Re-edited [5/18/17]
Andy
Owen stopped walking suddenly, throwing his arm in front of Claire and I in a protective way. That's when the sound of a vehicle driving off echoed through the trees nearby, driving further away. I didn't hesitate to push past Owen and Claire and run to where it came from.
My feet took me to what seemed to resemble a garage with one broken down jeep. The spot next to it was empty, telling me that one was missing. That must have been the vehicle we heard.
"This one of theirs?" Owen suddenly asked. He was holding up a grey sweatshirt that he found on the floor, and I instantly recognized it as Zach's.
"Yeah," I said quickly, taking it from his hands and slipping it on since I left mine in Claire's SUV back by the gyrosphere ride. Well, at least now I got a part of him back.
"That road goes straight back to the park," Claire stated, eyeing dirt road leading out of the garage.
"How did they even get one of these things started?" Owen questioned, opening the hood of the Jeep, and eyeing the motor curiously.
"There was a smashed up ACU vehicle back there," I told him. "They probably replaced-"
I was interrupted by a large crash and I quickly glanced outside, seeing the I-Rex's feet lumbering towards us through the trees.
Shit, shit, shit.
"Get down!" Owen whispered, only loud enough for us to hear. I quickly snuck behind a metal barrel, while Claire and Owen gathered behind the other Jeep. I still had my gun, but I noticed Owen's hands were empty, making me remember that he had stupidly placed it out of his reach when we got here.
Owen's eyes suddenly widened, probably because I wasn't next to him so I waved to him, then held a finger to my lips. Then me-being as stupid as I am-peeked around the side of the small barrel I was currently behind to see where it was.
Lucky for me, her nose was right there.
I closed my eyes and pressed against the barrel even more as my whole body began to tremble. The I-Rex then moved on to the Jeep and she began rocking it with her nose, making Owen and Claire freeze as well. My grip on my gun tightened and my finger rested on the trigger, ready for anything to happen.
Her nose then backed out of the garage, telling me that she had most likely given up. I sighed in relief and glanced over at Owen before mouthing 'get your gun'. He nodded and slowly crawled to the side of the Jeep, where his gun was, before grabbing it and returning back to his spot in front of the jeep. The three of us didn't make a sound, for the chance that she could come back again.
But, boy, we were wrong, once again.
The beast smashed through the ceiling of the shed, sending debris flying everywhere, mostly around me. My arms covered my head as a lot of pieces fell on top of me, just as I heard Claire scream before hers and Owen's footsteps exited the garage, and into another room.
I looked around me for any sort of escape, but I didn't have much for options. The jeep that Claire and Owen were behind was now smashed against the wall, creating a barrier of debris, blocking me in, since it was too tall and unstable to climb up. I was trapped between the wall and the dinosaurs nose.
"Andy?!" Owen yelled from the other side of the wall. "Andy! Are you okay?"
I couldn't respond, because just then, the I-Rex opened her jaws and lunged towards me. I jumped out of the way at the last second and curled into a ball, covering my head with my arms, as pieces of scrap metal and other things fell on top of me.
Now, I'm usually pretty strong when it comes to most things. But I could not, for the love of anything, hold up the weight of it all. And on top of that, my arms were not protecting me in the least. I felt completely defeated.
I suddenly heard Owen and Claire calling for me and I heard their footsteps scurry back into the garage, telling me that the I-Rex was most likely gone, for what reason, I have no clue. Something else must have gotten her attention, or something.
A sudden sound of metal against metal made my headache from getting hit in the head, worsen. But the weight was abruptly pulled off of me, and the area slowly came back into view as each piece was pushed away.
"Andy?" Owen asked, somewhat panicky as he took the last piece away from me.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," I managed to grumble, then hearing Owen let out a sigh in pure relief. My hand grasped my pounding head tightly as I began to get back to my feet, Owen's hands instantly going to my arms to steady me.
"Guys, we should go." Claire told us as she stood a few feet away, glancing out into the trees.
"Why? Is she coming back for us?" I asked, the second question more quiet than the first.
"No, I have an idea."
And with that, we exited the garage, or what was left of it, and we did the most illogical thing we could think of. We followed the beast.
Claire was leading the way, because she was the only one that really knew where we were at. I was behind her, and Owen was following close behind me to make sure the area was secure. But as I running after Claire, I noticed she was still in her heels, running like it was nothing to her. It blew my mind how she hasn't broken an ankle yet.
I have to admit, I may have been wrong about her. Key word: may.
"Claire, slow down," I said, slowing down my running to a stop so I could control my breathing. "Go ahead and call the control center, tell them where she's at."
She nodded and pulled her phone out, pressing a few buttons before bringing it to her ear. "Lowery, we found her," she told him, breathing heavily. "Yes, we are following her. She's south of the Gyrosphere valley, between the old park and the Aviary. You need to get the ACU out here, with real guns." There was a pause with muffled speech. "There's already a chopper out there? Who's flying it? Mr. Masrani?"
Owen suddenly pulled me aside as Claire talked on the phone, his hand resting on the newly formed bump on my head from the previous situation. "We gotta get you somewhere safe."
"Whoa, I got hit in the head, not shot. I'm fine, Owen." I told him, backing up and spreading my arms out to show that nothing was wrong.
"That beast almost killed you, and I'm not letting that happen again. When we get back to the park, you're going indoors," he said, sternly.
I sighed. Well, there's no use in arguing with him. "Fine, let's go." I adjusted the gun strap on my shoulder before walking back over to Claire, who had just hung up with Lowery.
We began running again, still in the same direction the I-Rex went in, to make sure that the ACU team actually killed it this time, and didn't hesitate. That's all we need right now, more people dying, tragically.
