Blue
[Caleb POV]
(seagulls cawing)
Brooklyn and I hold the red tray steady while Darius splatters the glue on it.
"It ain't pretty, but it should be watertight"
We stand back, partly expecting it to fall. It holds.
(all sigh)
"Dope. Let's leave already!" Kenji yells
"Oh my gosh. I can't believe this is really happening!"
"Buh-bye Isla Nublar!"
"We are out of here!"
"Hold up guys," Darius says. "It says here we have to wait 48 hours for it to set"
(all groan)
"Really?"
"They have to say that for insurance and junk," Kenji taps the tray. "As your captain, I pronounce this vessel seaworth-" the tray clatters on the ground.
I give Kenji a 'Seriously?' glare.
He stares back at us nervously. Picking up the tray, and handing it to Darius, he says, "Um, I've got some captainy things to do so-"
Kenji dashes back on board and we all sigh and start over again.
"One more time"
Brooklyn starts pasting the tray on again. I hold it up for her.
Sammy taps her on the shoulder. "Hey. Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Kind of busy right now but-"
"I need your help with something personal."
Out of the blue, Brooklyn drops the sealant. "Spill everything"
Startled, the tray falls out of my grasp and Darius scoffs at Brooklyn, spreading his arms irritatedly.
We both start again for the third time.
I can't really get away from this spot, and Brooklyn and Sammy are talking so loudly, I couldn't help but overhear.
"So, I was thinking..."
"Let me guess. You have a secret crush! Is it Darius? Kenji? Caleb? Ben?"
I raise my eyebrows in amusement. If Sammy likes me then that would not work out. I don't like anybody from here. No offense Sammy
There was actually a point in time when I liked Y/N, but then I realized that Ben likes her too, and that she likes him, so I let them be.
"Uh... no...
Anyway, since we've got two more days on the island, I want to try and figure out why Manta Corp sent me here. Maybe if I can find out what they're really up to, I can use that against them and-"
"Protect your family?!" Brooklyn finishes excitedly.
"Uh-huh! But-"
"Say no more! Of course I'll help! It's gotta be related to E750!"
"I've got some-"
"It was on Wu's computer, the key card, that door on the monitors! It can't be a coincidence." Brooklyn stands up, thinking with her finger on her chin
"Uh-huh. I've got some ideas where to look. I found this map at Kenji's condo. It's pretty old, but-"
Brooklyn snatches the map out of Sammy's hands. "Don't worry! I know where to look. Let's take a gyrosphere"
"Isn't it a little janky?"
"Doesn't turn right anymore, but so what? It'll be awesome!"
Finished with the tray, I stand up and quickly sprint to them. "Can I come too?"
"Sure..." Sammy reluctantly says
The three of us walk, with Brooklyn in the lead.
She exclaims happily, ""Brooklyn finally unboxes the mystery of E750!"
"'Unboxes'? What?" I ask, confused.
"Oh! Brooklyn used to be a vlogger." Sammy answers
"Ohh okay. Then, what's up with Manta Corp?"
"They... sent me to Jurassic Park to spy for them, but they found out, so I had to forgo it."
"Why would you agree to that?"
"They threatened my family."
"Ohh. That's real scary. Don't worry, I don't blame you. I would've done the same for my dad."
"Thanks Caleb." Sammy smiles gratefully.
We pass Kenji, who is struggling with a compass.
"Be back later Kenji! We're going to investigate a mystery!" Brooklyn exclaims
"Yeah that's nice," he replies distractedly.
"What are you doing?" I ask him.
"I... I think the compass is busted.
I keep trying to find north, but the needle keeps moving"
I roll my eyes and push him towards the direction. "North"
"I knew that."
"Whatever. See ya later Kenj!"
I run after Sammy and Brooklyn and catch up to them.
[Y/N POV]
What's Kenji doing...?
I walk up to him.
"Hey, uh, cuz? Watcha doin'?"
"Trying to fend off this Compy. Shoo!"
I kick it away.
"I got this. Grabbed some quarters from the penthouse," he throws the coins at the Compy. "Best to keep the Compies away. They love money"
"They love shiny stuff, you mean"
"Same diff. Like my dad always says, 'If you got a problem, throw cash at it.'"
Darius walks up to us. "Kenji, not so sure that's a good idea. You know what you get when you feed a pigeon."
"A fat pigeon?"
I see more Compies approach us. "More pigeons! You get more pigeons!"
(hissing and clicking)
"Then it's a good thing I'm rich" Kenji throws even more coins at the Compies, making it even worse. "Here you go! You too! Money, money, money!"
Darius and I exchange worried glances.
"Dude, you are making it so much worse." I warn him.
