CHAPTER 43
On the ground in front of him, Seth saw what used to be a velociraptor. Its skin was charred and smoking. The feathers had been reduced to sharp, crispy, little nubs. Its eyes were burned out as though the sockets had been hollowed with a spoon. The mouth was wrenched open and still smoking like the rest of the body, giving it the appearance of a fire breathing dragon.
There was more smoke above Seth's head. He looked up and saw the second velociraptor yet draped over the top of the fence. Its condition was the same as the first.
Next to Seth, Kyra uncovered her head. She looked frazzled and unknowing of how to proceed. In the shadow of the tunnel they both scanned around with their eyes. Neither one spoke yet, as they were still collecting themselves.
On the other side of the gate the therizinosaurs were moving off into the jungle, and their sounds were diminishing. Soon the clearing was empty except for the battered four-wheeler.
Along the concrete wall directly to their left, Kyra had found a metal door with a narrow rectangular window. She went up to it and peered inside. The glass was the kind that was reinforced with a wire mesh. Beyond it was a dark room.
Seth came up beside her and waited. After a moment he asked, "what is it?"
Kyra had her nose pressed firm against the window. She was standing on her toes even though she didn't need to. "It looks like a tiny office." Her hand grasped the doorknob without looking, and she turned it. "It's open."
The door swung outward easily, revealing the room within. Kyra stepped through a couple of paces, and Seth poked his head in behind her.
In the dark he made out a desk with what looked like the boxy outline of a computer monitor with a plastic dust jacket over it. On the far left wall there was a large cork board with blueprints pinned to it. Squinting at them across the dim room he saw the blue and white markings of the plans, forming what made some sort of dome shaped structure.
Kyra walked over to the desk and ran her fingers along a plastic covered keyboard that was resting in front of the monitor. She picked up a phone receiver. There was no dial tone. There was nothing at all. She dropped the phone and let it dangle from her pointer finger by the spiral chord. "It looks like no one has been here for years." Her eyes went to the blueprints. "I bet this was a construction foreman's office, back when they were still building the place."
Seth pointed to a word on the cork board that he didn't recognize. "What's a Quet-zal-coat-lus?"
Kyra shook her head. "I've never heard of it before." She scanned around the lonely office one more time. "There isn't anything here, Seth."
Seth scuffed his sneaker at the concrete floor. "We're stuck out here, and those things are after us."
"Relax. We just need to get to a working phone. There are callboxes all over the island. Besides, if we happen to get in front of a camera we can use that to get their attention too." Kyra patted him on the shoulder and left the office.
He frowned and followed.