CHAPTER 1: S.A.C.U.
Nighttime, somewhere in South Western Kenya, 1999: Warren Crawford lead his squad of troops through the tall-grass of the Serengeti. They were a part of the secret-task-force known as the Special Asset Containment Unit, A.K.A. S.A.C.U., charged with containing assets of the USA such as missile launch-codes, retrieving special information or persons or eliminating special targets. However, the name of the S.A.C.U. had two meanings.
Warren was in his mid-twenties, with a stubby, brown beard and vibrant green eyes with a solid build. He grew up in the south and had acquired a mild "southern draw" that could only be heard through certain words. He had signed up for the military in 1991 and was chosen very early on to join the S.A.C.U., a unit that many who learned their darkest secret were reluctant to join.
"What are we looking for?" Desmond Jones asked. Desmond was second in command, older than Warren by about two years and had a more muscular beard. He was black with eyes that seemed to change color constantly and he spoke with heavy emphasis on each word.
"The pirates who stole the weapons we were shipping across the pond. They're sneaking the weapons through the country to sell in Egypt," Warren answered. "Do you even pay attention at all?"
"You know what I meant, Warren!" Desmond whisper-yelled at Warren.
"Just busting your chops," Warren laughed. "We're waiting for them to arrive."
"What makes you think they will stop here?" Jonah Andrews asked. Jonah was the youngest of the group and sported a Jersey accent.
"You placed your 'roadblocks', didn't you?" Ana Byrd asked. Ana had short, blond hair and she had a burn-scar on the left-side of her face from being on the opposing side of a flamethrower.
"Yep," Warren whispered as several trucks approached their position through the Serengeti and ran of several knives that Warren had stuck into the dirt with their handles downward. The three trucks hit the blades and blew their tires; one truck simply drifted to a stop, one truck crashed into a flimsy tree, and one truck flipped onto its side.
MEANWHILE:
Not so far away, a young gazelle stumbled to its legs for a midnight drink. The tiny mammal awakened its mother, who lazily raised her head to see where her baby was going and lazily put it back down upon realizing the baby was only walking to the small pond nearby.
The baby stumbled through the grass and reached the water, licking the liquid into her mouth. The grass shook. The baby gazelle snapped its head the grass and examined the grass for a moment before making her way back to its mother.
The baby began to step through the grass until it was pulled onto the ground and let out a bloodcurdling noise and then it was over
The mother gazelle hopped up from its sleep and trotted towards her babies shriek, until she too, was pulled into the grass.
MEANWHILE:
The pirates slowly stepped out of their jeeps to examine the damage of their trucks and to desperately figure out what happened to their vehicles. The pirates began to yell at each other in another language.
"Ana, do you know what their sayin'?" Warren tightened his grip on his rifle.
"They know someone sabotaged their path," Ana answered. "Their about to set up camp for the night and send out scouts to kill whoever did that, or kill us, I guess."
"More like the other way around," Jonah laughed, crawling further towards the pirates.
"What's the order, Warren?" Desmond asked.
"We can't use any explosives. Not this close to the weapons. They are probably already damaged enough," Warren explained, turning to Jonah. "J, you still got that stupid flare-gun of yours?"
" Of course," Jonah smiled as he withdrew his red and black flare-gun. "Why? if we use it here, they'll see the trail."
"They're stupid, but not that stupid," Ana added in.
"You know that thing I always say you can't do, J?" Warren asked Jonah with a smile. "You can do it."
Jonah's face lit up, "REALLY?"
"You're REALLY going to indulge him like that?" Ana snapped.
"How much do you wanna bet that their suits aren't flame-retardant?" Jonah smiled as he waited for the pirates to group together until he fired his flare-gun at one of them.
The flare quickly caught several of the pirates on fire, causing the other men to stumble out of the way. The S.A.C.U. quickly began to fire their rifles into the group, killing about half of the pirates.
One of the pirates pulled out a rocket-launcher from one the trucks and fired it at S.A.C.U.'s position.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Desmond yelled as the group jumped up and dove behind a nearby rock.
The team was subdued momentarily as their ears rang and they tried to get up. As the team finally found their bearings, they looked up to see three pirates waiting for them on the other side of the rock. The pirates began to fire their stolen rifles at the rock.
Warren and Desmond attempted to fire back but almost lost their heads from the constant fire of the pirates.
"Do you think it's time?" Desmond yelled over the gunfire to Warren.
"It's only a matter of time before these men figure out that they can walk around the rock," Ana snapped. "And we're too close to use a grenade."
Warren sighed, "Yep. I'll call Lillian." Warren pulled a long, white, whistle-like object out of one of his pockets and placed it up to his lips and blew through the object, emitting a deep, resonating call.
