Dinosaur World 7 Chapter 6

“You look worried,” Kwan said as the village doorway was slammed shut. “You expected to be greeted with flowers?”

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“They know to stay indoors.” Kwan shrugged. “They have also moved further into the village to stay together, and these houses are empty near the gate. I make deliveries on Wednesdays. They will come when they hear us.”

“I honestly haven’t known what day it is for weeks,” I said. “They’re pretty isolated out here, so they must rely on you guys pretty heavily?”

“Especially now that they cannot fish.” Kwan nodded as he checked if all his men were in the truck. “The women of this village were known for their fishing abilities, but now it is too dangerous to go to the ocean.”

“I miss surfing,” Tae sighed. “Just being out in the sea. The water is so clean and crisp out here.”

“Not anymore,” Sun-hee grumbled. “It is full of those monsters. They really did ruin everything.”

“There are more important matters at hand than surfing,” Kwan said. “Let us get our delivery to the villagers and make our way back to the base.”

Kwan started off down the middle road, which seemed to be the only one in the village. The spaces between the houses were only big enough to walk down, and there were a few simple, stone statues of what looked like men in hats which were scattered along the roadside.

The houses were made of gray stonework, and most of them had plain wooden doors, although a couple residents painted theirs with bright colors. There were still plant pots and little ornaments sitting on windowsills, along with some chalk drawings on the ground that had clearly been done by kids.

Only the first houses near the gate seemed to have any damage to them, though. The rest bore no blood stains or damaged roofs further into the village.

“Did something get inside?” I asked. “There was blood on the walls further back.”

“Yes, when this all started.” Kwan nodded. “Some of the smaller monsters got inside. There were many deaths before people realised what was going on.”

“That’s why they all live together now,” Tae added. “The houses are filled with various families, but safety in numbers is important.”

“And it makes them further away from the gate,” Min-jun said. “They have weapons, but there are not many skilled fighters here.”

“That’s why they always need so many bullets,” Kwan grunted. “They waste so many.”

“Do they kill many dinos?” I asked.

“They have done,” Kwan said. “They have shot a few flying ones before, and I would rather they have the ammo than not.”

“We should give them shooting lessons,” I said. “Kat did that back at Ravenhall, and it really helped.”

“Perhaps,” Kwan said as he glanced up at the sky.

The deeper into the village we got, the more beautiful the surroundings became. The road got wider as we reached what I assumed was the center of the small town, on account of the break in houses. We were surrounded by well-kept green spaces that looked like public gardens, and each one had a few more statues and some wooden benches with ornate, bronze arm rests. There were cherry blossoms everywhere, too, and the pink petals fluttered in the gentle breeze and gave off a sweet scent.

The most striking part of the view was what looked like a temple sitting along the left side of the village behind one of the greener stretches of land. A small set of gray stairs led up to the temple entrance, and I was surprised to see Korean men in all-black attire stationed outside the door with K2s in hand. The paintwork on the building looked immaculate and was a bright combination of blues, reds, and yellows. Golden trim lined the windows, and it didn’t look like there was an inch of scraped or blemished paint. The roof was made of two different layers, and the corners of the roof curved upwards.

It was a stunning structure, and I noticed a small golden Buddha statue which sat right at the doorway.

“Is that your men up there?” I asked as I eyed the men with the K2s.

“Yes, I station men down here so the people can worship,” the Korean man replied as he nodded toward the armed guards.

The men nodded back, and then they proceeded with their slow stroll as they patrolled the temple grounds.

“That’s a good idea,” I replied. “People need some form of normality to keep sane these days.”

“It is a beautiful temple,” Sun-hee said behind me. “You should go and look sometime. The inside is even better. Hae-won would love it, too.”

“I wouldn’t want to be disrespectful,” I said with a glance at Kwan. “I’m not a Buddhist, so--”

“Doesn’t matter.” Kwan shrugged. “I am a Buddhist, but I do not exactly obey the strictest of rules.”

“That’s an understatement,” Sun-hee snorted, and his father smiled quietly to himself.

Then the truck stopped, and one of the men in the back grabbed a small box before he jumped out of the vehicle and ran over to the guards.

“Ammo refill,” Kwan said as he cracked his knuckles. “I do not take chances with my people’s protection.”

