Extinction Island 2

by catt dahman

  “I know. I would have preferred for him to lead as well,” Tyrese said.

  “You did the best you could. There were snakes…”

  “I know. Those baby snakes, God, Scott, you should be glad you didn’t see those bastards slithering and crawling all over, and then they just came at us…attacked. I’ve never seen anything like it…that many together and that many so aggressive,” Davey said.

  “A nest,” Alex said.

  “Sons of bitches bit Durango all over his legs, and when he fell, damn, Sue, we just ran. I’ve never been so scared. There was nothing we could do but run,” said Tyrese as he shivered.

  “They were gone, but Sue killed one. Fer-de-lance, I think.” Alex whispered the name of the snake as if they might hear him.

  “Those are native to jungles but not to all of the islands,” Benny said. “I think it’s rare to see them here, but then, the entire island is weird.”

  Alex asked the boy what he thought about the venom acting so fast. It was as if the venom were ten times as strong and killed twenty times as fast. Normally, there would be blistering and some hemorrhaging and then necrosis of the bitten area. Some died after being bitten, but other people survived and had to deal with the loss of a limb as it rotted. Alex enumerated his points on his fingers as he talked.

  “I have no idea, Alex. Some things here don’t fit the science I learned. Things break rules. People die,” Benny said as he blinked away tears.

  He was intelligent, but he was young, scared, and upset, too. He felt frustrated by the creatures that broke the rules he had learned and that didn’t act according to what science taught. It was a betrayal.

  Tyrese shoved his long knife out from the rocks where he hid, and a troodon squealed and retreated. Blood covered the blade. “Those things are persistent.”

  “They hunted us. If Alex hadn’t figured it out, we’d all be dead,” said Helen, who felt as if spiders were crawling on her, and she batted away a beetle that came too close. She hated the little crevice, but the alternative wasn’t pleasant, either. The ground was wet as the water rose to an inch before turning into mud when they stepped in it.

  “We can’t stay here,” John Littleton said. “I didn’t believe you…my mistake. When I saw…”

  “I know,” Helen told him, “and we told you, but until you see them, it’s hard to believe.”

  “I didn’t know,” Littleton said.

  Helen asked, “Why did all of you come out here, Ty?”

  Tyrese frowned and said, “It was me, Davey, Sue, and Littleton. We wanted him to see a few compys, but everyone else demanded to go with us. I failed as a leader. I told you I couldn’t do it, Helen.”

  “I tagged along. I followed them, and Kelly told me not to,” Benny admitted, “but dinosaurs. The island is like a dream and a nightmare. Pam said we could explore.”

  “I know it was bad to see everything this way,” Alex said.

  “Tyrese saved us, I mean the us who are here. He tried hard, but we were pretty scared,” Benny said.

  He droned on about his theories, lulling them as he spoke. He said he found it strange that there was a large predator population, but a smaller plant eater population. Benny said that the eco-system was wrong, but he didn’t know how the island worked. He theorized that meat eaters preyed on one another, but the largest couldn’t survive on that and would die out. In time, he said, troodons would be the major predators.

  “They’re smart, you know. We’re smarter, but it’s their territory, so we need to think like them, but better.”

  Alex thought about that. With a stick, he drew in the dirt. “The gully. They’ll chase us, but we can fight back. We might make it. Can you see? The water is rushing that way, and I am sure it’s filling the gully like a huge water slide.”

  “Make it where?”

  “To the ceratosaurs’ territory. If the troodons follow us, they’ll be eaten. Maybe they’ll be afraid of them anyway. How do you know there is a lake that way, Benny?”

  Benny chuckled, “Alex, you’re good at this. Do you not know? Jeez. Ceratosaurs are built for swimming with their crocodile bodies and tails. The gully washes right to the lake. They are bigger, but we can stab them just as easy.”

  “Bigger?” Helen asked.

  “We can’t leave Shonna,” Tyrese said, “because she will be like a dinner bell when they smell blood.”

  Everyone went quiet, listening to the storm.

  “It’s okay. She’s gone,” Davey told them abruptly. “We need to go.”

