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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 8
SAFARI LODGE, 4 miles They exchanged a look and shrugged at each other and then headed on, towards the Safari Lodge, apparently. At that point they were no longer concerned with being caught for trespassing. They actually hoped they would run into someone. A lodge sounded like a good place to go. Along the way, they figured they were far enough removed from the mountain range that they would no longer interfere with their radio signal and Heero tried to reach Hector again. After five minutes of talking to static, he was about to shut the walkie talkie off again to conserve batteries, when an incoherent question sputtered from the speaker. "Hello? Hector, are you receiving? Over." The two men stopped in the middle of the road and waited anxiously. "-… Amigos-… -hear from you-… -time? Over." Duo's lips split into a stupid grin that Heero mirrored. "Hector. We need a pick up, as soon as possible. Over." Heero was nearly shouting into the receiver with excitement. "Si-…-pick you up on East coast. Over." "Negative. Negative," Heero stressed. "We need you to come to the West coast. Over." "…" The returning static made their hearts drops. "Hector? Hector, come in. Over." "…-repeat. Over." "Hector, come to the West coast. Over." "West? Si. Where West? Over." Heero shot a look at Duo but there was no way for either of them to know. Having run around for their lives in the jungle had left them disoriented. But Heero thought quickly. "Hector, get a head start to the West coast now. We will radio in our exactly location later. Copy that? Over." Duo nodded along. Once they would find a more civilized part of the island, it was likely they would find a way to pinpoint their location and work their way from there to figure out an exact pick-up point. "Si.-…-go now. West. …- line open. Waiting your instructions. Over and out." "Over and out." A little while later, there was another sign. SAFARI LODGE, 1 mile Duo didn't know what would be awaiting them there, but somehow – if naively uninformed – it felt like safety and he was in a hurry to get to it. Heero was equally eager. They both picked up the pace and drank a soda from the small supply they had stuffed into their backpacks last night. The sun wasn't shining so brightly as morning turned to afternoon. Clouds rolled in. Occasionally, a few drops of rain fell, but it never built up to anything. The road gently curved to meet with another, which did have one of those steel tracks down the center again, coming around a pond filled with water lilies. Behind the pond, built on a strong foundation of concrete, was a large building with a three-pointed thatched roof. Considering the grandiosity of it, the journalists figured it was the main entry for guests into the park. The large door atop the steps had fossils embedded in the surrounding concrete frame. Duo wondered if it had ever looked inviting to anyone, if it was just his experience from the past days that made it look so eerie to him. They went into the building through a large opening to the right, where clear tarp was draped over an enormous window frame in which the glass pane had yet to be set. It was clearly used as an entry point for construction. The tarp billowed out and in as the wind picked up again. A storm was definitely coming. Duo only hoped the weather wouldn't get bad enough that Hector would be delayed. It would already take him over five hours from the mainland to the island. Duo and Heero had about four hours left to get a sense of their location and navigate to a point on the shore that they could communicate with Hector. The foyer was scattered with fossilized bones and, draped over them, were the remains of two smaller dinosaurs – that was to say: slightly smaller than the Herrerasaurus that had crossed their path. Duo felt uncomfortable just looking into their dead eyes. Their teeth were long but narrow, angled back into the mouth for a perfect grip on their prey. The pink gums showed in a frozen snarl. Teeth. Too many teeth. Duo shuddered remembering the old woman speaking to him despair. The sight of this particular dinosaur had him thinking of her all of a sudden and thinking of the pain she must have felt as those rows of densely packed teeth tore into her arms. He remembered what Heero had hypothesized about the unknown, escaped dinosaurs. That it might have been smart enough to stow itself away on a ship. The first attack did occur in the town of Playa San Teresa, after all, where the scientists spent their weekend. It traveled up to Puerto Carillo from there, hunting humans to sustain itself. It had been a throw-away idea on Heero's part, but it stuck with Duo. Now it had him thinking about dinosaurs that the field of paleontology supposed might have had some intelligence. When he was younger, the books he read were never about how smart the dinosaurs might have been. Only about how big they were and what their skins might have looked like. But he remembered a controversial paper from an InGen funded dig that argued, based on the size of the neural cavity, the Velociraptor had a larger brain-to-body ratio than other fauna from the period. Moreover, the clustering of fossils suggested that many Velociraptors died together in the extinction event. Creatures that died together, likely lived together. Likely hunted together. This dark creature could definitely be a raptor. It matched the general shape and size. Heero took pictures of the dead animals, the strewn bones