The Jurassic Park Interactive Storytelling Game

Harding prepared to inject himself with the needle, but faltered. Glancing at Sarah, he murmured, "Uh, Sarah? Could you...?"
Sarah glanced over at him, to the vial in his hands, and laughed. "My dad, the dinosaur wrangler, afraid of a needle?"
"I've never been good with needles," Harding admitted.
Sarah took the vial and injected his arm. "Thanks," Harding said when she was done.
"Is everyone ready to go?" Grant asked.
"I think so, yeah," Harding told him.
"Well, let's gather our stuff then."
Everyone got to work gathering the meager supplies they'd been able to take with them from the safari lodge. It wasn't much: lamps, a few cans of food and bottles of water, and the med kit. With any luck, they'd be off this island before the supplies ran out.
"Now... how do we get out of here?" Raul asked.
"I think I can get us out," Harding said. "I didn't spend much time down here, but I know the basic layout, I think."
"You think?" Raul said, frowning.
"Well, I'll do my best."
"That's good enough for me," Grant said with an encouraging smile to Harding. "You first."
Harding led the group out of the boiler room and then began to trek through the dark and clammy maintenance tunnels.
Harding had only been down here one or two times in his life, but luckily there were signs and maps posted at every crossroad that provided some much-needed direction.
"We're getting closer," Harding promised.
He knew they must be near the beach when the smell of the ocean permeated the air. He even thought he could hear the waves splashing against the sand.
They came to a ladder. "This is it," Harding said. "This is the way out."
They went up the ladder one by one: First Sonya, then Atlanta, Wu, Sarah, Ellie, Billy, and then Harding. Finally, just Grant and Lawala remained.
Grant noticed Lawala hesitating. "Hey. What's wrong?" he asked.
The African hunter turned his soft eyes onto Grant. "Those creatures," he said in a soft voice: "Those... what did you call them? Troodon?"
Grant nodded.
"Did they kill Robert Muldoon?" he asked.
Grant was puzzled. "Yes. How did you know Muldoon?"
Lawala's gaze softened. "He was a friend," he murmured. "A good friend. A brother almost. He is the reason I am here: to avenge his death."
Grant was astonished, that anyone, even someone as obviously skilled and capable as Lawala, would risk their lives coming here to avenge the loss of a close friend. But there was no time to think about that.
"They're waiting for us," Grant said. "Are you coming or not?"
Lawala nodded and followed Grant up the ladder.
When they reached the top, Grant found himself blinking in the sunlight. Amidst the sound of wind blowing the trees, he heard the familiar crash of the ocean. It wasn't far, either.
"This way!" Wu said excitedly, pointing down the road. "The beach is right down this road. We're almost there!"
"Alright. Everyone stay close, and keep your eyes open," Billy advised.

The group ran onto the beach. Grant checked his watch. Luckily, they hadn't missed the helicopter. A few minutes after their arrival, Grant heard the familiar sound of a chopper appearing over the horizon. Sure enough, he could make out the helicopter in the early morning light flying over the ocean and heading toward them.

Billy looked through his bag and pulled out a flare gun. He loaded and fired it into the air. The others began yelling and waving from the beach. They didn't want the pilot to miss them.

"Something's wrong," George Lawala said to Grant.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think the pilot intends to land based on the flight pattern," Lawala noticed. "Though I'm not sure what else he could be trying to ac-"

Lawala was cut off by the sound of gunfire. The helicopter opened fire on the beach, attacking the survivors. Grant threw himself down to the sand as bullets passed by.

The helicopter passed overhead and circled around to make another attack run. They had called for an evacuation and somehow they had gotten an execution.

"Into the jungle!" somebody screamed. Grant didn't need to be told twice. He leaped to his feet and ran toward the jungle as he heard the helicopter making its second attempt on their lives.

