Uneasily Malcolm lowered his rifle, mopping his brow. “I, uhh...” He allowed a moment, staring madly at the downed animal before him. Suddenly he snapped out of his funk, the words coming all too quickly. “I do not like weapons. But I do not like raptors even more. So be it. We’ll have to defend ourselves if we’re to find the Equestrians.” His movements were skittish; his eyes darting to and fro, coming to settle on Levine. “You – you know, Alan Grant and I had a very long, very in-depth discussion about the nature of Velociraptors, and, well—”
“They are pack animals,” Levine interrupted emptily. “They work in packs. Move, nest – hunt.”
“Precisely. Exactly this. Where – where there is one, there is many. And there will be a lot—”
“Could you not?” Harding had grabbed Malcolm’s upper arm firmly, her features softening as she realised she had his attention. “We’re all scared, Ian. But we are together, and we can defend ourselves. Just... Keep your wits about you, and remember we have each other’s backs here.” She offered a small smile. “Now, come on. Let’s keep moving.” She turned, leading Malcolm and Levine further into the complex.
The trio moved forward slowly but determinedly. Harding led, Malcolm remained at the rear, obsessively double-checking behind the group. Levine was in between the two and he moved awkwardly. His eyes were pulled wide and the thud of his own heart was pulsing much too powerfully for his liking. He was tense. The facility felt much more claustrophobic than it had previously and he couldn’t help but feeling like a thousand, beady, predatory eyes were watching him. He bristled; a chill ran the length of his spine. Levine did not like being inside these cramped corridors, not one bit. At any point those slender beasts could appear again. And just being near them was bad enough. But being hunted by them?
Levine felt the chill again.
“I’ve been thinking,” came Harding’s voice from at the front of the group. “Why didn’t the raptors get picked up by the radio tracker onboard the RV? I don’t think the system would have failed, not for a minute.”
“I – I’m not sure, actually.” Levine spoke quickly and more breathlessly than he’d have liked, but the human interaction went some way to grounding him. “I wonder if, maybe, they’re not tagged...”
“I should hope that is not the case,” came Malcolm’s biting response. “The implication of untagged monsters roaming wildly here is almost overwhelming at this point but, ah, still very real.” He paused. “A dinosaur without a radio tag worries me for multiple reasons.”
Harding let out a hollow chuckle. “Chaos theory again?”
“Well, yeah. Life finds a way. Dinosaurs without tracking chips are dinosaurs that have broken free of an established system.”
“They’re breeding,” Levine uttered quietly. “They don’t have radio tags because they were born and not created.”
“I really, really rather hope not. But I, ah, have a horrible feeling you might be right.”
Harding turned back. “What exactly does that mean?” Malcolm looked forward and he saw something he’d not seen in her features in the longest time: genuine unease. He sighed, moving past Levine and grabbing her hand.
“Honey—”
“Just tell it straight, Ian.”
He chewed the inside of his mouth before speaking. “I think it means that InGen’s abandoning of this place is proving to be a big mistake. A potentially out-of-control Velociraptor population? Doesn’t bode well for this island’s ecosystem. Or – or humanity, on the whole—”
Malcolm was cut short by a long, drawn-out hiss and the padding of multiple feet. He fumbled with his rifle, aiming it forward and illuminating the otherwise dark passageway just in time to see two more of the horrible creatures skulk around the corner. They did not move quickly but every movement they did make was precise. Malcolm stared lamely at the two animals. Their size, their sounds, their sight: they sent him into a momentary paralysis, finding himself lost in a maelstrom of all-too vivid memories of 1993. Only when one of the creatures barked so loudly did he return to reality, his grip on the rifle so very tight. He felt the cold sweat running down his neck, he felt the buzz of fear and adrenaline. Malcolm continued to watch the creatures which stood still, staring right back at the three of them. The raptors were weighing up the situation; he knew this behaviour from his experiences on Isla Nublar. Maybe they were baiting Malcolm and the others whilst more raptors attacked from behind? Without hesitation he checked behind him and was relieved to see an empty, long corridor. He turned to face the two dinosaurs once more.
“Hold fast,” Harding whispered. “And be ready to use those rifles.”
One of the raptors took a tentative step forward. The trio subconsciously stepped backward. Panic began to rise; the other raptor had followed its kin forward. In the stillness of the facility, the trio could hear the animals chattering their teeth together and the click of those awful sickle-claws on the cold floor. Levine drew a deep, steadying breath as another animal closed in; he watched a bead of saliva drip slowly from its jaws.
