by Logan Jacobs
“Then you two will be in the second car,” I said. “With the Corporal.”
The division of the cars went quickly after that, with Hae-won behind the wheel of the last car and Corporal Grant riding shotgun. I handed out the keys, then Brills suggested everyone take a last run at the loos before we returned to the road. Fortunately, everyone was ready to get home and the bathroom break was quick.
While Brills and his gang tended to their business, Grant and I helped Corporal Terry into the back of the largest car with Rory hovering nearby and the girls standing guard. Once Terry was relatively comfortable, Rory placed a blanket over him and put a pillow under his head. She also handed him several bags of crisps, a canteen of water, and two jumbo packages of Juicy Fruit gum.
The rest of our caravan members started to pour out of the pub, then, followed by the locals. There were some hugs and promises to keep in touch, and they probably would have carried on that way for another two hours if Grant hadn’t stomped into their midst.
“Time to go,” the corporal ordered.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and finally, the group marched toward the cars. I put everyone into the correct cars, then I hopped into the driver’s seat of the front car. It was a Volkswagon Golf, so it at least had four doors, but between the ammo bag, Brills, and the stack of paper that the engineer had somehow acquired, there wasn’t room for a fourth person in our car.
“Everybody in?” Becka asked.
“They are,” I said. “Let’s hope we can do this quickly.”
Becka nodded as I turned on the engine, and I was happy to hear the instant response from the Golf. I pulled forward slowly, and one by one, the other four cars followed behind me. Becka guided me back through the town to the Whittlesey Road, and I was happy to see a few people even ventured outside their front doors to wave goodbye to us as we drove along. Brills and Becka were happy to wave back, and I started to feel a bit like a soldier heading off to war in some old romantic movie as weepy-eyed women and cheering children saw us off.
Past the last buildings, we picked up speed, and though we spotted a large tyrannosaurus of some sort off in the distance, it either didn’t see us or decided we weren’t worth the effort. It walked on after a brief sniff and knocked over a small storage shed as it moved into the treeline. At the train tracks, Brills directed us to a smaller crossing that made it easier to get over the tracks and didn’t subject us to the carnage on the rails. Once on the other side, we followed a narrow lane along the edge of the reserve, which put me on edge as I watched for large orange sails. I could tell Becka was nervous as well, and she kept the rifle pointed out the window as she looked for any flash of color in the canopy.
We made good time, and I was sure we would be back at the power station in no time. Brills rolled down his window and smiled as he watched the countryside flow by, and Becka pulled out her phone. A moment later, some super happy K-pop song filled the car, and while Becka sang along, Brills did his own version of a seat dance in the back seat.
“I can’t believe we’re almost there,” Becka whispered as we reached the first outskirts of the town.
“We’re not there yet,” I pointed out.
I glanced into the rearview mirror, but nothing followed us down the road. I was starting to relax, when I checked the rearview mirror again and saw the third car in our caravan suddenly turn into one of the streets I had just passed.
“What the hell?” I muttered as the fourth car started to follow.
“What’s wrong?” Becka asked as she turned off the music.
“Two of the cars just turned onto that road back there,” I said as I pulled over to the side of the road.
Becka and Brills both looked behind us, and then I heard Brills make an ‘ah’ sound.
“Family,” Brills sighed. “Several of the people from the plant live around here.”
“Damn it,” I cursed. “We weren’t supposed to show up with everyone’s families in tow.”
“Well, there’s not much for it unless you’re going to point one of those rifles at them,” Brills replied.
The second car and last car pulled up behind us, and a moment later, Corporal Grant jumped out from the last car, her rifle at the ready, and walked toward the Golf.
“Why did they turn down that road?” Grant demanded. “Are we going after them?”
“Brills thinks they went to check on their families,” I said. “And yeah, I guess one of us should follow them. Why don’t you take Brills and Corporal Terry back to the power station, and Becka and I will round up the stray sheep. Let Brigadier Walston know that we’re on the way.”
