Kate immediately pulled down her rifle to the side, not wanting to make Delta feel threatened or agitated; she wanted her to know that she still trusted her so Delta could trust her as well.
Delta still held an intense gaze upon her that looked so merciless, as though she had failed to recognize Kate... yet hesitant and confused she looked, of her next action as she made a rumbling growl, which Kate could not tell if it was supposed to be a threatening growl or something else.
"You know me, Delta," Kate started slowly, while also trying to read Delta's eyes which were rather devoid of emotions. She wetted her dry lips with gaze locked on Delta, trying to choose words wisely not to trigger her more. "I'm not here to hurt you. And nobody will hurt you either, only if you will listen to me. I know all of it has turned really messy, but together we can figure it out, okay? But, first, I need you to stand down."
Kate waited but sighed when Delta only stood indifferently, and growled irritably when she repeated, clearly disinterested in complying. "Come on, girl. We can sort it out coolly, I know you'll listen to me at a point but we've got to be quicker. It won't be good if anyone else sees you. Please," But before she finished, the man trapped under the claws of Delta had cried out: "Just shoot her already!" And as though she had successfully interpreted his words, Delta snapped so close to his face and pressed her claws deeper, making him wince and cry fearfully.
"Delta, please, no!" Kate jerked forward. "Stop! Delta, you can't hurt him! He's just scared! But I promise this man won't hurt you if you let him go! Please!" Kate watched in wavering eyes as she muttered quick pleas quietly, panic pulsed in her stomach as she hoped not to need the rifle she was hiding behind her back with a hand unless Delta showed the first of proceeding to kill. But Delta finally pulled a grip on herself with an unhappy growl.
"That's it, that's my girl," Kate slowly let out the breath she had bern holding in. "Look, I'm trying to help you, don't you trust me? You need to understand, it's not right, I cannot let you do wrong. You need to let him go, and you need to leave before others find us here." She did not know how to convince her fast or if her words were enough persuasive as Delta continued to stare impassively, but then there were noises of heavy boots marching closer, and fast: the soldiers, she knew at once, who would deliberately riddle the raptor's body with bullets as soon as they would see their comrade in danger — while they sure mean to save the man, Kate, guiltily, still felt the urge to protect Delta from harm.
"Delta, go, go, go! They're coming, they won't hold back if they see!" She warned again and again exasperatedly; her earpiece which had been dead for some time had finally came alive swiftly subsided out of her notice. Delta had sure sensed them, too, but, somehow, was not too quick to act; before she had backed off, a pack of soldiers had arrived on spot. "No! Don't shoot!" cried Kate at once with her arms outstretched in a defending manner, but the soldiers regardlessly opened fire at Delta, after pushing her aside.
But the bullets barely had any effect except fuelling up Delta, who dodged and spun and whipped her tail to knock them off their feet, and now with her back at Kate, she faced them with a ferocious squeal.
"Delta! NO!" shouted Kate, but she could not stop Delta from counterattacking when some of the soldiers opened fire once again taking advantage of the little distraction her voice had posed for Delta.
"What's happening? Kate, talk to me!"
Her earpieces buzzed for the second time in a while but went unnoticed and unattended, once again, under the thunderous firing which was only intensifying every second. Panic-stricken, Kate took steps back, knowing she would have no effect on Delta anymore, but froze again as her conscience constricted, her fingers numb upon the rifle that was still hidden. There was no telling if it would end with Delta's death or in triumph if she might continue her victory saga upon her, and she did not know whether she should try to intercede further. But she did not wait another second and, although feeling cowardly of herself, broke into a run to the opposite direction at once, across the field full of long grasses.
She did not know which way to head and wished there was a way she could trackback to her brother, and Barry, too, without them she could not just leave this haunted ground. She thought of trying to reach them remembering a buzz in her comms, but the firings she had forsaken had been silenced followed by a victorious squeal before long and soon after, there were rustling noises catching up after her, sending her shivers, but also causing her to speed up. "Delta, is that you?" As soon as she spoke, her comms buzzed once again with Owen's concerned voice: "Kate, respond if you hear me!" But she could not dare comply when looking back she could see nothing but movements in the grasses from short distances. "Delta! If that's you, stop! I'm not your enemy!"
