“I think they are here,” Robertum said just as Janglo, one of the toddlers sent to be a look out, raced back into the room.
“Appie is back with trucks.”
CHAPTER 9
Drake had never perhaps been as proud as he was right now. He knew his parents would be beaming with pride. That out of the seven trucks he had gotten three started, plus another ten smaller vehicles. They had left the smaller ones at the yard, ready to rock and roll while they went back to the bunker to load up.
Mattu had even heeded his concerns that the trucks couldn’t make it up and down that muddy embankment and they had found a bridge, in disrepair, but a bridge about ten miles downstream. It had creaked and groaned but held. Now they headed to the bunker’s prairie entrance. Even though it was close to the Syn attack, it had far less cover and was safer from predators.
They were trusting Robertum’s word that the Syn leader would be knocked out until the early morning hours.
Chimmus sat next to Drake, her face cracked wide open by a full smile. She couldn’t stop giggling as they rumbled toward the bunker. The truck popped and bounced, making her laugh all the harder.
“This is the best thing that had ever happened to the clan. You are the best thing that ever happened to the clan. Keep this up and you might be elected Shawnee yourself. Then you would have the honor of picking your mate.”
Drake could feel himself blush even though he willed himself not to. He didn’t want a mate, let alone the “honor” of picking one.
He kept his eyes straight ahead as they rumbled to a stop. The rest of the clan poured out of the bunker, ohhing and ahhing at the large vehicles.
Drake opened the door and hopped out but Chimmus was still inside trying to figure out how to get out of her safety belt. When she pulled a knife, Drake went back in and helped her.
“Thanks,” Chimmus said with a different smile. The mean girls at high school used to have that smile whenever they said they liked his corduroy pants so he didn’t exactly trust the expression.
Then the rest of the clan was upon them. The children were whooping and hollering while more than one of the adults looked askance.
That was until they saw how large the truck beds were. They had been used for transporting large cylinders of oxygen and nitrous oxide. So they were built to take some punishment and carry heavy, heavy loads.
“We cannot linger,” Mattu stated, quieting the jubilation. “Start with the metal, then medicine, then supplies.”
Drake had to give the clan credit. No matter how excited they were, they boogied once Mattu spoke. One moment there were about twenty people gathered around the trucks then there were three. The clan had evaporated into thin air.
All the chatter, whooping and scoffing was gone as the clan went back down into the bunker to gather their supplies with Ruby chasing after the clan. The silence felt strange yet electrified.
“When is the last time you slept?” Appie asked Mattu.
“The same time as you,” Mattu retorted.
“But you are an old man,” Appie chuckled, however Mattu did not seem to find the humor in it.
Appie crossed her arms. “I think you should get some rest. We will be driving all night.”
“We will be, so I think we should all rest while the clan loads the gear.”
Drake wasn’t going to argue. You’d think after sleeping for over half a millennium, you wouldn’t be quite so tired. And Appie only knew the half of it. Drake couldn’t believe how tiring driving could be. Especially at night? And in these behemoth trucks? It was going to be a rough night. He would welcome a nap. He wasn’t at all ashamed to say so.
Appie didn’t seem to have a comeback for Mattu either. “The clan will act as sentries as they load and we will all sleep in the trucks, ready to go if need be.”
Mattu grunted his agreement and climbed back into his truck.
Appie nodded to Drake. “Get some rest while you can.”
Men with metal sheets held between them came out of the bunker.
“Lay them flat,” Appie stated before she turned back to her truck. “We will be resting, but remain vigilant for any ambushes.”
The men nodded. That was that then.
Drake got back into his truck and lay down. After a moment the passenger side door opened. Chimmus crawled in. The girl wasn’t driving any trucks so he wasn’t quite so sure why she was napping. She then moved his legs aside and curled up against him.
Drake wasn’t quite sure what to do.
