Jurassic Park II: The Lost World (Victoriana)

Chp. 8: Still in Danger

The march continued on, but the angle of the ground beneath the marchers was changing. They were headed down toward the interior of the island. As the group staggered on, they heard a terrible growling and snapping from deep in the jungle as some unlucky prey struggled unsuccessfully for its life. Roland pulled his gun around as they all continued walking, prepared to shoot any and every threat. The column of marchers had finally reached the island ridge, where they were silhouetted against the setting sun. Roland was at the edge of the ridge. From that vantage point, one could see all the way to the far side of the island. Miles away was a rim of a hard, black cliff. Between those two areas was nothing but gently undulating jungle.

"When's the last time anybody saw him?" Roland asked, referring to Dieter.

Victoria and Ariana were in front of him, a look of concern now on their faces.

"An hour ago," Ariana answered. "Maybe more."

"I can take a few people and go look for him," Victoria suggested.

"Absolutely not," Roland said. "We can't afford to separate from one another again. Christ, Dieter..."

The expert hunter took some time to think, looking around at the exhausted marchers sprawled out on rocks or over the ground.

"Alright," he said, "we'll rest here. If he's alive, he'll catch up. If not...well...that's that. Nobody tell the young one. Last thing we need is screaming hysterics."

Victoria looked back to Hazel, making sure she was out of earshot of the conversation that just happened. Luckily, she was with her mother and Solàna, all of them snuggled up against a massive rock. The ebony brought her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"The worker village is down there," Roland said, referring to one of the satellite recon photos, "about a mile and a half northwest from the base of these cliffs."

"I'm sure we can find a game trail," Ariana said, referring to her and Victoria. "Some kind of path that goes down there."

"First we eat," Roland said. "Two hours. Then we hit it."

The couple nodded before relaying the information to the rest of the group. Before long, the group had made camp in the jungle. The mood was somber, most of the marchers asleep already amidst all the nocturnal jungle hooting and buzzing around them. Three or four tents had been put up. In one of those tents, Hazel laid on a sleeping bag while cuddled up to Victoria. The ebony stroked her daughter's hair as she talked to her softly.

"I won't let anything happen to you," Victoria said. "You know that, right? I'll do anything for you."

"Anything?" Hazel asked, looking up at her mother.

"Yes..." Victoria chuckled, knowing her child was about to say something clever.

"Okay...marry Ari."

Victoria's eyes widened as she let out a small laugh.

"You know you want to," Hazel giggled. "What else would make you come to a place like this? You love her, mom. And she loves you. Why do you think she stuck around all this time?"

"You're a little too intuitive for a teenager," Victoria chuckled. "But just so you know, I was already planning on marrying her."

Hazel's eyes lit up.

"Really!?"

"Really."

"Really what?"

In came the woman of conversation, a smile on her face as she crawled into the spare sleeping bag behind Hazel. Victoria smiled at the woman before bringing her arm around her tiny frame, bringing a lose piece of hair behind her ear.