Keeping You in the Aftermath

A/N: I know it's been ages since I've last updated! So sorry, but school kept me SO BUSY. But since we're not going on winter trips this year (dad has to work *boooo*), my utmost priority is to finish all my stories during the winter break. Once again, THANK YOU for reading this story!

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Chapter 11

"Owen, what did you see?"

But he didn't heed any attention to her words as he grabbed her hand and hastily pulled her along, toward the grey-lit coastline where she had left Lowery. His steps were quick and desperate, with his large calloused hand firmly enveloping her hand as if he'd never let go, and she stumbled along on the rough grassy terrain behind him.

"Owen…wait…"

"We're leaving this island."

"Wait a second…" Claire pulled on his hand roughly, enough for him to halt in his tracks and turn his face upon her with a deep scowl. "Owen…what did you see behind those trees?"

"Claire, not now."

"Owen…" She stepped closer to him, "I need to know."

"Damn it, Claire, make this easy for once."

By the jagged heave of his exhale, it looked as though he'd finally relent, and Claire felt a small welling of satisfaction tugging at her heart. But such moment turned out to be abruptly temporary, as Owen once again pulled on her hand forward, and this time with disquieting determination. He trekked on with large bounding steps, forcing her to relent to him instead, "Not this time, Claire…"

"But…Owen…"

He seemed all but impervious to her pleadings as he charged toward the tall blades of damp grass with the air of focus and strength, just as he firmly guided her along with a tight grip of her hand. Claire was all too familiar with his fortitude at its highest persistence, and knew it was essentially useless to argue with him at that point. She pursed her lips in relegation, and stumbled behind his footsteps in silence until they reached the patchy clearing where Lowery was seen shuffling nervously by the baby raptors.

"Owen…" Lowery gasped in the sliver of the moon light, "What the…what the hell is going on?"

"We're getting off the island," Owen's voice was ragged and husky against his labored breath, "And don't ask for an explanation."

"Don't care for an explanation, I'm ready to leave." Lowery shivered in relief, "It's about damn time…there's some weird shit going on in this island."

"How are we gonna do this?" Claire whispered, "Where is the helicopter?"

"It's about twenty minutes away, toward the east. We need to move now." Owen looked up to the sky, at the ghostly dimness of the moon, "We have about two hours before sun up, and we need to get out of here before the light…before we become visible."

"And the raptors?" She gritted her teeth in resolve, "Owen, you know I'm not about to…"

"I know…" He didn't let her finish, for he knew full well what was about to be unleashed, "We're gonna have to make two trips…but we'll make it."

"And where would we put them?"

"I'll radio Barry from the helicopter…we can keep them in the park paddock with Blue."

"Alright…this little lovers' chat is cute and all," Lowery slid in between them with an irate flair, "but is it at all possible to discuss the finer details as we actually walk toward the helicopter in question? As long as we stand out here, we might as well just volunteer ourselves to be a tasty treat for that big and loud thing."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"OK…that's the last of them." Barry poured the remaining water into the small trough, and looked about the paddock, "All twenty-four of them, tucked and safe."

"Thanks, man." Owen waited until Barry walked out, and then pressed the button to close the gate, "Couldn't have done this without you…"

"Thanks, Barry…" Claire nodded her head toward his direction as soon as he reached his truck parked by the feeding barrack, "Are they going to be alright?"

"Looks like it…cute little fellas, aren't they?" He smiled a bit, "I'll give them a check-up in the morning, after the feeding."

"Should've seen them about two hours ago", Lowery chimed in with a smirk, "They were about to claw through my throat. Little murderous weapons…they won't be so cute if they had your blood all over their tiny fangs."

Owen and Claire shot him a scowl of disdain, but Barry's face bore a fluster of confusion, "So, let me get this straight…you saw Wu tonight? And he has another island filled with dinosaurs?"

"To make the long story short…yes." Owen roughly combed through his hair, and Claire winced, knowing such a gesture was a vain attempt at fighting against fatigue, "There's a third island, off the coast of Sorna. It looks like Wu set up shop there…"

"Shop, as in containment space for all the rejected experiments…" Lowery muttered under his breath, "God knows what you'd find there…mucked up hybrids of all kinds of shit. Little shop of horrors, more like it."

