“Fall in!” The XO headed for the supplies.
Brazo watched his men wearily turn and follow, continuing the be the good sailors they were trained to be.
He waited until the last in line was barely out of sight before he removed the Colt from his side.
*
Jim Stone poured water from a container. He had filled everyone’s cup, with Slick being the final one served.
As they drank in silence, the shout of a Colt .45 honored the life of the latest fallen sailor of the USS Sutton.
Chapter 14
Jakob Norz had been reassigned by Commander Christoph Neuzetser from electro machinist to leading four other crewmen on the recon mission mapping the north. He wasn’t sure why he was chosen to the lead the group. Perhaps it was his age, as he was among the oldest of the crew. Of the crewmen he led, they were all at least twenty years his junior. Norz had the reputation of being a perfectionist and demanded the same from others.
The five were on their way back to camp after spending the first night near a wall of limestone. He estimated they had traveled over twenty-four kilometers before bunking down. During the journey, they had seen creatures out of time that staggered the imagination.
The first they came upon was near fifty meters long when it walked on all fours. Which at first sight seemed impossible because the front legs were shorter than the rear, resembling arms more than legs. But that didn’t stop this duckbilled beast from getting around. It had a crest on its head that went down the neck all the way across its back, where it became noticeably taller. Norz thought its body shape resembled a teardrop turned on its side, the point being the tail. The massive creature must have weighed several tonnes. Standing on four legs had its head taller than an average man. When it stood on its back legs to eat leaves, Norz guessed it towered another three meters!
From the looks of things, this animal was a herbivore. Which gave Norz some relief, as he questioned how effective bullets from his Sturmgewehr would fare against it.
Along the way, they saw a few more creatures like it and some similar but distinctly different. There was one four-legged creature that reminded him of an armored vehicle. The beast was five meters long and two meters tall. Its back had raised plates that might have been strong enough to stop bullets. At the end of its tail, a mace-like ball attached to the end, a defensive weapon for certain. A similar animal, a stegosaurus, grazed listlessly as they made their way past. Stegosaurus was one of the few dinosaur names Norz knew, and right now, he wished he knew them all. Pterosaurs, as well as the small two-legged dinosaurs, were so common that they no longer looked at them with fascination.
The most impressive sight of all was the brontosaurus. Thankfully, another herbivore, the animal was over twenty-two meters long. Its legs looked like columns of concrete large enough to support a bridge. When it raised its head to eat leaves from a tree, it topped out near nine meters. The creature appeared to be slow, but so far Norz hadn’t seen any potential predators. Even if T. rexes existed on this land, another dinosaur name he knew and could identify, he didn’t think it could take down the brontosaurus. It seemed to him that the weight of one foot could crush the rex in one stomp. The tail was certainly large enough to knock a rex to the ground and possibly do more damage than that.
Norz imagined how this land could be turned into a zoo. People would flock from all over the world for a glimpse into times past. Why, once domesticated, dinosaurs might even be fed by hand and ridden. He saw himself as someone who, once they returned to civilization, would volunteer to return and work with others to make this dream a reality. This fantasy helped fill the hole he had in his heart since the dream of the Führer started to die. He could start a new life in a new world. Perhaps this new land would be a way to bring the people of the world together. Norz was tired of war, and the bitterness of defeat put things in perspective. He would be an international greeter here and take visitors on bus tours to the ooos and ahhs of travelers’ delight.
Something crashed through the brush to their right side. It sounded larger than the small dinosaurs they were used to.
The five men spun on their heels and craned their necks as if to see past dense foliage, rifles at the ready.
A theropod burst through the tall grass and landed on top of Dorr, the last man in line. Dorr screamed as the beast raked its clawed feet across his chest. Before anyone could pull a trigger, it turned its head and hissed, and then leaped off and fled back into the cloak of the brush.
Marcks dropped to his knees and brought his hands near the wound, ready to help.
Dorr writhed in pain and pressed his hands against the cut.
The other three men surrounded the two, with rifles ready to fire.
“What was that?” Damzog said, the rifle barrel shaking from his trembling hands.
“I do not know—I do not know,” Norz said. He was the leader, and it seemed he was supposed to have answers. He had been caught up in his own world and had let his guard down.
“That thing was as big as a man,” Burhdorf said. “Did you see those teeth?”
“Dorr, move your hands and let me look,” Marcks said.
Norz knew it was bad by the amount of blood pooling on the ground.
Dorr moved his hands and clenched them both into fists. He groaned through gritted teeth. The claw had sliced into chest muscle down to bone and poked a deep hole in his abdomen.
Marcks mumbled something to himself, his hand in the medical kit frantically searching. He came back with gauze and tape, and then proceeded to stop the bleeding.
Something sped through the brush again. Damzog fired blindly at it.
To the opposite side, something else was on the move. The three riflemen spun around, ready to fire.
Up ahead, in the clear open four meters away, a deinonychus charged toward them. Its two legs churned, clawed feet kicking up dirt, and its two short arms hovered by its chest. The eyes were ferociously aglow, and its mouth open, revealing backward-curved teeth.
