unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 4

Travelling along the shiny polished floors of the corridors, the three of them sprinted towards the bowling alley where Abby was lying, unconscious and alone.

"I can see it, Cutter," Connor's static voice came through the radio pinned to Nick's jacket. "It's on the level beneath you. I repeat, it's on the level below."

They descended onto the level below down a flight of stairs, Clara's eyes darting around for the flick of a long tail and her ears pricked for that indescribable noise it made.

"I can't see it, it's disappeared again," he spoke through the radio. They sprinted along another corridor as Connor spoke again. "Oh, God. Guys, it's going straight towards the bowling alley. It's going towards Abby." Clara could hear the sheer panic in Connor's voice, and she instantly felt sorry for him. She knew how he felt about Abby, and if anything happened to her he'd beat himself up for the rest of his life.

Eventually, they made it to the bowling alley, slowing down to a halt when they spotted Abby still snoozing and safely hidden behind the front desk where visitors would usually pick up their bowling shoes.

"Connor, she's fine," Nick panted into the radio.

While Connor walked down from the security camera room, Stephen noticed that the baby Raptor was beginning to stir; raising its head and letting out a feeble squeak.

"Oh, she's coming around again," he said, squeezing a syringe of tranquilliser and preparing to give it to the baby. "Better just give it a quick—"

"No, hang on, just wait a minute," Nick stopped him before he could re-tranquillise the small Raptor. "There are three Raptors. One of them is a baby, so chances are they're a family unit. So, maybe we don't have to go looking for Daddy. Maybe this little fella will bring him to us."

Just five minutes later, they had the baby tied to one of the bowling lanes securely so it couldn't escape, and it began to chirrup loudly, calling for its parent. "That's right, you shout for your Daddy," Cutter encouraged. "Now, let's just hope they're a close family."

"Where do you want me?" Connor asked, approaching his professor and twirling Abby's gun around in his fingers.

"I want you in there with Abby," he ordered, snatching the gun out of his hand. "Go." Reluctantly, Connor went and sat, hidden, with Abby.

Cutter was positioned near the bowling lane with the Raptor, just one lane down from where Stephen was perched with his gun, Clara by his side with her handgun, which Nick had retrieved from the arcade. They listened as the baby Raptor kept calling, until eventually there was a crash near where Connor and Abby were stationed.

The male Raptor cocked its head as it walked towards the baby, and the smaller one's cries became a lot more high-pitched and urgent. Clara frowned, wondering why it sensed danger, until her silent question was answered. The Daddy Raptor opened its jaws and devoured the baby one almost whole, leaving small spatters of blood on the bowling alley floor.

Stephen and Clara exchanged a disgusted look, before Stephen repositioned his gun, ready to take the shot. But suddenly, a loud voice rang out across the bowling alley. "What's going on?" Wide-eyed, everyone turned to Abby, who had just woken up - including the Raptor.

Connor grabbed Abby's hand, leading her away from the danger and towards where several pool tables were. The Raptor chased them, shaking off the two doses of tranquilliser that both Stephen and Clara had successfully shot it with.

Abby and Connor grabbed pool cues to defend themselves with, but then the strangest thing happened. A loud noise of a blue arcade machine went off, alarming the Raptor and distracting it long enough for the two younger ones to escape.