The herd of Ostrich-saurs abruptly changed direction, running straight for us.
"Run!" Grant cried.
We rushed across a meadow, aiming for the cover of the jungle.
I and Tim kept pace, but Cassie lagged behind.
I didn't know if Lex had become impatient with me slowing down, or felt uncertain of my (...horse-worthiness?) but she jumped off and ran.
Cassie tripped over the leatherette pillow. I rushed to the girl, helping, half throwing her onto my back.
We were fast, but the Gallimimus were faster.
"We're not going to make it!" the man gasped, ushering Tim and Lex under a massive root system.
He raised the tranquilizer gun, shooting an oncoming Gallimimus.
Grant's plan backfired. The large beast did not immediately drop, but instead charged at him, and with a moan toppled right over him. He yelped as roughly 440 pounds of scaly flesh, give or take a pound, came crashing down on him, smashing him into the dirt.
Random debris scattered everywhere as the herd plowed over the roots where the children hid. Rumpole bleated as Gallimimuses (Gallimimii?) punted him through the air like a football.
One advantage of being pinned beneath a fallen dinosaur: Other dinosaurs steer clear of you. In other words, Grant's bones, possibly crunched under one giant lizard, didn't get crunched more by a dinosaur dogpile.
I ran with the herd for a few moments with Cassie on my back.
When fatigue got to me, I discovered, to my alarm, that the weight on my back had shifted and disappeared. I looked over my shoulder.
No, she didn't fall off.
I glanced sideways and saw her climbing on another dinosaur's back!
Cassie let out a whoop, giggling as she clutched the Ostrich-saur's neck.
The creature's goony herd mates at last noticed something unusual about their new traveling companions, letting out squawking cries and putting distance between us.
Uttering a frightened yelp, the one Cassie rode bucked like a rodeo bronc.
Giggling, the girl held up one bandaged arm in the air like a cowboy. "Yeeehaw!"
She made it eight seconds before being thrown. I'd give the Gallimimus a 40 for front end drop and high kick, and although she lacked stirrups, maybe a 20 for Cassie, for `Mark Out.'
I caught her as she tumbled...well, my body did when she fell on me.
Once satisfied that she was unhurt, I cried, "What were you thinking, kid?"
Cassie rolled her eyes. "I thought the `Yeehaw' was self explanatory."
"I thought you were smarter than that."
"C'mon, it's a dinosaur! You'd do it too if you knew how!"
"Me?" I stammered. "Ride another dinosaur?"
The moment I imagined it, my body started giving me egg making tingles. "No, no, that's way too kinky for me."
The herd rumbled off.
As I shoved myself up from the ground, my claws brushed a strange little object, like a shell, held together by a cord. I stared in puzzlement, dug it up and showed it to Cassie.
She'd discovered a second one whilst slumped over my back. "Castanets!" She took mine, giving a passable Flamenco-esque demonstration.
"What are those doing here?"
"Dunno. This is South America."
We rushed to Grant, who still lay pinned beneath the large reptile.
Correction: Large dozing reptile.
I could tell the man had been struggling to get out, and managed to squeeze halfway there, but that's a lot of dinosaur fat and not so much oxygen between the blubber and dirt. His movements seemed a bit...weak.
"Get off me," I muttered to Cassie.
"Say please."
"Grant's in trouble. I'm going to need my strength."
"Then say please."
"Please get off me," I groaned.
She dismounted, and I gave the Gallimimus a shove.
The fat stomach rose a bit. "Oh thank God—"
Grant gasped for air, and the stomach fell back down.
I glanced at the children cowering below the root system behind me. "A little help?"
Tim and Lex gave me hesitant nods and popped out, eyes nervously searching for another onslaught.
All four of us got under the heavy thing's weighty flesh, lifting with all our might. Tim yelled with the effort. Lex grunted and cried out as her strength failed.
During this time, Grant wiggled and moved maybe a foot, nearing the side, but not quite enough to crawl all the way out.
As we lost the fight, and the 440 pound beast came slumping downwards, I did the only thing I could think of: I darted around to the tail section, biting Ms. Gallimimus in a place I hoped to be nonlethal, but startling enough to disrupt a semi-deep slumber.
