The Spinosaurus raised its short arms in the air and let out a mighty roar. But then it lowered its head and began to sway from side to side. When it fell, the earth shook.
Coop saw Bats’ bloody and misshapen face against the Mule’s windshield. He wasn’t sure, but the way the head cocked away from the shoulders, the man’s neck must have broken.
“Look!” Suge yelled.
Two more Spinosauri burst through the woods. One headed straight for Suge, and the other came directly at Coop. There was only one way for him to run—and that was to the cave.
As he ran, he caught a glimpse over his shoulder of the Spinosaurus chasing Suge. It lowered its head and stretched out its neck, much like a goose on the attack. There was no way the man could outrun the savage dinosaur.
Coop ran into the mouth of the cave and stumbled on a backpack on the ground. He rolled on his side and saw a pouch laying in front of his face. He grabbed it and quickly sat up. He opened it to find the precious red diamonds, beautiful beyond dreams.
Suge screamed in the distance, snapping Coop to reality. And then the cave vibrated with a Spinosaurus’ roar.
He turned and saw the massive body of the dinosaur overshadowing the cave’s entrance. Its head slid in, and the eyes seemed to glow as red as the diamonds. Coop crawled away as fast as he could, praying the elongated head and neck wouldn’t be able to reach him.
The dinosaur roared again. Coop felt its hot breath on the back of his neck. He didn’t slow his escape and quickly disappeared into darkness, out of the creature’s reach.
Coop turned and sat looking toward the mouth of the cave. He saw the outline of the head and parts of the neck. That was one scary looking beast. The dinosaur’s head reminded him of pictures of dragons. Dragons weren’t real, and these things shouldn’t exist on Earth today.
Now what to do? Wait around and die of thirst or starvation? Surely one small human wouldn’t be enough to keep this big guy around. Coop imagined a dinosaur that large would need to eat five to ten humans a day to get by.
The Spinosaurus seemed to be content to wait for now. A low rumble resembling a purr sounded from its throat. It breathed in short blasts, reminding Coop of a bellows shooting air over burning embers.
A hiss from behind forced out an ounce of urine. Shit! Something else was in the cave.
Coop sprang to his feet and tried to see through the darkness, but that was impossible. He realized he had dropped his pistol when he ran for the cave. All he had was his knife. With a shaky hand, he pulled it from its sheath.
Something moved his way. He heard what he imagined was a tail dragging on the ground. This was not good. He was trapped with nowhere to run.
The theropod leaped out from the darkness, forcing Coop into retreat. He stabbed at empty air in front of him, knowing he was forced to stand his ground and fight. The Spinosaurus’ mouth was only a few feet away.
Fortunately, the theropod wasn’t very large, only coming around waist high. But it did have sharp looking teeth and claws that he knew could do a lot of damage to flesh. This was a fight he needed to win.
After taking a deep breath, he held the knife by his side and brought it back, and then charged—bringing the knife up and plunging it in the dinosaur’s chest.
It hissed again and bit down on the arm with the knife, shaking its head, and tearing flesh.
Coop screamed and instinctually struggled to pull himself away. His bicep ripping from his arm made a sickening sound, and he stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
As he rose to get away from the jaws of the Spinosaurus, something grabbed the back of his shirt collar. He watched his feet drag along the ground as he was pulled out the cave.
Coop was in the air now, hanging from the mouth of the Spinosaurus in front of the cave. He realized he still held onto the pouch of diamonds in his left hand. Pretty rocks that had cost Chief, Caveman, Ron, Don, and Suge their lives. They would cost him his life, too.
Coop felt gravity take control as the Spinosaurus dropped him to the ground. He hit hard, surely breaking bones.
The Spinosaurus lowered its wicked looking head and sniffed his body, and then placed a massive foot on his legs.
Great pain shot through him when the sharp teeth punctured his face and skull. For some reason he felt like he deserved this judgment. And as the final darkness overshadowed consciousness, he prayed for forgiveness.
