Dinosaur: 65 million

by catt dahman

  Those who tried to run the other way were besieged by the smaller creatures, pursuing them through the rocks, shrilling with excitement, and chasing them back to where the rest were. The creatures seemed to enjoy the chase and roared excitedly, as if they communicated that excitement but maybe not hunting strategies. Hearing them and seeing their behavior was horrifying.

  Jack took a second shot, hitting the big purple beast’s injured leg at the thigh. Jack tossed the second LAW to the ground, wishing he had several more, but he couldn’t have carried enough for all the dangerous dinosaurs. The T-Rex slumped on the injured leg but didn’t fall, despite a big ragged hole in his flesh. Jack cursed with frustration and fear as he watched Kathleen hold her bleeding leg and bunch into a knot, curling herself as small as possible.

  Barney was severely injured, but he refused to die.

  Jack walked forward, “Don’t hit the little ones; make noise and keep fighting.”

  The creatures still were unsure what they were dealing with since the humans were new to them. It could be they found food, but they knew at times, food fought back.

  Marcus, Ruby, and Lawryn fired at one smaller red creature, bringing blood and making it roar and step backwards, injuring a tiny T-Rex in its clumsiness. Angry and nervous, Big Red 2 roared again, and Barney nosed the little one to its feet and continued to back away, barely missing stepping on Kathleen. Two other tyrannosaurs nosed around the first big red dinosaur that Jack killed.

  They were wary now.

  The trio of contestants fired at the snuffling dinosaurs as well, making them back away; the dinos’ eyes indicated they were not bright but knew they faced a threat. Food could attack back.

  “Get outta here,” Jack yelled at the dinosaurs.

  Huge purple Barney snapped up Brielle as he backed away and tore at her as he shook her angrily. She had been frozen in place, terrified to move. Backed against a rock, she tried to remain still and hope somehow they missed her. He was in pain and deadlier now, but he limped hard on his injured leg and dropped Brielle to the ground. He snorted.

  Before Jeremy could fire again, the herd shuffled away. The medium-sized ones watched their prey and moved deeper into the rocky area, glancing at the dead body of Big Red. Barney roared again and turned to follow his pack into the rocks. He made eye contact with Jack, making a pissed-off promise that this wasn’t over or won and that he was ahead anyway.

  “Another day, you big purple son of a bitch,” Jack vowed to the dinosaur.

  Jeremy dragged Donovan away, and Jack was able to help get the battered man to the woods. Jeremy had to stop at the edge of the woods and give Donovan first aid before the man fainted or died. Donovan moaned as they walked.

  Adrian picked up Brielle, covering himself with her blood, and ran with her as the rest helped Kathleen. Once the others could help them, they retreated deep into the woods, gathering their friends and stopping only for emergency first aid.

  Once they had everyone stable, they hid in a low place beside a creek where big boulders and smaller, moss-covered rocks made a sort of grotto. Marshall had a robust fire going quickly, and they stopped there to rest and assess their damages; several were shivering with near shock and were leaning close to the flames despite the warmth of the day.

  “Nice fire,” Jack noted.

  “Eh, one of my talents,” Marshall laughed and held up a red lighter, “I figure we need a lot of boiled water.”

  “My God, we’ve sent tyrannosaurs, damn,” Marcus said, “That’s the worst thing I have ever seen. I thought I would vomit when they kept coming and doing what they did.”

  “I did vomit,” Marshall admitted.

  “I hope the audience got their fill,” Jack smirked, “What a show that was,” he collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and sick over the losses.

  Marcus said, “The audience can kiss my black ass,”

  Chapter Five: Show Two

  Bert McTone gave a summary as he welcomed everyone tuning in. He made comments as each contestant was shown and reminded viewers about the last episode’s action.

  “When I saw those tyrannosaurs in a herd, I knew our contestants were in trouble. Marcus, Ruby, and Lawryn had it going on with their teamwork, and Marshall got everyone to safety. I think the beasts would have taken everyone except for Jack and his LAWs. He had two, but they were gone.”

  “Bert, did you see when Barney took a shot and a hit with an axe and still attacked? Pretty scary,” Analisa Vey shivered, “he’s massive. In these conditions, officials from SSDD report that an animal usually doesn’t grow this large without a full continent to roam. They told me that they intend to study him in particular.”