"Delta is...what?! Damn it— Kate,. I'm coming, okay? But you need to tell me which way to find you! I don't see you anywhere!"
"Kate! You got to talk to me! I can't see you anywhere!"
"Stop it, Delta!" She cried instead, with no time to answer him in the hurry, knowing the exposition of her state only added to her vulnerability to the particular raptor in pursuit— if she was seen fleeing, Delta would have sensed her fear and might as well use it to own advantage: go in defiance and turn rogue which was the least Kate needed now. Against a raptor who could pull a speed of anytime, her chances were bare but she could only keep on, straining her legs and in hasty short breaths, while simultaneously trying to order her off, "Delta, don't!"
"Where the hell are you, Kate?!"
Her earpiece buzzed and buzzed again, but it was the first she had actually noticed. "I don't know!" She cried in despair, "I don't know— you gotta find me, please!"
"I think I just heard you— I see you— Hang on, I'm coming!"
But she had not heard him. The blades of the wild, long grasses scratched and chafed against her skin but she was only running for her dear life, without looking back for once, through the mass of long grasses, pushing herself harder even though her lungs wanted to give out, even though her legs felt like could not carry her weight anymore. She was spooked like she had never before, like she did not know she was capable of, what was more horrifying was that the source of her immense fright had turned to the raptors she had cared for and trusted all her life. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, deep down burned an agony of betrayal, she kept yelling orders to stand down until her foot stuck onto something and a cry left her as she stumbled... But before her body touched the ground something got a hold of her, and impulsively she shrieked and flung her rifle to knock it away—
"Kate! It's me! Owen!" He took her by the shoulders and identified himself just in case she failed to recognize in the dark. "Calm down, I've got you!"
Her arms froze midair, the rifle was still hoisted to strike at him as she stared at him without any words, in utter shock and devastation. "Are you hurt? Can you move?" She was asked as she was stripped off the rifle; still gasping for air, she could only shake her head and nod in response while her weary limbs trembled. All she wanted at the moment was to catch her breath embraced in the arms of her brother like he would do anytime she was distressed, but that was a luxury of which she was deprived now— Owen already had started to run dragging her after him, each passing second was getting deadlier than the previous. "We need to leave quick and fast... And don't lose my side again, Kate, I wouldn't know how to find you twice in here."
Kate felt more than grateful to have found him; she was so exhausted that she would give anything in the world to just take a minute's break, nevertheless, she did not mind running without a moment's break. Because she could not afford to get stranded again, either.
Coming across the raptors in this current hunting zone was unavoidable, apparently. The tailing raptor might had probably stopped chasing seeing two of her alphas together but she was not the only raptor on loose, either. As they ran, they did not miss to notice movements not so far into the long grasses. And a figure peeked out. A figure smaller out of the squad: Charlie.
Both of them almost stumbled to a halt, indecisive if they should draw their guns. Kate quickly put hers down in the hide of the long grasses not to appear threatening. Owen, this time, although still lacking the full strength, was mentally preparing to use his rifle should the situation demand but only to protect his sister. Fortunately, Charlie stared at them rather serenely; despite the tricky looks in eyes, she looked quite harmless without the soldiers bounding upon her.
Both of them looked straight into her eyes and Charlie, too, returned the stare standing motionless with a little tilt of her head and a soft growl, watching them keenly. The youngest of the raptors, so it seemed, still respected their bond or feared their authority, or, simply, it could be that she just did not wish to be the first to betray. An air of relief was established, and Owen had only lowered the rifle when Kate saw a missile.
But before she could even warn or anyone could brace, it swished through the air and torched up the spot where Charlie had been.
