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  Be careful. Her hands clenched her spears tightly in anticipation. She looked at the other lizard men, sleeping. They lay so still, they looked as if they were dead, but she knew better.

  Without warning, Jason burst out of the vegetation and brought his knife down into the chest of the lizard man on watch. Taken by surprise, it flared out its dewlap and emitted something between a croak and a hiss. Jason pulled his knife out of its torso, the blade dripping a thick black syrup in the monochromatic moonlight.

  Susan covered her mouth, stifling a gasp, as the other lizard men awoke in alarm. They scrambled to their feet and dashed after Jason, tails whipping behind them, propelling them in their savage fury.

  Mary sat up, moaning and holding her head. “Wha-what’s happening?”

  Susan watched as the stabbed lizard man dropped to the ground, clutching its wound. It rolled over on its side, facing away from Susan, and stopped moving. The other lizard men followed Jason as he dashed into the jungle, howling like a mad man.

  Susan looked around. She didn’t see any other lizard men, except for the one lying dead on the ground in a pool of its own blood. She emerged out of the bushes and climbed over the fallen tree trunk. “Mary…Mary, it’s Susan.” She crouched down, next to Mary. “Are you all right?”

  Mary looked dazed. “Susan? What are you doing here?” She appeared groggy.

  Susan lay her spears down on the ground beside her. She smiled, working on untying Mary’s wrists which were bound with a crude twine. “I’m here to rescue you, silly.”

  Her hands free, Mary rubbed her wrists. “Who was that?”

  “That was Jason, causing a diversion so I can get you out of here. Can you walk?”

  Mary looked up at Susan. “I-I think so. I’m so tired.”

  “You’ve been walking all day,” said Susan. “You’re probably dehydrated.”

  Movement in front of them caught both of their attention. It was the fallen lizard man. He was on all fours and looking right at them.

  “Crap,” said Susan. “Come on. We have to get you up.” She reached under Mary’s armpits, pulling her up, trying to get her to stand. However, in her weakened condition, Mary stumbled, trying to regain her footing. Susan thought she felt a bit heavier than she looked.

  The reptilian man crawled his way over toward them in the dirt, blood oozing out of the wound in its chest. Despite its injury, it moved with a purpose and closed the distance faster than Susan had anticipated.

  “Kill it,” said Mary, dropping to her knees. “Kill it, Susan.”

  Susan didn’t know what to do. Mary was having difficulty standing up, and the lizard man was almost upon her, hissing in rage. She released Mary and snatched a spear from off the ground. She turned it in her hands, pointing the sharp end at the advancing lizard man. It reached up and snatched the tip of the spear in its one clawed hand. Susan pushed the spear down, but the reptilian man’s grip was firm, preventing the thrust.

  Susan gripped the shaft of the spear with both hands and pushed down with all of her body weight. The lizard man’s grip buckled for a moment, and the spearpoint slid down closer to its face, but stopped again.

  “Kill it. Kill it, Susan.”

  Susan grunted as she pushed down with all her might. The lizard man swept its tail and caught her leg, throwing her off balance. She went down hard on one knee, but she didn’t let go of the spear. It slid a bit more through the monster’s grip, the tip now only a couple of inches from its face.

  On its knees, it reached up and grabbed the end of the spear with its other clawed hand, reinforcing its grip. Mary crawled over to Susan and pulled herself up on Susan’s back.

  Susan groaned under the weight of her dehydrated friend as she continued to push the spear down against the creature’s vice-like grip. Mary gripped the bottom of the spear shaft and added her weight to the effort, leaning on Susan.

  The lizard man flared its dewlap, its arms trembling from exertion, blood cascading out of the wound in its chest. It let out a high-pitched whistle as the spear slid through its fingers, the point hitting it in the throat. The sharpened tip slid into its flesh, and its whistle turned into a whine. Blood poured out of its neck as Mary and Susan collapsed on top of it, all three falling into a heap in the dirt.

  Susan lay face-to-face on top of the creature, Mary lying on top of her. It let out a deep breath and became still underneath her.

