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  The mayor glanced at him disapprovingly. “And what exactly have you organized, Victor?”

  “I told the commander the priority is to attend to the wounded and bring them out so they can receive appropriate attention and be taken to hospital. When that is done, the dead will be brought out and taken to the morgue; vehicles are on their way to collect them. The soldiers will then focus on seeking out the monster and killing it, and at the same time, search for the two museum people who went after it.

  Though he assumed the plan was not all the chief superintendent’s own making, the mayor threw him a bone, albeit a small one. “Good.”

  Nathan dropped the cigarette butt on the ground and squashed it underfoot. “Is there any likelihood the monster can get out of the museum?” He waved a hand toward the museum’s long frontage. “There must be many entrances and exits in a building this size. At the moment, the monster’s contained and possible to track down, but if it gets out…”

  The mayor glanced at the chief superintendent expectantly.

  “I was just going to check,” lied Victor. As he turned away, he glared at the chief inspector. He would have ordered him to the task if the man wasn’t so chummy with the mayor.

  After the chief superintendent had informed the commander in charge of the army that all exits needed to be covered in case the monster tried to escape and informed his chief inspector he was now in charge of the operation, he headed to his car and told the driver to take him home. He had a feeling the shit that had already struck the fan once was about to do so again. It was best he distanced himself from the fallout that was sure to follow and let his subordinate bear the brunt of the blame. Maybe then, the mayor wouldn’t look on him so favorably.

  CHAPTER 16

  Dinosaurs

  Wary of the monster that might attack at any moment, the rescue team moved efficiently and swiftly. The wounded were reached without incident and given the barest of care to enable them to be moved before they were loaded onto stretchers and carried outside. A second foray within collected the dead and removed them to the waiting mortuary vans.

  After the mayor had praised the army and ambulance staff for their efficient rescue of the wounded—all were potential voters for his second term in office—he joined the chief inspector who was conversing with the army squad commander. They were consulting a map of the museum Nathan had requested.

  A museum guard pointed out the corridor the monster had taken and where he had last seen Greyson and Mary when they went after it.

  Nathan tapped the entrance to the corridor indicated by the guard. “If you agree, Commander, I suggest you send half your infiltration squad down this corridor and the other half across the rotunda and into the main exhibit areas in case the monster circles around in an attempt to reach the exit.”

  The commander studied the map for a few moments while he considered the proposal. Though the building was a sprawling mass of rooms and corridors, all were connected, allowing the creature complete freedom of movement. “It seems a good as plan as any seeing as how we are dealing with the unknown.” He looked at the mayor. “You’ve seen this thing. Anything you can tell us that might help us kill it?”

  “Only to reiterate what I’ve already said. It’s small, fast and armed with teeth and claws you don’t want to get close to.”

  “Okay,” said the commander, feeling a little out of his depth faced with an enemy his army training had failed to prepare him for. “I’ll update my men and send them in.”

  The ten-man squad of armed men entered the museum to carry out their two objectives: find and remove Greyson and Mary to safety, and seek out the monster and kill it. As per their commander’s orders, while one five-man team entered the Maya exhibition and headed for the corridor where the monster had last been sighted, the remaining five crossed the rotunda and started moving through the museum’s permanent display rooms.

  Sergeant Geraghty aimed his flashlight through the glass panel of the door they had halted at and roamed it around the room. Huge skeletons of creatures that died many millennia ago were highlighted in the beam. When a push on the door revealed it to be unlocked, he stepped through with his eyes and weapon searching the room. He glanced at the four members of his team who had spread out beside him.

  “Cooper, Owen, you head left. Parker, Lombardi, you’re on the right. I’ll head down the middle. If you see movement, verify it is the creature before you fire as we have no idea where those museum people are.”

  The men nodded and moved off in their allotted directions.

  Geraghty moved through the center of the room.