Thrust of the explosion sent Owen and Kate flying several feet back. Kate hit her head on the ground and her vision went black for some time... She was still conscious but it was ringing loud in her ears and her head felt lighter.... Stars flashed in her eyes as she opened them first, with a hand pressed on the back of her head where it hurt. Feebly she pushed herself up, only to be dazed by bright flashes. "Charlie..." A shaky mumble left her lips, who had only risen to her feet.
Ears still ringing, barely had Owen stretched an arm to grab his rifle, after he found Kate by his side, when he saw the fire.
"Lord, no— " gasped Kate beside a stoned Owen, both of their eyes locked at the blazing bright flames, right where Charlie had stood only seconds ago. "Charlie?!" She cried looking left and right, hoping the youngest raptor had escaped the hit; everything was quite visible like day now due to the flames which now burned right where Charlie had been, but there was no sign of her anywhere else and no movement was noticed behind the long grasses ahead or around, either... The only conclusion left was, with a shuddering gasp and a heavy pound to her heart, she realized, something which she was not ready to believe: the flames had engulfed her little Charlie.
"NO! CHARLIE!!" She cried out with a pang in her heart and tears lining up in her eyes— but despite the proof of sight, she felt at denial... She could not have died so easily, the wily Charlie had to have evaded the missile... Kate felt a strong urge to ensure the youngest of their raptors was safe and not trapped in the flames— or worse, what if she was still alive and burning?
Owen literally had to grab her from the back to stop her from running to where now the fire was instead of Charlie. "No. . . NO!" She jostled in his arms but he was not going to let her go. He held her in his arms, with a writhing and anguished heart of his own. But as much as it pained him to the core, with rest of the raptors still out there and hunting, he knew this was not the time to mourn, they had to get moving.
* * * * *
Claire had stopped the van and pulled it on the side of the road. Clueless if any of the soldiers, or Owen and Kate were alright or alive anymore, she did not know of her next action; she was confused and scared.
The soldier who had appeared on her window a while ago asking for help with a bloody fist, and then the velociraptor came after which killed him and dragged him and disappeared dragging him away— she had seen it, too, in horror, on the side-view mirror; undoubtedly the mission had gone awry and it had turned really really bad. Her limbs trembled and numbed at the thought of it, so many soldiers, so much preparations, yet not sufficient against Indominous, and using the raptors in this situation foolishly? Was that how Hoskins really wanted it turn out?
Only because of that one stupid man.... did all the soldiers face such gruesome deaths, her heart quivered, all because of his stubborn foolishness, also her failure to stop this from happening, that the Gradys, too, had to be part of it. She feared more at the thought of their condition, had they met unfortunate end same as the soldiers brought by the raptors they claimed to have bonded with deeply?
Was she really going to head for the control centre and get a chopper to leave all of them, dead or alive? What if the Gradys were still alive? What if someone was alive?
But her nephews were on board, too, and she had to ensure their safety first... If one of the raptors had come to attack, more of them could, anytime...and the Indominus, too, was still on loose... She was gripping her hair in frustration and confusion, as the whole day started repeating his on her mind from the beginning. How Owen had advised to take the Indominus out when it was still possible, how she involved him and his sister into this... Hoskins soldiers had signed up for these risks, but if not for herself, the siblings might have not needed to be involved into this horrible accident... Oh, Owen... Would she not see him again?
What was she supposed to do? How could she just leave?
"Aunt Claire, anything wrong?" Zach's soft voice made her look back in a haste after fixing her hair.
"N-No, it's just.... I needed a minute— it's alright," she stuttered those words out, stifling the tears which were threatening to slip. She started driving again, taking deep breaths all the while. Her nephews... she needed them to be safe. There was no way to contact the Gradys, anyways... She would do anything for them to get them out of the mess the moment if she received a word about them, but until then...
There was an indistinct howling... and Claire was not sure what it was, when all of a sudden, a dark figure sweeping out of the trees from the side of the road, charged in through window, sending broken shards everywhere and her screaming at the top of her lungs.
