by Shea, Hunter
And they were about to attack.
Chapter Fourteen
Austin felt it was best, and quickest, to lead by example. Arcing his Heckler & Koch MP5 across the tree canopy, he unloaded the submachine gun on their hidden intruders. Fragmentized bits of branches, leaves and blood rained down on him and his sister.
For her part, Natalie let loose as well, aiming for the areas he’d missed.
Even above the incredible explosions of their weapons, he could hear the escalating cries of the brutes above them. The trees shook, not just from the strafing they were taking, but also from heavy bodies leaping from one branch to another, seeking safety.
Bet you wish you brought your elephants this time!
The MP5’s butt stock slammed into Austin’s chest but he refused to stop, aiming for what he hoped were the retreating creatures.
Something landed in the darkness with a heavy whump. He directed his fire at the ground for a moment before continuing his assault on the upper branches.
It was Natalie’s tugging on his arm that pulled him out of his murderous haze.
“What?” he shouted, his ears ringing.
“I think they’re gone.”
They were both breathing heavy, sweating so hard it looked like they had just taken a shower.
He strained to hear through the high whine in his ears. Picking up a stray log that was still burning on one end, he looked around them. She was right. They were very much alone now.
“…are the flashlights?” Natalie asked.
“The what?”
“Flashlights. I know Oscar packed a bunch, along with some lanterns.”
He eyed the devastation. It had literally rained splinters. The jungle ground looked like a lowdown bar, the kind where they kept a layer of sawdust on the floor to absorb the beer and vomit.
Pointing to an open crate, he said, “I think they’re in there.”
Natalie took the torch from his hand and rummaged through the crate. Once she found the flashlights, she flipped the torch into the fire pit and handed one to him. He flicked it on, surprised by the width and power of the beam that burst forth.
“These are no joke,” he said. His nerves were still singing, his body pulsing with the report from the submachine gun.
“That’s because this place is no joke.”
They trained their beams on the treetops, twin searchlights seeking the enemy.
“Well, that sure put the fear of God into them,” Natalie said. He noticed the slight trembling of her flashlight.
“I think I got at least one.”
“Where?” She kept scanning the trees. There were droplets of blood everywhere. A shredded gibbon lay close to the destroyed fire pit, but that wasn’t what he was looking for.
He lowered his flashlight to sweep the ground. “Down over there. At least I heard something pretty big hit the ground. I took a few shots at it, just to be sure.”
They crept across the camp, holding their breath, wary of any incoming creatures, knowing their hearing had been compromised by the heavy gunfire. Losing a portion of one of their senses had made them even more vulnerable than before.
But at least this time they had a means of defending themselves.
And maybe they’ll think twice before coming near us again, Austin thought.
Natalie said, “Yep, you got one all right. One what remains to be seen.”
Training both their beams on the gelatinous mass at the base of the tree, Austin was punched in the nose by the ripe smell of blood, punctured organs and something so pungent, so earthy, it defied description. The MP5 had done a number on it, leaving a practically unidentifiable lump before them.
“It was furry, though it’s hard to tell what color it was before it bled all over itself,” Natalie said. Neither of them had any desire to get closer. “I’m gonna call it an Orang Pendek and leave it at that.”
“Good call.”
She patted him on the back. “Congratulations. You’re probably the first person to ever take one down. Henrik would be proud.”
Austin stared at the exploded carcass, breathing through his mouth, not savoring the taste it left on his tongue. “You know, it kind of feels like murder. I saw those things when they rode up on us. They looked like animals, but they also looked kind of like people. And there was intelligence there. Shit, they trained elephants. No gorilla or orangutan could do that.”
“Then think of it as self defense. They tried to kill us. And I don’t think they came back to throw us a welcoming party.”
He turned away from the body, appreciative of the fact that he couldn’t make out its face. Somehow, he knew it would have made it even more difficult.
Jesus, all he wanted to do now was sleep. Exhaustion had crept up on him and sank its claws into his foggy brain.
I can’t leave Nat to watch us by herself. Not yet, anyway. Find some of that coffee!
Natalie was thinking the same thing, because she was already getting a pot of coffee together, throwing more wood on the lone burning log in what remained of the fire pit.
“I was wondering,” she said. “You think they sent those little dinosaurs into our camp to distract us?”
“At this point, if you told me you saw Elvis playing jump rope with a chupacabra, I’d believe you.”
She sat on her haunches, staring into the fire.
“Or maybe they use the Chilesaurus the way we use bloodhounds. They sniffed us out so the Orang Pendek could finish us off.”
It didn’t seem like such a crazy idea. Maybe the Orang Pendek, by virtue of their higher intelligence, were the dominant species out here. And just like man, they had found ways to subjugate and utilize every living creature around them.
“In case you’re right, we need to be on high alert if we ever see a Chilesaurus again.”
She poured him a cup of coffee. He drank it piping hot and black, burning his mouth but not caring a whit. He needed caffeine before he passed out standing up.