“So, there are two villages you take care of?” I asked. “Do you always go on the runs yourself?”

“Usually,” Kwan replied as his dark eyes scanned the sky. “I do not respect men who see themselves as leaders but never get their hands dirty.”

“Sometimes he goes to meet with the council,” Tae said, and I turned to look at the middle son. “To check if there are any updates on the situation.”

“Yes,” Kwan said with a sideways glance at me. “Any helpful information would be welcomed.”

I knew by his pointed look he was referring to Adhara and her ship, but I didn’t want to say anything when Hae-won had clearly made a point to keep that story secret for the time being. So, there was a loaded silence in the truck, and I had a feeling everyone was probably hoping I would crack under the pressure and explain the whole alien thing.

But I wasn’t going to get in the way of Hae-won and Kwan’s dispute.

Then a distant roar broke the tension, and every man in the back of the truck jumped to their feet as we listened out to see if it would come again.

I sat up with my sharp gun clenched tightly, and I looked up at the sunny sky to check we weren’t about to be grabbed up by any sharp talons.

As the man who delivered the bullets jumped back into the truck, there was a different, deeper roar which sounded like it was in reply to the first. The second noise also sounded a hell of a lot closer, too, and Kwan and I silently scanned the trees outside the village.

A few minutes passed as we watched carefully, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I wondered which kind of dino had made the sound. We’d already encountered two new dinosaurs since arriving in South Korea, and I really didn’t want the list to get any bigger so soon.

Luckily, the island seemed peaceful again, and there were no ground-shaking footsteps or sudden howls.

“That sounded too close for my liking,” Kwan muttered as he slowly started to drive again. “They talk to each other. It is not right.”

“You’ve seen how they work together?” I asked. “A whole herd of all different species lived outside Ravenhall. The flying ones, carnivores, and herbivores all worked together to attack us. Bastards.”

“They seem to have a common goal,” Min-jun said in his ominously low voice. “To kill us. I do not believe they will not stop hunting until every human on Earth is gone.”

I desperately wanted to share what I knew about Adhara’s people and the portals, but I wasn’t going to risk them turning on her. Keeping the Ravenscar locals tame was one thing, but Kwan’s armed men wouldn’t be likely to put up with someone who’d played a part in sending the dinosaurs to kill us.

The men behind me slowly sat down as the island remained quiet, and they talked in Korean in hushed voices.

We drove away from the greenery of the village center and eventually rolled to a halt outside a block of the thatched-roof houses. The houses had black fabric covering all the windows, and the gray stone walls all seemed blood free.

We were right near the end of the village, and the stone wall that marked the edge had more chalk pictures on it. Yellow cats and blue flowers were messily scribbled everywhere, and my stomach flipped as I thought of my own two kids. I hadn’t met them yet, but the thought of them growing up in fear, and living among bloodthirsty beasts that went extinct thousands of years ago made my grip on my sharp gun tense.

As the truck stopped, the men in the back jumped out, and I pushed open my door to help.

There was a creak, and I looked over to see one of the wooden house doors had slowly opened before I caught a flurry of whispers. Then a line of people trailed out onto the road, and a moment later, another two houses opened.

People of all ages piled out to meet us, and I heard the high-pitched voices of children, but none of them came out onto the road. When Kwan stepped down from the truck, he was met with the crowd as people swarmed over to him and bowed, and the residents hurriedly chatted in Korean as many of them reached out their hands to show gestures of gratitude to the underground king.

It was obvious Kwan was well-liked by the villagers, and I understood why. Having a crime lord deliver weaponry must have been a godsend to them, and I wondered if people on the other side of the island had lucked out as much.

The three brothers helped the other men unload the black boxes from the truck, and the locals quickly picked them up and hurried off to store them in the houses. Min-jun carried multiple boxes under his huge arms, and it didn’t take long for the ammo to be handed out among the occupied houses.

A few of the villagers gave me confused glances, and I guessed it wouldn’t make any sense to them how some foreign guy could suddenly appear on the island.

The brothers spoke with the villagers, and I kept an eye on the skyline as they chatted. My skin still prickled as I thought of the roars we’d heard, and I wondered if we should go out and hunt down whatever it was before it came to the village.

Then I heard Sun-hee say my name followed by something in Korean, and a few of the villagers nodded.

