The park below was brilliant. Lights of a thousand colors rose up from the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, filling in the outline of Fantastic Isle. The park itself was massive.
At one time the man-made island chain had been comprised of dozens of islands, but DamAnimation and its parent company, DamIndustries, had led a reclamation project that connected many of them together to give the park a continuous central footprint.
At first it was a single blob of light, but as they descended, the different lands of the park became evident. Jake could make out the park’s centerpiece. He knew the colorful collection of lights in the middle of the island was the Great Bearberry Tree, but at this height the colors in the branches ran together like the images in a kaleidoscope.
Futopia was much more distinct. Outlined in neon to mimic the gritty, neo-noire style of the show TraceRacers, the lights clearly defined its borders. He could see the streaks of light racing through the air like a time-lapse video of traffic at night.
Somewhere in the futuristic corner of the park was the home of the Monkeynauts, the simian space squad charged with protecting freedom in the outer reaches of America’s galactic empire. Jake found himself smiling and was thankful no one else could see his face in the growing darkness. The adventures of Commander Mike McMonkey and his ragtag crew had always been his personal favorite after-school cartoon.
The Monkeynauts were underdogs, or undermonkeys as it were, poorly equipped and always outmanned, but they never failed to save the day from the alien threat of the day. More often than not, that threat was some sinister plan hatched by Major Ursa and his team of Cosmomutts to spread their particular brand of Space Communism throughout the reaches of space. On the rare occasion, the defenders of freedom and purveyors of despotism would team up to take on a greater threat to show children that you could overcome the differences of any foe as long as there was someone you both hated more.
It wasn’t high art, but Jake had loved it. And when the park had initially opened, the child in him had wanted desperately to go just to meet the Monkeynauts and his personal favorite, Commander Mike. This inner child had reasoned, pleaded and bargained, whispering in Jake’s ear that they deserved a trip to the park, they had earned it through years of hard work and they never got to do anything fun and that wasn’t fair and why wasn’t he being fair? The adult in him told this inner child to shut up because they were broke and no amount of pleading would put money in the bank. His inner child had called him a lame-o and hadn’t spoken to him again. Until now.
Now the inner child was squealing and jumping up and down, wanting desperately to be on the ground. Futopia! Can we go there first? Let’s go there first. We’ll meet the Monkeynauts and it will be everything we ever wanted.
Except they’ll try and kill us, the adult tried to explain, but the kid wasn’t having any of it and it continued to bounce and squeal.
Jake forced his eyes away from Futopia and directed them to President Town. Maybe something educational would shut the kid up.
The colonial village was nothing close to the light show of Futopia or The Great Bearberry Tree. Imitation gaslight lit the streets there and most of that section of the park fell into shadow. The entire land had been designed as a middle finger to other parks that featured a simple hall of presidents. President Town featured the village as well as reproductions of several Presidential residences. Jake tried to identify the homes to quiet the child. Mount Vernon was at the top of a little hill at the edge of the park section. Monticello was at the other end. In between were other homes lining the village streets as well as several monuments housed in white buildings with white pillars. Jake forced himself to recall the types of columns. His inner child was fast asleep by doric and he turned his gaze north.
Prehistoria got the bulk of its lighting from a massive volcano in the center of the imaginary land. Rivers of glowing red lava ran down from its peak and throughout the primeval land, giving it an eerie glow of fire and heat.
The volcano had erupted every hour when the park was in service and there was no reason to believe it wouldn’t now. From a distance, the park appeared fully functional. Which was more than a little suspicious. Power wouldn’t be a problem, but general maintenance had stopped a decade ago. How could anything below still function?
Looking at it now, Jake could imagine the crowds lining Rockwell Avenue and milling about the Great Bearberry Tree. He could all but smell the cotton candy and popcorn from the concession stands. He could hear the squeals of delight from the crowd and the roller coasters roaring along their tracks.
