Delaney, fingers twitching, leaned against the wall outside and fumbled around in her purse. She pulled out a pack of menthols, still wrapped in plastic. She mulled something over, then dug for a lighter and ripped open the package. With a cigarette in her mouth, she lifted the flame—
“Uncle Sam didn’t say you smoked.” Logan and Lauren appeared. The little boy was carrying a stack of papers and looking up at Del with sagging, disillusioned eyes.
“I don’t.” She immediately tossed the lighter and cigarette back into her purse. “Least not no more.”
“He wanted to come back,” his mother said with a hint of exasperation. “I got tired of telling him no.”
“I didn’t want to leave uncle Sam.”
They made their way back into the hospital and Lauren immediately started bickering with Bev out in the hall. Logan and Del sat on the couch in Sam’s room.
“Whatcha got there?” she asked, nodding to the papers.
“One of uncle Sam’s stories. I guess no one liked it...”
“Really?” The bundle of pages was riddled with red marks and post-it notes.
“It’s one of my favorites.”
There was a long pause as Logan flipped through it.
“Do you want me to read it to you?” Delaney nervously asked.
“Would you? It always sounds better when someone reads it.”
“Sure, give it here.”
He handed her the manuscript and slid close, resting his head on her shoulder. Delaney cleared her throat and started reading, “We’ll start in the middle, okay? Ahem, ‘The blue skies had turned gray. The dry air had turned damp. The cracked, desolate highway that ran through the desert had hit a wall of foliage stretching as far as the eye could see, a dense jungle of dripping greenery rivaling the splendor of the great forests of the Amazon. They stared in stunned awe at the sheer sight of it, silenced by its grandeur…’”
“The hell is this?”
Sam and Nedry stood at the threshold to the sudden rainforest. From within the thick muddle of vegetation emanated the chirping of birds, the buzzing of insects and the croaking of frogs. The road became a narrow wooden path that snaked through the wilderness. A worn sign half-swallowed by undergrowth faintly read “Atlas” with an Up arrow.
“Well, the old guy said to keep following the path, right?”
They moved into the jungle. Nedry’s toe claws clacked on the walkway. It was hot and humid. Sam’s shirt dripped with sweat. He downed a bottle of water and handed another to his companion, who watched the plethora of tasty-looking insects with starry eyes.
“Don’t do it. Remember last time?”
The little animal grunted and sighed.
They pressed on as the pathway stretched over a bog and twisted around mossy tree stumps poking up through the water, some of them as big as small mountain peaks and teeming with bugs. A mist rose from the surface, cloaking the swamp in ghostly fog. Sunlight trickled through the canopy far above while drops of delicate rain pelted their heads. There was perpetual movement amongst the trees. Sam couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being followed…being watched.
A peculiar school of pink, glowing fish swam under the walkway. One curious member broke off from its group to inspect the visitors. With a little splash, it hopped out of the water and landed on the catwalk with four springy legs. Its three eyes looked remarkably human as it curiously examined them, its slimy gills rhythmically flexing as it drew in air.
“So it’s a land fish? Weird…”
Nedry, ever the stealthy, majestic hunter, licked his lips and reared back, then slowly lurked toward the…fish…thing. Which in turn never even flinched as the feeble predator approached.
“Nedry, leave it alone.”
He didn’t listen. He moved closer…closer…extended his claws…and—
The pintsize fish let out a horrible screech of wrath. A frilly umbrella sprouted from around its neck like the tail of a peacock and it puffed its chest to the size of a soccer ball. Nedry leapt into Sam’s waiting arms, shaking like a frightened puppy.
“Maybe you should think of going vegan?”
The dinosaur leapt back down and hid behind Sam’s legs, who leaned in to get a closer look at the strange creature. It calmed and flattened back its frill. It certainly didn’t look scared of him. “Come here little guy…” He extended his hand to pet it when, in one violent motion, the fish was struck by a thick, powerful, purple tongue. Its eyes bulged and it delivered a final scream of terror before it was sucked into the waiting mouth of a dog-sized frog clinging to a nearby tree. Its panicked shrieks for help were swiftly extinguished as the oversized amphibian took one audible gulp.
