Chapter 8
Cera's Return
Darkness was already upon them, yet the members of the group continued their trek. Bryan was at the tip of the spear, his NODs over his eyes and his MK18 MOD0 in the low ready position. Directly behind him were Littlefoot and the young dinosaurs. Charlotte was behind the dinosaurs and Richard hauled ass, scanning the areas missed by Bryan with the E2D Defender flashlight given to him by his older counterpart.
Everyone was on edge, Bryan especially. The group had been ambushed twice already and they would've been dead had Richard and Bryan not been present. Both teenaged boys had plenty of bodycount between themselves and they were racking up more by the minute. Richard tosses the E2D Defender flashlight back to Bryan and draws his Sphinx SDP, having remembered that the pistol was fitted with a Surefire X300 tactical light.
He scans the areas missed by Bryan, sweeping his gun left and right and alternating between the left and right flanks. On one such occasion, he unintentionally shines his light across Bryan's head while sweeping to the left flank. Bryan, who was looking back at the time, was temporarily blinded as the light intensity of his NODs skyrocketed for a few seconds.
"Fuck!" he exclaimed. "Richard. Did I not tell you to NOT shine your god damned light in my face?"
"Oops I guess…" the younger teenaged boy responded. "My bad."
"Do it again and I swear I'll give you a Mozambique drill."
With his eyesight back, Bryan continued to scan the area. He spots movement on the left and fires once, striking a Deinonychus, who was attempting to sneak around the flanks, in the side. The Theropod groaned and the next thing they knew, a whole pack was charging towards them. Bryan was the first to respond and he downs three in quick succession.
His younger counterpart wasn't far behind, rapidly racking up kills. Bryan and Richard took position at the front and rear of the group respectively and hammered away with their long guns while the Deinonychuses charged. It was like a scene straight out of a war movie. One after the other, the Theropods charged and one after the other, they were gunned down.
There was no coordination, just massed charges. This must've been quite a big pack since previous ambushes usually consisted of three or four Deinonychuses, five if they were really unlucky. What neither of them knew at the time was that the group had unintentionally stepped into the territory of an infamous clan of Deinonychus known as the Orions, who were known for their brutality.
In fact, the Orions were so brutal that some consider their brutality to be right up there on par with Sharptooth's.
"What is this? Lone survivor 2.0?" Bryan shouted as he banged a new magazine into his carbine. "Push right flank!"
Upon hearing the command, Richard pushed the right flank while Bryan provided covering fire. Charlotte notices a Deinonychus getting too close for comfort and she blasted it at point blank range with her musket before reloading. She attaches a bayonet onto her musket after reloading in case she was required to become a pikeman or rather pikewoman.
"Bryan, I'll cover you!" Richard shouted. "You see if you can pour fire onto these bastards from the side!"
"Copy!" he shouted in return.
With a flick of his finger, Bryan replenishes his ammunition supply and starts working the left flank. Running out of ammunition now was the worse time and the teenager tries his best to maximize efficiency and conserve ammunition, giving each Deinonychus a shot in the head whenever possible. Unfortunately the Deinonychus heard what Richard had shouted and they channeled all their remaining members on the left flank.
Faced with overwhelming numbers, Bryan was forced to pull back. Richard tried his best to support his comrade but he too was forced to pull back. Littlefoot suggested that Bryan pull his LAW out and use it here but the teenager refused. He was conserving that weapon for Sharptooth. Besides, there was really no time to pull the launcher from his bag anyways.
Barely seconds later, the Deinonychuses were on top of them and Bryan, Richard, and Charlotte were forced to fight with their prehistoric opponents, CQB style. A Deinonychus attempts to tackle Bryan but he slashes it in the face before jamming his knife into the predator's throat, neutralizing it. To his left, Charlotte thrusts her musket forwards, jamming it into the side of a Deinonychus charging towards Richard.
One Deinonychus finds an opening and attempts to attack Ducky but Littlefoot swipes him away with a tail whip, much to the surprise of the humans. Apparently the young Apatosaurus knew how to fight and could fight when the need arose. But Bryan didn't even want the predators to touch any of the young ones and he drew his pistol.
BANG
Point blank shot at a Theropod. A .45 caliber bullet tears through the Deinonychus' head, killing it instantly. Richard also drew his sidearm and fired away at several charging Theropods. But no matter how many they've killed, more came. For a moment, it seemed as though this was their final resting place. Littlefoot, Ducky, and Petrie cuddled around each other and closed their eyes, ready to accept their fate.
They never moved or flinched despite the gunfire. The only time they did move a little was when one of the ejected casings flew into Littlefoot's body, causing him to jolt due to the burning sensation. Slowly, after what seemed like eternity, the gunfire died down. Silence started to take over, and the young dinosaurs all opened their eyes and looked around.
Bodies of dead Deinonychuses were everywhere. Charlotte was reloading her musket and Richard was reholstering his pistol. As for Bryan well he was way ahead, calmly scanning the area for threats. None came and he returned to the group. Everyone including Richard and Charlotte stared at him in shock. Smeared all over him were blood splatters and in his hand was a bloodied KA-BAR EK-4 Commando Knife; his MK18 MOD0 was slung in an Over Strong Shoulder carry position.
