Time Crunch Read online

  Time Crunch

  Time Crunch

  by

  Shane Barker

  Other Young Adult Books by Shane Barker:

  Demon’s Treasure

  Shredder

  Saucer Crash

  Virus!

  Chase McCord Novels:

  Time Snap

  Time Crunch

  And for Adults:

  Outtabounds

  A DaggerPoint Book

  This is a work of fiction. The events and places described are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and not intended to represent specific places or persons.

  Text copyright © 2019 by Shane R. Barker. All rights reserved.

  For Ava, Cash, Lilia, Grey, and Iris

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  1 The Jet

  2 The Mission

  3 Into the Forest

  4 Callovian World

  5 Back on the Trail

  6 Dilophosaurs

  7 Monster Mash

  8 Night Terror

  9 Lost and Found

  10 Elvisaurs

  11 Apatosaurs

  12 The Fight

  13 Prehistoric Bath

  14 Fire Ferns

  15 A Billion Stars

  16 The Third Trip

  17 Callovian Dentist

  18 Stealth Approach

  19 Camp Commando

  20 Doc McCord

  21 Starry Night

  22 Quill Lizards

  23 Fishing Contest

  24 Midnight Watch

  25 Night Hike

  26 Zachisosaurs

  27 Croc-things

  28 Stethoscope Guy

  About the Author

  Prologue

  FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD Zach Wolff stopped on the trail and looked back over his shoulder. Sweat ran down his face as he chuffed for breath.

  Man, he thought, wiping a sleeve across his forehead. It’s like I can’t breathe here.

  He sucked in a deep, lung-filling breath, but the air made his head swim: it clearly had more oxygen than he was used to breathing.

  He buried his face in his shoulder—trying to mop off the sweat—then looked quickly all around. The forest was too thick to see much, the trees too tall to allow much sunlight. The shrieks, cackles, and cries of birds and small forest animals filled the warm air like a chorus of monkeys. And there was a … scent … in the air that reminded Zach of a warm, humid greenhouse.

  A greenhouse filled with must, and mold, and decay …

  Zach closed his eyes—

  There was a sudden snap from the trees, and Zach looked back over his shoulder.

  Crap! It’s still coming!

  He turned and began running again. The trail was narrow, and the roots and limbs of tangled vines and scrubs tugged at his legs. He wasn’t running as hard as he could—

  Can’t afford to get tired!

  —but just fast enough to keep his lead.

  The trail abruptly spilled from the forest onto a wide swath that cut through the forest like a meandering road. Rotting stumps and logs lay everywhere, and Zach knew instantly what he’d found.

  Dinosaur highway, he thought. Made by animals big enough to knock down fifty-foot trees.

  He looked up and down the “road,” trying to decide which way to go. It didn’t really matter, but—

  Another crunch came from the trees, and Zach turned right, jogging down the side of the crumbly swath. The ground had been pulped and pounded, chopped up, chewed up, and crushed again and again by the feet of enormous animals.

  Makes sense, he thought. An apatosaur could smash its way through the middle of the forest. But why bother when there’s a perfectly good trail to follow …

  IN ADDITION to the rotting stumps and logs were enormous piles of excrement—dinosaur dung—some as tall as he was. Many of the moldering piles were old, black, and crumbling. But others were still fresh: green and pungent and buzzing with flies. Zach ignored them, hoping the ripe smell would mask his scent. But rank as the putrefying dung was, Zach knew it might not be enough.

  Tyrannosaurs have good noses, he remembered, knowing the part of the brain that allowed them to smell was larger than in other predators. Zach knew, of course, that just because tyrannosaurs could sniff out prey like hounds after squirrels didn’t mean all big carnivores could.

  But it didn’t mean they couldn’t, either.

  HE JOGGED ANOTHER fifty yards, cast a quick glance over his shoulder—

  Good! Nothing there yet!

  —then darted off the swath and back into the forest.

