Chapter 36

Jungle River

It was almost ten in the morning, and the sun had now cleared the distant mountain tops, and the sky had resumed its beautiful light blue glow. A few light clouds streaked in thin lines across the North West portion of the island, and although the fog around the jungle had now dissipated, evaporated by the sun, it could still be seen heavily cloaking the mountain sides, giving them an eerily dangerous look.

The jungle was still quiet in the late morning; the orchestra of insects and frogs was dulled and muffled. The air was still as humid as ever, but it was still relatively pleasant; the freshness left by the fog still had a cooling effect.

Dozens of dinosaurs had broken the cover of the trees to come down for a morning drink, although they all seemed to be herbivores. And even these seemed less active than they had been the day before; they were slower, moving sluggishly, like office workers driving to work during the morning traffic rush.

The lagoon surface ran flat and lazily for hundreds of meters, stretching across the island surface for almost a mile, the glimmering expanse reflecting the surrounding jungle and the cloud streaked sky. But here the reflection in the water became blurred, streaked with ripples. Water was flowing away from the main body of the lagoon, downstream towards the ocean in the north. The water was draining down a small river which began immediately after the jungle canopy overshadowed the ground at this part of the lagoon. The sound of trickling water filled the air, the atmosphere more humid.

"So this is the jungle river, huh?" said Anderson, stopping at the shoreline, his feet slowly sinking into the wet sand.

"Looks like it," said Guiterrez, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun by cupping his hand of his forehead.

Edgar stood, watching them both awkwardly, standing a few feet away from them. He still didn't feel welcome with these people, and they didn't seem to appreciate his company 

either. But he'd rather be with them than by himself at the moment, or Dodgson. He resented that Dodgson would have left him just like that, and Edgar had always told him that the plan was flawed, doomed to fail. But he hadn't listened, he had just blundered on. And now because of him Edgar was stuck on this island with a group of people that he would have called his 'enemies' beforehand. And he still had no idea what they were up to.

Suddenly the bushes to their right shook vigorously, the canopy swaying from side to side, and the sound of approaching heavy footfalls filled their ears. A snuffling sound floated over to them, accompanied by the snap of twigs and the rustle of leaves.

Beside him Edgar saw Anderson spin around and pull his rifle to his shoulder, his finger on the trigger. All three of them stood there in silence, and watched the bush shake, ready to run at a moment's notice.

A pair of Parasaurolophus emerged from the jungle, honking and snuffling. Thirty feet long and fifteen feet tall, they were truly impressive animals to look at. Their feet splayed out widely as their immense weight bore down on them, and their leg muscles bulged and moved seamlessly beneath the leathery flesh. They stopped momentarily to observe the three humans that stood stationary at the water's edge. They cocked their heads, staring with alternating eyes. Edgar noticed that they didn't seem to appear too intelligent, more like big sheep.

After a few seconds the Parasaurolophus looked at each other, and then honked mournfully. Then they simply turned left, and trudged their way over to the shoreline a few meters from where Edgar stood, their footprints massive in the crystal white sand. They dipped their large duck-like heads towards the surface of the cool, clear water, and dipped their mouths below the waterline. Edgar watched as their jaws began working, and their throats began contracting rhythmically as they drank huge mouthfuls. The long tails of each animal swung back and forth twenty five feet in the air, making waves of cool air wash over Edgar, ruffling his clothes and hair.



He couldn't help but smile at the majesty of the animals. They were miracles of nature; it was hard to believe that the world was once full of animals like this. All that he had been led to believe, all his life, about the massive size of Elephants, Giraffes and Rhinos. These two animals seemed to push it all from his mind. The mammals of the earth may be magnificent things, but he could see that they didn't hold a candle to what the lizards had achieved.

"Wow," he sighed, looking up at them.

He then looked across to the opposite shore, and saw that dinosaurs were everywhere. Hundreds of them, all coming down to drink. Small ones, no bigger than a cat, medium ones the size of horses, to massive long necked ones the size of a four story building. All different sizes, shapes and colors.

"It's unbelievable," Edgar whispered.

He turned to see that Guiterrez and Anderson were eyeing him with new respect, as if they were finally seeing him in one new way. Anderson had put his rifle back onto his shoulder, and was looking across at the dinosaurs with a distant appreciation. Guiterrez however was looking at them with the same amazed stare that Edgar himself felt.

The Parasaurolophus honked a final time, and, keeping their eyes fixed on the three humans, turned and walked along the shore, towards the Jungle River.

Beside him Edgar saw Anderson take out his radio and flick it on, and he faintly heard a crackle of static hiss into the air. The Parasaurolophus disappeared into the dense jungle within a few more steps, becoming invisible once more.

"Tim," said Anderson quietly into the radio, "are you there?"

There was a hiss of static, and a moment later Tim's voice said, "What is it?"

"We're at the lagoon; we've found the Jungle River."

"Good. Follow that for around five miles."

"How long do you expect that to take us?" asked Guiterrez with indignation.

"Should take around three hours without Malcolm," said Tim, who himself sounded as if he was moving through dense vegetation.

"We better get moving then. How's it going on your end?"



Tim grunted over the radio, and then Edgar heard Henry swear angrily. "We're moving through a bunch of vines at the moment, but we're making good time. We should be at the garage in about four hours."

"Right. Say, there are a lot of animals drinking right now, but no carnivores. Why not?"

"Oh, they'll be there soon enough."

"Where are they now?"

"Still hunting probably…"

"Great. Check in with us in another hour."

"Alright. Oh, Anderson, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Don't follow the riverbank. Stay at least fifty meters away if you can help it."

Anderson frowned, and looked at Guiterrez, then Edgar. "Why?" he said into the radio.

"Because it's a prime location to set up an ambush. Just, stay as quiet as possible and as far from the bank as you can without losing it and you should be fine."

Anderson shook his head. "Comforting," he said to himself. "Alright, Mr. Murphy, Anderson out."

Anderson turned the dial on his radio, and changed channels.

"Sarah?" he said.

That radio crackled, and then a tired sounding Harding answered him "Yes?" she said. She sounded as if she had been harassed.

"You okay?"

"We're fine. Ian is awake," she said. She sounded almost resentful towards the last part.

"How is he?"

"He's speaking a lot. But his wound's just the same."

Edgar saw Anderson nod. "Just keep him talking; we'll get help as soon as possible."

"Right," she said, sighing, "keep him talking. Will do."

The radio clicked, and went silent. Anderson turned it off and clipped it back onto his belt, and then un-shouldered his rifle, and headed for the trees to the right of where the Jungle River started.



Edgar didn't much fancy going back into the jungle any time soon. In fact, he never wanted to go back into it again. The venture into the Tyrannosaur nest had removed any desire he had ever felt towards the beauty of the lush tropical rainforest. Now, as he approached the darkness that cloaked the ground below the canopy high above, he felt an odd foreboding feeling encroach on him, and he was sure that this was going to an eventful few hours whichever way it went.

But, if this is what got him home, then so be it. He was up for a little walk. And here, with these people, he found himself wondering whether he could do more for BioSyn that he even could have done before.