CHAPTER 114
Dr. Conners darted back into the hallway with Hector going after him saying, "hold it, Amigo! You crazy!"
Dr. Conners looked up and down both ends of the hall by the beam of a flashlight and saw nothing but an inch of water coating the floor and several grates that had been knocked out of the air ducts in the ceiling. A skylight above was blown out and pouring in rainwater.
"Jacinto!" He called over the storm as it howled through the opening.
Now Dianna was at the door. "Damn it, Bryce. Get back in here."
Ms. Murdock pushed her aside. "What the hell is happening here, Dr. Conners?"
"We're missing Jacinto."
"Then he's gone, Doctor. Now get inside."
Hector pulled on Bryce's shoulder. "They took him right out from under our huevos, Amigo. There's no much we can do here. I think you better listen to her on this one eh."
Dr. Conners nodded bitterly. "Damn it."
From within the control room they heard Ms. Bolton exclaim, "I think I got it!"
At that moment all the emergency floods shut off and they were left with only the illumination of their flashlights. In the increased darkness there were the sounds of stumbling and confusion.
Phill spoke over everyone saying, "um… Carrie, what exactly did you think you got?"
There was another sound of stumbling and Guss said, "ow! That was my foot. Watch it, Phill."
Moments later Ms. Murdock said, "Ms. Bolton?"
Carrie was punching buttons at her terminal. "Hold on. There we go."
Out in the hallway Dr. Conners and Hector were finding their way back to the control room when all the lights suddenly came back on. There was a moment where the brightness was blinding, but as their pupils adjusted they both saw the same thing. Three velociraptors were crouched in the now nonexistent shadows, approaching from the direction of the lobby. The hunters were a mere six feet away, and each looked to be in the midst of squatting for a lunge.
There was a pause between both the men and the dinosaurs. It was as though time had slowed to a crawl. At the skylight another velociraptor was poking its head down with a perplexed expression.
Just as time had slowed down everyone seemed to click into gear all at once. Hector and Dr. Conners reached for their weapons. The three velociraptors on the ground charged at them, and the fourth disappeared back through the skylight.
Bryce and Hector never fired their guns. They were plowed over like they'd been struck by a line of football players. The next thing Dr. Conners saw was Ms. Murdock vaulting over him with a blaze of gunfire coming from a pair of pistols.
Two of the hunters swept into the men's restroom while the third retreated to the women's room. Ms. Murdock kicked in the door to the men's room and fired off two shots, but the second raptor was already slipping up into the air duct above. Upon checking the women's room she found the same situation.
Joan turned toward the control room angrily and shouted, "will everyone please get the hell in the control room now, god damn it!"