized you. Plus there's that added feature of meeting someone related to me."

Alan started to fell awkward at all the praise and attention. Mostly, he felt guilty.

"I'm sorry I never made it to any of the family functions. I haven't really been out of Montana that much in the last 12 years," Alan said.

"I understand. At least we've talked on the phone a few times."

"Yeah, we do have that, don't we?" Alan said, smiling.

"Yep."

There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Jodie looked to the floor. Alan decided on talking about something impersonal.

"So, how many men did Bodan have with him? Any idea?" He asked.

Jodie looked up, clearly relieved that he had started the conversation again, so she didn't have to.

"About five or six. I saw that many, but he was always talking to a another person on the walkie talkie."

Alan nodded.

"Did they have guns?"

"Yes. All of them had guns. A few had guns and rifles."

"Well, that's great."

"Guns and rifles didn't help against that big thing that attacked the jeep. What did you call it again?"

"Suchomimus or Baryonyx. Possibly one of those. Hopefully, we won't run into it, so I won't have to identify it."

Jodie began to think about what had happened.

"A few of the men were killed. I'm still not sure how I got away from there without being eaten or shot."

"Well, I'm glad you got away," Alan said, smiling. "Besides, if you hadn't, I would have been eaten, myself."

Jodie returned the smile. Alan seized the opportunity.

"You think you can get up?"

Jodie's smile faded.

"I . . . I think so. I don't really have a clue. Do we have to go right this minute?"

"No. I just wanted to warm you up to the idea of moving on."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I think I need just a few more minutes."

Alan smiled.

"Okay," he said quietly.

"Maybe a few more hours," Jodie added.

Alan laughed. So did Jodie.

"Look at us," Alan said. "We're in the middle of one of the most dangerous places in the world, and we're sitting here, laughing."

"It must be the company, because I haven't really laughed since I got here."

Alan smiled again. He got up and walked over to the window. He slowly peaked out of it, looking for signs of the missing Albertosaurus.

"Anything?" Jodie asked, hoping that the answer was no.

"Nope. Nothing."

Jodie sighed with relief.

"So, Alan. How many people are with you?"

Alan thought about it for a second, as he mentally counted the people.

"There were six of us."

"Were?"

"Our boat was attacked by some sort of Plesiosaur. Half of us were killed. The mercenaries. That leaves just us three scientists." Alan said, thinking about the irony of that.

"Who? Anyone I would know?" Jodie asked.

"Well, there's Ellie."

"Ellie?" Jodie asked excitedly.

"Yeah. And then there's Ian Malcolm."

"Really?" Jodie asked curiously.

Alan laughed and nodded.

"Then there were the three mercenary-type men that I didn't really know all that well. Craig, Pete, and . . . and . . . " Alan couldn't remember the third guy's name. "Oh, and . . .Tilk."

"What?" Jodie asked with a puzzled look on her face. "Tilk?"

Alan laughed.

"That's exactly what I said when I was introduced to him. To myself, though. The man was huge and I didn't think making fun of his name was a good idea."

Alan took a moment to think about how amusing it was when Ian did just that.

"Probably not. Still, you have to wonder about it," Jodie said.

"I don't know, it was some sort of codename. Strange."

He was still standing by the window. He didn't really think it was in good taste, to keep talking about the deceased. He was about to change the subject, when Jodie beat him to it.

"I thought you didn't like Ian Malcolm. That's what my dad said," she said.

"Well . . . I don't," Alan said, smiling, "but Mr. Hammond invited him along. Do you know who John Hammond is?"

"Yeah, he's the Grandfather of Tim and Lex, right?"

"Right. You really did read my books, didn't you? I am truly impressed."

"Thanks," Jody said proudly.

Alan suddenly started thinking about Ellie. He hoped that she was okay. He didn't want to really admit it, but he was happy that Ian was with her. For protection. As he was thinking about Ellie, he started to talk about her out loud.

"Ellie is married now," he rambled.

"Married? Really?"

"Yeah, to a guy named Mark."

