Dinosaur World Chapter 3

“Hey,” I said after I ran over to Kat, and the beautiful soldier spun around from where she was showing the group how to brace the bottom of a rifle against a ledge. “We’ve got company. I think we should get rid of the three dinos outside, and try to keep up the crowd control of the herd before these fuckers take over.”

“Aw, man,” Mikey sighed as he lowered his own rifle. “I didn’t get to shoot it.”

“You will,” I said. “But right now, we need to make sure Raven Hall stays safe. The lesson will reconvene later on.”

“We should lead them away from the castle,” Becka said. “We’ve managed to keep the grounds corpse free so far, and I think we should try and stick to that.”

“We can lead them away.” Hae-won nodded. “Kill them out on the road somewhere.”

“Training will resume when we get back,” Kat announced to the locals, and they flinched as a loud roar shook the chandelier above.

“Dad!” Joey shouted, and the small boy ran into the dining hall, raced over to Harris, and flung his little arms around his father’s legs.

“Hey, Joey,” I said in a gentle tone. “Don’t worry, buddy, we’re going to go and take care of those dinosaurs, okay?”

The red-haired boy sniffled and nodded as his Dad stroked his head.

“Since you know all the kinds of dinos,” Hae-won added. “Do you think you could help us figure out which dino has a big triangle on its back and stands up like a t-rex?”

“Concavenator,” Joey sniffed. “They’re not super big but they eat meat, so you need to be careful.”

“I knew you would have the answer.” Hae-won smiled sweetly. “We couldn’t do this without your help, you know.”

“Be careful!” Joey said, and he suddenly grabbed Hae-won’s legs in a tight hug.

The Korean chuckled lightly as she patted Joey’s shoulder, and I noticed Becka’s brow crinkling from the cuteness. She seemed to be doing her best not to say anything since her mom was within earshot, but when the blonde Brit caught me watching her, her big brown eyes practically shimmered with sappy adoration.

Fuck, she was cute as hell about kids.

I fought against a smirk and failed miserably, but by the time the boy ran back to his Dad, I looked mostly stoic.

“Thank you,” Harris said. “All of you, for continuing to protect our little community.”

“Of course.” I nodded and cleared my throat. “Okay, guys, let’s go get our motorcycles.”

“Do you need this?” Debbie asked as she rushed forward with her Glock from training. “Have you got enough bullets? Becka, where is your hat?”

“What hat?” Becka asked as she waved her arms in the air, and we started to walk to the lobby.

“Do you not have a wooly hat?” Debbie asked. “It’s bloody freezing in Ravenscar, you need a hat.”

“I do not need a hat,” Becka retorted and fluffed her blonde hair.

“You’ll wish you had one when you your ears are bright red and--”

“Oh, my god,” Becka sighed. “Mum, I love you, but please shut up about the fucking hat. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Be careful,” Debbie said, and she grabbed her daughter’s arm to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “And you lot, too! I want you all home for a strong bevvy soon, agreed? Jason, keep those gorgeous girls safe.”

“I always do.” I smiled. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

“Good man,” Becka’s mum said with a nod.

I led the girls out of the dining hall and toward the pantry, and the group behind us chattered quietly as we left. Then another roar rang out over the castle, and silence fell in the dining hall.

The side staff door into the castle had become our go to for moving in and out of Raven Hall because it led straight to the hiding spot for our vehicles. It was also mostly out of view of the herd that liked to lurk around the main entrance, and after we made our way through the grand lobby, we hurried into the small pantry that we had become so familiar with.

“We should think about moving the bikes indoors,” Kat said as I helped her move the freezer that blocked the door. “That clump of trees can only shield them for so long, but I don’t think the Jeep will fit. I might have to scout out a new hiding spot for it.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “There’s more than enough room to keep the bikes indoors, but we can figure that out when we get back.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Hae-won asked as she swung her rifle to her front.

“There’s three of them for now,” I said and pressed my ear against the door. “It sounds like the spino is still on the other side of the castle. Like Becka said, we need to get them down the hill and away from the castle before we kill them.”

“Classic dino killing operation.” The Korean beauty offered an adorably curt nod. “I can do that.”

“I know you can,” I chuckled.

“How is everyone on ammo?” Kat asked. “I’ve still got some in the Jeep if anyone is running low, but there’s plenty upstairs if you want to stock up now.”

I checked my rifle and made sure I had a full magazine and grenade ready to go on the attachment.

“Ready to roll,” I confirmed.

“Me too,” Hae-won agreed.

“I’m good to go,” Becka said with a shrug. “I take it you’re thinking of using the grenades on the spino?”

“Yeah.” I smirked. “We’ve dealt with these guys before, and they may be tough as hell, but grenades haven’t failed us yet. Plus, I’m still pissed at the last one for cutting your leg, so I’ll feel better if I blow this asshole to a pulp.”

