Mattu inclined his head. “You have spoken. Your word is my word.”
She reached out, touching his arm. “You are the one who taught me to see all angles at once and make bold decisions.”
“I only hope that I did not teach you too well.”
* * *
Mattu paced as the others packed. Drake could see the older man’s mind working. Tilting the facts over, viewing them from every possible angle.
He was coming up dry though. There were so many people and so many supplies, they could never get them all out before Durnag awoke and renewed the assault. And once they left, it was one hundred percent guaranteed that the Syns would destroy the entire bunker.
It seemed the robots had adopted a scorched earth policy.
“Um,” Drake said, uncertain of how to interrupt Mattu’s though process. “Is there a reason why we don’t just take the trucks?”
“Trucks?” Lik said with a snort. “What’s a truck?”
Appie and Mattu seemed to be a little more dialed in.
“It has been centuries since any petroleum vehicle has been used and the electrical ones died a long time ago,” Appie explained as Mattu nodded in agreement.
Drake frowned. A world without cars, how weird.
“But this bunker has its own gas supply and fleet of large trucks in the south parking lot.”
Mattu cocked his head. “Even if we found them, the batteries would be dead.”
Drake indicated to the numerous defibrillators lying around the cryo area. Those things were in high demand around here. “I bet these would give a nice jump start and even if the gas is old, we just need to filter it and put some in the carburetor,” Drake explained. His grandfather had been a classic car enthusiast. He’d worked on old, junk cars all his life, restoring them to their former glory.
The memory was a wistful one. His grandfather and his cars were long gone. Along with everything Drake had loved.
Appie turned to Mattu. “We should at least see because there’s no other way we can move all of this by ourselves.”
The metallic ostrich nudged Appie’s hand. The girl unconsciously put her hand in her pocket, giving the silver ostrich her treat.
Even though Appie lived in this crazy, upside down dangerous world, Drake envied the girl just a bit. She had everything she loved right here in this room.
“With all of the fighting, there will be dinosaurs galore out there and there’s a wide river we must cross to get to the southeast corner. Remember how sprawling this facility is,” Mattu stated.
Appie looked to Drake. “You are sure you know exactly where the parking lot is?”
“Exactly? With all of the landmarks gone, not exactly, but I’ve been here enough to know about how far it should be. Normally they had a shuttle take you from the parking lot into the facility.”
Appie frowned at that. He would love to give her exact GPS coordinates, but he just hadn’t paid that much attention back then. Funny, he hadn’t realized his life would one day depend on where the heck the parking lot was.
* * *
Appie loaded up on weapons and fresh water. This could be a long evening. But worthwhile. It had been decided that only Appie, Mattu, Chimmus, and Drake would go. There was no reason to risk any of the others. They would be needed to move as many supplies out as they could if the tracking party didn’t make it back.
She stood at the damaged upper door of the tunnel. There could be a pack of Troodons out there, but Appie seriously doubted it. They didn’t exactly have that kind of attention span.
Still, she was cautious.
“Remember, do not use your projectile weapons unless absolutely necessary.”
The group nodded except for Drake who didn’t have a gun. He had declined, saying he was more likely to kill himself or one of them rather than a dinosaur.
Gulping, Appie helped Mattu lift the door from its hinges and open the exit.
Peering out from the safety of the tunnel, the clearing looked safe. The Spino had been half eaten by Troodons and probably another half dozen scavengers. All of whom seemed to have left the vicinity, for now. After dusk? This place would be crawling with every type of scavenger.
Late afternoon was the time the Gigantosaurus hunted so the rest of the dinosaurs tended to keep a low profile.
Inching her way out, she craned her neck to make sure there wasn’t a Troodon above her then kept her back to the hillside as she moved out, making room for Mattu and Chimmus to follow. Lastly, once no trap was sprung, Drake exited as well and Ruby. It was useless to try and keep the ostrich back.
“That way?” Appie asked, indicting to her right. It was the opposite direction they had come. Now that she was listening for it, she could hear the distant roar of the river.
Drake nodded. “It was about a fifteen minute walk without the shuttle. One time we got here early and just decided to walk it.”
Mattu nodded and took the lead position. They put Drake in the middle to best protect him.
The forest was abuzz with activity. Birds chirped overhead, jumping from branch to branch, sprinkling down pine needles on their heads. Small creatures, squirrels, chipmunks and mice dug around the underbrush, scurrying out of their way.
Appie was happy to see it. If the forest animals were going about their day, the chances were there weren’t many predators in the area. Because dinosaurs weren’t their only problem. Large mammalian predators could take them down just as easily. Bears, cougars, and wolves were just as ferocious as the dinosaurs.
For now, she was happy with the idyllic forest scene as they made their way south east.
The roar of the water became louder and louder, until it seemed to fill in every space. No longer could she hear the birds and listen to the travels of the fuzzy creatures. Now it was all water.
They went down a gentle bank to the river’s edge. They had to be especially careful now. Predators knew that prey had to frequent the water and usually did so late afternoon. Like right now.
* * *
“It should be just over there,” Drake stated, trying to shake the hush that had come over the party. Chimmus looked concerned, even in her grunge debutant get up.
