Dinosaur World

by Logan Jacobs

  We went through the gate and out onto the street. It was the first time I had set foot off campus since the dinosaurs appeared, and I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect. The street right in front of campus was pretty clear. There were a few parked cars with broken windows, but nothing too insane.

  We reached the junction for the first street and saw a pickup truck with an open door sitting directly in the middle of a mini roundabout. I looked around for anyone that might have just gotten out of it, but the streets were clear in every direction.

  “Should we look inside?” I asked.

  “What if it’s a trap?” Hae-won asked and studied the car.

  “I don’t know about that,” I replied. I was glad she was thinking of everything with suspicion, but I really didn’t see what kind of trap this could be.

  If these dinosaurs were smart enough to leave traps, then we were totally fucked.

  “We should still be careful,” the dark-haired woman repeated.

  “Okay, how about you and Becka circle around it that way?” I suggested. “I’ll circle this way, and we can make sure there’s nothing off about it.”

  “Okay, Jason,” Hae-won agreed.

  We all moved off and started to circle around the truck. I made sure that there was nothing around us or the truck itself. It looked like an entirely normal truck with nothing underneath and, other than the open door, it didn’t look out of place.

  “Okay, I’ll go up and check inside,” I said. “You two can stay back and watch my back.”

  They nodded and Hae-won brandished her sword.

  I moved in toward the door, careful to make sure there was nothing lurking inside. It was an old silver crew-cab truck, the kind I would expect to see more in America than the middle of london. It had a gray fabric interior and old-fashioned stick-shift, and when I got close, I could smell the scent of cigarette smoke that had leaked into the fabric. There were no keys in the ignition or anywhere else that I could see.

  I checked the front seats and found that they were empty except for some loose change in the front cup holders. That wasn’t of much use to us right now, so I left it. There was a flashlight in the glove compartment, which I collected and stored in my backpack. The real find, however, was in the nook between the center console and front seats. There was a long, black, cloth, zipper-case which I instantly recognized as a gun bag.

  I reached in, pulled the case toward me, and carefully unzipped it. Inside was exactly what I had been hoping for: a bolt action hunting rifle with a decent looking scope.

  “Hey, look at this.” I turned and showed the girls my find and they both grinned at the sight.

  “Wow, nice one,” Hae-won said.

  “Yeah,” I said as I glanced over the butt of the stock and saw the name “Sako” stamped on a metal plate there.

  “What caliber is it?” the Korean girl asked.

  “Uhhh, let me check,” I said as I ejected the small magazine from the bottom and pulled out one of the big bullets. “Ahh, cool. It’s a .308.”

  “Is that big enough to kill these dinosaurs?” Becka asked.

  “For sure,” I said as I put the bullet back into the magazine.

  “And you know how to use it?” Becka pressed. “I know you are a Yank and all and you are born with guns in your hands and--”

  “I can shoot,” I laughed. “I’m not like a soldier or anything military like that, but I’ve been to the range and hunting a few times.”

  “Brilliant,” the blonde signed with relief. “How many shots in it?”

  “Five in the magazine and…” I cracked open the bolt and saw another bullet there. “... Six total.”

  “Can you find any more bullets?”

  “Let’s look,” I said as I slid the magazine back into the rifle, gently put the gun back in the holder, and tried the back door of the truck, happy to find that it opened. In the right footwell there was a single. I grabbed the box and then sighed when I heard the bullets jingle in there loosely.

  It meant that the box wasn’t full.

  “Just fifteen more,” I said after I’d opened the box and counted the bullets.

  “That doesn’t sound like a lot,” Becka sighed.

  “It’s not much,” I said, “but if an emergency situation comes up, we can defend ourselves. Also, three-oh-eight is a common round, so we can probably find more.”

  I quickly scanned over the rest of the backseat’s contents. I was hoping we might get lucky and score an extra stash of ammo or even another weapon. Unfortunately, there was nothing more than some crumpled shirts and sweatshirts.

  “Looks like that’s all the bullets,” I said as I slung it over my shoulder. I needed both hands to use the sword properly, and I figured if something was so close that I didn’t have time to take out the gun, a short-range weapon was better.

  “I can’t believe I actually found a gun,” I said and walked back to the women. “I thought they were like an endangered species in England.”

  “We are allowed hunting weapons,” Becka said and rolled her eyes at me. “You just have to have a reason to get it. You can’t show up and buy a machine gun with a grenade launcher on it without answering any questions, like you Americans.”

  “We have to answer some questions,” I protested.

  “Like what?” she replied.

  “Cash or credit card?” I grinned.

  “Right.” She crossed her arms, but I could see her struggling to hold back a laugh.

  “I’m kidding, they do background checks,” I explained. “Usually, that is. I mean, we do have Texas and Florida. Pretty sure they do buy one-get one free there. What’s it like in South Korea?”

  “Even harsher than here,” Hae-won explained. “People can own guns for hunting, but they have to keep them at the police station unless they are going out to hunt. You can get ten years in prison if you get caught with one.”