“When in doubt, blow them the fuck up.” Kat sent me a lopsided grin. “Americans…”

“Hey, if you have any tea, I’ll also throw it in the bay,” I laughed and winked at the pretty soldier.

“The raptor could be killed with the rifles,” Hae-won pointed out. “Maybe the other one, too, judging by his size.”

“Unless he has super tough skin,” Becka countered. “At this point, I wouldn’t be shocked if they had started to wear armour too. We might open the door to a raptor with a machine gun.”

Hae-won snickered, and I tried to put the idea of weapon wielding dinos out of my head.

Listening to my gorgeous girlfriends casually talk shop about dino-slaying did help, though.

I could hear the footsteps of the spinosaurus echo around the courtyard, but it sounded like it was still on the other side of the castle. The raptor would be much quieter, so it was impossible to know its whereabouts until we opened the door. As for the new dino that Joey helped us identify, I had no idea what to expect, and I could only hope it was slower than its fellow herd members.

“Which way should we lead them?” Hae-won asked. “Down towards the road? Or down near the cliff on the other side?”

“The cover of the trees down by the road is always helpful,” I said. “On the other hand, if we go down the back of the hill, there’s a lot more open space.”

“That could be good for the grenades.” Kat propped her hands on her hips. “But I think the front is a better idea, too. There are the farmhouses that we can use as cover.”

“We’ll need to separate the herd,” I added. “They’re communicating way too much at this point, we can’t risk some kind of planned attack.”

“The spino will be the hardest to take down.” Hae-won pursed her lips in thought. “If we can kill the smaller ones with the rifles first, then maybe we can all work on the spino together.”

“We have no idea what the new one is capable of, though,” I said. “We need to be careful not to underestimate any of them because of size.”

“Small creatures can be just as deadly,” Becka said as she nudged Hae-won, and the Korean giggled.

“So, we separate them.” Kat nodded. “Use our Glocks while driving to injure the smaller ones, then take them out with rifles when it’s safe to stop.”

“The word safe might be a stretch,” Becka snorted. “But yeah, that sounds good.”

“The Glocks won’t do much to the spinosaurus,” I clarified.

“You just want to kill the spino yourself,” Hae-won said with a smirk.

“Hey, as long as one of us can get a good shot with the grenade, that’s all we need,” I reasoned. “We can’t exactly delegate who is going to end up with each dino, but… I do want dibs on the spino if possible.”

“Are you really this salty about the leg injury?” Becka asked.

“Yep.” I nodded without remorse. “I’ve got a spino grudge from here on out. Look at your leg. It’s still bandaged.”

“Yeah, and I am walking fine, Jason,” the blonde Brit sighed.

“I’m still mad,” I chuckled. “No one hurts my women. Fucking dinos…”

“Well, just so long as you remember we don’t aim to kill until they’re at least down at the road,” Kat said. “I mean, unless you’re about to have your head bitten off. Then I would advise you to aim to kill.”

There was a sudden sound of gravel being kicked on the other side of the door, and the thump of what I guessed was a tail against the wall.

Our eyes all widened, and we stayed silent as we stood next to the door.

Then I slowly leaned my ear back against the door to listen, and another crunch of gravel immediately followed. My pulse quickened when the noise out there abruptly stopped again, and I realized the dino must be waiting for us.

“Raptor sounds like it's right outside,” I said quieter than a whisper. “This is a good chance to injure it at close range. That will take some heat off us during the ride downhill.”

“It could be the other dino,” Hae-won pointed out. “Whoever it is, we should aim for the stomach. That’s a good spot to injure it badly, but it won’t die right away on our doorstep.”

“The noise is going to alert the others,” I whispered. “We need to be ready to run the second I fire, okay?”

The girls all nodded and gripped their rifles up high as I reached for the door handle.

Kat held up her hand to count down from three, and when she put her last finger down, I swung the door open to see a velociraptor staring right at me.

It looked like it had been through the wars already and had a giant, half-healed scar across its jaw. It’s swamp-colored scales were dull and caked in dirt, and its long claws were embedded in the gravel as it stared at us.We were so close that I could smell the stench of its breath, and the stank of rotten meat and decay brought an involuntary gag out of me.

My heart leapt into my throat at being so close to the beast, and a cold bead of sweat ran down my neck as its yellow eyes fixed on me.

Then the raptor dug its massive talons into the gravel as it lunged forward, and I fired two shots right into its stomach mid-jump. It screeched and crashed down against the doorframe, and as soon as it flailed sideways with blood oozing from its scaly gut, I moved aside for the girls.

“Go!” I hissed.

We dove out onto the gravel, slammed the door shut, and sprinted around the flailing beast as we made our way to the low stone wall. I jumped over the brick work right behind my three girls, and then I glanced back at the raptor as we reached the clump of trees that hid our vehicles.