Grant looked toward the road where the two cars had disappeared, and then she nodded. Brills seemed happy enough with the decision, and he grabbed his stack of papers and followed Grant as she started back toward the car driven by Hae-won. While Grant stopped to talk to the driver of the second car, I saw Brills open the passenger door and squeeze into the back seat for the Ford Fiesta. A moment later, Grant moved back as well, and the two cars continued on to the power station.
“Alright,” I sighed. “Let’s go find our wandering engineers.”
“You can’t blame them, really,” Becka said. “They probably haven’t talked to their families since all this started.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I agreed. “But I was really hoping we could get all this sorted and then continue on our way before nightfall.”
“Why, Jason, are you anxious to get to Yorkshire?” Becka laughed.
“I guess I am,” I admitted.
“Then let’s round up those doggies, cowboy,” Becka cheered in a bad western accent.
She turned the music back up as we turned onto a street lined with cute cottages and proper English gardens. It would have been lovely, if it weren’t for the large dinosaur prints in some of the yards, the destroyed homes along one stretch, and the pack of three foot raptors with dark purple skin and gray feathers that were eating the remains of what looked like a cow.
Chapter 11
“There!” Becka called out as she pointed down the street. “They just pulled in at that house.”
“What about those dinos?” I asked. “Are they following?”
“No,” the blonde assured me. “They’re too busy eating.”
We pulled in behind the runaway cars, just as one of the engineers opened the back door and stepped out. He waved to us and then trotted to the front door, which was opened from the other side by a plump woman in a faded dress. She grabbed the engineer and pulled him in for a kiss, then she turned to look back at something in the house. A moment later, a surly tween girl stepped forward and gave the engineer a quick hug.
“Looks like Brills was right,” Becka noted.
The wife and daughter trotted after the engineer as he jogged back to the car, and somehow, the extra two people piled inside.
“Okay, looks like we’re ready to go,” I said.
The cars started to move again, but instead of heading back toward the power station, they drove further down the street and around a bend. We drove around a small park and stopped in front of a duplex. A woman emerged from one of the cars this time, but she never made it to the door. A man and a dog ran from the front door and lavished her with kisses and doggy slobber, before all three retreated to the car.
“How many people can they fit into the cars?” I pondered.
“We have room,” Becka pointed out.
“Yeah,” I admitted as we drove along. “But what are they going to do if Walston won’t let them onto the property?”
“Do you think he will leave them outside?” she asked.
“I think there’s a really good chance of that,” I said. “It’s not like they have a lot of extra supplies to feed and house all these people, and who knows when they’ll be resupplied.”
“But then the engineers might refuse to work,” the blonde Brit pointed out.
“Maybe,” I said. “But do you really think they’ll strike in the middle
of an invasion?”
“Probably not,” Becka conceded.
“The brigadier is going to be pretty pissed about this,” I noted.
“Then you’ll just have to talk him around,” Becka replied.
“Me?” I snorted.
“You managed to cut one deal with him,” she pointed out. “You can come up with something that will get these people through the gate.”
I considered that suggestion as we pulled up to our next stop in a new neighborhood filled with retro-modern homes, all straight lines and angles. The wife and kids were already waiting outside when our caravan arrived, and I sighed as I watched the woman try to pack the three kids, who seemed to range in age from six to sixteen, into one of the cars, along with a pet carrier.
“Fine,” I sighed. “Tell them we can fit a couple of people into the back seat, but this is the last stop. They’ll have to talk to Walston if they want to pick up any more families.”
Becka nodded and stepped out from our car. She approached the family, and I saw the wife take in the fierce woman dressed in armor and carrying a rifle as she strode toward the group. She pulled back, as if she were about to be struck, and she looked at her husband.
I couldn’t hear what Becka said, but she talked to the husband first, and then leaned in and said something to the people in the car. There seemed to be some sort of discussion, and then Becka, the kids, and the pet carrier returned to our car.