"Wow. I always thought that you and her would . . . you know . . . stay together."

"Yeah, well, I messed that up."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Jodie said.

"Well, enough about me," Alan said, coming back over toward Jodie. "What about you? How's your dad?"

"How would I know. I never see him." Jodie said, shrugging her shoulders.

Alan stopped next to her. He had struck an emotional chord with Jodie. He sat down next to her.

"Why not?"

"He's always busy visiting different places. He has me in a private all-girls school now. I have to stay at the school. In a dorm. I hate it."

"Does he know you hate it?"

"I don't know. I don't talk to him much either."

"Jodie, if you're unhappy, you should tell him. I'm sure he would listen."

"I doubt it. We haven't been very close for a few years now. It's no big deal."

"Well, when we get out of here . . . I think you should tell him how unhappy you are. I'll come with you."

"Really? You would do that?"

"Sure," Alan said, not fully comprehending what he just got himself into.

"Okay. Then, that's a deal."

Jodie held out her hand. Alan smiled and shook it.

"Okay, deal," he said. "And now, if we want to get off this island, we have to start moving."

Jodie shrugged.

"Oh, all right. I'll try."

"Good. I'll help you."

"I hope so," Jodie commented. "I don't think I could get up on my own."

Alan got up and held out a helping hand. Jodie looked at him, took a deep breath, and then took it. Alan pulled her up gently, helping her as much as he could. He was able to get Jodie to her feet without much of a problem. She leaned on him, as she spoke.

"Well, that part was easy. Walking shouldn't be too much worse, huh?" She joked.

Alan smiled.

"That's what I'm hoping. Let's give it a try."

"Well, you're the grown-up."

Jodie turned her body in the direction she was going to walk. Alan still had his arm around her waist and a firm grip on her arm. She took a step. It didn't hurt that bad, so she took another one.

"Hey, this isn't that bad. It doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would."

"Well, that's good to hear," Alan said. "You think you could walk through all the debris in the next room?"

"Maybe."

"Okay, let's get to the door."

Jodie walked toward the door. She walked slowly, as Alan assisted her. She still couldn't believe how easy it was. They got to the door and Jodie pushed, and pulled, the switches and levers again. The door made a clicking noise.

"Okay, it's unlocked," Jodie whispered.

Alan briefly stared at the door. He looked at Jodie, briefly wondering how she learned to do that, and then he became serious. He turned the handle of the door. It opened. He took a deep breath, and then he slowly pulled the door back. Jodie had a tight grip on his arm, as he opened the door all the way. He looked around. There were no signs of movement. He turned his attention back to Jodie.

"You ready?" He asked.

She nodded. He helped her walk around the debris from the destroyed room. They got to where the door used to be and walked out of the building. They walked in a westerly direction for about 15 minutes, before Jodie needed to rest. Alan helped her get situated on a rock. Then, he looked around, trying to get his bearings. It was already very hot. Sweat was beading on his forehead, as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Do you know where we are?" Jodie asked.

Alan thought about that for quite a long time before he answered.

"I briefly saw a sketch of the island map. If I had to guess, I'd say we're very close to about the center of the bigger portion of the island."

"I saw the island from the air," Jodie said.

"You did?"

"Yeah. I was brought here by helicopter."

"How far do you think the smaller portion is from here?"

Alan knew that he had to get to the lab. And the lab was just across the smaller portion.

"Kind of far. The island is pretty big."

Alan looked all around him slowly. He was almost positive that he had somehow gotten turned around and that the lab was the other way.

"I think we need to go back the other way. I need to get to the lab. It's located on the east coast of this portion."

Jodie frowned.

"So we walked this far for nothing?"

"Sorry. I'm just a little turned around," Alan said.

"So, what's on the smaller portion? Do you know?"

"Yeah. The right portion is strictly park control. Offices and things. No dinosaurs of any kind. The left portion is where all the danger is."

Jodie shivered. She was already scared before that information.

"Well, if we're in the center . . . what kind of dinosaurs are in the center?"

