by Logan Jacobs
“Shit,” I whispered. “Can it smell the gas fumes even though we turned the engine off?”
“Maybe,” Hae-won replied just as quietly.
The massive dino was picking its way through the cars as it continued to sniff the air. Every so often, it would lean down and poke at one of the cars with a large claw. It was drawing closer to us, and in a matter of moments, it would be next to the minibus.
“Screw it,” I said. “I’m not going to just sit here and hope it passes by. Girls, get your guns out and get ready to shoot.”
I sat up, turned the key, and jammed the minibus into drive. We didn’t exactly shoot forward, but the minibus rattled to life and moved forward a few feet before I wrenched the wheel and drove it onto the shoulder, through a temporary fence set up around the work zone, and took off across packed dirt and a grassy field.
“It’s seen us!” Becka called.
“Is it following?” I yelled back as I plowed through a pair of mystery barrels.
There was a loud thud, and I spotted one of the barrels rolling away as a thick, oily substance spilled out. The second barrel had tipped over as well, though it appeared to remain intact.
“It is now,” Becka replied a few moments later.
“Then open the windows if you can and start shooting,” I replied.
I heard Hae-won grunt and Becka utter a curse word, and then I heard one of the windows bang as it finally opened. The rapid action of one of the rifles soon followed, but we were close to the tracks by then, and I had to concentrate on swerving between the rail cars. There were bodies scattered alongside as well, and I sent a silent apology to anyone I might run over as I tried to find a place to cross the tracks.
We passed the engine, and though we were still in a grassy field, I spotted a section just ahead where dirt from the construction site had been dumped against the rails. I hoped it would be enough to get us over the track without getting stuck and gave the minibus all the gas it could take. We bounced over something hidden in the grass, and then I yanked the wheel hard to the left. The minibus swerved onto the flattened mound of soil, and after spinning in the wet sod for a moment, finally found its traction and passed easily over the first rail.
The second rail was harder, but our momentum finally carried us across. We bounced down onto the other side of the track as the spinosaurus let out another howl, but I didn’t have time to look. There was a line of trees right in front of me, and I had to yank the wheel again to avoid crashing into one. The front corner of the hood scraped one of the trees, and the outside mirror was pulled off, but I managed to avoid any more serious damage than that.
I hit the gas again, and the minibus plowed along through reeds, overgrown grass, and the remnants of the railroad’s fence. I could see the other side of the road just ahead, but the girls were still firing, which I took as a signal that the sail backed dino was still in pursuit.
“Jason,” Hae-won called out. “It can’t change directions quickly. If you zig zag some more, it won’t catch us.”
“We’re in a minibus,” I retorted. “We can’t zig zag very well, either.”
“Just move around a lot,” Becka suggested.
“We’re almost back to the road,” I said. “I can try it once we’re clear of the traffic.”
We hit the tarmac with a hard jolt that nearly bounced me from the seat. But the closed arm at the rail crossing meant we had one lane that was free of cars, and I swerved into the lane with only one scrape against the side of a delivery truck. The other side mirror clattered to the ground as I sped away, and I heard the giant dino howl in frustration again.
Sadly, the road we were on was fairly straight and lined with more of those low, stone walls so there wasn’t much chance to zig zag. I spotted a smaller road just ahead, though, and I peeled into the turn at the last moment. I found myself on what looked like an old farm road, and I bounced a short ways further along until I heard the dino howl. I checked the rearview mirror and saw that it was trying to turn itself around and head down the lane after us. When it was finally heading our way, I put the minibus in reverse and hit the gas.
We flew backwards, though flying was a bit of an exaggeration for our vehicle, and passed the dino by swerving onto the edge at the last moment. We must have run over its foot in the process because it yelped and stomped its foot, but we were already clear and close to the main road.
“The tail!” Hae-won warned as the girls opened fire again.
Something heavy hit the side of the minibus and pushed it off the road and into a nearby field.
“Shit!” I groaned as the engine made a popping sound and a wisp of steam appeared from beneath the hood.
I spun the wheel to keep us from fishtailing and tapped the brakes. We didn’t come to a complete stop, but we slowed enough for the minibus to right itself, and then we drove across the furrows until we were clear of the tail and could swing back onto the blacktop.
I turned back onto the Whittlesey Road in a tight turn that left a plume of smoke behind us. The tires squealed for a moment, but the minibus found its forward momentum again and we sped toward the proper English town just ahead. The sail backed dino was still trying to turn around, and I heard something heavy hit the ground as the monster got turned around. The girls stopped firing for a moment, as they waited for the dino to reappear, but by then we were into the town.
It was the picture of a quaint country town, with thatch roofed buildings left over from its founding, more modern brick structures, and streets just wide enough for a single car. We sideswiped an old Opel and plowed through the wreckage of a fruit stand before we found ourselves in an open square with a covered bandstand and surrounded by homes, a church, and the local pub. I drove the minibus over the curb and under the roof of the bandstand, then slammed on the brakes. The bus shuddered as it came to a stop, and the engine coughed as it gasped for fuel.