“Hop in,” Becka ordered as she held the door open for the kids.
After a bit of scuffling, the kids, two boys and a teenage girl, climbed into the backseat. It was a tight fit, and the pet carrier ended up on top of the ammo bag, but somehow, everyone squeezed inside.
“This is the last family along this stretch,” Becka reported. “So everyone is fine with heading back to the power station and asking Walston to bring in the rest of the families.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise.
“Well, I might have had to threaten to shoot anyone who didn’t head to the station,” Becka admitted. “I told them I’d been hanging around with the yank too long, and I was just as happy shooting them as I was shooting those people back in Coates.”
“Ah,” I snickered as the cars started along the street once again.
“You wouldn’t really shoot someone, would you?” one of the boys asked from the backseat.
“She shot one guy in the head,” I replied. “And then there were the guys manning the barricade. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the dinosaurs.”
“Brilliant,” the other boy declared.
“It’s not true,” the teenager huffed.
“Ask your dad about the rescue,” I said. “Is this really the way to the station?”
“It’s a shortcut,” one of the boys replied. “There’s a lane just ahead, and we have to turn there, and then follow it to the pond, and there’s another lane that goes around the pond, and then we’ll be on the big road that leads to the road to dad’s work.”
“That’s a shortcut?” I asked.
“It saves dad fifteen minutes,” the boy asserted.
“I don’t think traffic’s a really big concern these days,” I muttered.
We followed the other two cars as they turned onto a narrow lane that ran between a collection of tightly packed homes that had probably been built two centuries ago. There was just enough room for the cars to squeeze through, though we had to slow down to avoid scraping the sides. It was dark in the tight quarters, even with the sun overhead, and the tarmac ended abruptly at a brick road. Despite modern suspension, we still bounced up and down in our seats, much to the happiness of the two boys.
The road curved past an old stable and a cluster of small businesses, and then we were suddenly back in bright sunlight though stuck on a dirt road. The pond was just to our right, a small wet spot filled with reeds and lily pads. Benches had been added along a nearby footpath, and a brand new swing set sparkled in the sun.
We drove around the pond, down another narrow, unpaved street, and then suddenly found ourselves on a modern, wide road. The lead car stopped at the stop sign, signalled for the turn, and then pulled onto the road. The second car did the same thing, and I heard both Becka and the teen gasp when I turned onto the road without stopping or checking for traffic.
“There’s no one else out here,” I said, even though no one had actually spoken.
“Still,” Becka replied. “It is the law.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t see any cops around, either, so I don’t think we have to worry about a ticket,” I said.
“Cops!” the youngest boy yelled cheerfully.
“They’ll have you on the CCTV,” the teen pointed out.
“I doubt anyone is watching the CCTV footage for bad drivers right now,” I replied.
We were near the English version of a strip mall by then, which was home to an Indian fast food joint, a payday loan place, and a small grocery store. We were still driving just below the speed limit, and I was trying to decide if I could use the parking lot to get around the other two cars and drive more quickly down the street. Maybe if I raced ahead, the other two would follow. Or they could do the very English thing and complain about unsafe drivers, even though the road was empty, except for the few abandoned cars that littered the curb.
“At least they were all nice enough to pull out of the way when they left their cars behind,” I mused. “Very English.”
Becka snorted, and I’m sure she was about to make a comment about English manners, but the front car suddenly slammed on its brakes, and the second car swerved hard to the left to avoid slamming into it. I managed to bring our car to a stop just a few inches from the lead car’s bumper, and we all jerked forward in our seats at the abrupt stop.
“What the--?” Becka asked.
“There’s something moving,” the teen informed us as an angry meow erupted from the carrier.