  Paying particular attention to its sharp claws and teeth, Parker and Lombardi roamed their lights over one of the strange fossils they passed; both were glad it wasn’t a live one of them they were hunting. They moved past the large Antrodemus skeleton (renamed Allosaurus ‘different lizard’ in the mid-1970's)

  On the opposite side of the large room, Owen and Cooper passed the large fossilized skeleton of an impressive Stegosaurus. Cooper let out a squeal when he came face to face with a monster bearing its claws and fangs at him. He jumped again when Owen placed a hand on his shoulder.

  Owen glanced at the dinosaur diorama and grinned. “It’s not real.”

  “Thank god for that.” Cooper tore his eyes away from the fearsome clawed Deinonychus sculpture that had seemed to come alive when his light moved over it and followed Owen.

  The monster, though much smaller than its dinosaur counterparts, had grown and was very much alive. It climbed through the dwarfing ribcage of a Brontosaurus and ascended its long neck. Perched high on the dinosaur’s small head, it observed the two approaching men. Satisfied it wasn’t the two humans with the yellow-tipped weapons, it watched them pass beneath. When they were lost from its sight, it climbed down the neck and dropped silently to the floor.

  Unaware the creature they hunted was hunting them, Owen and Cooper moved around a glass display case containing fossilized dinosaur eggs and approached one of the museum’s most prized exhibits, a complete T-Rex skeleton.

  “Wow! Now that is a terrifying monster,” said Owen, impressed.

  Cooper was in total agreement. “Imagine coming face-to-face with a live one. Our rifles would be like peashooters to it.”

  Owen swept his flashlight over the large fossilized leg and rib bones, past its tiny arms that seemed bizarre in comparison to the rest of its powerful body, and halted on the large vicious jaws lined with sharp teeth. He was about to move the light away, when he noticed something—a red dot in one of the T-Rex’s large empty eye sockets. It gave the impression the dead beast stared at him.

  “Now that’s damn creepy.”

  Cooper’s eyes darted nervously around the area. The whole room was creepy to him. “What is it, the monster?”

  Owen directed his light on his nervous comrade. “Look at the T-Rex’s eye.” He aimed his light back at the monstrous head.

  Cooper was thankful it was nothing life threatening. “Yeah, it’s big and scary, but it’s dead, so what?”

  Owen stared at the eye socket. The red anomaly had gone. “Nothing. Let’s keep moving.”

  As they passed beneath the T-Rex’s neck, Owen kept his gaze focused on its head. Though he sensed something was wrong, he couldn’t put a finger on it. He was about to write off the sensation to nerves when a dark shape atop the T-Rex’s head moved. His flashlight lit up the vicious form that dropped toward him—all teeth, claws and the promise of death. The flashlight slipped from his hand when he raised the rifle. His finger squeezed the trigger in panic before it found its target. Bullets raked gouges along one of the T-Rex’s legs, shattering bone and breaking the joint of the metal support half the dinosaur’s weight rested upon. The monster’s claws, as proficient in dealing death as any raptor’s, raked his neck and chest. The sharp talons sliced through clothes and skin, exposing bones and organs. Bullets continued firing from Owen’s weapon when he fell screaming to the floor.

&n
bsp; Frozen in fear at the sight of the monster, Cooper watched horrified as it disemboweled his friend. So focused was he on the appalling carnage, he failed to notice the bullets whizzing past his head and ricocheting off the walls. Transfixed by the creature’s red, devilish eyes, now focused hungrily upon him, he almost wet himself when it snarled viciously.

  The monster smelt the stench of fear emanating from the human and briefly studied the strange weapon it held. It had vague memories of the pain its type could cause and attacked before it could be brought to use.

  Cooper sobbed when the monster leapt at him with claws outstretched. Still unable to move to defend himself against the certain death, he closed his eyes to block out the horror and prayed for a quick, painless death.

