dinopocalypse: two flowers

7/30/2019 Dinopocalypse: Two Flowers

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Dinopocalypse

Two Flowers



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Introduction I’m a big fan of “The Walking Dead,” so when I learned after watching the mid-season finale on Sunday

that there wouldn’t be another new episode until February 2013 I immediately wondered how I would

fill the void.

During the days since then (right now it’s only Wednesday) I began thinking about other types of

apocalyptic scenarios. I asked myself, how challenging would it be to write a story which was enough

like the “Walking Dead” to take the edge off while I’m waiting for the season to resume, yet would be

different enough to be considered original? I replaced “zombies” with a few other common creatures,

until I plugged in “dinosaur.”

I wish I could share the rest, but right now I don’t know much more than you do because I’ve only

written the first chapter. I do know so far that the main characters will be Marcus Armstrong and his

daughter Tracey. The story is told from Marcus’ perspective of the events which unfold both before and

after the dinopocalypse.

I’m also publishing this story as a part of a new series which I’ve called “Webthology.” The basic point

behind this is that I’ll be publishing collections of articles and stories--a little bit like an “anthology”--

both on the web and in print, and anybody who is interested in contributing is welcomed to submit their

work for publication.

In honor of the two month hiatus for “The Walking Dead,” and the first chapter of “Dinopocalypse,” I

wanted to invite everyone to share their own stories about an apocalypse. Feel free to write a story, or a

description of a story, about something that happens to bring down civilization. Or, write your own

episode of “The Walking Dead.” The sky is the limit.

Contact me by sending email to [email protected]. You can also submit stories to that email address.



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Dinopocalypse

Two Flowers



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Chapter One

1st Revision. 12/8/2012

‘

Marcus gunned the engine of his mother’s minivan, and pulled up the hill into the cemetery across from

the Cromaine Library. He automatically checked all of the windows to see if they had been spotted

before he reached behind the passenger’s seat for the shotgun.

He glanced into the rear view mirror, where he could see concern look on his six-year-old daughter’s

face. “Please be careful, Daddy,” Tracey urged, her fingers already working at the latcheson her carseat.

“I will honey,” Marcus said. “I’m going to look around for a little bit, and then I’ll let you know when its

safe to come out, okay?”

“Okay.”

Marcus gripped the door handle, and pulled out to release the door. They had visited his wife’s grave

inside the Hartland Township Cemetery every month for nearly six months, and had only been attacked

once. But, for Marcus, once was enough.

He angled away from the van as he walked, scanning his surroundings with his shotgun as he moved. He

checked the backs of the widest gravestones, inside the shrubs that lined the front of the fence that

surrounded the cemetery, and both ends of Wright Avenue, which ran through the center of the

Hartland Village.

He had gone as far as he dared, but could still see Tracey watching him from the backseat of the van.There seemed to be nothing around them that would hurt them.

Marcus hurried back to the van, and slid the side door open. “Okay, let’s go talk to Mommy.”

Tracey stepped down from the van, and reached up towards Marcus, a signal that she wanted him to

hold her hand. He offered his hand, and she gripped it, the claws on her fingers pressing into his skin

only slightly. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as scared as she looks, Marcus thought to himself. But, then

again, I didn’t grow up in a world quite like this.

They walked together across the driveway, then into a patch of grass that lead down a slope into the

newest part of the cemetery. Marcus noted the graves which were still fresh, and still a few more that

had been added since last month’s visit. Despite all that had happened, people were still following theirtraditions when a loved one died. Marcus remembered back to his wife’s burial, and wondered quietly if

that would be the last thing that he would do that felt “normal.”

Tina Armstrong’s grave marker sat towards the edge of the new section of the cemetery, along the row

that was closest to the tree line. At the time, Marcus had picked that spot both because it was available

and it seemed pretty with the pine trees as a backdrop. But, after almost a year of surviving in a new

world populated by dinos, this location seemed unbearably inconvenient.



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Marcus stopped in front of the gravestone, and kneeled down. Tracey let go of his hand, and walked

gingerly around the grave like her father had taught her, then wrapped her arms as far around the grave

marker as she could. He could see a tear roll down her cheek. “We miss you mommy,” she whispered. “I

love you.” Then, she let out a whimper, and shot a look towards her father.

“What’s wrong, honey?” He asked.

“I...I left the flower in the van,” she said. “I was going to put it on Mommy’s grave.”

“I’m sorry,” Marcus said, pausing to wipe a tear from his cheek. “We can’t take the time to get it, and

then bring it back.”

“Next time?” Tracey asked.

“Yes.”

“But, daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Next time, can I bring two flowers?”

“Yes, that would be fine.”

Sobbing a little, Tracey half walked, half crawled across the ground and embraced Marcus twice as

tightly as she had held the gravestone. Marcus hugged her back, trying to enjoy the moment instead of

focussing on the fact that her tail had slipped out of her jacket.

“Okay,” he whispered. “We can stay in the cemetery for only a few more minutes, then we have other

errands to run.”

“Okay. I wanted to talk to mommy.”

“You can, sweetheart,” he said. “I’m just going to walk a little ways away.”

“Okay.”

Marcus scooped up the rifle and stood up. Tracey turned on the spot, and stared intently at her

mother’s gravestone. “Tina Loraine Armstrong,” it read. “Dearly beloved wife and mother.”

And natural catastrophe. The thought drifted through Marcus’ head so suddenly that it shocked him. He

shook his head in order to clear it, then looked down at Tracey who was still talking into the gravestone.

Whatever curse had brought the reptilian virus to the United States had also made Tracey possible.

Despite all that Marcus had lost, he always tried to remember that, and see his daughter as a blessing.

“Okay, daddy, I’m ready to go,” Tracey said, running a hand under her nose. Marcus noticed spots on

her face where the makeup had smeared. Well, back to the drawing board. The bottle had even said

that it was water proof.

He grabbed Tracey’s hand, and lead her back up the hill and across the driveway towards their emerald

colored van. They simulataneously opened the doors, climbed in, then shut the doors and settled into



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their seats with a sigh of relief. Marcus knew that the van wasn’t much protection against the dinos, but

they could always out run them.

He started the engine, then drove down the rest of the driveway towards the cemetery’s southern exit.

He pulled out onto the side street next to the cemetery, then turned back towards the main road.

At the corner, he glanced both ways, then checked the grassy lot across the street from them for

possible attackers. Ten years ago, the space was the site of the building he had attended Kindergarten

in, but since the epidemic it had been turned into a nesting ground for dinos.

The thought of nests reminded Marcus of Tina’s pregnancy with Tracey. She was two months along

when the government finally admitted that the virus which had turned twenty-nine percent of the

population into dinosaur-human hybrids had not been fully contained. The cramps had started late in

her second trimester, and midway through her third trimester she had begun acting strange. The

pregnancy books called it a “Nesting Phase,” but Marcus couldn’t help by worry when Tina moved the

bed out of their bedroom and ransacked the house for every blanket and pillow she could find. Not even

her cramps had kept her home from work, but once she had assembled her nest she refused to leave,

and began to repeatedly call in sick. With the virus going around, her bosses offered her a lot of leeway,

but by her thirtieth week they had let her go.

