Chapter Text
Ben sprinted after Kenji
Everything else had stopped mattering all of a sudden. All he cared about was somehow stopping his boyfriend from getting himself killed. He knew the idea behind Kenji’s actions was to lure the Barinasuchus away, so he understood that him following them went directly against Kenji’s intentions and wasn’t what the latter wanted, but he wasn’t going to let him sacrifice himself; not in a million years
They were both going to make it out of Isla Muerta alive
The meaning behind Ben’s reaction to what he was doing wasn’t lost on Kenji and it momentarily warmed his heart, but he was carrying way too much guilt for him to think of doing anything else; he had simply made too many mistakes, both old and new. He was reminded of when he had his friends thrown and locked up in a room just because they had figured out Daniel Kon’s true intentions and weren’t willing to go along with them while had been blind. He had been a terrible friend to five, and a terrible boyfriend to two
Maybe a sacrifice would offer him some proper redemption
Hunger drove the Barinasuchus to keep galloping after its prey, which for some odd reason had been foolish enough to willingly abandon the somewhat safety of the van. It had been days since the crocodilian’s last meal, and even that one had been cut short due to an interrupting Suchomimus
The carnivore could already taste Kenji’s flesh under its teeth
But there was something off. Somehow, no matter how hard it tried , the Barinasuchus was struggling to keep up. That hadn’t been a problem when it had chased that same human (and its mate) just a few minutes ago, but now its body was almost failing it. Each stride took more and more effort, and its pupils seemed to get heavier and heavier by the second
The dizziness was getting worse. That darn robotic nuisance had done something before being destroyed, that was for sure
The Barinasuchus stopped running once it became clear that its legs were simply incapable of doing so. Soon, it became apparent that they couldn’t even keep its body upright anymore and the predator collapsed to the ground. Seconds later, it couldn’t muster the energy to combat the ever-increasing weight of its pupils and thus its eyes were forced shut
The sedatives had done their job
Upon realising that he could no longer hear the Barinasuchus chasing after him, Kenji gathered the courage to look behind him and saw the predator lying on the ground, its chest raising and falling with each breath. He stopped running and took a moment to catch his own breath
That’s when he saw Ben coming towards him
“Ben? Why...” speaking between breaths was hard “Why did you...”
Ben didn’t answer; he didn’t even slow down. He practically jumped into Kenji’s lap and held him tighter than ever before. The latter returned the hug. A few moments later, Ben finally pulled back and looked up at Kenji
“What in the name of sanity were you thinking?”
“I... I wanted to save you”
“By sacrificing yourself? Getting yourself killed?”
“I...”
“By dooming me to spend the rest of my life without you?”
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you being hurt because of me. Not again”
For a moment, Kenji was back on Mantah Corp’s island watching Ben being attacked by a controlled Bumpy. His father’s mercenaries were hurting Ben and it didn’t matter to them. It didn’t matter to his father
But it mattered to him
Ben’s voice put an end to the flashback
“Because of you? Whatever made you think that?”
“Look, I was the one who encouraged you to come here. I kept insisting that your father had a good side, that he was being honest. I... I messed everything up, like I always do”
“That’s a load of nonsense”
“It’s not. Please let me get this off my chest. I keep making things worse. Betraying you all those years ago wasn’t enough, this time I nearly got you killed by some giant land crocodile thing. I didn’t deserve your forgiveness, I don’t deserver your love. I’m a terrible...”
“Shut up! I won’t hear anymore. I don’t care what you deserve, I love you nonetheless, and I’d rather die that to see you get yourself killed. And none of this is your fault; you just wanted me to be happy. I came here of my own volition, it was my choice and only I am responsible for it. This is even worse than I expected from my father, so you had no possible way of knowing. So please stop blaming yourself, get yourself together, and then we can focus on the both of us getting out of here alive”
Kenji stared down at Ben for a few seconds before pulling him into a second hug. A couple of tears escaped from his brown eyes
“Just... know that I love you. I always will”
“I promised that I will never leave you” Ben reminded him, his voice muffled by Kenji’s shirt “Please do the same”
Kenji hesitated, more tears streaming down his face. The guilt was still there, despite Ben’s words
“Kenji?”
