by Russ Watts
“Freddy?” Phoenix clutched her ribs as she screamed his name. Her heart raced like a jackhammer. “Freddy!”
The boat was destroyed. The dinosaur had fooled her and won. When she had woken up on the beach, it had taken her a moment to understand what had happened. Getting to her feet, she had found a trail of blood leading into the ocean. It had survived. It had retreated back into the water where it could recuperate and lick its wounds. The dinosaur had left her, perhaps thinking she was dead too. Wandering around the beach, she had wondered for a while if maybe she was dead. The sun had begun to set and she was weak. She had spent some time on her knees praying, a little time sobbing, and a little time angrily shouting and pleading in desperation for someone to come and get her. Of course, it had all been futile. She had even gone back into the jungle for a while, unable to believe she was stranded and alone once more. Once dusk settled over the island, the jungle had become too cold and she wandered back out to the beach, unsure what to do next. She listened for the boat, for Freddy, for any sign he was coming. And then she had found Jane.
Her body had washed up on a small inlet, and if Phoenix hadn’t found her when she had, then Jane would probably have died from exposure. She was unconscious but alive. Phoenix had dragged her up the beach, up toward the jungle where she had found some dry leaves and covered Jane up to try to get her warm. The woman was barely breathing. Phoenix had assumed she was dead, drowned, or eaten, yet somehow, she had escaped the monster. There were bruises on her arms and a nasty cut on the back of her head, but she was alive. Phoenix had done what she could for her and made her comfortable, and then left her to sleep. Sanity returned to Phoenix once she’d found Jane, and remembering the boat had forced her back onto the beaches. It was only as the sun was setting that she finally heard an engine.
“Freddy, no.” Phoenix watched the remains of the boat slip beneath the surface. The dinosaur had annihilated it beyond repair. There was nothing to salvage. With the wreckage of the boat slipping beneath the ocean, Phoenix’s hopes of rescue also receded. There was no way back now. Freddy was gone. Phoenix watched the dinosaur slink away, its massive tail pushing it over the coral and around the inlet. Was it going out to sea or back to the lagoon? It didn’t matter anymore. It hadn’t even bothered to finish her off. Somehow, it knew that by destroying the boat it had destroyed any chance she had of getting off the island. Freddy was dead, either drowned or swallowed up by the dinosaur.
Phoenix wished she had been quicker. When she’d heard the engine, she had raced out onto the rocky outcrop as far as she dared, hoping to warn him away. She hoped she might be able to make him understand, but she’d been too slow. Phoenix began to trudge back over the rocks to the beach. What was she going to tell Jane? Was Jane even still alive? Phoenix slowly walked over the rocks and picked her way down to the beach. The hard sand soon turned soft and then she was back with Jane who was nestled underneath a large tree. She was awake and watched as Phoenix sank down to the ground and curled up beside her.
“How are you doing?” Phoenix felt Jane’s forehead. She was burning up, but at least she was breathing. Phoenix felt deflated. What was the point in rescuing Jane only to become stranded herself? “You feel up to walking? We should probably find somewhere more sheltered for the night.”
“Has it gone?” asked Jane quietly. She coughed and looked at Phoenix. “I saw it. I woke up when that boat came. You couldn’t have done anything. There was no way to warn him. Was it Freddy? I don’t suppose he—”
“No, I don’t think so.” Phoenix looked at the still ocean. There was a crescent moon in the distance that broke up over the coral. Her body needed sleep. She had nothing left to offer. She had no energy and certainly no time to waste on giving Jane false hope. There was no rescue coming. They had blown it. “The dinosaur’s gone and so has our ride home. We’re stuck here.” Now that the dinosaur was gone, it seemed eerily quiet on the island. Everything had gone back to the way it was, so quiet and still. It was time to face reality. “We’re going to die here,” said Phoenix softly.
Jane sighed. “Fuck.”