Norz opened fire, uncertain of his target as it moved quickly before him.
A deinonychus leaped from the side brush, knocking Damzog to the ground. The beast clamped its jaws around his throat.
On the opposite side, another deinonychus sprang forth and took Burhdorf down. His screams announced his fate.
Marcks scrambled to his knees, picking up his gun, and hastily firing at Burhdorf’s attacker.
Norz had fired eight rounds at the deinonychus by the time it leaped toward him for the kill. He didn’t know how he was able to react so quickly, but he immediately fell to the ground and rolled. The back claw of one of the beast’s feet narrowly missed him.
There was plenty of ammo left in his thirty-round magazine. Norz fired into the back of his attacker, hoping to hit a vital organ.
Marcks yelled in agony. All of the men were down. It was now one against three.
The dinosaur taking bullets swooned as it tried to turn and face him. It collapsed with its head crashing down, and he, again, had to roll to get out of the line of fire.
One down, two to go. Norz sprang to his feet and shot at the deinonychus feeding on Burhdorf.
The dinosaur let Marcks drop from the death grip of its jaws and charged.
Norz turned the rifle toward it and fired. The bullets packed enough punch to stop it in its tracks. He stopped shooting to conserve ammo.
Stealing a quick glance, Dorr had either died or was unconscious. Burhdorf was an unrecognizable chewed piece of meat. Damzog’s throat had been torn out. Marcks’ head had been crushed.
The two theropods lowered their bodies, weaving from side to side. Norz imagined they were sizing him up. Could they take him, or should they not press their luck and leave while they still could? They were wounded; bleeding holes in various parts of their bodies told that.
Norz didn’t have many bullets left in the magazine. He weighed if he should take the opportunity to swap magazines now. Either choice was risky. There proba
bly weren’t enough bullets to take both of them down in the current magazine. Changing it out would leave him momentarily without defense.
The theropods’ moves became more aggressive, and they started hissing a warning.
Norz took action to drive them back and buy a few spare seconds, squeezing the trigger, and alternating targets until the rifle clicked empty.
As soon as the bark of the rifle stopped, the two theropods charged.
He ejected the magazine and slapped at his hip, bringing up the spare. In it went at first try, and he pulled back on the bolt to load a bullet into the chamber. But even though he reacted in record time, it wasn’t enough. The dinosaurs were on him in a flash before he was able to fire.
Norz’s back hit the dirt. He felt the fiery brand of claws slicing away at his chest. A mouth opened wide, and rows of bloodstained teeth came toward his face. He smelled the stink of its hot breath as deadly spikes closed down on his head. Pressure rose in his brain until it felt like blood geyseried out his ears before the release of death took him on his final journey.
Chapter 15
A gunshot startled Commander Christoph Neuzetser awake. At first, he didn’t know where he was. It was dark and his bed hard. Gone was the familiar curtain that separated his quarters from the command room. As sleep drifted, he realized he was sheltered in a cave. Sunlight cut into the darkness a couple of meters away.
A rifle repeated two more shots. He pushed himself off the thin blanket and headed out.
Crewmen sped to the direction of the gunfire, first stopping by the supply area to get rifles of their own.
The sunlight momentarily blinded him, and he had to wait a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. There was no immediate danger he could see. Crewmen were arming themselves for whatever may come their way. The fact he heard no returning gunfire made him believe they weren’t under attack.
Klaus Barbie stepped out of the cave sheltering the Viktors, and asked, “Commander, what is the meaning of the gunfire?”
Christoph’s mind was still clouded. He had expected to step out of the cave to the first soft rays of sunlight. Instead, he waded through bright rays of early morning. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 9 a.m.
“Commander?”
“I do not know,” Christoph said. There was no use in saying anything that wasn’t direct and honest.
“The Commander is supposed to be in charge, no?”
“I am in charge.”
“You sleep all morning and you claim to be in command. No wonder we find ourselves lost in an unknown land.”
The blood rose up Christoph’s face. Barbie set a wedge in a crack, challenging his authority, and wasted no time prying it apart. “My men are trained to handle any situation, Mr. Barbie. That training was done under my command.”
Crewmen bunched around one of the sentries as he came to the camp from guarding the perimeter. He held something bird-like by the throat, its tail dragging along the ground, and headed the commander’s way.
The creature was another of those reptile/birds that were common. This one was about the size of a turkey. It had a reptilian head light blue in color. Its neck wasn’t particularly long, and its brown, feathered crest matched its body. The wings were too short for it to take flight. Most noticeable were the claws on its hands and feet. The nails looked deadly enough to shred crocodile skin.
Bach followed alongside the crewman. Erik, wearing his backpack, meandered with others waiting for a better look.
Barbie wrinkled his nose and stepped back into the cave, where Dr. Mengele watched over the Viktors.
Stangl and Eichmann emerged from behind to join in examining the kill.
“Commander, this creature was stalking me. I tried throwing sticks at it to chase it away. It attacked me instead. It came at me and struck my leg.” He pointed toward bloodstained trousers. “I stomped it off and managed to kick it away with my other foot. When it recovered and started to attack again, I shot it,” the crewman said.
