Chapter 24

Tyrannosaur

"Quiet," said Anderson, holding up his hand. The group stopped in mid-step as the deep vibrations ran through the ground beneath them. John glanced back, and saw the others looking to him, their hair slick with sweat.

Beneath the canopy it was stiflingly hot, and the close confines of the jungle made it almost impossible to breath. Anderson had been slicing away with his machete at the ferns that smothered the bases of the trees, standing seven feet off the ground. Now it hung loosely at his side as he listened to the deep booming that ran through the floor of the jungle. A massive road suddenly blasted through the trees to their left, making the air seem to quiver. He sensed the others flinch involuntarily behind.

They stood in silence for a minute, not daring to move. Anderson was sure that it was the Tyrannosaur that had passed them half an hour before, and that it was some distance away. But he dare not move, he had no idea about the sensory capabilities of these animals, and he was sure that they were far safer if they just stayed still until it passed. The roars continued to ring out through the jungle for several minutes, along with a slightly different, slightly higher pitched version, which seemed to be coming from another location.

Great, he thought, so now there were two of them. That's just what they needed right now.

What he couldn't figure out was what they were roaring at. They sounded furious, almost livid. The roars were threatening, as if they were trying to drive away some aggressor. But in the thick jungle he could barely see more than a few meters in front of him.

Suddenly there was a harsh sound which blasted through the trees from the same direction of the roaring Tyrannosaurs, like rushing winds. Then there was a loud bang, and an anguished roar from one of the Tyrannosaurs.

Anderson waited for a moment in perpetual silence; the jungle chorus of insects and frogs around him had gone completely quiet. Then there was an almighty crash.

One of the others began to speak behind him in a desperate whisper. "What's—"

"Shh!" said Anderson, making a violent movement with his hand.

A yell rang through the forest, a human yell. What was going on? There couldn't be other people on the island. He glanced over his shoulder, to make sure that the rest of the group was all there. A quick count of heads confirmed that they were all present. He was surprised to see that Tim had a look a fury on his face, his clenched fists shaking.

Anderson was confused. His briefing back on the mainland had informed him that a handful of people even knew that the island was anything but a blackened crater, and most of them were standing behind him. How could there possibly be other people here?

A sudden thought occurred to him; rescue.

Had somebody picked up their mayday call as they went down? Was somebody here to help them? If so, they were in trouble. And even if it wasn't a rescue team, they had to help. Anderson wasn't prepared to leave somebody to the Tyrannosaurs.

He looked at the others for a second, and pointed towards the source of the sounds. They all looked at him as if he was insane. He shook his head.

"I'll go then," he whispered, "you stay here."

But at the notion of being left along they all shook their heads furiously and followed him quickly.

Malcolm's face was screwed up in the pain of holding his position, his bandaged leg shaking beneath him. He was looking a little paler than usual, and beads of sweat clung to his face, but Anderson noticed that they all looked similar. They could deal with it later.

He nodded to Sarah, and she took out the pistol from her waistband. The booming of the Tyrannosaur's footsteps still shook the ground, but they seemed further away now. Another roar rang through the jungle. The answering roar that he expected did not come.

Something must have happened to one of the Tyrannosaurs, or perhaps it had moved off, pursuing something. Anderson moved off quickly into the jungle. Behind him, he could barely hear the others following him hastily over the booming and roaring.

The sounds of the Tyrannosaurs were definitely fainter now; the ground was now hardly shaking. Anderson quickened his pace, now almost running through the trees, ducking branches and casting ferns aside. He moved as quickly and quietly as possible. Honestly, he didn't know what he was going to do to help once he found them, he was sure that unless he got a decent head shot his weapon would be little more than a distraction. But something drove him to keep moving. Behind he could hear the others crashing through the trees in his wake, making a lot more noise.

"John," he heard Rodriguez whisper harshly, "what are you doing? You're going to get us killed!"

Anderson ignored him, and continued to charge through the trees. He wasn't going to let anybody else die.

The jungle suddenly stopped. Light burned down from above, making him squint as he burst out into the open. He put up his hand to shield his eyes for a moment, and looked around quickly. He stood in a large clearing, with bare red earth showing through on the floor.

In the centre of the clearing was a mound of earth a few feet high, from which several high pitched screams were issuing. Anderson recognized it immediately as a lizard's nest. He was in the Tyrannosaur nesting site. At the base of the mound, there was an odd dark lump, which was stirring feebly.

Immediately preceding the nest was a massive body. It lay on its side, the torso rising and falling steadily with each breath. The head lay facing him, the eyes closed, the massive fangs protruding from the upper lip. It was an adult Tyrannosaur.

