*Owen's P.O.V*

For as fenced in and controlled as this entire island environment is, our journey through the woods seemed never-ending. I couldn't help but wonder just how three kids could seem to navigate their way through the shaded trees without being spotted by the hybrid dinosaur. I had to shake the thought of them crossing paths with the Indominus out of my head, thinking that way wasn't getting us any closer to finding them– or helping us find our way out of here. Claire was stuck inside her head too, I could easily tell. For one, she wasn't nagging as much as she was earlier– before we knew that Hailey and her nephews were okay. And secondly, you could feel the fear that plagued her mind practically radiate off of her body. I didn't know what to say– or if I should even say anything at all. 

I wasn't one to let down my walls, I've always been a pretty private person. I didn't like the feeling of losing someone I cared so much about, or the idea of letting strangers know just how vulnerable I can be. That was something they taught you in bootcamp– never let your vulnerability show, it can only come back and bite you in the ass later on. And I think that was an underlying fear I had the moment my outburst about Elizabeth happened. To Claire, I was just some macho, brooding, coldhearted, out of the Navy guy who had a strong taste for tequila and an unfortunate fashion-sense. I don't know if she ever thought it was possible that I could have a heart– and I don't know if that changes anything between us or what. What I can say is that it felt really nice talking about what happened to Elizabeth. Hell, Barry's one of my best friends and I couldn't even manage to muster up a few measly words when I returned back to the island after her funeral. But with Claire, it was different. I don't know what it was about her that made it seem like it was okay for me to be able to open up around her– but there was something there. Even if my opening up to her wasn't all that intentional.

"It helps you know..." Claire said, clearing her throat. "talking about it– her. When my dad died a few years back, my sister and mom were always open about it and talked about it all the time. I couldn't, because it hurt...just to even think about him. But once I did, it was like I could feel some weight being lifted. It might sound cliche, but I swear...talking helps."

I looked at her for only a few seconds before putting my focus back on the scenery in front of us. We couldn't afford to waste anymore time getting lost in these woods. God knows what would happen. But her advice bounced off the walls of my brain, sticking every few seconds– maybe she was right. Maybe it would help. My outburst sure did for the few seconds it lasted for. I took a deep breath and sighed. "She was my older sister. Only by three years, but she never let me live it down. She was my best friend growing up, we rarely ever fought– which was a surprise to our parents."

"Karen and I fought like it was our jobs, I think we drove our parents crazy." She laughed softly, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Not Elizabeth and I, we did everything together. She had this...fierce outlook on life, like she was indestructible and could do anything. She was just...amazing." I could feel the invisible weight Claire had talked about slowly begin to lift itself off of my shoulders. "I didn't think any guy could ever tie her down, she was just always so 'go, go, go' and then she met Michael and she just, relaxed. As if that entire time all of her crazy and outgoing shenanigans was just her soul's way of trying to find it's perfect match. There's no other guy I would have had marry my sister than Michael."

I could sense Claire smiling and hell– I was smiling too. It was hard not to smile whenever I thought about my sister– she was just a big ball of sunshine who lifted the spirits of everyone around her. "Do you mind if I ask how she died?"

I took a sharp breath as if the question had stabbed me right in the chest. I cleared my throat and sucked in my lips as I found the courage to answer. "Pancreatic cancer. She had just gotten over the flu and thought that the nausea, weight-loss and loss of appetite were just something like a stomach bug or just the reminisce of the flu that hadn't gone away yet. But by the time the fatigue and dizziness set in, the Doctors said it was too late." I cleared my throat and pinched the end of my nose to try and recollect myself. "Apparently it's one of the most fast acting cancers there is."

"There was nothing they could do? No chemo?"

I shook my head. "The tumors hid along her pancreas way longer than the symptoms had begun to shown, so by then the cancer spread to other vital organs. She died two weeks after her diagnosis."

She was silent for a while, probably taking in everything I had revealed about Elizabeth's death. "And Hailey dealt with it all by herself?"

"Well, she had her dad and my parents...but technically yes. She was the shoulder everybody leaned on..." I sighed and looked down at the ground, thinking about the moment I had arrived back home and seeing Elizabeth in those final moments. "even me."

"She's a great kid, I could tell that from the moment I met her. How has she been handling all of this?"

