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fredbassettTitle : Clusterfuck, Part 6 of 6
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 15
Characters : Stephen/Ryan, Lester, Claudia, Cutter, Abby, Connor
Disclaimer : Not mine (except OCs), no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Word Count : 15,000 split into six parts.
Summary : Trouble doesn’t just come in one simple package for the ARC team when an anomaly opens in the small Somerset village of Wookey Hole.
A/N : 1) Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
primeval_denial art challenge for this wonderful picture by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
goldarrow! 2) Set in my Stephen/Ryan series, but no prior knowledge of the series needed.
Wookey Hole, Somerset, 12.35pm
Lester ducked down and made his way through what the cave guides called the Witch’s Chimney and out into the chamber on the other side. The anomaly was actually off to one side, at the bottom of a slope that led down to the underground course of the River Axe as it made its way through the caves and finally out to daylight in the valley.
The Witch of Wookey seemed to be staring straight down at it, an expression of utter disapproval on her petrified features.
So far as Lester could tell, nothing had come through the anomaly in this chamber and it was far enough away from the path for them to be able to get past it in safety. That seemed a better option that staying in chamber four and tangling with allosaurs. If necessary, they could cram everyone into the wooden guides’ hut until they got the all clear from Sean Burns to make their way back down the valley to the relative safety of the hotel.
He ducked back into chamber four and relayed the situation to Ryan.
The soldier heard him out and then nodded. “Take point with Colin. Once you start moving, don’t stop, no matter what happens back here. Get everyone out and keep them there.” He turned to the group and raised his voice. “We’re taking you all out of here now. Keep the children in the middle of the group and keep moving. Watch your heads on the first part and try not to slip, but move as quickly as you can. Do you understand?”
The woman who’d quelled the annoying ponytailed man nodded and promptly started marshalling the others. She reminded Lester of his old headmistress and he wouldn’t have been in the slightest bit surprised to learn she was a retired teacher.
He moved to the head of the group and started to lead them out of the cave. There were several gasps of surprise as people came face to face with the second anomaly, but he ignored their reactions and pressed on. He’d got as far as the Witch when he heard the first shots from Ryan’s M4 and realised that neither Ryan nor Stephen had followed them through the Witch’s Chimney.
“Stay in front and keep moving,” he told Colin. “I’m going to bring up the rear.”
The guide nodded and carried on. Lester stepped to one side, waiting until the last member of the group had passed him before he fell in behind them. If Ryan and Stephen were otherwise engaged, he was going to have to make sure nothing came after them.
As he turned to follow the group, a dark shape slithered out of the anomaly and vanished into the pool, leaving behind an ever-widening series of ripples on the surface of the water. Lester gripped his EMP rifle harder, but there was nothing to be seen.
More shots rang out in chamber four.
Hating the necessity of leaving Stephen and Ryan behind, Lester hurried to catch up the back of the group.
Getting the tourists to safety had to be his highest priority.
Wookey Hole, Somerset. 12.35pm.
The fourth allosaur through the anomaly came out with a bound that would have put a giant kangaroo to shame.
One had been taken down by a heavy charge from Stephen’s EMP and Ryan had dropped another with a three round burst from his rifle in the hope that the smell of blood might prove to be a distraction.
The third was circling them warily, showing no signs of wanting to go back to its own time. Stephen was currently trying – and failing – to get a clear shot with his EMP. He’d missed twice so far.
The latest one to join the party came straight at Ryan, jaws agape. He squeezed the trigger, but at the same moment, the allosaur leaped sideways and the bullets tore harmlessly into the cave wall. Ryan fired again, but the same thing happened. The dinosaur kept moving, leaping around like a jumping jack. They were fast, agile and fucking dangerous. He’d seem the damage one of them had done to Keegan’s leg and had no desire to end up on the receiving end of their pit-bull jaws.
The anomaly was still glittering brightly and had lost none of its magnetic pull. Not for the first time, Ryan wondered what sort of attraction the rips in time exerted over the creatures, but whatever it was, he could really do without it right now. Another three rounds buried themselves in the cave wall then he had to jump sideways to get out of the way of the allosaur’s line of attack.
