Jurassic Girl

Chapter Eight

-Mor's pov-
We screech to a stop at the raptor paddock. My anger flares at all the InGen vehicles and workers. Owen and I get out of the car at the same time, Claire following after telling the boys to stay put.
Hoskins walks towards us, "the mother hen has finally arrived-"
I cut him short with a hard punch to the nose that sends him to the ground.
"You bastard," I yell at him, "if you touch my Delta I'll kill you! I swear to god I will kill you!"
He stumbles as he gets up. He holds his nose and opens his mouth to yell at me, but is cut off by another punch from Owen. Hoskins stays on his feet this time, he holds his jaw as he looks back at us.
"Get the hell out of here and stay away from my animals," Owen says.
"Hoskins you wanted this to happen you, son of a bitch," Claire snaps at him.
"Oh jesus," Hoskins yells, "how many more people have to die before this mission starts to make sense to you!"
"It's not a mission," Barry says as he walks over to us, "it's a field test."
"This is an InGen situation now," Hoskins bites, "okay, there are going to be cruise ships, that show up here at first light. Everybody's gonna get off this island. You're gonna watch a news story about how you all saved lives. No, better yet! How your animals saved lives."
"Or potentially take them, Hoskins," I snap.
"Shut up little girl," he snaps back, "I'm talking to the adults here."
I take a step towards him, raising my fist again, "you bastard, I swear to fucking god I'll rip your-"
Barry picks me up and pulls me back, talking to Owen, "they've never been out of containment, she's right Owen. It's crazy."
Owen stays silent, I wait for him to say something, anything, but he doesn't.
"Let's move it out." Hoskins turns towards Owen. "This is happening, with our without you."
Owen again stays silent and I give him an angry look as Barry finally sets me down, "you're not seriously considering this! Owen?"
"I'm sorry," he says, "but-"
"No," I cut him off, "are you even thinking. Owen, more people could die, our girls could die!"
"And people could die if we don't," he argues, "you just gotta trust me."
He doesn't give me another chance to say anything as he turns and follows Hoskins. I let out a frustrated scream as I kick the ground, rocks flying. All I could think about was the "what if's."
What if the Indominus, Claire finally told me the name of it, was too strong for the Raptors. What if they died trying to stop it. What if they turned against us. What if we had to kill them. What if I had to kill Delta.
Tears were streaming down my cheeks, both angry and sad ones, as I walked over to the raptors. They were in these contraptions that kept them still, we usually used these to do check ups on them. They had little camera's strapped to their heads. I wanted to take them off, to set the free, but I couldn't. So I did the next best thing, comfort them. Delta may be my girl, but I cared for all of them, and they cared for me.
I started with Charlie, "hey girl. It's all gonna be ok."
She chirped as if to say thank you as I moved on to Echo, who was trying to move her head, "shh, it's ok, you're ok. You'll be out of here in no time."
She stops moving, letting out a breath. I hear the gate open behind me and I know it's Owen. He walks over to Blue and calms her like I was doing with the other girls. I move over to Delta who is next to Blue.
"So now you care about them," I ask, a little too viciously.
He sighs, "I care about them and you know that, but I also care about you. All day today I've been worried sick that you had been hurt by the Indominus, this is the only way I can assure your safety."
"I don't care about my safety," I snap, "I care about theirs, and yours. I know you're going out there with them because that is the type of reckless person you are and I want to strangle you for it."
He opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off, "I can't lose you, Owen, as much as you annoy me, I can't imagine my life without you."
"You're not going to lose me, Mor," he says, "because, even if everything goes wrong, I will go through hell to get back to you."
My heart stutters, he said those exact words to me before he left for his first deployment.
"You better, because if you die, I'll kill you," I finally relent.
He laughs, "of course you will. Let's make sure our girls are ready."

