Note: Oh, I'm happy with all the positive reviews I've been getting! It's making this novel even all the more fun to write and bring to you. Now, onto the anticipated Chapter Nine!
Chapter Nine: A Bigger Threat
Initial Location: Edward City, highway
"What?!" Regina exclaimed, now totally baffled.
"I know," he began, "This can't be possible. It looks so much like the one my sister used to wear."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
He sighed, and began to walk slowly, pacing. "Well, I was a very different person before I joined the army. Just a worthless street thug. At the time, I was in a gang and one day our rivals forced their way into my house. I wasn't home at the time, but my mom and sister were..." His voice trailed off for a second, and he looked skyward. "Well, they're gone. After that, I joined the army, and I've spent every day trying to make up for the past."
Regina walked over and put an arm on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for what happened to your family, but there's nothing I can really do. Hold onto that necklace."
He nodded.
"Come on," she said. "Let's get back to the ship. There's nothing left in this city."
"Oh, yeah," he said, his eyes growing wide. "I tried to radio you earlier, but there was no answer. I found a paper, a journal of something in a shop back in the city—made mention of information on the Third Energy in a missile silo back in the Jungle. However…"
"However, what?" she asked.
"There's an active missile in there, and the government intends on using it to destroy everything, to cover the fuck-ups they caused here. In one of our briefing sessions, they had mentioned that missile silo in passing, saying that that area of the jungle leading to the silo was poisonous as a result of plants producing toxic spores."
"We have a gas mask on the ship," Regina noted. "Let's go."
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Location: Marsh Area, Jungle
The ride back from Edward City was a quiet one, no surprises from Plesiosaurs or Pterodactyls, or any other creature. A tense silence had fallen over the ship, however. As Regina rode the calm waters back to the Jungle dock, Dylan sat in the seat next to her, his faced lined in thought, never wavering, not changing once the whole ride. He held the necklace in his hand. After they had arrived back at the dock, Regina had pulled two gas masks from the storage unit in the cabin, and offered one to Dylan.
"Thanks, but I'm gonna stay here for a little while longer. I have some thinking to do."
"Suit yourself," Regina said. "Don't take too long, though—I may call you for needed backup."
"I'll only be a little while—I just need to get things in my mind straight." She had left, leaving the T.R.A.T. soldier to his thoughts. On the ship, she had looked at the map of the Jungle area, provided by computers onboard. The easiest route to the poison area leading to the Missile Silo was through the South Route, into the Marsh area, where there was a fork in the path, something she didn't opt to take on the initial trip through there. It had been a very quiet trip to this point—nothing happened, no confrontations with any of the reptilian creatures, not a sound, nothing. When she arrived in the Marsh area, she had taken the path to the left, and she could see the top of the ladder not too far off. The Flame Launcher was gone now, so if there were any poison spore-producing plants, she hoped the gas mask would do its intended job. She stepped to the edge, and noticed it was a long ladder, a long drop to the bottom. As she gazed over, she noticed a thin, purple haze covering the area…not a normal sign of clean air. She wasn't on an acid trip, so she had put on the gas mask, and down she went. At the bottom, she quickly ran through the section, noting the heavy undergrowth in this area. Rocks had unusual plant life growing on them—a blue green moss type plant. Despite the purple haze all around, the flora looked dead, dark brown colors dotting the landscape. She walked through a narrow section of the path, cutting through a section of rock, the surfaces coated with that strange moss which seemed to bubble in places. Not far ahead, she could see the front of a building, but to get to the door, she had to descend two small drops to the bottom level. She took her time getting down, in no real rush.
