Jurassic Park II: The Lost World (Victoriana)

Chp. 9: Almost Home Free

Back in the ruined campsite, now abandoned, a flap of canvas stirred on the ground. Seán McLoughlin crawled out from underneath, out of the muddy puddle in which he was hiding. He got to his feet and looked around in horror at the devastation. He turned to his right and stopped, freezing in his tracks at the sight he was met with. His jaws dropped open as his eyes widened like saucers...but he suddenly smiled in delight. He walked forward slowly toward what he had set his sights on, his grin only spreading like fungus across his face.

Meanwhile, as the other six survivors ran through the dinosaur graveyard, Victoria noticed the shapes around them were changing. They weren't bones anymore. They were pipes. The animal skeletons were now given over to the lifeless remains of manmade objects – twisted, rotting machinery.

"We made it!" Ariana said happily.

With everyone else feeling the relief, they all hurried over a small rise to find themselves at the edge of what was once Isla Sorna's worker village. The size of a football field, the town was divided by a main street that was dotted on both sides by stores, residences, cafes, and a gas station. All the way at the far end of it was a large, blocky, four-story building. But the town was a complete mess. The hurricane that hit here must've been ferocious. Everywhere the survivors turned things were smashed, broken, and upended. The jungle stepped into the breach, growing up, around, and over everything. Huge root systems snaked through the street, making it almost impassable.

"That's gotta be the operations building," Nick said, he and everyone else observing the four-story building. "The communication center is inside."

A light rain fell as they started down the street, double timing it, heading for the main building. Now, only a hundred yards away, they were close enough to read a sign over the door – "InGen Bioengineering. We Make Your Future". As they continued walking, they were unaware of the sudden presence of a raptor that jumped onto a fallen tree not too far behind them. It followed them as they kept moving toward the far end of the street. The carnivore crouched before springing up, slamming right into Kehlani, who was the last person in the group. The impact took her down before she was thrown into the others, who fell like dominoes.

Kehlani rolled away as the raptor momentarily concentrated on disemboweling her pack, thinking it was part of her. The tatted woman started to get to her feet, but her eyes widened at the sight of a second raptor, this one running straight at her at top speed. She knew there was no way for her to outrun it, so she braced herself for another impact. She felt nothing but heard a gunshot from not too far away from her. She opened her eyes and saw her wife pointing her rifle at the raptor, the smoke from the bullet she fired landing near the animal to startle it away from Kehlani. She hurried to help her up before the two covered one another as they joined the rest of the group.

"Good lookin' out, babe," Kehlani said as she kissed the ebony's cheek.

Solàna smiled for only a moment before a third raptor came onto the scene. Everyone stuck close to each other as the predators surrounded them.

"We need to split up," Victoria uttered. "There's no way they can get all of us from different directions."

"Làna and I will take the one to the right," Kehlani said.

"And possibly the one in the middle if it tries to follow Nick to that building," Solàna said.

"Ari and I will try and keep the other one away from the other two," Victoria said. "Hazel, sweetie, I need you to go with Nick."

"And you run like hell," Kehlani said. "We'll meet you guys there soon, okay?"

Hazel shook with fear before agreeing to her mothers' instructions.