“As long as they’re secure we leave it for now,” I say. “Too many people on the upper levels. Ruby. Get on finding that third one. I want you scanning cameras and moving around. It might be in a blind spot. Allyn, we go upstairs.”
Ruby flies off, and Allyn and I move toward the corridor leading to the next level. I press my finger to my ear and drop my voice to a whisper. “Make sure you’re tracking us. Don’t need one of these things sneaking up on us.”
“Um…”
“What um?” I ask. “I don’t like um.”
“Is there something wrong with the cameras?” Nik asks.
“Ruby,” I say.
“There appears to be some kind of interference. Individual feeds are blinking on and off.”
“Are you telling me we’ve lost our eyes?”
“Not lost,” Ruby says. “But…losing. I don’t know what’s wrong. I need to look into it.”
I turn to Allyn, who is putting on a brave face, but not really doing the best job of it. “You better be paying attention,” I say.
We step into the corridor, moving toward the second level. My ears are ringing I’m listening so hard. I catch another clack-clack-clack, closer this time.
The second level looks clear. Mindful there’s a third one of these things running around, we move toward the next level, another twisty corridor with poor sight lines that was not designed for a goddamn dinosaur hunt. We reach the top of the pathway and press ourselves against the wall.
“What’s the plan if we…” Allyn whispers.
A cry for help pierces the silence.
We both dash into the hallway and follow the noise. My heart drops somewhere into my lower intestine because I know that’s where some of the cots were set up. We round the corner to find a group of half-dressed folks huddled in an alcove, a raptor in the narrow hallway, standing on a cot, which is nearly buckling under the creature’s weight. Its dark gray feathers with red trim suck up the light. It looks both sinister and beautiful.
There’s no way around, and it looks like the group tried to hide inside a storage closet, but no one had the access code. The raptor rears back, ready to leap, and before I can manage it Allyn yells, “Hey!”
It turns and looks at us, tilting its head like it’s trying to figure us out, and then swings its attention back to the cowering people. Maybe sensing their fear and figuring them for the easier meal. There’s a table to my left with a crystal vase full of flowers. I pick it up and hurl it at the dinosaur, the glass shattering on the wall next to it.
That gets its attention.
It swings around and makes eye contact with me.
I put my hands up and yell, “That’s right, come on over here.”
The dinosaur hops off the cot and walks toward us tentatively, like it’s sizing us up, and then it breaks into a run. I take off like a rocket, Allyn behind me. I feel something in my side and Allyn is handing me the stunner.
“You’re a better shot,” he says.
“Thanks,” I say, taking the gun.
We stop and I check it to make sure the safety is off, then take a calming breath.
Which was stupid. The thing is on us quick.
It lunges, and my mind goes blank. My body takes over. I manage to twist myself to the right and bring my foot up at the same time, planting it on the animal’s sternum, serving to both push it away and push myself back.
The problem is I do too good a job, because then I’m airborne. I tuck my chin to my chest and with my free hand slap the floor as I land, dispersing some of the impact. Then I bring my legs up hard over my head, doing a combat roll into a standing position. My abdomen screams. The muscle memory is there, but it’s more memory than muscle.
By the time I’m back on my feet the thing is coming at me, and I’m just getting the stunner up and into firing position when Allyn appears, putting his shoulder into it. The two of them go sprawling, crashing to the blue carpet, and then the raptor has its jaws wrapped around Allyn’s forearm and he screams.
I go over and give it a hard kick in the side, but it doesn’t budge, just whips its head from side to side, with enough force it looks like it could break Allyn’s arm. Blood is seeping from the animal’s jaws and I don’t know if it hit something major, but if it did, speed counts.
So I take aim.
And I say, “Sorry, Allyn.”
He opens his eyes and looks at me.
I hesitate.
But then he nods.
I hit the thing in the back and it goes tense. For a second its jaws seem to dig tighter and Allyn screams louder, both from the pain and from the electricity now coursing through it and into him. But then it lets go and gives off a horrifying screech, the air filling with the smell of singed hair and burnt chicken.
Once the thing goes down, I let off the trigger and immediately get to work, lashing two zip ties around its snout, before getting its legs. By the time I’m getting its arms, it’s finally coming to, and I have to hold tight to keep it from slashing me with claws roughly the size of my big toe. But then it’s done.
I kneel next to Allyn, take the gun out of my pocket, and lay it on the floor, keeping one eye on the dinosaur. Allyn is shaking and gripping his arm. I take out my knife and cut off his sleeve. There’s so much blood it’s hard to tell where the wound is, but the flow doesn’t seem strong. I take the ripped pieces of his sleeve and loop them around his arm.
“Take a deep breath,” I tell him.
He does, and I squeeze tight.
He arches his back and yells.
I pick up the gun, hoping the commotion hasn’t attracted the other two.
“You ready for the next one?” I ask.
“Lemme at ’em,” Allyn says, groaning.
The closest thing with a door I can secure is the gym, so I pull Allyn to standing and duck under his good arm, bracing it over my shoulder. He’s shuffling but mostly able to move under his own power. I keep the gun out, not wanting to shoot one of these things if it lunges at me, but not having a choice now.
There’s a reedy old man inside, decked out in expensive workout clothes that don’t look like they’ve been touched by a drop of sweat. It takes me a second to recognize him; the guy complaining about the menu in the elevator, from earlier today. As I approach he bangs on the glass. “What the hell was that? Did I just see a dinosaur?”
“Open up,” I tell him.
The man moves to the door but instead of opening he grips the handle and leans back. When I swipe and try to open it, I can’t. I bang on the window with the butt of the gun. “Are you kidding me right now? Open the door.”
“Are there more of those things out there? How do I know it’s safe?”
“Open the fucking door.”
He shakes his head, eyes wide with panic. I lean Allyn against the wall, and he immediately slides down into a sitting position. I grab the metal handle and pull, get it to budge a few inches, but then the man puts a foot on the doorjamb.
Wants to play it like that?
I press the barrel of the gun against the window, pointed directly at his face.
He puts his hands up and I yank the door open, then grab Allyn and drag him inside. The man backs up against the far wall.
Nik crackles into the earbud. “What’s going on? I can’t see anything now.”