“I am confident you did what you had to do,” Christoph said as he bent over and ran his finger over the creature’s claws. “Find a place to put it, so others can have a look. Then, clean your wounds. I do not want your injury to become infected.”
“If we had some liver dumplings, I believe the bones would make a good broth for a fine soup,” Stangl said.
“Eh? You can have my portion,” Eichmann said.
Both the SS officers went to the Viktors’ cave when the crewman left to place the velociraptor on a fallen tree.
Christoph approached Bach. “Lieutenant, why did you not wake me this morning?”
Bach shrugged. “I did. You told me in a few minutes. I came back a half hour later and you were snoring. Frankly, I envied that you were able to sleep. There was nothing going on at the camp that needed your attention. I decided to look over things. If I needed you, you were just right here.”
Christoph turned his gaze to the ground. “I do not remember you waking me at all.” He rubbed his brow and carried his fingers across his face.
“It matters not. Get some coffee in you. You mind is fresher with the addition of sleep to handle the duties of the day,” Bach said. “I will be taking a few men back to the U-boat for the remainder of supplies.”
“Good. Carry on, Lieutenant,” Christoph said. Their journey to camp included weapons and ammo, so some of the foodstuffs had been left behind.
Erik stood near the dead creature as two other crewmen pulled its wings aside and examined it.
Christoph approached his son, and asked, “Why are you wearing your backpack?”
“I am going with Lieutenant Bach back to the U-boat. We are going to bring the rest of the supplies back.”
This brightened Christoph’s mood. He had expected Erik to spend the day sulking about camp. “Did the Lieutenant ask you to help or did you volunteer?”
“I overheard him this morning, and I volunteered. I…I wanted to get away from camp,” Erik said with hesitation in his voice. He stepped away and put some distance between the others.
Christoph followed without question, and then asked, “Tell me why you want to get away from camp? Are you trying to get away from me?”
“No….” Erik’s gaze drifted downward. “The SS officers…I do not like them.”
“Why? Did they say something to you?”
“No. It is a feeling I get when I’m around them. I…I do not trust them. I hear some of the crewmen talk….”
Christoph believed he understood now. The boy had heard the rumors about the officers not letting any of the other crew live after being rescued. “I am aware of the rumors.” He looked again to make sure no one was in earshot. “Lieutenant Bach and I have discussed the matter. Erik, son,” lowering his head, and gazing into his boy’s eyes, Christoph said, “We have vowed that if we find such an arrangement has been made, we will terminate the possibility.” Christoph watched Erik’s expression to indicate if he understood.
Erik nodded slowly. His mouth tightened, and his eyes looked away as if imagining the scene. “Viktor is not who he says he is,” he said in a whisper. “The SS officers hold secrets from you.”
Before Christoph could inquire further, the rattle of a semi-automatic rifle cut through the camp. Erik’s words pushed from Christoph’s thoughts. “What now?”
*
Heyse and Bartels stood guard sixty meters from camp on the south side. Both men had been on alert since the three shots of rifle fire.
“What do you think happened?” Heyse asked. His left eye twitched as an unseen insect buzzed around it. He swatted the air in front of his face to shoo it away.
“Something, or someone, must have been a threat,” Bartels said.
“Americans?”
Bartels shrugged. “Unlikely. I would not think the American’s would send only one scout out. Plus, there was no return fire.”
“Some kind of animal, then?”
“It would not surprise me. Those things, lik
e over there.” Bartels pointed to a small theropod watching them from behind a low fern leaf, not three meters away. “And over there and there.” His finger went to the left and then the right. “When we arrived yesterday, they were frightened of us. Most ran and hid as we passed. Now, look. They are bolder. We have invaded their land. Perhaps some are becoming brave enough to challenge us. Maybe they are wondering if we are good to eat.”
“Eh, I would squash something that small with my boot,” Heyse said. “I—”
Bartels watched Heyse’s eyes widen like a shade springing open. “What?”
“A tree moved behind you!”
Bartels spun and saw a two-legged theropod as large as the trees as it emerged and charged their way.
*
A second rifle’s bark joined the first as Christoph sped toward the supply area. “Erik, stay here. Get a weapon but do not follow.”
The commander snatched up a Sturmgewehr and sped, along with the other crewmen, toward the gunfire. He quickly glanced back at Erik to ensure he had complied with his order.
Erik had frozen in place by the supply area. The sight was ironic, as Erik, with his black shoes and gray socks pulled tightly into place, his dark shorts, and mud and camel fabric shirt tucked neatly in, looked like any fine Hitler Youth waiting to serve his country. The pack on his back brought back an instant memory of sending his son off to school looking no different than he did at this moment. Such innocent times.
The blood-curdling death cry of a crewmate jerked him back into the emergency. Hearing a man’s soul snuffed out was always unnerving. The roar from an unknown beast made his knees weak.
As Christoph composed himself, a second crewman succumbed to the same fate. As more rifles joined in, crewmen heading toward the fray now fled back toward camp in retreat.
“What is it?” Christoph asked as a crewman whizzed past.
“Monster!” The man kept his legs churning nonstop.
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