Chapter 3: Fun in the sun

Isla Nublar, Costa Rica

(Maria)

"Maria! Get off the boat and come join us." Sandra whined. The previous evening, Cassy explained we were going to barbecue on the infamous island with the dinosaurs. I objected, of course, and reminded them about the fact that several people had died on this island. Call me crazy. I didn't think it was a good idea to barbecue on an island where people were eating.

"Oh, Mari, don't be such a chicken," Cassy said. "That was years ago. As I understand it there was only one major predator on the island, the big one, whatsitsname."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Tyrannosaurus rex."

"That's the one." She snapped a finger. "It has to be dead by now, and even if it's not, we're going to be on the beach close to our boat. We'll be fine."

And like that, everyone wanted a BBQ on Dino Island. Well, not me, which was why I sat stubbornly in the zodiac while my BFF tried to coax me out. Sandra walked over with a plate loaded with lobster tails smothered in butter sauce with fried scallops. She waved it under my nose, making my mouth water. "It's all yours if you come join us." She cooed.

My stomach rumbled, betraying me. "Damn you." Sulking, I followed her to the table. They had erected a canopy over the table, providing shade. A few crew members had come and set up the canopy, table, and a little BBQ pit before returning to the ship on a second zodiac.

After our seafood breakfast was over, the boys blasted music out of a boombox they brought, and we played a game of volleyball. That turned into a game of dodgeball, which turned into a game of tag, which dissolved into everyone splashing around in the waves, my self-included. After that, the boys took to wrestling about in the waves while the girls and I worked on our tans.

I was loath to admit it. But I was having fun. I hadn't seen one dinosaur, nor had I heard anything alarming. Maybe Cassy had been right, maybe all the dinosaurs had died already, and we were on a deserted island.

When the boys had finished goofing around in the water, Cassy's boyfriend suggested a little exploration. He brought out a worn brochure. At the top of the Brochure read Jurassic Park. On the brochure was a cartoonish picture of the island.

"Check it out." Jake pointed to the marker on the map that had the skull of a dinosaur, a Brachiosaurus to be exact. "This is where those big, long-necked lizards are." He pointed to another marker with a boat icon. "This is where we are, so if we follow the path shown here, it's a straight shot."

"Didn't Cassy say that all the Dinosaurs were dead?" I pointed out.

"There might be some alive you never know. Look, I'm suggesting we hike there to see if we spot anything. If not, we come back no harm no foul."

In the spirit of adventure, which I didn't even realize I had, I agreed to go. Emilia was happy tanning and was going to stay behind, which meant her boyfriend was staying too. That left me, Sandra, her boyfriend, Cassy, and her boyfriend, Jake.

While Jake was a jerk, he was smart. Using the brochure as a reference, he directed us up the beach, where we found an old half-destroyed dock with a rundown guardhouse. The road shown on the brochure was there mostly overgrown with vegetation, but you could still partially see it.

We followed the road for the better part of an hour when the road shown in the brochure was an oversimplified generalization. After another hour of hiking, we came upon maintenance storage shed. Inside was a far more detailed map of the island.

Also, inside was a pair of flairs and a flashlight. I took the flairs and flashlight just to be safe. We followed the access road for another hour when we came to a twenty-foot electric fence. The wires hung loose, covered with vegetation, while the gridwork of steel bars had seen better days. At the top of the twenty-foot fence posts were pairs of lights, one orange, and one blue. We checked to make sure the fence wasn't live before crossing over to the other side. The grasslands that met us were empty of life.

Seeing that heartened me. I won't lie, seeing a dinosaur would be incredible, but I had no desire to be eaten. We hiked across the fields to a series of large hills in the distance. The sight that greeted us when we crested the hill took my breath away. The land below us was alive with dinosaurs.

My childhood came rushing back to me. In the distance, I saw a small herd of brachiosaurs grazing from the trees. They let out soft trumpeting calls that were carried away by the wind. Running information was a herd of Gallimimus. Farther in the distance, I could see a herd of duckbilled dinosaurs with large crests on their heads. Parasaurolophus, I think, was their name. My knees gave out from under me. I landed hard on my ass, transfixed, while simultaneously terrified. Sandra was at my side in an instant, her arms around me protectively. The sight before us was majestic, I wanted to bask in the awe. But the rational part of my mind knew that if these dinosaurs were alive, then the Rex could still be alive.

"We need to leave now," I told the others. I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. "Sandra, if they're still alive, the predators might still be alive too." I snatched the brochure from jake and pointed to the Legend. "Tyrannosaurus, Velociraptor, Herrerasaurus, Dilophosaurus, and Baryonyx." I stood on shaky legs. "If any of these dinosaurs survived, we're dead." I shook Sandra, desperate to get my point across. "We have to leave."

"Ok." She took my hands in hers. "Okay girl, let's go." We turned around and marched back the way we came, not bothering to check if Cassy and Jake were following. Thankfully, her boyfriend didn't argue with me. I always like him. I needed to get Sandra out of this place. I should have been stronger and made a better case on the boat. My mind was racing with all the things that could go wrong on the way back. This was a stupid idea, and I said as much. The whole fast walk back I kept jumping at every sound, seeing monsters lurking in every shadow.

I was on the verge of hysteria. But give me a break. I had an excellent reason to be. When we finally got back to the beach, what I saw there would forever haunt my dreams.