Dinosaur Armageddon Vol. 1: Vengeful Promise

Chapter 17

"This way!" Josh shouted. "Come on! To the doors!!"

He took a sharp turn, running between cashier stands, the girls close behind him. They seemed to understand what his intentions were.

Josh dared a glance over his shoulder. Jessie and Tash were close behind him, running as fast as they could, their faces the definition of fear. Meanwhile, the dinosaur kept coming for them. It attempted to turn to them, but its big feet slipped on the floor. It slid and skidded before crashing into one of the stands, falling down. It may have been funny if he and the girls weren't running for their lives.

Josh watched as the dinosaur stumbled back onto its feet and roar fiercely.

"GOREROOOOOOWL!!!"

"Let's move!" Josh shouted over the Ceratosaurus' cry. He turned his head to look forward. They were just a few yards away from the doors, and with each stride they took, the closer they were home free.

Come on, Josh thought. Come on. Almost there.

Josh reached out his hand and flung the door open, holding it for Tash and Jessie. He heard the dinosaur huffing. He could see it bounding towards them, its eyes locked onto them. Ropes of spit dripped from its teeth.

"Go, go, go!" he barked. "GO NOW!"

The girls rushed past him without hesitation. Once they were out, Josh quickly slammed the door shut and ran towards the second pair of doors. He looked back, seeing the Ceratosaurus was still charging. It slammed the glass doors head first. The force of the collision made the glass crack like a spider web and the metal dent ever so slightly.

"Whew!" Jessie sighed. "That was way too close for comfort."

"You said it," Tash said. "Not me."

The dinosaur shook its horned head, as if to shake off the pain. Its breath fogged the glass, its nostrils flaring. It roared loudly, mist forming on the glass, spit flying.

It's not going to hold him, Josh sudden realized. The dinosaur would smash through the door and it would catch them.

"Let's get out of here," he said. "Those doors can only keep him away for so long."

The Ceratosaurus snarled and rammed the door again.

"NOW!"

The three whirled around and fled once again. As they passed the second pair of doors, Josh heard glass shatter and metal clang, followed by a fierce bellow. The sound alone gave him the message that it had broken through.

There was no time to look back, no time to stop.

Josh and the girls changed direction, running past the buildings and heading back into the forest where they came from. As they were about to turn the corner that led to the hill, Josh could hear the glass doors break and shatter, metal banging against concrete, and the dinosaur's roar.

Josh felt his heart raging inside his chest as if it were running a marathon. This dinosaur was relentless, determined to capture his prey.

The visions reappeared in Josh's mind: the poor man who had been violently killed, Josh running for his life, his father's screams as the dinosaur tore him apart, the raging fires that destroyed his home.

The sound of thousands of people dying and screaming.

Josh ran into the forest, running up the hill slope with both the girls close to him. As he ran higher up the hill, he felt a few branches and leaves hitting his face. He felt the summer heat glaring down on him, his face burning and sweat rolling down in beads from his forehead and face. His breath came in brief huffs. Yet he did not stop. He couldn't.