Alex had put his face in the water, and splashed the cool liquid on the back of his head and neck. “Ahh…” he said as he pulled out. He wiped his hands over his face. “How’s it coming, John?”
Hearing Alex call Caveman by his given name was a bit of a surprise. Hell, Coop would have bet good money Alex didn’t remember Caveman’s name, John Jones. Perhaps the Professor had felt the sting of Caveman’s comment concerning Alex murdering Susan, and realized that if he wanted forgiveness, it would have to come from every member of the group, not just his wife. How else could Alex hope any of them would ever trust him again?
Caveman was on his knees with a mound of mud piling up next to a hole. The hole slowly filled with muddy looking water. “It’s gettin’ there.” He lifted his large frame off the ground and gingerly stepped over by the brook to wash his hands. “I sure do wish they’s would have brought me back from a time when my knees still worked like they should.”
“I don’t think it works that way,” Alex said. “The vortex brings us back from the timeline in the immediate area of Patagonia. That T-rex was born here. So even though it died as an adult, it could be brought back as a child. We could only come back from a time since we passed over the mountains, or else I think we would have come back as infants.”
“You gonna run your trap or you gonna drink?” Caveman asked.
“I’ll go first, if no one minds,” Alex said, waited, and received nods of approval. He dropped to one knee and formed a bowl with his hands and fingers. The water was still muddy. “Looks like a latte I order from Starbucks.” He submerged his hands into the mix and brought it up for a taste. “Hmm…it’s wet and a little crunchy, but I’ve tasted worse on some of my cryptid excursions.” He drank another handful and got up.
Caveman motioned for Coop to go next, so he did. The best thing about the water was that it was wet. The sediment suspended in the water had a bitter sort of taste. He wondered how long it would take for the puddle to settle and the water to clean up.
Fearing that drinking too much of the organic extras might upset his stomach, he stopped after feeling minimally hydrated, and would wait for the sediment to settle.
Caveman took his turn, lowered his face to the puddle, and sipped off the top of the water.
Alex looked toward Coop, who shrugged his shoulders back at him in response. Caveman was a really great guy—the kind of man who would give you the shirt off his back—and not just because he preferred it that way. But the man certainly had a primitiveness about him that put him in a unique lifestyle somewhere between human and animal. John told the story that once he was in a deer stand when the urge to take a dump hit him. His colon was always on the spastic side, and before he could make it down to the ground, he shat himself. Not having any fresh clothing to change into, he climbed up the ladder and returned to his hunt. When his buddy arrived on a four wheeler and picked him up, his buddy exclaimed Something smells like shit. John replied, That would be me. Coop thought the story told a lot about how John’s mind worked. The fact that John told the story was even more revealing.
From his peripheral, a small object drifted into Coop’s view, up from his side of the brook. A small bird-like dinosaur crept through the weeds heading straight for them.
“Caveman,” Coop whispered.
The man stopped slurping and turned his gaze up.
“Something’s coming. Come see,” Coop said.
Alex stepped by Coop’s side. The Geologist pointed, and said, “Over there.”
“It’s a chicken,” Caveman said.
Alex laughed. “That’s no chicken. That’s a Velociraptor, one of the most efficient hunters of its time.”
“It ain’t no bigger than a chicken. If they’s can call tuna chicken of the sea, then we can call that bird chicken of the woods,” Caveman said.
“It’s not a bird. It’s a feathered dinosaur,” Alex said.
“But that don’t look like the raptors we saw by that big river. This-un is too small,” John said.
“The others were a larger species. I do believe this guy here is young and will only grow as large as a turkey,” Alex said.
“It’s a brave little bastard,” Coop said.
“Or stupid. There’s three of us, and we’re a whole lot bigger,” Caveman said. “We’re gonna find out how good-a-eatin’ this thing is.”
Caveman moved toward the small dinosaur but tried to keep out of its line of sight. After he moved past it, he motioned to Coop, who knelt by the water, and splashed it with his hands.
