The Valley of Tooth & Claw Page 12

  The spinosaur had reached the fin. In fact, it was mere feet from Kate, the monster’s crimson eyes leering down at her and the others from behind a pair of huge, wedged-shaped jaws. Kate was rather surprised when the suspected rush of adrenaline, and accompanying fear no less, didn’t hit her system. Instead, she remained perfectly calm in the face of what was surely her impending doom. How she managed this, Professor Miller did not know. Perhaps she was just too exhausted to care anymore. And so, Kate simply studied the dinosaur. In return, it studied the woman, as well as her companions.

  “Come and get me˗ you ugly piece of shit!” Kate snarled.

  Apparently accepting her invitation, the beast’s snout edged closer, causing her heart to move up a gear. Next, hot air vented from the spinosaur’s globular nostrils, coming in noisy, fetid gusts. With its chest set to brush up against the edge of the fin, the huge reptile perused the four offerings curiously, its red eyes gradually shifting down the line from one to the next.

  Trey hadn’t given up trying to free himself and Clementine was still hysterical. Yet, in stark contrast to the mercenary and the executive, Professor Trentham remained subdued much like Kate, the man apparently rendered dumb by the awesome sight in front of him. Things grew quiet at this point. Strangely, Clementine appeared to tire as the reptile closed those last few crucial feet, her movements becoming much less animated. She had come to the conclusion there was simply no way out of this situation for her. The woman’s time was up.

  Then, taking its audience by surprise, the monster roared again. Jaws splitting wide open it unleashed an ungodly scream, shattering the fleeting silence! For the briefest of moments, the beast’s teeth shone in the daylight, its menacing dentition on full display for them all. Perhaps even more terrifying, beyond these lay a darkened, hungry gullet waiting to be fed. Emerging from the shadowy recess was a pink tongue. Long and fleshy, the organ curled as the creature bellowed, its throat’s leathery exterior vibrating with the force of the hideous shriek.

  This is it… Kate told herself, waiting for the end to come.

  The Oxalaia’s face inched towards Miller’s own, the reptile’s gruesome visage growing larger. At the same time, the monster used its forelimbs to grab hold of the fin’s rocky platform. Gaining some purchase, the predator’s black claws proceeded to gouge great scars into the baked soil, pulling its frame closer to its quarry.

  This is it! Professor Miller repeated to herself.

  Suddenly˗ with only inches between them˗ the dinosaur’s muzzle veered precariously to Professor Miller’s left! Jaws still parted, the goliath plucked Clementine from her bonds, awkwardly taking hold of her by the legs! The twine holding the woman gave way with a poignant and audible snaaap! and before Miller knew it, Clementine was gone. Pitching its head back, the Oxalaia’s jaws opened and closed feverishly like a croc feasting on a freshly caught fish. And with that Sienna disappeared down the spinosaur’s gullet.

  It was Kate’s turn to scream now. After all, she could only assume she was next. The subsequent cry left her throat in a wild, uncontrolled screech. It grew decidedly louder when the huge reptile refocused its attention on her. Blood trickled over the carnivore’s uneven lips, crimson droplets falling like a child’s tears. In that moment, the fearsome killer took on a diabolical mien, almost as if it was sneering at her. It couldn’t be, could it?

  “No, no, no!” Kate shook manically.

  This time the creature expelled a spine-chilling hiss. Next, twisting its neck, the spinosaur’s head went nigh-on horizontal as it prepared to yank Professor Miller from her bonds.

  “Stay away from me!” Miller’s cry was futile and she knew it, but it did not stop her.

  The beast’s spiked teeth swiftly came to fill Kate’s vision. Snatching a shallow, panicked breath, the poor woman prepared to meet her fate˗

  ˗when out of nowhere, an explosion sounded! The noise, deafening and full of force, originated from somewhere behind their position; the hellish din taking Miller totally and utterly by surprise! But it wasn’t simply Miller that the thunderous tumult scared.

  Frightened off, the spinosaur swiftly disappeared. Its massive, scaly profile swerved off to Kate’s left and out of view, managing to tear free a section of the fin’s rocky platform as it went! Next, she heard the commotion of water splashing and churning, the dinosaur presumably submerging its huge corpus once more.

