by Logan Jacobs
“It’s clear,” I hissed, and then I dove out onto the castle grounds with the girls behind me. Kat brought up the rear and closed the door behind us, and when I glanced back, she was keeping an eye on Becka for me.
The blonde Brit kept pace as if nothing was wrong with her leg, but when we jumped over the wall, she scrunched her face up as she landed. She didn’t say anything about it, but I knew her leg hurt more than she was willing to admit.
Under the cover of the trees, we crouched behind the Jeep. The only part of the dino we could see from our hiding spot was the tip of its massive tail.
“Seems like it’s still in the same spot,” I muttered. “Let’s get loaded up.”
Kat quietly opened the box of her Jeep and got to work making sure our rifles and grenade launchers were fully-loaded for the trip.
“I wish it was darker,” Hae-won said as she peered into the box of weapons. “I really want to try the night vision goggles.”
“Tell you what, we can play with them tonight,” Kat said. “Hide and seek through the castle in the dark.”
“Creepy.” Hae-won grinned. “I’m in.”
Once my rifle was ready to go, I stuffed an extra magazine in my pocket and swung the gun over my shoulder. The familiar weight of the metal resting on my back calmed my nerves, and I climbed onto the motorcycle with a determination firing up inside me.
“This thing is going to move fast when it hears the engines,” I whispered while the girls saddled up. “We need to be ready to haul ass.”
Becka gripped the steering wheel of the Jeep, and Kat climbed over the seats to position herself in the trunk area. Then she opened the rear window so it was raised above her head, and she started organizing her rifle and ammo beside her. The pretty soldier knotted her curls in a messy bun before she diligently rechecked that everything was loaded up, and then she sent me a curt nod.
Hae-won looked as badass as ever as she perched on her motorbike with her rifle swung over her back, and I knew we were as ready as we would ever be.
“We head straight down this hill and over to the right,” Becka said as she peered over the hood of the car. “It’s literally a direct path along the coast until we hit the big ridge.”
“Becka, keep your windows open so we can all hear each other,” I added. “This is gonna get too dicey if we’re trying to use radios at the same time, so stay in a group.”
“Okay,” Becka said.
“And for the love of god, please be careful with the Jeep, Becka,” Kat said.
“You got it, honey.” The blonde winked over her shoulder. “I’ll be gentle with her.”
“Ready?” I asked as I glanced over at the dino tail. “We’re about to get chased by something big and fast. Everyone stay sharp and keep your wits about you.”
“Bring it on,” Hae-won said, and with that, we all turned our engines on and sped off away from the hotel.
The giganotosaurus started to follow almost instantly.
The footsteps pounded the ground and shook my bike as we raced off down the hillside toward the coastline, and I could feel my heartbeat in my ears as the earth shook with the weight of the giant dino. The cliff was coming up on our left side while the giganoto came over from the right, and I took a deep breath as I looked ahead across the sunset grounds.
I knew that we were about to embark on one of our riskiest missions yet, but if anyone could do it, it was us.
“Uhhh, we have some more company!” Kat yelled out the rear window of the Jeep. “Coming in from the right!”
“Shit, already?” I glanced over my shoulder and saw that an allosaurus had appeared from the woodlands and started to track us. “How many of those fuckers are there?”
“Giganoto fucked up that other allosaurus before,” Kat yelled. “We should injure this new guy, and that should distract it long enough for us to get a better head start down to the cliffside.”
“We need to get more distance from the castle,” I yelled back. “We don’t want a dino graveyard, remember? Let’s put some more distance between us and Raven Hall before you shoot.”
“Okay,” Kat hollered, and as we sped away from the hillside, she shuffled into position and aimed her rifle out of the back of the Jeep.
I glanced in my side mirror and saw that Raven Hall had become a distant landmark, and I reckoned we were far enough away that we could risk shooting.
“Okay, Kat,” I yelled as I shifted aside and got out of range. “Open fire on that smaller fucker.”
