We waited for LB to recover a little first. Since we got to him in the early stages of the venom's effects, he recovered fairly quickly. Loni and I were relieved when he assured us he could keep up. We had to be fast. We split the rest of the flares between us.

"Alright, people, you know the plan," I told them and took my position. I counted to three and lit my flare, tossing it out into the corridor. The Troodons shrieked and scattered. "Go!"

We burst out the door. I threw flares directly in front of us, clearing the way, while Loni and Lb threw flares into the hallways to cut the Troodons off. The stairwell was going to be the real hurdle. I had enough flares to light the way, but I did not know what would happen if we wound up cornering the Troodons. There were only so many places the Troodons could go.

Fortune was smiling at us. The stairwell was clear of the ugly lizards. We didn't see another Troodon for the rest of the mad dash to the maintenance hatch. The room was barely big enough for everyone. Thankfully, the survivors climbed the ladder quickly. The entire operation was over in five minutes flat. I slammed the maintenance hatch closed. I took a moment to shake hands and receive high fives from the others. We got them out. Soon we could put this nightmare behind us.

I was going to have a word with Dodgson, though. This place needed to go, and these dinosaurs were too volatile for whatever machinations his bosses might have. But for the moment, I was just glad to be alive and glad my team was alive.

Some researchers suggested we open the garage and take the vehicles. But I vetoed that idea. There was no telling if the Troodons had found a way into the garage. Since the researchers had been on the first floor, that's why there was a greater presence there. I didn't want to tempt fate. "Come on, you nerds. A little walking won't kill you."

"I take offense to that." One researcher said. "I'm a geek, not a nerd."

"As if there's a difference." Another taunted.

"You can argue semantics while we walk," I told them.

They did. It was surreal listening to them argue the facts of geek vs nerd. Humorous too. I noticed Loni and LB doing their best not to laugh. I was doing my best. Relatively happy endings like this made the job bearable. When we reached the helipad, I was brought up short. A personnel chopper was sitting there now. I had a moment to wonder what the hell was going on before armed men had surrounded us.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

A quick look around told me there were too many. My team and I were disarmed and handcuffed. Same for the other researchers. Except one. A lanky man with messy hair and thick-framed glasses. He approached a man with brown buzz-cut hair. He was clearly in charge.

"Good job Dr. Simmons. INGEN appreciate your loyalty." The man in charge said to the researcher.

Fucking INGEN. The puzzle pieces were fitting together. Biosyn buys the island does the research. They plant a mole. The mole steals the research and kills everyone. Things obviously didn't go as planned.

The man in charge stepped forward and looked me up and down. "I know you. Your Muldoons boy. Now, why would you be here working for Biosyn when your old man was part of the INGEN family?"

I rolled my eyes. "Like I care about that shit. Let the researchers go. Even if they talk, it's not like they can prove anything."

The man in charge chuckled. "Plug your bleeding heart, boy. I'm not here to kill anyone but to reclaim INGENs intellectual property."

"Don't do it," I warned him. "It is not worth it. Those things are too volatile. You probably don't care about the thousands of lives that could be lost. But the heat the company will receive when those things escape and wreak their havoc will have to be pinned on somebody." I gave him a meaningful look. "Who do you think they'll blame it on?"

The man in charge placed a hand over his heart. "I didn't know you cared." He laughed and his men laughed with him. "They'll blame it on Biosyn and Lewis Dodgson, of course. Boys, lock em up in the guardhouse till we're done."

His men hauled me to my feet. We were marched to the guardhouse and thrown in with the other survivors. It was a tight fit, but they didn't care. I wanted to pull my hair out. Things were about to get ugly. I already knew what was going to happen. They'd restore power and get inside the building. They might capture some Troodons, but some sixth sense told me not all would be caught. The ones they missed would hunt the men and somehow free the others, and it would be a bloodbath. How did I know this? These Troodons were supposed to be as smart as velociraptors. From what I knew of the Dinosaurs they were smart and deadly. After all, they killed my old man, and he was a hunter unrivaled, save for one.

I watched INGEN's goons get into their vehicles and drive off towards the facility. I needed to get my radio back. The Challenger needed to be contacted. We needed reinforcements. More than that, we needed to burn this island to the ground. We had enough ordinances on the challenger to do just that. The only question was how to get a radio from the men watching us.

"This is unit one. We've arrived at the facility. Be ginning infiltration now, unit two stand by." said a voice over the man radio. He picked it up and replied. "Roger that, unit one." We needed to act soon. I turned to Loni and Lb and discussed our options. We didn't want to get the survivors hurt, but time wasn't on our side and we needed to move fast.

Gunfire could be heard in the distance and panicked screams blared over the radio. We were too late. Any minute now, the Troodons would get out and we'd all die.

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