"Jesus…" Barry shook his head, "And you said these raptors have…human DNA?"

Owen's furrowed brows creased even deeper, "And that's not even the worst of it."

Claire stepped closer to him and tugged at his sleeve, "Owen…what did you see behind the trees? You just gotta spit it out…"

"Now, I'm not certain what I saw…"

"Owen…"

"It was pitch dark, and I couldn't see clearly, if at all…"

"Bull shit, Owen." Claire gripped his arm, and turned him around to face her, "What the hell did you see back there?"

"It was…" He hesitated, as if afraid even to utter the words into existence, "It was a large animal…standing erect…and it was grey, almost white in color…"

"White…?"

Owen looked squarely into her eyes, "It was Indominus Rex…I knew by the way it looked, the way it moved…and the way it sounded."

"Oh, my god…" Claire gasped, to take hold of a breath that felt forcefully robbed from her lungs, "Wu made another one…"

"No…" Owen relegated with a heavy exhale, "Not just one…there was two."

. . . . . . . . . .

Claire squinted her eyes at the cloying presence of the seeping sunlight that escaped a sliver between the faded blue curtains at the far wall. The teasing sunlight goaded her and persisted in bringing her to waking lucidity, and she hazily wiped her eyes with her hands. Her eyes protested to her own mind, wanting none of the rude interruption from delicious slumber, but she willed them to flutter open, to take in the sight that filled her with alarming disorientation.

Claire knew she was lying on a bed, but the room was certainly not hers, and she couldn't recollect how she ended up there. In fact, she remembered being at the raptors' paddock last night, but everything after that seemed to be of fuzzy shapes and sounds. And Owen…where is Owen?

Then a sluggish presence that let out a raspy snore alerted her senses, and Claire abruptly turned to face the warm mound nudging at the right side of her body. "Jesus Christ…"

It was Owen, blissfully sleeping at her side, with his hair tussled without a care and the white sheet tugged off his bare chest. Claire sighed in relief and wiped a small bead of sweat off of her forehead, at the reprieve of realizing that she was in Owen's bungalow. She didn't know how she ended up there…but it didn't matter. Claire knew she'd always be safe if Owen was by her side.

She smiled at the ardor of his presence, and reached over to stroke his arm, finding his skin warm and pulsating with life, and she couldn't help but to leave a trail of kisses. And she studied his face, finding it endearing with almost a gleeful contentment, with none of the deep lines of fatigue from the night before. She was tempted to allow him to sleep as long as he wanted to, hoping it'd erase all the worries and anxieties that lay ominously before them.

"Hey, beautiful…" But she was awaken from her contemplation by his clear green eyes, peeking through the haze of slumber and rest, and looking longingly at her. Owen languidly wrapped his warm hands around her waist, and drew her closer to him, "You're up early…"

"Yeah…" She stroked his face gently, just as he leaned in and kissed her deeply, and his hand travelled underneath her tank top to caress her cool bare back. She moaned at the touch that seemed to ease all the tension in her body, and she pulled closer to him by the nape of his neck.

"This is certainly the way I'm planning to wake up every morning…" Owen teased into her ear as he nuzzled at her neck, kissing every crevice with his hungry lips. Claire moaned again, as she couldn't help it, and Owen took that into pleasure as his hand cupped her bare breast. His breath was ragged as he mumbled, "I missed you…"

"Owen…"

"Huh?"

He was now tugging at her panties, and Claire knew he wanted to make love to her. But…now was not the time, and she had another pressing matter filling in her heart. "Owen…"

"What…"

She pushed him a slight, so she can take hold of his face, "We have to talk."

"About what?"

"We have to go back."

"What…?"

"We have to go back...to Tracy Island."

"Jesus Christ…Claire…" Owen's eyes widened in disbelief and regret, as if cold water was thrown most cruelly and unceremoniously at his face. "You can't be serious…must we talk about this, now?"

"Yes…" She straightened her tank top just as he retracted his hands from her, "We have to go back…today, if possible."

