Chapter 9
Divided
The sun slowly rose over the horizon, illuminating the land with its rays. Yet every single one of us were still asleep. All of us were exhausted from our days of non-stop travelling and neither of us were about to skip an opportunity for a good rest. Littlefoot and I were curled up together, with him resting his neck on my chest while I hugged my M4A1 Carbine(I had cleared the chamber the night before and the selector was set to "Safe").
Just then, a faint tremble awoke me. Another Earthquake? No. The trembles were made by a two legged creature, and it was not a supersized Saurolophus. I peeked over the hole and found myself staring at Sharptooth, who was slowly advancing on our position. Cera and the others were sleeping roughly thirty yards in front of us and they were in great danger of being eaten alive.
Sure, she was an arrogant bitch and I didn't really care for her but I still had a conscience. That and the fact Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were clustered beside her made me act. I got up and kicked Littlefoot in the side, jolting him awake before running towards Cera where I kicked her as well. She woke up and immediately noticed the trembles. Within seconds, both Cera and I woke the others up and we all regrouped inside Littlefoot's sleeping hole.
"Shit…" I swore. "Is that Sharptooth?"
"I think Cera might have been right…" Littlefoot bit his lips.
"Run! All of you! I'll keep him at bay!"
"Listen Bryan!" Cera shouted to me. "Even you and your powerful weapons cannot stop Sharptooth. He's too big for all of us to handle."
"JUST RUN!"
At this point, all of them thought I had lost my mind and they ran. Even Littlefoot turned tail and ran for his life. I chambered a fresh cartridge into my M4A1 Carbine and flicked the selector to "Semi" before placing the crosshairs on his head. This was the first time I had taken on a Tyrannosaurus Rex and I did not know what to expect. A headshot against a human was almost 100% fatal and since Sharptooth's head was bigger than a giant watermelon, I figured I would shoot there.
When he got within three hundred yards, I began plinking away at his head with my carbine. Lead penetrated his face, causing a stinging sensation. He roared in anger and picked up the pace, charging towards me and aiming to snap me up in a single bite. I continued to shoot, targeting both his head and chest in an effort to stop him. In the end, it was a futile attempt to stop the giant behemoth.
The minute he got within fifty yards, I took off running in the direction of the young dinosaurs where I saw them struggling to squeeze through a small cave. Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were already through but Cera was having a panic attack. I told Littlefoot to charge in after her and he did exactly that. Both of them burst out the other side while I casually walked through.
As soon as I reached the other side, I swung around and got a shock of my life. Millimeters away, Sharptooth's big(and smelly)mouth was snapping away at me. I darn near fainted from the stench but I managed to stay conscious. Sharptooth was trapped, and that meant we were safe. More good news came in the form of a rather large Sauropod shaped monolith to our right. Littlefoot remembered it from the "Great Valley Riddle" his mother had told him and he jumped with glee.
"It's the great rock which looks like a Longneck!" he exclaimed. "We're going the right way! The way to the Great Valley!"
We trekked as far as we could and as fast as we could, daring not to stop. Sharptooth being stuck in the cave was temporary and for all intents and purposes, he could already be free and after us. My M4A1 had a fresh magazine loaded and the selector was on "Semi" instead of the usual "Safe". By now we were in a sandy desert like region where volcanic ash fell.
Seems like a cakewalk compared to our previous treks right? Big mistake. Barely a few minutes later, we found ourselves near the foot of a rocky slope which we proceeded climbing. Being an avid outdoorsman, I thought I would scale the cliff without issue but halfway up, I found myself panting and struggling for breath. I'm not the only one struggling to go on. Cera and the others were too. Even Littlefoot, who had taken the lead and was a million miles ahead of me, was struggling to push himself upwards.
He spun around and I could see a disappointed look on his face as he glared at us from afar.
"Come on, get up!" he ushered. "Oh we can't quit now! What if the Great Valley is just over the top of these rocks?"
