'START'

  So, it seemed like he only had to press it—

  Before Luca could move, the old man reappeared. Behind them, a group of men in park vests, wearing black pants and boots, stood next to the walls, watching at his direction. Their faces wore curiosity and expectation. But for what? The old man, either ignorant or indifferent to their eyes, leaned on the frame of bus, peering at Luca with unreadable eyes.

  “Ready?” he asked, as if it were truly a question. His gaze lingered on him for a moment longer than necessary before he added, almost casually, “You’re young, so you should know that nowadays people love a good show, and have little patience.” He tapped the side of his temple knowingly and gave him a look.

  Yeah. Years of experience in customer service had taught that lesson particularly well. Despite this, Luca nodded at him “Thank you.”

  “Go, go,” the man said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Don’t be late, or there’ll be trouble for all of us.” With that, he turned and walked toward the handful of employees gathered nearby.

  As Luca glanced around the bus at the empty seats, he knew the 'visitors' wouldn’t be the same as the ones he’d seen earlier. But it didn’t matter. A job was a job.

  He pressed the button, a faint sense of electricity tingling under his fingers.

  With a low hum, the bus came to life. The door and the windows left out a soft click before the vehicle started moving on its own. It eased out of its spot and slowly glided along a half-hidden road leading westward. The automatic system looked quite thorough, so Luca sat back and took the opportunity to study his surroundings more carefully.

  The front of the bus was quite normal, except for the control screen. Now, two vivid words had appeared: STOP and, most interestingly, SHIELD. The latter had an icon of a white bar beneath it, seemingly halted midway through charging. The manual, of course, had mentioned nothing about this or what it could mean.

  Luca didn’t know who had been responsible for filling in the details, but he hoped never to meet them —or he wouldn't resist the temptation of saying something. At their face. With a chair.

  Amidst his thoughts, the murmurs began.

  At first, they were faint, barely audible over the soft background noise of the bus. But soon, they grew louder—a cacophony of voices and laughter that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Luca caught movement out of the corner of his eyes and turned his head, only to stare.

  People. People were materializing in the seats.

  Out of thin air.

  They appeared slowly, their forms flickering like static on an old television screen before solidifying into translucent shapes. Men, women, children—all dressed in casual tourist attire, their faces frozen in expressions of excitement or mild boredom. They chatted amongst themselves, oblivious to Luca’s presence—or simply choosing not to acknowledge him.

  Sadly, he couldn’t do the same. Something was wrong with them. Not only was the feeling stronger—a dissonance sharper than those he’d encountered before, wandering the park—but they looked different too. Perhaps it was the way their forms flickered, torn between two states— a clean, almost naive one, and a stained kind of 'I died and was horrible' one.

  As he watched them, two messages blinked into existence.

  An hour.

  The sun was sinking toward the horizon, and at night, the predators that had been resting during the day would wake up. Hungry, surely. And which of them would appreciate the intrusion into their territories? The T. Rex would love it. The Carnotaurus? It would throw a party. The rest would probably follow suit.

  What a fucked up job.

  As the bus rolled forward, Luca sighed, noticing they were approaching the fences of the first enclosure—the Spinosaurus’s. Tall bars, surrounded by dense foliage at both sides stood first, clear under the still-present daylight. He couldn’t hear the rustle of leaves or the chirps of birds from his current place, but he knew that somewhere within that cage, its inhabitant wasn't hibernating. It would heard them coming.

  Everything would undoubtedly be easier if he could simply use the shield for the whole trip. But no, that would take away all the diversion, right? Those adrenaline-addict wannabes (those dead adrenaline-addict wannabes) preferred to take their chances with the thrill of being eaten. Thus, the Mystery had decided that this shield was part of the performance—one he had to master, at least partially—if he wanted not only to come back in one piece but also to leave early.

  The things one did for money and less work, huh?

  On the (almost) good, shiny side of the coin, although this job felt like a visit to Jurassic Park—ha!—it had its perks. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d had the chance to work fewer hours without getting his pay docked (and fired). In truth, this might be the only job where working less would increase his salary. They should advertise it as part of the job’s highlight.

  A deep growl cut through the vegetation, easily reaching him as they approached the enclosure. It was followed by an excited cheer from the 'audience.' But as nothing more happened and the bus continued moving slowly forward, something began to stir. It was a faint, insidious energy that slithered through the bus like wispy smoke, pressing against his skin.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the 'visitors' seemed caught in their second 'form,' and their vacant eyes had started to focus on him. If that wasn’t enough, the heavy silence was also a sign that something needed to be done.

  Ha. They were getting bored, weren’t they?

  As the massive doors of the enclosure creaked open, barely wide enough for the bus to pass through, Luca reached for a small microphone from the glove box and tested it, pressing the small button. When it emitted a faint 'bip,' he began to speak.

  “Testing, testing—do you hear me? If you can hear me, please say ‘yes.’”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  The ghosty-like figures, who had been silent moments ago, responded in a chorus of enthusiastic affirmations. “Yes!” they chimed, as if nothing unusual were happening around them. But their appearance had started to shift back to their 'cleaner' version, which was all he needed to confirm he was on the right path.

  Good. That old man was right. They wanted a show.

  “Perfect! A pleasure to have all of you here today. I’m your guide, Mithras, and I’ll be taking you on a journey you won’t soon forget.” He paused, breathing carefully, letting the words hang in the air. His tone was the same one he’d used during his seven months as Chummy, the Magician’s assistant. “Now, you’ve probably heard about our first friend we’ll be visiting—one of the four kings. He’s a bit spiky, but everyone loves him!”

