Oh, holy sh— crap, crap, crap.
Carlo's sanity gradually flickered back online, and the entire dinosaur suddenly grew calm. At the same instant, pain surged back into his body.
Ah, ow, ow, ow, ow!
He couldn't hold it back; he collapsed onto his side, writhing and crawling on the ground like a pathetic, shadowy creature.
He didn't know what had come over him to make him go into such a frenzy. His feet throbbed intensely from stomping the ground; he felt as though the bones in his soles were about to burst through the skin. Then there was the burning sensation in his neck—what kind of madness had possessed him to try and swallow someone's entire arm? His throat felt stretched raw. Hiss... He felt like his stomach was about to rupture.
He lay on the ground, flopping like a stranded fish, making the earth groan once more under his weight.
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.
"Ao!"
Suddenly, Kafka's voice chirped nearby, causing Carlo's contorted movements to freeze.
He bolted upright instantly, looking toward the source of the sound, and found Kafka staring at him with a look of pure astonishment.
He was furious. He wanted to bark at her, demanding to know why she hadn't listened to him, why she insisted on picking up his worst habits. But then he realized his voice would likely sound utterly bizarre due to the burning in his throat. Ultimately, he remained silent, stepping forward to nudge Kafka back toward the habitat of their "parents."
Kafka's gaze remained fixed on Carlo as if she were seeing him for the first time, or perhaps she was just contemplating the meaning of his recent behavior.
Carlo stole a secretive glance at her. Seeing her watching him made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, like a family member had just caught him in his most embarrassing moment.
"Roar…"
If you dare say a word about this, I'll have to disown you for the good of the family.
He finally couldn't help himself and let out a low growl at Kafka, his voice sounding both muffled and sharp.
Kafka was startled. For her, tonight was the equivalent of seeing a respected elder suddenly go clubbing at a KTV and then roll around on the floor—it was a total shock.
Fortunately, dinosaurs don't have a habit of gossiping or sharing the day's events with their peers.
…
"We have to get indoors! Follow me!"
When the Velociraptors turned, Owen had notified Claire to evacuate with her nephews. Barry and the injured team members had already headed toward the shelter, while Owen, on his motorcycle, caught up with Claire as she tried to reach the Innovation Center.
Claire nodded to Owen, grabbed her phone, and established a connection with Lowery.
"Lowery, we're heading your way. Call in the helicopter."
The cruise ship for the shelter evacuation wasn't due until tomorrow. With a cold-blooded killer roaming the island, evacuating early by helicopter was clearly the best choice.
"No problem."
Lowery replied to Claire from the Control Room. He looked at the monitors on the big screen: the Herbivore Territory, the T. rex Kingdom, the Primeval Ecological Zone... This was likely the last time he would see these dinosaurs from here.
Around him, colleagues were getting up and moving about. The thinning crowd brought his wandering thoughts back to reality.
He looked back and realized most people had already evacuated. Vivian, who sat at the adjacent workstation, noticed he was still in his seat and asked:
"Hey, they say we have to evacuate. There's a boat waiting. You coming?"
Lowery paused, then looked back at the big screen. The Indominus rex was nowhere to be seen, and Claire, Owen, and the two boys were in danger.
"I guess... someone has to be the last one out."
Besides, leaving by helicopter would definitely be more comfortable than the ferry, right?
…
"Inventory everything. Turn on all the backup generators. Keep the power flowing to the incubation pods."
Dr. Wu paced rapidly through his laboratory, barking orders to the researchers. He moved toward the wall and used his fingerprint to open his secret lab.
Drrr-ring…
His phone rang. Dr. Wu pulled it out and saw it was Hoskins. He answered and asked directly:
"Where did you disappear to?"
Hoskins' voice was hushed, as if he were in a place where it wasn't convenient to talk.
"Change of plans. The mission failed. We have to evacuate with the troops."
Dr. Wu's brow furrowed. The man was clearly packing his bags to flee, but Hoskins' suitcase certainly wouldn't fit all the dinosaur eggs in his lab.
"The embryos are safe here. They can survive at least eight weeks on the generators."
He tried to argue his case, but Hoskins cut him off.
"No, no, no. Listen to me. This park will be bankrupt by tomorrow. I'm sending men to help you pack up the experimental data and samples. I don't want a bunch of lawyers sticking their noses into things they don't understand, got it?"
Dr. Wu's expression turned grim, an expression he hadn't even worn when Masrani threatened to shut down his experiments. His gaze swept over the numerous incubation pods filled with dinosaur eggs.
