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pocket-lad · 26 days

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CH 10- Lost in the Chaos

“They’d have to go through both Sarah and Kelly to get - to get to you,” Ian explained as if Adelaide didn’t already know that. He was trying to convince her to go lie down and get some sleep in the tent with Sarah and Kelly. It was an unspoken agreement among everyone that the women got the privacy of the tent while the men slept outside.

“I’m just not tired,” Adelaide yawned.

“Regardless, you should uh, get some sleep.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Della.”

Ian wasn’t going to pull anything else. He passed her off to Alan, to Nick. He wasn’t going to do that to her again, what with their trust already being stretched so thin. Even though he desperately wanted her to sleep in the safety of the tent.

“I’ll let you know if I get tired, and then maybe I’ll join them,” Adelaide conceded. That was as good as it was going to get, and Ian knew that. “And why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I’m not tired,” Ian said. They both knew it was a weak excuse since Adelaide literally just used it, but really, they were exhausted.

They joined up with the few other people who were awake. Adelaide regarded the big group of sleeping people. They all looked so peaceful when they slept, but she knew better than anyone how quickly their demeanor could change.

“Did you find him?” Ian asked Roland. They sat together on a log with Ajay, who Adelaide learned the name of five seconds ago. Apparently he was Roland’s friend. She didn’t know it was possible for him to have such a thing.

“Just the parts they didn’t like,” Roland said. He shot Adelaide a look that said, try me, so she did, mostly prompted by morbid curiosity.

“What did it?”

“Compys, I believe. Dinosaurs not much bigger than you, actually.” A ghost of a smile flashed across his face, but it disappeared so quickly that Adelaide thought she must have imagined it. She straightened a little and smiled too. There was something fitting, poetic even, about Dieter Stark, a man who tormented her because of her size, dying at the hands of some of the smallest dinosaurs.

Roland pulled out a map and continued, explaining where they were going and what route they were taking. “We’ll let them sleep one more hour. Then we’ll hit it.”

Adelaide’s eyes grew heavier and heavier, and once the prying eyes of Roland and Ajay disappeared, she relaxed even more, her body threatening to succumb to sleep. But she had to stay awake.

Ian rolled his shoulder forward to let Adelaide slide off into his hands. She barely even protested, too comfortable to put up a fight. That’s when Ian knew it was over. “You are quite literally falling asleep in my, uh, in my palm… as we speak. Go to bed.”

“I can’t,” Adelaide mumbled.

“And why not?”

“Because they’ll take me.”

Ian wasn’t sure her thoughts were coherent and considered dropping her in his chest pocket to let her rest there, but curiosity had him prompting her further. “Who?”

“Hm?” Adelaide asked, already forgetting what she was talking about.

“Who will take you?”

“Oh…um, anyone?” She forced herself to sit up and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t like letting my guard down that much, even with you, no offense.”

“None taken.”

Adelaide yawned. “Are you sure Beans don’t eat us? He looked like he wanted to eat me.”

“I think he always looks like that.”

“Hmm…Being unconscious around strangers isn’t…And besides, I’m awake now. I’m sitting up.” Adelaide closed her eyes again and her head bobbed.

“Hey, you’re gonna fall asleep anyway, so you might as well do it somewhere safe.”

“I’m safe with you,” she whispered, curling back up in a ball. A couple minutes wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Curled up like that, Adelaide looked so tiny, and to know she felt safe with him made Ian’s heart grow approximately three sizes. He lifted her up close to his eyes, trying to see if she had officially fallen asleep.

Adelaide slowly peeled her eyes open and found herself staring directly into Ian’s. “I’ll take the tent,” she said, defeated. If anything, it was to get herself on solid ground for maybe the third time since they’d arrived. Her eyes closed again and she fell right asleep.

Ian wordlessly made his way over to the tent, pushing the flap open. Sarah stirred, and when she noticed that there was someone inside, she bolted up.

“It’s just me,” Ian assured her.

“Oh,” she said, eyes barely open and hair messy. “What’s going on?”

“Mind if Adelaide stays with you for the night?” He neglected to mention that they’d probably take off in an hour anyway.

“Uh, sure.”