and the interior of the building, still invested in the story, while Duo was mostly concerned with survival. What if there were more than two? He jumped when the tarp bulged inward suddenly, but it was just the wind. "Come on. Let's see if we can find a map of this place, or something." They had to figure out their position, before continuing on to the coast. If they had no idea how far North or South up the West coast they would end, neither did Hector. He would be searching hundreds of miles of coast, most of which probably densely wooded. They went upstairs first. Duo's faulty logic assumed they would be a little safer there. They were drawn to a steel door by a muted, high-pitched wailing sound – one layered on top of another. It sounded like small animals crying out. Duo was apprehensive. When they opened the door, it was completely black inside. He wanted to leave, but Heero's curiosity was too strong. He aimed his flashlight and headed inside, forcing Duo to follow him. It was a laboratory. All the equipment had been switched off by the power outage. There were round tables covered by glass domes. When he shone his flashlight into the domes, he could see eggs sitting atop a bed of hay. Heero went on, straight towards the noise. "What the…" He stopped at another table in the far right corner. He pressed his nose against the glass covering. Duo came to stand beside him and peered inside as well. Broken eggshells lay on the hay and several small creatures weakly moved about. Their skin pinkish and their skulls appearing too big for their tiny bodies. Two of them were dead, lying completely still. One of the living ones was nibbling on its dead sibling. It was disturbing. Duo didn't know what they were, but if he had to guess, he'd say either Herrerasaurus, or Velociraptor. It proved their theory that the geneticists had engineered the dinosaurs, in service of creating this park. Heero put his flashlight between his teeth and lifted the cover with a grunt. The small dinosaurs squeaked and huddled together. The flash of Heero's camera was blinding in the dark void. "Please, let's just go. This place is freaking me out." "Yeah." He closed the lid again and stuffed his camera into a pocket of his cargo pants. They left, leaving the babies to their fate. Walking down the corridor, with windows overlooking the compound, Duo spotted several smaller buildings. Most of them looked like guest lodges, under construction. He also spotted a low, concrete building which resembled a bunker. He paused at the windows and grabbed his binoculars. He studied the bunker, encircled by a chain link fence. The gate of the fence was open, swinging back and forth in the wind. The door to the bunker was shut. He confirmed the other buildings were small guest houses. He aimed his vision to the horizon. All he saw was a mountainous jungle. He had hoped to see the ocean. But he checked his compass and realized the windows were facing East. With nothing to be found upstairs, they went back down. They crossed through a toy shop, into a restaurant. A buffet of food was laid out. It all smelled stale. Duo offered Heero another Payday instead. They both munched on their treat as they pushed through the door marked 'kitchen'. They found themselves in a corridor instead, with a door at the far end and a door halfway. A sign midway down the corridor, pointed to the door to the left and again read: KITCHEN. "The water is probably still working," Heero supplied. Duo could use some fresh water. Sugary sodas weren't the best way to stay hydrated and they were still dirty with blood. The door to the kitchen was wide open and Duo stepped in first. The industrial kitchen looked clean, but messy – in the sense that obviously clean pots, pans and other kitchen ware lay strewn about on the tiled floor. The stainless steel counter tops of the rows of kitchen islands glistened in the dim light that came in through small windows. The sink was halfway down the aisle right in front of them, to the left. He walked towards it and leaned his head under the faucet before turning it open. Cool water poured over his head and he enjoyed the sensation thoroughly. He scrubbed his face and neck with his hands to clean himself off and then angled his mouth up to gulp down some water. "Stop hogging," Heero teased. Duo made way for the other to enjoy the same refreshment and he watched the water pour onto Heero's head and turn red as it washed the blood out of his hair. They both jumped back at a sudden, loud bang to their right. Water dripped out of their hair and onto the tiles and it was the only sound they heard until there was another powerful bang. The door to the industrial-sized freezer was dented outward and the steel warped further when the third bang was heard. The impact was strong enough to make a crack appear between the door and the frame and a dark brown muzzle appeared to breathe in the air. It caught their scent and flared its nostrils. Then it retreated and the creature collided its body with the door again. The steel moaned under the force and bent out even further. Someone had managed to lock it in there, but it was clear it would only be a matter of time before it would get out. Hearing them in the kitchen had probably reinvigorated the predator, which had been silent before. It threw its body into the door again and it curved out far enough for them to catch a true glimpse of the dinosaur. It was the same species that had been dead on the floor in the lobby. And it wasn't just any matter of time until it would be free; it