Flyers by Scott Ciencin Read Free Book Online Page B

us, how to treat us like we’re regular people.”
    A voice called from way behind them. “Hey Dr. Grant, any comment on our current situation? Are you feeling guilty that all these people are at risk because you let those things off the island and let them multiply?”
    Alan was about to spin and tell the reporter exactly what he thought when Eric gripped his arm.
    “Forget him,” Eric said. “He’s like half the kids at school. He’s baiting you, that’s all. Just remember, you’re the one holding the cards. You’ve got something he wants.”
    “My reaction,” Alan said.
    “On camera, yeah.”
    Alan looked over his shoulder at the camera aimed his way. “What matters now is saving lives. You can quote me on that.”
    They reached the end of the corridor and followed Amanda’s plan into the heart of the Kongfrontation ride.
    “We need to get on the other side of the building,” Amanda said. “Fastest way is probably taking the tram itself right through the ride.”
    They located the tram, which sat at a re-creation of a New York City subway station. The signs above the graffiti-covered concrete walls identified the place as the Roosevelt Island station near the Fifty-Ninth Street Bridge. The TV monitors all around them were blank, and shadows wrapped around every corner.
    The tram had pulled into the station and it sat, doors open, waiting to take its next pre- programmed trip. Amanda, Eric, and Josh loaded in their supplies, while Manly played back footage of the flyers he had taken during their initial attack and then on the run from the Earthquake building to the restaurant. Alan watched with interest.
    “So this is our enemy. There’s six of them,” Manly said.
    “Six?” Alan questioned. “I’ve only ever noticed five at one time.”
    Manly scanned the video back and played it for the group, identifying each of the six flyers. The trolley car began to hum and a warning came over the loudspeaker that it would leave the station in moments.
    “It’s a mystery,” Alan admitted. “But—”
    He heard a scratching. A familiar fluttering of wings.
    “Turn that off, will you?” Alan said, pointing at the camera.
    “It
is
off,” Manly said. “I’m not making that sound.”
    Alan and Eric turned at the sound of footsteps. Amanda and Josh were heading their way, her hand on the boy’s shoulder.
    Something skittered in the darkness. Another flyer was in the tunnel, beyond the tram car—and it could be on them in seconds.
    Amanda and Josh heard the sounds and froze.
    “Manly, here’s what I need you to do,” Alan said. “Do you have a volume control on that thing?”
    The reporter nodded.
    “Set it to full blast, wind the footage back to where one of those things is really squawking, then kick the camera as far as you can without breaking it.”
    “Not a chance,” Manly said. He lifted his baseball bat.
    “No story’s worth your life,” Alan said.
    “You’ve never worked for the
Examiner
.”
    “Fine, then it’s not worth
our
lives,” Alan said. He reached for the camera, but Manly was too quick for him. The reporter snatched it up and ran into the tram car.
    The Pteranodon who’d been lurking in the shadows sprang at the others!

CHAPTER 13

    Eric and the others raced onto the tram as the flyer leaped into the station.
    “Preparing to exit,” a prerecorded voice said as the last of the group darted into the car—the flyer close behind. The doors slid shut as the Pteranodon jammed its body into the steadily diminishing opening. It squawked in rage as the doors slammed on its shoulders and squeezed its wings together painfully.
    Eric and Josh hefted their bats as if it were time for tryouts for their local baseball teams. With camera raised, Manly slid perilously close to the flyer as the car rocked and threw him off balance. He screamed as the Pteranodon’s talon swept through the doorway of the slowly moving tram and across his chest, tearing open his shirt.

    BLACK