FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Lunchtime! thought Nick as he stood outside of Paddock 11, or "the cage" as it was sometimes called. It was Jurassic World's newest enclosure, and the one that made everyone nervous. Those who worked there walked on egg shells and rumors, mostly exaggerating the size and strength of the Indominus rex, had already spread like wildfire among all of the park's employees. They discussed Paddock 11 in hushed, conspiratorial tones in bathrooms and break rooms all over the island, and an air of unease and vague dread hung over the paddock itself, which was located in the northern part of the island far from the main area of the park.

Nick was mostly immune to the feelings of unease his fellow employees felt. A dinosaur was a dinosaur. The Indominus rex was just a little bigger and meaner than most. Hell, if the damn Tyrannosaurus didn't frighten him, then neither did the I-rex. If truth be told, he was more worried about the four Velociraptors Vic Hoskins was supposed to be doing something with over on the other end of the island. Nick had never personally seen a raptor, but he'd heard enough stories about their intelligence and ferocity that he was glad for it. He had no idea what Hoskins was doing with them, and considering the fact that Hoskins gave him the creeps the few times he visited Paddock 11, Nick didn't want to know.

It was three past twelve, and Nick stood on the gravel driveway leading up to the main door of the large, fortress-like structure where Indominus rex was kept, a clipboard and ball point pen in his hands. He'd been conversing with the construction foreman, a lean bearded man named Joaquim, relaying operations manager Claire Dearing's displeasure that the construction of the reinforcements to the paddock's exterior was falling behind schedule, when he noticed the time on his digital watch.

Behind schedule or not, Nick knew better than to risk the workers' wrath. Besides, he was hungry, too. He pocketed his pen, slid the clipboard underneath his arm and made a "T" with his hands to call for a time out.

"Okay, guys, time to call it quits for a while," he announced. "Lunchtime!"

The workers in their neon orange vests and matching hardhats began to knock off. Some opened bags and lunchboxes, eating sandwiches and snacks. Others went over to the water cooler hanging off the back of the Chevrolet truck sitting parked in front of the enormous gate.

Nick himself headed elsewhere. Removing his own headgear, a blue hardhat with the skeletal Tyrannosaurus rex logo of Jurassic World, he wiped the sweat off of his brow. Plunking the hardhat back onto his head, he began the Herculean task of making it up the metal stairs to the observation tower. God, he thought, why couldn't Claire have put him in charge of a paddock where the interior was monitored from the ground floor, like the T. Rex Kingdom? But no, not Nick. No, he was in charge of Paddock 11, and his desk was up two flights of stairs. No small feat for a man of Nick's girth.

To his friends, he was known by the highly unoriginal nickname "Big Nick." He was of slightly above average height, with a square-jawed face and a big nose. His body was oddly proportioned. Although his upper torso wasn't too fat and his arms and legs were meaty without being flabby, he sported the beer belly to end all beer bellies, a ponderous-looking stomach that stretched his shirt to the breaking point, and his otherwise loose-fitting pants looked pretty unflattering due to his big butt.

Somehow he made it, although he was panting a bit as he gripped the rail to steady himself. After recovering, he entered his access code and went through the door into the observation tower. The door slammed shut behind him automatically and he was grateful for the rush of cool air.

The observation tower was the nerve center of the entire paddock. It was a second floor control room from which Nick could manage the entire paddock as well as monitor the Indominus rex all by himself. Nick spent most of his time in here and he didn't like it very much. The room was exceedingly stark, reflecting the same spartan futuristic design aesthetic seen in the Hammond Creation Lab over at the Innovation Center, featuring little besides a work station for Nick with a bank of computer screens as well windows for him to monitor the paddock. The sleek design of the room reminded Nick of a hospital.

Still, at least it was air-conditioned and he didn't sweat his ass off, and all the job really required of him was to monitor the security cameras and thermal imaging screens. It never failed to amaze him. Here he was with a PhD in mechanical engineering, in charge of the most dangerous - and most valuable - asset in Jurassic World and he was essentially little more than a button pusher. The supervisor of the dreaded Paddock 11 was an overweight cubicle drone. Oh, well, he reasoned; it paid the bills.