He turned his attention to Enchantasia. Only the fairytale land had the look of an abandoned theme park. There were no lights to be seen now that sunset had swallowed Once Upon a Time Ago castle and the surrounding area. There was no movement that he could see. Nothing. In the other parts of the park, rides still spun and lights still blinked but the fairytale land was desolate and still.
A warning alarm sounded in his ear and the motors on his shoulder whirred once more. The canopy replied and he drifted in a wide circle to the left away from the island. A minute later the suit turned him to the right and he found himself descending straight toward the broad main street at the park’s entrance.
The warning sounded again and increased in frequency the closer he got to the ground. It was two beats shy of a constant wail by the time he touched down gently in the middle of Rockwell Avenue.
Jake collected his chute as best he could figure was the right way and slipped out of the rig as the others quietly touched down around him.
Except for Glitch. The cyborg came in screaming the entire way and landed hard enough on the asphalt to leave a small crater.
“You okay, Glitch?” Hailey asked.
The cyborg took giant gulps of air as he threw the parachute rig off like it was burning his skin.
“You idiot,” Savant scolded. “Screaming like that could give away our position. And crashing down like that… Do you wreck everything you touch?”
“I don’t know,” Glitch fired back. “Let me touch you.”
“Jake, did you hear that?” Savant asked.
Jake ignored him and pulled a flare gun from his pack. He turned and fired into the air to signal the aircraft to send the Beast.
“That’s sexual harassment, that’s what that is,” Savant continued on his rant. He turned and found one of the camera drones hovering nearby. He looked right into the lens and spoke. “What kind of work environment is Mr. Ashley running here? Tonight on Scrappers.”
“Savant, shut up,” Hailey said in a quieting tone.
“She’s trying to silence me. Do you see that? Someone call OSHA.” He turned back to the lens. “Savant combats a hostile work environment. Tonight on Scrappers.”
The camera drifted up the street while Savant continued talking about himself.
He spun around looking for another camera but none of them were focused on him. He stomped toward one that was watching Kat but it drifted away as well. “Get back here. I’m cutting promos.”
Savant continued spinning until he came face-to-face with Hailey.
She grabbed his attention and spoke through grinding teeth. “I said shut up not because I would revel in the absence of your voice but because we have no idea what’s in this park, where it is or what it is capable of. So the quieter we are, the safer we are.”
The Beast barreled into the ground fifty feet up the street behind Hailey with a tremendous crash, digging itself into the soft asphalt and scattering a hundred pieces of debris into the air. Those pieces fell to the ground in a hundred clattering noises louder than Savant’s promos.
The Travelall was done. The doors were twisted. The hood mangled. The only part of The Beast that wasn’t wrecked in the fall was the unopened parachute strapped to the roof.
The team rushed to the twisted hulk and stared dumbfounded at the sight.
“Everything was in there,” Mason said.
Savant pulled at his hair.
“My equipment. My god.” He shook his fist toward the aircraft several thousand feet above in the darkness. “What have you bastards done?”
“See what we can salvage.” Jake asked.
Mason pulled on what was left of a door and the handle came off in his hand. He threw it on the ground in disgust. “Glitch, can you rip me a hole?”
Savant snickered and was duly ignored.
Glitch worked his fingers into the twisted doorframe as a camera crept over his shoulder. He waved it away with his real hand. Glitch pulled on the door. The metal protested with groans and creaks and refused to give more than a few inches. Not enough to get at anything inside.
Hailey watched the futile attempt play out several times. “This is bad. Really bad.”
Jake kicked the Beast and noticed the cameras were focused on the truck. He swore in the radio. “Lucas, if this is you adding drama so help me…” Jake trailed off thinking it best to let Lucas imagine the threat himself. The only reply was static. There had been some hope that an older jamming system wouldn’t affect their newer equipment but it seemed to be doing the trick with no problem.
“The disruptors are in there,” Mason said as he paced around the twisted Travelall. He kicked what was left of the hood. “Our side arms aren’t going to do jack against a park full of rogue machines.”
