K-Rex: A Prehistoric Thriller Read online

  “Nafula,” Powell said. “And this is Claire. Claire.”

  “I’ve introduced myself already.”

  “Shh!” Marksman had a finger up to his lips. His eyes were narrowed. He looked pissed that they were all talking.

  He was right to be pissed. Powell had just been trying to find a way to comfort the girls. They were so small. He was sure if he had to he could pick one up in each arm. Mangeni couldn’t weigh more than seventy pounds, Nafula eighty, maybe. He had no intention of picking either one up.

  Something came at them. The sound of branches snapping grew louder. Whatever it was, it was moving fast. The problem was isolating the sound. Sound echoed and bounced all over the place.

  Ian got to a knee. He aimed his rifle, ready to shoot at what ever got close. Stacy motioned for the rest of them to back up.

  Powell couldn’t help but look down at Shelton’s covered body. It didn’t seem right leaving a dead man on the ground. There was nothing else they could do at the moment.

  Marksman remained standing. He panned left and right, and left. His finger was inside the guard on the trigger, ready to unload lead into whatever crashed through the trees.

  Powell did feel safer having the mercenaries with them.

  “It’s us! It’s us!”

  It sounded like Becky. Her voice was high-pitched and frantic sounding. Powell didn’t know the woman well enough. From just those two words repeated twice, he knew something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

  The three mercs did not lower their weapons. It didn’t matter who was calling out to them, or what they were saying. Powell saw that Marksman looked more tense than he had when he wasn’t sure what approached.

  It was over fast.

  Becky and Charlie plowed through the trees. They weren’t on the path. They came at the gathered group, jumping over downed trees.

  Charlie Erb yelled, “Get back to the cabin. Go! Go!”

  No one moved. Powell wanted to. He had no idea why these two mercenaries wanted everyone to return to the cabin, but if they thought doing so was safer than being out in the open, he was all for it.

  Marksman held up a halting hand. “We wait,” he said.

  Charlie reached them first. He bent over, hands on his knees. He breathed fast and hard.

  Becky said, “There’s a fucking dinosaur out there.”

  Powell thought of the K-Rex. He couldn’t imagine a giant prehistoric beast trampling through the trees. He’d seen enough movies about dinosaurs. Even the Godzilla films, along with all of the remakes. It was preposterous. Those things just didn’t exist anymore, and Godzilla never existed. He almost laughed at the explanation.

  Claire said, “There’s no such th—”

  Powell saw something then. “You know about it,” he said, looking at Marksman. “Whatever is out there, you already know about it.”

  Becky shook her head. “He couldn’t know about this. I’m no expert on fucking dinosaurs, but the thing was about seven feet tall, and long. The tail was real long, like from head to tail, the thing had to be eighteen, nineteen feet.” She had her arms stretched out wide illustrating the size of the thing, her rifle dangled by the strap over her shoulder, the muzzle pointed at the ground. “Fucker had short arms with talons, and ran on its two hind legs. Know what I think, I mean, do you want to know what I think it was? We saw a velociraptor. A fucking velociraptor is running wild in the Congo! We’re not going anywhere but back.”

  “Grab Shelton,” Marksman said.

  Powell was furious. Marksman was ignoring him. The man knew about whatever it was out in the forest. It sure as shit wasn’t any dinosaur.

  “We need to get these kids back to their families,” Claire said.

  Marksman pointed forward. “I know they live that way. You want to take them back, be my guest. We’re headed back to the cabin. I suggest you do the same.”

  Going back didn’t make sense. “What aren’t you telling us?” Powell said.

  “Look,” Charlie Erb said. “I saw the thing, too. Robinson’s not lying. She’s not exaggerating.”

  “I’m not doubting her,” Marksman said. “We’re closer to the cabin than we are to any village. Safest thing to do right now is get back to the cabin and figure a way to fix the radios.”

  “Why?” Powell said.

  “Why, what?” Marksman said.

  “There’s dinosaurs out there. For real. Jurassic Fucking Park beasts in this jungle,” Powell said.

