Chapter 07: Protective

Mike checked the position of the sun. "We need to get moving if we're going to gather any food before dark."

"There is still some left over food in our packs," Alison reminded. "Do we really have to go back out there?"

"If we could stay here until the device recharges, I would love it," Mike replied. "However, I don't know what kind of food is available in this primitive world. With all the potential hazards out there, it could take a long time to gather what we need. I don't want to run out of food before we have a fresh supply on hand."

Alison nodded her acceptance of his train of thought, but she touched a hand gently to his shoulder when he tried to leave.

"Why don't you stay here this time?" she suggested. "You've made the journey out there twice, and you need to rest."

Her voice dropped to a whisper only he could hear.

"We're going to need you, but you won't be any good to us if you collapse," she told him softly. The fingers of her hand resting on his shoulder curled tightly around the leather of his sleeveless shirt.

Her smile was forced for her children's benefit, but Mike could see the desperation in her eyes; she was terrified of this place, and the thought of being the sole person responsible for two kids if something should happen to Mike, pushed her to the edge of breaking.

"If you think it best," Mike agreed. "Be safe, dear."

Alison smiled genuinely before clutching his face in her hands. She planted a passionate kiss upon his lips, holding him tightly because she didn't know if this would be their last time together.

Mike's arms went around his wife in a strong embrace. He was fine risking his own life moving through a hostile jungle filled with flesh eating predators, but sending his wife out there didn't sit right with him. As head of the household, it was his job to provide for and protect his family. Sitting in a secluded cave while Alison ventured into dinosaur infested lands felt wrong in every possible way. Although he agreed with her reasoning, it didn't make it any easier to let her go.

"Sean, you're staying here too. Your father isn't the only one in need of rest," Alison said after parting with Mike. She looked toward her daughter. "Cassie, you're with me."

"Sure," Cassie answered, a decided lack of enthusiasm registering in her voice.

The two women climbed the makeshift ladder of vines and branches to enter the prehistoric jungle. The sun was hot, and the humidity had them perspiring in seconds. Alison and Cassie edged slowly forward, trying to avoid making any unnecessary noise.

After twenty minutes of careful searching, Cassie discovered something of interest.

"What's this?" she asked her mother.

Alison came to investigate what her daughter had found. A purple colored fruit hung from a low tree branch. Although the spherical fruit was violet, wherever the sunlight touched it directly, it shone coppery bronze.

"Don't touch it," Alison advised. "I've never heard of something like this. If it's extinct in our day, there's no telling what kind of toxins it might have. It could even be poisonous to touch."

Deciding caution was a better choice, they left the strange fruit behind and continued their quest.

A slight tremor under their feet caused them to stop instantly in their tracks. The reverberation came again and again. The intervals between vibrations grew shorter as they increased in intensity. They knew instinctively it came from the pounding impacts of a dinosaur's heavy steps. They also knew it was coming straight for them.

Cassie and Alison changed their course, taking a different direction through the jungle, but the dinosaur did the same. It wasn't simply coming in their direction; it was coming for them. Alison began looking for a place to hide. There weren't any visible caverns or holes in the ground where they could take shelter, and climbing a tree was out of the question as a dinosaur could reach higher than they could climb in the time remaining before it caught up with them. Through a break in the trees, Alison saw something that might help.

Grabbing Cassie by the arm, Alison pulled her along. They left the jungle behind and sprinted across an open field. A heard of two dozen brown colored triceratops grazed on the tall grasses, taking only a mild interest in the pair of strange creatures swiftly approaching them. The attention of the peaceful herbivores was immediately grabbed when the tyrannosaur knocked over a pair of trees as it exited the jungle in pursuit.

Alison refused to look back. She didn't know if the creature chasing them was the same one her family had fled from before. In the end, it didn't really matter as it was still a carnivore with a tremendous appetite. Whether it was the same tyrannosaur or a different one, it was focused on having them for a meal.

The two humans dived between the dinosaurs as the triceratops formed a defensive ring. With three horns in front of a flaring shield of bone, their ring was a formidable barricade. The tyrannosaur prowled around the edges, trying to find a weak point and reach the humans in their midst, but it found no opportunity to secure its prey. Turning about, the massive predator lumbered away.

Breathing hard from their run and from relief, Alison and Cassie clung to each other.

"Thank you," Alison said to the nearest triceratops, gently patting its leathery flank.

The four legged beast turned its massive head in her direction and regarded her passively for a moment. Returning to its former indifference, it started grazing again.

"I think we should stick around awhile," Cassie suggested.

"It couldn't hurt," Alison agreed. "We just need to be careful not to get stepped on."

***

In the water filled cavern, Mike rested against the rock wall while Sean changed into the camouflage outfit Cassie had thoughtfully placed in her backpack. He stuffed his medieval wear into the pack in case he needed it again. Sean felt comfortable in the camouflage outfit, and his desire to avoid notice had become less of a social concern and more a matter of survival.

Taking a cue from his dad, Sean sat down with his back against the wall and tried to sleep. He only had a few minutes of rest before a sloshing of water in the cavern pool woke him. His sleepy eyes caught sight of something floating in the pool, but his vision was unfocused. Rubbing his eyes gently, he concentrated on the object.

Measuring two feet long and one wide, the leathery orb had a rounded oval shape and pale white color. While Sean was watching, another object, identical to the first, surfaced beside it. Two more rose from the depths and joined the growing collection.

"Dad," Sean whispered, tapping Mike on the shoulder to rouse him from his sleep.

Mike awoke with a start, jumping slightly at his son's touch. After a moment, when he realized there was no danger currently present, he relaxed.

