Allo Attack Part 2

Sashaa and Elecia once again looked out the window. The Allosaurs still prowled below them.

"What are we going to do?" asked an Irish Dolphinback.

The Deinonychus shook her head. "I don't really know," she replied. "We could stay here, it's relatively safe." The human nodded.

A roar sounded from another part of the city, and the three Allos that guarded the entrance moved off. The two breathed a sigh of relief. Taking a few minutes, the two friends collected their gear and prepared to leave. As they were about to go, Sashaa ventured one last glance out the window. She stopped, the Allosaurs were once again returning, but this time, they were stalking something. A Struthiomimus, a Gallimimus, a Utahraptor, three humans, a Pterosaur and a dog-like thing ran up the street. Well, the Pterosaur flew.

Taking no time, Sashaa cried out, "Over here! We'll open the door! Quickly, come inside!"

Elecia ran to the first floor, and opened the great metal door for the exhausted four. She slammed it shut again.

"That was too close!" the Struthie chirped. The three others nodded, totally winded by their long run.

Sashaa went down the stairs, and was surprised to find that she knew many of the members of this new party.

Kaylah paced back and forth, a habit she had learned from her brother, C'xoila. She was the only calm one in the concert hall. The six Hadrosaurs were in an utter state of panic.

"What are we to do?" moaned a Parasaurolophus, even in distress it's voice musical.

"Shut up a minute, all of you," growled the Deinonychus. The Allosaurs were trying to push themselves through the building's open doors. "We need a plan, and you are not helping."

Adam grunted as he shoved the old crates aside. The basement of Adam's house was cool and wet, as were all those in Waterfall City, and Fer'dri shivered in the cold.

"What are you doing Adam?" asked the Carnosaur. Adam didn't respond, but kept pushing junk aside.

After a few more minutes, his efforts were rewarded. Behind all the crates and junk was an old door, made of metal. It opened with a shriek, and revealed a long, dimly lit tunnel. "This connects with the city's basement and storm drains," Adam explained, "and if we use it, we might be able to escape."

Fer'dri looked warily at the dim passageway, but nodded. Adam found a lantern amid the refuse and lit it. In they went, Fer'dri taking one last look at the basement before he shut the door.

Running to where her friend hid Kaz could see just how scared he was. Putting her arms around him she gave him a quick hug and said, "I know it's a stupid question, but how are you?"

Still shivering, C'xoila responded in a whisper. "Me not h-h-hurt, if-if that what y-you mean."

Alkazra shook her head and replied, "That's not what I asked."

The Deinonychus started moaning quietly. "T-this just l-like it happen l-l-last time! Me 'member! Allos did invaded me clan's territory, like they do now. W-we not have chance, was just too many of them. They got me friends, me was lucky was not with them, or they got me too, even then! One almost eat m-me!" C'xoila, still shivering, shook his head. "Me can't go out there! If they find me, will get me for sure! Me just know it!"

"You can't stay here. I'm not sure what we're going to do but you need to get to someplace safe, so that I and the other flyers can find out what's going on knowing you're all right. Others are heading for here so you won't be on your own. Now please get up and we'll try to think of something."

Leaving him for a minute she returned to call up to Shasta. "He's all right. Shaken up, but all right. If you and Swift could scout around the city and see how many others are still here and find out a rough estimate of the numbers of Allos we're up against that would be wonderful. I don't want to leave C'xoila when he's like this."

Alkazra motioned for C'xoila to stand, but he found he could not. As soon as he would rise, he would go weak at the knees and fall again. The whole while, he kept shivering. After a few moments, C'xoila gave up on standing and buried his face in his claws.

Meanwhile…

Mathaira, Thistlebud, and Maia had fortunately escaped the Great Library with out being detected by the Allosaurs.

As they scurried through side streets and narrow alleys, Mathaira spotted a group of Allosaurs trying to push themselves into the open doors of Waterfall City's Concert Hall. Through those doors, Mathaira caught glimpses of panicked Hadrosaurs, and Deinonychus who seemed to be calm and in control.

Mathaira, Thistlebud and Maia used the alleyways and circled to the back entrance of the Concert Hall and entered undetected by the Allosaurs. They quietly approached the Deinonychus, who they learned was named Kaylah, and asked if they could help.

