Dino Island 2

by J R Hogan

  I pulled Daisy onto my other shoulder and kissed her forehead. “I forgot to grab Tabasco Sauce at the grocery store. That, by far, was the most regrettable decision I’ve made since all of this began.”

  • • •

  With no dishes to wash or furniture to maintain, we spent the evening relaxing on the beach. Jessica and I leaned back-to-back, her thick, golden hair acting as an upright pillow as we mutually supported one another. Daisy’s head rested on my left shoulder. Ling had wrapped her arms around my right biceps while slowly rubbing her hands against my palm. Sarah was lying perpendicular to my legs, her head nestled between my thighs. I stroked her hair as we named the stars, one by one, as they made themselves known to us.

  • • •

  Our weapons were nearby, and we were making plans.

  “We’ll leave at first light tomorrow,” I continued. “Today’s trip to the melon grove should yield enough to sustain us for a few days.”

  “You really want us to split up?” Ling asked, her voice wary.

  I forced my eyes away from her smooth stomach. I had told myself that I’d eventually get used to the fact that she was perpetually wearing nothing more than a bra and panties, but was failing in this goal. Ling knew that I couldn’t help staring, though. She liked it. And she liked pretending that she didn’t notice my gaze while she intentionally spread her legs or bent over in a way that would make things much harder for me.

  I closed my eyes and focused. “You’re all more capable than they realize, and that’s our advantage. Our first day will just be reconnaissance. All research begins with information gathering. We’re going to play our game, not theirs.”

  “Professor,” Sarah interjected, “do you think we’ll ever learn why the jungle holds our secrets? The items from our past were very useful before they got stolen. It could be that our attackers know why, and can use that knowledge against us.”

  Daisy folded her arms uncomfortably.

  I nodded. “There are things in this jungle that might take us by surprise. We know that we can’t know what’s next, but we’ve hit every curveball so far.” I ran my finger through Sarah’s hair. “If these men have figured out the jungle’s secrets, then I’m confident we will, too.”

  “I think we need more spears before we roll any dice,” Ling added. She pulled out the knife and examined it as the sun bounced off its blade. “We need to preserve every bullet.”

  My stomach flipped, because she was completely correct. They couldn’t do anything with our ammunition, so we still had the firepower advantage. But that would change very quickly once we ran out of bullets and found ourselves in a melee fight of five against an unknown horde.

  “When we confront them, we’ll be armed and ready. They’re hiding so that we don’t realize how weak they are,” I answered.

  I wanted to believe that. I really, really did.

  Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Promise?”

  I smiled. “Yes, Sarah. I promise that next time we face them, they’ll wish we’d never crossed paths.”

  She grinned back at me.

  Then her eyes grew saucer-wide.

  I felt the tension before seeing the external threat. Every gun was raised as I spun around and around, trying to understand what was happening. Sarah dove to the ground and drew the katana before jumping up, the weapon raised high as she backed against me.

  She was being protective, placing herself between me and the unseen harm.

  I couldn’t have that. But it was impossible to move in front of her without stepping away from the other three. I pivoted to the left, where Daisy stood with her back to me, both pistols aimed at the jungle. I wanted to protect her, but I needed to save them all. I spun to my left once more and found Ling, rigid and focused as she aimed her shotgun at a nearby tree. I reached out, wanting to keep her safe, but I had to spin again. One more left swivel showed me Jessica’s back as she looked through the scope of her AR-15, darting around as though counting enemies.

  The four women had me surrounded in a protective ring like four points on a compass rose. Standing in front of one would mean abandoning the other three, so I had no option but to remain inside them.

  Then I saw them men.

  At least a dozen heads were peeking around trees, rocks, and bushes from every angle. They all had dirty faces, scraggly beards, and matted hair. What few rags they wore looked filthy and tattered.

  Our only unflanked side was the ocean.

  Some revealed rudimentary spears. Others held large clubs. The biggest men carried rocks the size of softballs, looking very eager to heave them.