I put the bus into park, grabbed my rifle, opened the doors, and stepped out into the square with the girls right behind me. The three of us stood alone in the cobblestoned market with our guns at the ready while we waited for the dino to appear. At first, it was quiet, and I thought the spinosaurus might have given up. But then I spotted the orange sail again as the dino passed a one-story building, and I raised my rifle and waited for the dino to appear at the end of the road.
The dino howled and then stepped into view. It looked around the square until it spotted the orange bus and the three of us with our weapons raised. I could see pockmarks along its hide where the girls had managed to land a few shots, and one of its toes looked bent, probably from where we had run over it. The alligator snout tilted to one side as it tried to get a better look at us, and then the head lowered to the ground as the spino charged toward us.
The girls started to fire immediately, but I held my shot until I was sure I could nail it right between the eyes. The beast started to open its jaws as it drew closer, and I fired two quick shots with the .308, dead center into the skull. Two black holes appeared in the creature’s forehead, and then I saw blood bloom out from the back of the head. The eyes blinked once, the bottom jaw sagged, and then the spino landed with a heavy splat against the bricked road. The girls finally stopped firing, and all I could hear was the ticking of the minibus engine.
“Damn, we’re good,” Becka said a moment later.
“How close are we to Coates?” I asked.
“It’s the next town over, I think,” Becka replied.
“Huh,” I said as I looked at the minibus. “We may have to find a new ride. The engine was starting to fade there at the end.”
“Jason,” Hae-won whispered. “There are people.”
I looked over my shoulder and saw that the beautiful Korean was right. People had started to emerge from some of the doorways, just a few a first, but then the handful quickly grew into a couple of dozen and still more people started to appear.
“What do we do?” Hae-won asked.
“It doesn’t loo
k like they’re armed,” I noted.
“Should we get into the minibus and leave?” Becka asked.
“I don’t know how far we would make it,” I said.
The engine on the minibus coughed one more time, and then went dead. Another steam cloud escaped, and something plinked against the ground beneath the minibus.
“Okay, so we won’t make our dramatic escape in that,” Becka sighed.
The people of Whittlesey had stopped along the edge of the square, and though a few people appeared to be talking to each other, most of the populace stood quietly as if they were waiting to see what we would do next.
“Uh, hello,” I called out. “Um, sorry about the dinosaur on your doorstep.”
“Are you with the Army?” an elderly gentleman asked in a confused voice.
“No,” I admitted. “Though we are working with them.”
“Ah,” the old man replied as if that made all the sense in the world.
“We actually need to keep going,” I continued. “But our… ride has been damaged. Is there somewhere we could find another bus?”
The locals exchanged puzzled glances, and I heard people murmur to each other. Finally, a man in his thirties with straw colored hair and no visible eyebrows stepped toward us. He stopped a short distance away and nodded to the minibus.
“I’m a mechanic,” he announced. “My shop’s nearby. I’d be happy to take a look, though we’ll have to push it. My partner took the tow truck, and I haven’t seen him since.”
“Here, why don’t you join us in the pub,” the elderly gentleman said. “You can share news of the outside world with us while Mick there works on your bus.”
“Might take me the rest of the day,” Mick said as something else in the engine pinged. “But I should have it ready in the morning.”
I looked at the girls, then turned back to Mick.
“Do you have something we could use instead?” I asked. “We would bring it back tomorrow.”
“Nothin’ this big,” Mick replied. “Best I have at my shop right now is an old farm truck, and you three would only fit because you’re so thin.”
“Come to the pub,” the old man reiterated. “Besides, you don’t want to be outside once the sun sets, even if Mick does have the work done today.”
The rest of the gathered locals nodded and murmured in agreement.
“Why’s that?” Becka asked.
“There are things that hunt at night,” the old man replied as he cast an uneasy glance at the dead dino in the square.
“Well, it’s not like we have a deadline exactly,” Hae-won noted.
“But that’s another day delayed,” Becka sighed.
“I don’t think your mother would be happy to find out you were killed in Whittlesey by dinosaurs that roam at night,” I said.
“Besides, maybe these people will know what has happened in Coates,” Hae-won added.
“And it’s a pub,” I added.
Becka finally nodded, and I turned my best smile on the small crowd.
“The pub sounds fine,” I announced. “We’ll just get the minibus to the shop, and then we’ll join you for a pint.”
The crowd didn’t cheer exactly, but they definitely seemed happy with my pronouncement. Most of the people started to head toward the pub, though Mick grabbed three teenagers to help move the minibus. We put Hae-won in the driver’s seat while the rest of us pushed as hard as we could. And while Mick’s shop was just a short block away, it felt like we’d run a ten-mile hike by the time we finally reached the garage.
“Right,” Mick declared when we finally had the unwieldy vehicle inside. “I’ll just get started then, but save a pint for me.”
“Will do, Mick,” one of the youths replied as the trio gave us mock salutes.
The teenagers laughed as they ran back toward the pub, and I heard them describe the final showdown with the spinosaurus in gory detail. Mick, meanwhile, lifted the hood of the minibus and let out a low whistle.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
Mick ran a hand over the back of his neck and squinted at the engine.