She did not how she was driving after that— it was merely inches away from herself, the head jerked and snapped in the air spontaneously, blocking her view of the road ahead. She was just screaming and randomly turning the wheels as the raptor struggled and jostled to get a chunk of her but being stuck through the small frame of the window, it could not get much advantage. All that she could see ahead over the top of the raptors jerking head was the trees on the side of the road and with the only thought that came up her mind, Claire blindly grabbed the gear, stepped down on the accelerator and swivelled the steering wheel hard. The van swayed quite dangerously and she could hear Zach and Gray's shouts but it got the job done: the raptor was smashed against a thick trunk of one of the roadside trees and knocked to the ground. Her grips were still clenched tighter on the wheels and the gear, she backed the van, steered it away from the tree trunk and faced the van straight ahead and once again, the van darted through the road wildly as she stepped the accelerator flat to the ground. She could hear her nephews still screaming from the back but she could not focus much. She just quickly glanced at the side-view-mirror to see whether the raptor was still coming after them.
And to her horror, it definitely was.
That was when she realized what her nephews were screaming about.
* * * * *
Flashes of the Indominus, those mutinous yellow eyes of Charlie, the missile, fire— that was all that kept playing in her mind. Still dazed and unfocused, cheeks streaked with silent tears, she was on the run with her brother's lead, quite unaware of where they were headed. Her mind was yet to process or believe that it really happened, or the fact that they were supposed to move on from it so fast for the situation at hand, at which she was greatly failing. But with an abrupt halt, she was drawn to reality when Owen stopped ahead. They had successfully traced back to where they left their rides, which were parked just ahead. But by the time they did, most of the soldiers, now only focused to save their own lives, were fleeing with or without taking their vans in a rush. Barry was still nowhere to be seen; Owen all along had been trying to get a response from him on the comms without any fruit.
Realizing they had no idea whether he was alright or not, Kate suddenly felt at panic as she spun on spot, eyes darting in search of Barry — had they lost him, too? But, miraculously or not, she did spot him shortly, against her expectation and much to her alarm, afar, but Barry was on a sprint for life, with a frantic Blue on his tail. "Owen! Look!" She gasped.
"Good Lord— I'll draw Blue away— you, get to the bike!" He quickly grabbed his keys and tossed to Kate in case hers had dropped. "To the bike, now!" ordered Owen and immediately set off after patting her off towards the bikes. Kate hesitated for a second whether to go along to help but sprinted to fetch a bike knowing they might need a quick escape.
"Blue! Stop! I'm not your enemy!" cried Barry as he ran with all his might, looking for his bike which he knew was supposed to be somewhere around. He was running out of breath and in dire need of a break, when he noticed a comparatively big trunk on the ground, right ahead, its hollow just enough spacious to take cover inside. Quickly, he slid inside it; he was armless having lost his rifle just awhile ago and Blue was only gaining on him.
He could not believe it that it was not her sisters but Blue herself to be chasing, Blue, who was the most empathetic and understanding, the most obedient one.... He grabbed the hand gun now suddenly remembering about it and unlocked the safety pin, as a last resort, although he felt the lack of both willpower and strength to pull the trigger even at stake. Sure there had been some incidents and accidents in the past years, but if those could have been handled without serious actions back then, why not now?
Even so his grip closed on the gun tighter when he thought he heard a rattling breath, although barely audible, before it became pin-drop silence that sent chills down his spine. Through a small hole on the body of the trunk he peeked to survey the surrounding when there was a roar, not Blue's, but of the bikes, but out of them all, only he and the Gradys had come on bikes... had the said siblings found their way to the bikes, then? He had been on the look for them from whom he had carelessly been detached some time ago, until Blue picked his trail. But he knew it was not them as soon as one of the bikes took start and sped off with a roar, leaving the ground without a care; his friend Owen nor Kate, to whom he was no less than a brother, were no coward to leave without him.
"Darn it!" He sweared under his breath figuring he lost his bike, his only mean of escape, possibly to one of the fleeing soldiers. But then he noticed a movement in the shadows close-by and next, there was a loud thunk on top of the trunk. Something had landed but it did not require telling who or what it was.
