CHAPTER 158

After venturing about thirty feet beyond the boundary of skulls Dr. Conners paused to examine the motor pool. Everything seemed as quiet as it had a moment ago. When he realized that everyone else had gathered behind him he started moving again. Glancing to his side he saw Gary and said, "look under the vehicles." When Gary gave him a confused expression he pointed to the ground and clarified, "get on your belly and check under the cars for raptors."

Gary nodded and dropped to the ground. From his vantage he could see under many of the vehicles surrounding them, and there didn't appear to be any velociraptors hiding nearby. As everyone's boots crunched in the dirt around him he spotted the fleeting tails of compsognathus as they ran between one set of flat tires and another, but that was all. He got back to his feet and moved with the group.

No one was conversing as they crossed the motor pool and moved toward the shed. They all had their eyes and ears on the surrounding trees. Though there were still no indications that anything was amiss Shelly's breathing began to quicken, and her arms constricted around Dr. Conner's shoulders and neck.

"It's ok. Just relax. Nothing is happening. Look, we're almost halfway there." Dr. Conners attempted to calm her, but her breathing only became more rapid.

Carrie patted her daughter's back and said, "it's alright, Shelly. I'm here. Everything is going to be ok."

Shelly began looking around frantically. Her lips were moving, though no sound was coming out, but she appeared to be repeating the same words over and over again.

"Gary, check under the cars again," Dr. Conners said.

As Gary dropped to the ground once more Dr. Conners began to hear a whisper in his ear. "We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die." At first it was so quiet that he couldn't even make out the words, but as it continued the phrase became more clear to him. "We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die." It took him another moment to make the connection that it was Shelly who was saying it. "We're all gonna die. We're all gonna die." After a while it was audible to the whole group, and before long everyone had taken their eyes off of the tree line and the motor pool. With chills ascending their spine they all listened as Shelly repeated through gasps of air, "we're all gonna die. We're all gonna die."

As Gary got up from the ground her words were ringing in his head. Goose bumps prickled up over his skin as the phrase repeated. It was all he could hear. It was all anyone could hear.

Seth and Kyra had become fixated on Shelly. Seth in particular was growing more rigid every time he heard the phrase repeat. The taser gun in his hands began to shake. The blood felt like it was rushing out of his body. He became jittery all over, and then something bit his ankle.

Seth screamed and jammed the end of his taser into the ground. A burst of sparks and fire exploded around his leg with an electric crack. He jumped. He stumbled and fell to the dirt. Seth was scarcely aware that everyone else was having a similar reaction to the sudden ear-splitting noise. His taser gun lay next to him. The end was smoking. The ground where he once stood was marred with blackness. What remained of the compsognathus that had nipped his ankle was still fluttering to the ground.

Everyone was staring at Seth, putting the pieces together and realizing that they were not under attack from velociraptors. Bill was the first to exhale, and then he laughed. Slowly everyone around him began to chuckle as well. Seth even cracked a smile.

Bill spotted a charred and smoking leg from the comp near his shoe. Plucking it up from the ground he said, "hey, who wants fried chicken?"

Gary offered down a hand to Seth. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Seth picked up his taser and got to his feet.

Dr. Conners was surprised that Shelly hadn't sprung from his back in fright. She was quiet now, but he could hear her breathing like she was gasping for air.

Bryce looked to the shed. They were within fifty feet. "Is everyone's heart still in their chest?"

Marcus said, "yeah, but I think I shit my trousers."

Logan grabbed at the back of his own pants. "I think we all shit our trousers."

Dr. Conners said, "well, we can all still walk with shit in our pants, so let's keep moving."