"What is it, Sean?" Mike asked.

Sean nodded toward the floating orbs. Mike got up and moved to the side of the pool for getting a closer look at the strange objects. He took hold of one orb and lifted it from the water, holding it up to the light. The translucent oval lit up gold with the internal reflection of the sun. A single dark spot resided in the center, slowly turning in fluid circles. Mike carefully put the orb back down in the water.

"I think we're in trouble," Mike whispered slowly, backing away from the pool. "These things are eggs. The reason all animal life avoids this place is because when the dinosaurs hatch, they'll eat anything in here. We're standing in a nest!"

***

Alison and Cassie left the triceratops behind and continued searching for food. They stayed near the herd in case the rex came back for another attempt at eating them.

"Mom, take a look at this," Cassie said, waving a beckoning hand to her mother from where she peered over the edge of a deep hole.

Alison looked down into the pit and found an identical pool as the one where they'd left Mike and Sean.

"This area must have numerous holes," Alison reasoned.

"Do you think the water is linked to all the holes?" Cassie asked.

"It's possible," Alison agreed. "Depending on how deep they go, they might reach an aquifer, perhaps even the ocean if we're close enough."

From under the dark surface of the water, a massive shape cruised swiftly past. No more than a shadow, its size and velocity were startling.

"It would seem they are connected to other places," Cassie said.

Alison stood up straight, her eyes wide in alarm. She glanced in the direction the underwater shape had gone.

"What is it?" Cassie asked in concern.

"We need to go, now!" Alison said, taking her daughter by the arm and bolting back toward the jungle. "If these holes are linked, that dinosaur could surface right next to Mike and Sean!"

***

"Get to the ladder," Mike instructed.

As Sean began to move, more of the eggs began surfacing, bringing the total to more than twenty. The surface of the water began to bulge as something surged up from underneath.

Mike grabbed Sean and prevented him from taking another step. Pulling on his shoulder, he dragged Sean back and ducked into one of the two empty holes in the side of the cavern wall above the waterline. They were no sooner inside before the head of a dinosaur burst out of the pool.

Water sprayed in all directions and cascaded down the long neck of the aquatic beast. The dinosaur had a flat but rounded face, looking very similar to a giant snake. The creature inspected the eggs to be sure they were still intact, even licking some of them with its large tongue to turn them over. Satisfied all was in order, it dropped down through the waters, similar to a descending periscope on a submarine, until the dinosaur had vanished beneath the pool.

Mike and Sean stayed where they were, unwilling to move in case the sea monster were still nearby, ready to surface again. The jungle foliage rustled slightly, and Alison and Cassie appeared at the rim.

"You've got to get out, right now!" Alison called down to her family.

"No kidding!" Mike shouted back, his voice echoing around the cavern. "The cave's a nest!"

Alison and Cassie looked down on the floating eggs, thinking back to the large dinosaur they'd seen swim past. They didn't know if the beast had been here yet, or if it had taken a longer route. The only thing that was certain was they couldn't afford to wait.

Mike crawled out of the hole first, followed by Sean. A wave, created when the dinosaur submerged, had washed one of the eggs up onto the ledge, and they were forced to step over it to reach the ladder. Mike began climbing first, simply because there wasn't room on the small rock ledge for Sean to get past him, nor did they have time to go back and change positions. As speed was their primary concern for evacuating the nest, it didn't matter who went first, only that they hurried.

Alison kept a close watch on her husband as he climbed the ladder, and Cassie eyed the pool for any disturbance indicating a return of the aquatic dinosaur. As soon as Mike reached the top, Sean began climbing up after him.

Dropping their packs and rolling off the ladder into the thick plant growth around the hole, the Jenkins family embraced, breathing hard.

"Come on," Mike urged, being the first to get back to his feet. "We can't stay here, and we still need shelter until the time device recharges."

"I say we look higher on the mountain," Alison suggested.

"Works for me," Cassie agreed.

Sean said nothing. Breathing hard, he nodded his silent consent to the choice of destination.

The family took their packs and moved together toward the mountain. Sean followed in the rear of the group, keeping an eye on the jungle behind them.

"There," Alison said, pointing ahead.

Showing as a dark hole in the side of the mountain, a small cave offered them the hiding place they were looking for. A familiar chittering sound drew their attention to the ground, and the entire family was relieved to see the little dinosaur they'd fed fruit to earlier. It hopped up and down excitedly at their approach.

"Is this your home?" Alison asked the small reptile. It only stared blankly at them, blinking its small dark eyes.

They had to duck under the top edge of the cave as the ceiling was less than five feet off the ground. Stepping carefully to avoid crushing any potential eggs, nest, or fellow creatures possibly in the cave, the Jenkins family made themselves at home.

"Do you mind some company?" Cassie asked as she sat on the ground. The dinosaur chattered again before hopping up into her lap and laying down.

"I guess you made a friend," Alison suggested.

"How much time until the device recharges?" Sean asked.

Mike checked the progress bar on the display screen. "I don't know. It's partly full, but since the recharge rate is different than before, I have no way to estimate an actual time. We just have to wait."

"I'll take first watch," Sean volunteered, taking a seat facing the mouth of the cave with his back to his family.

As the Jenkins family drifted off to sleep, Sean carefully opened his pack. Reaching in between the clothes he'd arranged as padding, he removed an egg. While Mike had been climbing the ladder, Sean had picked up the egg from the rock ledge and secured it in his pack. Holding it up to the light, he watched the dark shape of the dinosaur embryo swimming inside. Its rhythmic movements were graceful and smooth; Sean found them hypnotic and wondered how long it would be until the little creature hatched.