Kingdom of Monsters

by John Lee Schneider

  “Can I open my eyes?” Naomi hollered from behind him.

  “I don't know,” Jonah hollered back. “Can I?”

  But as they angled south and then east, they saw the retreating jet wash of the other plane.

  The sky ahead loomed dark – the entire eastern horizon looked like a brewing storm.

  “Jonah,” Naomi said again, “behind us.”

  Jonah turned his head to see the sky to the west had darkened as well.

  These storm clouds, however, were alive.

  It looked to Jonah like every damned pterosaur in the world – normals - circled like bats around the massive flying dreadnoughts of infected giants.

  The winged-dragons' eyes glowed green like targeting missile sights.

  They filled the entire sky.

  Ahead of the flying horde, Jonah followed after Otto into the eye of the storm.

  Chapter 48

  The rex posed like a monolith on the precipice of the nearest peak. The storming clouds whipped like angry poltergeists as the raging colossus announced its claim on the mountain.

  “Yes,” Shanna whispered, “I see you.”

  Rosa guessed Shanna's age at no more than twenty-five – at least six years her junior. Yet, Doctor Rosa Holland found herself just like the others, gathered around this slight young woman, as if sitting at the wizened knee of her own grandmother.

  She could clearly see it in the others as well.

  Allison was always cool under pressure – a dangerous lifestyle left you less likely to get rattled in a crisis. But this was different – this wasn't her being stoic. Allison simply rocked under Bud's protective arm, taking the echoing bellows below in the same stride as the thundering storm clouds above – and her calm translated to Lucas, who had spent the hours as if by the living room fireplace.

  Rosa supposed it was exactly as Shanna had said – at one time cave-children would have huddled just like this, soothed and rocked before the fire, with the bellows of beasts in the background – they had to be taught to fear the circumstances, and Lucas didn't feel it from his mother.

  Nor from any of them, Rosa realized.

  They all might be looking at the end of their lives, but in Shanna's presence, they weren't afraid.

  The giant rex standing atop the mountain was the harbinger, as a rex had been in New York.

  As Shanna told it, T. rex was the wild-card – on one hand, the foil – on the other, the catalyst that had forced Otto's own hand.

  KT-day had always seemed a bit... rushed.

  Once the Big Rex had touched down in New York, only then were belated blooms initiated all over the world.

  At what point did Otto recognize the rex' defiance?

  And to what degree was that defiance exacerbated by the presence of Shanna herself?

  That was another thing Shanna suspected her father knew.

  “Someone,” she said, “leaked footage off that island.”

  Shanna had nodded affirmatively.

  “My father was... fading. His dementia was advanced. But he had his good days too.”

  Shanna shut her eyes.

  “My mother died when I was young. I wonder now if that's why he was afraid.”

  Rosa actually felt a sense of closure in her own mind as Shanna connected long-separated dots for the first time.

  “That,” Shanna said, “would explain why he contacted Kate Rhodes. The daughter of a General. And a crusading evangelic journalist known for blowing big, loud whistles.” She shrugged. “Maybe he even intended to use her to get me off the island.”

  Shanna smiled a little.

  “He was looking out for me,” she said. “And he was in his right mind.”

  Shanna fell silent, ceding to the wind.

  But the wind itself ceded to the roars of the beasts.

  And as the lightning lashed down on the neighboring summit, they could see that the rex had not arrived on the mountain alone.

  Josie and the pussycats lined up beside him, facing down into the canyon, spotlighted by the electric light-show.

  The first of the five armies, Rosa thought.

  And what yet waited, still hidden in the storm?

  “My father knew,” Shanna whispered, seemingly to herself. “He was just too late to stop it.”

  After a moment, Mr. Wilson asked, “How come you didn't know? I mean, couldn't you feel them out there?”

  An ironic smile touched her lips.

  “I did feel them,” she said. “Every day of my life. Concentrated on that island. I never knew anything else. On the mainland... I just didn't notice.

  “And,” Shanna said, thoughtfully, “Otto. I think he's been learning to hide from me for a long time.

