“I’ve got to get out of
these clothes—fast.”
The beasts were coming
and in bright red, looking like a walking sack of raw meat, I would be an easy
target. I removed my work uniform, a red T-shirt and sweatpants, as quickly and
possible and stood in nothing but my black boxers waiting for what could
possibly be the end of my life.
“Lee! Lee, are you
still there?” A tiny voice escaped from my cell phone I’d dropped. I picked up
the phone and placed the receiver to my ear.
“Yeah, I’m still here,
honey. How’s the battle looking on your end?”
“Not good. Half of us
are lying in our own blood, and a quarter of them have stopped breathing. Do you think the government had this
in mind when they spliced dogs with dinosaur DNA? That their little science
experiments would manage to destroy our whole civilization upon escaping from
their supposedly secure facilities?”
“No,” I said, hearing a
thunk on the door before me. “I don’t
think anyone had this in mind.”
“Of course not, they just
wanted to create a new species while trying to restore an old one. No one
considered that perhaps dinosaurs were extinct for a reason!”
“Amber,” I whispered
into the phone as I saw two claws strike through the solid metal door.
“Yes?”
“I love you.” I hung up
and silently wished her luck as the claws slide through the door as if cutting
through a stick of butter. The claws withdrew from the long, diagonal gash and
for a moment, for just one moment, I thought I was safe. And then, the monster
broke through. I had my first close look at the abomination, a creature that
stood on all fours like a dog but had the fixtures of a dinosaur. Scales,
talons, excruciatingly long, sharp teeth. After numerous attacks, people had
discovered that the beasts were more inclined to go after moving, red targets.
I stood still and waited. The monstrosity turned its head slowly listening. My
heartbeat and ragged breath sounded as loud as firecrackers to me.
I was feed a false
sense of security and I gobbled it up; it was turning away when I made the
mistake of shifting my weight from one foot to the other. Its eyes gleamed as shot
to my direction, and without hesitation, it leapt. I had a second to take aim
with my 747 rifle and shoot the thing between the eyes before it could pull out
my throat. The beasts must have wised up about how to spot prey. Scientists did
always say that dinosaurs had been intelligent.
I stood in the
darkness, panting. I thought of all those theories that had been spouting out
of people’s mouths last year. That the world would end in 2012. But they were
wrong. This year, year, 2013, would be the year the world ended.
I could hear more
snarls just outside the shredded door. Here I was in a deserted militia
warehouse in Washington, while my girlfriend was fighting for her life at a
college campus in California. There were little clusters of fighters like us
all across the world. When most of the world, including my family, had already
gone down in a sea of blood, we were just people prolonging the inevitable.
Scuttling claws sounding
closer and closer, the beasts were on their way. I steadied my weapon. I had a
magazine of only seven rounds. If there were any more dino-dog hybrids than
that, I was finished. The first two burst through at the same moment, sniffing
the air. One went to study my red clothes, the other lapped up the blood of its
dead brethren. As those two continued meandering around, four more dino-dogs
came in. I held my breath. I was running out of room and sooner or later I
would have to move or else get bumped into, resulting in me as these things’
dinner. I sent up a silent prayer that no more of the beasts would come in.
My prayer wasn’t
answered. In came another. They were being drawn by the dead one’s blood and
all of them were beginning to make a feast of it. I decided to take a go at
them. It was now or never. I shot two rounds into two heads before they
attacked. I was aiming at one when I noticed another file into the room. Five
rounds left, six dino-dogs. I guess it was my time to go.
The dinosaurs had once
ruled the world. And they would rule it again.
