CHAPTER 73
Seth's fingers hooked through the under side of the mesh platform above him. It only extended six feet from the elevator shaft, so he didn't have too far to go. The thing that concerned him was that he was going to be dangling by his finger tips alone from near a hundred feet above the ground. He had been waiting there almost a minute, letting the burn fade from his arms, but he knew he couldn't just hang there forever. He took one last look down. His mom and Dr. Conners were still twenty feet below him. He took another breath, let his feet swing free, and joined Kyra on the under side of the platform.
Twenty feet below, Dianna was watching her son. "Oh God."
Bryce said, "He's doing fine. Just keep climbing. They don't have much further to go."
Every time Seth had to let go with one hand his adrenaline would rush. Each stride he made was short and brief. He wasn't about to try anything fancy at a hundred feet in the air. The next thing on his mind was how he was going to get on top of the platform. Seth observed Kyra as she reached the edge first.
Kyra did an about face and then inched back until she could curl her fingers over the upper ledge of the mesh. Seth saw her face. It was red with exertion but she didn't seem the least bit discouraged. She flipped her leg up and got her sneaker onto the ledge. It was a maneuver that required a good deal of flexibility. She had done it so easily. Seth wasn't sure he could pull it off. Kyra lifted her whole body up and slid under the platform railing. When she was safely on top she leaned her head back over the edge. She could see the apprehension on Seth's face.
Kyra said, "relax. I'm gonna help you."
Seth was too out of breath to make any comment. He made an about face like Kyra did and inched toward the edge.
Kyra said, "now give me your hand."
Seth reached up. Every muscle was straining as he hoisted himself by one arm.
Kyra gripped his wrist. "Don't look down. Just focus on me."
Together they worked to pull him up. Seth made one, long, agonizing groan as his torso drug up onto the platform. With another couple of grunts he got his legs to follow.
Seth sprawled on the mesh like he was made of jelly. He breathed heavily and stared upward. He said, "how did you do that by yourself after all that climbing?"
Kyra shrugged. "I did stuff in gym class."
They were getting to their feet when something enormous slammed against the elevator shaft. A sprawling figure enveloped them with its expansive shadow. It was Crimson. The red crested quetzalcoatlus bellowed and stabbed its long beak at them. Kyra and Seth dove away, and its narrow pointed mouth pierced into the caging of the elevator shaft behind them. Crimson struggled when her beak became stuck. Seth and Kyra used the opportunity to escape. They dodged past the pterosaur's slapping wings and rounded the platform until they were clear.
They moved for the nearest catwalk, but Seth spotted something. "Look!"
Another gigantic flier was diving their way. Seth and Kyra saw the fiery yellow crest of Star Fire. Her wings were tucked in close as she rushed to attack. Zipping past one support and the next she came upon the elevator shaft. Seth and Kyra ducked as Star Fire spread her wings and landed over them. By this point Crimson had freed her beak from the cage. Now both pterosaurs moved in on them. They clung to the caging like bats, enveloping Kyra and Seth like two circus tents.
As the pterosaurs snapped at them Kyra and Seth dove and crawled for the catwalk. Star Fire leapt over them and landed on the bridge to the access ladder. She was angled away and turned to face them with a clambering awkwardness as the catwalk was narrow and she was so massive. Star Fire hissed and lumbered forward. Her advance was unsteady. It was like watching a giraffe do a tightrope act. Kyra and Seth could tell the animal wasn't built for such acrobatic maneuvering. Nevertheless their path was thwarted. From behind, Crimson bellowed and inched toward them.
Ten feet below the platform Dr. Conners was aiming his rifle to get a clear shot at Star Fire. He was at a bad angle. Between the platform and the catwalk he wasn't going to make a clean hit.
Beside him Dianna was growing concerned as the pterosaurs were taking snaps at Seth and Kyra. She said, "take the shot!"
He shouldered his rifle. "I can't."
The two of them kept climbing. From below there was a shout. They looked down and saw that the first velociraptor was getting uncomfortably close to Ms. Murdock. In another moment it would be biting at her ankles.