Reaching the cover of the trees, Grant looked back to see the status of the others.
Almost everyone had reached cover. Harding was still running with Sarah and Atlanta.
But someone was lying in the sand...
"Raul!" Grant exclaimed.
The man was having trouble getting up. He must have been shot!
Abandoning reason, Grant ran back out to help Raul.
Reaching the man, he quickly checked him for injuries. There- two bullet holes in his stomach. Raul was gasping, as if he couldn't quite catch his breath.
Grant hoisted one arm around his shoulder. A moment later, Ellie and Billy were there, offering help. Between the three of them, they were able to carry the injured paleontologist to the trees.
"What's the damage?" Harding asked, running over.
"Two in the stomach," Grant told him.
Harding opened the medical kit and began rummaging through the contents.
Meanwhile, Raul was beginning to make horrible choking sounds...
Harding threw some bandages at Grant. "Wrap him!"
With shaking hands, Grant and Ellie began to wrap Raul's wounds. The blood was spilling so fast...
"Just keep the pressure on!" Harding said.
Harding picked up a vial and injected Raul with some morphine. The man's pained gasps began to die down, but he was still losing a lot of blood.
Raul gripped Grant's arm and stared up at him with wide eyes.
"Just hold on Raul," Grant said.
"I don't know how bad it is," Harding said. "I think none of his organs were hit, but I can't tell for sure. I'm not a doctor," he added.
"You're doing a great job," Sonya said in a calm, steady voice.
Well, Raul was still alive anyway... for the time being. Grant wondered if that would still be the case if they hadn't acted so quickly.
"Just keep the pressure on," Harding instructed. "We'll bandage him up and load him with morphine. Then we have to go. We can't stay here in case those guys come back."
"But won't moving hurt him?" Grant asked.
Harding met his gaze. "We don't have another choice."
Grant gave a firm nod. Looking down at Raul, he could see the man was drifting off into the realms of morphine-induced sleep. He wasn't going to feel the next few minutes.
"Okay. Let's wrap him and go," Grant said.
Carefully, Harding tied rolls of bandages around Raul's wounds. Once the wounds were wrapped, Grant, Harding, and Billy carried the unconscious Raul further into the jungle. Just that short walk exhausted Grant.
"We can't keep this up," Grant said. "We have to find transportation."
"But Sorkin sabotaged all of the cars," Wu reminded him.
"Not all of them," Grant replied. "Lawala found a car. We left it at the maintenance shed."
"I'll go get it," Lawala offered at once.
"Do you want someone to go with you?"
Lawala shook his head. "I'm better and faster on my own."

Meanwhile, on the mainland the nightmare had ended and the survivors welcomed the morning.

The hospital had been hit hard during the attack, but it was nothing compared to the rest of the town. The streets were full of bodies. Buildings to windows were shattered. The residents of those buildings had not been lucky with the exception of a few locals huddled fearfully in a corner or under a table.

The hospital was full of activity. The injured and wounded were being herded into rooms, the doctors working overtime to help them. Luckily, Arnold's knowledge of the Troodon saved many lives. For the staff this was very stressful, but Bobbie knew how important her efforts were.

Armed men searches the buildings for any Troodon that hid in the darkness, but it seemed like what was left of the pack had fled into the jungle when the sun began to come up.

Dactyls circled overhead, occasionally flying down to puck at the corpse of a Troodon kill.

Power was still out, but some volunteers had left for San Jose to get help. They should return in several hours. But even though the town had survived the night attack, the fear was still present.

Many Troodon had been killed, but they didn't get them all. There were still Troodon and only God knows what else out there in the jungle.

Some survivors raided the ruined bar for alcohol. Arnold and Trey didn't blame them. Last night was a tragedy. And worse, Guiterrez was never found. Nobody knows what happened to him, but he wasn't the only one missing.

Tensions were high and the people wanted revenge. This was only the beginning...

Malcolm didn't leave Kelly's side. He hadn't always been there for his daughter, but he wanted things to change. He didn't want to lose her and last night that was a real possibility. Jess stayed close. She missed her father and sister. She had no idea where Sarah had gone and she hoped she hadn't been killed by the Troodon, or worse...

Malcolm did his best to comfort her. Tim and Lex were with Elena. Hopefully the kids would be able to recover from this traumatic experience...

Arnold walked into a room. Bobbie Carter was there, as was the crazed man. Arnold had since learnt that the man's name was Vargas and he was the sole survivor of an InGen team sent here to eliminate the dinosaur threat. Clearly, they hadn't done a very good job.
It was strange. Of all the people that had been bit, including Arnold himself, Vargas was the only one he knew of who had gone crazy as a result. Carter theorized Vargas' reaction had something to do with his mental state, which, according to records, hadn't been great to begin with.
"It just pushed him over the edge," Carter explained.
Arnold left her to her studies and went off to find Malcolm.

Malcolm had returned to his hospital room and was laying in bed. His eyes were shut and the man was trying to get some sleep, something he didn't get any of last night. Kelly and Jess were talking to each other, getting along rather well. Arnold decided not to disturb them.

Seeing Malcolm asleep reminded Arnold that he was feeling rather tired himself. It had been a long, sleepless night. Arnold needed to rest. Finding an empty hospital room, he climbed into the bed and closed his eyes. Hopefully he would dream peacefully.

But not everybody was ready to sleep. Eduardo was among them. He would not rest easily knowing that those creatures were still out there. He would not wait and give the monsters a chance to make their next move. Eduardo began rallying survivors. It was time to strike back. It was time to take the fight to the Troodon. It was time to protect or avenge their loved ones. It was time to end this threat once and for all.

