Reign of Terror

Tabitha followed the familiar road winding up the side of the mountain towards the lab. A rock wall scaled upwards towards the sky on her left and to the right, a sheer drop down to the ocean, large rocks sneering from the crashing waves. To anyone else it would have been a terrifying drive and the feeling of being stuck would render them stiff, but to Tabitha, it was the beauty of the water that captured her attention every day. The crystalline sea stretched out to the horizon, meeting a vibrant orange sun as it made its way up from the abyss. Clouds were met with the fresh light and painted in varying shades of purples, pinks, and blues.

Her job at the lab was considered to be extremely immoral by many who did not understand their goals. At Alliance Industries, their goal was similar to the “Jurassic Park” movies that everyone knew well: to create lives for once-extinct dinosaurs. The public used that against them frequently, bringing up how the movies always ended. That’s where Tabitha came in. Part of her job description was to keep the public and the media outlets in the loop about the experimentation and success of Alliance. She always assured the community that the animals being recreated were not only all herbivores, but also well contained in their habitats at the lab.

She took one last look at the horizon before turning onto the road leading into the gate. As she scanned her badge, she waved at the security guard and cruised down the gravel drive towards the main building. She beamed with pride as she saw the animals in their corrals on either side. Triceratops on one side and Parasaurolophus on the other, their giant crests rising into the trees around them. Their creations lived and breathed around her and she couldn’t wait to continue her work.

Tabitha parked her car in the gravel lot and happily headed towards her lab. They were nearing a breakthrough in creating Brachiosaurus, or “long necks” as kids loved to call them. She was beyond excited to hatch this dinosaur in particular, with it being such a favorite among so many people. She could use this to her advantage in her relations with the public. As she was deep in her thoughts, her best friend poked her ribs from behind.

“Raaawr! I’m a T-Rex!” Bethany yelled as Tabitha whipped around with a squeal.

“Oh my, God! Don’t do that, Beth! I hate you!”

“No, you don’t. You love me and you couldn’t live without me!” Bethany laughed as she took Tabitha’s arm.

“That’s true. You are my main bitch, bitch!” Tabitha laughed back as they headed into the lab, arm in arm.

As they walked down the hallway, they walked past the familiar door with “Top Secret” painted in red across the front. Every day, Tabitha wondered what went on behind those doors, what they worked on that only a few people knew about. Her instincts told her it wasn’t necessarily good, but her logic told her that she trusted her company, her bosses. She shook it off and swiped her card and the two friends entered the lab.

They immediately got to work, trying to perfect the chromosomal setup for the Brachiosaurus, or Brock as they lovingly called it. They worked up until lunch and decided they would test their final attempt with a full stomach. As they arrived back to their cave an hour later, both women nearly shook with anticipation. Tabitha took a deep steadying breath as she placed the vial into the computer.

“Ready?” she asked Beth.

“As ever!” Beth’s voice shook as she punched in the code on the computer and both of them held their breath as the computer calculated the results of their experimenting.

After what seemed like hours, the computer finally pinged. Tabitha and Beth squealed like children and began dancing around the lab, bouncing up and down as if they’d had too much cotton candy.

“Oh my, God, Bethany!! We did it! WE. FUCKING. DID IT!!!!!” Tabitha wrapped her best friend up in a hug before they started dancing in celebration, Tabitha twirling Bethany around like they were on “Dancing with the Stars”. They hugged each other again, a hug that lasted a little longer than normal, and Tabitha ripped herself away before she did something stupid.

She shook her head as she went back over to the computer, Beth hanging on her arm and panting hard after their celebration. She printed out the results so they could take them to the boss man and get the clearance to start creating and embryo. The two women practically skipped down the hallway to Carter’s office, skipping past the “Top Secret” door again towards the front. She paused for a second, thinking she heard something strange, like screaming, behind that door. She listened hard, but heard nothing, and continued on her way. The women entered Carter’s office and laid the paperwork out for him.