  When it was only a few feet away from the defenseless human, the monster brought its rear claws forward, ready to rake down the human’s soft defenseless body. Before its talons connected with its victim’s flesh, the man was knocked aside. A split second later, something struck it a painful blow and slammed it to the floor.

  Believing the monster was upon him, Cooper screamed when he was struck. He grunted in pain when his head hit the floor. In his dazed stupor, he was vaguely aware of something crashing loudly around him. He forced open his eyes and screamed at the monstrous head of the T-Rex that filled his vision. The back of his head slammed against something hard when he jerked away. With a hand probing the throbbing ache, he turned and surveyed the jumble of T-Rex bones around him. Remembering the monster, he wished was a harmless fossil, his eyes searched for it. Movement focused his gaze on the T-Rex head when it wobbled. Cooper scrambled to his feet and reached amongst the bone pile for his flashlight. When he aimed it at the head, a clawed hand emerged from beneath, gripped the jaw and pushed. The cracked skull rolled to one side with a thud and revealed the full horrifying sight of the monster highlighted in the shaking flashlight beam. Cooper’s fear-filled eyes rapidly searched for his weapon, but failed to find it.

  The monster, stunned by the weight of the thing that had struck it, climbed unsteadily to its feet and shook its head to try and clear the fuzziness. The human’s noisy movements through the bone debris drew its attention. It snarled at its next victim as it climbed over the unstable pile of bones. Its head jerked at the fast-moving footsteps drawing closer. Searching lights erratically pierced the gloom. More humans were coming. It screeched at the human it had no time to kill and bounded away.

  Cooper trembled as he watched the monster leave. When he was sure it was gone, he slumped onto a large thighbone. While he waited for his friends to arrive, he glanced around at the ruined skeleton. Someone was going to be extremely pissed when they saw what had happened to the T-Rex. He hoped he wouldn’t be blamed for its destruction.

  Sergeant Geraghty halted at the edge of the chaos and roamed his light over the jumble of bones before halting on Cooper. “Are you okay?”

  Cooper raised his head. “Yeah, but Owen’s dead.”

  As Lombardi and Parker arrived, Geraghty stepped across the bones toward Cooper. “What happened here?”

  “The monster happened. It ambushed us and killed Owen. It…ripped him to shreds. It all happened so fast.”

  Geraghty placed a hand on Cooper’s shoulder.

  “You saw it?” asked Lombardi, kneeling beside Owen’s torn body to check for signs of life, though he knew there would be none.

  “Yeah, I saw it. It would have killed me if the T-Rex hadn’t fallen on it.”

  Parker looked around at the broken skeleton, wondering if the creature they hunted was responsible. “What did it look like and how big is it?”

  “They said it was a size of a small monkey, but they lied. It’s bigger. About the size of a large wolf, but hairless and vastly more vicious. Its head was big with a wide jaw filled with teeth, and it had long claws that would make a tiger pause before attacking.”

  Geraghty’s anxious gaze searched the area for movement. “It’s probably watching us. Waiting for another chance to attack.”

  “Then I suggest we hunt it down before it does,” said Parker.

  Geraghty nodded. “But this time, we stick together.”

  Cooper stood. “Sorry, sir, I lost my weapon when the T-Rex fell on me.”

  “Not your fault, Private. It can’t be far,” said Geraghty.

  A search amongst the bone pile soon found the weapon, and the four men set off across the room.

  Shrouded in darkness, the monster observed the four men move through the room and the weapons each held. Deciding it would be too risky to confront them as a group, it turned away and searched for an exit.

  The door it found yielded to the monster’s touch and swung open. It gazed into the darkened room that concealed nothing from its excellent night vision. Satisfied it was free of danger, it bounded through and headed to the room’s far side.

  CHAPTER 17

  Retreat

  Greyson halted at yet another intersection and gazed at the floor for any signs of the scratches that had ended a few yards back. Perhaps an indication the monster had become cautious. It could have gone down any of the three directions before them and might have even entered the public exhibition halls. It could also have circled behind them now. The thought caused him to glance back along the dark corridor nervously.