  Helen paused a second, looking at Davey carefully and remembered that Shonna had been in terrible condition and would have died, no doubt. However, her heartbeat had been steady before Davey checked her again.He wiped her face while his back was turned so Helen couldn’t see Shonna in the dim, watery light.

  She wondered if Davey had learned too much from Kelly about making life and death choices. She also wondered about a few others of their group who had been suffering and suddenly died.

  It wasn’t really as if she knew how she felt about the possibility that Davey helped Shonna along. There was absolutely no hope for the woman, and if she had awakened, the pain and fear alone would have been hellish for her.

  Also, waiting for her to die would have kept them in the crevice for a long time, maybe until dark when it would have been too late to escape.

  Helen tried to catch Davey’s eyes, but he kept his face averted and looked as if losing Shonna hurt him.

  A loud burst of thunder shook their little cave. More water ran past the entrance, and they heard it flowing into the gully over the noise of the storm.

  “Ahh-eeee,” screamed Shonna as she jerked up to a sitting position, scaring Tyrese so badly that he scraped his arm as he jerked.

  Helen grabbed Benny’s arm and clamped her fingers down tightly, causing him to yelp. Helen’s eyes bulged as she hissed, “You said she was dead.”

  Davey went white, his face doughy in the little bit of light they had, and he shook his head furiously as he moaned, “She was. She was dead and gone, Dude. Oh shit, she isn’t dead.”

  Chapter 6: Life and Death

  “That’s what you get for all the damned dope you’ve smoked, idiot,” Tyrese snapped. He rarely was so rude to the survivors, but his heart was hammering. “What the hell just happened?”

  Helen pushed her way to Shonna and raised a hand to cover Shonna’s mouth, but stopped. Was she going to cover the horrible squealing noise coming out Shonna’s mouth or do something worse?Helen’s hand hovered.

  Davey leaned into Shonna’s face, “Shut up, or they’ll come after us. They can hear noises like…yanno…”

  “Pain. They’ll come for the blood and because she sounds wounded,” Alex said.

  “She is wounded.”

  “I know that,” Alex told Scott, “and I was explaining.” He looked faintly hurt.

  “I know. I’m sorry. Damn. Helen, what can we do?”

  Davey was already speaking softly and trying to soothe Shonna who lay back, shaking badly and contorting with her pain. She started to scream as she saw the bright red wrappings that ended at her wrist, but Davey slapped a hand over her mouth, glancing at Helen as he did.

  “You lost the hand. Be still so you don’t bleed anymore,” Davey told Shonna.

  Helen only nodded as she said, “Shonna, listen to Davey. You have to be quiet or…” She didn’t know how to finish her warning and swallowed hard. Whether she was right or wrong about what she thought Davey had done before, she wished Shonna never had awakened in agony, never screamed, and never caused the conundrum they had. She laid a hand on Davey’s shoulder and hoped that either way, he understood she felt bad.

  “What are we going to do?” Littleton asked.

  “We?” asked Tyrese as he spun around. “I have yet to see you swing a knife or stab anything. The last thing we need is for someone to ask what we need to do. Shut up, or give me a solution.”

  “Ty, calm down. You know that
I led people out here to find you guys because I was afraid some from the group came along with you who weren’t very tough. I lost RJ and Bobby, and I feel that’s on me. You can’t give up and let the anger take you. You aren’t responsible for each person,” Scott said.

  Tyrese rubbed his eyes. He had the saddest expression that Scott had ever seen.

  “I shouldn’t have let them tag along. I should have made them act right on the trail. I should have stopped Pam. I should have never let everyone run into the jungle…right into the damned snakes. The rest…I tried hard,” said Tyrese.

  “I know you did. This is a bad spot, but we can do as Alex and Benny said. We have to outsmart the monsters and get back to the beach,” Scott spoke, but tried to imagine how they would have to get fresh water day after day and face the same situations. This was about far more than getting back to the beach, but for now, it was all he could think of. The idea of a twelve-year-old like Benny being eaten alive was impossible to consider.

  “Shonna, can you walk? Can you run? Because we have to run,” Davey said.

  Shonna lay back, shivering and said, “I can’t stand the pain.”

