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"Birds of Prey"Written By: ExecutiveShrimp Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs
to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. Written for pleasure not
profit. Rating: R Warnings: Adventure & Suspense, Pairings: 1x2 Summary: Only twenty feet, but over 200 million years between them and for a while neither party knew what to do. The creature took a step towards them, almost apprehensively. Duo and Heero reactively jumped back and Duo tripped over his own feet and fell backwards. Then it all boiled down to two things: Predator. And prey. Birds of Prey – A GW adaptation of Jurassic Park (1993)
"Birds of Prey" Chapter 7
The guilt was almost unbearable. Guilt for bringing Heero into this situation. It had nearly cost him his life. Holding Heero's hand, Duo walked them away from the fence, away from the smell of burning flesh. Who knew what kind of attention that would attract? They headed further into the enclosure and Duo caught sight of a thick tree trunk amidst the thinner palms and low ferns. He headed for it. It took no more than a gentle pull to get Heero to follow. He stood at the base, between the tree's sprawling roots, and looked up. The extending branches higher up were still sturdy enough to be able to support their weight. Stubs of branches lower on the tree trunk would make the behemoth of nature relatively easy to climb. It wasn't a type of tree he recognized. It was as thick as a mature Redwood tree, but not nearly as tall. The bark was smooth and the leaves were large. His inquisitive mind toyed with the idea that the creators of the park had managed to resurrect more than the prehistoric fauna alone. "Up," he told his partner. Heero grabbed onto the highest branch he could reach and pulled himself up. Duo gave him a boost, clasping his hands around the man's calf and lifting him higher so his other foot could seek purchase in a hollow. The journalist had hurt his wrist when he had jumped – more like fallen – off that first fence, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to use his left hand to hold some of his weight. Duo climbed up after him, throwing looks over his shoulder the entire time he was still too low to the ground for his liking. The jungle was quiet, too quiet. He wondered why the birds weren't singing around them. It appeared something had spooked them. "This seems good," Duo said when he reached a thick branch at a height that made him more comfortable. But Heero kept going, remarking: "If there is another thing the size of Bowser in here, this would be the perfect biting height." Duo grimaced. "Higher it is." By the time Heero had selected two branches for them to straddle, they were so high up Duo was scared for his life for other reasons. He looked down only once and vertigo settled in instantly. So he picked a leaf of a neighboring tree to focus his gaze on. He watched it shudder in the wind, that penetrated through the canopy and swept between the trees. He leaned his left arm over a branch that jutted out by his side. The extra grip made him feel more secure. The needed rest, but they couldn't sleep; they'd fall out of the tree. So they talked. Not about the bleak situation they were in, but about what they had been doing for the past two years, which they had spent apart. The conversation worked to keep them alert enough to stay awake, while distracting them from the threats surrounding them. Only occasionally did they fall quiet, at the sound of a roar in the distance, or that hooting nearby. Duo talked about the feature he had in the Sunday edition of the San Diego Union Tribune. A 'local detective' kind of gig that had originated as a humiliating joke. He delved into inconsequential neighborly disputes to write light-hearted puff pieces that would be skimmed over in favor of the crossword puzzle right next to it. Through his own determination, however, he had managed to turn in to a legitimate series of weekly articles, investigating local cases of arson, robbery and cold cases like the missing person's case that had him stumbling onto this story – the first story that had ever led him abroad since getting the assignment. There was no fame involved. It wasn't exactly hard-hitting journalism, but it gave focus and purpose to his perpetual, incurable curiosity. Heero told tales from around the world. He hadn't been as prolific, since his stories required several months of research. Of the five articles he had written over the course of two years, four of them had been featured on the cover of The New York Times. His stories were making a difference in the world; Heero was the kind of journalist Duo referred to when he convinced Miss Gonzalez to let them talk to her traumatized mother. The kind of stories that caught the public's attention and the mass outcry in response fostered positive change. Heero didn't say as