“Well, hot damn, ladies!! Well done!! I wasn’t sure if you were ever going to find the missing piece, but here we are! Congratulations!!”

“Thank you, sir! We couldn’t have done it without your support! We are so unbelievably excited to create the first embryo of it’s kind and raise our first baby Brock!”

“Hey! That’s a great name for the first baby if it’s a little boy! If it’s a girl, what are you going to name it?”

“I like Luna!” Bethany piped in.

“I was actually thinking about going with something like Bre-”

Tabitha froze as a loud bang interrupted her sentence. A loud bang and...screaming. Her head whipped around as she saw one of her coworkers enter Carter’s doorway, holding onto the frame for support. She didn’t know him except for having seen him a few times swiping into the “Top Secret” door. Her heart stopped. He was covered in blood. She heard Carter stand up quickly behind her and she nearly fainted as she realized one of the man’s feet was missing. Carter held him up, asking him what happened. Tabitha heard nothing but her heart beating in her ears. The only words that made it through to her conscious were “dinosaur” and “run”. Her instinct, her greatest fear, was a fucking reality.

She grabbed Bethany’s hand and they ran out of the door as fast as they could. She didn’t know where to go, where to hide. As their feet hit the gravel, they heard the emergency alarm start going off. She made her way to the large dumpster that was squeezed next to the building across from theirs. Temporary, she knew, but it would have to do until she could figure out another plan. The sights and sounds that followed would haunt her for the rest of her life.

At first, there was yelling as people made their way out of buildings asking each other what was going on. Tabitha wanted so badly to yell for them to run, to scream at them to find somewhere to hide. She and Beth both knew that was the worst thing to do. She held Beth close, sheltering her from the unknown while trying to formulate a plan. Neither of them knew what they were up against, but they knew it was a carnivore without even seeing it and they knew it was violent and hungry.

Then the glass doors of the building flew open and shattered. The yelling turned to screaming as 2 massive dinosaurs busted through and began pouncing on people. She knew instantly what the two beasts were. Horns protruded from the skull of the slightly smaller one: a Carnotaurus. The other one had spike-like protrusions down its back. She recognized it as an Allosaurus. Fuck! Why would they even create these...monsters?!

Everyone scattered in different directions, hundreds of human entrees fleeing past. Beth whimpered into her shoulder as she shook with fear. “We’re going to die, Tabitha. We’re going to die because of those mother fucking idiots!” Tabitha squeezed her shoulders in a bleak attempt to reassure her that they would be okay. She watched as colleagues were picked off one by one, blood covering the gravel drive. What caught her attention next horrified her.

There was a set of eyes in the entrance to the now-dark building. Only eyes. Eyes that glowed orange like the sunrise she saw every morning yet gave her the complete opposite of peace. She gasped as she watched a gargantuan creature begin to emerge, its body breaking through the concrete structure. It walked on its hind legs, but its arms were not short like the Allosaurus and Carnotaurus. No. They were long and it had...hands? Its head was twice the size as the other two, shaped like the Allosaurus, but eyes larger and set where it had a full field of view. The teeth were shaped like a shark’s and she could see that they were razor sharp. The body was as black as the darkest night imaginable, giving it the perfect camouflage to hunt at night. Everything came into focus in her head. They had created the perfect nocturnal hunter. They had CREATED it. “What the actual fuck is that?!” she said aloud, under her breath. Beth shook harder in her arms.

Their eyes grew wide as they watched the beast break through and leap with a disturbing speed. It grabbed a person with its hands, devouring it like a human eating a cheeseburger. It raised its snout and visibly took a deep breath. Tabitha and Beth simultaneously held theirs. They watched as it decided on a direction and took off, the two smaller carnivores in its wake, struggling to keep up.

“We have to get out of here,” Tabitha said, grip loosening on Beth as she attempted to stand up.

Beth grabbed hold of her and pulled her back down. “Where are we going to go? And what the fuck is that thing? I’m so fucking scared, Tabitha. I don’t want to die!”