"How's Raul?" Ellie asked.
"Stable, I think," Harding replied. "I think his organs weren't hit. But again, I'm no doctor. He could be bleeding internally for all I know. He needs a professional."
"You're the closest we got to one of those," Sonya told him.
Harding didn't like the weight of responsibility. This man's life was in his hands. If he died, Harding would carry the guilt forever.
"We have to find a way off this island," Ellie said.
"Sorry, but I don't think there is another way."
Grant snapped his fingers. "What about a boat?"
Harding stared at him. "Of course! A boat! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Where's the boathouse?" asked Grant.
Harding pointed further down the beach. "Should be right over there. About a ten minute walk."
"I'm going. Who's coming with me?" said Grant.
"I will," offered Sonya.
Grant looked at Ellie. Ellie returned his gaze and said, "I think I better stay here and help Harding. It's okay. You two can go."
"Alright," Grant said. "We'll be back in about fifteen minutes. You guys should probably think about finding a better place to hide. There's no guessing what those guys will do."

[...]

George Lawala ran down the jungle road. He kept his eyes and ears open for the slightest hint of life. Should anything attack him, his AK-47 would make quick work of it.
Granted, it would have been safer for someone to go with him, but George knew he was faster by himself. Having someone with him would just slow him down. George was in peak health and could run for hours at a time if needed; he doubted any of the others could make such a claim.
After about three minutes, he found the manhole from which he and the others had climbed out of. He did a quick calculation in his head. Down there in the sewers it took them thirty minutes or so to walk from the park to the beach. On the surface, George wouldn't have to worry about getting lost, and he would run most of the way. He estimated he would be back in the park in about ten minutes, give or take. So long as nothing interrupted him.
With that in mind, he resumed his sprint.

The helicopter circled around the island until it spotted a boat being circled by a tylosaur. The man shouted and waved at the helicopter, trying to get its attention. The helicopter aimed and opened fire on the tylosaur. Bullets struck the creature and the blood turned red. The tylosaur turned away from the boat and dove under the water, vanishing as it swam away to recover from its wounds.

The helicopter got closer and the pilots recognized the man as the one they were here for. Lewis Dodgson. There was another man on the boat who wasn't moving and appeared to be injured. A stretcher was lowered down and it lifted the motionless figure, Howard King, onto the helicopter. Then Dodgson, after helping King's body onto the stretcher, was thrown down a ladder that he climbed up.

When Dodgson got onto the helicopter, he recognized the men waiting for him and smiled.

"We were monitoring communications from Isla Nublar," the pilot explained. "When Wu's group called for back-up, we used the opportunity to hijack the helicopter they were sending."

"You need to get us to the mainland," Dodgson told them. "If we don't get King medical attention he's not going to make it. Did you see Wu's team."

The pilot nodded. "On the beach. They fled into the jungle, but we dropped off some men to finish them off."

"Good. We can't risk leaving any witnesses. And luckily, I'm not empty-handed this time." He patted the bag of Troodon eggs. "What about our agent in Costa Rica?"

"The rumors turned out to be true," the pilot told Dodgson. "There was an attack last night, but he survived and he thinks that he found their nesting sites. We're moving in now before the military or the EPA gets involved."

"Take us home then," Dodgson ordered. "I never want to see this damn island again."

The pilot acknowledged and turned the helicopter around, heading away from Isla Nublar. Dodgson relaxed. Despite the setbacks, it looked like he had finally won.

By the time Lawala reached the maintenance shed, a wall of clouds was approaching from the east. In the distance, he heard a rumble of thunder. It sure rained a lot on this island, he thought.
Here was the shed - and the Jeep. Lawala opened the door and got in. He'd left the keys in the ignition when he, Sattler and Grant had come here. Lawala turned the keys and the engine rumbled to life, mimicking the distant rumblings of the approaching storm.
Then he heard something else. Voices. He turned the engine off so that he could listen. He turned his head toward the sound...
Yes, definitely those were voices. But whose? Other survivors? Or those men in the helicopter who had shot at them? Lawala wagered it was the latter. But he didn't want to hang around to find out. He started the engine again and pressed down on the gas pedal.
A spurt of gunfire ripped through the air, accompanied by angry voices. Lawala turned. Five or six heavily armed men and women were running toward him. Lawala swore and stamped on the gas, causing the Jeep to leap forward, over a slight rise, and come crashing down again on all four wheels. He sped off down the jungle road back toward the beach. This was trouble. He hoped the others would be ready to go when he got there, because clearly, someone wanted them dead.

Bobbie Carter returned to check on Vargas, who had been restrained to the bed for his own safety and the safety of others.

To Bobbie's horror, Vargas was dead. Vargas had broken a glass cup and had used the shard of broken glass to cut open his wrists. Bobbie gasped and covered her mouth, shocked. The realization that he had attacked and shot innocent people had been too much for Vargas, so he had decided to end his own life.