Ian crouched down and reached across the tent to lay Adelaide in the back. There was a small empty space up by Kelly’s head that would give her enough room to sprawl out and roll around. She was fast asleep and remained so even as she slid off Ian’s hand onto the hard ground.

“Get some rest,” he said to Sarah, who nodded sleepily. Ian took one last look at everyone before he left.

It was that moment that Adelaide came back to the world. She felt the hard ground beneath her body and registered movement, so she blinked her eyes open.

An unfamiliar, dark world stretched out before her, and she felt the presence of two giants, none of which were Ian. She shot upright and pulled out her knife.

Sarah saw this and slowly reached for the borrower, trying to let her know she was safe, but before she could say anything, Adelaide swung at her with the knife.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s me. It’s Sarah.”

“Where’s Ian?” Adelaide said forcefully and at full volume. Though it was quieter than a normal human, she sounded just as loud, if not louder, against the silent backdrop of the night.

“He just left. He’s around here somewhere though,” Sarah whispered. She glanced at Kelly, hoping Adelaide’s outburst didn’t wake her. Kelly was still dead to the world. “I can-” she yawned, “- I can go get him if you’d like.”

The memories came rushing back to Adelaide. She remembered something along the lines of agreeing to sleep in here, but she wasn’t happy about it. “No, no, that’s okay. Sorry. I didn’t know where I was.” She rubbed her eyes and tucked her knife back into her belt. She didn’t like how close Sarah was and how she towered over her, even resting on her elbows, but Adelaide was semi-confident she wouldn’t need her knife.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sarah said as she laid back down.

Adelaide tried to do the same, but the ground was littered with wrappers and crumbs, and the soft light emanating from the lamp was too bright for her small eyes that were accustomed to the dark. She rolled around for what felt like forever and eventually gave up. There was no way her body was going to let her sleep around two giants.

“Sarah?” she tried.

“Mm?” Sarah responded. She sounded like she’d also been (unsuccessfully) trying to fall asleep.

“Thanks.” Adelaide couldn’t let Sarah’s efforts back after they escaped the trailer go unrecognized. At the very least, Adelaide owed her a thank you. And so that’s what she did.

“What for?”

“For saving me, I guess. Trying to keep me hidden.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you from that guy.”

Adelaide chuckled, then looked for a way to change the subject. “That wasn’t your fault. You did the best you could… Can I have some of this candy?” There was a half-eaten candy bar sitting not too far to Adelaide’s right, and it didn’t look like anyone was going to finish it anytime soon. Seeing it in front of her made her realize how starving she was, especially since she wasted the peanut she packed by throwing it at a spider. It did feel weird to ask for food, though. Normally she just took it.

“Oh, sure,” Sarah said. “You don’t have to ask. It’s not like you eat much anyway…right?” Adelaide was tiny, so Sarah assumed she couldn’t eat a ton of food, but she wanted confirmation. On all accounts, Adelaide appeared human. But was she? If not, then Sarah couldn't assume anything.

“Right…” Adelaide trailed off. She dug into the candy bar, breaking off small chunks with only a bit of extra effort. It was some kind of chocolate, probably. Whatever it was, it was good. It stained her fingers and left behind a sticky residue, but that was at the very bottom of Adelaide's list of things to be worried about.

After a long stretch of silence, Sarah rolled over onto her stomach and rested her head in her arms. “Can I ask you something?”

Adelaide jumped, and when she looked up, Sarah was a lot closer than she’d been before. She took a couple steps back on instinct, eyeing the opening of the tent which felt like a million miles away and was blocked by the two giants. She swallowed. “Uh, yeah, but I don’t know anything about why I exist when I shouldn’t, or how my brain works, or how my body functions at such a small size, or anything like that.” Adelaide recalled the questions Alan had for her way back when and how she wasn’t able to answer any of them. She didn’t know how she existed. She just did it.

Sarah started to ask something, but another thought popped in Adelaide’s head that she had to voice. “Oh, and I don’t really want to talk about Jurassic Park. The first one, I mean. It’s still kind of overwhelming…If you don’t mind.” Her voice got quieter as she went on, and by the end, it was barely a whisper.