When she reached the bottom, she saw the single metal door at the end of the path, and as she walked into the edifice, she took off the mask. Abandoned, as per usual, but she was in some kind of disposal chamber. In the center of this small room were large machinery reaching up to the ceiling, with control panels and electrical circuit breakers along the right side wall. The walkway went to the left, and she noticed a desk with papers and tools strewn about the table and floor—nothing useful. A door at the end of the walkway led her back to the outdoors. She kept the gas mask at her side, realizing that she no longer needed the item—the air was clean. It was a large, open area, and directly in Regina's sight were two, large cylindrical chambers, the metal surface brown from rust and neglect. Possibly generators, turbines, power supplies, she had no idea of knowing. However, wires ran from them to a control panel on the other side. As she walked down the small road, some small wooden crates and metal drums stood at the side. The tarmac itself had several large holes in it, as if some large animal tore it up. It didn't look like they were done by humans. With a concrete wall surrounding this section, anything was possible at this point.
At the end of the area, a staircase led down to another door, an abandoned forklift lying unused by the wall, behind a couple of those metal drums, rusted from time and rain. Nothing else was here, so she ventured down the stairwell, and back indoors. She had stumbled upon a room that reminded her very much of most of the rooms and offices back in the Ibis Island facility—the industrial, monotonous gray of it all, the dim florescent lighting, and the computers that seemed to line the walls. One side of this small room was lined with computers and control panels of sorts. A thin, translucent door was closed opposite Regina, and it looked like she couldn't get through—there wasn't a handle anywhere, and when she walked and stood in front of it, it did nothing. In the room, one of the computer monitors actually had power, and was running a screen saver—the Third Energy logo. Next to it, on its corresponding control panel, a small light blinked next to one of its many slots for disks and other removable media. She pressed the button next to it, and out popped a small disk, encased by a thin, clear bluish plastic. On it, a label marked it as "Third Energy Data."
All of our work, all the lives lost, all the stupid triviality, all for this three-inch wide piece of plastic. Brilliant.
She placed the Third Energy disk inside a pocket, and she powered her wrist intercom.
"Dylan, it's Regina, come in."
A few seconds passed, then his voice came back.
"Dylan here, what's up?"
"I have it—the Third Energy data disk. What's your position?"
"Good—we've finally got it. I'm in the Marsh, on my way to the Missile Silo. I'll be there in a couple minutes."
"I'll be on my way back toward the ship—I'll meet you along the way."
"Got it. Dylan out."
She opened the metal door, and she was back outside. She climbed up the stairs when a loud, booming thud could be heard, sounding very close, quickly followed by another. When she got up to the top of the stairs, she could see it coming down the path, the same monstrosity they met at the compound. The dark green and brown skin, the large, massive body, the single eye—the result of David taking the other with a rocket launcher—looking around the area, back for more.
"Oh, this is just fuckin' great. Again?" Regina yelled to herself. The T-Rex walked slowly toward Regina, then let out a loud, bellowing roar which shook the ground.
"You again? Persistent thing, aren't you?"
Another loud, stepping thud shook the area, but it wasn't coming from the T-Rex, but from another large dinosaur outside the walled section.
Another one?
The T-Rex stopped in his tracks, its massive head turning in the direction of the sound. A brief moment of tense silence passed through as another loud footstep, closer this time, then another. And another. Suddenly, the thick, cement wall of the launch site broke, sending debris and chunks of concrete and metal flying in all directions, raining pebbles down on the tarmac. A gigantic creature, much bigger than the T-Rex, let out a booming roar, the sheer magnitude of it moving even the T-Rex back a step. Its dark skin, almost a burnt orange, covered its body.
Oh, my god…the thing's fuckin' huge!!!
Its massive head was adorned with small thin spikes, forming at what appeared to be a nose, then branched off over its head, and onto its back. Its thick legs, legs as thick as a couple of cars, were bulging with muscle, ending with clawed feet that could easily crush anything it walked over. Two rows of teeth, each tooth taller than a human, lined the top and bottom of its mouth, capable of swallowing a person in one gulp.
I've never heard of such a creature…let alone seen one in any textbook. They didn't tell us THIS at any of the briefing sessions!
