Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (35 page)

But so far not a trace of any ancient reptiles lurked
anywhere. Strange. So okay, where were all the people and where were all the
monsters? Unease rippled beneath Henry’s nerves. It was as if he could feel the
creatures out there somewhere. Were they smart enough to elude them…were they
hiding…were there any left in town at all? Captain Harvey maintained there
were. Hmmm.

What a picture it must make if there were anyone in
Zeke’s house, three tanks roaring up to the curb and a stream of soldiers,
heavily armed, scrambling out and sprinting towards it. The house looked empty.
The murky windows had nothing moving behind them. It was daytime so if lights
were on in the house they wouldn’t be visible. It was hard to tell if anyone
was inside.

Henry led the men to the front door. He knocked
loudly with the butt of his MP7. Knocked again and again. He was about to give
up and kick the door in when it cracked open and Zeke’s grizzled face peeped
out at them. There was a bruise and bloody cuts on his left cheek. A nasty purple
scrape on his lower face. At first, his expression was confused, frightened,
and then the big grin came.

“Oh, my God, it’s Henry! Am I glad to see you!
Wilma, come out here. It’s Henry!”

Then Wilma was peeking out as well. The door opened
wider. She also had cuts and bruises on her face and she held her right arm carefully
close to her side as if there were something wrong with it.

And out came the old man. He hugged Henry like a
long lost son, so excited to see him. Henry had no choice but to hug him back.

“What are you doing here, Henry?” He looked behind
the ranger and seeing Justin, Steven and McDowell, waved at them. Justin waved
in return.

“What do you think? We’ve come searching for you
both. Ann found out you and Wilma had escaped from Rosie’s and were coming back
here. A really stupid move if you ask me. You actually believe we’d let you
stay in a house surrounded by a town under siege by giant dinosaurs? A town
evacuated because of the dangers? Not on your life. Ann’s been a nervous wreck
worrying over you two. And you know I can’t let Ann worry more than she already
does.”
Not with the cancer back, she worries enough
, he almost said out
loud, but didn’t. Zeke didn’t know Ann was sick again and no need to lay that
on him now.

“I had to come home,” Zeke, who looked as if he’d
aged another twenty-years since Henry had last seen him, explained. “I had to
find
little boy
. He can’t survive without me. He needs me. He’s just a
baby.” The old man’s eyes were rheumy, his movements jittery. Easy to see he
was distressed over something or he was ill.

“Well, has
little boy
shown up yet?”

Zeke’s tone bereft, his voice fell to barely a
whisper. “No, he hasn’t. But it’s not been long enough–”

“Zeke, you know he can’t make it all the way back
here. One itsy-bitsy squirrel. It is too far. I am sorry. Most likely he’s joined
up with other squirrels out in the forest somewhere in Idaho. He’s safe with
others of his kind. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know. But I didn’t just return for
little boy
,”
Zeke inserted. “I needed to see if my house was still standing. Collect my
important papers I forgot to take with me. Memories of a lifetime. Everything I
own in the world is here. I had to come back. That’s what me and Wilma have
been doing. Stashing our important papers and memories down in the basement in
a safe I have.”

“That’s good then. Your memories are protected. But
now you and Wilma have to go. It’s still not safe. When did you get into town?”

“This morning.” Zeke was trembling. He swayed and Henry
steadied him.

Henry knew what was wrong then. “You and Wilma had
trouble on the way in, didn’t you?”

The older man’s eyes shifted as he stared around.
He seemed reluctant to answer, but did after a leaden pause, his eyes closing
for a moment. “About five miles outside of town we were chased by some of the
biggest dang monstrosities I’ve ever seen, bigger than the one that chased us
here in town before we left. They nearly caught us but caused us to wreck the
car. Thank goodness we weren’t hurt that badly. Scratches, bumps and aches
mainly. We barely escaped and had to hike in, sneaky-like. That hike was hard
for me and Wilma. Old bones, you know. We had to hide from dinosaurs once or
twice. Took us half the night to get here. We’re pooped.

“Goodness gracious, are those damn creatures
everywhere now? I…think I might even have seen some in the woods along the
Idaho border. Not sure. We did not stick around to find out. Lordy, lordy, what
has happened to the world?”

Henry didn’t mince words after that. “You and Wilma
are coming with us. Klamath Falls is a ghost town right now. Most of your
neighbors are either dead, missing or have fled town. We have secured park headquarters
where we’re all living until the infestation is contained and there is room
there for you and Wilma until things get better. Come on, I will escort you both
to your ride.”

Zeke looked towards the curb and his eyes grew wide.

“Tanks, huh? Never been in one of those big boys
before.”

“Well, now you will. You or Wilma need to bring
anything with you?” He directed the question to both old people. “We don’t have
much room in the tanks but we can squeeze some necessities in for you if you
want to bring them.”

“Just clothes and personal items. We left what we
brought from Rosie’s in the wrecked car, but we have spares of everything we
lost here. We’ll go and pack them up in a jiffy and be right out.”

“As long as it’s quick.” Henry pivoted around, his gun
firm in his arms, and his eyes met Justin’s before they swept over the
neighborhood. He didn’t trust the calmness. The lack of noise. His skin
tingled. Something was out there. Something was watching and waiting. Coming.

The old folks reemerged with suitcases and a bag
each and Justin and Henry ushered them to the second tank where they were pulled
up and helped into the interior. Their suitcases and bags were divided between
McDowell’s two tanks and then all of them set off.

Henry had accomplished his mission and was anxious
to return to headquarters and Ann. But there were other things he had to do
before they left town.

Ann had asked him to check on something for her.
Two somethings really.

He provided directions to his driver and the tanks rumbled
through town and halted in front of the Klamath Falls Journal.