much. As a journalist he was ambitious and proud, but as a man he was not arrogant or self-serving. Duo had checked in on his career over the years – an extension of that curiosity. He was still invested in the man's future, even though he had no longer been a part of it. Michael wasn't mentioned. Not even once. Not even in passing. Duo suspected Michael wouldn't be a part of Heero's future either. The two lovers probably just hadn't acknowledged that to each other yet. A rumbling noise had them bite their words again. But it wasn't an animal. They listened with wide eyes and Heero was the first to recognize what it was. "A helicopter." It passed almost right above them, traveling from East to West. "Maybe its backup… to get this place back in order?" Duo wondered. An hour later, the sound returned. Duo hoped it was more backup, but this time the chopper went from West to East and he presumed someone had been picked up and was going back to the mainland. Still, it appeared not everything on the island had gone to shit yet. Perhaps there was still a functioning part to the park to the West. They both ended up feeling more calm. The jitters from yet another near-death experience had subsided and they were ready to move on. It was tempting to stay up in that tree, but the sun was setting and there were two things they desperately needed: a safe place where they could actually sleep and water. Both were experienced in dangerous situations and both knew from that experience that taking care of the body was vital to surviving. Yes, they could function on a sleepless night and early stages of dehydration, but they would be handicapped by their tired minds and bodies. The sunlight was already too weak to penetrate the canopy when they agreed to climb back down. A dark blue hue in the jungle had settled between the trees. A fog had rolled in as well. Their vision was limited. Two options were available to them. They could go back to the alley and follow it back the way they came. One problem was that they knew that the stream they had passed early on during their first day on the island, was the closest source of water. Another problem was that they had several more miles of narrow alley to pass through. Hunting them there was like shooting fish in a barrel, as the incident from earlier had made apparent. So they decided with few words on the second option: to go in the opposite direction and head for the West coast of Isla Nublar instead, where the helicopter had gone. At least then there was hope that they would come across water and other resources in the meantime. They crossed through the enclosure, finding it to be rather narrow. They reached the fence in half an hour. They paused to listen. The telltale buzzing was absent and the lights atop the posts were off as well. But there was still the chance that the other fence was still electrified and after its collapse, that electricity could pass through. Duo approached with caution. He stretched out his hand and inched it closer, panting all the while. He stilled, certain he didn't dare to try, until the ferns rustling behind him had him throw his hand forwards. His knuckles brushed the steel. He reeled back reactively, but he hadn't been shocked. The rustling was just the wind, this time. They climbed over. Duo assisted Heero again, even though the man insisted he was fine. His slim wrist was discolored by a mean-looking bruise and his fingers were stiff. Outside of the enclosure, the jungle was less dense and more of the orange rays of the setting sun filtered through. The ground was soggy, almost swampy underneath their feet. The songbirds of the jungle were singing their final song of the day. The parrots squawked amidst the melodies like facetious hecklers. The walk was tiring. The terrain angled up and was steep at places. They had to cross a section of forest damaged by a mud slide. Their boots were sucked into the ground and they had to pull themselves free by nearby roots more than once. It was a relief when the area was levelling out again and the dirt was harder underneath their weight. The night was dark beneath the trees, but they could see a clearing up ahead bathed in the blue glow of the moonlight. They were drawn towards it, driven by the desire to be able to see their surroundings beyond the beam of their flashlights. The darkness and the unknown that it sheltered was terrifying. Right before they broke through the tree line surrounding the open field, a bellowing call from above stopped them. Terror took hold of Duo, but the sounds reminded him more of the gentle calls of the Parasaurolophus than the menacing roars of the carnivores they had had the misfortune of encountering. There was a disarming, almost amusing tone to it. Like someone blowing on a trumpet incorrectly. But the animal responsible was definitely large, the sound had a weight to it. Yet it came from far above their