Anderson froze, and frowned in discomfort as the others came crashing out of the jungle loudly, panting and cursing.

They all did exact copies of what he had done; putting their hands over their brows, and studied the clearing. As soon as they saw the Tyrannosaur, their eyes widened, and they stood stock still.

Anderson was fully aware that they were standing in full view, within a Tyrannosaurus Rex nest. He studied the fallen Tyrannosaur for a moment. It didn't look injured anywhere, and he was sure that it wasn't asleep, after all; it had been roaring like crazy barely a minute before.

Now he couldn't hear the other Tyrannosaur at all.

He raised his gun, and cautiously took a step forwards. There was no reaction from the Tyrannosaur. He nodded to the others, and they all moved forwards.

One question kept occurring to him; where was the other Tyrannosaur?

It could come back any second, and they wouldn't even have a chance to defend themselves. Glancing to his side, he saw that Sarah was turning in wide circles, training the pistol at the jungle tree line.

Quickly, Anderson ran forward ahead of them, his footsteps barely making a sound, throwing up little clouds of red dust. He passed the fallen adult, keeping his eyes trained on it. It simply lay there, breathing steadily.

Looking at the dirt that covered the ground within the clearing, he could see a myriad of massive footprints, which were at least a foot in diameter. They ended in three splayed talons. They showed up as a lighter shade of red against the background dirt, where the ground had been compressed by the animal's immense weight. But as he continued to move forward he noticed that there were boot prints here too. Fresh ones; comparatively tiny to the Tyrannosaur prints surrounding them. From what he could see there seemed to be two distinct sets, heading forwards.

He turned his attention to the nest in the centre. He ran up the edge in a few bounding steps, sending showers of pebbles cascading down the sloping sides, and peered inside.

A few tiny Tyrannosaur infants looked up at him, hissing. They squealed, hopping up and down in agitation. They were very far from being the fearsome adult he had been before at the stream, in fact they had an almost cute-like quality too them. But underneath he could see the reminiscent inner qualities of their species; something cold and deadly.

He backed away quickly; he didn't want their squealing to make the Tyrannosaur wake up, or the other one come back.

He jumped down, and almost landed on the dark shape which he had seen earlier. He turned slowly, and looked at it carefully. It lay in the shadow of the nest, twitching. He crouched down, and poked it with the barrel of his rifle. It yelped, and twitched sharply.

It was an infant Tyrannosaur. Carefully, he picked it up, cradling it in his arms, and brought it into the light.

He saw that its left side was covered in blood. It leaked from a gash three inches across on its forehead. Its eyes were heavy and dull, staring into space.

"Anderson, put it down," said Tim, waving his hands from the edge of the clearing.

"It's hurt," he said quietly, walking back to them. He peered at the helpless infant in his arms. It looked completely harmless, and its large eyes made it seem truly infantile. He tripped suddenly, and fell flat on his face. The infant Tyrannosaur flew from his arms, and tumbled away.

Anderson grunted, and turned to see what he had tripped on. He was surprised to see a box-like device, which was reminiscent of a large pistol. He could see that there were many more human boot prints surrounding this device, as if somebody had stood in the spot around it for some time. The prints were overlaid, as if the person had been shifting on their feet. He stood up, and bent to pick it up the device.

"Don't touch that!" said an unfamiliar voice.

Anderson stood up sharply, and looked over at the tree line to his right. A dark figure stood in the underbrush, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat.

It was a man.

Rodriguez stared in astonishment as the man emerged into the clearing. His clothes were soaked through in perspiration, the left leg of his trousers were spattered with blood.

"Don't touch it," the man repeated, walking towards Anderson slowly.

Rodriguez could see that Anderson was eyeing his cautiously. The others looked just as shocked as he did, but Tim frowning, and looked angry.

"Why not?" said Anderson after a short silence.

"Because it's very hot. It'll scold your hand."

Rodriguez glanced quickly at the device on the ground, and saw very faintly that it was glowing with a fiery red tinge.

"Who are you?" Anderson was saying.

The man stumbled towards them, staggering a little. He looked exhausted, and dehydrated. His lips were cracked, and his eyes were dreary.

"Jack Edgar," he said finally.

"Are you part of a rescue party?"

The man paused, and suddenly looked uncomfortable. He just stood there for a moment, as if scrabbling for a story.

"He's from Biosyn," said Tim suddenly. His voice was calm and clear, yet Rodriguez could tell he was furious.

"Biosyn?" asked Guiterrez.