As they sat in silence and watched the moon rise over the ocean, Phoenix heard a splashing noise. A seagull or something had probably found a crab. It came from the shallows. As she listened, she heard more splashing and then something loomed up out of the water. The thought that she might have to face the monster again so soon was pressing on her brain, so she was relieved to see what emerged from the ocean was just a man.
“What the…?”
Phoenix jumped to her feet and pulled Jane up.
“Who’s there?”
The dark figure ambled up the beach toward them and only when she heard the man cough did she realize who it was.
“Freddy? Is that you?”
Phoenix and Jane went to him as he collapsed on the dark beach. His legs folded quickly and he fell on his back. Phoenix held his cold wet body and brushed the seaweed from his face.
“I thought you were dead. I thought—” Phoenix looked him over. Apart from being half drowned, he looked fine. There were no visible cuts or broken bones. It was a miracle he was still alive. Somewhere in the chaos, he must’ve found a way to get past the monster.
Freddy coughed up salt water. “Me… too.”
Jane and Phoenix helped him to sit up. Freddy shook his head. “Just what… what the hell was that thing?”
Phoenix looked at Jane for answers.
“A throwback. A relic of a lost age.” Jane shrugged. “A dinosaur.”
Freddy took Phoenix’ hand. “Is that what delayed you?”
“Yeah. That and… well, it’s been a long day.”
Freddy glanced around at the jungle. “Just you two?”
Phoenix nodded. She felt so weary. She wanted to get off the island so desperately. “It’s just us. The others—” Phoenix shook her head.
“Will someone come for you, Freddy?” asked Jane. “Is there another boat? You told someone about the rescue operation, didn’t you?”
Freddy cleared his throat. “I’m afraid it’s just the three of us.”
Phoenix felt like crying. She missed her family. “So, nobody knows we’re here?”
Freddy rubbed his lips, wiping away the salty saliva. He had tasted enough of the ocean. He looked back at the jungle and said nothing. Then he slowly got to his feet and planted his hands on his hips.
“It won’t be easy.” His chest heaved as he got his breath back. “Not tonight, but I can do it in the morning.”
“Do what?” Jane threw her hands up in the air. “Do what, Freddy? You just said that nobody knows where we are. Nobody is coming. We are so fucked.”
Phoenix watched Freddy. Even in the darkness, she could see his eyes fixed firmly on the jungle. He was thinking about something, planning something. After being nearly eaten by a dinosaur and then drowned, he was already thinking about how to escape the island. He hadn’t seen them die though, hadn’t watched her unit suffer and die horribly. Did he understand just what they were up against?
“I can get it done if you help me,” said Freddy. He looked at Jane and then Phoenix, his eyes glimmering under the moonlight, his wet body illuminated by the stars. The ocean rocked gently behind him and the world slept. “I can build a raft. We have plenty of wood to use and the vines are strong. I can use those to lash the wood together. It won’t be pretty, but it’ll work. I know these ocean currents. We can get home, to my home. From there, we can get in touch with your military.”
“A raft? Do you think you can build something strong enough to get us away from here?” asked Jane.
Phoenix saw Jane’s face light up. “And what about that monster?” Phoenix wanted so hard to believe in him, but her fight had gone. Most of it had left her body when she had bled all over the beach. “What if it finds us?”
Freddy licked his upper teeth and cocked his head to one side. “It’s dark now. The monster must sleep sometime. We’ll go then.”
Phoenix
couldn’t help it. She genuinely smiled despite herself. “Careful, Freddy, you’ve almost got me believing you.”
Jane clapped her hands together. “Well, I believe you. I’ll do whatever I can to help. Freddy, this island is not what you thought. We really need to get out of here.”
“I get that,” replied Freddy. “What do you say, Phoenix? You want to get off this island?”
“You’re damn right I do.” Phoenix shivered. “We’ll do it together. The three of us working together, right?”
“No problem,” said Freddy. “I’m not beaten yet and neither are you. After what I just saw, I can’t believe you two are still standing. I think you can do anything you want. We got this beat.”
