Chapter Twenty-Two
She tucked herself tighter under the sink, wishing she had had the time to turn off the burner so the chowder would stop bubbling over. The glop noise was almost as gross as getting covered with dinosaur saliva.
The sound of glass shattering had Maisie’s fists clenching. The Allosaurus must have broken through the serving station’s glass case.
She’d be in the kitchen any second.
Maisie eyed the pile of salmon skin she’d set on the end of the prep table, as far away from her hiding place as possible. If the Allosaurus went for the treat, it would give Maisie a window to run back toward the cafeteria.
Otherwise, she was going to become a dinosaur treat.
From her position, Maisie could only see the Allosaurus’s clawed feet as the creature crept inside the kitchen. The dinosaur’s teeth were sharp. Maisie remembered what she’d told the ranger: that the Allosaurus’s bite radius was huge. It’s what made the dinosaur such a successful predator in its time. And that wasn’t even factoring in her terrifying claws and the fact that she just seemed…cranky.
The Allosaurus gave herself a mighty shake, tilting her head up and closing her eyes, as if she were basking in the warmth and steamy clam-ness of the kitchen.
This dinosaur did not like the cold.
She also apparently didn’t like salmon skin. She ignored it, heading straight toward the stove, eyeing the pot of chowder with keen interest.
Normally, watching a dinosaur tentatively dip her snout into a vat of soup would be hilarious. Especially because once the Allosaurus licked the soup off her nose, she let out a pleased noise and smashed her entire face in the soup like a toddler smashing her first birthday cake.
It was as close to a distraction as Maisie was going to get. She unfolded herself from her spot under the sink and crawled toward the door, her form obscured by the prep table as the Allosaurus made a giant clammy mess.
Keep going, hurry. She army crawled across the kitchen and behind the service station, relief climbing in her with each foot of space she put between herself and the Allosaurus. She could still hear the pleased snuffling noises of the dinosaur messily eating the soup.
She was completely distracted! Maisie could run for it!
Triumph flooding her, Maisie turned to do exactly that and ran straight into something scaly and hard.
Snap! Maisie jerked backward, narrowly avoiding becoming dinosaur food.
She gasped, biting back the scream rising in her throat. If she screamed right now, she was done for.
Because one inch away, nose to nose with Maisie was Blue.
Maisie sank to one knee, slow and controlled, her hand raising, palm flat out.
“It’s me, girl,” she said. “You remember? From the woods?”
Blue chittered, her neck extending as she sniffed at Maisie. Maisie’s knees locked as she fought not to flee. Last time she encountered Blue, the only reason the raptor hadn’t attacked her was because of Owen’s scent. She didn’t smell like Owen now. She just smelled like her. And clam chowder and salmon skin.
And with the Allosaurus in the room, Blue might mistake her as a threat.
The rattle of Blue’s breath sent Maisie careening into panic that she had to fight with every inch of her.
“It’s me,” she whispered again, her eyes shut tight as she felt the puff of dinosaur breath against her cheek and then a whoosh that had her eyes popping open.
Blue was gone. This barely registered in Maisie’s mind before a tremendous crash emanated from the kitchen. Suddenly the air was filled with screeches and snarls, the sound of claws scraping against metal and tile—and raptor hide!
Maisie bit her tongue so hard, she thought it was going to have permanent teeth dents. The two dinosaurs burst through the swinging double doors of the kitchen. They were an angry ball of carnivores: wrapped around each other as they fought for the upper hand. Blood ran down Blue’s side, the dark wash of it making Maisie’s stomach turn.
Tables went flying as the dinosaurs brought their fight to the middle of the cafeteria. The Allosaurus tried to leap for the rafters, but Blue grabbed her, clamping onto her leg with her teeth and pulling her back down with a ferocious yank. Maisie had no idea Blue had that kind of jaw power! She was going to have to write down her observations in her journal later—if there was a later.
Maisie inched away from the snarling predators and toward the exit. The dinosaurs were locked together, jaws snapping furiously, each trying to get to the neck to deliver a fatal bite.
She wanted to scream at them to stop. But she knew drawing attention to herself was no way to survive.
