Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (7 page)

It scowled at her, lifted its angular head; opened
its mouth and made a noise like she’d never heard before. A kind of hissing snarl
loud enough for her to hear through the closed car windows. The dinosaur might
be small, but it had rows and rows of really sharp teeth. Like a piranha.

Then, in one swift movement it jumped onto the
car’s hood, hopped up to the windshield and throwing itself at it, tried to get
at her, claws raking and teeth biting at the glass. The look on its wizened
face one of frustration when it encountered the clear barrier. Cheeky little
bastard.

“What the–!” was all she could get out before her
eyes caught more movement on the sides of the vehicle. “Oh God…more?” By then
she’d stopped rummaging in her purse for her phone.

A herd of the things were swarming around her car,
jumping on it and trying to get to her like she was some sardine morsel tucked
into a can. But they were small and so were their claws and mouths and they
couldn’t break through. There were so many, though, so quickly, the car began
to rock. The suddenness of the attack took her off guard and she screamed. That
seemed to make them even more belligerent, hearing and seeing her fear. Their
claws scratched, gouged, and ripped at the hood and roof.

And, turning to glance over her shoulder she
thought she saw more of the monsters rushing out at her from the woods. An army
of them. Oh, my.

Time to get out of here,
her inner voice yelled.
Now!

“Get off my car, you vicious gremlins,” she cried.
“I’m leaving.”

She rammed down the accelerator, the car lurched
and sped down the road. She purposely jerked the wheel violently to the left
and then to the right. Stopped as quickly as she could and then stomped down on
the accelerator again and again. The car jumped and bucked. From the squealing
and scratching sounds above her she could tell she’d lost most of her primeval parasites.
In the rear view mirror she saw a bunch of them falling to the ground behind
her. Instead of chasing her, though, they fled off into the trees. Cowards. Good
riddance.

She didn’t stop. She drove right through the unbarred
exit at the highest speed she could manage, turned off on and headed down the
highway. She was pretty sure she’d lost all her unwanted passengers, but she
wasn’t taking any chances. After about five miles, she pulled over and, saying
a quick prayer, opened a window and stuck her head out to see if she was alone.
She was. No little gremlins anywhere. She closed the window.

She laid her head on the steering wheel and took
deep breaths. That’d been close. Close to what, she wasn’t sure. Would they
have bitten, mauled or eaten her if they’d somehow gotten inside? She was so
glad she hadn’t found out. They hadn’t been large, as dinosaurs go, but, whoa,
those teeth had been needle sharp. Those eyes, voracious.

She finally located her cell phone in her purse, it
has slid into a side pocket, and called Henry, but on the other end all it did
was ring and ring. If they were on the lake, as they were supposed to be, they
might be in a dead spot where the phones wouldn’t work. She left an urgent
message telling him what had occurred and warning him that, yes, as he’d
feared, his cat-eating dinosaurs ran in packs. And attacked humans. In cars.
But, yes, she was okay. She didn’t dare tell him why she was out in a car after
he’d asked her to stay in the cabin. She’d explain that to him later, face to
face. And perhaps he wouldn’t get mad at her. Well, except for the scratches
her car must have on the roof and hood.

Her inner voice told her to turn around and return to
the cabin, but then she’d run into that pack of little terrors again. Something
inside her cringed. She decided it was safer to go on. Get out of the park for
now. Hopefully by the time she returned, the agitated horde would be gone,
moved on to another site. To be sure, on her return trip, she’d drive through a
different entrance.

She started the car and got back on the highway, praying
her scratching hissing hitchhikers would remain somewhere behind her. Her hands
on the wheel were still shaking.

She couldn’t get the thought out of her head how
close her attackers had been to the exit. On the fringe of the park’s lands.
Had they already left it? Were they bopping down the roadways and highways
exploring the territory? Gone into the neighboring towns yet? Trying to eat
domesticated pets and…people? Should she call the police or something? No, the
creatures were still contained in the park and Henry was taking care of that.
And what could the police do anyway? Not much.

