Old Man Grey’s injury with all of its blood was just too much of a temptation for a Jeholo, who attached itself to the man’s arm, sucking away.
Appie raised her short spear, bringing it down on the neck of the dino-bat. Even that deep cut didn’t stop the thing as Grey screamed in pain. Ruby bolted off at the sound. Appie put her hand on the back of the Jeholo’s body and held it down as she sawed back and forth. The thing squealed, but she didn’t stop until its head was on the ground.
“Appie!” Chimmus screamed.
She turned to find Chimmus fighting off a Troodon and two Jeholos as Mattu knelt beside her. What was happening? Why wasn’t Mattu fighting?
Appie didn’t need to know to jump into the fray. She skewered the first Jeholo. The beast flapped its wings, snapping its fangs in vain as Appie flung it from her blade toward the Troodons. Like any respectable Jeholo, it attached to the first dinosaur it could find.
Next she slashed at the Troodon, barely grazing its forearm. But, as she’d said, they weren’t the bravest of the dinosaur bunch. It backed away, hissing its displeasure. Whatever. As long as it backed away.
Most of the other Troodons weren’t in a position to rush to its aid. They were fighting off the Jeholos as Ruby ran amongst them, peeking and kicking at anything that moved. A Troodon snatched a Jeholo from mid-air, crushing it with its fierce teeth, then swallowed it whole.
The once mega-pack was reduced to only a few standing Troodons. The Jeholos could suck a dinosaur dry within minutes.
Appie stood shoulder to shoulder with Chimmus as Mattu continued his mysterious task.
“What’s going on?” Appie asked.
“It’s the bunker,” Chimmus explained, a smile on her face. The girl parted the overhanging vines to show Appie a steel door. Just the metal in that door alone could buy them enough supplies to last several winters.
Then she could see what Mattu was working on. The door had been electronically locked, however the battery on the lock had long run out. The little lights above the keypad were dark.
Her father had been an expert in old world electronics and had taught both Mattu and her how to jumpstart and bypass most of the old world locks. Mattu had pulled a battery from his pack and hooked it up to the door.
The red light flared to life. They must have made much better time than the old scavenger. To think the bunker was only half a day’s walk into the forest. How many clans had traveled past this bunker each year?
“Oh no…” Chimmus groaned.
Then Appie felt it. The shake of the earth. All of this fighting and blood had attracted a larger predator. But how large?
Then the beast broke into the clearing. It towered over them all. A Spinosaurus lumbered forward. The thing was as large as a T. Rex, but with longer arms. Long enough to catch a Jeholo and bring it to its mouth, biting its head off.
“Ruby, to me!” Appie yelled. The Spino could seriously damage the ostrich with a single bite. The metallic ostrich strutted over to Appie, bobbing her head low in fear.
They didn’t have any weapons large enough to even come close to injuring a Spinosaurus. The thing was as fast as a T. Rex and as powerful as a Giganotosaurus.
Every Troodon who could move, ran or dragged itself away from the area, although most of them weren’t so lucky as to make it past the Spino. Like grazing on a buffet, the Spinosaurus would take a bite here and another bite there.
A brave Jeholo attached to the Spino’s tail but the great monster spun around, plucked the Jeholo from its skin, then gnashed its teeth into the Jeholo’s wing, causing it to scream in agony. The Spino seemed to relish the sound and instead of just eating the thing, it bit off the other wing then dropped the Jeholo to the ground, allowing it to roil around in pain, crying out.
The scream must have been a warning as the other Jeholos, in unison, took to the sky. The Spino caught a few of them, but most of them gained altitude then wheeled out of sight.
That’s when the Spino seemed to notice the humans. He sniffed several times, waving his head in front of him. The beast took a step forward. Had this Spino never encountered humans before? It didn’t seem to recognize their scent. Of course, if it lived in the Unclaimed Forest it may never have encountered her species before.
Pipo was trying to bandage Grey’s arm as quickly as she could to help mask the scent of fresh blood, but it was too late.
Clearly the Spino decided that even if it didn’t recognize the scent, why not just kill them then sort it out later?
Salvve stepped out in front of the group. Pipo grabbed his hand, trying to drag him back, although being pinned against the hillside was no safer than out there.
He swung his hammer over his head, getting more and more speed on the thing. Then he brought it to bear. Not at the Spino’s head or body or hands, but at its foot, smashing the metal against the dinosaur’s toe. The cracking of bone filled the air. The Spino cried out in pain, stumbling back, taking the weight off the damaged digit. Almost like a person, the Spino reached down to grab the painful toe. It hopped, shaking the ground, nearly tilting over.
Then came the roar of rage. The Spino tentatively put its foot back down, testing the appendage. He must have realized it was only a minor injury. He lowered his head, ready to charge. Opening his mouth, he roared one more time then dug his claws into the ground to make his attack.
“In!” Mattu yelled as the door flashed green and slid open. Appie stayed planted, her spear out as the rest rushed into the bunker. Only at the last moment as the Spino’s teeth grazed her blade did she throw herself backwards. Mattu, of course, was there, dragging her the rest of the way in. Then the door slammed shut just as the Spino hit the hillside. Ruby clucked to herself next to Appie.
