by Logan Jacobs
“Wow, that was quick,” Becka observed and picked up one of the halves. “These should work great.”
I nodded, and then Hae-won set another board in front of me. We developed a rhythm, where the Korean goth-model would select the board for me to chop, I would swing and reduce the shelf to the right size, and Becka would collect the pieces and place them beneath the windows. Despite everything we’d already done that day, I was able to work through the chopping quickly, and we soon had more than enough pieces to cover up the windows. I stopped for a moment to stretch my shoulders, and then I helped the girls lay out the slats and supports and nail the pieces together.
“Wish we’d found a ladder,” I said as I stared at the second story windows. “But we’ll have to do these from the inside.”
“At least we’ll have some protection over all the windows now,” the blue-eyed Korean pointed out.
“Right,” I agreed. “So let’s get these upstairs. I’ll take one, and you two grab that other one.”
I bent down and picked up the nearest frame. It was heavier than I expected, but then the wood we’d used was solid and had probably been a few hundred years old when it had first been cut down and converted into bookshelves. I grunted as I hefted it, but I managed to rise up and start walking back toward the door.
“Are you sure you have that one?” Becka asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got it,” I grunted. “Are you two okay with the other one?”
“We will be fine,” Hae-won assured me.
I could barely see the path in front of me, but I could hear the women following behind, along with several comments about avoiding rocks and not dropping the bloody thing, which I took as an indication that they had the second set in hand.
I was glad the door had been propped open, and I was able to maneuver the piece inside with only a minimal struggle. I found a spot to lean it against the wall and then turned to help the girls bring in the second piece. Once they were inside, I closed and locked the door, then turned to face my companions. They’d set their set down as well, and both girls were inhaling deeply.
“These things are heavier than I thought,” Becka huffed. “I just hope some giant woodpecker doesn’t start pecking at it.”
“Don’t joke about that,” Hae-won replied. “Not after those things we saw today.”
“Come on,” I interjected. “Let’s get these pieces upstairs and get them installed. I think they’ll give us plenty of protection for now.”
“And maybe we can think of other ways to protect ourselves while we work,” Hae-won added.
“We probably should,” I agreed as I hefted my grill and started to carry it toward the stairs. “It might be nice to have something else between us and the next dino besides an army truck and some nailed together boards.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” the blonde sighed. “Though you sound like you think this will go on for a while.”
I wasn’t really sure how to answer that, so we carried our boards slowly up the stairs to the sound of our grunting and the occasional swear word. Hae-won muttered something in Korean whose meaning I could only guess at, but I figured it was closely related to the f-bombs I had dropped. When the door to the staff room came into view, I managed to pick up my pace and with a whoop, I set the grill against the wall, and then turned to help the girls.
“Thank you,” Becka sighed as she wiped at her brow. “And I thought moving dinosaurs was tough.”
“I need some water,” Hae-won added.
“I think we all do,” I replied as the three of us stepped into our headquarters.
Hae-won handed us each a mug and we took turns filling ours at the sink. We gulped it down and then went back for seconds. As I refilled my cup the second time, I wondered how much longer the water would keep flowing. Now wasn’t the time for that negative discussion, but we definitely needed to start hoarding water today or tomorrow. I was sure we could find plenty of bottles and jugs around campus, and I’d read somewhere that one of the campus organizations had placed rain barrels near some of the buildings to help the campus go green. That would be worth a look as well.
“So, who wants to hammer?” I asked.
“You hammer the fastest,” Hae-won replied. “You should do it.”
I glanced at the windows, and then nodded in agreement.
“We can set it on the sill so you two won’t be holding all of the weight,” I said. “Once I’ve gotten the nails in the top and the sides, you can let go and I’ll finish the bottom.”
Both women nodded, and with all three of us lifting, we managed to move the first set of planks into place. I then grabbed one of the chairs to stand on and started nailing as fast as I could. As I neared the bottom, my companions stepped away from the window and I finished securing the platform into place. I gave it a hard tug, and I was happy to see that it didn’t move. I just hoped the slits were close enough that no beady eyes could see inside.
“Okay, next,” I said as I jumped off the chair.
We repeated the procedure at the other window, and I managed to install it with two spare nails, which I set carefully on the counter when I was done. Then I stood back to admire my handiwork before I turned an inquisitive look at the girls.
“It’s a bit ugly,” Becka said, “ but I do feel safer in here.”
“There’s not much light even with the opening,” Hae-won observed.
“Well, we still have power,” I said as I flipped the light switch, “so we can use that during the day at least. If we can find some heavy enough fabric or some black out drapes, we could use it at night as well. At least until the power is cut off.”
“You think they’ll cut it off?” Becka asked in disbelief.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I mean, the last reports we saw did say that they were trying to secure utilities like power and water, so maybe it won’t.”
Becka’s expression became more concerned as she stared at the newly boarded windows. I could tell she wasn’t happy with my answer, but Hae-won simply shrugged.
