Jurassic War

by Hinton, Charles

  The truck was towed.

  All bank machines in the city were out of order. A man drove his car to a bank and got out and walked to its door. It was locked.

  Angry, he banged on it but no one answered. “Damn!” he shouted.

  As he walked back to his car, he was approached by four street gang

  members. The leader pulled a gun. “Give me your money and your car

  keys or I’ll blow your freaking head off! Hurry!”

  Scared, shivering, the man quickly gave up his wallet and keys. The leader opened the wallet and emptied it. The gang searched the man

  and found no money. They became angry and their leader aimed his gun

  ready to blow the man’s brains out. The man pleaded for mercy. The

  leader changed his mind and said, “He’s not worth killing. We got

  his car keys. Let’s get out of here.”

  A family in the suburbs were loading their belongings in a truck.

  The father careless left the keys in it. While the family was in their house, packing more belongings, a thief approached the window of their truck and saw its keys. He got in and turned the ignition several

  times, but the truck hesitated and wouldn’t start. The father approached the driver’s window with a shotgun and pointed it at the thief’s head.

  “Are you going somewhere?”

  The thief shocked as he looked at the gun barrel. The father pulled the trigger, blowing the thief’s face off, and blood and pieces of brain splattered on the truck seat.

  Cornball was in his office talking to his chief of police. “The National Guard have relieved your men from the roadblocks.”

  “Good, I certainly need them. A few of my officers were killed stopping shooting, robberies and fights. Most of the crimes were due to people panicking.”

  Cornball’s assistant entered the room. “Excuse me, your Honor. There’s an Englishman in the corridor. His name is Larry Fisher. He demands

  to see you. He said he’s the game warden of Dinosaur Land.”

  Surprised, Cornball said, “Send him in right away! Maybe he can tell

  us something.”

  Larry came in, walking to Cornball’s desk, pointing an umbrella. “Chaps, I’m here to tell you what this city is expecting!”

  “Sit down, Mr. Fisher! Your damn zoo is responsible for this mess!”

  Cornball said. “Many deaths have occurred in my city!”

  Larry slammed his umbrella on Cornball’s desk, yelled, “How dare you

  blame the zoo, bloody chap? It was the earthquake that freed the dinosaurs!

  I might say, some of them are running in herds, like a cattle stampede heading in the direction of your bloody city!”

  Angry, Cornball yelled, “Get that damn umbrella off my desk! Why are they heading this way?”

  Larry removed the umbrella. “For all the King’s ransom, the only theory I have is that the meat-eaters are following their food, which is the plant-eaters, who are stampeding this way. Also the meat-eaters probably sense that there’s a food source in this city.”

  “What food source and how many dinosaurs are heading this way?”

  asked the police chief.

  “Humans and hundreds, I would say, dear fellow.”

  “Well, I hope the National Guard stops them at the roadblocks,” Cornball said.

  Surprised, Larry stood, yelling, “National Guard troops are at roadblocks? Dear heavens! You must get on the phone now and tell the general to vacate his troops from all roadblocks or they’ll be stampeded!”

  Cornball quickly phoned Lieutenant General Thompson, who was in

  command of the National Guard. “This is Mayor Cornball. Have your troops pull away from the roadblocks immediately, General!”

  “Sorry, you’re not the governor. I only take orders from him.”

  “Listen, you idiot! Pull your troops away or they’ll be stampeded!”

  The general hung up. Cornball said to Larry, “I’ll call, Governor Shoemaker.”

  He dialed the number. “This is Mayor Cornball I want to speak to the governor.”

  “Sorry, the governor is at a press conference, he won’t be available for an hour,” said the governor’s assistant.

  “Well interrupt his conference! This a matter of live and death!”

  “Sorry, Mayor, I can’t do that!” The assistant hung up.

  “I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do,” Cornball apologized to Larry, “but as soon as the governor gets out of the press conference, I’ll try again.”

  Larry said, “By that time it may be too late, chaps.”

  “We’d better get out of this city, Mayor,” The chief said, “before the dinosaurs arrive. The limousine is waiting out front.”

  “Mr. Fisher, you want to come with us?”

  “No, I have a helicopter. Tip-top, tallyho, chaps.”

  After Larry left, Cornball said to his chief, “That man reminds me of a British butler.” They laughed.

  Thompson arrived at one of the roadblocks. His troops were waiting patiently. He said to the commander in charge, “How are things going, Colonel?”

  “Fine, sir. Our tanks are set up and the troops have automatic weapons.

  The dinosaurs won’t have a chance. You want some coffee, sir?”

  “Yes, with cream and sugar.”

  The colonel walked away to get the coffee. A radioman approached Thompson. “Sir, it’s the governor.”

  “I think I know what he wants. Tell him I just left.”

  The radioman came back. “Sir, the governor wants me to tell the colonel to pull his troops away from this roadblock.”

  “I’m overriding the governor’s order?”

  “Sir, isn’t that impossible?”

  “No! Now get back over there, Private, and stay there!”

