Chapter 6
As we started walking through the thick jungle I realized that I had hurt my ankle when I had tripped over the tree root. It had taken us about an hour to get across the jungle the first time now we would be considerably slower on the way back to base. There was not much to say so Kevin and I walked back towards base in silence.
About two minutes into the walk we heard the call from somewhere off to our left and an answer off to our right. The same calls we had heard the first time in the jungle. We were being hunted once more. This time we didn't stand a chance of escape from the unseen predators.
I told Kevin to leave me and not let me slow him down. Next thing I know he took off through the forest ahead of me. That son of a gun actually left me to die out here all alone, I thought to myself. At least I had my laser gun on me ready to fire. It might not be able to bring the enemy down but it might make it think twice about messing with me.
I slowly limped my way across the forest floor listening for any sign of movement not hearing anything at all. My heart started pounding in my chest again. I didn't really want to die alone in this place. Not like this. From somewhere ahead of me I heard a blood curdling scream and then there was silence. It must have been Kevin that had let out the scream, I couldn't imagine any other animal that could make that kind of sound.
I said a silent prayer and started my long journey towards the base alone wondering how I would break the news to the others if I even made it back alive myself. I found it kind of odd, most animals attack the slower weaker prey. Why didn't the hunter attack me instead? Maybe the jungle was full of these hunters whatever they were. Or maybe they enjoyed the chase better. Either way I hopped ahead and listened as the creatures called back and forth to each other.
Now I knew I was in the middle of their deadly games. If I wanted to get out alive I would need to outsmart the creatures somehow. I pulled out my laser gun and got it ready for some action. These dinosaurs wanted to play games. I would show them who wrote the rule book on these kinds of games. As I slowly made my way from tree to tree the dinosaurs called and answered each other.
I knew there were only two at the moment so that was a good thing. They remained hidden from view behind the large trees and giant leaves. Softly snorting and chirping back and forth They were letting me live for a reason but the reason was unknown to me at the moment. Maybe they were playing a game of cat and mouse. A few moments later I stumbled upon the body of Kevin.
He was face down in the dirt. Remarkably there was no blood. There was not a scratch on him. He was, however, snoring like he had been put in a sleeper hold and had just passed out. The dinosaurs that remained unseen now made a hissing sound that could be compared to laughter. This was the first time I had questioned the intelligence of these animals.
“Wake up. Get up” I snapped as I rolled Kevin over on his said. He coughed and opened his eyes, I could tell he had the bad case of disorientation he didn't know what was up from left or right from down. I imagined he would be dizzy for a few minutes.
“What the hell happened, Captain?”
“Well you ran off and left me for dead because I have a hurt arm and ankle and I would have slowed you down.”
“Hey it's not my fault I remember you were telling me not to wait on you and save myself kind of speech I really respected you for that.”
“Kevin you are an asshole”
After our exchange of words we talked a little more about the dinosaurs that were hunting us. They must be super smart Kevin said. They have learned how to either use headlocks or pressure points to put other animals down and it seems that they even laugh about it as if they were just playing with us. There was no doubt in my mind that they were dangerous no matter how intelligent they seemed to be. My ankle was hurting a bit worse than it was before so I sat down on a large boulder and plucked a large leaf off of one of the local trees.
The leaves were thick yet flexible it seemed like the perfect material to fashion an ankle brace out of. I placed my good ankle on the leave and cut a hole the size of my ankle in the middle of the leaf. I wrapped the longer part of the leaf just above my ankle and the shorter part of the leave around the bottom of my foot. I used my laser gun to cut into a tree until sap started pouring out.
I used the sap to fashion the home made brace together. It wasn't pretty but it would hold. Kevin had regained his balance and we decided to start walking again before those pesky dinosaurs attacked again. Next time they might not play such a friendly game, next time they might be out for blood.
We could hear the dinosaurs following us in the jungle and every now and then one would let out a cry and then the other would answer it's call. We still have not had a good look at these mystery creatures.
Now with the splint I was actually able to walk much faster and the animals were getting restless. They called back and forth to each other and for a few minutes until one of the unseen animals made itself know to us. It jumped over a log and landed on the branch of a tree.
It had powerful hind legs that had long curved claws on the middle toe. It's forearms were about as long as a mans but they also were equipped with razor sharp claws. It opened it's mouth and let out a hiss and showed that it had plenty of sharp shark like teeth. I pulled out my laser gun and Kevin pulled his out as well.
The dinosaur huffed at the non threatening weapons.
“What is it Kevin?” I asked.
He only replied that it was some kind of raptor and he said we were as good as dead. The dinosaur came closer and closer to the spot where Kevin and I stood motionless. I couldn't come to grip with the reality that this was it. The dinosaur now only a few feet away from me, I pointed my laser gun into the beast's eyes and pulled the trigger. The raptor squealed maybe more out of surprise than pain but it stopped it's advance towards us.
It shook it's head and rubbed it's injured eye with it's left clawed hand. The dinosaur stood motionless standing still as if it was planing it's next move. I would shoot out the other eye if I needed to. The raptor regained it's courage and stepped closer to Kevin and myself. This time the dinosaur kicked the laser out of Kevin's hand. It got in Kevin's face sniffing and huffing and licked it's scaled lips.
Keven started to breathe real heavy and he started shaking uncontrollably. He was sweating more than I had ever seen a man sweat in my life. I can only imagine what was going through his mind at that precise moment in time. Tears started forming in Kevin's eyes and he was saying something to himself.
I lifted my gun to take out the raptors other eye but just then the second raptor jumped from the brush and knocked my weapon to the ground. I had forgotten that there were two of these beasts I hadn't heard from this one for a while and I figured since we could only see one there must only be one in the area. The dinosaur wasn't interested in eating me, it was only protecting it's mate.
Right when I thought Kevin was a goner the dinosaur did something completely unexpected. It exhaled loudly with a snort and curled it's upper lip reminding me a little bit of Elvis. It turned and run into the bushes. I ran to my laser gun and picked it up, brushed it off and put it away. Kevin was still crying like a baby breathing heavily but I can't say that I blame him. I went over to him and asked “What was that all about?” he didn't answer. He just continued to stand there gasping for air. That's when it hit me. The reason that the raptor left. Kevin had an extremely bad case of halitosis. I guess that even dinosaurs are picky about what they eat when it comes down to strange and foul odors.
It took a few minutes but Kevin finally got a grip on himself and we were able to start moving again. He asked me to promise not to tell the others what had happened. I agreed that I would keep my mouth shut when we got to base but I teased him about it the whole walk through the jungle. He did deserve it for running out on me.
He was going to leave me for dead so I think I should be able to laugh at his dragon breath. It took about two hours earth time to get through the jungle that leads to base. I was happy to see Jessica and John again. John greeted me and asked if my arm was hurting from the bite I received earlier and he asked me about the home made splint around my ankle.
After John took a look at my ankle and decided that the splint would do just fine he bandaged me up again and asked me about our little adventure.