by Logan Jacobs
“Do you see any more?” I asked as I studied the parking lot around the strip mall.
“No,” Becka said. “The ones that were left made a run for it. Don’t know how long they’ll stay away, though.”
“Then let’s get out of here,” I said.
I walked over to the driver’s window on the lead car and knocked. The driver, the man who had volunteered to drive, slowly lowered his window and looked at the dino bodies gathered in the street.
“That was something,” he said. “Good thing you had your weapons handy.”
“Next time, don’t stop,” I said. “Drive over them.”
“Right,” he agreed.
“You think there will be a next time?” the wife asked as she peered at me from the backseat.
“I’m hoping we make it back to the power station without any more encounters,” I replied. “But there seem to be a lot of dinosaurs appearing these days, so it’s best to be prepared. So, anything small, just run over them and keep going. Obviously, if it’s something really big, you should go around it. Leave it to me and Becka to take down.”
“Yes, of course,” the driver agreed.
I nodded to the driver and then walked over to the second car. The driver only opened the window a crack, but I gave him the same lecture, and he quickly agreed to everything I suggested. I could see his hands were shaking on the wheel, and I was about to suggest that he trade places with Becka, but he swallowed hard, looked at the people crowded inside his car, and then he nodded as well.
“That was amazing!” one of the boys shouted when I finally returned to the driver’s seat in my car.
“That was pretty incredible,” the teen conceded. “Have you two done this often?”
“That was nothing,” Becka replied. “We took down a couple of the acid spitting ones. We even rode our motorbikes through a store to get away from one.”
“Oh, wow,” the youngest boy said gleefully. “Will you tell us about your adventures?”
“Later,” I said as the caravan set out again. “After everyone’s safe at the power station.”
“Hear that, Mr. Whiskers?” the youngest boy said. “We’re going to hear all about the dinosaurs they’ve killed.”
I glanced at Becka, who winked at me before pointing her rifle out the window again. I grinned as well, and then the teen in the backseat turned up the volume on her phone and filled the car with more K-pop that sounded a lot like the tune Hae-won did her butt dance to. It was hard to keep the car on the road as I remembered the sway of Hae-won’s hips, but a snicker from Becka brought me back to the present moment.
At least the English drivers were willing to go over the speed limit, finally, and we made good time, despite the fact that we had to swerve around abandoned cars again as we drew closer to the power station. We turned off the main road and into the industrial section of town, and we sped past a plastics manufacturer and the die casting facility. The front car nearly missed the turn for the power station, and the tires squealed as the driver made the turn at the last moment.
The soldiers on duty closed in on our line of cars with their weapons out, though I spotted the other cars from our caravan already in the parking lot. I lowered my window and stuck my head out, and I waved at the soldiers.
“Brigadier Walston is expecting us,” I called out. “We’re the rest of the engineering crew.
One of the soldiers, a tanned man with sunglasses and an impossibly short haircut, walked toward me though he stopped at each car and peered inside. One of the drivers held up something that I guessed was probably a security pass for the station, but the soldier looked unimpressed.
“Are you going to tell me that lot in your backseat are employees of the station?” the soldier asked when he finally arrived at our car.
“They’re the family of one of the employees,” I said as I looked at the trio in the rearview mirror. “We picked them up on the way here.”
“Nobody said we were supposed to admit families,” the soldier replied. “Just you and the engineers.”
“Well, we have them,” I said. “So you might as well let us all in.”
“I can’t do that,” the soldier replied. “It’s not allowed.”
The K-pop cut off abruptly, and I took another glance into the rearview mirror. The daughter had a panicked look on her face as she realized that the soldier was about to dump them by the side of the road, where they would be easy targets for whatever dinos were in the area. The sons hadn’t quite grasped what was happening yet, but they looked at their sister with worried eyes.
“They’re coming inside,” I said. “Or the Brigadier won’t get his engineers or his information.”
“Go on,” Becka added. “Call him. Let him know what an ass you’re being.”
The soldier scowled at Becka, but after another look at our passengers, he walked back to the guard shack and stepped inside.
“They won’t really leave us out here, will they?” the teenager asked.
“Of course not,” I assured her, though I wasn’t feeling nearly as confident as I tried to sound.
I looked at Becka, and we exchanged worried glances as we waited for the soldier to return. I had no idea what we would do if the Brigadier refused to admit the families, though smashing through the gate seemed like a possibility. I studied the soldiers I could see and wondered if they would really shoot up our cars if we crashed into the parking lot. I didn’t want to believe that they would, but their assignment was to protect the power station at all costs, whether from human or dinosaur attacks. I just hoped that Walston wanted the full engineering crew desperately enough that we wouldn’t have to test the mettle of the soldiers.
Chapter 12
“Are we going to be staying here with da?” the youngest boy asked in an anxious voice.
