Return To Primordial Island by Rick Poldark (read my book .txt) 📕

she saw the blood stains on his shirt. “Are you all right?”

Jason swallowed and tried to catch his breath. “Fine. It’s a trap.”

“What do you mean?” asked Susan.

“The lizard men sent the raptors up as a distraction. They’ll be attacking the tribe down below,” said Mary.

Susan looked down as a tribesman turned the crank to lower a group of five down. Others waited at the bottom, looking up. “I don’t see anything. I sent each group down with a hunter for security once down at the bottom.”

“That was a good idea,” said Jason, “but I’m afraid it won’t be enough.” He went to the edge of the plateau to look down. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He winced and clutched his side.

“You need medical attention,” said Susan.

He shook his head, sweating profusely. “There’s no time. I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll get an infection,” insisted Susan.

“Once we’re away from all this, we can have a look,” said Jason. “But right now, we need to get the hell out of here safely.”

“He’s right,” said Mary. “That’s our first priority.”

Susan shook her head. “There’s been no attack.”

“That’s because they’re waiting for the whole tribe to go down,” said Jason. “No one else goes down. Send me. I’ll check for tracks.”

“I’m coming too,” said Mary.

Jason smirked. “Don’t want to leave me all alone, huh?”

“Yes, that’s because you’re so damned irresistible,” said Mary in sarcastic monotone.

“Okay,” said Susan. “When the platform comes up, you two are next.”

They all watched as the platform reached the bottom and the group of five got off. They joined the others as the hunters down below hoisted their spears, scanning their surroundings. The only problem was they were looking for dinosaurs, not lizard men.

Susan gave the order, and the man operating the winch cranked the platform back up slowly. It was a thirty to forty-foot drop, so it took a moment.

Jason looked around from his elevated vantage point and saw nothing. Dinosaurs, particularly the larger predators, would’ve been easy to spot. Lizard men, however, were too small. They could’ve been camouflaged and no one up on the plateau would’ve even known it.

When the platform reached the top, Jason got on, his rifle slung over his shoulder, steadying himself. He sat down, Mary helping him, and he flinched from the pain. Mary looked at Susan and nodded. Susan gave the order to the Umazoan man to lower them, and the man began to hand crank the winch.

As they began to sink in a jerky, disjointed motion, Jason looked up and said to Susan, “Wait for our signal, and watch your back.”

Susan nodded and ordered a few of the remaining hunters to watch the village for any more invaders. They answered in Umazoan and ran off to keep watch for man, dinosaur, or lizard man.

*

As they descended, Jason unshouldered his rifle and used the scope to sweep the surroundings. Down below, the Umazoans gathered, milling around, awaiting the arrival of the others. Jason swept his scope across their flanks, looking for any movement or any sign of ambush. In the distance, off to the west, he saw the long necks of a brontosaurus herd breaching the canopy. To the east was a quiet stretch of jungle, or so it seemed. However, upon closer inspection, he saw monkeys swinging from branches, crying out to each other in warning. He looked south and saw the river Hiu spoke about snake by. He followed it down with his scope. It twisted and disappeared under the canopy.

“What is it?” asked Mary.

“The monkeys,” said Jason. “They’re agitated about something.”

“Can you see anything?”

“No. But they’re definitely reacting to something.”

They were now fifteen feet above the ground. Mary’s eyes darted around, searching. The Umazoans appeared completely unaware of anything out of place, even the hunters who kept a watchful eye.

When they reached the ground, Mary helped Jason up. He groaned as his sides stung. “We have to start to move everyone,” said Jason. “They’re all a bunch of sitting ducks bunched up like this.”

Mary nodded. “I can set them up down by the river.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Jason. “I’ll have Susan send the others down while I keep watch.”

Underbrush rustled, and Jason held a hand up to silence Mary. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Out of the side of the cliff, lizard men burst out from a cave covered by thick vines. They seized Mary and Jason, ripping their rifles out of their hands before they had time to react. They immediately surrounded the Umazoa, pointing spears at them. The hunters whirled around, ready to engage.

One lizard man stepped up to Mary and held a crude dagger up to her throat. He hissed, flaring the dewlap under his chin like an iguana, and the hunters looked on in horror. Their eyes darted from the knife-wielding lizard man to Mary, then to Jason.

Mary squirmed as claws dug into her arms, holding her still. “Fight! Don’t worry about me!”

Jason tried to wriggle free, but he was weak and in too much pain to offer up much of a fight.

The lizard man holding the knife hissed louder, opening its mouth wide, pressing the blade to her throat. Mary whimpered as a rivulet of blood trickled from where the blade dug into her flesh. The hunters threw down their spears and surrendered.

“No,” cried Mary.

“It’s not their fault,” said Jason through gritted teeth, sharp pain wracking his midsection. “They’re outnumbered.”

Susan called down from up above, but neither Jason nor Mary understood it. The rope attached to the wooden platform went slack, and the other end fell down to the ground, landing in a small heap, cutting everyone below off from the village above.

Jason only hoped Susan would lead the rest of the tribe to safety, whatever that meant