Dark Chaos: Dark World Series, #3

By Chrissy Peebles

This is book 3. 

Casey and Mike vow to find Jack at all costs. After a long journey through a dangerous landscape teeming with horrific creatures, they finally reach the glass city and get their questions answered. But sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dark Shadows Publishing
• Release date: Sep 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781540153722

Book preview

Chapter 1

Mike warded off the raptors with a long stick while I continued to yell and wave my arms frantically at the UFO. I tried to shout over the high-pitched buzzing sound emitting from the aircraft to keep the T. rex frozen in place ... well, except for their pounding feet. The T. rex continued to stomp all around us, shaking the ground like an earthquake. I hoped the occupants of the ship would hear my desperate plea and beam us up from the horrifying situation we faced.

Standing dangerously close, a raptor let out a bark-like call. I gaped at the dino’s rows of bladed teeth. The raptor lunged. Crushing jaws snapped, missing my throat by mere inches as I swerved to the right and whacked the creature on its snout with my life-saving stick. I shuddered, but I had given the thing one heck of a blow because it stumbled away like an old drunk.

Mike yanked my arm, pulling me back under the tree for cover. Sorry! That one...it slipped past me. Are you ... you okay? he said between ragged breaths.

My chest heaved. Yeah, I’m all right. I hope acting like a crazy yelling nut got E.T.’s attention. I waited for the aliens to fire their blue beam once again, just like they had when they took Jack. I also kept a close eye on the circling raptors that were now squawking like a noisy flock of birds. Glancing up, I bit my lip. Seconds passed. Okay...any minute now. Would the occupants of the ship take me up on my offer?

I waved my arms as I yelled once again. Hey, UFO, come and get us! Nothing’s happening. My gaze flew to Mike’s and I said, Why aren’t the aliens coming for us?

I dunno, he mumbled.

My heart pounded in my chest as sweat trickled down my back. If they don’t get a move-on, we’re gonna be raptor food.

I don’t get it! They’ve been after us all flippin’ morning, but now it’s like they don’t wanna touch us with a ten-foot pole.

Maybe they decided they only want Jack, I said.

Mike heaved a sigh. Why? Because he knows a dictionary by heart?

Well, yeah. That’s primo DNA.

"If that’s the case, then why’d they bother paralyzing the T. rex? he asked. Obviously, they want us alive, too, so why aren’t they beaming us up, especially with the raptors on our heels?"

I’m not sure, I answered. Maybe this is their version of reality TV or something and they’re munching on moon cheese while they watch us make complete idiots out of ourselves down here.

The disk still hovered above, as if they were deciding whether or not to take me up on my offer. Finally, it dawned on me what was happening. I know why they’re not zapping us up! I said, my voice wavering.

Mike turned to face me, his eyes wide. Why?

"If they try to pull us up, they might get a T. rex caught in that tractor beam of theirs. That just might cramp their style, not to mention crash their ship."

You’re right! Let’s move a little further back from the dinosaurs and try to get Scotty’s attention again. He took a step forward, shielded his eyes, and scanned the landscape. We need to find the best spot—someplace where we can wave them down without getting trampled.

A cold chill ran through my body as the raptors worked in coordination and closed the circle tighter. I bit my bottom lip hard in order to stifle a scream. "How do we back up from the T. rex when the raptors are closing in?"

Before Mike could answer, a creature broke the perimeter of the circle and approached, just staring at me as it let out tiny barks. Waving my stick around like a modern-day gladiator swinging her mighty sword, I aggressively thrust my stick down toward the raptor’s eyes. Its gaping jaws clamped around the stick, breaking it in half with one vicious bite. Crap! I hissed between clenched teeth.

Mike gave the raptor one giant kick. The creature let out a loud screech and ruffled its feathers. Mike continued to poke at the snapping creature with his long stick as I backed up to search for a new weapon.

All I could find was a rock, and I lobbed it at the creature with all my might, striking the raptor in the chest. It screeched again but didn’t budge an inch. Letting out whistle-like sounds, the little monster strode closer, as if to stand its ground. The raptor’s yellow eyes narrowed into slits. My breath came in rapid bursts as I looked for a way out. Maybe this thing can’t climb. Start climbing the tree!

To the right, a blur of black and white caught my eye. Another raptor lurched. They might not have looked like the movie-star raptors, but they were definitely as crafty and cunning and beyond intelligent; one had distracted me while the other blindsided me. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. A giant slashing claw came just inches from ripping my stomach as it tried to gut me like a fish. Sheer terror overcame me, as I let out a long shriek. A white beam from the UFO swept across the raptor, and the thing dropped to the ground with a thud, followed by a hiss. I sucked in a trembling breath as Mike wrapped an arm around my waist.

Are you okay? he asked, squeezing me even tighter.

If it weren’t for the UFO, I’d have been ripped to pieces. I quickly scanned my surroundings as I took a deep breath to stop my hands from shaking. All the raptors were lying on their sides with their legs extended. They were limp and passed out on the grass—or dead. Their eyes were closed, and their jaws were hanging open, a thin black tongue hanging out of their mouth, showing off a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. I kicked at the bundle of muscle and zebra-colored feathers. There was no movement other than its feathers swaying in the light breeze. "And to think, back on the beach, when we saw those T. rex footprints, I laughed about fighting a creature with feathers. My voice shook as I clutched my heart. And this darn feathery thing, only as big as Scooby-Doo, almost gutted me. We gotta go!"