  “Off me,” grunted Susan.

  Mary rolled off Susan’s back and onto hers. Susan rolled off the lizard man, panting. She looked over at it. Its dewlap flopped to the side, unfurled and inert. Blood continued to leak from its two wounds, but after a couple of twitches, the body remained completely still. At last, it was dead.

  “I think…we got it…” wheezed Mary, catching her breath.

  Susan pushed herself to standing, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. “We need to get out of here. They may return.”

  “What about…Jason?” asked Mary.

  Susan stood over her, extending a hand to help her up. “He said he’d lead them around the jungle and then circle back, meeting us at the river. We need to follow the river.”

  Mary nodded and accepted Susan’s hand. This time she helped push herself up. She steadied herself by throwing an arm around Susan’s shoulders. Together, they hobbled their way out of the clearing, heading for the river.

  “Where are the Umazoa?” asked Mary.

  “They went with Hiu to rescue the others.” Susan explained her exchange with Hiu.

  Within minutes they heard the river’s current, and they saw it glistening in the pale moonlight.

  “Water,” gasped Mary. She released Susan and got down on all fours. She crawled to the river’s edge and thrust her face into the water, taking in large gulps. Susan, anxious to leave the area, waited patiently as Mary gasped, coming up for air, only to dunk her head back into the river for more.

  When Mary had drunk her fill, Susan helped her up. “Come on. We have to go.” Susan turned to walk south, but Mary didn’t follow.

  “Where are you going?” asked Mary.

  Susan gestured in the direction with her hand, as if the answer was obvious. “South.”

  “Why south? Shouldn’t we go back to help Hiu?”

  Susan shook her head. “Jason said he’d meet us down river.”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” said Mary, lost in thought.

  “What doesn’t make sense?”

  “The lizard men left Jason behind because he was too weak to continue. He was succumbing to infection from his wounds. But now I just saw him stab one of them and run off into the jungle.”

  “Maybe he just needed a rest,” said Susan.

  Mary shook her head. “No, he was burning up, and he couldn’t even stand.”

  “So, maybe the fever broke.”

  “Without any kind of intervention? Fevers like that don’t just break.”

  “Well, we can discuss first aid as we walk south,” said Susan looking around, uneasy. “If we stay here, we’ll be discussing it with the lizard men. There’s nothing we can do for Hiu. For all we know, he could be dead already. Or maybe he succeeded. Who knows?” She started to walk.

  Mary fell in next to Susan, and they both headed south, clinging to the riverbank.

  “Why are we headed south?” asked Mary.

  “That’s where Hiu wanted us to go. He said there would be a habitable area for the tribe.”

  “How do we know when we find it?”

  “Good question,” said Susan. “When we meet up with Jason, maybe he’ll have an idea.”

  *

  Jason dashed through the tangles and underbrush, scraping his shins and forearms. He heard thrashing from behind him as the lizard men pursued him in earnest. He zig-zagged, attempting to throw them off his trail. However, the rustling of flora appeared to fan out behind him, keeping pace with his changes in direction.

  The jungle terrain all looked the same in the monochromatic moonlig
ht, and he had to be careful not to get turned around. He began to arc towards the south, giving his reptilian pursuers a wide berth. The left flank of their skirmish line nearly caught up with him, so he widened the arc. Although the immediate threat was the team of lizard men, he was wary of the potential presence of predator dinosaurs ambling about in the dark. He didn’t want to be blind-sided.

  Just as that thought had occurred to him, he skidded to a stop in the dirt before running headlong into a herd of large shadows milling about in a clearing. About twenty to twenty-five feet long with curved backs and short, fat tails, the creatures stirred at his sudden appearance. In the moonlight, Jason noticed rows of knobs serving as armor on their backs. One turned and groaned at him, its skull wide with two horns jutting backward and a beak for a mouth.

  “Whoa there,” said Jason, noticing its alarm at his sudden arrival. He placed his hands up in front of him, palms out. “Easy, girl. Easy.”

