by K D McNiven
“Woah, it stinks in here.” Her nose wrinkled with displeasure. “What’s that smell?”
“Stagnation, mixed with reptiles.” He turned his head slightly to see her face crumpled.
That tidbit of news didn’t thrill Meg, and wary, she stayed slightly behind Rourke as it had grown darker once they rounded the corner. They could hear high-pitched squeals, clueing them to the fact, there were rats up ahead. After a few more steps, the steel pipe became a solid rock tunnel, quite a bit larger than the pipe.
Meg screamed when something brushed up against her leg. Startled, Rourke flashed the light around, catching sight of a coypu, a large brown semiaquatic rodent. Meg placed her hand to her heart and expelled her air, relief filling her. The coypu, an herbivorous, didn’t appear to be too interested in the two of them, rather it looked quite frightened and wanted to escape fast as it could.
“Thankfully, it wasn’t a snake or I’d been climbing your back,” she chuckled.
“You never were a snake lover.”
“Some things never change, Rourke. At least not my distaste for snakes,” she said.
He caught her veiled inference but chose to remain quiet. Up ahead were several black rats diving into the muddied water, scurrying past them. Meg pressed her body against the now solid rock wall to let the creatures pass by. Any movement set her on high alert. If they met up with a Purussaurus all Rourke had in his possession was the rifle slung over his shoulder to defend them, and she’d already witnessed that bullets did very little to stop the beasts.
When they’d gone another two hundred feet, they turned a corner, stopping when they came upon a wide, cement platform and at the far side, thick steel bars blocking an opening. At their left-hand side, they spotted a door, the only way out. Without hesitation, Rourke moved in lithe strides to grab the handle. Frustration waxed in him finding the door locked tight.
“Damn! The door looks to be made of steel.”
He pushed against it with his shoulder several times, hoping it would give way but found it solid as the rock cave they were standing in. Meg walked over to the far side and crouched, scraping two fingers on the floor. She turned her head to catch Rourke’s attention. “It looks like blood. In fact, lots of dried blood—as if some kind of creature has been feeding here.”
Rourke walked over beside her; his face drawn in concern. He glanced up to see a square door directly above them. “Appears someone has been dumping food from that chute.”
“I don’t like this, Rourke. We need to get out of here…like now, else we’re going to be food for the day.”
He could see fear sparking in the depths of her eyes. He nodded. Reaching out his hand, she grabbed hold while he helped her back to her feet. “Come on. I agree. Time to get the hell out of here.”
Just as they started to walk forward, they heard the splashing of water. Not light splashing like the coypu had made while frantically scampering out. Rather something very large, and heading their way.
Meg turned to Rourke, her heart pounding. They were trapped with no way out. They turned anxiously and ran toward the door again. In a vain attempt, Rourke gave several hard kicks with his foot, making no headway. Remorse flashed in his steel-gray eyes as he turned to Meg, his face stricken.
“I’m sorry, Meg. Why didn’t you stay back at the jeep?”
“Be…because…why didn’t you?”
The unnerving sloshing sound increased.
In a panic, they searched for a way to escape. Even if they shimmied up the bars it wouldn’t do any good considering the Purussaurus’ height.
“What about the chute? Do you think it would pull forward if we climbed up there?” asked Meg.
“No idea, but we don’t have a lot of options left except to try it out.” With that, he grabbed hold of the bars and began climbing upward, Meg shimmying up the bars close behind, the muscles in her arms quivering as she clung to the cold steel with all of her might. She tried wedging her feet but her tennis shoes were slathered with mud and slick. Despite all of her efforts, she could feel herself sliding slowly downward.
“I’m not going to make it, Rourke!”
***
Jayden glanced at his watch. Eight minutes had passed, and still nothing. He had called out several times, hoping to get an answer. Nothing, except the chatter of the monkey’s overhead. He knew Meg had told him what to do. Nonetheless, he felt as if he was abandoning them. His hand slipped to the key, his mind reeling. For the life of him, he had no idea how to get past the gates at the warehouse. And then they had the dog to contend with.