“Why have they not attacked?” Levine hissed.
“They’re working us out,” Harding hissed in kind. “We’re probably the first humans they’ve ever seen—”
Harding found herself cut off by the lead raptor barking, all too loudly. She yelped as Levine covered his ears, wincing – these were instinctive responses to a prehistoric cry that humanity should never have rightly heard. In the moment Levine had dropped his rifle, and the second animal noticed this. Excitedly, it began to holler and rumble, stamping its feet. But still they did not attack.
To Malcolm this made no sense until a horrible feeling overcame him. He gripped his rifle tightly and slowly – very slowly – he turned around again. And then he saw it, and his heart pounded ever harder.
Far down the corridor was a single raptor, lurking ever so slowly forward.
“Do not turn around,” Malcolm whispered. “But we are being hunted from behind as well as from the front.” He allowed a pause, listening to the raptors behind him and keeping his eyes trained on the one much further down the corridor. “On three, we attack. One—”
With a sudden and blood-curdling scream came the attack. The second raptor – the more impatient creature of the original pair – had launched forward. Harding was quick to grab Levine’s dropped rifle; immediately and whilst still on one knee she downed the impatient creature. Running on a horror-fuelled adrenaline she went to dispatch the second beast but it was already down; Malcolm had already spun around and seen to it. Turning herself, Harding watched as Malcolm quickly dealt with the animal that had charged from behind. And as quickly as it had begun, it had ended.
Malcolm dropped his weapon and leant heavily against the wall, sliding down to a sitting position. He wiped his face, taking multiple steadying breaths. “This is too much,” he said uneasily. “This is absolutely horrid. Absolutely.”
Harding was still clutching Levine’s discarded weapon; she remained low to the ground, also breathing rhythmically and purposefully. After a brief moment – as soon as the nauseating adrenaline wave had passed – she looked up at Levine as she stood. He was ghost-white and stock-still, absolutely catatonic. “Richard...” She uttered his name softly but he jolted with a start. “Richard,” she said again. “Do you want me to keep this rifle?”
“I... think so.” He spoke shallowly.
“So – so be it,” Malcolm said from behind them as he stood slowly, hissing as he did so. “So be it. That’s four less Velociraptors for us to deal with. But – ah – I think we’ve probably alerted the pack to our presence here.” He grimaced as he moved forward, staring intensely at the two dead animals nearest to them. “Such evolutionary successes. Truly incredible animals. And for – for some reason, they keep coming after me.” Malcolm looked at Levine. “A part of me wants nothing more than to punch you into next week,” he said grimly. “But another part of me knows that if we are to survive this, we must work together. To that end” – Malcolm placed a hand on Levine’s shoulder – “I want you to know that I will have your back. Let us just continue to focus on finding the Equestrians, and working together to survive.” He drew a breath through his nose, holding his eyes closed. And with that, Malcolm released Levine’s shoulder and wordlessly moved past the downed raptors with Harding.
Levine stood for a moment, simply watching Malcolm and Harding disappear further into the facility. Then, as suddenly as the raptors had launched their attack, he began to break down. “I can’t do it,” he called to the pair as he rounded the corner, seeing them some distance down the next corridor. “I can’t do it! I can’t kill them. I refuse to kill these animals. They’re only doing what they would, naturally, in the wild, and they are rewarded with a bullet to the head. No. That is not the reason I came to Isla Sorna.”
“Do you – do you even listen?!” Malcolm had stopped and turned, losing his own cool. His frustration echoed down the corridor. “Now is not the time for philosophy and academic theory! No, now is the time to survive, Richard. And – and until you realise that, you’re a good candidate for a raptor meal. Once we’re safe, then I will tell you everything wrong with your expedition—”
Malcolm found himself cut off mid-sentence not for the first time since pushing into the facility; this time it was not due to dinosaur attack. No, this time he was stunned into silence by something much less aggressive.
With a hum and a click the lights had switched themselves on. Most were flickering, a few were completely dead, but some lit the area well.
“...We know the power is on to some degree,” Levine began slowly. “But we tried the main light switch in the lobby. And I certainly haven’t seen any light switches as of late. Would the power be surging? Or do you two find this just as strange as I do?”
“Really weird. But can we keep moving? I don’t like staying still for too long in here.” Harding gestured with her head, following the passageway. “At least we can see what’s coming a little better now.” She laughed emptily.
