dinosaur island part 5
Dinosaur island part 4
Dave watched, stunned, as the beam shot up through Serafina's muzzle, a bright point of red light destroying his promotion as surely as an order by the general himself.
Serafina wavered for a second, blinking rapidly as if hardly believing what had happened. She lifted her hands to her muzzle and gripped it tightly in pain, letting out a single, indignant "Ow!" As if someone had pinched her rather hard, her paws massaging the area of irritation.
Dave let out the breath that he had been unconsciously holding, breathing a sigh of relief.
Serafina lashed out at the nearest beam, intending to exact retribution. Her hand went right through the laser, making her give another little indignant squawk of pain and shake her paw rapidly.
She was about to swipe at it again when Dave stepped up behind her and held her hand in place. She turned to him and hissed, her eyes dark, completely clouded by anger.
"You're not a quick learner are you?" He asked the raptor.
She glared at him, giving him a look that said with great eloquence that she wanted to eat him, but then it faded, as if it had never been. Dave guessed that it was probably her animal instincts taking over.
"No I am not." She said petulantly, staring around at all the dazzling beams of red light.
"And jussst what wasss the point of all thisss?" She asked, staring at the lasers and running a claw through one of them again, jerking as she was shocked.
Dave stared around the room, likewise trying to work out what the meaning of the lasers, why they would be here.
"Not much of a game." Serafina said, pouting, "You do it wrrrong and you get ssshocked."
"Training room." Dave said.
"Trrraining?" She asked, confused.
"It's to train animals. You put them here in this room and force them to run the maze. Scientists would use it to see how smart an animal is." He replied, starting to walk towards the only exit to the room, moving with quick, nimble movements, dodging around the beams of swirling lasers.
Serafina followed, quickly adapting to the change in environment, sidestepping beams with quick, birdlike steps, deftly manoeuvring out of the way of the less-than-lethal beams.
Dave worked his way out of the "maze", and made his way along the wall, heading for an observation window, a large, rectangular piece of glass cordoning off a room filled with scientific equipment and computers..
He got to the window, and took a step back, drawing his rifle, reversing it, and then slamming the butt into the it..
It bounced off.
He stared at the glass, unperturbed, and then pointed the barrel at it, scraping the iron sight at the end of the barrel in a large circle, digging deep into the glass, before slamming the rifle into it again.
This time, it shattered, spilling glass into the room behind the window.
Dave poked his head into the room, staring around at the various observational instruments arrayed before him. He climbed in the circular hole he had created, his boots crunching across the shards of broken material.
Serafina climbed clumsily into the room, stopping and staring at the sharp shards of glass littering the floor.
"I could carry you if you'd like?" He said wryly, when he turned back to see what was taking her so long.
"I doubt you could carrrry my weight." She replied dryly, before stepping into the room tentatively, trying not to step on any glass, eyeing the counter as is seriously contemplating stepping onto it to avoid the floor.
Dave sighed softly and walked back over to the hole in the wall, where Serafina was still standing, and then started to walk backwards, sweeping hi foot back and forth, kicking away the glass and leaving wide swaths of floor clean of the sharp shards.
"Why thank you." The raptor said, before stepping lightly, cautiously, out over the first step, giving him a remarkable impression of a bow, before following in his wake, stepping on the patches of floor he had cleared.
She was almost clear of the glass, when the first raptor burst through the broken portion of the window, shrieking and clambering to get through quicker and start devouring the tasty prey on the other side.
Dave dropped into a crouch. His Dragunov was slung over his shoulder, too cumbersome to draw and aim, so he took out the only weapon he could, the large knife concealed in his boot.
It snicked through the air, glancing off the raptor's tough neck hide, leaving a small cut, barely more than a stinging annoyance to such a creature, and then it was upon them.
His hand was already drifted towards his eagle, secured in his hip holster, when the raptor leapt out from the hole in the glass, pushing off the jagged circle with its powerful feet, cutting open the sole of it's feet, but it didn't even notice, crossing the distance between itself and the other raptor so fast it seemed to be an optical illusion, lashing out with claws as Serafina lifted her foot and slammed it in the chest.
The raptor's left arm was wrapped around Serafina's upper body, the claws resting on her left shoulder, and it held on grimly, digging its claws deeply into her tough hide, drawing blood and causing pain, a muted roar echoing from within her throat as the raptor used its locked hand as a pivot point, swinging around her body and letting go, sliding across the glass-strewn floor for several metres before falling flat on its side with a shriek of anger.