At week thirty-five, she laid her first egg.

There were, of course, times when Marcus hated having to live with the fear of being attacked by the

human dinosaurs. Then, there were other times when he spent time with his hybrid daughter and felt

guilty for hating people like her. But, of course Tracey had been born a hybrid, and raised as a human,

unlike those who had mutated as adults or grown up in the wild.

For Tina, the changes had started before Tracey was conceived. On the outside, her mother had

appeared human, and even her pregnancy had started out very humanlike. On the inside, she was

changing into a dinosaur more and more each day.

Marcus also suspected that the doctors hadn’t been entirely honest with them, such as the way that the

ultrasound screen had experienced technical issues during their appointment, yet the doctor was able to

show Tina perfectly developed ultrasound images during her monthly checkup.

Or, the way that the hospital knew exactly how to handle the six eggs which had gradually popped out

of Tina’s body.

It was Tina’s idea for them to pack their things and leave the area with as many eggs as they could. With

everything that had happened to them, Marcus couldn’t refuse his wife this request: when she talked,

he could tell from her expression that she was feeling something stronger than a hunch or women’s

intuition. It was closer to instincts.

They couldn’t get the eggs back, but they were able to rescue the first dinosaur baby that had hatched,

Tracey, and leave the county. Their plan was to stay with Marcus’ parents near Hartland until they

thought of a better solution.

“Daddy, why is the library open?” Tracey’s voice interrupted Marcus’ thoughts. He looked to his left

towards the brown three story building which was the library. One of the rear doors was slightly ajar, as

if it had been forced open.



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“I don’t know,” Marcus said, easing the van out into the road. He strategically turned right, away from

the library, then pulled down one of the roads which were adjacent to it so that he could observe a little

more. He pulled off the road, and switched off the engine.

“Why are we here?” Tracey asked. Marcus shot a glance at the library, then peered back at Tracey.

“I know that it’s still the weekend, honey, but we’re going visit the library,” Marcus explained. The clock

on the dash had said that it was only fifteen minutes before three. He had wanted to devote some time

to getting groceries from the business side of town, but he still wanted to investigate the damage to the

library’s door.

Things had gone from worse in Livingston County while Marcus, Tina, and Tracey were living with his

parents. First his dad had contracted the disease, then his mom. Marcus had been able to work from

home for most of the time, but as the economy collapsed the startup where he worked shut down. They

both found themselves unemployed during the biggest health crisis the world had seen.

Just by chance, a position opened up at the local library. They were able to save up a little bit of money

before the country’s infrastructure completely shut down. There weren’t very many businesses whichwere staying open and not many customers to serve, but Marcus had committed himself to the task of

keeping the library open at least part of the time, in case someone needed information or shelter. But,

only on the weekdays when it was open.

His biggest concern as he crouched behind the awning of the building next door to the library was that a

dinosaur had broken into the library. It was just as likely that one of the residents had broken in for

some reason. The library’s resources were free to use, of course, but only to borrow or use within the

building. Those who might not understand this, or even care, could see the items in the library as a

source of profit.

Marcus lead Tracey towards the playground that was to the right of Hartland’s Community Center

building. If they stood towards the back of the playground between the two buildings, Marcus would beable to see through most of the library’s windows.

Tracey’s eyes lit up when she saw the kid-sized playground equipment “Slides! And swings!”

“No, sorry,” Marcus said firmly. “We can’t stop to play today, honey.”

“Awww.”

When they were behind the community building, Marcus was able to see through the windows on the

second story of the library. He couldn’t tell if there was movement. Holding his rifle at the ready, he

stepped into the patch of trees that ran alongside the library, and eased his way down a slope. As he

reached level ground, he saw the station wagon which was parked in parallel with the front door.

And, the front door had also been opened. Probably forced , Marcus thought to himself. He motioned to

Tracey, and the two of them approached the entrance to the library.

He stopped to study the vehicle which had been parked in front of the library. The car sat at an angle

away from the library as if it had been parked in a hurry. The keys were still in the ignition. There were

two child-sized pillows in the rear passenger seat, and the very back was stuffed with luggage and other

belongings. Marcus even thought he saw an old-styled TV.



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“It’s a family with a girl!” Tracey exclaimed.

“How do you know that?’ Marcus asked. It had taken a while, but he had come to expect his daughter’s

keen observations, probably due to her heightened sense of smell.

“Daddy,” she hissed, point towards the backseat. “The pillow says Disney princesses.”

Marcus glanced at the pillow, and then forced himself not to slap himself in the forehead. Perhaps his

daughter relied on her human senses more than he thought.

Despite the situation, Tracey stared back at her father and giggled.

“Shhh!” Marcus urged. He stepped towards the door, pulled it open, and then waved Tracey inside.

The f irst floor seemed undisturbed, but Marcus couldn’t be sure without running a complete check of

the adult’s section in the very back. Anything could be lurking behind the bookshelves.

Marcus lifted the half-door that separated the patron’s section from the staff area, and swept through

the main workspace. When he realized that Tracey was trying to follow him, he waved her away. “Wait

at the counter,” he whispered.

He pulled his ring of keys out, unlocked one of the offices, and slipped inside, careful to leave the door

open so that he could keep Tracey within his sight. He crouched down and pulled the bottom most

drawer on the closest filing cabinet open. He reached in and grabbed two flashlights. They both lit up

brightly when he switched them on. He had been worried that time had not been kind to their batteries.

He rolled the flashlight across the counter when he reached the main work area again. Tracey grabbed

it, but didn’t turn it on. Doublchecking that the office was secured, Marcus finished his check of the staff

area, then exited through another half door at the other end.

The ambient light from the nearby windows had helped while he was towards the front of the library,but now that they were closer to the rear where there weren’t as many windows it was getting darker.

Plus, it was getting later.

Twoards the back of the library, there was an elevator and the stairs leading to the second floor. Tracey

reached for the “Up” button for the elevator. “No,” Marcus warned. He pointed towards the stairs. The

worse place they could be during an attack--from a human or dinosaur hybrid--was an elevator.

Marcus switched on the flashlight and followed Tracey up the stairs. He climbed the steps twice as fast

as she did, and soon he was far enough up the staircase that he could peer between the banisters to see

the second floor in either direction.

There was the kids’ section to his left, and store rooms to his right. A burglar would head into the collections area of the library, where there was the most gear, but a dinosaur could hide almost

anywhere.

“Daddy, can we check out a book?” Tracey asked excitedly.

“We’ll see,” Marcus said. “Just stay close, and try not to talk much.”

“Sorry.”



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They finished their ascension up the stairs. At the last the minute, Marcus decided to head into the

children’s area. A thought occurred to him, and he stopped. He crouched down low so that Tracey could

hear him. “I want you to stay calm, because what I’m going to tell you is very important,” he began.”

“Okay.”

“I know that I’ve told you before not to use your claws or teeth to hurt someone,” he said. “But, in this

case I’m making an exception. I don’t know who is here, but if you feel you should, I want you to defend

yourself in anyway that you can. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Tracey squeaked. She instinctively pushed up her sleeves, and he could see her tail jerk left and

right.

