Savage Island: A Dinosaur Thriller

by Alan Spencer

  "You don't believe me," Joey laughed. "You haven't seen them, so you won't believe me until you do. You’ll see plenty of evidence on the tour. Don't you worry."

  The tour?

  Now Susan was nervous. What did they have in store for her? They knew she was the daughter of Lee Branch. The island didn't like trespassers, especially the environmentalist kind. So, what would her future hold at this savage island?

  This wasn't a protest against organizations that destroyed nature.

  This was now a fight to save her life.

  Susan continued down the hallway until they stopped in front of a set of double doors that led outside. Around those doors was a lobby area; this seemed to be the entrance to the base. Along the walls were stuffed mounts.

  Human heads.

  "Ah, you're noticing my accomplishments!" A jovial voice greeted her from another outlet of the hallway. This man stood six feet tall. He was a built two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle and force. The mysterious man wore a red silk cloth that covered his face from the nose down to his chin. "Welcome to my island, Mrs. Branch. Now father and daughter can be reunited. First, I wanted to give you a tour of the base."

  The man patted Joey on the back. "Good work, Joey. I can always depend on you to get results."

  Joey smiled big. "Thanks, boss."

  The second head tried to shape a smile, and only unleashed a thick stream of drool down its chin.

  "Forgive me, Mrs. Branch," the man said in a deep voice. Susan imagined a human lion talking, his voice was so deep. "I haven't introduced myself. I could tell you my real name, but I prefer the title I've been given by environmental organizations like yours. You can call me Hangman."

  "I understand your silence," Hangman went on. "So let me do the talking. If you have questions or comments, please, feel free to speak. Joey won't shock you. He'll only give you the juice if you try to run."

  Hangman pointed at the two dozen mounted heads on the wall. "You've got men and women from across the globe. All environmentalists, crusaders of nature, and brave souls who dared to go against the way of industry and commerce. They protest, they picket, they sabotage, and they expose our operations. We do the world's dirty work, and this is the thanks we get?

  "I cut their heads off myself, Mrs. Branch, with an axe. Let me be clear. I will always win. You can stall my operation, you can throw a wrench in the machine, but that's all that will happen. You can't win. We're too big and powerful for anybody to stop. And still, little brave souls like you keep poking around in our business.

  "Lessons must be learned, and I'm the one to dole out the punishments. You see, I was hired by Globo Corps to run this island. It's a funny story. This island had been uninhabited since the beginning of time...so Globo Corps thought. Go back about twenty years, and Globo Corps flies out payloads of chemicals from hundreds of manufacturing companies. Think battery factories, pharmaceutical leftovers, hazardous waste from hospitals and cancer research facilities, and the general toxic and biohazard shit that modern life has created. Globo Corps flew big helicopters, and simply dumped the shit on the island.

  "The problem was, Globo Corps didn't realize tribes of people live on this island, as do dinosaurs. Dinosaurs, right? I mean, what an oversight! This island's been untouched since the beginning of time. The land is constantly surrounded by a ring of fog that spans for miles and miles in every direction. Maybe that was nature's way of keeping its secrets. Well, fuck nature. God created humans that were superior to dirt, rocks, and trees, so onward with progress. Am I right?

  "We cure diseases, and increase the world's technology. Of course, some unintended messes are going to occur. So what? This island will do its job as long as people like me, Joey, and the others are here to police it.

  "You're probably wondering who would take on such a job? Everybody here has been trained and recruited from prisons. Think about the numbers of people who've been put on death row, or were sentenced to life terms. Not everybody's cut out for this work, even though the reward is high. You'll learn firsthand what that means, Mrs. Branch.

  "Anyway, I'm going on and on. Let's begin the tour. I can't wait to show you what this island has to offer."

  Hangman's Tour

  Outside those double doors was a courtyard. There were no trees or special foliage, only an odd pile of bones. She thought it was a post-modern sculpture until she noticed the long reptilian skulls and bones that were well beyond the size of any humans or animal's. They looked to be dinosaur bones. The bones were wrapped up in barbed wire. A bronze plaque was placed below the bones. The inscription read: Man Conquers All.

