Unextinct: Discovery

The group emerged from the sea, gasping for air! They were near a coral atoll, and, still struggling, swam for it, some of the larger adults helping the three young children in the group. Having reached the tiny island, barely above the surface, the group looked back – the gloomy, stormy skies that had downed their plane still raged above them! The smell of salt and blood swirled around them, as they watched the wreckage of the great airliner disappear beneath the waves. Only around two dozen of them survived.

One of the men heaved himself onto the tiniest of promontories, and held his hand out to the younger children, hoping to help them up.

“Dad, watch out!” the older boy yelled.

Suddenly, the stormy winds had reached them again, and a huge wave came up and swept the man off the atoll, and all the survivors were sent swirling through the sea again! Some desperately tried to grab the coral, but their palms were torn to shreds. The waves seemed to pull them down, down, filling their lungs with water! Then, just when it seemed like they would all die, they broke the surface again. The youngest child had taken it hardest of all, unconscious as they all broke above the water.

“Alan!” his mother desperately cried. “Alan, wake up!”

“We’re all dead anyway!” the little girl sobbed.

“No, we’re not,” one of the women corrected her. “Look!”

It took only a few seconds for the group to notice their surroundings had changed. The storm clouds were gone, replaced with bright, blue skies, without a cloud in sight! They all realized that the waters were suddenly quite calm, and pleasantly warm, and in the distance was a wide, green shoreline.

“Land!” the older boy cried, relieved.

“Come on!” his father said, hauling the boy forwards.

Alan’s mother was still sobbing as they dragged her and her unconscious boy towards the shore. All of the rest of them had made it. They threw themselves on the beach, but it was the oldest of the boys who got back up. He grabbed the youngest child, Alan, and began pumping his chest.

Alan coughed up water, breathing in deeply. The older boy just smirked at the man. His mother ran over to both boys and hugged them tightly, but the celebration was short-lived. There was a rustle in the trees, as something large was hidden behind them. It was only now that everyone began to think about their situation – where was it the plane had been going? Where had it crashed? It seemed that, now everyone had gotten the seawater out of their minds, they began to wonder exactly what happened.

Then, some strange people approached, carrying spears. What sort of land had they arrived in? They seemed to almost control the beast… and they looked wild, uncivilized, savage. One man, the only one of the survivors who seemed to have any strength left, approached submissively.

“I don’t know if you know English…” he said, “but we just washed up here. It was an accident, a plane crash.”

One of the locals – the strongest, meanest of them, with an almost Neanderthal countenance, nodded to his companions. He said something in a strange tongue, and the others seemed to back off, with one calling into the trees.

“I know… some.” he grunted. “We mean no hurt.”

Visible relief washed over the survivors.

“So can you take us home?”

“No,” he replied.

“No? Well, can you take us to someone who can?”

“No,” he repeated.

Just then, a giant appeared behind the locals! Great jaws, two clawed fingers on short arms, and a large, bulky body wound its way out of the trees. It’s snarl revealed teeth the size of daggers, it’s enormous, birdlike legs made the ground shake, and its feathers only added to the menace, puffed up like that. Many of the survivors wondered what on earth it might be, with the boy named Al shaking in fright. He recognised the animal, but only from books, and museums.

“T-Rex!” he said, frightened.

“No, it can’t be, it’s got feathers!” a woman replied.

But, feathered or not, Al was right – the T-Rex stood there, staring at the survivors. The natives seemed to control it, commanding it to step back.

“You said you meant us no harm!” the man objected.

The large man looked at them sternly. “That not mean you go home.”