Jurassic Earth Trilogy Box Set

by Logan T Stark

  Into the Woods

  W hen Becca awoke, confusion set in. Under a heavy sky, snow was falling as fat fluffy flakes. The trees and ground were almost completely coated with gray snow. There wasn’t any color, only gloom and grayness. She couldn’t make sense of the scene, which defied rational explanation. She touched the glass above her, which was also blanketed in gray snow. It didn’t feel cold, quite the opposite. It was warm.

  “Huh?”

  Looking around, through the trees, she saw smoke pouring from the peak of the island’s volcano, which she’d believed to be dormant. She shook her head, not wanting to believe. The incredible volume of smoke pluming from the mountain met with the underside of a dark mass of cloud that rolled outwards. In the distance, across the ocean, she could see the point where the edge of the ash cloud met with the blue sky. It was an almost perfect line, separating despair from salvation. The world was trying to swallow them whole. It was desperate to punish them for encroaching on a land in which they had no right or purpose.

  “What else d’you wanna throw at us,” she whispered. “I won’t let you win. I’ll fight you.”

  Babs and Marty stirred. Harper continued to snore, his head cast back and his mouth open. Becca checked outside for the cephalopod creatures that had attacked in the night.

  “No tracks,” she said, suddenly feeling grateful for the ashfall, which was deep enough that it must have taken hours to settle. If anything had moved outside recently, it would have left tracks, signs of movement. “Time to leave,” she whispered, looking towards the sleeping kids.

  She reached up and span the valve handle on the hatch. There was a brief hiss, she applied a little pressure and it eased open.

  “Huh? Wer ist das?” Babs said, opening her eyes and sitting up, her face creased from sleep. “Was passiert?”

  “Muuuh, I need to brush my teeth,” Harper groaned. “Feels like I slept in a bin.”

  “Don’t talk rubbish,” Marty said, sitting up and flashing a grin that quickly faded. “What the?” He said, looking around. “Did it snow? Can it snow here?”

  “It’s volcanic ash,” Becca said in a matter of fact way. “It happens every now and then,” she lied.

  Although clearly unsettled, Babs and Marty seemed to accept the explanation as par for the course in this world of surprises. Harper looked uncertain.

  “Where are the guards?” He said, pressing his face to the glass and peering left and right. “I can’t see their footprints. They wouldn’t have left us, would they?”

  “No,” Becca said, trying to conjure another quick lie, “they, uh, they’re guarding the perimeter, you know, making sure they’ve got eyes on as much ground as possible. Don’t worry. They’re trained to be invisible. We probably won’t see them.”

  “Hmmm, I s’pose,” Harper said. “What now? Can we go home now?”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Becca said.

  She surveyed the area outside, as casually as she could manage, not wanting to allow the kids to glimpse her terror. She involuntarily swallowed hard and her heart began to thump, like a helpless animal that was aware hunters were nearby. She knew they had no option other than to head into the woods. Reece hadn’t returned. Poor Reece. Poor Ash and Marissa. She prayed they were safe, but knew it was unlikely. She willed herself to stay strong, to stay positive. She couldn’t allow herself to speculate. It wouldn’t do anyone any good. She needed to save the children.

  The ground trembled lightly. Harper squealed and drew his arms to his chest. Babs used a chair for cover. Outside, Becca spotted a herd of camptosaurus ambling through the trees from the beach.

  “How’d they get past the guards?” Marty said. “Why’d they let them through?”

  “They’re not dangerous,” Becca replied. “Looks like they’re heading inland. We should move with them.”

  “But they’re dinosaurs!” Harper squealed.

  “They’re Jurassic creatures, yes,” Becca replied, “but these ones are more like cows, vegetarians. If we don’t mess with them, they won’t mess with us. Keep your hands to yourself and we’ll be fine.”

  The camptosaurus herd comprised of eight dinosaurs, six adults about five meters in length and two calves. Their brownish, pebbly skin gave the appearance of oversized, furless, camels. They had lip shaped beaks on their lower and upper jaws, used for munching vegetation. The largest of the camptosaurs sneezed, shocking one of the infants into dashing between an adult’s legs. The adult swished its tail, craned its neck and licked the infant’s face. The infant mewled and gazed up, before skipping out of cover.

