Desolation Canyon by Russell James

Author:Russell James [James, Russell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Everyone had their own priorities about what to bring to the village in the sky. Grant’s priority was sustenance. He went straight to the cases of food in the storage area.

The phytosaur rampage had not been kind to them. A number were crushed and the bags of trail mix within burst open. The protein bars had fared better. Even a phytosaur couldn’t crush the little bricks. No wonder Grant had a hard time chewing them. He stuffed his pockets with the loose ones, picked up the surviving case, and walked over to Priya. She had two one-gallon water containers at her feet.

“Assuming our digestive tracts can do a better job on these bars than our teeth can,” Grant said as he shook the box of protein bars, “we won’t starve. At least not right away.”

“Only one of these water containers is full,” she said. “When we think it’s safe, we can refill them at the river.”

Grant decided he would see how well he could imitate a camel before he got that close to phytosaur-infested water.

Casey stepped up with a roll of maps in one hand. “These may help us find a way out of here if rescue doesn’t arrive.”

Crusher brought over a big bundle of serviceable tent canvas. Kraus carried a box of ammunition for the rifles. Terri had a backpack across her shoulders.

“I have all the medical supplies that survived the rampage,” she said, “plus the samples we dug.”

“Splendid,” Grant said. “You can throw them at the phytosaurs when they attack.”

“They are the only fruits of our labor down here,” Terri said, “and I plan on needing them because I plan on us getting out of here alive.”

“I left a few notes for the rescue team on the equipment,” Kraus said, “telling them where we went. I also warned them about the dinosaurs.”

“In my experience,” Grant said, “Neoborax people don’t take dinosaur warnings seriously.”

“Well, they’ll see that something wrecked the camp. They can call it whatever they want.”

“Let’s roll,” Terri said. “Priya, lead the way. You know where we’re going.”

Priya nodded and headed uphill toward the base of the cliff. Grant fell in behind her. Casey ended up in the rear behind the three Neoborax people. Grant’s body still hadn’t forgiven him for all the abuse he’d subjected it to since waking up, so every step was painful. In addition, it did not take long before what had seemed like the manageable weight of the protein bar case soon made his arms sing a soulful lament.

“Maybe once we get up closer to the canyon rim,” Priya said, “we can get a cell signal and call for help.”

“Maybe.” Grant knew that wouldn’t happen. They hadn’t had a cell signal at the camp on the rim, and if for some reason one was out there now, it wasn’t going to penetrate the solid rock over the village in the sky. But who was he to crush Priya’s hopes? He’d let reality do it later.

After a while, they got to where the steps were cut into the canyon wall.

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