Distracted, the Velociraptor tuned its attention toward the turmoil. John made a quick move with the club and crashed it down on the dinosaur. It eked out an anemic death cry. “Got ’im.” He reached down and picked it up by its clawed feet.
“Let me see it,” Alex said as John arrived.
The creature was just short of two feet in length. It had a brown feather-like body covering and three-clawed feet. Large, curved talons on the inside toes of each foot were deadly weapons. They held the toes off the ground like folded switchblades, which they would use to dig into prey and latch on until achieving victory.
“They’s ain’t much meat on this tweety-bird,” Caveman said.
Alex poked at the raptor’s talons while Caveman held it. He stopped suddenly and looked up the river. “You hear that?”
“What?” Caveman said.
“Listen…”
Coop heard a low roar of sorts emerging over the background noise. The sound became more distinct. He could only describe it as a series of hoarse bird-like caws.
As they focused toward the sounds, a Velociraptor appeared on the other side of the brook’s bank and crossed the water.
“Uh, oh. Our friend here has a brother,” Alex said.
“Good,” Caveman said. “Two eats better than one any day.”
The commotion was coming from more than one single raptor. “Guys, I think we need to leave.”
No sooner as he spoke than other siblings poured through the tall grass and headed across the shallow water.
“Let’s go!” Coop yelled, and headed toward the nearest thick of trees. Alex was on his heels, and Caveman churned his thick legs as fast as he could.
“We’re not going to make it,” Alex cried.
“Shut and run!” Coop said, and noticed that Alex started drifting behind. He looked and saw the Professor had turned, had now passed Caveman, and was running toward the Velociraptors.
“We can’t all outrun them. I’ll delay them, but you’ll have a chance,” Alex called.
Coop stopped and cried, “Alex!” but he realized the Professor had made a commitment he wouldn’t be turning back from.
Caveman arrived by Coop’s side, and before he turned to follow, he saw the first raptor step within the reach of Alex’s stick.
Alex held the stick with both hands and reared back his weapon like a hockey player about to smash the puck. He swung it forward and connected the crooked part of the stick under the raptor’s head—severing the head from the body.
There was no time for celebration as more than a dozen small menaces careened in for the attack. Alex managed to kill another before one jumped him from the backside—embedding its claws in his left thigh. He instinctually reached around and tried to pull the dinosaur off, and then was covered by the remaining horde.
Coop and Caveman weren’t far enough away to save them from hearing Alex’s dying screams. The poor man was being shredded one tiny mouthful at a time. The pain would be merciless until salvation by death.
“Oh, no,” Coop said. “Looks like the raptors have a mother, and she’s coming for us.”
“We’ll have to stand and fight it,” Caveman said.
“I’ve got an idea,” Coop said, both men keep running at the same pace and disappeared into the tree line.
***
The Velociraptor was noticeably larger than her offspring. Alex had said the adults grew to turkey size, which was large enough, but Coop had
a plan he hoped would work.
When the raptor came into view, Coop had positioned himself with his back against the trunk of a towering tree. He held his spear at the ready, waiting for the conflict to begin.
“Here it comes,” he said softly to Caveman.
The raptor quickened its pace, seeing its intended victim had given up flight. It made a series of hoarse noises and slowed before coming into proximity of Coop’s weapon.
Coop jutted his spear forward at the raptor’s head. The dinosaur bobbed and weaved like a boxer avoiding punches. Its level of frustration rose to the point that it tried to bite the spear.
“Now,” Coop said.
Caveman had hidden behind a tree just to the other side of the Velociraptor. While the dinosaur was distracted, he reached his chubby hand out and grabbed the neck. He then snatched the feet with his other hand, and quickly wrung the raptor’s neck—spinning it around and around until tossing it to the side. The dinosaur had no life left in it.
“John, you did it!” Coop said, and ran over to his buddy.
“Weren’t nothin’ but a thing. Hell, I wrung many-a chicken’s necks at my grandma’s. I used to set them on the ground afterward and watch them run around a bit.”