Savant beat his fists against the Beast and Jake studied the wreck for any point of entry.
Kat was the only one who didn’t seem concerned. She was beaming, twirling in the middle of Rockwell Avenue, soaking in the marquee lights of the cinema. She stopped and smiled. “We’re really here. Everything is going to be okay.”
Savant laughed. “I can appreciate that this place is bringing back some pretty disturbing stuff for you. I mean, you did survive one of the most horrific disasters in recent memory, and being dropped back into the middle of it must be overwhelming, bringing all those painful memories back to the surface and it’s probably a lot to deal with, but I’m going to ask you to stop talking like an escaped mental patient with all this optimism bullshit. Our equipment is gone. Our weapons are gone. Our truck is gone. We are screwed with a capital di—”
The roar came from inside the park and rattled the façades of the Ye Olde Creamery and the Ye Olde T-shirt Shoppe. An L and a T fell from the cinema marquee and fluttered down to the street. The L landed at Savant’s foot. He let it rest there. He wasn’t focused on that. He held up a finger and asked, “Was that a fucking dinosaur?”
8
It was a fucking dinosaur.
The creature roared once more and rattled the windows in the Ye Olde Photo Op Spotte.
“Glitch, get the truck open!” Jake shouted as everyone scrambled back behind the wreck of the Beast. “We need that gear.”
The cyborg found what used to be the tailgate and managed to pull it off the truck’s frame. He heaved the gate into the street, assuming there was no longer any need to be quiet. But he still jumped as it banged along the avenue.
Mason and Savant dove into the crushed compartment and began taking a quick inventory of salvageable equipment. It was a short list.
Wondering how she could help, Hailey tried to peer over their shoulders and into the truck. Standing around and waiting wasn’t her thing. She’d rather be contributing, but she couldn’t see into the truck so she took an inventory of the team members instead. Glitch was working on another door and Jake was standing by waiting to get into the Beast’s back seat. Kat was… where was Kat?
Hailey looked around and found the mechanic in the middle of the street staring off in the direction the roar had come from. She didn’t look nearly terrified enough to Hailey. The young woman didn’t look scared at all. And that terrified Hailey even more. “Kat, come over here!”
When the young woman didn’t respond, Hailey called out to her again. “Kat, are you okay?”
Kat turned. She wore a smile that wasn’t for anyone’s benefit but her own. She was somehow lost in a sweet thought that showed in her eyes. She looked at Hailey, nodded and turned back toward the interior of the park and another roar from the unseen creature.
The ground shook. It was hardly a seismic shift but it was enough for Hailey to instinctively bend at the knees and stretch her arms out for balance.
“Shit.” Mason backed out of the truck and kicked the Beast. “We’re screwed.”
“There’s nothing?” Jake asked.
“I could probably cobble a few things back together, but it’s going to take time and,” Mason pointed into the night, “well, you know, dinosaur.”
There was another roar. This time it came from behind them.
“Leave it,” Jake ordered. “We have to get off the street.”
“Kat?” Hailey shouted to get the mechanic’s attention. The young woman turned and Hailey waved her back. “Come on, Kat. We’re running away now.”
Kat nodded again and started walking further down Rockwell Avenue. Away from the team.
“Kat?” Hailey asked.
“C’mon, Kat,” Glitch pleaded.
The ground was now shaking with every step the unseen beasts took.
A vendor’s cart crashed into the street ahead of them, spilling souvenir coffee mugs and silver keychains everywhere.
The team raced after Kat as she strolled easily toward the end of the avenue where the cart had spilled.
Hailey grabbed her arm. “Kat, we have to go.”
Kat turned and put her hand on Hailey’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Hail. Trust me.”
“I don’t think so, Kat,” Mason said. “You’ve got crazy in your eyes. And not the fun kind of crazy. More like the kind of crazy that gets you on the news.”
