Every little bump in the road was like a sharp blade slicing its way up Darcy's leg. Every big bump made her nearly pass out. Darcy grit her teeth and tried not to just scream as they hurled through the jungle under the power of a single headlamp.
"Loki, slow down!" Thor demanded.
"Uh. No!" Loki snapped back.
Darcy wanted to agree with Thor, but she could barely find her voice to do so.
"You're going to get us all killed," Thor said "Or was that your great plan all along?"
The car hit a huge bump, sending it bouncing almost out of control. This time, Darcy did scream. She sat up, gripping onto her leg just below her knee to try to keep herself from bouncing around too much.
"What?" Loki asked.
"None of this would have happened if you hadn't come here," Thor said. "This was all your fault. I don't know how, but you did this."
"What?" Loki repeated, gunning the engine even harder. Surprisingly, he slowed down again when Darcy smacked the back of his seat a few times, but only just.
"How the hell is this my fault?" Loki demanded, screaming over everything else.
"You tried to kill our father! How do I know this wasn't your fault?" Thor shouted back. "You couldn't even take care of your girlfriend. Or what? Were you just trying to kill the witnesses?"
Loki swung his fist out at Thor. "I liked you better when you were dead. Get out!" he shouted.
He hit Thor a few more times, even as Jane shouted at them to stop. Eventually, Loki did stop, only to lean over Thor and try to open his door while they were still racing down the dirt road.
"What the hell! Stop it!" Jane shouted. "There's a time and a place, and it is not here!"
Loki still continued to hit Thor with his right hand, even while Thor closed his door so he didn't fly out into the jungle. As soon as Thor was safe in his seat once more, he turned to face Loki and threw his fist straight into the side of Loki's face. The car skidded to a halt on the loose dirt as Loki held his face with both his hands. There was a long, tense silence after that, while Thor panted angrily and Darcy whined quietly to herself.
"You broke something, you asshole," Loki said finally, his voice muffled behind his hands.
"Are we done now?" Jane demanded angrily.
"I couldn't have possibly had anything to do with what happened today," Loki said slowly.
"Loki. Shut up and drive," Jane ordered stiffly.
Loki groaned quietly to himself for a few moments. Without warning, he lashed out and punched Thor in the arm as he started to drive again.
"Thor. Ignore it," Jane said.
They were all silent as Loki worked the car back up to a frantic pace once more, bouncing over the bumps in the road and crashing down hard. It seemed like they weren't getting anywhere, no matter how fast they went. Darcy wondered if they were even going in the right direction, but she didn't dare voice that opinion. And even if she wanted to, she wasn't sure she'd be able to. All of her dwindling energy was spent just trying not to cry and scream every time the slightest jolt tore through her like lightning. Jane was still sitting precariously at the edge of the seat, one hand on the back of Thor's seat, and the other bracing herself against the backseat headrest. Even in the darkness, Darcy could see Jane watching her nervously, but not daring to release her hold for an instant, lest Loki fling her into the back of Thor's seat again.
"Loki, stop," Thor said finally.
"Uh. No," Loki repeated forcefully.
"Yes, Loki!" Thor shouted. "You're taking us the wrong way."
"I'm following the road. Would you have me drive us off a mountain instead?" Loki demanded, gunning the engine out of spite again.
"Or into the river!" Thor said. "Look, it's right there. We're going the wrong way!"
"We're going south," Loki insisted.
Darcy tried to sit up a little better. She couldn't see anything but blackness out of the passenger side window, so she carefully twisted around to see out of her own window. Thor was right. She could see the shimmer of faint starlight reflecting off the surface of the water not too far away. Maybe twenty feet away, with nothing between them and the water but open ground.
But Loki was right as well. If the river was on their left, then they were still heading south. The road would turn east eventually. Sooner, rather than later, Darcy hoped.
