Dinopocalypse: "Two Flowers"

Chapter Two

It had only taken what seemed like twenty seconds for the bearded man to surprise Marcus, knock him down, and scoop the shotgun off of the floor, but now it felt like the two adults had been standing there, suspended in time for eternity and not sure what the next move should be.

When Marcus had fallen over, he had banged his shoulder on one of the desks in the room, and now the whole side of his arm was killing him as he raised both hands up and kept them up in a gesture of surrender.

“Benjamin!” A girl not much older than Tracey bounded into the room, and stopped to the man holding the shotgun. From the corner of Marcus’ eye, he could see Tracey slowly approaching the threshold of the room.

“Tracey, don’t come any closer,” Marcus said.

“Shut up!” Benjamin snapped. Behind him, his female companion--the girl’s mother, perhaps--was quietly observing everyone in the room. A computer was on behind her, but Marcus couldn’t tell what she had been using it for.

“Cassandra, sweetheart,” the woman said. “Come sit by me.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Cassandra,” Benjamin said. “Go stand by Vicki, and don’t argue.”

“Okay.”

Marcus cleared his throat slightly, and tried to relax his composure. Perhaps a little bit of friendliness will help defuse the situation, he thought. “Look, I think there has been a big misunderstanding.”

“Yeah.” Benjamin said, looking so intently at Marcus he was practically boring holes through his chest. As he spoke, the shotgun rose and sunk with his arms. “I told you to shut up.”

“I can help,” Marcus said. He paused to lick his lips. “Look, I understand. I have a daughter, too, and I’d do anything for her.” He glanced at Tracey to give her a quick reassuring grin. “If there is anything you need--money, gas, or a place to sleep, I can help.”

“Gas?” Benjamin repeated. “Do you got a vehicle?”

“Yes, but--”

Benjamin shot a glance back to the woman. “He’s got a car, Vick.” He looked back at Marcus. “We’ll be taking your car, all your money, and anything else we want from this place.”

Marcus hesitated. “I’m sorry, but, we actually can’t spare the van right now. I know some people who could give you a good deal--”

Benjamin took a step closer, until the shotgun was inches from Marcus’ chest. “Listen, man. I’m the one making the deals. And, our deal is that you and your daughter get to live, in exchange for all your stuff.” He looked at Marcus and his face stretched into the most evil smirk that Marcus had ever seen.

Marcus reached into his pocket for the car keys, pulled them out and tossed them onto the table. “There you go. You’re welcomed to take the van.”

“No, daddy..that was grandm--”

“Tracey,” Marcus snapped, purposely cutting her off. “It will be okay.”

“How do we know this ain’t some trick?” Vicki asked, shooting a glance towards the keys. “Maybe the van don’t run.”

“It runs,” Marcus answered, feeling his patient starting to run thin. “We drove it here, and it has lots of gas. I don’t have any reason to trick you.”

Benjamin leaned towards the table, reached over, and scooped up the keys without dropping his eyes from Marcus. “Maybe you don’t, but it pays to be sure. Vicki, take the girls upstairs while Mr. Bookworm and I fetch the van. Wait until we pull it around front, then begin loading all of the computer equipment into the back.”