“Maybe we should look for more candles,” the Korean suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” I agreed. “We could check the other dorms as well as the classrooms. We could probably find candles, batteries, flashlights, all sorts of useful supplies. And there are the labs as well. We should probably take stock of what types of chemicals there are and such.”
“Fresh clothes would be nice,” Becka remarked. “I’m not sure all of these stains will come out.
“But first,” I said, “we need to get rid of all the corpses on campus.”
“Corpses on campus,” Becka repeated. “It sounds like a bad mystery movie on the Beeb.”
“It’ll look more like a bad Friday the Thirteenth movie once we start cutting up the ones in the basement,” I noted.
“Something to look forward to tomorrow,” Becka sighed. “I’m definitely going to need more clothes.”
I glanced at my phone and saw that it was nearly five thirty.
“The sun will be setting soon,” I said. “We should probably head back downstairs and get the big guy out of here.”
“Already?” Becka moaned.
“We need time to get back in our armor,” I pointed out. “And I think we can all agree that no one wants to be out when it gets dark.”
“Do you think those men will still be watching?” the dark-haired girl asked as I grabbed the gun, switched off the light and returned to the gallery.
“It has been a few hours,” I mused and turned to Becka. “How patient are British men, usually?”
“Cricket is a popular sport here, so I’ll let you guess,” the blonde girl snickered.
“They could be there forever,” Hae-won moaned theatrically.
“Well, maybe having all these dinosaurs around will put an end to their spying,” I suggested.
Becka snorted but didn’t offer any other opinions on British men or their spying, so we returned quietly to the first floor and gathered toge
ther the assorted pieces of armor we’d laid claim to what felt like an eternity ago. I put on the arm braces and reloaded the rifle while the girls slipped into their more complicated breastplates. Becka and Hae-won looked even more badass in their armor now that it had a few dings and smears of blood, and it was hard not to stare as they checked each other to make sure it was on correctly.
“Enjoying the show?” Hae-won teased when she caught me watching the pair.
“Absolutely,” I replied. “You are both incredibly badass and sexy looking. If I was a dinosaur, I’d totally bite you both.”
Both girls smirked as they picked up their swords and waved them in my direction. I held my arms out wide in a peaceful gesture, and both girls laughed. When they were done, I put on a more somber expression and nodded to the door.
“We’ll have to be careful on the way to the tow truck,” I warned. “Something else may have found the dino while we were away.”
“Ugh, yeah,” the brown-eyed girl said with a small sigh. “It was getting pretty smelly out there. Between that and the townies, the place is just crawling with nasty creatures.”
“Oh, the townies,” Hae-won said. “They might hear the tow truck coming.”
“Let’s check out the tow truck first,” I said. “If there aren’t any new vultures to deal with, I’ll check the gate. If those men are still around, then we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to move the dino. If they’re gone, I’ll move Timothy, and you two will drive the tow truck through. Once you’re outside, I can move it back into place.”
“Okay, Jason,” Hae-won agreed.
Becka nodded as well, and with our group in agreement, I unlocked the door and eased it open. I didn’t see anything outside so I stepped into the waning light and studied the quad as well as the sky. Becka and Hae-won soon joined me, and we started across the grass toward the tow truck.
“It looks okay,” Becka commented.
“Let me get a little closer,” I replied. “Just keep an eye out. I’m going to circle around the other side to make sure it’s clear.”
The women stopped a few feet away from the truck, and they both kept their swords at the ready while Becka scanned the skies and Hae-won kept an eye for terrestrial creatures. I made a wide arc around the tow truck, but the corpse was scavenger free, so I waved the girls to the cab of the truck and kept an eye on the gate as they sprinted toward me.
“Okay, Hae-won,” I said. “As soon as you see me clear the gate, you turn on the engine and drive straight toward it. Go as fast as you can so we don’t leave it open too long. If the men are still around, I’ll come back here, and we can head back to the gallery. We’ll have to try again in the morning, then.”
“Got it.” Hae-won said with a grin and gave me a thumbs up.
“If anything happens over here, just honk the horn,” I said.
“No problem,” the Asian girl said. “I will be fine.”
I started to walk away as Hae-won climbed into the cab of the truck. I thought Becka would join her in the truck, but a moment later I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around to see the blonde bombshell running after me.
“You should stay in the truck,” I said. “It’s safer.”
“Oh, please,” she replied. “With that giant stink bomb on the back? Besides, you’ll need someone to translate for you if the men are still there.”
“I did just fine last time,” I pointed out, though I said it with a smile.
“Then you need the company,” Becka replied.
We were too close to the gate to keep arguing, so I ducked into a crouch and signalled Becka to do the same. I didn’t hear any voices this time, but that didn’t mean that someone wasn’t sitting on the stoop across the street. I peered under the armored carrier, but there were no Nikes or any other shoes on the other side.
I pointed to the gap below the truck, then signalled Becka to remain in place. I handed her the keys to the armored carrier, just in case someone was waiting on the other side. She nodded as she accepted the key, and then plastered herself against the side of Timothy while I rolled beneath the carrier. It was then that I had a flashback to Jurassic Park and someone hiding under a car. I couldn’t remember all of the details, but I was pretty sure it hadn’t ended well for the human.
