Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (34 page)

“None of us have. I can’t wait, so tell Jimmy I
will call him later.”

“I will. Is it all clear yet out there?” She nodded
her head at the outside framed by the windows. “Are the monsters gone?”

“They could be. We have been busy depleting their
population, but I can’t guarantee it. So keep your eyes and ears open and
continue staying inside until we can be sure of it. I’ll give you a heads up when
that happens.”

“Thanks Ranger Shore.”

She offered him a seat but he refused it. “No
thanks. Sorry, like I said, I can only stay a minute. A team of us are
venturing into town to bring back some friends of ours and see how the town’s doing.”

She didn’t ask and he didn’t elaborate on what
condition the town was in. Norma was like that. All she cared about was the
park and the lodge. She rarely even went into town.

“We heard the fireworks and all at headquarters,”
she kept talking. “Sounded like you’ve had quite a war down there.”

“We have. But we have come out on the other side
victorious. The dinosaurs have mostly been routed from the area, or so we believe.
How has it been here the last month? Any problems or run-ins with the
dinosaurs? Any close calls?”

“Ah,” she waved her hand around her lazily, “you
know, no customers, just dinosaurs peeking in the windows and traipsing across
the lawns. We have been really lucky, though, none of the big ones have
bothered us and the smaller ones can’t get in. We bolted the doors and windows
on the lower floors when this latest incursion began. It’s worked just peachy.
You only were able to stroll in because I saw you coming and unlocked the main
door. The lodge, so far, has been dinosaur free.”

She grinned. “But I did see this one mammoth
fellow, ugly as hell with prodigious fangs and all, pass by the window there,”
she nodded at the glass panorama she was seated in front of, “one morning. Pretty
as you please. He peered in at me with his beady glowing eyes and looked as if
he’d love to swallow me whole, but he kept moving, didn’t try to get in. Good
thing. Second story up we never thought to board up those windows. I hid behind
the curtains and peeked out as it turned and dived into the lake. Must be a
thousand feet to the water below. Let me tell you that was really terrifying.

“And, oh, I’ve had numerous close calls with some
of those miniature monsters, too. Once a couple cornered me outside by the
trash cans–they had been dumpster diving by the looks of it because what a mess
they’d made…trash everywhere–and started throwing dirty cans and empty bottles at
me. I showed them. I tossed ‘em right back and hit this one square in the
noggin. Knocked it flat to the ground. The others were hopping around and
yowling like banshees. Funniest thing I ever saw.” A gleeful chortle. “Then I high-tailed
it for the lodge as fast as I could go. I could hear those ugly midgets bouncing
against the door like hard balls after I slammed it shut. Whew.” She chuckled
wickedly and made an exaggerated gesture of wiping her brow. “I was a heck more
careful going out to empty the trash after that, let me tell ya. But that was a
couple weeks past.”

“How about the last week or so? Seen any more prehistoric
rejects out and about?”

She mulled that over a minute and replied, “Nope,
come to think on it, not for over a week at least. It has been quiet. No
monsters dumpster diving or parading past the windows up here at all. Thank the
Lord.”

“Good. Well, I have to go now Norma. It has been
nice seeing you and I’m so glad you and Jimmy are okay. I’ll come by for a
longer visit as soon as I can. You take care now.”

“Wait a minute Ranger Shore…you might not have time
to sit and have a cup of coffee with me, but if you hold on for just another
minute I’ll hustle into the kitchen and pour you a thermos to go. I just made a
fresh pot.” She was up and hobbling towards the kitchen before he could protest.

“All right,” he hollered behind her. “You know how
I like it. Cream and sugar.” The lodge made the best coffee.

When Norma handed him the thermos, he thanked her,
and they said goodbye.

Henry was grateful the lodge and the people left
taking care of it were all right. One less worry to carry.

Two tanks with a car sandwiched between them exited
the park a half hour later–Henry sharing his thermos of coffee with his tank
mates–and set off on the highway in the direction of Klamath Falls.