As the raptor had swung around, its tail had whipped out unintentionally, smacking Dave right in the chest, lifting him off his feet and throwing him onto his back amid the glass, his deagle clattering away across the floor.
He let the momentum of his fall carry him backwards, rolling and pushing off with his hands, flipping back onto his feet as another raptor tried, stupidly, to burst through the glass instead of taking the slower, easier route through the hole he had created.
It ran headlong at the glass, lowering its head and pushing forwards with a last spurt of momentum to carry it through the glass.
.
..
...
....BANG!!!
There was a massive thud as the raptor collided with the window, splaying itself against the glass, looking almost comical as it slowly started to fall backwards, landing flat on its back like a cartoon character, stunned completely.
Dave laughed at the total absurdity of it, and immediately was made to regret it as the first raptor, which was about to leap at Serafina again, switched targets and attacked him instead, leaping high and aiming to tackle him head on.
He dropped straight to the floor, like a marionette with its strings cut, watching the raptor sail over his head, before rolling onto his stomach, staring at it as he started to get up.
The second raptor came bursting into the room, leaping at his exposed back, still slightly shaky from its experience with the magic disappearing wall, but quickly regaining its killer instincts.
It landed on his back, digging its claws deep into his Kevlar back-plate, reaching down to latch its jaws into the neck of his jacket, savaging it ferociously.
Serafina growled deeply in her throat, a low, dangerous sound as she saw the raptor tearing into the human, before sprinting at the raptor, head down, leaping into the air after a few steps and rolling above the rival dinosaur, latching her claws into it and lifting it off of Dave forcefully, throwing it across the room into a bench, the solid wood splintering and cracking under the immense strain, beakers full of liquid cracking and spilling their contents across the floor.
The second raptor, which was already leaping back at him, hissed angrily, rolling to latch its jaws onto the back of his neck, missed him by inches as he rolled onto his back, bringing his feet up and then flipping himself back into a standing position, hand on the hilt of his sword, which was sheathed over his right shoulder.
Dave turned his head to the side and watched as the second raptor picked itself up, shaking off the splinters caused by the broken bench, and then fixed its evil, slitted eyes on him.
He regarded it calmly as it started to advance, the other raptor locking itself into a furious fight with Serafina, the human forgotten.
The raptor started to pick up speed, opening its mouth and shrieking as its powerful legs carried it inexorably further towards him.
Dave whirled clockwise, drawing the sword and holding it to the side, letting the momentum of the raptor drag itself along the blade, the raptor hitting it near the hilt, sliding down it and spinning off the end, the blade cutting cleanly through several ribs and cleaving open internal organs.
He lowered his sword and held it away from him so that the blood wouldn't drip onto him, watching the rapidly dying raptor writhe in agony.
A long, smooth stroke from his sword severed its head, stopping its struggles and silencing its cries of pain and anger.
He turned his gaze towards Serafina, just in time to see the opposing raptor slide around her primitive, bestial guarding motions, and lift her up, throwing her directly at him. He ducked, and the female raptor sailed over his head, bouncing on the hard floor and rolling several times, coming to rest against a non-broken cupboard lifelessly.
Dave stared at the raptor, which stared right back, and then suddenly sprinted at him, powerfully, with murderous intent.
He stepped smoothly to the side, letting it pass his left shoulder as he turned around to follow it, the sword curling down in a gentle arc, slicing deep into the back of its leg, effectively hamstringing it.
It fell to the ground, trying to clamber to its feet futilely.
Dave took his time, wiping his sword clean and sheathing it slowly, letting the hiss it created permeate the air.
He reached down and drew his deagle, languidly checking the clip, and [another word I've forgotten. You know, pull back the top half of the weapon to put a bullet in the breach] pulling back the slide to spring a new round into place in the breach, before levelling the gun at the raptors head and firing, once, calmly, unemotionally.
Zoik!
There was the sound of a silenced weapon firing, and then silence.
Dave holstered his deagle and ran over to Serafina, skidding to a halt beside her inanimate body and laying his hand across her throat, checking for a pulse. It took him a while to find it, because he wasn't familiar with her anatomy.
