We had been driving for about twenty minutes, a sleek black shark swimming the ocean of the city streets. The ride was so luxurious it almost felt like flying. Even the worst of the potholed roads only registered as gentle bumps through the suspension. In that short time, however, I’d seen the gradual deterioration of the already poor inner apartment blocks to the truly destitute part of the city. It resembled a modern day Detroit, or at least the depiction in movies I’d watched. The single homes were spaced further apart, but over half of them had been burned down, the charred remains standing forlornly in the fenced yards. I’d thought the quickly thrown up concrete monstrosities bordering the wildlife sanctuary were bad. This spoke of a societal rot that went far deeper, one that afflicted my own world too.

“Spriggard Heights,” said Rhys. “One of the most affluent suburbs in the city.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” I replied, noting the defeated faces lit by the occasional porch lights. Some we passed were obviously gang members, and others were just poor families trying to make it in the deprived ruins of the once prosperous area.

“This is what happens when those at the top take everything they can get their grubby little hands on,” Rhys explained.

“Says the drug dealing gangster riding in a stretched limo,” I snorted.

“I never said we don’t try to be part of that top, did I?” he replied. “My hands are as grubby as the next guy.”

“And bloodier too, I’ll bet.”

“The ladder we climb isn’t easy, my friend. There are razor blades, thorns, and barbed wire wrapped around the treads. The ascent isn’t for everyone.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if it was only your blood raining down, but it’s mostly the innocent who suffer,” I growled. His carefree attitude was starting to really piss me off.

He shrugged. “We do what we must. It’s not personal.”

“It is to me,” I finished, and Cris gently squeezed my leg as if to say calm down, now’s not the time.

I sat back and tried to get my anger under control. A bullet to the head from Rhys for being obnoxious would scupper my insane plan in short order.

The smooth motion of the limo slowed down and veered to the right. We passed through a heavily guarded gate into a compound that seemed to have just been dropped in the middle of the land. Roads were simply cut off by the fortified walls, going nowhere anymore, and the homes within that catchment were similarly absorbed. I craned my neck to see where we were going, and I found The Cathedral, as Rhys had coined it. I thought it was some kind of in-joke with the Disciples, but it had once been an actual cathedral, with exquisite stone craftsmanship, stained glass windows, lead roofing, soaring spire, the whole nine yards. The symbolism of corrupting that edifice of all that was once holy must’ve been too delicious to ignore.

“The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament,” said Rhys. “It used to service the congregations for miles around.”

“Now it services you,” I replied.

“Indeed.”

I’d tried to count how many of the Disciples were within the walls, and given up at over two hundred. They milled around on the enclosed, trafficless streets. They walked the walls, their eyes gazing out over the destroyed suburb. Others were holding chaotic parties in the swallowed up homes. I felt the taint of the place, like a festering, cancerous sore on the underbelly of the city. The infection had spread far and wide, using the drainage system, the mud beneath the streets, even the very air itself to advance its poison.

A part of me yearned for the dinosaurs to come and raze this vile place to the ground, but on the other hand I couldn’t get the image of the broken families who lived around it out of my mind. One little girl had seemed to stare right at me, even though the windows of the limo were tinted. No older than three, she stood on the front steps with a stained, earless teddy bear hanging from her hand. It was heart-breaking, made worse by the unconscious mother slumped in a chair under the listing roof of the porch behind her. I felt the rising tide of my unwarranted responsibility toward them, and I needed to move past that, as I had the guilt at inflicting pain and killing. Ok, so I hadn’t been totally successful, but I could stab evil with fewer qualms now. Pretending that skinny child wasn’t in mortal danger was something else entirely, and I wondered if I could even begin to minimise the overwhelming feeling, much less remove it entirely.

“You’re looking angry, my friend,” commented Rhys, with just a touch of uncertainty.

“My name’s Mark, and I’m not your friend. Just hurry up with this shit so we can be on our way.”

“There’s no need to be rude. At least while you’re with us, nothing unpleasant will be happening to you. I’ve been told about people who upset General Milley, and let’s just say they don’t go out peacefully. What do you think he’ll do to people who killed a group of his own men?”

Cris once again calmed me with a simple touch. I ignored Rhys’s taunting question and stared at Sun. Her own gaze was inscrutable. She didn’t care that we were in grave danger. We might have been on a bus going shopping for all the emotion she displayed. Cody was a little agitated, and the professor was really starting to sweat.

The limo coasted to a stop around the back of the once sanctified building. The door swung open and the noise of the night was like a physical blow. Shouts, screams, and the throb of loud music pounded into us. Rhys climbed out, and a machine gun barrel peeked in, inviting us to join him. While we were alone, I stole the entire contents of the fridge before following up the rear. As we emerged, Rhys gave an order and the guards barked into their radios. The music died at once, and across the many acred property, everyone started to file towards the cathedral. A series of inset floor lamps around the building’s base burst into crimson life, casting a bloody hue over the grey stone.

