I had remained in the same position for five hours, clinging onto the tree and holding Maisie securely. Speaking of Maisie, she'd fallen asleep after the first hour. The poor thing must have been excited after our adventure. I gently ran an invisible talon through her hair as she slept, careful not to disturb her rest as I did so. She just looked so cute, I couldn't resist giving her affection once in a while. Even though we were in a dangerous situation. I just hoped she wasn't having nightmares.
Checking down below me, I could see five soldiers apparently asleep at the bottom of our tree. I sniffed the air, switching my vision to heat-sensitive and straining my hearing to monitor them more closely. The soldiers were breathing evenly, their temperature was holding steady, and my nose informed me that they were resting. I would have relaxed and tried to make an escape, but the soldiers weren't stupid enough to not post a watch.
One man was awake, sitting next to the cold remains of a fire and keeping watch over the surroundings. He'd only been awake for two hours since the first watchman had retired for the night. I frowned. I hope they can just go away. I don't want to be spotted now, especially by InGen.
Oh no, please don't tell me I have to wait until morning. I'll be exhausted, and Maisie's going to wake up with a backache.
Unfortunately, that's where things seemed to be going. So I settled down, prepared to stay awake all night if I had to. I wouldn't be caught sleeping when danger was so close, when Maisie could get hurt.
A loud exhale from the ground caught my attention. The man on watch was sitting down on the ground, appearing to be very bored. His assault rifle hung loosely in front of him as the man sat on his knees, staring out into the forest. In the exact opposite direction from my tree.
I came up an idea. Sure, it was incredibly risky, but it was an idea. If, and only if, the watchman fell asleep on duty, I could sneak past him and get away. I was a stealthy creature by nature, so I was sure I could pull it off. But I had to wait until he fell asleep, if he ever did.
Another idea occurred to me. Maybe this was a good human, or just wasn't evil enough to deserve death. Those humans did exist, I was sure of that. I'd seen a few back at the mansion, as well as the ones I were living with now. The problem was, I didn't know if he was worthy to live. I needed to look into his eyes first. Something about a human's eyes always reveals their darkest secrets.
So, in order for me to know for sure, I had to get him to look in my direction, or go up to him. Both of which would be risky. But hey, fun always came with risk. However, there was Maisie. What if she got hurt, or worse, captured? I'd never forgive myself if that happened.
I had two options. I could wait and see if the watchman fell asleep. Or I could go up to him, restrain him, and see if he was on our side or not. I could knock him out, but that would leave evidence, and that was the last thing I needed.
I thought carefully about what to do next. Should I stick to my original plan, or do something risky and probably stupid? The decision seemed easy, when put that way. But what if I was spotted, or something else went wrong?
I'll deal with it when it happens, I told myself firmly. But it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
A new concern brought itself to light. What if they find Owen's RV? They will report it. I am absolutely sure that InGen got their own copy of the camera footage at the mansion. It probably showed me leaving with Owen and everyone else. If they find it, they will discover everyone there.
Unless...
Of course! I'll just evacuate them! We'll grab or destroy anything that points to us being here, if we have enough time, and scram. I knew that car would come into its usefulness soon!
However, the idea of running from my problems, pushing them to a later date, irked me. I wasn't the type to run; I hated running away. It made me feel weak, and I wasn't weak. I was completely certain I could kill the entire team of soldiers below me; even if they were armed to kill. Sure I might not be able to do it unscathed(the key word being might), but I could do it. The problem was, InGen would notice their disappearance. And they'd then come to the logical conclusion that I must be in the area, especially if they found the bodies. I could bury them, but that might take too much time, time I was beginning to run out of.
I would have attacked them already if Maisie wasn't here. She could be hurt, and I didn't want a child to see bloodshed. She was too innocent to be tainted; I'd do my absolute best to avoid exposing her to anything close to that. She'd already seen death, in the form of her grandfather. That I couldn't have protected her from; I had been locked up still. I was very strong; but I couldn't bend the bars of my cell. I'd already tried that; my captors had wised up and made sure the overall structure, including the bars, of any prison I was placed in were far stronger than the others. I could always tell if the material was stronger, it smelled different.
