by Logan Jacobs
The first dinosaur roared, and the incoming giant spoke back as if they were making a plan.
“Go, go, go!” I shouted to Hae-won and Becka, who were still a good few meters beyond the first dino. “Up into the town!”
We all revved our engines and shot up various side streets to leave the main road and the injured dino behind, and for a few fleeting seconds, I thought the second one would choose its dying mate over revenge.
I was wrong.
The new spinosaurus sounded heavier than the first as its massive clawed hind legs pounded the road and raced after us.
Hae-won and Becka joined me and Kat as I led the way past hotels and drove into the maze of buildings. The Jeep tore through the streets while we tried to avoid all the debris in the road, but I heard Kat crunch over a couple bodies along the way.
“It might decide to go back to the nest!” Hae-won desperately yelled. “It won’t follow much further!”
“Yeah, that’ll be the fucking day!” Becka screeched back.
The dino had taken a different side street from us on the left, and as we heard a second set of footsteps, we realized the injured one had also started to follow again.
Shit.
The injured spinosaurus was roaring from our right side, which meant we were blocked in on both sides now.
Shit. Shit.
“They’re surrounding us!” Kat yelled through her radio. “They’re catching up, Jason! Over.”
“Fuck,” I growled as I wove around an abandoned car.
The echo of the massive footsteps rang out over the town, and both creatures roared in unison as they became almost adjacent with our group.
I glanced up at the hotels around us and saw that at least two had little seated areas on the rooftop. I grabbed my radio from my belt.
“Those buildings have flat roofs!” I shouted into the device. “If we can get up there, we could aim right for the face. Hae-won, you’ve got the fastest bike, do you think you could slip away and get up there? Over.”
“I think so!” The raven-haired girl nodded on my right. “We’ll need to double back!”
“If we change direction suddenly that’ll stall them for a moment,” Becka hollered. “They’ll need a second to turn their fat arses around and catch up again.”
The two dinos were almost parallel to us, and I could see the top of their snouts every time we passed a gap in the buildings. If we turned and headed back for the hotels, they could even trip up trying to keep the pace.
“I’ll take a hotel to the right,” I decided. “Hae-won, you take the left. Kat and Becka, can you guys keep them around the area without getting caught? Over.”
“Hell yeah!” Kat’s voice crackled through the radio. “We’ve got this, right, Becka? Over.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” the blonde Brit whooped. “You heard the Corporal, troops! Get ready to turn back!”
“Don’t ever say that again,” the soldier laughed. “Over.”
“But it’s fun--”
“On the count of three!” I yelled. “One, two, three!”
We all braked and skidded our vehicles around in almost perfect unison, and Kat’s Jeep barreled up over the sidewalk before we sped off back down toward the beach.
The two dinos kept running for a good thirty seconds before they realized we had disappeared. They roared in fury, and I glanced back to see their lumbering bodies turning back above the lower shop roofs.
Hae-won quickly veered off into the broken down doorway of a hotel to the left, and I saw my chance on the next block as a pale-yellow hotel with a smashed ground floor window came into view. I sped over to the building as Kat and Becka carried on down the road, and I waited to see if the dinos followed.
Both spinosauruses kept running with the two girls in the road between them, and I took the chance to jump off my bike and clamber in through the empty windowpane.
“You guys better move fast!” Kat said over the radio. “Let us know when you’re up top, and we’ll bring them your way. Over.”
I looked around the hotel lobby with my rifle clutched in hand. The hotel floor was a beige carpet with several dark stains and smashed glass. There was a set of stairs next to the elevators, and with a quick glance at the empty reception desk, I raced to the stairs and started to take them two at a time.
On the first floor, I did a quick check of the eerily quiet landing before I raced up the second set of stairs. It was an intense leg workout, but the adrenaline running through me kept me fueled as I hit the second floor.
