The Six Campers and The Soldier: A Camp Cretaceous Story (OC fanfiction)

Salvation

"Either that is a bonfire, or Kenji slip mushrooms in my drink." I quip as we gaze, amazed at the sight of the campfire. "That is most def a bonfire." Brooklynn says as Sammy gets excited with the prospect of people. "Someone got our SOS signal." Yaz says. "Well, what are we standing around for, let's go." I say as I run to the slides. Everyone follows. "Grab your spears, never know what we might run into." I advise as I grab my spear and holster my axe. We run, cheering and laughing at the thought of going home. Everyone has their spears and other weapons. Brooklynn with her trusty bat. And Kenji with his.....butter knife. Why he keeps it, I have no idea. Brooklynn slams her spear into the ground while climbing the tree. "Yes! We're getting closer." She says as she hops down, we run off again. Kenji climbs the next tree. "We're right on top of it." He hops down. We continue running. We should have smelt the smoke about now. Darius comes the next tree. He doesn't call out where the fire is. Something's wrong. I see a tail of a baby Sinoceratops off to the side, completely still and quiet. I push the bush aside and gasp. A bear trap has been sunk into the side of the baby. The blood hasn't clotted, it's fresh. I've seen these types before. Poachers who would smuggle themselves onto the island and butcher animals. Something is not right about all of this. Where is the mother?

I hear Darius hop down. "The bonfire, it's gone." He says. This is typical poacher behavior, rarely staying in the one place. Everyone gasps. "What if they left. What if the people that came to save us gave up and left." I walk over to them. "Relax, they couldn't have gone far from where we saw the smoke last." Everyone looks slumped and tired. We hear a growl from the bushes. We gather in a circle, I point the spear out while holding my axe. The baby Sinoceratops must've attracted a predator. "Maybe it's just a really large Compy. Right, Darius...Ryan?" Kenji asks the two of us. "That isn't no Compy mate." A dinosaur bursts from the bushes. We all dodge out of the way. A Ceratosaurus. "Run." I say as I throw my spear into the animals shoulder. It cries in pain before ripping it out before snapping it in half. We all run from the angry predator. Kenji, not looking where he was going, bashes his head on a low branch. We all turn and run back to him. Before the Ceratosaur can chomp of him. A spear is thrown, sinking near my shot. I look to see Yaz with her arm extended. I grip my axe, I slide next to Kenji before bringing my axe down of the carnivores right foot, cutting the index toe off. The Ceratosaur cries out in pain. I pull Kenji back to the others as they ready their spears. "Well, come on." Brooklynn says bravely. The animal comes back, seeking revenge. I had my axe tightly, I'm not going out without a fight.

A flare is blared into the night sky. The dinosaur is blinded by the sheer light. I cover my eyes as someone throws me to the ground. "Get down!" An angry voice shouts out. I put the blade of my axe over my eyes, letting my eyes adjust to the light. I look to see three people, two men and a woman. The man on the left had a blue buttoned up shirt with sand beige hat and pants. The woman had dark pants and a white shirt and hat. Both of them had cameras around their necks. The second man had a flare rifle in hand. He was older and dressed in military get up. Must be a mercenary. The Ceratosaur had run off, retreating into the jungle. The trio had turned to us. "Oh thank goodness. You're okay." The woman had said. I stand up as I hold my axe tightly. We don't know these people, observe and study before interacting with them. The man in the blue shirt notices me and glances at my axe. "You....are okay, aren't you?" I want to trust him but I have a feeling that is screaming out at me in my spinal cord. 'Don't trust them', it says, Yaz holds her hand on my own, pushing the axe down. "Who....who are you?" Darius asks. "Well I guess, you can call us your salvation." The woman responds.

We begin walking with the trio back to their camp. The mercenary is cutting the foliage with his machete. I trail behind the group, making sure that nothing is following is but keeping my eye on the couple escorting. "We couldn't believe it when we saw your campfire." Brooklynn says. "Did you get left behind too?" Yaz says. Not dressed like they were, they weren't. "Guys, slow down. We don't even know your names." Darius reasons to the group. The man in blue replies. "I'm Mitch and my better half is Tiff." Mitch says while gesturing to the woman. "We're eco-tourists." "It's just a fancy way of saying we travel to exotic places and take photographs of rare animals." Mitch and Tiff say, explaining why they're here. But the bear trap from before. If they, besides ourselves, are the only ones on this island then their lying. I don't like this one little bit. As we walk through the jungle, I take notice at the scenery around. A lot of trees were upturned and broken down. I see a splatter of blood on a passing fern. This is fresh. As the group talk, I notice something in the bush. A dead juvenile Majungasaurus. Strange. Majungasaurus rarely come this way. I noticed the body had a lot of bite marks, bones that were crushed violently. Most of the predator wasn't even eaten. A carnivore had to have killed it in a very violent manner. Almost cruel. Majungasaurus are notorious cannibals but this isn't a Majungasaurus kill. Something larger and more violent.