Dinosaur Breakout (18 page)

Chapter Twelve

W
ithout even thinking about it,
Daniel clam
bered up the tree trunk, automatically
searching for and finding toeholds and pulling himself upwards. Although he felt his arms and hands scraping along the bark, he didn’t even worry about it. When he’d gone several metres, he looked over to where Todd and Craig were supposed to be. Craig clung desperately to the rough trunk of a tree, but Todd suddenly lost his grip and plunged to the ground.

“Quick!” Daniel yelled at Todd, but he could see the older brother wasn’t good at climbing. He struggled to grab onto a low branch and brace himself against the trunk with his slippery sneakers. Daniel held his breath for a few moments, watching. His progress was too slow! Loud sounds reverberated through the forest. Something was approaching. Todd wasn’t going to make it!

Although he was shaking, Daniel shimmied back down the tree and dropped to the ground. Then he ran over to Todd, who continued to struggle with climbing into the lower branches of the tree. Daniel saw the fear in Todd’s eyes, and he motioned for him to try again. Then he gave Todd a heaving boost against his bulky backside, and at last Todd grabbed the branch and pulled himself onto it. Then he reached for another cautiously.

“Higher!’ Daniel urged him, watching as Todd slowed down the higher he went.

The booming sound reverberated closer to them. Daniel didn’t have time to run back to his tree, and Todd had stopped moving. Daniel followed Todd up the tree.

“Don’t look down!” Craig yelled from high in his tree.

Todd looked down.

He came to an abrupt halt, clinging to the tree fearfully, not daring to move.

“Climb!” Daniel yelled at him.

Todd had only gone a couple of metres, so that even a small
T. rex
would be able to nibble at his feet.

“Move, Todd!!” Daniel pleaded, but Todd seemed frozen where he was, breathing hard.

Daniel had to do something!

The trees quivered as some monster beast advanced through the forest. Whatever was approaching was getting close! Without a moment to lose, Daniel grabbed a branch and pulled himself upwards behind Todd. He pried Todd’s left hand from the tree trunk and placed it above them on another branch.

“Todd, climb!” Craig’s shout pierced the air.

“You have to climb!” Daniel said urgently, and gave him a strong push that propelled them both upwards.

Suddenly a
Troodon
skidded to a stop below them! The deadly creature leapt towards Daniel, trying to grab his lower leg. Daniel screamed at Todd and gave him a powerful heave. The immediate threat below them seemed to release Todd from his terrorized stupor. Todd moved just in time for Daniel to swing upwards. The
Troodon
leapt again and ripped a chunk out of Daniel’s pant leg before he managed to pull himself up.

“Faster,” Daniel pleaded, shoving Todd and climbing with huge surges of adrenalin pumping through his veins.

All of a sudden, Todd skittered up the tree, well out of reach, faster than Daniel had ever seen anyone move before! Craig didn’t waste any time either, going as high as he could.

Soon the three of them were a good seven or eight metres high, half-dangling from reasonably sturdy boughs. Daniel sighed in trembling relief as they caught their breath. Luckily, when the
Troodon
found he couldn’t reach them anymore he had been distracted by a group of
Stegoceras
and had hastened off, scattering the small herd.

From where he sat, Daniel suddenly saw the school bus-sized creature from its front. It was a
Triceratops
! Harmless enough, because it was a herbivore, but still, it could have charged them.

As he clung to the branch, he dared to look straight down to the ground, and wished he hadn’t. It was one thing to look far and away, but another to look below his feet from so high in the air. This was the second time he’d been so far above the ground, and it didn’t make it any easier. At least he couldn’t see a
Pterosaur
nest anywhere close by. All he had to do now was convince Craig and Todd to give back the strip of bark, and maybe they’d be fortunate enough to go home.

“Are you convinced this is for real yet?” Daniel asked. He could hear horrific screams and the sounds of a skirmish going on somewhere in the forest. The group of
Troodons
must have singled out a
Stegoceras.

“Guess so!” Craig’s shaky voice resonated from the redwood he was perched in some two metres way. “I think you’re at least smart enough not to do something like this to yourself.”

“What about you, Todd?” Daniel asked the older brother above him.

“You’re pretty persuasive, Dino boy!” Todd said quietly, but his name-calling held a touch of respect.

Daniel suggested they rest for a few moments while he got his bearings. The Nelwins stared out through the forest at their strange environment, gawking in awe. They were sweating profusely and breathing hard.

“Have we really gone back into prehistoric time?” Craig whispered, turning with wide startled eyes towards Daniel from his tree a few metres away.

“Yes,” Daniel answered, not wanting to say much for fear of alerting some creature to their presence.

Todd said in a croaking voice, “So no one else has ever been here before?”

“Just me, that I know of,” Daniel whispered back.

“Wow, this is incredible!” Craig said. “Imagine! We’re seeing something that nobody else has ever seen. Just the three of us.”

“You sure do know how to get a thrill,” Todd said, swallowing hard.

All of them remained silent for a few moments,
staring out at the panoramic view of the forest and the sea
beyond them. The ground still trembled with the
approach of something huge. They weren’t out of danger yet.

Daniel’s thoughts turned to getting home. How would he get them all together with the bark? Plodding footsteps approached, coming closer now with the sounds of cracking branches and snapping underbrush. What-ever they did, they had to do it fast! He was sure the trembling of the earth came from something very big and ferocious. Perhaps another of Scotty’s relatives!

He was also rather uncomfortable and sure could use a drink of water. Then he remembered he still had his backpack on and some bottled water. Did he dare drink any without offering it to the others? And if he offered, how would he get it to them? No time to lose! Quickly, he dug out his water bottle, took a few gulps, feeling the coolness searing down his parched throat. Then he stashed it away again. He needed all the strength he had to help get them home, especially as he was the injured one.

