CHAPTER 26
Joan Murdock slammed on the brakes and cut the wheel to the right. The car spun sideways and ground to a stop directly underneath Rebirtha's chin so that the driver's door faced the carnivore's legs. Without a single word Joan dashed out of the rover, leaving her door wide open.
"Crap!" Robinson lunged for the door handle as he scrambled behind the wheel.
He slammed the door, instantly knowing that it was going to attract attention. As he watched Joan hide against Rebirtha's right ankle with her pistol drawn, the tyrannosaur's huge pink iris lowered to occlude his view. The rex turned her snout and breathed against the window, periodically snorting like a giant hog. She bit at the window cages, gently gnawing as a teething baby would. The whole time Robinson and Chathem remained perfectly still.
Rebirtha wedged her nose under the rocker panel and lifted the car sideways. Inside the vehicle the two men were hugging their seats as their world tipped over. Robinson felt his guts thrust up into his neck when the rover lurched back down. He took a moment to swallow them as the vehicle teetered on its suspension.
Rebirtha's big eye reappeared in Robinson's window. It blinked. It shifted. It stared with anticipation.
"Robbie, I'm getting a bad feeling about this." Chathem whispered from the back seat.
"Here read a magazine." Robinson tossed one in his lap.
He subtly took the steering wheel and shifted into reverse. Babying the pedals Robinson straightened the car and backed it away from Rebirtha. As the rover crept along the creek bed he could see the thoughts mulling in the tyrannosaur's head. Robinson watched the rex ponder for a moment before she kicked her right leg forward.
Rebirtha's talons raked against the hood of the rover. As her foot trailed off, the dinosaur's claws snagged on the grill guard and ripped it away from the bumper.
"Robbie, it wouldn't hurt to go a little faster." Chathem leaned up from the back seat.
"We're not leaving Joan behind." Robinson curled his fingers on the steering wheel.
"That's not what I said. I meant just step on the gas some." Chathem pointed a finger through the windshield. "Rebirtha is getting awfully friendly."
Through the front window they watched Rebirtha pick up the grill guard in her teeth, chew on it, and then lob it into the woods. At the rex's feet Joan was crouched in the shadow of the tyrant's robust belly. Robinson observed Ms. Murdock as she shifted positions in accordance with the tyrant's movements. For a fleeting moment he and Joan exchanged glances. Robinson's expression told her not to push the situation too far. Joan's expression told him to just stand his ground.
Robinson cringed as Rebirtha's claws shrieked over the hood again. He was beginning to understand what a mouse felt like beneath the paws of a cat. With extreme delicacy he backed the rover up a bit more. As Joan held her bearings amidst the tromping feet of the t-rex, Robinson spotted a blurred figure rushing her way. From its scant stature he knew it was one of the adolescent velociraptors.
Out of the corner of her eye Joan saw the young carnivore's attack. She flung her gun to shoot, but the raptor slammed into her arm and fled among the woods. Joan scarcely caught herself before another of the adolescents darted from a different direction and did the same thing. This time she was knocked to the ground.
As Joan lay on her back Chathem made an attempt to fire from the gunnery hatch. As soon as he popped the door open, Rebirtha's jaws came down on the roof.
Chathem ducked into the vehicle. His heart was pounding. "That is not an option, Robbie."
Joan sat up. Her gun was already raised. Another young velociraptor was about to pounce on her face. Her pistol went off. The adolescent landed on top of her. Joan felt a rush of warm blood soak her clothing, and it wasn't her own. By the amount of bleeding, she guessed she'd hit the raptor's heart. Shoving the animal aside she sat up.
From the rover Robinson got the impression that Rebirtha was now on a mission to find out where the gunshot came from. He watched the dinosaur's huge head oscillate from one end of the forest to another. Robinson decided to create a distraction.
He honked the horn and flickered the floodlights on the roof rack. In moments Rebirtha was back on the rover. The tyrannosaur bellowed and chomped the row of lights. With a growl she pried them away from the roof and spit them into the underbrush. The rex's foot came forward and kicked the hood of the car. Then she stepped on it with a powerful crunch.
"Give me the rubber bullets!" Robinson thrust his hand between the seats.
Chathem passed forward a loaded shotgun, and Robinson stepped out of the vehicle. He fired one slug at Rebirtha's thigh and then ducked behind his car door. As the rex limped away from the hood Robinson shouted to Ms. Murdock.
"Joan, get back in the car! This isn't working!"
Robinson barely got his last word out before the silver neck male forged an attack. The adult raptor charged out of the woods and slammed his body into the car door. Robinson hit his head on the doorframe as he fell into the driver's seat. His ankles were pinned in the door.
From between Rebirtha's legs Joan fired off two hasty shots that bounced off the side of the rover. Nevertheless the male velociraptor recoiled behind the vehicle. As Robinson pulled his legs safely into the car Joan made a run for the passenger door. She could feel Rebirtha's shadow looming behind her as she gripped the door handle. With her other arm Joan kept her pistol firm on the male raptor yet skulking behind the rover. The silver neck skillfully held himself just out of aim as Ms. Murdock climbed into the vehicle. As soon as Joan shut the door, the silver neck made a dash for the woods.