by Geoff Jones
William felt his stomach tumble again. Lisa was right. If Tim did somehow knock the rock free, he wouldn’t be able to use it to climb back up. He would need to scale the cliff in front of him. William leaned forward to look over the edge.
Tim dug his fingers into a crack on the wall. He braced his elbows against the cliff and walked his legs up on the rock behind him. Tim’s arms trembled as he held himself horizontal and pushed the rock with his feet.
“It’s moving!” Callie shouted.
The rock shifted and widened the gap. The tyrannosaur noticed this and nosed forward. The crevice was still too small for its oversized jaws, but not by much. Spittle from the tyrannosaur’s breath landed on Tim as the dinosaur snapped at him.
Tim let his legs drop from the rock behind him. His knees slammed against the wall below and he grunted.
“That’s enough,” William said. He realized that if the rock broke away and didn’t land on the tyrannosaur, Tim would be exposed on the cliff at exactly the height of its jaws. “Get out of there, Tim. This isn’t working.”
“What’s that noise?” Callie said. A high-pitched shriek came from the woods across the clearing.
Down below, Tim let go with one hand and flexed his fingers, stretching them. William’s heart pounded in his chest. He couldn’t tell if Tim’s feet were on some sort of ledge below, or if he was supporting his entire weight with his other hand.
The tyrannosaur grew still and quiet.
“I need some help here, guys,” Tim called up.
The yelping sound repeated over and over as it grew closer.
A small dog burst into the clearing below. It stopped right behind the tyrannosaur and yelped louder, then turned and ran in the direction of the river. Its short, scruffy tail curled pathetically under its belly. The remains of a leash bounced along on the ground behind it.
“Oh my God!” Lisa gasped. “Is that a dog?”
“What’s happening?” Tim called out, “William, I need a hand.”
The dog’s pursuer emerged from the forest. Triceratops horridus.
Morgan’s face froze in an enormous grin. “Fuckin’ A!”
The animal was huge, nearly as tall as the tyrannosaur, and three tons heavier. It knocked over a thirty-foot tree as it shouldered into the clearing and then came to a stop facing the tyrannosaur.
[ 20 ]
The two dinosaurs focused on one another, both motionless. After more than a hundred thousand years of coexistence, tyrannosaurs had developed an instinctive fear of the horned dinosaurs. Triceratops traveled in large groups and worked together to run down predators that ventured too close. They did more than just chase away intruders. They pursued them in groups of five or six, sometimes for hours, until they exhausted their enemy. They attacked as a team, surrounding the predator and striking from all sides. They did not stop until the intruder was gored to death by dozens of strikes with their horns.
The Triceratops in the clearing stood alone, however. It had wandered away from its herd. The tyrannosaur sensed a rare opportunity. With its eyes locked on the horned animal’s face, it stepped slowly away from the cliff wall.
The Triceratops charged. Its massive head lolled from side to side as it ran. The tips of its meter-long horns swished audibly through the air.
The tyrannosaur opened its mouth and let out an earth-shaking bellow.
[ 21 ]
Tim heard and felt the roar, but could not see anything other than the cliff wall. It was the first time the tyrannosaur had made more than a few gasps or grunts. The angry sound pounded Tim’s chest. Pebbles rolled down the cliff wall into his hair. He shouted up at the sky, “Can you guys lower a branch or something?”
He heard no reply.
Tim looked down and saw a wider ledge to his right. He had to lower himself further to stand on it, but at least he was able to take some of the weight off of his hands. It also brought him closer to the opening between the rock and the wall. He looked out over his right shoulder.
In the clearing below, the Triceratops barreled forward like a locomotive. The tyrannosaur lifted its foot high in the air and brought it down just before the Triceratops made contact. The foot landed on the giant frill that grew back and away from the horned animal’s face. Three massive claws clenched through leathery skin below one of the long horns, piercing bone. The tyrannosaur kicked downward at the same moment, rotating the charging animal’s head and slamming it to the ground. A victim of its own momentum, the Triceratops slid forward on its front shoulder. The tyrannosaur sidestepped, lowered its head, and sunk nine-inch teeth into the Triceratops’ hip.
