A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse, Episode Five: "Elegy"(Kobo/電子書)

That's when I heard the strange sound: a kind of forlorn mewing, like the note of a horn being drug out too long, coming from just around the corner, just beyond the liquor store—and paused, holding up my hand.

"What? What's going on?"

I waved her into silence, dropping the rein, then hustled to the edge of the building—where, after peeking around the corner, I saw a juvenile sauropod of the Diplodocus family (meaning it was the size of a typical school bus) collapsed in the middle of the street—its right front leg stuck in a manhole.

"What is it? What do you see?"

I looked from the sauropod to the corner of a nearby building, where something had moved, then across the street to an overgrown alley. Yes, I thought. There. And there. Between the tattoo parlor and the marijuana dispensary …

"Allosaurs," I said, gravely. "An entire pack of them. In desert camouflage. They—they've got something trapped."

"Omigod. It—it's not your dog, is it?"

I returned and picked up the rein, began leading Blucifer forward, into the intersection. "No."

"Wait … what are you—"

"We're going through," I said.

"But what if those things—"

"They don't care about us; they want the bigger game. For now. Just hold on."

The horse's hooves went clip-clop, clip-clop as we passed, the bluish-gray sauropod coming into full view ...

A moment later she said, "It—it's stuck. In the manhole. Do you see that?"

I eyed the predators warily, continuing to lead. "There's nothing we can do about it."

"But she'll be helpless against—"

"That is the way of it," I insisted. "The way of the—"

"Look, would you stop with the Indian clap-trap? I'm not even sure—"

There was a thwomp as the allosaur by the building leapt into the road—not by us but about fifty feet away, near the sauropod.

"Jesus, can't you do anything? What about your bow?"

"And risk bringing them down on us?" I intensified our pace, sprinting toward the Stratosphere. "No!"

And then they were coming—the allosaurs from across the street—passing so close we could smell the meat on their breath; closing in on the frightened herbivore … until we passed the scene completely and sought refuge in a nearby gas station (its storefront had long since collapsed) and gathered there trembling as the sauropod cried out—for it wouldn't be long now until they fell upon her.

"Jesus," said Essie, listening. "What a world."

"Yes," I said, remembering. "My father used to say it had a demonic sublime; every tree and every rock, every animal, including man, down to the lowest insect." I listened as the sauropod moaned, seeming already to give up, to resign its fate. "And yet."

"What do you mean?"

"What?"

"You said, 'and yet.' What did you mean?"

I un-shouldered the compound bow—rubbing my aching deltoid, stretching my arm. "Nothing. It's just that … maybe it doesn't have to be this way."

When she didn't respond I looked at her—found her already looking at me: calmly, meditatively, her eyes seeming to glimmer. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"I mean … that I could end it. Her confusion and terror. That I—could prevent her from suffering." I looked at the bow and the dark, poisoned bolts attached to it. "That it's in my hands to do so."

Kobo 電子書 購買注意事項如下:

(一)如果您是第一次購買Kobo電子書的顧客，請依以下兩種購買方式擇一進行綁定：

1.PChome 24h 網頁版(https://24h.pchome.com.tw/)：結帳後至顧客中心，確認訂單狀態，若為確認中，請稍候五分鐘，待訂單狀態變為訂單成立後，點選明細，在訂單資訊中點選〔內容〕，在彈跳視窗後點選〔去兌換〕，即可前往Kobo官網執行綁定及登入流程。

我的訂單/顧客中心 >訂單查詢> 訂單編號> 點選明細 > 訂單資訊 點選〔內容〕>彈跳視窗 點選〔去兌換〕即可前往Kobo官網執行綁定及登入流程。

2.PChome APP版：結帳後至顧客中心，確認訂單狀態，若為確認中，請稍候五分鐘，待訂單狀態變為訂單成立後，點選明細，在訂單資訊中點選[序號/軟體下載]，並在彈跳視窗出現後點選〔下載連結〕，即可前往Kobo官網執行綁定及登入流程。

顧客中心> 訂單查詢> 訂單編號> 點選明細 > 訂單資訊 點選 [序號/軟體下載] >彈跳視窗 點選〔下載連結〕即可前往Kobo官網執行綁定及登入流程。

*進入Kobo官網後的綁定流程請參考如下：

（使用Kobo主帳號 登入/註冊）
1. 當您在PChome 24h 網頁版(https://24h.pchome.com.tw/)/PChome APP版，購買確認後，並依步驟跳轉到Kobo官網時，下滑點選〔更多登錄選項〕，由〔PChome〕後點選進入，同意後登入，並可以註冊Kobo主帳號進行綁定，完成後，所購買的書籍即會出現在Kobo APP/Kobo 閱讀器/Kobo官網內的我的書籍。

（使用快速登入：FACEBOOK、GOOGLE、APPLE帳號登入）
2. 當您在PChome 24h 網頁版(https://24h.pchome.com.tw/)/PChome APP版，購買確認後，並依指示跳轉到Kobo官網時，點選〔FACEBOOK、GOOGLE、APPLE帳號登入〕擇一登入，同意後登入，並可以註冊Kobo主帳號進行綁定，完成後，所購買的書籍即會出現在Kobo APP/Kobo 閱讀器/Kobo官網內的我的書籍。

(二)如果您是已經完成PChome與Kobo帳號綁定程序，非第一次購買Kobo電子書的顧客

1.PChome 24h 網頁版(https://24h.pchome.com.tw/)：結帳後至顧客中心，確認訂單狀態，若為確認中，請稍候五分鐘，待訂單狀態變為訂單成立後，點選明細，在訂單資訊中點選〔內容〕，在彈跳視窗後點選〔去兌換〕，所購買的書籍即會出現在Kobo APP/Kobo 閱讀器/Kobo官網內的我的書籍。

2.PChome APP版：結帳後至顧客中心，確認訂單狀態，若為確認中，請稍候五分鐘，待訂單狀態變為訂單成立後，點選明細，在訂單資訊中點選[序號/軟體下載]，並在彈跳視窗出現後點選〔下載連結〕，所購買的書籍即會出現在Kobo APP/Kobo 閱讀器/Kobo官網內的我的書籍。

- 退換貨:依樂天Kobo官方規範為準

- 僅能由 閱讀器以外 的裝置做會員帳號綁定

- 請注意，帳號綁定後：

* Kobo會更新您的帳戶詳細資料

* 您將能在Kobo APP/Kobo 閱讀器/Kobo官網中查看所有書籍

* 帳號綁定後，您可以使用任一帳戶登入 Kobo

* 完成第一次串接時，請登出所有裝置，約等待5分鐘後再登入即可查看您的書籍

* 重新登入後，原帳戶中的書籍如有畫線註記和收藏將有遺失的可能。登出前，請務必先行拍照備份

* 若您有任何相關疑問請至Kobo官方網站 https://help.kobo.com/hc/zh-tw 並到頁面最下方點選“聯繫我們”