Blood Trail

by David Rhodes

  Then a human body had hit the ground right beside him. He didn’t know who it had been but within a few seconds it wasn’t there anymore. It was ripped to pieces and he watched in horror as body parts were fought over then carried away. Then dozens more began leaping into the tree. How could anyone survive up there? He could hear the screaming, it sounded far away coming through the DOPE, and all he could hear through his headset was static. The equipment was starting to decay.

  He grew frightened that the DOPE would fail, and he would be left in the open but then dinosaur bodies began falling from the tree. Maybe Ben and everyone else were winning, they all had guns. That reminded him he could shock the animals that attacked the DOPE. He had been too afraid to even remember it.

  As two more human bodies hit the ground he tried to see who they were but before he could they disappeared too. The predators began fighting and as they rolled over the DOPE they smeared it with blood. Then he shocked them, and they ran off and others began to follow. After that, anytime an animal touched the DOPE he shocked it too. Soon there were fewer of them, maybe he was scaring them away. He paused, or maybe everyone was dead. He strained to see up into the tree, but it was completely dark.

  Then a flashlight came on and he knew someone was alive. He started to get out of the DOPE but then he wondered why they were shining a light? Wouldn’t that attract more ‘saurs? He decided to stay inside the DOPE until he knew for sure what was going on. What had happened? He had tried to warn them.

  Then he saw the shadows coming down the tree. They were going slow and as the sun climbed a little higher in the sky he could see they were human. Someone had survived. He started getting out of his DOPE.

  Danny climbed slowly down the tree as Ben looped a line under Junk’s armpits and then wrapped it several times around a cluster of limbs. Lisa stayed just below Junk and guided her down the tree as Ben and Charles slowly let line slip over the limb and lowered her. It took almost ten minutes to get her to the ground where Danny helped lay her down.

  Danny started as he heard a faint hiss behind him but when he whirled around he saw it was only Steve coming out of the DOPE. “You’re hurt,” Steve said, then looked at Junk lying on the ground and asked, “Is that Lauren? Is she okay?”

  Danny shook his head and told him, “No, it’s Junk. Lauren and Ron are dead.”

  Steve paused then said, “I’m sorry.” He knew he couldn’t say anything else. They were trapped 70 million years in the past because of him, and he had planned to leave them to die anyway. But it made him think, if they could die, so could he. “What can I do to help?” he asked. Time to be helpful he thought, watch for an opening to take advantage of later, but be helpful now. He looked up and saw it was Stoney being lowered down. She never took her eyes off of him.

  As Charles slowly climbed out of the tree, he stopped and told Lisa, “I can’t go down the rest of the way. I don’t want to see them.”

  Lisa put her face close to his and said, “Charles, they be won’t there. There’s nothing left of them. They’re gone. Just like Marilyn.” Then she climbed out of the tree.

  Once everyone was on the ground Ben checked them again, stopped any new bleeding then gave them all a shot using a syringe from their med packs with a red P on it. But even though the bleeding was stopped for now, Ben knew everyone would start bleeding again when they started moving toward the time machine. And that would cause a huge problem. Not of someone bleeding to death he hoped, but of animals being drawn to the scent.

  Lisa was sitting down at the base of the tree with her head in her hands and Charles sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and she leaned into him. Danny sat down next to Charles and Stoney reached out from where she was lying and placed a hand on Lisa’s leg. “We’ll be okay,” she told Lisa.

  “No, we won’t,” Lisa said with an edge to her voice. “We won’t be okay. We won’t make it the rest of the way. Look at us. We’re all injured, worse than what we think. We need to be in a hospital right now, not in a few hours or maybe even days. As soon as we move we’re all going to start bleeding again. Junk will be dead in just a few minutes and Stoney, you’ll be dead soon after. Then the rest of us will die later. Ben, what was the injection you gave everyone? What was in the syringe with the P on it?”

  “Penicillin,” he told her.