Mathaira suggested a bold plan; "I have several Hadrosaur puppets in my pack. I will hide be-hind the stage and use these to distract the Allosaurs. Since the lighting in the hall has been dimmed, hopefully the Allosaurs will believe the puppets are Hadrosaur hatchlings and try to go for easier prey. I will send Maia with you. She is very nurturing and may have a calming effect on the Hadrosaurs. I will keep Thistlebud with me. She should be able to help me hold the puppets in position while you lead the others to safety. Where should Thistlebud and I meet you if the plan goes well?"

"Talon, we've got to land," Atero said after a short while. "There's no use just waiting here and watching Waterfall City get destroyed. Before we land, though, we need to get Kara." Talon and Atero turned their heads, looking for the Sky Galley, but it was nowhere in sight. How in the world can a Sky Galley disappear??? Atero thought to himself.

Suddenly, Atero heard something. Turning his head, he saw an Allosaur coming toward them. It fortunately hadn't seen the two yet, however. "Talon, don't make a sound. Don't look behind you. Don't make any sudden movements and fly like the wind, or you and I are both dead meat," Atero ordered.

Nonetheless, Talon looked back and let out a small chirp. The Allosaur, hearing the cry, turned its gigantic head and saw the Skybax flapping its enormous wings.

"GO!!!!!" Atero yelled. "Why is it that every time you tell someone 'Don't look down' or 'Don't look back' they always do?????" Atero sobbed. Talon, being even more afraid of Allosaurs than Atero, couldn't gain an inch of altitude. Nor fly farther than a foot before looking back and seeing the Carnosaur chasing after them. "Talon, think of it this way," Atero cried, "if you get going, you won't get eaten by that Allo. But if you stay in one spot wondering what to do, you'll be chomped to bits. Now which path do you choose?"

Talon, realizing the logic of the situation, looked back a final time and flew upwards, out of the allosaurs way. "Someone up there still likes me…" Atero thought to himself. "We need to get to Kara, Talon…. Where can you hide a giant balloon?" he asked himself. Suddenly, he had a very unpleasant revelation. "No, no way possible. I won't believe it!" Atero thought as the worst situation that any creature could be in flashed upon his mind: that maybe the Allosaur, or Allosaurs, got to Kara first.

Near Treetown…

The giant balloon-carried Sky Galley had crashed in the forests near Treetown. It happened when a far-away Allosaur let out a loud roar. This distracted the pilot of the airship just long enough for them to crash into an old Dawn Redwood, deflating the balloon and landing them unpleasantly on the forest floor.

"Ohhh…" Kara moaned as she got up from the floor near the bench she was sitting in. Was, that is. She now had her head under the seat of a nearby chair, one of her feet still on the bench's arm. She looked at the disheveled pilot and asked "How far away are we from the Rainy Basin?"

"Far enough that we shouldn't be hearing any Carnivores," he replied. "This is very not good, man. Six fathers Jamaican, none of them have heard such a terrible cry."

"I'm so worried about Atero…"

"Atero? Spendal?"

"Yes, that's him."

"My son's a friend of 'is. I've seen a couple of the boy's performances. Wher'd the lad say 'e was going?"

"Same place we are, to Waterfall City."

"Hmm…. By what me friends have told me about the Allosaur sightin's, he might have had a run-in with the big dinos. But if he's ridin' that Skybax, then there's no chance of him gettin' caught by one of them, now."

"Let's hope so. Can you help me find him?"

"I ain' takin' no chance of goin' on foot, but we might get lucky an' finish patchin' this up by sundown. It'd go fasta' if I 'ad two pairs o' hands instead o' one, man."

"If it'll help us get away from those awful Allosaurs, I'll do anything."

"Come along, now, an' let's get a start on this bag of air! Me name is Jantos, my apologies I didn't tell ya' b'fore."

"That's okay, but one last thing, how are we going to inflate it?" "No problem wit' that. I always keep a few tanks of 'elium wit' me when I fly. Friends of Tok Timbu, y' see."

And so Jantos and Kara started work on the balloon that would fly the Galley.