  “C’mon, we gotta go!” Trevon abruptly appeared before Professor Miller.

  CHAPTER 15

  Dawn broke, painting the skyline a mixture of pink and gold. Had Campbell’s mission not been so urgent, he might have sat and watched it a while longer. Instead, crouching at the base of a tree which he had spent the night under, the Scotsman watched the settlement on the opposite end of the intervening plain, silently preparing himself for what must come next.

  Running a tentative hand through his ginger mane, Elias uttered an exasperated groan to himself, finally accepting the inevitability of his situation. The fact was, no one else was going to save his friends. Their survival depended upon him, and him alone. If they weren’t already dead, that is. And so, the mercenary examined his assault rifle one last time before flicking the safety off.

  “Old faithful,” Elias smirked to himself, getting slowly to his feet.

  Without warning, a deep, bellicose roar tore through the early morning air, obliterating the serenity of the jungle around him! Flinching in fright, Campbell ducked as he was taken off-guard, the man unsure exactly what to expect. Above him, birds in their thousands rose abruptly from their perches situated amongst the sea of interlocking trees; a great, black, screeching host swarming above the jungle canopy.

  “No. Fucking. Way.” Goosepimples shot up the length of Elias’ arms.

  Next came a series of hurried and booming footsteps that shook the very ground. It was the sound of these that finally sent Campbell running. Leaving the rainforest behind, Elias darted into the waiting plain. Not that it offered much in the way of sanctuary. In fact, he was decidedly exposed. Even so, bolting like a greyhound out the box, he didn’t look back… until a second hellish growl sounded.

  Cricking his neck aftward, Elias witnessed the Carnotaurus’s familiar outline punch through the green and brown tree-line; jaws bared and screaming with a murderous fury! The burgundy-colored beast skidded to an awkward halt a second later, its mighty tail swinging precariously behind it as the reptile tried to keep its balance. Even in his frightened state, Commander Campbell managed to note the dried blood caked about the animal’s eyes and nostrils; evidence of the damage it had sustained from the ingested flashbang.

  “Tough bastard, aren’t ya?” Admittedly, Elias was somewhat impressed the creature was still standing after their last encounter.

  As for the Carnotaurus, it spotted the mercenary almost immediately. Inspecting the man’s scurrying profile for a moment, its eyes morphed into angry slits. Then, making after Campbell, the horned titan shrieked as it dashed into the plain like a hound on a fox.

  How did it find me? the mercenary wondered amid his panic. My scent?

  Snatching glances over his shoulder, Campbell watched in a series of fleeting, disjointed snapshots as the prehistoric terror proceeded to close on him. In those terrifying first couple of seconds, Elias couldn’t help but liken the oncoming monster to a fleshy freight-train set to plow right through him.

  “Not this shit again!” Campbell growled, thinking back to his ordeal at the swamp.

  Forcing himself to ignore the Carnotaurus and look ahead instead, Elias focused on the palisade-style walls of the indigenous settlement. Quickly doing the math in his mind, the Scotsman judged the distance to be just shy of two-hundred-and-fifty meters. The merc knew immediately that he wasn’t going to reach it in time. At this rate, the Carnotaurus would have a hold of him long before sanctuary was even a possibility. This meant he needed to come up with a plan to buy himself some time˗ and fast.

  “Damn it,” Campbell snarled, rel
uctantly reaching for one of his detonators.

  Uncapping the device, the petrified Scot slammed his thumb down on the trigger button. He hadn’t intended on using his ace-in-the-hole so soon, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

  The result was instantaneous.

  In the distance, off to Campbell’s far right, a magnificent swelling of yellow, orange and red flame spewed skyward, accompanied by a hellacious din that reverberated for miles! Tearing a gaping, five-meter-wide hole in the village’s jagged fortifications, splinters of wood, intermingled with a rising cloud of dust and soil, scattered helter-skelter. Black smoke, thick and churning, quickly followed, the choking plume rising high into the air to replace the licking conflagration. Worst of all perhaps, this nightmarish scene was accompanied by faint screams from the village’s occupants all sounding ominously in the distance.

