Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation

Dinosaur

Lake III

Infestation

(
Sequel to Dinosaur Lake & Dinosaur Lake II
)

By Kathryn Meyer Griffith

For my family, as
always, with all my love…

Other books by Kathryn Meyer Griffith:

Evil Stalks the Night

The Heart of the Rose

Blood Forge

Vampire Blood

The Last Vampire
(2012 Epic EBook Awards Finalist)

Witches

The Calling

Scraps of Paper

All Things Slip Away

Egyptian Heart

Winter’s Journey

The Ice Bridge

Don’t Look Back, Agnes

A Time of Demons

The Woman in Crimson

Four Spooky Short Stories

Human No Longer

Night Carnival

Forever and Always

Dinosaur Lake
(2014 Epic EBook Awards Finalist)

Dinosaur Lake II

*All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books
can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/ld4jlow

*All her Audible.com audio books
here:

http://tinyurl.com/oz7c4or

Text copyright © 2015 by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Dinosaur Lake III

Infestation

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

(a thriller/horror novel)

Cover art by: Dawné Dominique

Copyright 2015 Kathryn Meyer Griffith

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced, scanned or distributed in any form,

including digital and electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, or by any

information storage and retrieval system, without

the prior written consent of the author, except for

brief quotes for use in reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names,

places and incidents either are the product of the

author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any

resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead,

events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

* This book is not
meant to be based on scientific facts of any kind…

it is purely a
fictional made up story about make-believe dinosaurs.

REVIEWS

for
Dinosaur Lake

Monster Horror at Its Best
.

“
There's nothing
scarier than a monster that has no limits on where it can go, no discrimination
with what it eats, and no easy way to kill it. Hands down, Dinosaur Lake is
probably one of my favorite monster horror books that I've read thus far.”
 

5 STARS- By
Lizzy’s
Dark Fiction

~

A Good Mystery Full of Suspense.

“The author caught my attention maybe it’s the Jurassic
fan, but a good solid dino read and goes in depth on the scenery. great write!
A much recommended read for anyone that enjoys a good mystery full of suspense,
great storyline with a touch of realism.”
5 STARS- Robin at Romancing the Book

~

 “This book would make an astounding movie. It is
one hell of a great read. It is the next best thing to Jurassic Park. Any movie
directors out there, please make a movie of this book.”
5 stars – Terry Witherspoon

~

 “I read this book just after reading Meg Origins,
Meg terror of the Depp, and SHARC and I really loved Dinosaur Lake. I loved
Kathryn Meyer Griffith so much that I am now reading another of her novels.”
5 STARS -
L. Zuker

~

A Rousing Good Read.

“There are good monster books and there are bad
monster books. Most of them are bad. This, however, is one of the good ones.
The story is plausible. A creature lives under the lake in Crater Lake National
Park. The characters are well developed and you actually begin to sympathize
and later care about what happens to them. Mrs. Griffith's characters have a
refreshing opinion of what should be done with certain kinds of criminals.
The monster scenes are exciting and well written. Edge of the seat excitement.
I kept wanting to go to bed but decided to read "just one more
chapter." At 2 AM I finished the book.”
5 STARS-J.K. Stecker

~

Prehistoric Thriller.

“This book had my interest from the very beginning
and never let up. The on edge action continued and was a family story as well
as a monster thriller. Anyone interested in prehistoric creatures will
thoroughly enjoy this novel.”
4
STARS-Connee Davidson

And REVIEWS

for
Dinosaur Lake II
:
Dinosaurs Arising

Hey Look Up!

It’s hard to say which
part and or book I liked the best. In a way you could compare this to
"Jurassic Park" but without the scientist doing his genetic
maneuverings. The dinosaurs here are of the flying variety and they are
different sizes and ages. For whatever reason they have been able to hide for
the last five years with no one discovering them. Yes, they are still trying to
take over the national park but again these dinosaurs are different. This time
around they are seen and attack outside the park. The main characters are the same
and like "Dinosaur Lake", you just have to keep reading to see who
survives and what the dinosaurs are up to. I loved it!!!!
5 STARS-Marcia Kidwell, Amazon purchaser

~

Great Sequel

I love dinosaurs so almost any story with them will WOW me
but this sequel was GREAT!! I love the characters and can't wait for the next
book. She's a truly imaginative writer and although Dinosaur Lake was the first
book of hers that I read I'll be looking for others! This is a definite read!!
5 STARS-Joan E. Randolph,
Amazon purchaser

