by Logan Jacobs
“Nawwww,” I said casually. “You can try to fire that flare before one of the girls takes you down, but you won’t make it. Trust me, they’ve shot things a lot scarier than you. So we’re going to fill our tanks, and you can either agree to a trade with us, or you can go back inside and pretend you never saw us. But the one thing you won’t do is fire that flare, because this petrol is the only thing you have that’s worth trading.”
The quartet of DHL employees shifted uncomfortably and the group started to mutter among themselves. The pump dinged, and I put the cap back on Becka’s bike and moved Hae-won’s into place. The redhead looked like she was about to protest again, but Becka pointed her rifle directly at the woman’s head.
“You…” The redhead’s fair skin started to turn red as she glared at us, which only emphasized the freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks.
“Why are you still here?” Hae-won finally asked. “Why didn’t you try to leave with the other drivers?”
“Who says we didn’t?” the redhead demanded. “We lost some good people--”
“Charlotte,” the dark-skinned woman hissed.
“I get why you want to stay here,” I said as I watched the counter on the pump. “It seems safe, and there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of dino action. I know you want to defend this place, but be smart about it. Take the trade and lose a few gallons. Don’t walk away empty handed. I’m sure you need supplies.”
“What kind of supplies?” the blond man asked. He wasn’t much taller than the women, but he was rail thin and had a wispy goatee that I was pretty sure wasn’t just a result of recent events.
“What do you need?” I replied.
The pump dinged again, and I moved the Triumph to the side and wheeled the other police bike into place. The woman huffed in frustration, but I had called her bluff, and she knew it. The only real question that was left was whether they would get anything out of this or not.
“You’ve got guns,” the brown-haired man noted. Of the four, he was by far the tallest, and his brown eyes studied our weapons with keen interest now that we were negotiating a trade.
“Which we’ll need for our trip,” I said. “But maybe we have something else you need? Obviously, there’s something going on around here or you wouldn’t still be here. Not with all these trucks and fuel available.”
The DHL employees looked at each other, and then the dark-skinned woman slowly lowered the flare gun.
“Fine,” the dark-skinned woman said. “You win. So what do you have?”
“Tia,” the redhead growled.
“Medical supplies,” I said.
“That’s it?” Tia chuckled. “We have tons of medical supplies. People ship medical supplies every day.”
“We have flu packages,” I said. “Tylenol. Antibiotic cream.”
“And pills,” Hae-won added.
The group looked at each other, and another quiet discussion took place.
“Just tell us what’s going on,” I suggested. “Why are you still here?”
The group shuffled their feet, but they seemed to reach some sort of consensus. Tia stepped forward and took a deep breath before she answered.
“The hub’s been safe enough,” the dark-skinned woman explained. “Though there’s a pack of flying dinosaurs that come by regularly. We lost some people to them. We had drivers who went out, some just to check the local area and others who were trying to get home. A few made it to their destination, but most were killed by dinosaurs along the way.”
“How can you know that?” Becka asked.
“We have radios in the trucks,” Tia said. “As well as GPS trackers.”
“So the rest of you have decided to stay here,” I noted.
“We’ve figured out the pattern for the flying dinosaurs,” Tia replied. “We know when to stay inside.”
“So what do you need?” I prompted.
“Actually, we could use a couple of those flu packs,” the brunette offered. “We’ve got a couple of people inside who aren’t feeling great.”
Tia nodded in agreement, as did the blonde guy. The redhead scowled but didn’t contradict what had been said.
“Tylenol,” the blonde guy suggested. “We could always use more of that.”
“Do you have any food or drinks?” Tia asked. “All we have is what was left in the employee lounge and the vending machines.”
“We don’t have anything much better,” I said. “Mostly granola bars for hikers.”
“We have vodka,” Becka suggested. “Good for drinking and cleaning wounds.”
The DHL quartet looked at each other, and then Tia nodded again.
“Okay, the vodka’s good,” Tia agreed.
I nodded to Becka, who lowered her rifle and started to pick through our supplies. She pulled out three flu packs, a jumbo sized bottle of Tylenol, and an unopened bottle of Grey Goose. She walked slowly toward the pumps, and stopped at the halfway point. Tia took another deep breath and walked forward to accept the trade.
“So we’re done?” Hae-won asked as Becka walked calmly back to the bikes.
“We’re done,” I said as I mounted my ride. “We can head back out.”
I kept an eye on the DHL employees while the girls climbed onto their own rides. The engines roared to life, and we were about to peel away when Tia waved to us.
“The flying dinos,” the dark-skinned woman called out. “They’ll be in the area again in about an hour. Which direction are you heading?”
I looked at my companions, but I couldn’t think of a reason to keep our general direction secret.
“North,” I called back.
“You should stay away from the M-6 if you’re heading north,” the man with the goatee said. “We had a couple of drivers go by there a few days ago, and they said it’s been bombed to pieces. The A-1 is still there, but you might have to take some sideroads to get around the cars.”
“The A-1 it is,” Becka declared.
