Page 17 of Caveman Alien's Heat
That may be a good thing, seeing as that one is by far the fastest. It leaves the wounded one following me directly.
The snow ahead dips slightly, and I know the crack must be close. My heart pounds harder. I throw the last piece of meat and sprint the final distance.
The crevasse appears suddenly in front of me, a long gray line cutting through the white glacier. It’s got to be six feet wide at the narrowest. But the grayness is an illusion. The crevasse is filled with loose snow, and my only hope is that it will carry me and not the dino.
I can't slow down. The only way is forward. My boots hit the snow crust covering the narrowest part of the gap. For one horrible second, I imagine the snow collapsing under me.
But the snow is hard and old, and it holds me easily.
I reach the other side and spin around just as the wounded Big charges after me. Its massive weight slams onto the fragile snow bridge.
The snow is mixed with ice, and it breaks open with a soft crack and drops away all along the crevasse.
The creature roars as the surface collapses beneath it. Its front legs vanish into the blue, icy darkness as it drops into the crack, claws scraping helplessly against the ice walls. For a moment, its head thrashes above the edge, jaws snapping with ugly, brown teeth.
Then it slides deeper into the crack with a furious bellow before it just drops away.
I tiptoe up to the crevasse and stare down at it, breathing hard. The crack is uneven, and the dino is solidly wedged in. But it’s still moving, so it can look forward to a slow, cold death down there. I don’t relish that, but there’s not much I can do.
“At least it worked,” I say to nobody.
Nator’ax stands on the far side of the crevasse with the second Big. It looks to me as if the dino is scared of him and hesitates to attack.
The larger predator paces up to the edge of the crack, roaring at the trapped creature below. Then its yellow eyes lift and fix on me.
I freeze.
“Oh,” I whisper. “No, no. Stay where you are. How do you think your friend ended up down there?”
Behind the Big, Nator’ax comes slowly closer. His sword glints in the pale sunlight.
“Riley,” he calls. “Stay where you are.”
“That was the plan,” I call back.
The Big turns its head between us, uncertain which target it wants more. Or maybe unsure if it wants a quick kill and a nice snack or to get revenge on Nator’ax for injuring its mate.
Nator’ax glances down the length of the crevasse, measuring the distance. Then he starts running. Straight toward the gap.
“Wait,” I shout. “That’s too wide!”
Too late. He reaches the edge and launches himself across the crevasse in one powerful leap. For a moment, he seems to hangin the air above the black opening. Then he lands beside me with a heavy thud that sends snow spraying and makes the ice shake.
The Big roars in frustration on the other side.
I stare at him. “You crazy.”
“Sometimes,” he says calmly. “But if I am crazy, then so are you. I’ve never before seen anyone try to bait a Big like that.”
“Well… yes,” I concede, because the evidence is pretty clear. “All right. We both crazy.”
The creature follows us along the opposite edge of the crack, pacing and snarling.
“Follow me,” Nator’ax says and starts to walk along the crack.
We start walking along the crevasse together, keeping a careful distance from the edge. The Big stalks us from the far side, its heavy claws scraping the ice as it tries to find a crossing.
After a while, the crack begins to narrow. Nator’ax stops and studies it. “This will work.”
