Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (28 page)

“We brought the bodies back for burial,” the ranger
said. “They’re in the blue storage shed.”

“I don’t know what we will do about the funerals. No
telling how long this crisis will last so I don’t know when we’d be able to get
them to town, much less have funerals. If the town’s still there, that is. Under
these circumstances we might have to bury them here in the park. I’ll ask
permission of Stanton’s sons, though, before we do it.” He was sure they’d
approve of it if there was no other way.

Ann was taking the deaths hard. Still crying, her head
bowed, she didn’t ask Ranger Collins any questions. She didn’t look up.

It was only when Collins left them that she opened
her eyes and spoke. “Ellie’s cat is all alone at her house. We can’t leave her
there. Miss Kitty Cat will starve.”

Henry sat down by his wife. “When I send someone to
get the things you want from the cabin, I’ll have them pick the cat up, too,
and bring her here, along with ours. Hope they get along.” He smiled tenderly,
taking her hand. There was no way he was going to let his wife out among the
dinosaurs after Stanton and Kiley’s death. They’d been trained rangers with
weapons and hadn’t made it.

“When you send someone to our cabin? Aren’t we
going?”

“After last night, I don’t think it’s wise for you
to be out in the park, even with a guarded escort. I don’t think the war’s
over. I fear it’s only beginning and so does Justin.”

“But there’s so many items we’re going to need if
we have to stay here for any extended amount of time. I need to be the one to
collect them,” she protested. “Won’t being in the belly of a tank be safe
enough?”

“Not in my mind. There’s some large Godzillas out
there and even a tank might not be invincible enough to fend them off.”

Ann’s stare was petulant. “I’m not afraid of no
dinosaur,” she sing-songed and then let a small smile escape. She wasn’t actually
angry; she understood.

“I know, sweetheart. But I am. I think it’s going
to get worse. Here. Everywhere. At least here you’re protected. Better safe
than sorry. So…make a list. A detailed one. I’ll send Ranger Gillian along with
the soldiers to gather what we’ll need. He knows our house well and he’s good
with cats. He and his escort will also go by Ellie’s place and collect Miss
Kitty Cat.”

She merely nodded her head. “All right. I do see
your point about the danger out there.” Her gaze wandered to the now barred-up
window. Outside the cutting, sawing and hammering noises filled the day. The
stockade fence was going up. “I don’t suppose the army will finish the enclosure
anytime soon?”

“McDowell estimates it might take a few days.”

“Do we have a few days?”

“Probably not. But you have to start something to
finish it. In the meantime, McDowell also has her men planting sharpened wooden
stakes around the perimeter of the compound. Optimistically they’ll give us
some defense until the barricade’s completed.”

“If any of that will help us.” She looked directly
at him. “So you expect another onslaught tonight?”

“Justin and McDowell do. So do I.”

She seemed to remember something. “Have you heard
anything about Klamath Falls? Was it overrun by those monsters Justin and
Steven escaped from?”

“I don’t know. There’s been no communications
between us and the town now since yesterday. I can’t get Chief Chapman on the
phone. No one’s answering their switchboard, either. So I have no idea what’s
going on there.” It occurred to him in that moment the hospital Ann was
supposed to be having her next treatments at was in town. The doctor that was
taking care of her was in town. Now how would his wife get the medical care she
needed? Just another glitch to nag at him. Dinosaurs were to blame…again.

 “Thank goodness Zeke and Wilma are safe in Idaho
with her friend. Heaven knows what’s happening in town. If it’s as bad as it is
here….” She was watching the windows. The grinding of chain saws, construction,
and men shouting was so loud it was hard to hear each other over it.

“Let’s hope it’s not as bad. That the National
Guard is there taking care of things. Defending the townsfolk.”

Ann said nothing.

Ranger Gillian came into the office and Henry gave
instructions on what he needed him to retrieve from their cabin. Collecting
Ellie’s cat and theirs. Ann made her list.

And Ranger Gillian left.

A short while later, outside, amid the construction
noise, they could hear a tank moving out. The engine a loud growl.

