Pteranodon Mall (4 page)

This was one of David’s feathered raptors, just metres from him, in the flesh and hungry for flesh. There was no doubt in him that if he had been on view, that collection of curved teeth would right now be chewing on his bones.

Jefferson poked his head out and watched it jump onto the roof of the showroom car before it ran onto the interior of the department store. He climbed out from under the bed and sat on the mattress. He gripped his knees and shook like a leaf while wondering if he was having some kind of mental breakdown.

“Come on, man. Get a grip on yourself,” he said, managing to stand without falling back on the bed. He fought the urge to crawl back underneath the bed. Jefferson waited until he was sure that the monster wasn’t going to run back out of that department store before he made his way over to the first till-point. He leaned on the counter and scanned the concourse, looking for any signs of movement. Human movements, that is. He had no fucking desire to run into another one of those carnivorous ostriches without the reassurance of a fucking shotgun in his hands. “What the fuck happened in here?”

Jefferson almost ran back to the bed when he heard a noise coming from directly behind this till-point. It took a second for him to realise that his ears had heard a quiet sob and not the sound of another freaky animal wanting to bite off his head.

He slowly leaned over the edge and clapped eyes upon a blonde-haired woman. Her blue eyes found his. She blinked. “Are you okay, miss?” he asked. It took him a moment to realise that he knew the woman. This was Janine Butler, the store’s assistant manager. She was almost unrecognisable under the tear-stained foundation, mascara, and blusher. Seeing someone who took so much effort over her appearance in this state was almost as shocking as finding he’d been dropped onto dinosaur island.

He walked around the edge of the counter and crouched directly in front of her. “Miss, it’s okay. That thing’s gone now. You’re safe.”

Janine let out another quiet sob before she launched herself at Jefferson and wrapped her arms around his body. He felt so awkward reciprocating her gesture, but when it became obvious that she was in no rush to let him go, Jefferson put his arms around her too.

“I, I thought I was the only one left,” she whispered. “I can’t tell you how good it is to find somebody else. That thing, the huge bird-thing. It came in here and ate Mr. Allinson.” She swallowed hard. “Oh God, I can still hear the sound of its teeth crunching through his head.” The woman looked up. “What’s going on?”

He let her go and stood, feeling his face reddening. Jefferson didn’t reply, deciding not to tell her that he was as clueless as her. Jefferson helped her up, he also decided that he’d keep the floating gum event to himself as well. “You’ve seen nobody else, Mrs. Butler?”

She shook her head. “Not since about eleven. It’s been a quiet day.”

He nodded. This store usually only attracted the browsers. Most of the stuff in here was too expensive. Alan told the gang that he went in here a couple of days ago, when his partner was after a new wardrobe. He still ended up buying a piece online. “What’s outside the store? I mean, like people walking past.” Jefferson took a couple of steps towards the concourse and stopped when the woman slipped her hand into his.

“Don’t, please. Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t leave, you, Mrs. Butler.”

“Janine. Call me Janine.”

“People, you were about to tell me about other people.”

The woman squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry. When that thing did that awful thing to Mr. Allinson, I ducked under here and didn’t move.” She gazed fearfully around. “Has it gone? I mean, it’s not hiding somewhere? The monster does that, you know. I saw a boy about your age rush in here. Just like you did. He must have thought he was safe in here. The monster leaped off the top of a bunk-bed and dragged him out of the shop. Are you sure you’re not going to leave me?”

Had she seen David? Oh God, please don’t let it be David. “So you haven’t tried to leave the shop?”

The woman sighed. “Hiding behind the counter wasn’t my first choice. I did try to escape, only somebody must have put the shutters down.”

“What shutters? The shop doesn’t have any.” Jefferson was about to add that is how he got in, then changed his mind. “It must have, otherwise I would be halfway to bleeding China by now. I love my job. I have great friends.”

Jefferson’s scrambled memory slotted back into place. He remembered placing his two hands on that shutter and finding himself in the store lobby, as well as repeating the same word that the woman had just uttered. Christ, just what the frig was going on in here? “Look, miss. I need to find my friends.” He looked over to the exit. “Believe me, there’s no shutter over those doors. All you have to do is close your eyes and walk through.” He pulled her fingers out of his hand. “Trust me on this. You’re safe now. That monster has gone.”

She forced her hand back and shook her head. “No, I’m not leaving you, mister. I’m going where you’re going.”

Jefferson reached into his pocket and pulled out his blue plastic box cutter. He slapped it on the counter. “In that case, we’re going to need something to use if that thing comes back, as I think that will be about as useful as a chocolate fireguard.”

The woman looked around the under the counter, pulling out plastic bags, and coat hangers. She then straightened her back and placed a craft knife in the palm of his hand. “That belongs to Mr. Allinson.”

Jefferson tried not to laugh at the sight of the very same type of craft knife that they sold in his shop. “It’s better than nothing, I guess.” He pushed out the blade. “Although it is still only one claw versus ten claws and a gobful of teeth. I doubt that dinosaur will be shaking in its boots.”

“You mean that’s a dinosaur?”

“It isn’t a cat, honey.” David might not have been talking rubbish about that feathered dog after all. He pushed out the blade before sneaking out of the furniture shop. He crouched beside the pretzel stall and scanned the concourse, looking for signs of movement. The eatery and the group of shops where he and his mates worked were around the corner. To get there, the pair of them had to pass the department store. Right now, Jefferson wasn’t that keen on doing so, not after the woman had told him about the bunkbed incident.

He had seen enough wildlife documentaries to recognise an ambush predator when he saw one, and neither of them had been all that quiet. He could see those evil claws whipping out from behind that handbag stand and ripping the woman out of his grip as soon as they passed that shop.