  Later, the colonel walked over to the radioman, who said, “Sir, the governor phoned and told me to tell you to pull your troops away from this roadblock, but the general said he’d override it.”

  “When was this?”

  “Twenty minutes ago.”

  “And you’re just telling me now!”

  “The general ordered me to stay put, sir.”

  Upset, the colonel went to Thompson. “The governor wanted the troops out of here. Why the hell did you delay that order? I’m order my troops out of here, General!”

  Before Thompson could react to what the colonel said, the ground rumbled. A soldier shouted, “Dinosaurs are coming!”

  The colonel shouted, “Fire your weapons!”

  Thompson looked through his binoculars. “Oh my God, the mayor was right.”

  The troops fired their automatic weapons and tanks at the charging herds of huge plant-eaters, killing a few but, like a freight train, the dinosaurs stampeded over tanks, vehicles and troops, crushing everything in their path.

  The pterosaurs swooped down and ate the crushed dead bodies like vultures.

  Cornball and his chief of police were in a limousine heading from the city. The chief’s portable phone rang. He answered it and listened.

  “I’ll inform him.”

  “What happened, Chief?”

  “General Thompson was killed at a roadblock with some of his troops.”

  “That’s impossible. I informed the governor in time.”

  “Apparently something went wrong.”

  “Well, at least the majority of the people have left the city.”

  Chapter 3

  The people who didn’t want to leave the city by buses, cars or trains were at the Los Angeles airport catching in route flights. Inside

  the terminal on its loudspeakers an airport worker announced, “By

  order of the United States President, all flights have been cancel

  due to the danger of the pterosaurs! The flights will resume when

  the danger is over! The National Guard will arrived shortly to provide all of you with transportation to a safe area! We’re sorry for the
>
  inconvenience!”

  The majority of the crowd grew angry at the announcement and some argued at check-in counters. There were no buses or rental vehicles

  and not a single taxi to take them from the airport. Everybody stayed except for those who had vehicles.

  In route was a large convoy of National Guard trucks and buses to pickup the people at the airport. As the vehicles sped along, the

  one up front came to a sudden stop as a rex roamed out in front of

  it, roared and swiped it off the road with a bob of its head, killing the driver and causing a chain reaction.

  Some vehicles flipped, killing its drivers. The rest of them were trapped by the accident, the drivers abandoning them and retreating.

  The rex roared, looked around and headed for the airport. As some drivers ran they were ambushed by sixty small meat-eaters. Screams were heard as these dinosaurs ripped the flesh off the troops, eating it.”

  The people at the airport waited impatiently for the National Guard, not knowing that their transport had been ambushed. Ferson, the chief of airport security, received a call from Cornball. “Chief Ferson,

  there has been a terrible accident, the transport that was heading

  there has been destroyed. Please don’t inform patrons because it will only cause more panic. I’ll get transport there.”

  “I hope it’s fast, Mayor because tempers are flaring. Thank God no fights have broke out yet, but there’re loud arguments that may turn

  into fights.”

  “Well, do your best to keep the peace.”

  “I will, Mayor.” Ferson hung up.

  Loud screams were heard throughout the airport. An airport guard went into Ferson’s office. Excited, he said, “Sir, a rex is out front!”

  “Quick, order the guards to lock all doors.”

  “Don’t worry, sir, he’s too big to get in.”

  “I know that. I don’t want anybody to get out. That thing will eat a person alive.”

  The guard quickly left to give Ferson’s orders.

  Not able to get inside the airport terminal, the rex roared and stomped angrily. Some people looked at it through the terminal windows, some

  frightened and some amazed and some hiding in fear, thinking the

  thing can get in.

  Five ceratosaurs, each half the size of the rex, ran to it and attacked it. The people watched with amazement as the creatures bit and clawed into rex, taking it down. The rex managed to kill one, but the odds were to great. They defeated it.

  The people cheered except one who yelled, “What the hell are you cheering for?” The cheering stopped, and the people listened. “Those things didn’t kill the rex to protect you! They killed it to protect their food supply which is you! And they’re small enough to get in here!”

  The people were wondering, was he right.

  The ceratosaurs retreated from the dead rex and headed toward the terminal. Lowering their heads, they charged through, breaking the

  glass doors.

  The airport security guards blocked the ceratosaurs by firing their small-arms weapons, which didn’t have an effect. The ceratosaurs tore through the security groups, killing them all except for Ferson, who

  fired a shotgun at one, but only crippled it. It rushed and ripped

  Ferson’s head off with it teeth.

  The ceratosaurs roared and chased the frantic, screaming crowd through the terminal. Some of the crowd were ripped and killed. Some defended themselves by swinging things, but it didn’t do any good as ceratosaurs torn their flesh, killing them. Some hid in airport restaurants, stores, and rest rooms, which the ceratosaurs couldn’t fit into. And they

  had a new enemy invading their territory-twenty raptors, who entered

  the terminal seeking out the majority of the hidden and killing them.