He knew why. He’d seen enough crocodile attacks on Animal Planet to know that crossing this river was uber-dangerous. Plus add in dinosaurs? Who knew what was swimming under there.
“So what’s the plan?” Drake asked, rubbing his hands together. If his estimate were correct, the parking lot and all its bounty should be just past the river and heck it had been at least a half an hour since they had been attacked by dinosaurs or Syns.
Mattu pointed to a little ways down the bank. “That seems to be the narrowest point.”
Just then, not ten feet from shore a head popped out of the water. Clearly reptilian, the head was only about the size of a large dog’s. Therefore Drake was surprised when a neck extended and extended and extended, it was at least ten feet long. Then the body came to the surface. The thing was mad crazy, big. Like a little submarine.
Appie put her hand on his arm. “It’s okay. They are just Plesiosauras. They are fish eaters.”
He hadn’t even seen the other one on the far side of the river. It, too, rose up in the water and yawned. It had plenty of teeth, but they were small and pointed backwards.
But weren’t Great Whites as well?
And as big as that thing was, didn’t they run the risk the thing might confuse them with fish? As he pondered that question, one of the Plesios turned, flailing his head in their direction, his mouth wide open, those sharp teeth headed his way. Apparently Appie was wrong about their intentions.
“They are just fighting over mates,” Chimmus said backing away only a step. And she was right. The Pleiso’s head changed direction and the two dinosaur’s necks collided. They wrapped around each other like two snakes.
“It’s kind of like giraffes,” Appie explained.
Again, Animal Planet had given him plenty of sex education. He knew
just about every animal’s mating ritual whether he wanted to or not.
The two Plesios fought it out mid-river. Bashing each other’s neck, taking bites as they saw fit, but never drawing blood.
“Hurry!” Mattu yelled, jumping on the back of the one of the battling dinosaurs.
The action seemed completely ludicrous until Appie grabbed his hand. “These fights can last an hour and they stay above water level the whole time.”
Sure, okay, that didn’t sound at all crazy.
But where she tugged him, he would go. Chimmus jumped boldly onto the larger of the two Plesio’s back, straddling his large hump. Appie set them off where Mattu had gone, to the closer, smaller of the two dinosaurs.
Ruby just ran straight across the Plesio’s back, hurling itself to the far shore. If only they had that long of legs.
The battling males did indeed ignore it all, still swaying their long necks, bashing into one another. Drake had to duck to stay out of the way of one attack. A tooth grazed his back and he lay flat on the Plesio’s wide berth.
The fight shifted as the two pushed off the near shore and made their way to the far shore.
Mattu ran up their Plesio’s neck, standing atop his head until the great beast swayed again. Mattu leapt all crazy Matrix-style, landing and rolling onto the other shore.
“Really? This is the best plan?” Drake asked, not expecting an answer.
Their Plesio, thank goodness, used its strong fins and struck for the far shore as well. Appie and his leap weren’t nearly the gravity defying one that Mattu had made.
Drake hit the ground at an odd angle, twisting his ankle, dropping him to his knees. Appie landed next to him, of course, sticking the landing and up on her feet in one smooth motion.
She turned to watch Chimmus.
Gripping his ankle, Drake watched as well. The girl rode the Plesio like a horse, no, like a bucking bronco as the fight intensified. Then it was over. The smaller dinosaur had gotten the better of the larger one, knocking hard into the huge beast’s eye.
The larger dinosaur, broke off the fight, rapidly sinking back into the water.
The smaller Plesio trumpeted its victory. The only problem, Chimmus was still on the dinosaur that was about to dive.
“Chimmus!” Appie screamed pointing upstream.
The girl’s eyes widened as a fin cut the surface. She mimicked Mattu, climbing up the Plesio’s long neck, standing on top of his head as his body sunk under the water.
“Now!” Mattu shouted.
The girl backed as far as she could on the skull, then ran and leapt.
A huge finned monster flew from the water, snapping its large teeth just under her feet.
The girl hit the side of the bank, slipping down the slick mud. The fin cut the water, turning in her direction.
To Drake’s horror, the thing was half shark, half crocodile. It had legs and was charging up the bank to secure its prey. He dubbed it shark-dile.
Mattu grabbed Chimmus by the hands and pulled her to the top of the bank which looked like it might not be high enough as the monster dug into the mud, hauling itself up the bank at an alarming speed.
But Appie was there, using Mattu’s long spear, thrusting into the gaping mouth of the shark-dile. The thing bit down, snapping the wooden shaft in half. Splinters flew everywhere, however the tip must have penetrated the body since the creature rolled, screaming, its mouth opening and closing as if it could break the spear again.
As Chimmus was pulled to safety, the shark-dile slipped back under the water, disappearing from view. Whether it was dead or only injured, Drake didn’t know and didn’t care.
Chimmus rushed into his arms, clutching him tightly, smearing his clothes with mud. She buried her face into his chest. Was she crying? That didn’t seem like her, but his natural instinct was to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. Although certainly she had lived through much worse than that before he got here.
Mattu walked by frowning, “This had best be worth it.”
