Bo had spent most of the day on watch, refusing to catch a nap. The only time he spoke with Dan was around noon when he showed up for lunch and hardly said anything.
Whitney and Warren remained within eyesight, but it was clear the two didn’t want any company.
The dynamics of the whole situation was wrong. Dan’s frustration had him wanting to throw his hands up in the air and scream, Someone, please tell me what’s going on here!
Boots rapidly hitting the ground caught Dan’s ear. He spun around and saw Bo hightailing it toward the camp.
Blood rushed to Dan’s head, and an ice-cold tingle of fear ran up his spine. He snatched his rifle from the ground and hurried toward his son.
The two met within seconds. Bo’s panic-stricken eyes bulged. “They’re coming!” he said in a rapid, hushed voice.
“What’s coming?”
“Velociraptors! A bunch of them!”
A call that sounded like a cross between a bird and a crocodile warned that the dinosaurs were close and more than likely had picked up human scent.
“What are we going to do?” Bo asked, no longer the cool master hunter who knew how to do everything.
“We need to head back to the platform, but we can’t outrun them.”
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Whitney called out.
Turning, Dan saw Whitney and Warren standing tall and holding their guns. Apparently, they had heard the Velociraptors too.
“Velociraptors! We’ll have to kill a few—hopefully scare the others away,” Dan said. “We need cover.” He looked about. “The supply boxes!”
Dan rushed to the supply boxes with Bo following.
Whitney and Warren made it there first.
The two boxes were only about three feet high and three feet long each. Not adequate cover at all for four adults.
Bo first retrieved his H&H double rifle before joining the others.
A chorus of the bird-croc chirps rose even closer.
“Oh, my God!” Whitney said. “How many are out there?”
“Too many,” Bo said and spat.
“Everyone, ammo is low. Do not shoot unless you have a clear, unobstructed shot,” Dan said. “In fact, Whitney, Warren, don’t shoot unless told too. If we kill a few, they might scatter. We don’t need to waste ammo. We need to create a window to get us to the time platform.”
“There’s one…” Bo said, holding the XM500 with his elbow on a supply box.
BOOM!
Whitney and Warren both yelped and brought a hand over their left ears. No one had the time to think of ear protection.
Dan’s ears rang, but that was a small price to pay for a direct hit. The Velociraptor exploded in a burst of flesh and crimson.
Reptilian chirps ceased, bringing an odd quiet.
One dinosaur—one bullet? Was that all it took to scare the others away? Could they be so lucky?
A couple of minutes passed with no new interlopers. Dan felt so much better about the situation.
He looked over at Bo, who gave him a confident nod.
Before calling them to back out, Dan took one more look through his scope. Something poked from behind a tree. A brownish head with feathers on the top lined up in his crosshairs.
The cacophony of dino-chirps told them the Velociraptors were undeterred by their mighty thunder-weapons and losing one companion.
When the dinosaur stepped beyond the tree, exposing its chest, Dan fired, hitting the target.
Bo squeezed off another round—and then another.
Instead of retreating, the Velociraptors were going in for the kill!
Dan counted five in his immediate view charging forward.
“Whitney! Warren! Shoot, but don’t miss!” Dan hollered.
Guns blasted at random, and dinosaurs dropped at a comfortable distance.
“Drat! I only had one bullet,” Warren cried out. “I’ll get Janice’s rifle!” he said and bolted.
Killing two more, Dan took a second to assess the situation: Bo was out and reaching for his H&H. Whitney fired once, killing her target.
There were two more Velociraptors coming. It was almost a comical sight as the awkward bird-like dinosaurs strutted in attack.
“Whitney, take the one on the left,” Dan said, hearing the discharge of her rifle, and followed with a shot of his own.
“That was my last bullet,” Whitney said as Warren rushed to her side, holding Janice’s rifle.
“Mine too,” Dan said. The immediate danger over, he counted twelve dead Velociraptors on the ground.