  “Damn,” I said. “Then I guess it’s safe to say I’m probably the best shot out of all of us.”

  “Yeah, I haven’t shot one,” Hae-won confessed.

  “I’ve used airsoft,” Becka said. “But, no, I've never shot any real ones.”

  “I’ll teach you both to shoot, if we can find more ammo,” I said.

  “We’ll find some,” the dark-haired girl said in a sing-song tone.

  “You want to learn?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she answered.

  I smiled at her and we all continued walking down the road. We reached the second intersection, and I still hadn’t seen a single other person or car moving around. It gave the city a strange abandoned feel that grated against reality.

  We reached the first shop, Tesco Metro, and from the outside I could see that we didn’t have much of a chance in finding supplies inside. The windows and sliding door were all shattered, and I could see straight into the shop. Even back from 100 feet I could see the empty shelves inside.

  “Should we check inside?” Becka asked.

  “It looks pretty empty,” I replied.

  “Yeah,” she agreed.

  I scanned the shop more as we stepped in closer to it, and from what I could see there didn’t seem to be anything inside. There was no movement from there, either, so I guessed that it was at least safe to enter, even if it wasn’t helpful.

  “We came all this way,” I said. “We should probably have a look.”

  The girls nodded and we stepped in through the shattered automated doors to get a closer look. Just like I thought, the shelves were bare of anything that we could use to stock food. The only things left were perishable fruits and vegetables in the produce section.

  Becka went down an aisle that used to be stocked with canned goods, but now there were only a few cans of olives and sliced mushrooms that wouldn’t be much help. She reached down to a bottom shelf and pulled out a bag of brown rice. It had been pushed all the way to the way to the back of the shelf but was still there, intact. She pushed the bag into her backpack and got down on her knees
to scan farther back on the bottom shelves.

  “Shit, this place is basically empty,” I said.

  “Yeah, nothing good.” Hae-won reached for a jar of pasta sauce left on one of the higher shelves and handed it to Becka to store away.

  Becka didn’t find anything on the shelf, so she got up and continued down the aisle. Then she stopped when she got to the end and looked down the side of the row.

  “Well, here’s something,” she said.

  “What is it?” I asked and came over to see what she was looking at.

  “The American section.” She smirked.

  I scanned over the few shelves with that label in the end row. They were mostly full still, but they seemed to be mostly candy and junk food. There were Reese’s cups, marshmallow fluff, some pop tarts, a few packs of beef jerky, gatorade, iced tea, and some boxes of lucky charms.

  I sighed, annoyed that almost none of them would be of much nutritional value beyond extra calories. They had small sections like this in most stores next to the Chinese, Indian, and Italian sections, but it was typically just filled with candy and similar stuff. I grabbed the beef jerky and gatorade and then passed it to Becka to add to her open bag.

  “You don’t want any of these sweets?” she asked.

  “Nah,” I replied. “We should save the space for more valuable stuff. This is just sugar. I think we’re going to have to keep moving and check out the other store.”

  “Yes,” Hae-won agreed from over in the meat and dairy section. “There is nothing over here, either.”

  “Dammit,” I replied.

  I don't know what I was hoping for exactly. I knew this place was smaller, like a lot of the city grocery stores, but I thought they might have enough to last us a bit longer. The Sainsbury’s down the road was bigger, but that would mean more competition for the resources. Fighting dinosaurs was hard enough, I didn't want to have to fight people as well.

  My thoughts were cut short by the sound of loud crashing from outside. It was jarring in its volume, like a roll of close thunder. I couldn’t think of anything that would have been able to make the sound, but then the shelves started to rattle, and the glass shards from the windows pinged together as they shifted on the floor.

  “What is that?” I asked and looked over to the two girls. I guessed the look of shock on their faces mirrored my own.

  “What the fuck?” Becka yelled.

  I ran over to the doors to see what was happening and coming down the street toward us was the biggest dinosaur I had seen yet. It towered over the street at about thirty feet and walked on four massive legs which pounded and shook the pavement. It must have been the size of a small office building, and it probably weighed as much as ten cars.

  And it was headed in our way.

  Chapter 10

  The dinosaur’s back formed a sloping arch that could have been mistaken for a hill if it wasn’t crashing through the street. Along its spine were large, diamond shaped plates and its long tail had spikes on the end that swung around, smacked into the buildings, and sent glass and bricks flying.

  It didn’t have any feathers like the previous dinos we had fought, and its leathery skin was a mix of gray and forest green shades.

  “What the hell is that thing?” Becka asked, “What should we do?”

  “I think it’s a stegosaurus,” I replied over the banging. “They don’t eat meat.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “No,” I laughed nervously.

  “It does look different,” Hae-won observed as she joined me in the doorway. “No sharp teeth or huge claws.”

  “I think we need to stay back, though,” I cautioned. “That tail looks lethal.”

  “So we just stay here?” the blonde asked and didn’t seem convinced. “It won’t come in here?”

  “I don’t think so,” I replied. “It isn’t paying attention to anything right now, it’s just walking.”

