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Primal Prey Chapter 9
By Strider_Aragorn
Chapter 9
Departure
Workers’ village, at the centre of Isla Sorna
“What a dump,” exclaimed Johnn as they approached the buildings.
Silently, Dodgson agreed. There was a road between some buildings, all old, that led to a larger building. All of the buildings had slatted rooves. One of the buildings’ slats had fallen off in some places. There was a strong stench of decay in the air.
“What stinks?” asked Dodgson.
“Only territory occupied by predators stinks like this,” informed Thorne, his nose wrinkled.
“Are you saying that we’re in carnivore country?”
“Probably”
Johnn swore under his breath. “Then we better get the hell out of here, right?”
Jack nodded. He noticed a truck by one of the buildings. He saw the keys in the ignition.
“Hey,” he said, “Someone pop the hood on that truck, I’ll check the tyre pressure”
“Good thinking,” said Thorne. He jogged over to the bonnet of the car and opened it. Jack inspected the tyres. None damaged, all seemed in good order.
“All good from here,” he informed Thorne.
“Looks good here, too”
There was a sudden noise. It was a deep throaty, extended grunt with an underlying, high-pitched squeal. Then four shapes appeared one the rooves of the buildings. Then another two behind the men, surrounding the truck.
Velociraptor, thought Jack with a thrill of terror.
“Raptors? Here as well?” asked Johnn in horror. Then, out of nowhere, a big shape crashed into Johnn, who shrieked.
“In the truck!” ordered Thorne, “Now!”
Jack, Dodgson and Thorne clambered into the front of the car, looking out to Johnn. A raptor was perched on top of his chest, baring its teeth. Johnn hit it in the face. Its long head reared back, and then it snarled. It swiped at the man with its forelimbs, and blood seeped through three rips in his uniform.
“Floor it!” shouted Jack to Thorne. The roar of the truck’s engine drowned out Johnn’s screams. Jack looked back and saw four more raptors—these ones brightly coloured—jump down and land on Johnn, covering him from view. Then, in front of the truck, appeared three raptors, snarling. Thorne bowled straight through them, sending two flying. The third remained on the bonnet, clawing to stay on. It roared, the sound muffled. It then butted its head at the windshield.
Shards of glass poured onto the men in the truck, and the raptor poked its head through. It closed its jaws on Jack’s hand. He yelled out in pain as he felt the teeth sink into his forearm. Thorne suddenly braked. The animal on the hood of the truck slid off, onto the road in front of the truck. The truck then roared into action, and there was a bump as it passed over the raptor.
Jack looked at his arm. It wasn’t bad, raptors weren’t designed to bite, and there was just a little blood. Jack shuddered to think what would happen if the tyrannosaur had bitten his hand.
It was amazing that the truck still worked, thought Thorne as he drove through the jungle. It had a lot of gas in it. It jumped as it hit a tree root. Thorne checked his compass. Due west. In a little while, they’d be at the coast, he was certain.
An hour passed. The sun was high in the sky. Thorne’s backside was getting numb from sitting on it for so long. Jack wriggled uncomfortably next to him. He had wrapped his injured hand up in some rags. Thorne had just finished checking his compass again when he noticed the end of the jungle, two hundred metres away. Beyond was white sand, blue ocean, and—
“A chopper!” shouted Jack in glee. There it was, a big Chinook, waiting for them. The rotors were still spinning, suggesting it had just landed. Or readying to take off.
There was a sudden bang. Something orange filled up Thorne’s side window, and then it smashed in. There was another bang. This time, the whole truck flipped onto its side. A big, orange, three-clawed foot crashed into the ground in front of them.
Thorne, without thinking, kicked his dented door open. He found himself looking up at the treetops. He clambered out of the truck, awkwardly, and helped Jack out.
“Hey!” screamed Dodgson, “Wait up!”
Dodgson hoisted himself out, and all three men ran for the coast. Behind them, a large crashing noise commenced. Jack, who was lagging behind, got caught in a vine. He looked back, and saw a long, orange jaw full of straight, serrated teeth. Behind that, he saw long forelimbs, a bulky body, powerful legs, a long tail, and a sail along the creature’s back. The sail looked like skin stretched between two-metre-long pinions of bone.
Jack twisted out of the vines and ran for the chopper. He reached the edge of the forest, and began to tire. He saw Thorne in the Chinook, looking out. He saw Dodgson clamber aboard the copter. He heard a massive roar. He then saw the world tilt crazily. He saw the trees, the sand, the ocean, all slipping past in the blink of an eye. He felt excruciating pain around his midriff. He felt sick. He wanted to throw up. He smelt the stench of death, felt hot breath around his person, felt the pain intensify, then felt nothing.
Thorne turned around to watch Dodgson jump aboard the copter. He then saw Jack finally running out of the jungle. Then, right behind him, a huge orange therapod dinosaur burst out of the jungle, branches flying everywhere. It roared, a throaty bellow that rose and fell. Thorne gasped. The animal was fifty feet long.
Then, the big dinosaur reached down, twisted its neck and closed its slender jaws around Jack’s waist. Blood dripped down the animal’s jaws as it righted its head. Jack was now parallel to the ground. His arms flailed feebly before becoming limp.
The big carnivore dropped Jack and turned to the chopper. It was already taking off, kicking up sand. As Thorne watched, the big dinosaur roared at the departing vehicle, its bloody jaws spreading wide to let forth a terrifying cry from another world.
2/15/2003 8:16:35 PM
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