One of the windows was still cracked. He grumbled. That'd been bothering him. He still remembered the day the I-rex did that. He'd been typing at his computer when suddenly she flung herself against the glass behind him. Jesus, how she'd startled him! He'd been after someone to fix it for weeks now, but everyone was so busy building up the exterior walls as per ACU's demands that nobody'd gotten to it. Still aggravated from his torturous climb up the stairs, Nick entertained the idea of going and forcing one of the workers to sacrifice his break to get on it, then decided against it - if he did that, he'd have to go down the stairs and back up them all over again!

Through the windows, he had an unobstructed view of Paddock 11's interior. There was no sign of I-rex. That wasn't too unusual. For some reason, she habitually hid among the trees during sunny days like this one. Since she had such pale white skin, Nick thought that she sunburned easily. He'd read somewhere that albinos had similar problems.

He went to his desk, the only piece of furniture in the room, and sat down in the wheeled office chair, which squeaked in protest from his weight, and set his clipboard aside. He grabbed his lunchbox, taking out a Thermos of Kool-Aid, a turkey sandwich on rye with lettuce and tomatoes, a bag of Sun Chips and some Oreos in a plastic baggie. He smiled as he spread these items before him on the desk. As much as he hated playing to the stereotype of the hungry fat man who always ate, Nick had to admit, he did enjoy snacking.

He was just opening the bag of chips when he heard voices outside the door.

"You should hear a four year old try to say 'Archaeornithomimus,'" said a woman's voice. Claire.

"You should hear you try to say it," said a male voice Nick didn't recognize.

Nick took a bite of his sandwich as he looked out the huge windows of the room, and then the door opened and Claire Dearing entered with a tall, robust-looking young man with sandy hair. Having overheard Claire's discussion with Mr. Masrani earlier, Nick supposed this man was Owen Grady, come to do a safety inspection of the paddock at Masrani's insistence. Nick had no objection. Whatever made his job safer was fine with him. He was just a little annoyed they'd come when they did, and made a point of not getting up, continuing to munch on his sandwich and eat Sun Chips, chewing slowly and quietly.

He thought about fixing his tie to make himself a little more presentable, but when nobody said anything to him and Claire didn't bother introducing him, he didn't. If nothing else, Owen, who seemed like a blue collar guy himself, smiled and gave Nick a nod in greeting, which the supervisor returned.

The two of them began discussing the Indominus rex. Nick mostly tuned them out. Despite the fact he managed the entire paddock, Claire had made it clear to him that his job began and ended with that. Paradoxically, he knew next to nothing about the actual dinosaur he was supposed to look after, and it'd been made clear to him that this was by design, as Owen himself was finding out. This bothered Nick, but he'd given up trying to make Claire tell him anything about the Indominus rex; even she wasn't privy to half of what had gone into making her.

Owen Grady, though, kept pressing.

Claire seemed agitated by Owen's questions regarding the issue, and, grumbled, "Can we drop a steer, please?" in annoyance.

This was directed at Nick. Nick sighed. Her tone of voice grated on him. Like most management people, she wanted it done five minutes ago. Couldn't she see he was on break? Why did she have to bring this Owen guy here now, when everyone at Paddock 11 was off duty?

He noticed that the Indominus still wasn't showing and clearly Claire wanted to bait her into appearing for Owen Grady's appraisal, although Nick was unsure why. Wasn't he here to inspect the structural integrity of the enclosure, not the dinosaur herself?

He shifted in his chair, reaching over and pressing a button on a special alert device. This would alert a worker outside that it was dino feeding time, whereupon this individual would use a large industrial crane to lower a hunk of meat into the paddock for I-rex to eat. Nick took his finger off of the button. His part of the job was done. Now it was up to whoever felt like giving up a few minutes of their lunch break to feed the damn dinosaur.

He gave Claire a petulant look that said "There, happy?" and stuck his tongue out at her behind her back when she turned to resume speaking to Owen, then took another bite out of his sandwich and closed his eyes, savoring the taste of the turkey, tuning the two of them out again.

Outside, the arm of the crane swung over the top of the wall and lowered a huge hunk of beef down into the trees. But still Indominus refused to show herself. Now Nick was a little concerned. He'd never seen her pass up a meal before. He sat up a little straighter in his chair, watching as Claire, apparently sharing his growing worry, went to the window and tapped against the glass. What, thought Nick, did she think I-rex was a fish or something...?