heads, far above the trees even, suggesting the animal was up in the sky. Heero had trotted on into the clearing before Duo had noticed and before he could have stopped him. Cursing under his breath about how curiosity would kill the cat, he tiptoed after his partner. The moonlight was bright – brighter than Duo had ever seen it – and it illuminated impossibly tall shapes that jutted up before them. Awestruck, his gaze traveled up from legs that could be mistaken for tree trunks, to a massive body swinging a long tail behind it, to an endless neck that stretched up to the midnight sky like the creature would feed on the stars itself. When the four animals called in unison, Duo felt it reverberate in his chest. He staggered backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet. His head was tilted all the way back and his mouth was agape. The relatively small skull of the animal was raised over forty feet above the ground. One was noticeably bigger than the other three and its calls had even more resonance to it. After narrowly escaping being eaten, twice, Duo had dropped his wonder for the dinosaurs since first discovering their de-extinction. But seeing the regal Brachiosaurus in front of him had him in awe. Even though the Brachiosaurus was a herbivore, it had been one of his favorites growing up. When he was six years old, his dad got him a toy Brachiosaurus that was as tall of him and seeing the real-life creature standing in front of him, sparked memories that made his eyes tear up. Many times over the past decade did Duo wish he could still tell his dad about the things he saw in pursuit of the truth and now he felt that more than ever. When his dad used to play with him, the man would become a boy again. The impressive creatures simply had that effect on people. It was magical. The ground shook with the footfalls of the dinosaurs as they slowly meandered around the clearing, singing to the moon and to each other. "Woa…" he breathed and he continued to stare. Pleasant tingles ran up and down his spine when fingers interlaced with his. They observed the dinosaurs throughout their romantic appearing display until the four decided to graze on the tree tops surrounding the clearance. Duo didn't think he would ever get enough of the sight and sound of them, but he knew they couldn't linger. So, they continued on, due West. But not before they each snapped a picture with their camera. There was little confidence the film would develop well, considering it was nighttime, but they had to try. With their flashlights scouring the jungle floor, they found tire tracks going down a path barely distinguishable as a road. This road did not have a track like the other one they had encountered and seemed to serve as maintenance access. Since it headed West anyway, they decided to stick to it, hoping it would lead somewhere promising. It was just before midnight when they spotted a small concrete building, a little off to the side from the perimeter of another enclosure. The building was nothing more than a cube, measuring about eight feet across. It had a steel door facing the road, and a window right by it, reinforced with two vertical, iron bars. Judging by the tracks, Jeeps visited the shed regularly. Literally keeping his fingers crossed, Duo stalked towards it, ever mindful of his surroundings. Standing before the door, he aimed the beam of his flashlight up to the fence a couple of yards away. Since this wasn't the scenic route, but rather the 'back stage area' there were no signs advertising what was inside the paddock. The building, however, looked sturdy and it was the best shelter they would find. He tried the door handle and was relieved that it turned out to be unlocked. That seemed to be a policy around the park. He pushed the door open and stepped into the small space. Heero was right on his heels. The square area was bare, with a concrete floor to match the concrete walls. Steel beams supported a metal sheet roof. It was hot inside. All the warmth of the day had been absorbed by the metal roof and trapped inside. On the wall opposite from the door and window were shelves with promising boxes on them –names he recognized. COCA COLA MOUNTAIN DEW PAYDAY REECE'S There was a small fridge too, but that would have suffered from the power outage. They stepped forward and pulled the boxes off the shelves. As suspected: a stash of soda cans and candy bars. They each popped open a fizzy drink. Even though it was lukewarm, the liquid and the sugar was invigorating to them. There was a green locker as well, marked "590A1". Duo set aside his cola and flashlight and rattled the locker. He recognized the number on the door and it sparked hope. However, the steel door was firmly shut by a heavy-duty padlock. He looked around himself, searching for something heavy to try and knock the lock off with, only to notice that the other journalist was