The Dinosaur Four

by Geoff Jones

  “What’s the plan?” Tim whisper-shouted from below them, further down the gully.

  “It’s not like we have any choices here,” Al muttered. He stood and shouldered past the others.

  “Be my guest, bro,” Morgan said as he fell onto his ass.

  Al crouch-walked quickly over the crossing. When he entered the largest crevice on the far side, he slowed down again. Little more than a gutter, the walls only rose as high as Al’s waist. He stopped next to the lightning tree. It shielded him from the view of the Triceratops quintet on the right. Al leaned on the shovel and glanced back, as if to say, What are you waiting for?

  Callie began forward across the game trail. Morgan scrambled to his feet and followed close behind. Ahead, Al turned and continued onward.

  Piece of cake, Morgan thought. The phrase quickly turned to piece of ass. He liked climbing up the hill behind Callie. The view of her tight running shorts kept him moving, like a carrot on a stick. Normally, he would have mentioned this, just for the reaction, but the girl had lost her man today. Morgan’s father killed himself shortly after Morgan turned sixteen. You don’t mess with someone when they’re facing that kind of hurt, Morgan knew. You just don’t do it.

  He stopped next to the blackened tree trunk, just as Al had moments earlier and pulled out his last cigarette. The ground no longer sloped. It would be easy going from here on out.

  Morgan rolled the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger. He could buy all the smokes he wanted once they got back. He looked down the hill to check on William and Tim, mostly to make sure Tim still had that time machine. The view caught his breath. Thousands of Triceratops dotted the hillside below them. Some wandered back and forth. Many huddled together, facing each other in small groups. A hint of the river sparkled off to the side.

  Morgan smiled. They really were his favorite, dumb jokes aside. They were like giant jousting machines. He flicked open his metal lighter, lit the smoke, and flicked it shut with a metallic shink. Morgan drew in a long drag.

  On the hillside above, Callie froze. She stood halfway between the lightning tree and the edge of the forest, completely exposed. At the top of the hill, the gully had faded down to nothing. She turned and glared back at him.

  The largest animal broke away from the circle of five and sauntered over to investigate the strange noise and the smell of smoke. At the edge of the forest, Al disappeared into the cover of the trees.

  “It’s all good,” Morgan whispered. He dropped to one knee in the middle of the ravine and froze. “Just hold still.”

  “It is not all good,” Callie mouthed back at Morgan. She looked angry.

  The animal marched directly toward her. She was out in the open and the Triceratops showed no sign of stopping.

  Callie turned toward the trees and sprinted across the flat ground. Her fluorescent green running shirt, which made her stand out to drivers along the streets of Denver, caught the attention of the Triceratops. It picked up its pace, loping along like a rhinoceros.

  She’s not going to make it, Morgan realized. It would be close, but the Triceratops was too fast and the jungle might not slow it down. Morgan examined the giant blackened tree trunk standing nearby. It was fifteen feet wide, with jagged fragments that rose twice that far into the sky.

  “HEY!” Morgan shouted. He stepped into view and raised both arms. “Hey you horny cockface!”

  The Triceratops wheeled in a great arc toward Morgan.

  He laughed out loud, a maniacal titter, and ran back to the stump. Within seconds, he was behind the tree, completely out of the dinosaur’s line of sight.

  On the hillside above, Callie slipped into the woods.

  - - - - -

  In the ravine, just below the third crossing, William and Tim crouched together against the side wall. Tim put down the football and wedged it against a rock to prevent it from rolling back down the gully.

  The Triceratops stopped close to the tree, unable to see Morgan. It sniffed for a moment and sidestepped a quarter of the way around. Morgan matched its motion, keeping himself on the opposite side of the tree. He giggled.

  The dinosaur stopped and circled back in the other direction. Morgan shifted as well, until he was directly below the tree, standing on the game trail.

  “It’s a standoff,” William whispered. “It can’t get around the tree fast enough to get him. He’s safe.”

