Trapped in Time-Extinction (7 page)

The Spinosaurus didn’t even pause as it continued moving toward them. “Oh Crap!”

Olivia looked at Tyler, “What?!”

“This one is a rogue and doesn’t recognize the whistle! Run!” Tyler grabbed her hand and pulled her. The roar was deafening and the giant was moving quickly toward them. It wasn’t as fast as the T-Rex but it wasn’t slow. Its smooth gait was eating up ground and it was going to be on them in moments. Tyler came to a sudden stop and grabbed Olivia, preventing her from falling. Destroyer Warriors were scrambling up on the wall and running toward them. Tyler looked back toward the oncoming giant and saw more warriors were climbing the wall to the south. He shook his head and pulled Olivia over to the edge of the wall. “Climb over the edge and drop to the ground.” Olivia looked at the approaching Spinosaurus and started shaking her head. Tyler grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, “You agreed, no hesitation!” Tyler pulled her over the edge and he scrambled down to the ground. She tried to follow him but lost her grip halfway down. She fell back but Tyler caught her before she hit the ground. He grabbed her hand and started running along the wall.

Tyler knew the carnivore couldn’t see them but it could smell them. He hoped the Destroyers on the wall would keep its attention focused on them. He looked up and saw the wall was covered with Destroyers and more were running along the wall from the north. The blasts from the Destroyer’s rifles actually drowned out the roars of the huge dinosaur. The Spinosaurus was being hit by hundreds of bullets but its hide was too thick, they weren’t slowing it down.

The giant suddenly swerved toward the wall and Tyler pulled Olivia out from under it. It went to its full height as it swept its jaws along the top of the wall. It caught four Destroyers in its wicked teeth and bit them in half as other Destroyers were pushed off the wall. It put its front legs against the wall and lowered its head as the Destroyers on top of the wall panicked and tried to avoid being killed. The warriors were packed so tightly that many of them pushed those around them off the wall. Many of them fell on the side where the giant was standing and it lowered its head and ate five of them.

The Spinosaurus was less than twenty yards behind Tyler and Olivia as they continued to run north and Tyler saw the entire top of the wall was covered with Destroyers firing their rifles. After a hundred yards, Tyler stopped and went down to a knee. “I have to catch my breath.” He looked at her and said, “What is your name?”

“Olivia. What’s yours?”

“Tyler.”

“Well, it’s good to meet you, I think.” Olivia looked behind them and saw the life and death struggle between the giant carnivore and the warriors firing at it. For the moment, it had stopped moving toward them and was intent on attacking the warriors on the wall. Tyler was breathing heavily and he forced himself to his feet. Olivia saw his struggle standing and suddenly realized that the backpack he was carrying had to be heavy. “Leave the backpack!”

“NO!” Tyler started walking and Olivia stayed with him. Tyler heard a rumbling noise on top of the wall and he heard it move past them as they moved north. He continued to walk and then started jogging slowly. They had gone a hundred yards when the top of the wall south of them exploded with noise.

The Destroyers had used ropes to haul a spitter-gun to the top of the wall. The gun crew rolled it within range of the Spinosaurus, where they locked the wheels and opened fire. The giant was hit by hundreds of high velocity shells and it roared its pain. It dropped to the ground and ran forward toward the thing that had hurt it. When it dropped below the level of the wall, the spitter crew couldn’t lower the barrel to continue firing. The crew unlocked the wheels and they moved it close to the edge of the wall just before the Spinosaurus went to its full height next to it and swept the gun off the wall with its huge jaws. Tyler and Olivia heard the screams and the loud crash of the spitter hitting the ground behind them.

Tyler and Olivia continued moving north and after thirty minutes Tyler didn’t hear anything on the wall above them. He grabbed Olivia’s arm and stepped out from the wall. He looked to the south and saw all the Destroyer Warriors had gathered at the site of the Spinosaurus. The beast’s roars were no longer as loud and Tyler knew it was going to die soon. He tied a rope to the backpack and climbed up the wall. He managed to crawl over the edge and motioned Olivia to join him. He dug his feet into the top of the wall and pulled the backpack up. He pulled it up on his shoulders, with Olivia’s assistance. He took a deep breath and began walking toward the end of the wall. It was now in sight and he struggled to keep moving. Olivia looked to the south and saw the giant carnivore had finally fallen. It was struggling to rise but it was a losing effort as another spitter-gun arrived from the south and opened fire on it. They could hear the cheers of the Destroyers as the dinosaur died under their guns.