The large, dimly-lit chamber provided no cover whatsoever. It was devoid of the sort of decoration they’d seen in the rest of the cave, and had bare, brown rock walls that sloped down to the hard mud floor. The only advantage it gave them was that there was no hiding place for the allosaurs either, but the downside to that was it allowed the fucking things plenty of room to manoeuvre and left them open to attack from too many possible directions.
“Hart, we need to follow the others, we’re too exposed here. They’ve had a good head start.”
There were narrower spots on the way out where they could make a more effective stand. All they had to do was reach one of them.
Trusting Ryan to cover his retreat, Stephen turned and made a dash for the low section. Once through, he went down on one knee, EMP slung over his back, as he held his Browning pistol in a two-handed grip. At close range, the 9mm bullets would have the stopping power they needed if – or rather when – the allosaurs decided to follow them
Ryan backed up, spraying a burst of automatic fire across the chamber as a deterrent, before he turned and ducked through, following Stephen.
“There’s more on their way,” Stephen said, as he straightened up and stepped away from the low section of passage.
Before Ryan had chance to respond, something reared up out of a pool of water on one side of the passage and scuttled forward, knocking into the back of Stephen’s legs. His lover pitched forward, caught off balance, and struck his head hard on the cave wall with an audible crack.
The creature slithered on past them, its long, low body propelled on four short, stubby legs. It had a huge, rounded flat head, a thick neck and a long body with an even longer tail, reminding Ryan of a giant salamander, if such things existed. Before he’d even had chance to bring his pistol to bear on the creature, it had disappeared into the underground river, leaving Stephen lying face down on the path, out for the count.
Ryan swore vehemently, and dropped to his knees next to his lover. Stephen was still breathing, but he was unconscious.
The bark of an allosaurus drew his attention back to the low section of passage separating them from the other chamber. He could see one of the creatures crouching down, obviously about to make a dash at them. He grabbed the Browning that Stephen had dropped and put a bullet in the dinosaur’s head. It fell to the ground as heavily as Stephen had done, buying Ryan some much needed time.
He grabbed Stephen under the armpits and tried to haul him out of reach of anything that might manage to get through the Witch’s Chimney. Right now he felt far too exposed for comfort with an open anomaly behind him, busy disgorging what looked like an entire pack of dwarf allosaurs, and another to one side, possibly responsible for the giant salamander. There was no way he’d be able to carry Stephen and still use either of his weapons with any degree of ease, but he’d feel happier if he could at least get somewhere more defensible. At the moment he felt like a sitting duck. He slung the EMP rife over his shoulder along with his M4, every instinct warning him against leaving any sort of weapon behind, even though they had now started using lethal force.
Stephen was heavy, despite the fact that he wasn’t carrying an ounce of spare fat. Ryan fell into a routine whereby he dragged his unconscious lover a couple of metres, then fired a few rounds behind him to discourage anything from following. He had a couple of smoke grenades in his tac vest, but they’d be no use in a closed environment. He was just going to have to deal with this by conventional means.
By the time he’d dragged Stephen to the foot of the first flight of steps Ryan was sweating like a pig and had used a full magazine. Laying his lover’s injured head down as gently as he could, Ryan dropped the mag out of his M4 and slipped a fresh one into its place. He had plenty of spares, so running out of bullets wasn’t high on his list of things he needed to worry about. He took the opportunity to reload Stephen’s Browning as well and dropped that into a pocket of his jacket.
He went down on one knee, and cupped his lover’s face in one hand. “Stephen, can you hear me?” Keeping his voice low and steady was an effort, but it had to be done.
He could hear the scrape of clawed feet on the concrete path and knew they were about to have company. Ryan took hold of Stephen’s black leather jacket and started to haul him up the steps as quickly as he could. He needed to reach the narrowest part of the passage above them. Once there, he had a good chance of holding the fuckers back until either he managed to take them all down or Burns managed to send some lads in as back-up.
Halfway up the steps, he heard a groan from Stephen. Relief coursed through him and he redoubled his efforts.
A few steps from the top, he had to lower Stephen down and swing up his M4. There were three allosaurs bounding towards him as though they had springs underneath them. They were quick, clever and sodding determined. He managed to take the lead one down, but the others jumped sideways, avoiding the bullets.
