Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall

by Thomas P Hopp

CHAPTER 9

  Chase regained consciousness with the sound of his own pulse pounding in his head. Out of the blur, Kit’s face came into focus.

  “Chase?” she whispered urgently. “Chase, wake up.” His senses sorted themselves out and he noticed her face was upside down. Then he realized it was he who was upside down, suspended from his seatbelt in the overturned truck. She was the right-side-up one, sitting on the overturned ceiling. A charge of adrenaline shot through him.

  “Where is that thing?” He tugged at his seatbelt buckle and it came free, tumbling him onto the ceiling with Kit.

  “It’s still out there,” she whispered. As he got himself upright she silenced him with a finger to her lips. He could hear the thing bellowing, now some distance away. From the sound of its enraged roars, it was involved in some other confrontation.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Kit hissed, crawling gingerly over the broken glass of the rear window and pulling herself out from under the overturned bed of the truck. Chase followed and they crouched beside the mangled wreck, taking in yet another astonishing sight. On the dusk-lit road a hundred feet ahead of them stood not one pachyrhinosaurus but half a dozen adults and as many young animals. They had gathered in a circle with the calves huddled inside a protective ring of big animals. Their attention was no longer on the truck. Another more serious threat had appeared.

  Seven new creatures had fanned out to surround the pachyrhinosaurs, and these newcomers were the most bizarre creatures Chase had seen yet. They seemed at first to be huge eagles, standing much taller than a man and stalking the ground around the pachyrhinosaurs. They were feathered in eagle-like patterns of brown and white, with crests of tall black feathers rising from the back of each animal’s head. Their arms bore long, brown-and-white banded feathers but they didn’t use these to fly. Instead, they flapped the feathers to speed their ground maneuvers as they rushed in and dodged back, harassing the herd of pachyrhinosaurs.

  As bird-like as these new creatures seemed, they, like the pteronychuses in the temple, were two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs. Long reptilian tails extended behind them, fringed with feathers, but by far their most reptilian features were their long jaws with knifelike teeth, and hooked claws on three-fingered hands. A sense of horrified wonder filled Chase as he watched them boldly harass the ring of pachyrhinosaurs. There was something awe-inspiring about their agility as they dodged and sparred with the big animals, fanning the feathers of their arms and tails for balance.

  He leaned near Kit and whispered, “What the heck are they?”

  “Some species of raptor, I think. But a lot bigger than velociraptor.”

  Chase had studied the tactics of mammalian carnivores. Now, despite the immediacy of danger, he admired the elegant dance of these savage hunters.

  “Maybe they’re utahraptors,” Kit suggested.

  “Utahraptors? Don’t they know they’re in the wrong state?” Chase tried to force a chuckle but it wouldn’t come. They looked too dangerous.

  “Look at their feet,” she whispered. “That’s their main weapon.”

  As formidable as the animals had seemed at first, Chase saw there was more to their weaponry. On the inside toe of each foot was a hefty sickle-shaped claw that looked capable of disemboweling an elephant—or a pachyrhinosaur—at a single stroke.

  “You mean their teeth aren’t bad enough?” Chase whispered, reaching into the truck through the shattered side window and quietly withdrawing his rifle. He took Kit’s hand and tugged her in a direction away from the creatures. “C’mon, dino-girl, let’s don’t disturb their dinner.”

  They crouched below the level of the sagebrush and moved along the road toward a large rock outcrop that looked like it might offer some shelter, while the pachyrhinosaurs bellowed and the utahraptors eagle-screeched in reply. But as Kit and Chase neared the rocks the sounds behind them ended abruptly. There was an awful moment of silence.

  Chase shot a glance back and got another jolt of adrenaline. The largest of the utahraptors had straightened, lofting its head high, and was looking directly at him! It let out a cry that was half wolf howl, half eagle screech, and blood curdling in its ferocity. The other animals raised their heads and joined in a howling wolf-eagle chorus.

  “Come on!” Chase cried, but Kit needed no urging. They sprinted together on the uneven road as the utahraptors raced at them with cheetah-like speed, uttering fiendish yapping calls. Chase quickly saw it was futile to try outrunning the beasts but he spotted something that offered a faint ray of hope. Turning off the roadway, he grabbed Kit’s hand and dragged her through the sagebrush with him. The rock outcrop had a diagonal crack splitting its lichen-covered surface. “Get inside!” Chase shouted, and though the cleft was less than a foot wide Kit managed to wriggle in.

  The pack’s howling intensified and Chase sensed he didn’t have time to follow Kit. Instead, he turned to face the beasts as they raced the last few strides to him. He took a flat-footed stance outside the opening and raised the rifle, aiming at the lead utahraptor’s breast. As it bore down on him he carefully squeezed the trigger. The rifle roared and the animal crumpled at his feet, thrashing in agony. Its pack-mates paused to look at their fallen leader, giving Chase the opportunity he needed. He turned and dove into the fissure with Kit. There was just enough time for him to squeeze inside the opening before the other animals surrounded it. They moved cautiously, alarmed by their stricken leader’s screeching, watching its struggles diminish until it lay still.

  Kit tapped on Chase’s shoulder. “Why don’t you shoot the rest of them?”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?” she asked incredulously.

  In answer, he held up the rifle and pulled the trigger. It clicked. “The rest of the ammo is on the ground at the ranch.”

  Her face fell. “Brilliant.” That was all she had to say.

  That peeved him. “Well, I was too busy trying to get you out of there in one piece. Besides, I’m supposed to save wildlife, not kill it, remember?”

  Kit sighed. “I guess we’re the ones who need saving now.”

  The animals outside the crack lost interest in their dead leader, focusing their attention on Chase and Kit’s hiding place. Cautious after Chase’s display of his lethal capability, they surrounded the crack and settled down on their haunches. They cocked their heads, bird-like, and studied their quarry.

  Minutes dragged on. The gloom of evening fell. Chase and Kit pressed themselves far back into the cramped, awkwardly tilted recess of the crack. One of the animals approached the opening and scratched tentatively with its foot, but its attempts to dig them out made no headway against the solid rock. Chase pointed his rifle at the beast and it withdrew quickly, respecting the death-dealing potential of the weapon. It hunkered down and joined its companions in waiting them out.

  Chase slumped against the rock and sighed. “Utahraptor, huh?”

  “I think so,” Kit replied.

  “How do you make utahraptors go back to Utah?”

  “I don’t know, Chase. Doctor O doesn’t teach that sort of thing in Paleontology 101. Maybe you can think of something.”

  “Okay.” He wedged himself down into the crack until he was pressed close beside her. “I’ll get right on it.”

  Outside, it looked like the utahraptors were preparing for a long wait as twilight faded into darkness. After a few minutes Chase leaned the rifle against the rock and closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind. He felt Kit tremble against him. “It’s getting cold,” she said. He put an arm around her shoulders and then laid his head back against the sloping wall of the crack.

  “Guess you could say we’re in a tight spot.”

  “Guess so.” She rested her head against his shoulder.

  They were safe for the moment.