Jeremiah’s gaze fell to the ground. “Everyone knew the risks signing onto this project. You said it yourself, that working at these heights during the construction phase would indeed be difficult and dangerous.”
Corstine had finally stopped crying, doing his best damage control to compose himself. “But the tour that was organized this weekend, I didn’t know with certainty, but I had a good guess that something was lurking in wait in this canopy ecosystem. Yet still I proceeded on, hoping like heck that whatever it was would not rear its ugly head.”
“Progress never sleeps,” Jeremiah muttered to himself as he continued to stare down at the ground.
“What?” Corstine asked.
Jeremiah looked up at his father. “That saying, I remember it from my earliest memories of you. You would always say progress never sleeps. It seemed to be the theme of all your businesses, all your successes.”
Corstine smiled and nodded affectionately. “And my failures as well.”
“Huh,” Jeremiah replied, not certain where his father was going with the comment.
Corstine’s eyes met with Jeremiah’s for a powerful embrace. “My failure to both you and your mother, God rest her soul. When I was away on my business ventures, I left the two of you to fend for yourselves time and time again.”
“We always had the credit card,” Jeremiah joked.
Corstine smiled. “But in all seriousness, behind an overwhelming number of successful parents, you will find a messed-up kid and home life. Thanks to your mother, she did an unbelievable job, and you turned out far better than I could have ever hoped for.”
A piercing, screeching cry suddenly rang out.
“We have to act quickly,” Jeremiah ordered. “I want to get the hell out of here. Dad, sorry to say it, but you may have to officially scrap this project.”
Corstine stood to his feet and brushed himself off. “I’m afraid you may be right, son. I’m afraid you may be right.”
As if getting struck by a bolt of lightening, Corstine spun in the direction of the corner behind the spiral staircase. Jeremiah saw this and was on it immediately. He opened the small box mounted on the wall and looked back to his father who nodded in approval. And with that Jeremiah pulled the green lever down.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
Thirteen human skulls greeted Down’s eyes as he recoiled, almost tripping over his feet and stumbling backwards. Moving forward he counted them once again. Thirteen skulls stared blankly back up at him, as if reminding him of their once physical existence on Earth. The empty hollowed-out eye sockets were what really got to him, along with the fact that each of them most likely had met their end at the hands of the creatures. He took a deep breath.
Downs suddenly looked up at the sky. It had started out faintly, almost distant and other worldly. He had practically missed it the first time round, but as he strained his ears, there it was again. This time it became louder and more pronounced. A beeping, warning sound was going off. It was coming in thirty second intervals. Downs quickly turned his attention back to the skulls.
It was all the wake up call he needed. Act now or end up as just another skull at the bottom of the pile. Quickly Downs got started on what needed to be done. He worked surprisingly efficiently with Jamison’s kukri knife as he began to transform, mold, and fashion two of the branches he had acquired from the pile into something useful.
Sometime later, although he didn’t know exactly how much later, he set down the two things he had been transforming and peeled off his t-shirt, which by now was soaking wet with perspiration. His entire chest glistened with beads of sweat. For a brief moment he thought about toweling the sweat off his chest with the shirt, but he decided to simply shuck the thing. On second thought, he bent down to pick up the shirt, quickly toweled the sweat from his head and tied the shirt round his forehead as if it were a bandana.
Downs stood with his arms across his sweat-laden chest and admired what he had created. Out of the larger of the branches he had acquired, he had made what resembled a very primitive looking spear ending in a sharp tip. It looked like something with which early man might have hunted or speared fish with. He could only hope that it would offer him some sort of defense.
Downs picked it up, noting the sharpness of the tip, despite the robust nature of the rest of it. Like a dancer rehearsing and practicing a choreographed routine; he performed a short array of moves with it. He smiled to himself and placed it down. Next was what he considered to be his dagger, made for close and intimate combat. The wooden dagger was just a few inches shy of two feet in length and was essentially the same as the spear in terms of appearance, just on a much smaller and less robust scale.
