by C. G. Mosley
“What I’m saying is that you will eventually get to a point where living isn’t what you want anymore. You will want to die, and after a long time, you will begin to consider taking matters into your own hands.”
Angus blinked and didn’t seem to comprehend what he was being told.
“Suicide, you old fool,” Lucy chimed in. “He’s saying that one day, many years from now, you will consider suicide.”
Angus laughed, completely dismissing what he was being told. “Somehow, I highly doubt that,” he said. He began to walk toward the fountain then stopped abruptly, turning back to the others. “I meant what I said earlier, Ms. Baker. I want you to reap the benefits of this prize with me.”
Lucy snorted and looked away. “No, thank you.”
Angus shrugged and turned back toward the sparkling pool of water. As he drew nearer to it, he could even smell the sweet liquid. He felt his mouth watering, and it was as if the fountain literally cried out for him to take a drink.
Lucy, Osvaldo, and Armando could only watch as the old man knelt down, his aged knees popping as he did so. He leaned forward and put his entire face into the blue water.
Lucy shook her head in disbelief. I can’t believe this is actually happening.
Angus took in large gulps of water, and he immediately felt the icy liquid hit his stomach and branch outward throughout his entire body. He pulled his face out of the water and sat still for a moment, allowing the magic water time to do its stuff. His body began to tremble, but the feeling he experienced was pleasant.
Osvaldo had experienced the same sensations hundreds of years ago, but seeing someone else go through it made it seem as if it were yesterday. He too remembered what it was like to feel the wave of energy expand throughout his body, then the brief fear that followed when the trembling began. But he also knew that mere seconds from now, Angus would appear more youthful and full of energy. He closed his eyes and remembered what that was like, how wonderful it seemed at first. Osvaldo opened his eyes as another terrifying memory suddenly crashed through his mind. There were dinosaurs in the cave after I drank from the fountain. Small feathery dinosaurs.
Angus turned his back to them all and rubbed the moisture away from his eyes. Suddenly, he felt as if he could run in a marathon with ease. He pictured himself running all the way back to Bethany, leaving the others on this wretched island to die. Another smile appeared on his face, and he turned to look at them.
Lucy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Angus, the old man, suddenly wasn’t old anymore. He looked more like thirty than seventy-five. The wrinkles on his face had faded away and his silver hair turned a dark brown. And his eyes. They were no longer watery and pale. They became a deep blue and now they glared at her in an unsettling way.
“I feel…alive,” Angus said as he clenched both fists. “How do I look?”
“You look…younger. Much younger,” she replied, unable to contain her disbelief.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to take a drink?” he asked, gesturing toward the fountain.
She stared at the water behind him. It did look good, and she was terribly thirsty. The blue water seemed to be begging her to come and take a drink.
“Don’t do it,” a loud voice called out behind her.
She turned to see who was there and a wide smile swept across her face when Jonathon emerged from the veil of darkness; Silas was behind him.
“Jonathon! You’re alive!” She ran to him and leapt into his arms. She immediately noticed the injuries to his abdomen and leg. He was beaten, bloody, and bruised all over. “Are you alright? You look terrible.”
“I’m fine, trust me I’m fine. I’m just glad you’re alright.” He hugged her tightly; he was just relieved that she was alive and unhurt.
For the first time in what seemed like ages, Lucy felt a tremendous amount of relief. Then something else troubling occurred to her.
“Where is Annie?”
“She’s fine,” he assured her. “I’ll explain later. We’ve got to deal with her uncle right now.”
“Yes, of course. Angus found the fountain of youth,” she said quickly. “This is why he wanted to explore the island.”
“Yeah, I’ve been watching for a few minutes,” he replied. He released her then began marching toward Angus. “You’re a lunatic,” he growled, jabbing a finger into the man’s chest. “As you can see, I’ve had a rough couple of days because of you. Men have died! And for what? So you can live forever while the rest of us drop dead around you? “
“It is regretful that life was lost,” Angus replied, with phony emotion.