“She said if they hadn’t returned in five minutes to go back,” Kyle said prodding him, his shirt soaked through with sweat. Terrified, dark eyes stared desperately at Jayden, wondering what he would do. Time was slipping away.
“Yeah. I know. I just kept hoping they’d get out of there.”
From somewhere nearby, they heard the snapping of rubber tree plants, aerial roots of strangler figs, and the dense umbrella overhead began to quake. Within minutes, the underbrush shook fiercely as if an earthquake had erupted. All things considered, they knew they were not looking at a small animal breaking through the thick wall of vines and scrub, rather something monstrous. Kyle stared into the bushes, unable to tear his gaze away. Seconds later, he spotted the dinosaur smashing through the timbers. It flung its head back, its mouth gaping. Threads of sunlight glinted off sharp rows of teeth and amber eyes locked in on the mouth of the cave.
“Get out of here!” Kyle shouted. “Now!”
Jayden honked the horn several times, trying to divert the beast’s attention. Briefly, it appeared to start towards them, then single-mindedly, it continued its advance toward the over-sized drainage pipe. He turned the key in a panic, revved the engine, and spun the jeep around, adrenalin pumping wildly through his veins. He jammed the accelerator to the floor, mud spattering everywhere. No time to lose, his mind screamed. If they didn’t get out of there immediately the dinosaur could change directions and come scrambling up the bank after them. His heart sank thinking about Rourke and Meg being somewhere in the pipe, and they had no way to help them.
“Oh, no!” Kyle groaned. “It’s heading for the passageway!”
Even as they distanced themselves, they heard a loud rumble dislodging from the beast’s mouth. Briefly, Kyle wondered if there were more of them following? But as Jayden sped away, Kyle didn’t see any more of the Purussaurus and breathed a sigh of relief.
“We have to get inside the compound and see if they made it all the way through the culvert drainage pipe, and into the warehouse.” Jayden kept driving the jeep hard, whipping the steering wheel to the right when they reached the warehouse. The two guards were still standing directly in front of the gates, though Jayden didn’t see the dog anywhere. His guess, the dog wasn’t far away.
“Glad I threw the bone in,” Kyle said. “No doubt we’ll need it.”
“Should we try to talk the guards into letting us in first before making the grand entrance?” asked Jayden.
“Don’t think it will do us much good, do you?”
“What the hell…” he stopped the jeep short of the gate, watching as one man raised his rifle and trained it on them. “Hold up! We don’t want any trouble. We only want to speak with the owner?”
“Sorry. Isn’t possible. Now, if you’d kindly take your asses out of here.”
Frustration mounted in Jayden. The man’s smug look irritated him. “Look, we only want to ask a few questions. What harm is there in that?”
“Hit the road,” he said hard-faced. He looked highly agitated by Jayden’s insistence. “I said no. You daft or something?”
Giving thought to Rourke and Meg, Jayden decided not to waste any more time. He hit the pedal, gunned the engine and the jeep barreled forward toward the gate. His heart began to hammer against his chest as one of the men raised his rifle, popping off a couple of shots which tore through the metal hood.
Jayden and Kyle ducked lo
w but did not let the bullets impede their frontal advance. With a loud crash, they broke through the front gates, the two men jumping to the side to avoid being run over. Jayden and Kyle hopped out of the jeep running headlong toward the men before they could push themselves back onto their feet.
The dog seemed to spring out of nowhere, bounding toward them. Kyle had grabbed the bone off the seat before leaping from the jeep, and he flung it toward the dog, hoping it would be more interested in it than them, and to his surprise, the dog came to a halt, grabbed hold of the meaty bone, and hurried off around the side of the building.
When Jayden reached the man who had taken potshots at them, he swung the butt of his rifle, slamming it hard against the guy’s head. There was a loud crack, a moan, and the man slithered to the ground, a thin stream of blood trickling down his cheek.