It let out another mighty roar before moving forward, each step shaking the ground. The T-Rex, looking tiny compared to this creature, lunged forward and sank its jaws into one of the Giganotosaurus gigantic legs. The massive, towering reptilian creature looked down at T-Rex as if to say, "please. Don't even try it." It closed its mouth, and then brought its huge head down quickly on the T-Rex's back. The sound of breaking bones filled the air, and Regina could only look on with amazement as the two titans battled it out. The Giganotosaurus lifted its head again, preparing for another slam into the puny creature below it. It made another attempt to sink its teeth into the leg again, when the stronger creature swung its head, battering into the T-Rex with amazing force, causing it to go airborne, sailing through the air as if it was a baseball. It flew a hundred or so feet away, slamming hard into the concrete wall, sending a cascade of wooden crates, metal drums, and concrete flying everywhere. The crates and drums under were crushed by the massive weight of the T-Rex. A stack of crates near Regina began to topple over, and she dove out of the way to prevent herself from becoming one with the ground. The Giganotosaurus began to walk toward the downed creature. Regina decided to do what any smart person in her situation would do—
MOVE YOUR ASS!!!!
She flew down the stairwell, nearly breaking her neck in her attempt to flee the behemoth coming closer. Her hand grabbed the handle, and she dove back into the relative safety of the Data Control Room.
Meanwhile, back up above, the T-Rex rose to its feet, blood pouring from its side, hitting the ground in large drops, and once more lunged at the tall reptile. As it attempted to gnaw at its leg again, the Giganotosaurus opened its jaw wide and captured the T-Rex in its large mouth, the teeth slicing through the thick skin of the T-Rex. It let out a cry of pain as it was being lifted into the air, higher, higher. The dominating monstrosity swung its head back once more, then swung mightily, releasing the T-Rex and sending it hurtling through the air. It flew a couple hundred feet, slamming hard into the generators, sending sparks flying as wires snapped and metal twisted, bent, the loud sounds cutting through the air. The towering dinosaur let out a roar, a roar of victory, of triumph as it walked slowly toward the fatally wounded T-Rex. The bloodied dinosaur squirmed along the air, but couldn't get up—too many bones were broken, too many muscles torn, ripped, destroyed. It was doomed. A shadow settled over the T-Rex, the shape of the Giganotosaur's head looming over. It looked up at the victor, its eyes watery, almost pleading for mercy.
No mercy would be spared, as the winner opened its cavernous mouth, and began to descend, lower, lower, then quickly snapped its jaw on the loser's head, crushing it instantly, the sounds of bone breaking, blood squirting out of the victor's mouth, hitting the walls with a sickening splat as it dripped down the walls.
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She leaned against a desk, breathing heavily, lucky to be alive.
What the hell was THAT THING?!
With one hand, she wiped the sweat off her forehead, the adrenaline beginning to wear off.
And Dylan's going to have to get through there…
She could hear the roaring outside, still feel the booming steps. Then, they stopped, and she just had a hunch, no, she knew that the T-Rex had not lived. No way. She heard the door open and close behind her, and she drew her pistol instinctively, turning around to face the enemy—
--and she saw Dylan clutching his shotgun, stopping suddenly, his eyes wide with shock.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it!" He yelled.
"Sorry," she said, holstering her handgun. "You scared me, dipshit!"
"Excuse me for living," he shot back. "But first things first. You found the Third Energy disk?"
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the shiny plastic. "Here it is—everything we've done since we've been here—all the lives lost, all the misfortunes, and all for this stupid thing."
"Be that as it may," he began, "we've got the disk. We can get out of here. There's a dock behind the Missile Silo—we can get out there. Come on, let's go."
Suddenly, the room shook violently, catching both of them off guard, sending both of them to the ground.
"What the fuck?" Dylan screamed angrily. "I was in no way prepared for that!"
The two soldiers could hear footsteps nearby, loud ones, the steps of a huge creature moving about.
"What is that? It sounds like our Cyclops friend again!"
