“If this plan don’t work,” he said, “it won’t matter. We’ll all be dead.”
CHAPTER 67 - CODI’S PLAN
Bron studied the darkness. Snorts, growls, and roars seemed to taunt her. A heavy rhythmic thudding sound came from the end stable. Each of them felt like a cry of frustration, or even pain.
Bron stared along the two rows of stables. Each stable was fifty feet high. Each of the steel stable doors had a twelve inch high gap above the stone floor. Enough for a curious Rex to extend the tip of a snout or a claw.
Bron kept to the center of the aisle and nervously watched the gaps.
A ladder led to a narrow walkway suspended above the stables. At the top of the ladder, a metallic box flashed a sequence of tiny green lights. From the ground she felt her vertigo spontaneously grab her.
The ceiling created the illusion of slowly spinning and tilting off axis.
Or is it the ground sliding beneath my feet?
All she knew was the weight of pressure bearing down on the top of her head crushed her down into the hay and sawdust.
A glimmer of dying sunlight gave a last gasp of life and plunged down through a skylight. Tall shadows crept under the gaps in the stable doors. She pulled away her gaze and felt the room stop spinning.
She took a deep breath and felt the cloying stench of the stables. It invaded her body, her mind and soul like a virus. She felt it erupt across her skin in volcanic puss spewing blisters. A plague of fear devouring her. She forced it out of her lungs with a shudder.
“I feel like I’m breathing acid,” she said and coughed.
“Toxic dino-dung,” Codi said. “Shallow breaths, or it will burn your insides.”
She scratched her forearms. “How many do you think there are?” Bron asked.
“Maybe a hundred.”
She swallowed hard. “Enough for an army.”
“Our army.”
“So how we gonna do this?”
Codi reached out for the first stable door. He pushed at it.
“Are you nuts?” Bron hissed and pulled him away.
He shrugged her off. “Relax, it’s locked. We need to find a console that operates the central locking mechanism.”
“Let them loose all at once?”
Codi nodded. “How else can we create a diversion to free the others?”
“Are we sure we want to?”
“Are you with me or against me?”
“Look, think about this, Codi,” she said. “If the others are such great friends, how come we’re the ones risking our necks?”
“Fyre told me we’re of the chosen seven.”
“Fyre?”
“The Vanguard woman prisoner.”
“And you trust some bitch that gets locked up by her own people? She’s asking a kid to kill hundreds, if not thousands of people with this rampage idea. It will be a massacre, Codi. You want that on your conscience?”
“Sometimes the only choice is between two bad ones,” Codi said. “Fyre said it’s a righteous cause we’re fighting for.”
“Exactly!” Bron snorted. “It’s Fyre’s cause, not ours. Can you even explain what she’s fighting for, or are you under her spell like everyone else?”
“We’re wasting time,” Codi said and limped on into the darkness.
She watched him limp down the long dark aisle between the two rows of stables. Every instinct told her this was wrong. Using these creatures for slaughter made her feel nauseated. She sighed and followed.
“So we just let them loose to do their rampage thing, right?” Bron whispered. “So how do we make them go where we want them? Have you even thought about that? How do we know they won’t just come after us?”
“We find the lead bull,” Codi said. “Wherever the bull Rex goes, the others follow. Herd instinct.”
“How do you know this?”
“Glaw.”
“This is that dumb ass freak’s plan?”
“Glaw’s bad ass. He’s smart.”
“He sure is, Runt. He’s got you doing his dirty work.”
But Codi wasn’t listening. “We need an elevated position to spot the lead bull.”
“And then what? Invite it to dinner?”
The front gates of the stables opened. Bron heard Rhian and Rhonwen’s voices.
“This is the only place left,” said Rhian. “Turn on the lights.”
“No,” said Rhian. “I’m not waking the Rexes for anybody. Besides, my night-vision’s just fine.”
Bron swallowed hard. She touched a rung of the ladder. She shook her head. She looked up. Felt the ceiling begin to spin.