  “Although,” she said, “just lately, it's been different.”

  Shanna shut her eyes as if scenting the air.

  “I can feel him out there again. And I can feel him trying to get to me. Those smelling salts in the brain.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Those mind-zaps of his – they get stronger when there's a lot of them.” She shook her head. “But before, they were able to drop me in my tracks. They can't do that anymore. I can feel them trying. I can feel pressure...”

  Shanna put her hand to her head. “But I can push back now.”

  It was Allison who said it.

  “Are you pregnant?”

  And Shanna nodded.

  “I think so.”

  “Does Cameron know?” Rosa asked.

  Shanna smiled. “I haven't said anything, but I think so.” She shrugged. “We really don't have secrets.”

  Rosa supposed they wouldn't. She actually found herself a little jealous – having known a conniving bastard or two, that was the sort of thing that couldn't be measured.

  “And,” Shanna said, indicating the towering shapes on the mountain, “I think they know too.”

  The second army had arrived.

  Brutus and the apes lined the opposite peak, staring across the chasm at the rogue and his pussycats.

  Grape Ape, Big Joe, and Konga all beat their chests as Brutus pounded the earth, as if to bludgeon the mountain into submission with his bare fists.

  It was a gesture the rogue clearly took personally.

  The giant rex began to move forward, down into the valley. Josie and the pussycats flocked beside him, jagged maws gaping wide and eager.

  Brutus rose to his full height, answering with a mighty bellow as he led his own charge down the mountain, reveling in the rumble in the ground, as his troop came galloping along behind.

  Sitting there helpless, front row to a death fight in her honor, Shanna covered her eyes – a single tear rolled down her cheek.

  A second later, Allison did the same, followed by sniffles from Lucas.

  It wasn't fear. Rosa could feel it herself. It was deep and painful regret.

  The world itself seemed to quake as the beasts came crashing together, the echo ricocheting through the canyon, their enraged bellows drowning out the storm.

  Chapter 49

  This was not like the battle of Congo and Big Rex in New York. Brutus had never seen a tyrannosaur in his life, and the rogue had never once encountered a giant ape.

  Yet, neither questioned what set them at each other's throats.

  For the rogue, it was the instinctual response to a rival.

  For Brutus, who was never the smartest of apes, it wasn't much more than that.

  But neither of them had experienced each other's weapons.

  The rogue's first strike was very near Brutus' last. The massive jaws lunged at him like a running tackle zeroing in on a runner.

  On pure reflex, Brutus dodged, catching the rex' head in his brawny arms.

  Now, the rex discovered the ape's own advantage as he found his jaws clamped shut.

  With few other options than pure explosive power, the rogue pushed forward with its powerful hind-legs, slamming Brutus into the cliff wall.

  At the very same moment, the rest of the ape-tr
oop descended into the canyon, colliding with the pussycats, crashing together with impact enough to shake the entire mountain.

  Grape Ape was not as nimble as Brutus, and Josie latched onto his wrist as he attempted to ensnare her jaws, sinking her armor-piercing teeth deep.

  The giant gorilla screamed, reflexively pulling away, sinking the teeth deeper.

  Big Joe came to his aid, smashing Josie across the skull with an uprooted tree.

  Josie responded to the blow by clamping harder and shaking her head like a bulldog, biting Grape Ape's hand clean away. The giant ape screamed, rolling away, holding the spouting stump.

  Big Joe struck the female rex again, even as the other two pussycats pounced on the wounded Grape Ape, bearing him to the ground.

  Konga had joined Brutus against the rogue, leaping upon the giant rex' broad back. All three beasts crashed together against the canyon walls, breaking repeated avalanches off into the river.

  The rogue thrashed wildly, like a bull trying to gore two rodeo-clowns at once. Brutus clung desperately, holding the deadly jaws shut, with Konga simply hanging on for dear life.

  Josie swallowed Grape Ape's severed paw, turning her attention to Big Joe. The giant ape brandished his uprooted tree, this time thrusting it forward like a dagger, catching the female rex in her forward-facing eye. Josie howled, backing-up and nearly tripping over the pussycats as they tore Grape Ape apart.

