|| 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝐧𝐝, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 ||
"...It's been three long, and grueling months since the cities of Clearlake, California and Berkley, California, were struck by a series of devastating dinosaur attacks. The creatures, from the 'presumed dead' INGEN facilities, injured three hundred and sixty civilians, and cost the lives of nearly a hundred more, including a hunting party, a regiment of the national guard, and a few others at a Biosyn Research Facility that was supposedly administering a drug to combat the COVID epidemic. Since then, recovery has been slow, but promising; the thousands displaced are finally returning to their homes and families because of the support of Washington. There still isn't much information regarding what caused these attacks, but all eyes have turned on an Ex-Infantry Marine, Tommy Peters, who was the only conscious survivor found at the scene-"
"Excuse me? Mister Peters?"
Tommy Peters blinked from his stare. His wrinkled fingers paused, throbbing from the constant rubbing act upon a pointed white fang, which still had a red stain to it. Nevertheless, the pain didn't amount to where he was; being in a hospital was something he did not wish for. The IV needle stung, the bed groaned under the weight of his sadness, and the painted white sheets glistened with a deep red flare. Memories would wail in his head as he sat there, contemplating the past few hours. He'd wonder why it had to end that way. And, worst of all, where'd he go now that Seven was gone. Tommy then exhaled, defeatedly turning to the doctor's voice to reply.
"I said I don't want to talk to the press."
The doctor shook her head. "It's not the press. You have visitors."
His eyes squinted. Visitors? Tommy's immediate thought became INGEN or Biosyn; of course they'd show to cover up whatever he'd say or think, he wouldn't have expected anything different. Or maybe some accomplice of them disguised as a visitor. He knew they'd never let him off the hook, even while in death. So he growled defensively, forcing the fang against his thumb to mimic that of a knife. His heartbeat elevated, sweat beads of woe slithering down his bandaged forehead in readiness. Tommy waited for a sound, a whisper, a call. A warning. And without a moment's notice, three masked figures waded into view: two teenage girls and a boy, all roughly the same age. The boy he didn't know, but the girls...
He couldn't tell at first. Not until they removed their COVID masks.
Tommy's eyes flashed. Their eyes... their soft blond hair, the freckled bumps near the bends of each saddened smile -- this wasn't a memory. And once that became clear, emotions erupted like fireworks within the poor Marine.
"Abbey? S-Sarah?"
The first girl, Abbey Peters, solemnly walked over to her father's side, tears brimming the base of her eyelid. She lowered down, grasping his cold hands on her own. They stared at each other, face to face, taking in their perfumes and studying their features like two hybrids introducing each other. Once the first of her tears streamed down Abbey's softened face, her voice cracked aloud in pain.
"I-I," Abbey trembled, wavering between words. "I'm s-sorry... I-I didn't come sooner, dad-"
Tommy reached up and pulled his daughter into a tight hug. Abbey faltered in his hold, losing herself against his embrace and giving into her sobs. Sarah joined in on the right side, hugging her father all the same. Neither one of the three could dare let go, not for a while. But it was Tommy's face that brought life into this moment, his tears not just of sorrow, but of joy. To see his daughters again after all this time was nothing more than a miracle. If only Janet was here to fill the rest of the hole in his heart, everything would fall into place. But he'd take anything life granted him in a heartbeat, even this. Nothing was worth more than this.
"It's n-not your fault," Tommy whispered, planting kisses against their foreheads. "Please don't blame yourself."
"We walked away from you..." whimpered Sarah. "But we're not going anywhere, dad."
"I know," Tommy exhaled, brushing away his tears as they withdrew. "I know... But it's okay. You're here. You're okay, and look at you! All grown up! And doing well, I assume."
Both girls nodded; Tommy beamed.
"Mom would be proud. I know she would."
"And you," added Sarah, chuckling softly. "After saving that town from those monsters, she'd be over the moon!"
