Dinosaur: 65 Million: Book 2 Change Them, Survive Them

by catt dahman

  “Go on and work for them. We need these things; you go on,” Sam said to the woman and boy.

  Without a word, Imogene and Isaac walked over and stood next to Trevor.

  “Do they have things to pack and bring with them?” Mike asked. He was developing a strong dislike for Sam and the rest as they watched.

  “They have what they came with and what they’ve earned,” Sam said.

  “We’ll go now. We wish you good luck and peace,” Trevor said. The group made him nervous, and he thought Sam was unusually cruel and selfish, but the idea was to take the woman and child away from such a life anyway.

  “Come back and trade again if you wish. God speed,” Sam said.

  They left, keeping watch behind them.

  “I keep expecting a bullet in my back,” Bray said.

  “Well, as long as we’re in range, keep expecting it. Bastards may try something,” Trevor said.

  As soon as they could, they ducked into a higher area that was rocky and protected. They climbed up with the use of cam devices to make it easier. Once they were up on higher ground, they made a fireless camp and set up watch. Shimei cleaned the wounds on Imogene’s legs, apologizing for the sting of the antiseptic as he wiped her skin clean of dried blood. She had scratches as if from briars or brush.

  He finished with salve and a bandage. The entire time he worked, the woman didn’t utter a word, only watched. He told her, “It stings, but that will help. At least the scratches are clean, and they aren’t deep.”

  Imogene watched as Shimei went to Isaac.

  As Shimei checked the child, he frowned and said, “He’s running a fever.”

  Imogen spoke, “His arm.”

  Shimei lifted the boy’s sleeve to find a discolored area as large as his hand. It was purple and wept yellowish infection from the center where two small holes were swollen. Below the injury, the boy’s hand was grey. Shimei again apologized as he drained the wound, applied medication, and bandaged the arm, making a sling. “A spider, was it?”

  “A big one,” Isaac said.

  “What color was it?”

  “Brown. He was bad. He bit me.”

  “Did you mush him?” Shimei asked.

  “Yep. Yuk.”

  “Why did they trade you, Imogene?” Trevor asked.

  “They hate me. I’m a slave to them.”

  “We noticed,” Trevor said, “Why?”

  “I was Sam’s wife. Six years ago, the two strangers appeared, two men, and they wanted more food than they worked for. They all argued and cursed. They would have been sent away, but one…he took me, held a knife to my throat, and had his way. The second one did the same. Many times. In the barn.”

  Mali cringed, remembering her experience, “I am so sorry.”

  Imogene sighed, “I told. As soon as I could, I ran to the house and told Sam and the rest. It was a nightmare, but Sam went real quiet and started to frown, didn’t care my dress was ripped and I was crying.”

  “He didn’t strike me as a caring type,” Trevor said.

  “No, he sure ain’t caring. I was angry and wanted them punished, but Sam and the rest kind of chuckled and said I enjoyed them. He back-slapped me and popped my lip open.”

  “Unreal,” Mali said.

  “Maybe I did cause it myself, and maybe I liked it some. I don’t know now because it was a long time ago, and we had lived hard and rough. Though I never went hungry, I often did get hit, and maybe I did kind of wish they’d take me with them. Maybe, I made that up.”

  “Sometimes we confuse dreams and fear with reality. I think it’s normal for you not to be sure after all that and all this time,” Mali told Imogene.

  “Maybe I don’t remember all of it because Sam beat me almost to death that night. My kidneys were so busted I peed blood for a week, and my head ached for a month.”

  Mali patted Imogene.

  “I don’t know how I felt, but I was angry afterwards and Sam, he was furious. I was mad at Sam and the others who didn’t care and at those two men. They used me and then didn’t even take me away, so I got beaten. I think they laughed when I asked them, but maybe I made that up as well. After Sam thought about it a little bit, they ran out to the barn and caught the men. They nailed the men upside down to the posts and cut them with knives, and they died after a time.”

  “It’s okay,” Trevor offered her water.

