William couldn’t, he was frozen to the spot. Unlike David, he hadn’t dared look at it when they first encountered it at the river but now he had no choice, it was there, it was massive and was looking straight at them. It lowered its head and sniffed the air, its huge tail swung back and forth behind it and its massive legs stayed firmly where they were, its head moved and bobbed from side to side, its small eyes glaring at them, it hadn’t seen people before and David could tell it wasn’t sure what to make of them, but he also knew that this animal didn’t take Lynsey, it was far too big to have sneaked up on her and made in under the plane, and whilst that gave him some relief it also filled him with another thought, if this didn’t, what did?
David carefully took a bunch of keys out of his pocket, reaching slowly across, he pushed them in to William’s hand and curled his fingers around them. He leaned towards William and whispered, “Get these keys back to the plane, you’re going to need them.” William didn’t get the time he needed to register what David had meant let alone ask him. David placed his right hand on William’s left shoulder. Mustering all his strength he pushed William to the side of the trail. William fell to his right crashing through the ferns and foliage falling down the 8-foot drop on that side of the trail. Instantly David turned and ran and with the sudden movements of David’s actions the Tyrannosaur set off after him. It bellowed as it started to move its huge bulk forward. William curled up and pulled his head into his chest covering it with his hands, he felt the ground shake and move as it thundered past him. After he was sure it was gone William un-curled himself and started back up the side of the ditch to the trail path. He watched the Tyrannosaur disappear out of view into the dense forest. Pulling himself up he started down the trail back to the plane, running as fast as he could, but it was long time since William had had to run; he had never used a gym and now right at this moment he was regretting it. He could hear the roar from the animal even from this distance. His legs burned and his stomach stitched as he pushed himself gasping for breath, wheezing and coughing he felt as if he was going to pass out, his mouth started to water and his legs slowed to a crawl. Leaning against a tree with his left arm, he doubled over and instantly his body regurgitated all of his stomach’s contents, crouching and gasping he wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand. The roar came again, but it was distant. Pushing himself off the tree he started to run again but his muscles had nothing else to give. Now he was staggering, his arms hardly able to hold themselves up by his side, his wrists were limp. He pushed through the scrub into the clearing and he could see the plane just in front of him. “Sanctuary,” he thought, he had lost all his dexterity through sheer exhaustion. He banged on the fuselage as best he could as he passed under it and as David had instructed, the cargo door was shut tight. He banged again, “Fucking let me in!” he bellowed with his remaining breath. The door shuddered and slowly it started to open. “Quicker, quicker, come on!” William screamed at them, the door was open enough and the net tumbled down. William snatched at it and started to haul himself inside, he felt arms grabbing him and he was pulled up and into the cargo bay. “Close the door, close the door,” William’s speech had reduced to no more than a scared whisper. He lay on his back, his body shaking, he turned his head to see the door close and the safety catch pulled across it. With his breath slowly returning to him he pulled himself up onto his elbows. Nick and Amy stood over him. “Where’s David?” Amy asked but William couldn’t speak, he just looked up at them and shook his head.
David was running as fast as he had ever ran, digging deep, his heart beating and thumping inside him, his lungs strained for every last bit of useable oxygen they could get to power his muscles, adrenaline pumped around him as he burst through the undergrowth. Skipping over tree roots that were sticking out of the ground he didn’t dare take a look behind him, he didn’t need to, he could feel the ground vibrate and shake every time the Tyrannosaur slammed down one of its huge feet.
David was surprised by the ground it had made up on him even with the 500-yard head start he had and the thick undergrowth that favoured him but it was close.
David could see thick tree line he was heading for; it was within reaching distance. He dug deeper pushing his body to give him every ounce of energy it could; he was almost there, he knew it wouldn’t be able to follow inside if he could just get to it, then he felt himself flying through the air. It had happened so quickly he hadn’t even felt the contact that had tossed him up like a doll that a child had flung across the room.
Twisting in mid-air his eyes tried desperately to focus on something to make sense of his surroundings as the earth mixed with the sky, but the first thing he could focus on was the ground and it was hurtling towards him fast. His left wrist took the impact and it snapped, the pain shot up his arm and he howled, landing, he tumbled over coming to rest on his back; he opened his eyes to see the huge head of the Tyrannosaur directly over him. It stood at his feet bent over him, its huge tail counterbalancing the weight of it. Slowly it lowered its head down. David reached out with his right hand and searched around feeling for anything he could use, his hand found a rock. Clasping it tightly he rolled his hand over so it was face up in his palm the Tyrannosaur lowered its head down, its nose snorted as it got closer - only inches from his face - as it tried to figure out what this strange thing was it was standing over.