"It can't be," Regina began. "That T-Rex is already—" She stopped, paused, and thought about that last statement for a few seconds.
Wait—in order to get to this room, he would have HAD to come through the Launch Site, meaning that he would have seen the dead T-Rex and subsequently, the massive giant that killed it…oh, you IDIOT!!!
She reached out her hand and gave him a smart smack upside the head, yelling, "you stupid blond! You had to see the thing dead! There's no other possible way to get here than through the Launch Site."
He sighed, admitting defeat. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up. Point taken, now let's get the fuck out of here!"
A female voice came over a speaker in the room. "Attack on missile launcher confirmed. Activating emergency interception mode." A loud siren cut through the air, blaring obnoxiously and flashing red lights. On the opposite wall, the blue translucent door slid open, allowing access to the next part of the room. "Missile launch in ten minutes. Evacuate immediately."
The two soldiers ran to the next section, and on the wall was a large screen, the word WARNING all across it, with a countdown timer ticking the seconds until missile launch.
"Ahh, the computer's malfunctioned," Dylan noted.
"No, it didn't. That creature's trying to break into the Missile Silo. It's set to activate a defense mechanism if such an event occurs—standard procedure, idiot," Regina corrected.
"Where's the control panel for the missile?"
"Probably inside the warhead or on it. Can't do anything here—all the buttons on the panel are locked," she said, heading for a door just ahead of her. "I'll go to the missile and shut off the defense mechanism, you go ahead and evacuate. Don't worry about me—I'll radio you." She hit a button, and the door slid open, revealing an elevator shaft.
"Ok…you be careful," he said, then ran back out the way they came, leaving her alone once more. She walked inside the elevator, and the lift began to rise.
Oh, this is going to be FUN!!!
The lift took her to the inside of the Missile Silo, a large room, octagonal in structure. It seemed the length of a football field from one wall to its corresponding parallel opposite. It was tall, taller than most buildings, a retractable ceiling two hundred feet up. Gray seemed to be the color, as per usual—it was industrial standard in any facility. It was brightly lit, and in the center of this huge room was the government's fail-safe, the missile meant to cover up its terrible blunderings through this entire operation. It was surrounded by a tall, yellow fence structure, a ramp encircling the tall enclosure, spiraling all the way to the top. The walkway went around the perimeter of the silo, and two large fuel pumps, spaced far apart, stuck out, attached to the railing. Along one side was a large glass window, many control panels and computers inside—probably a control room for the launch or something. Below her, a thirty or so foot drop to the ground. With about nine minutes left, she began to run along the platform, and as she got to the large glass window between the first and second gas pump, a violent crash shot through the air, and as she took a startled look to her left, she saw a big cloud of dust as metal and concrete debris fell to the ground. As it began to clear, she could see the burnt orange scaled skin, the raised skin forming tiny spikes along its head, the jaw slightly agape, its teeth red.
Of course. It's never easy…always seems to come when there's a countdown to imminent doom. Never fails. Looks like this one's right on schedule.
An alarm began to sound, red flashing lights accompanying the blaring noise. Again, that same calm female voice could be heard over the public address: "Warning. Access routes to missile launcher are closed."
What?!
Up ahead, she saw a section of the platform lower itself, making it impossible to leap across. She'd have to do something or everything was doomed. The Giganotosaurus made its way across the floor, each loud footstep vibrating the platform on which she stood. Seeing the two gas pumps, no hoses attached, an idea formed in her head—there was no way she'd be able to at least render the beast unconscious with her pistol and stun gun, or her Chainmine. This idea was dangerous, because it could have meant a violent explosion, but either way—something was going to blow up. Running back to the first gas pump, she saw two buttons—both back-lit. One was green, the other red. Obviously, one turned it on, one turned it off. As the creature got ever closer, she hit the green button, and suddenly a long column of liquid, aerosol fuel came shooting out of the pump, and as the creature walked into it, she placed the tip of the slender stun gun into the spraying fuel, and suddenly the pump became a massive flamethrower as a twenty-foot column of flame quickly shot out, igniting the fuel, and igniting the creature's face on fire. It let out a roar as she could hear the gas bubbling, and she let out a chuckle of sorts.