Bobbie turned away, unable to look at Vargas' bled out body any longer. She started crying. Vargas was a stranger to her, but he had still been her patient. And she had failed him.

Unable to hold it in any longer, she screamed. Other people came into the room, asking what was wrong. When they saw the body, they fell silent. The only sound now was the approaching storm...

Grant and the others were waiting for Lawala to return with the jeep. An uneasy silence had taken over the group. After everything that had happened to them, they knew better than to assume that they were safe.

“Do you hear that?” Atlanta whispered.

Grant did. Branches snapping. Plants moving. Heavy footsteps. Something was coming their way. Something big.

Billy held his gun tightly, ready to defend the survivors to his last breath. The others waited, listening intently.

Grant heard a familiar squeaking sound and a baby triceratops came into view. Grant couldn’t believe it.

“Ralph?”

The baby squeaked in response, recognizing Grant.

“Ralph?” Ellie asked Grant, confused.

“Lex named a baby triceratops we met Ralph while we were trying to make our way back to the visitor center,” Grant quickly explained.

“A baby, huh?” Billy explained. “That makes sense, since that must be his mom.”

A huge adult triceratops followed Ralph and snorted at the humans.

“Don’t worry,” Gerry told Billy. “Triceratops are actually quite docile.”

Billy was still cautious as more triceratops came out, only occasionally glancing at the humans.

“What are they doing?” Wu asked.

“Exploring their new territory,” Ellie suggested. “They are no longer confined to their enclosures. The animals can mingle freely now.”

Gerry approached Ralph’s mother and beckoned to his daughter. “She recognizes me as one of her handlers,” Gerry explained. “Watch. She’ll let me pet her. We found that triceratops especially like being scratched in the hindquarters.”

He demonstrated and Ralph’s mother swung her tail in pleasure. Gerry smiled. “You can pet her too.”

“Really?”

Gerry nodded.

Sarah was careful at first, but visibly relaxed when she started petting the dinosaur. She had been so focused on survival that she never got to stop to appreciate these animals. She was petting an actual goddamn triceratops, an opportunity many could only dream of!

“She’s beautiful,” Sarah admired. “I would love to take the time to study them. There’s so much that could be learned.”

“Don’t get any crazy ideas,” Gerry warned. “Promise me that after this you won’t try coming back to Isla Nublar. You already know how dangerous some of the species are.”

Sarah sighed. “Fine. For your sake, I promise not to return to Isla Nublar. As much as I would love to conduct a proper study, you’re probably right.”

Grant saw that Atlanta was backing away from the roaming triceratops herd. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Sorry, I’m just not a huge dinosaur fan right now,” Atlanta admitted. “I think you can understand why. I would rather have those monsters stay away from me.”

“They’re not monsters, Atlanta,” Grant explained. “They’re animals. Triceratops are herbivores. They eat plants and they’re not about to make an exception.”

Grant offered Ralph a fern and the baby allowed himself to be fed, eating messily.

“Would you like to feed Ralph?” Grant asked. “He’s quite friendly.”

Atlanta hesitantly took the fern from Grant. Ralph licked his lips as he was fed more vegetation. He showed no signs of fear.

“He’s kinda cute,” Atlanta admitted, touching Ralph gently. Ralph squeaked as she patted him. She couldn’t help but smile. “Wow. He’s very tame.”

“Everything is changing for them so quickly,” Grant told her. “No more handlers to take care of them. No more barriers separating them from other species. I imagine that the animals are still figuring everything out.”

“What will happen when they do.”

“Equilibrium.”

“What’s that?”

“Balance. Currently the animals are more confused, defensive, aggressive. But that’ll change. Just give it time.”

Ralph finished chewing and returned to his mother. The herd of triceratops moved on and vanished from sight.

“I guess this is their island now,” Atlanta commented. “InGen is no longer welcome here at least.” She couldn’t help but wonder what it had been like when her mother grew up on Isla Nublar, before Nima’s tribe had been forced off by InGen and their mercenaries. Atlanta realized that Nublar wasn’t her home though. As far as she was concerned, the dinosaurs could have it. Let Nublar be their sanctuary, their refuge from human interference.

But if Isla Nublar was their home, where did Atlanta belong? She didn’t know. Definitely not here.

She glanced over at Gerry and Sarah. Two strangers willing to help her. Atlanta didn’t have anyone right now, but she didn’t have to be alone. And she was willing to give the Hardings a chance.

The Jeep sped around the corner and skidded to a stop in front of them. Lawala jumped out. "We have a problem," he said.

"What?" asked Billy.

"I ran into those men who shot at us from the helicopter. They're on their way," Lawala quickly explained.

"What do we do?" asked Atlanta.

"Don't worry; we'll think of something," Harding told her.

"I know. Let's go to the aquarium," Wu suggested. "It's hidden, and I doubt those men know where it is."

"Sounds good," Grant nodded.