“I promise” the 20 year old finally said, much to Ben’s relief
Both of them wished they could spend an eternity in each other’s comfort, but the urgency of the situation forced them to pull away from the hug
“So, what do we do now?” Kenji wondered
“We gotta get back to our room”
“Back there? But that’s where we were being kept prisoners”
“And out here we will die” Ben countered “We have no idea what’s lurking in the jungle. At least there we know our enemies”
“Fair point”
“Plus, my father needs me for something. That’s why he wanted me to come here, and that’s why he needs me alive”
“We can’t go along with what they’re planning”
“And we won’t. But I do want to know what it is so I can stop it”
“So we can stop it”
“You sure?”
“Nobody takes advantage of my boyfriend”
“Fair enough” Ben smiled “Now let’s go before...”
“Gustave here wakes up, yeah”
“Gustave?” Ben smirked “After the man eating crocodile?”
“I was thinking on my feet” Kenji defended himself
“Oh is that your excuse for Toro too?”
“Excuse me? That’s a great name, I’ll have you know”
Soon they were on their way back, laughing as their spirits were lifted
--
--
While Ben and Kenji were having their reality wake up call, things weren’t exactly great for the other team either. In fact, their trials began almost right after they entered the lush forest
Nick Van Owen was at the front carving a path with his knife whilst holding a rifle with his free hand. His old extremist activist self would hate the idea of potentially shooting a dinosaur, but he had people to protect now and was willing to do what he must. He would occasionally glance back to see if everyone was following along, knowing from personal experience what could happen if someone got separated in a place like that (he had never forgotten the Dieter Stark bits those compies didn’t like)
They were all on edge and would jump at any sound; the tropical bird calls in particular had given them a few decent scares. No one spoke a word, wanting their mission to be over as soon as possible
A resplendent quetzal bird caught Darius’ eye. Despite being on edge, the iridescent green plumage of the animal never ceased to amaze him. He had found extra admiration for birds in general after learning that they are in fact living dinosaurs (without the need for cloning, or amber DNA extraction, or any of that malarkey)
Darius suddenly saw fear in the quetzal’s eye and the bird flew away in alarm; it had spotted something from its high resting place. Darius gave the sign for everyone to stop
“Why did we halt?” Brooklynn whispered
“Something spooked a quetzal bird” he explained
“Maybe it was us?” Yaz theorised
“Given our luck?” Sammy answered
“Sshhhh” Nick ordered
The whole group stood in utter silence for a few seconds, trying to pick up any signs of a stalking hunter
And there it was
Breathing
Heavy breathing
Coming from the foliage in front of them
There was something hiding in the foliage, and judging from the quetzal’s fear, it had to be a carnivore of some sort
“What do we do now?” Sammy wondered, her voice as low as humanly possible
“Run for the helicopter” Brooklynn suggested
“No, we stand our ground. Showing weakness would be ringing the dinner bell” Nick said
“No sudden moves” Darius added
They could now see movement in the bushes surrounding them; they were being actively watched
“Are we being hunted?” Yaz asked
“Potentially” Nick told her while keeping his rifle ready to fire
The unrest in the foliage around them was growing ever stronger. Whatever had set its sights on them, it was moving with determination and purpose. The previous ensemble of animal calls was now fully gone, terrorised into silence by the unseen menace. The urge to run away was getting harder to combat, but the experienced Nick had told everyone to stand their ground. They convinced themselves, as hard as it was, that doing what he said was the best way forward
Brooklynn saw an eye staring at her from the depths of the forest. A crimson red, avian eye, that was almost seeing through her; looking past any potential facades and glancing right into her scared self
“Guys...”