"You mean with her mother?"

Claire nodded. "Yeah, her father too. I mean, it can't be easy on her. One day she has both parents, and then a few weeks later– she only has one. Has she talked about it at all?"

Her question made the wheels in my head begin to turn. I never thought to ask how Hailey was doing– I guess I just assumed she would talk to me about it. I keep forgetting though who she's related too though. She may be my sisters daughter– but she's definitely got some of my characteristics in her. One being that we never want anybody else to worry about us– we always take care of the ones we love first and foremost. I went to reply to Claire's question when the sound of a car engine revving echoed throughout the woods...it was close.

Claire and I looked at one another. "It's them, it's got to be them." She said, starting to run ahead of me.

I followed close behind her, dodging the low tree branches and leaves as an small open area greeted us. Standing in the middle of it, was the back of what looked to be a vine covered garage. I took in the view and immediately recognized it as the original Jurassic Park's visitor center– but this had to be where they stored the jeep's to get around. I walked into the garage, my senses on high alert when I spotted a gray jacket. I bent down and picked it up, showing it to Claire. "This one of theirs?"

She let out a sigh of relief as she grabbed the jacket. "Yes, it's Zach's. They've been here, that means they're okay!" She turned back towards the garage opening, looking down the path where tires had recently flattened the grass. "That road goes straight back to the park– they're headed back."

"How did they even get one of these things started?" I asked, setting my gun down beside the 1992 Jeep Sahara and brushing off the dust that covered it. I headed over towards the work bench ahead to see if there were any tools we could use.

"Do you recognize this?" Claire asked. I turned around to see her holding Hailey's backpack she'd been carrying ever since she arrived here on Isla Nublar.

"That's Hailey's!" I said, feeling myself begin to relax now that I know she wasn't wandering around all alone. "She's been here, she must be with them."

Claire started to walkover with the backpack in her hands as I turned towards the Jeep, ready to lift the hood to take a look underneath to see what our damage was. Loud thundering footsteps echoed throughout the shed, causing Claire to gasp and me to freeze in place. Dust from the ceiling settled around us as Claire quickly moved to my opposite side. I held her back as we could hear more footsteps and quickly ducked down in front of the Jeep, bringing her with me. We sat there with our backs pressed against the front of the Jeep, trying not to breath too loud as the footsteps made their way in our direction. I peaked my head around the corner of the Jeep to see my gun sitting only a few feet away from me, still propped up against the driver door. I leaned a little forward, considering reaching out and grabbing it before the dinosaur arrived– but the gigantic front paw belonging to the Indominus slammed onto the dirt ground just outside of the garage, immediately causing me to sit back against the Jeep.

Claire looked at me with wide eyes and I motioned for her to remain calm. I've hidden from this Indominus once– sure I was covered in gasoline and hiding beneath a car, but I'm sure this garage has 22 years of different smells covering the walls that this dinosaur could find instead of us. The dinosaur stopped walking, its low snarls practically bouncing off of the concrete walls surrounding us. I felt Claire grab my hand and squeeze it and my heart practically jumped against my chest. The Indominus's presence alone was enough to scare the shit out of you. I could practically feel the dinosaur's eyes boring into the back of my head– or so it seemed. It's slight movements were paused as it sniffed into the air and used its head to nudge the Jeep that was supporting us. Claire gripped my hand even tighter and turned away as I too turned my head and shut my eyes, mentally preparing for what could happen, but hoping that luck was on our side. 

The Indominus sniffed again and a low growl emitted from the back of it's throat before it moved its head out of the garage. It's presence disappeared and you could feel both Claire and I immediately begin to relax. I turned the corner of the Jeep and reached out to grab my gun, taking the few extra seconds to make sure that the Indominus was in fact no longer near the garage. We sat there, looking at one another and taking deep breaths of relief. I nodded to pass on the message that the Indominus had moved on when a loud growling sound rang through the air. The roof of the garage caved in and we both scrambled away before we could get crushed by the material. The Indominus let out another roar as Claire started to run through an open door, leading God knows where. I reached down and grabbed Hailey's backpack just as the dinosaur used its head to hit the Jeep, sending it directly into the workbench where I had been standing only seconds earlier.

