A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse, Episode Four: "Burn‪"‬

Scenes & Interludes ... From an Improbable End | A New Series in the Flashback Universe ...

"I'm not a killer, if that's what you mean," he retorted, then turned away and watched the fire, hands on his hips. "Nor will I let any of us be. I mean, if I've said it once I'll say it again: this isn't about bloodshed. It's not even about rebellion. It's more about …" He paused—as though saying anything else could only lead to regret.

"I thought it was about nothing," said Fiona, softly. "That that was its beauty—it was wildness for the sake of wildness. Passion for the sake of passion. Isn't that what you said?" She laughed with surprising bitterness. "Different context, I guess."

"It was about filling the nothing," he said, still facing away. "And letting go. Until … But then—you haven't had to think about any of that … have you? No one's made you king."

"And cue the Messiah Complex," fumed Fiona, which I took as my cue to leave; to give them space—to let them hash it out, whatever it was—after which I wandered over to one of the kegs and filled a cup, reckoning that next to a roaring fire wasn't the best place to keep beer—because it tasted like piss, literally. Nor did I stop at one but downed three in rapid succession, wondering what Calvin had meant by 'filling the nothing' and 'letting go,' and about being king—not to mention starting a sentence with 'until' … but never finishing it.

And I guess I must have stood there for a while, because I distinctly recall watching the same group of teens—their arms laden with destruction—moving back and forth between the fire and the White House—the fucking White House!—to the point that I began feeling shitty about what we'd done; and even a little sick to my stomach. But then Fiona returned jingling Calvin's keys and we were firing up his Mustang convertible, and the next thing I remember she was piloting us down 14th Street NW past buildings with Doric columns (now choked in prehistoric ivy) and a pair of grazing stegosaurs and at least one giant millipede; all the way to Constitution Avenue and the National Museum; which I took special note of only because I was trying not to look at her body—something she noticed, I'm sure, but didn't seem to mind—because she just glanced at me beneath the blood red sky and smiled—toothily. Carnivorously.

The Flashback/Dinosaur Apocalypse Cycle

Flashback (re-printed in Dinosaur Apocalypse)

Flashback Dawn (re-printed in Dinosaur Apocalypse)

Tales from the Flashback (re-printed as Dinosaur Rampage)

Flashback Twilight (serialized as A Dinosaur is a Man's Best Friend; re-printed as The Complete Ank & Williams, Dinosaur War, Paladins)

A Reign of Thunder (serialized as Heat Wave)

A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse