Blue pushed through several small branches holding in her thin teeth a small, green lizard. Almost a week had passed since Zulu hatched and, every day since, Blue went out to retrieve food for herself and the child. However, food was becoming more scarce; there was almost never leftovers to be scavenged so Blue had to rely on hunting smaller creatures. The meals she found became smaller every day. If this continued, Blue guessed, they would have to leave the safety of the park and venture into the wild forest that surrounded them.

Emerging from the flora, Blue saw Zulu standing between two open gates. He had grown remarkably in such a short amount of time, could already walk perfectly and had begun to communicate. His scales were a greenish grey in colour and his eyes were a bright, lively orange like Blue's. Gleefully, he leaped towards her.

"You're back!" He howled, grinning with wide eyes. Playfully, he jumped around Blue awaiting the prize she held in her mouth.

Spitting out her prey, Blue scolded the young raptor. "I told you to wait in the building! Do you know how dangerous it is out here?"

Zulu raised his head from the insides of the little green lizard with wavering, apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry, Blue." He looked down at the ground.

Blue's stomach growled. She suddenly realised how hungry she was. "I'm going to get some more food," she told Zulu, who then hung his head in disappointment, "... but if you want, you can come with me."

At that, the young raptor's face lit up. His frown grew into an open smile, his tail wagged excitedly. "Really?"

Blue nodded. "Really." It was time she taught him how to hunt. She raised her snout into the air and searched for a scent. It didn't take long for her to find one, and she shot off into the forest, Zulu following behind.

Eventually they slowed down to locate the trail again. Zulu gazed around in amazement. The trees, insects, flowers, all were new sights to be seen. "How come you never let me outside, Blue?"

She turned her head to look at Zulu, and thought of a response. "It's dangerous outside. When you hunt like this, you never know what else might be hunting in the shadows... you never know what might be hunting you." At that, a gust of wind picked up, blowing fallen leaves around the pair. The younger raptor checked behind him. The forest seemed a lot darker than before.

Blue stopped. In the distance was a faint snap. Staying low, she crept into the direction of the noise. Zulu looked around one more time before following.

Carefully and quietly, they moved towards the noise until Blue stopped once again. She cocked her head to show Zulu were to look. Through the branches, there was a small, pinkish animal eating an even smaller plant. Blue remembered chasing creatures like this with the rest of the pack in their enclosure. She whispered "stay here, stay hidden". Zulu nodded.

Blue, remaining crouched, sneaked closer to the completely oblivious prey. Then, she pounced, jaws wide and claws up. One well placed bite to the neck killed it instantly. Blue took out a large chunk with her sharp teeth and invited Zulu over to enjoy the feast with her. As the two gorged themselves, Blue heard another crack. She rasied her bloodied head and stared between the shaded trees.

"What's wrong?" Zulu realised that Blue was distracted.

"Stay here, eat up, let me check it out." Blue ordered, before running into the bushes, leaving Zulu to eat the rest.

She ran for a bit, before hearing the familiar sound of a human talking. It was a male voice, but not deep or imposing. "Guys? Hello? Where are you?" Blue spotted a lone human, dressed in thick, camouflaged body armour, wandering aimlessly in the forest. He seemed lost. She recognised a weapon in his hands. Hiding once again in the thick growth of plants, she waited for him to move closer.

The human walked towards Blue before stopping suddenly. Among the green leaves he spotted an evil, reptilian eye. He backed away, turning pale. "What the-"

Blue pounced onto the human and cut deep, red lines along his belly with her claws, disembowling him. Victorious once again, the raptor began devouring the corpse, tearing through the armour with ease. The rewarding rush of blood trickled down her throat, its salty sweet taste engulfing her mouth. Blue took another bite, then quickly took another. She entered into a crazed bloodlust. The continuous, unrelenting flurry of bites shredded what remained of the unfortunate human.

A loud screech forced Blue back into reality. It had come from Zulu's direction. She rushed back to see three humans surrounding the young raptor, all wearing similar thick padding like the last one. One of the attackers looked down the scope of a long gun pointed at Zulu. Before he could pull the trigger, Blue rushed up and pounced onto him, pushing him down into the undergrowth, then swiftly silenced him with a fatal bite to the throat.

The other two humans turned around to find that they were one man down. "What the hell? Where did he go?" stuttered one

"We've already lost two men. I don't like this one bit. Let's just cage this one and go before we become the next meal." An older, more experienced one replied, his age failing to mask his own fear. They turned around to see Blue breathing down their necks. Both men jumped in shock. The senior one tripped as he tried to back away, falling hard on his back. The other one turned and ran, screaming in fear, begging for mercy. Blue stood over the remaining human and lowered her eye to stare into his. As her claw sunk into his chest, she watched in a sadistic trance as the life slowly left his mortified eyes.

'That's for Charlie' she thought, enjoying every second of her revenge. Slowly and painfully, the attacker struggled to draw his last breath before all life abandoned his body. Blue turned to Zulu. "Are you okay?"

He ran up to Blue, clinging to one of her legs. "Can we go back now, Blue?"

The two raptors went past the gates into the park, and made their way to the main street. Blue heard clanging and footsteps accompanied by an ambience of humans talking. She hid in the rubble of a destroyed building and watched. Zulu followed. Up and down the street was a mass of humans, all doing a job. Some were setting up shelter or machinery. Others were patrolling the area. Several large vehicles were parked. The building that had housed Zulu's egg was being filled with humans.

"What are they doing to our building?" Zulu, still shaken from his encounter earlier, asked.

Blue didn't stop staring at the intruders as she answered. "It isn't ours anymore..."