Kyle made a wide swing toward the other man who had long, slicked-back hair, secured by a rubber band. In response, the guy thrust up his arm to block the blow, then countered with a right punch, striking Kyle’s jaw. Kyle grunted and staggered backward, fighting to regain his composure, but not soon enough. He rushed Kyle, knocking him to the ground, and like a panther, leaped on top of Kyle using him as a punching bag.
Free now, Jayden rushed to Kyle’s defense, grabbing the man’s ponytail and yanked his head back sharply. He screamed in pain. Jayden’s foot whipped forward, catching the man in the face, relieved when the guy’s body went lax as a rag doll.
Jayden stretched out his hand to Kyle and pulled him to his feet, noticing his jaw had a lump and already had black and purple bruising.
“Where did you learn how to fight like that?” Kyle asked, rubbing his jaw. “Not that I objected, mind you. He was kicking my butt.”
“We’ll talk fighting skills once we figure out how to get Meg and Rourke out of there,” Jayden said, rushing toward the door, snagging the man’s rifle off the ground as he did.
Chapter Seventeen
⁂
Meg’s arms cramped, her muscles retaliating as she continued shimmying up the bars, sliding back a foot for every two feet she advanced. Her fingers ached as she clung in a vice grip to the steel poles, her strength waning, and she prayed she wouldn’t let go. At a certain point, she was forced to stop while Rourke fought to get the chute open. Trying to wedge his feet between the bars to hold himself steady, he pulled out his army knife and tried to slide it beneath the latch. Flustered, he pried and twisted the edge in an effort to break it free.
The heavy footfall, nearly upon them, threw Meg into a panic. They had literally no time left. A cracking sound came from above and the chute dropped down.
“Hurry Meg,” Rourke said, gripping her arm and helping her to move upward, his boots tightly jammed in the bars. He could feel his body inching downward but didn’t dare let her go, laboring to hold his position. He could feel the muscles in his arms cramping and didn’t know how much longer he could keep from sliding to the bottom.
Relief filled him when he saw her hands catch the edge of the chute. With as much strength as he could muster, he pushed her up and into the trough. As soon as she made it over the rim, she dropped to the floor on the opposite side, allowing room for Rourke to climb in. Rourke’s fingers curled around the edge of the chute, straining to draw himself upward, his legs dangling vulnerably, his arms overtaxed and shaking.
Her heart lurched in her chest when she spotted the Purussaurus rounding the bend, its mouth opening to reveal two rows of sharp teeth. As it caught sight of Rourke, it hurried its gate, releasing a threatening roar. It was monstrous. They felt the vibration as its feet slapping solidly against the cement floor, heading directly for him.
“Rourke!” Meg screamed.
Rourke’s shirt caught on the splintered edge preventing him from climbing all the way into the chute. He reached his hand back, fumbling with the material, trying to get free. He could almost feet the beast’s breath, and heard loud hissing coming out of its wide snout. Frantically, he yanked at the material until it ripped free, and with a burst of energy, he rolled inside the bucketed area, dropping to the other side just as the dinosaur bashed into the steel bars.
Meg rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him. Tears coursed down her cheeks, and when she lifted her head, Rourke bent down and kissed her passionately, his hands holding her face. Meg’s heart, which had been racing with fear, now pulsed with a burning desire for the man she had always loved. Or was it the result of an adrenalin rush, she wondered?
When he released her, they stared into one another’s eyes, their breath heavy. It wasn’t until the Purussaurus began bashing into the bars again they were transported back to reality. It roared loudly, tremors of sound reverberating through the cave. They realized with horror it had been joined by another smaller one, both looking hungry and ready to attack, aggressively slamming against the bars, bowing them inward.
“Let’s see if there’s a way out of here,” Rourke said grabbing her hand and nearly dragging her along behind him.
They rushed down a long, black and white checker-board tiled hall, stopping when they came to a second door—unfortunately, locked tight. “Damn,” he sputtered, cranking on the knob several times.
“Rourke,” Meg said, pointing her finger. “A vent. If you remove the screws, it looks large enough for us to climb through.”
“Meg, you’re brilliant.”
