Battle with the Raptors
"Get away from the jungle!" shouted Tim Atherton over the din of the gunfire. The clearing was suddenly surrounded by velociraptors, all hungry for human flesh.
Seth Redding darted for the jeep and leaped inside. He uncovered the crates in the back and extracted a rifle. Just then, one of the dinosaurs bounded down the hill and jumped atop the hood of the vehicle. Seth turned and, more out of reflex than planning, pulled the trigger.
Blam! The velociraptor cried out as the bullet struck its chest, spraying the front windshield with blood. It staggered back, slipped, and flipped off the front of the car into the dirt.
"Good shot!" called Tim from behind the tow truck.
"Thanks!" Seth replied, exhilarated at his unexpected success.
"Hey, duck!" Hakeem shouted as he ran between the two vehicles. Without question, Seth threw himself onto the back seat. Hakeem unleashed a flurry of bullets that riddled the raptor that had just been about to bite off Seth's head.
Seth rolled over, dodging the beast as it fell forward, spilling the ammunition boxes. He sat up as Morgan called up to him.
"Hey, Chuck's in trouble!"
Clamoring out of the back seat, Seth followed the stunt driver to the back of the pickup where Chuck Reynolds was laying. "Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Chuck said.
The two stood protectively beside their companion, ready to defend him. "Here they come!" announced Morgan. Suddenly, four raptors rushed out from the trees and charged the truck. Seth and Morgan raised their rifles and began firing. The lead dinosaur went down immediately, and the one behind it tripped over its prone form and collapsed to the ground. Morgan placed a booted foot on its neck, put the barrel to its temple, and shot it before it could get up and slash him with its claws.
However, this move put the stunt driver in a bad position. A velociraptor leaped up and kicked him powerfully with two legs. He flew back onto the ground, his head barely missing the edge of the truck bed. Just as the dinosaur was about to finish off its prey, Seth turned and shot it thrice in the neck. He pivoted and blasted the face of the final raptor as it rushed at him.
"That was amazing!" Morgan coughed, dusting off his jacket and retrieving his weapon from the dirt. "Come on, there may be more—"
"Raaaaaah!"
"What was that?" exclaimed Seth, looking toward the location of the loud noise. On the other side of the clearing, near a steep hill leading into the dense foliage, O'Neil was fighting a duo of raptors. He held an Uzi in his uninjured hand, the other hanging limp, probably broken. He uttered a terrifying war cry as he exterminated both foes.
Suddenly, another predator pounced out of the jungle onto the team's leader. He fell forward, and it caught his head in its sharp, hooked teeth. It yanked back, and at the same time, it thrust a foot into O'Neil's back and stabbed him with its lethal toe claw. "Yeargh!" the doomed man shrieked. Then, he fell silent and ceased resisting. The velociraptor dropped him onto the ground in a bloody heap and made as if to tear off a chunk of his flesh when John Cheng sniped it from afar. It dropped beside its would-be meal, dead.
After a minute or so, the group relaxed, knowing that the battle was over. Every velociraptor had been slain. Much to their dismay, when they inspected their leader, they found that there was no life in the mangled figure.
Unable to load the body into one of the trucks because of its destroyed state, the team settled with burying their leader on the island. They picked out a space off toward the jungle and covered the grave with heavy stones in an attempt to protect the corpse from scavengers. "It's not where he would want to be laid to rest, but it'll have to do," commented Tim.
Well, one adventurer down, and many to go! *laughs maniacally* Check back shortly for more of the quest to retrieve the genetics equipment. Thanks for reading, and please review!