Past Mistakes

“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.