"A rival company," said Tim, "he works for a man named Lewis Dodgson."

Rodriguez had never heard of him, but by the reaction of Malcolm and Wu he could tell that they had. And it didn't look like it was a positive recognition.

Rodriguez glanced at the unconscious Tyrannosaur, watching its ribcage expand and retract slowly. He was extremely anxious that they were having this conversation now, in the middle of a Tyrannosaur nest.

"What are you doing here?" said Anderson.

The man looked afraid, and shifted.

"We can discuss this later," Malcolm said, wincing as he flexed his injured leg.

"No, we can discuss it now," said Tim coolly, observing the man with barely concealed distrust.

Rodriguez gave a quiet cry of outrage.

"Excuse me," he said in a fierce whisper, "but have you forgotten where we are?" He pointed to the unconscious Tyrannosaur on the floor. "Look at that thing! If that wakes up, we're dead."

"Even if it doesn't, Mommy can still crash the party," said the man called Edgar, smiling a little.

"What?" said Guiterrez, looking around suddenly.

"There were two," said Edgar. "Two adults."

"And why should we believe that?" said Wu, "there was only ever one adult Tyrannosaur on the island."

"Yes," said Tim, "but there was also a juvenile, wasn't there?"

Wu looked shocked for a moment. "How did you?-"

"My grandfather divulged more than I care to share with you, Henry," said Tim coldly. For an instant Rodriguez glimpsed something in Wu's eyes; something fearful.

Something was going on. Something Tim hadn't told them about. And something Wu hadn't expected anybody else to know of.

But Anderson broke the silence, apparently oblivious to the silent exchange between Tim and Wu. "He isn't lying. I heard two before. I know I did."

Rodriguez felt relieved at this revelation. "Good," he said, "now can we please get out of here?"

"Alright, come on guys," said Anderson, pointing to the tree line where they had come from, "Let's go."

Wu shook his head, and pointed at the opposite tree line. "We have to go that way. If we go back the way we came we'll just have to go around, and that'll take more time."

"Fine," said Anderson.

Rodriguez hesitantly walked forward with the others, approaching the adult Tyrannosaur on the floor. They skirted around the edge of the clearing like a pack of frightened puppies. As they began to walk past the head, Anderson began talking again. Glancing back, Rodriguez saw that Anderson hadn't moved, and was still facing Edgar. "How many of you are there?" he was saying.

"Two. Me and Dodgson."

"Well, where is he now?" said Anderson.

Edgar stared at him for a moment. "I don't know," he said finally.

Anderson fingered his rifle, and suddenly ran forward, grabbing Edgar by the collar. "What do you mean you don't know?" he said loudly.

"I don't know! The other one ran after him!"

There was a harsh cracking noise.

They all looked at the ground in unison, and saw that Anderson had stepped on the injured infant. Anderson lifted his foot from the infant's arm hastily, jumping back, his eyes wide.

But it was too late.

The infant have a howl of pain, and rolled over onto its back, squealing at the top of its voice.

Rodriguez saw the realization in Anderson's face. Frightened, Rodriguez turned to the adult Tyrannosaur lying on the floor. They were standing less than a foot away from the sleeping giant, in full view.

For a sickening moment, everybody stood stock still, staring at the Tyrannosaurus in front of them. Sweat ran down Rodriguez's back, and a horrific terror stole over him. He was sure that it was about to wake up; to kill them all.

The silence drew on for several more seconds, in which all they could hear was the continued screeching of the crushed infant.

But the adult didn't stir.

Everybody relaxed slightly, and the others began to ever so slowly edge towards the tree line. Rodriguez remained glued to the spot, glaring at the massive head, and the bloody fangs protruding from the top lip.

"Stupid," he muttered, and, taking a bounding step forward, kicked the adult in the abdomen.

The Tyrannosaur's eye snapped open, the pupil constricting. Everybody in the clearing froze once more. But it was too late. It had already seen them.

They were standing in the middle of an open clearing, with no cover, within biting distance of a live, adult Tyrannosaur.

The Tyrannosaur gave a long, low, guttural growl.

"Oh shit," said Rodriguez.

"Run!" shouted Anderson. "Run!"

An ear-splitting roar tore through the clearing, and everybody turned and ran, scattering towards the jungle. The air was full of frightened shouting, and Anderson could feel the air vibrate around him and the Tyrannosaur screamed in fury.

