“Where are they?” Imogen said, chewing on her bottom lip. “We have to find them. We can’t give up.”
“I know,” Casey said. “I’ll go out again as soon as the plane is ready.”
“Thanks, but get some rest while you can,” Imogen said, noting the purple shadows that lined the other woman’s eyes.
“You don’t look so hot yourself,” Casey said. “Are you feeling better yet?”
“I still have a cold, but it’s easing up. A few more days and I’ll be right as rain again,” Imogen said with a reassuring smile.
“Take care of yourself,” Casey said, preparing to leave.
Imogen turned back to the map but froze when a thunderous roar shattered the peace. A scream followed it, and she recognized the tone in an instant. “Allen!”
She raced toward the exit, but Casey hauled her back. “You can’t go out there unarmed.”
Imogen stopped in her tracks, her mind racing. “You’re right.”
She whirled toward a gun cabinet on the opposite wall and yanked a semi-automatic shotgun from the shelf. With its reduced recoil and auto-loading feature, it was the best weapon for her. The extended magazine meant she had twelve shots, enough to stop most rampaging dinosaurs in their tracks.
Cradling the gun in her arms, Imogen raced outside. Another earsplitting roar blasted through the air, and her feet faltered. But Allen’s agonized screams spurred her onward, and she sprinted toward the noise.
Her headlong flight took her down the runway toward the hanger, and she had to dodge the many pitfalls along the way. She leaped over a shallow ditch filled with gravel and jumped a tussock of dry brush. Her breath rasped in and out of the lungs, and her heart pounded in her chest.
Halfway to the hanger, Ralph emerged from the living quarters. Dressed in his full gear, he bristled with guns and ammo. As Jessica’s counterpart, he was ex-navy and responsible for their security on the base and during missions.
“Stay back,” he yelled when he spotted Imogen.
She slowed, allowing him to take the lead.
Ralph cut across the asphalt and disappeared behind the hanger. Bursts of gunfire reached her ears, and she swallowed hard on the knot in her throat. “Ralph! Allen!”
No one answered.
The only sound was the occasional firing from Ralph’s weapon and Allen’s cries for help.
In the meantime, Casey caught up to her, panting and heaving for breath. She carried a rifle, and her expression was determined. “Are we going in?”
Imogen nodded. “Follow me.”
As their leader, she couldn’t let them down. Their wellbeing was her responsibility, her priority, and she’d be damned if she let a wild beast eat her team alive. Not even Allen.
She rounded the corner of the building with Casey close on her heels. Her gaze jumped to their attacker, and her blood turned to ice in her veins. It was her worst nightmare come true. A Spinosaurus.
Imogen faltered, and her knees turned to jelly at the sight of the ferocious beast. She’d never seen one in actual life before. Larger than a T-Rex, the pictures didn’t do it justice. The creature resembled a crocodile with its long jaws filled with jagged teeth. Rough, scaly skin covered most of its body in a deep mossy green. Algae clung to it in patches, and it looked like it had crawled from the primordial ooze. An ancient horror spat up from the bowels of the earth.
Allen lay on the ground, both hands held up to shield his face in a gesture both instinctive and futile. He spotted Imogen and reached out to her with a pleading gesture. “Help me, please!”
Ralph hovered above him, firing short bursts of rounds at the Spinosaurus. The dinosaur reared back when the bullets found their target. Blood streamed from its hide and spattered onto the ground in crimson globs. With an earth-shattering roar, the creature retreated several steps. Its tail swept across the asphalt, and its shoulders hunched when another hail of shots punched into its flesh.
Emboldened by his apparent success, Ralph moved forward and continued his assault. He pressed his rifle to his shoulder and gazed through the scope at the wounded beast before him. A triumphant grin twisted his lips, and his movements were confident. Too confident.
Imogen watched it all happen as if in slow motion. The Spinosaurus blinked once, its slitted pupils warning of the death and destruction to come. The colorful crest on its spine quivered, and the powerful muscles of its hindquarters bunched in readiness.
With a single bound, the creature leaped forward. Its head snaked toward Ralph, and the fearsome jaws snapped shut around his midriff. A single shake of the neck was all it took to shear the man in two. Blood misted the air in a red haze, and the two halves fell to the ground with a thud.
“Oh, my God. Ralph!” Imogen cried, bile rushing up her throat.
She couldn’t believe that Ralph was dead. Her brain refused to reconcile the torn remnants of flesh with the man she once knew. Alive and energetic, he’d always appeared so strong and vital. Indestructible, even.
The Spinosaurus shook its head and sniffed at Ralph’s mangled torso. With a snort, it abandoned the gruesome remains and focused on its next victim. Allen lay prone on the ground, his leg shredded to ribbons. Unable to run, he could only wait for his fate.
“No,” Imogen screamed, rage infusing her body. She raised the shotgun to her shoulder and fired off a couple of rounds. The distance was too great for it to cause any actual damage, however.
The Spinosaurus leveled its gaze at her, and its lips quivered. With a terrifying bellow, it broke into a run. Each step caused the ground to tremble, and the vibrations shook Imogen to the core. She
