Disclaimer: I only own Des, Scren and Screa nobody else.

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Strange Dream and a Fathers Sacrifice

Littlefoot found himself standing in the middle of a clearing in the forest. The young longneck looked at his surroundings.

'Where am I?' he wondered to himself.

A sudden growl to his right made him turn to see a fast runner sharptooth. It hissed as it began to circle the small plant eater. Another came and began to circle him as well, and then another and another. Soon four sharpteeth were growling and hissing as they circled closer and closer to Littlefoot.

Littlefoot felt fear go through his body as he turned his head from side to side, keeping each meat eater in sight. One of them suddenly lunged and Littlefoot let out a scream of fear. Suddenly there was a blue flash of light in front of him and the Sharptooth fell to the ground as it tried to stumble away.

Littlefoot looked up to see three figures standing in front of him, they looked like sharpteeth but they held strange sticks in their hands. Another sharptooth lunged toward the new arrivals and the smallest one raised its stick.

TCH, BLAM!

Littlefoot jumped back when he saw flames shoot out of the stick and watched as the fast runner collapsed to the ground bleeding from the chest. The rest of the fast runners charged the three and they all opened up with their fire sticks bringing all four down.

Littlefoot began to back away when they turned to face him and he gasped in fright. They were sharpteeth!

The smallest one took a few steps toward him and smiled, making Littlefoot cringe at the sight of all of those sharp teeth.

"Wait for us, longneck, you will see us again very soon!" said the young sharptooth.

Littlefoot stared in confusion at him.

"What? What do you mean-?"

"AWAKE!"

It then fired its stick into the air creating a loud boom.

TCH, BLOOM!

Littlefoot jolted awake and he looked around his surroundings with a fast beating heart. It was night out and he was lying in his nest right beside his Grandma and Grandpa. The young longneck sighed as he laid his head on the ground.

"It was just a dream, it was just a dream…" and with that he went back into a dreamless slumber.

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Scren led the way with his shotgun in the ready position as Screa and Des followed behind him, with Screa carrying the still weak Des on her back. As they walked the new siblings talked about themselves.

"Where did you live Des? How could you have survived without any adults to take care of you?" asked Screa as she shifted Des' weight.

The young Raptan smiled.

"Have you been to the harbor on the southeastern side of the city?" he asked. (If you forgot they are still in the remains of Downtown Pittsburg!)

Both Screa and Scren nodded.

"Well if you had looked toward the far shore, you would have seen many boats, ships, floating docks, and even an old seaplane all floating in the middle of the river!"

Scren stopped walking and turned to stare at Des in astonishment.

"You mean that you lived on all of those floating wrecks?" asked the Raptan.

Des laughed and shook his head.

"No, no! Those aren't really wrecks, you see that is actually a floating town! The only people who live there are a few families but the majority is orphans, like me and…Alex," he paused for a second but then shook it off, "Anyway, it is called Rivertown, you can get the drift for the name, not really original!"

Screa and Scren chuckled, then Des continued.

"That is where I lived my whole life, I actually lived in the old cargo seaplane…it was my dad's," Des looked at the ground and tears began to fall from his eyes.

Screa gave Scren a 'Time-to-stop-now' look, the male Raptan nodded and Screa lifted Des from her back and sat down holding him in a hug.

"Its alright Des, let it out! Do you want to talk about your dad?" she asked her new younger brother.

Des nodded and sniffed as he wiped his eyes with his hand, he smiled as he did so.

"I learned that Dinosaurs don't usually cry tears because it is impossible! But, hey, I guess we learn something new everyday!" he said with a small laugh.

Screa smiled as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to talk about your dad?"

Des nodded and he looked up at both of them.

"I remember like it was yesterday! I was only five years old before the Fallout…that is why when you arrived here in Pittsburg, the city was already destroyed…my dad raised me since my mother had died giving birth to me…" he paused to take a breath, Screa felt a lump in her throat, she had a feeling where Des was going with this.