They ventured forward. All of the bookshelves were towards the back, and the offices were along the

side near the entrance to the children’s area. Marcus leaned against the wall outside the former

director’s office, and peeked inside. There was enough light to see that it was empty. The next office,

and the server room also appeared empty, although he couldn’t be sure. Towards the back of the floor

space there was another office which was twice the size of the director’s.

Marcus swallowed hard. The doors were wide open. He looked down at Tracey. “Wait here.”

Crouching low again, Marcus slowly entered the room. He could see that the monitor at the far side of

the office was on, and he could barely make out the silhouette of someone sitting at the desk. Hoping

that the light was low enough to conceal him, he eased forward in the hopes of seeing more of whoever

had entered the library illegally.

Tracey had drifted to one of the cushion-chairs that sat in front of the blue magazine racks along the

front wall of the library. From here, she watched her father disappear into the shadows of the office

space. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been scared, but at the same time took comfort in

the fact that the cushion she was hiding behind was her favorite thing in the library, other than thebooks.

She wanted to call out to her dad, just to make sure that he was alright, but wasn’t sure if that was safe.

They had been in enough close calls before that she had quickly learned that sometimes silence made

the difference between survival and something worse.

Her eyes drifted from the double doors that her father had passed through to the landing outside of the

children’s area. Even though he hadn’t mentioned it, she knew that her father would have wanted her

to keep an eye out for any dangers that might creep up on them from the otherside of the library.

As she turned her head to glance back at the double doors, she caught a glimpse of something that had

a shape which was different than the bookshelves or racks that sat all around the library. It had beenlean, and the very top of it had been no taller than she was. Tracey’s lips quivered as she realized that it

had definitely been there, and then disappeared. As if it had moved on its own.

Tracey thought about what her dad had said about defending herself. Her claws were sharp enough that

she could use them to snatch live fish out of her great-grandfather’s lake, and her incisors were three

times as sharp. She had never bitten a human, and did not intend to anytime soon, but she knew how

much her father wanted her to stay alive. Without out me, she told herself, there wouldn’t be anybody

to take care of him.



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She stood up suddenly. The same form had appeared right in front of one of the windows, and then

disappeared. She was sure now that she was not imagining it. We are not alone, she thought.

The six year old was conflicted. Should she investigate the shape that was zig zagging back and forth

between the bookshelves, or should she stay with her father? Perhaps it was safer for her to stay where

she was, but she also didn’t want to risk doing nothing and allowing someone--or something--to sneakup on them.

Tracey moved, step by step, down the aisle between the row of windows and the bookshelf end caps. As

she stepped between each row of shelves, she paused to check for something that might be hiding from

her. By the third row, she could see the reference librarian’s desk. By the fourth row, she could see

another section of the bookshelves that lined the front of the children’s area.

She finally reached the last row of books. Pausing, she glanced back at the office space where her father

had remained all of this time. This was the farthest that she had been from him today, perhaps farther

than when he was scouting around the van in the cemetery, and she had stayed inside to watch him.

She knew right then that he would be furious if he saw how far she had wandered, but at the same time

she felt like she was contributing to their safety by checking out the mysterious that was moving

between the bookshelves. She raised the flashlight, her only possible weapon other than her claws and

her incisors, up high over her head so it could be ready to strike, then stepped over to the other side of

the bookshelf.

There was nothing she could have done to prepare herself for what waited for her on the other side of

that last bookshelf. There, standing just a few feet away and looking just as startled as Tracey felt stood

another girl, with blonde hair. But Tracey had convinced herself that whatever was in the library with

them would be dangerous, and was already lunging forward as the other girl spoke.

“Hello,” she started, “My name is Cassandra.”

Her body already in motion, and her arm already on a down swing, Tracey plunged forward and swingclose to the girl’s head. But, the girl ducked just in time, throwing Tracey off balance. The flashlight

struck the metal bookshelf. Tracey could hear the casing crack.

The girl stood up again. Now she looked shocked. “Why did you do that?”

Tracey had collapsed onto the floor. “I thought..you were an...intruder.”

“We saw that the door was open. We didn’t realize the library was closed until we were on the second

floor and saw that all of the lights were off,” Cassandra said. “What are you doing her?” She asked,

looking suspiciously at Tracey. “How do I know that you’re not the intruder?”

“Because my dad works for the library,” Tracey said. “He’s in that office, checking it out.”

“Wait...” Cassandra was suddenly sounding upset as she started towards the office area. “My mom’s in

there..”

“Your mom?” Tracey hurried until she was in front of Cassie, and stepped in front of her. “Hold on, you

didn’t tell me why you’re here.”

“I need to warn my mom.”



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“You’re not going anywhere.” Incisors, thought Tracey.

“Who’s going to stop me?” Cassie shot.

“Me.”

Cassie pressed forward, but Tracey shoved her back. As Cassie toppled backwards, she grabbed Tracey.

The two girls fell to the floor together. Tracey rolled off, and attempted to get away, but Cassie rolled on

top of her.

Tracey felt pain in her right arm, looked over and saw that Cassie was pressing a claw into her skin. It

dawned on her that she had finally met someone who was her own kind.

“Wait..You’re a...”

Tracey reached up instinctively and stopped Cassie’s right arm before her claw could touch her face.

Cassie struggled free, then turned toward the other end of the floor, where the offices were. Tracey

stood back up, but before she could react there were sounds of a woman sounding, then the sound of a

man shouting back, including the threat of shooting someone. Tracey recognized the third man’s voice

as soon as she heard it. It was her father’s.

“Benjamin,” Cassie exclaimed, then began to run across the library. Tracey followed, close on her heels.

They both burst through the office doors to find a woman, another man, and Marcus standing in a circle

between desks. The man who Cassie had referred to as Benjamin was holding a rifle and pointing it at

Marcus. Tracey felt sick to her stomach as she realized that Benjamin was holding her father’s rifle, and

perhaps they were now in trouble because she had not been there to stop him.



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Chapter Two

It had only taken what seemed like twenty seconds for the bearded man to surprise Marcus, knock himdown, and scoop the shotgun off of the floor, but now it felt like the two adults had been standing

there, suspended in time for eternity and not sure what the next move should be.

When Marcus had fallen over, he had banged his shoulder on one of the desks in the room, and now the

whole side of his arm was killing him as he raised both hands up and kept them up in a gesture of

surrender.

“Benjamin!” A girl not much older than Tracey bounded into the room, and stopped to the man holding

the shotgun. From the corner of Marcus’ eye, he could see Tracey slowly approaching the threshold of

the room.

“Tracey, don’t come any closer,” Marcus said.

“Shut up!” Benjamin snapped. Behind him, his female companion--the girl’s mother, perhaps--was

quietly observing everyone in the room. A computer was on behind her, but Marcus couldn’t tell what

she had been using it for.

“Cassandra, sweetheart,” the woman said. “Come sit by me.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Cassandra,” Benjamin said. “Go stand by Vicki, and don’t argue.”

