Brave New World
The Shannon family is given a chance to escape their dying world and start over on a new one 85 million years in the past. Some of the comforts of the future are still available; however technology can't save you from everything. Siblings Josh and Maddie Shannon are going to see just how different this new world really is.
Welcome to Terra Nova
Josh downed his shake and placed the glass in the sink. "Slow down, what's your hurry?" his dad asked.
"I found out where the Raptor Clan meets, so I'm going to see if can get a job with them" He said to his parents. "They meet at one so I have to go"
"The Raptor Clan, they're going to let join?" Maddie asked not believing that Josh could even get an invite to meet with the top hunting group.
"I don't know, that's why I'm going to find them and try out" Josh replied to his sister.
"I don't know if I want you trying out for that group." Elizabeth said with worry in her voice. She didn't know much about the Raptor clan, only that they were the top group that went after the bigger game.
"Don't you think you should work your way up" Jim said siding with his wife. None of them were used to the dangers out in the jungle. They had barely gotten used to breathing fresh air and having a full solid meal. They had just tried a fruit Josh brought home and drank their shakes.
"I'm 18 mom, I can make my own decisions and this is what I want to do." He didn't even want to come here, he's getting involved now and they were telling him not to. He wished his parents would make up their minds. "You wanted me to be a part of the new community, what better way than to feed the colony" He told them and walked out the door before they could say anything else.
Josh walked around the PX looking for somewhere they might meet. Skye didn't give him the exact location. There were a couple of cabins surrounding it but he didn't know which one belonged to the Raptors, they didn't have signs. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost one. When he looked up he saw a group of people walking into one of the cabins so he followed.
The cabin was smaller than the housing ones, he looked through the window it had a large open room with various chairs and couches; a port for a plex screen was in the back. He also saw three doors that were closed and had swipe card locks on them. He walked in and all the people sitting on the chairs and couches turned to look at him. There were six of them, two girls and four guys, some were around his age others looked to be mid to late twenties.
"You lost fresh?" asked a twenty something blond haired guy.
"No, I was looking for the Raptor Clan" He answered hoping his voice sounded strong.
"Are you now?" A guy that looked to be in his late twenties asked. They all stood up and faced him. Josh looked around nervously and swallowed. At least he had the right place. "And who told you where to find us?"
"I did" a female voice from behind him said. He turned around slowly to see Skye standing in the doorway. When he looked back they stood in two straight rows facing each other saluting. He spun around to face Skye.
"Are you going to go in or stand in the door way?" She asked, he moved over so she could enter. "At ease" she said and they all dropped their arms in unison.
"You're the leader"
"Did I forget to mention that?" She replied with a sly grin. He nods his head. "Well when I said on good authority I meant my authority" Skye winked at him and walked past. "Alright guys, this is Josh, he's new and he'll be joining us on a hunt today."
"Wait…today?" Josh asked hesitantly. "I've only used the simulator…"
"This is the real world, Josh and the best way to test your skills is out in the field. But if you don't think you can, there's the door." Skye pointed to it and placed her plex in the port receiver, a screen popped up showing a map.
Josh looked towards the door. He trained for five months in hunting techniques and logged three hundred hours in the simulator which was more than anyone else in his group. And when he got here he expected some training not just to be thrown out into the jungle. But he didn't do all that for nothing; he took a deep breath, exhaled and joined the others on the couch.
Skye saw him sit down from the corner of her eye, she smiled to herself. She turned to face them. "Introduce yourselves" She told them and went back to studying the map.
"I'm Max" said a tall lanky guy with short dreads that looked slightly older than him. The girl next to him introduced herself as Tasha. The blonde guy that asked him if he was lost was named Clay, the other older guy that spoke earlier was named Rufus. And an Asian girl named Gaia.
"Hunter" said a guy with brown hair and looked to be the same age as him. Josh couldn't help but notice the disdain in the guys' voice and his noticeable staring at Skye.
"Ok, so we'll be doing in sector 4-6 today, the butcher wants some Ptera's." She turned and told them . "Max, get some gear for Josh"
"Right away Sarge" Max replied with a smile and went over to one of the locked doors. He looked back over at Josh. "Are you coming with? I'm not that good with guessing sizes, ask Tash"
Josh sat in the rover taking small breaths to calm his heart, hoping none of them noticed. Max was driving and Skye was upfront with him. His military grade assault rifle rested in his lap. This was the weapon he was taught to use in his training only this one had a silencer on it.
"I can't wait to have some Ptera's wings with barbeque sauce" Hunter said licking his lips.
"No way, spicy is the only way to go." said Rufus.
Josh never ate dinosaur meat before but the way they were talking about it made his mouth start to water that and the fact that all he's eaten so far was that spiky fruit. "So what happened to the other guy?" He asked out of curiosity and to join the conversation.
"What do you think, Fresh? It's a dangerous world out there." Clay answered and looked at the rest of them, they all hung there head in sadness. "He'd been hunting since forever and one day this massive Carno came out of nowhere and that was it"
Josh looked down at the ground breathing heavily. He nodded his at them. He knew this was going to be dangerous, at least he thought he knew.