“I don’t know, but we cannot stay here. The alarm would have triggered the response team so they are on their way. God, they have no idea what they are up against. They’re not going to be prepared for THAT. We can’t take a car right now because that will draw its attention and I don’t think we can outrun it, and we certainly don’t need to lead it towards the gate. It cannot get out. Fuck! What were these people thinking?! Ugh! Let me think of a plan. This facility isn’t even prepared for something like this. There aren’t any bunkers or anything anywhere.”

Tabitha quickly took a deep breath to try to calm herself down so she could think. She knew her freaking out wouldn’t help Beth and she needed her to stay as calm as possible, too, so they could try to get out alive. She racked her brain so hard her body shook. She soon realized it wasn’t her body making her shake, but the ground beneath her feet. It felt like an earthquake. Her eyes shot up to see a herd of Triceratops bearing down on them. She covered Beth with her body as they bolted past. She watched as the beast tore through the animals like they were ragdolls, grabbing them with its hands and flinging them away. The women cowered as it flung one straight into the dumpster, pinning them against the wall.

The pursuit continued until they couldn’t see it anymore and they could only hear the wailing of the Triceratops as they were destroyed one by one. Tabitha knew this was their chance to find cover. They worked their way out of the mangled wreck that had been their temporary shelter, quickly checking each other over for injuries. They heard a snort behind them and froze, slowly turning around and coming face to face with the Carnotaurus.

“Do. Not. Move.” Tabitha whispered sharply as she stared the monster down. Her heart raced in her chest as she dug deep into her mental files on this particular dinosaur. She could tell it was young and obviously had never experienced life outside of...whatever it had been kept in. They hunted primarily on smell, not on sight. She noticed it’s nostrils flaring as it looked side to side attempting to locate them. Okay, so it can’t see us very well, she thought to herself, but if we move, it will. She knew they were fast, upwards of more than 20 miles per hour, so they couldn’t necessarily outrun it.

She looked around at the buildings closest to them. Their building was out of the question. The way in was also the only way out. The cafeteria was to the right of that. That had multiple entrances so they could figure out something. It also had stairs that went to the roof. That would give them a vantage point.

“Cafeteria. Stairs. Roof,” she whispered to Beth. “Run as fast as you can. It will smell us mostly, but can’t see that great. We have to get to the roof.”

Beth gulped. “I don’t know if I can do this, Tab. I’m so scared.”

“I know, but we have to. We have to survive this.” She desperately wished she had her gun, but she had forgotten to put it back in her car. “On 3, we run. You first. Haul fucking ass, Beth. One…..two…….” She took a deep breath. “Three!”

The women took off, the dinosaur hot on Tabitha’s heels. “Run, Beth! Run!” Beth whipped the door to the cafeteria open and both women blew through it right as the monster slammed it’s head against it, horns busting through and narrowly missing Tabitha’s back. It rammed the door repeatedly as they started up the stairs. They heard it roar an agitated pitch and hit the door once more, then silence. They reached the roof access and slowly crept towards the edge. Hunkered down, they peeked over the side of the building to see the Carnotaurus pacing back and forth in front of the cafeteria, visibly frustrated. It roared so loudly the women had to cover their ears. They were only 3 stories up from it yet out of its sight. Tabitha knew it was only a matter of time before the beast came back and she also knew it would see them up there. It was tall enough and seemed to have spectacular vision.

The earth shook again as the Allosaurus rounded the corner. Tabitha and Beth watched as two completely separate species of dinosaurs seemed to communicate to each other. They continued to look around before making their way to one of the carcasses scattering the lot. Beth quickly looked away as they began tearing into it. Tabitha slowly crawled to the other side of the building and looked out over the paddocks that contained the other animals. She quickly located the beast about a mile away, easily noticed due to its size, hunting in one of the paddocks. She assumed it was hunting, but after what she had witnessed with the Triceratops, it could have been killing for fun.