  Susan thought back to the mounted human’s heads, and the explanation Hangman offered about the island. She couldn't help but ask her captor the question.

  "You set my dad up, didn't you? You gave him the directions to the island. You were the tipster."

  Susan couldn't see Hangman's expressions beneath the red silk cloth. His delight showed in those devilish eyes. "Smart girl, aren't you? Yes, I was the one who reached out to your father. I put out the bait, and he ate it right up. That's what Globo Corps does. Instead of going after their enemies, they trick them into coming here. They either get eaten up by the dinosaurs, thrown onto a cannibal's plate, or we get our hands on them. Joey likes it when we capture them alive, don't you, Joey?"

  Joey's eyes doubled. "Yes, sir."

  The second head managed a smile without drooling this time.

  "Our goal is to hunt down our enemies until they're no more," Hangman said. "Maybe one day, those who think of acting like nature's ambassadors will think twice and start minding their own business. We've pretty much dismantled The Green Project. Now that's something to celebrate."

  Hangman motioned for Joey to lead Susan to the jeep parked nearby. Joey loaded her up into the backseat and sat right next to her, while Hangman took the wheel. Hangman had a walkie and called up to the guard's tower that stood tall beside the large steel barrier entrance. "Open the gates."

  There was a crackle on the line, and then someone spoke, "You got it, sir."

  The gates opened. They were driving down a dirt path along a grassy straightaway. Barbed fences at least thirty feet high surrounded them.

  "I keep a long open area around our compound in case intruders dare to cross the electrified fences. They'll be easy to stop out in the open. Nowhere to hide. Snipers can blow their heads rights off."

  Hangman kept driving. Another fence perimeter appeared. Men in dark blue suits worked to open the gates securely. Susan saw a few of them, and their abnormalities. One of them had three arms on one side of him. He used one arm to open the fence, while the other two clutched onto sub-machine guns. Another guard had a hand dangling from his chin. The guard saw Susan staring at him, and the hand flipped her off.

  "They don't like it when you stare too long, Mrs. Branch," Joey said. "But you can look at me as long as you like. I don't mind a woman's eyes on me."

  Oh Jesus.

  Hangman laughed. "Joey sure enjoys his women. Who doesn't? Especially when they're all as pretty as you, Mrs. Branch. I think we're all going to enjoy you very much. We'll make you last."

  That burning hot coil of fear burned up her spine. There was no doubt as to what things these awful people had planned for her. Susan refused to buckle under the stress. There had to be a way out of this, and she prayed to God there was an escape.

  The fence opened up. The jeep drove forward, staying on a dirt path cut out from the thick jungle. Susan thought of the many places she could run and hide. What prevented her from diving out of the vehicle was the leather dog's leash on her neck. If she jumped from the jeep, it was probable she would snap her neck.

  Susan didn't have much time to consider any options of escape.

  The jeep soon stopped.

  Up ahead was a destination spot on Hangman's tour.

  A Horrific Show

  When the jeep stopped, Hangman didn't say a single word. Joey and his head observe
d the area with pride. Susan had to deal with two realities at once. One, that dinosaurs did in fact exist, and two, those creatures were being tormented. A series of iron cages were spread out in a box cut out of the jungle. Two raptors were trapped in one iron-barred cage. One raptor had turned against the other and was eating from a half-rotten carcass. A brontosaurus was left out in direct sunlight to bake in the sun. The dinosaur lay on its side, slowly dying. The body was deflated leather. The other cages housed various types of dinosaurs, all trapped in cages without food, or trapped with another of its kind so they would eat the other. Hanging from the nearby trees were dinosaur body parts hanging from rope. The smell surrounding the area was an offensive wall of fecundity. The sight and smell coupled together to force Susan to lean over the edge of the jeep and lose her stomach. Joey had to give her slack on the leash. When she came back up, Hangman drove on from the horrible place of death.