“I’m glad this one didn’t do like that—oh, you’re bleeding.”
“Claw got me a little. I’ll rub some dirt on it. I’ll be all right.”
“We need to keep moving away from the Velociraptors for a good mile and then head southward.”
“Yep. Too bad about Alex. I think he’s really sorry for what he did and wanted to make up for it somehow.”
“Yeah, he’s given us a chance to continue the quest,” Coop said. “All right, let’s—” Something wet dropped from above Caveman, hit him on the top of his head, and ran down his cheek.
“Is it rainin’?” Caveman said.
Coop lifted his gaze and saw a greenish looking theropod head poking through the thick foliage behind John. In the excitement of the battle with the Velociraptor, neither he nor John had heard the dinosaur’s approach.
The Majungasaurus lowered its large, thumb-shaped head. It opened it jaws showing rows of knife-like teeth. In an instant John’s head and the right part of his shoulder disappeared in the Majungasaurus’ mouth.
Caveman’s scream somehow strengthened Coop’s resolve. He didn’t feel the debilitating fear right now. His friend was attacked, and he was nothing but mad.
Coop used the only weapon available and ran with his puny spear toward the dinosaur, sticking the tip in the eye.
Blood and other liquids squirted out splashing Coop’s face and chest. The beast uttered a cry that shook the ground. The Majungasaurus threw its head aside—John hit the ground and rolled.
A quick glance told Coop his friend was dead. The dinosaur’s teeth had mashed half of John’s face in and nearly severed the right part of his chest from the rest of the body.
The Majungasaurus stomped through the foliage and lowered its head for an attack. Coop thrust the spear up and harmlessly hit its snout before the mighty jaws opened and jagged blades of death snapped shut over his head and upper body, covering him in a blanket of darkness.
Chapter 8
“Keep running! I think it's following us,” Meat cried. Natasha was in front of him, and he was determined not to let her out of his sight. Suge led the way, directing them which path to take.
The Quetzalcoatlus lumbered after the humans as they entered an expanse of trees. Occasionally it would squawk out its hungry rage, which only inspired its prey’s flight.
“We can outrun it. Keep going,” Meat said.
“What about the others?” Natasha called back. Her bronze skin glistened with sweat.
In a different situation the sight of a naked woman would have Meat unable to conceal his arousal. The thought dissipated as quickly as a drop of water on a hot griddle. Survival had a way of mastering all other thoughts. “We worry about us. Once we get away, we’ll try to find them.”
“Careful, the ground over here has some leaves that are slick,” Suge said.
Meat had seen Suge slide a couple of feet on one foot and was surprised he didn’t fall. “That’s not good,” he said loud enough for only him to hear. In Patagonia, obstacles were only par for the course. Right now, the humans had an advantage over a giant flying reptile, but escape always presented more opportunities for failure.
SKEER-AK!
The Quetzalcoatlus’ warning sounded closer—much closer. Meat gazed upward and saw the massive wings blocking out the sky as the giant reptile flew overhead. “It’s back in the air.”
“Is it leaving?” Natasha asked.
“I don’t…No, it’s not leaving. It’s circling. It’s probably going to land and come back after us.”
“We might be faster, but it can still take to the air and catch up with us.” Meat had slowed his pace upon arriving at the site with the slippery leaves. The leaves had a waxy coating that made them a hazard. Meat remembered taking his mother’s wax paper outside, tearing off a piece big enough for him to sit on, and positioned himself on his swing set’s slide. The slippery surface set his ass a good foot from the slide’s end and bruised his buttocks. The whipping he received later for taking the wax paper increased his discomfort exponentially.
The Quetzalcoatlus proved itself to be a crafty hunter when it landed directly in front of the direction they fled.
“Shit,” Suge said.
“Which way do we go? Do we head back?” Natasha asked.
“Can’t go back. You want to live, you always go forward. We just might have to take a slight detour first. I see a tree a ways over that might provide some shelter. Come on,” Suge said, and bounded off to the right.
