Chapter 3

I never thought I'd make any friends. Like I said before, my peers rejected me because I was too "mature", even though I was the same age they were. All I did was go out to hunt for food and support the family. How is that being overly mature? It's not like I'm running the whole family myself. Papa had to tend to the crops and mama traded goods on the market and made the home. Neither had any time to go hunt, leaving the task to me.

Fortunately for me, friendship was something I wasn't going to miss out. Fate gave me Florence and guess what? We became the best of friends. Despite what our parents told us, despite everything our elders said, we broke the barriers of segregation and made the world a wee bit better than before.

Well, for us at least.

Previously on most hunting days, Ramirez would be up by nine and that's only because his mother forced him to wake up by cracking her husband's bullwhip in the house. One time she even smashed a vase by accident but hey, it got her son up and the money they would earn from just his hunting trip was worth more than ten of the same vases. But ever since he made friends with Florence, Ramirez never woke up late again. In fact, he woke up a whole lot earlier than what he used to; three hours to be precise.

This was prime hunting time since a lot of dinosaurs would be out feeding or quenching their thirst. But Ramirez wasn't out early because he wanted to bag bigger prey. He went out early so he could play with his friend before actually going about hunting. Samuel and Aurinda knew their boy went out longer than before but didn't pay too much attention. Both believed the larger amount of prey present made their son become a more picky hunter who wanted to bag the biggest out of the bunch.

And he DID come back with a few biggies every now and then, which was more than enough for the couple. That being said, playtime was still the main reason he woke up early and playtime was exactly what he got plenty of.

"Florence?" Ramirez looks around to make sure there weren't any humans or big predators in the area. "Florence! You here?"

Next thing he knew, his eyes were looking straight up the sky. Standing right on his chest was the little Utahdon he befriended, the grin of happiness evident on her face. Their giggles, shouts, and laughs could be heard all around the forest as they chased one another around, playing tag amongst other games. Each day they spent together was a happy day and whenever they went home, their parents couldn't help but notice the excited expression on their faces, totally unaware of what was going on in the wild.

"If only we could do this for the whole day." Ramirez remarks as he lies on the ground with his friend next to him. "Oh, why can't momma and papa realize we're all living beings at the end of the day?"

"You think you have a bad family." Florence rolls her eyes. "Mine would kill me if they found out I was friends with you."

"Time's almost up though, should we go hunt something before it's too late?"

"Yeah."

No matter how much they loved to play, the two younglings knew their communities needed food and at the end of each play session, they made sure to bag something before going their separate ways. Using Florence's excellent sense of smell and Ramirez' rifle, the two children were an extremely deadly duo. No dinosaur was safe from them, not even if they tried to hide. Due to the fact that his friend couldn't carry the carcass on her own, Ramirez would skin the meat first and scooch before she called her pack in with an assembly caw.

They would in turn bring the whole carcass back and distribute it to the entire community. Unlike other Theropods which lived in packs, Utahdons ran a similar system to the humans. Everyone in the settlement got an equal share; from the lowliest pack member to the Alpha himself. Florence's parents were a bit concerned when their daughter started going into the forest on her own but when they realized she was returning with meat all the time, they gave their approval.

Hey, there was an easy source of meat! Who would want to miss out on that?

Trust me when I say we've been in more than a few close encounters. One time we fell into a raging river and had to trudge through unfamiliar territory armed only with claws and a rifle which was more a pike than gun thanks to the wet gunpowder. There was also this occasion where we purposely provoked a Deinosuchus to see what sort of reaction it would have.

Let's just say that did not turn well.

But hey, at least we're still in one piece right? That's the thing about young children. We love to explore and play around. If there's a big red thing with a giant sign written right above it saying "Do Not Touch", we would still touch it. Exploration and adventure, that was our childhood. The most dangerous of our endeavors was visiting each other's communities. I nearly got my head ripped off once when Florence's mother spotted me eyeing her community from a nearby bush.

And then, there was this…

Like a silent assassin, Ramirez dashed across the street and entered the alleyway on the opposite end. Back on the other side, Florence could see her friend waving for her to run over and join him. She looks around nervously, checking to make sure there was no one around to see her when she made her run. Fortunately for her, the area seemed deserted and she dashed across as fast as she could, quickly taking cover behind her friend's leg.

