Chapter 6
Reptilians Of The Underworld

The night was frightening to say the least and everyone just wanted to stop and wait till sunrise. But they couldn't. Predators were especially active in the night and if they stayed in one place for too long, the young dinosaurs and their human companion faced the threat of being routed and slaughtered. Keeping themselves mobile was the best way for them to avoid predators.

Of course, some pack hunting Theropods thought it would be a great idea to attack a travelling herd of young dinosaurs when a gun totting human was guarding them. They must've thought they could dodge a bullet travelling at 3165 feet per second. Anyways, the predators thought wrong. Anyone who was daring enough to attack was quickly shot down before they got close.

But even with the extra firepower, Bryan and the young dinosaurs hoped to seek refuge in a safe location before moving out again. Just then, Littlefoot spots a cave on their right flank and leads the others through. When they entered however, things just didn't feel right; for Littlefoot and Bryan anyways. It was quiet, too quiet for a cave, which was supposed to be populated.

It didn't take long for the answer to emerge, literally. A Dimetrodon emerges from the deeper reaches of the cave, surprising the members of the travelling group, Bryan especially. These predatory lizard like reptilians were supposed to be extinct long before the age of dinosaurs. First were Cassava plants which may or may not be planted due to an act of the heavens and now Dimetrodons. Apparently accuracy might not have been a concern for the Illuminati.

The lizard, having spotted the young ones and their human companion, hisses but Bryan wasn't in the least bit intimidated. He reaches into his right cargo pocket and grabs a historically inaccurate Smartphone and plays "Fortunate Son" on full volume, much to the surprise of everyone. Without warning, the human shoots the Dimetrodon through the head, killing him instantly.

He moves deeper into the cave, music echoing throughout and attracting more lizards. Unbeknownst to Bryan at the time, the cave was home to an entire population of lizard like reptilians, a population which he was about to wipe completely off the map. There was no emotion on his face when the human started the slaughter. He just hammered away at the trigger of his rifle, unleashing wall after wall of lead on the lizards as they charged towards him.

From behind, Littlefoot and the others watch in shock as their human companion, who showed his caring side to them throughout the journey, suddenly devolve into a Sharptooth like killer as he literally blasted his way through the cave. Then, things went up a notch when Bryan affixed a bayonet to his rifle and started stabbing and shooting his targets.

There was a bloody mess within the cave but the young dinosaurs quickly realized why their human companion was doing what he was doing. Being sneaky, while effective, could become their death warrant if they were spotted, especially if they were in the deeper ends. Flushing out and killing the ones who threatened them was one way to prevent that from happen since the tactic forced the predatory lizards to attack them from the front.

And Bryan was doing it in style, blaring Vietnam Era music on full volume as he killed the predators one after the other. They stood no chance against his firepower. The engagement itself lasted only two minutes but Bryan had already expended three magazines. No less than fifty bodies littered the ground, and blood was everywhere within the cave.

"Damn!" he sighed as he switched off the tune. "That was one hell of an adrenaline rush."

"Dad…" Littlefoot muttered in shock. "I didn't know you could do this without feeling bad for yourself."

"These buggers were a threat to our survival. I have no problem killing these things."

"You sure you won't have nightmares?"

"Ain't gonna happen, Littlefoot. Ever since living here, I've gotten used to seeing death and destruction on a regular basis."

Waving his right hand in a horizontal circle, Bryan rallies the young dinosaurs as they continue deeper into the cave. They were about a few minutes into the trek when Ducky spots an orange-ish young female Triceratops lying beside the carcass of a dead adult dinosaur and three younger ones. It seems as though the deceased had been killed when they fell down from the Great Divide.

Wait, the Great Divide? That could only mean one thing. The cave Bryan and the young dinosaurs were in was none other than the big underground, and they've just tamed the area with brute force on the human's part. The male human slings his rifle over his shoulder and slowly approaches the young Triceratops. It turns out that he actually knew the youngling.

Her name was Cera, and she had found her mother and siblings, though not in the way she had intended to. Their deaths devastated her and by the looks of it, Cera hadn't moved in a while. Dehydration was probably killing her by the minute.

"Cera?" Bryan grabs one of his canteens and offers some water. "Hey, you want a drink?"

"What do you think?" she asked, slightly irritated by his presence.

"Look, Cera. I know you've just lost your siblings and your mother, but if you want to survive you need some fluids in your body."

"Is there a need for me to live anymore? I have no one else left."

"You have Littlefoot and me. And what about your father? Is he dead too?"

"I don't know…"

"You don't know. So what? You're gonna stay here and die because you THINK your father died as well? What if he lived? How would he feel if he found out you dehydrated yourself to death because you thought he died?"

"Do you know loss? Have you suffered loss before?!"

"Cera, I know how it feels like to lose a loved one. My mother and brother were both slaughtered by my estranged adoptive father."

Littlefoot, seeing that his friend was in great pain, approached her and comforted her while his adoptive father continued to motivate her.

"Come on now, Cera." The human reaches his canteen out. "Take a sip, you'll need it."

"And you can join us on our journey to the Great Valley." Littlefoot offered. "That way you won't be alone."

"Thanks…" she smiled.

This was the first time the young Triceratops had smiled since a couple of days. Her throat felt a great sense of relief when water flowed down, courtesy of Bryan's canteen. When she finished satisfying her thirst, Cera had a big shock. Her awareness of the world around her returned and she noticed the carnage caused by Bryan's XM16E1 rifle and M7 bayonet, which was still attached to the gun.

She looks at the human, who merely nods to her, silently acknowledging the fact that he was indeed responsible for this. Silence accompanied the herd for the first few minutes as they trekked deeper and deeper into the cave. As they came around the corner, Ducky and Petrie screamed. "Sharptooth" was right in front of them. Bryan, Littlefoot, and Cera remained unfazed however.

Yes, Sharptooth was indeed in front of them but he was long dead. The fall had killed him and they weren't in real danger of being munched up any time soon. Bryan shakes his head and sighed, there was a gut feeling he just could not explain. He brushes the feeling off for now and continues to lead the young ones through the cave. Before long, they found themselves at the western entrance.

Perfect, now they were out in the open once again and daylight was upon them. But a new problem emerged for the group of young travellers and their human protector. Thick undergrowth made up the entrance of the cave and they needed to navigate it if they wanted to make it to the valley. Bryan detaches the bayonet from his rifle and uses it as a makeshift machete, hacking a path through the vegetation.