Without warning, something bright flashed to the right, momentarily lighting up a grass plain as the sounds of an explosion rang out with a deafening roar. A roar that continued for longer and louder than it should, slowly transforming into an animalistic sound – huge and unreal, and very close. Darcy leaned into the back of her seat, looking around wide-eyed for the source of the roar. Gunshots rang out again from nearby, their short bursts ringing out menacingly. There were no places to hide within the SUV, which almost certainly wasn't bulletproof. Covering her head with her hands, Darcy ducked down as low as she could. Every now and then, through the sounds of war that continued to rise, she could hear something else. Something high pitched, like a screeching his. The big dinosaur roared again, this time close. Darcy thought she could hear it coming after them, its feet pounding on the ground in a steady rhythm. When it roared again, right behind them, Darcy knew it had been following them, and had just enough time to brace before the back end of the SUV was lifted up. The car filled with screams as Loki gunned the engine and veered left off the road. There wasn't much difference between the surface of the hard dirt road, and the open grass next to the river, giving the dinosaur every opportunity to catch up again and try to tilt the car once more.
"Loki!" Thor demanded.
"Shut up!" Loki demanded.
The car tilted even further to the left, slamming Darcy against the door, and then back down onto the seat a few seconds later. She screamed in terror and in pain all at once, able to see the giant, round snout outside the window just inches away.
The dinosaur slammed into the car one last time, tilting it so far to the left that the whole thing rolled onto its top. Everything burned as Darcy found herself on the ceiling, looking out a window that didn't look right. When she realised water was pooling around her, she understood why. The dinosaur had thrown them into the river. But it wasn't trying to get into the car to eat them, or try to tear open the car as if it were food. Nothing was moving, and Darcy could no longer hear the dinosaur outside. It was as if it had done what it set out to do, and had simply left.
Darcy looked down at the water as it slowly rose around her, sharply cold against her skin. She wished it was warmer. She didn't know why it had to be so cold.
"Darcy!" Jane shouted.
Darcy looked up, trying to figure out why Jane was so upset. It was just water. But Jane was throwing herself against the door, slamming her shoulder into it again and again. In the front seat, Thor was doing the same.
"Thor, stop it," Loki demanded.
He climbed into the back with Darcy and Jane, crouched down low with the flashlight in his hand. Thor was still throwing himself against the door, but Jane had stopped, watching Loki fearfully.
"Get read to move," Loki said, looking over his shoulder to Jane.
Jane nodded nervously.
Loki reached over Darcy, pushing everything from the back off to the side before climbing under the seat.
"I'll need your help," Loki said loudly, crouching down in front of the rear hatch window.
Jane nodded again. "Okay. On three?" she asked.
"Three!" Loki shouted. He hit the flashlight against the rear window, cracking the glass. The second time he slammed the flashlight into the window, everything shattered, and the water that had been a slow trickle now flooded in, filling the car. Darcy could feel herself being pulled and pushed from every direction, but she couldn't scream past all the water in her mouth and throat. She could feel something digging hard into her arms, and her leg feeling like it was being torn apart, while her lungs screamed for air that wasn't there. Finally she could feel cool air on her face as she was lifted out of the water and carried quickly. The landing on the ground was hard and painful, but she was too busy puking up more water and crying to care. She could feel Loki next to her, one hand on her back, and the other on the side of her neck, holding onto her while her entire body was wracked by the violent choking.
"Breathe," she heard Loki say. All she could do was nod as she continued to choke. She was starting to get sick of water. She never wanted to see another river ever again.
Before she was even ready, Loki took her by the wrists and pulled her up. She tried to put her weight on both feet before she remembered not to, and nearly fell down in a heap. Loki held onto her, holding her up as he turned and tried to pull her onto his back again. As she finally managed to get up off the the ground, Darcy looked back at the water, surprised to see Thor standing waist-deep in the river and shouting something she couldn't understand. Loki shouted something back that sounded like it could have been swearing and started walking back along the grass toward the road.
"Loki, wait," Jane said.
Loki stopped and turned to face her as she trotted to catch up with them. Jane stopped at Darcy's side, taking a moment to check the bandage around her ankle. She didn't do much, but it still hurt enough to make Darcy hiss sharply.
"We have to get back," she said.
