Jurassic War

Thirty-Four

A wave of flames and heat rushed towards Dawson. The explosion blew towards the bottom of the storage tank, and blasted through the metal, catching the fuel on fire.

The blowback flurried in his direction, sending heat and flames at him.

He dove under the water and opened his eyes. Flames whipped over the water and spread around the pilings. The blaze shot up and caught the pier on fire. After a minute, he poked his head out of the water to breathe, and the flames from the blast had receded, except for the planks on the wharf that had caught fire.

Wading onto shore, he checked his rifle as the scout car disappeared into the brush. Only the storage tank closest to the water burned. Paint on the others percolated from the heat. Dawson realized they would blow any moment.

He needed to clear the other Raiders from the area.

Dawson considered running up the passageway between the storage tanks, but he didn’t like the odds of getting through without suffering an explosion. Instead, he sprinted around the tank on fire and circled past the wood line.

Running into the field, he found a wave of scavenger dinosaurs pressing upon Bishop’s position. The marine laid down heavy fire, bursting the creatures with 7.62-millimeter rounds from his Browning. Simmons had stepped over to lend support with his Thompson. Meserve was missing, likely dead, eaten by the Tyrannosaurus, which left Fuller alone somewhere.

He scanned the plain. Another wave of Compsognathus dinosaurs chased after the retreating Imperial troops. Machinegun blasts raged from the opposite American flank. Fuller shot madly in various directions.

Dawson couldn’t follow the attack. Random shooting without targeting the enemy sent bullets in every direction. A glazed look and wild eyes appeared on Fuller’s mug.

Swift movement from Fuller’s right caught Dawson’s attention.

A dinosaur slightly larger than a man closed in on him. Others were upon the marine, from his left and front. The creatures had green hides with dark stripes, camouflaging them from view while they stood in the brush. Only brisk movement gave them away.

Firing with a high-powered machinegun, Fuller kept the two approaching from frontal positions at bay. He couldn’t see the one coming up from the right rear.

Dawson dropped to one knee. He shouldered his rifle and took careful aim.

Taking a deep breath, he inhaled, held the air in his lungs, steady, then slowly squeezed the trigger. A crack resounded throughout the field from his shot.

His bullet sailed through the air and struck the Velociraptor in the eye.

It danced around and yowled in pain.

Fuller turned to the commotion and the other two Raptors were upon him. The mistake registered in his horror-stricken eyes. He screamed.

The one closest to him raised its hind leg and lashed out with a sharp, hooked claw. It tore into the marine’s abdomen and spilled his guts onto the deck. Fuller’s face turned white and he stopped fighting the beasts. Shock had caused a paralysis.

Dawson didn’t give up hope. He fired at the Raptor that had issued the death blow.

Rounds dug into the creature’s backside without slowing it down. It struck the marine again and knocked him to the ground. And then, the carnivore leaned its head forward and began to feed upon the fallen marine’s innards. Chomping ravenously at the man’s guts, the Raptor moved about in a frenzy.

Another Velociraptor approached the spoils, and the one feasting upon Fuller snapped at it, a warning nip. The creature meant to feed on the kill and bit the other Raptor on the neck.

It howled in pain. Then it stepped back and charged into the newcomer.

Both dinosaurs toppled and rolled on the ground, snapping and biting at each other. The Raptor with the head wound stammered in the brush. It couldn’t keep balance.

Dawson realized that more than a head shot had foiled the creature.

The ground trembled. Vibrations shook Dawson.

He glanced toward the enemy line and spied the Tyrannosaurus slouching his way. Standing just fifty feet away, the dinosaur would close the gap with a few prodigious strides. Dawson could never outrun the beast.

An explosion knocked him to the ground. He landed face first in the wet dirt.

Glancing up, he found the next fuel tank ablaze. Metal had blasted open from the side of the storage container and doused the T-Rex with ignited petroleum. A conflagration covered the predator and spread across the field at its feet.

The creature roared, enraged. A yowl of agony followed.

Flames spread across the ground and sailed down from the tank above. Imperial soldiers were caught in the blaze. Uniforms on fire, they screamed and rolled in the soggy earth. A few extinguished the fires on their burning clothes.

One soldier was not as fortunate. While he rolled in the grassy field, a blast of flames shot over the ground and engulfed him.

His skin caught fire. Charred flesh and percolating blisters reflected in the pale evening night, as a light mist drizzled over the battlefield; a miniscule dousing was inadequate to squelch the blaze consuming his flesh.

The burning dinosaur stepped to the man on fire. A vibration knocked Dawson to the ground, as the Tyrannosaurus plodded towards its next meal. It leaned forward and scooped the infantryman from the ground. Standing erect, it tilted its head back, rolling the soldier into its mouth, like a burning shish kebab.

A clap of thunder and a deluge of rain cascaded over the scene.

Burning fuel had doused the T-Rex’s hide and continued to waft flames into the air, despite the rain pouring over it. Saliva quenched the fire in its mouth, except for the burning head and feet protruding from its jaws.

Muffled roars followed this acquisition. Squawks of pain and aggravation.

And then, the Tyrannosaurus broke for the jungle, treading across the field with heavy footsteps that shook the ground. It headed directly towards Dawson.

The ground trembled beneath him.

Panic raced through his body, quickening his pulse.

Any contact from the massive feet would certainly crush him. Dawson considered springing upright and making a break for it. The way toward Bishop was clear. But he thought better of it. The dinosaur was coming at him like a locomotive.

Flipping onto his back, he glanced upward and waited to see if fate would ensnare him into a horrific death. Time seemed to freeze.

Dread consumed him.

A gigantic foot pounded into the earth, slightly in front of him and to the right. Massive claws crimped the ground. Staring upward, he glimpsed the other foot coming down. It was directly above him.

The creature would crush him for sure.

Dawson rolled to the left, tumbling over and over.

Spanning an immense distance, he hadn’t cleared its path; a talon meant to impale him.

Out of breath, he needed to make a last-ditch effort. He inhaled and wound his body around in another corkscrewing motion, seeking desperately to escape impending death. Dawson wasn’t quick enough.

The gargantuan foot compressed the ground beside him, rolling him back towards the creature. A talon pierced his thigh and squished him into the soggy earth.

He cried out in pain, but the bellowing was drowned out by the cacophony of explosions from the burning fuel tanks and raging battle from the garrison.

The T-Rex didn’t lose pace. It kept running.

Upward movement of the creature’s foot took Dawson along with it.

Skewered by the claw, he rose into the air, dangling from a talon. Dawson hung limp like a ragdoll. The creature’s swift movement caused him to spin under a toe. He’d be crushed on the next impact with the soil.

Dawson still clutched his rifle. He smacked the claw with the butt of his Garand; the jolt broke him loose from the impingement with the claw.

He fell and sailed through the air.

Landing with a heavy thud, he bounced up, then hit the saturated ground again.

He lay face down in the mire, numb from shock.

The predator kept tramping to the jungle, a blaze wafting from its backside.

Dawson breathed a sigh of relief.

And the T-Rex’s tail whipped around and knocked him across the plain. Everything became a mixture of black and orange, as the raging fire lit up the night sky directly above him. Flames shot from the burning storage tanks and landed all around him.

Any moment and he’d suffer the same fate as several Imperial soldiers. Burning alive was a grisly way to die.