I moved sideways under the truck and pulled my rifle along behind me. When I reached the other side, I studied the street for several moments, but I couldn’t see any signs that the truck was still under surveillance. There looked to be a few more dino corpses by the military barricade at the far end of the street, but otherwise, it looked exactly the same.
As I studied the scene, it suddenly dawned on me just how many hiding places there were. Aside from all the buildings, there were the firebombed cars we’d used to block the gate originally, a handful of other cars that had survived the assault, and plenty of rubble big enough to hide a full grown man. A quick lap to check for curious onlookers seemed in order, and I rolled from beneath the truck and quickly brought the rifle into position.
I started with the buildings across the street as I peered through shattered windows and looked in empty doorways. I checked behind the mounds of rubble and looked inside the cars along the street. It was only a cursory search, but I didn’t have the time to walk into every building and check every room, especially if we wanted to be back before nightfall.
When I was reasonably satisfied, I returned to the truck and knocked on the window a couple of times. Becka’s head popped up on the other side of the hood, as did the sword that she carried.
“Is it clear?” she hissed.
“Yeah, I think so,” I replied. “We should try to be as quiet as we can, though.”
“Got it.” She nodded. “Should I open the truck?”
“Go ahead,” I replied.
I heard the click as the lock popped open, and I eased the door open as quietly as I could. I climbed inside the carrier and pulled the door shut behind me. I scooted into the driver’s seat, then scanned the surrounding area for any signs of movement.
When no angry townies appeared, I lowered the window enough to talk to Becka.
“Okay, I’m gonna move it,” I whispered. “Keep an eye on those buildings across the street, especially those upper floors.”
“Can do,” Becka whispered back.
I started the engine of the massive armored truck, and then I cringed as the roar reverberated off the walls that lined the street. There was little I could do about it besides go fast. No doubt no one would have even noticed the sound on a normal day in the city, but without any covering noise, the engine was hard to miss. Luckily, since it was probably a combat vehicle, it actually ran pretty quietly, so I put the truck in reverse and rolled carefully back and away from the gate.
A few moments later, the tow truck appeared and rattled through the gate. I found myself scanning for anyone or anything that might have been attracted by the noise, but nothing emerged from the streets or doorways. I backed Timothy into place, then killed the engine and hopped out from the truck. After triple checking that the carrier was locked, I trotted to the tow truck and climbed inside. Becka was already in place, and as soon as the door was closed, Hae-won started forward. She moved slowly so the truck wouldn’t make too much noise, though it was hard to miss when nothing else moved.
“Where are we taking this?” the Korean girl asked.
“Let’s try that park again,” I said. “There should be plenty of space to drop it off even if something has already found our other contributions.”
“Okay,” Hae-won replied. “I can pull over on the other side of the park.”
After a few more blocks, Hae-won finally shifted into a higher gear and we picked up speed. The streets remained clear until we were nearly to the park, and I thought we might actually pull this off without encountering any more dinos. I spotted it first, a grayish shape against the orange and pink of sunset, just visible over the tops of the buildings on the next block.
“Pull into
the shadows, slowly, and put the truck into neutral,” I ordered.
Hae-won obeyed though she didn’t spot the dinosaur for a few more seconds. None of us moved, and aside from the gentle hum of the engine, all I could hear for several minutes was the sound of our breathing. It was hard to pick out details, besides a gray hide and humped back, and it clearly wasn’t in a hurry. It moved slowly, when it moved at all, and I was worried that it would decide to hang around the area all night.
The dino finally moved on, but we waited a few more moments even after it was out of sight. Hae-won eased the tow truck back into the middle of the street and we pulled on the other side of the park a few minutes later.
“How are we getting this thing off?” Becka asked. “He seems heavy. Can we use the tow line somehow?”
“Well, the line only pulls things up to the truck,” I replied. “Although, I guess if we found something on the ground to wrap the line around, we might be able to use that as a second point for the line to pull to.”
“Yes,” Hae-won said and started looking around. “If we use… that!”
“The fire hydrant?” I asked.
“Yes, we can wrap the line around it and then the dinosaur will be pulled to it,” the Korean girl explained.
“Okay, yeah,” I said. “I can see that working. Let’s try it.”
I glanced at the sky and saw the sun was low on the horizon. The minutes we’d spent waiting for the other dinosaur to move on had cost us valuable time, and if we tried to push the Torvosaurus off the truck, we’d be stuck in the wide open space of the park well after sunset. I said a quick prayer that the hydrant would hold as I unspooled the cable so the girls could wrap it around the hydrant.
Hae-won and Becka wrapped the cable around the hydrant several times, then gave me a thumbs up. I started to reel the line back in very slowly so it wouldn’t knock over the hydrant or shred the corpse. The line grew taut, and I heard a groan from the engine and the fire hydrant, and the Torvosaurus started to slide slowly off the truck. The tail and thick hind legs fell to the ground first, followed a few moments later by the body and finally the head.