Downs looked up at the sky. The alarm was still sounding in thirty second intervals. Once again the tribal drums entered his head, the same drums that he had heard time and time again throughout his life and which had always, in some small way, aided him in his efforts. He heard them loudly and clearly now as he picked up the hand-crafted dagger and stuffed it between his skin and his belt. Now with the dagger placed firmly at his side for backup and with his shirt acting as a bandana, Downs picked up the kukri knife in his right hand and the spear in his left. He knew what needed to be done, and as soon as he began, he was startled by the very act itself. Dragging the knife across his bare and exposed chest, Downs began to cut himself.
CHAPTER EIGHTY
The main warning system to the boardwalk had been sounding loudly and clearly for about forty-five minutes or so, still ringing in thirty second intervals, and ringing out to whomever or whatever might be listening high atop the Indonesian rainforest canopy. Call it good fortune, fate, or the incredible wave of luck that John Corstine had seemed to be riding and receiving his entire lifetime, but shortly after he and Jeremiah had climbed to the top of the small tower, the pilot manning the Bell 407 helicopter had seen them both waving their hands back and forth frantically, like two people stranded on a deserted island up high in the sky.
It had been a little more difficult than he had planned, but the pilot of the Bell 407 had hovered as low as he could without risking hitting the tops of the trees. Eventually a small dangling ladder was lowered, and John Corstine was first to grab hold and climb up, while Jeremiah guided him up from the back as best he could. Jeremiah had quickly and powerfully pulled himself up and into the chopper as it continued to blow the treetops back and forth in its powerful wake.
That had been several minutes ago, and they were now flying, the green rainforest below, stretched out in all directions as far as the eye could see.
Corstine managed a smile and nodded at his son, and then looked back to the pilot. Corstine had to shout over the loud hum of the chopper. “We’re going to make one final sweep of the entire boardwalk.”
The pilot cocked his head slightly to the side while nodding in compliance, still maintaining vision of the open air space out in front of them. “Will do, Sir.”
Corstine stared down momentarily towards the boardwalk, admiring the thing as it snaked its way back and forth through the greenery like a great serpent.
Corstine shouted once again back up to the pilot. “And thank you.”
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
Downs brought the blade to a halt just below the corner of his left breast. He was now bleeding as blood trickled down and over his chest, leaving the blade of the kukri knife red. Downs had cut himself at a slight angle across his broad chest, a gash that now spanned some seven inches in length. With powerful breaths his chest heaved in and out as he felt the adrenaline coursing through him like a river. He felt no pain though, could only hear the rhythmic beating of his own heart, mimicking those tribal drums that his father used to play for him. With eyes transfixed like that of a mad man, he watched with baited breath towards the entrance to the nest.
Sucking in several deep and commanding breaths, he prepped himself. Quickly he glanced down and made visual contact with the primitive dagger, spear, and the knife. He took one more deep and fulfil
ling breath, and then he let it out for all it was worth, the scream to end all screams, something that even he didn’t know he was fully capable of blasting from his lungs. The high-pitched scream gave way and melded into that of a monstrous roar as every last ounce of air was expelled from his lungs, announcing to all both his presence and arrival. Several terrifyingly long minutes passed by as his heart pounded away, pounding like there was no tomorrow, before the forest around him finally crackled to life. The noise came from behind him, his brain shouting at him to spin around instantly. As he did just that, several small objects fell out and into the nest, as if the dense vegetation itself had just birthed them.
The two small shapes immediately screamed to life as they edged themselves forward. One of the juveniles bit down hard on the back neck of the other, quickly retracting its teeth and racing out towards Downs with its bloody maw agape. Surprisingly though, the thing stopped itself some twenty feet out from where it had originally taken off.