A sound from the corner of the building jerked her attention away. She knew no animal could get up here. Survivors? “Hey!” she whispered. A man’s head peeked out from around the corner and she and Beth rushed over.

“Brian! Oh, thank God! Are you alright?” Tabitha asked the man.

“Yes, I...I think so. What the fuck is that thing?! I thought we didn’t create monsters!”

“I don’t know, but we can’t be concerned with that right now. We have to find a way out of here. Any ideas? Is it only you up here?”

“No. There’s about six of us.” Brian pointed behind an air unit as a few more heads popped up. “I don’t know where to go either, but the containment center for the Pachycephalosaurus has reinforced walls and bars, though I’m not so sure it’ll keep that fucking thing out. There are also hurricane bunkers underneath it.”

“It could protect us for a little while. It could be our best shot. For right now, we may need to hold tight up here because the two smaller ones are down there pigging out. If they are full, they may leave for awhile and give us a small window to get over to that building. I can’t say we will be safe under cover of darkness either because it seems as if that beast has some ridiculous vision and it’s pitch black, like the perfected a nocturnal hunting machine. We would never see it coming. Problem is, it’s getting dark and fast.”

“You have a point, let’s devise a game plan with the group so everyone is on the same page and once those other two disappear, we will get our plan into action. Have you seen any more survivors?”

“No. Just your group and Beth and I. Let’s get to work.”

The group all crowded together and each person gave an input on how they could make this plan happen and survive until help arrived. Tabitha hated this place at the moment because no one had a phone. Phones were banned from the premises and even if you had one, they had mechanisms in place that drained the batteries so they couldn’t use them if they tried. But Brian had a secret, she soon learned. He was an IT specialist and he had a satellite phone he could program to temporarily block the battery drain.

They quickly called the response team to inform them of the beasts they were up against and the group was reassured that help was enroute. Their plan was to use the buildings as cover to make their way to the Pachy’s holding building. One person would lead and someone kept watch over the group’s flank. If the dinosaurs showed up, well, they didn’t have much of a plan there because they didn’t have much that they could do. Pray, one of the group members had suggested. I think you mean, prey, Tabitha thought to herself. They began drawing out a map of the facility in the gravel on the roof. They scanned the grounds in an attempt to locate the dinosaurs with no luck. Brian suggested they wait on the roof until help came, but Tabitha was certain that new creature, whatever the fuck it was, would be plenty tall enough to notice them up there and based on everything she had seen already, she would bet everything she owned that it could jump. She didn’t exactly want to stick around the find out.

Tabitha peeked her head over the edge of the building once more to be sure the other two carnivores were gone. She hoped they’d be off resting somewhere after having their fill of food. Still no sign of the big one. She shuddered, knowing they were about to step blindly into its element, literally and figuratively. She shuffled back over to the group once more, gathered Beth to her side, reiterated the plan, and headed for the door. Their steps and their breathing were as silent as possible, although she could hear the pounding of her heart in her ears. Beth gripped her hand tight as she slowly opened the dented door and looked out. Nothing but silence.

Her eyes darted towards their first building cover, the same one that held up what remained of their dumpster hideaway-her building. She glanced at the entrance expecting to see glowing orange eyes, but there was nothing. One last listen before signaling for the group to follow her and she bolted with Beth in tow and slid behind the dumpster with everyone accounted for and still dead silence. They worked their way through the tangled metal to the alleyway that ran behind her building. She looked left, then right. Nothing. She signaled to move again and the group stepped out into the open towards the left, shuffling quickly towards the next building. Just beyond that was the Pachy building. They could do this.