Taking out his pocket knife once again, Rourke began turning the screws with the tip. One at a time, they clinked onto the hard tile. Using both hands he tugged at the metal covering until it slipped free. Meg was right. The had plenty of room to maneuver in. He climbed through into the aluminum ducting on hands and knees, hearing the rustle of Meg following close behind. The crawl space took several turns, then Rourke stopped abruptly and held up his palm. Below he could hear a clamor of voices. He got down on his stomach and looked through the vent.
“They broke through the front gate!” came a frantic woman’s voice.
“Yes, and they are trying to bust down the door to get in,” a man’s voice replied.
“Where’s Ramon and Aberto?”
“Cameras showed they had been knocked unconscious. I’m going to get one of the rifles from the cabinet, they won’t get away with this!”
“Hurry James!”
Rourke passed a look over his shoulder to see surprise written on Meg’s face.
“I told Jayden and Kyle if we didn’t get back within five minutes to drive through the gate and try to get us out.”
Rourke smiled. “Sounds like they listened but if we don’t get out of here to help them, they may get shot in the process. I need to get turned around. I’m going to kick the vent out and drop to the floor.”
“What about the woman?”
“Don’t worry. I can handle her,” he said. Rourke shimmied his body until he’d managed to make a full circle. Drawing back both feet, he then thrust them forward, the panel breaking free from the wall. Without hesitation, he dropped down from the ceiling, hearing the gasp of the woman in front of him.
The woman started for the door, but in lightning-quick steps, Rourke overtook her. His arms held her captive while Meg slid down out of the hole in the ceiling, hanging on to the edge and then dropping to the floor.
Meg identified the woman as one of the scientists because she was wearing a white lab coat. Presumably, one of the scientists guilty of creating the Purussaurus. By the look on her face, she was fully aware of the fact she would be held accountable for the multiple victims who had lost their lives over the past couple of years.
Panning the area, Meg looked at the various oddities throughout the sterile lab. Row after row of large glass containers was spread out on shelves throughout the room, all filled with various animal specimens. In fact, Meg couldn’t remember ever seeing anything even closely similar to what she saw floating inside the round jars—some so grotesque she nearly vomited.
Rourke released her but blocked the doorway so she couldn’t r
un out. “Who are you? And what is this place?”
“Dietrich Laboratories,” she replied. “I’m Dr. Anna Povlov.”
“Well, Anna Povlov,” Rourke said, his eyes narrowed. “Perhaps you’d like to tell me what the hell is going on here?”
“Research.”
Rourke shook his head. “Don’t give me that drivel. We get you’re doing research. What kind of research, and who is behind it, is what we’re interested in finding out?” He stretched his palm forward, sweeping it in a half-circle, wanting her to explain what their research entailed.
“Rain forest animals and such.”
“Look, I’m not in the mood for your deceitful explanations. We’re not idiots! So get to the point! We know about the Purussaurus, and we want to know how you managed to recreate them?”
Anna looked frightened. She ran her tongue over her dry lips, her eyes darting back and forth as if she was going to make a mad attempt to get past them. Rourke stood firm by the door, blocking any attempt she might make.”
Realizing she was wasting their time, Rourke said, “Meg, find something to tie her up with. We need to go help Jayden and Kyle.”
Meg rushed through the room pulling out drawers in order to find something they could use. Fortunately, there was a bin filled with bungee cords and rope. She quickly grabbed some rope and a hardwood chair, dragging it over to where Anna stood. With both palms, she pushed Anna onto it and began wrapping the rope snugly around her.
“You won’t get away with this,” Anna sneered. “You’re breaking and entering. The police will arrest you once they find out.”
“Go ahead. Call them when you get free, why don’t you? I’m sure they’ll be interested in what you’ve been up to, beings how it’s cost the lives of many of the villagers here in São Brazilia. See if you can talk your way out of it. You’d better come up with something a bit better than the garbage you’ve been shoveling us.”
Anna’s face went ashen. “It was never meant to happen this way. We thought we could control them…we never meant for anyone to get hurt…”