I put her backpack onto my shoulders and ran after Claire, hoping that she couldn't get too far ahead of me. Who was I kidding, there's no way she could get that far running in those silly shoes. I ran down the dark hallway and could see Claire running into an open area, struggling with her shoes. We left the hallway and ran into the abandoned visitor center, I ran past her and jumped over an old dinosaur skull beating her to the door. I stood there, looking behind me and reaching out a hand for her to help. She ran right by me as the Indominus let out another roar, sending both of us back into the open forest faster than we ever thought we could go and back to the valley where we left our car.

Claire pulled out her phone as we continued to run through the forest. "Uh, I don't really think this is the right time to go ahead and call someone."

"I'm calling Lowery." She huffed, following behind me and trying to keep up as best as she could. "Lowery! We found her. South of the Gyrosphere Valley."

I kept my eyes open as we continued walking through the tall grass. There was no saying where this thing could be and with the fact it has camouflage abilities, meant surprises could happen. "Shit, we've gone a little more to right than we needed to..." I said, as we walked out into the open space, only to see the aviary off in the distance.

"Yes. Get ACU out here, real guns this time." She commanded, coming to a stop just short of the forest opening. "Who's flying it?"

The sound of one of the ACU helicopters erupted through the air, causing both Claire and I took look up just as it flew over us and began to hover just above the aviary. "Oh God...Are those?" I asked, staring at the helicopter as a few Pteranodon circling it.

"They're loose. Oh My God, they're loose." Claire mumbled as we watched in horror, the Pteranodon attacking the single helicopter. "Masarani is flying it, he's...Oh My God."

The helicopter started to spin in circles and descent down towards the aviary as clouded dark smoke erupted from the engine. In a few short seconds, a huge flock of the mixed Pteranodon and Dimorphodon arose from the shattered glass ceiling and were headed in our direction. I went to run away only to see Claire still staring up at the sky– either in complete awe or she was frozen in fear. I grabbed her hand and caught her attention. "Trees, the trees!" I yelled, pulling her towards me and pushing her ahead of me so I knew she'd be safe. "Go, go, go!"

We ran back towards the trees as the winged dinosaurs flew high above us, their squawks almost taunting as they neared. I could see Claire was running as fast as she could, so I did my best not to try and pass her up like I did before. I looked up to see more Dimorphodon and Pteranodon's flying above us, and I thought maybe we had made in into the trees fast enough to where they hadn't been able to see us as prey. But when I turned around I saw a Pteranodon coming low and preparing for a dive at us with its mouth wide open. I wrapped my arm around Claire's waist and brought us both tumbling onto the ground as we watched the dinosaur swoop right over us and straight away with the rest of its friends– high into the sky and further away from us.

We both rolled over onto our sides to see more dinosaurs flying behind us, lying low until we were sure that the last of them had flown over and away from us. We laid there, keeping silent and still until I deemed the coast clear. I took a deep breath and pushed myself up off of the dirt and then extended a hand out to help her up. "I'm sorry I took you down like that, it was really the only way."

"That's okay, you saved my life...again." She said, joking lightly as she habitually brushed her hands against her clothes as if they were going to remove the deep dirt stains. "Are they headed where I think they're headed?"

"Straight to the park."

She laughed to herself as if she couldn't believe just how bad the stars had aligned for this day to turn out like this. "When this is all over, I want my sanity back."

I looked at her and a smirked, causing her to raise her eyebrows. "Look at you, making a joke."

"Oh no, it's not a joke." She replied, clearing her throat as we started to walk back towards the valley. "And I'll have you know, I'm fully capable of making jokes."

"I'll see it when I believe it."

"Well then maybe you can take me out on another date," She said, walking a little bit ahead of me.

"Yeah?" I called out, trying to suppress my smile.

"Yeah," she replied, turning around with a smile on her face. "but how about we go find your niece and my nephews first, then we can talk about it."

I smiled as she turned back around, holding my gun tightly towards my chest– I caught up with her. If someone would have told me that I'd not only be chasing a gigantic hybrid dinosaur throughout the theme park, but I'd be doing it with the too wound up park Operations Manager who ditched me after 5 minutes on our first date, all while trying to rescue her nephews and my niece–– and actually be enjoying it...then I'd call them batshit crazy.

And yet here I am, actually enjoying her company. Huh, who would've thought.