~

Nightmare at Crater Lake

Once again, terror has arrived at Crater Lake in the form
of horrible flying dinosaurs that seem to have appeared out of the stuff of
Indian legends. And once again it is up to the Chief Ranger, his staff, members
of the Army, and the Chief's paleontologist son-in-law to seek out and destroy
this menace. We also get a peek into the personal and private lives of those
people, and the effect this danger has on their family members
and friends, as well as themselves. This is an action filled
story, and there is one event after another that prevents the extermination of
these creatures. Like the prequel to this book, we are drawn into this
terrifying tale, and are anxious to see its outcome. Of course we all know
dinosaurs don't exist in our world of today....do they?

5 STARS-
Connee
Davidson,
Amazon purchaser

~

I Loved it

This novel and the original Dinosaur Lake, inspired me to
book a trip to Crater Lake this coming Fall! The places named are real and the
thrills never stop coming!!! I hope there is a third one!

5 STARS-
Pattazy,
Amazon purchaser

~

High action, Likable characters, Really loved this book!

I bought the Audible version first and went through it in
two days. I bought the kindle version because I thought it was so good.
The book is very believable and very exciting! Also,
she has some clever twists in here that I wished they had done in Jurassic
Park! I won't spoil it for you, but it involves the biology of the dinosaurs.
Another aspect of her story was that her characters
were very likeable people. It felt like I knew them. Which made it even more
terrifying when they were in danger! I've bought several of her books, in fact,
and I've never been disappointed.

5 STARS-
CL Oregon

Chapter 1

Henry

“So Chief Ranger…have you seen any of those flying
dinosaurs lately?” The person asking the question, hand shading his eyes from
the blindingly bright August sun, was a healthy looking man perhaps in his
mid-forties, dressed in one of those expensive sporty shirts and matching
walking shorts. A pricey camera hung around his neck. His glance was astute and
the glint in his eyes inquisitive. He had that air of self-assurance and wealth
about him. Except the guy should have been wearing a hat and a pair of shades
because his skin was already the hue of a ripe cherry.

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore had turned away from studying
the wall of dinosaur fossils, the amazing discovery he and his son-in-law
paleontologist, Dr. Justin Maltin, had stumbled upon almost six years ago. The
activity at the paleontological dig has slowed a great deal since those first
days, most of the fossils had been unearthed and shipped to eager museums all
over the country, but there was still a scientist or two hacking away at some
part of the area most days. Not today. The site was abandoned. Silent.

“Not lately,” Henry replied, feeling a sinking in
his stomach. It’d only been a few months since he and his men had freed the
park from the latest prehistoric threats, the winged monsters he’d satirically
labeled gargoyles, and he was still a bit uneasy. His eyes on the skies more
than normal. “How did you hear about that?”

The man snickered. “My aunt and uncle were here in
May. You know, when you cleared everyone out of the park? But, they are getting
up in years, so I don’t always believe every whimsical tale they tell me of
their travels. They like to embellish a lot. You know how old people can be?
Always trying to get attention.”

Great. A non-believer,
Henry thought.
This should be easy.

“We did have a problem here in the park back then,
but we handled it. The park’s safe now, if you’re worried.”

“No, I’m not worried.” Another snicker. Man, was the
guy’s face sunburned. He’d feel it tonight for sure. “Flying dinosaurs don’t frighten
me. No matter what I read or see on the Internet. The stories, by the way, and
the photos were sure scary. So real looking they were almost credible. Isn’t
Photoshop great? But I don’t believe in monsters.”

Henry wanted to deck the guy, but smiled instead. He
had to be nice to the visitors. It was his job, after all. And after the
tumultuous spring he’d had it was just nice to go back to normal. Visitors
bugging him.

“This, on the other hand,” the man waved at the
wall of fossils, “is a wonderful discovery. Actually monumental. This is real.
I’ve been reading about the specimens the scientists have been removing from
this place for years. The paleontologists have dug out some quite unique remains
of species never recognized or seen before. Especially in the lower levels of
the rock.

“Absolutely astonishing.”

Henry nodded. Yeah, he thought, the lower levels
had proved to contain the most bizarre fossils of all. Except he wanted to tell
the man, unfortunately, he’d seen some of them in the flesh and hadn’t thought
they were that amazing…when they were trying to maul or devour him, his rangers
or his friends.