Everyone piled into the Jeep. Grant got behind the wheel because Lawala wanted to be ready to open fire if need be. Grant stepped on the gas and the Jeep hurtled forward down the jungle road.

Eduardo lead a group of armed men through the jungle, following the trail left behind by the pack of Troodon that had attacked the village during the night. The trail lead to a small cave. Eduardo pulled out his flashlight and entered the cave, gun ready…

And to his surprise, the cave was full of dead Troodon. Investigating some of the corpses, Eduardo recognized bullet holes. The cave also smelled like rotting fruit. Nerve gas. There were human bodies as well that had been turned into nests. But the eggs had been taken out.

“Qué diablos pasó aquí?” Eduardo asked himself as he looked around. Somebody had been here before them. But who?

-

Eggs from the nests of Troodon and other predatory dinosaurs were being loaded onto a boat by armed men working for Biosyn. A helicopter circled overhead and landed on the Costa Rican beach, Lewis Dodgson climbing out. He approached the leader of this operation.

Dodgson’s agent had assumed the identity of a local researcher while investigating the rumors of InGen assets on the mainland. But there was no Dr. Martin Gutierrez. That was only the cover of…

“James!” Dodgson said, walking up to his man. “You really are the best! How many species?”

“Four,” Ed James told his boss. “Small populations of compies, dilos, raptors, and Troodon. There still might be a few specimens and nests that we missed, but we still got a great haul.”

“I heard there was an attack last night.”

“Yes. An InGen operative was going to contact his superiors, so I cut the village’s power. I didn’t realize that during the night InGen’s creatures would attack the hospital…” Ed James looked down in guilt.

“You did what you had to do,” Dodgson said, trying to comfort James. “Sacrifice is necessary to make progress, Ed. You did good. I promise that when we get back to California your efforts will be rewarded and you’ll get a well-deserved vacation.”

“Thank you, Dr. Dodgson. How did your expedition go?”

“Not good, I’m afraid. But thanks to you we’re coming out of this with a generous bounty. Did anyone suspect you?”

“No. The survivors in the fishing village probably think I was taken away by Troodon during the night. They had no idea I wasn’t who I said I was.”

“Perfect. Now let’s move before the EPA and the army gets here. It’s only a matter of time.”

James nodded. He and Dodgson returned to the helicopter, which took off and flew away. The boat soon followed, heading north with its cargo of dinosaur eggs…

They drove for about ten minutes, avoiding the main roadways, in case those men were using them to navigate the island.

Eventually, they managed to loop around to the aquarium. Everyone dismounted the Jeep, and Lawala took charge, shepherding everyone into the building before following in after them.

The room inside was dark as the power had been cut. Ellie pulled out a flashlight and shone it around.

"So what's the plan now?" Atlanta asked no one in particular.

In the darkness, something moved.

"What was that?" a panicked Wu asked.

"Probably an animal. We should check it out just to be sure," Billy said. He nodded to Grant. The two men approached cautiously...

The Biosyn mercenaries followed the tracks left by the jeep Lawala took. Another team was making sure that their targets didn’t try the docks. The groups communicated by radio.

“They’ll run out of gas eventually,” the leader of the first team said into his radio. “We’ll find them. There’s no way that they’re getting off this island alive.”

The leader froze when he heard something. The bushes. The mercenaries aimed their weapons as a woman came out of the jungle and onto the road.

“Don’t shoot!” the woman told them, raising her arms where they could see them. “I’m more useful to you alive than dead.”

“Why’s that?” the lead mercenary asked. “Who are you?”

“My name is Doctor Laura Sorkin,” the woman explained. “I’m a geneticist who used to work for John Hammond. But I have no love for InGen, especially Henry Wu. You work for Biosyn, right?”

“You’re in no position to be asking questions, Doctor Sorkin.”

“My knowledge of InGen technology could be beneficial to your employers. I could help Biosyn beat the competition. And-” She motioned to the bag she was carrying. “I have Henry Wu’s precious research. Bring me back alive and you will be rewarded for all that I can offer.”

The lead mercenary thought about this for a moment. If she was right, he and his team could probably get a bonus. It was worth the risk. “Alright. You’re coming with us. Don’t resist.”

“I have no reason to,” Sorkin told him. “I share a common enemy with Biosyn. We can both benefit from this. Don’t worry. You won’t regret this.”

A Compsagnathus skittered across the floor. Billy sighed and lowered his gun.

"Everyone take a load off," Grant said. "We could be here a while."

