Lost World II: Savage Patagonia

by Dane Hatchell

  Chapter 13

  Patagonian nights made Coop feel like he was trapped in a cave. The cloud layer was so thick it filtered out all star and moon light. Surprisingly, he felt claustrophobic as he looked up into the open sky—as if a heavy hand weighed on his chest. He had felt more comfortable sleeping inside the Warthog in the beginning of the trip. Modern comforts had altered opinions which redefined freedom.

  The pit in his stomach was from the result of losing two good men earlier, and the fear of who they might lose next. At least there was a chance for some of them to escape. Coop had forced himself to eat his MRE knowing that he would be a liability to himself and others if he didn’t have the energy to keep thinking straight.

  They had found a u-shaped indention in the rock formation. Chief had the Mule backed into position, so they were somewhat protected from the rear and sides.

  Meat was in the passenger side of the vehicle, with the door open. He had his gaze glued to the thermal camera and hands ready to operate the fifty. The Mule’s nuclear engine made little noise and provided him with cool air as he sat first watch.

  The theropod they had killed turned out to be a Carnotaurus. Alex had pointed out some unique features of the dinosaur. It had a big roundish looking head on a thick neck. Horns jutted out right above its eyes. Whereas Coop had thought a T-rex’s arms were short, they were NBA basketball players’ length compared to the Carnotaurus. It had stood well over ten feet and was around twenty-five feet long. This dinosaur had scales and slick skin, showing no sign of feathers. As with any large theropod, it had massive jaws with teeth that looked like 20 penny sized cut-nails used to fasten wood flooring.

  Caveman had a small fire going and roasted select parts of the animal. The meat cooking over wood smelled heavenly, but Coop had no desire to try any.

  “Anybody want some?” Caveman asked, holding a strip of meat he had just carved from a tenderloin turning on a spit above the fire.

  “Over here,” Suge said. He caught the piece of meat Caveman had tossed his way. “Tastes pretty good,” he said after taking a bite. “Needs some barbeque sauce—Sweet Baby Ray’s.”

  “Anybody else?” Caveman asked after cutting off a piece and eating it. “Alex, you want to try a bite.”

  The Professor looked like he was about to let loose and caught himself. After a few moments of obvious internal conflict, he said, “Sure, why not.”

  Alex took the piece handed to him and brought it up to his nose. After an approving sniff, he nibbled on some. “Say, you know, this…this is actually good.”

  “I’m gonna make a hunter out of you yet,” Caveman said, and hacked up his signature giggle.

  That was a kind gesture for Alex to make, Coop thought. The earlier conflicts Alex and Caveman had over the dinosaur eggs early in the trip had put the two men at odds. If nothing else, Alex was still trying to make amends for his previous sins. So far though, time and lack of opportunity had kept Alex away from both Susan and Natasha.

  “Hey, save me some,” Meat said. “A big man’s got room for more than one MRE can fill.”

  Chief and Susan had made a spot off to the side together. No one had sleeping bags, but at least the backpacks could be used for pillows.

  Bats was off to the side keeping to himself. He had finished eating and was busy at his favorite pastime—sharpening his knife with a ceramic rod. There was a complex individual hiding within Bats’ stone-like façade, Coop thought. Bats was crazy like a fox crazy; not an insane person who found killing as necessary as eating. Killing was a distraction from facing whatever demon he harbored inside. Killing gave him focus, then reward, then focus again—forever giving distraction from the real problem. Coop decided right then if they both made it out, he would try and spend some time with Bats and see if he could get the man to open up.

  Gerald and Will made small talk with Suge and Natasha. Coop thought Gerald’s lecherous stare toward Susan wouldn’t go unnoticed and considered giving his old acquaintance a little advice before Chief bloodied his nose.

  The fire crackled as Carnotaurus juices dripped on the glowing embers. When Coop looked at the burning wood, it transported him to different times in his life where he’d stare at the camp’s fire. No matter where you were, when you watched a fire you were always there. The locations might as well have been all the same. The Congo in Africa, the jungles of Vietnam, the backyard of his parents’ house. Watching a fire had the power to segregate him from the rest of the universe. He was alone within himself. Problems were outside of his walls. Right now he wished he could blink and find himself anywhere but here.