We exited the treeline which was the top of a hill, overlooking more trees that surrounded the Aviary cage. Just then, a helicopter-flown none other that Mr. Masrani- flew over us. They must have finally agreed to use the M-134 from the armory, because loud gunfire came from the helicopter as they aimed for the I-Rex.
But the I-Rex didn't seem phased by it, and she slammed into the glass, and continued into the Aviary. That gave the Ptetrosaurs a chance to escape, and that's exactly what they did. A flock of them surrounded the chopper, making some of the ACU members to fall out and get carried away. On top of that, Mr. Masrani lost control, making the helicopter nose dive into the top of the cage, then bursting into a ball of flame when it hit the ground.
Claire let out a gasp, and covered her mouth with her hand, but I didn't have time to react to the sudden death of Mr. Masrani, because hundreds of the bird beasts then flew out of the newly formed hole and came our way.
In a panic, I grabbed Owen's hand and began to pull him away. "The trees! Go!" I managed to yell, and the two of them didn't hesitate to follow me.
I, for one, didn't feel like becoming the meal of a bird beast.
-:-:-
It's been exactly two hours and thirty six minutes since I was last at the park. The last time I saw the main street, it was crowded, but calm. Now, it was pure chaos. It was obviously clear that no one had any idea what to do, that no one had come up with an actual plan on what should happen if all hell broke loose.
Typical, especially for this park.
"Get on!" Owen's voice shattered my thoughts as he quickly hopped on an abandoned ATV. Claire slipped in behind him, and I sat on the back, facing away from the direction we were heading so I could shoot at any dinosaur birds that came our way.
What can I say? I'm a sharp shooter.
My hair whipped around me in a frenzy as we zoomed down the paved road, and I instantly regretted not throwing it in a pony tail when we were back in the jungle. Plus, it's not remotely easy attempting to shoot at birds when all you have is hair flying in your face, let me tell you.
But I decided to suck it up for Zach's sake, and tuck most of my hair in his sweatshirt, which kinda worked, then going back to shooting the birds. It definitely made it a lot easier.
Owen then began to slow the ATV down, and I hopped off while it was still in motion-since I'm a badass like that- and raised my gun again, ready to shoot once more. Claire got off after me, and gave me a look to say 'What can I do to help?'
"Claire, listen to me." I demanded, my anxiety rising by the freakin' second. "You screamed for Grey and Zach earlier, now here's your chance to do it again without me kicking your ass. If they made it back on that trail, they should be around here somewhere. I want you to stand on that bench and scream as loud as you can for them, got it? If any of the bird beasts fly towards you, I'll shoot them. I got your back, okay?"
She didn't hesitate to nod quickly and stand on top of a nearby bench like I had told her to. "ZACH! GREY!" she screamed as loud as her lungs allowed her to.
There was one bird that had gotten a little closer to her than I wanted, so I aimed, and pulled the trigger, hitting it straight in the neck. I smirked a little at my achievement, but continued to shoot at nearby birds.
"Andrea?!"
I immediately stopped shooting at the mention of my name, and began to search the chaotic crowd for the familiar faces while slipping my gun back over my shoulder. My eyes kept scanning the people, but none of them were the two boys I wanted to see.
"Andy!"
That was when my eyes landed on them. They were sprinting my way, their hands waving frantically in the air. My heart went into overdrive as my breathing hitched for a split second before I began running towards them. Those were the faces that I've been wanting to see since this whole shit show happened, and now that I've found them, I feel completely and utterly relieved.
"Zach!" I screamed happily, weaving my way through the people that were running away from the chaos.
Just then, one of the winged beasts crashed down on top of Zach, sending him stumbling to the ground. My happiness was short lived, and I pushed myself to go even faster than I had already been going.
When I approached, Zach had his hands around the dinosaur's neck as he tried to push it away, but couldn't from the weight. I saw how close the beak was to his face, making me take my gun back off my shoulder and raise it. But instead of shooting it, while risking shooting Zach in the process, I smashed the butt of the rifle to the bird. It let out a loud squack as it flopped to the ground but I quickly shushed it by sending two bullets through its brain. I quickly slipped my gun back to its place on my shoulder, before grabbing Zach's hand and bringing him back up to his feet.
"Gray, close your eyes," Zach told his younger brother while never taking his eyes away from my own.
I gave him a weird look, but that's when he pulled me impossibly close to him, forcefully pressing his lips onto mine. I stiffen in surprise, but then ease into it and kiss him back with a passionate sensation I didn't know I had. With my lips moving in sync with his own, my hands entangled themselves in his messy hair.
"Andy!" A sudden voice sounded behind us, causing Zach and I to quickly pull away from each other which cut the kiss much shorter than I would've liked. We both glanced up to see Owen standing a few feet back with Gray by his side. "Stop swallowing the poor boys' face and let's go."
I felt my cheeks flush and I looked back up to Zach who had a smirk plastered across his lips. "Don't worry, we'll finish this business later," He reassured me before pressing another soft kiss to my lips. This one was short and sweet but it still reassures me thing just might be okay from here on out.
"Thank God you guys are alright!" Claire exclaimed as she approached the group, pulling Gray into her arms and Zach stepped out of my grip to go embrace her as well. Claire's face welled with happiness and relief that her two nephews were safe and unharmed. "God, your mother is going to be beyond pissed-"
Claire was then cut off by her phone ringing and she quickly released her grip on the boys to answer it. "Lowery, hey. I'm on my way back to you." She paused as he responded, placing her finger in her ear so she could hear him. "Wait, what do you mean 'Use the raptors'?"
The mention of my raptors made me perk up, and quickly glanced to Owen whose face twisted with rage, his jaw clenching. "Son of a bitch!"
Great, now what?
-:-:-