by Logan Jacobs
“Manual?” I asked. “You mean a stick shift? Actually, I do know how to drive a stick. At least far enough to move it a few feet down the road.”
“Are you sure?” Becka asked.
I just gave her a small eye roll in response. It was true that I knew how to drive a manual car, but it had been several years since I’d actually done it, and that had been an old truck of my grandfather’s. These were all more modern cars with the gear shift on the opposite side, just to complicate things. Still, I couldn’t let Becka think that all Americans were so helpless in anything that wasn’t fully automatic, so I pointed to a dark green BMW sedan that I figured would be easy enough to handle.
“I’ll take that one,” I announced.
Hae-won looked at me, and then at Becka. Becka shrugged and smirked, clearly in anticipation of my failure.
“Okay, I’ll just start all of the cars,” Hae-won agreed.
The Korean moved to the BMW and opened the door. She disappeared beneath the console for a moment, and then the engine came to life. She stepped away from the car and cast an inquisitive glance toward me and Becka.
“Thanks,” I said as I crossed to the car.
While I studied the gear shift as I ostensibly brushed glass from the seat, Hae-won moved on to the next car in the line. Soon enough, all three engines hummed in the morning mist, and I had to admit that I no longer had an excuse not to drop into the seat of the BMW.
“Okay,” Hae-won announced. “Just unhook the red wires when you are done. That will stop the engine.”
“Red wires, got it,” I said as I finally slipped behind the wheel.
I glanced toward the tiny Alfa Romeo that Becka had taken and saw her smirk again in my direction. I smiled in return, then took off the handbrake. The car rolled forward as I shifted into first gear, and I eased down the street away from the gate. There was some grinding as I shifted into second, but I found a spot a short distance down a side street where the car was out of sight and off the main road, and so hopefully not a target for dinosaurs or other humans. Satisfied that the car was hidden, I disconnected the red wires, patted the console, and stepped out from the car.
“Not bad, yank,” Becka said as I emerged. The red Alfa Romeo was parked directly behind me, neatly tucked beneath an overhang.
“Piece of cake,” I said.
“Sure,” the blonde replied and smirked. “Do you want to drive us to the tow truck, then?”
“Eh, I’ll let Hae-won take a turn at it,” I replied as I saw that the Korean girl had kept her car running and pulled up beside the two of us. “Just let me move the truck, or whatever that thing is, back in front of the gate.”
“Fine,” Becka fake sighed. “I guess we’ll just have to admire your driving skills another day.”
I headed back over to the military vehicle, climbed inside, and started up the engine. I studied the street for a moment before I shifted since we’d made a lot of noise moving the four cars. Not that any of the cars were especially noisy, at least not on a normal day. But with no other sounds, the revving engines could be heard for blocks, and probably even miles away. I was convinced the road was still clear and started to move the truck when I caught a flash of electric blue out of the corner of my eye. It was about halfway up the street, at an intersection with a narrow alley, and I realized I was staring at three dinosaurs. Somehow, the sneaky bastards had managed to draw close to the gate without us even realizing it.
The new arrivals had to be nearly as tall as me, but with thick muscular hind legs and whip-strong tails. I guessed each one had a hundred pounds on me, a disquieting fact given that they looked like mini T-rexes with short arms and large heads filled with sharp teeth. Their bodies were a bright blue color that reminded me of a poison dart frog, though these creatures also had rows of blue and green feathers along their stubby arms and over the crest of their head and back.
The dinos stopped and surveyed the area with their pitch-black eyes, and then they focused on the gate and the cars that sat in the road. I took a quick glance in the rearview mirror and saw Hae-won’s car still idling just outside the gate, pointed away from the looming trouble. I couldn’t tell if either woman had spotted the dinosaurs yet, but even if they had, those teeth looked like they could do some serious damage to the car. I looked back at the dinosaurs as I tried to come up with a plan to distract the giant lizards, and the next thing I knew, the trio of mini T-rexes were sprinting down the street.
