"Quick! Hide, everyone!"
Inside the dical tent, Charlie lay on the operating table with only the faintest signs of respiration. Zia urgently gestured for the others to scramble into the corners.
"Does she still have a heartbeat?"
A mont later, a small observation window in the wall slid open. A burly rcenary in a tank top peered through, clutching a rifle, while other guards stood watch behind him, scanning the area as if hunting for sothing.
"She does. What about you guys?" Zia replied.
"Good. Move her in with the other Raptors."
Ignoring Zia's barbed tone, the rcenary slamd the window shut. He led his team toward the rear of the hold to begin the transfer. Zia reacted instantly, waving her arms and silently signaling the others to make their break.
One, two...
The stevedores, ard with flashlights and sidearms, arrived at the back of Charlie's transport vehicle a step ahead of the Raptor team.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
Thump-thump.
Franklin was caught dead to rights by a dockworker. The sight of the man's firearm caused his brain to short-circuit.
"I... I'm..."
Fortunately, Zia was quick on her feet. Noticing the commotion, she threw back the tent flap and explained to the worker:
"I needed an extra pair of hands just now. He was helping ."
The worker processed this. "You're crew?"
"I... I am," Franklin stamred.
The dockworker's posture softened slightly. Like a seasoned veteran looking after a rookie, he beckoned Franklin over.
"We're unloading. Follow . Stay behind , too, there's a monster loose on this ship."
"Does that an... we've arrived?"
"That's exactly what it ans. Don't just stand there, keep up. Anyone who falls behind gets snatched by the beast."
Franklin swallowed hard. The worker assud the "newbie" was terrified of the monster, but in reality, he was simply paralyzed by the absurdity of the situation.
"O-okay..."
"Move it, move it!"
Franklin took the coil of rope, its purpose unknown to him, offered by the man, stealing one last glance back at the others.
Owen and Claire were huddled under a vehicle, speaking in hushed tones. They knew Franklin had to wing it on his own; there was nothing they could do to intervene without blowing their cover.
"Damn it."
"He's going to get made."
"We have to help him."
"Stay here, I'll go get—"
Owen started to crawl out to rescue Franklin, but the roar of a truck engine cut him off.
"Too late. Go!"
The two scrambled out from under the chassis. Taking advantage of the chaos, they slipped back into the truck containing Ceratosaurus Two. Just as Owen pulled the door shut, two loud thumps hit the tal, startling them both.
"Good to go!" a crewman shouted from outside.
The two inside exchanged a look, their path set.
"Where are they taking them?"
"I think we're about to find out."
…
Near the docks, only dim streetlamps flickered along the road, while the lighthouse searchlight swept in a rhythmic rotation. Suddenly, the high-intensity beam locked onto the pier as if spotting a target.
"Clear the way! Open up a landing zone!"
Five transport helicopters, sling-loading a gargantuan container, aligned themselves over a specialized heavy-load platform on a waiting truck. They began a slow descent.
Being airborne is actually pretty trippy.
Carlo had remained awake, experiencing his own version of "Up" inside the container. The scents at the harbor were a chaotic ss of human sweat and dinosaur musk.
Mom and Dad haven't woken up yet...
Carlo tracked their positions through the general direction of their scents. Their tracks hadn't moved much; when they did, it was the chanical, steady movent of a vehicle.
Clack...
The locking chanisms engaged. Carlo's container was secured onto the freight truck. The vehicle began to roll forward, trailing slightly behind the convoy carrying his parents as they headed toward the forest.
"Aok?"
On the ground, weaving through the maze of containers, a silhouette darted back and forth. She poked her head out cautiously, surveying the harbor with a thoughtful expression.
So many things that haven't been overtaken yet. I want to overtake them all.
Beep—Beep—
A crane groaned as it hoisted a container next to her, giving her a start.
What's that thing? Can I overtake it?
Intrigued by the crane, the Utahraptor leaped onto the side of the rising container. Luckily, she was on the side facing the treeline, and none of the workers spotted her.
Clack.
Failing to find a way onto the crane itself, she hopped off the container as it settled, vanished into the forest, and began stealthily tailing the convoy.
…
"This is the Lockwood Estate..."
Claire recognized their destination as the convoy approached. She had suspected as much, but the reality was still hard to swallow. Benjamin Lockwood didn't seem like the type of man to orchestrate this. If he was, what could possibly be the motive?
"He must have a massive garage," Owen remarked. He had never been here, though Lockwood's "little errand boy" had sought him out previously.
A guard standing sentry at the gates watched the vehicles pass. He had been part of the Raptor capture team. Suddenly, he spotted two familiar figures through a gap. Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, he hesitated for a second before pressing his comms.
…
The first group of trucks had already arrived at the manor and begun unloading.
The red steel walls of the containers were stripped away, revealing the cages beneath. The vehicles docked with a specialized transit tunnel at the rear of the manor, and the cages were slowly drawn into the structure.
It was the sa transit system used at Jurassic World.
"Baa-a-a~!"
A goat, prepared in advance, was tethered at the front of the passage. As the space opened up, Rexy finally stood to her full height. She moved into the tunnel and swallowed the goat in a single snap.
Seizing the mont, the transit platform descended rapidly into the sub-basent. A stone door in the wall slid open. Rexy moved toward the light, only to realize she was in yet another cage.
As the stone door sealed behind her, she let out an annoyed huff and slamd her head against the iron bars. A bit of plaster fell, but the bars didn't budge. Rexy could only vent with a frustrated roar.
"Aunnng-ro…"
The roar cut off abruptly. Rexy realized that right across from her, a Scientificus Tyrannosaurus was sitting in another cage, quietly watching her every move.
Feeling a bit self-conscious, as her behavior could easily be misconstrued as a provocation to another of her kind, she offered a tentative greeting.
"Gurggh…" (Hello.)
"Gurggh…" (Hello to you, too.)
…
Carlo's container was placed in a secluded clearing behind the manor.
If I play dead, I wonder what these people will do? Wait... why am I not with the main group?
Beep—Beep—Beep—
A sharp alarm blared, and a faint red glow pulsed. A section of the lawn sank three feet, forming a perfect square. A seam appeared in the center, and the ground slid apart to either side.
Thud!
The container jolted slightly as it settled onto a tal platform beneath the lawn. A mont later, the platform descended. The "lawn" slid shut and rose back to ground level, leaving everything looking exactly as it had before.
Fine. Guess I don't need to play dead after all.
———————
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