Chapter Forty-Six

The world spun in a blur of green and brown as they swirled around like contents trapped inside a waterglobe, everything invisible under the strain of staying awake and sane. Zach's organs were screaming in traumatized pain, and he couldn't feel the rest of his body, only the throbbing fear in his gut that rocketed white-hot pain behind his eyes. He was almost blinded from the terror, and he felt as if he'd been chained to a heavy brick tossed into a sea of trauma that would suck his very bones dry.

Outside their spinning haven, he caught glimpses of light casting thick shadows over the jungle floor from the canopy of life high over their heads, and even inside the Gyrosphere, the smell of wet earth and plant-life was strong. There was also the rancid smell of decay and disease; of old blood and meat left open in the heat to simmer in bacteria and stench. The dominant smell that seemed to pierce through the safety of their technological bubble could only be one thing - death.

It smelled like sulfur, urine, and vomit - he thought this must be what hell smelled like, on a smaller scale. It didn't matter, he couldn't tell the difference anymore. Instead, Zach looked over to see Gray doubled over in the harness, a stream of excretion erupting out of his mouth as if it were propelled by rocket fuel. The very sight would've made him sick himself, had he not been stricken paralyzed with horror, and he snapped his eyes shut in hopes the world would only thing he could feel was the aching stab of his heart.

There was a deep, hollow snarl in the jungle behind them, almost as if from another world. He and his brother both squeaked out a terrorized gasp, Zach noticing for the first time that he couldn't speak. Instead, he felt his stomach connect with his ribcage and pump a hot pile of vomit up his throat, which threatened to burst through his clenched teeth. Gray somehow had managed to scream beside him, pasted to the back of his seat as their bubble skidded across the jungle floor, towards a large tree riddled with vines that seemed to drip from the canopy overhead.

Zach swallowed back the vomit, his heart beating sorely inside his chest cavity so strongly that he swore he could've felt his own blood cells individually. A cold blast of terror swept over him, sending the fearful sweat that gathered over his skin away as if it were a vanishing act. The ball came to an abrupt stop, both he and Gray pulling to a halt inside their harnesses, facing the tree. The console of the machine flickered out, the bubble's mechanics creaked as they stabilized, and world was momentarily still.

He looked over at Gray, who was trembling violently, his skill pale, as if someone had bathed him in an ashen-colored white paint. He was breathing shallowly and quickly, sweat plastering his curls to his face as he looked across the small space to his big brother, pleading for help and rescue. His eyes were screaming, and his lips were moving mutely, no sound slipping past them.

Time seemed to drag on forever, and Zach looked up to see what had happened, as if the answer would drop out of the sky. Every one of his senses were highly alerted, and he was keenly aware of every detail around him – every rivet, screw, bolt, and shred of fabric in his immediate presence stood out in hyperactive detail, and his eyes were throbbing and immensely dry.

The stories were true, he kept hearing subconsciously, we're going to die.

He couldn't push the fatal thoughts from his head. Zach could feel the adrenaline spike to life in his veins, sending molten bolts of heat across his body into his extremities. He'd heard some people had immediate reactions when faced in life and death scenarios; some fight, others run. In anatomy, he'd heard it called the "fight-or-flight" response.

Now, seemingly able to hear his own lungs compress and release with each breath against a silent backdrop of dense jungle and unable to move outside of blinking, he knew it was a lie – all he could think was that he and his brother were going to die; thoughts of escape or attack never came. Instead, he just focused on the sight overhead, where a large hole had punctured through the protective glass of the bubble, a spider-web of cracks exploding in all directions.

He noticed with peripheral vision that Gray was looking up too, his eyes even wider and more afraid than before. They looked at each other again, chests heaving; minds whirling with thoughts of death, escape, and fear. Gray opened his mouth to say something, and the earth began to move rhythmically, the air shaking around them with trembling anticipation. Zach threw up a hand and shook his head, looking to his left.

"Shh," he said quietly, trying to stay the tremble to his hand.

The vibrations stopped, suddenly. Unexpectedly.

His stomach turned over. He was hoping beyond hope that whatever it was that was behind them would retreat into the jungle. When nothing happened after a few pumping blasts of blood through his ear, Zach reasoned the beast was gone. Actually, reason had no part in it - he hoped, prayed that it would go back into the foliage and leave them. Thoughts in mind and hope in hand, he began to scramble, fighting with his harness in an attempt to free himself and abandon ship.

