CHAPTER 184
Bill and Gary hurried off the branches and clung to the roots that protruded from the rock face.
"How the hell do we get out of this one?" Bill said as he looked at the velociraptors who were a mere twenty feet away now.
"Why do I always have to come up with the plan?"
"Because you're the dinosaur expert here, Gary! I just pop 'em outta the test tubes!"
As Gary and Bill shot their eyes around for anything that could be helpful there was a roar from above. They both looked up to see Jigsaw bellowing at the edge of the cliff.
"God damn it! We've got no place to go," Bill said.
Jigsaw took a step forward and stomped her foot, bellowing down at them again. As her foot hammered the ground the rocks beneath her began to crumble. A chunk of the cliff gave way and Jigsaw plunged.
"Look out!" Gary shouted.
He and Bill hugged their bodies against the roots as rocks began to rain down on them. There was a loud dragging noise from Jigsaw digging her hind talons into the rock face, but the young rex could not keep herself from falling.
Bill and Gary heard a roar and a metallic slam. After most of the rocks had fallen past them they dared to look. Just above them they saw Jigsaw writhing on the overturned undercarriage of the CJ7. The juvenile rex twisted onto her belly and kept her stance low as the Jeep creaked and rocked. She leaned her snout over the side of the vehicle and looked down at the men.
Gary could see that the rex was distressed. There was a clear inner conflict over whether to pursue her prey or be more concerned about not falling.
The branches moaned and cracked, and the Jeep plunged about three feet before snaring on more vegetation. Jigsaw almost slid off as she roared, and her claws ripped at the frame and dug into the tires to anchor her.
"Jesus, we're gonna die." Gary was looking at the Jeep's interior which had fallen down around his head. He could already see it lurching further.
"Bill, go!" Gary started descending.
"What about the raptors?"
Gary glanced down and saw that they'd halted their ascent in light of the recent development. "They'll move."
There was more roaring above, but it wasn't just Jigsaw. Flash and Laser were standing at the cliff's edge getting distressed over the predicament that their pack member was in.
"Not good." Gary could already see more of the rock beneath them giving way.
With a rumble the other two rexes came bouncing down the cliff face. Gary and Bill shielded their faces once more from falling rocks. Flash landed in a tree just to the left of them creating a fulmination of leaves as she kicked and wrenched herself among the branches. Laser landed at the back end of the Jeep and almost slid off. Catching herself, the young rex climbed on top of Jigsaw and the two of them cowered as the Jeep shook and lurched.
"Holy God!" Bill looked up at the teetering tyrannosaurs atop the Jeep. It was like watching a catastrophic circus act. His attention was quickly diverted though when Flash lunged at him from the tree.
As her jaws thrashed his way he recoiled along the tree roots, but his hasty movements cost him his grip, and he fell. The first thing Bill got a hold of was Gary's pant legs, and for both their sakes he was fortunate that Gary had a strong hold.
"God damn it, Bill!" Gary felt like his fingers were going to tear apart. "Get off! Get off! I'm slipping, god damn it!"
"I'm trying, Gary! Jesus, don't kick me!"
Bill grabbed for the nearest roots and let go of Gary. As he did there was a crash next to him and Flash tumbled out of the tree. Sliding down the cliff side past Bill the tyrannosaur still managed to find the composure to snap her jaws at him. She almost caught his shoe, but Bill pulled away as he felt her teeth scraping against it.
Flash plunged into another cluster of branches just below Bill. As Bill looked down he could already see the young rex working her mind to figure out how to catch him from where she was. He also saw that the three velociraptors had cleared to the right side and were beginning to descend as not to be crushed by the falling Jeep or the juvenile tyrannosaurs.
"Look out!" Gary shouted.
The Jeep was teetering and tipped nose down. Jigsaw slid off and fell onto a large fork of branches just to Gary's right. Laser managed to clamber up onto the back end of the CJ7.
The vehicle was sliding, though a bundle of vines had ensnared it and was thwarting its descent. As the Jeep shifted and shuddered Laser lost her footing and fell among the struts of the roll bar, and her legs got tangled. The change in weight caused the CJ7 to tip upside down again.
Gary now had Laser dangling just above him, chomping her teeth his way while she swung nose down from the roll bar. To Gary's right Jigsaw was also licking her crooked chops and leaning his way.
Gary started climbing downward as fast as he could, as it did not seem like it would be long before Laser and the Jeep above him came crashing down.
Bill would have done the same, but Flash was directly below him. Trying to scale to his left Bill reached for a branch, and it snapped when he grabbed it. This caused him to loose his footing all together, and he fell right on top of Flashe's back. The young tyrannosaur roared and twisted, trying to bite Bill. Bill threw his arms around the rexe's neck, and Flash could not reach him. Aggravated, she shook her head and bellowed.
As Gary continued to descend he heard the Jeep shudder and slide further down the cliff. At the same time Jigsaw was clawing around to try and get to Gary. In doing so the rex crushed the branches that were holding her up, and she fell.
Jigsaw slid right past Gary and continued to fall. The juvenile snagged on a few vines and swung like a pendulum toward the three velociraptors, knocking them clear off the cliff side. A moment later the vines that were twisted around Jigsaw snapped and she plummeted to the bottom.
It was then that Gary felt a rush of wind over his head as Laser's jaws thrashed above him. The Jeep had caught up. Gary flinched as he thought it was about to crush him, but at the last moment the Jeep struck a large branch and tipped away from him. As the Jeep slid past him Laser reached out and snapped his ankle. Gary was forced to go down. The CJ7 flipped totally upright and Gary fell on top of Laser. There was a moment of free falling and then a smash as the Jeep struck the bottom.
Bill was still holding onto Flash as the rex flipped around like a furious cobra, trying to strike at him and failing. Branches snapped and Flash fell, taking Bill with her. The rest of the descent was a blur of snagging vines and branches slapping and whipping past them. Then with a splash they plunged into the pool at the base.