In an act that most certainly surprised the small predator, this time it was Downs himself who charged with an aggressive roar. The creature sprung to life as well, but it was too late as Downs plunged both the kukri knife and the makeshift wooden dagger into the neck of the creature. Still with the upper hand, he took the creature up high into the air before sending it down hard onto the nest floor, retracting the weapons, and leaving the youngster to die.
More shapes spilled out from the vegetation above, dropping like raindrops from the sky. A gaping roar followed by an overwhelming stench heralded the arrival of one of the adults. Downs suspected it to be the larger female. Quickly he stuffed the bloodied makeshift dagger and knife into the side of his belt and went immediately for the robust spear that he had handcrafted.
The massive creature let itself down and into the nest via its long prehensile tail, surprisingly hanging upside down for a few moments before finally letting go and dropping itself. Downs stood there, eyeing the huge beast, which stared down at him from around a height of some nine feet as it rested on all fours. It was as impressive a creature as one could hope to still find roaming the planet, and Downs felt the same type of awe-inspired terror deep in the back of his throat that one would expect to experience if they had happily stumbled across a tyrannosaurus rex roaming Central Park in New York City.
The creature opened its jaw ever so slightly while letting out a low resonating rumble of a growl. It revealed an impressive arsenal of razor sharp teeth. The whole creature looked like a horrific science experiment gone wrong, with its forest green reptilian skin providing a base. It had several large red and brown swirls of color on its back and sides, and it sported a thin yet spiky row of hair which ran atop its back and up and onto the neck and head, giving it a Mohawk type of appearance. Its skin was beady and reptilian, talons that hinted towards a lineage from the raptor family, and a plush prehensile tale that screamed primate in nature. It was every bit the melding of many different species into one.
Several of the youngsters had gathered beneath the girth of the massive female, appearing as if they were hungry, or chomping at the bit to suckle, though Downs did not know if either was true.
Downs stood still as a statue, still until his body couldn’t take anymore. In a moment that screamed to him to take action, he quickly saw that the huge female was paying no attention to him whatsoever, rather she just kept brushing and pushing her youngsters to the side. Like hungry children they just kept coming and coming, continuing to fall out of the vegetation surrounding the nest, and attempting to congregate beneath her.
Downs saw his opportunity, and like primitive man hunting wooly mammoths on the tundra tens of thousands of years ago, he charged straight for the beast with his handcrafted spear, ready to pierce. He catapulted himself off of his left leg. Soaring through the air, he drove the six foot spear into the front left limb of the creature, plunging it until it wouldn’t go any further, quickly yanking the weapon back out as gravity pulled him down.
The creature let out an ungodly cry. Downs retracted momentarily, wasting no time as he now went for the handcrafted dagger. Just like that he sped in for another swift and speedy attack, this time targeting the back right limb of the huge creature as it attempted to snap him up in its jaws, threatening to literally swallow him whole as it turned around. Savagely Downs plunged the wooden dagger deep in on the far side of the limb, realizing that the limbs of the creature were as wide as small tree trunks or pillars, and getting a very up close and personal view of the true size and scale of it.
The wooden dagger had gone in several inches, and all of a sudden would not come out. Downs simply left it where it was stuck, as he pushed himself back off of the pillar like limb, hoping he had inflicted some damage and pain at the bare minimum.
The creature was bleeding, this was clear, but what was unclear was whether or not Downs had actually inflicted any damage upon it. As it roared, either out of pain or anger, pushing everything out of its way and coming straight for him, it was clear that he had more than likely angered and agitated it.
Quickly Downs was forced to react as the creature lunged at him with its two front forelimbs, talons erect and outstretched, trying to disembowel and pull him apart. Downs was quick though and darted to his right just at the last second, and as the huge creature went whizzing by him, he had somehow forced himself to slash and assault one of the back limbs with the knife.
The creature slammed hard on the brakes though, managing to bring itself to a stop, the nest itself almost not big enough to accommodate such large and commanding movements. It turned and faced him immediately, like an enraged bull that had just missed the matador by inches. It was fuming mad, almost foaming at the mouth, wanting to end the human who seemed to be systematically picking it apart, with a slash here and a hack there.