Squealing so loud that his ears hurt, Blue aggressively started clawing and mauling at the trunk, so desperate to reach him. "Blue! No! It's me! I'm not your enemy!" He cried out raising his trembling arms to point the gun upwards without a notice, hoping she would stop recognising him. "You know me, Blue!"
"Blue! Stop! I don't want to hurt you!" He added when she was showing no sign of stopping. But Blue growled crazily and clawed on and on at the trunk to make a hole through, occasionally banging with her head against it to dig through. And before long, Blue successfully clawed out a hole on the trunk and gave a short rejoicing growl looking down at him through it.
"BLUE!" bellowed Barry when Blue tried to maul at him, converting the fear in his tone to anger; sometimes expressing disapproval or acrimony would get them back on their senses when seldom the raptors would pose trickiest to be handled. Whether it had worked or was it merely because that the hole was not enough to fit her jaws through was still unbeknown to him, but she had withdrawn for a second. Her piercing eye met Barry's through the hole and the both of them had froze as though time itself had frozen, whilst he sweated under her now curious eyes, battling his urge to aim the gun at her yet kept it out of her sight. Could she still be contemplating about making another kill? There was a split second that Barry thought the expression in her eyes changed— he could not tell what it was.... Anger? Remorse?
But then there was a sharp, familiar whistle and Blue looked back.
Owen revealed himself at a safe distance from the raptor leader, Blue, so he might set off in case she marked him as her new target— if she was not keen to hold back from attacking their caretaker Barry, who was to vouch for his safety?
Blue had recognised his whistle just as she was trained and ought to; she stared at him right in the eyes. Had he seen the familiar look in those gaze-piercing yellow eyes of Blue under a different circumstance, Owen might not have needed running... but it was not the same anymore, he did not know if she was getting ready to attack or not and it was best to leave the scene quickly without allowing Blue the chance to make a wrong move.
Hardly had he taken a step back, his eye fixated on Blue all along, when she rumbled warningly, but aside that, stable as soon as he had steadied himself. Furtively, he sneaked a glance at the big trunk that lied on the ground on top of which Blue stood holding her head high in triumph, where he assumed was Barry taking refugee in its hollow but he could not see how either of them might elude cunning Blue without any distraction... He could possibly try to lure away Blue but given to their capability of sprinting with a speed of 70 miles per hour, he damn sure required a faster mode of escape in a race with Blue if she chose to come after him. Kate was supposed to be here any second and that would be his best chance of escape— and just as he was thinking of her, disrupting the stillness, a bike flew into the scene revving loud, on top of which Kate sat astride and bent low over the brakes.
"Get on!" She yelled.
Hesitating, but only for a second, as she zoomed closer, Owen dashed with a rush of adrenaline, praying Blue would not take to chase him right away.
In less than seconds Kate briefly braked with a loud screech close enough for Owen to hop on, and there was that angry screeching growl of Blue— Kate hastily looked round for Blue to meet her glinting eyes, who had broken to a sprint towards them, and she quickly hit the throttle as soon as she felt Owen to climb on the back, and the bike darted through the woods.
"Barry! Take Owen's bike and head for the shelters! I left the keys in ignition!" cried Kate speeding up promptly since Blue was catching up; she, on the way to get her bike, had seen a soldier to flee with Barry's, so she had to make sure Barry had a ride back to safety. Taking a quick glance at view mirrors, she focused back on the road. If she remembered right, there was supposed to be a road ahead, which would lead to the main park.... Control centre was the destination.
Barry watched as Blue disappeared after their bike and sighed. Utterly concerned yet thankful he was for Owen's interposition and also the bike Kate had announced to have left for him, he did not want to think of his fate if they had not appeared in time.
"Gosh... it's always you two," he muttered recalling how Owen and Kate always dragged themselves into something stupid and dangerous in desperate times.