As Shasta and Swift flew over Waterfall city, Shasta looked for anybody who was still there, and tried to make a rough estimate of how many allosaurs there were, that was hard because there were so many of them. He came back to C'xoila's house and made his report, "Okay, I saw about five people in an ally, but I didn't see anyone else. There is something strange going on at the concert house, and there are probably about 200 Allos."

Quickstride, Tamith, Boojinko, Cyrrus, Francis, Sashaa, Elecia, Jonathan and Rex were the only people still in the observatory, and at the moment they were wishing they could be somewhere, anywhere, else. The allo from the library had been joined by two or three of his good friends, and in no time would break down the huge, heavy doors larger dinosaurs used.

"Let's go to the top of the observatory. The roof," said Quickstride.

Large dinosaurs never went to the very top, so the stairway would be too narrow for the allos. Quickstride and Boojinko would have a time with it as it was, but they could manage.

"The roof? But we'll be trapped there, with no hope of getting off!" Sashaa pointed out.

"Not if I know what I'm doing," replied Quickstride, hoping she did.

There minds were made up when one of the allos smash against the door causing it to bend inward.

"OK," Tamith said rapidly, "lets go."

The group sprinted up the stairway that led to the roof. Once up, they stared at the openness around them.

"Now what?" Sashaa asked looking at Quickstride.

Before Quickstride could answer, Kael took out a small flute and began to play it. They all stared at him wondering why he was playing music in a time like that. The tune was sweet and soothing. Rising rapidly then, slowing down again. Once they began to listen, it was rather mind capturing. He then stopped playing and a few seconds later, they heard the familiar cry of a Skybax closing in on them. "Down here!" they all yelled at it jumping up and down. Kael smiled, satisfied at his work and waited for the Skybax to fly in closer.

It took a few moments for Bluebird to recover, then she burst out: "There's Allosaurs...in Waterfall City, they're all over the place!"

Huh? thought Lian. The others in the group looked concerned.

"What do we do now?" one of the people in the group, a red-haired woman and recent Dolphinback named Joy asked Trumpet.

"I better go have a closer look," Bluebird commented, then flew off.

"Wait!" called Lian. "We should come with you!" She started running back to the city. Trumpet followed, and the rest of the group, some quite confused, followed after him.

Tirana Ki exited the shop, followed by Shada, trying to avoid the Allos. She tried to remember who lived in Waterfall City and where, but couldn't. All she knew was that she had to find help, she had to leave the city, she had to find her friends, she had to get to safety, she didn't know what to do! She rounded a corner and stopped, for there was an Allo with his back to her, she tried hard not to breathe but Shada bumped into her when she stopped. Tirana let out an involuntary squeak, and the Allo suddenly lifted its head and slowly turned it, its nostrils flaring. She froze, her mind went blank, she saw the snapping jaws coming towards her, she smelled the foul stench of rotting meat (Shada's breath smelled more or less the same), but her mind was blank, devoid of any logical thoughts. She was faintly aware of Shada screeching an attack and throwing herself at the Allo, killing claw extended, fore arms lashing out, acting before thinking. Then, as the jaws came closer, she suddenly remembered that C'xoila lived here, she heard a moan come from Shada and then... a black nothingness enveloped her.

Mathaira and Thistlebud sat behind the stage of the Concert Hall, working the hadrosaur puppets in a desperate attempt to distract the Allosaurs long enough for Kaylah, Maia, and the six panicked hadrosaurs to escape to safety. The bold plan appeared to be working. In the dim light of the Concert Hall, the Allosaurs mistook the hadrosaur puppets for hadrosaur hatchlings.

While the Allosaurs were distracted, Kaylah was able to lead the group out of the Concert Hall, with Maia comforting and calming the frightened hadrosaurs. As the Allosaurs tried to push themselves through the open door of the Concert Hall, they became frenzied as they tried to reach what they thought was easier prey of hadrosaur hatchlings. They began to turn on each other and fight amongst themselves.

