Jurassic War

Eighteen

Peterson plied his way through the jungle, pushing into dense vegetation. He’d left the T-Rex behind him. A palm frond smacked his right leg, then he felt a sharp, jabbing pain. He looked down. Something greenish had latched onto him.

He shook his leg wildly, but he couldn’t shake it off.

Sharp claws lashed open his utilities and calf muscle. Peterson pointed his pistol at the creature’s head, but the damn thing flailed, so he couldn’t train a bead on it for long. Gritting through the pain, he pressed the barrel into the creature’s chest and pulled the trigger.

Bam! The semi-automatic Colt .45 blasted a round into the beast.

It dropped off Peterson and landed on the jungle floor with a thud. Blood and meat oozed from the gaping wound. The dinosaur stood only a foot tall and measured about three feet from head to tail. A hole bore into its chest and a large cavity appeared in its back. Goop from the creature’s insides had sprayed the foliage.

Peterson’s wounds were superficial. He brushed them off.

Scanning for the large predator, he sensed the atoll had grown still.

The quiet was eerie. Almost too silent.

A row of yellow eyes appeared about five feet away. They were close together and hovered a foot off the ground. More creatures like the one he’d just killed.

Frozen, they were poised to attack, but remained fixed in place, as if trying to decide whether or not to pounce. The creatures stared at him, motionless. Maybe they were looking beyond him.

Trepidation caused his pulse to quicken. Hair raised on the back of his neck.

Something had made the scavengers pause. He sensed another creature.

Peterson slowly turned to see what was behind him.

At first, he discerned nothing but green vegetation. Then, he noticed something large and stout, like a tree or mound of moss-covered earth. He traced the curve upward, until a large set of menacing eyes locked onto his gaze.

He froze like the tiny dinosaurs. Peterson breathed slowly through his nose, trying not to make a sound. Nothing moved. And not a sound emanated from the jungle, not even a bird or a rain drop. Only the sound of Peterson’s heartbeat kept him from slipping into absolute shock. And then, the beast canted its head, as if sniffing the air.

Something had caught its attention. Movement came from the left rear of the creature’s hide. A moment later, the silence was disrupted by pandemonium, as machinegun fire erupted, and bullets riddled the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s scaly backside.

Tomko let rip with his Thompson submachine gun, spitting .45 caliber rounds at the beast from close range. Bullets punched into the thick hide, and the dinosaur reared back its head and let out a menacing roar. Then it stepped toward the provocation, stalking towards its prey, but Tomko stood his ground and kept firing.

Other marines followed his lead, setting up a Browning Automatic Rifle and firing at the creature with their M1 Garand rifles. Peterson ran into the fray and took a position behind the BAR gunner. The heavier machinegun lit up, digging rounds into the creature’s ankles. It halted its pursuit of Tomko.

Meanwhile, infantrymen set up a thin perimeter with riflemen. They aimed at the creature’s eyes and fired carefully from less than 50 feet away.

Bullets plinked off the beast’s snout and aggravated it.

Peterson motioned to the riflemen to fan out. He wanted them to set the perimeter further back. Trained marksmen, they could shoot accurately from 300 to 500 yards, but the jungle would not accommodate such distant shots. Still, he wanted them further away to prevent the creature from killing one of his men. And he wanted to intersperse the Thompson machine gunners among the riflemen to throw down more lead and keep the beast from charging. Their assignment was a seek and destroy mission against the Imperial Army, and not a hunting expedition against a wild, previously thought extinct species.

“Get back!” Peterson yelled, waving his pistol.

Privates Chandler and Davidson caught his command and nodded an affirmative. They called to the others around them, and marines eased back while continuing to lay down fire. Bullets ripped through the jungle, slicing through vegetation.

Leaves were serrated. Small limbs crashed to the ground. But the T-Rex didn’t run from them. It stood its ground, and it considered the situation. Intelligent. Thinking.

A marine did not get the signal to move back. Private Baker stood at the end of the line, firing his Browning until the weapon ran empty. He quickly worked to reload.

The BAR had ceased firing. Peterson waved to the nearest fire team. Another BAR let loose as Private First Class James brought his fire team to the fight.

Suddenly, the dinosaur made its move. It lunged toward Baker reloading. Two swift, massive steps and the T-Rex’s head was above him.

Baker looked up, and its colossal jaws opened wide. Saliva dripped from enormous fangs. As the marine turned to run, the dinosaur’s head whipped downward in a flash and snatched him from the ground. It shook its head back and forth.

Baker’s arms and legs thrashed madly. And then, the dinosaur set its jaws tight, and a fierce crack emanated over the ruckus of the firefight.

All firing ceased for a moment as the creature paused to eye them. Standing there with its spoils held in a gargantuan maw, the dinosaur looked upon them with ancient wisdom in its large, yellow eyes. Imposing, the creature reflected an air of conquest. Then, it turned and broke through the brush, snapping trees like twigs, and disappearing before its body could have moved completely out of sight, camouflaged by the tropical brush and obscured by the heavy mist.

Peterson stared at the pathway the dinosaur had just created, as if doing so might somehow bring the young marine back to life. The thought of a creature so large being concealed until you were directly upon it was unsettling. A clap of thunder, and a deluge followed. Rain moved across the island and doused them on the eastern side of the atoll.

“What next?” Tomko stood by him expectantly.

Others gathered around, waiting quietly for instructions.

“We’ve got to continue inland and complete our mission.”

“Doesn’t that thing change our plans?” This from Private Davidson, who glanced at Peterson, almost pleading with him.

Peterson shook his head, and Davidson looked at the ground. “Afraid not.”

The lieutenant considered their options. Running from the Tyrannosaurus Rex had taken them off course. They’d strayed from the animal trail that led from the small lagoon into the interior.

Now they’d lost their bearing, and the dark sky prevented him from ascertaining their location. Peterson reached into a pocket and pulled out his compass. He’d never expected to use it on such a small land mass during a simple mission.

Before he could get the sighting-cover flipped open, a volley of shots echoed from the distance. Raiders had met the enemy inland. He charted a course northwest.

“Got the direction?” said Tomko.

“Sure do. This way.” And Peterson pointed to the path the T-Rex had cleared through the jungle.

“You have to be kidding me?” Tomko shrugged.

“Nope.”

Tomko shook his head. A tough guy, he’d go ahead with the mission without complaint, but he seemed leery about another encounter with the massive creature.

Peterson wondered how many more prowled the tiny island. “Let’s move out.”

Everyone reloaded, then they followed the blood-stained trail heading further inland. Tomko took point again. All the marines were tense, on edge, readying themselves for an encounter with man or beast. The path taken by the Tyrannosaurus Rex led directly toward the garrison, and Peterson feared they’d confront it again.