His frenzy was carried through by his brother, who too continued to fight the harness. He wasn't sure how, but Zach felt the harness release and go slack in his hands, the belts falling away like limp noodles back against the seat. He turned in his seat, leaned over the console, and began fumbling with Gray's harness. Gray, out of sorts and shaking, still struggled with the restraining device, tears spilling from his eyes and onto Zach's hands.

Frustrated and terrified, Zach smacked his hands away. "Knock it off, let me work on it!" he hissed.

Gray was bawling now, snot running down his nose and tears spilling freely from his eyes, "We're gonna die, we're gonna die..." was all he could sob.

The smell of vomit was overwhelming now, and Zach was having a hard time keeping his mind on-task. He worked through the tangled harness quickly, his hands cold and shaking terrible while beaming red. He noticed his chest was hurting, probably from the snap of his own harness, but ignored it. He felt one of the harness straps retract, and bit his bottom lip, working the other strap.

He was oblivious to everything, feeling a burning pain behind his eyes as tears began to well and blur his vision. He grew suddenly very cold, and a shiver raced down the bones all across his spine and shoulder, and he looked up when he noticed Gray's small hand slowly come to rest on his own, the boy's knobby knuckles red and cracked with tension. Zach looked up at his brother, and found the boy was stone-still, as if he were dead; eyes bolted over Zach's shoulder.

Slowly turning in his seat, he felt his gut rocket downward, along with all of his blood and organs, which felt like jam. Outside their bubble, the beast was looking at them - its half-opened jaws were littered with rows of pointed strong teeth, jagged bits of flesh hanging from them. Zach could see down the animal's throat, and its maw was dripping with saliva and flesh, while the rest of it was covered in dried, speckled mud and blood, as if it had been in a fight.

Its eyes flecked to and fro with hawk-like movements, darting between the two of them, as it held its body in almost an S-curve. Long forearms dragged the ground. Zach didn't dare look down to the massive, razor-like claws dragging through the dirt, he instead focused on the animal's movements, trying to keep his breathing steady and invisible. He could feel the reverberations of Gray trembling behind him.

It slowly looked around the ball, moving with fluid, light movement for its size. It was a spectacular beast, Zach thought, as if it were conceived by a brilliant artist for a picture book. An intricate pattern seemed to float over its pebbled skin, and he could see the scars left behind, like most animals had. It balanced its weight on its feet expertly, shifting every so often as if it would make the beast lighter. The skin twitched sporadically, like a horses'. Its breathing was ragged, and it made a wobbling hiss of a noise as it examined them.

Very slowly, he slipped his hand across his seat, over the console separating him from his brother, and took Gray's hand.

The animal gave a strong snort from its nostrils, which fogged the glass. Zach was trembling ferociously, unable to do anything but breathe. He watched as the animal slowly push itself up on tree-like back legs; the muscles moving and stretching as it did so. Soon, it was towering over them, and positioned itself to stare directly below, into their bubble. Zach felt his mouth parch almost immediately, and something flared in his gut.

In a burst of otherworldly speed, the animal slammed its forearms down on top of the sphere, letting out a demonic roar of frustration that was so deafening, Zach felt one of his ears pop in protest. Slapping their hands over their ears, they looked at one another in sheer horror, unknowing what to do or say beneath the beast's world-shattering cry. The ball trembled beneath the animal's tremendous weight, its claws scraping loudly across the glass as it peered down at them.

It was thinking; calculating how to destroy the barrier between them. Zach could see the reasoning float through the animal's eyes - it was going to open the sphere, and it was going to kill them if they didn't do something.

In a moment of panic, Zach took the yoke of the sphere, and pulled it forward, the inverse controls screeching to mechanical life. Unprepared and taken by surprise, the ball immediately lurched out of the animal's claws, rocketing backwards through the jungle foliage, which slapped at the sphere in all directions. Gray was pinned backwards in his seat, his breaths coming in short heaves, Zach noticing the boy was starting to blue up in the lips.

The dinosaur roared in fury, shaking its head in frustration before taking off at a trot after them, crossing the distance he'd managed in only a few strides. It gained steadily, until it stood tall over the sphere, them staring directly up at the animal's chest as it reached for them, claws colliding with the surface of the ride with a loud smack!

Screaming, Zach punched the yoke again, to no avail. They were still beneath the dinosaur, whose snarls and grunts of wicked hunger overtook any sound Zach may have wanted to hear. Gray was screaming a high-pitched shriek as the animal scraped and pawed at the sphere, and without warning, the ball was suddenly airborne, and they were facing the dirt. Zach could hear the dinosaur biting at the glass; could feel the heartbeat of the animal inside the sphere as they were pressed farther against its body. The gurgle and slick sounds of the animals throat were reverberating.