As Henry would say,
damn dinosaurs
.

A short while later she was pulling up in front of the
Klamath Fall’s IGA. She dashed into the store and got the stuff on Zeke’s list
and dashed back out. She checked her car. There were scratches and puncture
marks across the hood and roof. Darn. She’d need some body work and a new paint
job done. What would that cost?

Nothing seemed any different as she traveled
through the town. It was an ordinary summer’s day. Heat waves churned across
the asphalt and over the brown grass of the front yards and the hum of air
conditioners were everywhere. People were walking and driving here and there,
going about their daily tasks as if nothing was wrong in the world. Lucky them
for believing that.

She didn’t see one dinosaur, of any size or variety,
anywhere, thank goodness. Miles away from danger, Klamath Falls was still untouched.

Then she was parking in front of Zeke’s house.
Before she lugged in the groceries she tried Henry’s cell again. No luck. No
answer. She even tried Justin’s phone. Again no one answered and she felt a jab
of concern. She hoped they were okay. After what she’d gone through, she had an
uneasy feeling perhaps they, too, had had a run in with something dinosaur. Dropping
the cell into her purse, she’d try to reach them again later. Her nerves were
still jangled, her stomach upset from the hostile encounter.

Zeke didn’t answer the door right away and, worried,
she was about to get out the extra key he’d given her and let herself in, when
he opened the door.

“Zeke,” she said, balancing the bags of stuff in
her arms, “you look dreadful.”

“Thanks, nice to see you, too,” the old man griped
as he stood out of the way to let her in.

Inside, he followed her, stumbling slightly, to the
kitchen where she put the groceries away. “Sit down,” she told him. “Before you
fall down.”

Zeke slumped in a chair and watched her stuffing
items in his cabinets. She noticed the kitchen needed a good cleaning. There
was dust over everything. Dirty dishes in the sink. Overflowing trash can in
the corner. She’d tidy things up before she left. She knew she’d be telling
Zeke about the random dinosaur ambush but wasn’t sure when to broach the
subject or how. Zeke, slow moving and thinking, didn’t seem himself.

She couldn’t get over how frail her friend looked.
Like a twig could knock him over. His eyes tired and his face slack. He’d lost
more weight and his clothes hung on him. His expression bland. Life, she
thought. He was tired of life. She could almost sympathize.

“How’s your back?” she asked.

“Same as usual. Old. It creaks and groans when I
make it carry my body from one place to another. Lately,” his voice as feeble
as he looked, “it doesn’t always want to carry me anywhere. Spend half my time
lounging around in bed like some lazy lay-about or something. Since I let you
in, it’s been behaving.” His brave smile was heartbreaking.

“Have you been to the doctor yet?” It felt odd
asking him something she’d been asking herself so often lately. Kind of ironic.

“Sure. Many times. He says I’m decrepitly old and
not to take out a long term loan on anything.”

 “Is there something you should be telling me?’

“No.” He sighed. “Nothing I want to tell you.”

“Zeke–” Frustrating man. Of course, most men were.

“Ann, mind your elders now and stop pestering me
about things I don’t want to talk about. Not now anyway. I’ll let you know
when.

“So,” he pried, changing the subject, “you going to
let me in on what’s going on now in the park? You said you would. I’ve been
dying of curiosity. Don’t make an old man wait like this. Bad for my heart.”

“Your heart is the strongest thing about you, old
man.”

“Well?”

Here goes. And, without preamble, she disclosed
everything. The dinosaurs spotted in the lake, the cat-craving dinosaur in the
woods behind their house and the herd of them that had attacked her as she
exited the park. What it might all mean.

“I couldn’t believe it when they jumped on the car,
tried to get at me like that. And there were so many of them,” she murmured
softly after she’d made them cups of coffee, and settled in a chair next to him.
“Vicious little boogers.

“For a while there I was terrified they’d get in.
Get me. Or follow me from the park.”

