Dinosaur World 2

by Logan Jacobs

  Chapter 16

  I froze for a moment, partly in anticipation of the answer, but also because I couldn’t figure out why I was suddenly able to hear their conversation. I’d certainly never heard any girl talk through the vent before, but then I realized the bathroom was normally a much noisier place, and I’m sure the women’s showers were the same way.

  “Very good,” Hae-won’s voice rang through the ducts with a small giggle. “His penis felt amazing inside of me. I would recommend it. Yes. I ogasmed four times.”

  “Four times?” Becka sighed.

  “Or maybe seven. One kept going and going like waves of an ocean with high peaks.”

  “Holy fuck,” Becka giggled.

  I know I smirked, but it was hard not to look pleased, given what I’d just heard. It was gratifying to know that Hae-won had enjoyed our time together as much as I had.

  Had-won said something that I couldn’t make out, so I leaned in closer to the vent.

  “That’s good to know,” Becka said. “I was actually thinking about asking him, but I wasn’t sure if you two were exclusive or something. He’s just been so strong and kind, and he shot that townie to protect us, and he looks so yummy. Plus it is the end of the world, so…”

  “So you would like to have sex with Jason also,” the Korean girl finished for her.

  I’d cleaned the same spot on my arm several times, but I couldn’t stop listening to the girls. Becka had made her interest in me clear, and I hadn’t been opposed to the idea of providing comfort to the Brit as well, but I wasn’t sure how Hae-won would react. The last thing I wanted to do was start a rift within our little group because I was quite sure that none of use would survive very long if we broke up.

  “Well, I mean, I’ve thought about it,” the blonde woman stuttered. “But I don’t want to step on any toes....”

  The pause before Hae-won answered felt like an eternity, and I would have loved to have seen Hae-won’s face just so I could have some idea of what she was thinking.

  “I’ve never wanted to share a man,” the Korean girl said thoughtfully. “I was furious with my best friend in high school when she slept with my boyfriend, and we haven’t talked since. But this is different. Maybe, like you said, because it seems like the end of the world. I would not mind if you slept with Jason.”

  “Really?” the British girl asked in surprise. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I actually like the idea,” the dark-haired woman admitted.

  “You like it?” Becka sounded surprised.

  “I like you, and I like Jason, and the three of us make a strong group. You are very beautiful, as is Jason, and it would help us all feel closer. Like a family.”

  “Right,” Becka said. “I already think of you like my sister.”

  “I feel the same,” Hae-won replied.

  “Okay, that’s good to know,” Becka said. “I mean, it isn’t like… I just really like him. You do, too. He’s great.”

  “Of course,” the Asian woman said. “We both care for him. He cares for us. We should enjoy the pleasure he gives us.”

  “Now all we need are the bloody pills for you,” the blonde sighed. “And condoms for me.”

  “Ah, yes,” Hae-won replied. “We keep getting distracted. But not today. Today we will finally find the pills and condoms.”

  “Right,” Becka said. “You said you’d be okay? You both have… you know.”

  “He has a lot of sperm,” Hae-won said. “It’s not my fertile time? Is that how you say it?”

  “That’s right,” Becka said.

  “I need to take them in the next few days, though,” Hae-won said. “I don’t want to use condoms. I like Jason’s sperm inside of me.”

  “I checked last night,” Becka said. “There are a couple of places that are close.”

  “I know one,” Hae-won said. “But it is not that close. There was a small one near my dorm, but I never used that one. It always smelled like marijuana, and the customers looked like… stones?”

  “Stoners,” Becka laughed, “and, yeah, I wouldn’t have trusted them, either. We can check the maps when we’re back in the gallery, and then we’ll go.”

  “Don’t forget the armor,” Hae-won said. “We should rinse it off, and then dry it quickly so it doesn’t rust.”