Another groan from Stephen was accompanied by movement as his lover tried to sit up. “What the fu..?”
“Something knocked you over, you hit your head,” Ryan said, snapping off another couple of shots to no good purpose. You’ve been out for a few minutes.”
Stephen muttered something Ryan didn’t catch. He managed to sit up on the steps then, when he realised their situation, he shuffled backwards and grabbed the metal handrail in an attempt to get upright. From the sharp intake of breath that followed the action, Ran deduced that his head hurt – a lot. But he was conscious and moving. That was what mattered.
As the two allosaurs rushed at him, Ryan drew in a long breath and held it. His first shot went wide. Time seemed to slow down as it always did in a combat situation. He had time to notice the sharp dark eyes set either side of a strong head, the open mouth, red tongue flickering between ivory-coloured teeth…
The burst of bullets took it in the chest but momentum kept it coming. Ryan pivoted on one leg, kicking out with a booted foot to send it flying back down the steps. It landed at the bottom in a crumpled heap and didn’t get up again.
The second one leaped at him, jaws wide. It was close…. Too close…
Ryan kicked out again, knocking its jaws shut with a painful snap. It crashed into him, carrying him backwards into the cave wall. Ryan ducked down and its jaws missed him by no more than six centimetres as he moved away, keeping the rock wall at his back, bringing up the M4 and firing by instinct rather than aiming, hoping none of the bullets would clip the metal railings and ricochet around the passage.
The allosaurus leaped at him again, but this time another boot struck at it.
Stephen’s kick took the dinosaur in the belly, hard. It turned, snapping at him. He rolled away.
Ryan pulled the Browning pistol out of his pocket. “Catch!”
Stephen’s hand shot out, but he missed and the Browning clattered on the floor, skidding just out of reach. Stephen rolled after it. The allosaur jumped at him, seeking the weaker prey by instinct. They were too close for Ryan to want to risk firing his rifle in such close proximity to his lover. He changed his grip on the M4 and swung it like a club at the dinosaur’s head, following up with another kick. It snapped at him, teeth sinking into the material of his combat trousers, but fortunately not meeting in his flesh.
Ryan pivoted on one foot again, kicking out as hard as he could.
The allosaur was too quick for him.
It jumped, jaws wide open, slamming him back into the wall.
A pistol shot echoed loudly in the narrow passage and the allosaur wavered on its feet. A second shot finished it off.
Stephen held a hand down and hauled Ryan to his feet.
“Nice shooting,” Ryan said, pulling Stephen into a quick kiss. “Especially after that thump on the head. I thought I’d lost you there for a moment.”
Stephen grinned at him. “I got the buggers, didn’t I?”
Ryan looked down at the dead dinosaur at his feet and then held up two fingers to his lover. “How many?”
The grin widened. “Two. Do you really think I’d risk shooting that close to you if I was seeing double?”
Ryan let warm relief course through him and wrapped his arm around his lover’s waist. “Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here before any more of the sods decide to come visiting.”
Wookey Hole, Somerset, 12.42pm.
Doing his best to ignore the pounding in his head, Stephen made his way up the last light of steps in the cave. He might not be seeing double, but he did have a crashing headache and gentle probing with his fingers told him he had a tender lump on his hairline where his head had struck the cave wall.
They reached the gate in time to see Sean Burns running up the path, three other lads at his back. Ryan pulled one of the smoke grenades out of his pocket and tossed it into the cave. If any more allosaurs had come through, that would at least keep them away from the entrance area. He slammed the gate shut and Colin, the cave guide, locked it shut.
“Are you both all right?” Lester demanded.
“More or less,” Stephen said.
“There’s a bloody great big lump on your forehead,” Lester told him.
“The rock was harder than my head.”
“What’s happening in the valley?” Ryan demanded as Burns arrived.
“They’ve all vanished,” the sergeant told him. “Five minutes ago. Connor confirmed they all went off his screens at exactly the same moment. “We’re going to need to take a few of the buggers back with us to the Hall. We couldn’t get them all back in time.” He gestured to the door of the cave. “What’s the score in there?”
