What We Lost

New Hyrbids

The four of us, load into Jackson and Tessa's jeep. Tessa driving Jackson on the passenger side, and Logan and I in the back. We are trying to follow a GPS that should be tracking the new hybrid. "I recalibrated the GPS to track the frequency Abe gave me." Jackson looks back to Logan and I.

"I've got an IADG surveillance satellite here." Logan looks over his tablet, "What am I looking for?"

I look over Logan's shoulder to the tablet, "thermal imaging."

Jackson nods, "As far as I can tell, this hybrid is part rhinoceros, part Pleistocene Woolly mammoth."

Logan looks up to Jackson, "as in, part prehistoric?"

I nod, "as in woolly rhino."

Jackson chuckles, "Exactly, it's like that saber-toothed cat."

"And if they're anything like regular rhinos, they'll sleep under thick brush."

"So let's start there." Jackson nods as he looks over this shoulder to me, "I'm almost surprised you remembered that."

I shrug my shoulders, "Why?"

Tessa clears her throat, "I never knew something so big could be a needle in a haystack."

As we drive a little while more, Jackson's GPS starts to beep, "Hey, looks like we found our needle."

Tessa pulls up into a clearing. It looks like it was a parking for this part of the park, years ago. I look over the tablet, "I'm not seeing any heat signatures."

"Maybe it's cold-blooded. If it's asleep, it'd have roughly the same temperature as the ground. It should be right in front of us."

"Jackson, if this thing is as big as you say it is, if it was right in front of us, we'd see it."

We continue to look around, as the GPS beeps. As the beeping becomes more rapid the ground begins to rumble. Tessa looks over to Jackson, "Earthquake?"

As we look around more, something begins to emerge in front of the truck. But it is not a woolly rhino, instead it is a vulture, that's easily twice the size of the truck. I gasp loudly as we see the giant bird escape the ground, "That is NOT a woolly rhino."

"I got this." Logan comments, as he opens the door. Once he is outside the truck, Logan opens fire on the bird.

I lean over the back of the truck and yell at Logan, "Get in the truck!"

Once Logan climbs back in, Tessa looks up to him, shocked and annoyed, "What's next? Insult it's mother?"

Jackson and I keep out eyes on the bird as we begin to shout in unison, "go, go, go!"

Tess whips the truck around and away from the bird, starting to drive away. Jackson sighs as the hybrid moves out of sight, "that was close." As Jackson says this, the truck is flipped onto its side. The hybrid squawks and shrieks as it drags us to the edge of the cliff. The sound of grinding metal coming with every inch closer to the edge. "Hold onto something."

I scoff, "hold onto what?"

Tessa gasps, "trucks going over the edge of the cliff."

As we near the edge Tessa and I both call out for Jackson, the issue being I call him Jackson and Tessa calls him Dylan. Logan and I look around the back and Logan notices a tire iron in the back of the truck. I turn back to the front as Logan climbs over the back seat, "guys!" As I get Jackson and Tessa's attention, Logan breaks the back window and we all quickly make our way out the back of the truck, just as the truck goes over the cliff.

When Jackson turns to me, he almost runs to me, hugging me tightly. "Are you okay?"

I pause for a moment before putting my hands to his chest and pushing him away, "I'm fine."

Jackson realizes why I pushed him away and nods, before quickly moving over to Tessa and hugging her. As they hug Tessa looks over to me as if she's trying to figure out what, if anything, is going on between Jackson and I. I take a couple of deep breathes as I try to contain myself.  Once Jackson is over to Tessa, Logan walks over to me and hugs me. Granted I'd rather be hugging Jackson, but in the current situation, I can't.