Cretaceous Curiosity
A naturist sci-fi adventure about survival, scent, and the power of going bare
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in Adventures Without Clothes, a collection of naturist fiction benefitting Doctors Without Borders. In alignment with the project’s mission, the author’s fee for this publication has also been donated to Doctors Without Borders.
You can buy Adventures Without Clothes right here.
“It got another one,” said Tomas as he looked at the online news. It was the big beast that had escaped from the laboratory. “I can’t believe how stupid they were to start that experiment.”
Brett glanced at his friend. “Remember how excited you were when you first heard about it, Tomboy?”
Tomas shrugged. “Well, the idea is cool but they… except, nobody thought it would work, right?”
The two friends, enjoying some nude time in the garden behind Tomas’ house, were talking about the T-Rex-like creature that had been revived from ancient DNA found in Argentina. The beast, with the beautiful family name Giganotosaurus carolinii, meaning Great Southern lizard, had actually come to life. None of the scientists had expected it to grow into an adolescent, four-ton beast. Nor had they expected that it would break out of its cage and wander out of the building, to find refuge in the woodlands outside the town.
“Hey, boys,” said Yvonne, Tomas’ girlfriend, as she came walking around the house. “Busy doing nothing, I see?” She immediately started undressing.
“Hey babe,” Tomas said, pulling up a chair for her. “Can I get you something?”
“Iced tea for me, please, waiter,” Yvonne grinned. As Tomas went inside to get her drink, she asked Brett what they were doing.
Brett held up his sketchpad. “Drawing. And Tomboy is looking for news about the beast.” He pointed at the fence in the back of the garden, which connected to the woodlands.
Yvonne got up and peered into the distance. “It’s not there, is it?”
“No, it’s far away,” said Tomas, who returned with the iced tea. “Here you are. Glad you could make it, the weather’s good for us again.”
Yvonne sipped some of her tea. “I asked Ginny and Joe too, but they wanted to go swimming. Which is a nice idea too, huh?”
Tomas glanced at his tablet. “How would the hunters get caught by that animal?” he wondered. “They have high-tech everything and the animal is from millions of years ago. Surely the hunters should be able to win this, right?”
“You’d think so,” Yvonne agreed, “but the lizard has ancient survival instincts. I bet it uses something we don’t know about. Something that was needed when its parents were alive.”
“Its parents.” Brett chuckled. “Imagine Mommy and Daddy, each seven or eight tons, forty feet long, going out for a walk with baby lizard which is a mere twenty-five feet long.”
“That’s insane, indeed.” Tomas flipped the tablet on and read the latest news again. Suddenly he sat up and looked at his friends. “Sweat.”
“What?” Brett asked. “Sweat?”
“I bet that’s how the lizard knows people are near,” Tomas said, suddenly excited. “They’re sweating, that gets into their clothes, and the lizard smells it.”
Yvonne sniffed loudly. “If I was that lizard, I’d run away from that stink. Eeuw.”
Brett looked at his friend. “Actually, that’s not a stupid idea, Tomboy. Why don’t you hop over the fence and go look for the lizard? If it doesn’t smell you, you’ve proved that you’re right.”
Tomas looked at the barrier that separated the garden and woods.
“Don’t you even think about that, Tomas,” Yvonne said. “I won’t have it.”
“Not even when I take you with me?” Tomas knew she was much more of a daredevil than he was, which explained her initial reaction.
Yvonne frowned. “Perhaps we should go with more people then. And some nets. And ropes. And whatever you need to catch a giant dinosaur lizard.”
Brett laughed. “You sound like an expert. But it would make sense to go with more people.”
“Are you applying?” Yvonne asked.
“Not really,” Brett admitted.
It was evening. Brett, Yvonne and Tomas were near the gate in the fence that led into the woodlands.
“We’re nuts, you know that, right?” Brett whispered.
“Yes, and we learned it from the best,” Tomas said, “so you, our shining example, are coming with us.”
“Urgh. Come on, let’s go before I shit my pants,” Brett said.
Yvonne glanced at his bare butt. “I want to see how you are going to do that.”
Tomas checked his flashlight, which had a nylon stocking over it to keep the brightness down. “I agree with Brett. Let’s go.”
It was Yvonne who was out of the garden first. They often went into the woods in the nude; it was the best way. She had her phone with her, with a map app that showed the latest spots where the lizard had been seen.
The friends had agreed to look for the animal for two hours at most. After that, it would be too dark and too dangerous. Four tons of lizard could do a lot of damage, even by accident.