  She sipped, “Sam said I was ruined, and he beat me until I wished I was dead. After that, I was a slave, like a few others, and then I found I was…I had Isaac, and maybe he is from those men or from Sam, but I don’t know. Sam wouldn’t claim him anyway. They don’t beat Isaac much, but they don’t treat us very good either.”

  “I can’t believe they traded you,” Bray muttered.

  “I’m your slave now. So is Isaac if he survives the bite.” She looked worried, the first emotion she had shown.

  “He’ll be okay. We’ll get that bite cleaned and medicated and maybe give him some antibiotics,” Shimei said.

  “And, you are free, like any human is. We don’t have slaves,” Wodanaz said, “That’s a sick, disgusting thing to have slaves.”

  “He didn’t mean it. The trade. He’ll double cross you,” Imogene said. “He isn’t finished seeing me work my fingers to the bone yet for what happened six years ago.”

  “They’ll come after us?” Trevor asked, “I thought they might.”

  “I could see it in his eyes,” Imogene said.

  Trevor glared, “I really wish we had the manpower to take them out anyway.”

  Wodanaz grinned, “Larry, stay. Give me a few hours; I’ll be back; hang on.” He slipped down the rocks, leaping carefully until he vanished into the trees. The rest had nothing to do but wait and hope that their friend would be okay. Trevor raised his eyebrows, but the rest shrugged, wondering what Wodanaz had in mind, but he was a survivor, smart and deadly when crossed.

  “What is he doing?” Imogene asked.

  Trevor sighed, “I would guess he is extracting revenge for you if I know him.”

  He went quiet as Isaac giggled and lay next to Larry, his head on Larry’s back. In a few minutes, the child’s face went slack as he slept, a thumb in his mouth.

  “I’ve never seen him happy,” Imogene said. “A wolf. There is magic around you.”

  “Nah. We just like animals. Wait until you see the rest of the crew: cats, kitten, puppies, and small lizards. It’s crazy where we live, but there’s no slavery or beating people.”

  They stayed hidden and watched. To the side of the trail they saw movement but couldn’t determine what they saw. Larry glanced up, seemed to frown, then looked at the rest with a wink, and fell back asleep next to Isaac. Thirty minutes after that, Wodanaz reappeared quietly, holding a finger to his lips and ducking down, warning Imogene and Isaac to stay down and not to look, no matter what they heard.

  In less than an hour, Sam and a group of four men and a woman came sneaking along the trail, hoping to find the other group eating or resting, and tracking them carefully. Luckily, Wodanaz and Trevor and their group were far cleverer, and they had positioned themselves higher and were well hidden.

  Deinonychus grew to about twelve feet long, were shorter than humans, had a bigger head than a velociraptors, a bite forced equal to a hyena, and were quick, pack animals. They hunted together in deadly ways. Drawn to the pair of wounded, yelping heterdontosaurs that Wodanaz left near the side of the trail, they stopped their feeding frenzy as they heard the steps of the six people tracking the other group.

  Like birds, they paused and spun in unison; half went to either side, leaving one to directly confront the new prey.

  “Damned turkey-lizards,” Sam said, aiming his gun and firing. He hated them and in his years had killed quite a few. The animals stole from his traps, and sometimes attacked in groups of three.

  The rest cursed the animal, wishing only to find the other group and take back the trades items, including Imogene and Isaac, and they focuse
d on the attacker that they brought down with a barrage of bullets, hating that they were giving away their position.

  From either side, several deinonychus ran at the group, hissing and screeching. Their back legs each had a sickled claw that could raise and lower, and they kept their weapons raised until they hit full force. They ran with the claw up in the air, and as they hit their prey, they lowered the claw and raked as they jumped; the sharp blade ripped into one of the men, opening his stomach. Guts fell out onto the ground.

  Another creature bit at the female as she fell, clawing her legs open so the ground ran bright red with blood. He nipped and snapped a while before using his claw to cut her throat and bleed her out.

  One of the men rolled on the ground with a velociraptor wrapped in his arms as it scratched the man’s face and then burrowed into his soft belly. A second animal leaped into the fray onto the man’s back and dug in as well. The man screamed and went rigid as he was disemboweled and then killed.