  “Yeah, but they could be at this for hours,” Tim answered. “We’re stuck here until it gets bored.”

  - - - - -

  The Triceratops swung its massive head left and right, looking for any sign of the small creature that had run behind the stump. The four companions it had left behind stood watch around a nest full of eggs. Small dinosaurs often snuck up for an easy meal this time of year. The Triceratops believed that the creature on the other side of the tree stump was an egg thief. It knew from experience that an egg thief would not leave on its own. It would hide behind the stump for as long as it took and then come after the nest. The tree stump was the problem.

  The Triceratops lifted both of its front feet off the ground and lunged, driving itself forward with its eight-foot hind legs. It ran straight downhill, ramming the tree.

  The trunk exploded. Splinters of charred wood flew in every direction. A dried cluster of roots sailed over Tim and William and landed on the opposite side of the gully.

  Morgan was knocked off his feet and onto the middle of the game path. Dozens of tiny splinters embedded themselves in his chest and face. As with the glass that had struck him eleven hours earlier, he barely noticed. His attention remained on the Triceratops, which swung its head back and forth in diagonal slices, knocking away what remained of the tree trunk. It stomped forward.

  What the shit, Morgan thought. The only place to go now was the ravine he had come up through. William and Tim had better get the hell out of the way, because Morgan intended to barrel down that gully like a bobsled.

  The Triceratops shuffled forward a few steps. Morgan rose to his feet. He felt something hot running down the inside of his leg and wondered if it was blood or piss. He hoped it was piss, because there was an awful lot of it. The animal stood less than twenty feet away.

  Morgan slowly turned his head down and to the right, trying to gauge the distance to the gully. He turned on his heels just as a second Triceratops arrived behind him.

  It had come over to investigate the commotion and help chase down any egg thieves. Egg thieves were far too small to attack with horns, so it turned its head sideways and scissored its great beak open and shut as it charged. The lower half of its beak disappeared again and again under the upper jaw with a sound like huge hedge shears. It stretched forward, reaching as it ran.

  Morgan brought up his arms in front of his face. The beak caught him in the chest and sliced him in half. His head and arms flew through the air as the beak closed completely. The animal continued its charge, kicking Morgan’s legs along the ground. It shook its head and spat out the bite it had clipped into its mouth.

  Sand and small rocks spilled down into the gully onto William and Tim.

  [ 44 ]

  In the woods above the clearing, Al held Callie in his arms. Finally. She had broken down in tears after watching Morgan get sliced apart. “It’s okay. You’re safe,” Al whispered, his chin resting on her auburn hair.

  He was finally making inroads with Callie. Two girls in his arms in one day, and one of them had kissed him. Three years ago, after a particularly good year for Stevens Information Systems, Al had splurged on his trip to Nevada. He had paid for two girls at once. One of them had been a redhead. Probably not a real redhead like Callie, but close enough. It had been a fantasy come true, the sort of thing that never happened in the real world. At least not in the modern world. In the age of the dinosaurs, who knew what could be possible? Callie would get over Hank eventually. Al could wait.

  “None of us are safe,” Callie cried. “Hank died saving that stupid kid’s life and it was
all for nothing.”

  “That stupid kid almost got you killed. We have to be smarter than he was. It sucks, but it’s the truth.” Al knew he couldn’t express how he actually felt about Morgan’s death, but he didn’t have to go overboard with bereavement either. He stroked Callie’s hair. She had suffered terribly today, but he was there for her now. He squeezed her tight, feeling her breasts heave against him as she sobbed. “It’s going to be okay.”

  - - - - -

  Callie quieted as Al held her. Sure, Morgan had screwed up. He never should have lit that cigarette or made so much noise. But he also drew the Triceratops away from her. He had been killed saving her life. He didn’t deserve to die. People make mistakes. Usually, they learned from th– Is that what I think it is? Callie noticed a knot of pressure against her belly. Did Al have a hard-on? She tensed up but stopped herself from pulling away.