"Fetch! Get the quarters!"
One of the Compy hops onto the stacked crates and grabs the compass with its mouth.
"She's got the compass!"
"So not good."
"Hey give it back! I'll give you two quarters for it"
"Just approach her slowly." I creep towards the Compy with careful steps
Just then, Ben and Yasmina choose the time to walk up to us. "Hey guys. What's up?"
Spooked, the Compy runs away.
We all run after it.
Since she is a track star after all, Yaz overtakes us and runs faster. "Don't play with me Compy!"
"Go get her Yaz!"
"You will not outrun me!"
By my side, Ben runs at the same pace. "Yaz's dignity is on the line."
I laugh.
Yasmina stretches out her arm, about to catch the Compy. Seeing this, it tosses the compass to another Compy.
Yaz skids on her feet, and we all turn around. "Hey! That's cheating!"
Darius and Kenji accidentally run into each other while trying to reach for the other Compy. They bump heads, and fall to the ground, stunned.
"Come on! Quick slacking!" Ben teases them and I pull them up. We all start running again
"Man I hate Compies." Kenji moans.
"At least they're tasty!" I yell.
Yaz, Darius, and Kenji groan in disgust, but I give Ben a high five.
We struggle a bit, climbing over rocks, and large tree roots.
"I'm gonna hop from tree to tree instead!" I shout, and they nod in return.
I scurry up a tree, and jump to the next one. I pass tree, after tree, after tree, eventually overtaking Yasmina without her even realizing.
Landing with a thud in front of the Compy, it rushes past me, making my attempt a fail.
This is harder than I thought.
The others catch up with me, and Yaz overtakes us again. The Compy disappears behind some ferns.
"Where did it go?"
Yaz pushes through the ferns and we burst into a clearing with a toppled car on the side of the road.
"What is this place?"
We reach a large stone shed covered with growing vines.
Darius recognizes the area. "Do you guys know where we are?
Welcome to Jurassic Park.
This is where it all began"
Ben and I exchange puzzled glances.
Kenji shakes his head. "Nope. No way. We shouldn't be here. Everyone knows this place is haunted."
"Haunted?" I frown.
"Yeah! Bad things happened here!"
"As opposed to rest of the island?" Ben raises his eyebrows.
"Exactly."
"But we need that compass" Darius says. "Please talk some sense into him"
I shrug. "I may have heard a thing or two about this place"
"Darius is right." Yasmina confirms. "Jurassic Park isn't haunted.
It's cursed."
"What?"
I bite my lip. This is turning out to be worse and worse.
"Legend has it that the original park owner broke his ankle here and got eaten alive by Compies!"
Ben shudders. Kenji gasps hard
"That's not true!" Darius counters. "John Hammond died of natural causes. Where'd you hear that?"
"Read it somewhere. I'm kind of obsessed with theme park deaths."
"That's dark." I mumble to myself
"You sure came to the right place" Kenji says.
A Compy stuns all of us. It rushes past us and into the shed.
"Maybe the others went in there too." I realize. and we follow it inside.
Kenji shudders, but still follows. "Hope no one ends up reading about me after this."
Inside the shed, it is dark and gloomy. The vines and greenery are so overgrown, that they paint the walls with green. A few overhead wires and metal bars are bent and dented, hanging perilously over us.
I can see why this is considered haunted or cursed.
"Whoa." Darius breathes
"I don't like this. I don't like this." Kenji steps back shakily.
(clattering)
"What was that?" Ben asks quietly.
A Compy jumps past us and up to a large, unsteady metal shelf. Up on the top, a nest built out of twigs holds the compass, which winks at us enticingly.
"Look!" I nudge Ben and point.
"We gotta get up there." Darius says determinedly.
"Well, good news is, it's only like, 30 feet in the air." Yaz says sarcastically.
"Yeah. Easy." I crack my knuckles and start climbing.
"Be careful Y/N!" Ben cries.
"I can do this. Don't worry. I've climbed higher before." I reassure him with a light smile.
"We're coming after you." Darius calls out to me
I shake my head. "It's too dangerous!"
They ignore me and push a vending machine to the rusty shelf. Kenji runs after it and tries to get one of the chips inside.
"Come on J4... Come on!"
"Dude. It's not even plugged!" I call from high up.
"Aw man! That was my last quarter!"
Yasmina pushes herself up the vending machine. "Come on guys. Like this."
Ben and Darius copy her and the three of them start climbing.
Kenji stays behind. "Uhh. I'm gonna keep watch by the ground instead. You guys are the experts."
Ben, Yaz, Darius, and I roll our eyes.
