Dinosaur World 5

by Logan Jacobs

“I agree,” Kat said, and she traded Hae-won a loaded rifle for her GPS. Then she mounted it on the dashboard and handed me my SA80. “I’m going to start driving. Follow behind me and cover for me if necessary.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  I gave Becka’s cheek a kiss, and I shifted her to a more comfortable position. Then I turned away to run over to my motorcycle, but as I settled into my seat, I saw Kat shove her stuffed shark into Becka’s arms.

  I couldn’t help grinning at Becka’s teary chuckle.

  Even with her leg torn open, the blonde Brit was still making me smile, and I swallowed down the knot of tension in my throat.

  My engine was started less than five seconds later, and Kat’s Jeep tore off through the town with me and Hae-won right behind her.

  I looked over at Hae-won, and her face was drained of all color and expression. The Korean beauty just stared straight ahead, and neither of us spoke as we followed the Jeep to the hospital. I glanced at the sky and checked my side mirror as we drove, but it seemed there weren’t any more immediate threats in the town.

  There were signs that pointed us to the hospital, and I hoped there was someone there who would help. Even if the hospital was abandoned, surely there would be some supplies left behind to stitch up Becka’s wound. I knew Kat would do anything she could to help if she had to. We just needed to get her the supplies.

  The roads were mostly quiet for the drive as we raced as fast as our vehicles would allow. There were more bodies on the street as we passed a small shopping mall, and I assumed there was some kind of dino that lived inside, but I didn’t even spare the building a glance.

  The hospital came into view as we turned a corner through an intersection, and I couldn’t see any signs of life around the large building. As we got closer, it looked like all of the lights were off inside, and there were only two ambulances abandoned in the parking lot.

  We kept up our speed and drove right up to the hospital entrance, and all our tires squealed as we finally came to a stop.

  I jumped off my bike and hurried over to the Jeep as Kat turned the engine off.

  Becka’s eyes were still open, but I could tell she was starting to drift off, and the bandage around her leg was soaked with blood. She was still clutching the stuffed shark, and she left an adorable kiss on the thing’s head before she set it aside and let me scoop her up into my arms.

  “Jason, I want one of those,” Becka murmured. “He’s a cutie.”

  “I’ll get you ten,” I panted as I sprinted for the entrance.

  “I want a baby, too,” she sighed. “With you. Can we have babies soon? Please?”

  “Anything you want, love.” I bit my bottom lip and blinked away a few tears.

  “I’ve got the door!” Hae-won gasped ahead of me.

  “Lock the Jeep!” I hollered over my shoulder.

  “Already done!” Kat assured me.

  Then I noticed the glass doors had thin fabric draped from the ceiling like the aquarium, and my heart leapt as I realized there must be people inside.

  “Hello?” Hae-won called out as she tried to yank the door open, but it was locked. The Korean started hammering on the glass with both fists. “Open the door, please! We need help out here!”

  “If they don’t reply in five seconds, we’re driving through this fucking glass entrance,” I said as I watched Becka’s eyelids flutter again.

  “Psst,” a voice hissed. “This way.”

  We swung around to see a middle-aged woman with fiery red hair near a thick row of shrubs. She had her head poked out of an emergency exit some ten yards away, and she beckoned for us to come in.

  “Holy shit, thank you,” I gasped and ran over to her, and the woman held the door open wide for us as she checked the surroundings.

  Once we were inside, the woman shut the door and immediately shone a small light at Becka’s face and checked her pupils.

  “Hello, sweetie, let’s keep your eyes open,” the woman cooed in a gentle tone, and I could tell she’d said this same thing a hundred times in her life.

  She was a professional, and she was wearing pale-pink scrubs.

  There was a low murmur of voices nearby, and I could see we were in a small wing of the hospital. There was a low reception desk beside us, and light came out of the six rooms on either side of the white hallway.

  “She needs stitches,” I explained hurriedly to the woman. “Please, she got hit by a dino claw. It’s torn her whole calf open.”

  “Right this way,” the woman said and promptly led us to the nearest open room.

