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Authors: Ian Woodhead
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clear. He slowly nodded before standing again. Whatever they were, he didn’t believe they would be too much of a threat. The shadows were too small to belong to that beast from the furniture shop. Could it be more of those miniature murderers? That bugger was fast, and it wasn’t exactly harmless.
Maybe he ought to bypass the eatery and head for his discount store. Jefferson couldn’t remove the image of him storming in there, bat raised above his head, while several more of those things leaped onto Janine. He looked at the woman, not sure what to do. One thing was clear though, he didn’t want to be alone again.
The sound of a familiar male voice shouting and swearing totally changed his mind. “That’s David!” he gasped. He raced into the eatery, skidding to a sudden stop when he saw literally dozens of the small dinosaurs he first saw from under the bed. They were all crowded around the fried chicken counter, jumping up and down, trying to get to his friend, David.
The lad had one foot on the cash register and the other one stuck inside the glass, which still contained a couple of cream buns. He held a metal fry basket in his left hand, swiping at any of the little dinosaurs that managed to get their claws onto the edge of the counter.
Jefferson turned around, intending to tell Janine to climb onto a table but she was already there, gripping the craft knife.
With her reasonably safe, Jefferson turned his attention to helping David. He gripped the handle tightly, swung it over his shoulder, and smacked the nearest dinosaur with the business end. The impact launched the little animal across the room where it smacked into the front of the iced slushy machine on the burger store counter.
Two other dinosaurs darted out of the way when he tried to hit them. They ducked their heads and squawked at Jefferson before they turned around and raced over to the sandwich shop. They leaped onto the counter and disappeared over the edge. Jefferson waved the bat in the air and jumped up and down. He didn’t really want to hit any more of them. Three more darted away leaving only one. It was either stone deaf or just didn’t care. It only moved when David jumped backwards and slammed his wire basket on the counter, narrowly missing the creature by inches. It took the hint and ran away.
“You okay, man?”
David dropped the metal basket and frantically ran his fingers up and down both his arms.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Looking for bites.” He stopped and gave Jefferson a huge smile. “God, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see your ugly mug. You took a big frigging risk, though.” He leaned across and pulled Jefferson towards the counter. “Take a gander at this poor sod.”
Jefferson looked over the counter and immediately wished he hadn’t. He saw a bloated body sprawled across the tiles. If it hadn’t been for the lad’s nametag, Jefferson wouldn’t have had a clue to the body’s identity. The flesh beneath the boy’s uniform strained against the material. His exposed flesh had swollen like a balloon. “Oh God, that’s disgusting.” Jefferson took a deep breath and said a silent prayer for the poor boy. “What happened to him?” He didn’t know Simon that well, only enough to exchange nods in passing. A split stretching from his wrist up to Simon’s elbow had opened, and thick glutinous blood-streaked yellow pus bubbled over the edges.
“One bite, mate. That’s all it took. Simon was on the counter with me. We were trying to get over to the main entrance to see if we could get those shutters up, then those dinosaurs appeared. The next thing I knew, balloon boy down there was on the floor, doing this jerky dance.”
Janine had climbed off the table and returned to his side. Jefferson turned away from the dead boy and watched David’s eyes widen when the woman interlinked her fingers with his, but he kept quiet about this unexpected turn of events. Jefferson guessed that David’s
Maybe he ought to bypass the eatery and head for his discount store. Jefferson couldn’t remove the image of him storming in there, bat raised above his head, while several more of those things leaped onto Janine. He looked at the woman, not sure what to do. One thing was clear though, he didn’t want to be alone again.
The sound of a familiar male voice shouting and swearing totally changed his mind. “That’s David!” he gasped. He raced into the eatery, skidding to a sudden stop when he saw literally dozens of the small dinosaurs he first saw from under the bed. They were all crowded around the fried chicken counter, jumping up and down, trying to get to his friend, David.
The lad had one foot on the cash register and the other one stuck inside the glass, which still contained a couple of cream buns. He held a metal fry basket in his left hand, swiping at any of the little dinosaurs that managed to get their claws onto the edge of the counter.
Jefferson turned around, intending to tell Janine to climb onto a table but she was already there, gripping the craft knife.
With her reasonably safe, Jefferson turned his attention to helping David. He gripped the handle tightly, swung it over his shoulder, and smacked the nearest dinosaur with the business end. The impact launched the little animal across the room where it smacked into the front of the iced slushy machine on the burger store counter.
Two other dinosaurs darted out of the way when he tried to hit them. They ducked their heads and squawked at Jefferson before they turned around and raced over to the sandwich shop. They leaped onto the counter and disappeared over the edge. Jefferson waved the bat in the air and jumped up and down. He didn’t really want to hit any more of them. Three more darted away leaving only one. It was either stone deaf or just didn’t care. It only moved when David jumped backwards and slammed his wire basket on the counter, narrowly missing the creature by inches. It took the hint and ran away.
“You okay, man?”
David dropped the metal basket and frantically ran his fingers up and down both his arms.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Looking for bites.” He stopped and gave Jefferson a huge smile. “God, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see your ugly mug. You took a big frigging risk, though.” He leaned across and pulled Jefferson towards the counter. “Take a gander at this poor sod.”
Jefferson looked over the counter and immediately wished he hadn’t. He saw a bloated body sprawled across the tiles. If it hadn’t been for the lad’s nametag, Jefferson wouldn’t have had a clue to the body’s identity. The flesh beneath the boy’s uniform strained against the material. His exposed flesh had swollen like a balloon. “Oh God, that’s disgusting.” Jefferson took a deep breath and said a silent prayer for the poor boy. “What happened to him?” He didn’t know Simon that well, only enough to exchange nods in passing. A split stretching from his wrist up to Simon’s elbow had opened, and thick glutinous blood-streaked yellow pus bubbled over the edges.
“One bite, mate. That’s all it took. Simon was on the counter with me. We were trying to get over to the main entrance to see if we could get those shutters up, then those dinosaurs appeared. The next thing I knew, balloon boy down there was on the floor, doing this jerky dance.”
Janine had climbed off the table and returned to his side. Jefferson turned away from the dead boy and watched David’s eyes widen when the woman interlinked her fingers with his, but he kept quiet about this unexpected turn of events. Jefferson guessed that David’s
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