There was a suitcase with the contents spilled out at the top of the staircase, and I could see a couple of the bedroom doors were open down the hall. In such a large building, I knew it was unlikely I was completely alone, so I sprinted toward the steps to the third floor before anything else realized I was here.
The third floor was the highest, and as my feet landed on the corridor landing, I looked around for access to the roof.
I heard the dinos roar outside, and I clocked a sturdy metal door with a sign which read “Rooftop bar. Customers only.” I sprinted over to the door and pushed down the handle, but the damn thing was locked. There wasn’t even a keyhole on it.
“Shit!” I muttered as I tried again to no avail.
Then I saw a small black box next to the door, and I realized it must be a key card scanner.
I looked around the corridor and saw multiple doors were open. I carefully stepped toward the closest bedroom on my right, and I peered around the entrance. The room was essentially empty, with a lone pair of boots left by the bedside. It looked like whoever had been there had managed to pack up pretty well before they left. I stepped inside and quickly pulled open the bedside drawers in search of a key card, but there was nothing in them other than a bible and a packet of tissues.
I ran back into the corridor, and the light above flickered as I raced into the next unlocked room. I immediately gagged as I pushed the door open and the stench of rotting flesh hit my nostrils. There was the body of a suited man on the bed, and a mostly empty bottle of pills beside him.
“God damnit,” I muttered as I covered my nose with my jacket sleeve and stepped toward the bed.
I tried not to look too closely at the man’s decaying face, and I stuffed a hand into his chest pocket. My hand clasped around the plastic key card, and I pulled it out quickly before I accidentally touched anything else. I felt a pang of sadness as I paused and glanced at the empty pill bottle. Then I grabbed the white sheet and placed it over his face and body.
Two seconds later, I was leaping out of the room with the keycard in hand, and I slammed it against the black scanner. As the machine flashed green, I threw the metal door open, and a mild chill washed over me along with the bright sunlight.
Both spinosauruses were in view over the tops of the buildings ahead, and I raced across the roof to work out the best shooting position.
“I’m on the roof,” I said into my radio as I pushed down on the button at my hip. “Hae-won, where are you at? Over.”
There was a loud crash to my left, and I looked over the road to see a chair smash through a top floor window at the roof of the hotel across the street. Then Hae-won climbed out and onto the roof, and she gave me a thumbs up.
“No fucking key card!” the Korean yelled across the road.
I smirked and nodded back, and we both crouched down at the edge of our rooftops. There was a small ledge that I could kneel behind and rest my rifle on, and it would be the perfect height to get a good shot at the dinos’ heads.
“We’re in position, over,” Hae-won said over the radio, and I could see the two dinos speed after Kat and Becka near the beach.
My heart was in my throat as I waited for them to lead the dinos in my direction, and I felt a cold sweat prickle across my skin as the radio stayed silent.
The injured dino was slower than the second, but they both were still so huge that even a graze of a massive claw could cost us all a limb.
I co
uld hear the engines of the motorcycle and Jeep, and all I could do was wait with my finger on the trigger as the girls on the ground tried to lead the dinos our way.
“They’re coming! Over.” Hae-won shouted from my radio, and I saw the dinos turn with a pair of blistering roars.
The injured one must have lost a lot of blood, and it stood and swayed over on the main road as the girls drove up the side streets.
Becka’s motorbike raced past me on the road below, and the hotel shook as the second spinosaurus approached from another street.
I heard a gunshot, and I knew Kat must have hung back to finish off the injured dino while she had the chance. She must have hit her mark, too, because there was an almighty crash as a dead spinosaurus fell onto the main road.
The second dino was almost level with the hotel roofs from one street over, and it hadn’t spotted me or Hae-won as we crouched behind our ledges.
I could see her shuffle to the front corner of her roof across the street, and I did the same so I’d be ready to hit the spinosaurus as it ran toward the middle of our block.
Becka disappeared from sight on her bike, and the huge dino raced after her. When it appeared in full view, I knew my aim had to be perfect, and I focused with a deep breath as the head came between me and Hae-Won.
