by Michael Bray
Dinosaur.
Dinosaur.
Dinosaur.
No matter how many times he said it, it still made no rational sense. He was looking at the impossible, and yet there it was taking place right in front of him. He had just watched a Tyrannosaurus rex decimate a girl right in front of his eyes. As he watched, the massive creature shook its head, and Ellie’s severed arm fell into the water, landing with a hollow thud. That was enough. Chase turned and ran, making for the tree line where they might at least be safe. As he did so, he looked at Ryder, who had already scaled a tree and was perched in the upper branches, watching events unfold.
He knew, Chase’s inner voice said. He knew what was going to happen and led us here to die.
He entered the cover of the trees, hiding in the undergrowth and watching as the dinosaur retreated back the way it had come with its meal.
The Island had claimed its first victim.
FIVE
“You knew that was going to happen,” Chase said as Ryder climbed down from the tree. He, like the others, was in a state of total shock at what had happened. Moses was sitting on an overturned tree trunk, hands clasped in front of him, eyes wide as he let the heat dry his clothes. Perrie sat beside him, trembling, her eyes streaked with makeup.
“I didn’t know anything was going to happen,” Ryder said as he climbed down from the tree, going nose to nose with Chase. “If you want to make something of it, you do it.”
Although Ryder was bigger and stronger than Chase, anger had become the great equaliser. “You led us here and knew that thing would attack us. That’s why you stayed up here,” Chase said, shoving Ryder in the chest.
“You think if I knew there would be those…things in the trees I’d willingly come here? You’re out of your fucking mind.”
“Dinosaurs. Just say it. We all know what we saw.” Even to say the word sounded impossible, ridiculous, even. Even so, it seemed that Lomar had found a way to make it happen, and has inhabited his island with them.
“And you think I’d lead you here if I knew that thing was there?”
“Why not? All you’ve talked about is how you’ll win and nobody else stands a chance. Well congratulations. Your odds are down to one in five.”
Ryder looked around the group, stepping back a touch when he found that all eyes were on him. “Alright look, I swear to you I had no idea what was down here. True enough, I hung back because I know animals are drawn to water sources too. After what we heard last night, I –”
“What did you hear last night?” Moses asked, looking up at them.
Chase and Ryder glanced at each other, then at Alex, who was staring at the floor and refused to make eye contact with them. Chase cleared his throat. “Last night, after you all went to bed, we heard a noise, a roar, something big. Now we know what it was.”
“And you didn’t think to tell anyone?” Perrie screeched. She was panting and looked dishevelled. Ellie’s blood was still on her had had started to dry onto her skin. “You should have told us, you had no right to keep it from us.”
“Look, it wasn’t intentional, it as a shock to us too.”
“You knew there was something out there something big and close and you didn’t tell us,” she repeated. “This was supposed to be a TV show. Look at me. I’ve got blood on me. I have that other girl’s blood all over me.”
She was close to losing it, flipping out completely. Chase didn’t want to get into any kind of argument with her. Firstly, he didn’t have the energy to get into it; second, she had been hit hardest by what had happened. The rest of them knew what they were up against. For her, she had just realised that there was no director behind the camera, no stunt people of production teams writing their storylines. She now realised that her young life was very much in danger.
“Look,” he said, trying to diffuse the situation. “Fair enough, we should have said something. That was a mistake. None of us here know what’s in store for us. None of us expected to find these…things on The Island either.” He turned back to Ryder, still angry and determined not to let him off the hook. “But you knew we were at risk. You led us here and now someone is dead.”
“Oh, come on,” Ryder said, pointing at Chase “This is because we didn’t follow your lead and go climbing up into those hills.”
“If we had we’d all still be alive.”
“And without water, maybe suffering from sunstroke, and that’s if we all made it to the top.” He turned towards Moses. “No offence, old man, but I don’t see you as the climbing-mountains type. This walk to here almost had you on your knees.”
“Well don’t expect me to follow your lead anymore. We’re done,” Chase said.
Ryder picked up his backpack and put it on. “You know what, that’s fine with me. If you assholes want to go off your own way and get yourselves killed, you go ahead and do it. Better for me. I’m happy to go out there on my own and win this thing.”
“Fine with me,” Chase snapped. “At least if we die now it will be of our own doing, not because you thought it would be fun to lead us somewhere you knew we might be at risk.”
Ryder was angry now. His fists were clenched at his side. “You know what? I hope you die next. I mean that. I see you, watching everyone, trying to figure us out. You’re nothing special, Riley. Nothing at all that says winner. It’s only a matter of time before you make a mistake that will kill you. At least I know what I’m doing.”
“And if that means picking us off one at a time, you’re happy with that?”
Ryder shrugged. “We all knew what we came here for. We all knew what we would have to do. Trying the guilt trip thing won’t work.” He turned away, walking towards deeper jungle. “See you around, Riley.”
“Wait.” Perrie grabbed her things and joined Ryder.
