Escape From Dinosauria (Dinopocalypse Book 1) (20 page)

Now, it was her job.

Jamie fell to her knees and rested her head in his lap. She didn’t care about the smell, or the maggots, or the dried blood. All she wanted was for a chance to tell him she forgave him, to tell him it wasn’t his fault, that she loved him, that he meant the world to her.

Instead, she cried to his corpse.

8

Kenshin thought about drawing his sword.

The cage fighter wept over her dead boyfriend, and Doctor Israel stood awkwardly, scratching at his bandaged face and probably wondering if there was an inappropriate remark that could bail him out of the moment.

Time had been wasted. The woman recovered her medal, and any second, she was going to connect Jordan’s death to Kenshin.

Only one thing might be able to salvage this: the truth.

“I remember the day Tanaka’s mother died,” Kenshin said. “Cancer took her life. The same cancer that killed both Tanaka’s grandparents.”

Red-eyed and scowling, Jamie looked at him.

“The poison was in my father’s blood, too. Tanaka’s family had come to America because they had invested heavily in new medicines that were supposed to help cure cancer. His family was wealthy, had always been wealthy. His family wanted to oversee some of their investments. One of the new medicines was a developmental project called Barrier 5.”

“Oh, fuck,” Doctor Israel said.

“Several people had volunteered to try Barrier 5. There was evidence to suggest that it was going to work, but it did not. Tanaka’s mother died with Barrier 5 in her blood.”

The cage fighter stood and cracked her neck, then her knuckles.

Kenshin turned his back to her. “I was poor. My family was poor. But Tanaka and I were friends, and we protected each other. He was an intelligent business man, and I could…I could protect him. His family provided me with an education. The sword that I wear is a gift Tanaka gave to me. As long as I vowed to protect him, he would find the cure for cancer.”

He looked out the window at the damaged resort. He knew what Jamie felt now, and he knew his reaction would have been similar to hers. There were only seconds left to him now, and he had to share Tanaka’s dream. There was only one way it could live on.

Images—memories—flashed before him: at Tanaka’s side in the hospital when his mother died; when Tanaka handed him the custom, hand-forged katana; board meeting after board meeting, handshake after handshake.

“We were misled,” Kenshin said. “Blinded by our ambition, we were able to invest in Doctor Israel’s biotech project. Genetic perfection…we thought it was possible. We believed it was possible. The dragons were just a part of it.”

Jamie Rock’s voice cut deeply into him. “
You
were misled? The only reason why I’m standing here is because you figured I could protect the kid better than Jordan could. You could only bring one person back, and you gambled. Now I’m all sorts of fucked up, and you want to talk about how dinosaurs were going to bring about world peace?”

Kenshin turned to her. “I did not say world peace.”

“Jordan is dead!” The veins on Ms. Rock’s neck bulged. Any reason that could have existed inside of her mind was being overcome by the primal instincts Doctor Israel had enhanced to keep her alive. “A lot of people are dead because of this bullshit! You want me to feel sorry for you?”

Once more, he thought about placing his hand on the sword and drawing it, but he knew it would be a mistake. He had managed to bring Doctor Israel this far, and Ms. Rock was going to do the right thing.

He believed.

When the cage fighter charged forward, he was able to finally admire her capoeira skills, if only for a moment. He had studied film on her before she came to the island and found her talents to be remarkable; now, she moved in a blur toward his left, then quickly dropped to her side and planted her right hand on the floor. She kicked her right leg out and nailed him in the stomach, then, in one fluid motion, swung her left leg beneath her and swept Kenshin clean off his feet. Before he hit the floor, Ms. Rock’s body continued to flow through a series of motions; while sweeping him, the momentum from her left leg spun her halfway around until she planted her left hand on the floor and kicked her legs up and over, launching both her feet into his chest as he dropped from the sweep. Air was knocked from his lungs and the force of her blow pushed him far across the room into the bed.

It was likely that an untrained eye would not have seen her movements.

He had to admire her now, because he could not breathe. Blood sputtered from his lips and he tried to cough through his crushed lungs.

Ms. Rock was on her feet and bouncing on her heels and toes, her body lowered and her eyes focused.

Even if he had tried, he might not have been able to defeat her.

There was only one thing he could do.

He struggled to his feet. He had never felt such immense pain. Not since he learned that Tanaka had subscribed to the lies they had always feared would catch up to them; his soul had been wounded then, and now his body was irreparably damaged.

Kenshin tried to say his friend’s name.

He tried to draw the sword and it slipped from his fingers.

And then Ms. Rock kicked him in the chest again. This time, he felt the bones in his body shatter along with the glass that followed him out the window.

9

Jamie stood in front of the broken window. Her vision had filled with blood-red rage, and no amount of discipline had been able to override the song of violence that sang between her ears.

But then, she stopped.

The fight was over.

Her opponent was down. K.O.’d.

One bit of discipline stopped her from going through the window with Kenshin so she could continue to kick his ass. When an opponent was beat—when the bell was sounded—the fight was over. It was time to remember to be human again.

She had killed Kenshin. Just like that.

And she felt nothing. No remorse. She didn’t even know if the bastard deserved it.

His sword lay on the floor. She picked it up and tossed it out the window after the man who had lived by its code. She had come here for her medal, and he could have his sword. It only seemed fair.

“Jesus Christ,” Izzy said.

He was cowering behind the bed, head peeking over the disheveled covers that were blanketed in dust.

“You have the codes,” she said.

“Yeah. Fuck yeah, I have the codes.”