“Ready for open fire,” Kat yelled as the two dinos raced after us from opposite sides of the hill. “Hopefully giganoto won’t be able to resist an injured, easy-picking snack. Becka, slow down a bit so I can get a steady shot.”
“Slow down?” Becka cried. “You want me to fucking slow down?”
“Just enough so I can hurt the little one,” the soldier replied. “That should buy us some time.”
I heard Becka let out a whimpering “bloody hell” as the Jeep slowed down a bit, and Hae-Won and I passed them up to take the lead. We still hung back to keep the group together, and my eyes kept straying to my side mirror while we waited for Kat to handle the situation.
It was hard to ignore the massive giganotosaurus that stormed across the emerald hills toward us, but the beautiful soldier kept her aim steady, and she fired a bullet into the belly of the allosaurus. It gave a high-pitched cry, but it wasn’t until she stuck another two rounds into its gut that it started to stumble slightly.
“Nice,” I called over my shoulder. “Let’s hope giganoto takes the buffet on offer, and we can get set up on the cliffside.”
The allosaurus still lunged after us, but the three bullet wounds had slowed it down significantly, and it roared in pain. We increased our speed again and left him as the bait, and the massive dinosaur’s footsteps kept a steady pace behind us.
Then I risked a look back, and my stomach sank.
The giganotosaurus stormed past the injured allosaurus without so much as a second glance at it.
“Fuck,” I hissed.
The injured allosaurus fell far behind in the chase, and the roar of the bigger dino rang out over the hills as it started to gain on us.
“Shit!” Becka yelled. “It didn’t even stop for a sniff!”
“It only wants us,” Hae-won yelled above the wind. “It’s not interested in dino flesh for dinner.”
I heard Kat take a few shots at the giganotosaurus, and I glanced in my mirror to see four bullet wounds dripping blood from its lower stomach.
The dino barely seemed to acknowledge them, and although it howled, its pace didn’t falter for a second.
“Can you hit its legs, Kat?” I hollered. “We need it to slow down, or Hae-won will never be able to escape in time.”
“On it!” Kat yelled. “Becka, slow down again!”
“I fucking hate this!” the Brit screamed, but she obliged and slowed the Jeep so that Kat could get a more accurate shot.
The bang of the rifle echoed over the countryside, and I saw in the mirror that the dino had started to slow down. Kat managed to get three shots into the powerful back legs of the beast, and it looked like it was struggling to lift its right foot while its sprint became a thunderous jog.
“That seemed to work!” the soldier reported. “How far away is this ridge exactly?”
“Right ahead!” Becka yelled as she pointed to a wide, overhanging patch of grass. “That’s the spot. The drop is deadly, we just need to time it just right.”
“You ready to be dino bait?” I yelled at Hae-won, and the pretty Korean nodded.
“I’ll slow down a bit while you guys speed off,” she shouted. “Then its focus will hopefully be on me, and I can lead it over to the edge.”
“You’re really fucking awesome, by the way!” I chuckled in awe of her casual determination. “Remember not to get too close, that thing is not messing around.”
The piece of land ahead of us was a wide-open stretch of greenery, an
d the sunset lighting cast the area in a soft pinkish glow while the cliffside dropped down into the rolling gray waves below.
There was just enough room to maneuver our vehicles out here, but we would need to be careful. Like Becka had said, the drop was sharp and sudden. One wrong move could result in disaster.
“Go!” Hae-won yelled as she slowed her bike down. “Get ready to blow this fucker up!”
I didn’t need to be told twice, and I accelerated alongside the Jeep until we had left Hae-won behind.
“There!” I yelled as I spotted a small boulder. “Stop by that rock, and we can get set up.”
Kat had already got her rifle with the grenade launcher aimed at the giant beast, and my palms became clammy as I glanced at Hae-won in my mirror. The bait seemed to have worked, and the slowed-down giganoto screamed at the lone girl on the motorbike as she lured it closer to the cliff edge.
I swerved to a stop and quickly pulled my rifle over my chest and rested my finger over the trigger of the grenade launcher attachment.