The rumble of the spinosaurus’ footsteps echoed around the hillside as the huge dino started to make its way around the castle to investigate the noise.

“Where’s the other one?” Becka hissed as she jumped on her bike. “The triangle back thingy?”

“Concavenator,” I said as I mounted my bike, and the raptor started to wriggle back onto its feet. “I can’t see it from here.”

“To the woodlands,” Kat said. “Go.”

We all turned on our engines and immediately swerved around to race down the hillside toward the road, and the spinosaurus spotted us the moment we came into view. It let out an ear-shattering roar as it hurtled over the hillside toward us, but we were already speeding down the hill before it reached the clump of trees. The lumbering bastard stumbled as it tried to quickly change its direction, and I smirked in anticipation of blowing him to smithereens.

Just had to get my timing right.

I did a double take when I saw the crashed spaceship on the hillside to my left, and I was suddenly reminded we had an alien in our care. Despite how hostile she seemed, I couldn’t help hoping the dinos would steer clear of her craft during this chase, but right now, I had bigger things to worry about.

The wind howled in my face as we descended down the hillside, and there was a distant rumble of thunder over the water. Gray clouds gathered threateningly above us, and the cold stung my hands as I gripped the handlebars. The ground shook from the weight of the huge dino hurtling after us, and I looked in my side mirror to see the raptor had joined in the chase.

The smaller dino limped as it trotted along, and blood poured from its wounded stomach, but it kept up a relatively fast pace as it trailed behind its larger herd member.

“I reckon we could get the raptor down with a Glock!” I shouted. “Becka and Kat, can you guys handle that?”

“Sure thing!” Becka hollered from the Jeep as her blonde hair danced around her face. “We’ll veer off to the right, and if you guys keep heading down, we can lead him to the woods.”

“Sounds good!” I yelled back.

My bike shook with each massive step the spinosaurus took, and I still couldn’t see any sign of the concavenator.

Kat and Becka swerved away from us a moment later, but then I saw the spinosaurus turn its head to follow them.

“Shit,” I growled, and I raised my voice above the thundering footsteps. “Hey, fucker! Get your scaly ass over here!”

I swerved slightly to draw more attention to myself, and the huge dino turned back toward me and Hae-won. It slowed down ever so slightly as it considered its options, but then a strange rumbling sound echoed behind it, and the concavenator galloped out from behind the castle.

Even though it was slightly smaller than the spino, the sight of its parted jaws still sent a jolt of shock through me, and it roared just as loud as the beast we already had tailing us.

“Oh, fuck!” I yelled as the new dino lumbered down the hillside straight toward us.

The spinosaurus clearly decided that a hunting partner would help, and now, both dinos ran after me and Hae-won as the raptor started to chase the other girls in the Jeep.

“Shiiit,” I growled, and the grassy ground shuddered under me as we tore down the hill and finally reached the road.

“Jason, we’ve got two!” Hae-won yelled.

“I see them!” I hollered.

The spinosaurus roared as the concavenator caught up to it, and I glanced in my mirror to see that they had started to separate. The smaller dino was faster than the spino, and I watched in horror as it galloped forward and let it’s buddy slow down.

“What the fuck?” I gasped.

“What are they doing?” Hae-won shrieked as the concavenator made a semi-circle around the field to our left, and then it started to overtake us.

“They’re fucking surrounding us!” I yelled back. “They’re playing us at our own game, holy shit! One behind and one in front.”

“Jason, what do we do?” Hae-won asked, and I hated to hear the fear in her voice this time around.

“Give me a minute!” I hollered.

Then I heard a gunshot behind us, and I hoped it might tempt one of the two huge dinos away, but they didn’t even flinch as they continued closing in on us.

Sweat dripped down my neck despite the chill in the air, and I looked at the fields beside us to try and figure out some kind of escape plan. I had a feeling that as soon as the concavenator was ahead of us, it would jump onto the road and block our path, but the woods to our right might hinder the dinos momentarily with the dense trees. There was no way we could maneuver our bikes through fast enough, though. The huge fields that ran alongside the road had some houses scattered through them. In one of the fields further back, there was a farmhouse that had a barn. The road we were on would eventually lead to the Ravenscar town, but I was sure we would find a way to lose the fuckers before we reached it.

“Jason!” Hae-won yelled as the cement below our bikes shook. “They’re catching up with us!”

The concavenator had almost overtaken us on our left, and I knew it would jump into our path any second.

“We’re going to swerve into the fields,” I yelled. “The second it jumps on the road, okay?”

Hae-won didn’t have time to answer as the green dino roared and took a huge leap, and it landed agilely right in front of our bikes.

“Now!” I shouted, and we turned so sharply to the left that the spinosaurus behind us didn’t have time to slow down or change direction.

The huge beast roared as it smashed into its smaller herd member, and both dinos toppled onto the road with a thud that shook the whole hillside.