A Velociraptor emerged into the path in front of them. The whole group tensed and Nick aimed his rifle at the predator. Despite having faced raptors before, this particular individual was somewhat new to them. Its skull was longer, with prominent red crests in front of its eyes. Its main body colour was greyish blue with a light blue horizontal stripe going from its neck to the end of its tail. Its small, red, round pupilled avian eye sat in the middle of a blue socket. But its most distinguishing feature were a series of quills along the back of its head
The raptor was soon joined by a second one, a female, with less prominent head crests that weren’t red, yellow eyes without the blue ring around them, and a beige coloured body with black patterns. She noticeably lacked the male’s quills
Darius saw fear taking hold of his friends and knew he had to do something quickly. He thought back to his previous encounters with raptors, in particular the one called ‘Blue’. How had they survived Blue?
The 17-year-old walked forward with confidence
“Darius, what are you doing??” Brooklynn worried
“Trust me, I’ve seen this done before”
He outstretched his arm, the palm of his hand directly facing the confused raptors. He locked eyes with them both and planted his feet firmly on the ground
“Hey!” he shouted at them “Eyes on me, both of you!”
“Kid, what are you...?” Nick was utterly flabbergasted
“I see you! Back off! Shoo!”
The raptor pair tilted their heads in confusion. There was a spark of hope that lit up Brooklynn, Sammy, and Yaz’s hearts
Darius had this
Both raptors screamed in anger and prepared to pounce, very much not impressed
Darius absolutely did not have this
“On second thought, run!” he shouted
The four former campers sprinted for their lives. Nick opened fire, but the panic meant he couldn’t aim properly. Still the sudden burst of sound was enough to make the male raptor hesitate. The female lunged at him nonetheless, and Nick countered by slashing the predator’s left eye with his knife; she cried in pain and backed away temporarily. The veteran didn’t push his luck any further and ran after the rest of his team. The raptors regained their senses and gave chase, the scarred female in particular fuelled by anger
“We can’t outrun raptors” Darius said “Climb a tree; the higher, the better”
None of them were particularly great climbers (Ben was Rambo of the jungle, after all) but having raptors breathing down their necks was enough of a motivating factor. Darius and Brooklynn climbed a tree each while Yaz and Sammy climbed the same one. Upon catching up with them, Nick joined Darius
“Good thinking” the veteran complimented him between breaths “Makes up for whatever you thought you were doing back then”
“I was doing the hand thing. I don’t understand, it worked with Blue”
“No offence dino nerd,” Brooklynn exclaimed from where she was “But it worked with Blue. Not exactly saying much when she’s kinda cuddly by raptor standards”
“Yeah these guys are proper wild” Nick explained “Not a single day of training”
“More to the point, why are they different?” Sammy asked
“Type III Velociraptor, probably taken from a tribe on Isla Sorna. The IBRIS one’s you’re familiar with are Type IV”
“Speaking of the devil...” Darius pointed
The two raptors had found them. The scarred female focused her one eye on the buffet that was sat seemingly out of reach. The male tried to climb after Brooklynn, but couldn’t get enough balance and fell back down
“Nice try, quilliam!” she teased him
The female had an appetite for Nick, the one who had scarred her in the first place. She crouched down and leapt into the air in the hope of reaching the veteran, but her jaws only caught air
“We’re safe up here, right?” Sammy pondered
“Right” Nick said “But they’re patient. We’re not out of the woods quite yet”
Even when they were trying to kill him, Darius still found it within himself to be amazed by dinosaurs. He had never seen proper wild raptors, so watching the creatures work out a problem was fascinating to him despite the fact that the problem they were trying to solve was how to reach and eat him. He was therefore curious when the female raptor rose her body and started calling loudly
Nick Van Owen was more fearful
“Oh sh*t” he noted “she’s calling for help!”
Yaz and Sammy embraced each other and Brooklynn held her ears to block the noise. Darius picked up more raptor calls who voiced their response to the female’s request. They reminded him of the calls Blue had made when summoning the rest of her squad on his first night at camp. They also reminded him of the sounds coming out of the raptor resonating chamber that had won him his ticket to Camp Cretaceous
But then there was that other call; the one he didn’t recognise. The one that didn’t sound like a Velociraptor and was more high-pitched, like the cry of a barn owl on steroids
“What the hell was that one?” the veteran wondered “you remember anything like that from your time?”