“And you’re going to get this shit out of me.”

“Yeah. Whatever you want. Shit. Just don’t…just don’t throw me out the window.”

Jamie took one last look around the room. She looked at Jordan’s corpse one more time, and wondered if he would be happy with her actions.

10

Izzy didn’t weigh much. She carried him through the ruins and back into the jungle. She decided it was best to stay off the road and push through the wild; she wasn’t worried about dinosaurs, especially since she had managed to kill a
T. rex
with her hands and a fossilized rib bone. If something wanted to fuck with her, then she would gladly destroy it. The scientist was on her shoulders and clung to her for dear life as she raced through the jungle, nimbly leaping over logs, boulders, and tree branches. They should have moved like this in the first place.

Thankfully, Izzy did not try to talk about Kenshin. She had no idea how much exactly the man had meant to him, and it made no difference now. Kenshin had used them both for as long as he could to ensure his friend’s “dream” could become reality. Kenshin would have sacrificed a million people if he knew he could save two million.

The long day was almost over. A touch of pink scarred the blue sky above the canopy and the branches swayed with more frequency. Fresh air filled Jamie’s lungs as she danced through the brush. With her natural agility and rhythm, it felt good to move swiftly through the wild.

She could get used to being a mutant.

A shock of dizziness and a loud pierce punched her between the eyes. She tumbled forward and dropped Doctor Israel into the brush. He cursed loudly and fired off some smart remark, but she couldn’t hear him through the piercing waves that reverberated behind her eyes. She slammed her palms against her temples and tried to stand.

Blood. The smell nearly overwhelmed her, and she remembered the huge millipede that had attacked Izzy. The sound of rushing water flooded her ear drums as if someone had turned up the volume full blast on some environmental effects played through a shitty pair of Wal-Mart brand speakers.

Ahead of her was a bridge composed of a huge, ancient tree. A river flowed quickly beneath it, frothing over rocks and lapping against the shore.

Doctor Israel stood over her. She could see his mouth move, but no words came out.

“What?” she asked through her teeth.

“Do you hear that?” he said, though she only figured it out because she read his lips.

“The river?”

“No. The chanting.”

“Huh?”

He moved his lips slowly. “Chant-ing.”

She shook her head to clear out the river’s noise. Why did she smell blood and not water? Warmth ballooned into her stomach again, but this time it was accompanied by a sharp pain in her side.

Hunger.

She looked at Doctor Israel and stood. He took two steps back slowly, his hands up. Jamie watched his lips move words she could not hear.

“Hey. Listen. It’s me. Your favorite black scientist. Unless you’re a fan of Ben Carson. In which case, I suppose we’re both fucked.”

Jamie shook her head back and forth again. More than anything, she wanted to eat. She needed to just forget it. She was like a zombie; food was all she could think about. Food kept her moving.

Forget Jordan or Kenshin. Forget an island full of dinosaurs. She needed to
eat.

Doctor Israel shot a look over his shoulder. He mouthed the word “fuck” and continued to back up. He dropped his pack and began to weigh his chances. If he ran, she was going to get him. Gobble him up.
Feed.

Someone turned the water off.

There were people on the other side of the bridge. They walked forward, and Jamie could hear them chanting. The warmth and pain in her stomach remained, but she could focus on something else besides Izzy.

“Get out of the way,” she told the scientist. She knew what she was going to do, and she couldn’t stop herself.

Wearing white robes stained with dirt, about a dozen people shuffled onto the bridge in their bare feet. They seemed to ignore Jamie altogether, instead preferring to sing to a looming shape that tromped onto the bridge behind them.

“Ah, shit,” Doctor Israel said. “Izanami.”

“What?” Jamie asked.

“Tanaka’s old lady. Uh, good fuckin’ luck with that. Peace.” He slowly lowered himself over the side of the tree-bridge and dropped out of sight.

Tanaka had shitty taste in women.

Long, reptilian neck. Swaying, baggy breasts drooping from her chest. Sharp spikes running from the tip of her nose and down her back, all the way to the end of her whip-like tail. Short, thin arms nearly tucked against her chest. Huge, clumsy feet. Izanami could have been Barney the Dinosaur’s sister. Besides the massive tits, there was nothing human about her.

Until she opened her mouth and a woman’s voice emanated through rows of deadly teeth.

“Is that Jamie Rock?” the creature asked, her voice corrupted by a rough gurgling sound. “
The
Jamie Rock?”

The singers stopped.

“Depends on if you’re buying,” Jamie said. “Domestic beers, only. I’ll need a few of them to get over how ugly you are.”

The creature threw its massive head back and laughed a deep, throaty laugh.
Dragons,
Kenshin had called these things.

“When I heard you were coming, I really wanted to take a picture with you,” Izanami said. “I was forced to change my mind after that idiot kid ruined me.”

From below the bridge, Doctor Israel gave his position away. “You’re the one who wanted
maximum
dosages!”

Izanami clapped her awkward dinosaur hands together, and her robed attendants dropped to their knees and bowed their heads.

“Why did you have to insult me?” Izanami asked. “All I want is a chance to eat the doc’s face. You can have whatever’s left of him when I’m done, I promise.”

“You
asked
to look like that?” Jamie said.

The creature’s voice became serious. “No. I did not
ask
to look like this. But you can bet there are thousands of people out there now, maybe even millions, who want to meet me in the flesh.”

Jamie could only guess what that meant. “I really don’t care. You’re in my way. Could you please move?”

“You’re asking me nicely?”