Authors: Robert T. Jeschonek
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Chapter
40
130 Million Years Later
Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda
The absence of
bloodthirsty maniacs
was making Simon nervous.
As h
e and
Horne
ran along the beach, there was no sign of Mobai or Poppa
Free or the soldiers.
There w
eren't many signs of life on this stretch of sand, in fact, at least nearby.
Rock walls rose along the
landside fringe of the shoreline, growing higher and steeper.
A
cluster of well-lit buildings
beckoned on
a distant
cliff top
-
-
a beachfront resort
, most likely
. The moon over
head was bright and lit the way to the waiting safe haven.
It was too easy.
It gave Simon a sick feeling in his stomach.
And
Horne
didn't exactly make him feel any better.
"Any minute now."
Horne
talked a lot for a guy running for his life. "Sniper fire from the
tree line
. We'll never see it coming."
Simon was panting for breath.
"Can we please...just focus...on
getting...where we're going?" Even as he said it,
he
couldn't help watching the dark
tree line
for muzzle flash
es
.
"They
'll
run us down on quads," said
Horne
. "Or
horses. Break cover up ahead and cut us off. Then round us
up like steers."
"Or maybe...we'll get help...and everything...will
work out
," said Simon.
"
Dogs
!" said
Horne
. "
That's
what they'll get us with! Fuckin'
attack dogs
.
They'll rip our
guts
out and use our
bones
for chew toys!
"
"Enough already!" Simon stopped
cold
.
"Can't you
stop
being a
dick
for
ten seconds
?"
Horne stopped and spun to face him.
"This is all
your fault
, so
fuck you
, pussy
."
"
I'm
not the one who brought that maniac
Mobai
into the picture," said Simon. "Great publicity stunt, by the way!
It's really working out for you!"
"Mobai invited
himself
."
A flicker of sheepishness crossed
Horne
's
rough face
. "It just sort of
fell together
. Mobai
volunteered
, and the producers
and
I thought it would
kick ass
in the ratings
."
"You're a typical
dick
," said Simon. "Some bloodthirsty dictator wants to be on your
TV
show, and all you can
think
about are the
ratings
."
"
Obviously, I didn't
know
he'd try to
kill
me."
Suddenly
,
a sharp crack split the night,
shattering
the soft susurrus
of the ocean breeze and surf. Instinctively,
Simon
and
Horne
both ducked and looked toward the blast
,
back down the beach in the direction from which they'd come.
A shadowy figure stood
below the
tree line
in the distance, right about where Simon and
Horne
had first
set foot on the beach. As Simon watched, a bright light burst briefly to life in the figure's hands.
Muzzle flash.
So much for the absence of bloodthirsty maniacs.
Simon ducked
lower
. "They found us!" He felt the shot sizzle past overhead. "We've got to run!"
Horne
sprang from a crouch and started charging away from the shooter...then stumbled to a stop. "
We're fucked!" He pointed down the beach toward the cluster of lighted buildings
they'd been heading for
.
Silhouetted in the glow of what had once seemed like
a
safe haven, Simon saw a second figure striding along the
moonlit
sand. Another flash lit the night, flaring from something th
at
figure held...and it was followed by another loud crack.
"They're coming from both directions!" said
Horne
.
Simon looked a
round frantically, searching for an escape route, finding only
the
steep rock walls along the
top edge
of the beach. Then, just a little
ways up ahead
, he spotted an opening in the rock...a dark
, oval
maw like a tunnel in the wall.
"This way!" Immediately, Simon ran full-tilt toward the opening. Gunshots blasted from both directions as his feet churned the soft sand.
Horne ran after him.
"A
cave
?
What the
fuck
, Simon? Couldn't you find a
better
place for them to trap us?"
"Maybe it's big enough for us to hide in," said Simon. "Or maybe there's another way out."
"You
do
have a death wish,
don't
you?" said
Horne
. "Talk about fuckin'
stupid
."
More gunshots
thundered in
the night. "
Then don't come with me! I could
use
a decoy!"
Horne
didn't
answer
for a moment. "Fuck that," he said finally. "Close quarters could work to our advantage."
Simon's only reply was to run faster toward the cave
.
Â
*****
Chapter 4
1
130 Million Years Ago
China
Grip
twirled
in a circle as he tried to decide what to do next.