  “Okay,” Hae-won said as Becka nodded, and we all pushed back deeper into the store to make sure there were plenty of metal shelves between us and the windows.

  “Get low to the ground,” I instructed, “And make sure to keep your eyes covered in case glass gets thrown in this direction.”

  We all sat on the floor at the back of the shop, and I folded my arms across my face. I could hear the thing approaching, and I really hoped my elementary knowledge of dinosaurs hadn’t failed me. It looked like one I recognized as an herbivore and even if it wasn’t that exact one, it didn’t have any of the qualities of a carnivore. Still, I had no idea what the fuck it was doing walking down a London street right next to Cambridge, and the thought crossed my mind that it might have been a mistake to assume anything about these creatures at all.

  The pounding steps came closer, and I could tell they were on the street just outside the shop. I held my breath as I heard them passing close to us, but to my relief they didn’t seem to slow down or stop. Suddenly, I heard the sound of glass and wood breaking and crashing around us. It sounded like things were getting thrown around the building, and I fought the urge to open my eyes to check.

  After a moment of chaos the sounds died down, and I could hear the steps carry on down the road. Cautiously, I removed my arms from my face and began to look around. The shop was a complete mess, full of splintered wood, glass, and other small debris. The shelves all remained upright, so I guessed the creature's tail had dragged across the front of the building but hadn’t actually reached inside the shop.

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked as the girls began to open their eyes to the scene.

  “I think so,” Hae-won replied as she looked herself over for any injuries.

  “I got a few scrapes from the glass,” Becka explained. “But they aren’t bleeding, really. It should be okay.”

  “Good.” I took in another deep breath. “I’m going to check outside and make sure everything is clear.”

  “Okay, Jason,” Hae-won said as she got to her feet and started to help Becka up.

  I crossed the shop back over to the gaping automated doors and poked my head out. As I looked down the street, I could make out the hulking shape of the dinosaur still lumbering forward. Then I saw different shapes moving around it with flashes of electric blue and green.

  I focused to try to get a better look at the dinos around the stegosaurus’ massive legs. I counted six, and it could have just been my imagination, but they seemed to move in a pack-like mentality around the larger dinosaur.

  I wondered if they were preparing to try to take it down.

  “We need to keep moving,” I shouted into the shop to the two women.

  “Is something wrong?” the dark-haired girl asked as she joined me in the doorway.

  “I think there might be a dinosaur fight about to go down,” I explained. “I don’t want to be anywhere near it.”

  Hae-won’s expression grew grave, and she looked back at Becka and motioned for the blonde to come to the door.

  “What?” The blonde was still dusting herself off, but she seemed to recognize our concern and hurried over.

  “We need to get the fuck out of here,” I said as I nodded down the street to the group of dinosaurs.

  “We should go to the next shop,” the blue-eyed woman said. “They may start fighting each other, but we still need more food.”

  “You’re right,” I said, “Luckily that group went the other direction. Let’s keep moving as quickly as we can and try to get in and out before anything else appears.”

  We set out into the street, and I could see as we passed just how much destruction that large dinosaur had caused. Everything in a ten-foot radius of the ends of the street was shattered or crushed. Cars that had been parked on the side of the road had caved in doors and puncture wounds, and fences, trashcans, bicycle parts, and other wreckage littered the streets like a child’s discarded toys.

  I thought to myself just how lucky we had been to be inside when the dinosaur passed. The amount of destruction w
as immense, and though I didn’t see any casualties, I guessed the property damage had to reach hundreds of thousands of Pounds.

  We got about halfway down the block when all the wreckage suddenly stopped, and I couldn’t help but stop walking myself and look at the sudden change. It was almost an exact line where the wreckage started and ended.

  Becka scanned over the scene, “Do you think this was a portal? It looks like that beast just landed here out of nowhere.”

  “Possibly,” I replied as I glanced around. “Something weird went on here for sure. We should keep moving.”

  The blonde nodded, and we both forced ourselves to keep walking. The shop was just around the next corner, and we stopped to check out the surroundings before turning into the street.

  As soon as we came into view of the store, I could see crowds of people gathered around it. There had to be at least twenty, all spread apart and with varying degrees of improvised weapons. As we got closer, I could see that a lot of the store windows were broken here as well. Again, the automated doors had been smashed in to make room for people to enter.

  I looked around at the different people and tried to read the situation. The vast majority of the people were men, but there were a few women and even a couple children. Most of the adults were older than us, maybe mid-forties. A couple of the people seemed to be there together and working as a team, but it was clear most of them were on their own.

  I wondered why all of them would be waiting outside the shop like that, but then I saw a few people fleeing out the shop doors. Then I noticed the sense of tension in the people and realized there must be something that was keeping them out of the shop.

  We got within earshot of the people, and I started to overhear conversations about the situation.

  “Do you think we should go in?” a man in a rugby jersey asked.

  “But that thing is in there,” another man argued. “You saw what one of those did to Kevin Greyson last night.”