They arrived at the end of the wall and looked down on the ocean and jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliffs. Tyler looked at Olivia and said, “Come stand in front of me.”

“What?”

“No questions! Do it!” Olivia moved around Tyler and stood in front of him. “Face the ocean.” Olivia turned around and saw they were on the edge of the wall. One more step and they would fall on the rocks far below. Tyler pulled a strap out of the bottom of the backpack and wrapped it around his and Olivia’s legs. He buckled it tight and then pulled another strap out of the top of the backpack, pulled it around his chest, and wrapped it around Olivia’s chest under her arms.

He pulled it snug and she said, “What are you doing?”

Tyler leaned forward and whispered, “Going home.” He put his hand over Olivia’s mouth and fell forward. They fell away from the wall and Olivia tried to scream but Tyler’s hand muffled the effort. Tyler reached up with his free hand and pulled the glider’s release cord. The wings snapped out and the control bar dropped. Tyler released Olivia’s mouth and pushed the nose of the glider up.

The wind roaring up the cliff wall caught the glider’s wings and jerked them upward. The glider shot upward and back toward the cliff wall. Tyler turned it into the wind and started a spiral that moved them quickly higher. Olivia had her eyes closed expecting to hit the rocks under the cliff but was shocked by the sudden jerk upward. Tyler whispered in her ear, “Are your eyes closed?” Olivia jerked her head up and down. “Keep them closed until I tell you to open them.” Tyler continued to spiral upward and looked back at the wall to orient on the main thoroughfare to align his move out to sea. “You can open your eyes.”

Olivia opened her eyes and saw the ocean far below. She looked up and saw the glider. She took a deep breath and said, “Why didn’t you tell me we were going to fly out of here?”

“Would you have come if I did?”

Olivia hesitated and after a moment said, “Probably not. I wouldn’t have believed you could do it.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s also why you wouldn’t leave the backpack.”

“Yep.”

“Where are we going?”

“I have a ship waiting on us to arrive.”

Tyler moved his head left and right. He turned the glider slightly and looked back over his shoulder. Olivia said, “What’s wrong?” Tyler remained silent and after a minute Olivia said, “What’s wrong!”

“The ship is not where it’s supposed to be. I’m certain that I’m on the right path but it’s not where I left it.”

Olivia felt a chill run down her spine, “Where do you think it went?”

Tyler shook his head. After a moment Tyler sighed, “They may have been discovered by the Destroyer Fleet and were forced to flee.”

“What does that mean for us?”

Tyler looked back at the city and saw red lights appearing. “What do those red lights mean?”

Olivia looked back and said, “Escaped slaves.” She stared at the lights for a moment and looked up at Tyler, “How did you manage to keep Gren quiet?” Tyler didn’t respond and Olivia saw his expression. She turned back and looked down at the ocean. She didn’t ask him again and he didn’t tell her. Tyler turned the glider out to sea and gained altitude. They flew for an hour and Olivia quietly said, “We’re going to die, aren’t we?”

“I considered turning back to the city but I can’t risk them getting their hands on this glider. If they caught us, we’d be thrown over the wall without weapons. If I’m going to die, I’d prefer it be out here.”

“You could have lied about it.”

“I’m sorry, Olivia. That’s not something I do. If I can’t tell the truth, I just remain silent.”

“And silence to my question would have been an answer.”

Tyler nodded, “Yes, it would.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to continue flying as far as I can.” Tyler pulled a cord on the gliders control bar and a propeller popped up on top of the glider. Tyler pushed a button on a black box attached to the control arm and the propeller started spinning at fifteen thousand rpms. The glider leapt forward and Tyler said, “Maybe I can catch them if the battery holds out.”

Olivia saw the ocean moving quickly below them and hoped he was right.

• • •

Twelve hours passed and the propeller began slowing. Tyler sighed and pulled the cord flipping it back flat against the top of the glider. He reached forward and twisted a handle on the battery. He pulled it out and the battery fell off the control arm toward the ocean. Olivia felt their speed slow and looked up at him, “I guess we’re not going to make it.”