In a few seconds, the gas flow turned off, and the red button was lit, meaning that it was taking its time to re-pressurize itself. As the last of the flames faded, Regina ran ahead, toward the second gas pump. The towering creature let out a roar, angry and bellowing. Something about having its face on fire didn't sit well with the mighty giant, and it came for her, moving quicker than before, each booming thud louder than the previous one. She slammed the green button, and another column of fuel shot out, spraying the dinosaur with its spray. A second later, she touched the stun gun to the fuel and another hot blast of liquid fire caught the creature's head, setting it ablaze. She could see the scaly skin bubbling, the flames burning the skin away, charring it.
"Seven minutes until interception," the voice said.
She ran back as the creature stumbled back a couple steps, the flames fading. She could see the smoke starting to come off the head of the Giganotosaurus, and as she ran back to the first fuel pump, she saw the light was still red…and the creature had its gaze fixated on her.
"Come on, come on," she pleaded. "Change, you stupid light!"
It got closer, just feet away now from her. Regina tried to run forward, away from the creature's advancing, and it let out a bellowing roar, and she could feel its hot breath blowing strong and powerful, reeking of death, a pungent stench which quickly sent a wave of nausea through her system. The force of the wind sent Regina to the ground, and as she got up, she could see the massive head very close, its mouth open, planning to snatch her off the platform, ending her life. She dove out of the way as the creature's head crashed into the wall, just missing her by a mere foot. She landed hard on her side, the non-injured one, but a slight pain still shot through her back, causing her face to wince. As the reptile pulled away from the wall, a nice hole now in it, Regina bolted for the nearest pump, and she got there just in time to see the light go from red to green. The dinosaur turned its body in her direction, and began to quickly move. When it aligned with the pump, she slammed the green button, creating another shower of fuel which coated the creature's face. Again, she touched the tip of the live stun gun to the spraying fuel, and saw a spark leap off into the combustible, and another column of fire flew, setting the head of the Giganotosaurus ablaze once more. It wailed, stumbling back a few steps, waving its head around to try to extinguish the flames. Bubbles began to form on the head, bubbles filled with blood. She heard one of them pop, and saw a bit of blood shoot from it, hitting the ground with a sick splat.
Regina began running for the opposite fuel pump before the other stopped, hoping it would be finished pressurizing.
"Five minutes until emergency interception."
I know, I know! Shut up!
As the last of the flames died, the creature's head was now showing signs of burn damage, its head becoming blacker and blacker, a contrast to the rest of its body, a dark orange. It pounded the ground with each step, menacing and foreboding. She noticed the monstrosity moving its head erratically, and she knew it was getting close to falling. When she arrived at the other pump, she could make out the bright green light, its pressurizing process completed. The behemoth almost seemed as if it was plodding, its weakened body not as menacing as at the outset, but still dangerous—the killing instinct was still at play here, and she didn't drop her guard for even a second. As the creature drew near within range of the fuel spray, she pressed the button, the pump releasing its contents, coating the creature once more with the viscous fluid. As she touched the stun gun to the fuel once more, it let out a roar, its mouth wide—and suddenly, the head was on fire, a massive, glowing orange and yellow fireball, which knocked the creature back a few steps.
"Four minutes until emergency interception."
It let out another roar, and it raised one leg in the air—and she saw the creature fall back, teetering, its leg going higher and higher into the air, and saw the thing fall, its head still ablaze. The massive, towering creature fell, hitting the ground with such force, violently shaking the missile silo to its very foundations, and she fell to her knees. The Giganotosaurus had fallen, and as the last of the flames died out, she could see the large stomach rising and falling slowly.