“You’re going with him?” Chase asked. She nodded. She was clearly frightened and in shock. He couldn’t blame her.
“I made a mistake coming here. I know that now. This… It’s not what I thought. All I want to do now is go home. My best chance is with him. He knows what he’s doing at least.”
“He’ll only help you for so long. When it comes down to him or you, he won’t think twice about killing you if you stand in his way.” Chase didn’t mention that he had already contemplated killing Perrie earlier that morning, and although he hated himself for it, he didn’t think Ryder would have the same moral issue.
“We’re all going to die anyway,” she said quietly. “Nobody can survive with those things out there.”
Nobody had any sort of response for that. As young and unprepared as she was, she was absolutely right. The game had changed and they all knew it. It wasn’t just each other they now had to be wary or. It was whatever else was lurking out there on The Island. Chase and the others watched as Ryder and Perrie disappeared into the jungle.
THE REALITY OF LEGEND
DAY TWO
THE ISLAND – 3:37pm
They walked without purpose or direction deeper into the jungle. Chase now assuming the role of leader, Moses behind and Alex at the rear. The terrain was just as difficult as before, dipping and winding, their access blocked by rocks, roots and trees which were twisted and gnarled together as they reached for the sun. Chase had no idea where he was leading them. As a rough guide, he kept the sound of the river where they were attacked on his left, but there was no real thought in where they were going. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Ryder was the only one who had really known where he was going, how to read the land. Aside from a few documentaries on bush survival he had watched, it was the blind leading the blind. There had been little speaking since the incident at the water. Chase wondered how many of them were out there, and if they had been here last time The Island hosted people. He slowed his pace, dropping back to fall in with Moses. The old man was looking tired. His face was twisted into a grimace.
“You okay?” Chase asked.
“Blisters on my feet. Should have brought thicker socks,�
�� he grunted. Sweat clung to his face and a patchy white stubble was starting to form on his cheeks.
“If you want to stop for a while we can.”
Moses glanced at him and carried on walking. “I don’t need your sympathy or your pity. I’m fine.”
“Fair enough.”
They stopped talking for a while, saving their breath for a particularly steep section of jungle. At the brow of the crest, the terrain levelled off and became less densely clogged with trees.
“Do you know much about the last time they did this? The show I mean,” Chase asked.
“No. I was never interested in it. If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have come here.”
Chase nodded, unclipping his canteen and taking a sip of water, forcing himself not to guzzle and throw up. “I was just wondering how long those things have been here on The Island. It’s crazy to think something like that could have been kept secret for so long.”
He waited for Moses to respond, but the older man seemed distracted. Maybe it was the sting on the blister in his sock, or just that he simply didn’t know.
“They’ve been here for at least ten years.”
Alex had pulled up alongside them so that they were now walking three abreast. He looked remarkably fresh. Still skinny, still bobbing his head, but not tired. He looked straight ahead, hands still in his pockets.
“How do you know?”
“How do you not?” Alex replied, glancing across at Chase and Moses. “Don’t tell me you came here without doing your research.”
“Of course I looked into it. I’m not stupid,” Chase said, asking himself how much he really did try, how much he had actually tried to find out before signing the forms which was nothing more than a death warrant with fancy wording. “Anyway, what do you know about it?”
“The information is there if you dig hard enough. I’m good at stuff like that. Computers. Finding things out. Information is king.”
Chase still couldn’t figure Alex out. It seemed the assumption they had all made of him was nothing but the outer layers of whatever lay beneath. “What did you find out?”
He didn’t immediately answer. Chase was about to ask him again when he started to speak. “The Lomar Corporation had been interested in cloning and actively pursuing it from right back when Jackson Lomar still ran the company. Of course, the assignment was different back then. Jackson wanted to see if it was possible to grow limbs for soldiers wounded in battle, things like that. When he died and Damien Lomar took the reins, all of that research was canned. Damien was hell bent on building his island and wanted a reason to do it, so he started looking into cloning at first. Did you ever see that movie, Jurassic Park?”
Chase shook his head. “Didn’t see the movie, but I read the book.”
“Damien did too. He always wanted to make it a reality. The problem was that the whole science behind the books and the movies was flawed, at least then.”
“Even with new technology, where the hell would he find the raw materials to create one of these things? It’s not like you can just get one like you can with sheep or an elephant.”
Alex shook his head. “You didn’t look into this too much at all, did you?”
Chase’s silence confirmed that he hadn’t. Not by a long shot. Alex went on.
“Do you remember in the mid two thousands, when the polar ice caps first started to melt?”
“Yeah, I read about that. Sea levels rose by ten feet in some places.”
“Exactly. Underneath all that Antarctic ice was land. Quite a lot of it. There are documents out there that Lomar took particular interest in a certain partially melted glacier, and had a team go out and take something away. Several somethings according to the report.”
