CHAPTER 262
Dianna stood in the middle of the hanger. Her shotgun blast still echoed off the walls as the two carnotaurs turned to face her. They both stomped out of the locker room and paused to size her up.
Dr. Johnson took a step back and gulped. Nervous was a severe understatement to describe what she was feeling. The large carnivores looked like a pair of demons in the dark, with their horns and spiky skin nodules. Their eyes shimmered at her and narrowed. Both carnotaurs growled and cocked their haunches. Dianna knew it was time to run.
She turned on her heels and sprinted away from the carnotaurs. In the following seconds a two fold pounding of footfalls erupted behind her as the dinosaurs charged. Dianna was not without direction. Along the far wall, near the rear exit, was a large roller cabinet for tools with a lower compartment spacious enough for her to squeeze into.
As Dr. Johnson bolted for the tool chest she slipped on the smooth concrete and fell to her hands and knees. She sprang back up and kept running. Behind her Hellfire and Two Face were bumping ribs and butting heads in a competition to be the first to catch her. Hellfire successfully checked Two Face aside and rushed to strike.
Dr. Johnson dove for the roller cabinet and tucked herself inside. As Hellfire's maw rushed towards the cabinet she slammed the door closed.
Inside the cabinet Dianna was jarred as the carnotaurus smashed face first into it. A moment later she was jarred again as Two Face banged the other end of the tool chest.
Clanging and rattling rang out all around Dianna as wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, and other implements shook within the cabinet. Dr. Johnson curled into a tight ball and braced herself. The tool chest shuddered again, only this time Dianna felt it rolling out into the middle of the hanger.
Through the metal walls of the box she heard the two carnotaurs barking at each other, and then their footsteps followed the drifting cabinet. Dianna was banged one way, and another, and then back again. With yet another shudder she had the sensation that the roller cabinet was spinning in place. It shook again and almost stopped entirely. As Dr. Johnson was knocked against the inside of the tool chest she heard drawers sliding out and tools clanging to the ground. The sounds settled and were replaced by the two carnotaurs sniffing about the cabinet. Dianna heard their large hind talons clacking on the concrete as they shuffled through the tools.
Dr. Johnson opened the cabinet door a crack and spied out. Hellfire's scaly snout was right in front of her, nosing through the tools on the floor. Dianna tried to shut the door before she was seen, but her peering did not go unnoticed.
Hellfire rutted the door and it slammed in Dr. Jonson's face. She banged the back of her head on the opposite side of the cabinet as she fell backwards, and the tool chest went rolling again. There was another shudder as the cabinet drifted into Two Face's leg and she kicked it away. The tool box rolled back toward the rear exit and came to a stop. From within the cabinet Dianna heard the carnotaurs persisting to follow her.
"Jesus Christ." She rubbed her head. In the confines of the cabinet and at the mercy of the carnotaurs she only hoped she had given the others an opportunity to get away.