Jonathon drew a clenched fist back and threw a punch across Angus’s jaw. He stumbled to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth. He looked up at Jonathon, rage burning in his blue eyes. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he snapped.
“You’re a young man now, do something about it,” he growled in reply.
Angus reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his revolver. He stood up quickly and planted the barrel of the gun against Jonathon’s forehead.
“Will this suffice?” he asked. He released a sinister chuckle.
“Angus, please no!” Lucy pleaded.
Jonathon directed both his eyes at the barrel of the gun and suddenly felt incredibly foolish. How could he have been so stupid? He knew the man had a gun.
Silas took a step toward them. “Angus, put the gun down!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he replied. “Jonathon deserves this. I should’ve never brought him along.”
“You shouldn’t have brought any of us along,” Jonathon replied, trying to swallow his fear.
“It’s ironic that I’ve just experienced a rebirth of sorts, and you are on the verge of experiencing death,” Angus said. “I didn’t want it to be this way, really I didn’t.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Lucy pleaded.
Osvaldo stood motionless, seemingly uninterested in what was going on. He was scanning the shadows for movement. He’d looked in every corner and saw nothing. He was just about to give up looking when finally he caught a glimpse of something. A familiar silhouette emerged from the deepest point in the chamber. Soon, he caught a glimpse of another, then another. Soon, he saw six dinosaurs altogether creeping toward them.
“Stop with this madness!” he yelled. “We have other problems now,” he said, gesturing toward the shadows.
Angus kept the gun pointed at Jonathon, but he turned to see what Osvaldo was referring to. He saw several dinosaurs, roughly five feet high, moving in their direction. As one stepped into a beam of light, he saw red-and-white feathers covering the dinosaur’s head.
“Jonathon, what is that?” he asked calmly.
He turned away from Angus, ignoring the gun still pointed at him. “It appears to be a Troodon,” he said, turning to Lucy for confirmation.
She nodded. “They have binocular vision; yes, I think you may be right. But they have feathers!”
“Yeah,” he replied. “They look kind of like big chickens.” Jonathon stared at the dinosaurs in amazement; he seemed to forget all about Angus.
“Jonathon, I hate to break up your little moment here,” Silas said. “But, are those things gonna eat us?”
Silas’s question snapped him back into reality. Most experts believed the Troodon to be an herbivore, but at the same time, they were considered highly intelligent in relation to other dinosaurs. More so than even the Velociraptor. Jonathon didn’t think that they were moving toward them to eat them; however, if they were unwanted guests, he could certainly see the animals attacking them simply to remove them.
“I don’t think they want to eat us,” he said.
Silas breathed a sigh of relief.
“But,” he continued, “I do think they mean to harm us. They don’t want us here.”
Angus suddenly felt fearful and he turned the gun off of Jonathon and pointed it toward the dinosaurs.
“Angus, don’t do
that,” Jonathon snapped. “You’ll just piss them off. You can’t kill all of them.”
Angus couldn’t believe his luck. He’d made it so far. Finally, he drank from them fountain and received the gift of eternal youth. Now, he was on the verge of having that gift ripped cruelly away from him.
“I didn’t go through everything I’ve gone through to die now,” he said coldly. He turned away from them and began to walk toward the mouth of the cave.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Silas barked.
Angus stopped momentarily. “I’m leaving. They clearly don’t want us here.”
“It’s not that simple,” Jonathon replied. “They’re animals. They’ll probably chase after us.”
Angus laughed heartily. “Who said that all of us were leaving? I’m going to go and the rest of you will stay here while I escape.”
Silas felt a rage unlike any he’d ever experienced before. His blood pressure had risen sky high and all he wanted to do now was kill his former friend.
“You’re a real piece of work, Angus,” he growled. “I can’t believe how much you had me fooled.”