"First of all," he sat up from the bed and roughly scratched the back of his head, "I knew you wanted to go back there, but this can wait. I'm in no hurry to go back without knowing just what the hell I'm getting myself into."

"What if…what if there are animals in danger?"

Owen shrugged his shoulders, "How about we just let Darwin take care of it? Survival of the fittest, the circle of life, and all the other laws of nature…who knows how long the animals had lived on the island, but I'm sure they'll continue to survive without human beings meddling into it."

"Survival of the fittest…as in a pair of hybrid dinosaurs terrorizing the entire island."

"And what do you suggest we do about that? As I recall, we didn't exactly have a great track record dealing with just one Indominus Rex. Look, Claire…" Owen leaned closer to her and held her arms to face him, "They're on an island, off the map. They're well-contained."

"It is not that simple."

"It is that simple. I can tell you, problems start when human beings meddle with what they should just leave alone."

"Wu is out of control."

"As I've said, they're on an island, they're well-contained. Let the mad doctor have his playground, as long as he stays right where he should be."

Claire scowled at his surprising detachment, "I can't believe you're OK with any of this. Aren't you even a bit curious?"

"Nope, not really."

"Owen, we are talking about animals…living and breathing animals. I don't understand how you can be so indifferent…"

"They're sustained by the island, given the freedom and the space to roam and to live. They're not bound by some damn walls, secured in some damn paddock…I'd think those animals have it good. They're animals, allowed to live as animals."

"Well, I still think we need to know just what kind of animals are living on that island. We need to at least keep them catalogued…"

"Catalogued?"

"You know…keep them on record…"

"Yeah, whatever…" Owen snorted out a chuckle, much to her dismay and most likely at her expense, but he leaned closer to her with his hands grasping her bare legs, "Claire, don't you think there's something else we need to talk about?"

His green eyes were bright now, and they pierced into her eyes in search of something. And the warmth of his calloused hands upon her legs sufficiently melted her thorny resolve, and he could've had anything he wanted, without knowing it. "Like what…?"

"We need to talk about you and me…us…"

"Us?"

"Yes…us…" Owen rubbed her legs gently, while an amorous smile reared upon his face, "I love you…and you love me…so, I think that makes a fair case of us now being referred to as…us…"

"What are you talking about? Wait a minute…are you trying to change the subject? Because I'm not done talking about that island…"

"No, no…I mean, yes, I am trying to change the subject. I don't care about that damn island…not now, anyway." He pulled her closer to him, and his eyes flickered to her lips, "Claire, sweetheart…we need to talk about some arrangements…"

"Arrangements?"

"Living arrangements…" Owen whispered under his breath as he leaned in to kiss her, "As in you and me…living together…"

"Owen…" Claire's fluttering voice felt caught in the startle, for she hadn't expected him to be thinking about any of this, not this early anyway. "We should really think this through…"

"Oh, I thought about it…I thought a lot about it."

"It's really been only a day since we…"

"Claire, I've been in love with you since the day we met…"

"Owen…"

"And I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Owen leaned in to kiss her again, and she gladly surrendered to him, lingering over the sweet scent of his lips, "I don't know what to say…"

"Say, yes…" His words trembled in a low and husky tone, as if he was daunted and anxious, "Say you'll move in here with me."

"What…here?" She instinctively muffled a chuckle that threatened to surface, "Are you serious? Here…in this bungalow?"

"There's plenty of room for both of us."

"Umm…" She had to figure out how to tell him that his bungalow was the size of her bedroom closet, "Owen…I don't know if all my stuff will fit in here…"

"We'll figure it out. Plus, I'm not letting stuff get in the way of our plans."

"Owen…" She stroked his face, endeared by his tenacious love for her, "It's not that I don't want to move in with you…it's just that your place is…a bit too cozy."

"Cozy?"

"I don't think there's enough room for both of us." She eyed the small lone wardrobe by the bathroom door, "To be honest…this entire bungalow is the size of my closet…"

"Claire…" Owen drew her closer to him, and smiled at her bewildered countenance, "Don't worry about your stuff. We'll figure it out."