But I digress. The important thing was what to do about the scout team. Just stay out of their way until everyone has left? Kill them all now? But what if some of them didn't deserve to die? I'd be crossing a line I had sworn to never cross.
I took a glance at the watchman. His head was starting to nod more often, I'd noticed. I'll wait until he's asleep, then I'll sneak Maisie back to Owen's place. Then I'll-
The smell of more humans drifted into my nostrils. My train of thought stopped as I recognized it immediately. Zia and Owen were coming this way. They were still quite far away-nearly nine or so miles- but after a few minutes of sniffing the air, I could tell that they were heading my direction. They must have grown worried about Maisie; of course they had to come looking! And they'll be calling out for her too. If they get close enough, the squad will surely wake up and catch them!
The good news was, they were still quite far away so I had plenty of time to collect my thoughts and decide on a plan. Which I did quickly. I worked quite well under stress; it helped to get my thoughts going. I gently pulled the sleeping form of my best friend into my arms and held her against my chest. I had to use one arm to move slowly down the tree, looking at the watchman every now and then to check where his attention was. I chose to move now because he was gazing in nearly the opposite direction from the tree. It was now or never.
Careful to keep my noise to a minimum, I made my way through the ever-thickening branches until said branches ended and I was left completely exposed. I remained invisible as I continued to descend until finally, finally my limbs touched earth, and I could finally relax my claws, which felt like they were on fire from having to support my weight for so long. But it was a small price to pay to keep Maisie safe.
Now came the real test; sneak through the sleeping humans while keeping Maisie hidden from the watchman as well as being extremely careful not to alert anyone to my presence. I knew I could do it by myself, but the key factor was Maisie; her presence caused the situation to become that much more complicated.
I began to make my invisible way through the sleeping humans, who were all clustered around the tree in soft-looking bags. There were a total of twelve, so I picked the area with the least humans so the risk was as low as it could be. I tried to keep Maisie hidden from the lone watchman, but I didn't know how well humans could see in the dark. I knew it was terrible, but how terrible? Could they barely see their hands or could they see far more than that? I didn't know, so I was as cautious as I could be.
A minute later, after creeping away from the tree on silent feet, I made it into the darkness of the forest. That had been far easier than I thought. As I made my way further and further from the humans, I realized that my mind had only made it seem difficult because Maisie was there. I was extremely paranoid that I would mess up and she would be hurt. I would do anything to protect her, she was all I had.
...Was that typical of a best friend? Would true best friends feel that way about each other? I had no idea. Hm, maybe I'd ask someone about it. There was so little I knew about relationships and social conduct, it would be a good idea to gather more knowledge on it.
Anyways, I'd leave the relationship stuff for later. I still needed to get Maisie back and inform the others of the situation. So after I'd gained enough distance from the humans, I booked it towards Owen and Zia as fast as I could safely go while carrying Maisie. Speaking of, she woke up to my sudden movements. "What's going on?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and trying to look around. I say try, but it was clear to me that she couldn't really see anything.
Oh wait, speaking of eyesight, I was still invisible. My scales quickly shifted back to their midnight black as I slowed down to make myself heard over the wind rushing by us. "I got us out of there; we're heading back home."
"Did someone see you?"
I slowed even more to a casual trot, adjusting my grip on Maisie to make her more comfortable. "I don't think so," I chuckled, amused. "I was invisible the whole time."
Maisie accepted my words with a nod as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Did you...kill anyone?" she asked me, worry in her eyes and voice.
"No." My voice was sincere.
She immediately relaxed, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
We talked a bit more as I moved through the forest. Mainly it was Maisie concerned about me like always, which of course I appreciated but her constantly worrying over me can get a bit...annoying? Yeah, that's close enough. But honestly I had no room to talk; I did the same thing about her.