  He caught a sudden movement in the periphery of his vision and dodged just as a massive bulbous knob at the end of a tail swung at him, narrowly missing him. He rolled away on the ground and sprung back up to standing.

  The herd of ankylosaurus shifted, reorienting themselves to deal with this pest. Jason backed away as several lizard men burst into the clearing behind him, pointing the sharp ends of their spears at him.

  “Oh, hell.” The bigger threat now behind him, he dashed forward into the herd with such speed, they were not able to react in time. The lizard men bolted after him. The ankylosaurus swung their wrecking ball tails, missing Jason but catching a couple of his pursuers, knocking them to the ground.

  The ankylosaurus shifted about on their feet, kicking up dirt, colliding with each other in the process. Jason deftly changed direction, darting through openings between armored backs and under tail swings. He was nearly crushed between two massive bodies in the shuffle.

  He glanced over his shoulder in time to see one of the lizard men being crunched between two ankylosaurs turning in opposite directions, only to then be trampled underfoot. Jason ran the gauntlet, narrowly evading trample himself, only to run right into two lizard men who had apparently circumvented the herd altogether.

  They thrust spear tips at him. Jason wielded his hunting knife, parrying and side-stepping, as he didn’t want to re-enter the confused herd at his back. Within a few moves, the lizard men had him surrounded, and he cursed under his breath.

  Past the lizard men, Jason thought he saw the small silhouette of a child step out of the underbrush and into the clearing. He figured it was one of the Umazoa tribe, or perhaps a member of another tribe. The child stepped right past the lizard men without being noticed and stood in front of Jason.

  The hunter gasped as he recognized the face looking up at him in the moonlight. “Joey? Is that you?”

  The lizard men flared their dewlaps, hissing at him and snapping their jaws as he spoke. They didn’t appear to notice the small humanoid child who had entered the circle.

  ‘It’s me,’ said a wordless voice in his mind. ‘I missed you, Jason.’

  Jason shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes, blurring his vision. “No. It’s not real.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his forearm. “You’re not real. You’re dead.”

  ‘Are these monsters bothering you, Jason?’

  The lizard men closed in, moving slowly and with great caution.

  “They don’t see you,” said Jason. “Why don’t they see you?”

  ‘They’re getting closer,’ said Joey. ‘Do you want me to help?’

  “Yes,” said Jason, desperate. “Yes, help me.”

  The lizard men traded confused looks.

  Joey’s eyes began to glow like hot coals in the darkness. He raised his hands, palms facing up, until they were shoulder height. The lizard men thrust their spears at Jason, but Joey quickly dropped his hands. The lizard men fell with Joey’s hands, landing in the dirt in heaps, lifeless.

  Joey’s eyes dimmed back to their original state. ‘There you go, Jason. They won’t bother you anymore.’

  Jason looked around at the lifeless lizard men. “Wh-what did you do?”

  The apparition of Joey cocked its head sideways. ‘I took care of them.’

  “You…you killed them. How?”

  ‘Remember, the Temple of the Simian King, Jason. You must bring Peter there.’ Joey started to back away into the underbrush.

  Jason stepped forward after him. “No! Where are you going?”

  ‘We will be together soon,’ said Joey. ‘At the Temple of the Simian King. Don’t forget. I will see you there. Then we can be together again. I have so much to show you.’

  Jason took another step forward, reaching out for his brother, but the apparition evaporated in the night air like fog, leaving Jason to question if he ever really saw what he thought he saw.

  One thought reignited in his mind, playing and replaying like a catchy song, ‘Bring Peter to the Temple of the Simian King.’

  Chapter 9

  After walking much of the night, Collins, Nielsen, Peter, Tracey, and Marcy encountered the outer perimeter guard at base camp. “Chief, is that you?” asked one of the guards.

  “Yeah. We’re back.”

  “Where’re the Jeeps and the truck?”

  “It’s a long story.” Collins checked his watch. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  Nielsen looked at his watch. “Mine’s been acting screwy, too. Time seems to have passed at rather uneven intervals. I couldn’t even tell you how long we’ve been walking.”

