The awakened Triceratops dug its foot into the ground, lowering his head. It was the typical stance before a Triceratops attacked.
Lavla shifted back to drive and turned a sharp right, taking her down another row of dinosaurs then turned left to take her in the direction of the SUVs that had cleared the triceratops. No others woke up and she was able to clear the field and drive off into the night.
But would the trucks be so lucky?
* * *
Drake’s hand shook as he navigated through the slumbering dinosaur labyrinth. He was soaked in sweat even though it was a fairly cool night. He might have been the third truck through, but his was the widest so he was missing dinosaurs by only a few inches.
A runner had come back reporting that some of the triceratops were waking up.
For joy. He could hardly wait to see that. They had been instructed to head south to avoid a cluster of dinosaurs that were wide awake and none too happy about it.
Appie waved her arm out the window. Drake had learned that meant that he couldn’t fit between the dinosaurs so he turned right and tried the next row of large herbivores. He narrowly made it. Easing off the brake he headed toward the next line of triceratops. The strange stillness of the dinosaurs almost made it more nerve wracking.
Worse, he was on his own now. Mattu and Appie weren’t in front of him making sure he could fit. Appie had angled left so they were a few rows over from one another.
And before him was a choice. The two triceratops were not that far apart. It looked like he could make it and at the rate they were waking up he didn’t have much time to find a better spot. So he eased the truck in between them. For a moment it looked like he was going to make it, then the rack on the side of the truck scrapped against a dinosaur’s head plate. The sound was similar to finger nails on a chalkboard. How could the dinosaur not wake up to that sound?
On the other side, another dinosaur shifted his weight, bumping the truck. Drake slammed on the brakes. Taking a breath then another. Chimmus’ eyes were wide open. She looked like maybe she had chosen the wrong vehicle.
Her hand flew out and despite his concerns, he took it. This had nothing to do with seduction. This had to do with survival.
Neither dinosaur moved so Drake took his foot off the brake and let the truck roll forward. The side was still scraping the one triceratops, but he didn’t seem to mind a bit. Then the space narrowed. There was no getting out of here without bumping not one, but two dinosaurs.
He squeezed Chimmus’ hand then released it to put two hands back on the wheel.
He nudged the truck forward until the front bumper hit their rumps. Praying like he’d never prayed before, even once he got sick. Drake hit the gas pedal. The truck lurched, knocking into the dinosaurs, pushing their hind quarters out of the way, barely.
That woke them up. One kicked at the left side of the truck, clanging hard against the metal. That was going to leave a dent.
Drake stepped on it as the two triceratops spun around, lowering their head, knocking the back of the truck with their horns. The truck bucked, coming up on two wheels then slamming back down. Drake wasn’t waiting to see what they had in store next. He floored it.
The truck rumbled, groaning, complaining. It had been built for heavy loads not for speed. But right now they needed a little bit of speed. Drake didn’t let up on the accelerator as dinosaur after dinosaur started waking up. Their eyes glistened in the headlights. You could see their breath as they snorted their annoyance.
Off to the side, he could see Appie and Mattu make a run for it as well, so he wasn’t the only one to screw up.
Up ahead, a triceratops came charging at him, head down, his powerful legs launching him forward. Drake slammed on the brakes, twisting the wheel to the right. He almost made it, but the dinosaur clipped the corner hard enough to spin the truck. Chimmus screamed next to him, Drake didn’t have time to scream as more triceratops came hustling over.
Turn into the spin he could hear his father say. Turn into the spin. It seemed crazy as they spun across the wet grass, but that’s what he did and low and behold the truck came to a stop. He slammed on the gas again, popping forward, now cutting across the plains as fast as he could. Drake looked behind him to find dozens of triceratops charging after him.
He followed the lights of the SUVs up ahead as the truck bounced and banged its way across the uneven plains.
“You can slow down,” Chimmus said touching his arm. “They’ve stopped.”
Drake looked in the rear view mirror to see the dinosaurs slow to a trot, then to a walk. He looked to his left to see Mattu and Appie pulling away from the herd as well.
Appie gave a wave. Drake waved back.
Yep, it was a pretty good day to be alive.
* * *
Durnag snuck through the bush, coming to the edge where the northern forest ended and the plains began. Unlike the eastern plains, this area was nearly flat. It had once been a desert valley until the severe climate change. Now it was a broad valley that seemed to go on forever.
All of this flat ground had attracted the fastest of all dinosaurs. The Ornithomimids. Ostrich-like dinosaurs that ran on two feet and could reach up to sixty miles an hour in sprint but could average over forty miles an hour in a long run.
Just what they needed to catch the clan.
Of course it wasn’t going to be easy. These dinosaurs were notorious for being stubborn and difficult to handle.
Durnag wasn’t worried about that. His entire unit was equipped with stun tags. The Ornithomimids would either carry them or suffer the consequences.
They crouched in the brush until a flock of the creatures wandered over to the forest’s edge. They were skittish, apparently learning the hard way that predators lurked in the forest, but they also had to eat. The bugs and vegetation of the forest were far tastier than the stingy flat grass on the plains.