was a matter of seconds. "Go," Duo said, yet he was frozen in his spot for a fraction of second longer. "Go go go!" He chased Heero out of the kitchen as fast as his feet would carry him. Heero was about to run back into the restaurant, but Duo grasped the back his shirt and pulled him in the other direction. The door at the end of the corridor was marked: EXIT. He knew they were on the side of the building that was closest to the bunker and that was where he wanted them to go. They burst through the door, into the outside air. It had started to rain now. They squinted to be able to see. Duo held Heero's hand and didn't let go as they sprinted down the path, straight towards the bunker he had spotted earlier. They jumped over fallen trees to get to the chain link fence, which creaked as it swung back towards them. Duo threw it open and Heero followed him through. His heart skipped a beat at the thought that the door of the bunker might be the one door that would be locked, but when he pushed down the handle, it opened, much to his relief. He hurried Heero inside and shut the door behind them. He fumbled around for a locking mechanism, but couldn't find anything. Heero produced his flashlight and searched the walls. There was a lever by the door that read 'LOCK' but when they pushed it nothing seemed to happen. It was electronic and useless after the power outage. But the door was heavy duty steel, like the one in the shed. This time, there wasn't a window. "Do you think it can open doors?" Duo asked Heero. Then he offered: "I don't think it can open doors." He wasn't sure if it was for Heero's reassurance, or for his own. A narrow staircase led straight down into a dark abyss. Duo also palmed his flashlight and they headed down the steps. His heart was racing as they went into the depths of the dark void. A hollow space, about three stories deep, was revealed before them. Walkways of metal grating circled the open space, with steep staircases leading down to the levels below. "You agree we should give that thing back there some time to get the Hell away from this compound before we head out again?" Duo asked. Heero nodded. Of course they both knew they needed to get to shore, since their ride would be there in a few hours, but neither were keen on stepping beyond the door and possibly running into that raptor. They walked along the walkway, noticing multiple hallways branching out from the central area. They followed a couple of them, only to find they all terminated at exposed piping or wiring. It was maintenance access. They went all the way down to the lowest level, where the floor was concrete and felt more sturdy under their feet than the metal grates. Crates were packed into a corner and they popped them open. They found a stash of food and blankets. The bunker was intended as a refuge for guests, in case things went awry. Duo draped a blanket over a shut crate to use it as the most comfortable seat he had in a couple of days. He invited Heero to sit next to him. They both took off their backpacks to get comfortable. Once they were shoulder to shoulder,Duo wrapped a second blanket around them both, since the concrete radiated cold and their hair was wet and their shirts damp. They turned off one flashlight but set the other atop another crate. Neither of them were ashamed to admit they were afraid of the dark at that moment. Duo snaked one arm around Heero's waist and held him close. He felt Heero's hand on his thigh. The closeness was pleasant; it was comforting. He regretted having put Heero in this dangerous situation, but, selfishly, he was relieved to have him with him. There wasn't a single person in the world he knew to be stronger than the other journalist. He had always admired Heero. He had admired him before he loved him. In spite of what had happened between them, he never stopped admiring him and he never stopped loving them. They never even had a big fight or falling out. Life just… happened. It wasn't the case that life took them in different directions. They were still heading the same way, but Heero had skyrocketed whereas Duo was still stuck in the atmosphere, trying to drop the weight that held him down. They had figured out how to make a relationship work for four years, while they both spent most of their time abroad, far removed from each other. It rarely happened that they were both home in LA at the same time. They only saw each other a few days out of every two months. Yet it worked because every time they reconnected, it was so easy. It was always exciting, it never got stale. They never had any time to argue. All they did was share their stories and make love and spend endless nights contemplating the meaning of everything except their relationship. Their relationship never caused them any questions or doubts. It simply… was. And it was beautiful. However, they couldn't figure out how to make it work when Duo got stuck in San Diego doing local work and Heero still went around the world and had to report to his editors in New York. Because the few times they met, it was never easy. It was strained and uncomfortable. Duo admitted he purposefully made Heero feel guilty about not coming to visit more often. As if he himself made any real effort to fly out to New York as often as he should have. As far as he remembered, they never really broke up. During their last conversation, Heero finally questioned their relationship. "Is it working, if it's this much work?". It was a simple question, but Duo couldn't answer it. He had left it hanging. Heero was on his way