  The trees were the strangest he’d ever seen. There were pine trees, of course, fifty or sixty feet high with trunks five feet across. And there were gnarled, moss- and vine-covered trees that filled the sky with their branches. Thin shafts of sunlight filtered down through the leaves like bright spiderwebs: the entire forest was colored in a thousand different shades of green.

  Zach ran for another minute, then slowed to climb over a fallen log. He stepped behind one of the gnarled trees, looked back into the forest, then leaned back against the mossy trunk.

  Man, can’t run much farther, he thought. He took a deep breath of the warm, fragrant air and felt another rush of dizziness. His sides were beginning to ache—his legs burning a little—and he knew he couldn’t go on much longer.

  He closed his eyes and tried to relax a little. He only needed to rest for a minute—just long enough to catch his breath—before he began running again. He stifled a cough, then looked up into the treetops.

  Something …

  The forest was suddenly quiet. The birds, the bugs, and the small forest animals had become silent. The stillness was eerie, and Zach felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as if charged by an electric current. He glanced around the tree—

  Still nothing there.

  —then looked ahead.

  Time to go …

  He took another breath, then pushed himself away from the tree and froze.

  Something moved in the forest ahead.

  Zach caught his breath, then slowly bent his knees, lowering himself to the ground. He kept perfectly still, his eyes locked on the dense foliage. Several seconds passed. Then several more. Zach could feel his heart pounding, his lungs burning as he held his breath.

  Everything was still, and quiet.

  Zach watched carefully. He was beginning to think the movement had been his imagination—or maybe a frond swaying in a breath of unfelt breeze—when the leaves rustled. He pressed himself back against the trunk of the tree, scrunching down as far as he could.

  And then he saw it.

  The dinosaur emerged slowly from the trees, its head down and its eyes peering straight ahead.

  It looks like a tyrannosaur, Zach thought, though he knew it wasn’t. Tyrannosaurs were Cretaceous animals and wouldn’t exist for another sixty million years.

  But it’s not an allosaur, either. It’s too big. It’s got a longer snout and it’s … stockier … than an allosaur.

  He shrank back into the ferns as he watched. Allosaurs were supposed to be among the fiercest predators of the Mid Mesozoic. But this was more than forty-feet long, sixteen-feet high at the hips: bigger than any allosaur, larger even than T-rex. It was covered with pebbled, mottled-grey skin that blended with the foliage, ugly jagged scars running across its jaw and shoulder.

  Zach racked his brain, thinking of every picture he’d ever seen—every description he’d ever read—trying to decide what the thing was.

  Could be a siats, he thought, pronouncing the name “see-atch” in his mind. Siats was a recently discovered predator thought to be bigger than T-rex. Or maybe it’s a lythronax … the “King of Gore.”

  Zach shuddered, not exc
ited about either possibility. A dinosaur more terrifying than T-rex?

  A dinosaur known as the King of Gore?

  Running into either one would be bad news.

  But it might be something new, he thought. Something undiscovered … something no one’s ever seen!

  He knew paleontologists had only identified a fraction of the dinosaurs that once ruled the world. And there were literally thousands—millions—of species yet to be discovered.

  So if it is something new, I could name it, he thought. Call it … Zachiosaurus.

  The enormous dinosaur stood with its massive head and tail stretched parallel to the ground. After a moment it turned, looking in Zach’s direction. Zach’s blood froze as he stared back, praying the thing hadn’t spotted him. His stomach churned in fear.

  They might not name it after me because I discovered it … but because I was the first person to be eaten by it.

  THE DINOSAUR stood perfectly still, but Zach could see its eyes moving, flicking back and forth like a bird’s as it searched the trees. Zach could also see the animal’s nostrils, which were at the very end of the snout.

  Just like a tyrannosaur’s …

  Paleontologists once thought tyrannosaurs spent so much time in the water that their nostrils must have been high on their heads, enabling them to breathe. But Zach knew from experience that a tyrannosaur’s nostrils were at the end of its snout, further evidence of its ability to sniff out prey.