Tommy's smile nearly faded, the grip on the indoraptor fang tightening. He looked to the white sheets, eyes glistening once more in mourning. Abbey's eyes softened.
"Dad, what is it?"
He looked to his hand where the fang was held and moved it before them both. All three visitors glanced over at the tooth, studying its features as the Marine spoke.
"Her name was Autumn..." Tommy huffed. "But I called her Seven, because, to me, she was my lucky charm. She... filled the hole in my heart that I... that I couldn't bear. And she wasn't a monster... not all of them were."
Tommy paused briefly, shakily inhaling to hold himself together.
"You know, I wanted to go, I did," He whimpered softly. "I told it to her so many times, I b-begged for it. Because losing you... and Janet... was a burden I couldn't l-live with. And I thought..."
He trailed off, eyes tearing up in shame.
"I thought I could... bury it. So I... I'd hide her. I'd leave her. I'd do everything in my power to protect her from harm, and if the world was going to end, I swore I'd be the first to go, not J-Janet, a-and not you. And then the world did end. But..."
Tommy slowly closed his hands around the tooth, eyes watering in pain. Another heavy exhale let the waterfall run freely, but he tried to contain it, chuckling and shaking his head over and over again. It didn't help. Looking back to the tooth, he began to shiver, reimagining those last few seconds running to her as that tailclub swung down. Lunging for her scales to push her away, only for her to swing her claw at him, and tear a line through his chest. And just in time, too; he was too helpless to save her before the sickening crunch echoed the sky, her broken body cracking like an egg shell. Then there was nothing, but the body of what she once was. Tommy blinked back, clenching the tooth harder, then releasing.
"I s-still don't know why. I hadn't done a-anything right..."
"N-No, you have," Abbey countered, nodding her head weakly. "You have, and she knew it. Y-You went through hell and back to keep her alive, she must've seen that if she did it. What happened... was not your fault!"
"And Janet?" croaked Tommy. The girl's breath trembled, eyes closing in sadness.
"We wouldn't have been alive... if not for you. And Mom knew that. She believed that..."
Abbey whimpered, folding her arms together in sorrow. "A-And I'm sorry... I put that thought in your head, dad. I pushed you away and made you think that it was your fault, I g-grieved... looking for s-someone to blame when t-there was no reason to; if there's anyone to hate it's m-me."
Tommy smiled weakly. "No. I pushed you away. I missed her so much... too much to think of either of you. It took me so much time to understand that I couldn't kill the past, or my mistakes. No matter who I blame, it can't be undone. I... we... just have to remember the good now, that's all. But, at least now..." He pulled the girls in for one more hug. "I have two reasons to go on."
"So do we," chuckled Sarah.
"We all forgive each other, then?" asked Tom. The girls nodded, yes, and the Marine smiled. A minute surpassed before the girls withdrew, letting the tears dry up for a moment to breathe again.
"How's your body feeling?" Sarah asked.
"Bruised, battered, broken, burnt-" Tommy scoffed, looking over his blood-red bandages. "Too many b-words. At least these will scar up nicely. And I'm... going to be with a cane for a little while. The Marine Corps had no choice but to dismiss me."
"For saving everyone?"
"No, for not reporting when I needed to and getting too many surgeries," Tommy shrugged. "I spent a while looking for hybrids instead of doing my God's gracious duty.
The girl's chuckled, including the boy in the corner, who grinned from ear to ear. That caught Tommy's attention; he leaned over the hospital bedding to take a peek at the blue-shirted boy. "Who's your friend?" He asked.
"Oh," Abbey's face went beet red. "He's... well, I-I mean, he's my-"
"Nice to meet you sir." The Caucasian boy extended his hand. "I'm Ben."
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Three months had passed. To Ripper, it felt like yesterday since it all happened.
He limped across the wilderness of Northern California, panting and worn, tail dragging across the soil behind him. At least there was something he was jealous of humanity for: their stamina outlasted him by a massive margin. No matter, they weren't after him anymore. At least... he thought so.
