“They cannot hear you, Yun. I am landing the Marauder soon, and I will kill you if you say a word of this to anyone.” His demeanour changes to pleasant again. “Look, Yun, I’m sorry. It has been a long time, you know? We were not chosen ones, but we are meant to be. Lawson is dead, and Evangeline may as well be, so we can start the next part of the project together. I’m trying to be more confident here, so, why don’t you go and finish that shower you were having?”
I want him nowhere near me. And if he is planning to land the Marauder, then I need to warn the others. I race through the Dweller to the front door, but it is locked. I try the password again, hoping that Racker has removed the lock; I key in the password - D - O - M - U - S - but there is no bleep or bloop.
“Doctor Yun, you cannot leave. The Dweller is mine, and I am on my way. Please, just finish your shower. Finish your fucking shower!”
He has completely lost it.
The light rifle is in my hands and vibrating. I flick the switch from ‘bolts’ to ‘laser’ and take aim at the door.
“Okay, Doctor Yun, you got me! It was just a joke. There is no need to cut the door. I will open it, see.” The door opens with a bleep, and I step out. “I was just testing your mental integrity back there, that’s all. And guess what? You passed! You showed great thinking and problem solving under pressure. CETI, Mitch, and I have deemed you fit.”
Who the hell is Mitch? And does he think I am stupid? Racker has devolved into some kind of menace, some kind of God watching over us. Maybe some radioactive cosmic dust had found its way onto the Marauder and into his thick skull.
“Are you going to tell the others, Yun?”
“If you get me through the forest to them safely, get me to where the others are cutting, and no, no I won’t,” I lie.
The sun has started to set and in the darkness I don’t feel safe. I didn’t feel safe inside of the Dweller, and now I don’t outside of it. I know Racker is miles away and outside of the orbit around Domus, but he still scares me. Something inside of him has broken or flipped. What could do that to a man?
“Okay, Yun, we have a deal. I get you through safely, and you keep our little game a secret. Are you ready?”
“Lead the way.”
Playing Racker’s game in the Dweller meant that I didn’t eat or drink any water. I have been moving slowly, calculating every footstep. I’m weak, tired, cold, and malnourished. In the light of the moon I tread carefully through the forest. I feel my way from tree to tree and under the guidance of Racker. He warns me when to stand still and when to go. It has been slow going, but I have to trust him now. I have no choice.
I reach the forest clearing. The forklift is still here, but there is no sign of the other Seekers. “Racker, you said they were still in the forest cutting. No more trees have been cut since I was here last. Where are they?”
“They are coming. I can see them now, three heat signatures surrounding your position.”
I hear a noise, but it isn’t human. It is like a throat-click, a noise that aboriginal tribes made back home. I can see silver moonlight reflected on scales and feathers. I am surrounded by dinosaurs.
“What have you done, Racker? Why have you done this to me?!”
“It didn’t work out between us, Yun. It’s not you, it’s me. And Mitch didn’t really like your tone, so it was never going to work out. CETI, tell Doctor Yun what her new friends are, would you?”
“With pleasure, Racker. These bipedal organisms are Dilophosauruswetherilli, the species in the Dilophosaurus genus. They average twenty three feet long with a total of thirty teeth each. Back home, they are often depicted as having a neck frill and being able to spit venom, both of which are factually incorrect. The Dilophosauruswetherilli is a pack animal and will share the kill with the pack.
“They have two rounded crests on their skulls made up of extensions of the nasal and lacrimal bones. At home, the use of these bones was well disputed, but I can see from these organisms that those fossils back home were too weathered to show the crest’s true functions.”
I can almost hear Racker’s smirk. “Thank you CETI. Doctor Yun, you really should have just finished taking that fucking shower. You got my blood warm. You just had to bring it to the boil. Goodbye, and remember, we’ll be watching.”
The first Dilophosaurus starts a charge towards me. I try to flick on my light rifle, but it is too late. The flat back of its head crashes into my ribs, and it uses the crest bones further down to scoop me up and lift me into the air.