"And what do you suggest?" Loki asked. "The car's upside down in four feet of water."
He clicked the button on the flashlight a few times, shaking it angrily until it sputtered and flashed back to life. Darcy watched the bright white beam as it washed over the road and the grass beyond, and fell on the distant trees. In the distance behind them, they could still hear the faint remnants of whatever had flared up so suddenly, spurts of gunfire and the lone explosion still ringing out.
"Don't they know we're out here?" Jane asked, looking back toward the noise.
"Oh, I'm sure they do," Loki said coolly, already walking in the opposite direction down the road. "But I'd just as soon put something between me and their stray bullets."
Jane was quick to join him after that, walking close beside him, while Thor trudged on behind them.
"We should be going the other way. Loki!" he shouted.
"Then go," Loki told him. "We never saw the other person who said the same thing. I'm sure he's doing just fine."
Darcy wrapped her arms around Loki's neck, holding on tight as she leaned her weight into him. She didn't want to think about anything that had already happened, and she didn't want to think that Thor would walk off into the jungle as well. She was surprised when she heard him huff angrily behind them, heavy footsteps following evenly.
Suddenly, over the noises of everything else behind them, something else rose up – a familiar screeching, throaty hiss, much closer than any of the gunfire or explosions. Darcy looked back over her shoulder, tapping on Loki's arm wildly until he turned around, swinging the flashlight back. There was nothing on the road behind them, but Loki turned and starting running awkwardly anyway, holding onto Darcy while trying to keep the flashlight pointing forward. The sound came again, high pitched and almost barking this time, in three short bursts. Darcy could hear it in the grass now, and when she looked over, she could see it moving as something ran through it, just low enough to be completely hidden beneath the tall stalks. Suddenly, it burst out, clawed arms outstretched, and its long, toothy mouth wide open as it screeched at them. Jane fell away, covering her head with her arms as Loki swung out with the flashlight, losing his grip on Darcy as he smashed the dinosaur in the side of the face. Darcy tried to hold on, knowing that if she fell, she wouldn't be able to get back up in time to get away. Loki clouted the animal on the head again, distracting it long enough for Loki to find his grip on her again and start running. But the animal was fast, taller than Loki was and far more agile. It snapped at them, lunging forward before turning back. Darcy looked over her shoulder at it and screamed when she saw Jane struggling to get away. Thor was right by her side, with a giant, twisted branch in his hand. He swung at the dinosaur and jabbed the jagged, broken end of it right at the animal's face, but it had little impact. The dinosaur forgot about Jane and focused on Thor, snapping and swiping at him as Thor continued to swing his branch. But the branch was big and unwieldy, and in the dim light, Darcy could see the moment Thor lost control. The dinosaur took advantage of the stick dropping too low and lunged at him, arms spread out wide as it leapt on top of Thor. Thor and the dinosaur were both screaming, their sounds mixing together to form something unholy.
Suddenly, Loki released his grip on Darcy again, trying to ease her back down to the ground. She didn't want to stay there, but he left her little choice, running back as soon as she had her left foot on the ground. Darcy tried to balance awkwardly as she watched Loki run forward, not for Thor, but for Jane. He dragged her up to her feet, pulling her back along the road.
"No, wait!" Jane shouted, pulling back after the first few steps. She broke free from Loki and turned back, rushing toward Thor.
"Jane, stop!" Darcy shouted.
Jane did stop, a few feet away from Thor. She bent to the ground, picking up his stick and lunging forward with it. She struck the dinosaur in the side of the neck with the sharp, broken end of it, sending it sprawling off sideways and kicking angrily with giant, clawed feet.
Suddenly, Loki was running back to Darcy, not even bothering to get her onto his back again. He simply picked her up in both arms and ran. Darcy managed to look past him, able to see Thor staggering to his feet as Jane implored him to move forward; to run and get away. Thor was slow to start moving, but once he started, he quickly gained momentum. Soon, they caught up with Loki's hampered pace, running along with him as they followed the road into the darkness. By then, everything had quieted again, but the jungle seemed as loud and terrifying as ever.