“We need to get out of here!” Bo said, ready to run.
Three Velociraptors cried for vengeance directly from Dan’s side of the firing line.
Three dinosaurs—two bullets. The odds said they would lose.
Bo stepped behind Dan and raised his rifle.
“Put that down,” Dan said and shoved Bo backward.
Confused, Bo waited with his mouth open for orders.
Without saying a word, Dan opened a supply box, removed two flares, and peeled the paper strip from around one of the flare caps. Using the cap to strike the flare, he lit it.
“What are you doing?” Bo asked.
“Here, hold this,” Dan shoved the burning flare into Bo’s free hand and lit the other flare.
“Dad?”
“Listen, all of you,” Dan said as the three dinosaurs made a cautious approach. “I’ll delay them as long as I can. You three head back to the time platform.”
“No—”
“No time to argue, son. We’re in this predicament because of me.”
“No, it’s my fault,” Bo said, his voice quivering and eyes swollen with tears.
Snatching the flare from Bo, Dan said, “I love you, Bo. Be a man. Get these two back home safely.”
“Dad!” Bo yelled.
Dan sped toward the dinosaurs.
There was no other way. Buying his son time to get back to the machine was the only chance Bo had to make it home alive. That’s the only thing that mattered now. All the earlier questions and mass confusion meant nothing.
“Go!” Dan yelled and then turned and saw Bo doing as commanded.
The three Velociraptors stepped away from each other as Dan waved the burning flares in front of him. “Hey, look at me…I bet I look tasty.”
The Velociraptors weaved their heads like boxers, scared of the flares, but too mean and hungry to abandon the fight.
Dan lunged a flare toward one. The dinosaur jumped back and stumbled, jutting its head forward, and snapping at the air between them.
“You’re not so bad. Just a bunch of ugly chickens.” Chickens with flesh shredding foot claws and teeth that could cut like saws, Dan thought. It was easier to be a hero with the adrenaline rushing and the love and safety of his son overshadowing self-preservation; now, reality sank in. He would be in for the fight of his life, and he would lose. Dying didn’t bother him so much. But the thought of how he would die fueled building fear.
He constantly turned to avoid exposing his backside for any longer than he dared.
The Velociraptors tired of his defense, becoming increasingly agitated, and bolder in their attacks.
Dan’s arms tired, and he was a little slow when he took another poke at one Velociraptor. It bit the flare and pulled, jerking him to the ground.
Hitting face first, the sting of sharp talons embedded in his back. Dan tried to flip over, but another dinosaur attacked his arm. He tried shaking it off, but the Velociraptor was now part of him.
The pain was unbearable. Dan screamed uncontrollably. He struggled to his knees, and in a weak attempt to stand, was knocked on his back.
The two dinosaurs that held him let go; only to join the third in a savage frontal attack.
Claws slashed at his face and cut through fingers trying to defend. He felt his abdomen rip open, and his guts spill out. The agony burned like fire. He should have saved his last bullet for himself.
But there was n
o relief. No quarter from the relentless attack.
Pain blossomed like the plume of an atomic explosion and radiated into a burning supernova. It was as if every nerve in his body electrified.
But the human body wasn’t able to host such torment for long. Nerves short-circuited like overloaded wires, gradually bringing relief.
Then, his mind brought images of Bo when he was a child. So bright…a truly happy baby. Dan remembered how determined Bo was to ride a bike without training wheels and failing. But, Bo didn’t give up. He…always did his best to please his dad. No matter how many times the boy failed, he always tried to please his dad.
The last of the pain ebbed as the hold of gravity released the grip on Dan’s mortal soul. He looked at the blue sky high above. A sky that hadn’t changed in a hundred million years. A sky that wouldn’t change for a hundred million more.
Dan felt at peace with the Universe. And with peace, came restful sleep.
*
It’s my fault! It’s my fault! It’s my fault! Bo repeated in his head as he dashed through brush and avoided trees. Dad’s dead, and it’s my fault!
