Terror In The Mist (The Island In The Mist Book 3) Read online

  Cold gave her a thumbs up and then looked to the rest of the team. “Good luck to all of you,” he said. “Find our folks and get them to safety.” He then took a seat and fastened his seat belt.

  Harley looked to Victor and gave him a slight nod. He responded by taking a position next to the side door and then promptly worked the latch until it opened. A gust of wind tore through the interior fuselage of the plane and with it, Jonathon’s anxiety level increased significantly. Harley moved behind him and began tugging on the harness to make sure it was tight and ready for her to connect. When satisfied, she leaned over and said, “Well, this is it, are you ready?”

  “You know I’m not,” Jonathon replied as he glanced toward the door.

  She laughed. “I thought you’d say something like that,” she replied. “Nevertheless, we are going now. Just relax and try to enjoy it.”

  Before Jonathon was even able to contemplate the matter further, Harley had managed to steer him toward the door. The two of them stood there for what seemed like an eternity and it gave Jonathon plenty of time to survey to earth below him. For the most part, all he could see was blue water, but after a few moments, he noticed a familiar splotch of white to break up the monotony. It appeared to be a cloud hovering on top of the water, but he knew full well that it was the island shrouded in mist that he’d become all too acquainted with. He looked over his shoulder to Harley but she didn’t look at him. Her concentration was set directly on the misty island below. She leaned forward multiple times to get a look at the ground and then suddenly, without a word, she firmly shoved him out of the airplane. Suddenly, the world as he once knew it was spinning.

  He didn’t know if he was physically spinning, but between the nausea and overwhelming rush of adrenaline, it was hard for him to tell. The wind rushing past made it impossible to hear anything or talk to Harley. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, but the curiosity of the experience was too overwhelming. Slowly, he cracked his eyes open and decided to do as Harley had instructed, relax and try to enjoy it. The freefall didn’t last as long as he thought it would, but it was plenty of time for them to close in considerably on the misty ceiling over the island. Then, with seemingly no warning at all, the chute deployed and their acceleration was slowed dramatically.

  Jonathon sighed with relief. “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” he said, trying to get his heart rate back to a reasonable pace.

  “Isn’t it fun?” Harley asked while stifling laughter. “You should try it sometime over the mainland, it’s much more beautiful. This is just plain boring,” she added, exasperated.

  Jonathon surveyed the environment below him and immediately understood what she meant. Still, as far as the eye could see there was only water—and then there was the island. As they descended closer, for the first time ever, Jonathon was able to get a good grasp regarding the island’s size. It was far bigger than he initially thought, and as much as he’d trekked across it, it suddenly became obvious to him that there was a lot of that island he’d never seen. There was no telling how many additional species of dinosaurs existed there that he hadn’t even encountered yet. The shape of the island roughly resembled that of an elephant, and although he was still unable to see the ground, Jonathon could tell that the mist seemed to cling tightly to the outline of the island.

  “How thick do you think it’ll be?” Harley asked him just as they began to penetrate the white fog.

  Jonathon shook his head. “Up here, I have no idea,” he replied. “I know that when I’ve gone through it on the water, it was probably close to a quarter of a mile.

  “Wow,” she said, surprised. “That’s pretty thick.”

  Seconds later, they were fully immersed in the dense mist. Jonathon could feel the moisture beading up on his face and suddenly his visibility turned to zero.

  “We’re completely blind,” Harley whispered, and he could hear the unmistakable hint of uncertainty in her voice. She was slightly scared, unable to hide it.

  “It’s always thick like this…it won’t last too long,” Jonathon said, trying his best to reassure her.

  The moisture in the dense air was so thick, the clothes both of them were wearing was quickly becoming soaking wet. Harley felt the weight of the water on her shirt and hated the clinging sensation…it made her feel claustrophobic, a phobia she’d battled since childhood.

  “Jonathon, do you have any phobias?” she asked suddenly.

  Jonathon chuckled nervously. “Yeah, heights,” he replied.

