by Ian Woodhead
Like a bomb going off in his head, Franco then understood exactly what he was seeing here. He watched those iguana men guiding the raptors in a single file through the crowds. Like the humans, those animals were acting just like sheep. Franco would have loved to know how they were able to control both the humans and the dinosaurs right now, though. He pushed that question to the back of his head, just happy that he’d worked out exactly what they were.
The similarity between the raptors and these upright feathered lizards were plain for all to see. They were evolutionary relatives; it was like comparing him to a monkey. Ha! So much for his alien theory.
The raptors and the small assembled humans were now rubbing shoulders in the middle of the concourse, separate from all the other shoppers. One lizard man walked around the perimeter and placed cylindrical objects around the two species before returning to join its companions.
The air around the group shimmered before what appeared to be a glass dome formed around the group, then whatever spell the iguana men had over the group vanished. The slaughter that followed burned into Franco’s retinas as those hooked claws sliced through human skin and muscle.
This energy field might have stopped all that deluge of blood from escaping, but it didn’t stop those bird-like screeching and the short-lived screams from reaching his ears. Franco looked away when the interior of the dome turned completely red.
The squawks stopped a few seconds later, so he guessed that the feathered men had used those pipes on the raptors again. When he looked back, he found to his horror that the energy field was no longer on. The raptors were busy guzzling down the remaining pieces of meat. What made Franco’s heart miss a bit was the feather men were all looking directly at where he was hiding. Two of them raised their pipes.
Franco reached the door which led into the town’s sewer network. He needed to work out what to do once he reached home. He hadn’t given his future much thought until now. It’s obvious that he couldn’t contact the police. Those bastards could all suck on a plate full of frozen shit. No way he could allow the authorities to get in on this one.
He had a couple of shotguns hidden under his floorboards, and with the help of a couple of trusted buddies who lived close by, Franco reckoned he’d be able to bag a couple of those raptors and get them out without anyone realising. Hell, he might even be able to grab a birdman as well. He nodded to himself, yeah why the fuck not? After the stress they had put him through, he deserved some kind of recompense. It was only fair. Also, he so wanted to lay his hands on one of those pipes. The fun he could have with a device like that just boggled the mind.
He wasn’t exactly sure how to explain his adventure to Danny and his older brother, but Franco should be able to come up with something plausible enough for the lads to follow him back into the sewers.
Franco placed his hand upon the door handle. His thoughts of coming back just fizzled away. He smiled and let out a quiet giggle. Franco loved his job. He had some great friends, and he knew he shouldn’t be down here, not when the mall was about to get busy.
The pet shop owner slowly turned out and walked back the way he came still grinning, and why shouldn’t he grin. After all, he loved his job. He had such terrific friends. In fact, he could see two of them right now skittering towards him, both of them holding a length of metal pipe.
Chapter Six
Opening his eyes had to rank as one of the worst decisions that Desmond had ever made. He was still in that dirty chamber with the fluffy dinosaur still in that corner, glaring at him with those hateful green eyes. Since he’d fallen into dreamland, the dinosaur must have gone out for another takeaway as it now had a naked human torso next to those blood-stained claws.
“Come near me, you fluffy fucker, and I’ll bite you on the snout.”
The raptor growled at him before it lowered its head and sank its teeth into its meal, while still glaring at Desmond.
“I would not recommend pursuing an agenda of aggression. You are a prey animal, act like it. I do not have enough power to keep this device at running at full capacity.”
Desmond stifled a scream. He’d totally forgotten about seeing that feathered man rising up from under all those bones and lumps of flesh. Only it no longer looked like some giant bird. He frowned, wondering how his best mate had managed to find him. Not that he was going to complain about good old Henry Wild risking life and limb to come to his rescue. No way. Neither was he going to ask why Mr. Dinosaur here hadn’t bitten off Henry’s face either. “Oh man, I’m so glad to see you.”
Henry turned his head yet he didn’t return Desmond’s smile. He felt fingers of ice run up and down his spine when Henry told him to stop talking, yet the man’s mouth never moved. He felt like he was looking at a showroom dummy.
He leaned closer and squinted his eyes. It wasn’t his mate standing there at all. This was some kind of illusion. Under the facade of flesh and janitor’s uniform, Desmond could make out yellow feathers. It was like staring at a projection. The only thing stopping him from diving at this monstrosity was the raptor’s posture. He got the feeling that any sudden moves on his party would result in swapping that gnawed torso for his body. “What the fuck are you? More to the point, what happened to my friend?”
“Understanding danger must have been a trait bred out of you, or perhaps having nothing to fear has necessitated this obvious survival ability into a redundant genetic sequence? As you cannot function without this desire for information, I shall furnish your appetite.”
Desmond did his best to digest what it had said to him. A difficult task with him only understanding one word in ten.
“I scanned your companion’s dimensions into my Image Resonator before I ate him. As for what I am, well, that is one question that I too posed upon escaping from my incarnation. You are a fascinating species, my new slave. You are weak, primitive, and your intelligence levels are not far removed from the vermin ancestors. Still, despite all these setbacks, you have broken through the confines which binds every other living organism into place. I would be suitably impressed if you had reached this stage of development without my help.”