  The few surviving people were hoping someone or something would save

  them. The raptors stopped seeking the hidden and turned on the ceratosaurs, but the battle was interrupted by Cornball and the police chief with a hundred police who had heavy weaponry. The police fired their automatic weapons at the raptors, killing many while a few police were rushed and killed before all the raptors were.

  Cornball blew a Ceratosaurus’ head off with an anti-tank weapon, and said, “Ha! that’s what you get for messing with my airport!”

  The rest of ceratosaurs were killed by the police with anti-tank weapons.

  The airport was safe. The police sought out the patrons who were hiding.

  They were relieved to see the police. Cornball informed Shoemaker

  about the casualties.

  Everybody was evacuated from the airport, which looked like a bloody, gruesome battlefield. Ripped, dead bodies lay on the floors, and blood was spattered on the ceilings and walls. Large and small holes were

  in the walls from the artillery and small fires spread in some area.

  Shoemaker called the President. “Mr. President, there was a tragedy

  at the airport, hundred of people were killed by dinosaurs. Also many of the National Guard were ambushed and killed. Where are the

  reinforcements?”

  “Governor, I have ordered two hundred and fifty thousand troops there.”

  “Why are they taking so long?”

  “It takes time to round up troops. As governor, you should know that.”

  “What am I going to tell the families of the people who died?”

  “You figure it out, you’re a governor.”

  The military was on alert. Marine, Army and Air Force troops were called from across the nation. On a military carrier heading for California a group of Army troops was anxious to fight. One said, “I can’t wait

  to get to L.A. to kill dinosaurs. My family was killed by them.”

  Another cleaning his weapon, said, “I heard we’re going to be under the command of General Halfway. Hey, Sergeant Jones, you served under him in the last war. What can you tell us about him?”

  Jones, a platoon sergeant, said, “He’s a hardball, and he doesn’t take crap from his officers. He loves to go for the throat of his enemy.

  He’ll push his troops to the maximum. When the war was over he rewarded them. That’s what I like about him. I think the President chose the

  right commander to be in charge. You need someone vicious

  when you’re going against viciousness. My men and I called him the

  Black Patton. He believes in winning at any cost. He’ll use any means to destroy his enemy.”

  “Sarge, many National Guardsmen were killed,” another troop said.

  “Their bodies were smashed by plant-eaters while they were guarding

  a roadblock.”

  “I know. If the plant-eaters can kill like that, imaging what the ruthless ones can do,” Jones said.

  “Who are the ruthless ones, Sarge?” another troop asked.

  “The meat-eaters. They’ll rip your bodies apart then eat you, and the larger ones will grind your body up with their huge teeth and swallow it.

  They’ve already slaughtered many civilians. From that I hope you know that this isn’t going to be an easy battle.”

  A marine drill sergeant entered a barrack, shouting as he walked through, “Wake up, you maggots! This country is at war!” The marine trainees quickly jumped out of beds and stood at attention. “Because of the number of troops we need for this war, you’ll not receive your schooling for occupational training until it’s over! After your basic-training

  graduation tomorrow you’ll be assigned to infantry, and shipped out

  immediately and sent to the front line! Now get dressed! We’re going

  to start the graduation ceremony early! Move it, maggots!”

  As the trainees got dressed one said to another, “I can’t believe they canceled our schooling and are sending us to fight dinosaurs.

  I didn’t join the Marines to be in the infantry, I joined to become

  a computer
operator.”

  The other said, “You’ll get a chance to become a computer operator.

  We’ll resume our schooling after the war.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  Suddenly the trainees were surprised by an attack by eight trained pit bulls, who ran inside barking and growling ripping some of the

  trainees’ uniforms apart. Some trainees jumped on the top bunks to

  escape the dogs.

  The drill sergeant came back in, and blew a whistler and the dogs sat. “This time these are dogs! Next time they could be dinosaurs!

  So you maggots better be prepared for this war!”

  At an Air Force base in an officers’ club, two pilots sipped their drinks at the bar and chatted. “I can’t believe they want us to use

  our jets to kill dinosaurs. Can’t the Army bomb them.”

  “I think they really need us to kill the pterosaurs, who can fly.”

  “But what about the Army’s air defense units? They’re equipped to shoots pterosaurs out of the sky.”

  “What I think is the President wants to end this war quickly. That’s the reason why we were called.”

  “Well, the good thing about it, we’re not battling planes, warships or artillery.”

  “I say aye to that.”

  They raised their drinks and cheered.

  Shoemaker was in his office. His aide walked in, saying, “Governor, you have to give a press conference.”

  “I just gave one.”

  “Well, you have to give another because of the airport and the National Guard’s incidents and numerous press people are outside.”

  As Shoemaker entered the pressroom, a reporter shouted, “Governor!

  what are you going to do about the airport’s incident!”

  The governor stood on a platform and said, “There’s nothing to do,

  the survivors have already been transported to safe areas. My sympathies go out to National Guard troops who were killed defending people and

  the people who were killed at the airport and other areas.”