“I can’t do it,” she said in an agonizing whisper.
She felt Codi’s breath on her ear. “We got no choice.”
CHAPTER 68 - THE FALL
Codi scrambled up the ladder ahead of Bron. He wheezed from the effort. She refused to look up or down, and twice nearly mistook his ankles for the upper rung.
Damn, if the runt can do this, then to hell with this spinning room.
Pressing her face hard up against the ladder, as if some invisible force were tugging at her back, she forced herself to climb higher. The voices of the Vanguards grew louder. They seemed to be directly beneath her. She froze.
“They’re above us,” Rhian shouted.
Bron felt the Vanguards’ weight and movement vibrate through the metal ladder.
“Move your butt, Bron,” Codi hissed.
“I can’t.”
She felt a hand grip her wrist and tug at her.
“Help me help you,” Codi shouted. “One rung at a time.”
She felt engulfed with the shame of Codi helping her.
“Let go of me, Runt,” she said. “You want to make me lose my footing?”
His grip eased.
She forced herself on. As she reached the top of the ladder, Codi hauled her onto the walkway. She clung to the flat surface and pulled her knees up to her chest. Painfully aware just how low the railing was.
She peered over one side. A T.Rex, curled into a ball, opened one sleepy eye.
Bron held her breath.
Codi hammered at the box of blinking lights.
Bron heard shouts from below her. Someone seemed to be running up the ladder. She dared to glance behind her.
Rhonwen’s cruel smile appeared at the top of the ladder. He removed one hand from the top rung. He reached to his side and drew his Cat O’light tails. It ignited into flickering blue flames.
The green lights of the box flashed red. An alarm blared out. A crimson rain of light hammered the entire stables.
A volley of roars exploded up from the stables and into Bron’s body. She convulsed with the force.
“I opened the gates,” Codi shouted. “We got to find the bull Rex.”
He ran down the walkway. Bron jumped to her feet. She took a wobbly step. She reached out for the railing. She felt something bite deep into her ankle. She fell onto her face and felt the air in her lungs crushed out of her body.
She twisted around. Rhonwen’s Cat O’light tails held her by the ankles. He dragged her across the walkway. She squirmed violently and kicked out at Rhonwen.
He toppled backwards. As he fell he dragged her to the edge the walkway. Her flailing arms grabbed hold of the sizzling tails and felt the flames burn into her skin.
She bit through her bottom lip and tugged at the tails. Screaming out with pain she plucked the handle free from the Vanguard’s grip. She thrust it out into Rhonwen’s face.
The Vanguard fell over the railing and down into the stable of the waking T.Rex. Rhonwen’s scream cut through her like a knife. But it was the abrupt ending of the scream that stayed with her, as she scrambled to her feet.
Still clutching the handle of the Cat O’light tails, she stumbled across the walkway to where Codi stood. He caught her, but amongst toppled over the railing. He grabbed at the steel railing and steadied himself.
“You OK?” he shouted to be heard over the blari
ng alarm.
The searing burn of her hand brought tears to her eyes. But at least the pain subdued the spinning.
She nodded. “What now?”
Codi looked over the railings and whistled.
“Hey, Bullhead,” he shouted down into the pen. “Time to go introduce yourself to the ladies. What’s the problem, Stud?”
Bron glanced down into that same pen and at a T.Rex that seemed twice the size of the one that had almost crushed Codi in the arena. Its bloodshot eyes stared up at her and filled her with a mix of fear and fascination.
It thrashed its tail against the wall that supported the overhead walkway. The bull Rex’s jaws opened wide. It roared like a jet engine. The sound pummeled her eardrums to bursting point. She felt the oozing sensation of wax or maybe blood pour from her ears.
The floor of the walkway seemed to leap up at her. Bron stumbled back into Codi’s arms. They held each other steady.
The T.Rex headbutted the wall. The vibrations rocked the walkway. Bron and Codi clung to each other.
“The bull Rex?” she yelled.
Codi nodded.