The indoraptor's head raised. The trees were taller here, and the fresh dew sprinkling across the ground was colder, and sticky. Panels of moss fluffed through his talons, sinking as he applied weight, then rebounding back to normalcy. But the heat here was perfect; each ray of starlight sent shivers down his spine. Ripper couldn't help but purr at the welcoming of nature's beauty. He took in so many smells, tasted so many different flavors in the air, felt so many textures in the air and in the ground. His tail wavered from behind, skimming the free-standing grass and bumping the few trees that he squeezed through during his walk. He didn't mind, he was too enamored to care.
And, at the same time, guilty.
Ripper's walk stopped. He stared down at a little puddle, watching his grotesque reflection ripple against the specks of starlight above. For a moment, he saw Seven staring back at him, the white indoraptor purring quietly at Ripper's happiness. All that did was cause the male more pain. Ripper pressed his claw into the puddle, dismissing the reflection, but the damage was done. He began to whimper, sagging his tail against the earth and sealing away his eyes to punish his heart for what life gave him.
And nobody else.
I'm alone again, he thought. Indy and Seven were dead. INGEN was gone. Henry was lost. Blink was nowhere to be found. Ripper was the only one to win... but at what cost? Nobody was coming for him. Nobody was with him.
And that hurt most of all.
Why did life grant him a change when everyone else deserved one, too? No life was any fairer than the other. Not even Rexy... or Click. Or him.
Ripper slowly reopened his wettened eyes, and exhaled. He had to move past this, but that felt impossible right now. He had no life to share with, no other hybrids to bond to or cradle. No stories to tell. No alter side to argue with.
It was so... quiet.
What felt worse was knowing so many died trying to have this opportunity, this freedom. But Ripper couldn't see the wonder in it despite so much thought, and so much joy... if joy could even describe this. This didn't feel like a dream. He won everything and nothing all at once. Was there anything more to seek-?
CRACK!
Ripper's thoughts cut off. Something moved ahead of him, something he couldn't smell, but could hear. His eyes dilated, searching the thickets of the 'empty' forest for a sign of danger. His quills weren't raised, much to his chagrin, but he treated his alertness in the safest way; claws outstretched, tail raised, and fangs bared for a fight. Ripper kept low, stalking the thickets, weaving his body into the shadows and carefully adjusting his body to limit as much noise as possible.
The noise was coming from over the ridge.
The indoraptor growled softly, slowly rising toward the crest of the hill. The noises were turning into splashes, then guzzling. It was difficult to make sense of, so the male proceeded forth, stabbing a claw upon the edge of the hill, and pulling himself over. He winced at the flash of light that struck his eyes, then looked downward; there was a river in the forest. And in the river... there stood something alive. Something he couldn't quite make out.
Get closer.
Ripper curiously lifted from his defensive stance, stumbling down the other end of the hillside and stumbled toward the beach. His eyes never left the creature drinking from the river's depths; he studied the strokes of grey scales glimmering off its hide, and the streak of blue drawn from the silver gleam of the eye to the base of the neck. It was only after the creature snatched up a fresh fish from the water that she turned to her right, and stiffened up. Their eyes met, two raptors frozen in time, surprised to see the other, and struggling to tie their familiar faces to the past. And, for some reason, they couldn't. All the female raptor knew was his scent reminiscent of something she killed long ago.
All the male knew was her eyes. It was the same raptor from his dream.
Ripper's tail tensed up. He took a cautious step into the river, pausing when the female snarled, threatened by his efforts. Ripper tried again. He made it as far as a few more feet before standing still, three-tail lengths away from the, still-frozen, velociraptor. He took in her pine-laced scent, looked her up and down, then lowered his body just as he once did for Seven. The universal sign of innocence... and trust. Once again, his eyes met hers, watching her curiosity flourish from within her grey and blue underbelly.
And then he spoke.
"Hi."
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