AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've kept the first chapter of this story brief on purpose. I've got a general idea brewing, but I'm hoping to get lots of feedback to conform my story to what your readers tell me you want to see more of. Hard to do if I don't get too much, so if you're reading this, please write up a review – even if you don't like my idea.
I was walking through the jungle with Malone and Marguerite. We had been gathering some fungi samples for Challenger who was hoping to discover some marvel in modern medicine. He had blabbered on about what it was he was hoping to find, but I really can't understand the old boy sometimes.
"Roxton," Marguerite said complaining as usual, "I don't really see why I have to be the one to carry this particular plant? It's so slimy and gritty."
"Well," I told her, carrying a far heavier load than she was, Malone was too, "that's just the luck of the draw."
"I swear Lord Roxton," she said in a fury, "if any of this slimy, grimy, goop gets in my hair…" I just smiled at her, "what is so funny?"
I didn't like her tone; I wasn't actually laughing, just grinning. Besides that, she was snapping at me, so I snapped back at her, "I'm laughing at you," I said, "because no matter what we're doing you always find some bloody inconvenience to complain about!"
"You could try being a little more tolerant," Malone told her, "after all, you don't exactly take on the bulk of the work load around here."
"What are you saying?" Marguerite asked, not happy about Malone's comment.
"He's saying," I began to explain, but then stopped. I could hear something moving in the trees. A faint sound, kind of like a growl. I listened harder and noticed that it had gotten very quiet in the jungle all of the sudden. No birds chirping, few insects buzzing, and other random noise that you can usually hear were all absent.
"He's saying what?" Marguerite demanded after I had remained silent for a few moments.
I shushed her, and gave a good hard look around the jungle, trying to find a target or something to explain the sudden stillness of the trees, the silence of the whole place.
"What is it?" Malone whispered. I suspected that he was beginning to sense that something was out of the ordinary as well.
I looked at everything twice, listened for the slightest noise, but I had nothing. I was about to say I didn't know, and get us moving again. Then I heard a twig snap. I turned my head quickly, with that hunter like reflex I'm so proud of, to see the tail of a dinosaur. I barely caught it at all, and some people may not have trusted this half a second glimpse. Not only did I trust the accuracy of my vision, but the detail; I was able to identify this dinosaur.
"Raptors!" I said, throwing down Challenger's sac of fungi and pulling out my rifle. I waited for one of them to show themselves so that I could attack.
Malone did the same, and asked me, "How many are there?"
"I can't tell," I admitted. I was wondering if Malone had gone mad for thinking I could know this, or if I should be honored that he was thinking that my senses were that sharp.
The first Raptor attacked, it was about 45
At one point, when Malone was reloading his rifle, a Raptor veered its ugly head and I shot him, but then realized that I needed to load more bullets as well. I tried to do this quickly, but as I feared the attack did not hold up. A Raptor jumped onto the path and was heading for Marguerite. She dropped her fungus as well, and quickly tried to pull out her gun, she was in a panic and dropped it. Clumsy Marguerite, why now? I thought. Abandoning my bullets, I ran up to the Raptor and smacked it with the butt of my rifle, trying to knock it unconscious. That didn't work.
I glanced back to see that Malone too had given up on his rifle, he was picking off Raptors with his pistol, and I was in a tough spot. I had to use my rifle as a brace in between its jaws to keep the Raptor from chomping my head off. Meanwhile, Marguerite was bending down to pick up her gun. I wasn't going to be able to hold this Raptor at bay much longer. In the corner of my eye, I saw the head of another Raptor peek its head from one of the bushes.
Just then, a surge of thunder, followed by a blinding flash of light! At first, I thought it was lightning.
"The Raptors!" I heard Malone say, sounding distant, "I don't believe it, they're all gone!"
"Roxton!" Marguerite said, also sounding farther away than before, "where's Roxton?"
I could hear the panic in her voice. I was okay, and I was pleased to hear her express so much care for me. I looked at my surroundings; I was lying in between a bush and a tree that were just off the path. I tried to yell to my friends, guide them in my direction, but I was surprised to hear that only an animalistic growl came from my vocal cords. I could not speak. It is after this that I noticed my vision was odd too, almost distorted. I leaped to my feet, surprised by my leg strength. I felt different somehow. I saw Malone and Marguerite on the path. I ran over to them.
Malone looked right at me and said to Marguerite, "its another Raptor," as he reached for his rifle.
I just stood there, "It's not attacking," Marguerite observed.
I looked down and finally figured out what had happened. Somehow, that blinding flash of light, whatever it was, had put my mind into the body of a Raptor. I moaned softly, the sound still sounding rather ferocious. I wanted to go to Marguerite. For reasons unknown to me, that was the time when I wanted to run up to her and confess my love for her, then sweep her off her feet into my arms, and take to her to a world full of love and romance. I looked deep into Marguerite's eyes; I let out another soft growl, and cocked my head. She kept eye contact with me the whole time, a look of fascination on her face.
To Malone, she said, "It looks almost civil in some way. Not a wild vicious beast like the others."
I hadn't been paying attention to Malone, and I now know that I should have. Marguerite hadn't been either, and the young man had become so focused, he didn't hear her last comment. When Marguerite did get my attention over to Malone, I was stunned. He was kneeling down with his rifle aimed and about to fire. The rifle, I soon realized, was aimed at my head!