"Gotta stay alert at all times, never take your eyes of the perimeter." Tasha told him and all he could do was nod again.
Max pulled the rover into some bushes and they all jumped out. Josh really didn't understand what was going on so he just followed them as they pulled branches down and started covering it. Clay and Rufus unfolded two metal carts with wheels.
Once that was done they all followed Skye into the jungle. Josh stuck close to her because she was the only one that didn't call him Fresh and he liked looking at her. The sun glistened off her hair almost making it look gold instead of blond. The tight military outfit hugged every corner of her body just right. The rifle slung over her shoulder just completed the picture.
He had Kara so he shouldn't be looking but there was just something about her that you couldn't help but stare.
Skye held up her fist when they reached a clearing. "Everyone knows the drill. Josh your with me, everyone else you know your sectors. Happy hunting"
Josh watched as they split up and went their separate ways. Skye picked up her rifle and held in her arms and switched the safety off, so he did the same. He followed her down the embankment towards a small river.
He turned to say something but she held her finger in front of her mouth and pointed up. The huge winged creature was soaring above them. When he looked back down Skye had moved further down and was following the flying reptiles' movements with the scope of her rifle.
He saw her kneel down with one knee dug into the dirt, her other leg, rifle and gaze pointed in the same direction. He watched her finger press the trigger as if it was happening in slow motion.
The Pteranodon's head flew upwards from right underneath its beak and sailed down towards the ground, landing with a loud thud.
He followed her as she ran over to it; she pulled a rope out of her bag and knelt down next to it. She handed him part of the rope and instructed him how to tie the wings and feet. That's when he noticed the black hilt of a knife in a sheath on her calf. He could see it was an extremely serrated and looked like it was a purplish redish color. It didn't look like any knife he'd ever seen before.
"It's a Slasher tail" she replied after she noticed him staring. "It was my first kill" she told him and as she continued tying the Ptera to the pole so they could carry it. "I was fourteen and my dad took me out here. It came charging through the jungle and I just reacted on instinct, it was exhilarating. So he made it for me"
"Cool" Josh replied.
She pretended to be tying the rope underneath it so she could wipe the tears that started forming in her eyes. She took deep breaths and pulled the knife and cut the rope in one clean swipe. "Let's move this out of the way and see if we can get one more" she told him and picked up one end of the pole and he picked up the other.
After they set it down and covered it they went stood by the edge to wait for another. It didn't take long for another one to fly by. Skye nodded towards Josh and he looked around and pointed to himself. Skye nodded her head with eye brows raised.
Josh took deep breath and exhaled. He kneeled down and took aim. He took more breaths to calm his racing heart. You can do this; it's not that different from the simulator. He thought to himself. He opened his eyes and pulled the trigger.
The Ptera fell to the ground and he let out a laugh with the breath he had been holding.
"Good, but next time aim for the head" Skye told him as they tied his kill up. "The butcher doesn't like digging around for the bullet, and you don't want it where the meat is."
Skye pulled out her com "We got two" she spoke into it.
"On our way" Hunter's voice replied.
Hunter and Gaia arrived with a metal cart and they all lifted the Ptera's in put them in the cart.
"You had better luck then we did." Gaia told them as they started pushing the cart to the next sectors to get the others "It was dead silence by our sector"
They met up with the other groups; between them they had four Ptera's. They wheeled the cart back towards the rover.
The stench hit him first before he saw it. He covered his nose and started down at the dinosaur in front of them.
"It's a Carno…or was a Carno" Gaia said.
"By the size of the teeth marks, I'd say it was a Rex" Rufas said kneeling down to examine it.
"A T-Rex?" Josh asked nervously looking around.
"You know another Rex?" Clay asked as he and Hunter laughed.
"If the Rex is still around, I don't want to be" Tasha said
"Right, it'll be getting dark soon, this is good enough for today" Skye told them and pushed the cart around the fallen Carno.
When they reached the rover they started loading the carts in the back. "It's not working" they heard Max say from the front.
"What? What do you mean it's not working" Clay said. "The cell was fully charged. Did you leave it running?" Clay asked implying that he had.
"Of course not" Max replied angrily. He jumped down and lifted the hood. "It's gone" he said. "The power cell, it's gone"
Skye closed her eyes and pursed her mouth. "Sixers" she said gritting her teeth.
"Sixers, that are still over there." Tasha said pointing across the stream where another rover was parked.
"What are Sixers?" Josh asked.
"Defectors" Gaia answered him. "They came on the sixth pilgrimage and didn't like the rules of colony; they tried to take over and were banished to the jungles."
"They made a new colony called Aurora" Max said.
"They didn't tell us about that in 2149"
"Of course not, it would ruin their perfect fantasy they are trying to sell over there" Rufus told him.
"They are not going to keep getting away this" Skye said started walking through the water.
"Skye, where are you going? Don't go over there" Tasha said.
"You can't trust them." Gaia added.
"She's right, we can't let them keep stealing from us" Max said and followed her. The rest looked at each other and followed.
Tbc…
