"Hold on to your butts."
When Zach Mitchell stepped onto the island of Ilsa Nubar he expected to see dinosaurs, margaritas, and hot girls but what he didn't expect was to be chased by a biologically unnatural dinosaur with rage issues. Dana Grady...
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Claire's breathing picked up at the sight of the shattered gyrosphere. If anything happened to those boys... she breathed a shaky breath.
She nervously climbed out of the Jeep and watched Owen pry a tooth the size of her hand out of the broken machine. Her heart sank further into the pit of her stomach when she saw Zach's shattered phone. "No, no, no. No."
That was it. If there was an award for the worst ever, she deserved it. She was officially the worst aunt in the history of aunts. She let her nephews get killed by a psycho hybrid dinosaur. How was she ever going to explain this to her elder sister?
"Hey," Owen said to gain her attention, he pointed out three sets of footprints. "They made it out."
She breathed a sigh of relief. No need to plan the eulogies yet. Who was she kidding? If they died, there was no way Karen would ever let her attend the funeral.
Owen looked around a little more and found a necklace at the base of a nearby tree. He let the cold chain dangle from his finger, caressing the delicate crescent moon. "This can't be either of theirs," Owen said to Claire, taking note of the feminine quality of it.
"I—I think Zach said there was someone with them. Um... Danny, Danielle? No, no, that wasn't it. Oh! Dana."
His head snapped up, "Dana?" A crack appeared in his voice. Suddenly, Claire understood his panic, she tried to calm him, "What if it's a different Dana? It's possible that it's a popular name."
Owen ran a trembling hand down his scruffy face, "It's her. I remember, her mother gave her this for her sixth birthday. She never takes it off." He put the necklace around his neck and tucked it under his shirt. "We have to keep moving." The two adults followed a trail to the edge of a nearby cliff.
He nearly cried when the set his focus to the mangled footsteps on the bank below. "They made it out, thank god." Claire threw her arms around his neck and pulled him to her tightly. After realizing her actions, she pushed him back roughly. "They jumped."
"Brave kids." He agreed, his mind trying to figure out what had happened seconds ago. Claire laughed out her relief, 'No need to start writing her eulogy yet.' She thought to herself.
Who was she kidding, there was no way in Hell that Karen would ever let her visit her nephews after this was all over. If she were to die, it was unlikely that Karen would attend her funeral... She'd die alone.
Then she snapped to her senses, "ZACH! GREY! DANA!" Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth, "Sssshh!" Owen hissed into her ear, he looked around in panic, she struggled out of his arms and pushed away from his strong hold. "I am not one of your damn animals!"
His blue eyes met her green ones, "Those kids- my kid- made it out alive but you and I will not be if you continue to scream like that." He was stubborn, she knew this but this would be the only instance when she would listen to him.
"So, you can pick up their scents? You've got Dana's memorized, right? Track their footprints?"
He gaped at her, "I was with the Navy not the Navajo!" Under any other circumstances, Claire would have thought to laugh, instead she said, "So then, what should we do? What do you suggest we do?"
Owen rolled his eyes at her, "You go back, I'll find them." She mimicked his eye roll, "No, we'll find them." He barked a laugh, "You'll last two minutes in there. Less in this ridiculous shoes." She scoffed and gave him a pointed look before unbuttoning her white shirt to reveal the lavender colored tank top underneath. She tied a knot at the bottom and rolled up the sleeves, she placed her hands on her hips and gave him a sassy glare.
He looked at her confused, brows raised, mouth opened and closed, eyes wide, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I'm ready."
"Okay. Let's get one thing straight. I'm in charge out here. You do everything I say, exactly as I say it."
"Excuse me?"
"Just relax. It's just like taking a stroll through the woods...65 million years ago."
Claire plowed ahead of him angrily, Owen released a puff of air through his cheeks, trying to remind himself why he ever went on a date with that woman in the first place. He blamed Dana.
•••••
The nervous feeling was back. Settling in the pit of her stomach, like the feeling that a person gets just before a storms hits, humming throughout her entire being. She swallowed back the nausea that she felt when another roar sounded off not too far away from the trio that had slowed to a fast walk, "Run." Once again, the painful act of running plagued the group.
"Have I mentioned how much I hate running?" Grey panted as they came upon the last hill. "I hear you, brethren." Dana whined heavily, gasping for air, she ran a hand through her matted hair and cringed when her fingers got tangled in the abundant knots. She used the majority of her strength to push the ancient doors open wide enough for them to slip through, the other teen helping. Zach was unusually quiet, she looked at him with a puzzled expression, he nodded to her with a small smile. Grey gasped as he looked around them, bones of a large animal laid smashed and scattered throughout the large room.
Dana spoke first, her voice causing an echo, "This was the Visitors' Center; from the first park." A small, sad grin crossed her tan face. It faded quickly when she recognized the bone structures of a raptor. Her heart broke when she thought of how Hoskins would be using the panic of the situation to benefit his own plans with her pack.
She looked around at her surroundings, the room that they were in was overgrown with plants, vines were everywhere it was hard to tell what parts were inside and what was outside. "Wow." Zach whispered as his foot kicked across a piece of the banner. "This is insane. I mean, we're actually standing in the remains of one of the original buildings. The building lost to the rest of the world." Dana mused sadly in a distracted manner.
In her distracted state, she failed to notice that the wood she now stood on was frail. "It could be in worse shape, if you thi-" She broke off with a scream as the floor gave away and she fell.
"Dana!" Zach yelped and lurched forward to try and grab her but she slipped through his fingers. He peered over the edge to find her with his eyes, "Dana!" He yelled down. ~~~~~ A/N: bum bum buuum, yay for cliffhangers... A picture of Dana's necklace is in the media. You know the drill: comment, add, vote, etc. This chapter is sponsored by Geometry... Oh! Go check my brilliant potato loving Beta Celtic_Potato :)
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