  “That’s so sweet,” Babs said. “I wish I had my phone.”

  “We’re not seriously going with them?” Harper said. “They might squash us. Look at the size of their legs. They’re like tree trunks.”

  “They move slow,” Becca said. “They don’t get enough energy from plants to move quickly. With all this ash around they probably haven’t eaten today. They’ll be heading inland to find food, which is exactly where we need to go. Like small fish huddling around a shark, we’ll be safer with them. In a couple of hours we’ll be on the monorail and heading back to base, okay?”

  “Home?” Harper said.

  “That’s right, home.”

  The group drank what little water they had left and clambered out of Big Yellow’s wreckage. Becca ushered them towards the departing camptosaur. On approaching, one of the adults slowly turned and brought its head down so it was at eye-level with Harper, who froze, trembling. The dinosaur sniffed him, then snorted and looked away. It lifted its rear leg slightly and started to pee, splashing Harper’s legs.

  “Yuck,” Harper cried, looking mortified and sticking out his tongue. “I’m covered in dinosaur wee.”

  “Lucky you,” Becca said, chuckling with the others. “She must like you. She’s marking you as part of her clan.”

  “Well I don’t wanna be marked,” Harper said, huffing and using a fallen palm frond to wipe his legs, which only seemed to smear the liquid, which mixed with the ash on the leaf, turning it into a gray paste. “Bad dinosaur,” he scolded. “That’s a bad dinosaur!”

  Becca scanned the jungle as they made their way inland. The camptosaurs seemed content with the surroundings, which was a good sign. They didn’t seem to mind their hiking companions either. Becca noticed a few tracks here and there, probably from something small like echinodons, which were ankle high reptiles about the size of a chicken. They lived off a diet of ferns, so wouldn’t cause any problems if the group came across them. There was still no sign of the tentacled cephalopods that had taken the guards. Becca hoped they’d moved to another part of the island.

  The vegetation around them slowly began to change, from palm trees to giant coniferous sequoias surrounded by ferns. The volcanic ash had only partially penetrated the hundred meter tall trees and pine needles crackled underfoot as they moved. Becca felt confident that the light dusting of ash was still enough for her to spot the signs of recent predator activity. The pluming volcano disturbed her though. She knew it could blow at any moment.

  “Don’t think about it,” she said under her breath. “You can’t change it, so ignore it.”

  Harper, still unhappy about being peed on by the camptosaur, was telling a story about his torrid experiences with nature and its apparent aversion to him.

  “I just don’t get on with it,” he continued. “We’re just not meant to go together. It started when I was young, at kindergarten…”

  “Nature scarred you for life at kindergarten?” Babs said, chuckling. “This is gonna be good.”

  “You don’t know, you weren’t there,” Harper said. “It was a warm, sunny day, like any other. The birds were tweeting happily. Teacher had planned a nature walk. We’d been preparing and talking about it for weeks. Everyone was so excited. We’d brought in plastic boxes from home, you know, to collect things to bring back for show and tell.”

  “This is gonna make me laugh isn’t it?” Marty
said, stifling his laughter. “I’m already going. I’m sorry, carry on. Go, carry on.”

  “It wasn’t funny,” Harper said. “On the nature walk I found this amazing mushroom. The other kids were so jealous. It was the find of the day. Everyone wanted to see it. I was so proud of my mushroom. In class, when it was my turn to present my find, I got up and held my furry white mushroom out for everyone to see. Then it happened. That’s when everything changed. Teacher screamed and smacked it out of my hand. There was my beautiful mushroom, sailing through the air, above all the children’s faces. Teacher went on to explain I’d picked up mouldy dog pooh. My mushroom was a pooh! It was the worst day of my life… I couldn’t even touch my sandwiches that lunch I felt so sick…”

  Becca, Babs and Marty howled with laughter. Becca leaned against a sequoia trunk and Babs and Marty doubled over. Tears streamed from Marty’s eyes and he cried out in pain, clutching his stomach.

  “Stop, please,” he moaned, “stop, no more, aaa ha ha ha.”