We waved to the employees, and then rumbled back to the gate. We eased the bikes through the gap, closed the gate and put the lock back in place. We checked for dinos again, and with Tia’s warning in mind, I made sure to check the sky as well. But the area remained dino free, and we slowly rode down the road until we were well past the industrial section and heading into the country, but then Becka mentioned for Hae-won and I to slow down a bit, and we all went to about 5mph so we could hear each other easier.
“You were amazing back there,” Becka said out over the rumble of the engines.
“Yeah,” Hae-won added. “Very bad ass.”
“I thought you’d lost your mind when you started laughing,” Becka said.
“No,” I replied with a grin. “But I could see how easy it was to call their bluff. And there was no way I was leaving there without full tanks.”
“My hero,” Becka laughed. “I think I’ll keep you.”
“Especially if you’re going to do that again,” Hae-won agreed. “That was very…”
“Manly?” Becka suggested.
“Yes, and quite invigorating,” Hae-won agreed.
“I’m quite turned on,” Becka laughed.
“Yessss.” Hae-won nodded. “Very much. Jason is a good head of our family.”
“Just doing what I can to keep you both safe!” I let out a whoop and revved the engine as we wove between a stream of abandoned cars. The road we were on eventually looped back into the Huntingdon Road, far enough away from Cambridge that the traffic thinned and we could drive down the center of the road without any problems. The sound of the motorcycles was the only noise to be heard and their growl must have been audible for miles. We passed a few human corpses alongside the road, and what looked like the remains of a herd of cows in a field, but there were few other signs of the dinosaur assault.
As we neared Huntingdon, the number of abandoned vehicles started to increase again, as did the dino destruction. Trees were crushed, and buildings just off the main road were demolishe
d. A firetruck laid on its side, one whole side peeled back by something very large and very sharp. An overturned delivery truck straddled one intersection, and piles of rotting vegetables spilled out across the road. It gave the whole area a funky stink that made me think of moldy cheese.
As we neared the heart of the town, we passed a sign for the Ouse River and a brewery that looked like it had been built when the first Queen Elizabeth had sat on the throne. The bridge that led into Huntingdon looked as old as the brewery, but one whole side was missing, so we stopped at the foot of the bridge and stared at what was left. It was wide enough for the bikes to pass over, but it creaked in the wind, something I never expected a stone bridge to do unless it was about to collapse.
“Should we look for a different bridge?” Becka asked.
Hae-won already had her phone out, and she quickly typed in a request for an alternate route.
“We’d have to backtrack and then head west a bit,” Hae-won replied. “And this says there was a car fire on that bridge that caused a lot of damage.”
“If we go across one at a time, I think it will be okay,” I said.
The three of us watched the bridge for several seconds, and a chunk of stone chose that moment to fall into the water below. The splash seemed loud in the otherwise quiet town, and as I watched the brick vanish beneath the water, it was hard not to envision one of the motorbikes doing the same thing. The idea of a watery death was bad enough, but I glimpsed something large and vaguely sharklike swim toward the surface when the stone first hit.
“Did you see that?” Becka asked.
“I think so,” I replied as the shape sunk back into the depths. “I’m guessing the Ouse River doesn’t normally have sharks.”
“Definitely not,” Becka replied.
“So I guess we know that there are dinosaurs in the water as well,” Hae-won said. “A good thing we didn’t try to go by boat.”
“Amen to that,” Becka said with a shiver.
“Well, that just leaves the bridge,” I noted as I studied the remaining structure again.
“I will go first,” Hae-won volunteered. “My bike isn’t so heavy.”
“No,” I replied. “I’ll go first. If the bridge holds for me, then it will for the two of you.”
Before the girls could offer any more suggestions, I eased my police bike onto what was left of the bridge. There was more creaking, and as I slowly moved forward, I could actually feel the stones sway slightly. Part of me wanted to speed across the bridge as fast as I could, but I was worried that would cause even more damage. In the end, I drove across at a quick run, and raised a triumphant fist when I made it to the other side.
“Just be careful and you’ll be fine,” I shouted to the other side of the river.
Becka eased her bike onto the bridge and started toward me at a snail’s pace. As she neared the middle, it looked like the road dipped for a moment and Becka’s eyes went wide. The blonde Brit finally picked up the pace and shot across the bridge at the fastest pace I’d seen her set.
“You okay?” I asked as the Brit skidded to a halt near me.
“Fine, just fine,” she huffed. “I could swear that thing in the water came up to see if I was going to fall in.”
I looked into the river and saw another shadow pass below. I shivered, then glanced toward the bridge. Hae-won had already started to cross, and while she didn’t move at rocket speed, she cleared the bridge in less time than it had taken Becka and I.
“That was fun,” Hae-won declared as she pulled up next to us.
A large chunk of bridge fell into the steam, and a sleek shape jumped out from the water for a moment to investigate. It was dark gray with a long, pointed snout and dark round eyes, and was easily eight feet long. The tail whipped the water into a froth as it leapt, and the splash as it hit the water soaked us all.
“Damn it!” Becka cursed as she tried to shake some of the water off.