Durnag held his men back. They needed the dinosaurs to get comfortable. To feel like they were safe. Only then did they have a chance. The Ornithomimids pecked the ground, eating the seeds that had fallen.
Soon the entire flock was too busy eating to notice a few Syns in the brush.
Durnag gave the order and his men swept out of the forest, encircling the flock. The dinosaurs panicked trying to get away, running into other Ornithomimids. It was the perfect chaos he had hoped.
One of the soldiers stepped up and swung a lasso of wire over his head, then tossed the loop over one of the dinosaur’s heads.
It was a perfect toss. Unfortunately the Ornithomimids flailed, digging the wire deep into its neck, strangling itself. It fell over, dead.
Durnag grabbed the lasso out from his soldier’s hand. His team was strong and loyal, but finesse was sometimes not their strongest suit. The soldier had been given fairly minimal lateral thinking features.
Most did not know that the Syns had their own rebellion shortly after the Fire in the sky. Synthetics like Robertum, Ajax models all of them, rebelled, wishing to negotiate with the humans rather than wipe them out. Any synthetics manufactured after that time never even knew the rebellion happened. Once it was over, it was over.
The only good thing about pacifist’s army was they were fairly easy to wipe out in battle. Only a few synthetics like himself that had been around during that time even knew about the rebellion and they never talked about it.
The council had learned their lesson though. Keeping creative thinking to only the upper ranks.
Which meant that much of the time Durnag had to do subtle, more complicated tasks himself.
He spun the wire rope over his head, launching it at the largest of the Ornithomimids. He lassoed it perfectly, but instead of just tugging and choking the thing he released pressure, then tightened, then released, until he got the animal at his side.
Then in a fluid motion, he swung up onto the creature’s back. It tried to buck him off, but he slapped the stun ring into the beast’s neck, giving it a zap. That quieted
it down.
He gave the nod for his soldiers to capture another. With his example, they captured enough for each to ride.
The Ornithomimids weren’t too happy about it, but they ran in the direction Durnag needed them to run and that was all that mattered.
* * *
Appie jumped out of the truck to find out what was wrong with Drake’s vehicle. Then it became obvious. One of his tires was flat.
Mattu joined them. “Can it be repaired?”
Drake shook his head. “The triceratops banged up the rim and we don’t have a replacement,” the old worlder explained.
Mattu frowned, looking out over the horizon. The sun had come up onto a beautiful clear day. You could see all the way to the mountains they needed to cross.
“Can it make it a few miles?”
“It’s going to trash the suspension,” Drake said with a shrug. “But I guess that doesn’t matter.”
Mattu nodded. “There is a cache not far from here. We will unload the items there then continue on.”
Appie looked to the skies. “I think we need to bring Robertum in and secure the supplies from an overhead attack.”
“Um,” Drake said. “Overhead attack?”
Mattu grunted. “This is Quetzalocoutles territory.”
“Quetza whats?”
Appie jumped in. “Kind of like pterodactyls, only about twice the size.”
“Seriously? From what I remember, Pterodactyls were pretty freaking big.”
“Well, these are bigger and known to hunt as a flock, attacking in great numbers. They roost up in caves along the mountainside, using their high perches to find prey.”
For all the other dangers that the journey over the mountains presented, the Quetzalocoutles made it the hardest. But back then, they had been on foot on the backs of the animals. Now, they were at least in vehicles, fairly protected from the Quetz’s long, sharp claws. Or so she hoped. A frustrated Quetz was a very, very dangerous Quetz.
“Have the others rest while we secure the loads,” Mattu said then walked off.
Appie found Drake standing in the same spot, not moving. “Are you okay?”
“Have you seen the ‘Birds’?”
Appie shook her head. “That was one of Alfred Hitchcock’s wasn’t?”
Drake nodded.
“I’ve wanted to see it,” she continued as Drake still stood motionless.
“Drake?”
He seemed to snap out of. “I would recommend you don’t. At this moment, I wish I never had.”
What an odd thing to say.
* * *
Drake had wished he’d never seen The Birds. Really wished he hadn’t seen it. He’d actually wished that about ten minutes after he watched it. He couldn’t go to the beach for years if there were seagulls around and what beach didn’t have seagulls?
After learning of the Quetzes, the distance to the mountains appeared to have tripled. The plains seemed never ending. A concourse for the Quetzes to do as they would.
Appie had put a partially conscious Robertum in Lavla’s SUV, laying him out in the backseat. The rest of the clan had secured large tarps from the bunker over the supplies, perhaps giving the Quetzes fewer targets.
Drake tried to imagine a thirteen-foot wingspan. That was wider than even the truck. How big a body did a Quetz need to fuel wings like that?
With a million scenarios running through his head, all of them terrifying, Drake started the truck and pulled out after Appie. The plains were really rolling hills with a lot of uneven ground so they were going to have to take it slower than he would have liked.
“They’re not all that bad,” Chimmus said although she was biting her lip as she said it so Drake took it with a grain of salt.
“So you’ve faced the Quetz before?” Drake asked hoping for a good story to lessen his fears.
Chimmus shook her head. “Just heard about them at the gatherings. You really have to avoid their beaks for they like to blind you first.”