Her presence was warm and awkward and exciting and nerve-racking all at the same time. He draped an arm over her as she cuddled her head against his neck.
Despite his body’s initial reaction, he was bone weary.
He didn’t even have a chance to say anything before sleep over took him.
* * *
Appie had tried to rest, she really had. But she’d seen Chimmus go into Drake’s truck. What might be going on in there had kept her up. Although she had no claim on the old world boy, she had thought there might be a connection there. But now he was with Chimmus, what did it mean? By some clan’s tradition the two were bonded just by laying down together.
Their clan needed a little bit more verification, but not much more than that.
She had checked on Mattu to make sure he was resting. Even though he liked to act like he was as virile and agile as he had been sixteen years ago, he was not. And she hated when he pushed himself too far and faltered.
He had been snoring when she peered in. Even as the men threw down the large metal sheets, clanging them so that the clouds could hear them, Mattu snored.
Appie went down into the tunnel. If she wasn’t going to rest, she might as well help out. At least help with the organizing. She passed several clansmen hauling supplies up to the surface. But where was Robertum? He should be helping out.
When she made her way to the main cryo room she asked. “Where is Lavla?”
One of the women nodded to a small door off the room. Appie opened it to find a tiny closet that housed a tiny family. Lavla was asleep in Robertum’s arms. The baby cuddled, sound asleep between them.
“I know this has been a hectic day,” Appie whispered. “But we could use your help.”
To her surprise Robertum smiled. “I would love to but apparently there is no task suited to my kind.”
Appie didn’t even need to ask. She knew who would say such a thing. Lik and a dozen like him.
Did they forget her parents were killed by Syns? As much as she hated them, she could remember her parent’s wishes. They had dreamed. No dreamed sounded too unattainable. They had planned to negotiate with the Syns. That true safety could only occur if there was an accord with the synthetics. That the prolonged, cruel war must end.
They would never see their wish come true, but might Appie? Seeing Syn and human lay together with their child gave her a hope she had never felt before.
Robertum moved Lavla gently and rose. “I am yours. Use me as you will.”
Appie nodded, guiding them out of the closet, making sure to close the door gently as not to wake up mother and baby.
She pointed to two men struggling to lift a large crate.
“Robertum, help them.”
Before the Syn could follow her orders, Lik was there. “As I said, we don’t need his kind’s help.”
“And as I ordered,” Appie stated, stepping up so that she was toe-to-toe with Lik. “We are to use him to his greatest potential.”
Lik’s jaw clenched and he hissed his words out. “I don’t trust him.”
“You don’t need to,” Appie replied trying to keep her tone even. “What he might do in the future weighs less upon me than not allowing the strongest amongst us to help us load.”
Lik’s jaw moved up and down. Up and down.
He was normally so mild mannered. Just a week ago, having a hard time forming a complete sentence and now he thought to challenge her leadership?
The Widow Ritto
put a hand on his arm. “Lik, none of us are happy about this, but Appie has spoken.”
Appie was glad to see that around the room heads nodded in agreement.
Turning away, Lik mumbled something, but Appie didn’t ask for clarification. She just wanted to move on. Robertum went right to work seeming to shock the other men. He easily lifted the entire crate on his own. The two men backed away, shaking their heads, but it didn’t seem to be in derision, but in wonder.
Appie shooed a few of the children away under foot, clucking until Ruby appeared. Perhaps the only thing she was actually good at was entertaining the children. She strutted with the neck, coming up to the toddlers, nipping their behinds to get them moving faster than Appie ever could.
Lev was lying out of the way, his head leaned up to the wall, his tail twitching slowly to let her know he was awake.
“Lev?” Appie asked. “Could you find Tonka and have him help you guard the trucks?”
The metallic lion pushed his head forward. Almost negotiating a pet for his compliance. Appie was more than happy to pay the fare.
She scratched the line between his smooth forehead and the beginning of his mane. He groaned in appreciation. Just like the real lion, he couldn’t purr, but the way his eyelids fluttered up and down she could practically hear it.
