CHAPTER 110
Hours passed and the rain continued to drive down upon the island. Dr. Conners looked away from the windows and scanned the room. Ms. Murdock, Hector, Humberto, and several others were standing guard like a line of soldiers. Some were stationary. Others were patrolling the glass face of the building and the halls. At a table in the lobby others had settled in quite comfortably for the night. Despite the language barrier a jovial game of cards was gaining momentum among a few of the lab technicians and some locals. A case of Bud Light from the kitchen was the focal point of the gathering. Dr. Conners kept hearing one of the locals say, "pretty good, Bud Light. Pretty good. Pretty good." It seemed to be the only english he knew. As he said it the lab techs would laugh and cheer and repeat after him while toasting their cans above their heads.
Joan had made a few remarks in an effort to break up the little party, but as the night went on and things remained quiet she let them be. The truth was there were more than enough people covering all the vulnerable points in the building, and as long as someone was doing it she was content. At one point she had said to Hector, "at least some of us are having a good time."
Dr. Conners was turning his head back to the window when he heard the air duct above him groan. He looked up, aiming a pistol at the nearest vent. There was a tapping sound, and more groaning followed. Dr. Conners inched closer, squinting his eyes to see if he could make something out beyond the dark slats of the vent. Now Joan was at his side. A shotgun was stiff in her arms. Others in the lobby were beginning to take notice of what was happening, and a hush started to overtake the room. One of the lab technicians by the name of Dr. Christopher Ramsey was heard over the growing silence saying, "holy shit. Are they in the air ducts?" Above the sounds of the storm the tapping and groaning continued, then Dr. Conners saw a thin stream of water pour out of the corner of the air vent and splash on the floor. Everyone watched it for a moment, and then there were sighs of relief.
Once again Dr. Ramsey could be heard over the rest of them saying, "Shit. It's just the rain water leaking into the air ducts." He turned back to the card game and threw down his hand. "Read 'em and weep boys. What? Does everyone have the jitters now? It's nothing but the rain. Let's play some cards."
Dr. Conners and Ms. Murdock hadn't lowered their weapons. Bryce was hearing Dr. Ramsey's ongoing comments in the background and wishing the guy would just shut up. He turned to Joan and whispered, "jeez that guy has a loud mouth. How much has he had to drink?"
Ms. Murdock shook her head. She'd been keeping a close eye on everyone. Nobody had had more than a couple of cans. "Not nearly enough to make him the certified asshole that he always is. I think he got his doctorate in being a prick."
Hector came up beside them. "If you wanna be sure it's nothing we could just start blowing holes in the ceiling."
Dr. Conners spoke dryly, "who knows, maybe all they want is the Bud Light."
There was a loud bang as a shotgun discharged and a spray of buckshot tore through the vent. Everyone in the room ducked.
Dr. Conners shouted, "Whoa!"
When people started looking up Ms. Murdock was standing with a smoking barrel.
Hector said, "I was only kidding eh."
"No harm in being certain," she shrugged.
Dr. Conners shook his head. "Christ. Warn somebody next time, would you?"
The radios crackled and Carrie's voice came through. "What's going on? Is everyone alright?"
Dr. Conners held his walkie-talkie to his face. "Yeah, we're fine." He took his finger off the button and turned to Joan. He was about to speak when something struck the skylight above with a startling crack. Spiderweb fissures popped through the glass, and some kind of man-sized figure could be seen on the other side.
"Get it!" Dr. Ramsey and a few of the other lab technicians screamed.
Suddenly half the room was shooting at the skylight. As bullets were flying upward the glass skylight came crashing in along with whatever creature was on top of it. As the figure hit the floor the gunfire shifted to where it fell.
"Stop!" Dr. Conners shouted. Ms. Murdock and Hector joined him. "Stop! Stop! Stop!"
Everyone ceased except for Dr. Ramsey who kept firing his pistol. Dr. Conners grabbed his arm and the gun barrel went up. Another two shots went off, one of which struck the sprinkler system on the ceiling. Along with the rainwater gushing in through the open skylight a shower began to spray down from the ceiling and the fire alarm sounded.
Dr. Conners pried the weapon out of Dr. Ramsey's palm and pushed him into a chair. He wanted to pistol whip him right there on the spot. Bryce looked around the room with a mortified expression. Things had escalated so quickly. There were strobes of flashing white lights and a buzzing fire siren. The roof had a gaping hole in it. Water was showering down throughout the whole building.
His eyes went to the figure on the floor. It wasn't even a velociraptor. It was a body, one of the human corpses from beyond the perimeter. Somehow the raptors had gotten it over the fence. Now it was ripped to shreds from bullet fire. Many of the people in the room were backing up with horror as they realized what they had been shooting at.
Dr. Conners looked at Dr. Ramsey and shouted, "Jesus Christ! What the hell is wrong with you?"
As water poured down through his hair and over his face Bryce tried to collect himself. Joan was looking up through the skylight. Her gun was raised. Hector was panning his eyes down the hallways when more gunfire broke out elsewhere in the building. It was then that the lights went out, and the emergency flood lamps kicked on. They were placed sparsely throughout the building, and it was barely enough light. With the sprinklers and fire alarm strobes flashing visibility was horrendous.
Dr. Conners clicked his radio and shouted, "Carrie, what the hell just happened?"
The radio crackled back. Ms. Bolton was yelling. "The water is getting into the computers! It's shorting out the system!"
More gunfire was going off in other parts of the building. Dr. Conners heard people shouting. Then the glass windows on the front face of the building shattered inward, blasting shards across the lobby. Velociraptors roared as they charged through. The building was in chaos. People were running in all directions. They crashed into each other. They tripped and fell. Gun blasts were going off at random. It was impossible to tell where anyone was shooting.
Dr. Conners dropped to the floor to avoid the bullets. A shocking jolt ran up his leg as claws dug into his ankle. He grabbed for the leg of a chair, but he was yanked away. His body was dragged through a pile of broken glass. He dug at the floor with his fingernails only to slice his hands. Dr. Conners hit a bump as he was tugged through the frame of a window. He grabbed at the sharp edges which only cut his hands more. "Help!" he screamed, but he didn't think anyone could hear him.