Fractured Luck // Owen Grady

•4

Before

I managed to sucker Claire into giving me a lift to the monorail, where I rode until they hit the stop at Main Street. With five minutes left until my show, I made it into the EMPLOYEES ONLY door.

"And you're on in five, four, three, two.."

Three of the four shows of the day were complete. I didn't ride Mo that show, since I only took that chance during the lunch and the dinner time shows.

All I had to do was sprout the same speeches, give a child the chance to say a fact, drop the shark, and then let the audience be wowed by Mo leaping from the water and eating it.

I raised my thumb in the air, signalling to Gideon that the stands were ready to be dropped to the Underwater Observatory.

As they were lowered, my cell phone began buzzing in my pocket.

CALLER ID:
Owen Grady

I pulled off my headpiece, holding my phone up to my ear instead.

"Hey--"

"Lauren, where are you? Did you get off the monorail?" Owen spit out.

"Yeah, I just finished the show," I said, my brow furrowed, "Are you okay?"

"Get to the control room. As fast as you can. Please, Lauren."

"Okay, okay. Just tell me what's wrong," I pleaded.

"The genetically engineered dinosaur? Yeah, she broke out."

>>>

I shoved myself through the elevator doors before they were fully opened.

"Owen!" I shouted.

"Ms. I'm gonna have to see a badge," a man guarding the elevator said, his hand blocking me from exiting.

I ripped my Jurassic World ID from my belt and tossed it at him. He took one look at it and grabbed my arm to hold me back. It resulted in him getting a hook to the jaw, but it was a good effort.

"You are not authorized to be here!" he insisted, holding his jaw.

"Sue me," I said sarcastically.

With his arm at his side, I passed freely through the doorway into the control room.

"Ms.Rove, I have to advise you against harming other workers," Claire said, grinding her teeth.

"Just give me a referral and be done with it," I muttered.

Owen met me halfway, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. Feeling his relief of my safety through the tight hug, I pressed my forehead against his chest.

Pulling my head away to look up at him, I asked, "Why do you smell like coolant?"

"She attacked me. Coolant lowered my body heat-- no big deal," Owen said.

I opened my mouth to inquire more about his 'no big deal.' Keeping me from doing so, he took my hand and led me in front a desk.

Matching heartbeats for each person, eight names were on a grid that occupied the left half of the projection on the wall.

Four body cameras on the people of the ACU were projected on the right half of the wall.

"The big deal is that the Indominus escaped," A man at the computer said. His name tag read Lowery.

"How?" I asked, "Her paddock is taller than anyone other carnivores."

"Faked her escape," Owen said.