“These are our friends,” Sun-hee said to me. “Not all of them have English, but I told them you are a good man.”

“Thanks.” I grinned at the crowd of people who bustled around us.

“You rescue Hae-won?” a middle-aged woman asked me. “The king’s daughter.”

There was a murmur and then a series of bows, and I tried to bow back as naturally as possible without seeming cocky.

Kwan was in deep conversation with two older men, so I didn’t think he caught the slightly awkward exchange, and they handed him a cigarette as they stood and smoked. The men looked at least twenty years older than Kwan, and they spoke with raspy voices and vigorous hand gestures.

“The old men like to catch up with each other,” Tae whispered. “It is good for our father to occasionally have a talk which is not about work.”

“I wouldn’t let him hear you calling him old,” I whispered with a grin, and a few of the villagers laughed.

There was a trio of young women who giggled as Min-jun walked past, and Sun-hee rolled his eyes.

“Always they are after him,” the youngest brother sighed. “Why not me? I am just as handsome, but also more fun.”

“Also more annoying,” Tae said, and his brother hit him on the shoulder.

“Jason has many girls,” Sun-hee said. “What is the secret? Is it the accent?”

“Must be,” I laughed. “Just work on your American impression, and they’ll start swarming you.”

It was obvious the villagers had a great relationship with Kwan’s people, and there was laughter and exchanges of hugs as everyone spoke. Although the atmosphere was light and happy, I felt anxious to investigate the dinosaurs that were clearly nearby.

I didn’t want to give Kwan’s men orders, but I knew it could only take one dino to bring the village to the ground. I kept my sharp gun clutched in my hands and hoped whatever we’d heard before already made its way away from the houses.

“We saw the big one a few nights ago,” a pretty young woman with a red dress whispered to me. “This is why you are here? You are good at fighting the monsters?”

“Oh,” I said. “I mean, I’ve got experience. Is the big one something that’s been here often?”

“We have only seen it far away,” the woman replied, and she pulled her dark hair. “It came by one night, but only went past the other end of the village. So perhaps it did not smell us.”

I nodded, but I didn’t want to say what I was really thinking.

If there was some kind of large dino that prowled around, there wasn’t much chance it hadn’t sniffed out the location of all the humans. It seemed more likely it would plan an attack and come back when it had more herd members.

I noticed Kwan kept his eyes along the tops of the houses as he smoked and chatted, and I guessed he had the same suspicions as I did.

Which made me wonder if he was intentionally stalling our departure to keep his armed men in the area a little longer.

“The ammo is all divided up,” Min-jun said as he handed the last box to a middle-aged man. “Everyone make sure your weapons are loaded and ready to go, should you need--”

Another roar rang out over the village, and everybody froze. A child inside one of the houses started to cry, and a woman raced over to go inside and keep the kid quiet.

Kwan threw his smoke to the ground as he grabbed his rifle, and he barked something in Korean to the villagers. The locals all rushed back into their houses with wide eyes, and one of the younger women started to sob.

“Should they help?” I asked as I watched the locals disappear behind closed doors. “We just delivered a shit load of bullets.”

“We will protect them,” Kwan replied. “Their ammo is to keep them safe when we are not here. This is our duty.”

I nodded and spun around as I looked for any signs of the dinosaur. I glanced at the bright sky above us and figured we would have noticed a glimpse of wings or a shadow if it was a flying creature. We gripped our weapons tightly as we spread out for a better view.

“We should drive,” I said to Kwan. “We could lure it away from the village and fight it further out so it doesn’t cause any damage here.”

“Too late,” the older man growled, and he screamed something in Korean as he stared out at the trees to the north side of the village.

I followed his line of sight and saw the green treetops rustle violently. It was far too much movement to be caused by the gentle wind, and sure enough, the thump of giant footsteps approached.

“Down to the other side of the village,” Kwan yelled. “Away from the villagers. Away from the truck.”

The men started to sprint down the road, and I raced alongside them as the footsteps got louder. As we passed the middle of the village, the two men from the temple ran over to join us. We had nine men against whatever the hell was about to appear, and sweat ran down my neck as I put all my strength into running.

The ground shook as we pelted down the road, and it was no shock to me Kwan kept up the pace with the younger men with no problems.

