by Geoff Jones
“You know that raft will only hold five or six people, don’t you? What’s your plan for that?”
William made a chewing motion with his mouth. “I don’t have one yet. I’m hoping it works itself out. Helen could ride down with us, but there’s no way she’d make it back here.”
“What if we find the device but it goes off before we get back?”
“We have to get back. We don’t want to return to Denver in the middle of a freeway, or have a building collapse on us. We have to get back here.”
Tim walked up and offered the last two life jackets. William and Hank both refused. “Give them to the women,” Hank said. “See that Callie gets one.” He didn’t know if she would find it sexist or valiant, but he was going to make damn sure she wore one.
Lisa stepped out front. Tim extended a life vest. “Want to wear this?”
Helen spoke up before Lisa could answer. “You aren’t really going, are you hon? Even if the raft makes it to the ocean, you still have to hike back here. You’ll slow them down with that hurt foot.”
Lisa took the life vest by one strap and examined it. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“Well, don’t stay here on my account. Whatever happens, I will be fine. But you can’t burden the others like that. You’ll slow them down.” Helen hobbled slowly back inside.
Lisa handed the life jacket back to Tim. “Hurry back, dammit.”
Hank watched Lisa disappear around the side of the building. The decision about who would go and who would stay had worked itself out, just as William had predicted. Hank took the last life jacket for himself and vowed to make sure they returned with the device in time.
[ 27 ]
Al climbed down from the second floor using the makeshift ladder of rebar and broken concrete. All of the supplies had been removed from the cabinet and transferred downstairs. He still couldn’t believe their good fortune. They had enough gear to conquer this world if they wanted to.
Lisa met him as he stepped down onto the mud. “Hey Al Stevens, how about we pick up that conversation from earlier?” She took his hand and led him behind the café. He wanted to share his excitement about the supplies. The look on her face told him to keep quiet.
She held on to his hands and turned to face him. “Listen, I have decided to stay here at the store.” Al furrowed his brows but did not say anything. “I can’t leave Helen here by herself and I can’t run. I think I will be safer here. Besides, it’s a five-person raft.”
“That’s ridiculous. We can make seven fit. And if not, we can shove Morgan overboard. I think everybody would be fine with that.”
Lisa smiled. “We can’t make eight fit, and I’m not leaving Helen here alone. I’ll be safe. You just gotta make sure to find the device and bring it back here.”
Al felt dizzy. He wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to leave Lisa behind, but he really wanted to be there if they found the time machine. He didn’t trust the others not to screw something up. “I don’t know...”
She smiled at him. It was different from the smile she gave him each day when he collected his morning coffee. “I will be fine.”
“I could stay with you,” he said.
He saw fear on her face. “No. You have to go with them. You have to make sure they come back in time. For me.”
Al swelled. “I promise.” She was sending him on a quest.
“I want to thank you for saving me in the river this morning.” She looked up at him, one hand on his arm. “Nobody ever saved my life before.”
He knew that if he kept his mouth shut, he wouldn’t say the wrong thing. He tensed up, flexing his bicep.
Lisa reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him full on. Her lips pried at his mouth. Al kissed back, wondering if he was doing it the way she liked. He held onto her lips with his own. Her eyes were closed, so he closed his too, until she broke away.
“You’re welcome,” he said. They both smiled. She pulled him close again and held him tightly.
Al panicked as he felt his erection pressing against her, embarrassed about what she might think. He remembered his mother’s disgust when she saw him with an erection at the age of eleven. She had put him in the shower with cold water on full blast. At the time, he didn’t even know why it happened.
He tried to pull away, but Lisa reached to the small of his back and brought him closer with a wink. Was she actually pleased? They heard someone approaching and separated.
Around the corner, Morgan climbed down from the second floor. “It’s getting nasty up there,” he said.
“Oh crap, the smell,” Al remembered. He and Lisa followed Morgan around to the sidewalk. “We’ve got to do something about those bodies. They’ll draw every predator in the area.”
William shook his head. “There’s no time. We have to get going. We gotta find that thing and get back here before it goes off.”
“We can’t leave Helen and Lisa here with those bodies upstairs. They will ripen in this heat. They’ll be like a beacon.”
Hank tossed a few bags of supplies into the raft. “You stay if you want, Al. I’m going to find that device.”
Buddy watched from a distance. He had come back outside and circled the raft, sniffing it from all sides. He seemed less afraid of it now that the hissing had ceased.
Al looked back at Lisa, unsure what to do. “It’s okay,” she told him. “I’ll take care of the bodies. I’ve scrubbed enough puke and shit from the café’s toilet over the years.” She looked like she was trying to convince herself as much as Al. “At least Morgan got the cabinet off of Mister Slushy for me.”
“So you’re staying behind?” Callie asked. Lisa nodded, looking both exhausted and sad. Callie gave her a hug.
“There was nothing you could do,” Callie said.
Lisa smiled and took a deep breath. Al thought she looked close to tears. He tried to figure out what Callie was talking about and then realized she was referring to Beth. Lisa was still distraught over the death of her employee. Her friend, he corrected himself. He made a mental note to comment on it when they returned.