“No” Darius said “Never heard it in my life. Does sound like some kind of raptor though”
The matter seemingly lost importance when more Velociraptors came out of the foliage and surrounded the trees. Soon there was a whole pack of them standing beneath them
“Okay, while this does look pretty bad,” Yasmina said “they still can’t reach us up here”
“But we can’t stay here forever” Sammy reminded “The more we delay, the more time we give those... bastards to make more of those... Troodon things”
“Or... those things”
Everyone turned to look at Brooklynn. She was pointing down at a new arrival who had just joined the rest of the pack
“Ah sh*t” Nick swore again
The new raptor was big; 30% larger than the Velociraptors. Not just bigger, but also more robustly built. That wasn’t the only difference though, as this raptor was covered in feathers that started from the back of its jaws and continued across the entire body, ending in a tail fan and turning its arms into wings. The feathering was black and rather messy save for the yellow pennaceous feathers that attached to the arms all the way down to the second finger. Yellow feathers were also present above the eyes, almost making a makeshift crown of sorts. The eyes were amber coloured, and their stare had the same intensity as that of an eagle
It didn’t take long for it to have company, for a second such raptor soon appeared; a female based on the lack of yellow crown feathers. And then then a third and a fourth
“What are those things?” Yaz asked
“Achillobators; Achillobator giganticus. Larger cousins of Velociraptor” Darius answered
As if one wasn’t enough, they were being hunted by two species of raptor. Because of course they were
“On the bright side” Brooklynn came in “This is going to give us an opportunity; the second they start fighting, we make a run for it”
Everyone nodded and waited for the battle they knew was coming. Two different packs of raptors weren’t going to tolerate each other, surely. Two species competing for the same ecological niche meant that it wouldn’t take long before there was only one left standing
But the battle never came
“What’s taking them so long?” Sammy wondered
“I don’t know” Darius admitted “This isn’t what I expected”
“Are they... talking?” Nick pondered
At first, the idea seemed ludicrous. But then Darius saw it as well; the way the two species barked at each other. The Velociraptor matriarch pointed upwards with her head, and a male Achillobator followed her gaze until he too was staring at the 5 people taking refuge up in the trees
There was a snarl of understanding from the Achillobator
“A mix pack” Darius concluded “It’s a mixed pack of raptors; two species hunting and living together. Like a mixed foraging flock of birds. I never would have imagined this behaviour in raptors! It’s amazing!”
“Could you not praise the things that are going to kill us, dino nerd?”
“Sorry, B”
They were now surrounded by an equal number of Velociraptors and Achillobators. The predators were clearly up to something; the raptor matriarch had called the bators in for a reason
“We need some kind of distraction” Sammy suggested
“How?” Darius wondered “We’re all stuck up here”
“In times like this I miss Ben” Yasmina said
“Not all of us” Nick smiled as he pulled his radio out of his pocket “We’re still close to the helicopter. Maybe D-Caff can help”
He activated the device
“D-Caff? D-Caff come in”
There was the annoying sound of static before the pilot finally answered
“Nick? Is that you? Bit of an inappropriate time”
“Listen, we’ve got a problem in our hands”
“Me too”
“Sucks, but I really mean it. We’re surrounded by a pack of raptors over here”
The sound of a gunshot being fired thundered through the radio
“Me too”
--
--
D-Caff’s helicopter was completely encircled by the mixed pack. If Doctor Sorkin were there, she could have recognised the pack’s attack pattern for larger prey items; surrounding the target before latching on and tearing flesh apart with their front limb claws, drawing rivers of blood before stalking the weakened target until it bleeds out. Of course those raptors had never seen a helicopter before so they assumed it must be edible. Velociraptors barked and Achillobators screeched while opening their wings to look extra large and intimidating
D-Caff reloaded his rifle and prepared to open fire once again. He quickly picked his target, opened the door, and fired a shot
“Sod off, you bastards!!”