She looked behind her, checking on the group and making eye contact with Brian at the tail end. He gave a quick nod and she kept pushing forward. She chuckled to herself at the irony of two women leading a group of six men, attempting to get them all out alive. She would not let them live this down if they all managed to survive. She stopped at the end of the alley to check her surroundings and to listen and froze. Thunder. The thunder of a stampede? She pushed everyone back against the wall as she saw a herd of Parasaurolophus heading straight for them. She panicked, not because of the mass heading towards them, but because their corral was near the front gate. The gate was meant to hold any escapees in, yes, but it seemed as if that black creature could destroy anything. Beth squeezed her hand, whimpering into her shoulder.

The roar that followed confirmed that the gate must have held. Her eyes followed the sound and were met with a billowing black shadow behind the herd. Orange globes hung in mid-air like lanterns, a gleaming white line just below them. In the moment, it reminded her of a solid black, gothic Cheshire Cat. She signaled to the group to stay low and absolutely still. They watched as the beast toyed with the herd with bites and slashes from the enormous claws. It grabbed and threw others into the walls. In all the commotion, she hadn’t noticed the two dark shadows that showed up at the other end of the alley until Beth started frantically yanking on her arm and quietly whimpering.

Tabitha’s head slowly turned, the urge to vomit welling up in her throat. She watched as the two carnivores stalked up the alley. She whispered to the others to stay absolutely still and quiet. The pair stopped just behind their group and she realized they were not looking in the group’s direction, but ahead as if they were soldiers waiting for an order. She slowly turned her head to the other side and saw the beast standing there, looking right at her. In the glowing orange, she could see giant black slits the shape of a cats, but much wider, confirming her theory that this was indeed meant for the dark. It stared at her and huffed before turning its attention to the other two predators. It made a strange noise in its throat that almost sounded like a Raptor, but different. The Carnotaurus and Allosaurus looked at each other then back at the beast before all three quickly bolted after the herd, the smaller dinosaurs flanking the beast. Her head whipped around the corner to watch as the trio literally worked together, rounding up the herd and destroying every last animal.

“What the fuck?” she whispered aloud. “They….they hunted TOGETHER. What. The. Shit. This is not good.” Beth trembled beside her and she pulled her in close and looked down at her. “We will get through this, babe. I promise.” She looked back towards what was left of the herd and tried to process exactly what had just happened. The beast had looked directly at her yet did nothing. She knew it was a game and that it was going to toy with them as it had the other animals. It was smart. She had to be smarter. She glanced back to the parking lot where the animals lay still and realized the carnivores were gone. She knew they had to get out of there; the beast knew where they were. She decided to move the group quickly to the next building, dancing around carcasses as they ran.

They ran along the wall, the Pachy building only 100 yards away. It was dark now and they needed shelter soon. Tabitha breathed a sigh of relief then quickly choked on her air as she skidded to a halt, Beth slamming into her shoulder and head. She felt no pain. The shadow that took her breath away slowly made its way towards them, horns silhouetted against the streetlight behind it. She backed away as slowly as it advanced. She dared not run yet, hoping they could avoid it. A gurgle to her right tore her attention from the Carnotaurus. The Allosaurus stalked towards them from the right, pinning them against the building. Their only way out was back where they’d come from. Where the fuck is the beast, she thought to herself as her eyes darted from one monster to the other.

She could hear the group panicking behind her. She knew she was about to lose some of them. She also knew it was not going to be her and Beth. Her flight instinct took over and she quickly whispered, “Alley. Now. RUN!” The women took flight with the men on their heels. The carnivores roared loudly and she heard them giving chase. She turned the corner of the building ready to enter the alley and her heart stopped. Standing in the alley was the beast, blocking their only real escape and forcing them to take the same route as the Parasaurolophus herd did. “Fuck you, you son of a bitch!” she screamed as she bolted past, keeping a tight grip on Beth as they headed for another route.

Tabitha didn’t know where to go, what to do. She glanced back over her shoulder to see the beast leading the charge and the smaller two waiting on their orders to attack. The beast stopped and the others stopped on either side. Orange eyes squinted dangerously at the group as they ran for their lives, dodging animal and people carcasses everywhere they stopped. She heard it bark and the two smaller carnivores pounced on the slower members of the group. Blood curdling screams filled her ears and tears streamed down her face. She heard Beth crying and felt her struggling to keep up. “Come on, Beth. We have to get out of here!”

