Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (14 page)

Steven didn’t have anything to say to that. All he
could think about was that if Justin was correct, then dinosaurs could soon be
popping up all over the place across the United States.

Not a good thing.

He thought if that was what was happening then Justin
might be right. They could be on the verge of a different life…where they’d
have to learn to live with, evade or fight a new generation of dinosaurs.

For the first time he truly understood what it
might mean. He got it. And it frightened the hell out of him. Everything would
be so different. He couldn’t imagine traveling from one singing engagement to another
and having to always be on guard for dinosaur attacks, no matter how many books
he could write and sell about them. Yikes, he’d have to carry guns, ammunition,
and keep his eyes peeled for dinosaurs. Wear body armor. Get physically fit and
stay that way. No more chocolate bars and donuts. Stay out of the woods. Avoid
empty buildings and desolate places. Just like that crazy Walking Dead series,
except with dinosaurs instead of zombies. It’d be a real inconvenience all
right.

And suddenly he grasped it was not one he’d want to
deal with twenty-four seven. Forever. Who would? So he sure hoped Justin was
wrong about all of it.

Chapter
7

Ann

Ann left the doctor’s office trying not to let her possible
diagnosis bring her down. Doctor Williams had reported what she’d already
known. The cancer might have returned and she could be facing another round of
chemo and perhaps, this time, surgery. Further tests were to be scheduled along
with a CT Scan and they’d know for sure. She was depressed over the very thought
she might have to get back on the cancer merry-go-round and have more treatments
when she’d just finished the last ones. Then, sitting in that chair in the
doctor’s office listening to her prognosis, in a heart-stopping instant, after
months of believing she was cancer free, the fear returned.
It wasn’t really
gone.
She might still be sick. She wanted to scream at the sky, stomp her
feet, throw up her clenched hands and run in mindless circles–she wanted the
cancer to be gone. For good and forever. No such luck. How was she going to
tell Henry? Tell her daughter? Wiping tears from her eyes, it was almost too
much to bear.

As if she didn’t have enough problems in her life
at the moment with deciding to sell the newspaper, Zeke’s worsening health and
dinosaurs loose again in the park and in town. She didn’t need another
complication.

Like today. Henry didn’t want her traveling back
and forth to town for any reason since she’d been attacked but she’d slipped
out this morning for her doctor’s appointment because she hadn’t wanted Henry
to know she was going. She had to go alone. Why worry him further if there was
no reason to and the cancer hadn’t returned? If he knew she’d driven to Klamath
Falls by herself he’d been really upset with her. But she figured she’d drive straight
there and back, be extra vigilant, and he’d never be the wiser. She couldn’t
stay locked in their cabin forever like some prisoner, especially when there’d
been no more dinosaurs seen for days. Besides, as far as she was concerned, those
little reddish striped buggers weren’t much of a threat. She could handle them
easily enough. They weren’t any worse than the park’s wolves or bears. She had
a gun and the protection of her car. She’d be fine. The big monsters were in
the lake and she’d be sure to stay far away from it.

Getting in her car she reached across to the
passenger side and retrieved the SigSauer holstered on a gun belt and slipped the
belt around her waist. After her and Zeke’s incidents Henry insisted she carry a
weapon with her, so she’d be able to protect herself if she came across any
more dinosaurs. Which was funny when she thought on it because, even though the
park was shut down indefinitely, no one else–the media, the town or townspeople–seemed
to believe there was a threat. Warnings had been given to the local news media,
warnings they ignored even though verbal stories, and in some cases videos, of
people encountering strange creatures were suddenly everywhere, and she’d run
articles on the dinosaur outbreaks in her paper…but most people still thought
it was a hoax. They laughed and joked about it. The local police didn’t take it
seriously, either. There was not much else she and Henry could do than what
they’d already done. Now it was up to the dinosaurs. People would find out soon
enough what they were up against. And when they did, they wouldn’t be laughing.