"Where is it?" she asked so quietly Nick barely heard her.

"What, is it in the basement?" asked Owen sarcastically. "Is there a downstairs? Maybe it's in the rec room."

Ignoring him, Claire went over to one of the pedestal-mounted touchscreens Nick used to operate the thermal imaging system of the paddock. "It was just here," she mumbled. "We were just here."

Indeed, although she hadn't emerged fully from the trees, Nick remembered Indominus had indeed been present and accounted for when Claire brought Masrani to view the paddock earlier that morning.

Utilizing the thermal imager, Claire performed a scan of the jungle. The touchscreen issued forth an annoyed "BEEP." She stepped back, aghast. Nick almost got up to see what the matter was when whatever reading the touchscreen had given her caused a ripple effect throughout the observation tower interior: the wall-mounted computer screens arranged around the room began beeping in alarm and they all show the same words - "NO THERMAL SIGNATURES DETECTED."

Nick put his sandwich in his lap and spun his chair around to look at them in stupefied alarm. He felt vague fear beginning to creep up his spine suddenly.

"Oh, shit," he said slowly.

They weren't detecting any body heat inside the paddock! The Indominus rex wasn't showing up! Consulting his desktop PC, Nick absentmindedly ate a Sun Chip.

"That doesn't make any sense," he mumbled with his mouth full. He chewed and swallowed, then rolled his chair over to the nearest window to look out into the jungle with his naked eyes. He still saw nothing. "These doors haven't been opened in weeks."

He was beginning to panic. If the I-rex had somehow escaped, it'd be blamed on him! A multi-million dollar asset flown the coop on his watch! He felt moved to action to cover his ass. But what could he do? Despite what the computers were telling him, he wasn't even sure I-rex had even--

"Were those claw marks always there?" asked Owen Grady, pointing out the far window. Whatever it was he was pointing at, Nick couldn't see it.

Claire could, though, it seemed. "You think it..." she began, trailing off. Owen said nothing. Think? wondered Nick. Think what? Suddenly realization seemed to hit her and she trembled. "Oh, God!" she cried, then turned and ran for the door. "She has an implant in her back! I can track it from the control room!"

After she was gone, Nick stood, heedless of the sandwich dropping from his lap to land on the floor, and crossed the room to stand beside Owen. The two of them looked out the window. By the rear door of the paddock, Nick saw numerous deep scratch marks in the concrete going up very high. He swallowed. He grabbing the handheld radio clipped to the front of his shirt.

"Ellis!" he yelled. "Ellis, God damn it, come in!"

"Yeah?" came a scratchy voice. Ellis, one of the workers. He wasn't coming in very well, though. Reception in this part of the island had always been a little spotty.

"We got a problem!" Nick said, his voice shrill and panicky. "The asset is out!"

"Say again," Ellis' garbled voice managed to slither through. "I didn't quite get that."

"I said the I-rex is not in the paddock! There's claw marks on the wall by the main door." He paused, looking at Owen, who was quiet.

"Claw marks?" Ellis said. "Jesus! I better go have a look."

Before Nick could reply, he and Owen heard the sound of a door opening and closing. They watched as a short, thin Costa Rican man in a blue jumpsuit entered the paddock, walkie talkie in hand. Nick gritted his teeth. This was a bad idea, he thought, a very, very bad idea. He turned to look at Owen again with pleading eyes.

"What the hell's he doing?" demanded Nick.

"Getting a look at the claw marks, I think," Owen answered. "I wanna go have a look, too."

Alarm pulsed through Nick. "I can't allow that," he replied, trying to sound authoritative. He was supposed to be in charge after all. Wasn't it his say whether they went in or not? "The dino..." he trailed off, looking back and forth between Owen standing in front of him and Ellis down below walking over to the wall.

"You're sure those thermal imaging scopes work right?" Owen asked, also watching Ellis intently.

"Yeah," said Nick. "They've never given a false reading before..."