  “Why?”

  “For infection. I mean, everyone is injured.”

  “But why, specifically?”

  “The rotting flesh from previous kills of those animals was probably still on their teeth and claws. Penicillin is a first line defense.”

  “Shouldn’t our wounds have been cleaned thoroughly and shouldn’t we be receiving a laundry list of medications to prevent further infection from these types of injuries?”

  “Yes,” Ben agreed.

  “As soon as possible?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even if we make it back somehow do you think Junk and Stoney will be able to fight off any life-threatening infections in their current states?”

  “I really think - ” Ben started but Lisa cut him off.

  “You’re wrong. Whatever you were going to say, you’re wrong. We need to stop thinking about getting out of here and saving ourselves. We need to think differently. We have to concentrate on getting to the time machine and then get Charles back to our time. He has to get there.”

  “Why?” Stoney asked.

  “Because he has to go back and change all of this. Only he can do it.”

  “Go back and change what?” Charles asked. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Go back and save everyone. Not just on this jump but earlier too. You have to save Pete, Marilyn and Mitch. Even Jimmy and Taggit. Everyone.”

  “That’s insane,” Charles argued. “How can I save all those people and why would I want to save Taggit?”

  “Because then you’ll save Danny too.” She looked at Danny and said, “Tell them. Tell everyone. How much longer do you have to live?”

  Danny dropped his head and replied, “I don’t know.”

  “Why are you dying?” Charles asked. “Is it those blisters?” When Danny didn’t answer he asked Lisa, “Why is he dying?”

  “Show everyone,” Lisa told him.

  Danny slowly opened up the tears in his shirt. Where Ben had cleaned the wounds, everyone could see the yellow blisters. “Charles and Lauren saw them earlier. It’s like Jimmy,” he said.

  Charles repeated, “Like Jimmy.” Then he asked, “Have you been to a doctor?”

  “Not at first. I kept hoping it wasn’t what I knew it was. But when they started spreading and I started losing energy I knew it was bad. The doctors couldn’t understand it. They kept asking where I worked, where had I been and what I had been doing. What was I supposed to say? Playing with dinosaurs?

  “As soon as each one said they needed to take a biopsy I just disappeared. Who knows what they would find? Something they couldn’t classify? Something so awful that if it got out of these little yellow blisters in our time might cause some type of an epidemic?”

  He took a deep breath and continued, “Whatever the blisters are I also have these little dark spots all over my lungs and kidneys. Maybe a few on my brain too. They’re still checking on that. But you know, I can tell. I can tell that it’s taking my life away from me.” He looked at Lisa and continued, “And it won’t be long. And like Aria, I see it coming.”

  “I’ve got a doctor that won’t ask questions,” Charles said. “Remember when we got back last time?”

  Danny shook his head and told Charles, “Too late. I waited too long. You can only lie to yourself for so long.”

  No one said anything for a few seconds then Lisa said, “Jimmy got his blisters from that thorn that was stuck in him. Remember? How many times have we been scratched this time moving through the thick jungle. What about when we ran from the Triceratops? I think I remember pulling thorns out of me after that, but I was so terrified I can’t recall. All of us coul
d already be dead, we just don’t know it yet.”

  “What are you suggesting then?” Steve asked. “What is Charles supposed to do?”

  She took Charles’ hand and looked him in the eye and told him, “There’s only six of us left. You’ve got to go back and talk to you. The you before you started making jumps. You’ve got to talk yourself out of helping Taggit, maybe even stop your work on time travel. If you do, then none of this occurs. None of the people who have died millions of years ago will have to.”

  “No, no, no,” Steve shouted. “He can’t do that. Everything has already been done. You can’t change that. No one can.”

  “Why not?” Ben asked.

  “Think of all the timelines that would be altered. All of the people who have died in this life would suddenly be changing the lives of people that they shouldn’t be in contact with. I’ll use Lauren’s own arguments, over two dozen people would live radically different lives that would produce millions, maybe billions, of different variations. It shouldn’t be done. It can’t be done.”