He was braced against his side of the sphere and the front, Gray opposite him, screaming and sobbing uncontrollably. Zach couldn't feel his body, all he could feel was the immense terror stinging each and every molecule he may have possessed. His stomach was playing kickball with his ribs, tossing over and over in his abdomen. He felt like his organs were bouncing around him as if he were a bouncy-castle, and his throat was raw with pain. He could feel his vocal chords - they were burning and hot.

Suddenly, the ball was still and they plummeted downward, elliciting another shriek from both of them. They fell briefly, and Zach's eyes floated closed, the world seemingly silent for a brief moment of relief. His heart floated up into his throat, and they struck the ground with a resounding thud!, and fell back into their seats, hard. Zach felt his head smack against the side of the sphere, and when he was finally able to see past the dancing black spots, he saw that Grey had fallen to the floorboards, now sitting in his own vomit.

Before either of them could gain composure, the dinosaur smacked the sphere roughly, sending them spinning across the small jungle clearing, again.

He swallowed another swell of upchuck, trying his hardest to keep his eyes pinched closed as he fought to brace himself in his seat. They spun forever before they smacked against what he presumed was a tree; upside down and canted to Gray's side. Zach was now standing on the ceiling, next to the hole which the dinosaur had punched into the glass, and he glanced outside to see the beast staring at them quizzically, head tipped to the side. It must have struck them hard, because the distance between them was around 100 yards.

He swallowed a squeak, "Don't move," he said quietly, "maybe it won't see us..."

Furious, Gray sobbed, "That's with a Tyrannosaur, stupid! And it was disproven almost - woah!"

He'd been trying to stand, and slipped against the slick puke on the floor, into his side of the bubble. Without warning, the side-door popped free with a mechanical whine, retracting just enough to allow someone to pass through. It must've caught, because it made a stuck whining sound, almost like elevator doors trying to open. Gray looked at the opening, and then to Zach, both of them dumbfounded.

They both then looked to the dinosaur. It was on all four, mouth hanging partially open, making hissing sounds. It looked curious and wickedly savage, almost as if it were possessed by an unseen motive to kill. It tilted its head back and forth, its muscles continuing to twitch in different places. The earth trembled when it carefully shifted its weight on its feet; its massive weight sinking the feet into the dampen earth. Realization possessed Zach like a lightning bolt.

Lunging across the bubble, he shouted, "Go, go, go!" and pushed his brother through the opening.

The dinosaur, enraged, roared in protest and took off in a run towards them, the earth shaking furiously. It opened its jaws wide, reached forward with its massive claws, and called at them again with a scream so hollow and piercing it rattled Zach's bones. He wedged himself into the hole just as the beast slammed into the sphere, grabbing it roughly and hauling it into the air with strong arms.

He was midair only for a moment before launching free, and he hit the earth on his side. Pain spiked up his arm and through his shoulders, resounding in the back of his skull. He didn't waste time, he pushed himself up, sprinted ahead, and slid to a stop behind the tree, where Zach was trembling and whimpering; shirt pulled up over his head.

Pressing against the damp and mossy tree trunk, Zach fumbled for his brother's arm, eyes pinned on the dinosaur. It continued to maul the ball, its snout fully inside now. He swallowed back a breath, hoping beyond hoped they were downwind from the dinosaur, and that it hadn't seen where they'd gone. He heaved in mouthfuls of air, trying to control the heat in his body.

Without warning, the dinosaur seemed to realize its efforts were fruitless. It dropped the ball and looked directly at their tree, nose in the air. It sniffed loudly, its low snarl dark and eery as it glanced around the clearing. Zach's spirits fell immediately - the thing was looking for them, and it could smell them.

He gripped Gray's arm, and squeezed it, as if to tell him not to move. He watched the monster continue to scan the area, looking for any sign of movement. It had one of its forearms on the floor, the other pulled into its body as it smelled the air, eyes flicking around like a bird. He forced himself to blink, and he felt dread drop into his gut, as if something were to happen; a preminition.

His butt suddenly shrieked with a familiar ringtone, and the world froze.

The dinosaur whipped its head around and snorted in rage, a high-pitched whine piercing the air. It looked directly at him, its eyes piercing his soul with their empty, hollow presence. It slowly opened its mouth, rumbling out a growl, before it threw its head back, roared, and turned sharply to face the tree. Every move it made was fluid and predatory, and Zach backpedaled, grabbing at his brother and turning on his heel sharply to run.