There was no time to warn the girls, although the dinos were closing in so fast that the window for escape was practically shut. With no real idea of what to do, I slammed the gas pedal to the floor and shot down the street toward the dinos. I started to honk the horn, which echoed weirdly in the empty street, both to warn the girls and maybe scare the freaking lizards. On the upside, the girls got the message, and I heard tires squeal behind me. A quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed the other car tearing down the street in a cloud of burning rubber. On the downside, the dinos weren’t intimidated by the rapidly approaching military vehicle or the honking horn.
I slammed into the middle of the dinos which sent them dancing backwards. One reared up and let out an ear-piercing screech while another one raked its claws along the top of the carrier. I cringed at the sound of nails on metal, but as I pulled the armored vehicle into a circle, I saw the girls pull through the gate. I’m sure they were heading for the gallery, which made sense, but unfortunately, we’d just removed the only barrier between our base and the dinosaurs. If it was going to stay a safe haven, we needed to block the gate before these mini T-rexes could get inside.
I righted the truck and barreled back toward the gate. I bounced over something large along the way, and another screech from one of the dinos let me know that I had run over someone’s foot. I gave myself a fist pump, but the victory was short lived. One of the dinos took the more direct route to the gate, toppling walls and sending debris into my path as it raced toward the gate where the other car had slipped through. I could still stop the other two, though, which were moving more slowly, and I still had the gun to deal with the one that had snuck in.
“Here we go!” I hit the gas again and bounced over the chunks of brick and rock the first one had left behind.
I was nearly to the gate when a loud thud sounded through the carrier, and something behind me went flying through the air. I hoped it had been the two dinos, but a quick peek in the side mirror showed only one dino rolling around on the street. There was another thud on the roof of the truck, and then the third blue lizard was tumbling over the hood and inside the college grounds. It scrambled to its feet, and after screeching at me, took off after its fellow dino. After uttering a few choice curse words, I brought the truck to a screeching halt that blocked the entrance, and then grabbed my gun off the passenger seat, opened the door, and jumped down onto the path.
I saw then that Hae-won and Becka had stopped the car facing the creatures, and I thought the dark-haired girl might be getting ready to charge the car at them. As if she had read my mind, the Korean girl revved the engine, but I knew it was a mistake. That much weight would shatter the windshield, and probably crush the engine.
The car would never survive, and the girls would be sitting ducks.
“Move!” I shouted as I ran toward the scene.
I raised the rifle as I ran, and I managed to get within thirty yards or so before the dinos even seemed to register that I was there. I waved at the car again and tried to signal Hae-won to get out of the way. The last thing I needed to do was hit one of my girls with a stray shot.
I saw Hae-won’s eyebrows scrunch together for a moment, but then she spotted the raised rifle and nodded. The engine revved, which drew the attention of the two dinos again, but the car swerved hard to the left and barreled away across the grass and out of the line of fire.
The dinos tried to adjust, but their large weight made it hard for them to make the sudden change. It was the opening I needed, and I steadied m
y arm and took aim at the first creature. I exhaled and pulled the trigger while the pair were still trying to decide whether to follow the car or come after me. The crack of the gun echoed through the yard, and then blood spurted from the mini-rex’s side. The head whipped around as it howled in pain, and for a moment, I thought it would fall over, but the creature managed to stay upright as it glared at the wound.
Both creatures lost interest in the girls and turned to face me head on. On a normal day some two weeks ago, having two such fearsome creatures like that suddenly turn and run at me with a vengeance would have made me shit my pants, but now I was a dinosaur hunter.
So, this was exactly what I wanted.
I only had a second to consider the absurdity of my situation, and then I lined up my red dot at the head of the uninjured dino as it started forward.