The trio pressed on; Malcolm inwardly chuckled at just how long and featureless the corridor was. The place would have been a stereotypical clinical scientific facility had nature not reclaimed it for its own purposes. Indeed, the vines and roots and wormed their way out of a vent grill some fifty feet ahead of them, creating a dramatic but foreboding display of nature’s dominance across the floor and wall.
Foreboding indeed, Malcolm thought to himself as he watched a juvenile Velociraptor pull itself out of the vent. He had stopped next to the others, rifles raised and ready, but this little animal scared him much less than the adults. Clearly this one was very young and still learning many of the techniques that would make it one of nature’s most terrifying killing machines. He watched as it tumbled from the vent grill, stopping in the corridor and staring back at him, squawking and hacking excitedly. It took a single step forward before suddenly, and with no warning at all, a loud crack came from Harding’s rifle: she had seen to the little animal before Malcolm or Levine had chance to react.
“I doubt that it was alone,” she said quietly. “I’ve seen it in so many other pack animals. The juveniles learn to hunt alongside the older ones... I don’t know for sure about these raptors but they’re clearly smart enough to exhibit this sort of behaviour. Let’s not take any more risks than we need to.”
“Quite wise, I think,” Levine replied. His voice cracked slightly; it was apparent that he was still running on a dangerous concoction of fear and adrenaline. Nodding to the others they continued down the corridor, approaching the now downed juvenile when a hiss began to echo. Immediately the three tensed once again, rifles raised to either end of the long passageway.
“What’s that?” Levine was panicked. “More Velociraptors?”
“I’m not sure,” Malcolm replied with a wheeze. “It sounds a little... off.”
Then there was a crackle, followed by a small electrical cable shorting on the ceiling. Sparks showered for a moment; the trio jolted.
Then, there was a voice.
“H-Hello? Doctor Levine?”
“Twilight Sparkle?!”
Harding instinctively looked down at the radio handset. Twilight was not speaking to them through it.
“Can you hear us okay?”
“Y-Yes... What’s going on?! Where are you? Are you safe?” Levine was looking around wildly.
“Twilight, is Fluttershy with you?” Harding asked aloud. “Are you okay?”
“We’re okay,” came Twilight’s reply, her usual tones masked by radio static. “We’re both here. Are you okay?”
“Oh, we’re magnificent,” Malcolm hissed sardonically, receiving a slap on the arm from Harding. “Sorry. It’s, ah, been a long day, and we are currently being hunted on the Velociraptor’s own turf.”
“Yeah...” Twilight trailed off, the radio static filling the void. “I can see them on the systems here. But you’re okay; the next group is some distance away from you... Hold on... head towards those doors there, at the end of the corridor.”
“How are we talking to you right now?” Levine continued to look madly around, his vision settling on a small black dome on the ceiling. “Am I looking at you? Is that some sort of radio-camera equipment?”
“It must be,” Twilight said. “We’re in the communications and command tower, and when we heard gunshots we tried a lot of the systems in here. I guess we got lucky, for the first time today...” There was a hollow laugh from beyond the radio. “Just hold on a moment,” and the intercom crackled.
Then, behind the three, a blast door began to close. Though itself rusted and slow, it closed successfully much to the relief of Levine and company.
The intercom crackled once more. “We’ve got control of a few of the compound’s functions, but not many. There’s meant to be a lot of cameras, but half of them don’t work, and I can control the blast doors and sprinkler system, but... that’s about it.”
Malcolm began to laugh. “Well! Who – who’d have thought it. We came to this hell-hole to rescue you, but in fact it seems that you’re rescuing us.” He shook his head, still amazed at the absurdity of the situation. “If I – I may be genuine for a moment: I’m glad you’re safe. I hope you’re far from these awful raptors.”
“I can’t wait to see you two,” Harding added. “I hope you’ve been okay.”
“It’s been... eventful,” Twilight offered with a sigh. Just saying it aloud reconfirmed just how tired she was. “We’ll catch up properly soon but you’ve got a little ways to go yet. There’s a pair of raptors closing in – they’re just beyond the double-doors in front of you – and then past that you’re into the nest. We’re through it, on the other side.”
“Into the nest?!” Levine was flapping.
The intercom crackled; faintly they could hear Twilight say “don’t look, Fluttershy” just as a pair of raptors burst through the doors.
Crack. Crack.