I looked over to the left above the houses just as the head of the dino broke through the trees, and it was a dark red color with thick, short horns on top of the skull.

“It is a carnotaurus,” Tae breathed as we came to a quick stop. “This is not going to be easy.”

I aimed my sharp gun as the dino approached, and it seemed our plan had worked as it pelted toward the empty side of the village.

“It’s going to break the wall,” Sun-hee said as we aimed our weapons.

“Let’s hope that is all it breaks,” Min-jun said grimly.

The dinosaur didn’t take long to reach the village, and from what I could see over the houses, it looked about twenty feet long and twelve feet tall. It was smaller than a t-rex, but the horns, red-toned skin, and yellow eyes somehow made it look more evil, and its huge nostrils flared as it roared.

I steadied my sharp gun and waited until it was just at the village wall before I took my shot. The bullet lodged right into the snout, and the beast screeched out as it shook its head.

“Good, Jason!” Kwan barked, and he waited until the dino had taken another step before he shot into its neck.

The carnotaurus roared again, and it slammed straight into the brick wall of the village. The structure smashed instantly, and the huge dinosaur tore into the village streets while its long tail swung into the humble houses around it.

The buildings blocked our ability to shoot the majority of the dino’s body, and it seemed my shot to its head hadn’t done enough damage to bring it down.

The sharp gun bullet should have gone right through to the brain, but the dino was very much still alive, and we didn’t have a lot of time before it would reach us.

I noticed as it got closer that its head was a darker shade of red than the body, and I wondered if the skin on its skull was thick enough to act like a helmet. I figured it must use its horns to some capacity, and its skull would need to be strong enough to survive headbutting its prey.

“Try and hit the neck!” I yelled. “The head looks like it has a thick plating!”

That was easier said than done. The carnotaurus started to violently swing its neck and body as it stayed behind the shelter of the houses, but as it roared and lunged from one house to another, I noticed there was a pink area around its belly, and it looked like there was already a barely-healed wound there.

“It has a weak spot on its stomach!” I hollered as the men started to open fire on the dino.“I’m going to get closer so I can get a good shot at it!”

“Be careful,” Kwan growled, and he spat on the ground before he shot the beast in its hardened skull again.

I raced toward the cover of the houses, and the other men continued to shoot as the dino took a thrashing course through the village and closer to them. It was clear the gunfire had frazzled the beast, and a few of the bullets that had broken through its legs and shoulders started to incapacitate it.

Still, its increasingly distressed roars made me wonder if it was calling for backup, and my heart leapt into my throat as I looked around at the destruction of the small village.

We couldn’t let a whole herd attack this place. There would be no way the small houses would stay intact, and it had already taken a massive hit to the wall.

I raced down the narrow street that wove between the houses until I was parallel with the dino. The carnotaurus suddenly leapt forward, and I dove to the ground as its tail whipped around and knocked a roof clean off one of the nearby houses. I spluttered as dust and dirt filled my lungs, and then I scrambled to my feet as I clung onto my weapon.

The dino took another step toward Kwan and his men, and I placed myself between two houses so I could get a good shot as it passed. I took aim at the exposed skin as the dino walked by, and as I pulled the trigger, the dino swung its head around and spotted me.

The bullet hit the mark, but my victory was short lived as the red faced dinosaur screamed and lunged toward me.

Mid-step, the dino suddenly stopped and swayed from side to side as it gurgled.

The sharp bullet had clearly caused some real damage as blood poured from the already wounded belly, and Kwan’s men got closer as they continued to shoot at the neck and head.

The dinosaur sprayed blood out of its mouth as it howled, and its eyes started to roll back into its head. The maroon liquid poured down onto the village ground and splattered the wall as the dino shook its head, and I saw the beast place an awkward step with a bent knee.

“It’s coming down!” I yelled as the beast stumbled, and the long tail thudded to the ground.

I raced back toward Kwan, and we tried to gage which way the dino would fall.

Blood poured down from its various wounds, and there seemed to be more bullet holes than scales on its head.

Suddenly, the creature slumped to the left, and it crashed down onto one of the empty houses with a bang that rocked the earth. Stone and dirt flew up from the impact, and I ducked down to narrowly avoid a chunk of rock that flew my way.