“We need to do something fast. What now?”
Codi shrugged.
“Codi, tell me you got a plan.”
“I don’t get it. I did everything Glaw told me. Stable door’s unlocked. It should be sniffing around the female Rexes. Why’s it refusing to leave its pen?”
“Maybe it doesn’t like female Rexes. You and Glaw didn’t think of that did you, Codi?”
“A gay bull Rex?”
“Sure, why not?”
He shook his head. “These creatures are bred for three things. Eat. Crap. Procreate.”
“OK, Professor, why’s it so shy?”
“More like crazy.
For once she was in agreement with Codi. The T.Rex seemed to be maddened with rage at something and unable to satisfy itself.
The other Rexes broke through their unlocked doors. They were rampaging up and down the stables.
“If we don’t get control of them now,” Codi said, “it’s all over.”
Bron gripped the low railing and steadied herself. She felt unable to take her eyes off the bull T.Rex. It frantically scraped its jaw along the stable wall and groaned. Its gaze seemed full of rage and something else she couldn’t place.
“Its pen’s way too clean,” she said. “Theres no dung at all.”
She spotted a large untouched side of a raw, dead cow.
“And it’s off its food,” she said.
“It’s a total douche-bag,” Codi said. “Maybe it’s gone mad. Stir-crazy locked up like this. It was all for nothing.”
She forced herself to focus and ignore the spinning sensations. Squinting, she recognized the object protruding from its teeth.
“It’s in pain,” Bron said.
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s something stuck in its jaw.”
Codi knelt down and peered over the edge.
“Careful,” Bron cried and reached out for Codi.
“I see it,” Codi yelled. “It’s a piece of chinstrap broken off. So now what?”
Before she could answer, a shadow cast over Bron. She whipped around, only to face a speeding blur of a fist smashing into her face.
She fell back against Codi. Her brother’s scream cut her soul in half. She reached out, but it was too late. Codi plunged over the side of the railings and into the bull T.Rex’s pen.
CHAPTER 69 - TOOTH ACHE
“Codi,” screamed Bron. “Codi!”
Codi fell against the top of the T.Rex’s head. He rolled down its neck. The Rex turned its head and snapped its jaws at him. Codi slid down its back and hit the floor. The Rex lowered its head and took a step toward Codi as he frantically scrambled backwards until he could go no further. He had backed into a corner.
“Hold on Codi,” Bron shouted. “I’ll get you out of there.”
The back of her head felt on fire. Her head jerked back and she was lifted off the floor. She spun around to face Rhian.
“I’m gonna gut you for killing Rhonwen,” he said. “Real slow.”
Rhian dangled her over the edge of the walkway.
She knew she had no choice. She brought up her legs and hooked them around Rhian’s neck. Then she kicked out at his head and leaned back, forcing them both off the walkway and into the bull Rex pen. As they fell, Bron twisted her body and forced Rhian beneath her. He hit the ground with a sharp crack.
The Rex had Codi pinned with one foot. It pulled back its head as if it were about to headbutt Codi. She knew it would crush him with one swipe.
Rhian staggered to his feet, clutching the back of his head. He turned to the Rex. He reached for his Makhaira.
Its red flames ignited in the Rex’s eye. It shone with rage and fear. The creature turned its head at Rhian. It fully extended its jaws and charged at him.
Bron ducked low. She hurriedly crawled to Codi.
The Rex rammed its head into Rhian. His Makhaira clattered across the floor as the Rex bit down on him. Rhian’s muffled screams cut out as the jaws severed his head from his shoulders.
Bron reached Codi.
His entire body shook. He hadn’t noticed her. He stared at the Rex.
The Rex cried out and let Rhian’s head drop from its jaws. It bounced across the floor and stared up at her. The scream of terror fixed on Rhian’s death-face held Bron’s gaze. She felt her brother reach out and dig his fingernails deep into her hand.
The Rex turned to Bron and Codi. It fully extended its jaws and took a step forward.