  “It was amazing, and I can imagine their interest. He is massive,” Bert said. He faintly wondered about the teleprompter and what he was saying. They wanted him to give facts about Barney, but Bert went blank as he watched Arnie chewed and eaten, “Ummm, the purple one was big.”

  “How big?” Analisa asked, waiting for Bert to give statistics.

  “Real big.”

  Analisa saw her co-host go pale, “So, Bert, tell us how everyone is doing. I know we lost Arnie; it was a terrible ordeal. Let’s remember him instead, okay? He was brave.”

  The show cut to a smiling Arnie, him in his gear, and him waving. They showed him with the boils from insect stings. Then, next the cameras showed his family.

  “How is everyone?” Analisa asked again.

  “Analisa, we don’t know yet how they are, but viewers will get a first look tonight. The boards have been filled with hope for Brielle, Kathleen, and Donovan. We do know the others survived and have some bruises but are still in the game. Kathleen, as you saw, couldn’t escape and was forced to fight. Only luck, some skill, and extra help from the rest saved her. She managed to slice Huge Purple’s leg, and experts feel the cut is deep and painful to the creature,” answered Bert.

  “How is Kathleen?”

  “It looks as if she has some broken bones and cuts. The team splinted her lower leg and put bandages on her upper thigh. A broken bone and bleeding are dangerous in this game; she’ll attract predators, Analisa,” Bert said. He spoke the words and wondered why there was no emotion to them. He frowned and spoke outside of what was written, “I’m sure she is in pain, and frankly, Kathleen was brave instead of giving up. I can’t imagine how frightening that was. It was hard for me to watch that, and I wasn’t there to hear, see, and smell; I can fully imagine going into shock after seeing those people eaten alive like that. It’s horrible. It’s a cruel, disrespectful end to their lives.”

  “Unfortunately, the T-Rex’s claws were caked with feces and carrion, so the risk of infection is high,” he said as he went back to script.

  “Donovan took a bad hit, Bert. The producers tell me that one of the creatures bit his hand off. He was so pleased with the gloves, but he lost one,” Analisa smiled. The audience tittered with a little laughter, “But he is bandaged as well and looks pale and tired. We hope Donovan will be okay.”

  Bert figured he looked the same as the camera showed a close-up of Donovan holding a hand up to ward off an attack and falling, which saved his life. The T-Rex still managed with razor teeth to remove Donovan’s hand. The man didn’t seem to realize it until he tried to get up and landed a stump onto the rocks. Rolling, he ducked the action and lay there bleeding until Jeremy got him to his feet and then into the woods.

  Bert felt sick again.

  “As you know, Brielle took a lot of damage. Those sharp teeth of Huge Purple sank into her body mid-section, and he shook her badly. It seems she has severe bleeding and maybe broken bones. I don’t know if she is conscious yet.”

  “But we’ll find out tonight...on Dinosaur: 65 Million!” Analisa called out excitedly.

  They went to a commercial, and Bert allowed someone to wipe away his sweat. Now, they would go to the new film and see how everyone was. He, like everyone else, wasn’t privy to the results of the show. What they saw tonight was pre-re
corded. Any survivors were secretly kept in an undisclosed medical facility, and the results of the show were ultra-secret.

  Bert sometimes thought about how secretive this show was compared to others he had worked on.

  He wasn’t paid to think.

  He was salaried to look excited as dinosaurs ate contestants.

  Chapter Six: Tyrannosaurs and Troodons with Big Teeth

  “I knew this would happen, but I still didn’t know it would really happen like this. I mean the bastard ate Donovan’s hand,” Wendy said quietly, “that purple one ate Arnie…just ate him. My God, can you imagine being Arnie?”

  “Wendy, we know. Can you please help get more clean water?” Ruby sighed. She felt bad that Wendy was crying and upset, but she needed the clean water to work on the injured.

  Traci was rocking back and forth in shock; she was the least of their concerns. Ruby glanced at her. Everyone had tried speaking to her, but Traci just rocked and occasionally muttered something unintelligible. Marshall wrapped Traci in a warm sleeping bag, but Traci didn’t react. She stared into another time and place, perhaps.