He was momentarily overcome by fear, which gripped his heart like an icy fist, and he lost all procedure, and sprinted into the jungle. His vision swayed erratically as he ran, and he couldn't see the others. They had all run in different directions. The world seemed to become dimmed, and surreal. Time slowed down. His mind sharpened as the primeval senses took over, and adrenaline surged through his system.

The ground grumbled and boomed as the Tyrannosaur got to its feet behind him, and another roar tore through the trees after him.

Anderson raced through the tree line, pumping his legs as fast as he could. He heard somebody shout in terror somewhere to his right. Ferns obscured his vision and slapped against his face as he threw himself forwards, panting hard. Roots snagged his feet, causing him to stumble.

The Tyrannosaur roared again, and the ground lifted and fell beneath him. The dinosaur was running, and the tonnage was causing a massive noise. But who was it running after?

He didn't know, and he didn't want to find out. All he knew was that he had to get as far away as possible.

And so he ran, his rifle bouncing on his shoulder. Sweat poured from his forehead, running down his face, stinging his eyes. The hot confines of the jungle made it hard to breath. His lungs seared, and his muscles burned. But he couldn't stop.

The ground was shaking harder than ever, and he was sure that the Tyrannosaur was running in his general direction. He guessed that they must have at least confused it by scattering, but it only needed to follow one of them. And it was him.

Perfect, he thought.

A flash of colour interrupted the monotonous greenery up ahead for an instant. Anderson charged forwards, spurred on by the continued build in the intensity of the booming in the ground.

Another roar blasted towards him; definitely closer. The flash of colour appeared again ahead of him, and this time he saw that it was a person. But from the glimpse he couldn't tell who.

He put on a spurt, trying desperately to catch up. One again, he caught a flash of colour in between the branches up ahead. He ducked a low hanging vine, and cast aside a fern, and was now immediately behind the person.

Another flash of colour. Now he saw that it was in fact two people, running side by side. The Tyrannosaur screamed, and he heard it crashing through the foliage behind him. It was now so close he could hear its rasping breaths.

"Come on, Ian!" he heard a frantic voice shout.

Sarah and Malcolm suddenly appeared ahead of him, running at full pelt through the trees.

Sarah had draped one of Malcolm's arms over her shoulder, and was almost dragging him forwards. Malcolm was grunting in pain with each step, and was hopping forwards, keeping his injured leg suspended above the ground.

Anderson sped up, and grabbed Ian's other arm.

"Keep going!" he shouted to them. Glancing at them, he saw that Ian's face was screwed up, his eyes reduced to slits, and his skin was an unhealthy green colour.

Hot breath now seemed to be seeping through the trees behind them, coming from the enraged Tyrannosaur which was now dangerously close.

The trees were thinning now, the ground clearing of roots. Their feet slipped on wet mud, ferns snagged their clothes. But they pushed on, Sarah muttering a continuous stream of encouragement to Malcolm. Sunlight streamed through the treetops high above, casting wild shadows all around them. Anderson's breaths came in ragged gasps, and he could feel his heart bouncing off the walls of his chest as they headed towards the light. He had no idea what to do.

All he could think of was to push Malcolm and Harding on ahead and use his rifle to distract the Tyrannosaur long enough for them to get away.

Sarah gasped as they burst into full sunlight. Anderson was forced to squint in the sudden brightness, and the skin pores on the back of his neck suddenly contracted in the harsh heat.

He glimpsed water; lots of water. Small waves lapped lazily against a sandy beach thirty feet in front of them. The grass immediately preceding the beach was trampled flat, and was imprinted with many animal tracks. A few birds glided gracefully over the surface of the water, riding the air currents.

For a moment Anderson thought that they had arrived at the ocean, but then he noticed that the water ended a few hundred meters after it began, bordered by another beach.

They had arrived at the lagoon.

A few herbivorous dinosaurs drank from the water on the opposite shore. Anderson couldn't name them, but he could see a few orange, ostrich looking ones that had stampeded earlier in the day. And there was also a herd of large, Elephant sized dinosaurs which had heads that resembled a duck's.

The Tyrannosaur came crashing towards them relentlessly, and gave a growl of frustration. They had mere seconds before it emerged from the jungle and found them standing there. Ian was panting, grasping his injured leg, clearly in extreme pain.

Sarah was looking around desperately, apparently as clueless as he was.

Anderson un-shouldered his rifle, and pushed Malcolm and Sarah into a thick bush to their left. He heard Malcolm give a cry of pain as his leg was forced to bend as he fell.

The gun felt pitifully small in his hands now. He felt certain that he wouldn't be able to take the Tyrannosaur down before it got him. He dived into the bush beside the other two just as the Tyrannosaur broke through the tree line, and stomped out into the light.