  Whereas behind the mercenary, the trailing creature veered to the left, the sudden blast taking it completely by surprise. Frightened off, its pursuit stalled there, albeit only briefly. This was exactly what Campbell had been hoping for. And so, whilst the killer hesitated, Elias gave it everything he had, continuing to make for the village and using this fleeting reprieve to his advantage.

  Campbell had planted the devices around the village’s perimeter the previous night, after making contact with HQ and before setting up camp. They were his way inside. On top of that, they were the perfect diversion while he searched for Kate and the others. And whilst they remained these things, Elias just hadn’t planned on using them so soon. Nor did he expect to have a massive prehistoric carnivore in tow. He had hoped to be a bit more tactical in his approach. Now the commander’s plans were in shambles. Everything from here on out would have to be done on the fly. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be.

  Improvise and adapt, a voice told him.

  “HQ, this is Reiver,” Elias spoke hurriedly into his mic, “do you have an ETA on those choppers?”

  The response came back almost immediately; “Helos are inbound to your coordinates. They will be arriving in approximately five minutes, commander.”

  “I hate to break it to you, HQ,” Elias grimaced as he spoke, “but we don’t have five minutes.”

  Campbell didn’t hear HQ’s reply. Instead, his attention was drawn rearward yet again by another fearsome cry from the giant reptile. Once more the Carnotaurus was barreling after the merc, no longer fearful of the flames and accompanying commotion. Indeed, the look in its eyes was more determined than before, the beast’s huge, armored frame rippling with each thunderous step toward him.

  Don’t look back! Elias told himself. That’ll only slow you down.

  Focusing on the settlement’s walls up ahead, Campbell kept running, desperate to put as much distance between him and the rampaging dinosaur as possible. He estimated the village was a little under one-hundred-and-fifty meters out now, its spiked walls growing larger as the seconds passed.

  You can do it! Elias told himself, his legs working feverishly.

  To the man’s horror˗ and with the previous thought still fresh in his mind˗ a sinister shadow suddenly swept over Commander Campbell. Realizing the Carnotaurus was virtually on top of him, the Scotsman’s blood ran cold. He just wasn’t fast enough.

  “No! No! No!” Elias whimpered, his pulse speeding out of control.

  Still, the Scotsman’s fear ultimately worked to his advantage. A surge of adrenaline hit his panic-stricken system. Just what the doctor ordered, the mercenary used it to fuel a short-lived and manic sprint. Elias managed to lengthen the gap between him and the predator. But alas, not for long. The adrenaline wore off almost as quickly as it set in and Campbell slowed yet again, his muscles growing tired and heavy. In a matter of seconds, the Carnotaurus was back on him, literally snapping at his heels!

  “Shit!” Elias cursed, trying to fight through the fatigue.

  Zig-zag! said a voice in his head.

  Just as this thought popped into his brain, the predator lunged, jaws arched wide˗

  ˗but Elias quickly cut left, the theropod missing him by a few short inches! Anticipating its next move, he dodged right a second later, the thing’s rough-skinned lips brushing against the heels of his boots. Campbell heard an audible whump! as the monster’s mouth clamped down on thin air. Better yet, the would-be killer stumbled as it failed to make contact with its quarry, momentarily losing its balance. The near miss forced the Carnotaurus to slow its advance in order to properly recover its footing. Even so, it managed the latter in a few disorderly, lumbering steps. And so, mad with anger at this point, the dinosaur could only hiss as it watched Campbell scuttle away unscathed, yet again.

  Refusing to look over his shoulder for more than a second or two, Elias didn’t see all of this. Rather, his attention remained locked in on the settlement. The village was less than a hundred meters away at this point, give or take. All the while, the ground continued to shake around him as the pursuing beast’s feet pummeled the plain beneath it.

  I’m gonna make it! he tried to convince himself. I’ve got to…

  Suddenly, there was a rush of air behind Campbell, the sensation washing over the nape of his neck like an ocean wave. Next, the Scotsman’s body snapped backwards, pulled from somewhere about the shoulder-blades. Then, for some inexplicable reason, Elias felt like he was flying. Totally helpless, he was forced to watch as his feet left the ground! The mercenary didn’t believe his eyes. Akin to an outer-body experience, Campbell couldn’t explain it either. But it was happening, nonetheless. Somehow, he was airborne.

