Chapter 08: Extinction

Each member of the Jenkins family took a turn being on watch during the night. The rotation allowed them to get some much needed sleep, even if it was only for a few hours. Mike was on guard when the first hints of daylight began creeping up over the eastern horizon. The sky turned a pale gray, brightening ever so slowly until it was a familiar blue. A scattering of puffy clouds floated silently by on the wind, the sunlight imparting golden highlights to their edges.

A streak of bright red drew his attention. A small meteor glanced off the upper atmosphere before heading back into space, leaving a fire trail behind it. As Mike watched the departing meteor, he wondered about where it had come from and where it would be going.

Pulling the time device from his pocket, he flipped the hinged cover open to examine the data screen. The green progress line running horizontally across the display was nearly full, indicating it wouldn't be too much longer before another time jump was possible. The slow rate of recharge still concerned him as Mike had no idea how many more jumps they could squeeze out of the device before its power cell died and stranded the family somewhere in time. On the lower panel, below the display screen, Mike adjusted the four round dials in an attempt to discover what the thief who'd stolen the device in the Middle Ages had done to it.

The numbers above the progress line, which he'd previously believed to be the number of years intended for the jump, had been replaced by a complex equation. Using his finger, he drew in the dirt near the mouth of the cave and etched out his own mathematical equations in an attempt to discover what needed to be done to send them not only forward in time, but also to the correct year.

Behind him, his family began to stir, but a scattering of small stones outside the cave drew his full attention. Mike got into a crouched position, ready to spring toward anything that threatened his family. He'd either kill it or distract it long enough for his loved ones to escape.

Relief filled him as a small dinosaur appeared. Almost identical to the one curled up on Cassie's lap, the miniature lizard looked at him with its small eyes as if trying to determine what kind of creature Mike was and how to respond to his presence.

"Hello," Mike whispered. He sat down gently in order not to startle his visitor. Leaning back, he tried to appear as passive as possible.

Taking tentative steps, the diminutive lizard entered the cave and approached the other reptile. It let out a small squeak, and the first opened its eyes and looked around. When the dinosaur on Cassie's lap saw the new one, it jumped up and began chittering excitedly. The commotion woke those of the Jenkins family not already awake.

"Looks like our little friend has a family," Alison mused. "I wonder where the other one has been all this time."

"Probably hiding from predators," Sean suggested.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Mike agreed. When the two lizards departed from the cave, he took out after them with hurried instructions to his family. "Bring everything; let's go."

Alison, Cassie, and Sean grabbed their packs and raced to keep up. They didn't ask any questions for fear of being heard by nearby dinosaurs who might have carnivorous tendencies.

Mike followed the pair of dinosaurs to a place where an ancient upheaval had split two mountains further apart. A gap existed between them now, and the dinosaurs hopped through it. Being larger than the lizards, it took the human pursuers slightly more effort to transition to the other side, but it was well worth it.

Sheltered in the center of a chain of mountains, a small valley stretched out before them. The steep mountains on all sides kept the majority of dinosaurs out of the valley, so the vegetation was largely undisturbed. Fruit trees in a spectacular variety covered the terrain not blanketed by a thick carpeting of green grass. While the two dinosaurs in the lead scrambled up the bark of the trees to reach the fruit, the humans stared at the picturesque scenery.

"I thought they might lead us to food," Mike breathed in awe. After a moment, his mind returned to the needs of his family. "Take as much as you can carry from the fruit you recognize. The device will be ready soon, but I don't know if we'll end up in the right time. If we don't, we might get hungry before we find something edible."

Silently agreeing with his appraisal of the situation, they set to work, picking familiar looking food from the trees. A collection of bushes outside the perimeter of the grove provided an ample supply of tasty berries. It didn't take long before their packs were filled to capacity.

"Look at that!" Sean exclaimed.

Everyone turned in his direction and adjusted their gaze toward where Sean pointed. Streaks of fire burned across the sky as a swarm of fast moving meteors were ignited by their friction against the atmosphere. One, larger than the others, managed to avoid being incinerated in the heat. It blazed a flaming trail across the sky before impacting some distance away. A tremor ran through the soil under their feet. Smaller impacts began shaking the ground in alarming regularity.

"I hate to bring this up," Sean said. "But, didn't the dinosaurs all die because of an asteroid?"

"It's the current theory," Mike confirmed. He checked the time device, but it needed longer before it'd be ready. "We need to move. It won't be safe here."

"We're sheltered on all sides," Sean pointed out.

"No," Mike denied, ushering them toward the crack in the rock wall where they'd entered. "These mountains may be dormant volcanoes, and the meteors may wake them up. This is really the last place we want to be."