“Several dead dinosaurs and two open anomalies when we left,” Stephen told him. “Dwarf allosaurs, the same as the one that got Tony. And something that looked like a giant salamander. I’m going to need to consult Connor on that one.”
“Keep the door shut for an hour and we’ll investigate then,” Ryan said. “As soon as we’re sure the ones out here aren’t coming back, we can go in mob-handed.”
Burns grinned. “Sounds good. Shall we get this lot escorted down to the hotel?”
Stephen took the walk back down the hill slowly, doing his best not to jar his head. He knew he was going to need to be checked out in hospital to make sure he hadn’t fractured his skull, and he wouldn’t be adverse to a hefty dose of painkillers, either.
When they reached the road, he stopped for a moment, leaning on the wall of one of the buildings, feeling more than a little sick. Ryan waited with him, doing a remarkably good job of not fussing, but Stephen could read the concern in his lover’s grey eyes.
“I’ll be fine,” he said quietly. “I bet Claudia’s going to be tearing her hair out by the time she’s finished with that lot.”
“Sooner her than me,” Ryan said. “Public relations isn’t my job. I wanted to deck that idiot with the ponytail.”
Stephen grinned. “What do you find if you lift up a ponytail?”
Ryan looked at him quizzically.
“An arsehole.”
With Ryan’s arm around his waist, they made their way across the car park to the hotel. Lester and Claudia had taken charge of the situation and, in true British fashion, tea was being dispensed in industrial quantities.
They had a hell of a clear-up operation on their hands, but by some minor miracle, especially considering how stretched they had been for resources, no one had died. The news from the hospital was good. The woman with the head injuries had regained consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital and was lucid, but had no memory of the events immediately before she was knocked out, which was fortunate. Tony Keegan was in the process of being patched up. The gash on his leg from the allosaur’s teeth wasn’t as deep as they’d first though and he was expected to make a full recovery.
Stephen’s head was throbbing and he’d started to feel utterly knackered from a combination of adrenaline fatigue with a side order of concussion. He was glad of Ryan’s steadying arm as they made their way over to join Lester and Claudia outside the hotel.
Things could certainly have ended up a hell of a lot worse. There were a lot of loose ends to tie up, but for the moment all Stephen cared about was that he had Ryan’s arm around him and they were both mostly intact.
Everything else – even giant sodding salamanders – could wait.
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 15
Characters : Stephen/Ryan, Lester, Claudia, Cutter, Abby, Connor
Disclaimer : Not mine (except OCs), no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Word Count : 15,000 split into six parts.
Summary : Trouble doesn’t just come in one simple package for the ARC team when an anomaly opens in the small Somerset village of Wookey Hole.
A/N : 1) Written for the
primeval_denial art challenge for this wonderful picture by goldarrow! 2) Set in my Stephen/Ryan series, but no prior knowledge of the series needed.Wookey Hole, Somerset, 12.35pm
Lester ducked down and made his way through what the cave guides called the Witch’s Chimney and out into the chamber on the other side. The anomaly was actually off to one side, at the bottom of a slope that led down to the underground course of the River Axe as it made its way through the caves and finally out to daylight in the valley.
The Witch of Wookey seemed to be staring straight down at it, an expression of utter disapproval on her petrified features.
So far as Lester could tell, nothing had come through the anomaly in this chamber and it was far enough away from the path for them to be able to get past it in safety. That seemed a better option that staying in chamber four and tangling with allosaurs. If necessary, they could cram everyone into the wooden guides’ hut until they got the all clear from Sean Burns to make their way back down the valley to the relative safety of the hotel.
He ducked back into chamber four and relayed the situation to Ryan.
The soldier heard him out and then nodded. “Take point with Colin. Once you start moving, don’t stop, no matter what happens back here. Get everyone out and keep them there.” He turned to the group and raised his voice. “We’re taking you all out of here now. Keep the children in the middle of the group and keep moving. Watch your heads on the first part and try not to slip, but move as quickly as you can. Do you understand?”
The woman who’d quelled the annoying ponytailed man nodded and promptly started marshalling the others. She reminded Lester of his old headmistress and he wouldn’t have been in the slightest bit surprised to learn she was a retired teacher.