"Hey, if you don't say anything, I'll take that as a 'yes'."
When Hoskins' voice came through again, Dr. Wu snapped back to attention.
"Give me a team."
"What?"
"Give me a team. I want to give my unborn creations a chance to live."
"You... you've finally lost your god-damn mind."
…
"Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoyed your stay."
The announcement on Main Street continued to loop, but the area was deserted.
Claire and Owen drove up, stopping next to the Innovation Center.
"Come on, quick, this way."
Claire's plan was simple: lead them to the underground lab center, take the employee passage straight to the Control Room, and leave by helicopter.
The lab was already empty, a sign that the park had completely collapsed.
"They evacuated the lab."
They followed the corridor into a secure room... it was filled with strange cultivation pods and shelves of bizarre animals in terrariums.
"What are you doing?"
Claire noticed people moving lab equipment... and some... samples? Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, she sensed something was wrong.
"I'm afraid you don't have the authority to ask."
Hoskins stepped out from the crowd, slowly approaching the bedraggled group.
"Where is Henry?"
"Dr. Wu is one of us."
Claire pressed him, but Hoskins gave only a vague response. After all, he didn't even know if Dr. Wu had run outside and been eaten by a dinosaur.
"That's not a real dinosaur."
Gray huddled behind Owen, poking his small head out to look at the Indominus rex on the monitor.
"No, of course not, kid."
Hoskins acted as if he'd heard something hilarious, his interest piqued by Gray's naive observation.
"Someone has to consider the future of this company... Imagine that thing: massive, lethal, high intelligence... able to evade the most advanced technological detection. Something the world has never heard of, a living, breathing new type of weapon. Millions of years of evolution, and what have we learned?"
Bro didn't even know his weapon had just lost an arm.
"Nature itself is a gift..."
Before Hoskins could finish, the sound of shattering glass rang out from ahead.
"AAAAHHH! Get it off me! Get it off me!"
The Velociraptor Charlie lunged straight onto Hoskins, pinning him down!
"Shit, go! Go!"
Owen reacted instantly, leading Claire and the two boys out of the secure room. But when he spotted Delta, they were forced to flee in the opposite direction.
Delta limped forward. She saw Owen and the others, but she was exhausted and lacked the strength to give chase. She decided to find Charlie first.
In her haste, she didn't notice the glass and slammed her head right into it. Shaking her head, she maneuvered around the glass, found the correct exit, and walked over to Hoskins.
Seeing this, Charlie let go and moved aside. Delta, somewhat unsteady, placed one foot on Hoskins' chest.
"AAAAAAHHH—"
Hoskins screamed incessantly as he felt the crushing weight on his chest.
Chirp...
Delta's inner scimitar-like toe claw swept down, sinking into his body and bringing his screams to an abrupt halt.
Charlie, seeing the job was done, let go entirely and went back to chasing the escaping humans.
"Beep... Aunnng—"
As the group ran through the Innovation Center lobby, Gray hit a button on a dinosaur display. A projection of a Dilophosaurus appeared, flaring its frills and hissing at the path ahead.
"Saunnng—"
Charlie was startled by the sudden threat. Not to be outdone, she roared back, entering a standoff with the hologram.
The statue of Hammond stood nearby, watching the confrontation between the projection and the dinosaur, a clash between technology and life, a scene identical to one from over a decade ago.
Owen had just opened the door and hadn't gone far when he received a "warm welcome" from Blue.
Then Echo stepped out from the side, and the door behind them was burst open by Charlie, who thoughtfully held the door for the limping Delta behind her.
"We have to do this... don't we?"
Owen knew resisting them would be futile and lowered his gun.
He slowly raised his hand, moving it toward the left side of Blue's face.
Blue never looked away, staring at Owen. She was somewhat resistant but made no move to harm him.
"It's okay... it's okay..."
While soothing her, Owen reached for the head-strap she was wearing, and then...
Click.
The strap fell away. Blue seemed to relax, tucking away her slightly bared teeth and letting out a loud call toward the shadows behind Owen.
Owen looked back and finally noticed the limping Delta. Then, with a look of sudden realization, he turned back to Blue, nodding as he spoke:
"Oh, so you guys finished fooling around and came back wanting me to clean up your mess..."
"Aunnng-roar—"
Before he could finish, the piercing roar of the Indominus rex cut him off. The hybrid slowly entered the main street. Except... why was it missing an arm?
———————
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