  “Yes, there are,” Marksman said.

  Powell wasn’t expecting that. He thought for sure the merc would deny the crazy allegation. “We should keep moving. We should get these kids home, and we should get out of the jungle, John. Going back is a bad idea.”

  “There’s more than one,” Marksman said. “These things don’t hunt alone. They hunt in packs. I’ve never seen more than three together at any given time. It’s been known to happen. They are not dumb creatures with peanut-sized brains. The velociraptor is a cunning, calculating, and conniving son of a bitch. No one knew that when they first started gluing together dug up bones, but I’ve seen them. I’ve watched them hunt. For all we know right now, we’re surrounded.” He held out his arms and spun around in a circle. “I know they’re out there watching us. They have been following us since we left the cabin.”

  “You knew it wasn’t raiders.”

  “There are no raiders. No one is getting robbed. It’s easier telling the public, and the employers, that groups of armed bandits steal the coltan, and shoot up the miners. Can you imagine the pandemonium if we told the world velociraptors were loose and eating people?”

  “You never told us,” Becky said. “Not once did you mention this to us. To any of us.”

  Ian looked down at his boots. “I knew.”

  “This is not the time,” Marksman said. “Grab Shelton. We need to move slow, but steady. No sudden movements. No running. No noise.”

  The only thing Powell wanted to do more than leave the Congo was run screaming back to the cabin. He was torn. He was still convinced going forward was better. “You have the guns. The bullets,” Powell said. “We need to get out of here. We need to get the kids back home to their families.”

  “You said that already, Mr. Powell.”

  “But you’re ignoring me.”

  “I’m done talking. Grab Shelton, or don’t. I’m going back,” Marksman said, and he started walking back toward the cabin.

  Becky continued staring at Ian, slowly shaking her head. She looked disgusted. Powell understood. Keeping a secret from your team was horrible. It was worse when you considered each other friends. She must have felt betrayed, Powell thought.

  “What do we do?” Claire said.

  Powell looked down the path in both directions. If he knew the lay of the jungle, and was any kind of an outdoorsman, he’d lead them out of the trees and back to some kind of civilization. However, he wasn’t. Only way he knew to start a fire was by using a lighter. He had no idea what was okay to eat, or what was poisonous. “We go back to the cabin.”

  “Come on, kids,” Claire said, herding the five older children.

  No one took the time explaining what was going on to the workers. Marksman seemed like the only one who spoke their language. They needed to know what was going on. He knew they had to be even more frightened for that reason. He was surprised though, when not one of them protested, and simply followed Claire’s lead.

  The mercs were behind Powell. They kept their weapons trained on the trees.

  “You fired at one of them?” Ian asked Charlie.

  “Becky did. I think she hit it, too. It went down. It wasn’t dead. She hadn’t killed it, but it went down and we ran. I mean, we saw that thing, and it saw us. I hesitated. I couldn’t get my mind around what I was seeing. Not Becky. Fuck. She just let loose some rounds and, ka-blam, its blood went spraying and it dropped,” Charlie said, as they walked behind Powell.

  He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it seemed l
ike the only way to gather some honest information. However, hearing Charlie Erb’s rendition didn’t help any, because if he was telling the truth, and Becky was telling the truth, then velociraptors were stalking them.

  Powell knew when he agreed to take the project manager assignment that things could get hairy in the jungle. He wasn’t stupid. The fact he was being sent to the Congo made him apprehensive from the get-go. He knew the humidity, and rain, and animals, and insects would all be a problem. All of it. His brain accepted those variables. But velociraptors? Did that even make sense?

  Velociraptors, and somehow John Marksman already knew.

  Ian knew, too.

  Who else knew?

  Did Circuitz know?

  Of course they did. Marksman would have reported it. The mercenary probably negotiated more money out of the deal. Maybe they asked him for some proof and he provided it, and they gave him more money.

  “What are you thinking?” Claire said.