  There was some more laughter and chatter, and I realized I’d barely cleaned myself, so I scrubbed myself down with plenty of soap, shaved my whiskers, then rinsed and dried the armor. I wasn’t crazy about sticking it under water, and I decided I needed to research how to clean armor correctly. Since I had plenty of hot water left after all that, I also did what I could with my dirty clothes before I finally turned off the water and toweled dry.

  I felt cleaner than I had in ages, and that had me feeling a lot happier and even a bit frisky. I hummed as I put on some of my new clothes, then reminded myself about the vents. I glanced toward the fan, but the girls must have moved away from the showers because their voices sounded too distant now for me to make out any words. I gathered up my supplies and stepped back into the hallway to wait for the girls.

  The pair emerged from the women’s bathroom a few moments later, and I greeted them with a large grin. The women peered at me suspiciously for a moment before they both smiled in return.

  “I feel a thousand times better,” I said. “I’m glad we did this.”

  “It does feel nice to be clean again,” Becka agreed as she ran a hand through her golden locks. “My hair doesn’t feel all greasy when I touch it.”

  “And I don’t smell like sweaty socks anymore,” Hae-won laughed. “It is a good day, even if we did have to deal with a large dinosaur to get here.”

  “So, are we ready for the next mission?” I asked.

  “Definitely,” the girls said in unison.

  The pair started to sing another K-Pop song and moved ahead of me as they danced down the hallway. I followed them and enjoyed the view as they swayed down the stairs, their t-shirts damp from their hair and now clinging to their curves. Both smiled and winked at me when they caught my eyes roving over their bodies, and then they gave a final booty shake and waited for me to catch up.

  We were by the door at that point, and I tossed my shower supplies into the backpack before I started to put my armor back on. The girls exchanged another look and then helped each other with their own armor.

  I picked up my rifle, nodded to the girls, and then slipped through the door frame to scan the quad again. I took twice as long as I usually would, but eventually, I moved forward and signalled the girls to follow.

  We skirted the edge of the quad and stuck close to the buildings. No one looked at the dino corpse, though I spotted a pair of the oversized vultures circling nearby. We made the last dash for the gallery and quickly ducked inside as soon as I had the door unlocked.

  “Let’s drop off our shower gear and head down to Tim,” I said.

  “And then we can play musical cars again,” Becka replied.

  “Yeah, though I think we should take Tim today,” I said.

  The girls looked at me in surprise, and I shrugged.

  “Are you sure?” Becka asked.

  “We’ll move the cars into his place,” I replied. “But we can travel further out if we need to, and we’ll have some better protection. And the locals have already figured out we’re here, so it’s not like we need to keep up the deception.”

  “Oh, that would work,” Becka said with a gleam in her eyes.

  “So, we can go now?” Hae-won pressed.

  “Let’s do it,” I urged.

  The girls exchanged glances again and then giggled. We replaced our shower kits and tossed our dirty clothes into the corner, then opened the door and peeked outside. It was turning into a lovely spring day, and despite the presence of the huge corpse, I thought I could smell the first flowers as we stepped out into the sunshine.

  We made our way to the gate, and I climbed inside Timothy while the girls ran to the cars. I backed
out of the spot and then watched the road while the girls moved our car barricade into place. We had the routine down now, and the girls were back in the carrier in less time than it had taken us to walk to the gate. I pulled away in the direction indicated by Becka, on a route she promised would take us away from the bombed areas.

  We ended up on some of the smaller streets and had to back out of one when it became too narrow for Timothy to squeeze through. There was a horrible screeching sound of metal scraping against stone, but we didn’t get stuck and the bricks looked unscratched. Nearly fifteen minutes after we’d left the campus, we rounded the corner onto the street where the chemist’s shop was supposed to be located, but our last, easy stretch came to an abrupt halt.

  “What the hell?” Becka asked in disbelief as we stared at the road.

  At the next corner, the road had been blocked off. There were downed trees, blocks of concrete, and a mix of other debris, including what looked like a smashed Lexus, spread across the street, from curb to curb, across the sidewalks, and right up to the walls of the buildings. It was tall enough that you couldn’t simply climb over it, nor was there any way to crawl beneath it.