"Y'know what?" he grunted. "Maybe I should quit my job and be a private military contractor."
"Yeah, you should." Richard sarcastically responded.
"I'm serious, Rich."
"Whatever, let's get moving."
Still shaken by the ambush, the group continues its trek towards the mysterious beyond. For some reason, the area felt a lot safer after they had wiped out the ambushing Deinonychus and small critters started appearing here and there. It was as if the group had just liberated the area from the occupying forces and have brought freedom to the locals.
Despite the lightened sensation, everyone was still on high alert. For all they know, the ambush could be a first strike and the calm environment a distraction to make them lower their guard. A cave was situated to their right and everyone agreed that going underground for a bit was better than staying in the open. With Bryan at the lead, they moved in.
Inside the cave, there was silence, absolute silence. It was quieter than the outside and it rang bells within the group. Richard, Bryan, and Littlefoot sensed something was wrong and every instinct in the trio told them a predator was lurking in the caves. Littlefoot led Charlotte and the others into cover while Richard and Bryan took up defensive positions.
Using his enhanced night vision, courtesy of his Gen 2 ATN PS-15 NODs, Bryan scans the area and spots a Dimetrodon roughly seventy five yards away. He calmly disengages the safety and takes aim, using the boulder as a support of sorts for his MK18 MOD 0 carbine.
BANG
Due to the enclosed environment of the cave, the gunshot report echoes throughout. Everyone except for Richard jolted in surprise. Blood could be seen trickling down the entry hole made by the 5.56 caliber bullet on the Dimetrodon's head. It stumbles forwards and crashes onto the ground, dead from the single round fired by Bryan.
Richard approaches the carcass, his shotgun pointed at the now dead creature. He kicks it twice to make sure it was dead before signaling for the others to regroup at his position.
"Great job." His older counterpart remarked.
"You shot the bugger, Bryan." He responded. "I just made sure it was dead."
"I'm complementing you for your actions during the ambush."
"Ah that… You're not too shabby yourself."
"We all did good back there." Charlotte piped up. "I was a little surprised when Littlefoot thwacked that Dei…"
"Deinonychus." Richard completed.
"Yes, Deinonychus."
"Yeah that was pretty amazing." Bryan smiles at the young Apatosaurus. "Your mother taught you how to fight?"
"Yeah…" he answered.
Just then, a scream came from deeper within the caves. Richard, Charlotte, and Bryan all raised their long guns and stood in a firing line, ready to let loose on anything which threatened the group. Behind them was Littlefoot, who was shielding Ducky and Petrie. Fortunately for them, no threat emerged. Instead, what they saw was a terrified Cera running towards them.
Something or someone spooked her, and Bryan's instinct told him staying in the cave was not exactly a good idea. He moved into a defensive position and crouched down, his rifle in the low ready position, while the others jumped out of the way as Cera nearly rammed into them; she rammed into the Dimetrodon carcass instead.
"Cera!" Littlefoot exclaimed. "It's you!"
Upon seeing the youngling's face, Cera's expression went from fear to relief. Despite not being on good terms with anyone but her own kind she felt safe, knowing that she was at least with someone she was acquainted with. But of course, her arrogant and big egoed side returned when Littlefoot asked why she was so frightened.
"Me? Frightened?" she laughs his claims off. "You should be frightened though."
"Why should we?" Richard asked.
"I… Found… Sharptooth!"
The mere mention of the word "Sharptooth" sends chills down everyone's spines. Well, almost everyone. While Ducky and Petrie panicked, Littlefoot, Charlotte, Richard, and Bryan were skeptical. Richard personally saw Sharptooth fall down the Great Divide and Charlotte trusted his words. Bryan well… he was more neutral on the situation.
On one hand, he knew Cera was lying but on the other, he also knew she was most likely spooked or else she wouldn't be running scared like this. Nevertheless, he kept to himself while Cera and Richard got into a small argument.
"By my calculations…" the younger teenaged boy pretends to "calculate". "You're lying and a pussy. Not "dear brave Cera" like everyone makes you out to be."
Littlefoot glares at Richard as if he had murdered someone. No one in their right mind would call a Triceratops a liar unless they had a death wish.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Cera questioned.
"I AM!" the teenager raised his voice. "Problem?"
"You're just trying to make me look bad in front of the others!"
"Prove that you're brave then!"
"Don't make me…"
"SETTLE DOWN THE TWO OF YOU!" Bryan shouted. "I've had enough of this arguing nonsense. And yes, Cera. You're a fucking liar!"
Cera turns towards the older teenaged boy and glared at him. He glares back at her as well but with his own touch. He drew his Springfield Armory TRP Operator pistol and disengaged the safety.
"If you are that brave then I suggest you challenge me." He taunted. "I have a gun but I can also kill you with my bare hands."
While the sensible thing to do was to forget about the confrontation, Cera took things up a notch instead. She charges Bryan, forcing him to fire a warning shot in front of her. If she was brave, she would've kept on charging but instead she makes a sudden change in direction and crashes into a wooden plank. Ducky, who happened to be standing on the opposite side at the time, was catapulted deeper into the cave.
As if things couldn't get any worse, now the group had to rescue Ducky in the cave where Cera was spooked by an unknown predator which was still alive and kicking