Watch your mouth there Littlefoot, I wouldn't say that if I were you. According the riddle, we had to past a Sauropod shaped monolith and volcanoes before we arrived at the Great Valley. Dread filled my body and each step made me feel more anxious. Something told me the other side of this cliff would be nothing more than wasteland. Truth be told, my instincts proved to be spot on.
The minute we reached the top of the hill, a sandstorm temporarily blinded us. Slowly it cleared, revealing… Nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! No greenery, no fresh flowing water, not even the dinosaur herds which were supposed to be headed towards the Great Valley. Littlefoot's words seem more like a false prediction more than anything else. Add that with the sight of barren wasteland, it was demoralizing just being there.
At that moment, Cera began speaking her mind with no care for sensitivity or others' feelings.
"This is your Great Valley? You're crazy!" she scowled. "I'm, leaving!"
"But Cera!" Littlefoot pleaded. "We have to follow the bright circle!"
"I'm taking the easy way for once."
"But it's the wrong way!"
"Who said it?"
"My mother!"
"Then she was probably a stupid flathead like you."
Oh, she did NOT just went there. Insulting Littlefoot was already bad enough, but insulting his mother? My blood was boiling and I was on the edge of losing control over my emotions. Littlefoot was also enraged but Cera refused to take her words back since she had an ego the size of Jupiter. The end result? A brawl broke out between the two young dinosaurs.
At that moment I clenched my fists and slowly made my way down, mentally drowning out Ducky and Petrie's cries to stop. When I reached the bottom, Littlefoot and Cera's brawl was at its most intense point. Cera's ramming attacked had missed and she got smacked in the face by Littlefoot, who whipped her with his tail. I immediately got between the two youngsters and glared at Cera.
"You stay out of this!" Cera shouted to me.
"Not if my adoptive son is involved. Besides, I LOVE hitting bitches!"
Cera charges me in an attempt to tackle me to the ground but I dodged out of the way and countered with my fist. I punched her several times in the face and began going on the offensive. Using a mix of martial arts(mostly Krav Maga)I had learnt in the past, I began assaulting Cera.
She had no chance of retaliating, not if I was attacking her. I did not care about the others shouting. All I did was beat and punch the living daylights out of her. I tackled her to the ground and drew my OKC-3S bayonet. She screamed as I swung the bayonet but millimeters away from her throat, my hand came to a sudden stop. A force was stopping me from stabbing her throat and I couldn't overcome it no matter what.
Maybe it was an act of god or just my conscience kicking in. Whatever the reason, I backed away from her and raised my M4A1, the sights of the weapon aligned with her head.
"Dare to mouth me off again?" I coldly taunted. "You're such a puny fighter."
"N-No…" she nervously replied. "P-Please, don't kill me."
"Hehehehehe, coward."
"Stop it, dad." Littlefoot piped up. "She's not worth a bullet."
"Mmm… You might be right."
A defeated Cera got back onto her feet and began trekking towards her supposed "easy way" while Littlefoot swung back in the direction of the sun. I was about to follow Littlefoot when I noticed his friends all tailing Cera. Never in my life would I foresee them as traitors but here they were, following the arrogant Triceratops instead of the intelligent Apatosaurus, even if he knew the way.
Fine then. If they left the herd, I had less lives to protect. A lightened workload and my adoptive son by my side, seems like a pretty decent deal to me. I trotted alongside Littlefoot, who was frowning. Tears were flowing from his eyes, probably from the hurt he received from Cera's insulting his mother.
"Littlefoot." I placed my hand on the young Apatosaurus' neck. "I'm still here."
"You should've followed her." He said. "Everyone trusts Cera but me."
"I don't trust her either Littlefoot. Besides, you're my adoptive son."
"To tell you the truth, I don't even know if I'm actually following the riddle correctly."
"I've deciphered it for you. It means, follow the sun westwards till you pass a Sauropod monolith and pass volcanoes. I know where we should be headed."
"How 'bout you lead the way then?"
"Alright."