When I got to Owen and Zia, I called out to them so they would know who I was. Only once they recognized my voice did I step out from the forest shadows, still carrying Maisie.
Immediately I was blinded by Zia's flashlight. I hissed and flinched, but Zia dropped her flashlight in alarm then clutched her chest and breathed out hard. "Oh, Ripper! That was actually terrifying!"
I grinned as I gently set Maisie on the ground. "Oops," came my not-so-apologetic reply. Zia noticed. "Why you little sh-"
"No time for that," Owen interrupted. He didn't look happy. "Claire's been worried sick about Maisie, and as a result has been on my ass all evening until I got out here to look for you. You better have a very good explanation for staying out until-" He glanced at his watch, squinting to interpret where the slightly-glowing hands were pointing. "-4:39 in the morning!"
Maisie grew apprehensive and immediately backed into me, stammering slightly as she tried to start explaining. I instinctively held her gently, wondering for a moment why she was scared before realizing the obvious-she probably could barely see the vague outline of Owen's figure in this darkness. What human wouldn't be a little scared of a dark figure clenching a rifle?
Did I mention Owen had his rifle with him? Should have said that earlier.
Anyways, I stepped in to defend Maisie. "Owen, stop blaming her when she did nothing wrong. It was my idea, and we wouldn't have stayed out so long without telling someone if InGen hadn't showed up."
There was a pause.
"What?!" Owen and Zia both hissed, immediately lowering their voices to just above a whisper as if the soldiers were right behind me.
I scoffed. "Relax. They're nearly ten miles away."
That seemed to help, somewhat. At least they stopped whispering. "Tell us everything," Zia demanded.
So I did, from when I decided to take Maisie on a little adventure to now. I didn't leave anything out, partly because Maisie was there and it would save me another explanation later. When I was done, Owen's RV was in sight of Zia's flashlight, and everyone sighed in relief. I'd been checking and triple-checking my senses ever since leaving that clearing in case the soldiers had somehow seen us and come after me, but I couldn't sense anything. That was good; they were still a distance away. Enough time to get together some plans.
Owen decided to wake everyone to tell them the news and also wanted to discuss a plan. I suggested to Maisie that she get some more rest, but she refused, saying she wanted to know what was happening first. In fact, she told me to sleep, but I used the same excuse she'd used on me. So we settled for jokingly glaring at each other until all my friends were gathered inside the RV. Yes, I considered them friends now.
Speaking of friends, would Blue ever be in that category? I would certainly try, but I had great doubts it would be possible. Throwing her into a tree was not the way to make allies.
Where was she anyway? I scanned my senses, searching for any trace of her. I caught her scent to the south, but it was over half a day old. She wasn't close by that was for sure. Had she left for good?
"Now that everyone's awake, I have some news," Owen announced to everyone present in his RV. Claire was rolling her eyes as she leaned against the refrigerator, Zia sat down on the couch next to a sleepy Franklin, and Maisie sat in a chair beneath an open window, where I looked in. "I didn't expect it to take them this long, but InGen is finally getting close to finding us. Or, more specifically, him." Owen gestured in my direction. It was obvious really, I wasn't surprised he'd seen it. I was incredibly valuable to them, of course they'd want to recapture me.
"Wait, did you see them? How close are they?" Claire interrupted, worry and alarm slipping into her voice.
"No, Ripper did." Owen turned to me. "It's your story, tell them what happened."
And so I found myself retelling the past twelve hours, skipping the unimportant bits. Speaking so many words in such a short time was not doing well for my throat muscles, so I admit I rushed the story a little. But after seven, maybe eight minutes, I finished. Then I let Owen retake the spotlight. I wanted to see what everyone's ideas would be on an effective plan.
"What if we tried to speak to the team? Like, maybe if w-we just talked things out-" Franklin started, but was cut off by Zia. "Franklin, really? You think trying to reason with InGen is a good idea? They're the ones that locked us up in cages-well, except you, Franklin, because you somehow managed to blend in with everyone else-how did you do that? Anyways, what I'm saying is, they aren't the kind of people that are open to reason."
