Raptillion

Chapter 7

Her bright yellow eyes stare into mine. I can tell she knows something's wrong. Her ancient instincts kicking in. A red light sticks out of a band wrapped around her head. From further inspection I find it's a camera. Delta calls out from behind Blue. He's not happy about Blue getting all the attention. I laugh and call them over giving each of them attention. Once each is satisfied they walk away and I notice Gray clutching to the fence looking as if this is the coolest thing he's ever seen.

"You really like dinosaurs don't you?" I ask.

"I think they're awesome." He gawks.

"Echo." I call and she immediately comes over. Slowly I walk over to the portion of fence Gray is at. She barks at him but I quickly place my hand on her, "It's alright girl. This is Gray, Gray meet Echo. The sweetest raptor here."

Gray stares at her in wonder. Echo lowers her head near the fence so her breath ruffles Gray's hair. I'm aware of Zach standing in the background smiling at his little brother. Echo places her nose through the fence signaling she wants Gray to pet her. I gasp because these animals only let me or dad touch them.

"Ok Gray slowly raise your hand up to her nose. Do not make any sudden movements."

He looks at me wide eyed and I nod. Slowly and shakily he raises his hand so it hovers her nose. I watch Echo's eyes the whole time just in case she changes her mind and wants to make Gray a snack. She makes the move and presses her nose against his hand. His eyes light up like a christmas tree. Echo only stays there a few seconds before pulling away and looking at me. Asking for permission to go with the group. I nod and she goes to the others. Leaving the paddock I walk over to Gray.

"I just touched a velociraptor." He breathes.

"You sure did and you did great."

He smiles up at me and before I know it his arms are wrapped around me. "Thank you." He whispers.

I smile and return the embrace. "Your welcome little buddy."

He giggles and runs over to Claire who is with my dad. His hands wave animatedly as he tells them what he did. Claire looks worried while my dad smiles and comments on his story. Zach walks up beside me his brown hair a mess but his eyes gleam with happiness.

He turns to me looking slightly nervous. "Do you want to go talk?"

I smile and blush. "Sure, come on."

I drag him over to a set of stairs hidden from the rest of the compound. We sit there for a moment in silence.

"So..." I say to end the awkwardness of the situation.

"So. I haven't seen Gray that happy in a long time. So thank you."

"He's a great kid. You're lucky to have him as your brother."

He sighs. "I know. I just wish I would have realized that sooner. I've been so mean to him lately."

I rest my hand on his knee. "There's time to fix that now."

"Do you have any siblings?"

I lean back against the railing. "Nope, I wish I did but hell I wasn't even supposed to exist."

He looks at me confused. "What?"

"Well it's tragic really. A story everybody's heard at one point. Young boy and girl in high school fall in love, have sex, and boom. Girl's pregnant. Boy understands and says he'll stay and take care of them. All is great and nine months later baby pops out. But, in this story instead of the dad freaking out and running the mom runs as fast as she could. Leaving the father and baby in the hospital room. Never to be seen again."

"Shit." He swears and grabs my hand.

"Ya, my family's messed up but I don't need a mother. My dad has raised me just fine."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shake my head. "Not really."

He nods in understanding. A thought comes to him and he suddenly smirks. "You're a real badass you know."

I laugh loudly. "Well, I was raised by a father who was in the Navy. Some of that training just rubs off on you over the years."

"Navy huh?"

"Yup."

"Well shit. How am I supposed to ask him if I can take you on a date if I'll be to scared he'll shoot me."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Date?"

His cheeks flush. "Gray was wondering you know."

"Your eleven year old brother? I think I'm a little old for him."

"So you're just going to break his sweet little heart?" He pouts.

I lean closer to him so there are only a few centimeters between us. "Let's face it the heart we're talking about is neither sweet or little."

He gulps. "I think you're right."

And then his lips are on mine. It's sweet yet fierce at the same time. Our lips moving in perfect synchronization. My hands reach up and tangle into his soft brown hair while his reach under my tank top to my bare skin. He lifts me up so I'm straddling him. This is like no other kiss I've had before. Just as his tongue licks my bottom lip I hear my dad call out.

"Maya!"

We break apart immediately. Our breaths ragged. I look around and am relieved that no one is around. Fixing ourselves we head towards my dad. He looks relieved once he sees me but narrows his eyes at Zach.

"Where were you two?" He asks.

"Walking around." I say quickly before Zach starts blubbering out answers.

"Hm." He huffs in disbelief but hands me a gun, "We're leaving let's go."

"Leaving?"

"We're using the raptors to locate the Indominus."

"What!?" I yell and run to the raptors who are in their containment cages. We only use these for emergencies. I run to each and tell them to be safe and I calm them down.

Enraged I walk back to my dad. "How could you!" I yell, "How could you use these poor animals as bait."

He looks at me with pity and regret. "It's not like that sweetheart."

"No it's exactly like that dad!" I get on the back of the bike, "If anything happens to any of them it's on you." I threaten and strap my gun on my back.

He tries to talk to me but I jut look ahead. Finally he gets on the bike and moves over to the raptors cages. I look over and catch Zach's eyes as he gets in the back of an armored truck with Gray. Good, they'll be safe. Worry floods his eyes as he sees the gun on my back but Claire pushes him inside the truck before going to the front. Barry pulls up next to us on a quad while a team of INGN soldiers inside a truck pulls up behind us. We signal for the raptors to be let out. My dad gave them the Indominus' scent so they should be able to find it. The doors open and the raptors burst out of the cage. I wrap my arms around my dad as he speeds off. Let the hunt begin.