Kate was keeping the direction of the bike steady while Owen was seated behind Kate, keeping watch on the back. Surprisingly, it had not taken them long to shake Blue off their tail. Owen thought, if he had not misheard, he had heard a indistinct roar from afar, supposedly, of the Indominus, before Blue had scurried off into the darkness. While it was also concerning, it definitely was relieving once Blue was not chasing them anymore; he really did not want to consider between shooting her only to protect his sister had Blue dared to attack.
As she kept eyes on the road illuminated by nothing but the bike's headlight, Kate groaned slightly while moving her stiff neck sidewise; the exhaustion was boring down. Her aching arms wanted to rest and her eyes stung for brief breaks, but perhaps, it was the coursing adrenaline that still kept her alert and active. And the thought ran across her mind; had Blue tried earnestly, did the two of them really stand any chance of running away in one piece, or was she just putting too much hope and trust in these predators? But the way Blue gave up on chasing them easily.....
Taking a deep breath in, Kate raised her voice so that she could be heard over the rumbling engine.
"Owen? What about Zach, Gray and Claire?" She was worried in case the raptor squad or the I-rex would find their way to their van where they had sheltered themselves back at the Velociraptor Valley.
"Look, I don't like this, either," Owen, too, replied loud enough to be heard. "But going back to the Valley doesn't feel like a wise plan. It's already risky, and it'd be a total waste if we go there only to find them to have left... Claire is logical enough to know when to leave after she saw what happened, she was watching the feed," he reasoned calmly; watching the horrible turn of events on live feed, she was bound to priortize keeping her nephews safe and he could not blame her. "Before leaving them, we had agreed to head to the shelter without the others if anything happened, but I think she also had mentioned of the Control Centre saying it was closer from here in case it was not possible to make it to the shelter safely... But, thinking of how serious she was to confirm the kids' safety, she would definitely want to get them off the island at the quickest hour... I say, we check for them at the Control Centre first, that's where the helipad is. If she wanted a quick transport and call in a copter, that's where they should have headed than the shelters by the terminals, don't you think?"
"And if not, at least we should be able to contact or locate them and help them if they need back up.... not bad," Kate answered shortly after thinking about it; perhaps, not the best, but it sounded logical. Without knowing their exact, current location, it would be disastrous to be looking for them somewhere else.
* * * * *
Noise of smashing window glass and growls from the front earlier had reached Zach and Gray, too, and the horrifying scream of their aunt, Claire, was not to miss, either, right after which the motionless van had once again sprang to life and had sped faster ending in a sudden crash.
Now, as the situation seemed to have gotten under control as Claire was no longer screaming nor the van was darting dangerously, Gray got up to peek through the window to make sure their aunt was alright.
"What happened?" He asked. But then Zach cursed in alarm, whose terrified eyes were fixated outside through the open door on the back of the van.
Even in the dark of the night, the moving shadows were visible enough to be noticed, and what was worse, those were racing closer. Before long, the silhouette was clearer and surely of a velociraptor, ominous look of whose eyes were now transfixed on them.
"Cl-Claire?" called Zach nervously, although he was not sure if he was loud enough to be heard. He wanted to knock on the closed window that connected the back of the van to the front, but he was scared to make any more movements. Thought of closing the opened doors ahead occurred to him, but even if he could master the courage to move and manage to reach to the doors, how was he going to grab a hold of the doors that were swinging in the air and wavering with the speedy motion of the van? His mind was clogging up with fear, seeing no way to block the incoming attack.
"We're gonna die!" whimpered Gray, thrusting himself further inside and squeezed fast on Zach's arm. For the the raptor was now coming after them howling vicious growls, taking them as her next prey.
"No, we're not! Look around, look for anything useful!" shouted Zach as he jumped to his feet and fervently looked at the only tools and equipments which were stuffed in here, and Gray joined in. There had to be something.... something useful to use, to defend with...
How ironic it felt now, that the magical creatures they had gone to visit earlier today and watched in mixed awe when Kate had demonstrated a training session, the very same velociraptors she had warned them against were now chasing them....
