Aggy and the Dinos

Chapter 20

Aviation Officer Thomas Lloyd flew his OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter with an unusual feeling of uncertainty. Normally he would be flying in to the scene of either potential or recently commenced battle. After the first time, he always knew what he could expect to see; whether it was dead bodies, with ribbons of tissue and lakes of drying blood; or demolished buildings, sometimes taken down the their foundation; or confused survivors, screaming civilians amidst clouds of smoke; other air craft grounded, their propellers smashed and still, like broken bones.

But this time he could give no account of what he would see. He wished for signs of human life, but at the same time he doubted that there would be any. The towers of London would still stand dark and silent, and nature would be crawling back from the wild places to reclaim supremacy over the land. The country would doubtless be teeming with Dinos by now, like Jurassic Park on crack. As he approached the coastline, he began to feel nervous. Although the Kiowa was equipped for two pilots, Thomas was flying alone – the other seat was taken up with filming equipment so that he could take his findings back to America with him. He was praying for human life. He wanted a rescue mission.

The gently rolling landscape of the South was as beautiful as ever, although the houses were showing signs of disrepair, and much of the wooden fencing favoured by southern farmers had fallen flat, making the land look sad. There were Dinos too; their sharp alien smell even pervaded the cockpit, and so he fired off some of the emergency ammunition he was carrying. He took one out, and as he flew off the rest stopped and watched the helicopter. But the look they gave him wasn't one of fear. It was defiance. You'll get yours, mate.

As he flew toward London, he began to see the signs. Over Andover, he saw a large fire pit. Did Dinos make fire? He didn't think so, but then again it wouldn't be beyond them. They had brought down a well-equipped country in less than a month, nothing was beyond them. He went on, further towards the capital, but saw nothing but signs of human life. There were plenty of Dinos, and he shot the ones he could without altering his flight path. He saw the horizon change colour, as he approached what had been one of the greatest cities in human history.

There were more signs of life amongst the buildings, but he didn't see a single living soul. He thought that maybe people only came out at night. It was a far cry from the welcome he had hoped for, in which the survivors of Dino Doomsday, as it had become known to the rest of the world, ran out and cheered at the sight of his helicopter. In the wide streets of West London he saw more Dinos, walking around like mobsters. He circled around the city once, but saw not one person. London was being taken back into the wild.

He turned the helicopter back west, and as the chopper zipped back over Hammersmith he saw something that made him disobey his orders. There was a large building on a wide tree-lined street, behind which there was a grassy space which would once have been called 'recreational'. Standing in this space was a woman, a small black dog, and two men, one of which had a large sheep on a piece of string. The other man was a big, powerfully built man who Thomas recognised as being one of nature's warriors. All of the group, including the sheep, looked up at the chopper. The woman was smoking a cigarette. He landed the chopper on top of the fence, and got out wearing a big smile and a big gun.

"Don't tell me, American." said the woman. She stamped out her cigarette irritably.

"Welcome to London, dipshit." said the big man.

"I'm here to rescue you!" said Thomas, more than a little hurt.

"No", said the weedy man holding on to the sheep. "You landed a big noisy machine right next to our home, which we have managed to keep a secret for some while. We will probably now have to move, so if you'd like to fuck off, that would be convenient."