Then the lion rose, stretched in the most laconic way, then padded out of the room and up the tunnel.
Any way you looked at it, she did have a pretty awesome family.
* * *
Lavla awoke to a shout. Clutching her baby, she lay in the dark trying to hear if another shout followed.
It did. Which was never good. Tucking the baby in her arm, Lavla rose gingerly. Her body was still sore from giving birth. She opened the door handle to find everyone running around. She grabbed Pipo.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s a herd of Brachiosaurus on the way,” the woman replied.
Which in of itself wouldn’t be a bad thing. They were huge, the largest dinosaur, however they were fairly docile. Usually not a threat at all, unless...
“Are they being chased by Dromaesaurus?”
The woman just nodded and rushed off.
This was not good.
Brachiosaurus weren’t afraid of much. T. Rex? They’d just laugh in their faces. Gigantosaurus? Again, a good chuckle.
But for some reason the small, swift annoying Dromaesaurus were a different matter. They were like the hyenas of the dinosaur world. They could take down smaller prey but a Brachiosaurus? No way. However for whatever reason they loved to chase them. Some theorized that the Dromaesaurus was trying to tire the weak or ill and take them down, but Lavla had never seen such a thing. It seemed the Dromaesaurus did it just for the fun of it. I mean, if you could get a dozen of the largest dinosaurs in the history of the world to stampede, wouldn’t you do it?
Unfortunately, this was a most inopportune time for it to happen.
“How close are we to being packed?” Lavla asked one of the men as he ran past.
“Nearly done, but we’ve got a lot of perishables to load still.”
Then he, too, was gone. Deep down here they should be safe, but up top? She’d seen entire clans wiped out by such a stampede. It had happened at a gathering once. They’d lost over fifty during that run.
Robertum raced into the room, scanned it then quickly joined Lavla.
“If I don’t come back, know that I love you,” he said, then kissed her on the forehead.
Before he could run off, Lavla grabbed his hand. “Come back to me.”
For being a synthetic, Robertum had a full range of human emotions and so many of them showed on his face. Hope, fear, panic, and determination. She released his hand. She knew she couldn’t keep him here. Not only would she never be that selfish, the fate of the clan rested on his help, plus she knew he would never let her.
Even for a clan that had tried to reject him and did not hide their contempt, Robertum was still going to go out there and risk his life.
Watching him run out the door, Lavla was reminded why she had fallen in love with him in the first place.
* * *
Drake had to catch himself and Chimmus from falling off the narrow truck seat. Chimmus sprang up, her weapon in hand as the truck bounced again. At first Drake thought that someone had rear ended them. Maybe someone trying to move another truck?
What else could make a two ton truck bounce?
As the shocks continued, asynchronous, Drake asked, “Earthquake?”
“Worse,” Chimmus answered, looking out the back window.
What could be worse than an earthquake? Drake turned around to find what looked like several dozen Brachiosaurus coming straight for them. They were running, if you could call it that. They were all disjointed and despite their enormous size, they were like how many tons? Drake vaguely remembered that they were like the size of ten elephants in one. They were actually kind of gangly. Their necks swayed side to side as their tails were the only thing keeping them upright.
With each step the ground boomed and shook. This was like a moving earthquake, coming right at them.
As one of the Brachiosaurus bumped into another and nearly brought them both down, that is how panicked the giant creatures were, Drake noticed the smaller dinosaurs with brightly colored head feathers, running upright on two legs between the Brachiosaurus. Goading them, taking tiny nips at their heels.
Really, those relative tiny things were causing the problem?
It seemed impossible, but each time they took a nip, the Brachiosaurus nearly jumped out of their skin. Drake didn’t know if it was true, but it seemed like the classic elephant-and-the-mouse situation. Speaking of elephants, Tonka rushed over, standing behind the trucks in an apparent effort to protect them from the stampede, however the elephant looked like a toy compared to the Brachiosaurus. There would be no stopping them if they continued on their current path.