The frog then turned its attention to Nedry, who was just big enough to fit down its maw. It fired its tongue and grabbed him by a leg. Sam grabbed the thrashing dinosaur right before he was snatched off the path and played tug of war…a battle he was losing.
“Let go, asshole!”
He was pulled closer to the edge. Nedry cried and tried to slash the tongue with his claws to no avail.
“I said let go you son of a—”
The water erupted at the base of the tree and an enormous, eel-like creature bigger than a dolphin shot up from beneath the surface. It plucked the giant frog off the tree and dragged it into the depths, ripping its tongue in the process. Sam peeled the slippery appendage off Nedry and tossed it into the swamp, where it was immediately swarmed by odd aquatic insects.
“Great!” Sam gasped. “Anything else want to try and kill us today?”
He spoke too soon.
A monstrous silhouette beneath the surface torpedoed toward them.
“Okay, time to run again!”
They took off down the walkway as wooden planks exploded at their heels.
“Don’t look back!”
Nedry looked back. A colossal set of jaws was chomping away at the path. He suddenly found the strength to pick up speed.
“Almost there!”
They jumped to the shoreline and rolled in the dirt as the last bits of catwalk were obliterated. The massive swamp shark leapt out of the water and landed with a hard thwack, its teeth still munching away. Sam gave it one solid kick to the nose and it squirmed back into the water, swimming off in defeat.
“'And they didn’t get up for what seemed like the longest time. When they finally did, they continued onward through a path in the foliage, deeper into the jungle.’” Delaney turned to the next chapter, but Logan was fast asleep, his head in her lap. She smiled and held him close. She watched as Sam lay at peace, the heart monitor gently beeping away.
Her phone vibrated. She pulled it out. Another missed call. From the same person. But for the first time in her life, she felt the strength to do something she’d never done. She scrolled down to his name in her phone book and pressed “Block.”
Nedry’sswaying tail slapped at ferns as they walked along the narrow jungle trail. Sam’s shoes left prints in the mud. They’d occasionally stop to the unmistakable sound of giggling in the foliage, though it would immediately cease the second they tried to listen.
They eventually came to a clearing in the forest. Vines lined with bushy blue flowers dangled from the canopy. “Atlas” was etched into a wooden sign with an arrow pointing to the other side of the hanging garden.
“I guess we go this way…”
It was uncannily quiet as they pushed through the curtain of vegetation, a stark contrast to the bustling hum of the swamp. Nedry was on edge. His eyes darted about in search of some unseen predator. He growled and kept his head low.
One of the flowers stuck to Sam’s shoulder. He pulled it off and rubbed the sticky green sap it left behind between his fingers. “What the…”
It started burning. He rubbed it off on his pants, then felt a moment of terror as he realized the vines had wrapped around his legs. The stinging radiated through his body, and the more he struggled, the more it hurt. Nedry wailed in pain. The tendrils of t
he garden had minds of their own, coiling around the two victims and lifting them off the ground. The flowers turned from gentle blue to blood red in the blink of an eye, pulsating with anticipation. They tried to swing and rip themselves loose, but the plants’ grips only tightened, until they wrapped around his throat and face, blinding him.
For a moment, he thought about giving up. He pondered what would happen to him. Was death here the same as death in the real world? Were his last memories to be the weightlessness of being hoisted into the air by a carnivorous salad?
But then, like the relieving siren of a police car to a man being mugged, he heard a strangely human war cry, though admittedly muffled through the dense tangle of flora. There was the sound of slicing and cutting, then the familiar sensation of falling…falling…falling…
And that was all he remembered.
Sam’s body convulsed on the hospital bed, as if he’d fallen in a dream, then immediately relaxed again. The morning sunlight gushed in through the windows as Delaney opened her eyes and yawned. Logan was already awake, flipping through channels on a TV mounted near the ceiling.
