Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (16 page)

“Maybe yes, maybe no. Chief Chapman is one of those
men that don’t believe in the unbelievable until he’s actually face to face
with it. He’ll probably invent some sort of crazy cover story to explain this
destruction. You wait and see.”

“Pity him then,” Ann said. “He’ll end up as a
dinosaur meal.”  

The four of them returned to Zeke’s, but Ann
couldn’t stopped watching the woods around them. Couldn’t stop listening for suspicious
noises.

She kept expecting the monsters to return and
finish what they’d started.

Chapter
8

Henry

Henry hated seeing his park empty of visitors and thinking
it might never open again. It depressed him to no end and it’d been one of his
greatest fears since the first dinosaur had been discovered years before. He
didn’t want it to become a haven and breeding ground for prehistoric throwbacks
instead of a tranquil vacation spot for people. But, for him and Ann, the
ramifications went even deeper than that. He might be losing the job he loved.
His home. His very way of life. He’d had a sobering phone conversation with
Superintendent Sorrelson and had been advised if the park didn’t reopen his job
would either be changing drastically or could be eliminated completely. It was
still too early to know what the army or government would decide to do with a dinosaur
infested national park.

“We need to know the scope of the calamity before
we jump to conclusions, Shore. See what the Park and Forest Services want us to
do,” Sorrelson had imparted in his usual gruff manner. “Could be you’ll be
needed as a sort of dinosaur guard, hunter, wrangler or some such thing. You do
have experience with the creatures and intimate knowledge of the park lands. The
army might have to put up fences to keep them contained. There could be a job
in it for you and some of the other rangers. Let me talk to the powers that be
and see what they say. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Until then I
advise you keep your eyes and ears open, weapons close by. You might think
about moving you and your wife out of the park, for now anyway. It’d be safer.”

“I’d prefer to stay, at least until I can gauge the
level of infiltration we have. So far the infestation, as I am aware of it, in
the park itself is mainly these smaller herd dinosaurs. They’re easily
controlled with the weapons I have available. The larger dinosaurs are the ones
in the lake and so far they haven’t left it. Not that I know of anyway. And there’s
been no fatalities as far as I’m aware of, either. It’s not like last winter
when our adversaries were those flying gargoyle types who actively came after
us. The intruders plaguing the park are entirely manageable. So far. Ann and I want
to remain in our home for now if you’ll allow it.”

“Up to you, Shore. Go or stay. Nothing’s official
as of yet. I’ll let you know things as I learn them.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Shore?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“You be careful down there, you hear me? Don’t take
any chances. If things get worse you vamoose out of there pronto. Don’t be a
hero.”

“I won’t. You know me, I’m a realist, Sir. If the
circumstances become too hazardous for me, my family or my men, we’ll leave,”
he out and out lied. No way he was ever leaving his park. The dinosaurs would
leave, not him. “I’ll keep you updated.”

“You do that.” And their connection had been
broken.

He left the cabin and slid into his car, his hand
resting lightly on the pistol at his waist and his eyes searching for any
movement in the woods around the house. He had a high-powered rifle in the
passenger’s seat, easy to get to. The day was well on its way with the sun
blazing its warmth across the land, not much of a breeze, which made it worse.
Going to be another scorcher. So unusual for Crater Lake.

Ann had driven off to town earlier. She didn’t know
that he knew. Truth was, with Zeke being so infirm lately and the attack in his
back yard, he’d expected her to eventually drive into town to check on him, no
matter he’d asked her not to. He knew his wife so well. So he’d left one of his
rangers to keep an eye on her, from a distance of course, and follow her if she
left the house. He knew he could trust Ranger Stanton to protect Ann. And
because the women were friends, accidently running into her in town wouldn’t
raise Ann’s suspicions. Or that’s how he saw it.

As he drove, he kept turning things over in his
mind. Perhaps Sorrelson was right. He and Ann should vacate their home and the
park. Move away. But where would they go? Town? Nah. Not there. The creatures
were already invading that territory as well. He and Ann could move in with
Laura and Justin, it was a few hours away and perhaps, safer. Or not. But he’d
be too far from the park. Ann from her newspaper. And Zeke. No, they couldn’t
leave, not just yet. He was well aware, though, that in a short while, if the problem
kept escalating, they might have no choice but to go.