“...Okay,” came Twilight’s voice once the dinosaurs had been dealt with. “When you head through these doors you’ll only find about five raptors left in the nesting site, so you should be okay. Plus, you come out on a raised walkway so you’ll have a height advantage. Get to the door on the opposite gantry, and we’ll be waiting.”
The intercom cut out.
“Well that settles it, then,” Malcolm said as he clasped his hands together. “We just need to pass through the main nesting site of an enormous Velociraptor pack, and we’ll be safe.” He cursed under his breath. “I will run as quickly as I can but be warned, since my previous dinosaur attack I am not quite as physically well as I was. If I get attacked by yet another dinosaur today I will be very, very angry.” Turning, he strode towards the double-doors, Harding and Levine in tow.
The three passed into the main laboratory and allowed themselves a brief moment to take in the sight before them. Levine was mumbling to himself, mumbling something about the impressive nature of the raptors to completely colonise the clearly once-impressive laboratory system; Harding was equally as stunned. Malcolm, however, was awestruck for different reasons: the sight before him was a visual example of his entire academic career and ideology. Life at the Edge of Chaos. Life finds a way. This was it; Chaos Theory in action.
Levine was the first to speak aloud. “Let’s just get this done, please,” he said. “I’d love to observe this place, too, but we need to survive. As you both quite rightly keep saying.” He gestured with his eyes to the laboratory floor; sure enough a small gang of raptors had wandered over and were gazing up at them, chattering excitedly. Levine took a step forward; the raptors moved with him. He stepped back; they followed suit.
“As much as I’d love to suggest we just shoot them, I think we’d alert the rest of the pack to our exact position by doing so,” Malcolm said grimly. “So I suggest that we just keep moving. If they do jump up here, we can sprint it. I think I’d rather have a sore leg from running rather than a sickle-claw wound."
“Yeah. Let’s do it.” Harding grabbed Malcolm’s hand, and the pair looked straight ahead, plodding purposefully along the gantryway. Levine was in tow, glancing down at the raptors every so often.
It didn’t take long for the curious animals to test their limits. Levine yelped as one jumped frighteningly close to the gantry, snapping its wide jaws. The trio had picked up their pace; the gantry now felt much longer than it appeared. They continued on, the sounds of the rabid gurgling and ever-louder barking from below them increasing in intensity until suddenly – just as they rounded the corner on the walkway – the gantry shook with a thud. From behind them came a blood-curdling shriek and they turned; a raptor charged them from behind.
“Run!”
The three erupted into a sprint. Harding was helping Malcolm through his painful limp-run; they had moved surprisingly quickly and had already arrived at the far side double-doors. Levine had fallen behind and was beginning to panic. “A little help!” he cried wildly. He did not look back but saw Malcolm and Harding training their weapons his way. Levine could hardly think straight but he thought he heard one of them tell him to drop to the floor which he presently did: he allowed them to take their shots at his pursuer but their repeated fire told him that the creature was still behind him. In an instant Levine had rolled onto his back and then he saw it there, standing tall before him: the horrible beast, its yellow eyes locked onto his own. It kept moving forward towards him and he furiously began to scrabble backwards, away from the raptor and towards Malcolm and Harding. “Come on,” he hissed in a blind panic, again thinking he heard some far-away voice yell something about reloading. The raptor let out a demented howl; Levine panicked and all cognitive thought escaped him. He acted solely on instinct and began to kick wildly in its direction which did nothing to stop its menacing attack. One kick proved to be too many: as he swiped in anger so too did the raptor, thrusting its head forward and grabbing his leg in its jaws. The pain was searing-hot and he screeched; he could feel the muscular clamp of the animal growing ever stronger. This is it, he thought as he screamed again until suddenly Harding had appeared, kicking the raptor in the head. Levine watched as it released its grip on him, very dazed; the animal barked and flexed its foreclaws menacingly. It towered over the pair, foaming at the mouth as it hissed. It had drawn blood, and it would not stop until it tasted blood – and then, with a sudden and gruesome spray of brain matter its head was flung backwards. Its lifeless form toppled over the gantry and immediately the remaining raptors were surrounding it, howling and barking wildly.
Harding helped Levine to his feet and they hobbled forward. “Thank you,” she uttered to Malcolm, her voice quivering somewhat.
“Come on,” he replied simply. “Let’s get to the mares.”
With that, they moved quickly. As Harding helped Levine along, Malcolm took one final look behind them. The raptors were not chasing them – but he was greeted with a vision equally distressing.
They were tearing their dead kin apart.