“Is this the kind of scenario people thought of when they came up with the phrase, ‘you’ve bitten off more than you can chew’?” Austin said, chuckling.
Okay, now I’m getting delirious.
“Trust me, no one ever thought of this particular scenario.”
“There are a lot of drugs out there. I’m sure someone hallucinated this.”
Natalie polished off her own cup. “We can only hope we’re hallucinating, too. It would be nice to wake up back at the hotel.”
“If that’s the case, which one of us is the dreamer, and which one is the dream?”
She laughed. “Now that’s a question I think Oscar would have liked to answer. Would like to answer. I’m not writing him off yet. But I am in need of an energy bar. I have a few in my pack.”
“I’ll take one, too.”
The sun was starting to rise. Not that they could see it, but the pitch hovering over them had started to lighten.
Natalie picked up her flashlight and walked over to her sleeping bag. The coffee had Austin more alert now, but the ringing in his ears was getting louder, not softer. By the time she was ten feet away from him, he couldn’t even hear her footsteps.
However, he did hear her cry out, a brief shout that was quickly silenced. The glow of her flashlight jumped into the air, then it too was snuffed out.
Austin jumped to his feet.
“Nat?”
He ran to her sleeping bag. It was still there, along with her pack.
But Natalie was gone.
Chapter Fifteen
The first flying creature swooped down, beak open wide, just grazing the top of his head. Henrik felt something warm trickle down the back of his neck. His numb hand flopped about his head, seeking the source of the wound. He couldn’t feel a damn thing, but he could very well see the blood on his fingertips.
Move you fool!
He tumbled to the ground a second before the next beast could take a piece of him. The rush of wind from its beating wings whooshed over him, kicking di
rt up from the stone floor. A speck got in his right eye, blinding him.
Rolling as fast as he could so as not to be a stationary target, he slammed into something solid. With one eye, he looked up and saw the crumbling stone wall.
He was, in fact, in the remains of what was once a perfectly square structure. All that was left was the uneven stone floor and the remnants of two walls. Unfortunately, there was no cover from above, so he was fair game for the…what on earth were they?
They looked like pterodactyls in terms of the shape of their bodies, wings and heads, but they were covered in plumage that was a riot of pastel colors. He likened them to dinosaur piñatas at a child’s birthday party, though he doubted they were loaded with candy.
With the pins and needles ebbing, he was finally able to scrabble to his feet. The rainbow pterodactyls circled overhead, seeming to speak to one another as they regarded the puny man with the bleeding head.
He spotted a broken branch on the other end of the room. The moment he made for the branch, one of the creatures broke from its flight path and dove for him. Henrik ran, diving for the branch when he was only four feet away. He grabbed the end of the branch, spinning onto his back, wielding it before him as if it were a sword. The jagged end caught the pterodactyl square in the face. It squawked, in surprise, veering away and taking once again to the sky.
Henrik got back on his feet. There was no sense standing around waiting for the next attack. He bolted out of the ancient structure, finding a series of moss covered stone steps leading down a sharp cliffside.
Why would someone build up here? Unless it was some kind of observatory.
Running for his life, he took in the scenery before him. He was quite high up, well above the densely packed trees. It reminded him of the weather observation station built atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The peak of the mountain saw winds of over two hundred miles an hour, with temperatures well below freezing, even in the middle of summer.
“Screeeeee!”
Another pterodactyl plummeted for him. He was able to leap out of the way, but he ended up directly in the path of another that he hadn’t seen coming. Its sharp beak pierced his shoulder, sending him spinning. He hit the stone steps, momentum and gravity drawing him downward in a painful roll. His breath was knocked from his lungs, his head and face taking blows against the hard steps.
The pterodactyls took swipes at him with their taloned feet as he spun out of control. He couldn’t tell whether new bursts of pain were from the fall or the creatures.
Settling into a what appeared to be a bowl carved into the edge of the hill, Henrik flopped onto his back, staring at the large blotches whirling above. His breath came in painful hitches. He was surprised to see that he hadn’t let go of the branch, his only defense against the prehistoric birds of prey.
Every cell in his body hurt.
But there was no time to think about the pain. He had to get up and get moving. His body was a mass of cuts and bruises. The pterodactyls could plainly see he was a wounded animal. It would only get them to step up their attacks, smelling victory – and a meal – so close at hand.
The bowl wasn’t deep, but he’d need to use both his hands to pull himself out. That meant letting go of the branch.
He tossed the branch out of the bowl, jumped and dug his fingers into the weed-choked earth. The lancing pain in his shoulder where the pterodactyl had jabbed him made it more difficult than it should have been. For some reason, the dinosaur birds let him be.
In fact, they were completely gone.
Hefting the branch, he kept walking down the cliff. It was steep but navigable, the manmade walkway uneven and broken in many spots. He wanted to get under the cover of the trees. He was far too vulnerable out here.
What’s waiting for me down there?
