There were two monstrous skeletons in the center of the room. He gazed at the larger of the two. It had a huge skull with long sharp teeth, long legs and tail, and short stubby arms.“What is it?” he asked in awe.“It’s a Tyrannosaurus rex,” she answered.He stepped over the rope barrier, hand outstretched.“Wait, what are you doing? You can’t touch that!” she said with a stern voice.He turned and snarled at her like an animal. She shrank back and stood in silence.Disappointment fell over his face as he reached out and touched the tibia.“Is this some kind of trick? What is it made of?” he asked angrily.“It’s a plastic replica. Real T.rex fossils are too rare and valuable to put on display.”“Where can I find a real one?”“I . . . don’t know,” she said nervously.“You’re lying. You have some here. Where are they?”“Please, you came for your treasure. Leave us ours.”“I just want one bone.”“What do you need it for?”“To bring it back to life.”She stared at him, dumbstruck. “You ca
“You look like you were expecting to hear Wilson’s name,” Kyle said with a trace of accusation in his voice. “Care to share with the class as to why?”Dutch was looking uncomfortable. “We had to get the word out to local media and police to be on the lookout, but we couldn’t exactly tell them to keep their eyes open for a reincarnated Aztec demon god. Wilson’s picture was the next best thing.”Kyle laughed harshly. “Wow. Good to know Wilson’s reputation means so much to the FBI. Don’t you think you should have talked to him about this first? Because you just painted a pretty big target on his back. Might make things a little difficult if he’s ever spotted while we’re out looking for the real bad guy, don’t you think?”“Wilson hears nothing about this, you understand me?”Kyle barked a laugh. “He’s going to find out eventually, but I’m not going to be the one to tell him his name is mud. That’s on you geniuses.”He got up and walked to the control room. John gave Dutch an “I told you s
Dutch and John arrived at the crash scene. Emergency responders had already been deployed to the area. The mangled bodies of Ink, Slingshot, and Steel had been lifted out of the canyon by helicopter, and they were now lying in body bags on gurneys, waiting to be transported back to headquarters.“How is Flint doing?” asked John.“You mean after being thrown from a moving vehicle or finding out his brother is dead?” answered Jolly grudgingly.“You need to have a little more respect for your commanding officers,” said Smasher.“Sorry, sir,” she replied.“He has a few broken bones, but he’ll be okay,” answered Smasher.“Did you get a chance to talk with him?” asked Dutch.“Yeah. He told us that there was no way that Isaac survived,” Smasher replied.“Are you absolutely sure?” asked Dutch.“Go look at the car. It’s barely recognizable,” said Smasher. “The amount of firepower they rained down on that thing ripped it to pieces, and the flipping out of control didn’t help Isaac much either
“I know a lot has changed over the past week, but it’s still only been a week. Things like this take years to get over, if ever.”“How do you do it? You seem to be doing just fine. I only knew two people there. You knew all of them. You lost your colleagues, your friends, and your students. You should be way worse off than me. How do you keep it together?”“Honestly, I don’t know,” said Kristen, shrugging. “I definitely blame myself for a lot of that, whether or not anyone else does. The whole field trip was my idea, and all the students were my responsibility. The pain is always there, and sometimes it feels unbearable especially when I’m alone. I guess I just channel it. As much guilt as I feel, it is nothing compared to the anger and hatred I feel toward Isaac . I’m sure, once this is all over, if we all manage to live through it, I will feel the full force of the guilt, but until then, I need to stop Isaac from hurting anyone else.”“I guess it just feels like it would be an insu
He repeated the process. Everybody gathered around to see the results for themselves, and the overhead camera was adjusted to capture everything. When the centrifuge was finished, the sample was immediately removed, and once again, the layers were only visible for about a second before the green liquid began reacting with the layer of blood cells. Dr. Bryant pulled up the film footage on the main monitor, and they reviewed it over and over, zooming in and slowing it down, trying to understand what had just happened.“Micoaz atl,” said Kristen under her breath.“What was that?” asked Dr. Bryant.“It’s micoaz atl. It’s got to be,” replied Kristen.Some of the people in the room were still looking at her curiously while others stared back in shock at the liquid layer paused on the screen.“The legendary elixir of death,” Kristen explained for the benefit of those who didn’t know the history. “The weapon used against Zaca’s army that Zaca then used to transform himself and, as an extensio
Kora turned her attention back to her dinner. Kristen gave Wilson a very meaningful look, but he shook his head slightly, so she kicked him under the table. He rolled his eyes and mouthed, “Fine, pushy!” Kristen grinned, mischievously.“So how are you doing?” he asked Kora, clearing his throat.“Good,” said Kora with a slight smile as she looked up at Wilson.“Good,” he said lamely.He could almost feel Kristen rolling her eyes at him, so he nervously began eating his meatloaf. Awkward silence filled the table.“So we just came from the lab,” Kristen said to break the silence. “The marines brought back an arm. Wilson was able to examine it. We believe it belonged to a creature known as Yolcatl.”“So that’s where you were for so long,” said Kora.“What do you mean by an arm?” asked Kyle.“It was reptilian in nature,” replied Wilson. “It had specialized cells in its skin designed for extreme camouflage, way beyond any other reptile I have ever seen.”“That’s why we think it was Yolcatl,
“Yeah, still working on that one,” Kora said, a little sadly.“Give yourself time to grieve,” Wilson said kindly. “But when you want to and you feel it is time to be happy, be happy. It is the simplest concept in the world but a very difficult thing to accomplish. In your case, it’s still really early, but don’t give up on the concept of happiness.”“You know,” she said, eyes shining, “Kristen’s right about you.”“How so?”“You’re an easy person to be around.”After they finished their dinner, Dutch approached them and said, “I’d like you both to meet me in the armory if you don’t mind.”They got up, cleared their dishes, and followed Dutch. Kristen and Kyle were already waiting in the armory with David.“I have something to show you all,” Dutch said with an eager smile.He signaled to David, who typed something into the control panel, and the back wall opened up. Four new suits of body armor were hung there; they were matte black with thick plates covering vital body parts.David wal
“Where?” she asked, sounding excited.“It’s a surprise, but it may or may not include a movie.” He winked.“Okay,” she said with a smile.They quickly got ready for the day and made their way up to the parking lot. As they exited the security gate, they picked up their guns and phones. They all had several missed calls and messages from friends and family, and they decided to take some time to call them back and let them know they were okay.Wilson had several very worried messages from his mother, and upon reaching her, he discovered that she was in town staying at a hotel. He promised to visit that morning to explain what was going on.As soon as he hung up, Kora came up to him and asked, “Are you ready to go?”“Yes, but I have to take care of something before we go out. Is that okay?”“Yeah, the others are meeting up at this cute little local diner for breakfast. I can just go with them, and you can join us when you’re done.”“That sounds good. I shouldn’t be too long, so I’ll meet