  Ruby and Susan kept pressure on Donovan’s stump, hoping that the blood would clot and stop flowing without having to do anything more. Susan applied dry cloths filled with rosemary and the spider silk, but the blood still seeped. Cauterizing was unthinkable, but Marshall kept the fire burning hot. They had it ready, just in case.

  “Give it a few more minutes, or we’ll have to cauterize,” Jeremy told Susan and Ruby.

  “He took my hand,” Donovan said. “What’s he talking about? Cauterize? No. Please don’t hurt me anymore.”

  “Relax. We’re trying to save your life,” Susan said.

  “He is a bad dinosaur,” Donovan said, his eyes glazing again, “please don’t burn me.”

  Ruby and Susan bit their lips and looked worried.

  “I know. He’s a horrible monster. We’re safe right now, okay?” Susan said, “no one will burn you; that silk will help.”

  “Susan, what will I do with one hand? How can I survive this?” Donovan asked simply. His face was masked with confusion, wondering how he could approach survival without a hand. He was weak from blood loss, and infection was a strong possibility; he wondered how he could possibly survive this.

  “Well, we’ll help you, Donovan. We’re all here together. It isn’t a competition. We’re okay,” Susan told him soothingly. His nerves were still in shock, so right now, the pain was bearable, but later, he would hurt terribly, and only his will to survive would save his life. She said, “I’m going to wrap this. I think most of the bleeding has stopped, and I’ll bandage it really well. I want you to drink a lot of water and keep warm next to the fire, okay? You do as I want you to, right?”

  Susan thought about how she was the least effective herbalist in her family and that they shouldn’t be expecting her to fix everything, but she realized that in this situation, she was an asset and important. She almost smiled but caught herself because Donovan wouldn’t understand. “Jack did good. He saved your life.”

  “He took my glove. I liked it.”

  “You sure we don’t need to…yanno?” Jeremy asked. He had a knife ready to heat and use to burn the blood vessels closed, but Susan nodded. The blood was barely oozing now.

  “Okay,” Donovan allowed her to bandage his stump, and he accepted water that Jeremy handed him. Re-hydration was necessary.

  “I found vitamins. They sure won’t hurt us,” Jeremy went around, sharing two with each person. He was nervous with energy, needing to do something and unable to sit still.

  Kathleen shook her head, grit her teeth, and tried to keep from passing out. Jack and Lawryn had set her leg as well as possible since it was swelling rapidly, turning purple and black. Her upper thigh on the other leg was deeply slashed, and Jack talked low and softly as he gently but thoroughly picked out dirt and vegetable matter that was mashed into her wound.

  They took water and splashed the area, wiping it with a cloth. The laceration was raw and gaping. In the best situation she would be on an antibiotic drip and have a hundred stitches or staples to close the gouge. While some cleaned, Susan used a needle and thread from the medical kit to sew part of her leg back together.

  She made a nice knot and sewed, making sure the sutures were tight enough to hold the edges as they were supposed to but not too tight to cause tissue damage. Liberally spreading the numbing gel, she worked. The gel wasn’t perfect, but it probably cut at least half the pain.

  Lawryn grit her teeth as she used a pair of tweezers to tease some of the dirt out of the wound, but it was a filthy injury and difficult to cleanse. Using the tweezers, Lawryn removed a tiny piece of bone that had been in the tyrannosaur’s feces.

  “Aren’t you done?” Kathleen didn’t know if she could take much more. She did as she was asked, breathing slowly and steadily as the pair cleaned her leg, but the pain was becoming unbearable.

  “It’s not clean. I’m sorry,” Jack said. He asked her to grit her teeth again as he splashed alcohol into the gash, but Kathleen couldn’t handle the pain any more.

  Throwing her head back, she tried to breathe, “Let it go. I can’t take it. You’re killing me, and I’m gonna start screaming. Tape it closed, okay? No more stitches.”

  “Okay,” Susan said. She had gotten only a dozen done, but she taped the dirty wound closed.

  Jack fixed a bandage over her leg and gave her some water to drink.

  “What do you think?”