  “I don’t buy that,” she answered. “If you were truly afraid of heights, you’d have passed out by now.”

  “Well, we’re not on the ground yet,” he quipped. “I’m probably in shock.”

  “I’m proud of how you handled it,” Harley said, obviously trying her best to encourage him. She paused, then said, “I suffer from claustrophobia.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” she replied. “And this dense fog is making it rear its ugly head.”

  “Well, try not to think about it,” Jonathon said. “Trust me, what you’re experiencing right now will pale in comparison to some of what you’ll see once we’re on the ground.”

  At that moment, there was a shrill, piercing shriek from somewhere behind them hidden away beyond the fog.

  “What was that?” Harley said quickly, looking around her shoulder. It was impossible to see anything. The loud shrill happened again, this time sounding closer.

  “Harley, I think I spoke prematurely when I said the real worry begins once we’re on the ground,” he stammered, looking in all directions. “Is there a way to move a little faster?”

  “Aside from cutting the chute loose, no,” she replied, sounding a bit panicked. “What is it?”

  “Sounds like some kind of pterosaur,” Jonathon answered.

  “Have you ever dealt with them before?” she asked.

  Jonathon thought back to his first trip to the island, now nearly ten years later. “Yeah,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. “We’re in a lot of danger right now.”

  Harley shivered. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.” There was another shriek, quieter this time, yet there was still no doubt that the pterosaur was even closer.

  “What do we do?” Harley asked, now terrified.

  “There’s nothing we can do but be ready,” Jonathon replied, sounding defeated. He tried to reach for the knife on his belt, but his harness was making it difficult. “Do you have any weapons?” he asked, trying to look back at Harley.

  She shook her head. “Yeah, I’ve got plenty of firepower in my bag, but that’s not doing us any good, is it?”

  Jonathon was situated in a slightly lower position than Harley and he had a better reach for the bag that dangled from her waist. “I’m going to try and get into it,” he said, and he immediately began fumbling for the zipper.

  At that moment, the large pterosaur that had been hunting them suddenly swooped violently into the parachute. The large animal released its shrill call and Jonathon then realized his attempt to get his hands on some sort of a weapon was too late. He heard Harley scream and then became aware he was screaming as well. He looked up just in time to see the pterosaur tearing through the fabric, thus making their parachute useless. Suddenly, it became quite apparent that the pace of their descent increased significantly. The pterosaur had become entangled in the parachute and Jonathon could see the beast’s large talons crashing down over him. It was the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness.

  Chapter 13

  Glenn Hardcastle padded across the tile flooring as quietly as he possibly could. The handgun he was carrying comforted him, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop most of the dinosaurs on the island. He wondered how useful it would be against the Troodons. The animals were extremely intelligent, and since he’d already shot one of them, he hoped it would be enough to keep them away. If he could just make it to the Triangle Building, he believed he’d have a brief respite before the real danger bega
n. That was assuming of course that no dinosaurs had found a way in.

  As he turned the corner that would lead him to the skyway, he stopped abruptly at the sight before him. The double doors that led to the skywalk were torn loose from their hinges. Clearly, something had broken through them.

  “Well, isn’t this just great,” Hardcastle muttered under his breath. “So much for the Triangle Building being free and clear.”

  He gripped the gun tightly and moved slowly past the mangled doors. The afternoon light shone through the row of full view windows that covered the expanse of both sides of the skywalk. As he moved onto the walkway, he then noticed that the doors on the opposite end were torn open as well. The Troodons had apparently made their way into the Triangle Building. Whether or not they were still in there was another matter he’d have to confront in the very near future. He continued to walk lightly across the carpeted floor, still doing his best to make as little noise as possible. As he reached the midway point of the skywalk, he caught movement outside from the corner of his eye. He turned to peer through the window just in time to see the Spinosaurus lumbering toward the rear of the office building. The vicious beast had apparently finally gained entrance into the compound. It was undoubtedly heading back toward the Troodon paddock where it had shown great interest only a couple of days before. Hardcastle froze and crouched down low in what he knew was a futile attempt to remain unseen. The reality was that if the massive dinosaur turned around, there would be nothing hiding him from plain view. Fortunately, the Spinosaurus’s attention seemed to be on something behind the building and seconds later, it was out of sight.