She stared at its jaws and the steel loop broken off on its teeth. She knew what she had to do.
She sat up into a crouch. Codi dug his nails deeper into her. “Codi, trust me.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“I’m right here.”
The Rex closed its jaws as if preparing to butt them against Bron. It leaned in and sniffed at Bron and Codi. The skin over its teeth curled back into a sneer. Its jaws parted again.
She tentatively reached out
“No,” Codi hissed.
“I have to do this.”
A growl in the back of the Rex’s throat rolled up into its jaws.
She felt her fingertips brush the steel loop. Slowly she gripped it with both hands. Its unblinking eyes narrowed and focused on her.
She took a deep breath and yanked hard at the loop.
CHAPTER 70 - RAMPAGE
The Rex roared and tossed its head from side to side. Bron felt her body whipped around the pen like a rag doll. She held on and tugged harder.
The steel loop fell away and she tumbled across the pen and slammed into a wall. A Rex on the other side of the wall roared out and hammered itself against the pen wall.
Bron felt herself vomit down her chin. Her whole body felt rigid. Unmovable. She tried to move, but her arms and legs felt too weak. The adrenalin levels in her body seemed exhausted. She knew this was the end for them both.
She tried to turn her head to Codi. But her neck rigidly refused to comply.
“Codi, I’m sorry,” she cried out and felt tears sting her eyes. “I’m sorry for everything.”
His whimpering sobs cut through her senses.
A shadow engulfed her. She looked up into the Rex’s eyes. She swallowed hard.
“Do... do it,” she stuttered. “Do your worst.”
It opened its jaws. Breath like vile, rotten death punched her face and tore at her eyes. A slavering tongue coiled around her neck and across her nose. She felt her bowels loosen and form a warm pool, but she stared back in defiance.
Something seemed different in the creature’s eyes. Something missing. Tears washed the rage clean away. The fear in its eyes dissolved into something else. The pain evaporated away. The cruel intelligence resolved into curiosity.
The growl diminished into something akin to a loud purr. It snorted snot over her face that burned like acid. It gently nuzzled her cheek.
A thin, reedy voice whispered from the corner where Codi sat against the wall, “Bron, you bonded with it. It trusts you.”
She slowly reached out to its snout. She felt the scaly, damp skin. Her fingertips gently smoothed over a streak of soft feathers. It blinked.
She jolted.
It pulled its head away and looked at the door. Then it glanced back at her.
It lowered its body to the floor. It nudged her.
“Codi,” she whispered, “I think it wants us to climb up.”
“What are you waiting for? Don’t argue with it.”
Bron nodded. She shakily stood and moved to the side of the Rex. She reached up and grabbed at the feathery tuft along the Rex’s back and hauled herself up.
“Now what?” she asked Codi.
“Make sure it knows who’s boss,” Codi said.
She glanced down at a small console panel grafted to the crown of its head. It was the shape of a hand. She wiped a finger across the panel to the right. The Rex turned right. She swiped a finger to the left. The Rex turned left.
She swiped forward and the Rex headbutted the door of the pen. It swung open and the Rex stepped out into the corridor between all the pens.
“So far so good,” she said and stroked the Rex’s neck.
The Rex lumbered along the corridor, passing by the pens. It nuzzled each of the doors as they swung open and another Rex stepped out of each one and into the corridor. Bron glanced behind her.
Codi followed. The other Rex’s sniffed at him and roared. Bron’s Rex turned and snapped at the other Rexes. They backed away.
“They know who’s in charge,” Bron said. “Now what?”
“See if you can bring up a map of the arena,” Codi said. “Find a tunnel to the audience.”
Bron searched the Rex’s console and brought up a holographic map. She tapped on the location. The Rex turned in a one eighty and headed in the opposite direction. The other Rexes followed. She counted fifty of the creatures and felt a cold shiver up and down her spine.
“You better climb up before the others see you as a lunch,” she said and reached out. “Hurry.”
She found the kneel command on the console and tapped it. The Rex slowed and stooped.
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