He turned, and he ran. Catching the pair up at the doors they slipped through, and straight away he collapsed against them, bolting them shut. With an enormous sigh, he slumped against the heavy doors and discarded his rifle. “Did – did you all see that? They... were eating it...” He ran a hand through his hair, steadying himself. A powerful wave of nausea had overcome him, and he felt tired.
“It doesn’t matter, we’re past it,” Harding replied sharply in an attempt to steer conversation away from the carnivores behind them. “Look. Comms tower is just through this way and Richard’s gonna need a hand.” She was kneeling, inspecting his leg.
“Sure.” Malcolm stood, steadying himself. He took a quick look around. The three had entered a small landing. Behind them, the accursed raptor hive. In front lay a large staircase heading down, no signage whatsoever to signal where it led to. To their right lay countless wrecked lockers, each caked in dust and full of useless materials. Levine was sat against these lockers, wincing as Harding saw to his wound. But to their left was a small portal leading to a very tight concentric staircase, heading only upwards: this was the way to the communications tower. Atop these stairs were Twilight and Fluttershy. They were close, and with a newfound resolve Malcolm picked up his rifle and began to move. He approached Levine. “How bad is your leg?”
“It hurts,” Levine managed. He sounded weak and he looked drained. His leg exhibited multiple tiny puncture wounds and was already badly bruised. “It hurts really bad.”
“It looks bad,” Malcolm offered grimly. “Do you think the bone has broken?”
“I don’t think so,” Harding replied. “It doesn’t feel quite like that to you, does it Richard?”
“No.”
“Good.” Harding continued to try and mop up the blood. “It doesn’t look like any of your arteries were hit, either... Just some pretty horrible puncture wounds and a bit of superficial crush damage. But he didn’t have you in his jaws long enough to do any real damage.” She smiled. “You got lucky, Mr Levine.”
“You could have killed it sooner,” he said quietly, wincing as he spoke.
“You’re welcome, Doctor,” Malcolm spat. “You realise we did as much as we could as quickly as we could. And I – I won’t say it out loud – I think we’ve all heard me make this point plenty enough recently – but you know why you were attacked.”
“I get it. Chaos Theory. Life doing its part.” Levine shot Malcolm a venomous glance.
Nodding slowly, Malcolm looked to Harding. She nodded at him, and wordlessly the two of them helped Levine to his feet. “Hang in there, not far to go now.” Malcolm supported Levine’s weight, easing his leg.
“You need a hand?”
“No, I think I’ve got him okay.” Malcolm looked to Levine. “Ready?” But he got no response; Levine was staring past Harding and at something behind them. Had it not been for a tired smile written across his features, Malcolm would have initially thought there was another raptor stalking them all.
“Forget me for a moment,” Levine said, his weak voice giving away an overwhelming relief. “Turn around.”
Malcolm steadied Levine as he and Harding turned, following his smile, and were greeted with a most welcome sight. At the base of the staircase, looking much worse for wear and impossibly tired but beaming their own great smiles, stood Twilight and Fluttershy. They had done it.
Twilight went to speak. “Hello—”
Wordlessly Harding had leapt forward, pulling the two mares into a hug. “Thank God you’re both okay,” she said breathlessly as they embraced.
“We are so glad to see you all,” Twilight whispered as she closed her eyes and returned the gesture. She felt the sting of tears and her throat choke up – finally, a friendly face had arrived.
“Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, good to see you both.” Malcolm began as the mares untangled themselves from Harding’s tight embrace. He gently sat Levine back down, moving forward and shaking the ponies’ hooves with a warm smile. “So, I – I hate to break the emotional moment here, but our good friend Doctor Levine is quite badly injured – not to mention there are still raptors behind us. We, ah, ought to keep moving. Can we get out around here?”
“Oh – um – yeah, this way.” Fluttershy wiped the tears from her own eyes. “There was a fire escape at the bottom of these stairs...” She trailed off as she caught sight of Levine’s leg. “Oh my, are you okay Doctor Levine?”
“Richard will do,” he said with a wince and wave of his hand. “I’ll be okay. Nice to finally meet you, Fluttershy.”
“Oh – yes – and you – but we need to have a look at your leg, it looks so sore...”
He grimaced. “It certainly is...”
“I’ve just called Eddie round,” Harding said aloud. “He’ll meet us at the fire-escape. Flutters, we’ve got a mobile field lab and a lot of first aid equipment in there. We’ll see to Richard’s leg once we’re safe.”
“That sounds good to me.”