“Of course,” Becka said. “It will be a grand adventure for you and Mr. Whiskers.”
“Mr. Whiskers doesn’t much like adventures,” the boy admitted. “He likes to stay in the garden and sleep on the flagstones.”
“Smart cat,” I noted.
“Well, I should have asked this before,” Becka said. “But there really didn’t seem to be a good time. So while we wait for the soldiers to let us in, why don’t you tell me your names.”
“I’m Robbie,” the youngest boy replied.
“I’m George,” his brother added.
“I’m Addie,” the teenaged sister said.
“I’m Becka,” the blonde replied. “And this is my friend, Jason.”
“You’re an American,” George noted.
“I am,” I agreed.
“Is that why you can shoot guns so well?” George asked.
“Hey,” Becka protested. “I did pretty well myself.”
“But you’re a girl,” George replied with a dismissive wave.
I glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Addie roll her eyes while Becka shook her head.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say,” I noted. “Girls can shoot guns, too. Haven’t you ever heard of Annie Oakley?”
“Who’s that?” George asked.
“She was a famous sharpshooter,” I said. “She could shoot a cigar out of a man’s mouth and use a mirror to shoot backwards over her shoulder. She toured with Buffalo Bill, and was just as famous as he was.”
George absorbed that information while Robbie stared wide-eyed at me and Becka.
“So Becka is like Annie Oakley?” Robbie asked.
“Sure,” I said when Becka snorted. “She can shoot the edge of a card at thirty paces.”
George looked skeptical at that, but Robbie ate it up. Addie smiled at her two brothers, but when she looked toward the guard shack again, I could see the worry in her eyes.
The soldier finally emerged and walked slowly back to our car. He peered inside again, and then he signalled for me to step out.
“Brigadier Walston wants to talk to you,” the soldier snapped.
“I can’t just leave everyb
ody out here,” I said.
“He wants to talk to you on the phone,” the soldier explained in an exasperated voice.
I looked at Becka, and then I nodded to the soldier.
“My friend here will move into the driver’s seat,” I said as I got out.
“Whatever,” the soldier replied.
Becka started to open her door, but when the remaining soldiers pointed their rifles in our direction, she eased across the center console and stick shift instead.
“Was that necessary?” I asked my guide.
The man shrugged and walked back to the shack. I followed after him, and made sure to scowl at the two men and one woman who had dared to swing their rifles on Becka. I stepped into the shack, which still smelled like freshly cut lumber, and I accepted the handset for the landline that had been installed by the door.
“Brigadier?” I asked.
“Ah, it is you,” Walston’s voice replied. “But who are all these people they tell me you have with you?”
“We made a couple of stops on the way here,” I said. “They’re the families of some of the engineers.”
“We’re not running a daycare,” Walston replied. “And a power station is hardly the place to have children and pets and unaccompanied adults wandering around.”
“So stick them into one of the tents and tell them to stay out of the plant,” I said. “But you can’t just leave them out here by the side of the road. You’ll have a mutiny on your hands if you do.”
“Brills is already inside,” Walston pointed out.
“Yes, but you really need the whole team,” I said. “And do you really think Brills will just go about his job if he knows you left all these people out here.”
“He’s a good Englishman,” Walston replied. “He’ll do his duty.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “Because he sounded like he supported our little side trips.”
Which wasn’t exactly true, but Walston didn’t know that. As far as the brigadier was concerned, Brills had been the one to suggest that the families be brought here.
“Look,” I said, “when this is all over, you don’t want to be the officer that everyone hates because he wouldn’t let a few family members stay together. But if you let them stay, everyone will be singing your praises. Come on, man, be a hero.”
“If I let them stay,” Walston replied, “I’ll have every civilian around here showing up at the gate and demanding a place to sleep. I don’t have enough soldiers, food, water, or supplies of any kind to handle that many people.”
“Who’s going to know?” I asked. “Once they’re inside, they won’t leave. No one will know until the military has figured out how to stop the portals from opening and things start to go back to normal.”
“When they hold my court martial, you mean,” Walston said.
“If they try, they’ll get burned by the press,” I said.
Walston didn’t say anything, so I decided to try one more argument.
“I know you expect your soldiers to go about their duties despite their own worries about their families,” I said. “It’s what you’re trained to do. But these are just civilian engineers, who up until a couple of weeks ago, have led very ordinary lives that involved sending their kids to school in the morning and driving home from work every day to have dinner with their families. And I know the English are all about a stiff upper lip, but how long do you think they can do their jobs if they start to worry about their spouse and kids and whether they’ve been eaten by a dinosaur?”
There was another long silence, broken only by the sound of paper being shuffled around a desk. Finally, Walston made a chuffing sound, and then the computer signalled an incoming email. I watched a rat scurry along the road, and then Walston made an exaggerated sigh.
“Put the sergeant on,” Walston said.