“Nice visual, Vlad,” I muttered.

Rhys scowled at me. “Who is this Vlad character?”

“Dracula? Wallachian warlord turned most powerful vampire of all time? Drinks blood?”

“You’re a very strange individual,” he grumbled, directing us towards the rectory, or whatever the small living quarters were called that adjoined the rear of the holy building. “You’ll wait in there until we’re ready for you. Everything is locked and barred, so don’t bother trying to escape. If you behave, this will go smoothly. Obviously I can’t guarantee the same from Milley, but perhaps consider this a little respite for what’s to come.”

“How long until his team arrives?” I asked.

“Are you that keen to leave our warm hospitality?” asked Rhys with a chuckle. None of us smiled, and the shit eating grin fell away from his face. “An hour or two. Plenty of time to partake in our ceremony as the guests of honour.”

“I haven’t prayed in years,” I warned him.

“You might want to reconsider that,” Rhys stated, the guns of his troops ushering us through the door.

That it was as much a prison as Rhys had explained was confirmed by the stink that we walked through. Everything that had once made it a home was gone. I could see the outline of the old kitchen set against the paint on the walls. The small fireplace was bricked up, as were the windows. The electricity was still working and I walked out of the living area into the hallway, turning on the low wattage bulb. The stairs had been ripped out entirely, and the landing above was sealed with concrete blocks.

“Looks like we need to get comfortable,” I said. “We could break out, but we’d get cut down in seconds.”

Going through my inventory, I pulled out a bunch of chairs that I’d stolen from the black site.

“How on earth can you do that?” Jessop blustered.

I sat down and faced him. “In simple terms, the three of us are from another dimension.”

Cody helpfully stepped aside. “Not me. I’m Osterland born and bred.”

“Oh, good,” remarked Jessop, smiling weakly.

“We’re here to save this world. Sheldon Lake is about to unleash a prehistoric apocalypse on you all, and we need to stop it.”

“Prehistoric?” he exclaimed. “You’re talking dinosaurs?” Jessop looked like he wanted to laugh, but all that came out was a sickly choke.

“That’s what our mission brief says, yeah. The samples from the… what did Liza call them? Pulmonoscorpious? I think that’s what she said. The tissue samples we collected from the bodies would’ve shown the creatures we fought were grown, altered, not naturally evolving like the specimens in your lab.”

“What purpose do bugs serve when they want to overwhelm us with the giant reptiles?” he speculated, mostly to himself.

“I’d guess as a test? A case of dipping a toe in the water before diving in?”

He pondered that for a moment, the scientific mind working overtime. “That would make perfect sense. The changes to the atmosphere are only a part of it. They couldn’t possibly know if the creatures they have made will be able to survive in the new environment. They’re going on core samples that are millions of years old. Slight variations could be their undoing, so they’re using the most basic lifeform of the time to see how they respond.”

I left aside the physiological differences between the insects and the coming dinosaurs. They had all lived side by side seventy million years ago, so it stood to reason their new, successfully tested habitat would be just as welcoming. “Once we’d got the samples analysed, we hoped if we could just get them to the government they would be enough to have people sit up and take notice. To prepare, however we can.”

“Some hope,” he scoffed. “Useless to a man and woman.”

“I figured your world was a close copy of our own,” I replied.

He blinked a few times, wagging a finger at nothing, trying to make sense of something nonsensical. “And the CID people want to stop that meeting from taking place?”

“It seems that way.”

“But why? They’ll be in danger from their creation too.”

“Maybe they’ve built bunkers?” suggested Cris.

“Or they have a few well-stocked islands to live on,” added Cody.

“Or they’re idiots,” finished Sun, helpfully.

“Even if they do shelter away from the mayhem, life finds a way,” said Jessop. “It will come for them eventually.”

I drew back and frowned at the professor for the life remark. “Are you guys sure you don’t have a Jurassic Park movie on this world?”

“Not that I’ve ever seen,” replied Cody. “But it has been a while since I went to the cinema.”

“Anyway, Professor, the bottom line is that we know what’s coming. Knowing what to do to prevent it is something we’re supposed to figure out along the way. Liza was part of it, and probably still will be. I think you might have a role to play too.”

“I don’t see what use I’ll be once that bastard Milley has his hands on us again,” he replied.

“We’re the only one’s he’ll hurt. Your kidnapping alone tells me they need you alive.”

“And do you have a plan on getting us out of this mess?” asked Cris. “I mean, it’s nice to be at a cathedral with you, but you haven’t even proposed to me yet.”

I went down on one knee and took her hand. “Cristal Anderson, will you do me the honour of killing a bunch of arseholes who want to hurt innocent people with me?”

Her hands flew to her mouth in overjoyed shock. “Of course I will!”

I jumped up, grabbed her in a tight embrace, and spun round.

“Fools,” muttered Sun, shaking her head.