"Owen, we're gonna have to do more than figure it out…we have to plan and…"

"Oh, Jesus…Claire, it's two people living together, not some international global summit…"

"Where am I gonna put my clothes….my shoes…my laptop and work stuff…and my Eames chair set…"

"Your what?"

"Don't look at me like that…" Owen was now chuckling at her, and she knew he thought her pretty ridiculous at that point, "I was on the waiting list for two years to get them…"

"Two years for a bunch of chairs?"

"And they're not just your typical Eames…they're custom-made white calf hair…they're considered a work of modern art…""

"Calf hair…there's something ironic about bringing those into the animal park…"

"Owen…"

"Claire…don't worry about your Eames chair set, or any other fancy trinkets. We'll figure it out…" He smiled warmly as he nuzzled her neck, kissing her again, "There's plenty of room for all of your stuff."

"Easy for you to say, Mr. Minimalist…"

Owen pulled her down onto the bed, which she didn't protest to, and his warm lips suckled on hers in a deep kiss, "So…what do you say?"

"So, I guess we're done planning…" She teased him, which elicited a sly laughter from him.

"Yup, we're done planning…"

"Your devil-may-care attitude is starting to rub off on me…not sure if that's good, though…"

"Oh, it's a good thing…it's a very good thing…" His hand had made its way to her bare skin underneath her tank top again, "So…what do you say…?"

"OK…" She smiled demurely, enjoying the feel of his warm hand caressing its way to her breasts, and the anticipation was making her shudder at the core. It had always been yes…even without him having to ask for it.

"OK, you'll move in?"

"OK, I'll move in."

"Good…" She felt his body exhale in relief, and she smiled at his boyish meekness. He was now pulling at her tank top with the full intention of taking it all off, "Because I'm just about done with talking. It's time for mad, wild, animal sex…"

"Owen…" Claire laughed with unrestrained exhilaration, just as he succeeded in pulling her tank top off, and flung it across the room with a mad flair. He fell on top of her, and started on her panties. "Owen…wait…"

"Now what…?"

"There's one more thing we need to do…"

"Claire…you've gotta be kidding me." Owen had pulled off her panties, but looked upon her with expectant eyes, "Can it wait? Until after we, you know…"

"Yes…it can wait…"

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"OK, tell me again why I have to tag along?"

"Because Lowery, you run the slowest, and you know what they say about being chased by a hungry animal."

"Great…glad I could help." Lowery clutched onto his laptop tighter as the helicopter lifted off the ground, and ascended quickly in the hands of Owen at the helm.

Claire shot a quick baleful glance at Owen, and turned to Lowery seated in the back, "Because you're our satellite guy. We need you to stay connected to the rest of the world…"

"And to take the third shift for look-out, in case we need to stay overnight." Owen muttered with a light chuckle, but Lowery's ashen face indicated he was in no mood to take anything as jest.

"Wait…we're gonna sleep over there? Nobody said anything about sleeping over there…"

"You've gone camping before, haven't you? Pitching a nice tent, eating some beans by the fire…it'd be fun. Well, minus the potential ravenous dinosaurs everywhere…" Owen was starting to have too much fun in Lowery's expense, and Claire poked him sharply in the arm.

"Owen, that's enough." And she turned to face Lowery again, "No, we're not planning to spend a night there…if everything goes according to plan, we should be back in couple of hours."

"Let's…let's hope everything goes according to plan," Lowery gulped loudly, just as the helicopter started its gentle descent upon a flat hill on Tracy Island. "Whatever the plan might be…"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Let's take two bottles of water, and leave the rest in the helicopter." Owen handed Claire a backpack, just as he scanned the heavily shrouded forest at the foot of the hill where the helicopter rested. "Let's not go too far…."

"So…what's the plan?" Lowery secured the laptop in his backpack, "What the hell are we doing here?"

"We're here to evaluate the animals." Claire answered promptly, "We need to know what kind of species are roaming around here, and evaluate if the environment is safe for their viability."

"It seems pretty safe to me," Lowery quipped after taking a long look around the rather quiet and tranquil island. "Well, except for a pair of Indominus Rex lurking about…"

"Let's get moving…and keep it quiet." Owen signaled to Claire just as he gripped his rifle, and he walked forward, leading them down the hill.

