Chapter 1

Zeta

Darkness… just enveloped in pure darkness, no light in sight just the dark void that persisted around him. He couldn't move, his body frozen and nor could he even speak to show the about of discomfort he was in. He wondered where he was and whether to fear it or not, but more importantly he was questioning himself as he had no memory of what he looked like or who he was. He could only think of how long he would be here before he could be driven into a state of insanity.

Trapped with no escape and to question the current status of where he was lost in time as he could not determine how long it has been. The weirdest part was he couldn't hear himself breath or felt his heart beating and there was no scent to be found for his nostrils to react too. His body was cold and stood lifelessly. His mind hissed in annoyance the more he stayed in the endless darkness unable to receive answers of why he was here.

Suddenly he was caught off guard by a nearby sound as if it was a faint whisper. He focused his attention to where he suspected he heard it from listening for its return. His mind tensed as he heard it again but this time it was louder and getting closer increasing in volume. He wanted to utter something to catch the attention of whatever was out there, but his vocals refused to create the noise.

Frustrated he only listened to the whisper as it drew closer noticing that it wasn't coming from a certain area but from around him. Anxious as it crept around him, a second whisper joined in and then a third. A first the whispers were unintelligible to him unfamiliar with what they were trying to say.

Without warning a thunderous roar echoed through the darkness making his mind flinch in fear. He wanted to take on a defensive stance, but his body refused to move and he could only feel a cold shiver run down his spine as the roar turned into an ear shattering screech.

Something was terribly wrong. The atmosphere around him changed and the smell of blood filled his nostrils. The cries and screams echoed around him while a group of voices began speaking to each in a language he was not familiar with. He desperately made an attempt to move his body and escape from what entrapped him but no avail.

He could only listen in fear and adsorb what was occurring around him, the smell of blood, the cries of fear and agony and the voices that crawled around mind whispering as if they're presence was beside him. He frantically looked around hoping he would be able to see into the darkness and get of glimpse of whatever was out there.

Finally everything stopped, the voices, the smell and they're cries cease to exist. He remained on alert however expecting it to return and torture him. He asked himself why he deserved this and wondered why or what was punishing him His thoughts left him as the group of voices returned to him and began to clearly speak once more. This time able to hear them more clearly, he listened in hopes of finding answers. His mind focused on a single word that made him feel it described him as a whole. It comforted him in a way and soothed him as his fears dwindled.

Zeta…

The word echoed through his mind and lifted his spirits somewhat. It didn't feel weird as he thought of it, but just right. It also puzzled him, the word bouncing back and forth between along with several questions. Why did he like it, why did it feel so… him, as if it defined him on a personal level.

He would of gave more thought over it but decided to listen to what the voice had else to say. What came after it only made him uncomfortable the more it spoke and wish if he could move as he would backlash in defense against the voice to avoid damaging his pride, proving the creature wrong. He didn't understand them all too well, but he just knew enough to know what annoyed him the most. If he move his jaw and his vocals would respond, he would have gave a threatening snarl

Zeta is weak, not like the others. He is too frightened and can barely even challenge the smallest of creatures, unlike its sibling of a brother who showing to be more dominant.

His mind once again felt the absorption of a soothing word but this time it was 'brother' that caught his attention. He could feel a connection with it but at the same time he felt fear in the word as well enough to put distaste in his mouth. But it nothing compared to the bitterness and raw anger that crept up his body.

Henry, Zeta may be so, but don't let him fool you, he is just like the rest of them with the ability to kill, he just isn't as confident enough.

Henry was a word that stabbed a dagger into his heart and he could feel his body just itching to move, but to his torture it stayed in place. He didn't need to ponder of why he hated the word; his instincts flared to life at the mere sound of it and he fought back the urge to kill, despite being in a dark world where no life existed. Taking a moment to relax his body he continued to their words carefully wondering what else he would react too.

I asked for enhanced raptors, David, not a compsognathus. Get me better results or I'll do it myself.

There was a moment of silence and then the voice responded amused.

Don't fret too much Henry, Zeta will become will become what you desire, he just one of those that takes longer than others, they wasn't born in a lab like the others.