Racker has left CETI on. She is reading out my vitals. “Fracture of the fifth, sixth, and seventh ribs. Partial part of rib seven has punctured the right lung.”
I cannot catch my breath. I just manage to climb back to my feet with the light rifle now pulsating in my hands. I take aim at one of the bastards stalking in front of me. I’m ready to pull the trigger when another charges me down from the side and throws me into the air again.
“Fractured coccyx.”
The climb to my feet is too much, so I settle for one knee. One of those things is circling in front of me know. I pull the trigger, and the whole top half of it disintegrates.
Anther charge hits me from behind and smashes me head first into the forest floor. The weapon sprawls out of my hands.
“Fractured skull and broken nose. Accelerated heartbeat, perspiration and stress levels.”
The light rifle is too far away for me to reach. The two Dilophosaurus know I am beaten, and they move in. I feel the first bite tear a chunk from my back, another from thigh and a third from my shoulder…
…see you in Tiān, Doctor Lawson.
“Vitals show a severe cardiac arrest.
“Status of Doctor Yun is deceased.”
Ximena Barros
Sarah has taken control.
Captain Reed left me in charge in his absence, but Sarah has taken the reins, and I am happy for her to do so. I’m no leader. I follow instructions well, but I rarely give them. I am an oveja not a pastora—a sheep not a shepherd. Captain Reed only put me in charge because I am his chosen one. He probably even feels guilty for shunning me before.
I cannot wait to find Yun’s corpse. Not that I want to find her dead, but I know she is. And the sooner we have confirmation, then the sooner we can stop this stupid expedition and get back to the Dweller where we might survive for a few more days yet.
The pain of being the only one that can see the Project has failed is beginning to wear me down. Seekers have died. The place we want to call home does not want us here. Maybe I am the only one, or maybe the others are not ready to admit it yet, but we are all dead.
Every single one of us is dead.
Sarah calls a halt to the search. We have been moving through the forest on the opposite side of the plain for over two hours now. We have hid from dinosaurs, took shelter from prehistoric birds in shrubs and waded through a river.
“What is it?” I snap.
“Look,” Sarah points to the floor. “Tracks.”
“Tracks? We have stopped for tracks? You stupid puta, there have been tracks all around us for the past hour! Look at them, anything could have made them!”
“If you want to lead, Ximena, then you can. This was your task to begin with, but you have been happy to take a backseat and let me do all the work. Well? Do you want to lead, or shall we follow these tracks?”
“I don’t want to lead, but I’m not following these tracks further into the forest. The sun is set, and the forest is getting blacker by the second. In less than twenty minutes you will not be able to see your feet, never mind Doctor Yun. We should camp back on the plain. We will see further, and nothing can take us by surprise.”
“I am following these tracks. A Seeker is out there, and she needs our help.”
“She is already dead. I know. And you know, but you putas are just too scared to say it.”
“You don’t know that. I am pushing on. Evangeline, are you coming with me or betraying your friend?”
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Evangeline chooses to follow Sarah. Who could have known that the death of the man they both wanted to fuck would be the one thing that could bring them close? They have been inseparable from the moment I dug Simon’s grave. Even Sarah has turned girly-girl when they speak about hair and boys like they are at a slumber party.
Well, I’m not following the two of them to my death.
We part ways. I watch the light from Sarah’s torch highlight the ground in front of them as they go. I stand and watch until the light has disappeared deeper into the trees.
I don’t need them. I have my own tent and more survival skills than the two of them put together.
The plain is the best place to make camp. Most of the water from the earlier rain has now run off, and I will be close enough to the forest for wood should I need to make a fire. That’s it! That is what we should have done, made a huge fire that Yun can see now that the sun has gone down.
I race further into the forest calling their names. “SARAH! EVANGELINE! I have an idea! Sara, come back!” They cannot hear me, but something did. There is a shuffle in the shrub to my side and a faint growl. Puta!