  The sound of rushing water grew louder as the bus emerged beside a riverbank. The scene might have made a great postcard—a peaceful expanse of translucent water framed by lush vegetation. But this wasn’t tranquility; it was the calm of a predator’s territory.

  One hand hovered over the STOP option while the other rested firmly on the silver bracelet wrapped around his wrist. Luca waited, gazing at the water, and continued speaking, sharing a snippet he’d picked up from the museum. “Our friend here is the fruit of years of research and some creative license. Because Primal Dream’s founder, Dr. Johnson, wished to offer only the best to his visitors, he recovered fragments of DNA from three different specimens discovered in the last five years.”

  The bus reached the halfway point along the river, and he pressed the button, halting the bus.

  “However, this fusion ended up bringing unexpected results.”

  As if on cue, a colossal figure erupted from the river, less than fifty meters from the bus. Water cascaded off its imposing crest, slipping through its sleek scarlet and black scales, revealing a gaping maw filled with rows of crocodile-like teeth. The sheer size of the creature was more than imposing—but the audience, this ghostly audience, standing only a couple of meters away from the predator, didn’t scream in fear.

  No.

  They were ecstatic, their faces glowing with morbid fascination. It was a crazed look that made them seem so alive. Beyond nuts, but alive.

  Luca had no reason to celebrate as he pressed the button to capture the image.

  And then:

  Ups and downs.

  Luca frowned, pondering whether the distance between him and his target could be the problem. His eyes darted around, a dangerous idea already forming in his mind, and then focused on the rear of the bus.

  The Spinosaurus wasn’t done with its demonstration. With earth-shaking steps, it stomped toward the bus, its golden eyes locking onto the vehicle with predatory intensity. The ground trembled beneath its weight, each step reverberating through the chassis like a small earthquake, and Luca could imagine it crushing the bus with one of its massive claws.

  “As you can see, our friend is really big and strong,” Luca continued, his finger hovering over the SHIELD button, now glowing green, the bar beneath it fully charged. But damn, it was slow! Alright, he thought, and stretched his other hand toward the small button next to the windows. With a hiss, the glass slid open.

  As the Spinosaurus appeared at the back of the bus and opened its mouth, revealing yellowish, conical teeth in high detail, a wave of stinking breath poured into the bus. Luca pressed his bracelet at the same time the dinosaur reached the bus, and then the other crucial button—SHIELD. Two things happened simultaneously: first, the messages—

  —and the shield. An electric teal dome materialized out of thin air, crackling with energy as it repelled the dinosaur’s advance. The Spinosaurus halted, its massive head snapping at the barrier with a ferocity that hinted at ancient grievances.

  A counter appeared on the screen: 7 Seconds.

  Ah? Luca frowned. What a joke.

  A new button blinked in the screen: CONTINUE.

  The Spinosaurus roared again, its deafening cry shaking the very air around them. Luca didn’t hesitate and pressed down on the button, propelling the bus forward just as the creature lunged. The Spinosaurus stopped itself before it could clash against the shield, but its ferocious mouth remained wide open, its eyes glowing red.

  “Oh, it seems like our friend is a bit cranky today,” he continued, counting the seconds.

  Slower than a snail, Luca thought as the bus began to move. It felt as though it had been designed intentionally to prolong the encounter rather than escape it. Which left him with only one thought: To hell with that psycho!

  If they didn’t hurry up, the shield would—

  With a flicker, the teal translucent cover faded away, leaving the bus at the mercy of whatever fate awaited them. Which wasn’t a comforting metaphor, considering the only god he believed in was the one that didn’t exist.

  Behind them, the Spinosaurus let out another guttural roar.

  The visitors, at least, seemed quite content. Even if their Satisfaction hadn’t been directly tied to the shield in this enclosure, it was nice to see they appreciated his efforts to end the tour early.

  How kind. The Spinosaurus didn’t seem interested enough to pursue them further. Turning around, it slipped back into the water, leaving only the top of its crest visible. The sunlight made its black scales glint like silver, and well—it couldn’t be denied that it had its own kind of beauty.

  A dangerous, primal kind of beauty.

  As the bus moved steadily onward, leaving the riverbank—and the predator—behind, Luca let out a soft sigh. But it wasn’t over yet.

  “Well, it’s been a quick visit to our friend. Why don’t we say goodbye to him?” He paused for an instant. “Goodbye, Malik!”

  The entire audience burst into a manic chorus: “Malik! Malik! Malik!”

  There you go, thought Luca, a hint of satisfaction crossing his face as he leaned back in his seat. The exit stood ahead, and it slid open without hesitation, leaving them back on the road. As the bus pulled onto the pavement, messages popped up.

  Luca’s lips twitched involuntarily at the absurdity of it all. Tough? Sure, they could survive a little dino kiss. But it was like a typical breakup scenario, only reversed: the problem was him—he was still flesh and bone, unlike them. And there was no way he would change that fact, thank you very much.

  How did that poem go…? I had tasks to complete and thousands to pay before I slept… Something like that, right?

  As the text faded, his eyes turned to his surroundings—the road stretched ahead, the outline of the next enclosure not far from there.

  Orkoraptors, right?

  'The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

  But I have promises to keep

  And miles to go before I sleep.'