by M. J. Konkel
Morning came with the first rays of light peeking over the rim of the ridge. Karen had tried the radio a couple of times during the night and then again at dawn. No reception was picked up at any frequency. After the sun was fully up and the sky became a little brighter, she started the car, turned it around and again drove to the north-bound end where the road still ended at the woods. In the morning’s light, the woods didn't seem quite as thick and ominous as in the dark. The temperature had dropped in the wee hours of the morning, but it was warming fast with the sun coming up. There was frost on the dead leaves on ground, but not on her car. She had run it with the heater on a couple of times in the early morning hours.
She had to find out more than she already knew, so she turned the car around still another time and drove about hundred yards up the road, stopped the car and hopped out. Above her the ridge rose up high above the highway, offering a good vantage point from which to look out over the river valley. She crossed the road and trudged into the woods and started her climb up the steep bank. The climb was treacherous because of the many loose rocks and dead brown leaves, damp from all the rain. The appearance of the trees changed about half-way up the ridge, looking strangely like lush, giant, green ferns and giant oaks. She cursed that she was so out of shape and swore that if she got out of this mess, she was going to take up jogging. Near the top she stepped on a rock that came loose and went skipping down the slope of the ridge. Her left foot went slipping as well, and before she caught herself, she twisted her ankle and banged it hard against another rock. It hurt like hell, but she had to go on. When she finally reached the rim, she eased forward along its edge to where there was a rocky point above the thick green canopy of the forest. She didn't remember there being so many leaves on the trees just the day before. On the rocky terrain of that point though, no tree could keep a hold while exposed to the winds during storms with their roots were only finding small crevices in the rock to anchor. Her ankle was painfully throbbing, forcing her to sit down on a large flat rock, take off her shoe and examine the injury. In her professional opinion, it didn't look like it was broken, but it sure hurt with a deep fierce pounding pain. She glanced down at her phone. Still no reception.
Out on the point there was a grand sweeping view of the river valley. She looked to the southwest where she could see the Highway 11 Bridge over the Mississippi and she saw a few signs on the other side of the river that Brown's Station was there. She spotted its water tower and a church steeple. When she looked to the north, all she saw was wilderness, mostly forest with some open grass fields. She was sure that she should have been able to see La Crosse from her vantage point. She spotted the place where it should have been, but all she could see were trees in its place. She also didn't see any of the empty corn fields that should have been lining the roads in certain places between her and La Crosse or even the road itself. She looked back toward the south and could see that the highway continued just a little beyond where it was blocked by the woods. She estimated there was a 200 to 300 yard stretch of woods that separated Dead Man’s Curve from the rest of the road.
“Well Dorothy, does this look like Kansas to you?” she asked herself. She knew it to be a stupid cliché, but she was in a ridiculous situation. It seemed appropriate.
She spotted a blue pickup truck coming up Highway 85 and watched until it disappeared at the edge of the woods. “Christ, that looks like Joe's truck,” she whispered to herself. Could he be looking for her? She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Up here. Help! Joe!” She repeated herself until she saw the truck driving back south on 85, by which time her voice was hoarse. At least she was not alone, and the truck sure the heck looked like Joe's, although it was hard to be sure from the distance. He only would have driven up there if he was looking for her. She wondered if the kids were all right. She wished there was a way for her to let them know where she was. They must be worried about her too.
She started back down to the car, moving gingerly on her injured ankle. She put most of her weight on her right foot when possible. The slope was treacherously steep and slippery, so she mostly slid down, sort of like skiing on one shoe and using the other and her hands for balance. She was able, for the most part, to keep weight off the ankle. She was wary of anything that might have been moving in the woods, but she made it to her car without any further incident.
