Chapter 5
An Oasis Of Hope

Deep within the forest, there was absolute silence. The locals have gone into hiding, fearful for their lives. Utahraptors loyal to Talia were prowling the lands, blockading the herd of herbivores and preventing their escape to safer ground. It would only be a matter of time before they became roast meat as the lava slowly oozed down towards them. Up on the ridge, Bron's wife and parents-in-law were struggling to free him from the wedge he got himself into.

Near the edge of the jungle, Topsy sighed. He could see the lava oozing down and knew there would not be much time left for the herd. Rescue didn't seem like it was coming any time soon and the Triceratops was giving up hope of ever seeing his daughter again. Just then, a crackle of automatic gunfire catches his attention. This sound he had heard before, just not in automatic form. A human must be in the area. Was rescue finally here for the herd?

Back in the jungle Bryan continues to let loose with his machine gun, mowing down Utahraptor after Utahraptor as they ran around in confusion. Apparently the smoke grenades turned out to be flashbangs, which was way better than smoke grenades since there were no vision impairing clouds of smoke. Spent casings littered the forest floor as the human slowly advances into the encampment, firing his machine gun as he went.

Cera was trotting next to him, hauling all the extra ammunition. Whenever the human ran out, he simple grabs a fresh box magazine, removes the used one, attaches the new one to the side of his gun, and loads a fresh two hundred round belt into his weapon. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the machine gun became a literal force multiplier for Bryan, allowing him to even the odds and dish damage to his enemies while keeping them way out of their own retaliation distance.

The loyalists break ranks, scattering into the treeline, some of them clustered others by themselves. Talia, seeing that her forces were in disarray, rallies them and orders them to charge the human, who was currently reloading a fresh belt into his machine gun. She thought she could catch her foe on the reload and crush him before he could dish out more damage.

Unfortunately for her, by the time her men actually started to charge, Bryan had already finished reloading and was ready for more. She had just led her loyal followers straight into a massacre. There was no hope for the Theropods. As they charged through the hail of gunfire, their ranks fell one by one. One of the Raptors got a lucky break and somehow managed to dodge the gunfire but he quickly came under attack by, surprise surprise, the five younglings accompanying Bryan.

Despite their young age, Littlefoot and the young dinosaurs were more than willing to help out their human companion and they used combined effort to overcome the Utahraptor's brute force. In a finishing blow, Cera drives her horn right up the Theropod's neck, killing him instantly. From behind, Talia could only watch in horror as her loyal followers were cut down within seconds.

She had just thrown them into a blood bath, costing them their lives. Now there was no one standing between the rescue party and the forces blockading the adult dinosaurs. Well there was one, but it was a force Talia was reluctant to deploy. This force, comprised mainly of Deinonychuses, was originally part of her rear guard but she relegated them to her reserves.

Now they were the only ones left to defend the blockading dinosaurs. Instead of a full on assault, Talia decides to play it a tad bit more cautiously this time. She reorganizes them into five packs, each pack comprised of three Deinonychuses. Her plan was to sneak them through the jungle and hopefully catch the rescue party in the flanks before slaughtering them.

Bryan's experience however, was poised to turn the sneaky little plan against her. Based on knowledge he has gained over the years, he knew someone like Talia wouldn't risk a second frontal assault since she did not possess that big of a force. She would most likely play it cautiously and a sneaking around was a likely tactic of approach. The human adjusts appropriately and remounts the machine gun back onto Cera's back before unslinging his XM16E1.

He reaches into his buttpack and grabs a Colt 3x20 scope before mounting it on his rifle. Rambo time was over; it was time for a little sniping action. While a XM16E1 rifle wasn't exactly an ideal sniper rifle, Bryan had to make do with what he had. His M14 rifle, which was a great sniping tool, had been left back at the shack when he left.

"Lima." He said to the young Spinosaurid. "How good is your eye?"

"I use it to find meat eaters and avoid them." She answered.

"And your nose?"

"Pretty good."

"Okay, you're my spotter. Everyone follow me; let's just see if we can't out sneak the sneaky ones."