Rubble and dust rolled down the cliff into Tim’s face as the twenty-thousand pound Triceratops came to a stop below. The boulder behind him shifted away several more inches, widening the gap. He looked up again. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
The tyrannosaur leaned forward over its enemy, raising its tail high in the air. Its jaws were splayed so wide around the Triceratops’ flank that it could not close its mouth.
Lying on its side, the Triceratops dug its legs into the ground and pivoted toward its attacker. Once it gained traction with its feet, it snapped its head upward and one of the three-foot spikes lacerated the side of the tyrannosaur’s belly.
Yes. Please. Kill it, Tim thought.
The tyrannosaur released its grip, roared, and backed away a few steps.
The four-legged battering ram bounded onto its feet and pressed the attack. It charged ruthlessly, aiming its horns for the tyrannosaur’s gut. This time the charge connected. The short, wide horn on its nose plunged deep.
The Triceratops pushed forward, backing the tyrannosaur into the cliff. Tim gripped the handhold tightly in front of him and closed his eyes as the tyrannosaur slammed against the crevice. The predator’s neck blocked out the light and the boulder shifted inward now, leaving Tim with only a few inches of clearance. As he shifted his grip, he felt the rock scrape his back.
This is it, Tim thought. The group up top had probably used the distraction to flee back to the river or maybe to Al’s mythical cave. Whatever happened next was out of his control. Remembering how Morgan had touched the hadrosaur skin in the café, Tim let go with one hand and reached out to touch the tyrannosaur’s hide. The downy layer felt as soft as goose feathers, but underneath it was like living rock. Hard, rough, and flexing.
The tyrannosaur lifted its knee, dislodging the horn from its gut and knocking away the Triceratops’ face. As it stepped clear from the wall, the giant boulder broke free. It tumbled back and off to Tim’s left, away from the two dinosaurs battling on the right. Tim felt a shake when the rock hit the ground below. He was now completely exposed on the side of the cliff.
Oh shit, oh shit. He inhaled and discovered that he was about to scream without even meaning to. He stopped himself, realizing that it might draw their attention.
Tim watched the Triceratops dig in with its hind legs and snort. It pawed the ground with one of its front feet. Tim looked for a crevice or handhold he could use to pull himself up. As long as the tyrannosaur stayed focused on the battle, it might not notice him. The rock wall at the local gym had little plastic knobs every ten inches. Where the hell are the goddamn plastic knobs? Above him, the wall was smooth and flat. Without the boulder behind him for leverage, there was no way to climb up.
The Triceratops stopped snorting and lunged, head lowered and horns horizontal.
With the boulder gone, Tim realized that the trajectory of the next charge would drive the tyrannosaur right into him. If he wasn’t crushed, he would be knocked from the wall. He looked down. He considered dropping twenty feet onto the jagged rocks below, but could not make himself let go.
The tyrannosaur did not allow the Triceratops to drive it backwards. The predator repeated its earlier move, lifting a leg and kicking downward on the charging animal’s face. This time it caught the horned beast on the snout. It kicked hard, turning the Triceratops’ head away from its body. The tyrannosaur s
wooped down and buried its teeth behind the creature’s large frill. Tim heard a series of pops as ten thousand pounds of jaw pressure separated the Triceratops’ neck vertebrae. The animal screamed, emitting a series of high-pitched screeches. The tyrannosaur squeezed harder and the screaming stopped.
A branch from above hit Tim’s hand, almost knocking him off the cliff. “Oh, fuck yes.” He grabbed it. “Pull me up, now!”
As the others hoisted Tim up the rock wall, the tyrannosaur turned. The beast clearly saw him, but did not care. It leaned forward and opened the Triceratops’ gut. Mounds of intestines filled with fermenting plant matter spilled out. The predator sunk its head into the chest cavity and fed.