Mike squatted down and ran a finger across the raptor’s giant black claw that was shaped like a talon on a hunting bird.

Are you crazy? What’re you doing? Get away from that thing! I warned. 

The raptor’s yellow eyes popped open, and Mike jumped back with a startled gasp.

I grabbed his arm tightly. "It’s obviously not dead. You need to stay away from it."

The T. rex seemed pretty upset about still being held against their will. Roars and snarls continued to echo through the high-pitched sounds emitting from the UFO.

Mike peeked through the palm-sized leaves. "Why do you think the aliens are helping us? They took out the raptors, and they’re still paralyzing the T. rex." 

My gaze darted through the opening in the thick ferns, focusing on the ships. If they’re aliens, what good are their lab rats in pieces?

Right. You’ve got a point.

Yeah...so move it!

He blew out a long breath and looked away. No doubt, he was pondering something, like a better escape plan, but time wasn’t on our side. We needed to run...NOW!

I yanked his hand again. What’s there to think about? We have half the prehistoric museum waiting to stomp on us or bite off our limbs so they can feed them to their offspring. My gaze narrowed as more leaves rained down. I said to MOVE IT! The UFO got rid of the raptors for us, so that means we don’t need the little green guys anymore.

I agree. Scratch getting beamed up. He ran a hand through his hair. I’m really not in the mood for being experimented on. I do really like my six-pack abs and wanna keep ‘em.

Let’s go then. Now’s our chance.

No, no, no! That’s exactly what the space dudes want. The moment we scram into the open, they’ll zap us up, just like they did Jack.

Vibrations shot up my legs from the trembling ground. I cast an uneasy glance at the stomping dinos. I dunno. Playing dinner’s not an option, but I’m not sure if it’s any safer to go on an intergalactic hitchhike either. I say we do something for our health and make a run for it.

Mike ran his fingers through his damp hair as he scanned the trees to our right. The city wall’s about—I dunno—maybe five hundred feet away. If we’re fast, we can make it there, and maybe we can scale the wall now that we’ve had all that practice getting out of that stupid pit.

Impossible! I looked up at the towering wall that stretched for miles. It was a thick stone fortress, much taller than I’d imagined when I first saw it from so far away. Unless either one of us can morph into Spiderman, I doubt there’s any way we can climb to the top.

Mike puffed. How hard can rock climbing be? I’ve seen it on TV hundreds of times.

Yeah, and I watch MTV almost daily, but that doesn’t make me a rock star. I averted my gaze as a beam of sunlight caught my eye. I pointed. Look!

His jaw dropped. Dude.

Daylight glared through a ragged opening, and I wondered if our luck might really be changing. There’s a hole! If we can get there, maybe we can shimmy through it. There was a glimmer of hope after all.

Like I said, the aliens are waiting for us to run away so they can zap us. But... Mike lifted a finger in another of his theatrical performances. "If we stay under the T. rex, they won’t be able to lock a beam on us without snatching up some uninvited guests. He grinned, waiting for my reaction. When I just stared at him, open-mouthed, he continued, We have to outthink and outsmart these aliens. Shouldn’t be too hard. Reminds me of Pac-man. Too bad I always sucked at it."

I blinked. Pac-man? Seriously? Slowly massaging my temples, I sucked in a big breath. At least in Pac-man, you can restart the level. I doubt we’ll get a do-over here. The ground continued to shake with the loud boom of enormous feet. It sounded like the herd had doubled in size. We’re doomed. We’ll never make it.

Yes, we will. The aliens will never expect a crazy stunt like that, which makes this plan even more brilliant.

Obviously, the aliens, or military pilots or whatever they were, didn’t know Mike. I wondered how he came up with such hair-brained ideas. If we’re not smashed into pancakes first.

They’re paralyzed, said Mike.

Not their feet.

C’mon! He motioned to me, his eyes pleading in that most irresistible way. It’s the only way, Casey.

I nodded.

Mike shook his fist at the UFO like a five-year-old at playtime when another grabs his favorite toy. You wanna play? Game on.

I could only hope they weren’t into competition, because Mike sure challenged them. He could always be trusted to find new ways of putting his foot in his mouth. I cast him a nervous glance. We’d have to be quick because once the UFO stopped making that loud humming sound, we’d find ourselves in the middle of a pack of dinosaurs with no escape route or exit sign. I crossed my arms over my chest and declared nervously, You’re going first. We’re soooo going to get stomped on.

Not if we’re fast enough, said Mike, pulling my hand and guiding me past the unconsciousness raptors and underneath the pack of T. rex. And we will be fast enough. Trust me.

Chapter 2

Imoved forward as fast as I could on my sore foot. Realistically, a turtle could give me a run for my money. With my heart pounding hard, I looked around me. It was a bit like hiking through Yosemite National Park, except the huge tree trunks were really gigantic T. rex