  The rest ripped open the other three people, despite being shot at and bludgeoned. Their surprise attack worked, and they had that on their side as well as more in number and the scent of blood feeding their frenzy. Several deinonychus lay dead, and all the humans were slaughtered on the trail.

  The remaining deinonychus fed until satiated and then lumbered away, leaving the rest of the meat to smaller scavengers that appeared in scores to eat. The little ones nipped and tittered, fully irritating the deinonychus.

  When there was a lull, Trevor led his group away, circling around the attack site. He praised Wodanaz, “Brilliant. They would have hurt or killed a few of us. That was low of them. I don’t know what causes people to be so evil when they could have gotten along. We shouldn’t be enemies.”

  “They chose us to be. Trev, we can’t assume just because we all chose to stay out here that we’re all good folks,” Mike said.

  “They’re very bad. This kind of thing: trading and then taking back and killing. They do that. There are many people who have come around, and then Sam tricked them, hunted them down, and then he…well…meat was meat to him.”

  “You have to be joking? With all the food you have growing?”

  Imogene shrugged, “He’s evil. He preyed on people and back stabbed them.”

  “What do you want now? Imogene, you are free and can make choices now,” Trevor said.

  Imogene thought, “Isaac is sick. I feel he is passing. I’d rather it be there in what once was my home. The ones left can take over. I do have things there I want to get, no matter what.”

  “We’ll go get your things, by force if we must.”

  They trudged back to the farm, shocking the few who were there, mostly women and young children, a few older men, and some men and women Imogene’s age. They looked afraid and surprised Sam didn’t return. There was also a slight sense of relief. How much worse could the strangers with Imogene be than Sam and his friends had been?

  “Sam and the rest of his bullies are dead, eaten alive for their evil ways. Imogene has been sorely mistreated, maybe by some of you. Do you know who I am?” Wodanaz asked, unsure what he was going to say but needing to leave them with some fear. “I am Wodanaz. Wodan. I am the god of war and victory….

  Phol (Balder) and Wodan were riding in the forest,

  Balder's foal dislocated its foot,

  Sinhtgunt, sister of Sunna (Sol), tried to cure it by magic.

  Frige, sister of Fulla, tried to cure it by magic.

  it was charmed by Wodan, like he well could:

  be it bonesprain, be it bloodsprain,

  be it limbsprain, bone to bones,

  blood to blood, limb to limbs,

  like they are glued!”

  Imogene showed them her bandage and the wrappings on Isaac.” He used

  magic on me and my son.” She thought this was the way to go and was, in fact, a little mesmerized by the man who tricked the plant eaters, velociratpors, and Sam.

  “You see my wolf dog? Larry, sit. Larry, guard,” the dog jumped up before the people and growled, letting foam froth as he barked, howled, and snapped. “At ease, Larry.”

  “See?” Imogene said. She petted Larry, and he allowed it.

  Wodan pulled his eye patch away for a second and looked at each with the eye-less cavity and rubbed his scars, “Do you see? I fought the lupine and lived, and now the young wolves serve me.”

  “He has the knowledge?” a boy asked.

  “I was left speared to a tree, my own spear, as my sacrifice for nine days and nice nights, and I learned the eighteen songs and magical runes. Your friends were a sacrifice to me, but there were but six. I demanded nine,” Woden said.

  “Eric wanted to go; he wanted to kill you and get the corn back.” a man said, pointing at a man who backed away.

  “He often beat me and used me many time afterwards when I was deemed unclean. I lost a child once from his attempts,” Imogene spat.

  “Tie him.” Trevor demanded. “Who else harmed you, Imogene?”

  Imogene wasn’t cruel; she was honest, and she pointed, “That woman. Sam’s new wife, pure as snow, ha, ha. She kicked me, and after one kick, I lost a child. Her name is Patricia.”

  The woman, Patricia screamed and cursed at Imogene, threatening her, “Sam will kill you,” She said, “You bitch. You are a slave.”

  Wodan raised his arms, “Sam is gone. He was my sacrifice.” He was into his new role now.