He has better...for your sake, David. It grumbled and then the voice faded replaced by another voice that sounded dull.

That could've gone better, but he does have a point, Zeta is failing where a regular raptor could succeed. It pointed out.

The other voice groaned and there was silence for several seconds as the voice choose his next words carefully. The voice soon responded with hesitance in his voice, sounding concerned for the raptor.

Just… do what you have too, but don't break him like you did with the last one.

The other man snorted. He's all in good hands, David. I learned from my prior mistakes.

As the creature fumbled over they're words, he felt himself become flooded with fear for a reason he did not know, but the sound of the word Zeta soothed his mind somewhat. He started wondering if he were the creature they were mentioning because why else would he be the one to listen to such disputes. But his concern for that was lost as he was not provided an answer of why he was here.

Before he could question more, the voices became silent and he sensed them fade into the distance. All became quiet where he sat and for a split-second he almost thought he was finally able to hear himself breathe, except the problem was it wasn't and it was coming from in front of him. He became petrified - if he wasn't a statue already – feeling that he was being watched and squinted his eyes to notice a faint yellow glow several feet from him. A small winded chill brushed against his body and he shivered at the contact.

The temperature around him dropped considerably low and a small glow if it were the moon itself shined onto the ground in front of him. That's when he took in account of the grass. His vision slightly adjusted as the world around him shifted and formed finding himself in a forest and that twilight was upon him. His body soon came to life as he felt his heart beating inside him and his rough breaths coming out slowly, leaving a small mist in its path that dispersed within seconds. His body began to warm defending itself against the cold contact of the wind and he also sounded pleased with hearing his body alive and well.

The problem that still persisted that he still couldn't move and that he wasn't alone, too busy enjoying his body come to life. There was snap in the distance in front of him and leaves rustled as something moved closer to him catching his attention. He didn't register his surroundings at first too focused of what was in front of him. Hissing in annoyance that he couldn't move his body, he attempted to wiggle his body, thinking something was wrapped around him.

Surprised he was able to voice his emotions, he gave a snarl hoping that the creature would flee upon hearing his threats. The creature did the opposite of what he hoped and continued advancing towards him, its body beginning to shape as the moonlight touched it. He throat became dry as he came face to face with another raptor, its skin black as the night with a green camo pattern stripped on its back. It stood a foot taller than him as it stood upright puffing out its chest showing dominance and pride.

Scars were casted along his chest and snout, it eyes suffering the worst of it as it was blinded on one side. It had to turn it head one side just to get a good look at him. If the smaller raptor could move he would of instinctively shrunk back with claws extended knowing all too well who the most capable predator here.

Its yellow eye bore into his own as its snout drew closer to him, lips curled with it razor sharp teeth becoming visible. It gave a low rumble and breathed heavily on him taking in his scent as it inhaled. He winced at the close contact from the large raptor not noticing that he was withholding his breath. He almost breathed a sigh of relief as the large raptor withdrew, but in a sharp movement the raptor griped his talons around his neck and snarled in anger. The smaller one yelped at the sudden contact feeling blood draw from him and trickled down.

The large one made a closer contact and with a stern growl it voiced itself, something that humans could not decipher between velociraptors as they communicated with gestures, body movements and tones within their vocals.

You don't belong here…

At acknowledging the large ones words, the smaller raptor soon noticed water droplets began floating around him circulating his being as time passed along. That's when he noticed that he stood over a lake as the water tickled his bottom talons with its cold liquid.

The large raptor released his grip on the smaller and he fell into the water beneath the surface. The large raptor shape became blurry and disoriented the deeper he went. Panicking and holding his breath, the raptor finally felt his body able to move freely. The raptor kicked and clawed at the water to reach the surface but like a brick he continued to sink. His lungs cried for fresh air but soon the raptor vision began to blacken. His body soon slowed and everything became quiet again as he was enveloped in darkness once more. Despite being in the water, he heard the large raptors words clear as day

It's time to wake up… Zeta

Moments in the darkness and he felt his body jerked violently and he gasped for air that became present, but was flushed out by more water. Zeta's ear ranged and a light flashed before his eyes causing blurriness and obscureness of vision occur momentarily. He coughed horrendously as his throat spasm, making him. Feeling his body weight shift limply, he fell like a feather and didn't register the pain that echoed throughout his entire body when he made contact with a hard surface.