It's not dead…it's just unconscious. Then I better move my ass.
Beads of perspiration had covered her face, glistening in the florescent lights of the silo. With one hand, she wiped her forehead, and rose to her feet.
"Attention," the female voice began, "Access routes to the missile are opened." Ahead, the section of path that had sunk to floor level rose, and locked into place. With less than four minutes to go, she ran to the end of the octagonal platform, and crossed the bridge to get to the ramp up to the top of the missile. As she ran up the spiraling path, she could hear a slight noise coming from the unconscious dinosaur.
"Less than three minutes until emergency interception."
She spotted a small lift that would take her up to the top of the structure, to the control panel at the top of the missile. She hit the up button, and it seemed to move up very slowly, such always being the case in situations like these. The end came into view, and she was at the top. She walked quickly to the end of the path, where she saw a tiny platform to the missile's panel. There were several buttons on the panel, one of which a big red one.
I hope you're it…
She pressed the button, applying some force as it slowly compressed. Once it was fully pressed, a beep sounded, and the sirens and alarms shut off, silence once again returning to the silo.
"Emergency interception procedure stopped. Deactivating system."
Regina slumped to the floor, taking a moment or two to catch her breath.
You know…after this is all over, I'm putting in my resignation, getting my honorable discharge and getting the FUCK out. I'm sick of this bullshit.
A minute or so passed, maybe more, but she finally got up. She had to get back down, nab Dylan, and evacuate before that beast woke. She took the lift back down to the ramp, and began to walk quickly downward. As she was halfway down, something inside her told her to speed up, to hurry. As she neared the bottom, fear started to creep inside, and her heart began to quicken.
The Giganotosaurus opened its eyes.
A low growl filled the silo once more, and she could hear the body moving, struggling to get up.
Oh, fuck, no! Fuck! Fuck, no!
She was close to the outer walkway, just getting close to the bottom of the ramp, the creature in her view, and she heard it flip over, saw it getting back on its feet. She broke out in a full run, hope almost there, just a few feet further—and the creature swung back its huge, blackened head, and slammed it into the metal structure, roaring as it did, sending a huge wave of sparks showering down on Regina. The impact caused her to press against a railing, stopping her from falling to her death. In a heartbeat, she continued running, and suddenly the creature was on the move again, coming around the corner, and Regina could see it gaining. Alarms went off again, and she could hear somewhere, somewhere in the sea of angry footsteps, roaring, and breaking metal, that female voice, that calm, female voice telling her of doom. It let out another angry roar, brought its head back, and slammed it once more into the metal casing, the sounds of breaking metal thundering in her ears.
Ahead, the path broke, and suddenly she was falling, falling down. The ramp was getting higher and higher from her sight, from her reach. She let out a grunt, and with all her strength, she hurled herself into the air, sparks hitting her in the face. Her hands reached, and they made contact, grabbing the cold metal surface. Now, nothing but air was below her, air and concrete. She could see the creature almost next to her, its bright green eye looking right at her. The scared soldier let out a terrified whimper, and pulled herself upwards, continuing her mad dash to safety. The monster pulled its head back, and slammed it once more into the structure, and as Regina made it back to the outer platform, she took one look back, and she could see it, but couldn't believe it—her mind refused to accept it at first. She saw the towering missile falling, breaking through what was left of the thick yellow metal fencing around it, falling toward the ground, falling toward her.
She ran along the path as fast as her legs would carry her, and as it continued its rapid falling, she stopped at the large glass window, and as the missile neared the ground, she dove through the glass, shattering all around her. As she hit the ground into an unfamiliar room, the missile hit the ground, and a brilliant, awesome display of orange and yellow light lit the entire silo from top to bottom, accompanied by a massive, booming explosion which sent metal structural beams crashing down to the floor, igniting the ground, setting the entire missile silo ablaze.
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End of Chapter. Wow. Yeah, that was fun to write. However, mentally draining. Read on to the next chapter!