Harding smiled. “Okay. Richard, you need another hand getting down these stairs?”
“I’m sure Ian can manage.”
“Yeah, I got him.” Malcolm helped Levine up once more.
Slowly and carefully, the five made their way down the wide staircase. Fluttershy was engrossed in Levine’s injury – her skills as an animal carer, it seemed, applied to humans as well, and instinct had kicked in.
“I’ll be able to make things a little easier for you, Richard. But we need to get to the trucks quickly because it looks like you’ve lost a lot of blood and I’m worried about the bruising. Oh – I’m sorry – I’ll wait until we’re back at the trucks.” She trotted alongside Levine as they descended the stairs.
“I have total faith in your ability,” Malcolm offered as they spilled out of the fire escape. Almost immediately the SUV pulled up and Carr leapt out, quickly helping to get Levine inside. A quick exchange of greetings occurred as the others embarked and after a short drive – an annoyingly short drive, as Malcolm saw it – they were back round at the front of the facility, pulling up alongside the RV. This was enough to sour his mood, and his previous relief had been completely replaced by a short-fused irritability. “So... We didn’t actually need to go all the way through the complex. Of course.” He shook his head. “We could have just walked around!”
“Yeah, but we didn’t know that at the time did we? Anyway, Ian, it doesn’t matter. If we didn’t go inside, we’d not have found Flutters and Twilight.”
“That I cannot argue with,” Malcolm said sharply as all souls disembarked the SUV. He helped Levine out of the jeep, Harding and Fluttershy quickly whisking him away into the RV to see to his leg. Twilight had followed them in, and Carr stood with Malcolm. For a moment, nobody spoke, until Malcolm continued on his angry tirade. “You know, Eddie, if we’d have known about that – that fire escape we could have avoided an entire raptor nest—”
“I’m sorry,” came Thorne’s voice from round the back of the RV. “Did you say... ‘raptor nest’?”
“Yes I did,” he said as Thorne came over. “See that compound? Teeming with Velociraptors.”
“But – the GPS—”
“My thoughts exactly.” He stared coldly at Thorne, feeling an all-too familiar hot rage rising within him. “There is a Velociraptor nest in there, and not one of those damned things came up on our little readout. As a result, it nearly cost Richard his leg, and these two mares their lives. And – and you know what I think?” Malcolm threw his rifle at Thorne. “I think I’m done with Velociraptors, and I think we should go pitch the tent somewhere else tonight.”
“Woah, cool it Ian! I get that you’re pissed and frightened and whatever but there is still work to be done on the trucks. We can’t leave yet.”
“I am not staying here knowing we have a pack of those things crawling around in there—”
Thorne held up his hand, barely keeping his cool. “No. Enough. We can’t fall apart now. Just because we needed to ‘work together to get the mares’ does not mean that now that’s done we can tear each other’s throats apart. Anyway, I’ll be setting up the defences tonight. We’ll be fine. Just – I dunno – go hang out with Sarah and let me do my work. If you’re really concerned, then stay inside the RV.”
“You – I – Forget it.” Malcolm stormed inside the RV.
Thorne turned to Carr. “I thought I could hear some dinosaurs close by, too.” He shuddered. “Let’s get these defences up ASAP.”
As Malcolm boarded the trucks he slammed the door, causing Twilight to jolt awake. Not quite asleep but not quite awake, she stirred and watched Malcolm with curiosity whilst he fumed about the place, pouring a coffee before heading into the passenger seat and sitting down, staring at nothing in particular. He was obviously angry and needed his space – approaching him for a conversation would be a bad move. She gave him a wide berth and lay still.
Her tired gaze found its way along the length of the trucks, through the accordion connector and into the damaged mobile lab. It was messy, but apparently the crew had been working on it since their arrival, and by all accounts was more or less back to functioning order. There, among a good number of smashed vials and spilled utensils, Fluttershy worked with Harding to ease Levine’s pain and she felt a smile form: despite everything, Fluttershy had simply thrown her own worries to the wind, seeing to the needs of others. It was truly selfless, and truly beautiful in its own right.
She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. For the first time since arriving on Isla Sorna – even the first time since leaving the bar in a tipsy panic, back in Santa Fe – Twilight found she had a reason to feel settled. She didn’t have to keep one eye over her shoulder, on the lookout for predators. She and Fluttershy were in good company. They were, to a greater extent than before, safe.
Slowly, as the chatter of the crew faded into the background, she drifted off into a sleep she so desperately needed.