  We piled inside to see there were four beds, and two of them were occupied by sleeping men. A younger woman was folding bed sheets, and she dropped them the moment she saw Becka.

  Then the older woman in the pink scrubs helped me lay Becka down on the bed closest to the door, and I clung to her limp hand.

  “What’s her name?” the red-haired nurse asked.

  “Becka,” I answered.

  “She needs to be cleaned up and stitched,” the older nurse instructed, and the younger woman hurried out of the door. “Becka, honey? Becka, I need you to stay awake for me, okay? Can you tell me when your birthday is?”

  “Sex,” Becka mumbled, and her eyes closed again. “Jason’s cock is so… yum.”

  I felt my face heat up as the nurse sent me a quizzical look.

  “Becka, wake up,” I muttered. “Sex later. Right now, you need to--”

  Kat reached a hand out and lightly smacked the Brit a few times on the face, and this managed to jolt her awake again.

  “That’s hardly protocol,” the nurse sighed.

  “Worked, though.” Kat shrugged.

  Then the younger woman appeared in the doorway. She hurried over with a silver platter that held the medical needle, thread, rubbing alcohol, a syringe, gauze, and a white cloth.

  “I’m Mary, by the way,” the redhead said. “This is Emmie. We’ll get her stitched up, but I’m going to ask you three to wait outside and give us some space.”

  “But--” I began.

  “Now,” Mary said firmly, and I dropped Becka’s hand as we were ushered out into the hall.

  Hae-won gripped my hand instead as Mary closed the door, and the three of us stood silent in the dim corridor for a moment.

  “Fuck,” I finally breathed. “That was a huge slice to her leg.”

  “She’s going to be okay, Jason,” Kat said gently.

  “That was too fucking close,” I muttered as the lump returned to my throat. “She could have--”

  “But she didn’t,” the soldier cut in. “That girl is made of steel, she’s not going to give up. She’ll be back with us before you know it.”

  “Yeah, she’s too pissed to let that big ass dino get the best of her,” Hae-won added.

  “That’s true,” I allowed.

  I couldn’t say much more because my throat was closing up, and I knew that Becka had lost so much blood. She had been bleeding for almost half an hour.

  “Let’s sit down,” Hae-won said, and she must have realized I was prepared to stay six inches from the door for as long as I had to. Then the Korean gently tugged me along and toward the plastic chairs against the wall.

  The hospital smelled of crisp lemon bleach, and there were beeps of various machines coming from the other rooms. A few people in scrubs hurried past and barely gave us a second look as they went from room to room.

  “I guess the power is working, then,” Hae-won observed. “The machines and room lights are on.”

  “I wouldn’t like to know what happens if a hospital’s power goes off,” Kat sighed. “I mean, I know what would happen, but let’s not bother thinking about it.”

  “Generators,” I mumbled as I stared down at the sparkling white floor.

  Kat reached over and stroked my back a few times, and Hae-won started doing the same with my hair. I did my best to look completely fine, but I knew the two girls could see right through me. Becka was at the fore
front of my mind, and I was counting the seconds in my head so I could decide when was an appropriate time to knock on the room door and check how things were going.

  Then the door to Becka’s room swung open, and Emmie poked her head out.

  “She’s all stitched up,” the young nurse announced. “Still a bit drowsy, but she’s going to be absolutely fine.”

  “There wasn’t too much blood lost?” I asked and jumped up to hurry over.

  “I’ve got so much blood,” Becka giggled from inside, and the young nurse grinned.

  “She’s a little light-headed from the blood loss,” Emmie explained as she let us all into the room. “But I’ve given her a few biscuits, and she’s on a bit of an IV drip to bring her blood pressure up. I’d say she’ll perk up soon. I know the cut looked bad, but it really wasn’t too detrimental. We’re not recommending a transfusion.”

  “You can do that?” I asked. “You have enough supplies?”

  “Yes, but as I said, it’s not necessary,” the young nurse reiterated. “You got her here in good time. You did well.”

