Chapter 56 Section fifty-fifth

Cuthbert checked the door again.The door was locked and solid as a rock.He turned on the flashlight and shone it on Wright, who was sitting in a chair, staring morosely at the floor.Cuthbert turned off the flashlight.The room smelled of whiskey.Except for the sound of splashing rain and the sound of raindrops hitting the windows, everything around was silent. "Wright, what should we do?" He asked in a low voice. "Don't worry," Rickman said in a tense, high-pitched voice, "tell the media he's sick, find a hospital to lock him up, and make a press conference tomorrow afternoon—"

"I'm not talking about after going out, I'm talking about now. What if the monster comes." "Please, Ian, don't talk about that. I'm scared. I can't imagine that animal doing something like that. It's been in the basement for years as far as we know. Why go upstairs now ?” "No idea," Cuthbert replied, "that's why I'm worried." He checked the Luger again.Five bullets. He leaned over and shook Wright's shoulder: "Winston?" "Why are you still here?" Wright raised his head dimly. "Winston, I want you to take Lavinia to the Dinosaur Hall. Come on."

Wright patted Cuthbert's arm away: "I'm sitting here very comfortably, just about to take a nap." "Then may the devil be with you." Cuthbert said and sat in a chair facing the door. There was a soft click on the door, as if someone had grabbed the handle and turned it, then let go. Cuthbert jumped up, gun in hand, went to the door, and listened. "I heard something," he whispered. "Lavinia, go to the Dinosaur Hall." "I'm afraid," Rickman replied softly, "don't let me go there alone." "Do as I say."

Rickman walked to the opposite door, opened the door, and hesitated. "Go." "Ian—" Rickman pleaded.Behind her Cuthbert could see huge dinosaur bones looming in the darkness.A ray of pale light suddenly illuminated the thick black ribs and the gaping mouth with sharp teeth. "Damn it, woman, get in here." Cuthbert turned to listen.Something soft was rubbing against the door.He leaned forward and put his ear against the smooth wooden door.Maybe it's just wind. Pang Ran's strength suddenly surged, and he was slammed into the room.Cuthbert could hear Rickman screaming from the dinosaur hall.

Wright stood up staggeringly: "What's wrong?" There was a buzzing in Cuthbert's ears. He picked up the gun from the ground, struggled to get up, and ran to the opposite corner of the room. "Go to Dinosaur Hall!" he yelled at Wright. Wright slumped heavily in his chair. "What the hell is that smell?" he asked. The door was slammed again, and the crackling of wood was like a rifle being fired.Cuthbert involuntarily tightened his finger on the trigger, and the gun went off, sending dust on the ceiling.His hands trembled, and he immediately lowered the muzzle of his gun.You idiot, wasting a bullet for nothing.Damn, your gun knowledge is poor.He raised the gun again and tried to aim at the door, but his hands were shaking uncontrollably.Must calm down, he thought: Take a few deep breaths.Aim for deadly parts.Four bullets.

The room gradually returned to silence.Wright slumped on the chair, as if frozen there. "Winston, idiot!" Cuthbert gritted his teeth, "Go to the Dinosaur Hall!" "You have the final say." Wright shuffled towards the door of the dinosaur hall, and fear seemed to finally make him move. Cuthbert heard the soft sound again, the wooden door creaking and moaning.The thing leaned against the door.There was another horrific cracking sound, a large opening was made in the door, and a piece of wood whirled wildly and flew into the room.The table was thrown aside.Shadows floated in the hazy corridor, and the three-toed claws stretched into the room, grabbing the broken wood.With the sound of tearing, the rest of the wooden door was also pulled into the darkness, and Cuthbert saw a black figure appearing at the door.

Wright charged into the dinosaur hall, narrowly missing Rickman, who stood in the doorway, sobbing. "Shoot it, Ian, God, kill it!" she yelled. Cuthbert waited, aiming his gun.He held his breath.Four bullets. Under the deep indigo sky, the commander of the SWAT team walked like a cat on the roof, and the spotters on the street pointed him in the direction.Coffey stood next to the spotter, a tarpaulin over their heads, and both held rubberized, waterproof walkie-talkies. "Hongyi, I'm in the bunker. Go east another five feet," the spotter looked up through the passive night vision binoculars and said to the walkie-talkie, "You're almost there." On the blueprint of the museum building on the desktop, the route of the SWAT team was outlined with a red pen.

The lights of the Upper West Side flickered around him as the dark figure moved cautiously across the slate roof.Below, he was accompanied by the Hudson River, the flashing lights of ambulances on Museum Drive, and the towering rows of apartment buildings that lined the drive along the river, shining like crystals. "Here we are," said the observer, "Hong Yi, you are already in place." Coffey watched as the commander knelt down and quickly placed the explosives without making a sound.His team waited a hundred yards away, with the EMTs following behind.Sirens sounded from the ground.

"The explosives are in place," the commander said.He stood up, stepped back softly, and unrolled a coil of wire. "Light it up when you're ready," Coffey murmured. Coffey watched the people lying down on the roof.After a flash of light, the ear-piercing sound of explosion reached Coffey's ears.The commander waited for a moment, got up and moved forward. "Bunker, I'm Hongyi, I've created an entrance." "Go on," Coffey said. The SWAT team descended through the hole in the roof, followed by first responders. "Already entered the room," the commander's voice came from the intercom, "We are in the corridor on the fifth floor and proceed as planned."

