by Perrin Briar
“The same with my mom,” Cassie said. “I’ve seen her picture in the ‘About the Author’ section of her books so many times I’m surprised I haven’t worn them out. I could draw her face perfectly. But if she came to me now, I’m not sure I would recognize her.”
Aaron looked up.
“I have to find him,” he said. “I have to find my father.”
“We will,” Cassie said. “But not here. Not now. But we will. Together.”
Aaron looked at Cassie, and a smile spread across his face. It was the smile of someone grateful not to be alone.
Cassie hopped down from the rock.
“Come on,” she said. “Our parents will be waiting for us.”
They walked along the well-beaten path toward the floating Native village.
“I wonder how he got out of here,” Aaron said.
“I asked Cawing Crow that question earlier,” Cassie said.
“What did he say?” Aaron said.
“He said he went through the Passage,” Cassie said.
“The Passage?” Aaron said. “What’s that?”
70
THE PASSAGE was a wide crack in the sheer cliff face. There was a low rushing sound, like wind. Aaron thought he felt a slight draft, sucking the heat from him. He looked down and saw a dozen small leaves skitter across the ground, toward the crack. They were sucked into it and then sailed upwards on an invisible draft.
Zoe, Bryan and Cawing Crow approached.
“Hey,” Zoe said.
“Hey,” Aaron said.
They stood beside one another, not more than a few inches apart. Unsure how to act, how the other might react.
“Are you all right?” Zoe said.
“I’m fine,” Aaron said.
“Good,” Zoe said.
“This is the Passage,” Cawing Crow said, filling in the silence. “It’s where we put our dead.”
“Why put them through here?” Bryan said.
“Because it’s the only way out of here,” Cawing Crow said. “We believe it takes our dead onto the next world.”
“Has anyone ever returned from it?” Bryan said.
“No,” Cawing Crow said. “When they leave, they never come back.”
A pair of Natives approached the first prostrate body wrapped in broad leaves, delicately lifted it, and carried it over to the crack. They gently placed it standing up in front of the gap and took a moment to apply some war paint to the corpse’s face.
“Now what are they doing?” Zoe said.
“Preparing the bodies for when they return,” Cawing Crow said. “We hope they will be reborn strong warriors to help us defeat the apemen.”
The Natives pushed the body into the gap. The air howled as the passage was blocked. The leaf casing flapped and sucked close to the Native’s lifeless body. The wind grew stronger and pulled the body up and away. The Natives moved onto preparing the next body.
“We’d better get our things,” Bryan said.
“Your things?” Cawing Crow said.
“We’re leaving,” Bryan said.
Cawing Crow blinked like he’d been slapped.
“Leaving?” he said. “Now?”
“Yes,” Bryan said. “We’ve got lives to be getting on with.”
“But you’re supposed to help us defeat the apemen,” Cawing Crow said.
“How can we help?” Bryan said. “We know nothing about fighting or defense. You’ll be better off without us.”
“But my people will be expecting you to lead us,” Cawing Crow said.
“Against an army of marauding apemen?” Bryan said. “We wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Awoooooooo!
The blast came from one of the taller trees. A man waved his arms and then cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted something.
“What is he saying?” Zoe said.
Cawing Crow turned pale.
“Apemen,” he said. “The apemen are here.”
71
THE NATIVES rushed with purpose, each drilled and trained with where they should go and what they should do in the event of an apeman attack. Bryan hastened toward the tree where they had slept the night.
“How long before they’re here?” Zoe said.
“Twenty minutes,” Cawing Crow said. “Maybe less.”
“I’ll get our bags,” Bryan said, reaching for the ladder.
“Bryan, wait,” Zoe said. “These people need our help.”
“We need our help,” Bryan said. “We need to get out of here.”
Zoe didn’t move. Neither did Aaron or Cassie.
“Cassie, come on,” Bryan said.
“I’m staying,” Cassie said.
Bryan clenched his teeth.
“No you’re not, young lady,” he said. “You’re coming with me. You all are. You’re not dying here. Not now. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
“We might win,” Zoe said.
“We won’t win,” Bryan said. “Look at these people. Armed with sticks and stones. Look, if we had more time to prepare… Maybe. But we don’t. The apemen are going to overrun these people and I don’t intend on being here when they do. Do you?”
The others didn’t react. Bryan sighed and then spoke in a softer tone.
“We don’t have any guns or modern weapons,” he said. “Nothing to shift the odds in our favor. We shouldn’t even be involved in their war. We came here to find a way out. That’s all.”
“Things have changed,” Zoe said.
“This isn’t our fight,” Bryan said. “We should get out of here.”
“They saved us,” Zoe said.
“And we should die for them?” Bryan said. “I care only about you, Cassie and Aaron. Please. Let’s just go.”
Bryan turned to Cawing Crow.
“You don’t need us,” he said. “We can’t use blowpipes or bows and arrows. We have nothing here to protect you with.”
“We only need to see you,” Cawing Crow said. “To know you are here with us. Fighting with us. It will strengthen our spirit.”
“If we leave, will the apemen leave you alone?” Zoe said.