She held out her palm. "Dr. Johnson! Your gun!"
Dianna took one of her pistols and positioned it carefully over Joan. "Here it comes," she shouted.
The pistol tumbled through the air and smacked Joan's hand. It almost got away from her, but her finger caught the trigger guard. As Ms. Murdock gripped the gun and aimed down, the first velociraptor froze. Its eyes widened and its quills stood on end.
Joan smirked. "Got ya."
When she pulled the trigger the bullet sliced through the raptors skull, sending a fountain of blood into the air. The other raptors winced as it rained down upon them.
The dead raptor's body went limp and drifted from the cage. As its last claw unhooked it plunged past the other hunters and struck the ground. Now there was a good eight feet between Joan and the next raptor. She pointed her gun at them with a stern face, and none of them moved. They just stared at her.
Ms. Murdock said, "I think we have an understanding."
At the platform Dr. Conners was climbing his way out onto the underside when the third quetzalcoatlus appeared. Emerald landed over both him and Dr. Johnson with a terrifying caw. The pterosaur snapped at the dangling Dr. Conners and bit onto the shoulder strap of his rifle. As the gun was tugged from his arm he was forced to let go of the platform with that hand. Emerald chomped on the weapon and then spit it out as Bryce hung from one set of fingers.
"Christ!" He said as he swung in the air.
Dr. Conners grabbed the platform with both hands again and twisted his body as Emerald took another stab with her beak. Dr. Johnson drew her remaining pistol and took aim. She didn't want to kill the pterosaur, but she knew she had to.
"I'm sorry," she said as she unloaded several bullets into Emerald's chest.
The quetzalcoatlus shrieked and collapsed from the caging. Just below, Ms. Murdock was stowing her pistol in her belt when Emerald came tumbling down. One of the pterosaur's wing bones struck her on the shoulder and she dropped the gun.
"Damn it!" She yelled as she almost fell.
While dangling by one arm she watched as the velociraptors observed this new development. As she started climbing again she muttered, "the situation just keeps getting better."
At the platform Bryce was clambering over to the top side. As he slipped under the railing he got to his feet. With no gun in hand his only option was a large knife at his belt. Drawing the blade he took a running lunge at Crimson's back and drove the weapon into the pterosaur's back ribs. Grappling onto the quetzalcoatlus he buried the knife deep and punctured a lung. Crimson reared her beak like she wanted to bellow, but the noise that came out was gargling and weak. She flailed her wings and bucked.
Dr. Conners twisted the blade against her ribs and used it as an anchor. Climbing higher on the pterosaur's back he reached an arm around the base of her neck. With his other hand he dislodged the weapon and reached up to slice Crimson's throat. In a swift attack he ran the blade deep along her windpipe and flicked the dagger out with a stream of blood.
The pterosaur began to topple like a house of cards coming down. Its limbs trembled and gave way. As Crimson collapsed her body struck the platform and was half draped over the railing. Dr. Conners scrambled away as the rest of the body began to slide off the edge. With several loud clangs Crimson went over and fell to the ground.
Now Bryce faced Star Fire. The quetzalcoatlus glared with a long grating shriek. Huddled on the catwalk in front of the pterosaur, Kyra and Seth looked up at Dr. Conners.
"Get behind me!" Bryce shouted.
They both bolted over to him, and he placed himself in front of Star Fire. With knife in hand he moved to ward the beast. "Get to another catwalk," he said.
As Seth and Kyra turned, Dianna was climbing onto the platform. She took them both and corralled them along. "Keep going," she said. Then Dianna yelled to Bryce, "come on."
Dr. Conners backed away from Star Fire and ran to catch up with the others. As he neared them Dianna paused and looked over the railing.
"What about Joan?" She said.
Ms. Murdock was still a little way from the platform. She was climbing fast, and the raptors were close behind her. Waving her hand she hollered, "go on! Get the kids out of here!"
Bryce pushed Dr. Johnson along. "She can handle herself, Dianna. Come on."
They both left the railing and proceeded to follow Seth and Kyra to the next ladder.