I knew we might not get another chance to have both dinos so vulnerable, and I skidded to a halt next to the little cottage as I grabbed my rifle from my back.

Hae-won stopped beside me, and she didn’t miss a beat as she swung her weapon around as well.

I took aim at the pile of overturned dinos and shot the smaller one right in the jugular, and Hae-won got its leg.

The beast cried out as blood quickly started to seep out onto the concrete below, and the injury slowed down its struggle to stand back up.

I was too close to use a grenade on the spinosaurus, but I aimed at its head, and my gunshot echoed out over the treetops as a bullet wedged right below the ear canal. The skin of the dino was so thick on its skull that I didn’t even see any blood, but it roared and swung its head around as if it was trying to dislodge the bullet.

“Jason, it’s getting back up!” Hae-won said.

The spinosaurus flung its herd member off, and the smaller dino crashed into the tree trunks at the side of the road. It didn’t look like the concavenator was going to make it, and it lay on its back as it twitched slowly.

There was another gunshot behind us, and the spinosaurus managed to haul itself back onto its front before it started to use its powerful back legs to push itself upright.

“Go!” I yelled, and we turned our bikes to keep riding along the fields.

I heard an engine behind us, and I glanced in my mirror to see Kat and Becka speeding along in the Jeep to join us. The green fields stretched out in front of us, and if we kept going straight, we would eventually end up in the Ravenscar town.

I didn’t think the chase would last that long, but I didn’t want any attention being drawn to that part of Ravenscar if we could help it.

The spinosaurus had finally managed to stand up, and it was already chasing after us again, but the pace was considerably slower than before.

“We need to kill it,” I yelled to Hae-won. “It’s slowed down at least.”

“I think your shot disorientated it,” Hae-won said, and I glanced in my mirror to see the dino sway slightly as it ran.

“Kat and Becka are going to catch up with us,” I shouted. “If we change direction suddenly, I think it will confuse it. It looks like its balance is fucked.”

“But if we turn around we’ll drive right into it,” Hae-won yelled.

“It’s on the road,” I replied. “If we drive up into the fields, we can get around it. It’s reflexes are slow as hell, we can make it.”

“That’s going to be really close,” Hae-won said. “But if we do it quickly enough, I think we can make it.”

“Okay!” I nodded. “Let’s turn back, meet the others, and maybe we will have time to get our grenades set up.”

“Just say when,” Hae-won shouted, and she leaned forward on her motorcycle in preparation for our daredevil change of direction.

“Now!” I yelled, and we both swerved our vehicles around, and raced up to the left and into the open fields beside the road. I held my breath as we sped passed the dinosaur, and half-expected it to lunge right on top of us, or whip its massive tail into our bikes.

But we sped over the grass and passed the spinosaurus, and the huge, disoriented dino took a moment to realize what had happened. We managed to get a good head start before it whipped around to follow us, and we were headed for the cliffside once more.

“Hey,” Becka called as the girls neared us in the Jeep. “What’s the plan?”

“Turn around,” I replied. “I’ve injured its head, but we need to blow this bastard up.”

Kat swung her Jeep around, and we were all headed in the same direction away from the dino. I glanced in my mirror to see if there was time to shoot a grenade, but the creature had picked up its pace, and there was too high of a risk that it would catch us if we stopped.

“Kat!” I yelled. “If you get set up near the farmhouse with your grenade, we can keep it busy and then lead it over!”

“Sure,” the curly-haired soldier replied as she glanced up the hill. “I’ll pull into the barn, if you can slow it down more then I’ll have a better chance, it's still going really fast.”

“Okay,” I said. “With three of us, I reckon I can get another shot in with my rifle. Hae-won, you need to keep it occupied so I can stop my bike as it passes.”

“Lead it to me when you’ve slowed it down,” Kat yelled, and then the soldier took a sharp right and started to drive to the large farm house.

I checked my mirror to make sure the beast was still after the bikes, and then I looked at the woodland to our left.

“I’m going to set up amongst the trees,” I yelled. “I can get a good hiding spot, Hae-won, can you lead it in a circle back to me?”

“You got it,” the Korean hollered. “Dino delivery service coming up.”

“I’ll use my glock when you hide,” Hae-won said. “So the gunshot distracts it from you.”

“Okay,” I said, and I readied myself to turn left as the spinosaurus thundered behind us.

“Ready?” Hae-won asked as she pulled her Glock from her waist. “Go, Jason!”

The Korean threw her arm back and took a shot, but I didn’t hang around to see if she hit the dino, I just swerved into the cover of the trees as the creature roared.

Our plan worked, and the spino galloped right past me as I bent down low on my bike in the shadows. It didn’t seem that Hae-won’s shot had done anything other than irritate the creature more, so I quickly swung my rifle around to prepare for the next step.