  “Is this from a dinosaur attack?” Hae-won asked in a puzzled voice.

  “I don’t think so,” I replied as I looked at the mess. “Someone built this, probably to keep strangers out of their neighborhood.”

  “Why would someone do that?” Becka demanded.

  “We did block off the campus,” I snickered.

  “Well, yeah, but that’s the campus,” Becka huffed. “That’s always been separate.”

  “They must have a way to get in and out,” Hae-won said.

  “I don’t see anything,” I replied. “And even if they did, I don’t think they’d let us in.”

  “Unless we had something to trade,” Becka added. “We should have brought some of those liquor bottles with us.”

  “Maybe we can just push our way through,” Hae-won suggested. “Timothy is strong enough to move those trees out of the way.”

  I studied the barricade, but I wasn’t as convinced that we could just shove our way through the wall. From what I could tell, it looked like it was several layers deep, and I was pretty sure that there were more large chunks of concrete and stone in the mix than we could see. It was obvious that whoever had built this thing had put a lot of time and effort into it, and I would guess that meant they also had people watching us right now.

  I checked the windows and the nearby roofs, but I didn’t spot any obvious watchers. I rolled the carrier forward, then did a u-ey back the way we had come.

  “Hey,” Becka protested as she realized we were driving away.

  “Someone went to a lot of effort to put that together,” I pointed out. “A lot of someones. And they were probably watching us. If we’d tried to ram the barricade, they probably would have attacked.”

  “But we have guns,” Becka pointed out.

  “Do you really want to kill a bunch of people for some contraceptives?” I asked.

  “I am quite randy,” Becka huffed, but then she shook her head and laughed.

  I stopped a few blocks further on and debated whether to return to the campus. Both girls were disappointed, and though I felt bad for them, I didn’t like our odds against that barricade and whoever had built it.

  “So, where do we try next?” I asked.

  Hae-won pulled out her phone and started to type. She checked the results and then typed a few more words, all while we idled at the corner.

  “Okay, go straight,” Hae-won said. “There is another one just three blocks ahead, and then we will make a right turn.”

  We drove onwards for the required three blocks, then turned right. We went around a large roundabout, and up another narrow street. Near the end, we turned down a short alley and popped back onto a wide avenue. There were dozens of abandoned cars and the smashed glass that had become so common along the roads lined with businesses, and if that was all that had blocked our route, we would have been fine.

  But there was a stegosaurus body sprawled across the road, apparently the victim of another helicopter attack. I could see the bullet holes along the hide and the blood that had pooled in the street. The massive plates along its back had smashed in several storefronts, and its tail had crushed the cars parked along one side of the street. The flies had already descended, but I didn’t see any signs of the vultures. Yet.

  “Where’s the pharmacy?” I asked.

  “Just there,” Hae-won replied as she pointed toward the stegosaurus’ head.

  “I see it,” I replied.

  The store was near enough, and I could probably get Timothy in pretty close, though not right up to the door. It was a local shop, not one of the chains, and the only indication it even was a chemist was a small sign that hung over the street with a picture of a cartoon pill with a smile. The windows and door were still miraculously intact, which I took as a good sign that the place hadn’t been looted yet.

  “Should we try it?” Becka asked uncertainly. “Can we get closer?”

  “We can get closer,” I said. “But we’d have to walk the last few yards.”

  “The next chemist is also past the dinosaur,” Hae-won reported as she checked her phone. “But we could circle around the dinosaur and drive back to the shop.”

  “How far away is it?” I asked.

  I still hadn’t seen any movement on the street, and the sky remained clear. I waited for Hae-won to finish her search, but I really didn’t want to drive too far away from the campus. The chemist with the happy pill was our best option, I was sure of that.

  “Another three miles,” Hae-won reported.