William directed Hank and Tim to slide the raft into the water. “We’ve got a little more than eleven hours, by my guess.” He scanned the edge of the jungle. “That dead Triceratops should sustain the tyrannosaur for days, and I can’t imagine there are many other predators in its territory. We’ll be back in modern times before it grows hungry again.” He looked over at Helen and Lisa. “All of us.”
“We’ll see what we can do with that fishing tackle,” said Helen. “Get back here early and maybe we’ll have dinner for you. We can have a cook-out while we wait for the time to run out.”
William nodded. “You do that and I will take you out to the fanciest restaurant in Denver when we get home.”
Helen moved close to Lisa and put her arm around her.
William held the raft steady from the shore while Tim, Morgan, Callie, and Hank all climbed aboard. The raft sank lower and lower, but it remained watertight and afloat. It wobbled as they took their seats and stabilized once they spread out.
Al wanted to give Lisa another hug, but felt embarrassed with everyone watching. He smiled at her instead and climbed aboard. He felt the water rushing below through his shoes. The bottom was a simple piece of neoprene-coated nylon stretched from side to side.
Callie and Hank kneeled at the front, wearing the last two life jackets. William climbed aboard in the back near Al.
Tim sat on his knees close to the center. Morgan stood behind him, holding his hands out for balance like a surfer. He wobbled and grabbed Tim’s head to keep from falling. “Sit down Morgan,” Tim snapped.
Hank picked up a pair of long sticks and gave one to Al. “That’s to push us off any rocks we encounter along the way.
William took the shovel, tied to the end of a nylon strap, and pressed it against the riverbank to shove them away.
As they drifted out from the shore, Budd
y came running and leaped across the gap. The mutt’s legs stretched out in front and behind as he flew. He landed next to Tim and slid across the nylon decking.
“Buddy!” cried Lisa.
Tim reached down to pet the scruffy brown mutt. Buddy wagged appreciatively.
“Keep him off the sides,” Hank warned. “He might pop them with his claws.”
Lisa looked on as the raft floated away. Her lower lip trembled. “You take care of him,” she called, her voice hitching. “And make sure to get back here in time.”
Al watched her standing on the shore as they floated away. Lisa was filthy, her clothes were torn, and her hair was in shambles. He had never seen anything so beautiful. She actually seemed to want him. She had felt him hard against her and didn’t shudder or turn away. You are not going to lose that woman, he told himself.
As they moved into the middle of the river, the current picked up and carried them along.
“We will come back for you,” Al said. “Don’t worry.” He hoped he sounded heroic.
[ 28 ]
Lisa bandaged her foot using sterile pads and surgical tape from the first aid kit Morgan had found in the supply cabinet. The wound didn’t show any signs of infection, but only a few hours had passed. She wondered if there were different types of bacteria to worry about in the prehistoric world.
“I can show you how to make a pair of moccasins,” Helen told her. “You know, in case they don’t find the machine in time.” Helen hopped up and scurried behind the counter, where she grabbed one of the twelve-dollar canvas shopping bags. “We could use the material from these. Look, we could cut out a section with words on it and use that for the sole. It will give you a little traction, sweetie.”
Lisa imagined Helen tracing around her foot to get the right size and shape, like an arts and crafts teacher. Helen probably made a terrific grandmother. Lisa also noticed how quickly the woman moved around in her excitement. “Are you feeling better? You seem a little more spry than you were before.”
Helen looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“You were playing up your weakness, weren’t you? So that I would stay behind with you.”
Helen grew serious. “I may be old, but I don’t want to die any more than you do.”
“I don’t blame you. I applaud you. But you gotta keep up your act better than that.”
“I got excited,” Helen said. “Sewing is my weakness.” They shared a smile. Lisa’s sewing abilities began and ended with loose buttons, but she understood.
“Well, let’s you and I stick together. Maybe we’ll get back home soon.” She rose. “I need to go upstairs and clean up. Those bodies are starting to smell, and we don’t want to attract any attention.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Lisa went outside and circled around to the rebar ladder on the back of the building. She climbed carefully, stepping on the ball of her foot to avoid putting pressure on the cut. She smelled the bodies as soon as she pulled herself over the wall. If she could smell them, the locals could too. The temperature on the second floor felt ten degrees hotter than down below, but she noticed a small breeze. That can’t be good. The breeze could carry the scent away for miles.
She walked over to the corpse of the woman who had told them about the time device. Someone, probably William, had lowered the tablecloth onto her. Lisa seemed to have her own personal protector in Al, but William took care of the whole group. Pink stains dotted the cloth.
Lisa considered her options. Burying the bodies was out. William had taken their only shovel. She could stack rocks on them and build some sort of cairn, but that would not cover up the smell. A funeral pyre would dispose of them. Of course, fire would also spread the smell of cooked meat. Did dinosaurs like cooked meat? She looked out onto the mudflats below. If she was going to burn the bodies, she would have to drop them off the side of the building and drag them to the edge of the woods, as far away as possible.