He shrugged and glanced at them. “It stands to reason that what they took was some kind of carcass, maybe it had been locked in there for millions of years encased in ice. A complete body, flesh, skin. More importantly, useable DNA. Like that mammoth they found.”
“And from that they created living versions of these animals? That’s a bit of a stretch.”
“Actually, the science of creation would have been the easy part. The only difficulty would have been finding useable samples. It seems the Lomar Corporation hit the jackpot.”
It was a lot of information to take in. It certainly seemed plausible. At any rate, it was the best explanation they had. “How do you know so much about it?” Chase asked.
Alex ducked under a low hanging tree root and then half turned towards Chase. “Like I said, it’s all out there if you look hard enough.”
“I have a question for you,” Moses said, looking past Chase to Alex. “Knowing what you do about these things being here. Why the hell did you still apply to take part?”
“I have my reasons.”
They waited for Alex to elaborate, but he said nothing. Chase checked his watch. “Alright, I suggest we maybe try to find a place to make camp.”
“With those things out on the loose?” Moses replied.
“We can’t walk all night. We need to rest up. It will be dark soon. For all we know, they might be more active then.”
“Where do you suggest we camp?”
Chase stopped walking, and looked around. The trees had thinned and they were walking through hip high ferns. Ahead, the ground sloped away into a natural valley, and then even further ahead was another rise with more rocky terrain. The water that had been beside them cut through the left side of the meadow, then opened up into a wide river of sorts. In the middle of the water was a rocky outcrop, a flat plateau of land with a natural formation of rock curving around the outer edge which the water surged around before heading down the valley. “What about there?” Chase said.
Moses nodded. “Looks okay. Should give us a little bit of protection from the land and warning if anything tries to get to us.”
“What about you?” he said to Alex. “Are you okay with it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t mind. Whatever works best, as long as we can cross the water. It’s flowing pretty fast.”
The shadows started to lengthen as the trio got to work. The water, although fast flowing, was only knee height, and getting to the plateau was fairly easy. The set up their tents against the rock formation facing out towards the water. They lit a small fire, and opened their ration kits. It was then as their bodies started to rest that they realised just how fatigued they were. As far as temporary camps went, it was a good one. Protected on three sides with a wide view of both the water and the opposite bank. Conversation was sparse. Arrangements were made for a rotation of keeping watch, and attention turned to the next day. The terrain ahead was much rockier and would involve climbing down, possibly falling before they entered a maze of craggy rocks. It would be hot and difficult. They would also need to find food. There was no way their meagre rations could sustain them or replace the calories they were burning. Alex took the first watch, then Moses and finally Chase. He wasn’t sure he would sleep before it was his turn, but he found as soon as he closed his eyes he fell into a fitful sleep until Moses woke him, gently shaking his shoulder. Still exhausted, he sat by the fire, looking out into the night and staring at the stars. He felt his eyes grow heavy just before dawn, his eyelids feeling as if they were weighted. He told himself he would close then, just for a second, his sin soon falling onto his chest. Had he stayed awake a little longer he would have seen two things. First, he would have spotted Ryder and Perrie as they skirted past their position, heading down into the craggy, rocky area beyond. He would also have seen the pack of velociraptors as they crossed the river, heads bobbing much like Alex when he walked. The six dinosaurs paid no attention to the camp. Or the sleeping Chase. They were on the scent of Ryder and Perrie, and were in slow, stealthy pursuit. Much like everything on The Island, the velociraptors didn’t care about prizes or game shows. All they cared about was survival and the hunt, one going hand in hand with the other. The six of them broke into two groups. One followed their prey dir
ectly; the others veered away and plunged into the forest. They knew these lands. Knew there was another way and would meet up with their brethren in good time.
When Chase woke twenty minutes later, he and the others were awake and preparing to leave. They broke down their camp and packed, then set out for the next leg of their journey. They crossed the river, weary and tired, unaware that they were following almost the exact path that their fellow contestants and the creatures which hunted them had used just an hour earlier.
BENDING THE RULES
DAY THREE
NECKER ISLAND – 8:12AM
Lomar walked through the rooms of his house, enjoying the quiet. Enjoying the buzz of success. The launch show for The Island had been an amazing success. The sighting of the first dinosaur had sent the world into meltdown. Social media was buzzing, news networks the world over were covering the story, stating how the Lomar Corporation had managed to do the impossible. It was already the most watched show in the history of television, and companies the world over were desperate to add their sponsorship, offering tens of millions of dollars. There were of course a few human rights groups who protested the show, but even they were in the minority and were unable to say much as the dinosaurs roamed free without boundaries or cages. The leading questions asked to the contestants when they recorded their green screen vignettes had been edited together to emphasise that they knew what they were getting into and the risks involved.
Not only was The Island the most watched show in history, it was also the most gambled on. Betting rings ranged from large to huge, as the people put their money on who they thought would survive. He wished his father could see him now, wished he could tell his father he had been wrong, and he would never reap the rewards for his lack of vision.