“Get me the fuck away from here,” Tim said through hitching breaths as he came over the top of the cliff.
[ 22 ]
Callie held Hank’s hand as they walked through the woods. The ground sloped gently upwards. No one had said anything since they had pulled Tim over the wall and quietly disappeared into the trees above the cliff. Hank led the group, and he seemed to be steering them slowly to the right, back toward the river. Callie wondered if the café was still there.
“Guys, look over that way,” Al said. Everyone stopped. He pointed at a cluster of mossy stones among the trees off to the left. “I think we should head in that direction.” In the distance, larger formations of rock loomed in the shadows.
Hank took one look and said, “Nope.” He started walking again.
Callie stayed right beside him. It made sense to get back to the café and she wasn’t about to leave Hank.
Al called after them, “This is the perfect time to search for shelter. That tyrannosaur has all the food it needs.”
“No shit!” said Morgan. “It totally worked that Triceratops. Poor guy. Triceratops is my favorite, you know.”
Hank responded without looking back. “We’re going to help the old woman. She needs us. You keep searching for your Fort Knox as long as you want.”
Callie gave his hand a squeeze. “What about the rest of them?” she asked quietly. “We shouldn’t split up.” Hank stopped and they both looked back.
“There’s also the woman on the second floor,” Tim said.
Al rolled his head around, looking at the canopy above. “If she even exists. Are you sure you didn’t imagine her?”
“I saw something.”
William turned to Al. “We need to get back to Helen. And we all need to stay together.”
Lisa pulled Al close and looked up at him. “I want to get back to my store. If something else shows up, I won’t be able to run very fast.”
“How is your foot?” Callie asked.
“It hurts.”
So far, Lisa had limped along without complaining. As a runner, Callie had experienced blisters that felt like gaping holes on the bottom of her feet. When she actually looked at them, they were always smaller than she expected and only skin deep. Lisa had an actual hole. Callie had seen muscle fibers inside the wound when wrapping it up.
Al took a deep breath and looked around, swinging his head from one person to the next. Callie thought he looked like a cornered animal. “Okay,” he said.
Hank gave a snort through his nose and they all started up again. Callie took his arm. “Thank you for the whistle,” she said quietly. “Back by the river. I thought I was a goner.”
Hank pulled his lips wide. He made the shape of a smile, but he wasn’t smiling. “I thought I was a goner too. We gotta be careful, babe. After what happened to that girl, we gotta really look out for each other. We should make some ground rules when we get back to the river. For all of us.”
“Like what?” Morgan asked. Callie guessed that Morgan was not a big fan of rules.
“Like how far away from the building people should go. Maybe some kind of watch duty. And we clearly should not make any more loud noises.”
“Loud noises did chase away those duck-bill dinosaurs,” William pointed out.
Hank nodded. “But it was obviously a mistake to assume that trick would work with the other kinds. The noise brought that T-rex right to us.”
Morgan had been picking at the dried blood on his face. He flicked a scab off into the air. “You said it, man. Beth was practically asking to be eaten.”
“Beth said that nobody should go off alone. We all agreed. And where was she? Right at the edge of the woods by herself. If we’re going to come up with rules, we have to stick to them.”
Callie put her hand over her face. She could see where this was going. She was used to Hank’s matter-of-fact pronouncements. For him, it was simply about learning from mistakes. He didn’t realize how it made him sound sometimes.
Morgan nodded. “Yeah. It’s a good thing, too. We’re all a lot safer now that she’s gone.” Morgan reached up to scratch the back of his head. “Wait. I think I’m mistaken. I think maybe you’re actually an old jackass for suggesting that what happened to Beth was her own fault.”
Hank puffed air out his nostrils. “I’m trying, Morgan, to come up with ideas to keep us alive.” His voice rose as he spoke.
“No. I’m still mistaken. You’re not an old jackass. You’re a shit-brained, girly-pants-wearing son of a bitch.”
Hank stopped walking and yelled, “I don’t have to take this from you, you goddamn punk!”
“Punk?” Morgan blurted. “Is that the best you can do?”
