“I wasn’t asking you. I was telling you,” Bats said.
Chief was about to get involved, but Coop stepped in front of him. “Bats, what’s this about? Why do you want to ride the bumper?”
“Look, Alex has proved he can handle a rifle. But he’s not trained like we are. I don’t give a goddamn about who sits next to who anymore. Get the fuck over it. I need to be ready for action—not trapped inside the Mule when the shit hits the fan. Caveman and I can hit the ground at the drop of a hat and draw first blood. We need every advantage we can get,” Bats said.
There was nothing Bats said that didn’t make sense. Coop turned to Susan, who looked over at Alex with contempt in her eyes.
“Alex doesn’t concern me. He can sit anywhere he likes,” Susan said.
Coop looked at Natasha.
“He’s nobody to me, whatever,” Natasha said.
The dejection on Alex’s face had Coop glad the Professor wasn’t holding a knife. He looked like a man who would cut his wrists.
Chapter 16
Maneuvering the Mule through the thick jungle took them on a path that was anything but straight. The satellite map had lost its usefulness; the detail far too coarse to plot the most efficient route. With the trees and other obstacles so close together, the GPS and low-level radar showed them as blobs on the computer screen.
Coop had to keep his eyes in front and depended on Suge to direct him to keep the Mule from veering away too far away from the rendezvous point. Dense brush and large leafy plants didn’t help matters any. Although Coop figured the foliage kept them from being seen by predators as much as it hindered his view from seeing them. On more than one occasion his mind played tricks on him. A banana plant-like leaf poked past a tree as they rode by. At first he thought it was a T-rex coming in for the kill. Another time the Mule rolled over a fallen branch, and it somehow twisted underneath the tracks and a portion of it sprang up and hit his window. At the sound, he turned and thought he saw the deadly jaws and teeth of the Spinosaurus that took his life the first time.
They had seen their share of real dinosaurs, though. And motherfucking-luck had kept them safe so far. Small to man-sized theropods had fled whenever they drove through. A small group of Stegosauri simply stared at them, like cows looking at a new gate. The most frightening moment came when a large theropod—one of T-rex’s cousins—Coop didn’t know all of their names—and Alex didn’t bother to comment on it, froze in position as they rode by. Coop turned his head and saw it just as they passed. The dinosaur was less than thirty feet away and stood as still as a statue, its head turned to the side as if it thought if I’m not looking at you, you can’t see me. Of course, it did have one of its beady eyes focused on them. At that point there was really nothing Coop could do but continue without doing something stupid that would call more attention. He found himself holding his breath like he was walking past a hornet’s nest until the theropod was out of sight.
Even though the Mule was air-conditioned with the interior at a pleasant 70 °F, the small of Coop’s back was wet with sweat. His head moved like it was on a swivel, turning from side to side on constant watch and path plotting. Sometimes he stretched his neck forward as if he’d be able to see behind the trees.
“Coop, we’re getting too far off course,” Suge said.
“I know. But what do you want me to do? We’ve been at this for almost five hours, and God only knows how far out of the way we’ll have to travel before we make it to the river,” Coop said.
“Just looking at the map we’re only three miles as a crow flies from the rendezvous point. You keep going this way we’re going to have to double back three times that distance. What happens if we get too far away and have to abandon the Mule?” Suge asked.
“What are you suggesting?” Chief asked.
Suge scratched the back of his neck. “It seems to me at this point—being so close—we stop here and head out on foot. It’s a three-mile hike from here. We might be able to make the river in an hour.”
Coop let up on the accelerator and let the Mule come to a stop. He had been so focused on the objective, he had abandoned any further strategy—strategy that might save all of their lives. “Chief? What do you think?”
“I hate to expose ourselves any sooner than we have to. But Suge’s got a good point.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great riding in the Mule. But I’m afraid of being trapped in here in a surprise attack. A huge theropod might be able to crush the roof down on us. We’ll all die. At least outside we have a chance to scatter. It’s a morbid thought, but at least some will have a chance to live,” Alex said.