“Why did you feel like you couldn’t introduce yourself? I assume you kind of know me if you live in the walls. Am I really that bad?” Sarah asked.

Adelaide realized what Sarah was implying and grew nervous. She fidgeted with her hands while she stood awkwardly in place. “I don’t eavesdrop,” she quickly clarified, “if that’s what you mean. At least, I try not to. Beans are kinda loud.”

Sarah saw how twitchy Adelaide got. She must have missed Sarah's attempt at a joke. “No, I’m not mad! Just curious.”

Sarah’s soft smile helped Adelaide relax a little. Beans got touchy when it came to privacy, so she felt like she had to tread carefully. But Sarah was Sarah. She was the same Sarah whether Adelaide was watching her from a distance or talking directly to her. And the Sarah she knew was friendly and cool.

“I don’t think you were around when I was telling Nick earlier, but um…I was kidnapped. Like a long time ago. And then Ian caught me and that was a whole thing, but anyway, I was raised to mistrust Humans. And the kidnapping kind of confirmed those beliefs, so I just need to be wary. I can’t really control what you do, and I never know for sure how people will react. Better safe than sorry, I guess.”

“You told Nick before you told me?!” Sarah teased her.

Adelaide was quick to defend herself. “Hey! He was my only option! I was looking for you but you were nowhere to be found.”

“Aw, I’m flattered.”

Then the ground shook. It was a feeling Adelaide was growing quite familiar with, and it wasn’t a welcome one. Her tone shifted to dead serious. “Is that…”

Sarah glanced up at her jacket covered in the baby T-Rex’s blood. That was what they were smelling, which meant two Tyrannosaurs would soon be approaching.

“Adelaide, we’re gonna stay completely still, okay? Come here.” Sarah’s voice shook as she shoved all the remaining food and wrappers into a plastic bag and tucked it under their blankets. She turned the light off and pulled a blanket over her head just as the shadow of a massive dinosaur appeared alongside their tent.

Adelaide ducked as Sarah's hand snatched up all the Adelaide-sized things around her. It was so easy to forget that Beans could move that fast. Something that big physically shouldn't be able to do that. But when Beans were in a rush - oh boy, did they know how to move, and all a borrower could do was try to get out of the way. Registering Sarah's words, Adelaide came a couple paces closer but couldn’t bring herself to close the distance. Whether it was fear of Sarah or fear of the T-Rex, she wasn’t sure, but she was rooted in place.

She could hear it before she saw it. The huffing of a giant animal. One that was smelling its surroundings, one that was hunting. Then it was visible.

The first thing Adelaide saw was one of its horrible yellow eyes. Then its snout peaked in between the tent flaps, its large, pointed teeth protruding over its curled lips. It sniffed at the jacket. Then it sniffed at Sarah.

The breeze coming from the animal was so strong that it knocked Adelaide to the ground. She had to hold her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming and her body quaked with fear, but beyond that, she didn’t dare move. She looked at Sarah for guidance, but Sarah was just as scared.

Kelly stirred, and Adelaide prayed she wouldn’t fully wake up, but luck was never quite on their side. Kelly obviously felt the dinosaur’s massive presence, and turned to look at what it could possibly be. When she saw what it was, she screamed, but Sarah was quick to cover her mouth. Tears streamed down the girl's face. She instinctively held still and kept her crying quiet, and Adelaide had to commend her for that, though she felt truly awful about it. No child should have to be this brave.

A scream from outside startled them all, including the T-Rex. Startled by the sound, it stood up to its full height, ripping the tent out of the Earth.

Adelaide finally let out the scream she’d been holding in. It would get lost in the chaos anyway. She looked around to see the whole group freaking out - screaming, running in all different directions, trying to get away. All of the rumbling and stomping prevented her from getting to her feet, try as she might. She searched for Ian in the fray, but down on the ground, it was impossible to see very far.

Nick was suddenly at their side, his enormous boots shaking the ground. Adelaide threw her hands over her head protectively, convinced he couldn’t see her in the dark. Whether it was intentional or whether it was luck, Nick didn’t step on her. He helped Kelly to her feet and then Sarah, urging them to move . Apparently he did see Adelaide, since he scooped her up and shoved her into Sarah's hands.