out the door, he had a flight back to New York to catch. He never returned. Duo never called. A myriad of emotions had always stopped him, until too much time had passed and he knew Heero had moved on and it would be too late for answers or apologies anyway. "It looks like it hurts," Heero said. Even his small whisper echoed in the hollow space. "Hm? What?" "Your thinking, it looks like it hurts." Heero made an exaggerated, pensive frown, supposedly mirroring Duo's. "Oh…" He chuckled sheepishly. He tightened his grip around Heero's waist and asked: "Is this a weird time to tell you I still love you?" He asked, mimicking his sentiment for the other night. "Yes." Heero didn't grin at him this time. Duo sighed. He loosened his hold on him, but was reluctant to let him go, so he didn't. "I know. You're with Michael." It was silent for a long time and Duo presumed the conversation was over, until Heero spoke up again: "Do you know why I am so certain Michael wasn't involved in the corruption?" He just regarded him with an eyebrow raised in question. "Because Michael is too boring for the idea to play dirty to even cross his mind. He's not a risk-taker, like most investment bankers are. He has a formula that he sticks to and he's successful because it's a good formula for predicting the stocks. He always plays it by the book and he never… he never follows his gut." "Well, following your gut can lead to trouble." He pointedly looked around himself. "This is an amazing story, Duo. I don't regret chasing it with you. Although I am a little disappointed that you didn't make it up as an excuse to try to get back together with me. It's the reason I agreed." Duo smiled sadly at the admission. He had teased him about it earlier, he had never dared to think it would be the truth. "We might not live to tell this story." Heero nodded morosely, but then said with a bitter smirk: "At least it's not boring." "That it isn't." "We should do this more often. We'd make a good writing team. Once we publish this story, you can bet your ass the Times will want you on payroll as well." Duo smiled at him. "I'd like that." Heero smiled back at him and then leaned his head against Duo's shoulder and pressed his nose against his neck. His warm breath swept over Duo's skin. After a while, he straightened back up and they looked into each other's eyes. They were both about to say something. At the sound of a dull thud coming from the top of the stairs above them, they both shut their mouths. Duo reached oved and instinctively shut off the flashlight. Total darkness engulfed them and they listened to the clumsy sounds coming from the other side of the steel outer door. Every little sound was magnified in the hollow bunker. Duo swallowed and it tasted bitter, like bile. There was a soft squeak and then a sliver of light appeared, casting a broken beam of light down towards them. Then the door was fully swung open and in the dim light Duo could see the terror on Heero's face, as Heero could see it on his. It can open doors. They soundlessly shook the blanket off their shoulders and climbed off the crate. At the top, the raptor started down the stairs. They couldn't see it, but they could hear it. Every dull footfall was accompanied by a sharp sound of the metal grates complaining under the weight of the hunter. When it stepped onto the top level of the walkway, the entire structure shuddered. Hugging the walls, Duo and Heero slowly moved around the space until they were right underneath the dinosaur. However, even though it wouldn't see them, it would surely smell them. They both reeked of sweat and blood. It was how the raptor had tracked them to the bunker in the first place. It sniffed the air, with rasping breaths. On the opposite wall its shadow was cast. They could see it rearing up and sweeping its tail. It let out a stuttering call before slowly walking around. Duo hoped the shadows on the bottom level were dark enough to keep them hidden, as they watched the raptor walk into view, three floors above them. It had its head angled down, peering into the dark pit, but its yellow eyes didn't focus on anything. It held its tail high and proud and occasionally flexed its fingers, moving its sharp, black claws. With excruciatingly slow steps the two move up the first staircase to the second level. Their footfalls were muted and Duo couldn't hear himself over the dinosaurs breathing, but that didn't mean the creature didn't hear them. It walked all the way around, until it was directly above them again. The stairs moving down the levels were too steep – practically ladders - and the opening too small for it to go down. Looking up, Duo could see the long claws of its feet poking through the grating. With a shriek, the raptor leapt across the open space, onto the metal walkway of the second floor – the same level they were on. It was right across from them, only twelve feet removed and it had just demonstrated how easily it could cross that distance. Even though they were hidden in the shadows, it looked right at them and snarled. Duo's blood ran cold and he reached out to Heero with searching fingers. The raptor screamed and every echo cut right through them. Their only choice was to run. Duo rushed Heero up the steep steps, physically pushing him to get him to move in his state of shock and following closely behind. The raptor jumped across the void to end up right by them and it managed to catch Duo's right foot between its jaws before Duo could climb up out of its reach. He screamed as the sharp teeth pierced the thick