  “Coop, you’re not looking so good,” Alex said.

  Breaking from his reverie, Coop said, “Maybe not, but I look a lot better than Ron and Don right now.” He realized he and Alex were out of earshot from the rest.

  Alex dropped his gaze to the ground for a moment. “I figured losing two men had upset you. Coop, it wasn’t your fault. You know that.”

  Yes, he did know it wasn’t his fault. It didn’t matter. He was in charge of this operation and was responsible to bring everyone back. Of course, he had failed miserably the first time around. And given this third chance, he had hoped to succeed. “You know, Alex, I faced a lot of adversity over the years. I could make hard, fast decision when pushed, and I had no problems living with the consequences. But something’s happened to that man with the nerves of steel. I can feel it—in my inner core. I…” a sudden wave of emotion had him choking on his words. “I can’t believe I’m even telling you this. It’s not like me.”

  “We’ve been through a lot. You especially—carrying the weight of the expedition on your shoulders.”

  “It’s not all on me. I have lots of help. I’m just getting…weak. Maybe I should put Chief in total control and just go along for the ride,” the words poured out of him. He didn’t recognize the man speaking.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. People seeing you letting up a notch will plant a seed of uncertainty. We don’t need any signs of weakness right now—if we can help it. You just need some rest. We’re all tired—physically and emotionally. When tomorrow comes you’ll have sounder perspective.”

  The Professor was over ten years his junior, and right now, sounded like his father giving him advice. He was tired—more so emotionally. In fact, he had never felt this way before in his life. “That’s a good call, Alex. Thanks…I didn’t mean to drop this on you. I didn’t realize I felt this way until you came over to talk. I guess it was hiding inside looking for a door to exit.”

  “I volunteered to take next watch, but Meat pointed out I needed to learn how to use the remote on the fifty first. I offered to keep the next watch company, and Meat said he didn’t think Bats would think too highly of that,” Alex said.

  “You know, we might be better off if we start letting people tell us how they feel, rather than letting others do it for them—to be fair to the person. When Bats starts his shift, ask him. You might be surprised with his answer. We all might be surprised with his answer.”

  ***

  Despite Coop’s request to take last shift in the Mule, Caveman stopped Chief from waking Coop, and took his place. When Coop learned this, he realized his breakdown of sorts the night before wasn’t a secret shared only between him and Alex. He doubted the Professor betrayed his confidence by telling others. Humans are creatures of the animal kingdom. Animals possess a certain ability to sense weakness. Caveman-John Jones was the most primitive man he had ever met. In fact, John had once said someone told him that humans contained a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA. After John heard that, he claimed to be the missing link between humans and Neanderthals, figuring his genetic ancestry had avoided major dilution of the weaker Homo Sapien species.

  When Coop rose from bare earth under the orange-yellow glow illuminating the clouds in the east, every bone in his spine cried out in pain. As miserable as he felt, sleep had taken him down like a drug from the time his head hit the backpack pil
low. He slept hard, so hard he didn’t remember waking one time during the night. His dreams though had been unsettling. Coop found himself with a pile of metal parts on a table and an instruction manual. He opened the manual and began to read; the words were English, but he couldn’t make sense of the instructions. Whole sentences seemed to be placed randomly fitting no logical pattern. Abandoning the manual, he spent the rest of the dream futilely trying to piece together the metal parts in hope to solve the mystery.

  After stepping away to relieve himself, Coop saw that everyone was having breakfast and was dressed and packed to go. He guessed they were eager to get out of there, which was ironic in a way—knowing that they were about to put their lives on the line. But that was how life was. Fate deals the cards, and people play them to the best of their ability. Death was a possible outcome of any scenario. Might as well speed forward and face defeat or success.

  “Did Waterman call?” Coop asked Chief as he stopped by his backpack and retrieved an MRE.