Alan tried to remember the map he had only briefly seen.

"I'm thinking it was something not dangerous. An herbivore or some sort."

"I remember seeing Brachiosaurs near the bottom center, as we flew by."

"I think that's where we are," Alan said.

"Well, that's a relief," Jodie said, breathing a little easier.

Alan smiled at her. He was really hoping that he had remembered correctly. He was fairly sure that he had. There were so many potential mistakes to make, at this point. He hoped he hadn't made one now, as it could prove to be a deadly miscalculation.

"Well, are you about ready to go on?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Alan helped Jodie to her feet, and then checked the bandage. It was holding up pretty well. They started to walk again, continuing to go West. Along the way, a few strange noises were heard, but nothing was seen. Alan kept looking all around them to make sure they weren't in danger. Even if this was herbivore territory, they could still be trampled. As they were walking, Alan made small talk, to try and calm Jodie's obvious anxiety. And his own.

"So, why don't you like your father?"

Jodie smiled at him.

"I see what you're doing, Alan. I'll play along," she said, as she continued. "It's not like I don't like my father. It's just that he has no time for me. He seems to always put everyone else before me, even his employees."

"He is a very busy man, that I do know. He has a very stressful job."

"I don't care. I really don't. All I want is a father. A father that I could tell how my day went. A father that would tuck me in before bedtime. A father that would, at the very least, care about the words that come out of my mouth."

"Jodie, I didn't realize it was so bad between the two of you."

"If you asked him, he wouldn't have a clue either. Ever since Mom passed away, he just keeps to himself a lot."

Alan remembered hearing about Richard's wife passing away about five years ago. He had missed the funeral because of some unforseen problem at the dig site. He couldn't even recall what that problem had been, which made him feel even worse about not attending.

"I'm really sorry about your Mom," he said. "But it's not really fair to think he doesn't care. Have you ever complained about how he treats you?"

"Well . . . no."

"Well, how could he know then?"

"Because he's my dad. He should be able to see that I'm not happy. He should be able to look at all he has done, and realize what a bad father he really is."

Alan didn't know how to continue this conversation. All that he could think was that if the situation were reversed, and he was Jodie's father, he wouldn't have been able to tell that she was unhappy either. Kids were not his strong suit, that was for sure. Kids, often times, really confused him. Like now.

"Well, when we get out of here, we'll straighten everything out."

"It won't be easy."

"I can see that," he said.

Jodie smiled.

"Thanks for trying to help me, Alan. It's a change to meet someone in my family who is actually nice."

Alan laughed.

"You're welcome."


Chapter 20: Awakenings

Ellie's eyes slowly opened, as the morning sunshine invaded the tiny office she was sleeping in. The very bright sunlight was glistening into the room, causing tiny dances of light to protrude all around the objects in the office. She stretched and sat up. Ian was already awake and looking through the file cabinets again. When he heard movement, he looked over at her.

"Hey, you're awake," he said.

Ellie smiled.

"Yeah. Hello, Ian," she said, as she watched him. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, this. I was just checking to make sure there wasn't anything else important here."

"Find anything?"

"Uh, no," Ian said, smiling. "We already seemed to have found all the important things."

Ellie began to stand up. As she did, she noticed the outside of her right thigh was very sore. She thought about what might have happened to make her leg hurt. She finally remembered. It must have happened, when she slipped and fell on that slippery deck, back on the boat. She slowly got to her feet and walked to the tiny window.

As she was looking through the window, Ian approached her.

"So, what's the plan? You have one yet?" He asked.

"I think we should try finding the bridge to get across to the other side."

"Yes, boss," Ian said.

Ellie shook her head at him. She walked to the door and cracked it open, peering outside. There were no signs of people, so she opened the door fully. She and Ian walked outside and took a quick look around. There was a runway, off in the distance, to the east, and a very high security fence, off to the distance, to the north. Ellie turned to the west. There was water, fairly close to where they were. She started to walk in that direction and Ian followed. They went past the small offices, of which there were four, and then walked until they reached the shoreline. From where they were now, Ellie could see the bridge, off to the north. There were other things visible, too, from this angle. There was a helipad, to the south, and another building, just to the north. The small offices had been blocking the view.