  “That’s pretty far,” Becka commented.

  “All right,” I said. “I’ll get as close as I can, and then we’ll have to walk the rest of the way.”

  “Okay,” Hae-won replied as she tucked her phone back into the backpack she’d brought.

  “Everybody have your guns ready to fire,” I added as I drove forward.

  I parked Timothy between the belly of the stego and the front wall of what had been a bookstore. I waited for a twenty count, then eased the door open as quietly as I could. The girls followed suit, and we all climbed down onto the glass and broken tarmac.

  When nothing leapt out at us, we started forward and picked our way past one of the stego’s giant feet. I glanced at the massive body and decided the skin looked like green elephant skin. I wondered if elephants were somehow stego descendants, and I was pondering that possibility when I heard Becka gasp.

  “What?” I asked, suddenly alert.

  Becka had been watching the path behind us, and she pointed toward a blob of moving shapes heading down the road toward us. It looked like a dark, buzzing cloud, and for a moment, I thought it was a giant swarm of insects. But the blobs stepped out of the shadows, and I realized they were yet another horde of small raptors. These were the smallest ones we’d seen, but they were lean and rangy, with dark red skin and long snouts. They seemed intent on the stego, until they saw us. The buzzing sound grew louder as the raptors stared at us, and Becka gasped again.

  “What do we do?” the Brit asked.

  “Run!” I yelled as the pack lunged forward.

  Chapter 17

  We sprinted toward the pharmacy, which had seemed so close when we parked but now felt like it was a mile away. I could hear the buzzing intensify as the pack charged after us, and I felt a shiver of fear as I heard what sounded like a thousand dog paw claws scratching the pavement behind us.

  I reached the door to the pharmacy first, and thankfully, it was unlocked. I flung it open and pushed the girls inside, then leapt in after them. I slammed the door shut, turned the lock, and then glanced around at the space we were in. It was a bare bones operation, with a few shelves that hadn’t been dusted in years and a display of pamphlets put out by the National Health Service. The pharmacy counter was at the back, and the tidy rows of medicines were just behind tha
t.

  Something smashed into the door, and both of the girls squealed. I turned back to the door and saw one of the raptors plastered against the glass, and its pack mates pressed behind it as they tried to figure out why they could see us but couldn’t get to us.

  “Will the glass hold?” Hae-won asked hopefully.

  “Probably not,” I replied even as the door creaked under the weight of the dinos.

  I looked around again and spotted a pair of stairs behind the counter. I nodded toward the girls, then ran toward the counter and jumped over the half-door that separated the pharmacist’s area from the rest of the store.

  “Get on the counters,” I ordered. “Hold your fire until the raptors break in. I’m going upstairs. I’m going to try and pick off as many as I can from above, but Hae-won, I’ll need your gun. That means you’ll need to be really precise with your shots with the hunting rifle.”

  “I can do that,” Hae-won agreed as she handed me her automatic.

  I helped the girls onto the counter and handed Hae-won the hunting rifle, even as more bodies started to thud against the glass. The buzzing sound had grown even louder, and there was an almost frantic feel to it as the dinos began to scrabble at the glass with their claws. I winced at the sound, but forced myself to leave the girls and pound my way up the stairs.

  I found myself on a landing that had a door near the front and a door near the back. The one near the front was halfway open, and I sprinted toward it even as I heard the sound of glass tinkling to the ground. I opened the door to what was probably the owner’s office, with an old fashioned roll top desk, a comfy looking leather chair, and what I assumed was the bloated body of the owner slumped over a pile of papers. One hand laid limply on the desk, and there was a handgun nearby. The flies were thick in the room, and the smell of rotting flesh stung my nose. I pulled the neck of my t-shirt high enough to cover my nostrils, then ran over to the windows.

  One had been painted shut, but I managed to wrestle the other one open. A breeze blew in as I finally got it wide enough to lean out, and for a moment, I could smell something other than the body in the room.