"What about them?" Cassie asked, nodding toward the two lizards who had come down from the tree and were currently sitting at their feet. "We can't leave them here."

"We can't take them along," Mike denied. "Do you know what the consequences could be for bringing back dinosaurs?"

"They aren't predatory, and they aren't very large," Cassie reminded. "They'll die if we leave them here. At least with us, they'll have a chance. Please, Dad."

Mike looked at the small creatures staring at him with their tiny eyes blinking every few seconds. The little critters had been friendly and welcoming, even leading the family to the food now filling their packs. The thought of leaving them to certain death didn't sit right with him, but he didn't much like the option of bringing dinosaurs into the modern world.

"We may not get back on the next jump," Mike warned. "When and where we end up might not be too good for them."

"It'll be better than dying here," Cassie replied.

"Alright," Mike relented. "Bring them."

Cassie bent down and opened her arms wide. Her little pet jumped into her waiting embrace. Alison scooped up the other before it could flee. Patting it gently, she soothed it so the creature wouldn't instinctively think it was being attacked.

Taking point once more, Mike squeezed through the gap between the mountains and back into the clearing near the edge of the jungle. He paused on the other side as a large herd of stegosaurs thundered past. The double row of bony shields on their backs, running from their narrow faces to the four upward pointing spikes on their tails, created an alternating pattern of shadows and flashes of light as they occasionally blocked the sun.

Trees in the path of the colossal beasts were shouldered out of the way and came crashing to the ground while others were torn into millions of splinters by direct hits. The jungle was thick and lush in front of them, but it became a broken tangle of fallen logs and gouged soil in their wake.

"Let's go!" Mike shouted when the last of the armored lizards had passed them by. Following the herd, Mike tried to keep up, but for their size, the dinosaur's long strides allowed them to cover considerable distances at tremendous speeds. Additionally, the dinosaurs had far less trouble with the terrain than the smaller humans trailing after them.

Another meteor fell from the sky. The impact threw everyone to the ground. The terrain split apart, and Sean had to scramble to his feet and jump the widening gap before it had a chance to separate him from the others.

The sky turned red with streaks of fire as the number of incoming meteors increased. One of the falling fragments of burning stone hit the summit of the mountain where the Jenkins family had taken shelter the first night. Displaced snow exploded in all directions, some of it instantly turning to steam when contact was made with the flaming meteor. Molten rock spewed forth from the awakened volcano in a shower of lava, raining streams of fire down upon the jungle and setting the trees ablaze.

The Jenkins family climbed over the fallen trees knocked down by the stampeding dinosaurs. The lava, now a river spilling down the mountain side, gained speed as more material was constantly added by the rupture in the Earth. The trees hindered the forward progress of the humans, but the lava simply swallowed everything in its path, covering over what didn't burn on contact.

The ground shook from tectonic stresses caused by the eruptions and from the continual meteor bombardment. The combination of impacts and seismic upheavals made it difficult to stay balanced while running over the uneven terrain. The Jenkins family frequently stumbled, occasionally being snagged by the thick undergrowth. They helped each other, pulling up those who fell and pushing ahead any who appeared to be slowing down. The family had stopped being individuals and had become four parts of a single unit.

A wide lake blocked their forward progress. Looking back, the lava flow cut off all other possible escape routes. Smoke from the burning trees stung their eyes and gave them fits of coughing. The planet had become a hellish nightmare around them. Fires raged unchecked, ignited by falling meteors or lava flows, and plumes of acrid, black smoke joined columns of hot ash to darken and cover the red skies. The roars and screams of terrified dinosaurs echoed across the lands as their world came to a violent end.

The dinosaurs cradled in the arms of Cassie and Alison squirmed slightly as their instinct to run fought against their trust of their human protectors.

Mike looked around, but there were no options. A dark shape slid by under the surface of the waters, letting him know it wouldn't be safe to try and swim across. Lava was approaching in a wave of flaming death. No rocks or trees provided a pathway out of the direction of the incoming molten rock.

Offering a silent prayer, Mike checked the time device. The beep it made was inaudible over the cataclysmic destruction occurring around them, but Mike saw the glowing light of the activation button. Throwing his arms around his family, he stabbed down on the button.

Bolts of electricity arced out from the device in his hand. Each blast of energy flattened at its furthest tip, spreading out and joining with those made by the others until a sphere of transparent energy surrounded the four humans and their reptilian traveling companions.

Lava surged toward them, but it couldn't breach the field, flowing around the exterior edge of the lightning bubble. The sphere abruptly shrank away to nothing as the time travelers vanished into a different point in history. With the sphere gone, the molten rock moved to fill the empty space before continuing its path to the lake unobstructed.