And I am going to survive.
Maisie flinched as a yelp came from one of the dinosaurs—her ears weren’t trained like Owen’s. She couldn’t tell which one cried out.
She was almost to the exit when Blue kicked off a table to leap toward the Allosaurus, sending the furniture careening right toward Maisie. She dove out of the way, her elbow slamming into the ground so hard she let out a howl of pain.
Suddenly, the snarling stopped. Maisie froze, her eyes widening in terror as she realized what she’d done.
She’d made herself the target! Why did hitting your elbow have to hurt so much?!
In the dreadful silence, she had no choice.
She rose to her feet, and she ran.
It was the mindless run of a creature who knew they had no chance but had to try. She raced across the cafeteria floor, leaping over the upside-down table and hitting the ground running as she darted toward the door.
The snarls and screeches behind her—and the knowledge that any second, one or both of the dinosaurs might decide to pursue her instead of each other—made cold sweat trickle down her temples as she burst through the cafeteria doors.
She froze for a moment outside, looking around in a panic for anything to bar the door shut. Down the hall was an overturned mop bucket. Maisie ran toward it, her feet hitting the soapy-water-turned-ice at exactly the wrong angle! She went sliding off her feet and slammed into the ground with a teeth-clenching jolt. She slid across the icy ground, past the mop, only stopping when she crashed into a water fountain.
Maisie winced as she hopped to her feet and made her way back across the hall carefully. She bent down and scooped up the mop handle. Maisie ran over to the cafeteria doors, about to loop the mop handle through the door handles, when they flew open and Blue came somersaulting out of the cafeteria. The raptor tumbled across the ground and landed on her feet with a snarl, like a cat who’d jumped from a tall height.
Maisie darted forward and slammed the cafeteria doors closed before she threaded the metal mop rod through the door handles. She pressed her back against the door as the Allosaurus screeched inside, the sound of claws scraping against metal worse than nails on a chalkboard. It activated every nerve inside Maisie’s body. Blue paced in tight circles in front of her, a low growl rumbling in her throat as Maisie stood between Blue and what she wanted: the Allosaurus.
“Blue!” shouted a voice.
Maisie gasped as Blue turned toward the noise. Against her back, the doors rattled as the Allosaurus tried to get free.
Owen and Claire were at the end of the outside corridor on horseback. In Owen’s hands was a tranquilizer gun. Claire’s was armed with a net gun.
“Now!” Owen shouted.
He shot the tranquilizer dart toward Blue’s side while Claire unleashed the net at the same time. Blue let out an angry sound as the dart pierced her flank. As the net looped around her, she screeched, pawing at the air. Maisie threw herself away from the door and down the corridor as the raptor’s eyes began to droop. Blue’s body began to sway, her tail twitching lazily and her clawed arms pawing crankily in the air as she tried to fight the sedating effects of the dart.
She sank to the ground under the net with a displeased grumble as Maisie raced toward Claire and Owen.
“You’re okay!” she said.
“Maisie, what happened?” Claire asked, swinging off Blackberry and rushing over to hug her. Owen was right behind her, embracing them both. Claire smoothed Maisie’s hair off her face, checking her frantically for wounds.
“Al…lo…sau . . rus,” Maisie grunted, out of breath, trying to warn them.
CRACK! The cafeteria doors rattled against Maisie’s makeshift barrier. The mop handle began to give way under the pressure. Any second, it would break completely!
“Dart?” Maisie asked. “Another dart!”
Owen nodded, already reloading his tranquilizer gun.
Another rattling bang and—SNAP!—the broom handle broke. The Allosaurus pounced through the door with a deadly sort of grace.
Owen shot the tranquilizer dart, the sedative hitting the Allosaurus directly in the chest. The dinosaur jerked backward. Claire shot another net from her net gun, and the Allosaurus keeled over, knocked out even faster than Blue.
Maisie sank to the ground, all the adrenaline rushing out of her now that she knew for sure: she was safe.
Everything was going to be okay.
Her family was back.
She looked over to Blue, whose side was rising and falling steadily as she slept.
It was finally complete.