material of his boots and his skin. But the sturdy sole kept it from biting down and doing more damage. Duo latched onto the steps as the raptor meant to pull him down. Duo screamed out in pain first, but then he shouted at Heero, telling him to run. Two panicked gazes met. Heero, however, didn't listen. He did the opposite. He climbed down the stairs, squeezing past Duo's body. "Don't let go," he told his partner. The raptor pulled hard and shook his leg like a dog with a bone. Duo was afraid his femur would pop out of his pelvis with the force of it. He watched in horror as Heero got closer to the predator and then he noticed the hunting knife he brandished. The animal kept its jaws clamped down on Duo's foot in favor of biting at Heero, not acknowledging him as a threat. Heero stabbed the dinosaur in one of its yellow eyes and with a piercing shriek it lets go of his prize. The two men scrambled up the steps to the top level. Heero pulled Duo along. The final staircase to the door at the top loomed before them. It seemed too far, but they had to try. They ran up the staircase as fast as they could. They could feel the wind in their hair and the sunshine on their face. Behind them, the metal rattled again as the raptor jumped up to the top on the far side and then across to the bottom of the stairs. They didn't look back as they raced for the door. Once their boots were in the dirt, Duo skidded and fell, but Heero slammed the door shut behind them right before the raptor crashed into it. They heard the animal crying out and watched in shock as they see the door handle move. It went down but bounced back up just short of having the latch bolt retract far enough to release the door. Not wanting to stick around to see the smart animal perform its party trick of opening doors again, Heero hooked his arms under Duo's sweaty armpits and hoisted him up. Thanks to the adrenaline, Duo was able to ignore the searing pain in his foot as they ran back down the path towards the Safari lodge. It took the animal a minute or two of fumbling around to get the door open the first time, but they didn't know how steep the learning curve was. Besides, Duo was leaving a trail of blood on the ground that was easy enough for it to follow, disadvantaging them in spite of their head start. They ran around the back of the Safari lodge, knowing the building offered them no security. They couldn't lock any of the doors with the power being out. Everything was electronic in the Goddamn place. Heero was a few yards ahead of Duo, but he kept looking back over his shoulder. He wasn't about to leave him behind, as he had proven with his bravery. Duo stopped during their mad dash and called out Heero's name. The other man came to a halt and looked at him in panic, not understanding why he was stopping. Duo simply pointed to a row a bright yellow Ford Explorers parked under a thatched roof to the side of the main lodge. It was their best shot. It was their only shot. They jogged towards them and tried the first car in the row. The doors were unlocked. Thank God for this island policy, Duo thought to himself. In spite of the injury to his foot, Duo was the one to get behind the wheel. He was the one who knew how to hotwire a car, after all. And he also wasn't the one with a broken wrist. This time, he pulled away the acrylic pane first, clearing the steering wheel. Then he used his knife to pop open the cover at the underside of the steering column and went to work again. "Fingers crossed this one has its damn batteries charged," he joked to make light of the situation. He was in dire need of the forced levity. He struggled separating and stripping the wires. His fingers were trembling so badly. He was working on the wire for the starter motor when Heero whispered his name. Duo looked up at him but caught a dark shape in the corner of his eyes. Standing a couple of yards in front of the car was the one-eyed raptor. Duo's mouth went dry when the animals roared at them. This didn't seem about feeding anymore, it was enraged after suffering a severe injury. He forced himself to lean back down and focus on his task. The car rocked sharply when, in a single bound, the raptor crossed the distance and jumped up onto the hood. Heero pressed himself back into the leather seat and he reached out for Duo's shoulder, clasping at him. "Duo… Duo…" He glanced up long enough to see the creature crouched on the hood and staring at them. It was studying them and working out the problem of how to get to them. It touched its nose to the windshield softly at first, testing the resistance. Then it coiled its neck and bumped the windshield harder. Duo frantically touched the wires together and gently worked the pedals. "Come on… Start, you stubborn bitch…" Heero yelped when the raptor slammed the side of its head into the windshield hard enough for a spider web of cracks to appear. "Duo!" He gritted his teeth and maintained focused. The car came to life with a hum of the electric engine. "There she is!" Duo exclaimed and he shifted the car into reverse and pushed all of his weight onto the gas pedal. The electric engine wasn't as meek as it sounded. With a steady hum the car shot backwards and the raptor, confused by it all, rolled off the hood of the car and landed in the dirt. Duo twisted the wheel with one hand while shifting gears with the other and breaking momentarily without ever taking his foot completely off the gas pedal. The car spun around sharply and Duo floored the gas pedal again. The tires struggled for grip in the mud, giving