Mud and water splashes up my back as I run. The sea and moon are on my left, and I am going back in the direction of the Dweller.
Half an hour of running, and I am through the river we crossed. Half an hour more running, and I can see the plain. The flatter land slowly sneaks into view through the edge of the tree line. I can see the silver moon reflected in the puddles on the surface. I haven’t looked back the whole way. I cannot even say if I am being followed by anyone or anything.
I race into the clearing, almost panting from the run. I finally stop and feel brave enough to turn around. The leaves rustle in the darkness, but only on the breeze that I can feel cooling my skin.
Fire. I should carry on with my idea. If Yun finds it, then Reed will be impressed with my leadership. If Evangeline and Sarah come to it, then hopefully they will see sense and call it a night.
The fire can be lit at one end of the basin, and I can keep watch from the other, just in case something else is attracted to it.
I find the perfect spot for my camp. There’s a ten feet tall pile of rocks with a small inlet that will be my home for the night. It’s not quite a cave but still a heavy formation that even the biggest Dinosaur shouldn’t be able to move. I can camp here with my tent backed up against the stones behind and at the sides. Nothing will be able to flank me from the back or sides.
Perfect.
The tent is easy to assemble and quick. I tuck into beef jerky rations and lukewarm tea before I head out on my next part of the task, wood gathering.
I try not to use the machete too much. The sticks and branches on the floor are wet, but the paraffin in my survival kit will get them to light regardless of the rainwater. I start with small sticks first, gathering and piling them about one hundred yards away from my tent. I gather medium next, building them into a cone shape. Larger logs I find are piled on last.
The paraffin is squirted all over but more intently at the centre to make sure it gets going. I save a small amount to light a torch I have crafted from a stick with a bandage tied on the end.
Flames from my lighter take to the torch instantly. They crackle and jump. It is the first real fire I have seen for years. I plunge the torch into the heart of the pile and step back as the flames roar towards the sky. Smoke bellows and plumes and spreads into both of the forests either side.
I retreat back to my tent and wrap up in my sack. The heat from the blood-red flames warms my face even from this distance. Shadows dance in the orange light all around, and I can see a few feet into the forest on either side.
No one and nothing comes to my beacon. I hear the distant rumble of colossal footsteps and the odd shriek and roar far off on the vista. But nothing approaches the fire or my tent.
I lay down to take in the view horizontally. I can feel sleep as it creeps from my feet and up my spine. Slumber’s ice fingers start to wrap around my head and dig into my temples. I cannot fight it. Stress makes me sleepy, and this journey has been nothing but stress. I tug at the front zipper and the tent door is zipped up to make me feel safer.
And then I am floating, dreaming about home and all of her delights. I am a kid again, on the beach, on the one and only holiday my family could ever afford. My father had brought me an ice-cream, just a normal treat to any other kid, but to me it was the best thing ever. I remember leaning in to smell the vanilla, I can hear myself sniffing, sniffing…
…and a sniff comes at the front door of my tent. I’m not sure how long I was asleep, but it couldn’t have been long; there is still an orange glow from my beacon. The sniff comes again through nostrils big enough to almost lift the tent. The exhale rattles the poles and all four sides.
The silhouette is forty feet from snout to tail, and bipedal. I can see that the skull itself is almost five feet long. The animal sniffs again. I hold my breath, and I hope. I pray to a God I haven’t spoken to for twenty years, and I ask that He save me.
One more sniff, and the beast turns tail. Every step vibrates the floor and makes my heart skip. The beast moves towards my fire and beyond. I thought that was my time. I thought I was dead.
I release my breath and relax. A lukewarm flask of old tea helps stay my shaking hands. It could smell me through the tent. It could smell my sweat and my life, and it wanted to taste my flesh, I’m sure. The flimsy piece of fabric is the only thing that has kept me alive.