As he spun, he saw
t
he three kill
er dinosaurs who surrounded him: the copper-skinned female, the red-splotched gray male, and the third arrival, an ivory male with sky blue patches.
All three were moving toward him at once, drooling and
chirping and
slashing their
fore
claws
in the misty early morning air
. It wouldn't be long until they descended upon him and finished the job they'd started days ago
,
wiping out his family
, down to the last remnant
.
Grip had two choices--fight or flee--and neither was encouraging. If he fought the killers directly, he
didn't think he'
d last long. If he fled,
he was sure
they
'
d run him down fast.
But there might be a
third
option, he realized. One the dinosaurs might not expect.
Play dead.
It was one of his specialties.
Grip spun around
again
, then flung himself down on his back. Yelping, he thrashed and flopped in the mud along the brook,
stubby legs scrabbling at the sky.
Grip convulsed one final time. His last howl of pain was cut short, and his body stiffened...then relaxed. He twitched
once, then twice, and lay still.
The dinosaurs closed in immediately, sniffing for signs of life. Grip's eyes were closed, but he felt their
warm
breath, sensed their scaly snouts hovering overhead.
One of the
male
dinosaurs
dropped his head lower than the others.
It was the red-splotched gray-skin; Grip recognized his scent.
W
hen the
male
nudged him with his nose
, Grip had a hard time staying
still
in the mud
. He found it even harder not to react when the dinosaur licked him with his rough tongue.
But Grip didn't dare move
,
not when the dinosaurs were doing exactly what he
wanted
them to.
The male chirped to the other two in a language Grip recognized but didn't understand. The female
whistl
ed in reply and dropped lower for a closer look of her own.
Grip smelled her telltale scent as her snout drifted toward him. She nudged him, and then the male nudged him, too. They chirped at each other and nudged him some more.
Grip waited. At any moment, he knew, one of them would
bite off a piece of him. They would devour him so fast, he wouldn't know what
had hit him
.
Unless, of course, Grip didn't
let
them.
His heart pounded as the male and female nudged and licked him, their chirps
and whistles
growing louder.
The red tips of his ears fluttered in the breeze of their breath. F
resh saliva
ran
from their lips to soak
Grip's
fur, and he knew it was time.
Suddenly, Grip sprang to life.
In a blur of motion, he scrambled up the snout of the female
and
gashed her eyes with his claws. As she
rear
ed
back,
screeching,
Grip leaped from her head, landing on
the head of the male before he could rear back, too.
Grip sank his teeth and claws into the flesh of the male's
snout, anchoring himself between the dinosaur's eyes. It was enough to drive the male crazy
with rage and confusion
. He lurched in
circles, swatting at his face
, screaming as he struggled to knock Grip free.
But Grip never let go of anything until he was ready.
The more wildly the red-splotched male
gyrated
, the
more Grip tightened his hold.
Even when the male started beating his face against a tree, Grip
refused to budge. He
took
a pounding, but it was better than sudden death in a dinosaur's jaws, which was the fate that awaited him if he let go.
After the
third
bashing
against the tree, Grip finally put a stop to it. He let go with one
of his
fore
legs
, but only for a heartbeat
,
only long enough to
gouge
his claws into the
dinosaur's eye.
So much for slamming into the tree. With a deafening roar, the male staggered back
, groping his punctured eye...and then he tripped
and went down in the brook.
Grip quickly took advantage of the dinosaur's vulnerable position, releasing his hold and lunging for the throat. Gouts of
ruby-red blood coursed from the killer's neck as Grip sliced it open with his claws and teeth.
When
Grip
was done with his second victim, he
leaped off the male and landed on the muddy bank. The female lay nearby, squawking and twitching, and he ran to her. Approaching from behind, he
hopped up onto her throat and ripped it open, releasing
a
gusher of blood.
Two of the dinosaurs were down and dying, but the fight wasn't over
yet.
Grip looked up from his work to see the other male, the ivory one with the sky-blue patches, storming toward
him
, eyes burning with rage.
The ground
shook underfoot as tons of howling monster stomped across the clearing.
Grip knew he was about to die, but he felt no fear.
Jumping up on his hind legs, he t
hrew his head back and howled at the killer
. He
howled the same song he would've howled if the foe he was facing was half his size
or ten times bigger
. It didn't matter.
Grip
the dog-thing
was a giant-killer,
starving for revenge,
and here was one more giant for him to kill.
Â
*****