And they ran, the earth beginning to shake. He batted aside fronds and ferns, feet almost flying through the air. He heard a loud crack, then the thunder of their tree hitting the ground. All he could hear was the pounding of the earth and the pumping blood on his head, and all he could feel was his brothers trembling. They ran and ran, Zach unable to look back to see how close they were to death.

"Here, go here!" Gray erupted, yanking him to the right through a thick tangle of tightly-woven trees and brush.

Diving into the thick green foliage, his brother guided him through, pressing between closely-planted trees just barely able to be squeezed through. They popped free of two mossy trees, the dinosaur roaring in rage as it battled the cluster of plant life. Zach could taste his own sweat, and managed to wrangle out of his button down, tossing it off to the side in a flailing attempt to re-direct the monster's attention.

Gray screamed, "There's the clearing," and burst through the line of jungle, into the small open space.

Dread filled him to his eyeballs - they'd be open game in the clearing, though that didn't seem to occur to his brother, who continued to race beside him, hand firmly planted in his own. Zach just pumped his other arm, his heart kicking into overdrive to match the burning of his heart. The line of jungle was just on the other side, about 100 yards, and he could hear the dinosaur punching through the foliage behind him, roaring in and grunting anomalistically in rage.

In a breath, they broke into the other side of the jungle, batting aside branches. Small cuts burned on their skin, the jungle fighting back in a battle against their sudden invasion. It didn't matter, the dinosaur was gaining behind them, screaming in horrific and powerful roars, coming behind them into the fray of earth. The clear and heavy smell of water became thick, and the air become heavier; the sound of crashing water growing louder and louder before them.

Before he could think, Zach skidded to a stop, Gray beside him. Before them, yards and yards below, was a pool of fresh water. A heavy waterfall some forty-feet high crashed loudly to his left, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water free-falling into the pool. Fear and anxiety consumed him - it was a long drop, and he didn't know how deep the water was, or where the current of the river would take them.

A beastly roar erupted behind them, and it became almost impossible to stay upright as the earth pounded. Trees and plant-life crackled and thundered to the jungle floor, Zach's mind spinning. The dinosaur broke into the waterfall clearing, head thrown back in a roar. Without thinking, Zach looked at Gray, gripped his hand, and launched himself into the air, pulling his brother with him.

Neither of them screamed seconds before they broke the surface of the pool, which may as well have been sheets of glass-like ice. Zach's body rang with pain as the heavy water pulled him down, realizing that the beast would be looking for them. He saw Gray swim for the surface, and paddled after him quickly, grabbing his ankle. Gray lurched in fear, kicked him in the face, and spun around.

Looking up at him, Zach shook his head no. Instead, he pointed down river, and began to breast-stroke away from the falls. Gray followed after him, swimming steadily; Zach's body tensed as he pulled through the water, the cold depths stinging his nerves.

Even beneath the surface, he could hear the dinosaur's roar of defeat, and felt the shaking earth as it retreated back into the expanse of jungle.

The bouncing ACU vehicle roared down the maintenance path, its tires consuming the gravel greedily. Had it not rained for days on end, there would certainly have been a great cloud of dust following them, Hamada imagined, as he readjusted the earpiece along his left ear. The butt of the tranquilizer weapon bounced against his thigh heavily, balanced by his strong grip on the foreshock.

The navigator, seated behind him, tapped his shoulders twice and gestured to the iPad she was using. "She's about a klick to the south, sir," came her voice over the earwig, "We should stop here and advance on foot."

Hamada nodded his affirmation - going in on foot would give the jungle time to adjust to their arrival, and hopefully counteract the noise of their vehicles. Besides, the underbrush was good cover, and he didn't want to draw the asset onto the main road. Checking his belt, he then leaned forward, smacked the dash twice, and signaled for the driver to stop up ahead.

Once their vehicle and the others behind rolled to a stop, Hamada signaled again for them to cut the engine by a slashing of his hand in front of his throat. The vehicles died almost immediately, the units rolling out of them; swinging over the sides of open Jeeps and dropping out of truck beds. Soon, the array of them were standing at the ready after a deathly silent equipment check, each once facing the jungle.

Looking down he line of men and women, Hamada nodded, signaled for the advance, and pulled his rifle up into position against his shoulder. A bead of sweat raced down his spine beneath his kevlar as they broke into the still and silent jungle. And as he passed through the canopy of foliage, the weapon heavy in his arms, he was struck with the hollow fear that he - and his unit - were vastly unprepared.

It was a feeling he'd never felt before, and he didn't like it.