"Let's get over that bridge. Alan should be over there," she said, walking in that direction.

Ian nodded and followed her. As they were walking and keeping an eye out for anything unusual, Ian did, in fact, notice something unusual.

"Why aren't there any people, or employees, around here?" He asked.

"I was wondering the same thing," Ellie agreed.

In the complete silence, Ian snapped his fingers, causing Ellie to slightly jump. He smiled and looked at her.

` "It's Saturday. I think. Maybe there's not much of a crew on Saturday?"

"I think you're right. It is Saturday. Good thinking," she said, smiling.

Ian began to make grand gestures with his hands, as he spoke.

"You know me . . . uh, my mind is constantly traveling into the unknowns of---"

"Let's not get carried away, Ian." She said.

Ellie walked away from him, as he stood there, smiling.

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

Tim and Lex awoke, just about at the same time. They both got to their feet. Lex went to the window, while Tim looked around the small maintenance building. He was fairly sure of which maintenance building they were in. The number 3 was etched into almost every single thing in the building, right down to the blankets. Tim walked to where Lex was.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

"I'm thinking we should try and call for help. We need to find a computer, or better yet, a phone," she said.

"Are you sure that we should go out there? Shouldn't we just hide, until help comes?"

"Well, we would still hide, of course, but I think we need to get to a phone," Lex said, as she became angry with their situation. "I just wish I knew if Grandpa sent help."

Tim nodded in agreement. As they stood there, trying to figure out what their next move might be, Tim heard a strange noise.

"What was that?" He asked.

"What?"

"That noise, didn't you hear it?" Tim asked.

Lex was about to say no, when there was another noise.

"There it was again. What is that?" Tim asked.

"I don't know," Lex said, as she listened to the noise. It was getting louder and more frequent. "It sounds like chirping."

"Compys," Tim said. "I bet it's Compys."

The chirping was even louder now. As Lex was looking through the window, about a dozen Compys jumped on the window sill at the same time. She screamed at the sudden movement, and jumped back. When she saw the tiny creatures, jumping up and down, and trying to get through the window unsuccessfully, she felt stupid for being afraid. She bent down and examined them closer, from the safe side of the window. They looked evil, but they were only about a foot high.

"Do these things have teeth?" She asked.

"Yes. They're carnivorous. They attack you by the hundreds and eat people alive. It could be a slow and painful death."

"Thanks for that pleasant explanation," Lex said, as she continued to observe the Compys.

Tim was about to say something else, when he heard scratching at the door. He walked up to the door and noticed that the Compys were there, as well. They were clawing, scratching, and biting at the bottom of the door. In just that short time, they had already managed to pry away a small part of the wooden door.

"Lex?" Tim asked.

Lex was still watching the tiny carnivores through the window, with quite a fascination. She was lightly tapping the window with her finger, watching them try to attack it. She spoke without looking up.

"These things are truly evil looking. I don't think I'd want to have a face to face encounter with them," she said.

"I don't think it will be much longer, before you see them up close and personal," Tim said.

"What?"

Lex looked over at Tim. He was standing by the door, kicking at the bottom of it. She could see three or four Compys trying their very best, to squeeze under the door and into the room.

"Oh, shit," she said.

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

Ellie and Ian arrived at the bridge. There was a large wooden sign, just to the left of it, that said SOUTH BRIDGE. There was also an electric fence, stretching all the way across the bridge, with an accompanying gate. Ellie walked up to the gate. There was a keypad there.

"It looks like we need a five digit numerical code," she said, disappointed.

Ian walked past her and situated himself in front of the keypad. He quickly typed something in. There was a series of beeps, followed by a click. The gate opened.

"What did you type in there?" Ellie asked.

"12345," Ian replied.

"I cannot believe it was that easy," she said.

