CHAPTER 230

The shower was cold and fell like rain water. Kyra had Seth propped in an office chair she had pulled from behind the desk up front. She hadn't thought to remove any of his clothes, or hers for that matter, but there was a locker room near by with more jumpsuits, so it seemed inconsequential that both of their attire was sopping wet.

She did her best to wash out his eyes and clean the dilophosaurus venom from them. When she felt that she had done a sufficient job she stood beneath the shower and soaked herself. Kyra hugged her shoulders as she let the water fall over her. They were still tingling and weak. Small fragments of the days events began to flit within her memory. More people had died. She hadn't had time to let the full impact of that fact hit her until this moment, and now the chaos was knocking at the door of her consciousness louder and louder. It was banging, pounding, kicking the door in. Kyra gagged and coughed. Without realizing it she had begun to breath so hard that she sucked in water.

With an uncoordinated hand she turned off the shower and brought two balled up fists to her temples. She squeezed her skull as if trying to shove back the unwanted images from her mind.

The water seemed to take forever to turn off and still slowly trickled upon her bare head. She ran a palm over her cranium. It wasn't smooth anymore, not like it was a few days ago when she had been swimming in the pool. That memory flashed before her. It was carefree. It was happy. It was distant. It was gone. Kyra's hand scraped along the crop of stubble poking from her scalp, and she dropped her arm.

The shower was now a slow drip as Kyra scanned around the hanger. Dr. Johnson was at the gun locker loading a shotgun. There was a click followed by a hollow echo through the hanger as she fed another shell into the weapon. Kyra's eyes fell on the empty space in the middle of the room where one would park an airplane, but there wasn't an airplane. She got lost staring at the empty space, and the next thing she knew, Dr. Johnson was standing beside her.

"Is everything ok?"

Kyra nodded.

Dianna looked around the hanger. She didn't feel safe. She could find something to jam the front door, but then there were the glass windows. They could retreat to the hanger, but then they were just trapped. Nothing felt like a good option. She didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry," Dianna murmured.

"For what?"

"Everything."

Kyra didn't know how to respond. She felt like it kind of was Dr. Johnson's fault. It was kind of her dad's fault as well. Everyone who worked on the island had a hand in what was transpiring. Then again, she recalled how oblivious she had been to the potential dangers of the scientific marvel around her only a matter of days ago. "We all should have known better."

"You're right."

A noise up front grabbed their attention. She and Kyra turned to the door with the small square window that led back to the front office. A shadow swept by, occluding the light for a moment.

"Get in the locker room," Dianna side mouthed.

Kyra grabbed Seth and wheeled him in.

As the door swung shut behind them Dianna pumped the shotgun in her arms and aimed at the little window. She saw the latch on the door begin to depress. Her finger eased onto the trigger, ready to blast away anything that came through. The door cracked and then opened with a squeak of the hinges. Dianna saw a man-sized figure in the door frame. With the power out the light from the front windows was the only thing casting illumination into the hanger other than the half closed vents for the exhaust fans near the ceiling. The figure was no more than a dark silhouette until it stepped further into the hanger. It was then that Dianna saw it actually was a man.

"Dianna?"

Dr. Johnson heard a familiar voice. Her finger let up off the trigger a little. "Bryce?" She could scarcely believe it.

He walked in further, and his features became as clear as they could in the shadowy hanger.

Dianna lowered her shotgun and eyed him up and down. He was filthy, like he'd been rolling around in a muddy pig sty. "What the hell happened to you?"

Bryce grinned, but it was weak and bereft of pleasant thoughts. "I'll tell you about it over coffee."

Another silhouette entered in behind Bryce. "Hello, Dr. Johnson."

It was Ms. Murdock, and she was looking equally as filthy as Bryce.

"My God, Joan, I didn't expect to see you again."

"Likewise."

There was a bittersweet mood cast over the meeting. They were all pleased not to be alone, but devastated that they were still trapped on the island.

Dianna saw a look in Dr. Conner's eye, and she knew the questions he wanted to ask. Was this it? Were there any others? Did anybody make it onto the plane? Was more help on the way, or were they indeed trapped?

Before Dianna could tell him anything a voice shouted, "Dad!"

Kyra ran to the door and threw her arms around her father.