  So this thing might be able to do the same thing, he thought grimly. It does, and—

  There was a sound like distant thunder, and Zach glanced up before realizing: That’s not thunder! That’s a growl! The thing’s growling! What—

  There was a soft crunch from behind him, the sound of something stepping on a dry stick.

  Zach’s stomach dropped.

  Oh, crap!

  He kicked himself, realizing he’d been so focused upon the shoulder-slashed animal that he’d let the other one—the one he’d been running from—sneak up behind him.

  Can’t believe I’m so stupid! he thought miserably. He scrunched even closer to the tree, trying to make himself as small as possible. There was a heavy chuff and—

  I can hear it breathing! It’s so close I can actually hear it breathing!

  —he became aware of a foul, sickly odor like rotting garbage.

  Holy crap! I can actually smell it!

  He tried easing beneath a heavy fern, praying the animals wouldn’t spot him, but knowing they didn’t actually have to see him. If they could smell even half as well as tyrannosaurs, he didn’t have a chance.

  THE DINOSAUR WITH the slashed shoulder remained perfectly still, its eyes locked on a spot behind Zach. It was still growling—

  But not in fear, Zach thought, breathing rapidly. But in warning …

  There was a rustle of leaves … not from behind, but from the side. Zach tried to look without turning his head. There was a crack—and a crunch—and a third dinosaur stepped from the trees. The animal had a black nose and jagged, snaggled teeth.

  Snaggle Tooth abruptly lowered its head and bellowed.

  Zach cringed beneath the fern, clamping his hands over his ears. The first dinosaur—Slash—snapped around and roared in reply. A second later the unseen dinosaur roared, then stepped past the tree, an enormous three-toed foot the color of dried blood crushing plants and ferns just inches from Zach’s hiding place.

  Zach clenched his fists—fighting not to react—as he gawked through the leaves. Snaggle Tooth had taken another step, rows of crooked yellow teeth flashing as it snapped its head back and forth. It roared defiantly, then shook its head and raced forward. Zach felt the ground shake as the enormous dinosaur rushed through the brush toward him.

  Zach screamed—

  “Aaaaaaiighhh!”

  —unable to stop himself. It was pure reflex, but it didn’t matter. The red dinosaur roared, then attacked the snaggle-toothed challenger; Zach gaped, amazed at its speed.

  The dinosaurs slammed together. Snaggle Tooth buckled under the impact and Big Red was instantly upon it. Red clamped down on Snaggle Tooth’s shoulder, sinking its teeth deep into the flesh. It shook its head, trying to rip through the tough muscle.

  Snaggle Tooth roared in fury. It twisted away, lashing out with a clawed foot that ripped Red across the belly: a spray of hot blood shot into the air—

  There was a terrible roar—a shriek like a rusty saw biting into rocks—and Slash tore into the action, snapping at Red’s neck, then hacking at Snaggle Tooth with a powerful clawed foot.

  Zach was staggered by the violence of the fight, and he shrank back in the brush. The raging animals were just thirty feet away—a writhing mass of furious, twisting bodies—flinging broken branches, torn foliage, and uprooted shrubs into the air as they battled.

  Zach began to wheeze, but couldn’t tear his eyes from the struggle; couldn’t believe animals could fight with such savagery.

  Slash abruptly lost its footing and fell, but was instantly up again. It crouched, ready to leap back into the fight, but the other two were tangled together in a knot of snarling, slashing rage and they collided with the leaping dinosaur. Slash was slammed back and it tumbled toward Zach, legs and forearms clawing at the air.

  Zach curled into a ball, certain he was about to crushed, but the dinosaur caught itself and leaped back to its feet. It spun around, its powerful tail whipping through the brush and striking Zach across the shoulder.

  “Oof!”

  It was like being hit by a speeding truck.

  Zach flew through the brush—arms and legs flapping uselessly—and landed hard on the opposite shoulder. The impact drove the breath from his lungs in a painful whoosh. He rolled over, shook his head clear, then looked up just as another tail snapped toward him. He ducked, then rolled away as Red crashed onto its side, exactly where Zach had been a split-second earlier.

