CHAPTER 252
Dr. Conners could feel that he'd dozed off. Some part of his brain was telling him to wake up, but he couldn't help it. He was exhausted. It wasn't until he heard a tremendous crash of shattering glass that he snapped to high alert.
Bryce straightened up in the doorway. His eyes popped open. He was surprised that he could see everything clearly and then remembered that he had the night vision goggles on.
As clear as day, Dr. Conners saw Hell Fire tromping in through the broken window. The carnivore had to duck and crouch significantly to clear the office ceiling. As she stepped inside she rose her head and struck the drop ceiling tiles with her horns, causing several of them to come crumbling down. Her whole back half was still outside, leaving her tail swinging beyond the frame of the window.
As Hell Fire's head pivoted his way Dr. Conners ducked into the hanger, and the door swung shut behind him. He clung to the wall just on the other side, grieving over if or when he should dare to spy through the little window on the door.
He heard the crunching of glass under the feet of the carnotaurus as she ventured in further. It didn't sound like she was chasing after him. It sounded like she was just searching. Carefully Bryce rolled from having his back against the wall to his belly, and he inched over to the door. Slowly he brought the night vision goggles up over the bottom edge of the small window and he took a peek.
Hell Fire was standing in the middle of the office, her tail still swinging out through the window frame. Dr. Conners caught some movement behind the desk. He saw Daniel crouched. Seth was close at his side. Bryce panned his gaze to the couch, but couldn't see much of it from his angle. His eyes panned back and forth. His heart was starting to race as he didn't see Kyra or Dianna.
"Oh, God," he whispered. "where are they."
Bryce felt a tickle in his ear, and somebody whispered, "are they all dead yet?"
Bryce jumped back from the door and almost tripped over his own heels. He saw Ms. Murdock.
"Christ, Joan! What the hell is the matter with you?"
"A lot of things."
Bryce could see her wearing the most subtle of smirks across her lips. She turned and looked through the window.
"Hm," Joan stepped away a little.
Dr. Conners shoved her aside and spied back through.
Hell Fire was sniffing the ceiling tiles and subsequently knocking them down. She lowered her head and chomped through a few of them before coughing and spitting them out.
She smelled the floor and swung her horned head toward the desk where Daniel and Seth were still hiding. Hell Fire side stepped toward the desk and gnawed at the top edge of it. Lifting one of her feet she placed it atop the desk and craned her head over. She did not see Daniel and Seth. They had crammed themselves into the small foot space beneath the desk.
It was a sturdy piece of furniture, but even so, it groaned and split under Hell Fire's weight. Dr. Conners winced as he feared Daniel and Seth would be crushed.
He took a small sigh of relief as the dinosaur stepped down. It was short lived as he soon realized the carnotaurus was looking right at the door he was peering through. He froze as she lumbered over. Her eye went up to the glass and she looked through. It was hard to tell if Hell Fire was acknowledging him or not. With the goggles on, perhaps she mistook him for an inanimate object. In either case the water cooler next to the door snatched the carnivore's attention when it randomly gurgled with a bloom of bubbles.
Hell Fire turned from the window and nudged the five gallon bottle until it toppled from the machine. Water gushed, and she kicked it toward the front of the office. Dr. Conners flinched as the dinosaur circled and her tail bashed against the door and surrounding walls.
Hell Fire picked up the bottle in her teeth and chucked it out the front window. The carnotaurus followed after it, gnawing at the plastic with a crunch.
Dr. Conners watched as the dinosaur tromped further away. It stopped at a point where the end of its tail was still swinging within the window frame. She bent over and continued to chew at the bottle.
Dr. Conners whispered, "come on, Hell Fire. Keep moving."
The carnotaurus remained, but her back was still turned as she bit at the bottle.
Dr. Conners saw movement in the office at his left. It was Kyra and Dianna.