Chapter 2 - Not as Planned
July 27th, 1997, Mango Island, Tonga
The Jeep finally arrived, and the five ran into the Management building. “Nieson. Give me a rundown.” Morrison barked. “Well, our radars detected a category-5 typhoon barreling from the East toward the island,” Nieson explained. “Evacuate all personnel immediately. When is it coming?” Morrison asked. “ETA 30 minutes,” Nieson informed. “Evacuate all personnel to the West Dock,” Morrison informed.
“Sir, with all do respect, you are suggesting we abandon Project: Jurassic Planet?” Nieson asked. “Not abandon, merely, watch. Step out of the lab for a second. We’ll come right back as soon as the storm passes.” Morrison clarified. “Of course,” Nieson nodded as he walked off. “Hey, you better get to the boats, I’ll stay behind.” Morrison nudged the others. “Man, this is my responsibility just as it is yours. I’m staying with.” Peterson explained. Sachar, Howells, and Gibson nodded in agreement and stepped forward.
“Alright the storm’s coming and the boats are still here, I’m ordering to send them off.” Morrison pressed the button, watching on the maps as both boats began to press onward to Nuku ‘Alofa just as the storm began to strike. “Storm’s hitting the Tylosaurus Lagoon and Achillobator Paddock.” Sachar watched. Suddenly, the computers became fuzzy and hazy, and then the building power went out. “Shit.” Peterson sighed.
Near the outside of the Embryonics Lab, the storm has deployed heavy rain and winds, not to mention the gloomy and loud atmosphere thanks to the lightning strikes. Inside, Earn continues working, oblivious to the evacuation order as his lab continues to be filled with bright lights, whirring machines, and bubbling vats.
Earn was writing down on a checklist, observing some eggs in a sequencer, when he noticed something was wrong when the lights in the lab flickered, before shutting off completely. Earn ran out of the building and inside his Jeep. Earn drove toward the fork, but the heavy rain pushed the spinnable signs in a death spiral. And with Earn’s unfamiliarity with anything outside the lab, he didn’t know which way led toward West Dock. He bit the bullet and took a left.
Meanwhile… as nightfall encroached, the storm was very much still on the island, in the Management Center, the power flicked on for about ten seconds, allowing the five to see that most of the carnivore paddocks are heavily damaged, and most assets are out of containment. “Shit! We got to go out there and contain them.” Morrison explained.
Meanwhile, the heavy rain flooded the mud paths, and Earn in his Jeep skidded too hard, spinning out and crashing right into a large tree, totaling the Jeep. After Earn recovered from his rattling experience, he exited his Jeep, the loud, cold, wet, dark storms clashing his familiarity with his loud, warm, dry, and bright lab.
Earn grunted with frustration as he grabbed his phone and began walking in the wet mud. He soon saw the feeding crates and paddock walls holding the Metriacanthosaurus. He glanced at the crates, the BioX logo and “PROCESSED MUTTON” were being wiped away by the heavy rain, revealing the true contents. “RAPTOR GENETICS GROUND SHEEP” Raptor Genetics had sabotaged them. Earn read that if ground sheep wasn’t processed properly, it could infect carnivores with something similar to Mad Cow Disease. And Earn doubted that Raptor would be careful making the feed.
Earn pulled out his phone to call Morrison to inform him. Earn looked up to see blood pooling, only to notice the fearful eyes of Victors, what was left of him. Earn panicked as he frantically dialed Morrison’s number. “Morrison? Morrison! Listen, we’ve been sabotaged! I knew some of the carnivores were acting aggressively and unusually, but the new shipments of BioX feed are Raptor! Morrison? Morrison?” Earn questioned.
He looked at the screen to see he had no reception, and his phone shut off, leaving Earn staring at only the dark screen. The lightning flashed briefly, leaving Earn to his reflection on the phone, but behind him, was the dreadful presence of a Metriacanthosaurus. Earn fearfully and slowly turned around, looking in terror as the Metriacanthosaurus looked down at him, tilting its head and wagging its tail curiously. Earn couldn’t move tranced by the creature's curiosity. Earn studied the theropod further. It was about 8 feet tall, its slate grey body shining against the rain and thunder. It was approximately 26 feet long, with orange stripes down its spine and legs, while its face was predominantly covered in dull lime stripes. Its bright yellow eyes examined Earn closely as well. It didn’t seem to be fully affected by the virus. But it did snarl at the man.
Earn winced, and the Metriacanthosaurus clamped down on the waist of Earn, lifting him and shaking him around before another Metriacanthosaurus bit Earn’s leg and tore it off, eating it whole just as the other crushed Earn’s waist as it dropped him and tore his abdomen open, and began to eat his flesh and entrails.
The other Metriacanthosaurus butted the first away as it began to eat Earn, but the first snapped back, biting its neck and tossing it back. The Metriacanthosaurus grabbed Earn by the chest, crushing his ribs as the other bit his waist, the two tug-of-warred him before they tore him apart, eating what scraps were left of his corpse.
Meanwhile… “What I don’t understand is why the carnivores escaped, we made them be able to enjoy such an environment.” Sachar shook his head. “Maybe they were scared by the storm?” Gibson asked. “No, they’ve dealt with tropical storms like this before, and they handled it just fine.” Morrison interjected. “Wait, look, only the Tanystropheus aren’t going crazy.” Howells pointed. “The Tanystropheus lives in a natural lake, feeding on the natural fish. The other carnivores and piscivores were forced to eat imported fish and mutton. It's possible that there was something in their food that’s making them hostile.” Peterson explained. “Well, let’s go find us some mother-fuckin’ dinosaurs,” Morrison smirked as he grabbed a cattle prod.