  "We have to make the dinosaurs fear us," Hangman explained. "If we don't, they'll kill us all. They might be lower thinking creatures, but they're smart enough to fear pain, and to recognize those who can inflict it. This show of brutality is a requirement. Considering our efforts, we still lose men doing their everyday jobs to dinosaur attacks."

  The jeep continued down the trail.

  Susan couldn't believe her eyes.

  Something horrible was coming right their way.

  "Don't worry, I'm hitting the gas," Hangman said. "This is a normal occurrence on this island. The mutations, I mean."

  A blanketing wall of flies the size of softballs buzzed towards them. The flies were hundreds thick. Joey got up, let go of her leash, and picked up a long gun that looked like a rocket launcher. White smoke sprayed out the tip. The flies were immediately hit by the smoke and abruptly turned the other way. Susan thought about leaping out of the jeep, but Hangman had reached around, and had his hand on her leg.

  "Repellant does the job," Hangman said. "We got giant flies, rhinoceros beetles that are big enough to eat dogs, and look up ahead! There they are. Our friendly neighbors. Say hello!"

  Susan went from one mode of disgust, to an even higher level of shock. Human bones were stacked up into a tall hill. Beyond that hill were straw huts. Susan caught sight of a crude stage for killing. People dressed in loincloths and painted in strange symbols danced around at their presence. They clutched onto sharpened wood spears and wood axes, but didn't dare come close to the jeep.

  The longer she studied the group, Susan noticed their freak abnormalities. A few had multiple limbs, or two heads, like Joey, and many had organs pumping with life on the outside of their bodies. The worse example she saw was a woman with a liver and spleen on top of her head. It bisected her facial features, creating a hideous expression. Susan had to turn away with tears in her eyes.

  This place is so wrong.

  Susan's feelings didn't change when her eyes happened upon the ground heaped in spread out intestines, and chunks of broken bones. People were savagely killed here. These people were not only the victims of contamination, they were real-life cannibals. She knew this because there was torn clothing belonging to her team spread out about the area. Lords, Staff, and Berkley were savagely murdered and devoured here.

  Hangman removed a .38 special from his hip holster and rattled off five rounds into the air. The cannibals were jolted by the noises and fled into a hole in the ground for safety. "Yeaaaaaaaaaaah! Run, you stupid pieces of shit. Go into your hidey-hole. Know your place, you stinking rats.

  "Not only do we have to suppress the dinosaurs, these cannibals can keep our hands full too. We have to actively show our dominance in order to maintain the safety of our staff. It's not easy.

  "By the way, I'm not giving you this tour for kicks. You must understand there is no escape. If you run out there, know you're throwing yourself into a worse situation than what we could ever muster. The tour is to back up what I'm saying. You're ours, totally and completely. Do as we say, and you might get to live. We even have a few ladies who enjoy it here. They treat us real good. When they treat us real good, we tend to reciprocate."

  Hangman told her they had one more stop on the tour before he got to show her something extra special. What "extra special" could mean made her stomach churn in miserable anticipation.

  Dumping Ground

  Susan couldn't see it, but she could smell it. She imagined burning plastic, boiling bleach, nose-pinching sulfur, and melting Styrofoam. Billowing clouds of gray and white smoke rose up from a circle in the near distance. Iron gates surrounded the perimeter of the pollution box. The jeep stopped outside the main gates. The armed guards in two towers studied them. Hangman waved for them to go about their duty. Susan could see tall steel vats and storage tanks. Between steel pipes connecting everything, steam snuck out of cracks in the steel, as did occasional neon green drips. Workers wearing Hazmat suits and gas masks were checking gauges, core temperatures, and patching up the leaks from the hundreds of storage tanks.

  "You see, inside the area we process what is brought to the island. An aircraft will drop the payload from the sky. Our boys collect it, process it in our facility, maintain these corrosive elements, and keep them as far away from humanity as possible. We're doing a wonderful service here. The problem, sometimes we have serious leaks, and this hazardous stuff leeches into the drinking water. We've had mutations, and I, for one, am not a stranger to mutation."

  Hangman pointed to the red silk kerchief covering his lower face.