  Hardcastle exhaled a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat away from his brow. Slowly, he regained his footing and just as he took his first step forward, he noticed a fearsome sight watching him from just beyond the mangled doors that led into the Triangle Building. It was a Troodon and it was standing deadly still, just watching him. Hardcastle immediately recognized it as one of the five that had escaped from the fifth floor. He took a step back and the animal cocked its head to the side as it watched him.

  “Easy,” he whispered, holding up a hand. He took another step back.

  The Troodon took two steps forward and hissed at him.

  “I hear you, I’m leaving now,” Hardcastle grumbled. He moved his finger to the trigger of the gun he was holding and took another step backward.

  This time, much to his dismay, the Troodon opened its jaws and barked its strange guttural call that he’d become too accustomed to. He knew from experience that the animal was calling for help and soon there would be more Troodons to contend with. He picked up his pace and backed away more quickly. As he did so, he kept the gun pointed at the Troodon. Strangely, the animal remained just inside the doorway of the Triangle Building. Just as Hardcastle had almost made his way back into the office building, he heard a sound that made his heart drop. He whipped his head around and discovered that two more Troodons had snuck up behind him. One of them was injured, bleeding from one of its legs. The other larger one was the leader…the one called Mother. She eyed him coldly.

  He turned his gun toward the new arrivals and, as he expected, the dinosaurs remembered what the weapon was capable of doing to them. Particularly, the injured dinosaur, the one that had been shot, wailed with fury at the sight of the gun.

  “Yeah, you remember what this does, don’t you?” Hardcastle said, doing his best to remain calm. He quickly glanced back toward the other end of the skywalk and could see that the other Troodon was still standing there, just watching.

  What is he waiting on? he wondered.

  Suddenly, Mother began barking furiously. The sounds were eerie and sounded very much like she was speaking in an unknown language. Whatever it was that she’d “said,” it wasn’t good because the other two Troodons immediately began moving toward him. Hardcastle moved back toward the center of the skywalk and waved the gun from one Troodon and back to the other, unsure which direction he should try and blast his way through. He had little time to contemplate the decision and just as he’d about decided to open fire in the direction of the Troodon that had come from the Triangle Building, something very unexpected happened.

  The Spinosaurus that had only moments before disappeared behind the office building was back, having apparently heard the barking Troodons. The massive dinosaur announced its presence with a deafening roar, and before Hardcastle or the Troodons had an opportunity to react, the animal crashed its head into the large glass windows. Hardcastle rolled out of the way just in time as the Spinosaurus’s jaws snapped viciously at him. The Troodons, seemingly seeing the situation as an opportunity, immediately darted toward the Spinosaurus’s vulnerable head. In unison, the three smaller dinosaurs began clawing, biting, and ripping at the larger dinosaur’s flesh. Hardcastle closed his eyes tightly as the Spinosaurus roared loudly again, though he couldn’t tell if it was due to the animal being in pain, or if it was just pure rage. Whatever the reason, the dinosaur immediately tried to pull its head away from the danger, but suddenly came to the realization that it had become stuck.

  Hardcastle quickly got on his feet and decided the moment was perfect for him to make his escape. As he took off running, he felt the skywalk began to twist and vibrate under his feet. When he was mere feet away from the entrance to the Triangle Building, the skyway was suddenly jolted violently enough to knock him off his feet. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the Spinosaurus was thrashing its head from side to side in a desperate attempt to free itself. The Troodons had already done significant damage to the animal’s head and it became very apparent to Hardcastle that the dinosaur had already lost an eye.

