CHAPTER 342
The bellow of the spinosaurus sounded increasingly distant as Daniel bent down to retrieve his first revolver. He found it nestled neatly within the impression of a spinosaurus footprint. It hadn't been crushed into the dirt, so more likely it had been kicked there during the scuffle rather than stepped on. Daniel picked up the gun, felt its weight in his hand, and examined the weapon. His eyes brushed over the familiar inscription on the side of the firearm. Again the spinosaur's roar trailed past him. The beast was certainly retreating. The raptors had her on the run. Daniel straightened himself, and then he heard a footstep crunch in the dirt behind him.
Without turning around Daniel grinned. "There are only two kinds of people in this world Seth, those who fight, and those who give up. Good, evil, right, wrong… forget about those. The moment you give up is the moment you die. The beast knows nothing else."
Daniel turned around and saw as he expected, the barrel of his second revolver pointing straight at him. He moved ever so slowly, securing the pistol he held at his waist. With both hands free Daniel made strange and somewhat hypnotizing gestures at Seth.
"Can you feel it… scratching at the inside walls of your skin, its claws just itching to tear their way out and take over?" Daniel stepped towards Seth. "I can see it. I can see it inside you Seth, just under the surface, as you stand there, once again struggling with such an easy decision." Daniel moved even closer. "Do you think the velociraptor or the tyrannosaurus thinks twice about killing another hunter when it comes down to the two of them?"
Daniel took one more gentle step forward and softly swept the gun out of Seth's quivering hand. When Daniel had the weapon securely in his own possession he gave Seth a sudden swift punch to the diaphragm. Seth dropped and curled into a ball with a gasp. Laying on his side he watched Daniel crouch next to him.
Daniel opened the revolver and emptied all but one bullet. Then he closed the chamber. "I'm going to offer you some clarity Seth. What do you want to do with that one bullet?"
Daniel dropped the gun in front of Seth's face and stood. It was then that he realized they were not alone anymore. Vulture, Needles, and Ghost had returned.
The trio of raptors stood in a semi-circle around Daniel and Seth. Each of them had an intrigued and inquisitive look about them. Daniel turned his back on Seth and ran his eyes across the group of raptors. He stopped on Ghost and narrowed his look at the hunter's pale and blood soaked feathers.
"Is he gonna be alright?" Daniel shifted to Vulture.
The utahraptor nodded at Daniel's wounds with a grunt and spoke, "pretty shit look."
Daniel shrugged his sliced up arms and moved on. "Dodgson is with Roadkill?" His head wobbled with a residual wooziness that the compsognathus venom had left him with.
Vulture nodded. "Yes." She hissed quietly.
"Let's catch up then," Daniel nodded off in the direction of the far end of the pterosaur dome.
Vulture looked down at Seth and examined the situation. She looked at the gun on the ground in front of him and then at Daniel in a way that made him know she was piercing for answers.
Daniel simply said, "leave him."
He walked past Vulture and the other two raptors and kept going. Vulture examined Seth for another lingering moment, her brain mulling over the details of what she saw. When she lifted her eyes Needles and Ghost were awaiting instruction. With a soft trill she commanded the group to follow Daniel.