gone. "Heero? Heero?" He called, increasingly alarmed. Heero strode back into the building cradling a big rock in his right arm. Before Duo could offer to do it, considering Heero's likely broken wrist, the Japanese man grabbed the boulder with both hands and slammed it down the front of the locker. In one fell swoop, the protruding steel eyes that the padlock attached to, were snapped off. The lock fell to the floor with a clank and then the rock was dropped with a thud. Heero grasped his left wrist in his right arm, letting Duo open the locker door. The tension was palpable. He yanked the door open and an excited chuckle escaped him. Just as he had thought: a Mossberg 590A1 shotgun. Before he could grab it, Heero reached in and took it off its support. "Hey, why do you get to hold the big gun?" He whined like a petulant kid. "Do you remember when we went to that shooting range?" "Yeah?" "So do I," Heero deadpanned. He never looked up as he examined the shotgun. It was loaded with a five-round magazine. "In my defense, I let you win on purpose. I was trying to get into your pants after all," Duo said glibly. "Besides, that was five years ago and more importantly: our targets aren't the size of a watermelon this time around." "I'm in charge of the shotgun." "What about your wrist?" "It'll be fine." He leaned the barrel against his shoulder and regarded the taller man defiantly. "Fine." Duo rushed to close the door instead, uncomfortable with the fact that Heero had left it open. They settled down on the floor, with their backs against the wall. Heero propped the shotgun up beside him. They drank another soda and ate a candy bar, which tasted like heaven after two days of subsisting on granola bars alone. In spite of the overdose of sugar, they had little trouble falling asleep, resting against one another. It was a cry of a flock of parrots and the desperate flapping of feathered wings that startled Duo awake. Heero was jostled awake by Duo's sudden movement, since the man had been leaning the weight of his head on his shoulder. It was morning and sunlight was pouring in through the window at a low angle, which faced East. The two iron bars cast sharp shadows across their bodies huddled together against the opposite wall. The pane of glass was too dirty to see through. All Duo could see was the orange of the morning sky and green shapes flanking the road that led up to the shed. Then there was the sound of wood snapping on the other side of the wall and a foot planted on the ground with an alarming thud. The two men tensed up and pressed themselves tighter against each other and the metal shelving behind them. The shelves vibrated with the next step. Whatever was out there, was circling the shed. Bigger than the Herrerasaurus, nearly as big as the T-Rex. Duo deemed them to be safe. The window was too small for anything of that size to come through, especially with the bars in place. The doorframe was too small too. The door itself swung outward and was properly reinforced. He trusted that the concrete and the streel structure supporting the roof, were strong enough to deter anything short of the tyrant lizard king himself. He kept his gaze trained on the window and his heart stopped when a shadow moved in front of it, blocking out all light. The dinosaur audibly sniffed the air and took a few more steps, moving away from the window again. They heard the sharp inhales up above the roof and then down by the ground. It turned and plowed its nose through the loose dirt – they could hear the scraping and the labored breathing as it greedily sucked in dust along with their scent. Heero grabbed the gun and clutched it to his torso tightly. Dust was blown into the shed through the inch of space underneath the steel door. Duo scrunched up his face and held his breath for a moment so he wouldn't inhale the sand and end up coughing. His entire body was tense with fear. His heart beat so frantically that the blood rushing in his ears was deafening. The surge of adrenaline did little more than disorient him. The animal reared its head up again and the silhouette of an elongated snout passed in front of the window. It took a couple of steps again and the sunlight disappeared. Duo couldn't tell if it was looking at the window, or facing away from it. Duo had still been holding his breath. His face was red and hot. His hands were sweaty and cold. With a crash glass shards were sent flying their way and the two bars popped out of the window frame like toothpicks. The dinosaur thrust his long, narrow jaws through the window into the shed. The two journalists screamed and pulled their legs backs. The creatures snout was long and the space between the window and the far wall was short. They pushed themselves up, plastering themselves against the wall of shelving as flatly as possible to remain out of the dinosaur's reach. The jaws snapped at them while the dinosaur