  “My mind’s just…it’s whirling around like a tornado inside my skull. I have no idea what is in the forest. I’m just not ready to accept sight unseen that dinosaurs are here. I can’t,” Powell said.

  Akia tapped Powell on the shoulder and pointed at Shelton. He stretched his arms out on front of him and made them scissor up and down, his fingers on both hands meshing together like gnashing teeth, as if imitating a crocodile bite, and then he roared.

  Marksman, Ian, and Akia knew about the dinosaur.

  It was near impossible walking slowly. Louis Powell’s legs wanted to run. He felt it each time his foot left the ground. His insides were coiled and ready to spring. A few things kept him from dashing ahead. One, he didn’t think the cabin would provide much safety. It was a structure they could hole up in. The mercs were heavily armed and could defend the makeshift fortress, but without any form of communication with the outside world, what difference did it make? How long would it be before anyone came looking for them? Two, he wouldn’t leave Claire and the kids. While the mercs could, and would do a better job protecting them, he felt a level of responsibility. He might be a coward, and scared shitless in this God forsaken jungle, but he wasn’t an asshole. Their lives mattered to him. He would do everything he could to keep everyone safe, even if that only filtered out to little less than taking command of the operation. The third, and perhaps biggest reason of all for why he didn’t run back toward the cabin, was because of the predators stalking them. He was not ready to believe dinosaurs still existed, or that velociraptors lived in the dense rainforest of the Congo. It was ludicrous. Was something big, and powerful, and dangerous out there beyond the path? More than likely, yes. The mercs were unnerved. That spoke volumes. And if they were squirmy, he’d be foolish not to be.

  One step at a time was how they made their way along the path. Everything was different now. When they left the cabin, Powell felt a sense of relief. They were going to get out of the Congo. He’d never return. Couple of days out here, and all he wanted was home. They had been headed toward that goal. Now? They weren’t going. There was no other way to feel about that but deflated.

  The sky grumbled, thunder rolling. Powell didn’t even look up. The canopy was thick. It didn’t matter. He did not want to even risk seeing storm clouds. He was rained out. His body and clothing hadn’t felt dry since they reached this half of the world. They didn’t need more rain. He wasn’t sure he could handle any more. It relentlessly ate away at his sanity. There wasn’t much more he could take.

  Was anything following them? Were they still being watched? He had so many more questions, too many more. He knew asking Marksman now would be futile. They’d already spent far too much time talking. He wanted a gun. Someone would have to show him how to shoot, but he wanted one. The machete might be an ideal weapon for hacking at vines and branches. He couldn’t see himself using it like a sword in a duel against a sharp taloned dinosaur.

  He laughed.

  Claire looked at him, questioningly. “What’s funny?” Her voice was barely audible. The whisper fell from her lips. It was calming to Powell’s ears.

  “Tell you later,” he said.

  “Promise? Because I could use something to laugh at,” she said. She smiled.

  How did she manage to find the courage to smile? Everything about the situation was depressing, dark, and foreboding. Was he the only one that worried they’d all die in the forest? It didn’t seem likely, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about it. Because he was. “Promise,” he said.

  The cabin was right where they left it, although it looked smaller now. Powell tried to imagine the twelve of them packed in tight for the next day or two. Did they have enough food? Was there enough water?

  They walked around the edge of the dig site. Powell just stared at the piece of machinery on its side. He never even attempted righting it. He never managed the dig for even a day. Not one day. He had failed at the assignment in record time. From the time he turned fourteen, he’d held a job. A paper route along the tract he’d grown up on earned him money enough to see movies, buy name brand clothing, and even save a little. Except when he was in college, he’d always been employed. And even then, he completed work study programs in order to knock cost off his tuition. He found himself looking forward to collecting unemployment when he got back to the states. Maybe he’d forfeit his lease and move back in with his parents. He’d love home-cooked meals and having his laundry done for him. He’d spend the year in bed watching Netflix or something; maybe catch up on bestselling books he’d been meaning to read for the last seven years. It sounded like the perfect plan.

  “Everyone inside,” Marksman said. “Keep it slow. Single file.”