“Becka!” I yelled as the Jeep parked beside me. “Get your radio and holler at Hae-won when she needs to get out of there. We don’t shoot these things until she’s a safe distance away.”
“Of course!” Becka yelled.
“Grenades are ready to go,” Kat added.
Hae-won sped along the cliff, but she kept a safe distance from the edge as the dino roared and trudged after her. It had slowed right down to a lumbering jog from its various bullet wounds, but it seemed determined to finish the hunt.
The Korean beauty slowed down even more as the beast approached her, and just when I was about to yell at her to move, she throttled up and sped away from the dino as it stumbled near the cliff edge.
“Get the fuck out of there, Hae-won!” Becka yelled over the radio. “They’re about to let loose with the grenades.”
Hae-won revved her engine even more and jetted away from the giganoto, and the huge dino let out an ear-splitting roar as it tried to follow.
I knew Kat would be able to time it just right with her experience with the blast radius of the grenades, and just as the dino turned to face us, she waved her hand.
“Now, Jason!” the soldier shouted, and we both pulled the triggers of our grenade launchers.
The injured dino half-fell right as we shot, and Kat growled a curse as her grenade soared right over its head out into the water. Mine managed to hit the tip of the dino’s flailing tail, and the flesh exploded in a spray of blood and tissue while it roared into the sky. The blast made the giganoto lurch forward as it’s back sizzled and tore open, and it roared once more as it stumbled onward.
“It’s working!” I yelled as the huge creature rocked back and forth. “Keep shooting, it’s going to tumble.”
Hae-won sped over to join us, and she skidded to a halt beside me as she pulled her rifle out.
“Use your rifles to keep it there,” I yelled. “This fucker’s still walking, but I’m going to use another grenade. That should send it backward into the water.”
“Here!” Kat said and handed me a new grenade to load up.
“Let’s do this!” Hae-won said and pulled her rifle around from her back.
The curly-haired soldier pulled the trigger of her rifle first and lodged two bullets right where the creature's jugular should have been.
Then the Korean girl put a bullet in its right leg, and the dino stumbled backward with a snarl. The bloody stump of its tail flailed, and the dino tried to take a step toward us, but it was just too shot up now.
“Nice shots!” I yelled.
Then I aimed carefully at the ground in front of the bloody beast, and I took my shot. My second grenade found its target and struck right at the feet of the dino, and the ground crumbled away.
The giganotosaurus toppled backward from the impact of the grenade as its abdomen shredded open, and then the fucker started to drop over the cliff edge.
We cheered and whooped as we jumped off our bikes, and Kat and Becka climbed out of the Jeep. We all rushed toward the edge just as an almighty splash echoed into the dusky sky, but we made it in time for the show.
When I looked down, the barely-alive dino was being consumed in crashing waves, and it roared as it flailed in the water. Its blood seeped out like a black cloud around it, but before it could sink, there was a flurry of movement under the surface.
Then two enormous, pointed, and dark green heads broke through the water. They looked like dino-shark-crocodiles, with slimy seaweed tangled on the ragged spines that jutted from their backs. They had to be as big as a bus with heads as large as theirs, and they clamped their gaping jaws on the body of the giganotosaurus.
“Holy shit,” Becka whispered as the sea creatures started to thrash their heads back and forth.
Water, blood, and dino flesh sprayed up around them as they shredded their prey, and in a matter of seconds, the body of the giganoto was pulled beneath the waves with the vicious reptiles. A few bubbles gurgled to the surface as the water ran red, but then everything went quiet except for the gentle rushing of waves along the sunset coast.
“Fuck,” I muttered and shook my head. “That was…”
“Awesome,” Kat offered, and she sent me a huge grin. “I might actually like dino-sharks a little bit.”
We all laughed as I pulled the Corporal over and looped my arm over her shoulder, and the two of us exchanged a long kiss of victory.
“We did it!” Hae-won whooped toward the ocean, and the other girls started cheering, too. “That giant dino is now dino-shark food!”