  “It’s bad. She won’t bleed out, but she’s cut into her muscle and it’s dirty. I don’t know any way to keep her from getting septic.”

  Ruby nodded, “It’s the best we can do. Susan is as close to a doctor as we have. She‘s an herbalist.”

  Brent laughed, “She gonna dance under the moon and chant magic spells, too? Come on. Herbs? Seriously? You’re gonna kill those people.”

  “We’re using the medical kits. Well, Susan is. And she is using herbs. We don’t have choices, Brent.” Ruby felt her anxiety rising.

  Ruby teased John out of her pocket with a berry. He was terrified of the tyrannosaurs and the sounds of the guns. The other little dinosaurs had retreated for a while, and one of their entourage had been gulped down as a morsel of food.

  Marcus joined them, “That girl, Brielle, there’s nothing we can do, and when she dies, we have to move. We’ll draw predators. She’s in a lot of pain, and every second, man, is pure torture.”

  Jack didn’t know why they reported to him, but for some reason, everyone always came to him and looked at him for answers. He took a deep breath, “I’ll take point with Ruby and Marcus. Brent, you can stop complaining and buck up. I want you helping Traci; then, next will be Serinda, Wendy, Susan, and last, Adrian with Kathleen.”

  “She can’t walk,” Adrian looked confused.

  “Then drag her ass,” Jack said.

  “Why am I with the mute girl?” Brent asked, staring hard at Traci.

  “Because I asked you to help her. Leave her if you want, but her death is on you. Don’t expect me to do a damned thing to help you if you get chased by a Big Red or Barney.”

  Brent stared hard at Jack and dropped his eyes, “You’re cold, Dude.”

  “Gimme that gun. It ain’t shit, but it can fire, and you sure as hell can’t,” Serinda snatched the revolver from Brent as he held it in a limp-wrist manner.

  “That’s my gun.” He reached for it, but she dodged his hand.

  “And you’re doing nothing with it. Trust me to shoot if needed. It can’t do much damage, but I can be depended on, unlike you,” Serinda snapped her words into Brent’s face, daring him to argue any more or to fight. No one intervened, “You were too afraid to shoot the damned things, but I will shoot their ass.”

  “Well, I hope the viewers hear and see you are stealing my gun and that everyone here is okay with it,” Brent said.

  “Viewers can kiss my ass,” Serinda said as she flipped an obscene gesture
to Brent, meant for the audience.

  “I think viewers will be cheering, actually,” Ruby noted.

  “The rest… guard our backs and be alert,” Jack said.

  “And Brielle? What about her?” Wendy asked.

  “She’s breathing her last; we’ve got to go before the monsters find us here,” Ruby answered.

  Wendy frowned, “But they’ll get her, and she’s alive.”

  “Go,” said Jack as he met Jeremy’s eyes, and Jeremy nodded grimly.

  Moving out, they followed the creek; Jeremy hurried to catch up with them, putting his knife away. Later, he would sit alone and shiver, remembering sliding his sharp blade against the back of her neck, but he gave her peace. Her stomach was punctured, and the digestive juices slowly burned and tortured her.

  When he raised her and held her up to his shoulder, he thought that despite the terrible pain, she showed trust in her glassy eyes. Maybe it was his imagination, but he felt a wave of relief from her as he slid the blade in almost painlessly and released her from her mortal agony. Using a cloth, he covered her face and wished her peace.

  It was unthinkable to allow predators to find her and eat her alive. Jeremy reminded himself that what he did was merciful, and it stopped all the pain, but he took no joy in his actions. Sometimes there was no glory in being responsible and merciful.

  For a while, they struggled to find a pace everyone could handle; Kathleen struggled to follow along and groaned each time she moved at more than a snail’s pace. The ground was uneven as they walked a narrow trail formed by animals while they followed the creek, trampling plants and bushes. In some places, wider spaces were mashed flat where herds of animals had found water to drink, and in one spot was a wide place where some creatures had rolled and squirmed for mud baths.

  Susan nervously slowed down, and without thinking, Jeremy took her arm, slid his hand to her hand, and clutched it, guiding her along. It was casual, but Susan smiled to herself and gave his hand a squeeze.