Things had gone so wrong. All the careful planning he’d done; the clandestine meetings—playing a double agent with the Wellingtons. He believed he thought of every detail, every angle. Killing Janice was supposed to be the perfect crime. Bo meant no harm to come to his father. He just wanted the old man out of the way so he could take over the company.
How was he going to live with himself? His dad stood no chance with those savage Velociraptors. How long could his Dad hold out? Getting eaten alive by those dinosaurs would be one of the most horrible of deaths.
Bo questioned why he let his dad sacrifice himself. He should have taken his dad’s place and died instead! It was his fault they didn’t leave yesterday on schedule. He was the one who bypassed security and reset the time platform’s departure date.
But who was he kidding? He wasn’t man enough to push his dad aside and take his place. In fact, when his dad ordered them to leave, Bo’s legs churned like they had a mind of their own.
He was a failure! A coward! Bo despised himself!
Whitney and Warren huffed as they chugged air; fear gave their feet wings. Sweat glistened off their tight, determined faces. Instinct had taken over. Rationality replaced by the emotion of flight to survive.
Bo no longer felt human. He was no better than another beast in the forest running for its life for a chance to live another day.
He wasn’t alone, though. There were two others in his care.
The last thing his dad had said to him was ‘to be a man.’ To be a man by getting Whitney and Warren back to their time.
His dad’s last wish.
Bo had one last chance not to fail his dad.
I can do this, he thought. They were almost to the platform and minutes away from departure.
The chance of redemption renewed his strength. “Keep going! Stay north! Won’t be long!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth, Whitney cried out and crashed to the ground behind him.
Bo turned and saw Warren reaching down with one hand to help her up while gripping Janice’s rifle in his other hand.
“It hurts! It hurts!” Whitney squealed a sharp cry as she grabbed hold of her right ankle.
“You have to get up, Whitney,” Warren said. “Take my hand and pull yourself up.”
With cautious effort, the ebony beauty put her weight on her left leg, and with Warren’s aid, slowly rose.
“Can you walk?” Bo asked.
Testing the right foot on the ground, Whitney said, “I think so…hurts like hell, though.”
“All we’re worried about right now is getting home,” Bo said. “You good to go?”
She nodded, took a step, grimaced, and then hobbled forward past him.
“Go as fast as you can,” Bo said. “We still have time. You got this.”
The three kept a steady pace for a few minutes and soon the time platform loomed a mere fifty yards away.
They were going to make it!
A deep breath of revitalizing fresh air filled Bo’s lungs. “The platform’s right up ahead!”
“Thank God,” Whitney said in relief. “I didn’t think I could make it.”
A bone-chilling cry erupted from a patch of trees a short distance to the west.
Turning his head, Bo saw a ten-foot tall Tyrannosaur skirt around the tree line with its nose in the air and beady eyes fixating on them. It let out three calls in rapid succession.
Bo’s jaw dropped as two more T. rex joined their companion.
This was it.
Game over.
There was no way he and the other two would make it to the platform.
Three dinosaurs—two bullets. The same odds his dad had.
‘Be a man,’ Bo remembered.
There was only one chance for Bo not to fail. He yelled, “Get to the platform! Make sure the three permissive switches on the console are pushed up!”
There was nothing more to say. Time wouldn’t allow.
Whitney and Warren sped toward the platform, without delay.
The three dinosaurs had cut the distance between them in half.
Bo reached deep inside and found the fortitude his dad always believed resided. With steady arms, he raised his rifle and lightly placed a finger on the trigger. His breathing controlled; he waited for the last, right moment.
This was the most terrifying moment in his life; seeing the young Tyrannosaurs rushing toward him. The dinosaurs were in a race to see who could finish first to claim the human prize. Though young, they looked as chilling and ferocious as a grown adult.
Three pairs of clawed feet pounded the earth. Short arms dangled underneath wide mouths with sharp teeth; thick saliva dripped and splattered out with each eager battle cry.