Her thoughts returned to her home. It was strange
living in the locked-down park in the heart of the summer season, knowing it
might not ever open again unless her husband, his rangers, and soldier friends
could rid the park once and for all of their prehistoric guests. Henry and
Justin were out every day hunting for them in the woods. Henry had called in
the army again, though she knew he didn’t have much hope the soldiers could do
the job. They never had before. The dinosaurs, Henry swore, were too clever to
be caught if they didn’t want to be. They knew how to hide. Not one sighting or
encounter had occurred since the day he and Justin had been on the lake, that
little run-in Zeke had had in his backyard and her own experience. The
dinosaurs seemed to have vanished. Just like that.

Henry kept asking, where have they gone? Where
could they be hiding? What are they waiting for? No one knew. So everything was
in limbo as he and his men waited for the dinosaurs to make their next move. It
had been so long now Ann could almost believe the park was safe and there were
no anachronisms lurking anywhere. False security. Wishful thinking.

Another thing that was bothering her was what would
she and Henry do if they officially closed the park for good? Would he lose his
job; the insurance she so desperately needed now? Would they have to move? She
kept telling herself even if the park never reopened they’d need someone to
patrol it and keep an eye on the situation. Could be they’d still need some rangers
for that. Ann wasn’t sure how she felt about it, though. Living in the park
with no visitors and maybe multiplying herds of dinosaurs? At what point would
the scale tip and the park be completely claimed by them? At what point would
humans be exiled forever?

She was aware of Justin’s dinosaur search, his ongoing
investigations of the other national parks in surrounding states. He feared the
infestation was spreading. So did Henry.

Yet for right now, she had to keep living, doing
her everyday tasks, errands, tending to her responsibilities, dinosaurs or no
dinosaurs. What else could she do?

Since she was already in  town and close by, she
should stop by the newspaper and show her face. Make sure the weekly edition
was on schedule. She’d been spending less and less time there lately and her
employees must be curious as to why. But her decision to sell the newspaper was
still pretty much a secret from everyone and she still hadn’t discussed it with
Henry. He had enough to deal with. Staring out the windshield at the
storefronts and sidewalks full of busy people, she knew she’d have to talk to
him soon. If the cancer had returned, she’d be selling the newspaper as quick
as she could.
If she didn’t have a lot of time left she didn’t want to waste
even one minute of it. She wanted to be free. She wanted…
.

Someone she knew waved at her and plastering a
smile on her face she waved back. Observing the unsuspecting townspeople going
about their usual business, she knew most of them had no clue as to what was
happening. They wouldn’t be clueless for long.

Oh, well, something else I can do nothing about.
Something else I can’t control. Let it go, let it go.

Suddenly she just wanted everything to be the way
it had been. Looking around, she thought,
it all looks so normal
. What
are we all so afraid of? We’re just being silly. If there’s a problem, Henry
and the army will take care of it like the last two times. Simple.

Heck, she should stop by Zeke’s before leaving town
and see how he’s doing. She hadn’t checked on him in days and she was worried
about him. If he was eating properly, if he was feeling better…if a herd of
dinos hadn’t carried him away and devoured him. She was about to start the car and
drive over there when she saw Ellie Stanton, in street clothes, her long brown
hair flowing down her back, exiting from the Klamath Falls Market. The woman’s
eyes were on her. She’d seen her.

Ellie wasn’t only one of Henry’s rangers, she’d
become a friend. They often had lunch together or would trade visits at each
other’s houses and gossip about what was going on in the world, brag about
their children or their cats. Ellie had been the one to find Sasha for her. Ann
hadn’t had a true friend in years and it was nice having someone to girl talk
with.

She leaned out of the open car window and shouted,
“Ellie! Ellie! Over here.”

The other woman had recognized her and, arms loaded
with groceries, ambled over. “Well, hello Ann.” She smiled, shifting the bag in
her arms. “Ah, I see you escaped the park too? I’m surprised Henry let you out.”

“Hey, he’s not the boss of me! I can take care of
myself. And I have a big gun,” she smiled, “for protection.”

“Hmm, don’t we all these days.” The ranger patted
her waist. She had a gun, too. “Strange times. Even though there’s been no dangerous
creatures
spotted in over a week, your husband still wants us to be
cautious. Keep an eye out and be ready to defend ourselves.”

“I’m surprised he let you come into town,” Ann
said. “What with all that’s happening.”

