Jurassic Park^TM III Novelization Read Online Free PDF Page B

raced down the hallway, checking doors for possible escape routes or hiding places. When the raptor rounded the corner twenty feet behind them, Paul ducked into a nearby door. Alan raced inside with the others and slammed the door closed. But its lock was electrical.
Useless!
    Alan led the group down a long aisle between rows of oversized steel cages with open doors. Clearly, the cages had once been used for holding young dinosaurs, like some sort of dinosaur kennel.
    Suddenly, the raptor burst into the room and leaped for the closest prey—Billy and Udesky! The pair flew into the nearest cage and slammed the door shut in the predator’s angry, hissing face.
    Alan, Paul, and Amanda ran to another cage. Alan grabbed the door and yanked. The loud
screech
of its rusty hinges drew the predator’s attention.
    Before Alan could close the door completely, the raptor slammed into it with explosive force, smashing the door past the lock and into the cage.
    The group was forced up against one of the cage’s chain-link walls, trapped in a small triangle of space by the advancing door. The angry raptor clawed and hissed at them through the door. Then its head began to dart around as it searched for another way to reach its prey.
    Alan followed the raptor’s gaze up to the wide-open top of the small triangular space. With a shriek of triumph, the raptor’s powerful form leaped at the chain-link door and started to climb.
    Amanda was the fastest to react. Grabbing hold of the door, she yelled, “Push!”
    Paul and Alan joined her in shoving hard against the caved-in steel door. The door scraped along the floor, hardly budging at first. Then it suddenly swung back, right through the cage’s opening, with the raptor still clinging to it.
    Hrrrr-reeeeee!
    As the door slammed into the opposite wall, the raptor lost its grip and fell into the small space. Amanda instantly slid the door’s bolt into place, trapping it there—this time the door reached up to the ceiling.
    Alan knew the raptor would find a way out, but he wasn’t hanging around to find out how long it would take! After racing to the end of the room, he hauled open the heavy exit door. Paul, Amanda, Billy, and Udesky were right behind him.
    Hrrrr-reeeeee!
cried the raptor as it fought to free itself. The raptor growled and snarled as it launched itself against the door, but it held.
    Hrrrr-reeeeee!
    “That sound,” Billy said.
    Alan nodded. It was the same sound Billy had made with the raptor resonating chamber.
    “I think he’s calling for help,” Alan said.
    Alan led the group out the rear of the lab building and into an equipment yard. He could still hear the raptor’s call as he guided the group toward the tree line.
    From the jungle, the call was answered. Raptor cries quickly surrounded them. The raptors were talking to each other!
    Alan couldn’t believe it. His theory on raptor communication had been proven correct. Unfortunately, the proof had come at the worst possible time!
    Ahead, a herd of frightened hadrosaurs responded to the raptor howls by fleeing across the equipment yard. Dozens of raptors burst from the jungle and ran after them.
    “Head for the trees!” Alan yelled to the others.
    Another raptor call came from behind. Alan turned to see the raptor they had trapped standing near the lab’s open rear door.
    Bolting ahead, Alan swiftly studied the way the raptors organized themselves. A large raptor, probably an alpha male, led the group into a hunting formation. The sight gave Alan an idea.
    “This way,” Alan said.
    He led Billy and the others into the midst of the stampeding hadrosaur herd.
    “Stay together!” Alan called. “Stay—”
    It was useless. In seconds, the group was split up in the chaos. Alan looked back again.
    His plan had failed. The raptors were ignoring the hadrosaurs. They were only interested in the humans.
    This makes no sense,
Alan thought.
If all they want is fresh food, why not attack the hadrosaurs?
    As Alan