"Well, y-yeah, but-"
Poor Franklin was interrupted a second time by Claire, who had stopped leaning on the refrigerator and was turning to face Franklin. "Franklin, you are a sweet person, but think for a moment. They were assisting Elias in selling the dinosaurs as if they were exotic pets. People like that only want money, and talking to a team of trained soldiers won't get them money."
"Besides, they probably have footage of us escaping with Ripper, so we're also targets," Owen took over. "I'm sorry, Franklin. I wish we could talk things out, but with their history, I don't see a way of us succeeding down that path." Owen crossed his arms. "Right, any more ideas?"
"I say we leave," Claire replied immediately. "As much as I don't like it, we don't have much options. We certainly can't stay here and fight them. I know you could probably take the whole team out easily, Ripper," at this she looked at me, "but InGen's going to notice that some of their soldiers haven't returned. They'll come and investigate, Ripper's going to be found by them, and then we'll have an entire corporation coming right at us. I doubt even Ripper can handle that."
I nodded. That was the same conclusion I had reached back at the tree. However I didn't know the full extent of my capabilities. I was experimenting with my limits every time I had gone hunting, but now I began to realize that it wouldn't be enough. I would have to start pushing myself further to keep my friends-and myself-safe.
I temporarily pushed that to the back of my head as I returned to the conversation. Zia had backed up Claire's plan, while Maisie then stated that she had a plan of her own. I was a little surprised by this-in a good way mind you-so I placed my full attention on her as she stood up and launched into her explanation.
"What if someone distracts them while the rest of us get away? Like, leave a false trail? Or Ripper purposely shows himself somewhere far away so the rest of us can leave safely?"
Everyone in the RV, including myself, stared at Maisie as if she'd just grown two heads. I had been shocked into silence, not just because I hadn't been expecting Maisie to come up with that kind of plan. But because that was my plan. Sure, there were a few small parts that were different, but essentially it was the same.
How did she think of a plan so similar to mine?
"That was my idea," I growled lightheartedly, trying to break the silence. Maisie giggled. She looked a bit guilty though, so I nuzzled her to let her know I didn't mind. In fact, I was proud of Maisie. Who wouldn't be proud of their best friend if they came up with a good plan?
Owen chuckled, obviously not understanding me as I wasn't speaking English but taking Maisie's reaction as a positive. "I'm impressed, Maisie. Where did you get that idea from?"
"Well I, um, read about it in a history book. It just came to me, and it seemed like the best idea, honestly." Maisie replied with a little uncertainty, looking about the RV. I nuzzled her again, purring softly to let her know I was here and that I approved. Though I still found it a little strange that we'd come up with the same idea. It was probably a coincidence though. I decided not to worry about it.
Meanwhile, Claire had a thoughtful expression on, while Zia was nodding and looking excited. "That's better than mine, that's for sure!" Franklin hastily agreed, stammering slightly while stealing glances in Zia's direction. Wait, did he-
"Does anyone have anything better than Maisie's plan?" Claire said, taking over Owen. That earned her a glare but she ignored it. There was a moment of silence, then Claire clapped her hands once, like the judge's mallet. "Alright then, it's settled. Let's get to work."
'Work' consisted of everyone, including myself, crowding around a notebook and a map of the Pacific Coast on a table. Everyone talked, or rather argued, to each other about how exactly we would execute our plan. Ideas, controversies, suggestions and everything else flew around that table and we wound up wasting 14 pages of paper, but after nearly three hours we had a solid plan that was hopefully good enough to work.