Ellie found some hand-crank lanterns in one of the shelves and cranked it up, causing the room to fill with light. Everyone crowded around and Sarah opened some cans of food, which were passed around and consumed. When the meal was over, Billy appointed watches --- first himself and Grant, then Harding and Wu, and so on. Everyone else lay down to get a few minutes sleep.
Billy got into a comfortable position and rested his gun on his lap. He looked across the room at Grant, who was settling in.
"Thank you," the paleontologist said.
Billy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What for?"
"For getting us this far," Grant said.
Billy shook his head and grunted. "It wasn't me. It was Edgar and Oscar. And D-Caf. They're the ones you have to thank."
"I know, I am grateful to them. Exceedingly grateful. But don't downplay your own accomplishments, Billy. You also played a roll in keeping us alive."
"Well thanks," Billy said. He wasn't much of a fan of this soppy stuff, but he could tell that Grant meant what he said, so he tried to smile.

Billy could hear thunder outside. The storm was almost on them.

“What do you think our chances are?” he asked Grant. “Of getting back to the mainland?”

“I don’t know,” Grant said honestly. “But we made it this far, right? We can’t give up now.”

“Right,” Billy nodded. “You were here when things went to hell, right?”

“Yeah,” Grant told Billy. He thought of the people that didn’t survive. Like Nima, Harris, Regis, Muldoon, Gennaro, Hammond…

“When did you think you weren’t going to make it?” Billy asked.

“When I was locked in a freezer,” Grant recalled.

“Really?”

“That Sorkin woman held me and others hostage, keeping us in a freezer so that her demands could be met.”

“And this Sorkin woman is still at large?”

“Maybe. I’m a bit worried about the damage she could do.”

“Well, whatever she does, we’ll deal with it. We already made it this far, right?”

Grant smiled at Billy. “Right.”

Unknown to either of them, a pair of glowing eyes watched them from the dark and then vanished.

James leaned in toward Dodgson. "I think I know someone who might be able to help us out in the future."

"Who?" Dodgson asked, intrigued.

"He's a young American paleontologist. Real pain in the neck, but I think he might prove useful."

"Well, what's his name?" Dodgson demanded irritably.

"Richard Levine. You heard of him?"

Dodgson scratched his chin. "Maybe once or twice."

"Well, I'm meeting him in a couple of days. See if we can sway him over to our side."

Grant was starting to drift off when he felt somebody tap his shoulder. He whisked around and sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Sonya.

"I'll take over for the rest of your shift," Sonya volunteered. "Get some rest."

Grant nodded. "Thank you." He went to get some sleep and Sonya sat next to Billy.

"You couldn't get any sleep?" Billy asked her.

"I won't allow myself to relax until we're off this island," Sonya told him. "We're still in danger."

Billy heard something move in the dark. Was it another compy? He should make sure. Billy found a flare among his supplies and lit it up...

...Revealing the pack of Troodon that was lurking in the dark.

Billy screamed, dropping his flare as he raised his gun and let off a burst of bullets. Everyone woke up, shouting and screaming in alarm.
Atlanta, blinded by panic took off down one of the many hallways in the building. "Atlanta, no!" Sarah cried, and ran after her.
One Troodon lunged forward and sank its teeth into Billy's calf. The mercenary cried out in pain and tried desperately to shake the monster loose, to no avail. A second Troodon was coiling to pounce on him...
When suddenly, with a burst of gunfire, dropped to the ground, dead, courtesy of Lawala.
"Everyone go!" Lawala shouted as he helped Billy stand, using one arm to support the wounded mercenary and the other to shoot his gun.
"Follow me!" shouted Grant.

“This is for Muldoon,” Lawala said to himself, firing another burst of gunfire at the Troodon.

Sonya took Billy from Lawala and helped Billy follow the others while Lawala fought the Troodon off.

Everybody heard Raul scream and Grant caught a glimpse of the injured man being dragged off into the darkness by several Troodon. Lawala saw this and fired, but it was too late. Raul was gone.

Grant had no idea where to go. He could hear the storm going on outside and the clicks of the Troodon behind them. All he knew is that they had to put distance between them and the Troodon.

“Lawala, come on!”

“Go on without me!” Lawala insisted, driven by his desire to avenge Muldoon.

Harding noticed something as he followed Grant. “Where’s Atlanta and Sarah?” he asked, horrified. They were nowhere to be seen.

Atlanta slowed down. Her heart was racing wildly and her thoughts were askew. She couldn't register anything, anything, that is, besides the fervent desire to find a safe place where she could hide.
She noticed a small closet to her left, went to it, opened the door, and went inside. She sat down on the floor and pulled her legs close to her chest and began to cry.
She heard Sarah's voice in the distance: "ATLANTA!"

"We have to find them," said Harding firmly.
"Yes," agreed Sonya, her voice was hollow; obviously she was thinking about Raul.
In the distance, they heard Lawala screaming.
"He's dying!" snarled Billy. The wounded merc pulled his gun out of Sonya's hands and began hobbling back to the room where Lawala was.
"No, Billy! Let me go. You protect them!" said Grant.
"No Alan!" Ellie protested.
Grant grabbed her hand. "Them come with me." She nodded. Together, the two of them raced back the direction they had come.
"We have to find Sarah and Atlanta," Harding reiterated.
"Yes," Sonya nodded in agreement. "Come on. They can't have gotten far."
She, Harding, Billy, and Wu headed off into the darkness in search of their missing companions.