  No babe, he’s got a carrot in his pocket, mocked Head Hank. She was surprised at his nonchalance.

  “You’re right,” she said to Al, not looking up. “We have to be smarter than Morgan was.” She needed to get away from him, to stop touching him. “We should probably find cover in case one of them comes sniffing around up here.”

  Al gave her one more squeeze and released her. She let out a long breath.

  “Yeah, let’s have a look around,” he said. “That’s smart.” He picked up the short shovel and led her further into the woods.

  - - - - -

  Tim sat with William in a deeper section of the ravine, where they had hunkered down after Morgan’s death. The two Triceratops faced off silently for a few minutes until the one that killed Morgan turned around and lumbered back across the gully. The other animal, the one that had demolished the tree trunk, waited a few minutes longer and then disappeared out of sight to the right. Tim stood and peeked over the edge of the ravine. The trunk smasher had returned to its group of five. Tim surveyed the other side. None of the Triceratops on the left were very close. The one that had killed Morgan had disappeared into the herd.

  He felt the seconds ticking away. “How much time do we have?”

  William looked at his watch. “Three hours and forty minutes.”

  Tim felt trapped. He hated waiting. “What do we do?”

  William looked down the ravine. “We could try to backtrack to the bottom of the hill and circle around.”

  Tim followed his gaze. “How long do you think that will take?”

  “Hours. But it’s just the two of us. We could probably make good time. We could jog.”

  “Let’s get going then,” Tim said.

  “Hold on. We still don’t know how far this hillside goes.”

  “Then what should we do?”

  “We could wait a bit longer and see what happens.” William pursed his lips. “We’ve got some time. Things might change when dusk sets in. Those Triceratops on the right might move farther away.”

  Tim took of his cap and wiped his forehead. “You think so?”

  “I don’t know, Tim. Dammit, what do you think?”

  Tim froze. Why couldn’t William just make the call, the way he had done all day? “I don’t like waiting,” he said finally.

  “Well I’m not too thrilled with the idea of walking across all that empty space up there. You saw how fast they were.” William spoke quietly, but there was an angry edge to his voice. “Remember, one of those things followed Buddy all the way to the cliff. If they start after us, they won’t let up.”

  “Whatever you say, man. I’m game to go around, and I’m game to go forward.”

  William’s wide eyes narrowed. “You can’t always wait for someone else to make all your decisions for you.” He rose to a crouch. “Come on.”

  Tim felt like he had been scolded by his father.

  William shuffled a few feet up the gully. Tim followed. “Wait.” He put his hand on William’s shoulder. “Drop that dog if anything happens. He’ll stand a better chance on his own and might make a distraction.”

  William nodded and looked over at the football. “You just make sure you don’t drop that thing.” He clamped his hand around Buddy’s muzzle.

  William started up the hill. Tim waited until he was halfway to the tree line before leaving the ravine. He clutched the time device close against his chest and cupped one hand over the blinking light to keep it from attracting attention.

  One of Morgan’s arms lay on the path, with the shoulder blade still attached. A swarm of black flies crawled on exposed muscle.

  Beyond the arm, the cluster of five Triceratops stood facing one another. With their heads in the center of the circle and their giant frills extending out from their necks, none had a clear view of Tim. He circled around a cluster of branches from the exploded tree, not wanting them to snap under his work boots. As he got closer to the forest, the hill flattened out and the going became easier. Tim heard shuffles and grunts from the animals behind him. He looked back to his right. The group of five remained in place. He remembered Morgan and looked back to the left.

  A gristled old male climbed the hill beside the ravine. The quills growing from its back were worn and withered. It stopped near the crossing and stared up at Tim. Cool sweat dripped down Tim’s sides. He stood and stared back, motionless. The Triceratops watched for a minute and then dropped its head to nibble on a clump of plants. Tim began to walk slowly backwards toward the woods. His boot landed on a small rock and he started to stumble. He caught himself and froze again.