  Powell lined the kids up behind Claire while they kept walking, and he stood behind all of them. Until he received some lessons on firing a gun properly, he held the machete like a pirate. He knew he was grinding his teeth. His jaw felt sore. His mouth was dry. His eyes panned left and right. He was doing his best to be ready. The last thing he wanted was to be caught by surprise. At any moment he expected…well, a fucking dinosaur…to charge them.

  It didn’t happen. They all made it into the cabin.

  He had let his imagination get the better of him. His mind had conjured veil images of mass carnage. His heart had never beat so fast or so hard inside his chest before. He was moving on pure adrenaline at this point. It was what kept him going. It might be the only thing that truly allowed him to be led back to the cabin.

  He couldn’t get over it, or let it go. This had been the wrong move. Coming back to the cabin was a mistake. He only hoped he was wrong and that Marksman was right. Because if anything happened to any of the kids, or to Claire…

  Chapter 13

  Powell hoped the angry sky would just pass. He was wrong. It was there to stay.

  It was maybe a half hour after they reached the cabin that the daylight was completely chased from above, and heavy black clouds blanketed the Congo. Behind the clouds, static electricity bounced back and forth. No bolts had yet been released. And for the moment, the rain did not fall. It was just a matter of time, he supposed.

  The mercs stood guard by the windows.

  No one talked much.

  The workers whispered back and forth. Powell wished he understood their conversations. He felt helpless. Their families had to be worried.

  Powell ran his palms down his thighs and stood up straight. He let out a long, loud sigh. “So what are we doing? I mean, what are we going to do here?”

  No one answered. Powell expected Marksman to reply. Nothing but silence filled the cabin.

  “I want to know what’s in the forest, John,” Powell said. He would not be ignored. “John! I’m talking to you.”

  Marksman sucked in a deep breath. “We learned about the velociraptors a while back.”

  Powell rolled his eyes.

  “Do you want an answer?” Marksman said.

  “I want the truth,” Powell said.

  “This is the truth.
It’s the truth. There are velociraptors in the Congo. Always have been. The species either never died out, or somehow were given a second chance.”

  “A second chance?” Claire said. She stood over Mangeni and Nafula. They sat around her legs. She’d become like their mother. “From who?”

  “Mother nature?” Marksman said.

  “It’s bullshit.” Powell couldn’t wrap his mind around what he heard. Something like that wouldn’t be kept a secret. If living dinosaurs had been discovered, the world would know. Videos would be on YouTube, photos on Facebook. Celebrities would be tweeting about the need to save and preserve the prehistoric beasts.

  “Doesn’t matter where the second chance came from.” Marksman sounded angry now. His face reddened. “Point is they’re out there. I’ve been up in the mountains and watched them from a safe distance.”

  “And Circuitz knows about this? Brunson and legal?” Powell said.

  Marksman nodded. “They know. It doesn’t stop them from digging. It’s why we’re here. We’re to protect the operation. Keep all of you safe.”

  “How could you not tell us?” Charlie said. “Shelton’s dead. One of those things could be responsible. If he’d known about raptors in the forest, he might have carried himself differently.”

  “He’s a professional, Erb. Same as you. Same as me. The enemy could be anywhere, could be anyone, could be anything. You are either ready, or you’re not,” Marksman said.

  Erb got to his feet. His muscles were tight, tensed. His hands were knuckled fists. He looked like he might pop.

  “Still should have shared the information with us,” Stacy said. “We had a right to know.”

  “The less people that know the truth the better,” Marksman said. “Best I can tell there aren’t that many. Largest herd I’ve ever come across was maybe six or seven. I’ve seen some smaller groupings with three or four. I’ve never tried keeping track of them though. I could be seeing the same fucking things over and over, or maybe I’ve never seen the same one more than once. In this region of the Congo, it’s impossible to say how many there are. I haven’t got a clue what their breeding habits are, how old they live to be, or anything. They remind me of bees for the most part. You don’t bother them and they won’t eat you.”