The plan was the following: I would go back to InGen's scouting team and purposely leave evidence I had been in the area. Then I would make sure they 'stumbled upon' said evidence, before leading them on a trail far away from Owen's unfinished cabin. Meanwhile, everyone would hightail it out of there in Owen's RV, abandoning everything else and simply leaving. Their destination was the closest state line, which was Oregon, about 40 miles away. From there they'd stop 15 miles from the closest city and wait for me. As they would be driving away, I would make a false trail to lure InGen away before doubling back and using the Fairlane to catch up to Owen. You may be asking, 'Why not just go there on foot?' Because even I cannot leave no evidence of my passing, though I can come pretty damn close. It's genius, really. InGen would never in a million years expect me to be driving my way out of the state. I'll slip right through their fingers with minimal effort! It would be, as the humans say, 'a piece of cake'.
I wish I could see Henry's face if he ever found out I could drive. I'd bet my right foot he'd have an internal crisis, hehe.
Anyways, we'd already spent way too long developing that plan, so we had no time to waste. We were almost entirely certain InGen didn't know I was out here yet, but we weren't taking any chances. I was off on my task without a moment of hesitation, trusting my friends to carry out their part.
At first I zipped through the forest like a hummingbird on steroids, but as the smell of humans grew stronger I slowed down until I was merely a shadow among the foliage. My internal map showed me the humans had spread out in pairs from when I'd last seen them, meandering all over the place. Pairing up was smart, I'd give them that.
I selected a random pair and put my plan into action. Checking their general trajectory, I began to leave evidence of my passing. Namely broken twigs, claw marks on branches and tree trunks, evidence of myself moving through bushes and plants, and even a blood trail from a rabbit I hunted down. I made a whole pile of evidence in their path, all connected by a trail of more evidence. They'd have to be blind to miss it.
The trap was set, now they just had to take the bait. I moved through the forest as silent as an owl in flight, positioning myself in a spot where I could clearly watch the two humans while still being completely hidden. I also made sure to camouflage myself with my scales as best I could, while lowering my body temperature to avoid thermal detection. Then all I had to do was wait.
The two humans walked closer and closer to my bait. One scanned the ground and everything else with his eyes for evidence, while the other kept watch on the forest, his hands firmly gripping his assault rifle. They were vigilant if nothing else, but I'd been running circles around them for half and hour now. Granted I was doing my absolute best not to be detected.
None of the humans spoke for a while as they moved. I expected them to remain silent until they'd found my evidence, but the one with the assault rifle suddenly let out a loud exasperated sigh, throwing his head back. "I'm boooooooored," he groaned, but I detected a hint of positive emotion from his scent.
"Oh, can it Mr. Whine," the second human replied, not even turning around. "Save your complaints for back home."
"I can complain all I damn want, bucko," the first human shot back. "And you're going to listen to it because you got no choice."
"Oh, goody," the second human mumbled, continuing his search as the first griped and moaned. about literally everything. "It's too cold out, I hate this uniform, I hate forests, I don't like guns, I'm tired because I barely slept last night, I hate this job, I-"
"I found something!"
Ah, looks like the second human had stumbled across one of my purposeful footprints. Unfortunately, it didn't shut the first human up. "I swear Sam, if it's another deer hoof-" He stopped talking when he saw my footprint, shocked into silence by the sheer awesomeness of it. Yes, it was that, not anything else. Definitely not just because they'd probably never seen a dinosaur print before. Totally not that.
The first human unfastened his backpack and dropped it on the ground, then rummaged around in it before pulling out a few folders. He opened them and began to look through them. From my angle, I could make out lots of pictures in those folders, along with some worded descriptions and instructions on what to look for. The human pulled out a picture of my footprint and compared it to the one in front of them. When they saw it matched, both humans slowly turned to look at each other, disbelief and fear washing through their pheromones. I wrinkled my nose at the scent. Fear has a bitter smell.
I smiled in amusement from my hiding place as Sam grabbed his helmet and started poking around on its side. He shoved it on his head, positioning a microphone at his lips as he spoke into it urgently. "Alpha, this is Team 4. I've got something!"
There was silence for a moment. I focused my hearing on Sam's helmet, testing if I could listen in. Turns out I could, as the response came loud and clear. "Team 4 this is Alpha. You missed your check-in, I was about to send the rest of the team after you!"
