Clawen ♡ Second Time's the Charm

Chapter 30: Adrenaline

The Indominus roared angrily and slammed Charlie into one of the shops. The raptor crashed through the window and landed in a pile of clothes. Meanwhile, Echo was sent flying into the bushes when the hybrid swung her body sharply. Only Blue stayed on top the Indominus, desperately trying to hang on with her grappling claws. Delta remained a heap on the ground, still unconscious from the Indominus's initial blow.

Inside the ambulance, Claire was a mere spectator once more. She kept her eyes on Owen, who was continually eluding the Indominus's tail and everything it knocked over. He looked even more ruggedly handsome to Claire as he reloaded his rifle and ducked to avoid the falling debris. However, with only a rifle and one raptor facing off against the Indominus, the odds were no longer in their favor.

"We need more," Gray blurted out tremulously. Claire turned to him in confusion.

"More what?" she asked in a haze, not really paying attention to her nephew. She was too preoccupied with the scene in front of her.

"Teeth. We need more teeth."

Claire snapped out of her trance. Teeth. We need more teeth. Dear God, we need more teeth. She stared at her nephew with a sudden epiphany. She threw a quick glance at Owen, the idea growing stronger. It pieced itself together in her mind, every aspect of it coming to life.

Claire turned to her nephews immediately. "There's a red flare and a radio transmitter somewhere at the back. I need them now."

Zach and Gray rummaged around blindly for a painfully long minute until the older brother let out a cry of triumph. He handed his aunt the flare and radio transmitter. She grabbed them with shaking fingers and swallowed hard, fighting the rising panic in her chest. Her nephews watched her with wide eyes.

"It's gonna be fine, okay? Just... just stay here. It's gonna be fine," she reassured them. Who am I fooling?

Claire turned back to the Indominus. She uttered a small sigh of relief when she saw that Blue was still on top the hybrid. Owen was still safe as he fired one shot after the other. Simply gazing at her brave lover gave her enough courage to do what she had to do. She waited impatiently for the dinosaurs to move farther away from the ambulance, for the Indominus to shift her gaze away from her direction. It's now or never.

With a vehement wrench of the door handle, Claire leaped out of the ambulance and slammed the door shut. For a second, she hesitated and her legs, feeling like straw, nearly collapsed as her pumps slipped on the wet ground. No. You are not doing this. Not now. She regained her balance and forced her body to move faster. Fighting to remain upright in her three and a half inch pumps, Claire tightly clutched the radio transmitter in one hand and the flare in the other.

In between firing a shot and jogging closer to the ambulance, a furtive flash caught Owen's eye. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that it was Claire. He was seized with a cold horror that paralyzed his joints so that he became immobile. All that Owen could process through his frozen mind was that his beautiful Claire had just taken off running alone in the dark.

Too focused on his love interest, the raptor trainer didn't see the Indominus's whip-like tail pivoting toward him.

"Owen!" Gray screamed hysterically, pointing at the approaching threat. Owen met his eyes for a brief second before the tail connected with his thigh. He was sent flying into the shrubbery and landed with a grunt, the breath knocked out of him. Nearby, the Indominus finally managed to toss Blue off her back, and now her eyes zeroed in on the ambulance.

Gray began to scream hysterically in his high pitched voice. "I don't wanna die! We're gonna die! What do we do? What do we do?" Fat tears coursed down his face. Aunt Claire's gone, Owen's gone, we're all going to die!

Zach dragged him away from the small window and slammed it shut. He wrapped his arms around his brother and braced both of them to the wall of the ambulance. He let out a shout of panic when the vehicle began to tip over to one side. The Indominus was lifting the front side with her claws, mildly confused as to what it was.

"We're gonna die!" Gray sobbed against Zach. "I love you, Mommy! Somebody tell my mommy that I love her! And Daddy, too!"

Suddenly, the back doors were wrenched open. Zach's head snapped up in surprise and, with immense relief, he realized that it was Owen. Their terrified eyes met for a second before Owen beckoned quickly for the two boys to leap out through the open back. He lifted Gray down, partially surprised when the young boy grabbed him in a giant (and tearful) bear hug. The action made his heart hurt for the other person whom he wished was here. He needed to talk to her, apologize for what he said, and tell her the truth about them.

Meanwhile, Claire's legs carried her farther and farther from her family yet closer and closer to danger. But her mind was blank, the adrenaline swamping her features and drowning her second thoughts. She felt like a robot as her body moved chugged on faster than her train of thought.

Claire fumbled with her radio transmitter. If she could just manage to get a hold of someone in the control room...

"Hello?"

"Lowery!" she yelled in between ragged breaths.

"Claire? What the-" The confusion was obvious in his tone.

"I need you to open Paddock Nine!" she cut him off, her voice coming out as a strangled gasp.

"Wait, Paddock Nine? Why?"

"Just do it! Open Paddock Nine!" Claire stumbled to a wobbly stop in front of a large entrance. She stared up at the gate, breathing heavily and quaking in fear. Waiting for what felt like an eternity for the gate to shudder and drag itself open. Waiting for the only solution to the overwhelming problem. Waiting for the one thing that could save the island, and more importantly, could save her family.

But the gate remained tightly sealed. Panic swept through Claire's mind and a burst of frenzied anger broke through the surface of the thin layer of her calm. Why the hell isn't he doing anything, that idiot!

"Damn it, Lowery. Be a man and do something for once in your pathetic life, will you?"

Even with the lack of face-to-face contact, Claire could hear the shock and slight hurt on the other side of the line. But she had no time to concentrate on sugarcoating the truth.

"Why do have to make it so personal?"

Claire swallowed hard. Open. The. Damn. Gate. Please.

Just then, the gate let out a sharp screech and the bottom lifted begrudgingly from the ground. As the opening heightened, Claire found herself staring into a dark void. She took a deep breath. It's too late to turn back now.

"What do I do now?" Lowery cried desperately. Claire hesitated for a second.

Thump. Thump.

She could feel the ground quivering from the impact of something heavy. Bracing herself, she closed her eyes and imagined herself somewhere else, somewhere comforting. I'm tucked under the covers in bed... Leaning against Owen's strong chest... Exchanging sloppy kisses with those delicious lips of his... And he's tracing slow circles on my exposed skin...

"Claire, what do I do? What do I do?" Lowery shouted in a panic.

Claire's eyes snapped open. She could already see the hazy outline of the approaching dinosaur.

"Stay inside," she replied determinedly. With that, she tossed the radio transmitter off to one side. Her sweaty hands unsheathed the red flare from its cover, and its blazing red light pierced the darkness. She stared at the oncoming danger, but felt no trace fear. The fear had been completely wiped out by adrenaline.

Adrenaline can breed fools. And heroes.
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