Owen and I went through and checked all the girls' cameras, made sure they weren't so tight or to loose. I check on Delta and she chirps at me as I pet her. How could I send my girl off to almost certain death?
Owen stands next to me with Blue, who is growling and hissing. Blue has always been the wildest, she definitely did not like the confinement.
"Easy Blue," he whispers to her, "easy. Attagirl. You don't scare me."
"Owen," Gray says from behind us, Owen turns towards him, "are they safe?"
"No, they're not," Owen answers.
Delta hisses in answer and I shush her, "it's ok girl. I'm here."
"What are their names," Zach asks.
"Well you got Charlie, there is Echo," Owen points to each raptor, "here is Delta, Mor's girl. And this one's called Blue, she's the beta."
"Who's the Alpha," Gray asks.
"You're looking at him kid," Owen says.
I turn around and find Zach staring at me. I smile at him which gets a small hiss from Delta.
I turn to her and whisper, "what, am I not allowed to give anyone else attention?"
She chirps and I take that as a yes. I lean down and place a small kiss on her head.
I turn back to the boys. For some reason, Owen is staring down Zach, who looks extremely uncomfortable.
I raise an eyebrow, "do I want to know?"
Zach shakes his head quickly and I smile at him. I see Owen look between us a few times and then look towards Gray with a questioning look, earning a small nod from the kid.
Claire walks over to us, "they're about to head out, you three, come with me."
I look back at the girls, they were about to face this thing, would I see any of them again?
Owen rests his hand on my shoulder, "you gotta go."
I nod, "I know."
I turn to him and hug him around the waist, "promise me you'll come back."
He wraps his arms around my shoulders, "promise me you'll be there when I get back."
"Promise."
"Promise."
He lets go of me and I have to force myself to turn away as quick as I can. If I stay for one more moment, look at those raptors one more time, I'll lose it. Claire, Gray, and Zach are waiting outside the gate for me, sad looks in their eyes.
I walk up next to Zach and his hand grabs mine. It had already become a habit, holding his hand whenever he was near. It brought me comfort, like a tether to reality to keep me from falling into nothing, to keep from breaking under the weight of the world. He brought me comfort in just being there.
Claire walks us over to an ambulance, opening up the back, "see? Totally safe."
One of the raptors hisses as soon as she says it, ironic.
"All right. Get in," she tells us, "come on. Get in there."
Zach and I help Gray in first, and then Zach gets in. He turns around and grabs my hands, pulling me up into the truck.
"If you need me," Claire says, "I'll be right up front. Just open that window."
There are only two seats back here and Zach and Gray already sit in them. I walk over and sit on the ground between them.
"Put your seatbelts on," Claire says, the boys check for them but there aren't any, "okay, so just... hold hands."
She closes the doors and we sit there awkwardly for a moment. Gray reaches his hand out to Zach and Zach looks down at it, blankly.
I chuckle, and Zach looks down at me with a small smile, "you don't look so comfortable down there."
"I'm sitting on a metal floor, you're sitting on a metal box," I laugh, "I think we're even. All you got on me is height."
We hear Claire get into the front seat and then a raptor shrieks.
"Um," Gray says, "nothing's getting in here right?"
I can hear the terror in his voice. My hand reaches up and grabs his.
"Hey," Zach says, "you remember that ghost at the old house? Remember, the one in the garage, I protected you right?"
"You made a battle ax out of a ruler and a paper plate," Gray says.
"Yeah," Zach smiles, putting his hand on Gray's back, "See, nothing's gonna get you while I'm around, okay?"
"But you're not always gonna be around," Gray says.
"Yeah, well." Zach's smile fades. "Hey. We're brothers, okay? We'll always be brothers and we'll always come back to one another. No matter what."
"No matter what," Gray asks.
Zach nods, "no matter what."
They rest their heads against each other's and I smile at them. In just one day, they've come so far. This morning, they couldn't have been farther apart, but now, nothing could separate them.
Zach looks down at me and sees my warm smile, he smiles back. I'm reminded of my words to him earlier, "nothing's more attractive than a guy who's good with kids." How right I was.