Page 71 of Galaxy Games Four-Book Box Set (Galaxy Games)

71

Thundering Herd

S adie

Two days on a Jurassic planet with a multipurpose army knife, a tinfoil blanket, a glorified Bic lighter, and a pack full of nutrition bars and bottled water. Sounds fun.

Within minutes, we’ve traveled far enough away from the others that we can’t hear them joking with each other. They seemed like decent people, especially when they refused to watch Zedd’s obscene display this morning. I hate that only two people will live through this.

We’re on a flat plain. Other than knee-high grasses, the going is easy. Just the thought makes me prickle with fear. TGN never gives us anything easy. Something’s coming and it won’t be good.

Every time we pass one of the sparse trees, Anubis inspects under it, using his foot to slide back and forth in the grasses, obviously looking for something.

“I’m looking for straight limbs,” he tells me. “When we pass the next marsh, we’ll pluck strong reeds. We’ll use them to lash our little knives to the limbs to make spears.”

I try not to laugh as I picture us going up against a T-Rex with our tiny army knives at the end of wooden sticks. How could we survive that? Instead, I nod and say, “Great idea.”

“I know it’s pathetic, Sadie, but it’s all we have and I want to keep you safe.”

I like him more every minute. He’s a good male. He may not be able to protect me in this alien hellscape, but the fact that he wants to try makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Within an hour, we’ve chosen straight, sturdy fallen limbs. His is about seven feet long. Mine is five. He was right about the reeds. Once they were picked and soaked in marsh water for a while, they were pliable and worked well to lash the opened knives to the shafts.

He cuts a notch the length of the knife handle into the top of each limb. Then he inserts the handle and wraps the wet reeds several thicknesses around the end, splitting the reeds at the end to tie them off to secure the knife.

Holding the new spear in the palm of his hand, he adjusts his hold on the shaft until he finds the balance point. I do the same with mine. He then wraps more wet reeds there for a better grip on the smooth spear shaft. As the reeds dry, they tighten.

I hate to waste the time, imagining our competitors getting farther and farther ahead of us. But something tells me we’re going to need these spears.

As I hike through the tall grass, spear in hand, I feel like a cavewoman. My shoes fit well. Luckily, they’re like next-level sneakers and not rags wrapped around my feet like in days of yore.

Not only are the animals on this planet huge, but the bugs are commensurate in size. They mostly leave us alone unless we stray too close to piles of feces. Boy, those dinos know how to take a dump.

We stop for lunch and it hits me we should have grabbed more food. Then I realize if we don’t arrive at the flag in two days’ time, the drones following us will shoot us and leave us for dino food. I shrug. I guess we took the right amount.

The ground shakes beneath our feet, and when I look over my shoulder, I see a large dinosaur lumbering toward us.

It’s maybe ten feet tall and about the shape of a bull elephant. Its head is similar to an ox with horns and ears, but it’s topped with a crown-like lump of flesh a foot tall. Its crimson crown matches the color of the cowling around its neck, which stands out from its burnt-orange thick-hided body.

“Run, Sadie!” Anubis roars.

We both kick into high gear in the direction we’d been heading. I’m terrified, wondering if the enormous thing is following us, but I don’t want to waste a second to glance behind me.

The ground is shaking, and the noise of movement gets louder. When I finally gaze back, I see a herd of them.

I pour on the speed, leaping over the rocks that have appeared as the landscape changes. Anubis is behind me.

If he wanted to, he could be a mile ahead of me by now. He’s staying between me and the herd in a misguided attempt to protect me. If I could spare the time or energy, I’d tell him to hurry ahead. I mean, really, how could he possibly protect me from a rampaging herd of dinosaurs?

The rocks under our feet get larger and more numerous. Up ahead, I see the boulder field we were originally heading toward. I leap onto a three-foot rock, then use that to jump to a six-footer. Anubis joins me.

The ground is shaking so severely I have to bend my legs and stretch my arms to keep my balance. I turn to take a good look at what’s coming at me.

“Keep going, Sadie,” Anubis says, trying to force me out of my paralysis.

“Holy shit,” I say under my breath, then turn and leap from boulder to boulder. There are a lot of them. Maybe a hundred. How are we going to escape a whole herd of those things?