He still had little clue to what this thing was banging on about, nor did he care. Desmond just wanted to get out of here and go home. He didn’t feel very well at all. Desmond then realised what this fucker had just said. “Wait on, did you say you ate my friend?” His sudden loud noise had startled the dinosaur, but right now, Desmond couldn’t give a shit. “You evil fucking scumbag. You utter bastard. He was the only friend I had!”
The image of his now dead friend pointed to what looked like a length of copper pipe at his head. Desmond remembered what happen to him last time and bit on the inside of his cheek. He sat back down and took a deep breath. He got the feeling that if he was put back to sleep again, he wouldn’t be waking up ever again.
“An interesting reaction, but not entirely unexpected.” The image walked through the pile of bones and sludge, stopping when it reached Desmond’s feet. “You live still because I wish it, Desmond. Of course, if you do want to truly become a prey, raise your paw now. I shall deactivate the pacifier which is stopping my ancient ancestor from eating you, and she so desires this. If you did choose this option, your death will be painful. You see, because you angered her, she will start by eating your feet. You will cry out in complete agony as her teeth sink into your tender flesh. Is this what you want?”
Desmond shook his head so much he gave himself a headache. “Oh please, no, don’t do that. I don’t want that to happen. Please don’t let her eat me!” He groaned, partly in disgust, when his bladder gave out. The smell of his urine filled his nose. Desmond began to weep. “I’m sorry,” he sniffled. “Fuck Harry. He wasn’t that much of a friend anyway.”
“I have viewed your world through a primitive imaging and communication device. I am sure that the individuals who were with me will have performed a similar action. Despite our faith difference, they would have reached the same conclusion as I did.”
Desmond wiped his eyes. “Is this going to upset me?”
“If you were not such an instinctively duplicitous and cunning specimen, then I would believe the news would cause you some upset. For you see, your species is not that far removed from your rodent beginnings. If they were the apex lifeform upon this planet, then they too would breed without regard. They too would damage their environment without concern, and they would continue upon this course until they wiped themselves out.”
The image of his now dead friend walked over to the dinosaur and stroked it on the top of the heads like it was some kind of giant kitten.
Desmond still wondered if all of this was an intense dream. “There are more like you?”
“Yes, thirty-one females, thirty of them still within breeding age, and eighteen males. Enough to rebuild our civilization… Once they have exterminated every single one of your species first. Your species perhaps has two more lunar cycles to enjoy their existence.”
The image’s face then smiled. After getting used to its fixed expression, the sudden change scared Desmond almost as much as its prediction of Armageddon. “You should not allow this to upset you, my new slave. After all, I too am in this position. Unlike those Godless deviants, I do not have another member of my own species who will mate with me. Not that this problem overly concerns me.”
Conflicting emotions ran through Desmond’s mind. Deep down, he knew that getting out of here and warning as many people as possible should be his only consideration. It didn’t matter whether this thing and his pals were capable of murdering billions of people; this guy here certainly believed it. What stopped him from doing exactly that, apart from not wanting that dino to eat his feet, was that Desmond didn’t like other people. In fact, the way he saw it, life would be a lot easier without having other people telling him what to do every single day. “Wait a minute, mister.”
The image sat down opposite the dinosaur and casually tore off a piece of that torso. “Your colloquialism fascinates me almost as much as your species. Am I to deduce that you wish to ask a question?”
“Okay, so I’m now your new slave. I’m cool with that. Fuck, I’ve been a slave all my working life, as well as in the forces, so it’s not much of a problem. I take that you don’t want to kill us all then?”
The image of his old friend disappeared, and the feathered creature reappeared. Desmond quietly congratulated himself for not shitting his pants when this happened. He also praised his nerves when it bit into the chunk of human meat.
“Not every human. Just enough to stop you vermin from becoming a problem for the foreseeable future. The remainder of your species shall be neutered, genetically altered to curb some of that latent aggression and confined to a nature reserve.”
“But they’ll still look the same? I mean, it’s not like they’ll look like freaks or anything?” Desmond carefully got back on his feet. “It’s just. Well, I know you don’t have any chicks and that’s a shame, it really is. I was just, well…”
“You crave a mate?”
He thought of that hot chick who worked in the nail bar. “Yeah, a mate. That would be pretty cool.” He guessed the chick wouldn’t be all that happy about it, but that wouldn’t matter. Lizardman would see to that. “So when do we start?”
Chapter Seven
The dark interior promised only danger. That much, Jefferson did know. He pressed his nose against the toy shop’s glass, trying to see anything remotely human inside. All he saw were eyes belonging to another one of those things which caused all that mayhem in the furniture shop. Thankfully, this one was only the size of a large cat. Even so, he wasn’t going to take any chances.