They watched. Nick was about to radio Ellis to tell him to return, but Ellis made it to the other end of the paddock safely. Nothing jumped out to get him. Apparently, the dinosaur really wasn't in the enclosure. Nick licked his lips nervously. In the end, he decided it was safe to go in. If the I-rex was still in there, she'd have already ripped Ellis to pieces. Besides, like Owen, Nick was curious to inspect the scratches and figure out just how in the hell she'd managed to get out. After all, his ass was on the line, since however she'd gotten free, she'd done it on his watch. Gesturing for Owen to follow him, he took him downstairs and led him not to the big door but the smaller side one reserved for employees.

Cicadas buzzed loudly all around them as they walked through the jungle to the back wall. Owen was steely-eyed and alert. Nick was just plain nervous, sweating as much from the heat as from his unease. He glanced left and right at the sweltering jungle plants and trees which seemed to encroach on them threateningly, looking for any sign of the dinosaur, but there was none. He'd never been inside "the cage" before, not since they'd actually introduced the animal into her habitat, and he would've preferred to have kept it that way, but duty called. Ahead, they could see Ellis inspecting the scratches on the wall by the door. That's it, Nick told himself, just take a leisurely stroll through the jungle. Nothing to worry about.

They passed a jagged tree stump. Nick remembered watching the I-rex knock it down during one of her tantrums. He scratched his arm absently.

"She knock that down?" Owen asked in something like a conversational tone, his voice low.

"Yup," was the bigger man's reply. He indicated another recently felled tree. "That one, too."

"Really...?" asked Owen.

"She's mean," Nick said by way of reply. "Real mean."

"You'd be mean too if you were kept locked up in a prison your entire life," Owen responded. "This thing is mad as hell and probably maladjusted. There's no telling what she'll do."

Nick frowned and looked at his feet as he walked. "Yeah, I, uh, I guess you're right..."

If Owen was afraid, he wasn't showing it. His eyes were narrowed, giving him a wary look, ever on the lookout for danger. His courage bolstered Nick, and the supervisor held himself up a little higher as they continued on. He felt relieved, at least, that he wasn't in here alone. It was nice to have someone at your side, and when they reached Ellis there'd be three of them. Safety in numbers. Or so he hoped.

Even though the I-rex wasn't in here, he still felt uneasy being inside the paddock without a weapon, wishing management allowed paddock personnel to carry firearms. Nevertheless, at a leisurely if cautious stroll, the two of them reached the other end of the enclosure without incident as Ellis had. Nick breathed a sigh of relief.

Bending over, Owen thoughtfully felt the deep grooves in the stone with his bare hand, and then stepped back to stand beside Nick and Ellis as the three men stared up at the massive wall looking above him. The longer they looked, the more and more unlikely it seemed that Indominus had scaled it.

Nick voiced what was on all three men's minds. "That wall's forty feet high. You really think she could've climbed out?"

"Depends," replied Owen.

"On what?" asked Nick without taking his eyes off the wall.

"What kinda dinosaur they cooked up in that lab," Owen replied ominously.

Nick was liking this less and less. If she didn't climb out, and she wasn't inside the paddock, where was she? He stepped back and stood thoughtfully with his hands on his flabby hips, chewing it over in his mind. Had she dug out? He could've sworn they'd dug the foundation of the paddock deep enough that--

His radio crackled. "--Paddock 11... ...dock 11, do you copy..." It was Vivian Krill, one of the technicians in central control.

Nick answered, plucking the radio off of his shirt and bringing it to his mouth. "Yeah," he said, "what's the problem?" His brows knit in puzzlement.

Vivian's voice was a shrill squeal of terror and concern. "It's in the cage! It's in there with you!"

Nick let the radio slip from his fingers to dangle from his shirt, his hand still posed in a grasping motion, holding thin air, as he turned and stared at Ellis in confusion and fear. The Costa Rican's eyes were wide with fear. In there with them? wondered Nick. What did she mean? But the thermal sensors had indicated--

Suddenly Ellis was off like a flash, running full-tilt for the door they'd come through. Nick watched him go, trying to process what was happening.

"Go!" yelled Owen suddenly off to his right.