“Give me something to do, Henry. I’ll go crazy
sitting here twiddling my thumbs.”

“All right. You can help my rangers in any way you
can. Just don’t overextend yourself, you hear?”

She flashed him a look he knew all too well. “I
know, I know,” she carped. “Take it easy. Don’t forget I’m sick. How can I?”

The cries of a dinosaur shattered the morning and
both sprinted for the door and whatever awaited them beyond it. More chaos
probably.

The dinosaurs apparently weren’t waiting for
sundown to attack again. So much for that theory.

Chapter
12

Henry

The skirmish was a brief one. Dinosaurs shrieked, lobbed
lumps of stones and sticks and themselves against the outside of the building, desperate
to get to the humans. Soldiers shot them dead. After a bloodbath, what was left
of their numbers retreated into the forest and harassed the humans from a
distance, unseen but constantly heard. It was as if a boisterous zoo had moved
into the park and it wasn’t far away.

When the remainder of the dinosaurs escaped into
the forest the work on the stockade recommenced, but this time with more fervor
among the men, soldiers and rangers building it. Everyone who could saw wood,
swing a hammer or hold up a post was outside doing it. Even Ann helped as much
as she could, fetching things for the builders or bringing them water. Henry
kept an eye on her to be sure she didn’t overdo it, which she did anyway and by
mid-afternoon he had to shoo her inside.

Night was approaching and everyone feared what it
would bring. The previous assault had been a modest one, but by the sound of it
there were
so many more
of the denizens riling themselves up in the zoo.
Waiting to begin the next wave. Perhaps awaiting the night.

Henry was in the scorching sunshine with his
rangers, supervising and doing the work when McDowell stepped up to him. A train
of dark-rimmed clouds glided across the sun and shadows enveloped everything
but it didn’t help dampen the heat. It was miserable for everyone working so
strenuously out in it. But the stockade was coming along nicely if a little too
slow for his liking. It was half done. He wanted it completed, up, shielding
his wife and his people sooner than later. So he was working like a demon alongside
his men to get the job done. The heat sucked the energy out of his body and the
T-shirt he wore was soaked in perspiration. He was worn out, but if his men
could continue frantically working hour after hour in the searing sun, so could
he.

“We should take the initiative, now, and send tank
crews out to track the dinosaurs down and exterminate any they come across. Thin
the herd some,” Captain McDowell recommended. “That’s how you win a war. Go on
the offensive, not wait around for them to thin
our
herd. The tanks will
guarantee my soldiers’ safety.”

She didn’t need his permission, but was in his
jurisdiction, his park, and she respected that reality. That and she counted
him as a friend and had since the fight they’d shared in the helicopter against
the gargoyle dinosaurs.

“That’s an excellent idea, Captain. I and my men will
be doing the same thing as soon as headquarters is more secure. I’m planning
for it now.”

“I can also tell you the army is sending me more
soldiers, more weapons. They’ll be here within a hour.”

That caught Henry’s attention and he stopped
working to face her. “Why? I thought you said your superiors weren’t bulking up
your presence here? That what men and hardware you brought were all they could
spare?”

She hesitated then confessed, “There’s been a
new…development. I shouldn’t be telling you this but you’ll learn about it soon
enough–if you don’t already know.” She smiled that soldier’s smile of hers.
Enigmatic. Concealing secrets she had to conceal.

“I won’t tell anyone I heard it from you. What is
it?”

Still wavering, her grave eyes were on him. “Klamath
Falls has been overrun with the same monsters we’re fighting here. The large
ones. A nest of them. An army of them. The military moved into the town late
last night and the fighting has been brutal. There’s been many casualties
because the soldiers were ambushed coming into town; before they were ready.”

“I’m sorry.” And Henry was, but he could sense there
was something else she wasn’t disclosing. “And?”

She shifted from one foot to another, her stance
the usual military one she preferred, standing straight, hands hovering near
the gun belt around her waist.

