908 Words

Chapter Fourteen

"Captain, Mr. Anderson, come in," said Bilson into her comm.

Jess sat nervously, still monitoring when a loud roar filled the air. Then the street shook. Jess turned to see a large, bipedal dinosaur walking through.

"Becker…." She whispered.

Becker ran as fast as he could. "Jess! Come in! Bilson!"

"We're here," said Bilson, whispering. "Unfortunately, we have a carnivore right outside. I think it's an allosaurus."

"We're coming," said Becker. "Hang on. I'm coming Jess."

"I know," she whispered back.

Bilson had positioned herself in front of Jess. They were in the back of the car with the monitoring equipment. Bilson was armed with a large EMD.

"It takes a couple shots to bring down the big ones, doesn't it?" asked Jess, terrified.

"No worries. I can shoot awfully fast."

Jess nodded. "And these are the new models, with longer charges."

"That's right, Jess. I appreciate the fact that you're not panicking."

Jess chuckled. "I am inside, believe me."

Bilson chuckled. "Just stay calm, and quiet."

"Yes. I will."

Becker and his men arrived, stopping dead in their tracks. The allosaur wasn't moving, so they didn't want to startle it. It was sniffing. It found something interesting: a car, the one with Jess and Bilson.

"Sir?" asked Thompson.

"We don't want to agitate it. You men move in on the left, but slowly. Don't make one single sound."

"Understood," said Thompson, moving off with two men.

Becker took the other two and moved soundlessly to the right.

Bilson kept her EMD aimed through the window. The car began to bump around.

"It's moving," whispered Jess, in panic.

"Easy, Jess," she said. She watched as the dinosaur moved closer. Then, with horror, she recognized an eye. "It's looking inside."

She felt Jess shudder. Jess closed her eyes, and tried not to panic. She didn't want to die like this: ripped apart by a dinosaur. And Becker…it would kill him.

Bilson was motionless and steady. While Jess was breathing hard and her heart racing, she was scared still.

Suddenly the window in front of Bilson smashed, the car screeched backwards, the women screamed, and a large reptilian head tore inside the car.

"Ah!"

"Ah! Becker!"

Becker and the men ran as close as they dared, firing non-stop. Inside, Bilson couldn't get a shot off. She had hold of the head by her bare hands, struggling to keep it from chomping. Suddenly the head smacked her, throwing her against Jess.

Jess was smashed behind her, between the car and Bilson. She couldn't scream. She could barely breathe.

Bilson was alert enough to keep fighting. She kicked it and hit it with Jess' laptop. The dinosaur thrashed about, ripping the car open. Bilson was thrown out, toward Private Thompson.

Jess was still in the car, with the dinosaur. She felt its putrid breath. It opened its mouth as it moved down to devour her. She had time for one thought.

'I'm going to be eaten.'

Jess heard a scream, not of fear but…defiance. She saw electricity, and realized the allosaur was under attack from behind.

Becker.

He was standing less than a foot from it, EMDing it repeatedly. The allosaur screamed in pain, and collapsed. Onto the car. And Jess.

She closed her eyes, thinking that it was better to be crushed to death than eaten. The final blow never came, though something did fall on top of her. Something soft and warm.

She opened her eyes. She saw skin, not reptilian, but soft, pink skin. "Hey," said a voice.

Finally her brain clicked in. "Becker," she whispered.

He laughed. He'd jumped on top of her when the thing fell, shielding her body. "Did it fall on you?"

"No," he said. "Thanks to my men. They pushed the car back as the dino fell. It missed us completely."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Quick thinking, huh? All I could do was jump on the pretty girl."

Jess laughed. She heard laughing around her. She craned her head and saw Thompson and the others standing around the shell of the car. "Where's Nicole?"

"Here," she said. She was lying on the street, not far away. "I think I broke my leg. No big deal."

"Oh. Nicole…I'm sorry," said Jess.

Becker laughed. "Don't be. A broken leg is nothing, as far as dinosaur wounds go."

Bilson laughed. "True."

"Besides, she was doing her job. So were you, Jess... God, you scared the hell out of me."

Jess teared up, and threw herself into his arms. "I'm sorry."

He held on her, rubbing her back gently. "You're alright. Thank God."

"Everyone OK?" cried Matt, running up with the others.

"Barely," said Thompson.

Becker nodded. "Bilson needs a medic. I want Jess checked out too."

"On the way," said Matt.

Abby looked to Jess. "Are you really OK?"

Jess nodded. "Thanks to my man, and his men. Oh, and Bilson, of course, his woman. No, that came out wrong. I'm his woman. She just works for him….oh, never mind."

Everyone broke into laughter.

"Yeah, she's fine," said Connor, rubbing Jess' head affectionately.

"I'm so glad to hear you babble again," said Becker, kissing her. "I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too. Even though it was incredibly stupid of you to jump toward the dinosaur."

"Heroics, like I said," said Connor. "He can't help it."

Jess nodded.

"No," said Becker. "It wasn't heroics."

"Then what was it, Captain?" asked Jess.

"Love."

End of Chapter Fourteen