David mustered all the strength he could and swung his right arm over his body bringing the rock crashing down on its left nostril cutting it deeply and instantly releasing a stream of blood. It pulled its head back and let out an almighty growl. David’s ears vibrated with the noise, almost stunning him, but he seized his chance; he rolled onto his front and got to his feet. Cradling his left hand he bolted for the treeline now no more than 20-feet away but he wasn’t quick enough; it brought his head back down with lightening speed and David was lifted clean off his feet and high into the air. His body held between its huge teeth with his arms pinned by his sides. David turned his head and looked down the left side of its snout, blood ran down out of the wound he had caused. He could see pieces of rotting flesh stuck between its teeth as flies buzzed around it and he knew that shortly that would be all that was going to be left of him. His gaze shifted to its eye, he looked directly in to it and saw an empty soulless eye that knew nothing but violence and brutality. David spat at it and snarled, “Go fuck yourself!” and with that the huge jaws clenched and David’s body fell limply into it’s mouth.
Nick helped William back on to his feet. “What happened?” asked Nick. William had a morose look on his face, his eyes looked sad and Nick could see he was holding back tears. “It came at us, we thought we’d left it behind, but…it was so big, so fast, I thought David could get clear of it but it was on him in no time.”
Nick looked confused.
“What was, what are you talking about?” Nick questioned him further.
“Take it easy,” said Amy, she moved next to William and put her arm around his shoulder.
“Can’t you see he’s upset? whatever has happened has upset him,” she scolded Nick.
Nick pulled away and turned to head for the ladder, “Well, all I know is that two of them left and only one has come back!”
William pushed Amy’s arm off him, his breath regained. Now he felt angry, angry and frustrated.
“Look!” he shouted to Nick, as he walked away.
Nick stopped and turned round to face William.
“Look, David gave me these keys. I don’t know what they’re for but he told me to get them back here, then he pushed me down a bank and ran, that was the last I saw of him.”
“You said already,” Nick replied, “but you haven’t said what he ran from.”
William shifted on his feet, he looked nervous, he looked like a child that was about to confess to drawing on the wall or some other act that he’d been caught at, “It was a…” he paused.
Nick and Amy drew closer, their gaze held by his pause.
Nick jerked his head back and blinked, “A Tyrannosaur?” he questioned William.
“Yes, a T fucking Rex, a dinosaur, you know, big and nasty.” Then William broke down and started to sob, he fell to his knees. Amy lowered herself back beside him and helped him back to his feet. “It’s ok, William, come on, let’s get back up top and I’ll make you a coffee.”
Nick turned and climbed the ladder first. Turning, he helped William up through the hatch and Amy followed behind him.
“William, go and sit there, I’ll be over just now.” She guided William through to business class and sat him in a seat on the right side opposite where Sarah was sitting with Holly. She turned and saw that William was in obvious distress.
“Holly, I’ll be back in a minute.”
Holly just smiled and gave a weak wave to Sarah as she stood up and crossed the cabin. As she did Amy came out of the galley, “What’s wrong with William?” Sarah asked Amy. “We don’t know too much, he said something about David being chased by a dinosaur.” “A dinosaur?” Sarah repeated. Amy nodded and placed the hot coffee next to William in the cup holder built into the business class bunks. She sat in the adjacent seat and placed a soft hand on William’s forearm.
Amy headed back into the galley where Nick was leaning against the counter. “What did you see, William?” asked Sarah. William sat for a second or two as if he was ignoring her, then slowly he turned his head looking down at her hand and then up to her face; he looked directly in to her eyes and she could see terror in his. “We came…” he started to say through intermittent sobs, “we came across a clearing, it was a river. David stopped me from going too close, he must have been afraid that whatever took Lynsey would still be there.” He stopped to take a breath, turning his head straight ahead then bowing it into his chest. “We decided to follow it for a while we walked for about 15-minutes or so and then we saw the first one.” Sarah leaned forward so she could see his face, gently rubbing his arm she said, “Saw what, William, what was there?” “An animal, some kind of huge animal. I know it was a dinosaur but I’m not sure what it’s called.”
“Describe it,” another voice came from William’s left. A man was stood next to them both. William turned his head and looked up at him. He was a tall man about 6ft 2’ or so, black and of a very big build. William thought he must weigh 230lbs or so. He had a bald head and William thought a somewhat mean-looking demeanour - he reminded him of a soldier or even some special forces type. He had noticed him when he boarded the plane but had not taken much notice of him after they had taken off. He knelt down next to William and repeated, “Describe it.” William drew his breath again and composed himself, “Well, it was big, on all fours, it didn’t stand up like the other one, the…Tyrannosaur,” William looked back at the man but he had not reacted to what William had just said, no expression crossed his face. William continued, “it had a large plate sort of thing on its head and three large horns -two on the top of the crest and one on its nose.”
The man cut across him, “Triceratops.” Sarah turned her attention to him. “A what?” “A Triceratops, it’s a herbivore.” Sarah rested back in her chair, she had an inquisitive look on her face. “Who are you?” “Marcus Downs, I’m the air marshal on this flight.” With that he pulled back his leather jacket that hung over his cream chinos which his navy blue polo shirt was tucked into. Behind the hem of his jacket was his shield clipped onto his belt. “So, how do you know about dinosaurs?” she asked. “Well, if that was what you saw.” he turned his attention back to William who interjected, “it was!” Marcus continued, “If that was what you saw, the only animal that I know of that fits that description is a Triceratops.”
Sarah turned back to William, putting her hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Go on, William, you were telling us what had happened.”