“Did I sleep all night?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s almost time for uncle Sam’s surgery.”
“Where’s your mom? And your grandma?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t see my mom a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s not around very much.” He spoke nonchalantly, casually, like it was just an unavoidable fact of life. “Sometimes I wish uncle Sam was my dad.”
Del patted his back. “Hey, my momma wasn’t there for me all the time neither. Sometimes life can be busy. Least you get to know her.”
“What was yours like?”
A pause. She wearily looked off into space. “I don’t know. She left when I was a baby. Ain’t never even met her…”
“I bet she was nice like you.”
“Yeah…” she answered vacantly. “Maybe.”
“He’s here.” Bev suddenly stormed into the room, her voice shaking. “His father’s here.”
And behind her, he walked in. Tall, imposing, with a ring of gray hair around a shiny head. His chest was perpetually sticking out, his arms were always crossed and a scowl was stamped permanently over his brow. His voice was deep and menacing. “What did the idiot do? Hit a light pole?”
“He was in a hit and run, John.”
“Probably his own fault. When’s the surgery?”
A few nurses came into the room and started pulling out IVs. “We’re prepping him now. Dr. Eade’s waiting.”
“How long’s it going to take?”
“A few hours, sir.”
They started wheeling him out into the hall, past a frozen Lauren. Delaney followed.
“Who the hell is that?” John asked.
Bev answered, “Don’t worry about it.”
He smiled a sadistic smile. “Jeez, freaking yuppie’s finally getting some ass and he goes and gets his dumbass hit by a—”
Smack.
Bev gave him a stiff whack across the face. “Your son is about to go into a surgery that he may not come out of alive.”
John rubbed his face, a fresh handprint forming on his cheek.
“Think about his last memories of you if he never wakes up…”
In the hall, Del caught up to the stretcher as nurses wheeled the young man toward the operating room. She fought back tears as she reached out to touch his hand. “You better wake up, Sam, you hear! You better wake up!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am.” An orderly waved her away as the cart was pushed through a set of double doors.
Delaney watched as they swung closed. “Please wake up…”
“Wake up, Sam! Wake up!” He heard a strong voice in his head as his eyes popped open. It was dark. The flickering orange light of a nearby flame danced on the ceiling. He was lying on a stone floor, wooden walls stretching up around him. Nedry happily licked his face. He pushed the animal away and rolled over, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Then, through the darkness, he heard a powerful, Scottish voice, “You may ‘ave a few bumps ‘n bruises there, lad, but nothin’ a little brew won’t cure.” In the corner of the cabin stood a bear of a man. Seven feet tall with a beard down to his chest and a vest made of thick fur with an iron helmet. A Viking if he’d ever seen one. “Took a nasty fall in the Garden of Evil ya did, but we patched ya up nice and good.”
At any other time in his life, Sam would’ve been lost for words. But not anymore. “Thanks.” He looked around the cabin. “Where am I?”
“The Oasis, my boy. Can you stand?”
“I think so…” His legs were wobbly, but otherwise functional.
“Wonderful!” The Viking shook Sam’s hand. His paw could’ve been mistaken for Bigfoot’s. “You can call me Doc. I had a name once,” he mused. “Don’t right remember it, though. Come on, the others’ll want to meet ya.”
“Uh, others?”
Doc led Sam and Nedry out onto a wooden deck overlooking a shimmering lake in the heart of the jungle, surrounded by a beach. In the middle of the lake was an island, the entrance to a rocky cave resting upon its shores. The moonlight twinkled off the waves. A calm fire burned at the center of a round table. Two hulking figures were ripping at hunks of meat, gulping beer from metal mugs and laughing over the crackling flames. One was taller, at least eight feet, while the other stood a good six and a half—the runt of the three. Both wore similar garb, furry vests and boots.
“Well, well, look who’s walking,” the smaller one said. “Looks like I owe you some money, Darwin.”