As the Allosaurs fought with one another, Mathaira and Thistlebud cautiously and quietly exited the Concert Hall through the rear door, back into the alley where they were earlier. As they rounded the corner they saw a Megaraptor fiercely attacking an Allosaur and what appeared to be a human female unconscious on the ground. Thinking quickly, Mathaira stationed Thistlebud, who was still holding hadrosaur puppets, around the corner of the alley. As Thistlebud worked the puppets, Mathaira unrolled a travois, which the team sometimes used to transport un-hatched eggs to the hatchery when females laid them elsewhere on the island. As in the Concert Hall, the Allosaur was distracted by easier prey and ran toward the hadrosaur hatchling puppet. Thistlebud quickly threw the puppet into the Allosaurs mouth and ran to aid Mathaira in rolling the unconscious female onto the travois.

Even though Shada didn't know these new arrivals she realized they were trying to help Tirana Ki. As the Allosaur growled fiercely with the puppet in it's mouth, Mathaira, Thistlebud, and Shada ran quickly down the alley with Tirana Ki in the travois, seeking safety somewhere in Waterfall City.

Back in the forests near Treetown...

After working for almost an hour solid, the three friends finally managed to patch up and inflate the Sky Galley's balloon.

"Thank you so much for the help, Ka'ranan." Kara said graciously.

"We nev'r would'a been done 'n time wit'out cha, man!" Jantos added while busying himself with the finishing touches on the balloon.

"Then there's the problem with those Allosaurs..." "Well, there's no use just standing here waiting for one to eat--" Just then a gut wrenching roar was heard very close by. "--us." Ka'ranan finished.

"Ah, what irony!" Jantos said as he rushed towards the airship, cutting the ground ropes on his way by.

"C'mon Aireon, we gotta go!" Ka'ranan called out to her friend.

"I know, I know!" he squawked as he flew to Ka'ranans arm.

Aravis entered the invaded city carefully. She saw destruction and disaster she couldn't believe that THIS was Waterfall City. She decided to head to the nearest alley and form a plan. "Mmm. What are the places Tamith is most likely to be? Well...there's the library...the observatory, her parent's...and I guess Triforce's but that's unlikely. She wasn't due to leave yet.," she said to Charanix.

She and Charanix decided to go to the library first. They cautiously entered the building only to find it completely empty. "I guess we better head for the observatory now," she said to the chasmasaurus.

Upon coming close to the observatory they heard furious pounding against the doors. They slowly and quietly went up for a closer look and saw about four Allosaurs trying to break down the doors. Aravis thought of an idea, "Char go up to the allos and try to distract them, if they chase you head into the foliage over there. while you do that I'll try and fit myself through the hole in the dent made by the allos, got it?"

Charanix nodded in agreement. Charanix went up to the allos, yelped loudly, and the Allosaurs attention immediately turned to the chasmasaurus. As predicted they ran towards her and she ran into the bushes and trees pursued by the allos.

Aravis forced herself through thrugh the hole between the doors. She didn't see much until she heard the roof doors shut. She ran towards them and opened them to find Tamith along with Boojinko, Cyrrus, Quickstride, and a number of people Aravis didn't recognize. "Tamith I'm so glad to see you, I wasn't sure if you were alright or not."

"I'm fine, one of the allos came from the library and he others joined in. Hey everyone the door pounding has stopped," Tamith said.

"You right? What happen?" Boojinko asked.

" I sent Charanix to distract them. Why have you all trapped yourselves on the roof?," Aravis asked.

"I've got a plan," Quickstride said.

"But how..."

"Just wait and see," Quickstride interrupted.

Cyrrus hopped nervously from one foot to the other. She peered over the rooftops to see the chasmosaur come running back through the trees she'd just gone into. "Uh...Quickstride?" she asked, her voice more a chirp than words, "I hope this plan of yours happens fast!" She eyed the Allosaurs who were coming closer by the minute. "Or we're all going to be jerky!"

The observatory roof was higher than most of the buildings around it, giving them a good view of the city. Quickstride scanned the area around them. There were many buildings high enough for their roofs to keep them out of the allos reach, but they were somewhat far from the observatory. Quickstride's plan had been to hop from rooftop to rooftop above the allos, but while Cyrrus, Boojinko, Sashaa, and she could do this easily, she'd failed to take into account the others. They might be able to make the jump, they might not be. While they were momentarily safe on the roof, who knew when help could arrive if they stayed? Quickstride put the problem to the rest of the group. "What do you think we should do?"

