Apologies for the delay in this chapter...

This is the final chapter to this story. Just for everyone's imagination: after the ending of this story, the rest would play out just as the movie.
Thanks everyone for all the favs, follows and reviews. They are all highly appreciated.

The screen Owen had indicated showed three boats tied to the docks. Whether they had survived all this time since the park had closed, or whether they had been left by the soldiers, was unclear. Still, they appeared to be in acceptable and usable condition.

The elation Claire had felt only moments ago evaporated the moment she turned around to look at Owen. The docks were at least a mile walk from the resort, but Owen looked in no condition to be walking anywhere.
"We're never going to get there" Claire sighed deflatedly.
"Why not?" Owen turned his head to look at her.
"Well, you're not really in a condition to be walking all that way" she answered.
"A man's gotta do what he's gotta do" Owen mumbled.
"Let's hurry". Even Claire was now starting to get convinced that they could indeed not stay here while a volcano would be erupting outside. The control room might have been built to withstand it, but getting buried under the lava and, eventually, rocks would highly complicate matters.
"I'm going to need your help, though" Owen said, "I'm not doing this all by myself".

Claire quickly stuffed some water, candy bars and medical supplies into a bag and strapped it to her back.
"Come on". She kneeled down next to Owen to help him sit up. The number of winces and grunts from Owen from only these simple movements did not bode well for the journey they were about to undertake.
Owen needed a lot of help to stand up, but he finally stood wobbly-legged and holding on to a desk for support.
"Are you sure about this?" Claire asked uncertainly.
"If we don't want to die here like the good people of Pompeii, there isn't much of a choice" Owen spoke through gritted teeth. It was beyond a doubt that his injuries were causing him a lot of discomfort.
"Okay, then, let's go". Claire offered her shoulder for support, which Owen gratefully accepted.

Claire and Owen's progress was slow, for Owen was not able to keep any kind of steady pace.
Once they had left the control room and the buildings of the resort behind, it was instantly clear that the situation on the island was becoming more dire by the minute. Smoke and ash from the volcano hung low and made it appear misty with only around 30 yards of visibility in each direction.
"We must follow the road" Claire said, "it will lead us straight to the docks".
"Keep a sharp eye" Owen warned, "there are still many dinosaurs loose on the island".
"We didn't encounter much on the way over here" Claire interjected.
"Let's hope this trip will be just as uneventful" Owen said.

A walk that would usually take them about 30 minutes, was already taking them an hour and they were only just over halfway. Owen was starting to lean more and more on Claire, who was now starting to struggle under the ranger's weight.
The sudden noise of breaking branches and rustling leaves made Owen and Claire stop dead in their tracks.
"Quick, the bushes!" Claire pushed Owen to the side of the road and behind the cover of some bramble bushes. Pounding, running footsteps definitely announced the arrival of a dinosaur. Several even, by the sounds of it, but it was impossible for them to tell yet which direction they would be coming from or what type of dinosaur it was.
Suddenly the treeline on the opposite side of the road was broken by a stampeding troop of Brachiosaurus. The animals were uprooting trees in their running and appeared to be fleeing for their lives. Owen half-turned to look over his shoulder at the volcano.
"The way they're running… it's not gonna be long now" he said heavily.
"The docks should be right around that bend in the road" Claire said, fear now sounding through in her voice.

Owen seemed to have found some renewed strength, for he was able to move somewhat faster then before now. He still needed to lean heavily on Claire for support, but she supplied that willingly.
"Almost there… just a little further...we're going to make this..." Claire kept mumbling under her breath. She wasn't speaking to Owen per se, but she did feel she needed to keep talking to keep herself from running away in fear.
Owen was by now painfully leaning on her. Claire cast a glance at his face and immediately worried for how much longer he would be able to hold on. His face was screwed up in pain, beads of sweat stood out on his face and neck, and he was taking harsh, panting breaths.
"Are you okay?" Claire knew it was a stupid question to ask, but she felt she needed to talk to Owen.
"No" Owen answered through sternly clenched jaws. His eyes were fixed on some point far in front of them and it was evident that he was doing his best not to collapse.
"You've got to keep going" Claire said urgently, "I can't carry you if you pass out".
"I know" Owen answered somewhat darkly.