“No,” Cawing Crow said. “They will punish us. Perhaps for the last time.”
Silence followed. They all knew what that meant.
“I’m staying,” Zoe said firmly.
“Me too,” Cassie said.
“Tell me,” Bryan said, “how do we help fight when we have nothing to do it with?”
“We do have weapons,” Zoe said.
“What?” Bryan said.
“We have the most powerful weapon in the world,” Zoe said, tapping her head. “Our brains. And you just happen to be one of the best strategists in the world.”
“In the boardroom,” Bryan said.
“Are war and business so different?” Zoe said.
“Of course they are!” Bryan said. He turned to Aaron. “Aaron, help me out here.”
But Aaron had the same cast to his eye as the girls. Bryan locked eyes with Cassie and then Zoe.
“But…” he said.
His shoulders slumped. He was outnumbered.
“Fine,” he said. “But when this battle turns against us – and it will – I want all of you ready to run into the Passage at a moment’s notice. Understood?”
They nodded. Cawing Crow beamed.
“Then, you’ll fight with us?” he said.
“Yes,” Bryan said. “Fantastic. Let’s die for no good reason.”
He pointed to the dinosaurs with the saddles and harnesses.
“Do these things have armor?” he said. “Weapons?”
“They’re not fighting animals,” Cawing Crow said. “They’re work animals.”
“Work animals,” Bryan said flatly. “You haven’t got any vicious trained carnivores we can unleash around here, by any chance?”
“No,” Cawing Crow said.
“I thought not,” Bryan said. “Get me your best dinosaur riders.”
Cawing Crow ran
off and spoke to another Native. They took off in different directions.
“What are you doing?” Zoe said.
“Something probably very stupid,” Bryan said. “A stampede worked before with the apemen. There’s no reason to suppose it won’t work again.”
“But there aren’t any dinosaurs around here,” Zoe said.
“That’s why we’re going to have to go find them,” Bryan said. “In the meantime, you need to keep the apemen distracted. You said you had a plan to escape before I heroically saved you at the apeman village?”
“Yes,” Zoe said.
“Do it,” Bryan said. “Whatever it was. Slow the apemen down. Our only chance to beat them is to hold them back until we can get the dinosaur stampede to trample over them. Get the Natives to tell you where the traps they made are. We don’t have time to make our own, but we can use the ones they already have.”
Zoe leapt forward and kissed Bryan full on the lips. Cassie and Aaron turned away in mock disgust, making puking motions.
Zoe leaned her forehead against Bryan.
“I don’t need to think,” she said. “I choose you. No matter whether we find George or not. He might not have died seven years ago, but he is dead to me now. You’re the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
Bryan squeezed Zoe’s hands between his own. His hands shook, he was so relieved.
“Thank you,” Bryan said. “I needed to hear that. I love you.”
Zoe beamed. It was the first time he had said that to her. Her lip quivered. Bryan brushed it with his thumb.
“Make sure to stay in one gorgeous piece,” Bryan said. “All of you. I have something to set up before I give the wranglers a hand. Cassie, you do what Zoe says. Capiche?”
Cassie saluted.
Bryan took off his backpack and ran into the cave entrance the Natives had been working on.
“Where’s he going?” Aaron said.
“Don’t worry about Bryan,” Zoe said. “He knows what he’s doing. Now, let’s get to our position.”
“Where’s that?” Cassie said.
“The front, of course,” Zoe said.
72
ZOE, CASSIE AND AARON stood beside the Chief and his warriors on a hill that looked down over the jungle. The Chief nodded to them. The Natives wore bright war paint on their bodies and faces. They held spears and shields in their muscular hands. They glanced at Zoe, Cassie and Aaron every few seconds. Zoe noticed the warriors grew an inch taller, their resolve enhanced.
Zoe knew they weren’t going to be much use in the fight, weren’t going to take down many of the apemen, if any, but to these people, they were a symbol. The Natives would fight and hold their own, and even if they failed, it didn’t matter. They would try their best. They would no longer live beneath the heel of their violent oppressors. And for that, Zoe was glad she could be of use.
“Where are the women?” Zoe said.
The Chief didn’t understand. Zoe pointed at herself and Cassie, and then shrugged her shoulders. The Chief pointed to his weapon and crossed his arms. Women don’t fight. It was a ridiculous sentiment. With doom on their doorstep they needed all the warriors they could find.
“You stay here,” Zoe said to Cassie and Aaron.
“Why?” Aaron said. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get the women to help me lead some of the apemen into the traps like Bryan said,” Zoe said. “I hate to admit it, but it’s a good idea.”
“I’ll help,” Aaron said.
“You stay here,” Zoe said. “They need to see you. You’re the spitting image of your father. They know that. Take this.”
Zoe handed Aaron the box of matches.
“Make sure to run the moment you light those fireworks,” she said.
“We will,” Cassie said.
Zoe ran a loving finger along Aaron and Cassie’s cheeks.
“I love you,” she said. “Both of you. Be careful.”
She took off.
“So, it’s left to us to hold the line,” Cassie said. “Typical.”