  “No, we should touch bases with him before we leave. If there’s been a major delay we might want to rethink leaving here,” Chief said, and then finished his last bite of sausage. “This place,” he swallowed and wiped his hand on the ground, “is well protected. We could hold our own here if we wanted to.”

  “True. What I’m afraid of is that dinosaur carcass over there is going to start stinking and attract scavengers. If we have to fight them off, we’ll have less ammo for the rest of the trip. You know what to expect by the river.” Coop opened his MRE and prepared his chili mac for heating, pouring the salt water from the packet into the plastic sleeve to start the chemical reaction.

  “While my food is warming, I’ll call.” He fished his phone from the backpack, and made the call, making sure the speaker was on for everyone to hear.

  “Hello, Mr. Cooper,” Waterman answered.

  “Hi. I’m pleased to report we had a good night. How’s the roadwork coming along?” Coop asked.

  “Better than expected. The operators are clearing the path in record time.”

  “Damn, I didn’t expect that.”

  “Lear said he’d pay the operators double if they had it cleared in twenty-four hours.”

  “Lear knows how to inspire men.”

  Waterman chuckled. “You said last night you had over a hundred miles to cover. I doubt you can make that by sundown.”

  “No. I figure if we make sixty—eighty miles today, we’ll be doing good. Problem is, we don’t know how much we’ll slow down once we make it to the river. We’ll really have to be careful when we get there. Can’t afford any mistakes.”

  “It would be great if you can make it that far. We figure the Warthog can leave here sometime after nightfall and be on the other side by morning. From there, they should be able to make the rendezvous point before night.”

  “Okay, sounds like a plan. Call if anything changes. We’ll be pulling out in less than a half hour.”

  “Good luck, Mr. Cooper.”

  “Thanks, we’ll need it.” Cooper ended the call, put his phone away, and picked up his pack of chili mac.

  “You want some meat?” Caveman asked. A roast size portion of Carnotaurus had gone uneaten from the night before, and the man had his fingers in it, stripping pieces away. Agitated, small insects clouded around the cooked flesh, unhappily disturbed from their current abode.

  “John, I don’t know if it’s safe to eat that,” Coop said.

  “Hell, it ain’t even green yet,” Caveman said.

  “You can have my share,” Coop said, and dug his plastic spoon in the open bag of chili mac.

  Natasha crunched her last strip of bacon. “You know, if we make it back—”

  “When, we make it back,” Suge interrupted. He had said the words with a confidence Coop was sure meant to give Natasha hope.

  “Okay, when we get back, I’m going to have bacon with every meal for a month. Bacon sandwich, bacon and eggs, bacon wrapped shrimp, bacon ice cream, bacon wrapped bacon, bacon martinis—”

  “I think we get the picture,” Suge said and laughed. “Man, you sound like Bubba from Forest Gump.”

  “Was Forest Gump a movie or TV show? I don’t think I’ve ever watched that,” Natasha said. “Did he like bacon too?”

  “No, he liked shrimp like you like bacon. I guess that movie came out before your time,” Suge said, obviously noticing the fifteen years or so age difference between them.

  Coop dug into his backpack and found only empty water bottles. He finished up the remainder of his breakfast and went by the Mule’s water reservoir. Thank goodness the powers who brought them the Mule had filled the forty-gallon fresh water tank. There should be enough water for them to make it out before having to locate a natural source and use their water purifying pills to make it safe.

  He filled his bottle and drank deeply. The cool water soothed his throat. The chili mac had contained a bit more black pepper than he would have preferred. “Gerald, Will, would you guys dig a hole so we can bury our trash?”

  “Sure thing,” Gerald called back. He and Will headed to find a suitable spot.

  Chief walked up to him.

  Susan remained off to herself and just gazed with blank eyes toward the ground.

  “I think we’re good. I pulled the guys off to the side earlier and gave them a pep-talk. Alex, Natasha, and Susan know their place. I don’t think Prescott and Hawkins are going to be a problem, but I do want Hawkins to keep his distance from Susan,” Chief said.

  “I think Gerald will be too busy trying to stay alive than to bother Susan,” Coop said.