After fifteen minutes they reached one of the sighting spots. Tomas’ light showed that the animal had been there. Deep prints showed that something huge had trampled over the vegetation, and several trees hung over in a very unnatural tilt.
“I’m having second thoughts,” Brett whispered.
“Forget those. You’re here, let’s go on,” Yvonne whispered back, and carefully walked further, following the tracks.
Almost an hour into their search, the three heard a rustling noise that startled them. It was not just a ‘noise’, it was a big noise, and the ground beneath their feet trembled.
None of them dared to speak. Hand gestures were becoming difficult because it had gotten rather dark by now, and Tomas kept his stocking-covered light directed at the ground. He pointed at a bush and knelt down behind it. Brett and Yvonne followed him there, and then they waited, with the light extinguished.
Thuds came closer and mere minutes later they saw the lizard. The massive beast slowly passed them on its two legs, its big head moving left and right. For a moment it stopped, as if sampling the air, then it moved on. It looked and walked like a T-Rex, and was almost as big as one, as far as the three could remember from the Jurassic Park films.
Tomas and Yvonne held a hand over their mouths, while Brett trembled. They waited for the thuds and shuffles to be far away, then they got up and hurried away from the creature, to the safety of the garden and the house.
Brett asked for a stiff drink before he dared to go home. “Look at my hands,” he said, holding them up. “I’m shaking down to my knees.”
After Tomas had gotten them all something to calm down their nerves, he claimed that all of them being naked had meant that the lizard couldn’t smell them. “Laugh at me, but I’m sure.”
“We weren’t hunting it either,” his girlfriend reminded him. “It didn’t feel threatened.”
“True, but I am confident that naked hunters will stand a better chance, and I’m going to talk to someone about that tomorrow.” Tomas wasn’t giving up just like that.
After Brett had left, Yvonne sat down next to Tomas, who had his tablet in his hands again. He was looking at ways to contact the researchers who’d ‘created’ the animal. He was sure that they would have ways to get in touch with the hunters.
“There. Phone number,” he said, stabbing at the screen. He copied the number into a notes file and saved it for the next day.
Tomas called the number from work the next day. Working from home made that easy, though, since there were no co-workers listening in. He enjoyed working from home. It meant that the dress code was over-easy, with just a shirt nearby for online meetings. Too bad Yvonne worked in a store; she had to leave home in clothes and keep them on all day.
“Hello?” he said when someone answered his call. He told the lady who he was and why he was calling.
“Do you mean you were out there and you saw the big lizard?” Her voice sounded shocked and impressed. “How did you manage that?”
“That’s what I’m calling about,” Tomas said. “Can you put me through to one of the researchers?” That was where he ran into red tape, so he explained to the lady how he and his friends had gone into the woods naked, to test his hypothesis. “And it worked.”
The lady on the other end was very silent for some time. “Naked? You mean to tell me you weren’t wearing clothes?”
“Yes. It’s not that difficult to understand, I hope. Lots of people do it.”
“Not people that I know,” she said, to which Tomas replied that she probably didn’t know that some of her friends and acquaintances, and perhaps even family members, were naturists.
He was almost afraid she’d hang up on him, but she asked him to hold while she put him through to another department.
“Finch here.” The man who answered sounded in a hurry.
“Hello, my name is Tomas Murdoch. My friends and I saw the big lizard last night.” He knew he had to throw that in as quickly as possible.
“You what?” Mr Finch sounded a lot less in a hurry. “Where?”
Tomas explained how they’d gone into the woods, with minimal gear, and how they’d accidentally run into the lizard. “And we know how hunters can get closer to it to catch it.”
“That’s a bold statement, sir,” Mr Finch said. “The people who went out looking for it were very experienced people.”
“I bet they were,” Tomas said, “but they had clothes on. That was what got some of them killed.”
Mr Finch was silent for several seconds. “Of course, they had clothes on.”
“We didn’t,” Tomas continued, “and that’s why the lizard didn’t smell us.”
“Sir, I’m sure you’re aware we have better things to do than to listen to weird people,” Mr Finch said. “Did you really see it? If so, I would like to know where, so we can go and check the area. I’m not in the mood for perverted things.”
Tomas quickly explained how he’d gotten to his conclusion and how the three of them had gone into the woods to test his theory.
“That’s irresponsible,” Mr Finch said. “What if your theory had not worked? You’d be dead.”
“But we aren’t,” Tomas said, “which proves my point.”
“It was also dark,” the scientist countered, “perhaps it didn’t see you.”