He moved to the head of the group and started to lead them out of the cave. There were several gasps of surprise as people came face to face with the second anomaly, but he ignored their reactions and pressed on. He’d got as far as the Witch when he heard the first shots from Ryan’s M4 and realised that neither Ryan nor Stephen had followed them through the Witch’s Chimney.
“Stay in front and keep moving,” he told Colin. “I’m going to bring up the rear.”
The guide nodded and carried on. Lester stepped to one side, waiting until the last member of the group had passed him before he fell in behind them. If Ryan and Stephen were otherwise engaged, he was going to have to make sure nothing came after them.
As he turned to follow the group, a dark shape slithered out of the anomaly and vanished into the pool, leaving behind an ever-widening series of ripples on the surface of the water. Lester gripped his EMP rifle harder, but there was nothing to be seen.
More shots rang out in chamber four.
Hating the necessity of leaving Stephen and Ryan behind, Lester hurried to catch up the back of the group.
Getting the tourists to safety had to be his highest priority.
Wookey Hole, Somerset. 12.35pm.
The fourth allosaur through the anomaly came out with a bound that would have put a giant kangaroo to shame.
One had been taken down by a heavy charge from Stephen’s EMP and Ryan had dropped another with a three round burst from his rifle in the hope that the smell of blood might prove to be a distraction.
The third was circling them warily, showing no signs of wanting to go back to its own time. Stephen was currently trying – and failing – to get a clear shot with his EMP. He’d missed twice so far.
The latest one to join the party came straight at Ryan, jaws agape. He squeezed the trigger, but at the same moment, the allosaur leaped sideways and the bullets tore harmlessly into the cave wall. Ryan fired again, but the same thing happened. The dinosaur kept moving, leaping around like a jumping jack. They were fast, agile and fucking dangerous. He’d seem the damage one of them had done to Keegan’s leg and had no desire to end up on the receiving end of their pit-bull jaws.
The anomaly was still glittering brightly and had lost none of its magnetic pull. Not for the first time, Ryan wondered what sort of attraction the rips in time exerted over the creatures, but whatever it was, he could really do without it right now. Another three rounds buried themselves in the cave wall then he had to jump sideways to get out of the way of the allosaur’s line of attack.
The large, dimly-lit chamber provided no cover whatsoever. It was devoid of the sort of decoration they’d seen in the rest of the cave, and had bare, brown rock walls that sloped down to the hard mud floor. The only advantage it gave them was that there was no hiding place for the allosaurs either, but the downside to that was it allowed the fucking things plenty of room to manoeuvre and left them open to attack from too many possible directions.
“Hart, we need to follow the others, we’re too exposed here. They’ve had a good head start.”
There were narrower spots on the way out where they could make a more effective stand. All they had to do was reach one of them.
Trusting Ryan to cover his retreat, Stephen turned and made a dash for the low section. Once through, he went down on one knee, EMP slung over his back, as he held his Browning pistol in a two-handed grip. At close range, the 9mm bullets would have the stopping power they needed if – or rather when – the allosaurs decided to follow them
Ryan backed up, spraying a burst of automatic fire across the chamber as a deterrent, before he turned and ducked through, following Stephen.
“There’s more on their way,” Stephen said, as he straightened up and stepped away from the low section of passage.
Before Ryan had chance to respond, something reared up out of a pool of water on one side of the passage and scuttled forward, knocking into the back of Stephen’s legs. His lover pitched forward, caught off balance, and struck his head hard on the cave wall with an audible crack.
The creature slithered on past them, its long, low body propelled on four short, stubby legs. It had a huge, rounded flat head, a thick neck and a long body with an even longer tail, reminding Ryan of a giant salamander, if such things existed. Before he’d even had chance to bring his pistol to bear on the creature, it had disappeared into the underground river, leaving Stephen lying face down on the path, out for the count.
Ryan swore vehemently, and dropped to his knees next to his lover. Stephen was still breathing, but he was unconscious.
The bark of an allosaurus drew his attention back to the low section of passage separating them from the other chamber. He could see one of the creatures crouching down, obviously about to make a dash at them. He grabbed the Browning that Stephen had dropped and put a bullet in the dinosaur’s head. It fell to the ground as heavily as Stephen had done, buying Ryan some much needed time.