The boom of the gun rang in my ears and the power thrummed through my arm. A moment later, I saw a great black hole open in the creature’s head, and then blood began to drop in great globs to the ground. The dino took two more steps, then it fell to the ground flat on its chest like a drunk toddler, and the massive head twisted toward the side. It twitched a few times, but it wasn’t able to stand, so I turned my attention to the remaining lizard.
The last dino made a high-pitched roar that I could feel in my bones. It wasn’t hard to guess that the thing was angry and hell bent on revenge, and as it showed me an impressive array of sharp, pointy teeth, I knew I didn’t have the time for a carefully aimed shot. So I took two more quick bodyshots as the thing surged forward, and I felt a moment of gratitude toward my grandfather for his shooting lessons as a pair of large holes appeared between the creature’s eyes and along the jaw. The mini t-Rex staggered a few feet forward by its own momentum before it fell to the ground near its partner. Both dinos were still now, and I let myself breathe again as I studied the pair for any signs of movement.
When the dinos remained motionless for several dozen seconds, I eased my finger off the trigger, pointed the weapon at the ground, and looked at the two dead dinos in amazement. Our first encounter with the dinosaurs had only ended well because we had combined our talents as we had raced through the library. Now, just a week later, I had dropped two of the creatures in under a minute with a bullpup rifle that didn’t even have the power of the .308.
I thanked whatever gods might be listening for the gift of the guns again as I walked close enough to the pair to nudge one with my foot. I couldn’t believe how powerful I felt after bringing down these creatures, but the sound of the car horn brought me out of my reverie. I looked toward Hae-won’s car, but she was pointing to something behind me. Her eyes were frantic and I could see she was trying to shout something, but I couldn’t hear her over the car horn.
I spun around as the gun rose to my shoulder automatically. The third blue dino clambered awkwardly over the hood of the armored vehicle with a trail of blood in its wake. Somehow, it toppled over the side of the carrier and onto the centuries old path, its right leg dragging behind it. Then it managed to pull itself upright, and when it spotted its dead partners, it gnashed its teeth at me and started to move forward.
At least I had enough time to line up a real shot this time, and I took aim at the center of the skull again. My ears were still ringing from the last few shots, but I could still hear the boom of the gun as I fired. The injured dino seemed to recognize that the sound meant trouble, but even it couldn’t outrace the bullet. There was a solid thunk just before blood spurted from the beast’s massive head and sprayed across the landscape, and then the thing crumpled onto the pavement as dead as the other two.
I shook my head as I studied the beast.
“You should have learned when I hit you with the truck,” I murmured, “I don’t go down easy.”
The girls drove up beside me at that moment, and Hae-won leaned out of the window.
“So much for an easy trip,” the dark-haired girl sighed.
“You took them out really fast,” Becka added with a smile as she peered over Hae-won’s shoulder.
“Yeah, these guns are going to be a big help,” I replied. “The kick on them’s pretty manageable so if you two get good enough at shooting, I’ll let you have these, and I’ll take the big one.”
“Cool,” the Asian girl said.
“What do we do about the tow truck?” the blonde beauty asked.
“Umm,” I glanced over at the dead dinos now piled up near the front gate. “We definitely need it now. We can leave that truck where it is and grab the tow truck with a car that’s still out on the street.”
“This is getting confusing with all these different cars and trucks,” Becka said. “Maybe we should give them names so we can tell them apart. At least that big bruiser by the gate deserves a name.”
“You want to name it?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yeah,” the British girl stared at the truck for a second. “I think it looks like a Timothy.”
“Timothy?” I repeated as I glanced toward the massive armored vehicle. Brutus, maybe, or even Patton. But Timothy?
“I like it,” Hae-won said. “It sounds cute.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes slightly. “We can leave Timothy here and go get the tow truck.”
“See how much less confusing that is?” Becka grinned.
“Sure,” I said. “Let’s just get moving before anything else finds its way in here.”
“Okay, okay,” the blonde relented. “We’re going.”
