Getting the dinosaurs out of the zoo wasn't part of the initial plan. Sobek had wanted to be captured only to arrive undisturbed in a city, gain fame points and unlock all the boxes of the [Weapon system]. However, he had decided to take another advantage of that affair, taking away some dinosaurs to increase the initial ranks of his army.

If Sobek had had to recruit new dinosaurs on his own it would have taken a long time: most dinosaurs were very fast and would have run away the instant they saw him. But if he had had a good initial number of subordinates on his side, then they could have done the work for him, covering much more ground and drastically reducing recruitment times.

Thanks to the zoo, therefore, he had obtained dozens of dinosaurs in one fell swoop that would have allowed him to quickly recruit many individuals.

According to the plan, after escaping the dinosaurs had activated [Ambush] with the help of Sobek and then headed for the sewers following the directions given to them. By the time the battle between Sobek and the army had begun, the dinosaurs had all disappeared underground. All but one.

Carnopo still had a fundamental role to play. Alan Grant thought that Sobek would chase another predator at first sight, because this is how territorial animals behaved… but even Sobek had long ago come to that conclusion! Therefore he had planned his disappearance by relying on this precept.

As soon as Carnopo heard the roar of his new pack leader, he knew it was time. He came out of his hiding place and deactivated [Ambush]. According to the plan, he would have to be seen by Sobek and then the two would have staged a chase where the carnotaur would head for the cliff. Carnopo didn't know what Sobek's intent was, but several times he had shown him that he had bet on the right horse, so he was confident.

Unfortunately he hadn't even taken ten steps that something hit him in the thigh: he barely felt a pain, like a sting, but only a few seconds passed when he began to feel a feeling of drowsiness.

"No! A tranquilizer dart!" he could hardly think; he had already been hit by one of those infernal contraptions in the past, at the time of his first escape, and he knew the effect. He tried in vain to roar for help, but his vocal cords were paralyzed.

He managed to remain standing for only a few moments. Then he fell to the ground unable to move.

He was quickly surrounded by several humans. He wanted to get up and hit them, but he didn't have the strength. "We got it!" one of them exclaimed, holding a contraption that Carnopo knew was used to communicate at a distance.

"Perfect. How much sedative did you give it?" someone on the other side of the radio said.

"Just five milligrams of etorphine. It will wake up soon"

"Good. The spinosaurus will never know you have it if the carnotaur doesn't make a sound. He must be awake"

"Let's proceed to load it on the vehicle!"

Five milligrams of etorphine was enough to knock out an elephant, but a carnotaur's metabolism would quickly nullify the drug's effects. They had to hurry. Very quickly the humans loaded Carnopo onto a truck and tied him up with ropes.

"We finished!"

"Perfect. Now head to Lincoln Street. That's where the spinosaurus is currently located"

The vehicle started up. Carnopo was frustrated. He couldn't believe it: they had caught him so easily! No… he had to remain lucid.

He still couldn't move his body, but his skin was starting to tingle. If he tried he could make a finger tremble.

The sedative would soon stop working. A plan began to make its way into his mind. He did not know the intent of the humans, but he understood that they were taking him to his new pack leader. If Sobek had given him that deadly bite again, he would have freed himself effortlessly.

He just had to hope to be able to recover his motor skills before it was too late.

Very soon the truck arrived near a major road. There Sobek was busy tearing apart the last remnants of the army. The tanks were now reduced to rubble and the few survivors could do nothing against him.

"Put it in plain sight!" ordered the one who presumably was the leader of the humans who held Carnopo captive. The truck spun and the carnotaur was directly in the field of view of its new pack leader. "Make it roar! Now!"

Carnopo heard a shock hit his back; it wasn't as strong as the fences at the zoo, but it was still very painful. Unfortunately, his body was still numb: he couldn't move a muscle.

"It isn't enough! It's still drugged!"

"Continue until it decides to roar!"

The shock repeated three more times. At the third Carnopo was finally able to move the muscles of his mouth again and let out a roar of pain.

Humans yelled a loud triumphant: "Yes!" as soon as they heard it. In front of them, the huge spinosaurus finally stopped its fury and turned towards the truck. A sinister light seemed to come on in his eyes.

The spinosaurus began to run in the direction of the truck at great strides. Humans wasted no time and set in motion.

*********

"It's working!" Gene exclaimed, putting the radio down. "The spinosaurus is chasing them!"

All the people in the room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Marvelous. Order colonel Hicks to deploy his troops out of the city. As soon as that beast comes they have to fill it with lead" Ebert said.

"Are we sure it can't reach the truck?" Ian murmured with his usual pessimism.

"It's not that fast. At the zoo, the carnotaur could outrun the spinosaurus with its own legs" Billy pointed out. "At a guess, I'd say it can't run faster than 30 km/h. Human vehicles are much faster"

"I agree. There is no way it can take them..." Alan murmured. "If there are no unexpected events, of course?"

"We've cleared all the streets already" Gene said. "There will be no unexpected events"

"I hope so" Ian murmured.

