CHAPTER 42
Kyra cut the four-wheeler motor and turned to Seth. "We'll walk it." She didn't know what might set the therizinosaurs off, and she didn't want to take any chances.
They hopped off the ATV and began to push it across the clearing. The gate wasn't too far, perhaps a couple of hundred feet at the most. As they intruded within the herd, the herbivores angled their long necks to watch. The dinosaurs didn't seem at all disturbed. Most of them continued to walk and graze without concern, though one curious therizinosaur went out of its way to further inspect the situation.
"Kyra?" Seth began to hesitate as he pushed his side of the ATV.
She hushed him with a quick, "Shh," and persisted to push the handlebars.
The therizinosaur strutted closer, dangling its fore claws like the large, folded, front legs of a praying mantis. It puffed its chest feathers and straightened its neck, making itself appear bigger and taller. All Seth kept thinking was how much the animal appeared like a turkey or a goose. That was, of course, when he wasn't thinking about how dangerous it probably was. The animal came within mere feet of them and squatted on its stocky bird legs. Hunching its back, the dinosaur stretched its neck toward Seth.
"Kyra," he spoke softly through closed teeth, but the uneasiness was quite clear in his voice.
The therizinosaur put its snout right against his cheek. He could tell the animal's intent was to be gentle, but as its wet nostrils swiped through his hair, it almost knocked him over.
Seth stumbled and used the four-wheeler as a prop to keep himself from tumbling. "Kyra," he spoke more forcefully now. The dinosaur was nudging at his back as they passed it.
"Shh," she shushed him again.
Seth glanced over his shoulder. The big turkey was following him now. His eyes shot forward to the gate. They were barely half way. The therizinosaur nudged him again and he almost fell completely. "Kyra!" He kept his voice at a whisper, but it exuded urgency.
"Just keep walking, Seth." She had been watching the whole thing, but there really wasn't anything that could be done about it except to keep going.
Seth was growing more and more nervous as the dinosaur continued to shove him. It just wouldn't let up. This is why he found it equally unsettling when the beast suddenly backed off. Its head lifted high and let out a bellow that triggered a paralyzing response within the rest of the herd.
For the first time, Kyra hesitated. Her eyes shot around the clearing. Seth was doing the same. Through the shadows of the tree line there were two places where he thought he saw movement. It was fleeting, like a man running, only at three or four times the speed. Whatever they were, they seemed to be circling the perimeter, moving from the left flank of the clearing to the right. Although none of the therizinosaurs ran, many of them fidgeted in place. Upon their short tails a display of blue feathers fanned out much like the tail feathers on a peacock. With a shivering motion the long quills began to chatter like the tail on a rattlesnake. The therizinosaurs hissed and wailed in high pitched tones while arching their hand claws about them in protective semicircles.
From the right flank, Seth finally heard a tell tail sound. Over the defensive noise of the herbivores the bark of a raptor called through the trees. The therizinosaurs along that tree line broke into a run, heading straight for Kyra and Seth.
Seth's sneakers stammered and then locked in place. His knuckles gripped tight to the handlebars of the ATV. His wide eyes took in the wall of dinosaurs as they charged his way. They were like a flock of stampeding geese, only they weighed several thousand pounds a piece.
At some point, Kyra came to stand between him and the oncoming herd. She was shaking his shoulders and yelling in his face. "Come on! Let go of the handlebars, Seth! Come on!"
Seth's mind cleared and he met her eyes. His knuckles unclenched from the four-wheeler.
"Let's go!" She pulled him along by the sleeve of his t-shirt.
As they left the four-wheeler behind and ran for the gate, a trio of giant hand claws backhanded the ATV and sent it rolling across the clearing. Kyra and Seth tumbled aside as another set of claws came lashing at their backs. Neither of them got cut, but Seth heard a crisp shredding sound as the back of his shirt was sliced to ribbons. They got to their feet again and kept running but stopped short when a therizinosaur tromped across their path. They dodged behind it, and it twisted around with a slash. Another one stomped up to them with its hands risen high to strike. They dove under its belly and crawled between the legs. After getting past the tail they bolted for the gate.
It was a fairly clear shot now, with only a few stragglers running past yet. As they neared the fencing a shriek sounded behind them. Seth's head snapped back and he saw two velociraptors sprinting from the tree line.
"Hurry!" he yelled.
They reached the gate, but both he and Kyra knew they couldn't touch it as it was still electrified. Their eyes shot to the card reader.
"The keycard," Kyra shouted. "Get it out of your pocket, Seth!"
He dug in his pocket and pried out the thickly stacked wallet. His hands fumbled. He almost dropped it. His fingers flipped it open and worked out the card. Seth tossed the wallet and went for the reader. He slid the card and a red light beeped. The gate didn't open.
"Come on, Seth!" Kyra was watching the raptors close in with swift bounds.
He swiped the card again. A green light flashed, and the lock buzzed open. Slipping the key card in his pocket he grabbed at the gate, and he and Kyra ran through. As they turned to pull the gate shut, both velociraptors slammed into the fencing and knocked them to the ground. The gate latched, and with a buzz the lock enabled, but the raptors still clung to the wire mesh without issue.
Seth recalled in that moment that there was a five second delay before the fence electrified again. He and Kyra jumped to their feet. The raptors were scaling upward with haste. At the top of the fence there was a slim gap where the mesh ended and the ceiling of the tunnel began. The raptors thrust their heads and arms through with ease but got stuck at the hips. They clawed, raked, and twisted, working their bodies past the wedge.
They were almost through. In another moment they'd both be able to leap down. Kyra and Seth backed away, but in the gloom of the tunnel there didn't appear to be any place else to run. If the raptors made it, there would be nothing more between them.
The first of the carnivores broke free and pushed off from the fence. Its head twisted around. Its neck, arms, and torso followed. The raptor's feet were just about to kick away when a shower of sparks and fire burst from beneath its curled toes. Seth and Kyra shielded their eyes. Sharp electric pops bombarded their eardrums. Though their eyes were closed, they could still see the bright electric flashes through their lids.
The crackling went on for far longer than Seth expected it might, and when it was finished he proceeded to hear a loud thud on the ground in front of him. The air reeked of burnt flesh. There was still a quiet sizzling sound in his ears. With caution he opened his eyes.