“Okay.”

Marcus cleared his throat slightly, and tried to relax his composure. Perhaps a little bit of friendliness will

help defuse the situation, he thought. “Look, I think there has been a big misunderstanding.”

“Yeah.” Benjamin said, looking so intently at Marcus he was practically boring holes through his chest.

As he spoke, the shotgun rose and sunk with his arms. “I told you to shut up.”

“I can help,” Marcus said. He paused to lick his lips. “Look, I understand. I have a daughter, too, and I’d

do anything for her.” He glanced at Tracey to give her a quick reassuring grin. “If there is anything you

need--money, gas, or a place to sleep, I can help.”

“Gas?” Benjamin repeated. “Do you got a vehicle?”

“Yes, but--”

Benjamin shot a glance back to the woman. “He’s got a car, Vick.” He looked back at Marcus. “We’ll be

taking your car, all your money, and anything else we want from this place.”

Marcus hesitated. “I’m sorry, but, we actually can’t spare the van right now. I know some people who

could give you a good deal--”



13

Benjamin took a step closer, until the shotgun was inches from Marcus’ chest. “Listen, man. I’m the one

making the deals. And, our deal is that you and your daughter get to live, in exchange for all your stuff.”

He looked at Marcus and his face stretched into the most evil smirk that Marcus had ever seen.

Marcus reached into his pocket for the car keys, pulled them out and tossed them onto the table.

“There you go. You’re welcomed to take the van.”

“No, daddy..that was grandm--”

“Tracey,” Marcus snapped, purposely cutting her off. “It will be okay.”

“How do we know this ain’t some trick?” Vicki asked, shooting a glance towards the keys. “Maybe the

van don’t run.”

“It runs,” Marcus answered, feeling his patient starting to run thin. “We drove it here, and it has lots of

gas. I don’t have any reason to trick you.”

Benjamin leaned towards the table, reached over, and scooped up the keys without dropping his eyes

from Marcus. “Maybe you don’t, but it pays to be sure. Vicki, take the girls upstairs while Mr. Bookworm

and I fetch the van. Wait until we pull it around front, then begin loading all of the computer equipment

into the back.”

“No,” Marcus said. “You have the keys, the van is across the lot, next to the community center. Take

anything else you what, but--”

Suddenly, the end of the shotgun was against his cheek. “Not another word,” Benjamin said. “We have

the keys already, so we don’t need you. You’re just helping me find the van faster. Your daughter is

insurance. Let’s go.”

“Daddy!”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Marcus said as he led Benjamin through the door out of the office area. “I

won’t be gone long. And, remember..I love you.”

Tracey sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek. “I love you.”

Then, he turned the corner with Benjamin and the shotgun close behind him, and lost sight of his

daughter.

“If you want the most direct route, we can take the back door. It opens up on the side facing the empty

lot.”

“I don’t care. Just move.”

The two men crept across the landing towards the back half of the library’s second floor. Marcus

recognized the stairs to his right which headed into the third floor, and the doors to the left which led

into a store room. After he had begun his job as librarian, he had taken over the third floor and turned it

into a personal study. As they passed the storage room, Marcus was surprised to see that one of the

doors seemed to have been forced opened, much like the door they had spotted from the cemetery.

Strangely enough, large chunks of wood had been torn from both the door and the frame. Marcus

couldn’t imagine any tool that could do that much damage.



14

Benjamin must have noticed the door at the same time as Marcus, because he said, “This is really your

fault, you know. Should be more careful about locking this place up at night.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Marcus said, “but every door was locked when I was last here, not forced

open.”

“Well, for your information, we didn’t force the door open. It was like that when we got here this

morning.”

Marcus’ stomach sank as he considered the implications. Had someone else broken into the library?

Could they still be in the library? If so, were they human?

He paused at the exit, considering his options. If he left the building, there was no way of knowing if he

would be able to get back in again to save Tracey. And, if there was a dino in the library there was no

telling what might happen.

“What are you waiting for,” Benjamin snapped. “Let’s go.”

Without a word, Marcus raised the security bar that was in front of the door, released the deadbolt, and

turned the lock in the doorknob. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he opened the door and

stepped out onto the landing. Marcus had picked this exit because he knew that it would trigger the

silent fire alarm, but hoped that Benjamin wouldn’t realize it.

“The van is on the other side of the community center,” Marcus said, his heart skipping a bit because of

the lie.

“Why so far away?” Benjamin asked warily.

“If there were intruders, I didn’t want to be spotted,” Marcus explained. “We can save time by cutting

through the lot.” He motioned towards the huge patch of weeds that stretched for almost a block.

“Well, let’s go,” Benjamin said. “As soon as we get your van, we’re pulling around and taking anything

that isn’t nailed down.” He leaned close, until both the whiskers of his beard and his breath brushed

against Marcus’ ear. “That includes your daughter.”

Marcus said nothing, but inside his blood was turning cold as steel as he prepared to do what needed to

be done.

“Where’s Benjamin going?” Cassandra asked.

“Out to get the van, you stupid girl,” Vicki snapped.

“She’s not stupid,” Tracey said. She regretted her words as soon as she had said them. Vicki was staring

intently at her.

“Maybe not by dinosaur standards,” Vicki sneered. “But, you would probably relate, being half dino

yourself.”



15

Without skipping a beat, Vicki reached into her purse, fished around with her fingers for a little bit, then

produced a pack of batteries. Just the sight of them made Cassandra gasp, and her frame perceptively

wilt. “By the way, Cassie, your little reprieve is over.” Vicki turned the batteries until she was holding

them by the tips of her thumb and her index finger, just to show Cassandra what they were. “Fresh

batteries for my remote.” Vicki opened up the packaging, and slipped the first battery into the back of a

square plastic device which was sitting on the desk. “Once we’re back on the road,” Vicki said,”your new

dino friend will be getting a shock collar of her own.”

“Benjamin said we were just taking their van,” Cassandra said.

Vicki stood up, holding the device in front of her. Cassandra crumpled to the floor as soon as Vicki

jabbed a finger against one of its buttons. “There’s no way we’d pass up another bounty.”

“How can you do that to your daughter?” Tracey asked.

Vicki’s face froze. “Daughter? Do I look like a dinosaur to you?”

Cassandra was starting to stir now. She could barely sit up.

“Let’s head upstairs and wait for Benjamin,” Vicki said.



16

Chapter ThreeAs Chad Whittaker sat on the back deck of his house, the voice of his instructor from the police

academy, Sargant Pete Moore, played back through the back of his mind: You’ve gotten too attached to

your work if you bring your cases home with you.

Chad leaned back, chuckling softly to himself, then glanced down at the stack of manila folders that he

had slipped into his laptop bag on the way from the station that day. What would old Petey say? Chad

wondered.

Of course, nobody--not even Mr. Moore--could have predicted the catastrophe which would cripple the

country just fifteen years later. As the chief of police for Livingston County, sometimes Chad felt like it

was his responsibility to protect what remained of humanity. With so much at stake, maybe nobody

could afford to be detached.

