Isla Sorna, Costa Rica

(JJ)

After listening to their story, the Jayhawk radioed in. “Boss, there’s a river down the cliff face that’s safe for us to pick you up, over”

“Copy that. We’ll see you there.” I replied over the radio.

We made our way down the cliff face and walked into the jungle, making our way to the coordinates that the Jayhawk transmitted to us. Ready to get home and get these two poor bastards’ home to their wives.

Suddenly, the jungle turned silent. I stopped walking and felt the powerful tremors moving through my bones. A guttural growl rippled through the forest and the others briefly halted. I felt a horrible fear rise in my gut and we moved more quickly.

“Double time!” I shouted.

The riverbank was only a hundred feet away. They could close the distance in seconds if they sprinted.

Isaac and Mark ran towards the edge of the forest. LB followed behind them, pointing his rifle at the depths of the jungle beyond.

The ground quaked as if it was being moved. I heard trees creaking and snapping against a powerful force. I scanned the trees until he saw it, a towering predator with a long crocodile-like snout full of razor teeth. Long forearms with three long appendages ending in razor-sharp claws, and a massive sail that ran along its back. The behemoth moved through the forest, snorting, and huffing as it followed the scent of blood in the air.

“Must go faster,” LB hissed.

“We must be in hell. Dear Lord, deliver your son from the jaws of the beast.” Taylor mumbled.

Isaac and Mark broke into a sprint. Taylor and I stumbled into a jog behind them. LB fired at the monster, annoying it. It bellowed and charged. Little Bear paled and dropped his gun in his haste to getaway.

My heart seized when I caught the dinosaurs’ eyes. Its lips were curled back in a toothy snarl. Suddenly, the name came back to me. Spinosaurus. I remembered seeing a skeleton of it. The Spinosaurus bellowed, and the sound struck me. I broke into a sprint with Taylor and LB.

Isaac and Mark sprinted for the helicopter. Loni was already helping them inside.

I turned and saw it thundering closer, its head lowered and jaws opening.

“Fuck you!” Isaac was aiming his rifle and fired. I watched as the Spinosaurus eye exploded as the bullet passed through it and came out the other side. It collapsed with a terrible cry of agony that rang in my ears.

The Jayhawk was high in the air now. The Spino lay dead beneath us. We were hooting and hollering. We had made it and took down a demon from hell while we were at it. Just before we closed the door, an earth-shattering bellow shoot the Jayhawk. We all looked down to see a second Spinosaurus. This one was bigger and looked meaner, too. It sniffed at the dead one. It made a pitiful whine, then looked up at us and bellowed again. The rage and hatred in the vibrating form it made me feel faint.

“Get us the fuck out of here!” I slammed the door close and sat back, my heart pounding in my chest.

The Jayhawk turned and flew away, leaving the island and that nightmare beast behind. Twenty minutes later, we touched down on the challenger’s deck. They ushered Isaac and Mark into the med bay. The ship's doctor examined all of us as was the procedure. When we were all cleared, we met up in the mess for some supper.

I ate my meal, then excused myself. The others were chatting with Mark and Isaac, listening to their stories of previous, less dangerous hunts. At any other time, I would have stayed and listened. But I was tired and wanted to be alone with my thoughts. I trudged through the ship to my bunk. I lowered myself down and closed my eyes. But teeth and unearthly cries soon haunted my dreams. No matter how many times I woke and returned to sleep, two green reptilian eyes stared back at me. Alien and full of hatred. I resigned myself to the fact that no matter what I did, those eyes would follow me the rest of my life.

Epilogue

Mombasa Kenya, East Africa

The little bar with its canopied tables was surprisingly empty today, except for a lone figure. Just like the last time I saw him, he was seated at the same table with the same bottle of whiskey. As I neared the table, I noticed a picture sitting on the table. In the picture was Uncle Roland standing next to an Indian fellow. They were posing with an impressive-looking Lion. One of his hunts, no doubt. Both men were smiling.

I took the seat across for him and without looking at me he filled a second class and passed it to me.

“Did I ever tell you about Ajay?” He asked me, never taking his eyes from the photo.

“You did.”

“He went with me to that Island. It was to be the grandest hunt we’d ever undertaken.” He sipped at his whisky.

“I remember you tell me as much.”

“He didn’t make it.” His voice broke, and he downed the rest of his whisky.

He looked… old. Never in my entire life had I ever thought of Roland Tembo as old. I remember him clearly in my youth as being full of strength and charisma that awed me. Now, in this moment, I saw how the years had taken their toll on him.

I lifted my glass in a toast. “To Ajay.”

He smiled a sad smile and clinked his glass with mine. “Did you find the poor devils, then?”

I downed my whisky and nodded. “I did.”

He looked at me and raised a brow. “And?”

“And… I get why you couldn’t go back there,” I toyed with my glass, then looked him in the eye. “I’m haunted now, uncle.”

He refilled my glass. “The eyes of the predator haunt our dreams. You never forget them, and they never leave.”

“Is that why you hunted so often?” I asked him.

“In part. There was a chap, so time ago still forget his name. He climbed Everest without any oxygen came down nearly dead. They asked, “why did you go up there to die?” He said, “I didn’t I went up there to live”, can you understand that?”

I took a moment to mull it over in my head, then nodded. “Yes. I think I can.” I clinked my glass to his again. “Here’s too living.”

The End