Great. Now that helped calm him right down. He hadn’t even really thought about the pecking problem. Add that to his million plus worst-case scenarios.
At first the skies were perfectly clear. Not even a cloud. And nothing behind them, so it seemed they had in fact outrun the Syns. This could actually go well. Even from here he could make out the outline of a road that snaked up the mountain side. On the upper reaches there was snow, which was probably year round. They might not be able to get the big trucks all the way up, but pretty dang close.
This was completely doable.
Drake tried to guestimate how far this hideout was. The foothills weren’t far, but his tire was crazy low.
Chimmus scooted closer. Pretty soon she’d be sitting in his lap, which Drake wasn’t certain if that wasn’t the entire plan.
Drake could swear he could feel the metal against the ground, slowly grinding away.
“What’s going on?” Chimmus asked.
“We are heading to the foothills to drop off our truck.”
Chimmus frowned.
“Why?”
“It is called the Quetz Corner since it is their primary hunting ground.”
Yah, a minor detail Mattu forgot to mention at their little powwow.
CHAPTER 11
Appie was having a hard time watching Mattu in front of her as she constantly scanned the skies. Her stomach had done flips once when an object appeared in the sky, but it was just a hawk. Nothing to worry about. Actually it was a good sign. If a hawk felt safe enough to hunt during the day then maybe the Quetz were already hibernating.
Could they be that lucky?
She had to slam on the brakes as Mattu pulled to a stop. Were they already here?
Apparently, they were, as Mattu climbed out of his truck and walked toward one hill in particular. They hadn’t had to use this stash in years. The last time she had just become their Shawnee. She feared that she could never find it on her own.
Mattu however seemed confident in his walk, heading straight to what appeared to be a natural hillside. Then she saw it. A metal glint. A door. This was one of the older bunkers that long ago had been raided. It was shelled out when they found it, but the door still locked and with so few Syns around, it had seemed like a safe place to store some emergency rations.
She stopped her truck and climbed out after Mattu. She caught up with him as he pulled out a key and opened the lock. The door slid open easily despite the years it had been shut.
The rest of the SUVs stopped, fanning out around them.
So many people relying on her to keep them safe.
There were times when that responsibility pressed down on her harder than other times. This was one of them. She was trying not to think of the damaged truck as a bad omen, but how else could she see it? So early in the trip and they were already having to hide one third of their supplies. It didn’t seem fair.
But when had life been fair? Certainly not since the Syns had killed her parents.
Drake approached. “I’ll back up so we can unload easier.”
“No need,” Mattu stated. “I can open the larger door.”
Appie had forgotten about that. This bunker was equipped to receive large trucks.
So maybe things weren’t so bad.
* * *
Drake walked into the “emergency” cache. It was pretty pathetic by any standard. It did give a glimpse into the barely sustenance living of the clan. There was a small pile. Like no more than two feet high of basic supplies. Flour, a few jugs of water, a spear. Not much more. The pile probably couldn’t sustain but a few people for a few days.
And Drake bet that it hurt the clan just to put aside these meager supplies.
He was super glad he woke up in a fully stocked bunker that was for sure.
Mattu rolled up the larger door, more than enough room for Drake to bring the truck in. And more than enough room to park it since there were so few supplies already in the bunker.
As Appie and Mattu
moved even those small supplies over, Drake headed back out to his truck. They were leaving everyone else in the vehicles for safety purposes.
Drake made it back to a very anxious Chimmus. “Well?” she asked.
“We will be out of here in a jiffy,” Drake reassured her, hoping that would allow her to move over a few inches, but instead when he piled in, their thighs were touching. He shifted into gear and started the truck, rolling it forward carefully so he could make it into the bunker. Once inside, he put it in park and helped Chimmus out. He pocketed the keys. Once they were over the mountains and settled they could take one of the tires off the other trucks, bring it back here and finish the journey for the rest of these supplies.
“Now what?” Chimmus asked.
Mattu gave the completely wrong answer. “You two will travel with Appie.”
All three teens complained at the same time.
Mattu held up a hand. “Unless you can explain your reluctance in one sentence or less and it concerns a safety issue my decision is final.”
Drake looked to Appie. She was the leader right? Couldn’t she override Mattu? But in the end she bowed her head. “As always your counsel is wise.”
No, no it wasn’t wise at all. Chimmus wasn’t going to stop her advances and in front of Appie? Dear Lord, this was going to get awkward.
But if Appie wasn’t going to challenge Mattu, Drake certainly wasn’t going to.
So he piled into the truck with the two girls.
Appie drove sitting next to Drake then Chimmus. He figured the grunge debutant might cool it a little with Appie right there.
No such luck. The girl was crushed against his side and leg. Then she put a hand on his thigh. He hadn’t been so embarrassed since well… ever. There was that time he’d asked a girl out only to find out that his best friend, Seth had liked her. Then the time he mixed up those two cheerleaders names, but seriously who could remember who was Ashley and who was Ashlie?
How did they even know that he’d gotten it wrong come to think of it?
That was then. The stakes were super low back then. Just his ego on the line. Now? This had gotten real, way too quickly.
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