  “It’s the island,” said Peter. “Time, the way we measure it, is different here.”

  “My feet are killing me,” said Marcy, shoulders slumped and eyelids heavy.

  “Do you want me to get a Humvee to take you back?” asked the guard.

  Collins looked at Tracey and Marcy, who both looked exhausted. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  The guard got on his radio, and a Humvee was there within minutes. The driver stopped right in front of the group.

  “Are we all going to fit?” asked Marcy.

  Collins shook his head. “You go ahead. I’ll debrief the perimeter guard and head back on foot.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Nielsen hopped into the front passenger seat. Peter, Tracey, and Marcy all got into the back.

  Peter scanned the grounds as they drove through, trying to ascertain Poseidon Tech’s true purpose. However, the ride back passed quickly, and Peter hadn’t gleaned any new information. When they reached the center of base camp, everyone got out.

  “I’m going straight to bed,” declared Marcy. She placed a hand on Tracey’s shoulder. “Good night.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” said Nielsen. “We need our rest. We have a lot to figure out tomorrow.”

  Marcy was gone before he could finish his sentence.

  Peter and Tracey headed back to the tents. They saw Marcy disappear into hers, and Nielsen walked over to the main tent. Peter supposed Nielsen wanted to oversee whatever was currently happening. “Where are we going?”

  “To my tent,” said Tracey.

  Peter did a double take. It hadn’t occurred to him until this very minute that he wasn’t a part of this expedition, and as such didn’t have an assigned tent. “I-I…Nielsen can give me a tent…”

  However, his stammering was cut short as Tracey pulled him into her tent by the front of his shirt. Kneeling on the ground, she pulled him down to his knees and close. He felt her hot breath in his face.

  “We have to be very quiet,” she whispered.

  “Wh-why? What’s going to happen?” squeaked Peter.

  She shushed him, stuck her head back outside of the tent, and popped it back inside. “Okay, we’re alone.”

  Peter’s palms became sweaty, and his heart was beating out of his chest. Was this it? Was this really happening? “Tracey, I had no idea…you felt this way.”

  She looked at him cockeyed. “What do you mean…? Oh, no. I-I do
n’t…”

  Peter’s face flushed hot with embarrassment. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. I mean…that’s not what I meant.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “That’s exactly what you meant. You thought I brought you here for…”

  Peter shook his head emphatically. “No. Absolutely not. Why would you want to do…that with me?”

  Now Tracey’s face turned red. “Don’t say it like that.”

  “I-I-I figured maybe you liked me. I’m stupid.”

  “I-I do like you,” stammered Tracey.

  “I know. I’m your friend.”

  Tracey stamped her foot. “No. For Christ’s sake, it has to come out. I have to just say it.” She turned around, pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly. “Why am I such a damned coward? Why can’t I just say it?”

  Peter looked perplexed. “Say what? I don’t understand what’s happening here.”

  Tracey turned and faced Peter, locking eyes with him. “For crying out loud, Pete, I came back to a dinosaur infested island in another dimension for you. If that doesn’t say ‘I love you,’ I don’t know what does?”

  Both of them appeared stunned into silence. There it was. It was finally out, and the words hung out in the night air between them.

  Peter broke the silence first. “You…you love me?”

  Tracey waved her hands around. “Of course I do. I always have. At first it was as a friend, but then we got to know each other. We worked together on the same projects, taught in the same department. The feeling just grew and grew, and now I can’t stand it anymore.”

  Peter looked staggered. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

  She looked down at the ground. “Because I was afraid.”

  “Of what?”

  “That you didn’t feel the same, or if you did and it didn’t work out, I’d lose you.”

  Now Peter paced back and forth, running his hand through his hair. “Holy smokes. That’s crazy.” He turned and met her gaze. “You’d never lose me, Tracey. You mean too much to me.”

  Tracey’s face lit up. She let out a big sigh. “Well, that’s a relief. I should’ve done this a long time ago.”