Hae-won turned off the engine, and my two friends climbed out of their car. The three of us walked quickly past our latest kill to Timothy, which I was happy to see effectively blocked the gate even without the other cars around it. We pulled ourselves into the front cab, scrambled across the seats to the other side, and then dropped as quietly as we could onto the pavement.
We stood still for a moment and scanned the area, but no other dinosaurs appeared. I nodded to Hae-won, who walked quickly to one of the other surviving cars. In a heartbeat, she was inside the car and the engine coughed to life. Becka and I jumped into the back seat and slipped on our seatbelts, out of habit, I’ll admit, as Hae-won pulled away from the college. Since Hae-won was the one who knew where the tow truck was, I had to trust her sense of direction to get us there, though I wasn’t sure if she could really find it again given the convoluted route we’d been forced to take.
“Is this the way we came back?” I asked after the raven-haired beauty had taken a few turns I didn’t recognize and drove past a few shops I was pretty sure we hadn’t passed the day before.
“It’s around here,” she replied. “I’m sure it is.”
I was on the verge of offering to look up our route when she turned another corner and gasped.
“There it is,” she said.
I looked up the street and saw a white tow truck parked across the center of the road. There was a logo painted on the doors in a fading yellow color, and though I couldn’t be certain from this far away, I thought it was supposed to be a smiling sun. The name just above it said “Edward’s Towing” in pale blue, though that might have been a previous owner whose name they had unsuccessfully covered with white paint. It wasn’t the flashiest of vehicles, but it was one of the larger tow trucks I’d seen, and I was sure it could do the job of moving the massive dino bodies. If we could get it running, it would make the battle with the dinos and the trip outside the college worth it.
“Do you think you can start it?” I asked as Hae-won pulled up next to the vehicle.
“Sure, easy, dude,” the Asian woman said. “We can leave this car here and ride back in the truck together.
She disconnected the engine of the car and then hopped out before I could remind her to check for dinos. I scrambled after her and scanned the nearby buildings as well as the sky for people and giant lizards since I didn’t want a repeat of the pterodactyl incident from a couple days ago. Nothing moved, though, and the strange silence permeated everything.
“Can
you drive the truck?” I quietly asked Hae-won. No need to announce our presence, either, though the car had probably already done that.
“Yes,” the Asian replied from the cab. “I found keys in this one. It’s good, easier to use.”
“Great,” I said and figured it was also a good clue that the truck was abandoned. If somebody wanted to keep it at a time like this, they wouldn’t leave it open on the street with keys tucked inside.
I did another quick check of the sky, then waved to Becka. The blonde stepped out of the car in a low crouch and looked around, then stood up and walked quickly to the truck. I helped her inside, and then climbed in next to her.
“I can’t believe someone just left this sitting here with the keys in it,” Becka said as she pointed toward the keychain that dangled from the ignition. “You’re just asking for someone to steal your truck.”
“Maybe they left it here when the dinosaurs showed up.” I suggested. “I wouldn’t finish a tow job, either, if I saw a raptor racing toward me.”
“Maybe,” the blonde said. “Still, it’s daft. Why not just speed away in the truck?”
“Not enough time to get back to the truck?” I mused. “Or maybe the driver ran inside one of the buildings, thinking it was safer and he could get back to the truck after they left.”
We all peered at the buildings again, and I half expected the truck driver to appear. I noticed the rust colored stains then that were splattered along the sidewalks and the sides of the buildings. I didn’t point them out to the girls, but I took that as a sign that the owner wouldn’t be returning anytime soon.
“We should keep Tim and this guy locked,” I remarked. “Just in case there’s someone else out there scavenging for trucks.”
“For sure,” Hae-won replied as she tested the pedals and gear shift before starting the truck. “But I wouldn’t worry about Tim. You can’t hotwire Tim like I did with the other cars.”
“Really?” I asked. “I thought any car or truck could be hotwired.”