Tyler looked into her eyes and nodded. He looked out ahead of them and saw a large Pterodactyl in the distance. He loved watching them fly. He stared at it and after a moment said, “It’s not flapping its wings.”

“What?”

Tyler ripped his head cover off and the Pterodactyl disappeared. That wasn’t a Pterodactyl. He dropped the nose of the glider and it picked up speed as it moved toward the distant object.

• • •

Rory felt his glider starting to slow down. The last battery was losing power and he was going to have to turn around and head for the ship. He shook his head and started banking to head back. He looked to the east and saw something in the distance. He whipped the glider back and took off his head cover. The object disappeared. “THANK GOD!” He started circling and saw the object growing larger. He turned and began flying toward the Storm Chaser. He waved and saw Tyler wave back. He felt a huge weight fall off his spirit. Johnathan had suggested that they take shifts flying back behind the ship to see if Tyler showed up. They had to use the batteries to fly against the wind and this was the last flight they would have been able to make. He flew for ninety minutes and saw the ship moving through the waves at half sail. He brought the glider in and landed on the stern of the large ship. Johnathan helped him land and Rory yelled, “Tyler is right behind me and he’s not alone!”

Johnathan yelled and Rory shouted, “Get some more men up here. We’re going to need to help him land on the ship!”

Tyler followed Rory and saw the Storm Chaser in the distance. Olivia saw it as well and looked up at him, “I pray that is the ship you’re looking to find.”

“It is.”

“It looks very much like a Destroyer Warship.”

“We took it from them.” Olivia smiled and Tyler said, “We’ve actually taken more than a hundred and forty ships from them.”

Olivia looked up at him and smiled, “I think I understand why the Commandant is so frightened.”

Tyler laughed, “You think!” Tyler moved the glider lower and said, “Olivia, I need you to try and remain as still as possible. Landing on a moving ship is not an easy thing to do and doing it with two people on a glider is…”

“Impossible?”

Tyler smiled, “No, just harder.”

Olivia looked down at the ship and saw a group of men were gathered at the stern. She saw Tyler take the glider past the stern to the right side of the ship and suddenly turn toward it. Olivia almost screamed but managed to close her mouth and shut her eyes. The glider looked like it was going to crash in the rear mast but the ship moved under it and Tyler pulled the retraction cord just as he arrived over the rear deck. They fell six feet and the men gathered under them caught them as they fell.

Tyler lay on the rear deck and couldn’t move his legs. He saw the crew unbuckling Olivia and he closed his eyes. The long run with the eighty-five pound glider pack and the stress of expecting to die had finally taken their toll. He closed his eyes and felt the wooden deck under him. He forgot everything else as fatigue took him.

O
livia felt the straps being removed and she struggled to stand. The man they had followed to the ship helped her to her feet. She opened her mouth to thank him but saw Zeck standing beside the steering wheel. Her eyes went wide and she shouted, “WHAT IS THAT MONSTER DOING HERE!?”

Zeck saw her hatred and closed his eyes. Rory looked at the young girl and shook his head, “He’s the one that insisted we try to save you. He’s the reason we came here.”

“He’s the monster that has been terrorizing my sister for years!”

Rory shook his head and Zeck said, “Don’t blame her, she’s right.”

Olivia heard him and spit in his direction. It hit him in the face and he wiped it off. He turned his back on Olivia and tried to focus on steering the ship. Rory’s expression turned to anger, “You obviously don’t know anything.”

“I KNOW WHO HE IS!”

Rory grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, “No you don’t! You only know who he was, not who he is now. He saved your sister’s life and he insisted we come here to save you. From where I stand, you aren’t worth the effort.” He turned to Johnathan, “Take her below decks. I’m sick of seeing her.”

Olivia was shocked and could only walk away with her mouth open. She was taken to a room below and Johnathan said, “You will stay here until we get you to your sister.”

Olivia looked at John and shook her head, “I saw him purchase Ophelia and drag her to his ship.”

Johnathan turned around before he went out of the door and said, “Where were the slaves going that he bought her from?” Olivia stared at him in silence. “They were going to the pens and you know that. He bought her to stop her from being sent there. When we captured them, he was made a slave and your sister was given custody of watching over him. She nearly beat him to death.”