He wished he’d hear from Justin. The paleontologist
and his friend Steven had traveled to Redwood National Park and had promised to
stay in touch and let him know what they discovered. Yet Henry hadn’t heard
from him in days. For some reason that made him nervous. He’d left messages on
Justin’s cell phone. Still no response. The man must be exceptionally busy, or
his phone’s battery was dead, or he hoped one of those were the explanation and
not something else more ominous.

He drove out of the driveway and set a course for
park headquarters. For the last week his rangers had been helping empty the
park. The businesses had been shut down and boarded up and most of the park
residents ushered to an entrance and sent on their way. Poor souls. It hadn’t
been easy. Some of the longtime residents and business owners had refused to
leave and had to be convinced it was too dangerous to remain. Most of them had
complied; some, Henry suspected, had gone into hiding and would have to be
flushed out eventually. He didn’t look forward to that. He knew these people,
knew them well, and he was shoving them out of their homes and livelihoods. But
if he didn’t get them out of the park they’d end up dinosaur appetizers sooner
or later. No job or business was worth a person’s life. Well, that’s what he
told them anyway. Some agreed, some didn’t.

So here they were–he was–and the hunt was on.

He’d called his rangers in for an emergency meeting
at eleven. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to tell them but he had to
tell them something. This time the park was closed, as far as he knew, permanently
and the National Guard would be marching in soon and perhaps would never leave.
His men were cognizant of the new dinosaur threats and were awaiting his orders
for what came next.

What was coming next? Hell if he knew. Part of him
thought the best thing they could do was abandon the park and leave it to the
blood-thirsty dinosaurs. Fence it in with electric thirty-foot walls, station
guard buildings equipped with soldiers and weapons every few miles or so along
it, and post EXTREME DANGER! DINOSAURS ON THE LOOSE! NO TRESPASSING signs
everywhere. Give up. Walk away.

He could get another job somewhere else. Another
park. He’d heard they were looking for rangers up in the Alaskan Denali
National Park. Yeah, sure. Ann would kill him. The winters here were bad enough,
but Alaska? Worse. And it was too far away from their daughter and
granddaughter. If farther away would even be far enough. Well, perhaps, some
other national park closer?

Who was he fooling? He’d never been a quitter;
never run away from a trouble–and this growing infestation was an earth-changing
serious one. He remembered what Justin had said about how this could be the
beginning of humanity’s extinction and the rise of a new dominant species.
Dinosaurs versus humans. And this time the dinosaurs might prevail because
they’d mutated and were cunningly learning to adapt. He had to see the drama
through. If this, his park, was ground zero, it was where the human race needed
to begin the fight and he needed to be one of the warriors. Stand up for
humanity and all that crap. He sighed as he got out of his car and walked into
the building, the sun pulsing above and the heat glimmering around him like falling
glitter. Everyone was waiting for him.

The twenty or so uniformed men and women gathered around
him in the conference room at headquarters. It was a tight fit. They took the
news about the park closing, perhaps for good, fairly well, considering.

“Okay, boss,” Ranger Kiley commented after Henry’s short-but-not-so-sweet
speech about what they were facing, “for now we’re being turned into dinosaur trackers.
Our objective is to search for and destroy as many of the creatures as we can
flush out, right?”

“That’s right. And if you come across any other
humans anywhere in the park, protect them and escort them to the exits. The army
will be moving in here any minute to help. We know the park’s lands better than
they do so they’ll be working with us.”

“What happens when we find and kill them all? The
dinosaurs, I mean?”

Henry felt suddenly weary. He guessed he’d been
fighting dinosaurs too long and too often. “That could take a while, Kiley. At
this point, we have no idea how many dinosaurs or even species are loose in the
woods, not to mention the lake and backcountry or how long it will take to deal
with them.” If we even can, Henry brooded. In the past the dinosaurs had proved
unpredictable and unusually crafty, especially the flying varieties.

“At least,” Kiley grumbled, “we still have jobs.”