The area from where they were to the tree was in more open space than Meat would have liked. He did see why Suge thought it might provide sanctuary. The tree, and a few others like it, stood out from among the other trees. These trees were taller—with fatter trunks. The roots grew up from the ground. It looked like someone had dug up a tree and then set it on top of the ground. The spaces between the roots were large enough for humans to hide in. The Quetzalcoatlus was shit-out-of-luck of getting in there.
Meat knew Suge could have run faster, but it was obvious the man had a concern for Natasha’s welfare too. The slight show of concern Suge gave Natasha when he put his arm around her as she cried by the volcano could have just as easily been an open display of affection. What was it about this girl that had Alex, Matt, Suge, and dare he confess, himself, hooked in some way?
“We’re almost there,” Suge call. He slowed, waited for Natasha to get even with him, and ran by her side.
SKEER-AK! The Quetzalcoatlus was back in the air and streaking right for them.
“Hurry!” Meat called out. The flap of the leathery wings made his feet lighter than air. He still held one of the two rocks he acquired as weapons back at the volcano, but there was nothing that hurling it at the reptile would accomplish other than pissing it further off.
The tree roots were nearly a foot wide and reached as high as eight feet in some places. Natasha had no problem slipping past the gnarly roots that hung down like stalactites in a cave.
“Move! Move! Move!” Suge called out to Meat.
He knew what that meant. The enemy was near, and one second of hesitation might be the difference in living and dying.
The pterosaur glided low and shifted its body, jutting the claws out for the ready.
Suge snaked his way into safety, and cried, “Hurry!”
Meat didn’t need the encouragement. Just as soon as he thought he was close enough, he dove to the ground with his arms stretched out like he was Superman. He felt the air of the claws snapping empty behind his back, and hit the ground sliding up to his waist, past large roots.
The Quetzalcoatlus had to pull up to avoid crashing into the tree. It hovered in the air a few feet from the ground, shrieked in frustration, and flew off.
Meat crawl
ed on his belly, and in no time had his whole body secured behind the wooden fence.
“You okay?” Suge asked from a few feet away. The roots formed a maze of sorts, and some were too close together to fit past.
“Yeah. It’s not the first time I’ve belly flopped to the ground. I might have skinned up my private parts a bit, but I’ll be okay,” Meat said. “Natasha? You made it all right?”
“Yeah. My feet are killing me, though, and all those bug bites itch. I need hot shower and a bowl of Rajma Chawal,” Natasha said.
“Ramja what?” Meat asked.
“Rajma Chawal,” is a red bean and rice dish. It’s one of my favorite comfort foods,” Natasha said.
Suge sighed. “Man, I could go for some red beans and rice. Put a big hunk of pork sausage on top next to hot corn bread with butter—oh.”
“What’s that noise?” Natasha asked.
“My stomach growling,” Meat said. “You people sure are stereotyping yourself.”
“What would you pick to eat right now?” Suge asked.
“Hmm, kalua pig with a side of spam and a fried egg on top.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” Suge said.
“So what now?” Natasha asked.
SKEER-AK! The Quetzalcoatlus landed several yards from the sanctuary. It brought its arms to the ground and folded the wing tips upward before walking toward them.
“He’s baa-ack,” Meat sang. “That thing reminds me of a toy I had. There was this glass bird with a felt head. The neck and body pivoted on its legs, so like it could lower its head. You’d put a glass of water in front of it and dip its beak in the water. There was this red liquid in its bottom that would work its way up the neck until the beak lowered back into the water. As long as the felt beak had water, it would keep going and going. I’m not sure how it worked.”
“It reminds me of an evil version of Big Bird,” Natasha said.
“Guys, we need to move—it’s coming straight for us, and that beak might be able to get past these roots,” Suge said.
Maneuvering around the roots was easy for Natasha, and more so for Suge than Meat. They tried moving to the other side—out of the reptile’s vision, but it only followed them around.
Lost World II: Savage Patagonia Page 9