Sashaa approached. "I have in idea." she said. Sashaa gently picked Kael up and put him on her back. "Hold on real tight!" she walked backward a few feet, crouched down, and then launched herself off the roof. Sashaa landed rather hard on the tiled roof across the street, almost falling. She set Kael down on the balcony and yelled across the street, "Come on! Each dino has to carry a human!"

"Right!" called Quickstride. "Cyrrus, take Tamith and Boojinko, Elecia, and I'll take Francis and Rex."

Morning had dawned clearly in the Rainy Basin. Azonthus slowly stretched and stood up. She was again visiting her family, but was eager to get home to Treetown. Hearing a flapping of wings, Az looked to the sky. Pyraza, a ramaphorinchus friend, had come to deliver a message. "Azonthus!" She screeched, "All the Allosaurs are gone from the Basin!"

Startled to hear this Az asked her friend "Well, where did they all go?"

"Don't know. Ashira says she saw them heading towards Waterfall City, but that is impossible. No Carnosaur can leave the Basin."

"Wrong friend. I do regularly with out using the Bonabba bridge. They would have had to go through a canyon near Treetown. Come on. If they are in Waterfall City, C'xoila must be scared out of his mind!"

After quickly writing a note in the sand outside her family's hut Az gathered her new archery equipment and cape. She found a tree and climbed it. With practiced grace she leapt far from the tree and fell a short ways before opening her cape to form a hang glider. Traveling through the air Az could reach Waterfall City within a day, instead of the week it would take her running. By the end of the day Waterfall City was in sight, but it looked strange.

Hmmmmmmmmm... Too quiet in there. The Allos must have made it here after all. Gliding lower, Az entered the city by a cargo chute. Once in the city, she realized just how big a problem Waterfall City had. There were Allos everywhere! One had dragged all of the food out of a market stall and was chomping all of the fish down, and another was sleeping in a water fountain! Hurriedly landing, Az silently ran to the shadows. Perhaps if she could get to C'xoila's house, they could figure out something. Now if she could just remember exactly where it was...

As Azonthus made her way through Waterfall City, she passed by a pile of rubble. She was startled when she heard a strange low cry coming from the rocks. Cautiously, she walked over to it, and tossed aside the rocks. Beneath it, lay a young Leptoceratops.

"Are you okay?" Azonthus asked it.

"Yes," it said, speaking with its beaked, parrot-like mouth, translating just like a proto, "I am. I was just trapped."

Azonthus noticed a large scar across its right leg. "What about that?"

"That, the lepto replied, "is a scar I got during an encounter with the tyrannosaurs."

"Tyrannosaurs? What were you doing in the Basin?"

"I'm a merchant," Ixus said. "I was making a short cut through the Basin, thinking I'd be safe. I escaped, barely alive."

"Oh," she said. "Listen, there are Allosaurs all over the place. You'd better stay with me. What's your name?"

"Ixus."

"Well, Ixus, let's get going."

As Alkazra and Shasta talked about how many allos their were a blood curdling roar tore the air, and several screams followed. "I have to get out there" Shasta said. "Will you be all right with C'xoila?"

"I'll be fine Shasta, just go!" So Shasta climbed up the rope through trapdoor and jumped on Swift. "Let's go!"

Within seconds, he was air born. A few passes was all it took to find the source of the screams. Two humans ran ahead while being chased by a pack of four allos. It was obvious that the predators would be on them in seconds unless he did something. Thinking fast, Shasta sent Swift diving in front of the Allosaurus' path. The carnivores where distracted with the sudden attack for just the right amount of time to give the human couple enough time to run for cover. Within another few seconds, Swift was once again out of reach of the great snapping jaws that threatened it. Turning around, he headed into the narrow alley the pair of humans had headed into.

Landing, he discovered the human pair was two women. One, looking about Alkazra's age and another, maybe in her mid 40's. "Are you alright?" Shasta asked them, "what where you doing out in the streets at a time like this?"

"My brother..." the youngest said between gasps, "we are looking for my brother."