The red dino lay on top of the crushed house, and it looked like it had taken one behind it down in the process. I choked on the debris filling the air, and my eyes watered from the dryness in my throat.

“Shit,” I groaned. “I was hoping we could kill it without it destroying too much.”

“This is better than nothing.” Kwan shrugged. “It could be lying on top of dead villagers.”

“The temple is safe, too.” Sun-hee nodded as he stared with wide eyes at the beast. “That is a big one, isn’t it? Have you seen ones so big before, Jason?”

“Bigger,” I told him. “You don’t want to get in the way of two nesting spinosaurus, I’ll tell you that much.”

The youngest brother stared at me with an open mouth, and Min-jun patted him on the shoulder.

“Well,” I said. “We can at least evaporate the fucker before we leave.”

“I can do it,” Sun-hee said excitedly as he stepped forward with his alien weapon.

“Prepare for the smell,” I warned, and the other men started to wander further up the road with their noses covered.

The youngest brother got to work, and the dead dino lit up before it started to dissolve into a monstrous pile of dark goop.

I still hadn’t gotten used to the stench, and I groaned as the putrid odor stung my nostrils. I looked down the road and saw some of the villagers had snuck out to investigate.

They started to run when they saw what Sun-hee was doing, and the crowd rushed over for a better view before they started to cough from the smell.

Kwan strode over and said something to them that only made their eyes widen more as they stared at the disappearing carnotaurus.

The heat from the sun seemed to make the smell worse, and I was sure it hadn’t been as strong when we did this in Ravenscar.

A few of the locals bravely pulled their shirts over their noses and started to get to work with the collapsed wall and rubble. Someone brought over a wheelbarrow, and they threw broken stone and wood inside.

“Sorry about the wall,” I said to the young woman I’d spoken to earlier. “I wish we had managed to kill it outside the village.”

“It is small price to pay.” The girl shrugged. “Is this weapon from America?”

“Not exactly,” I said as I wiped sweat from my forehead. “But it is, uh, foreign, I guess.”

The young woman gave me a puzzled look and then strode over to Sun-hee as he finished up his work.

The villagers all seemed grateful the dino had been killed, and there was no grumbling or arguments about the wall or destroyed houses.

“We will head back to the truck,” Kwan said as he made his way over to me. “You have the people’s gratitude for helping take down that thing.”

He looked over at the melted pile of goop and scratched his scar covered neck.

“They don’t need help?” I asked as I glanced at the broken wall. “I could stay and help build if they need. I’m no construction worker, but I can haul bricks around.”

“They will fix it in no time,” Kwan said with a wave of his hand. “They are skilled people.”

I looked down at the mess and felt bad for leaving, but I had to admit they were fast workers. Three more wheelbarrows appeared, and a man sat on the ground as he mixed a thick, gray liquid in a pot. He used a wooden tool to slather the concoction onto the broken wall, and two younger guys started to pile stones back into place on top.

Kwan said something in Korean to one of his men, and they started to jog back to the truck.

I was still on edge as I swung my gun onto my back, and I was eager to get back to the girls even though I knew they would be safe underground.

“That was an eventful run,” Tae sighed as the truck pulled up beside us. “I like the ones when we just come here and back without any visitors.”

“How often does that happen?” I asked as we started to pile back into the vehicle.

“Basically never,” Sun-hee replied.

We said goodbye to the locals and left them to hurriedly reshape the wall and haul away the rubble of the destroyed houses. I glanced over at the temple to see the two guards had returned to their posts, and the sun shone down on the colourful building while the light radiated off from the Buddha statue.

I ran a hand through my hair as we sped back through the gate, which was held open by the woman in the red dress.

“I saw you talking to her, Sun-hee,” I said as she closed the gate behind us. “Is she a friend?”

I turned around as the back of the truck erupted into laughter, and Tae nudged his younger brother, who’d turned pink.

Despite the dangers we’d faced on the trip, at least I felt closer to Hae-won’s family. I knew how important her brothers were to her, and I was glad to finally feel comfortable enough to joke around. It even seemed Kwan had warmed up to me after slaying some dinos together, and I hoped we could soon have a real talk about everything that had happened with Adhara soon.

“So,” Kwan said as the breeze cooled down my face. “Tell me more about these other women you are also sleeping with.”

Shit.