Sarah had her hand over Ian's mouth, as he was making pained whimpering sounds. Anderson could see that he was barely conscious; his eyes were rolling and lolling in their sockets. Their breathing seemed amplified in the tiny space. Anderson peered out through the leaves at the Tyrannosaur.

It was panting heavily, and its feet left three foot long gouges in the mud. It stopped halfway between the tree line and the beach, and cocked its head. It observed the herbivores on the opposite bank for a moment, which had looked up in alarm.

It then swerved its huge head left, then right, searching for them.

Anderson was sure that it wouldn't be able to see them.

But then he realized that it wasn't panting, it was sniffing. Its breaths were long, and were evidently being drawn in through the nasal passage.

It could smell them. It knew they were there; but it couldn't see them.

The Tyrannosaur took two steps forward, and roared in frustration, its skin glistening in the sun. It was terrifying; the air shuddered from the sound, it was unreal. The scream from a bygone era.

The duck-looking dinosaurs on the opposite bank honked. Anderson glanced at them, and saw that they were wheeling around in a circle, forming a line. They honked in apparent rage. He was sure that they were trying to drive the Tyrannosaur away.

He noticed that there were around twenty of them; roaring and honking.

The Tyrannosaur growled menacingly, and ran towards the beach. It stopped at the waterline, and raised its head. It opened its heavily muscled jaws, and gave a furious, almighty roar.

It hit Anderson's ears like an explosion, making his gasp and cover his ears with his hands. He was sure that it would carry across the opposite bank.

Sure enough, the dinosaurs on the opposite bank jumped as if scolded. The smaller ostrich-like dinosaurs squeaked and ran into the trees on the other side of the lagoon.

The duck-like dinosaurs recoiled, and cowered. Slowly, they milled around, and retreated towards the jungle.

With a snarl, the Tyrannosaur turned away from them, and gave the shore one last sweeping look.

Then it turned away, and ran back into the jungle, back towards the nest.

Anderson sat in silence for well over a minute, waiting as the booming footsteps receded into nothingness. Finally, feeling safe, he emerged shakily from the bush, and stepped out onto the grass. He walked along the tracks of the Tyrannosaur, observing the great gouges it had left in the mud. The sheer scale of the dinosaurs had only just started to sink in. They were immense, vicious, and quick.

They had come on this trip dangerously ill-equipped. His gun seemed almost useless when faced with the sheer size of some of these animals.

He turned to see Sarah drag Ian clear of the bush, a worried look on her face. Ian was in a sorry state indeed. He was wheezing, and was by now clearly unconscious.

Sarah rolled up the cuff of his trouser leg, and inspected the wound on his leg. Removing the bandage, she revealed the gash. It looked infected, tinged green. She sniffed it, and wrinkled her nose.

"How is he?" called Anderson, now standing at the shore of the beach. The sand slid around his feet as he stepped forward. The opposite shore was now deficit of dinosaurs. He now felt strangely alone in the vast open space.

"Not good," said Sarah, pulling out a bottle of water and washing Ian's wound gingerly.

Anderson surveyed the landscape, looking for the others. He now saw that the lagoon was far wider than it was long. Their target was north of here, and it would take at them hours to go around it. Now that he was here he was sure that they would have to cross it.

But not today; the sun was now starting to set. They now had to find somewhere safe to hold up for the night. But he had no idea where that could be. For now, they had to find the others.

"Hello?!" he shouted into the jungle. He heard his voice echo in the trees.

Sarah looked uneasy at him shouting so loudly so soon after the Tyrannosaur vacating the area. But there was no other way. He had to find them.

"Tim?! Guiterrez?!" he shouted, skirting the edge of the jungle.

Sarah turned away, apparently resigned to the fact that he would continue to shout the other's names.

After several minutes of unsuccessful attempts to alert everybody else to their presence, and panting heavily, Anderson sat down beside Sarah.

"Wherever they are, they aren't around here," he said, gulping from the water bottle that she handed to him.

Malcolm muttered for a moment, shifting position. "Life…chaos in action," he whispered, "…I told him…an accident waiting to happen."

Then he fell silent, resuming his steady deep breathing.

"What's he saying?" asked Anderson distantly.

Sarah was frowning. "I rarely understand him when he's like this," she said quietly as she rolled the leg of his trousers back down.

"What do you mean?"

Sarah smiled faintly. "This isn't the first time."

Anderson raised his eyebrows for a moment, and then shrugged. "Well, for now, it's just us."

Sarah nodded. "We're alone."