***********

"Fuck!"

Sobek was irritated. His plan had suddenly gotten more complicated.

Carnopo had let himself be captured, and without him Sobek had no valid reason to disappear. Also, he couldn't reach it: they were out of the water, so he couldn't use [Swim speed], which meant his top speed was just 30 km/h. Any car could have outrun him.

He had to think of something, and quickly. But any skills he could think of were useless at the moment. If he couldn't reach the truck he couldn't do anything, even if he had the most powerful bite in the world or the sharpest claws.

"Pack leader!" Carnopo's voice reached him suddenly. The carnotaur seemed to be able to move again.

"Are you ok?" Sobek asked him.

"I've almost regained my mobility… and I have a plan. Can you give me again that extraordinary bite?" Carnopo asked him.

To the ears of humans their words were nothing more than roars that two furious predators exchanged, but in reality they were plotting. Sobek quickly understood Carnopo's plan. "I can give it back to you at any time. But can you reach the ropes?"

"To allow me to roar louder they left my neck uncovered. It will be complicated, but I will be able to rotate my head enough to cut them off" the carnotaur replied. "With my current strength I have no chance to break them, but with yours, yes"

The ropes that held Carnopo tied were obviously not simple ropes. They were made of a fiber that made them extremely resistant, suitable for holding dinosaurs. But even those strings should have bent to the power of [Powerful bite].

"I understand. How much have you recovered?" Sobek asked.

"If we wait a couple more minutes, I'll be able to run" Carnopo replied.

Sobek made a quick calculation. At speeds of 30 km/h, they wouldn't have come very far in two minutes. And then… they were going in the direction he wanted. Thanks to Google Maps he knew that what they were taking was the main road to get out of the city, but to do so he first headed towards the cliff and then turned around making a complete circle around the entire town, and finally arrived in the countryside on the other side of the city.

For the moment, therefore, they were still heading for the cliff. He could use it to his advantage to allow Carnopo to regain his strength. He smiled; the plan could work. No, that would definitely work. It was time to finish that escape.

Quickly, Sobek changed [Contract] and replaced [Ambush] with [Powerful bite]. "I gave you the bite back, but you will only have to use it when I tell you, understand?"

"Affirmative!" Carnopo confirmed.

The chase lasted for another five minutes. Sobek roared from time to time so as not to arouse suspicion. Fortunately, his 'endurance' attribute was highly developed, so he could run for miles without feeling tired.

After some time, Sobek finally noticed a crossroads. He knew they would soon turn and head away from the sea. It wasn't what he wanted. "Carnopo, now! As soon as you are free, head for the cliff!"

The carnotaur twisted his neck and bit the ropes that held him, which broke. The humans screamed, but it was clear they didn't know what to do in that situation. Soon Carnopo was totally free and stood up, albeit still a bit staggering due to the sedative. A few humans tried to shoot him another tranquilizer, but Sobek was ready: as soon as Carnopo was free he modified the [Contract] again and gave him [Reinforced skin]. The darts therefore failed to hit the carnotaur.

Although under normal circumstances this would have raised some doubts, in the midst of a chaotic situation like that no one paid any attention. Humans simply thought they had the wrong aim.

Carnopo rolled on the ground and, following Sobek's directions, started running towards the cliff.

They were close by now: it didn't take them more than ten minutes to get to the seafront. Only a tiny net separated them from a drop of one hundred and twenty meters into the void.

"And now?" Carnopo asked.

"Hold your breath!" Sobek answered continuing to run.

"Hold my breath? What…?" murmured the carnotaur, but could not say another word that Sobek was on him and pushed him off the cliff, jumping with him. The two dinosaurs plummeted down and their bodies crashed into the waves below, immediately sinking and disappearing.

***********

"And here's the unexpected..." Ian murmured at the news that the carnotaur had freed himself.

Ebert was out of his mind. "IDIOTS!" he roared at the police chief. "How did you make it escape!?"

Gene tried in vain to stem the mayor's anger: "My men hadn't completely immobilized the carnotaur to make it roar... the strings had to be damaged..."

"EXCUSES! Are you trained or not for this fucking job!?"

"Mr. Mayor..." Ludlow interjected.

"WHAT'S NOW!?"

"I got a message from the air scouts... the two dinosaurs fell off the cliff" Ludlow said. "It would seem that they slipped while the spinosaurus attacked the carnotaur"

Silence fell in the room. Ebert seemed to have quenched his anger. "So... they're dead!" he exclaimed, and for the first time in hours he smiled. "Very good! Marvelous! The plan didn't go as expected, but the result is the same! Come on, tell the patrols to capture the other dinosaurs and let's end this unpleasant situation!"

The mayor seemed to have regained his good humor. He wasn't the only one in the room: everyone had allowed themselves to breathe a sigh of relief. Even a naturalist like Hammond seemed relieved, though he still cast fiery glances at his nephew.

Unfortunately, a new news turned the situation around. "Mr. Mayor..." Gene murmured. "The other dinosaurs... have disappeared!"