He grabbed Stephen under the armpits and tried to haul him out of reach of anything that might manage to get through the Witch’s Chimney. Right now he felt far too exposed for comfort with an open anomaly behind him, busy disgorging what looked like an entire pack of dwarf allosaurs, and another to one side, possibly responsible for the giant salamander. There was no way he’d be able to carry Stephen and still use either of his weapons with any degree of ease, but he’d feel happier if he could at least get somewhere more defensible. At the moment he felt like a sitting duck. He slung the EMP rife over his shoulder along with his M4, every instinct warning him against leaving any sort of weapon behind, even though they had now started using lethal force.
Stephen was heavy, despite the fact that he wasn’t carrying an ounce of spare fat. Ryan fell into a routine whereby he dragged his unconscious lover a couple of metres, then fired a few rounds behind him to discourage anything from following. He had a couple of smoke grenades in his tac vest, but they’d be no use in a closed environment. He was just going to have to deal with this by conventional means.
By the time he’d dragged Stephen to the foot of the first flight of steps Ryan was sweating like a pig and had used a full magazine. Laying his lover’s injured head down as gently as he could, Ryan dropped the mag out of his M4 and slipped a fresh one into its place. He had plenty of spares, so running out of bullets wasn’t high on his list of things he needed to worry about. He took the opportunity to reload Stephen’s Browning as well and dropped that into a pocket of his jacket.
He went down on one knee, and cupped his lover’s face in one hand. “Stephen, can you hear me?” Keeping his voice low and steady was an effort, but it had to be done.
He could hear the scrape of clawed feet on the concrete path and knew they were about to have company. Ryan took hold of Stephen’s black leather jacket and started to haul him up the steps as quickly as he could. He needed to reach the narrowest part of the passage above them. Once there, he had a good chance of holding the fuckers back until either he managed to take them all down or Burns managed to send some lads in as back-up.
Halfway up the steps, he heard a groan from Stephen. Relief coursed through him and he redoubled his efforts.
A few steps from the top, he had to lower Stephen down and swing up his M4. There were three allosaurs bounding towards him as though they had springs underneath them. They were quick, clever and sodding determined. He managed to take the lead one down, but the others jumped sideways, avoiding the bullets.
Another groan from Stephen was accompanied by movement as his lover tried to sit up. “What the fu..?”
“Something knocked you over, you hit your head,” Ryan said, snapping off another couple of shots to no good purpose. You’ve been out for a few minutes.”
Stephen muttered something Ryan didn’t catch. He managed to sit up on the steps then, when he realised their situation, he shuffled backwards and grabbed the metal handrail in an attempt to get upright. From the sharp intake of breath that followed the action, Ran deduced that his head hurt – a lot. But he was conscious and moving. That was what mattered.
As the two allosaurs rushed at him, Ryan drew in a long breath and held it. His first shot went wide. Time seemed to slow down as it always did in a combat situation. He had time to notice the sharp dark eyes set either side of a strong head, the open mouth, red tongue flickering between ivory-coloured teeth…
The burst of bullets took it in the chest but momentum kept it coming. Ryan pivoted on one leg, kicking out with a booted foot to send it flying back down the steps. It landed at the bottom in a crumpled heap and didn’t get up again.
The second one leaped at him, jaws wide. It was close…. Too close…
Ryan kicked out again, knocking its jaws shut with a painful snap. It crashed into him, carrying him backwards into the cave wall. Ryan ducked down and its jaws missed him by no more than six centimetres as he moved away, keeping the rock wall at his back, bringing up the M4 and firing by instinct rather than aiming, hoping none of the bullets would clip the metal railings and ricochet around the passage.
The allosaurus leaped at him again, but this time another boot struck at it.
Stephen’s kick took the dinosaur in the belly, hard. It turned, snapping at him. He rolled away.
Ryan pulled the Browning pistol out of his pocket. “Catch!”
Stephen’s hand shot out, but he missed and the Browning clattered on the floor, skidding just out of reach. Stephen rolled after it. The allosaur jumped at him, seeking the weaker prey by instinct. They were too close for Ryan to want to risk firing his rifle in such close proximity to his lover. He changed his grip on the M4 and swung it like a club at the dinosaur’s head, following up with another kick. It snapped at him, teeth sinking into the material of his combat trousers, but fortunately not meeting in his flesh.
