The Crumbling Island

five

While the twins patrolled outside, Alexa ran her hand over Blue's snout to calm her down while Owen was gone. The woman whispered soothing words to the dinosaur and Blue's stress seemed to die down.

"You're good at keeping her calm," Zia said.

"You're good at keeping her alive," Alexa joked back.

"But, in all seriousness, I'm not as good as Owen. I just know the general way to make a dinosaur calm." Alexa looked down at Blue.

Zia smiled slightly and went back to her work.

"So, who are you?" Alexa asked the boy next to her.

"Uh, Franklin Webb. Systems Analyst for the DPG," he stammered out.

"Fun. I've never really been into tech myself, but I find those who can work with it fascinating."

A loud roar sounded from outside. Alexa looked up from Blue and towards the open end of the truck, where Cain stood. The canine signaled for his owner to follow.

"I have to go." Alexa waved goodbye to the pair before exiting the truck.

The woman bumped into Claire and Owen. The two were returning from the mission to get blood from the T-Rex.

"Alexa? Where are you going?" Claire asked.

"To calm down Rexy. I thought you guys said he wouldn't wake up," Alexa replied.

"Well, we were wrong." Owen shrugged.

Alexa rolled her eyes before pushing passed them, Cain and Neph at her heels. Alexa could see the mercenaries up ahead, trying to prod the Rex with shock sticks.

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop it! You're only making her angry." Alexa grabbed the shock stick from the mercenary.

He pulled back his arm and got ready to punch whoever stole his weapon. Neph growled loudly from the side, baring her huge teeth.

"Try me, merc," Alexa sassed. The mercenary grumbled and walked away.

"Don't you have something better to do? Shoo, shoo!" Alexa waved her hands so the rest of them would leave.

The woman sighed and opened up the crate. The Rex was trashing around in the confined space, leaving deep scratches over the metal.

"Hey, it's ok. You're ok," Alexa said soothingly.

The dinosaur focused on her and stopped moving. The woman reached behind her snapped her fingers. One of the twins put a strip of dried meat in her outstretched hand. Alexa held the strip out to the dinosaur.

She took the food cautiously. It wasn't enough to satiate any sort of hunger she had, but it was just enough for a snack.

Alexa kneeled and held her hand out for the Rex to smell. When the dinosaur didn't respond, Alexa sat down on her heels. The woman eventually got up and locked the crate.

"We're moving out, get in the truck."

Alexa followed Cain back to the carrier. She saw Franklin go by, body rigid and holding a coil of rope. No sign of Claire or Owen, so Franklin must have been the only one to get caught. Alexa pulled down the metal back over the carrier and settled down into her seat.

The woman watched the trees pass through the small windows of the carrier. Alexa knew that they were headed back to the Lockwood Estate for the dinosaur auction. The fate of these creatures was sealed and she could do nothing.

The second the carrier stopped, Alexa pulled up the back and sped towards the elevators down to the lab. The woman waited impatiently for the elevator to open, tapping her foot. The twins weren't happy with the tapping, but they tuned out the sound best they could. When the doors opened, Alexa ran to one place - Ghost's viewing bars.

The woman whistled, a command to bring Ghost to her. When no dinosaur came, she pounded her hand against the bars.

"Mills," Alexa said with venom.

He promised her that Ghost wouldn't appear at the auction. He even said that the hybrid was a prototype, not meant to be the functional final draft. But he lied straight to her face. Alexa sighed. There was nothing she could do about it. Alexa walked toward the main elevator, punching in the code.

The woman entered the elevator and hit the button for the floor the auction was on. What she didn't see was Claire and Owen be dragged into the lab and thrown in a cell just as the doors closed.