Atlanta saw Sarah's dark silhouette in the closet's doorframe. "Atlanta?"

The girl whimpered in response.

Sarah kneeled down and gave Atlanta a comforting hug. "It's okay," she told Atlanta. "It's okay."

-

Lawala threw down a flash grenade and the sudden brightness caused the Troodon to flee. Lawala relaxed slightly and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as he bled from his wounds. The Troodon had gotten him.

"Dammit..." he swore, tearing off a bit of his shirt and using it as a bandage. He still had the venom to worry about.

He knew that the Troodon would be back soon and he needed to catch up to tje others. He checked his gun and made sure he still had ammo. Then he heard something.

A door opening. Footsteps. He saw flashlights.

"There's one," said a voice.

Lawala heard a gunshot and he fell back as a bullet passed through him.

The Biosyn mercenaries started searching the building for other survivors while Lawala used his last moments to think about how he would now be reunited with Muldoon. Before he died he heard the distant clicks of the Troodon.

Grant paused in front of the door. He heard voices; not Lawala's. Then whose?
Only one answer came to mind, and it set his heart racing with fear. He grabbed Ellie's hand and quickly pulled her back the other way, motioning for her to stay silent.
When they had gone a few feet, Ellie asked, "What? What's wrong?"
"I heard people. Not Lawala. It must be the mercenaries who shot at us," he quickly explained.
Ellie's face drained of color. Suddenly, the door burst open. A mercenary raised his gun and let off a burst of fire; Grant jumped to the floor, pulling Ellie with him; the two of them crawled behind a wall, then stood up and ran as the mercenaries gave chase.

The mercenaries had split up to search the building in teams of two. That was their mistake.

Two of the Biosyn mercenaries patrolled a hallway, shining their flashlights ahead of them. One of them heard a clicking sound.

“Do you hear something?” she asked her partner, turning to him. But he was no longer there, his flashlight laying on the ground. She picked it up and called out to him.

She was answered by a clicking sound. Turning around, she was met by the eyes of a group of Troodon.

The mercenary opened her mouth but no sound came out. She tried to lift her gun, but she was too slow. A Troodon pounced on her and others joined the fun.

-

Sorkin heard the faint clicking sound in the distance.

“We need to get out of here,” she told the leader of the mercenaries and his second-in-command.

“Why’s that?” he asked her.

“Because there are dangerous creatures hunting in the shadows. They thrive in the dark. We are at a disadvantage.”

The leader ignored her and forced Sorkin along. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.

Sarah managed to coax Atlanta to stand up. Shaking, Atlanta looked around in the dark. "Where are they?" she asked.
"Who? The others?"
"No. The Troodon."
Sarah's muscles tightened. "I don't know. Come on. We should find the others."
At that moment, they heard distant screaming. Sarah's heart began to pound with fear. Who was that? Grant? Her father? Wu? Grabbing Atlanta's hand, she began to pull the young girl back the way they had come.

"Hello?" Gerry Harding called into the darkness. "Sarah! Atlanta!"
Sonya shone her flashlight around. "I don't see them anywhere."
"Well, they can't have gone far," Harding brusquely said.
The group walked on for a couple more meters before coming to a dead end.
"Great. Now what?" Billy asked.
Sonya heard hissing behind her, and slowly turned around. A Troodon stood at the end of the dark hallway, its pale eyes glowing in the darkness.
Sonya trembled with fear.
"Come on!" Billy opened a door and shoved them all in.
Coincidentally, it lead to the elevator. With no other choice, the group entered the elevator. Wu pressed a button. The elevator started going down.
"Where are we going?" Sonya asked.
"To the aquarium," Wu told her. "There's a backup generator down there somewhere. If we can find it, we might be able to restore power to this building."
"Great!" Sonya said ecstatically.

Grant and Ellie heard the mercenaries chasing after them through the maze of dark hallways. Suddenly the sounds of pursuing footsteps were replaced by pain-filled screams. Grant and Ellie did not dare to look behind them, but they knew what had happened thanks to a familiar clicking call.

Grant knew that they wouldn’t last much longer like this, with the Troodon picking off the human prey in the dark one by one. It was only a matter of time before he and Ellie ran out of places to run.

Suddenly, they came upon a dead end. They spun around, but found that the hallway was blocked by those pairs of eyes that Grant had learned to fear. He and Ellie were trapped.

“Oh no,” Ellie whimpered. “Alan, what do we do?”