The bunker quaked and the door rattled in its frame, but held. The Spino must have realized where his prey fled to as it rammed the door with its large block head. The metal shuddered but did not warp. That was some thick metal. Forget about three winter’s worth, that was a decade’s worth of metal. And, if they found a scourge trader, a man who bartered with the Syns, double that.
As they stood shaking, the Spino took a few more runs at the door. It must have either gotten a headache or realized it wasn’t getting through as the attacks stopped. He probably went back to the downed Troodons, much easier meal than breaking through that door.
Her hand reached out and Mattu’s found it, giving it a squeeze. That had been close. Too close. Grey was down as Pipo attended to his oozing wound. The man’s face was greyer than usual. He was in shock. They had left most of the medicinals with the clan, though.
Appie spun around. The room they were in was simply four concrete walls. There weren’t any supplies or anything, just another door.
“Keep him comfortable,” Mattu instructed as he moved to the inner door.
Pipo pulled out a thin leaf from her pack. The coca leaves were about the only thing they had brought on their quest. Grey took the leaf and began chewing it as Mattu worked on the next lock.
Appie stood over his shoulder. He had already hooked up the battery, powering the locking mechanism. The powwaw was now sorting through the various colored wires trying to find the one that would open the door. Ruby cocked her head side-to-side as if she could help make the decision.
She nudged Ruby out of the way and pointed to a blue wire. “I think it’s that one.”
Mattu nodded and cut through the casing, then hooked the battery up to the wire. The door slid open. It revealed a long tunnel that led deep into the earth.
They had all heard the myths told around the campfire gathering, the old tales of hunting parties that stumbled onto the bunkers. Most were destroyed but every so often, in a dark, deserted place like this, they would find a bunker intact. It was far better than finding the Wizard of Oz any day. And in each of the tales, the bunker was hidden far underground.
Appie looked to Mattu who nodded for her to enter. Chimmus tried to squeeze past, but the powwaw held her back.
It took several minutes to get to the base of the steps. How far down were they? There stood a door. It didn’t have any locks. Appie presumed if you got this far, the facility assumed you had a right to the bunker.
Ruby danced in front of the door, her wings out, flapping in joy. Appie laughed at the ostrich as she reached past her to the door handle.
Almost reluctantly Appie stepped into the bunker. What if they had done all this but found it empty? Ransacked centuries ago?
Opening of the inner door must have turned on a generator as the interior lights came up. Appie sucked in a breath, trying not to gasp.
There were dozens of cryo tubes, all still frozen. You could barely make out the features of the inhabitants. The place seemed pristine as Mattu walked forward exploring the room. There were banks and banks of equipment, all glistening in red, yellow, and green lights. Some were steady, while others flickered and a few strobed.
Was this what the old world was like? Filled with color and lights that cast off the darkness?
Appie could hardly believe what was before her eyes. It was like not only had the people been cryoed, the early twentieth century had been frozen in time as well.
“Most have been damaged,” Mattu said, pointing to the steady red lights on the control board. Just because the tubes were still frozen didn’t mean the occupants were viable.
“Here!” Salvve announced, opening up one of the many doors that lined the cryo room. It was a storage closet, filled with more supplies than Appie had ever seen in one place, even at the gatherings. Just the fascination factor would fetch a high, high price at the gathering.
Ruby clucked, picking at the packages to see if any contained grain. She opened one and rice spilled out. She happily pecked away as the humans stood in awe.
They had done it. They had found the mother lode.
“Another,” Chimmus announced, apparently not wanting to be out done by Salvve. This room had bottled water and packs and packs of freeze dried food. Her clan would never want again.
“Appie,” Mattu said, his voice low and strange.
“Yes?” Appie skipped back to the control panel. Her happiness unhinged. She thought her powwaw would forgive her juvenile exuberance just this once.
He pointed to the sole flashing green light on the panel. Appie stopped her skipping. That light represented a viable cryotube. A person who might be unfrozen. A person who might be saved. A person who might be added to their clan.
But Appie knew it wasn’t that simple. Cryo technology had not been an exact science back then and had not advanced since. The Syns didn’t need it so they had never invested research on the discipline. If anything, they had tried to destroy all of these cryo-bunkers.
“Should we?” Appie asked.
Mattu did not answer, which was not like him. He normally came to decisions instantly. Not that he didn’t think things through. His brain was just that agile.
“Well?” Appie asked.
Instead of answering, Mattu turned and walked to the cryo-tubes. He counted down until he found the one that was viable. With the side of his hand, he brushed away the ice. Inside was a boy, no older than she.
He had a sad look on his face. As if he didn’t believe he would ever wake up again.
“We have to try,” Appie said.
Mattu nodded. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
He was already essentially dead. Even if the unfreezing process didn’t work, he wouldn’t know the difference, would he? But she knew better.