I looked uphill, and Kat had already disappeared into the darkness of the large barn. There was another rumble of thunder, which sounded closer than the last, and I just hoped the storm would hold off until we managed to kill our prey. Spinosauruses were tough to take down, and I knew that doing it in torrential rain would be even worse.

I kept an eye out for any movements amongst the shadows in the woods, since I knew there could be smaller dinos lurking, and I still didn’t know where the rest of the raptors had gone.

Hae-won sped along with the spinosaurus in tow, and I held my rifle up to my chest ready to cause as much damage as possible. The raven-haired beauty swerved her bike around, and the spinosaurus let out a deep grumble as if it was sick of the new tactic we had been using. As Hae-won sped toward me, she drove near to the road so that the dino would be in close range for me.

Then Hae-won’s bike roared past, and a few seconds later, the huge spino lumbered right past my hiding spot.

I pulled the trigger and shot a bullet straight into the spinosaurus’s neck, and then another one right into its side. My third one knicked its bottom jaw while it flailed a bit, but after one more shot into its hip, I was satisfied. As the huge creature came to a halt and wobbled, I swung my rifle back over my shoulder and sped out to join Hae-won as she slowed down just enough to make sure I got away alright.

Blood spurted down the body of the spinosaurus, and as I sped passed the huge, flailing tail, the dino roared and fought to steady itself.

“That was close,” Hae-won yelled as the two of us drove onward together.

“I got a good hit on him!” I called back.

“Definitely, he’s slowing down!” Hae-won told me. “But still, go faster, I feel like a moving snack.”

“Like those sushi conveyor belts.” I grinned, and the Korean rolled her eyes with a smile.

I tore through the fields beside Hae-won and glanced in my mirror to see the spino stumbling after us. The few bullets had done a serious amount of damage, but he was still strong enough to fuck us up if he caught up.

As we reached the farmhouse, Kat stood with her grenade launcher positioned on her shoulder, ready to shoot as soon as I cleared the path. The curly-haired soldier looked like an utter badass as her steel expression was fixed on the lumbering dino. She stood poised and ready with Becka beside her and holding a spare grenade just in case, and I felt a rush of pride for my girls working together so seamlessly.

“Kill the bastard,” I chuckled as I pulled to a stop beside Hae-won.

Then I turned to see the spinosaurus drag itself toward the barn, but it didn’t stand a chance.

Kat took her shot, and the grenade flew right into the dino’s belly. There was an explosion of guts and blood along with a dying dino shriek, and I couldn’t help chuckling as limbs and shredded remains rained down onto the emerald fields.

“Hell yeah!” I laughed as relief swept over me. “Nice shot, Corporal.”

“Another dino blown to bits,” Becka said. “It really is satisfying watching them go pop.”

“Even if I didn't pull the trigger,” I agreed with a nod. “That was fantastic.”

“You got a few revenge shots in,” Becka pointed out.

“Yeah…” I sighed. “That did feel good.”

“Let’s hope that’s the last of the herd for a while,” Hae-won said as we stared out at the bloody, open fields.

“At least for a while.” I shrugged. “Let’s get back to the castle before the storm kicks up.”

“Yeah, it’s going to piss it down soon,” Becka said, “but I’m riding with Jason!”

“You are?” I grinned.

“Yeah, I miss being on a bike, you lot all get to have the fun these days,” the blonde Brit sighed.

Then she climbed onto the bike behind me, snuggled her thighs tight around mine, and left a kiss on my shoulder once her arms were wrapped around my waist.

I gave the pile of bone and guts one last look before we sped out of the barn, and we started to make our way back up the hillside to Raven Hall.

The castle looked dramatic with the stormy sky above, and the waves crashed loudly onto the cliffs as we drove. There weren’t any more dinos in the grounds when I did a last scanning sweep of the area, and I hoped we could at least have a couple of days before any more of them realized there were humans in the old building.

For now, we’d managed to clear the area of two dinos larger than twenty feet, and a rogue raptor who could’ve summoned more of his little buddies to join him at any time.

I’d take any win that came our way these days.

My rush of adrenaline from the fight dampened when I drove past the alien craft, though. It was still wedged into the dirt, and I wondered how long it would remain intact out there. We needed to get answers fast, but I still had no clue if the alien could even understand us. If we couldn’t speak with her, we couldn’t figure out if she was a danger to keep around.

Then there was the looming sense I had that an army of military planes could storm the castle at any moment. Shit was crazy enough these days without having to worry about that, and if Men in Black did turn up to take the alien away, would we be able to hide her with a giant spacecraft sitting out front?

And where would we hide her?

“So, what’s the plan with the motorbikes?” Becka asked over my shoulder, and I snapped out of my spiraling thoughts. “Are you going to take them inside?”