“Okay, if you think that’s the whole thing, I’m going out to test this right now. It’s daylight. I’m going to look for it and let you know.”
“Wait!” The man suddenly sounded worried and also interested when he said he’d like to come over with a few people to see what Tomas was going to do.
“Okay, sure, but you’ll have to leave your clothes here. This is to make my point, remember?” Tomas gave the man his address. Mr Finch promised to be there, with a few others, in about an hour.
Tomas let his online co-workers know he’d be out for a few hours in a little while and continued his work until the doorbell rang. Despite himself, he glanced at the shirt. No, he thought, no shirt. That wouldn’t cover the ‘danger zone’ anyway, so he signed off and went to open the door.
Three people stared at his nude appearance.
“Oh. I hadn’t expected you to take this so far,” a man said. “Joel Finch. Mr Murdoch?”
“Yes, but most people call me Tomas.” He stepped aside and let them come in.
“Great, I’m Joel. They are Marvin Welsh and Cindy Marcus.”
“I’m Cindy,” the woman said, and winked.
Tomas led them into the living room and showed them the tablet with the map of the forest, and where they’d seen the Cretaceous curiosity.
“It seems to have chosen that area as its territory,” said Marvin. “Interesting. And you went out there… like that?” He suppressed a gesture towards Tomas.
“Yes, we did. And call me nuts, but I’m convinced that’s why the beast didn’t smell us.”
“Or saw you. We know their eyes are quite good,” Cindy said.
Tomas explained they’d been hiding, so smell would have been the only thing that could have given their position away. “That or it has infrared detection.”
The scientists didn’t believe that was the case. Tomas then asked how they planned to capture the animal.
“We have a stun gun with us, sedative arrows we can shoot at it - which unfortunately failed to do the job so far, and nets and chains. Those two are the last resort, and the most dangerous options.”
“Because you need to get close,” Tomas understood.
“Indeed.”
At that very moment, the floor trembled.
Tomas was surprised. That never happened here, there was no reason for a big truck to come this way. Then he understood what was going on. “The animal is close.”
As if Marvin and Cindy had already figured that out, they ran out the door and dived into their van, dragging out bags and a big box. Joel rushed out to help them, and only a few minutes later, the living room floor was turned into a small weaponry hall.
“We need to go out and find it,” said Cindy. “But…” She looked at Tomas. “Are you sure it’s the smell of our clothes?”
“Hundred per cent,” Tomas replied.
“Fuck it,” she said and started to undress.
Marvin stared at her and told her this was irresponsible behavior, but she didn’t care. To make things worse for him, Joel started to take his clothes off as well.
“Marvin, do it.”
“You can’t make me,” the man said, grabbing a big gun and stuffing equally big charges into his belt. “I’ve increased the dose in these things and that’s going to do it.”
“I would strongly advise you to—” Tomas said, but Marvin interrupted him.
“Stop that. Get me out there.”
“Marvin, at least wait for us,” Joel said, who was almost nude now. Cindy grabbed another gun, the stun gun, and Joel hoisted the net over his shoulder. Each of the three grabbed a metal chain. There were two more. Tomas took them. He was surprised at how light they were. “Titanium,” Joel explained. “Now let’s go.”
Tomas led the way to the garden and the fence. The ground shook occasionally, and he knew it was the big lizard. He opened the gate and looked outside. The coast was clear.
The three people pushed past him, Marvin in the lead, so he hurried after them.
It wasn’t hard to locate the Giganotosaurus. Trees cracked, and grunts from the animal functioned as a big arrow pointing to its location.
The creature was much closer to Tomas’ house than he’d expected, and fear gripped his heart. What if that thing would run into, or even through his house? It had looked massive enough to do that the night before.
Marvin pointed and held a finger over his lips. He’d located the dinosaur, and the others saw it too now. Marvin pointed at the big gun, in which he’d already loaded a sedative charge. He circled around the spot where the Giganotosaurus was tearing at a tree.
Tomas lay down and peered under a bush to see what was going to happen. Joel and Cindy remained upright and watched where Marvin was going as well.
The ‘saurus’s head moved.
Tomas knew it picked up Marvin’s scent; he’d smelled it himself as the man had been in the house. Joel and Cindy had smelled too, but they had left that inside. He got up and whispered, “We have to do something. It already noticed Marvin.”
“No, Marvin’s not there,” Joel whispered back, but Tomas didn’t trust the man’s observation.
They stood and waited.
The Giganotosaurus turned and jumped into a bush, its strong hind legs giving it an incredible turn of speed. The three heard a shot, then a roar, then a scream.