  In the jungle behind them, shadows flitted back and forth in obscurity. The first dozen were reinforced by unknown layers of additional men.

  We were outnumbered several times over.

  White-hot panic ran through me as I tried to focus my mind well enough to find the calm eye of a sudden hurricane. There had to be a logical response to this; my analytical mind insisted on that fact.

  My analytical mind was also drawing a blank.

  “Bad things are going to happen, Professor,” bellowed a man with grime-encrusted gray hair. “You can’t stop them from happening, but you can decide just how bad things are gonna get.” He stayed mostly in shadow, off to the side near a large tree.

  He sounded like he was always smiling, but never happy.

  It took all of my energy to remain standing while fighting the urge to vomit. My heart threatened to stop entirely.

  But I had to be strong for them.

  “We’re outnumbered, you’re outgunned,” I countered in a voice that sounded a hell of a lot calmer than I felt. “Which means that even if you win, a lot of your men are going to die in the process. Do you really want to find out the hard way just how many bullets we have left?”

  He laughed without joy. “Big words coming from man who has four little girls protecting him!”

  My blood boiled. “I’m not in the mood to take lectures from a man afraid to come forward and face those girls!”

  One step at a time, he sauntered onto the beach. His leathery skin emerged slowly from the shadows to reveal a man in his fifties. He was lean and sinewy, wearing more rags than the rest of them. He alone appeared to be unarmed. His unholy grin revealed crooked teeth that uncannily resembled the color and arrangement of corn on the cob.

  “Here I am in the open, Professor Swift,” he pressed in his gravelly voice. “I’m Brutus, but you can call me ‘sir.’ Now, are you gonna tell your girls to kill me?”

  “It’s a trap,” Jessica whispered while continuing to point in the other direction. “He’s the same one who knocked down those trees-”

  “I am not a patient man,” Brutus yelled. “Obedience is learned through consequence. Doctors make terrible patients, and professors, well – they just make the worst possible students.” His voice dropped. “It’s time for your lesson, Mark.”

  I felt the air pressure rise. The pure terror was enough to nauseate me, but the thought of my own mortality was distant and unimportant.

  I was petrified for the girls.

  “Don’t fire yet,” I ordered, “but once it starts, don’t stop, no matter what.”

  “What are they going to do to us?” Daisy gasped, her pistols shaking.

  “It’s time to learn the secrets that this place has been hiding from you!” Brutus shouted. “Or, more accurately, the secrets that you’ve been hiding from yourself. Professor Swift, you disrespected me with that lecture about learning things the hard way, but let me tell you something: I’m quite willing to let a few people die on both sides. This. Is. The. Hard. Way.”

  “Get ready to fire,” Jessica muttered.

  I clenched my fists.

  For a moment, everything was calm.

  Then the rumbling began. It was subtle at first, like a minor tremor. But it grew to a steady thrumming, and it quickly became audible.

  Something was moving tow
ard us through the jungle like a slow, steady pulse.

  I snapped my head to Brutus, wondering what the hell he was trying to pull. But I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.

  He was terrified.

  Whatever moved behind him clearly wasn’t part of his plan.

  Only the dirt on his face stayed brown as the rest of his skin turned lily-white.

  “What do we do?” Sarah asked in a trembling voice.

  “Get ready,” I answered, wishing I knew just what the hell I meant.

  The sound had quickly become deafening. Several of the jungle men ran from their positions; despite my panic, I was able to count thirteen of them, knowing that information might prove critical.

  But we all realized that our petty squabble had suddenly become unimportant before a force that didn’t care about either side.

  The final loud crunches confirmed what I had suspected: we were hearing footsteps.

  And as the nearby trees splintered, I realized just how truly fucked both sides were.

  The roar nearly knocked me over. It took all of my physical and emotional strength to remain standing as I watched the highest branches part like desiccated weeds.

  Several jungle men ran, screaming, as an enormous Tyrannosaurus rex forced its way onto the beach, looking hungry for a meal that was just too good to pass up.

  • • • • •

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