Hae-won declared something in Korean as she laughed and started to shake as well.
I watched the girls for a moment and admired the view of their two wet asses dancing along the cobblestones, but a howl quickly brought an end to the entertainment.
“Let’s keep moving,” I suggested. “We’ll let the wind dry us.”
The girls quickly hopped onto their bikes, and we started into the heart of Huntingdon. The road we were on was wide, but many of the streets we crossed were narrow and shadowed even in the bright light of early day. The town looked frozen in a way that Cambridge had not. The cars were neatly parked, with only a few left in the roads, and there were no shattered windows or smashed buildings. It was utterly still, as if everyone were simply participating in some giant surprise party.
It was somehow creepier, because at least there were signs that people were still alive in Cambridge even if we hadn’t encountered that many. But here, it was hard to say if there was anyone left in the town. The only reason I believed there was still someone somewhere nearby was the lack of blood and bodies we’d seen so far.
“Is that a hospital?” Hae-won asked as we hit a wide stretch without any crossroads.
The Korean pointed toward a collection of buildings to our left in what looked like a giant park. I spotted a helicopter landing pad and a pair of ambulances as well, and then the familiar green cross that indicated medical services.
“Hichingbrooke Hospital,” Becka replied.
“Should we check it out?” Hae-won asked.
“I’d rather keep going,” I replied. “We have what we need for now.”
“I agree,” Becka called out.
Hae-won looked disappointed, though I could tell it was more because she was curious about the building itself then any real desire to search for more supplies. We swept past the campus and the last bits of Huntingdon Town proper, and found ourselves on an honest-to-god highway. There were more abandoned cars along the way but at least there was enough space to maneuver around them easily enough.
We started to make good time until we hit a split near a town called Alconbury. The section of the highway we were on had taken several hits from military grade explosives and two large dino bodies were sprawled out across the highway. I might have considered swerving through the field of debris, but I spotted several of the dino vultures snacking on the dino corpses. I signalled the girls to stop, and we took a minute to watch the birds.
“They didn’t pay much attention to us last time,” Hae-won noted. “Even after we shot one of them.”
“Is this the side road we found on the map?” I asked. “The one we marked as a possible alternate route?”
“I think so,” Becka replied. “It parallels the A-1 until the split toward Peterborough.”
“It might be faster,” I said. “This road looks pretty chewed up. And I’d rather not find out if those vultures will only go for dead meat.”
“Then let’s take the old road,” Becka agreed.
We turned the bikes and started back toward the exit we’d just passed. I hadn’t given up on the A-1 completely, and I was sure it was still our fastest way north, but if there was an easier way to get around the mess on the road, we needed to take it.
The exit was in good shape, and the stoplight at the first intersection was still working. We ignored the red light, then cruised through two traffic circles in order to find the parallel road. There were only a few buildings along the stretch, mostly businesses with mystery signs like “Wilson’s Homeopathic Plant Development Center.”
We were passing a stretch of fields filled with wildflowers when we came across another dino body. It wasn’t as big as the two we’d seen on the highway, and judging by the tear marks, it had been on the losing end of a battle with another dinosaur. The blood looked fresh and only a few flies had appeared.
“Shit,” I muttered as I signalled the girls to stop.
I looked around but there were no obvious signs of a larger carnivore around.
“What killed this one?” Hae-won asked a
s she rolled to a stop next to me.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t see anything.”
“Can we go around it?” Becka asked.
“We can go really fast,” Hae-won suggested. “We’ll be gone before whatever killed this one comes back.”
I studied the area again, but nothing else moved and no difo’s roared. With a nod, I eased closer to the dead dino, a purple skinned thing with scruffy feathers along its neck and back, and checked the other side of the road. It was empty as well, and I nodded to the girls as I revved the engine and started down the twisting path.
I was sure we were in the clear when I began to hear a weird chuckling sound. I barely heard it at first over the roar of the engines, but as more and more creatures picked up the call, it was hard to miss. I looked over my shoulder and saw a horde of raptors near the dino body. They were dark red in color with feathery strands around their neck and large beaklike noses. Many of the raptors were focused on the recent kill, but the rest of the pack were watching our escape and had sent up the strange call. Even as I watched, five of the raptors started after us, and despite the powerful engines on the bikes, the raptors started to gain on us on the smooth, flat road.
“They’ll catch us if we stay on this road,” I yelled. “We need something that will slow them down.”
I started to scan the roads ahead, and then saw what I wanted almost too late. I jerked the bike hard to the right and started down an old, bumpy lane that meandered across the fields toward a small forest. All we needed was enough time to get off the bikes and get our weapons, and I hoped the raptors on our tails weren’t nearly so fast on England’s quaint old back ways.
Chapter 3
The police bike bounced along the lane and sent clods of dirt into the air. I could smell wheat and hay, and if it weren't for the strange chuckling sound following me, it would have been quite charming. We passed a low stone wall covered with moss and a small pond lined with reeds and weeping willow trees. I had no idea where the lane led, and if we were about to arrive at someone’s house, I hoped they would forgive us for our sudden appearance.