The top manila folder on the stack contained a description of all of the evidence collected at a house in

the Bullard subdivision where the owners had been killed. None of the doors or windows were

damaged, so the officers on the scene had ruled out the possibility that it was a burglary. Chad thumbed

through the report, pausing briefly on a photo of the couple who had lived there. Mark and Penny

Marshall were both former Fowlerville teachers in their early sixties. They had survived their children,

one of whom had been stricken by the dino virus, and the other had been killed in action while serving

in the Army years before the virus had begun to spread.

Back in the old days when police had to worry about just one type of human, murder always seemed

tragic. Now that one quarter of the population had been lost to the dino virus, and even more had beenkilled by dinosaur hybrids, this murder somehow like even more of a waste.

Chad had ended his shift, but he knew that while he waited for his wife to finish dinner police troopers

were searching the area and setting up roadblocks all around the county. He felt confident that whoever

did this would answer for their crime. There are so few of us left, he thought. Every life should matter.

Everything had gone to hell, but still there were criminals. Petey might have called it job security , Chad

thought. I just call it sad.

The next manila folder contained letters he had exchanged with Lolita Burns, the social worker assigned

to the county by the state. As the “Dinosaur rehabilitation liaison,” she was in charge of assessing each

dino hybrid they captured before it was relocated to a training facility in Mid-Michigan. Most of the

correspondence was written a few months ago when she had come very close to shutting down a schoolin Livingston County which had been established for non-feral dino hybrids between the ages of 5-13. It

had taken the combined efforts of the Whittaker, the parents, and even the school’s owner, Deborah

VanNocker to persuade Burns and the state government to back off.

The thought of these letters sparked new thinking for Chad. He quickly thumbed through the pages until

he found a letter which had been written by Deborah. The address on the envelope read7523 N. Cherry

Lane. He pulled out the folder for the Marshalls, and searched for the report. Their address had been

7523 N. Cherry Lane. Chad remembered, then, that VanNocker had recently moved to a house inside the



17

Hartland Village in order to be closer to her school, and the Cromaine Library where she had set up an

administrative office after her house was broken into.

Two break-ins at the same address. That can’t be a coincidence, Chad thought to himself as he pulled

out the folder for the previous unsolved burglary. That time, the door had been forced open and the

house had been ransacked. VanNocker never reported anything missing, other than her recycling bin.

If they returned for VanNocker, they would have come up empty, but killed the Marshalls to eliminate

them as witnesses. The two break-ins seemed related other than the fact that they were at the same

address, but Chad couldn’t quite explain why. But, if they hadn’t gotten what they wanted, they might

stay in the area. If they weren’t hiding, the only other places they would go to would be the school or

the library.

Chad quickly scooped up the stack of folders, slid them into his briefcase, and stepped back into the

house. He was starting up the stairs when his wife called for him from the kitchen. “Chad, dinner’s

ready.”

“I’ll be right down. I need to make a quick phone call.”

“Alright.”

Chad stopped mid-way up the stairs. “On second thought, you might need to make it to go.”

He picked up the phone in his bedroom, and dialed the station. Lieutenant Maggie Sutton answered.

“Maggie, this is Chad. Have you heard anything more on the perps who broke into the house on Cherry

Lane?” he asked.

“All of our teams are still searching.”

“Roadblocks?”

“Quiet.”

Chad hesitated while he reflected. If they weren’t on the road, and weren’t trying to leave the area, they

might be hiding somewhere. “Is everything else quiet?”

“Just a couple of calls for animal control, but nothing major,” Maggie said. She was silent for a second,

then added, “We did have a silent alarm triggered in the village a few minutes ago. I was about to pass it

along to dispatch.”

“Where?”

“The Cromaine. After the first alarm went off last night, we almost wrote it off as a false alarm. Did you

want me to dispatch someone?”

Chad spun the combination lock on the safe next to the bathroom door. He grabbed his badge and

weapon. “No, I’ve got it.”



18

Once she had recovered enough of her strength, Cassandra had moved as far away from Vicki as she

could without raising her suspicions. Vicki looked up when she heard Benjamin and Tracey’s father’s

voice from the other side of the library, but then returned her full attention back to the computer

screen. As soon as she felt like it was safe, Tracey scooted over to Cassandra.

“Are you okay?” Tracey whispered.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up,” Cassandra said.

“That’s awful that they shock you,” Tracey said.

“Your owner doesn’t make you wear a collar?”

Tracey shook her head. “He’s my father, not my owner.”

Cassandra opened up her eyes wide as she took in the information. “I didn’t know my father, or my

mother.”

“My mother died when I was very small,” Tracey said. She shot a glance at Vicki, then back at Cassandra.

“Why aren’t you with your parents?”

“My parents abandoned me at the hospital, without waiting for me to hatch. Then I was transferred to a

special hospital for baby halflings with my brothers and sisters. Vicki and Benjamin adopted me when I

was two.”

“That’s sad,” Tracey said. The look on Cassandra’s face made her add, “I mean about your parents. I’m

glad that you were adopted.”

“Well, I always remembered traveling around the state a lot. I met a lot of families with halflings. I used

to think that I would be able to find my real parents.”

Tracey was forming another question, but stopped when Vicki began to shout at the computer.

“You stupid machine!” Vicki exclaimed.

“What?” Cassandra asked.

“When I clicked ‘print’ for the spreadsheet, I wanted to print it here in this room. Instead, its printing in

some other room.”

“I could figure it out,” Tracey offered. She rose to her feet, and carefully approached from Vicki’s side.

As she talked, she glanced at the screen. Most of the information on the screen was foreign to her, but

the names in the first column of the spreadsheet reminded her of the students in her class at school.

“Click print.”

Vicki followed Tracey’s advice. The print screen returned to the computer monitor. “See? That’s the

name of the printer in the breakroom,” Tracey said. “That’s just down the hall from here.”

To Tracey’s surprise, Vicki pulled a hand gun out of her purse and fired three times into the computer’s

CPU. The screen went dark, and the CPU bellowed thick smoke. “Okay,” Vicki said, “let’s go get it.”



19

Benjamin and Marcus were only a few feet into the patch of overgrown grass, when a loud crunching

sound came from the ground. Benjamin lifted up his foot, and peered at the bottom of his shoe. “What

is that?”

Marcus had already glanced at the ground where he saw the remains of a freshly crushed dinosaur egg.

“The dinos like to nest in grassy areas,” he explained.

“So that’s a--”

“Egg.” Marcus forced a smile. “You could have stepped into worse.”

“Gross.” Suddenly, Benjamin regained his composure and thrusted the shotgun towards Marcus. “Let’s

get this over with. Move.”

Marcus sighed. “Alright.”

They had only moved a few more feet farther when the grass around them began to rustle violently.

Benjamin raised the shotgun, taking aim. “What is that?” he shouted. Seeing his chance, Marcus dove

into Benjamin, throwing him off center. The shotgun misfired. Something nearby let out an ear splitting

shriek.

Benjamin swung the butt of the rifle back towards Marcus, catching him in the ribs. Marcus recovered,

and managed to land a few punches. As Benjamin teetered backwards, his eyes grew wide, and he

shouted, “Get down!”