Chapter 20
Ben’s phone rang. It was in his hand. He looked at the screen and turned to Matt. “It’s Meat’s phone. I thought Coop would be calling us back.”
Matt shrugged.
Ben answered, “Hey. Did Coop call you?”
“I think so,” Meat said.
“It’s Meat,” Ben said to Matt. “What do you mean, I think so?”
“It was Coop’s phone, but I didn’t talk to anyone. My phone rang and I answered. No one was there, and then I started hearing gunfire. Then an explosion and a dinosaur cry. I knew then something big was up. The Mule’s machine gun went into overdrive, and then I heard a loud crash before the phone went dead. I tried Bats, Suge, and Don. None of them answered.”
Ben shook his head. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Matt rose from his seat and stood in front of Ben, waiting for the bad news.
“Given the circumstances, I’m going to call the shots. We’re going to have to find our way out of here. We’re heading north. If I read the map on my phone correctly, we only have a couple of miles to go before the terrain starts to change. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find a way up. I want you guys to break down camp. Use the GPS tracking to get as close to our current location as you can. It’s best if we limit communication in order for me conserve battery. In fact, I’ll be turning my phone off until we find a way out and want you to come get us, or in six hours—whatever comes first. Sound like a plan?” Meat asked.
“As good as any,” Ben said. “We’re going to get busy breaking camp now. Tell Logan and Natasha we’re praying for them. You, too, big guy. Be careful. You aren’t going to get many second chances.”
“Tell me about it,” Meat said. “Signing off.”
Ben ended the call. He turned his gaze to Matt, frowned, and shook his head. “Meat got a call from Coop’s phone, but no one was on the other line. He heard weapons firing . . . and a dinosaur cry. That’s it. The call dropped, and he tried the other phones, but no one answered.”
“My God,” Matt said, and sat back down. “What does Meat want us to do?”
“He wants us to pull up stakes and get closer to his location. They’re going to find a way up. We’ll meet with them.”
“Well, I guess we don’t have many other options. I’ll get busy tearing down the canopy.”
“Sorry, I’m not going to be much help. Leave the lights and stuff—anything else that’s not essential. I’ll man the machine gun remotely and keep an eye out for you. We don’t need any more surprises,” Ben said.
*
“Okay, let’s take a quick inventory,” Meat said. He fumbled with his rifle and detached the pistol/lower receiver. After leaning the rifle against the cliff’s wall, he tried to unjam the gun.
Fortunately, all three of the survivors had maintained possession of their backpacks.
Logan saw that Natasha had her pistol in the holster, but his was missing. He had either dropped it while on the run or lost it in the water. “Let me have your gun,” he said to Natasha.
She had her backpack in her hand and let it fall to the ground. With no protest, she pulled the .45 from its holster and handed it to him.
“Let me have your extra mag, too.”
“I don’t know what good these guns can do,” she said.
“Ron was supposed to put extra ammo mags in all of your backpacks,” Meat said, and then gave up on his pistol and tossed it aside. He removed his sidearm and placed it in the gap left in the rifle. It made a metallic snap when shoved into place. After racking the slide, he said, “There, good as ne
w.”
“That’s a great design on that weapon. I wonder why other gun manufacturers haven’t thought about interchangeable pistols and rifles,” Logan said.
“Dunno. Probably some stupid international law treaty prevents it,” Meat said.
“How much ammo do you have?” Logan asked while he examined the contents of his backpack. He had MREs, a medical kit, water purification tablets, but no ammo. “All I have is what Natasha gave me.”
“I don’t have any extra mags in my pack,” Natasha said.
Meat had his bag open and shoved things around. “Nothing in my backpack except for two grenades.” He took them and clipped them on his belt. “I might have thirty or forty rounds in my rifle.”
“That’s not very much,” Natasha said, casting her gaze about, uncertainty gripping her expression.