  Rising higher, the commander registered the continued pressure located about his back and shoulders. On top of this, it was growing painful. Finally, Elias’ ears picked up on the coarse sound of fabric ripping and it all made sense to him.

  “This has got to be a bad fucking dream!” Campbell cried, rising further still.

  Craning his neck, Elias discovered (as he suspected) the dogged theropod holding him by his backpack, a punctured portion of the satchel wrapped around a single bowed, tusk-like tooth. Unnervingly, as he floated there, the sound of material tearing continued to resonate in Campbell’s ears. Perhaps inevitably, the merc didn’t remain airborne for long. The torn satchel gave way under the man’s weight. As quickly as he had left it behind, the ground was now rushing up to meet him!

  “Shiiiiit!” Elias bawled as the green grass came at him.

  With his return to earth, there was no expertly timed landing. No Judo-style roll to safety. Instead, poor Campbell crashed painfully onto his chest, palms slapping the hard ground as he impacted with it face-first.

  “Bastard!” Elias swore, pain bombarding the man’s body.

  Ignore it, said a voice. You’re a sitting duck otherwise. Just get up!

  Instinctively rolling onto his back, the merc looked up to find the Carnotaurus savaging his captured backpack like a farmer’s dog shaking a barn rat. Zip-loc bags filled with magazines and grenades flew left and right, ejected from the mangled rucksack. Despite the loss of his munitions, it wasn’t all bad though. Appreciating the opportunity for what it was, Elias rolled over onto his front again. Quickly pushing off, Commander Campbell scrambled to his feet. His G36, which the mercenary hadn’t even realized he’d dropped, was about a meter out in front. Closing the distance in a few hurried strides, the mercenary scooped up the weapon, once more making for his destination.

  Meanwhile, behind him, the dinosaur finally realized its prize wasn’t what it thought it was. Expecting a fleshy, blood-riddled meal for its troubles, the carnivore was presented with something decidedly blander instead. Angered at this, the behemoth let the backpack fall from its lips, unleashing a titanic, banshee-like scream.

  For his part, Elias ignored the incensed goliath. The walls of the settlement were close now, less than fifty meters. So close, Campbell felt like he could reach out and touch them, but instead he reached for something else. Holding onto the last of his detonators, the commander prepared h
imself for the coming explosion.

  Sucking in a deep breath, he engaged the device.

  The ground quivered, violent as an earthquake. The accompanying noise more than rivalled the screams of the Carnotaurus; a howling, furious torrent that drowned out all else. In turn, the section of wall directly in front of Campbell disintegrated, the collection of wooden stakes embroiled in a storm of flame. Forced to shield his eyes with one of his forearms, Elias caught only glimpses of the raging conflagration. Still, he felt its heat alongside the tiny, stray pieces of debris bouncing off his body. At some point in amongst the chaos of it all, Campbell heard the Carnotaurus squealing with fright once more as well.

  Unfazed, Elias rushed into the ensuing whirlwind of smoke and ash, still shielding his eyes with his arm, albeit trying to sneak glances ahead. A line of yellow-orange flames licked the ground where the charges had been buried. This was basically the only thing he could see amidst the ashen squall and so the commander made straight for it.

  The flames were roughly knee-high, but this did not dissuade him. Drawing up to them, Campbell threw himself forward, clearing the flickering limbs in a single leap. Hitting the ground, he rolled into a crouched position. Bringing his gun up next, the Scotsman searched for contacts but ultimately the smoke was too thick to properly discern anything.

  Rising to his feet after a few tense seconds, Campbell crept forward, G36 up and scanning. Elias’ ears were ringing with horrified screams again, some of which he recognized as belonging to children. Admittedly, this pained him. After all, they were innocents in this, and he wasn’t a monster. Or at least, the mercenary hoped he wasn’t one. The village’s children didn’t deserve what was happening to them. Steeling himself, the commander tried to block out their cries and continue with what had to be done.