Decker and the others come up on a small clearing in the forest. On the far side is a herd of elephant like animals, with longer tusks and thick matted fur.
"Doc, you're up." Decker says.
"They're called Mastodons. Prehistoric cousins to elephants. They are thought to be generally peaceful animals." Dr. Smith explains.
Suddenly, the Mastodons begin forming a circle in the middle of the clearing. With their young in the center, and the adults around the edge. They are swinging their heads back and forth, using their huge tusks to make an impenetrable formation.
"What's going on doc?" Decker asks.
"That's a defensive formation, they must sense that there's a danger nearby." Dr. Smith says.
"Are they just reacting to us?" Dr. Prendergast asks.
"I don't think so." Decker says.
"Why do you say that?" Dr. Prendergast asks.
"Because were being flanked!" Decker yells.
Dr. Smith and Dr. Prendergast turn around, and in front of them is a pack of large cats, with huge incisors teeth. Even Decker recognizes what is in front of them: a pack of Saber-Tooth Cats, the apex predator. The lead Saber lunges forward, claws out. Decker fires a taser round from his Spas-12. The Saber lands just inches from his feet, temporally knocked out form the shock. The rest of the pack circle them. Another Saber lunges at Dr. Smith, he tucks and rolls out of the way. The Saber lands just a few feet away from him. It turns around and swipes at Dr. Prendergast. The tips of its claws just barely reach him, ripping his jacket. Decker fires another taser round, and stuns the Saber. Suddenly, a Saber leaps into the air, landing on top of Decker. It attempts to bite down on his neck, but he uses his Spas-12 to block the death blow. He struggles with it, the Saber attempting to pull the gun out of his hands, and Decker struggling to keep it. Dr. Smith comes to the rescue, kicking the Saber off of him. Decker quickly turns toward it and fires, stunning the Saber. He gets up, and the three all put their backs to each other. The lead Saber gets up, and looks directly into Decker's eyes. It lets out a ferocious howl, and the entire pack begins to slowly closes in on the three of them. The three men Intensely concentrate, trying desperately to think of a way out of getting eaten. Then it dawns on him, the Mastodons!
"Run for the Mastodon herd!" Decker yells.
"What, are you mad!?" Prendergast yells in response.
Decker is already running for the herd, he clears a path, stunning two Sabers. Dr. Smith and Dr. Prendergast follows him closely. Decker shows them what to do, he tucks and rolls under one of the Mastodons. They follow him, each tucking and rolling under the huge animals. They reach the center of the circle, where the young are. Then Decker runs out the other side, putting a barrier between them and the Sabers. Dr. Smith and Dr. Prendergast do the same, joining Decker on the other side. They stand at the ready, but the Sabers don't come, the barrier worked. Once the rest of the pack wakes up, they slowly creep off into the forest.
"Are they gone?" Dr. Prendergast asks.
"I think so." Decker says.
"Thank goodness." Dr. Prendergast says, letting out a sigh of relief.
"I need to make some notes on their hunting strategy." Dr. Smith says, opening his notebook.
"You mean other than trying to eating us?" Decker says.
"This is important behavioral information that we just witnessed." Dr. Smith says.
"Fine, 5 minutes then we leave." Decker says.
Dr. Smith sits down and begins writing. Decker stays on guard, in case the Sabers come back. After Dr. Smith is done writing, they continue down the game trail, following the river. Suddenly another earthquake hits, just as strong as the last one. Decker and the others fall to the ground again during the shaking. It lasts for a minute before it subsides.
"I don't like the fact that we are getting all these earthquakes." Decker says.
"Neither do I." Dr. Smith says in agreement.
"Hopefully that volcano stays dormant until we can get out of here." Decker says.
"What do you mean." Dr. Prendergast asks.
"I mean as soon as we get back, we are leaving." Decker responds.
"Why?" Dr. Smith asks.
"Because I have a bad feeling that these earthquakes are related to the volcano." Decker responds. "Alright then, let's go."
.........
Back at base camp, Ross and Rygard are playing a game of cards to pass the time. They stare intensely at each other, trying to figure out the others next move.
"Do you have any 5s?" Ross asks.
"Go fish." Rygard responds.
"Dang." Ross says.
Ross picks up a card. He then looks out toward the field, and sees something odd. It appears to be an animal coming toward them, fast.
"What is that?" Ross asks.
Rygard grabs a pair of small binoculars from his vest and takes a closer look. Upon closer inspection, he sees that its some kind of bear, coming straight for them.
"Get back. Whatever that is going to be here in a matter of seconds." Rygard says.
Ross stands back, while Rygard grabs his p90. Inan instant the bear is walking into their camp. Rygard stands at the ready, hisp90 pointed straight at it. The bear is massive, standing 5 feet tall at theshoulders, and with long front legs, this beast is sight to behold. It lungesat Rygard and Ross, using its long front legs to swipe at them. They duck outof the way, dodging to the left and right. Rygard opens fire on the behemoth,but the taser rounds have little effect. The bear stands up on its hind legs,reaching a height of 11 feet. It takes another swipe at Rygard, its paw so fastthat he doesn't have time to duck. With one blow, it disembowels Rygard, hislifeless body falls to the ground. Frightened, Ross takes off for the tree linebehind base camp. When he reaches the trees, he looks back and sees the beardragging Rygards body off the way it came. Ross runs further into the forest,seeking shelter from the dangers that have become ever so apparent
YOU ARE READING
Primal Encounters
Ficção CientíficaA new revolutionary technology has been developed, one that could change the way humankind studies the world. For the first time, mankind has the ability to travel through time. A team is assembled to use this new machine, to be the first to step ov...
