CHAPTER 20
The Number One Rover swerved to a stop, a dusty cloud of gravel billowing around its chassis. Page Thompson knocked open the gunnery hatch above the rear seat with the barrel of her rifle and pushed through. As a loose bang of hair flashed across her eyes she saw the male velociraptor hurling through the air. His frenzy of black locks licked at the wind. The beast's maw flared with saliva. She watched as his killer hind talons plunged straight for her head. With lightning reflexes she threw her gun in front of her face to block the deadly claws. Page felt the raptor's feet slam into the rifle, and she was knocked back inside the vehicle. The side of the gun had bruised her cheek. A trickle of blood ran from her nose. She was otherwise fine.
"Shit, Thompson! Are you all right?" The man in the driver's seat said.
Page wiped the blood away and grabbed her gun off the roof. "You could've stopped sooner, Jackson."
"You said get close." Jackson shrugged.
Page kicked the side door open and stepped out of the rover. With her scope she followed the pair of velociraptors as they dashed into the surrounding horsetails at the water hole.
"Mississippi one… Mississippi two… Mississippi three." Page began to squeeze the trigger, but she never took the shot.
Both velociraptors ducked among the waist high weeds and fell out of view.
"I lost em." Page lifted her eye from the crosshairs.
She squinted out across the wind brushed horsetails. Something was off. Moments later two stiff tails sprang up from the swaying green plants. Page watched as they began to meander seemingly without purpose or direction. She stepped away from the rover and inched towards the water hole. Behind her the vehicle's front passenger door opened quietly. Soon after, Page had someone whispering at her shoulder.
"What do you make of that?" The man's vest had the name "Baily" stitched into it.
"Page was silent. She just watched. Out of her peripheral she saw Baily take another step forward. He had two shotguns on one shoulder. The first was loaded with slugs, the other with rubber rounds. With one eye Page followed the two raptor tails. With the other she watched Baily's slug loaded barrel drop in front of him.
Together they observed as the tails slipped among the weeds, disappearing for a matter of seconds. Moments later they would spring up elsewhere.
"They're stalling." Page finally broke the silence.
"For what?" Baily adjusted his shotgun.
"Hey, we're about to have more company." Jackson yelled from the rover. "We've got all three juvenile rexes coming in fast."