Nick turned, stupefied, to look at him, but the other man was already running, hot on Ellis' heels. Nick turned in an awkward circle, very nearly losing his balance, and as he did so he decided that despite not understanding how the Indominus rex could be in the paddock despite all of the observation tower's high-tech instruments telling him otherwise, it might indeed be a wise decision to get the hell out of there. Stumbling, Nick completed his circle and finally followed the other two men, but his reaction had been so slow that by the time he began running, both of them were already halfway across the paddock interior several yards ahead of him. Damn! he thought, feeling panic rising in his chest, feeling like he was being left behind.

He ran for all he was worth. But he was a very fat man, and years of avoiding exercise and choosing a profession that kept him behind a desk for almost his entire career meant that, for Nick, "running for all he was worth" amounted to nothing but a light jog. He'd gone barely five feet before he started wheezing and panting, his pulse quickening. This only increased his terror. Memories of nature documentaries where a British-voiced narrator spoke of how predators always went after the slowest members of the herd flashed through the overweight supervisor's mind as he struggled to catch up to the other two men.

Was that who he was? What he was? The slow, easy prey? He suddenly felt like crying, his eyes moistening.

He stopped in his tracks as he saw what Owen and Ellis didn't. There she was! He could see her through the foliage, between them and the door they'd come through! He swallowed. Yes. Despite all of the observation tower's instrumnts claiming otherwise, the fact remained, she was here, and Nick did not want to be in there with her, and so he turned on heel and ran - half jogging, half staggering - over to the larger rear door. Owen and Ellis continued running unknowingly right towards danger. Nick thought about warning them, but was too scared of calling attention to himself, and he thought that by the time he shouted anything it'd be too late. Besides, surely they'd see her and reverse direction as he had.

As he reached the control panel by the door, Nick felt a swell of pathetically desperate relief and even something like triumph. Today, the slow member of the herd was going to survive because he was the smart one more atuned to danger than his swifter-footed companions! But he wasn't out of the frying pan yet. Whimpering and breathing heavily through his nostrils, he placed his hand on the handprint ID pad and entered his security code. Behind him, he heard a deafening bellow and Ellis' scream. Come on, come on, he thought, praying the software would work quickly. There was a loud buzzing noise and the huge door off to his left began slowly opening. Yes! He was out! Home free!

He walked over to the door and turned to see if the others were coming. He saw Owen running towards him at full speed. Behind him, half hidden in the trees, Nick saw the Indominus rex holding Ellis. His eyes widened as he watched the worker get pulled apart and devoured piece by piece! Jesus! Overwhelmed with wretched misery and terror, Nick screamed and turned from the sight of his friend being eaten like beef jerky and charged as fast as his bulk would allow through the slowly widening gap.

Once free, he hollered a warning to the startled and confused workers lounging around on break. They broke and ran in all directions. He turned with the intent of closing the door from the outside, but hesitated, conflicted about locking Owen inside. He stood there, frozen in place, watching the younger man running towards him. Suddenly the door stopped and began to reverse. Christ, someone in control had remotely activated the shutting mechanism! It was out of his hands now. Praying Owen would be fast enough to make it out before the door closed, Nick turned and took off down the gravel driveway. Exactly where he was running to, he had no clue. Away. Anywhere but here.

Everyone else was gone by now. They'd darted off to the sides and plunged into the surrounding jungle. Nick staggered, wheezing, trying to will his heavy-bellied form to keep going, sweating profusely, more terrified than he'd ever been in his entire life, regret after regret flashing through his mind. He'd just reached the Chevrolet truck when he heard a tumultous noise behind him. Crumbling stone. Servos whining in protest. The sound of the door behind pushed off of its track. And the bone-shattering roar of the Indominus rex. She was free!

Nick didn't dare look back. Stumbling, he smacked into the rear fender of the Chevy, fell on his hands and knees, somehow managing to keep his hardhat on. Sweat poured down his face. He couldn't go any further. Picking himself up, leaning against the side of the truck for support, he made his way down the length of the vehicle before collapsing into a sitting position in front of it, leaning against the bumper, hardhat making a hollow clunking sound against the grill. It was the most pitiful excuse for a hiding place in the world, and Nick knew it, but he just couldn't run anymore. He was done.