Grant had no idea. He held tightly onto Ellie’s hand as the Troodon advanced on the cornered couple.

-

Sarah and Atlanta ran back into the room where they had tried to get sleep earlier. The screams they had heard died down. A nearby compy shrieked and was suddenly cut off as it was killed. Then the killer clicked in the darkness.

Atlanta stared into the shadows and a Troodon stared back at her. Sarah pulled out her machete and got in front of the young girl.

Atlanta remembered something and she began feeling around in the dark for something. The pair of eyes crept closer and Sarah blindly swung at the lurking creature. She didn’t strike anything and the Troodon seemed amused at her attempts to fight him off. He had the advantage.

And luckily Atlanta remembered his weakness. She found one of the hand-crank lanterns from earlier and she surprised the Troodon when the room flooded with unexpected weakness.

As the blinded Troodon hissed, Sarah could see her adversary and she swung. Blood splattered the floor.

Sarah wiped blood off her face, hands trembling. She couldn't believe she just did that.

+

Wu led Sonya, Billy and Harding down a long corridor to a power breaker at the end of the hall. He opened the latch and began switching the switches.

A second later, glaring artificial light filled the corridor. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Good job Doc," Sonya remarked. "Now, let's find the others."

+

The Troodon steadily approached Grant and Ellie, jaws dripping with saliva. Grant quickly looked around for an escape, but there was none. He braced himself for what would surely be a painful end.

But then, the corridor filled with light. The Troodon hissed and quickly retreated to the shadows. Grant looked at Ellie, unable to believe their fortune.

"How'd they get the power on?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care. Come on." Grant led her down the corridor.

When power suddenly came on and the building flooded with artificial light, the leader of the Biosyn mercenaries tried to use his radio to communicate with the othet members of the group. He got no response. There was only him, his second-in-command, and Sorkin left.

“The rest of your team was picked off by Troodon,” Sorkin explained. “I told you we were at a disadvantage in the darkness. But you didn’t listen to me. And now we’re all that’s left.”

The mercenary wanted to snap at Sorkin, but she was unfortunately right. “You’re the InGen expert,” he admitted. “Any advice?”

“The only way they could have restored power is with the backup generator,” Sorkin explained. “Luckily, I know where it is. If we hurry we might be able to find Wu’s group while they’re still there.”

The mercenary nodded. “Lead the way.”

Sorkin guided the two mercenaries through the building and they followed. It was about time that she was in charge.

-

Billy, Harding, Sonya, and Wu were walking back to the elevator. The doors opened before they got to it. Wu’s group was surprised to see two Biosyn mercenaries pointing their guns at them and…

“Sorkin!” Wu recognized, shocked.

“Hello, Henry,” Sorkin said confidently. “As you can see, I made a few new friends. We’re helping each other out. And part of our partnership is making sure that you don’t leave this island alive. I’ll also be taking my journal back…”

-

“Sarah, are you okay?” Atlanta asked the trembling woman.

Sarah nodded, coming to her senses. “Yeah. Looks like somebody found a way to turn on the lights.”

“Good,” Atlanta realized. “Those things can only attack us in the dark.”

Sarah looked down at the dead Troodon. “I can’t believe I killed one.”

“It was only a matter of time before they met their match,” Atlanta told Sarah. “You were a total badass.”

Sarah smiled. “Thanks.”

Atlanta and Sarah heard the buildimg’s doors open and something escaping the storm outside. Atlanta and Sarah fled as whatever it was let out a terrifying shriek.

-

Grant and Ellie heard the inhuman shriek. And unfortunately, Grant recognized it. He had hoped never to hear such an animal again.

“Velociraptor,” he realized in dread. The shriek was followed by several others. “And it’s not alone.”

“This just keeps getting better,” Ellie said sarcastically.

“Come on,” Grant told her. “We need to find the others.”

Together they ran away from the raptor shrieks and towards what they hoped were fellow humans.

"What are you going to do with us?" Sonya questioned Sorkin.
Sorkin quirked an eyebrow. "Wu is the one I need. The rest of you are expendable."
"So you'll just gun us down like dogs?" Billy spat.
Sorkin nodded, "Yes."
"You're a monster," Wu told her.
"Monsters are made, not born. Remember that Henry. Now come on!" She grabbed Henry's arm, trying to force him along, but Wu refused to budge.
"Swear that you won't hurt them," he said, gesturing to Sonya, Billy and Harding. Sorkin raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"When did the egotistical Henry Wu suddenly start caring about the lives of others?" she asked.
"You've heard my terms. Spare them and I'll go with you. Kill them, and I'll make sure your plans never come to fruition. I promise you that."
"You're in no position to be making threats," Sorkin retorted. "Darrel," she said to the lead mercenary, "kindly hand-cuff our friend Henry, and shoot his friends."
Darrel raised his rifle.