Fearless ≫ Zach Mitchell

xvi.

s i x t e e n

~

A week ago, if someone were to tell Zach that he would soon be following a carnivorous dinosaur in hopes of it leading him back to his little brother, he would have laughed in their face. But here he was, doing just that, with a girl whom he had only just met 36 hours ago beside him, her fingers entangled with his.

He didn't know why he let himself rely on an animal to lead him to safety, though Ashton seemed to trust the Velociraptor, so he decided that he would, too.

The pair walked in silence as they followed Echo through the dark and abandoned park, the occasional chirps coming from the Raptor being the only thing meeting their ears.

Ashton couldn't help but wonder where Owen, Claire and Gray were, and whether they were okay or not; she wondered how Echo knew where to go, when the two teenagers hadn't even mentioned the others once.

Echo turned the final corner that led to the Innovation Center, Zach and Ashton following close behind. As soon as the giant building came into view, Ashton skidded to a halt. Just outside the glass doors stood Owen, Claire and Gray, their faces pulled into identical expressions of fear, cornered by two screeching Raptors.

Echo had stopped at the sight, as well. The dinosaur stretched herself upwards, bellowing so loudly, that the sound echoed off the walls of the buildings surrounded them. Blue and Delta immediately diverted their attention away from their current prey, and if dinosaurs could've had facial expressions, theirs would have been complete bewilderment.

Owen Grady took advantage of the Raptor's distraction, setting his gun down beside him and taking a slow step towards the nearest dinosaur- Blue. She immediately turned her attention back on the man, hissing and snapping her jaws towards his extended hand. Ashton flinched at the action, tightening her grip on Zach's hand out of pure fear.

Though Owen wasn't giving up. He continued to reach towards the blue Raptor, despite her irritated growls. "Relax," he murmured quietly, his hand visibly shaking as it landed on the black strap around the dinosaur's head. He twisted the strap, allowing the camera to loosen and slowly fall off of Blue's head. Smiling, he slowly retracted his hand back to his side, letting out a shaky breath.

Blue only stared at him, similar to the way Echo looked at Ashton only minutes before then. The thought brought a smile onto Ashton's face, knowing how much her and her uncle think alike.

A loud, blood-curdling roar caused her head to snap towards the center of Main Street, just as a familiar large, white figure stepped out from behind the buildings. The Indominus Rex stared at the humans before her, letting out another screech as if it were communicating with the Raptors. Though, surprisingly, Blue denied. She stepped in front of Owen almost protectively, crouching down and roaring at the monster before her.

The furious Indominus let out a wail, lashing out with her long arm and swatting Blue aside like a human would do to a bothersome insect. The Raptor flew through the air, colliding with the brick wall of a building only feet away from Ashton, Zach and Echo. The dinosaur fell to the ground, where she lay still.

Both Delta and Echo let out a series of angry screeches at the sight of their dead leader. His eyes wide with shock, Owen whistled, as he used to do when training the Velociraptors back at the paddock. Delta lunged towards the Indominus without hesitation, sinking her sickle claws into the monster's thick skin. Though Echo held back, turning towards Ashton and cocking her head as if asking permission.

Knowing that she was now the dinosaur's true alpha, Ashton only smiled and nodded. Echo let out a battle cry before joining the fight alongside Delta. Ashton watched closely as the three dinosaurs battled, frozen with shock at the scene. She barely even noticed Zach struggling to pull her away from the creatures, his desperate voice barely audible in her ears.