One second, Adelaide was on the ground. The next, she was enclosed in darkness as massive hands obscured her from the world. The next, she was four feet in the air. She struggled to get a sense of her surroundings, and by the time she did, Sarah was running. She gave Adelaide a rushed apology, and though it was scary and uncomfortable, Adelaide knew it was for the best. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down but was only half-successful. Muffled sounds of terror reached her ears and it was hard to tell up from down. Her head pounded with each step Sarah took. And yet one prevailing thought occupied her mind: Ian .

Sarah’s hands suddenly opened up and what little light existed around them made its way to Adelaide’s eyes. The landscape passed them by in a blur, though she recognized there were people running alongside them in every direction.

Her time out in the open didn’t last long, though. She was abruptly lifted higher into the air, and then she fell into darkness. It was only about an inch, but the shock disoriented her nonetheless. Fabric clung to her slick skin and she scrambled for purchase.

She recognized this. This was a pocket. Sarah put her in a pocket.

Okay, Adelaide thought. You get ten seconds, and then you get up.

After seven seconds, Adelaide got impatient and pushed in the direction she thought might be ‘up’. Her face found fresh air as she hoisted herself over the edge of the pocket.

There wasn’t much Adelaide could do at this point except watch where they were going and hope they didn’t get eaten by a dinosaur. She desperately tried calling out for Ian, but she doubted even Sarah could hear her over the commotion.

Any mildly tall person in dark clothing could’ve been him, and Adelaide had no way of knowing. She called out until her voice was hoarse, until nothing could come out anymore. The Beans approached a waterfall, and Adelaide squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the worst.

Though they didn’t end up underwater like she expected, she was suddenly drenched head to toe. When she opened her eyes, they were behind the waterfall in some sort of small cave. Her, Sarah, Nick, Kelly, and some other guy she recognized from earlier.

Adelaide didn’t have time to ponder it though, because the T-Rex was on their tail. It forced its head into their cave as much as it could. There was nowhere for them to run.

But then the dinosaur's head got stuck. It was very, very close, but just far enough away that it couldn’t eat them. Still, it's hot breath filled the small space and its long tongue searched for anything it could grab.

Adelaide thought she was scared of being anywhere near a Human Bean’s mouth. That was nothing compared to this. She ducked back down in the pocket, hoping it would provide some form of protection, and she felt a very strong pressure just off to her right. She could hear the slimy tongue tasting Sarah’s clothes, which made her gag.

Then, the pressure disappeared. Adelaide gave it a second before she stood up, but when she did, the dinosaur was still there. She wasn’t sure how they were going to get out of this one. At this point, it was a waiting game.

A streak of color caught Adelaide’s eye, and she turned toward it. It was a snake. Beautiful and graceful, much like the spider, but incredibly deadly. It slithered down the cave wall, headed straight for the unknown man.

“Look out!” Adelaide cried, and the man turned in her direction.

He stared at her with wide eyes, realizing for the first time that a three inch tall person was hanging out in a woman’s pocket. Then her words registered, and he looked to where she was pointing.

At this point though, the snake had wormed its way into the man’s clothes. He freaked out, batting at it and trying to get it out. In his panic, he backed away from the wall of the cave, despite everyone yelling at him not to.

Adelaide saw it before it happened, and it wasn’t pretty. The man backed right into the jaws of the T-Rex. It grabbed him by the arm, dragged him outside above their eyesight, there was a loud, agonizing scream, and then the waterfall that served as their door ran red with blood.

It all happened so fast. Sarah and Kelly were crying. Nick looked like he wanted to throw up. Adelaide could only think about Eddie. And Muldoon. And Gennaro. And John Fucking Hammond.

So many lives were lost because of this idiotic man’s idiotic dream. And where was he? Back in his luxurious mansion, probably sipping on tea, while they were here fearing for their lives. A classic example of the arrogance of Human Beans. They thought they could control everything, own everything, but they were wrong. And now they were paying the price for it, dragging a whole hoard of innocent people down with them.

A single tear slipped down Adelaide’s cheek. She wanted Ian. She wanted to go home.