  Mary sensed Greyson’s anxiousness. “What is it?”

  “I have no idea where it has gone or which way to go next.”

  Mary glanced at the three routes in turn. “We have a one-in-three chance of being correct.”

  “I’m not sure that’s good enough. Maybe we should go back and get help. The museum’s too vast for the two of us to search now we’ve lost its trail.”

  Mary nodded. “The cops must have arrived by now. Surely when they’ve been informed a dangerous monster is on the loose, they’ll call in armed reinforcements.”

  Greyson agreed. “Even if they don’t believe it was a monster, the wounds suffered by the survivors who managed to escape is evidence a savage creature is at large inside the museum and needs killing. The best scenario would be if the army has been called in to hunt down the creature. Even if their weapons don’t kill it, they may harm it enough for me to stab it with a spear and hopefully destroy it.”

  Even though she would have continued with the hunt, Mary was relieved to be heading back. “Do we retrace our steps or return by a different route?”

  “Let’s swing around through the exhibit halls to the exit. We might see some evidence of which way it went.”

  Greyson led Mary along the right-hand corridor toward the public exhibition areas.

  So far, the second five-man team had seen no sign of the monster or the two museum employees.

  Sergeant Fredricks led the four members of his team along the corridors with their weapons and flashlight beams aimed ahead. He called a halt on reaching the second corridor crossroads and gazed along each turning. “This place is like a damn maze.”

  “We could call out to them, Sergeant,” offered Higgins. “Our voices should carry through the corridors.”

  Fredricks briefly considered the suggestion. “No, it might alert the creature to our presence.”

  “But isn’t that one of the reasons why we are here, to find and kill whatever it is that attacked the mayor and the other guests?” said Tapper. “What does it matter if it hears us and comes to investigate? It won’t stand a chance against our weapons.”

  “Might be better than creeping through the darkness where it might be lying in wait,” said Everly, hopefully. The museum gave him the creeps.

  “I suppose we could set up an ambush.” Fredricks glanced down each corridor again. This was a good position. The corridors were long and straight. They’d be able to see the creature long before it got anywhere near them. “Okay, let’s try it. Tapper on the left, Wilson on the right, Everly straight ahead. Higgins, cover our rear in case it comes up behind us.”

  When his men had moved into position and each direction was c
overed by a rifle, Fredricks stepped into the center of the intersection and cupped hands to his mouth. “To any museum staff, this is Sergeant Fredricks of the British army. If you can hear me, come to intersection…” he glanced at the small sign on the wall, “2B. I have four armed men with me.”

  Fredricks paused and cocked an ear. When no reply or approaching footsteps came after thirty seconds, he faced another corridor and repeated the message. After he had called down all four directions and received no hint he had been heard, he stepped into the corridor that led back to the Maya exhibition. “Now we wait to see if the monster heard me and comes to see who it is. Keep your eyes peeled, men, and don’t fire until you are absolutely certain whatever approaches isn’t human.”

  Fredricks pulled his revolver from its holster around his waist, switched off the safety and cocked the weapon.

  The monster halted on hearing the human voice drifting along the corridor and turned its head to gaze back along the way it had come. It was still ravenous and needed to satisfy its hunger. It turned and bounded back along the corridor toward the voice that had started up again.

  The breathing of the five men was the only sound that invaded the silence at the intersection. With eyes, weapons and light beams aimed down their allotted corridors, they waited to discover if the creature would come to them.

  All heads turned toward the clack-clack coming from the corridor directly opposite the one they had taken to arrive at the intersection. Fredricks raised his revolver and aimed it at the approaching sound that slowed and then stopped.

  “Is it the creature?” asked Everly, his voice a nervous whisper.

  “Shush, and listen,” ordered Fredricks, cocking an ear along the corridor to catch the slightest sound. “Wilson, Tapper, aim your lights down the corridor.”