“Klamath Falls isn’t the only location being
affected. Dinosaurs have been sighted in other nearby towns. Ashland. Medford.
Phoenix. All of them have reported strange, aggressive prehistoric-like
creatures infiltrating their borders, destroying property and attacking their
citizens.

“The government is trying to keep this quiet but
it’s only a matter of time before the information is out. Only a matter of time
before it’s splattered across the evening news and Internet. Too many people
have cameras in their cell phones. Have blogs. Facebook. They tweet. So far the
powers that be have the hysteria contained, but not for long. There’s been a
lot of human disappearances and deaths.”

So Justin had been right. The infection was
spreading. But this, this was too much. Rampaging dinosaurs in Ashland, Medford
and Phoenix. So close? And how many more townships and villages by tomorrow or
next week? Next month? Next year? Good God.

Henry felt very old and very tired. He’d been
preparing himself for this reality for months, years really, but now that it
was here, he felt lost. Unready. Lacking. The world was swiftly evolving into
something he didn’t recognize and wasn’t prepared for. Was this, then, to be
their future…combating monster-like anachronisms from another age on an everyday
basis? How terrified the people in the targeted towns must be. Poor humans.

“What’s being done about this?”

“Orders have been given. Troops have been dispatched.
Experts have been called in to brainstorm about what’s to be done. How best to
defeat the creatures. There’s just so many of them in so many places. I’ve been
notified the army has advanced into all three towns and are dealing with the influx.

“The war has begun.”

“Yes,” he agreed, “it surely has.”

Henry’s eyes traveled over the men laboring on the
barricade. Rangers and soldiers. Cutting trees and swinging hammers. Worried
faces. Courageous men. Sweating out in the sun and trying to beat the clock. Was
this what the rest of their lives were to be…building defenses and battling
dinosaurs? The previous six years had just been a long slow warm-up? Justin believed
it had been.

Early that morning before the latest clash with
their enemy his son-in-law had sat across from him at the conference table as
they were gulping down their cold breakfast. “It’s getting away from us, Henry.
Now we need to step up our game. Find a way to get more people into the fight.
It’s no longer a Crater Lake problem. It’s America’s. We need more help.”

“I guess we didn’t get rid of every last one of
those dinosaur eggs in the gargoyles’ nest last spring,” Henry had retorted.

“Or we didn’t destroy all Godzilla’s eggs years ago
in that cave.”

“Hmmm, that, too. We missed a whole mess of them
somewhere. Somehow.”

“Well, our bad and now we’re going to pay for it.”
Justin had been busy scribbling entries in his notebook. Keeping track of
everything as he always did. Always the scientist.

“How’s Laura doing?” Henry had finished his instant
coffee, because they were getting low on the real stuff and saving it for
suppertimes, and had stood up to go join his men building the fence. What with
the attacks, Justin hadn’t been able to go home as he’d wanted and the way
things were he wouldn’t be able to for a while longer. Or at least until they
had the dinosaur population leaned down. Even a tank could be stopped if it was
land locked by the great numbers of dinosaurs they’d been dealing with.

Justin missed his wife and child. Understandable. But
Henry was relieved his daughter and granddaughter where somewhere safer than
where they were. They were miles and miles away from Crater Lake, Klamath Falls,
Medford and Ashland. He prayed they’d stay safe as well and the dinosaur pestilence
hadn’t reached as far away as they were.

“I just talked to her on the phone. She’s fine. Phoebe’s
fine. The unborn baby’s fine. The little medical problem she was having seems
to have resolved itself, thank goodness. But she misses me. It’s been over a
week since we’ve seen each other.”

Henry had patted his son-in-law on the back.
“You’ll see them soon. Have faith.”

“I do. I’m just glad they’re not anywhere around
here. But I sure miss them.”

“I know, I know.” And Henry had felt sorry for him.
Ann had been in the next room but Justin was apart from the people he loved the
most. With a new baby coming it couldn’t be easy for his wife or for him.

The two men headed outside to continue building the
fence.