Downs faked moving forward with his body once, twice, catching the creature off guard and then pulling himself back. On the third attempt he faked a throw with the wooden spear. By now the creature was on to him and on the move again as it propelled itself up and into the air via its powerful back legs.
Downs, at the last minute, held off throwing the wooden spear and managed to redirect it, releasing it at just the right time, the weapon fashioned out of a tree branch barely managing to penetrate through the light greenish colored underbelly of the creature as the monster went sailing over him. The underbelly itself surprisingly resembling what a crocodile or alligator looks like when turned over. Downs ducked as the long prehensile tail took one last fleeted attempt at a swipe, before the creature crashed to the ground, the booming impact rattling the entire nest.
Downs saw the creature which appeared to be momentarily down and out. The spear had managed to partially impale it. Downs was rapidly approaching, but the huge female twitched her body in a way signaling she was about to right itself, again ready for combat. Then something happened, something that Downs had hoped would happen, but even as he saw the seeds of it beginning, he still could not believe it, a reversal of power.
Downs could see blurs and shapes of varying sizes continuing to drop from the overhanging vegetation above. As soon as his eyes could make out everything that was raining down from above, the little creatures turned on one of their own. Like ants tackling something hundreds of times their size, the youngsters swarmed the massive female as she again tried to right herself and stand. Downs could see that a few larger juveniles were thrown into the mix as well, simply larger versions of the smaller young, but still nothing in comparison to the massive size she possessed.
They swarmed her, jumping onto her back like there was no tomorrow. Several of the speedy youngsters ran around to her side and instantly began digging in with their talons and already voracious mouths. With a commanding and powerful flick of her tail, she most definitely had crushed and fatally wounded a handful of her offspring. More and more poured out of the trees, jumping on top of her back and isolating her in their feeding frenzy attack.
Downs was stunned at the
turn of events. It had all happened so quickly, the small but growing army overtaking the huge female. He could see that the feasting ball had grown, as the large female roared loudly in defiance several times, shaking herself to try to deter her offspring. Most remained, gripping down and digging into her backside with sharp curved talons.
Downs turned his back momentarily on the scene, and he looked up to where Jamison had climbed up and out. This was it, this was his chance screaming at him loud and clear. Pain from his ribs shot through him, but this was it if he was to truly get back to the boardwalk. He stood though and straightened himself up, once again hearing the tribal drums beating loudly over his thoughts.
Looking back to the growing and swarming ball of cannibalism, Downs knew it was now or never. In true swashbuckling form, he bit down on the backside of the knife and decided it was time to up and oust himself from the nest.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
Fighting off the inherent and shooting pain, Downs had managed to work his way up the same tree that had led William Jamison back to the boardwalk. He paused to catch his breath while coping for another moment with the pain from his ribs which was coming in spurts. There, hanging precariously some twenty feet above the nest, he could see down to the scene of cannibalism, the massive female still moving her limbs helplessly back and forth, completely overwhelmed and at the mercy of her own hungry and opportunistic offspring.
Downs could now see that the huge creature had been torn into on both sides as hungry mouths burrowed in wherever they could. He hung there, awed at the raw power of the collective greater good of the offspring. His mind went to the fact that ants have been known to lift ten, twenty, even fifty times their own weight. Perhaps such amazing strength was at work here as well.
A growing and feverish mass was writhing and convulsing atop her back as if the very force of all of them combined was in fact a creature all to its own, something that had the unstoppable urge to feed. The entire scene was surreal as Downs shook his head and pushed with his legs and continued up towards the boardwalk. He was more than halfway there when he paused again, the sounds of the ravenous pack below rang out as they snarled, grunted, and continued to eat away at their own mother.
Prehistoric: (A Prehistoric Thriller) (Bick Downs Book 1) Page 23