"Sorry sir, had my helmet off because my head was sweating buckets, sir."
"I don't care about excuses. You'll have a debrief on your return to base."
"Yes, sir."
There was a pause, then a sigh echoed over the radio. "Alright, tell me what you have." The voice on the other end sounded like he'd heard reports of 'proof I was around' all morning. Well he was about to get a surprise.
"We've found a footprint sir, and it matches the photos you gave us. Sir."
There was another moment of silence. "Are you 100% sure, Team 4?" came the reply, now sounding hopeful but also disbelieving.
"Absolutely, sir. We compared it with several photos."
"For the sake of your jobs, I hope you are. Stay right there, I'm sending Teams 6 and 2 over your way. I'll wait until I have their support before I bring the others over."
"Yes, sir."
Sixteen, maybe seventeen minutes passed. I kept watch, scanning my surroundings as much as I observed the two humans. Then, two groups of two arrived, one a few minutes after the other. The humans pored over my footprint for a bit, mumbling to themselves and taking repeated glances at their pictures. Finally, they seemed to come to an agreement. "Alpha, this is Team 4. Teams 2 and 6 are here with us."
"This is Alpha. What's the assessment?"
"Positive. It belongs to the target."
"...Stand by."
The radio went silent. Meanwhile I was growing a bit impatient. Did they really have to take this long to prove I made that footprint? Did they just not believe what was right in front of their noses?
I couldn't complain really. This was just giving more time for everyone else to put distance from here. So, more waiting I guess.
In a much faster time than before, every single human in the group of soldiers showed up. I hadn't expected that, but that was even better. I silently began to move away from the humans while still listening in on their conversation. It was a bit difficult because they'd all lowered their voices, but I could still make them out. The conversation was pretty short, and soon all the humans were back in their pairs, spreading out in search of a possible trail while the commander sent a message back to 'headquarters'. Which was certainly InGen.
I smiled as the humans found my trail and began to carefully follow it, each team sticking within earshot of each other as they moved. They were being smarter than I expected about this, but they were still falling for the bait. So far, the plan was working perfectly.
I began to leave a winding trail though the woods leading generally southeast, approaching a forest that smelled different than the trees I was surrounded by. I didn't know what they were called, but I'd discovered them nearly a week back. They smelled far older than anything living I'd smelled before, they were far taller than any other tree I'd seen before, they were so huge that the base of their trunks was wider than I was long. There wasn't much vegetation on the ground in that part of the forest, but it would have to do. I didn't intend to get close enough to the humans to allow them to see me anyway.
For hour after hour I led the humans on a wild goose chase. I made false trails, trails that looped back to the start, and other confusing paths that were only meant to delay them. By the time I was satisfied they would be occupied for many more hours, the sun was again approaching the horizon. I hunted down and made a quick kill on a doe, then devoured it with as little mess as possible. I left the remains at the end of one of my false trails before leaving the humans for good. This time I was careful to leave as little proof as possible of my passing as I skulked my way back to Owen's cabin, which would probably never be finished. Because I was trying not to be detected, it took me a bit longer to get back than if I was going as fast as I could, so it was almost completely dark when I got back. Sure enough, Owen's RV was missing. A pile of lumber and the frame of the cabin were the only evidence that someone had been there, besides the deep tire marks from where the RV had sat.
I checked the area for scents to determine how long my friends had been gone and if we'd had any visitors. The answer was over half a day, and the only visitors had been insects and a few wild animals.
And Blue.
I let out a long exhale of frustration. Of course she would come back. Owen had wanted to try and find her again, but everyone else had shot down that proposal with the fact that we didn't know how much time we had and it wasn't worth the risk. Nevertheless, Owen had decided tp bury a slab of deer meat for her and then marked it with a stick, in an attempt to let her know that he'd hadn't forgotten her. I checked said spot, and found it recently dug up. Blue's scent was thick around the hole; she was close by. I paused, sniffing the air, then turned around to find her stepping out into the now-empty clearing.