"There!" Zach pointed noticing a gas cylinder, momentarily wondering what it was doing in here before rushing to unlock it from its hatch, and he tried hard to roll it off the van, but boy, it was heavy. Gray immediately rushed to his side, but only after combined attempts at more pushes and kicks did it finally slid and roll off and fell down the open door, aimed straight at the raptor. But alas, the cunning raptor, who had already seen it coming, easily jumped over to dodge it, and she was still speeding after them, growling even fiercer.
"No, no, no..." groaned Zach in utter devastation, running his hand through his hair, before diving back to the equipments to grab something he could use against the raptor. Gray was screaming incoherently while pushing away the non-useful tools and checking further in despair as the raptor consistently gained on them. There were little supply of extra ammo and tranquillizing darts, a first aid kit, helmets and extra safety gears and such but nothing really useful at the moment when they needed something to ward off the raptor hot on their heels— there was a loud thunk and with a startle, they turned their heads to see the raptor had made a leap to grab hold of the doorstep of the van, but fortunately she failed and slipped away. She was relentless; the next time she leapt, with upper part of her body inside and rest hanging and being dragged behind the van, she had clung onto doorstep, and the brothers shrieked grabbing each other.
Perhaps, Claire had noticed, or, just from their screams she had sensed some danger, that the van's speed escalated, but it did not seem enough to lose the raptor who was still holding on and struggling to climb up into the van.
"Zach, do something!!!!" Gray cried, when a stack of some unrecognisable weapons slid down as the van unsteadily passed over a ditch, and some long stick like equipments came to his notice, and suddenly he recognised these as the Electric-prods. As if he saw light in complete darkness, he dashed for it while calling out for his older brother. Since he used to study up a lot about the dinosaurs of Jurassic World, he had come to know that these electric prods were handy to use against disobedient or aggressive dinosaurs, and it might be just the thing they need, to fend off the predator, in their case.
"What?!" Zach scurried off to him when Gray showed him the electric prod in his hands as he desperately fumbled to turn it on.
"We can use this! But we'll have to turn it on first!" added Gray stopping Zach, who was about to snatched it from his hands to swing at the raptor, but he thrusted it into his brother's hands shortly, when he could not turn it on. "I don't know how— Turn it on!"
"Oh, but how am I supposed to know when you don't?! I've never seen or used it before!"
"And neither have I! Just get it on! "
They bickered on while fumbling with the prod and Claire's voice from the front went unnoticed but a bloodcurdling growl of the raptor muffled them all when she had nearly slipped but still managed kept struggling to climb on.
"Why is this not working?!"
"We're doomed, we're so doomed— oh, it's on!"
There was a mild snapping sound as a spark emitted from the tip, and for a second, both were transfixed at the sight as they both held it in their hands, and when another growl reminded them of the situation at hand, together they thrusted the electric-prod aiming for the side of her neck.
For a moment, it appeared that it was working; a snapping sound issued from the tip of electric-prod again, and the raptor squealed at the contact. Their grip on the electric-prod was firm so they did not loose it when she jerked her head away to escape and snarled viciously; with a terrified scream the brothers shoved the tip against her neck harder and pressed onto the button, wanting to electrocute her as long as possible since it appeared the current was too low to stun her quickly. This time, too, the raptor squealed in agony but was unable to shake it off as it started affecting her; her grip on the doorstep loosened and she slipped and rolled away down the road.
"We did it.... didn't we..?" mumbled Gray in disbelief that they were not dead yet, wearily shifting his weight on one leg, his eyes still focused on the disappearing figure of their attacker, who still lied flat to the ground wearily.
"Looks like it."
"But we didn't kill it, right?"
"This zapper thing wasn't even powerful enough to stun it, sure it can't have killed it so easily... although that could be the least of my concerns," Zach added at last, although he meant it only halfheartedly; he neither wanted it to get up and come after them again, not when they just electrocuted the raptor, nor he wanted to think he had killed an animal. Nevertheless, it felt quite better and lighter as soon as the immediate threat seemed to have been eliminated out of question and he chuckled for the first time in a while, rubbing on his aching leg. Gray parroted when the voice of Claire reached their ears; she sounded scared.