An Achillobator cried out in pain before collapsing on the ground. The rest of the pack quickly took a few steps back, the bators flapping their wings as they did so, now aware that their target wasn’t defenceless. One male raptor screeched and charged at the open door. D-Caff saw it and closed the door just in time for the animal to smash into it, the force of the impact throwing the pilot to the ground
A male bator lunged into the air and latched onto the helicopter’s side. Still thinking the vehicle was made of flesh, it tried to slash it with its hand talons but the metal proved too tough to tear apart. The sound of its claws on the metallic structure was ear bleeding. Realising that the helicopter wasn’t the prey but rather the creature hiding inside of it was, a female raptor slammed her body against one of its windows in the hope of smashing her way inside and the vehicle shook violently. It wasn’t long before the attack intensified and soon both species of predator were taking turns trying to break in, crying and screeching loudly after each failed attempt
D-Caff was running out of options. Turning his head to look behind him, he could see that one bator was just about to break through one of the windows. Driven by a new idea, he made his way to the helicopter’s controls
“Think ya’ll are the only loud ones? Get a load of this!”
He switched one of the controls and the helicopter’s rotors started spinning, making one of the raptors which had made its way to the roof fall to the ground. The sudden change startled the pack and they called off their assault, roaring at the helicopter as they did so. The machine confused them; it wasn’t edible, yet it was also somewhat ‘alive’. Loud too, as by that point the sound of the spinning rotors was all-consuming
Confusion was starting to spread through the pack. D-Caff took the opportunity to open the door and fire another shot at them, hell bent on pressing his advantage. Unfortunately for him, the screech of the alpha male Achillobator (whom Dr. Sorkin called Khan) silenced all other raptors. Khan was larger than the other bators, and its crown of yellow feathers above its head was more elaborate
He wasn’t going to be denied
With a couple of loud calls, Khan had the entire pack under its thumb once more. He personally lead the charge and once again attacked the weakest window, ignoring the thundering sound of the spinning rotors. The window budged and the animal’s head made its way inside
“Oh no you don’t!”
D-Caff fired at the predator, but Khan was smart enough to pull away just at the right time. Inspired, the rest of the pack joined in on a second full-on assault. Knowing it was only a matter of time before he was overwhelmed, the pilot made his way to the controls once again. There was now only one thing for it; he had to leave
The idea of taking off without the others didn’t sit well with him because based on what Nick had told him earlier, they too were dealing with raptors. But then again, there was no way for him to help them if he was dead, and he would soon be if he didn’t do anything. Another glance behind him revealed a female Velociraptor that was making her way through the glass, her head and neck already being inside. Putting himself together, he decided to take off
The helicopter rotors spun even faster and the vehicle rose to the air. The raptor that was forcing her way inside lost balance and fell back down. Once D-Caff was satisfied with the altitude, he rose from his chair and took the rifle again, keeping the helicopter static in mid air
The pilot opened the door and aimed at the animals below him. The whole pack was looking up, barking in frustration
“Get lost already!”
D-Caff fired shot after shot and the group started to scatter. They all seemed panicked except for one
Khan
The alpha bator locked eyes with its defiant prey. D-Caff took a moment to reload, intent on shooting Khan next
“You want some, you overgrown eagle?”
Khan’s eyes screamed determination. He crouched down, his expression looking like he was calculating something. D-Caff took aim
Suddenly, Khan leapt into the air. D-Caff was surprised at this, since he was sure there was no way for the predator to reach him at that height. At first, he seemed to be correct because the alpha bator started loosing momentum with about half of the way still left to go. The pilot smirked; one last failed attempt on the dinosaur’s part
But then came the flap
Khan flapped his wings at just the right time. The momentum boost was so strong that he flew upwards even faster than before. Fear possessed D-Caff
“What the...”
The Achillobator’s jaws slammed shut over the helicopter’s landing gear. The sudden addition of weight meant the vehicle tilted to one side and D-Caff lost balance. Khan’s foot reached for the gear and grabbed it. The animal then started pulling himself inside while the rest of the pack looked on with excitement
D-Caff crawled away from the predator. He had lost his rifle when falling over, and it now sat out of his reach. Khan approached him tentatively and screeched at his face, its spread-out wings descending upon the helpless pilot like a vampire’s cape. D-Caff searched for anything he could potentially use as a weapon. He remembered the radio in his pocket and quickly pulled it out
“Nick? Are you there? Nick!”