73
BRYAN CAME RUNNING out of the cave, having set up his hasty plan. It would likely have only a small effect, but if it slowed the apemen down it would be worth it.
The Native riders ran up the dinosaurs’ tails and hopped into their saddles with a dexterity Bryan would never have believed. Even with Cawing Crow’s help he struggled into his own saddle. Bryan was sat halfway up the neck of a brown hadrosaur. This is one to tell the grandkids, he thought.
They snapped their leads, causing the dinosaurs to bolt forward. Bryan almost fell out of his saddle. The hadrosaur beneath him was incredibly powerful. He followed the other riders into the jungle at a jog. Bryan bumped up and down like Kermit the Frog. His crotch was already sore. Maybe I won’t be able to tell the grandkids after all.
74
THE HUTS were suspended high in the tree canopies. They were of a uniform size, a single room like the one they had woken up in. Zoe’s eyes scrubbed each one until she came to a hut about four times the size of the others, nestled between the boughs of two trees. Zoe marched toward the ladder.
She had assumed the village would need a communal room, somewhere for the village elders to gather and discuss important issues, for important events like marriage to be hosted. Logic suggested it would also be where the women would hide. At least, that was her theory.
Zoe got to the top of the ladder and crossed to the front door. There were no windows to peer through. She pushed the door open.
The Native women sat huddled along the walls, holding babies and children on their laps. They all looked up. One of the women smiled kindly and led Zoe toward an empty space to sit down.
“What?” Zoe said. “No. I didn’t come here to hide.”
She stood before the women, and realized perhaps this wasn’t the best idea after all. How was she going to communicate with them?
“Uh…” Zoe said. “We have to fight. All of us. The warriors aren’t enough.”
Blank expressions. Zoe mimed fighting, playing the part of the apemen as well as the Natives.
“We all fight,” Zoe said, pointing to them.
The Natives shared confused expressions.
“If the apemen get through they’ll slaughter all of you anyway,” Zoe said. “It’s better to fight them. Work together.”
She waved her hands for the others to follow her outside, but none moved.
“One of you must understand what I’m trying to say,” Zoe said.
But none did. Except perhaps one girl who had her head tilted to one side. She was pretty, about Cassie’s age. She stepped forward and stood beside Zoe. She began to speak, and though Zoe didn’t understand what she was saying, the other women shook their heads. The young girl spoke louder, with greater passion, speaking to several women individually. The opinion makers. A few heads stopped shaking. Some even nodded. Everyone seemed most interested in a greying old woman sat at the back of the room. They cleared a space so she could see Zoe and the young girl. There was a pause, the silence ringing and loud after all the discussions.
The old woman nodded. The young woman’s voice rose again. She took hold of Zoe’s hand and lifted it above their heads. A small roar of acceptance came from some of the women’s throats. Those who cheered handed their children to the old and infirm, who would remain.
“Thank you,” Zoe said to the young woman.
The woman said something back, but Zoe didn’t know what it meant.
Zoe took off her backpack and sat it on the floor. She took out her camera and hung it around her neck. She turned to the outspoken young girl.
“My name Zoe,” Zoe said, resorting to broken English. “Zoe. What your name?”
“Honovi,” the girl said.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Honovi,” Zoe said. “I hope I didn’t just get you and your friends killed.”
They climbed down the ladder.
75
TH
E APEMEN EMERGED from the tree line and formed scruffy ranks across the flat grassland that buffered the jungle and the Natives’ tree village. They each carried a spear and a sharpened flint knife. The Natives were armed the same, though their tools were forged with greater care.
Shard stepped forward from the army, a long sword in his hands. He was the only apeman with a Native-crafted weapon. He raised it above his head. The apemen roared and hissed, bearing their sharp incisors. The sun glinted off the metal crown in Shard’s head. He aimed his sword at the Natives, and then roared. The apemen leapt forward, beating the earth with their fists.
Then a loud voice beckoned, echoing over the flatland, like the voice of God.
The apemen slowed their advance, to a stop. The voice was speaking in English, but the echo was bad and even Zoe and Aaron couldn’t make out what the voice was saying.
“What is that?” Cassie said.
Aaron listened carefully. A smile spread across his face.
“It’s Jurassic World,” he said. “Bryan put a movie on!”
“Dad’s watching a movie?” Cassie said. “During a battle? I’ll kill him!”
The voice drifted away, to silence. And then a loud roar, deep and terrifying, boomed from the caves.
The apemen took a few steps back. Shard shouted, and the apemen stopped, holding their ground. Their eyes scanned the jungle both behind and in front of them, looking for the beast.
The Chief peered around. He too was spooked. He gave orders for some of the men to guard their rear, and they began to move away.
“No!” Aaron said.
He waved his hands to calm the Chief.
“It’s nothing,” he said. “It’s a trick. It’s a movie. There’s no real dinosaur.”
Aaron grabbed a warrior’s arm and pulled him back to his original position. The Chief pointed in the direction of the dinosaur roar and then at Aaron.
“Yes,” Aaron said. “We made the roaring sound.”
The Chief smiled and nodded. He gave another order, and the warriors returned to their original positions. The Chief said something, and the warriors laughed.