CHAPTER 23
When Page opened her eyes again Jigsaw was looking at her hungrily from outside the vehicle. Page shot the tyrannosaur in the nose with another rubber bullet and then scrambled for the driver's seat. She jumped behind the steering wheel and reached for the door. It wouldn't shut. The hinges were bent. She realized that the engine had stalled as well. Page twisted the ignition but the motor didn't catch.
Around the vehicle the trio of tyrant youths were circling again. She didn't get it. There were three fresh corpses right there in the dirt, though it seemed that the rexes would much rather poke at her like a trapped mouse. Perhaps it was because she was the first live prey that wasn't a goat tethered to a post or a cow dropped from a crane. Perhaps it was simply the thrill of the hunt that had them fixated.
All three tyrannosaurs started kicking the rover and biting at the window cages. Page turned the key over and over, but the engine only coughed.
"Come on! Come on!" She feared that something vital had been knocked loose by the rexes.
There was a loud burst of air. Jigsaw had dug her teeth into the front driver's side tire. Page felt the rover drop on an awkward angle as the pressure rushed out. Beside her Laser was kicking the open doors off the vehicle. From the back end Flash climbed on the roof.
Inside the rover Page heard groaning metal all around. The roof sagged in. The bulletproof glass started to crack. As flash thundered her feet on top of the car Page felt the three remaining tires knocking up into the underside of the wheel wells.
She turned the key over and over, banging her fists upon the steering wheel. Finally the motor rumbled to life. As Page slammed her foot into the gas pedal the rear tires ground in place. The rover didn't want to budge with a flat tire and a tyrannosaurus rex standing on it. Page threw the stick into reverse, and the vehicle lurched backwards. Above her there was an ear-splitting scrape as Flash's hind talons slipped across the metal roof. In a jaw-rattling shudder the young T-rex collapsed on the hood of the car and rolled off to the side.
Page backed out of the circle of tyrants and rushed the rover toward the south forest. Between the flat tire, blown shocks, and bent axles the vehicle was jolting and swerving all over the place, but she managed. Page shot a glance over her shoulder to see if the rexes were in pursuit. They weren't. Fighting with the steering wheel she guided the car back among the trees and onto the road that returned to Gate Lock C.
Page held her foot heavy on the gas, but in the vehicle's state of disrepair she couldn't get it to go passed third gear. It sounded like a wrench was rattling around in the pistons. Clouds of smoke billowed from under the hood.
"Just get me to the gate." Page stomped her foot on the gas harder.
A fleeting shadow in the woods caught her eye. By the time she turned, the female velociraptor was latched onto the driver's doorframe. Page ducked aside as the carnivore's jaws snapped in. She reached for Jackson's shotgun. He'd dropped it in the passenger seat. With the butt of the weapon Page struck the raptor repeatedly in the face, but it did not let go. The raptor snapped again and she rammed the butt of the gun into the dinosaur's open mouth.
The car hit a rut and the steering wheel spun out of control. As the vehicle rotated like a top Page braced herself against the dashboard. She shut her eyes as the driver's side slammed into the thick trunk of a redwood.
The rover was still, but Page felt like her body was shaking and weak. Upon opening her eyes she saw the raptor pulverized between the car and the tree. Smoke still rose from under the hood. Page looked around to get her bearings. She could see the gate up the road.
Page reached for the com on the dashboard. "Page Thompson to Operations." She pondered whether the radio even worked at this point.
There was a crackle and some long static, but finally a voice broke through. "This is Operations. Go ahead."
"Team One has suffered casualties… Mission failed… Requesting immediate extraction at Gate Lock C." Page's voice was weary. She slumped back in the driver's seat and awaited an answer.
"Stay where you are." The voice crackled through. "We're on our way."