*****

Henry worked through the whole day and when he
checked in on Ann in the evening, she was up and about again busy helping get
food out on the tables for the men. Nothing could make her sit still when so
much needed to be done. That was his Ann.

“How you feeling, honey?”

“Not bad under the circumstances. A little weary. I
miss our home and all the comforts of it. I miss my cat.”

“So do I. To all of that.”

“After the festivities last night,” she said sarcastically,
“I hope it’s still there.”

“As I do. We’ll find out soon enough when Ranger Gillian
returns from his errands. Should be any time now. The tank and its crew left
early this morning. McDowell mentioned her men were going to do some scouting
before they returned here. Going to see what’s out there.”

“Going to check out the zoo you mean?”

Henry had told Ann about the noises beyond the
compound.

“Yep, the zoo. They’re gonna sneak up on where they
think it is and see what we’re up against. How many of the creatures are
nesting out there and exactly where. Come back with the info.”

“That should be interesting.” Ann gifted him with one
of her lop-sided grins. “I hope Gillian brings the cats and all the stuff I had
on the list back with him. I’m having him bring out our air mattresses, the
good ones? Along with our bed clothes. I’m going to put them in your office so
we’ll have a cozy place to sleep.”

“You’re turning my office into our very own little sleeping
refuge, huh? Our boudoir. Complete with plush accessories and tiny furry
companions?”

“Or as close as I can get it to be a cozy sanctuary.
I’m also going to manage the newspaper from here. Vanessa and Jacob are going
to help. I’ve already telephoned both of them and told them what was going on. I
don’t think Jacob believed me…about the dinosaur invasion and all. He hasn’t
seen any yet. He lives on the other side of town more out in the country. But
Vanessa, apparently, who lives in town, was in the middle of that last dinosaur
intrusion and saw them. She believes. Though she told me she might be leaving
her rental house and going to a friend’s place further out if things get any
worse. So I’ll work from your office for now. Since all I need is my laptop and
the Internet.”

“Good. We could be here for a while.” He didn’t
tell her that
sure, Jacob and Vanessa might help you run the newspaper…if
the newspaper is still even there…if Jacob and Vanessa can stay unharmed and alive.
And keep working.
Since McDowell told him what she’d told him, he wasn’t
sure any part of Klamath Falls would be safe for very much longer or any of the
surrounding townships. Though he couldn’t bring himself to say any of that to Ann.
Not now. Not yet. He’d have to find a good time to tell her. Later.

“I know we could be here a while. It’s all right,
as long as we are together. I’ll make do.” Ann started to leave the room and
Henry stopped her, snagging her arm.

“I wanted to let you know I’m joining the tank
expedition tomorrow–if they locate where the zoo is today. The stockade is
coming along, it’s almost completed, and McDowell asked me if I’d like to go on
the first dinosaur hunt.”

Ann’s eyes clouded. “Do you have to go?”

“Ann–”

“I know, I know.” She shook her head and gave him an
apologetic look and patted his arm comfortingly. “It was only a momentary
lapse. I know you have to go. It’s your job to protect the park and the people
in it and get rid of this threat.”

“I’ll be careful, you know I will. I’ll be absolutely
safe in the tank’s belly with a cannon and a machine gun above me; oodles of
weapons inside. Surrounded by the army’s finest. It’d take a more formidable
foe to waylay us than what we’ve seen so far.”

She met his eyes and hers were dead serious. “And
that foe could be out there waiting for you. An even bigger and badder version
of what we’ve already seen. A version that even a tank can’t fight against.”

A strange sensation, the hint of a premonition, crawled
across Henry’s skin but he shrugged it off. “I have to go. The park needs to be
rid of these invaders sooner the better and outside of Justin I have the most
experience fighting them. Besides, there is no creature, no matter how mean and
how big, that one of those Abrams can’t blow to hell.”

“Or so you hope.”

“Or so I hope,” he repeated with sincerity.

Before the sun set the tank with Gillian rolled
back into headquarters filled with everything Ann had put on her list and two
meowing, yowling fur balls in cat carriers.