“Back at the cave, a Spinosaurus had enough power in its tail to knock the Mule on its side,” Coop said. “Without the fifty, the Mule becomes a liability in a fight.”
“Susan, Natasha, are you ready for this?” Chief asked.
“I don’t know if I’d ever say I’d be ready, but now is as good a time as any,” Natasha said.
“I know we have to do this, and I know what might happen,” Susan said. She took a deep breath. “I’m going to do my best not to get in the way.”
“Okay then, let’s go,” Coop said. He killed the engine and opened his door, stepped onto the track, and hopped down to the ground. “Alex, start handing out the backpacks and rifles from behind the seat. I want to do an inventory before we leave.” He checked his charge on his satellite phone. It was at one hundred percent. He called up the Map and GPS. The Warthog’s beacon showed it minutes from the rendezvous point. Thank goodness for that.
“Here you go, Coop,” Natasha said while handing him his backpack. The young woman was taking the equipment from Alex and distributing it. “And here’s,” she paused as Alex handed her a JNY-7, “your rifle.”
Coop looked his rifle over. His gun was fully loaded and ready to go. He hadn’t been in any position so far on this trip to use it.
Everyone gathered in front of Coop.
“Okay, there’re eight of us and eight rifles. Looks like we’ve used three RPGs so far,” Coop said.
“Yeah. I used mine and one from Ron’s gun. Alex used his,” Chief said.
“You can use Don’s RPG. Alex, you’ll have to do without,” Coop said.
“Not a problem,” Alex said.
“I’d love to bring all eight rifles, but I’m afraid they’d only slow Natasha and Susan down. Agreed?” Coop said.
“I could carry one across my back,” Suge said.
“Me too,” Caveman said.
“Guys, if we didn’t have such a short distance to travel, I’d say go ahead. I think we’ll be better off traveling lighter. We’ll bring the ammunition, of course, but we’ll leave the Sevens here,” Coop said. “Okay, get some water in you, and make sure you have two bottles of water in your backpack. We have no idea how long it’s going to take to reach the river.”
***
Ben pushed the Warthog to maximum speed dictated by the terrain. The ATTC passed towering palms and flat grassy land along the way.
The Brazilian’s oohed and aahed at a herd of Gallimimus running from the metal monster streaking through their land. A giant pterosaur or two, it was impossible to tell if it was the same one, dove in front of them on two occasions. Matt wasn’t sure what the flying reptile had in mind. The Warthog was bigger than it. From what he knew of pterosaurs, they normally hunted much smaller animals. Must have been a territorial thing.
Ben only slowed to a stop once, at the request of Diaz. The Captain was totally captivated when they came upon a large sauropod. Matt thought it was a magnificent sight to behold, too. The beast’s neck looked as long as its body and tail combined. Its skin was a beautiful green, and it had a creamy orange underbelly. If it knew the Warthog was there, it didn’t show it. The dinosaur’s only concern was munching on leaves from a tall tree.
“Trouble up ahead,” Ben said.
Matt felt the Warthog slow. He looked out the window, and in the distance a T-rex slowly approached. “Can yo
u go around it?”
“I can try, but I can’t vary the path too much—jungle’s too thick,” Ben said. He veered to the left and sped on.
“There is another one joining it…and another!” Diaz said.
“Crap, if we keep going in this direction, we’re going to run into a wall of trees.” Logan had stepped up to see what was going on.
“Yeah, and the three T-rexes will pin us in,” Matt said.
“The dinosaurs are coming for us. They are forcing us to fight,” Diaz said. The Captain sat high in his seat and stiffened his back. “I’m am ready for the challenge.”
Matt felt safe inside the Warthog. He didn’t know, though, how much damage it would sustain from an attack by three massive theropods. With human lives on the line, it wasn’t worth taking any chances. “Ben?”
“I’m going to stop here. Let them come to us. Maybe if we kill one, the other two will leave. I don’t want any more to die than necessary.”