Not that the miniature murderer had that much interest in the two humans outside the shop. Perched on the top shelves amongst the action figures, building blocks, dolls, and board games were dozens of weird-looking flying animals. They looked like bats, only these bastards had a long beak like a pelican and a bony crest on the top of their heads.
The miniature murderer ran from aisle to aisle, leaping at the shelves whenever one of them took to the air. Jefferson had seen birds in his garden behaving in the same manner whenever Alistair, his neighbour’s tom cat, sneaked under the fence. He left them to it. There wasn’t any death smell drifting out from the interior, so he assumed that Alan, and whoever else was in there, had escaped. He stopped beside Tailor’s Beauty Parlour. Unlike the pet shop, the harsh white light still illuminated the interior. Jefferson tried not to let his disappointment show at the sight of the empty shop. Christ, was he still expecting to see the very lovely Sandy sitting on that bright purple chair in front of that black table, waiting for her next customer?
“I don’t think there’s anybody in there, Jefferson.”
He nodded. “I guess not.” Sandy stuck her tongue out at him yesterday. It had been at about this time as well. He, of course, did the same back. This went on for a few more seconds, until Jefferson noticed Alan’s disapproving gaze in the toy shop window. Jefferson gave him a silent raspberry before he turned around and slouched back to his shop.
He’d give his right arm for everything to go back to how it was, with him being bored and frustrated with his life, and David lusting after Sandy and… He paused and gazed at Janine, still clinging on to his hand. Maybe not everything.
“I don’t think that your friends are in there, Jefferson.”
He slowly turned, leaned forward, and gently kissed the woman. She eagerly responded, holding him tightly against her body. Jefferson peeled his lips away. He grinned. Janine then pushed out his tongue. “Sorry, I’m not sure why I did that.”
“Maybe it’s because you could?” Janine sighed softly. “Because you’re as terrified as I am, and you think that the chances of both of us getting out of the fucking mall in one piece are pretty slim?”
He wiped away her tears. “We haven’t done too badly so far, Janine. Hell, we haven’t even used the bat just yet.” He kissed her again. “Don’t forget, it isn’t over until the fat lady sings.”
A quiet sob escaped from her mouth. “I hope that isn’t a reference to me, young man.”
Jefferson shook his head. “Don’t be silly, Janine. You’re in great shape, considering.”
“Considering what? Were you going to say considering my age?”
He laughed. “Both Sandy and Alan used to tell me that the best way to distract a woman was to mention her age.” Jefferson gently stroked her cheeks. He wondered if the weird feelings now blasting through his system were due to him falling for this woman or the constant terror of his situation had finally started to make him go a little mental.
“I want you to kiss me again, Jefferson. In fact, I want that more than anything.” She hung her head. “But I think we should find your friends first.”
“There’s only my shop to check. Oh, and the eatery.”
She pulled him away from the window and crossed the concourse, heading for the large collection of tables on the other side. Jefferson spent most of his free work time in here, they all did. They alternated through the eight food stalls situated around the U-shaped wall, choosing one per day. Jefferson always opted for the Chinese Express nine-item portion containers.
Jefferson froze. He pulled the woman back and ducked when he spotted three fast-moving shadows in the corner of the eatery. Janine tapped him on the shoulder, then pointed to the cricket bat. Her intention was very clear. He slowly nodded before standing again. Whatever they were, he didn’t believe they would be too much of a threat. The shadows were too small to belong to that beast from the furniture shop. Could it be more of those miniature murderers? That bugger was fast, and it wasn’t exactly harmless.
Maybe he ought to bypass the eatery and head for his discount store. Jefferson couldn’t remove the image of him storming in there, bat raised above his head, while several more of those things leaped onto Janine. He looked at the woman, not sure what to do. One thing was clear though, he didn’t want to be alone again.
The lad had one foot on the cash register and the other one stuck inside the glass, which still contained a couple of cream buns. He held a metal fry basket in his left hand, swiping at any of the little dinosaurs that managed to get their claws onto the edge of the counter.
Jefferson turned around, intending to tell Janine to climb onto a table but she was already there, gripping the craft knife.
With her reasonably safe, Jefferson turned his attention to helping David. He gripped the handle tightly, swung it over his shoulder, and smacked the nearest dinosaur with the business end. The impact launched the little animal across the room where it smacked into the front of the iced slushy machine on the burger store counter.
Two other dinosaurs darted out of the way when he tried to hit them. They ducked their heads and squawked at Jefferson before they turned around and raced over to the sandwich shop. They leaped onto the counter and disappeared over the edge. Jefferson waved the bat in the air and jumped up and down. He didn’t really want to hit any more of them. Three more darted away leaving only one. It was either stone deaf or just didn’t care. It only moved when David jumped backwards and slammed his wire basket on the counter, narrowly missing the creature by inches. It took the hint and ran away.
“You okay, man?”
David dropped the metal basket and frantically ran his fingers up and down both his arms.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Looking for bites.” He stopped and gave Jefferson a huge smile. “God, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see your ugly mug. You took a big frigging risk, though.” He leaned across and pulled Jefferson towards the counter. “Take a gander at this poor sod.”