Catastrophe

eleven

• 11 •

Sarah Harding: "How do we find the adult?"

Ian Malcolm: "Just follow the screams."

— The Lost World: Jurassic Park

•••

WITH THE INDOMINUS ONLY A FEW FEET IN FRONT OF THEM, everyone was tense, and careful not to draw too much attention. The two remaining raptors snarled at the Indominus. Owen let out a short whistle, and the raptors instantly charged at the Indominus, hopping on its back and trying to take her down, though she wasn't going to go down easy.

With the Indominus distracted, Owen and Claire lead the teens as they ran for cover. Claire guided them to a gift stand as Owen tried to hold off the Indominus. Liana followed Zach and Gray and hopped over the counter and ducked to the floor, out of sight. Claire joined them, huddling together, low to the ground. Liana, squished in-between the Mitchell brothers, closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down. The sound of glass shattering made her flinch.

"You good?" Zach whispered, leaning his head down.

She nodded and took another deep breath. She was stronger than this and she knew it. They had made it this far, and they were gonna be okay. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"Seventy four, fifty... We need more," Gray said.

Claire turned away from Owen to look at her nephew and raised an eyebrow. "More what?"

"Teeth. We need more teeth."

"The raptors can't take that thing down alone," Liana said, and Zach nodded.

It only took a few seconds for Claire to understand what they were getting at, and once it all clicked, she jumped to her feet.

"Aunt Claire, what are you doing?" Zach whisper-yelled.

"I have an idea," she said, grabbing a flare and a walkie-talkie from the first aid kit. "Okay, so just wait here. It's gonna be fine."

Claire's tone wasn't exactly convincing, but the three teens nodded anyways, all muttering quiet 'be safe's' as she hopped back over the counter and ran off.

Liana crawled to the front of the stand and peered over the counter, trying to see what was going on. Her view was obstructed, but she could catch a glimpse here and there of Owen and the dinosaurs.

"Can you see anything?" Zach asked.

"Yeah. Nothing's working. They can't take her down."

Liana moved a little bit so that she could get a better view, but just as she did so, one of the dinosaurs was flung into one of the buildings, and whatever it hit instantly caught fire, causing sparks and flames to erupt. Liana quickly ducked back down and sat against the counter, breathing heavily.

"Are we gonna die?" Gray asked.

Liana, running out of the energy to be optimistic, let out a sigh. "Not yet."

Not even a few seconds later, Owen slid over the counter and hopped into the stand. Gray let out a shocked squeal, and Owen held a finger to his mouth, signalling that they all needed to stay quiet. The kids held their breath, because their ragged breathing would definitely give their hiding spot away.

A shadow fell over the group, and as the Indominus came into view, Liana clasped her hand over her mouth and clasped her eyes shut, anticipating the worst. Owen slowly turned to face the creature, just as she rammed her head into the side of the stand. The kids all let out an ear-piercing scream, and Liana scrambled to crawl back over to the back of the stand. Zach pulled her towards him as toys and souvenirs started raining down on them. The four huddled together up against the wall, just barely out of the dinosaur's reach. The Indominus reached down and snagged Gray's fanny pack, trying to pull the young boy out of Zach and Owen's grip. They tried to hold Gray down, but the Indominus wasn't letting up. Liana reached across Zach and unhooked Gray's pack. The Indominus pulled away and Zach pulled his younger brother into his chest.

The group all tried to slow their breathing and savour these few seconds of safety, but they were interrupted by a large roar that did not belong to the Indominus.

"More teeth," Gray said.

"She brought more teeth," Liana said, a hint of disbelief in her voice as she saw the T-Rex. She and Zach stood, standing behind Owen and holding Gray close to them. They stared up at the two dinosaurs, who were both fully focused on attacking the other. Claire had found a spot behind a rock where she was mostly safe and hidden from the action.

The Indominus grabbed the T-Rex by the throat and slammed it into the very stand where they were hiding. Owen grabbed the three teens and ducked down just in time, but they were still far too close for comfort.

Claire, seeing something no one else could, let out an ear piercing scream.

"RUN!" She screamed, as the stand started to shake. Liana glanced at the ceiling and noticed it was coming down quickly.

"Go," Owen yelled, "go, go!" Owen shoved Liana and the boys forward and followed close behind. They all ran out of the stand and towards Claire as the Indominus slammed the T-Rex down right where they were standing, crushing the stand in one quick movement.

They ran towards Claire and crouched behind her, watching the two creatures fight. The Indominus was winning by a long shot, and was about to finish the T-Rex off. Liana turned away, not wanting to see what was about to unfold as the Indominus prepared to close its teeth around the T-Rex's throat. However, a small croaking noise came from the distance, and the Indominus stopped to find the source of the noise.

Sure enough, Blue, the last remaining raptor, let out a high-pitched call and charged towards the Indominus.

"Oh my God," Liana said, holding back from applauding at the scene in front of her.

Blue launched onto the Indominus' back, narrowly escaping her bite, and distracting her for long enough to allow the T-Rex to stand back up and attack. Blue hopped onto the T-Rex's back as it violently attacked the Indominus. Taking advantage of the dinosaurs' new distractions, Owen and Claire pulled the kids to their feet and ran away from the action. As they ran through one of the gift stores, Blue was sent flying through the window. Glass shattered everywhere as the group shielded their heads from the debris.

Blue quickly returned to the fight and the group returned to finding the easiest escape route, but in all honesty, nowhere was easy to get to and nowhere was safe as long as the three dinosaurs were fighting. They stood across the street as the dinosaurs destroyed a nearby building, helplessly watching as there was nowhere for them to run. They all caught their breath as the three dinosaurs squared off, wrecking everything in their path.

The T-Rex slammed the Indominus against the rails that blocked off the Mosasaurus habitat. The rails were broken, but it only took the Indominus a few seconds to stand back up against the raptor and the T-Rex.

Before any of them had the chance to attack, the Mosasaurus rose from the water, grabbed the Indominus by the neck, and after a brief struggle, pulled her down into the water, both creatures disappearing under the surface as the Mosasaurus inevitably finished the hybrid off once and for all.

The T-Rex gave Blue a short look before turning around and heading back towards it's paddock. Blue turned to Owen and cocked her head to the side, but he simply shook his head. Their loyalty was no more, and Owen had to let her go. Blue gave Owen one final look before she tore off in the opposite direction.

"Holy shit," Zach said, staring at now calm water.

"You shouldn't say shit," Gray said, causing Liana to chuckle softly.

"It's over," Liana said. "It's over. It's gone." She let out a small laugh and tears of relief sprung to her eyes.

"We're okay," Zach said. He ruffled his brother's hair and hugged him, before pulling Liana in for a hug and kissing her on the top of her head. "Everything's okay."

"C'mere," Liana said, still clutching onto Zach with one arm but using the other to invite Gray in for a group hug. "We did it."