the raptor the chance to catch up to them and it jumped up onto the glass roof of the vehicle, only to slide off again when the tires gripped and the Ford accelerated. The car sped up and Duo steered it towards a dirt road leading away from the lodge. The raptor chases after them and ran alongside the car on the passenger side. Heero leaned towards Duo as the creature slammed its weight into the door, bending it inward and threatening to veer the car off course. It threw its head against the window, shattering it. The glass landed in Heero's lap. With a strong grip on the wheel, Duo maintained control. He expertly shifted into higher gears until they were doing over sixty miles per hour in fifth and the car was finally pulling ahead of the hunter. He glanced in the rearview mirror to see that it was not giving up on the chase and before them lay a curve in the road that forced them to slow down. They both let out a scream when the raptor leapt onto the roof again and punctured the glass with its sharp claws. Cracks spread throughout the pane and with the way the animal was scrambling for footing, the glass wouldn't be able to hold its weight for long. There was another curve in the road up ahead, a very sharp one that time – nearly ninety degrees. But instead of slowing down, Duo accelerated. He stared at the trees lining the outer curve of the road with determination. "Seatbelt!" He growled at the other. Heero was swift to put on his seatbelt as instructed, realizing what the plan was. Then he helped click Duo's seatbelt into place when the driver was struggling, having to do it with one hand. Duo heard the click just in time. Trusting he was secured, he took his right foot off the gas pedal and slammed both feet onto the break, making the vehicle come to an abrupt halt. Their bodies launched forward only two inches. The seatbelts caught them and held them in place with bruising force. It knocked the wind out of both of them. The carnivore was thrown off the roof. It landed in front of the vehicle and kept rolling until it crashed into a tree dead ahead. The two men heard the crack of the raptor's back breaking. It wailed pathetically as it was left paralyzed. All it could do was thrash its head and claw at the dirt with its front limbs. Its tail and powerful hindquarters lay motionless. Both men panted and waited for the adrenaline to subside. "Are…-" Duo swallowed. "Are you alright?" There was no response. He looked to the side and saw Heero incessantly nodding his head in shock. "Yeah… me too…" Duo said, his gaze finding the raptor again. He shifted the car into park, recognizing they both needed a minute longer to have their senses catch up to them again. He had to pry his other hands off the steering wheel. It was stiff. He scrubbed his face with his palms. Flecking off some dried-up blood that had still been there after their wash-up in the kitchen had been interrupted. Heero released his seatbelt and pushed his hips out of the seat awkwardly to fish something out of the pocket of his cargo pants. Duo watched him pull out his little camera and smirked. The man was definitely starting to feel like himself again. Heero leaned out the broken window to take a photograph. When he settled back into his seat, he shot Duo a look and said: "This is truly going to be a Hell of a story." Duo could only agree. He let out a breathy chuckle. They noticed the computer in the dashboard had a tab with the word "NAVIGATION". When Heero touched his finger to the screen, a map of the entire island appeared and then automatically zoomed in to their location, which was marked by a red arrow. A blue arrow indicated the "WEST DOCKS" only a couple dozen miles away from them. They decide to drive there. Like a true journalist, Heero had kept his camera in his pocket for safe-keeping, instead of the walkie talkie, which was still in the backpack down in the bunker, where they did not want to go back to. But they hoped that if Hector had been traveling along the coast, the docks would have at least caught his attention. They realized the fisherman could very well be a no-show, since they hadn't contacted him again like they said they would. At the very least, there was the hope that there would be an abandoned boat there that they could commandeer for their escape. The car jolted to a stop at the docks and they climbed out. Duo's foot was throbbing now, causing a limp. Heero helped him, letting him throw an arm over his shoulders. They reach the end of the docks and smiled when they spotted a small fishing boat, out at sea. Duo waved his arm, hoping Hector would see him. He sighed in relief when the man waved back. The two minutes it took the fishing boat to reach the docks, were the longest two minutes of the past three days. The two were itching to get off the island. So much so that it crossed Duo's mind to jump into the water and swim towards to the boat, rather than stand there and wait. As soon as the steel boat bumped against the dock, the two men jumped on board. "Let's go. Go go go," Duo urged. took in their appearance with appropriate concern. He opened his mouth to say something but then a drawn-out roar cut through the air, drowning out the crashing waves and the sputtering engine as the boat pulled away from the dock. The fisherman frowned at them and wondered something in Spanish that even Duo understood: "What in God's name is that?". The journalists shared a look and laced their fingers together. Duo said: "You'll read all about it." THE END
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