I caught a flash of motion just in front of the cars, and then a moment later, the teen screamed while the two boys gasped. Becka pointed toward the parking lot of the strip mall, where a flock of small dinos had suddenly emerged. They were about knee height, even though they moved on two legs, and sported a coating of short black feathers from the top of their heads to the tips of their tails. The long, flat head was otherwise bare, and revealed dark gray skin and two small eyes. The arms ended in three long fingers, each with a long and very sharp nail.
“Just keep driving!” I yelled as I rolled down the window. “Keep driving! They won’t be able to keep up!”
The driver in the lead car rolled down his window as well and leaned out for a moment.
“There’s two of them right in front of us,” he called back as the dinos started to cackle to each other.
“Then drive over them,” I said in exasperation.
“Yeah!” one of the boys cheered.
I heard someone in the lead car shriek, and then the teen in our car did as well. Two of the small dinos had jumped onto the hood of the car and a third one had run around the side of the car and jumped toward the driver’s head as he leaned outside. He managed to pull his head back just in time, but not before the dino had managed to get its snout inside the car. It fell back to the ground, and the driver managed to close the window, but that only seemed to make the dino angry as it started to jump up and pound at the glass.
“Rifles or Glocks?” Becka asked as two more dinos hopped on top of the lead car and another pair hopped on the second car.
“Take both,” I said. “Though at this distance, the Glocks will probably be all we need.”
“Y-you’re not getting out,” the teen stated.
“We just have to take care of this,” Becka said calmly as she adjusted her chest rig. “And then we can be on our way again. You three stay put, and don’t open the windows.”
Becka and I did a quick check of our weapons while more of the small dinos started to climb on top of the cars. At a nod from me, we both stepped out of our car, s
lammed the doors shut, and then we started to pick off the small dinos with the Glocks.
As I had guessed, the pistols were more than up for the job. I took out the two dinos that had made it to the roof of the lead car quickly, one with a throat shot and one with a belly shot. Both bullets left a spurt of blood and bits of flesh on the car as the bodies tumbled over the side and landed on the road with a wet thump.
I picked off a dino with a scar along one side next as it clawed at the windshield on the second car. That one left blood and wet feathers on the windshield, which the driver tried to sweep away with the wipers. While the driver tried to figure out how to clean the glass, I turned my attention to a dino that was scratching at one of the doors. Its long claws left deep gashes in the door, and I knew it wouldn’t take long for the dino to dig its way inside.
I managed to nail the digging dino in the back of the head, and though the head and snout were long, I could still see the blood and gray tissue explode from the front of the head as the bullet carved its way through. A hole appeared in the bottom of the door, and I reminded myself that I couldn’t take such risky shots with so many people around.
“Jason!” Becka called out as she fired at a dino that had clambered onto the back of the second car. “Behind you!”
I swung around to find two more dinos running toward our car. They were short, but they were fast, and they covered the distance all in about the time it took me to blink. One made a leap that brought it down onto the trunk of our car while the other threw itself against the back window. The window cracked but held, and I could hear the kids inside all scream at the same moment.
While the one that threw itself against the glass tried to shake off its bout of dizziness, I fired a round at almost point blank range at the one on the trunk. The head exploded in a red mist as brain and bone splattered against the car. The bladder released one last time, and goopy yellow-white pee that smelled like sulfur dribbled onto the hood before the body finally fell sideways and toppled off the car.
The second dino watched the body of its buddy hit the road with a splat, and then took a sniff at the pee. I fired one quick shot at the point where the skull met the neck while it was still trying to figure out what had happened to its partner, and another spray of blood arced across the back of the car. The dino collapsed onto the car, limbs spread out wide, and it managed to squawk once before its eyes rolled back and its chest stopped moving. I pushed it onto the ground and looked around for more, but the rest of the critters had taken off. I caught a glimpse of several lizard bodies running around the edge of the mall, and Becka fired another shot before they were completely out of sight. She missed high, and I saw a puff of concrete float away from the wall, but then the dinos were gone and the street was quiet.