  Becka’s golden hair was everywhere, and she was sprawled out like a beautiful starfish on the bed. Her injured leg was propped up on a few pillows, and a clean dressing was neatly applied to the stitches while her hand had an IV drip taped to it.

  I was at her side in three long strides, and I covered her groggy lips in kisses before I locked her free hand in mine.

  “Jason,” Becka giggled. “Remind me to get injured more often. You sure know how to make a girl feel doted on.”

  “Oh, I’m not done doting on you yet,” I muttered quietly against her lips.

  My entire body felt lighter as I watched her beautiful face blush for me, and her brown eyes met mine.

  “You are so handsome,” she whispered.

  “You are beautiful,” I whispered back. “I love you, but don’t scare me like that again.”

  “So, what exactly happened?” Mary asked as she checked that the dressing was pressed on tightly.

  I glanced at the other two patients in the room, and they were both fast asleep, so I tried to speak softly as I held Becka’s hand.

  “We ran into two spinosauruses,” I answered.

  “Becka took a shot at one, and it fell on her,” Hae-won added as she brushed Becka’s hair from her face. “Its talon ripped her leg.”

  “Lucky girl,” Mary sighed. “That sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Have you lot travelled far?”

  “From Cambridge,” I said. “Kat joined from Peterborough, but the rest of us were students when this all kicked off.”

  “How have you survived?” Emmie asked as she started checking the sleeping patients’ temperatures. “That’s so far away.”

  “Jason’s American, so he’s pretty much the ultimate dino fighter.” Hae-won grinned and shifted her rifle strap on her shoulder. “We make a pretty good team.”

  “Are you trained?” Emmie asked, and her eyes flickered down at my biceps. “Soldiers?”

  “Kat is,” I said. “Hae-won’s basically a Korean superhero, Becka’s a natural born badass, and I guess I just hit the jackpot in finding them.”

  Hae-won and Kat grinned at me, and I winked at my lovers as the atmosphere lightened with every little smile from Becka.

  “Why travel so far?” Mary asked. “You’re just kids, you shouldn’t be out there fighting those things.”

  “We’re going to Becka’s mum,” I replied. “She’s in Ravenscar, so we’re close. It’s been a long journey, though. Things are getting bad out there.”

  The two nurses nodded and glanced at the sleeping patients.

  “Were you here when the attacks started?” Kat asked. “We met some medical staff who set up a camp in the Hull aquarium. They looked tired as hell.”

  “Yeah, we heard about that.” Mary nodded as she stifled a yawn. “I feel for them, trying to run a hospital in that place. I would rather be with my family, but I’m glad to be helping in whatever small way I can.”

  “You saved her,” I said as I sobered. “Nothing about that was small. It means the world to us.”

  The older nurse smiled in response, and her eyes glistened a little.

  “They’re getting worse,” Emmie said. “The attacks. I did a food run with one of the doctors the other day, and we saw a nest. There were eggs the size of me inside.”

  “We’ve seen those, too.” I nodded. “It seems like they’re becoming more territorial because of their young, which means a new level of danger for all of us.”

  “I want to try and get to my sister,” Emmie said. “But she lives in London, and I have no way to find out if she’s even okay. Not being able to contact people is horrendous.”

  “It is,” Becka agreed, but then I noticed she was slurring again.

  The nurses noticed, too, and Mary fluffed her pillow with a light “tsk” sound.

  “You need to rest, dearie,” Mary said firmly. “I think we should let you have a little lie down and peace. Fresh biscuits are right here beside the bed.”

  “Thank you, guys,” Becka said as she shuffled back down on the pillow. “You saved me.”

  I leaned down and gave the beautiful blonde another kiss, and she let her tongue flick against my bottom lip before she closed her eyes again.

  “We’ll be back,” I promised and followed Kat and Hae-won into the corridor.

  “So, you’re a soldier,” Emmie said as she looked down at Kat’s camo pants and boots. “Amir’s brother is, as well.”