  “She can’t run. With that gash, she can’t walk,” Helen said.

  Davey sat back and said, “Her wrist is bleeding badly, and the gash in her leg is bleeding almost as much. I can’t fix her, there’s nothing for pain, and she’s going to draw the dinos. Someone, tell me what to do. Anyone. I can’t do this alone.”

  Shonna squealed again. Her eyes rolled madly, and she thrashed in the tight space. No one answered Davey.

  “We have to think of something,” Littleton said, risking Tyrese’s anger.

  “I’m trying,” Davey replied, “so all of you go, and I’ll stay with her. Maybe we’ll be okay, and then tomorrow, you can come back and get us.” Davey shrugged and then said, “We can survive. Probably.”

  “That’s workable,” John Littleton agreed.

  Scott raised a hand before Tyrese could move. “We didn’t ask you. There’s no way Davey could defend himself and Shonna if even a few small troodons got in here.” Scott stabbed a large beast in the nose as it peeked inside the crevice, and enjoyed the squeal it emitted as it ran away.

  Outside the crevice, the troodons ran back and forth, growling and trying to find a way to get at their prey, but also aware that the humans could harm them. So far, the troodons had used a hunting method of knocking their prey down and biting, which worked for human-sized prey and worked well all that day.

  The troodons’ food was hidden in a rock crevice, which frustrated them. They knew their hunting time might be limited because of the other, larger beasts hunting in the area.

  Each troodon had a sickle-shaped claw on each of his feet, a blade that was six inches long and lethal. The creatures were capable of raising their feet and clawing open flesh easily. When they attacked a larger animal, they leaped and slashed.

  Intelligent and clever as well, several of the larger troodon, the alphas or leaders, began to use a few rocks that lay almost buried in the ground, covered by rotting vegetation and moss to frighten their prey.

  Click-click-click.

  Trying to intimidate or scare the prey from the rocks, they tapped and hissed. The resulting noise was terrifying.

  Birds and lizards ran away, the compys retreated, and the humans trembled.

  No one had to ask Benny or Alex what was happening. The constant clicking grew unnerving.

  Scott outlined a plan asking Alex what he thought. It wasn’t a perfect plan, and it wasn’t to everyone’s liking, but they had to do something. If they didn’t return to camp, more of their group might come looking for them and walk into the trap the troodons had set.

  “We’re just leaving her? You said some of those could sneak in here. Will she be okay? We’ll come back for Shonna?” Benny asked.

  “Sure, soon as we can,” Scott lied.

  “We won’t, but I understand. It’s all about who it is, right? Because if it were Helen,” Littleton said.

  “Stop,” Scott said. He felt his face go red, and he turned away from the rest. “At some point, we have to stop people from dying.”

  “The one as opposed to the many?” Benny asked. His voice was innocent. There was no malice, but his words cut as deeply as a troodon’s claw.

  “Davey, are you checking on Shonna? Keeping her quiet?” Scott wanted to scream with frustration. He had no ideas and was terrified that Helen might die in the little cave as well.

  “Give me a minute. Damn. Shit. Scott, I can’t…” Davey said.

  “Do you want me to do it?” Scott asked.

  “Do what?” Littleton asked.

  “Nothing,” Davey mumbled.

  “She can’t run or walk. We can’t possibly carry her, can we?” Helen asked. She knew what Scott meant. She had thought the same thing as Scott had.

  “We can’t. I can. I’ll carry her,” Tyrese said. “If we can get out of here without being attacked and you can raise her and position her without her bleeding out, I can carry her. Help me get her up, Davey, and I can do it. You better not move too slow, or we’ll all die.”

  “Can you swim, Benny?” Helen asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m a good swimmer.”

  “You’ll need to be. Keep your arms up to protect your head and keep your legs bent and kick off the rocks, understand?”

  “So it isn’t about swimming as much as it is about dodging rocks? Got it,” said Benny as he nodded.

  Designated as point guards and ready with knives, Alex and Helen ran out from the rocks first.