A herd from Hell—over twenty-five tons of bone-crunching flesh stampeded toward him.
“I love you, Dad,” Bo said and then took a shallow breath. He squeezed the trigger.
BOOM!
The lead dinosaur was dead before it realized it—the .600 Nitro Express found its heart and blew a hole in its chest big enough to hide a man’s fist. The T. rex wobbled like a bicycle with a bent wheel for a few steps before eating earth.
No bullets left, but Bo refused to run.
Grabbing the rifle by its barrel, he swung it over his shoulder and clubbed the first Tyrannosaur to reach him. The gun’s stock might as well hit a brick wall.
Bo smelled the T. rex’s putrid funk and felt wet spittle strike his face microseconds before powerful jaws chomped down on his neck and chest.
The dinosaur’s mouth closed, squeezing the breath and an uncontrollable death-cry from his lips. Blood spurted from his mouth, and his eyes felt like they would bulge from their sockets.
The T. rex shook its head and slung him to the ground.
Lying on his back, unable to breathe, Bo saw the blue sky and a lone cloud watching over him.
A sudden desire had him wanting to be on the other side of the cloud. Instantly, he was.
Hovering above, he saw his adversary feeding on his body. The other dinosaur was content to let his companion eat undisturbed and raced after Whitney and Warren.
Then, from above, Bo heard Dan call his name.
He looked up but only saw a bright shining light.
The light grew bigger and brighter.
Bo became one with the light.
*
“Hurry, one’s coming for us!” Warren yelled.
Whitney glanced back to see one Tyrannosaur eating Bo’s body, and the other charging toward them.
“I’m running as fast as I can,” she said. A thousand knives jabbed her ankle with each step. Whitney didn’t know how she could walk at all. There was no doubt in her mind that the ankle was broken.
“It’s not fast enough!” Warren said, panicked. “We’re not going to make it!”
“I’m trying! I’m trying!”<
br />
Warren shoved Janice’s rifle in Whitney’s hand. “Take this. You have to kill it. We can’t outrun it!”
“Wha—? Warren?”
“You’re the better shot. You must kill the dinosaur. It’s our only chance.”
Whitney took the rifle and stopped. She turned and looked at the T. rex. She had time to make the shot but didn’t know if the .375 caliber was large enough to stop the dinosaur.
“Hurry. You must kill it! One dinosaur—one bullet. You can do it!” Warren yelled as he sped toward the time platform.
“Warren! Don’t leave me!” Whitney cried, but he didn’t hesitate for one moment.
In one split second, the man who she thought loved her more than life itself, erased any feelings she once held for him. Warren Wellington loved himself more than anyone or anything else. He was willing to kill his wife for his happiness and jeopardize her life to give himself a chance to live.
The Universe had given Whitney one chance to survive.
She pushed away her fear, carefully aimed the rifle, held her breath, and squeezed the trigger.
BAM!
Warren Wellington screamed as the bullet ripped through the back of his knee—nearly severing the lower leg from his thigh.
Letting the rifle drop to the ground, Whitney gritted her teeth and made her best time toward the platform.
Warren wailed in pain and pitifully reached out a hand for her to take when she hobbled by.
Focused, not sparing the blink of an eye to deter her from reaching the platform as quickly as possible, Whitney soldiered on. One foot in front of the other. Grunts rattled out with each step. Ignore the pain. One foot in front of the other. Ignore the pain!
The T. rex took advantage of the weakest of the pack. Warren squirmed and flailed like wounded bait. A reptilian cry of joy proceeded Warren’s howls of protest and agony.
But Whitney didn’t look back. The platform was seconds away. All she had to do was reach it before the departure time. Warren was willing to trade her life for his. It was only fitting to reverse the roles.
Less than a minute before leaving, Whitney raised her injured foot and planted it on the platform.
As Bo instructed, she went to the control console and pushed up the three permissive start switches.
One Dinosaur One Bullet Page 7