* * *
Appie kept surveying the meadow. There wasn’t a lot of cover for a predator to hide. With so few trees, it was more than likely that meant that there was concrete underfoot. Larger trees couldn’t push their roots down far enough to get a good hold. The young trees were knocked down during wind storms, which in this area were fairly frequent.
The evidence was all around. Fallen trunks and dry branches under foot. This all supported Drake’s theory that the parking lot was close.
“There!” Drake yelled and ran out ahead which was a little like having a suicide wish.
She ran to catch up, shoving him behind her. “Stay behind me at all times.”
Appie repositioned her weapon, preparing for whatever might come out of that tall grass. Ruby trotted to catch up. Instead of looking brave though with the feathers all ruffled, she looked silly. Such was the magic of Ruby.
“He’s right,” Chimmus added pointing out tall antennae.
Everyone’s pace picked up, even Mattu’s. They rushed into the grass, pushing the tall strands aside. A herd of Microceratops scrambled out from under foot. The tiniest of the horned dinosaurs, its cousins weighing in at a couple tons, these little guys looked just like their fierce cousins, with face plates and all, but they ran on two legs, looking for all the world like horned chickens.
They darted and crossed paths, running what looked like willy-nilly. Ruby gave chase, not to hurt them but to play.
“Get!” Chimmus barked, nearly kicking one.
There was no need for that. The Microceratops meant no harm. They didn’t even have canine teeth, they were pure herbivores. And quite tasty to boot.
But they weren’t here to hunt. Or, at least not dinosaurs.
Mattu stumbled to a stop, a look of horror on his face.
There it was, a truck as large as Drake had promised.
Everyone slowed and walked around the vehicle. Chimmus reached a hand out and touched it as if she was worried it was a dream. She didn’t think the girl had seen an actual truck before. Back in Mendocino they had a few of the old world vehicles on display. Clans from all over the west would travel to see them. That had been her parent’s plan. To show the clans what they could accomplish if they banded together.
Since their death, Appie hadn’t done much to foster allegiance from the other clans. Look what it had gotten her parents. How could they hope to ever take on the might of the Syns? All the while avoiding being eaten by dinosaurs.
But somehow with Robertum defecting and Drake expecting the world to be a better place, Appie’s thoughts turned to her parents more and more. And their dream. Her father would have gone out of his mind, happy to find a truck this well preserved. Let alone to get to try and start it? He would have been over the moon.
Drake moved with more urgency then the rest of them. “Here it is,” Drake stated, pulling out a strange metal hose like device.
“We have to empty the tank though first,” he said, then grabbed a rubber hose as he twisted off what appeared to be a gas cap, but it was larger than anything she’d seen before, then he did the oddest thing. He shoved the tube into the tank then sucked.
These old worlders with their weird old world ways.
* * *
Lavla laid back, her baby on her chest. He was perfect. He was half synthetic, but all the more perfect for it. On inspection they found several other things that weren’t quite human about her baby, named Hesper for her late father. Robertum had added 1.0, but she didn’t mind. The child was half his after all.
The others seemed more than a little off put by a Syn in their midst. Her small family was set up off the main cryo room, in a tiny supply closet, with the door closed she noticed.
Robertum sat behind her, acting as her back support.
“He is beautiful,” he said, kissing her on the top of the head.
She leaned her face back, inviting a real kiss. Couldn’t everyone see that Robertum was different? He’d been built
with completely different perimeters than the other Syns. He swore he’d never killed a human in his five hundred year existence and she believed him.
Yes, he had guided his tribe to the T. Rex, but that was only because he had to keep up his cover. He was the one to convince them not to pursue the clan. And when the military unit and Durnag had shown up, Robertum had come along to thwart his plans.
Robertum had sworn he would be at his child’s birth and he had kept that promise.
It was as much the clan’s superstitions and hostility that had kept Robertum from joining her in the first place. They had been stealing moments for a year waiting for the right time to introduce Robertum to the clan so they could be together.
Even under these odd circumstances, she was glad the charade was over. Appie had ruled and now the clan must obey. Even if Appie died trying to get the trucks, her ruling would live on. Not even Mattu could undo it if he became Shawnee.
The door swung open a few inches as someone bumped it with a wheel cart. The cryo room was filled with frantic energy, trying to stack, pile and mobilize as much of the bunker as they could. Was steel more important than flour?
“I wish they would allow me to help them,” Robertum stated.
Lik had pointedly stated that while Robertum was to stay with the clan, that didn’t mean that anyone had to like it.
Lavla’s heart went out to the older man. She knew the feelings that he harbored for her, but she simply did not return them. Besides, Lavla felt that Lik loved the baby in her belly, more than he did her. That she was the portal to another family. And now that the baby was half Syn, Lik didn’t seem to care for either of them anymore.
She couldn’t blame him. The first time she met Robertum she felt certain she could die at his hands. But instead she had found comfort in his arms.
Then to be blessed with a child? She and her departed husband had tried even longer than poor Popi and Salvve.
“Did you hear that?” Robertum asked.
Of course she hadn’t. He had hearing ten times more acute than she did. She wondered if little Hesper would inherit that as well as his rotating irises.
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