 The building wasn’t there. All that remained of it
and the others around it were mounds of bricks, concrete chunks, glass and
broken dreams. He hoped her insurance policy was up to date. Now Henry knew why
Ann couldn’t contact any of its phones. And the reporters? Heaven knew where
they were. If they had been fortunate, they’d escaped town before the
destruction. But sadly, Henry didn’t think that was what had happened. Ann hadn’t
been able to reach them on their home or cell phones either and still couldn’t.
It was as if they’d just disappeared. This was really going to distress her.
Her whole business was gone. And after all the money she’d spent redecorating,
updating, and on new computers. This loss was going to hit her hard. But
nothing compared to the loss she felt over her missing reporters. Ann still had
hope they’d call or show up one day, but Henry didn’t.

“One last stop before we return to home base,”
Henry informed McDowell.

Unless they bumped into dinosaurs on the way, then he’d
be fighting them with her and Captain Harvey.

“Where this time, Chief Ranger?” McDowell inquired.

“Mercy Hospital on Third Street. We keep going
straight on Main and in about seven miles we make a left. The hospital is on
the right at the top of the hill. My wife’s doctor has an office there and
since she hasn’t been able to reach her, I told her I’d check on her as well.”

The journey to the hospital mimicked the journey so
far. Destruction and ruins everywhere. No people. Not even stray dogs and cats.
No dinosaurs.

The absence of life anywhere of any kind and of threats
were beginning to spook Henry. Captain Harvey swore the town was rife with
prehistoric beasts but, so far, he hadn’t seen one. Why?

The hospital was there, untouched. But empty. All
the humans had left the premises. Henry, Justin and Steven walked briskly through
the dim hallways and up to the door of Doctor William’s’ office. It was locked.
No one was there. The building and offices all seemed vacant. Some doors were
even unlocked. It looked as if everyone had left in a hurry.

More absent people.

They reassembled at the police station and Henry
saw Justin and Steven off on their way. Since they were going in the opposite
direction Zeke and Wilma had come from that morning they were fairly sure
they’d be safe, or as safe as anyone could be anywhere these days.

And Justin was steadfast in his desire to get home
and Henry, as unsure as he was about the young man going, also knew Laura and
Phoebe needed him. He’d been gone too long already. But Henry did see to it that
the two travelers had enough weapons to protect themselves if need be. It was
the least he could do.

“Tell our daughter and granddaughter we miss them
and we’ll see them soon, I promise,” Henry told his son-in-law.

“I will tell them,” Justin said.

“And be careful out there, you two. Just because we
haven’t seen any monsters lately doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.”

“How well we know that.”

“Call me when you get there, Justin. So Ann and I
don’t worry.”

“I will.”

Justin and Steven said their goodbyes to everyone
and got into the station wagon.

Henry watched as they drove off down the empty
street through a desolate town.

Am I doing the right thing…letting them go
unescorted into the reptilian wilderness? What if they run into some of those
over-sized mutant T-Rexes? Well
,
they’ve been surprised by them once before and they did just fine. Escaped
without a scratch. Of course, they were rescued by a tank…
.

He had to stop worrying about it. Justin wouldn’t
have been deterred from going home no matter what Henry had said. The young man
was tenacious. He knew what he was doing and how to handle himself when
dinosaurs attacked. He wanted to be with his wife and child in the worst way and
Henry understood that well enough. He would have done the same thing if in
Justin’s place.

“Now what, Captain?” Henry, with McDowell, stood
outside the police station by one of the Abrams after seeing Zeke and Wilma
inside for something to eat and drink. Of course Zeke’s house, as usual, had
been foodless. Captain Harvey was in the station conferring with his soldiers.
The sun was high in the sky but the air was cold. Freezing really. Henry was
sure he smelled snow. Coming soon. Just what they needed, on top of an abnormally
hot summer now they’d have an early winter.

“Captain Harvey and his men are going out to track
that rogue dinosaur herd–he knows they’re out there somewhere and he’s resolved
to rid the town of them–and he has requested I accompany him. You’re welcome to
join us.” She gave him a smile. “We could use the help. And once we have made
sure the town is empty of any unwanted predators we’ll transport you and your
friends back to park headquarters.”

“Of course I’ll ride along.” Henry knew as soon as they
handled that problem they could return to the park and the sooner the better.
He didn’t care for leaving his people and Ann alone too long, even though there
were soldiers and rangers to protect them if the dinosaurs decided to make
another appearance. But he’d still feel better once they were back there.

But the hunt did not turn up the results they’d anticipated.
Though they took three tanks through town and searched the residential areas, the
businesses and the bordering woods, there were no unusual creature sightings.

They did come across various residents who’d
decided not to run away. An elderly married couple who had nowhere else to go.
They were hiding in their basement and the husband came running out as the
tanks went by. They were warned there could still be danger, but opted to stay.
The man claimed his wife was sickly and he had to care for and stay with her. All
the intricate medical equipment and supplies they needed were in the house.
They couldn’t leave.

They also discovered a few families that also wouldn’t
leave. Captain Harvey gave them all the same speech he had given the elderly
couple but they, too, insisted on remaining. Since they had weapons and
basements and had already gotten through the worst, they were allowed to stay
in their homes. At least, as Henry had at first thought, Klamath Falls wasn’t a
complete ghost town.

But they didn’t encounter any dinosaurs. And for
that Henry was grateful. He wanted to go home to Ann.

The day was well along when the tanks wheeled into
the police station’s parking lot.

“You and your soldiers have done your jobs
extremely well, Captain,” McDowell spoke to Harvey when they got to the missing
chief’s office. “Looks like the town is liberated from its enemy.”