Marcus dove to his left just as Benjamin opened fire. A dino hybrid collapsed to the ground.

“What?” Benjamin demanded. When he whirled around to face Marcus, he realized that his captive had

disappeared into the weeds. “I don’t care if you run, you coward,” Benjamin spat. “I’ll get your van, andthen we’re going to get your little dino-girl.” He resumed the path that they had been following towards

Marcus’ van.

As he walked, the ground started to feel squishy as if it had been recently disturbed. Benjamin paused,

then spread the grass in front of him with his fingers. The ground dipped downward into what appeared

to be a sizeable hole. “I’m on to you,” Benjamin yelled. “It wasn’t enough to humiliate me with the eggs.

You wanted to trick me into stepping into this hole--”

Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by a sharp pain in his leg. He had grabbed his calf with his hand out of

reflex, and now when he pulled it back, he saw blood. Two more things happened before he could

recover from the shock of being bitten. First, he saw two eyes staring back at him from the bottom of

the hole, and Marcus rammed into him from behind, pushing him over the edge and into the hole.

As Marcus fell with Benjamin, he realized that the hole wasn’t as deep as it looked. More of a crater.

Pain shot up his arm when he landed on his bad shoulder. Just five feet away from him, Benjamin was

still laying on his back. His body was convulsing, and every once in a while he would let out moans.

The shotgun had landed between Marcus and Benjamin. Marcus opened it up. As he had suspected,

Benjamin had used the last round to kill the dino.



20

Benjamin let out a loud moan, and began to roll over. He seemed to be searching his coat pocket for

something. To Marcus’ surprise, a hand produced a cell phone and tapped a button. Benjamin finished

his roll until he was sitting up, and held the phone up this his ear. Marcus stayed very still, obscured by

the long grass in the crater. He could already see how the serum from the dinosaur’s bite was affecting

Benjamin. The skin on his face and arms were turning leathery, and already he could perceive spots

developing on his face. He could also see, when Benjamin lifted his left arm to rub his forehead, that his

fingers had grown longer and his nails were thicker.

The cell phone emitted a chirp as it made a connection, and Marcus could hear someone answer the

call.

“We need help,” Benjamin said into the phone. He seemed to be struggling to pronounce each word. His

voice sounded deeper. The voice on the other ended sounded sharp, almost angry. “I know. We located

the list, but then we ran into trouble.”

Then Benjamin was silent while he listened to the other side respond. Judging from the tone, they were

giving him detailed instructions. Marcus reflected on the mention of a list. He had thought that the three

intruders had taken refuge in the library, or had perhaps planned on reselling some of the items in the

library. Most of the information in libraries was free, so Marcus couldn’t imagine any list that would be

worth the effort of breaking in.

The person on the other end of the conversation must have finished their tirade, because Benjamin was

talking again. “No problem. We’ll deliver both the list and the girl dino to the Institute, then kill her

father.”



21

Chapter Four

Vicki directed the girls down the hall towards the breakroom as soon as she had gathered her things.When they reached the door, Cassandra immediately hung back and murmured to herself. Tracey was

quiet while she peered at the damage parts of the door.

“Stop being such a whimp, Cassie,” Vicki snapped. “There’s nothing in there that can hurt you.”

“Those scratches weren’t made by a human,” Tracey offered.

“Nobody asked you. Cassandra, go get the print off so we can get out of here.”

Cassandra took three more steps back, and shook her head vehemently. “No, I don’t want to go in

there.”

“Or I’ll use this,” Vicki raised up the remote control for Cassandra’s collar.

“Wait,” Tracey said. “I know where the printer is. Cassandra, I’ll go with you.”

“Get moving then. And, don’t try anything,” Vicki said.

Tracey looked Cassandra directly in the eyes, and mouthed the words, “trust me.” Reluctantly, the other

girl nodded, and they entered the breakroom together.

Benjamin had been trained not only how to treat a dino bite wound, but how to manage the effects of

their venom. Mental discipline helped to slow the impact his transformation would have on his

personality. Or, at least that was in theory. A pounding headache had made thinking hard enough when

he was dialing his cell phone, but now it seemed like every muscle in his body was spasming. As he hung

up his call, he lost control of his hand and dropped the phone on the ground. He clutched his head with

both hands now, trying to subdue the pain in his head. Other than the spasms and the headache, and

the tingling sensation all over, he felt a hunger which was growing more intense by the moment. There

was an aroma that he didn’t recognize, yet he was instinctively drawn to it. The thought of sinking his

teeth into its flesh made his mouth salivate. He reached up to wipe drool from his chin, but stopped

when he felt something sharp rub across his wrist. He carefully touched his teeth with his fingers. Were

those his?

Suddenly the source of the aroma was closer, standing right in front of him. It was speaking. He could

almost understand it. “Who was on the phone?” It demanded. “Who were you talking to?”

Benjamin looked up at the source of the voice. It was the human he had been fighting named Marcus.

He could remember why they entered the grassy field together, but not why. “Leave me alone,” he

growled. His voice surprised him, it was so deep and gruff. The transformation was much faster than he

had been lead to believe at the academy. He remembered, though, being given a field kit with a syringe.

He reached into his jacket now, slipped his fingers into an inside pocket and pulled out a syringe. Not a

cure, but something to counter act the mutagen from the venom.



22

The human had seen the syringe, and was asking more questions. “Where did that come from?”

Benjamin’s muscles steadied enough that he could pull the cover off the needle. It took all of his

concentration now to remember that the antidote needed to be administered in a specific way. He tore

the sleeve off the left arm of his jacket, and was about to plunge the needle into his arm when

something hard struck him in the side of his face. Benjamin sprawled backwards, and the syringe flewoff, somewhere into the weeds.

“No!”

“I want answers,” the human asked. “Who were you talking to on the phone? Where were you going to

take my daughter?

Anger swelled inside Benjamin’s body as the beast began to take over. His eyes focussed on Marcus and

he let out a long, deep growl which revealed his sharp set of teeth. Humanity had been pushed aside,

and now there was only room for one word in his mind: Light snack.

As soon as the two six-year-old girls had entered the breakroom, they tried the light switch on the wall.

They could flick the switch up or down, but the lights never came on.

“I hate the dark,” Cassandra murmured nervously.

“At least we’re away from her,” Tracey pointed out.

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re not wearing one of these.”

Tracey looked at the collar grimly. “The printer is just on the other side of the storage shelves there.”

They turned the corner and nearly walked into the tail of a sleeping dino.

Tracey covered Cassandra’s mouth as soon as she saw that she was about to scream, then urged her to

follow. They backtracked until they were safely out of view. “It must have ripped the door open, and let

itself into the breakroom,” Tracey said. “We’ll go all of the way around to the printer.” But by the time

they reached the printer, an idea was forming in her head. In one fluid motion, she grabbed the stack of

papers from the printer’s holding tray, then disconnected the network cable from the back of the

printer.

“What are you doing?” Cassandra asked. “We were supposed to give those to Vicki.”

“We need an excuse for her to come in here. Then, we’ll wake the dino and let her deal with him while

we find somewhere safe to hide.”

