CHAPTER 46
Dallas cut the motor to his four-wheeler and looked around. He, Shelly, and his father had parked near the pool along the fence where he'd been watching Kyra swim just hours ago. The village was quiet. There wasn't a soul in sight, but that was to be expected.
With a grunt his dad lurched off the back end of the ATV and stood. He winced and cradled his injured arm. Blood was soaking through his sling. When he caught Dallas staring with worried eyes he promptly straightened his composure. "I'm fine, Jr."
The nearby bushes rustled and chattered with compsognathus. A few of them were bold enough to come forward out of the shadows. As they blinked their hungry eyes it was clear they were fixed on Earl Sr. Some of them hopped closer, and then closer still. Cocking their heads with curiosity they chirped and trilled.
Earl Sr. bit his lip. "Come on, kids." He started off down the street, toward the commissary and the cabins.
Shelly and Dallas exchanged glances. They both looked concerned but didn't say anything. Hopping off their four-wheelers, they followed close behind.
Dallas' dad began to call out, "hello? Is anybody there?"
The silence in the village remained the same.
"Where are we going?" Dallas asked as they caught up to him.
"There's an emergency bunker at the end of the road, for hurricanes and such. Its got thick walls, a heavy door, food, provisions, weapons, and a phone. We'll be safe there while we're waiting on help."
Dallas recalled the building, a plain concrete structure with a metal door and thin horizontal slits for windows. He had never been inside it before.
Shelly piped up. "Well, at least there'll be food. I'm starving."
As soon as she said it, Dallas realized he was hungry too. "Hey, can we swing by the commissary first? I'll bet they've got nothing but freeze dried crap in that bunker."
"No detours." His dad was stern. "Those raptors aren't supposed to be in the valley. There's no telling where else they've gotten."
They were passing between the commissary and the rows of cabins. Dallas stared longingly at the entrance to the food mart and the vending machines out front. The lights were off inside. It was only ever open during the evening and early morning when Site B personnel were actually in the village, but the doors were never locked. Dallas had gone in there plenty of times when it was closed. He'd grab a handful of snacks and leave a five on the checkout counter with a note that read, "keep the change, ya filthy animal."
Dallas pulled his eyes away from the commissary and kept walking, but his dad had stopped. Earl Sr. Had his gun out of his belt and held at the ready. He stood still and quiet, his eyes panning the trees and the cabins.
"I thought I saw something." He lowered his pistol but didn't put it away.
Dallas looked ahead. He saw the emergency bunker at the end of the road and the trees beyond it. There was nothing more though, no movement, no creatures, or people in sight.
"Hello?" Earl Sr. Called out.
The quiet did not break and somehow filled the street with an eerie presence. Dallas had never found the daily emptiness of the village unsettling before, but now it was all but frightening. None of them could shake the feeling that they were being watched.
Dallas felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Shelly. She directed his attention behind them with an index finger. Dallas turned his head to see a group of over thirty compsognathus standing in silence. He had never seen so many at once. They were close, only about ten feet away, but now they did not come any closer. They were simply waiting.
"We ought to hurry, Mr. Brown," Shelly said.
Earl Sr. Looked down at his right arm. The sling was dripping. His shirt was now soaked and matted against his stomach. "Keep moving." He pushed Dallas and Shelly along with his good hand. His pistol was still snug in his palm. He didn't mean to come off so threatening with it, but his concerns were growing, and he only had one arm to work with.
They neared the bunker now. They walked across its concrete pad and approached the entrance.
"Get the door, Jr."
Dallas reached for the latch and bore down with his whole shoulder to open it. There was a heavy mechanism on the opposite side that released with a clunk.
"Quickly now." Earl Sr. Herded the kids in, one after the next. When they were all inside he had Dallas shut the door.
After pulling it closed, Dallas locked the heavy metal door with a set of thick bolts that slid and latched in place. He and Shelly looked around in the dim light that came through the narrow windows. Shelly flicked a switch on the wall and the overhead fluorescent bulbs flickered on.
The bunker wasn't very large. The space seemed equivalent to that of a two bedroom apartment. There were shelves along the walls, full of food and supplies, folded up cots in the far corner, a table with a set of stools, and a door that looked like it led to a bathroom.
Shelly said, "this doesn't seem like much for everyone on the island."
Dallas' dad was groaning his way over to a phone on the wall. "There's a bigger bunker at the operations compound." He placed his gun in the crook of his sling with a wince and picked up the receiver. A soft dial tone filled the bunker, but he didn't dial any numbers.
"What's wrong, Dad?"
Earl Sr. put the phone back on the hook and stepped toward the front of the building. "Listen, Jr."
Dallas bent his ear and heard a familiar thumping noise on the air outside. Shelly heard it too. It was a helicopter. It sounded close, and it was coming closer.
Earl Sr. squinted his eyes through one of the front window slits just in time to see dust swirling up on the ground around the pool area. A moment later a helicopter descended into view, touching down in a clearing just to the right of the swimming pool.
"Wait here, kids." Earl Sr.'s eyes fluttered.
"Dad, you look like you're about to pass out." Dallas watched his father waiver.
"Just do as I say, Jr. Help is just outside that door." Earl Sr. straightened himself as best he could and reached for the locks. After sliding back the bolts he unlatched the door and stepped outside.