Ian shrugged, and then smiled, as he walked through the gate. Ellie looked around cautiously, before following him. They were walking on the bridge, moving toward the other side. As they walked, the gate behind them closed and clicked. Both of them suddenly felt very vulnerable, as they approached the electric fence and gate, on the other side. Ellie took a look at the keypad.

"Another five digit numerical code," she said, sighing. "I don't think it could be that easy again."

Ian walked in front of the keypad, and quickly typed something again. There was a series of beeps, but no click this time.

"Great," Ellie said, looking around.

They were stuck on the bridge, between to electric fences, with nowhere to go, but possibly into the water. They didn't have to figure out what to do. There was another series of beeps, and then the desired click. Ian put his hands up, like a magician, as the gate opened.

"Presto," he said.

Ellie hurried through the gate. Ian followed.

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

Lex joined Tim, as the two of them kicked at the Compys. Quite a bit of the lower door was missing, as they continued to try to keep them back. When it looked like they were about to lose the battle with the Compys, Tim yelled to Lex.

"The window! Jump through the window!"

Lex nodded and turned toward the window and Tim quicky followed. She was about to try and open the window, but when she looked back, and saw about twenty Compys already in the room, she decided to just break it. She picked up a nearby paint can and hurled it through the window. She quickly jumped through, landed on the dirt outside of the building, and began to run. Tim was right behind her. As they ran, a few of the Compys followed them. Their tiny chirps and strange little growls echoing throughout the nearby jungle, as they communicated with their own. Soon, there were dozens of Compys grouped together, in pursuit of the humans.

Lex had ran to the west, into uncharted territory, and Tim followed her. They were running right next to each other, going as fast as they could. Tim turned quickly to see how close the Compys were. They were gaining on them very quickly, as they continued to chirp and growl. They crossed another wooden bridge, over another river, and that's when Tim slowed down. Lex glanced at him, noticed him falling behind, and immediately began to question him.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"This road isn't very good cover. We have no where to hide. They're just going to gang up and get us," he said, as he looked back.

They continued to run, as the Compys got closer and closer to them. As Tim was running, he caught a sight, out of the corner of his eye. He looked to his right and saw the head, of what he was sure, was a Triceratops. He stopped and began to swing his arms around in a grand motion, temporarily causing the Compys to retreat. As he watched them scatter, he noticed that several of them ran between the bars of the electric fence in front of them. The Compys were scurrying so fast, that they were running into both one another, and the bars of the fence. Tim smiled.

"Look at the bars. The fence. It isn't electrified," he said.

Lex looked, too, and saw the Triceratops. The Compys were already regaining their courage and rallying together, toward Tim and Lex again.

"Let's go in there. We might be able to lose them in there," she suggested.

Tim couldn't think of anything better. In fact, that was the very thing that he was going to suggest. He nodded. The two of them squeezed through the bars pretty easily, as they were spaced apart quite a bit. They continued to run through the paddock, cutting between trees and bushes, trying to get out of sight. The pursuing Compys began to lose interest, as the chase started to become an awful lot of work for the tiny creatures. With a series of chirps and low growls, they finally called the pursuit off, and scurried back toward the maintenance road, where they were more comfortable.

Tim and Lex slowed down, as they slowly began to realize that the Compys had given up. Tim finally stopped and looked around. Lex did the same, as she bent over, trying to catch her breath. Tim looked at her.

"I think we lost them," he said, hoping he was right.

"Yeah, I think so," Lex agreed, nodding. "So . . . now what?"

Tim was already taking in his surroundings. There were at least four different species of herbivores that he could see. He looked around, in awe, as the Triceratops that he had seen from the maintenance road, came up for a closer look. Tim had seen a Triceratops before, of course, back on Jurassic Park, when he was 8 years old. But this one was very different. This one was standing up and looked to be fully healthy. His mouth stood wide open, as the large horned dinosaur approached him.

Lex was taken aback by the sight, as well. The dinosaur was simply beautiful. It was gentle and very careful with Tim and Lex. It wasn't the least bit confrontational. It was simply investigating the strange creatures that wondered into its paddock. Lex reached out and attempted to touch it, as it placed its snout very close to the ground.