"We're clear." He said. "Let's visit the town square."

"I don't think that's a good idea at all." She responds. "Maybe we should just turn back."

"What's to be afraid of? Remember that time I nearly became a headless chicken?"

"It's not funny!"

"Come on, I'm sure they're a forgiveful lot."

"Yeah, I'm pretty darn sure you didn't describe your fellow humans this way."

"With me around I mean."

Despite her reluctance, Florence follows her friend through the back alley. Ocassionally he lifted her up so she could see humans go about their daily life through the back windows. When someone came out of the backdoor, they dove behind trash bins or some other pieces of concealment to keep themselves from being spotted. There was no telling what might happen to them if someone was to see them. Ramirez would probably get a verbal beating from his parents.

As for Florence, well she might as well be dead because the humans would almost certainly turn her into dino stew. By sheer luck, they somehow make it to the end of the alleyway undetected and right in front of them was the town center. Traders were already starting to set up their stalls and Aurinda could be seen chatting to her friend Mary, who deals specially in dinosaur meat.

"Yeah, I think we should go back before we get spotted." The Utahdon suggests.

"Sure you don't want to dash across to the other alleyway?" Ramirez points at another alleyway across the street. "That takes us north."

"I wouldn't want to take such a gamble. What if I get spotted?"

"Don't be such a worry-freak."

Before she knew what was going on, her friend made a mad dash across the street and makes it to the other side undetected. All of a sudden, Florence found herself alone and without escort. It was like he was forcing her to come along or get captured. Left with no choice she runs. Though the distance was short, the alley seemed like it was miles away. She was almost through to the other side when one of the settlers screamed.

"Intruder!" A man shouted. "Utahdon in the settlement! Everyone to your arms!"

What an "oh crap" moment eh? Florence stares at her friend irritatedly but he didn't seem too bothered by it all. In fact, he seemed rather calm about the whole thing.

"Okay, lure them by running back across." He said. "I'll work my magic."

"Yeah right, like I'm going to listen to you again." She scowls. "No!"

"Fine, then I'll leave you to die."

Once again Ramirez runs off without his friend and once again, he forces her into a situation where she had no choice but to follow his actions. Florence runs back across the street, attracting the attention of a few gun armed settlers who began chasing her down the alleyway. Her speed gave her a massive advantage, allowing her to gain considerable amount of distance between herself and her human opponents.

BANG

"Help!" A familiar voice cried out. "Utahraptors are attacking the Northern wall!"

Almost immediately the settlers who were pursuing Florence turned tail and ran in the direction of the Northern wall. When they reached it, they saw their community's best shot trying desperately to hold off against a pack of Utahraptors charging down towards his position and unleashed everything they had, gunning down the pack in a matter of seconds. Ramirez lowers his rifle and sighed.

He was ready to thrust the bayonet right into one of them if they ever got close.

"What happened?" Aurinda asks. "Weren't you out hunting?"

"That happened, mama." He answers. "I was prowling the area when I bumped into them."

"Weren't you further south?"

"I sort of wandered North a little bit."

"Thank god we came just in the nick of time." Mary remarks.

"Dammit!" Parsons remarks. "I think the little one scooted off."

"What little one?" Ramirez pretends to ask.

"That little Utahdon who snuck into our settlement."

"I guess I am to blame now, huh?"

"Heh, forget it kid." He pats the boy on the back. "Better letting it go than watching a crack shot die."

Yeah yeah, call me a liar all you want. At least it was a white lie, one which helped Florence escape what could possibly be a hot and steamy end. I helped save a life by lying, unlike my parents who lied to continue an antiquated tradition. Anywho, mama and papa accepted the explanation I gave and that was the end of that. My friendship with Florence was not discovered and they never bothered to follow up on the case since the slaughter of a Utahraptor pack gave the whole damn community enough meat to last for more than a few months with extras they could trade on the free market.

All in all it was a win win for everyone. Florence got away, I and the rest of my fellow humans got to enjoy a byproduct of our defensive action; juicy Utahraptor meat.