Age of Monsters by John Schneider (a book to read txt) 📕

males were crushed and trampled before the pack took the giant beast down at the legs, gigantic bites cleaving huge chunks out of both bone and muscle, as well as severing tendons.

All else being equal, the sheer number of the invaders, would seemingly, eventually have to finally prevail.

The narrow beach, however, congested the advancing horde – its own numbers kept the weight of its forces from being a factor.

At the forefront of the battle, the big rex – once a rogue, but now clearly acknowledged as pride-leader – scoured the ridge for the lead Carcharodont – the big one that had first appeared upon the hill – the one with all the Ottos crawling all over it.

He spotted the big carnosaur still hovering at the periphery on the ridge.

The beast itself seemed to have gone into a stupor – as if a button had just clicked dormant in it head.

But the rex could see the skittering little beasts on its back.

T. rex did not know strategic terms like 'command station', or 'home-base', but he instinctively recognized this particular target among all the others.

He found he really did not care about all these other beasts he found himself contending with this day.  THOSE little bastards were what he wanted.

That psychic-stench.  The rex was determined to stamp it out.

The scaly little rats had tried to dominate him.  That was reason enough.

The rex began to fight his way up the slope.

On the hill above, the Carcharodont seemed to suddenly blink awake.  Its head cocked, eyeing the rex's approach.

The Ottos on its back were hissing and screeching – a near-embolism pulse on the rex's tiny brain.

Focused on its goal, the rex paid no attention to another sound, coming from the south, as an F-16 appeared on the horizon.

Chapter 43

Jonah and Naomi ran down the beach – both ridges north and south were cut off, and straight ahead was sheer rock wall.

That left the narrow strip of coast that led down to the north bay, opposite the remains of Eureka.

The small grouping of buildings that surrounded the docks remained undisturbed – although likely would not much longer.

There were also the air and boat parks.

The war, however, was erupting literally right over their heads.

So far, the beasts were focused on each other.  But they were all infected giants.

There was a mixed blessing there – two humans on foot were not enough to attract their attention.  But the wall of walking mountains would crush them like ants – absence of malice or not.

They reached the dock even as the impact of first clash seemed to shake the entire coast.

The pier's main office was locked, and Jonah kicked the door open – a dock foreman usually kept spare keys to the crafts and vessels in his charge.

Jonah glanced down over the water at the handful of boats that remained.

Getting back out on the ocean wasn't exactly an attractive alternative either – not with six-hundred foot Megalodons patrolling the coast.

Options, however, were running extremely thin.

There was, however, the air-park too.

Jonah looked across the way to the fenced-off air-field.

A couple of crop-dusters – both with missing engines.  A chopper that looked like it had been wrecked.

And at the end of the dock, tarped-up for the season, was a sea-plane.

Boy, Jonah thought, he really didn't like the looks of that contraption.

Naomi, however, had turned away, and Jonah saw her standing out on the dock, her head turned up to the sky.

Jonah turned, following her gaze to the south, and he spotted it.

But for the roar of the beasts, he would have heard it already – the drone of an approaching fighter jet.

A single plane.

And on its tail, was every horror out of hell – a swarm of infected flying dragons.

Even as Jonah watched, one of the beasts nearly closed, making a grab for the fighter with its giant beak.  The pilot dodged the strike artfully, twisting into a spiraling spin, as the pterosaur's jaws snapped shut on its jet-wash.

Jonah heard Naomi suck an involuntary breath.

The fighter seemed to engage with them all at once, even as flying beasts swarmed – circling asteroids with wings and teeth.

“Naomi?” Jonah began, but she was not listening.  She stood breathless, oblivious to his words – oblivious even to the conflagration of giants erupting just over her shoulder, less than the length of two football fields behind.

She glanced at Jonah, her eyes wide – Jonah didn't know if it was hope or tears.

Naomi would never be able to tell him – the words would choke in her throat – but she knew that particular spin move.  It was cocky.

It was just like him.

And as the fighter made its first pass overhead, she recognized the payload as well.

She knew why he was here.  His target was all around them.

The infected giants.  They were going to burn it all out.

“We've got to get out of here,” Naomi said.

She pushed past Jonah and reached for the keys to the sea-plane docked at the end of the pier, and pressed them firmly in Jonah's reluctant hand.

Jonah frowned but nodded.

The two of them ran for the end of the dock.

Chapter 44

Lucas made one fly-by over the ground-war below.

The exodus of the Carcharodont-led army filled in from the south through the little alleyway created by the ragged coastal highlands, funneling onto the beach.

A smaller force stood them off.  The tyrannosaurs were holding ground.  And even as the marching army ascended from the south, Lucas could see more of the rex-clan filling in the ranks over the ridge from the north.

For whatever reason, all the beasts in the region were congregating at once.

The General had been right – it was