"We lived near New York city, near the harbor to be exact, because my dad owned a freight business. That was what he used the seaplane for, to carry cargo across the sea or to the southern states. But I am getting off track…one night I awoke to loud sirens and to my father picking me up from my bed and running out of our apartment…"

--

Five-year-old Des opened his eyes as he covered his ears with his hands. His father running toward his truck, carrying him in his arms.

"Daddy, wha going on?" Des asked sleepily.

Mark Connors, Des' father, looked down at his son with a worried look.

"Something bad Desmond, we need to get to the plane!" he said in a hurried tone as he opened the passenger door and placed his young son in the seat.

He then ran around the car and jumped in, started the ignition and tore down the streets over the speed limit. Many people were running throught the streets screaming and shouting, many had crashed their cars into buildings, other cars, even the people on the sidewalk.

The city was in a panic, the police force was over their heads as they tried to get the people back into their homes. Mark arrived at the docks just as there was a bright flash of light from way down the coast. Mark stopped as he got out of the truck and stared with wide eyes at the mushroom cloud that rose from the horizon.

"S##t! That was in Delaware! Come on Des, we need to get out of here!" he shouted as he picked him up and ran toward his plane, not even locking or shutting the doors to his truck.

Mark opened the door on the side of the plane and closed it behind him.

"Mark! That you?" called a voice from the cockpit.

Mark placed the now sleeping Desmond, in one of the two passenger seats and then ran to the cockpit.

"Glad you made it Joe, I do not know how I would have been able to bring the Pelican into the air all by my self!" he said smiling to his co-pilot and long time friend.

"I came as soon as the sirens went off! Man o' man, am I glad that I never married!" said Joe.

They both began to start the plane, both propellers on the wings began to spin and rumble. Mark pulled away from the dock and just as he started out of the harbor, a glowing dot appeared in the sky above them. Des now awake looked out one of the windows and smiled at the falling light.

"Daddy, look it a shootin' star!" the young boy exclaimed.

Mark froze and looked upwards.

"S##T! Get me some speed Joe! Get me it now!"

"I'm trying, man!"

The Pelican began to pick up speed as it tore through the waters of the harbor. The dot in the sky was getting bigger.

"Come on baby, get us up, come on!" begged Joe as he pushed the throttles to their limits.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion, Des ran to the other side of the plane and stared with fear filled eyes at the large orange mushroom cloud appeared in the middle of the city. A wall of flame shot throughout the city in a ring shape, tearing through buildings and vaporizing others.

"DADDY!" cried Des as the wall of flames got closer.

"Everybody hang on, Des, get into your seat now!" shouted Mark as he pulled back and the Pelican rose from the water and into the air.

A bright light appeared as the flames got closer, soon the light was almost blinding. Desmond covered his ears as a shrill whistling noise filled the air. The young boy cried out in pain as he slumped down into his seat unconscious.

--

"…we barely made it out of New York alive, after that nuclear bomb exploded. Though the Pelican was damaged badly we flew over the interior to find any place we could land to look for any survivors. When Pittsburg came into sight the next morning, the plane began to sputter, our fuel had run out. Dad and Joe managed to bring the plane down on the river…but we didn't see the bridge until it was to late…" Des opened his mouth to say more but he choked and leaned into Screa's chest as he began to cry again.

Scren stared in shock as well as horror, he has been through so much and at an early age! He had to see the destruction of his home, his fathers death and hear the death of his friend!

Screa rocked back and forth as she held onto the weeping young Raptan. She had tears coming from her eyes as she whispered calming words to him. Soon Des calmed down and he wiped his eyes, he looked up at Screa and smiled.

"Thank you, I needed that!"

Screa smiled as she picked up her younger brother and kissed him on the forehead.

"Your welcome Des," she said as she placed him back on the ground.

Scren cleared his throat.

"Well now that we know your story Des, can you tell us more about why you and…your friend were in the middle of the city, with Crazies chasing you?" asked the Raptan as he leaned back against the wall, the shotgun still in his hands as his eyes scanned the surrounding rubble and buildings for movement.

Des nodded.

"Like I said I have been living in Rivertown for most of my life…"

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Well what did you think of this chapter? What do you think was Des' and Alex's mission? Please review!

Dune