MEANWHILE:
As five gazelle lay dead in the grass, their killer sat proudly next to their dead bodies, jumping out the sound of gunfire. The animal snapped its head as the gunfire continued and began to slowly trot in the direction of the noise. The animal finally received what it had been waiting for; a call. As the resonating sound reached the animal's ears, the killer grinned and let out a shrilling shriek and ran strait across the Serengeti.
MEANWHILE:
"How long do you give them?" Jonah asked with a troubled smile.
"Not long," Warren muttered solemnly.
The team sat behind the wrong as they listened to the horrors ensuing behind them; the animal shrieked at the pirates who ceased their fire and began to scream, their muscles locked in shock. One by one, the pirates were ripped apart with crunchy, guzzling sounds following every bite and slash. The animal began to rip at the pirates with a muffled gurgling, like a dog shaking a chew toy. As the noise finally stopped, the team poked their heads over the rock to see their "Special Asset".
Lillian the Velociraptor sat next to bodies, all ripped apart and mangled, gushing with blood and parts that should never bee seen outside the body. Lillian's face showed a curious and almost sickening joy, as she waited for approval of her actions.
Jonah bent over the rock and vomited onto the grass. Lillian took offense to this and jumped up and snarled at Jonah, he claws reaching outwards.
"LILLIAN!" Warren yelled as he put his hand out in front of the Velociraptor, calming her down. "Stand down. Good job."
"I'm sorry, it's just...it just gets me every time," Jonah struggled to say through a hoarse throat.
"Look," Ana pointed to the trucks. "Their gone. They must have grabbed as many weapons as they could and left."
"Lillian," Warren called the Velociraptor, who was sniffing the ground. Lillian snapped her head towards Warren. Desmond handed a piece of cloth off the bodies of the pirates and handed it to Warren, who in turn held it out for Lillian to sniff. "Smell that, Lillian? Good girl! Now, Lillian. Hunt."
Lillian snarled and turned her head up to the sky to scent out the pirates and then took off, disappearing into the long-grass.
MEANWHILE:
The pirates, numbering about seven, ran through the grass, several of them carrying a bag full of weapons. The men ran scared, constantly turning their back to see if the Velociraptor was following them.
"What...what was that?" the first man yelled in another language, his voice showing a scent of fear.
"A monster! A demon!" the second pirate yelled back, struggling to carry his bag and run at the same time.
"How much longer until we reach a settlement?" the third man called out.
"Can't be much longer, right?" the fourth pirate spoke to the third man.
"Hopefully," the fifth pirate muttered to himself.
"If anything gets hard to carry, give it to Solomon," the seventh pirate yelled from the very back.
"I can hold it," the sixth man, Solomon added on.
The pirates continued to run, gradually getting slower until the fifth pirate stopped and turned, "Solomon, can you carry my bag?'
The fifth man was surprised to find Solomon nor the seventh pirate behind the group.
The fourth pirate stopped next to the fifth as the others kept running, "Where did they go?"
Lillian's tail stuck up out of the grass as she pulled the fifth man into the grass and killed him. The fourth man began to let out a yell as Lillian jumped out of the grass and landed on him, digging her retractable claws into his back and snapping his neck with her teeth, emitting a low hisss as she did it.
The group of pirates stopped and turned backwards as they heard the yell and began to fire randomly into the grass. The pirates fired for several minutes until they collectively decided that whatever was out there had to be dead.
"Let us keep going," the first pirate motioned as he turned to continue walking. Lillian jumped out of the grass in front of him and pulled him into the grass.
The third pirate yelled as the second man began to fire into the grass, his efforts ended as Lillian sliced him across the stomach, spilling his intestines. The third man began to run away, dropping all of his gear and his bag. Lillian chased him and slashed his knees, practically cutting his legs off. The man collapsed onto the ground and began to crawl through the grass, sobbing. Lillian followed him and snapped at him, toying with her food until she finally killed him by digging her retractable claw into the back of his head.
Lillian turned her head to the air and let out a throaty coughing noise, calling her "pack" to her.
Warren and Desmond ran through the grass to reach Lillian as Jonah and Ana secured the weapons and began to carry them to their truck nearby. Warren blew through the resonating-chamber to signal to Lillian that they were coming.
Lillian stood in the grass waiting for them as they arrived. She snarled at Warren as she grew impatient with the order she had been waiting for the whole night.
Warren put his hand out to calm the Velociraptor and whispered, "Lillian. Eat."
The dinosaur squealed as she began to rip the flesh off of her prey and feast, letting out disturbing sounds of pleasure as she began to eat.
"I always did say that 'Special Asset Containment Unit' had two meanings, didn't I," Warren smiled softly to Desmond, who barely managed to contain his stomach.
After Lillian had had her fill, they brought her back to their large, RV-like truck and put her in her pen and loaded the remaining weapons into the truck and drove off.