He knew exactly what was lurking about. The only question was, were they lying in wait, or had they moved on, assuming the pterodactyls would have finished him off.
There was only one way to find out.
Chapter Sixteen
Natalie never felt the hand that wrapped around her ankles, but she wasn’t spared the full impact of her face hitting the forest floor as he legs were pulled out from under her. For a moment, it felt as if a metal pick had been jabbed into the nerves of every tooth in her mouth.
After that, there was nothing. It was just like the ether she had floated in during the flight to Sumatra.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last as long. When she awoke, she was on her back, being dragged through the foliage. Her arms were stretched out above her head. She cried out when a rock scraped along her back.
She tried to kick her legs free, but the hands around her ankles only squeezed tighter. Any more pressure and she was sure her bones would snap.
Straining to see who had taken hold of her, there was just enough morning light spearing through the canopy to illuminate what she would have once considered the impossible. Now, it only made sense.
Two upright, hairy men towed her along. They didn’t walk at all like apes. Their free arms didn’t swing wildly back and forth. She couldn’t see their faces, which was probably a blessing. Every square inch of their bodies was matted with long red hair.
Fucking Orang Pendek.
At least they don’t have their elephants around.
She ran her tongue over her teeth, making sure none had been broken from the fall. So far so good, if anything about this could be considered good.
Her nose throbbed but she didn’t think it was broken. Her eyes, though, had swollen, making it hard to see.
“Nat!”
Austin!
“Hey!” she called out.
The sound of their voices only served to put the mysterious cryptids into higher gear. They ran, Natalie bouncing along behind them like a rag doll.
“Hurry Austin,” she shouted. “They’re going faster! Can you hear me?”
“Nat! Where are you?”
“Follow my voice!”
She started to scream. Not just any scream – these were horror movie scream queen peels of terror. Natalie did it so Austin couldn’t miss her and to hopefully put a start into the Orang Pendeks.
No dice. They continued along as if wailing women was an everyday occurrence.
When Austin called out for her again, his voice was more distant.
Shit! He’s losing ground.
Her throat was starting to hurt. There was a definite taste of pennies there. If she kept this up much longer, something was going to rupture.
“Austin!”
This time, there was no reply.
The back of her head thunked against something and she almost blacked out for a second time.
Nat bent her knees and grabbed at a root, slowing the Orang Pendek down. They only pulled harder, nearly dislocating her hips. The immediate twin spikes of pain loosened her grip on the root.
“Fuck me! Hey, Magilla Gorillas, get the hell off me!”
Where were they bringing her? It couldn’t be anywhere she’d ever want to be.
They were sneaky. She’d give them that. First they took their entire party by total surprise by tramping over them on their elephants. Then they’d spied on them from the trees. Seeing that there was no safety there from their weapons, they went back to the ground, stealthily waiting until she was close enough to snatch away.
It made her wonder if they were more man than animal.
“Let me go,” she pleaded. She knew they couldn’t understand her and even if they did, she was pretty sure they weren’t going to let her walk away because she’d asked politely. But it beat accepting her fate and waiting in grim silence to arrive at whatever destination they were unceremoniously dragging her to.
The Orang Pendek finally started to slow down, their backs heaving as they tried to catch their breath.
“Need to cut down on the donuts, huh?”
What the hell’s the matter with you?
By all means, she should be petrified with t
error. She was scared, that was for sure. But at this moment, she was also pissed, tired and hurting. These damn ape men had made her life a living hell ever since last night. At least maybe now she’d find out their end game.
Last night, they definitely wanted the human interlopers dead.
They could have easily snapped her neck just now. Instead, they’d stolen her away from her brother, leaving him be now that they had their intended target.
The question was – what was their intention?
“Will it be beauty that kills the beasts?” she said. “Or back to the pet shop for your two?”
They stopped. She held her breath.
When they turned to face her, she cringed in horror.
Their faces were hairless, leathery skin bisected with deep lines, black eyes set deep into their skulls. They bared their teeth and growled, the universal language for ‘shut your mouth’.
Oh no, these were not men. They were something entirely different – an alien species that had somehow survived in a land forgotten by time.
There was a cold intelligence in those eyes.
They might not know how to figure out her iPad, but they knew other things.
Natalie shuddered at the thought of what those things could be.
One grunted to the other, and they resumed their trek.
Natalie didn’t say another word. She was sure if she did, she’d get more than a nasty look.
For the first time since her confirmation when she was thirteen, she prayed.
Find me, Austin. Dear God, save me!
Chapter Seventeen
Henrik proceeded with extreme caution, every sense on high alert. He even held back a sigh of relief when he made it to the trees, pressing his back against an oak that was just wide enough to conceal him.
He hurt everywhere. Whatever wasn’t cut or bleeding was purpling with bruises. A host of insects, attracted by his blood and sweat, feasted on every inch of exposed flesh.
He’d been in worse situations before. His five years running covert operations throughout the Middle East had been hell on Earth. Although he’d never once spotted a dinosaur in Iraq or Pakistan.