its the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine) // ian malcolm

viii. wire in a fire (represent the seven games)

The car was a 1992 Jeep Wrangler YJ Sahara.

Hammond said Ronnie wasn't allowed to drive it without the proper clearance.

The two jeeps rambled over sweltering hot fields, and even though she had been denied the drivers seat (and Betty was missing), Ronnie felt right at home. She even put her jacket back on. She was in the back seat with Alan Grant and Malcolm, who kept poking Alan and asking him random dinosaur questions. Ellie's words were still ringing in Ronnie's ears. She was glad Alan had sacrificed himself to the middle seat, because Ronnie wasn't sure she could handle the mathematician's snark just yet. She needed a minute or two to digest and determine what sort of ground she was okay standing on with him. 

Ellie was in the front in the passenger's seat with a giant leaf in her lap. A park employee was driving (albeit not as well as Ronnie could have). Hammond and the man they had picked up, Gennaro, were both in the second jeep ahead of them with the back-to-napping Dennis Nedry. They seemed to be talking animatedly about something, but Ronnie couldn't be bothered to care. 

At the moment, on top of personal problems, she was pondering her presence in the park. At first, it had felt as though Dr. Grant and Ellie were the odd ones out. The narrower field. Very specific range of topics they could cover. Why would they even need them at a biological preserve? There would have to be dinosaurs at the reserve, which would be ridiculous. But now, she was starting to wonder if it wasn't so ridiculous. The jeeps had dinosaurs painted in a startling red on the side. The helicopter had read 'property of Jurassic Park.' Jurassic meant dinosaurs, right? Now Ronnie had to wonder if this wasn't a biological preserve of living animals at all. Maybe it was a fossil museum. But then why would she be here?

And don't even get her started on Ian. Mathematics didn't fit in anywhere in any of her speculations.

"So, uh- how many teeth did the T-rex have?" Speak of the devil.

"60." Alan said, having graciously accepted Ian's insistent questioning.

"And all of them were serrated?"

"Yes."

"Did they uh... did they have claws, too? Dinky ones?"

"Yep." The car went over a particularly big bump and everyone jostled towards the right of the jeep.

"Is that what you have there?" He gestured to the mean looking claw in Alan's hand.

"No." Ronnie looked over Alan's shoulder at the claw he was holding. He had had it in the helicopter, too. 

"What species is it?" Ronnie asked.

"Velociraptor."

"It's very intact. Where did you find it?" Ronnie wasn't sure if she should have felt bad about butting Ian out of the conversation. But he didn't look too slighted, just relaxed against the back of the car and watching the scenery.

"A dig in Japan." 

"It must've been hard to get in there."

"Oh, yeah it was." He smiled. "But it sure as hell was worth it." He pet the claw for a minute and then looked at her. "You had questions about..."

"Dinosaur evolution. Into some of the larger, gray-skinned animals, namely rhinos and elephants." 

He nodded his head slowly. "Well, I've considered the idea of their evolution into birds... but that would explain the skin fragments on some of the larger species. I don't know about direct evolution, but it could have been some..."

"Common ancestor?"

"Right." He paused and then turned to face her fully. "What would you say are the behavioral patterns of your animals?"

"Behavioral patterns? Well, they travel in herds, diet is mostly shrubs and grasses, the young are raised in a community sett-"

The jeep pulled to a stop (not as smoothly as it would if Ronnie had been driving), and she leaned forward with the force of it. "What the hell..."

Her voice trailed off as she looked off to the left  and there was a gray, hulking mass which she followed up and up and up...

That was a dinosaur.

She was looking at a dinosaur. 

Ronnie's mouth fell slowly open and she stared at it. 

God almighty.

That would explain why all of them were here.

Alan got out of the car. Ellie stuttered something about the leaf she was holding being extinct, and then she stumbled out of the car after Alan. 

Ronnie couldn't think of anything to say. A slew of curses danced on her lips, but none of them would have done this justice. None would hold a candle to the memory that was already dancing in her mind.

"You crazy son of a bitch, you did it," Ian muttered. 

Ronnie nodded slowly. "Look at it's skin," she murmured. 

It was gray and pleated. Wrinkled. It was just like elephant skin. She needed to see the genome. She wanted to see the genome.

She clambered over the back of the car. That thing was huge, at least 60 feet tall and 25 tons- look at the eyes, or what she could make out as the eyes, they were just like rhino eyes- everyone in the field was going to eat shit. Her department must be right. It had to be. 

She had missed most of Ellie and Alan's rapid discussion but she managed to trip over to them as Hammond was saying, "We've clocked the T-rex at 32 miles per hour."

They had a T-rex.

"You- you have a T-rex?" Alan stammered. He appeared to be on the verge of hyperventilating.

John nodded.

Ellie, clearly calmer under pressure, was just staring up at the beast with a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as Alan said, "Say it again?"

"We have a T-rex," John said in a high-pitched voice of excitement. 

Alan stumbled backward and knelt to the ground. Ellie told him to breathe, and Hammond's face split open into an enormous grin at Alan's reaction. 

"John I-" Ronnie looked back at the magnificent animal. "Can I see the DNA? The testing? How did you make-" she used one arm to wave up and down at the dinosaur. "How?"

A bellowing call echoed over the valley. Alan, who had had his head between his knees, jolted up and staggered to the crest of the hill. Malcolm was already there, standing with his arms crossed. Ronnie followed after everyone and looked out into the park. 

There was a swell in everyone's demeanor as the took in the watering hole and species upon species of dinosaurs. Holy shit. "Herds," Ellie whispered.

"They're moving in herds..." Ronnie said.

"We were right!" Alan shook his girlfriend. "They do move in herds!"

Ronnie watched, transfixed, as the dinosaurs exhibited behaviors shockingly familiar to those of her own animals.

"How did you do this?" Alan said to John. Ronnie was silently asking the same questions. How did they do this?

She could practically feel Hammond's wink. "I'll show you."

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i had so much fun writing this scene. and i know that the stuff ronnie says is far-fetched (i can't remember if i mentioned this yet so if i did bear with me). i really am aware that none of the scientific stuff about the dinosaurs and the rhinos is true and that dinos really did have feathers and stuff, but honestly at this point i already wrote eight chapters with it referenced and i don't want to go back and fix it and besides, this is a fictional universe, so ronnie can do what she wants. love you all!

❤︎