“I think that might be a good idea.” I nodded as we reached the entrance to the courtyard. “The Jeep might have to stay outside though, Kat, I don’t think it will fit in any of the doors.”

“Yeah,” the soldier said out the window of her Jeep. “I’m going to get parked up at the usual spot, it’s as sheltered as it can be. Although, I will personally rip the head of any dino that fucks with my Jeep.”

“We can store the bikes in the hall by the pantry,” I said to Hae-won. “Kat, make sure you take everything from the storage box, just in case.”

The pretty soldier nodded through the open window, and then she drove around the perimeter of the low stone wall to go and hide her car. Hae-won and I headed through the front entrance and over the gravel to the staff door, and the small stones flew everywhere under our tires.

Right as we were arriving, the clouds above us opened up, and heavy rain began to fall down over the countryside.

“Good timing,” I laughed as we reached the door, and Hae-won jumped off her bike to push open the entrance.

I swung my legs off my motorcycle, and we started to maneuver our bikes inside.

Kat ran over the gravel as the rain poured down, and she was struggling to hold a pile of new from the Jeep. Becka jumped to help her out and then the two girls quickly rejoined us near the entrance.

The doorway was wide enough for us to get our bikes through without much problem, and Kat closed the door as we pushed them through the pantry and into the lobby. Rain fell down from my hair into my face, and I shook my head which sprayed rainwater at Becka.

“Oi,” the blonde said as I leaned my motorcycle against the wall. “My hair’s going to be all frizzy now.”

“Good thing we’re in a fancy hotel.” Hae-won grinned. “The luxury of hair dryers is right at our fingertips.”

“Well that woke me up,” I breathed as sweat and rain dripped down my back. “Good work team. Another three of those fuckers down.”

“They’re just going to keep coming, aren’t they?” Becka sighed. “They can tell that we’re in here. It must have been published in the dino newsletter.”

“Do you think it's the smell?” Kat asked. “Why do they keep coming?”

“I think it’s likely the scent is how it started,” I said. “But you could be onto something with the newsletter, Becka. They clearly talk to each other, and I swear it’s like someone calls the others to come and join them outside.”

“We need to toughen up the security here,” Kat sighed. “I mean, the building itself can’t get much sturdier, but we could set up some shooting points.”

“What about the roof?” I asked. “Is there a way to get up there?”

“There is.” Becka nodded. “But I don’t know if it’s a good idea to set up there, it’s completely exposed. What might work is the attic. The whole top floor has a bunch of small windows. Then we’d have enough room to aim and fire from, but no flying dinos could fit through to get at us.”

“Perfect.” I grinned. “Hey, how about we finally bring that machine gun out to play, Kat?”

“I think that sounds like a plan,” Kat laughed. “Let’s get to it.”

“Becka!” Debbie gasped, and the blonde woman hurried over to us from the dining hall. Then she threw her arms around her daughter and kissed her on the cheek. “Fucking finally, I was starting worry when I heard that explosion out there. You might have blown your fingers right off.”

“I’m fine, Mum.” Becka smiled. “Don’t you go worrying about me every time we go out, okay?”

“Pfft,” Debbie said as she winked at me. “It’s my job to worry about you. So, that’s three more dinos down?”

“Sure is.” I nodded. “But there’s probably plenty more where they came from, so we’re going to set up a shooting spot from the attic windows.”

“What about the lessons?” Debbie asked. “Are we still going to be learning to shoot as well?”

“Of course,” Kat said. “We’ll go again tomorrow. First thing in the morning.”

“What if you need to go on another hunt?” Debbie asked.

“Then we can handle it while Kat stays and teaches you guys,” I said. “We need to get you trained up as soon as we can.

“Okay.” Debbie nodded. “I’ll let the others know. As for right now, you lot need some grub. You’ve got to make sure you’re eating right when you spend all day fighting those big bastards.”

“Food actually sounds awesome,” Kat said with a lopsided grin.

“You lot go and sit down then,” Debbie insisted. “ I’ll get some folks to rustle something up.”

“We can help,” Hae-won offered, but Debbie waved a hand and tutted at the suggestion.

“Sit your arses down!” the blonde woman ordered. “You’ve already done more than enough. The least we can do is rustle up something tasty for you.”

“The service here is great.” I grinned as the older woman hurried off to the kitchen, and she grabbed Gerald along the way.

Then the Raven Hall worker trotted alongside the blonde, and I could already hear Debbie instructing him on what to make.

“I bloody love her.” Becka smiled as we made our way over to the dining hall. “My family spits out fantastic women.”

“Too bad you’re set on having all boys,” Hae-won chuckled.

“Eh.” The blonde Brit shrugged. “They’ll be even more impressive. Jason’s got stellar man-genes.”

My stomach rumbled while I followed the giggling women, and I had to acknowledge, I’d worked up quite an appetite already today. With so much going on with the herd and our new alien resident, as well as our new human community, I’d have to remind myself to keep track of my own needs.