  Stoney struggled to sit up and said, “Let’s ask Lauren.” When no one replied she continued, “Let’s ask Ron or Major Donald. How about Lost or Blonk or even Otto. What do you think they would say? You caught all of us in your spider web of lies and deceit. And murder.

  “Let’s ask Stork. His only mistake was hurting his ankle. And you killed him for it. And what about everyone that came before us, that we were supposed to be so much better than? Or was it we were so much more stupid than they were? Let’s go ask them.

  “I don’t think any of them would care if you never started thinking about time travel. None of us would care if we ever worked for you, or even met you for that matter.” As she slowly lay back down, everyone was quiet.

  Then Lisa pointed out, “We barely even talked about the others when they died. It was just accepted that it was part of their dangerous profession. They took the bite. For what? Otto and the others followed your lead Steve and they are all dead. Right now, they’re still being blown apart and will be for millions of more years.

  “Blonk was killed by insects. Bugs. Is that how he thought he would die? He talked about his dad, he wouldn’t have wanted his son to die that way. Major Donald was killed in a stampede and we didn’t even pause to at least scrape what was left of her off the trail. We had to go so we left Sinewave behind too. Cat and Rover were trying to help us. Maybe they were in love too. But that was a million years ago and even the crocodiles that ate them have turned to dust.

  “Today, the last sound that Lost made, a scream of terror and pain, helped save most of us. But not all of us. My love, Ron, and my friend Lauren, fighting until the end to save her father, were butchered right where we are sitting. And the rest of us, are we already dying from some disease that we should never have been exposed to?

  “I guess I’m getting cynical, or hard, or mad, but we shouldn’t have been here. No one should ever be here. So, I’m not apologizing, but I am agreeing with Stoney. If we asked everyone who ever died because of Steve I’m sure they would all agree they would rather be alive. And Charles, I love you, but you should never have invented your time machine.”

  Charles hung his head and replied, “I now think you’re right. It has caused nothing but death. Maybe I didn’t think about it as much as I should have after the jumps for Taggit. After all, the good guys, us, we made it through. But over the years I’ve thought about Pete, Marilyn, Mitch, and Jimmy. I’ve thought about them a lot. Sure, they died because of Taggit, but they died because of me too. And now all of these others. It’s overwhelming.”

  “It’s overwhelming because you are over thinking this,” Steve said. “People are killed and injured in car crashes every day, but unless there is some type of defect with the car it is a driver, or weather, or some unforeseen circumstance that caused the problem. I admit, whole heartedly, that all of what we are caught up in right now is my fault. All of it. And I will make it up to all of you and to the families of all those who have died. I will take care of - ”

  “Will you listen to yourself?” Ben stopped him. “Bags of money aren’t going to ease the pain of Charles, Lisa and Danny. It’s not going to stop the grieving of the parents and friends of all those that are part of the long list of unnecessary dead. I bought into what you were saying once. Who would care? Who would miss any of the Walkers? They were poor displaced people that we were actually doing a favor for. Now we know better. Right beside us are people who shouldn’t die and gone are people who should still be alive. If it can be undone, then all of us should help.” Steve just shook his head and didn’t say anything else.

  “How is this going to happen?” Stoney asked.

  “We get Charles to his machine,” Lisa said. “We get him there no matter what happens to any of us. If he succeeds, then none of this will ever happen.” She took a deep breath and continued, “I know it means I’ll never meet my Ron or any of the rest of you. I know it will alter things that have happened in the last few years and it will be forever. But I’m willing to do it, all of it, because I’m certain of one other thing.”

  “What’s that?” Charles asked.

  “That there will be another Taggit. Another Steve. And another and another if you don’t stop things. There will always be someone willing to risk someone else’s life by traveling in time. And that someone else will always pay with their life.”