  The reptilian skin covering the Spinosaurus’s head was ripped and torn substantially from the attack it was being forced to endure. Hardcastle tried to regain his footing, but before he could do so, he heard the unmistakable sound of bending metal followed by the wailing cries of one of the Troodons. He looked again just in time to see one of the Troodons—the one he’d shot—as it was being crushed in the Spinosaurus’s jaws. The massive dinosaur had finally wrenched itself free of the window, but in doing so, the structural integrity of the skywalk had become compromised and it began to collapse. Suddenly, the skywalk broke apart in the middle and—with no support—both sides swung downward. Fortunately, the ends attached to the buildings were fastened well and Hardcastle was pleased to see that, though the structure bent significantly, it still held. The Troodons on the opposite end of the skywalk managed to scramble away back into the office building.

  Unfortunately, gravity was not on his side, and he suddenly felt himself sliding downward toward the open end of the skywalk. If that wasn’t bad enough, he also came to the realization that the Spinosaurus had spotted him with its remaining good eye. The vicious beast forced its long snout through the open end of the broken skywalk and began snapping furiously at Hardcastle. He’d managed to grab one of the aluminum grids over the window with his free hand. It kept him from sliding downward into the Spinosaurus’s jaws, but it did nothing to aid him in an escape. The fact of the matter was, he was currently stuck and moving upward wasn’t going to be possible until the Spinosaurus left him alone. He found himself longing to have the sonic weapon that had worked so well on the creature the last time he encountered it.

  As he clung tightly to the window grid, his mind drifted back to the last time he’d seen Jonathon Williams. His current situation felt eerily similar, except this time it was he was that was on the verge of being eaten alive, not Jonathon. As his arm began to ache, he looked down at the gun still tightly in his grasp. He really didn’t want to empty the magazine, but in his current predicament, he didn’t really see another option. With reluctance, he pointed the barrel toward the angry Spinosaurus and waited for the right moment. The dinosaur kept snapping its jaws quickly and it stubbornly refused to give Hardcastle the look that he was wanting. Now angry, Hardcastle decided to take matters into his own hands. He pulled the trigger
and promptly fired a shot into the fleshy part of the Spinosaurus’s nose. The animal opened its maw and released a deafening roar. With the animal’s mouth now wide open, Hardcastle began pulling the trigger repeatedly, unleashing a barrage of small caliber firepower into the throat of the furious dinosaur. He could feel the heat that expelled from the dinosaur’s large lungs, and the putrid smell that came with it instantly made him nauseous. The scent of the Spinosaurus’s breath was a combination of death and decay on a level that he’d never experienced.

  At first, the bullets seemed to do nothing but make the dinosaur angrier than it already was. Just as Hardcastle was beginning to contemplate what his next course of action should be, the Spinosaurus slowly began to pull its head out of the skywalk. He then watched as the wounded animal clumsily lumbered out of the compound and into the jungle foliage, leaving a massive wake in the water behind it as it walked. It was clearly affected by the bullets he’d just dispensed into its throat and Hardcastle wondered if it was retreating to die. There was a time he’d have felt a bit of remorse about that possibility. Today, however, he hoped he’d be so lucky.

  Hardcastle considered tossing the firearm into the floodwaters below. Since the magazine was now empty, and he didn’t know where he’d get more ammunition, he couldn’t think of a good reason to hang onto it. However, if he did happen to come across some ammo, he’d feel mighty silly if he disposed of it. He decided to stuff it in the back of his waistband and go to work on getting climbing out of the skywalk. Hardcastle looked upward and decided his best course of action would be to use the window grids to pull himself up with one hand, while digging his other hand into the carpet. Fortunately, the boots he was wearing had a lot of tread so he felt good about getting some help from his feet. With great care, he reached up for the grid on the next window while simultaneously digging the toe of his boot into the carpet and pushing upward. The plan seemed to work perfectly until Hardcastle reached the last window. As soon as he grabbed the grid, it broke free and he tumbled end over end into the murky water below.