“You’re okay now, Ximena,” fuzzes Racker’s voice, “it’s gone. Sorry I didn’t warn you, but I was watching you sleep and dozed off myself. Good idea with the fire by the way. I’m sure Yun will come back if she sees it. Now, sleep. I will watch you.”
Sleep takes me again, but it is restless. I never fully wake, but I know that I toss and turn. The condensation drips from the top of the tent all over my sleeping sack. I can smell how bad I smell.
When morning comes I am far from well rested.
“Seekers! This is Racker! Do you read?”
“Evangeline and I read you, Racker,” buzzes Sarah’s voice. “We are on the way back towards the Plain. There was no sign of Yun.”
“I read you, friend,” grunts Captain Reed.
“This is Ximena, and I read you too, Racker,” I say with a smile. “Wait, Captain Reed? You can hear us now?”
“Loud and clear, Ximena, loud and clear. It’s been a tough task, but it is done. The triangle has been extended.”
The Captain was successful. We might survive this after all. Now we have eyes for miles, we might just be able to carve out a small home.
“Racker,” says Captain Reed. “Provide me a situation report please.”
“With pleasure, Cap. The beacons have been successfully calibrated, and they are beaming live. I have also calibrated the Marauder better to see more detail. We have miles, Cap, and I can see thousands of those things. Some a big, some are small, but they are everywhere.”
“And the barrier construction?” asks Reed.
“On hold, Cap. There was an incident in the forest, and we lost a Seeker. The others went looking for her, but Yun is lost. We lost her, Seekers.”
“We will find her,” buzzes Sarah.
“No, Sarah,” Racker’s voice drops, “you won’t. She came back on the grid just after you guys broke through my line of communication. I tried to contact you, but I couldn’t.”
“What happened to her?” asks Captain Reed.
“She is dead, Cap. She came back through the forest. She was heading towards the Dweller… she never had an earpiece. I was shouting at my screen, shouting to try and direct her safely. They got her, Cap. Three of them got her. She managed to take one down, such was her spirit. Had the heart of a Dragon that one. God bless her soul.”
“We need to bury her,” announces the Captain. “Where is she, Racker?”
“Gone. They took her, Cap. They carried her away like a pack of wild dogs going back
to their den. I lost them, but CETI had already confirmed her vitals… deceased.”
I must have been half asleep when Racker spoke to me last night, if I didn’t dream the whole thing; I’m sure he said that Yun would come to my beacon if she sees it. Why say that if she came back to the Dweller just after we left the grid?
I can hear Sarah breakdown. I can hear her shout at the world, shout at Domus and curse the very planet.
They are starting to see now too. The hope I had just minutes before has vanished.
We are all going to die.
I unzip my tent. The fire I made out in front has died now. The morning is bright and the grass dewy. I ready to crawl out, but something makes me stop. I can feel eyes on me.
“Racker,” I whisper, “can you see me?”
“One second, Ximena, I was looking for the Captain. There I can see…my God! Ximena, do not move! Do not move a muscle. It is behind you. It is perched on the rocks, and it is massive.”
“What is it, CETI?”
“Hello, Ximena. The organism is a Tyrannosaurus rex. It is a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. This particular specimen measures forty feet from snout to tail tip and weighs eight short tons.
“The Tyrannosaurus rex has the largest teeth of all known, carnivorous dinosaurs. It is also estimated that it can generate the most powerful bite forces among all land animals ever to have lived back home.”
“Great. Thank you so much, CETI,” I whisper.
“It was my pleasure, Doctor Barros.”
She wasn’t programmed to understand sarcasm, but she usually has a grasp of it.
There is a huge sniff again, the same as the one that came during the night. I never felt the footsteps at it approached. It must have been on those rocks behind me for a while now. It has probably been stalking me all night.
The tent poles rattle, and the canvass sides shake all around me. And then it roars.
I have to cover my ears it is so loud. The noise is similar to a plane engine’s raucous shout at the point of take-off but more gravely, more primitive, more monstrous. The force pushes the tent almost to the point of collapse, and I can feel how warm the breath is, I can smell blood.
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