CHAPTER 330
The metal mesh of the garage bay door began to coil upward with a slow clinking sound as Thorne manually retracted it. A few curious pteranodons had already returned. They cocked their long pointed crests and clicked their hard beaks, inching forward as the door fully opened. A handful more swooped down from the cliffs above to join them, and they flapped their wings in excitement. From within the shadows of the garage they heard the revving engines of the four dune buggies. Some of the pterosaurs jumped back at the sound with a caw or a squawk while others continued to crawl forward on their stilt-like arms and stubby hind legs. From within the garage the sharp wail of the bear horn blew again, and once more the pteranodons dispersed to higher grounds.
Ms. Murdock was the first to come full throttle out of the garage. Her dune buggy tore into the clearing and made short work of speeding across it. Reuben and Seth were out next, followed closely by Kyra and Dr. Levine. Thorne was last to speed out of the garage, but he was soon tailing close behind the others.
Sitting beside Reuben, Seth gripped his five point harness with white knuckles. Reuben drove like a maniac. From the moment they left the clearing he was diverging from what Ms. Murdock was doing. There was a dirt road that led to the river, and from there they were to follow the bank to the other side of the enclosure.
Reuben broke to the right with a sharp snap of the wheel and went up a steep embankment. He drove the dune buggy between two boulders that had so little room for the vehicle to pass that sparks showered out on either side as it grazed them. As soon as they were out from between the rocks Seth found that the buggy had left the ground and hurled off the embankment. He felt like his heart had stopped in that moment and then started again when they slammed back onto the dirt road just ahead of Ms. Murdock.
Ms. Murdock swerved in surprise but quickly steadied the wheel. As she watched Reuben speed ahead of her a smirk crossed her lips, and she muttered, "I'm beginning to like that fool."
The four dune buggies made their way down to the river, and the bank came up on their left.
Reuben maintained a wild hand on the steering wheel, coming within an inch of every boulder, log, tree stump, or other obstacle they passed. He cut through the narrowest of areas and made one sharp adjustment of the wheel after the next. Seth's head whipped from side to side, and he felt like he was getting whiplash. "You know you don't have to almost hit everything!" He shouted.
Reuben jerked the wheel again and shouted back, "we've gotta keep 'em guessing, boy. This chasm has a bat infestation. You don't want them coming down on us, do you?"
"Whoa. Whoa! Whoa!" Seth screamed.
They launched up a wedge shaped rock and hurled into a wooded area. In an instant they were swallowed up by the vegetation, and the rest of the group could not see them anymore.
Beside Kyra, Dr. Levine hollered, "I'm not sure whether your friend is in good hands or poor hands."
Kyra shrugged, "If he makes it to the other side, we'll know."
Kyra raced their dune buggy along the rocky bank, keeping close behind Ms. Murdock. Her eyes were fixed ahead of her, but Richard was watching above.
Large shadows were beginning to come down off the cliff sides. Wings the span of small planes began to circle and swoop. The pteranodons were closing back in.
"I think we're going to have company soon," Dr. Levine said.