  "I have sacrificed as much as our workers have. We do this without thanks or an end to our duties. We do this because our country has called upon us to continue this burdensome task. It's the cost of being an American. Some Americans pay a higher price than others for their freedom. Know it as a way of life, Mrs. Branch."

  Susan couldn't change who she was, and that was an environmentalist. She bled green. Hangman could spout justifications for this island all he wanted, but she smelled bullshit over the sulfur.

  "All of you have hearts of gold. You're hiding illegal chemicals for illegal big businesses. Let's wave the American flag in your honor. Hypocrites. You're contaminating the life on this island. You're contaminating yourselves. I don't care if that tribe back there is a cannibal tribe, and who knows, maybe these chemicals turned them into cannibals, but they didn't ask for us to come to their home and wreck everything. It starts here, but where does it end? If what you're doing is so innocent, why are you doing this in secrecy? Why kill those who stumble upon the truth? Your ideology is full of gaping holes."

  Hangman didn't have anything to say, except, "Sometimes you have to wake up and realize you have to pick a side. I pick the side that's in power. You picked the losing side, Mrs. Branch. Remember that during your stay here on my island; keep telling yourself what you need to tell yourself to get through life, and I'll do the same for myself. Now there's one more thing to show you, and that will bring a conclusion to the tour."

  The Special Surprise

  Dread welled up into Susan's stomach. Her insides were that of a boiling vat of illegal chemicals. What did Hangman have in store for her next? The way Joey and his second head ogled her bare thighs sticking out of the paper-thin gown clued her in. She had to keep telling herself she was full of fight, piss and vinegar, and a stomp your enemies into the ground mentality.

  Did Hangman have a point earlier? He picked the winning side, and Susan, well, she was on the side that was always a half step behind the opposition. The Green Project was as good as finished. She was one person working for a dead organization.

  Where did that leave Susan?

  Dead.

  The ride was a backtrack of the previous tour. The cannibal tribe was still hiding underground. Susan was jolted by the sound of a skull being crushed under the front tire.

  Joey said, "It's okay. Just be glad it's not your skull, Mrs. Branch. Yours is still in your head."

  They returned to the tortured dinosaurs in cages. The dinosaurs that were alive, and had enough en
ergy to show a reaction, cowered in fear as the jeep headed back to the main base. Through the main gates, they traveled back to where they had started from.

  Joey guided her by the dog leash through the main doors. Hangman walked five paces ahead of them. He couldn't wait to show Susan the surprise. Susan lowered her head viewing the mounted heads on the wall. She recognized Joyce Merryweather and Howard Best, both from The Green Project, who had saved over a dozen species of animals from going extinct, and had worked tirelessly in third world countries to deliver malaria nets, clean drinking water, medical aid, and contraception education. What had Joyce and Howard done to land in the crosshairs of Hangman? It sounded like this organization targeted environmentalist groups like terrorists targeted innocent people. They did it all to spread fear into their enemies.

  Susan had to ask herself, had anyone truly spread fear into Hangman's operation here on the island? She snarled thinking about it. It was about time somebody gave Hangman a dose of his own medicine.

  Up ahead, Hangman hit a button to open up an elevator.

  "We're headed down," Hangman said. "Brace yourself, Susan."

  Susan had no idea how to do such a thing in a place like this.

  She did everything to busy her mind during the elevator ride down. She counted four floors on the button panel. Hangman had pressed two buttons. Level 2 and Level 3. Joey appeared to be startled by the fact Hangman had done so.

  Hangman anticipated Joey's apprehension.

  "You're due for your weekly physical," Hangman said to Joey. "I know you don't like your visits with the doctor. Dr. Prater does his best to make them as quick and painless as possible. When you run an operation with a staff of mutants, you've got to twist their fucking arms to get them through the doctor's door. I feel your pain, Joey. I have to look at myself in the mirror everyday. I'm just like all of you. Prolonged exposure to this chemical shit does it to you. Now you know why we can't leave this island. The world will never accept us. This island is where we belong. We've talked about this during the staff meetings. Do we need to have that talk again?"