That is, the needs that didn’t involve the three gorgeous women I could hardly resist. I had a feeling my needs in that department would be amply met from here on out without me having to say a damn word.

In the dining hall, there was a group of the locals who already had tables and chairs set up. There were some half drunk cups of tea and used plates lying around, too, and a few people came up to thank us for our work this afternoon as we sat down at one of the tables.

Kat kept her stock of guns piled on the table near her while we chatted with some of the group for a bit, but Gerald eventually rushed in with a tray of soup and bread for us. He handed out the steaming bowls, and he gave us each a generous helping of bread on the side.

“It’s not much,” the dark-haired man said. “But the soup is homemade, it’s minestrone. You have my thanks for protecting the Hall, and all of us, of course.”

“It smells incredible,” I said. “Thanks, Gerald.”

The raven Hall worker nodded a few times, and then he hurried back out into the lobby with his tray clutched in his hand.

We barely spoke as we dove into the cozy meal of warm soup and soft, seeded bread, but all my girls smiled every few bites, and I did, too. This was exactly what I needed after blasting dino guts everywhere, and getting to share a peaceful mean with all my women felt like a godsend in times like this.

“The man can cook.” Kat grinned as she wiped soup from her lips with a cloth napkin. “I’ve had some morbid meals in my time. Some of those military rations were bleak.”

“I can imagine,” I chuckled. “All vacuum packed and beige?”

“Beige if you were lucky,” the pretty soldier laughed. “A lot of brown, unidentifiable meat in tins. This is basically dinner for royalty as far as I’m concerned.”

“Good thing Mum didn’t pick a shitty bed and breakfast to stay in,” Becka said. “A castle turned hotel was the right choice.”

Once we had cleaned our bowls and sponged up every last drop of soup with the fresh-baked bread, we spent some time at the table just talking. Debbie appeared with a pot of tea for us and poured it out into white china cups. A few locals came over and asked questions about the dino fight, and how exactly we managed to kill the herd without injuring ourselves, and by the time we finished detailing a few of our more recent escapades from our journey, Debbie came to collect our cups. We must have spent well over an hour getting to know the group we’d be living with through the apocalypse, but then Becka’s mum shooed them all away to give us some space.

“We should get moving with the attic set up,” I said as I drained the last of my tea. “It’s getting late, and that soup made me want to fall asleep.”

“What did we do to deserve you lot,” Debbie sighed and squeezed Becka’s hand.

“Oh, you know,” the blonde Brit sighed as she helped Kat gather her guns from the table. “Just birthed me into this world and let me run rampant until I needed rescuing by a handsome American.”

“Did I do all that?” Debbie laughed.

“Yeah, you made all the right decisions,” Hae-won snickered.

I grinned and shook my head as I led the girls back out to the hallway. There were a group of locals chatting at the bottom of the stairs, and Harris gave us a wave as we passed. Then I saw Joey peer out from behind his father’s legs and give Hae-won an excited wave, but when he saw the motorcycles near the wall, and his jaw unhinged.

I sent him a thumbs up as we made our way to the wide staircase, and then we headed up to the first floor. Kat opened the door to our storage room, and we all followed in so she and Becka could drop off the extra guns.

“These will finally come in handy,” Hae-won gasped as she grabbed the night vision goggles and held them up to her face.

“That’s true.” Kat grinned and hefted a rifle onto the bed. “We can have people stationed up there at night with those.”

“We should make some kind of lookout schedule,” I decided. “That way, we can keep an eye on the herd situation, and if it starts to get too big, we can take them out.”

“I thought we didn’t want to kill them on the grounds,” Becka said as she strolled over to the window and pulled back the curtain. “If we gun them down from the windows and leave them all outside, that will only attract others, right?”

“I guess it can be a last resort,” I said. “If there’s too many of them to lead away, or if they suddenly start to attack the castle, then we can open fire on their asses from the attic station.”

“Let's grab the L7A2,” Kat said thoughtfully.

“Of course,” Becka sighed and crossed her arms. “Where would we be without the trusty L7…whatever you said.”

“The machine gun.” Kat grinned. “And I’ll thank you to watch that attitude, missy. You won’t be taking the piss when I give you a shot at it.”

“Yes ma'am,” Becka said, and she saluted with a small stomp of her foot.

Kat rolled her eyes, and her hand hovered over the other weapons as she thought about the options for a moment.

“We’ll need a couple of rifles, too,” the soldier decided. “Jason, can you grab that blue box of ammo and the red one, too, please? That will do for a little look out station.”

“And the goggles,” Hae-won added as she clutched the night vision equipment close. “I like them.”

“Yes, and the goggles.” Kat smiled at the Korean. “I get the feeling you’ll want to do a night shift?”

“Oh, yeah,” the Korean chuckled, and we made our way back out onto the hallway.

