A Whole New World

“I’m sorry, Señor, we have no boats available for the next few days.”

The entire band sighed out of frustration as Malcolm said to the man on the radio, “Please keep us posted.”

The radio clicked off, and Malcolm turned to address them. “Make yourselves comfortable, you’re staying for a few more days. Of course, we hope to be off the island in a couple, so we can just take you with us if they take too long.”

“Thanks, Mate, we appreciate it,” Matt said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Believe me, I’m the last person to leave someone stranded out there with those animals,” Malcolm assured them. “Besides, Richard packed enough food for about a month.”

Richard Levine shrugged. “Always be prepared, you never know when a Welsh metal band is going to appear on your expedition.”

They laughed. “So, are we aloud to smoke on this island?” Padge asked.

Levine shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t make a difference, the animals don’t seem too bothered by us. Be careful, though.”

Padge, Jay, and Matt exited the trailer and lit up some cigarettes.

“Dr. Malcolm?” Deirdre asked.

He turned around and grinned at her, making her cheeks turn pink as she gave him a playful smile. “Yes, Deir?” he said.

“Is there any place to take a nap?” She asked. “I’ve been up for the past 27 hours.”

He stood and helped her to do the same, then led her back to a small bunk area with four small beds. “Here, you can take my bunk.”

She nodded in thanks and laid in his bed, instantly falling into slumber.

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“Might I join you?” Kelly timidly asked the men outside from the doorway of the trailer.

They put smiles on and nodded. “Yeah, come on out,” Matt said.

She smiled largely and stepped outside, taking care to close the door quietly. The men stared down at her, making her slightly nervous.

“That’s a pretty awesome shirt you have there,” Matt said, indicating the black Bullet For My Valentine shirt with red bats that she wore.

She blushed ever so lightly. “Thanks.”

“Did you get it at one of our shows?” Jay asked, tapping some ash of the end of his cigarette.

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t been to one of your shows. I’ve always dreamt of it, but my mother can’t afford it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Matt said, patting her on the back. “I hate how they over-price our shows.”

“It’s okay,” she shrugged. “Arby got me your live DVD last Christmas. It’s really good.”

“Thanks,” They all said at the same time. “Do you know what Deirdre is doing?” Padge asked.

“Sleeping,” Kelly said. Padge nodded and excused himself into the trailer.

“So, why are you and Arby here?” Jay asked. “It’s kind of dangerous.”

Kelly smiled. “We snuck on the trailers. Dr. Levine was teaching a class about prehistoric life at our school, and we were his assistants. He disappeared though; he came to this island without his equipment. Dr. Malcolm and Thorne came with Eddie to get Dr. Levine, and we wanted to come but they said no. So we came anyway.”

“Nice,” Jay said. “Who’s Eddie?”

“He helped build the trailers and car. He’s off on the motorcycle, trying to find the Compys that stole his watch.”

“What the bloody hell are Compys?” Matt asked, throwing his cigarette on the ground and stepping on it.

Kelly laughed. “Proncompsognathus. They’re small dinosaurs, they look like chickens without feathers. They’re really cute, but they bite.”

“Are they poisonous?” Jay asked, following Matt’s action with his cigarette.

“Dinosaurs aren’t poisonous, dumb ass,” Matt snickered.

“Actually,” Kelly said, “They are poisonous, but only a little bit.”

Jay smirked and stuck his middle finger up at Matt, who sighed. “Well excuse me for not being a dinosaur expert.”

From the foliage just ahead of them, a creature about five feet in height jumped out. It had gray, scaly skin and two ridges on the top of its’ head, as well as claws on its’ hands and feet. It inched towards them and cocked its’ head in curiosity.

“What the fuck is that thing?” Matt asked. “Does it eat meat?”

Kelly’s eyes grew slightly out of alert, “I’m not too certain, but I think it’s a-“

She was cut off when the creature suddenly started to make a loud, hissy growl and have the ridges on its’ head extend into a fan shape. “Dilophosaurus!” Kelly shrieked.

The dinosaur stepped forward and shot black, inky liquid from its’ mouth onto Jay’s pants. “What the fuck?!” He yelled, and turned to open the door. Apparently, Padge had locked it.