“Now!” I yelled and pulled the trigger.
A split second later, Hae-won did the same, and in a matter of seconds, the dinosaur had a melee of bullets in either side of its skull.
It never saw us coming.
The spinosaurus’ dark eyes rolled back in its head as our gunfire ceased, and it managed a pained cry as it started to stumble. The sound of its fury tore at my eardrums, but the dino seemed determined to kill us before it died. The beast smashed its tail into the front of the hotel I was above, and it stomped a massive, clawed foot as it roared once more.
Becka and her motorcycle reappeared at the corner below, and the blonde Brit positioned herself so she could take a final shot.
I fired another two bullets into its neck, and Hae-won did the same as Becka put a couple holes in the dino’s stomach.
Then Hae-won jumped up onto the ledge of her hotel to aim straight down, and she shot the swaying creature in the back of the head.
The spinosaurus wobbled, and for a moment, I thought it would drop, but then the dino took an unexpected lunge as it fell toward the ground.
And it was aiming right for Becka.
“Becka!” I screamed.
Becka shrieked and fumbled to loop her rifle on her back, and she throttled her motorbike up as quickly as she could, but she only got a few feet away. The spinosaurus collapsed right behind her, and it brought a huge, taloned arm down on top of her.
“No,” I gasped and raced over to the roof door before the dino had fully hit the ground.
The hotel shook as I flung myself into the corridor and down the stairs. My palms were drenched with sweat as I hurtled down the stairs three at a time, and I didn’t even stop to check the floors were clear as I passed each one.
My only thought was of Becka.
The huge spinosaurus had fallen right on top of her, and he was too fucking heavy for her to survive.
Images of her crushed and bleeding across the concrete flashed through my mind, and my entire body went numb as I forced my legs to keep running. My throat closed up and my lungs refused to fill with a full breath, and rage like I’d never known surged through me.
We were so close to Ravenscar, and so close to getting to Becka’s mum. She was my love, and there was no other option apart from her being here with me through every crazy second of this fucking apocalypse.
But all it took was one dinosaur to end it all for us.
When I got to the ground floor lobby, I sprinted over to the broken window and jumped out, and I didn’t even bother to avoid the jagged edges. A few shards caught on my legs and arms, but I hardly noticed. I pelted past my bike and around the corner to where the massive, blood-covered dino laid.
Kat had got there first, and her Jeep still had the engine running as the soldier grabbed the enormous claws.
I could already see the blood on the concrete, and I gasped for a breath to keep from passing out.
“You stupid fucking dino!” Becka yelled. “You bleeding piece of shit! That hurt!”
“Holy shit,” I croaked, and I almost fainted with relief at the sound of her seriously blistering voice.
The blonde Brit was fully conscious and pinned under the palm of the dinosaur with her bike toppled a couple feet away, but a puddle of blood was under her.
It wasn’t just dino blood down there. The claw had ripped Becka’s leg open, and her entire left calf was dripping bright red.
“Shit,” I growled and dove beside her as Kat hauled the dino’s massive claw up by a few feet.
“Get her!” the Corporal grunted.
I grabbed Becka in a fireman's hold and pulled her out from under the beast, and Hae-won raced over from her hotel and gasped when she saw our lover’s leg.
“Becka!” the Korean cried. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” the Brit croaked, but her eyes were welling with tears. “Ugly cunt just got my leg a bit.”
I gently set Becka down on the sidewalk while I kept her propped against me, and Kat dropped the dino hand and hurried over to join us.
“It’s bad,” Kat said. “That’s an incredibly deep wound, and it needs proper cleaning and stitches right now.”
“Becka?” I asked and cupped her tear-streaked cheek in my hand. “You’re going to be okay, alright? We’ll fix this, I promise.”
“It’s so fucking sore,” Becka whimpered up at me. “It feels like my whole leg is on fire, and this big ass dinosaur can go to hell!”
“He’s on his way there,” I assured her, and I buried a dozen kisses in her blonde hair.