She followed Mattu back to the control panel. It was filled with switches and buttons that made no sense. There were hundreds of them. How could they ever get the correct sequence? Appie had never seen a cryo unfreeze, however her mother had. It had been a ghastly thing. And Appie was sure that her mother had withheld the worst of it from her. Perhaps they shouldn’t subject the boy to it. Maybe they should just allow him to continue his suspended life.
Appie didn’t want this boy to go through what could happen if the defrosting went wrong.
“Look, here,” Chimmus said from behind them. There was a large lever by the side of the tube. “For emergencies only. Express evacuation.”
That didn’t sound so good, but the control panel was no better hope.
They joined Chimmus. Mattu put his hand on the lever then lowered his head in prayer. Appie joined him. She noticed that Chimmus did not.
Then she closed her eyes and took both Mattu and Chimmus’ hand. She didn’t see but felt Mattu pull the lever. A loud clunk sounded then a great whir. Appie peeked open her eyes to witness the tube come to life. A light came on at the bottom as the tube tilted to the upright position. The tube cleared of the white fog. She looked away from the boy’s naked form. Appie concentrated on his feet as wires and monitoring discs flew off his skin, detaching.
“Back up,” Mattu said, guiding them away as the cryo-tube door opened. The ice around the boy melted at an unnatural rate as he sloshed out of the tube and thumped to the floor. The gas that had been in there with him burned her lungs. It was not meant for living creatures. Ruby skidded out of the way, her eyes blinking as if they could burn too.
Shifting her gaze, Appie knelt by the boy’s side, wiping his face dry. He lay there still and unmoving. There was no bound of pulse at his neck.
“Mattu,” Appie groaned.
The powwaw rushed over to the wall and grabbed a pack and popped it open. He unfurled a silver blanket, placing it over the still boy.
“He just needs to warm up,” Mattu said, but Appie didn’t think he sounded too sure.
“Rub his limbs,” Mattu ordered.
Appie felt her cheeks flush. She had done far more intimate actions to men, especially if they had been injured on a hunt, but she found herself reluctant to touch the boy’s naked form.
Chimmus had no problem. She rubbed her hands up and down the boy’s thighs as Mattu did the same to his arms.
“Rub his chest,” Mattu directed her.
The boy needed her. She was sure if he woke up, he would forgive any trespass. So she placed her hands on his chest and rubbed up and down.
Pipo rushed into the room. “Grey isn’t doing well.”
Then she surveyed the scene.
“There should be an injectable medication to wake him,” she said, running over to the glass cabinet, looking through the vials.
“Here!” she said, pulling the medicine from the shelf and drawing it up into a syringe. Her family had been healers from before the Fire in the Sky and had passed down their arcane knowledge through the ages. Pipo ran over and plunged the needle into the boy’s shoulder and pushed the medication into his body.
“Give it a few moments,” she said as she rose, heading back to the medicine. Appie assumed it was to get some for Grey.
As Pipo ran from the room with several vials in the hands, the boy gasped under Appie’s touch. Suddenly she could feel a heartbeat under her palms.
“He’s alive!” Appie announced, even though it was pretty obvious given his gasping and choking.
She knew though that this was only the first stage, the easiest stage.
CHAPTER 3
Drake’s head was on fire. He could see the flames in the back of his eyes. His limbs were lead, a frozen fire all on their own. His chest burned with each breath. He could hear voices but couldn’t make them out.
There w
as a cry as he sputtered, choking on his own saliva. Someone rolled him over and he was not ashamed when he vomited all over them. Only after the retching had ceased could he breathe. The air felt like it was an inferno. He was so cold. Cold to the bone. Then why did it feel like his entire body was engulfed in flame?
And why was there an ostrich peeking at him. He was in some kind of weird David Lynch dream.
Yet, someone was rubbing his back, cooing to him to stay calm.
Stay calm? Were they even paying attention to what was happening to him? The ostrich was metal and had red eyes for goodness sake.
Then the shivering started. He couldn’t stop it. His entire body shook with the fury of a tornado. Teeth chattering, he couldn’t even say thank you to whoever covered him in a blanket.
His mind spun, trying to piece together what was happening. The last thing he remembered was a cold cloud of fog and his parents crying. They had been there. Bawling.
Why?
Then it hit him. He had cancer, a rare form of leukemia. He had been at end stage. And his parents, being his parents, couldn’t let him go. They had somehow talked him into freezing himself to be unfrozen when there was a cure.
Something must have gone wrong. The freezing must not have taken. That was the only explanation wasn’t it?
How else was he awake?
Drake blinked several times, trying to orient himself. He recognized the room. It was the cryo-room. He had visited the facility several times before the actual cryo process.
But he didn’t recognize the dark man who was speaking to him and Drake was having a hard time making out his words. There were two girls as well, attending him. Not that he was going to complain about that, but where were the doctors? The women in white coats? Where were his folks?
Plus, the whole silver ostrich thing. Lynch for sure.
“Get back,” the dark man said. “Give him room.”
The girls backed away as Drake tried to sit up. The room spun precariously. He lashed a hand out and one of the girls caught it, holding it tightly. He took a deep breath trying to remember what the doctors had said would happen when he awoke. It certainly didn’t sound like what they had described.
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