Phoenix looked at the ocean as a tear came to her eye. She wished Karl was at her side, but the best thing she could do for him now was to get home and make sure he was honored in the right way. She had something to believe in again. She knew the ocean crossing would be difficult, but it was possible. They didn’t have to die on the island. They could go home. The nightmare would be over soon.
As Phoenix dreamt of home, a deafening roar shattered the silence. It soared across the jungle’s rooftop, out across the island and smothered the Pacific Ocean. The ground started vibrating and the sand beneath Phoenix’s feet shifted. It was as if she were back on the hillside when the dinosaur had attacked. She looked at Freddy and Jane as she heard movement nearby in the jungle.
“Run!”
THE END?
Read on for a free sample of The Trench.
Acknowledgements
The Yasawa Islands are real and far more inviting than I can describe accurately in this novel. A visit will show you their natural beauty, both of the land and in the people. Happily, there are no dinosaurs. At least none that I know of…
Please check out the numerous quality novels Severed Press have also have produced at www.severedpress.com.
Also, consider leaving a review and pay a visit to my website www.russwatts.co or check out my other titles:
The Afflicted
The Grave
The Ocean King
Adrenal7n
Devouring the Dead
Devouring the Dead 2: Nemesis
Goliath
Hamsikker
Hamsikker 2
Hamsikker 3
Zombiekill
Chapter 1
The coffee tasted worse than bitter, as if the water had gone sour. Michael sipped the cold brew anyway. So far, the flight from Honolulu to Auckland on a US Navy C-130 Hercules had been long and dull. It got colder as they headed south. New Zealand was as close to Antarctica as Michael ever wanted to get. A great place for skiing in winter, but he preferred water-skiing and surfing in tropical Hawaii.
Trying to sleep in the vibrating hold of the cargo plane proved impossible. The facilities were Spartan, and Michael thought the coffee might have been recycled from the airplane’s chemical toilet. The only food provided were MRE ration packs, and they tasted worse than the coffee.
Lying on his back, his eyes closed, arms tucked into his jacket, Michael replayed recent events in his head. After a long night of tequila shots and passion, he had finally fallen asleep with a surfer girl wrapped around him, all salt scent and hard muscle. Her name had been Niki, or Viki or something. He woke up when the pounding in his head had been drowned out by a steady knocking on the door of the hotel room.
Eyes half-closed, Michael opened the door. A man in a crisp khaki US Navy Ensign’s uniform and precision haircut stood before him and regarded Michael with professional blankness.
A woman with a lieutenant’s insignia on her uniform stood to one side.
“Yeah?” Michael said through the mold growing on his tongue.
“Doctor Saint-Clair?” the Ensign asked.
“Ah… no??” Michael replied.
“Would you mind stepping aside, sir?”
“What is this all about?”
“Sir, I have orders to collect Doctor Nicole Saint-Clair from this location.”
“I have no idea who–Wait, this isn’t my hotel room.”
The ensign stepped forward and entered the suite. With a casual sweep of the room, he took in the empty bottles and the discarded clothes.
The lieutenant stepped into the room, her hands clasped behind her back in a formal gesture. She studied Michael intently for a moment. “Are you Michael Armitage?” she asked.
“Who wants to know?”
“The United States Government.”
“What is this about?”
“I recognize you from the photo Lieutenant Armitage keeps on her locker door.”
“You’re here to blackmail me or something?”
“Of course, not. What you do in your life is none of my concern. You might want to talk to your wife though.”
“Ex-wife. I mean, we’re separated.” Michael pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s complicated. Now if you’ll excuse me, I appear to be in the wrong hotel room.” Michael stumbled back towards the bedroom and then paused, “Uhh, help yourselves to a drink.”
The blonde woman sat up when he walked in, a sheet demurely clasped against her chest, the tanned curve of her back all bared and perfect.
“Who you talking to?”