“It is.” Henry’s eyes beneath the brim of his park
ranger cap returned to the wall. He and Justin were both proud of what had come
out of the fossil site they’d stumbled on. Though he would have liked to tell
the disbeliever with the expensive camera they were prouder of the way they’d dealt
with the live creatures that had off and on haunted the park in the last half
decade; prouder still of the real flesh-covered specimens they’d tracked down,
captured and had been able to study and learn from or the lives they’d saved by
killing them. But he knew it’d do no good to say any of that to the man in
front of him. The man would think it was all a publicity grabbing joke.

“Well, thank you, Chief Ranger, for the informal
chat about this place and all the interesting tidbits about the park. It was
very informative.”

“You’re more than welcome.” He hadn’t meant to
entertain the small crowd of six people he’d found at the fossil wall with a park
lecture, but old habits died hard. He’d always enjoyed speaking on the park’s
history. Once the visitors hanging around had started asking him questions, he
couldn’t stop.

“I’m Doctor Richard Clements.” The gentleman held
out his hand for Henry to shake. “My family’s been here visiting the last few
days and we’ve really enjoyed the accommodations at the lodge, which is so
rustic; the lake and the view. We love this place.”

“Thank you. So do I.” Henry finally smiled. “How
long are you here for?”

“We leave tomorrow, but first thing in the morning
we’re taking one last boat ride to Wizard Island. We’re going to spend a few
hours exploring it.”

“You and your family will enjoy that. Be sure to
take snacks and water. Jackets, because sometimes the weather can change on a
dime. You’ll be there for a couple hours before the second boat picks you up.”

“Thanks for the tips. We’ll do that.

“Nice meeting you Chief Ranger. I’m sure I’ll see
you again. We only live about three hundred miles away in southern Oregon and
my family has already begged me to bring them back here next summer.”

“I hope you do that.” Another ranger smile.

“Goodbye for now.”

“Good bye.”

Henry watched the man wander away with the rest of
the crowd. His eyes went to the sky, then returned to the wall of dirt. He
tried not to think about what had happened in May. Flying monsters attacking
park trolleys and stalking visitors. A huge nest of the critters they had had
to obliterate. Nightmares he didn’t like returning to or dwelling on during the
summer days. It was hard. It was still too fresh.

He was turning away, ready to hike down to ranger
headquarters when a short, muscular fellow in blue work pants and a gray
T-shirt appeared at his side.

“Hi Henry. You got a minute?” The man, someone
Henry recognized as one of the tour boat captains, took off a dirty blue ball
cap and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. His face was
tanned a light brown and his longish gray hair was a halo of frizz around his
head. He looked more like a mad professor than a boat captain.

“Captain Willie Sander. As I live and breathe.”
Henry shook the man’s hand and his face broke into a welcoming grin. “I haven’t
seen you for a while. Where you been hiding yourself?” Willie and Henry went way
back. Willie had been working at Crater Lake when Henry had accepted his chief
ranger’s job thirteen years past and he’d been the last one to see and hear
from Sam Cutler, another boat captain who’d been one of the earliest fatalities
of the first park dinosaur. Godzilla, as Henry had dubbed the original monster at
the beginning of its terror reign, had smashed up Cutler’s boat in Crater Lake and
gobbled up the man.

“Not hiding, just been kind of busy puttering my
boat all around the lake for the visitors. Got to make a living, you know?”

“Don’t we all.

“So did we just happen to meet this fine morning by
accident or were you looking for me?”

“I was looking for you. I spoke to Ranger Stanton
down at your headquarters and she said you were up here gawking at the dead
bones. I heard your lecture, too. I was lurking behind those bushes there
eavesdropping. Ha, even learned a few things I’d forgotten.”

Willie fell in stride beside Henry as he walked
along the trail.

“Well, what’s wrong?” Henry queried. “I assume
there is or you wouldn’t be off your precious boat in the middle of the morning
on a working week day bothering me.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “You should
be casting off for your eleven o’clock trip in about ten minutes.”

Willie came to a dead stop and looked directly at him.
“There’s something in the lake again. Like six years ago? I saw them this
morning right after dawn. Near
Wizard
Island.
They were swimming around, pretty as you please.
Moving faster than sharks and
much
bigger.”

Oh no,
echoed in Henry’s head. Not again. It’d only been three months since the last
prehistoric assault. Was he and his park cursed or what? “Them?”

