Project Orpheus: A Tale of Blood and Feathers

Chapter 22: The Powderkeg

Michael could feel the sweat leaking off his face enough that his eyebrows were no longer keeping it from dripping into his eyes. It stung, too. He did not like any of this.

"Aughk, can we not move so fast? I'm getting dizzy." Alexandra grumbled.

Michael stopped upon hearing this, narrowing his eyes.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I must have had one two many of those gummies." She said with a sheepish smile.

Michael had seen her discreetly trying to sneak them out and eat them, but he hadn't minded - at least not until he realized they were alcohol carrying wine gummies. He had seen her drinking wine at lunch too. He folded his hands together, trying to stabilize and calm himself.

"Alexandra, you're drunk?" He stammered.

He looked at her face, noticing only now the flush color to it, and the absent look in her eyes. The amble that she walked with.

"At a time like this?" His voice raised sharply in anger.

"Hey, it's like they say, wine now so you don't whine later." She gave a chuckle.

Michael was about to choke this woman. "Alright, okay. That's...well you couldn't have predicted any of this would happen. I still can't believe it but we have to work with what we have. Okay, okay. Let's...let's focus."

He took in a series of deep breaths and cracked his knuckles. He felt his blood pounding through his body so hard he could hear it in his ears, his palms cold from sweat.

These are all fear reactions, he reminded himself. His body making him stronger, faster, better. Preparing him to deal with the threats to come. These were not things to be upset by. These were things to embrace, and funnel into something productive.

Like running for his god damned life from mother fucking dinosaurs.

"Okay, come on. We need to get to Central."

"They keep calling it Central," Alexandra said, "but Central what?"

Michael made his way through the jungle, using that anxious energy to lock his muscles into perfect control so he made no stray movements or stepped on something that would make a lot of noise.

"It's short for Central Operations. We were there earlier, remember? It's where we started our tour from. Central Operations has Central Station."

They were far enough that the Triceratops was no longer a problem, but who knows what else may have gotten out. They knew the Deinonychus had, and as far as he knew they were stealth pack hunters.

"Ooohh, that makes sense." She looked around, stumbling after him.

Leaves, sticks, vines and nuts all crunched beneath her feet, negating all the hard work he was doing to conceal their presence. He was about to yell at her when they encountered a river.

The current was strong, and rocks populated along the way. He had actually heard the river before seeing it, but he didn't fully realize they were walking towards it - and now they were at it, they had to cross it.

Or did they? In theory, this river should have a bridge somewhere. It was still on reserve land, after all. They could follow the river and eventually find it. He could see the T. Rex on top Central all the way out here, and if he followed that upstream, there'd probably be a bridge.

But what if the bridge was downstream? He wasn't sure where they were in relation to the road. If he had been using his head he would have followed that in their flight from the bus like Noh had but he hadn't been thinking at that point, just running. He scratched his head, the roaring waters of the river surging past as he analyzed the situation.