Strikeout of the Bleacher Weenies Read Online Free

though the air was steamy, the sunlight was bright enough to make me squint at first.
    Darrin held up a device with a screen in front and a large antenna on top. “Tracker,” he said. “It picks up all life forms larger than two tons.”
    That would include the spinosaurus. It weighed twenty tons. I could see various blips on the screen. I pointed at the biggest dot. “Is that one?”
    Darrin shook his head. “Too small. But we’re in the right region. Come on—let’s take a hike.”
    I followed him, sticking to the path he wove through the towering plants. Fairly soon, we saw a large herbivore grazing in a clearing. “Want something easy?” Darrin asked. “You can bag this monster and be home in time for lunch.”
    â€œNo thanks.”
    We pushed on. It was hard moving through the jungle, but I was in great shape. Last year, Dad bought me a membership in the best gym in town, and my trainer made sure I got a good workout. After about two hours, Darrin stopped in his tracks and tapped the screen.
    â€œThar she blows,” he said.
    â€œHuh?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
    â€œI found one. Big one. Biggest I’ve ever seen. What a trophy this is going to be, lad. We’ll both be bragging about this beauty for years. Come on, it’s just across that ridge.”
    I could feel my blood pumping through my veins in anticipation of the kill as I followed Darrin up a steep slope. We had to work our way around several gaping pits and past two thick stands of dense plant growth.
    When we crested the ridge, I gasped. The spinosaurus was even larger than I could have imagined. It was like a bulldozer had grown spines and come to life. Not like a regular earth mover you’d see on a construction site, but one of the gigantic ones you see at the bottom of mines and quarries.
    â€œWow…” I let the word drift from my mouth.
    â€œYeah, wow,” Darrin said. “What a beauty. Ready to kill it?”
    A spark of doubt crossed my mind as I heard his bluntly phrased words, but it was drowned by the idea of blowing the spinosaurus away with one perfectly placed shot. “Yeah. I’m ready.” I raised the rifle.
    â€œHold on,” Darrin said, putting a hand on my arm. “It’s too far away. Besides—it’s more fun to shoot them when they’re charging straight at you. There’s no feeling like it.”
    â€œHow do we get it to charge?” I asked.
    â€œ We don’t. I do,” he said. “That’s why they pay me such a generous salary. Wait here.”
    He headed down the ridge until he was about fifty yards from the dinosaur. Then he shouted and waved his hands. I wondered whether something so big would even notice something so relatively small. But I guess you don’t get to be that big a carnivore without paying attention to every opportunity for a meal.
    The spinosaurus charged toward Darrin, who ran toward me. The earth vibrated beneath my feet like a massive coal train was passing by. I raised the rifle, sighted on the dinosaur through the scope, and waited for the ping that would tell me my target was within range. The stock and barrel were heavy, but I managed to keep them level.
    The rifle pinged .
    I fired at the dinosaur’s chest.
    â€œAhhhh!” The scream shot from me as I got slammed in my own chest with the recoil.
    The kick knocked me right off my feet and sent me tumbling backward. The spinosaurus was still charging. I fell hard and kept rolling. I caught a blurry view of Darrin, halfway down the hill, leaping to the side and whipping around his own rifle as the spinosaurus thundered past him.
    I felt the hill drop out from under me. I’d rolled into one of the pits. I slammed down to the bottom. Overhead, the sun was blotted out as the spinosaurus reached the edge of the pit. It stood there, looking down at me like I was lunch. From this angle, it seemed