Uncooked Gallimimus rump with no sauce does not taste good. Do not recommend.
Lucky for everyone involved, the tranquilizer had not yet reached its peak effectiveness. The moment my teeth sunk into the beast's leathery butt, its head raised, eyes big as dinner plates.
The Gallimimus bellowed fiercely, kicking me so hard in the face that I lost a couple teeth. The children were fortunate to jump out of its way.
Startled, the beast leapt off its victim, crying out for its herd mates as it broke into a frightened run.
Grant quickly caught his breath and staggered to his feet, brushing dirt out of his clothes. "Thought I was going to suffocate under that thing!"
A sudden roar shook the nearby trees.
When the giant toothy head burst from the foliage and locked eyes with me, I urinated uncontrollably.
"Great," Grant complained as yellow liquid puddled under his boots. "I thought you were house trained."
"G-g-g-g-g!" I cried, pointing a shaking claw at the toothy monster.
The T-Rex rolled her eyes and shook her head at me, giving me a growl that seemed to say "Oh no. Not you again!"
Rexy opened her mouth to roar, but stopped when she noticed the large cluster of Gallimimus bellowing and stomping away.
The grunt I received this time implied, "Weenie, you're not even worth my time," with additional grunts that said my companions weren't either.
Rexy ran down a Gallimimus, taking a big bite out of its shoulder. The victim kicked up a lot of dust and dirt and plant matter as it went down.
My companions stared in astonishment as Rexy messily tore meat and sinew from the Gallimimus's body, gore spraying everywhere.
"I wanna go," Lex blurted. "Now!"
Rumpole bleated in agreement, scratching in the direction we should have been running. Cassie stared nervously. "You said it, Rumpole!"
Grant and Tim kept standing frozen in fascination. "Watch how it eats!" the man gasped.
I rubbed my face in disgust. "Please. She's a slob, and she needs a bib."
"Can we please go?" Lex insisted.
Grant didn't move. "Bet you'll never look at birds the same way again!"
Tim nodded, eyes wide with excitement.
"I prefer mine crispy and coated with seasoning," I remarked.
Rexy paused in the middle of her meal, glaring at us. The subsequent roar implied, "What are you idiots looking at!"
"Let's go!" Lex hissed.
Grant crouched, creeping back like some cocky, know-it-all safari guy on a TV show. "Okay. Keep low. Follow me."
He reached for the tranquilizer gun, but the herd had trampled it to the point of uselessness - wooden stock broken in two pieces, barrel bent, firing pin missing.
We tried to keep a low profile and sneak away, but Lex panicked and just broke into a run. We rushed to keep up with her.
Although running, Tim kept staring in the opposite direction, like the proverbial Lot's wife. "Look at all that blood!"
"Yeah, great," I grunted as Cassie jumped on my back. "Be glad it's not yours!"
We made it out across the field unharmed, putting a fair amount of distance between us and Rexy.
We paused to catch our breath.
Tim grinned. "That was awesome!"
"Yeah, yeah," I groaned. "It's all fun until you get bloody cuts in your rear."
Grant eyed me with concern. "Speaking of which, how are those stitches holding up?"
"Oh?" I glanced back and noticed the gauze had turned a little red. "Probably not great. I was moving around a lot. You probably didn't keep the thread, did you?"
The man gave me an apologetic shrug.
"Anyways, I'm flattered that you even asked."
Grant scrunched his face in annoyance, changing the subject of conversation. "How about you, Cassie?"
Cassie examined her bandages. "I...think I'm okay."
Both I and Grant frowned, worried that she wasn't.
"Baa," said Rumpole.
I crossed my arms. "Well, no thread, at any rate."
Having caught our breath, we cut through waist high grass and weeds. Cassie idly clacked her castanets.
An angry snarl startled us all to attention.
Remember when I jumped on that Proceratosaurus and did that little eye gouge thing with my toe claw?
He came back.
...And brought along a few friends.
I shrieked as One Eyed Willie tore into me with his teeth and claws.