  “It was so old the pooh had grown fur. It was disgusting!”

  One of the camptosaurs made a chuffing sound, like it was laughing too. For a good hour, as they walked through the forest, laughter sporadically erupted amongst the group. As soon as one of them went, that was it, they all went. Even Harper started seeing the funny side after a while. The volcano rumbled, sending tremors through the earth and shaking clumps of volcanic ash from the tops of the sequoias that thumped to the ground around them. The laughter stopped and didn’t return.

  Half an hour later, Becca spotted the viewing platform, opening out like an enormous flower above the trees. Lightning forked through the volcanic plume behind it. The camptosaurs stopped. The lead dinosaur raised its head and honked. The falling ash seemed to be thickening. Becca feared the animals sensed the volcano was about to erupt.

  “Get behind me,” Becca said, trying to figure out what was spooking the animals.

  “What is it?” Harper asked, peering round Becca.

  “I can’t see anything,” Babs said.

  Suddenly, chittering and hopping, dozens of echinodons came rushing out of the forest, darting between the ferns. The camptosaurs staggered backwards. One of them reared in panic as the echinodons flooded through its legs. The rearing dinosaur crashed to the ground, then turned and bleated wildly at the herd. Immediately, the animals turned and fled.

  “Get to the tower,” Becca yelled. “Run, now… RUN!”

  She made sure to keep the kids in front of her as they sprinted. Her broken arm rang out with excruciating pain. Her bounding motion was making it difficult to see far into the gloom around them. Then, her blood turned to ice and she understood why the camptosaurs had been so afraid. Strung between a grouping of trees, like a pair of titanic spiders in an enormous web, two cephalopods hung on outstretched tentacles that curled around the thick trunks of the sequoias. Becca shot a look towards the viewing platform’s tower. She could see the door. They were so close.

  One of the cephalopods bounced, as though its web had been triggered. It whirled around and with lightning speed, grappled tree trunks and sped towards the group. Becca angled her run to get between the monster and the kids.

  “Go through the door,” she cried, stopping and standing her ground. “Go up the stairs. There’s a console to call the monorail on the first level. Come on, take me you bastard!”

  “What are you doing?” Marty yelled. “Come on!”

  “Just move,” Becca roared. “Don’t worry about me. Don’t look back.”

  “Becca?” Babs squealed.

  “Move it, Babs. RUN!”

  The cephalopod launched out of the trees, spinning towards Becca. The other cephalopod was tearing in the direction of the fleeing camptosaurs.

  “My god you’re quick,” Becca breathed.

  The flying creature whirled, its tentacles a mesmerising, spinning blur. The zoologist in her marvelled at the creature’s design. It was a near perfect predator, fast, confusing and lethal. A beak emerged from the cephalopod’s underbelly, surrounded by a ring of pulsing, barbed teeth. Becca heard the door to the viewing platform creak open.

  “Shut it behind you,” she screamed, holding out an arm towards the flying creature.

  She aimed her fist towards the animal’s gullet, past its open beak. Success. Her arm scraped down the creature’s throat as it slammed into her, sending her backwards. She could feel its powerful beak trying to slice through her suit and arm. Its tentacles lashed wildly. One slapped her across the face as another curled around her neck. She could feel it starting to squeeze. She rummaged through the creature’s innards, searching for an organ it couldn’t live without. Touching on a squishy, spherical object, she gripped and squeezed for all she was worth. It popped in her hand, releasing warm gooey slime. Tentacles flashed around her body, tugging at her limbs, trying to rip them off. The suit wasn’t designed to withstand these kind of lateral forces. It would give out soon. A tooth gashed the skin of her scalp. The pain in her broken arm, which the animal was trying to rip off, faded as powerful adrenaline and endorphins flooded her system.

  The pair were in a fight to the death. Only one of them would walk away. Becca knew a lack of air from the tentacle that was squeezing her throat wouldn’t be the thing that was going to kill her. Her neck would snap before that happened. She thrust her arm forwards, deeper into the creature’s innards. Its beak bit down on her shoulder, foul, ragged breaths wafting across her face. She felt something pulsing, pumping. The animal’s heart. Her neck felt wretched, all wrong. She had seconds left. She gripped the heart and squeezed, popping it between her fingers.