“Maybe if we just fired a warning shot, then—” Logan cut his words as the Warthog’s gun fired.
The lead Rex was at least fifty yards away. The projectile hit it in the right side of its chest and blew off its arm and part of its side. A sharp cry followed the boom of the explosion. The charging theropod listed to one side and fought to stay on its feet.
The two other T-rexes increased speed—their large, clawed feet pounding the earth to where Matt thought he could feel the vibrations.
“Meu Deus,” Santos said softly.
“Captain?” Ben said, urgency in his voice.
Diaz sighted the next beast on the computer and fired. The projectile missed.
“Do you want me to—” Ben started.
“No!” Diaz fired again.
The blast sounded much louder now that the target was closer. This time Diaz hit the dinosaur square in the chest. He must have found its heart, because it dropped like a ragdoll. The earth shook, and it tumbled and slid face-first, shoving up dirt before it.
Matt couldn’t see the wounded Rex but had no problem seeing the third of the bunch arrive at the Warthog. It threw its head back as it pranced from the Warthog’s front to side. It was mad as hell, and slammed its tail into the passenger side tracks.
The Warthog shook, and excited cries went out.
“It’s moving too fast for me to aim,” Diaz said, flustered.
Ben hit the accelerator and headed for an open path before them. The Warthog quickly hit 40 mph on the speedometer. “Did we lose him?”
“No. He is following,” Santos said, watching the rear camera’s screen.
“Isso é um lagarto louco,” Alvarez said.
Matt and Logan both looked over to Gomez.
“He said that’s one crazy lizard.”
“Ornery, too,” Logan added.
“I can kill it now,” Diaz said.
“Don’t. It can’t outrun us. Just leave it alone,” Ben said.
Matt realized for Diaz to say he could kill the Rex and not just squeeze the trigger meant the man didn’t wish to kill the dinosaur without reason. The man was a commander and didn’t have to look to others when it came to decision making.
“There is the other one,” Santos said, pointing to the left as they passed the wounded Rex. It had abandoned the fight to find a place to lick its wounds, but the deadly ammunition had taken its life.
“That takes the cake over passing a dead armadillo in the road,” Ben said.
Santos and Diaz looked at each other with questioning expressions.
“Cake? What, cake?” Santos asked.
Matt raised open hands in front of his chest. In a bitter tone, he said, “It’s…it’s just an expression. Ben, you confused them. You explain it. I’m going to check in with Waterman.”
Matt found himself too uptight to deal with Ben’s sophomoric distractions, but then he felt like a little bit of an ass for losing patience with his friend.
Logan gave him a pat on the shoulder.
Matt turned and placed a hand on top of Logan’s hand, returning an expression that said thanks.
Chapter 17
The expedition was a mile deep in the jungle before Chief signaled from the front for them to stop. Coop’s job was to maintain the rear, with the Redwater bunch in the lead, and the college crew between them.
The air was moist and heavy, and the no-see-ums feasted on exposed skin. In his haste to leave, it never crossed Coop’s mind to use the bug spray in his backpack. Riding in the Mule and enjoying the artificial environment had lulled him away from preparing for reality.
The journey stirred memories from his time in Vietnam. Tall trees grew thick choking out the sun’s rays. If the rest of the jungle was as dense as this area, he was glad that they had decided to leave the vehicle. Staying in the Mule would have just put them further behind schedule.
The only life they had seen thus far was small to medium pterosaurs nesting in trees, who seemed content in allowing humans passage through their pristine abode. But Chief had stopped the group and then ventured on his own for several steps. Coop couldn’t see what was going on, but did hear something rustling from up ahead.
Chief slipped silently back. He lowered his head, and whispered, “There’re four Velociraptors not far—feeding on carrion. They’re small—not like the ones we saw on the drone’s video. We can try to go around them, but I don’t know if that’s the best plan. We’re close to the river. At this point, it might make more sense to go for broke, and make a dash for it. If we go around, the raptors might catch our scent and sneak up on us. If we take them out, we can move forward without worrying about them.”