“As soon as it’s safe, we’ll go down and I’ll give you some water,” Daniel advised the two brothers, who complained strongly. That seemed to quieten them for a few moments.

Daniel peered about. He could see the mouth of the river again. Was it the same one from the last two times? Did he keep coming back to the same area? If it was, they must be on the other side of the forest from where he’d been on previous trips. He scanned about, looking for other familiar spots.

But suddenly, various birdlike creatures took flight, and Daniel knew a
T. rex
was near. Below he could also
see small animals diving for cover. Craig and Todd
noticed too.

“What’s happening?” Todd asked anxiously. His eyes were wide and his voice high-pitched.

“I don’t want you to freak out, but I think a
Tyran-nosaurus
is just around the corner. They’re really monstrous and they can swallow you in one chomp,” Daniel explained to them. “Craig, make sure that you’re as high as you can go. When you get to a safe place, make sure you have a good hold and that you won’t lose your balance!” He turned to Todd, “Time to climb higher! I’ll be right behind you!”

When Todd quit climbing, his white knuckles
gripped the limb of the tree, and he’d wound his legs around it too. Craig’s face was ashen, and he trembled. Daniel felt his whole body shaking as he recalled his previous encounters.

“This is going to be the one of the worst things you’ll see,” he told the others, “but once he’s long gone, we’ll get down.”

Then he turned to Craig and with grave authority
said, “Once we’re safely on the ground, Craig, you’ll give me the piece of bark and I’ll try to get us home. Is that clear?”

Daniel sounded like he was speaking sternly to his baby sister Cheryl about not touching something, but the two brothers only nodded numbly. He hoped they understood how serious their situation was. All at once, there was a horrific crash and they all stiffened. The
T. rex
had arrived!

When it lumbered into view, Daniel thought Todd and Craig would drop out of their trees, because their bodies shook so much, not only from the vibrations made by the
T. rex
, but from terror. He prayed they’d keep hanging on tightly. The
T. rex
’s enormous head came into view first, its strong jaw hanging open to reveal sharp serrated teeth. It swung around quickly, using its stiff tail for balance and digging its two three-clawed feet into the ground for support. It wielded its head on a short muscular neck as it peered around for raw food with its ugly yellow eyes, with their stereoscopic vision, which Daniel knew meant it could easily see them.

All at once, it tilted its huge head with its demented grin upwards, and appeared to sniff the air. Daniel held his breath, keeping his eyes on the monstrous, scaly-skinned beast as it seemed to sense a different kind of odour. Probably human! No one made a sound, although at one point Daniel thought he heard some kind of snivel from one of the brothers. For a brief second, Daniel wondered how they liked to be bullied for a change. Then he turned his attention back to their major problem of the moment.

ROOOAARRR!!!!
The
T. rex
’s terrifying warning reverberated through the forest ten times louder than a lion’s roar, so loudly that Daniel covered his ears to keep them from ringing. Then the
T. rex
butted its head against the tree in which Todd and Daniel perched. Todd clung as if he was fused to it. Craig shuddered in the next tree, clinging desperately. Daniel found himself inching surreptitiously upwards. The tip of the
T. rex
’s head started to push through the branches right below him. His only thought was that he was likely going to die.

A sudden squawking of pterosaurs rose from afar, signalling the end of the battle between the
Troodon
and the
Stegoceras.
It also seemed to alert the
T. rex
that its dinner was about to be served in easy fashion. It plunged off at a fair speed, crushing small insects and foliage beneath its hefty clawed feet. Daniel thought he caught a glimpse of a scar on its hindquarters. Was it the same
T. rex
from his last trip to prehistoric time?

The noises of slaughter and its aftermath continued for some time, rippling over the forest. The main action, though, was far enough away that Daniel judged it safe to descend.

“Okay, you two,” he spoke to them in a steady tone, meant to reassure them. “Let’s get down now. Do it as quickly as you can!” Daniel started to descend as he talked.

Speechlessly, Craig and Todd obeyed, sliding down the last bit, anxious to have their feet on steady ground again. “Come over here.”

They gathered quickly around Daniel at the base of his tree.

“Okay, Craig, give me the piece of bark, please,” he said sternly.

Craig felt in his jeans pockets. Then a frantic look came across his face. He searched harder.

“I can’t find it!” he barely squealed it out.

Daniel soothed him. “Calm down, Craig. You have to have it! Take a deep breath and take your time.”

Sounds of disturbances were coming out of the
bushes again. They had to hurry. Craig felt in each of his pockets, one at a time, and then turned them inside out. It was gone! Todd went over to help them, patting his brother down.

“What about the tiny pocket inside the right-hand one?” Daniel asked a little more desperately. The clamouring was getting closer, something was coming, and whatever it was probably wasn’t friendly. It seemed to be coming at a fast-paced clip, as well, as if it were in a hurry.

Frenzied now, Craig sought the piece in the obscure pocket. A sudden look of relief came across his face as he drew the precious bark chunk into view. At the same moment, a
Dromaeosaurus,
a meat-eater with huge, sickle-like claws, raced down a path towards them. In the distance, Daniel could see several more, following the leader. They were ostrichlike in speed, and raptorlike in ferociousness. There was no time to lose. The creatures would be upon them momentarily.

Daniel grabbed for the piece of bark with one hand, making sure to keep in contact with Craig’s hand, while reaching out and clutching Todd’s arm with his other hand. Sure that he had a tight hold on both brothers, he gave a flip of his wrist and flicked the bark to the ground, just as the
Dromaeosaurus
sprang at them.