“It’ll have to be enough,” Meat said. He rose and put the backpack over his shoulders. His red bandana was the only covering on his head—his cap a casualty of the jump.
“We’re just out in the open. I feel so exposed,” Logan said. The dry land between the river and the high walls of earth was only 10 to 15 feet wide. If something up ahead would make a charge for them, crossing the river would be the only escape. There was nothing immediately intimidating about the water. No raging currents or eddies to fear. No crocodiles sunning—waiting for something to eat, but what were the chances they could make it out of this unscathed?
“At least things are clear between here and that bend. According to the map, the terrain shifts just around it. That’s our chance. We can be there in less than an hour.”
“Okay, why don’t you lead the way, Meat? Natasha, I want you in front of me. I’ll keep an eye out behind us and on the river,” Logan said.
“What about above? We haven’t seen those giant pterosaurs yet, but we know they’re here,” Natasha said.
“Good thinking. We all need to keep that in mind,” Meat said. “Y’all ready? Let’s go.”
The three walked at a steady pace heading north. The shore was mostly clay and didn’t give much when stepped on, although, at times, did become a bit slippery.
For the better part of a half hour the three made the journey without speaking.
Logan was so focused on watching out for danger; he couldn’t afford any other thoughts to distract him. They weren’t that far away from making an escape. But even if safety were 10 feet away, one damn dinosaur could destroy all their hopes of survival.
“You know, Natasha, I’ve done a lot of reading in my downtime—a lot of thinking too—about what you said,” Meat kept his focus forward as he spoke.
“Yeah, about what?” she asked.
“Shiva, Brahma—destruction, creation. I found a few websites while surfing my satellite phone dealing with Hinduism. Not only that, but I found somewhere they used physics and cosmology to show how the two belief systems matched. At first I thought it was a bit of a stretch, but then as I learned more, I started to see the point.”
“There’re actually several books written on the subject linking mysticism and quantum physics,” Natasha said.
“Quantum physics, yeah. I’ve got to do a lot more reading before I can wrap my head around that. Anyway, I started thinking about life, about the universe—how it all began. I had read about Maya and thought about the big bang, and how the two could be the same thing,” Meat said.
This was a bit of a surprise. Logan had never suspected a mercenary sidelining as a tattoo artist to be concerned with the deep mysteries of life. He had figured Meat more of the type who believed in UFOs and Bigfoot. The man had more character than he’d given him credit. Natasha must have noticed it, because she had been more familiar with Meat than any other of the Redwater crew.
Meat continued, “So, Maya is a Hindu belief that means: the power that deludes. I got to thinking, if there is a God, then what was life like for Him before creation? I mean, there’s only God, and nothing else. This may sound stupid, but it sounds like a boring existence, although maybe it’s stupid to think God can get bored. But, for whatever reason, the universe exploded into existence one day. The universe could be God’s Maya. A delusion where God can escape being the all-knowing. He created the Earth and the Prakriti, which is kinda Hindu for nature. And God can hide in nature—become part of it, experience sensation unlike ever before. God can live in everything—germs, plants, animals, man. Everything.” Meat stopped and turned around, they were just about to reach the bend. “I guess everyone asks the question ‘Why are we here?’ at least once in their lifetime. That’s the best explanation I can come up with right now.”
“If . . . When we get out of here, we can talk some more about it,” Natasha said, and placed her hand on his left arm.
“I’d like that,” Meat said, his perpetual smile grew wider, and his eyes narrowed into little slits.
“The moment of truth has arrived,” Logan said, worried of what monsters lurked on the other side waiting to devour them.
The three shimmied against the cliff wall and eased forward.
Meat raised a hand for them to stop and peered around the corner. After a few moments, he turned around. “Okay. I can see a way out of here. The problem is, there’s a big mother of a Brontosaurus type dinosaur a couple of football fields from here. If we can get past it, the terrain inclines up at an angle and we should have no problem climbing out. Question is, what do we do?”
“We can hide here and wait for it to leave,” Natasha said.