  “He better, or he won’t stay alive long,” Chief said. He turned around, and said, “Okay, we head out in ten. Get your shit together and stay alert. I don’t care how big and mean those lizards are. We’re going to come out of this alive.”

  As Alex walked by, Chief reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “Alex, you’ve used rifles before, haven’t you?”

  “Sure. Mostly when I was younger, though. I used to hunt a lot.”

  “If I gave you Ron’s Seven, would you be able to handle it?” Chief asked.

  “I don’t think I’d have any problems.”

  “Good. It’s not a difficult weapon to use. The grenade launcher or RPG should be used as a last resort though,” Chief said.

  “I might need you to go over the basics again,” Alex said.

  “I’ll do that,” Caveman said as he stepped up by them. “Using a Seven is easier than buttonin’ up your overalls.”

  “What about Don’s rifle?” Alex asked. “Are you going to give it to Gerald or Will?”

  “No,” Chief said. “My trust has to be earned.”

  ***

  Coop had to remind himself to relax his shoulders and loosen his grip on the steering wheel enough to allow some color to return to his knuckles. He needed to react the moment danger would present itself and couldn’t afford the luxury of letting his mind wander. The terrain was relatively flat, and though trees were numerous, the Mule kicked along near 20 mph. Meat rode the blade. Will and Gerald had the roof. Alex and Caveman stood on the back bumper.

  Despite Coop’s desire to rotate members out of the cab, he ultimately decided not to. Alex couldn’t come in the cab—he’d have to sit next to Susan or Natasha. The last thing they needed was unnecessary tension and distraction. Meat or Caveman would make the seating too tight. Gerald and Will, well, the two men felt like outsiders, and Coop didn’t want to give up Suge’s or Chief’s seat up to either of them.

  Over the three hours, they had come across a variety of wildlife. Large amounts of pterosaurs of the smaller variety nested in trees. The Mule scattered them into the air as it passed by. Thank goodness none of the giant flying reptiles had swooped in for an attack. An aerial bombardment might take them by surprise. Alex and Caveman were supposed to keep an eye on the sky, but Coop knew how quickly things could change in the jungles of Patagonia.

  There were all types of sauropo
ds and theropods along the way. The Mule was such an oddity to them they treated it with curious looks or by slowly slinking out of eyesight. Coop had seen this phenomenon before when he and three others made the trip to the cave with the diamonds. The majority of dinosaurs didn’t risk an encounter with the unknown. Coop also knew the cautious attitude was short lived. Humans and the Mule would become competition like any other animal the longer they stayed in Patagonia.

  Coop had allowed Caveman to build a fire to cook the Carnotaurus because he knew fire would ward off curious predators. But if they stayed in one area, it wouldn’t take long for dinosaurs to build up their courage enough to investigate the glowing flame.

  Still, there always seemed to be one bad-ass who got its panties in a bunch over a track driven square hunk of metal filled with warm bags of flesh invading its territory. So far, Coop and company hadn’t come across any dinosaur like that, until now.

  “Fuck! It’s a T-rex!” Coop yelled. The silver-gray colored theropod loomed directly ahead, with evil in its beady little eyes, and sharp teeth forming a wicked grin.

  “Hit the brake! Everyone out. Suge and I will take care of this,” Chief commanded.

  Though seeing the T-rex had surprised him, Coop then realized the Mule was the one that surprised the dinosaur. He mashed in the Mule’s horn, blaring a warning cry of a beast never heard before in Patagonia.

  The T-rex raised its head and short arms in obvious alarm—a comical sight to behold.

  Coop kept rolling the Mule at a steady speed toward it while engaging the horn.

  As if its tail had caught fire, the theropod turned and ran out of sight, dodging trees, and crashing through branches.

  “Son-of-a-bitch. You scared it,” Suge said.

  “That was risky,” Chief said, disapproval in his tone.

  “Yes it was,” Coop said. “But I wanted a chance to try and scare it away. These creatures haven’t seen man before or our inventions. They’re afraid of the unknown—most anyway. I had a good feeling about this. It worked, we saved ammo, and we can continue without delay.”