"Why did he leave without me?" were the first words to come out of her mouth as she stared, no glared at me. Well, that was expected. She must be at least a little angry that she'd been left behind, and I was the only creature here for her to vent that on. I attempted to tread carefully, but my social skills are not my strong suit.
"He didn't want to," came my truthful reply. "But he was the minority."
Blue sniffed the air, most likely checking my scent for lies. When she detected none, she snorted. "Then he's not a very good Alpha."
"I disagree."
"He's not your Alpha."
"I'm my own Alpha," I snapped, the words coming out instinctively. Blue hissed back at me. Great, I'd already messed up. In an attempt to calm down, I tried humanity's method: Breathing deeply. Surprisingly, it actually worked quite quickly, and after a single long breath my mood had improved greatly. I'd have to remember that.
"Listen," I started. "I found a group of dangerous humans. " Blue's eyes widened, but I continued on before she could. "I told him about it, so he asked everyone for ideas. The best plan we had was for me to lure the dangerous humans away while everyone else escaped. I have no doubt Owen called for you. You didn't show up so he buried that meat for you as an apology."
There was a tense silence. "Did he really think food would make me forgive being abandoned a second time?!" Blue suddenly roared. I recoiled in alarm, immediately switching to a battle stance as my instincts screamed at me to crush this challenger. I resisted, but I couldn't help but be curious as to Blue's words. What did she mean when she said 'a second time'?
"I don't know-" I began, but then I stopped as my ears were picking up something. The noise of an engine, and it was heading this way. I raised my head and sniffed the air, trying to gain any more information on what it was and who was driving the vehicle.
Blue noticed how I'd paused, and wisely decided to postpone her anger. "What? What is it?" Then she stiffened, obviously picking up the sound as well. I had no idea what vehicle was making that noise, but it seemed to be moving quite quickly through the forest, and it was alone. At least I was mostly sure it was alone. This engine was loud; it could be drowning out a quieter engine. I had to be ready for anything.
What I was not ready for was what Blue said next. Surprise and disbelief wormed their way into my nostrils from her direction as she shrieked, "That's Owen's fast small metal thing!"
It took me a moment to realize she was referring to Owen's motorcycle. Now I was also surprised as I turned to see a faraway light in the forest, speeding its way in our direction. Was that really Owen? I had no idea; the vehicle was moving too fast for the rider's scent to reach my nostrils from that distance. I prepared myself just in case.
The roar of the motorbike filled the clearing as it arrived. The rear wheel locked as the driver slammed on the brake, sending the motorcycle sliding into the clearing and coming to an unstable stop. And sure enough, Owen was there, wearing the exact same outfit I'd last seen him wearing and grinning from ear to ear. Blue looked like she was looking at a ghost as Owen shut his motorcycle off and dismounted it. "Did you really think I was going to leave you behind a second time?" he said, placing his hands on his hips. "I'm never leaving you behind again, Blue. That is, if you want to come with me. It's your-"
He was interrupted when Blue tackled him to the ground next to his motorcycle. I watched happily and with more than a little amusement as she practically mauled him with nips, nuzzles and licks. Owen initially let out a very embarrassing scream when Blue pounced on him, but he quickly recovered and started laughing. The wholesome scene made me smile as Blue continued showering him in affection while Owen simply stroked her back and kept laughing. In that moment, I wished Maisie was next to me, but I convinced myself that I would see her again soon. It wouldn't be long.
I hoped.
After Blue had torn Owen' shirt to shreds, she cuddled up on top of him and relaxed as Owen continued stroking her, not caring about the many tiny scratches all over him. "That's my girl," he said happily and proudly, while Blue just purred in response. I let them have their moment-well, for fifteen seconds that is. Then I clicked two of my claws together loud enough to get their attention. "As much as I enjoyed watching that, we need to get going."