“I don’t know. What about my collar?”

“She won’t be able to shock you if she’s too busy,” Tracey said. “If we get the controller from her, or

destroy it, you won’t have to worry about it.”



23

Benjamin lunged at Marcus, and they both went down. Marcus had caught Benjamin by the shoulders

and it was taking all of his effort to push him off. With a final heave, he gained some distance from,

stood up, and started for the edge of the crater. Without hesitation, Marcus hoisted himself over the

edge, and quickly scurried into the grass. Behind him, Benjamin simply had to regain his balance before

jumping out of the hole.

As soon as he found the edge of the lot, Marcus ran for the community center, pumping his legs as fast

as he could. He knew from the sounds of growling and heavy breathing that Benjamin was close on his

heels.

“Can you help us?”

“What is it?” Vicki asked impatiently. Her hand had gone up as soon as Cassandra had stepped out of the

breakroom. In it, she could see that Vicki held the controller for her shock collar. “Where’s Tracey?”

“The paper is stuck inside the printer,” Cassandra said.

Vicki rolled her eyes, “Oh for pete’s sake, can you do anything right?”

“It’s not our fault! The paper jammed.” The plan had been for Cassandra to lead Vicki into the room, but

the woman hurried into the room without any prodding at all.

Vicki stopped to survey her surroundings. The lights were off, and the sun was going down, so it was

getting harder and harder to see anything. Cassandra grabbed her hand. “I’ll show you where the printer

is.”

They turned the corner around the last row of shelves. A lamp nearby the printer made it easier to see.

The printer’s lid was open, and Tracey was standing on a stool inspecting its innards.

“The printer won’t do anything until we can remove the stuck paper,” Tracey explained.

“Did anything print?” Vicki asked.

“No,” Tracey said.

“Out of my way, then.” Tracey barely avoided being pushed aside as Vicki stood in front of the printer

and reached in. “This doesn’t look too bad, girls. Just the one sheet.”

Tracey nudged Cassandra to get her attention, then pointed to the table. Vicki had set down the shock

collar controller when she began working on the printer. Without a word, Tracey sidled up to the

printer. “Are you getting it unstuck?” She asked, while at the same time scooping up the controller.

“Almost. You girls stay around here. I want to keep an eye on you.”

“Sure, sure,” Tracey said. She spotted a big blue button on the controller which was labeled “release,”

and pressed it. Then, she set the remote back down on the table.

Cassandra had wandered back to the row of shelves next to where the dino was sleeping. She heard a

click, and then her collar suddenly loosened. She pulled it up around her head, then studied the



24

dinosaur hybrid. The two girls had decided that they would never be able to fit the collar around its

neck, so they had agreed to try a leg or an arm. She slowly crept towards the dino until she was inches

away from its back. She leaned over until she could reach past its knee, and carefully slipped the collar

over its left foot. A press of the collar’s controls caused it to instantly shrink.

“Cassandra!” Vicki’s voice startled Cassandra. The dino stirred. Cassandra stood up, zipped her jacket as

far up as it would go, and then hurried back towards the printer.

“Where were you?” Vicki asked.

“I needed to use the bathroom,” Cassandra said.

“I never said that you could leave the room,” Vicki snapped. Her hand hovered close to the remote

control.

“I’m sorry,” Cassandra said. “It was an emergency. I couldn’t hold it.”

“You should know better,” Vicki said. She pointed at the printer, which was now closed up and powered

on. “I cleared the paper jam, but its still not printing.”

“Did you turn it on?” Tracey asked.

Vicki reached around the back of the printer, and flipped a switch. The printer whirred to life, and a

display on the front read “Printer Ready,” then changed to “Check Network Connection.”

“What?” Vicki snapped. She reached around. “The network cable’s been pulled out,” she said. With a

snap, she returned it to the back of the printer. The display changed back to “Printer Ready.”

“It’s not printing anything,” Cassandra said.

“I know it’s not--Cassie, I left my purse in the hallway. Grab it for me. I need it.”

Cassandra looked up at Vicki, and said calmly, “No.”

Vicki’s hand shot out towards the controller. “What did you say?”

Cassandra was trembling, but her voice remained steady. “No.” She could feel Tracey’s finger as she

gently grabbed her hand.

“You little snot, you will do as I say--” Vicki pressed her thumb down on the controller dramatically.

Cassandra simply stood there and stared at her. Behind them, there was a low growl.

“I don’t understand.” Vicki said. She began pressing the button over and over again. “You. Will. Obey.

Me.” She had raised her hand to slap Cassandra, when there was a loud roar, and the bookshelves

began to shake.

“Run!” Tracey shouted. The two girls took off for the exit, with Vicki close behind them. But they were

only halfway across the room when a giant form suddenly swooped up Tracey’s body, and she

screamed.

“Don’t look! Don’t look!” Tracey shouted.



25

Marcus didn’t dare look back until he was just a few feet away from the van. As he spotted Benjamin

running towards him at full speed, he slammed into the side of the van. Marcus thrust his hands into his

jean pockets, looking for his keys but didn’t find them. He ducked just as Benjamin pounced towards

him, but hit the side of the van instead.

Marcus ran to the other side of the van, and was aiming for the community center when he heard Vicki

scream. Benjamin heard it too, and stopped in his tracks. He sniffed the air for a couple of seconds, then

headed back towards the library.

Vicki fell into the hallway, skidded across the floor, and turned towards the fire exit. The dinosaur hybrid

was close behind her. At the last minute, she tore up the stairs to the third floor, where she could see

that the elevator doors were open. Vicki dove in, and punched the button repeatedly until the elevator

doors closed just as the creature pounced. Out of breath, bruised, and scared out of her wits, Vicki

curled up against the back wall of the elevator and waited for it to reach the first floor.

“Marcus!” Marcus looked around until he spotted Chad Whittaker waving to him from his police car. The

two met alongside the road just across from the cemetery.

“Officer Whittaker,” Marcus said. “My daughter and I were taken hostage. My daughter is still inside.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Chad said. “Take it easy. I ran the plates on the car in the parking lot. I’ve also called for

backup.”

“Good,” Marcus said, resuming his course for the front of the library. “Because you’ll need it.”

Tracey had lead Cassandra down to the first floor, passed the staircase, and into a storage closet that

she sometimes liked to play in when her father worked a shift on the weekdays. They listened with the

door cracked open until the upstairs was quiet again, then started for the front door. As they reached

the most open part of the library, the elevator doors opened and Vicki stumbled out. The two girls

shrieked. Vicki’s reaction was to lift up the controller for the shock collar and press down hard on the

button at the front.

There was a thundering roar, then the body of the dino tumbled down the staircase, richoceted off one

side of the railing, then crashed through the other. The dino picked himself up, and was staring intently

at Vicki. He reached down, and tore off the shock collar, then tossed it aside with a growl.

Vicki pulled her handgun out of her pocket but her shots were so wild that only one grazed it on its

shoulder, and made it even madder.

There was the sound of glass shattering and something massive galloping towards them. Tracye and

Cassandra ran and crouched behind the first floor reference and watched as a second dinosaur hybrid

slashed at the first one. Soon, they were tangled together in combat.