  Imogene pointed one last time, “That old man tried to use me but shot his baby-snot down my leg because he couldn’t wait one second. Then he beat and kicked me, and he’s the one who threw the spider at poor Isaac.”

  “A snake came crawling, it bit a man.

  Then Woden took nine glory-twigs,

  Smote the serpent so that it flew into nine parts.

  The apple brought this pass against poison,

  That she nevermore would enter her house,” Woden said,

  “What do we do with these three evil ones?” a man asked.

  “Hang them; I am the god of wolves, justice, the dead, and the hanged man, and I have come to take care of that now”

  “We hunger. Make us good food, and gods don’t eat the meat of men. Any who eat man will perish in flames,” Shimei said; he wanted in on this.

  They sat with Imogene while food was cooked and brought and while the three last of the evildoers were hanged. As it so happened, the others brought skins of the whiskey that was made with a moonshine mixed with apple juice, honey, berry juice, and pear juice, making it was tasty. Wodanaz, in character, petted Larry and ask him to stand guard so that everyone believed the man to be a god as he and the rest drank the moonshine and ate of the delicious roasted corn, corncakes, and a chili, that was from a plant eater and set into bowls of corn tortillas with peppers, tomatoes, jalapenos, and beans. They ate and filled themselves happily at the party that Woden made.

  It started as some wild idea but became real as they played roles.

  In a room, Imogene showed Woden a beauty pageant crown with a few stones missing and said he needed it, but he was drunk and turned and set it on Imogene’s head, declaring he would return in nine months to see that they were living by his orders to be peaceful and that to treat the women with respect.

  Trevor laughed, leaning on Bray, drunk as he could be.

  Shimei had tried before to court Mali.

  Jack told him her experience and how she had been raped when Shimei asked about her; her exotic looks were beautiful, but he thought about her, and he saw through her tough-girl persona. Mali was a vicious fighter and relentless in battle, with the stamina of a horse, but she was also lovely.

  Shimei had found pretty shells and crystals and amethysts that he formed into earrings, rings, necklaces, ankle bracelets, and necklaces weeks before. He used a hide, meticulously removing every hair, tanning it, working it until it was butter-soft, bleaching it and softening it again, and then carefully, with berries, dying it a pale lilac. Wordlessly, he gave it to her
one day; she had seen him working endless hours on the projects.

  For a few days, she had thought about things.

  One day, she dressed in the soft dress, looking feminine for once, put on the semi-precious jewels and draped herself in the white rabbit fur cloak that he also made for her. It had deep pockets. White lace up boots were the last part, and the other women ooohed and ahhhed over her, and she allowed everyone to see her as she worked in the beautiful skins.

  She shyly thanked him, “Hey, thanks, Shi.”

  She was wearing the lilac skins now, but not the jewelry out on a hunt.

  Holding hands was a big step for her. Loose with drink, she held Shimei’s hand. In time after a lot of the drink, Shimei said he was exhausted and needed sleep; as he went to bed, Mali joined Shimei. He smiled, not quite as exhausted as he thought a few minutes before.

  Woden securely set the crown on Imogene’s head and made sure all saw it and dropped their eyes before her, “She is now the leader; she is Mother and will be called Nanna.”

  Newly crowned and also tipsy, she danced, and all bowed before her while she compassionately forgave them for her past treatment. She showed small smiles and had Woden dance with her. People whispered that the wolf dog and Woden must have turned in to lupines and slaughtered Sam and the other evil people; they believed he was a shape shifter. No one corrected them, and if they saw the mess of bones left behind, they would think wolves had killed the humans and dinosaurs.

  Nanna, who had been Imogene, wrapped her arms around Woden, her eyes partly closed and lips parted, and rubbed against him as they danced. When she smiled and was relaxed, she was a lovely woman. When she finally gained weight back, she would be beautiful. Her lips were on his neck, trailed his jaw, and then they were kissing passionately as people cheered.

  Bray dared to kiss one of the young boys who flirted with him, and Mike glared angrily, getting drunkenly furious, “Really? Some stranger? Not me though.” He sulked.