William stood with his arms crossed. “Hank? What were you saying about making loud noises?”
Hank pressed his lips together and tromped off in front of the group. Callie followed a few steps behind, hoping he would calm down on his own. Most of the time, people looked to him for leadership. If he were wearing one of his nine-hundred dollar suits today instead of his silly jogging outfit, he would probably be in charge here.
The group walked on. Morgan finally broke the silence. “So that was a dog back there, right? A real, normal dog? Please tell me I wasn’t high.”
William chuckled. “Never mind the dinosaurs. You see a brown mutt and that’s what makes you think you’re high?”
“Maybe Beth was right,” Lisa said. It was the first time she had spoken the girl’s name since she died. “Maybe what happened to us happened all over. Maybe the dog came from another group somewhere.”
“No, no, wait a minute,” Morgan said. “I think I saw that dog before. Was it on the sidewalk earlier?”
Hank clenched his fists and spoke in a low voice to Callie. “He’s the quintessential unreliable witness. Half of my job is keeping assholes like him off the witness stand.”
Callie unfolded one of the fists and laced her fingers between his. She gave him a look that said, let it go. If Hank stayed angry, he would not be able to think straight. He nodded, understanding. She felt a rush from their simple exchange. It amazed her that two people could understand each other so well.
“Hey, listen,” Tim said. The sound of rushing water came through the trees. They caught a few glimpses of the river ahead. Turning to the right, they followed it downstream. Soon they arrived at the clearing.
William stopped the group at the tree line. The café was still there, sitting on the edge of the river. They saw no dinosaurs on either side. A thin grey wisp rose from Helen’s fire.
Callie studied the jagged walls above the café, looking for Tim’s mystery woman, but she saw no signs of life. Three dark shapes circled in the sky high above. “Are those buzzards?”
“Pterodactyls maybe,” said William. “Come on. The coast is clear.”
Halfway across the mudflat, they were greeted with a bark. The dog ran to meet them, wagging his tail.
Helen stood on the sidewalk. One hand held onto a parking meter and the other formed a fist on her hip. “So, can I expect you people to abandon me again at the next sign of trouble?”
Callie climbed up and gave her a hug. “I am so sorry. We had to run. Are you ok?” Helen accepted the embrace and the attention, which Callie assumed was all she really wanted.
>
“I’m fine,” Helen said. “I hid inside until this dog showed up. His name is Buddy. It says so right on his tags.” She seemed to have endured her isolation without incident.
Buddy’s short coat showed a dozen shades of brown. His fur faded to a sandy tan color around his face and thin muzzle. His ears flopped asymmetrically.
William kneeled and rubbed the mutt’s shoulders. “Hey Buddy. I was going to name you ‘Rex’.”
Helen had removed the remains of the leash from his collar. “I fed him milk and a croissant.” Buddy wagged his tail spastically as everyone took turns petting him.
Lisa asked, “Do you know where he came from?” She sat on the edge of the sidewalk and held her injured foot.
Helen nodded. “I’m afraid so. He went right to that woman’s hand out on the sidewalk. He sniffed it and he started whimpering.” She looked down. “I feel so terrible. I kicked the hand into the river. He sounded like he was crying and I just could not bear it.”
“Why is he wet?” Morgan asked, smelling his fingers.
Helen wiped her eyes. “He jumped in and fetched the hand. He brought it right back to me. I had to kick it into the river a second time, and then hold him until it floated away.”
Hank put the pieces together. “So that woman was walking down the street with him when all this happened. He must have run off when we first arrived.”
“That’s right!” Morgan said. “The lady was walking a dog. I remember that now.”
“That means there isn’t another group here,” Lisa said. “We’re all alone.”
Helen turned to the group. “What about you all? Tell me what happened.”
Callie looked at the others, wondering where to start, and realized that Tim was gone. Before she could ask about him, he appeared around the back corner of the building.
“Hey everyone. You’ll want to get over here. I found the woman upstairs.”
II
THE FOOTBALL