Henry dreaded what they’d find there.

*****

The Abrams could reach a dizzying top speed of forty-two
miles an hour and they were pushing that number rolling into town. Still it
meant it’d take them an unusually long time to reach their destination.

Not one dinosaur crossed their paths or was
glimpsed in the bordering woods on the way, and with Justin and Steven
virtually unprotected in the station wagon that was a good thing. It gave Henry
hope things were getting better.

They were supposed to meet up with McDowell’s in
town soldier counterpart, Captain Alan Harvey, at the Klamath Falls Police
Station where the National Guard had set up their headquarters.

“What does Captain Harvey have to report on the
dinosaur problem there? Does he have it under control?” Henry questioned McDowell
over his headset when they were on their way. They were sharing the same tank,
the one leading the procession. Sergeant Gilbert was their driver again and
Private Harmon was in charge of the guns. After weeks of hunting expeditions Henry
had grown to know both men and respected their dedication and proficiency. He
trusted their judgment and felt safe with them running the armored vehicle.

“He feels they might soon. They’ve been slaying the
creatures as quickly as they come across them but there is still a rogue pack roaming
the town, evading them, ensnaring the patrols and causing havoc. I’ve offered
our help when we get there.”

Henry didn’t say anything. He had pretty well
accepted they’d have to fight once they arrived and he was prepared.

Like everyone, Henry’s eyes were glued to the monitors
as they entered the city. And the first thing that struck him was its desolate emptiness.
It looked like one of those ghost towns seen in an apocalyptic horror film. All
it was missing was the spooky musical score and a tumble weed bush bouncing
down the empty street. There were no people anywhere, or that he could see. Perhaps
they were locked behind sturdy doors and plywood covered windows, guns near at
hand, alert for any dinosaur intruders.

Businesses were shut down, their windows shattered.
He didn’t see one still operating. Most buildings were piles of bricks and
broken plaster. There was trash littering the yards and shards of glass glittering
on the roads. No cars moving. There were no sounds of children or anyone human
for that matter. No people milling on the sidewalks or visiting stores,
chatting and passing the time of day. A lone fast food wrapper skittered down
the unoccupied sidewalk. It gave Henry a case of the shivers.

It was so different than the town he’d always known
and it made him unhappy to see its empty husk.

This is what the world will look like if dinosaurs
proliferate past the tipping point and overrun humanity. This is the future. This
is Armageddon. This is war.

The car and tanks shouldered their way down Main
Street. Nothing blocked their route, nothing challenged them, but an eerie
silence cloaked the collection of forlorn houses and deserted businesses. Even Freddy’s
restaurant was locked up and shuttered.

“Where are the people?” McDowell was the first one
to express it.

“Hiding?” Sergeant Gilbert supplied.

“If they’re lucky,” Henry muttered. “My guess is most
of them left long ago. Justin here and Steven did say that when they came
through here last month there was a healthy exodus going on. People were
fleeing like a tsunami was coming.”

“By the looks of the town, or what’s left of it,”
McDowell remarked, “that tsunami came through. I hope all the inhabitants did evacuate.”

There was no signs yet of dinosaurs. It made Henry
wonder if McDowell have been wrong about how dire the situation was. Could be
the menace was over and Klamath Falls was now dinosaur free too. Wouldn’t that
be great?

They parked in front of the police station, climbed
from the tank, and Justin, with Steven catching up once he exited his vehicle, trailed
them into the building. Inside, Henry was introduced to Captain Harvey and his soldiers,
but there was no Lester Chapman or police officers anywhere.

“Where’s Police Chief Chapman and his men?” he
asked Captain Harvey as the man put his hand out to shake Henry’s.