“Silas, I’m sorry that you feel that way,” he replied. “I sincerely wanted you to receive this gift with me.”
“I’ve got a gift I’d love to give you too,” Silas snorted and clenched his fist. “Put that gun down and I’ll be happy to give it to you.”
“Let him leave,” Jonathon said calmly.
Silas spun around in disbelief. “Are you nuts? You want him to get away while we die?”
“I don’t want him anywhere near me anymore. Chances are pretty good he won’t make it back to the ship anyway,” he replied.
Silas was about to protest further when he noticed Jonathon give him a subtle wink. He didn’t know what Jonathon had in mind, but he knew he had to trust him.
“Good riddance, Angus,” he said finally.
Angus replied with a wave and a theatrical bow, and then he turned and pranced out of the cave to enjoy the rest of his life. He couldn’t help but smirk as he stepped into the jungle again. He’d outsmarted them all. Sure, there were dangers out here and he had to be extremely careful on the trip back. But he was now young and full of energy. He also had the gun. Most of the dinosaurs they’d encountered ran when they heard gunshots. All he had to do was steer clear of the tyrannosaur and he would be alright.
It was going to be a long and dangerous walk back. He stopped a brief moment to check the revolver so he was absolutely sure the weapon was fully loaded. He smiled when he got confirmation that the gun was good to go. It was basically his ticket out of there, and it comforted him greatly to have it. With the gun clasped tightly in his right hand, he began walking again in the direction he knew would lead him back to the ship. No sooner had he taken his first step, something moved in the bushes nearby. The sound made it seem large, but at first glance, he saw nothing. A large, round eye that reminded him of a cat’s eye blinked in the foliage where he was looking. The Velociraptor began to move carefully in his direction. Angus clenched his jaw and raised the revolver toward the animal’s head.
“You picked the wrong meal today buddy,” he whispered as he pulled back the hammer.
He never saw the other raptor approach him from behind. It was only when the animal sank its dagger teeth into the back of his neck that he knew it was there. He tried to open his mouth to scream, not so much from the pain, but to release the overwhelming anger that suddenly overcame him. Eternal life was being ripped away from him only mere minutes after he’d captured it. He wanted to scream, but it was useless as he felt his larynx crush under the hundreds of pounds of bite pressure the raptor was designed to inflict. The one in front of him continued to approach very slowly. It seemed to be happy and content to watch him die before it began to feast upon his flesh. Angus was an extremely easy kill. The second Velociraptor held its grip on his throat, and Angus knew his jugular vein had been severed when he saw blood literally spraying from the gaping wound.
He tried desperately to inhale, just to take one more sweet breath of life before his became extinguished forever. It wasn’t air he felt fill his lungs, but liquid instead. Finally, the Velociraptor released him and Angus fell flat on his back. He gazed up at the sky above and felt intense regret as everything began to darken around him. The last thing he saw before total darkness took over were more Velociraptors peering down at him from above his dying body. He closed his eyes just as they all began to lunge at him in unison. Fortunately, his body spared him the physical and emotional pain of being eaten alive.
***
“Forget about Angus,” Jonathon said sternly. “We’ve got to deal with the Troodons right now. We’ll get Angus later.”
He was amazed and somewhat proud of how calm he’d managed to sound. He thought of the pack of Velociraptors outside, and if his hunch was right, Angus would be enough to keep them busy while they made their escape from the cave. If we make our escape from the cave, he thought. The others stared at him attentively, waiting for his next command.
“What do we do about them?” Silas asked, an unusual quake in his voice. He was clearly terrified.
Jonathon thought hard for some sort of response, but all he could do was look on as all of the Troodons closed in around them.
“You’ve dealt with these things before?” he asked Osvaldo with desperation in his voice.
Osvaldo nodded. “They were here the last time I visited this cave. I narrowly escaped with my life that day.”
“Well, don’t be bashful,” Jonathon said. “Feel free to share with all of us how you made your escape.”
