Chapter 8
TONY
Control Room
Tony walked out as the double doors slid open and he instantly knew that there was already tragedies that had transpired by the looks of everyone's faces. Who had died during the break out? The man that manned the observation room? Some workers? Hell, Bucky?
He mentally shook his head and straightened up slightly, letting out a small exhale. On one of the monitors, it showed the current location of the Indominus, who was on the move. He said the only thing he could think of in that moment as everyone turned to look at him. "Everyone remain calm. The implant will shock it if it gets too close to a perimeter fence."
"Okay. It's moving really fast." Clint stated as Tony walked up behind him.
"This is Control." Maria said into her headset. "Put out a park-wide alert-"
"Hang up that damn phone, please." Simon cut in from his spot behind the three.
"Sorry, I'm getting new information. Everything's fine."
"Let Asset Containment capture it quietly. The very existence of this park is predicated on our ability to handle incidents like this. It was an eventuality, okay?"
Tony clamped his mouth shut, holding back all the things he would like to say. Clint however, did not.
"You should put that in the brochure. "Eventually, one of these things will eat somebody.""
"That paddock is four miles from the closest attraction." Tony stated, sounding like he was trying to convince himself. "ACU can handle this. No one else is gonna get..."
"Eaten?"
Tony didn't even answer Clint and just stared at the monitors, feeling slightly numb. He watched as as the ACU's life-signs pop up one by one as well as the video feeds from the ACU vehicles. Soon, they were driving towards the location of the Indominus and Tony could feel his insides go into knots with guilt. Had he not promised the families and friends of the victims that no one would die if He could do anything about it? Injuries sure, that was a given, but death?
He heard the sliding doors opening and the guard talking to someone. "I need to see a badge, Sir? I need to see a badge. Sir-"
"What the hell happened out there?" Bucky's voice carried through the room, making Tony turn to look back at him, slightly relieved seeing the man alive. "There are thermal cameras all over that paddock. She did not just disappear!"
"It must have been some kind of technical malfunction." Tony stated but he knew that his voice was giving away how much himself didn't believe his own words.
"She parked up that wall as a distraction. She wanted us to think she escaped."
"She's an animal-"
"A highly intelligent animal."
"Four-hundred meters to the beacon." Maria stated. They all turned to the monitors and watched the live camera feeds. The vehicles stopped and the ACU men was getting out and assembling their weapons. The live feeds switched to the point of view of some of the men.
"You're going after her with non-lethals?" questioned Bucky, voice holding disbelief.
"We have twenty-six-million dollars invested in that asset. We can't just kill it." Simon told Bucky.
"Those men are gonna die."
"Three hundred meters to the beacon." reported Maria.
"You need to call this mission off right now."
"They're right on top of it."
"Call it off right now."
Tony clenched his fists and bit down on his lip, taking a few breaths. "We can't not now. They're already out there and closing in. I don't like this anymore than you do, but we can't call them off."
He went back to watching the feed. The men had made it to a river and Tony had to squint when he saw something white against a large rock. One of the men walked closer and knelt down, gripping the white thing and turned it over. Pink flesh and droplets of blood greeted them, as well as the tracker that they had been tracking.
"Blood hasn't clot yet." the man stated over the radio. "It's close."
"What is that?" asked Simon.
"That's her tracking implant." answered Bucky. "She clawed it out."
"How would she know..." Tony trailed off.
"She remembered where they put it in."
Not a second later, Tony could see crimson droplets falling on the man's wrist, making his heart drop. The man stood up, looking up into the trees. Twigs began to snap as the leaves and trees seemingly came alive. The different shades of greens and browns washed away as the Indominus revealed herself, eyes clearly taking them all in.
"It can Camouflage!" The man shouted as he tried to run back towards his team, but it was no use. He was grabbed. The others began to shoot at her, but that only seemed to piss her off more. She threw down the man before lifting a foot and stepping on him, causing his signs to go flat. As the chaos and carnage ensued, more of the lifesigns went flat and red, with only a handful being able to retreat back towards the vehicle.
Everything was silent in the control room, no one knowing what to say. Until Bucky turned around, looking straight at Tony. "Evacuate the island."
Tony said nothing and Simon was about to open his mouth but Bucky didn't let him. "You made a genetic hybrid, raised it in captivity. She is seeing all of this for the first time. She does not even know what she is. She will kill everything that moves."
"Do you think the animal is contemplating its own existence?" asked Simon.
"She is learning where she fits in the food chain, and I'm not sure you want her to figure that out. Now, Asset Containment can use live ammunition in an emergency situation. You have an M134 in your armory. Put it on a chopper and smoke this thing!"
"We can't do that right away, not with families here." Tony told him. "Go ahead out."
Bucky only nodded and began to walk back to the double doors before stopping next to Simon. "If I were you, I'd have a word with your guys at the lab. That thing out there, that's no dinosaur."
Tony watched him go before turning back to the monitors, which was now showing the live feed of the park. "Okay. I'm going to close everything north of the resort. This is a Phase One, real world. Bring everyone in."