  Big Joe pounced on the advantage, charging Josie's unguarded legs, sending her tumbling to the canyon floor.

  Joe brought the tree down again, this time aiming the sharpened edge for the downed tyrannosaur's throat. For Josie, it would have been over, except for the two pussycats who turned from Grape Ape's twitching corpse and attacked.

  This was not predator-prey action – this was clan-warfare.

  The jagged tree-trunk missed its mark on Josie's jugular, but still slashed her throat deeply. Bleeding badly, she staggered to her feet, while Big Joe turned to engage both pussycats as they circled, aggressively, jaws agape.

  Brutus felt his grip on the rogue's jaws slipping. Bucking like a wild bronco, the rex threw Konga off his back, leaving Brutus wrestling the king tyrannosaur alone.

  Konga landed hard, nearly at the feet of the pussycats. The two females immediately pounced, and would have sunk their teeth into the big ape's unguarded hide, if not for Big Joe charging suddenly forward, tackling both dragon beasts at once, sending them all three tumbling, while Konga scrambled to his feet.

  Brutus felt himself lifted and slammed into the canyon wall.

  This time the impact broke his grip.

  With a grunt, Brutus threw the suddenly loose jaws aside, slipping clear, and circling back out into the center of the canyon.

  The rex turned, its eyes blinking with a green glow that Brutus knew was reflected in his own.

  He looked around. Grape Ape was clearly dead, although Josie also looked worse for wear, stumbling, and apparently blinded in one eye.

  Konga and Big Joe squared-off with the two slowly advancing pussycats.

  And for Brutus, the rogue.

  As it should be.

  Brutus beat his chest. This was what he was good for.

  Caesar could be a philosopher all he wanted.

  Brutus was in it to be king. That's what alphas did.

  A sentiment clearly shared by the rex itself.

  With a roar to cower the thunder, the rogue charged again.

  Chapter 50

  Mark was a dozen steps behind Caesar as the big ape burst from the trees, out onto the drop-off overlooking the cliff.

  Once they were out in the open, the first thing that assaulted them was the rain, followed by blinding flashes of lightning and the roar of thunder.

  But then, as Mark hiked up behind Caesar, they beheld the spectacle of the battle in the canyon below.

  For several seconds, Mark found himself staring in awe. Even Caesar let out a subdued moan.

  Then a voice called up from below.

  “Hey!” Mr. Wilson shouted. “Is there an idiot named Maverick up there with you?”

  “Right here, old man,” Maverick shouted, jogging up with Garner and Wilkes on his heels. Puffing, as he brought the rear, was Cameron.

  “Jesus,” Garner said as they looked down into the canyon.

  They could feel thunder of the battle in their feet, reverberating up through the ground as the impact tremors of their footfalls shook the entire mountain.

  The view was... surreal – flashes of lightning cast a strobing effect like old-time stop-motion puppetry.

  “Well?” Maverick said, looking down to the ledge below. “Any ideas?”

  Caesar grunted, simply hopping down over the edge.

  “Holy shit!” came Mr. Wilson's voice, wafting up, followed immediately by “Wait! It's alright!” from Shanna.

  Caesar's approach, however, proved a little too direct as the big ape's weight pulled at the vines supporting the dangling chopper, yanking the roots free.

  Perched over the hapless survivors on the ledge, the chopper started to drop.

  With a herculean grunt, Caesar caught the metal bird's tail.

  Straining, one hand clinging to the rock, he held on until everybody below pulled themselves clear, before dropping the chopper with a crash. It hit the ledge, tilting briefly, before tumbling over the edge, rolling and bouncing off the cliff wall, as it tumbled into the canyon.

  The bonfire was dragged over with it, and without shelter, the sleet and the wind bore down mercilessly. Immediately, there was the sound of a crying infant.

  Shanna looked up at the big ape, who she had never met.

  Congo was really all their fathers. Caesar had his eyes.

  “Take them first,” Shanna said.