  Nothing chased them because both were fast, dodging into the brush quickly, and then the gully, using the rain as a shield. They jumped into the water and were carried along quickly, as the current of the water was strong. Benny and John Littleton followed, trying to keep up. Both splashed into the gully and were swept down stream.

  Davey and Scott yanked Shonna out of the safe area and up, and then they threw her over Tyrese’s shoulder so he could carry her in a fireman-carry. She cried as her thigh hit his chest, and the pain flared. Tyrese ran, following the rest.

  Davey and Scott guarded the back of the group in the direction they feared an attack would come.

  Tyrese strained as he eased himself into the water, but the bank rumbled, and he and Shonna fell. He held her tightly.

  Scott panicked as the clicking of the sickle-claws stopped and the bushes began to flutter with dashing troodons.

  A medium-sized creature jumped at the gully, trying to knock Scott down and rip him open with its claws.Scott stayed under the branches, ducked, and stabbed at the animal as it missed him. Scott only wounded the dinosaur, blood staining some of the muddy froth.

  The pack, snapping and clawing, smelled blood from the injured beast as well as from Shonna and went into a frenzy. Because of the fast moving current, Scott was swept safely past the creature.

  The confusion gave the humans a few seconds of advantage. Everyone dodged rocks, kicking off when necessary, but Tyrese struggled with Shonna.

  In another lifetime, in a place where dinosaurs didn’t roam, Shonna was a man who felt he should have been born a woman. The surgeries were done well, and only one man knew the facts and had shared, but that situation made no difference to anyone, except for now.

  Male or female, Shonna was tall and had solid muscles, making her an attractive woman, but also showing she was heavy. Tyrese was a large man, strong and muscular, but he struggled with Shonna’s weight.

  He fought to protect Shonna’s head as he held her above water. She hit a crop of rocks and screamed as they bruised and cut her stomach. Her stump bled freely in the water and throbbed because of her position. She cried.

  Scott caught his breath as he grasped a branch next to Tyrese and asked, “You want me to hold her?”

  “You aren’t that big,” said Tyrese as he grinned. He whirled as a troodon jumped down through the brush and caught his arm, cutting it deeply with its claw.
The splash covered the human’s heads for a second, but the troodon fought to get to its prey.

  Scott stabbed, but in seconds, smaller beasts jumped down, and using their smaller, but dexterous forelegs, they snapped at Tyrese.As he spun, Shonna’s body took the damage, something Tyrese didn’t intend, but again happened because of her position.

  She went under and came up spitting and sputtering but wasn’t able to do more than wave her arms weakly. Tyrese covered his face and neck as the animals swam to him, and he tried to use the fast current to get away.

  Davey skewered one with his pike, but couldn’t pull the weapon back out to use again; it was stuck fast. The water gave him no traction. He then pulled his knife from his belt.

  Benny yelled with fear as an animal leaned down from the bank of the gully and snapped at him. Helen and Alex stabbed and stabbed, finally wearing themselves out. Stabbing hard flesh was tiring, and in the hot jungle where they poured sweat as they fought, they dehydrated.

  Scott knocked the second of the animals off Tyrese, but it still wanted to kill and eat Tyrese and Shonna. Tyrese yelled and clutched his stomach. Benny waved his arms to distract the beast, and Alex and Scott slashed. The dinosaur swam to the edge of the gully and scuttled up, wounded.

  Davey leaned over, looked at Shonna, and said to no one in particular, “She’s really dead. I think she bled out or hit her head on one of those rocks.”

  Helen robotically felt for a pulse. “We need to keep swimming and follow this thing to the lake. Ty, Hon, you have to let her go.”

  “I…let her go?”

  “Yeah, let her go. She’s gone for real this time.”

  Tyrese moaned and let Shonna go, watching her body spin, bounce, and go under a few times as she floated away. For some reason he said, “I’m sorry, Benny.”

  “Me, too,” Benny said as he gasped for breath.

  “You’re doing great, Dude. Stay sharp,” Davey said.

  “Stay under the branches,” Scott ordered. “I think we’re close to something.” The scent of the jungle was different even in the gully. They could smell dead fish and algae. He hoped they could skirt the lake and wind back to the beach and then to camp.