CHAPTER 126
The whole group was focused on the jungle to their right. Someone had shouted from that direction, and now everyone was looking to see who it was. What felt like at least a minute had passed, and nobody was looking particularly keen on rushing off into the thick foliage to find out.
Gary broke the silence when he craned his head between Dr. Conner's and Dr. Johnson's ears and whispered, "everybody heard that, right?" Both doctors rolled their eyes at him and kept watching the jungle.
Bill sighed with more volume, "I think we should get the hell out of here."
"Shh!" Dr. Ellis hushed him.
"The bunker is right there. Whoever it was was probably screaming because their guts were getting torn out. I'm saying they're probably dead."
"You need to shut up." Dr. Ellis was glancing at Seth, Kyra, and Shelly with concern that Bill's bluntness would upset them.
"It's obviously a bad idea to go over there. That's all I'm saying."
"We get your point. Now shut your hole."
Bill continued to mutter, "it's probably a god damned trap too."
Guss chimed in, "I'm with Bill on this one."
Phill was next to join the unofficial vote. "I'm gonna have to say I agree."
"Quiet!" Ms. Murdock hissed. She did not take her eyes off of the jungle.
Dr. Conners looked at the emergency bunker, and then back into the shadow of the brush. As more time passed he felt like he himself had to side with Bill. He opened his mouth to converse with Joan, but she beat him to it.
"Yes, let's get a move on," she said.
When Ms. Murdock turned to lead the group the voice was heard again.
"Hey!"
"What the shit?" Joan turned back to the jungle. She actually looked annoyed more than anything else.
Gary said, "Um, did anyone else find the timing of that painfully suspicious?"
The voice in the bushes called out again. "Hey!" It sounded breathy, like it was coming from the gut through a mouth that was just hanging open. It was like the lips were playing no part at all in the vocalization of the word.
Dianna looked at Bryce with a realization on her face that she was reluctant to come to. "Bryce, you don't think?"
The truth was, he was thinking exactly what she was thinking. It was known to them that velociraptors had highly sophisticated resonating chambers, and they were capable of producing a wide variety of complex sounds. It was not unthinkable to consider that they could, at the very least, mimic simple human language much the way a parrot does. Dr. Conners had even theorized that they might use such a skill to mimic other dinosaurs in an effort to lure them in.
Before Bryce could answer Dianna, Guss pointed and said, "hey, it's Jacinto!"
Sure enough Jacinto's face could be seen just above a tall shrub beyond the tree line.
The wheels turned in Dr. Conner's brain. Jacinto had mysteriously vanished from the group just before they had all bunkered down in the control room. Where had he gone, and what had he been doing this whole time? It was presumed that he had been captured and killed, but no one had actually seen the incident occur. The common sense in Dr. Conner's head caught up quickly with the situation and he said, "Nobody move." He threw out his hands to block anyone from going over to Jacinto. "Ms. Murdock, we need to get to the bunker now. We need to run."
"Where'd he go?" Guss didn't see Jacinto anymore.
"Never mind him. Just get to the bunker." Dr. Conners pushed his back.
"Oh my God!" Shelly shrieked.
The disembodied head of Jacinto came lobbing out of the jungle and tumbled right in the centre of the group.