Another roar sent the team members digging for their sidearms. Disruptors, EMP cannons and other advanced instruments for dispatching lunatic machines were the preferred method for shutting down rogue machines, but lead would do in a pinch. Sometimes. Probably not on dinosaurs though.
The camera drones pulled in close and circled the team as they leveled their guns at the end of the street. The drones’ AI had picked up the frenetic burst and decided something was happening that could help sponsors sell soap or energy drinks.
One of the cameras turned to follow the team’s line of sight and drifted off toward the end of Rockwell Avenue to capture a shot of whatever it is they might be aiming at.
The team followed with their eyes as it disappeared around the corner. They waited for it to reappear. Hailey figured it would most likely come back with a large bite taken out of it.
But that didn’t happen.
Nothing happened.
And after a few minutes of holding their breath, they all decided nothing was going to happen.
"Hi, everybody."
The team spun at the sound. Glitch fired before realizing he was shooting at a three-and-a-half foot tall bear that was doing nothing more threatening than waving a blue paw in their direction.
The bear lowered his paw and looked at the smoking hole Glitch had put there. The bear’s eyes were impossibly bright. They grew brighter when it lowered his hand and smiled. “Welcome to Rockwell Avenue! My name is Brexbin, TM.” The bear put its other paw over its mouth as it laughed gleefully like some sadistic morning person.
Kat backed away as another roar rattled the windows along the avenue.
Mason spun back toward the sound with his weapon leveled. "What the hell is that noise, bear?"
The bear giggled again. "Now, now, we don't approve of that kind of language here. Please try and remember this is a family place."
"Up yours, bear.”
"Now see, instead of saying ‘up yours, bear’ you could say something like ‘I really like your smile. It makes me happy like warm cocoa on a cold day.’ Wouldn't that be better?"
Mason blinked. “Shoot it again, Glitch.”
Another roar.
"What is that noise?" Savant asked.
"Those are the Dinosty Warriors, TM,” Brexbin explained. “
They can be located in the Prehistoria, TM, section of the park. It's a land of wonderment where..."
Savant put the barrel of his gun to Brexbin’s temple. "Shut up, bear. Where can we go that's safe?"
Brexbin made no attempt to move. He simply raised a paw and pointed to the tree in the center of the park. “The Great Bearberry Tree, TM, is the safest place on the whole wide planet. There you are safe to explore your imagination and go on wondrous adventures that—"
Hailey holstered her weapon. "Take us there."
"No." Kat pushed her way to the front of the group. "We can't go there."
Brexbin giggled. "Sure you can. Everyone is welcome in the Great Bearberry Tree."
Hailey put a hand on Kat’s shoulder and spoke softly. "It beats the alternative, Kat.”
“Yeah,” Glitch agreed. “Cuddly bears beat giant dinosaurs every time.”
Kat pulled away and pointed down the street toward the sound. "But it might be Thorne.”
"What's a Thorne?" Savant asked. "This place is stupid already."
A faint whir of servos sounded behind Brexbin’s face as it twisted into a frown. "The leader of the Dinosty Warriors hasn't been seen in years, I'm afraid. We’ll all be safe in the Great Bearberry Tree.” Brexbin waddled back a few steps, smiled once more and began to skip in place. And then he sang a horribly happy and catchy tune.
Come with me to the Bearberry Tree.
Come with me and there you’ll see a land of adventure and fantasy.
You can be all the things you want to be,
Come with me to the Bearberry Tree.
The bear did a clumsy pirouette and a brief soft shoe before breaking into the first verse.
You can be a knight and save the maiden fair.
Or be an astronaut and rocket through the air.
We can sail the seven seas as pirates old and free.
Anything is possible in The Great Bearberry—
Savant put his gun back against the bear’s temple and the song stopped. "Never do that again."
Brexbin smiled. “But it’s a happy place filled with rainbows full of color—”
Junkers Season Two Page 6
