Jurassic Park: The Game Warden's Story Chapter 12

Jurassic Park: The Game Warden's Story Chapter 12

The Big One

Muldoon was sitting on the coach in the break room. It was 1993, and the park was almost ready to be opened. There were a few small things left to do for preparation. Muldoon didn't need to help with most of the work because he didn't know anything about computers. Some programs needed to be rewired, a few bugs needed to be fixed, and the eighth Velociraptor needed to be introduced to the other Raptors.

There was a knock on the door, and Muldoon answered it. "John, what needs to be done?" "The Velociraptor that you've dubbed 'The Big One' needs to be brought to her paddock." "Not looking forward to it, but I'll assemble the crew. The job should be done before ten." "Excellent, but you say that about every release. You're never looking forward to it, but you haven't had a problem with any of them." "I know, and I feel pretty lucky about that. I get a feeling that if something goes wrong, it's going to be with this one." "Don't worry about it, just do what you've been doing with the other ones." "I'll do my best."

Hammond left the room and Muldoon sat down again. He looked at his watch. It was six in the afternoon. "Four hours should be plenty of time to release her. I'll just finish my supper and then get the crew. Hopefully they haven't went to sleep yet."

Muldoon went to all the crew's rooms and woke them up to tell them they had one job left before they could go home for a few months. Everyone was excited about going back home for more than a week at a time, but they all feared The Big One.

They met in front of the paddock, and Bobby already had the forklift with the cage ready. The rest of the crew took their positions, and Jeffry opened the paddock. The Big One was hesitant, but she walked into the cage. The door was closed behind her, and she struggled to free herself. She couldn't do anything and gave up, thinking that she could escape when they tried to bring her to the other Raptors.

Muldoon looked at her for a moment, and she looked him dead in the eye. Muldoon knew she was figuring things out, and that worried him. He didn't show his fear because he wanted to show that he was in charge, and his big game experience told him to show no fear.

They reached the Velociraptor paddock at nine thirty, and the whole crew was ready to call it quits. Jeffry was scared, but Muldoon told him that the crew would start shooting at a moment's notice. He also told him he only needed to open the door once, and then close it again and then he can go home. Jeffry watched as the cage was brought to the entrance.

He was paralyzed with fear when he heard Muldoon say, "Unloading crew, go." Jeffry climbed to the top of the cage and opened the cage. The Velociraptor charged and the cage slid back as Jeffry fell. Jeffry was suddenly picked up and was being dragged into the cage. Just before he lost grip, Muldoon grabbed his arm and started yelling for everyone to shoot The Big One. Not one shot was fired as Muldoon lost grip and Jeffry was dragged into the cage.

The Velociraptor was tranquilized and put in the paddock while Jeffry's remains were wrapped up and put in the cold storage. The next day, the crew had gone home, and Muldoon was sitting in the break room again, thinking. He felt responsible for what happened to Jeffry, and he didn't want to be the man to inform his family.

Hammond let himself in, and started talking to Muldoon. "Robert, it will be alright. There was nothing you could do." "That's where you're wrong John. If they had just shot her like I was telling them to, he would still be alive." "I guess you have a point, but they were just as scared as you were." "I would have taken the shot. I would ended that damn Raptor right then and there."