He then threw the radio behind his attacker without waiting for a response. Khan didn’t seem to particularly care, and kept his eyes on D-Caff
“D-Caff? Can you hear me? What’s your status? D-Caff?” Nick Van Owen’s voice came through the radio
Thinking that there was a second human on board, the Achillobator turned to the back of the helicopter where the radio had landed. His avian eyes scanned every corner looking for a potential new target. D-Caff took the opportunity to stand up and tried to reach for his rifle...
...but Khan’s focus swiftly shifted back to him, having realised the deception. This time the predator didn’t hesitate and threw himself at his prey. D-Caff was sent flying backwards and landed on the helicopter’s controls, accidentally pulling the leaver and forcing the vehicle to move forward without control
“You utter bastard!!”
He could see from the front window that they were about to crash into a tree. He tried to steer the helicopter away but there was no way to do so in time
Khan jumped out before impact, his body protected from the fall by extensive feather coverage that acted like a shock absorber. D-Caff was left to face the upcoming disaster alone
--
--
Nick kept trying the radio
“D-Caff, what’s going on over there? Say something, report to me!”
Darius knew that it was in vain. Loosing communication with someone who’s last update was being surrounded by a pack of raptors wasn’t exactly a cause for optimism. Of course they were also surrounded by raptors, probably an off shoot of the same pack
All the more reason for why they should move on and lament the potential loss later
“It’s hopeless. We need a new plan” he finally told Nick
“But if he’s gone that means we’re stuck here!”
“One problem at a time, shall we?”
“Ya’ll,” Sammy interrupted “What’s that one up to?”
She pointed to a certain bator that was crouching down, almost as if it was readying itself to jump...
“Chill, they tried reaching us before and it didn’t work” Brooklynn tried to calm her down
The Achillobator leaped into the air and everyone held their breaths. Darius wondered why the matriarch had called in the new species if they were just going to try the same tactic as earlier, and initially it looked like the previous failed result was going to be replicated
But much like Khan, there was a perfectly timed flapping of the wings
The predator gained extra momentum and ended up reaching the branch Darius and Nick were holding on to. There was a collective scream as its jaws grabbed a hold of the appendage. A fairly large animal hanging from the branch caused it to tilt, and both Nick and Darius fell down. Brooklynn called out Darius’ name in terror
The attack from the rest of the pack was instant
Excessive pain meant Darius’ body did not respond. He could hear the raptors charging for him, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He raised his head to see a male Velociraptor heading right for him, its sparse quills raised with clear aggression. He could see the reflection of his terrified expression on the predator’s blood-red eyes, and yet his muscles wouldn’t obey him when he ordered them to move. He thought he had stared in the face of death before, but nothing could compare to the creature currently charging straight for him
The Velociraptor’s charge came to a halt when Brooklynn dropped on top of the animal from above. She wrapped her arms around the raptor’s neck, doing her best to wrangle it into submission. The animal wouldn’t give in, however, and flung her away with a body shake
“BROOKLYNN!” Darius yelled as he watched her body hitting a rock
Himself being in danger hadn’t been enough for him to stand up, but Brooklynn was a different story; she was special, and he wasn’t going to let her be harmed; not after she endangered herself for his sake. He forced his rebellious body back up, only to find himself surrounded by a female Velociraptor and the Achillobator who had leapt towards him a few minutes ago. Two different species of raptor working together to hunt; that was going to be his undoing after all his previous escapes. In a way, he found it fitting. Like the animals deserved their victory as a reward for cooperation
Nick Van Owen would have tried to intervene, if it wasn’t for the dominating foot of the scarred raptor matriarch pressing down on him. He could feel her saliva dropping onto his back, and her malicious snarl permeated into his very being. The lead Velociraptor was going to enjoy every second of the upcoming mauling
A few meters away, Achillobators were climbing after Sammy and Yasmina, using their wings as extra balance
Unlike everyone’s previous experiences, this time death had quickly gained the upper hand