"Boys? Boys? Are you okay?"
"What's happening back there? Talk to me!"
"There was a raptor— it's gone now," Zach shortly answered as he retreated to his seat with a groan.
Even so she sounded worried all the same when she asked, "Are you boys okay??"
"Yeah, everything's good, don't worry." Zach answered again, softly, while watching Gray take his seat and still staring at the electric prod in his hands, the corner of his lips slowly tugging upwards. "Are you okay, though? We heard your scream as well just before..."
"Yeah, I'm fine, too," she replied briefly, focusing on the road.
"Did you see that?!" Out of the blue, Gray blurted rushing to the window as he felt more confident at the recent success, his eyes sparkling. He pressed on the button mildly and Claire jerked to peek as there was that snapping sound, but Gray quickly turned it off, grinning confidently. "Did you see how we handled the raptor?!"
Zach peeked by the window, too, and grinned along with him; he could not deny it felt really good afterwards, it kind of felt cool. "It was cool!" He added.
"I can't wait to tell mom!" chimmed Gray but Claire panicked at his words.
"No! You can't tell your mom—"
The brothers gasped turning back to the open door on the back of the van when there was another speeding figure after their van. But as it came closer, it revealed to be a bike, and they squinted fervently to try and see who it was....
"Boys? Who's that?" asked Claire, who had also spotted it on her side view mirror.
"You're alive!" exclaimed Zach at the top of his lungs and supporting himself against the wall as the van continued to move, he hurried closer to the swinging doors. "Katilyn! You're alive— are you okay? I was so— we were so scared that something bad had happened," He said in one breath and allowed himself to shut up feeling her eyes hover on him. He could not help himself as he smiled and the lingering ominous feeling from the bottom of his stomach vanished, seeing a smile spread across her lips upon hearing his words. He did not know why but he longed to hear her voice, only a word could suffice; nevertheless, he did not mind when she did not respond at all but looked away quickly to the road, he understood it might have been terrific and tiring on her part as well, and he did not intend to distract her further when she was biking in this dark.
"Yeah, thank you for worrying about me as well, kid," Owen piped up from the back with a sarcastic tone and stifled smile, to which only Zach chuckled.
"Both of you came back!" cried Gray; he had been flabbergasted at first but now had joined his brother's side. "Aunt Claire! They're alive! Both Kate and Owen!"
"It's them? Really them?" Claire urged in tears, her dread starting to lessen at the news that the Grady siblings were still breathing and unharmed; it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her chest. "And they're alright? The both of them?"
"Yes!" Zach and Gray replied at the same time turning to her, "It's them! And they look fine!"
Kate exhaled a deep breath, her heart feeling lighter than minutes ago. Despite the grave situation, she felt a little smile tug her lips, while she carefully navigated through the dark road following after the van Claire was driving. Casting a last glance at the rejoicing faces of the Mitchell brothers, she sped up taking the remaining space of the lane to come beside Claire.
Claire was almost waiting for this, and she turned the wheel to the other side, to give more space for Kate to bring the bike on her side. Tears started to roll down her cheeks, she wished to say something but found nothing to say; after taking a good look of them, she occupied herself in watching out for further attacks ahead on the seemingly deserted road.
After deciding their destination, Kate stayed on her side for a minute at best before speeding up to take the lead. "Follow us," Owen shouted looking back.
Claire nodded although he would not be able to see her, and did as she was told to. Then she reached out for the dash board to grab the extra wireless-phone stashed there for emergency uses, since hers cellphone was not with her anymore, and pressed against her ears after dialling a number.
"Lowery, do you hear me? Yes. We're coming. Call in a chopper."
authors' note : hoping Delta's scene at the beginning of this chapter was good enough, you see, it's an original scene— meaning we made it up. anyways, assalamu alaikum.