Blue glared at me as Owen looked at me, surprised to see I was there. He must not have seen me until now. Anyways, he got up and brushed himself off. "You're right." Then he turned to Blue as she got to her feet as well. "You can understand me...right?"
Blue rolled her eyes, but it was too dark for Owen to see that so she gave an affirmative chirp. "Alright, then I'm sorry for leaving you behind on that island. I had no choice, Blue. You would have been killed the moment you reached the mainland, if not sooner. But now you can come with me, and if you do I promise to be the best Alpha I can be."
Blue responded by immediately nuzzling him. Owen let out a breath of relief, as if he'd been afraid she'd leave right then and there. "Awesome, girl." Then he turned to me. "Where's the car?"
Blue tilted her head in confusion as I moved over to the other side of the clearing. Owen turned on a flashlight and followed, Blue right behind him. I led him a little way into the forest until we came across a unnaturally large pile of leaves, dead sticks, and dying branches. I began to clear them away, revealing the white paint of the Ford Fairlane underneath.
"Ah, there it is." said Owen as he set the flashlight down on the ground in such a way that its beam lit the front of the car. He started to help me clear the camouflage from the vehicle while Blue stood there, still quite confused. Owen decided to explain things to her as he cleared enough branches and leaves away to open the passenger door. "Blue, I know you're a fast runner but we need to go a long way and even you can't run forever. So we're going to use this to go." He opened the passenger door.
"If you expect me to get in that, I will tear all of your socks to bits and bury the remains," Blue chattered at Owen. Still clearing detritus, I translated, and Owen sighed. "Blue, trust me. It's not a cage, you can get out anytime you want. See?" Owen stepped into the car and closed the door. Blue let out an alarmed shriek and darted up to the door, but then Owen opened the door from inside, forcing Blue to step back as he stepped out. "There. Not a cage."
Blue looked at Owen, unsure, before she finally aquiesced and entered the vehicle. I finished my task as she settled herself on the car's single long backseat as Owen stepped in behind her. "This is...surprisingly comfortable," she murmured, shuffling her position.
In the end, since the front seat had been removed so I could fit inside, Owen couldn't drive so he had to sit on the backseat with Blue, who rested her head on his lap. I got in the Ford and started it up as the keys were in the ignition. Blue jumped at the sound of the engine, but Owen soothed her with soft words and gentle head scratches. I rested my body in the space where the front seat was and adopted the following driving style: I used my right arm to operate the pedals while my left steered, and my tail shifted gears. Uncomfortable? Very, but it was the only way I'd found that worked on a manual transmission.
I left the lights off as I drove down the old trail that led to the highway. My eyes could see quite well with them off anyways. Blue demanded to know how I was making the vehicle move, so I explained it to her as I did so. I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she watched me drive. Maybe showing a raptor how to drive a car wasn't the best idea...
Anyways, we got onto the road and began to make our way north in darkness and silence. My eyes were fixated on the road and its surroundings, watching for any sign of the law or InGen. I wanted to see Maisie again so badly, it felt like I'd been away from her for forever despite it only being a little over half a day. Okay, I need to reevaluate my relationship with her after this. That's a must.
Hopefully, everything would go to plan and we would get away undetected. Little did I know the real trouble was just about to begin.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'M SO SORRY I TOOK HALF A YEAR TO UPDATEEEEEEEE
Please forgive my hiatus guys! These past months I just lost all my motivation to continue writing. I thought my writing was absolute trash and my story was no good, but you guys telling me otherwise really helped me pull through! And here I present the next chapter!
Don't hate me for the cliffhanger, but how else am I going to keep you hooked? I may think I'm a bad writer but I know how to keep an audience interested!
Also WHAT
#1 in Indoraptor?!?!
And over 10K VIEWS?!?!?!?!?!
THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! You don't know how much that means to me, honestly! It really helps get the ideas flowing and gives me the confidence to keep writing! Thank you so much again for the support!
Stay tuned for the next chapter! And I'll leave you with this: THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN!!! I can't believe it!
7002 words.