There were four men left with them as they ran. Six total. They only took down two? She knew then that a game is exactly what they were playing. Loser dies. Winner...dies. She focused on a route to the barricaded building when she felt Beth slip from her hand. “Beth! No!” She stopped and turned to see Beth face first in the stomach of an animal carcass.

“Go! Go Tabitha! Leave me!” Beth screamed. Tabitha watched as Beth curled herself up and squeezed into the carcass while the slowest man beside her was snatched up by the Carnotaurus. She was blinded by tears as she took off running again, praying that Beth would survive. She dared not look back. She ran hard with the final three of the group before coming to a sliding halt again, her feet sliding out from under her, as the Allosaurus cut them off. She struggled to get up while expecting to feel teeth in her at any moment. Her feet hit the ground running as she was the back of the group this time, feeling the Allosaurus closing in without even having to look.

The dinosaurs edged them towards the end of the parking lot, away from the cover of any buildings. “Fuck!” Tabitha screamed. “We have nowhere to fucking go!” The men sought the only cover they could find-a giant wooden scaffold that had been used on morale days for the president of the company to give his “thank you for all you do” speel. “Fuck you, asshole,” Tabitha said under her breath. “This is all your fucking fault!” They dove under the scaffold as the three dinosaurs surrounded them.

The three stood with their backs to each other, facing the dinosaurs that glared back at them. No, they weren’t glaring. They had a strangely playful glint in their eyes. In front of Tabitha stood the beast: alpha to alpha. She gulped, not knowing what was going to happen. She pretty much knew she was going to die, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. She wanted to look the beast in its deadly, orange eyes. She decided to climb up the ladder that went up the center of the scaffold and up onto the stage. The two men followed her, terrified up being alone.

Tabitha stood to her full height, not even remotely reaching the beast’s height as it stared down at her. She watched the orange slits narrow and its lips pull back like a dog baring its teeth. She balled her fists and glared into the eyes of her end. The two men huddled behind her back and she could feel them shaking and hear their whimpering. She watched the beast bare its teeth even more and heard a low growl. The Allosaurus quickly snapped up one of the men from behind her. She felt vomit building in her throat, but she did not break eye contact with the monster. She watched in horror as it leaned in closer to her and she could feel the heat of its breath on her face. She gulped the vomit back and continued her stare-down.

She watched with her peripheral vision as a clawed hand moved towards her. She didn’t flinch. The beast continued moving towards her, but instead of grabbing her, it quickly grabbed the last remaining human with her by the torso. He screamed as the beast stood to full height and grabbed his legs with the other claws. It stared at her for a moment longer, long enough for her to notice that the claws were nearly the length of the man’s leg, before it ripped him in half and threw him aside. It was displaying its dominance. “You’re a sadistic mother fucker, aren’t you, you piece of shit?” Her own voice caught her by surprise. The beast cut its eyes at her again as if it fully understood what she had just said to it.

It growled again and the other two dinosaurs devoured the halves of the man. She watched as the beast bared teeth again. It looked like it was...smiling. It quickly reached out and grabbed the Allosaurus by the throat and began ripping it to pieces using just hands and claws. Flesh flew all around her, some of it landing on her, as she watched with disgusted awe. It finished destroying the animal and looked at her again with the eerie smile plastered to its face. It reached out and grabbed the Carnotaurus next and proceeded to do the same thing. Tabitha saw this as her chance to run.

She leapt off of the scaffold and ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards the Pachy building. She didn’t hear the beast behind her, but she still didn’t stop. She rounded a corner and skidded to a halt. There were 3 Pachys running towards her and one dropped his head to clear its path of her. She jumped sideways to avoid it and they kept running. She heard a growl behind her and turned to see another carnivore, another she wasn’t familiar with, staring at her. She froze. “They went that way!” she said to the creature. What the fuck is wrong with you, she thought to herself. It’s a fucking animal and it isn’t going to understand you!