“Yep. I counted at least five of the beasties
scooting right below the water line. I couldn’t see them too clearly because
they were moving lickety-split but they were…big…all right. Startled the bejesus
out of me. I got off the lake as quick as I could. And, after our last couple
of run-ins with monsters in this park, my boat and I won’t be going on the lake
again until I know those things are gone and it’s safe. I haven’t forgotten my
poor friend Sam. I don’t want that to happen to me.”

“Did the creatures threaten or attack you in any
way?”

Willie seemed to think about that for a moment.
Scratching the side of his head, he replaced his ball cap, shoving it down over
his wild hair. “Nah, can’t say they did. Might have been a different story if
they had; I wouldn’t be here chatting with you. Most likely I’d be fish food. They
swam alongside my boat for a bit, though, like they were playing with or were
curious about me, but they never rammed me or nothing.”

“And you can’t describe them any better than ‘they
was big and they was fast’?”

“Sorry. They pretty much stayed below the surface. I
only saw swells and scaly green skin breaking the water. Jagged fins. Whatever
was below the waterline, though, had to be huge by the way the ripples seemed
to go on forever. The fins were different sizes, too. All in all, the strangest
thing I ever experienced. And frightening.”

Oh, Henry knew well enough how scary being on the
lake in a boat was when there were unidentified giant creatures swimming around
you. Been there, done that.

“What are you going to do about this?” Willie demanded,
planting his feet firmly on the sloped ground, his mouth a taut thin line. His
eyes were an old man’s eyes. They’d seen too much. His body, bent from
arthritis and age, an old man’s body. But it took a lot to scare the old guy
and he was scared. If the situation kept him off the water and making a living,
it was bad.

“I’ll look into it. Don’t worry, Willie, we’ll take
care of it.” So those eerie animal calls he’d heard months ago in the rear
fringes of his yard could have been those primeval leviathans. For Henry had no
doubt that’s what was plaguing his lake, his park, again. No, still. As he and Justin
had feared, they’d never left. He, his rangers and Captain Sherman McDowell’s
soldiers hadn’t killed all of them. The live monsters and the nest they’d
destroyed hadn’t been all there’d been. That was the dilemma.

There were more.

The two men walked along a little farther together,
discussing the present and the past, and when Willie veered off towards
Cleetwood Cove and his moored boat, Henry continued on to park headquarters.
His thoughts as heavy as his footsteps.

Above him brilliant feathered birds reeled in the
blue sky and the breeze had the sweetest of summer flavors wafting on it. The
smell of summer heat, sun and leaves. Yet all his earlier optimism and
happiness had ebbed away and worry had replaced it. He’d thought they were
finally in the clear. The park was safe. All the rogue dinosaurs had been taken
care of. No such luck.

Shoot. Now what was he going to do? The previous battles
had exhausted him. He couldn’t face the thought it wasn’t really over.

He was still vexing over that question when he
strode into park headquarters and made his way to his office. He needed a
strong cup of coffee and a few minutes to himself to think. The office was
quiet. It was in between shifts and his rangers were out in the park doing
their jobs or at home off-duty. Only Ranger Kiley was at his desk in the far
corner on the phone yakking to someone. Kiley waved at him as he passed by and
Henry motioned with his hand that Kiley needed to end his phone call and follow
him into his office. Now.

With a sigh Henry settled into the chair behind his
desk and a minute later Ranger Matthew Kiley strolled through the door.

“What do you need Chief?”

All Henry had to say was, “They’re back.”

“Good Lord, not again?” Ranger Kiley didn’t sit
down, but stood before Henry, as his glum expression reflected his concern.
“What’s happened?”

Henry told him.

“We’re going to close the lake again, aren’t we?”
Ranger Kiley, an older man with short white hair, a stocky build, and a calming
way about him, was the only ranger who’d worked in the park longer than Henry. He’d
been a ranger going on twenty years. And he’d been with Henry through all the
dinosaur adventures of the last six.

Henry exhaled and leaned back against his chair,
rubbed his eyes with his fingers. “I don’t see a way out of it. We can’t take
the chance these new
Loch Nessies
are hostile. Just because they didn’t
ram Captain Sander’s boat doesn’t mean they’re peace loving.”

“What excuse do we use this time?”

Henry groaned. It hadn’t been that long since the
last forced closure. The tourists and visitors always needed a reason when
their park was kept from them. “We’ll just say we’re doing purity tests on the
lake’s water. We don’t want any boats on it; and, of course, divers and
swimmers have been prohibited for a couple of years now. That’s convenient.”