It felt like hours later to them when Claire and Owen finally reached the edge of the island and the boats they had seen on the cameras. Three surviving boats were chained to the quay, all of them looking as if they had managed to withstand the destruction of the rest of Isla Nublar quite well. Two of the boats were small speed boats, while the third one was a medium-sized yacht. The yacht looked to be in the best condition and appeared to be the most sea-worthy, so Owen and Claire quickly climbed aboard that one.
"Claire, I need you to get this boat untied from the dock" Owen instructed. The volcano behind them emitted another huge amount of ash, smoke and lava, and several deafening explosions sounded.
"Now!" Owen said urgently. Claire quickly scrambled back onto the quay and started working on the ropes and chains. Owen, in the meantime, had hoisted himself up to the captain's platform and was trying to get the engine to start.
"Come on, come on..." he encouraged the vessel. After a lot of spluttering the engine finally came to life and a steady rumble sounded from the motor. Owen was grateful to see that the needle of the fuel meter immediately sprang to full.

Claire threw the last of the ropes aside and jumped aboard of the yacht again. She hurried up the small stairs and joined Owen at the controls.
"Have you ever steered a boat before?" She asked a little apprehensively.
"No" Owen answered, "but desperate times call for desperate measures, so I'm sure I'll manage".
Another deafening explosion came from the volcano and a large part of the left side of the mountain had exploded and was rapidly collapsing.
"GO!" Claire yelled. Owen fumbled around with the switches and managed to get the boat going. Getting away from the quay did not go quite so smoothly, but finally Owen steered the boat away from the quay and in the direction of the open sea. He accelerated the yacht to full speed to get as far away from Isla Nublar before the entire volcano would erupt.

The boat raced over the water for several minutes.
"Oh my..." Claire gasped, as another deafening explosion made her look back. Owen slowed the boat down to a slow crawl and turned around to look back too.
Mt. Sibo was now continuously exploding and sending lava and ash high up into the air.
"It's happening..." Claire mumbled. Her eyes were shining with tears.
Claire was right. The entire volcano was now exploding and collapsing. Even from this distance the hot lava could be seen crawling across the earth. The island was starting to disappear in a thick cloud of heavy smoke and ash. Every living being that had survived until now, would no longer stand a chance of escaping the liquid fire.
"They're all gone..." Claire stammered, as all that they could see now was an immense cloud of smoke and ash enveloping Isla Nublar. Tears were streaming down her face. Even though some dinosaurs had been taken off the island, most of the animals had still died, burned alive by scalding hot lava.

Claire tore her gaze off the remnants of the island, when Owen suddenly leaned heavily into her. She meant to ask him what was going on, but one look at his face made all questions superfluous.
"Shit". Claire immediately realized what would be happening next.
Owen swayed dangerously on his feet and his eyes started to roll back. Claire sank with him to the ground when he collapsed. Everything had finally gotten too much for his weakened physique.
"It's okay, you're alright" Claire soothed. She guided the now almost unresponsive Owen to the floor of the captain's platform and carefully rested him on his side. He was trembling somewhat and Claire was certain that he was hurting.
"Easy, now" Claire mumbled a little thickly and gently caressed Owen's hand.
"C-Claire..." Owen stammered, sounding utterly spent and weak.
"Yes, I'm here" Claire answered. Owen marginally opened his eyes to give her a pain-filled glance. Claire leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his temple.
"Give in to it" she whispered sweetly and watched consciousness slowly fleeing him.