“Someone looking for Nicole Saint-Clair.” Michael avoided eye contact and scooped up his jeans, sneakers, and shirt from the floor.
“Who? The police?”
“US Navy, ma’am.” The female lieutenant stood in the bedroom doorway.
Michael took the opportunity to slip into the ensuite bathroom. He washed his face and took a long look at himself. Unshaven, on the wrong side of thirty, and on the last month of his credit cards. He wondered how bad his luck had to be if his wife’s shipmates turned up in the hotel room of some woman he had hooked up with.
Dressed and awake, he returned to the bedroom and stopped, Nicole was pulling on clothes while the female lieutenant stood by.
“Hey, she’s got nothing to do with this, uhh, whatever this is.”
“You can wait in the other room, Mister Armitage,” the lieutenant said.
Michael blinked and then stumbled into the living room. He found sunglasses and the room keys for a different hotel on the coffee table. “Mind telling me what this is all about?”
“I am not at liberty to say, sir.” The ensign hadn’t moved.
“I was pretty drunk last night, maybe I pissed off you and your buddies?”
“I don’t drink, sir.”
“Neither do I. At least, never again.”
“Let’s go, Ensign,” the lieutenant said, emerging from the bedroom, Nicole following in her wake, wearing jeans, boots and a surfer T-shirt. A backpack was slung over her shoulder.
“Thanks for last night, Michael,” Nicole said as she walked past.
“Sure, sorry about the early wake up.” Michael shrugged apologetically.
“Not your fault.”
“After you, sir.” The ensign fell into step behind Michael and closed the door on the way out.
Descending the stairs, Michael pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. His wedding ring felt cold, and he slipped it on his finger like Frodo with the One Ring.
They emerged into the glorious morning of a Hawaiian spring day. At the street side, the ensign opened the rear passenger door on a non-descript SUV with dark, tinted windows. Nicole and the lieutenant got in. Michael stopped.
“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way then.”
“One moment please, sir.” The ensign leaned down and listened to someone hidden in the shadow of the vehicle’s interior.
“Doctor Armitage, we would like to offer you a ride,” he said, straightening up.
“It’s okay. My hotel is two blocks that way. I can walk.”
“Get in the car, sir.”
“Not without some explanation.”
“I am not at liberty to discuss that with you, sir.” The ensign’s hand dropped to the holstered pistol on his hip
. Michael found the gesture more chilling than the stone-faced refusal to answer his questions.
“For someone whose job it is to defend America’s freedom, you sure don’t have a lot of it yourself.”
“I do just fine, sir.”
Michael stared at the gun for a moment then followed the man’s gesture to get in the car.
“What is going on?” Nicole asked.
“I’m going for a ride. You?”
“Same. Did they tell you what this was about?”
“Not in so many words.”
“Not at liberty to say?”
“Something like that.”
“You must have really pissed someone off last night.”
“I don’t remember much about last night,” Michael admitted.
Nicole regarded him steadily. “You approached me at the hotel bar, declared that you were a free-diving world champion and you could go deeper, longer, and harder than any man alive.”
“I did?”
“That was just your opening line. Then you proceeded to try and buy me drinks.”
“Tequila…” Michael felt the taste of it in his throat even now.
“Tequila, bourbon, and vodka shots. You then tried to explain the biochemistry of intoxication.”
“Did I make any sense?”
“To someone with no idea what you were talking about, sure. You did get your secondary and tertiary ethanol metabolism pathways confused. Then you got stuck pronouncing dehydrogenase.”
“Nicole Saint-Clair…? You gave the lecture about molecular evolution at the conference?”
“I’m touched you remembered.”
“I saw your name on the program. I didn’t actually attend the lecture.”
“That’s a shame. You might have learned something.”
“Marine biology is my field. Particularly hydrozoans.”
“I know. You told me last night. Of course, by that point you couldn’t say hydrozoan. Let alone jellyfish. But I guessed.”