  As Rosa bent to secure Shanna's leg, Caesar grabbed up a startled Allison, tucking her and Lucas into the crook of his arm. He grunted at Bud and Mr. Wilson, who exchanged glances briefly, before climbing up on the big ape's shoulder and grabbing a handful of fur as Caesar loped back up the cliff.

  Allison had her eyes squeezed shut as Caesar handed her over the edge to Maverick and Garner. Cameron and Wilkes caught Bud and Mr. Wilson by the hand, pulling them up.

  Caesar turned, ready to drop back down, when a sudden roar rattled the clearing.

  Standing at the edge of the forest was Trix, with her own pack of pussycats.

  The rex queen stepped forward, sensing Shanna just beyond the ledge.

  She did not appreciate Caesar standing in the way.

  Female tyrannosaurs didn't waste time with bluster – when she moved, it was right for the throat.

  The group of humans leaped aside as Caesar stood up to meet her, grabbing the big female's jaws, and wrestling her away from the others.

  At the forest's edge, little sister Velma and the two unnamed daughters moved in.

  Garner and Wilkes raised their rifles, looking for a shot, but Caesar growled adamantly over his shoulder.

  “Shaahh-Naahh!”

  And from the cliff below, Rosa's voice echoed up over the wind.

  “Hey! We're freezing to death down here!”

  Garner frowned, before shouldering his rifle, and turning to the cliff.

  Tumbling his length of rope over the edge, he handed one end to Maverick.

  “You're anchor,” he said, turning to Mark and the others. “All of you. Grab hold and get ready to pull for all you're worth.”

  With that, he slipped the rope around his hips and dropped over the side, sliding down, touching his feet off the cliff wall as he went.

  Caesar, meanwhile, struggled to keep four T. rex occupied. His powerful arms latched around Trix' lethal jaws, keeping her turning, using her own massive frame to shield him from the other three, as they snapped at his haunches.

  Allison huddled with Lucas, her pistol drawn, looking utterly useless as the eight-ton combatants dueled right over their heads.

  On the ledge below, Garner jury-rigged Shanna's make-shi
ft stretcher, tying her off, and motioning to Rosa to climb aboard.

  “Hang on,” he said, before hollering up the cliff. “Okay, bring us up!”

  The four men holding the rope grunted as one, yanking them into the air.

  A hundred feet, dangling by a rope in a storm.

  Trix was working her way free of Caesar's grip.

  As the big ape struggled to maintain his hold, he lost his balance and stumbled.

  Caesar desperately clung to Trix' jaws, pulling her with him to the ground. There was a heavy crash as they hit the tarmac together.

  But now Caesar was on bottom, and the rest of the pussycats circled in.

  Behind them, Mr. Wilson reached down, catching Garner's hand, pulling them in as Maverick, Wilkes and Cameron hauled Shanna's stretcher over the edge.

  Caesar caught Shanna's eye as Trix broke free on top of him, turning her massive jaws towards his throat.

  In another moment, Velma and the others would pounce and the four of them would tear him apart.

  Pushing Cameron and Rosa aside, Shanna sat up on her stretcher, her voice rising up into a scream.

  “STOP IT!”

  And they stopped.

  In the breath of a moment, with Shanna's words echoing in the clearing and off the surrounding peaks, Trix paused, her jaws poised at Caesar's throat.

  Sister Velma and the daughters cocked their heads like giant birds.

  And down in the canyons below, with Shanna's cry bouncing off the canyon walls, the thunder of the battle rumbled to a stop, as even the infected giants paused, turning their glowing green eyes to the mountain peak above.

  Even the storm seemed to hang on the moment, the very absence of thunder deafening by itself.

  Cameron looked down at Shanna, wide-eyed.

  “I didn't know you could do that.”

  “I didn't either,” she replied, wide-eyed right back.

  Shanna took Cameron's shoulder, pulling herself to her feet. Cameron's eyes cut nervously to the blinking pack of tyrannosaurs as she led him to where Trix still had Caesar pinned.

  There was a brief murmur from the others as Trix' head dipped towards Shanna's outstretched hand – and sniffed it like a dog.