Chapter 27 Triage
The fall took a surprisingly long time. Ethan was nearly ready to tense up to change position when they hit. The judder felt as if a diplodocus had decided to sit on him, but from underneath. The air was knocked from his lungs and he gasped for breath. Others clearly still had their breath because the screams that had accompanied the fall continued at an even greater strength. Ethan looked at the kids around him. One was sobbing, another comforting him. Another was already bounding from one branch to the next to reach the ground. There were at least a couple of serious injuries, blood flowing from one girl's head, and he could see the bone sticking out the elbow of another. She didn't look too good, her face was pale and she wasn't making a noise.
Staying in the tree wouldn't do them much good and a glance down reminded him he still had the rope ladder clutched tightly in his hand. Finding a large, broken tree limb, he hooked the first step of the ladder over it before tugging on the ladder with all his strength. He didn't have time to determine if it was strong enough before the first kid was already scrambling down, followed by another and another.
Once the ladder was in place, he returned to the injured kids. He had to work out some way to get them down. Problem was, both he and Sienna had been given rudimentary first aid training, so it had been drilled into him that you should never move the patient. But could they stay here? Although the trunk was broad and felt sturdy, he was also aware that they were balancing on top of a cylinder. It was something to ponder while he pulled a wound pad from the emergency pack that he'd still had slung over his shoulder. It wasn't long before one of the older kids joined him. "Want a hand?" she asked.
"You're not racing to get away from here?" he muttered as he tried to find something more permanent in the pack. It wasn't easy having one hand pressed firmly against the head wound.
"I doubt it's any better down there." She placed her own hand over his, applying pressure to the wound. Gratefully he rifled two handed through the pack and slid out the small tube of rapid bandage. As he began sealing the wound with the rabid bandage, his assistant started trying to get the patient's attention - blowing in her face, calling her name. He was thrilled when the eyes fluttered open.
"Keep talking to this one," he instructed, before heading over to the broken arm. His head swirled when he looked at the bone poking out through the skin, so he tried really hard to keep his eyes focussed on the kid's face. "Hey," he greeted kneeling down.
"Ethan, right?" An adult's voice sounded from over his shoulder. He turned. A teacher was standing in front of him. "You're doing a wonderful job there, but I would like to take over now."
"Sure." The teacher was probably far more capable than him at treating students. After all, he had forgotten to get a response from Head Wound before treating her. He shuffled out of the way, so the teacher had space. While the teacher spoke to the child, Ethan found a immobilising cast and handed it to him. The teacher accepted it without taking his attention from Broken Arm, talking and reassuring the whole time. Ethan scanned the area, looking for more injured people, listening for…
"Gashes!" he hissed, looking quickly at the teacher to make sure he wouldn't get into trouble for his language. Then he shook his head at the ridiculousness of the idea. "I have to get away from here," he said louder, to the teacher. "I'm sorry to leave you." He ran for the ladder, giving a nod to his brief assistant before shimmering down. He hit the ground running, heading towards a classroom. "Sienna!" he yelled. He'd heard exactly where she would be and made straight for her. "They're tracking us!" He didn't have time to wonder why Dr. Santos had failed to remove their chips.
Sienna looked up at the sound of Ethan's voice. It had seemed so long since she'd seen him. The terrifying ride to the ground, being thrown from the tree when it thumped to the ground, spraying the compies that had appeared so suddenly. And now, they were being tracked.
"There!" Ethan pointed and she followed where he was looking. A tall man in khaki coloured clothing was pointing something at her. Then, presumably hearing Ethan, he turned towards her brother. It took him less than a second to smile creepily before raising the object again. A second was long enough.
"Ethan!" Ellie threw herself at him. A small dot appeared on her shoulder.
No! Sienna knew what that dot meant. They had seen velociraptors train by chasing laser-targeted animals and drones. And they always destroyed the target. One of the scientists even told them how they took down a targeted triceratops once. Being targeted was a death sentence. Fortunately, Ethan seemed to be aware of the danger. He hoisted Ellie up and bolted towards the building behind Sienna. Sienna scanned the area to see how much of a lead they had, and bit her lip to hold in a scream. It wasn't a velociraptor that was sprinting towards them. It was one of the creatures that Santos and Audrey had told them about and it was fast. Ethan paused at the door and Sienna slammed her palm against the door control and hit open. The dull metal door slid upwards and they dove under it and into the building behind. While Ethan untangled Ellie from around his neck, Sienna slapped the internal door control and the door dropped down behind them. These doors were designed to keep dinosaurs out, so they had a minute. Though since they were controlled by a human, with a human shaped palm… "We gotta move!"
They crossed the atrium at a sprint and headed down a corridor towards the dining hall. They had eaten the delicious lunches that the school provided every day, so knew exactly what to expect. Several groups of tables with chairs. It took a lot of weaving to race to the other side. Sienna was certain that the creature who followed would have no such problem. It would simply jump from one table top to the next. She had no intention of finding out for sure if she was correct though. Sienna and Ethan slid through the door at the back that led into the school kitchen.