His body was going through so much that he was unable to focus efficiently.

It felt like he hasn't woken up in days, bed ridden as his body was sore from inactivity. He hackled and coughed up water and tasted his own bitter stomach acid spilling from his mouth. Moments in recovery he breathed heavily and remained still for several minutes, eyes closed as his energy drained body begged for rest. His head still rang giving him the image that someone smack the side of his head with they're tail and left him with an ear splitting headache.

The raptor could only whimper in pain and slowly inch his body close together into a ball in order to endure what he felt rubbing his head attempting to lighten the pain. He could literally feel his blood pulse through his head near the point of where his head pounded but if that wasn't enough to annoy him, his stomach twisted as it craved for food alerting him with small gurgle noises.

He both was extremely hungry and sicken by the amount of water his body took in causing to sound his distress in whines. At this point he just felt like crying, unable to describe what he was feeling. The pain he felt and hunger that elapsed through his body and questioned why his body was in such a state. He huffed and grumbled as he tightly closed himself together waiting for his body to settle before beginning to do basic functions. One such thing was opening his eyes as they were blinded by the light that draped across him and he didn't want to handle that while his body was recovering.

It took several minutes for the pulsing in his head to go away along with the ringing giving him some relief that he wouldn't have to wait long. His stomach still expressed its deprivation of nutrition and protein as it became apparent to him that he would have to deal with his stomach for the time being. His body softened up as his sore muscles started to relax and his breathing slowed.

He started taking in the noise around him and blindly moved his head towards the noises, slowing down slightly as his head pulsed somewhat to quick movements. He heard a liquid pattering above and beside him assuming it was water leaking from wherever feeling it pool around him. There were several crackles across from him that frequently sounded making him stir in curiosity but continued to let his eyes remain closed for the time being. He also took in the smell which he quickly regretted. The smell of rot accumulated with ammonia making his stomach upset once more.

He allowed it settle in regret trying to swallow down what wanted to come out and laid his head back down if he were unable too. At least he didn't sense anything around him that felt like a threat. He shivered at the cold sensation in his body not realizing that he was freezing. The water that soaked him was cold to the touch and since it poured around him his entire front could feel it stinging him as his body was about to get numb. Seeing the situation that he was in - his body desiring warmth and comfort before hyperthermia would take its toll - he determined that it was time to open his eyes and adjust carefully to the light that burned his pupils.

It was a slow start at first once he positioned his head upright and he nearly forced himself to open wide eye discovering that he was no longer in the darkness that held him captive, but he told himself to take his time as forcing such drastic action could injure his sight. So despite the excitement and freezing temperature his body was experiencing he opened inch by inch. It burned slightly but the more he let it remain open the more his eyes began to adapt to the light.

Like a hatchling he opened his eyes with curiosity any other creature would have. Soon enough his entire eye was open and everything was blurry to him, but he could see the shapes around him taking form.

The environment which he persisted inside was quite disturbing. Windows were cracked or shattered while metallic furniture was knocked out of place. He noticed that he was once lying on a metal table rationalizing that the impact he felt beforehand was him falling from it. Water fell from the ceiling crashing onto the table creating a waterfall down towards the floor where the pool hit him. He theorized that the water was what he was drowning too as the overuse of his stomach and prolong holding of his breath caused his body to cry for air, but the amount of water he was taking was too much and went down the wrong pipe. At least he fell off the metal table away from the water escaping from the near death experience.

Vegetation had overtaken the white walls sprouting from the cracks in the floor before it streamed and expanded outwards in random directions. Zeta's vision fully recovered and he look into the middle of the room staring at a carcass of a creature he had never seen before. It wasn't as tall as him nor did it have any claws or talons to fight off its aggressors. It wore extra layers of covering that were different colors unlike its natural skin that was tore towards its chest area where dry blood resided. Unknowingly to Zeta he was standing in front of a human that was far in the decaying process.