“Hell yeah,” I laughed. “Once again, we are the best fucking dino slayers in the apocalypse.”
“Nobody else could even come close.” Becka smirked as she flicked her blonde hair over her shoulders. “Don’t even try to come for us, dinos, it never works out well for you.”
“I’m so happy I found you guys,” Kat chuckled. “I still can’t believe my luck.”
“We’re lucky to have each other,” I agreed with a sigh of relief. “I think it’s time to go home.”
“Home.” Becka smiled and looked along the emerald hillside toward Raven Hall. “I like hearing you say that. It sounds nice.”
“I’ve missed saying it,” I admitted. “But somehow, it just feels right. This place is beautiful, and we have a real shot here. What do you guys say to hanging around for a while?”
“I say fuck, yes,” Kat replied as she tucked a rogue curl behind her ear. “We struck gold, and I’ve got everything I need right here.”
“Soooo, now it’s time for a bath and booze?” Hae-won asked with sparkling blue eyes. “I think we’ve earned a night of relaxation.”
“That sounds amazing,” Becka agreed. “And I am one-hundred percent watching someone sexy take a bubble bath.”
I looked out at the hillside while we headed back to our bikes and the Jeep. The allosaurus we’d injured was crumpled in the grass and writhing around. The sky was starting to dim, and although I knew there would always be predators to fight, it looked like such a safe haven. The little turrets stuck out on the skyline, and all I could think about was crawling into a huge bed with my three beautiful girls held close.
“I think it’s time to celebrate,” I called as I settled onto my motorcycle. “First one back to the hotel gets to shower first.”
The girls screamed, and we started to race back toward Raven Hall, and back to our newfound home.
Chapter 16
We pulled up to Raven Hall triumphantly, and we decided to park our vehicles under the trees as usual, just in case any more rogue herd members came back.
I couldn’t stop grinning as I dismounted from my bike, and I looked up at the impressive building that we could call home. The grand architecture stood out against the simple greenery of the countryside, and the deep red sunset glowed around us.
The girls excitedly chattered away about the fight as we climbed over the low wall and made our way across the gravel, and I cou
ldn’t wait to get properly cleaned up and celebrate our victory. I was just reaching for the handle of the door when the staff entrance was flung open, and Debbie jumped out with a cry and grabbed Becka into a tight hug.
“You're back!” the woman shouted. “I was worried sick, you know! I heard all those gunshots going off in the distance! How did it go? Did you get rid of that big bastard?”
“Of course, we did.” Becka shrugged with a grin. “He’s currently being chomped down on by a bunch of sea dinos.”
“Get yourselves inside, then,” Debbie laughed as she hurried us into the pantry. “I’ve made sure the preparations are already started for the party.”
“The party?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “What are you planning exactly?”
“Oh, just a little shindig,” Debbie said, and she waved her hand as I closed the door behind me. “We’re making the dining hall into a wee dance floor, and they’re setting up a buffet and bar.”
“Sounds perfect,” Hae-won replied.
We walked out into the hall, and there was an excited buzz of chatter coming from the dining hall. When we walked in, a few people cheered, and some applause broke out along with a few whistles.
The whole group was involved in setting up, and some people were arranging a drinks station while others were moving the stacked-up cushions and blankets out of the way to create a dance floor.
“You made it,” Harris said as he hurried over to us with a huge grin. “You got rid of the giganotosaurus?”
“Sure did.” I nodded. “He took a little tumble off a cliff, so that should buy us a little bit of peace.”
“For now,” Hae-won added. “Until the next one comes along.”
“We should really get some better defenses in place here,” I said as I glanced over at the boarded-up windows. “If we want to make sure Raven Hall is really secure, we should also teach you guys how to shoot.”
“That’s an idea.” Becka grinned. “We could run a little class and have each of us take a group to teach.”
“That would be amazing,” Harris said. “We’ve been feeling like sitting ducks lately. I think folks would be more at ease if we had some kind of chance at defending ourselves.”