As she reached for the car door handle though, she detected movement out of the corner of her eye. Her heart suddenly racing, she cocked her head slightly to the right to peek and there at the edge of the woods about a hundred yards away was a huge dinosaur that looked a lot like the tyrannosauruses she saw in books and in movies, except for the spikes coming out of its back. It turned to look at her as she whipped the car door open and jumped inside. She turned the key that was still in the ignition, and her car started right away, to her relief. She glanced into the rear-view mirror as she shifted into drive and was surprised that the giant beast had not moved since it came out of the woods, but it was still staring in her direction. She stepped on the gas and the wheels spun as they kicked up gravel getting off the shoulder and back onto the pavement. She stole another quick glance in the mirror and saw that the huge dinosaur was now moving towards her, picking up speed. She wondered why she hadn't felt any thuds in the earth like they showed in the movies. She had been on high alert when she came down the slope and that animal had to weigh at least a couple of tons. How could it move without her hearing or feeling it step? She quickly put some distance between herself and the pursuing monster, but then the end of the road came up fast. She slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt. She scrambled out of the car, leaving her purse behind, and limped into the woods as quick as she could. She was not feeling the pain in her ankle now that adrenaline was pumping through her veins. Then she felt the thuds of the footsteps as it came running up the road behind her. Breathing heavily and repeatedly glancing over her shoulders, she hopped and skipped through the obstacle course of fallen branches and downed trees. As she was looking over her shoulder, she caught sight of the monster coming and she dove behind a large tree trunk. Peeking out as much as she dared, she saw the giant dinosaur approach in a thudding trot. It slowed down as it reached the car and came up to it and stomped down on the trunk with one of its huge clawed feet. Beep! Beep! Beep! The car alarm went off and the airbags inflated. That drove the giant beast into frenzy. Stretching its mighty jaws down, it took a huge gulping bite out of the roof. It shook its head violently and the roof went flying out of its mouth and into the swamp. It chomped down again and came up with a door its mouth. It dropped the door and let out a deafening low-pitched roar that was felt as much as heard as it stomped on the hood of the car killing the alarm. It then swiveled its head to the left and then the right. Karen kept frozen, not daring to move. After a few more seconds the beast turned around and sauntered back up the road. Was it mad about chasing down something that wasn't edible? Did it even have enough brainpower to get mad, Karen wondered? However stupid it may be, it was extremely dangerous, and it froze her in fright. The power in those jaws and those legs. And those teeth were like tines of a forklift, only a little shorter but with a lot of them.
Karen sat in the same spot for a long time, not daring to move. She stopped staring up the road where the monster disappeared and started scrutinizing the woods around her, wondering what else might be lurking near her. She knew she couldn't hide behind the tree trunk forever and would eventually have to come out. She summoned up her courage and limped back to the car to find her purse and anything else that might be useful that Freddie hadn't completely demolished. That was what she had decided to call the dinosaur – after a boy she had a very brief history with in college. She had been naïve to agree to go out with him in the first place, and then the original Freddie turned out to be abusive and, he had also demolished a car when he had too much to drink one night. The car incident happened after she told him to leave her alone. She wasn't sure if this dinosaur was a m
ale or a female, but it certainly had Freddie's dangerous and destructive personality.
Her ankle may not have been broken, but it certainly was badly bruised and throbbing like hell, maybe with tendon damage. Nevertheless, she had to get moving, so she hobbled into the woods, found a stick to take the weight off her ankle and then continued, forcing slow progress towards where she thought the road started up again. She remained alert and moved slowly to avoid making any noise that might attract other dangerous animals that might be lurking in the dark areas of the woods. The world had become a very dangerous place. It was a place that she did not know and where she knew she did not belong.
Chapter 11
Joe and his small band of volunteers went over to Joan's home to check out the condition of the old balloon and even launch it, if that seemed possible. Others Joe talked to thought it was a good idea and encouraged him to try. They all arrived in Mike Juniper's truck. Mike, the high school football coach as well as physical education teacher, was a little on the shorter side at five-eight, but was built of solid steel and it was obvious that he worked out every day to maintain that muscular physique. He was the youngest of the group, having joined the high school faculty just two years prior. Before that he was at the University of Iowa where he earned his degree while playing at running back for the Hawkeyes’ football team.
An inspection of the balloon revealed a couple of modest-sized holes that were probably made by mice at some point in its storage history. Joan provided a heavy needle and thick thread, and she made coffee and sandwiches for all of them while the men set out to repair the balloon. Joe wondered how she warmed the coffee until he saw the portable camping stove. Rob Tascoe, a history teacher at the school and a good friend of Joe's, went to scrounge up some nylon from some tarps. Rob was a few years older than Joe, but looked older still because of his thick curly graying beard. Joe got a full propane tank from one of Joan's neighbors while Allen, Joe's stocky neighbor, went searching for as long a rope as he could find. Joe then went off to find other items for use while in the balloon. Mike stayed and patched the holes. Joe would never have guessed Mike was good with a needle and adhesive.
By late afternoon everything was ready, and they set out to launch the balloon before darkness fell upon them. The others wanted to wait until the morning, but Joe insisted that they go immediately. The weather was good – clear sky for good visibility and only a very light breeze for the less-than-amateur balloonists. He pointed out that they had no weather forecasts. Therefore, no way to know if the conditions would be even remotely as favorable the next day. They gave in easily to Joe’s desire to go up immediately, and he guessed they were quietly sympathizing. The four of them, Joe, Mike, Rob and Allen set out on County Road Y going west. That took them quickly to the top of the ridge that overlooked Brown's Station below. At the top, they stopped in the middle of the road and parked. Allen kept watch with a buckshot-loaded shotgun while the others unloaded the balloon and basket from the back of the truck. After unfolding the old weathered balloon and attaching it to the rickety old basket, they blew air into the balloon with a gas-powered leaf blower. Joe was concerned about the noise it made, but he couldn’t think of an alternative and didn’t want to wait. Once the balloon was about half-inflated, they lit the propane burner. After a while, the balloon started becoming buoyant. Joe stared up at the giant blue and white striped teardrop above them while Rob took several large hops in the basket, making certain that it wasn't going to break below them while they were high in the air. All four of them cheered as the balloon started bouncing up and down off the ground, held down by two anchor ropes to nearby boulders. Rob was concerned that once it expanded, the seams might rip. They seemed to be holding up though. Mike tied 300 feet of rope, combined from several shorter ropes, to the balloon's basket and tied off the other end to the hitch of the truck. They didn't want to go floating off to wherever the wind took them and end up out in the unknown wilderness. An especially valid concern since none of them had any ballooning experience.