  “Ah!”

  Zach began army-crawling like a four-legged centipede, but Snaggle Tooth and Slash were suddenly in front of him, a horrible, frenzied ball of snapping jaws and slashing claws—

  Zach spun around, but Red blocked the way as it again tore into the clash. Zach screamed as a massive foot crunched down on his leg—

  “Aaaaaaiighhh!”

  —mashing it into the dirt as the animal rushed past.

  Zach gasped in agony. Hot tears stung his eyes, both from the pain and the terror.

  There was a rotting log just ahead, and Zach scudded toward it, dragging his injured leg. The dinosaurs were all around him—first over him, then to the left, then to the right—and there was nowhere to go. He flattened himself beside the log just as one of the animals crashed to the ground, the stump keeping him from being mashed to jelly.

  Zach struggled to breathe. A heavy foot crashed over the log, a curved claw catching him across his injured leg, but was just as quickly gone again. Zach fought the urge to curl into a ball, forcing himself to lay flat alongside the log, knowing it was the only thing keeping him from being crushed. It was—

  One of the dinosaurs abruptly slammed to the ground, directly on top of the log, smashing Zach’s face into the dirt.

  “Geghhhh!”

  Zach tried to breathe, but the dinosaur was crushing him, squashing his lungs. He could feel the animal’s hot, rough skin against his arms and neck, felt something wet soaking into his shirt.

  There was a horrendous roar as the dinosaur twisted—

  “Geghhhh—”

  —grinding Zach even deeper into the dirt. The dinosaur lurched—

  “Geghhhh!”

  —and was back on its feet. With a terrible shriek it charged its adversaries, kicking the log as it leaped.

  Zach gasped for breath. Crushed by the weight of the dinosaur, his ribs burned like fire: they hurt so bad he was certain one or more of them had to be broken.

  He coughed—thought he tasted blood—then gathered his strength and crawled through the mangled ferns toward a nearby tree.
He hurt everywhere, certain he was suffering injuries worse than strains, sprains, and bruises.

  He dragged himself behind the tree, breathing hard. His shirt was wet, and sticky, and when he touched it his hand came away red with blood. He cringed, but thought: No, it’s not me … it’s from one of the dinosaurs!

  The fight was still raging fiercely behind him. The animals were roaring, bellowing, screeching, snorting—

  Zach had never heard such horrible sounds, prayed that he never would again. He glanced back around the tree just as Red bit down on Slash’s neck and then buckled as Snaggle Tooth rammed in from the side, folding the crimson dinosaur like a soggy taco.

  Zach turned back for the forest, away from the fight. He took another breath, then staggered away, keeping the tree between him and the raging dinosaurs. When he was well out of sight, he tried hobbling a little faster. He was beaten up, banged up, bruised, battered, torn, and crushed, feeling like he’d been run over by a freight train.

  Man, he thought as he dragged his injured leg through the brush. This isn’t fun anymore …

  1 The Jet

  MR. SCHERRER—the eighth-grade math teacher—grinned smugly.

  “Okay, here’s a good one. … Steve is going to paint the city’s cylindrical water tank. If the tank is ten feet tall with a radius of fifteen feet—and if one gallon of paint covers ten square feet—how many gallons of paint does Steve need to buy?”

  Kids around the room instantly bent over their desks, punching at calculators and scribbling on scraps of paper. Near the back of the room, Chase McCord scrunched his nose. He’d seen a peculiar gleam in his teacher’s eyes and knew the problem couldn’t be as straightforward as it seemed.

  Trick question, he thought. But what …

  He quickly sketched a cylinder to represent the water tank.

  Looking for the surface area, he thought, visualizing the formula.

  He frowned.

  But there has to be more to it than that.

  Several students had already finished their calculations and were waving their hands, hoping to be called. Students able to solve the teacher’s notorious challenges were excused from the day’s assignment, which would be at least an hour’s work at home.