I handed the phone back to the man with the short cropped hair, who squinted at me the whole time Walston spoke but never uttered a word himself. When Walston finished with his instructions, the sergeant hung up the phone and then pointed toward the cars.
“You’re to go in,” the sergeant said. “All of you, but you and your two friends are to report immediately to the brigadier’s office for an assignment. If you don’t, you and the rest of this lot will be kicked off the property.”
I wasn’t surprised, but I was a bit angry that Walston hadn’t made the offer, such as it was, directly to me. Still, at least we would be allowed inside, and hopefully, whatever Walston needed us to do next wouldn’t require driving to some other town to round up more staff.
“Fine,” I agreed as I stepped out of the shack.
The arm went up before I was even back in the car, and the other two members of our convoy pulled into the power station property and drove straight toward the staff parking lot. Becka waited until I was in the car and the door was closed before she drove slowly forward, and she pulled into a visitor spot near the front door. Our passengers were the first ones to leap from the car, and they ran toward their parents without even a goodbye.
“At least they remembered Mr. Whiskers,” Becka noted.
“Well, if we’re going to ensure their continued stay, then we should see what Walston wants,” I sighed. “I wonder where Hae-won is?”
“I can text her,” Becka replied. “Though it may take the rest of the day for her to get it.”
“Let’s see if she’s inside,” I laughed as two soldiers approached the group of engineers and their families. “Or maybe she’ll be back at the mess tent.”
The soldiers seemed friendly enough as they encouraged the group to move toward some of the tents. The crowd started to move away, and several people waved to us as they walked across the parking lot. Becka and I watched until they were out of sight, and then we collected the last few items from the car and trudged toward the offices.
Hae-won was already inside, seated at a cubicle with her earbuds on. Her head bobbed up and down to whatever she was listening to, and it took her a moment to realize we were there. When she saw us, she leapt to her feet and ran the short distance between us to give us a hug.
“I was getting worried,” Hae-won declared as she unplugged herself from the music. “I didn’t think it would take so long.”
“We had to deal with some small dinos on the way,” I replied. “But we all made it, and a couple of soldiers were taking the families we picked up over to the tents.”
“Brills told Walston that he suspected you would return with the families,” Hae-won said. “Walston wasn’t very happy about that, but Brills stuck up for his engineers. He threatened to walk out if Walston turned them away.”
“He nearly did,” I said. “But apparently he has one more chore for us to perform in order to win the right to stay for all these people.”
“You didn’t mention that,” Becka said with a scowl. “How long are we supposed to stay here?”
“You were okay with spending an extra day in Whittlesey,” I said in surprise.
“But that made sense,” Becka replied.
“And I had time to give her the tattoo,” Hae-won pointed out.
“But how many more little chores are we supposed to do before we’ll be allowed to leave?” Becka demanded. “We already made a deal. He can’t go back on it.”
The door to Walston’s office opened, and the brigadier himself stood there. His eyes fastened onto us, and I felt like I was ten years old again and about to get a lecture from my father about why punching Billy Snodgrass was a bad thing, no matter what he’d said about me.
“I haven’t gone back on our agreement,” Walston announced. “But housing family members wasn’t part of our original agreement, and as persuasive as you and Brills may be, it still goes against my orders. So, if you expect me to agree to this expansion of our terms, then I think it only fair that you be required to do the same.”
Becka scowled, and Hae-won looked at her sneakers. The three of us shuffled uncomfortably for a moment, and then I
forced myself to take a step forward. I managed to keep going, and my companions started to move as well. Walston returned to his chair behind the desk and waited for us all to step inside. When Becka had closed the door behind us, the brigadier nodded and waved us into the guest chairs. At least someone had found an extra armchair to put into the room while we were gone, so I wouldn’t have to sit on one of the wobbly folding chairs again.
“It really is the right thing to do,” I said.
“Let’s hope my superiors agree with you,” Walston replied.
“Whatever it is you want us to do, it better not take too long,” Becka sniffed. “My mum will be getting worried and wonder why we haven’t arrived.”
“Ah, yes,” Walston mused. “You were heading north to find your mother. Yorkshire, was it?”
“Near Scarborough,” Hae-won said, and then cast a furtive glance at Becka to see if she had overstepped.
“So not Scarborough,” Walston prodded.
“It’s just a small place,” Becka replied. “No one’s ever heard of it.”
“Try me,” Walston said.
“Ravenscar,” Becka sighed.
“That’s a totally cool name,” I commented.
“Ah, Ravenscar, the town that never was,” Walston mused. “I haven’t heard of much dinosaur activity around there.”
“That’s good,” Hae-won said.
I was still musing about the name of the town and Walston’s reference to the town that never was, so I tuned out for a moment while Becka started to explain that her mother was a hairdresser who worked mostly for brides holding their weddings at Raven Hall. Walston nodded along, though I suspected he wasn’t paying much attention, either.