The Dark Continent Jurassic World

VOICE OF REASON

'CRASH!'

Ashton could feel the trees and bushes lacerating and scarring his skin as he was sent tumbling into the opening. His body collided into jagged branches and solid rocks as he slowly skidded to a stop in a motionless heap. He lay there panting, his entire body was aching, blood trickled from the cuts and scrapes on his body and his head was spinning, causing him to feel disorientated and out of place. His breathing was shallow, and he was squinting heavily in the bright sunlight, which suddenly pierced and stabbed at his eyes. As he caught his breath, he noticed a large metal tube pressed close to his face. It was the barrel of a rifle.

"Fucking hell..."Adam stammered, lowering his rifle to his waist. "My colleague, Miles, mentioned seeing some men around here earlier. They must've come back."

Adam knelt down and offered Ashton a hand. He was met with stares from Owen, who was clutching a hunting rifle and Claire who greeted him with a nervous gaze. Adam slung his rifle over his shoulder and grabbed Ashton, locking eye contact with him while he looked him over. "Are you okay?" Adam asked, as he brushed off leaves and other debris from Ashton's body.

Ashton attempted to speak, but all that came out was a jumble of words. He stared into Adam's eyes for a few moments, lost in them, and then his feet gave out as he fell to the ground. Adam dove forward to grab him and gently lowered him to the ground. As he pulled his arm back, he noticed a thick, frothy substance on his hand, clearly having come from Ashton's back where he had supported it.

"What is this?" Adam asked, turning to Claire and Owen.

"No..." Claire mumbled, shuddering slightly as it dawned on her.

"What?" Owen asked, confused by the way she was acting.

"I think that may be saliva from a Troodon, an experimental species created by Dr. Wu back in the early days of Jurassic Park. He was attempting to clone a dinosaur solely out of one hundred percent pure DNA rather than filling in the gene sequence caps with animal DNA. The results were- abnormal to say the least. The species engineered on Nublar were transferred to Site B, having been deemed too dangerous for the park. If that is what I think it is," Claire paused, rushing to Ashton's side, frantically feeling for any puncture wounds on his body.

"What are you doing Claire?" Owen asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Help me find a puncture wound," Claire wailed, "we have to make sure he's-"

Ashton began shaking uncontrollably in Claire's arms as white foam began oozing from his mouth.

"Oh fuck..." Adam said stepping back, a shocked expression crossing his face.

"Give me your gun!" Claire screamed, extending her arm toward Adam. Adam handed Claire his tranquilizer rifle.

"What are you going to do with it?" he asked, concerned. Claire ignored his question and began unloading the rifle. She pulled out a metal tranquilizer dart with a red feathered tailpiece and hoisted it above Ashton's body.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- what are you doing Claire?" Owen said holding back Claire's arm.

"Hold him down! I need you to hold him still!" Claire said fiercely.

"No, Claire that dosage would kill him! You can't just-"

"Trust me! I'm trying to save his life, just hold him down please," Claire said, tears building up in her eyes. Owen looked at Adam anxiously before they both dropped to the ground forcibly holding onto Ashton's shoulders. Claire once again raised the dart above Ashton's chest taking in a deep breath. "Please work," Claire muttered through gritted teeth as she plunged the dart into Ashton's chest. He took a deep breath before falling unconscious. Owen and Adam slumped down as Claire breathed a sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that about," Owen demanded.

"The Troodon's that Wu engineered had a venomous bite. They would leave behind a white saliva on their prey which would cause hallucinations. The only way to counteract the effects were to use a powerful tranquilizer. Without it, he would've become paralyzed, and shortly after, died," Claire explained.

"Now, just wait a damn minute. What the hell are you people talking about. Who is this Dr. Wu and what the fuck are these creatures doing here?" Ashton asked.

"Dr. Henry Wu was our chief geneticist at Jurassic World. He was the one responsible for creating the dinosaurs on the island. I assume you're familiar with the Jurassic World Incident?" Claire questioned, standing to her feet.

"Yeah I'm aware. Wasn't that when a bunch of dinosaurs broke out and slaughtered a bunch of folks?" Adam asked, checking Ashton's pulse before standing to his feet.

"Sadly, yes. It was because of Henry's creation that all of that devastation occurred. That animal perished, but Wu managed to escape with various canisters of DNA before we even knew what happened. It appears as though he left the island and continued his work here." Claire stated.

"Why in Africa?" Adam asked.

"We're not so sure, that's what we're trying to find out," Owen interjected.

"These people, they think they can just come in here and take control! I've lost friends...People I've known for years!" Adam shouted.

"We understand your pain. We've lost people, too, and that's why we're here. We want to put an end to all of this," Claire declared, handing back the tranquilizer rifle to Adam.

"We have to get this kid to a hospital," Adam said, throwing his tranquilizer gun across his shoulder. "My Land Rover is just up over that ridge," he said, pointing to a small embankment.

"Is there any way we can get your card?" Claire asked, stepping beside Owen.

Adam dug into his front shirt pocket, pulling out a beige business card accented by dozens of geometric lines across the front. A silver lion icon rested comfortably in the bottom left corner, it's ferocious roar the highlight of the handout. The face of the card read 'A.S.R.' In large bold text and aligned along the right side, the name Adam Tushar, along with a variety of contact information, was displayed neatly in tan print. Adam handed the card to Claire, removing his cap and wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"What does A.S.R. stand for?" Claire asked bewilderedly.

"Africa Safari Rescue," Adam said, grunting as he lifted Ashton onto his shoulders. "Tell you what, I'll take him to the clinic and you two meet me back at the Rescue Center. The address is on that card. If anyone asks, tell them Adam sent you." Owen and Claire nodded as Adam began to ascend up the side of the incline. The sounds of nearby wildlife enveloped the humid outback.

"So where did you learn all that?" Owen asked, fauna crunching under the weight of his boots.

"I read some of the documents in storage from the original Jurassic Park. They tried to cover it all up, Owen. And that's not all, Henry also experimented with pure genome extraction on other prehistoric species. Isla Nublar's Velociraptor Nublarensis had its DNA altered, but they, too, exhibited quill like appendages. This species of raptor was classified as Velociraptor Sornarensis and was strictly bred on Isla Sorna before hurricane Clarissa devastated that island in June of 1993.

Not to mention, Lowery assisted me in locating classified information about Henry's first attempted hybrid. He was striving to create an even larger predator than the Trex. However, he unintentionally created a Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus. This creature predates the Indominus Rex by nearly two decades and was the first time InGen truly went through genetic alterations to create something new. It was Wu's first monster, and I'm afraid to think about what Henry has created now that he has full control over his creations," Claire stammered as they neared the large open savannah where their vehicle sat.

"I wonder what else those bastards are hiding," Owen said, opening the back door to the Mercedes and laying his rifle inside. "InGen sure knows how to keep secrets," he said, making his way over to the driver's side door. "Let's see what those Safari Rescue guy's saw. Maybe they know something we don't," Owen said, pushing the key into the ignition and turning over the engine as it sputtered to life. Clouds of dust kicked up as they made their way down to the Safari Rescue Center.