The creature looked at her for a moment and bolted off after the Pachys. She breathed a sigh of relief, then heard the undeniable scream of the creature she had just encountered and took off running again. She entered the building, relieved to see it was deserted, and tried to find a place to hide. She checked door after door, but they were all locked. She saw a small door to her left that blended into the wall. She wasn’t sure she could squeeze into it, but she tried it anyway and it opened. She squeezed inside and pulled the door shut and found herself inside of a small, hidden room.

She sat backwards to try to catch her breath. In the silence, she heard breathing behind her and froze once again. She turned around slowly, eyes wide in fear and her breath held. Her eyes came to rest on a group of people who looked almost as scared as she was. One of them wore a white lab coat and held a clipboard while the others were sitting on a bench that went around the room. She counted 5 others and she didn’t recognize any of them. A couple was huddled together, clearly the most terrified of the group, and she watched them cry into each other as the man with the lab coat approached her.

“You’re safe here,” he began. “I’m Doctor Stevens. Please, come sit with us until help arrives.”

“I’m Tabitha, I work in the creation lab,” she said as she walked towards the bench and sat down. Her heart was still pounding in her ears and she was starting to feel lightheaded. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and looked around the room, praying she would see Beth’s face. She didn’t, and her heart sank. Dr. Stevens brought her a bottle of water and sat beside her. She took a long drink. She couldn’t remember the last time she had anything to drink. She didn’t even know what time it was.

“Did they touch you?” Dr. Stevens voice broke through her thoughts.

“I’m sorry?” she asked, confused.

“The dinosaurs...did any of them touch you?”

“Oh, uhm, no. I don’t think so. I was extremely close to them, but I don’t think any of them touched me. Why?”

“These two folks across from you had a brush with death. They’re visitors. They were touring to possibly become regular donors to our work here. Obviously that’s no longer happening. But anyway, they tested for high levels of lead after a brush with death. They have been given a counteractive drug so they don’t get lead poisoning. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. May I?” He held up a machine he used to test everyone.

“Yes. That’s fine.” She sat still as he tested her to make sure she wasn’t affected either. “Did, uhm, did you know they were creating carnivores?”

The doctor glanced at her. “No, I did not. You didn’t know either despite working right next to them?”

“No sir, I didn’t.” She heard the machine beep, leaving her in the clear. She swallowed hard. “I only ever saw the door that had ‘Top Secret’ written across it. We weren’t allowed to ask questions, we weren’t allowed back there. Any time anyone went in there, they would literally wait until no one was around them to enter. It struck me as strange, but I never thought anything of it.”

She watched as the doctor processed what she said, only a “hmm” leaving his lips. He stood and walked back to a small desk in the corner. She glanced around the room again. She wondered why this room was even here, but didn’t have the energy to ask. She didn’t have the energy to run, to move, to converse anymore. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but all she could see was Beth’s terrified face, the men that were ripped apart before her eyes, all of the damages that she had witnessed and her eyes snapped back open.

All of a sudden, everybody in the room froze. They heard scratching at the door. Tabitha gulped and whispered, “Do you have any guns in here?” The doctor shook his head no. Fuck, she thought to herself. How the fuck are there no guns? She snuck towards the door and realized that it was like a two way mirror. She could see out of it like a screen door and knew that no one could see in. She crept closer and her heart stopped when she saw the two-clawed hand of a T-Rex wrapped around the frame of the door. She held her breath and was as silent as possible.

Tabitha slowly leaned forward to try to look out of the door, knowing she couldn’t be seen, but still terrified. All of a sudden, a man’s face popped from around the corner and she screamed. She didn’t know him, but he laughed and said, “We’re all clear! The cavalry showed up!” Tabitha kicked the door open and flipped the man off as he strode off chuckling to himself.