“We could, but what else may show up before it does? The sauropod may be huge, but it’s a plant eater,” Logan said, and lowered the pistol he had been carrying in the ready position from the onset. “I don’t want to die, and I don’t want to suggest anything to convince either of you to take a risk you don’t want. I have this feeling that we need to keep going. Maybe if we move slowly enough we won’t attract any attention. If we’re going to vote, I vote we take our chances now. To be honest, the fucking suspense of ‘Are we going to live or die?’ is eating me up.”
“Military protocol says in a hostile environment with no chance of rescue, the right thing to do is keep moving,” Meat said. “Natasha, I vote we go, but if you say no, then I’ll let your vote rule.”
Natasha looked up at Meat, and then back to Logan.
Logan felt a bit slighted at the moment, but now wasn’t the time to argue. He slowly nodded his head.
“I guess we should keep going,” she finally said.
“Okay, stay close to the wall. If it’s not looking our way we can go faster,” Meat said. He pulled his canteen off his belt for a drink.
Logan and Natasha both did he same.
Meat gave the hand signal, and the three stepped around the bend.
*
The three had crept along the wall of earth without calling attention to the sauropod even once. The mighty beast had been content wading in the shallow water and munching on leaves in trees growing along the bank. Its rear side had faced them along the way, but they were about 30 yards away from coming up alongside of it. That damn dinosaur was as big as a medium sized two-story house. Logan was thankful it wasn’t a meat eater.
Movement on the opposite bank caught Logan’s gaze. He instantly froze at the sight. A group of Velociraptors had come to the river. “Guys,” Logan whispered.
Natasha and Meat stopped and turned.
Logan nodded in the direction of the predators.
They both looked and saw the impending danger.
“Don’t move,” Meat whispered.
Good advice, Logan thought. No sense in calling any unwanted attraction. The Velociraptors were more than likely here for a drink. Hopefully, they would soon be on their way.
The small theropods, not quite the size of an average man, Logan thought, were evil looking bastards. His mind kept shifting to the portrayal of Velociraptors in the Jurassic Park movies. While not as large, he was sure they could be as deadly to humans. Especially with this many. He counted twelve in
the flock.
The raptors stood by the edge of the water and drank, taking a mouthful of water and then throwing the head back to swallow, birdlike. Evolution had been kind to humanity. Logan couldn’t imagine what life would be like if dinosaurs hadn’t evolved into birds.
One raptor stopped drinking, put its nose in the air, and looked Logan’s way.
Shit, he thought. This couldn’t possibly be happening.
But it was.
The Velociraptor screeched out a cry and dove into the river. The others followed like ducklings after their mother.
“Run,” Meat cried, holding his rifle in front of him in both hands.
Logan saw heads speed across the river like torpedoes. How was it those damn things swam that fast? Up ahead, the Brachiosaurus passed an annoyed glance their way as they quickly approached. They would have to run past it before reaching the escape path.
Natasha slipped and fell face down.
Meat stopped, grabbed her hand, and helped lift her up.
The first raptor reached shallow water and headed for them.
Logan pointed his gun and fired two shots—missing the charging dinosaur.
Pap-pap, Meat’s rifle spat, hitting the raptor in the chest and dropping it in its tracks.
“We’re not going to make it!” Natasha cried.
Other raptors reached the shallow waters and sped their way. From the looks of things, Logan thought Natasha was right. They couldn’t outrun them; they’d have to stand and fight. They needed shelter—a point to defend. The Brachiosaurus! he thought. It was crazy, but what other chance did they have?
“Run by the Brachiosaurus,” Logan ordered.
“What?” Meat said.
“Let’s use it to hide by. Come on!” This was no time for debate. Logan ran past Natasha and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the sauropod.
Meat fired a few shots, and Logan saw another raptor fall.
Mercifully, the Brachiosaurus remained aloof of the situation. Was the thing that stupid or was it that they were too small for it to feel endangered? It didn’t matter.
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