Lowery was right; the island seemed peaceful and quiet, with hardly any noise or movement, except for the occasional birds' cry from deep yonder. They walked through a thick and lush meadow of grass for about thirty minutes, without spotting any animals. Lowery wiped a bead of sweat from his face, and muttered hoarsely, "This is almost eerie…where is everybody?"

"Be quiet." Owen whispered in a firm tone, and suddenly stopped in his tracks, "Do you see that?"

"What? Where?" Claire ducked behind him, with Lowery crouching quickly behind her. Owen kept his finger pointed at his right, and she followed his focus to a small pond about a half a mile down the incline. And she saw them…about a dozen small dinosaurs shuffling around carelessly.

"What the…" Lowery took out his camera, and started to take pictures, "What kind are those guys?"

"They look like…I don't know…possibly Ankylosaurus?"

"But, it has horns…like Triceratops…"

"They're too small to be Triceratops." Owen murmured, "And their bodies are too lean in the mid-section. They look like a cross between Ankylosaurus….and a black bull…"

"A black bull? Are you kidding me?" Lowery shook his head in disbelief, "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised…I wouldn't be surprised about anything on this damn island."

It was at that moment when they heard it; a thunderous and shrieking cry of an animal from somewhere close above, just as a large horde of birds flew away in frightened panic. The deathly cry also sent the animals by the pond into a frenzy, each scampering away as quick as their trunk-like feet can carry them. Owen looked toward the hill where they had just descended from, and clutched onto his rifle until his knuckles turned white. Lowery let out a loud yelp, "What the hell…"

"It's here, somewhere…" Owen's piercing eyes scanned the darkness of the forest, "The Indominus Rex…I know that sound like the back of my hand."

"Owen…" Claired turned to face him, wholly terrified to admit to the words she had yet to utter, "Doesn't it sound like it's coming from…up the hill? Where we left our helicopter?"

"Shit…" Lowery was starting to hyperventilate, "Oh, no…no, no, no…"

Owen didn't say another word, and didn't lose another moment, as he started running at full speed, with his eyes fixed upon the top of the hill. Claire hustled behind him as fast as she could, until he abruptly halted mid-way, behind the tall trees at the foot. Gasping for breath, her eyes followed where his rested with ghastly horror…at the Indominus Rex crouching over the helicopter. The animal appeared to consider it a mere toy, as if contemplating whether to simply knock the object off the hill, just because she can. Owen and Claire had no words to spare as they stood silently in appalled anticipation.

"Oh, no…no, no, no…" Lowery finally caught up to them, and in breathless agony, he covered his mouth in horror, "No, no, no…don't you dare touch my ticket home…"

Then suddenly, they felt the ground thunder and shake, rattling the trees around them and knocking their souls straight from the core. Owen gripped Claire's hand, as if to shield her from the unforeseen terror…until it appeared. It was the other Indominus Rex, and it appeared with much fervor and noise from the thick forest up ahead.

"Yup…there's the other one…" Lowery's voice trembled feebly, "They couldn't find another location to meet?"

The newly appeared Indominus Rex was bigger in size, and seemed more agitated than the other. He let out a long deafening roar, and disregarded the other Indominus Rex as it charged straight toward the helicopter.

"No…no…" Lowery muffled his own mouth, "No…no…no…"

"Shit…" Owen grunted as he held Claire, wrapping his arm securely upon her shoulders. He knew what was about to happen, and he was relegated to protect her from the inevitability.

Claire buried her head in his chest, and gasped against his jacket just as the Indominus Rex swiped furiously at the helicopter. At first, the rotor blade tore off, but that wasn't enough for the savage animal. It swung its claw once more, and this time with more strength and venom, and the small helicopter rattled like a baby's toy, rolling onto its side with alarming ease. The animal roared again, as if to belittle the dire situation, and swung for the last time as the helicopter rolled off the hill, until it met its fiery explosive end at the rocky bottom.

Claire clung onto Owen as the fire ascended up the blue sky, and she could barely hear his faint words subdued against her forehead, "It's gonna be OK…"

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Again, thank you for reading this story! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!