He turned back to Sarah and gave her a slight smile. “We watched it for a while drinking from the river, it did see us but didn’t seem to be bothered by us being there, but then we heard that roar, that noise, God! it was awful, it sounded like…like…” William struggled to find a fitting description, but he continued, “I’ve never heard anything like it, the ground shook and then it appeared, it was huge, massive, it went away and we thought we’d left it behind us but it must have circled us because shortly before we got back to the plane it jumped us. David pushed me down the bank and made a run for it. The last I saw of either of them, they were running into the jungle.”
William shuffled in his seat and pulled something out of his pocket. Holding out his fist he un-curled it and showed Sarah the set of keys that David had given him. “He gave me these before he pushed me, he said I had to get them back to the plane.” “Did he tell you what they were for?” Sarah asked. “Looks like a locker key,” Marcus said. “Yeah, but do you see any lockers?” Sarah replied. She snatched the keys from William and took them over to Holly. “Holly, do you know what these are for?” Holly turned her head and looked at the two keys Sarah held out to her. “Looks like the captain’s bunk and a locker key.” “Thanks, Holly.” Sarah returned back to William and Marcus. “She said something about a captain’s bunk?” Marcus nodded, “It’s behind the flight deck, give me the keys and I’ll go check.” Marcus took the keys from Sarah and headed forward towards the flight deck and Sarah followed him.
To the left of the flight deck entrance there was a door. Marcus lined the key up and slipped it into the lock that was built into the handle and turned it, with a click the door came ajar and Marcus pulled it towards him. They stepped into the small room that consisted of a bunk bed; the type you often see in documentaries about naval vessels. On the wall that held the door there was a mirror and coat hanger. “No locker,” Sarah said. Marcus looked at her and took hold of the mattress. Carefully he lifted it up and under it, built into the bed frame, was a locker. He put the key in and turned it, pulling the locker open. Inside was hand gun. Marcus reached inside and pulled it out, “Jesus,” was the only phrase that Sarah could think as Marcus closed the locker and let the mattress fall back onto its frame. Turning, he gestured to Sarah and they left the room. Marcus pulled the door shut behind him but didn’t lock it.
They made their way back into business class where William was sitting drinking his coffee and chatting to Amy, who had come back to see how he was. Marcus pulled the gun out of his pocket and showed it to him. “This is what was in the locker.”
William put his coffee down and looked uneasily at the gun and then at Marcus.
“Why didn’t he take that with him? I mean, if he suspected anything.”
Marcus cut across him, “If what you say is real this wouldn’t have made any difference. This thing would penetrate a Croc’s skin let alone a T Rex!”
“Ok boys,” said Sarah, she looked at Marcus, “Look, I know you’re a marshal but I think it would be a good idea to keep that out of sight. There is a reason it was locked away, you know.”
Marcus smiled. “Relax, I’ve been around guns since the army but I’ll keep tight hold of it and under wraps, ok?”
Sarah smiled, she knew that the “Ok” was a rhetorical one but at least he had listened to her, even if he was a little patronising with his answer.
William stood and took the empty cup through to the galley. Out of nothing more than habit he turned the tap and went to rinse it, but before he turned the tap off, he stood looking at the cup for a few seconds and then placed it in the bin that was built into one of the cupboards.
Sarah had followed him in and had watched with interest what he had just done. “Why throw it away?” “David told me that these planes only carry around 30 gallons of water, given the drinks we’ve already had and how much has been used washing cups and hands et cetera we don’t know how much is left, and when it does run out we have to go back in there, back to the river.”
Sarah’s expression changed, she had a look of foreboding on her face. William read it and no
dded, “Exactly.” William left the galley and climbed back into his bunk. By now the sun was setting and he needed the security his bed and blanket seemed to offer him. He lifted the blind a little, just enough to see out of the window from where he was lying. The sun was almost gone, the trees around the plane were now nothing more than forbidding silhouettes that he knew were hiding the monsters of his nightmares and he also knew those nightmares would come again tonight.
The following day William called to the rest of the passengers who were in the economy class cabin and asked them to come through to business class.
Once everybody was gathered around Holly’s makeshift bed, William made his announcement.
“Look, I know what David told us the other night about what he had found on the other edge of the clearing and like the rest of you, I was a bit sceptical. But I’ve seen them, you’ve all heard by now what happened to David and whether you believe me or not, it did happen! We have to organise ourselves, we have to be ready, we will soon run out of water and food, we’re going to need to find fresh supplies at some point and we have to protect ourselves.”
William was in full swing, the grand speech he had practised over and over to leave his job was coming in useful now, not exactly what he expected to be saying but he was getting his point across just the same.
“I think we need to disguise ourselves as much as we can.”
Nick cut across him, “Disguise ourselves? We’re in a huge plane, or had you forgotten that?”
William smiled. “Yes, we are but I don’t think the average dinosaur will recognise it as that, do you? What I mean is we should pull all the window blinds down, then if the T Rex comes sniffing around at least it can’t see us through the windows.”
Marcus interrupted William. “We should also keep an eye open too. I mean, if it can’t see us that’s fine but we should still be able to see it.”
Yesterday's Flight Page 10