Hearing the sound of scuffling gravel, he glanced over to his right and saw Owen underneath the crane they used to feed the dinosaur. Thank God, he thought, he'd made it out all right. He looked at Owen with pleading eyes, silently begging him for forgiveness for not warning him and Ellis that the Indominus rex was cutting their escape off earlier, when suddenly the ground shook. Thunderous footfalls coming closer. And closer. And closer. The Chevy rocked on its tires with each impact. Nick wept openly now.

Steeling himself up, he tore his gaze away from Owen and leaned out, looking around the front of the truck. His tear-filled eyes widened as he saw the I-rex's tail disappearing behind the truck. She was walking around the other side, to his left. He sobbed. Please don't let her find me, he prayed. Turning back around, he leaned back against the grill again, panting and gasping, nearly hyperventilating in terror, aghast at the cruel irony of the fact he was the one who noticed Indominus cutting their escape off before the other two did, he was the one who got out first and stood, he thought, the best chance of survival, and now here he was, cowering in front of a truck, almost totally exposed, and she was coming for him, not Owen, all because he couldn't run faster...!

There was a great rending of metal and the Chevy behind him disappeared. He gave a startled yelp as he suddenly found himself sitting out in the open. The truck was gone! It was just gone! Nick looked up. Suddenly toolboxes, rebars, coolers and other equipment began raining from the sky all around him. He saw the Chevy hanging suspended in midair. With a startled cry of "Ooh!" he ducked his head, fearful of the truck landing on him on its way back down, but he needn't have worried. The Chevy returned to earth noisily but harmlessly, landing upside-down a few feet away over by the crane where Owen was hiding, its wheels spinning. Nick raised his head and whimpered again.

Thud! Two huge scaly feet appeared to either side of him. Getting up and running away crossed Nick's mind. But was he just too tired. All the fight had gone out of him. Even if he tried, he'd be grabbed before he'd even finished getting to his feet, and so the overweight supervisor opted instead to sit placidly and take what was coming to him. The moment he made this choice, he felt a strange peace and calmness come over him. Adjusting himself where he sat so that he sat up a little straighter with his hands in his lap, he turned and looked at Owen again.

The overturned truck mostly blocked their view of one another, but their eyes met through the smashed out glass of the windows. Something unspoken passed between them. Owen's eyes said, sorry, buddy. Nick's, desperate, said get yourself away from here if you can. Please don't look away, Nick begged silently. He didn't want to die alone and as long as they were looking at one another, he felt as though Owen were with him in what he knew were to be his final moments. As if he silently understood, Owen held his gaze and never once looked away.

Suddenly his world became darkness and unimaginable agony as the jaws swung down and clamped around him. Nick gasped inside of the mouth as he was lifted up, legs kicking, the sharp teeth piercing the flesh of his meaty forearms and digging painfully into his huge stomach. Blood spread across his shirt and his buttons popped, exposing his belly button. The Indominus rex tossed back her head. Nick's hardhat flew off, tumbled back along her tongue and slid down her throat, and then she threw the supervisor up into the air over her head.

Momentarily airborne, Nick, despite his pain and fear, was amazed someone as big as him could be thrown up like this so effortlessly. She caught him on the way back down and the dagger-like teeth bit down, crunching into the supervisor's meaty body.

I won't scream, Nick's mind wailed endlessly through the pain, I won't scream, I won't scream.

Somehow, he didn't.

The crunch of bones and the slurp of bloody flesh filled his ears inside of the mouth. The pain was horrifyingly terrible, but ended swiftly, and Nick knew no more as he finally blacked out from the sheer pain and the loss of blood. The powerful predatory jaws worked quickly, biting off his arms, the big, clawed hands catching them as they fell, and, still holding them, grabbing the human's legs and pulling, wrenching them free from his torso like he was a fat Thanksgiving turkey, blood splurting from her jaws. Nick's big body was mashed up into a gory pulp to be swallowed in several huge bites by the dinosaur he'd until recently been in charge of managing. The torn off arms and legs were greedily crammed in after their owner, and Indominus closed her eyes, threw back her head and greedily swallowed the shredded, gooey mass that used to be Nick, sending the huge mouthful down the dark abyss of her throat.

For Nick, lunchtime was over.

For the I-rex, it was just beginning.

The End.