As Bluebird approached Waterfall City, she saw that the situation was, unfortunately, as bad as it seemed from the distance. Flying low, an allosaur tried to grab her tail with his claw, but ended up pulling out a feather. She now tried to figure out what was going from higher up. She didn't see many people, and the ones she did see were in a hurry.

Boojinko took Elecia on his back and began hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Like a jumping race, Boojinko leapt over the other dinosaurs and took the lead. The lead that would soon turn disastrous. Boojinko had lost the rest of the group, having only Elecia to keep him company. It was beginning to get dark, but he kept jumping. There was a two-story building up ahead. On impact of the roof, Boojinko heard a roar. He spun around, throwing the human from his back, face to face with an allo.

The Allosaurus headed for Elecia, who was in reach of his jaws. Enraged, the Utahraptor ran and leapt at the larger Carnosaur, his last words being, "Run for it! Me'll keep 'er busy!"

The human ran off, tears leaping to her eyes.

Cyrrus jumped over to another roof, telling Tamith to hang on for the umpteenth time. She craned her neck and looked around, having gotten separated from the rest of the group. "See anyone?" she asked her rider.

"No." Tamith shook her head. "Wait! Look there!" She pointed to a group of figures a few rooftops away. Then she yelped as Cyrrus lerched into motion and vaulted over to the next roof.

"It's Boojinko! And an Allosaur!" Cyrrus chirped. "Oh no!" She jumped and sailed through the air again to land right next to the Carnosaur. .

"Oh crud!" Tamith had the good sense to jump off Cyrrus' back at that point. She raced over to Boojinko who was now lying prone on the roof. She shook him, then, seeing him move slightly, she started to drag him away from the allo.

Cyrrus was dancing around the larger dinosaur, thanking the stars that she was in good shape. She dodged and pivoted, landing a perfect roundhouse kick to the allo's muzzle. It roared and stumbled back, the blow only an annoyance. But lucky for the Struthie, the larger saurian took one too many steps back, and tumbled off the roof.

Quickstride and Sashaa were bringing up the rear of the party. Quickstride was carrying Francis and Aravis, and Sashaa had both Kael and Rex. Large but not in the best of shape, Quickstride had originally had the dog in addition to the two humans, but after almost missing the third jump the Deinonychus had offered to take him since Cyrrus and Boojinko were already too far ahead to help. Together they both landed on the rooftop where Cyrrus was. "What happened?" asked Quickstride.

Holding back a sudden impulse of tears, Tamith looked up at her friends. "We have to get him to a healer... he's in really bad shape..."

"What is your name?" Shasta asked the older lady, "I am Mary, and this my daughter Andrea. I was wondering, since you are a Skybax rider, could you look my son, his name is Ishmael, and he is ten, he might be riding an Ovinutrix, but he might not."

"I'll go now!" said Shasta as he leaped in the saddle, "Lets go!"

As he and Swift were flying he saw something strange, 8 people were gathered around Boojinko, who wasn't moving. "Lets go check it out..."

Kael, the healer looked up at the gathered humans and saurians. "I'm sorry," he said, "but it looks like your friend has died. My condolences." Thus ended the legacy of Boojinko the Teller, leader of the Oojin Raptor Clan.

C'xoila was still shaken up and though she did her best to keep his spirits up Kaz felt far from secure herself. Jai kept watch on the roof above. Both C'xoila and Kaz hoped that they would soon have more friends with them.

Checking with Jai that there was still no one about. Shasta was still away with Swift, so she walked back into the other room to be with C'xoila. The physical shaking had stopped but he still seemed dazed. Smiling she set about preparing them a hot drink.

C'xoila smiled weakly. He wasn't shaking, but he was dazed and staggered when he walked. He had to put one arm around Alkazra's shoulder to stay up.

Alkazra looked in the kitchen, and found a tin of apple-cinnamon tea. Making the drinks up she closely watched C'xoila at the same time. She put on her bravest face for his sake, but was terrified herself. The easiest thing would be for her to just leave. She and Jai could be out of the City in a matter of minutes but she couldn't just leave. What would happen to C'xoila? What would happen to the City? Sketchy plans raced through her mind, but none made it to a stage where she could see them working. The best she could see was trying to set up contact with the allos. Did they want anything in particular, or was it a mindless rampage? This was something they needed to know.

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