He started banging on the door and shouting “OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!” when the Dilophosaur shot more of the liquid onto Kelly’s shirt that started to eat a hole through it.

It hissed again and took a lunge toward her, causing her to scream. She cowered against the trailer, waiting for the impact of the animal; it did not come, however. Matt stepped in front of her as a shield, and the dinosaur latched onto his right arm. He whimpered slightly as it dug its’ sharp teeth into his skin, then muscle.

The door finally opened and Jay ran inside. He returned seconds later with Padge’s ESP and stabbed the sharp headstock into the animal’s eye, instantly killing it. It let go of Matt’s arm and fell limp to the ground.

“Holy fuck,” Matt sighed. “Thanks, man.”

Jay nodded and went back inside; there was a groan from Padge seconds later, which made Kelly and Matt laugh.

“Thanks for that, Matt,” she said, hugging him around the waist.

He smiled and hugged her back with his left arm. “No problem. That thing would have taken you down easily. Let’s get inside.”

They were greeted by an exasperated Sarah. “What happened?”

“We were attacked by a Dilophosaurus!” Kelly exclaimed. “And then Jay killed it with Padge’s guitar! It really is a nice guitar. I keep asking my mom for one, but she always says no.”

Sarah blinked at her blankly. “You were attacked by a what?”

“Dilophosaurus,” Malcolm said. “Small carnivores. They spit venom on their prey to poison it before they attack. They were probably too tall for it to reach their faces, though.”

“Wait, this shit on my pants is poisonous?!” Jay shrieked. “Am I going to die now?!”

Levine laughed. “Of course not. Keep it out of your eyes though, or you will go blind.”

“But it ate a hole through her shirt!” Jay said. “Is she going to die?”

“No, she is not going to die. Her shirt material is thinner than your pants,” Malcolm said. “Nobody’s dying because of a Dilophosaurus. Now I would suggest having a look at Mr. Tuck’s arm, Dr. Harding, before it gets infected and falls off.”

Sarah led him to the back with the first aid kit. “Can you move it?”

He twisted it back and forth. “Yeah, it barely hurts.”

“Men,” she muttered, and ran water over it. “How’d that happen?”

“Dilophosophagus or whatever the fuck it’s called tried to eat Kelly, but I held out my arm so it got it instead.” He winced when the hydrogen peroxide started foaming rapidly on his arm.

“That was nice,” she said.

He shrugged. “Anything for a fan.”

They heard Moose scream from the front of the trailer. “BIG BIG DINOSAUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

They ran to the front and screamed. There were two Tyrannosaurus Rex’s outside of their trailer, sniffing it and growling like giant dogs. One of them raised their head into the air and let out a thunderous roar, causing everyone to step back from the windows.

“What are they doing?!” Deirdre shrieked, hugging Padge like it was the end of the world.

Levine chuckled. “They’re challenging us. They think we’re an enemy.”

The trailer lurched to the left as the bigger of the dinosaurs butted it with its’ head. They screamed, and Kelly latched onto Jay’s waist. The Tyrannosaurs seemed to have understood that the trailers wouldn’t fight back, and both took turned trying to turn it over. After a few more hits they succeeded, and the first trailer was disconnected from the second and turned upside down, sending everyone toppling over.

“Everybody run!” Levine commanded. “They’re going to rip this thing to shreds now that they know it’s defenseless!”

They all ran out through the opening of the trailer and ducked into the foliage; the dinosaurs circled around and roared.

“Everyone split up!” Malcolm shouted. “It’ll confuse them!”

They all broke into groups and ran in separate directions: Moose, Padge, Sarah, and Arby ran away to the left, Malcolm, Deirdre, and Levine ran to the right, and Matt, Jay, and Kelly ran straight back into the forest.

They kept running until they could see nothing but trees. Jay got the idea that they should climb the tallest one near them, “In case the raptors come.”
He started up first, distinguishing a path to get to near the top. Matt insisted Kelly went next, since she was the youngest and he could catch her if she slipped. When at last they were at the top, they all relaxed.

“This is fucking insane,” Matt said. “Why the fuck did we agree to do a fucking Costa Rica show?”

Jay sighed. “We thought it would be fun, remember? They say it’d be adventurous, remember?. Some fucking adventure.”