I reach the top of the shelf. A thick vine hangs nearby, and I tug on it to see if it's sturdy enough to use.
Yup. Sturdy enough.
"Sorry Yaz! Not fast enough!" I call out to her teasingly and start to climb the vine to the Compy's nest. "I'm first this time!"
Yaz scowls at me, and I laugh.
(screech)
Several Compies suddenly dart away from the spots they were previously lounging on.
"Guys..." I warn. "Something spooked them"
Kenji hurriedly climbs up the shelf with us. Just in time, because a raptor with a sleek blue streak on its neck runs in and snaps at a Compy.
Blue.
Oh no.
I remember her.
•·•
I hear a knock on the door. I open it and Uncle Masrani smiles from the threshold.
"Uncle!"
"I've got something to show you Y/N."
•·•
We arrive at Jurassic Park.
All around me, the place is still under construction.
A nice-looking man stands beside me on a metal bridge.
Owen Grady.
"Y/N, these are my raptors. I train them for your uncle." He smiles at me.
One of the trainers working alongside him throws a few pieces of meat to the four raptors. They all savagely tear the meat apart, leaving none for one of their own.
The raptor that didn't get any meat slowly and cleverly distracts the others. Once they're attention is focused on something else, she swiftly grabs a steak and chomps it up without the other raptors even noticing.
"This one's so clever," I breathe
"She is, isn't she? I call her Blue, for the streak on her neck."
I smile at Blue with amazement.
"Want me to teach you a command?"
"Yes please!" My eyes widen at the thought.
We run down the stairs and into the raptor paddock's floor, where we stand in front of Blue. The other raptors ignore us and chomp up their food.
I feel a shiver of fear, and also thrill.
Here I am, standing in front of a raptor.
"Look, like this."
Mr. Grady clicks 3 times with his tongue in a low tone. "I surrender girl." He raises one hand up, and the other hand he stretches it out. "I'm on your team" he whispers
Blue tilts her head condescendingly.
I follow what Mr. Grady did, and keep my eyes on the ground while doing it.
Suddenly, Blue puts her forehead on my outstretched hand. Mr. Grady looks at us with a stunned look.
"I think she likes me." I smile at Blue and she clicks at me with peace.
"Well, looks like you're ready to be a trainer." he says wonderously.
•·•
I wonder if she still remembers me.
Since I zoned out, Yaz, Darius and Ben are right below me now.
"Go, go, go!" They whisper frantically.
I continue climbing, but faster this time. Down below, Kenji reaches the vine and grabs ahold of it.
(growling and clicking)
Blue prowls around the place.
I think she smells us.
We all stop moving, and just hold our breaths.
Almost at the top, I look up and see a Compy grab the compass. I gasp quietly and try to reach for it, but it's too far.
I inch higher and higher. When I look down I see Ben mouthing 'Don't do it', but I shake my head at him and continue.
My arm stretches until it lightly nudges the compass.
It falls.
Just as it's about to drop to the ground, Darius catches it with a shaking outstretched hand.
Blue lifts her head, alert, but doesn't see us.
Or does she?
Suddenly, Blue startles and runs really fast at the vending machine.
False Alarm.
She raises her head, which has a Compy in it and runs to another part of the shed, disappearing.
All of us give a sigh of relief, and drop to the ground.
"That's one of the raptors we saw on our first night." Darius says.
"Blue." I confirm
They give me a quelling look.
"I... know her from before. Owen Grady taught me a command."
Darius goggles at me.
I smile sheepishly.
"Yeah, don't think I'll be forgetting that face any time soon." Kenji shivers
"Me neither. Must be nesting here now." Darius guesses.
"Love what it's done with the place, but let's get out of here before it comes back." Yaz points out.
No one argues with that.
(low growling)
We freeze.
"Clever guy" Kenji says, terrified
"Girl," I correct. "She's a girl"
(growling and clicking)
Blue inches closer to us, making guttural noises.
Kenji backs away and we do the same.
"Darius, remind me how we got away from the raptors the last time."
"Dave and Roxie saved us?"
"Oh right. So what do we do now?"
"We run."
And we do just that. The door bangs close behind us, and Blue repeatedly tries to open it. It eventually does.
"In the truck! Get in!"
We scramble into the car.
Blue tries to crack the glass, but Yaz drives the truck away.
She follows us quickly, right at our tail
We swerve out of the trees' way, and she does the same.
She's a really clever girl
Blue hops on our truck and covers the front window. Yaz blindly swerves, and we hit a huge rock.
The car rolls and topples from side to side. Inside it, we're all thrown around.
Finally, the vehicle stops moving, and we stumble out of it, coughing from the smoke.