Tim couldn't help but laugh, as he was reminded of what happened to his sister long ago.

"Better watch it," he said, snickering. "It might sneeze on you."

Lex gave him a dirty look.

"Shut up, Tim."

Tim was still laughing. He couldn't get that look, she had on her face back then, out of his head. He tried his best to stop making noise, as Lex made contact with the Triceratops. When she touched it, the massive creature backed up, slightly alarmed by what had just occurred.

"Be careful. It doesn't understand what you're doing," Tim warned.

"I know, I know. I won't do it again. I just had to touch it, once," Lex said.

As she took a few steps back, to offer a surrender of sorts, she noticed another rather strange looking dinosaur. It was a little ways out in the distance, to the west.

"What kind of dinosaur is that?" She asked Tim, as she pointed.

Tim looked where she was pointing and immediately saw what she was asking about. It was a rather large dinosaur, about 30 feet in length. It walked on all fours. It had a long neck, together with a long tail, but a rather small head with large eyes. It was quite a unique looking dinosaur.

"Riojasaurus. An herbivore. Don't worry," he said, as he began to laugh again. "It's a veggisaurus, Lex."

Lex shook a finger at him.

"Quit making fun of me for being young and naive. I didn't know a thing about any of those dinosaurs back then. I wasn't, and never will be, a dinosaur expert, so why don't you cut me a little slack? Okay? Enough already. You're starting to get me very angry, Timmy."

Tim noticed her use of the word "Timmy", and it upset him. He didn't like to be called "Timmy". He almost hated it, actually. But he didn't let on that he was mad about it.

"Sorry," he simply apologized.

They walked through the paddock for a little while longer, taking the time to observe some of the other herbivores. There were herds of Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus, across the way to the east, in the distance. There was some other herbivore over there, too, but Tim couldn't quite make out what it was. He finally decided that it was either an Iganodon or a Maiasaura.

Lex had been walked along very quietly, looking around, just taking in the beautiful surroundings. They had crossed over a very shallow river, while inside the paddock and were walking along, when she noticed a building to their left.

"Do you see that?" She asked.

Tim looked ahead.

"Yeah. Looks like some sort of building. Let's head in that direction. Maybe there's a computer or a phone, in there."

Lex nodded in agreement, as the two of them began to jog toward the electric fence, so that they could get out of the paddock.

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

Ellie and Ian were making very good time, as they walked toward a grey building, that could be easily seen from the bridge. Ellie hoped it was the lab and that she would be able to find Alan there. She desperately needed to see him, as her woman's intuition was telling her that he was in some kind of trouble. She was walking, almost running, with a purpose.

"You okay, Ellie?" Ian asked.

When Ian spoke, Ellie came right back to reality. She stopped and looked at him for a second.

"I'm fine. Why?"

"You're just acting a little bizarre."

"Bizarre? I'm acting bizarre?" Ellie asked, as she started to laugh. "You, my friend, are the king of bizarre. How am I acting bizarre?"

Ian laughed. It was one of those run-on laughs of his, that Ellie didn't care for. In fact, now that she thought about it, the man was always laughing and smiling, and it made her a little uneasy. He continued to laugh.

"Bizarre, uh, might not have been the correct word. Sorry. Don't be so high strung. Relax a little. You're going to give yourself heart palpitations."

Ellie just shook it all off. She knew that she was overly anxious about the whereabouts of Alan, and that she was, more or less, just taking it out on poor Ian.

"I'm sorry, Ian. I'm just worried about Alan."

"It's understandable. No need to apologize."

Ellie smiled.

"Thanks."

Ian nodded.

"No problem. Now, let's get to that lab."

They walked toward the large grey building, hoping that it really was the lab they were looking for.



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And there you have it! Please rate these chapters if you get the chance. It would be greatly appreciated. It really helps a writer out when there is a little feedback. :)

Thank you, yvonne :)
[e-mail]

Moving on:
"JP: New Beginnings-Chapters 21-25"