“But they didn’t.”

“No,” she said, “as far as I could see, they
didn’t.”

“You say Henry’s shut down the lake area and now
the park again?”

“He had to.”

“Where’s all this going to end,” Zeke brooded out
loud. His eyes went to the window above the sink. A tiny gray squirrel was
sitting there peering in at them. Tiny paws hugged close to its chest. Cute
petite face with begging eyes. Big fat fluffy tail, bigger than the squirrel
itself. Probably one of Zeke’s little yard squirrels. So tame, he’d told her,
they ate out of his hand sometimes. Some even came to the window to beg. This
must be one of them.

“Don’t know. But, where ever it’s going won’t be
good.”

“Henry calling the army in again?”

“He’s thinking about it. Him and Justin are out on
the lake right now dinosaur hunting. Seeing what they’re up against, if
anything. I imagine I’ll know more tonight when he gets home.”

“Hmm. You’ll let me know what’s happening, won’t
you?”

“Of course. Don’t I always?”

He was just looking at her in an attentive way, the
hand picking up his coffee cup trembled. He must suspect she had something else
on her mind.

Well, no time like the present to drop the bomb,
she thought. “Zeke, I do have something else I wanted to talk to you about. You
got some time?”

“Oh, I always have time for you. What’s bothering
you, Ann?”

In as calm a voice as she could muster, she spoke
of her desire to sell the newspaper and retire. And her old boss, and previous
owner of the Klamath Falls Journal, surprised her. With a supportive smile when
she was finished, he said, “If that’s what you want. If you’re sure. I say go
for it. Life is too short to not do what you really want to do. Take it from an
old codger who now reflects on his life and wishes–desperately–he would have
taken off more time from work to…live. Enjoy life more. Ha, I waited too long.
Worked too hard. My family suffered and now I’m suffering. I retired too late
and now, look at me, I’m a sick old man no good for nothing. Can’t travel or enjoy
the time I have left because my mind and body’s plumb worn out. No, girlie, you
retire now and do what you want. Have some fun. Spend time with your husband
and kids, that new grandbaby when it arrives, while you can.

“I’d do anything to time travel twenty years back and
do the same. Work should never be a person’s whole life. Now it’s too late.” He
stared out the window at the sunny day. The squirrel had scampered off.
Probably looking for nuts somewhere. “And after that scare last year with your
cancer, I don’t blame you one iota for wanting to retire. So go for it, I say.”

“Oh, Zeke, I’m relieved you feel this way. I was
afraid to tell you of my decision about selling the paper. I know it’s been
your baby all these years.”

“Babies grow up, Ann, and sometimes they’re not
what you were expecting them to become. It’s time. The day of the print papers
are about over. The Internet is making them extinct. Sell while you can; get
what you can. Go off and do what you want to do. Be happy.”

She gave him a hug. He was so dear to her. If she
retired she’d have more time for him, as well.

“You know, I might be able to help you sell the old
place,” he declared. “Over the years I had an offer or two for it. The owners
of the other major newspapers in town approached me right before I handed it
over to you. One of them would gladly take it off your hands for a fair price.
I’ll give them a call for you and let you know.”

“Thank you, Zeke, that would be so good of you.
Sooner the better. Now I’ve decided to retire I can’t wait to start my new
life. I can’t even bear to go into the newspaper today. So I’m not. Suddenly,
none of it seems to matter anymore.”

Zeke’s glance was intense. “Anything else you want
to tell me?”

She hesitated and she knew he caught it. “No,” she lied.

“You sure? I can keep a secret if a secret is what
you want it to be.”

She shook her head. “Still no. You were right, though,
the cancer scare last year is why I’m reassessing my life. That and all these
new dinosaurs in the park.” She met his gaze. “I’m going to write about them
and sell the stories to any newspaper that wants to run them. Might make some more
money with it. That and whatever I get from the newspaper’s sale, and our
savings, will tide us over until I can collect social security.”