“Now that’s a conundrum, Chief Ranger.” Captain
Harvey thoughtfully rubbed the side of his chin. “When we got here four weeks
ago this place was unoccupied. Not a cop in sight. And in the time we’ve been
here Chief Chapman and his officers have yet to put in an appearance. No one’s
heard from them, either. We think they are just…gone. Like a lot of the
citizens that used to live here. Vanished.” He was a tall man, taller than
Henry. Husky build. His grayish hair was a bit too shaggy for a soldier and his
face was scruffy with a three day old beard. His uniform rumpled and well lived
in. But his eyes, the color of blue ice, were friendly enough. They seemed to
be laughing most of the time as if he knew this private joke and wasn’t going
to tell anyone what it was.

The news didn’t surprise Henry. To him it was an
old story. “About how many people have disappeared? Do you have a count?”

“Unfortunately no. We just know, besides the
townsfolk who have fled, there are many unaccounted for. Many missing. But I
think we have killed off most of the creatures and pretty much have the
situation under control. Except for that rogue gang, I mean.”

Henry sighed inwardly. He and Captain Harvey knew
where all those missing people had ended up but neither one had to mention it.
Instead he told the soldier why he was there. To find their friends.

Justin waited until they were done with their
conversation. “Excuse me,” he turned to Henry. “I’d like to go with you to find
Zeke and Wilma before I head home. What’s another hour or so. Can we come
along?” He cocked his thumb at his friend Steven who was sitting on the edge of
the missing police chief’s desk.

Steven grinned and gave them a thumbs up. “I’m in,
too. Let’s go find those old folks and get them somewhere where they will be
safe.”

“I wonder if Zeke’s found his escaped little squirrel
friend?” Justin directed the question to Henry with a touch of humor in his
voice.

“Now that would be something. Lassie come home in
squirrel form. Not much chance of that, I’d say. Idaho is so far away.”

“Poor Zeke. He sure loved that little fellow. Shame
he’s lost him.”

Captain Harvey was staring at them as if they’d
lost their good sense. There was a slight smile on his face, though. Possibly
he liked squirrels, too.

“Well, then, are we ready to go find those AWOL
friends of yours? Day’s a wasting. And it’s best not to be out after dark
around here,” Captain Harvey spoke to Henry, “just to be on the safe side.”

Henry made one final call to Zeke’s home phone and
then his cell phone. Still no answer. It had crossed his mind more than once
that perhaps Zeke and Wilma had never made it home at all. Something had
waylaid them somewhere along the journey. He didn’t want to dwell on that
possibility, though. He had to go on the assumption they were at Zeke’s house
waiting for
little boy
to return home.

“We’re ready.” Henry looked towards Justin and
Steven and they nodded.

“We will use the tanks.” Captain McDowell had been
leaning against the wall, just listening to the conversation, but at that time
came forward.

As the group of them left the building Captain
Harvey and McDowell conferred about what the previous month had brought.
Soldier stuff. Future plans. Orders. What he’d seen and experienced since the
Guard had been stationed in town. She did the same and filled him in on what
had been going on in the park.

“You can’t traverse this township without an armored
vehicle’s protection,” Harvey told them. “The rogue beasts are of the large
varieties. It’s too dangerous. Even a Humvee doesn’t do the job.

“Where is this house we are going to?”

Henry gave Harvey directions to Zeke’s house and
Wilma’s. “We’ll try Zeke’s first. I believe they’re there.”

They took the two tanks and Harvey followed in one
of his. Henry had been impressed to see that Harvey’s troops had a fleet of the
Abrams they used to patrol and protect the town. Apparently the tanks had come
in handy.

Traveling down the same once safe roads to Zeke’s
house Henry had done so many times before was a melancholy trip. Even though it
was midday and the sun was shining strongly around them, everything had changed
so drastically it didn’t look like the same town. There was so much damage. Trees
split and broken, telephone lines down, houses leveled and the ground tore up
everywhere as if a giant plow had been dragged through.

Klamath Falls was no longer Klamath Falls.