Its skin melded with the shape of its bone hollow on the inside which surprised him as no insect life was seen eating the creature. Standing up to get a better look at it from a different perspective, Zeta nearly loss balance as his muscles were not used to being used for so long. If only he could guess how long it has been for his legs to feel such weakness. His legs wobbled with strain and difficulty, but he managed, taking his first step with carefulness. He paused between each step looking at his feet before becoming comfortable to walk. Zeta then approached the human body curiously knowing no threat existed and upon further inspection he came to conclusion that the creature died of no natural cause.

Wounds that of a raptor inflicted but the body was son decayed that he figured the body was well a few weeks in death. He wondered to himself if he was the one that did such actions. He closed his eyes and focused on remembering the past but all he saw was darkness unfortunately and his prior experience with it made him withdraw from his mind without a second sooner. The raptor snorted and tapped his talons against the ground amused by the sound it produced upon contact with the ground.

His eyes took interest on the object that lay beside the human. It was a rather large and complex stick and the smell of gunpowder surfaced faintly but as he inhaled which he once again regretted as the smell of rot and ammonia hit his nostrils and he quickly lost interest. His stomach grumbled again despite the sickening he felt as his stomach begged. It was unusual for him to be this extremely hungry but then again when was the last time he ate?

Zeta sneered at the sight of the decaying corpse knowing that it lacked the proper nutrients his body needed. He also wanted something favorable to sink his teeth into…something that tasted of blood. Shifting his eyes around, he searched around the room more searching for something that he can eat into. A sound hit his ears as sparks casted from a nearby wiring system making his head turn in the direction of where it sounded from searching for danger.

He snorted as he watched the sparks danced when colliding with the ground before disappearing a second later mocking himself as he was frightened by such a harmless glow. Turning away he scanned carefully with his yellow eyes, looking at two areas he could search within the small room.

The shattered window led to another room with complex machinery up against the wall, but nothing of great interest. He then turned towards the door that hung on its hinges. The deterioration of what he encountered when exiting into the hallways of an unknown structure concerned him as to where he was. More vegetation gripped the walls with a large pool of water towards the end of the corridor suffering from flooding. Luckily it didn't rise else the entire section would have been flooded and he could've drowned entirely.

Seeing as the area to his left was off-limits and having enough water for today, Zeta turned right and stared down the lightly lit hallway. Smoke light above him cease to work and had to rely mostly on physical contact to make his way through.

Zeta remained cautious moving through the darkness glancing at several doors to his right. Most of them were locked but with enough effort could be broken off the hinges. However Zeta was deprived of energy and was surprised that he was still able to move but right now his mind was on the search for food. Walking slowly keeping on guard he nearly passed something that caught him off guard and nearly mistaken his reflection as another raptor when he looked in a mirror.

He flicked his claws and stood tall with his chest puffed outward to make himself look larger than usual. Noticing the mimicking movements he chirped in response and lowered his defensive stance curious. Tilting his head and staring into the eyes of himself he soon began to travel down his body becoming aware in horror of his body current state.

His body was deprived of nutrition and starvation presentable through his stomach grumbles and aches but he didn't expect to be in such a state. Malnourished his body showed lack of muscle and his bones was becoming noticeable in form through his skin. Dried blood covered half of his face on one side with the top center portion being the worst while a large portion of his dark black frame near his stomach was covered in it as well. Red stripes skirted along his back while he had light grey coloring from the underside portion of his jaw to his stomach and trailed down beneath the tip of his tail.

Taken aback the sight Zeta closed his eyes and grumbled. What the hell happened to him?

He wished he could remember but all he could was the word 'Zeta' which he was referred as. More questions came to mind over the topic and why he was lacking a proper diet. Troubled by what he could only imagine and wanting to take the topic about his horrendous appearance of his mind, he sought off something he could scavenge through the mysterious structure. He flicked his tail off the ground and slowly began to move forward his stomach becoming more and more impatient by the second. He sniffed the air suspecting he was far enough away from the rotting corpse to track down a substantial food source and was hit by ammonia once again. He growled in irritation wondering what could be causing the smell. Was there something in the air causing this foulness?