The ranger hesitated, looking a little guilty.
“Like you, he doesn’t know I’m here. I snuck out. I needed groceries and Miss
Kitty Cat was completely out of food, too. I had to come into town to shop. You
know your husband, my boss, hasn’t actually forbidden us to leave the park. Not
yet anyway. So, Ann, how about you? Are you in town working or just goofing
off?”

It made Ann feel better knowing if Henry hadn’t
forbidden his rangers to leave the park, then her leaving it couldn’t be viewed
as a high crime, either. He was just being overly protective of her since her
illness. “Neither. I had a doctor’s appointment.” Something in her eyes must
have given her inner turmoil away because the other woman’s expression immediately
changed to a sympathetic one. But then Ellie was an usually perceptive woman.
It was hard to hide anything from her.

“Okay. Something’s wrong. I can see it on your
face.”

“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” she fibbed. “You know
how I feel about doctors and hospitals lately. Just going for a check-up revives
unpleasant memories.”

Ellie didn’t answer but went around to the
passenger side, slid in and put her bag of groceries between her feet on the
floor board. Leaning against the seat, her brown eyes met Ann’s. “Don’t lie to
a friend. I know you too well and I can see you’re troubled about something–besides
the dinosaurs showing their ugly selves again, I mean.”

“There is that,” Ann replied.

“You’ve been to the doctor. Something’s wrong.
Spill it.”

Ann resigned herself to blabbing everything. Ellie
Stanton wasn’t someone she could keep lying to. Besides, Ann didn’t like lying.
It was so much easier telling the truth. Easier to keep her stories straight.

Sitting there in the car’s shadows, Ann let the
words come. Most of them, not all. What the doctor thought might be going on,
but not what Ann already feared was going on.

“Ann, I know everything’s going to be all right. Doctors
tend to play it safe these days. Tell you the worse scenario so it’s not such a
shock if it comes true. That’s why she wants more tests. She isn’t sure. Have
faith.”

“I always do.”

“So, what are your plans for the rest of the
afternoon? Have you had lunch yet?”

“I’m not real hungry right now. It’s a little
early. And I need to get back home before Henry finds out I’m gone. But I was
planning on making a quick stop by Zeke’s, to see how he’s doing. I have to
keep an eye on him these days because of his failing health. Not to mention he
had a run-in with some small dinosaurs himself last week.”

Ellie knew Zeke well. She’d met him at Ann and
Henry’s summer barbeque, knew him from around town. “Zeke was attacked by
dinosaurs? When?”

Ann told her the story as they sat there in the
car.

“But he’s okay, huh?”

“He’s okay. Just not feeling well these days. Old
age, you know. Would you like to come along and say hi? He’d be happy for more
company. He took a shine to you the few times he’s met you.” Her eyes went to
the grocery bag. “Unless you have ice cream or something just as perishable in
there.”

“No ice cream, merely a steak that needs
refrigeration. The rest of the stuff can sit in the car and be perfectly fine,
even in this awful heat.”

“You can put the steak in Zeke’s refrigerator while
we’re there. He won’t mind.”

“Ha, the old coot might just keep it for his own
supper.”

“He might. He loves steaks. But he’d burn it to a
slab of charcoal, that’s how he likes them. Black. What a waste.”

The women laughed.

Ellie started to ease out of the car. “I’ll follow
you over there then. I’m familiar with where he lives. You know the steak is
big enough for all of us. We could grill Zeke a nice lunch while we’re there. I
have potatoes and ears of corn in the bag, as well.”

“Well, I hadn’t intended to stay that long…but I
guess Henry couldn’t get mad at me for being in town if you’re with me.”

Ann caught the funny look Ellie gave her and
wondered what that was all about. But she didn’t ask.

“You being one of his armed-to-the-teeth rangers
and all. It’s like I have a built-in body guard. And lately I stop by and make
meals for my old friend because he hasn’t been well. You sure you want to give
up your steak for us? That’s so sweet of you.”

“That’s me. Sweet and generous. But I like Zeke. He
reminds me of my Yahooskin grandfather. He even looks like him some. Same
eccentric character, too.”

Ann laughed again. “Yeah, he’s a character all
right. See you at Zeke’s then.”

Ellie slid out of the car and hurried over to her vehicle.
A few minutes later Ann, with Ellie’s car practically on her bumper, parked in
front of Zeke’s house.

*****