“I might have to pull a couple of things from some of the cars out back, but I can have it ready by the morning,” Mick replied. “It actually held up better than I would have guessed looking at the damage on the outside.”
“We don’t have any money,” I said aloud.
“What good’s money these days?” Mick snickered.
“Actually, we don’t really have much on us right now,” I replied as I thought about the oversized backpacks we’d left at the power station. “We weren’t planning on being gone all that long.”
“Send over a pint from the pub, and we’ll call it even,” Mick said.
“Sounds like a fair trade to me,” Becka laughed.
“I think we should each send one,” Hae-won added. “So he has some for the morning.”
Mick grinned at that suggestion, then checked the road.
“You might as well head on back,” he said. “I’ll have to close the garage door once you’re gone so no little creepy crawlies get inside.”
We walked out of the garage with the weapons and ammo bag, and a moment later, I heard the garage door clatter shut. With the teenagers gone, the street was empty again, and we walked quietly back toward the pub. I had a flashback to crossing the quad while the dino body was there, and I did a quick check for both the giant vultures and Pterodactyls. If there were any in the area, they hadn’t picked up the scent of the spinosaurus yet, and so we made it back to the square without being dive bombed.
The pub was full and the beer was already flowing when we stepped inside. There was a middle-aged woman manning the taps and a girl of about fifteen delivering the drinks to the tables. A cheer went up as we stepped inside the darkened room and dozens of people clapped us on the back while others tried to thrust drinks into our hands. I found one of the teenagers that had helped us move the minibus and asked him to take three of the pints to Mick. The lad agreed readily enough and rounded up his three friends for the mission as well.
“We’re happy to see so many people,” I said to the old man who seemed to be the town’s spokesperson.
He was ninety if he was a day, and he still wore a proper suit although the world was coming to an end. His wispy white hair had been carefully combed, and even the cane he used was polished and scuff free.
“We’ve lost so many,” the man replied as he eased into a chair. “We haven’t had a reason to celebrate in some time. Then here you come and destroy one of the dinosaurs that has been terrorizing our town. That’s definitely worth a pint or two.”
The girls and I had taken seats at the old man’s table, though people kept walking by and patting us on the back or saying thank you. The teenaged girl appeared and left everyone at our table a pint, then winked at me before returning to the bar. Becka snorted and Hae-won giggled, but I refused to look at them.
“You’ve had a lot of problems with dinosaurs?” I asked.
“More so recently,” the old man replied. “We had a large fellow when this all started, but he wandered off toward Peterborough, and we thought we were well out of it. But this last week or so, we’ve had a right invasion. That one with the sail on its back was a real terror, but at least it hunts during the day so you can see it coming. But there’s some fast buggers that hunt at night. They’ll be on you before you even know they are there.”
“Is that why you suggested we stay the night?” I asked.
“Aye, it is,” the old man agreed. “A few have tried to hunt them, but there hasn’t been much success. It’s been easier to stay in at night. Even then, sometimes the things break into houses. We’ve lost a few that way.”
“We don’t have that much further to go,” Becka said. “If Mick were to finish the work quickly enough, we could be on the road before these things come out.”
“I wouldn’t want to be on the road when they come out,” the old man advised. “And they’ll m
ake a right mess of that minibus of yours.”
“Are they big dinosaurs?” Hae-won asked.
“Aye,” the old man sighed. “Taller than a man, when they stand upright. Move around on two legs and have a long tail.”
“That could describe a lot of the dinosaurs we’ve seen,” I noted.
“It’s a green and yellow striped thing,” the old man added. “Sort of a flat nose. Lots of teeth. It were just one to start, but now there’s several, and they hunt together.”
“Some scientists say that there weren’t many dinosaurs that hunted in packs,” Hae-won mused. “But maybe that’s not true.”
“But all the ones we’ve encountered seem to learn quickly,” I said. “Like that spinosaurus today.”
“It did seem to realize that one of the cars didn’t belong,” Becka agreed.
“That one learned to hide where you wouldn’t see it until you were almost on top of it,” the old man replied. “It would sit in a dark alley and wait for someone to go by.”
We spent a few moments contemplating intelligent dinosaurs, and I wondered if that was a natural trait of the creatures or if it was something that an alien being had given them. I glanced at the girls and could tell that they were having the same uncomfortable thoughts that I was.
“What can you tell us about Coates?” I asked in an attempt to change the topic. “Have you had any news from them?”
“Not for a while,” the old man said. “Everyone who’s followed that road has disappeared. Not that very many people have tried to go there. It’s even smaller than Whittlesey and not much protection from these dinosaurs. The only reason anyone ever went there before was for that bed and breakfast they built on the grounds of the estate. Hold all sorts of conferences and such there.”
“The people we’re looking for were supposed to be at a conference,” I said.
“Huh,” the old man chuffed. “Well, I wouldn’t count on finding them alive. Like I said, much smaller town, with nowhere to hide.”
“Although,” Hae-won said, “many of the smaller places haven’t been attacked the way the cities and large towns have. Maybe they’re okay and just hiding in their homes until this is over.”