  “Okay,” Ben said. “But we just can’t leave Junk here. I…I don’t doubt she’s going to die. But she’s not dead yet. Let’s build a sled or something to lay her on and then we’ll pull her after us.”

  “Like a travois,” Lisa said.

  “There you go,” Ben replied. “Exactly. We need to make it quickly.”

  They found some long branches and tied some shorter ones across them with webbing to create a strong frame and make a place for Junk to lay. Ben placed Steve’s used DOPE on the cross pieces and then they gently laid Junk on it. She didn’t make a sound and was just barely breathing.

  “You should just - ” Steve started then he stopped.

  “Just what?” Stoney asked.

  “She’s dead, or near enough,” he told everyone. “We should leave her here like a killdeer. Her body would attract predators and keep them away from us.”

  “I am not even going to dignify that with an answer,” Ben said angrily. “She’s not dead.”

  Ben and Lisa grabbed the poles of the sled and began pulling Junk. “This is pretty easy,” Lisa said.

  “This type of sled, or travois, has been used for centuries by Native Americans,” Ben told him. “First by people and dogs and then later by horses. You can actually pull more weight by this method than you can carry on your back.”

  At that moment there was a loud roar that seemed close, maybe within a hundred yards or less. “What was that?” Stoney asked.

  “The day shift,” Ben said. “Let’s get going.”

  Steve watched as they pulled Junk away with Charles and Danny walking ahead of them. He wondered whose mind he was going to change first and how he was going to do it. He smiled, there was always Tiny. He bent down to pick up his rifle and when he stood up he was surprised to see Stoney was still there. Might as well start with her he thought. “Stoney, how can I help you?” he asked.

  “So, what are you going to do?” Stoney asked him.

  “Help you, whatever. I can carry some of your equipment.”

  “You know what I mean. What are you going to do when we get back?”

  “Whatever I’m supposed to,” he replied.

  “No, you’re not,” she told him. “You’re not going to suddenly become a good guy. You’ll play along until you can figure out some way to gain control again. To manipulate everyone and then get back to business as usual.”

  Steve became angry and said, “I said I would go along with -”

  “Why did you have Tiny?” she asked him.

  Steve seemed confused by the change of subject but finally a
nswered, “I brought him back just to see how he would interreact with -”

  “Interact?” Stoney interrupted. “You had him eat things is my guess, including people. No crime scene left when he was done.”

  “Now, wait a minute. I -”

  “Do you remember Nancy, worked in Payroll?”

  Steve went red and spluttered, “I, well I, I’m sure -”

  “She wouldn’t go out with you if I remember the gossip right. And then one day she just disappeared. Did you feed her to Tiny too?”

  “You have no proof of any -”

  Stoney cut him off with, “You didn’t say I was wrong.” Then she shot him in the right leg. He looked down and then back up at her in surprise. “Missed,” she complained. Then she shot him in the left leg. The bullet snapped his femur and he fell awkwardly to the ground. “There we go,” she said.

  “Why?” he screamed as he grabbed both his legs.

  “You’re kidding,” she sneered. “You’ve killed my friends, tried to kill me, have killed who knows how many times before and you ask why? You should be wondering why I didn’t do it sooner.” She turned her back and as she started walking away added, “But you said we need a killdeer today. Remember?” Steve kept screaming.

  Stoney moved slowly and as she caught up with the sled Ben stopped and looking behind her and asked, “Where’s Steve?”

  Everyone turned to look as Stoney kept walking past him as she answered, “He didn’t make it.”

  For a moment Ben thought he heard shouting coming from the trees, but then small animals began running from the woods. Not to attack them, just running away from where they had been and continuing past them without even looking at them. He turned to the rest of the group and said, “We better get going. They’re running away from something.” He nodded at Lisa and they began pulling the sled and again then over at Stoney who just kept walking. He smiled for a second and never looked back.