“Can we stitch this ourselves?” Hae-won asked as she squeezed Becka’s hand.
“I can do stitches,” Kat said. “But we don’t have any equipment. Matthew only gave us bandages and alcohol. She needs a hospital, or somewhere with properly sterilized medical supplies.”
The concrete under us was already stained with blood from Becka’s leg, and the beautiful blonde started to feel limp in my arms as her eyelids fluttered heavily.
“I hate that dino,” Becka slurred.
“I hate that dino, too!” Hae-won screeched, and she jumped up so she could run over and plant a sturdy, Doc Marten boot in the dead spinosaurus' eye. “Fuck you!”
“Everyone, stay calm,” I tried, even though seeing the dino’s eyeball splatter apart did make me feel better. “We need to bandage this leg up and get to the nearest hospital. Hae-won, get the supplies from the Jeep. Kat, help me lift her in, she’s going to have to ride with you.”
Hae-won raced to the Jeep and grabbed the white bag from under the tarp, and I carried Becka over to the car. Kat cleared the passenger seat of debris, and I gently placed Becka down while I kept her injured leg elevated. She snatched my shoulder so I couldn’t let go of her, though, and I knelt beside the Jeep while I kept Becka in my arms.
“We need to clean it first,” Kat said.
“Right here!” Hae-won passed her the hydrogen peroxide from Matthew’s supplies. “I’ve got wipes to start!
“Okay, this is going to sting like a bitch,” the soldier warned, and I held Becka’s hand tightly.
Hae-won hurried around beside me with the antiseptic wipes she had left, and she wiped the blood away from the untorn skin around the wound.
Becka’s brown eyes widened as Kat leaned in with the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and held it over her leg.
“You can do this, I’ve got you,” I murmured in Becka’s ear, and then Kat poured liquid down the wound until it ran onto the Jeep floor.
Becka’s eyes watered, and she squeezed my hand so tightly, I thought she might break a finger, but she didn’t scream. I knew she was being quiet to not draw any more attention to us, and I p
ulled her even tighter against me to help her get through the pain.
“Shit,” she finally squeaked.
“You’re so fucking brave,” I praised her as the sting of the peroxide soaked in.
“I want sex,” Becka whimpered. “Sex is so much better than this. Will you give me all the sex after this?”
“Absolutely,” I promised. “Just as soon as this is handled, I will do anything you want.”
Becka managed a teary laugh while Hae-won joined in, and Kat pulled the bandages out of the medical bag before she began tightly wrapping Becka’s leg.
The cut went right from her knee to her ankle, and it used up all of the bandages we had been given at the aquarium.
Kat secured the dressing tightly with Hae-won’s help, but there was already a stain of blood that seeped through the white cloth.
“I don’t feel good,” Becka whispered, and her eyes started to close.
“Stay awake, Becka,” I said as my heart leapt into my throat, and I squeezed her hand, but she didn’t squeeze back.
Kat quickly reached down under her driver seat and pulled out a bottle of water. She unscrewed the lid and threw some into the Brit’s face.
It worked, and Becka’s eyes shot open again.
“Oi!” the Brit yelped.
“Stay awake,” the Corporal said. “That’s an order.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Becka snorted, and I smiled as Kat nodded back.
Hae-won pulled her phone out beside me, and I saw her pull up her GPS app.
Then Kat held her hand out to me and gestured toward my rifle, and I shifted the strap off my shoulder.
“I’ll handle the reloads while we’ve got a second,” the soldier offered.
She collected all our rifles and brought them around the back of the Jeep, and I listened to the reassuring chinks of the loading mechanisms while I stared at Hae-won’s fingers tapping across her phone.
“There’s a hospital in Scarborough,” the Korean girl finally announced. “It’s not far, about a twenty-minute drive, dinos permitting.”
“We need to go,” I decided. “Now. Leave Becka’s bike behind. All that matters is that we get to the hospital as fast as possible.”