“Where is he?” she croaked, defeated. It wasn’t directed toward anybody in particular - maybe the whole cave? She didn’t know. But Ian hadn’t returned yet and Adelaide was starting to fear the worst.

Sarah glanced down. “He’s coming,” she assured Adelaide. Nobody had any way of knowing if that was true, but hopefully speaking the words aloud sparked at least a little confidence. It didn’t.

Sarah delicately gathered Adelaide out of the pocket and ran her finger down her wet hair, brushing it away from her forehead. Adelaide twitched away in surprise, but was way too deep in shock to care. She let Sarah continue the repetitive motion. In a way, it calmed both of them down.

“I’m so stupid,” Adelaide said, voice still hoarse. “I shouldn’t have left him. I shouldn’t have left him. I should’ve stayed, should’ve insisted…I can’t…I can’t do this again, Sarah.” She started to hyperventilate, and more tears began to slip down her cheeks.

Every time Ian and Adelaide got separated, something bad happened. She made Ian promise that this exact thing wouldn’t happen. But Adelaide was stupid and gave in to sleep. She’d been awake longer before, she’d handled worse. She should’ve forced herself to stay awake. She should’ve insisted on staying with Ian. Because now she might never see him again.

Adelaide wanted to jump out of the pocket and let the Earth take her. She was so tired, so over it all.

A shadow appeared outside the waterfall again, and everyone in the cave pressed themselves as far back as they could. Sarah held Adelaide against her chest, blocking out her vision, so Adelaide pushed and pushed and pushed at Sarah’s hand. If she was going to die, she at least wanted to see it coming.

“It’s coming back!” Nick yelled.

But what emerged from outside surprised them all. Ian, soaked to the bone and panting, but definitely alive.

“Dad!” Kelly cried, jumping into his arms.

Adelaide let her tense body collapse, relief flooding every ounce of her being. She laughed and she cried so hard she could barely breathe. But that was fine because Ian was alive and she was alive and Kelly and Sarah and Nick were alive.

After Kelly peeled herself off Ian, he looked around. “Where’s Adelaide?” His voice was intense and worried.

“I’m here!” Adelaide called from Sarah’s cupped hands. He probably didn’t hear her, so she pushed at the hand again and Sarah obliged. “I’m right here!” She continued to let the tears fall and just hoped everyone mistook it as mist from the waterfall. She knew she wasn’t fooling anyone, but she didn’t care.

Ian stepped closer to Sarah and impatiently reached out to retrieve Adelaide himself.

“Hey!” Sarah yelled, also laughing through the tears.

Everything was dark for a moment before Ian opened his hand in front of his face. He gave Adelaide a once over, and after he determined she was okay, he turned toward Sarah and Nick. “Thank you,” he said to both of them, completely earnest. They nodded back. “Let’s get out of here.”

“The dinosaur is gone?” Kelly asked nervously.

“The dinosaur is gone,” Ian said, though he sounded unsure. “Della, it’s gonna get bumpy. Pocket okay?”

Adelaide nodded. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” She didn’t really care, as long as she was with Ian.

She was prepared to get drenched again, even though she never really dried off, but as they passed under the waterfall, Ian held his hand above the pocket. Adelaide still got wet, but significantly less so, and she realized how much she took Ian for granted. He thought about the little things like that.

The small group quickly headed in the direction they remembered the operations building to be. There was a notable absence of people, though nobody wanted to think about what may have happened to them. Eventually, they came upon a field of tall grass.

Adelaide had mixed feelings about tall grass. It provided a great sense of cover, keeping exposure to a minimum. But if it provided cover for her and her friends, it provided cover for other things too, much more dangerous things. However she felt though, she wasn’t in charge. She was just along for the ride, as per usual.

The Beans decided the grass was the way to go. It was the fastest route, after all, and they wanted out of this place now .

Adelaide heard it first. She always heard it first, what with her sensitive ears, but it didn’t take long at all for the Beans to pick up on it. The sound of multiple dinosaurs, and this time, it wasn’t Tyrannosaurs. This time, it was something much deadlier, something that scared Adelaide to her core. This time, it was the sound of Velociraptors. And they were close.

#jurassic park #ian malcolm #g/t #giant/tiny #jurassic park g/t #gt #size difference #sarah harding

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