“They were far fewer in numbers than they are now,” he replied. “I don’t know that we will be able to run past them.”
Jonathon closed his eyes tightly as he could think of only one option. He pulled Lucy tightly against him, knowing full well he would be unable to bear the sight of her getting ripped apart by the savage animals. He thought of young Armando. The boy was just beginning his life. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to end for him. There was only one thing left to do.
“Lucy, get out of here,” he whispered.
“What?”
“You heard me. Get out of here,” he said again. He looked at the other three. “You guys go on and get out of here. You make darn sure you get Lucy off this island. I’ll distract them.”
“No,” Lucy snapped angrily. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Jonathon jerked her around to face him. The Troodons jumped back at the sign of aggression and looked on curiously. “Lucy, we don’t have time for this. I’m gonna get them to go after me while the rest of you run out of here. And don’t stop running until you get far away from this cave because I know there are Velociraptors outside too.”
Lucy shook her head, her eyes glazed over with both fury and sadness. Then they began to well up with tears. She knew there would be no talking him out of this.
The Troodons began to hiss loudly and continued to slowly tighten their circle around the invaders of their cave.
“Don’t be silly, Jonathon,” Silas growled. “I’ve got thirty years on you. You kids get out of here. I’ll hold them off. I always knew sooner or later wild animals would be the end of me. I just never thought it would be dinosaurs,” he said with a forced chuckle.
“We will both stay with you, Jonathon,” Osvaldo said. “We will stay by your side while Lucy and Armando escape.”
Jonathon held up his hands. He knew they had only precious seconds left before the Troodons attacked. “No thanks, guys. I’ve got to do this. Lucy and Armando will need your help to get back to the beach.”
Osvaldo and Silas seemed to completely ignore him as they took their places next to him. “No more time to argue, Jonathon,” Osvaldo said. “It’s time.”
Jonathon knew there was nothing left to say. He hugged Lucy again tightly and looked over at Armando. “You get her out of here, kid, I’m counting on you.”
Armando n
odded, and then looked at his grandfather. He fought back tears.
“Goodbye, Armando,” Osvaldo said softly.
As soon as the words passed his lips, Osvaldo did something totally unexpected. He reached out and slapped the Troodon nearest to him on the nose and darted away toward the back of the cave.
“All of you run away now!” he yelled.
Jonathon couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “What are you doing? This wasn’t the plan!”
“Grandfather, no!” Armando cried out in horror.
Osvaldo continued to run as fast as he could deeper into the cave, all of the dinosaurs immediately gave chase after him. “Run now! I don’t know how much longer I can keep them distracted. This is what I want!”
Those were the last words Osvaldo ever spoke as the pack of Troodons swarmed over him and the man disappeared beneath the chaos.
Jonathon began to shake with anger as the realization of what had just happened began to set in. Osvaldo sacrificed himself so that the rest of them could escape. It was a noble gesture, and although Jonathon felt a tremendous amount of respect for the man who so willingly gave his life, this wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen.
Suddenly, he felt a firm grip tug on his forearm. He looked over and found that it was Silas. “The man made his choice. Don’t let him die for nothing!”
Jonathon nodded and grabbed Lucy by the arm. He began to run and tried his best to drown out the gruesome sounds of the massacre behind him. He heard Armando screaming in agony. Silas had grabbed the young man and literally threw him over his shoulder to get him out of there.
The four of them ran out of the cave and didn’t stop until they found the two ATVs Jonathon and Silas had left. Jonathon collapsed on a large patch of clover and it took a few minutes to regain his breath. Lucy fell beside him and rolled over on her back. She finally got an opportunity to process what had just happened and she wept uncontrollably.
Jonathon crawled next to her and he tried to think of something to say to comfort her. Then he thought of Armando who was now curled up in the fetal position on the ground. He was shaking, and possibly in shock. Who could blame the kid after what he’d just seen. Even Silas seemed to be struggling to accept what had just happened.