“What about the noise?” Coop asked.
“I’m thinking the exploding bullets will have the same effect as the Mule’s horn—an unfamiliar noise will scare most things around away. But there’s no way to be one hundred percent sure we won’t draw others to us,” Chief said.
The Velociraptors Chief had described sounded like the kind that killed Alex. They weren’t the most feared dinosaur in Patagonia, but ounce for ounce, they were just as vicious as a T-rex. Stealth had gotten them this far, but was it a reasonable risk for them blow their cover and try and make it to the river using shock-and-awe tactics?
Chief turned his gaze forward for a few moments, and then said, “Two of the raptors have stopped eating and are sniffing the air. They have our smell.”
“That settles it for me,” Caveman said.
Suge nodded.
Bats and the others turned and looked at Coop.
This was a war-like situation. Coop knew he was in danger of overthinking the matter. If they were going to make it, he had to let a warrior call the shots. “Chief, from now on, you’re in charge of the mission.”
“Dial ’em in your scopes, boys. The rest of you be ready to head out after we take them down,” Chief said.
The four Redwater mercenaries moved cat-like into position. Rifles went to shoulders, and at some imperceptible command, simultaneously fired. The exploding bullets found their intended targets, and popped like loud fireworks.
Pterosaurs by the dozen cried out in surprise. The flying reptiles scared from tree limbs took to the air for safety. Their wings flapped in the air in such numbers it sounded like a Huey helicopter at takeoff.
The jungle was electrified now. Coop felt like someone had turned the lights on in a planetarium. There was no reason for them to hide any longer.
“Stay together!” Chief said loud enough for everyone to hear and led the way.
Pterosaurs continued to spill from tree limbs as boots crunched on Patagonian ground. Calls of surprise or warning from other creatures about the jungle had heads turning in all directions. They had attracted attention for sure. Coop could only hope none were curious enough to investigate.
Coop, with Alex’s help, kept Natasha and Susan in front of them. The women were all business and continued without hesitation.
Reptilian hissing echoed through the trees, and a foghorn-li
ke roar which sounded like a lion gargling water rumbled like it was right on their heels. Things were getting hot, fast, and now Coop questioned their decision.
His phone set to vibrate buzzed on his side. Coop brought a hand over and slapped it, momentarily thinking some insect had attacked. There was no way to know if the news from the Warthog was good or not, and no time for him to check. If they did make it across the river and the Warthog was stuck far away, all of this might just be for naught. Motherfucking luck, don’t fail us now, he thought in half-prayer.
Everything was a blur. If there were creatures waiting to attack, the passing brush and adrenaline narrowing his vision hid them. They were all racing for their lives, and so far they were chewing up distance unimpeded.
Chief was pulling them forward, his body leading the line of survivors like a fullback leading the ball carrier to the end zone. His chest swayed from side to side, and his legs pumped like pistons. As he passed the trunk of a huge tree, an enormous head bigger than the warrior dipped down, and massive jaws with sharp teeth swallowed him in one bite.
Chief was there, then he was gone—almost without a sound.
Suge was next in line and hit the brake. He brought his JNY-7 up to his shoulder and hesitated. He lowered a hand to his side and signaled to move forward.
Suge had just lost a teammate, mentor, and friend, but his training had him in autopilot. He now assumed the role of leader.
Susan gasped and slowed as she stepped past the tree and looked up at the giant theropod. This dinosaur looked like T-rex on steroids.
Alex reached back and grabbed her by the hand, pulling Susan along. She jerked her hand free.
Coop couldn’t allow her to give up now and ran by her side—snatching her left hand in his right. “Don’t look! Keep moving!”
She gave in, and quickened her pace. Chief was gone, and they still had a chance. They were so close now. He had to keep Susan alive.
Her hand was sweaty, and when Coop relaxed his grip to get a firmer hold, she slipped free. He blindly reached back, and then he heard a muffled choke and a whimper.
Lost World II: Savage Patagonia Page 19