“That’s enough, Cook.” The tallest Viking’s voice was that of a warrior’s. Strong, commanding, authoritative. He stared Sam down. “Sit.”
“Uh, yeah…right…” He and Nedry took the empty seats. The dinosaur couldn’t keep his eyes off the juicy-looking bits of meat laid out on the table; drumsticks, steaks, whole chickens, glistening hams, anything imaginable.
“So,” Darwin said as Doc took his own seat, “what is your name, guest?”
“Uh…Sam. Sam Pierce.”
“And tell us, Sam Pierce, from where do you hail?”
“Washington…but I live in New York…I think…it’s kind of complicated right now, to be honest.”
Doc slid a plate of food over to Nedry and the little animal blissfully dug in. Suddenly nothing else mattered to him in the world.
“Your friend’s injured…” Darwin nodded to the gash on Nedry’s side. It was crusting over, but still moist.
“Oh…yeah…he’ll be fine. He’s been like that a few days now.”
“Hmph.” The giant seemed to know something Sam didn’t. “What is it you do, Sam Pierce of Washington?”
“Um…you can just call me Sam. And I’m a writer, I guess.”
“A writer? Of what?”
“Uh…stories? Jokes, sometimes.”
Cook suddenly looked excited. “Jokes? I love jokes! Tell us a joke!”
“Yes, lad,” bellowed Doc. “Give us a good laugh, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Crickets chirped in the background. Nedry slobbered through food.
“Uh…” Sam timidly tugged at his collar. “I…I don’t know…”
Silence.
“Well, that wasn’t very funny…” said Cook with a disappointed grunt.
Darwin crossed his arms. “Confidence doesn’t seem to be your forte, does it, lad?”
“I mean…not really…I guess…”
“I can tell by how you guess everything. Is there nothing you know? Do you have a family, Sam Pierce?”
“Yes. Two sisters…well…one sister…and a nephew.”
“You are the elder?”
“Yeah…I guess you could put it that way. Never had any older brothers or anything…Sort of wish I had sometimes…would’ve made life easier once in a while.”
“Well, I shall make you a deal.” Darwin stood to his full height. He nearly blocked out the mo
on. “Tell us one joke. Just one. Make us laugh. And if you succeed, you will have the brothers you always wanted.” Cook and Doc nodded in agreement.
Sam sat for a long time, six huge eyes staring at him. He raced through his mind, searching every nook, cranny, and fold to pull out a joke—any joke—but could find nothing. Finally, something came to him...though he had strong doubts as to whether or not it would actually work.
“Okay…so—”
He was interrupted by a roar. A familiar one. A winged shadow appeared over the horizon.
Diakrino the dragon was back for more.
Perhaps to finish what he started.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Doctors passed instruments around. A respirator pumped. Bright lights shined down from the ceiling. Sam lay open on the operating table. His family—and Delaney—waited outside.
“Almost there,” the surgeon said through her mask as she carefully removed a piece of rib. “You can do it, Sam.”
“Come on, mate! You can do it!” Doc shouted as the dragon grew in the distance. Its powerful roars shook the planks of the deck.
“You can’t defeat Diakrino without our help, lad.” Darwin stood strong, his back to the approaching beast. “And we don’t help those we do not trust.”
“But you helped me with the plants!” Sam panicked as he watched the dragon get bigger and bigger, picking up speed.
Cook shrugged. “We was just bored, mate. I’m pretty content right now, though.”
“Oh, come on!” He thought about making a break for it, but knew it wouldn’t have been of any use. The dragon reared back its wings and prepared to dive. All the while, Nedry remained oblivious, his head half-buried in a pile of chicken.
“I’m waiting, Sam Pierce.”
“Okay, fine, fine…” He took deep breaths.
Flash!
A fireball from the monster’s mouth swooshed past the deck, engulfed by the jungle. But he could feel the heat of it as it whizzed by. And it didn’t make things any easier.
“Okay, okay, I got this…uh…uh…”
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