Ryan pivoted on one foot again, kicking out as hard as he could.
The allosaur was too quick for him.
It jumped, jaws wide open, slamming him back into the wall.
A pistol shot echoed loudly in the narrow passage and the allosaur wavered on its feet. A second shot finished it off.
Stephen held a hand down and hauled Ryan to his feet.
“Nice shooting,” Ryan said, pulling Stephen into a quick kiss. “Especially after that thump on the head. I thought I’d lost you there for a moment.”
Stephen grinned at him. “I got the buggers, didn’t I?”
Ryan looked down at the dead dinosaur at his feet and then held up two fingers to his lover. “How many?”
The grin widened. “Two. Do you really think I’d risk shooting that close to you if I was seeing double?”
Ryan let warm relief course through him and wrapped his arm around his lover’s waist. “Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here before any more of the sods decide to come visiting.”
Wookey Hole, Somerset, 12.42pm.
Doing his best to ignore the pounding in his head, Stephen made his way up the last light of steps in the cave. He might not be seeing double, but he did have a crashing headache and gentle probing with his fingers told him he had a tender lump on his hairline where his head had struck the cave wall.
They reached the gate in time to see Sean Burns running up the path, three other lads at his back. Ryan pulled one of the smoke grenades out of his pocket and tossed it into the cave. If any more allosaurs had come through, that would at least keep them away from the entrance area. He slammed the gate shut and Colin, the cave guide, locked it shut.
“Are you both all right?” Lester demanded.
“More or less,” Stephen said.
“There’s a bloody great big lump on your forehead,” Lester told him.
“The rock was harder than my head.”
“What’s happening in the valley?” Ryan demanded as Burns arrived.
“They’ve all vanished,” the sergeant told him. “Five minutes ago. Connor confirmed they all went off his screens at exactly the same moment. “We’re going to need to take a few of the buggers back with us to the Hall. We couldn’t get them all back in time.” He gestured to the door of the cave. “What’s the score in there?”
“Several dead dinosaurs and two open anomalies when we left,” Stephen told him. “Dwarf allosaurs, the same as the one that got Tony. And something that looked like a giant salamander. I’m going to need to consult Connor on that one.”
“Keep the door shut for an hour and we’ll investigate then,” Ryan said. “As soon as we’re sure the ones out here aren’t coming back, we can go in mob-handed.”
Burns grinned. “Sounds good. Shall we get this lot escorted down to the hotel?”
Stephen took the walk back down the hill slowly, doing his best not to jar his head. He knew he was going to need to be checked out in hospital to make sure he hadn’t fractured his skull, and he wouldn’t be adverse to a hefty dose of painkillers, either.
When they reached the road, he stopped for a moment, leaning on the wall of one of the buildings, feeling more than a little sick. Ryan waited with him, doing a remarkably good job of not fussing, but Stephen could read the concern in his lover’s grey eyes.
“I’ll be fine,” he said quietly. “I bet Claudia’s going to be tearing her hair out by the time she’s finished with that lot.”
“Sooner her than me,” Ryan said. “Public relations isn’t my job. I wanted to deck that idiot with the ponytail.”
Stephen grinned. “What do you find if you lift up a ponytail?”
Ryan looked at him quizzically.
“An arsehole.”
With Ryan’s arm around his waist, they made their way across the car park to the hotel. Lester and Claudia had taken charge of the situation and, in true British fashion, tea was being dispensed in industrial quantities.
They had a hell of a clear-up operation on their hands, but by some minor miracle, especially considering how stretched they had been for resources, no one had died. The news from the hospital was good. The woman with the head injuries had regained consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital and was lucid, but had no memory of the events immediately before she was knocked out, which was fortunate. Tony Keegan was in the process of being patched up. The gash on his leg from the allosaur’s teeth wasn’t as deep as they’d first though and he was expected to make a full recovery.
Stephen’s head was throbbing and he’d started to feel utterly knackered from a combination of adrenaline fatigue with a side order of concussion. He was glad of Ryan’s steadying arm as they made their way over to join Lester and Claudia outside the hotel.