Because of the collapsed corner above her bathroom and the jagged wall that ran above her bookshelves, there was really only one good spot to drop the corpses onto the mudflat below. She would need to climb down and move each body out of the way before she dropped the next one. Otherwise, they would land in a pile on top of each other. The thought brought up half-remembered images of war crimes from the news. She shuddered and wiped her brow. This job would take all day. By the time she finished, the others would be back. It would be so much easier to just dump them... into the river. It would be like a burial at sea. That was appropriate, wasn’t it? Honorable, even.
Lisa thought about going downstairs to run it by Helen. The old woman probably knew more about these sorts of things. When she first opened The Daily Edition Café, Lisa phoned her father every time she had to make a decision, even about the smallest thing. As she talked through each option, she ended up making the choice on her own. It took several months before she realized this and stopped calling so often.
She needed to dispose of the bodies before they attracted attention. The river would do it. Decision made.
Lisa pulled back the table cloth. The woman’s head lolled to one side and her mouth hung open, revealing a bloated, bloody tongue. Up close, the stench was stronger.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Lisa felt her lip tremble. Beth had died because of their stupid experiment, or accident, or whatever. She wanted to cry. The look on Beth’s face as she ran from the tyrannosaur was burned in her memory. Lisa wanted to drop to her knees and bawl.
The moment passed. A good cry would be a waste of time. Lisa got to work. She had learned long ago that the best way to approach a job, especially a job she did not want to do, was to confront it head on and finish it. That doesn’t mean you have to start with the most difficult part. She replaced the sheet on the body. It was going to take some work to get the concrete off of the woman’s legs.
She walked around, careful to avoid the two areas where the floor had collapsed, one over her bathroom and one overhanging the river. This is where the device was, she realized as she looked at the second spot. The floor here sloped down toward the water, just like the floor in her café below. It probably fell in at the same time I did. She tried to remember if she had seen anything, but all she could remember was flailing around in a river where Chestnut Street should have been.
Lisa moved to the scientist with the bisected face. “Doctor Anderson, I presume.” He had filled his pants with a foul load upon dying. “Serves you right, asshole.” Staying angry at them made the job easier.
She grabbed the corpse’s hands and started pulling. Doctor Anderson’s split face hung back and his Adam’s apple thrust up at the open sky. As Lisa got moving, the two halves of his face smacked together, making the sound of a sloppy eater.
Lisa’s shirt was wet with sweat by the time she had pulled the body to the sloped floor over the river. She kept her distance from the edge and retrieved the metal pipe Morgan had used to raise the supply cabinet.
Placing the pipe against the body’s midsection, she pushed Doctor Anderson like a chef pushing a pizza into a brick oven. “Rest in peace, Doctor.” When the corpse reached the edge, it rolled slowly over and disappeared. She heard a splash a split second later.
“Ok, who’s next?” Lisa turned back to look at the shattered room.
A hissing growl came from behind the leaning shelves of computer servers.
[ 29 ]
As they rounded the first bend, Al found the spot where he had helped Lisa out of the river. Tim rose up on his knees and looked in the other direction. Al followed his gaze. “Do you see your alligator?”
“No.” Tim gestured to a steep bank on the opposite side. “I saw something slide into the water right over there. Or at least, I thought I did.”
“Well, it’s gone now,” Hank said. “If there really was something there. I sure as hell wasn’t thinking straight when all of this first went
down.”
Tim hadn’t imagined the woman on the roof. Al thought that he probably hadn’t imagined the alligator either. He looked at the brown, swollen water rushing by the sides of the raft. If anything was below them, they would never see it coming.
They drifted along and soon the muddy slope was out of sight. Tim sat back down.
William put one hand on his shoulder. “Hopefully it’s long gone, whatever it was.”
The raft moved fast enough to produce a slight breeze, but the heat and humidity still felt stifling. William used the shovel as a rudder, keeping them in the stronger currents near the center. Multi-winged flies the size of songbirds flitted along the shore. Long segmented legs dangled from their bodies.
Morgan dangled his hand into the cool, coffee-colored water. Al thought that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but didn’t say anything.
The river widened after they passed the first few turns and the trees grew close on both sides. A pterodactyl swooped from a branch and snatched one of the flies from the air with a loud crunch. Soon, the crunching surrounded them as pterodactyls crisscrossed the river.
“Why can’t you hear it when a pterodactyl goes to the bathroom?” Morgan blurted, sitting up. Without waiting for an answer, he exclaimed, “Because its pee is silent!”
William chuckled. “That’s good, Morgan. My boys would have loved that one back in grade school.”
Morgan smiled and leaned back against the side of the raft. He put one of his two remaining cigarettes into his mouth and brought out his lighter.
“Nope,” said Hank.
Morgan looked like he wanted to protest, but then he simply put it away.
They drifted on, watching the shoreline for any sign of the football. Al tried to remember how far away the sea had been from their glimpse of it atop the cliff. He guessed the trip downriver would take at least a couple of hours. He wished that Lisa could have come along somehow. The ride was almost relaxing.