  The Triceratops paused, but did not raise its head.

  You got to watch where you’re going. Tim forced himself to slowly turn around. With his back to the dinosaur, he walked toward the forest, convinced the Triceratops would run him down as he crossed the final stretch. He would be impaled like the rodeo cowboy.

  When he reached the trees and looked back, the old male was nowhere to be seen.

  [ 45 ]

  Callie and Al sat in the branches of a large tree. When Tim and William finally arrived, Callie climbed down and embraced them both. See, that’s what normal hugs feel like, Hank said. No boners.

  She told the voice in her head to shut up. Al might have actually had something in his pocket. Or maybe he was just worked up over the intensity of the moment. Erections were an autonomic response, after all. Maybe it wasn’t his fault. Bullshit, responded a voice in her head. This voice didn’t belong to Hank though. This voice was Callie’s own.

  William looked grim. “You two saw what happened?”

  “Did we see the dumbass get himself killed?” Al climbed down from the tree. “Yeah, we saw.”

  Callie glared at him. “Al.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. He didn’t deserve to die. But he almost got you killed too, you know.” Callie did know. Al had pointed it out several times now. “It’s a different world here,” Al went on. “There’s no room for mistakes.”

  “You don’t ever make mistakes?” William asked.

  “I’m still alive,” Al said, as if that proved it. He started off into the woods.

  They hiked for twenty minutes before arriving at another clearing. A great grey shape loomed on the far side of the open field.

  “Is this the same cliff?” Callie asked, looking up at the rock wall directly before them. “It can’t be the same cliff, can it?” The wall extended in both directions as far as they could see. You know it’s the same cliff, honey, Hank said. And you know what that means. She liked “babe.” She didn’t like “honey.”

  Al shielded his eyes and scanned the escarpment. “It’s a lot taller. There has to be a cave up there somewhere. If our plan fails, we should come back here. We’d be out of reach from even the tallest dinosaurs.”

  “And how would we get up there?” Tim asked.

  “Just think about it. A rope ladder hanging down the top, and another one from the cave leading down to the bottom. There would always be two different escape routes.”

  Callie looked up, but saw no sign of any cave. The sun shone down from just
above the top edge, leaving the face of the wall a blur of shadows.

  “I think it’s the same cliff,” William said. “But I can’t believe we’re still so far to the left. We should have come to the river by now.”

  “Don’t look at me,” Callie said. “I have no idea where we are. Do you think we’re lost?”

  “No,” William barked. “I have a great sense of direction. I’ve driven a delivery truck for twenty years and never once used GPS.” He looked around. “That raft ride threw me off, though. Too many twists and turns. I really thought we were further to the right.”

  Al stopped looking for a cave. “Maybe this is a different cliff. Do you think we passed the café somehow?”

  “It’s got to be the same cliff. Come on.” William started to the right, straight down the middle of the clearing.

  “Hold on,” Al said. He remained motionless. “If this is the same cliff, that means there’s an angry Tyrannosaurus up ahead.”

  Figured that out on your own, genius? mocked the voice in Callie’s head.

  Al pointed back in the other direction. “Let’s head that way and look for a way around to the top.”

  “We don’t have time,” William said. “For Christ’s sake, Al, we have to get back before the device goes off. I want to get back to my sons. We’re not going to wander off exploring.”

  “It doesn’t matter how long it takes us,” Al countered, “if we are all dead.”

  “How much time do we have left?” Callie asked.

  Tim looked at the readout on the device. “Three hours and two minutes.”

  “If it’s the same cliff,” Al countered, “The café should only be a half hour or so away, depending upon how far out we are. We still have time to try to go around.”

  William looked angry. “We don’t have any idea where we are right now. We could be miles away. The only thing we know is that the river in that direction.”