  The animal died instantly, falling limp and collapsing on top of her. She wrestled free and scrabbled away, gasping madly. She lay down and sucked in deep breaths. Amazingly, her throat hadn’t been crushed. In the distance she caught sight of the second cephalopod racing towards her, launching itself from tree to tree. She stood up and stumbled towards the door to the viewing platform. Harper was crying out, calling for her to hurry. Everything was so blurry. How far away was the second cephalopod? She couldn’t tell. She definitely wouldn’t withstand another fight. She leaned into her run. Tentacles appeared at the edges of her vision as she dived through the open door, which slammed shut behind her.

  Gasping for air, she lay on her side, watching the tips of multiple severed tentacles squirm on the floor at her feet. She cried out and kicked them away.

  “I can’t believe you fought that thing bare handed,” Babs said. “Wahnsinn! What did you do?”

  “I crushed its heart,” Becca panted. “Squished it flat.”

  “Its heart?” Harper said, looking awestruck. “That’s the most incredible thing ever. You’re like an Avenger.”

  “Come on,” Becca growled, getting to her knees, groping her throat. “We’re getting off this insane planet, right now. Let’s go.”

  Graveyard

  A sh’s stomach rumbled. He’d couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone so long without food. Sweat trickled from his temples as he trudged beside Reece and Marissa in determined silence. His suit felt sticky against his skin and he was positive he smelled awful with all the stagnant water that had seeped in or the tar that was clotting his hair. Also, it seemed much hotter than the previous couple of days, but maybe that was down to general fatigue and hunger. Trying to get comfortable and sleep on that stone floor in the bunker hadn’t been fun. It was fair to say the trio were a hot mess, butting up against the edge of their endurance.

  Ash’s mouth soon turned dry and tacky and his legs dragged like anchors. The darkening clouds, steadily shedding volcanic snow, seemed to be acting like a thick winter blanket, trapping in the heat. Ash glanced back at the volcano. Lava oozed down its flanks. Here and there, bursts of flame flashed as the molten rock touched upon combustible objects, too distant to identify. Ash had a nasty feeling the smouldering giant was just stretching its legs, that it was getting ready for the main event. In the swelling gloo
m, in which the ash-caked, color-washed jungle seemed to be closing in, Reece unhooked his canteen, gave it a shake and handed it to Marissa, who took a small sip.

  “There’s hardly any left, just enough to wet my tongue,” Marissa said, shaking the mostly empty canteen and holding it out for Reece. “We should share it.”

  “No, you two have it,” Reece said, pushing the canteen back at her.

  Marissa handed the rest to Ash, who shook the last few drops into his mouth

  “That’s it. We’re out. All gone.”

  “We’re only a couple of miles from the helicopter,” Reece said. “You’ll have all the water you can drink soon. Not much farther, hang in there.”

  “Wish I hadn’t left the other canteen in the volcano,” Marissa said glumly. “I’m so thirsty, so tired.”

  “No worries, we can go back and get it,” Reece said, chuckling and turning to walk back towards the volcano, making exaggerated striding motions.

  “It’s alright,” Marissa said, a small smile lighting her features for the first time that morning. “This way’s just fine.”

  “It’s not much farther, I promise. You’re doing great.”

  As they continued through the undergrowth, Ash began noticing deep gouges in the bark of the jungle’s trees. It looked like something had been using them as scratching posts, something with incredibly large claws.

  “Just look away and keep moving,” Ash muttered to himself. “If you can’t see it, it didn’t happen.”

  Marissa nodded at him in agreement, panting. Reece continued forwards, pretending to be oblivious to the signs of giant monster activity. They trudged deeper into the Jungle. The wild whoops and hollers intensified and the trees appeared ever more savaged. Ash could tell that Reece, who was casually striding, was playing it cool, but it was obvious he was as scared as they were. He was sweating ever more profusely. It was streaming from his hairline. The trio were definitely heading into dangerous territory. Ash glanced at Marissa, who shrugged and shook her head as though saying, ‘what choice do we have?’