Coffey waited anxiously for news.He looked at his watch: a quarter past nine.The guest has been locked in the museum without power for ninety minutes, the longest ninety minutes of his life.A horrible picture keeps appearing in front of his eyes: the mayor's disemboweled corpse. "Come to the emergency door of the fourteenth area on the fifth floor of the third separation area. Prepare to plant explosives." "Go on," Coffey said. "Put it in explosives." D'Agosta and his gang hadn't reported for more than half an hour.Gosh, if something goes wrong with the mayor, no one cares whose fault it actually is.It will be Coffey who bears all the blame.That's what politics in New York City is all about.It's taken him all these years to get to where he is now, years of being cautious, and now he's being dragged down by a bunch of assholes.It's all Pendergast's fault, if he hadn't trespassed on someone else's turf and messed around... "Dynamite in place."

"Light it up when you're ready," Coffey said a second time.It was Pendergast who screwed up, not him.He himself just took over yesterday.Maybe the higher ups don't blame him.Especially when Pendergast couldn't show up.The turtle grandson can speak with one mouth and bring the dead back to life. There was a long silence.He waited under the dripping tarpaulin, and no explosion reached Coffey's ears. "Bunker, I'm Hongyi, all right." The commander said. "Go on. Go in and kill that son of a bitch," Coffey yelled. "We've already discussed it. The primary goal is to evacuate the wounded." The commander said neither humble nor humble. "I know! But do it fucking fast!" He pressed the send button viciously. The commander walked out of the stairwell, looked around carefully, and then motioned for the team members to follow.Dark figures emerged one by one, gas masks pushed to their foreheads, combat uniforms blending into the shadows, M16s and bullpup rifles with full tongue bayonets.At the rear of the line was a stocky man carrying a six-barreled 40mm grenade launcher, a potbellied weapon shaped like a pregnant machine gun. "We have reached the fourth floor," the commander informed the observer through the walkie-talkie. "Infrared beacons are being deployed. Ahead is the Small Ape Hall." The spotter said to the intercom, "Go seventy feet south into the exhibit hall, then twenty feet west through a door." The commander took off the small black box on his waist, pressed the button, and fired a beam of ruby ​​lasers as thin as a pencil.He turned the beam around and read off the distance number he wanted.He stepped forward and repeated the process, finally shining the beam on the west wall. "Bunker, I'm Hongyi. I saw that door." "Fine. Carry on." The commander walked to the door and motioned for the team members to follow. "Door locked. Embedded with explosives." The team quickly pasted two small strips of plastic explosives around the doorknob, then backed away while unfurling the wires. "The explosives are in place." With a low bang, the door was blasted open. "The flapper should be right in front, in the center of the storage room." The observer pointed to the direction. The commander and the team members moved away a few set panels, and the flap valve appeared in front of them.The Commander unlatched the door, grasped the iron ring, and lifted it upwards.The stale air was oncoming.The commander leaned over to look around, but there was no movement in the sky hall below. "We have access," he said into the intercom. "Visual security." "Very good." Coffey's voice came over the intercom. "Occupy the Sky Hall. Get the first responders down, evacuate the wounded, quick." "As soon as Hong receives it, go to the bunker." The observer took over the conversation: "Remove the plasterboard in the center of the south wall, and behind it is an eight-inch thick I-beam, which can be used to tie ropes." "OK." "Be careful. It's sixty feet high." The commander and team members moved quickly, pierced the plasterboard, tied two iron chains around the I-beam, and fixed the climbing hooks, pulleys and rigging.One of the team members attached the rope ladder to the iron chain and lowered the rope ladder through the trap door. The commander leaned down again, shining a powerful flashlight into the dimly lit hall. "I'm Hongyi. I saw some corpses underneath." He said. "Any signs of animals?" Coffey asked. "No. Ten or twelve dead bodies by sight, maybe more. Rope ladder in place." "Then what are you waiting for?" The commander turned around and said to the emergency personnel: "We will give you a signal when we are in position, and then you put down the folding stretcher, and we will transport the wounded out one by one." He grabbed the rope ladder, climbed down, and swung around in the high open air.The team members followed him and climbed down one by one.Two members spread out to the left and right wings, ready to provide suppressive fire if necessary, while two others erected tripods supporting halogen cluster lights and connected to portable generators lowered by ropes.The center of the hall quickly became brightly lit. "Secure all entrances and exits!" shouted the commander, "Emergency team, come down!" "Report!" Coffey called into the intercom. "We have secured the hall," the commander said, "no signs of any animals. Emergency teams are being deployed." "Very well. You've got to find that thing, kill it, and locate the mayor's gang. We think they're down the stairs in the back pit lane." "Bunker, received." The commander said. The commander's buzzing walkie-talkie quieted down, and he suddenly heard a gunshot. Although it sounded dull after a distance, he would never admit his mistake. "Bunker, I'm Hongyi, we just heard gunshots. It seems to be coming from above." "Damn it, go find it!" Coffey yelled, "Take your team and go find it!" The commander turned to his men: "Okay. Red two, red three, hold here and clean up the mess. The others follow me, bring the grenade launcher."