CHAPTER 135
Shelly and Kyra stared up at the night sky through a broad sheet of glass. The Ford Explorer they were sitting in had clearly been designed to view tall dinosaurs such as the brachiosaurs up close. They had not noticed that the roof of the vehicle was one large glass bubble when they got in it, and now it felt like a very unsafe place to be.
These particular vehicles were almost identical to the touring cars used on Isla Nublar. The largest difference was that they were gas powered instead of electric and could roam freely across the island instead of being confined to a track. The Explorers on Site-B had been designed for taking INGEN board members on tours of the facility. Like the ones on Isla Nublar they were mainly intended for remaining on the opposite side of the fence of dangerous assets and weren't meant to withstand any extreme force.
Shelly had a look of fear on her face as she said, "Kyra, I think we should find somewhere else to hide."
Kyra was compelled to agree, but she didn't think it would be safe to leave the vehicle either. She looked at Shelly who was still staring up at the glass, and then she turned to look out the driver's side window. The frame was filled with a sinister and scaly face that glared at her with a fierce eye. Kyra shrieked and jumped out of the driver's seat and into Shelly's lap. Pressed against the passenger door both of them looked across the car at the utahraptor that was peering in. They were both frozen and not knowing what to do.
This utahraptor was the one with the sparse prickly plumage that strongly resembled a twenty-foot-long turkey vulture. The dinosaur tilted its head and narrowed its eye. It glared at Kyra and Shelly for another moment and then examined the door. Lifting a forearm the utahraptor raked its claws across the paint and slashed at the door handle. Kyra wondered if it was capable of working the latch as the animal didn't have any thumbs. Although it seemed more like a frustrated dog banging at a door it didn't have the means to open Kyra kicked her foot out and pushed the door lock.
The utahraptor clawed at the handle a few more times before deciding it wasn't working. It snorted a hot growling breath against the driver's window and backed away. Giving Shelly and Kyra another glare the hunter began to asses other parts of the vehicle. Prowling around the Explorer the utahraptor eyed it up and down. As the dinosaur circled the SUV Shelly and Kyra scrambled across the seats to keep as far away from the predator as possible.
After circling the vehicle twice the hunter paused and stared at the girls. Its expression was one of diabolical thought. It stood almost motionless as it further pondered the situation, then it turned and started walking away.
"Is it leaving?" Shelly said hopefully. "I think it's leaving." She shot a look at Kyra who didn't seem convinced. "Kyra?" Shelly saw Kyra's facial expression snap into one that resembled a person about to be hit by a train. When Shelly looked back at the utahraptor she saw the beast in the midst of a running jump toward their vehicle.
Both girls were in awe of the dinosaur's ability to vault atop the SUV especially as the animal was much larger than the velociraptors. Having a force that rocked the suspension the utahraptor's feet landed on the Explorer's glass top with a crack. Glistening fractures popped through the top window and the vehicle creaked under the weight of the creature. Now its piercing eyes stared down from above. Lowering its snout to the glass each breath it took displaced the spattering of rain droplets that coated the window.
Kyra and Shelly were petrified as they looked up at the utahraptor. It seemed it would only be a small matter of time before the beast came crashing through though the hunter now looked to be relishing the moment. Its fore claws pawed along the glass with a squeal like needles on the side of a car. The gesture was most certainly more taunting than made in an effort to break the window. It cocked its head, watching them like fish in a bowl. The killer sickles on its feet tapped the glass over and over. Each time the sharp curving points struck with a little more strength until one foot lifted and kicked the glass. More cracks spread through the window and the utahraptor raked one of the killer talons from one end of the bubble to the other. Again the scraping claw felt like more of a mind game meant to instill fear. What made it all the scarier was the fact that the utahraptor looked to be taking great pleasure in it.
As the integrity of the glass came closer and closer to a full collapse an impulse overcame Kyra, and she began a frantic search for anything that would help them survive. Her initiative seemed to spark Shelly into action as well, only her direction was without forethought.
Kyra caught Shelly reaching for the door handle and grabbed her before she could run in a blind and futile escape. "No! They'll catch you."
Shelly fought to open the door as though she hadn't heard Kyra. Kyra pulled harder at Shelly's arm and shouted, "stop!"
This time Shelly seemed to listen. Kyra didn't know if her plan was any better, but she did know that running would surely be suicide. "Get down on the floor! Pull your seat forward!" Kyra shoved Shelly down under the glovebox and then had her yank the seat back forward. Kyra ducked under the steering wheel and did the same.
As the glass bubble above them shattered inward and the utahraptor's feet plunged into the back seat Kyra felt a rush of doubts. Now the hunter had them pinned where they were. If they had run maybe they would have found something safer nearby, but now they were trapped.