  She pointed to a man who had sat down on one of the plastic chairs with a clipboard. He looked Middle Eastern, with thinning hair and blood splattered on his white coat.

  “I think the brother’s in Scampton,” the young nurse added. “Anyway, I need to go check on some of the other patients, but I’ll see you around.”

  Emmie hurried off to another room, and I walked over to the man on the seats.

  “Hey,” I said. “Are you Amir?”

  “That’s me.” The man smiled as he looked up from his clipboard. “Can I help you with anything?”

  “I’m Jason,” I replied. “This is Hae-won and Kat. Our friend, Becka, is being treated at the moment. Emmie said that your brother works at the airbase in Scampton?”

  “That’s right.” Amir nodded.

  “We actually went there on our motorcycles,” I said. “Just a few days ago we had to deliver this briefcase. It was a whole, long story, but I guess we might have met him.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Amir said as he studied us. “My brother told me about you guys. You came in on motorbikes and shot down some dinosaurs.”

  “He told you?” Hae-won asked with a furrowed brow. “What do you mean? Is he here now?”

  “No.” Amir shook his head. “He told me over our satellite phones.”

  I blinked in shock. “Your… what?”

  Chapter 8

  I stared at Amir and took a moment to process what he had said.

  “Satellite phones?” Hae-won asked. “They still work?”

  “Yeah,” Amir replied. “They’re designed to work during natural disasters and things like that. They don’t rely on telecommunication networks like our mobiles do. You would have to ask Malik how it all works, but yeah, it means we can contact each other.”

  “Can we maybe have a chat about all this?” Kat asked. “I don’t suppose you guys have a coffee machine or something?”

  “Of course we do,” Amir laughed. “Medical staff survive on caffeine, and that’s doubly true with dinosaurs around.”

  He stood up and led us down the dim hallway, past the small reception desk, and out into the main lobby area of the hospital.

  I could see now that the covers over the main doors were bedsheets, and the light coming in was dimly filtered through the fabric.

  We walked across the linoleum floor and through another doorway that led into a different ward. The lights were on, and there was a waiting area with comfier chairs, a fridge, and a
coffee maker.

  “So, you’re a doctor?” Kat asked as we made our way to the seats.

  “I’m a neurologist.” Amir nodded as he grabbed some cups from beside the coffee maker and put an espresso pod inside the machine. “But at the moment, I just do anything and everything. We’ve all had to pitch in and help since there’s not a full staff. Most people left when all this kicked off, but those who stayed to help have had to learn a whole lot on the job.”

  “It must be tough,” I replied as I sat down on a green fabric chair. “Have you thought about leaving to be with your brother?”

  “Not really,” Amir sighed as he handed Hae-won the first coffee and started to make another. “Malik keeps me up to date with everything going on, and it just sounds too dangerous to travel that far. Unlike you guys, I would be bloody useless with a gun.”

  “I could teach you.” Kat grinned as she happily took the mug she was handed. “If you can perform brain surgery, you can shoot a gun.”

  “Maybe,” Amir laughed. “But I’m happy to stay here where I can help people.”

  He handed me a cup of coffee, and I gratefully accepted. The smell alone was enough to energize me, and it tasted like what I used to drink at the university.

  Amir made his own cup and then took a seat opposite us with a sigh. Like all the other medical workers we had met, he looked tired.

  “So,” I said. “Your brother, Malik, is at Scampton air base. Has he ever mentioned the briefcase we delivered from Brigadier Walston?”

  “He did.” Amir nodded. “There’s actually a lot going on with the tests and research that they’ve done down there, I just don’t know if I should really share it. Although, if the world’s ending, I don’t suppose it matters.”

  I looked at the girls and leaned in closer to Amir. It sounded like he knew something we didn’t, and we needed all the information we could get in order to survive.

  “We delivered that briefcase,” I said. “We were trusted to bring it all that way, and we know there was dino DNA inside.”

  “They told you what was inside?” Amir asked in surprise.

  “Well…” Hae-won hummed. “We just had a little peek, to make sure we weren’t carrying anything too dangerous.”