“That’s a good way to look at it,” young Ranger Eddie
Cutters spoke up. At thirty years old, an ex-firefighter and paramedic, he’d
been a ranger for only a few weeks and had never seen a dinosaur. Yet. “Except
I can’t believe what we’re searching for are long extinct animals from another
time. I mean, are we really labeling them…prehistoric dinosaurs?”

Ranger Kiley and Gillian laughed at the same time.
Henry didn’t. He kind of felt sorry for the man.

“Cutters, you’re new. You weren’t here the last two
times we were faced with this situation,” Kiley said. “You’re not a believer.
Yet. But the first time one of those monsters swims by you in the lake, or pops
up in front of you and spits in your eye or attacks you with big fangs and a spiked
tail, you will be.”

“They are real. Dinosaurs. Believe it,” Gillian seconded
in a flat tone.

“If you say so.” Cutter didn’t seem convinced. At
six foot-four and a sturdy build, he had long, thick reddish hair, a broad face
and was a friendly sort. Took things easy and gave them just the same way. People
liked and trusted him from the minute he first smiled at them. A newlywed, his
wife, Marla, was a dental assistant in Klamath Falls. He was an amateur nature photographer
and had shown Henry some of his work. He was good. It was one of the reasons he
liked being a ranger in a park–so many photo opportunities. Henry would have to
show him some of the pictures Steven and Justin had taken of the aquatic
dinosaurs and see what he thought of them.

“What do we do now, Chief?” Ranger Gillian posed
the question.

 “I’m sending you out in pairs to patrol and search
the park land and woods, day shifts only from now on. I don’t want anyone out
at night, too dangerous, looking for the creatures or any human stragglers. The
army is bringing in more effective weapons but I’ll give out what we have on
hand so you can protect yourselves. Well, unless you come up against one that’s
too big to fight, then I strongly suggest you run. Like hell. As fast as you
can.” His swift grin was humorless.

Henry only hoped his men would be allowed to kill
the dinosaurs. He was worried about what the government’s final orders on that would
be. He hadn’t forgotten Dr. Albert Harris, who’d initially fought him to capture
and protect the very first live dinosaur in the lake six years ago, not kill
it. And how well he remembered that had turned out. What would the army and the
government say about a whole park full of the damn things?

Well, he’d know soon enough.

 After his men dispersed and began their patrols,
Ranger Kiley, who’d lagged behind, strode up to him. Henry was at the gun case
checking what weapons he had left after handing out most of them to his men.

“Chief, I wanted to tell you that Ranger Stanton
wasn’t here this morning for the meeting and she was supposed to be. I mean, I
texted her notice of it hours ago. She should have been here.”

Henry turned around. “I noticed that, too. That she
wasn’t here, I mean. Have you tried calling her again lately?” Kiley and
Stanton had been seeing each other for months and Henry knew how close they’d
become. Practically inseparable. Ann swore she could hear wedding bells for
them, but Henry wasn’t so sure. Ranger Ellie Stanton was an independent woman
who cherished her freedom. Since she’d been widowed and her two sons had gone
off to college she’d reveled in it. Kiley would have a hard time getting that
woman to the altar. Well, maybe that wasn’t what he was after. Kiley was a modern
man and he liked strong women. The two seemed content with their relationship
the way it was. They were happy and that was all that counted.

“I have tried. A couple of times. No answer. I’m a
little concerned. That’s not like her to avoid my calls.”

Henry eyed the other man and nodded. “No, it isn’t.
But since I don’t want you to worry, I’ve had her tailing Ann the last week or
so. Making sure she doesn’t run off to town again, or by herself anyway. Ranger
Stanton could be with Ann somewhere.

“Stanton wasn’t at home, huh?”

“No, not at home. I think last night she mentioned
she might have to go into town, do a little shopping or something. But she
should have been back for the meeting.”

“Hmm, then I suspect Ann’s in town this morning,
too. Probably to check up on her friend Zeke. Or something. Ranger Stanton is
with her in Klamath Falls if I had to take a wild guess.” Henry had a sudden
uneasy feeling. Ann hadn’t called him all morning and that wasn’t like her.
Since the dinosaurs had taken to haunting the park and the town, they were
keeping in closer touch.