Without the rotting corpse present he was only left to smell the ammonia. It wasn't as strong as before but the smell was just there. That's when the dark raptor flustered as he realized something. It was his own bowel movements he was covered in and he flustered in embarrassment even though nobody was around.

He was even more embarrassed that he could let himself become something like this wondering how much was built up from all this time. He hissed as his cheeks flared and tapped his talons against the ground planning on taking a bath later to cleanse himself of the stench but for right now he would have to put up with the smell for his stomach was the current issue.

Reaching the end of the hallway he was faced with a crossroad that led in opposite directions. He glanced both ways wondering which way to go but his mind was set on the left as it led to a more open area while the right just led to another corridor with a series of rooms. Moving to the left and approaching the opening in the hallway he was surprised by the amount of space there was compared to the room he was in. There a lot more furniture here that was overturned like the world he was in was twisted in chaos and he was passed out for a few days to miss the party. At least that what he thought wondering if more of his kind existed in the building but all was quiet as he searched for sounds. There was nothing to hear other than the bugs that finally made themselves present.

He understood why as well as well for there was a tree within the middle of a lounge with light casting at it from above. It wasn't grown unnaturally like the vegetation that took over from the cracks in the ground but instead seemed like it was deliberately planted there a long time ago. It was quite interesting to look at for Zeta couldn't recall the last time he seen such a thing not to mention the hollow hole that was at the base of the tree.

His mind felt broken in pieces when he tried to remember but there wasn't much to go on. He also thought he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at him when he looked away from the hollow entry and turned back to focus at it. He didn't see anything within the darkness of it and shook it that he imagined it. His mind nudged himself to investigate further but his stomach growled again voicing its concern for food.

Searching the lounge where humans would conduct their relaxations, he sniffed the air searching for something that he could find. Unfortunately enough he smelled no certain scents that would be considered prey to him and felt his body slowly succumbing to the lack of food. At one point he thought he smelled something of taste but it disappeared just as quickly as it hit his nostrils. He would continue to proceed through the lounge losing interest each passing second.

Moving around a couch he glanced a door that was barely holding itself together as one of the door that was paired with the other was knocked onto the ground while the other stood crooked and jammed in place. Zeta peered inside wondering why every room was so different from the other.

The room he was currently in was a kitchen but the raptor didn't know nor would he care as he primary goal was to find food shivering at the thought of his malnourished body. Silverware was scattered across the ground while pots and pans left untouched laid in sinks or the stoves they meant to be cooked at. He accidentally kicked a pot a one point and wondered why such device would cause such a racket as it collided with the hard ground.

Stopping midstride he lifted his head into the air and closed his eyes to sniff the air searching for familiar scents. Nothing of pleasure tickled his snout and he started to wonder if he would ever find food.

He started to panic at the thought of dying of hunger but it quickly died away as he caught a scent. His eyes widened as his sniffed the air noticing there a scent of another creature that protruded the area but he casted it away thinking it was the corpse of another creature like the one he encountered from the room he awakened in.

Sniffing along the rows of metal lockers towards the back end of the kitchen, he inhaled deeply ignoring his stench and the creatures and marveled at the smell. His mouth watered with anticipation while a fire surged in his eyes and he even felt his body shake in excitement.

Food! He finally found it! At first he figured it would be an easy task of opening the metal doors not noticing the amount of scratches towards the bottom of it but when he tugged on the door it held on tight. He hissed in annoyance that a barrier prevented him from accessing the one thing he desired.

Planting his claws onto the door he tore through the metal with ease listening to the metal tear beneath his claws. Once he had grip he pulled the object with such force despite his exhausted body and used what energy he had with his limbs to tear the barrier away. Breaking off the locker and not expecting the backlash the cover slipped from his talons and sent crashing into the far side of the kitchen making a loud crashing that grew when the pans and pots it contracted fell with it onto the ground.