“Vicki! Get out!”



26

“Benjamin?” Vicki asked

“Get out!” Benjamin turned, and bounded up the stairs, with the other dinosaur after him. Without

skipping a beat, Vicki headed to the front door, but stopped when Chief Whittaker appeared with his

weapon drawn.

“Daddy!”

Tracey zig zagged between tables and tossed herself at Markus, wrapping her arms around him.

Marcus crouched down and wrapped his arms around her. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

“There was a dino in the break room, daddy!” Tracey exclaimed. “He was sleeping, but we scared him

awake with Cassie’s shock collar.”

“I strapped it onto his leg,” Cassie said.

“And I stopped Vicki from steeling names.”

Marcus looked at Tracey. “What names?”

“The names of the kids from my class,” Tracey answered.

“Vicki shot your computer,” Cassie said.

“That’s not very considerate,” Markus said, deadpanned.

Chad had returned, and tapped Markus on the shoulder. “EMS is here. You and the girls should probably

get checked out. I’ll also need to get your statements.

Markus ushered the girls towards the ambulance, where two medical technicians were waiting for them.

They were accompanied by a frowny-faced woman in a business suit. She was carrying a clipboard.

“Chief Whittaker, just the man I wanted to see.”

“Evening, Lolita,” Chad said. “I didn’t realize that my office had contacted you.”

“They didn’t need to. I monitor all of the radio bands for activity.” She peered at Cassandra. “You must

be the little girl who was with the couple that broke into the library.”

Cassandra nodded.

“They’ve both had a long day,” Markus interjected. “And need to be checked out. If you have questions

for them--”

“I was actually here to speak with--” Lolita stopped mid-sentence to glance at her clipboard. “Vicki. If

what I’ve heard is true, she is in a lot of trouble for mistreating Cassandra.”

“Mrs. Burns,” Chad said stiffly, “respectfully, your authority doesn’t allow you to interview suspects.”

“But, she is the suspect in the abuse of a halfling. That falls under my jurisdiction. I will be getting

statements from the girls later on.”



27

Lolita nodded to the two men, and continued on into the library where Vicki was being processed.

While Markus was being treated for his injuries, Chad escorted the girls to a second ambulance. Tracey

and Cassandra sat patiently while they were poked and prodded. Fortunately, the most serious injury

was a cut on Cassandra’s knee which required a Bandaid.

Chad raised an eyebrow when Tom, the Medical Technician, drew blood samples from both girls. “Is that

necessary?”

“Ms. Burns insisted. For dinosaur-born children, I’m required to collect blood samples.”

“Fine,” Chad said.

“The Superintendent is very disappointed with you Benjamin.” Benjamin jerked up his head at the

familiar sound of Lolita Burns’ voice. Between the rampaging dino and the police that had swarmed

through Hartland, his only option had been to take shelter inside the museum at the edge of town.

“We had the girl, and Vicki was getting the list. We didn’t count on the librarian showing up.”

“Your mission was to kill VanNocker, and to get an updated copy of her school’s roster.” Lolita bent

down, and stretched out her hand. Inside it, there was a syringe. “You could have seriously exposed the

Institute.”

Benjamin picked the syringe up out of her hand, and jabbed it into his shoulder. “Now what?”

Lolita extended her left hand. It contained a thick stack of pages. The top page contained a list of names

with addresses. “You’re going to complete your mission.”



29

“I have good news,” Markus said. “Chief Whittaker is making arrangements for Cassandra to stay with us

a little bit longer.”

“And go with me to school?” Tracey asked.

“I’m sure Mrs. VanNocker can always make room for one more,” Chad said. He glanced at Cassandra. “If that’s okay with you.”

Cassandra smiled. “I think I’d like that.”

“Look Daddy,’ Tracey pointed towards the gravestone where the girls had laid down the flowers they

brought. “This time we brought two flowers.”



30

Dinopocalypse

Notes from the Dinoplex



31

Notes from the Dinoplex, #1

December 9, 2012

“Dinopocalypse” is an example of what happens when I am suddenly facing a two month hiatus

between episodes for my favorite show.

On Sunday, I watched the mid-season finale of “The Walking Dead,” a show set in a post-apocalyptic

world involving zombies. Going into the week, I began to wonder what I could do to satisfy my “hunger”

for “The Walking Dead” until the next half of the season began. This lead me to think about the

possibilities of writing a story with a similar type of situation, but maybe mix up the elements. Post

apocalyptic world with aliens? Dogs that shoot lasers out of their eyes?

Nothing seemed to stick until I melded dinosaurs together with the premise of “The Walking Dead.”

Maybe people didn’t turn into dinosaurs (because that would be a little unrealistic) but they mightmutate into dinosaur-like creatures.

The first draft of the very first chapter had a lot of the same elements but, since it was told in the first

person, lacked some of the energy and momentum: Marcus, a single dad who has survived the

epidemic, takes care of his six year old daughter who just happens to be a dinosaur/human hybrid.

When the story starts, they are on one of their rare trips away from home, and Markus is extremely

protective of his daughter.

When I started writing the story, I originally planned for it to be about solving the mystery of the

dinosaur virus, but my writing evolved I decided that it should start out being about how society was

dealing with the lost of such a large percentage of its population, as well as the problems that remained.

Certainly, this parallels “The Walking Dead,” but I’m hoping to put a different spin on my version.

Markus will be getting some help from his friend, Livingston County’s Chief of Police Chad Whittaker.

Well, maybe some help at first but then a friendly shove somewhere along the way. Chad is aware of

things that the average citizen wouldn’t necessarily know, and this can either be bad or good for

someone like Markus. There is also a special school for dino children that will play a big part in the story,

especially when it comes to its conflict with the “Institute.”

I’m hoping to go into more details about the look of the “Dino People” in later episodes. I wasn’t quite

sure which direction to go in, but when I wrote about the adult Dinos I pictured the Gorn from the

episode of “Star Trek” called “Arena,” and when I pictured Tracey or Cassandra in my mind, I thought of

the aliens from “Alien Nation.”

There are three ways that you can change into a “Dino” after the Dinoapocalypse. If you are infected

either naturally or via a bite, you will change into a Dino. You can also be born a Dino, like Tracey. The

most civil version of the Dinos is the ones who were born that way, but they will revert to their natural

instincts if they aren’t raised in a human environment. After a human mutates, they could either be

conditioned to think like a human, or they could roam free and savage. This the most common type of

dino in the world from the book, and is mankind’s biggest threat.



Episode One, “Two Flowers,” is available online via Google+, Pinterest, Facebook, or Scribd. You can

also browse the chapters here.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/113185510681563428065/113185510681563428065/posts



http://pinterest.com/thatdash/dinopocalypse-episode-one-two-flowers/


https://www.facebook.com/groups/409235582481763/



http://www.scribd.com/my_document_collections/4029109



https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yfAUf9s8N0ObFl1Uv5lnXhNGA3XlKF7pLzATP_81CqQ/edit













dinopocalypse: two flowers

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