Blue lays trapped under the truck. She weakly raises her head (which is the only body part she can move) and screeches at us.
Several Compies start to surround her.
"Let's go!" Yasmina, Kenji, and Ben run away to the opposite direction, but Darius and I don't budge.
"If we leave her here she'll get eaten alive." I observe worriedly.
The others, realizing that we didn't move, swerve back.
"Not our problem bro! Enemy of my enemy and all that!" Kenji yells.
"But she wasn't our enemy." Darius says quietly. "We were trespassing into her home."
"We have to free her," I decide.
Darius nods, agreeing with me.
"Okay, fine, dino-whisperers. What do we do?!" Kenji asks
"Distract the Compies" Darius says.
Ben and Kenji run back into the shed.
"Typical," Yasmina scoffs.
I hold up a hand. "Wait. They're doing something."
Kenji and Ben run back holding some coins from the vending machine. They throw it away from the Compies. The Compies follow it and get distracted with them.
"You like that? More where that came from!" Ben yells at them.
"Good thinking. Now lift! Before they get back!" Darius orders.
All five of us struggle. Eventually, we lift the truck, releasing Blue.
She stares at us, thinking whether to attack or not.
"I got this." I slowly approach her.
"Y/N! What are you doing?" Ben hisses
I ignore him and hold out my hand. I avert my eyes and raise my other arm.
"I surrender girl. I'm on your team."
After what seems like an eternity, Blue nudges her head against my hand. I sigh with relief
Thanks Mr. Grady
"Whoa," Darius breathes in awe.
"Back up slowly. And whatever you do, don't turn your backs." I warn the others.
Blue tilts her head again, just like before. She backs away too
I gasp.
Blue gives me one final screech and runs back into her home.
All of us sigh in relief.
"Well that's over." Yaz says.
We run back to the docks.
Meanwhile...
[Caleb POV]
Sammy, Brooklyn and I squeeze into one gyrosphere. Somehow, we fit into it
Driving in silence, we reach a genetics lab.
We open the door. Inside, it's dark, and stairs that go up and down stare at us creepily.
I don't know what we are thinking, but we go down the stairs and reach a few tunnels.
A sign lays on the floor, scratched up and yellowed.
"E750," Brooklyn reads.
"The sign must have come from in there" I point to a door.
Inside, there are crumpled papers, a desk, an office chair, a computer, and some files.
Brooklyn sits on the chair and opens the laptop. Surprisingly, it chimes and turns on. Sammy and I exchange glances and walk over to Brooklyn's side.
"No internet" Brooklyn groans.
The laptop mouse clicks on a button
"Video files!"
But before Brooklyn could explore the files, she shakes her head and offers her seat to Sammy. "You found this place. All you."
Sammy smiles and takes the seat. "Let's do this"
Randomly, she clicks on a recording. Dr. Wu stares at us somberly with his hands in his chest.
"This is log entry 239. I am delighted to announce that the E750 project is a complete success. I have created the world's first hybrid dinosaur, the Scorpious Rex! Granted, it's experience and behavior is a bit... unusual. But no one can deny that this is an unparalleled scientific breakthrough."
The video ends.
"Play the next one." I say quietly
"This is log entry 240. Mr. Masrani was not pleased. Called the Scorpious, 'too ugly to put on display'. Still. I shall continue my work undeterred."
(beep)
"This is log entry 257. The Scorpious Rex's mind has turned out to be as fragmented and unpredictable as its body. One moment, placid, the next moment, extremely aggressive. I remain confident that I will-"
(people screaming)
We gasp.
Something attacks Dr. Wu, and the screen goes into static.
With shaking hands, Sammy plays the next video.
Dr. Wu is laying on the floor. Two scientists are beside him.
"Get the antivenom! We need that now, stat!"
"Okay, it's okay. Everyone calm down."
The screen goes into static again.
"Next one, Sammy," Brooklyn says.
Dr Wu, perfectly fine again, stares at the screen, thinking hard. His hands are nervously together and he is frowning.
"Mr. Masrani ordered me to destroy the specimen. I've decided to put the Scorpious into cryogenic suspension indefinitely, until I can determine what exactly went wrong. And where it can't pose a threat to anyone"
He glances worriedly at the humongous blue capsule behind him.
The screen goes black. Sammy gets up from her chair and faces us, concerned.
"If the Indominus Rex was a success, what kind of crazy scary was a failure like E750?"
I don't fully understand the situation, but I do know that Dr. Wu made the Scorpious Rex, and that it's one scary dinosaur. Also, that Dr. Wu froze it in a large container that's actually broken.
Wait.
It's broken.
We stare at it, horrified
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