Claire did not dare to leave Owen's side for longer then a few minutes. Even though she knew that he had not sustained life-threatening injuries, it did not feel right to leave him unsupervised for too long. She had managed to find some blankets that weren't too dirty which she had folded into a pillow for Owen.

The boat was still crawling ahead very slowly and, for now, Claire decided to leave that be.
She sat down next to Owen, resting her back against the small cabin's wall. She studied Owen's unconscious face and couldn't help but think back to the time they had spent together after the closing of the park. For some strange reason she had always liked watching Owen sleep. Even though she knew he was now unconscious instead of sleeping, it still emanated a feeling of pure peace and made her feel at ease. The slow rise and fall of his chest and his calm breathing, made Claire start to feel drowsy too. She rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. The knowledge that they had made it off the island alive, combined with the steady rocking motion of the yacht, made that she had soon drifted off to sleep.

Voices… Crackling voices talking to each other…
Why were there people speaking? Apart from Owen and herself, Claire was quite certain there was no one else aboard.
Claire awoke with a shock. Had the voices been real or had she been dreaming? Her eyes immediately darted towards Owen, but he lay still unconscious on the floor next to where she sat and he had obviously not moved a muscle.

"S.S. Arcadia, you are cleared for mooring at dock 83".

Claire spun round. The voice had sounded from right above her. She did not have to search long for the source though. The yacht's board radio was crackling and a reply from the S.S. Arcadia sounded through the cabin.
"Of course" Claire smiled. She reached for the volume knob and turned the sound up higher. As a conversation between the Costa Rican harbour control and the captain of the S.S. Arcadia passed, a smile gradually widened on Claire's face.

"Owen". Once the conversation had finished, Claire turned her attention to the still unconscious ranger. A plan had formed in her mind from the instructions she had overheard for the S.S. Arcadia.
"Owen, please, wake up". Claire shook his shoulder in an attempt to rouse him back to consciousness. Owen groaned softly and stirred, but he did not yet fully wake.
"That's it" Claire encouraged, "Owen, you need to come back to me".
"That's not what you said last time" Owen mumbled softly. Claire scoffed at his remark. Even when he was only semi-conscious and injured you could leave it to Owen to make a sarcastic comment.
"Jerk" Claire snorted.
"What's the rush?" Owen said serious now. He half-opened his eyes to look at Claire.
"I think I have a plan" Claire said, her eyes twinkling with excitement. Owen painfully sat upright.
"What kind of plan?" he asked.
"A plan to get aboard the S.S. Arcadia and get a second chance at saving the remaining dinosaurs".
"Okay, let's hear it" Owen's interest was clearly peaked.
"I just overheard a conversation on the board radio between harbor control and the S.S. Arcadia. They will be moored for the night to re-stock and re-fuel before setting sail to America" Claire explained, "this yacht can get us to the harbor in about three hours. All we have to do is get on board the S.S. Arcadia there".
"All we have to do?" Owen repeated sceptically, "that's gotta be way harder than it sounds"
"But we have to try" Claire pressed, "…for Blue".
That last remark got her the desired result. Where Owen had first looked ready to protest against her plan, he now looked to mull things over.
"Please, Owen, you're not the only one who cares about these dinosaurs" Claire continued.
"Alright" Owen finally agreed.
"In your current condition it will be hard on you, I know" Claire took Owen's hand in hers, "but I'll be with you. Together we can do this".
Owen nodded slowly. "It's gonna hurt" he said with a wry smile, "but, you're right, we have to do this".

Owen slowly lay back down. He would have another three hours of rest and recovery, before their plan would have to be set in motion. It was certainly not a given that they would succeed, but they would give it their very best try. They had to, they owed that to the dinosaurs. To Blue.
Owen stared up at the yacht's ceiling, his resolve hardening with every second.
Claire had gotten up and had taken place behind the yacht's wheel. She had started the engine again and had set a full-speed course for mainland Costa Rica. She caught Owen's eye as he stared up.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You're right" Owen said softly, "we're going to do this. For Blue..."