He sighed with relief as he found her pulse, strong and steady under his fingers. He left his hand where it was, shaking her gently to try and get her to wake up.
"We have to move." He murmured, his free hand on his deagle, ready to draw it should another raptor happen to come along.
Serafina groaned softly, struggling to move or speak, opening and closing her muzzle soundlessly, her teeth gleaming white in her mouth.
"Just rest for a while." He whispered, settling himself down besides her. "I'll keep watch."
She murmured something unintelligible, and moved her head to lay it in his lap.
Dave was rather surprised by this action, but not unduly concerned, and rested his hands on her neck, his right hand gripping his deagle, resting near her shoulder, while his left hand rubbed unconsciously at her soft, tough hide.
Soon, the raptor started to murr softly, nuzzling his leg slightly and snuggling in closer, quickly falling asleep, her body trying to recuperate from the amount of damage it had sustained.
Dave watched the hole in the glass and the door warily, ready for action, prepared to wait for a long time, even though his leg was starting to go numb from the raptors weight on it.
* * *
It took a long time for Serafina to awaken, and even then, she kept her eyes clenched shut, moaning softly in discomfort, as if willing herself to be asleep instead of awake, unprepared to face the world at that point in time.
Dave rubbed at her neck entreatingly, trying to make her get up.
She grumbled softly and then opened her eyes, both of them locking onto his own as she yawned widely, displaying her rows of razor-sharp teeth.
"Can you...uh...get off please?" He asked.
Serafina shook her head slightly, as if trying to shake the sleep from her body, before rolling away from him and onto her feet, leaving him sitting on the floor, propped against the cupboard with painful pins and needles coursing through his legs.
"Ow." He stated and writhed slightly as he tried to move his legs, which were completely unresponsive.
She cocked her head at him and watched in fascination as he gradually made his way to his feet.
"That looked painful." She said, smiling slightly, teeth gleaming.
"It it painful." He replied, massaging his legs
Dave drew his deagle, ejected the clip, and checked how many rounds were in it. A standard clip held 8, and he only had two rounds loaded, plus one in the breach.
He leaned against the counter and started to idly press bullets into the clip.
When he was done, he loaded the deagle, and put it on the counter besides him, stepping over to Serafina and running a hand down her side until it reached one of the cuts that had been inflicted by the rival raptor the night before.
"These need to be tended." He said firmly, grabbing her wrist and leading her over to a wall-mounted med kit.
He removed several bandages and a bottle of disinfecting cream.
"This could hurt..." He said apologetically, smearing the cream across the wound and then leaping back. Never having had reason to hurt such a large, dangerous predator, he was unsure what her reaction would be, so he wisely kept away from her while she was in pain.
Serafina hissed softly through clenched teeth, arching her back and clenching her feet, the claws scraping across the floor, before she relaxed slightly and cocked her head quizzically at the human, who was standing several metres away, watching warily.
Dave moved back over and started to wrap the bandages around her body, making sure that they were tight, but not so tight that it constricted her breathing.
He reached up to his eyepiece, and flicked it on; he activated the voice recognition software and spoke code-words into it.
"Information. Major species, Dinosaur. Species, Raptor. Subspecies, Velociraptor. Specific, physiology. Specific, skeletal structure."
Immediately, an x-ray of a (fossilised) Velociraptor appeared in front of him, courtesy of his eyepiece.
He flicked the eyepiece to x-ray mode, and stared down at Serafina, moving so that she encompassed the entirety of his eye-piece's view field, and then said, "Scan and compare."
He waited a few seconds, and a line of text appeared.
Scan complete. Conclusion: scan verified to 96% accuracy. No deviations detected.
Dave let out a breath. She didn't have any broken bones, so far as the eyepiece could see.
He reached up, and flicked on the locator for the teams, wondering where the other three had gotten.
What he saw made him frown.
He could see the dots of his dead comrades, littered across a wide area, the red dots stationary. More red dots marked the positions of the other teams, and then there were three moving dots, several hundred metres away.
But that wasn't what made him frown. No. There was a set of other dots, dots all around him, close by, moving dots.
Just then, his eyepiece went dead, and the computers nearby blanked out. An EMP. It had knocked out his equipment and the computers.
And then the door was blown off its hinges, and four men entered, commando style, guns up.
They saw him, sighted, and opened fire.