The sun was slowly setting over the horizon. The day was slowly ending, and Bryan and Littlefoot were hoping to make the best out of whatever sunlight they had left. Earlier in the day they had bumped into Cera while travelling past the last of the Great Divide. She had declined their offer to join the group, choosing instead to go off in search of her parents.

By now they had arrived at an oasis, a place where they could rest and refuel. The oasis wasn't big but had a decent sized body of water in the middle which was connected to a waterfall. Trees and other vegetation grew around and within the body of water. While Littlefoot fed on the water reeds, Bryan ran towards the waterfall. He allows water to soak his clothing and equipment, cooling himself off after a long day of travelling.

As he filled up his canteens from the waterfall, a naughty thought came into Bryan's mind. What he had in mind was a little prank to relief him of the boredom. The human smears some camouflage he'd brought in his backpack onto his face along with a little bit of mud.

He then dives underwater, XM16E1 slung on his back and MK 22 Hush Puppy pistol drawn, silently swimming towards Littlefoot. When he was directly underneath the young Apatosaurus, Bryan suddenly rises up and drags him into the water.

"Dad." Littlefoot groaned as he surfaced. "What was that for?"

"Fun." The human chuckled. "I'm bored."

"Okay, you asked for it."

Before he knew what was going on, Bryan found himself playing around the oasis with Littlefoot as if he was a young child. It didn't matter to him anymore that he was a young adult; he just wanted to spend some time with his adoptive son. The two had a water fight near the waterfall and played tag around the water's edge, occasionally leading or pushing the other into the water when they had the chance.

Time didn't matter to them anymore. They had found a suitable place to rest for till morning came. As they finished their game of tag, Littlefoot and Bryan bump into Ducky, a young Saurolophus who had separated from her parents during the clash-of-continents. Like them, she too was headed to the Valley but unlike them, she wanted to get there as soon as possible. That meant moving through the night to decrease the estimated time of arrival.

While Littlefoot and Bryan would've loved to spend the night at the Oasis, they too realized the importance of reaching the Great Valley in the shortest time span possible. Predators were everywhere in the beyond, making it a dangerous place to stay for too long. The two decide to continue their journey and this time, Ducky was coming along with them.

The more the merrier.

Before long, the trio find themselves trekking along a path flanked by two cliffs. The young ones' stomachs had begun to growl. So much for having lunch at the Oasis. Bryan spots a vine dangling down, just within reach of Littlefoot. The young Apatosaurus grabs the vine with his teeth and begins to tug, hoping to pull the vine down and have a light snack with Ducky.

Oddly, each time he pulled the vine, someone could be heard screaming. Ducky thought the vine was talking but Bryan corrects her, suggesting that something might be hanging on for dear life. He orders Littlefoot to give an almighty tug, which he did. As soon as he did, a young Pteranodon tumbled down. He lands on Littlefoot's face, shocking the young Apatosaurus.

In a vain effort to prevent Littlefoot from releasing the vine in shock, he smiles sheepishly. Unfortunately for him, the young Apatosaurus screamed anyways, releasing the vine and launching him into the air. The trio watched as he flapped his wings comically in the air before falling through the ground, creating a hole of sorts. Bryan slings his rifle onto his back and slowly moves towards the hole.

He wanted to present himself as a friendly individual, not a blood-thirsty monster. When he first approached the hole, the Pteranodon was unsure of him. But a simple gesture of kindness(reaching his hand down into the hole as a sign he was here to help)was all he needed to gain the youngling's trust. Helped out of the hole, the young Pteranodon introduced himself as Petrie.

Amusingly enough, despite being a Pteranodon, Petrie couldn't fly. He was grounded by Aerophobia and because of this, he was left behind when his family decided to make a break for the Great Valley. Bryan and the others couldn't resist teasing him, especially since he had wings for flight and yet he could not fly. It was all kind hearted of course, no harsh words or insults were flung.

Petrie later accepts the offer to join the group and follows the trio as they headed towards the Great Valley. A human accompanying three young dinosaurs on a journey to a mythical valley, now that's something you don't get to see every day.