Things could certainly have ended up a hell of a lot worse. There were a lot of loose ends to tie up, but for the moment all Stephen cared about was that he had Ryan’s arm around him and they were both mostly intact.
Everything else – even giant sodding salamanders – could wait.
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Date: 2015-07-09 06:55 am (UTC)The fourth allosaur ... with a bound that would have put a giant kangaroo to shame
*g* Sweet mental picture!
as he held his Browning pistol in a two-handed grip.
*happy sigh* Oh, I can just see that intent expression...
Bloody hell that section where Stephen was knocked out and Ryan was pulling him to safety was amazing. *pants*
Stephen’s hand shot out, but he missed and the Browning clattered on the floor, skidding just out of reach.
That was evil! I actually squeaked! But it was perfect, too. Much more accurate than a perfect catch would have been.
Stephen grinned at him. “I got the buggers, didn’t I?”
Ryan looked down at the dead dinosaur at his feet and then held up two fingers to his lover. “How many?”
The grin widened. “Two. Do you really think I’d risk shooting that close to you if I was seeing double?”
Love that they can joke with each other like that.
Heeee for the ponytail joke!
Lester and Claudia had taken charge of the situation and, in true British fashion, tea was being dispensed in industrial quantities.
*G* Of course!
Yippee for Keegan being patch-uppable!
Everything else – even giant sodding salamanders – could wait.
*fist pump* YES!
Loved it! That was a terrific story for the pic!
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Date: 2015-07-09 08:17 am (UTC)The piccie was fab to write for, even if I did have to cheat somewhat with the location. *g*
Thank you for creating such wonderful art!
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Date: 2015-07-09 08:27 am (UTC)Thanks, I'm hoping for a visit *fingers crossed that it works out*
I've added the fic to both P-D and my journal!
*hugs*
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Date: 2015-07-09 07:26 am (UTC)That was a great fic! I think Wookey Hole should have the giant salamander as a new attraction!
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Date: 2015-07-09 08:18 am (UTC)Action scenes are the bane of my life, but always nice when they come together.
The manager might agree! But the divers certainly wouldn't. *g*
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Date: 2015-07-09 11:32 am (UTC)"What do you find if you lift up a ponytail?” LOL!
At least Stephen didn't loose his sense of humour.
Lovely, action packed fic.
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Date: 2015-07-09 01:54 pm (UTC)Thank you. It was fun to write.
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Date: 2015-07-09 06:16 pm (UTC)You can write the sequel soon as you like - and if you do, I won't ask about hot monkey sex!
I tittered loudly at the ponytail line!
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Date: 2015-07-09 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-09 09:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-09 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-09 09:16 pm (UTC)Also aaaawwww for worried!Ryan and hurt!Stephen, they are such a sweet (and badass) couple *g*
Eewww for giant salamander, though (not a fan of those).
Great fic, action packed and fun! *kudos*
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Date: 2015-07-09 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2015-07-10 10:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-11 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2015-07-12 09:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-15 04:01 pm (UTC)I always find it hard lining up the parts of multi-part fic to read at once, but finally, I have done it and read it! And yay, loved this. Can never have too many fics where small knowledgeable children identify dinosaur species. And giant kangaroo bounds. And putting it all in Wookey Hole: brilliant location!
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Date: 2015-07-15 04:27 pm (UTC)Lovely to see you and thanks for reading!
This fic totally took over my life for several weeks, but I'm glad it did. I think there will be a sequel, as well. I just need to make a start on it now.
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Date: 2015-07-26 12:02 am (UTC)****The fourth allosaur through the anomaly came out with a bound that would have put a giant kangaroo to shame.****
The giant prehistoric kangaroos are very impressed! Love the description and the tense action sequence with bonus giant salamander thingie.
Now I'll never be able to look at a man with a ponytail without giggling (even when watching the Age of Sail Hornblower series...)
****Stephen was heavy, despite the fact that he wasn’t carrying an ounce of spare fat.****
Indeed ;)
Great fic, rounded off with much-deserved tea
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Date: 2015-07-26 04:39 pm (UTC)It was a fun fic to write :)
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Date: 2015-08-02 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-08-02 07:49 am (UTC)