"Guys, have you ever considered... that those helicopters might not actually be here to rescue us?"
On the treehouse platform, Brooklynn sat on the sofa, addressing the group with uncharacteristic hesitation.
"How is that possible? What else would they be doing here if not looking for us?"
Kenji, never one for deep contemplation, countered immediately. His remark, however, was met only with heavy silence from the others.
"What? What's wrong?"
He asked, bewildered. Finally, Sammy spoke up to explain the cold, hard reality.
"Kenji, do you remember the Indominus rex?"
"Yeah, of course. What about it?"
Sammy continued, "Have you noticed they haven't come anywhere near the camp to search? We saw signs of a struggle on Main Street earlier... Is it possible they're only here to recover the Indominus?"
Having once been coerced by Mantah Corp to steal dinosaur genomes from Jurassic World, Sammy understood better than anyone the value of the Indominus to Dr. Wu, and to the future of genetic engineering.
"You mean... we're less important than a dead dinosaur?" Kenji asked, his voice laced with disbelief.
Since when had dinosaurs become more valuable than human lives?
Darius, noticing the morale plummeting, quickly stepped in to comfort them.
"Hey, they probably just don't know we're still alive. If they received our distress signal, they'd definitely come for us." He paused, then offered a practical alternative. "Besides, we found Mitch and Tiff's yacht, remember? If the worst comes to the worst, we can use that to escape."
Ben stood up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "Well... sitting here isn't doing us any good. Who wants to come with me to check on the yacht?"
The return of humans to Isla Nublar had sparked a flame of hope in the teenagers.
Maybe they'll find us in a few minutes?Maybe they'll spot the tracks we left behind?What if they search the camp and we aren't there?
"Fine. I'm in," Yasmina said, standing up to join the scouting party. "We've been waiting for six months. I'm done waiting."
Brooklynn stood up next, followed by Darius and Sammy.
"Uh... I mean, I'm sure you guys could handle it, but I don't exactly love the idea of being alone at camp. I'm coming too," Kenji added. Seeing the momentum, he couldn't back out now. He led the way downstairs.
…
Whir-whir-whir...
A helicopter returned to the Primeval Ecological Zone, but this time, the island's masters were no longer human.
Three armed tactical operatives leaped from the craft, scanning the perimeter. This was the exact spot where Carlo had once charged out of the Zone to hunt Mr. Brachiosaurus.
"Doctor, we can't get any closer to your private lab. The fallen trees have blocked the path."
Dr. Wu stepped off the helicopter. For this excursion, he had traded his signature white lab coat for more practical attire.
"Did you secure the Indominus samples?"
He didn't mind a bit of walking, but if they failed to recover the Indominus remains, he would be forced to start from scratch, unless he could recover the laptop containing the first-generation hybrid experimental data.
"Regrettably, no. Marine One brought up a pile of meaningless skeletal remains."
"How is that possible?"
"Unclear. The subsequent cameras ceased functioning."
Dr. Wu fell into thought. If they had brought up so many skeletons, it meant the floor of the Lagoon was so cluttered that Marine One couldn't distinguish the target.
He had seen the footage of Carlo dumping the Indominus into the Lagoon. He had initially assumed it was an act of post-mortem spite, but now it seemed there was more to it.
Is he feeding the Mosasaurus? But that makes no sense. Why would he...
"Doctor?"
The leader of the escort team, Hawkes, interrupted his musings.
"Mr. Hawkes, we must proceed to my private laboratory on foot. However, from where I stand, your team seems ill-prepared."
Dr. Wu regained his usual composed demeanor, offering a warning to the operatives.
"I think we have different definitions of 'prepared'."
Hawkes took the remark as a slight. He let out a sharp whistle and signaled his men to clear a path for Wu.
…
"Radio! Check if it works!"
Sammy and Darius reached the yacht's bridge first, while the others dispersed to the deck and cabins to clear any potential threats.
"It's no good. This thing is locked behind a specific encryption... Wait, why is the fuel so low?!"
Darius tried to contact the outside world, but Mitch and Tiff had been paranoid poachers. To prevent any betrayal within their own crew, they had placed hard restrictions on all long-range communication tools.
"Dammit, did this thing develop a leak while it was docked here?" Sammy moved closer, tapping the gauge. The needle wobbled; the fuel level, already low, dropped instantly into the deep crimson 'Empty' zone.
"So we found a boat we can't use?" Ben asked, entering the bridge.
"Pretty much. We need to find gasoline... maybe from the abandoned ACU vehicles?" Darius mused aloud.
"Hey! No need for all that trouble," Kenji interjected, appearing in the doorway wearing a white captain's hat he'd scavenged from a cabin.
"On the mountain near the docks, there's a penthouse complex. It was originally built for high-rollers like my dad, but I heard it later became a temporary hotel for scientists and consultants."
He spoke with rare enthusiasm; usually the odd man out, he finally had some social capital to flaunt.
"The basement of that complex houses my dad's luxury car collection, and a private refueling station. We'll definitely find fuel there."
The group was revitalized. Searching for scraps of fuel in the rusting jeeps scattered across a dinosaur-infested jungle was a nightmare; a centralized refueling station was a much better bet.
"That's great. Now the only question is... who's going to pilot this thing?" Darius asked.
"Are you asking the guy whose dad is a Yacht Club member and who just found this incredibly cool hat?" Kenji's performance was a bit hammy, clearly relishing the chance to finally be the hero.
"Alright then. Take a look and see if we have enough fuel to—"
"Aunnng—"
Suddenly, the cry of a herbivore echoed from beyond the dock's railing, cutting the discussion short.
"It's okay. It's just some Ouranosaurus," Darius said, recognizing the call. "They're docile herbivores."
CRASH!
A second later, a group of Ouranosaurus smashed through the gates in a frantic stampede, charging directly toward the kids.
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