“Is there anything a Brachiosaurus is more afraid of than those little dinosaurs?” he asked Chimmus who seemed glued to the sight.
“Fire, I guess but we don’t have enough wood to make a big enough one to make a difference.”
Drake clambered out of the truck, rushing to the back. The truck was nearly full, however he wasn’t looking for just anything. He was looking for the few oxygen tanks they had brought along with them for emergencies.
Okay, this wasn’t what they had expected but he thought both Appie and Mattu would agree this qualified.
He ran out to Tonka and looked over his shoulder. Appie and Mattu were on their way as well.
“We will never hold them,” Appie said between heavy breaths.
“Get me anything that’s flammable. Anything,” Drake stressed.
Neither of them questioned him, they just ran off. He turned to Chimmus.
“Do you have a lighter?” he asked.
“A what?”
“A flint, anything to create a spark.”
Chimmus looked in shock as he turned to two of the men who were flat-footed watching the Brachiosaurus come at them.
“Get oxygen tanks off the truck!”
Neither responded but Robertum rushed up. “I’ll get them.”
“Chimmus,” Drake barked. “Flint?”
“Yes, sorry,” she said, seeming more demure than he had ever seen her. She dug around in her pocket and pulled out a strange apparatus. It was like an automatic flint starter. She pressed on a lever and the two flints struck one another, creating a spark.
Not exactly what he had in mind, but he’d take it.
Appie and Mattu brought a bunch of clothes, which must have come from the bunker and dropped them into a huge pile. Several other of the clansmen, Drake hadn’t learned their names yet, brought even more.
Robertum, carrying an oxygen tank on each shoulder, brought over two tanks.
“Do you need more?”
Drake shook his head. If this was going to work, it should work with two.
> “Oxygen is highly flammable, I mean one spark and it will light up, and should catch the clothes on fire, then the fire should travel back up the air flow and explode the tanks.”
Mattu nodded as Appie’s eyes narrowed.
“But how will we keep the tanks here? Won’t the blast send them flying?”
“I will hold them,” Robertum said as the Brachiosaurus approached at truly frightening speeds.
They didn’t have time to argue although Appie was going to give it a try. Drake turned to Chimmus who had absolutely no problem with Robertum risking himself. “Get me two of those chains that were holding the tanks.”
The girl set off at a run as Appie tried to persuade Robertum to not take the chance.
“You have a newborn,” she pleaded nearly as effectively as Lavla might have.
“You said it yourself, we have no way of keeping the tanks in place by the time they get here.”
Drake pointed to the herd that from the trembling underfoot already felt like it was here. Chimmus came back with the chains and they lashed them to the tanks and Robertum. This was going to be insanely close.
“Get Lev and Tonka back,” Drake ordered then turned on the tanks. The hiss of oxygen was a welcome sound. He clicked the “lighter” that Chimmus had given him and sure enough the jet stream caught on fire, blasting the clothes with flame, catching them alight.
None of this fazed the panicked Brachiosaurus though. Why would it? It was like a lit match scaring an elephant.
“Get ready!” Drake yelled as the fire started consuming its way back up the oxygen stream.
The rest of them took cover behind the trucks.
Then an explosion knocked the trucks back three feet splitting the air with its sound. Drake felt the shock wave through his bones.
Heat seared the air as flames rose high in the air. Robertum had done it. Kept the fire where it needed to be.
The Brachiosaurus screamed their panic, wheeling away from the trucks, thundering by, within feet of the trucks. The little dinosaurs, the instigators of all this, were even more terrified of the fire and turned tail, running off in the opposite direction.
Within a few seconds of getting past the fire and their harrying little dinosaurs, the Brachiosaurus slowed to a walk, then began eating leaves off the trees at the tree line as if nothing untoward had happened.
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