“I don’t understand. How can it be a dinosaur? I thought that they all died out millions of years ago.”

“Mrs. Butler, do you have any children?”

“Yes. I have two boys a bit younger than you. Why do you ask?”

“What did you used to say to them when they were about five and kept asking you stupid questions?”

“Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” He took a handkerchief out of his back pocket. “Here, you go, Mrs. Butler. I mean, Janine.”

She took it out of his hand. “Thank you.”

He knew it wasn’t the only dinosaur, at least didn’t used to be the only one. Meaning, how many more of them were they in the mall? And how many more of them stood between him and his friends? He looked down at the knife in his hand then across at the sporting goods shop opposite him. “Come on, Janine.”

“Why, what are we doing?”

“We need to even the odds,” he replied, pulling her over to the shop. “We’re going to get tooled up.”

He hurried past the football shirts and the trainers, not slowing down until he reached the counter. “You’ll have to let go of my hand a moment.” Jefferson climbed onto the surface and reached for the crossbow attached to the wall.

“It’ll be locked. You’re going to need the key. You’ll need the key for that metal cabinet too. It’s where they keep the bolts.”

“Great,” he muttered. “Just great.” He turned around, using his higher elevation to survey the shop. Just like everywhere else, the place looked deserted. He’d already discovered, though, that this didn’t mean there wasn’t anybody about. Even so, he wasn’t about to start shouting for assistance. The woman pushed her body between his feet. She reached over the counter and chuckled.

“This might help.”

He jumped down, grinning at the sight of the cricket bat she held. It wasn’t one they sold in here. It looked more at home in the hands of some dodgy-looking pub landlord with those metal spikes embedded in the end.

“This belongs to Danny,” she said. “Some guy came into his shop a few months ago and pulled this out of a carrier bag. He told the young girl that if she didn’t give him all the money in the till then he’d use this on her face. What the idiot didn’t know was that Danny had already seen him. The would-be burglar was on the floor and out cold before another threat could come out of his mouth.” She handed it to him. “It’s not as good as a crossbow, but it’s bound to help you more than the original owner.”

“I wish Danny was here now,” said Jefferson.

Janine took his hand. “I think you’re doing just great.”

Jefferson didn’t think he was doing great at all. Right now, he wanted to drop this stupid bat, run to the toilets, and hide in a cubicle, hoping all this was some weird dream caused by drinking too much coffee. Not like he’d be able to run anywhere alone. Mrs. Butler’s vice-like grip on his hand would make sure of that. No matter how much he tried, Jefferson could not picture this woman currently holding his hand, giving him those puppy-dog eyes as that stern-looking, bad-tempered old bat who took great pleasure in giving David a hard time whenever the pair of them walked through her shop.

He smiled back at her. It’s odd how she never had a dig at him. David used to say that it’s because she thought he and David were riff-raff because they worked at the poor and scumbag store, that they brought down the tone of the whole mall. David used to call her
the chair leg witch
.

Would his mate see Janine as anything but the chair leg witch? Like a potential girlfriend for Jefferson, for example? No, of course not. David saved most of his lust for the untouchable Sandy, with whatever remaining, dished out to any pretty girl who happened to walk into the shop wearing a low cut top.

He came to the conclusion that she must wear that makeup just to look a lot older than she really was, because right now, she did not look a bit like the old crone that he and Davis used to take her for. He reckoned Janine to be in her late thirties, certainly no old than forty. Not that much older than him, give or take a decade.

She really did have a lovely smile and smooth skin.

Oh Christ. What was wrong with him? Why had he suddenly started to think with his loins at a time like this?

“What’s on your mind?” she blurted out.

Jefferson reddened again. He felt like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar by his mum. “I was just thinking about those shutters outside your store. I know we can’t get out the main entrance, so I was trying to think of another way out of here.”

All the blood drained from the woman’s face. She even let go of his hand to steady herself. “We don’t have any shutters. I’ve already told you that.”

“In that case, why didn’t you leave the store when you could?”

Jesus, what the fuck was wrong with him? A single tear ran down the side of her face. He waited for the inevitable mantra of
she loves her job
and
she has lots of friends
to tumble from her mouth. Instead, Jefferson found himself looking at the woman who snarled at David this morning. All traces of her recent femininity had vanished. She spun around and walked out of the shop, leaving him feeling utterly wretched.

Why couldn’t she keep his big mouth shut?

“Wait up!” he shouted, running after her. The woman had not gone far. He found her sitting in one of the many seating areas dotted around the mall. All the chairs in this one were green. “Look, I’m sorry, Janine. I shouldn’t have snapped at you, it’s just…” his words trailed off when he realised that the woman wasn’t taking the least bit of noticed in what he said. Her gaze was fixed of the group of dark brown, armoured dinosaurs munching their way through the contents of the fruit and veg in the mini-market.

“Look at them,” she said. Her tears had gone; she now looked almost blissfully happy.

“Janine?”

She turned her head and smiled. He couldn’t help himself. Jefferson smiled back and took her hand when she offered it.

“Come on.” She stood and pulled him into the shop.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean. They’re not exactly small.”

“Don’t be a baby. They are so beautiful!” Janine walked straight up to the first one. She grabbed an apple and held it under the creature’s muzzle. Incredibly, it took the fruit straight out of her hand.

He was a little relieved to find it hadn’t chomped off any of her fingers too. The woman gave it another apple before she reached out, grabbed Jefferson’s arm, and pulled him over. “Go on, pet its head. Look at them, Jefferson. Look how beautiful they are.”

“I wish David was here. He’d be able to tell us what they are. I mean, your new pals look like a Brontosaurus, but even I know they’re supposed to be a lot bigger than these are, Janine.”