kept pressing its head further through the window. The skull was only a little too wide, but the edges of the window frame were crumbling under the pressure and the dinosaur inched its hungry mouth closer and closer. When Heero aimed the shotgun at it, it was knocked out of his grip and fell to the floor where they couldn't safely reach for it. The thin jaws opened with a roar, exposing long rows of teeth and a salivating tongue. The sickening sound of claws dragging along the outer wall accompanied the high-pitched scream that the dinosaur produced. It wiggled its head further in, cutting the sides of its head on the concrete, but it wasn't giving up. It opened its mouth wide and snapped it shut forcefully. Nearly the entire skull had been worked into the shed through the small opening. It was slender, but nearly six feet long, leaving only about a foot of space between the two trapped journalists and the creature that intended to feed on them. The blue skin, mottled with spots of yellow, contrasted with the pink of its mouth and throat, exposed every time it roared or snapped at them. When it tilted its head to look at them, it revealed crocodilian eyes. Heero lowered himself down to the floor in a kneeling position, keeping his back against the wall. He stretched one foot out towards the gun. The crunching sound of concrete was even more horrifying than the snaps of those large teeth lining up whenever the jaws bit shut on nothing. Duo watched Heero slide the gun back towards himself with his foot. Heero wrapped one arm around Duo's thigh to steady himself as he balanced on one leg. He managed to get the shotgun within reach of his hand and he quickly grabbed it and straightened up. With the gun angled straight down so it wouldn't be knocked out of his hands again. He pumped the forend with an audible click, loading a round into the chamber. There was determination in his blue eyes that made him look fearless. The next time the dinosaur opened its jaws, Heero aimed the weapon and fired off a round. Before the mouth closed in pain, he pumped again and fired another round. The bullets ripped through the tongue and palate. When the dinosaur opened its mouth again to shriek, it spewed thick, warm blood onto the two men. It thrashed powerfully and threatened to get even closer to them, but Heero reloaded again and again, firing into the vulnerable, soft flesh of the mouth. A bullet pierced the back of the throat and blood came pouring out. Now the creature was fighting to retreat, but it had wedged itself into the window frame so tightly that it was stuck. Deep cracks appeared in the concrete wall as it fought desperately to free itself. All the while, blood poured out of its mouth. Its lower jaw was lax. Before long, the entire floor was flooded with crimson. Duo closed his eyes to protect them as droplets were sprayed towards them with every breath. His fingers were clenched around the edge of a shelf. He held onto it because his knees were weak and he didn't trust them not to buckle under his own weight. The dinosaur let out one last, gurgling breath and then went completely quiet. Duo dared to crack his eyes open again and saw the chin had rested into a pool of its own blood and the eyes that held hunger and primordial rage before and pierced right through him, were now empty and unseeing. He looked at Heero. The man's once blue shirt was now brown, soaked in blood. There was a spatter of red on his pale face reminiscent of the outwardly chaotic work of Jackson Pollock. A streak here, a drip there, droplets everywhere. His hair was wet and darker too. Heero looked back at him, his expression equally disturbed. Duo knew he himself looked no less horrifying. They tiptoed around the lifeless head. Their steps caused ripples in the red that Duo would remember the sight of forever. If he hadn't felt so nauseous, he might have chuckled at Heero – clearly being a more dedicated journalist than he was – pausing to take a picture. Once they stepped outside, the full size of the dinosaur was revealed to them. It was about thirty feet long, with a more slender build than the T-Rex, to match its long, narrow snout. It was a Suchomimus, Duo knew. It was hypothesized to be a fish-eater, but that was probably up for debate now. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, with his hands on his knees. He was fairly certain he would be sick but while he heaved a couple of times, he didn't manage to throw up. And so there was no relief from that queasy feeling that had settled in his gut. "We have to go," said Heero. "If the noise didn't attract anything, the carcass soon will." He nodded, in full agreement, but still needed a minute. "I used all of the rounds." That news only added to the trouble Duo was having keeping it together after just escaping being eaten for the third time in two days.
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