We walked up to the second floor, and then Becka led us down the hallway to a much smaller staircase which was behind a wooden door.

“And the next stop on the tour,” Becka said in a lofty tone. “Is a creepy ass attic that probably has shit loads of spiderwebs in it.”

“That’s okay,” Kat said as she took the lead. “Spiders are nice.”

“Pardon?” Becka snorted. “Where were you when thousands of them were raining down from the sky.”

“Okay, you guys need to tell me this story soon,” Kat laughed. “You keep mentioning spiders, and I get the feeling this was almost as bizarre as dinos roaming the Earth.”

“Yeah, because it was,” the blonde Brit assured her.

I smirked while I shifted the boxes of ammo in my arms, and I followed behind the girls and up into the dark attic.

There were several small windows around the walls, but with the stormy sky so dim and gray outside, they didn’t provide much light. The space was huge, and seemed to cover most of the hotel footage, and I discarded my boxes to run my hand along the wall until I eventually found the lightswitch.

The bulbs were dull and probably needed to be changed, but they lit up the space well enough for us to see piles of storage boxes and some old chairs stacked in the middle of the room.

I walked over to one of the front-facing windows and looked out at the dark countryside as the rain hammered on the glass.

“We can have different points at the front and back,” I said. “This is great, we’ve got a full view of the hillside from up here.”

“This place just keeps proving to be useful.” Hae-won smiled as she strolled around the space and stared up at the wooden-beamed ceiling. “Your mum made the right choice, Becka.”

“Ten points to Debbie.” Becka grinned. “I especially love our new bed, and I’m feeling like we should make use of it real soon.”

The blonde strolled over as she spoke and pressed herself up against me. She ran her hands down my chest as she pouted up at me, and I groaned softly as her hand gently touched my crotch through the denim of my pants. Then she winked and strolled over to the stairs, and she sent a coy glance over her shoulder as she went.

“Yeah… let’s get going,” I decided. “It’s been too long since I got to touch your beautiful bodies, and I need to thank you for being such badasses. Besides, it’s getting late, and I don’t have the energy to set this up properly today.”

“You’ll get some thanks, too,” Hae-won purred as she stared up at me with her electric-blue eyes. “We’re feeling very grateful, Jason.”

“Sooo grateful,” Becka giggled near the stairwell.

“Yeah, I say we go now.” Kat agreed at once. “We can set this all up tomorrow, and we all deserve a little relaxation time after that dino killing spree. We’re picking the training back up tomorrow, anyway.”

The pretty soldier hurriedly laid the guns out next to the front-facing window and then rushed over to join us at the top of the stairs.

I glanced outside at the darkening sky, and I tried to slow my pulse as I thought about the long night ahead with my three beauties.

“We’ll need to visit that lush miss alien, too,” Becka reminded us. “If she hasn’t used mind powers to zap herself back into space, that is.”

“Yeah… the alien,” I said with a nod, but my mind was struggling to remember my duties and not think of only my three lovers naked in bed. “We should definitely check on her.”

“Fine,” Kat sighed. “But then it’s play time.”

I bit my lip as the three stunning girls started to make their way downstairs, and it took all my self control not to rush them straight to our bedroom. Maybe it was the impending doom of apocalypse living, or maybe it was the sheer badassery of daily dino-slaying, but lately, every opportunity to embrace the beautiful women around me felt like a top priority. I didn’t want to miss a single orgasm this life had to offer, and with three women around, there was just an outstanding number of orgasms to be had.

In our new castle suite.

The girls must have been able to tell how flustered I was as we headed along the corridor, because they giggled as they strode ahead hand-in-hand so I could get the perfect view. All their hips seemed to be swaying more than usual, too, and Hae-won made a point of running her fingers down Kat’s back very slowly so the pretty soldier would shiver.

“You guys are killing me,” I groaned.

When we reached the alien’s door, I finally dragged my eyes off my girlfriends to see there was a tray on the floor piled high with pasta, vegetables, and a bottle of water.

“How come we don’t get room service?” Becka asked.

“They were probably too afraid to take it inside,” Hae-won said as she took out her key and unlocked the door.

Kat bent down to pick up the tray, and she made a point of wiggling her fatigue-clad ass at me as she did.

I bit my lip once more and followed Hae-won into the room.

I was surprised to see the alien sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, but more surprising was the fact that the curtains were wide open on the large window.

“Woah!” I said as I rushed over, and I quickly closed the velvet fabric. “You need to keep these shut, okay? If a dino sees you, it could ram right into this window, and we’d all be fucked.”

The alien’s emerald eyes stared at me, and she didn’t look as scared as she had before. She seemed calmer, and she didn’t even flinch when Kat rested the tray of food down on the cabinet beside her.

“You fought the ommati and lived,” the alien said, and my mouth fell open.