Rob climbed into the balloon with Joe. They piled in a gun, binoculars and several digital cameras with telescopic lenses. They also carried a two-way radio, so they had constant communication with Mike and Allen on the ground.
After releasing the anchor ropes, they turned the burner on higher, and the balloon started to lift off the ground and slowly rise into the air. As they ascended, they spied the area around the truck first to make sure there weren't any large dinosaurs nearby, and they were thankful none were spotted. As they continued to ascend to a couple of hundred feet, they looked out with binoculars. The first place that Joe looked was north to where La Crosse should be. His heart sank when he saw only woods where the city was supposed to be. He was sort of expecting that, but it hurt anyway. He hoped to see some sign there, but there didn't appear to be any pockets of their former world out that way. That meant that Karen wasn't there. His chest hurt and there was a lump in his throat. Looking to the west, he saw rolling hills and expansive prairie and the same to the east on the other side of the ridge beyond the river. A wide variety of dinosaurs were on the grasslands and seeming to be moving in herds towards the north. A dense growth of old forest lined the valley in which the river ran. Many of the trees appeared to be enormously tall and all were lush green while immediately below them the trees were barren.
Joe pointed at the lock and dam just upriver from the town. “That dam is there, but the one downriver from here,” he pointed downriver and then pointed back the other way, “and the next one upriver are gone.”
Rob added, “It also appears to be wider upriver than what it was before. Or should I say will be in some millions of years from now.”
Joe said, “This river being here at all is bothering me.”
“I don't think that I can move it for you, buddy.”
Joe was not in a humorous mood. “The Mississippi is not so old that it should be here 65 million years backwards in time. Could this be a different river that just happens to be following the same route?”
“That never occurred to me. How old is the Mississippi anyway?” asked Rob.
“I heard once that it was formed only about 10,000 years ago. Well, from the twenty-first century. At the end of the last ice age, the melt waters from the glaciers formed the Mississippi that we knew.”
“Maybe it’s as you said. It just happens to be a different river in the same place.”
“Maybe,” Joe answered. “That looks like an awful lot of water upriver of the dam.” He pointed to a spot west of the dam. “Look over there. A lot of water appears to be going over the spillway.”
Mike's voice came on the radio, “Do you guys see any other towns from up there?”
Joe answered, “No, all we see is wilderness. All the roads end a couple miles out of town. There are a couple of farmhouses that are cut off from the main roads. For instance, I can see a few below us that have roads that go west, and the roads just stop. We will have to send some rescue teams to help anybody trapped out there. There’s something else too. Somebody should start looking at the river levels. There is an enormous amount of water flowing over the spillway.”
Rob unpacked a camera while Joe relayed more information down. Rob started rapidly snapping off shots all around and down below them. He then zoomed in and took pictures upriver and downriver and of trapped farmhouses. Then he zoomed in as far as the lenses allowed and took shots of the panorama around them. He got many shots of large dinosaurs out on the rolling prairies. As he was switching cameras because the first one's memory card was filled up, Rob spotted a disturbance in the trees not far below them. “Hey, Joe what is that?” he asked as he pointed down below them.
Joe put down the camera he was holding and picked up his pair of binoculars as did Rob. They didn’t need the binoculars to see what it was though. Thrashing out from some trees, a large dinosaur that looked like one of the tyrannosaurus-like dinosaurs sauntered onto the road, stopped and swung its head back and forth.
“Please don't come this way. Please don't come this way,” Rob pleaded, but it turned and started marching up the road towards them anyway.
“Damn!” Joe cursed.
Rob grabbed the radio. “Hey guys, there is a big mean-looking T. rex coming up the road. We have no more than ten minutes before he reaches you guys.”
“How fast can you get down here?”
“Not that fast!”
“Crap! Mike says maybe we should just untie the rope and let you guys go. What do you guys think?”
“The wind is light, but it is blowing out to the west. We'll end up far from here and have to make our way back through those hordes of dinosaurs out on that prairie to the west. I don't like that option but if we have no other choice...”
“Hey, I have an idea,” said Allen. “Maybe we can pull you. Just sort of tow you along.”
“Tell them to go for it.” Joe said. “It might at least buy us some time until we think of something else.”
“Go for it! The rex doesn't see you yet. It might smell you guys soon though.” Rob said into the radio.