Tomas knew that Marvin was being attacked and that wouldn’t last long. Tomas didn’t think, he simply acted. “Come with me,” he whispered to Cindy, and ran after the giant lizard, holding his chains at the ready.
As he came closer to the animal, he started swinging one of the chains like a lasso. The sound of the chains made the Giganotosaurus turn. Tomas was frightened as the huge head with the open beak came closer. At the last moment, he let go of the chain, which whizzed away and hit the lizard in the mouth. The chain ends flew around and slammed it in the back of its head.
The creature uttered a terrifying sound and bit down on the chain – it didn’t break.
Tomas threw himself to the side as the animal charged at him.
“Tomas!” It was Cindy, running towards the animal now. She held up the net for him to grab one end. How he did it, he’d never know, but he managed to get hold of the net. It felt like only one heartbeat later that the lizard ran into it, and Cindy jumped to get the net over its head. “Let go!” she yelled just in time. Had Tomas let go a moment later, the dinosaur would have ripped his fingers off.
The animal was confused by the net and slowed down, even coming to a full stop.
Joel ran up to the animal, holding another chain. He ducked and threw the chain around one of the big legs. Tomas saw an opportunity and ran over to chain up the other leg, then handing the ends to Joel, who managed to connect them together.
That didn’t prevent the Giganotosaurus from walking but it hindered it a lot. The creature roared and screamed, turning to its attackers, but its very short arms couldn’t do too much, and the net, and the chain between its teeth, made the danger a bit less.
Then Cindy came running, with the last chain. Horrified, Tomas watched how she dived between the two stomping feet, threw her chain around the two and somehow tightened them so the lizard could barely walk anymore. It staggered a bit and, as Cindy scrambled away from the beast, it keeled over. The earth shook as four tons of dinosaur hit the ground.
“Aaaarghhh…” Cindy cried when the massive tail of the animal hit her, sending her flying. She landed hard and rolled a few times, but she didn’t stay down. A little blood ran down her chest but she appeared to be okay. “Marvin,” she said, and hurried to where they had last heard the man with the gun screaming.
Tomas and Joel ran after her.
Marvin’s face had been severely mauled by the animal, and one of his arms looked in a terrible state.
“I’m going to dash home and call an ambulance,” Tomas said. He didn’t wait for any response, and ran through the woodlands faster than he’d ever run before.
The medics were very surprised to be guided into the woods by a naked man, and more so when they found two more nude people and a silent dinosaur. However, their professional training took over when they saw Marvin. As quickly as they could, they took care of him, stabilized him and then rushed him off to the hospital.
“How did you silence the lizard?” Tomas asked the two after the ambulance had left. Joel had used that time to collect his cell phone and make some phone calls.
“We used Marvin’s gun and shot it with six doses of tranquilizer. That did the trick. Two helicopters are on their way to pick up the big one,” Joel said. “Ah, they’re almost here.”
The sound of the helicopters was unmistakable. Joel asked Tomas to go to his garden and point the pilots in the right direction. He ran again, a lot slower this time, and did his best to do as Joel had asked. As soon as the aircraft were in position and huge cables were lowered, Tomas hurried back to the lizard. He wanted to see how they were going to lift the huge beast. A few men had abseiled to the ground and secured the lizard properly.
Of course, the men stared at the nude people, mostly at Cindy, but they got the job done.
“Hey, you need some patching up too,” Tomas said, pointing at the cut on her chest. She had refused to go with the ambulance, but she nodded now.
Joel said he’d stay in the forest until the Giganotosaurus was on its way.
By the time Joel had returned to the house, Cindy’s wound had been taken care of by the medics. “All done. The animal caught and taken off to safety.” He started putting on his clothes. “You’re still naked,” he said to Cindy.
“Yeah. It’s comfortable.” She looked at Tomas. “The best outfit to hunt dinosaurs, right?” Then she looked for her clothes and put them on. “Thank you for calling, Tomas.”
Joel thanked him too. “I hope the neighbors won’t hassle you too much about the helicopters and the noise,” he said.
“We’ll see. If you ever want to come back for some quiet nude time, you’re welcome to come over,” Tomas said.
“Thank you. And if you ever need to talk about what happened, give us a call,” Joel said, pulling a card from a wallet. “This is my direct number.”
“Thanks.” Tomas sighed. “I still can’t believe that this actually happened.”
“Maybe it’s best to forget it,” Cindy said.
They all knew that was never going to happen. 🪐
More Stories:
 | A guest post by
|