“That was Dave,” Dr. Stevens said from behind her, causing her to jump again. “He’s such a prankster.”

She slowly climbed out of the door, turning to help the visitors out next. She was still scared shitless, so the walk back towards the main part of the grounds was excruciatingly slow. She wanted to run, wanted to find Beth, see if she was okay. She knew the chances of that were almost impossible, but she had to know. Beth’s face in her mind drove her to move a little faster. She stepped out into the sunlight and blinked hard. Last she knew, it was pitch black with an even darker monster in the night. She shuddered and began quickly surveying around her.

Armored tanks and trucks were scattered throughout the lot. The deceased animals were still everywhere and she also saw the same carnivore she’d encountered in the Pachy building dead beside them. As she walked past the scaffold, she saw the pieces of dinosaur and human still spread around. She felt bile build up and choked it down as she was approached by one of the uniformed men who had come to their rescue.

“Hi, ma’am. I’m Officer Baker. I just need to be sure you have no pieces of these creatures anywhere on you. We’re attempting to remove all possible DNA sources so this can never happen again. Would you mind?”

Tabitha nodded and held her arms out at her sides as he visually and mechanically inspected her for any parts of flesh. He nodded his thanks when his inspection was complete and she moved closer to the scaffold. She watched as men picked up pieces of human and dinosaur alike to dispose of them. She remembered the orange eyes that had stared back at her, how they toyed with her. She still had no idea how she had the courage to face the beast in the way that she did and never backing down from it. I guess I am more brave than I thought I would ever be, she thought to herself as she turned to go. She wanted to go home and never come back.

“Oh my God! Tabitha!” Beth’s voice rang across the parking lot and Tabitha’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly turned towards the sound and was immediately met with Beth leaping into her arms. She threw her arms around the shivering woman and held her tight. Beth began crying into her neck. “Oh my God! You’re alive! I am so glad you’re alive. I knew you were dead and I couldn’t handle that and I haven’t stopped crying and…”

Tabitha placed Beth back onto her feet and placed her finger against her lips. “Shh, shh, shh. It’s okay. We’re both alive and we’re never coming back to this place.” She moved tangled hair from Beth’s face and looked down at her as she ran her palm along her cheek and Beth melted into it. Her heart beat in her chest again, the fear mixed relief and she let out a sigh. “I really thought I had lost you. I have something that I need to tell you, that I have wanted to tell you and I thought I had lost the chance to ever do so.”

Beth looked back at her with a knowing curiosity. If she had the courage to face the beast, she had the courage to tell Beth exactly what she meant to her. Beth shifted so she stood slightly closer to Tabitha.

“I...uhm...I love you, Beth. I am in love with you. I have been since the day we started working together 4 years ago, but I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t ruin the friendship we had and I knew your past and your secrets and I couldn’t make things difficult for you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you before and I’m sorry it took us almost dying for me to tell you, and I just...”

Tabitha’s words were cut off and her breath left her lungs as Beth kissed her. She melted into Beth and wrapped her arms around her waist. After a few moments, Beth broke the kiss and put her forehead against Tabitha’s. “I thought you’d never tell me. I thought I had lost a shot with you, that I was imagining every sign I saw from you. I love you, too, Tabitha.”

Tabitha smiled and kissed her forehead. “Let’s go home. We are alive and we have a lot to talk about.” The two locked hands and went to make sure they were in the clear to leave. Beth’s car had been destroyed by the herd of animals, so they made their way to Tabitha’s truck. She opened the passenger door and help Beth into it before finding her way to the driver’s seat. “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” she said as she put it in drive and headed for the gate. They made their way down the mountain, hand in hand, and gazed out over the ocean.

“Thank you, Tabitha. For protecting me, for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome, Beth. I had to. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.”

They looked at each other with a smile and a squeeze of each other’s hands, the sound of the tires being the only sound in an otherwise comfortable silence.