Zeta spent a minute listening to it waiting for it to cease eyes squinting at every collision hating the sound. He clamped down on his teeth once he noticed everything calmed down and then proceeded to look at the food that in front of him which he quickly became unsure of him. There were several brown bags inside the locker and upon grabbing one and bringing it into the light he stared at the words 'MRE Beef patty'.

He felt his teeth sink into the plastic but felt a juice tickle down onto his tongue. His expression changed when he tasted the flavor. It was bitter but his stomach said otherwise yearning for him to devour the substantial food source even if he had to eat the plastic with it.

He gripped the plastic and ripped the bag open getting frustrated as the plastic stuck to his teeth and took a moment to remove it with his claws. The ingredients of the package spilled out onto the ground and the smell hit him harder than before. Looking at a green package where he teeth marks penetrated he took the package into his claws and tore the top off with teeth. He inhaled and licked his chops as he took in the scent of the food. It smelled weird as he inserted his snout into the package to nip at the meat realizing it wasn't tasty as he expected. It was cold and bland as he took it out of the package getting its juice smeared all over the tip of his snout. The fluid also ran down towards his claws until it formed at the edge and begun to drip onto the ground.

He only managed to get half of it into his mouth before it fell apart from pressure and he heard the other piece of it smack onto the ground beneath him. He lifted his heads and closed his eyes to focus on his taste buds. It wasn't all satisfying as he tried to savor its flavor, but he wasn't complaining. It was something to eat and get his stomach to stop growling at him but he knew that it will take more than just this small slice of meat to fill his hungering needs.

He then sensed something beneath him as moments passed by and opened his eyes to look down and notice that the other slice of beef was nowhere to be seen. Surprised he frantically looked around until the smell hit his nostrils of another scent that was different from everything else he smelled within the facility. At first he thought that it was the smell of the rotting creatures but this scent was so much more different. It was feminine in nature and was more frequent than the others. His head shot to the right when he heard a squeal and the crashes of pots and pans resumed.

At first he was angered by the sudden thief but what came more to mind that the creature was alive…and it meant fresh meat. He growled in anticipation and shot onto the table to search the area where his soon to be prey would be and caught a glimpse of something darting towards the exit. He hissed and snarled as he jumped towards the ground and charged to where he would meet his prey, however, he underestimated the creature's agility as it yelped in fear noticing it was detected. It took off faster than he could see and caught a glimpse of grey coloring. He took chase after it in fueled hunger breaking the last door off as he rushed towards it. He heard it squeak in fear and he saw the tip of its tail duck behind the tree in the center of the lounge. He knew it was small in size but a warm meal after a long time of being unconscious was starting to sound more appealing with each passing second.

Running over to the tree he looked around it but didn't see the creature anywhere nor did he here its yelps or cries. He snorted and tapped his claws against the ground listening carefully and begun sniffing the air to catch its scent. It was a very strong scent from where he took it and noticed the small hollow opening at the base of the tree speculating that where the creature had gone. Knowing that his head was too large to fit through the opening he dug his claws into the center of it slightly above the opening and heard a creature yelp and cry in terror. His excitement built upon it cries and at one point they even sounded familiar to him, but he ignored it and continued with his plans to pry a part of the wood from the tree.

Heaving with what strength he could muster, he listened to the tree snapping as wood broke under the pressure and felt it jettison from the tree breaking from the structure. He placed the wood piece to the entrance and braced against it with his feet to ensure no escape for his prey and peered inside licking his chops as he longed to chew into something worthwhile. What came next what unexpected as he stared at the creature before him dumbstruck.

It was at that moment where he felt guiltiness arise over everything and everything just flushed away, the hunger, the excitement, and the expectation for a good meal. His eyes soften and mouth slowly closed as he stared at a harmless creature shaking violently in fear, crying and whimpering as if calling out to something that wasn't there. Zeta's body loosened up and he closed his mouth watching it.

Inside the hollow tree was…a raptor

Author Note: Name was changed appropriately due to author's mistake. And to the viewers as I did not want to cause confusion with Delta. I'll be more careful in the near future.